The Sun.
London, England, 1821-04-24 00:00:00

`nig LATE FRACAS.

. .
LORD PETERSHAM AND MR. W. WEDDERBtJRNE

COLONEL PALMER'S STATEMENT.

TO TIIE EDITOR-OF TIFF, SUN.

AtnANy, APRIL 23, 1821

MR. EDtTOR---I sincerely rejoice at the termination of fhe

affair betwixt Lord Petersham an& Mr. Weddcrburne, as stat-
ed in" The ObServer" of yesterday, by the joint authority of
the parties ; and had Mr. W. Ix sucu sTAi•EMENT, or in any
other PUBLIC manner, thought fit to make the same declara-
tion as to Lord Petersham's honour and character, which I un-
derstand he made upon the ground previous to the final ad-
justment of the affair betwixt the Seconds, I should have waiv-
ed the consideration of my own feelings; and have abstained
from any farther notice of the transaction. But that not, being
the case, however highly I must approv“and it is necessary
I should state it) the conduct of my LOrd Foley, and consider
it in every way satisfactory to the honour and character
of his principal, I confess, I am not quite satisfied with
the correspondence published in `‘ The Observer," looking
to the impression which it may possibly leave with others.
Perhaps may be mistaken in -this opinion, at least as it
regards the parties, and shall be most happy to find it so ;
but as it relates to, me, I must. judge for myself, and
*hen I look to the remarks of Mr. W. W., contained in NO.
VI. of the Correspondence, I hope I may be permitted to feel.
at least as much indignation upOn the occasion as avowed by
Mr. W. W., and it is only by the expression of thcAe feelings
that I can possibly get rid of them. Mr. W. has hitherto had
- •Lu.
an advantage over me, arising out of the 'delicaCiof my situa-
tion with respect to the other parties concerned; but air-consi,•T
derations of that kind being removed, and as it is :tow:only-a
qUestion betwixt Mr. W. and MYSELF', 1 appeal, withconfl
dence, to the liberality of the Public, in allowing me to trouble
them with such observations, in answer to the whole of Mr.
W.'s Statements, which, in justice to my own condUct, I con-
sider, necessary to offer. ' •

In the first place, then, Mr. W. his given the public to un-
derstand,' that I was his CONFIDENTIAL ,FRIEND AND 'AD-,
VISER previous to the affair in question; at least it may be so
inferred, from the following passage of his statement in your
Paper of the 19th inst.:—" I lied called on Colonel Palmer
some days before the receipt of Lord Foley's letters, and had
some GENERAL AND CONFIDENTIAL.coNvEusA'Tiox WITH
HIM ON MY AFFAIRS." Now, in answer to this, 1 must dis-
claim having had the slightest previous intimacy with Me. IV,
We had formerly been in the same regiment; but from the dif
ference of ago and rank I had known very littleof him, nor he.d
I ever seen him SINCE, until last year, when in consequence of
a reference which was made toe= upon. a. particular subject re-
lating to his family, I unfortunately fell in with him. Mr. W.
in consequence, certainly endeavoured to cultivate my acquaint-
ance, by different calls at my chambers,. and sending me
notes enclosing covers for franks; and I can only say that I
avoided it as well as I could with decency; by neither returning
his calls, nor answeringhis notes, although 1 franked his covers
as Ido for the Porter, or any one else that sends them. Such
then was the pre4se nature of our intimacy at the period of the
visit above mentioned, and see sensible was Mr. W. himself of
the necessity of an apology for the intrusion, that he pleaded
his excuse in a manner so conciliatory to my feelings, that I
listened with attention and concern to that which he thought
proper to communicate. However; Sir, this GENERAL AND
CONFIDENTIAL CONVERSATION- UPON, HIS AFFAIRS re-
lated SOLELY to the SAME SURJECT out of which the LATE
AFFAIR ORIGINATED'; and after hearing all he had to say
upon it, I distinctly told him, in expressing my regret upon the
occasion, that I could give him no advice whatever, And that if he
could not determine from his own feelings the conduct he ought
to pursue, he should consult thoe who, from the ties of re-
lationship or intimacy, could advise him with much More.
propriety than myself. Thus ended our FIRST interview, and.
before I come to the NEXT, I must in justice to Mr. W. ac-
count for it, by stating that I had received an intermediate visit
froth a party I need not name, for whom ALONE I was induced
to meddle with the business, and for whom alone AT THAT
MOMENT, I felt any real interest upon the subject.. The next
visit then from Mr. W. was, as he states, " that upon which he
requested ME to call upon Lord Foley in the capacity`of HIS
FRIEND;" and here, Sir, 1 would ask, whether this admission
on the part of Mr. W. does not at once prove my statement ;
and what is to be thought of his conduct, after admitting not
only sirs OWN INSERTION OF THE PARAGRAPH, but " that
he had expressed himself much more UNEQUIVOCALLY on
the subject to his friends," that in the face of this declaration
he should not have avowed in his answer to Lord Foley's first
note, that which his Lordship in the plainest language
had demanded, but shifts and evades- the question, in order
to take advantage of the DELAY which he. had himself
Created. Next follows Lord Foley's SECOND note, and
if Mr. W. had felt AT THAT MOMENT, as it appears
.he felt LAST SATURDAY, why did he not THEN re-
turn the same answer to the same alternative proposed to him ?---
and why, on the contrary, did he come to ME, to request me to
call upon Lord Foley, but for the purpose I have stated? And
now, as to the DESULTORY CONVERSATION he refers to in
which he would give us to understand that he might pos-
sibly have observed, that AFTER SUCH A LAPSE OF TIME,
he should have been justified in refusing the satisfaction
demanded, that there might be no misunderstanding as to this
point, 1 beg to add to my former statement, that upon Mr.
W.'s declaring he would neither contradict the report nor meet
Lord P., I believe it was impossible to have expressed
myself in stronger language than I made use of in stating.'
my opinion of his conduct ; nor was it Until after this re-
monstrance that he
.said he would, or might (I forget which)
give satisfaction AFTER an action which he had no intention
of instituting, unless driven to it by a challenge from Lord P. ;
heed I then, add, that no consideration would have induced me
to come forward as the PROFESSED FRIEND of such a man,
but the motives which I have stated. Having, however, en-
gaged myself in the cause, I entered into it with the same zeal
that a lawyer feels for his client, and with Mr. W.'s brief in
my head, I waited upon Lord Foley. Upon comparing notes
with his Lordship, I found that Mr. W. had greatly over-
stated his case, and, instead of inflicting a ohaatisement in than manlier which he had stated to his Mende, what-
ever might have been HIS INTENTIONS, they were frustrat-
ed by the superior physical powers of his opponent, who, seiz-
ing Mr. W. by the arms,held him fast till the calls of the lat-
ter for the watch brought.. the guardian of the night to his assist-
ance, and so the affair ended. )3ut perfectly satisfied of the
truth of this statement, hot only from other inquiries,
but the admission of Mr. NV. himself (at least as to his calling
out for the watch), in a second interview with Lord Riley, I
entirely agreed as to the necessity of a positive contradiction_ of
this report; but considering the circumstances, and that no
doubt such report had originated
.from Mr. W.'s expressions
under the irritation of his feelings at "the moment, he 'could not
be expected to contradict it, and, therefore, I saw no ether
way of doing justice to both parties, than by taking upon my-
self, as Mr. W.'s friend, the responsibility of the act. This
was accordingly agreed Upon ; and I would here submit,
whether my explanatory letter, which appeared in your Paper
on the 10th inst. under the circumstances which I have stated,
ought 'not to have satisfied Mr. IV.

Raving now, as I hope, justified my conduct thus far in the
business, .1 come to that part of -it wherein my motives must
have consoled me for any injury I might have suffered in the
opinion of the world—l mean the publication of that private
correspondence, ikrhich required no commentiity on the part of
Mr. W. to- render it more unpleasant to my feelings than at
the moment when the necessity of the case urged tnr to the
act ; and it is for my friends to consider if any thing BUT tiedes-
sity could have urged me to a conduct which I flatter myself is
an exception to the general tenor ofiny 'life- • ,But to continue.
By this time I perfectly knew Mr.W.'and rnt s far as ICE only was
concerned, I should have left him to his fate ; but foreseeing
that a meeting betwixt Lord P. and himself must be the inevi-
table consequence of his reply tomy lett,er, and as 1 diet not
anticipate under such circumstances -the- fortunate result that
has since taken place, I was resolved at all hazards to prevent
it, and trust I.need neither ea-plain nor.' justify the motives of
my determination. How then was I.' to act ? Mr. W. has
proved that it would have been impossible to 'have prevented
the insertion of this letter, and therefore 1 had no means what,
ever of obviating the effect of it than-'• by deceiving hhn, and
making such an exposure of the facts which might whollyy de-
feat his object, without hoviever; injuring him, or any others,
unless myself, by the measure. Finding,however, that he DID
.consider it as an injury, I could do no more than offer him
the redress I have stated, which offer, as matters have turned,
out, I am very glad he did not TAEN avail himself of, and
hope he may be of the same opinion Now. I am; Sir,
,
Your obedient Servant,
COARL-ES - PALMER.