HONOURABLE SAYINGS AND DOINGS.
AN affair of honour, protracted through the finer punctilio' s of which such matters allow, is perhaps the most exquisite example of human folly. A rich case has lately occurred in the North. Mr. REDDIE and Captain MAITLAND are convives at a hunt- dinner. Mr. REDDIE mentions a difficult leap he had witnessed. Captain MAITLAND denies that there is any such leap in the country. Mr. REDDIE perceives that his honour is bound to the jump ; and by way of vaulting it triumphantly over the negative bar, he gives the Captain that monosyllable which is never ac- cepted. The Captain sits at table two hours after the tender of the compliment ; and next morning, the gentlemen of the hunt give him to understand that they do not desire his company. At the next meeting of the field, Lord KELBUR:V and his brother sportsmen approve of Mr. REDDIE'S conduct. Captain MAIT- LAND is coolly treated, and leaves the neighbourhood on the death of a relative ; but nine days afterwards, his friend Captain BLAIR demands of Mr. REDDIE satisfaction for the past affront. Mr. REDDIE refuses to oblige the Captain, on the ground of his having been too dilatory in see-king his life, and having consequently been sent to Coventry by the Hunt. Captain 'MAITLAND responds, that if Mr. REDDIE refuses him the opportunity of shooting him, he must avail himself of the second satisfaction of which the case would then permit, and horsewhip him. Mr. REDDIE rejoins, that in the event of any such attempt, he will take the liberty of instantly shooting the Captain. Captain MAITLAND now posts Mr. REDDIE; and here comes one of the curious points upon which affairs of honour turn,—for Lord KELBURN, who had before approved of the conduct of Mr. REDDIE, agrees to recognize Captain MAITLAND as a gentleman, simply because he had placarded Mr. REDDIE as a coward. Thus one gentleman is restored to consideration by the easy process of applying foul language to another. Captain MAITLAND was cut by the Hunt because he did not promptly enough challenge Mr. REDDIE; Mr. REDDIE, acting on advice, refuses him the meeting when it is at last required ; the Captain calls him coward, and Lord KELBURN then perceives that the employment of that term cancels every thing objectionable or questionable which had oc- curred in the Captain's conduct! BENTHAM amuses himself with the various restoratives of credibility of which the law of the land allows ; but nothing surely can be finer than the process restora- tive of gentility, of which this law of honour gives example. We must not omit to mention another fine feature in the case: Mr. REDDIE had relented so far as to agree to fight Captain MAITLAND, "provided any three gentlemen of the Hunt would bow or speak to Captain Maitland during breakfast." On a word or a nod it was to depend whether the Captain was worthy to shoot and be shot at. Lord KELBURN'S recognition, however, turning on the all-powerful circumstance of the posting, decided the affair, and the challenge was accepted. The duel was prevented in the British dominions ; but the parties proceeded to Calais, and after two shots from each side had whistled harmlessly through the air, Captain MAITLAND proposed to consider Mr. REDDIE as a man of honour and courage, provided Mr. REDDIE would admit that he applied the term " liar " to Captain MAITLAND under the influ- ence of excited feelings. This was declined ; Mr. REDDIE'S friend bearing testimony, however, to the honourable, cool, and gallant bearing of the Captain in the field ; and further proceedings being refused to the principals by their seconds, the parties left the ground, having burnt powder into honour, and placed themselves in right positions with the world, by aiming bits of lead at each other.
Query to the learned in affairs of honour : As Captain MAIT- LAND was restored to credit by proclaiming Mr. REDDIE as a coward, how is he affected by having, in the teeth of his own words, proved him to be a man of courage ? A case more complex in absurdity than this, we never have seen recorded ; and a few such examples would render the name of affairs of honour identical with the silliest puerilities.
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