The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-01 00:00:00

DUEL AT A CAFE AT POITIERS.

'l: he doors were closed, and the swords brought. The
two adversaries cast lots for them, and then pulled off their
coats and waistcoats, and unbuttoned their shirts to show
that they had nothing under. Both then took their swords.
The officer wrapt round his hand a handkerchief, leaving
both ends dangling. Alfonse neglected this practice, the
object of which was to distract the attention of the ad-
versary by the perpetual flutter of their two white points,
thus to turn away his attention from the sword. But Al-
fonse had a manner of fighting of his own, and cared little
for these petty proceedings. lie never looked at the steel ;
but fixing his eye on that of his antagonist, anticipated
every motion that he made. The two wrestlers, or
gladiators, got on the billiard-table together, and, accord-
ing to the terms or conditions agreed on between the
students and the officers, rested their swords on the toes of
their boots. A traveller from a commercial house who hap-
pened to be present, and could have no interest in the scene
other than what its novelty excited, was fixed on to clap his
hands three times, and at the third the swords were upraised
in the air, and the two combatants came to guard. A terrible
silence reigned through the room, and for some seconds it
was only broken by the clashing of the steel ; for both par-
ties, as they skirmished, were well aware that a single faux
pas was death. The slightest stepping back, shrinking of
the body, or leaping on one side, must inevitably prove
fatal. The officer was a head and shoulders taller than
Alfonse, and looked as though he could crush him ; but he
little heeded this advantage, if advantage it was, for he by
degrees lowered his body till he was rigt under the sword
of his foe, and almost bent himself down upon the bed of
the table. No other change in his attitude then took place.
All at once the officer, taking this posture for the effect of
fear, made a furious lunge, which was parried with the
greatest sang fi old and skill, and Alfonse allowed the officer
to return to his ground without attempting to return it.
His adversary was deceived by this sort of timid defence,
and, become more adventurous, attacked him again with
increased fury—so much so, that, thrown off his guard, his
left foot quitted the cushion of the table, against which it
had been fixed. Then it was that Alfonse made a rapid lunge
at the officer's face. He endeavoured to regain the ground he
had lost, to resume his position. The student would not give
him time, and charged with impetuosity his disconcerted
enemy, who could only avoid his thrust by keepingthe ta his body
bent backwards. Alfonse forced him to the edge of ble,
when his foot tripped, and at that moment drove the sword
up to the hilt in his heart. The unhappy officer cried out,
Hit! hit !" Then he raised himself to his full height and
then tell backwards from the top of the table to the floor.
Awful was the sound that the weight of that body made
upon the boards of the room ! There was mixed up with
it a feeling—a dread lest the dead man should hurt himself
in falling. Never did I see, for I was present, so dreadful
a contest ! Never did I experience anything so frightful as
the silence of those two men—as the flashing of their swords
by the light of the lamps—as the fall of the vanquished—
who, disappearing behind the table, seemed at once to have
been engulfed in a tomb that opened from behind to receive
him !—Bentley's Miscellany.

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It is upwards of thirty years since M. Garnerin, the
aeronaut, descended with a parachute attached to a balloon,
and passed over the north part of Westminster and Maryle-
bone. He enlarged himself when floating over Welling's farm,
and came down in a field East of the Jew's Harp tavern.
When he separated from the balloon, he was more than the
height of the ball of St. Paul's Cathedral, and then the sudden
rise of the balloon made the parachute appear as if descending
to the earth with frightful rapidity, and what added to the ter-
ror' of the spectators was, the parachute for some time was col-
lapsed, before it expanded like an umbrella, and the car , ap-
peared to undulate, and during the vibration it was thought
that the aeronaut would be thrown out ; but Garnerin after-
wards said, this was a deception of the vision arising from-the
undulating of the parachute only. When it expanded, he came
down gradually in the field, but dreadfully exhausted, bleeding,
at the nose and at both ears. The first who arrived to his as-
sistance was the late Rev. Sir Bate Dudley, who was or,
horseback, and soon after the writer of this article came to his
assistance with several others. When he released himself from
the balloon, there was a general shriek from the crowd, which
was immense, and who supposed him to have been killed by
the fall. He was indisposed for about three days ; but then
cfradually recovered from the experiment. Had the unfortu-
nate Mr. Cocking consulted any person who had witnessed the
descent of M. Garnerin, of the dreadful suffering and the
prostration of strength of the latter, when he reached the earth
bleeding, Mr. Cocking would have paused, at least, if not re-
linquished his fatal experiment in descending with a para-
chute, by which he was deprived of his existence.
As we never for a moment doubted the easy return
of our two old and highly respected members, there is really
no occasion for triumph in the result of the election. Ve
may just mention, however, as an encouragement and ex-
zirni:le to other places, that the majority of Mr. Poulett
Thomson over the Tory candidate was no less than 1,867, and
that of Mr. Philips 1,469 ; being in each case many hundreds
more than on any former occasion. No wonder the Tories
were unable to find a candidate who would consent to come
forward in propria persona, when such wits tha hopeful pros-
pect that awaited the enterprise.—Manchester Guardian.