USA > Maryland > An historical view of the government of Maryland : from its colonization to the present day > Part 20
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THE PROPRIETARY
[Hist. Viow.
annual revenue from the fines and forfeitures, was estimated by the lower house, in 1765, at upwards of &400 currency; and the provincial amerciaments, at upwards of 2500 pounds of tobacco. Their estimate as to the amerciaments fell greatly below the " actual receipts : for it appears from a report as to these, made to the lower house in 1767, that they had yielded in six years, from September, 1659, to September, 1765, 42,900 pounds of tobacco; or an average annual amount of about 7130 pounds of tobac- co. (IG) :
The lord proprietary enjoyed also certain personal rights, as incident to his office and dignity, to which we shall briefly advert. He had a preference in the payment of all debts due to him. (17) Personal rights Since the revolution, it has been determined that offre and dig. the reasons of the doctrine, " Nullum Tempus occur- ity of the pro
- iprident to the
Prietary. rit regi," did not apply to his situation; and that he was therefore within the operation of the statutes of limi- tation, although not expressly named. (18) But the contrary opinion appears to have been maintained before the revolu- tion. (19) Whether he could sue and be sued in his courts, has also been a debated point. It appears that suits were frequently brought in his name as plaintiff, and the established doctrine seems to have been, that he might sue in his own courts; but there is no precedent of an adversary suit against him. (20) The
that period, for the part which he sustained in the transactions of the pro- vince, with reference to the stamp act. `This report is a state paper, which would reflect honor on any man or any assembly.
(16) See the journals of 10th and 16th December, 1765, &c. Many of the messages, connected with the various controversies about these branches of revenue, are written with great vigor and even elegance of style. They breathe every where the spirit of men, who had never been tamed to submis- ston, and who were as familiar, as we of this day, with the proper uses of government. They shew us a people trained to independence before it came. Such is particularly the case with the messages at the session of 1765.
(17) Act of 1650, chap. 28.
(15) Kelly's Lessee vs. Greenfield, 2. Harr. and M'Hen. 138 ; and Rus- sell's Lessee vs. Baker, in 1800, 1 Harr. and John, 71, where the question was very fully argued.
(19) I Harr. and M'Hen. 151. 2 Harr. and M'Hen. 279. Martin's Argu- ment in 1 Harr. and Johns. 82 and 96
(20) 2d Harris and M'Henry, 374 and 339.
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Chap. I.]
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GOVERNMENT OF MARYLAND.
weight of the reasoning was unquestionably against the propriety of permitting suits to be maintained, either by or against him in his own courts; (21) but the practice of those courts having admitted and sanctioned his right to sue in them, the whole force of the objection to the maintenance of suits against him, was thereby destroyed. His right to sue being conceded, it has there- fore been determined in our courts since the revolution, that he might also be sued in them. (2:2)
The summary view of the proprietary government, above given, presents to us all its prominent features and tendencies; and the review of them is calculated to inspire the citizens of Mary- land with feelings of pride and gratitude. It was indeed a colo- nial government, and subject to thraldoms which we have never known. Yet it was a government of laws administered by freemen, and the nursery of our free principles and institutions; and in contrast with all the colonial governments of that day, we may truly say of it, "It was full of power and privilege to the subject."
(21) See the opinion of those distinguished lawyers, Francis Hargrave and Daniel Dulany, in 2d Harr. and M'Hen. 345 and 359.
(22) Calvert's Lessee against Eden and others, 2d Harr. and M'Hen. 339.
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CHAPTER II.
THE HISTORY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MARYLAND, FROM THE COLONIZATION UNTIL TIIE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION.
THERE are three prominent periods in the colonial history of Maryland, anterior to the year 1763, each of which may be con- sidered as the commencement of a new aera in the history of its government and the character of its institutions. The first of Agras in the co- these aeras begins with the colonization of the pro- lonial history of vince, and terminates with the year 1688. The Maryland.
second commences at the latter period with the in- ternal dissensions, which led to the forination of the Protestant association, and through its instrumentality to the overthrow of the proprietary government; and extends over the whole inter- 'val of the royal government, established upon the downfall of the proprietary power. The third acra extends from the res- toration of the proprietary government in 1715, to the treaty concluded at Paris in 1763. The origin of each of these aeras is identified with the establishment of a new government; and it gives us an advantageous and commanding position, on which we may pause to survey the general character and results of the government which preceded it. Such resting points for the review of the transactions of the past, always assist the in- quiring reader, in carrying along, in one connected view, the causes and effects of national rise or decline, and in marking their reciprocal operation and combined results. From the treaty of Paris we may properly date the commencement of the rero- lutionary aera, which terminated in our independence ; and during which, the annals of Maryland contain nothing but the history of her resistance to arbitrary power, and of her triumph over oppression. Her government and all her institutions, had then obtained the form, strength and consistence, which they preserved
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HISTORY FROM THE COLONIZATION
[Hist. View.
until the revolution. Her internal power and resources were all developed: the character of her people already formed ; and their notions of political and civil liberty already matured. Ac- quainted with these, then and not until then, we are prepared to enter upon the history of her revolutionary struggle.
In the colonial history of Maryland, throughout the period The Colonial his- which preceded this struggle, the events imme- tory of Mary- diately connected with the introduction of each of
land, distinguish- ed more by re- suits than by in- the æras already alluded to, constitute nearly the culents. whole of what, may be termed its external history, in contradistinction to that of the mere internal administration of its government. It embraces a period of one hundred and thirty years, in the progress of which a little band of two hun- dred emigrants, seated at a single point on the southern ex- tremity of the province, had become a wealthy, populous and self-relying colony, diffused over every portion of it, and carry- ing to its every border the arts and enjoyments of civilized and re- fined life. The war-whoop had given place to the hum of busy and contented industry. The deep, dark forests, which had been soiled only by the trace of the savage, had been succeeded by the fields of the husbandman. It was no longer the red man's home and heritage, and " the very places which once knew him now knew him no more for ever." Yet these moral and political changes, effected by this settlement, were but the noiseless re- sults of its gradual extension; and have brought down to our times but few of those lofty enterprises, daring achievements, extraordinary occurrences, or peculiar traits of character, which illustrate a people, or give interest to history.
Colonial History, in general, presents to us but few of those spi- rit-stirring incidents which enter into the transactions of full grown and established nations: It is but the history of a peo- ple's infancy ; and with the great body of mankind, the adven- tures of an infant people awaken as little interest
Causes which di- mightriver and command as little attention, as those of an in- History gener- dividual's infancy. They want that strength and est of Colonial ally.
power, and those far reaching views and enterprises, which import a kind of moral sublimity to national transactions. They exhibit none of those sudden and extraordinary results, which extend their operation to other nations. They relate to a
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Chap. II.].
people, whose distinct and peculiar existence as such, has not been of sufficient duration to give them a distinct and peculiar character ; or to give interest to their transactions, either by the illustrations which they afford of that character, or by borrowing ' lustre from it.
The nature of the occupations and pursuits of colonies, in the Deficiency in the first years of their establishment, is not calculated inateries neces- my for the early to evolve events deeply interesting to the age in history of Culo- which they occur. The infancy of colonies, as well as that of individuals, is busied about self improvement and establishment; and in preparing themselves for the part which they are to play at maturity. The individual, in youth, is devoting himself to the acquisition of knowledge, and the discipline of mind and body, which fit him for his intended pursuit in life. The infant colony is gradually extending its settlements, increasing its population, enlarging its resources, and accommodating its institutions to its gradual advance ; and many years must elapse, before it acquires that strength, con- sistence, and reliance upon self, which are necessary for the development of its energies, or give it. consequence in the eyes of others. The age. in which it springs up, does not begin to feel a lively interest in it, before it has acquired these; and then the interest begins too late for the collection and pre- servation of its early history. Here again, the parallel holds good between individuals and nations. When the manhood of the former has been rendered conspicuous by displays of virtue or ability, then, and not until then, is the public curiosity di- rected to their infancy for its early promises and pursuits, and then but little remains to be gleaned from the recollections of those who observed them. The individual himself knew not his own power, saw not in the bright future the space which he was destined to occupy in the public mind, and did not mark the traces of his own course. So it is with nations; and hence it is that so few memorials of their carly history are preserved. That which is preserved, is generally that which, is least worthy of preservation. The pigmy warfares and marauding expeditions of a colony are of little importance in its history. We wish to know merely its general condition, the circumstances which
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HISTORY FROM THE COLONIZATION [Hist. View.
formed the peculiar habits and character of the colonists, and the sources of the institutions which they have transmitted to us ; and unfortunately, the transactions from which we could princi- pally collect these, are connected solely with its internal and do- mestic administration, of which the accounts we have, are often neither copious nor authentic.
Besides these general causes, there were others peculiar to Maryland, which tended to deprive its mere civil history of the incidents calculated to give it interest with the great body of readers. Men do not, in general, look into history, for the
The Colonial ad- transactions of a calm, gentle and contenting ad-
ministration / of Maryland, not ministration of governinent. The records of the mild and noiseless display of benevolence and
calculated to e- volve striking neulents. virtue, either in public or private life, too often sleep upon their shelves. The gradual accessions to a nations' wealth, power, and liberty, which she derives from a peace- ful devotion to her own interests, are perceived only in their general results; whilst in the transactions of periods of tur- bulence or warfare, the results are overlooked for the incidents. Such is our nature, that the memorials of high-reaching ambition or daring crime are sought with avidity, whilst those of virtue, more lofty in its aim and diffusive in its ultimate operation, are left to their slumbers; and the campaign of Italy has more inte- rest, than the story of our own country rescued from the wilder- ness and advanced to happiness and independence. The admin- istration of the colonial government of Maryland was, in general, mild and peaceful; and hence, except at one or two periods of short duration, it evolved but few of those striking transactions, or peculiar displays of talent and character, which are brought forth by occasions of excitement. It has not even the Indian wars, which give a spice to the history of some of the northern colonies ; for its course towards these primitive owners of the soil, whilst it secured their subjection and obedience, yet tolera- ted their existence, and extended to them the protection of its laws and the duties of humanity. Religious persecution, beyond the denial of public trusts and employments, was almost a stranger to the province; and we have therefore no accounts of martyrdom to stain its annals.
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Chap. II.]
' The establishment of its institutions makes up its history ; and 1 the view which we are about to take of the trans- Limited designs of this Historical View, and peru- har dubicultes in Its . accomplish- Inent. actions of the province, is limited to such a general consideration of them as will suffice to illustrate the establishment of- the former. The scanty mate- rials which our records furnish, would not permit us to extend our views beyond this, even if it were desirable ; and they leave us at last without any aids to illustrate the character and motives of individuals, whose transactions were identified with those of the colony, except such as can be collected from the transactions themselves. At this period, so far removed in time and character from the age in which they lived, their transactions themselves do not reveal to us the secret springs of action, the lurking motive, and the ultimate design, the know- ledge of which alone can give accuracy to the portraits of history. Without these, history is but a detail of names, places, and dates ; and nothing could furnish them, but the personal observation of those who were around the actors and. mingled in the acts. Neither history nor tradition now lend us such aids as to the transactions of the colony; and in many instances, even these transactions themselves are lost to our view, or the accounts which we have of them barely indicate their existence. If . therefore, in the accomplishment of our design, limited as it is, we should fall short of the expectations of the reader, we would indulge the hope that he will, at least in some degree, ascribe its imperfect execution to these causes, beyond the control of the writer. (1)
(1) " The annals of Maryland (says Dr. Ramsay) are barren of those strik- ing events which illustrate the page of history. This is probably the reason that so little of its history has been published. Its internal peace in the pe- riod of infancy, was but little disturbed, cither by Indians or insurgents, though not wholly exempt from either. Its early settlers loved their king and their proprietary. They were not given to change, but attached to ancient forms, their native country and its constitution." (Ramsay's History of the United States, vol. I. p. 144.) He illustrates this barrenness, by compress- ing its whole colonial history into four pages. It is the strongest testimony to prove the prosperous and contented condition of the colony, which he could have adduced; and so he himself seems to have considered it. His general remark is just ; but the causes by which he accounts for it, fall short of those which actually produced it. They were attached to forms, only
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HISTORY FROM THE COLONIZATION
[Hist. View.
The early settlements of the English colonies, within what are how the limits of these United States, were, in general, similar in the causes and circumstances of their establishment. It was The desire for civil and teli- mions liberty , the ¡ Rtutry cause of the settlement of Tir English coh). !. 48 m Nort !! America. not the mere spirit of enterprise, the thirst for gain, " nor the love of novelty, which impelled the early cinigrants to forsake their native land, and to sever all the ties which bound them to the homes of their fathers. It was not for these alone, that they were content to go forth as wanderers from the scenes of their infan- ey, and the attachments of their youth .. It was not for these alone, that they took up their abode in the wilderness ; made their dwelling with the savage; and encountered with cheerfulness and alacrity, ali the privations and dangers of a country not yet rescued from the rudeness of nature. These causes may. have contributed, and no doubt did operate in peopling these colonies, but we must look elsewhere for the primary causes of their establishment, and the true sources of their rapid increase in wealth and population. This, their new home, had other charms for them: and the history of the times, and the language of the emigrants, tell us what these were. They sought free- dom from the civil and religious shackles, and oppressive institu- tions, of their parent country ; and here they found, and were content to take it, with all its alloy of hardship and danger. Too inconsiderable to attract the attention, or provoke the indigna- tion of the parent government ; too remote to be narrowly ob- served in their transactions, or to be reached by the speedy arm of power : here, unharassed by the old and corrupt establish- ments of their native land, yet cherishing all the genuine princi- ples of English liberty, might they spring up to consequence and happiness. Here, unchecked in their infant operations by the jea- lousies of the parent, they might be permitted to lay, broad and deep, the foundations of their civil and religious liberties ; and here
when they carried with them the substance of liberty. With them, age never sanc- tified usurpation, nor acquired respect for arbitrary power. As to the extent of their rights, they were guided by the best lights which the age afforded ; and once satisfied of their existence, they maintained them to the last. They never, on any occasion, wilfully abandoned these to bow the knee to the Baul of Prerogative. Mr. Ramsay has, therefore, very justly characterised their colonial administration, as generally full of freedom and gentleness, and their colonial condition as one of happiness and prosperity.
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Chap. II.]
they might hope to transmit them to their posterity, in all their freshness and purity.
The strength of these inducements can readily be collected from the condition of England at that period, as presented to us by its most approved writers. The age of almost unchecked prerogative, which had succeeded to that of baro- The circumstan-
ces which gave nial turbulence and anarchy, was yet in its vigor
peculiar energy
to this desire. when the early settlements were made. The reli- mious establishments of the land had changed ; but the spirit of intolerance, and the arm of civil power and oppression, were still there to sustain them, to repress the spirit of free inquiry, and to trample to the dust the holy rights of conscience. The Commons had risen to consequence and power, as an integral part of the nation ; but the wanton exercise of prerogative was not yet effectually restrained. Arbitrary and oppressive proclama- tions usurping the place of legislative power, and even trans- cending it, were yet issued and enforced; (2) the power to dispense with laws was yet exercised ; and the days of the Star-Chamber were not yet numbered. The character of that age was one
. . (2) A singular specimen of the proclamation power, will be found in Ander- son's Treatise on Commerce, 2d vol. 463. It recites, " that whereas by the residence of the nobility and gentry, with their families, in the city of London, a great part of their money and substance is drawn from the several counties, whence it ariseth, and spent in the city on excess . of apparel provi- ded from foreign ports, to the enriching of other nations, ad the unnecessary consumption of a great part of the treasure of the realm ; and in other vain delights and expenses ; and that it draws a great number of loose and iole persons to London .: " And it therefore commands them to depart from Lon- don, with their families, in forty days, and to reside on their estates. If they resisted, Star-Chamber fines were the consequence ; and the king pocketed the fines. This was a proclamation of king Charles I. issued in 1722 : and it has wany fettours in the proclamations issued some years before and after the char- ter of Maryland. Nothing was too elevated or too low, to be exempt from their operation. About the same period. king Charles issued one, prohibit- ing the cating of flesh on fast-days ; and one still more curious, relative to. the manufacture of saltpetre, which we must not repeat, is preserved by An- derson, (2d vol. 425.) King James's proclamation war against Tobacco, is far less absurd than many others of his reign. These reigns may be very truly styled the Monopoly and Proclamation reigns ; and a collection of the proclama- tions and monopoly patents of that period, would be truly amusing. There was one exception to their operation-they did not tax nor monopolise the dir.
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well calculated to call forth all the energies of tottering preroga- tive. The temper of the times, and the disposition of the English people, were adverse to it. The spirit of fearless research and free inquiry, which neither bolts nor bars can fetter, was abroad in the land, and menaced the existence of arbitrary power both in church and state ; and the struggle which the lat- ter maintained for existence, naturally led to its improper and inordinate exercise. It yet had power to sustain itself ; and those who could not resist, were glad to seek a shelter from its oppres- sions. Here was a new world, yet unsullied by the establish- ments of tyranny or corruption ; and here they came to enjoy even its rude freedom. It is well known, that all the New England settlements were promoted and established, almost exclusively by these causes. The colony of Virginia, which was seated at an carlier period, looked more to commercial pur- poses ; but at the period when the New Plymouth and Massa- chusetts settlements were established, it also received accessions of population from the same causes.
The character and circumstances of the grant of Maryland to Lord Baltimore, have already been detailed. (3) It will be remembered, that George Calvert, baron of Baltimore, through Operation of whose influence and favor with the crown the grant these in produ- cing the colont. was obtained, was the intended grantee ; and that, zation of Mary- land. in consequence of his death, at the moment when the charter was ready for passage under the great seal, it enured to the benefit of his son and heir, Cecilius Calvert; to whom it was therefore directly granted. George Calvert was an adherent to the principles of the proscribed Roman Catholic Church; and although, notwithstanding his religious persuasion, he still retain- ed the favor of the king, he was not entirely exempt from those difficulties and mortifications, which always attend the profes- sion and exercise of a proscribed religion. It was natural, that thus situated, he should desire to establish himself in some more happy land ; where, in every event, he might be free from the persecutions of the established church. Men are not content with the enjoyment, by mere sufferance, either of political or reli- gious liberty. The insecurity of the tenure robs them of half their
(3) See antea page 8th.
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Chap. II.]
TO THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION.
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enjoyment. In Virginia, which Lord Baltimore had visited shortly before his application for this grant ; and where, it is said, he then purposed to establish his residence, he was still met by the intolerant faith ofhis native Jaud. Although the government of Virginia, upon his declining to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, which it had tendered to him and his followers, did not actually exclude him from the province, but had referred the whole matter to the consideration of the English privy council ; yet his residence there was still one of mere sufferance. (4) Then it was that his eyes were cast upon the territory along the Chesapeake bay, as yet unsettled, and by the amocnity of its situation, and the fertility of its resources, inviting him to its retreat. Here, if he could but obtain a grant of it from the crown, he might dwell in his own territory and under his own government; and build up in the wilderness, a home for religious freedom. These were the leading views which seem to have operated upon him, in applying for the charter of Maryland ; and but for his untimely death, at the moment of accomplishing his wishes, it is probable that he would have removed to the province; and would here have permanently established his family. Hence it may be truly said, from the consideration of the views of its founder, and of the character and objects of its first colonists, that the State of Maryland, as well as the New England states, originated in the search for civil and religious free- dom; and the character of the former, is still further consecrated by the fact, that her government, for a long period after the colo- nization, was true to the principles which laid the foundation of the colony. Her colonists, in escaping from the proscriptions and persecutions of the mother country, unlike those of some of the puritan settlements of the north, did not catch the contagion of the spirit which had driven them from their homes.
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