146 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [June 6,

ing of the 30th, he had a short interview with Governor Letcher,
and brought to his notice the object of his mission, and the spe-
cific acts of aggression complained of, in the entrance upon our
soil of the troops of Virginia.

The Governor was understood to say that he would apply to
the commanding officer at Harper's Ferry for information on the
subject, and be prepared to reply more fully when the report of
that officer was received; but he begged me to convey to your
Honorable Body the distinct and earnest assurance, that if, at
any time, the military forces of Virginia should trespass or tem-
porarily occupy, the soil of Maryland, it could only be justified by
the pressing exigency of a military necessity, in defence and pro-
tection of her own soil from threatened or actual invasion, and
certainly with no hostile intent towards the citizens of the State
of Maryland, and that any and all damages to persons or property,
consequent upon such occupation, should be fully and liberally
compensated for.

Your Commissioner left with the Governor, at his request, a
copy of the resolutions aforesaid, and the letter of Mr. Biggs,
and regrets that the distracted state of the country, and the uncer-
tainty of communication, compelled him to leave Richmond on
Saturday morning, in order to be present at the assembling of
your Honorable Body, and before he had received a definitive
reply from the Governor of Virginia. That, as soon as he receives
any further communication from him, he will make a further report
to your Honorable Body.

Your Commissioner may be permitted to remark, that the peo-
ple of the western counties of the State, and adjacent to the
Canal, are much interested in preserving from molestation the
trade along its line of navigation, and he has been particularly
solicitous in removing all obstacles which threatened it. While
the bed of the Canal is on the soil of Maryland, the dams which
furnish it with water are dependant on the protection of the Vir-
ginia authorities; and while they have, as yet, manifested no dis-
position to withdraw their guardianship, and leave them liable to
the depredations of malignant persons, your Commissioner has
deemed it his duty to guard against, as far as possible, such a
contingency, and he indulges in a well founded confidence that,
the material interests of this great State work will not be seriously
jeopardized.

O. HORSEY.

To His Excellency, the Governor of Maryland:

The undersigned respectfully represents that he is a citizen of
Frederick county, in the State of Maryland, resident at Berlin,
on the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and engaged in