New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-07-03
pity by the lawyers plea; and did they actu-
ally think it was worth while to give this
shrewd rascal chance to reformf
THE aFI ED OF HONOR"


The circumstances connected with the late
duel between two Virginia newspaper editors
suggest some reflections which it may not be
entirely proftless to consider for moment,
touching very marked contrast in the social
conditions Of the North and South. Almost
the first thing that will occur to The thoughtful
observer is that there is hardly step In the
whole transaction, from the giving of the first
offence to the return of the principals from the
q field of honor" that would not have been veil
nigh inconceivable in any part of the Northern
OF New England States In the first place 1t is
hardly conceivable that the editors of two
leading newspapers of influence and repute
should conduct political argument with the
application of such epithets to each other rs
slarn and coward Should such a thing
happen, the community in which it took place,
instead of becoming excited over the prospect
of duel, would calmly dismiss the offender as
a BLACKBOARD and give him no further thought.
Or should challenge pass upon such prov
ocatiOn, all reputable citizens would hold the
parties to be feather. Drained fools seeking no.
toriety by violating law, and would expect the
constables to stop summarily their lamentable
nonsense. II would he hard to find two such
principal fools to begin with; harder to find
two cold -blOOded accessories to stand by and
see murder done or attempted, and lmpos-
sible to find cOmmunit y in which everybody
concerned in such brutal folly was not thor
oughly despsed. Not that we have not had
at the North upon occasion sort OF travesty
of duelling by dudes-pewter limitations of the
pinchbeck original. They hardly count; they
only provoke mirth.
In Virginia these gentlemen of educa-
tion we presume, editors of influential news
papers, leaders in politics and moulders of pub
lie OpiniOn-undertaking to debate political
question, shortly lose their temper, and con-
clude by calling each other disgraceful names
Them although an express statute makes duel
ling felony and attaches heavy penalties
thereto. one of which is disfranchisement all
Virginia is on the alert for an affair of honor"
1t is understood that one man is eternally dis
honored and disgraced if he does not solicit the
other to violate law, and that the other suffers
equal shame if he does not comply. AT least
four men-the seconds having been changed
once to evade detection-are easily found who
are willing to put themselves to great incon-
venience and expense to ccnnive at crime and
put these dsputants where they can without
interruption endeavor to kill each other with
pistols at distance of eight PAGES. languid
and sluggish constabulary make pretence of
pursuit, beating every bush but the right one
for their quarry, while the whole community
bend forward in anxiety-not to hear that the
fugitives have been apprehended, but to learn
the details of the duel and which was killed
or wounded One of these disputants being
near-sighted hits nothing, but receives ball in
his hip from his clear-sighted antagonist.
This ends the affair; the unscratchcd hero
raises his hat politely to his foe and walks of
the field the wounded man is carried of by
his friends. And the two viii presently resume
their vocation, only to repeat this unutteraGle
idiocy so long as Virginia society and Virginia
public opinion uphold what Virginia law de-
nounces as felony.
Meantime, what has become of the main
question which these hot-tempered cavaliers
started to discuss 7 Have they settled thatY
Not at all. Upon its merits has either one
gained point Apparently rot. They have
demonstrated nothing in the world except
their own inability to conduct an argument
without resort to ply steal violence. The orig
NAL question faded out Of sight the moment
they began calling each other liar" and
coward That raised an irrelevant issue
which could not be settled except with pistols
at eight PAGES And they did not even settle
that. Any other Backyard may call either
one of them liar" OF coward tomorrow and
the ducllist must do the same thing over again
to establish his veracity and courage. Nothing
whatever has been definitely settled or con-
cluded by this bloodthirsty Stiffness What
these men have actually done is easily stated.
They undertook ali argument got mad, became
blackguards, committed felony, one, a clear
sighted man, has the satisfaction OF knowing
that he shot a near-sighted man whom he had
at disadvantage and the near-sghted man has
got pistol ball in his hip. All this to no pur-
pose not letter of any of the questions in
dispute having been affected by it.
These things are done differently at the
North. Here society does not expect man to
challenge another who calls him liar or cow
ard (; it sets down the assaiant as a BLACKBOARD
and passes hin, by. A challenged party here loses
nothing by refusing to go out, but the challeng-
ing party is by general con sent set down an ass.
In short, al arguments are not conducted nor dis
putes settled in that way. And we are decidedly
of the opinion that the Northern way is the
more sensible and the better of the two.
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TJDINGS or COMFORT And JOY.
Democratic unhappiness in Ohio is increasing
Il