Twenty Years' Recollections of an Irish Police MagistratePorter, Frank Thorpe
History
Twenty Years' Recollections of an Irish Police Magistrate
Porter, Frank Thorpe
Crime -- Ireland; Criminals -- Ireland; Ireland -- Social life and customs; Porter, Frank Thorpe, 1801-1882
Before I pass from the recollections and favorable impressions produced
by the almost uniform good conduct of the gallant members of our
garrison, I am disposed to give my readers a short narrative, without
any other comment than the expression of an opinion that it is one of
the many instances in which fact appears stranger than fiction. A lady,
the widow of a medical officer, having presented a memorial soliciting a
commission for her son, received a reply appointing him to a regiment in
one of our most distant colonies, and involving the necessity of his
speedy departure from this country. At her request I interested myself
to procure for him an outfit, promptly supplied, of excellent quality
and of very reasonable price. It was furnished by Buckmaster, Malyn, and
Co., of Dawson Street, who have also an extensive establishment in
London. I had occasion to call two or three times during the execution
of the order, and I was making one of those visits when two officers
entered. On seeing them, Mr. Malyn said to me, "This colonel is a most
extraordinary man; when he is gone I shall tell you why I say so." The
officers were in the uniform of a heavy dragoon regiment; one was the
lieutenant-colonel, the other was the adjutant. The former was in face
and figure such a man as I would consider that no painter or statuary
would decline to accept as a faultless model for a splendid artistic
production. His communication was very brief, but he appeared to be
intelligent and courteous. When he departed, Mr. Malyn told me that he
remembered him working on their shopboard, as a tailor, at their house
in New Burlington Street, London; that he knew his business perfectly,
being skilful, sober, and industrious. Nevertheless, he disliked such a
sedentary occupation, and being fond of equestrian exercise, enlisted
in the dragoons. Having entered the service, his conduct was such as
gained the approbation of his superiors, and he soon attained the rank
of sergeant. In active service he evinced patience, promptitude, and
courage, and the adjutancy having become vacant he was appointed to it,
with a concomitant commission. Being thus entitled to be received in
society as an officer and a gentleman, he gained respect and esteem in
his new position, and also succeeded in marrying a lady possessed of a
very ample fortune, by which he was enabled to expedite promotion
whenever it could be acquired by purchase. His success would seem to
have resulted from persistent good conduct, winning and retaining the
favorable opinions of all who could materially aid his advancement. The
most imaginative of our romance writers would certainly shrink from
presenting for our perusal the ideal descent of a field-officer's
epaulets upon the shoulders of a journeyman tailor.
DONNYBROOK FAIR.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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