lic a manner as you reported it, I shall expect you will immediately answer my challenge, as there is no other mode of redressing wrongs of so insidious a nature.' When this gentleman announced his name and description I found he was a general officer, who had been upon an unsuccessful command in the course of the war; and that Leontine, in one of his political rhapsodies, had treated his character according to his custom with great scurrility; this had unluckily passed in the hearing of a friend of the general's, who had endeavoured to stop Leontine in time, but not being able so to do, had made report to his friend of what had been said of him in his absence. As he fixed his eyes upon Leontine in expectation of his answer, I observed his cheeks, which before were of a ruddy scarlet, turn to a deep purple, which gradually turned into a livid tawney; fear so transformed his features, that the flying soldier in Le Brun's battle was not a more perfect model of horror: his lips, which so lately thundered out vengeance and anathemas against the whole host of critics, magazine-mongers, news-writers, and reviewers, with all their devils, runners, and retainers, now quivered without the power of utterance, till at last a gentle murmuring voice was heard to say-. General, if I have given you offence, I am very sorry for it, but I suspect that what I said must have been unfairly stated, else,'-Here the little gentleman immediately interrupted him by saying This excuse affects the veracity of my friend; I shall therefore take the liberty of calling him into your room, which I did not choose to do in the first instance, not knowing you had any body with you; but if this gentleman will have the goodness to stand in place of your referee on the occasion, I will bring my witness face to face, who will testify to the very words you spoke.' This was no sooner said than

done for the friend was in the passage, and in the most precise terms asserted the truth of his information. And now, Sir,' resumed the general, 'give me leave to say there is not a man in England more abhors a personal quarrel than I do, but I make it my study to give no offence, and both my reputation and my profession indispensably oblige me not to put up with insult from any man: there is no alternative therefore left to either of us, but for you to sign this paper, which I shall use as I see fit in my own vindication, or turn out; I am very sorry for it; it is an unhappy custom, but if any occasion can justify it, I take the present to be one.'-Having so said, he tendered the paper to Leontine with as much politeness and address, as if he had been delivering a petition to the commander-in-chief.

The intimidated boaster took the paper with a trembling hand, and throwing his eye over it, begged to know if it might not be mitigated in some particulars :-' I should be very glad to oblige you,' says the general, in what you wish, but they are my words, and as I generally think before I speak or write, I am not in the habit of unsaying any thing I assert; you must therefore sign to all or none.' "If it must be so, it must,' says Leontine with a sigh, and took the pen- Stop, Sir, if you please,' interposed the general, 'I would know of this gentleman, if he has any thing to offer on your behalf, why you should not sign that paper.' I answered, that I had nothing to offer in the case; upon which Leontine put his name to the paper. 'Sir,' says the general, I am perfectly satisfied, and beg your pardon for the trouble I have given you; I am persuaded you are not a person who can injure my character, and this paper is of no farther use.'-So saying he threw it into the fire; having made his bow to Leontine, and wishing me a good morning, took his friend under

the arm, and coolly walked out of the house. As I was suspicious Leontine's courage might return after his departure, I thought it best to follow his example, and, taking up my hat, left the mortified bashaw to his meditations, well satisfied to find an example in confirmation of my opinion-That a bully at home, is a coward abroad.

As I walked along, meditating on what had passed, a doubt for the first time arose in my mind as to the practice of duelling, and I began to think there might be certain advantages accruing to society, which, if the immorality of the action could be dispensed with, might possibly balance the evils so evidently to be set against them. On the one side, I saw in all its horrors the untimely catastrophe of a father, husband, son, or brother, hurried out of life, and made the sacrifice of a savage fashion, which the world calls honour: on the other part I reflected within myself what the state of manners might probably be reduced to, and how much society would suffer, if such overbearing insolent characters as Leontine were not held in restraint by those personal considerations, which owe their influence to the practice of duelling. To their wives, servants, and dependant inferiors, from whom no resentment is to be apprehended, these tyrants are insupportable; to society in general they are offensive as far as they dare; it is not shame, nor a respect to good manners in any degree, nor the fear of the laws, which stop them, for none of these considerations affect them; neither is it the unarmed hand of man that can correct them, for these brutal natures are commonly endowed with brutal strength, and Leontine would no more have feared his puisne antagonist without a weapon, than I should stand in awe of an infant. If these creatures, thought I, were let loose upon society, and we had nothing but our fists

to keep them in order, the proverb would be literally made good, and the weakest must go to the wall; but that same lucky invention of gunpowder levels the strong with the feeble, and puts all who bear the character of a gentleman upon the same line of defence: if blows were to be exchanged with impunity, and foul language was to be endured without account, we should be a nation of rabble. It seems, therefore, as if nothing more were to be wished, than for certain mitigations of this terrible resource, which must ultimately depend upon the voluntary magnanimity of those who are compelled to resort to it; what I mean is, to express a wish that gentlemen would think it no derogation from their honour to acknowledge an error, or ask pardon for an offence; and as it can very rarely happen, but that one party must to his own conviction be in the fault, it seems to follow, that all those affairs of honour, that can be done away by an apology, might by manly and ingenuous characters be prevented from extremities. As to injuries of that deep nature, which, according to the infirmity of human ideas, we are apt to call inexpiable, I presume not to give an opinion; and in the aggravating instance of a blow, I have only to lament that the sufferer has to expose his person to equal danger with the offender. Though some unhappy instances of frivolous duels have lately occurred, I cannot think that it is the vice of the times to be fond of quarrelling; the manners of our young men of distinction are certainly not of that cast, and if it lies with any of the present age, it is with those half-made-up gentry, who force their way into halfprice plays in boots and spurs, and are clamorous in the passages of the front boxes in a crowded theatre; I have with much concern observed this to be an increasing nuisance, and have often wished those turbulent spirits to be better employed, and that

they had dismounted from their horses either a little sooner, or not so soon: but it is not by reasoning these gentlemen will be taught to correct their behaviour.

I would seriously recommend to my readers of all descriptions, to keep a careful watch upon their tempers when they enter into argumentation and dispute: let them be assured, that by their management of themselves, on such occasions, they are to decide their characters; and whether they are to pass as men of education, temper, and politeness, or as illiterate, hot, and ill-bred blockheads, will depend upon their conduct in this particular. If the following short and obvious maxims were attended to, I think animosities would be avoided, and conversation amended.

6

Every man who enters into a dispute with another (whether he starts it or only takes it up), should hear with patience what his opponent in the argument has to offer in support of the opinion he advances.

Every man who gives a controverted opinion, ought to lay it down with as much conciseness, temper, and precision, as he can.

'An argument once confuted, should never be repeated, nor tortured into any other shape by sophistry and quibble.

No jest, pun, or witticism, tending to turn an opponent or his reasoning into ridicule, or raise a laugh at his expense, ought by any means to be attempted; for this is an attack upon the temper, not an address to the reason of a disputant.

No two disputants should speak at the same time, nor any man overpower another by superiority of lungs, or the loudness of a laugh, or the sudden burst of an exclamation.