The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-01-05
THE MARYLANDER.
Gen. Bradley T. Johnson's Tribute to
Men of His State.

night at the Dung Men HeDreW
Association on "Maryland and the
Marylanders." He said in part:
"Nowhere in the world is there a
country more beautiful to look at,
more delightful to live in, more
blessed with every good gift of ell
mate, soil. sea and shore than this
State we love to call home, this
State of Maryland. There is not a
river ford, there is not mountain
pass, there is not a valley nor a
plain that does not team with heroic
or sentimental associations.
"There has never been day
since Leonard Calvert landed that
the Marylander has not controlled
his own government, with the ex-
ception of the short interruption of
the rule of law by Ingle, by the
commissioners of the Common
wealth and by the United States,
lS61-67. He has always asserted
his right to govern himself and his
home and only submitted to be de-
prived of 1t by overwhelming force.
He has never abandoned his rights,
though he has been deprived Of
them, The result is self-reliant,
forceful, vigorous manhood that
never turns from friend or enemy.
"In the REVOLUTION the Mary
lander was the dandy of the army,
and the epithet 'maccarom' in Yam
kee Doodle was applied to him in
derislon. In the war between the
States | was with the largest num-
Der of Marylanders that ever fought
under our flag. And they were the
quickest, smartest and brightest
soldiers IN the army. Meet a man
in the road and ask for information,
and he gave it intelligently the
odds were that he was a scout or n
Marylander. No other people had
their faculties so alert, so com
pletely under command. March
them for twenty miles through the
mud and rain and their approach
to village or camp. and the word
would pass along the ranks that
there was calico about and every
man would straighten his shoulders
and throw out his chest and step
out with a heightened stride, and the
Maryland drums would strike up
and the regiment strut along as if
it had just come from dress parade.
Remember that the only Ameri-
can war songs that will trill are
The Star-Spangled' and 'My Mary
land both written by Marvlanders
and inspired by the State. 1t is
true that we have not produced
many artists nor authors. But |
am not sure that this shows a lack
of culture, or an inferlorlty of in
tellectual force. The making of
many books proves nothing. Quail
ity, not quantity, is the best of
merit. But "The Star-Spangled
Banner and My MaryIand'-the
one an invocation, the other a bat
tie cry-will 60 sounding to gener-
ations when the prolific writer of
Tory is forgotten.
Forty years ago the Boston wit,
poet and scholar said Baltimore
was the gastronomic centre of the
universe and that we ought to
crown our monument with a terra
pin. The truth of the phrase shar-
pened its smartness and / have
never forgiven him since. 1t i'm
pressed itself on the imaginatlons
of the people and they have been
trying to live up to it ever since.
But Epicurus was a philosopher not
to be highly honored, and high Iiv-
in9 does not seem to be noble
ideal. 1t never has nor never will
produce noble men. Boetia was
not the most elevated part of Greece,
and neither in arts or arms, in
thought or craftsmanship did it ever
do anything which has lived. 1t
seems to me that the future of Mary
land promises much more than the
trlumphs of the kitchen or the graft
ticatlon of the palate. 1t is not to
be denied that the canyas-back is a
very interesting bird and that the
oyster is fascinating object. But
there are things in Maryland that
are much more delightful than the
products of land or water, or field
or bay.
"The great libraries, schools and
hospitals are treasures of knowledge
and centres of science which will
produce a marked effect on our pos
terity. The Peabody Institute, be-
sides a noble collection of great
books, has a gallery and school OF
the arts. The Maryland Institute
gives technical instruction in art.
At the Johns Hopkins University
scientific and original research is
daily adding to the sum of human
knowledge of the laws of the laws
of nature and extending mans con-