These observations are not intended to condemn this philosophical view of the subject. Were these excesses noticed at the pistol’s muzzle, it would only be adding murder to corruption; and, as society is constituted, when an electioneering hustings may be oftentimes compared to a stall at Billinsgate, a candidate who seeks to vindicate what he is complacently pleased to call _his honour_, must indeed be a Quixotic character, when he in general conscientiously knows that every syllable of his address to the voters is void of veracity, and all his pledges futile and false. The frequent occurrence of duels, in former times, may also be attributed to the mode of living in days fortunately gone by. Hard drinking is now rarely heard of; and when it was in fashion, insults were often given under the influence of liquor, and vindicated under the plea of excitement from the preceding night’s excesses. In Ireland it was not uncommon for parties to sit up carousing during the entire night preceding the murderous meeting; and the break of day, through the casement of the hall of revelry, was the signal for departure to the field. One of the greatest curses of intemperance is the extreme susceptibility which it gives our pride and vanity; and if there is any ground for the proverb, _in vino veritas_, it may be attributed to the fact, that under this potent influence we sometimes know ourselves better than in our more sober hours. The pangs of repentance are more bitter, although they may be transient in these moments of excited reflection, when the past, the present, and the future are exaggerated in all their circumstances by an imagination morbidly vivid. It is then that we love, and hate, with all the energy of our hearts; that all our evil passions, and sometimes our good feelings, prevail; for the miser, over his cups, may become generous; the barbarous, humane; and the man who has perpetrated the most reckless crimes, will weep with apparent anguish over ideal woes. Were it possible to ascertain the influence of intemperance in the many duels that have been fought, it would doubtless appear that many of these fatal quarrels would never have taken place in a sober society. It is also to be observed, that duels, when of constant recurrence, became the subject of general conversation, and duels, like suicide, bear a fashionably contagious character, which spreads widely in society, and then the most mistaken of criminals fancies that he must also avenge certain wrongs, or rid himself of an uncertain life. The one feels a pleasure in killing a supposed enemy, and the other seeks a riddance from pain by killing himself. The one thinks that he must establish a character of courage, not to be despised by society, and the suicide bids farewell to a society which he disgraces; whereas, neither the one nor the other in these desperate acts displays a particle of true courage.