Brown expecting an immediate message, and Mr. Smith preparing to
send a friend on his part. But no pistols were in requisition, the
_Cockaignee_ was no blood-spiller; and to _settle_ the matter,
concocted charges of mutiny, &c., against Smith and Brown! Both were
placed under arrest and tried by court-martial! But such was the
opinion of the Commander of the Forces, that on reading the proceedings
of the court, he immediately ordered the _Cockaignee himself_ to
be put in arrest, and tried by court-martial for “_striking_ Mr.
Smith.” The consequence was, that all parties suffered: Mr. Brown
and Mr. Smith were cashiered: the sentence passed on the latter was,
however, softened down by the opinion of the court, which would have
acquitted him, but that the Dragoon _swore_ the push given on the
deck was a _blow_. Dickens fared worst of all: he was “_dismissed his
Majesty's service_,” by which he lost the purchase-money of his _two_
commissions—Cornetcy and Lieutenantcy. Every officer was thoroughly
disgusted at the affair being made the subject of public investigation
instead of being referred to the pistol; and the service was much
injured by the detention of field-officers from their regiments, to
sit in court-martials about such a matter. The Dragoon felt that he
was despised for the step he had taken, and showed his sense of it
by attempting suicide. Mr. Smith and Mr. Brown returned to England,
and were _reinstated_ in their former commissions. The Dragoon, after
some years, was permitted to _re-purchase_ a _cornetcy_; and once more
sported his _white feather_ in the army.
Thus, by the mere accident of meeting this weak and arrogant
officer—or, to go farther into causes, by the roguery of a boatman,—a
train of most serious and disagreeable consequences was produced to two
young and inexperienced men; first, a five weeks' bill at a Portsmouth
hotel; second, a six weeks' gale of wind, with a cat-and-dog party;
third, a court-martial, and loss of commission; fourth, an unexpected
return to England; and lastly, the rugged hill of promotion to
attempt anew under unfavourable circumstances! Let this and all this
be recollected by every young officer. It is no story of invention;
these are facts registered in the Judge-Advocate-General's office, and
therefore form a good practical lesson.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
LONDON
PRINTED BY S. AND R. BENTLEY, DORSET STREET.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes (continued)
The original text often has common words shortened, especially in
dialogue. Many other words, including personal names and military
titles, are spelt inconsistently, capitalised inconsistently and
hyphenated inconsistently.
In reproducing that text, obvious typographical errors have been
corrected but the variations referred to above have all been retained
unless otherwise stated.
Corrections to the Original Text
The following misprints have been corrected:
Page 77 - "minnet" changed to "minet" (At this very minet).
Page 197 - "recal" changed to "recall" (now recall without
delight).
Page 325 - "Panoramar" changed to "Panorama". [A reference to
"Mr. Barker's Panorama" in Leicester Square.]
Other Changes
The following changes to the original text have been made for clarity
or consistency:
One reference each of 2d, 3d, 23d and 82d changed to 2nd, 3rd, 23rd
and 82nd respectively to match the more numerous instances of the
latter forms in the original text.
Page 36 - "half-glasses" changed to "half glasses" (my thirty half
glasses of sherry).
Page 73 - "Punhite" changed to "Punhete".
Page 151 - "Corporal Callaghan" changed to "Corporal O'Callaghan".
Page 248 - "Badajos" changed to "Badajoz" twice.
Page 286 - "Mac Fadgen" changed to "M'Fadgen".
Page 287 - "Mac Fadgen" changed to "M'Fadgen".
Page 287 - "Corporal Callagan" changed to "Corporal O'Callaghan".
Footnotes
Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together
at the end of each chapter.
Variations and Unusual Spelling/Hyphenation
The following variations of a word or descriptive term are found in
the original text and have been retained:
Sergeant, Serjeant, Sargeant, sarjeant
day-break, day-brake, daybreak
breastplate, breast-plate
aspin leaf, aspin-lafe
honeymoon, honey-moon
quartermaster, quarter-master
southwest, south-west
Englishman, Englishmon, Englisman
towards, toward
rattletrap, ratling
Consistent but unusual hyphenation or spelling include:
fist-full, to-day, to-morrow
Shakspeare