Party, deem it unnecessary to send for persons and papers,
as the people of Maryland, in the majesty of their power,
have furnished the Legislature with abundant testimony of
the purity of its principles, by the large and respectable
representation now composing a part of its body." On this
resolution the vote stood: Affirmative, Kennedy, Hall and
Goldsborough. Negative, Merrick and Smith.
Mr. Merrick then offered the following resolution:
" Resolved, That it is the duty of this Committee to carry
out fully the instructions and commands laid upon them by
the resolutions of the House of Delegates, and to report
fully upon the facts found upon an examination of witnesses
on oath, and also such remedy for existing evils, if any
should be found to exist, as in their judgment the nature
of such evils may require." The vote on this resolution
stood: Affirmative, Messrs. Merrick and Smith. Negative,
Kennedy, Hall and Goldsborough.

And thus, the undersigned regret to say, have terminated
the proceedings of this Committee, of which so much has been
said, and from whom so much was expected.

The resolutions above quoted affirm first, that the Gover-
nor, in his response to the Committee, points out the Ameri-
can party of the Philadelphia platform as the object of his
animadversion. This was unanimously agreed to—no one
ever doubted it—the Governor says so, and points out that
platform as one of the documents containing evidence of the
facts, or some of the facts, the Committee were charged to
inquire into. But lest (it would seem) he should not be be-
lieved in making his own statement, the Committee resolve
that it is so. Of course it can now no longer be questioned
by any one; there the fact stands.

By the third resolution adopted by the majority, and the
resolution offered by Mr. Merrick and rejected by the same
majority, the Committee decided both affirmatively and neg-
atively, that they would not summon any witnesses to testify
before them, neither would they examine any witnesses upon
oath, deeming, in the words of the resolution, the " election
of a large and respectable representation by the people of
Maryland in the majesty of their power, abundant testimony of
the purity of the principles of the American party." How-
ever good the policy of so deeming, and of making such a
declaration under certain circumstances, this minority deny
that the conclusion is either logical or justifiable ;—the neces-
sary corollary being, that any and every party, which may
chance to elect a large and respectable representation, by
whatever means, are and must be conceded to be pure, and

11