argumentation. It merely offers that view of an interesting part of British Law, and ancient usage, which an individual would wish to take, without being subject to the trammels of Legal Phraseology, or the labour of study. I was desirous of tracing the degree of resemblance in those numerous and celebrated personal combats, of which I had previously heard so much. My researches becoming extensive, and the matter voluminous, I was ultimately induced to make a systematic arrangement of those combats, the accounts of which appeared sufficiently authentic and appropriate to my purpose.

Conceiving that a collection which, in this accidental way, had amused and interested myself, might prove a source of interest and amusement to others, and particularly to the Military part of the British Public, I have attached it to the other subjects of this work, as highly illustrative of the strides, which the iniquitous practice of duelling has made, towards establishing itself in the bosom of civilized Society. I am aware of the possibility, and even probability, of error, and would have been happy, had I been able to adduce in favour of all, the same undoubted proofs of authenticity, which attach to the great majority of cases; and, particularly, if I could have given a clear narrative of some interesting contests, which are known to many individuals, but of which no account has been made public. It will be observed, upon a very superficial glance at the contents of this Volume, that its details are chiefly confined to the operation of the practice in question, upon two distinct classes of gentlemen, -the Officers of the Army and Navy-I may therefore be allowed to offer a few remarks upon their profession, and the hardships to which they are exposed, when called upon by a deliberate challenge, to transgress the awful laws of God and their Country: for it will be admitted upon all sides, a high tone of honourable feeling has ever been assumed, and with persevering consistency maintained by the British Army: thence an imperative duty arises, which calls upon every individual, connected with that renowned body, to justify this assumption and this character, in his own personal capacity.

It is also reasonable to suppose, that a vivid feeling of this description is indulged by every young man, when he forms the deliberate resolution of devoting himself to military pursuits; and that the importance of his station, on his becoming a British Officer, has a powerful tendency to invigorate and mature those just principles, which are the usual accompaniments of a respectable rank in life, and of a liberal education.

But it is nevertheless possible, that the fervour of the youthful character may, in some instances, overstep the bound of rational controul; that a judgment, not yet ripened by experience, may draw unfortunate conclusions; and that evils may, thus, result, which may ultimately become the copious subjects of painful and lasting regret.

Yet these instances are rare: for ample are the means of acquiring correct conceptions of that mutual urbanity which forms the bond, and the security of social communication in the Army, and which acts as a powerful preventative against those evils which, otherwise, might too frequently occur.

Unfortunate occasions of this description, however, do sometimes arise, involving consequences acutely painful to the principal actors, in their individual capacity, and offering ample materials of reflection to two classes of persons: -to Officers of the Army, in the first instance, and to the enlightened friends of society, in the second.

I do not presume to be casuist sufficient to enter into all the moral niceties, connected with the subject of Single Combats. I am not prepared, nor is it necessary to the full comprehension of those difficulties with which the duty of every man and every soldier, is fraught, to come to a decision on the best grounds of reconciling the criminal law of a great nation with the laws of honour; or, the appropriate means of disarming the penal terrors of the one, when the utmost claims of the other are perfectly satisfied. It may also be unnecessary, to retrace the origin of this mode of redressing private wrongs to those barbarous times when the interference of Heaven was confidently expected to aid the arm of the man who, with the advantage of right in his quarrel, appealed to the decision of his sword; or, when the continent virgin, fearlessly submitted to the "burning share" as a certain test of chastity. I am willing to admit that present usages are to be preferred in the exact proportion, in which they purge the Institutes of a great people from such impure mixture of Law and Superstitious Custom, and place all matter of public and private wrong, and public and private redress, on the unerring basis of Reason and Justice: for no man can bend with more implicit reverence to the Institutions of his Country on this ground, than the compiler of this work.

It may however be necessary to state the possibility of establishing, in the bosom of the Army, a Court of Honour, vested with ample authority for the investigation of all personal disputes, and armed with adequate power for the due punishment of every deviation from that line of honourable deportment, which is so peculiarly necessary among military assocіates. But this is an extended field of moral and judicial argument, upon which my profession, and the peculiar line of my reflections, do not warrant a decided opinion. I may, however, be permitted to speak with more decision, respecting the present usage of the British Army, and the actual and possible evils, to which a British Officer may be exposed, even when observing the principles of the nicest discretion, in every part of his temper and deportment. Such an individual, it imports not on what subject, receives an insult from a Brother Officer, or any Gentleman. He justly demands a reasonable apology for an unmerited offencethe apology is refused, and possibly under circumstances of additional insult, or aggravation.