Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-06-16
TIVE Members OF the First Pami-
lies OF Virginia lyailing
Themselves OF the
~ '.5A lsIs Code. g ti-F
Sharp Editorials and sharp
n Shooting.
One Editor wounds Another.
/ 0aR Gins bfsli15ag1

ingly unpleasant results, and in q man
ner, too, altogether peculiar to the South
For some time past Mr.. Robert W
Hughes, a leading Virginia journalist fol
many years, has been editing the Radi-
cal State Journal Wells organ). bis
articles in this paper were always filed
with a severity and bitterness against the
conservators or supporters Of Wakes
for the Goyernorship that frequently ere
ated doubt in the minds of intelligent
readers as to their authorship, few being
willing to believe they were ever penned
by q Virginian. This was, however, no
secret to the press Of the State, who
readily recognized in the leading columns
Of the Journal the. fercible snd pungent
style of Mr.. Hughes, and illusions in
directly towards this gentleman occasion
ally appeared in opposing political organs.
On Monday last, as, if forbearaace
had ceased to be virtue, with Mr..
Hughes attacks, this state of affairs cuI>
minated in bitter personal article on
Hughes character as a journalist, pub.
lished as leader in the Petersburg In.
der. This paper arrived here on Mons
day, at half-past eleven A. M, with the
article, which is as follows:
"There is an article in the Friday even
ing's State Journal which, in its vileness
and virulence, betrays its parentage. He'll
has no fury like woman scorned, per-
haps, but humanity knows no hatred so
bitter, so reckless, SO unrelenting as
that the traitor feels towards those
whom he has betrayed. None but re-
negsde Virginian, smarting under the
sense Of his own shameless treachery,
and brimming with enmity to all that is
better and truer than himself-An Arnold
seeking to cloak his baseness by SANDER
Of the cause he has sold-could have
penned such language in regard to Vir>
ginia gentlemen as that which we quote
"If names could typify the meaning of
words, the meme, meme, tekel, uphdT-
san, which bloody and destructive his
tory has pronounced upon the sectional
party that has so long ruled and runined
in Virginia is especially expressed in
such names as Bocock, Douglas and
Aylette. These are but types of the
class who have gone forth 10 reinYoke
the people to courses of treason. 1t is
well for the cause of loyalty, reconstruct
ton and State regenerationy that a class
OF parricides so notorious, with the mark
Of Cain upon their foreheads AMI the
guilt of Cain upon their consciences, have
gone out as the champions of a discon>
tented, remoGstrant and incorrigible Sec
tionalism. They know that the ascend.
Ancy of national ideas and loyal senti
ments must consign them to fixed and
branded obscurity; and in the spirit Of
Beelzebub, better to rule in hell than
serve in heaven they are ready to drag
down the commonwealth into deeper
damnation than that in which she al~
ready writhes and perishes." .r.
There is only one journalist In this
State who is at the same time sufficiently
capable as a writer and utterly degraded
enough in character to have indited those
lines. He is one of those who lent
truOulent and almost inhuman bitterness
to the Richmond Examiner during the
war-the man upon whom John M.
Daniel chiefly relied for his strongest ap-
peals to the worst passions of our people.
He sat at the feet of John B. Floyd, a
disciple who forgot all that was good in
the lessons of his master, but seized upon
the bad with the instinct of natural de-
pravity, cultivating and developing it
until he has sunk to a depth which Peter
in his denial never knew. His first act
after the war was to connect himself with
the dirtiest Of all the poisonous sheets
which have disgraced Richmond since
1S64-the Richmond Repu6ltc-and his
undeniable versatility as writer was
there employed to brand as infamous all
that he had advocated for six years pre-
vious. Since then he has played part
which is, thank God, stranger to Virginia
journalism. His venal pen has been sold
to the highest bidder to bolster any
| and every cause whose directors were
willing to buy his brains. He has
said that his articles were mer-
chandise, and that if sufficiently re-
| munerated he would feel warranted in
arguing for poligamy. And the time
came when his former friends, finding
how valueless were words which the
public knew were bought and sold like
behring's in the market, ceased to remem>
Der his talent In the presence of his want
of principle. He is now contributing ed
itorially to the Richmond State Journal,
which has lost thereby four ffths Of its
previous claim to responsibility. The
people of Virginia want no stronger evil
dence of unreliability in public print
than to know that its sentiments flow
| from the purchased pen Of Robert w.
Hughus. -
| Upon reading the above Hughes,
smarting under the pain of such severe
chastisement, at once dispatched Mr..
Earnest p. Wilt, an attache of the
journal, to Petersburg, demanding an
unconditional retraction of the article
with public apology, or personal salts
faction under the rules ofthe duello Of the
editor of the index, VIM. E. Cameron.
Col. Cameron asked for some delay in
returning an answer TO this demand on
account of the condition of his family,
which was refused by the other side,
upon the ground that the condition Of
his family on account of which delay was
requested, existed at the time the article
was written. The interchange of COM
munications was kept up until night be-
fore last, when it was finally decided that
the parties were to meet yesterday alter
noon, near Chester Station on the Rich>
mond and Petersburg railroad, for set''
Element Of the affair according to the
rules Of the code of honor of Virginia.
There was some difficulty as to the
choice Of weapons, which rested with the
challenged party. 1t was, we learn, their
intention first to choose shot guns, but
this was objected to bscauseit is wea-
pom not recognized by the code. Something
was then said about short swords, but
this weapon was also rejected, and il
was finally determined to fight with piss
tolls at ten PAGES. Mr.. Ernest Witt, oil
the State Journal, acted as Mr.. Hughes
friend in the negotiation and Mr.. Ernest
Lsgarde, of the Peter Jurg Express, a:
the friend of Col. Cameron.
About four P, NJ, all the parties princic
pals, seconds and surgeons met at Chess
ter and active preparations were at once
made for the combat. At this juncturt
a justice of Chesterfield, accompanied
by other law officers, made their .ap'
pearance and caused q fight of all tht
parties. They succeeded in arrestiBe
Legarde, Rodgers and Clarkson. seconds
; but the principals made their escape anC
: are now in quest Of another place where
they can fight without being disturbed
by the minions of the law. The seconds
, were held to bail to keep the peace, and
: the bafiied officers then went in quest o