FRENCH AFFAIRS OF HONOUR

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 July 1935, Page 9

FRENCH AFFAIRS OF HONOUR

CHALLENGES AND COMBA TS 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 here. “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. 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 to-day 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 AngloSaxon 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 tho charge against the duellist held would be assault and battery.

If a duelilst 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 as 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 tire notably weak with regard to slander, defamation and libel. There is practically no redress for slander, and the French courts, the Parliament and the Press permit a freedom of expression which would never be tolerated in England or in America. A "CIVILISED METHOD" According to M. Renaud and others duelling is the only civilised method of dealing with personal quarrels. In the first place, the system, when properly managed, nearly always succeeds in satisfactory settling of a quar-' rel without recourse to arms. I

A great many French duels arc 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 rhalli need man can offer if In- is guilty. An American would tecl bound t<i "take it out of his hide." The Frenchman prefers a duel. In an instance when- a man tools 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 ease. They then examine the possibilities of solution, and often tb<*y find that there has bei-n a misunderstanding or that the offender is willing io rosoyni.se that he e.xc'-vded the bounds of good conduct

and is willing to retract or apologise. In that event that apology is accept-, ed and the parties are reconciled. Sometimes the seconds rule that there is no ground for complaint. If a duel is arranged the offended person has the choice of w’eapons and of fixing the regulations for the contest.

Most duelling experts are opposed to the use of pistols because either both duellists may miss their mark, or, if injuries are inflicted, they are often extremely serious, it not fatal. A miss is as good as a mile, and this fact opens the way to such criticism as are found in Mark Twain’s travesty. Here he pictured tw’o excitable Frenchmen popping at each other with pea-shoot-ers from a tremendous distance and concluding by falling into each other’s arms in exuberance.

As a matter of fact the participants in the majority of duels are never reconciled. They fight fiercely with swords until one or both are hurt. Afterward they separate and probably never have any personal relations again, but they consider that the affair between them is ended. To fight a duel one does not necessarily have to be a good swordman, and good swordsmen are not very common. Therefore, a fight with swords is likely to be fairly evenly matched, for many sword duels are fought by men who never used these weapons before and who have had only a few days in which to practise.