496 



MARYLAND. 



and cares found time to indulge his extraordi- 

 nary powers as a musical composer and poet in 

 the composition of both the music and words 

 of a collection of Chants de Sion, many of the 

 tunes in which are now adopted in the religious 

 worship of nearly every Protestant denomina- 

 tion and people in Christendom, and some of 

 his anthems have even been introduced in the 

 Catholic service. Dr. Malan was a painter of 

 great skill, both in oils and water colors, pro- 

 ducing many gems in miniature during his hours 

 of relaxation, for the gratification of his friends, 

 a skilful lithographer and printer, and as a 

 sculptor he possessed the ability to have attain- 

 ed a very high rank. Thorwaldsen was his 

 intimate friend, and more than once intrusted 

 him with the completion of some of his choicest 

 groups, of which the lion executed for the city 

 of Lucerne is an example, the fore-foot having 

 been cut by Dr. Malan. These artistic pursuits 

 constituted his usual amusement and relaxation 

 from severe studies, lie was an accomplished 

 linguist, and with one of his sons, now a clergy- 

 man of the Church of England, and said to be 

 equal to Mezzofanti in the extent of his linguis- 

 tic acquirements, he made it a rule only to con- 

 verse in Latin. Dr. Malan repeatedly visited 

 England, where he attracted great attention by 

 his eloquence, and where he had many warm 

 friends. Many of his tracts, and several of his 

 larger works, have been translated into English, 

 and published in England and the United States. 

 Among the Italian are "the Church of Rome," 

 N. Y., 1844. "Stories for Children," 1852. 

 " Pictures from Switzerland," 1854. 



lie was able to preach in his own church 

 until the 10th of November, 1863, when he was 

 prostrated by the disease which eventually 

 proved fatal, but lingered almost six months, 

 maintaining, amid severe and constant suffering, 

 that serenity and patience which had been 

 conspicuous in his entire life. 



MARYLAND. At the commencement of 

 1864 all parties in this State were looking for- 

 ward to the session of the Legislature which 

 was to inaugurate measures for emancipation. 

 The question of a State Convention to alter the 

 organic law of the State, so that emancipation 

 could be effected, had been decided at the elec- 

 tion in November, by the choice of members to 

 the Legislature in favor of such change. This 

 body assembled at Annapolis on January 6th. 

 The Senate was organized by the election of 

 John S. Sellman as President, and the House 

 of Delegates by the election of Thomas H. 

 Kemp as Speaker. The vote was for Kemp 

 54, for John S. Dent 16, and one blank. On 

 the 10th the following joint resolution was 

 passed in the Senate and sent to the House, 

 where on the next day it failed to pass 

 ayes, 26; noes, 27. 



Whereas, The Senate of Maryland has this day re- 

 ceived information from a "member of the House ot 

 Delegates" and from other reliable sources, that Gen 

 Birney, who is in command of the "negro encamp, 

 ment at Benedict," has sent out about one hundred 

 and fifty negro soldiers int" the counties of Charles 



and St. Mary's, with orders to seize upon and carry 

 into the encampment at Benedict all negro men found 

 upon plantations and otherwise, for the purpose of 

 forcing into the military service of the United States 

 all such as are capable of bearing arms, and of setting 

 at liberty all who are not fit for such service; 



And whereas, In the opinion of the Senate, this 

 outrage upon the rights, property, and security of 

 her citizens has been perpetrated by said Bimey 

 without the authority, knowledge, consent, or ap- 

 proval of the President ; therefore, 



Resolved, That a joint committee of not less than 

 three on the part of the Senate, and not more than 

 five of the House of Delegates, be and hereby are ap- 

 poined to repair to Washington to confer with the 

 President, and ask such redress and protection for 

 her citizens as the necessities of their condition claim, 

 and demand protection at the hands of the Govern- 

 ment, and at their earliest possible convenience re- 

 port to their respective bodies. 



On January 13th the position of the member^ 

 of the House on the question of emancipation 

 was brought to a test. A preamble and resolu- 

 tions were introduced, declaring that the " true 

 interests of Maryland demand that the policy 

 of emancipation should immediately be inaugu- 

 rated within her borders; " that the Legislature 

 "declares its intention to submit to the people 

 at as early a day as practicable a call for a Con- 

 stitutional Convention, so as to give them an 

 opportunity to carry such policy into effect ; " 

 and requesting the Senators and Representa- 

 tives in Congress " to use all honorable efforts 

 to secure the passage of a law by Congress 

 whereby all loyal owners may be compensated 

 for the loss of their slaves." By a vote of 48 

 to 22, the rules were suspended, and the reso- 

 lutions passed to a second reading. A proposi- 

 tion to amend the last resolution by striking 

 out the words "loyal owners," and inserting " all 

 who own slaves, and have not engaged in actual 

 hostilities against the Government of the United 

 States, or given aid or comfort to those engaged 

 in hostilities against said Government," was re- 

 jected by a vote of yeas 19, nays 51. The 

 preamble and resolutions were finally adopted 

 by a vote of 51 to 15, seven members being ab- 

 sent or not voting. 



On January 15th the Committee to whom 

 was referred that portion of the Governor's 

 Message relating to a State Constitutional Con- 

 vention, submitted a majority and minority re- 

 port. The majority report was signed by all 

 the committee except one. It proposed a bill 

 directing an election to take place on the 6th 

 day of April ensuing, at which ballots should 

 be cast "for a Convention or against a Conven- 

 tion." At the same election should be chosen 

 delegates to a State Convention, on the same 

 basis of representation as was established in the 

 election of members of the State _ Legislature. 

 If the majority of votes were cast in favor of a 

 Convention the Governor was then to issue a 

 proclamation, declaring that fact, and the 

 delegates elected should meet in Convention at 

 Annapolis on the 27th day of April. The Con- 

 stitution adopted by the Convention was to be 

 submitted to the voters of the State for con- 

 firmation or rejection at such time as the Con- 



