private affairs, and hurried back to take measures for a speedy divorce and inflict summary vengeance on the Baron, who, owing either to the weakness of his nerves, the weakness of his cause, or both, showed a marked reluctance to giving what is called satisfaction for the wrong. He left Berlin in the direction of Mecklenburgh. Elliot, following in hot pursuit, arrived at the small and only inn of a small town, where he was told he could not be received because all the rooms were engaged by a single traveller. He saw at a glance that he had run his fox to earth. Armed with pistols, a sword, and a cane, he entered the room in which the Baron was ensconced, and demanded instant satisfaction with sword or pistol, which was refused; whereupon he broke his cane over the shoulders of the seducer. Thiébault says that he belaboured the Baron's shoulders till he consented to fight, and that they were on the way to the field for that purpose when the Baron objected that it was growing dark. The ensuing discussion drew some spectators to the spot; the combat was consequently postponed to the morrow; and both took up their night quarters at the little inn. But, long before the Englishman arose thirsting for blood at cockcrow, the German had taken the wings of the morning and fled to Berlin, where he added another item to the long arrear of hate by asserting that Elliot had fallen upon him in the most cruel and cowardly manner accompanied by four armed men. Challenge upon challenge, backed by the memory of the caning, were still ineffective to screw the handsome gallant's courage to the stickingpoint, and he would have been content to be consoled, like Paris after his inglorious flight, by his paramour, when the hissing scorn of the entire court and capital created the temporary and wavering courage of despair. According to the same authority, he was compelled to take the field much as (according to Mr. Kinglake) one of the heroes of the coup d'état was compelled to go on with it: that he was thus apostrophised by Baron Keith, a man of grave character and philosophical pursuits: 'I was your friend; but since all the infamy with which you have covered yourself, I declare to you that I am so no longer: however, you are still my cousin, and by this title you make me blush: now I will not put up with dishonour either for me or mine: therefore you will fight with Elliot or you will die by my hand: choose.' Kniphausen, who knew that there was no trifling with his cousin, chose the least dangerous alternative; and Keith, duly authorised to act for him, proceeded to make the necessary arrangements for a meeting. It took place at Baireuth. An attempt at amicable settlement failed; the concessions de manded manded by Elliot being such as his adversary was not yet. sufficiently intimidated to grant. They were: that the Baron should copy word for word, and sign, a paper which Elliot drew from his pocket, declaring not only that Elliot was a man of honour, free from stain or reproach of any kind, but that the two letters written or dictated by the Baron were false, calumnious, and such as (to his knowledge) could only have been written or dictated by 'un homme vil et faussaire.' On his refusal to write himself down a scoundrel the two principals took their ground. At this point Lady Minto's informant becomes more precise than Thiébault. We translate almost literally from the French statement printed by her : E. 'They were to fight with pistols. Kniphausen claims to fire first at twenty paces' distance, and gives for signal the raising the hand to the hat when either should be satisfied. His second, named Coppick, a retired officer, measured the ground. O'Connell, Elliot's second, finds that Coppick's legs are longer than his. The pistols are loaded and delivered to the combatants. E. takes up a position (recommended by Sir Lucius O'Trigger) exposing a full front. K. does the same. wore shoes and stockings, K. boots; E. a light frock, K. a greatcoat over his frock. K. fires and misses. E.'s pistol goes off as he is in the act of taking aim. K. fires his second shot as ineffectually as his first. E. fires in his turn, and with so just an aim that the wind of the ball makes K. wince and turn his head, and the ball strikes a tree in a right line with him, twenty paces farther off. After this second exchange of shots, K. raises his hand to his head in the hope of quitting the field of battle. E. objects, saying he is not satisfied: that one or the other must remain on the ground, and that the distance should be shortened to ten paces, unless K. would apologise in writing for the letter dictated to the wife and the false charge of assault, &c. Thereupon the seconds began another pourparler, which lasted nearly two hours. K. made proposals, which were refused by E. The combat recommenced at the same distance, the second of K. having declined to authorise any alteration. K., pistol in hand, cried out that so soon as one of them should be wounded he would sign all that E. had demanded. This satisfied E. K. fires. E., without the slightest movement of the head or body, claps his hand in his breeches pocket. "You are wounded!" was the exclamation. "No, it is nothing," was the reply. O'Connell told him to fire; but, on K. repeating that, if he (E.) was wounded, he (K.) would sign, E. fires in the air, admitting that he was wounded; and in fact the ball had pierced the pocket, grazed the skin, and passed out through a hole in the waistband. E., with perfect coolness, would not allow the wound to be examined till all was finished. After some moments employed in changing or softening the expressions agreed upon, K. wrote and signed a document which in English would run thus :— 6 ... Mr. “Mr. Elliot having been wounded by my third shot, and having fired in the air, I declare of my own accord that I regret the wrongs I have done him; that I apologise for them, as well as for having written him an insulting letter. I declare, also, that the reports of his having attacked me with armed men at Fürstenberg are false."' He also promised, on his honour, to write a letter of apology to the Comtesse de Verelst, the mother of the lady. When Elliot was in possession of these papers, the second of K. proposed that the two enemies should shake hands, the rather that K. had declared their quarrel ended. But Elliot, touching his hat, thus addressed K. in German: "Sir, I wish you all happiness; but as to friendship or social ties between you and me, there will never be any. As to you, Sir,' turning to the second of K., 'you have conducted this affair like a gentleman, and I shall be happy to say so publicly and on all occasions.' The spirit and promptitude he displayed on this occasion, and under the depressing influence of an illness which prostrated him when the excitement was over, won him the applause and sympathy of all classes at Berlin. Frederic, overcoming his personal dislike, wrote, "Was I not right when I said that he would make an excellent soldier?' The Princess of Prussia wrote, Your misfortunes were calculated to gain you the compassion of every person of sensibility, and the nobleness of your conduct the admiration and esteem of every one. You have perfectly succeeded: the Prince does you all possible justice.' He received letters from other royal and distinguished persons in Prussia to the same effect; and, what was still more important, he was judged by his countrymen to have acted in complete accordance with the requirements of his painful position. This is proved by a letter, well worth quoting, from Mr. Liston, shortly before going on his Spanish mission: 'London, 23rd May, 1783. 7 'The day before yesterday I had an audience of leave of the King (as they mean to despatch me immediately). He kept me (I believe) pretty long, and went through many subjects, amongst others your journey, with which I was amazed to find him so well acquainted. The first accounts he had had of it were from a German Gazette; then from the Leyden paper; then from your two private letters to Mr. Fox, both of which were shown to him; and he must also have heard of it from other quarters, from the particulars I found he knew. I told him that it was a measure of absolute necessity, and that you could not possibly do otherwise; which he seemed to assent to, and I was very happy to find him speak with so little rigidity on the subject. Both the Courts concerned have used friendly language. The opportunity I had of talking so long with the King has had the same effect with me as the successive conversations you have had used to have on you; that is, to convince me of his extensive knowledge of many things one would not expect him to be master of, and of his sound good sense in many others. I know not from what circumstance it was, but I felt myself inspired with more courage to speak to him than I usually have to people that are placed even one step above me.' It will be remembered that Elliot had quitted his post at Copenhagen without leave, so that, considering the religious feelings of George III., his Majesty must have been strongly impressed with the point of honour, as then understood, to have taken so favourable a view of the affair. But George III., besides being personally insensible to danger, was disposed to regard the ordeal of single combat in much the same light as his grandfather, who was sadly mortified at being prevented from fighting a duel with his royal brother-in-law, Frederic William of Prussia.* : Mr. Dampmartin, who will not allow the lady to be a fool, and says that she preserved the art of pleasing till the period at which he wrote, 1812, hazards a doubt as to the exact fidelity of the foregoing narration. Did the weakness of Kniphausen descend to such shameful cowardice? Did Mr. Elliot satisfy his anger and jealousy with such brutal violence? Moreover, however just, however firm the conduct of this Englishman, he did not succeed in escaping the ridicule which clings to the husband of a pretty woman from the moment he gives notoriety to an affair of gallantry.' M. Dampmartin, it would seem, agrees with the poet : Le bruit est pour le fat; la honte est pour le sot; But the notoriety was no fault of Elliot's, and the punishment he inflicted on Kniphausen, who was dismissed from a post of honour and irretrievably disgraced, was a useful moral lesson and a public benefit, as well as a satisfaction to private feelings. Elliot experienced no difficulty in procuring a divorce, and returned to Denmark as soon as his health permitted. 'Thus again (exclaims Lady Minto) he stood alone in life; his * George III. manifested nothing more than formal disapproval of the duel between the Duke of York and Colonel Lennox (afterwards Duke of Richmond), although the heir-apparent (George IV.) was disposed to treat the affair as a case of lese-majesté on the part of the Colonel. One of the last cases of actual posting-a printed placard posted against the walls, denouncing a captain of the Blues as a coward-falling under the notice of George III., in his rides, he exclaimed, What! what! a captain of my Household Brigade a coward!' An inquiry was ordered, and led to the dismissal of the officer and the brother officers who had sanctioned his refusal of the challenge. household household gods lay shattered round him; the mother who would have mourned over him was gone; and though his family sorrowed for his sorrows, it was with a feeling not unmixed with congratulation at the severance of so deplorable a connection. "Thank God," says Isabella, after his return from Berlin, "you have got safely away from all those strange people!' To reach this epoch we have been compelled to overleap the other less interesting events or scenes of the Berlin mission, as well as much curious family history, intermixed with anecdotes of political and social life in England. In April, 1782, the Rockingham ministry was formed; and one of the first acts of Fox, on whom the foreign department devolved, was to recall Elliot, under the plea that he had made himself, or become in his own despite, displeasing to the King of Prussia. The recall was accompanied by warm expressions of regret, and promises of speedy preferment; but as these were never fulfilled, although two vacancies occurred almost immediately, Elliot may be excused for suspecting their sincerity, and believing that the alleged reason for his recall was a pretence. Another change followed on the death of Lord Rockingham within four months. Lord Shelburne became Premier; Fox went into opposition; and Elliot received, through Lord Grantham, the offer of the mission to Copenhagen; an offer (he writes to his sister Isabella, September 29) which, considering the circumstances of the times and my brother's political line, I think exceedingly handsome on the part of those who made it. I was very humiliatingly treated by the demigod of the blackguards. . My brother seemed most decidedly convinced of the rectitude and ability of a set I neither loved nor approved. He is the creature on God's earth I most love and admire; but I think he, like many others, has been led away by the false glare of a meteor, in which there is neither consistency nor a spark of heavenly fire-a mere blaze kept up by the foul breath of faction and desperation.' Lady Minto thinks it highly probable that the idea of collecting and preserving his correspondence occurred to him about this time, and was one of his chief occupations on his return to Denmark after the divorce. The collection, chronologically arranged and bound in volumes, terminates with 1784: 'The work was not ill suited to his frame of mind; it was an attempt to keep a waif from the gallant bark which had set out in "life's morning," with "youth at the prow and pleasure at the helm." 'Ten years had elapsed since his first going forth from home, and, as he reviewed their flight, what varied scenes must his memory have recalled the Cossack tents on the Danube, his hairbreadth escapes by |