Alabama state intelligencer., 1831-02-09
To tn. E Ii,ors of h. National In,cl;,r.pser

D ll- led by the kindness cf friend, to a puhl'c,- tion lA the Georgia Jmrnnl, signed by tn. Ion. A. 5. Clayton, which feel cnnstrlinel to n9tice. The Allowing extract from that publication, contains all that has any relation t me :-
 '" 1lsssrs. Editors.-Whle my review cf tie Bunk Report~was publishing, received m an>nymnus letter from one of our ,mne,'. clal cites, informing mc, among other things, that SC ircelv ,rticle of the Report on tic Bunk of the Un.ted Staics WIS penned MT. M'Dnhc. but penned by th,se immediate. y interested in, or emhtoyed by, the Bank f; md that the flowing individuals can teH wh1 pehned that dHcument Iangdon Cheves, N. Riddle, Mr. Ingersall, &. Sc.'' Now. ;1ncernlng ths matter, (c ntnIes Judge Clayton) not only kn,w nothing, but believe nothing give the f,et as received it. If true, it speaks VOLUMES |; if not true, the l1norablc Chairman of the Committee, GIT The gentlemen ab we nlmed, should prompt- " dlslbls. the public m'nd as to the al lrm- inS slsp cion wh ch suci a circumstance is calculated to insp,'e For the sake of tn. )lr.ty of their deliberations, Congress ought D nlnr re into it, if there is t,e slightest four- lation r such q bel.ef"
 It is equally du, t, myself and to all c,n- :sraed, thlt sho1ld st ,te explicitly, that in :le w.. le of the fareg'ing statement of Judge Cilvton's anonymous Tresp)ndent, there is not "a ptrt cle' or shadow of truth. The ant.re Rep>rt of the Committee of Waysand Means, tn wiicl reference is made, was eoitr- p1sed anl written bv the Chair nan of that 0omm ttee; anl, of course il t a single sen tence W IS penn:d by any other human beinr. II t'e reference made to Mr. Cheves, MT. E dtlle, and Mir. Inyersol, was designed u convey the idel that these gentlemen. or ei- ther of them, "penned" any part of the Re- p1rt in question, they |" can tell" Judge Cf.y- . ton. that hs correspondent is a random and reckless cllumniat1r.
 am 1t lisp sed U complain of the course pursued by Judge Clayt n, because do nt .scrbe it to an unfrien1ly, and much less, |, nal cious motive. l cinn1t but remark however, that he has permitted himself to he drawn, by an artful anl insitlnous libeller, in to s'tnlti' II of extreme awkw arlness, at least :; involving all the legal responsib tv, thout any ct the moral gu lt, of publishing a tlse and mall us l.bel. Tn tt tIis is b,se md nfam" us libel, the judge will now doub,- less perceive and admit. It is apparent, also, hat he is the S le publisher, however inf fensive his intention and he has been ton long at the bar and on the bench, not t, know that his legal responsibility fir th's publ;ca- tion cannot be evaded by stating, that he re- ceived the information from an anonymous correspondent, and neither believes ncr dis believes it, do nGt make these remarks r the vain anl idle purpose of reading to the judge lecture cn the law of Ebel but to ad- mnnsh him cn the extreme impruiencc If publish ng grave charge against Commit- tee of the House cf Representatives, deeply affecting, in his own nicn, the purity cf the national legislature, on an irresponsible au- tharitv. stamped with suspicion cn the very face of it. Ifthis charge had been published by an anrnymcus wrter, l should have had t1o much sclf-respect to nct:cc it but coni- ing before the public from so respectable a source, even with a very equivccal endcrse- ment, have felt that must either give culI,-. tenance by my silence to false and disparag- ing. imputation. or adopt the suggestion cft'lc Judge, and s'tbuse tine public mind as to the alarming suspicion" which his own pull, licaticn has been the sole and exclusive mea,,s of producing. GEO. M'DUFFIE.