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ance with the terms of cession, in their letter and
their spirit.
Resolved unanimously, That the State of Mary-
land never designed, nor did the General Govern-
ment at the time of cession contemplate the using of
the sovereignty over the District of Columbia, to the
detriment of the local institutions of the State of
Maryland.
Resolved unanimously, That the State of Maryland
was at the time of the adoption of the Federal Con-
stitution, and is now in feeling, and in all the features
of her constitution and her laws, essentially, fully
and unequivocally a slaveholding State.
Resolved unanimously, That any attempt by Con-
gress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia,
would be a violation of the implied conditions of the
cession, a just cause of alarm to the slaveholding
States, and have a direct and inevitable tendency
to disturb and endanger the Union.
Resolved unanimously, That the State of Mary-
land loves and values the Union for the glories of the
past, the happiness of the present, and the high
destinies of the future, and she believes no truly
American and patriotic heart would wish to disturb
the great compromises which have made, and can
alone sustain and preserve it, or would willingly use
the powers of the Federal Government for the pur-
pose of oppressing or trampling upon the rights and
interests of any of the States.
Resolved unanimously, That the territories of the
United States belong to the several States of this
Union, and the Congress of the United States can-
not rightfully pass any law, or do any act which is
calculated to prevent or deter the citizens of any of
the said States from removing to and settling with
their property of every description, upon said terri-
tories.
Resolved unanimously, That we recur with pride
and satisfaction, to the conciliatory and friendly feel-
ing that pervaded the council board of the old thir-
teen States, when our present glorious constitution
was made, and following the example there set by
our fathers, we would in this our day of difficulty
and trial, invoke a similar spirit to attend the distract-
ed councils of the Federal Union, but if we be dis-
appointed in this, our solemn and earnest invocation,
it is due to ourselves and to the people of the United
States, that we should declare that Maryland will take
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