The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-10-08

wrone. For in one ease the punishment q e.
liknly to fall upon the innocent ~ the guilty
and in the other it can fall upon the guilty alone
Savage nations are far ahead of civilized ones In
this respect. If one savage Injuries another, the
other watches an opportunity to kill him with
the least possible risk to himself much faIrer
and better way than duelling. which would give
the oppressor an equal chance of browning his
career Of injury and outrage by causing the death
of the man he had wronged. The duellist is, in
nine cases out Of ten, impelled only by that worst
of motives a want.of moral courage-the fear OF
being called u coward, by those who are only
towards themselves. Whether he kills or iskilled
is, in the abstract, a matter of very little conse-
auence. He is a murderer in his heart, and as
such he must appears before the world.
In the recent duel between Broderick and Terry,
was Broderick proved wrong because he was
killed, or Terry right because he killed him
No. Did it give the victor a stronger claim to
his own self respect, or to the esteem of his fellow
men? No. What good then, in the name of
common sense, has it done? One is dead, and
the other is a self condemned criminal, accursed
of men and amenable to those laws which it has
been his province, heretofore, to dispense. Ex-
perience, it is true, has shown that the laws rare
ly prove eficacious in such cases, and Terry may
escape the halter which he deserves. Even
though the ermine of justice be sullitd by his es-
cape from lawful punishment, he will carry in
his heart to the grave, the burning curse and on
his brow the burning brand of Cain; and a life of
xemorse is not enough to erase the charge which
the. accusing angel writes down in letters of
blood, against the name of him who has slain
another in a duel. Judge Terry is a murderer
in his heart, and as such he must appear before
the world, and if he escapes justice at the
hands of the law, the world would justify the
friends of Broderick in dealing with him as
he has dealt with Broderick. This is the
second deliberate murder, we believe, which Ter
nv has committed since he has been in California,
for the first of which he was brought before the
Vigilance Committee of 1856, and barely escaped
the hanging, which he merited.
Duelling is at once a useless and wicked prac-
tice. Without benefit to the parties engaged in
it, it is at the same time detrimental to the great
interests of humanity. 1t has bereaved many
families of their supporter, and has cut off with
untimely death, many a valuable life. 1t cannot
rigt a wrong, and it is the poorest way of seeking
Il revenge. 1t is no proof of courage-in most
eases it is only a proof that ones fear of being
thought afraid is greater than his fear of being
wounded or killed. 1t is a pernicious custom,
without one single redeeming feature. 1t is
stain upon the age-a disgrace to SO enlightened
a country as America, that such a practice
should be tolerated there, and it is the duty of
every man, there and elsewhere, to contribute
the mite of his own opinion and influence, to put
it down. When duelling becomes disreputable
in a community, and the survivor. or participator
in such a conflict is treated as he deserves to be
by men. then duelling will cease, and the world
will advance one step further in social ameliora-
ton every sense of the word.