Frenchmen have always kept well to the front in this par-
ticular branch of barbarity. Kichelieu opposed the practice
with all the strength of his legislative genius; and, to strike
terror into its patrons, stopped not at beheading in 1627 one
of the nobility. Count Francois de Montmorency. In Ger-
many duelling is much in use at the universities; but, as
swords are the weapons, and the bodies of the contestants are
well protected, these encounters usually result in a few face-
scratches, and seldom prove fatal. Among Irishmen Daniel
'Connell killed at least one adversary on the field of honor,
D'Esterre, and his conduct in this particular filled the later
years of his life with regret and sorrow. In America Hamil-



212 SPECIAL ETHICS

ton and Burr fought a historic duel in 1804. Hamilton, the
first treasurer of the United States, was killed, and Burr
passed into obscurity and oblivion. Barron and Decatur, a
man universally loved and one of our most celebrated commo-
dores, fought soon after the War of 1812 at Bladensburg, a
village about seven miles outside of "Washington. Decatur
was killed, Barron was severely wounded. The near neigh-
borhood of Bladensburg to Washington, a rendezvous for all
the political worthies of the country, made it a desirable loca-
tion for battle-ground, and many a duel was negotiated there
in the early days of the last century. Clay and Randolph
fought in 1826. Andrew Jackson killed a Charles Dickinson,
and participated in other affairs. Benton of Missouri killed
a Mr. Lucas. Two members of Congress, Cilley of Maine and
Graves of Kentucky, fought near Washington in 1838. Cilley
was killed. Richard Somers had a record of three duels in
one day. Debates on the floor of Congress often precipitated
disputes, a challenge followed, and one or both of two fools
died in the gray of the morning.
