I wanted more. I looked from face to face surrounding me, and in most of
them I found reflected undoubtedly my own sensations. If it be a good
thing to excite this blood thirst in the modern man, then the Mensur is a
useful institution. But is it a good thing? We prate about our
civilisation and humanity, but those of us who do not carry hypocrisy to
the length of self-deception know that underneath our starched shirts
there lurks the savage, with all his savage instincts untouched.
Occasionally he may be wanted, but we never need fear his dying out. On
the other hand, it seems unwise to over-nourish him.

In favour of the duel, seriously considered, there are many points to be
urged. But the Mensur serves no good purpose whatever. It is
childishness, and the fact of its being a cruel and brutal game makes it
none the less childish. Wounds have no intrinsic value of their own; it
is the cause that dignifies them, not their size. William Tell is
rightly one of the heroes of the world; but what should we think of the
members of a club of fathers, formed with the object of meeting twice a
week to shoot apples from their sons' heads with cross-bows? These young
German gentlemen could obtain all the results of which they are so proud
by teasing a wild cat! To join a society for the mere purpose of getting
yourself hacked about reduces a man to the intellectual level of a
dancing Dervish. Travellers tell us of savages in Central Africa who
express their feelings on festive occasions by jumping about and slashing
themselves. But there is no need for Europe to imitate them. The Mensur
is, in fact, the _reductio ad absurdum_ of the duel; and if the Germans
themselves cannot see that it is funny, one can only regret their lack of
humour.

But though one may be unable to agree with the public opinion that
supports and commands the Mensur, it at least is possible to understand.
The University code that, if it does not encourage it, at least condones
drunkenness, is more difficult to treat argumentatively. All German
students do not get drunk; in fact, the majority are sober, if not
industrious. But the minority, whose claim to be representative is
freely admitted, are only saved from perpetual inebriety by ability,
acquired at some cost, to swill half the day and all the night, while
retaining to some extent their five senses. It does not affect all
alike, but it is common in any University town to see a young man