The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-27 00:00:00

" Your obedient servant,

-"L. Y. VERSTIJIIME, Capt. 11. S.
" Argyle-street,,S Saturday evening, Jan. 2, 1836,"
Mr. Borthwick's challenge to me is founded, first, on the lan-
guage I used towards him in my corvespondence with Captain
Verstrume; secondly, on the publication of the same langoafn
the Bath Herald—namely, that with him I could have no commit-
D)l.4ation, as between gentlemen, until he had purged himself by a
sy,,,,,grnt •”-nrocc frn, tl.r stuin east upon him by the f;"?«tr-
d;a), • N ;.. 1-;.1 .

,nk,c.

(bite.' the 3d 0,7 t, ,itc, .1% f. 'lows :—" Z kave. of
made r-quainted with the whoLe of cio. (nr.i.espond_
puce on this subject. as being the principal. party cnneerned." Mr.
Teter Bof the affrontorthwick was,
which has therefore,se on tl-.e 3d of January, in full pos-
aroused his courage, yet he nsuf-
fered it to consume his entrails, in silence. On the 9th of January
I published my opinion of Mr. Borth wick in the Bath Herald.
Then it would, appear that Mr. Peter Borthwick proceeded, as be
says, to consult hi; friends, but it would appear also very delibe-
rately. since it -was only on the 12th of January, ten days after I
had given hint the affront, and three days after I had published a
declarati.or_ which rendered it safe for him to show his anger, that
he sent Ine his first missive of valour, by a servant. Finally, his
second, challenge, though dated the 12th, was only delivered to me
or; tl.ie 13th, Yesterday.
*Thirdly—Air. Peter Borthwick says, that though every charge
-made against him by the Guardian newspaper was proved to the
letter, he would still be entitled to the privileges of a gentleman.
To be proved a shameless liar, an insolvent under suspicious cir-
cumstances, a strolling actor, and the guilty inmate of a gaol; in
fine, to be overwhelmed with infamy, under the burthen of which
no man with the feelings of a gentleman could possibly live, would
not, in Mr. Peter Borthwick's opinion, at all " disqualify him from
meeting any gentleman on equal terms."
Whether these charges can be proved or not, remains to be seen ;
but they have been promulgated above fifteen months; they have
been supvirted by documents, signed by many respectable persons,
and Mr, Peter Borthwick has not yet disproved them. He has hi-
deed instituted legal proceedings against the proprietors of the
Guardian, but only with relation to a part of the cha:•ges ; and so
far from pressing even that part forward with the wr..rmth of an in-
jured man, he,:who might have brought his accuse-es to judgment ten
months ago, paid certain expenses to put off the, trial, and has thus
shown no anxiety to remove this intolerable load of infamy from
his shoulders.

It is clear, therefore, that if a canons indifference to the vilest
disgrace be a disqualification, Mr, Peter Borthwick is not qualified
to judge of what belongs to a soldier and a gentleman ; neither is
Mr. Peter Borthwick emit) ed to the usages of men of honour until
he clears his character of, the stain thus cast upon it. When he
does so, I shall be qr;,te ready to chastise him for his present in-
solence. WILLIAM NAPIER, Colonel.
Meanwhile ',:here appeared another worthy assistant to Mr.
Peter Bort%wick in this affair. Under the signature of " A
Parishioner," there was published in the Bath Herald, with
other extraneous and impertinent matter, a version of the con-
test between Colonel Napier and the gamekeeper, so shame-
lessly false, and so injurious to Colonel Napier, that the latter
immediately commenced legal proceedings against the author,
on; -Joseph Clissold Daniel of Stoke.
Thus it is shown that Colonel Napier having been wantonly
and anonymously assailed, has met each of his opr,onents with.
a due discrimination of their respective positiote-,.
He cudgelled the gamekeeper, Nevah, who had ill used
his deaf and dumb son. The slanderer, r2ianiel, being within
the reach of the law, he has prose":;uted. The slanderer,
Borthwick. not being within the I"sh of the law, nor entitled
to the privileges of a gentlemar,, he refused to fight, but pub-
hely exposed. And from Captain Versturme he has obtained,
in the usual mode of g^..ntlemen, a sufficient explanation of
his share in the transrtion.
Mr. Peter Bort'.zwick continues to publish, but Colonel
Napier cannot, without degrading himself, take any more
notice of his vaithings under punishment. W. N.