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No observation was made by sir F. tending to disapprove of the nature of that advertisement; they then retired with the rest of the company from the drawing-room to dinner, and as soon as the cloth was removed, Mr. Paull gave to sir F. across the table, the resolutions that were to be moved on the ensuing day at the Crown and Anchor, which he very deliberate. ly read, and in returning them to Mr. Paull he said, he highly approved of them, that they were excellent.-After quitting the house of colonel Bosville, sir F. Burdett, Mr. Jones Burdett, and Mr. Paull, walked towards home together, and parted at Blake's Hotel, in Jermyn-street; and the result of the conversation during the walk was, that sir Francis should discontinue his address to the electors of Middlesex, until the result of the meeting at the Crown and Anchor, the next day, should be known. Nothing occurred from that time till the moment of entering the dining-room at the Crown and Anchor, when Mr. Jones Burdett made his appearance; that Mr. Paull, little imagining what brought him there, immediately led him to the top of the table, and placed him on his right hand. That during dinner, he (Mr. P.) had repeatedly and momentarily solicited Mr. Jones Burdett to explain the nature of the communication, which he had declared his intention to make to the company assembled; that he (Mr. P.) persevered in these efforts of obtaining that know ledge, mentioned the notes that had passed between him and sir. F. and alluded strongly to the friendly terms on which they parted the even ing before; the conversation clo

sed, Mr. Paull said, with Mr. Bur. dett's stating, " that he had an imperative commission from his bro ther to execute; that he was deter. mined to execute it in the very manner prescribed, whatever might be the consequences. He admitted it to be a most disagreeable duty to perform, and that he would do it for no other man on earth but sir F. Burdett." About one o'clock, we arrived at Wimbledon, and I delivered the letter to sir Francis, and explained to him Mr. Paull's expectations. Sir Francis obser. ved, it was a most unfortunate busi ness; had the interval of time ad. mitted of it, I would myself have seen Mr. Paull, and probably this unfor. tunate business would have been prevented;" to this I replied, "Sir Fran cis, did not Mr. Paull put into your hands, last Thursday, at the house of colonel Bosville, the Pilot news. paper, containing the advertisement alluded to, and were you not then silent on its alledged im propriety?" His answer was," I am, Mr. Cooper, one of the most careless men in the world; and as it was at the moment of going down to dinner Mr. Paull put that paper into my hand, I certainly did not pay attention to the advertisement." He declined any apology, but proceeded to write a note to Mr. Paull, which note, when copied, I deliver. ed to Mr. Paull. His direction to me then was, to tell sir Francis, "This is adding insult to injury; I shall proceed to Kingston, and do you fix as carly an hour for the meeting as possible." On my return to the house, I delivered Mr. Paull's message; upon which sir Francis solicited I would be second to both; which upon my declining, he (sir F.) said, he must then write

to

to a friend, and that he would be, if possible, at the King's-Arms, Kingston, between seven and eight o'clock. About five o'clock, Mr. Paull and myself reached the inn; when Mr. Pauli lay down, desiring to be called by his servant exactly at seven o'clock. About eight o'clock, on walking out on the Wimbledon road, we met sir Francis on horseback. I slightly bowed, Mr. Paull took no notice of him, but returned immediately to the inn; a few minutes afterwards, sir F. sent for me, and said, that he expected Mr. Gawler immediately, as he had left his barouche waiting for him at Wimbledon. About nine o'clock, Mr. Paul wrote a note to sir F. in reply to the one received in his carriage at Wimbledon, in which he distinctly pointed out the injury he had received from sir F. and conclu.. ded by saying, that as the day was far advanced, we had better return towards Wimbledon to meet his friend. On delivering this note to sir F. he called for pen, ink, and paper, to answer it; on my observing, it was a pity your brother persisted in reading the letters at the Crown and Anchor," his answer was, "I wish he had not." Mr. Gawler not having arrived, sir F. again pressed me to be second to both; which I again declined, and imme. diately I entered the carriage with Mr. Paull, on our return towards Wimbledon. A short distance from Kingston, we met Mr. Gawler; when Mr. Paull accosted him. Mr. G. asked rapidly." Where is Burdett?" said, "he had been detained, or he would have arrived sooner." Mr. Paull replied Sir Francis was at the inn, but that he thought we had better not stop there any longer; and if Mr. Gaw VOL. XLIX.

66

ler approved of it, he would drive through Hampton Court and Bushy Park, to prevent any possibility of the affair transpiring." Mr. G. drove on to the inn at Kingston, and we followed, Mr. P. remaining in his carriage: I entered the room where sir F. was sitting, at the. same time with Mr. G.; when that gentleman, with a manner as perfectly uncivil as sir F. was polite, asked who I was? Sir F. said,

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Mr. Cooper, Mr. P.'s friend.". If I made use of the words, Sir, sir, sir," as recited by Mr. G. (which I do not at all remember to have done) they must have been the effect of the mild and gentle demca- ́ nour of Mr. Gawler. Sir F. then suggested Coombe Wood, as the most proper place; to where we im-. mediately drove, and arrived at twenty minutes after ten o'clock. Whilst advancing into the wood, I did my utmost endeavours that an explanation should take place, but without effect. Mr. Gawler's hasty conduct to Mr. Paull was peculiarly striking. Mr. Paull observed to Mr. Gawler, that this was no common affair, and as it was possible an accident might happen either to him or to sir Francis, he was particularly anxious that even Mr. Gawler should not be ignorant of the particulars and the grounds on which he demanded an apology, or satisfaction; that so eager was Mr. Paull for explaining matters to Mr. Gawler, that he pressed the conversation twice or thrice; to which Mr. Gawler tartly replied, that he had learned all the particulars from sir F. B. and was perfectly satisfied; although, by the bye, he had not been with sir Francis, from his first arrival, to the entrance into the wood, more than 20 minutes; and SB

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yet Mr. Gawler thinks proper to assert, that finding Mr. Paull had not committed either his cause or his opinions to me (Mr. Cooper), he of course made no proposals of accommodation to me of any sort. The latter assertion is perfectly correct: but if Mr. G. believed the former part of his assertion, how will he clear himself in having refused to hear any explanation from Mr. Paull? who, he says, "was conducting his own cause." I positively assert, that the words I then used, instead of those put into my mouth by Mr. G., were, "I am sorry it must come to this." I could not have made use of the expression quoted by Mr. G. as Mr. P. had been uniform in his demands for an apology, or satisfaction. Mr. Gawler then paced the distance, with an apparent wish to get the affair over as fast as possible. When the parties were on their ground, Mr. P. addressed sir Francis, and said, "I assure you, sir Francis, I proceed against you with great reluctance, but the injury I have received is of the most serious kind; I would as soon level a pistol at my father as at you, but I find I have no alternative." Here Mr. Gawler said to Mr. P. sir F. will fire at you;" who replied, "I of course expect he will." The seconds then retired, and I appeal to the candour and honour of sir F. himself, for a complete refutation of the gross and most unjustifiable insinuation of a "precipitate retreat," so reprehensibly introduced in the statement of Mr. Gawler. After the first fire had taken place, Mr. Gawler asked Mr. P. if he was satisfied? Mr. P. answered, "Certainly not: my object in coming here was an apology, to which I feel myself entitled." Mr.

G. said," that was entirely out of the question," and delivered the second pistol to Mr. Paull. I was then in the act of giving the other to sir Francis Burdett. Mr. Paull was now addressing Mr. Gawler to this effect:-"I think you are sacrificing the life of your friend to a false punctilio;" and then to sir F. "expressed his deep regret that necessity compelled him to proceed." The seconds then again separated; I was to give the signal; the place was much wooded on which I stood, and although it was at no great dis tance, the trees between me and sir Francis induced him to remark, that in my then situation, he should not be able to see me distinctly. I immediately advanced into a more open place; and I pronounce in the face of the world, that the signal, and the report of the pistols, were in the self-same instant; that the shots were in consequence of the signal, and not occasioned by the friendly fire of Mr. Gawler.The length of the foregoing statement has not been optional with me; and the public must be satisfied of the necessity of it; at least all those must, who have seen the production of Mr. Gawler. I shall conclude with saying, that although I have neither claims to a dukedom, nor to the inheritance of a duke, that in one of the most respectable societies in London, I have ever ranked as a gentleman. I never denied my name, or concealed my place of abode: both, however, at all events, might easily have been ascertained by applying to Mr. Paull; and they were assuredly se ascertained by Mr. Gawler himself, who, Mr. P. tells me, called on him on Satur day before his wounds were dressed, and begged my attending him at sir F. Burdett's

F. Burdett's in the evening, my house being at a distance I not only did so, but I called at sir F. Burdett's four days successively, for the sake of seeing this gentleman, and did see him several times in this very business.

Stamford-street,' May 18, 1807.

with in Holland. M. de Chassenton was actually in the boat. I must bear witness to his determi nation; for I am convinced that nothing could have made this young man, remarkable for his merit, quit the boat, if the well-grounded JOHN COOPER. apprehension which I entertained,

of seeing him exposed to certain destruction, had not suggested to me the idea of declaring to him, that the balloon was not capable of

Second Ascension by Night of M. carrying up two persons. Garnerin.

See p. 485.

"My second aërial journey by night will not afford an opportunity for the brilliant narratives which I have had occasion to make in the course of my forty preceding ascensions. I shall not have to describe the majestic appearances which nature continually offers to the eyes of an aeronaut who ascends in favourable weather. I can only give a narrative of an aërial tempest which was nigh terminating in a shipwreck.

"The obstacles which the wind caused to the inflation of the balloon, sufficiently apprised me of the approach of the storm; and to the difficulties of the weather was added the turbulence of a party, by which I was prevented from placing the cord of the valve, so as to regulate the tube, which, in case of expansion, was to conduct the gas into a direction different from the lights which surrounded the bottom of the balloon.

"I was to have been accompanied by M. de Chassenton; but the aerial storm, which continually increased until the moment of my departure, gave me reason to apprehend such a disaster as Mr. Blanchard, and another aëronaut, met

It was thus in the most adverse weather, and exposed to the greatest opposition and the tumult of a cabal, the head of which it is easy to guess at, that I ascended from Tivoli, at half past ten o'clock on the night of the 21st of September. An unexampled rapidity of ascension, but extremely necessary to prevent me from coming in contact with the adjoining houses, raised me above the clouds, and in a few minutes carried me to an im mense height, the extent of which I cannot precisely ascertain, on account of the dangers and embarrassments which suddenly affected my imagination, and prevented me from observing the declension of the mercury in the barometer. Eleva ted in an instant to the frozen regions, the balloon became subject to a degree of expansion which inspired me with the greatest apprehension. There was no alternative between certain death and giving an instant vent to the gas; and this at the risk of seeing the balloon take fire. I gradually opened with one hand an orifice of about two feet diameter, by which the gas escaped in large volumes, while, with the other, I extinguished as many of the lights as I could. During this ef fort, I several times was near over. S32 balancing

balancing myself, and falling out of the boat.

"Deprived of the opportunity of regulating the valve, my balloon, like a ship without a rudder, floated in air, obeying the influence of the temperature, the winds, and the rain. Whenever the force of these made me descend, the storm, which kept still increasing, obliged me to throw out ballast, for the purpose of avoiding it, and escaping from imminent shipwreck. At length, at four o'clock in the morning, after having been almost continually enveloped in thick clouds, through which I could seldom see the moon, all my means of supporting myself in the air were exhausted. Whatever skill I possessed, was no longer of use to me.-My boat several times struck against the ground, and rebounded from thence.-The empest often drove me against the sides and tops of mountains.Whenever my anchor caught in a tree, the balloon was so violently agitated by the wind, that I experienced all the inconvenience of a violent sea-sickness. Plunged at one time to the bottom of a precipice, in an instant after I ascended, and acquired a new elevation. The violence of the concussions exhaust. ed my strength, and I lay for a half-hour in the boat in a state of insensibility. During this tempest I recovered; I perceived Mont Tonnerre, and it was in the midst of crashes of thunder, and at a moment which I supposed would be my last, that I planted upon this celebrated mountain the Eagle of Napoleon joined to that of Alexander.

"I was carried away for some time longer by gusts of wind; but fortunately some peasants came to my assistance, at the moment that

the anchor hooked in a tree. They took hold of the cords which hung from the balloon, and landed me in a forest upon the side of a moun tain, at half past five in the morn. ing, seven hours and a half after my departure, and more than 100 leagues distant from Paris. They took me to Clausen, in the canton of Waldfischbach, and department of Mont Tonnerre. M. Cesar, a man of information, and mayor of the neighbouring town, came and offered me every assistance in his power, and at my request drew up a narrative, of which he gave me a copy:

"I was splendidly entertained the next day at Deux Pouts by a society of friends of the arts, con. sisting of public functionaries, the officers of the 12th regiment of cuirassiers, and of the members of the lodge of freemasons.

"GARNERIN."

Surrender of Buenos Ayres.

The London Gazette of Jan. 27 contains a dispatch, dated Oct. 13. from lieut. col. Backhouse, commanding a detachment in Rio de la Plata, to sir D. Baird, announcing the re-capture of Buenos Ayres, and his assumption of the command of the land forces. -Another letter from this officer to Mr. Windham,dated Oct. 31, states, that an attempt was made on the 28th by him and sir H. Pop. ham, to take Monte Video by storm, but the water was too shal low to admit the ships to come sufficiently near to bombard the town with effect; they therefore withdrew, and, after refreshing the troops, the lieut. col. landed on the 29th, with 400 men, principally

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