arise between Gentlemen. The Difficulty they labour'd under was, that
they would abolish the Custom of Duelling without parting with the
Notions of Honour; destroying of which must have been certain Ruin to
a warlike Nation, that once had received them; and therefore they
never design'd, that the Worship of the Idol should cease, but they
only try'd, whether it was not to be satisfied with less valuable
Victims, and other Sacrifices besides human Blood. In the Year 1653,
_Lewis_ XIV. set forth another Declaration against Duels; in which
having made some Additions to his former Edict, he commands the
Marshals of _France_ to draw up a Regulation touching the Satisfactions
and Reparations of Honour, which they should think necessary for the
several Sorts of Offences. This Order was immediately obey'd, and
nineteen Articles were drawn up and publish'd accordingly. In these,
calling a Man Fool, Coward, or the Like, was punish'd with a Month's
Imprisonment; and after being released, the Offender was to declare to
the Party so offended, that he had wrongfully and impertinently
injur'd him by outragious Words, which he own'd to be false, and ask'd
him to forgive. Giving one the Lie, or threatning to beat him, was two
Month's Imprisonment, and the Submission to be made afterwards yet
more humble than the foregoing. For Blows, as striking with the Hand,
and other Injuries of the same Nature, the Offender was to lye in
Prison Six Months, unless, at the Request of the offended, half of
that Time was chang'd into a pecuniary Mulct, that might not be under
Fifteen Hundred Livres, to be paid before he was set at Liberty, for
the Use of the Nearest Hospital to the Abode of the offended; after
which, the Offender was to submit to the same Blows from the offended,
and to declare by Word of Mouth, and in Writing, that he had struck
him in a Brutish Manner, and beg'd him to pardon and forget that
Offence.