tioned art, that of fencing, I formerly took great delight in myself, and still account one of the healthiest of all house exercises; insomuch that when I am in the country, where I make it a rule to spend a certain part of every day in exercise of some kind, I generally take up my foil in rainy mornings, and push with great success against the figure of Herod, in a piece of old arras that was taken down from my grandmother's room, and is now pasted up on the wall of the laundry.

When those two sciences, however, go upon actual service, they are to be considered in different lights, that of the serjeant, as it teaches a man to stand well on his legs, to carry his body firm, and to move it alertly, is much the same as the fencing master's but in their last stage they depart somewhat from each other; the serjeant proposes to qualify a man for encountering his enemy in battle, the other to fit him for meeting his companion, or friend it may be, in a duel.

My readers will, I hope, give me credit for the MIRROR being always a very polite paper; I am not, therefore, at all disposed to bestow on a practice sq gentleman-like as duelling, those severe reprehensions, equally trite and unjust, in which some of my predecessors have indulged themselves. During my residence abroad I was made perfectly acquainted with the arguments drawn in its favour, from the influence it has on the manners of the gentleman and the honour of the soldier. It is my intention only to point out those bounds within which the most punctilious valour may be contented to restrain itself; and in this I shall be the more guarded, as I mean the present paper principally for the use of the newraised regiments above alluded to, whose honour dearly prize, and would preserve as scrupulously inviolate as possible. I hold such an essay peculiarly proper at this juncture, when some of them are

about to embark on long voyages, in which even good-natured people, being tacked together like man and wife, are somewhat apt to grow peevish and quarrelsome.

In the first place, I will make one general observation, that, at this busy time, when our country has need of men, lives are of more value to the community than at other periods. In time of peace, so many regiments are reduced, and the duties of an officer so easily performed, that if one fall, and another be hanged for killing him, there will speedily be found two proper young men ready to mount guard, and shew a good leg on the parade, in their room. But, at present, from the great increase of the establishment, there is rather a scarcity in proportion to the demand, of men of military talents, and military figure, especially when we consider that the war is now to be carried against so genteel a people as the French, to whom it will be necessary to shew officers of the most soldier-like appearance and address.

This patriotic consideration will tend to relax the etiquette formerly established, for every officer to fight a duel within a few weeks of the date of his commission, and that, too, without the purpose of resenting any affront, or vindicating his honour from any aspersion, but merely to shew that he could fight. Now, this practice, being unnecessary at present, as preferment goes on briskly enough by the fall of officers in the course of their duty, may very properly, and without disparagement to the valour of the British army, be dispensed with; so, it is to be agreed and understood, that every officer in the new-raised regiments, whose commission bears date on or posterior to the 1st of January 1778, is, ipso facto, to be held and deemed of unquestionable courage and immaculate honour.

As to the measure of affront which may justify a

challenge, it is to be remembered, that the officers of the above-mentioned corps have been obliged, in levy-. ing their respective quotas, to engage in scenes of a very particular kind; at markets, fairs, countryweddings, and city-brawls, amongst a set of men and women, not remarkable for delicacy of language, or politeness of behaviour. We are not, therefore, to wonder, if the smooth enamel of the gentleman has received some little injury from the collision of such coarse materials; and a certain time may fairly be allowed for unlearning the blunt manners and rough phraseology which an officer in such situations was forced to assume. Therefore the identical words which, a campaign or two hence, are to be held expiable only by blood, may, at present, be done away by an explanation; and those which an officer must then explain and account for at the peril of a challenge, are now to be considered as mere colloquial expletives acquired by associating with such company as frequent the places above described.

As, notwithstanding all these allowances, some duels may be expected to take place, it is proper to mention certain regulations for the conduct of the parties, in the construction of which I have paid infinitely more regard to their honour than to their safety.

In fighting with the sword, a blow, or the lie direct, can scarcely be expiated but by a thrust through the body; but any lesser affront may be wiped off by a wound in the sword arm; or, if the injury be very slight, any wound will be sufficient. In all this it is to be noted, that the receiving of such a wound by either party constitutes a reparation for the affront; as it is a rule of justice peculiar to the Code of duelling, that the blood of the injured atones for the offence he has received, as well as that of the injurer for the offence he has given.

In affairs decided with pistols, the distance is, in

like manner, to be regulated by the nature of the injury. For those of an atrocious sort, a distance of only twenty feet, and pistols of nine, nine and a half, or ten inch barrels, are requisite; for slighter ones, the distance may be doubled, and a six or even five inch barrel will serve. Regard, moreover, is to be had to the size of the persons engaged; for every stone above eleven, the party of such weight may, with perfect honour retire three feet.

Í read, some time ago, certain addresses to the Jockey Club, by two gentlemen who had been engaged in an affair of honour; from which it appear ed, that one of them had systematized the art of duelling to a wonderful degree. Among other things, he had brought his aim with a pistol to so much certainty, and made such improvements on the weapon, that he could lay a hundred guineas to ten on hitting at a considerable distance, any part of his adversary's body. These arts, however, I by no means approve they resemble, methinks, a loaded die, or a packed deal; and I am inclined to be of opinion, that a gentleman is no more obliged to fight against the first, than to play against the latter. They may, in the mildest construction, be compared to the sure play of a man who can take every ball at billiards; and therefore if it shall be judged that an ordinary marksman must fight with the person, possessed of them, he is, at least entitled to odds, and must be allowed three shots to one of his antagonist.

I have thus, with some labour, and I hope strict honour, settled certain articles in the matter of duelling, for such of my readers as may have occasion for them. It is but candid, however, to own, that there have been now and then, brilliant things done quite without the line of my directions, to wit, by not fighting at all. The Abbé with whom

I was disputing at Paris on this subject, concluded

his arguments against duelling with a story, which, though I did not think it much to the purpose, was a tolerable story notwithstanding. I shall give it in very words of the Abbé.

the

A countryman of yours, a Captain Douglas, was playing at Trictrac with a very intimate friend, here in this very coffee-house, amidst a circle of • French officers who were looking on. Some dis'pute arising about a cast of the dice, Douglas said, in a gay thoughtless manner, Oh! what a story!' A murmur arose among the by-standers; and his antagonist feeling the affront, as if the lie had been given him, in the violence of his passion, snatched up the tables, and hit Douglas a blow on the head. The instant he had done it, the idea of • his imprudence, and its probable consequences to • himself and his friend, rushed upon his mind he sat, stupified with shame and remorse, his eyes ri ⚫ vetted on the ground, regardless of what the other's ⚫ resentment might prompt him to act. Douglas, • after a short pause, turned round to the specta• You think,' said he, that I am now ready to cut the throat of that unfortunate young · man; but I know that, at this moment, he feels anguish a thousand times more keen than any my sword could inflict.-I will embrace him-thusand try to reconcile him to himself;-but I will cut ⚫ the throat of that man among you who shall dare ⚫ to breathe a syllable against my honour. Bravo!

⚫tors:

Bravo!' cried an old Chevalier de St. Louis, who ⚫ stood immediately behind him.-The sentiment of • France overcame its habit, and Bravo! Bravo! echoed from every corner of the room. Who • would not have cried Bravo! Would not you, Sir? Doubtless.' 'On other occasions, then, ⚫ be governed by the same principle.' Why, to