Letter To Naturalized Citizens

Lovvf.r Saginaw, Mich., Jone 10. 1844. Gentlemen,- I received only by the Iaat mail ihe No.-of the Cincinnnti Herald which contains your note addreased to myself, together wiih Mr. xVIorris and Mr. King. My reply I transmit, ds yon request itshould be, through the same medium.You wish to know if I nm "in faror ofnaturaüzcd citizevg cnjoiing the righfs and pritttarcs sccurcd to them üy the present naturalizuf.on tiu:.?" Why, gentlemen, should I nol be- why should not every one be, who holds n any respect the iaws of his country7 Ja thcre any doubt as to the bitent of the naiuralization Iaws - that it was to moke of the alien, in the mos: comprehensive eense, an Avierican citizcn? Is there any doubt as to the constititdpnaüiv of i T i m . 'these laws? J he vnost mgenious caviíier can raise no question on that point. Why, then, ahall not these, as well as any other laws. be executed and respecledï Apart from recent ouirageto which you aMude, yonr inquiry, gentlemen, would almost impfy a doubt as to my possessing he coinmonest eliare of honestyf for shall we conler rights nn others to-day? and to-morrow say, they shall not use themf would be deceitful- b.isc. No, gentlemen- for native Americans to obst ruct naturalized Americans in lie exeicise ot civil righo cmmon to buth is as ndefeaaibler a wrong, as it would be fur naturalzed Americans to obstruct na;ive Americans in he exercises of the 8ame rights. There is no iirerence. Thig opinión I had occasion to maintain tvhilsi csiding in Cincinrwti, during tle reign of terror, n 1836, in opposinon t& certain resohes of a meeting gotten up ly persons of great influence n tlwt city, with a view to suppress tho freedom ' die press and of speech in obediencc to the ictition ofsouthern slaveholders. Amono othr things. that meeting (;Resolved, That theintitution oí slavery, as it exists in this counlry.lindar the sanciion of our cunsiitution and happy formof govemnient, 3 known to nlt who have Qught an asylwm in our country, and to whom ie benefit of citizenship are extended: we. ihercore. considér t indecorous forsuch persons to ígage i project which are calculated lo suben the constiltriioo of or country." The diomaiic circuity and plausible fnlsehoodff oi" ihis esolve, makc it almost unintelligible to pc-rsons nacquainied wiih ihe case to whichit was ïhtened to apply. Jtsaim was to inhibit to ihe naiualized ctizens, all part n the discussion and agation of the slavery qiicstion. to whieh in a noat brave and admirable manner many of iheni i Cincinnati, and liiereabout, had givei themelve at imminent peril oí their lives and prop rty. To stich a deptlv of servility hnd, ihen, the íost influential' porsons in Cincinnatí.boíh Whigs nd Deniocrats - there was no diflerence - sunk ofore theirslavcholding masters. Fot the treatent which that rosolve, as well as others passed thc same timo. cq,ually obnoxious to the causel human freedo:, received at niy hands, as vvell is for a more fuil explanation of my opinión on tlie inat:er now before us, I must refer you tothe columns of the Pliilanthropiat of that day. My defence of tho freedora of the presa nnd of speech wnsaddressed to JohnC. Wrisrht, Ksq., because the reaolves wre presented by him in a apeech a delibérate in ita manner aait waa aophiaiical and falae in it matter. Again, you inquire, f lam "in f, tor vf gvarantteing t„ Cvt'y man, indading CaiUoUcs, tkt sttcred right of üoTsfiipping O ad aetording to the dietaUs of kis ozon cimscienci?" I ehould, most aurely. be in favor of giving such aguaranty, and under the atrongest aanciions too, were it not alieody given in the forma! separution of our government, unlike all othera in thia respect ruin any ond every rebgioua persuasión. Whüs: ihe government ia- or, tospeak more accuraiely, whüat it ovght to be conducted n atrict accordance with the principle8 of Cbristianity, it very properly supports no particular form of Chrietiau worship. The Catholic, in his worship has ihe .same right to the protection of the government, that the Protestnnt haa in his. And the Proteet.int.ns the Catholic;- no more. So, of the Jew, the Mahommedao; or the Gemoo; or even the poor Fagan, ao long aa hi religious forms encronch not on the rights of olhera, equnlly acred wiih hia own, or on those luleaof public moralty, decency and good order universally receivcd at binding by a!l civilized rominunitiea. Sincerely, gentlemen, do I eymp;iihise with you in the leara you e.xpreea, in view of the recent disorders in one of our Iarge cilies, for the ïersnnaUecurity and iberty of yourselves and of othersin like circumstancea. To protect us in theenjoymeniof Ufe and liberty- in theexercise of our inalienable righis (among which none can be considerad dearer that the right to worahip God acconiing to the dictatea of our owno.., la meoniy legitímate object of all just government, A government ibat cannot do this is an imbecile government; a government that will not do this, is a fraudulent government; a government that confedérales with the desiroyers of inalienable rights ought ao be execratedby the uni verte. I wish the condition of our public aflairt authorized me to give you the conaoling aasurance, that your feara might be dísmissed groundlea. Bui t% cnnnot be so long as the political power of the country ia suffured to reinain in the hands of tliose who eubsiat by the dnily plunder of inalienable rights; or of their minions ia the free States, thedeptha of whoee aervüity no fathom line has yet fully sounded. The long endnrance by our country.nen of slavery, that monstrous trespassagains: the highest of human rights, has hardened- is still more and more harde;ng- ihe public mind to all minor trespasses. If there be not virtue- true manhood- enough yet remaining among us tosay 10 the alavery of the South and to o vile pandera at the North, depart- it ia as cenain as any thing ol the kind can be, that violence and anarchy, la wiessnees and rapiñe will not be confined la any particular section o the country, but that it will overapread its whole surface, eeizing on the weak aa prey. and mnking the cause of free govemment a híssingand a byword to all the nation3 of !he earth. That the eflbrts of the true friends of liberty may soon produce such a change in the publrc mind, that a wrong done to the humbleat individual ohall be Telt as done to the whole cotnimmity, is tbe daily and earnest prayer of, Gentlemen, your most ob't. serv't,, Jamis G. Birnet. To Patrick Kelley, James Welsh, and otters. Dayton, Ohio.