Thoughts on Duelling, AND THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER: IN Four Letters, (COMMUNICATED TO THE EDITOR OF THE "BATH JOURNAL,”") SUGGESTED BY Three “Affairs of Honour,” WHICH HAVE OCCURRED IN MODERN DAYS, Between certain British Senators. BY GABRIEL STICKING-PLAISTER. "When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"- BATH: PRINTED BY JOHN AND JAMES KEENE, 7, KINGSMEAD-STREET, FOR, AND SOLD BY, LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, AND SIMMS AND COLLINGS, BATH. 1840. 1144. · BIB re THE EXCELLENT JEREMY TAYLOR, HAS GIVEN TO US, IN SOME OF HIS WRITINGS, A SUPPOSED REMONSTRANCE WITH A Buellist, ON THE WICK 6 EDNESS OF HIS CALLING-THAT OF HONOURABLE MURDER. THE RUFFIAN IN HIS DEFENCE, SAYS, THAT FLESH AND BLOOD' CANNOT PUT UP 6 WITH THE INSULT'—' TRUE,' REPLIES THE WORTHY BISHOP; BUT WE MUST RECOLLECT, THAT FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD'—' THE LAW OF GOD' MUST SUBJUGATE 'THE LAW IN THE FLESH;' OR, OUR ALLEGIANCE IS VIOLATED: AND THE BLESSINGS AWARDED TO IT, FORFEITED."-Sermons, on the Simplicity, and Intelligible Character of Christianity: by Presbuteros; Longman: Orme and Co., Paternoster-row, 1839, p. 48. OTHECA OTHE A PREFATORY REMARK. My thoughts were first directed to the subject of the Four following Letters, some few years ago, by the DUEL which took place, between the Duke of WELLINGTON, and Lord WINCHELSEA. Similar AFFAIRS OF HONOR, have since occurred, between Lord POWERSCOURT, and J. A. ROEBUCK, Esq.; and Lord LONDONDERRY, and H. GRATTAN, Esq. These more recent DUELS, induced me to consider the topic more seriously, than heretofore: to methodize my reflections upon it and to throw them before the public, through the medium of a weekly Journal, and under the form of a printed pamphlet. The following correspondence will, perhaps, be considered as a necessary introduction to my own letters. CORRESPONDENCE, &c. DUELLING. [FROM THE BATH CHRONICLE.] The following address from the Archdeacon and Clergy of the city of Bath has been presented to Lord Powerscourt, in reference to his recent duel with Mr. Roebuck, to which his Lordship has returned the answer subjoined : "To the Right Hon. Lord Viscount Powerscourt, "The Archdeacon and Clergy of the city of Bath, beg very respectfully to express their deep regret, that, by a recent duel, your Lordship's sanction should have been given to a practice so injurious to the best interests of society, at variance with the laws of the land, and in direct violation of the precepts of the Gospel. "With every feeling of regard and courtesy, and in a spirit far removed from dictation, and with a view, it may be, to continue to your Lordship their support, without the compromise of principle, the undersigned have felt it to be due to religion, their representative, and themselves, to offer this decided expression of their sentiments, and in so doing, they would cherish the hope, that your Lordship may in future, be enabled to manifest that exalted moral courage, which, in the matter of duelling, can set at nought the corrupt practice of the world, by proclaiming, whenever a fit occasion may be presented, your regret, that, in your own person, the sanction of rank, position, and of character, should have been given to a practice, which the wise and good have on just grounds so often and so reasonably united to condemn. "Bath, Wednesday, 24th April, 1839.” "Ven. Mr. Archdeacon, and Rev. Gentlemen. "The impression produced by the letter which you have done me the honour to address to me, and which I received this morning, cannot be more fully conveyed, than in the assurance that I have received it with all the respect due to the character and sacred office of those who have subscribed it. "As it is in substance the same as one which I received a few days past from certain of my constituents, and the answer that I gave to that address applies equally to this, I shall make use of it also upon this occasion. "Far from imputing any want of courtesy, or any spirit of dictation, to those who have felt it their duty to subscribe their names to this address, I feel that it was inspired by a sense of Christian duty, which, even if it were not, as I have every reason to believe it is, mingled with kind feelings towards myself, I should still, I trust, appreciate as it deserved. My own opinion upon the subject of duelling coincides with that expressed in your address, and this I have no hesitation in confessing, although I am aware, that by so doing I lay myself open to the charge of having, by my conduct on the occasion to which you refer, given you reason to doubt the sincerity of this expression of my sentiments. I must admit the apparent justice of that charge, and can only reply in that spirit of honest candour which your position, as well as the kind feeling which you evince towards me, so amply merit at my hands. The law of public opinion-the most influential of the laws of men, and too often more so than the laws of God-consigns a young man who, when either challenged or publicly insulted, shrinks from a duel, to that scorn and contempt which the imputation of cowardice entails; and I confess, that I have been deficient in that 'exalted moral courage' which, in this instance, could alone have enabled me to despise the scoffs of the world, and the sneers of my associates. Personal resentment, I trust, had no influence on my conduct; but I felt, from the opinion of many whom I consulted, that if I had acted otherwise on that occasion, than I did, I must have been placed |