CORRESPONDENCE: BETWEEN JUDGE KING OF OHIO, AND JAMES G. BIR...

Warren, Trumbull Co., O. ? September 18, 1843. $ To James G. Birney and Thomas Morris, Esqrs: Mt Dear. Sirs: - I have seized the flrst leisure moment since my return home to discharge the duty assigned me by the National Liberty Convention, recently assembled in Buffalo, of apprising you of the resultof its deliberations.or seven hundred delegates from twelve of thjïfree States of this Union, embracing men of all professions, many of whom had been long conspicuous for their high moral character,general intelligence, and ardent zeal in the cause of human liberty, was convened for the purpose of discussing the great and essential principies of civil and religious freedom upon which our government was declared to have been established, and their relative duties under it, as well as to desígnate their choice of candidates for the two high est official stations in this republicAfter an animated and interesting discussion of a series of resol utions report ed by a Committee, and their unanimous adoption by the convention, a committee was appointed by and frorn the delegates in attendance from the respective States, equal to the electoral vote of each state represented, to desígnate candidates to be presented to the American people for their suffrages for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States in 1844, who thereupon proceeded to discharge that duty by ballot, when on counting the votes, it appeared that one hundredand forty-eight votes had been given, each one of which had designated James G. Birnev as their choice for President, and Thomas Morris for Vice President. The annunciation of this unanimous con centration of public opinión for the twohighest offices in the gift of the people, upon two individuals distinguished for their intelligence, integrity, patriotic devotion to the cause of ]iberty,and the rights of man, and their steadfast adherence .o principie, while so many around them had faltered in their course, wasreceived with the most intense interest and animated manifesfations of joy and gladness by the assembled multitude, and when the question was submitted for their concurrence and approval, the thousands in attendance 8eemed to rise simultaneously to their feet, responsive to the cali.Permit me, Gentlemen, to congratúlate you, and our common country upon these auspicious events in connexion with others which are daily transpiring before our eyes, which mark the steady progress of the principies of liberty, justice and humanity, in resisting the encroachments of arbitrary power, overthrowing the barbarous systems of slavery which have been established and maintained by despotic power for centimes, and in restoring the human race to their natural and inalienable rights in our own country and throughout the world. If we look abroad, we have abundant cause for congratula tion in the triumph of thes3 principies. Under.ihe British Go ernment we have witnessed the long an ardent conflict between them, and avance injustice and oppression, in which the champions of freedom, led on by the immortal Wilberforce, steadily perseveredin their efForts amid all the obloquy anc contempt which were cast upon them by those in power & place, until their labors were crowned with triumphant success. We have seen that distinguished patriot and statesman rise in his place in parliament year after year, undismayed by the scoffs and jeers of his colleagues, and those holding official stations, under the government, and present the petitions of the people forthe interdiction of the slave trade, and the abolishment of slavery. We have seen these propositions assailed for ten years in succession by the whole power and influence of that government, a "htpocritical}. visionary, anddelusivo as inevitably leading to "nsurrections, massacre, and ruin," and that the abolishment of slavery and the slave trade would be "the death warrant of evety white inhabilant in Üie islands." We have seen the populace without excited to acts of intimidaron and abuse against him in the city of London under the immediate eye of the government. We have heard his motives impeached, his character tradüced, his objects contemned and himsdlf denounced in the House of Lords by the Duke of Clarence, the son of the reigning monarch, as a "hy-pocrite and fanatic." But we have lived to see this same Duke of Clarence aftervvards ascend the throne of England. and, in obedience to the popular will, yield his royal assent to an act for the abolishment of slavery throughout his dominions. We have at a subsequent period heard the slave trade denounced by the whole civilized world as piracy, and prohibited by our own government under the severest penalties known to our criminal laws. We have seen the republics of South America, one txfter another, discarding this inhuman system from their constitutions and laws, and with one dash of the pen restoring Eheir fellow beings to the blessings of libsrty. We have recently heard it pro:laimed by one of the sovereigns of Barbary, that he had emancipated the slaves in his dominion for the honor of God and :he dignity of human nature.Since the commcncement of the present century we have witnessed the abolishment of slavery in more than thirty governments and dependencies, in many of which it had been longer maintained, andembraced a larger. portion of the population.than it does in either of the States of this Union at the present time, and yet it has always been effëcted peacably, quietly, safely and without the shedding of blood. And in every instance, it isncveu, umi uie resuns nave provea highly satisfactory to the communities immediately interested in the event - who novv hail it as fraught with innumerable blessings toall. Such are thetidings which greet us from abroad to gladden our hearts.animate our hopes. and stimulate our effbrts in resisting the encroachments upon our constitutional rightsand privileges at home. Nor are we without evidences of recent changes in the public mind, evincive of a determination on the part of the people to maintain their liberties unimpaired, protect their rights as freemen,and restore the govcrnment to its constitutional duties and obligations, from which it has so strangely departedsince its first organization.A brief review of our past history will show the principies by which our ancestors werc actuated and guided in dissolving their connexion with the British government, and instituting the one under which we live. Amongst the prominent causes which impelled them to the sepation, and which had been the subject of repeated complaint and remonstrance to the British crown, was the establishment and continuance by royal authority of the revolting system of African Slavery contrary to the wishes of the American people. So odious had that system be come to the colonies, and so determincd were they to check its further progress, that the first American Congress in October 1774, entered into the following compact."We for ourselves and 'the inhabitants of the scveral colonics whom we represent, firmly agree andassociateunderthesacrcá Hes ofvirtue, honor and ïove of our country as follows: toe will neither import nor purchase any slaves imported aftcr the first day of December riext, af ter which time we will wholly discontinue the slave trade, and we will neither be concerned in it ourselves, nor will we hire our vesseh, nor sell our eommodities or manufactures to those who are concerned in it." The declaration of Independence, which soon succeeded these colonial acts, nfter avering that all men were created equal, that they were endowed by their C reator with the inalienable rightspflife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that whenever any form of government became destructive of these ends, it was the right and duty of the people to alter oraboiish it, solemnly pledges the honor and faith of the nation to support and maintain these principies. The original draught of that memorable Declaration, as w rit ten by Jeffevson, contained the following additional charge against the British sovcreign. "He hadwagtd cruel toar against human nature ltself; violaling its most sacre(] rights of Ufr and liberty in the persons of a dislant peoplc who nevsr offendrd hvnrcaptivating and carrying them inlo sluvery in anothcr hemisohere or to incur miserable death in their ransportalion thither. This piraticalwarfare, the opprobrium of infidel powerg, is the war f ar e of the chtistian King of Great Brit ain. Dete.rmined to keep open a markel whcrc men should be bovght and sold, he hasprostiutcd his negalive for suppressing every legslativeatUm.pt to prohibit or restrain this xecrable commerce." These acts of thé people through theirrepresentatives evinced their settled hostil ity to the system of slavery;& firm determination to eradicate it frotn the country. The revolutionary struggle was commenced to establish and maintain the principies proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, and an appeal was made to the just sympathies of mankind, and the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of their intentions, and the righteousness of their cause. To sustain them,the friends of liberty and humanity from all quarters of the globe rallied to the American standard, and fought and bied by the side of Washington and bis compatriots, until our independence was secured. - Having thus accomplished the first grand object of their desire, they sought to crovvn their labors by the formation of a government which should permanently secure to the people the rights' and immunities for which they had so long and valiantly contended. Delegates were appointed by the several States to whotn this high and responsible trust was committed, who proceeded to discharge that duty by the formation of our present Constitution. The preamble to that instrument declares that it was ordained "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our poster ity y No specific power being granted to Congress to abolishslavery in the States where it then existed under their local laws. it was left to their separate action, under the strongest manifestations of national disapprobation and and enlightened public opinión. Beyond the jurisdiction of suclí local laws, however Congress did effectually interpcse its authority to check, control, abolish, and prohibit it. One of the first acts of Congress after the adoption of the Constitution was the re-enactment of the celebrated Ordinance of 1787, by a unanimous vote, by which slavery was abolished in the north western Territory, and forever prohibited from polluting its soil, either under Territorial or State jurisdiction. - Slavery had previously been extended into that Territory while under the jurisdiction of Virginia, and the question was afterwards raised by the slaveholders, and carried to Congress and the judicial tribunals to determine its constitutionality where its validity was sustained. Acts were also passed by Congress 1798 in and 1804, prohibitingthe importation of slaves into the Territories of Mississippi and Orleans from abroad under heavy penalties, and declaring all such persons to be free. In this manner did the first Congressder the constitution, many of its members having participad in framing that instrument, proceed with perfect unanimity to carry out its powers, and deten-nine the future policy of the government in regard to slavery. It declared by its acts in prohibifing and interdicting it in the only Territory under its jurisdiction, that slavery should not be extended or sustained by its authority, wherever it could be constitutionally reached by its power, it also gave its countenance and approbation to the numerous abolition societies which were extensively organized in the several States forthe avowed object of influencing public opinión, and effecting the extinguishment of slavery throughout the Union; and down to as late a period as 1809, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, by a resol ution of that body, was directed to return a letter of thanks to an abolition convention for the presentation of Clarkson's History of Slavery, which was directed to be deposited in the Congressional library. At the head of theseabolition societies were placed the most prominent and influential statesmen, under whose influence, and the co-operation of the government and the people, a ma jority of the states carried out the prin ciples and policy adopted by the nation by expelling this execrable institutio from their borders. These measures re ceived the hearty concurence and suppor of every distinguished patriot and States man. Washington, in hiscorrespondence declared that slavery certainly mightanc ought to be abolished by legislative au thority, and that so far as his suffrage would go in effecting that object, it should never be wanting. Passing down the streamoftime, we soon reach a point in our history when these great and fundamental principies were lost sight of oj disregarded - when the whole moral and political power of the government and people seemso have been surrendered up to an influence hostile to liberty - when the extensión and perpetuation of slavery, the enhancement of its power, and the promotion of its interests appear to have become the settled policy and paramount object of the government. Under this baneful influence, the principies and policy of the government have been radical ly changed, and its powers prostituted to esíablísh, extend, foster, and encootfage this infamous trafile in humanílesh by land and sea. By its authority, slavery has been extended over Territoriesunder itsjurisdiction in utter disregard of the spirit and polícy of the laws unanimously adopted by Congress, and approved by Washington; and these Territorios have been subsequently admitted into the Union as Slave States until they outnumber the original States in which slavery is sustained. Havingthus increased their power they have wisely proceeded to carry out their ultímate design, as disclosed by a slaveholding politician of North Carolina to "give lato to tie government," by keeping the freestates divided upon minor matters and contending about the "spoils of vict'ory." In accordance with this design they have secured the Executive power with its immense patronage four fifths of the time, by which they have monopolized the most important offices under the governmeni. By securing the Speaker of the House of Representatives they have exercised a controlling influence over the Legislative power for the last quarter of a century; and by an unequal and disingenuous división of the circuits of the Supreme Court, by throwing New York, Connecticut and Vermont. containing a representative population equal to forty-two members into one circuit, and Ohio and Indiana, Illinois and Michigan with forty-one members into another, and balancing one of them withLouisiana and Alabama with eleven merabers, and the other with Mississippi and Arkansas with five members only, they have secured the control of the Judicial power by thus obtaining a majority of the Judges. Nor does the injustice and partiality of this discriminating policy rest here. Notwithstanding the great disparity of population and business requiring the interposition of courts in Ohio, Indiana, and HUnois, the salaries of the District Judges in each of these States is fixed by Congress at one thousand dollars while those of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas range from two to three thousand dollars each. The same partial & discriminating course of legisla tior in favor of slavery &the productions of slave labor is perceptible in every department of the government - in our treaties with foreign powers - in the appointment of foreign agents - in the appropriations of money, and in afibrding protection, and securing makets abroad for the surplus productions of the country. In a late address of a memberof Congress from Maryland, the following facts have been disclosed. "We may establish by treaty or adjustby law such relations with foreignpowers as shall exelude nine tenths of all our products from their ports for the sake of gaining some special favor in behalfof one of our products; or we may quietly submit to regulations of trade which will produce the same effect This is precisely what we have done in regard to our cotton in our relations with England. Our treaties with France especially and our tariff. have favored iheir silks, wines, and worsted goods, for the sake of our cotton. That interest has alone remained in the full possession of all the direct protection it was in the power of the government lo confer upon it." All these unwarrantable perversions of the power of the general government from its legitímate functions, to extend by its authority the sy stem ofslavery beyon'd its original limits, enhance its power and influence, and foster and promote its intereöts at home and abroad at the sacrifice of all others, we have been for the last ten ' years urging upon the notice of the government and people. We have invoked thoir consideration of its ality, danger, impolicy, immorality, É tice, guilt,disgrace and expense. We have (appealed ío the government by petitions. signed by more than three hundred thousand citizens, to repeal their own laws by which alone slavery was sustamed in the District of Columbia and the Territory oí Florida. Our petitions have been spurned and rejected, our representatives gagged, insulted, and threatened with indictments in the legislative hall, and virtually expelled f rom congress. Wo have appealed to the religious communities'of the country, to the guardians of public virtue and moráis, and we have been told it was strictly a political queslion, that would distract the churches, and therefore it would be inexpedient to take any action upon the subject, other than to close their doors ng-ainst any discussion of it. We I have appealed to the two great political parties which have so long divided and disracied the country, and they inform us t is emphatically a moral question that hould not be brought into politics to mar he peace and harmony of the two parties, at this important crisis, when they are so nearly equally divided,and have the more mportant questions to settle, whether we are to have a revenue tariff for incident 1 protection, or an incidental protection ariff for revenue; and whether we areto e biest or oursed with a Fiscal agent ]Bank. a Sub-Treasury Bank or an Exchequer Bank to furnish the country with a currency; and whether we are to have a man who thinks that the best state of society which can be formed is where slavery exists, or one who says that two hundred years legislation has sanctioned and sanctified negro slaves as property - or a northern man with southern principies, or one who is said by the leaders of both to have no principies at all, for tlie next chief magistrate of the freest government on earth. When all these momentous qnestions shall have been fairly disposed of nnd sonte otlierp of minor importnnce, we have been assured by individuáis of both polkical pirties, thnt whichever shonld bcdefeated on thepe canJinal points now in issue betvveon lhem, that thcy would take this subject into serious consideraron, andifby incorporating these obsolete principies nnd measures of our forefathers into their poütical creed, they conld regum their lost power, and standing with the people, they certainly would atiend to it. In the menntime it is urged upon us wilh much:hetic and zeal, iliat we should adliere to them politically unti! this grtnt crii.b past, and concentrase all our cnergics in üiecussing the moral hearings of slnvory upon society, by showing upon all proper occaBions its wickedness and enormilies, except upon the Sabbath, when it would bc manifestly jmproper to speak of national crimes and political sin, or the moral duties of citizens. Disregrardingr all these specious counseis of the Ahitophels and pro-elavery 3bolitionists of the day, we have conscientiously pursued our course and imitated the examples and followed "in the footsteps of our illustrious predecesi,ors," the patriots ofthercvolution, in forming societies to revive their principies, inculcóte their precept?, promúlgate their doctrines, and carry out their measures,which were once snnctioned and sustained by the whole American people. We have firmly believod wilh the framers of the Constitution of the State ofOhio, "Tliat a frequent recurrence to the fundamental principies of civil government is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of llberty. Th at thp peoplc hnve the right to assemble tngether in a peaceable manner lo consult for thoir common good, and to apply to the legislature for a redress of grievances, and thal every citizen has an indisputable rigtot to speak, write, or print upon any subject, as he tliinks proper, being üable for the abuse of'that liberty."' Fór exercising these constitutipnaj rihts, disseminating these fundamental principies, and carrying out these mensures, we have heen assailed, denouncecJ, proscrjbed, and imprisoned, our characters aspersed. our motives impugne, onr meetinsrs inlerrupted by violence, our printing presses demolishrd, our housrs and properiy plundered and burnt, and our correspondence through the post office department violated and spppresscd. Criminal indictments have been found against us by foreign tribunal?, and demand3 made under them for ourapprehension and delivery by the Execntivc power of States which we had never visited. Large rewards have been orTered by sovereign States and communkies for our lawless caption and deüvery in to their pojver. All the fcrmalities and securilies of law,all thesacred nghts,privilecres and imnninities guara r.tied by the constitntion of our country to all its ciüzens, have been 'inenlv violnfffi in ntir nprenne irnnnrt nnrlpnrsuits. Lawless violenco ogatnst us has been tolerated, if not excited and pncouragecl by public authorilies and judicial tribunal?, under the inflnence of which we have been virtually outlawed, our lives anrj property subjected :o the tender mercies of remorselepe, unrestrnined mobs, and our blood shed wit mpnnity. All these outrages and indirrni ties havo been cast upon us under the (als and slonderous impulatinns that we werc ho-tile to the Union, and meditated its dissolution, that we were urgin Contrress to inerpose its authority for tlie abolishmer.t o jlavery in the States, that we were instiga ;ingthe slnvee of the Soutli to insurrection ind violence, and that all our views, proceedngs and nieasure were r;vo!ntionary, treaionable, nnd wicked. During all which time ur principies and objects were openly avowd, and our procnedinrs publishcd to the world u refulalipn of these calumnies. We haveilso the concurrent testimony oí'otlicrsto re fnte these slamlerous mi.-Tepretentniions, . which tvere daily pnbüshed and .ent abroad by most of the political and mony of the religieus publications of the day. The followingf extracts taken froni a letter to a gemle man in Georgia, wriften for publica: ion by the ïlon. Daniel Webstei' under dnte of 1SÖ3, on the subject of these misrepreentations and alarming reports, contain a complete reiutution of tliem. "In my opinión, the rlomeslic flavery of the southern States s a subject wilhin l!ie exclusive control of the Stntes thenisclves, :iri(l tliisI a ni sure ís (ne opinión of i he ivholo North. Conorress has no aitthority to u fhp emanciparon of slnves, or in ihe trentinpnt o! them in any of the Stnfes. 1 cannot say tha partTcular individuáis mtht nol be íutinr! vh suppose that Cono-refp mnv possppssoinc power over the fiibj er, luit I do nor Icnow nn_v such personp, nnd f there ïm nny, I nm fsuré they are very lew. The imputo i ons whicli you sny, anrl .ny iruly, nre ronsfantly niacif ag:ainst tlie Norfh nrp, in my opinión, entireJy destitute of any just fuuml.-ition." Mr. Webster was a resident ol'BosJon, surruunded by abolitionists, whpre tlicir nieetings were publicly held, where their pross was established to disseroinatc their principies and carry out their measures, yet when appealed to for informatiort on the subjecl, he declares in his opinión' ihese impuíatióha to be without any just foundation. The. folio wint extract from the Boston Commercial Gazette in 1SS5wil! also show tlrnt ihe guilt of abolitionisis consistcd in d'scuisin the sul)ject of slavery. "Free discvssion on ilie subject of slavery? - ah, as Petruehh suid, 'Ihere s the villany.1 - The mischief alt lies in a mdshcll. A f ree discussion on this Subject leuds ut once to ahoiilion and These were the evilö to be deprecaied Trom the action of the abolitionists in Boslon, instcad of treason and revolution. Ir. was free discnssion on ihe sul'jnct of slavery in view of stich resul ts as voltintary emancipation, Uiat constituled tho "villany and miscliicf " of the abolitionists in tbe eyes of the go.Ml pecple of Boston for which they were assailed by mobs, their meetings éupprësied by violcnce, and one of iheir prominent citizens (Irngped Ihrpusï thcir streets uiih a rope obout his neck, and cast into prison. Tlie publications of the Sout!i alt-ro exlif.norate them from the slnru.'crous charges of thcir neighbore. The Soulhern Review, one of their ablcsl periodicals,"We do not lelievè thot the abolitionists iniend, nor coulrl ttoéy they would, excite our slavea to insurrection. We believe that we have most to fear from their organized action upon the consciences anti fears of tho slaveholfiors themsolves, from the nsiniintion oflhoir dano-prons into our pchool?. ■)ur pulpits anti dumeslic ciic'ep. h is only y nlaminsr the con5iicnces of iho weak and eeblt!. und diffusine amoóg onr mvn pcople n niorbid sonsibüity on the question of slavery hal the nbolitionists can occomplísh their obect. Preparritory to this, they are now laboring to sutúrate tbc non-slavcholding States with the belief that slavery isa bïii oainát God; that the "national compact" invólvêt ihe non-slaveliolders in that sin: and that it is their duty to toil and suffer that our country may be deliverpd from what they term ijj blackcst aiain, its foulest reproach, itsliest sin." The enme opinions in regard to our princi pies and obj.-cts have been freely avowed by most of ihe politiciaus and stntesmen of the South; that we were iaboring to bring publicopinión to bear againsi the institution of slavery "whicli it would be almost impossible !c rcsist without scpnraling themselves from the social eystem of the rest of the civilized world."' And when we as frankly admit that these object8 are necessarily embraced by our principies and policyin resisting the encroachments of the Slave Power upon our mo&t sacred rights and privileges, and our impoitanl interests- when it has been openly avowed as their policy, and declared by southérn Statesmen that, "If the slaveholding slatesbe true io tkemselves they can give laxo to the govei-nment," do we assume positions in defiance of these constitn tional rights hostile to the unión, or incompatible with our duties as ckizeps? Do' e incúlcate seniiments at variance wiili the spirit of our lans, the genius of our ree institution', the derlared policy of our gove.-nment, or ihe principies of our ancfsiors, the framers of the constituüon? By referring back to "the times which tried men' souls," to that rncmenlous period in our hislo ry, when virtue, patriotism, the lovo of jus tice and the general welfare of the whole peo pie were duly appreciated, when our publi men and rulers feit the weight of their re?pon sibility to their country, to the world, to posterity and to the Supre.ne Ruler of the Universe, we fiud these now obnoxious sentiments pervading n!l their public document. advocateuVin their public councüs, and ïncnlcatod by public men of hII professions, as es.sential to national peace and prosperity, and the perpetuity of our frep institulions. Of our public men bo one took a more decided andactive pnrt m discussmg tlin subject nt slaverj', or marie greater exertions to effect ils extingnishment in the country, or lefí a stronger testimony against its dano-er, impolicy, nnd wickedness than Mr. JeSersm. tíi drnft ofa constitution for tLe State of Vicginia provided fbr the cmnncipation of 6laves in 1800 by declarincr nii born ofter that time slibuía be free. fio nddrcFsed a letter lo Doct. Piípp, an Abolitionist of Londun, wlio hnd written a treatife upon slavery, oskinír hirn to address on e.xhortation on the subject oftlie abolitioft of slavery to tiie yoimy mon of Wilüam and Mary's collepe in Virginio, who wcre fur public life, hóping it might be deci-ive of the quesiion in tliat StntP, which he decJared would be the State where the inleresting'spectacle woulü bc pre-, sented of jusíice in conflict yitH avarice nif] opprrssion. ín reply to a lelter fron Gov. Colee, of Iflnois, who it seeins had urped him o renew his evertions in iho cause of emnn:ipaiion, unrfcr date ofAÜgíigt. 181-1, heclnroá fhat "íhc liour oi'pniancipntion, s nci-; in tliemarch of timo. This enferprize is for the young, for thnse who can foliow it up and !-par t ihrong-h (ojia roiisummaüon. U shall have nll my prnyers, nnd those are thc only weapons of an oá mnn. It is nn encon:.irinor óbseryafion ihat no g-oot] tvpnsnro was ever proposeJ wfiích if duly pnrsued, fniled to prevail in l(ie end. And you wül be suppnricd by fhe rcligions precept "be not wenry n well doinc1." In liis notes on Virginia lio uses the following emplinfic language in describing its injustice, impoJicy and dnnger::'It is a prohlem which I give to the master fos!vt wiiother tho rcligious precepfs ng.iinsf the violatioh of property were not frained for him as woll as his siave? And whethcr theslavc may nat as justiíhbJy íake a litile 'tropa one wlio has taken all from hitn, as ho may slay one who would slay him? And u-ith what execration should the statosman be loaded who, permitting one half thechizens tlms to trample on the rights of the other, transforms tho.se into despofsand these into enemies, destroys the moráis of the one irtrt and the amor patriae of the other? And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when Wc have removed hcir only firm basis, a convíction in the inds of the peoplë that these liberties are the gift of God? That thoy are not to beiolated but with his wrath. Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God s just; that his justice cannot sleep forever; that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution oftliö wheel of fortune, an exchangeof sifuafion isamong possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interfer- ence. The AJmighty has no attributö which cantake sides with us insuch a contest." Wllliam Pinckney in the Houseof Delegat(?s of Maryland in 1789 declared tha following sentiments: "Wherefore shouid we confine the cdge of censure to our ancestors, orthose fronl whom they purchased'? Are we not equally guilty 1 They strewed around the.seeds of slavery - we cherish and sustain the growth. They introduced the system - we enlarge, invigorate and confirm it. Itg continuance is as shameful as its origim By the eternal principies of natural justice. no master in f he Sfate has a río-Tit fn! hold his slave in bondage for a singlo i hour. Sir, the thing is impolitic; nevei vvill your country be productive; never i will its its comrnercer or it rnanuafctures flourish so long as thev depend on reluctant bondmcn for their progress." Mr. Madison also, in a speech mado iö tlie first Congress after the ndoption of the Constitution affirined - "It is a necessary duiy of the General Grovernnient to protect every part of the empire against danger aswell in(ernal as externaL Every thing. thereibre, which tends to increase this danger, thougli it rnay bo a local aífair, vet if it invoíves national' ex-pense or saiety, it becomes of concernió every part of the Union, and is a proper subject for the consideration ofthose charged wiih the genera! adniinistration of the governmenl." The most eminent divines of fhat day also eonsidered it a part of theír dufy fo1 participate in thedisciissions upon this subject. Doet. Hopkins, a distingtrished divine of New England, in an address tö slaveholders in 1776 asserted that- "slavery ís in every instance wrong, unright eous, and oppressive - a very great and crying sin, their being nothing of tho kind equal to it on the face of the whole earth." President Edwards, m asermoiï delivered before án abolition society in Ckmnecticut, in 1791, affirmed his belief, that "within lïfty years from this time it V7Ü1 ber as shameful for a man fa hold a negrö síave as to be guilty of commoh robberyor thcft." John Wesley declar ed thaf fhe íraífíc in síaves fras (he "sum ofall villanies - that he read ofnofhing like it in the heathen world, ancient or modern." Adam Cïarft, íhe awfhor of the celebrafedCommentaríes on the Bíbleí eipresses himself as follotvs: "How can a naííon pretend to fast or worship God at all ordare profess that they believe ín tho existence of such a Being while íhey carry o-n the slave írade, and trafííc in thesouls, blood, and bodies of men.5í Such Were the views entertained by men of all pro fessions and denominations in regard to the danger, impolíc}-, arfdguiltofslaVery, as it existed in this country, The patriot and stafesman, the philanthropist andthe guardians of public }iber(y and marais, were all united in their exerfions to extermínate this moral and political evil froro the country. The esteémed it a duty to "satúrate" their schools, coleges, churches, legislatures and domestic circles tvith the belief that slavery was a national crime, ofiensive to God, and desructive of the safety, happiness. and prosperity of the people. Nor can there be found in all the writings of modern"abolitionist? or Liberty men, expressions aa strong of their utter abhorrence and detestation of the sysiem, aswereconstantly used by the most eminent statesmen and divines of that periodo And y et they have been regarded as the great "Apostles ofLiberty," and their characters held in the highest veneration and respect by thewliole American people. It has been also charged against us, that we liave declared we will not regard the Constitution and the laws made ín pursuance of its authority. Let U8 examine for a moment the foundation ibr íliís asserfion. It is frue that many of us have believe'd and contended, that the construction givcn to that clause in the Coristifution in relation to fugitivos írom service, and the assumption by Congress of exclusive legislation over the subject and thelaw of Congress of 1793, in attempting to onforce that construct ion, by authorizing the seizure of any pcz-son without war rant, and forcibly taking him to any Town or County Magistrate, and procuring a certifica lo from such magistrate, which wiil authorize him ío be carricd o the most distant State in the Union, vithout the power or hope of redress, to bö ünconstitutional and void. Because we find no such power delegated to Congreas, and such seizures without warrant supporied by oath or aflirmation, strictly n-ohibited by the' Constitution. Becausa t violates the provisions of the constitution ecuring the right of trial by jury, and eprivos a person of the benefit of tb vrit of habeas corpus. Nor re thete