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<DATE>2014-09-24</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Corrected markup.</ITEM>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B43762">
<STC T="W">R284</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">688635907</BIBNO>
<VID>212056</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="2">
<P>THE RASH DUELLIST DISECTED: WITH THE INCONVENIENCIES That Attend HIM.</P>
<P>By Way of ESSAY.</P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for <HI>Phillip Brooksby.</HI> 1673.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="3" MS="y">
<PB REF="3">
<HEAD>THE EPISTLE TO THE READER.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>READER,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P><HI>SOund judgement</HI> has not <HI>capacitated</HI> me for the <HI>State,</HI> nor has <HI>&s;ober Learning</HI> qualified me for the <HI>Church:</HI> no, I am not <HI>acute</HI> enough for the <HI>Knot|ty Law,</HI> nor <HI>profound</HI> enough for <HI>the My&s;terious Go&s;pel.</HI> Therefore having (perhaps) unadvi&s;edly run my &s;elf into a <HI>little Tract,</HI> that borders upon <HI>Policy</HI> and <HI>Religion,</HI> I have endeavour'd to &s;teer my cour&s;e &s;o, as that I may not <HI>fall foul</HI> on that <HI>Rock,</HI> nor be <HI>&s;wallowed up</HI> in this <HI>Gulph:</HI> For I intend nothing conteined in this <HI>E&s;&s;ay,</HI> as <HI>coun&s;el</HI> from the <HI>Bar,</HI> or <HI>reproof</HI> from the <HI>Pulpit,</HI> but only as the <HI>Remarques</HI> of a <HI>Morali&s;t.</HI></P>
<PB REF="4">
<P> If thou expectest an <HI>accompt</HI> of the <HI>motives</HI> that induc'd me to this <HI>Ra&s;hne&s;s:</HI> know, that being by <HI>Birth</HI> an <HI>Engli&s;hman,</HI> and by <HI>Education</HI> an <HI>Aca|demian,</HI> by the <HI>Affection</HI> I have for my <HI>Country,</HI> and out of the <HI>re&s;pect</HI> I owe to my <HI>Mother,</HI> the <HI>Univer&s;ity,</HI> I thought my &s;elf <HI>obliged</HI> (at lea&s;t to <HI>endeavour</HI>) not to be a <HI>di&s;paragement</HI> to either: And &s;ince it lyes not in my way, to contribute to the <HI>making</HI> of <HI>Combes,</HI> nor <HI>bringing in</HI> of <HI>Honey:</HI> that <HI>I</HI> might <HI>exempt</HI> my &s;elf from the <HI>Imputation</HI> of <HI>Drone, I</HI> re&s;olv'd to bu&s;ie my &s;elf, though about <HI>nothing.</HI></P>
<P>If this will not &s;atisfie thee, but that having <HI>read</HI> &s;uch a <HI>Trifle,</HI> thou must fall into <HI>great admiration,</HI> and <HI>many que&s;tions,</HI> &s;uch as, <HI>Why would this fellow pretend to Write,</HI> &amp;c. Let all thy <HI>Wonder</HI> cea&s;e, and all thy <HI>que&s;tions</HI> be re&s;olved in this, That <HI>Few Men, who have not Wit enough to Write well, have judgement enough to di&s;cern that they Write ill.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Vale.</SALUTE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="1" REF="4">
<HEAD>An E&s;&s;ay of Duelling.</HEAD>
<P>WHile we conceive <HI>Duelling</HI> as an <HI>Action:</HI> under that <HI>Conception,</HI> we mu&s;t have recour&s;e to <HI>Circum&s;tances</HI> for its <HI>Di&s;cre|minating Epethets</HI> of <HI>good</HI> or <HI>bad:</HI> But the&s;e are &s;o various both in <HI>Number</HI> and <HI>Kind,</HI> that it will be very difficult to reduce the <HI>The&s;is</HI> to any <HI>certainty,</HI> without mu&s;tering up a <HI>Volume</HI> of In&s;tances out of <HI>God's Revenge again&s;t Murder,</HI> or &s;ome Book like it; and &s;o by the &s;everal <HI>de&s;cants</HI> upon every <HI>Individual Duel,</HI> to deduce Arguments to prove one general <HI>A&s;sertion: (Viz.) That all Duels are unlawful.</HI></P>
<P>But &s;ince I intend a Di&s;cour&s;e more <HI>Conci&s;e,</HI> and (I hope) more to the <HI>Purpo&s;e,</HI> than that comes to, I de&s;ignedly omit the <HI>Enumeration</HI> of that <HI>long train</HI> of <HI>Circum&s;tances</HI> which wait on our <HI>Actions:</HI> in&s;tancing only in the mo&s;t general motive that enduceth men to <HI>Duelling;</HI> which I look upon as the proper <HI>Ba&s;is</HI> on which the &s;tre&s;s of my pre&s;ent Di&s;cour&s;e ought to rely. This Motive I have generally ob&s;erved to be the <HI>pre&s;ervation</HI> of <HI>Honour,</HI> and look upon it as the <HI>end</HI> (or more properly the <HI>beginning</HI>) of all <HI>Duels;</HI> and is indeed <HI>a very fair mark to aim at:</HI> &s;o that
<PB N="2" REF="5">nothing can redound to the di&s;paragement of the <HI>Archer,</HI> but his proving &s;o <HI>Purblind,</HI> as not rightly to di&s;tingui&s;h between the <HI>reality</HI> and the <HI>re&s;em|blance;</HI> or &s;o <HI>&V;nskilful,</HI> as never to come neer the <HI>White.</HI></P>
<P>And I am fearful that I &s;hall too ea&s;ily make it apper that many <HI>Gentlemen</HI> are very <HI>&s;hort-&s;ighted</HI> in this <HI>Particular,</HI> and that either through the <HI>fal&s;e Vizards</HI> they have put upon <HI>Honour,</HI> or the <HI>unjust e&s;timates</HI> they make of it, they often|times <HI>Fight</HI> for the <HI>&s;hadow</HI> in&s;tead of the <HI>&s;ubstance,</HI> and (through that <HI>mi&s;take) de&s;troy</HI> what they &s;o Zealou&s;ly endeavour to <HI>maintain.</HI> A <HI>true Diamond</HI> is indeed a Jewel of Price, but it is Rivalled by <HI>Gla&s;s</HI> and <HI>Pebbles; Iron</HI> may wear a <HI>&s;uperficies</HI> as curiou&s;ly <HI>Engraved</HI> as the <HI>purest Steel,</HI> but it is not &s;o familiar and kind to the <HI>Load&s;tone: Bra&s;s</HI> may bear the &s;ame <HI>impre&s;s</HI> with <HI>Gold,</HI> but it cannot put a <HI>cheat</HI> upon the <HI>Touch|&s;tone:</HI> and as for <HI>Honour,</HI> I Fancy it is as di&s;tin|gui&s;hable by its <HI>proper</HI> and <HI>genuine marks,</HI> as any of the&s;e.</P>
<P>The <HI>Touch&s;tone</HI> of <HI>Honour</HI> I take to be <HI>Mora|lity;</HI> nothing certainly can be &s;o true a <HI>Gage,</HI> or &s;o ju&s;t a <HI>Standard</HI> of it, as the <HI>Ethicks:</HI> So
<PB N="3" REF="5">that I &s;hall adventure to make this general a&s;&s;ertion: (in &s;pight of <HI>Hectors) Viz. That it is impo&s;sible for a Man to be truly Honourable, who is not truly Vertu|ous:</HI> And though Men have either carele&s;ly, or indu&s;triou&s;ly &s;uffered that one great <HI>embeli&s;hment, Magnanimity;</HI> as it were to <HI>Monopolize</HI> all <HI>Vertue,</HI> making a convertible Propo&s;ition of it. <HI>That no man can be Honourable, but he that is Stout:</HI> and again, <HI>That no Man can be Stout, but he mu&s;t be Honourable:</HI> Yet I believe the re&s;t of the <HI>Moral Vertues</HI> would take it very <HI>unkindly,</HI> &s;o to be &s;houldred out of doors, but that they &s;ee <HI>Magnanimity</HI> &s;o gro&s;ely abu&s;ed, as it is even by tho&s;e who pretend to be the greate&s;t admirers of it. How this <HI>Errour</HI> came to e&s;cape <HI>Conviction,</HI> I know not, but certainly 'tis the greate&s;t imaginable; and carries <HI>Pawn</HI> (I am confident) with none but &s;uch as <HI>really are,</HI> or however would be <HI>thought Ranck Hectors:</HI> And even <HI>&s;uch</HI> quickly find them&s;elves hugely di&s;ap|pointed in their ill-grounded hopes: For whatever they purpo&s;e to them&s;elves in the mid&s;t of their <HI>huf|fing,</HI> yet while they are endevouring to impo&s;e the name of <HI>Bubble</HI> upon others, they become the greate&s;t ones them&s;elves, owing their <HI>Greatne&s;s</HI> to a <HI>vapour,</HI> till they <HI>break</HI> into <HI>Nothing.</HI>
<PB N="4" REF="6">And after they have convinced the whole World by their <HI>Duels</HI> and <HI>Murders,</HI> what undaunted Spi|rits they have, for which they expect <HI>Adoration</HI> from all that pa&s;s by <HI>them,</HI> they are forced to content <HI>them|&s;elves</HI> with the <HI>applau&s;es</HI> of two or three of their <HI>Brethren,</HI> and the <HI>&s;ubmi&s;sive re&s;pect</HI> of &s;ome few of their Creatures: And I make my appeal to any <HI>&s;ober</HI> and <HI>rational</HI> Man, whether a per&s;on notorious for <HI>Lying,</HI> a Prodigious <HI>Sot,</HI> an abominable <HI>Lecher,</HI> or the like, gain the lea&s;t <HI>Honour</HI> or <HI>E&s;teem</HI> with any, but &s;uch as are like him&s;elf, though he be the <HI>&s;toutest man living.</HI> For my part, I would no more <HI>e&s;pou&s;e</HI> &s;uch an acquaintance, becau&s;e of his <HI>Courage,</HI> than I would chu&s;e to <HI>Marry a bea&s;tly com|mon Strumpet,</HI> becau&s;e &s;he had a <HI>&s;prightly eye,</HI> or &s;ome other commendable <HI>feature:</HI> and do not find any <HI>Ca|tachre&s;is</HI> in the <HI>Analogy,</HI> more, than that the latter is a companion the lea&s;t mi&s;chevious and dangerous of the two.</P>
<P>Thus it is my opinion, that a man who is every way <HI>morally vicious,</HI> excepting in his Courage, ought to live with le&s;s <HI>Honour,</HI> than he that is in all other re&s;pects <HI>morrally good,</HI> and well accom|pli&s;hed, though a <HI>Coward,</HI> for <HI>Courage</HI> is the <HI>gift</HI> of <HI>Nature,</HI> and if a man wants it, 'tis not his <HI>fault</HI>
<PB N="5" REF="6">but his <HI>misfortune: Nature</HI> is <HI>unkind,</HI> and he is <HI>un|happy;</HI> he is <HI>good</HI> to the uttermo&s;t of his <HI>Power,</HI> by <HI>&s;uppre&s;sing Nature</HI> when 'tis <HI>rebellious,</HI> but he can|not <HI>encourage</HI> it when 'tis <HI>faint-hearted:</HI> he finds it <HI>deficient</HI> in his <HI>heart,</HI> and therefore &s;upplies that <HI>cha&s;m</HI> by a more than <HI>common liberality</HI> of his <HI>hands, affabi|lity</HI> of his <HI>Tougue,</HI> &amp;c. And &s;ince he wants one <HI>branch</HI> in the <HI>Tree of Honour,</HI> he &s;o orders and di&s;po&s;es of the re&s;t, that they <HI>flouri&s;h</HI> to the <HI>making up of that Breach.</HI></P>
<P>Thus while the Gentleman I mentioned even now, makes <HI>nece&s;sity</HI> of a <HI>Vertue,</HI> by <HI>pre&s;sing his cou|rage to vindicate the Quarrels of his many other vices,</HI> this makes a <HI>vertue</HI> of <HI>nece&s;sity,</HI> by <HI>mar&s;halling all his other excellencies to the concealinent of this deformity.</HI> While <HI>he</HI> has <HI>a mind &s;o beclouded, as to abate much of the lu&s;ture of his Fortitude; This</HI> has a <HI>Soul</HI> &s;o <HI>&s;erene,</HI> as even <HI>to lend Rays to his Pu&s;illanimity.</HI> While <HI>he Arrests</HI> his <HI>Magnanimity to pay the debts of</HI> his <HI>drunk|enne&s;s,</HI> this by his <HI>temperance, plays the good Husband,</HI> and <HI>contracts none.</HI></P>
<P>Not that I intend this for a <HI>Panegyrique</HI> of <HI>Cow|ardice,</HI> but only by this <HI>Antithe&s;is</HI> to evince how gro&s;ely they mi&s;take, who think <HI>all Honour placed in a readine&s;s to go into the Field upon every the lea&s;t occa|&s;ion;</HI>
<PB N="6" REF="7">and him to be the <HI>only Gentleman,</HI> that will do this, though in all other matters he be <HI>vitiated,</HI> even to a <HI>Debauch.</HI> But taking what I have &s;aid for granted, the con&s;equence will be this: That <HI>Courage</HI> alone cannot <HI>maintain,</HI> much le&s;s purcha&s;e <HI>Honour,</HI> unle&s;s there be a <HI>con&s;ent,</HI> and a <HI>combination</HI> of the <HI>other vertues</HI> to a&s;&s;i&s;t it. Arms look very <HI>naked</HI> without <HI>Suporters:</HI> And let the <HI>Soloeci&s;m</HI> appear how great &s;oever, 'tis a <HI>Truth</HI> that <HI>Affability</HI> and <HI>Meekne&s;s</HI> is the be&s;t <HI>varni&s;h</HI> to <HI>Courage,</HI> which (like <HI>vineger</HI>) will fret and feed upon it &s;elf, unle&s;s it be allayed with <HI>Water,</HI> or &s;ome more innocent <HI>Liquor.</HI> But the mi&s;chief of it is, that Men are now generally become their own <HI>Heralds,</HI> they will not remember that <HI>Honor est in honorante;</HI> nor be beholding to the World for that <HI>Wor&s;hip,</HI> which they conceive to be a ju&s;t <HI>Debt</HI> to their <HI>Merit.</HI> They grow furious, and are like <HI>Nebuchadnezer:</HI> for putting all men (like <HI>Neba</HI>) to Death that will not <HI>Idolize</HI> the&s;e <HI>Images</HI> of their own &s;etting up. But if the&s;e would con&s;ider that their <HI>Reputation</HI> lyes in other Mens hands, they would certainly remember that it is rather to be <HI>won</HI> with <HI>gentle|ne&s;s,</HI> and <HI>civility,</HI> than by <HI>rigor</HI> and <HI>force.</HI> The &s;uddain &s;natching of &s;o <HI>brittle</HI> a <HI>Mettle</HI> may <HI>crack</HI>
<PB N="7" REF="7">it, when Care and &s;oft u&s;age may pre&s;erve it <HI>entire.</HI> And the be&s;t advice that can be given in this ca&s;e, is certainly this: <HI>(viz.)</HI> That Men would be &s;o <HI>Ingenious</HI> as to get a <HI>Reputation</HI> before they grow &s;o very <HI>Zealous</HI> to keep it.</P>
<P>But there is a Second &s;ort of <HI>Gentlemen,</HI> who would take this advice as an <HI>Affront,</HI> becau&s;e they come not under the <HI>&s;candal</HI> of <HI>Debauchery:</HI> And yet many of the&s;e are <HI>Peccant</HI> in a more than commendable <HI>forwardne&s;s</HI> to receive <HI>affronts,</HI> though not &s;o ready to give them. The&s;e (in their own conceits) have <HI>Honours</HI> of a mo&s;t Prodigious <HI>Magnitude,</HI> and indeed <HI>&s;wel'd</HI> to that <HI>Di&s;proportion,</HI> that it is rather to be feared they are <HI>puft up</HI> with a <HI>Tympany of Pride,</HI> than <HI>con&s;olidated</HI> with firm <HI>Nobility.</HI> If a Man that has not the <HI>Breeding</HI> of the <HI>Town</HI> come into their Company, 'tis impo&s;&s;ible he &s;hould <HI>live:</HI> Alas! this <HI>dull Animal</HI> cannot breath in their <HI>Aura.</HI> There is <HI>Civility</HI> in its <HI>Purity,</HI> when a Man that does not under&s;tand him&s;elf can neither look, &s;peak, nor do any thing but what is taken for an abu&s;e: If there ari&s;e any <HI>Di&s;pute,</HI> he mu&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ffer nothing in oppo&s;ition, but what mu&s;t be U&s;her'd in with a <HI>by your pardon Sir, I think 'tis &s;o</HI>&mdash;And
<PB N="8" REF="8">indeed the <HI>ill-bred Gentleman</HI> may gain a <HI>Fortune</HI> in the Country with half the <HI>ceremony</HI> that he mu&s;t here make u&s;e of to <HI>Arm</HI> him&s;elf again&s;t a <HI>Challenge.</HI> I confe&s;s the&s;e <HI>clowns</HI> are unhappy in their want of <HI>Education,</HI> and either by their ill <HI>Managery</HI> of their <HI>actions,</HI> or their <HI>fooli&s;h retorts</HI> in a di&s;pute, they oftentimes become <HI>rediculous</HI> in <HI>them|&s;elves,</HI> and <HI>abu&s;ive</HI> to <HI>others.</HI> But yet methinks an <HI>ingenious Soul</HI> &s;hould make the&s;e <HI>Occurrences</HI> the <HI>ob|ject</HI> of his <HI>Laughter,</HI> rather than of his <HI>Anger.</HI> I would have <HI>Honour</HI> like the <HI>Palm-Tree,</HI> to <HI>ri&s;e and appear vigorous under any weight,</HI> and not like the <HI>Plant</HI> we call <HI>Sen&s;itive,</HI> to <HI>&s;hrink in at every little Touch.</HI></P>
<P>But the two <HI>instances</HI> already mentioned come not fully to my Purpo&s;e: the <HI>di&s;parity</HI> is &s;uch that it &s;eldom proceeds to a <HI>Duel:</HI> For the <HI>Hector</HI> or <HI>Ruf|fin,</HI> is one with whom &s;carce any man will <HI>Fight,</HI> and the <HI>Pedant</HI> or <HI>Buffoon,</HI> is one who will &s;carce <HI>Fight</HI> with any Man. The former is u&s;ually Com|pounded with, and the latter commonly lets fall the <HI>Suit</HI> before it comes to a <HI>Tryal:</HI> Therefore before you bring the <HI>Man of Honour</HI> upon the <HI>Stage,</HI> you mu&s;t bring him a <HI>Competitour,</HI> one that is a Gentleman, and in all re&s;pects lays as great a claim to Gallantry as him&s;elf; when &s;uch meet upon
<PB N="9" REF="8">the lea&s;t &s;hadow of an <HI>affront</HI> ari&s;es a <HI>Quarrel,</HI> which is pre&s;ently <HI>&s;econded</HI> with a <HI>Challenge,</HI> and ends in a <HI>Duel,</HI> as if it were impo&s;&s;ible for the&s;e <HI>Cocks</HI> of the <HI>Game</HI> to &s;ee one another without <HI>Animo&s;ity.</HI> If they cannot be happy in a better <HI>occa&s;ion,</HI> the taking of the <HI>Wall</HI> &s;hall &s;erve the turn, and if either attempts to go next it, his Adver&s;ary &s;hall do his be&s;t to <HI>verifie</HI> the <HI>Proverb,</HI> by endeavouring him to prove him the <HI>weakest.</HI></P>
<P>But almo&s;t daily experience informs us of wor&s;e effects of the <HI>Sword,</HI> than tho&s;e we hear of in <HI>rencounters,</HI> of which, if we inquire into the <HI>cau&s;es</HI> and <HI>originals,</HI> we &s;hall find them comprized chiefly in three <HI>Heads:</HI> namely, PLAY, WINE and WOMEN. And who&s;oever will be at the trouble of keeping a <HI>Diurnal</HI> of the <HI>Tran&s;|actions</HI> of <HI>this City,</HI> I dare &s;ay, &s;hall &s;carce need any other <HI>Common-place,</HI> to refer all the <HI>Duels</HI> that have been fought for &s;ome years pa&s;t, and will be Fought for &s;ome years to come, than <HI>The&s;e.</HI> How frequent (I may &s;ay con&s;tant) effects of this Nature do we daily find to be the <HI>Na|tural con&s;equences</HI> of <HI>Play? Pa&s;sion</HI> is its <HI>un&s;eparable Companion,</HI> and if <HI>Fortune</HI> prove ever &s;o little <HI>adver&s;e,</HI>
<PB N="10" REF="9">the <HI>Lo&s;er</HI> takes occa&s;ion to <HI>Quarrel,</HI> not only at <HI>Her,</HI> but the very <HI>per&s;on &s;he a&s;sists,</HI> though (perhaps) a <HI>Bo&s;om Friend,</HI> or a <HI>neer Relation.</HI> As if he re&s;olved to <HI>humour</HI> his <HI>Fortune</HI> with his <HI>Carriage,</HI> and &s;corned to <HI>behave</HI> him&s;elf <HI>well,</HI> when the <HI>Dice</HI> run <HI>ill:</HI> Every unlucky <HI>throw</HI> puts him into an <HI>Outrage,</HI> and being grown <HI>de&s;perate</HI> upon the lo&s;s of his <HI>money,</HI> he <HI>Pawns</HI> his <HI>Rea&s;on:</HI> Then follow the <HI>God-dam-you's,</HI> and <HI>Plague-confound-you's:</HI> Nay, and 'tis much if he give not the <HI>Lye,</HI> or the <HI>Son of a Whore,</HI> nor is it at all to be <HI>admired,</HI> if having broken out into <HI>Prophane&s;s,</HI> he keeps not within the <HI>Rules</HI> of <HI>Civility.</HI> The&s;e (I confe&s;s) are <HI>indignities</HI> not to be endured, and let a Man he never &s;o well <HI>Armed</HI> with <HI>Moderation</HI> or <HI>Friend&s;hip,</HI> yet &s;uch <HI>a&s;saults</HI> as the&s;e, pre&s;ently make a <HI>breach,</HI> and force him to <HI>Proclaim open War.</HI> So that in effect <HI>Speering</HI>'s <HI>Ordinary</HI> proves the ready way to <HI>Lambs-Conduit;</HI> and a <HI>&s;mooth Table</HI> becomes as <HI>fatal</HI> to throw <HI>Dice</HI> upon, as a <HI>Drum-head.</HI></P>
<P>Nor is <HI>Wine</HI> a le&s;s <HI>incendiary</HI> to the&s;e kind of <HI>Heats</HI> and <HI>Quarrels,</HI> than <HI>Play:</HI> Nay, mo&s;t commonly it is the <HI>fir&s;t mover,</HI> not only of the <HI>remoter Effects,</HI> but al&s;o of the more <HI>immediate cau&s;es;</HI> for <HI>Gameing</HI> and <HI>Whoring</HI> would be <HI>meagre</HI> and <HI>di&s;regarded vices,</HI> were they not <HI>pampered up</HI> with <HI>Drinking.</HI> This takes
<PB N="11" REF="9">away tho&s;e <HI>Rubs</HI> and <HI>Ob&s;tacles</HI> which <HI>Sobrie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> Dictates to our <HI>Rea&s;on;</HI> and removes tho&s;e <HI>Boomes,</HI> which a <HI>temperate re&s;olution</HI> had &s;et up as <HI>Guides,</HI> and <HI>non ultra's,</HI> and while we mi&s;s the&s;e, no wonder if we <HI>run our &s;elves a ground:</HI> Every Man when he is <HI>Sober,</HI> knows that to play with <HI>Rooks</HI> and <HI>Confe|derates,</HI> is to make <HI>Ducks</HI> and <HI>Drakes</HI> of his <HI>Money;</HI> and yet one <HI>drunken &s;it</HI> removes all his <HI>Jealou&s;ies,</HI> and then he will <HI>venture him&s;elf</HI> with any <HI>Fellows,</HI> and <HI>his money</HI> at <HI>any rate.</HI></P>
<P>But &s;uppo&s;ing him &s;o <HI>prudently drunk,</HI> as not to be <HI>drawn</HI> into <HI>Play,</HI> 'tis odds; but you find him &s;o <HI>fooli&s;hly Quarrel&s;om,</HI> as that way to run him&s;elf into <HI>equal inconveniencies.</HI> Not one in twenty but is &s;o <HI>gro&s;ely abu&s;ive,</HI> that it is beyond the patience of a <HI>&s;tranger</HI> to endure it: Nay, even his mo&s;t <HI>intimate acquaintance</HI> know not where to have him; their good <HI>advice</HI> is <HI>mi&s;con&s;trued,</HI> and their <HI>actions</HI> of <HI>friend|&s;hip mi&s;likt;</HI> and unle&s;s they have le&s;s <HI>wine,</HI> or more <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">it</HI> in their <HI>Heads</HI> than he, you may rationally ex|pect one or more of the Company in the literal fence <HI>Bloody-drunk.</HI> But it may &s;o happen that they are <HI>intercepted,</HI> and the&s;e <HI>Intestine</HI> (I cannot call them <HI>civil</HI>) <HI>Broyls</HI> reconcil'd: Yet the <HI>mi&s;chief</HI> does not commonly <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nd there, they do but like <HI>neighbouring
<PB N="12" REF="10">Princes,</HI> who in the heat of <HI>War</HI> make a <HI>League,</HI> and both joyn again&s;t a <HI>common Enemy.</HI> They cannot walk (or rather reel) the Street without offering an <HI>affront</HI> to every one they meet. The be&s;t qua|lified <HI>Gentleman,</HI> or the <HI>mode&s;te&s;t Lady</HI> cannot pa&s;s them without a <HI>Rudene&s;s</HI> offered: So that tracing them from the <HI>Tavern</HI> to <HI>Whet&s;tones-Park,</HI> you will a&s;&s;uredly find &s;ome <HI>drops</HI> of <HI>Blood,</HI> or hear of &s;ome <HI>work</HI> cut out for the next <HI>Morning.</HI></P>
<P>And then indeed begins a <HI>Tragi-comoedy,</HI> enough to make <HI>Democritus</HI> look <HI>&s;erious,</HI> or <HI>Hera|clitus laugh:</HI> Were there a thou&s;and <HI>Crae&s;sus's,</HI> 'tis im|po&s;&s;ible they &s;hould contain them&s;elves, &s;eeing the&s;e <HI>A&s;ses mumbling Thi&s;tles:</HI> One of the&s;e awakes in <HI>di&s;content,</HI> ju&s;t remembring that he did <HI>challenge</HI> a <HI>Gentleman,</HI> and appointed him a place of <HI>meeting,</HI> but has forgotten where: A Second remembers the place, but knows nothing el&s;e of the <HI>Quarrel.</HI> A third remembers the <HI>Gentleman</HI> to have been mo&s;t gro&s;ely abu&s;ed, without any cau&s;e at all. Well, after this <HI>coucil of war</HI> has debated the thing, and con&s;ulted <HI>their Honours,</HI> the re&s;ult of all is a nece&s;&s;ity of <HI>Fight|ing.</HI> Thus as the <HI>Pope</HI> proves him&s;elf <HI>infallible</HI> by maintaining the <HI>Errours</HI> he runs into: &s;o the&s;e <HI>Gen|tlemen ju&s;tifie</HI> all their <HI>actions</HI> to be <HI>Honourable</HI> by <HI>vindicating</HI> tho&s;e that are <HI>otherwi&s;e.</HI></P>
<PB N="13" REF="10">
<P> And now I am to beg pardon of the <HI>Ladys</HI> for <HI>&s;houldring</HI> them into any concern in this <HI>Tragedy:</HI> How they came to be engaged, I know not, but according to my ob&s;ervation, they are rather the <HI>occa&s;ions</HI> of it, than <HI>actors</HI> in it. We have a <HI>&s;aying,</HI> that <HI>there is &s;eldom any mi&s;chief done, but a woman is at one end of it.</HI> But in this ca&s;e, the <HI>mi&s;chief</HI> proceeds mo&s;t commanly from our <HI>fooli&s;h zeal,</HI> not from their <HI>in&s;tigations.</HI> I conceive the <HI>Precedence</HI> due to tho&s;e that are <HI>honourable,</HI> and therefore I &s;hall fir&s;t <HI>in&s;tance</HI> in them; &s;uch (I mean) as have pre&s;erved their <HI>reputations,</HI> and are e&s;teemed <HI>Vertuous:</HI> and certainly no &s;uch per&s;on can be thought <HI>acce&s;sary</HI> to our <HI>follies,</HI> or a <HI>fomentour</HI> of our <HI>vices,</HI> but it (as the <HI>Sophi|&s;ter</HI> calls it) <HI>cau&s;a per accidens,</HI> as in this ca&s;e.</P>
<P>Suppo&s;ing a <HI>Lady Young, Rich,</HI> and <HI>Hand&s;om,</HI> having done that, you &s;uppo&s;e her &s;urrounded with <HI>Servants,</HI> of whom po&s;&s;ibly &s;he <HI>Affects one more Peculiarly,</HI> and he that is thus <HI>happy</HI> or <HI>unfortunate,</HI> (call it which you plea&s;e) mu&s;t either <HI>Relinqui&s;h</HI> his <HI>hopes,</HI> or <HI>Maintain</HI> them with his <HI>Sword.</HI> If he be <HI>Victorious</HI> in the fir&s;t <HI>Encounter,</HI> he &s;hall meet with a Second, and if there be Twenty of the&s;e <HI>Rivals,</HI> they &s;hall have the <HI>Fate</HI> of <HI>Red breasts, &s;hut</HI> up in an <HI>Aviary:</HI>
<PB N="14" REF="11">all mu&s;t dye &s;ave one, and none mu&s;t enjoy this <HI>Venus,</HI> but the <HI>God of War:</HI> While each has &s;et up a re&s;olution not to de&s;ire her <HI>Affection,</HI> but <HI>win</HI> it; which to effect, they propo&s;e no other way, than by <HI>de&s;troying</HI> the <HI>object</HI> of it: and yet this goes for a piece of <HI>Gallantry,</HI> not only <HI>Justifiable,</HI> but <HI>Meri|torious:</HI> &s;uch an example of <HI>Knight-Errantry,</HI> as that a Man cannot prove him&s;elf a <HI>Gentleman</HI> without it. I confe&s;s I admire Actions of this Nature, as much as any Man, but it is for the <HI>ra&s;hne&s;s</HI> and <HI>folly</HI> of them: for I cannot fancy they have any <HI>rational aim</HI> or <HI>de&s;ign.</HI> Do men hereby propo&s;e to them&s;elves enjoyment of the <HI>Lady?</HI> To me it &s;eems very im|probable that &s;uch a <HI>wontan</HI> as we have already &s;up|po&s;ed, &s;hould love a Man for no other rea&s;on but that he has <HI>Murthered</HI> him &s;he formerly inclined to: or to reward the <HI>improvident Husband</HI> with the <HI>Grapes,</HI> becau&s;e &s;he chatcht him cutting down the <HI>&s;upporters</HI> of the <HI>Vine.</HI></P>
<P>But allowing this to be well received on the <HI>Ladies</HI> part, there remains yet another difficulty to be removed before it can proceed to a <HI>Sack-po&s;set:</HI> there is a <HI>place <HI>hight</HI> Newgate,</HI> and a <HI>Creature <HI>ycleped,</HI></HI> a <HI>Judge,</HI> that will have &s;omething to &s;ay to Mr. <HI>Bridegroom, in Potentia,</HI> who perhaps forbids
<PB N="15" REF="11">the <HI>Banns,</HI> and &s;o deprives him of the opportunity of being called <HI>hand&s;om Man,</HI> as he is going to <HI>Church,</HI> but gives him as fair a one as he is going to the <HI>Gallows.</HI> Thus falls this <HI>Champion</HI> of <HI>Honour</HI> a <HI>Martyr</HI> to <HI>Love,</HI> and he that fancied him&s;elf to live with all <HI>Imaginable e&s;teem,</HI> and <HI>repute,</HI> now dyes with <HI>unconceiveable reproach</HI> and <HI>di&s;grace,</HI> confe&s;&s;ing that
<Q><L><HI>Honour</HI> in <HI>Youth</HI> is but an itch o'th' blood,</L>
<L>Of doing things extravagantly good.</L></Q></P>
<P>Yet, I confe&s;s, of all in&s;tances this la&s;t, as 'tis the mo&s;t excu&s;able in it <HI>&s;elf,</HI> &s;o 'tis the lea&s;t <HI>de|plorable</HI> in the <HI>con&s;equences</HI> of it: becau&s;e he that &s;uf|fers is a <HI>&s;ingle per&s;on,</HI> and <HI>pays</HI> no <HI>debts</HI> but tho&s;e of his own <HI>contracting:</HI> whereas in &s;ome ca&s;es, though the <HI>Halter</HI> puts an end to a Mans <HI>Life</HI> and <HI>Honour</HI> together, yet the <HI>Shame</HI> and <HI>Mi&s;ery</HI> &s;urvives to his Po&s;terity (if he has any.) 'Tis po&s;&s;ible the <HI>Pendant Gentleman</HI> may leave a Widow and Orphans be|wailing his Di&s;honour, and their own Misfortune: for while he makes a <HI>forfiture</HI> of his <HI>e&s;tate</HI> to the King, and his <HI>good Name</HI> to the <HI>VVorld,</HI> he Entails upon them nothing but <HI>Seandal</HI> and <HI>Beggery.</HI></P>
<P>As the&s;e Di&s;a&s;ters therefore are not always oc|ca&s;ioned by <HI>Civil</HI> WOMEN, &s;o neither are they always the <HI>effects</HI> of <HI>Love:</HI> For if a Gentleman be
<PB N="16" REF="12">handing a Lady along the Street (whatever &s;he be) how <HI>unmercifully &s;tout</HI> does he grow upon a &s;uddain, a Man cannot pa&s;s by this <HI>&s;hrine,</HI> but he mu&s;t do it <HI>reverence,</HI> at lea&s;t by keeping a <HI>fit di&s;tance,</HI> if ca&s;ually he gives her the lea&s;t <HI>justle,</HI> 'tis ten to one but this <HI>zealous Gallant,</HI> out of an <HI>ambition</HI> to <HI>ingra|tiate</HI> him&s;elf, and appear a <HI>Man</HI> of <HI>mettle,</HI> comes out with his <HI>Damme! what d'ee mean.</HI> or <HI>how now Logger-head, what's that for?</HI> and either he draws him&s;elf, or gives the other provocation enough to do it. Is not this the <HI>Mode</HI> of the <HI>Town:</HI> and do not &s;eve|ral occurrences like the&s;e happen in a Year? In&s;o|much that many times men lo&s;e their lives in vindi|cating the <HI>reputation</HI> of a <HI>common Whore;</HI> as if <HI>Honour</HI> (by a kind of <HI>Antiperi&s;ta&s;is</HI>) were to be maintained by things <HI>di&s;honourable,</HI> or (like the <HI>Fig-tree) did flouri&s;h be&s;t,</HI> when planted near to <HI>Rue.</HI></P>
<P>And now having <HI>traced</HI> the&s;e <HI>disturbed</HI> and <HI>un|plea&s;ant &s;treams</HI> through all their <HI>by-paths,</HI> and <HI>Moeanders,</HI> from their &s;everal <HI>&s;pring-heads,</HI> down to the <HI>Red-Sea,</HI> whether they all tend. I think it time to ca&s;t an eye toward the <HI>Mountain tops:</HI> Tho&s;e (I mean) of the <HI>Nobility</HI> &amp; <HI>Gentry,</HI> who either by their <HI>Valour</HI> or <HI>Wi&s;dom,</HI> are grown to a <HI>greatne&s;s</HI> and <HI>height</HI> above the <HI>level</HI> of other men. To whom I intend
<PB N="17" REF="12">not to be &s;o unju&s;t, as to endeavour to <HI>raze</HI> or <HI>under|mine</HI> tho&s;e <HI>Pyramids,</HI> which either their <HI>Ance&s;tours</HI> or <HI>them&s;elves</HI> have erected as perpetual <HI>Memorials</HI> of their <HI>Honour.</HI> And indeed, could I be &s;o <HI>malicious,</HI> or <HI>daring,</HI> to attempt this, how &s;trangely would my endeavours be intercepted, when our <HI>Engli&s;h Noble-men,</HI> like tho&s;e of <HI>Troy,</HI> put forth their <HI>a&s;|&s;i&s;ting hand,</HI> to their <HI>own de&s;truction,</HI> and them&s;elves become in&s;trumental to the <HI>Demolli&s;hing</HI> of their own <HI>Babel?</HI> If two of the&s;e <HI>Structures</HI> &s;tand neer together, lifting up their <HI>heads</HI> of equal height, what <HI>aemulation</HI> and <HI>envy</HI> does it beget, <HI>one</HI> mu&s;t be <HI>pulled down,</HI> e're the <HI>other</HI> can be thought throughly <HI>e&s;ta|bli&s;hed?</HI> as if the <HI>Temple</HI> of <HI>Honour</HI> could be well built upon nothing but its <HI>own ruines:</HI> or like the <HI>Ca|pitol,</HI> it could not be <HI>firmly founded,</HI> but where the <HI>builders</HI> find a <HI>dead Mans skul.</HI> So that if you take a &s;trickt Survey of any of the&s;e, you will find the Walls <HI>graced</HI> (as they call it) with <HI>&s;everal Hic jacet's;</HI> of which kind of <HI>Monuments,</HI> the more there are, the more <HI>beautiful</HI> and <HI>gorgeous</HI> is the <HI>Fa|brick</HI> e&s;teemed. Thus do they make <HI>Honour</HI> a <HI>Ca|nibal,</HI> or <HI>Hor&s;leach,</HI> hungry for want of <HI>Mans fle&s;h,</HI> and thir&s;ting after <HI>blood;</HI> and intimate to the World that there is a <HI>God</HI> of <HI>Honour,</HI> &s;o incen&s;ed, that
<PB N="18" REF="13">nothing will apea&s;e him but <HI>Human Sacrifice,</HI> and that his <HI>Votaries</HI> mu&s;t <HI>offer</HI> nothing at his <HI>Altar,</HI> but like the <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> of <HI>Baal,</HI> with the <HI>dreadful Cerimony</HI> of <HI>Cutting</HI> and <HI>Wounding.</HI> This kind of <HI>Religion</HI> I dare not <HI>contradict</HI> or <HI>reprove,</HI> it being the <HI>con&s;tant re&s;olve</HI> of the <HI>Mature&s;t deliberations,</HI> to attempt <HI>Achieve|ments</HI> of this <HI>Nature,</HI> and the <HI>Pride</HI> and <HI>Glory</HI> of the <HI>&s;toutest Champions,</HI> to be ble&s;t in the&s;e their un|dertakings, with a <HI>Pro&s;perous &s;ucce&s;s,</HI> of whom he is the mo&s;t <HI>Honourable</HI> that has the mo&s;t <HI>Gules</HI> in his <HI>E&s;cutcheon,</HI> and the mo&s;t happy that has <HI>enroll'd</HI> the greate&s;t number of <HI>Martyrs</HI> in the <HI>Kalender</HI> of <HI>Honour.</HI></P>
<P>This, for ought I know, may not be an <HI>errour</HI> in <HI>Planets</HI> of the <HI>Superiour Orbs:</HI> but &s;ure I am, it begets one in the <HI>inferiour</HI> and <HI>&s;ublunary bodies,</HI> who while they look upon the&s;e as <HI>true lights,</HI> and <HI>&s;afe guides,</HI> find them&s;elves (as by an <HI>Ignis fatuus) benight|ed,</HI> and <HI>&s;educed.</HI> Noblemen cannot but di&s;cern how Gentlemen of <HI>le&s;s quality throng</HI> and <HI>croud</HI> to come as <HI>neer</HI> them as is po&s;&s;ible, imitating them according to (nay beyond) their <HI>Abilities,</HI> in their <HI>Habit, Car|riage,</HI> and all pieces of <HI>Gallantry:</HI> Nay, even in their <HI>Vices;</HI> e&s;teeming all things <HI>Lawful,</HI> or at lea&s;t <HI>Creditable</HI> which are worthy of their pur&s;uit. And
<PB N="19" REF="13">were it not an ea&s;ie matter for them to bring this fooli&s;h and ra&s;h way of <HI>Duelling</HI> into contempt, by being neither <HI>examples</HI> nor <HI>countenancers</HI> of it?</P>
<P>It would be <HI>Arogance</HI> in me, to propo&s;e any way for the effecting of this, but my confidence of the Facility of it is (I believe) well grounded, for all Men know, that who&s;oever kills a Man in a <HI>Duel,</HI> is <HI>Ip&s;o Facto,</HI> to be put to death by the <HI>Law,</HI> and yet the <HI>Fountain</HI> of <HI>Honour,</HI> and the <HI>Lawgiver,</HI> are one and the &s;ame <HI>Per&s;on: (Viz.)</HI> The <HI>King:</HI> whom we mu&s;t Accriminate with ab&s;urd and incongruous <HI>contradictions</HI> in his <HI>actions,</HI> if we &s;uppo&s;e him to con|fer <HI>Honour</HI> upon a <HI>Per&s;on,</HI> and then immediately make &s;uch Laws, which if he obeys 'tis po&s;&s;ible for him to pre&s;erve. Were there no other means to be u&s;ed for the <HI>pre&s;ervation</HI> of a Man's <HI>Honour,</HI> but to <HI>Duel</HI> the per&s;on that <HI>a&s;saulted</HI> it, is it to be imagined that there would ever have been &s;o &s;evere a <HI>Law</HI> again&s;t <HI>Duelling?</HI> &s;o then, the nece&s;&s;ity of <HI>Fighting</HI> mu&s;t be <HI>removed,</HI> or the <HI>incongruity allowed,</HI> which would be flat <HI>Trea&s;on.</HI></P>
<P>A Man is <HI>dub'd Knight Banneret</HI> in the <HI>Field,</HI> for &s;ome <HI>&s;ignal</HI> piece of <HI>Service;</HI> is this <HI>per&s;on</HI> there|fore obliged to <HI>challenge</HI> every <HI>Hot-headed Boy,</HI> that &s;hall call him <HI>Coward</HI> at home? or may he not by
<PB N="20" REF="14">a <HI>Sober</HI> and <HI>Prudent carriage</HI> maintain his <HI>Honour</HI> without it: and order it &s;o, that the <HI>Pert Youth</HI> ap|pear a <HI>Ridiculous Child,</HI> while he proves him&s;elf as <HI>Prudent</HI> as <HI>Stout.</HI> And have we not many <HI>gallant examples</HI> of this temper in the Kingdom? Are there not Men of unque&s;tioned <HI>Valour,</HI> who have made the <HI>Enemy</HI> confe&s;s them to be <HI>Lyons,</HI> and yet will &s;uffer the&s;e wanton <HI>Kids</HI> to leap into their very <HI>mouths</HI> without harm? By which means (I think) they rather confirm them&s;elves to be <HI>true bred,</HI> than give any man occa&s;ion to &s;uppo&s;e them <HI>degenerate.</HI></P>
<P>And now (I fancy) I have but one &s;ort of Men left to deal with: <HI>(viz.)</HI> Tho&s;e that allow <HI>Duels</HI> to he <HI>unlawful,</HI> and con&s;equently <HI>di&s;honourable;</HI> and yet out of a <HI>vain glorious humour</HI> will venture at all, re&s;olving to purcha&s;e the Name of <HI>Man,</HI> though with the <HI>Epethets</HI> of <HI>fooli&s;h</HI> or <HI>mi&s;erable.</HI> Yet I am of an opinion, that if the good Laws provided in this ca&s;e were duly executed, much of this <HI>fool-hardine&s;s</HI> would be abated. But I can never hope to convince one by <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> whom the <HI>remi&s;sne&s;s</HI> of <HI>Ju&s;tice,</HI> or <HI>abundance</HI> of <HI>Mercy</HI> has thus emboldned: and there|fore I will try (if he be not above <HI>Fear</HI>) to deter him, by &s;etting before him the <HI>unequal terms</HI> upon which he mu&s;t &s;ometimes <HI>fight.</HI> This <HI>Catholique Dueller</HI> mu&s;t
<PB N="21" REF="14">be &s;uppo&s;ed to maintain his <HI>Honour</HI> in all places, and with all per&s;ons: If &s;o, than fancying him to be &s;mall in <HI>&s;tature,</HI> or to have any <HI>natural defect,</HI> or <HI>impediment</HI> whereby he is rendred uncapable of bearing up a|gain&s;t one every way compleat, is it probable that &s;uch a one &s;hould be <HI>Victorious?</HI> So that this poor <HI>Lamb</HI> goes into the field but as a <HI>victim</HI> to <HI>Honour,</HI> and dies with double di&s;advantage to be fir&s;t <HI>abu&s;ed,</HI> and afterwards <HI>killed</HI> for it: and all the benefit that he reaps by it, is the <HI>Encomium</HI> of <HI>pretty mettl'd fellow,</HI> and the <HI>Elegy, of a thou &s;and pitties.</HI> Thus does he gain <HI>compa&s;sion</HI> in&s;tead of <HI>Honour,</HI> and <HI>Fools Pa|radice</HI> in&s;tead of <HI>Heaven.</HI></P>
<P>But though Probability gives this <HI>Gyant</HI> the <HI>Victory,</HI> yet 'tis po&s;&s;ible that <HI>Fortune</HI> may &s;o guide the <HI>Pigmy's</HI> &s;word, that it may reach the heart of this <HI>Man</HI> of <HI>Gath,</HI> who upon &s;uch an accident, falls with all <HI>imaginable di&s;grace;</HI> &s;o that in an <HI>unequal Duel</HI> 'tis almo&s;t impo&s;&s;ible for either of the <HI>Sword-men</HI> to obtain even that which the <HI>vauntingest huff</HI> mi&s;calls <HI>Honour;</HI> for in the <HI>first in&s;tance</HI> the <HI>infirmities</HI> of the <HI>Enemy</HI> are traduced as <HI>blots</HI> in the <HI>E&s;cucheon</HI> of the <HI>Victor,</HI> and in the la&s;t, the Conque&s;t is wholly <HI>a&s;cribed</HI> to <HI>Chance:</HI> and therefore I approve of the an&s;wer given by a <HI>Gentleman,</HI> who ha|ving a great Impediment in his Eyes, de&s;ired
<PB N="22" REF="15">his <HI>Antagoni&s;t</HI> (who Challenged him at <HI>Rapier</HI>) to meet him in a <HI>dark Cellar</HI> with a <HI>Hatchet:</HI> But fan|cying all de&s;ired <HI>Parity,</HI> per&s;ons equal in <HI>Strength, Skill,</HI> and <HI>Courage,</HI> how Ca&s;ual then is the Event! Certainly in &s;uch a ca&s;e the <HI>Victor</HI> mu&s;t allow him|&s;elf indebted to <HI>Fortune</HI> for his <HI>Succe&s;s,</HI> becau&s;e (as I &s;aid) there is an equallity. Might not &s;uch <HI>De&s;pe|radoes</HI> as the&s;e, be per&s;waded upon a <HI>mutual affront,</HI> to <HI>draw cuts</HI> for their lives, agreeing that he who drew the &s;horte&s;t &s;hould <HI>hang him&s;elf</HI> to give the other <HI>&s;atisfaction?</HI> Why not? For the <HI>prudence</HI> of this way 'tis certainly the be&s;t, becau&s;e the <HI>equallest,</HI> having its whole dependance upon a <HI>ca&s;ualty;</HI> whereas in a <HI>Duel</HI> one of the <HI>Combatants</HI> may have the advantage of <HI>skill.</HI> For the <HI>mettle</HI> of it, 'tis the &s;toute&s;t, becau&s;e one of them mu&s;t a&s;&s;uredly <HI>dye;</HI> whereas in a <HI>Duel</HI> a <HI>Coward</HI> may encourage him&s;elf with the hopes of being <HI>di&s;armed,</HI> or <HI>lightly wounded:</HI> For the <HI>mercy</HI> of it, 'tis the mo&s;t commendable; for here only one peri&s;heth, whereas in a <HI>Duel</HI> both may be <HI>&s;lain,</HI> or <HI>de&s;perately hurt:</HI> For the <HI>&s;atisfaction</HI> of it, 'tis the <HI>compleate&s;t;</HI> for here a Man has <HI>Plenary Re&s;titution,</HI> made by the <HI>Offenders</HI> own <HI>hands,</HI> while he lives at peace and liberty, to enjoy the <HI>happine&s;s:</HI> whereas in a <HI>Duel,</HI> though he does kill his Adver&s;ary, yet the
<PB N="23" REF="15"><HI>Laws</HI> call a Man into que&s;tion, and perhaps take away his Life: For the <HI>plea&s;ure</HI> of it, 'tis (without doubt) the mo&s;t <HI>ticking;</HI> for here you may plea&s;e your &s;elf with &s;eeing your <HI>Enemy</HI> do <HI>Execution</HI> artifi|cially upon him&s;elf, whil&s;t you &s;tand by as a <HI>&s;afe Spectator:</HI> whereas in a <HI>Duel</HI> the <HI>danger</HI> much abates of the <HI>Lechery:</HI> And la&s;tly, for the <HI>Honour</HI> of it, 'tis far the <HI>greate&s;t:</HI> for here the <HI>vanqui&s;ht</HI> is but <HI>hang'd:</HI> and that only in &s;ight of two or three <HI>Friends</HI> (perhaps:) whereas in a <HI>Duel,</HI> the <HI>conquerour</HI> many times &s;uffers a more <HI>ignominious death,</HI> even among <HI>Malefactors,</HI> and before thou&s;ands of <HI>beholders.</HI> What a <HI>Ridiculous Soloeci&s;m</HI> in Morrals is <HI>Duelling!</HI> when even &s;o <HI>Bruiti&s;h</HI> a <HI>propo&s;ition</HI> as this, &s;hould appear far more <HI>Rational</HI> and <HI>Eligible.</HI></P>
<P>But there is one thing yet behind, which hugely agravates the indi&s;cretion of it, that indeed whereby the name of <HI>Folly</HI> is &s;wallowed up in madne&s;s: That is the u&s;e of <HI>Seconds.</HI> How this cu&s;tome crept into the World, I cannot tell, but to me it &s;eems the mo&s;t <HI>ab&s;urd</HI> that can be thought of: I am not &s;o well ver&s;ed in Martial Hi&s;tory, as to give you an ac|count of the <HI>Original</HI> of the&s;e. But &s;ure I am, if they were intended for good, their De&s;ign is &s;trangely perverted: Were they <HI>Spectatours</HI> only to &s;ee that
<PB N="24" REF="16">no <HI>Foul play</HI> (as they call it) be offered: or &s;uch as might be <HI>a&s;si&s;tant,</HI> as <HI>Chirurgeons,</HI> it were tollera|ble: But as they are now u&s;ed, 'tis a <HI>Frenzy</HI> not to be <HI>Parallel'd.</HI> I need not inform the compleat <HI>Dueller</HI> that the <HI>Mode</HI> now adays, is for all the <HI>Seconds</HI> to draw at once with the <HI>Principal;</HI> and a|mong them the <HI>Engagement</HI> is as <HI>vigorous</HI> as if each were the very per&s;on that fir&s;t gave the affront. This indeed is <HI>Honour</HI> in it's <HI>purity!</HI> wherein the mo&s;t <HI>curious eye</HI> cannot <HI>di&s;cern</HI> the lea&s;t <HI>dregs:</HI> this is that <HI>excellently refined Mettal,</HI> which will endure the nice&s;t touch of the choice&s;t <HI>Load&s;tone!</HI> The <HI>Principal</HI> may be encouraged by <HI>Pa&s;sion,</HI> or animated by <HI>Re|venge,</HI> but here's he that will <HI>fight</HI> with any man in the quarrel of a <HI>Friend;</HI> nay, of a <HI>Stranger,</HI> quickned by no other <HI>Spur</HI> than that of <HI>Honour:</HI> In Heavens Name! what irreconcileable <HI>ab&s;urdities?</HI> what un|avoidable <HI>dangers</HI> do men voluntarily run into? was ever, (no 'tis impo&s;&s;ible) any thing in the world &s;o <HI>heteradox</HI> to <HI>rea&s;on,</HI> nay, to <HI>common-&s;ence,</HI> as this? for a man to go into the <HI>Field,</HI> to meet he knows not whom, perhaps a <HI>bo&s;om Friend:</HI> to fight in ju&s;tifi|cation of he knows not what, it may be giving the <HI>Lye:</HI> to lo&s;e his life in <HI>Complezance,</HI> he knows not how: po&s;&s;ibly by being over-power'd by two or
<PB N="25" REF="16">three This is an <HI>Intreague,</HI> that for my Som I cannot comprehend: A <HI>Gordian knot</HI> &s;o interwoven, and complicated, that were <HI>Alexander</HI> him&s;elf alive, it would <HI>nonplus</HI> both him and his Sword. What can be<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">th Riddle of this! Do men propo&s;e &s;afety to them|&s;elves, by electing <HI>Seconds?</HI> If they do, I deny their <HI>Major.</HI> For if either of the Seconds fall, I &s;uppo&s;e (pardon me if I err) he that flew him, may if he plea&s;e, return to the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of his <HI>own principal;</HI> and then there are two again&s;t one. So that one cho&s;en for a &s;afe guard, may become either through his want of skill, or good luck, de&s;tructive to the Per&s;on for whom he Engages. But there is yet a a greater inconvenience that attends this <HI>Folly:</HI> For when only two fight, 'tis very po&s;&s;ible that &s;atisfaction may be had without the Death of either. But in this ca&s;e where four or &s;ix engage, 'tis not to be imagined they &s;hall all e&s;cape, and all Men know that the Death of either, renders all parties concerned as obnoxious to the <HI>Law,</HI> as if each were the man that had given him his mortal wound. In my apprehen&s;ion, &s;uch undertakers &s;eem to have no other <HI>Plot,</HI> than by &s;etting them&s;elves beyond the bounds of &s;afety, to let the World know how little
<PB N="26" REF="17">they fear <HI>Death:</HI> And does not every <HI>fellow</HI> that is po&s;&s;e&s;t with <HI>De&s;pair,</HI> a <HI>Frenzy,</HI> the <HI>Devil,</HI> or what you will call it, while he <HI>Stabs, Hangs,</HI> or <HI>Drowns</HI> him&s;elf, de&s;erve to be enrolled among the&s;e <HI>Mar|tyrs</HI> of Honour, upon the &s;ame account? I think he does.</P>
<P>But to what purpo&s;e do I argue, when even mens <HI>own inclinations</HI> &s;uper&s;ede my <HI>rea&s;onings.</HI> In this ca&s;e men by a <HI>Diabolical</HI> kind of <HI>infatuation, do</HI> that which they <HI>would not,</HI> and confute the <HI>&s;ucce&s;sion</HI> of <HI>Action</HI> and <HI>Election.</HI> 'Tis in vain to di&s;wade a man from an enterprize, when he &s;ays him&s;elf,
<Q><L>&mdash;Video meliora probo&abque;</L>
<L>Deteriora &s;equor.&mdash;</L></Q> Nor can I rationally expect &s;uch mens compliance with <HI>my arguments,</HI> who cannot be obedient to their <HI>own wills.</HI> I dare appeal to any Man, whether he ever went into the <HI>Field</HI> (to fight a <HI>Duel</HI> I mean) <HI>unconcernedly:</HI> or having &s;lain his <HI>adver&s;ary,</HI> returned joyfully. And can this be <HI>true Honour</HI> that has <HI>Regret</HI> for its <HI>Companion,</HI> and <HI>Sorrow</HI> for its <HI>Lackey?</HI></P>
<P>And now having gone &s;o far, as to decry <HI>Duel|ling,</HI> and to declare it as my opinion, that a <HI>wounded reputation</HI> is not to be cured by <HI>weapon-&s;alve:</HI> It may
<PB N="27" REF="17">be expected that I &s;hould propo&s;e &s;ome more <HI>ju&s;ti|fiable</HI> way for the &s;atisfaction of a <HI>Per&s;on injured</HI> in his <HI>good Name,</HI> by the reproaches of another.</P>
<P>But I conceive it improper to prepare <HI>Re&s;tora|tives,</HI> before a Patient is &s;atisfied that he is di&s;tem|pered: and Rude, thus to endeavour to <HI>drench</HI> him into Health again&s;t his Will; and take away the edge of that, which he calls a <HI>good &s;tomach,</HI> when, indeed, it is <HI>appetitus caninus.</HI></P>
<P>But if the attempt I have made, chance to work any way upon the Spirits of the <HI>Duellist,</HI> &s;o as to bring him to him&s;elf, out of tho&s;e <HI>raving fits,</HI> in which there is no coming <HI>neer him,</HI> without <HI>danger;</HI> I have tho&s;e <HI>Lenitives</HI> in &s;tore, that will not (I hope) prove &s;o <HI>Ganenically nau&s;eating,</HI> but that he may down with them: nor &s;o <HI>Spirituous,</HI> and <HI>Chimical,</HI> but that he may take them &s;afely: &s;uch as I dare &s;ay, will be conducing to <HI>long Life,</HI> and effect the <HI>Cure</HI> (as the <HI>Quack</HI>'s Bill runs) without <HI>hindrance</HI> of <HI>bu&s;i|ne&s;s,</HI> or <HI>lo&s;s</HI> of <HI>reputation.</HI></P>
<P>And if this fir&s;t <HI>E&s;say</HI> find the lea&s;t of a favoura|ble reception among Men, I &s;hall adventure upon a &s;econd endeavour, to &s;hew how in mo&s;t ca&s;es a Man's <HI>Honour</HI> may be <HI>pre&s;erv'd</HI> without <HI>Duels:</HI> and remove the <HI>Tyranical impo&s;ition</HI> of &s;itting at a Fea&s;t
<PB N="28" REF="18">with a <HI>Sword</HI> hanging over our heads, fa&s;tned only by a hair. Yet lea&s;t I &s;hould never meet with this en|couragement; I only &s;ay in general, he that will pre|&s;erve his <HI>Honour</HI> entire, and his <HI>Reputation</HI> &s;ound; let him be morally good; let him behave him&s;elf &s;ub|mi&s;&s;ively towards his Superiours, Valliantly to|wards his Enemies, Civilly towards his Equals, and Courteou&s;ly towards his Inferiours; &s;uch a Deportment as this will prove a <HI>gag</HI> to <HI>Malice,</HI> and a <HI>&s;courge</HI> to <HI>Slander:</HI> and who&s;oever is of this temper, will &s;oon find that the &s;atisfaction a man gives to the World, by his own life, is better than that which he reaps to him&s;elf by another Man's Death.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
