THE DUEL.
Shall I for fame and freedom stand,
For Burschen-weal the sword lift free?
Quick blinks the steel in my right hand,
A friend will stand and second me.
Crambambuli.
The duel is one of the few institutions of the Middle Ages which have come down to our times. Club-law, shaken to its foundation by the unceasing exertions of the German Emperors, must give way before a pliant and cunningly calculating policy. We see only in the duel its still surviving sparks, and this we see more commonly resorted to amongst students, than amongst any other class, any other corporate body; and, moreover, we find the German students making use of it to do themselves justice more frequently than all others, and how can we wonder at it? Where a great number of young men live a long time together, there, ever and anon, will certainly disagreements arise. This we see to be the case every where, and it must the oftener arise amongst students, who, streaming from so many different places, with so many different views of things, which early education has implanted in each mind, many of them, moreover, placed high by birth, now find themselves placed as it were on a level, that they may enter into the necessary intercourse. "There is no love without strife," says an old proverb, and accordingly this gathering together, this dividing and coalescing into separate companies, which takes place more in the German universities than in those of any other country, must inevitably lead to more frequent disputes. Moreover, the free, developement of all physical and intellectual powers, in which the German students especially delight, must more easily occasion differences than is the case amongst other classes of society; and therefore we find the duel even more frequent amongst them than amongst the military class. But if it enjoy a legal toleration in the military class, as being considered to a certain degree necessary, we must admit that amongst students, where it is punished by the laws, it wards off worse things, and as an unavoidable evil could not be very easily or speedily annihilated. Can we blame very severely rash and impetuous youth, which, in the feeling of its strength fancies that it can fight out and achieve any thing--which has not yet learnt to accommodate itself to the notions of strangers and the opinions of others--if it betake itself to other weapons than well-considered words and the discreet pen? And regarded from this point of view, the duel appears an evil small in comparison, and much to be preferred to the cudgel to which the Handwerksburschen, the journeymen artisans, addict themselves; and from which, we suppose, they have acquired the appellation of Knoten, which is contemptuously given them--as people who, to settle their quarrels, have recourse to a knotty stick--Knotenstock. It is very rare that a student degrades himself by the use of the cudgel, and this offence would be even more strongly punished by the laws, while it would be visited by the students' own court of honour with the Verruf, or Bann. Nor must we forget that in the interval between the offence and the duel, time is afforded for a more quiet consideration of the rashly-spoken words, and a possibility created for the withdrawal of them. But the duel, has many times grown in such a turbulent manner that it has required all the force of the laws to repress the rage for combat, which often surpassed all conception. As the tournay of the Middle Ages degenerated, so has this Middle Age practice now lost much of its original signification; and far the greater number of duels serve, not to terminate disputes between individuals, but to afford an entertainment to the Chore, which is rendered doubly attractive by the charm of danger. The origin of almost every duel would prove the truth of what we have here said.
Little matters often conduct to great evils; and though we are disposed to consider the duel, as ordinarily fought, no very great evil, yet the causes out of which it springs are proportionably still less. Honour is truly a thing which does not admit of much modification, or suffer much tampering with; and what will not a strong phantasy see in any thing with its microscopic vision? The delicate and exaggerating nature of these qualities, reminds one in fact of the sportsman who happening to put on a pair of spectacles of much greater magnifying power than usual, suddenly fired off at a fly which passed before his eyes, taking it for a partridge. Many a one vexes himself likewise when others are pleased. He is not in good humour, and their satisfaction or equanimity is an offence to him. A country fellow was angry with a traveller for asking him whether the next village was far off, when its first houses were only a few paces further on. He knew that; but he did not consider that the stranger could not know it, and what was more, he had himself been thinking neither of that village nor any other, but only that he had just lost a lawsuit. In short, every one knows how it is accustomed to happen in such affairs. A son of the Muses is in a bad humour, and so any thing gives him occasion to call thee a dummen jungen; or he sends to thee a dummen jungen, and the business is settled. The conveyance of such a message is generally consigned to a student of some standing, who knows how to conduct himself in such affairs.
We above all things counsel him who is no friend to the duel to banish that little word "dumm," stupid, entirely out of his mouth; for if he uses it to a student in the presence of another, the student, were he his best friend, must challenge the user of the unlucky term to fight, unless he recall the offensive expression. Every duel drops through, where the challenger recalls his dummen jungen, and this he can do with unblemished honour, if he has convinced himself that the other did not insult him purposely. Yet no student is willing to do this frequently, lest it might appear that he would cut a swell with challenges, and yet has not really the courage to fight. Every duel must be announced to the convention of seniors, which, if the affair goes off in smoke, must see that the challenge is returned as null. In earlier times the insulted party, that is, the person who heard the above opprobrious name applied to him, sent immediately to the offender a cartel-bearer, to inform him that after what had occurred, he must fight him in this or that manner.
Come I athwart a proud Pomadenhengst,[[17]]
Who with full sails of stale and puffed-up pride
Draweth me near--I tread upon his toe.
Thereat he wonders;--I tread on it again;--
Then grows he wroth:--"Hark ye," he cries, "was that
Foot on purpose set there?"--"No, it was the heel,"
"The heel--So? Nay, that find I very strange."
Then add I--"Oh, do me this only favour--
Find nothing strange--thou art a Dummer Junge!"
At the present day people spare themselves this trouble, and also hold the time not so exact that the duel, as formerly, must come off within three days. As we have before observed, the weapons with which all student duels are fought belong to the Chores. An insulted party now, therefore, addresses himself to one of the Chores--that to which he belongs, or to which he has attached himself as a friend, though not a member--and prays the use of these weapons. His request is granted; if he be not a member he pays a certain sum for their use; and at the time which is agreeable to him, the Chore sends a Bursche to the Chore-Kneipe, where it is expected the challenger will be found, to announce to him the appointed day and hour of the duel. It is not necessary to name the place, as that is almost always the same, at Heidelberg being the well-known Hirsch-gasse, or, in plain English, Stag-lane. The students term this "to fix one." If this hour is convenient to the challenger, who has thus been fixed or determined, the Chore the same evening sends a Fox to the Pawk-doctor, a surgeon who regularly attends all the duels.
In what manner the duel shall be fought, the insulted party need not yet make known. Up to this point we know nothing more than that it is to be fought with swords. The usual weapon amongst the students is a long two-edged sword, with a basket hilt, round which the colours of the Chore are wound. It is long and flexible, in order that the blade may throw itself over that of the opponent when he parries, as the duel is generally fought by cutting and not by thrusting. This sword runs not to a point, but is, as it were, at the end cut square off. In some few universities they fight in the Paris fashion, that is, by lunging with the rapier, as in Würtzburg, Jena, and others. If the cause of offence or injury is heavy, they resort to the crooked sabre, or to pistols. In such cases, the person who gives the offence implying the challenge, does not style the insulted party a Dummen jungen, but an Infamen, an infamous fellow.
The crooked sabre is a dangerous weapon of great weight, resembling in its curve and length the dragoon sabre, and occasions the deeper and more dangerous wounds, in that the duellist having made his stroke draws it back with full strength, and is thus in a condition to cut through every thing which comes within the sweep of his curve. It requires strength to use it well. Student with student only can make use of the Schläger, or regular duelling sword. With those who are not students he fights with the crooked sabre, or with pistols; with a military man, with the straight sabre, which also is a dangerous weapon.
By far the fewer number of duels spring out of actual insults or injuries, or rather we should say, the student seldom fights because he is insulted, but insults because he wishes to fight. Contests, on account of actual and genuine insults, are generally amongst the Camels, or those who do not belong to any Chore: seldom amongst the Chore members. When these, however, become, on any occasion, very hostile to each other, or have a particular desire to measure one another's skill, this is always fought in the Single Round, of which more anon. But that duels may not be wanting in which the Bursche may set his bravery in its true light, a fine opportunity is afforded by the so-called Allgemeinen, or general Kneips, which are held every Friday. We shall farther on, come to these again.
When the Chores are here assembled, each kneiping at its own table, it requires but a trifling spark to put two Chores, who for some time have already been in a state of electrical excitement, into thorough fire and flame. A Bursche comes over from one table to another, listens awhile quietly to what is here saying, but soon finds an opportunity to quiz or ridicule this or that; to make himself merry over the weapons of the Chore, or its last Commers. Like is compared with like: the conversation grows continually warmer; more and more from the other table keep coming over, and mix themselves in the strife. This becomes momentarily hotter; finally, the senior himself comes over, and challenges the other senior to a Chore-hatze. By this is understood a regular duel between the whole of the two Chores, man with man. In a similar manner a similar great contest springs out of the quarrel which two individuals seek with each other out of special malice. When these give the challenge at a general Kneip, then follows a general challenging, the friends of both the parties following the example.
And challenges by scores are seen,
Because the wit is very keen.
The following persons are necessary to a duel, besides the two duellists; two seconds, two witnesses, an umpire, and the surgeon. The room in which the duels are fought at Heidelberg, is the well-known room of an inn on the side of the Neckar opposite to the city, finely located in the valley of the Hirsh-gasse. Thither see we the Sons of the Muses often, betaking themselves in troops, to witness a contest between two of their most famous swordsmen. When a duel is determined, the room, or ball, as it is termed, must be secured for the appointed day. The room is regularly hired for these purposes by the Convention of the Chores, and its rent is defrayed out of the Chore-chest, as before observed, where also it was remarked that the use of it and the weapons is hired for particular occasions by the Camels. The Chore to which the challenger belongs, or with which he has associated himself, secures the hall by marking the Chore sign on the floor with chalk. By this it acquires the right to occupy it for two duels, and must then, if wanted, surrender it to another Chore.
"Solemnly," says Hauff, in the Memoirs of Satan, speaking of a duel, "was each individual conducted into a chamber, his coat taken off, and the Paukwicks, that is, the armour in which the duel is to be fought, put on." Each duellist is, in fact, conducted into a chamber by his witness and second, and clothed in the duel costume. Some trifling changes take place in this from time to time, but it consists, substantially, of the following pieces. A lesser and a greater cap, according to circumstances hereafter noticed, and which can be made tighter or looser, but which is generally worn loose, so that the blows may take less effect. A tall cravat, which protects the throat, and commonly reaches up to the nose, but this is put on in the hall immediately before the fight commences. The binding of the arm is particularly important, that it may afford it the greatest possible protection, at the same time that it does not impede the action of the wrist and elbow. For this purpose is used a fine leather glove, bound round and secured to the wrist with a silken riband. This binding of the glove must be very carefully performed, so as to defend the sinews and arteries which abound here, as much as possible from injury. The hand is protected by the basket-hilt of the sword. The duellist takes the end of the riband which secures the glove in his hand until a similar one has been passed round the elbow. The stulp, a thick and well-quilted cover for the arm, made of silk, is then drawn on, fitted down upon the glove, and being fastened there by the riband which also secures the glove, and at the upper part of the arm by other ribands. Another bandage, called the axillary knot, has frequently also been brought under the shoulder to defend the axillary arteries from injury. The last piece of the duel-costume consists of the paukhosen, or duel-trousers. It is made of leather of uncommon thickness, and well stuffed, and comes up so as to form a sort of cuirass, though without iron, such as the soldiers of Columbus used to wear. High as it reaches, it yet leaves a good part of the breast uncovered. It is laced together behind by means of leathern thongs. A thicker glove is fastened to the paukhosen behind for the left hand, or should the duellist happen to be left-handed, for the right, to keep it out of the way during the fight. Before the combatant was thus attired, he had not only his coat, waistcoat, neckcloth and braces taken off, but his shirt sleeve also slit up from the wrist to the shoulder, so as to give full freedom to the action of the arm, on which account a duel-shirt is frequently kept for the purpose, and put on before going to the place of contest.
The whole of this duel-suit is calculated for a man of ordinary size, and therefore little fellows often cut a very laughable figure in it. They are more protected in it than larger persons, but at the same time are more encumbered. The second clothes himself in similar duel-trousers, and puts on a cap with a large front, or a hat, and the large leather stulp-glove covers his arm. The witness requires only a leathern glove on one hand, to enable him, if the sword of the combatant gets bent during the fight, to straighten it out again for him.
When the two duellists are equipped, they are conducted into the hall, and whilst the remaining particulars are adjusted, they walk up and down, each supporting the arm which has to wield the sword on his witness. The seconds now measure out the distance, and determine it by two lines of chalk. Within these two lines the combatants must fight, and behind which they are not allowed to retreat. If either of them does this three times, he is dismissed from the contest with shame and insult. The second of the person challenged has the right to choose the umpire, the second of the challenger commands. Now first has the challenger to declare in what manner he will fight; but till we have said a few explanatory words, must the antagonists restrain their impetuosity.
The different sorts of the duel progress, from the mildest to the most severe, in this order:
1. Twelve rounds with the great cap.
(a) With a conclusive wound.
(b) Without a conclusive wound.
2. Twelve rounds with the small cap.
(a) With, etc. (b) Without, etc.
3. Twenty-four rounds with the great cap.
(a) With, etc. (b) Without, etc.
4. Twenty-four rounds with the small cap.
(a) With, etc. (b) Without, etc.
5. One round with (a) (b)
6. A round without cravat or bandage.
Before we proceed to the explanation of these terms, we may remark, that the same rules apply to the crooked sabre, but if it be used, the combatants generally fight what is called the single round, and that duels with pistols are conducted in the different modes in which other people fight those duels. The students commonly fire at twenty paces distance; the exchange of shots takes place at the word of the commanding second, and in such a manner that the antagonists can only at the moment that the command reaches the final word "three!" catch sight of each other. One exchange of shots is generally held satisfactory.
By a round is understood the duration of a contest till one has planted an unparried blow on his antagonist; it may be on his person or only on his defensive paraphernalia: of such rounds twelve at least are made. The small cap indicates the ordinary cap which the student wears; and the large one, a cap with a very large front or shield. The theological students fight in the large cap, since a scar in the face would amount to a termination of their professional career, of which Hauff gives an example, in the Memoirs of Satan, to which the reader may refer if his curiosity so far prompts him.
The most customary duel is that with twenty-four rounds and the small cap. Is it fought in the ordinary manner, that is, twenty-four rounds with a conclusive wound? then the duel is ended when a blow falls which is considered a conclusive one, namely, of two inches length, and deep--according to student phrase--to cut through the two skins. The duel of twenty-four rounds without conclusive wound proceeds thus. If a considerable hit is made, the doctor must decide whether the duel can proceed or not; in the latter case, the fight is continued, however, as soon as the wounded party is sufficiently restored, which in the twenty-four rounds with a conclusive stroke as observed, cannot happen. In either kind of duel, however, it must terminate with the twenty-four rounds, though neither has lost blood. In this case, both the antagonists remain unconquered, and give their hands in reconciliation. When a wound is given, which in its own nature or by the rules of the duel proves decisive, the second of the wounded party puts an end to the contest with the words "Remove him!" Distinguished swordsmen generally fight the single round. In this case they fight for a quarter of an hour. The umpire stands with his watch in his hand, marks the pauses which are made for rest when the combatants become weary, and counts them off from the actual time of fighting. So long a time as has been consumed in resting, must the duel extend beyond the quarter. The sixth and last mode consists in fighting without coat, waistcoat, and cravat, and without the usual defensive costume. This, of course, is the very worst species of all those which have been enumerated.
When all is ready for the duel, the two combatants confront each other. The second stands at the left side of each, holding in his hand the so-called Secondir-Prügel, or second's cudgel, a weapon consisting of a strong rapier fixed into a basket-handle. The witness stands at the right side. His business is to put in order again the duel costume of the combatant when it becomes deranged, and to support his arm when it is become weary. The umpire stands at some little distance, between the two combatants, and before him is a chair, on which he marks the end of each round with a chalk line, forming the one side of a square, so that at the end of twelve rounds his marks have completed this figure....
At the end of the twenty-four, this....
The swords have been ground sharp in preparation, on the grindstone in the court below. The spectators have assembled themselves. These can only be students; and even these, if the combatants require it, evacuate the hall. In that case the cry is made "All must quit the place."
"We planted ourselves in the ancient attitude of combat; the swords were crossed; the seconds cried 'loose!' and the swords whirred in the air."--Hauff's Memoirs of Satan.
The commanding second cries--"Upon the measure." Both combatants step forward upon the measure; the seconds station themselves at their posts; the witnesses step back. "Bind the sword!" cry the seconds; the combatants put themselves in attitude, crossing their weapons. The seconds become more earnestly observant. "Loose!" they cry, and the swords flash in the air. On the style of fighting we shall say what need be said, below, under the head of the Fencing-school. We often see two practised swordsmen long circling round within the measure, watching keenly every movement of each other's eye, every turn of each other's hand, while the seconds follow all their movements with the same short and quick steps. Suddenly an unguarded part is espied, and stroke upon stroke falls with lightning speed. Quickly a blow is planted; the seconds dart between, and with the word "Halt," strikes the swords aside. The moment this word is given, the combatant must cease to strike: if he do not this, he has made an after-stroke, and where this is done three times, the offender must quit the measure with shame and contempt.
The second must be an expert swordsman, or he would not only run great danger himself, but be unable to give to his combatant the necessary protection. This office, as already stated, falls to the second Chargirter. He must exert all his skill to protect his combatant as much as possible, without holding his second-cudgel so as to prevent the blows of the antagonist reaching him. He must take heed that the opponent does not present his sword so horizontally that his combatant in rushing forward shall run upon its point. We have stated that it is a disgrace to the duellist if, before the round is ended, he goes backwards off the measure. This the student calls to "nip," or to "nip out," and says "he is nipped." A laughable circumstance of this kind once took place in Göttingen.
A little Jew had a quarrel with a renowned Schläger, or duellist, of great stature, who had maltreated the little Hebrew. When they stood upon the measure, the little fellow who had never before entered this arena, awaited with wrathful impatience the word "loose," and made a spring in the moment, whereby he gave the opponent a tremendous quarte in the face, crying, "There, thou'st got something!" The tall fellow, who expected nothing so sudden, was horribly enraged at this inroad upon the honour of his swordsmanship, and so much the more as every one laughed heartily at the droll occurrence. Spite of all outcries and commands to "halt," the student pursued the Jew with terrible strokes, so that he, unable to maintain his ground, stepped continually backwards till he at length actually took refuge behind the stove. The seconds were seized with such a paroxysm of laughter at this scene, that they were unable sooner to run to the aid of the little Jew, and then first placed themselves as a wall between the stove and the enraged swordsman.
When a round is ended, the seconds and the witnesses, who come to their aid, often contend the point, whether an after-blow was made or not, whether one or other of the seconds forwarded, that is, exceeded his duty in protecting his protégé to the prejudice of the opponent or not; which last act, if often repeated, entitles the other second to demand that he be dismissed from his post. But most frequently of all, the dispute is, whether the blow took or not. All these points of dispute have to be referred to the umpire, against whose decision there is no appeal. When the single round is fought, the seconds do not stand at the left side, but so that they make a cross with the duellers, as here that frequent springing in between them is not necessary. So goes the duel forward till terminated in one of the aforesaid ways. In the mean time the doctor has, from the very commencement of the fight, had his bandages in readiness, his needles threaded, and water set at hand, prepared at a moment with a skilful hand to afford assistance to the wounded.
The duel with swords is, as may be inferred from what we have described, not very dangerous, and thus it proves itself, since from the great number of duels which annually occur, so few serious consequences follow. There are now students, who, during their career, have fought from thirty to forty, and even sixty times, and yet have come out of them all with a few slight wounds in the face. Yet tragical consequences are by no means wanting. Noses and eyes are sometimes lost, and even fatal terminations are now and then put to them.[[18]] The wounded are nursed with great care by their companions; and those who distinguish themselves with their weapons, speedily mount to the head of their Chores. It is said that two brothers were such strong and perfect swordsmen, that they disabled a whole Chore, with whom they came into contention for further exercise of their weapons for the whole half-year. The duels with the crooked sabre, are the most frequently attended by unhappy results.
The duel is distinctly prohibited by the laws. The enactments of the academical senate concerning it are as follows:--
1. If any one is slain in a duel, or is deadly wounded therein, or so wounded that he finds himself in danger of his life; or that a lasting disadvantage, through mutilation or internal injury, is occasioned him; or if the duel has been with pistols, with the fleuret, or with the crooked sabre; and even when the duel with pistols, with fleuret, or with the crooked sabre, has not been completed, but only intended, the affair can no longer be regarded as a mere violation of discipline, but to be penalty treated, a trial constituted against the actors, and all the aiders and abettors, before the university magistrate, and all the minutes and evidence to be handed over for the decision of the civil courts of justice.
2. Shall the duel with sword or crooked sabre have been followed by none of the aforestated consequences, without making any further distinction between the relative position of challenger and challenged, both parties shall, under ordinary circumstances, suffer a punishment of from four weeks incarceration to the enforcement of the consilium abeundi. On account of more serious circumstances, in especial, on account of a wilful seeking after contention, of gross insult, of rejection to offers of reconciliation, neglect of the summons of a surgeon, or of fighting the duel under unusually dangerous regulations, shall, according to the circumstances of the case, punishment of a higher kind be inflicted on one or both parties, as may appear right, even to the extent of the sharp relegation.
In milder circumstances, and towards that party who shall have made sufficient offers of reconciliation, or who has been injured or insulted in a gross degree, the lighter penalty of imprisonment from eight days to four weeks may be inflicted.
A duel is held to be perpetrated from the moment of its commencement.
3. Seconds and so-called umpires may pass without punishment, or according to circumstances, may be imprisoned not exceeding eight days: shall the duel, however, have been effectuated under unusually dangerous circumstances, they shall be punished with greater severity, even to the consilium abeundi. The witnesses, spectators, cartel-bearers, or those in whose house the duel has been allowed to take place, or who have contributed towards it by other means, shall be imprisoned from eight to fourteen days.
4. Those who have been guilty of exciting others to fight a duel, shall suffer the consilium abeundi, or in some aggravated cases the simple or sharper relegation.
5. He who is aware of an appointed duel, shall make it immediately known to the university magistrate whereupon those concerned in it will be, without delay, confined to their houses, or, if circumstances require it, be arrested.
6. After inquiry, reconcilement of the parties is to be attempted; but if this cannot be effected, both parties must sign a declaration, with which they must be satisfied. But in both cases must both parties give their word of honour that they will fight no more during the remainder of the term of their academical rights of citizenship, and sign the protocol for that purpose presented by the magistrate of the university. Whoever refuses to do this shall immediately receive the consilium abeundi; and whoever afterwards breaks his word of honour and again fights, shall be visited with the sharper relegation, also he who fights with him.
7. Those students of medicine or surgery, who shall, at any time, undertake the bandaging for a duel, shall, after the first bandaging and performing of what was immediately necessary to the wounded, instantly give information thereof to an authorized surgeon; and if they fail to do this, they shall, according to the degree of danger of the wounded, suffer a proportionate imprisonment; and if the case warrant it, the consilium abeundi, or relegation.
8. The punishment for duels between students and persons of another class, shall be regulated by the principles here laid down, unless attended with contingencies of particular aggravation.
9. The beadles who have detected duels in the course of the year, and he of them who through the discovery of appointed duels shall have contributed the most to the prevention of the fighting of duels, shall each, according to the evidences and degrees of zeal, receive a reward of forty, sixty, or eighty gulden,[[19]] and the academical senate, through the curator, shall determine the relative sum.
10. The weapons and other things necessary to a duel, which shall be found upon the place chosen or appointed for a duel, shall be seized, made useless, and so converted, as much as may be, to the benefit of the university treasury.
The beadles strive with all diligence to entitle themselves to the proffered reward; but, on the other hand, the students exert all their ingenuity to defeat the vigilance of these Arguses. In their behalf numerous persons are employed, who, through signs, give intelligence of the approach of the beadles, or, as they are termed by the students, Poodles. Amongst these, at Heidelberg, stands prominently forth the Red Fisherman, distinguished for his Herculean strength, and an inventive spirit not a whit inferior to that of Ulysses. That brown sunburnt countenance, whose features announce a rude bravery--that red hair--that solid build of limb--that mighty chest spread like the breastwork of a battery, and which the wide out-lying shirt is too proud to conceal, and the fantastic cap--the man is not a moment to be mistaken. He belongs to those creatures of the students which are to be found in every university city, and who, living by the students, are to them indispensable. So the Red Fisherman renders the most important services, both connected with the duels and otherwise. At night when the Lumpen-bell[[20]] sounds, he makes the round of the Kneips, and if he finds any of the sons of the Muses whose legs Bacchus has lamed, he throws one over each shoulder, like two sacks, and hastens with them to their lodgings. He is present at all Commerses and Comitates: like a true hound he partakes of all the enjoyments of his lords, and grimly defends them in their difficulties; as in the villages, where it often happens at the holding of a Commers there, that through their exuberant pranks they get into skirmishes with the peasants, who will assail them in troops with tremendous cudgels, and are, when their blood is up, on such occasions, merciless antagonists, beating, treading on, and even stamping on the faces of those whom they have knocked down. The Red Fisherman, in such emergencies, is another Ajax, and wresting their weapons from them, lays prostrate hosts of Bauers before him with their own cudgels. On all occasions he patiently bears the wanton whims and insolent humours of his own lords in their barley-cornish hours. On the other hand, the police treat him in trials and inquiries which come before the magistrates with all possible lenity and forbearance, as by his courage and skill in swimming he has already saved the lives of six or eight persons.
When a duel is about to take place, the Red Fisherman is generally posted on the Neckar-bridge, to give thence the first alarm signal. The moment that he perceives the beadles hastening that way, he gives the sign by a handkerchief, or in some other way, to a servant-girl, who is stationed for that purpose below the Hirsch-gasse, and on receiving it, hastens in and gives the alarm. The combatants are hastily stripped of their duel dress, their own garments thrown on, the fighting apparatus thrown into some place of concealment, and all fly out by windows and doors, and plunge into the woods, where they return by a circuitous route to the city. If the surprise is too sudden to allow the Pawkant, or duellist, to divest himself of his inconvenient costume he runs, in full battle-habit, to conceal himself as he is, in the garret of the house, or in a neighbouring corn-field. The little garden-house which stands just above, called by them Tusculum, has afforded many a one shelter; indeed, at one time, two students regularly hired it and lived in it, so that when the surprised combatants ran in thither, they became only visiters, stepped in to see their friends. The police, however, soon prohibited their abode there.
The beadle has little chance of approach by the open highway; but he endeavours to cross the Neckar by a boat, at a distant spot, and so by hidden footways over the hills, to come slily upon their rendezvous; or he lounges as a Bauer or a sportsman through the neighbouring vineyards; or he comes riding up as a gen-d'arme.
But come the beadle however he will,
The wit of the student's too much for him still.
He may think himself certain to pounce on his game,
But he's still more certain to fail in his aim.
One of the most common punishments of the duel is confinement in the university prison; and a few words on the permitted fencing usages may here precede a short account of that. There is one regular fencing-master appointed in the university, who gives his instructions at his own house. Every Chore has here its place of practice; that is, a large room in the house of the fencing-master is hired by each Chore at a fixed hour of the day, where they meet together and practise fencing, the fencing-master often being present. Others who wish to accomplish themselves in the art of fence, join themselves to these Chore members, but it is forbidden to lunge, lest under the pretence of fencing the duel may be concealed. Of the German mode of fencing there is truly as little to say as if we should describe to any one how he should waltz. The customary weapon, and whoever has wielded it knows well the meaning of high and low, guard, quart, terz, high and low quart, prim, second, and so forth. The German rapier fight is not so ornamental as the French lunging with the fleuret. It requires greater strength, and the movements are only in the wrist; for the rest, it may be recommended to any one as a strengthening exercise. The rapier is similar to the Schläger, but, of course, blunt; a thick leather stulp covers the arm, and a mask the face. The German student, it is well known, arrives at a great dexterity in this practice, as he distinguishes himself in all bodily exercises of strength and dexterity, and as the Burschenschaft members did in the more useful gymnastic schools, where they often performed astonishing exploits. The gymnastic schools, as the rendezvous of the Burschenschaft, are unhappily cried down, and are thereby fallen completely into neglect.
It is an inspiriting sight to see able swordsmen contending with powerful strokes in the fencing-school; and sometimes all seem mad together, when a couple of the great dogs of the students having found their way in, each rushes to assist his master with yells and merciless bites. All in the room retreat to tables and chairs, and the wrath of the hounds is then turned against each other. They take the place of strife instead of their masters, who, in their individual ornature, in all corners of the room stand guarding themselves with their swords.
The Carcer is the prison of the students, and consists of three or four rooms in the house of the Chief Beadle, immediately under the roof. It is secured with iron grating, and contains as furniture only a bed, a small table, and a wooden chair. These small chambers have received different names from the students, as the Solitude, Bellevue, Recreation, and the Hole. The last is the dark place into which the nightly disturbers are thrust, that they may here, undisturbed and undisturbing exercise their fancies till morning. They are under the care of a beadle, who supplies the necessities of the prisoner. The captive may not for the first few days quit his durance on any account. Afterwards he may attend his college lectures, or he goes about during the time that he ought to attend them, taking care to avoid meeting the officers of police. He must also return to the prison at night. During the days that he is in close confinement, he can entertain himself with reading; he plays or drinks, smokes and chats with his acquaintance, who are allowed to see him by an order from the Amtmann. His food he procures from one of the regular eating-houses, by means of his boot-fox. If all visits to him are prohibited, in accordance with the severity of his sentence, and if he be not inclined to study, he lies in bed and consoles himself with his pipe the greater part of the day, which he finds far more agreeable than sitting in that hard and uncomfortable chair. Thus we see, that this punishment is not excessively cruel, though it has the property of promoting considerably the transparency of the purse; since this agreeable lodging must be paid for, and the services of the beadle during the day are nothing near so responsive to love as to money, and for which, at all events, he must pay a specified sum. In some universities, as in Giessen, the incarceration is more rigorous. There, all visits and books are denied. The prisoner is not allowed to leave the prison; and even the bedstead is carried out in the morning, so that nothing is left to the poor wretch the whole day but to pace his small apartment, or to sit on that hard chair, and pour out his complaints to the four bare walls. Certainly the stranger will not select a place where such barbarous sentiments are retained, and refinement of mind has made so little progress, for the scene of his university life, but will rather turn his steps towards the more humane and polished Ruperto-Carolo[[21]] or some similar university.