Part 10 (1/2)

When all is ready for the duel, the two combatants confront each other.

The second stands at the left side of each, holding in his hand the so-called _Secondir-Prugel_, or second's cudgel, a weapon consisting of a strong rapier fixed into a basket-handle. The witness stands at the right side. His business is to put in order again the duel costume of the combatant when it becomes deranged, and to support his arm when it is become weary. The umpire stands at some little distance, between the two combatants, and before him is a chair, on which he marks the end of each round with a chalk line, forming the one side of a square, so that at the end of twelve rounds his marks have completed this figure....

[Ill.u.s.tration: Three overlapping squares]

At the end of the twenty-four, this....

[Ill.u.s.tration: Two sets of three overlapping squares]

The swords have been ground sharp in preparation, on the grindstone in the court below. The spectators have a.s.sembled themselves. These can only be students; and even these, if the combatants require it, evacuate the hall. In that case the cry is made ”All must quit the place.”

”We planted ourselves in the ancient att.i.tude of combat; the swords were crossed; the seconds cried 'loose!' and the swords whirred in the air.”--_Hauff's Memoirs of Satan_.

The commanding second cries--”Upon the measure.” Both combatants step forward upon the measure; the seconds station themselves at their posts; the witnesses step back. ”Bind the sword!” cry the seconds; the combatants put themselves in att.i.tude, crossing their weapons. The seconds become more earnestly observant. ”Loose!” they cry, and the swords flash in the air. On the style of fighting we shall say what need be said, below, under the head of the Fencing-school. We often see two practised swordsmen long circling round within the measure, watching keenly every movement of each other's eye, every turn of each other's hand, while the seconds follow all their movements with the same short and quick steps. Suddenly an unguarded part is espied, and stroke upon stroke falls with lightning speed. Quickly a blow is planted; the seconds dart between, and with the word ”Halt,” strikes the swords aside. The moment this word is given, the combatant must cease to strike: if he do not this, he has made an after-stroke, and where this is done three times, the offender must quit the measure with shame and contempt.

The second must be an expert swordsman, or he would not only run great danger himself, but be unable to give to his combatant the necessary protection. This office, as already stated, falls to the second _Chargirter_. He must exert all his skill to protect his combatant as much as possible, without holding his second-cudgel so as to prevent the blows of the antagonist reaching him. He must take heed that the opponent does not present his sword so horizontally that his combatant in rus.h.i.+ng forward shall run upon its point. We have stated that it is a disgrace to the duellist if, before the round is ended, he goes backwards off the measure. This the student calls to ”nip,” or to ”nip out,” and says ”he is nipped.” A laughable circ.u.mstance of this kind once took place in Gottingen.

A little Jew had a quarrel with a renowned Schlager, or duellist, of great stature, who had maltreated the little Hebrew. When they stood upon the measure, the little fellow who had never before entered this arena, awaited with wrathful impatience the word ”loose,” and made a spring in the moment, whereby he gave the opponent a tremendous _quarte_ in the face, crying, ”There, thou'st got something!” The tall fellow, who expected nothing so sudden, was horribly enraged at this inroad upon the honour of his swordsmans.h.i.+p, and so much the more as every one laughed heartily at the droll occurrence. Spite of all outcries and commands to ”halt,” the student pursued the Jew with terrible strokes, so that he, unable to maintain his ground, stepped continually backwards till he at length actually took refuge behind the stove. The seconds were seized with such a paroxysm of laughter at this scene, that they were unable sooner to run to the aid of the little Jew, and then first placed themselves as a wall between the stove and the enraged swordsman.

When a round is ended, the seconds and the witnesses, who come to their aid, often contend the point, whether an after-blow was made or not, whether one or other of the seconds forwarded, that is, exceeded his duty in protecting his protege to the prejudice of the opponent or not; which last act, if often repeated, ent.i.tles the other second to demand that he be dismissed from his post. But most frequently of all, the dispute is, whether the blow took or not. All these points of dispute have to be referred to the umpire, against whose decision there is no appeal. When the single round is fought, the seconds do not stand at the left side, but so that they make a cross with the duellers, as here that frequent springing in between them is not necessary. So goes the duel forward till terminated in one of the aforesaid ways. In the mean time the doctor has, from the very commencement of the fight, had his bandages in readiness, his needles threaded, and water set at hand, prepared at a moment with a skilful hand to afford a.s.sistance to the wounded.

The duel with swords is, as may be inferred from what we have described, not very dangerous, and thus it proves itself, since from the great number of duels which annually occur, so few serious consequences follow. There are now students, who, during their career, have fought from thirty to forty, and even sixty times, and yet have come out of them all with a few slight wounds in the face. Yet tragical consequences are by no means wanting. Noses and eyes are sometimes lost, and even fatal terminations are now and then put to them.[18] The wounded are nursed with great care by their companions; and those who distinguish themselves with their weapons, speedily mount to the head of their Ch.o.r.es. It is said that two brothers were such strong and perfect swordsmen, that they disabled a whole Ch.o.r.e, with whom they came into contention for further exercise of their weapons for the whole half-year. The duels with the crooked sabre, are the most frequently attended by unhappy results.

The duel is distinctly prohibited by the laws. The enactments of the academical senate concerning it are as follows:--

1. If any one is slain in a duel, or is deadly wounded therein, or so wounded that he finds himself in danger of his life; or that a lasting disadvantage, through mutilation or internal injury, is occasioned him; or if the duel has been with pistols, with the fleuret, or with the crooked sabre; and even when the duel with pistols, with fleuret, or with the crooked sabre, has not been completed, but only intended, the affair can no longer be regarded as a mere violation of discipline, but to be penalty treated, a trial const.i.tuted against the actors, and all the aiders and abettors, before the university magistrate, and all the minutes and evidence to be handed over for the decision of the civil courts of justice.

2. Shall the duel with sword or crooked sabre have been followed by none of the aforestated consequences, without making any further distinction between the relative position of challenger and challenged, both parties shall, under ordinary circ.u.mstances, suffer a punishment of from four weeks incarceration to the enforcement of the _consilium abeundi_. On account of more serious circ.u.mstances, in especial, on account of a wilful seeking after contention, of gross insult, of rejection to offers of reconciliation, neglect of the summons of a surgeon, or of fighting the duel under unusually dangerous regulations, shall, according to the circ.u.mstances of the case, punishment of a higher kind be inflicted on one or both parties, as may appear right, even to the extent of the sharp relegation.

In milder circ.u.mstances, and towards that party who shall have made sufficient offers of reconciliation, or who has been injured or insulted in a gross degree, the lighter penalty of imprisonment from eight days to four weeks may be inflicted.

A duel is held to be perpetrated from the moment of its commencement.

3. Seconds and so-called umpires may pa.s.s without punishment, or according to circ.u.mstances, may be imprisoned not exceeding eight days: shall the duel, however, have been effectuated under unusually dangerous circ.u.mstances, they shall be punished with greater severity, even to the _consilium abeundi_. The witnesses, spectators, cartel-bearers, or those in whose house the duel has been allowed to take place, or who have contributed towards it by other means, shall be imprisoned from eight to fourteen days.

4. Those who have been guilty of exciting others to fight a duel, shall suffer the _consilium abeundi_, or in some aggravated cases the simple or sharper relegation.

5. He who is aware of an appointed duel, shall make it immediately known to the university magistrate whereupon those concerned in it will be, without delay, confined to their houses, or, if circ.u.mstances require it, be arrested.

6. After inquiry, reconcilement of the parties is to be attempted; but if this cannot be effected, both parties must sign a declaration, with which they must be satisfied. But in both cases must both parties give their word of honour that they will fight no more during the remainder of the term of their academical rights of citizens.h.i.+p, and sign the protocol for that purpose presented by the magistrate of the university. Whoever refuses to do this shall immediately receive the _consilium abeundi_; and whoever afterwards breaks his word of honour and again fights, shall be visited with the sharper relegation, also he who fights with him.

7. Those students of medicine or surgery, who shall, at any time, undertake the bandaging for a duel, shall, after the first bandaging and performing of what was immediately necessary to the wounded, instantly give information thereof to an authorized surgeon; and if they fail to do this, they shall, according to the degree of danger of the wounded, suffer a proportionate imprisonment; and if the case warrant it, the _consilium abeundi_, or relegation.

8. The punishment for duels between students and persons of another cla.s.s, shall be regulated by the principles here laid down, unless attended with contingencies of particular aggravation.

9. The beadles who have detected duels in the course of the year, and he of them who through the discovery of appointed duels shall have contributed the most to the prevention of the fighting of duels, shall each, according to the evidences and degrees of zeal, receive a reward of forty, sixty, or eighty gulden,[19] and the academical senate, through the curator, shall determine the relative sum.

10. The weapons and other things necessary to a duel, which shall be found upon the place chosen or appointed for a duel, shall be seized, made useless, and so converted, as much as may be, to the benefit of the university treasury.