第39章

Istartedthequestionwhetherduellingwasconsistentwithmoralduty。ThebraveoldGeneralfiredatthis，andsaid，withaloftyair，’Undoubtedlyamanhasarighttodefendhishonour。’

GOLDSMITH。(turningtome，)’Iaskyoufirst，Sir，whatwouldyoudoifyouwereaffronted？’IansweredIshouldthinkitnecessarytofight。’Whythen，(repliedGoldsmith，)thatsolvesthequestion。’JOHNSON。’No，Sir，itdoesnotsolvethequestion。Itdoesnotfollowthatwhatamanwoulddoisthereforeright。’I

said，Iwishedtohaveitsettled，whetherduellingwascontrarytothelawsofChristianity。Johnsonimmediatelyenteredonthesubject，andtreateditinamasterlymanner；andsofarasIhavebeenabletorecollect，histhoughtswerethese：’Sir，asmenbecomeinahighdegreerefined，variouscausesofoffencearise；

whichareconsideredtobeofsuchimportance，thatlifemustbestakedtoatoneforthem，thoughinrealitytheyarenotso。A

bodythathasreceivedaveryfinepolishmaybeeasilyhurt。

Beforemenarriveatthisartificialrefinement，ifonetellshisneighbourhelies，hisneighbourtellshimhelies；ifonegiveshisneighbourablow，hisneighbourgiveshimablow：butinastateofhighlypolishedsociety，anaffrontisheldtobeaseriousinjury。Itmustthereforeberesented，orratheraduelmustbefoughtuponit；asmenhaveagreedtobanishfromtheirsocietyonewhoputsupwithanaffrontwithoutfightingaduel。

Now，Sir，itisneverunlawfultofightinself-defence。He，then，whofightsaduel，doesnotfightfrompassionagainsthisantagonist，butoutofself-defence；toavertthestigmaoftheworld，andtopreventhimselffrombeingdrivenoutofsociety。I

couldwishtherewasnotthatsuperfluityofrefinement；butwhilesuchnotionsprevail，nodoubtamanmaylawfullyfightaduel。’

TheGeneraltoldus，thatwhenhewasaveryyoungman，Ithinkonlyfifteen，servingunderPrinceEugeneofSavoy，hewassittinginacompanyattablewithaPrinceofWirtemberg。ThePrincetookupaglassofwine，and，byafillip，madesomeofitflyinOglethorpe’sface。Herewasanicedilemma。Tohavechallengedhiminstantly，mighthavefixedaquarrelsomecharacterupontheyoungsoldier：tohavetakennonoticeofitmighthavebeenconsideredascowardice。Oglethorpe，therefore，keepinghiseyeuponthePrince，andsmilingallthetime，asifhetookwhathisHighnesshaddoneinjest，said’MonPrince，——’。(IforgettheFrenchwordsheused，thepurporthoweverwas，)’That’sagoodjoke；butwedoitmuchbetterinEngland；’andthrewawholeglassofwineinthePrince’sface。AnoldGeneralwhosatby，said，’Ilabienfait，monPrince，vousl’avezcommence：’andthusallendedingoodhumour。

Dr。Johnsonsaid，’Pray，General，giveusanaccountofthesiegeofBelgrade。’UponwhichtheGeneral，pouringalittlewineuponthetable，describedeverythingwithawetfinger：’Herewewere，hereweretheTurks，’&c。&c。Johnsonlistenedwiththeclosestattention。

Aquestionwasstarted，howfarpeoplewhodisagreeinacapitalpointcanliveinfriendshiptogether。Johnsonsaidtheymight。

Goldsmithsaidtheycouldnot，astheyhadnottheidemvelleatqueidemnolle——thesamelikingsandthesameaversions。JOHNSON。

’Why，Sir，youmustshunthesubjectastowhichyoudisagree。Forinstance，IcanliveverywellwithBurke：Ilovehisknowledge，hisgenius，hisdiffusion，andaffluenceofconversation；butI

wouldnottalktoh

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