Page:Reminisences of Captain Gronow.djvu/174
present Marquis of H, then Lord B, had a duel with the son of the Bonapartist General L. General S was Lord B's second, and the principals exchanged several shots without injury to either party. This duel, like the preceding, originated with the Frenchman, who insulted the Englishman at the Théâtre Français in the most unprovoked manner. At the present day our fiery neighbours are much more amenable to reason, and if you are but civil, they will be civil to you; duels consequently are of rare occurrence. Let us hope that the frequency of these hostile meetings and the animus displayed in them originated in national wounded vanity rather than in personal animosity.
In the autumn of 1821 I was living in Paris, when my old friend H, Adjutant of the 1st Foot Guards, called upon me, and requested that I would be his second in a duel with Mr. N, an officer in the same regiment. After hearing what he had to say, and thinking I could serve him, I consented. It was agreed by Captain F, R.N., of Pitfour, Mr. N's second, that the duel should take place in the Bois de Boulogne. After an exchange of shots,