Newspaper Page Text
w,
y
r
w
i *
tD\nwm\c\e ftnA liaxeUe.
F.DITED
JOSEPH VALLBNCE EEVAN.
rUBUSHin twill
Monday $ 'Thursday.
AT FIV HOU£'ltft P*n TAXABLE IE
AHVANCS.-COUnTRT FAPKB, ONCE A WEEK,
TRHtr. DULLAHS PET. ANNUM, 1-ATADLI
AISO IN ADVANTE,
& Curiosity.
[Few persons oil * hi* side of tlie Atlan
tic, wo.id be inclined to suspect Wiuiam
Godwin, the author of Political Justice,
mid Cal’6 JVitltanu, of ever having writ,
ten poetry —The fact is so however, and
we Select the f.Rowing specimens trom a
Trtgedy written by him, and published
and acted in London during the
Antonio
Helena 1 I have heard that thou art mar
ried.
HELENA.
oi» brother i lov’d Antonio!-
aVtomo
Talk not to me ! Thou art tny hatie
■tiul sorrow.
My cup of missel} thou hast crown'd
Even to the brim. —1 had aaisier.
My piide, my giory, sourer ot all my
joy/
Thou wert the demist thing 1 knew o.
t arth.
Rodrigo held the second place.
He held it, for his fate was twin’d with
thine;
And, whensoe’er I saw that gallant mor
tal,
I said, There moves my Helen’s destin’d
husband!
nr. lev a
Antonio, onm; knees—!
4 N TONIO
i 'Pi eventing her J
Helen, forbear !— Helen, I mint
Sneak out tl.iv words, that thou art bound
to hear.-——
Hast thou lot got the deep and awful vow,
A vow, that angels heard, and God re
corded.
By which thou wert engag’d Rodrigo’s
wife?
HELENA
I do remember.
ANTONIO
Host tlion reca) to mind the solemn
hour,
■When our great father yielded his lust
bieoth?
His children stood assembled round his
couch.
On thee he call’d
Willi, faltering accents and imperfect
speich.
Then took toy hand, and plac’d it in Ro
dilgo'n
Hr blc-s’d you both lie dictated the oath
In which toon stund’st; while, kneeling.
With eyes uplift to heaven,and tear-sud n'tl
cheeks,
Thou gav’st thy pledge ■ Almanza heard
thee, how’d
Hast thou forgot he death-bed of my fa
ther?
HELENA
Havel forgot ?—lmperishable image !
ANTONIO
This «as.. marriage; ihuu wert Rodri
go’s woe.
Where ever was a contract, seal’d with
such ■
Solemnity, in every circumstance
So venerable, so binding ? Adul
tress!
HELENA
My brother! There arc persons,
Who, if they had bespoke me thus in
sultingly.
I would disdain to answer. There are too,
V n I reirard with distant worship,
To when) I’d justify my conduct.
\V Hl* thee 1 can do neither.
••uat. - The wordi
ANTONIO
Presumptuous girl!
Nut a step nearer!—No, not for thy life!—
Atone thy guilt/
HELENA
My dearest brother, brother of mi
mind,
My daily meditation, and my dream
Each night! how 1 liavc long'd to sec
thee!
flow long’d to recollect with thee
Our early childhood,
To walk in the same groves, to sit be
neath
The sell-same shade; to point again to
time
The objects of remark that, in the days
Os piattling'infancy, thou poiuted’sl out
Tome! 1 have follow’d thee in all thy
wanderings.
Have counted o’er thy dangers; 1 have
pass’d
A thousand times beneath the very gate
AVacre last we parted, hearing
lnev*ry breeze the sound of thv farewel,
Seeing in my rapt soul the las! adieu
Thy hand cipress’d, the floating of thy
robe ——
ANTONIO
This is too much!
Yes, I have lov’d thee: I’d bate given my
hand.
My ey es, my life, to buy thy happiness.
HUUNA.
Call biuk old times, Antonio; be die
thing.
ANTONIO
Bui tivUn, n «v«-p Wherefore did I
love thee?
ingenuous spin t f deem’d I found
luihse; for the u.iblemish’d stock, from
which
I held thee sprung. If not,
1 might ag well have taken to my friend
ship
Some liihliug from the suburbs,
Some wretch chdur’d and natural!* ’d in
vice,
Some creature, overgrown
With blots, andfoul deformities; or worse,
Defil’d with iiat> ■ u : !i eMC$ of soul,
uj _ > i
I feel my ver; rod.-;
M vindication! ,■ ; t *r. Rut
I l.now iliy stubauia t-jusuacy,
Aid hope not to convince thee I had -♦
* ther
Ui'-c thy forgiveness tha tby acquitted b>
thee.
Forgive loss springs from brotherhood,
from blood,
Prom lender ness of heart. Weep o’er
Helen; t ....
Reproach me, with » broken accen , wi
A glistening eye; but bless me. a c
Phv arms; bid me be happy: “V*
Confirm and guard thy sister s liappmes .
ASTOISXO I
What is the world to me, if robb'd of ho ,
iiour ? , •
No kindred, no affection can survive, <
’Tis the pure soul .
Os love, the parent of entire devotion, ,
Without it man is heartless, brutish, ana
A clod. This was my/nfaru creed; sin this j
I’ll die
HELENA
Antonio, /.
This is the very crisis "f m y story.
My fate is in thr hands.
I), ar brother, iJ<>l of my sou.! Will noth
ing movethee?
■ Hast thou tliii heart to cast me oft for
ever I '
ANTONIO
Cast off thy paramour, thy Gusman!
HELENA
Oh, that the world should chance men
into tyrants I
With specious names of honour and pro
l priety,
Making each man the monarch of Ids fel
low,
Iliid-liea-u d. rigid,and inexorable!
1 Nothing was e’er more kind than thou hast
been.
Rut that is over now!
The undesigning hlandness of thy youth
Is rooted from thy breast; no more indul
gence ;
No more of those angelic, artless smiles,
That spring from others’ pleasure, nor
require
A reason to be happy and be good!
I ANTONtO
TalkSj (boo of vindication ?
• Dar’slthou assume the tone of innocence?
This is
-1 A guilt more dire than even thy foul of
fence. »
[Helena, ivho is na longer capable ofspeech,
stietchet her arms towards him with a
gesture of supplication.]
No, Helen, no Our kindnesss is dissolv’d.
From a degenerate sister 1 withdraw:
1 In this my native city, which I’ve not
Beheld, since great Almanza’s obsequies,
Henceforth I'll league me with one who
onee adorn’d it
And kindled fiist within me pure senti
s ments
Os sacred virtue Farewel,
Thou once my sister ! now for ever se
ver’d !
No more thy brother, view in me thy
ii judge!
[fcrif.
t HELENA
Antonio! oh, my brother! hear! yet
s hear me!
He is gone!—l have lost my brother !
lost!-
t We now shall dwell within the walls
Os one same city, and not see each other .
i- My slumbers will no more be blest w ill)
his Good-night!
Ii Nor, in the morning, shall the thought of
his
d Kind salutation urge me from my chum
be.-.
.1 . He will avoid the house in which he hears
I may be found; he’ll pass along a difier
i cut street,
Lest he should meet me; all Antonio’s
friends
- Will be instructed not to name my name,
Lest he should shudder at the loathsome
i- found
This is 100 much!
Ii ’Tis past; 'tis gone. 1 have nor fire,
nor brother!—
Oh!
I- sinks on a couch,
o**4 4044
ANTONIO
What tidings? what intelligence ?
I- HENHT
: The king no sooner learn’d, that Hele
i, na
Was safelog’d beneath her husband’s roof
Than thither he repair’d. Gusman,
Having caught some broken hints of what
it pass’d
and Pedro, left the spot ab-
The king and Helena remain’d together
What then was her surprise,
Whenl’edro spoke himself resolv’d to se-
Sarate
her loro’ lie had
Left thee, he said, inflam’d with indigna
tion
c At his imputed treachery, nor had
Repel I’d ihe loathsome charge, deter
mi n’d,
In deeds, not words, to seek His vindica
tion.
What follow’d next I know no‘t; but thus
o much
Is by his latest order vouch’d mid certain:
Pedro has reconfirm’d their union, a.id
Engag’d by every sacred vow to assert
y Their cause ’gainst all opposers
ANTONIO
e Oh, yes, 1 knew ii well. My boding
mind
Assur’d me what must follow.
I'hiy thus insult me, dastards !,as secure,
, Defended by their million strength.
' REMIT
t 'Tis base and cowaid-hke. They may
defeat,
But such defeat can ne’er disgrace then
victim
ANTONIO.
Victim! Didst iliousay, victim ? Recall
the woiti 1
lu bidding it. despair, they know not what
: 1 hry do. Struck from the rub of living
men,
The absent ami the dead 611 all my
I thoughts.
With me they wunder forth, with me they
fit;
I see their faces, and I entertain
I'heir spirii* in this disolaC bosom:
I am not s» l, they comfort me;
Siruek through with ail their shafts, I will
Not weep. No, Henry, no! Henry.
I am on the threshold o! an enterprise,
Which fili;.l duty,-frienJsaip and religion
Imperiously' prescribe.
U, I should fall, 1 fall a martyr,
Amlin ;
A cause most glorious.—Leaveme to the
cominerc
Os my own thoughts. Farewel,
Thou love v sci‘ ;1 of a spotless ftnek 1
W e are authorized to
announce f’apt H. BERRY, a candidate
for ihe Cilice of Slurifi for Richmond
county at tae ensuing dec non.
V , ‘&S* - ''
—IWP— ■ —II »«—■■—■■■ ■ I !■■■■■
COMMUNICATED.
Description of North America, ly Jeremy
Beulham.
After describing the situation cf the
Turkish empire, like author proceeds;—
Hut we can trace a picture more cheerful
and not less instructive of the progress of
Security and prosperity, its inseparable
companion. North America presents a
contrast the most striking between the
two sta'cs <,f security and ii security. Sav
age nature is fhese by the side of civilize.!
nature. The interior of this immense ie
gion offers nothing but a dreary solitude'
impenetrable forests, ste>slc lands, stagnat
w-aters, impure vapours, and venomous
reptiles. Heboid the earth left to itself
The tierce tribes Who wander ovei these
deters without a fixed habitation, fllwaj e
animated with the most implacable ennu
He-, towards each other, never encounter
but to attack, and never meet hut for
mutual destruction. Tcrocidus beasts art
less dangerous to man than, man him
self. Hut upon the limits of these dreary
solitudes, how different ar. -aspect strikes
our view. We seem to embrace with one
coop d’-reilt 'he empires of good and evil.
The forests have given way to cultivated
pla.ns. The mo,asses a'c dried Toe land
fertilised, covered with meadows, the pas
tinea withof domestic animais; tvithhabi
lious wholesome and smiling; cities are
bunt on regular plans; sqaeimre highways
communicate between them; all thingsai.
nouuce th.it men seeking the means of
approach have ceased I o fear or dis icy
each other; there ihe ports are filled with
ships, .ccciving ali the productions ofil-e
e»vh and serving for die exchange of -all
riches A numerous people living upon
thc.r laboi m pence and is abundance have
succeeded to tribes of nun'ers, always
placed between war and famine. Who
worked these wonders? Who hasr(.-mo
delled the fkce of tt- earth? Who inis giv
en to man this dominion over earth, ter
tilized, embellished and perfected his
bcniflcciit genius !' securhy tt is seen
l ily which has worked this great change.
How rapid its opers'ious Scaroi ]> has it'
been two centuries since William t’e’."
landcd-upon these savage shores with a
colony of tine conquerors, who did no;
drfilc tii'.-ir estahlisnment by force, and
who caused themselves to be resprclei.;
only by actsofbencvolence and justice
[COMMI’HICATION.]
To the Editor of the Augusta Chronicle,
Sin: The following is translated from
Dumont’s edition of Benlham’s Treatise
on Legislation. As it contains a more ex'
tended and philosophic view cf the sub
ject than I have elsewhere seen, I send it
to you. If you think it worth publishing,
it may be inserted in your paper; if not
worth it, return it to the translator, or send
it to the fire, at your option C.
Offences against reputation, which have
fa.sehood for their instrument, aie lube
remedied by a It gal and public acquitta
of the fact charged But there are others
more dangerous—enmity has surer mea s
to inflict deeper wounds to honor— it dees
not conceal itself always under a coward'-y
calumny; it attacks its enemy openly;
' but it docs not attack with violent means.
which places the one hated in personal
' danger. Us end is, to humble a pro
ceeding the less grievous in itself, and
more grave in its consequences, than m
doing more evil to the person, ami less to
the honor. To make a man an object of
contempt, it is necessary not to excite in
his favor a sentiment or pity, which would
produce a feeling of antipathy against his
adversary. Hatred has exhausted all its
refinements in this species of offences. It
is necessary to oppose particular remedies
which we have distinguished by the name
of honorary satisfaction.
Tt perceive this necessity, it behoves
us to examine the nature and the tenden
cy of these offences; the causes «t their
weight, ami the remedies they have found
at present in the custom of duets, and the
imperfection of those remedies. These
researches which are allied to all, which
is vne most. ‘be. human heart,
almost entirely neglected by (Wse
have made the laws, are the primary foun
dations of all good legislation, in regard
to honor.
In the actual stare of maimers among
the most civilized nations, the ordinary,
the natural effect of such offences, is io
take away from the offended, a part more
or less of his honor; that is to say, that he
does not enjoy the, .saute portion of es
teem among his equals. He lias lost a
proportionable part of the pleasures, ot
services of good offices of all kinds, which
are the fruits of this esteem ; and he finds
himself exposed to the most injurious con
sequences of their contempt. But with
regard to the evil itself, by far the great
est part consists in the change which is
made in the sentiments of men in gene
ral. They ought to he considered as the
most immediate authors. The deliuqcnt
has not made more than a light wound,
wnich, left to itself, would heal immedi
ately. If is other men, who, by the poi
son they have infused into it, have made
the hurt dangerous, ami often incurable.
-At the first view, the rigor of public
opinion against an insulted individual, ap
pears to be a most revolting injustice.—
•V stronger o- more courageous man abu
ses his superiority to maltreat, in a certain
manner, him, who, from his feebleness, he
ought to protect. AU the world, as by a
simultaneous movement in the place of
indignation against the oppressor, arran
ges itself on his side, and inflicts upon -the
victim of sarcasm and contempt, the pen
ally of infamy, often inure bitter than
death itself At a signal given by an un
known, the public throws itself with ea
gerness upon an innocent man that they
may devour him as a ferocious mastiff to
‘ear a traveller, and mindingtmthing but
the gesture ofits master, it is thus that
•he w icked, to deliver an honest man to
the tortures of disgrace, employs those*
u ho are called men of the world, and ho
in rab e men as the executioners oftheir
tyranical injustice; and as the contempt
which attaches itself to the injury is in
proportion to the injury itself, this domi
nion of evil doers becomes the more irre
mediable, as abuse is the more atro
cious. Whether this injury is merited or
not, is what no one deigns to enquire— not
only the insolent author triumphs, bin
that every thing is done to gangrene and
aggravate the wound. It is made a point
of honor to bear devrn the victim—the in
sult to which he has been subjected, se- it
n&rates him from his equals— he is render- d
cd impure in their eyes, and it acts as a t<
social ex communication, such is the real
evil. The ignominy with wl ich he is co ir
vered, is much more the work cf other it
men, than of ti e first offender. He has E
done no more than to show the prey—it is o
■lnWe who tear it. He ordains the pun- ll
ishment—they are the executioners. Fci o
instance, one man thinks proper to spit is. h
the face of another in public. What vrotihi c
be this evil in itself? A drop of water s
forgotten as soon as dried—but this drop >1
of water is changed into a corrosive poi- . c
son, which shall embitter all his future v
life. What lias worked this change?— Ii
Pun,io opinion. Opinion whiclrdinribntes £
at its will, honor and shame. The cmei
enemy well knew that this insuh would e
l>e the forerunner and symbol if a torrent \
of contempt. A brute, a man vile in eve a
ry respect, can ihua dishonor, at his Will, c
the most virtnens man. He can thus fill i
with chagrin and pain, the end of the most t
honorable life Alas ! how does he attain <
this most (evil power ? Me attains it by an t
irresistahlc corruption to which he has (
subjugated the first and purest «ts iribu- *
nals, that of popular opinion. As a con- i
seqnei ic of this dcplomb'c prevarication, 1
11 eiti/itns individually depend for their I
honor os the worst among them, and are t
collectively at his comnnnds to -execute i
Ins dc-CKts of prescription against each i
one livpartlcular. 1
; Such is the process by which this pr-pu- ‘
ho-opinion can be attacked, and these an-.
| putatioiis will not he viffhout foundation.
M>-n, admirers of force, are often guilty
1 of injustice towards thi weak-; but when
: we examine to the bottom, the effects if
offences oi-this kind, we shall perceive
1 that they produce an evil, independent of
opinion, and that public sentiment, con
’ corning insullb received and borne with,
' is not in general so contrary to reason
as ve should believe upon tin first blush,
f s-.y in general, since we can find cases
where | üblic opir ion is in justifiable. To
’ peiceive ad the evil which can result from
these < {fences, ive ires' i.d.o away ull ie
-ipe.dies—we must suppose that there are
node. Under this supposition, these of
ff, .ices can he repeated at will; an uulimi-
J j Ucl career is opened to insolence The
' person insulted to-day, can he so to-mor
row, and the next day, ami every day and
very hour. Every new aflioitt facilitates
another, and lenders a succession of out
rages of the- same kind more probable.—
Hut the notion of a corporal insult com
prehends i. very offensive act a pei’aon can
lie, without causing a durable physical
evil. Every thing which produce s a sen
t cation disagreeable unquiet, er sorrowful;
, but th s : 6t, which would be hardly sen
. sib;e, a it were unique by repetition, will
b• one an intolerable grievance. I have
read that a certain portion of water, lil
t tinted drop by drop, and falling from a
certain height upon the head bared and
’ shaved, is the most cruel tortures ever de
t vised Oi/lla curat lupidem says the lalin
j proverb. Tints, an individual, subjected
by Ins n la five weakness to submit to such
■ exations, and deprived, as we havesup
r piosed, of all legal protection, would be
c reduced to a most unhappy situation.—
Theie would r.f.ed nothing more to con
s firm the most absolute despotism on die
s one side, and the most absolute slavery on
i -he o her: But be is not the slave of one
y done—ln isofal, who may have the de
; sire to subject him—lie is the sport of
t- ‘he hist comer, who, knowing his weak
ii ness, desires to abuse it. lie is as a Ile
- lot cf fcparla, dependant upon all the
.1 world, always m fear and in suffering,
a object of general scorn, and of a contempt
i> not softened by the slightest Compassion,
t In one word below, all slav. s, since the
n evil of slavery, is a forced state, which is
1 pitied, b'.it Ins abasement has taken place
s from the baseness of his character. These
s little vexations these insults have for ano
t then reason, a sort of pre-eminence of ty
s runny over more violent injuries. Acts
e of anger which suffice to takca.vay, at one
blow, the enmity of the offender, and to
s produce a sentiment of repentance, pre-'
i- sents a term of suffering. But a humid
r ating and malignant insult, far from ap
il peasing the hate which produced it, seems
e rather to aggravate it. It appears as the
e forerunner of a series cf injuries the more
Ii alarming, as they are indefinite. What
, In s been said of corporal insult, may be
a , , menaces, since the first have
i- much e.l (hem weignt as tPeeau-obig- nets,
d A crl>:U insuits are not altogether of the
same character. They are a species of
g vague defamation, the use of injurious
r , terms, which have no determinate rigid
-0 filiation, and which vary according to the
e condition ot the persons concerning whom
e they are employed. With regard to die
- persons insulted; they testify that they
a are worthy of public contempt, without
t distinctly announcing by what act. ('he
Ii probable evil is, the renewal of like re
s proaches. It is to be io'hrcd that such a
- profession of contempt, made publicly,
t may invite other men to join in it. It is
- thus in effect, an imitation to each to ren
s der themselves willingly to die samepur
• pose- The pride of the censurer elevates
: itself at the expense of another. The
t force of imitation, and the propensity to
. believe nil strong assertions, give a weight
- to these kinds of injuries. But it seems
• that they owe the chief part of theii
s weight to the oblivion of the law, anil to
. the custom of duelling, by which the po
' pu.ar sanction has endeavored to supply
- the silence of the laws.
• ll is not astonishing that Legislators,
- fearing to give too much importance to
1 these trifles, have left in an abandonment
; almost universal this portion of security.
• The physical evil which measures stiff
f ciently, naturally the importance of the
■ crime, is almost nothing, and the distant
: consequences have escaped the inexperi
ence ot those who made the laws Duel
i ling offers i.s?lf to fill up this chasm; this
is not the place to seek into the origin of
• this custom, or to examine into the varia
tions, and the apparent absurdities of this
1 custom*, it suffices, that the duel exists,—
that it is a remedy, and serves as a rein
to the enormities which wou.d result with
Ii out it, from the negligence cf the laws.
1 his custom once established, and he
boid the direct consequences:—
Ihe first effect of the duel, is to put an
end to a great part of the evil of the crime,
that is the Shame which results from (he
• usu ll ; the man insulted is no longer in a
miserable condition, where his feebh- ;
ness exposes him to the outrages of an
insolent, and the contempt of all ; he is ]
delivered from a state of continual fear.-
1 lu- stain w hich the affront has imprint- i
eel upon h:s hon< r is effaced, and if the !
call has followed the insult, immediately, <
this stain has not made any* impression, t
t lias not Lad time lo fix itself; for the is
lishonor is not to receive an insult, but c
o submit to it. v
The second effect of the duel, is to act t
in the place of a penalty-, ami to oppose e
itself to ihe re-productiuu of similar evils.
Even new example is a new promulgation c
ijf the penal laws of honor, and proclaims
that a man cannot allow himself to these r
offensive proceedings, without exposing v
himself to the consequences of a private <
combat, that is to the danger o( being (
subject, according to the event of the t
duel to different degrees of pain, and t
even lo death itself. Thus the brave man, I
who in the silence of the law, exposes '•
himself to punish an insult, adds to the ]
genetal security in labouring tor himself. <
Hut considered as a punishment, the du- <
el is extremely defective; it is not a mode
which can serve all the world. There, '
arc, numerous classes of persons, who
cannot participate in the protection which
it accords, such as women, children, old
men;—the sick, and those who by default,
of courage, cannot bring the ms- Ives to
redeem their shame, at the price yf a
danger so great—likewise by on absurd'-
ty, worthy of its feudal origin; tire stipe
riotir classes have not-admitted the lower
to tb e-equality of the duel. ’l'he peasant,
insulted by (he gentleman, cannot obtain
ibis species of sai install
in this case, effects less grave, but it is
nevertheless an insult, tiud an evil v. Ith
( Ul remedy ; in these respects, the duel
consdered as a pu-nistnnent is found inef
ficacious.
It is not always a punishment inasmuch
as opinion attaches to it a recompense,
which appears to many superior lo all
rs dangers ; this rect rfipeuce, is the es
teem which is attached to this proof of
courage. The honor which is attached'
to it, has more attractions than thealauger
winch attends to it has clucks There
was a time, w hen it belonged to the eba
lacterofa gallant man to have, (ought
one duel; —a glance of (he eye, inatten
tion, a pi eh. re nco, a suspicion of rival
ship, any 4 hing sufficed to men, who de
sired nothing more than a pretext; and
found themselves recompensed a thousand
limes tor the dangers they bad incurred
by obtaining the applat.se of the two
sexes, lo w hum for different reasons, bra
very was equally imposing;—in this re
spect, the penally amalgamated with the
reward lost its ttne character, as a punish
ment, and in another manner became
likewise inefficacious.
Tffe duel considered ns a punishment,
is likewise defective from its excess. It
is true that it is often nothing,but may be'
capital. Between these two extremes of
all, or nothing, there is the intermediate
grades of wounds, mutilation, or members
maimed or lost. Jt is clear, that if we
could chuse a satisfaction, we should give
the preference to a penalty less uncertain,
and less hazardous, which should never
go as death, and should never he no
thing.
There is another singularity in the Jus
tice, which appertain to the duel:—Costly,
to the aggressor, it is not less so to the
party injured. He cannot claim the right
of punishing the offender; but by expos
ing himself to the same penalty prepared
for him, and at the same time with inani
Test disadvantage, as the chance is na
turally in favor cf him, who can,chuse his
man before exposing himself; lints the
penally is often expensive, and badly
placed
Another inconvenience of this Jurispru
dence of the duel, is, that it aggravalt s
the evil of the offence every time that
vengeance is not claimed, unless there
be a known impossibility. The man
insulted, refuses to recur toil; behold him
forced to disclose two capital defects:
want of courage and want of honor; want
of that virtue which protects society, and
without which, it cannot maintain itself,
and want of sensibility lo the love of re
putation, one of the great basis of lito
rals. The person insulted, then finds him
self in a wosre situation if this law of du
elling did not exist. When he refuses
this sad remedy, it changes for him into
a prison.
If in certann cases of duel, it is not as
inefficacious as it appears to be, it is only
because an innocent man exposes himself
to a penalty, which is consequently badly
directed; this is the case were persons,
who by reason of some infirmity' of sex,
age, or health cannot employ this means
in defence. They have no other icsource
of tills state of individual feebleness, than
that chance should afford them e ppotee.
tor, who has both the power and the will
to stand in their plaee, and combat for
them. It is thus a husband, brother, or
lovercan take upon themselves an injury
done to a wife, a sister, or a mistress. In
this case the duel is efficacious as a pro
tection, but is only by compromising the
security of a third person, who finds him
self charged with a quarrel apart from
himself, and over which he could not ex
ert the smallest influence.
It is certain that considering the duel
as a branch of Penal Jurisprudence, it is
both absurd and monstrous; but absurd
an monstrous as it is, it cannot be denied
that it accomplishes fully its principal ob
ject. It effaces entirely the stain which
the insult has imprinted upon the honor
Vulgar moialisls, by Condemning - this ge
neral opinion, only confirm Dial such is
the fact; but he this result justifiable or
not, is no matter; it exists & has its cause.
Ills cssenti: 1 to the Legislator to discover
it. A phenomenon so interesting, ought
not to remain unknown. The insulted,
we have said, causes him, who is the ob
ject of it lo appear debased by his feeble
aess or by the baseness; always placed
between an insult or a reproach, he can no
longer walk with an equal step among o
ther men, or pretend to the same respect.
But after this insult, I present myself to
my adversary, and consent to risk in a
combat my life against his. If 1 die, 1
am freed from public contempt, and from
the insolent domination of my enemy; if
he dies, behold me free and the g-uilty
punished ; if he is but wounded, it is a
sufficient lesson for him and for others
who might be tempted to imitate him;
am I wounded myself,or is neither the onc
er the other hurt ? the combat is still not,
useless It produces its effect; my ene
my perceives he cannot reiterate his in
sults, but al the peril of his life. lam
not a passive bging, whom he" can outrage
with impunity; my courage protects roe
as much as the Jaw would, if it punished
these offences with a capital or painful
punishment
But when this mode of satisfaction is
open to me; if 1 endure an insult patient
ly,! render myself contemptible in the
eyes of the public, since such conduct
discloses a fund of timidity ik cowardice, &
A
is one of the greatest impel fictions in V ..
character of a man. A Poit lu oii l,, sa i
ways been an object of contempt, w
this want of courage, ought it to he das?
ed among the vices ?
Is the opinion which contemns the
cow ard, a prejudice Xisefi i ( , r hurtful?
tVa siiall not doubt but that this O pU
nion is confoimable to general interest"
w hen we recollect that the first wisii of
every man, is seif preservation. Tlet
courage is more or lew a factitious quail,
ly. A social vh't, e to which public e> I
u.-m mote than any oihvv cause gives i* I
b’nfit and its inert,;*.c. A momentaiyl
bravery canb? lit tin bv am*r ; but imr'.l
pichty tranquil ft sustained, dees not Arnnl
or n.a, lire, except 1 j tiie happy i, ; fl i „ Ml .l
cesot Honor, ’i he contempt the refuel
wlurli we fed for cowardice, is „ ot . J
Useless sentiment. '1 he suffering which!
is inflicted upon poltroons, isiioum usJ
less pain The t Astcnre of a political
body df pends on the courage of its v.tirJ
riots. The internal security of tl\ e suifl
agiuimt the warrir.'s themselves, deneml
011 the br .very < f i.s citizens. Jo onfl
word, courage is tue. political soul, ill
tutelary genius, the sacruJ Palladium' il
whicli ajor.c, we can a cure outs. Ivl
from ail the miseries of sum nude, ic,„il
in tiie state oi man, and not fail boil
the brutes themselvusj but the n.,,1
courage is luioorvd, tiie more thine vl
be ot brave men. _ The more co.vardil
:s disp.sed, the fewer there
Cowards. This is not ah-:—The n*ai, w:|
when he can light, eudur'siaiinsvut, >h|
mil show timidity oi iy,—he p.i | !
against popular sanction, v/iiich Ins m|'
a law, and discovers himself to i.. :
essential ;iuinl, indifferent to ins jv fl
lion. Uat p'opulsi sanction is thu i„
active, and ; lie most faithful minister
Uit: principle of utility; the most povi
tit! and h ast dangerous idly of a ;.d
actmenls. iho law of public upin
{generally accords with the (aw nt mill
tlie m'orc a man is sensible to bis rep
tion the more is heready tocoitfbriiit
soK to virtui ; the less he is onl
point, the more is he prune to the s.J
tion of all vices. I
What is the vos-dt of this
Tlmt in the stale ofahaiHloaairiiMit vfl
the laws have at present left iht
the citizens ; he who endures an iiH
without having recourse to Hut nfl
which public opinion bus priscS
shows himself by that reduced to
of humiliating dependence mid rvH
to receive an indefinite series of
lie discovers a v ant of
makes general security; and
void of a sensibility to bis rqaitatßi
sensibility which is the prun ctm-Hp
the virtues, ai.d a safeguard <aiH|
the vices.
In examining the march
ion in relation to in. ‘■nils, it npp-
to speak in general it is gvod
fui; mid that the suectrsive HB
which hm c been made in the pr-aHI
duelling, have approached more
to the principle of utility.
would be wrong, or rather,its fnHa
be manifest, it, beholding an
nounced immediately a
my against the party insulted.
is not the case. Thisjucgmunt
only takes place when the
rebels against the laws
self signs the decree fur Ins
tion. i
UOfK
In general, then, the public l|
in this system of honor. The td
is on the side of the laws—Firsj
permitted to exist, in legald I
the anarchy which has forced aij
to this strange and unfortunall
redress. Second, to have end!
oppose to the custom of due ling
feet remedy, hut the only one.l
to have never combatted it IJ
proportioned and inefficacious I
When the man offended wil if
himself with the saiisfaction ofll
law, duelling ought to p 1
Where duelling is establishes
little of poisoning or assussini*
lighter evil is an assurance I
greater, ’I he ,duel is the prefl
politeness and peace. ’1 be
obliged to give or receive I
smothers quarrels in the bud-1
and Homans loving glory, kfl
of duelling. So much the wo®
Their love of glory did not ■
to poisoning o." assassination®
sentions of Athens, one half
plotted the destruction of dn®
what passes in England, in®
especially in the Lulled
ca, and compare their party ®
the dissentions of Greece ®
Clodius and Milo, according®!
tiers, would have fought a ti®t
ing to Homan manners,
procally to assassinate each W
one who killed his
ted his adversarv fV< m
In the Isle of Malta, (iucl*
hind of fury, and almost a ®|
war. One of the grand mar*
so severe,and caused
rously execute.l, that
it was only to give
which uni ltd Ireaebeiv am®P
sassination, before m-..
Knights, became si>c< ••••:«
was regretted and fi aiiV®p
certain place, and at
result mu yi.oniglit Iwe h®s
when an honorable
ci! to vengeance, eland-
came infamous
Duels are much Isss
than in France or
and aKsas-iina'ion arc m >'
Jo France, the
are ve-n sot tie; but »
eluding tin in
It is nscessary to w-ke-®-
of prelude.
In England, the C ®B
ai d livuder, h‘" 'a - ,
Ibuiid them—Vie) '■ 'H®
efrTvmslat’ghler. in; d® - '
guided by their g" - ;®B
bytliclrifder.ce. b ! *
a remedy in the la" "
siou of the law _^^B
cu.MMi -va v®B
Jlfr. Editor,
I perceive
,h Lir.a’’il'l'ip'C • .^®
lounds in curpm'fc
tract from a Donann .
surprising < I*" r
little conversant w: n ,®H
as not to have ' !!1 ' icl ®»
cheatfor v.hatv.-.:
ilemerit ofan autl.ch.h Ji
credit for all we
Isy turning: [0 ‘
Lnitieique UWJ* :u,ej l» A