Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1831-08-11
WHOLE NO. II.

history, while history continues to carry
to future ages a true account of the acts
of public men. Having been, for the
last two years, a close, and, for the most
part, "A silent observer of the actors in the
various scenes of the great drama Of
State, in which you were the chief char
acter. have carefully studied, not on
ly your own, but the characters of those
around you; and cannot easily be mista-
ken in the considerations which charac-
terized your leading unofficial acts, and
their bearing on the public interests
Much less could | bo mistaken in the
facts which are now made the ground
work Of your imputations against me, and
the evidence Of discord which induced
the determination TO reorganize your
Cabinet. hesitate not to say, in the
face of all who are implicated; in the
face of the world nay, in the face of
Heaven, that every allegation made, in
tended, or tending to connect me in any
one Of your long list of incidents, with
design TO insult you, or embarrass your
administration, or with any other of the
imputed designs, is destitute of the shad-
wv, VI vi CloSC
this part of this communication here, by
insisting, as have right to do, upon
the production of the proofs of these i'm
putcd plots and conspiracies, and Of my
agency i'll them, or that, as an act Of
sheer justice, the charges should be
Withdrawn as openly as they have been
made. But / cannot permit myself to
rest upon this ground alone, however
solid and immovable it must be. must,
therefore, call your attention to some Of
the most prominent points, and demand
the proofs more specifically. On what
ground am charged with having "no
sooner than got the commission safe in
my pocket, joined Mr.. Calhoun's friends
in the effort to drive Major Eaton out of
the Cabinet" / ask where is the evi-
dence that Mr.. Calhoun had any clas.
of friends who were not as devotedy
your friends; or that any object was en-
tertaincd, which could be beneficial to
him and injurious to you? Or that any
persons under that designation, joined to
drive Major Eaton out ofthe Cabinet?-
And, lastly, where is the evidence, if
such a plot existed, that | was privy to,
or an actor in it, Ifthe isolated circum-
stances Of the refusal of my family, with
my appreciation, to associate with that OF
Major Eaton, be deemed evidence of
this charge, l freely admit that fact;
but you perfectly well know, Whatever
appearance circumstances now compel
you to give it, that the sole cause for this
refusal was based in the belief Of the So
ciety in which she had always lived, as
to the character of his wife, and not in
any feeling of hostility or even unkind-
ness to him. 1t was, however, known to
me, that two or three gentlemen whom |
had never heard designated by their
personal attachment to any political man
other than yourself, and who were known
to be among your best friends, did re-
monstrate to you against the appoint
ment Of Major Eaton to a seat in your
Cabinet; and also heard that they CO.
temporaneously; or at least two of them,
made known to him all they had said to
you. Their names are known to you,
and they can bear testimony to this fact.
Two of these gentlemen, the only ones Of
whose purpose had any knowledge at
the time, will, if their memoirs serve, for
/ | know them to be incapable Of misrep-
resentation, testify, that, so far from en-
couraging their views, | endeavored To
reconcile them to the appointment of
Major Eaton-I will not now bring
their names before the public, but will,
if desired, furnish them to you, that you
NAV satisfy yourself of the flagrant in
Justice YOU have done me in this respect.
But, in addition to this, what motive had
to desire to drive Major Eaton out Of
the Cabinet We had been for several
years personally intimate and friendly.
| had formed a favorable opinion Of his
disposition and general character; and,
notwithstanding all that has occurred, my
opinion as to these qualities at that time
is unchanged. In the absence Of mo-
tive, in the absence of facts and circum-
! stances, nay, il the face of facts now
rendered to you, what is there in the re-
lation between the highest officer of the
+ Government and the humblest citizen
which can Justly preclude the latter from
the right of demanding that charge SO
, injurious to him shall be either proved or
retracted? 1t should now be understood
that this charge, thus shown to be q
mere phantom, is made the "head and
front of my offending" and the main
point upon which my reputation is assaii-
ed. You have proiessed to regard my
conduct in this particular as bearing an
"implicd insult'' to yourself; which i'm
arined insult has been fostercd in your
breast up to the present moment; and
= constantly cherished, with its prcdispos-
a ing influence to give form and substance
b TO every other shadow which jealousy