The daily Alaskan., 1915-07-12
The King SCapegOat An Account of a Duel Fought In the Sixteenth Century.
By r. A. MITCHEL

Iustration of the difference between the method of settling affairs of hon. or among men In the olden time and the beginning of the nineteenth cen tury, when mortal combat to settle diff faculties between individuals may be said to have received Its quietus in the new world in the death of Alexander Hamilton at the hands of Aaron Burr.l
 How comes 1t, GuichOt, that you are able to make so brave a show with the revenues which you have, for l know that they are not excessiveT
 The question was asked of Guy Cha bot Sieur de Jarnac by the dauphin, who afterward became Henry IT., king of France.
 Jarnac, embarrassed at such ques- ton, was unfortunate in the choice of words used In his reply. He said that his stepmother kept him, giving him everything he required. Henry delib- erately miscOnstrued the statement and reported to members of the court that Jarnac had bOasted of d love af- fair with his stepmother.
 Mortified, indignant at such an ac- cusatlon, the young man publicly de clared that whoever had made the as- sertion was "a malicious villain and had wlckedly lied" Then, hastening to his fathers chateau, he threw him self at his feet and protested that he was innocent of the charge. Having convinced his father, he returned to court intent upon averaging the injury done him.
 The dauphin found himself in a very unpleasant position. When princes err there must be q scapegoat Francis VlyOwne, Sieur de Chatagneric, a cour- tier in favor both with King Francis and the daUphin, q young warrior of great prOwcss, though a friend of Jar nae, seeing that he would confer a great favor on the future king by do- ing so, took up the quarrel in his be- half, declaring that 1t was to him and him alone that Jarnac had made his boast.
 Duels at this time were part of the feudal tradition and law of France, requiring the consent of the king, Francis referred the matter to the privy council, which after a long debate recommended that permission to fight be refused. But no sooner had the king died and the dauphin ascended the throne than Chatagnerie addressed a letter to the new king, repeating his accusation, whereupOn JarnaC made a request that the duel be permitted to take place. The king consented, and arrangements for the contest were forthwith made.
 Chatagnerie was twenty-siX years old, while his adversary was thirty-siX. The former was also of great strength and very ready with bis sword. He was continually boasting of his feats of arms and ever ready to pick quar- rel. In short, he was just the man to vlndicate his royal master in his con temptible charge.
 At that time the same rule of the code, that the challenged party should have the choice of arms, existed as 1t has since. JarnaC had accused his ad- versary of a lie and had been challeng- ed: therefore he was permitted to fight in any way he pleased. Upon the ad- vice of his fencing master he demand ed the heavy armor and long double edged swords in vogue a century be- fore. The reason for this was that his opponent had been wounded In battle in the right arm and had never re- gained perfect use of it, and the heavy iron gauntlet and sword would naturally hamper the movements of this arm. Chatagnerie's great strength | gave him an advantage in closing with his enemy, downing him and stabbing him while prostrate. The armor in this case would be to his disadvantage. Jarnac also stipulated for heavy shields, which would be an advantage to the weaker party, who would nat | urally be on the defensive.
 Chatagnerie seemed to have no fear whatever of making an easy conquest of his adversary. As he was accus- ! toned to boast of the deeds he had | performed, he now boasted of the deed he was about to perform. He ordered I a banquet to be served in his tent on the field, to which he invited the court to celebrate his victory.
 ! Naturally the affair was the sensa- tion of the day. The courtiers were largely on the side of the kings scape- goat, and Henry did not deny that his l own sympathies were with Chata- gnerie. The provincial nobility, of whom the Jarnac family were mem, bers, regarded Jarnac as the defender ! of their honor and looked upon him as |, their champion. One of the powerful Guise family was to act as second for the royal sCapegOat, and the Duke de YendOme of a rival family to the Gulses asked the kings permission to s act for Jarnac. He was refused and, dis. gusted at the kings favontism, with drew, followed by the other princes :. of the blood The constable of France then filled the position.
 The king having announced his in' tentIon to preside at the encounter, the e 1 ,o,.t,I1, r,,odn orro oDunn,apfs in ap.