Dr. Johnson has frequently been quoted, on the subject of duelling. Some of his opinions were delivered, on this subject, suddenly, and seem entirely unworthy of his majestic powers. At a dinner party, at Gen. Oglethorpe's--I refer to Boswell's Johnson, in ten volumes, Lond. 1835, vol. iii. page 216--Boswell brought up the subject of duelling. Gen. Oglethorpe, _the host_, "fired at this, and said, with a lofty air, 'undoubtedly a man has a right to defend his honor.'" Dr. Johnson, the _principal guest_, did the civil thing, and took the same side, and is reported, by Boswell, to have said substantially--"Sir, as men become in a high degree refined, various causes of offence arise; which are considered to be of such importance, that life must be staked to atone for them; though, in reality, they are not so. A body, that has received a very fine polish, may be easily hurt. Before men arrive at this artificial refinement, if one tells his neighbor he lies--his neighbor tells him he lies--if one gives his neighbor a blow, his neighbor gives him a blow: but, in a state of highly polished society, an affront is held to be a serious injury. It must therefore be resented, or rather a duel must be fought upon it; as men have agreed to banish, from society, one, who puts up with an affront, without fighting a duel. Now, sir, it is never unlawful to fight, in self-defence. He, then, who fights a duel, does not fight from passion against his antagonist, but out of self-defence, to avert the stigma of the world, and to prevent himself from being driven out of society. I could wish there was not that superfluity of refinement; but, while such notions prevail, no doubt a man may lawfully fight a duel." I must have another witness, besides Mr. Boswell, before I believe, that Dr. Johnson uttered these words. Dr. Johnson could never have maintained, that the _lawfulness_ of an act depended upon the existence of certain popular _notions_. Nor is it true, nor was it then true, that _men have agreed to banish, from society, one, who puts up with an affront, without fighting a duel_. Dr. Johnson seems to have made no distinction, between military men and the rest of the world. It is impossible to doubt, that the Doctor was graciously disposed to favor Gen. Oglethorpe's _notions_, and that he would have taken the opposite side, had he been the guest of the Archbishop of Canterbury. "_It is not unlawful to fight, in self-defence_:" the law, by punishing all killing, in a duel, as murder, in the very first degree, shows clearly enough, that duelling is never looked upon, as fighting, in self-defence. It is remarkable, that Mr. Boswell, himself a lawyer, should have thought this paragraph worthy of preservation.