THE former editions of this History having met with such favor from the public that a new edition is demanded, opportunity has been given to make further additions. Biographical sketches of some of Maryland's prominent men have been added. New illustrations have been made, and it has been more thoroughly adapted to the uses of the class room. The portion that relates to the period of the civil war has been re-written, and care has been taken to make it a History of the State during that war. No attempt has been made, and it would be out of place if it were made, to give a history of the war; that belongs to the History of the United States.
The History of the Proprietary government, under which Maryland was established and grew, is full, for it is in that government that we find the germs of those principles of popular liberty that resulted in the Revolution; and it is in the free institutions founded under it that we recognize the school in which our fathers learned both the true objects of government, and their own rights as individuals.
There is perhaps no stimulus to worthy deeds, or at least to the preservation of self-respect, equal to that which is furnished in the legacy of a good name. That our youth should know how rich the History of Maryland is in all that can inspire noble emulation, is not only desirable in itself, but is the surest pledge that they will be animated to deeds worthy of their sires, and that, by "imitating the virtue, the valor, and the liberality of their forefathers," they will hand down the State to posterity with untarnished lustre.
In the former editions, the hope was expressed that this little book might be instrumental in promoting this