was so marked to strict obedience, that Lord Raglan had the greatest confidence in his varied missions on occasions of importance to the generals of division.

The army at length having landed in the Crimea, Captain Nolan was actively engaged in superintending the organization of the cavalry, which, until after the great victory on the Alma was but a skeleton corps. In this battle he was in the midst of danger, having had to convey orders as one of the staff to the generals of division engaged, but he escaped the fire of that day. The time was, however, rapidly approaching which was at once to give him a page in history, and an untimely grave, even at the rising of the sun of his career.

On the 25th of October, at once glorious and mournful in the annals of British warfare, Captain Nolan, the young, the accomplished, the chivalrous soldier, played his last part in real war. Deputed by Lord Raglan to convey an order to Lord Lucan, the commander of the British light cavalry, he rode as for life and death, as such a man could ride, and delivered the written command to the general to charge the enemy, for the purpose of recovering the guns abandoned by the Turks, and then in the act of being borne off by the retreating foe. He paused not, though he had done his work; but, good judge as he was, and, therefore, alive to the desperation of the deed in hand, he spurred at the head of the first squadron, resolved to share the death which his beloved fellow-horsemen were riding to, and it came to him almost instantaneously. After he had galloped about some thirty yards towards the enemy, a shell from the Russian cross-fire batteries having struck him in the heart, with a loud cry he yielded up as brave a spirit as ever did honour to a nation's chivalry. His charger turned and galloped back with his master, who, even in death, as if his world-wide reputation as a horseman was to be evidenced even to the mouth of his grave, was found firmly fixed in his saddle.

It was feared that Captain Nolan had made some mistake in delivering the commands of Lord Raglan to Lord Lucan. This, however, turns out to have been groundless, for the order was a written one, about which there could have been no misunderstanding.

At his death Captain Nolan was but just entering his 36th year. Fortunately he was unmarried, but he has, nevertheless, left a home desolate. A widowed mother, who had some time before lost two sons in the British service in India, had her whole affections centered in him. What will the country do for this mother?

THE EARL OF CARDIGAN.

JAMES THOMAS BRUDENELL, seventh Earl of Cardigan, the representative of an ancient family, was born on the 16th of October, 1797, and entered the army in his 27th year, having been gazetted a Cornet in the 8th Hussars on the 6th of May, 1824. He became

Lieutenant the 13th January, 1825; Captain, June 9, 1826; Major, August 3, 1830; and Lieutenant-Colonel on the 3rd of December, 1830. His lordship married, in June, 1826, Elizabeth Jane Henrietta, eldest daughter of Rear-Admiral John Richard Delap Tollemache, by Lady Elizabeth Stratford. The Earl of Cardigan, who is in his 58th year, has had no issue. He succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father, on the 14th of August, 1837. His lordship, who never aimed at distinguishing himself in politics, represented (while Lord Brudenell) Marlborough from 1818 to 1829, and the northern division of his native county, Northampton, from

1832 to 1837.

The Earl of Cardigan has had the luck to occupy public attention on several occasions. As Lord Brudenell, some few years after acquiring the command of the 15th Hussars, a quarrel with a junior officer of his regiment (Captain Wathen), while stationed at Cork, rendered him unpopular. The result of the Court-martial on the subordinate officer occasioned the noble lord's retirement from the regiment. From that period up to the 25th of March, 1836, he was absent from the service, when his late Majesty, William IV., appointed him to the command of the 11th Hussars, then on service in India. No sooner had his lordship rejoined the service than he was carped at by anonymous censors, in a manner calculated to sour the disposition of any man. He, however, without replying to his pursuers, joined his corps in India, and he shortly afterwards returned with it for home service. The horses of the 11th Hussars were anything but such as his lordship considered creditable, and after attaining to the earldom, which put him into possession of some £40,000 a year, the Horse Guards having ordered a remount, the Lieutenant-Colonel most spiritedly added £10 to the price allowed by the Government for each horse. By this act of munificence, the 11th Hussars became the best mounted regiment in the service. He also expended a large sum in causing the accoutrements of the men to correspond with his idea of what a regiment should be which had just been adopted by the Prince Consort, under the name of "Prince Albert's Own." His liberality on this occasion gained him much popularity. His affair with Captain Wathen was now entirely forgotten, and no longer Lord Brudenell, the Earl of Cardigan was becoming favourably known to the public as spending some £10,000 a year in connexion with his corps. The masses are great lovers of generosity of character, and they admire it vastly when associated with our nobility. Hence was Lord Cardigan's princely expenditure as a peer and soldier, in men's estimation, to his credit.

The first matter interesting to the public which brought his lordship before it for judgment, after he had joined the 11th Hussars, was in the year 1840, while stationed at Canterbury. In this affair he had to bear a vast amount of odium for the transgressions of others, and he bore it like a man. Some officers of the regiment having galloped their horses, while coursing, into a paddock belonging to a Mr. Brent, of that place (now Alderman Brent), when asked their names, referred the questioner to a Mr.

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Snooks," which person not being known in the locality, was far from satisfactory. The proprietor of the ground complained to his lordship, and demanded the names of the officers, for the purpose of bringing them before a magistrate. The commanding officer, having been satisfied by the parties complained of as to their being the most aggrieved, refused to give up their names, but he offered to pay for the injury done to the ground. This did not square with Mr. Brent's view of the matter-he would "have justice, not money. His lordship, more gallant than discreet, now waived his rank as an earl, and sent an offer of another kind to Mr. Brent, who, having no taste for gunpowder, declined. The matter was now becoming well ventilated, and all kinds of imaginable charges against Lord Cardigan were uttered with more recklessness than regard to truth. There is, however, a vein of humour in the fiercest indignation of the public, and the fact of his lordship not being too proud to fight a miller," tickled it exceedingly, and the general expression of "After all, he was not such a bad fellow,' ," softened down the rancour which the "trampling upon the rights of an Englishman" had excited. But when his lordship, upon closer investigation, discovered his officers to have been in the wrong, he thereupon sent an ample apology to Mr. Brent; the public at once, like the worthy "miller," forgave and forgot. But a brief period had elapsed before his lordship was once more in men's mouths.

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On the 18th of May, 1840, the occurrence known as the "Black Bottle" quarrel with Captain John Reynolds, an officer in the 11th Hussars, took place at Canterbury. The circumstances are still fresh in the minds of the public. There can be no doubt as to Lord Cardigan having been guilty of conduct towards this officer of the most reprehensible character, in keeping him under arrest longer than the rules of the service sanctioned, prior to reporting to the Commander-in-Chief (Lord Hill). A further injustice was done the officer by Lord Hill, who refused to order a Court-martial, earnestly and repeatedly solicited by Captain Reynolds. For this denial of a right, Lord Cardigan had further to bear censure, though in reality it was not his act. The refusal, however, too plainly indicated who was in the wrong, and his lordship had to bear a load of unpopularity, teasing to the indifference of an ascetic, and consequently a sore trial for one of his temperament. A reconciliation between the Lieutenant-Colonel and Captain Reynolds ensued; but as misfortune too frequently heralds misfortune, three months subsequently brought a whirlwind of disasters to the commander of the 11th Hussars. A misunderstanding with another of his officers, Captain R. A. Reynolds, took the public by surprise, and again brought him into contact with censors little inclined to be merciful.

On the 28th of August, 1840, Lord Cardigan ordered this officer under arrest at Brighton, and on the 3rd of the following month a letter appeared in the Morning Chronicle animadverting in severe terms on his lordship's conduct. The letter was anonymous. The noble lord demanded the name of the writer, who turned out to

have been a gentleman, formerly an officer in the 11th Hussars, Captain Harvey Tuckett. On the 12th of the month, a duel was fought on Wimbledon-common between his lordship and Captain Tuckett. The first fire being ineffectual, in the second Lord Cardigan wounded his opponent severely, but happily not fatally. His lordship again fell into the hands of a "Miller;' on this occasion a constable. He was taken several times before the magistrates at Wandsworth, and a prosecution was instituted against the noble lord in the Court of Queen's Bench, and against others implicated, at the Old Bailey. While this was pending before the Wandsworth police magistrates, the Court-martial on Captain Reynolds at Brighton was appointed. The vox populi unanimously espoused the cause of the subordinate officer; it would have done the same had a duke been the prisoner under similar circumstances. At this period the Earl of Cardigan was generally supposed to be, in the pride of his wealth, rank and influence, not only indifferent to, but scornful of, public opinion; an idea which whetted the weapons of his adversaries for vengeance. Such an estimate was a great injustice to the feelings of Lord Cardigan. The trial of Captain Reynolds commenced on the 24th of September, Sir H. Pakenham presiding. Lord Cardigan was assisted by Mr. Serjeant Wrangham, and Captain Reynolds, by Mr. Watson. The charge against the defendant was that he had written two letters to his commanding officer of a highly improper nature. The noble lord, in conformity with the rules of the service, appeared as prosecutor. The case terminated disastrously for the defendant, who was cashiered. This officer received his appointment in the regiment through his lordship's influence-a fact, during the trial, not known to the public.

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His lordship had now to prepare himself for meeting the prosecution which was being got up against him in the duel affair. A grand jury having returned a true bill against him, the case, as a matter of course, was taken up to the House of Peers, in accordance with the privilege of a member of the order. The novelty of the proceeding excited considerable interest. Lord Cardigan was tried in the House of Lords on the 16th day of February, 1841, Lord Denman presiding as Lord Speaker. At the conclusion of the evidence and the addresses of the counsel, the House having deliberated, their lordships passed in the affirmative their verdict of Not guilty." The Lord High Steward then called every peer by his name, beginning with the junior baron, and asked him:"John Lord Keane, how says your lordship-is James Thomas, Earl of Cardigan, guilty of the felony whereof he stands indicted, or not guilty?" Whereupon John Lord Keane, standing up in his place, uncovered and laying his right hand upon his breast, answered, "Not guilty, upon my honour." The other lords answered in like manner, with the one exception of William Harry, Duke of Cleveland, who answered, "Not guilty legally, upon my honour." The Earl of Cardigan's second in this duel (Captain Douglas) was tried on the same charge in the following month at the Old Bailey, and acquitted.

With this trial ended those scenes which had brought the Earl of Cardigan into contact with public opinion, which, impressed with the foibles of the strict disciplinarian, knew nothing of his many acts of kindness it was his study to keep secret. Unpopular with civilians, where best known, his lordship was a great favourite. While the outcry against him was at its full height, with the private soldiers in his regiment his character stood high to a degree, notwithstanding his having been obliged to guide a few unruly hussars with a vigorous hand. Not only was he ever ready to minister to the pressing necessities of the married men, but many officers were in the moment of difficulty succoured by his lordship. The Earl of Cardigan's career has been daubed dark as night. His good deeds have had no public sitting, or their fair light would have materially toned down the harshness of the picture. His purse was open to the claims of civic charities, but he had an abhorrence of having his contributions paraded in lists of subscriptions. A stout Tory and a stanch Protestant, in charity he paused not to inquire into party or creed. As an instance of this, it may be stated that some time since, when some ladies connected with a Romancatholic Asylum for Orphans solicited his lordship's assistance, they were amazed at the princely amount of the donation, but more so by the condition upon which it was given :-"You must not put my name in a subscription list." Those who would know more of his lordship's acts of kindness, may learn it from the secretaries of many excellent charities, who, as in the instance just given, were similarly bound to consign his name to oblivion.

When the Earl of Cardigan was ordered to the East in command of a brigade of our light cavalry, from club to pothouse marvelled how he would behave. Their remembrance of him satisfied all that he had a taste for gunpowder, but they had had no experience of how he could wield a sword. The deduction drawn, however, was favourable to their old acquaintance, and many longed for a battle to ensue, if for no other end than to see how far they had judged him correctly.

In the Dobrudscha his lordship discharged a very difficult duty in making a reconnaissance which lasted some days, to the perfect satisfaction of the commander of the forces.

In the advance to meet the enemy on the 19th of September, his lordship manoeuvred the light cavalry in a manner before the enemy that proved him to be a good cavalry officer. At the battle of the Alma, the cavalry were not brought into play, therefore no share of the laurels achieved there could be claimed by this soldier. There was a day at hand, however, for the cavalry!

On the 25th of October, 1854, day of glory, period of death! That order from Lord Raglan, to recover our guns abandoned by the Turks, was received from his brother-in-law, Lord Lucan, commander of the cavalry. He gave his opinion against so rash an enterprise. The order was imperative. By his demur he had saved his credit for judgment. Mounted on a fine chestnut charger, with the heroic Nolan on his right, his lordship cast an anxious look at his handful of swordsmen, and saying to Lord Lucan's