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the peer and the peasant, the learned and the unlearned; and I err indeed if in the search, (provided it be made with candour and the grace of God assisting) you do not arrive at the most satisfactory and irresistible conclusion, that the law of man is, in this respect, diametrically opposed to the revealed law of God; that no Christian can fight a duel; and no duellist can be a true Christian. Let us at once, then, apply to the law and to the testimony.

In one of the Epistles of the inspired Apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. v. 16, 19-26) there is a very beautiful and comprehensive summary of what a Christian's walk in life ought to be. The apostle says, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.” **** "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in times past, that they which do such things shall NOT inherit the kingdom of God."

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, PROVOKING one another, envying one another."

Let the duellist select from the vices and virtues here enumerated, those which would, or would not, disqualify him from being a member of the law of honour; and if I mistake not, he will find that all those vices mentioned as "the works of the flesh" he may indulge in with impunity. Some his law regards not; the stain of others is wiped out by fighting a duel with the persons injured by their practice; and others are absolutely essential to support the character of a duellist.

Of the fruits of the Spirit it may be said in brief, that they are one and all the very opposite to those qualities most prized by "men of honour," and that the practice of any one of these virtues, in its scriptural extent, is utterly incompatible with the line of conduct a duellist is bound to adopt; for his law supplies the place of these blessed fruits of the Spirit by their very opposites :hatred in the place of love; sorrow for joy; strife for peace; revenge for long-suffering; violence for gentleness; evil for goodness; pride for meekness; and rashness for temperance. By the test here provided it must be clear to every candid

mind the practice of the duellist will not bear examination. But not to let the matter rest upon this general summary, I shall proceed to examine it more minutely. It cannot be expected, however, that in a little work of this kind, I should do more than select some leading points in which the law of honour is opposed to the law of God. Nor shall I go into any very elaborate proofs upon each point; for it surely cannot be necessary to use lengthened and systematic arguments to prove that duelling is hateful in the sight of God. But anxious to awaken a spirit of inquiry upon the subject, I shall select such prominent features as afford grounds for profitable observation, and contenting myself with proving my position by a text or two from Scripture, invite any man who is not satisfied with the proof adduced, to search his Bible, and from that (if he can) to convince himself that what I have advanced is wrong; but if he cannot do this, then I have a right to expect he will acknowledge the error lies with him; and I beseech him, as he values his eternal happiness, to consider to what such error must lead him, if he persists in it.

The points I propose to touch upon are these: 1. The law of God expressly says, "Thou shalt not kill," and enjoins the forgiveness of injuries; but the law of honour sanctions the

taking away of human life; looks upon forgiveness as a crime, and visits it with a heavy punish

ment.

2. The law of God commands us not to partake of other men's sins; the law of honour makes partners in guilt absolutely necessary.

3. The law of God bids us not to conform to the customs of the world; but the law of honour does directly the reverse.

4. The law of God teaches love and charity to our fellow creatures; but that of honour teaches selfishness to the most unlimited extent.

5. God knowing that man, in his own strength, cannot keep his law, has devised a means whereby he may obtain pardon of his sins, and has declared repentance indispensable to his salvation: but the law of honour is expressly calculated to defeat the gracious purposes of a merciful God, by cutting off the sinner in his sin, and debarring him from repentance for ever.

6. The law of God requires a constant display of courage, and so does the law of honour; but the courage of the Christian, and that of the duellist, are as opposite as their respective laws.

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CHAPTER II.

I HAVE already shown that the duellist, from the means which he employs, must necessarily be viewed as intending to take away the life of his antagonist; and that the murderous intention is carried into execution, appears from the number of fatal duels reported in the public journals.

Upon this subject the word of God is too plain to be perverted, and requires no studied reasoning to explain it.

At the creation, the command of God to man was (Gen. i. 28), to "be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth." The destruction of human life was, therefore, a positive breach of this commandment; and when Cain murdered his brother, it was the blood of Abel which cried unto the Lord from the ground, and produced from God the solemn sentence (Gen. iv. 11), "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand.”

After the flood, God's first command to Noah

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