The Kansas herald of freedom., 1857-08-08
The following is Mr.. Conway's letter

The following Is MIR. Conway's letter
of resignation
PAwNEE, &. T., June so, 1856.
To has Ereeze'aey a. II. Reeder, Gopernor
Of Kansas:-
S1R:-I was officially declared by your
Excellency, on the 9th of April last, to
have been duly elected member of the
Council of Kansas Territory, from the 9th
Council district. / was also furnished
with certificate to that effect, authenti-
Gated by your signature and the impress
of the public seal. beg leave now most
respectfully to resign the position thus
assigned me, and to return the certificate
] then received.
am impelled to this course by what l
believe to be due to myself, to the saneti-
ty Of law, and the rights and dignity of
the people of Kansas. In holding and
exercising the trust imposed in me by the
qualified voters of the 9th Council district
/ would be required to meet with the
body of men who are to assemble at this
place on Monday next, as the Legislature
of Kansas, and to engage with them in
making laws to govern the people of the
Territory. This | cannot do without
lending countenance to the authority
they assume to exercise. | was elected
to represent the people ofthe 9th Coun-
Gil district in the Legislature of Kansas
Should offer, in pursuance of that elec-
ton, to enter this forthcoming assem-
blage, l would thereby give, by di-
rect implication, my own sanction,
and the sanction of those whom l
should representa- the validity of its pre-
tensions; | would acknowledge it to be
the Legislature to which l had aspired,
and to which the people had intended to
elect me, when they cast their suffrages in
my favor. This am far from being pre-
pared to do. 1t is a fact which has trav-
eled the circuit of the whole civilized
world, that this Legislature has been i'm
posed upon the people of Kansas by the
force of arms. Those who compose it,
and those whom they represent, and for
whom they act, are alien enemies, who
have violently seized the legislative pow
ers of this Territory, and now seek to dis
gulse their tyranny under the form of
constitutional enactments. Their Legis-
lature is substantially provincial coun-
Gil, instituted and ordained by daring
and unscrupulous league in the State of
Missouri and other parts of the South, to
govern people whose liberties they have
ruthlessly stricken down. This fact has
been placed beyond controversy by au-
thentie details of concerted operations,
looking to this end, and of overwhelming
violence, at the recent elections, unparal-
leled in all our political history.
The straightforward integrity exhibited
by your excellency from the commence
ment of yeur official career, and the un-
tlinching disposition to maintain the
rights of the people evinced by you in
setting aside, without hesitancy, the elec-
tions in all the districts where contests
were made in the requisite legal form,
have been such as to compel me to be-
lieve that, had the evidence of the entire
outrage perpetrated upon the people in
the election of this Legislature been put
before you in the shape of legal testime-
ny, your Excellency would not have hes
itated moment in taking the same &C
ton with reference to the remaining cleo
ton district; and thus setting the author
ity of your Office, as you have already done,
your personal and private influence, against
this audacious uSurpation.
Under these circumstances, it would be
either fraudulent or pusillanimous in me
to respect this as the Legislature of Kan
sas. | am not willing to do it. Whatever
the timoreus OR the time-serving may sug.
gest or advise, l shall do nothing of the
kind Instead of recognizing this as the
Legislature of Kansas, and participating
in its proceedings as such, utterly repu-
diate and reprObate it, as derogatory to
the respectability of popular government
and insulting to the virtue and intelli-
gence of the age.
As an individual citizen of Kansas,
am furthermore free to say to your Ex,
cellency, representing, as you do, the i'm.
perial authority of the Federal Govern
ment. in this land, that, while am entire.
ly disposed to pay all respect to the law.
fully constituted authorities, | am yet mo-
willing, whatever power may command
| it, to bend my neck, like satisfied anC
gentle slave, to the yoke of foreign tyrants
To do so, would prove me recreant to al
the lessons of heroism or of duty l eve
learned. l am so unfortunate as to hav,
been trained to some crude notions of hu
man rights-some such notions as thos'
for which, in ages past, our foolish ances
try periled their lives on revolutionar,
fields. And, however widespread may b
the disrepute into which these pueril,
fallacies have fallen in these sterling an,
enlightened times, am still bold to with
stand their violation, in my own person
to the last extremity of just resistance
Simply as a citizen and man, shall
therefore, yield no submission to this aliel
Legislature. On the contrary, / am read
to set its assumed authority at defiance
and shall be prompt to spurn and trampl
under my feet its insolent enactments
whenever they conflict with my rights c
inclinations Very respectfully, yours,
IL. F. CONWAY.
/ Pawhee, K. T., June 80, 1856.
Iro BE Continued