On Being a First Citizen
President Miller, members of the Senate, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
It is my privilege to present, on your behalf, the First Citizen Awards of the Maryland Senate. This year is particularly special because of your move into the new Miller Senate Building where we have installed several exhibits, including one devoted to the original First Citizen, Charles Carroll of Carrollton.
In honor of the principles and standard of statesmanship followed by the longest surviving and only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, we not only meet today to bestow three First Citizen Awards, but also to give each of you an excellent new book on the family and fortune of Charles Carroll of Carrollton which your support of appropriations to the Archives has helped make possible. Entitled Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland, A Carroll Saga, 1500-1782, and written by noted Carroll scholar Dr. Ronald Hoffman, Director of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, it is a sparkling account of an Irish American family's "unrelenting determination to triumph without compromising its loyalty to lineage and faith."
While delving into the Irish origins of the Carrolls, the principal focus of Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland, is our First Citizen, the name by which Charles Carroll of Carrollton chose to sign several articles published in the Maryland Gazette beginning in February of 1773. Carroll, legally a non-citizen who could neither vote nor hold office because he was a Roman Catholic, wrote in response to an unsigned article by the best known lawyer of the day, Daniel Dulany.
What began as a simple exchange of views published in the Maryland Gazette by Anne Catherine Green, Maryland's first woman Printer to the State, grew into a series of eight letters in which Charles Carroll not only had the last word but also began a public career that would not end for nearly another 60 years. As First Citizen, Carroll strongly defended an independent legislature. He was among the first to advance a new concept of government that soon would sweep through the colonies like wildfire. No longer would the people of America allow themselves to be ruled arbitrarily from abroad. While extolling traditional community rights and liberties, Carroll launched a call for a radical restructuring of government based on the advice and consent of the people that led to one of the most creative experiments in defining self-government that the world has ever witnessed. Although not yet fully articulated in the First Citizen letters, Carroll was beginning to ask all citizens to think about much needed changes in the structure of government, changes that would allow people like him "freedom of speech and thought," that would prevent officeholders from having seats in the Legislature, and that would ensure that taxation could not be imposed by anyone not subject to the laws passed by the Legislature. Indeed, by his words as First Citizen, he was launching a crusade for a change in the very definition of the meaning of representative government that would reach far beyond his own understanding of his world and would ultimately lead to the overthrow of the evil institution of slavery on which in part his personal fortune depended.
To Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the Constitution was not something fixed somewhere in the distant past, consisting of principles not to be altered, changed or improved upon, but was, rather, a set of guidelines to be written down, debated, and tested by time. To Carroll and others like his cousin Charles Carroll the Barrister, Samuel Chase, and William Paca, all future members of the Maryland Senate, making government work for the good of the whole meant a thoughtful reworking of the structure of government by writing it all down, debating the results, and crafting the final product in committees separately and of the whole. In effect, Carroll as First Citizen, saw government much as every citizen should see it today, in constant need of attention and thoughtful legislative action.
Not only did Charles Carroll of Carrollton write as a 'First Citizen,' he, also lived his life as a First Citizen. In addition to helping draft Maryland's first Constitution and signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Carroll served as a member of the Maryland Senate from 1777 to 1801, and as its president. He also was one of the first United States Senators from Maryland and became one of the staunchest advocates of the B & O Railroad which did so much to further the economic development of the state. Carroll taught by word and by example. He was willing to put his ideas, his fortune, and his time on the line in favor of better, more responsive government. It is in that spirit that the Maryland Senate presents the First Citizen Awards to individuals like Carroll, who have taken up the challenge to make government work better for the benefit of all.
This morning, for the ninth time since 1992, I have the honor of presenting First Citizen Awards.
The first is to Senator Barbara Hoffman. A member of the senate since 1982, Senator Hoffman was once referred to as the Accidental Senator, drawn reluctantly into the political arena through the mentorship of another recipient of the First Citizen Award, former Senator Rosalie Abrams. Known for her plain talk, toughness, and perspicacity, especially with regard to budgetary matters, Senator Hoffman is an outspoken proponent of carefully chosen initiatives for young children, and a strong advocate of meeting the needs of her less affluent constituents. She has even taken the time to ensure that the public share in one of her personal family treasures, a rare photograph of Baltimore's winning 1897 baseball team. For her profound dedication to her duties as a public servant and the wisdom with which they are performed, the Senate of Maryland rises in praise of Barbara Hoffman as a 'First Citizen' of Maryland.
The second presentation this morning is to Dr. Earl S. Richardson who, now in his 17th year as the 11th president of Morgan University, has skillfully led his institution to heights of academic excellence and nationally recognized distinction, while making the successful effort to reach out to those students most in need, those, as he so eloquently put it, are so often left on the margin. For his steadfast devotion to selling Morgan in the wider community, while strengthening academic programs, improving fiscal management, and overseeing the renovation of the University's physical plant; for his energetic commitment to establishing a strong foundation of excellence and achievement in the African-American Community, the Senate of Maryland rises to commend Earl S. Richardson as a First Citizen of Maryland.
The third presentation this morning is to Senator Robert Neall. Senator Neall has occupied a place of distinction on both sides of the aisle, devoting his boundless and creative energy to sound fiscal management, and more recently, to capital construction. Senator Neall has persistently demonstrated his talent for making the most of existing resources, including the appropriate recycling of a magnificent Tiffany dome, while at the same time keeping a close watch on the budget. His attention to detail is probably best characterized by the most recent image I have of him, on his hands and knees searching for that signature piece of the Great Seal Mosaic in the new Miller Senate Building, the only piece among thousands that is intentionally upside down. In a sense, the creation of that masterful representation of the State Seal at Senator Neall's instigation and direction is symbolic of the care, the pride, and the delight that he takes in helping craft state government to the benefit of us all. Today the Senate of Maryland rises to salute Senator Robert Neall as a 'First Citizen' of Maryland.