814 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [Mar. 23,

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hereby tendered to the Lieut. Governor for the able, impar-
tial and courteous manner in which he has presided over the
deliberations of the Senate.

The Lieutenant Governor arose and said—

SENATORS:

The hour has arrived for the adjournment sine die of the
present Senate of Maryland, and I feel prompted to say a few
words before making the official announcement.

I am the more inclined to do so as this may possibly be the
last time I shall occupy this seat. Two years ago I entered
the Senate as its presiding officer with no experience of civil
positions, and wholly unfamiliar with the delicate and re-
sponsible duties of the Chair.

The indulgence and support of the Senate were unhesita-
tingly invoked upon the threshold of my labors, and promptly
and generously bestowed. How the various and perplexing
functions with which I was charged have been executed is
within the perview of your own judgment and criticism. I
may be permitted, however, to say, that it has ever been my
conscientious purpose to deal honorably and fairly with each
and every member of this body; knowing, in the conduct and
decisions of the office, neither friend nor opponent, and al-
lowing myself at no time to be influenced by sectarian or po-
litical bias. You will do me the credit to this extent at least
that strict impartiality has invariably characterized my
rulings, and it must always remain an agreeable reflection,
as the best endorsement of my official conduct, that during
an experience embracing three sessions of the General As-
sembly, my expressed judgment upon rules of order and pub-
lic measures has rarely been disputed, and never but once
reversed. My sole object has been to do my duty, honestly
and impartially, and if I have erred (as I often may have
done) the fault has not been one of intention.

The sessions in which I have served will always afford ma-
terial for pleasant remembrances, and I shall recall many
acts of courtesy and kindness from the members and officers
of the Senate. If the contrary may have sometimes existed,
if real or fancied words of bitterness have been expressed, or
thoughts of harshness and unkindness indicated, I desire to
forget all; that no shadow may linger about our intercourse
for the most part pleasant and harmonious.

The sudden rupture of associations like ours, Senators, is
always tinged, with some degree of sadness. On the present
occasion the shadows gather deeper hues from the successive
instances of mortality which have twice interrupted the busi-
ness of this General Assembly. The dreary badges of sor-
row were visible early in the session, and scarcely had the
thirty days of that mourning expired. ere the old crane was