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254 strength; and their national convention at Buffalo in August, 1843, was unexpectedly large in numbers, strong in character, and enthusiastic in spirit. Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, a man cast in a grand mould, who had already rendered conspicuous service in the anti-slavery cause, was one of its most prominent members. Birney, its candidate for the presidency, was a native of Kentucky. A slave-holder by inheritance, he liberated his slaves and provided generously for them. He was a lawyer of ability, a gentleman of culture, and a vigorous and graceful speaker. Obeying a high sense of duty, he sacrificed the comforts of wealth, home, and position to the cause of universal freedom, — not as a wild enthusiast or unreasoning fanatic, but as a calm thinker, temperate in language, and firm in maintaining his conclusions. His principal conclusion was that slavery and free institutions could not exist together. He has been charged with committing an act of personal faithlessness in opposing Clay in 1844. This charge was utterly unjust. He had never given Clay or Clay's friends any promise of support. It is true, Clay and Birney had maintained a friendly intercourse until 1834; but in June of that year they had a conference on the subject of slavery which produced upon Birney a discouraging effect. From that time their friendly intercourse ceased, and Clay found in Birney only a severe critic.

The defeat of Van Buren in the Democratic National Convention was a disappointment to the