Joshua Reed Giddings, an American statesman, born at Athens, Pa., Oct. 6, 1795, died in Montreal, May 27, 1864. In his infancy his parents removed to Canandaigua, N. Y., where they remained till he was 10 years old, when they emigrated to Ashtabula co., Ohio, among the first settlers in that part of the Western Reserve. In 1812 he enlisted as a soldier, and was one of the expedition sent to the peninsula north of Sandusky bay, where, in two battles on one day with a superior force of Indians, it lost nearly one fifth of its number in killed and wounded. At the close of his term of service he commenced school teaching, and in 1817 began the study of the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1820. In 1826 he was chosen a representative to the state legislature, and in 1838 was elected to congress, where he became at once a prominent champion of the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia and the territories under the jurisdiction of the national government. On Feb. 9, 1841, he delivered his first anti-slavery speech, upon the Indian war in Florida, which he contended was begun and carried on in the interest of slavery.

In 1842 he brought before congress a series of resolutions in relation to the slaves on the Creole, who had captured that vessel on her passage from Virginia to New Orleans, and carried her into Nassau, where their right to freedom was recognized by the British authorities. His resolutions justified the conduct of the slaves on the ground of their abstract right to freedom, and declared that they had violated no law of the United States, and that any attempt to reenslave them was unauthorized by the constitution and incompatible with the national honor. The great excitement which they caused induced him to withdraw them, but he was nevertheless censured by a congressional vote of 125 to 69, and resigned. He was reelected by a large majority, and resumed bis seat after an absence of but six weeks. He was returned by successive reflections until March 4, 1859, making his period of service 20 years, during which he continued upon every opportunity (acting in conjunction with John Quincy Adams till his death) to advocate his views on slavery, while attending closely to the general business of legislation.

He acted generally with the whig party till 1848, giving his hearty support to Gen. Harrison and Henry Clay, but refused on anti-slavery grounds to support Gen. Taylor. In the election of 1848 he acted with the free-soil party. In 1850 he took a prominent part in opposing the enactment of the compromise measures," especially the fugitive slave law. He was conspicuous also in the debates upon the repeal of the Missouri compromise, and in those upon the subsequent troubles in Kansas. On May 8, 1856, while addressing the house, he suddenly fell to the floor in a state of unconsciousness, from which he soon revived, though in a condition of great weakness. On Jan. I7, 1858, he fell again in the same way, and for some minutes was supposed to be dead. He slowly returned to consciousness, but was compelled for a time to be absent from his post. His disease was an affection of the nervous system operating upon the heart. In 1861 he was appointed consul general for the British North American provinces, a position which he held until his death. In 1843 Mr. Giddings wrote a series of political essays, signed "Paci-ficus," which attracted considerable attention.

A volume of his speeches was published in 1853. He also wrote The Exiles of Florida (Columbus, 1858), and The Rebellion, its Authors and Causes" (New York, 1864).