The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-08-15 00:00:00

SMITH O'BRIEN'S DUELS.

Some time ago Mr. Smith O'Brien, whilst a Conservative,
felt himself insulted by Tom Steele—recently in so distressing
a light before the public—and sent him a challenge. Steele
accepted it and met him, O'Gorman Mahon (a well-known fire-
eater, now in the house), acting as Tom's second. Steele was
a brave man, but the most nervously excitable that ever lived,
while O'Brien. on the turf at least, was as cool as a statue. The
result of an exchange of shots between two such men was that,
while Tom's bullets went off almost at right angles to his man,
tke latter tore with his first fire the breast of Tom's blue coat.
and with his second a portion of the collar. O'Gorman Mahon
seeing this, and fearing that, as practice - makes perfect.
O'Brien's next ball must be fatal to more than broadcloth,
sought to remove his man, presuming that Mr. O'Brien must
then be satisfied; but Mr. O'Brien was not: the "moon-calf"
stuck in his throat, and he wanted to see if he could not stick
something else in Tom's in return. "Then (said Mahon,
standing before his friend,) if Air. O'Brien will have another
shot, he must have it at me." The descendant of the Irish
kings was not particular whom he killed, and was willing to
accept a substitute ; but his second would not allow the ex-
change, and so the affair ended. Of the two principals in that
business, one has since jumped over Waterloo-bridge, and the
other is a proclaimed rebel, subject to be shot or hung.
Not long after this, Mr. O'Brien fought Mahon's brother,
and in this, as in the previous instance, the now outlawed chief
was destined to be the Conservative champion. The collision
arose out of a contested election for Clare, in which his brother,
Sir Lucius was one of the candidates. The writer speaks from
a distinct recollection of the transaction. Mr. Wm. Mahon
was making some charges against "the house of Dromoland"
on the hustings, when he was interrupted by Smith O'Brien,
who addressed him in the following words, with as much neat-
ness and calmness and courteous bearing as though he were
paying him a compliment :—" As a mewber of the house of
Dromoland, sir, (bowing,) I have but one reply to make to your
aspersions, and that reply, as a gentleman and a man of
honour, you will I am sure receive in the spirit in which it is
given—you lie, sir I" (bowing again.) Mr. Mahon !Lied his
hat in acknowledgement, Smith O'Brien and he leaving the
court to:zether without the slightest fuss, each accompanied by
a friend, who rather followed instinctively than by invitation,
and without the least attempt at interference on the part of the
sheriff. In less than an hour from this interchange of civilities
they w both standing within twelve paces of each other on
the putr lc race-course, close to the town of Ennis, while at
least a thousand people were present to witness the proceeding.
I have heard the unfortunate outlaw called a coward on several
occasions within the last few weeks ; but I have said upon each,
and I now say, that no coward could ever bear himself with the
cool, gentlemanly, courteous self-possession that he then dis-
played : he reminded me at the time of what Sheridan says,—
" Your courage should be as keen yet as polished as your
sword." Turning up his right cuff as deliberately as though he
were about to wash his bands for dinner, he took the pistol
from his second—the two friends retired a couple of paces—the
rd was given—both weapons were raised, and only one went
off: in fact Smith O'Brien's second had given bins the pistol
without cocking it, and when the former pulled the trigger it
of course refused to obey his finger. He handed back the still
loaded weapon to his friend, saying, with a smile—" M`Don-
nell, you only half did your work." Judging from O'Brien's
self-possession, perhaps it was a fortunate thing for his antago-
nist, who might, however, have stopped the bullet without being
greatly damaged, as one of his legs was made of cork. —Bristol
Paper.

COMMITTAL OF A BANKRUPT.—IN RE JAMES HOWARD.
—On Tuesday the adjourned examination of this bankrupt
took place before Mr. Sergeant Ludlow. The bankrupt,
who bad carried on business as a grocer and provision
dealer, in Marybone, had refused to answer some ques-
tions as to the disposal of his property, put to him by Mr.
Turner, the official assignee, and in consequence he was
summoned to the court on Friday week. It was then eli-
cited that the bankrupt had destroyed several old papers
connected with his business, had never kept any books
before 1847, that any loose accounts he had ever kept had
been used up in the shop, that the books he then showed
commenced in 1847, that he considered his stock was
worth about £5O at the time of his bankruptcy, and cal-
culated his liabilities at £9OO, and his total assets ac £lOO,
leaving a deficiency of £BOO. He considered his losses to
have arisen from being robbed of £2OO by his clerk on
Good Friday last, and to other losses, and household
expenses. In cross-examination he said he could not give
any accurate account of his alleged losses, that he had
gone over to Ireland to look after the half of a £lO note,
the expenses of which journey cost him £5, and that whilst
there he bad borrowed £2OO from an old woman aged 80
years, telling her he was in perfect solvent circumstances,
and agreed to pay her £lO per cent. interest for the mo-
ney. Mr. Tyrer, who appeared for the creditors under
the fiat, pressed for a committal, in consequence of the
false answers the bankrupt had given as to his affairs. He
added, that the bankrupt had got a quantity of flour from
Messrs. Richardson and Son just before he called a meet-
ing of his creditors. and never paid for it. and lie had not
taken any steps to find out the clerk who had robbed him.
His Honour expressed his disapprobation of the bankrupt's
conduct in strong terms, and said that as to his alleged
robbery he did not believe a word of it. He ordered the
bankrupt's committal to gaol, refusing an application to
allow any thing out of the estate for his family.
MDLLE. ALBONI.—It is with extreme pleasure that we
look forward to the opportunity of again hearing the de-
licious tones of Alboni's superb contralto, and we are con-
fident few, if any, of the delighted crowds who listened to
her at the Collegike Institution last year will receive the
notification of another visit from this queen of song with-
out gratification, or be absent from the concert on the
evening of her appearance willingly. Hers is an organ of
such surpassing excellence in point of quality, of so exten-
sive a range, (nearly three octaves) ; the manner in which
she emits and sustains her notes is so free from fault, her
vocalization is so easy and agile, and her intonation is so
certain, at all times and in every portion of her varied re-
gisters, that we defy any person, with even a shadow of
musical taste, to have the delight repeated. Her rapid
passages are given with all the brilliancy that the finest
sopranos exhibit, and few, if any, can surpass her in fa-
cility. Had she only been ushered into this country with
all the eclat that another fair songstress was surrounded
by, she would, in our estimation, have held even a supe-
rior position in public estimation than the nightingale,
while no one can deny that in London she deservedly di-
vided the palm with the star of Her Majesty's Theatre.
A contemporary, whose attention is almost exclusively
given to musical matters, and whose critiques, in this re-
spect at least, have been marked by the utmost impartial-
ity and liberality—the Musical World—thus speaks of
her :—" We do positively assert, and do faithfully believe,
that a more admirable contralto never adorned a dramatic
arena." Her success in London during the last season
has not at all differed from that she achieved upon her first
appearance. Indeed, time has only tended to confirm the
critics in the opinion they formed of her abilities, when
the first tones of her incomparable voice sounded in their
ears. That she is again to delight our senses is certain by
a reference to Mr. Isaac's advertisement, and at so low a
price, too, in comparison with the charges on any former
occasion, that every person can now seize the opportunity,
and find a good excuse for going. Our only fear is that
Mr. Isaac will not receive sufficient to defray his expenses,
for, not content with having a piano accompaniment, de-
termined to render the concert attractive, and to give every
possible eclat to the vocal music, there will be a full or-
chestra, led by Mr. Herrmann, and conducted by Osborne,
the celebrated English composer and pianist of Paris.
But this is not all : we are to have Mdlle. Corbari, who
accompanied Alboni on her prior visit and gave so much
satisfaction, both in 1847 and 1848, to the habitues of the
royal Italian opera,—her Adelgisa was especially com-
mended by the press, and the marked improvement she
displayed last year has only been succeeded by equally ap-
parent advances this season. Signora Salvi is also one of
the party. His voice is characterised by brilliancy and
perfection of tone, being of extensive compass and power-
ful. He appeared several years since in some concerts at
the Theatre Royal with Madame Dorus Gras, and subse-
quently at our Philharmonic, where his exquisite taste was
duly appreciated. Signor Paltoni moreover is included in
the prospectus ; he is so well known little need be said of
him. His utility in concerted music renders him valuable ;
a good singer also of comic songs he is always appreciated
—and Mr. Isaacs will not add a little to the interest of
the performances by assisting Mr. Osborne in a piano-
forte duet. We shall thus have a great treat offered to
us on most liberal terms, which we hope unitedly will in-
duce our readers to avail of the opportunity of gratifying
themselves, and supporting, even in the face of the sneers
of a neighbouring " city," our townsmen's character as
I due appreciators of real musical teleut.