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DUELLING
183
is doubly interested in shaking off the old fetters of the
ancien regime, and amongst them the mediaeval practice of
duelling.
One of the most interesting and convincing proofs of
biological change and evolution is shown in the rudimentary
organs contained in the bodies of living beings. These
organs have now no functional value, and often bring about
obstruction, disease, and even death. They are the remnants
of a previous form of existence, and though they were of
importance and necessity then, they have, under present
conditions of life, lost their utility and reason for existence.
Science has recognized the desirability of removing such
organs, as, for instance, the appendix, which is a constant
danger to the life of the individual. As in the case of the
individual, so with human communities. There, owing to a
conservatism which tends to interfere with the capacity for
adaptation, coupled with a mental backwardness which does
not sufficiently realise the change in the conditions of social
life, we see the survival of customs, habits, and rules which
have long ago lost their significance and necessity, and are
an encumbrance and danger to society. This applies
particularly to duelling, which is still in vogue on the Continent,
but has been recognised as an exploded method of settling
disputes which has no place whatsoever in modern civilised
society.
The war has in so many ways brought about
enlightenment and progress that we may suppose that it will also
exercise an influence upon the custom of resorting to the
duel. Russian public opinion has now expressed itself
openly in favour of English methods of education, English
customs and habits, and the question is whether British
influence, which is at present felt so strongly in Russia, will
also make itself felt as regards the practice of duelling.
The English point of view is not only in harmony with the
existing law, which in all civilised countries considers
duelling to be a punishable offence, but it is also in full consonance
with the stage of civilisation which we have reached, and
which cannot in any way be regarded as inferior to that of
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