“Lord Falmouth first became concerned in the affair between the Duke of Wellington and Lord Winchilsea shortly before he met Sir Henry Hardinge on the subject, on the evening of Thursday, the 19th. Until that time, Lord Falmouth knew nothing whatever either of the previous correspondence, or of the publication which had led to it, beyond having seen the letter in the Standard newspaper. It may seem material to state, that when Sir Henry called upon Lord Falmouth, at twelve o’clock at night, with the proposal to omit the words affixed to No. 6 in parenthesis, it was after Lord Winchilsea’s answer, No. 7, had been shown to the Duke of Wellington. This point is not quite clear in the publication of Saturday. Immediately after Lord Winchilsea had received his grace’s fire, and had fired in the air, Lord Falmouth was the first to propose satisfactory reparation for Lord Winchilsea’s publication of his opinion in the Standard newspaper. Lord Falmouth distinctly declared on the ground, that it never was a question with him whether that publication was wrong, but merely whether Lord Winchilsea was in a situation honourably to subscribe to the terms proposed, after he (Lord Falmouth) was requested to undertake the business. Before the parties took their ground. Lord Falmouth delivered a sealed letter, which he had received from Lord Winchilsea on Friday night, to Sir Henry Hardinge, who returned it after the affair had been settled.”
BETWEEN CAPT. HELSHAM AND LIEUT. CROWTHER.
April 1, 1829.
A duel, attended with a fatal result, took place at Boulogne, on the 1st of April, between Captain Helsham and Lieutenant Crowther. It arose out of an objection made by the former to the admission of the latter to a club established at Boulogne. The objection was, that the lieutenant had been assaulted in England, and had not behaved like an officer or a gentleman, by challenging the assaulter. The lieutenant demanded an apology: this the captain refusing to make, a duel ensued, and Lieutenant Crowther fell. On the 8th of October 1830, Captain Helsham was tried, by a special commission, at the Old Bailey, on a charge of murder, under the Act of the 9th of George IV., in which it is provided, “that if any of his Majesty’s subjects should be charged in this country with the murder or manslaughter of any fellow-subject on land abroad, and beyond his Majesty’s prerogative, it should be lawful, although such murder or manslaughter be in a foreign land, to try such party accused of either of these offences in England.”
Mr. William Coksley, a resident at Boulogne, gave the following evidence:—“I saw the parties on the ground. There were many individuals present. Mr. Malony put a pistol into Lieutenant Crowther’s hand, who soon after fired it off. I observed Captain Helsham’s arm raised; and after some short time his pistol was fired, and Lieutenant Crowther fell. The ball had passed through his neck; he never spoke afterwards, and died within half an hour. Captain Helsham walked off the ground immediately, having told his servant to take his pistols home.”
Mr. Malony, an officer of the 5th Dragoon Guards, who acted as second to the deceased, said:—“The deceased consulted me, as a friend, on the 31st of March, respecting something that affected his character. In consequence of what he told me, I went to Holt’s hotel to meet Mr. Grady; but before I saw him, Colonel Conway and Captain Helsham came to me. The captain said, that Lieutenant Crowther was not a fit person for him to apologize to, or to fight; and he assigned as a reason for it, that he had been horsewhipped, and had not resented it as a gentleman and an officer ought to do. I told him, that Lieutenant Crowther assured me, upon his honour, it was false; and I solicited him to make an apology. Colonel Conway asked me, whether I came to deliver a hostile message? I replied, I came there the messenger of peace; and I renewed my endeavours to prevail on the captain to apologize. Upon which the prisoner said: ‘An apology, sir! nonsense!’ At length, I delivered a message, that, if he would not apologize, Mr. Crowther expected he would meet him in the field. After some further conversation, the captain said: ‘Well, I give him warning. I am ready to meet him, but I will make it an affair of business.’ After this, Mr. Grady and myself made an arrangement for the parties to meet the next day at eleven, at Napoleon’s column. I accompanied Lieutenant Crowther to the spot. A number of individuals, a dozen at least, both on horseback and foot, were present. Mr. Grady said that the captain would have no firing, unless it was separate. We then proceeded to arrange the manner in which the duel was to be fought. The captain was in the ditch with us, when we were loading the pistols. I observed to him, that this was contrary to all duelling usage. He said, he did not care a damn for the usage; he would see them loaded. The distance agreed upon was twelve paces. The parties were to stand with their pistols even down by their sides, until Mr. Grady pronounced the words, ‘Now, gentlemen!’ and on those words being pronounced they were to raise their arms, and fire as nearly together as possible, and no second aim was to be taken. The parties were then placed. Mr. Grady pronounced the signal loud enough for both to hear. Lieutenant Crowther immediately raised his arm with rather a quick motion, fired, and then lowered his arm. Captain Helsham did not fire till some time after. Not hearing the report of his pistol immediately after that of Lieutenant Crowther, I looked about, and observed the captain’s pistol pointed towards his opponent in a position that, had he fired, the ball would have fallen short, his arm not being fully raised. He leaned his head to the right to get a good view of the lieutenant, raised his arm gradually, and did not fire for some seconds, until he had fairly covered his man; that is, got his pistol in a direction to him, and was looking along it. He appeared to take a deliberate aim. He fired, and Mr. Crowther fell. The ball passed through his neck.”
For the defence it was urged, that there had been no animosity on the part of the prisoner; who had only obeyed the laws of society, according to the best of his judgment. The circumstances of the duel had been examined by the authorities at Boulogne, who considered that it had been fairly fought, and had therefore liberated him. Colonel Conway stated, that he had said, in a conversation with Mr. Malony, that it was a pity two young men should fight upon a matter of so little importance; to which the latter had replied, that if Captain Helsham refused a meeting, he should be posted in the town, and publicly horsewhipped. The captain came out of the room at the time, and heard the observation. After a number of respectable witnesses had given the prisoner an excellent character for kindness, generosity, and humanity.
Mr. Justice Bayley charged the jury. They must first, he said, be satisfied that both the prisoner and the deceased were natural-born subjects of this realm; secondly, they must be quite certain that the deceased was killed by the hand of the prisoner; and thirdly, that the prisoner had so acted as to be guilty of the crime of murder. Intentionally using means calculated to produce death, if that result ensued, did most undoubtedly constitute the crime of murder. With regard to the present case, it appeared, beyond all doubt, that it had arisen out of a duel. Now, he was bound as a lawyer to tell the jury, that, if parties went out to fight a duel, and death was the result of that meeting, the surviving parties were equally guilty of the crime of murder, whether fair or foul means had been used. If they found the prisoner guilty, they might accompany their verdict with any recommendation they thought proper.—The jury, having remained out of court for the space of about twenty minutes, returned with a verdict, finding the prisoner “Not guilty.”
BETWEEN MR. LAMBRECHT AND MR. CLAYTON.
January 8, 1830.
This day, a duel, which terminated fatally, was fought in Battersea fields, between Mr. Lambrecht, who had formerly served as a lieutenant in the 43rd regiment, in America and at Waterloo, and Mr. Oliver Clayton, a literary gentleman from Ireland. Before daylight, Mr. Clayton proceeded with his second, Mr. Bigley, to Battersea fields, where Mr. Lambrecht and his second. Lieutenant Cox, were waiting his arrival. It was a little after six when all the parties took the ground. After a short conversation, the signal being given, the pistols were fired; and Mr. Lambrecht’s ball passing through Mr. Clayton’s body, he immediately fell. He was conveyed to the Red House, where he died at seven in the evening. The quarrel took place at Wood’s hotel, Panton Square, during a discussion respecting the Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill, of which the deceased, who had renounced that faith, had been a warm opponent. During the discussion, Mr. Lambrecht called him a hypocrite; and this led to the duel. The jury who sat on the body brought in a verdict of “Wilful murder” against Mr. Lambrecht, the principal, and Lieutenant Cox and Mr. Bigley, the seconds; and the coroner’s warrant was issued for their apprehension. On Wednesday, the 13th, Mr. Lambrecht, who had surrendered himself, was brought to Union Hall for examination. After the duel, the unhappy man returned to town; but withdrew from his usual residence, fearing that he should be discovered, and wandered about the streets for three nights. On Tuesday evening, being quite exhausted, he went into a public-house, where he drank to excess, and then gave himself up to a police-officer. After making the statement which will hereafter be given, Mr. Chambers, the magistrate, told him that it was a most serious business, and that he must prepare himself for the worst, as the law would be carried to the fullest extent. The parties were all committed to prison, to take their trial for the offence.
The said trial took place at Kingston assizes, on the 2nd of April, before Mr. Justice Bayley. After Mr. Gurney had stated the case, Mr. Thomas Powell, surgeon at Battersea, gave the following evidence:—“On the morning of the 8th of January last, I received a communication which induced me to go out shortly before seven o’clock. I went to the back of the Red House, Battersea, and found there but three persons, one of them lying on a board, wounded, with a coat or cloak over him. The wounded gentleman was taken into the house, and laid on a bed. I found him wounded on the right side of the belly. It was a small wound, into which I could have passed the point of my finger. There was a wound also on the left side. There was nothing to enable me to say it was a gun-shot wound, had I not known it from other circumstances; but it might have been produced by a bullet passing through the body. I immediately pronounced it to be a mortal wound. My answer to the inquiry of the wounded gentleman was, that it must prove mortal. He asked me, how long I thought it probable he might survive. I told him I could not speak positively, but I should suppose he could not survive more than twelve hours. The wounded gentleman, who told me his name was Clayton, requested that a clergyman of the Church of England might be sent for. The clergyman came, and I went into another room. I returned shortly after, when he begged that there might be no prosecution, and said that every thing had been conducted fairly and honourably, and that he was to blame, in being so obstinate as to refuse the apology which had been offered to him. At this time he was aware he could not live. About two hours before he died he desired that certain persons might be written to, and that it might be stated to them, that part of the quarrel was his being called a hypocrite. I asked him by whom. The answer was, ‘By the man who shot me, Lambrecht.’”