THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



risk of beino- punished, without the chance of punishing the 

 aggressor.' 



' No punishment which he could have inflicted upon me,' 

 replied Frank Raby, ' would have been equal to what I should 

 have suffered had I caused his death. I would not have a 

 man's blood lie at my door for any consideration whatsoever. 

 And as for a wish, on my part, to inflict punishment on Fitz- 

 maurice, nothing was further from my mind. He is a good- 

 hearted fellow — a man of licence, indeed, in his words and 

 actions ; and I felt sorry afterwards that I took umbrage at 

 what he said.' 



' But would not your honour have ' 



' Honour ! ' interrupted our hero ; ' I think there is too 

 much stress laid upon this said thing called honour ; it appears 

 to be the darling attribute of the present age ; but I think it 

 has lost by its acquirements. It is a picture of virtue, perhaps, 

 finely drawn, but, in my opinion, the lines are not just, and 

 the colours are too glaring. Tliese bloody maxims of honour 

 were unknown to the ancients in the best of their times, and 

 why should not we, who boast of our refinement, be unable to 

 live correctly in society, unless under fear of being shot, or 

 compelled to shoot others ? ' 



' Pardon me,' replied Hargrave ; ' Antony challenged 

 Augustus ! ' 



' He may have done so,' said Raby, ' but that does not 

 prove the custom ; and if it did, custom without reason is but 

 an ancient error. I know that there were duels fought in old 

 times, as between the Horatii and the Curatii, and others of 

 still more importance in the eyes of the world ; but these 

 duellists were public enemies, a sort of fighting representatives 

 chosen to decide the controversies of their respective countries ; 

 there was no cutting of throats to decide private disputes. 

 And as you have mentioned the name of Augustus, what, may 

 I ask, was his answer to Antony on being challenged by him 

 after the battle of Actium ? Wiiy that, if he (Antony) was 

 tired of life, there were other ways of his ridding himself of 

 it, and he (Augustus) should not trouble himself to be his 

 executioner.' 



' A capital answer,' observed Hargrave. 



'Yes,' rejoined our hero; 'and if some man of well-estab- 

 lished courage and conduct, in our day, were to return a 



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