DUELING (Fr. duel. from Lat. du, //i/m. a between two. duo), A duel is a pre arranged e011111:1( between two persons. in which deadly weapons are used. It generally takes place in the presence of witne-i-es (called seconds,. who the mode of lighting. place the u•apons in the hands of the combatants, and upon. While Pre‘ail•ll in tiquity, there is no doubt that the modern private duel grew out of Ili...judicial duel. 11.vrrtit, TRIAL or ol..1 in Franc, it became %cry effiniilOn after the fitmoui: challenge of Fran cis 1. to his rival Charles V.. in 1528. .1fter this e‘•ry man of l'rance seemed to think that he was called upon to use his sword in defending his honor against the -lightest imputation.
king: endeavored to -oppress. chile others pro 1Vithin eiglite,n years. in the reign of Henry IV., it is said, no les- than 4(101 s fell in duels. Rigid measures were Passed. but rarely enforced. l'p to the time :11•4' 111114'11 nitre 0111111nm in France than 4.1.0 W110 IV, hilt fatal result• are infrequent.
In I:erniany dueling prevail, lint little olif sid. the army, navy. and the universities. In the stndrut contest- the vital parts of the eon t•stants are so protected that -erion- injury seldom In lint few places do the laws permit duels, but in a number I f university cities there is no pretense to enforce the laws. In every German roginient there is a court of honor. to determine all involved points of per sonal or regimental honor, and to decide upon the procedure demanded by the circumstances. Where the result is a duel, and the civil authori ties do not take any cognizance of the affair, the military authorities themselves rarely act. It is a point of honor. however, with the individ ual officer to satisfy the regimental code, regard less of any punishment, civil or military. that may afterwards lie meted out to him. The prne the of is common throughout all the armies of Continental Europe, although in lutist countries it is prohibited by law.
From the time of Queen Elizabeth various legislative attempts have been made in Great Britain to put an end to dueling. but without avail. Under the emumon law. the act of killing in a duel is regarded as murder. however fair the duel may have been; hut so long as public opinion approved the duel it was generally found impossible to induce a jury to convict. In 1S44 rigid army rules were established to prevent dueling, and within the last half-century hut few duels have occurred in England.
How common dueling formerly was, both in Great Britain and America. may be inferred from the number of prominent political leaders who participated in duels. The dukes of York. Norfolk. Richmond, and Wellington, lords Shel burne, Talbot. Lauderdale, Townshend, Paget, Londonderry. Castlereagh. and Fox, Pitt, Sheri dan, Canning. Hastings. Grattan. Curran. and O'Connell all fought duels. In the United States, Charles Lee and .John Laurens, Cadwallader and Conway, General :McIntosh and Gwinnetts of the Revolutionary period, and Burr and Hamilton, Jackson and Dickinson, Benton and limas. Clay
and 1Zando1ph, He Witt Clinton and Swa•tout, and Cilley and Graves, fought duels. In no part of the world was dueling so earnestly engaged in as in America. t'ombats under all sorts of con ditions, and with every conceivable variety of weapon. and in the great majority of instances fights fatal to one or both combatants were of frequent oceurrence, and largely because of this was precipitated the legislation which finally succeeded in stamping out the custom.
Laws now exist in all States of the Union against dueling. In some eases the punishment is death, in others imprisonment. and in others disqualification to hold (Alive. A bill prohibiting dueling in the District of Columbia was passed in ls39.
At the of the twentieth century the custom was A1111.1-I universally prohibited by law, although countenanced, if not actually de manded, by officers. both naval and military, professional men and the upper circle- generally, of Continental European society. Organized of forts are now being made. however. to attack the custom in its own stronghold and among the peo ple who -till practice and cherish its tradition:.
7'he Introlational Leugue, inaugurated in 1000 by Prince Alfonso of Bourbon and Austria Este, has been organized with the declared in tention of "setting right in the aceeptation of society the sense of the words •oi•,trilirc and courage, \then used in connection with dueling." The French branch of the league is under the direction of 11. Joseph (In Bourg, and although its influence is as yet very limited, it has had the support of Paul de Cassagnae, formerly a well -1:Innvit duelist, and was considerably aided by the refusal, in 1901, of Lieut.-Col. the la•quis d'Ellu".e to accept the challenge of the .larcplis de l'hativelin. Early in 1902 the league succeeded in forming a tribunal of honor in Paris, which consists of fourteen members, six of whom are military or naval officers. and wwhose duties are to decide all disputed points recourse to the duel. In the French provinces similar tribunals have also been organized. and have already justified their existence. The anti duelist movement in Germany is under the active direction of the Prince of Llovenstein, and is very strong numerical13- and influentially. Its mem bership includes noblemen. soldiers. civilians. and university professors and students. The league publishes a representative periodical• and is championed by nearly every prominent news paper in the Empire. In Italy, the Marquis Crispolti has been intrusted with the leadership of the movement, which, however, was not com menced until late in 191)2. On February 14, 1902. the Spanish 'Republican Fusion Party, at Valencia, passed a resolution condemning the duel as contrary to civilization. and forbidding members of the party from taking any part in a drtel. either as principal or second.