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344 Avenel Avenger

and future prospects of

tion " on the present state

French commerce

in America.

Bibliography: Dictumnaires Dipartemcntaiix Vapereau, Dictionnaire Contcrnporains, Paris, 1893, s.v. rncnt do VOise);

IDciiarte-

Univcrscl des

A.

s.

S.

C.

AVENEL, PAUL:

French author; born at Chaumont-en-Vexin, department of the Oise, France, Oct.

9,

After a brief course in medicine at the

1823.

University of Paris, he, in 1850, abandoned his studBeies to devote himself exclusively to literature. ginning as journalist, he became successively poet, novelist, and dramatic author. Among Avenel's dramatic works, -which number more than fifty, are: "Les Chasseurs de Pigeons," farce-comedy in three acts, produced at the Folies Dramatiques in 1860; "La Paysanne des Abruzzes," drama in five acts, written in collaboration with H. de Charlieu and produced at the Theatre Beaumarchais in 1861; "Sayez done Concierge," farce-comedy, produced at the Folies Dramatiques in 1861 "Un Homme sur le Gril," farce-comedy, produced at the Theatre des Varietes; "L'Homme a la Fourchette," one-act comedy, 1874; "Les Plaisirs du Dimanche," comedy in five acts; "Le Saint Pierre," drama in five acts; "Mimi-Chiffon," comedy in four acts " Le Beau Marechal " " Le Pave d'Or, " and the



comedy, " L' Antichambre en Amour. Of Avenel's novels and short stories the following' are noteworthy: "Le Coin de Feu," 1849; "Les Tablettesd'unFou, oule Voyage EntreDeux Mondes," 1852, and "Les Etudiants de Paris," reminiscences of the Latin Quarter; "Le Roi de Paris," 1860; "Le Due des Moines," 1864, and "Les Lipans, ou les Brigands Normands, " 1868, three historical novels of the time of the League; "Les Prussiens a Bougival," a lyric

of the Franco-Prussian war; " Une Amie Devouee, Moeurs Parisiennes, " 1884, a Parisian novel; "Le Docteur Hatt," a novel of a philosophical character, 1887; and "Les Calicots," collection of

stories

scenes of real

life, first

published as a novel in 1866,

and afterward dramatized. As an author of poems and verse, Paul Avenel has published "Chansons de Paul Avenel," 1875; "Chants et Chansons Politiques," 1869-72— in the 8th edition, 1889, figure the most prominent polit" Alcove et Bouical occurrences from 1848 to 1860 doir," a collection of verses, 1855, which was at once suppressed by the French courts. Thirty years later Quantin published an edition de luxe of the

condemned

verses.

a member of the following societies: Societe des Gens de Lettres; Societe des Auteurs Dramatiques; Societe des Auteurs, Compositeurs, et Editeurs de Musique, of which he was president

Avenel

is

from 1878 to 1881 and Lice Chansonniere, over which he presided from 1892 to 1894. He is also an honorary

member

344

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Caveau Sephanois,

of the

at Saint Etienne.

Bibliography: Diet ionnatrea Departementaux (Departement de VOise) La Grande Encyclopedic s.v.; Vapereau,

Dictionnaire Univcrsel des Contcrnporains,..Paris, 1893; Gubernatis, Dictionnaire International des Ecrivains du Jour, Florence, 1888-91. A. S. C. s.

AVENGER OF BLOOD.— Biblical

Data:

(Hebrew " go 'el ") The Hebrew name for the clansman, "next of kin," upon whom devolved the

duties: (1) of avenging, on the person of the murderer, the blood of a murdered kinsman— in this capacity the more specific term "go 'el ha-dam" (blood-avenger) was generally used and (2) of redeeming the property or the person of a relative

—

had

that (1)

fallen into debt.

Among primitive peoples of low political devel-

— such as the

ancient Greeks, Germans, and some North American tribes, the modern Sicilians, Corsicans, and Arabs— the clan or family had to assume the right to protect Among' itself. One of the most important Primitive clan duties then was plainly for the nearest of kin to hunt down and carry Peoples,

opment Slavs,

out the death-penalty on a person that

That this of the sept or family. idea of family retribution— which even to-day is by no means extinct in some comparatively civilized communities was also current among the ancient Hebrews may be seen from Gen. xxvii. 45, where the existence of the custom is clearly taken for granted. had

slain a

member

—

furthermore, from Josh. vii. 24, and II the most primitive period, such a vendetta was extended to the entire family of the murderer, as is still the custom among the desert It appears,

Kings

ix. 26, that, in

Bedouins.

The Hebrew

religious justification for

the system of family blood-revenge was undoubtedly the firm belief that God, in order to insure the sacred ness of human life, had Himself fixed the deathLev. xxiv. penalty for murder (Gen. ix. 5 et seq.

In the earliest times blood-money was not accepted either for murder or for excusable homiSuch a payment would have made the land cide. " polluted by blood " (Num. xxxv. 31 et seq.). Una venged blood " cried out " for vengeance to God (Gen. Ezek. xxiv. 7 et seq. Job xvi. iv. 10; Isa. xxvi. 21 The Avenger of Blood, then, was regarded as 18). the representative, not only of the murdered man's family, but of Yiiwii Himself, who was the highest avenger (Ps. ix. 13 [A. V. 12]). Such a stern system, however, could not, of course, survive unmodified after the community had begun to advance from the purely savage state. Abuses of the privilege of blood-revenge must have soon become evident to the tribal chiefs, as one finds in Ex. xxi. 12 (compare Gen. ix. 6) that the commonly accepted formula that a life must be given for a life is modified by a careful legal 17).





Modifica- distinction between wilful murder and In order to tion of the accidental manslaughter. System, establish a case of wilful murder, it must be shown that weapons or implements commonly devoted to slaughter were used, and that a personal hatred existed between the slayer and his victim (Ex. xxi. 12; compare Num. xxxv. The law enumerates three 16; and Deut. xix. 4). exceptions to this general principle: (a) The slaying of a thief caught at night in flagrante delicto is not punishable at all but if he is captured by day there is blood-guilt which, however, is not liable to the blood-revenge (Ex. xxii. et seq.). (b) If a bull gored a human being to death, the punishment was visited upon the animal, which was killed by stoning. Its If gross flesh in such a case might not be eaten. contributory negligence could be proved on the part of the animal's owner, he was liable only for blood;