The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-06-14
THE DUEL.
NY IN, WILLIAM ELpER,

NY m, WILLIAM ELDER,
From tho commencement Of our revolution
ill the year 1913, period Of forty years,
England was engaged in wars without any
intermsson. These wars were with the thir-
teen colonies, or United States, France Spain
Holland, tho French Republic, Bonaparie'
and again with the United States; sometimes
singly sometimes with several Of these nations
at once.
The battle Of Waterloo was fought on the
-rstiI of Jt,,,er- tsl6. That year the army Of
Englaud amounted TO three hundred thousand
men , and in 1898, although she had enjoy
cd thirty years of peace, her standing army
was still one hundred thousand strong
la the time Of peace one would think that
such host of soldiers would not bo required
for any purpose and they probably are not,
but il is the policy Of such governments m
that Of England to keep as many men in the
public service as possible. To say nothing
Of other purposes, 1t is easy in an army Of hve
hundred thousand soldiers, 10 have four or
Eve thousand commissioned officers, who gem
orally belong TO the class Of gcntcmcn-a
class that is found 20 furnish the most useful
and most submissive slaves to those who feed
them. The most useful, because being wen
born, we'll educated aud well connected, they
are very capable in themselves, and very an
Auential in others, and most submissive, be-
cause they arc so well paid, and have no 9th
or service than public Office which 1t suits
them 10 accept
- i cd Nyti IL
cers who enter it merely as trade or proics-
sion, by which they may Eer u irving. n 4'er-
rid business it is indeed, 10 undertake. to do
any killing of men anywhere that the Govern
ment may command, without &sking any qucs-
tions, or knowing or caring whether 1t is
right or wroneI- But so it -, whom rightly
upderstood and yet we mus not be surprised
If we find, once in awhile, a man 100 good
for such trade engaged in it, for it is gene
rally thought honorable, even the most honor
able Of all professions, and but few stop TO in
auire If Il is also right
NV story will introduce the sort Of man
that is an exception TO the rnle
To be perfectly candid with my readers l
must inform them that | have forgotten the
names of the persons that am TO tell about
The precise place whore it happened has also
escaped me, but am sure that it was some
where in Ireland and the exact date, too, is
gone-but know That IL WIZ after the year
1915, and before the year 1885, for that was
the time when heard it.
The general peace of Europe, which follow
cd the fall of Napoleon, released the army of
England from foreign service, and after re-
ductioh 20 about one-ihiFa Of its former num-
Der, it was distributed among the military sta
tions within the kingdom and provinces A
large number Of the surviving officers of the
field of Waterloo were garrisoned in. Ireland.
They were generally men who had seen hard
service, and had earned their honors and Of
fees in the battle field but considerable
number of new men received appointments
through favor of their wealthy and powerful
friends and came among the veterans with
commissions in their pockets which gave them
high rank in the army. The old soldiers,
snaturally enough, looked upon these raw re-
. cruits as mere upstairs and intruders, They
despised them for their inexperience, and
hated them for the injustice suffered by their
promotion. In a profession where honor is
gained by killing the country's enemies, it
viii scarcely be thought immoral to hate the
individual rivals and supplanteEs The A
postle. John says that murder and hating ones
brother 20 together &pd, taking the militia
ry sentiment for the standard of Judgment, it
is mean to beg or buy promotion, where 9th
er people have TO fight for it. But this is
dene elsewhere as well as in the British ar
my for the Offices which are thought the
most honorable are olen chained by means
the most dshonorable..
The hero Of my story was in this situation
and whether he deserved the judgment we
have passed npon his class, or not, he cer-
tainly suffered 1T in full measure He had
obtained by Patronage, the appointment of
Ensign, after the establishment of peace, and
was quartered with some dozen or twenty Of
fsers Of Wellington's army, in one of the cit
les OF lyeland. An ensign is the lowest com
trnissioued officer, and the salary, or pay is so
small, that il is a saying, "if an ensign has
lFlhe ior dinner, he must 60 without his sup
per- Our ensign was very poor--he was