poke out both his eyes as the most effectual cure for quarrelsomeness. The case is complacently related by M. de la Colombière as perfectly in rule.

We learn from the same respectable authority that the first duel in which the seconds fought was that in which the socalled minions of Henry the Third, Caylus, Maugiron, and Livarot were opposed to Entraguet, Riberac, and Schomberg. Although this innovation was not premeditated, but arose out of a spirit of bravado and was provoked by Maugiron on the ground, it soon grew into a settled practice, and as many as five or six on a side were not unfrequently engaged. During the civil discussions which distracted France, especially during the wars of the League and the Fronde, the rival factions were always eager to come to blows, and it was a positive gain when they could be induced to submit to any laws of honour or regulations whatever. Knights and nobles did not hesitate to take any advantage of arms, numbers, or surprise.

Thus the death of Bussy, as related in the Dame de Montsoreau, is founded upon fact. The husband of the lady was informed of the intrigue by the King, Charles IX., and told that he must avenge his wounded honour. Accordingly he compelled his wife to make an assignation with Bussy, who, on coming to the appointed spot, found Montsoreau at the head of an armed band, by whom he was set upon and slain. "The whole province," writes De Thou," was charmed at the death of Bussy, and the Duke of Anjou (his patron) was not sorry to be rid of him."

The Duc de Guise had already set the example of revenging a similar injury by a quet-apens. Severe penalties against duelfing at this period only aggravated the evil, the obvious result of their rigid enforcement being to put the fair combatant and the assassin on a par.

In Le Sicilien, of Molière, Hali consults

Don Pedro

with the face uncovered, so that they alone could be struck in the face. "A slap in the face became an insult which could only be washed out with blood, because the man who had received it had been treated as a villein." It is narrated in proof of the never-failing presence of mind of Talleyrand, that receiving a violent soufflet, he fell, and on rising exclaimed, " Quel terrible coup de poing."

The state of things which long made fair duelling, in its least defensible form, a safety-valve in France, was partially re-produced in the Southern and Western districts of the Dis-United States. Arrangements had been made for a meeting between Colonel Benton and General Jackson; when Jackson, hearing of his adver sary's arrival at Nashville, repaired to the hotel, accompanied by two friends, and forced his way into the bedroom where Benton was in bed with his brother and two friends. On seeing Jackson, Benton laid his hand on his pistols, and the General instantly fired a pistol at his head. The Colonel's brother replied by a shot which struck the General in the arm. Pistol-shots were furiously exchanged on both sides, and when all the firearms were discharged, they took to the bowie-knife. Both Jackson and Benton were dreadfully wounded, but none of the party were killed.

Jackson's duel with Sevier was fought on horseback in the presence of two or three thousand spectators. Jackson came armed wiih an immense cudgel: Sevier with a long sword. Both bristled with pistols like bandits in a melodrama. The cudgel proved the more effective weapon; for at the first encounter Sevier fell stunned upon the plain, and Jackson was on the point of blowing out his brains, when the seconds and bystanders interposed.

The European notion of satisfying honour by a harmless exchange of shots, or a scratch on the arm, was always scouted in America. They saw no use in fighting unless people proposed to fight to extremity, and the most deadly weapons were the most honourable and the most popular. The rifle at thirty or forty paces, to be followed by pistols and swords à discrétion, was not unfrequently chosen before the civil war found vent for the fiery spirit of the South. Or the two adversaries, armed to the teeth, would go into a wood and engage in a match of stalking till one of them was brought down. Mr. V., tired with a vain search, seated himself under a tree and produced the materials for a luncheon,

We are not aware that American ladies ever fought duels, which occurred from time to time amongst the French. Madame de Nesle, irritated by the attentions of the Duc de Richelieu to Madame de Polignac, wrote her an insulting letter, concluding: "Si, du reste, madame, ces raisons ne vous persuadent pas, je vous attendrai demain, dix heures du matin, au bois de Bologne. Mon arme est le pistolet." They met, attended by their lady's maids, and it was arranged that they should fire on reaching a scarf placed half way between them. Madame de Nesle fired first and missed. Madame de Polignac fired more deliberately, and wounded her rival in the shoulder; but Richelieu, for once in his life, acted like Cato and preferred the conquered to the conqueror.

Except in a semi-barbarous society, there was no counterbalancing advantage in the duel so long as the practice of seconds fighting lasted, and it fasted till past the commencement of the eighteenth century. One remarkable instance is recorded by Swift, in the Journal to Stella.

London, Sept. 18, 1702. Before this comes to your hand you will have heard of the most horrible accident that almost ever happened. This morning at eight my man brought me word that Duke Hamilton had fought with Lord Mohun, and killed him, and was brought home wounded. I immediately sent him to the Duke's house in St. James'ssquare; but the porter could hardly answer for tears, and great rabble was about the house. In short, they fought at seven this morning. The dog Mohun was killed on the spot, and, while the Duke was over him, Mohun shortened his sword and stabbed him at the shoulder to the heart. The Duke was helped towards the cakehouse by the ring in Hyde Park (where they fought), and died on the grass before he could reach the house, and was brought home in his coach by eight, while the poor Duchess was asleep. Macartney and one Hamilton were the seconds, who fought likewise, and are both fled. I am told that a footman of Lord Mohun stabbed Duke Hamilton, and some say Macartney did so too. Mohun gave the affront, and yet sent the challenge.

England is the only country in which the pistol has completely superseded all other weapons, and its partial introduction in

Skill with the pistol can hardly be acquired or justified, like swordsmanship, as the ordinary accomplishment of a gentleman; and it must be carried to an unusual degree of perfection to enable the proficient to be merciful or discriminating in its use. When Halbert Glendinning avows his crude knowledge of the noble science of defence, Sir Piercie Shafton exclaims, "Marry and I am glad of it, My Audacity. For we martialists proportion the punishments which we inflict upon our opposites to the length and hazard of the efforts wherewith they oppose themselves to us. And I see not why you, being but a tyro, may not be held sufficiently punished for your outrecidance and orgillous presumption by the loss of an ear, an eye, or even of a finger, accompanied by some flesh wound of depth and severity, suited to your error." Such moderation could seldom be exhibited with the pistol; and in the barrier duel the odds are terribly in favour of the cool and practised hand. In a duel of this kind, fought near Carlsruhe in 1843, between a Russian, Count V., who had Prince T. for his second, with a German officer, the parties, armed with two pistols each, were placed at thirty paces distance, with liberty to advance ten paces and fire when they chose. Count V., eager (like Bob Acres) to bring down his man at a long shot, fired as soon as the signal was given. The German, hit in the breast, staggered forward and fell close to his own barrier; but, raising himself on his elbow and exclaiming, "Je vous tuerai encore," pulled the trigger of his pistol, which flashed in the pan. Non," responded the Russian, advancing as close as the prescribed conditions permitted; "vous ne me tuerez pas; vous êtes un homme mort. Lift him up," he exclaimed, "and give him my second pistol." Prince T. obeyed, and the wounded man, making another effort, shot Count V. dead. He himself died within forty-eight hours: all hope of recovery being cut off by the exulting friends who kept crowding into his room and inflamed the fever of the wound.

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Between dead shots at moderate distances, the grand object was to fire first. It was found that a pistol could be discharged sooner by hip-firing, that is, with the elbow pressed against the hip, than when it was fired straight from the shoulder and had more space to traverse. An additional refinement was to fire at once, without raising the arm at all, the aim being taken, and with wonderful accuracy, by a mere turn of the wrist. "Whilst your adversary is taking his aim," says Beyle, "look at a tree and begin counting the leaves. One pre-occupation will distract from another of a graver kind. Whilst taking aim yourself, recite two Latin verses: this will prevent you from firing too quickly, and neutralize that five per cent. of emotion which has sent so many balls twenty feet above the mark."

No practices or doctrines of this kind were ever current in England; and from the time the pistol duel became the established form, the prescribed conditions were of a nature to mitigate its principal evils and disadvantages. The parties were not allowed to take aim; and firing in the air (for which there is no parallel in the sword duel) became a recognized mode of settlement in many cases. Above all, seconds became indispensable; time was gained for calm consideration; and two unimpassioned referees were charged with the heavy responsibility of deciding what the law of honour imperatively required. This we take to be the essential quality and distinctive merit of the English duel with its latest modifications and improvements. For one quarrel that ended in a meeting, full twenty were honourably arranged, and the social curb was purchased at the minimum of cost. Such a duel as that in which Lord Byron (the greatuncle of the poet) killed Mr. Chaworthfought with swords and without seconds in a private room by candlelight—would have

According to a French maxim, "It is neither the balls nor swords that kill, it is the seconds." And there is an Irish story that one of the parties thinking the seconds too pugnacious, turned to his adversary and said, "I will fire at your second if you will fire at mine." But in England the sense of responsibility was so strong that seconds were more prone to compromising arrangements than the contrary. The late Sir Alexander Grant, having occasion to employ a friend, applied to the late Lord Hertford (then Yarmouth), who settled the affair amicably. On Sir Alexander's mentioning what had passed to the late Sir Robert Peel, he said, "You are wrong; Yarmouth would be thinking more of getting out of the scrape himself than of your honour. I should have preferred Daly," naming an Irish gentleman, whose gallantry was well known. If we are not mistaken, he was the oppositon candidate for the county of Galway, when Martin, on being asked which would win the seat, replied "The survivor."

Grattan's dying advice to his sons was "Always be ready with your pistol." His countrymen and contemporaries were much too ready, and (except in the article of bloodthirstiness) fairly rivalled the French and Americans. When the duel between Alcock and Coldclough was fought, in 1807, there were ten or a dozen magistrates and two or three thousand freeholders and other spectators on the ground. The combatants were brothers-in-law, and rival candidates for their county; and the quarrel, purely political, was forced upon them by their supporters. Alcock wore spectacles, to which the second of Coldclough objected as unfair. After some altercation, it was agreed to decide by a toss-up whether both or neither should wear spectacles. Coldclough lost, and was provided with a pair lent by a bystander. On putting them on he declared that he "could not see to shoot his own father." The crowd was such that a lane was formed of living bodies, through which the combatants were to fire; and an over-curious spectator, leaning forward, received a ball in the neck. Coldclough was killed, and Alcock's reason is reported to have been fatally shaken by the event.

There was a complete mob, and a highly excited one, present at the duel between O'Connell and D'Esterre, in 1815; and the