The weekly intelligencer., 1900-09-22
MAJESTY OF THE SWORD.
n Has nssa Knows - . CestrsiiiaG
Fewer % Every civil
tsed Race.

10 Is impossible 70 name any weapon
as interesting as the sword, which
may be traced back I'LL II IL lost In the
mists Of the most ancient tradition.
Though its blade bears the blood stains
OF every civilized race under the sun,
yet a halo % romance is equally inseP-
arabic to its presence among most civ
ilized nations, says the London sketch.
Probably there is no one better read
in the history Of the sword, as there
Is no man better versed In lie use, than
Capt. ALFRED Hutton, =. S. A., who in
herited his love Of fencing from his
father, himself a pupil Of the famous
Angelo. as Capt, Alfred Hutton was OF
that great Instructors weil-known
son; while the auttonS, both father
and son, belonged TO the Dragoon
guards.
Capt. Hutton lives in spacious cham
bers in Jermyn street-ons Of his
rooms makes Q convenient sehool-of-
arms, and lite wslls are decorated with
trophies like those Of an armory. Here
you may cote plate. scale and chain
armor from Afghanistan, oriental
dragers and war quoits; double-hand-
ed swords and cup-hilted rapiers Of the
seventeenth century, . Milaness sword
with . swept" hilt. dating between
i540-4s, Elizabsthan rapiers a. used In
Shakespears's time, buckler Of Henry
the wills reign, . gorget in use when
Charles II. was king, and . ease of
douhle-swords, rs used by Tybait when
fighting Mercutlo With a sword In each
hand; and these lead the converse tion
to the sword practice as introduced by
Shakespeare In his plays.
ITO the swordsman Shakespeare's
plays are especially interesting, but
none more 80 than the play Romeo
and Juliet" said CsVt. Hutton. "Tha
play Is full Of fighting In Singls com
bat. Firstly, you have the encounter
between the retAinsrs with swords and
bseklers; Seoondly, the duel with sin
gle swords between Tybalt and BEN
vollo. which finishes In peculiar ssix.
urs Of the wrist. Then there 10 the en-
counter between Tybalt and Mercutio,
each armed with tive swordS After.
ward comes Romso's hght with Ty-
bait with . rapisr and . dagger. illus-
tratlve Of the death Of Tybalt by means
Of the thrust, pasyato soto. delivered
on Blended knee; and lastly, the fight
between Romeo and Paris In the tomb
with rspier and dagger, the final blow
being given to Paris - his wrist Is
seized"
THE history Of the evolution of the
sword from its first simple form would
be scarcely possible without illustra.
tionT was suggested.
"Not easily. OF course, l can ex.
plain the changes BY the swords hang.
ing on yoneer walls. But, when you
come TO description, that the simple1,
form Of sword. with Q straight
transverse hilt like cross, gradually
developed two or more branched
guards till it became . swept hilt. A,
10 the blade, In the course Of the six.
teenth century the ordinary straight
swo-edged sword was heightened, mar
rowed into what 10 known as the Ital
ian or Spanish rapisr. Afterward, In
the early part Of the eighteenth cen,
tury, the use Of the edge was practical
ly abandoned in raplsr play. anc. tn,
French bsyonet-shaped duslng sword
and 20 led to the permsnent introduc
tion for military purposes Of the sin
gls-edged broadswOrd Of moderr
times.
"Dueling 10 nowadays. Of course, alb
solutely Illegal; besides, 1t is unneees
sary, since the legislature has provided
remedies against injuries to ones hon
or as well as to ones property and. per
son; but formerly dueis formed
handy means Of redress, yet one much
much abused. At one time men Tough
for any or no cause OF quarrel
while the seconds frequently engage,
on their own account. Doubtless III
domestic use of swords greatly fostere,
dueling, and so great did the evil be
come in France in the time of Henr
~. that 1t is said no less than 400
gentlemen fell in duels 10 a period o
eight years during that kings reign
Many ecicts and ordinances had bee
made against dueling in France, bu
Cardinal Richelieu was the first to en-
force the death penalty; this and oths
examples which were made, for tim,
checked the evil"