Istartedthequestionwhetherduellingwasconsistentwithmoralduty。ThebraveoldGeneralfiredatthis，andsaid，withaloftyair，’Undoubtedlyamanhasarighttodefendhishonour。’
GOLDSMITH。turningtome，’Iaskyoufirst，Sir，whatwouldyoudoifyouwereaffronted？’IansweredIshouldthinkitnecessarytofight。’Whythen，repliedGoldsmith，thatsolvesthequestion。’JOHNSON。’No，Sir，itdoesnotsolvethequestion。Itdoesnotfollowthatwhatamanwoulddoisthereforeright。’I
said，Iwishedtohaveitsettled，whetherduellingwascontrarytothelawsofChristianity。Johnsonimmediatelyenteredonthesubject，andtreateditinamasterlymanner；andsofarasIhavebeenabletorecollect，histhoughtswerethese：’Sir，asmenbecomeinahighdegreerefined，variouscausesofoffencearise；
whichareconsideredtobeofsuchimportance，thatlifemustbestakedtoatoneforthem，thoughinrealitytheyarenotso。A
bodythathasreceivedaveryfinepolishmaybeeasilyhurt。