The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-26 00:00:00

A GALLANT ENCOUNTER.

" Have I the honour of addressing MacGregor of Inver-
snaid ?" said he, politely lifting his hat when within 10
paces of Rob Roy, who replied sternly—
" I am MacGregor. Had you styled me by another
name than that which my father left me, I would have
killed you on the instant. And you—"
" I am Sir James Livingstone. I have nothing to do
with the laws which seek the suppression of your name and
the destruction of your clan, save that I reprobate them;
but I demand by what right you have broken the King's
peace, and come thither in arms to plunder a peaceful dis
trict ?"

" For three sufficient causes," replied Rob ; " first, I have
the old Highland right by which we can at ary time make
a warlike inroad on our enemies, which the Buchanans of
Kippen and Arnprior have been since that black day in
Glenfruin ; secondly, I break the peace of him you name a
king because I deem him a Dutch usurper; and thirdly, I
take from cowards that which they have not the heart to
defend."

" I regret to hear all this," replied Sir James, persua-
sively, " for there will be much blood shed, MacGregor, it
you do not yield up the spoil your people have collected."
" Yield it—to whom I'l' asked MacGregor, loftily.
" To me."

" Little care we for bloodshed," said the other, bitterly ;
"your foreign kings and Lowland laws have made Clan
Alpine like the Arabs of the desert, whose hands are against
all men, because the hands of all men are uplifted against
them. Yet I, personally, have no wish to slay any of your
people. You are a gentleman and a soldier, whose charac-
ter I value and honour ; thus, if you choose, I will fight
with you here, hand to hand, with target and claymore, in
front of our men, and the spoil shall belong to him who
draws the first blood."

" Agreed," replied Sir James, sternly ; but, though ex-
pert enough in the use of the sword, I am unused to such a
defence as the target."
"That shall be no hindrance," said Rob, as he handed to
MacAleister his round shield, which was composed of triple
bull's-hide, stretched over wood, covered with antique
brass bosses, and had a long spike of steel screwed into its
centre.

The friends of Sir James now crowded around him, and
bade him be wary, and remember the vast strength of Rob
Roy ; the great skill he possessed, the weight of his sword,
and the advantage his length of arm gave him over others.
These warnings were not without effect on Sir James, who
was too brave to be without prudence. He came forward,
and, lifting his little three-cocked hat, the edge of which
was bound with feathers, like these of all the officers who
served in King William's war, he said,—
" I agree to meet you, MacGregor, as a gentleman, on
the distinct understanding that the entire spoil shall remain
with him who is fortunate enough to draw the first blood ;
buc, as being the person challenged, I claim the right to
choose my weapon, and for many reasons prefer the pistol."
" Be it so," replied Rob, laughing, as Sir James divested
himself of his glittering cuirass : "I am not an old trooper
like you, yet am a good marksman, nevertheless."
" Are your pistols loaded ?"
'"l'he pistols of a MacGregor are seldom otherwise, in
these times," said Rob, as his countenance darkened;
" and yours ? '

"Are loaded, too."
"Shall we fire together, or toss up for the first shot ?"
asked MacGregor.
" We will toss for the first shot, if you please," replied
Livingstone, who, aware that he was a deadly marksman,
and had fought several duels in France and Flanders with
terrible success, had no fears as to the result, if the lot fell
to him.

"Then, Sir James, toss for me, but remain where you
are," said MacGregor, with indifference:
"And you will take my word for the coin—for the re-
sult I" exclaimed Livingstone, with something of adrairatim
in his tone and face.
"Had I doubted your word, I would not fight with you.
On equal terms I meet none but gentlemen."
A servant of Sir James, a man in liyery, armed with
musket, now came hastily forward to suggest some trickery,
which his master repelled with scorn.—even with anger,
He threw up the coin—a crown piece ;it glittered in the
air, and then fell on the grass.

"A head I" said a
MacGregor.
head," replied Sir James,
4' I regret to say it is not
touching his hat, while his cheek flushed with triumph :
" so I have won the first shot I"
A shout of at buret from the MaeGiregors on heating

this; but Livingstone's followers waved their bonnets and
clapped their hands in exultation.
It was strange, the scene which took place on that morn-
ing, on the wide moor of Kippen. On one side the grim
band of armed MacGregors, in their red tartans, with drawn
swords, Lochaber axes, and long muskets, guarding the
whole spoil of the parish, and keeping together the herds of
lowing cattle and tethered horses, laden with bags of grain,
bedding, and household utensils.

On the other, the well-armed retainers of Sir James
Livingstone, cress-belted and armed with pike and musket;
and midway between, the striking and picturesque figures
of the two combatants, who were to decide the affray, stand-
ing about twelve paces apart, with a pistol in each hand.

TILE DUEL.
Sir James drew up his tall and soldier•like figure to its
full height, and buttoning to the throat his long-skirted
scarlet coat, the breast of which was covered with broad
bars of silver lace, he fixed his keen dark eyes steadily on
the figure of Rob Roy. He then levelled a pistol at the
full length of his right arm, and every eye was bent upon
the muzzle from which death was expected to issue.
Rob's coat was of rough, home-made, brown stuff, desti-
tute of lace or ornament; but his great belted plaid of scarlet
tartan filled up the eye. His pistols were bright as silver,
and came from the famous workshop established at Doune,
so long ago as 1646, by Thomas Cadell. A silver chain
suspended his splendidly carved powder-horn, and his dirk
and broadsword were elaborately mounted with silver. Sir
James covered him with his pistol and fired I
A shout of rage and dismay burst from the MacGregors,
as Rob's bonnet was turned round on his head, and, cut
by the bullet, one of his eagle feathers floated away on the
breeze.

" That was a good shot, Sir James," said Rob, smiling,
as he replaced his bonnet; "an inch lower, and there would
have been one MacGregor less in the world to persecute.
Under favour, sir, it is now my turn."
Raising one of the claw-butted, steel, Highland pistols,
he cocked and levelled it straight at the head of Living.
stone, whose eye never quailed, and whose gallant spirit
never flinched. Then suddenly lowering the weapon, he
said, "One cannot always be a hero like Fingal, but one
may always be a gentleman. I am, as you know, Sir James,
a deadly shot, and at this moment could kill you without
reloading. I have no desire to slay men unnecessarily—
brave men like you, who may live to serve their mother,
Scotland, least of all In short, I wish to spare you; but
as the creagh must belong to him who sheds the first blood,
I must send this bullet either through your head or your
hand. If you prefer the latter, please to hold it up."
Scarcely knowing what he did, Sir James held up his left
hand. Rob fired, and his bullet whistled through the palm
of the upheld hand, which was instantly covered with
blood,when Livingstone uttered an exclamation of pain and
suddenly lowered his arm.
" We now part on the first blood drawn—your own terms,
Livingstone. To the hills, lads 1" exclaimed MacGregor ;
"to the hills with the gear of the Dutch King's rebel
Whigs 1"

As a spirited sketch of rude but stirring times

this story has a value of its own apart from the
interest of the narrative. " The bold Rob Roy,"
we are reminded at the close, died in 1734 at the
advanced age of eighty.

The Rector's Daughter. A Tale for the Young. By
Anne Bowman. With illustrations. Pp. 316.
Routledge.

The Rector of Floreton was blessed with four fair
daughters—Rose, and Blanche, and Cecilia, and
Sophia—appropriately surnamed the roses of the
rectory, Happily instructed by a pious, loving
mother, these Roses were endowed with more than
summer beauty. The eldest, Rose, the heroine of
the tale, becomes a governess, when the father's
death has thrown his family on the world. Her
first employment is with Mrs. Contraville, a domi-
neering dame, whose character is thus happily
and epigramatically described : "She loves to
have it thought that she is a great manager;
and she certainly likes to contradict the assertions
of all the world ; but she has her good qualities.
She rules her husband, but studies his comfort and
enjoyment. She scolds her children a good deal,
and rarely will give them the thing they wish for,
though she will freely give them anything else.
She storms at beggars, and gives more than the
gentle. She rails at schools, yet pays the master
and mistress the fees for half the parish. From a
curious constitution of mind, her first impulse is,
ever, resistance ; but she exemplifies an old saying,
' her bark is worse than her bite.'" Rose after-
wards becomes the instructress of a half idiotic
invalid cousin, whose dormant faculties are cruelly
destroyed by the stern father,:who seeks by repeated
cruel punishments to awaken the intelligence of his
afflicted son and heir. Rose's gentler treatment has
a happier effect, but the episode is painful, although
full of interest in its details.

British Soldiers, British Sailors, and British Volun-
teers. Three Picture Books. Routledge.

Many a little boy's first taste of patriotism will
be caught from these highly-coloured pages, on ,
which are depicted—if not Tinker and Tailor as
well as Soldier and Sailor, if not Butcher and
Baker and Candlestick-maker—at any rate all
ranks and classes of our National Defenders. Here
Tom, Dick, and Harry may linger delightedly
over the effigy of the scarlet-coated Guard in his
bearskin, of the kilted, bare kneed Highlander, of
horse, foot, and artillery ! And these, too, of so many
in that gallant profession of arms that the bewildered
youngster on turning the last page might almost be
disposed to call the last soldier in it, confusedly, like
that wonderful fellow in Hans Andersen's fairy-
tale Major-General-Corporal-Sergeant! Then,
the pictures of our dauntless hearts-of-oak, those
genuine Salts, Old England's men-of-war's men !
Here they all are, men and boys together—middy
and cadet, Seaman A.B. and Sailor A 1, Admiral
and Captain, Master, Mate, and Lieutenant, each in
his appropriate uniform, that varied blending of
gold lace and blue broadcloth, ever welcome to the
eyes of the trueborn Englishman ! Finally—fully
to complete the series, here, too, are representa-
tions of the more modest uniforms of those auxi-
liaries to the land and sea service, the Royal Navy
and the Queen's Army—our National Rifle Volun-
teers, London Scottish and London Irish, Inns of
Court and Six-foot Guards, South Middlesex and
South Kensington, blue, green, red, grey, brown,
and neutral-tinted : each armed with the deadly
rifle, that the hope is may never have to be used in
right down earnest, but, for that very reason, to
that very end, kept—semper paratus !

Learning better than House and Land. By J.

Carey, LL.D. Routledge.
A tiny little volume, enforcing a great truth.
The rich man's son refuses to learn, and when house
and land are gone finds, too late, his mistake, while
poor Dick Hobson achieves distinction by his own
unaided endeavours.

The grue Pathetic History of Poor Match. By
Holme Lee. With four illustrations, pp. 219.

Smith and Eider.

This is a most charming little story, simple and
natural throughout. It introduces us to a delight-
ful family group—papa, mamma, children, nurses,
and governess, who all congregate about a central
figure of especial interest—Match, afterwards
Mickey. The first chapter begins with " the hero's
arrival :"—" If you please, ma'am, there's a man
come with two puppies in a bag, for the young ladies
to choose which they'll have—must we bring 'em
in ?" "By all means!" Enter Match. The last
chapter, with the frontispiece for an illustration of
the painful fact, records " the last wag of Mickey's
tail." One of the pictures represents Match in dis-
guise, in the long clothes of a baby, and is supremely
ridiculous and amusing. Holme Lee has bestowed
a charming Christmas• box on the little ones in this
delightful little tale of Poor Match.

---
Maud Latimer : A laic for young People. By
the llon. Augusta Bethell. With four iliustra-
iions. Pp. 202. Smith and Elder.
This tittle story will be read with breathless interest
by the little people for whom it has been written. The
supreme naughtiness of Maud, and the series of
l imn dp Ellen
charm-
ingly
calamities of which it is the cause, will be the sub-
jects of mingled horror and fascination. And the little
story will not be read without profit. It exhibits
at the i eviln aconsequences
historyo f on e 0 actf th 0 ofb
disobedience,
in-
culcateslove.
i t
lessonsi
very o resignationfpretti
prettily
illu
sat
rnadt e
dsy y
,
and
bound, and "got up,"

THE COMMAND OF WORDS.—A statistician has
had the patience to count the number of words employed by
the most celebrated writers. The works of Corneille do not
contain more than 7,000 different words, and those of ido-
liere 8,000. Shakspeare, the most fertile and varied of
English authors, wrote all his tragedies and comedies with
15,000 words. Voltaire and Goethe employ 20,000 ; " Para•
dise Lost" only contains 8,000; and the Old Testament
says all that it has to say with 5,642.

VII%
F.
Col tt) C
=fa
ular.

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, NOV. 25.

Their Royai Highnesses the Prince and Princess
of Wales arrived'at the Castle yesterday evening,
attended by the Hon. Mrs. Stonor and Major
Teesdale. _

The Queen, accompanied by her Royal Highness
the Princess of Wales, walked and drove in the
Home Park this morning.
Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and
the Crown Prince of Prussia went out shooting.
Their Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and
Princess of Prussia honoured the studios of Mr.
'need and Mr. Foley with visits on Monday.

.0-----

The Earl de Grey left town last evening for
Windsor Castle, on a visit to her Majesty. The noble earl
returns to town to-day.
The Countess of Ellesmere left town yesterday
for Paris on her way to Nice. The countess, after a short
residence at Nice, goes to Rome for the winter.
Lord Harris left town on Tuesday evening for
Belmont, his seat in Kent, to receive a select party of
friends.
The Hon. Mr. an Mrs. Preston have left
Brown's Motel.

Colonel North, M.P., and Baroness North left
town on Tuesday, for Ickworth Park, near Bury St. Ed-
munds, on a visit to the Marquis of Bristol.
The Duke of Newcastle was prevented attending
the Cabinet Council yesterday from slight indisposition..
The Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury will
receive a large party next week at Hatfield House. Herts.

The Marquis and Marchioness d'Andigne have
arrived at the Alexandra Hotel, St. George's-place, Hyde"
park-corner, from Paris. .

The Marchioness (Dow.) of Lothian will remain
in town until the marquis and marchioness leave Ingestre
Hall, Staffordshire, for Scotland.

The Earl and Countess Jermyn, since their re-
turn from Scotland, have been staying with the garquis of
Bristol, at Ickworth Park, near Bury St. Edmunds.

THE BALLOT SOCIETY.

The weekly meeting of the committee was held
on Tuesday last. The recent election at Andover
was considered, and it was resolved to call the at-
tention of the constituencies to the following ex-
tract from the speech of Mr. Hawkshaw, the de-
feated candidate :

" You will remember that to-day one of the sub-
jects mentioned by me was that of the Ballot. That
is a subject that I have long thought of, and I saw so
many difficulties in the way at one time that when
I issued my address I did not mention it. But, as I
told you to-day, the result of my canvass was to
produce a conviction in the mind that if the vote by
ballot were adopted in Andover the Liberal cause
would be much benefited thereby. I will tell you
why I say this. Since I came to Andover
have 'nedil'and seen more exercise of undue in-
fluence than I could have conceived possible. There
have been many observations and animadversions
made on the conduct of some gentlemen connected
with my cause. All I can say is, that if any ono
has a right to complain of undue influence, it is the
Liberals of Andover. I have seen and heard cases
that have made my heart bleed. I have seen
tradesmen—little tradesmen—l have seen working
men men dependent on their• employment
for their daily bread—who dared not vote In
accordance with their principles, lest they should
suffer in their circumstances in consequence.
Therefore, to-day, I made the observation on
the hustings, and I repeat it again, and I hope
it will come to the ears of those gentlemen wh°
have said and written charges of a similar kind
against gentlemen on my side, if they are honest in
the professions they make of a desire to relieve you
of undue pressure, their only way of so doing is to
give you vote by ballot. You will have heard the
replies made to-day to this. You have heard it said
in reply, I hate the ballot: Those gentlemen who
oppose the ballot on such grounds do so upon a pre-
tence so fallacious that I am surprised that men of
intellect dare come before intelligent beings and
make use of such an argument. The ballot, they
say, is un-English. In answer to this, I
say that
there is no gentleman, no man of'scientific
attain-
ments, no man of literary acquirements, Wh° In his
ko
club, his scientific or literary society, does 11°1 take
refuge under the protection of the ballot.
then, should they claim for themselves the exercise
of a privilege which they would deny to you.

THE DEVILISH RUSSIAN KNOUT.--The knout had
a short massive handle, and a heavy leather lash
about Bft. long. It resembled those tremendous whips with
which the Cossacks of the Ukraine, when they have brought
a wolf to bay, can kill him at a single blow. The lash NOS
formed of leather, curved so as to give two sharp edges
along its whole length, and sometimes bound with wire
thread, the end terminated in a little iron hook. It had no
handle, but one end was left supple, so that the executioner
could wind it round his wrist. At every blow the sharp
edges of the still curved lash fell on the criminal's back, and
cut him as with eight yards of a pliant double-edged sword.
The executioner, subtle in his cruelty, had learnt not to
roughly withdraw the lash, but to draw it towards him, so as
to remove long flaky bands of flesh, the hook being devised
with devilish ingenuity for this detestable purpose. The
lash was also purposely long, that it lapped round the body
and cut deep into the chest at the same time that it de-
stroyed the whole of the back. Indeed, to tell you the frank
truth, my dear sir, it was well known that the executioner
could, if he chose, kill any man at one blow of the knout,
by lapping him round the lungs and heart; but, as the
" Bourreau" was generally bribed, he seldom put forth his
whole force. When the knout was honestly used, the
criminal, if he survived the first blow, usually fainted at
the third, and died about the fifth. A ukase of Peter the
Great fixed the maximum of blows at one hundred and one
(we Russians have a superstitious respect for odd numbers);
but whether the knout became heavier, or we became more
effeminate, the hundred and one blows—which, of course,
implied death—were never given in the Emperor Nicholas 'S
time.—. Dickens's "All the Year Round."
EXTRAORDINARY WILL.—An English lady of
quality made the following singular will :•••••4' Con-
vinced that my dog has been the most faithful of my friends,
I declare him the sole executor of this my last will and testa-
ment, and to him I trust the disposal of all my fortune. I
have great cause of complaint against the men ; they are of
no value, either physical or moral ; my lovers are fickle and
deceitful; my so-called friends, false and perfidious. Of
all the creatures that surround me I have found none to
possess good qualities but " Fidele," I dispose of all my
property in his favour ; and direct that legacies may be
given to all those on whom he voluntarily bestows his
caresses, or distinguishes by wagging
hid' tail." When
the Rev. Sir Charles Stagemore, a rector in the
county of Leicester, died, during ,the reign of
Chadds the First, there was found amongh.t his papers
a will to this purpose :—" I leave to my heirs 50 dogs of
svha
or ieosu, slobreedsr aont d
boots,
g 0
sp, asior ovit
abgr
ge eocnhs e
as
n,
440c0 p a
rtasitr3oof
wheelbarrows, 200 spades and shovels, 60 saddles old har-
nesses, and 70 ploughs. Item: A great number o: canes
and little sticks to walk with, which have been valued
£BO ; 60 horses and mares, 200 pickaxes and pitchfork, 75
ladders, and 33 bayonets, swords, and pistols. Benz
large waggon full of books in quires, and a little casket- is
which there is £l,OOO in cash, and sundry trinkets." Th i°
eccentric parson had a man and a maid servant, whom
used to lock up in their respective rooms at 8 o'clock in the
went to
dogs.
—as,,tEo flseraeyooffnalpviisitiosl:
evening. The last thing he was accustomed to do before h°
pmaacgkaozi;ne. 'ainadthtoelDetulboloitsieUhuiisveenrs%

LAW REPORTING.—In accordance with are.
quisition, the Attorney-tieneral, Sir Roundel'
Palmer, has invited the members of the bar to meet him is
Luacoln's-inn Hall on an early day in December, "for the
purpose of ascertaining the opinion of the bar as to the
wing system of law reporting, and with a view to its
amend ment."
1 ilia MILITARY FORCE OF FRANCE.—The o'o°
ttve force (it has now been ascertained
preciself),
exclusive of reserves, consists of ‘.36,936 men, upwards :it
50,000 being on foreign service, nearly 60,000 iu Algeria',
and the remainder in France. Tho reserves consist
217,261 in additiion, making altogether 654,247 men.
report issued by the military authorities gives a mho
account of the general discipline among th_
troops. Out of 458,123 men, only 3,887, or 1 in 133, hsv:
er
been punished. Of 58 sentences of death, 14 only
w bard
really carried out, the other 44 wore changed into 0
labour. Of desertion before the enemy there was only
instance ; of treason and espionage, none at all.
_l4
A NEW COMEDY, ".RECRUIT AND POET,'
been brought out at the Hamburg Stadt-Theatre, the sub._
ject of which is the first interview of Goethe with the !Ati,o(i.
gravine Caroline of Hesse— GOethe'S type (accordint,
Mr:St:lucking, from whose novel the piece was taken) for
Lenore in Tasso.