DODON, March 12th, 1845.
DEAR SIR,--A short time before the October election, I heard some one
say that it was your intention to devote much of your time, should
you be elected to the House of Delegates, to the subject of the black
population of our State, and to promote, if possible, measures for
their gradual emancipation. It gave me, a slaveholder and citizen of
Maryland, infinite pleasure to hear it; and it was with the deepest
regret I learned soon after that you were not returned to the house.
If I have been correctly informed, I beg leave to say I honor you for
your sentiment, and I hope you will not allow so good a resolution to
die, but will kindle it anew, and seek some other equally practical
means of bringing this subject fully and fairly before the public. It
is one that has long occupied much of my thoughts, and I have watched
anxiously for some one to show his hand in this cause. At this moment
my attention has been more distinctly called to it, by the manly,
high-minded letter of Mr. C. M. Clay, addressed to the people of
Kentucky. There is not a sentiment or a political principle expressed
by him to his fellow citizens that does not with equal force apply
to our noble little State, and every prediction applies _to us_ as
forcibly as it does to them. The time has come, there can be no doubt
of it, to take the needful steps; slaveholders themselves are anxious
for it, and will not be displeased to see the subject _fairly_ taken
into consideration. I have been a planter for five years, and have had
an opportunity of discussing these points with slaveholders of all
parties, and I do not remember a single instance in which objection
was made to the principle of emancipation; some difference, it is
true, exists as to the manner and time, but none as to the necessity.
Heretofore this whole subject has been wrapt in a mystery, as imposing
as the secrets of Free Masonry, and no one, not a member of the order
of slaveholders, has been allowed to open his mouth and say any thing
about it; it is a dangerous question--it is an exciting subject--it
is a matter that belongs to slaveholders themselves--have been the
usual and repeated injunctions laid upon all who honestly and humanely
have desired to inquire into the merits and demerits of this cause. Is
this as it should be? Is it the course that should be pursued by an
educated people, who have at command the means to defend the truth and
expose error? Certainly not. If our State is laboring under an evil,
let the cause and nature of the malady be investigated, and then let
us apply the remedy. If, on the contrary, none can be shown to exist,
at least _agitation_ will receive a check that will be grateful to all
lovers of peace and order. Firmly convinced that such a course will be
displeasing to but few, and that it may promote the general welfare of
Maryland, I beg leave to propose to you the establishment of a paper
devoted to the cause of Emancipation in our State, on the principles of
policy, humanity, and self-interest. I know no one to whom so delicate
a subject could be so safely confided as yourself. Your popularity
as an editor, your established character for sound doctrine and
moderation, are all guarantees for the judicious and successful conduct
of such an undertaking, and, for my own part, I have not the least
doubt of its ultimate success. It would be idle in me to suggest to
you any particulars on this subject; I doubt not it has passed through
your brain long since, and received a due share of your consideration.
I shall therefore conclude, by begging you to excuse the liberty I have
taken in addressing you on so slight a personal acquaintance, and by
hoping, if I am premature in what I have said, that you will impute it
solely to the strong feelings I entertain upon this interesting matter.
With great respect, I remain
Your obedient servant,
R. S. STEWART.
JOHN L. CAREY, ESQ., _Baltimore_.