the body, I find two millions of human beings regarded as merchandise;
ranked with the beasts of the field, and reduced by the neglect of
their immortal minds to the condition of heathens; it is when I find
this awful system in full operation, surrounded by the barriers and
safeguards of the Law and the Constitution, in the United States of
North America; the land of Republicanism, and Christianity, and
Revivals, that I say, Slavery in America wears a form more horrid than
in any other part of the world. Yes, Sir; when I am told that in that
land, liberty is enjoyed to a greater extent than in any other
country; that the principles on which this liberty and independence
rest are these: "God created all men free and equal." "Resistance to
Tyrants is obedience to God;" and see also two millions of captives;
their dungeon barred and watched by proud Republicans, and boasting
Christians; I turn with horror and indignation away, exclaiming as I
quit the sickening scene, Slavery wears its most loathsome form in the
United States of America!

Before I come to that portion of my Address which I shall present as a
reply to Mr. Breckinridge, I beg to say one word in vindication of the
character and temper of American Abolitionists; and I am glad on this
occasion to be able to cite the testimony of a gentleman, whom Mr.
Breckinridge has not declined to call his friend; I mean James G.
Birney, Esq., formerly residing in the same State with Mr. B., and now
in Cincinnati. Mr. Birney made a visit to the North last year, for the
purpose of ascertaining for himself, by actual observation and
intercourse, the real character of the Abolitionists, and the manner
in which they prosecuted their work. Having done this, he thus writes:

Last spring I attended the Ohio Anti-Slavery Convention; was
present at the several meetings of the American Anti-Slavery
Society in New York, and at the Anti-Slavery Convention held
in Boston. On these several occasions, I became acquainted,
and deliberated with, it may be, not less than one thousand
persons, who may be fairly set down as among the most
intelligent of the abolitionists. Subjects on which the most
diverse opinions were entertained, and which to ambitious and
untrained minds would be agitating and dissensious in the
extreme, were discussed with the most calm and unruffled
composure. And while some of the leading journals were
teeming with the fou