Alabama state intelligencer., 1831-10-29

Hdu NfCIdTeu my Qetefnln:ltlOn 10 retll' from office, rather than to submit to such
 reqnisition. Yet to this declaration, Mir Ea
 ton hadpreviously submitted, and after con sidernS it for several days, had withdraw
 the pelemptory demand, which he had mad
 upon me in June last, with an expression o
 his qualification at this result of that cores
 pondence. Was 1 bound thus to await thu ebb and flow of his resentments or of his dis postirh to indulge them? to conform mysel to the httul humors of a man, whose purpo
 scs woe thus absurd and vacilating? l dt not man to say, that l would regulate m, conduit by the acquisitions of any arbitrar, code honor, when these conflcted with my own smsc of propriety; but assert, withou
 fear c contradiction, that even according tc the mXims of that code, to which he hat appeaed, Mir Eaton had forfeited all clain to callupan me, by his previous submission to thatwhich he had treated as an offence and tmwhich he had received no atoncmcnt Th,fime selected b9 Mi. Eaton for making this s.;ond demand, coupled with the retusa
 to receive the answer, which was transmitted to hin, furnish, however, the most conclusive evidence of the real spirit in which that cal
 was made; and prove, whatever might have been the hopes of those who had counsellcd VI NNb'iNNh'ihOSi AiiS InaI, WiIn him,It was mere bravado. The wrong of whic Mir Eaten complained in his note of the 17th 'une, was avowed, and unatoned for. In this posture ofthings, he waited until my ap- peaIto the public had placed me in a situn- tion which, until l could disengage myself, woul necessarily prevent me from turning asdSto answer any minor claim. Under the alle8d authority of the President of the Uni tpH 4nt n,, I.,,I Il I torcd upon me. Called to speak the truth, l hadpledged myself to statement of facts in tn face of the American people, from the supprt ot which could not suffer myself to be diverted by any other consideration. The redemption ot that pledge was due to the pub lic, Whose decision l had been compelled to mvoR-and to my own honor. It was inn possible to foresee by whom, and in what par ticuirs, that statement would be assailed and was my duty to be at my post and in readiness to defend it. Under such circum- stames, 60 have turned aside to answer the call3f MT Eaton, would, am now satisfied hay subjected me to universal reprobation. - A sort time might probably suffice, to enable me D fulfil my duty to the public in this mat ter;,ut until it was performed, it was my first duty 1t is impossible to believe that Mir Ea- ten ould have been nsensible to these con sidentions. He was on the spot; deeply in tercted in the occurrences of the day; an ac- tive gent ill producing most of them. He chos'thiS fr'eeisc Hoint of time 70 hrrsru Ais Seco7d demand. He did m0re: his friend, who presumed to have acted in conformity to his instructions, refused to receive an an 'wer which, tarfron declining his call, .gaue Aim Me most distinct d8Surance That H Shouid 6tfromhtly Gttended 70, as soon as the duties inwhich was then engaged had been fulfill ed, and with knowledge of this fact, MT Eaton, reckless of the exposure which await ed hm, has asserted, in the face oftruth, that l had shunned responsibility.
 If the circumstances in which stood be- f0refhe public, did not impose upon him an imperative obligation to abstain from making his cll at such moment, still he assurance 7vhie1 zyGs ofered 10 him, 7vas one gvhich e bra1p man seeking Memorable combat, could not h7ue refn8ed. The refusal to accept it, was tertforc palpable evasion of the con- bat, yhici he affected to invite.
 The spirit which was manifested by the merefactof making this demand, under such circumstances, was calculated, however, tc produce tellngs which could net at the mo- Ilent repess. Connecting it with the repeat cd attack of the government press, saw in it ruthlSs determination to sacrifice my ho- nor or m life. looked beyond the imme- diate ageit in this transaction, and was rcsolv- ed to disa)point the hopes of it's contrivers. In the ylnlication of truth and my own honor, felt thatl had the pnwerto do so; and press. cd by an unseen hand, thought that the mo- ment hadarrived whenit had become neces- sary to exert it. The question to be decided was, whdher system of lawless violence should ppvail, unchecked, at the seat of the national government, in the face of the Ame- rican people? It was my misfortune to be called to6cst that question, with such man, and undd such circum stances, out 1t was not my fault. l sent accordingly for gentleman m whom had confidence, and communicated to him tlis view of the course which 1t be- came ncdssary for me to pursue. His re- m0nstrantcs against 1t were instant and de cldcd. After free conversation on the sub ject, it wss agreed to refer MT Eaton's note, conhdentlllly, to certain gentlemen who were mentioned together with my own view of the matter, anl with it the question, whether could with propriety accept his call. The, answered, stating that they had carefully pc rnsed my note, MT Eaton's, and the commu nication referred to by him, (my former ad dress and then added, "We cannot perceive any just calse for the call now made on you and underany circumstances it is our decided opinion, that in the present state of the con troversy, ir which you are engaged before thu public, yor could not with any propriety ac cept his invitation" If had had the slight est disposition to avoid Mir Eaton's resent
 ment, here was an ample opportunity of do ing so. Here were gentlemen who were i'm partial on this question; men whose courage whose high sense of honor, whose genera standing in society, entitled them obe heart in matter of this sort, and who had given prompt and decided negative to his demand Locking tothe absurd nature of that demand it tcould not be doubted that this opinion woul, be confirmed by the deliberate judgement Q