iness in hand
was to nominate a President and Vice President of the United States, for
the next election, and the choice fell upon my friend James G. Birney,
for President, and Thomas Morris, late United States Senator from Ohio,
for Vice President. A plan was arranged for putting in nomination
abolition candidates for every office in the free States, down to that
of constable.

I listened to the discussions that took place with considerable
interest, as there are some valuable friends to the cause, men, whose
opinions justly carry great weight, who do not think this the best means
of bringing political influence to bear upon the question, but who would
prefer voting for such anti-slavery candidates, as might be nominated by
either of the two great parties already existing, or in the absence of
any such candidate would decline voting at all. My own bias was in favor
of this course, since it was the one pursued in Great Britain, and which
had been so eminently successful in the general election of 1833. I
became convinced, however, that the "third party" has strong reasons in
its favor, and that in various important respects the abolitionists of
the United States are differently circumstanced in regard to elections
from those of my own country; and it must not be forgotten that many of
the men who pledged themselves on the hustings in England were not
faithful at the time of trial. At the last sitting of the Convention, I
stated the advantage we had found in England, when we wished to carry
any specific measure, of a personal interview with the members of the
legislature, who might state facts to them and answer their objections.
It was immediately suggested to send a deputation to Albany, where the
senate and assembly of the State of New York were then in session, to
promote the repeal of two iniquitous laws affecting people of color, and
which were to be brought before the consideration of the Houses. One of
them is known as the "nine months law." By its provisions a slave-holder
could bring his negro "with his own consent" into this _free_ State, and
keep him there in slavery for nine months! At the expiration of the time
it was of course very easy by a short journey to a neighboring State, to
obtain a new license, and thus perpetuate slave-holding in the State of
New York. The other law was an act restricting the elective franchise of
men of color, to those possessing a fixed amount of property, no such
restriction e