The Sun.
London, England, 1837-09-23 00:00:00

troducing into it more gold than the mines of South
America had even furnished the avaricious Spaniards
with. This precious metal, indeed, circulated there
with the greatest activity, and with it luxury and ex-
travagance, as usual, kept pace, in every kind of plea-
surable enjoyment. Neither is this to be wonderers.
at. Under the burning atmosphere of the tropics the
passions, naturally quick, become ardent, and even
volcanic ; while riches, which in great measure give
rise to them, offer every means of gratifying them.
At the period to which we allude, namely, the
year 1788—the most predominating passion of the
wealthy inhabitants of St. Domingo was the baneful
and pestilent one of gaming. Still, the games of cal-
culation, in which address and skill neutralise, in some

degree, the chances of fortune, were not sufficient for
the grasping inquietude and covetotri ideas of its vota-
ries. They looked forward to those games in which
the facinating expectations of gaining a large sum by a
few throws of the dice were most likely to be realised,

and a fortune made or lost, in the course of a few

hours. So far, indeed, was this thirst for gaming car-
ried that it was not an uncommon occurrence to see

houses and estates, with the complement of negtoes be-
longing to them, depending on the throw of the dice.
They (the dice) were placed upon the table by dozens,
when the player picked, out " three," and commenced

his acts of desperation, submitting himself to the power
P P .

of fate.

In the year 1788 one Captain St. Every, the son of
a very licit sugar proprietor, was about twenty-six
years of age ; and, although possessed of an immense
fortune, had embraced the profession of arms, and was

serving in a regiment at Port-au-Prince. In the ma-
nagement of the sword and pistol he was quite with-
out a rival, and brave even to temerity. Still he took
nothing like unfair advantage of his dexterity, and
when engaged in a conflict- he generally contrived
slightly to wound his opponents. In this he was
lucky, even to insolence ; although he had been him-
self occasionally wounded, and, in his numerous duels,
had left many traces of blood in the society of St. Do-
mingo. He possessed many amiable qualities, although
he was more feared than loved ; for as much as his up-
right conduct and prepossessing manners could not
make amends for the impetuosity of his character, his
propensity for duelling, and his attachment to gaming—
for it is, unfortunately, necessary to add that he was a

gamester.

- One evening, in a house of public resort for gaming
in Port-au-Prince, a few of the inhabitants were seated
round a table, waiting until a sufficient number of per-
sons arrived to enable them to commence play. At
length one of them called out" Wllo will play ?" " I
will play," said the Captain of a French frigate, who
happened to be at that time in the town ; and taking
the box, threw the dice, to win or lose, as he thought,
the amount of a small sum of money which was put
upon the table. Of course he was ignorant of the
game--at all events of the stake—about to be played.
" Monsieur le Commandant," exclaimed Captain St.
Every, " you have won ; take up your winnings ;" at the
same time pushing towards him several bags of gold. At
the appearance of their contents the captain of the frigate
shrank back with astonishment, supposing he had only run
the risk of winning or losing the small sum he saw on the
table, which did not exceed a few crown pieces (probably
counters); and, gently pushing from him the bags, addressed
the party thus :
" Gentlemen, I should be wanting, not only in good man-
ners, but in common honesty, if I were to appropriate to
myself these sums, the winning of which I never, in the
least degree, contemplated ; having only, as I thought,
played for the trifling sum I saw lying on the table. I can-
not, therefore, look upon this enormous quantity of gold as
properly my right,"
" Sir," said Captain St. Every, " you must take it ; for,
if you had lost, you would have been obliged to pay the
same sum.

" You are mistaken, Sir," replied the naval captain, " if
you think so. Ido not conceive my honour endangered in
refusing to pay a debt which I never contracted, nor in re-
fusing to accept of so large a sum, which I never enter-
tained an idea of winning."
_ _ _ _

" Monsieur le Commandant," rejoined the Captain St.
Every, elevating his voice to the highest pitch, "if you
had lost you should have paid. I would have made you
do so."

There was in this language, and in the tone in which

the words were delivered, aiT evident desire of provoca-
tion, which could not escape the notice of the naval
captain ; and he answered it in a similar manner. The
result was a challenge, which the exertions of the
bystanders were not able to prevent.
" Sir," said Captain St. Every to his adversary, " as I
do not wish to take any advantage over you, which my
known ability in the use of the sword and the pistol gives
me, I will offer you terms of equality. Let a pistol be
brought here instantly, and charged, and the chance of the
dice shall determine which of the two shall blow out the
other's brains."

Accepted !" replies the Captain of the frigate.

'A feeling of horror agitated the whole of the so-

ciety present ; several per—sons left the room, trembling
for the consequences, and resolved not to be witnesses
of the bloody conflict ; whilst others, more hardened
in their nature, and excited by a brutal curiosity, ap-
proached nearer to the combatants, who were sitting

exactly opposite to each other, and separated only by
a table four feet in width. Whilst a third person was
loading the pistol the silence of death pervaded the
assembly, and the calm was only interrupted by some
words which passed between the adversaries, but not
of an aggravating nature ; for it was observed that
they alone preserved a coolness of temper in these fear-
ful moments.

When the pistol was charged each of the parties
minutely examined it ; and, finding it in proper order,
one of them placed it on the table, on which were
lying, in two heaps, the dice. Each drew out three,
and it was decided that the naval captain should have
the first throw. He took up the box with a firm
hand, and putting into it the instruments which were
to award him either his life or death, he shook them,
and threw eleven.

" `chat is a good throw, Commandant," said Captain St.

Every, suspending for a minute his own throw. " The
chance is in your favour ; but listen to me ; if it turns out,
as it appears to me it will, that fortune has favoured you.
I beg you will have neither mercy nor pity upon me ; for,
rest assured, you shall have none from me. Moreover, I
should consider either as a coward that would think of
sparing the other."
Sir," observed the Commandant, " I do not stand in
need of your impertinent remonstrances to teach me how
to act in this or in any other affair."
St. Every then took the box, and having put into it
the dice threw them : they numbered. fifteen.
The company present were now horror-stricken.
Monsieur le Commandant calmly rose from his seat,
and, presenting to his antagonist, or rather to his enemy,
the firm attitude of a brave man, was thus addressed
by him—
" Your life belongs to me, Sir," throwing down the dice
on the table, and taking the pistol in his hand. " Recom.
mend your soul to God."
" Fire, Sir'." replied the commandant, placing his hand
on his heart ; " an honest man is always ready to
lie was not allowed to finish the sentence. St. Every's
ball scattered his brains about the room, and also upon
the persons of several of those who were present!
After this horrible catastrophe, on which the public
voice was most loud against Captain St. Every, that
officer was no longer looked upon but with horror, and
was avoided and shunned by almost every person in the
colony ; which treatment he acknowledged by expres-
sions of hatred and disdain. At length, on the break-
ing out of the insurrection at St. Domingo, he entered
the service of the enemy e., the English), and
served as Captain under the orders of General Sir
Thomas Maitland ; in which he displayed proofs of
great bravery, as well as the most consummate ability
in the art of war. The insurgents owed almost all
their success to his talents, even to their last battle at
Ivois, near Tiburon, where he was killed by a ball in
his ribs at the very moment victory declared for him.`

-
ESCAPE FROM DROWNING.—Experiments have,
recently been made on the floating capabilities of a sub-
stance composed principally of pulverized cork. It appears,
that a mattress made of this material, weighing only 2.51b5.,
cannot he tunic by the weight of seven men, and that one
or two persons might float on it in the midst of the ocean
with as great security from drowning as if on board ship.
The beds, cushions, Szc., made of this material, are more
elastic, soft, and eomfortab:e than those of the best hair,
and never become matted.