Correspondence: Between Judge King of Ohio and James G. Birney..

opinions without high authority to sustain them. Almost every free State ín the Unió fias sustained them by legislating on the subject- some going so rar as to prohibit their magistrates under heavy penattrss from exercising these extraordinary and Üespotic powers. The highest Judicial officsr in the State of New York appears also t? have. imbibed the same disorganizing opinión in the trial of a cause befo re him. The following estracts are taken from the report of the cause. "The decisión of the court below is put upon the ground that Congress not only has the power to legislate upon this subject, but that their legislation must necessarily be exclusive in relation to this matter, lf the decisión of this cause turned ' upon these questions, I am not prepared to say that Congress has the power under the Constitution to niake the certifícate of a State magistrate conclusive of the iight of the claimant to remove a native born citizen of that State to a distant part of the Union, so as to deprive him of the benefit of a writof habeas corpus and the right of trial by jury in the State where he is found. I am one of those who have the habit of believing that the State legislaures had the general powers to pass laws upon all subjects, except those on which they were restricted by the Constitution oft'he United State?, or their own local Constitutions, and that Congress had no power to legislate on any subject, except so far as the power was delcgated to it by the Constitution. I have looked in vain among the powers delegated to Congress by the Constitution for any general authority to that body to legislate on this subject. It certainly is not contained in any express grant of power, and it does not appear to be embraced in the general grant of incidental powers contained in the last clause of the Constitution relative to the powers of Congress. The law of Congress respecting fugitives from juslice and fugitive slaves is not a law to carry into effect any of the powers expressly granted to Congress or any of the powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or any departtnent or officer thereof."Similar decisión.?, ií is believed, have also been made by the highest judicial tribnnals of others of the States. The question involved is one of vital importance. It is no less than to determine whether Congress has the pover to set aside all the forras of law which have been established for centuries. to transcend all the prohibitions and restraints, and annihilate all the securities conlained in the Constitution and in the decisions ofjudicial queslions - whether all the righís, privileges and imraunities guarantied to the people by that sacred instrument, must be held in abeyance, and become suborordinate to the superior demands of slavery upon the government for protection - Whether the right of trial by juiy, the wrif of habeas corpus, of personal exemption from lawlessseizure without warrant, oath, or affirmation, must all be suspended during the investigation of these paramount claims for service and labor. It should be well underslood, that neither the Constifution, nor the law of 1793, makes any distinction. of persons, but embraces cases of indenture and apprenticeships, and reaches the acknowledged freeman as well as the reputed slave, the white as well as the colored population. Indeed, in all cases where they would be claimed as slaves, the question at issue would ahvays be,whether they were freemcn or slaves, whether lawful residentsor fugitives froni service. To suppose that none but slavps could be brought under the provisions of this sanguinary and despotic law, would be doing violence to our senses, and controverting all our experience and observation. Numerous instances have occuired where persons have been thusseiz ed and carried to distan t States under such certificates, who have there under the disabilities and obstructions thrown in their way, substantiated their claims to freedom; and vet the certifícate operaied as a warrant for the 'act, and left the person without redress.lt first assumes to estabush the character and condition of persons by accusation. and determines the very question in issue for the purpose of settling the mode by which it should be tried. In other cases also arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States regarding the militia and enlisted soldiers in the service of the government, the ordinary forms of law, the establíshed principies of justice, and the precepts of the Constitution are observed. Chancellor Kent, in his Commentaries, declares that the Supreme Court of New York, on application, has allovved writs of babeas corpus lo bring enlisted soldiers detained in custody of United States officers. to determine the validity of their enlistment, and have exercisedjurisdiction in the case by enforcing obcdience to such writ; and he further says: "The question was therefore settled in favor of concurrent jurisdiction in that case and there has been a similar decisión and practice by the courts of other States." From all these facts it would appear that the advocates for this obnoxious construction of the Constitution and the validity of the law oí 1793, believe that in deciding all other questions arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States in relation to the rights oí property between individuals, or States. and ao the claims of the governmen '{fpr service under enlistment, the commoi ".ules of law, the ordinary forms of judidiciaT proceedings, the injunctiob's and prohibitions of the Constitution should be rigidly adhered to; but that the relation subsfsifng between master and slave is so holy in itsnaturer so righteous in itscharacter, and so benign in its inüuence and tendencies. as to entitle it to such special regard, as to overleap all these formal ities, securities and rcstraints in passing upon its sacred claims. That the claims of the government for services under voluntary enlistmenf. the title of aperson to a horse. an ox. or a dog should be pnssed upon by a jury of the country, but that a question involving personal liberty for life and posterity, sbould be irrevocabiy determined by the arbitrary and unrestrainedwill of a single individual selected for that purposc by the party in interest. Webelieve. on the contrary, the exercisc of such power to be the worst species of despotism, wholly unwarranted by the constitution, repugnant to its principies, and dangerous to the liberties of the people. We do not believe it to be within the constitulional power of Congress to authorize or compel any State magistrate or private citizen to lend their aid in catching run away slaves. and returning them into bondage. We believe the powers conferred upon Congress were restrictcd to more laudable objeets. This, however, is but a single item in the long catalogue of abuses and encroachments of the Slave Power upon our rights, privileges, and interests; to correct and repel which the Liberty party has been organized in the free States of the Union. It is because we have seen and feit the influence of this power, extended, over all our free institutions, moral, political, civil, religious and hterary. Because it has corrupted or overawed the moral and religious organizations of our country in requiring them to disavow or disregard the principies, discipline and rules adopted by them in the days of their puritv in regard to the evilsof slavery and their duties in relation to it, and to those who sustain it. Because it has pollutedour institutions of learning and literary men. in causing them to repudiafe the principies of their ancesters. to pander to the vitiated taste, and eringe to the haughty rebukes of modern slaveholders. Because it haseorrupted;intimidated. moulded, directed, andhumbugged our polilical parties.politicians and statesmen, and made them subservient to its interests and designs. Because it has through the organization and discipline of thetwo great political partios, carried out its selfish purpose and avowed design of giving "law to the government." Because the law thus given to the government has been partial, unequal, selfish, vacillating, and ruinou. Because under its influence and dictation, the policy of the govei-nment has been radical ly changed.andits powers exclusively exerted in promoting and fostering the interests of slavery and the producís of slave labor, by legislation, by treaties, by regulations of trade, by the appointment of foreign agents, and the appropriations of money in utter disregard of the ruinous sacrifice of the interests of the non-slave-holding states. and the products of free labor. - And finally. it is because all hoptes of efJfectïïig-a correction of these abuses ofpower, and the restoration of the government to its constitutional dulies and obligations by a longer adherence to either of the political parties which have so long distracted the country is utterly extinguished, that the Liberty party has unfurled its banner, and invoked the people to rally to its standard in vindication of their righïs and the reformalion of these abuse?. We advocate no exclusive sectionál intercsís, we incúlcate no new principies of either moral or political action, we urge no new theory or policy of government, but we seek torestore itsadministration tothe same principies and policy unanimously adopted & established by thewhole American people through their Representatives, in the Declaration of Independence, in the Constiiution of the United States, and in the celebrated Ordinance of 1787; approved by Washington, the Father of his country. Such are the avowed principies and objects of the Liberty party. For these we have unitedly and firmly resolved to contendand use all lawful and honorable means to accomplish and maintain. I have deemed thisa fit occasion togivethishasty sketch of our principies and objects, and brief review of the progress of our cause, for which you in common with others have made such personal and political sacriñces to accelerate and rnaintain. And have we not abundant cause for encouragement and perseveran ce in the good work in the indieations which are constantly developed of dissatisfaction in the minds of the people in regard to thepresent condition and future prospects of our national affaire? They have seen that while the bounties of heaven have been dispensed with liberal profusión over our country, and while surrounded with all the elements of national prosperity and happiness. that discord, dissention, & violence have prevailed in our national councils, that our public men and political partieshave been wranglingós conlending for power and office regardless of the wants and sufferings of the people, until distress, embarrassment, distrust andpondence have pervaded the land. They have heard these calamilics imputed by .cac.h political party lo the mensures and. policy adopted by their adversarles while in power. They have seen this power (ransfcrred from one party to the other, and have witnessed the same rejection of their petitions, the same degrading gng resolutions. the same insultsto their Rcpresentatives, the same subserviency tothe Slave Power, and the disregard of their interesfs. They have compared the condition of individual States which have been uilder the exclusive control of one of these political parties for nearly a qüarter of a ccnturv with olhers which have been controlled'to ah eqiml extent by the opposite party, and find the same distress, embarrassment and dissatisfaction everywbere prevailing, and many have been constrained to odmil, there must be something radically wrong in the policy and measures of the general government as administered by either. - And they look in vain for any hope of change for the better by selecting from the ranks of either, the very men who have Iiitherto directed and controlled their respective parties in all their struggles for power. Du ring all these party contesfs for power and office, they have heard thevoice of warning and rernonstrance from individuals against the encroacbments of slavery and the baneful.influence it was exertiirg over all our free inslitutions. - They hnve seen these remonstrances disregarded and their authors and supporters assailed;and attempis made to silence their voices, destroy their influcnce, and crush them by violence. The have seen them rise from these persecutions and assaulfs like the phoenix from its ashes, with renewed vigor and energy, gathering additional strength from every renewed attack. They have seen the master spirit of the country, the Lycurgus of íhe age come to the rescue of their principies, the defence of their rights,the support of their petitions and remonstances, vindicating in the councils of the nation, the constituiioiial rights and privileges of the pcople, and repeliing evcry assault of his adversarias and persecutora, until they retired frem the conflict discomfittcd and dismayed. They have beheld the people every where rallying to sustain them, unawed by ]K)wer, unseduced by flattery, uncorrupted by patronage, and undeccived by misrepresentation. The cry of constitutional Jibert}'-. and absolute severance from slavery is heard from every hill top andmountainthroughout the free states. lts echoes are sounding over our plains and vallies. Occasionally a voice is heard from the dark regions of slavery, urging us to persevere in our course, that they too are engaged in awarfare against thisunrighteous system. May the time speedily arrive when our whole country from the frozen mountains of the north to the cunny vales of the south, from theshores of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific, may become indeed and in truth what it has been declaved to be in name c:a land of liberty, an asylum for theo.ppressed." I am, gentlemen, with sentiments of respect and esteem. vour ob't serv't,LE1CESTER KING. : - i MR. BIRNHEY'S REPLY. Lov.er Sagixav, Mich., ? January 1, 1844. y_ Dear Sir: Yonr letter of September 13, eommnnicntinj to me theresult of the deïiberations of Ihe National Convention,recenUyassrrnbied in Bufialo, wo'è received af my homo, nfter I had lefl itcna visit to New England, w henee I have not very longr since ïefurned. To learn that my constancy as nn Abolitionist and my steadfastness in the principies of the Liberty pnrty from tlie time of its beinjr orgnnÍ7.ed,have drawn toward me the cnfidence of that party, is too {rratifying not. to be acknovlcdfred. To be select ed as the representative of that party in its evfnlfnlge for the liberties of our country against iheir worst enemios, and ivith the single view to practicallv setting tip omong us ihe polifical tmths of the Declaration of ïndependence, 'vou1d, under the comrnonsst circumstancps of selection, be gratifying even to the most nnomb'iMons: How much more so ought it to be, when it is made unanimously, by an unüsüailv large Convention, coming from all parts of the free State?, and distingoished fór itsweight of moral and intellectual character. as the Bufililo Convention was, Ly the concessinn of all pereons, nol excepting those vh o ars the most opposed to ts objecti-? The character of ihe Convention, the relat ion i which I have stood to the Liberty party since first it was formed - theunnnimity with whicli I liave been agam nomihated as the candidate of tliat pariy, at the next Presidential election, leave me no room, at this sfageofour procerdingp, to ilispute or question the propriety of the choice; but only to siy, in reply to this part of your commiinication, that I cheerfully accept the post to which our friendshave thought proper, in their delibera'e judgmpnr, to usign me. To the fiicts and argumenta vvhich you have been pleased to in,trö'dtïré in yoor letter for ihe encoumgement cf our friends ond Ihe information of all olhers. I wuu.ld not venture to add any thing of my own. So aptly select ed arathey: so adequate in evcry point of view; so slrongly arraycd; so concisely, yet so lucidly. presented, tbat any attempt of mine lo add to Ihcir nnmber or force might justly be regnided a9 superfluous. lf the love of liberty yet ahide, as a principie, with the great body of our population, what you liavo bowcll í=aid cunnot fitil of coniributiniT much to enkindle it, and to excite tliem to the earnest, energelic action thal the salvation of our country and its free nstitiitions now makes po necessary- -so indispensable. Most sincrely do I lament that Mr. Adams's course in relation lo the AntiSlavery movement does not permit me, as a friend of Fans n cipation. to imite with you in the culogr, whicli you have iliought proper to bestow on his public condnct. The prominent part tnken by Mr. Adam in the onrly stages of the AwiiSlaVery agftatiflh in Congress, and the essentinl aid he mjglit luive piven to tlic cauee, hnd he cltöften to do so, lod mr, from the firsr, to pav particular atlenlion to wlmt he said and did concerning: it. His courFè, in my jtiiTpmont, hns heen eccentric, whimsical, inconsistenf, defended, in pari. hy weak nnd inconclusivr, not to say, frivolous arg-nrneiits; and taken asa vvhole thus far is unworlhy of a statesinnn of large views and riffht temper in a great nationnl ronjmicture. From this remarle I except lus defence of the Rirrht of Pefition, and his opposition to tlie schemes for annexing1 Texas 'o Ibe Union: - tivo matters that have b?en accidentally connected wi'h Immedinfe F.ma nci pation, but with wliicli they hnve, in reality, no closer or more natural connexion, than with any other of the great interests of the country. For these instances of Mr. A.'s politica] firmness nnd ability I clieeriully accord to him as large i measure of honor as his most devoted friends and admirers can claim for them.The aboJitioniste, carried away by tlieir admiralion of Mr. Adam's pirited defence of the Right cf Petition, and J?is not less spirited oppositión Co the bold alíempt ío annex Texas lo the Union, as well as by bis often eloquent, thongh spienetic effusions agatnst Southern Slavery and Southern duelling, have been well inclinpd to makö his case an exception to their rule of dealing with public .men, fo'ind substantially siding with the Slavocracy in any mporfant particular. In 1388, when "questioning" cundidates waa in use, Mr. A. was not subjected, if I rrmember right, to that test, ineffectual as it g-euernlly (urned out to be, and as it could be alvays made, by the ingenuity of the persons to whom it was applipd. Bul aside frum the kind feenngg wliich, for these causes, aboÜtiorñsts cherishèd for Mr. Adams, nci a few of them - especialiy 6uch as were persoimlly and politicallyfriendly lo Mr. A. were led to beüeve froni his unquaüfied expressions of regard for the object of abolitionisis, as well ss detectation of slavery, tliat matnrer consideración had determined him quietly to abandon the grounds on which he hs.d heretofore diifereïl wittí Ih'ém about aboTit ion in the District of Columbia end in Florida, and 03 to the adnission of the latter into the Union as a Sla ve State. To Mr. Edtnund Quincy, well known as txn abolilionist of the "Immediate" schooi, by whom Mr. Adams had boen iuvitsd to be present at a public meeting commcmoralive ol' of West India emnncipatifm, he sny?, in his reply (July 28, 1838) - You have a glorious and arduotis career beforeyou, and it isamong the consolations ofmy Jast dayp, that lom able to choer you in the pursuir, and exhort yoti to be steadfast and iinmovuble in it." To the Whig Committee Rppoin'èd io make known to Mr. Aiums, that he had been selecied as the Congressionnl candidate of that party- onr, at least, of which committee was well known as an mmediate abolitionist, - lic eayp, n his letter of acceptance, duted Oct. 2?, 18SS."Stíóvid the ppuple of the Twelflh C'onjrrpssional District of Massnchtiseits again see fit (o station tne as iheir sentinel on the wntchtower of the natinn, they wiil not expect from me, consent, ncqmosconc?,or compromiso wiih the system [Slavery] or any of its parís. - Unyiehling hostility to.it id intervvnven vilh every pulsation of my hcnrt. Rosistancc agoinst it, feoble and inefficiënt as the last accent s of a fnil'mg voice rnay bc, shall et il] be lioard, vvhilst the power of utterance shall remnin." Mr. Atlams was electotl. The next springr(1839) lio pubüshed. oí his own mere motion, po fnr txs anyihine lo the contrary appears, Uvo ]pUi?rs fonrtefn columns cf the .No tional Tntelüpenccr, añrlressed to the person? who had forwarded Peiitions to him io 'oe presen' ed in the Iloitprv Neither the lenrth nor the character of the address - for it dweh on an exuherant varr'ety of topics - woulf seem to have been called for, by the avovved object of it, which was to inform the petitioB ers in cross, inste ad of individuo lly, as a mat ter of convenienco, what di.sposition had beennrmrle of their respective petitions. In ihis arldress Mr. Jldams (?) laments the temper nnjtiially ranklinnr bet ween the siaveholilers and the abolkionists: and is corvinct-c!, that so long as it shnll exist, the nbolition of sla very in the Union, or even in the District o Colombia, is ng far beyond the regions o popsibility as any project of the philosopher of Lnputa. He oxprosses the opinión, thüt the multipli catión of Anti-Slavery Societies rather weak ens than promotes the prospect of immediat or early euccess. He finris fnult with the enconrngement giv en to slaves to escape fro'm their masterf - with the exao-erated represpntntions of tr miseries of their conditinn - with the annoy anee of candidates for popular elections by pu tinpf searcTiing questions, Sic. He re-affirms the rig-ht of Floridn to admis sion into the Union aa a slave-State; als his opposition to the abolition of Slaverv i that Territory and in the District of Cokunbin Respeeting the latter, he saye, he shonld inspecial manner be opposed to the enaclment of a law to opérate exciusively on the people of the District agninst the will of that people, and in compliance with petitions from persons not to be nffected themselves by the law. True, Mr. A. holds the opinión, that one human cannot be made the property of another - that persons and things ,irp, by the laws of Naiuieand of Nature's God so distinct, that no human laws can transform either into the other - but tbat'the pcople of ihe District do not think so, and that in this eme he must be guided bytheir opinión and not hu own.He assures the nbolHioiiists thnt he desires nol 1o interfiere with the institutions of elavcrV whcre they are eslablished (?) - that hc woiild rïot nbolish lavery without n doe regard to indemnify the slavebolder Tor his loss -that lie can lend his hnnd to no project for the abolition of tlavery in the United States withoMt the confent of the maslers. and thnt immedinte Emnncipation js amoral and physical mpossibiliiy! Nofwitlistnndinw the creed of Mr. Adam3 diflercd so widely frotn íhat of the abolition - ists, it turned on f, that, at the olpction of' J84O, his was the only Congressioniil district in Mnssachnsetts where a candidate of the Liberty parly was not presented to the people. 7'lie abolitionists seemed wilüngf again to receive anti-slavery dcclamntion in lieu of anti slavery action, on the part of Mr. Adnmf, or, what is perhaps mire probable, they ex pected that Mr. A.'s personal difficulties with the slaveholders in Congres?, and the ill snp pres?ed disgust with which his own party lonkerl on his conrse, would. in the end, lead liim to abandon hia equivoca! position, and take ground with them. So it was ogain at the election of 1C42 - no" Liberty parly enndidate was oflèred in Mr. A.'s district. It is but reasonable f o suppose, that, under such circumstnnces, the nbolitioiists generally supporied Mr. Adains; and as his mnjority was small over his Democratie opponent, that his eleclion was owing fo the obolitionists having cast their vetes in his fïivor.This depnrture from rule ín Mr. Adams's cose has been folio wed by the consequcnees that nsually attent!, either directly or indirectiy, departures from rules that have been deüberately adjn$ted, for the management of largo afEiirs. The abo]itionists,in electing Mr. Adams, made him their own wilness - hoping like an enger but inoxperipnccd litigant, that lis tostimony would be favorable to thcm, ecause he was heard to speak free'y of the eneral bad characler of their adversary. - ■ But the upshot of the matter is, that every flnng that is substantial in his testimony is favorable to their adversary. To ikein he eives "word? - w.ords - words!" The effect has boen as it always is in such cases. Do the aboliiionists nssaü slavery in Florida - in the District of Colombia? There is Mr. Adam?, the main relianee of their ndversary placed 'm hisposi'ion of power by abolitionists - pl'tyinnr "fas, ñtirl loóse," nt pleasure, bef.ween the cbnfenciinn; partiès - the ore wit.h speeches and letters against slaverv, all very interestinsr and eloquent to besure, bnt serving thft olher, dny nnd right, defendinor the "Ciiarlcl" of tlirir übominat'on. Do thp abolitionisfs labor so lo correct public sentiment, tint Congress, oossessing unlimiicd discrntionary power in the nremises, öfiall be perpt;nded to refuse Florida admission inlo the Union ns a Slave State? Mr. Adams is unceasinjjly irnpressing on the public rriind, Ihat this would be a breach of the National fi'ilh. Do thoy toil to produce the general convictinn. that slavery cannot long withstand the influence of, a fast-nsing public sentiment, against it? Mr. Ar'ams, in Ris cold response to the warm grectiiiffs of tlie Colored peoplp of Circinnati, assiiresns, that "as long as Africa enconrngps sla very it is impossible to put an end to it in America." And, ns if to extinguish in the colored people all hope of an event, in which they, more than any other class of our population, are specially mierest ed. adds:"How this can be done I do not pretend o say. It is not the nature nor the rigbt f our government to interfere with the overnment of any foreign country, not ven the Government of África." The abolitionists insist on Immediate Smancipation as the most practicable, nd safest mode of emancipation. for all artie.s: Mr. Adams despatches it as #{a moral and physical impossibility!" They affirm at a Convention, the largest and the most deliberately called together of any they have yet held, that he law of God is the Supreme law, that whenevcr human laws, no matter with whatever solemnities enacted, come in conflict with it, or aim to setit aside, they carry with them no obligatory forcé; are void: Mr. Adams, on the heel of that :onvontion, and on the most public occasion he could inake, affirms, that "the fo-ce of moral principie is and must be trangressed by the conventional rules of human society" - ,thus superceding thelaws of the Creator by the enactments or uságes of his creatures. For the logic by which Mr. Adams, after asseverating in al most every variety of form our language can supply, that no laws can confer or sanction property in human beings, has arrived at the conclusión, that this barbarían, brutal usurpation ought to be endured at the heart of the government till the wrong-doers voluntarily relinquish their hold on their victims; that Florida ought to be admitted into the Union, with a slave-holding constitution - asifan immnnity to annihilate the inalienable rights of the weaker portion of society were an essential element in our republican forms of State Government; that Immödiate Emancipation in this country is a moral and physical impossibility - in view of the instances of its success on this continent, with whichMr. Adams must be familiar - that Slavery must first be abolished among the Mohamedan and Pagan chiefs of África, before it can be possible to put anend to it in Christian America - for such logic, I say, I can entertain but little respect. And believing, as Ï do, that "theré is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord," that no people can be permanently prosperous or happy, who in heart and practice deny His right to reign on eárth among men; and that all attempts to persuade them that theycan are but types of politíco-infidel empiricism- believing this, T can entertain no higher respect for the ethics of Mr. Adams than I have expressed for his logic; but do wholly repudíate any and every code founded on the pernícious error that the commandments of God may ínnocently or advantageously be "transgressed by the conveníional rules of human society." Mr. Adams owes much of his present popularity - nmy I not say, nearly all - to his connexíon with the Anti-slavery agitation. Abolitidnists have contributed more thanjany other class of persons, to swell the tide of his influence. That influence is now activo infortifying against them every practicable point at which they have attacked Slavery in this country; and his quasi sympathy with. them gives to it an independent and unusual forcé. There is no one who is doiiig so - I assume not to say. it is so intended- - to deaden the awakening sensibilities of our countrymen against the private iniquity and the public disgrace of Slavery, as Mr. Adams - so much to reconcilê to them forbearance withasystem, which that gentleman oftener and more vehemently than any other statesman among us has branded, as against justice - humanity - nature - the laws of God, and as c'a deadly disease" before which the Union will fall, if it fall not before the Union. The foregoing was written before T had seen in any of the Anti-Slavery journals, except one, a suitable notice of the sentiment expressed by Mr. Adams, to which I have lasí above adverted. But I have been gratified wjthin the last íew days, to see that others of them are following the laudable example set by the Daily Herald, of Cincinnati. It is to be hoped, that still others will follow, till nol one be left in which there is not found recorded a failhful rebuke of a sentiment so dishonoring of God - so injurious to man. With great respect, I remain, dear sir, Your very ob't serv't,