The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1881-04-22
Ancedoic al narrr YeIrerto.n

The rules and regulations for the ar.
augiag and carrying out Of affairs Of
lonor- tile duel during the latter part
I the last century, and the beginning of
he present, were exhaustive and precise.
Certain irfractions Of social order were
Ella to he mpardonnble A blow, for
Distance, could not be overlooked; and
hen there were certain acts set down as
-quiyalcut to blGw-such as giving the
ie direct, and so on In short-we
pcalS now particularly Of ireland when
lnau has been guilty of offering insult
any kind, il was II once determined,
N reference TO the rules, what the repar-
ton must he. The sword and pistol
we're always in order, though the thirty
tx articles Of the Code, sometimes called
The Polite Commandments, were
ramed with special aim to protect the
,uietly- disposed and weakly citizens
rom insult, as fnr rs possible; and the
e50rt 60 arms, under this code, was
voided where it could he properly
one.
This introduction will enable us better
understand the pith of the following
story, which was told to me by n son of
he sod.
Among the gny and festive Of the FASH
enable society of Cork there was not
ne more prominent than was Barry Yel-
crton, the wealthy and ecoentIicnephew
lord Avonmore. In the use Of the
word and pistol he was master. He
could shoot a finger from glove III the
air, al twenty PAGES, hit the bulls eye
nineteen times in twenty at thirty PAGES,
raising his pistol. and firing at the word;
while 1T sword-play he was deemed we'll
nigh invincible.
Ono night, Mt the Mayors ball, where
IL large and select company were gath
cred, Barry allowed himself to drink to
4 state Of wild intoxication; and while
in this unfortunate condition, he man
aged to Insult a number of orderly men.
Some he iostled violently; TO others he
used grossly abusive language; and still
others he insulted by treading cruelty
oil their toes. What more he might
have done, orwhat the closing scene Of
the night might have been, had he been
suffered to keep on, there is no telling;
hut at length two Of his friends, assist
ing his valet, got him away from the
scene.
On the following morning, when he
was able to realize what he had done,
he wrote a note to each Of the men whom
he had insulted, appointing q meeting
for that afternoon, at three o'clock, at
the riding-room of the regimental bar
racks; and these notes were dispatched
by trusty friends.
AT the appointed hour three-and-
naanv,,1,lA1 noDlh nf
them having come in answer to regular
summons; and i'll due time appeared
Barry Yelverton, with swords and pis-
tolls borne by servant, while in his own
hand he carried blackthorn staff,
Upon referring to a paper which he
held, he found that to six Of the gentle
men present he had given offence which
the code made equivalent to q blow; so
to each of these, in turn, he offered his
blackthorn staff, bidding them to take
satisfaction by striking him over the
back, in retaliation, as severely as their
needs Of revenge, or redress, might die
tate. To five others he had offered af-
front which might be wiped away by
simply craving pardon; and to these he
handed each q card, with the simple
sentence thereon written, ,-'I ask your
pardon" To the remaining moiety he
turned and said, with polite bow:
s.To you, gentlemen, can only offer
such satisfaction as you may demand.
Here are swords and pistols; ! acknowl-
edge your right, and will give each his
turn, us he shall elect,
We need hardly add that the affair
ended in a hearty laugh and jolly time.
The wounded honors were all healed,
and Barry had established himself firmly
in the good opinion Of those whom he
had offended.