dred years. No, sir; the people have their
eyes open now; they are thinking; and when
yon come to present this question to them at
the polls, they will act, and they will act so
as to maintain their past character for honor,
justice and integrity.
Mr. EDELEN. I rise not without some de-
gree of embarrassment, to address the House
upon the proposition under discussion. I
am a stranger to legislative halls This
place knows me for the first time. Whenever
I have heretofore essayed my feeble powers of
public speaking it has generally been in the
forums of justice, before enlightened and im-
partial courts and juries where the intellect
has full, free and unrestrained scope, and
where opinions expressed and arguments ad-
vanced receive their full and just considera-
tion. Though oftentimes the chances were
against me, and my cause almost desperate,
still I had the hope to cheer and buoy me up,
that victory after all might perchance rest
upon my banner. I rise to-day, I regret to
say it, under no such encouraging auspices.
Whithersoever I look, wheresoever I turn,
I cannot divest myself of the unwelcome re-
flection that you who lend me your attention
do it as a thing of course?, as a matte? of
courtesy, (which I take this occasion to say
has always been extended to me, and so far
as my observation has gone to every gentle-
man on this floor.)
I cannot dismiss the embarrassing thought
that the case has already been prejudged and
settled. That although I might speak with
an eloquence such as never fell from the lips
of mortal man, might carry conviction to
your minds in breathing thoughts clothed in
words that burn. Although I might adduce
argument after argument, pile them mountain
high, as high as Ossian piled on Pelion, still
I cannot reasonably hope to induce one mem-
ber of the majority side of this House to re-
cord his vote against the incorporation of
this article in the hill of rights.
Sir, the jury have already agreed upon
their verdict, though the clerk hath not yet
recorded it. I do not speak unadvisedly and
at random on this point. Apart from the in-
timations that have fallen frequently on my
ear from this side of the Hall, on one occa
sion from the gentlemen from Frederick, (Mr
Schley,) taken up and echoed back by the
gentleman from Baltimore city, (Mr. Abbott,)
to the effect that they had been sent here by
the people of Maryland, charged with the ex
ecution of certain work, which they stood
willing and prepared to do and to do speedily
The chairman of the committee from Bal-
timore city, (Mr. Stirling,) in the very able
speech made by him a few days since in ad-
vocacy of the 4th article of the bill of rights
declared, in answer to some strictures that
fell from my honored and venerable friend
from Kent, (Mr. Chambers,) that he had no
disposition to conceal the fact that these dis-
37 |
puted articles now for the first time sought
to be incorporated in the organic law of Ma-
ryland, had received the sanction of a major-
ity of the committee, and even of a majority
of the members of this House, ere they had
seen the light of the committee room.
This reflection hangs heavily upon me; it
represses that zeal and earnestness which a
different state of things is so well calculated
to inspire; it paralyzes my energies and
makes me almost hesitate to enter the arena
of this debate.
I fear, sir, that I engage in a fruitless task,
that I embark upon a hopeless mission.
Like the seeds that fell by the way-side upon
the rocks, and withered and perished, I fear
the ideas that may be advanced by me will
find no genial soil wherein to vegetate, and
will be dried up and consumed among the
raging fires of partizan prejudice and hate.
When I survey the difficulties that stand in
my way I hesitate to enter this unequal con-
test. But when I recall the words of wis-
dom addressed in the language of poetry to
the timid and faint hearted, I hesitate no
longer.
" The wise, the brave,
When the fierce storms of fortune round them
roar,
Combat the billows with redoubled force ;
Then, if they perish ere the port is gained,
They sink with decent pride; and from the
deep
Honor retrieves them bright as rising stars. "
Sir, I take counsel from the words of the
poet; as " the fierce storms of fortune round
me roar," I shall " combat the billows with
redoubled force," and "if I perish ere the
port is gained," as I know I must, I trust I
shall at least sink with " decent pride."
Before proceeding to an examination of the
question, I must be permitted to express my
great surprise and astonishment at the char-
acter which this debate has thus far assumed.
I had hoped and believed that no one parti-
cipating in this discussion would have taken
the ground which the two gentlemen who
have spoken on the majority side of the
House have seen fit to occupy.
I was not prepared to hear upon this floor,
in the capital of Maryland, such sentiments
announced as fell from the lips of the gentle-
man from Talbot, (Mr. Valliant,) and the
gentleman from Caroline, (Mr. Todd.) I had
supposed that this question of slavery would
have been examined and discussed in ifs
great social, political and material aspects.
But the whole burden of the very carefully
prepared argument of the gentleman from Tal-
bot, (Mr. Valliant,) was that the institution
of slavery was condemned by the Divine
Law as contained in both the Old and the
New Testaments. The gentleman from Car-
oline, (Mr. Todd,) in the opening of his
speech, announced the distinct proposition |
