Evening star., 1936-07-26
Germany Legalizes
Duelling
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

mas returned 10 tne 0uel as legalized
method Of settling affairs of honor and,
from now on, so far as the censorship
permits, 1t may be expected that the
news will not infrequently report bloody
and often fatal affairs. After three
years study, special commission has
recommended legalization of dueHing
and that the recommendation will be
incorporated in the law is regarded as
a foregone conclusion, in view of the fact
that the recommending commission was
headed by the minister Of justice, DR..
Franz Guertner.
The action Is described as atavistic
because the duel originated among tn.
Germans. The classic combats such as
that between Achilles and Hector were
champions of armies. Among the Ger
mans, however, the duel was q fixed
method of settling all manner Of dis
puteS. During the last century in many
countries, although not in Germany,
man who killed another in q duel was
tried for murder and there were several
executions. Among the early Germans
the contrary practice prevailed. If the
man vanquiShed in duel survived his
wounds, he was hanged! AS early as
Jul, OllC 1CIuldll NlIl6 GuIlQCDdIu ut.
creed the duel as a proper method of
settling disputes, and when a bishop
demonstrated, he pointed out that the
duel had its religious connotations be-
cause God would be on the side of the
right in the contest.
r
Duelling was not only resorted to for
redress Of honor, but was used TO settle
n ek1tV Nf
allied matters which today would 60 into
the civil courts. In some countries judi
cial combat was compulsory, none being
excepted but women, cripples and those
over go years of age. Priests were not
exempt, although they were permitted to
employ champions to act for them.
The duel received its greatest adver-
tising and impetus from the famous
challenge Of Francis I of France TO
Charles v of Spain. The prospect of a
personal combat between two of the
greatest princes of the age electrified
the world. Actually, the fight never
took place, but inasmuch as king had
thrown down a cartel and another king
had lifted it, the idea of the duel seemed
highly sponsored.
1t is certain that more duels took place
in France than anywhere else. 1t is
stated that in a 10-year period in the
reign of Henry w, 5000 fell in duels.
The high mortality was due, in part, to
the circumstance that seconds as we'll as
principals fought. Further, there often
were many seconds for each principal
and a duel over one INSULT might be
that one man had diSliked the cut Of
anotherS doublet-would see 5 or 10
men on each side, several falling.
The Cardinal Prince Richelieu deter
mined to put down the practice and
issued an edict imposing a penalty of
death. The French aristocracy could
not believe he meant it. The Comte
de Bouteville, who already had fought
81 duels, fought the Comte de Mont
morenci at high noon in the Place
Royale in Paris, vanquishing him.
Bouteville and his second, the Comte de
Chapelles, were arrested, convicted and
beheaded.
There were periods in which dueling
almost died out because of strict en-
forcement of DEGREES and then would
come strong revival. During the mi
nority of Louis Nv, 1t is said that 1000
mobiles fell in duels. Duels continued
throughout the nineteenth century al
though there was tendency to ridicule
them. For instance Ste. Beuve, on
accepting a challenge, fought holding
an umbrella over his head.
In England the duel was constantly
employed to settle all kinds of disputes,
including civil affairs. 1t may be a sur
prise that as late as 1917 the English law
allowed such settlement of such disputes.
When Thornton was accused of murder
ing Mary Ashford, the girls brother,
who had made the charge. was chal-
lenged by Thornton. Lord Ellenborough
was compelled to hold that, under the
| law, Thornton had that right. The next
year the law was repealed.
Duels were frequent in the Georgian
| period. Some celebrated persons in
volved were Charles James Fox, Pitt,
Canning, Viscount Castlereagh, the Duke
| of York, the Duke of Richmond, the
Duke of wellington. and Lord Camelford.
perhaps the most noted of all the
duelists.
Dueling reached its most savage
lengths in America. One year after the
landing Of the Pilgrims two Of them
| fought. During the Revolution there
were some notable duels. Gen. Charlie!
Lee and Col. John Laurens fought, a,
did Gems. Cadwalader and Conway
Button Gwinnett. signer of the Declara-
ton of Independence, was killed in a
duel with Gen. Mcintosh. Virginia
and Georgia were hotbeds of dueling.
The duels of Hamilton and Burr are
| history, as are those of Gen. jackson
and Maj. Wilkinson, Capts. Barron and
Decatur, Henry Clay and John Randolph
| Of Roanoke. Richard Somers, an officer
| of the Intrepid, is reputed to have fought
| three duels in a single day.
Not so much the number, but the
savagery Of American duels set them
apart. There were duels in which the
adversaries stood with handkerchief on
the ground between them. The only
possible chance of escape was the mis-
firing of one of the pistols. A frequently
used form called for the duelists Ia
stand back to back. At q word they
would walk six or o dozen PAGES. as
e-arranged. whirl and fire. Then
there were the flendish knife duels, espe-
cially after James Bowie had invented
the Bowie knife. The men fought in
some cases with their left wrists hand
cuffed to each other. Often both duel.
lists died. II one survived he would
have to be unlocked from the corpse
Of his opponent.
Originators of the duel, the Germans
have been its most steadfast supporters.
Although In the reign Of Emperor