between the slave-holding States. They fully appreciate the position and condition of the border slave-holding States, and are willing and ready to engage with them in a defense of common rights and safety. Identity of interest is a bond of sympathy. Similar dangers suggest the propriety of similar and simultaneous action, as far as practicable. The withdrawal of all slave-holding States and the organization of a Southern confederacy would possess a moral, political, and physical power which no government would dare to oppose. Yet the people of Alabama will not assume or pretend to dictate to the intelligent, brave, and patriotic people of the State of Delaware what course their safety, interests, and honor require them to adopt, believing that they are competent and have the right to decide by and for themselves. They ask only to advise and consult together.

To secure such consultation, in order to be informed of the views and opinions of the citizens, at the same time avoiding any semblance of a violation of the Constitution, the Governor of Alabama has appointed a commissioner to each of the slave-holding States. It will be my pleasure to advise and consult with Your Excellency and the members of the Legislature, so far as may be agreeable and practicable, and to communicate the views and purposes of Your Excellency and the sentiments and desires of the people of Delaware to the Governor of the State of Alabama by the time of the meeting of the State convention.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, sir,

DAVID CLOPTON.

MONTGOMERY, ALA., January 8, 1861.

His Excellency A. B. MOORE,

Montgomery, Ala.:

SIR: Acting under the authority of the commission received from you, I visited Annapolis to confer in person with the Governor of Maryland. He was absent, and I submitted the inclosed letter, with the request that it be laid before the Legislature when it should be convened. The Governor, prior to my visit, had declined, on the application of the commissioner from Mississippi, and numerous requests, more or less formally presented, from citizens of Maryland, to convene the Legislature to consider the present condition of political affairs. From conversation with prominent citizens, and from other sources, I am firmly of the opinion that Maryland will not long hesitate to make common cause with her sister States which have resolutely and wisely determined not to submit to Abolition domination.

I have the honor to be, with high respect, your obedient servant,

J. L. M. CURRY.

[Inclosure.]

ANNAPOLIS, MD., December 28, 1860.

Hon. THOMAS H. HICKS,

Annapolis, Md.:

SIR: The Governor of the sovereign State of Alabama has appointed me a commissioner to the sovereign State of Maryland "to consult and advise" with the Governor and Legislature thereof "as to what