Page:The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz (Volume One).djvu/121

 few capable of great things in beer-drinking. But beer-drinking was not cultivated as a fine art, in the exercise of which one had to seek honorable distinction. Nor would he who was temperate be exposed to any want of respect or derision. Moderation was the rule, and he who broke that rule too often made himself liable to a reprimand or even expulsion. Neither did we take part in the practice of dueling, in which various corps at German universities sought then as now their glory. I can recollect but two cases during my time at Bonn that a member of the Franconia fought a duel, and of those we were by no means proud. There is probably no civilized people to-day, except, perhaps, the French, in which enlightened public opinion does not look upon and condemn dueling as a remnant of medieval barbarity. While excuses may sometimes be offered in cases of exceptional insult, it is no longer accepted as evidence of true courage nor as the best means for a man to guard or avenge his honor; and the professional duelist who by frequent encounters creates suspicion that he is wantonly seeking an opportunity for a fight wins rather the reputation of being a rude if not a criminal ruffian than the renown of a hero. The true gentleman has ceased to be ashamed of invoking the law for the protection of his own or his family's or friends' honor when that honor may need protection; and the world has begun to suspect the man who for its defense breaks the law instead of appealing to it. Irresistibly this view is becoming public opinion among all truly civilized peoples.

In what light then, in the face of this public opinion, does that portion of the so-called educated youth in German universities stand, which, not making even injured honor an excuse, cultivates the duel as a form of social amusement, and finds glory in the number of scars won in causeless combats? The precautionary measures customary at German