( 535 ) 

 HENRI D'EGVILLE, OR, THE DUELLIST. 



SHORTLY after my arrival on the other side of the Atlantic, busi- 

 ness called me to the island of . Although my sojourn there was 



brief, and I was not possessed of a single introductory letter, yet I found 

 no difficulty in getting into the most respectable society the place af- 

 forded. West-India hospitality, in those days, threw open every 

 door to the stranger. " Times have changed ;" and although the 

 planters cannot say, " we have changed with them," inasmuch as 

 they possess the same warm feeiings as formerly, unfortunately 

 they have no longer the means to indulge them. Things were other- 

 wise in the times I speak of (1817) : it was during that year, 



in the Island of , that I dined with a large party who were 



entertained by a merchant. The dinner was excellent, the dessert su- 

 perlative, and the madeira, claret, and champagne exquisite. During 

 the repast I was called upon to take wine with every gentleman in 

 company (some twenty in number), and had the gallantry to pledge 

 every lady present. After the dessert, the king's health was drunk, 

 the ladies retired, and the speechifying commenced. We all assured 

 each other that these were the happiest moments of our lives. The 

 bottle circulated freely, and after several songs were sung our host 

 proposed rejoining the ladies, when one of the party begged, ere we 

 took our coffee, to call upon Captain Stewart for a Gaelic song. To 

 this, our host acceded; but the Captain, a prepossessing, though some- 

 what melancholy-looking man, objected, for a very sufficient reason, 

 declaring, that although a highlander, he had been educated at Edin- 

 burgh, and had been so little among his native mountains, that he 

 could scarcely speak the language of his fathers, nor did he know one 

 highland song. This answer satisfied all, save he who moved the 

 call ; this was a Mr. Henri D'Egville, a ci-devant colonist of St. 

 Domingo, who, at an early period of his life, had escaped after the 

 revolution in that island. He was a man, that at first view might be 

 judged to have passed the meridian of life, on account of the dimness 

 of his eyes and his furrowed brow : yet, on a second view, an ob- 

 server would judge that he had scarcely reached that period. He 

 was rather bloated and corpulent, and it was easy to perceive that the 

 lustre of his eyes had been quenched rather by intemperance than 

 time. Yet, with all these defects, his form and features bore marks 

 of having been at one time handsome. 



D'Egville insisted, in a peremptory tone, on Stewart's singing a 

 Gaelic song. The host endeavoured to appease him, and proposed an 

 adjournment. This would not satisfy the St. Domingian he became 

 warmer on the subject; one or two of us interfered, amongst the rest 

 myself. I was next to him, and his unreasonable ire was suddenly 

 directed to me. Amid the confusion created by this unpleasant affair 

 Captain S. put a period to it by declaring with a smile of good hu- 

 mour that he now recollected a highland song. Silence was restored, 

 and to the tune of the t( Highland Laddie," the captain sung the 

 " Ode of Anacreon," commencing 



