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horrors of this bloody code of honor; trampling with fiendish cruelty upon all the sacred feelings of the heart; stained with the blood of statesmen, fathers, husbands; revelling in the groans of widows, the wail of orphans, the shrieks of sisters, lovers, friends!

Is there not some chosen curse,

Some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven,
Red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man
Who gains his honor from the blood of souls ?"

9. Dueling is condemned by the very confessions of duelists themselves. What bitter groans and regrets fell from the lips of Hamilton and Decatur! Observe the subsequent life and conduct of a successful duelist. Did you ever know such a man to be happy? Is he not pre-eminently miserable? afraid of being alone; plunging into one crime to avoid the reflection of another; drowning conscience in the intoxicating cup; and often becoming the victim of derangement. Then how conscience thunders and remorse goads; and the grim and gory ghost of the murdered one haunts him in his dreams! Oh, could he but drink of some oblivious stream and forget the past-forget that once he opened the fountain of the orphan's tears, and broke the widow's heart! But no, he cannot. Eternal justice will not suffer it. Oh! duelist, the remembrance of your deeds must follow you. Conscience will interpret everything into an accusation. When men fasten their eyes upon you, you will think they remember the man you murdered.

When men stand in groups and speak in whispers, you will imagine they are talking about you. Every work of God, and every deed of man will be to you an accuser. Oh, the horrors of blood-guiltiness! How it clings like a hungry vulture to the guilty soul!

"Though thy slumbers may be deep,

Yet thy spirit shall not sleep,

There are shades that will not vanish,
There are thoughts thou canst not banish;
By a power to thee unknown,
Thou canst never be alone.
By thy delight in others' pain,
By thy brotherhood of Cain,
I call upon thee and compel,
Thyself to be thy proper hell."

10. Dueling is subversive of all law and, government. It saps the very foundations of civilized society; for it usurps the highest prerogatives of a nation: the right of taking away human life. The duelist takes upon himself the adjudication of his own wrongs, and thus lends his influence to resolve society into its original elements. All the laws of God and man must give way, while this man adjusts his quarrels. He must have the whole field of social, civil, and domestic relations subject to his fury. What though his enemy be a citizen charged with duty to the State; or a representative entrusted with the interest of his constituents; or a friend gladdening many a social circle; or a son sustaining and blessing fond and white-haired parents; or a husband cherishing a devoted, faithful wife; or a father, surrounded by affectionate, helpless children; what though he be all these and more-the claim of the duelist for his blood, on account of some unguarded or disrespectful word, is paramount to every other. God, and law, and nature, with all their sacredness, must be despised and trampled under foot, while this incarnation of ferocity gnashes his teeth, and gluts his maw, and quenches his fevered thirst for blood. And if he may act thus, why not his neighbor?

For what is right in one man, cannot be wrong in another. If you have a right to adjudicate your own

quarrels, so have I. If men have, so have boys. And if you may kill your fellow-man for a word, why not for a deed? why not for a malicious prosecution, for disturbing your slumbers by a midnight riot, for bringing a contagious disease into your neighborhood and endangering the lives of your family? Oh, the long train of cause which follow in the train of this bloody god of honor! Every day our ears are made to tingle by tales of anarchy and violence, the brandishing of knives and pistols, the deeds of desperadoes and cut-throats, and all from what cause? Dueling is the cause of it.

Let us now briefly hear and answer some of the arguments of the duelist.

The duelist says that dueling, notwithstanding all that has been said against it, is necessary "as giving a man a passport among gentlemen." What a cheap way of making a gentleman! But are duelists more of gentlemen than their neighbors? Are they more honorable in their dealings, more punctual in the payment of their debts, and more attentive to all the courtesies of life than other men? Who generally fight duels? The blustering and the boisterous, bankrupts, gamblers, and upstarts-men often stained with a thousand crimes.

The duelist contends that the practice "has a tendency to make men polite and cautious in their remarks." Oh, it is making us polite savages, accomplished barbarians; causing men, from fear of some swaggering bully, to go armed to the teeth. Dueling, then, is producing the politeness of bandits and pirates. We are told that there are certain offences for which the law of the land provides no remedy, and, therefore, the duelist must fight. And what are these offences? Are they not generally the silliest trifles, fit only for children in the nursery? And where is the duelist's magna

nimity, that he cannot pass over an insult? A gentleman will not insult you, a blackguard cannot.

We are told that it is the only way of avoiding the imputation of cowardice. You say, "How shall I avoid the imputation of cowardice unless I fight?" I would reply, if you do fight, how will you avoid the imputation of cruelty to your friends? of dishonesty to your creditors? of guilt to your conscience and your God? And if you fall, how will you avoid the damnation of hell? These are previous questions, which you are called upon to settle. Let your motto be, "I am not afraid to fight, but I am afraid to sin." And if you wish to show your courage, prosecute your challenger; defend your person, if he assails you; and help in voting out of office every officer who does not exert his authority in suppressing this vice, and in keeping the

peace.

.

But the duelist says: "My character-my precious character has been assailed, and I must defend it.” And what a frail thing your character must be, that a little breath of calumny can tarnish it. If your character is such a brittle thing as this, you had better get a better character-a firmer, stronger character. But the duelist says again: "I cannot bear up under the imputations cast upon my honor. I would rather die than bear it." Where is the duelist's vaunted courage? I thought duelists were all brave and heroic men. But it seems that a little charge breaks them down. They have not half the courage of many women. Others have been called liars and cowards, and still have survived the charge. And why may not these brave and fearless souls, by a few years of perseverance in the path of rectitude, silence every slander, and live down every imputation?

In conclusion, by all the solemn motives which can

operate upon a high-minded and generous community, I appeal to you-I call upon you as patriots, as heads of families, as lovers of peace, as friends of God-by all the sacredness of human life, by the law of your country, by the universal conscience of the civilized world; for the sake of our talented and chivalrous youth, on whom our country depends in war and in peace; by the silence of the dead; by the agony of surviving friends; by the anguish of widows, and the loneliness of orphans; by all the joys of heaven and hopeless misery of the lost, I adjure you to stay this foe to God and man. Let every freeman, and every man of moral courage, raise his voice in honest indignation; let the press speak out, and record every duel as a murder; let the lodge expel every Mason who fights; let candidates for office be required. to abjure the bloody code; let every association which has for its object the amelioration of society, or the protection of property, frown upon the duelist, and drive him forth, a second Cain, with the brand of guilt burning on his brow-the stigma of murder fixed upon his

name.

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