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

To the Editor of the Bath and Devizes Guardian.

Sir,—lt is necessary for me to state to the public, that I was the
person who gave the five pounds in September last to Mr. Richard
Cru ttwell, for the purpose of settling the affair with Mr. Vivian's
gamekeeper; and I did so on the presumption that the dispute ori-
ginated in the resentment of the gamekeeper's treatment of my son
(who was then Colonel Napier's guest) for an assented trespass. I
could not in delicacy, and laver that I did not, acquaint, nor cause
Colenel Napier, or any of his family, to be previously informed o
As there was some ambiguity in this disclaimer, Colonel
Napier called with a friend upon Captain Versturme, who imme-
diately cleared it up by saying he meant it as acceding to the con-
dition of my letter.

Stn,—ln your recent COrrespondence with Captain Versturme,
which, as you must be aware, )ias been laid before me ; and in your
observations,
Vath Herald of the 9th inst., you
have applied published in the
to me language the n:S3t grossly offensive. And, not-
withstanding that, by terms the most,' untenable and unjustifiable,
you seem to have intended the expre.-sion at once of insult, and
of your predetermination to refuse redress, it is due to myself that
urpose, and that I
I assert their total insufficiency for the latter''P
demand from you, as I now do, that satisfaction Nvhich, under such
circumstances, one gentleman has a right to expec't from another.
I think it right to state, that I returned to this pkee, after an ab-
sence of some days, late on Saturday night, and that I should have
made this application early this morning, but that .1' waited, of
course, for the opinion of a friend in whose judgment. I h,lve confi-

dente.
I shall o:Tect your answer by the bearer.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
P. BORTHWICK.

Colonel Napier, &c. &c.
Colonel William Napier has to acknowledge the receipt of a
letter this moment delivered to him by Mr. Borthwick's servant,
although dated 11th January. Colonel Napier sees no reason to
deviate from his resolution, already expressed, to hold no communi-
cation as between gentlemen with Mr. P. Borthwick, until the
latter has cleared his character from the infamous stains cast upon
it by the Berth Guardian newspaper.

10 o'clock, A.M.
Freshfurd, Jan. 12, 1536. k
Claverton, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1836, 10 o'clock, P.M.
St a,—ln reply to your note, which 1 have this day received, I beg
to state, that I sent my former letter, as I shall transmit. this—by the
hands of my servant, because I would not place a friend as the bearck
of a message from rue to you in the position in which, should you
adhere to your previously expressed determination, he might feel
himself disposed to act.
I cannot persuade myself that there exists, bearing the rank of a
gentleman, that man who can gratuitously insult another, having
previously determined that he will afford him satisfaction ; and if
there could be such, I cannot believe that he would attempt to shelter
himself under a pretext so pitiful as that with which a malignant
attack in the pages of a newspaper would furnish him.
In the belief that every man of honour will agree with me, I assert
that the Bath Guardian, to which you have referred, has advanced
nothing in reference to me which, if proved to the letter, would
disqualify me from meeting any gentleman on equal terms ; and
that, were it otherwise, until the decision of the case now pending,
the accusation and the defence must be admitted to be at least of
equal credit. The existence, therefore, of such an attack does not
afford that safety to the insulter which I affirm no man of honour
could stoop to seek from it.
I have felt it right to address to you these observations before
taking the only step which your persisting in your present course
A;illleave nu:, trusting t',.at you will see the unjust and unwarrant-
ablev.,..eharacter of the position which you have taken, and that you
will :Thee appoint a friend to meet mine.
The rar of this will wait for .your answer.
1 am, Sir, your obedient servant,___________

repsly a verbal message, through Ifliv cr-
'
Col. Napier, &,*
To this 1 recei% for P. BO 11. T lINVICK.
ways unjustifiable ; but. I do not know that
want—" There is no :tlswer* '
vllables pregnant with meaning of suf-
ficient Gratuitous insult is a:
word which links together ;
~nuluct of a man who can wantonly
force to designate the
and malignantly outrage the feeleNs and impugn the character of
another, having previously to, and th."oligh
and out his labour of detrac-
tion, made persevered in a determi.7=ation that he will not in
any way afford him satisfaction.
But Colonel Napier has, in the present insimice, and that in the
face of my last letter to you, acted thus 'to me, and I leave the
feelings of your readers to suopl,Y what, is feeble in my expression,
when I affirm that Colonel Nap:n's conduct is not that of a soldier
or a gentleman. -
In the present state of this ?natter, strrompletely dissevered fro
its origin and cause as it has improperly bet a,, I do not feel that I
ought to revert to any of the circumstanZ'es from which it
sprung; but I am bound to say, that, after the most calm and de-
liberate reflection, I cannot wish to have acted in any respect other-
wise than I have done. I am, Sir,,
Your very obedient servant,
Claverton, January 13, 1836. P. BORTHWICK.
To the Editor of the Bath and Devizes G uardian
36.
.
Freshilml, Jan. 14, 18
Stir,--Mr. Peter Borthwick has, in the Batie Chronicle of this
gentle
day, declared that my " conduct is not that of a sold °r a
such:
man." But Mr. Peter Borthwick is disqualified to j... id ge of
matters, for th followng reasns :
First —lt ise utterlyi false too say; as Mr. Peter Borth,:iek
jshehas
done, that I offered him a gratuitous insult. I exposed and pm
he hadd
a malignant and false insinuation -to my prejudice, which
ect n
caused to be inserted in the Bath Herald. H exp
be detected; but, being so, he is noW writhing, under the deserted
punishment of his baseness.
Secondly—lt is false to say, as Mr. Peter Borthwick has done,
that he did not dictate the paragraph in question, nor mean to insi-
nuate anything' to my prejudice thereby. The following letter from
Captain Vevsturme proves this falsehood ;
,
Clsiz.gl4,l this7inl Ic
afternoon
rsl:irmcl e to
rilejelirivrddMe, Idltl. o
,my ligan' Editor qf the Bath
extreme surprise, a note
from Colonel Napier, stating that I was the pe.rson who delivered
to you that paragraph ire which his name' is mentioned in connection
with Borthiv
that I w ick. an dhai
was
gamekeeper, &c. I beg to call to
}our remembrance
the mere organ of communication be-
tween Mr. Borthwick and yourself; and you wrote down what I
said, as being to the:,
ifr.bestof
recollection what Mr. Borthwick
wished to have inserted. my
You must also recollect, that I partien,