Here we find the ground-work of duelling,--and it is to be lamented, that man, even in a progressive state of civilization, differs little from the savage in his thirst for gratifying the degrading indulgence of revenge.
Let us strip the romantic days of chivalry of their fantastic and glittering panoply,--the hall of wassail of its pomp and beauty,--the troubadour’s fond theme of its florid attractions,--and the feats of knighthood in the cause of the ladies loved _par amours_ of their Quixotic devotion,--and what shall we behold? Treachery and ferocity of the blackest die,--profligacy and debauchery of the most revolting nature,--vice clad by a morbid imagination in the most fascinating garb of virtue,--and a murderer’s brow laurelled by beauty’s hand, instead of falling under the headsman’s axe!
Balzac has truly said that we might travel to the world’s end upon _a word_. If we could but define certain _words_, and make that definition recognized by society, which is drawn by reason, instead of fashion and prejudice, how much more happy might we not be! Then should we know the real meaning of the words, “liberty, glory, honour, love, courage,”--now fantastic idols, at whose shrine so much blood has been vainly shed!--while, by a strange perversion of human intellect, _satisfaction_ has been considered to consist in the probable aggravation of our own sufferings, and the misery of all those whom we hold dear.
It would be anticipating further observations on this important point, to dwell longer upon it in this place. In the following pages are recorded the most celebrated duels of various ages, and of different countries. In their perusal we may shudder at the atrocity of the details, and flatter ourselves with the idea that the present times are more civilized, but reflection will convince us that we are in error; the causes and the effects of the evil continue the same,--the one equally frivolous, the other equally disgraceful, and equally criminal. Not only will the history of duelling throw considerable light on the history of the times, but it will materially tend to illustrate the manners and the institutions of society at the different periods of its progression towards a more humanized condition; at the same time we shall see what has been the effect of example in sanctioning or discouraging the practice. In the history of duelling we read the history of mankind in the developement of our evil passions, and the occasional display of some redeeming qualities. It is a reflective mirror stained with blood, and we must wipe off the clotted gore of ages to contemplate truth in all its bearings, to feel what miserable creatures we are!--the occasional foot-balls of vanity and pride, or the tools of ambition and hypocrisy, but always the victims of ideal pursuits and visionary joys! Worldly pomp and all its attractions--its honours and its glories--remind one of the vain youth who embraces the career of arms, to sport a dazzling uniform. Behold him now moving in a galaxy of military splendour; soon after, alas! stretched upon the battle-field, alone, abandoned; wounded and faint, not a drop of water to moisten his burning lips, not a friendly hand to raise him from the ground, while, thinking on the home that he has left, and the friends whom he shall never see more, he gazes on the embroidery of his lacerated costume! The dream is passed! sad reality ushers in despair!