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the most diftinguished favour was referved for the actrees; and more than one of us paid them affiduous attention. I was never of that number: the youthful hufband of an amiable woman till younger than myself, I never felt, thick heaven, the leat deire to be unfai hful. My tafte for the theatre was the only attraction that carried me thither. One of our conneilleurs, the chevalier D'Onval, had fo well availed himfelf of h's fupple difpolition, that I had contracted with him what is called friendthip. He had wit, tale, a cultivated mind, and a fentimental philofophy of which he made a great difplay. Having perfuaded me that with a portion of gallantry and libertiniim, he nevertheless retained a fufficient flock of honour, I fuffered myself to be taken in his toils. He came often to my houfe; and as he did not feem more forward to pay his court to my wife than decency permitted. I entertained no diaruft of him, and ftili lefs of her. But what a fnare did the villain lay for us both!!

days. I will be anfwerable for their being faithfully reitored.' I had the weaknefs to confent; and was guilty of the till greater fault of making it a fecret to my wife. Hence arofe the misfortunes of which we have been the two innocent victims.

You know what impreffion the fight of her diamonds made on Hortelfia's mind; you know with what addrefs the artful viilain had prepared for her this diftreffing piece of itage effect. His eyes were upon her; he faw her leave the theatre; and he left me with a view of feducing her, while feigning to offer condolation. The fainting of a lady in the boxes had occasioned fome duburbance. I heard her nan ed by thofe about me; I left the theatre, and went home with all the anxiety of the moit tender affection. Judge of the revolution that took place in my mind on entering her clofet.'

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"O heaven! what a scene of villany!' exclaimed Hortenfia, and what a horrible character have you expofed to my eyes! I am avenged,' replied Vervanne. Known for an adventurer, flighted, and tired of his ex fence, his infolence provoked the chaifement he deferved; he bore it like a coward; and died as he ought to die.

At one of thofe fuppers to which our fociety admitted the poffeffors of theatrical talents, one of the most ceJebrated actreffes brought and recommended a young and handfome candidate for public applaufe, whofe first appearance was announced. ThisBut, my dear Hortenfia, what a young woman's name was Melania. She was to appear in a part, the clume of which was faid to require a fuit of diamonds; as yet he had none; and the felt the want as an humiliation. Thofe of her friend were known; and he would not have it faid that her jewels were borrow. d.'

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world of forrows would a few words of explanation have fpared us! Without the most intire confidence, and a confidence that banishes all reserve, there is no fuch thing as unalterable efteem, even for the most congenial hearts. Sufpicion and anxiety lurk, and diffufe their poison in filence : if the complaint be ftided for a while, it acquires greater bitterness. The roots of all mifunderstandings must be eradicated, the moment they fpring up; nor has it been faid, without reafon, that the fetting fun should never leave a cloud between a wedded pair.’

I hope, my dear,' faid Hortenfia, giving him her hand, that you will adhere to this excellent maxim: for my part, I promise to obferve it, in future, to my latest breath.'

ON DUELLING.

AT the conclufion of my laft letter on this fubject, I obferved that the cruel neceflity impofed upon the officers of the army and navy, probably formed the only excufe that can be made for duelling, and I promifed to confider in the prefent letter, how far that excufe is a fufficient one. Into this confideration I was about to enter, when a fiend obliged me with fome obfervations on the fubject, written by an emine t literary character nearly thirty years ago, and communicated in a letter from France, which, as far as my fii nd knows, was never pub ithed. I feel myself fo much inclined to think with this gentleman, that I fhall dwell principally, in this letter, on his fentiments, referving my own for a future occafion, becaufe, in fettling the differences of men of honour, it becomes neceflary to use their own weapons, and confider them me ely as men of honour. In treating every fubject, there are lights and shades, and perhaps this is no where more remarkable than in the prefent cafe.

puts him into the hands of the furgeon,

and vifits him with great tenderness every day, until he is cured. If he is killed upon the spot, he fhrugs up his fhoulders, fays, quelle dommage! c'etoit un aimable enjant! ah! patience! and in three hours the defunct is forgotten. In France, duels are forbid, on pain of death; but this law is cafily evaded. The person infulted walks out; the antagonist underlands the hint, and follows him into the ftreet, where they jostle as if by accident, draw their fwords, and one of them is either killed or difabled, before any effectual means can be used to part them. Whatever may be the flue of the combat, the m.giftrate takes no cognizance of it; at least, it is interpreted into an accidental rencounter, and no penalty is incurred on either fide. Thus the purpose of the law is entirely defeated by a most ridiculous and cruel contrivance. The mereft trifles in converfation, a rash word, a distant hint, even a look or fmle of contempt, is fufficient to produce one of Speaking of France, this gentle- thefe combats; but injuries of a deepman fays, that a lad of a good family er dye, fuch as terms of reproach, no fooner enters into the army, than the le direct, a blow, or even the he thinks it incumbent upon him to menace of a blow, must be difcuffed fhew his courage in a rencounter. His with more formality. In any of these natural vivacity prom pts him to hazard cafes, the parties agree to meet in the in company every thing that comes dominions of another prince, where uppermoft, without any refpect to his they can murder each other, without feniors or betters; and ten to one but fear of punishment. An officer who he fays fomething, which he finds it is ftruck, or even threatened with a necefiary to maintain with his fword. blow, muft not be quiet, until he The old officer, nttead of checking either kills his antagonist, or lofes his his petulance, either by rebuke or own life. A friend of mine, who was filent dilapprobation, feems to be in the fervice of France, told me, that pleafed with his impertinence, and fome years ago, one of their captains, encourages every faily of his pre- in the heat of paffion, ftruck his lieutefumption. Should a quarrel enfue, nant. They fought immediately: the and the parties go out, he makes no lieutenant was wounded and difarmed. effort to compromife the difpute; As it was an affront that could not but fits with a pleasing expectation to be made up, he no fooner recovered learn the iffue of the rencounter. If of his wounds, than he called out the the young man is wounded, he kiffes captain a fecond time. In a word, him with transport, extols his bravery, they fought five times before the com

bat

bat proved decifive; at last, the licutenant was left dead on the fpot. This was an event which fuficiently proved the abfurdity of the punctil o that gave rife to it. The poor gentleman who was infulted, and outraged by the brutality of the aggreffor, found himfelf under the neceffity of giving him a further occasion to take away his life. Another adventure of the fame kind happened a few years ago. A French officer having threatened to #rike another, a formal challenge enfued; and it being agreed that they fhould fight until one of them dropped, each provided himfelf with a couple of pioneers to dig his grave on the fpot. They engaged jult without one of the gates of Nice, in prefence of a great number of fpectators, and fought with furprising fury, until the ground was drenched with their blood. At length one of them ftumbled, and fell; upon which the other, who found himself mortally wounded, advancing, and dropping his point, faid, Je te donne ce que tu m'as oté, I give thee that which thou haft taken from me.' So faying he dropped dead upon the field. The other, who had been the perfon infulted, was fo dangerously wounded, that he could not rife. Some of the fpectators carried him forthwith to the beach, and putting him into a boat, conveyed him by fea to Antibes. The body of his antagonifl was denied Chriftian burial, as he died without abfolution, and every body allowed that his foul went to hell; but the gentlemen of the army declared, that he died like a man of honour. Should a man be be never fo well inclined to make atonement in a peaceable manner, for an infult given in the heat of paffion, or in the fury of intoxication, it cannot be received. Even an involuntary trefpals from ignorance, or abfence of mind, must be cleanfed with blood. A certain noble lord of our country, when he was yet a commoner, on his travels, involved himself in a diJemma of this fort, at the court of

Lorrain. He had been riding out, and, trolling along a public walk, in a brown itudy, with his horfewhip in his hand, perceived a caterpillar crawling on the back of a marquis, who chanced to be before him. He never thought of the petit maitre; but lifting up nis whip, in order to kill the inft, laid it acrofs his fhoulders with a crack, that alarmed all the company in the walk. The marquis' fword was produced in a moment, and the aggreffor in great hazard of his life, as he had no weapon of defence. He was no fooner waked from his reverie, than he begged pardon, and offered to make all proper conceflions for what he had done through mere inadvertency. The marquis would have admitted his excufes, had there been any precedent of fuch an affront washed away without blood. A conclave of honour was immediately aflembled; and after long difputes, they agreed, that an involuntary offence, especially from jach a kind of man, might be atoned by conceffions. That you may have fome idea of the fmall beginnings, from which many gigantic quarrels arife, I fhall recount one that lately happened at Lyons, as I had it from the mouth of a perfon who was an ear and eye witnefs of the tranfaction. Two Frenchmen, at a public ordinary, ftunned the reft of the company with their loquacity. At length one of them, with a fupercilious air, afked the other's name. 'I never tell my name, (faid he) but in a whisper. You may have very good reafons for keeping it fecret,' antwered the firft. I will tell you,' refumed the other; with thefe words, he rofe, and going round to him, pronounced, loud enough to be heard by the whole company. Je m' appelle Pierre Pavfan; et vous etes un impertinent.' So faying, he walked out; the interrogator followed him into the ftreet, where they joftled, drew their fwords, and engaged. He who afked the question was run through the body;

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but his relations were fo powerful, that the victor was obliged to fly his country. He was tried and condemned in his abfence; his goods were confifcated; his wife broke her heart; his children were reduced to beggary; and he himself is now ftarving in exile. In England, we have not yet adopted all the implacability of the punctilio. A gentleman may be infulted even with a blow, and furvive, after having once hazarded his life against the aggreflor. The laws of honour in our country do not oblige him, either to flay the perfon from whom he received the injury, or even to fight to the laft drop of his blood. One finds no examples of duels among the Romans, who were certainly as brave, and as delicate in their notions of honour, as the French. Cornelius Nepos tells us, that a famous Athenian general, having a difpute with his colleague, who was of Sparta, a man of a fiery difpofition, this laft lifted up his cane to ftrike him. Had this happened to a French petit maite, death muft have enfued; but mark what followed. The Athenian, far from refenting the outrage, in what is now called a gentleman-like manner, faid, 'Do, ftrike if you pleafe, but hear me.' He never dreamed of cutting the Lacedemonian's throat; but bore with his paflionate temper as the infirmity of a friend, who had a thoufand good qualities to overbalance that defect.

I need not expatiate upon the folly and mischief which are countenanced, and promoted by the modern practice of duelling. I need not give examples of friends who have murdered each other, in obedience to this favage custom, even while their hearts were melting with mutual tenderness; nor will I particularize the inftances, which I myself know, of whole families ruined, of women and children made widows and orphans, of parents deprived of only fons, and of valuable lives loft to the community, by duels, which had been produced by one unguarded expreffion, uttered without

intention of offence, in the heat of difpute and altercation. I fhall not infift upon the hardship of a worthy man's being obliged to devote himfelf to death, because it is his misfortune to be infulted by a brute, a bully, a drunkard, or a madman; neither will I enlarge upon this fide of the abfurdity, which, indeed, amounts to a contradiction in terms; I mean the dilemma to which a gentleman in the army is reduced, when he receives an affront; if he does not challenge and fight his antigonift, he is broke with infamy by a courtmartial; if he fights and kills him, he is tried by the civil power, convicted of murder, and, if the royal mercy does not interpofe, he is infallibly hanged: all this, exclufive of the risk of his own life in the duel, and his confcience being burthened with the blood of a man, whom perhaps he has facrificed to a falfe punctilio, even contrary to his own judgment. I will make bold to pro pole a remedy for this gigantic evil, which feems to gain ground every day;. let a court be intituted for taking cognizance of all breaches of honour, with power to punish by fine, pillory, fentence of infamy, outlawry, and exile, by virtue of an act of parlia ment made for this purpole; and all perfons infulted, thall have recourse to this tribunal: let every man who feeks perfonal reparation with fword, piftol, or other inftrument of death, be declared infamous, and banished the kingdom: let every man, convicted of having ufed a fword or pistol, or other mortal weapon, against another, either in duel or rencounter, occafioned by any previous quarrel, be fubject to the fame penalties: if any man is killed in a duel, let his body be hanged upon a public gibbet, for a certain time, and then given to the furgeons: let his antagonist be hanged as a murderer, and diffected alfo; and fome mark of infamy be fet on the memory of both. I apprehend fuch regulations would put a stop to the practice of duelling, which nothing

but

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but the fear of infamy can fupport: for I am perfuaded, that no being, capable of reflection, would profecute the trade of affaffination at the rifque of his own life, if this hazard was at the fame time reinforced by the certain profpect of infamy and ruin. Every perion of fentiment would in that cafe allow, that an officer, who, in a duel, robs a deferving woman of her husband, a number of children of their father, a family of its fupport, and the community of a fellow citizen, has as little merit to plead from expofing his own perfon, as a highwayman, or houfebreaker, who every day rifques his life to rob or plunder that which is not of half the importance to fociety. I think it was from the Buccaneers of America, that the English have learned to abolith one folecism in the practice of duelling: thofe adventurers decided their perfonal quarrels with pistols; and this improvement has been adopted in Great Britain with good fuccefs; though in France, and other parts of the continent, it is looked upon as a proof of their barbarity. It is, however, the only circumftance of duelling, which favours of common fenfe, as it puts all mankind upon a level, the old with the young, the weak with the ftrong, the unwieldy with the nimble, and the man who knows not how to hold a fword, with the padaffin, who has practifed fencing from the cradle. What glory is there in a man's vanquishing an adveriary over whom he has a manifeft advantage? To abide the iffue of a combat in this cafe, does not even require that moderate share of refolution which nature has indulged to her common children. Accordingly, we have feen many inftances of a coward's provoking a man of honour to battle. In the reign of our fecond Charles, when duels flourished in all their abfurdity, and the feconds fought while their principals were engaged, Villiers, duke of Buckingham, not content with having debauched the countess 4

of Shrewsbury, and publishing her fhame, took all opportunities of provoking the earl to fingle combat, hoping he fhould have an Lafy conqueft, his lordship being a puny little creature, quiet, inoffenfive, and every way unfit for fuch perfonal contents. He ridiculed him on all occafions, and at laft declared in public company, that there was no glory in cuckolding Shrewsbury, who had not spirit to refent the injury. This was an infult which could not be overlooked. The earl fent him a challenge; and they agreed to fight, at Barn-elms, in prefence of two gentlemen, whom they chofe for their feconds. All the four engaged at the fame time: the first thruit was fatal to the earl of Shrewsbury; and his friend killed the duke's fecond at the fame inflant. Buckingham, elated with his exploit, fet out immediately for the earl's feat at Cliefden, where he lay with his wife, after having boafted of the murder of her husband, whole blood he thewed her upon his fword, as a trophy of his prowefs. But this very duke of Buckingham was little better than a poltroon at bottom. When the gallant earl of Offory challenged him to fight in Chelsea fields, he croiled the water to Batterfea, where he pretended to wait for his lordship, and then complained to the house of lords, that Offory had given him the rendezvous, and did not keep his appointment. He knew the house would interpofe in the quarrel, and he was not difappointed. Their lordships obliged them both to give their word of honour, that their quarrel should have no other confequence.

There is, I am perfuaded, much cowardice at the bottom of modern duels; but yet the question recurs, How can an officer of the army or navy refufe a challenge? An attempt to difcufs this point will form the fubject of my next letter.

I am, fir, yours,

EIRENOS.

An

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