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

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ifs.stie rosi ty git.uo4
the duke very muon---7-IU2 the (Iniiihr*lo.oFo-1,4441
-a matter of fairness and
..q
his seconds had arranged that the duel.oulp
fought wi.h swords, he did not ove:ruleilleir
dh-
cision, when he knew that Mr. Dillon had no ex-
perience in fencing ? To this the duke replied that
he was in the hands of his seconds, and that it
would haves been folly in him to have waived a.
rightwhich they had stipulated for, more especially
as he had reason to know that Mr. Dillon was
very expert with the pistol, and he (the duke) had
never been in a shooting gallery in his life.
Viscount Talon took on himself the full responsi-
bility of the choice of weapons. He was very aver sa
to bloodshed in the matter. It was notorious that
duels with swords were less dangerous than with
pistols. He and Viscount de Noe had arranged
that on the first scratch the combatants should be ';
separated. He also knew that Mr. Dillon was a .
crack shot with the pistol. He would tuve facili-
tated any possible terms of arrangement, but
Mr. Dillon insisted upon nothing less then ta
"complete'' (desiring Colt,tiel do Noe 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 do Nee insisted on
Dillon's incapacityto use the sword, he bad not
said, "So much the worse for him. We give him
till five o'clock to consider; if then he does not con-
sent to meet us with swords, we shall consider him
as a scamp, and drive him off every race-course in
Europe." He admitted the use, in substance, of
those expressions, but with the qualification that
he had prefixed to the threat to drive him off the-
turf, the words " if he 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 mentioned in the de-
positions Laken by the Judge of Instruction, and
ought, therefore,- to be considered as an after-
thought.
Viscount de Noe said that Mr. Dillon was un-
known to him before the duel, He hed seen him
but once, in a railway train, three or four years ago.
But on being asked to be his secoOd, he at once
agreed, both because he (the viscount) was now a
journalist himself, and because, according to the
military school in which he had been brought UP,
he was always ready to act as a " friend" to aey-
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
his 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 Passage de r Opera. This pro-
fessor observed that Mr. Dillon was utterly igno-
rant, 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 he en-
couraged him to think that if he well remembered
his lesson he would spit (embrocher) the duke. The
laughter which followed this word caused the judge
to beg Viscount de Noe 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, said that
Dillon would hear of nothing but a meeting, or a
written apelogy, which the other side would not
give. He described Mr. Dillon as ravenous to " eat
Caderonsse" (manger de Caderousse). He him-
self told Dillon that his demand for a complete re-
tractation was tantamount to asking the puke to
go down on his knees to him. I observe here that
Viscount de Noe, 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 a second
on condition of his placing himself entirely in his
hands P He does not seem to have been quite con-
sistent in going on the ground, when his principal,
on his own showing, required more from the adver-
sary than he thought right to ask. Viscount de
Noe's answer to this is that Dillon wag determined
to fight, and threatened to get other seconds if the
viscount abandoned him. I must say I think that
an inadequate reason, and that such a man -as Colo-
nel de Noe would have shown better judgment if he
had insisted upon either correcting his principal's
undue exigency or leaving him to seek another
friend. Viscount de Noe, 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 (roture) of the
journalist. The Duke de ()Tremont Caderousse in-
dignantly denied that he had ever for one moment
considered his title as any privilege in a question of
honour. M. de Villemessant, editor of the Figaro, on
being asked by the judge why he had inserted that
cruel paragraph, so likely to do miavhief, when a
duel was pending, said that he had it front
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 he must say who told him. M. de Villemes-
sant replied that the person was in court, and might
declare himself if he pleased, but that he positively
declined to state it. Thereupon Viscount de Nos
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 authorise the suppo-
sition 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 observations upon the
on to d
Figaro, asking by what right it pretended to be the
ofo duelling,
might
h andbe
disposed
to egg
to kead friendlyly strife
e
plila;tnieeseu wrh
arrangements?
The result was an
unqualified acquittal of all
parties.

Mrs. Dillon's claim for damages, laid at 80,000 f.,
is not affected by the acquittall'-'
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.

EXTRAORDINARY DEATH OF A TRADESMAN IN
LAMBETH-WALX.--Yesterday evening Mr. Wm. Carter, the
coroner for Surrey, held an inquest at the Angel Tavern,
Lambeth-walk, touching the death of Henry Samuel Dufty,
aged 55, lately carrying on business as a confectioner at 62,
Lambeth-walk, who lost his life under the following extraor-
dinary circumstances :—Police-constablo Rogers said he was
on duty in Lambeth-walk on Tuesday morning, when he
was fetched to 62, Lambeth-walk He saw the deceased
man lying dead in the back washhouso, and near him he
noticed a tub, about 18 or 20 inches high, and the same in
width, three parts full of warm water, Mary Ann Dufty,
the widow of deceased, said the shop was only opened on
Saturday last for the sale of sweetmeats and toys. On
Tuesday morning she went out on an errand, and when she
returned she could not find her husband, She went to the
back part of the premises, and there found him with his
head in the water in the washing tub. He appeared to be
in a sitting position. She caught hold of him and pulled
him out, and a medical gentleman was sent for, who pro-
nounced him dead. On Saturday last he had a fit, and com-
plained afterwards of his head, and said he thought he was
going mad. He said everything was going wrong, and that
he was sorry he had spent his money on the shop. He was
afraid the business would not answer his expectations, and
S
hhaevheahadd a greatanoth odraeedt
anodf pofevlelritynt.o
thehe tub whilst washing thought he might
himself. The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental
death."