St. Mary's beacon., 1861-10-17

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strife for the mastery of the State, and
ready to deluge with the blood of broth
rem the sacred soil on which they all lived
in harpincss. and on which they might
have continued to prosper if the position
vt prscefal neutrality had been sobservcd.
j Il fearful and sickcaing sight :.
10 eur rensfbiiitics as u,cn. and
significantly on,iuous Of our 6estiuies as
frecmen.
The parallel which this course of affairs
in Kentucky presents to what has occur.
red. and to what the Union party is (per-
haps unconsciou.!y) striving te bring to
pass, in Maryland. will forcibly strike the
reader; and yet there are some differences
to be observed, though they do not touch
the point to which We are tending. Thus,
it may be doubted whether there was in
this State so absolute aud extensive a
Cnion spirit us existed iu Kentucky, i,
being, as We believe, true. that majority
here vas. from the start, on The side Of
the South. In tho second place, if Mary
land did not carly call u Conrcution and
take definite action. il was owing, not to
the people. but to the Governor, who
would not convene the Assembly; AMI if,
afterwards. when the Governor, chang
ing his policy, aud Eal,ifying his profes-
sicns. became All open Lincolnite, Mary
land did not furnish troops for the war
this was due. not to the Governor. but to
the Opposition of the peop'f. ~ho ~on'd
not enlist for tie xcrrice, aud who set their
faces against such policy. Thus.
through opposite courses, the two Sta,es
have observed very similar acautrality
The Governor Of kentucky did not, at
first. bring out the St~te levies tn aid the
Fcd-rals, bccause he ,roold not; the Gov
crnor of Mary land has nor done it. be-
cause, much as he has desired he could
not A few ragged recruits. mixed up
Will, similar specimens from all quarters of
the earth, have been handed into two or
thr9e half-finishel. bob-tailrd regiments.
and these arc called uf Maryland; but We
all know that. in law and in fact, Mary
land has not officially furnished a single
soldier to the war. On the contrary,
through her Legislature, she has protes-
Ted against the ho.tiliiies, and has de-
clarcd she will take no part in them
And although i. is mournfuly true, hat
Sue has bcen subjected to proceedings
with which no free people was ever be-
fore ins..l,e,i. yet shc has done her utmost
hy series Of valiant protests. and stands
to-day. so far rs her own act goes, as a
perfectly neutral State rs REGARDS the cX-
isting hostiliti.s.
These distinctions heing observed. the
parallel ie perfect. Like Kentucky. Ma
ryland was for Compromise, attended the
Peace Congress. aud held out the olive
branch t" th. last. AS in kentucky was
done. the Governor of Maryland, at the
start. refused to furnish the troops asked
for hy the Government Like her, up to
the time Of her recent abandonment of
neutrality, Maryland has aot, iu. point OF
fact. sent an authorized soldier to tho war
As in Kentucky. 80 here, despite the in.
digni,ies Maryland has received. her pro-
testing attitude and her practical neurali-
ty have saved the people from internal dis
surbanccs. Whatever the State has suf-
fercd. whatever the people have endured, :,
We have here, as yet. through the mercy
Of G"d. been spared that lowest depth OF
calamity. where citizens of the same State.
occupying the same soil. join i'll domestic
strife and invite the unspeakable horrors
of fratricidal war The p'sitioa of Ma
ryland, then, for all practical purposes. is
the same to-day as that of Kentucky was.
up to The time of the recent action Of her
Legislature, BY which h,r neutrality was
abandoned aud shr was ranged Oh the side
Of the Federal forces.
We have already seen wha: haye bccu
the consequences Of that abaudoHment.-
The newspapers daily bring us accounts
o: the preparations that Kcntuckians are
making to dcsuiatc their own State with
blood. That WEE. in Mary land. have hi,h-
erto avoided such "a crlan'ity. is circum-
stance for which We may. under Provi-
dence. thank our Legislature which is npw
dispersed That the sau,c fearful evil may
be avoided in the future. cuinnan sense
should teach us to avoid tho causes which
have produced it in Kentucky. This, it
is manifest. can only be done by prcscrv-
ing tie position which Kentucky unwisely
and By taking care no men shall
be elected who favor an active war policy
on the part of Maryland. 1t is clear that
the people of this State will never make
war if let alone. nor win they abandon the
position of practical neutrality IN which
they have been fortunately placed By
the present Legislature. 1t is equally
clear that The latter body will never reverse
it's present attitude. even if it h. again
allowed to assemble The only danger is,
NJ was dohe in kentucky, that new Leg
islature NAV b. elected this fall favorable
to the Administration. and which ,aay do
for us what the present Legislature of
kentucky has done for it. Such body
would place the State actively on the sile
of the Federal Government; would repeal
the protesting. resolutions of tae recent
session; would call cut troops - fight
against the South; would levy taxes by
millicns. as in Kentucky for the prose.
cu,ivu Vi the war; would .ldorss u. tA-i