New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-09-11

TIE DTbL As A SCNOOL CF WfNNERS.
We occasionally find gentleman of the old
school, who takes his whisky clear, and who
always carries rosy nose and Il gold-headcd
cane, who will say that the cause OF the bad
manners Che is apt to say bad mannahs) OF the
present day il The decay of ducling. :" When
ga man is liable b. be called to account, Sr
"for every slack word be utters. he is pretty
"snrc. Sir to keep civil tongue in his head
These rummy gentlemen Of the old school are
abolt as far wrong in this IA they are in every
other question Of ethics or Of taste. Nothing
is clearer than that the practice of duel
ine, wherever it is prevalent, has tendency
to make men more ready to quarrel. more
qncls 10 give as well as TO take o!lHnsc. On
the other hand, those social circles III
vlc,, the duel Is regarded as barbarons ana
r:diculous are now more than ever dlstin-
guiyhrtl b. careful courtesy Of speech and man
ncr amonc well-bred men. The duel being
imrCseiile in London, Boston, and Newly ORR,
among substantial people, quarrel runs
great risk Of being ridiculous. and Is therefore
InuclI more carefully avoided than II 1t were
til custom to settle all awkward situations
with thrust of q sword or Il pistol-sh0t III
used to be said by tae defenders Of duelIng
that there was 10 other method OF settllng
wrongs or avengng insults. But in those So
cieties where dueling has been given up, the
Immediate result has been that men are moro
careful Mt to give Oiftnsc, seeing that thcle
il no ready means OF arranging such matters
These remarks DO not, OF course, apply TO
those hnlf-bred club-iats of this and Othi
cities, who can call each other liars and thieves
without affecting their friendly relations nor arc
they applicable to the dozen so imbcciles who
imagine they are always ready to fight duels,
and plume themselves upon this fantastic hal
Inclination. a. = general rule, they do not
know what h0aor means, and even IL they
cocktail themselves up TO the point o. sending
y challenge, they do it merely TO be talked
about and not from any homicdal intention.
hinety-nine ont of every hundred Englshmcn
or Americans of decent position would no more
think of rescnting an impcrtiucnce By chai-
lcnge than they would think of going to Pal
e.ti,c to expiate a SIM A wholesome seli-ro-
spcct has other more efectl.l means OF de-
Tense against every form of insolonce.
The duel is not good school Of manners.
The most foul-mouthcd man among all the
journalists of France is the leading dncliat OF
The century, and his example, both in respect
of ytuDcratiye language and OF dulcknrss TO
quarrel, has been followed Ia such an extent
rs seriously to damage journalism in Paris.
If one wishes TO see what the duel cali do to
refine the manners of men, one has only to
look at the tone OF journalism in Paris com
paled with that IN London. decent London
papcr never mentions the name OF rival
editor unless in terms of compliment; while it
il rare to see a number Of a Parsian
sheet of the " c,iivalrOu5r school which
is not filled with the vilcst abuse OF
its rivals ana opponents The fact that NJ.
Cassagnac has by steady practice for some
twenty years made himself the best tenccr III
France, instead of cultivating IN him IA spirit
of magnaninty. has only encouraged him to IL
career of boundless blackguardism. The rest
of the fighting editors of France are not much
more courteous. The letters which passed be-
tween CassagIiac and RochcfoIt, on the occa-
sion of their recent affair, seem impossible TO
have been written by gentlemen desiring to
cut each others threats in IL gcntlcmanly way.
Each called the other sneak and coward;
each GENEROUSLY insisted that the other was
afraid of him; each said he would certainly
kill the other and they did not fight after
all, because each wanted the advantage.
American du,ls are so gTotesquey ridiculous
that it seems Ike wasting words to refer to
,utm. EGi the pross dispatches have madO so