The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-30
DUELLIyC IN EUROPE.
Foreign DuelS Not So Harmless As
Usually Believed.

Diplomat" In the Courier-JournaI.
There is no law of continental Europe
| that is so extensively honor ed in the
breach as that which prohibits duelling.
1t was only the other day that Baron
Won Bruer, the Austrian minister of war.
declared in parliament that the present
/ condition of society did not permit of
/ the abolition Of duelling, although it is
/ forbidden by the laws of the land Young
! Emperor William has given public ex-
| preston to his approval of the so-called
/ code of honor, and we have quite recently
| seen the ministers of justice in italy and
! France, as well as the governor of Mad
! rid challenging political adversaries to
! meet them on the field, while some months
! ago the Hungarian minister of war, Baron
/ keverlary, fought sanguinary duel with
/ SabreS, his antagonist being a radical
political, in the garrison church at Buda
! PCsth, or y half an hour after the conclu-
/ sion of high mass on Sunday The French
| and Italian ministers of war were
! fully alive to the responsibilities
and dignities of their lofty Office, as
/ well as to the necessity of their own
/ strict observance of the laws which they
| are called upon TO administer They
! thoroughly appreciate the unfortunate eff
! feet of their infraction of laws of which
| they We're the principal guardians All
| four are men of high honor, integrity,
! enlightment, and of mature age and eX
! perience. And yet they each felt con-
! strained to assume the role of principal
| in duels, in open defianceof the laws of
! their respective countries.
| My object in drawing attention TO the
! above cases is to assist me in my endeavor
! to respond to the recent structures that
| have appeared in the columns of the
! American press on the subject of duels.
| As an Anglo-Saxon I thoroughly appreci-
| ate the sensible comment to the effect that
| when duel is not criminal it is ridicu-
| lous. But unfortunately, the people be-
! longing to the higher graces of society on
! the continent of Europe are allowed no
| choice in the matter. They cannot help
! themselves, and the man who either
! declines to receive a challenge, or else
| refrains from sending a cartel in case he
| has been subjected to insult, incurs the
! same social Obloquy as man who has
! been caught cheating at cards. Sooner
! than incur this Ostracism, this reduction
| to the condition of pariah cut Off from
| all social intercourse with fellOw-creat-
| ureS, a man prefers to run the risk of
! being either ridiculous or criminal
| the latter merely in the eyes of the law.
! Society is very lenient in both these
| cases, but it Is unforgiving and relentless
| toward Jtle man VINO Is cOESlueEbQ 10 nave
! shown the white feather.
! No matter how much one would object
! to the duello on principle, the fact re-
mains that it is a recognized social insti-
! tuition abroad, to which not only the peo-
! pie of the Old World, but every American
! who sets his foot on the continent of Eu-
1 rope is forced TO submit under the pen
atty of being cut off from all social inter
| course with the foreign people among
| whom he sets up his tent, and of expos
ing himself to insult, indignity and public
Obloquy Now, the American is very
social in his tastes, both at home ana
! abroad. He has faculty and fondness
| for making friends in foreign lands, and
| by reason of this remarkable adapta bility
to his surroundings for the time being
and to his readiness to submit to the re-
| quirements of local usage, finds a ready
| welcome in continental Europe-a well
| come which, however, would be withheld
| were he to put into practice abroad the
| sentiments with regard to the duello
| which he is accustomed to profess at
| home On the continent YOU have no
| choice, and no matter what your objec-
tions to duelling, either on the score of
| principle or on that of ridicule, you have
| to submit to the social code in this par
ticular or else find yourself treated as
moral leper alike by the classes and the
masses.
Even the British government-so strin-
! gent and severe with regard to duelling
| on British sOil-has expressed its readi-
ness to admit the force of this argument;
for year or two ago when the admins
| tration was taken to task IN Parliament
! over a duel in France in which member
of the Queens diplomatic service had Ia
! ken part, the foreign minister, after con
! sultatiOn with his colleagues arose and
defended the course of the young seCre-
4or. of ON no VA
the latter being called upon by the
! nature of his duties to reside abroad and
to maintain social intercourse with the
! people of the capital in which he was sit
| uated, was forced to conform himself TO
the social institutions and require
! meuts of the locality, failing which his
! position would become UntenaDle and his
| career of usefulness in the place termi-
mated.
1t is not therefore, the unwilling prin-
| cipal in a duel, who is deserving of the
ridule and censure of the American press,
but the duello itself, as a social institu-
ton.
Nor are encounters of this kind, even
| when they result blOodlesSly, as ridicu-
lous as they may appear to those who
! have never been called upon to play
| part therein. Whatever the uninitiated
| may choose to say about the affair it is
very far from laughing matter to live
| through night with the knowledge that
on the morrow you are either to be
hacked at with sword, lunged at with a
rapier, or else popped at, not merely
once, but often several times in sue
cession, with a pistol, and at relative
ly short distances. In the case of
a duel with pistols there is of course
| always large number of chances
| that your adyersary's aim may be uncer-
tain, his hand lacking in steadiness, and
that he may fail to hit you. But there
are also a number of chances that his aim
may prove true, and as the appointed
| hour approaches, these chances of being
| hit appear infinitely greater than those
of escape 1t must be borne in mind,
| however, that the so-called hostile en-
counter" takes place not at the moment
of quarrel and of the challenge, but a
| number of hours later, after all the ex-
element and heat of the controversy
! have Gained down and one has had full
time for reflection, both as to the causes
as well as to the possible consequences
| of the duel. Especially unpleasant and
! ominous do the latter appear when one
! happens to know that happiness and the
welfare of others both near and dear are
| certain to be jeopardized by a fatal issue
| of the conflict. Moreover, it is one thing
| to face the bullet of a conceded and often
! far distant enemy in the heat and excite
| Tnpnt of hattie and when there are hun