The Rhode Island American, And General Advertiser

We copy from the Boston Patriot the following brief statement of facts, which will explain the mode in which Mr. Russell's correspondence has found its way before the publick:

A short time after the conclusion of the Ghent Treaty, while the American Commissioners were at Paris, and in habits of daily intercourse, Mr. Russell, without consulting his colleagues and without their knowledge, wrote to the then Secretary of State, Mr. Monroe, a letter marked "private," stating a disagreement between himself and colleagues in relation to the navigation of the Mississippi, and giving his reason for dissenting in opinion from the majority of the mission. This communication being marked "private" was considered by Mr. Monroe unofficial, and was in consequence filed away among his private papers, where alone it could with any propriety have been placed, and where it remained undisturbed from 1815 to 1822, seven years.

During the last session of Congress, it was whispered in the several coteries at Washington, that there was in existence a letter from the Honourable Mr. Russell, which would prove that a majority of the Ghent Commissioners were disposed to have made improper concessions in relation to the navigation of the Mississippi, and which would show that Mr. Adams, as one of this majority, had forfeited all claims to the support of the West as a candidate for the Presidency. The consequence was, a call by Mr. Floyd, of Virginia, for the correspondence which led to the Treaty of Ghent. The correspondence was published, but this wonder-working letter was not embraced in it, and for the best reason, because it never had been placed among the publick documents in the Secretary of State's office. A specific call was then made by Mr. Floyd for Mr. Russell's letter, in answer to which the President stated, that no such letter had been deposited among the documents in the Department of State, but that he had found among his private papers this letter, marked "private" by Mr. Russell, and that Mr. R. had also, on being apprised that his letter had not been deposited in that Department, delivered there a paper, purporting to be a duplicate of this letter. The President also stated, that this letter communicated a difference of opinion between Mr. R. and a majority of his colleagues at Ghent; that one of that majority, Mr. Bayard, had since died, and that it would not be, in the President's opinion, consistent with equal justice to communicate the arguments and statements of Mr. Russell, without at the same time communicating the reply of the two surviving members of the mission, who differed from Mr. Russell in opinion. This answer of the President was made to Congress on the 4th of May, and on the following 7th of the same month, a call was made on motion of Mr. Fuller, of this State, requesting the President to communicate Mr. Russell's private letter, "together with such communications as he may have received relative thereto from any of the other Ministers of the United States, who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent." This call was immediately complied with, and the "private" letter, together with the paper purporting to be a duplicate of this "private" letter and the remarks of Mr. Adams thereupon, were transmitted to Congress.