Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/518

 424 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s.vm. MAY 28, 1021. Rudkin kept his arm down until the word was given ; and during the interval between the | first and second shot, he was employed in pushing a small stick which he had in his hand into the ground, and drawing it out again. During the same interval, deceased altered his position, drew himself up, and fixed his eye on Captain Rudkin. The pistols were common, and not such as are usually employed in duelling. The distance at which the parties fought was rather more than fifteen paces. Witness saw the dis- tance paced off. Deceased told witness that he had taken off his flannels, which he had not been without for nine years before. Deceased : threw off his coat on the ground ; Captain I Rudkin fought with his coat on. Witness had j previously had some conversation with Captain | Rudkin respecting the quarrel, during which j Captain Rudkin stated that he had not the , slightest animosity against the deceased. Has known Captain Rxidkin ever since his arrival in this country ; has been frequently in his com- 1 pany, and has always seen him act as an officer j and a gentleman, and had never known him I to quarrel with, or offer an insult to, anybody. Has also known Mr. Morice and Dr. Strachan, and has never known them to be engaged in a quarrel. Some time ago a dispute took place between two gentlemen, upon which occasion Captain Morice acted as mediator, and adjusted the affair. In this instance, he expressed to witness an anxious desire to make an amicable adjustment of the differences. All the proceedings in the affair were fairly conducted, so far as witness knows. MAJOR WILLIAM SKINNER: Had frequent occasions of meeting the gentlemen at the bar, as well as the deceased. His general opinion of the character of Captain Rudkin is that he is one of the most inoffensive men he ever knew. Believes Dr. Strachan to be of the same dis- position ; and has ever found Captain Morice to be a good-tempered pleasant man. ALEXANDER MCKENZIE : Is Captain in the Royal Veteran Companies. Became acquainted with Captain Rudkin in September or October, 1824. Since that period they have been on terms of intimacy, and witness knows him to be a j humane, good-hearted man, and as little disposed I to quarrel as anyone he ever met with. His j manners were at all times the most gentlemanly ; and witness is satisfied that he could call on every officer in the corps for testimony to the same effect. Witness's acquaintance with Dr. Strachan commenced immediately upon r his arrival in this country, and he considers him a mild, gentlemanly, good-tempered man. Witness's acquaintance with Captain Morice commenced soon after the arrival of the yacht ; he always considered him a gentlemanly, good-tempered man. STEPHEN RICE : Is Lieutenant in the Royal Veteran Regiment. Has known the prisoners at the bar since 1824. Knows Captain Rudkin to be a most excellent-tempered man, and has never known him to have any quarrel with any j officer in the garrison except with the deceased. | Captain Rudkin has had a former quarrol with deceased. On that occasion witness was present, j when Mr. Philpot certainly behaved in the most violent manner. The affair was settled by witness i and Captain Willock's concluding that Mr. Philpot was decidedly wrong in his conduct in the be- ginning of the quarrel. The apology was received and a perfect reconciliation took place. Captain WILLOCK, re-examined: Had been engaged in adjusting previous quarrels between the deceased and Captain Rudkin, and between the deceased and others. A sufficient apology was considered by Captain Rudkin to have been made for the offence which had been committed against him. JOHN O'FARRELL : Is Lieutenant in the Royal Veteran Battalions. Has known Captain Rudkin since the arrival of the Royal Veterans in this country. [Statement to the same effect as that of previous witness.] ROBERT GUMBLETON DAUNT: Is Lieutenant in the Royal Veteran Companies. [Statement to the same effect as that of previous witness.] JOHN WALKER: Is an Ensign in the Royal Veteran Regiment. Has known Captain Rudkin since September, 1824. His conduct has been that of a perfect gentleman. (This witness con- firmed to the fullest extent everything that had been said by the former witnesses upon the temper and conduct of the prisoners at the bar. ) CAMPBELL FRANCE. Is Surgeon of H.M.S. Grasshopper. Has known Captain Morice since June, 1818. Has served in H.M.S. Liffey with him. [Statement to like effect.] CHARLES WARD : Is supernumerary clerk of H.M.S. Grasshopper. Has known Mr. Morice since July 20, 1812. Served nearly twelve months in the Pincher gun-brig, in which he was a messmate with him. [Statement to like effect.] JOSEPH BULL : Has done the duty of Hospital Sergeant ever since the Veteran Companies landed. The prisoner, Dr. Strachan, is Hospital Surgeon. He has always been kind in every respect to those Who were under him, and has repeatedly given from his own table, to the patients under his cha,rge, such delicacies as were not allowed by the hospital. The HON. JUDGE TUCKER then charged the jury. Awfully interesting and excruciatingly painful, his Lordship said, was the duty which he was called upon to perform. A consciousness that the life of a fellow-creature may be depending upon our conduct must always impress our minds with the greatest anxiety when the accusation involves the crime of murder, the interest of that situation is much increased ; but when it is made against persons with whom we have been on terms of intimacy, the case is almost too difficult to support. But the facts in the present case admitted of no doubt. The prisoners had admitted that by the hands of Captain Rudkin the deceased had met his death, and it had also been shown that the other gentlemen on trial had aided and assisted in the fact. Their lives and all that were connected with them turned upon the view which he should have to take upon the law of the case, because they (the jurors) were bound to receive advice and direction from the Court. The practice of duelling had, unfortu- nately, become so general that fe* were conscious of the light in which it was viewed by the laws of their country. From certain feelings of honour, and from the -means resorted to by the parties to prevent discovery, it seldom, happened