tremely perplex my differtation, and I confefs to you I find very hard to explain, which is the term "fatisfaction." An honest country gentlemen had the misfortune to fall into company with two or three modern men of honour, where he happened to be very ill-treated; and one of the company being confcious of his offence, fends a note to him in the morning, and tells him, "He was ready to give him fatisfaction." This is fine doing, fays the plain fellow. Laft night he sent me away curfedly out of humour, and this morning he fancies it would be a fatisfaction to be run through the body.

As the matter at present stands, it is not to do handsome actions denominates a man of honour, it is enough if he dares to defend ill ones. Thus you often see a common sharper in competition with a gentleman of the first rank, though all mankind is convinced that a fighting gamefter is only a pickpocket with the courage of an highwayman. One cannot with any patience reflect on the unaccountable jumble of perfons and things in this town and nation, which occafions very frequently, that a brave man falls by a hand below that of a common hangman, and yet his executioner efcapes the clutches of the hangman for doing it. I fhall therefore hereafter confider, how the bravest men in other ages and nations have behaved themselves upon fuch incidents as we decide by combat; and fhew, from their practice, that this resentment neither has its foundation from true reafon or folid fame, but is an imposture made up of cowardice, falfehood, and want of understanding. For this work a good hiftory of quarrels would be very edifying to the public, and I apply myself to the town for particulars and circumstances within their knowledge, which may ferve to embellish the differtation with proper cuts. Moft of the quarrels I have ever known, have proceeded from fome valiant coxcomb's perfifting in the wrong, to defend some prevailing folly, and preferve himself from the ingenuity of owning a mistake.

By this means it is called, "Giving a man fatisfaction," to urge your offence against him with your fword; which puts me in mind of Peter's order to the keeper, in The Tale of a Tub: "If you neglect to do all this, d- you and your gene

ration for ever; and fo we bid you heartily farewell." If the contradiction in the very terms of one of our challenges were as well explained and turned into downright English, would it not run after this manner?

"Sir-Your extraordinary behaviour last night, and the liberty you were pleased to take with me makes me this morning give you this, to tell you, because you are an ill-bred puppy, I will meet you in Hyde Park, an hour hence; and because you want both breeding and humanity, I defire you would come with a pistol in your hand, on horseback, and endeavour to shoot me through the head, to teach you more manners. If you fail of doing me this pleasure, I fhall fay you are a rascal, on every poft in town; and fo, fir, if you will not injure me more, I shall never forget what you have done already. Pray fir, do not fail of getting every thing ready, and you will infinitely oblige, Sir,

"Your most obedient,

"Humble fervant, &c."

My familiar being come from France, with an answer to my letter to Lewis of that kingdom, instead of going on in a difcourfe of what he had seen in that court, he put on the immediate concern of a guardian, and fell to inquiring into my thoughts and adventures fince his journey. As fhort as his stay had been, I confeffed I had had many occafions for his affistance in my conduct; but communicated to him my thoughts of putting all my force against this horrid and fenfeless custom of duels. "If it were poffible," faid he "to laugh at things in themselves fo deeply tragical as the impertinent profufion of human life, I think I could divert you with a figure I saw just after my death, when the philofopher threw me, as I told you fome days ago, into the pail of water.

"You are to know, that when men leave the body, there are receptacles for them as foon as they depart, according to the manner in which they lived and died. At the very instant I was killed, there came away with me a spirit which had loft its body in a duel. We were both examined. Me the whole assembly looked at with kindness and pity, but at the fame time

with an air of welcome and confolation; they pronounced me very happy, who had died in innocence, and told me a quite different place was allotted to me, than that which was appointed for my companion-there being a great distance from the manfions of fools and innocents-though at the fame time, faid one of the Ghofts, there is a great affinity between an idiot who has been fo for a long life, and a child who departs before maturity. But this gentleman who has arrived with you is a fool of his own making, is ignorant out of choice, and will fare accordingly. The affembly began to flock about him, and one faid to him, 'Sir, I obferved you came into the gate of perfons murdered, and I defire to know what brought you to your untimely end?' He faid, He had been a fecond.' Socrates (who may be faid to have been murdered by the commonwealth of Athens) ftood by, and began to draw near him, in order, after his manner, to lead him into a fenfe of his error by conceffions in his own discourse. 'Sir,' faid that divine and amicable fpirit, 'What was the quarrel?' He answered, 'We shall know very fuddenly, when the principal in the business comes, for he was defperately wounded before I fell.' Sir,' faid the fage, Had you an eftate?' 'Yes, fir,' the new guest answered, 'I have left it in very good condition, and made my will the night before this occafion.' 'Did you read it before you figned it?' Yes, fure, fir,' faid the new comer. Socrates replies, 'could a man, that would not give his estate without reading the inftrument, dispose of his life without asking a queftion? That illuftrious fhade turned from him, and a cloud of impertinent goblins, who had been drolls and parasites in their lifetime, and were knocked on the head for their faucinefs, came about my fellow traveller, and made themselves very merry with questions about the words 'cart' and tierce' and other terms of fencers. But his thoughts began to fettle into reflection upon the adventure which had robbed him of his late being; and with a wretched figh, said he, 'How terrible are conviction and guilt, when they come too late for penitence !" "

Pacolet was going on in this ftrain, but he recovered from it and told me, It was too foon to give my discourse on this

fubject fo ferious a turn; you have chiefly to do with that part of mankind which must be led into reflection by degrees, and you must treat this cuftom with humour and raillery to get an audience, before you come to pronounce fentence upon it. There is foundation enough for raising such entertainments from the practice on this occaffion. Don't you know that often a man is called out of bed to follow implicitly a coxcomb (with whom he should not keep company on any other occafion) to ruin and death? Then a good lift of fuch as are qualified by the laws of thefe uncourteous men of chivalry to enter into combat (who are often perfons of honour without common honesty): thefe, I fay, ranged and drawn up in their proper order, would give an averfion to doing anything in common with fuch as men laugh at and contemn. But to go through this work, you must not let your thoughts vary or make excurfions from your theme: confider at the fame time, that the matter has been often treated by the ableft and greatest writers, yet that must not discourage you; for the properest perfon to handle it, is one who has roved into mixed converfations, and must have opportunities (which I fhall give you) of feeing these fort of men in their pleasures and gratifications, among which they pretend to reckon fighting. It was pleasantly enough faid of a bully in France, when duels first began to be punished: the king has taken away gaming and ftage-playing, and now fighting too; how does he expect gentlemen fhall divert themselves?" "

HIS day I obliged Pacolet to entertain me with matters which regarded perfons of his own character and occupation. We chose to take our walk on Tower-hill, and as we were coming from thence in order to ftroll as far as Garraway's, I obferved two men who had but juft landed, coming from the water-fide. I thought there was fomething uncommon in their mien and afpect; but though they seemed by their vifage to be related, yet was there a warmth in their manner, as if they differed very much in their fentiments of the fubject on which they were talking. One of them feemed to have a natural confidence, mixed with an ingenious freedom in his gefture, his drefs very plain but very graceful and becoming; the other in the midst of an over-bearing carriage, betrayed (by frequent looking round him) a fufpicion that he was not enough regarded by thofe he met, or that he feared they would make fome attack upon him. This perfon was much taller than his companion, and added to that height the