Ancient animosities and disappointed ambition now reigned paramount; one party seeking to recover by violence and power what they had lost by flight; and the other, to preserve what they had acquired at the price of their blood and that of their families. All the wisdom and prudence of Louis XVIII. could not restrain this impetuous torrent, to which no bounds could be assigned, since the want of solidity of the throne was felt in the vacillating state of every part of the social edifice.
Parliamentary debates and studied imitations of British extemporaneous eloquence, and paper-wars, led to constant disputes. St. Marcellin, a distinguished literary character, was killed by Fayau, his bosom friend. St. Morys, Lieutenant-colonel of the Gardes du corps, was killed by Colonel Barbier Dufay, and Beaupoil de St. Aulaire paid with his life a paragraph in his printed oration on the Duke de Feltre. In consequence of this offensive publication, St. Aulaire was first called out by the son of the deceased duke; he then had to fight a cousin of the General M. de Pierrebourg: the parties met, when St. Aulaire proposed the sabre, and Pierrebourg wished for the sword, but conceded the point to his adversary; both were perfectly cool, so much so indeed, that at the suggestion of St. Aulaire, they changed their ground, as the sun was shining on his antagonist. St. Aulaire wounded Pierrebourg in the knee, but being uncovered, the other gave point, and wounded him between the ribs, when throwing away his sabre, he exclaimed, “I fear that the wound is too deep;” to which the seconds replied, “It is unfortunate, but it was all fair play.” St. Aulaire expired a few minutes after.
Literary duels became frequent, especially on account of political and historical works. Philippe de Ségur, author of the Campaign of Russia, had to meet General Gourgaud, one of Napoleon’s aide-de-camps, when the author was wounded. A Neapolitan colonel of the name of Pépé challenged the author of a work, in which he had reproached Italy with its pusillanimity, and obtained the satisfaction of wounding him, to prove the incorrectness of his statement.
Two enthusiastic novel writers fought in defence of classical and romantic literature, firing at each other four times, and only separated when the severity of their wounds prevented further hostilities. A desperate duel was fought between M. Raynouard, commanding the Caravanne, and M. Garnerey, the artist, who had been sent to paint the battle of Navarino. It appears that frequent altercations had arisen between the parties when on board, and Garnerey, labouring under fever, was landed by the captain at the Lazaret of Toulon. The incensed artist wrote a letter, in which he complained that he had been cruelly deprived of medical aid; in consequence of which, Raynouard called him out as soon as they were released from quarantine, when Garnerey shot him in the hip. He only survived the wound nine days.
Notwithstanding the frequency of duels, the survivors were, in several instances, prosecuted. An artillery officer of the name of Treins, having called out a person of the name of Damarzil, it was decided that they should fight with pistols, at the distance of six paces. Having drawn lots for the first fire, it fell upon Treins; the witnesses then requested that a greater distance should be taken. Treins would not consent to this arrangement, which was contrary to the previous agreement; he fired, and mortally wounded his adversary in the stomach. Notwithstanding the severity of the wound, he had sufficient strength to return the fire, wounding his antagonist in the arm. He died a few hours after. The court came to the decision, “that Treins having been the aggressor, and having fired contrary to the wishes of the by-standers, at so short a distance, when he was certain of killing his antagonist,—these circumstances did not allow that this case should be included in those cases of duels which are not considered as criminal and punishable as such.” On this occasion the duel was considered an assassination, because the party fired at too short a distance. Yet it must be recollected, that had the survivor’s pistol missed fire, his antagonist had an equal certainty of shooting him.
The tribunal of Douai came to a similar conclusion in the case of a person who shot another after taking a long and deliberate aim. The court of Marseilles gave a similar judgment in the following case:—A man, named Roqueplane had called out another of the name of Durré. The seconds wanted to place the parties at a distance of twenty-five paces; Durré insisted upon fifteen. Lots were drawn for the first fire, which fell upon Roqueplane, who discharged his pistol in the air. Durré insisted that he should fire at him; and, despite the interference of the seconds, his wish was acceded to: but the pistol missed fire; on which Durré fired, and shot his adversary dead.
A singular case, somewhat of a similar nature, occurred not long since at Bordeaux. A Spanish-American gentleman had left his wife in that city, and during his absence her conduct, it appeared, had been anything but correct. On his return, the tongue of scandal and of friendship soon informed him of what was called his dishonour; and he fixed upon a young man of the name of A——, as the person who was to give him satisfaction, on the plea that he had intrigued with his wife. M. A—— refused to meet him repeatedly, insisting upon his innocence; and adding, that even if proofs of any criminality could be adduced, the conduct of the lady had been so improper with various persons, that he would not expose his life in such a business. The husband persisted, and at last meeting him at ’Change, struck him repeatedly. A meeting was now unavoidable. Forty paces were measured, and eighteen paces told off between the two extreme points, leaving a space of only four paces in the centre of the ground. It was decided that both parties should advance towards this point, and fire whenever they thought proper. The adversaries moved on; but the Spaniard, in his vindictive impatience, fired at twelve paces, and missed his antagonist, who continued advancing towards the central point of four paces, while the disappointed Spaniard halted where he had fired. According to the pre-arranged agreement, he was ordered to proceed to the centre, where stood his antagonist; when only four paces divided them. M. A—— then stated, that he would not fire, if his adversary was satisfied; to which the other replied, that he would fire, as he was determined that one of them should fall. A—— fired; but the pistol missing, it was found that his second had not put any cap to it: it was therefore decided, that he was entitled to a shot. Again he expressed his earnest desire not to fire. The Spaniard persisted, and was shot dead. Although at the short distance of four paces, so uncertain is the fire of a pistol, that had the ball, which had struck the shoulder and entered the chest, deviated but a line or two, and been reflected from the bone, the wound would have been slight, and A—— undoubtedly would have fallen. M. A——, with the seconds of both parties, was imprisoned for a considerable time; and when brought to trial, acquitted. In this case, most undoubtedly, the fault rested with the seconds, who should not have left to their principals the power of reserving their fire until they came in such a close situation; an arrangement of which every cool person would avail himself. The chances were also rendered unequal by the precipitation of one of the parties. He could have held back his fire until he came to the four-pace interval, if he thought proper; and his adversary was fully warranted in availing himself of the circumstance, while he honourably offered him his life.
In this case, my opinion was asked, as an English officer. M. A—— was a particular friend of mine; and I gave it as my decided opinion, that he had behaved most honourably. He had been fired at, and continued to move forward according to agreement. The Spaniard should have done the same; it was therefore but just, that he should not be allowed to receive A——’s fire where he had halted; since, if A—— had missed him, the Spaniard’s next fire would have taken place at the central point, on which he most undoubtedly would have advanced, to claim the advantage which he himself had given to his antagonist. In regard to the missing of A——’s fire, had the pistol been capped, most unquestionably he would have had no claim to a second fire; but the unpardonable neglect had not been his, it was the fault of his second; for which, most assuredly, he should not have perilled his life. It is true, that a miss-fire is considered as equivalent to a shot, in primed pistols, but this rule cannot hold good in percussion arms. A priming may be damp, may be shaken out; but the pistol had been properly loaded. A percussion pistol, without a cap, is to all purposes the same as an unloaded weapon; and if such a neglect on the part of a second, was to expose the life of a principal, it might lead to the most treacherous acts and premeditated murders. This case strongly proves the necessity of pistols being loaded in the presence of both seconds; and perhaps so long as this barbarous practice prevails, it might be more prudent not to use percussion arms. I shall return to this most important subject in another part of this work.
In regiments, the strictest discipline could not prevent duelling. It became the boast of particular corps; and before the French Revolution, no officer was admitted into the society of his comrades, until he had given proofs of his courage, and fought without any motive. For this purpose, expert fencers were selected, who were called “feelers;”[19] and it must be admitted, that in general they merely sought to inflict a trifling wound. Another custom prevailed in several regiments, which was called the calotte, and consisted in insulting persons who passed by the coffee-houses which these madcaps frequented. On such occasions they exacted a pecuniary tribute from the offended party, if he declined fighting. It was on an occasion of this kind, that an officer of artillery, named De Paris, was attacked at Verdun. In the first instance he paid the exacted tribute, and then addressing himself to the officer, who was considered the chief of the calotte, he insisted upon an immediate satisfaction, which was of course granted. The parties met; the chief of this murderous association was killed; and two of his brother officers who succeeded him shared the same fate.
Colonels of regiments not unfrequently showed a pernicious example in sanctioning duels. The Viscount de Noailles, colonel of the King’s dragoons, had said at table, that although he would break, without any hesitation, any officer who would call him out while with the regiment, yet, that when at Paris, and in plain clothes, he would always be ready to attend any officer to the Bois de Boulogne. A Captain de Bray, of his regiment, who considered that he had been insulted by him, availed himself of this declaration, and severely wounded him. His commanding officer most honourably recommended him to the first vacant majority in the corps. This same De Noailles was in the habit of announcing the day of his departure from every place he had been quartered in, in the public papers, for the purpose, he said, of affording an opportunity for settling affairs of every description.