than not, a lasting remorse overshadowed the life of the survivor. This was the case when Major Allen killed the noted duellist, Colonel Henry Harvey Aston, at Arnee, in North Arcot (1798). Elers, in his memoirs, says that Allen 'never held up his head afterwards, and died in less than three months of a raging fever.' Aston belonged to the 12th Regiment, which took an active part in the wars in South India. Blakiston of the Madras Engineers has left a description of him which shows how lightly men regarded duelling in those days. 1[1]
'Here (at Arnee) I saw a handsome tomb erected to the memory of Colonel Harvey Aston, who fell in a duel with the major of his regiment. He had seen a good deal of the world before he came out to India, had been a great fox -hunter, a patron of the fancy, and a leading member of the sporting circles. He had many good points about him; was generous and brave ; but he had a most inveterate disposition to quizzing, which involved him in many personal encounters, whereby he obtained the reputation of a professed duellist. He used to tell a story of one of his affairs, which, though not at all creditable to himself, was the best satire on the practice of duelling that can well be imagined. "I was at a theatre one night," said he, "and seeing a fellow eating apples in the box where there were some ladies I took the liberty of poking one into his throat with my fingers. The man struck me. I knocked him down and gave him a sound drubbing" (for the colonel was a famous bruiser). "He called me out. I shot him through the arm; and the fool called this satisfaction!" One of the few instances in which he was known to have been right was on the occasion that proved fatal to him. On receiving his antagonist's shot, which took effect in his body, he staggered a few paces,
- ↑ 1 Twelve Years of Military Adventures, by J. Blakiston, 1829.
