r called on
the postilion to stop; whereupon Mr. James O'Connell pulled down the
window. The officer, addressing him, asked if they had been present at
the duel, to which he replied in the affirmative. The officer then said,
"Is it true Mr. O'Connell has been shot?" Mr. James O'Connell replied,
"No; the reverse is the fact; Mr. D'Esterre has unfortunately fallen."
The announcement had a visible effect upon the military; they were not
prepared for the intelligence; and something like consternation was
exhibited. The carriage was allowed to proceed, the military party being
evidently not aware who were its occupants.

When D'Esterre fell the spectators present could not refrain from giving
expression to their excited feelings; they actually shouted; and a young
collegian who was present, and who became a Protestant clergyman, was so
carried away by the general feeling, as to fling up his hat in the air,
and shout, "Hurra for O'Connell!"

Very different was the conduct of the three occupants of O'Connell's
carriage. They displayed no exultation. The moment D'Esterre fell they
went off; and though the place of meeting was near Naas, they were close
to Dublin before a single word was exchanged between them. At last
O'Connell broke the silence, saying, "I fear he is dead, he fell so
suddenly. Where do you think he was hit?" "In the head, I think," said
his medical friend. "That cannot be--I aimed low; the ball must have
entered near the thigh." This will be considered a remarkable
observation when, as was subsequently found, the wound was inflicted in
the part mentioned by O'Connell. Being one of the surest shots that ever
fired a pistol, he could have hit his antagonist where he pleased. But
his object was merely, in self-defence, to wound him in no mortal part,
and he aimed low with that intention.

The excitement in Dublin, when the result was known, cannot be
described; and, indeed, is scarcely credited by those who were not then
in the metropolis. Over seven hundred gentlemen left their cards at
O'Connell's the day after the occurrence.

Great commiseration was felt for D'Esterre's family, but it was
considered that he himself lost his life foolishly. It may be added that
he was an officer in the navy, and an eccentric character. He at one
time played off rather a serious joke upon his friends, who resided
near Cork. He wrote to them from aboard that he was sentenced to be
hanged for mutiny, and implored of them to u