Alabama state intelligencer., 1831-10-29


 prevented me from communicating 10 him it's con tents. assure myself however, of it's proper deli very, by placngt under cover to your address, ant nstructing Mir Echols to deliver the package only |, yourself am respectfully, Sir, your ob't servant f JN. MACPHERSON BERRIEN.
 To General ALEXANDER HUNTER.
 I Mr Bcrr,en's AnStcer 10 Mr Eaton's Challenge
 WAsmsGroN. 29th July, 1891.
 SIR: Your note of yesterdays date was delivered to me by Gen Hunter
 l will waive a this time any observations on the language and style of that note, upon any state- ment not necessarily connected with your present de- mand which Il contains. l make two exceptions to this waiver and remark first, that in your account oi the interview between us, the occasion of ten dering 10 me the office of Attorney General you have ointtcdh state, that communication was conin- ed to that single point; that neither the of the members oi'the Cabinet. nOrthe principles on which General Jackson intended to administer the Govern ment were mentioned to me but that for these and all other matters which might influence my decision upon the invitation which had been given to me was referred to the President himself. I take the occasion to add also, with reference to your pre- sent demand however that do not acquiesce in your interpretation of that sentence in my address 10 the public, in which is stated that the annunciaon of the names fhe Cabinet seemed tome Ito present an insuperabe bar to my acceptance of the office, which had been rendered to me."
 And now, Sir, will reply Q the residue of your note. You rest the demand which you have made, as understand il, upon the allegation that l have given countenance and sanconto what you deno- minate the base islanders, which nave been propaga- ted against you in your domestic relations and you say that this has been done in my address to ihe pub lie, by speaking of these rumors, ds evils which pre- senied an insuperable bar to my entering the Cabi- net, and stating that my assent finally given un- der the persuasion that the Pres dent would speedily | nd cn rprt ka hn If inh you complain, consists in my having stated to the public as you suppose that your introduction into the Cabinet was an evil, in consequence of the re- ports which in circulation in relation to your family, and that for this cause bad hesated to take place in ii, and had finally acquiesced, under be- lief that this evil would be speedily removed. state the ground which you have taken thus distinctly, not for the purpose of discussing with you but that ''the American People, to whom you refer as arbi- ters of the proprley of your couduct may be enabled nt once to see the principle which you rest your claim to demand satisfaction from me, and having done this. will proceed to explain to you why will not now reply to it.
 You took an early occasion after my return to this place to make the demand which gave rise to our former correspondence. That was demand for the avowal or dlsavowal of statement, that my family had refused to associate with yours. I met this by the avowal which you called for stated the occasion on which had given this refusal and the decrmi- | rather than to yield tot. held myselfready at that time to answer any just demand which you should make upon me, founded upon this reiusol, or the avowal of It. You made none. On the contrary after having my answer four days in your possession alter having, you tell me, given to it "a full and calm consideration" you replied to il in the spirit o peace, and terminated the correspondence by note written in the same spirit. Up to that period your claims, upon were, then, at an end. Since that time the letter of Colonel Johnson, the msrepresen taons of paper published under the eye oihe Pre- sident, and finally statement Tn relation to myself personally, have compelled me to appeal to the pub lic That appeal Is now pending. It places me in a new position and imposes upon me new duties.- Under the alleged authority of the President of the United States, an issue has been rendered to me, tht decision of which is vitally important to my own character and to the public interest It is at such moment, and under such circumstances, that you demand is presented to me. The American people to whom you appeal, will not fail to perceive anu 10 note, both the time and the circumstances under which it is made. My answer is, that have higher duties to perform both to myself and to the country than any which your demand even concedng 1t to be rightful, Con which subject express opinion car impose I will not be diverted from the fu6lmen ofthese duties When that purpose shall have beer accomplished, will attend to your demand with : disposition promptly to repair any wrong which may have inflicted.
 am Sir your ob't servant,
 JN MACPHERSON BERRIEN.
 To JOHN H. EATON, Esq.
 This letter, winch was delivered to friend o1 Mir Eaton, (who, in consequence of Gen. Hun ter's iDdispositon, had been selected to repre- sent him )that friend refused to receive ,and re turned to the bearer of it, who, as the public will have seen, was ignorant of its contents. considered this as decisive evidence of Mir Ea. tons disposition to evade the contest which ht professed to seek. If he had been sincere il making this demand, an opportunity was thu offered to him of gratifying his resentment A short time would suffice to release me iron my existing engagements to the public, ant then he would have been authorized to renew his claim. By the refusal to receive my let ter, he necessarily closed all communicatioi between us, unless the object of such commu nication had been as preliminary to furthe proceedings, to retrace that step, and to apo logise for it. Without this, any subsequen demand by MT Eaton, was merely idle.- When it was made, having previously obtain ed the friendly offices of Gen. Jones in thi !, matter, l instructed him to say for me, that could hold no further communication witt MT Eaton, who must thereafter pursue hi own course. He had refused to accept satis faction on the only terms on which could of fer it, and left him to seek it in any manne which might be more agreeable to him. H. has selected his mode, by his appeal to tn public, and must now abide the result. think, then, it is obvious, that this idle brava do, twice displayed, without even plausib pretence, has in each case eventuated in tn disgrace of its authors, and the palpable dis comfiture ct it's more immediate agent. Fron : me, MT Eaton has received no wrong Al though l cannot admit the existence of tha : intimacy, which it accords with his presen | purposes to assert, still can fearlessly ap peal to those more immediately conversan