the same time redounds to
their own honour; but should there be men amongst them who are
ready to sacrifice every thing to their vengeance and hatred, I
despise them. I consider such a man as no better than a Roman
gladiator.

"Order a court-martial to try the two officers. Investigate the
subject of their dispute with that impartiality which I demand
from every judge; and he that is guilty, let him be a sacrifice to
his fate and the laws.

"Such a barbarous custom, which suits the age of the Tamerlanes
and Bajazets, and which has often had such melancholy effects on
single families, I will have suppressed and punished, even if it
should deprive me of one half of my officers. There are still men
who know how to unite the character of a hero with that of a good
subject; and he only can be so who respects the laws.

"_August, 1771._ JOSEPH."[69]

[69] Vide the Letters of Joseph II. to distinguished Princes and
Statesmen, published for the first time in England in _The
Pamphleteer_ for 1821. They were originally published in
Germany a few years previously, and throw a great light upon
the character of that monarch and the events of his reign.

In the United States of America the code varies considerably. In one or
two of the still wild and simple states of the far West, where no duel has
yet been fought, there is no specific law upon the subject beyond that in
the Decalogue, which says, "Thou shalt do no murder;" but duelling every
where follows the steps of modern civilisation; and by the time the
backwoodsman is transformed into the citizen, he has imbibed the false
notions of honour which are prevalent in Europe and around him, and is
ready, like his progenitors, to settle his differences with the pistol. In
the majority of the States the punishment for challenging, fighting, or
acting as second, is solitary imprisonment and hard labour for any period
less than a year, and disqualification for serving any public office for
twenty years. In Vermont the punishment is total disqualification for
office, deprivation of the rights of citizenship, and a fine; in fatal
cases, the same punishment as that of murderers. In Rhode Island, the
combatant, though death does not ensue, is liable to be carted to the
gallows, with a rope about his neck, and to sit in this trim for an hour
exposed to