The Kowloon duel case, in which Mr, Leon Checa challenged Mr. de In Torre Bueno Supreme Court, by Acting Chief Justice Ball, to fight, has been disposed of at the Hongkon; The following remarks by his Lordship, in which are included an extract from a judgment delivered at the beginning of the century, will be read with interest. He said—tho de-simply, devolved on him to pose sentence Lest the odious practice of duelling should become on this precedent a recognised mode of settling disputes in this Colony, he would read a judgment of Justice Grosse delivered in 1803 in a very similar case, His Lordship hen sued ha following passage from this judgment "This offence in modern times is #0 frequent, that it is become alarming to the public, and induces me to suspect that men ither are not aware of the consequences the fence lead to, or are become insensil sad to the mischiefs of them. That fill duel is a grievous breach of the peace doubted, and that it ought to be so considered la as clear; inasmuch as it may lead to one of the worst of crimes, murder; the murder of one probably, and possibly of more, I 1a} stress upon the word murder, because fear some are ignorant, and others will perversely not understand that to kill a man in a duel amounts to the crime of deliberate murder, whether he that gave or he that accepted the challenge fall. To every lawyer this is a proposition perfectly clear; but that others who are not of the profession may as perfectly be assured of it, I will read only a passage or two from the most able writers upon the subject, to shew that it doctrine not of modern date, but coeval with the first institution of our laws. By Sir Matthew Hale, as correct, as leat and as humane a Judge as ever bench of justice, we find it laid down that if A. challenge C. to meet in the field to fight, and decline it as much as he can, but is threat ened by A. to be posted for'a coward, (an ingredient to be found, I fear, in this case in substance, though not' in terms), if he meet not thereupon 4, and B, hisgecond, and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.