, 1888-09-25
DUELS AND DUELISTS.
AN OLD MASTER AT ARMS COMMENT
ON BOULANGER.

more real, nara, to the death duelS than
Col. Monastery, the veteran disciple of the
art of running one's fellow man through
the ribs. Col. Monastery has fought duels
in Europe, in Mexico, South and Central
America and other countries where the
sword is the arbiter of the quarrel.
To a reporter who enjoyed q chat with
him the other day, the colonel explained
why Gen. ~Boulanger's course in his recent
encounter had damaged his ~(Boulanger's)
reputation as a great soldier.
Gen. Boulanger," said he, in his brisk
way, from what l learn by the papers,
brought about his defeat By his lack of
GOODNESS and consequent fury of attack.
He rushed blindly on his foe, losing ell
sight of prudence and skill in the desire
to infict injury. For an expert swords
man to overcome such an attack is an
easy matter. He has only to wait coolly
for his antagonist to leave an opening and
then sail in. ~BouIanger's fatal im~petuosity
In this instance is the best possible proof,
to the view of any soldier, of his lack of
ability to command. Such a man makes
a good fighter in ordinary warfare, but no
commander. He is fitted to obey orders;
to give them-neverl | AVE admired
Boulanger until now, and looked for
great things from him as a general. But
in my judgment he has no discretion. His
conduct in this duel ~justiies the suppose
ton that in a great conflict, in which two
great armies were engaged, he would act
in precisely the same way as he did in his
fight with Floquet; he would hazard all
on one desperate move, and as a result
lose. This, mind you, is the view of an
old soldier, and | tell you it can't be
wrong. A hot head makes a good fighter,
but no general"
Passing on to a general commentary on
dueling, past and present, Col. Monastery
expressed the keenest contempt for the
average French duel of the day. 1t is the
explicit understanding, he said, that when
we Partisan gentlemen of today decide to
settle a quarrel will the rapier, the first
flow of blood, no matter by which re-
c2iyed, shall end the combat. He thought
the existence of this understanding was
the French governments pretext for its
recognition of dueling as a national in
stitution.
There are, of course, occasional excep-
lions to this rule" he added, land there
Is nearly always an exception when one of
the combatants is a foreigner. A French
man will always kill a foreigner in n duel
If he can, particularly if it is an English
man. This was the case in the famous
duel between Mr.. Dillon, an English jour.
nalist, and the Duke de Grammont de
Chartreuset, which took place in Paris
eighteen or twenty years ago. The duke
was a thorough master of the rapier, and
the E~nglishman knew nothing of the
weapon At the very first assault the
duke, by a skillful play, sent his adver-
sary's sword flying from his hand. He
then sprang like lightning on his un-
armed adversary and ran him through.
AS fought today, however, the French
duel with swords is mere child's play and
is always ended at the first scratch. 1t is
different, of course, when the duel is
fought with pistols. Firearms cannot be
fooled with safely, and are much more
likely to kill han to main. There was
an instance of this in Paris a few weeks
ago, when an artist shot dead at the first
fire q journalist who had too harshly criti-
cised some of his pictures.
when a Frenchman who is challenged
to fight a duel chooses pistols as the
weapons, one may know he means bust
ness. His choice Of swords only means a
little theatrical display and a reconcilia-
ton. 1t is evident, though, that the
Floquet-Boulanger affair was serious
enough. Boulanger plainly meant to kill
his adversary, and when Floquet saw
what he was at l have no doubt but that
he fought to kill also. No man can see
another striving to take his life and not
return the compliment. Between you and
me, l think Boulanger was in great luck.
A man who employs the tactics he did in
the presence of a skillful swordsman will
Db hllIeu III HluD cases OUT OF Ien-
With regard to the code in other coun-
tries, Col. Monsterey remarked that the
men of Mexico and the Central American
republics were the fiercest and most in
v%eterate duelists. He recalled the famous
duel Of twenty years ago in the City of
Mexico, between Col. Garcia, an Ameri.
can, and Col. Mejea, a Mexican. Rifles
were the weapons used, and Col. Garcia,
who was lame, chose to fight sitting in "a
| Rho1r He nnuar rNon f-1-, A.. iii.
though, for the range was short, and the
Mexican shot iii dead at the first fire.
Col. Monastery has in his studio the rec
ords of an instance where he was able, On
the shortest kind Of notice, to extricate a
truculent young man from an extremely
embarrassing predicament. He was sit
ting in his Office in New York one gloomy
evening in 1871, when there was a nerv-
Gus knock on the door. Come in" cried
he, and on the invitation there entered q
young man, who proved on inquiry to be
one Col. Canzi, a soldier of the days of
Garibaldi, who Immediately began to IN
fold the tale of his plight. He was
under contract, it seemed, to fight at
dawn with Gen. Fardella, also a tried and
courageous veteran. The weapons to be
used were sabers, and Canzi knew about
rs much of handling a saber as he did Of
cooking a Welsh rarebit. He needed
sleep badly, and two hours was all he had
in which to learn enough to save his life.
Those blessed two hours the colonel
employed in teaching him two vicious
cuts, either one of which, if well deliv-
cred, was calculated to cut off his adver-
sary in his prime. He was told to bide
his time, wear the general out by defen-
sive tactics, and then cend his cut home
ut the proper moment. Canzi departed
full of hope, and followed out his orders
to the letter. After twenty minutes of
hard fighting, during which he success
fully repealed Fsrdella's attacks, he de-
livered one of his two cuts with such con.
scientious effect that the generals sword
arm was slit clear from elbow to waist,
completely disabling him. The press of
the country teemed with extended &C