The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-28 00:00:00

DUELLING EXTRAORDINARY

AT BRIGHTON.
(From the Brighton Guardian.)
An amusing exemplification of the progress of " The
Snobs of England" in the vices and follies of the upper
classes has been lately afforded in Brighton by an oc-
currence, the Quixotic extravagance of which has rarely
been exceeded. The particulars of this rencontre, as
well as we have been able to gather them from authentic
sources are as follows :—One evening shortly prior
to Friday, the 11th instant, a young "gent," (a
fine specimen of that obnoxious class so vigo-
rously denounced by Albert Smith) named C----,
was reclining in luxurious abandon on one of
the seats of the Esplanade, inhaling simultaneously
breezes from the sea and the tranquillising fumes of a
cigar—when a rival "gent," one N—, in whose veins
circulateth the blood of a " gallant Captain," approached
him in an imperious manner and remarked that it was
not very gentlemanly to be smoking cigars in such a
place. To this rude accostment the other replied that it
was quite as gentlemanly as t,) wear such " a shocking
bad hat" as the impugner of his gentility sported.
What answer this retort uncourteous provoked, and
what charges and counter charges followed, are unfor-
tunately lost to posterity; but certain it is that the blood
of the Captain " riled" high, and that the indignant
fumigat,r was equally put upon his mettle. Threats
were bandied, the plebian alternative of " fists " was
spoken of, and— .
"As their courage boiling rose
From words at length they came to -"
No, not to blows, but to a challenge froth C--- to 'nee t
with loaded pistols on the Beach I at eight o'clock on
Friday evening. At the appointed hour the antagonists
met ; and the preliminaries having been completed, the
seconds proceeded to mark out the ground close to the
second breakwater, near Hove. Eight paces was the
distance, the combatants took each his place, the pistols
were loaded, and everything prepared, when at that
critical juncture one of the valiant youths muttered
through his chattering teeth, " Wha-a.t ! are you-you
a-going to-o mur-murder me ?" It is not unlikely that
some such feeling of dread was passing in the mind of
his antagonist at the same moment ; for it appears cer-
tain from the best authorities that no inconsiderable
number of paces were added to those already marked out.
Indeed, it has been whispered that the parties having
retired to the extreme ends of the breakwater, stood
prepared to dart behind it on the word " fire" being
given. " Time " being called, each gallant heart worked
up its courage " to the sticking point," the arms were
raised and discharged, a loud report was heard, a cloud
of smoke arose, and, as that cleared away, the com-
batants were seen to stand unhurt. They had, however,
still another brace of pistols in the case, and the laws of
honour required that they be discharged. The laws
were satisfied, and N— fell—in a fainting fit I When
recovered, he firmly declined the honour of another shot,
agreeing that if any stain remained upon the character
of his " friend " it should be washed out by as much
champagne as he might choose to drink at his expense.
This challenge was instantly accepted, and the party
adjourned to a, favourite "house of call," where they
drowned all animosity in a flowing bowl. The most
amusing part of the adventure remains to be told. Since
the meeting, N— has been frequently heard to declare
that he palpably felt one of the balls sweep past his ear,
and that another brushed his hat ; both which circum-
stances are rendered extremely improbable from the fact
that the pistols were, unknown to the combatants,
charged with powder only I

THE STEAM-SHIP SARAH SANDS.—LIVERPOOL
JUNE 25.—Intelligence of an unfortunate disaster to this
fine screw steam-ship was received in town this morning.
The Sarah Sands, it will be remembered, sailed hence
for New York on the 15th instant, and it appears that
on Sunday, the 20th, an obstruction which had before
retarded the progress of the ship at length entirely pre-
cluded the operation of her machinery, and the com-
mander determined to return to Cork to repair. The
ship was accordingly put about at nine o'clock on the
morning of Sunday last, and on Tuesday at midnight
she arrived in the Cove of Cork, after a homeward run
of 500 miles, and having penetrated across the Atlantic
as far teethe westward as 21 degrees longitude. Captain
Thompson, her commander, expects to sail again for
New York to. morrow (Saturday).