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Mr. Birney

Mr. Birney image
Parent Issue
Day
24
Month
April
Year
1843
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

As the parüculars of Mr. Birnov's liislory i may be unknuwn to a purt of our subscribers, we extract tire following noticf of his lile and character frúm tfie Emancipa or. lie Jias gained ahigli repulation in_ths Statr, amang poütical opponents as woll as Frïends, as a gentleman, an able speaker, and a man of talents. We tnny odd onc thing tu the no'.iceofthc )imancipator - Mr. Birney. like General Wasüinuton, U a consistent and faithfal Christmn. James Gillespie Birney is a nativo of Kentucky. Uis fatlicr, the late Jumes Birney, w as an lrishman, who came to this country son afier he leaclied mnnhood, nndseltled in Kentucky. Mr. Birney, tho eider, married a lady of .high respectability in Kentucky, and became a weullli planter. Tho son, James G. Bïrney, was educated nt Princeton cnllege, New Jersey, and studied law in Phiiadelpliia. Ho commenced bis profes6Íoial life a Danvüle, Kentucky, 8c married a. lady of great wortli and mnst re$pectablc connectitms. After residinjf at Danvil'.e n ntimber of years, he removed to IIuntsvillc in the State of Alabama, whsrc he stood in the iïrst canlc of his pro fession, was appointed Solicitor General of thfi State, and was looked lo as the rhosí promi - není candidate to fill Lhe flrst vnenney on tho bench of tlie Supreme Court, had Hfi continued in I he pursuit of his profession. Those wlio are best ncquaiiited witli the s truc tu re of his rriihd, wül bc the most ready to égree. tliat had he chosen to pursue the career of distinction which then opened before him, he miglit have íilled not only a seat on the Supieme bench of his own State, but also on that of the nation. with as much honor as Judge McLean or nny other man that r.ow oceupies that exnltnrï nncitinnAt tliis point in lii.8 life, lio experienced a change in his religious views?, which has g ven anotlier turn lo Irs destïny. Although not at once brought lo see the inherent H?róha oi" slavery, he now viewed it in sucli u light, that he desired lo pnve the way lor its removal, and under the delusiona which then prevailed, was led to tliiuk ihat tiie Colonizntion Society aiTurdeti the only practicable means for tiiis end. ije therefore at once nbandoned liis professional pursuits, and the bright prospects of personal' spg ra ndiznment, nnd engaged as an agent of this Soceity. After a thorongh px- perimeiitye became salisfied that niUhinor coukl be done in this vay, nnd soon returned to Kentucky, whcre, in 1834, he became an abolitionist, and at once emancipated his own slaves, as'he ñas since done those that wefe ín the of"his father - in fact, impoverished himielf, in obedience to the dictates ofjustice. He next attempted to establish a newspaper in Kentucky, but was driven out by popular violence. Curnmencinp his pnper at Cincinnati, it was agnin brokeri up by a niob, and his press thrown into the river. In li!37, he was a)K)inted a Secrctary of the American Anti.-Slavery Society, in which capacity he became extensively known through the Eastern Statcs3 as tlie eloquent advocate of huiiianitv.Mr. Birney's intelectual character is fully eqtial to tliat of onc-half of the men who have heretofore occupied tbe Presidential chnir, and superior to three-fourths oftlie men whose niinies are now bef'ore t lie public, in reference to tliat office. The qualities of bis mind are precisely tho.=e suited ío the present state of i he country, to the present relations of the Goverunient. with the Stales and with' oiher nations, and to the grand objpcl for which he is brought fonvard as a. candidate. In the first place, he is particulaily conversant willi tliose )rinciples of national and general law and jusice, wbich lie at the foundation of the great agitations now going on. In the next place, lis eelf-sacrificing patriolism, and his high eense of honor, coupled with }iis pre-eminent ove of JUSTICE, and all guided by a judgment singularly upright and i-olid, render him exact ly tlie man that is now needed at the ïelm of State. An] finally, his perfect faniliariiy with all questions, botli practical and heoretical, connected wiih slavery, render him he orily man competent to discern and follow tlie truo ntcrests and honor of the nalion. - Every thing shows that, for the future, Sluvery, in one aspect or anotber, is tu control both tlie politics of this country, tbe intercourse bet ween onr own State-, and the diplomacy of tbe civiüzed world. Ifow hazardous, then, will u be for this country to have at the head of its affairs any oiher n on than tbe one wlio is best prepared to coinprehend tbc right, to withstand the wrong, on all matters connected with this gruat question. Such a muil is Mr. Birtiey. He may be less wily than Martin Van Buren, less fascinating than Ilenry Clay, lëss eloquent than Daniel VVebster, less dogmática! 4.vn John C. Calhoun, but in real knowledge ofthe true interests and honor of tbe country, in sober and safe judgment óf public affairp, in uprigbtness of imention and piirity of patriotism, he vvpuld, doublless, be a safer depoi;ary of this high trusf. than cither.

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News