- Project Runeberg -  Problems confronting Russia and affecting Russo-British political and economic intercourse /
189

(1918) [MARC] Author: Alfons Heyking - Tema: Russia
Table of Contents / Innehåll | << Previous | Next >>
  Project Runeberg | Catalog | Recent Changes | Donate | Comments? |   

Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XIV. The difference between the English and Russian point of view upon duelling

scanned image

<< prev. page << föreg. sida <<     >> nästa sida >> next page >>


Below is the raw OCR text from the above scanned image. Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan. Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!

This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.

DUELLING

189

the public aims they were prosecuting. The provocation
of duels amongst Parliamentarians and Ministers of State
on the Continent always produces a pitiful impression in
England, where it is considered that such men do not
sufficiently realise the great public interests in which they are
engaged.

According to Continental legislation, duellists are not
considered as ordinary criminals. In England this point
of view was abandoned at the beginning of the nineteenth
century. In 1808 a Major Campbell was sentenced to death
for duelling, and in 1813, in the case of Captain Blundell, who
was killed in a duel, the surviving combatant and the seconds
were convicted of murder and sentenced to death by
hanging. In 1844 the Articles of War were amended to the effect
that " Every person who shall fight or promote a duel, or
take any steps thereto, or who shall not do his best to prevent
a duel, shall, if an officer, be cashiered, or suffer such other
penalty as a general court martial shall award." By the
same Article it was expressly declared that to accept or to
receive apologies for wrong or insult, given or received, were
suitable to the character of honourable men. English
society, always being on the side of the law, adjusted its
opinion about the duel in conformity with these enactments.

The problem of settling disputes affecting honour has also
a religious aspect, which, strange to say, is on the Continent
ordinarily left entirely out of account. It is supposed that
in affairs of honour not only considerations of public order
and the requirements of the law but also the tenets of
religion must give way. Such a point of view amounts to
anarchism coupled with egotism. In the Middle Ages, when
the Christian religion confined itself mainly to miracle
stories, it was perhaps easier to overlook its ethical meaning.
But at the present day, when the moral principles of the
Christian religion have been more and more placed in the
foreground of religious teaching, it is hardly possible to
overlook the fact that the vindication of honour by wilful
vengeance is diametrically opposed to a Christian line of
conduct. The necessities of the State may perhaps serve as

<< prev. page << föreg. sida <<     >> nästa sida >> next page >>


Project Runeberg, Mon Dec 11 15:37:30 2023 (aronsson) (download) << Previous Next >>
https://runeberg.org/probrus/0211.html

Valid HTML 4.0! All our files are DRM-free