Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1857-04-30

have taken place on board the steamboat
Columbia short time since, brief account
of which we copied last week from the st.
Mary's Beacon. It is proper to remark that
we copied the article merely as an item of
news, supposing it to be correctly reported
by Mr. KING, the editor of that journal,
whom we have good reason to believe is a
gentleman whose character is such as would
not allow him willingly to do injustice to
any man. With DR.. CUNNINGHAM we have
not the slightest acquaintance; but since
this gentleman denies. the statements con-
tanned in the article referred to, we Of course
feel it a duty to accord him the privilege Of
giving his version of the affair through our
columns; not, however, without erasing
some portions of the communication which
we think reflected too severely in GER
tain quarter. where we doubt not it will yet
appear to be undeserved
[CoMMUNIcATIoN
Mr. ED1roRj My attention has been call
ed by friend to an article in your paper Of
the 23d inst, taken from the St. Mary's
Beacon, in which my character is assailed
with an indecency of expression and coars-
ness of SANDER, to say nothing Of the utter
falsehood of the charges there alleged AS
this article was copied into your paper, and
as am temporarily residing in your county,
I claim the privilege, which I am sure you
cannot deny me, of setting myself right
through your columns. The most casual
observer may easily detect in this produc-
ton of the Beacon SO glazing want of pro-
liability as to render it almost unnecessary
for me to pronounce it false. It carries
with it the evidence of its own baseness; it
stamps itself malicious libel Is it at all
probable, or indeed rational, to suppose that
any sane mani care not how desperate"
his character may be-would, on board
steamboat or anywhere else, draw his pistol
and deliberately fire at ''peaceable citizens
with whom he had had ''no acquaintance or
conversation p
This is what I am charged with doing on
board the steamboat Columbia on her down
ward trip few weeks since; but, notwith-
standing, was suffered to 90 at large and
land at my destination without any interfer-
ence on the part Of the officers in charge of
the boat. Strange that [ should have been
suffered to shoot at :'peaceable citizens with
out provocation,' D and to place in jeopardy
the lives Of the passengers, and no effort
made on the part of the officers and crew to
confne me until I could be placed in the
hands of the law! If the Beacon is to be
believed, then there was evidently derelic-
ton of duty on the part Of those in charge
|of the boat I will now state the facts in the
case, which, if necessary, can be vouched
for by several highly respectable gentlemen
who were passengers at the time.
Sometime after the boat left Alexandria
I went into the forward cabin, together with
a gentleman from Washington, (Mr. Hol-
linshead), whose acquaintance [ had just
then casually formed, and whilst there drew
from the pockets of my dress coat two small
single barrel pistols, with view of trans
ferring them to my overcoat pocket, Mr..
Hollinshead observing me, took one of the
pistols to examine, and whilst in the act of
removing the cap discharged it. It was
purely an accident, such as might have oc-
CURED to any one carelessly handling fire.
arms. There were in the cabin at the time
several persons, strangers to me, who seem
ed to manifest good deal of alarm at the
report of the pistol and Immediately left
I presume those were the ''peaceable citi
zens"
Truly, Mr. Editor, those St. Mary's coun-
ty gentlemen must have been men of peace!
How unfortunate that such good natures
should have been imposed upon! They
were insulted even shot at, and not
one murmur escaped then-not one word Of
complaint fell from their lips until safely
ensconcing themselves in the Office of the
Beacon, taking breath, and wiping the cold
sweat from their brows, they became as val
liant as Caesars They felt themselves capa-
BILE, no doubt, of any kind of valor, and de-
termined on doing something that was really
braue, even to backbite, to SANDER, to vilify,
and stain with their venom the character of
an absent man. The Beacon became their
vehicle and Mr.. King, its worthy editor,
their tool.
AS soon as my attention was called to this
slanderous fabrication, OR so soon as the sur
prise to which it had momentarily given rise
had subsided, [ saw plainly, without the
shadow of doubt presenting itself to my
mind. its drift and design. 1t connects with
my alleged conduct on board the boat the
fact of my being one of the rotated appoin-
tees of Gov Lyon I cannot for moment
perceive what thath to do with my ''insult-
ing and shooting at peaceable citizens, un-
less it was (Which is doubtless the case) to
justify the act of the Governor by wantonly
traducing my character. This is what call