The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1831-08-03

Il uance IN the Cabinet, unless the President coul
: place Inc retirement Of my colleagues on Othe
o ground, than those which believed to have occ;
stoned It, and such as could approve. In flu
we" OF the speedy dissolution of all connectio
; between the President and myself, | avaiIe
myself OF the occasion afforded by the kind
ness OF my fellow citizens OF Savannah, TO d.
an act of justice to his public conduct, on cues
ton vitality interesting to the people of Georgia
there be any man who is incapable Of understand
ing or ct approaching the motive which prompted
TINS act, cannot envy his feelings and will not al
tempt to enlighten his understanding. returned
TO ms city. had conversation with the President
To which the prominent points are advcrted tn in
my letter Of resignation which Immediately follow
ed It, and having brought up the public business
winch was IN arrear. retired from Office.
WhlIe these occurrences were in progress Mai
Eaton addressed to me letter of like import with
his first communication to Mr. Inghan. He called
upon me TO sanction or dsavow the statement in
the telegraph. that my family had refused to asso-
oiaie with ms ! answered by detailing tho con
IefSaton which had passed between nivspIr ana
Z tol' Johnson and stated that had subseouen,lv
Z expressed the same views to the President who had
dlacalmed any disposition TO press this reauisition
referring to that which had previously stated to
have been made through Col. johnson. The Edi-
tor OF the Globe has published this detached SEN
tence of my letter. and has made an impotent at
tempt to distort its meaning. The public shall
Judge of the whole correspondence for themselves
mad no disposition to publish this correspondence
1enectiy satisfied that it would at all times speak
ior ITSELF and not emuous Of reputation to be ac-
CURED IN such controversies, | have resisted the
numerous calls which have been made upon me-
through different journals to give it to The public
But the editor Of the Globe is in possession of IT,
and by the publication of an isolated extract at
tempts to do me injustice. | exercise Il right
! therefore, which belongs to me- when take from
MN ths unfair means of annoyance, by giving the
whole to the public:
=. FRiDAY NIeHT, 18th June, 1881
oil nave studied to disregard the abusive
SANDERS which have arisen through So deb,sed
source as the u. S. Telegraph | have been
content to wait for the full developement of
"hat ne had To say, and until persons Of ra.
spnnslhle character should be brOuUh. forth ia
! endorse his vile abuse of me, and of INV family
| In that paper Of this evening is contained 10
following remarks of my wife: at is proved
that the Secretaries of the Treasury and of The
Navy, and Of the Attorney General. refused to
associate with her" This publication anne.ro
! III paper which processes to he friendly To- Won
! and is brought forth under your immediate eve
desire to knnR of you, whether or not Won
sanction this statement or Gisavow il. The
relation we have sustdined towards each other
/ authorizes me To demand an immediate answer
I Very respectfully, J. EAToS.
| Jn5. NJ. Berrien, ESQ
WAsHINGToS. 18th June, 1891
SIT received to-day your note of last niUht
IN which yon call my attention TO an article in
the U s. Telegraph of :he eth inst RELATING
| to your wlfe-and desiring to know whether
will sanction or disavow that statement; ron
add " the relation we have sustained towards
each other anthorises me TO demand an i.,,,,o-
diae answer"
To This inquiry preferred as matter OF right.
and presented in the form Of demand, nv an
swer must be brief. 1t consists in the simple
denial of the claim which you assert. I cannot
recognize your right to nterrogate me. con.
corning the statements of the Telegraph. or of
any other lblic journal, which are made with |
ont my agency. You might with equal pro
prle'y select an article from any newspaper in |
the Union, for the purpose of putting me to the |
qucStion-and If the claim which Won assert be !
well founded, | might be required at the in
s'ance OF any person aggrieved to give NV con.
feSslon Of faith, IN relation to the various state
mnnts to be fnund in any of the journals. in
which my name may chance TO be mentioned
Sncb demand, therefore, cannot be admitted
for moment. But although cannot recog-
niZo your right, either as derived from the re-
latlon which We have sustained towards each |
other, or from any other source, to make the |
demand presented by your note, am not quite !
sure looking to the position in which we stand |
before the public, that | can acquit myself TO |
the community or to myself for declinin to an. !
swer your inquiry.
In the progress Of those events, which have
at length resulted in the dissolution of the Cab
met, my determination has been not to do any
act which was calculated TO provoke controver-
sY, nor to deviate under whatever urgency
from that line of conduct which my own sense
of proprety prescribed Acting upon this de,
termination, | have necessarily pursued
course, which q refusal TO answer your inquiry
| might seem to indicate an unwilIingness TO
avow Such an inference would be unjust as
it regards myself, and deluslve in relation to
the public. Although therefore ! have the
most unaffected reluctance to enter upon such
a sub cct and certainly do not acQuiesce in your
! right to demand it, it seems TO me that you have
! by making the inquiry, imposed upon me the
obligation to do So from Just consideration Of
what owe 10 myself and To the public. have
| then 20 state TO you, that up to the time of your
marriage, had not heard the rumors, which
have since IN various forms been presented TO
the public, and was ignorant of Mrs. Eatons
relation to the society Of this place. accepted
your invitation to be present at your wedding,
therefore, with no dlstrust of the propriety Of
my doing so, other than that which resulted
fIom my own situation at that period. You are
Yourself no doubt aware how much that event
: and your subsequent introduction into the Cab
met, made these rumors the subject of CONVEX.
rance of that which was publicly and generally
spoken Of, and it consequently became neces.
Sary for me, embarrassed as the question was,
by the official relation in which We stood to
each other, to determine upon my future con.
duct. In doing this, it did mol seem to Inc to
be necessary to decide upon the truth OF false
hood of the statements which were made. 1t
was sufficient TO ascertain the general sense OF
the community of which had recently become
a member; and having done so, to conform Ia
it, In the winter of 1880, as presume is known
to you, was called upon by gentleman, who
represented himself as acting, and who doubt
not did act, under the authority Of the PreSi
dent, to express with precise reference 10 th,
Inject the regret which he felt at the want %
harmony, or of social intercourse among III,
. members of his Cabinet, and to announce hi,
determination at any rate to haze it, Nlessrs
r lngham and Branch were present at this inter
. view. The fact was distinctly stated that they
t and myself had successfully given very large
t parties to which Mrs. Eaton had not been in