The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-10-19
THE NOVEMBER MAGAZINES.
sI.IPPINDOrT,s.o -

MDat snail we say OI " pIhCtlC6 IuaJ mas
been sanctioned by the most distinguished
men Of modern times Condemned alike by
religion and by common sense, but upheld by
fashion and a (so-caled) code of honor, estab-
hshed by men who themselves were but too
ready on all occasions to ignore the obliga-
tions of Christianity, it has held its ground
for centuries and is yet far from being aban-
doned 1t is fashionable and popular in
France, especially among military men and
editors of newspapers. Very recently several
personal feRcOntres have taken place, and
some of the most sanguinary duels on record
have been fought in that country But in Ire
land, which was at one time, par egeeLleHce,
''the happy hunting ground of satisfaction"
dueling has gone very much out of fashion
SO in England, which has also contributed its
quota to the sanguinary record; and in this
country, where the native originality has so
often displayed itself in inventions of de-
light such as fighting with knives inside of
nm empty hogshead, rihe-practice from be-
hind trees, indiscriminate shooting co!oate
with six-shot revolvers and the like.
It is curious that the combat to the death
should have been favorite mode of settling
disputes from the earliest ages, although
most of the duels recorded in ancient history
were rather episodes of war than personal
quarrels. Such were the contests between
David and Goliath, Menelaus and Paris,
Achilles and Hector, Turnus and Hneas,
Eteocles and Polynices Pittacus and Phrynon,
the Horatii and the Curatii, Scipio Africanus
and the Spanish giant, etc, etc. But in
those early times the challenged did not
always consider themselves bound to ac-
eept the challenge. Thus when Julius
Caesar was challenged by Mark Antony,
he contented himself with replying, 81
am not tired of lfe"-an answer similar
to that given by Metellus to Sertorius, and
by Antigonus to Pyrrhus. Themistocles,
when struck by Eurybiades, merely observed,
''Strike, but hear me- In modern times
very little choice has been left to the chal-
lenged; for, inasmuch as duelling has been
almost exclusively confined to what is called
''society'-3 G., the upper ten, the army, the
navy, and the professions of law and of medi-
cine-very few men have had the moral
courage to Withstand the sneers the taboo
ing, the loss of position and of character (for
courage, not for probity) which the refusal
to accept challenge involves. And thus
many a coward has been driven to .'screwing
his courage to the stiching-place and bray
ing death or serious injury TO his person:
whereas, could be have had his way, he would
have followed the example of PAROLES, and
cried
crust, sword! cool, bushes! ana ParoIes live
safest in shame.'
1t is not our intention to reproduce
the hackneyed arguments for and against
ago. He correctly pointed out the true
motives which led to the resort to it, 'As a
punishment, said he, lit is absurd because
it is an equal chance whether the punishment
falls on the offender or the person offended;
nor is 1T much better as a reparation it being
difficult to explain in what the satisfaction
consists, OF how it tends to undo the injury
OF afford a compensation for Jury sustained.
The truth Is, it is not considered as either
law Of honor having annexed the imputation
OF cowardice to patience under an affront
challenges are given and accepted with no
other design than to prevent and wipe off this
suspicion, without malice against the adyer-
sary, without wish to destroy him; and
generally with no other concern than to pre-
serve the duellists own reputation and recep-
ton in the world. This is, however, not the
whole truth; for many duels have been fought
solely to crafty hatred; and we know that
some have also been fought with other
than vindictiVe designs; as where the
killing of the victim would remove an
obstacle to the qualification of lust or the sue
cess of ambitious projects. memorable
instance OF this was the famous duel between
the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of
Shrewsbury ia the reign of Charles III.
Among the duels which deserve to be re-
corded is that between the celebrated Irish
barristers, John Philpot Curran and john
Egan, niclnamed 'Bully Egan." The latter
was O man of immense size, while Curran was
slim and short The chances of being hit
were, therefore in favor of the former, for
Gas Curran said) it was like firing at hay
stack Curran therefore proposed to equalize
the chances by challling lines ON Egan's body.
so as to mark out his (Curran's) size thereon.
and by agreeing that no shot should count
which took effect outside of these lines. And
GprOp0S of the chances of being hit in duels
with pistols, well-known writer (Gilchrist)
estimates the chances of being killed as one
to fourteen, and of being wounded
rs one to six. His computation, how
ever, is based upon erroneous premises
for he takes into account large number
OF duels which were terminated by "del-
oping'-t. e., by one of the parties firing in
the air, or by firing wide and then apologz-
ing and also those duels in which the parties
appeared on the ground merely to satisfy the
requirements of society and not to iniure
each other; which kind Of duel the Irish term
'dumb-shooting. Very few French or Anne
fican duels have terminated thus: the reason
being, we take it, that the parties have gene
rally been in earnest In France the code of
honor is very strict and society there is so
lmbued with the martial spirit of the nation
that duelling may be looked upon as the
natural vent for its sensitiveness Frencbn1en
will go to law in matters Of property but they
despise having recourse to it in matters of
personal insult or injury. In England the
seducer is punished by being made to paw
damages, but in France he may lay his ac-
count to thrust through the body, and in this
country to bullet through the head Which
of the two modes is the better preseryatiye
of the honor of women? 1t must be owned.