"One of the thirty-nine articles of the code of dueling, compiled by 'A Southron,' prohibits a gentleman, who has received a blow, from accepting an apology until the party who has dealt the blow first allows himself to be slapped on the face in the most public place in the town. Now, do you suppose that Captain Bragg will consent to stand in the street, in front of the hotel, before a crowd of spectators, male and female, and allow Botts to knock him down, and then get up and apologize for having knocked Botts down? Impossible, sir! impossible! There can be no apology."
"No apology? If a man is sorry for what he has done, is he prohibited from saying so? Monstrous, sir! monstrous! Is this a Christian country?"
"I believe it is; and dueling is a Christian practice."
"I deny it most emphatically, sir. It is a barbarous, a heathenish practice!"
"Why, Mr. Pate, who ever heard of the code of honor among the heathen Greeks or Romans, or among any other heathens, ancient or modern? Christians are the only duelists. The custom originated with the knights who fought for the Cross and against the Crescent. It has been the favorite mode of settling difficulties, among gentlemen in Christian countries, ever since. Yes, sir; and even churchmen have fought duels. A parson, in one of our Southern States, once challenged a layman, and shot him through the heart in accordance with the code of honor."[1]
"Horrible! Mr. Belton, what—what is to be done?"
"Why, I suppose, we must let the men fight, if they are determined to do so."
"Can we not apply to a justice of the peace? Can we not have them arrested?"
"Mr. Pate, if you were to do so, public opinion is such that you would be mobbed, ridden on a rail, pelted with rotten eggs, and your life might be in danger."