The Opelousas courier., 1891-01-31

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civilization, as to explain it. We must
distinguish between two kinds of duels
fought in German universities. One
kind, which is not peculiar to students
nor to Germans, is a contest for life and
death to settle some serious difficulty On
some point of honor. This is common
to all nations On the European continent.
Even in this country such duels have not
yet quite disappeared. In Europe they
will not disappear as long as society
thinks it beneath the dignity of agentle.
mar to bring certain offenses into court
or considers a mans honor stained by
insults for which there is no redress in
law. How powerful a hold this code of
honor has upon society is shown by the
fact that no military officer can keep his
epaulettes who declines a duel or who,
under certain circumstances, does not
challenge. To take a single instance, a
man like Ferdinand Lassaile (he Social
list leader, who personally wa greatly
opposed to the duel, felt himself obliged
to submit to the custom and died its vic.
tim. This duel to the death may have
originated in a desire for vengeance; in
many cases it was undoubtedly an invo-
cation of a higher power to prove the
falseness Of the charge implied in the
insult.
The modern duelist, though the baser
feeling Of revenge may often guide his
deadly weapon, has another philosophy.
1t is not the destruction of his opponent
which he desires; he tries, by exposing
himself to the danger of being killed and
wounded, to prove his courage, which is
the first of manly virtues, and thus to
clear his honor. This is the reasoning
Of society, which will not accept anyone
as a gentleman who declines to show his
courage in this way. Most duels are
fought for this reason; it is the condem-
nation of society which is feared more
than the weapon of the opponent. In
fact, the weapons commonly chosen, pis-
tolls, do not call for much courage. The
danger is over in a moment; there is not
much chance for a display of skill, and
experience shows that such duels very
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AS a rule a duel with pistols is a game
of hazard; aiming is not permitted, and
int may be sure that often the witnesses
fail to put bullets in the murderous wea-
pons. So it is generally considered a
very harmless affair. The start in the
dust of the morning, the pretended Sc
crecy, the romantic spot generally chosen,
bring every participant to the agreeable
delusion that something extremely inter-
esting is going on, and the contestants
are led to believe themselves real heroes.
But there is hardly more chance for In.
jury in a pistol duel than in a journey
over a w~ell-managed railroad. Besides
this hazardous character of the pistol
duel, which is due to the way it is man
aged, the weapon itself lacks another
quality for chivalrous contest: It offers
no possibility for defense.
Fencing duels with any weapon are of
a more dangerous character and there.
fore require more courage. Even when,
as in certain notorious French duels, the
first drop of blood drawn, no matter how
slight a wound is inflicted, ends the con-
test, one has to look his enemy in the
face for some time and see the blade,
ready to punish him, flash before his
eyes. The most serious duel is that
fought with heavy curved sabres Krumrn-
saeben, which mostly inficts severe
wounds. The duel is generally con-
tinued until one Of the contestants is
unable to go on. Many die in conse-