Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1831-09-27

ihlS letter, WHICH was uelifereo 10 d hiehu VI
Mr.. Eaton, twho. in consequence OF Gen, Hunt.
ers indisposition, had been selected to represent
hiin) that friend refused to receive, and returned
to the bearer of it, who, as the public will have
seen, was ignorant Gifts contents. / considered
this as decisive evidence of Mr.. Eaton's dlspo-
sition to evade the contest which he professed to
seek. fine had been sincere in making this de.
mand, an opportunity was thus offered to him OF
gratifying his resentment A short time would
suffice to release me from my existing engage
ments to the public. and then he would have been
authorised to renew his claim. BY the refusal to
receive nv letter, he necessarily closed all COM
municatiun between US, unless tie object OF
such communication had been as preliminary to
further proceedings, to retrace that step, and to
apologize for it. Without this, any subsequent
demand by Mr.. Eaton, was merely idle. When
it was made, having previously obtained the
friendly Offices of Gen. Jones in this matter,
instructed him To say for me, that could hold no
further communication with Mr. Eaton. who must
thereafter pursue his own course. He had refused
to accept satisfaction on the only terms on which
I could offer it, and left him to seek it IN any
manner which might be more agreeable to him.
He has selected his mode, by his appeal to the
public, and must now abide the result. think,
then, it is obvious, that this idle b-avado, twice
displayed, without even plausible pretence, has
in each case eventuated IN the disgrace OF its au-
thors, and the palpabIe discontinue OF its more
immediate agent From me, Mr. Eaton has receiV-
ed no wrong Although cannot admit the ex-
istence of that intimacy, which 1t accords with
his present purposes to assert, still can fearless
ly appeal to those more Immediately Conversant
with my course here, to say whether feelings
of hostility have at any time characterized my
conduct towards him. This declaration IS not
made with any view to diminish his resentment:
that he will continue TO indulge as he thinks mt.
without any effort on my part to propltlate tt
No: Mr. Eaton, and his resentments, and the
manner IN which he may think proper TO indulge
them, are utterly unimportant. That which de-
mands our consideration is, that the law OF force
is openly proclaimed at the seat OF the National
Goyernment-that he who ventures to repel the
gro1ndless calumnies of the official prses, must
speak at the peril of his life, in the vindlcaloo OF
his honor-and # even in self-defence, he shall
dare to say aught which may draw into question
the public conduct of that high functionary, whose
views it processes to represent, and by whose
alleged authority it speaks, he must instantly
prepare himself for the combat.
Such Is the condition to which we arc reduced
1t is utterly unavaiing to deny the fact; for the
evidence is before our eyes, Two separate calls
have been made upon me by Mr.. Eaton within
little more than month; and the fact that he has,
at each time, fatered in his purpose, only serves
to render more obvious the spirit which dictated
them. There is no dispasslonate man, care not
of what party he may be. who will venture to al
firm that he had right, in either case, to make
these demands. Why, then, were they made?
The official press has, in the mean time, been
increasingly employed in vain and imPotent. but
ruthless efforts TO assail me-and for whats for
the mere act of viudicating myself, BY simple
narrative of facts, excluding all sunertiuous COM
mentary. These things have been notorious.
Ever since June last this community has been re-
peatedly agtated by rumors of intended conflicts.
No man has been able to q lose his ears against
them. The public newspapers from all parts of
the Union have brought them back to US, and
there is no Que who is either so elevated or 50
humble, but that they have reached and penetrat-
ed his dwelling. For this disturbance Of the qui-
ct of the communty-this degradation Of the ma
tlonal cl,aracter-a solemn responsibility rests
somewhere Whatever the delusion of the mo-
ment, the time will come, and that speedily, when
the American People will enforce it. And who
has been the principal actor in these scenas, in
each case, the moving cause of this disturbance!
An individual enjoying the confidence OF the
Chief Magistrate, in habits of daily and intimate
intercourse with him. And by whom have these
calumnies been uttered? Who is it that has en-
deavored, with an activity that has never SUM
bered, to fan the flame of discord? These have
been the labors Of press which is necessarily
under his control Who doubts that this rete-
rated calumny, this continued menace of vio-
ence, might have been checked by word?-
Who will question that the power to do so, in
volved the obligation to exert il? Else. what are
government, laws, and the duties which belong
to the civil magistracy? What is that high and
ennobling feeling which does not permit its pos
SCISSOR to resort to dishonorable means himself,
nor to counsel or countenance them in those
whose conduct he has either the legal or the mo.
raj power to control!
dismiss with these remarks so much Of MIR.
Eaton's pamphlet as relates to the second cores
pondence between u.s. In the spirit of deter
minaton to msrepresent every thing connected
with his subject, he imputes to me the violation
Of personal intimacy which he says existed be-
fore the organization Of the Cabinet, and the fact
Of having contributed to give currency to the re-
ports against the character Of Mrs. Eaton. He