IS DUELLING WRONG?
Right and wrong are not, as some suppose, clearly defined, as are black and white. Right and wrong so overlap that it is difficult, except for a clergyman, to decide which is which. Circumstances may turn the balance, and what is right under some circumstances is very wrong under others.
A man may pose as being very good, whereas he is merely a coward; he may refuse to fight, not because he thinks it wrong to kill, but because he is too cowardly.
Wrong often poses as right.
Right and wrong are chiefly a matter of convention, and vary with different races of men, and at different periods.
What is wrong to-day may be right to-morrow. The list of right and wrong I give below, is only made up to date, and is subject to revision at any time.
Probably by the time this book sees the light, this list may be entirely out-of-date.
In early times holy men did things which would land them in prison if they were alive in these days.
In the cruel ages when men knew no better, St. Francis of Assisi preached (like Buddha) kindness to every living thing, and called the birds “our little brothers.”
In the present superior age, St. Francis would spend his life in prison from inability to pay the fines imposed on him for feeding birds.