In November, 1835, Mr. Roebuck, M.P. (commonly known as "Tear-'em"), and Mr. Black, the editor of the Morning Chronicle, fought a duel at Christchurch, Hants. At the first round Mr. Roebuck fired in the air, but at the second, both principals fired simultaneously, but no mischief was done. I wind up this account of duels of the reign, in which, however, I have not given a tithe part of those that occurred, with the last one in my notes, taken from the Times, June 15, 1837.
"Distressing Duel.
"Yesterday morning, between three and four o'clock, a meeting took place in a field near St. John's Wood between the Hon. Henry D—— and Mr. Robert ——. The parties are nearly related to each other, and the misunderstanding arose in consequence of an elopement of a distressing nature. The parties had taken their stations and were upon the point of firing, when a cabriolet dashed up the adjacent lane at a tremendous speed, and a lady, in a wild and hurried manner, rushed up the field towards the party, but ere she could succeed in reaching them the word 'Fire!' was given, and one of the combatants, Mr. Henry D——, fell. The lady, who proved to be the Hon. Mrs. D——, perceiving this, uttered the most heartrending shrieks, and, rushing to the spot, accused herself of being the murderer of her husband. The gentlemen present had the greatest difficulty in forcing her from the spot. A surgeon in attendance at first pronounced the hon. gentleman's wound to be fatal; but, subsequently, a consultation of medical men having been held at the hon. gentleman's residence, some slight hopes are entertained of his recovery. It is said that the unfortunate cause of the catastrophe has been in a state of delirium since the event, and has twice made an attempt to lay violent hands on herself."
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Smuggling — Its prevalence — Cases — Great smuggling of silks, etc. — More Cases.
Another thing, which has almost died out, but then was in full force, was smuggling; but then almost every import paid some duty, and that on spirits, tea, and tobacco was excessively heavy, and, consequently, the temptation was very great. Kent and the south-east coast generally, were the favourite resorts for smugglers, owing to their proximity to France, and smuggling was a regularly organized business in which much capital was embarked. Every one on the coast knew something about contraband trade, and, if they did not openly aid in it, they certainly did nothing to aid in capturing smugglers. This rendered the duties of the Excise more laborious than they otherwise might be; and, as the smugglers were generally in force, owing to the magnitude of their ventures, the dangers involved in their capture increased proportionately. Being caught, meant fine or imprisonment to the smugglers, besides loss of goods; so that if the parties ever came in collision it was no child's play. We may judge of the magnitude of the contraband trade by the frequency of newspaper reports of it, and it must be remembered that the instances chronicled would represent a very small percentage of runs which were successful and unheard of. To show their frequency, I will quote three notices in the Times of January 10, January 22, and February 22, 1831. The first is taken from the Hastings Iris, and begins—
"We regret to have to state that a desperate affray took place on Wednesday morning, between three and four o'clock, on the beach in front of Gover's Cottage, about two miles to the eastward of Hastings, when two men were killed on the part of the smugglers, and one of the blockade so severely beaten that his life is despaired of, having his arm broken in two places and five or six cuts in his head. Another man stationed near to him was very much knocked about, but was able to give evidence at the inquest.... William Rixon, ex-seaman, belonging to the Hyperion, was on duty on the beach about three o'clock in the morning of Wednesday last, near Gover's Cottage. A sloop showed a light about two miles from the shore, and about ten minutes after a boat left her, which was making for the shore. As soon as she came near he could see three men pulling, and one man in the stern steering. He went up under the cliff, and saw thirty or forty men with sticks nine or ten feet long; they looked like soldiers with muskets. So soon as he hailed them, another party, which he had not seen before, ran to attack the two men who were on duty near him. The first party which he had seen threatened his life, and said if he would not fire they would not hurt him; but if he fired they would cut his throat. He immediately fired his musket for assistance; did not recollect which way he fired; he might have fired in the direction in which the men stood. They sprang on him; about a dozen handled him, struck him on the side of the head with sticks, which forced him to the ground and stunned him, after which he was senseless for some time; and, as he was recovering, they struck him again. Some of his comrades came to his assistance. After the men left him, he found he had been dragged a considerable way up the cliff. They had torn his clothes in trying to disarm him. He then went down to the boat and stood by her until his officer came down and seized her. The smugglers took his pistols and musket from him. The musket had since been found, the pistols had not; they were all loaded with ball cartridge. The duty imposed upon him, in case of the attempt to land contraband goods, was to resist to the utmost of his power. He fired as a signal for assistance. The men were on the cliff rather above him. He fired once before he was knocked down; but afterwards discharged four or five pieces as signals for assistance. The men went down to the boat to take the goods out. He could hear them run up and down the beach as the people laid on him. There were ninety-three tubs in the boat."
The verdict was justifiable homicide.
The next is quoted from the Kent Herald—
"On Wednesday sen'night, about nine o'clock, a desperate attack was made by a party of smugglers on the person of Lieutenant Ross, the officer in command of the Dover Station Blockade Service. The object of the smugglers was to prevent any interference in the landing of a large quantity of contraband goods, which was taking place not far off, and successfully accomplished, with the loss of only one bale of silk left in the boat, which was afterwards captured. Lieutenant Ross was savagely beaten by five or six of the smugglers, under the very windows of the magistrates, on the Marine Parade, some of whose servants, we understand, looked on the affray without offering the least assistance. At length, the servant of Sir Hussey Vivian coming up, the fellows made off, and Lieutenant Ross discharged his pistol after them, the ball from which passed through the window of a house opposite, but fortunately without injury to any of the inmates. It is quite time that an ample reduction of duty on foreign articles should put an end to the 'giant evil' of smuggling—nothing else can stop it; and, until it is done, the demoralization and irregular habits of the lower class will necessarily increase."