247 



ill. Mr. Fuller's Letter, 



i:*iom tl>e Boston Paliiot of -ith September, 182:^, 



Boston, 3d September, 1822. 

 To the Editors of ihe Boston Patriot : 



Gentlemen : Having seen in the Richmond Enquirer of the 27th 

 of August, a letter from Mr. Floyd, of Virginia, in which he speaks 

 of the conduct d' Mr. Adams " in procuring Mr. Fuller to make 

 the call" for Mr. Russell's letter and Mr. A.'s remarks in relation 

 to the Ghent treaty, i am induced, with great reluctance, to ad- 

 dress you a line on that subject, for publication. My great aversion 

 to appear, without evident necessity, in the newspapers, alone 

 withheld me from this course, on observing that Mr. Russell, in his 

 letter re-published in the National Intelligencer on the 3d of July, 

 says Mr. Adams " sought for a member who would consent to make 

 the call."—" To one member from Massachusetts, at least^,^he had 

 applied in vain, before he finally succeeded in his object. 



It was perfectly obvious, on being informed by the President';? 

 message of the 4th of May, that Mr. Russell's private letter on the 

 Ghent negotiation was to be seen by gentlemen who might call at 

 the Department of State, that it would be immediately published in 

 the newspapers. The message also stated the wish of the Secre- 

 tary of State, to have the letter communicated to Congress, toge- 

 ther with his remarks, explanatory of its contents. This ^^Jjr^^ 

 appeared to me perfectly fair ; and in supporting the motion, which 

 I had submitted for the purpose, 1 assigned, among other reasons, 

 the palpable unfairness of making the letter public, while the an- 

 swer was suppressed. Several members, with whom I conversed, 

 concurred with me entirely in the propriety of having both comniu- 

 nicated together. It seems to me, therefore, very singular, that 

 any censure could be attached to Mr. Adams, even had he, as al- 

 leged, requested or " procured" the call. 1 do, however, explicitly 

 declare, that neither Mr. Adams, nor any other person, either re- 

 quested or ''procured'' me to move the call, or to do any thing vi re- 

 lation to it. . 



I regretted the absence of Mr. Russell, and did not know ot his 

 intention to depart from Washington, until he was actually gone ; 

 had he been present, however, it did not occur to me, that he could 

 have any objection to the resolution, and it would not have pre- 

 vented the support I gave it. 



Mr. Floyd's remarks, in opposition to the resolution, appear to 

 me more accurately stated in his letter, than as reported in the In- 

 telligencer; but the addition which he has supphed, seems not ma- 

 terial, in my view, for his " justification." 



Permit me to add, that while 1 regret extremely the unfortunate 

 occasion, I nevertheless rejoice in perceiving that it has produced 

 a full development of the import and bearings of several important 

 points, which required only to be understood, to allay the jealousies 

 so natural, but I trust so unfounded, between the different section? 

 of our country. Your'a respectfully, 



T. FULLER. 



