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{{Infobox Biography
| subject_name =Eligius Fromentin
| image_name =
| image_size =196px
| image_caption =
| date_of_birth =Circa [[1767]]
| place_of_birth =France
| date_of_death =[[October 6]], [[1822]]
| place_of_death =New Orleans, Louisiana
| occupation =U.S. Senator<br/>Federal judge
| religion =Catholic
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}
'''Eligius Fromentin''' (1767?-[[1822]]) was a lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. Senator for Louisiana. After leaving Congress, he was appointed [[U.S. District Court|federal judge]] of West Florida at the time of its [[Transfer of Florida|transfer to the United States]] in [[1821]], but resigned following a confrontation with [[Andrew Jackson]] over the latter's imprisonment of [[José Callava]].
Fromentin recounted his confrontation with Jackson to Secretary of State Adams on [[August 26]]:
<blockquote>The conversation, as you may suppose, was nearly all on one side, not unmixed with threats of what he said he had a right to do for my having dared to interfere with his authority. … Much more was said by the General respecting the extent of his powers, the happy selection made of him by the President, the hope that no living man should ever in the future be clothed with such extraordinary authority. How fortunate it was for the poor, that a man of his feelings had been placed at the head of the government, &c. &c. &c. &c. &c. the whole intermixed with, or rather consisting altogether of the most extravagant praises of himself, and the most savage and unmerited abuse of Colonel Callava and of myself, for doing my duty, in attempting to set him at liberty. The first time the authority of General Jackson is contested, I should not be surprized if, to all the pompous titled by him enumerated in his order to me… he should superadd that of grand inquisitor, and if, finding in my library many books formerly prohibited in Spain, and among others the constitution of the United States, he should send me to the stake. … Sir, it is reluctantly that I speak of a man whom I once delighted to honor; but, I owe you the truth, and painful as the task may be, I must discharge my duty.<refname="message">''[http://books.google.com/books?id=6LUTAAAAYAAJ Message from the President of the United States, to Both Houses of Congress, at the Commencement of the FIrst Session of the Seventeenth Congress.]'' Gales & Seaton, 1821.</ref></blockquote>
In the weeks following this initial confrontation, Fromentin was incensed to hear that he had allegedly apologized to Jackson, in the form of a pledge never again to interfere with Jackson's authority. In a flurry of correspondence on [[September 3]], Fromentin denied his reported apology: "[N]ever, sir, never. My blood recoils at such a statement. Its last drop will flow before I subscribe to it."<ref name="message"/>
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[[Category:Federal judges|Fromentin, Eligius]] [[Category:Natives of France|Fromentin, Eligius]] [[Category:Catholics|Fromentin, Eligius]]
