The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1855-02-07
IBy tie Edilor.i
Abuue!linaS.

pie, men inllamed by anger, have
found congcnia! feeling in assaults,
more or less fcrocious, according to
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.
tIslcation of amy passion which may be
excited. The i"llucncc which society,
as it approaches nearer to cnlightcn
cd refinement, cxerts, is of restraint
upon all the passions. Every man
who has at all observed his own emo.
tlons and impulses, should, in hi calm
er moments feel grateful ,oProvidcncc
| for those various restraints which have
SD frequently prevented acts, either of
fully or madness, whose consequences
might have been. to OF crs, wrctchcd.
ness, to- himself rcmursc. How many
Il man, whose hand is now unstaincd
by blood, can recall occasions, when
but Tor some apparently tortuitous,
really pr"vidcntial circumstance, he
might now have "mu derer" burnt i'm
upon his conscience. From the time
when Can was sent forth, disgraccd
wrctched, panic striken wanJrrcr, men
have known tnat the trown Of II cavcn
rested upnm him who IN anger raise cd
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, bu;h !, r,;i,ess,
demands the practice of that divine vir
tue, FORGIVENESS. "ru 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
bccca,e il the fearful passion, anger,
50 frequently excited, perhaps each
day of every mans life. were permitted
t" indulge it>cl. ~ acts suited to its
nature. Murdc., repeated till The
heart would sic'icn, would be the re.
-ult. The Great Ruler over Heaven
! and earth directed that shy man should
his blood be shed who sheds the blood
# man" and incXorablc Necessity has
forced mankind TO Snbenact 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 rs i'll the millions Of the miycr
| sal brnthcrhood, has its death penalty.
more uncrring than the other. in ma.
ny, many, solitary, living deaths has
the doom of the first mans'aycr been
terribly realized, Since the black day
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
rcaniniatc him from whose heart it has
poured forth +! Is the wife less u wild
"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 by an
adversary full in front, calm, com
posed, obscrvant, to the nicctv of a
ha'r, OF the rules of etiquette! Is the
'aI'en ono less destroyed, less lost to
the joys of this life and the hopes of
the lie to come, because the combat
was dcnbcrate, planned out, ard he
IN" slain because he could not be IN
slayer? Is The killing done with less
determination, less malignancy Of
purpose, because the slayer hazarded
his own life 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 enliyht.
ened, 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
"t deciding the Right and Furnishing
tho Wrong; when God preserve the
Right was tho cry as the docr and
the rcdresser Of wrongs closed in upon
each other in deadly combat, and all
hi.li,Nn | Ihot L..