USA > Maryland > An historical view of the government of Maryland : from its colonization to the present day > Part 24
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TO THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION.
Chap. II.]
thousand persons; and in 1771 to nearly 20,000. (46) After the latter period and before the Protestant revolution, we have no accurate estimate of its population : but at that revolution, judg- ing from the ratio of increase furnished by the prior estimates, it" must have exceeded twenty thousand. The settlements, commenc- ing at St. Mary's and on Kent Island, had extended themselves all along the bay on each side of it, from the southern to the north- ern limits of the province, and for a considerable distance up the Potomac ; as will be apparent from the erection of the counties, existing at the close of this acra. On the Western Shore, Charles, St. Mary's, Calvert, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore counties ; and on the Eastern Shore, Somerset, Dorchester, Talbot, Kent, and Cecil counties, were 'now in existence. The population was seated along the bay and around the mouths of its tributaries, in detached settlements : and if we except the city of St. Mary's, there does not appear to have been another settlement in the province entitled to the name of a town, unless we adopt a mod- ern definition of the constituents of a town, which requires in houses, the same number that is necessary in persons to consti- tute a riot. The city of St. Mary's numbered fifty or sixty houses, in the course of two or three years after the planting of the colony : and very little exceeded this number at any after period of its existence. (47) The causes of this scarcity of towns, notwithstanding the considerable population of the province at the close of this era, are obvious in the character and pursuits of the colonists. They were all planters : " and the greater plan- ters, (says Anderson, in speaking of this colony,) have generally storehouses within themselves for all kind of necessaries brought from England, not only for their own consumption, but likewise for supplying the lesser planters and their servants. And whilst that kind of economy continues, there can be no prospect of towns becoming considerable in the province." (S) "The people
(46) The estimate of 1665, is taken from the " British Empire in America," vol. 1, 330. Mr. Chalmers, in note 4, to chap. 15, page 375, has errone- ously given this estimate from this work, as of the population in 1678. The estimate in 1671, is taken from Ogilby's History, as quoted in that note by Mr. Chalmers.
(47) British Empire in America, Vol. I. 338 and 337.
(48) 2d Anderson's Commerce, 467.
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IHISTORY FROM THE COLONIZATION [Hist. Vlew.
here, (says another, writing from Maryland about the year 1695 of 1696,) have not yet found the way of associating themselves in towns and corporations, by reason of the fewness of handicrafts- men." (49) In 1682, an attempt was made, by the act of 1652, ch. - 5, which was followed up by the supplementary acts of 1684, ch. 2d, 1686, chap. 2d. and 1688, chap. 6th, to establish a variety of towns and ports for the convenience of trade : but these acts de- feated their own purposes, by the number which they attempt- ed to establish. The only towns which are alluded to in these acts and described as such, are the city of St. Mary's and In- dian town in St. Mary's county, the town at Proctor's in Anne Arundel, Calvert town on Battle creek and Harvey town in Calvert, and Cecil town at the mouth of Bohemia in Cecil. The other sites, selected for the towns established by these acts, are described as town land, landing places, points, &c. and they are, nearly all, at this moment what they were then described to be, and no more.
The colonists, during this period, were almost universally growers of tobacco. Besides this, they scarcely produced any Oreupations and thing for exportation ; and it was the very currency trade of the co- lony. of the province. There were but few merchants or tradesmen amongst them; and manufactures were scarcely known, the province relying for these entirely upon the mother country. Some attempts were made to encourage manufactures, such as the making of linen, woolen cloths, leather, and shoes, and to promote the growing of hemp, by the acts of 1681, chap. 6th, and 1682, chapters 5th and 6th ; but they did not result in any material change in the pursuits of the colonists. They de- voted themselves to the cultivation of tobacco, and continued to import from England, upon the avails of the tobacco exported, almost all the necessaries of life. - To use the language of an early writer, in describing the condition of Maryland, at a period very little removed from that of which we are now treating : "Every plantation is a little town of itself, and can subsist itself with provisions and necessaries; every considerable planter's warehouse being like a shop, where he supplies not only himself
(49) British Empire in America, vol. 1, 333.
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TO THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION.
Chap. II.]
with what he wants, but also the inferior planters, servants and labourers, and has commodities to barter for tobacco or other goods, there being little money in this province, and little occa- sion of any, as long as tobacco answers all the uses of gold and - silver in trade." (50)
Notwithstanding the facilities which they derived from this tobacco currency, as a substitute for money, the inhabitants State of their experienced considerable inconvenience from the curreney. , want of a money currency: to obviate which, an act was passed, as early as 1661, viz. the act of 1661, chap. 4th, for the establishment of a mint within the province for the coin- ing of shillings, corresponding in purity to the English sterling money, and being equal in weight to ninepence of that money. The passage of this act was an exercise of power beyond the pa- latinate privileges; and assumed a right, which is generally con- sidered as incident to sovereignty alone; and as such, it was ob- jected to, at the time of its passage, by some of the members of the upper house. Yet it received the assent of the proprietary, and was confirmed amongst the perpetual laws in 1676. It would seem, from the enactments of the following act of 1662, chap. 8th, that the mint was actually established, and moncy coined in it: for that act speaks of the coin as struck, and provides for the issuing of it, by requiring every householder to come in and take ten shillings of it for every taxable in his family, to be paid for by him in tobacco. Yet it certainly was not kept up for a long period, nor to any considerable extent ; for the same scarcity was complained of in 1686, and another act was then passed to relieve the grievance complained of, which is entitled, "an act for the advancement of coins." This act is worthy of consideration as establishing the provincial currency in lieu of the sterling. (51.)
(50) British Empire in America, vol. I. 340.
(51) Act of 1686, chap. 4th. Under this act, New England shillings and sixpences were to be received as sterling at their denominated value ; French dollars, pieces of eight and rix dollars, at six shillings, and other coins of silver and gold, except base coin, at three pence advance on every shilling sterling. These coins were a legal tender at this advanced value, in all payments to be made in money, except as to the proprietary's rents and fines. Officers' fees and ordinary charges, which were rated in tobacco, were payable in this 29
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IHISTORY FROM THE COLONIZATION [Ilist. View.
It appears, that there was a printing press, and a public printer, in the province during this era. Mr. Chalmers, who had ex- Publie press in amined the declaration of the Protestant Associa- the province dur-
ing this era. tors in 1689, which has been preserved amongst the records of the plantation office, informs us that it was printed at St. Mary's, by the public printer of the province. The exist- ence of a public press, at this early period, appears to have been peculiar to the colony of Maryland ; and it may be relied upon as another striking indication of the civil and religious liberty enjoyed by the colonists. The press is the natural associate of liberty.
The degree of religious liberty enjoyed in the province, dur- ing this period, may be collected from the preceding remarks. Religious liberty The course of the government has already been de- during this ere. scribed as " one which tolerated all christian church- in the province es and established none." This system of toleration was coeval with the colony itself; and sprang from the liberal and sagacious views of the first proprietary. The oath of office, prescribed by him to his governors in the province, from 1636 until the enact- ment of the act of 1649, is in itself a text book of official duty. The obligation of the governor under it was, "that he would not, by himself or another, directly or indirectly, trouble, molest, or discountenance, any person professing to believe in Jesus Christ, for or in respect of religion; that he would make no dif- ference of persons, in conferring offices, favors, or rewards, for or in respect of religion, but merely as they should be found faithful and well deserving, and endued with moral virtues and abilities; that his aim should be public unity, and that if any per- son or officer should molest any person, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, on account of his religion, he would protect the person molested, and punish the offender." These his cherish- ed principles of religious liberty were at length engrafted by law
coin, at its advanced value, at the rate of six shillings for every 100 lbs. of tobacco The export of the coins so advanced, was punished by the forfeiture of the value of the coin so exported. Such provisions to bring the coin into the province and to keep it there as its currency, shew that they had derived little if any benefit from their proposed mint. " The lord proprietary, (says the author of the British Empire in America,) had a mint here, but it never was made use of." Vol. I. 344.
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Chap. II.]
TO THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION. 227
upon the government of the province, in the year 1649. (52) The act which gave them legal sanction is one of the proudest memorials of our colonial history. Its preamble contains an ar- gument in favor of the rights of conscience, which should never be forgotten by human governments. " Whereas, (says it,) the enforcing of the conscience, in matters of religion, hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequence, in those common- wealths where it hath been practised ; and for the more quiet and peaceable government of the province, and the better to preserve mutual love and unity amongst the inhabitants," &c. The act then declares that no person, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall be in anywise molested or discountenanced, in respect of his religion, nor in the free exercise thereof, nor in any way com- pelled to the belief or exercise of any other religion. The ope- ration of this act was, for a short time, suspended by the ascen- dancy of Cromwell's commissioners, during whose government an ordinance was passed prohibiting the profession and exercise of the Roman Catholic religion: (53) but upon the restoration of the proprietary government, it was revived in all its vigor, and con- tinued to exist, and be respected, until the occurrence of the Pro- testant revolution. It must, however, be acknowledged, that the course pursued towards the Quakers, at one period of this government, was not in accordance with these principles. But the principal instances of their persecution occurred during an administration, for the acts of which, the proprietary is not pro- perly responsible; and at a period, when the peculiar tenets and practices of that sect, were misunderstood for disaffection to the government. They arose immediately after the surrender of the government to Fendall, and were the promptings of his own ar- bitrary spirit. Upon the coming in of the new government, it was deemed proper to require all persons to come forward, and take and subscribe an engagement of fidelity to it, which was declined by the Quakers, who alleged in objection, that they were to be governed by God's laws and the light within them ; and not by man's laws. To such men as Fendall and some of his council, scruples of conscience were unintelligible, and the
(52) Act of 1649, chap. 2.
(53) Ordinance 4th, of the acts and orders of the Assembly of 1651,
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HISTORY FROM THE COLONIZATION [Hist. View.
gentle and peaceful doctrines of this sect were, by them, con- strued into a seditious refusal to submit to the government, for which a decree of banishment went forth against its followers. (51) The proprietary's instructions test his principles, and to these we would look in vain for any thing to give a color to re- ligious persecution of any description. Nor can one or two oc- casional departures of the government, in moments of excite- ment and danger, from the principles of religious toleration, be fairly put in opposition to an administration of half a century, characterised by nothing but benevolence to all the followers of Christ. Conspicuous above every other colony of that period, for its uniform regard of religious liberty, it had its reward. Harmony, peace and prosperity, were the general results; and this period in the history of Maryland, may be truly styled, " the golden age of its colonial existence."
(34) Council proceedings of 1658, Liber H HI, 29.
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.CHAPTER III.
HISTORY OF THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF MARYLAND.
THE Protestant revolution in the province of Maryland, was an event in its colonial history, as extensive in its consequences, as The Protestant it was singular and unexpected in its origin. From revolution in Ma- ryland. the session of Assembly, in November, 1688, until the complete assumption and organization of the govern- ment of Maryland by the crown, in the beginning of the year 1692, there is an entire chasm in our records. At the com- mencement of this interval, we find the people of the province dwelling under the proprietary government, in apparent security and contentment. In the recorded transactions of that period, we look in vain for the seeds of a revolution, or the preludes to its explosion ; and especially of a revolution avowedly originated and conducted for the defence and security of the Protestant religion. The proceedings of the lower house of Assembly, manifest some discontents in the colony; but these, in their causes and extent, were alike those, which characterise many other periods in its history, of acknowledged happiness and tranquillity. They relate to malpractices by officers, or abuses of a public nature from whatever source proceeding, which it was the practice of this house of Assembly, at cvery age of the colony, to present for reformation to the consideration of the government. Acting as the grand inquest of the province, its vigilance was continually exercised, in supervising the ad- ministration of the laws, and reporting the abuses of power ; and its official representations, detailing these to the proprietary or his governor, instead of being charges against the government itself, often manifested the most entire and cheerful confidence in its inclination to redress them. Before the Protestant revolu- tion, these representations were usually embodied in what was
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HISTORY OF THE ROYAL
[Hist. View.
styled, "a paper of grievances ;" (1) and after the proprietary restoration in 1715, they took the form of resolves and addresses. The articles of grievances, exhibited by the lower to the upper house at the session of 1688, do not ascribe a single act of de- liberate oppression or wanton exercise of power, immediately to the proprietary or his governors. They do not even insinuate the slightest danger to the Protestant religion ; or impute to the proprietary administration, a single act or intention militating against the free enjoyment and exercise of it. They were pre- sented under the expectation of redress; and to crown the whole, the reply of the governor and council, in answer to their articles, was so entirely satisfactory, that the lower house, in a body, presented them their thanks for its favorable character. Here the curtain drops, and when it next rises, it presents to our view, the proprietary dominion prostrate, the government of the colony in the hands of the crown, and administered by men hitherto unknown in it; the Assembly pouring forth its congra- tulations for the royal protection, and its redemption " from the; arbitrary will and pleasure of a tyrannical Popish government;" the proprietary himself formally impeached to the crown by that Assembly ; his officers and agents degraded and harassed in every manner; and the Catholic inhabitants, the objects of jealousy, re- proach and penalties.'
For the causes and progress of the revolution which accom- plished this transformation, we would search fruitlessly amongst Farrenness our Records, in r.l that would il- lastrate the cau- w. and progress of this revolu- pkn. of our existing records. That revolution was com- menced and conducted to complete triumph, by an association of individuals ; and after its consumma- tion, the province was governed by a Convention
(1) These papers, as well as many others of that period, amuse us as well by their manner of expression as their matter. One of the messages of the lower house to the upper, relative to the paper of grievances exhibited at the session of 1609, exhibits one of the finest specimens of the genuine Bathos, which we have yet seen. " We are very sorry, exceeding sorry, (says the mes- sage,) that we are driven to say, that your answer and objections to the paper en- titled " The Public Grievances," are not satisfactory, or that from the refulgent lus- tre of the eradiations of reason, that shine and dart forth from them, the weak and dim eye of our understandings is dazzled and struck into obscurity." Even Har- grave's eulogy upon Chancellor Yorke could not match this. In another
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Chap. IL.] GOVERNMENT OF MARYLAND. - 231
until April, 1692; when at the instance of the colony, its govern- ment was assumed by the crown, and placed under the adminis- tration of a governor, directly appointed by it. The proceed- ings of that association and convention, are wanting to illustrate this revolution. The researches of Chalmers, the full and in general the faithful annalist, terminate at this period. Although his work was written, for the purpose of demonstrating that the colonies were subject to the legislation of parliament, it presents an example of a party production as rare as it is worthy of imita- tion. Whatever obliquity or feebleness there may be in his rea- soning, it does not appear to be sustained by the concealment or misstatement of facts. So far as our researches have extended, and have enabled us to test the accuracy of his work, as a repo- sitory of facts, it may be relied on with confidence. (2) In prepar- ing it, he had free access to the records of the plantation office in England ; and was there enabled to collect many facts relative to the history of the colonies, which are not elsewhere to be found. The proprietary government of Maryland was more Insulated from that of the mother country, than the other colonial governments; and is less dependant upon those records, for the elucidation of its history. Its internal administration resting with the proprietary, and the people, the controversies which sprang out of that administration, rarely, if ever, rose to such a height, as to require or call in the intervention of the crown. The control of the English government, limited to its eminent do- minion, was exercised only, for the regulation of the commerce of the colony, or in calling forth and directing its energies, in time of war, against the common enemy. The period of which we
part of this message they say, " wise and good men's actions being commonly of one dye are, like the links of a chain, coupled together by the necessary consequence of right reason."
(2) Mr. Chalmers, as I have been informed, was a Scotchman, residing in this city, as a practitioner of the law, at the commencement of the American revolution. Espousing the cause of the crown, he sought refuge in Eng- land, and took up his residence in London ; where he acquired notoriety as a political writer, and more especially by his researches into the colonial his- tory ; and ultimately obtained a place in the trade office. Writing under such circumstances, and for the express purpose of demonstrating the supre- macy of parliament, his general impartiality in the statement of facts is truly remarkable.
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232
HISTORY OF THE ROYAL
[I]Ist. View:
are now treating, commencing with the revolution of 1659, and terminating with the restoration of the proprietary government in 1715, is an exception to this general remark. During this inter- val, the government of the colony was a royal government ; and although its introduction affected no material change in the pro- vincial institutions, it brought with it the practice of transmitting to the plantation office, from time to time, accounts of the go- vernment and condition of the colony, from which much assist- wice might be derived, even in the accomplishment of the limited designs of this work. Destitute of these aids, our general view of the government of Maryland, from this period, is collected only from the provincial records now existing in our state offices.
In looking back to the events which immediately preceded the Protestant revolution, it is difficult to discover, in the public Condition of the transactions, any. indications of misrule or oppres- sion on the part of the proprietary, calculated to tust Mevolution. excite it. So far as the Protestant religion was concerned, the course of the laws, and the administration upr to the period of the proprietary's departure for England, was one of entire neutrality. The great object of both seems to have been, to preserve that religious freedom, which had ever been identified with the colony. The proprietary is no where charged by the . Assembly, with any act or intention, aiming ci- ther at the establishment of his own church, or the injury of the Protestant. No such intentions are imputed by them; and as far as we are able to collect and estimate his conduct, it exhibits none such. Judging from this and the representations of the colo- fists themselves, his principles and feelings were averse to every thing like persecution. Had they been otherwise, his sagacity would have taught him the folly and danger, of attempting any Cung, to the prejudice of the Protestant religion, or the injury of his Protestant subjects. An Englishman of that day, in describ- ing to the committee of plantations, the condition of Maryland in 16-1, remarks, " there are there thirty Protestants to one Papist, between whom there is no quarrel : but two persons have. been appels aded for saying, that were the parliament dissolved Bakimore should not be quiet in Maryland. (3) This representa- S
(3) Chalmers, Note 24, page 376.
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Chap. III.]
tion not only shews the absence of all jealousies amongst the in- habitants, on the score of religion, at that period; but also the vast preponderance of the Protestant power. To have provoked its indignation, or even excited its apprehensions, would not" only have endangered the proprietary dominion from internal dissensions; but would have given to the crown, already mutter- ing vengeance, and ready to avail itself of any expedient to cast from it the charge of Popery, a most plausible pretext for the as- sumption of the government. The attempts to excite sedition made by Coode, Fendall, and a few others, in 1681, fell harmless; and it may be safely said, that in 1684, at the time of the pro- prietary's departure for England, he had the confidence of the inhabitants.
After that period, his relations towards the arbitrary James, were not such as to involve him in the odium which justly attached to the transactions of that monarch. These transac- The Proprietary tions, so far as the colonies were concerned, were
relations * with the crown, at characterised by a deliberate design to prostrate the the period of its. occurrence. independence of all the colonial governments ; and whatever the watchwords, which the discontented of the moment adopted to sustain their resistance to his oppressions, the jeopar- dy to their colonial liberties lay at the root of their revolutions. Had not these been. menaced, the colonies would, probably, have Jooked with unconcern upon the religious alarms which were sounded in the mother country. Even there, it was their identi- fication with an administration, ever warring against the political rights of the nation, which, principally, gave them consequence; but this was peculiarly the case in the colonies. The reign of ..
Charles II. was characterised to the latter, by oppressive restric- tions upon their trade ; and when James ascended the throne, he began' the system of levelling all that obstructed his will. In- stead of being a party to these royal designs, the proprietary was always one of their most prominent victims. For his tardy obe- dience to the restrictive system, he drew down upon himself the serious displeasuse of king Charles ; and for the crime of being a proprietary with exalted privileges, his government was devoted to destruction by king James. To have lent his aid to either, was to destroy himself.
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