Be active, earnest and vigilant, 1864

Until the dawn of that brighter era in the history of Maryland when she shall have emerged from the night of Slavery into the full day of Freedom and Prosperity, and the standard bearers of the National Union ticket shall have been triumphantly elected, these columns will be exclusively devoted to the cause. We conceive it to be the duty of every freeman in the Commonwealth to be active, earnest and vigilant in his efforts to place Maryland among the great Free Labor States, whose manufacturing, mining, agricultural and commercial industry is identical with ours. In proportion to her area, she has far greater natural advantages than any other State in the Union, and her resources once developed, she will become as wealthy and important as any of her Federal sisters. Patriots of Maryland, to the rescue!