Duelling [ Politics & Society ]
… Just as the upper classes had their ‘roisters’, ‘hectors’, and duellists, so the lower classes had their street bullies, ‘ruffians’, and ‘roaring boys’. 1 In spite of the image of the eighteenth century as an age of politeness, duels … that duels are not a sign of courage and honour but, on the contrary, of shame and dishonour. For Bacon, true honour lies in the rewards of virtue, and no insult can alter this. To oppose duels is to question the ideals of civility and … wherein consists neyther manhood nor wisdome. Necessarie for all magistrates, officers of peace, masters of families, the confirmation of youth, and for all his Maiesties most true and faithfull subiects: to the generall auoyding of …
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