The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1855-02-07
tBy tile Editor,
HbllsllilnS.

the circumstances, upon the persons
and lives OF those against whom their
anger was directed
The tendency Of human nature is,
and always has been, towards the gra.
LITIGATION of any passion which may be
excited. The Influence which society.
as it approaches nearer to cnlightcn
ed refinement, exerts, is of restraint
upon all the passions. Every man
who has ut all observed his own emo.
tons and impulses, should, in hi calm
er moments feel grateful toProvidcncc
| Tor those various restraints which have
SD frequently prevented acts, either OF
folly Or madness, whose consequences
might have been, to OF crs, wrctchcd.
ness, to himself rcmnrsc. How many
IL man, whose hand is now unstaincd
by blood, can recall occasions, when
but tor some apparently for,uitous,
really providentiaI circumstances, he
might now have 'smu, dcrer" burnt in
upon his conscience. From the time
when Cam was sent forth, disgraccd,
| wrctched, panic striien wandercr, men
| have known tnat the frown Of II cavcn
rested upon him who in anger raised
his hand against the life of his fellow
man. The teachings of experience
warn to the same restraint switch the
command of God imposes, and show
that not only holiness, butha appircss
demands the practice Of that divine vir.
tue, FORGIVENESS. "To err is human"
1t is much less difficult to act or speak
so rs to offend than rs to please
! What slaughter pen would this earth
become ii the fearful passion, ;nuer,
SO frequently excited, perhaps each
day of every mans life, were permitted
t" indulge itsc|.' n acts suited to its
nature. Murdc., repeated till the
heart would sickcn, would be the re.
suit. The Great Ruler over Heaven
| and earth directed that ''bv man should
| his blood be shed who sheds the blood
If man" and incxorabIc Necessity has
forced mankind to subtnact the divine
direction. The fearful penalty Of death
has been held up before the angry pas
sion to fright it from the decd. And
if the sword OF Justice be escaped that
Humanity which is within the man as
| well us in the millions of the uniycr
sal brotherhood, has its death penalty,
more unerring than the other. in ma.
ny, many, solitary, living deaths has
the doom of the first mans'ayer been
terribly realized. sincc the black dav
when murder first was done upon the
earth. Murder has for its companion
Horror. All this has marked the
history of man. How then can the
duel, aud its place in human history,
its foundation in human nature, be
explained? Can blood, shed in Il fair.
equal contest, be gathered up again to
rcannatc him from whose heart it has
poured forth! Is the vile less II wid
"w, are children less orphans, is the
death gloom to survivors less opprcss.
i've, because the husband and father
has been struck from life, not by il
savage, unseen, assassin, but hy IN
adversary full in front, calm, com
posed, obscrvant, to the niccty of n
hair, OF the rules of etiquette? Is the
iallen ono less destroyed, less lost to
the joys OF this life and the hopes of
the life to come, because the combat
was deliberate, planned out, ard he
IN" slain because he could not be III
slayer? Is The killing done with less
determination. less mnlignancy of
purpose, because the slayer hazarded
his own lie for the opportunity to
Commit the deed and can that, which
comprises both murder and suicide
within itself, be less in cnormity OF
crime than either? Alas for poor
human natnrc when it is the enlight.
encd, the refined Of mankind who an.
swer Yes to all these questions
Originated in an age when superstition
assigned to the Duel, the piuus Office
OF deciding the Right and furnishing
tho Wrong; when " God preserve the
Right" was ;he cry as the docr and
the redresscr of wrongs closed in upon
each other in deadly combat, and all
believed that by Iii, decree it was
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