The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-24 00:00:00

RAILWAYS AND REVOLVERS IN

GEORGIA.

The following letter has been addressed to the
editor of the Times : _ .

" Sir,—ln reply to the two letters in your paper
of the 18th inst., relating to the Georgia railway
occurrences, I will say that I am an Englishman,
that I 'went to Louisiana in 1828, wanting at the
time of my arrival only two months to be of age ;
I applied some time after for papers of citizenship,
as a minor, but found that the law said, "minors
under 18," and therefore an oath was proposed to
me which I would not take and never have taken,
and have never voted or offered to vote at any
State or Federal election. Ever since 1828 I have
been a resident of Louisiana.
I am married to a native of Louisiana, than
whom there is no stronger lover of her country and
its constitution, and in this she is only my equal ;
her children (for she was a widow), two of whom
are of age, have seen brought up with the same
feelings. Where, then, may I ask the first writer,
is the motive for electioneering, especially in favour
of the North ? Where the motive for casting °Alm
upon the United States, or the South, or Georgia
The motive for publishing the account was pure ;
it was thought that it might do good ; of myself I
should not have done it, but it was considered a
duty by those to whom I owe deference ; the sup-
pression of my name was deemed a matter of per-
sonal safety, and the delay of publication was one
of necessity.
The second writer attempts to disprove it by par-
ticulars, only two of which require noticing, for
such as are not mere surmises of its falsity on ac-
count of its horrors may be left to the narrative
itself.
The first is as to the time of starting from Macon.
Has he the date of the railway guide he mentions?
Is he aware that the mail schedule from New
Orleans to New York has been lately altered, so as
to make the time 6 instead of 7 days ? Did his
friend go to Augusta via Macon or Atalanta ? (Via
Macon is the mail route, and an acquaintance told
me that an American had said there was no railway
from Macon to Augusta.) I ask these questions
that he may satisfy himself.
The second is that the companion of the young
woman got out to return to Savannah ; and so she
did. Savannah was her place of residence, and she
could not get to Savannah in the car in which I
was, for it was never changed, but went through.
from Macon to Augusta. How she got to Savan-
nah is a matter of no importance.
There is also another item—viz., my change of
place—which I did not mention. When the young
woman got up to read the address that was written
for her she stood at the bench on which I was re-
clining; when she failed and threw aside the paper
she asked B's father, who stood behind hoz., to
appeal to me personally ; upon bearing this I sat up,
when he pushed her almost upon me, telling her to
ask me herself. Then, fearing she might do so,
and wishing to avoid the necessity of a positive and
verbal refusal, I rose up and, lightly pushing past
her, changed my seat. If I had entered into every
detail the length of my narrative would have been
doubled ; the conciseness, whick is wrongly attri-
buted to coolness, is the result of my deliberation,
and was done to give it that force which one of the
writers is impelled to acknowledge.
There are many other remarks which I need not
notice, as they are only suppositions, and do not
affect the truth of the narrative. If the inquiries
and exertions of the writers result in any remedial
good, for the future, I am sure that no one will feel
more pleasure than those who have been interested
in the publication of the narrative, for such was its
aim and object ; but as its publication has called
forth so many objecting comments, and as an
anonymous communication of so horrid a nature
can hardly be expected to rt. ceive universal belief, I
send you my name and address in attestation of my
veracity, and remain your obedient servant,
Jolor A RROWSMITII.
5, India-buildings, Liverpo,l, Oct. 22.

ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE.
Lessee and Manner, Mr. Alfred Wigan.

THI3 EVENING/,
YtETRIBUTION.

To conclade with

THE FIRST NIGHT.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Mr. Wm. Cooke.
THIS EVENING,
17 Ist Night!) Shakspere's Tragedy of RICHARD THE THIRD
with Equestrian Illustrations by Mr. W. Cooke's stud of traine4
Horses. Richard, Mr. Janes Holloway.
After which,
The SCENES in the CIRCLE.
To conclude with a Pot Perini of Amusing Entertainments.
Commence at Seven. Box-office open from Eleven till Four. Stage
Manager, Mr, 'V . West. Equestrian Director, Mr. W. Cooke, Jun.

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OC f 0

armour—in whose behalf CAMPBELL struck the'
lyre of a TtiMmus—for whose behoof young
BYRON died the death of a grander KORNER upon
his pallet at Missolonghi. Yet out of this came
forth the Bavarian mannikin, hight King
Orno, fitly matched with a Russian DRY,,XIRA in
the person of his Queen AMELIA. SO, too, might
it be, were Italy restored, and Poland re-esta-
blished by the affectedly magnanimous com-
plicity of the Cabinets of St. James's and the
Tuileries. The Poles might have to bond
the knee to some petty German princeling—
the Italians might have to doff the cap to the
plumed bonnet (with no head in it to speak of)
of some new Teutonic GESSLER. No—if Italy is
to be restored, if Poland is to be revived—that
revival, that restoration, must be effected by the
Poles and Italians themselves. And so let us leave
them till the Hour shall be struck by the fiat of
GOD, as struck it infallibly will be in His own
good time—Hope still growing more fully, ever
and ever, in the breast of Pole and Italian, Faith
in their cause still nerving their arms more and
more firmly, Love for their common nationality
still lighting up their mutual memory of the past
with the unquenchable flame of their heroic and
affecting aspirations.

check the effervescence of his animal spirits. A
strange sail, a waterspout, a storm, breakers
ahead, a lee shore, fire, springing a leak, over-
bearing tyranny, offer to him almost the exclu-
sive sources of new and stirring sensations. From
one-half at least of the human family be is
entirely shut out. No representative of the fair
sex greets his eye for many tedious months,
and notwithstanding his songs about the treachery
of the sex, he finds the elements to which he
likens womankind but a sorry substitute. The
result of all this is a simplicity of character and
an ignorance of the world which marks him out
as a prey for the designing. Once in port he is
a freeman ; the load that perhaps unwittingly
oppressed him falls off, and, " brisk as bottled
beer," he effervesces the moment he touches the
shore. The world lies before him like a fairy
dream. The men he meets with are all hearty
good fellows, and the women the best of the lot,
with a superlative or two over. JACK is free, and
has plenty of shot in his locker, and invests
everything with the colours of the rainbow.
The lubber aboard that cheated him of his
grog has been unable to extinguish his be-
lief in the goodness of human nature. If he
has made him revengeful—he takes his revenge
by trusting everybody.

A little more than a week since a letter, headed
" Railways and Revolvers in Georgia," appeared
in a morning contemporary, containing a narrative
so startling in every respect, that it was by many
set down as a miserable hoax, intended to bring
a journal which had spoken freely and undis-
guisedly on the atrocities perpetrated by the slave-
owners and their supporters into contempt and
disrepute. The Times itself explained the mode
:in which the statement had obtained admission
into its columns, declaring that it had been
held back until it had investigated and been
fully satisfied as to the credibility of the writer,
and adding that it would welcome any refutation
of the horrible tale of murder. This invitation
Iprouplt two American writers into the field, who
strongly contested the authenticity of the account,
and undertook to institute stringent inquiries as
to the facts of the case, demanding, that in
the event of being able to show that it was a pure
invention, the name of the author of a hoax so
unmanly and cruel should be given up to public

Of course this state of beatification comes to an
end. With an aching head and swimming eyes
JACK awakes to a craving host and empty pockets.
The illusion is gone—the men are all rogues, and
the women—what they are. JACK becomes pro-
foundly moral, and has both time and opportunity
to dispense his prelections. He has no home, and
has been robbed of the means for providing a
substitute. There is nothing for him but painful
endurance until he can manage to get another
ship. He gets one, and returns from a new
voyage not so wise as he went—his sufferings
ashore all forgotten. This description of course
does not apply to all. Neither must it be in-
ferred that JACK is "a born natural," and woul d
not take care of the greater portion of his money
if he could. The number of thoughtful sailors,
who provide as well as they can for to• morrow,
has greatly increased ; and there can be little
doubt, if a helping hand were lent out to him, the
generic JACK would not waste his all on a "spree."
He is a sort of grown child—the creature, in a
large measure, of circumstances—not a whit more
immoral than landsmen, but with good intentions
he finds sudden self-responsibility and alluring
licence his rocks ahead. Find him a place of
security for his cash, lend him help against temp-
tation, and if he still indulges in a spree the
consequences will be vastly less grave and injurious
than at present.

reprobation.
The author of the statement has, however,
voluntarily come forward, giving his name and
address, and reiterating all the fearful circum-
stances of the case. As we have already stated,
it requires a high degree of moral courage for any
man to expose himself voluntarily to the danger
he must incur from such sanguinary ant blood-
thirsty ruffians, as the " highly respectable mer-
chant from Weston," described by Mr. A RROWSMITH,
who " was bound to bring down some one before
he was done," and would " put a chunk of lead
right off into the woolly head of any dog gauned
Abolitionist," or " the tall, muscular, and hard
visaged man of about 50," who coolly perpetrated
such atrocious murders within the time occupied
in a single journey by railway. It was, therefore,
very natural that Mr. ARROWSMITH should, in
the first instance, have " suppressed his name, as
a matter of personal safety ;" and he is entitled
to great credit for having, when his veracity was
impugned, cast aside all personal considerations,
and boldly come forward to substantiate the most
awful statement that ever appeared in an English
journal.

Not only is poor JACK in need of such aid, but
we submit he has a right to look for it. At all
events it is the duty of us landsmen, and especi-
ally such as more immediately profit by his skill
and daring, to afford it. Not an individual in
the three kingdoms ever overrated what we owe
to our brave sailors. If the poor fellows indulge
once in a time in a licence we cannot approve,
and present themselves a few days after return
from a profitable cruise in rags, and without
a shot in their locker—let it be remembered
they secure us the inestimable boon of liberty, and
preserve us from national ruin. We are under a
two-fold obligation to them—as our benefactors and
as our fellow-countrymen. Of all obligations these
should not be the last to be discharged. Enter-
taining these views, we are glad to find that some
portion of the debt has been discharged, or is in
course of being discharged in the North—at
Tynemouth, from whence sprang the crew of the
Victory, and our Navy has had its choicest and
"most plentiful supply. The Duke of NORTHUM-
BERLAND, it will be seen--..himself a sailor, and
proud of it—has there built a Sailors' Home, at a
cost of C' ) nnol.,
and ththeinhabitania lianacontri-
buted 3,0001. towards its endowment. The in-
stitution is to embrace a savings bank, a money
order office, a shipping office, a modal lodging-
house for 150 sailors, with hospital, school, and
every convenience it should possess. Once fairly
in operation, it will be seen poor JACK is worth
looking after, and not lost to self-respect. With
the opportunity to bank his money, to indulge
the natural affection for his relatives he so largely
possesses, and armed to a large extent against
iyrens and harpies, JACK ashore will show him-
self a better man ; and if such Homes be multi-
plied as they ought a great advance in the charac-
ter of our national defenders, and the carriers of
our commerce, may confidently be looked for.
The crew of the Victory, in• the main, were
religious men, and Jaen. improved will be found,
we make bold to say, more terrible to his enemies
mid more serviceable and ornamental to his
friends.

We are now bound to credit the awful narra-
tive, and we are the more justified in so doing,
inasmuch as it details matters strictly analogous
to those related by Mr. THOMAS GLADSTONE.
Can any one doubt that " the highly respectable
Weston merchant" would have been quite ready
to imbrue his hands in blood if he met with the
slightest reirrl.;f;,..., yr ihwir Lu was fully con-
vinced that he had numerous auxiliaries on
board, who would have strenuously supported
him in any " difficulty" he might occasion, and
protect him from the penal consequences of his
bloodthirsty acts ? While pouring forth his
diatribes and insults he was surrounded by an
admiring audience, who cheered and applauded
to the echo the blatent trash he was scream-
ing out. Any avowed Freesoiler would
scarcely have obtained the slender chance of a
duel, although with such practised and skilful
hands as the " tall, muscular, and hard-visaged
man" designated as C. by Mr. ARROREMITH ; the
prospect of escape would be very rensote indeed.
What, then, can we think of a state of society
such as that so graphically delineated ? What of
the train being stopped to permit parties to fight,
as Sir Lucius O'DitiGamt would say, in peace and
quietness, and a man about sixty years of age
leaving his child without protection while he was
waging a battle of life and death against a fellaw-
passenger with whom he happened to differ in
opinion ? What of C.'s assault on the unfortu-
nate French hairdresser, and the fatal combat,
while the accommodating conductor kept the
train at a stand-still until the survivor
' could return to his seat ? What of the
subsequent duel iu the smoking car with
the noiseless MONTE-CHRISTO pistols, and the
murder of the young man who so recklessly
became the champion of the HELEN whose frivo-
lity occasioned the terrible tragedy f But terrible
and heart-rending as were these transactions, what
were they to the wilful, deliberate, and brutal
murder of the poor ehild, who deplored the loss
of his aged father more emphatically than was
quite agreeable to C. and his companion ? Even
the subsequent assassination of B.'s father, and
the person who rescue I the unfortunate child
in the first instance, sink into insignificance
when compared with that heart-rending outrage,
which Indian savages would scarcely have perpe-
trated during the period when war to the knife
was proclaimed between the Aborigines and the
" Yengeese."
And all this series of atrocities, in which six
lives have been so cruelly sacrificed, is regarded
as "by no means an uncommon occurrence ;" and
the miscreants chiefly responsible are permitted to
escape justice. Surely a community in which
such things are possible cannot pretend to the
slightest degree of civilisation. There may be
good men amongst them, but so long as they.wil-
fully close their eyes to such a revolting state of
affairs, they are participators in the outrages
which they do not attempt to stop. The Northerns
should forthwith sever the unhallowed connexion,
and remove the stigma that any association with
slaveowners and their murderous advocates must
bring about. We earnestly hope that the "New
Englander " and "H. C. W.," who have im-
pugned the accuracy of Mr. ARROWSMITECS state-
ment, will detail the results of the investigations
they have promised to institute, and as they.were
so anxious to know Mr. A RROWSMI.TH'S name and
address, that they also will coniniunicate their
own to the public.

What with land sharks and sea sharks it has
evermore been the lot of poor Jack to be vic-
timised. Shut up in a limited society, with
little variety of character, he finds in the discharge
of a daily routine of duties but an occasional
relief from the monotonousness which keeps in