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Church wt then occupied, were evidences
that the waodering sailor bad a friend.
But the Doctor pointed out one thing still
wanting Qiwleiton, to protect the poor
sailor the imposition of the artful and
*® e yw>ntagoo of the vicious—a boarding
“tsfuse and we trust that it will not long
‘tw said that the sailors, who are provided
with a church and good teachers, are com
pelled to take up their lodgings among the
vicious and depraved of our cit y, and min
gle in society, prepared, not only to do
away the effect, but to turn into ridicule
the ordinances and the worship of the
house of God ! This ought ntft thus to be.
Provision is already made for publishing
this sermon and Dr. Parson's address* as
tracts.
FROM THE AUGUSTA EXAMINER.
Believing it will be interesting to many
of the friends of religion, to heartoraething
relative to the late session of the South
Carolina Annual Conference #f the Metho
dist Episcopal Church in this city, I take
the liberty qf communicating the following
particulars for insertion in the Examiner.
A member ojH the-Conference.
The inference commenced on Thurs
day the xlst Feb. it was attended by Bish
ops M’Kfendree and George, and nearly an
hundred preachers, a majority of whom,
were members. It continued five hours in
atissian each tt*y, except tbe Sabbath, until
yedferday morning, when it closed and the 1
appointments ofthe jireachefs for the pre
sent year, were read out. Three sermons
a d*y were preached usually, ana tour on
the Lord's day, when a large number were
set apart and ordained to the sacred offices
of Deacon and Elders in tbe church of
Christ.
Six of the members of conference, from
affliction, were constrained to locate, and
sixteen or seventeen (many of whom prom
ise much usefulness) were admitted into
the itenerant connexion.
Avery favourable report, relative to our
Indian oiissions in the Creek nation, was
made by onr esteemed missionary, appoint
ed partly to that work last year. Two
missionary stations dtaong the Creeks were
adopted, which are styled Asbury •$* AVKen
dree, to which two missionaries are appoint
ed, and also a superintendent, who is like
wise to act as conference miseiooayy, and
use his best endeavnars to obtaio funds and
necessaries for the support of those estab
lishments. A missionary committee for
the management of these institutions was
created, which are composed of tbe follow
ing persons, aDd is to meet semi-annually.
Rev. Lewis Myres, Wm. M. Kennedy,
Jas. Norton, Jas. O. Andrew, S. K. Hodges, i
Daniel Hall, Joseph Travis, Thomas Dar-j
ley, Lovick Pierce, Peter Gautier, Benj. j
Blanton, Joseph Galluchat, Gen. D. Merri-,
wether. Col. R. A. Blount and James
Shackelford, Esq.
Very favourable information from the
Sa’ein and Tabernacle Academies, relative
to the literary, moral and religious acquire-
Tflevu-u sh"d dep**®ent of |heir teachers
and students was received. These sctfooir
have been formed on principles which ac
cord vitb<ns econpnu wiiurcn, and
>rere tendered to us for onr patronage and
adoption —they were accordingly adopted,
and a school committee created, whose
business it is, with their respective trustees,
to secure the support and form laws for the
government of .said Academies. The fol
lowing persons compose the committee:
Rev. Samuel K. Hodges. Josiah Travis,
William Capprs, Lewis Myers, and Thomas
Darley.
The Missionary Society of the S. Caro-1
liua Conference, held its annual meeting;
the day before conference, made report,
(which will appear before the pubhck,)
recognized eight branches, and elected the
following officers and managers for the
pip-cot years
Rev Lewis Miters, President.
William M. Kennedy, V. P.
James Norton, 2d ditto. .
W Capers, corresponding sec-.
John Howard, recording ditto.
Whitman C. Hill, treasurer.
Isaac Smith,
Joseph Travis,
Thomas Darley,
Jas. O Andrew, Managers.
S. K. Hodges,
Henry Bass,
Tilman Snead,
The last Fridays in May and September,
were set apart as days of Humiliation,
Fasting and Prayer; to be observed
throughout the bounds specially—to pray
for the divine blessings on our labours and
a general revival of vital piety.
Savannah was. fixed -■■•* -*b
holding. onr nest conference, which is to
commence 20fb of February, 1823.
From tbe very large and frequently
overflowing congregations that attended the
ministry of the word, the seriousness of
their countenances, the many who were
eften bathed in tears, and the eloquent,
energetiok and powerful manner in which
the sermons were in the general delivered,
we have much ground to hope many last
ing religious impressions weTe made, and
trust we shall hear of a gracious harvest
ere it be long, in Augusta.
Preachers stations for the year 1822.
Athens district —S. K. Hodges, P. E.
Appalachee —W. C. Hill, A. Ray.
Broad river—R. L. Edwards, H. W. Led
betler.
Grove—J. B. Chappel, J. H. Robertson.
Alcovia—J. Beilah ; R. Tucker, supernu
merary.
Sparta—T. Samford, W. Parks.
Cedar creek and Milledgeville—Jesse Sin
clair, John Bigby.
David Hilliard, without a station.
Oconee dis. —A. Turner, P. E.
Washington—J. H. Tradewell.
Big Ocoaulgee—J. Dun woody.
Little Octnulgee—N. H. Rhodes.
Oheopy—T. L. Winn, P. L. Wade.
Appling—J. Freem* 0,
Satiila—A Purify..
St. Marys and A*<—£Mi
Ogtchge Joseph Traviss, P. E.
Augusta-J. Howard.
Washington— P- Darley.
Louisville— G Hill.
vWren J* B - Turner, N. Laney.
Littfc v*r—D. Garrison, J. N. Glena.
Saluda—B. English.
Abbeville—B. Smith, A. P. Manly,
Keowee—J. Dannelly.
Edisto dw.—Lewis Myres, P. E.
Savannah—J. O. Andrew, G. White.
Charleston—J. Norton, D. Hall, J. Evans.
Black Swamp—D. G. M'Daniel.
Orangeburg —Robert Adams, J. Reynolds.
Cypress—J. L. Greaves, H. Seigrist.
Congoree —M. Raiford.
Cooper river—E. J. Fitzgerald.
Bread river dis. —H. Bass, P. E.
Reedy river—Z. Dowling, M. Westmore
land.
Enoree—J. Taylor, Eliah Sinclair.
Newberry—J. Murrow, M. M'Pherson.
Sandy river— E. Callaway, Josiah Free
man.
Wateree—T. Owen.
Santee—T. Mabrey.
Camden —N. Talley.
Columbia —T. Soeed.
Petdee dis.— W. M. Kennedy, P. E.
Lynches Creek —N. Ware.
Little Peedee—J. W. Norton, M. Turren
■ ton.
Black River—W- Kemredy-
Brunswick—W. Haoktns, D. hiley.
OldricD" —©• Belt®.
Deep river—J. Dix.
Georgetown—A. Morgan.
Fayetteville—J. Dunwoody.
Wilmington —G. Hill.
Catawba dis.— D. F. Cbristenberry, P. E.
Montgomery —W. Knight.
Rocky river—J. Boswell, J. Covington.
Sugar creek—T. A. Rosamond.
Lyncoln—D. Asbury, A. Norman.
Union—J. Mulliuex, J. Richardson, super-
numerary.
Upper—F. Broad. B. Rhodes.
Black mountain—W. Warwick.
Morgantoo—J. L. Jerrey.
William Capers, Superintendant oflcdiao
missions and conference missionary.
J. Smith and A. Hamill—Missionaries at
Asbnry and M’Kendree station, Indian Mis
sion.
C. Carlisle, missionary at Lawrens dis
trict, South Carolina*.
G. L. Masctn, missionary Gwinett county,
Georgia.
J. J. Triggs, missionary Early county,
Georgia.
—-
I The Treasurer of the Missionary Society of the
j Synod of South Carolina aßd Georgia, acknow
ledges the receipt of the following sums, paid at
the last session of the Synod, aud subsequently.
From the Presbytery of South Carolina.
From Rev. H. Dickson—his own subscrip
tion §5, his donation $9, Mrs. F. Dick
son $lO, a lady $3 $27
Rev. W. H. Barr, from the ladies of Upper
Long Cane, S3O of which is to consti
tute Eta, a life member • 35
Ditto from upper i—•— congregation * tztl
Rev. Henry Reid, from Double Branch ch.
Lincoln co. Georgia 32 50
Rev. James Gamble, Rocky River cong. 100
Ditto his own subscription 5
Ditto from Young Men in same church 25
Ditto from coloured members of ditto 1
Rev. Richard B. Cater,Willington ch. S.C. 28 50
Ditto for life membership 30
Ditto subscription of Andrew Norris, Esq. 5
Rev. Jame3 Hillhouse,from Carmel Church 20 75
Ditto Hopewell ditto 40
John Hams, Esq. his subscription 5
Rev. Joseph Hillhouse, from Unionville ch. 24 50
Ditto his own subscription 6
Ditto the subscription of General Means 5
Mr. Wm. H. Caldwell 5
Rev. Alex’r Kirkpatrick, his own sulTscrip-
tion and that of Dr. Farrow 10
Ditto from Laurens C. H. 11 31
Ditto Warriour Creek 2 25
Ditto Liberty Springs 1 60
Michael Dickson, bis own and Dr.T. Alex
ander’s subscription 10
Rev. David Humphries, bis subscription 5
Ditto from Varennes 17
Rev. John B. Kennedy, from Little River, 21
Ditto his own subscription 5
Ditto from a friend 2
Ditto from Samuel Low, jun. 23
Rev. Joseph Y. Alexander, fro* several
gentlemen at Newberry Court House 28
Ditto his own subscription 5
Rev. Thos. Archibald, his two years’ sub
scription •10 <
Ditto from Persons in Laurens District 7
Thomas Childs, Esq. 5
John M’Bride, Esq. his subscription 5
Ditto donation 5
From Hopewell Presbytery.
Rev. Francis Cummins, D. D. his subscrip. 5
Ditto from Mrs. H. Simpson 5
Ditto Salem congregation, to be appropri
ated exclusively to the Chickasaw mis
sion 16
■ fci Mr . and Mrs. A- H_. Sc.nft. _
same purpose ft) .
Ditto from Siloam congregation, for ditto 570
Ditto from Bethany congregation, for do. 737
Rev. Dr. Moses Waddel, from Hebron
congregation 20 25
Ditto Thyafira 8
Ditto from Dr. Edwin Rees 5
Ditto from Wm. Hodge, Madison county 1
Ditto his own donation 20
Rev. N. S. S. Reman, his sub. for 3 years 15
Ditto from Mount Zion 20
From Harmony Presbytery.
Rev. G. M’Whorter, Concord congreg. 7 50
Rev. George Reid, from first Presbyterian
Church in Charleston 68 50
Ditto from W. Frierson Esq. 14
Ditto his own subscription 5
Rev. A. W. Ross, from the Winnsborough
Female Missionary Society 26
Ditto collection in Mount Zion Church 26 37
Ditto collection by Mr. James Ellison in
hisneigbbourhoed 14
Ditto Daniel Carr, Esq’s, subscription 5
Ditto his own subscription 5
Rev. Thomas Alexander, his subscription 5
Ditto from the Union Auxiliary Society
Black River 90
Rev. R. W. James’ subscription 2 years 10
Rev. Wm. Moderwell, of Augusta, his sub. 5
Rev. T. Charlton Henry, from the Female
Miss. Soc. and Presb. church of Colum
bia, to be appropriated exclusively to
missions in South Carolina* 325
_ * This limitation was made, because, at the
time, all the sums which the treasurer bad re
ceiled for many month*, had beeatdirected to be
applied solely to tbe Chickasaw Mission, and it
was feared that no funds would be collected for
missions to the destitute parts of the Slate.
Rev. Robot Mean*, hie subscription S
Ditto the subscription of T. Means, Esq. 5
Rev. Sanuol S. Davis, his donation 5
Rev. RemSnbrance Chamberlain, his sub. 6
IWv. John Cousar, being the remainder of
his life ssbsoription, s2l being paid 9
Ditto from Rev. Gahriel Capers, from the
Union Auxiliary Society of Salem 10
Rev. Arteiias Boies, from the 2d Presbyte
rian chuich iu Charleston 101
Mr. Thom* Flemming, his subscription 5
From the collection taken up in the ch.
in Washington, during the session of the
Synod 58 75
thus jsmsMtAirst.
MOUNT ZION, MONDAY, MARCH 11, 1822.
11 Their feet art swift to shed blood." —Paul.
We have long wished to present to the publick
a feiv remarks on the subject ol Duelling, but
have been hitherto deterred from tbe execution
of Sur purpose by more considerations than one;
and among these the consciousness, that our tal
ents are unequal to the magnitude of the theme,
is by no means the least. The finest intellectual
powers in our country, and indeed in Christen
dom, have been occasionally called into action
for the purpose of discountenancing this disgrace
ful ami savage practice;—but it is an evil of so
peitinacious and malignant a character, that it
continues to exist, supported by the authority of
example and oherished by the murderous spirit of
fallen man, *•-- -j a — > —
as demonstration, to be, in'its very nature, hostile
to the law o( God, and, in its operation, subver
sive of the fixidamental principles of human soci
ciety. The wrath of heaven and the penal
scourge of finnan justice, have been pointed in
vain againstthis blood-stained moastpr. He still
prosecutes his march though countries called
civilized and Christian, and men who affect a su
perior elevation iu society, and not unfreqoeot
ly, those who ire invested in the robes and bear
the sword of cidl authority, are seen mingling in
his train. Thtse things ought not so to be ;
and though a thousand previous and pungent
warnings may nave been treated with contempt
and set at detainee, it becomes every friend ofhis
country and of God, to lift his voice like a trum
pet against this prevailing evil —to hunt down by
every lawful weapon, these men of blood, these
modern Cains—to (urn, if possible, the indignant
; current of publick opinion against them—and
thus to plant thorns upon their pillows, though
he may not he able to rivet conviction upon their
hearts.
For the sake of insuring the greater distinct
ness of impression, we shall consider successively,
in the progress of our remarks, the following par
ticulars ; the origin—the causes — the criminality
—the preventives —and the apologies of Duel
ling.
Among the more enlightened and polished na
tions of antiquity, the practice of settling contro
versies by the weapons of death, in single com
bat, was unknown. In those remote times, if
the murderous practice existed at all, it was re
stricted to those who were considered as Barbari
ans. Even pagan Greece and Rome, in their bet
ter days, never descended to thibase and-bloody
degradation. Duelling, as it has come down to
us, had its origin in a dark and superstitious age,
and was often resorted to as an ulteriour appeal j
in cases of civil or criminal litigation, when the
magistrate, for want of legal testimony, felt any
hesitation in pronouncing a final decision. At
that period it was universally believed, that God,!
would interpose for the protection of the inno-!
cent, and the punishment of the guilty. This |
opinion, though predicated upon erroneous im-1
pressions the divine government, furnished a I
far mort plausible defence of the ancient combat ’
or trial by arns, than any argument which can \
be adduced in vindication of the modern duel. !
1 he combattants who now meet upon the field of
honour, make their appeal, not to God, but to
the powers of powder and ball—rely for security
not upon the protecting shield of heaven, but up
on muscles which were never relaxed by fear,
and upon nerves which cannot be unbraced by
the appalling thought of purposed murder.
The causes of duels are generally frivolous to
a proverb, and such as cannot justify, on any
principle of morals or humanity, a resort to ex
tremities. They are such as hardly have the
weight of a feather, or the magnitude of a mote,
in the estimation of that man who looks above the
world—maintains an elevation superiour to (he
vulgar prejudices of the multitude—or ever glances
his eye upo# the coming retributions of eternity.
Duels generally respect some point of honour;
and this honour which has caused so much pa
rade and bustle in the world, when brought to
the test of rational —— lll ,u trc
no more nor less tlian a proud, vindictive and un
forgiving spirit—a temper of heart that fears not
God nor regards man. To a person of this
squeamish and fiery temperament,a warm debate,
a newspaper essay, an inadvertent and hasty re
mark, an omission of some empty form or eti
quette, a surly look, or a sarcastick grin, is deem
ed an offence of that deep and scarlet die which
nothing but the blood of the offender has power
to expiate. This nice and delicate sense of hon
our, which resembles the tasty humoui of an in
dulged and ill-natured child t rather than the dig
nified spirit of a man , is (he god of the duellist.
But, to the mortification and disgrace of his wor
shippers be it known, this deity is a kind of Devil.
It is the heathen Moloch buptized with a Chris
tiam name His altar is shrouded in black, and
covered with dead men’s bones—he bears in his
right hapd the instruments of death, and in his
left, a banner dipped in the life-blood of butcher-,
ed victims —while his common drink is mingled
with the tears of widows and of orphans. Many
an infatuated wrctclh, who turns, in the pride and
loathing of his heart from the altar of Jehovah,
proffers his devotions at the congenial shrine of
this surly and malignant god.
The crimisalitx of duelling is of a compli
cated nature, for however the contest may ter
minate, it is #|eudifctsd attempt to tafc? assay
j human life, and embraces in a single act, a de
liberate offence aguiust the social compact—a vi
olation ofthe principle*of humanity—and an in
fraction of the law of God. Let every candid
reader trace, for a moment, the lltree-frld bear
ing* of this enormous crime.
As to the criminality of Duelling, it is in the
first place a deliberate offence against the social
compact. It is in a state of nature alone, that
man is the arbiter of his own actions, and the
avenger of his own wrongs. In civil society these
prerogatives belong to the governing power which
ha* been created for the mutual safety and hap
piness of all. In such a state of things individuals
are bound, in tho prosecution and defence of their
rights, to make their appeal, not to their own
personal decision or physical strength, but to the
tribunal which civil government lias erected for
the attainment of distributive justice; In an or
ganized government—a government of laws—to
become our own legislator, judge and execution
er, is to subvert the vital principles of social sub
ordination ; it is to forfeit our good standing and
character as citizens. But all this is done by the
duellist. By one daring act, he throws contempt
in the face and eyes of civil law, and stands forth
under tbe full gaze of his fellow citizens, upon the
native ground of the unbridled savage. He re
verts back to that state where not law but passion
governs—where man has no rule of action but
the decisions of his own mind, and no avenger
but the puissance ofhis own arm. It needs but
half an eye to discern the repugnance of funk an
act to the first principles of social order, ana us
VAgiiStjr in thft.K—• monious operations of civil gov
ernment. But these remarks describe not the
full extent of the crime of duelling as committed
against society. In most civilized countries spe
cial laws have been enacted for the counteraction
of this evil, and for the protection of the mem
bers of the commonwealth against its wanton rav
ages ; and the ingenious subterfuges to which
gentlemen often resort in giving and accepting
challenges, and selecting the ground of combat,
in order to elude legal detection, only exhibit the
peculiar subtilty of their taieuts in the perpetra
tion of mischief. The incipient steps of these
dark transactions are studiously covered from the
publick eye ; and when the preliminaries are
fairly adjusted, and the work of pre-concerted
butchery is to commence, the combattants,
equipped Tor the desperate and deadly onset,
cross the line of a State, or, as better befits their
barbarous purpose, retire to tbe frontier of civil
ization, and pass as fugitives into the great wil
derness belonging to the Natives. When the
latter course is pursued, the whole transaction is
truly charactenstick. All the actors in this scene
of blood, though once the members of an organi
zed government, are now by a temporary and
wilful revolt, savages on savage ground.
But the guilt of the duellist is rendered still more
apparent, by the additional consideration, that he
coolly violates the principles of common human
ity. To wish to shed the blood of a fellow being,
though that being may have injured us, is to pos
sess the heart of a tiger, and not of a man. “ The
milk of human kindness” flows not in such a
bosom. It is in every instance an act of wanton
cruelty to inflict on others sufferings dispropor
tionate to the injuries we have sustained—and
this i9 ever done in the fatal termination of a
duel. Few things in their nature or consequen
ces, are to be putin competition with human life.
, The infatuuted man who slays his antagonist in a
duel, inflicts an injury which can never be repair
ed—he hurries an immortal fellow being whose
I heart beats with tbe purposes of murder, prema
j turely to that Tribunal whose retribution is ever
: just, and whose adjudications are irreversible and
! eternal. In this strain of argument, we hare said
j nothing of the charity of the Gospel, which for
! bids the retaliation of injuries, and enjoins upon
;us to love our neighbour as ourselve,s. But the
i inhumanity of the duellist is not confined to his
: immediate victim ; —the tenderest ties of life are
not unfrequently sundered by one cruel blow.—
Were we to paint a death-scene , shaded with un
wonted horrours, we would select the catastrophe
of some fatal duel as the subject. The prominent
object should be the Husband and the Father,
i who has fallen by the weapon of an alienated
friend, & around his coffin & his bier, upon which
j rests the black pall of death, should be grbuped
i the sorrow-stricken victims who participate most
i deeply in this scene of unmingled woe—the wid
;ow bending for the last time over the cold clay
’ of him she most tenderly loved, and anointing
’ him with her tears for his burial—and the little
: infant prattlers, who have learned in vain to lisp
the endearing name of father , and who are now
reduced to a premature and hopeless orphanage !
Behind should be seen following with the unequal
and tottering step of age, the Parent who
gave name and being to the self-immolated vic
nm or rasfiness—bis locks which are whitened bji
the snows of many winters, shaken by the pertur
bations of an anguish-smitten bosom—and his
almost sightless eyeballs rolled up to heaven, the
, lust refuge of childless and pious decrepitude !
In the back ground, and far remote, with his face
turned from this melting spectacle, should be pre
sented the fell homicide, his weapon of death fal
ling from his hand, fleeing from -the.legal aveng
er of blood, with a viper gnawing at his heart, the
brand of Cain upon his features, while a dark
cloud is gathering over his head, half-illuminated
hy a stream of vindictive lightning from heaven !
’ Let the duellist contemplate this picture before
, his headstrong passion impels him to the commis
sion of a crime which may render him, like the
, father of homicides, u a fugitive and a vagabond
in the earth.”
Duelling is, moreover, a palpable violation of
the law of God. “ Thou shall not kill,” is one
. of the plainest prohibitions of the Decalogue ;
and in every duel this precept is either actually
or virtually transgressed. No construction how
ever ingenious, can be put upon this clause of
the nrioTal law, which will, in any instance, au
thorize, excuse or extenuate duelling. The only
exceptions to this general rule are to be sought
for in the Alible ; and this sacred volume aud
writers on Jurisprudence and Moral Philosophy,
’ unite in restricting these exceptions to executions
by legal authority, A to the Act* of killing in self
defence when our own lives are in immincut and
immediate danger. Os neither of these pleas can
the duellist avail himself, for he slays his antago
nist in defiance of the majesty of law, and the
jeopardy of his own life involved in this act, is a
voluntary and wanton exposure. There is no
description of, human slaughter which ful|| more
directly within the scope of the precept, or which
Is attended by fewer extenuating circumstances
than that which is effected in duels. It is mur
der of the blackest die. Every challenge is given
and accepted with the expectation of killing, or
of being killed. This is the obvious and acknowl
edged design of the whole transaction. The
blood of the offender is publickly demanded for
the real or imaginary injury which has been in
flicted. The weapons which are employed, are
the weapons of death ; and much time is spent
in acquiring adroitness in their use, ? and this for
the sole object of insuring certainty in the execu-
tion of the fell purpose of murder. Nothing can
be more deliberate, than the determination witft
which duellists pass through the various stages of
their work to the ulteriour act of slaughter. The
parties take their own time for reflection. The
challenger has- it within his <Jwn option, wheth
er he will call his antagonist to’ the guilty field or
not—and it is equally optional with the othcA,
whether he will obey the call when given, or re
fuse it. Both parties wilfully jeopardize their
own lives and the lives of each other. As killing
in a duel is the most deliberate, so it must be the
moat aggravated “Species of liiurdt-r. The heat
and impetuosity Cf passion cannot be pleaded, y
in many cases of homicide, irs affording even
shadow of extenuation. The whole business is
condfioted with the coolness and regularity of
system. In contempt of human justice, and in
defiance of the malediction of Jehovah, the chal
lenge is formally given, and as formally accepted—.
the time and place are appointed, and the seconds
chosen—and each party repairs to the field of
contest, with the cool, remorseless temper of a
professed assassin, for the purpose of exposing his
own life in the attempt to take the life ofhis ad
versary. Id the event of a fatal issue, the one
who falls is guilty of little less than actual suicide,
and the one who deals the blow of death, is a
premeditated and wilful murderer. It is in vain
to palliate this black and hellish crime, by de
nominating it u an affair of honour.” It is an af
fair which commenced in pride and stubbornness,
and ended in revenge and murder; —and thus it
will be found recorded, in characters as deep and
indelible as the finger of God can inscribe them,
in the adamantine tablets of heaven.
In contemplating the evils of duelling, we are
naturally led to inquire whether there are any ef
fectual preventives of this barbarous custom—
whether any practical remedy can be found to
shield society from insult, the feelings of humani
ty from outrage, and the statutes of heaven from
a wanton violation. Something ought to be done,
at)d that without delay, to lessen the number of
murders committed in duels, and to wipe off this
broadest and foulest blot from the human charac
ter. In combatting the evil in question, the first
appeal must be made to publicksentiment. The
Ministers of the Gospel and the members of the
Christian Church must lift their voice against it,
and call upon the friends of virtue and humanity
to unite with them in every lawful attempt Jo
purge the land of so foul a mischief. The true
nature of the crime must be boldly exhibited, and
th? publick odium fixed, if possible, upon the
bloody men who become its fearless perpetrators.
When this is done it will no longer be popular to
engage in duels, and one strong incentive to these
deeds of blood will be removed at once. Were
duellists uniformly excluded from offices of trust
and honour, in our republick, this political dis.
franchisement would do much towards the exter
mination of so disgraceful a practice. This ex
clusion from privileges so dear to-men of an am
bitious and aspiring temper, might be effected
either by an express statute on the subject, or by
the consentaneous voice of a virtuous and indig
nant publick. Such a motive would address itself
j so pungently to the predominant characteristicks
of duellists, that a single combat would become a
moral phenomenon—less frequent than the ad f
; vent of a comet, or the concussions of an earth-
J quake. Every good man must devoutly wjsh for
the dawn of that day, when the blustering hero
i shall not dare to hope, that he can shoot away the
! infamy of a smutty character, and thus purchase
an infallible passport to office. But the most £
! fectual method of banishing duels from the cV S *
! ized world, would be to insure the execution of
j the law of God and man enacted against murder.
\ In this business magistrates have an important
j part to perform; and we are sorry to say, that
! they have too long winked at the prostration of
law, and the prevalence of this frightful sjn. Let
those who are elevated t authority “ for the pun-
I ifbment of evil doerp,” tee to it, that they be not
guilty of a dereliction of duty, and thus call down
from heaven some signal act of national retribu
tion. While murderers far less guilty than the
duellist often is, are arraigned and sentenced to
condign and exemplary punishment, this pb?rac r
ter is permitted to trample upon the laws with
impunity. No efforts are made to bring him to
justice, or to consign him to the infamy of thW
gallows-. Let the halter be the badge of honour
i)niform(y awarded to the person who commits
murder in a dpel, and few of our fine gentlemen
will perpetrate an act which will insure to them
this merited distinction. Let officers of justice
hear the voice of God, and either obey or tremble;
|—“ The murderer shall surely be’ put to death
! and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood IhaU
is shed therein, but, by the blood of him that shed
it
But duelling has its Apologies, which we are
now prepared to consider and refute. It is fre
quently alleged in vindication of this savage mode
of settling controversies, that the law of the land
makes no provision for awarding satisfaction in
peculiar cases which may sometimes occur. There
art certain insults which no man of spirit can
possibly bear , and the only prospect of a remedy is
afforded by an appeal to the sword or the pis!oh
CuJ v/hat are these mighty evils which press wi%