The Duel Between France and Germany

The Duel Between France and
Germany

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Title: The Duel Between France and Germany
Author: Charles Sumner
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THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY
REPRINTED FROM "ADDRESSES ON WAR"
BY CHARLES SUMNER

THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY, WITH ITS
LESSON TO CIVILIZATION.
LECTURE IN THE MUSIC HALL, BOSTON, OCTOBER 26, 1870.
"When kings make war, No law betwixt two sovereigns can decide, But
that of arms, where Fortune is the judge, Soldiers the lawyers, and the
Bar the field."
DEYDEN, _Love Triumphant_, Act I. Sc. 1.

LECTURE.
MR. PRESIDENT,--I am to speak of the Duel between France and
Germany, with its Lesson to Civilization. In calling the terrible war
now waging a Duel, I might content myself with classical authority,
Duellum being a well-known Latin word for War. The historian Livy
makes a Roman declare that affairs are to be settled "by a pure and
pious duel"; [Footnote: "Puro pioqne duello."--_Historie_, Lib. I. cap.
32.] the dramatist Plautus has a character in one of his plays who
obtains great riches "by the duelling art," [Footnote: "Arte

duellica."--_Epidicus_, Act. III. Sc. iv. 14.] meaning the art of war; and
Horace, the exquisite master of language, hails the age of Augustus
with the Temple of Janus closed and "free from duels," [Footnote:
"Vacuum duellis."--_Carmina_, Lib, IV. xv. 8.] meaning at peace,--for
then only was that famous temple shut.

WAR UNDER THE LAW OF NATIONS A DUEL.
But no classical authority is needed for this designation. War, as
conducted under International Law, between two organized nations, is
in all respects a duel, according to the just signification of this
word,--differing from that between two individuals only in the number
of combatants. The variance is of proportion merely, each nation being
an individual who appeals to the sword as Arbiter; and in each case the
combat is subject to rules constituting a code by which the two parties
are bound. For long years before civilization prevailed, the code
governing the duel between individuals was as fixed and minute as that
which governs the larger duel between nations, and the duel itself was
simply a mode of deciding questions between individuals. In presenting
this comparison I expose myself to criticism only from those who have
not considered this interesting subject in the light of history and of
reason. The parallel is complete. Modern war is the duel of the Dark
Ages, magnified, amplified, extended so as to embrace nations; nor is it
any less a duel because the combat is quickened and sustained by the
energies of self-defence, or because, when a champion falls and lies on
the ground, he is brutally treated. An authentic instance illustrates such
a duel; and I bring before you the very pink of chivalry, the Chevalier
Bayard, "the knight without fear and without reproach," who, after
combat in a chosen field, succeeded by a feint in driving his weapon
four fingers deep into the throat of his adversary, and then, rolling with
him, gasping and struggling, on the ground, thrust his dagger into the
nostrils of the fallen victim, exclaiming, "Surrender, or you are a dead
man!"--a speech which seemed superfluous; for the second cried out,
"He is dead already; you have conquered." Then did Bayard, brightest
among the Sons of War, drag his dead enemy from the field, crying,
"Have I done enough?" [Footnote: La tresjoyeuse, plaisante et
recreative Hystoire, composee par le Loyal Serviteur, des Faiz, Gestes,
Triumphes et Prouesses du Bon Chevalier sans Paour et sans

Reprouche, le