The Sun.
London, England, 1835-02-14 00:00:00

AFFAIR OF HONOUR IN LISBON.

LISBON, FEB. 6.—The letter of Colonel Shaw, of the
Scotch Fusilleers, respecting his disputes with Sir John
Milley Doyle, had not only widened the breach between
the parties, but given rise to a new scene.
On the evening of that day Captain Bentinck Doyle, of
the Irish Grenadiers, a nephew of Sir John, went to the
new tavern, or Caza de Pasto, on the Caes de Sodre, where
Colonel Shaw was dining with other officers, and asked hint
if he was the author of the letter in the Nacional, which h
held in his hand, and being answered in the affirmative,
after some interlocutory phrases, Captain Bentinck Doyle
reproached Colonel Shaw with bringing up the name of
the late Lieutenant-General Sir John Doyle, Baronet, in
connection with this case, and, laying his whip on Colonel
Shaw's shoulders, begged him to consider himself horse-
whipped. Captain Bentinck Doyle, being a young gentle.
man, received much credit for having stepped forward in
this spirited way as the champion of his family's honour,
even fiorn Colonel Shaw himself, who claimed to have .of-
fered him his first commission at Oporto, but Considered
him ill-advised and set on, as his mention of the late General
Sir John Doyle's name was rather respectful, to his memory
than otherwise ; but as the nice sense of military honour
forbade his submitting to a blow, lie. set about finding a
friend, as near as possible of own rank, to carry a mes-
sage to Capt. B. Doyle, Tine name of Admiral Sartorius was
the first that occurred,, to him, but as the gallant Admiral hap.
pened to be 0".4., of the way all next day, and did not return
to his 10'!,,,:ings till midnight, and then, no doubt, very pro-
I P 4.4.714 begged to be excused from interfering, having himself
had a quarrel with Captain Doyle's uncle, Colonel Shaw
sent on the following morning an express to Colonel God-
frey, at Peniche, who arrived on Wednesday night in town;
but being the Commander of the Irish, of which regiment
Mr. Doyle was a Captain, Colonel Godfrey also thought
himself an improper personage to commit so great a breach
of discipline as to carry a hostile message to one of the offi-
cers of his own corps. Colonel Williams was, embarking
for England, and could not be expected to -undertake the
management of the affair. Captain Dove being made ac-
' quainted with these circumstances, Colonel Shaw sent yes-
terday morning to St. Übes, for the Major of his regiment
to act as his friend on the present occasion, who is hourly
expected here, and there this part of the question rests at
present. But not. so the paper war, for in the Nacional of
Wednesday, the 4tlfinqant, there is a counter-statement of
Sir John Milley :Doyle against Colonel Shaw, dated Rua
Prior, Buer'"os Ayres, the Ist of February, and a letter
from Captain Bentinck Doyle, of the same date, to the edi-
t ter, inclosing the narrative of his own proceedings, signed
by two other officers who were present. The duel was
fought on the Gth instant, at Campo Grande, between Col.
Shaw and Captain Bentinck Doyle. The parties ex-
changed three shots without effect, and walked off the
ground without any apology. Colonel Godfrey was Col.
Shaw's second after all.

COLLEGE REMINISCENCES OF MR.
COLERIDGE.
By the Rev. C. V. L-N (MICE.

( From the Gentleman's Magazine for December, 1834.)
Mr. Urban,—ln the Various and numerous memoirs
which have been published of the late Mr. Coleridge, I have
been surprized at their accuracy in many respects, and, at
the same time, their omission of a very remarkable and a
very honourable anecdote in his history. In the memoir
of him in your last number, you do not merely omit, but you
give an erroneous account of this very circumstance to which
I allude. You assert that he did not obtain, and, indeed,
did not aim to obtain, the honours of the University. So
far is this from the fact, that in his freshman's year ho won
the gold medal for the Greek Ode ; and in his second year
he became a candidate for the Craven Scholarship—a Uni-
versity Scholarship, for which undereTaduates of any stand-
ing are entitled to become candidates. This was in the
winter of 1792. Out of 16 or 13 competitors, a selection of
four was made to contend fn„ the prize, and these four were
Dr. Butler, the Head Master of Shrewsbury ; Dr. Keate,
the late Head Metier of Eton ; Dr. Bethel', the present
Bishop of Bngor ; and Coleridge. Dr. Butler was the suc-
cessful 'candidate. But pause a moment in Coleridge's his-
07y, and think of him at this period! Butler ! Keate !
Bethel' ! and Coleridge ! How different the career of each
in future life ! 0, Coleridge, through what strange paths
did the meteor of Genius lead thee ! Pause a moment, ye
distinguished men ! and deem it not the least bright spot
in your happier career, that you and Coleridge were once
rivals, and for a moment running abreast in the pursuit of
honour. I believe that his disappointment at this crisis
damped his ardour. Unfortunately, at that period there was
no, classical tripas ; so that if a person did not obtain the
classical medal, he was thrown back among the totally undis-
tinguished ; and it was not allowable to become a candidate
for the classical medal, unless you had taken a respectable
degree in mathematics. Coleridge had not the least taste for
these, and here his case was hopeless ; so that he despaired
of a Fellowship, and gave up what in his heart he coveted
—college honours and a college life. He had seen Mid-
dleton (late Bishop of Calcutta) quit Pembroke under si-
milar circumstances. Not quite similar, because Middle-
ton studied mathematics, so as to take a respectable de-
gree, and to enable him to try for the medal ; but he
failed, and therefore all hopes failed of a fellowship, most
tOrtunately, as it proved in after-life, for Middleton, though
he mourned at the time most deeply, and exclaimed, " I
am Middleton, which is another name for Misfortune!---
" There is a Providence which shapes our ends,
Rough hew them how we will.'
That which Middleton deemed a misfortune drew him from
the cobwebs of a college library to the active energies of a
useful and honoured life. But to reture. to Coleridge.
When he quitted college, which lie didl.,efore he had taken
a degree, in a moment of mad-cap Caprice—it was indeed
an inauspicious hour !—" In an inauspicious hour I left the
friendly cloisters and the 1..-appy grove of quiet, ever-no-
noured Jesus College, cambridge." Short but deep and
heartfelt reminiscence). In a literary life of himself, this
short memorial is tal that Coleridge gives of his happy days
at college. 5P.,37 not that he did not obtain, and did not
wish to obtain, classical honours ! He did obtain them, and
was eagerly ambitious of them ; but he did not bend to that
discipline which was to qualify him for the whole course.
He was very studious, but his reading was desultory and
capricious. He took little exercise merely for the sake of
exercise ; but he was ready at any time to unbend his mind
in conversation, and for the sake of this, his room (the
ground-floor room on the right hand of the staircase facing
the great gate) was a constant rendezvous of conversation-
loving friends,—l will not call them loungers, for
they (lid not call to kill time, but to enjoy it. What
evenings have I spent in those rooms. What little suppers
or sizings, as they were called, have I enjoyed ; when
lEschylus, and Plato, and Thucydides were pushed aside,
with a pile of lexicons, &c., to discuss the pamphlets of the
day ! Ever and anon a pamphlet issued from the pen of
Burke. There was no need of having the book before us.
Coleridge had read it in the morning, and in the evening he
would repeat whole pages verbatim. Frend's trial was then
in progress. Pamphlets swarmed from the ptess. Cole-
ridge had read them all ; and in tbrs evening, with our
ncgus, we had them viva voce gloriously. 0, Coleridge !
it was indeed an inauspicious hour when you quitted the
friendly cloisters of Jesus, The epithet " friendly" implied
what you were thinking of when- you thought of college.
To you,Coleridge, year contemporaries were indeed friendly,
and I believe that in your literary life you have passed over
your college 12:ie so briefly, because you wished to banish from
your vi"'w, the " visions of long-departed joys." To enter
a description of your college days would have called up
too sadly to your memory " the hopes which once shone
bright," and have made your heart sink.—Yours, &c.,
November 19. C. V. LE GRICE.

EXTRAORDINARY ELOPEMENT.—On Saturday
last there appeared in the different journals, under the head of
" Attempted Suicide and Murder," the particulars of a despe-
rate attempt made by William Childs, a policeman, belonging
to the K division of police, on the day before, to stab himself
with a knife, in the kitchen of a lady named Appleton, resid-
ing on Stepney-green ; and also with attempting to stab his
wife. It appeared that on the morning of Friday, Childs, after
coming off duty, was watched by his wife into the kitchen of
Mrs. Appleton, whither she followed him ; and on calling him
to an account for his reason for going there, it was alleged
that he had been paying his addresses ?or some time before to
the servant-maid as a single man ; and on being charged with
his conduct, he took up a table-knife, and attempted to stab
himself in the right side. The point of the knife coming
against one of his ribs, warded it off, and the wound was quite
harmless. It was soon discovered that the servant was not the
object of Child's attention, for, on the day following, Miss
Appleton, a young lady, it is said, of considerable personal
attractions, and who is entitled, when of age, to considerable
property, eloped from the house of her mother, and has not
since been heard of by her friends. Shortly after leaving her
home, she called at the residence of Childs, expressed the
greatest sorrow for what had occurred, and saying that, as she
was the cause of it, she would make reparation to hirn (Childs)
and his wife, by getting him a situation in the country. house
of her uncle, who was a wealthy merchant in the City--and,,
with the view of introducing him (Childs) to her uncle, she
requested him to accomyany her. To this the wife asse-Ated,
and both went away, and have not since been heard of, Ser-
jeans Dally has been employed by the friends of tie lady to
discover the retreat of the fugitives, but as yet ins is matte_
cessful.—Morning Advertiser.
MALICIOUS BURNING.—On .Friday morning last
the outhouses and part of the dwellfdig-house of Mr. D. Fitz-
gerald, near Askeaton, were r:iaiiciously set on fire and con-
sumed to ashes. In tlic unthOuses were four horses and four
cows, which won; all burnt to death, and a quantity of farm-
ing and caner utensils destroyed. It is supposed that the act
was committed by one mnn, as there were only the traces of
one person discernible through the soft part of the fields.—
Linierich Star.