Excerpt from Letter to His Excellency Wm; H. Seward, Governor of the State of New-York: Touching the Surrender of Certain Fugitives From Justice

Sir,

I propose to address you upon the subject of your pending controversy with the Executive of Virginia, touching the surrender of certain fugitives from justice. They are charged "with having stolen within the jurisdiction of Virginia a slave, the property of a citizen of Virginia, and with having fled to the State of New-York." The offence is a felony by the laws of the former state. The matter is one of grave moment to the peace of this country. A requisition is made for their delivery, under the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States; the language of which is as follows: "A person charged in any state with treason, felony or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall on demand of the Executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime." Your Excellency declines acceding to it upon the ground that the stealing of a slave, although a felony by the laws of Virginia, does not constitute one of the crimes contemplated in this clause of the Constitution. In other words, that slavery has been abolished within the limits of New-York, and that her authorities, therefore, can never recognize the principle that one man can be the slave of, or stolen from another. In support of these positions you have laid down several propositions which I shall examine consecutively.

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