The Express.
London, England, 1862-11-20 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 20, 1862..

that' ou the first scratch the combatants should be
separated. He also knew that Mr. Dillon was a
crack shot with the pistol. He would have facili-
tated any possible terms of arrangement, but
Mr. Dillon instated upon nothing less than a
coinpfste (desiring Colonel de Nod to under-
line that word) written retractation, and the
insertion of it in several newspapers. Those
were terms which he could not submit to.
Being asked whether, when Viscount de Nod
insisted on Dillon's incapacity to use the sword, he
had not said, "Bo muck the worse for him. We
give him till five o'clock to consider ; if then he
does not consent to meet us with swords, we shall
consider him as a scamp, aaddrive him off everyrace-
course in Europe." He admitted the use, in sub-
stance, of those expressions, but with the qualifica-
tion that he had prefixed to the threat to drive him
off the turf, the words "if be continues to insult
us." This important addition was confirmed by
Mr. Dillon's seconds, but to the end of the trial the
judge and the Procureur Imperial disputed their
authenticity, on the ground that they were not men-
tioned in the depositions taken by the Judge of
Instruction and ought, therefore, to be considered
as an afterthought.
Viscount de Nod said that Mr. Dillon was un-

hnougijp boifose the duel. He bad seen him
tAbe', irtliThrlirfrabi,iSterbiltiteyestrs ago.
But on being asked to be his second he at once
both because he (the viscount) was now a
jo • himself, and because, according to the
military school in which he had been brought up,
be was always ready to act as a "friend" to any-
body requiring one. Here the viscount excited
some laughter by pointing to the densely packed
crowd of soldiers of the Versailles garrison at the
bottom of the court, who seemed highly to applaud
Lie doctrines. He said that Dillon was utterly
ignorant of the art of fencing, and had never so
much as had a foil in his hand in his life. The day
before the duel he recommended him to take at
least one lesson, and offered to accompany him to a
fencing master. They first went to the celebrated
M. Pons, but he, on hearing that the object was to
fight the Duke de Gramont Caderousse objected to
give the lesson, on the ground that the latter
had been a pupil of his. Thereupon they went
to M. Gatechair, in the Parap de l'Opera. This
professor observed that Mr. Dillon was utterly
Ignorant, but he thought it possible to teach him a
particular lunge by which he would have a good
chance to kill his adversary, if his second had the
luck to put him in a good position. This deadly
rehearsal was practised by Mr. Dillon in the pre-
sence of Viscount de Noe, and the latter said be
encouraged hint to think that if be well remembered
his lesson he would spit (embrother) the duke. The
laughter which followed this word caused the judge
to beg Viscount de Nob to avoid, if possible, such
technical duellists' expressions, which, although he
did not use them with levity, were liable to be mis-
understood by the profane. Viscount de Noe being
asked why, after having expressed an opinion
that Dillon was entitled to the choice of arms, he
had so easily yielded the point, and why he had
not tried to effect an amicable arrangement, Raid
that Dillon would bear of nothing but a meeting,
or a written apology, which the other side would
not give. He described Mr. Dillon as ravenous to
" eat Caderousse " (manger di Caderousse). He
himself told Dillon that his demand for a complete
retractation was tantamount to asking the Duke to
go down on his knees to him. I observe here that
Viscount de Nesi, who as an old soldier had told
Dillon from the first that a duel was a serious
thing, and that he could only consent to be •
second on condition of his placing himself entirely
in his bands ? He does not seem to have
been quite consistent in going on the ground,
when his principal, on his own showing,
required more from the adversary than
he thought right to ask. Viscount de Noes answer
to this is that Dillon was determined to fight, and
threatened to get other seconds if the viscount
abandoned him. I must say I think that an inade-
quate reason, and that such a man as Colonel de
No 4 would have shown better judgment if he had
insisted upon either correcting his principal's undue
exigency or leaving him to seek another friend.
I Viscount de Nod, who seemed to feel his position
more acutely than any of the other prisoners, said
he did not sleep for a week after the duel, and that
"that man's figure was for ever before him."
A painful incident occurred when the witnesses
were called. One circumstance which hastened the
duel and perhaps prevented an arrangement was
the appearance in the Figaro of a paragraph stating
that a duel between a member of the Jockey Club
wearing a ducal coronet and the editor of a sport-
ing journal had been likely not to come off, on ac-
count of the plebeian character (rotnre) of the
journalist. The Duke de Gramont Caderousse in-
dignantly denied that he had ever for one moment
considered his title as any privilege in a question of
honour. M. de Villemessaut, editor of the Figaro, on
being asked by the judge why he had inserted that
cruel paragraph, so likely to do mischief, when a I
duel was pending, said that he bad it from
good authority, but must decline to mention
the name. The judge sternly told him that he could
plead no legal privilege for this reticence and that
be must Ray who told him. M. de Villemessant
replied that the person was in court, and might de-
clare himself if he pleased, but that he positively
declined to state it. Thereupon Viscount de Nod
rose and said that he had spoken to M. de Ville-
messant about the pending duel, but he positively
denied having said a word to autboriae the supposi-
tion that the Duke de Gramont had objected to
Mr. Dillon as a plebeian. A violent altercation
ensued upon this point, and the Procureur Imperial
made some most severe observation! upon the
Figaro, asking by what right it pretended to be the
Moniteur of duelling, and to egg on to deadly strife
parties who might be disposed to make friendly
arrangements 1

The- hour is so late that I must postpone till
to-morrow a notice of the speechin of counsel.
The result, as I sent you word by telegraph, is
an unqualified acquittal of all parties.
Mrs. Dillon's claim for damages, laid at 80,000 f.,
is not affected by the acquittal. Her attorney said
that her papers were not ready, and the matter
stands over till Monday. It is understood that the
duke has offered her 25,000 f., as a compensation for
the loss of her son's assistance.