396

LIFE OF COLONEL MACEHONI.

round his horse like a weathercock, and was on the point ofgiving a finishing blow to the embarrassed colonel, when hehimself, as well as the seconds, perceived his sabre hanging-only by the thong to the wounded wrist. The duke stayedhis uplifted arm, and so the matter ended. The wound ofDurand’s arm, being longitudinal, did not divide any im-portant muscles or vessels, and healed as soon as could beexpected of so extensive a lesion. Not so the irritationbetween Neapolitans and French . That irritation increasedtill frequent duels, always ending in death or wounds to theFrench party, and the natural effect of time in changing allthings, put a stop to the evil.

While on the subject of duels I may, perhaps, as welldisburthen my memory of two or three more which hap-pened about this period; exact chronological order notbeing quite essential in such matters. I have before men-tioned the formation of a kind of guard of honour composedof the sons of respectable persons, which corps was after-wards called the Veliti a cavallo, and greatly distinguishedthemselves in Poland and Russia . Out of six hundred andsixty, only thirty-seven returned to Naples! When thiscorps was first formed, the scampish portion of the French officers used frequently to crack jokes upon their “ raw ”appearance, and some duels took place, always to the dis-comfiture of the French . The “ esprit ile corps ” becameroused, and one evening four of the officers of the “ Guardof Honour, ” happening to be taking their ices at a coffee-house opposite the palace, some French officers who werepresent in great numbers began their sneers, speaking moreat, than to, the Neapolitans. Words ensued, and at lengthsuch was the language of the French reflecting on the corps,on its founder, and on its commander, that two of the fourNeapolitans left the place to report the matter to theircolonel, who happened to be the very identical Durand