I say emphatically that Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister States. GOVERNOR MAGOFFIN (Kentucky) April Nineteenth Hark to an exiled son's appeal, Maryland! My mother State! to thee I kneel, Maryland! For life and death, for woe and weal, Thy peerless chivalry reveal, And gird thy beauteous limbs with steel, Maryland! My Maryland! Thou wilt not cower in the dust, Maryland! Thy beaming sword shall never rust, Maryland! Remember Carroll's sacred trust, Remember Howard's warlike thrust,-- And all thy slumberers with the just, Maryland! My Maryland! JAMES RYDER RANDALL _Citizens of Baltimore, objecting to coercion of the seceded States, oppose the passing of the Sixth Massachusetts, their action resulting in the first bloodshed of the War, 1861_ April Twentieth The tempting prize offered Lee in the shape of supreme command of the Army of the Union did not swerve him from his integrity for an instant. It was currently reported at the time that Gen. Winfield Scott implored him, "For God's sake, don't resign!" Every argument that power, luxury, limitless resources, and the untrammeled control of the situation could devise was brought to bear upon him. HENRY E. SHEPHERD _Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army, 1861_ April Twenty-First From the date of its settlement, Maryland became the Land of Sanctuary--the only spot in the known world where the persecuted of all lands were at liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their own hearts. Freedom of conscience was offered by Lord Baltimore to the oppressed of the Old World, thus carrying into effect the original motive of Sir George Calvert's colonization scheme when seeking a charter from King Charles I. HESTER DORSEY RICHARDSON _Passage of the "Act Concerning Religion" by the Maryland Assembly, 1649, endorsing the principles of religious toleration promulgated by Cecilius Calvert in 1634_ _Independence of Texas established at San Jacinto, 1836_ April Twenty-Second The dusk of the South is tender As the touch of a soft, soft hand; It comes between splendor and splendor, The sweetest of service to render, And gathers the cares of the land. Above it the soft sky blushes And pales like an April rose; Within it the South wind hushes, And the Jessamine's heart outgushes, And earth like an emerald glows. JOHN P. SJOLANDER _Capture of Plymouth, N. C., by Gen. R. D. Hoke, 1864_ April Twenty-Third In seeds of laurel in the earth The blossom of your fame is blown; And somewhere, waiting for its birth, The shaft is in the stone! HENRY TIMROD _Randall writes "My Maryland" at Pointe Coupee, La., 1861_ _Father Ryan dies, 1886_ April Twenty-Fourth