In the
Maryland House of Delegates, on the 20th inst.,
Mr. Pitts made a speech, confining himself solely to the question of State-Rights.
In conclusion, he said:
‘
Again and again has the assertion been made of Territory wrested from the
Federal Government by the seceded States, and the secession of
Louisiana, of
Florida and of
Texas has furnished the theme for oft-repeated ridicule.
But what has been said of
Virginia, who, in order to secure that Union she is now falsely accused of assailing —
Virginia, whose soil is now being reddened with the blood of her own brave children, mingling with that of the generous sons of every Southern State--by a deed of free gift gave away without price an empire to the
North?
The very States now most clamorous for her blood are the creatures of her bounty — the stained monuments of her sublime patriotism.
Yet we are told she must be whipped back into a servitude she has spurned; that in order to recover forts and arsenals upon
Souther soil, and which none than Southerners have more generously contributed to build, her soil must be deluged with blood.
Well, let those who clamor for it attempt to take it; they will obtain a fee simple in
Virginia soil — at least to the extent of seven feet. [Applause.]
The only reason urged why we should not have peace, is that they are traitors; but it is not questioned that every material interest in the country will be advanced by peace.
That the two Confederacies may live in harmony, why should we doubt?
Do we not live in peace with
Mexico and
Canada, and why not with brothers who once lived in the same household with us?
If territory be the ambition of the
North, surely her possessions should be satisfactory.
Still upon the ample folds of its national flag are blazoned twenty-three stars; are they not enough to light them through the paths of peace to prosperity, or do they prefer to see its light reflected from oceans of blood?
It cannot be.
The hearts of the people of the
North cannot be in this work; they do not yet understand that they are to play the part of butchers upon their own brothers.
Roused into action under the false plea that the national capital was in danger of seizure, they rallied to its defence.
They will yet awake to the true issues of this unrighteous war.
He predicted that there will be peace, and speedy peace.
It was impossible to subdue the
South; her sons are brave, impetuous and intelligent.
They stand before their family altars, and though the
North may, like the Vandals of old, remove those family altars, yet will they be driven back — so sure as right does nerve the patriot's arm, and God exists to judge of right.
[Long continued applause.]
’
Subsequently, the following resolutions were adopted by a decisive majority:
- Resolved, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That recognizing our relations to the Federal Government, we feel that whilst we cannot do more, we can do no less, than enter this our solemn protest against said acts of the President of the United States, and declare the same to be gross usurpation, unjust, oppressive, tyrannical, and in utter violation of common right, and of the plain provisions of the Constitution.
- 2. That the right of separation from the Federal Union is a right neither arising under, nor prohibited by, the Constitution, but a sovereign right independent of the Constitution, to be exercised by the several States upon their responsibility; neither do we believe that the Federal Government has any power under the Constitution to wage war against a State for the purpose of subjugation or conquest.
- 3. That prudence and policy demand that the war now being waged shall cease; that, if persisted in, it will result in the destruction of both sections, and a longer continuance of it will utterly annihilate the last hope of a reconstruction of this Union; therefore we want peace, and are in favor of a recognition of the Southern Confederacy, and an acknowledgment of its Government.
- 4. That we deem the writ of habeas corpus the great safeguard of personal liberty, and we view with the utmost alarm and indignation the exercise of the despotic power that has dared to suspend it in the case of John Merryman, now confined in Fort McHenry.
