The nature and institution of government Author:William Smith Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: party, for whom he appeared, his hand was cut off, if he loft the battle. From the cuftom of judicial combat, in thofe days of barbarity, arofe what amongft t... more »he moderns is called a point of honour, which is at prefent, for very good reafons, moft religioufly obferved among gentlemen, without which no more decency nor order would be preferved amongft them, than what we obferve amongft porters and watermen. Honour is a thing np perfon can define, nor laws preferve unviolated: they only know it, who in their own breaft contain it. In judicial combat, the accufer began by declaring before the judge, that fuch a perfon had committed fuch an action : the accufed immediately anfwered he lied; upon which the judge gave orders for the duel. It then became an cftablifhed rule, that whenever a perfon had the lie given him, it was incumbent on him to fight; and, when a man declared he would fight, he could not afterwards depart from his word: if he did, he was condemned to a B 3 penalty.penalty. Hence arofe the rule, that whenever a perfon had engaged his word, honour forbad him to recal it. Gentlemen, armed at all points, fought one another on horfeback; villains fought on foot with a bafton : hence a bafton was looked upon as the inftrument of infults and affronts; becaufe to ftrike a man with it was -treating him like a villain. None but Villains fought with their faces uncovered, fo that none but they-could receive a blow on the face : therefore a box on the ear, or a pull Ty"the nofe, became an injury that muft be expiated with blood; becaufe the perfon who received it had been treated as a villain. A gentleman was not obliged to fight a villain, except 4ie hinii. felf was the appellant. When a gentleman challenged a villain, he was 'obliged to prefent himfelf on foot. with buck...« less