, without resorting to shifts and
stratagems that would be absurd, if they were not so painful. Such
trammels are far more galling to the purely agricultural class than they
are to the inhabitants of a city like this, where commerce has
introduced a large mixed element, embracing not only Northerners, but
almost every European race.
"But, in spite of all privations and annoyances, there is in the
Marylander just now an honest earnestness of purpose, a readiness for
self-sacrifice, a patient hardihood, a brave, hopeful spirit, quick to
chafe but slow to complain, that might make Anglo-Saxons feel proud of
their common blood. There is plenty of the stuff left out of which
Buchanan, Semmes, Maffit (of the Florida), Hollins, and Kelso are
made--Marylanders all--who are doing their _devoir_ gallantly on the
decks of Southern war-ships. I cannot believe that the day is far
distant when both moral and physical energy will have free and fair
play.
"The ties of mutual interest that bind this State to the Confederacy are
too obvious to need much explanation, but it may be well to touch upon
them briefly. Her extensive water-power marks out Maryland as eminently
adapted for the produce of all kinds of manufactures. That very
accessibility from seaward, which is her weak point in war time, is her
strength in time of peace.
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