State Of New York

Albany, April 9h, 1841. 5 8ik,- Yourcommunicationofthe 22d of March last, enclosin a warrant for tbc mrrender of Robert F. Curr}', in , !tance withmy , jd. The proper agent has been directeil , 0 receivo the fugitivo and convey him to ihis State. Your compliance with this requisilion is f nade, in your communication,n. ground for r isking a reversal of my decisión upon a irnilar procesa of your predecessor, a:tnding the surrender of Peter Johnson nd others. Although the candor you have , vowed is by m means questioned, t is a Jatter of sorno surprise that you have , reated the case as nltogether analogous. j, fyoucould have shown that the indict r lent accompanying my requisiiion was , iformal and defectivo in cliarging the [ rime of forgery; if a competent c ial tribunal had decided that the g jent was thu3 defective, and that upon U xamination there was found no probbale u iiuse to believe the fugiüve guilty of an L fftsnce against jny law ofthis Siateand if ,[ irgery wore not a crime oroffencc against e xe laws of Virginia, ihe comnion Inyv, and e ie laws of all civilized countries, then, o lough the cases would bo'anahgons, t ., 'ould, in my judgment, and with great g eference, follow rather ihut the demand g wde by me ought to have been denied, a] jan that the requisiíion issued by yar" ie redecessor ought to begranted. Your views corrcerning tho questions n jcently tliscussed bet ween your ti ïr and inyself; you protest against sup- osed aggressions, and you appeal to me Ci ) review positions heretofore assumed, to fè bandon opinions and moasures L 1 by you to bo erroneous and uiuenable, a nd restore hnnnonious relations belween ti ie States of New York and Virginia, have „, pceived most careful and respectful ideralion. Since, however, you have .,, mated that it would be uuproifitable to ew the discussion of the qnestion rcferred r ) upon its merits, my reply wül a ily be as general as your communication. ;r Ihe Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, q l 1839, demanded of the Execuiivc of M Siale. Poter Johnson, Elward S.-nith, 0, nd Isaac Gíinsay, as íugitives, u:on a (j agüe and iusuñicient charge of stêaling c, negro slave in that commonwealth.- „, ifhen this demand was m;u!o the E onhadexisted half a century, a period w Jfficient, U inay bo supposed, to present 0 umestu: exigencies of ev.cry charactcr reseen an intended to bc provideel for by w ie framers of that instrument. DijrinrU lat period the institution of slavery exist a, i in Virginia and somo oiher Sialec, wbile ()( i this and others it was abolished. Yct ! w ttnin that long time only ono case is M nown to have occurred in which the Ex., [di ïutive of a siavehokling State demanded L om a biate m which slavery had ceased ,r ' exisu the surrender ofa fugitiva upon a Cr wrge similar to that adopted by the Lieut. w overnorofV.rginiajandnocaseisknownjle have happeuedin which a demand of !fh at character, made under such 'di ance, xvas nllowed. The afijdavit was pt lotned by the Executive insufficlent and "tecuve, even to charge a crime agairist ,h ÍT.VlrSÍnÍa .üothequestion cr volved, if the requisition were supported a ' a proper charge, was regarded as one fh rave importancc, and requiring delibde ato consideration. An iuformul note Cü is delivered to the agent of Virginia, bc JOtingout the defects in hts papers and u S raVBií amemJ' ancS a me wa, apCo L. 6 eon8ideralioQ f the whole na fo the mean time theeupposed fu.tives re Jiled themselves of tholegal remêdy! el tl dhdr6d T Vt of habeÜ Te rpus, on the grounda that the chanza ül ïiwufiBcieot, and that, upoo examinf ! L' ö it Was aoertainsd that the actual bv M of tbe acouscd Consieted ia heir wl J amen on board of a ship in which a co ife bad oocealed hinaself, with a view Ov wbat pfoved an unsuccessful altempt "d escape from wrvitude, The Lieut. be wernor, o whom the circumsiances beMe kuown, oeviiheless demaaded a tfocision upon the case as originally presentad. That course presented to llic Execu live of this State, on ohe hand, the alternativo ofseeming willing to evade a greut constitntional question by piacing lis denial of the demand on (he informal objection sustamed by the judge, ihe reinoval oí which would not dispose of the subject; anci m the other, that of assuming thc broad -onslitiitional ground upon wlwch, on mature rcficclion, he was sausfied the casé nust at last bc decicled. Holli the frankícss which becomes public functionarics, md a proper respect fqr the Lieut. Goveríor of Virginia, required the adoplion oí he lalter alternative. It was not unforseen that an absolute md probably irreconcilable diííeence of ipinion must arise bcuveen ihe Lieut. Gorernor and the Executive of this Staie. ít vas obvious that Ihe former vvouldassume, i nconformity with opinions known to preail in Virginia, that men'f a cerlain race i nd condition niay be, and are, property 1 nd chattels, thc subjocls of purchase, sale, 1 evise and thcft. The Executive of this ítate, on the conlrary, would be faithlcbs 3 thc spirit of its Coristitution and laws, if I e did not maintain that all men, of whatver race or condition, are men, and of ight ought to be freeman; ífoát every 9rnedy for duress ofa hum:m being, r it be Ihe wnt of homme repleginado, t abeas corpus, actiou for cúticemenf, or 1 ílse imprisonment, or iñdictment for ; apping, regards hitn as man and not as r roperty, and that it is as absurd ín this I f (ate to speak of properly in immortal I igs, and consequently ot' stealing them, ' 3 it would be to discourse of n división oí r roperty in the common almnsphere. It t as equally manifest that Virginia would isist that her sister States should 1 ze the r'igju of property by one class of c 3r people in another, as established by t jr laws. It would, on the contrar}-, t me the duty of ihe Executivs of this s tate to hold, that except so far as the incipleis controlled by the irticlo of the r onstitution which declares that persons t ild to labor or service ín one State, by j e laws thereof, and eseaping into c , shall,on demand and proof, t ed up to the persons to vvhom such labor 1 service is due. Thé relati.m öf muster a id slave is a peculiar local relution of the t ate, wherc it exists, and that this State C not bound to recognize or protect it in lj iy manner, much lessto protect it by o nding for that purpose an artiele of the p jnstitution which hud no such design, tl r any referenco whulever tu ihe !?.. " n The Executive of this S'ate, always p reful lo avoid even any seeming ínter- v rence with tho institutions or municipal o f.iirs of olher Smtes, would have gladly a oided such a discussion, not from ii nson bis own part, but because he g sed ihe discus?ion, although invited by w 0 Lieulenant Governor, nould not be fi ;reeable to the peopie of Virginia. But b was the pleasure, nevertheless, of the d eutenant Governor of Virginia to demand t 1 ans.wer to the d g the decisión wuuld involve the great s íestions which have been raised, and ti thstanding he must have known, o er, that a eompliance with the c n would be to sunender three men as t iminals whom a competent tribunal had w onounced guütless, and Huis exhihit the ceciitive trampling on thc judiciary, as 0 3ll as striking down the hberty of cilizens this Siate. fc Such were the circumstances under e íich the Executive ofthis Síatc denied t 3 requisition of the Lieutenant Governor. ti d assumed ihe grdunds on which that i' nial bus beon vindicuteó. Tho deeision i ís not, as you have assumed, designed " an aggression upon Virginia, and 8' d to affect her itjstUuiÏGns. Virginia 'f is dmitted, in the btoadost sense, to be P vereign within her own territory, in the r aelment and execution of her laws. h p is denied only that she could extend her ai islative power so as to give a right to si d Executive ofthis Siate, or rcnder"it his ir ty, to surrender its citizens to be tu rted to that common w.eulth to be tned, ndemned, and punished tr acts nol in jms-elves wronful, nor reíarded as c minal by the laws ofthis State ; and a much as diífcrences rnight exist between in ) codee of the two States, it was w d that in asceitainiug the intent of the ui ripact between them, refereñee miglu Si made, in such cases, not to ihe ci ' code of ihe one or the olher, but to the pc nmon law received by both, the laws of w tions, and the laws of ull civilized is ss. These principies had no exclusive es ereuce to the States in which slavery ca istg, but were the sime by which other th nanas upon thia State are tested, and íí y havo been applied not only in he Ci o n question, but in others presentad 8U Pennsylvania and New Hampshire Pe ere the instituii'ai has long sinco 'n: ne obsolete. The didöuaïion was, iir ir, conducted in n mnnner in which i; iC-; hoped %yilt bo foujrtd lo havo ahvdvs '' ín courteous and roapéclful toVirgiñía. St l'he Guvernor of Virginia, in coi j the correspoadeuco to tho Geueral coiAssembly, thought proper to distinguisl the nou-comphatice of the Ëxecütivje of, this State, upon the grounds assumed by ! him, as a flagrant invasión of the rights of' that Üommonwealth, which, in lheevent of the faüure of other remedies, might render it the solemn duty of Virginia to appeal from the cancel led obljgatjons of the federal compact to originul rights and ihe l.av of self-preservation. The Executive of this State laid the same corresaor.dencc before iho Legislature, with the roluctant expression of lus surprise und reijrctou account of the seemintr menacei afilie Govéïrior of -Virginia. TheExecuive of this State, desiioas lo aroid increas-i rigthe embarrassment which had resulled' n consequence of the course adoptcd by lie auihoi lies of Virginia, declared thathe Jfegarded the subject as one falling peculiirly wiihii) the province of the Executive Department, and in relation to which the luties öf that department were prescribed y the constitution and. laws of the United States, and not by the constitution or laws C this State, and ho carefully abstained rom invoking any legislative sanction of lis decisión. The Execulive of this State stibseuentiycjmp!ie(t,promptlyandcheerfullv, vah therequestofihe General Assembíy f Firginia, and Eubmitted the appeal of liat body from the Executive to the Leis ! Uure of this State, togelher wiih the abio ', rguments of the Governor of Virginia nú of a committee of its House of Deleales, all of which documents were laid { cíbm the Legislature without comment. . 'he Execuiive also, with equal ! ess, complied with ihe farther requestof , ie General Assembly of Virginia, by i iewing the posilions assumed by him,and e trusts perfurmed that duty in a spirit of andorandcourtesy. The correspondence eing thua again closed, ilie Governor of ! iatState sul)rnilted it to the General Ascmbly in the manner he deemed proper. ' He at the same time offered large ' lary rewards to induce individúala who ught thus bo tempted to seize, within the j irtedictüop of New York, and in violation í fis laws, and convey to Virginia the ' iree individuals whose security r assured to thera, first by the decisión of L competent legal tribunal, and ihen bv ' ie Execuiive authority of the State. The lovernor of Virginia also addressed ? c circular letters to such, and such only, C fthe Atnerican States as he assumed hád l ocuj-iiirsympathies with Vírgíniá,ínvíting L iem ta rhake common cause aguinst New l "ik. The Executive of this State c ülted these proceedings and the { :ndence to the Legislature of New Yorkj ? ilhout remark. The General Asíembly I ' Virginia then thought proper to pass an y ïi ultempling invidious restrictions and npos.-tions upon ciiizens of this State c iged in cotnmerce with ihat 11 ealth, citizens no otherwise responsibiej c ir the action of the Government than así l üingamong its constittients; and this was F )ne with a purpose fully avowed tooblige l ie E.vecuiive of ibis State to rescindía jcision made under his constitutional r )onsibilitios, and to compel the Legisla-' ireofNew York to repeál a lawlbundi ' ) its statute book, in accordance with its f v )nstiluiion and the Constituiion of the a lited States, artd having no connexion r ith the quesiion in controverse . r Simultaneously with this proceeding the c overnorof Firginia. refused cornpliance S ith a requisilion, adrnitted io bó in due h nn, for the surrenderofa fugitive charg-j u 1 vïth the crime of forgery, unless tle a xecutive of this State would first rescind t( c decisión he had previously c g, however, to ihe Executive of this State x months as a reasonable period lo decide a on ihe extraordinary proposition thus ibmitted. The Executive of this State l] st no time in nssuring ihe anthoritics of a irgiciia that the origimal subject had been considered upon its merits, and also inj S 'nnexion with those injurious and ri ory proceedings, and submitted the a. It, ihat the decisión hnving been made il accordance with convictions of n tional duty still entertained, he found no' " fficient ground for a reversal of the same S: It became ihe duty of the Ejjecutive to mmunicate these proceedings of ni to the Legislature of this Siate. In V( % so, hc could not but foresee ihat no one r3 )u!d think of repealing, and espccially sc der such circumstances, a law of the as uto designed for the protèctibn and P1 rity of its own citizens and others ar sed to the risk of privation of liberty, P1 thout even a charge of crime. There tn 10 good reason to beleive that the v' :s of the ciiizens of thisBtate are less an refully guarded by its legislature than 'c s supposed interests of ciiizens of an ïia are by (he General Assembly of thut mmonwealth. There is no ground to pose timt lbo principies in regard to rsonal liberty and S-ite sovereignty ntáiñed by the Executive of this State, ï less sedulonsly chorishcd by the ter 'alure than the instuation of slavpry is Ol' the General Assembly of our sister 'c. VV'hei's the commercial position idition and reiatiun of this Siate ar0' bat isidered, it is not unreaeonable'. o up_ hoose that the Legislature, if it could ■ J rend its constitutional barriers, might anioy, harrnes, and even oppress urToiTendng citizens of Virginia at least as , y as the General Assembly of that ! ïertol'k Can Ü1PrC8S SUCh Cilizens of Nevet,heles ,he Exccutve decl { vort v !heTd any retilliay action E vcrthylhe dign.ty and inconsistent wilh 1 ne relations of this State. He recom U hut none should be adopted on his r issummg that the citizèns of this Lê iave ampie conslitutional remedie agoinst tny injuries they may 8uffer from the vrongful legislation of V.rginia, he det ilared hia confident conviction that it miht i afely be eft to the rmignanimity of that i state and lier ovn expenence of the cons I equencesof her measures, to induce an 1 ibiindonment of theiu and the performance -Iherconstuutionalobligations. The Exi cuuve of this State has sincere pleasure I 0 acknowledging that so far as one of the I neasures is concerned, thia anticipation ias been already realized.% 8 From this cursory view,Yather of what i .as been done, than of what has beon ( vntten, it will appear thal the authoritiea f Vevv York have not been the actors in t y transactiou tending toward a derange nent of the relations between this Saté r nd Virginia. New York has done nothc ng, and has spoken only when and so oftI S as.she was appealed to by Virginia, and r ben always ln the Ianguage L res' t t nd affection. _ New York has made no r lovèl or questionable demand8,complained c tno S8 ofiered no rewards L vior au,nsofavvsofVlrginia5passednovn_ ie Uve acts, made no menaces, norbasshe ! ndeavored, m any manner,to excite her t .ster States agamat Virginia, although d ho doubta nol thereare many and enüghtc ed Sates among themwhich cherish her i. ncp.es and respect her decisión. i 1 trust, therefore, sir, that you willbe aiished, that the spirit of concilmtion, 1 indness, and devoledness to the Union t Inch you have so properly invoked, will c ontinue to prevail hérè, since no othec a pint hns been indulged from the begin ing. You have a guaranty also of that pint, rn the fact that, although not loud L nd Irequent Uj professions, New York is I ortstantin works showing her attachment 1 J the Union. Her history presents noini tance in which she has questioned its val e, nor has she ever indulged speculations í oncerning that after state which sornel mes engagea the contemplalion of those t rhose estímate of the value of the Union i 1 not fully Eeltled. You have a guaranty so in the porseverancc with which New i ork pursues her policy of inercasing her { ammrinications with her sister States, and ( ie determinaiion she manifests to vender í qualjusticeto them all, while she pros jets her own ciiizens as she ought upon i nncipals essential to her own sovereignt ,' and that of her sister Siates. c Í trusr, also, that you will agree wilh i ie that it rests with Virginia to restore i arrnony between herself and New York, c indeed that harmony has been impaired, l hich New York is not yet prepared to I Imit. New York maintains, with great :gard to Virginia, the same attitude and 1) ïlations nOw as heretofore. She fl nies to Virginia all she has ever yielded. 8 lie asks of her nolhing Virginia does not t erself admit to be constitulional and just, e 3J she maintains toward her the same tl titude and relations lhat she maintains wards the other States of the confedera u r. If, however, it be not the picasure n 1 Virginia lo retain her ancient attitude " id cherish her ancient feelings tovvards c èw York, I can only express my 8 g regret for a circumstance so unhappy id so unfortunate. You are pleased to remark that this J late ia pursuing a course calculated tú , nder her territory an asylum for felons fr ld runaway slaves. Waiving all t ns to the spirit of this remark, I trust I s ay be permiited to reply, first, that it is n, t inconsistent with iho "most careful p] ird to public moráis, togrant impunity to pi ose declared innocent by the legal 1( ils, or those whose conviction would s Ive no offence against the laws ra for the preservaiion of a well-ordered kr ciety, and no vioialion of abstract right., _ ascertained fróm the system of ei udence established is civilized nations; Sc d sccondly, that the experience of the so ople of this State has provecí, at least to tei ;ir own satisfaction. that neither public Ov tuo nor public prosperity has received thj y injury from extending, so far as hns wh l been done, equal justice to every at J every race of men within our limits. oa A.ccept the assurunce of high respect, fov With which I remain, ed Yonr obedient 6ervanf, la:i WILLIAM II. SEWARD. J8l( Hie Honorable John M. Patton, ant and acting Governor of Virginia, ]ea lis successor in office. hj tliTCHELL, the Forger, has been taken the k to the city of New York. He says ty sha 11 plead guilty. see