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H. OF R.]

Admission of Michigan.

[JAN. 25, 1837.

It was in sight of the monument erected to the immortal
Washington. It was amidst such recollections as those
I heard a descendant of one of the heroes of the Revolu.
lution-a son of one whose name and deeds stand record.

entertain opinions and sentiments coinciding with the principles and opinions held by, and governing, a majority of the people (205,922) who have elected nineteen Van Buren electors; and that, in the formation of the Senate, there shall be a majority of members knowned upon the page of history, as being identified with the to be favorable to such a thorough and radical reform of the constitution of the State as will insure to all citizens living under it equal political rights and privileges.

"Resolved, That, unlesss the pledges required by the preceding resolution are solemnly given, in true faith, the two electors from this county be requested to refuse to enter into an election of Senators: Provided, That the electors from other counties and cities, having a majority of the white population of the State therein, will co-operate with them to defeat the election of a Senate hostile to a reform in the constitution, to the extent required in the first resolution.

best interests, prosperity, and honor of his country-one whose name cannot be mentioned at the present day without calling forth feelings of admiration and gratitude. It was from a son of him who bore the name of Howard that the doctrine of revolution or reform was proclaimed, It was then I felt the degeneracy of the times. It was then I felt as if a dark cloud was impending over my native State, as if the spirit of our fathers had departed from amongst us. But, sir, no more of that. The next day the electors proceeded to Annapolis. It was not believed, up to that moment, that the nineteen would prove recreant. Such was the doubt entertained by "Resolved, That our friends in the counties and cities, their aiders and abettors, that my colleague, the chair. that have elected Van Buren reform electors, are ear- man of the Judiciary Committee, accompanied them to nestly invited and recommended to join us in these meas- the seat of Government, and took them into his holy ures, as the only means by which we can avoid the fatekeeping. Upon their arrival, they refused to go into the of being again compelled to submit, for five years at electoral college, unless upon terms dishonorable to the least, to the tyranny of a Government wielded and con- twenty-one, had they acceded to them-not reputable to trolled by a small and aristocratic minority of the people those who proposed them. Had those terms been sc. of the State.' ceded to, at the moment the electors were taking the oath to be faithful, and bear true allegiance to the State of Maryland, and to support the constitution and laws thereof," they held in reserve a pledge to violate both; and with the 59th article of the constitution before them, which provides the manner in which alterations shall be made, in the following words:

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From the foregoing it will be seen that those patriotic reformers, who had pledged themselves to wait until after the October elections, and until the Legislature then to be elected should refuse to call a convention for a reform, still under a voluntary agreement with the whig reformers to wait that result, wrest from the people and the Legislature the powers of both, and constitute themselves a tribunal to revolutionize the State, by electing a Van Buren Senate. This was the measure of their reform; this was the great political manœuvre which opened the eyes of the whig reformers to the intrigues | by which they had been deceived. Responsive to this meeting was one held in Cecil county. They have since paid the forfeit due to their treachery. Next was one called in the city of Baltimore. This was held on the Saturday night previous to the Monday when, under the constitution, the electors were to meet at the city of Annapolis, to elect a Senate to serve for five years.

At that meeting were present nearly all the electors, then on their way to the seat of Government, to discharge their duty. My colleague [Mr. THOMAS] was there, and was expected to address the meeting; it was one of the largest which had assembled for several years, called together to instruct their electors to betray the trust reposed in them. My colleague was long and loudly called for to address the meeting. His fame for revolutionary discussion had spread far and near, and the most intense anxiety was evinced to hear him; but the deed had already been done; it was understood that seventeen of the nineteen had already pledged themselves not to go into the college unless the twenty-one would accede to their terms. Doubts were expressed whether they would adhere to their pledges; the meeting was addressed by several, and resolutions approving of the Frederick and Cecil proceedings were adopted. I wish I could draw a veil over the proceedings of that night. I was, by accident, in the city, and although my col league from the upper district did not respond to the reiterated calls made upon him, another of my colleagues did. Then it was I heard, with deep anguish, proclaimed from the hustings, revolution or reform, by one from whom I had least expected it. The words were greeted and re-echoed by the boys, by the mob, and by the conspirators themselves. It was in sight of the monument erected to commemorate the glorious 12th of September, 1814, erected to perpetuate the memory of those gallant heroes who fell in defence of that country which was now threatened to be plunged in civil war.

"Th's form of government, and the declaration of rights, and no part thereof, shall be altered, changed, or abolished, unless a bill so to alter, change, or abolish the same, shall pass the General Assembly, and be pub lished at least three months before a new election, and shall be confirmed by the General Assembly after a new election of delegates, in the first session after such new election. Provided that nothing in this form of govern ment, which relates to the Eastern Shore particularly, shall at any time hereafter be altered, unless for the alteration and confirmation thereof at least two thire's of all the members of each branch of the General Assembly shall concur."

They persevere in their revolutionary designs, and address a letter, proposing their own terms, to the twenty-one electors. This was met at the threshold by the twenty-one, as high-minded, honorable, faith fu public servants ever should meet insidious, designing intriguing effors to corrupt or to intimidate. They re fuse to make any terms, much less to bargain away the rights of their constituents, with faithless, irresponsibl public agents.

The conspirators then, urged on by their advisers held a meeting, or rather caucus, denominating the m selves "the democratic republican members of th electoral college," and "Resolved, That this meeting d now adjourn." They did adjourn, and quit the post assigned them, without discharging their duty; and feeling that a deep indignation would follow their faith Iss proceedings, they issue a paper calculated to de ceive the people they had so egregiously mis epresen ed, and return to their homes elated with their ow treachery.

The twenty-one electors remained at the seat of Go ernmen', trusting that better counsels would preval and that the nineteen recusants would come back their duty. They responded to their address in a cal dignified, and argumentative, though firm, bold, ar decisive manner, calling upon the people of Marylar to come to the rescue; and here I quote from this a dress some few passages, which may be taken as indi ative of the whole. They remark that

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"We could not suppose that we, who were known to be under the most solemn obligation to execute a trust faithfully and conscientiously, could be approached with a proposition of bargain touching the performance of our duty. We never for a moment entertained the idea of trafficking upon such a subject; and a proper self-respect, together with the palpable obligations of duty, precluded all of us from listening to such a proposition, coming from any quarter, however respectful in its language; and still less could we receive it from any other than a member of the college, duly qualified as such. Our duties were most clearly pointed out by the constitution, and we were not only bound, as good citizens, to support it, but our very oath of office made it our particular and sacred duty to uphold it in all its integrity. The votes we were to cast for Senators were not to be given as our votes, but as these of the people of Maryland. They had, by their constitution, laid down the rules, and the only rules, which were to gov. ern us; and we should have been false to them, and false to our oaths, if we had permitted any other to be prescribed to us."

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This was followed by a presentment of the grand jury of Alleghany county, against the conspira'ors, in which they charge them as follows: "The conduct of those men is without excuse or palliation. They intended to secure the triumph of a party; and, failing in that, to subvert the Government and endanger the public tranquillity." This was signed by twenty of the grand jurors, a majority of whom were friends of Mr. Van Buren. But, to their honor be it said, they loved their country more than their party. This was the first step taken in the district represented by my colleague, which struck dismay and terror in the minds of the conspirators. Next were held public meetings in the same county, without distinction of party, at one of which presided a gentleman, a warm friend of the present administration, a man without reproach, one who at an early day had quit his native isle to seek an asylum in this land of liberty and law. It was the vener. ble, the patriotic William McMahon, who, disenthralling himself from his party, stepped forward to save his adopted State from the pollution of her native citizens. His feelings are expressed in the following words:

Resolved, That we condemn the conduct of the aforesaid recusant electors, who, having solicited and obtain. the appointment at the hands of the people, betrayed the trust reposed in them, by basely and treacherously refusing to attend the electoral college, (as enjoined by their positive obligations to the constitution,) with a view to dissolve the Government of the State."

And conclude with the following admonition: "People of Maryland, the crisis is an awful one; the times are big with the fate of freedom; if the revolu-ed tionary spirit, now stalking abroad amongst us, is not promptly subdued by the majesty of your power, upon you will rest the fearful responsibility of being the first in the country of Washington to give to Liberty a mortal wound. We shall, to the last, endeavor faithfully to perform our duty to you and to ourselves. We have remained patiently at the seat of Government, keeping the college open from day to day, to the present time, and here are resolved to continue until all hope is lost of the return of the absent electors. We are determined that, if confusion and anarchy and ruin are to come spon us, if all the bright hopes of the people of Maryland are to be forever blasted, and our once fair and happy land is to become a scene of desolation and terTor, we will have the consolation of reflecting, in the midst of our afflictions, that we have faithfully performed cur duty.

Samuel J. K. Handy.
William W. Lake.
Thomas H. Hicks.
George W. Duval.
Thomas G. Pra't.

Thomas A. Spence.
Henry Franklin.
Ephraim Gaither.
Richard Beall.
Andrew Bruce."

George S. Leigh. Benedict I. Heard. Gorge Vickers. James P. Gale. James Kent. James A. D. Dalrimple. Henry Brawner. William D. Merrick. Solomon Dickinson. George W. Dudley. William Williams, jr. pronounce those names with great satisfaction. They should be transmitted down to the latest posterity, as fathful public agents. Those gentlemen had quit their homes and families, under the expectation of returning in a few days; but, by the traitorous conduct of their colleagues, had to remain at the seat of Government for ear two months, anxiously and patiently waiting their discharge of their duty.

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As soon as it was understood that the nineteen had refused to go into the electoral college, and had quit her posts, and called on the people of Maryland, by an address replete with disorganizing principles, to support them in their unholy purposes, the alarm was felt; the deep indignation of insulted constituents was manifested by meetings called to express their opinions upon the momentous crisis.

In the city of Baltimore, the "supporters of law, order, and constitutional reform," expressed their opinion meeting, and "resolved that they were in favor of reform, and against revolution." VOL. XII.-94

Other meetings were held in different parts of my colleague's district, of similar import, to one of which I now call more particularly the attention of the House, the proceedings of which I read as matter of history. And if the application is made more directly to him, I am not responsible, but his immediate constituents. They were his political friends; they are in favor of reform; but they, too, are against revolution. At a meeting held at Selby's Port, Alleghany county, the follow. ing preamble and resolutions were adopted, with but three dissenting voices:

"Whereas Francis Thomas, Esq, our present Representative in Congress, has taken an active part in promoting a change in our State Government, by such means as we believe to be against our best interests, as also the interest of the State of Maryland; and whereas, from his course in this matter, he has given us reason to believe that he has no regard to our interest, but that he is seeking self aggrandizement at the expense of his constituents: Therefore,

"Resolved, That we view him guilty of base ingratitude to the citizens of the State, and especially the people of Alleghany county.

"Resolved, That he has no longer any claim to the confidence or respect of the people of Maryland or of this congressional district; and that, in our opinion, he ought forthwith to resign his seat in Congress, that the voters of the district may select another to fill the vacancy, who would pay more respect to their interests."

The result of the September election was twenty-one to nineteen in the electoral college. In October, with the same mode of election, except that four delegates were elected from each county, instead of two electors, the result was sixty-one whigs and nineteen in favor of Van Buren. Notwithstanding this indication of the popular will against the conduct of the conspirators, still they were advised to persevere in their refusal to unite with their brother electors and elect a Senate. Some one or two of them began to relent, and did propose to meet the college, but not a sufficient number to elect a Senate. The indignation of the friends of law and order throughout the State was roused. It was too apparent to deceive any one, that they did not, as they professed, respect the will of the people. Their own

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political purposes were the sole object. An election had been held, and turned upon this question; yet they pertinaciously adhered to revolution. Still the twentyone faithful, honest, fearless electors held to their posts, and determined to await the presidential election, which was to take place in November. This election was by general ticket in the whole State, thus affording an opportunity of testing the very principle the conspirators professed to advocate, to wit: that a majority of the people had a right to control, and that their expression of opinion was binding upon their agents. The result of the November el ction was a larger majority in the whole State, in favor of the whigs, than had ever been given since the present political parties came into existence. Every county in the State of Maryland, except two, gave majorities for the advocates of law and order, and each of the three counties represented by my colleague [Mr. THOMAS] gave majorities against his principles.

When this result was known, the presidential election over, the State, by an unprecedented majority, voting by general ticket, put the stigma of reprobation upon the conduct of the revolutionists, it was to have been expected that the recusant electors would have joined the college to perform their duty, by electing a Senate, and thereby save the State from further anarchy. But they were otherwise advised. They were told that no danger could ensue to the State; that, if no Senate were elected, the Government would still go on, and, by perseverance, their objects would be accomplished. And such was the degradation to which they were willing to bring their native State, it was announced, in the official organ of the party in the city of Baltimore, that, if they held out, and no Senate was elected, President Jackson would appoint a Governor and other officers to preside over the destinies of Maryland! Yes, Maryland, one of the old thirteen, was to be stricken from the number of stars which adorn the American banner, to return back to a Territorial Government, and the President of the United States to administer to her people! Is there a man within these balls so debased by party subservience, is there a freeman throughout the country whose cheek is not suffused with a blush when he hears that this was the remedy for the revolution? Is there any one who now can doubt that the object of these revolutionists was other than self-aggrandizement? In this state of things, the Governor of Maryland, anxiously trusting that the result of the repeated elections, expressing the will of the people, would have influenced the recusants to return to their duty, finding that they were still betraying the delegated trust, and that their aiders and advisers were urging them to adhere to their faithless pledges, issues his proclamation, on the 8th November, calling together the Legislature of the State, and admonishes the revolutionists to beware of the consequences. This proclamation does great credit to the mind as well as energy of Governor Veazy. He felt as if forbearance was no longer a virtue. Time had been afforded them to retrace their steps; more than two months had elapsed since the election, and they still proved recreant. "The crisis was big with the fate of Maryland." He saw the twenty-one faithful agents, true to the people, clinging to the constitution of their creation, with a determination to save it from desecration. He comes to their support, and, in the parental language of a father, advises, persuades, forewarns, and then concludes with the following notice:

"And I do furthermore declare and proclaim, to all whom it doth or may concern, that, as Chief Magistrate of the State, I shall exert to the utmost all the powers which have been or may be vested in me by the constitution and laws, and which it may become necessary to employ, to curb the spirit of anarchy, disorder, and rey

[JAN. 25, 1837.

olution, manifested by the aforesaid conduct and proceedings, and to support the constitution, and enforce the laws upon all offenders against their majesty, who shall proceed, by overt acts, either of resistance to the constituted authorities of the State, or of carrying out or consummating the revolutionary designs and purposes of the aforesaid recusants and their abettors; and I do here. by require and enjoin all civil officers of the State to be vigilant in the performance of their several and respect. ive duties at this important crisis; and upon all military officers and citizens to hold themselves in readiness, in case their services may become necessary in aid of the civil authorities, to maintain the public peace, repress disorder, uphold the constitution, or enforce the laws; and, finally, with humble supplication for and reliance upon Divine Providence for direction and aid, and also with the firmest reliance upon the people of the State, to support, and, if necessary, enforce the declaration, I do solemnly declare and proclaim that the constitution of the State must be preserved, and the Government maintained, as they now are, until altered, changed, or abolished,' in the manner constitutionally provided for." Although this proclamation began to alarm, for fear of the consequences, yet they did not abandon their iniquitous designs, but held another meeting, and postponed the contemplated convention until the first Monday of January, to assemble in the city of Annapolis. The object of that postponement is expressed in the following resolution:

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Resolved, That the unexpected call, on the part of the Executive, upon the members elect of the House of Delegates and of the old Senate, to assemble at Annap olis on Monday next, has rendered it expedient to post pone the meeting of the reform convention to a day wher ample opportunity shall have been afforded to understand fully the reasons which have induced the Executive t adopt this extraordinary procedure, and to ascertain the results of their deliberation."

I find by the proceedings of this meeting, which wa held in the city of Baltimore on the 19th November last that my colleague's [Mr. THOMAS's] name appear amongst those of the committee which draughted thos resolutions also. This convention has not met accordin to adjournment. My colleague, it is presumed, know the true reason, and I desire to know, why it has no He does not inform me why it failed to meet. I w endeavor to show what has been surmised to have bee the cause. After all efforts had proved unavailing induce the recusant electors to return to their dut when all the popular elections were over; when th proclamation of the Governor, which received univers approbation from the lovers of law and order, was pr mulged; when it was advised that, if a Senate were n elected by the period of the annual assembling of t Legislature, the constitution would be abrogated a annulled, and that Maryland would become an appenda to the General Government, the spirit which animat the framers of the constitution burst forth througho the land, and incited to action the sons of those sir It was on the soil within sight of this Capitol that the fi move was made which struck terror in the minds of conspirators. A meeting was called in Prince Georg county, composed of the first men of the State, with distinction of party, to organize a corps to tender t services to the Governor of Maryland.

"On motion, it was Resolved, unanimously, That will with our lives and fortunes support the exist Government of Maryland against any violence that r be attempted, and we tender to the Executive our vices, whenever they may be called for."

Here, Mr. Speaker, I cannot permit the occasio pass without doing justice to a friend and patriot. a revolutionary patriot of the present day, who we

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sacrifice his own State to purchase preferment from this Government; but one who has met the enemies of his country, and risked his life in her defence; one who has received, by the unanimous vote of his State, a sword, as a reward for his gallant deeds, in one of the most glorious naval victories achieved upon the ocean; who, upon the presentation of that sword by the Governor of the State, returned it to its scabbard with this characteristic declaration, "that it should never be unsheathed until his country was in danger from the assaults of her enemies." It was Major John Contee who called that meeting. It was he who proposed a tender of services, which was unanimously united in by his whole command. It was then he felt that the time had arrived for him to redeem his pledge. But he little thought, when he received that sword, that the period ever could arrive when his duty as a soldier, as a citizen, as a man, would compel him to draw it in defence of his native Stite against the unhallowed assaults of native citizens. But the crisis had arrived. He was the man for such a crisis. From that day the sun of Maryland was above the horizon; her star held its station amidst the stripes of the Union; the impending clouds were dispersed, and conspiracy overawed.

It is with feelings of no ordinary character that I refer to those proceedings. But, sir, I do feel an honest pride in being the representative of such men. Eight of the twenty-one electors who, during these trying, exciting times, pat ently, firmly, nobly, stood by the constitution and the laws, were from my congressional district-a district immediately adjoining the seat of this General Government, yet far enough to remain uncontaminated by the incentives which gave rise to that intended revolation. It is not a little remarkable that those instigators of this resistance to the laws of their State should have been amongst the warmest advocates of the President's proclamation and measures against South Carolin". They were then willing to carry war and desolation througheat that devoted State, to arm the Government with power to march the soldiery within her borders, and to deluge her fair land with civil war. The same spirit which prompted them to those measures has been revived in relation to their own State.

But, sir, order is restored, the citizens repose in peace, and treason is no more. And when the future historian shall make a record of the present times, the names of the twenty-one will be transmitted to posterity as the noble protectors of law and liberty; whilst the same page will present those of the recusants as a beacan to all anarchists. Mary land is regenerated.

Mr. Speaker, I have said much more upon this subject than I had intended; but I know it has not been uninteresting to the House, from the unremitted attention they have bestowed. If, in the discharge of a duty which I considered imperative, I should have used strong language to express the convictions of my mind, I shall feel justified in the extraordinary circumstances which prompted it. When my own honor or that of my native State is at issue, I know no discretion within the limits parlamentary rules; that I have not transgressed those has been evinced by the fact that my remarks have not been interrupted by you.

The immediate question before the Chair is the bill providing for the admission of Michigan into the Union. I shall vote against the bill. I believe much less injury will be done by a delay, than by sanctioning the principles upon which her admission is advocated. By a deay until the next session of Congress, an opportunity will be afforded of ascertaining the true wishes of the aple; of settling the irritating controversy between her and the State of Ohio; of admitting her upon the terms of other States of the Union. But if she comes in , pred.cated upon the principles which have been

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promulged upon this floor, this House will have coun. tenanced measures which, in future times, may be taken as a precedent for anarchy.

[When Mr. JENIFER had concluded, Mr. THOMAS again addressed the House. After which, Mr. HowARD rose, but gave way at the request of Mr. JENIFER, who said he desired to make an explanation.]

Mr. J. said it had been suggested to him, since he resumed his seat, by his friends, that an interpretation had been placed upon his remarks, in relation to his colleague from the city of Baltimore, [Mr. HowARD,] which he desired to correct. He said they were understood to apply personally and offensively. Mr. J. said the gen eral terms upon which he was with his colleague, and the gentlemanly deportment which had always characterized him, would forbid the application of any remark in an offensive sense; but he could not conceal the fact of his deep mortification at the countenance given to those measures, by his colleague, which had brought Maryland to the verge of a revolution. When he spoke of the degeneracy of the present day, he meant to apply it to the principles now advocated, as contrasted with those which gave birth to our glorious independence. He considered this explanation due to his colleague, for whom he could have no unkind feeling. Mr. J. said, as to his colleague from the upper district, [Mr. THOMAS,] he had no explanation to make; but lest a misapprehension might prevail as to an inquiry made by his colleague, which remained unanswered, he would take occasion to notice it. My colleague, in referring to a meeting in one of the counties of bis district, where resolutions had been passed reprobating, in strong terms, his conduct as their representative, after denouncing the resolutions passed at that meeting as calumnious, and the members as unworthy of credit, calls upon me to know whether I intend to endorse those proceedings or Sir, whatever may have been my opinion of those men or their proceedings, however I may have believed them entitled to credit, I certainly now cannot endorse them. They are my colleague's immediate constituents; they are his political friends, some of whom have been his supporters; he, therefore, ought to know them better than I do; and if, as he says, they have been purchased from their duty, and not entitled to credit, being his constituents, I cannot endorse for them, and thereby make myself liable for irresponsible men. But, sir, I have yet seen nothing, have heard nothing, to change my opinion of the correctness of their position. When Mr. JENIFER had concluded,

not.

Mr. THOMAS replied to his colleague, and went into a statement showing the irregularities of the present constitution and Government of the State of Maryland. The debate was further continued by Mr. HOWARD. Mr. PEARCE, of Maryland, then rose and addressed the Chair as follows:

Mr. Speaker: It is with great reluctance that I participate at all in the discussion of the theme which has occupied the House for the last four hours. I do not mean the bill for the admission of Michigan into the Union; for that seems to have been "in the deep bosom of the ocean buried."

The domestic controversies of Maryland are again the subject of debate here. We are not allowed the repose of victory; but have to fight over here the battle which we fought and won last fall, before the people of Maryland. I am not responsible for the introduction of this foreign topic. I deprecate now, as I had occasion to do at the last session of Congress, any debate upon our domestic feuds. This is not the tribunal before which such matters are properly triable. The hall of the National Legislature is the very last place where State constitutions should be arraigned, and the internal action of State Governments be made a theme of invec

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Admission of Michigan.

tive, or a subject of investigation. Before the people of Maryland, whose sovereignty I recognise, and practically respect, I have discussed these matters fully and freely; and they are the only tribunal whose jurisdiction I admit.

It is curious to trace this debate to its origin. I had not the good fortune to hear the speech of my colleague, the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, on the introduction of the bill for the admission of Michigan into the Union; but I understand it to be the general sense of the House that it had no necessary or direct connexion with the Michigan question; and that, although the name of Maryland was not mentioned, and no immediate application of his theories to our controversies was made by him, yet it was almost universally supposed to be intended to apply, solely, to the State of Maryland. It was considered a masked battery-a sort of Maryland war in disguise. Under these circum. S'ances, it was not unnatural for my other colleague [Mr. JENIFER] to reply, and endeavor to repudiate such of these doctrines as seemed to him unsound, and to show the misapplication of others to Maryland politics. Much as I regret it, I must say that it was a necessary and inevitable consequence that my colleague should go somewhat into detail in relation to these matters. Now, sir, I have heard, in the rejoinder of the honorable chairman, the constitution of Maryland violently and, as I think, unnecessarily denounced. While the recent condition of things there has been stated very vaguely, and to me unsatisfactorily, I desire to say a few words in reference to that vilified constitution, and to state accurately, according to my views, the condition of Mary land during our late convulsions. In doing this I shall endeavor to follow the example of my colleague who represents the city of Baltimore, to speak dispassionately, and not to fall into "King Cambyses' vein" and tear the passions to tatters.

The constitution of Maryland, which has been de nounced here as so odious, so abominable, so atrociously oppressive upon the people of the State, that they would be justified in rising, with arms in their hands, to destroy it by violence, is no royal charter, conceding to the people a few poor privileges-nor an admission of rights, extorted by rebellion from despotic power. Neither was it the work of the mushroom politicians of the present day, who are springing up all over the land, ready and anx ous to engage in a patriotic scuffle for those spoils of victory which are too often the object of conventions, and such reforms as aim at whole systems of government. Agitators, in all periods of the world's history, have generally had an appetite for office which swallowed up their zeal for principle. It was not by such men that the constitution of Maryland was formed, but by the heroes and sages of 1776, the conscript fathers of our State, who pledged life, fortune, and sacred honor, for the achievement of their country's freedom, and who nobly redeemed that pledge.

When this traduced constitution was formed, it received the general approbation of the gallant men who were then engaged in an unequal and perilous strife for the vindication of those rights of the people which my colleague seems to think they misunderstood so strangely. When its provisions were read to one of the signers of the declaration of independence, and particularly that one which fixes the organization of the Senate, be exclaimed, "it is virgin gold."

The framers of our constitution did not consider political power as the sole end and aim of Government. They endeavored to establish such institutions as would secure the welfare of society, and maintain inviolable the rights of person and of property. Under the constitution thus formed, with occasional alterations, the State has flourished for sixty years, with as few, perhaps

[JAN. 25, 1837.

fewer, abuses of government than have fallen to the lot of other communities in the same period. The people have been insensible of any thing like tyranny or op pression. In general, mild and wholesome laws have been enacted; the Executive has been guilty neither of corruption nor of extravagance--while justice has been equally dispensed by an honest, able, and independent Judiciary.

Suddenly, an attempt is made to subvert this form of government-not by pursuing the constitutional method of change--not by the free, spontaneous, unforced ac. tion of the people, nor by representatives elected for that purpose by a commanding majority of the people-not because of any grievances too intolerable to be borne, nor because of a universal or very general sentiment that the good of the community imperatively required it. No, sir; this revolution was attempted by nineteen individuals, elected for a far different purpose. How many of these nineteen were the dupes of the bolder and more talented lectors-how many were coerced, by threats of party vengeance, into an acquiescence in the schemes of the factious-I know not; ner can I tell who first planned this conspiracy against the people of Maryland. But the public voice has already pronounced, that the recusant electors were guilty of a gross abuse of power; of a shameful perversion of their trust; of a reckless and arrogant assumption of the rights of the people, whose servants they were for a special purpose, and whose master they assumed to be for the highest of all political purposes. Let me give you, sir, a true his. tory of the transaction. In September last, the people of Maryland, by counties and cities, chose forty electors to appoint a Senate. The constitution requires that the electors chosen by the people shall meet, at the city of Annapolis, on the third Monday of September next ensuing their election, and proceed to the appointment of fifteen Senators. Any twenty-four of the electors constitute a quorum for that purpose; but, before they can act, they must qualify in a prescribed manner, part of which is the taking an oath to support the constitution. The election of a Senate baving been completed, their duties cease, and their offices expire.

In the late electoral college, twenty-one members, composing the majority, happened to entertain opinions as to the National Executive distasteful to the minority; and these "immortal nineteen," as they have been called, because they could not wield the Government to the purposes of their faction, determined to paralyze or destroy it.

They refused to enter into the college, and qualify according to the constitution. They assumed that the minority of the college had a right to control the majority. They had the audacity to demand of the majority, who were true to their duty and to their constituents, that they should surrender their judgments and consciences to the dictation of the minority. With an ffrontery unparalleled in the history of arrogance, they required that the majority should give a pledge to select, as members of the new Senate, eight persons to be nominated by themselves, so as to give their party the ascendency in the Senate-upon the penalty, that otherwise they would not qualify as electors, and would thus prevent the formation of any Senate at all. Thus they claimed that right of election which the constitution expressly vested in the majority, and undertook to destroy the existence or defeat the operations of that Government which it was the sole purpose of their appointment to preserve and continue in regular action.

These gentlemen belonged to a party whose scrupulous political morals could not bear the least suspicion of bargain and corruption. Without proof, and contrary to evidence, they had clamored for eight years against the gentleman from Massachusetts and the Senator from

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