Doc. 76.-Governor Bradford's appeal.
Some, assuming to be ready for any emergency which the defence of the State may require, hesitate to enlist in Government service lest they may be ordered elsewhere; but the very proclamation of the President which makes this call upon us assumes as the true reason for it the threatened invasion of our State, and would seem to be an implied assurance that such force is only required within the borders. But suppose it were otherwise, and that it could be made available elsewhere, are we willing so to qualify and cramp the service that may be asked of us as to say that it shall be rendered within the confines of our State, but nowhere else? It may well be that the very best stand-points for State defences are to be found on the other side of the Potomac.
Who are the men here in our midst to-day ready to meet the approaching foe? They come from the North, and the East, and the West. Volunteers representing six States now man the works upon Maryland Heights, and the citizens of the State, sheltered as they are under the very shadow of the capital, should be the last in the Union to hesitate over any service of a national character that may be required of them.
The Commanding General authorizes me to say that whilst he has accepted for special duty in the neighborhood of the barricades the proffered service of some of our patriotic citizens, such service will be no obstacle to the enlistment of those who would volunteer for six months, and who, while in discharge of this special duty, will be still accepted and mustered into the six months service. [316]
Some, as I am told, decline to volunteer, preferring a draft, because, as they say, only the loyal will volunteer, while the draft compels the rebel sympathizer to discharge his just share of the public duty. The duty to which we are now summoned is emphatically a patriotic one--one which we should be unwilling to share with any whose whole heart is not devoted to his country. Do you expect a heart service of this kind from secessionists? Are you willing to leave the metropolis of the State undefended because they may fold their arms and offer no assistance? God forbid.
The patriots of the Revolution recognized no such reasoning. No whig failed to respond in those days because the tories stood aloof; but, when struggling for the liberties which it is now your duty defend, they mustered to a man, and sought no aid from the traitors in their midst, and left the very name of tory a term of contumely and scorn for all time to come.
Let me, then, once more appeal to you, my fellow-citizens, and remind you that the foot of the invader is once more upon the soil of Maryland. In other days her citizens did not require to be twice told of such an event. And you, I trust, will show the world that the blood of the old defenders still courses through your veins. Come, then, at once. Come with a will, and come in crowds; and, as our fathers did fifty years ago, meet the invader before his tread shall desecrate the threshold of our homes.
The General commanding this department informs me that, beside the work upon the intrenchments now being done by a force of colored laborers impressed for the purpose, he will have occasion to-morrow (Monday) morning for one or two thousand patriotic citizens to be employed in different fortifications at other points. To wield a pick or a spade for such a purpose is fully as honorable, and just now quite as essential, as to shoulder a musket or unsheathe a sword.
All citizens who will volunteer for this work are invited to present themselves at Monument Square, in front of the General's headquarters, at nine o'clock Monday morning.
