Excerpt from The Duel Between France and Germany: With Its Lesson to Civilization In likening war between nations to the duel, I fol low not only reason, but authority also. N 0 better lawyer can be named in the long history of the English bar than John Selden, whose learning was equalled only by his large intelligence. In those conversations which under the name of table-talk continue still to in struct, the Wise counsellor, after saying that the Church allowed the duel anciently, and that in the public litur gies there were prayers appointed for duellists to say, keenly inquires, But whether is this lawful? And then he answers, If you grant any war lawful, I make no doubt but to convince it.1 Selden regarded the simple duel and the larger war as governed by the same rule. Of course the exercise of force in the suppres sion of rebellion, or in the maintenance of laws, stands on a different principle, being in its nature a constab ulary proceeding, which cannot be confounded with the duel. But my object is not to question the lawfulness of war; I would simply present an image, enabling you to see the existing war in its true character. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.