Second (dueling)

“ Unless previously stipulated, neither of the combatants shall be allowed to turn off the sword of his adversary with the left hand: should a combatant persist in thus using his left hand, the seconds of his adversary may insist that the hand shall be confined behind his back.
43. In a sword duel, the combatants are allowed to raise themselves, to stoop, to vault to the right or to the left, and turn round each other.
44. When one of the combatants exclaims that he is wounded, or that a wound is perceived by his second, the combat is to be stopped ”

“ If the two parties exchange a cut or a thrust at the same moment, the one who gave his cut or thrust in the third position is victorious.
When a cut or thrust is made, the one who receives it passes his sword, i. e., stick, into his left hand, and his opponent comes to inside guard.
Always spring back to the second position after delivering a cut or thrust. ”

“ You are to observe two sorts of beating, the one with the Foot firm in the same place, the other gaining measure; the Beat with the Foot firm, is done in two ways, the one in appels, or alurements on the Blade, and the other in engagements or Feints. That upon the allurement on the Blade, may be made by a single beat of the Foot, but those who are pretty well advanced, make two without lifting the Foot but once, the first with the Point, and the other with the whole Foot: that on engagements or single Feints, shou'd have but one beat, the thrust being to be made on the second motion. ”

“ That strong sympathy, exhibited for Henry Phillips, by whose sword a fellow creature had so recently fallen, in a duel, must have sprung, if I am not greatly mistaken, from a knowledge of facts, connected with the origin of that duel, and of which the present generation is entirely ignorant.
Truth lies not, more proverbially, at the bottom of a well, than, in a great majority of instances, a woman lurks at the bottom of a duel. ”

“ It is said that the duel prevents personal quarrels from degenerating into vulgar brawls and fisticuffs, and that the sword is a more dignified weapon than the fist. But this defense appears utterly untenable when we look at the universities of other countries, where dueling is practically unknown and where common fights are as infrequent as they are in Germany. It is also asserted that dueling stimulates a nice sense of honor among young people. But what kind of honor is this? Is it honorable to fight without due cause?. ”

“ In the pistol duel à volonté, the seconds are to mark out the ground, at a distance of thirty-five to forty paces; two lines are then to be traced between these two distances, leaving an interval of from twenty to fifteen paces. Thus each combatant can advance ten paces. ”

“ A Famous Turn—out—Raftsmen on the Neckar—The Log Rafts—The Neckar—A Sudden Idea—To Heidelberg on a Raft—Chartering a Raft—Gloomy Feelings and Conversation—Delicious Journeying—View of the Banks—Compared with Railroading
CHAPTER VIII The Great French Duel [I Second Gambetta in a Terrific Duel]
Much as the modern French duel is ridiculed by certain smart people, it is in reality one of the most dangerous institutions of our day. ”

“ A duel is downright childish, my boy! utter nonsense and folly! When one of two living men must be got out of the way, none but an idiot would leave chance to decide which it is to be; and in a duel it is a toss-up—heads or tails—and there you are! Now I, for instance, can hit the ace in the middle of a card five times running, send one bullet after another through the same hole, and at thirty-five paces, moreover! With that little accomplishment you might think yourself certain of killing your man, mightn’t you. ”

“ The second Parade in Terce, is called that within the Sword bearing a sloping Point towards your Adversaries Thigh, and as though within it. This observe to do when you perceive your Adversary giving in his Thrust without, or below your Sword, as it were at your Arm-pit, immediately letting the Point of your Sword sink as low as his Thigh, turning your Nails quite round to your Right-side, until they are from you, keeping your Hand as high as your Head, and so put by the Thrust on your Right-side; and when you are Parading, let your Head be close as if it were under your Arm ”

“ A few minutes before we sat down to dinner he said that neither of us would profit by the adventure, as he meant the duel to be to the death.
“I don’t agree with you as far as I am concerned,” I replied; “and as to the duel, you can fight or not fight, as you please; for my part I have had satisfaction. If we come to a duel I hope to leave you in the land of the living, though I shall do my best to lay you up for a considerable time, so that you may have leisure to reflect on your folly. On the other hand, if fortune favours you, you may act as you please.” ”

“ The same precautionary steps are to be adopted as in a sword duel, to ascertain that no defence is worn by either party.
82. The signal of “Allez” (Go) having been given, the combatants advance on each other, and either give point or cut, vaulting, advancing, or retreating at pleasure.
83. To strike an adversary when disarmed, to seize his arm, his body, or his weapon, is a foul proceeding. A combatant is disarmed when his sabre is either wrenched from him or dropped. ”

“ In questions which appertain to our habits and customs, more wisdom will be found in the drawing-room than in schools. The hand that can best hold a sword will often be found to handle the pen with equal ability when the terrible question of the point 301 of honour and the duel is discussed, a question which has cost France as much ink as blood. ”

“ Every duel, gentlemen, must, above all, end in death for at least one of the parties, otherwise it is absurd. Directly coddling or humanity, so-called, comes in, the whole thing is turned into a farce. ‘Fifteen paces distance and only one shot.’ How damnably pitiful! ”

“ I had not been home a full half hour, after witnessing those playful sham-duels, when circumstances made it necessary for me to get ready immediately to assist personally at a real one—a duel with no effeminate limitations in the matter of results, but a battle to the death. An account of it, in the next chapter, will show the reader that duels between boys, for fun, and duels between men in earnest, are very different affairs. ”

“ We are justified, then, in dating the commencement of duelling from the abolition of the wager of battle. The duel of honour.To pursue its history we must return to France, the country where it first arose, and the soil on which it has most flourished. The causes which made it indigenous to France are sufficiently explained by the condition of society and the national character. As Buckle has pointed out, duelling is a special development of chivalry, and chivalry is one of the phases of the protective spirit which was predominant in France up to the time of the Revolution. ”

“ It has been stated in the regulations, that two seconds may be considered sufficient in a sword duel, but that four should be present at a duel with pistol or sabre. The reason of this distinction arises from the following circumstances: in case of a slight wound, which is frequently inflicted by the sword, it is more probable that two seconds will come to an amicable arrangement than four ”

“ Naturally, the moment the men stand up again and commence work, the blood gushes out again, half blinding them, and rendering the ground beneath them slippery. Now and then you see a man’s teeth laid bare almost to the ear, so that for the rest of the duel he appears to be grinning at one half of the spectators, his other side, remaining serious; and sometimes a man’s nose gets slit, which gives to him as he fights a singularly supercilious air. ”

“ He now began to bow and stammer worse and worse, at the same time grabbing nervously with the tips of his fingers at his invisible moustaches. “A duel may occasionally be useful, even necessary, nobody can deny, and I suppose there is no one among us who will not approach the lists—when honour demands it. ”

“ I --I will fight you in a duel."
"A duel!"
"Yes, a duel. Pistols, at ten paces," went on Felix Gussing.
"Well! well!" came from the major in amazement.
"Can I do less?" demanded the would-be son-in-law. "My honor is at stake."
"Then stand by your honor by all means," cried the military man, who, at times, was as hot-blooded as anybody.
During the talk the major's daughter had come upon the scene.
"Oh, Felix, what does this mean?" she demanded.
"I am going to fight this--this fellow a duel, pistols at ten paces," answered Felix, firmly.
"Felix!" she gasped. "You will not, you cannot fight. ”

“ If two should meet they inquire the other's mission, and their hot blood leads them into a duel—which, however, is less frequent of late years. No difference how much a girl may care for a duelist, she does not see him after he has fought for her. ”

“ To a fencer, and to one accustomed to the use of firearms, a duel means a number of details which remove the thought of danger. The man conceives the possibilities of the struggle, of a deed to be bravely accomplished. ”

“ It is the duty of the seconds to decide upon the necessity of the duel, and to state their opinions to their principals. After having consulted with them in such a manner as not to allow any chance of avoiding a duel to escape, they must again meet, and exert their best endeavours to settle the business amicably. If they fail in this attempt, they must then decide upon arms, time, place, distance, and mode of fighting ”

“ No longer could he do a fast twenty rounds, hammer and tongs, fight, fight, fight, from gong to gong, with fierce rally on top of fierce rally, beaten to the ropes and in turn beating his opponent to the ropes, and rallying fiercest and fastest of all in that last, twentieth round, with the house on its feet and yelling, himself rushing, striking, ducking, raining showers of blows upon showers of blows and receiving showers of blows in return, and all the time the heart faithfully pumping the surging blood through the adequate veins. ”

“ We had a pleasant supper and talked cheerfully together without a word being said about the duel, with the exception that an English lady said, I forget in what connection, that a man of honour should never risk sitting down to dinner at an hotel unless he felt inclined, if necessary, to fight. The remark was very true at that time, when one had to draw the sword for an idle word, and to expose one’s self to the consequences of a duel, or else be pointed at, even by the ladies, with the finger of scorn. ”

“ Meanwhile the ball is beating round beneath their feet, their skates are clashing steel on steel. I hear the shuffling kicks, the battling strokes of clubs, the husky mutterings of passion half suppressed; I hear the panting breath and the impetuous whisperings between the teeth, as they push and wrestle and jam. A lucky hit now sends the ball a few feet from the fray. A ready hand improves the chance; but as he lifts his stick a youngster’s nose gets in the way and spoils his stroke; he slips, and falls upon the ball ”

“ An ordinary duel might be ranked among idle pastimes when compared with the stress and strain and pain of their encounters in the duel of debate. A sword-cut or pistol-bullet, maiming the body, was as nothing in comparison with the wounds they mutually inflicted on that substance which was immortal in both. ”

“ It was from this kind of legal duel, more especially, that combats on foot in the lists at a pas d’armes had their origin.
The last form of duel referred to in Mr. Pearsall’s paper is one with two-handed swords; and a wood-cut of Paulus Kall’s illustrates a combat of the kind, in which the duelists are clad in jerkins and long hose. The swords appear to measure about five feet in length. These clumsy and unwieldy weapons were for striking and parrying, but could not be employed effectively at close quarters. ”

“ In sword duels, the seconds will mark the standing spot of each combatant, leaving a distance of two feet between the points of their weapons. The standing ground to be drawn for by lots.
36. The swords must be measured to ascertain that they are of equal length. In no instance must a sword with a sharp edge or a notch be allowed.
37. The combatants will be requested to throw off their coats, and to lay bare their breasts, to show that they do not wear any defence that could ward off a thrust. A refusal to submit to this proposal is to be considered a refusal to fight. ”

“ There was but one exchange of shots. The student was hit. "He put his hand on his breast, his body began to bend slowly forward, then collapsed in death and sank to the ground."
It is pathetic. There are other duels in my list, but I find in each and all of them one and the same ever-recurring defect—the principals are never present, but only their sham representatives. The real principals in any duel are not the duellists themselves, but their families. They do the mourning, the suffering, theirs is the loss and theirs the misery. ”

“ No challenge can be sent by collective parties. If any body or society of men have received an insult, they can only send an individual belonging to it to demand satisfaction. A message collectively sent, may be refused; but the challenged party may select an antagonist, or leave the nomination to chance.
16. All duels should take place during the forty-eight hours that have succeeded the offence, unless it is otherwise stipulated by the seconds.25
17. In a duel with pistol or sabre, two seconds to each combatant are indispensable: one will suffice when the sword is used. ”

“ While the contract of this duel was being discussed by the president and the captain-- this dreadful, savage duel, in which each adversary became a man-hunter-- Michel Ardan was resting from the fatigues of his triumph. Resting is hardly an appropriate expression, for American beds rival marble or granite tables for hardness. ”