Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1861-01-10
AN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE c.
MARYIAND.
Ey VIZ. II. COLLINS, Of nALrG1oaE
AN EXTRACT.

AN EXTRACT.
| now propose to present to you what
would be your condition if in any mad hour
you abandon your present resting place III
the bosom OF the Union, and make Mason
and Dixon's line, which separates you from
pennsylvania, the northern boundary of the
new government into which you would
enter.
It seems to me too clear for question thai
the government Of the North, which, no
doubt, would continue under the present
Constitution ana with the present name Of
the United States Of America" would be
superior in maritime power to that of the
South Into which you are supposed to have
entered. What then would be your condi-
ton? Look at the map Of your State-you
will find there a straight line Of about two
hundred miles separating you from Pennsyl
vania. That line is purely artificial, and
can be defended only by your keeping su
perior military force ready to take the field,
trained and equipped for battle. On that
line rapid march of one or two hours would
reach the Potomac at Cumberland The
posse sion Of Cumberland BY az enemy would
cut off your coal fields on which large part
of your people depend for fucl-and would
stop all trade and traffic Oh your principal
railroad west of Cumberland.
| Your State is also divided by the Chesa-
peake Bay into two portions of unequal size,
and if the North would, as she must, be the
superior maritime power. she could, by a
few vessels of war, command the Chesapeake
| Bay, control the mouth of the Patapsco,
seal up the port of Baltimore, and prevent
aid OF communication from the one shore to
the other
On the Western Shore your State gradu-
ally narrows. without single military point,
to the mouth of the Potomac, where that
noble stream meets the Chesapeake Bay.
The tile-water Of the Potomac extends a
mile or SO above Georgctown-bclow which
is noble stream incapable of being forded.
IF your brethren at the South were to send
an army to defend, you, 10 military man at
the head of that army would ever allow
himself to be placed in front Of an enemy
below the tide-waters Of the Potomac. The
I 1rst poiiiO III uIIsrtary straceESy 'eotiru
safe retreat in the event of n...,5rtu,.-. -.
rule would impeciously demand that he
should never allow himself to be forced be-
low the tides, and in the event of defeat he
would be forced to cross the upper waters
of the Potomac and to leave fSryland to
her fate.
Your commercial emporium is within
some thirty miles Of this defcnceless north
ern border without any obstruction to ahe
march Of an enemy except the brave hearts
Of Marylands sons. Your white population
is about six hundred thousand-and you
would thus be brought face to face with a
government, three of whose States nearest
to you, Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio,
contain a white population Of near ten mill
! lions of people-to say nothing Of other
great and powerful States Of the supposed
Northern government.
! Should you enter into new Confederacy
Of the South the first thing you would have
to do would be to drive the General Govern
ment out of Washington [ take it for
granted that the government Of the North
would still claim to be, and bear the title CT
the UNITED States of America" acting
under and governed by the present Consti-
tuition. Think you that this powerful gov
ernment would sink away ike a whipped
hound, at your bidding. and retire from the
prestige and advantages it would enjoy from
exercising its functions at our present Capt.
tol? Never! IF human nature can ever
be read in advance, l repeat it, never.
IF you attempt to drive the President.
elected according to the forms OF the Consti-
tuition, from the place assigned him by that
Constitution for the exercise of his high
functions think you that the teeming mil
lions Of the North would not rush to the
rescue of the government? The North may
be slow to anger, but the gallant Southron
may well look to his numbers, his armor,
and his strength, when he meets the slower
and cooler courage Of the North fairly reused
into action.
People Of Marylad, if you ever desert our
present Union, remember that the secession
Of the District Of Columbia to the General
Government has left you no retreat except
what you can hew with your swords. Your
secession from the present Union is to close
the gates Of the Capitol and to refuse to al
low Congress Or the President to enter It
would be to surround the District Of Colum-
bia by foreign State. 70 DO this would
be to leave those who would still be in the
estimation of the world the United States
of America" to abandon the Capitol, and
surrender the archives OF the Government
and the noble buildings erected for its use,
or to fight to maintain them. Can you
question the choice? Can you doubt it? 1t
is the same blood that flows in the veins OF
the North as of the South, and who ever
knew Anglo-Saxon blood that did not know
how to look calmly at the flash of the sword
Ii that blood has been partly crossed by the
German, the Scotch, the Irish and the
French, do you know that those races have
been up with the foremost in thousand
battle fields During our Revolution, it
was son of New England who nebly de-
clared, when placed at the head Of the South
crn army, Il will re-conquer South Carroll
ma or perish in the attempt;' - and he did it..
Courage is a quality that belongs to our
rouutry-to the North as well as the South
to the East rs we'll As the West