Sir  Har.  No,  by  my  soul  !  And  how  should  it  ?  You
came  off  too  triumphantly.  You  were  not  luirt.  Yoit
have  no  marks  to  shew.  May  I  be  cursed,  if,  in  forgiving
you,  which  yet  I  know  not  how  to  do,  1  do  not  think  my-
self the  greater  hero !

Sir  Ch.  I  will  not  contest  that  point  with  you.  Sir  Har-
grave. There  is  no  doubt  but  the  man,  who  can  subdue
his  passion  and  forgive  a  real  iii.j'J''y,  is  a  hero.  Only  re-
member, sir,  that  it  was  not  owing  to  your  virtue  that  I
was  not  hurt ;  and  that  it  was  not  my  intention  to  hurt  t/om.
Mr.  Jor.  I  am  charmed  with  your  soiliments.  Sir
Charles.  You  nuist  allow  me  the  honour  of  your  acquaint-


SIR  CHARLES  GRANDISON.  51

ance.     We  all  acknowledge  duelling  to  be  criminal ;  but
no  one  has  the  courage  to  break  through  a  bad  custom.
Sir  Ch.  The  empty,  the  false  glory,  that  men  have  to
be  thought  brave,  and  the  apprehension  of  being  deemed
cowards  among  men,  and  among  women  too,  very  few  men
aim  to  get  above.
Mr.  J  or.  But  you.  Sir  Charles,  have  shewn  that  repu-
tation and  conscience  are  entirely  reconcileable.
Mr.  Bag.  You  have,  by  Heaven  !  And  I  beg  of  you,
sir,  to  allow  me  to  claim  your  further  acquaintance.  You
may  save  a  soul  by  it. — Merceda,  what  say  you  1

Mr.  Mer.  Say  !  What  a  devil  can  I  say?  But  the  doc-
trine would  have  been  nothing  without  the  example.
Sir  Har.  And  all  this  at  my  expense! — But,  Sir
Charles,  I  must,  I  will  have  Miss  Byron.
