delivery of the colony from the treacherous designs of the two negro kings, affords a proof that God can protect the just and upright man from the snare of his enemies, without any miraculous interposition in his favour. The whole of Mr. Beaver's conduct towards the native labourers called grumetas exhibits the same magnanimous and equitable principle of action; and by it he brought under his control the worst of characters. Again, look at Johnson, with his cocked pistol in each hand, threatening to shoot any man who should attempt to lay hand on him, dropping the pistols and bursting into tears when Mr. Beaver came up to him unarmed and seized him; saying he could not fire upon an unarmed man: such was the overpowering awe which virtue had over that man, bad as he was, for the moment. The hold Mr. Beaver, by his conduct, obtained upon the affections of the most depraved characters, could not be more strongly exemplified than in Peter Hayles, who, after he had run away, wrote a letter to Mr. Beaver, acknowledging his own unworthiness, and asking forgiveness for all things past, and particularly asking Mr. Beaver's pardon for running away.— In a postscript he adds, "Sir, I do rite with tears in my eyes." As he was out of Beaver's reach, he could have no inducement thus to write, but from a compunction for the wrong he had done to a man for whom he entertained a real regard and respect; and probably, in circumstances less desperate, he would have served Beaver to the last. But, alas! what a contrast must the conduct of the Europeans who had visited those shores before Captain Beaver, have presented to the natives, when it had established an opinion as firmly as any point of faith, that all white men were rogues! If, on the contrary, they had all acted like Captain Philip Beaver and William Penn, what different scenes

A Challenge.

the opera you gave me "SIR,-Last night at the ball of a serious offence. You trod upon my foot without offering me any apology. several of our friends say they witI did not perceive it myself; but nessed it. They will consider me as a monster, unworthy of living, if I do not wash away this affront in your blood. Meet me to-morrow, at seven o'clock, at -- with a friend. I leave you

the choice of your weapons; and I shall either run my sword through whichever is most agreeable to you. your body, or blow your brains out,

"I have the honour to be, with great respect, Sir, your very humble and obedient very servant, "The CHEVALIER DE B****"

Answer.

"SIR, I have received the invitation which you have been so kind to address to me. I am as well acquainted as you with the laws of

Un Cartel.

challenge: but let them read the following report of actual duels, and between Frenchmen too, and laugh if they can-so nearly allied is bloodstained crime to folly and impiety.

Two Fatal Duels.

A number of French prisoners were confined at Stapleton prison, about five miles from Bristol, in 1805. A most fatal affray happened there between four French prisoners, owing to a dispute which arose out of a trifling gambling transaction. The two principals first engaged, having split a pair of scissors into two parts, and tied the points to the ends of two canes, with which they fought; one was soon killed. The seconds then engaged, when another fell mortally In fact, both the friends OMICRON.

heures, au bois de Boulogne, avec un second. Je vous laisse le choix des armes, et vous passerai mon épée à travers le corps, ou bien je vous brûlerai la cervelle, comme cela vous fera plasir.

"J'ai l'honneur d'être, avec une considération distinguée, Monsieur, votre très humble et très obéissant serviteur,

"Le CHEVALIER B****.”
Réponse.

"MONSIEUR,-J'ai reçu l'invitation que vous avez eu la bonté de m'adresser. Je connois, comme vous, les lois de l'honneur, et ne manquerai pas de me trouver au rendez-vous. Je choisis les pistolets, comme plus expeditifs. Celui qui succombera aura tort, et fera ses excuses à l'autre.

"Agréez l'assurance de mon inviolable attachement. Votre affectionné ami et serviteur,

"Le BARON DE **** " Some of your readers will, probably, find it difficult to preserve unmoved the risible muscles of their countenance at the sight of this comic-tragic

wounded.

on one side fell.

Cooke.

[To the Editor of the Herald of Peace.]

SIR,-I have been reading a Work entitled "Memoirs of the late War, comprising the personal Narrative of Captain Cooke, of the 43d regiment of Light Infantry. The History of the Campaign of 1809, in Portugal, by the Earl of Munster, &c. &c." The following extracts from Captain Cooke's Narrative exhibit the various scenes which war presents to our view. Describing a Bivouac, Captain Cooke says,

"The blankets were spread out, the earth our bed, knapsacks our pillows, and the over-hanging trees our canopy; the busy hum of life no longer vibrated through the bivouac, and thousands of soldiers slumbered and reposed their weary limbs, lying scattered throughout the forest, or around the dying embers of expiring fires. My companions insisted on stretching themselves on each side of me, protesting that they ought to do thus, as a protection against cold for the first two or three nights, since a very heavy dew fell,

For

so as almost to wet through the blankets, notwithstanding the great heat of the weather by day. some time I was unable to close my eyes, owing to some insects flocking up my legs in swarms, and creating much irritation.

"Let us, for a moment, withdraw the veil of futurity, and make a few anticipations. On my right tranquilly slumbers a youthful warrior of sixteen years old, and on my left unconsciously sleeps the other, one year older. Lieutenant E. Freer is doomed to undergo two more years of the toils of war, to suffer sickness and privation, and, at the sanguinary assault of Badajoz, to receive a severe wound in the upper part of the thigh; and lastly, at the age of nineteen, while in the Pyrenees, a ball passes through his right arm, and enters his side: he staggers, utters three words, and falls a lifeless corpse amid those dreary regions!

66

'Lieutenant J. Considine, at the assault of Badajoz, receives a ball through his body, and, stretched on the damp sod, enveloped in darkness, bleeds inwardly. A light is held over his pale face, and discovers the blood flowing from his mouth. Borne, however, to a place of security, he recovers. The next year he is tormented by a malignant fever, and afterwards, on the highest pinnacle of the Pyrenees, a ball strikes him ; his thigh-bone is broken near the hip: he cries for help. I look down: he lies prostrate between my legs. The balls carry death and destruction around: we are under the walls storming a fort, and fighting hand to hand. Four soldiers attempt to carry him off, and, not being aware of the place of his wound, hoist him up, and turn his left foot outwards over the shoulder; by which means the thigh-bone is completely broken asunder. His screams are dreadful, and two of the soldiers fall dead, pierced with balls. The battle ended, he is carried to a place of security,

where he eventually recovers!-and he now commands the 53d regiment." Pp. 77-79.

So much for the dear-bought honours of war. If a man escapes with his life, it is often with a shattered constitution, which is but ill compensated by promotion. Here follows a brief but graphic description of the sufferings the soldier endures from forced marches:

"The French army being completely worn out, and having suffered terribly in killed and wounded, continued to retreat during the 31st, followed by the five victorious divisions of the British in three columns, by the roads of Roncesvalles, Maya, and Donna Maria. On the evening of the same day, although obliquely to the rear of the pursuing columns, we received orders, if possible, to overtake the enemy, and attack them wherever they might be found. Accordingly, in the middle of the night we got under arms and began our march. Towards the middle of the following day, (the 1st of August), having already marched twenty-four miles, we descended into a deep valley between Ituren and Elgoriaga, where the division drew up in column to reconnoitre the right flank of the enemy, who were still hovering in the neighbourhood of San Estevan. After an hour's halt, we continued our movement on the left of the Bidassoa, and for three hours ascended, or rather clambered, the rugged asperities of a prodigious mountain, the by-path of which was composed of overlapping slabs of rock, or stepping-stones. At four o'clock in the afternoon a flying dust was descried, glistening with the bright and vivid flashes of smallarms, to the right of the Bidassoa, and in the valley of Lerin. A cry was instantly set up 'the enemy!' the worn soldiers raised their bent heads covered with dust and sweat: we had nearly reached the summit of this tremendous mountain, but

2 s

nature was quite exhausted; many of the soldiers lagged behind, having accomplished more than thirty miles over the rocky roads intersected with loose stones; many fell heavily on the naked rocks, frothing at the mouth, black in the face, and struggling in their last agonies; whilst others, unable to drag one leg after the other, leaned on the muzzles of their firelocks, looking pictures of despair, and muttering, in disconsolate accents, that they had never 'fallen out' before.

"The sun was shining in full vigour, but fortunately numerous clear streams bubbled from the cavities and fissures of the rocks, (which were clothed in many places by beautiful evergreens,) and allayed the burning thirst of the fainting men. The hard work of an infantry soldier at times is beyond all calculation, and death, by the road-side, frequently puts an end to his sufferings, but what description can equal such an exit?"-Pp. 314—316.

The following extracts show that CLIMATE is sometimes as destructive as the sword:

"Three days after our long reconnoisance I became blind with ophthalmia, was seized with violent rheumatic pains in the soles of my feet, and took to my bed. My legs and knees swelled to an enormous size, first turning red, then blue, and I was no longer able to move.

66

Many other officers became sick, and were ordered to the rear. I for one, mattress and all, was shoved into a Spanish car. Our feelings during the passage of the Agueda were indescribable, Ye invalids, stretched on your beds of down! comfort yourselves; submit to your pains with Christian philosophy, and bless your lucky stars that you did not belong to the army of Portugal. Rejoice that your very lives are not shaken out of you by such ups and downs; first over one rock, then over another, and dragged along by

bullocks sometimes forced into a run, owing to the steepness of the adamantine roads. I could no longer bear the terrible pain. In my shirt, with my legs enveloped in bandages, I begged and entreated to be lifted out of the car, being quite helpless and blind. To get on a mule's back was quite out of the question, my legs and knees were so inflamed. At length some sick soldiers offered to try and carry or rather drag me from rock to rock. First I got a jolt on one side, then an unintentional bump on the other; the men were exhausted; and I entreated them to hold up my feet, (while my head lay in the road), for I could not bear them on the ground. At the end of the second day's tormenting journey, we entered Castel Nero. The cars were drawn round a stone fountain, and while waiting for our billets from the Juez de Fora, the howling of wolves was distinctly heard in all directions, amid the surrounding woods and rocks.

"For five burning days we travelled from morning until night-fall at the rate of a mile an hour. Each night I was dragged out of the car, mattress and all, shoved into some horrible recess that was almost alive with vermin, and replaced in my uneasy vehicle in the morning for the continuation of the journey. On the fifth day, when within two leagues of Celorico (the place of our destination), we drew up, as Major Ellers of our regiment requested that he might rest for a short time, since he could no longer bear the jolting of his vehicle; in a few minutes however he expired, and his body was carried forward and interred.

"The heat of the weather was almost past endurance. On our arrival at Celorico, with an empty room for my quarter and the floor for my resting place, I remained sixty days nearly immovable, my only covering a filthy blanket, which had been stained all over from my mule's

sore back. On the journey it had been placed under the animal's pack saddle to save its back, by day, while in turn I had the benefit of it as a covering by night. In this miserable plight, what with bleeding and blistering, and long confinement, I had become a perfect skeleton, and reduced to the most wretched condition. Five medical officers came to hold a consultation at the foot of my mattress, and, having examined my now lank legs, and big feet, they assured me, that they could not hold out any hope of a speedy recovery, and even doubted whether I should ever again be enabled to straighten my right leg, the knee of which had become contracted during the pains of my rough journey. The staff doctors held out every inducement to persuade me to go to England, by first offering a spring waggon to convey me to Lisbon. My suffering had been great, my arms hung nearly useless by my side, my legs refused their office yet I still cherished the hope, that they would again carry me forward. Doctor Mac Lean most kindly pressed me to acquiesce in their advice, but without effect: (poor gentleman-I understood he died a few days subsequently of a fever!)- how could I leave the army, whom I found amongst mountains feeding on hard biscuit and drinking rum impregnated with the mosquitoes? A pretty warlike story to recount at home! The very thought was frightful! More bleeding and blistering were therefore resorted to, by which means, added to a good constitution, at the expiration of another month I was enabled, with the assistance of crutches, to reach my window, the trellis work of which being thrown open, offered me the ineffable delight of once more enjoying the sight of a few living objects in the street.

"The rain now fell in torrents for days together, and thousands of British and Portuguese soldiers (now crowding the churches which had

been converted into hospitals) were dying, by hundreds, of fever produced by the sickly season. The excruciating torments, suffering and privations of the common soldiers were such, that an adequate description is impossible,-many of them lingering in raging fevers, stretched out on the pavement, the straw that had been placed for their comfort having worked from under them during their agonies, while hundreds of flies settled on and blackened their dying faces: and so stationary did these tormentors become, that those who still maintained sufficient power were obliged to tear them from off their faces, and squeeze them to death in their hands. Cars piled up, and loaded with the remains of these unfortunate victims to disease, daily passed through the streets for the purpose of pitching their bodies into some hole by way of interment. The medical officers were overpowered by the numbers of sick, and also fell ill themselves, so that it was a total impossibility, notwithstanding their strenuous efforts, to surmount all difficulties, and to pay that attention to all that could have been wished. The very hospital orderlies were exhausted by attending, burying, and clearing away the dead. These scenes of misery cannot be fancied : the sick pouring into the town, lining the streets, and filling every house, set at nought all theoretical conception.

"Our paymaster entered the town with a raging fever. His hopes were not realized he never again beheld his wife or his comfortable fire-side. At the end of a few days' anguish he expired, and was buried with the rest."-Pp. 100-105.

Your readers have no doubt heard Walcheren called the grave of the British soldiers. Captain (then Ensign) Cooke's first foreign service was in the Walcheren expedition. He has given a description of the siege of Flushing, a strong sea-port