If any happy device can be found to quiet our national disturbances, we would witness an extraordinary revulsion in trade, an extraordinary enhancement in values, and might reasonably look for a new flood of prosperity to come in with returning confidence. The bard lessons we have learned would not be without their use, and the experience, dearly purchased, would be valuable hereafter. We do not worship a Divinity who, having formed the world and its inhabitants, withdraws Himself from all concern for, or interference or intercourse with His creatures. But as we have been accustomed to, speak of our country as the hope of the world, as continuance of our national existence seems indispensable to the cause and progress of human freedom; as our nation has been delivered out of sore trials in days that are past--so have we been accustomed to recognize a Divine hand outstretched for our defence and protection. There can be no more becoming attitude for us to assume as a nation--even now at the beginning of the year--than one that fully recognizes our dependence upon His guidance. And the imminence of the dangers that threaten, coupled with our manifest helplessness and inability to deliver ourselves, only give us a stronger plea. If a happier day should come, and we are once more allowed to bathe in the sunlight of peace, and prosperity should once more reign within our borders, we may remember the often quoted proverb--never more applicable than now--"Man's extremity is God's opportunity."
Messrs. Editors of the American:
That there is much division among the people of this city and state in regard to the propriety of an extra session of the Legislature is sufficiently evident. I think, however, no one can doubt what class of men is most vehement in insisting on the Governor's taking this extraordinary step. Many of our conservative citizens advocate the measure with the purest and most patriotic intentions, and they doubtless consider it a means of protecting us by strengthening, perhaps saving, the Union. But can it be denied that every Secessionist in the State, and every on ewho takes grounds in support of the action of South Carolina and the other Cotton States, is in favor of the extra session?
Would this be the case if it had not been ascertained in the numerous conferences held among the promoters of this scheme, which have included many of the members of the Legislature, that a majority of the body would probably act against the movement of the revolutionists?
The Sun of this morning contains a series of resolutions passed by a meeting held in a school house in Anne Arundel county, and which the boldest ground is taken in favor of secession, and the organization of a Southern confederacy, and of calling the Legislature together to prepare for carrying out the plan. Those resolutions were advocated by the Speaker of the House of Delegates. Not long ago at a meeting in Prince George's county, the President of the Senate was an active participator in declaring extreme doctrines, and insisting on a call of the Legislature. Unless these prominent politicians had satisfied themselves that their party majorities in both houses would carry out their own views, would they be so exceedingly eager for the extra session?
Note: This is an excerpt from a longer article
Thirty years ago, in the Senate Chamber of the United States, a debate ensued upon the subject of the Public Lands, in which Mr. Hayne, of South Caroline, and Mr. Webster, of Massachusetts, introduced for the first time, we believe, the great subject of Nullification and Secession. The one gained laurels which crowned him as the champion of the Constitution and the Union; the other as the defender of the rights of the South, and of the right of a State to secede. Both of those then living actors have gone to the grave; but the seed that the South Carolinian then scattered have, after thirty years duration, ripened into secession. Lightly did the people of that day think of that debate; they did not dream that the intensely excitable subject which then merely drew a curious audience to crowd a Senate Chamber would, after the circle of a lifetime, fall upon another generation like the convulsive shock of an earthquake. God granted Mr. Webster his then prayer in his peroration, and may God still grant it to us.
"When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered; discordant, belligerent; but its arms and trophies everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment dear to every true American heart, 'Liberty and Union, now and forever one and inseparable.'
We know this prayer will find a logdment in many a heart which now shudders with painful emotions for the integrity of his country. Let us pray on and on, that the Great Supreme Arbiter of nations may ride upon this storm and hold tightly the reins.
There appears to be a fixed determination, upon the part of some of our sister States, to sever the political bonds of that Union which was formed by the wisdom of our ancestors. Such action threatens to involve our country in that worst of all evils, civil war; therefore it is resolved: we do not recognize the success of the Republican party as a cause for dissolution. We consider it the duty of every State to repeal the same forthwith. We believe any existing grievance that is or has been inflicted upon the South can be more fully and more speedily redressed in the Union than out of it. We look upon the action of South Carolina as unconstitutional and unworthy the support or sympathy of Maryland. We hereby pledge ourselves to maintain our position as citizens of the United States. We furthermore are determined to maintain inviolate the present Constitution and the Union.
The conductors of sensation newspapers are as really out of the plain path of duty. The power and influence of a free press can scarcely be overrated.
Every possible phase of the crisis furnishes capital to the sensation writer, and he is consequently in his glory now. If no new and startling development is on hand, he has the happy ability to manufacture one to satisfy the craving appetite which he has done so much to create. It is no part of his policy to incur unnecessary risks; so when he makes a startling announcement it is always upon some shadowy authority: "We are in formed by a gentleman, high in office," &c. "We have a letter from an intimate friend of the President," &c. The information, the office and the distinguished friendship all exist only in the imagination of the writer, but the public thirst for "some new thing" is satisfied for the time, and the fable answers as well as if the intelligence were true and genuine.
Suppose all the independent papers in the Union should adopt a conservative tone now; and even where their proclivities are in the secession direction, suppose they should now inaugurate to those who love the Union? Can any one doubt that the effect would be most salutary?
Maryland occupies a position in this controversy that no other State can be forced to occupy. She is more interested in the preservation of the Union than any other State, and the prevailing sentiment of her people is in favor of peace. She has suffered more from Northern aggressions than any of her sisters, and is as much determined as any of them to fight for her rights. But she wishes to fight in the Union. Moreover, her attitude in this emergency exerts a powerful influence upon contiguous States, and as long as this can be maintained it is an effectual barrier to secessive schemes. If the free papers of the State will support her, she may yet save the Union by refusing to unite with disunionists outside of her borders. The temptation to take sides with extremists is stronger because the advocacy of their line of policy gives employment ot "sensation" talents not available on the other side. And if Maryland can only be cajoled into some folly like the sudden passage of a Secession Ordinance, the sensation makers will have made their fortunes--on paper.
No one can recall the veneration with which the Union was universally regarded a few years ago, and think of the manner in which it is now spoken of, without a sad realization that the bonds of the national Government are no longer composed of its only reliable cohesive power--the mutual love and affection of the American People. All can remember the time when it seemed almost treason to admit the possibility of a dissolution of the Union, and when it was fondly believed that, although other Republics had perished from the corrupt ambition of public men, our own Government was beyond the reach of overthrow from such causes, and was so firmly imbedded in the popular intelligence and virtue that it could safely resist all traitorous intrigues as well as all hostile pressure from without. This pleasant and consoling idea has been of late much taken. Yet the only cement of the Union is the mutual love and good understanding of its people. May we not hope that, brought face to face by recent events, with the awful horrors of Dissolution, both extremes will retrace their steps, will pause, deliberate, and determine to give up pride, prejudice and passion for the salvation of their country.
There was never a more absurd quarrel. The mere opinion of a few fanatics, even when backed up by their tender consciences, is a thing with which no wise man need have any concern. There is not a single respectable man in Congress who acknowledges himself the representative of these poor idiots. They have not benn endowed with reasoning powers, and common charity compels us to believe that they are as safe as the brute creation, so far as the penal inflictions of another world are concerned. Where is the man, who can think and reason, who can allow his temper to be ruffled by the insane ravings of such animals as Lovejoy, Cheever, and Emerson?
The total temporal destruction of the whole African race is a small matter, compared with the enormous interests that are put in jeopardy by this unnatural strife. The damage to Christendom would be less than the evils that would follow the extinction of the American name, if the African continent, with all its millions of inhabiants, and all their congeners in other lands, were buried in the deep bosom of the ocean. This may seem an extravagant assertion--but let any reasonable man consider the matter. What has the world to expect from this inferior race? And what has not the world the right to expect from America?
Do not these considerations address themselves to true men on both sides of this perilous dispue? And if so, we come back again to our first question. Is it possible for our national trustees to arrest the calamities that are looming up before us? Let them be up and doing--before it is too late!
It is computed that at least one million of the citizens of the South are natives of the Northern States, who have settled in the South, and in many instances intermarried with Southern families, and are among the most loyal and public spirited of the population. This is especially true of Georgia, South Carolina, and Louisiana. We ever find the adopted citizens of the South the foremost in loyalty and devotion to the land that they have chosen as home. The number of citizens in the North of Southern birth is also very large. There are more natives of Virginia now resident in New York than of New Yorkers resident in Virginia. They have too intermarried. Thus linked together by the most sacred ties, what new and unspeakable horrors are involved in the idea of civil war! Does it not become all good men, all men who have humanity, to besiege the throne of Heaven with their supplications, that this hitherto the happiest of all nations may be saved from such an unnatural collision and fearful catastrophe?
Dear Sir (Hon. J. J. Crittenden)--
I pray God to clothe you with the physical strength, determination, and good will to go forward in the good work of saving the Union. It is an uphill work, I know, but must be done, and you, the bosom friend of the immortal Clay, are the forlorn hope. The millions of perturbed spirits now look to you and the Committee of Thirty-three.
Will you receive the suggestion herewith sent with the assurance of a modest, well-intended desire to aid you in your trying labors?
Stave off a collision; let the people have two weeks more for reflection, and they will take the matter in hand, and then farewell to the efforts of fanatics, for these dry brush piles, North and South, fired with the lava of hell, will be extinguished.
I have hope for the Union, notwithstanding these doleful affairs. I regret the opposition to the formation of the State's committee; and know that much of it is captious. Our state is said to be misrepresented in this Committee; be it so; yet Mr. Davis is a good man; an honest and bold man, although not possessing as much policy, perhaps, as some men.
All should be cool for the present, but firm. Let South Carolina go, without collision, til the 4th of March, and the extremists will be ashamed of what they are now endeavoring to do.
With great respect, I am you very obedient servant,
I congratulate you upon your firmness in not consenting to call an extra session of the Legislature. To do so at this particular time--to discuss the propriety of seceding from the Union--would not be in accordance with the wishes of the People. It would cost the State a large sum of money, increase the taxes, add to the excitement, when calmness is much needed, and, in all probability, in the end bring ruin upon us all.
The question is between the General Government and those States who wish to secede.
Maryland, being a Union State, cannot take part with the seceders; nor is it the wish of her people to do anything that may endanger the Union.
If masterly inactivity was ever good policy, know is the time for our State to exercise it. Sixty days of calm reflection will save us millions of treasure, and God only knows how many lives.
I pray you may remain firm, because I believe you are right, and truly represent the people.
I remain yours, truly,
An effort is being made by the advocates of an extra session of the Legislature to prove that the Governor misrepresents them when he declares that the principal leaders of the movement are Secessionists. The following, among a series of inflammatory resolutions recently adopted at a meeting held in Howard county, and advocated by E. G. Kilbourne, Esq., Speaker of the House of Delegates, we think will be regarded as conclusively sustaining the declaration of the Governor:
Resolved, that immediate steps be taken for the establishment of a Southern Confederacy.
Resolved, that for the purpose delegates ought to be regularly elected by the people to represent them in any general Convention of those States to be held at an early day, who ought to be empowered to unite in establishing such a Government as our and their condition and interests may require, and to declare their full, complete and final secession from and dissolution of this Union.
Resolved, that to obtain such a Convention in the usual mode, the Legislature of this State ought to be convened, and that a Committee of this meeting, consisting of three persons, be appointed by the Chairman, whose duty it shall be to urge such action on the part of the Governor, and if he declines to act, to take such steps for such an ejection as may seem best adapted to the purpose of allowing our people to speak and act in relation to the vital interests involved in the present momentous crisis.
Note: This is an excerpt from a longer article.
Messrs. Editors of the American:
The largest meeting that ever assembled in this county met here to-day, to take into consideration the present condition of the country. Hon. E.F. Chambers was called to the chair, with a number of Vice Presidents and Secretaries. The President delivered one of the most patriotic and well-timed speeches that it has ever been our good fortune to listen to, and which was well received by the assemblage present. At the conclusion of his address, he offered a preamble and resolutions setting forth the true position of Maryland in the present struggle, and deprecating all entangling alliances, either with the North or South. A further resolution was offered by George Vickers Esq., fully endorsing the conduct of Gov. Hicks, and deprecating the calling together of the Legislature. This resolution met with some opposition from James B. Ricand, Dr. Jos. A. Wickes, and quite a verdant young man named Pere L. Wicks, (who we learn is just from France). The resolution was, however, urged by the gentleman who offered it, and Dr. W.W.W. Valk, formerly a member of Congress from New York, but now a resident of our county, and adopted by a two-third vote. You may rest assured that the citizens of our county are opposed to Secessionists, either from the North or the South, and that they will display bravery against the enemies of our common country. We venture the opinion that our own little county of Kent has lost more negroes the last ten years than the whole State of South Carolina, and while our devotion to the South cannot be called in question, we prefer fighting our battles, if necessary, in the Union, and not out of it.
Yours &c., E.M.
At a very large and influential meeting of the citizenship of Mt. Pleasant District, of Frederick county, irrespective of party distinctions, held at Mt. Pleasant, on Saturday, the 5th, after organization, a committee, composed of Messrs. John Houck, Samuel D. Walker, John W. Ogborn, Simon W. Stauffer, and Esau D. Creager, presented resolutions protesting against any and every attempt, from any and every source, to commit "noble old Maryland" to any sectional issue; asserting a determination not to go, nor be driven out from under the broad aegis of the Constitution and the laws, and fully sustaining the course of the Executive of Maryland.
Oh Hark! What sudden billows sweep
Thy helmless course to younder deep!
Thy doom amid the wild waves' strife
Is sure. Turn, seize the port of
life!
Thy straining mast, thy quivering sail
Already shriek unto the gale;
And scarce thy hull, tho' sturdy, braves
The growing tempest of the
waves.
Ah! vain shall prove thy pride of birth,
Thy Saxon ribs of noble girth,
Thy sacred name, thy classic form,
Thy very gods, 'mid yonder's storm!
E'en now the flashing waters spurn
The proud escutcheons on thy stern:
Oh! fear, lest by the gale o'erborne
Then prove the Ocean's sport and
scorn!
My country, now and ever dear!
For Thee--it is for thee-I fear,
Lest
as on rocks which pierce the brine,
The fate of shipwrecked bark be thine.
SIR: Two of your batteries fired this morning on an unarmed vessel bearing the flag of my Government. I am not notified that war has been declared by South Carolina against the United States--and I cannot but think that this hostile act has been committed without your sanction or authority. Under that hope I refrain from opening fire on your batteries.
I have the honor, therefore, respectfully to ask whether the abovementioned act, one I believe without a parallel in the history of our country or any other civilized government, was committed in obedience to your instructions? And I notify you, if the act is not disclaimed, that I shall regard it as an act of war, and shall not, after a reasonable time allowed for the return of my messenger, permit any vessel to pass within range of the guns of my fort. In order to save, as far as is in my power, the shedding of blood, I beg you will have due notification of my decision given to all concerned.
Hoping, however, that your answer may justify a further continuance of forbearance on my part, I am
Yours respectfully, Robert Anderson
We can scarcely conceive of a spectacle which has in it more of the moral sublime that this brave old man struggling for the salvation of his country. If "pius Aeneas" excites our admiration in bearing old Anchises from the flames, how much more this venerable Father of the State struggling to rescue from the scorching blaze of sectional fury the precious deposit of the Constitution and the Union. Oh, "old man eloquent," a thousand blessing on thy venerable head! Surely the spirit of Henry Clay has descended on Crittenden, the mantle of that Elijah has invested him with tenfold power. If this grandest structure of human wisdom shall survive the storm, the people of American will enshrine in their deepest hearts the name of this second Savior of his Country, and even if it shall perish, if that old line-of-battle ship, heaving and pitching in the tempest-tossed ship, shall go down beneath the engulphing waves, long, long as mankind will remember that most melancholy wreck in all the tide of time, they will remember the grey-haired and high-souled sea man, whose last words were, "Don't give up the ship," and whose last act was to wrap the Stars and Stripes around his manly form, determined that they would "sink or swim, survive or perish together."
Judge Union was a brave old man--
His years were eighty-four,
yet
vigorous still, and unimpaired
The crown of years he wore.
But once upon
the ice he slipped,
And gave his knee a sprain,
Now all the doctors
round about
Could set it right again;
Some friends he had, across the
sea,
Who from his earliest date,
Had watched with interest intense
His movements and estate.
"We warn'd him from the very first,
That
danger would ensue,
If he went wandering all alone
O'er slippery paths
and new,
Yet still, Judge Union has a hope
Forth as of old to go,--
His Constitution is so good,
We trust it will be so.
Do not be alarmed, good reader. We are not about to inflict upon you an essay upon this exhausted topic. We merely intend to express our sympathy with your sufferings who are compelled to read and hear of nothing else. If nations, like men, can be afflicted with monomania, then are the United States mad upon this one subject. This country has a population of thirty-three million, of! population indeed, and a very happy and contented race. But the twenty-nine millions of whites are scarcely thought or spoken of in comparison with the four millions of negroes. The black race is treated as the principal element in our national compound, and the white as little better than "a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear."
No other nation in the world has made as much fuss as our own about slavery, even though there have been many in which it prevailed to a far greater extent--the Children of Israel, Phoenicia and Carthage, Greece and Rome. The apostles indeed had something to say in regard to the slaves of that day, but their reference to the subject consisted of injunctions to slaves to be obedient and respectful to their masters, and to consider the freedom of the soul of mere importance than the liberation of the body.
But our nation is wild with negrophobia. This country will never reach the prosperity of which it is capable until the white people receive some small share of public attention. At present Sambo has the best of the corn crib and the meat house, and is made a lion of besides. We are in favor of feeding him well and treating him well, but are opposed to all Lions and especially to African lions. We are in favor of removing Sambo from the Senate and the House of Representatives and keeping him in the corn field and the kitchen. That is his "manifest destiny," and it is there only that he can shine to advantage.
Note: This is an excerpt from a longer article
Heart of our Nation! nobly steeled
To baffle danger's shocks!
Tried,
in the changing battle field--
True, at the Ballot Box!
Heart of the
Union, Maryland!
Clasp thou its banner in thy hand!
Let this thy faith
repay,
Where Calvert's tolerant footsteps tread,
And good Charles
Carroll worshipped God--
There--deep within thy hallowed sod--
Plant
thou that flag--for Aye!
Thy name--"The Union's Heart!"
Our flag shall
wave--our Union stand,
While beats the heart of Maryland!
The track of the storm will be visible, from one extremity of the country to the other, for long years after the storm subsides. We do not believe that an enlightened and christianized nation like ours can be utterly destroyed. We do not believe that the glorious mission of America has yet been fulfilled, and if all the ways of escape from impending disaster are blocked up, one after another, we will still have hope for the future, though we are driven to the very gates of despair. The men who have the power to evoke order out of present confusion are either judicially blinded, so that they can see no danger, or judicially hardened, so that they are indifferent to the result. Our public servants have suddenly seized the reins, and arrogate to themselves an authority which is found nowhere in their commissions. The love of country is an obselete virtue, and fidelity to compacts, sealed and cemented with the blood of our fathers, is sought in vain among their degenerate children. We need something more potential than "passionate attraction" to heal the wounds inflicted by this latest crisis.