Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-03-27
EVENING STAR,
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

POT. 0iooou yosSeIusy, solomon u Hsaton,
clerk at the Pension Office, was on the stand
and was testifying as to his answer TO the re-
ference which Lee had made to him az being
able to suostantiate the charge against Hume:
witness replied that he had seen no ACT ON
the part OF Hume whereby he could ccr-obo-
rate the charge; he could only corrobo.
rate the fact that Lee made such char.
hume vent on 70 say that he was As years Of
age, and had probably given away mora NJ orr
every year than Lee was worth. and a. ~.
sane time appealed to Mr. Walker "a To the
truth OK what he said did not hear Ws,t.r
make any reply; Lee said this was donbti.s.
eorrect, as he was a poor man; he said. fur.
ther, that II Hume was As years old he was
ten years his senior; and be said that was not
tae place TO settle the difficulty" Hume re-
pied that be did not come there with the in.
ten;ion of having any difficulty with him. h.
asked II Lee still held to his charge; Lee sad
mat ne did; Hume said immediately, /" You
90 scoundrel, do you charge me with
picking your pocket?" and at the Same tins
struck him with his cane; Lee turned to the
left and walked of, his back being towards
Hume; Lee was in n bent position: Lee had
MS hat on at the time he was first struck. af.
ter the first blow. witness notieed that the h AT
was CT; Hume struck Lee as MANY AZ two n,
three blows; Immediately afterwards witn.s.
heard the report of pistol; Hume exclaimed:
ooh. my God, 1 am dead man =" and AZ
the same time fell forward: he lived perhaps
ten minutes after he was shot.
Cross exsmined-Witness on ent.,;,a1,
room In the morning, asked Lee if anytb;ns
further had transpirsd at the lsyse after Wit
ness left there -ei WIZ
The counsel for Government here ob;sct a
TO the Introduction Of this Conversation =.
evidence. The counsel for the defence CON
tended to explain the conduct II IN. dsfond'
ant ana MS state OF mind at the time show.
ing that he was acting upon an honest convic.
ton OF the truth OF the charge, and that m a
witness had encouraged and sustained him in
that belief A'" LII
Mr.; Bradley replied, reassertips tn. mad.
EilSStTillty Oh the evidence, either as rebutting
the charge Of malice on the part of the de
PENDANT or as going to discredit the TESTIMONY
of the witness.
Mr.. Davidge, for defence, claimed the sd
mission OF the testimony to show why il was
that Mr Lee refused to retract his charge
The Court decided that the evidence wssin.
sumlSsioie- Inc counsel for defence ssked
leave TO ME bill Of exceptions to the rpIino
Henry q. Potter, (son of Bishop Potter. Of
pennsylvania sworn-W as at thu Presid,nt,s
leVee; saw Lee and deceased in the orrsn.
room at the White House, (ths room between
tie reception room and the East Room y Lee
WAS standing with his back to the East Room
sod hume with MS left SIDE to the East Room;
49, NlbulE q IOOt-apd A. alf
OF each other; the frst words heard By witness,
were uttered oy Hume, who held Lee by the
coat and said, 81 am sorry you have isdie,
Win you, but you must 60 with me: witness
next heard Lee charging Hume with having
llekeo MS POCKET; as soon as witness heard
his secusation, he recognized in Mr. Hume
gentleman whom he had seen, but with whom
ne was not acquainted; witness turned to Lee
and said " SIR, you have made a gri,vons
mistake; this is Mr.. David Hume, a merchant
OF Alexandria; some gentlemen interpossd.
and proposed that the parties should exchange
carus' Wnicn tney did; witness next heard o
remark OF Mr.. Lee, TO the effect that be still
persisted IN his charge; Hume slapped Lee
TWO or three times In the face; some gentle
men pushed in between them and separated
them; witness left the place then, and saw no
more Of what transpired
Cross examined-Knew Hume only by sight:
tae Iaoies were with Lee at the time Hume
slapped him IN the face; witness wa. not pre.
sent at the commencement of the difieuIty
Dr Berry called.-Examined the BODY of
deceased about three hours after the occur
renee at the Pension Once the ball entered
about three inches below the naval and one
Inch to the left Of the medium line; the ball
penetrated doTnEaTds, diyerging about Al
lncn from the horizontal line; the presump-
ton was, from the sudden death of deceased
ara MS oioodIess appearance, that the aorta,
or large artery Of tho body, was wounded:
from the track Of the ball it was evident that
the oreech Of the pistol must have been held
nlgner than Its muTrle at the time of its dis
charge; diseased Was about SIX feet two in.
ches in height; was q man Of great muscular
power.
Lafayette J. Browns testimony was mainly
cOrroboratiVe Of that already given. Thinks
Hume struck Lee as many as three blows;
thinks Lee was in q crouching position when
ne 1rec; The blows seemed to be struck with
q TOhf Aaa
bly, cut; (Eitness identified black hickory or
oak cane, with q bent handle as the one used
by HumeD Humes manner was earnest and
exelted, but not mem cing or threatening; no
one interfered with the parties
Robert Geddes, another clerk in the Pen.
SION Once, testified TO the same general effect
as the preceding witnesses; witness thought
that Hume's manner changed upon Lee 8 say
ing that Heaton would coTroborate his Lee 81
statement; up TO that time, Hume appeared
10 have been acting with forbesrance, consid-
eIIDg the Infamous nature Of the charge
against him; he turned round and said
Who is ii that coIroborates it?'' there w az
no response; deceased then turned to Lee and
inquired, " Who is il that corroborates your
story ?" Lee named Heaton, who was sitting
at the time IN Lees chair; Hume then nut
the question direct to Heaton, "Do you cor
rooOTste this mans statement" Heaton re-
Piled, No, sir know nothing about it,
d.
dressed Lee, . You id scoundrel, do YOU
still persist in making this charge 3" while
saying this he struck Lee; after the shot, wit
ness saw the pistol in the hands of Lee; hs
held 1t in his right hand q little raised; OBJ
served some blood trickling down by prison
er's left ear; Ar. Walker, who appeared much
troubled, said 70 Lee, " Sir, you don know
what you have done; you have killed one of
the best Of men," thinks Lee said somethipg
to the effect that he could not avoid il, bat
cannot say whether or not Lee said this In
response TO the remark Of Walker.
Upon the conclusion Of the examination Of
Mr.; Gsddes, the court adjourned.
THIRD DAY.
The Court met at half past 10 o'clock this
morning and the trial Of Lee was resumed
Tie attendance In the court room ICON neil
Chamber) was again large, and the atmosphere
of the room, badly ventilated as IL il, is TO-
-. r. u