DUELS IN FRANCE

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 40, 15 August 1935, Page 22

DUELS IN FRANCE

NUMEROUS,. CHALLENGES

CONDUCT OF AFFAIRS

Mark Twain's version of the French duel —an affair in which the greatest danger is in taking cold —does not describe the modern combat on the field of honour.

"It is about as accurate as the comedy-stage Frenchman with baggy trousers and the little goatee," said J. Joseph Renaud, French-'' novelist and duelling master, recently when interI viewed by a New York weekly. M. Renaud, a former champion swordsman, is called in. to superintend almost every duel of importance in the French capital.

The duels which are reported in the newspapers are hardly more representative of duelling, M. Renaud said. By far the greatest number. fought in France today are held in secrecy, and often result in serious, injury to combatants. While scarcely more than a half-dozen duels are reported in the Paris Press during a year, M. -Renaud estimates the number which take place in secret to be not less than 100, with about 2000 challenges issued.

Duels that receive publicity arise from disputes that are of common knowledge, such as newspaper libels, or law court or parliamentary libels.

M. Renaud regards duels as a necessary >evil in present-day France. The. practice, he contends, has many merits in a country in which people do not regard with favour- the Anglo-Saxon fist-fight. ..:.-•■■

There is no law' in France against duelling, as there is in England and the United States, and the police therefore cannot prevent one. Even if they knew of a contest beforehand they would not be licensed to intervene until someone was injured, when the charge against the duellist held would be assault and battery.

NO COMPLAINTS,

If a duellist is wounded he is treated by the surgeon, who considers the matter as a professional secret. Should the wound be serious enough to require hospital treatment, or should death occur, the injury is represented las the result of an accident, and a police inquiry can result only if there is a complaint. No duellist injured in an affair of honour.would swear out a complaint for an injury received.

The fundamental . justification for duelling, in the opinion of those who favour it, lies in a- deficiency of the French judicial code. French laws are notably^ weak with regard to slander, defamation, and libel. There is practically no redress for slander, and the French law courts, the Parliament, and the Press permit a freedom of expression which would never be tolerated in England or in America.

According to M. Renaud and others, duelling is the only civilised method of dealing with personal quarrels. In the first place, • the when properly managed, nearly.always succeeds in satisfactory':, .settling of a quarrel without recourse to arms.

A great many French • duels . are today fought over the honour of women. An outraged husband,'son, or brother challenges a man who has done a woman serious ■wrong: There is no redress' the! challenged jman can offer if he is guilty^ -An American would feel bound/■ to-v"take |it out of his hide." ' The Frenchman?prefers.a-duel.

In an instance where a man feels that he. has been insulted and issues a challenge he appoints two seconds, and the-adversary does, the same. The seconds meet and draw up a summary

of the facts in the case. They then, examine the possibilities of solution, and often they find that there has been a misunderstanding 6]p .thati the offender is willing to recognise -that- he exceeded the bounds of good conduct and is willing to retract or apologise In that event the. apology is accepted and the parties are reconciled. Some times the seconds rule that there is nc ground for complaint. ;v

CHOICE OF WEAPONS.

If a duel is arranged the offendec person has the choice of weapons? anc of fixing the regulations for thej:con test. Most duelling experts arS op posed to the use of pistols because either both duellists may miss '3theii [mark, or, if injuries are inflicted,fthej are often extremely serious, if no' fatal. A miss is as good as,a mile,!anc this fact opens the way to such -criticisms as are iound in Mark Twain's travesty. Here he pictured two excitable Frenchmen popping at Jeach other with pea-shooters from aj tre mendous distance and concluding bj falling into each other's arms in exuberance. ' £

As a matter of fact the participants in the majority of duels are nevei reconciled. They fight fiercely with swords until one or both are "hurt. Afterwards they separate and probably never have, any personal relations again, but they consider . tliat; the affair between. them is ended. 2 ,

To fight a duel one does not necessarily have to be a good swordsman, and good swordsmen are not-.very common. Therefore, a fight with swords is likely to be fairly; eyenly matched, for many sword duels are fought by men who have nev'er?used these weapons before and-who?have had only a few days in 1 which to ; practise. . . £■

Into the London cinemas three? million people pour every week. The-ave-rage attendance at London's national museums and galleries in the ".same time hardly exceeds a hundred thousand. -. ' .j