party of his own friends directly opposite to
him. Both their pistols were out in a moment, and were presented.
"Would you prefer dining first?" said the general, who was remarkable
for coolness and presence of mind. "I have no objection," replied the
other, and the pistols were withdrawn. Some observation, however,
occasioned the pistols to be again produced before the dinner was over;
and then the friends interfered, each party removing so many feet above
and below, so as to separate them.

A day or two afterwards they again met at the corner of a street, and
the weapons were produced; but the general, who had some important
business to transact, said, "I believe, sir, I can, and you know I can,
cock a pistol as soon as any man. I give you your choice; shall it be
now, or at some future meeting?"--"At some future meeting then," replied
his antagonist, "for, to confess the truth, general, I should like to
_have you at an advantage_; that is to say, I should like to shoot you,
when your back is turned."

I have observed that there is a total want of moral courage on the part
of the more respectable population, who will quietly express their
horror and disgust at such scenes, but who will never interfere, if the
most barbarous murder is committed close to where they are standing. I
spoke to many gentlemen on this subject, expressing my surprise; the
invariable answer was, "If we interfered we should only hurt ourselves,
and do no good; in all probability we should have the quarrel fixed upon
ourselves, and risk our own lives, for a man whom we neither know nor
care about."

In one case only, the Southerners hang together, which is, if the
quarrel is with a stranger. Should the stranger have the best of it,
all the worse for him; for, by their own understanding, the stranger
must be _whipped_. (Whipping is the term for being conquered, whether
the contest is with or without weapons.) No stranger can therefore
escape, if he gets into a quarrel; although they fight with each other,
on this point the Southerners are all agreed, and there is no chance of
escape.

A striking proof of indifference to human life shown by the authorities
took place when I was in the West. Colonel C, returning with his
regiment from Florida, passed through a town in the State of Tennessee.
In a quarrel, one of his soldiers murdered a citizen; and the colonel,
who respected the laws, immediately sent the soldier as a prisoner, with
a