USA > Maryland > An historical view of the government of Maryland : from its colonization to the present day > Part 43
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HISTORY FROM THE STAMP ACT
convention ; and with them, the names of the non-associa- tors. (32)
The supreme power under this government was vested in the Provincial Convention. As the unrestrained depositary of the public will, it controlled every other authority in the province; and its resolves were law. It was not confined by the ordinary distinctions of power, as legislative, executive, or judicial; and its only limits were its discretion. This convention consisted of five delegates from each county, who were to be elected annual- ly by the persons entitled to vote for delegates under the old go- vernment: a majority of the votes was necessary to election; and the elections were to be held under the superintendance of the delegates of the county for the time being. There was no representation of cities; and the county representation was pe- culiar in requiring a majority of the delegates for any county, to constitute a quorum, and to empower them to give any vote binding upon their county. Vacancies in the delegation of any county were to be filled by the appointment of its committee of observation, the votes of two-thirds of the members being neces- sary to a choice.
The chief executive power of the province was confided to a Committee of Safety, elected by the convention, and consisting of sixteen members, of whom eight were to be chosen from each shore. The appointment of this committee endured only from convention to convention ; and at each new election, one half of the members from each shore, to be selected by ballot, were to retire from office. This committee, although in entire subor- dination to the convention, was clothed with high powers and responsibilities, particularly in relation to the forces and revenues of the new government. It appointed all field officers, and granted all military commissions; it directed all the operations of the military, when in service: and in the recess of the con- vention, it had power to call them into service, the militia within any part of the province, and the minutemen, either within the
: (32) The writer has before him one of these copies, containing the origi- nal return of the Associators of Back Creek Hundred, in Cecil county, by Thomas Frisby Henderson. It has the signatures of one hundred and twenty-one associators ; and reports but one dissentient.
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Chap. VI.]
TO THE REVOLUTION. 419
province or in any of the counties adjoining. Its orders to any amount for the bills of credit issued under the resolves of the convention, were imperative upon the treasurers; and it had also a check upon the latter, in its right to require of them statements of their receipts and expenditures. As the supreme execu- tive power, it could call the convention, during its recess, at any period before the day to which it stood adjourned. The members from' each shore, were also the conservators of the association and of the liberties of the province on their respec- tive shores; and as such, in all cases where persons were sent to them by the committee of observation of any county, under charge of having violated the association, or of having done any act "tending to disunite the inhabitants of the province in their opposition, or to destroy the liberties of America," they were empowered to take cognizance of the offence charged, and either to imprison the offender until the next convention, or to banish him from the province. (33)
(33) This organization of the Committee of Safety was of short dura- tion. A re-organization of it took place on the 17th of January, 1776, when it was made to consist of seven members, elected by the convention, of whom four were to be residents of the Western, and three of the Eastern shore ; and any four were a quorum. The peculiar shore meetings and powers were also dispensed with ; and the members were allowed a stated compensation for their services. Another change was effected on the 25th of May, 1776, under which this committee consisted of nine members, elected in the same manner, of whom five were to be residents of the Western, and four of the Eastern shore.
The members of the Committee of Safety, under the first organization of July, 1775, were, Matthew Tilghman, John Beale Bordley, Robert Goldsbo- rough, James Holyday, Richard Lloyd, Edward Lloyd, Thomas Smith, and Henry Hooper, for the Eastern shore; and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Thomas Johnson, Jr., William Paca, Charles Carroll, (barrister,) Thomas Stone, Samuel Chase, Robert Alexander, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, for the Western shore. The members under the second organization of Janua- ry, 1776, were, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Charles Carroll, (barrister,) John Hall, and Benjamin Rumsey, for the Western shore ; and James Tilgh- man, Thomas Smith, and Thomas B. Hands, for the Eastern shore. The mem- bers under the last organization, of May, 1776, were the same as in January, with the addition of George Plater for the Western shore, and William Hayward for the Eastern shore. At June session, 1776, when the con- vention adopted measures for the establishment of a permanent form of
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HISTORY FROM THE STAMP ACT [Hist. Ykew.
The revenues of this government consisted in the bills of credit issued under the resolves of the convention, and the money rais- ed by voluntary contributions. The portions of it appropriated for, or contributed on either shore, were placed under the care of a treasurer for that shore appointed by the convention, who was required to pay them out upon the orders of the convention or of the council of safety, and also upon the draughts of the branch of the council for his shore, so long as the separate cx- istence and powers of the branches were preserved. They were also under the check both of the convention and of the council of safety, to either of which, or to any committee of the former, empowered to investigate the condition of the revenue, they were bound to submit statements of their receipts and expendi- tures. (31)
The county authorities were entrusted to Committees of Obser- ration, elected annually in each county at a stated period, by the persons entitled to vote for delegates to the convention. The elections were held under the inspection of the delegates of the county for the time being; and the committees consisted of a fix- ed number for each county. To them belonged exclusively the care and enforcement of the association in their respective coun- ties; in discharging which duty, however, they were entirely un-
government, to keep up the committee until the new government was established, the gentlemen elected members of this committee in the pre- ceding May, were all re-elected, except Mr. Hayward, who declined, and in whose place Joseph Nicholson was elected. From December, 1775, the committee had the power of filling up vacancies in their own body, occur- ring during the recess of the convention.
Their powers were considerably enlarged by the convention in January, 1776. They were then clothed with the power to arrest, and, after hearing, to inprison until the next convention, "all persons guilty of any breach of the association, or of any offences tending to create disaffection or to destroy the liberties of America," in addition to their former power of imprisoning or banishing such offenders when sent to them by any committee of observa- tion ; and besides their former powers over the military, they could pardon offenders sentenced to death by a court martial. Some other and minor pow- ers were conferred, which it is not necessary to notice.
(34) The treasurers appointed at the establishment of this government were, Thomas Harwood, Junr., for the Western Shore ; and William Hind- man, for the Eastern Shore.
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Chap. VI.]
TO THE REVOLUTION. 421
der the control of the convention, and were bound to carry into effect either its resolves or those of congress. It was their duty to appoint officers to bear about the association to the people of their counties for general subscription, and also agents to receive voluntary contributions for the public aid. They had cognizance of all breaches of the association in their counties; and had power to inflict upon offenders against it, the censures directed by the resolves of congress or of the convention; and upon pro- bable proof that any person had been guilty "of any high and dangerous offence, tending to disunite the inhabitants in their opposition to the English government, or to destroy the liberties of America," they were required to cause such person to be ar- rested, and to be sent forthwith, with the charge against him, to the council of safety, or the branch of it for their shore whilst the separate branch powers existed. They were also entrusted with the conduct of the public correspondence for their coun- ties, and were required to appoint for that purpose, out of their own body, and for their own term of service, a committee of cor- respondence, consisting of five members, of whom any two were a quorum. They had also a partial control over judicial pro- ceedings. It was deemed important by the convention so to re- strain these proccedings, that their progress might not interrupt the public harmony, or interfere with the measures necessary for the general defence ; and it was therefore ordered by that body, at the formation of this government, that all pending suits, which could not be amicably adjusted, should be continued until its fur- ther order; and that no new suit should be instituted, except in certain specified cases, without the permission of the committee of observation for the county. This permission was to be granted only in certain other cases; and for the exercise of this power, the committees of observation were required to appoint special committees, which were styled committees to license suits.
From this summary view of the prominent features of this Provisional Government it is apparent, that its original regulations Modifications of as to non-associators were of the most tolerant this govern- ment. character. They delegated no power to compel submission to the new government. The names of the recu- sants were returned to the convention, to which alone it belong- ed to take such orders in their respective cases as the public safe-
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HISTORY FROM THE STAMP ACT
[Hist. View.
ty might demand. The same liberal course was observed, in it, original requisitions for the public defence. All able bodied free- men between the ages of sixteen and fifty, (except clergy- men, the household of the governor, and persons conscien- tiously scrupulous,) were required to enroll themselves in the militia under its authority : but cases of refusal, were followed by no specific penalties, and were reserved for the exclusive consideration of the convention or the council of safety, to which they were reported. The necessities of the times, and the increasing bitterness of the contest, soon compelled a resort to harsher measures: yet even these offered alternatives, which justice itself would sanction, and which exhibited a moderation almost without a parallel in the histories of revolutions. These more rigorous measures were adopted by the convention in Jan- uary, 1776. All non-associators were then indulged until the 10th of the ensuing April, to give in their adhesion to the asso- ciation. , If this were declined, they were at liberty to depart the province with any or all of their property; and they were en- titled to a passport from the committee of observation of their county, authorizing them to go beyond sea. If they departed, leaving any of their property behind, it was subject to a propor- tionate share of the public expense incurred in the defence of the province. If they elected to remain, and yet refused to be- come associators, the committees of observation for their coun- ties were empowered to disarm them : and also, in their discre- tion, to require of them bond with security, in such penalties as the committees might deem proper, conditioned that the re- cusants would demean themselves peaceably in the struggle with the mother country, would hold no correspondence with any person in office under the crown or in arms against the colo- nies, nor communicate intelligence, in any mode, of the coun- cils or preparations of congress, or of any of the colonial authorities. The regulations as to the militia were also re- newed; and the time for enrolling enlarged until the first of the ensuing March; after which period, all persons subject to, and declining enrollment, (except paupers,) were liable to the impo- sition of a tax not exceeding £10 per year, to be reckoned from the antecedent September, to be assessed by the committees of observation, and to be collected by officers appointed by such
Chap. VI.]
TO THE REVOLUTION. 423
committees, and having power to levy it by distress, if voluntary payment was refused.
Such were the general character and objects of this temporary government, under which the people of Maryland continued to Its character and dwell, until the adoption of our State constitution.
results. To all under its authority, its dispensations were mild and just; and the proceedings of that period ascribe to them the utmost impartiality. There are instances to show, that neither the sanctity of the pulpit, nor the confidence and privi- leges thrown around the high office of delegate, could shield the offender from the censures awaiting all who sinned against the liberties of the province. Yet it is manifest, from the distribu- tion of its powers, and its vague definition of offences, that it was a government susceptible of much abuse and oppression. The self-constituted authority of the Long Parliament itself, was not more arbitrary and unrestrained in its nature, than that of the provincial convention. The committee of safety, with its power to arrest and banish or imprison for offences so indefinite- ly described as to give the widest range to discretion, and with the permitted and required secrecy of its councils, was an en- gine which malignity or corrupt ambition, once obtaining its control, might have prostituted to the vilest purposes. . The committees in the counties, notwithstanding their entire subor- dination to the provincial authorities, were yet clothed with dis- cretionary powers, which, in their oppressive capacity, were scarcely inferior to those of a Turkish Aga. Even the "incicism" of revolutionary France, that term of terror, from whose widely extending grasp, neither age, nor sex, nor virtue, nor talents, nor patriotism, could rescue those to whom it was applied by the prevailing humor or demagogue of the day, did not afford more facilities to the mischievous and oppressive exercise of power, than the vague denunciation of all as offenders, who, in the opinion of the committees, had committed any acts "tending in any degree to promote disaffection or to destroy the liberties of America." With such a definition as its guide, authority had no limit but discretion; and if thus bounded, its mandates were characterized by justice and moderation, they attest at once the purity of those who administered it, and the general prevalence of rational liberty amongst the people by whom it was establish-
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HISTORY FROM THE STAMP ACT [Hist. View.
ed and sustaincd. That such was the character of the provin- cial government, as administered by the convention, is apparent, not only from its transactions, but also from the testimony of co- temporaries, given under circumstances entitling it to our fullest confidence. We learn it from the instance and the admissions of an English officer, himself a resident of the province during the continuance of this government, and a recusant of its au- thority; (35) and from the more just and lively tribute to its cha- racter, by one of the most distinguished and patriotic citizens of our infant state. "Such an administration, the immediate off- spring of necessity, might have been reasonably expected to be subversive of that liberty which it was intended to secure. But in the course of more than two years, during which it was cheer- fully submitted to by all, except the advocates for British usur- pation, although many occasions occurred in which an intempe- rate zeal transported men beyond the just bounds of moderation, not a single person fell a victim to the oppression of this irregu- lar government. The truth is, that during the whole memorable interval, between the fall of the old and the institution of the new form of government, there appeared to exist amongst us such a fund of public virtue as has scarcely a parallel in the an- nals of the world." (36)
In the erection of their provisional governments, the views of the colonists generally were still bounded by the hopes of an Objects of this honorable and permanent reconciliation with Eng- government. land. At the period when that of Maryland was established, although the dread appeal to arms was already made, and fierce, relentless hostility seemed to lie in prospect, the pub- lic mind had not yet been brought to contemplate independence as its probable result. The establishment of independence was not the purpose for which their resistance began; nor was it yet the issue they expected or desired. Never were a people ani- mated by a holier cause, or truer to the principles they professed. Until the attempts of parliament to break down the barriers of
(35) See the Letters of Mr. Eddis, the officer alluded to.
(36) Remarks of. the late Chancellor Hanson, introductory to the Journals of the Convention, embodied in his publication of the Laws of Maryland, from 1763 to 1784.
Chap. VI.]
TO THE REVOLUTION. 425
their colonial governments against tyranny, they had enjoyed under them security and happiness. Whilst the right of internal legislation was exclusively exercised by assemblies of their own choice, uncontrolled oppression could never reach them in the administration of their internal interests. They were therefore wedded to their charter governments, by the remembered bless- ings of the past; and upon them they were content to rest, as - the earnest of liberty and happiness for the future. In no colo- ny, was this ardent attachment of its people to their internal go- vernment, more prevalent and more justly founded than in Ma- ryland. The reader, who has gone with us in the general sur- vey of the proprietary government and. the history of its admin- istration, has perceived, that in the protection of public liberty and private rights, and in all the securities which these derive from self-government, it gave peculiar freedom and privilege to the subject ; and that it was generally so administered as to pro- mote the interests and secure the attachment of the colony. That attachment was of the purest character. It was cherished for their free institutions, and not for the personal interests of those who administered them. Henry Harford, the then proprie- tary, had no hold upon the affections of the colony. His father, Frederick Lord Baltimore, who succeeded to the proprietaryship in 1751, and continued to enjoy it until his death in 1771, had left no claims upon the gratitude or respect of the people. He had never visited the province; and his administration was not endeared by any of those manifestations of kind and anxious re- gard for its welfare, which characterized that of his predecessor. He had, in several instances, suffered or directed the powers of government under his control, to be wielded against the public wishes; and he had employed the revenues of the province to minister to his pleasures. Harford, who succeeded him and un- der his devise, was an illegitimate, a minor, and a stranger ; and consequently without a single personal claim to sustain his go- vernment.
The glorious consummation of the revolution is now "the theme familiar;" and in the retrospect, the transition of Independence, not the original design of the co. lonies. these colonies from dependence to independence, presents but a faint image of the apprehensions and difficulties by which it was attended. Yet even at
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HISTORY, FROM THE STAMP ACT [Hist. View.
+ this carly period of the struggle, whilst all the ardor of the first impulse was upon the colonists, and their yet undiminished re- sources and energies inspired confidence, the issue of their appeal to arms was uncertain. Prepared, as they were, for any issue but submission, the immediate declaration of indepen- dence was still a measure of the boldest policy. With it, all hopes of reconciliation would vanish; and a sanguinary and protracted warfare was in prospect, which left no alternatives, but victory, or ignominious submission. If successful, they were to be cast into a new state of existence, as distinct and independent communities, of which the weaker pro- vinces might at last become the prey of the stronger. If van- quished, with the rights for which they were contending, would be lost even their acknowledged liberties. These were consi- derations which operated for some time in all the colonies, and with peculiar force in Maryland, to stay the resort to a measure so hazardous, whilst there were yet hopes of honorable adjust- · ment. The course of this province upon the adoption of this measure has not been generally understood; and it has some- times been described, as if it had been a shrinking from the common cause. Yet the proceedings of her people, and her convention, in connexion with it, impart to their conduct and motives a very different character. That convention was com- posed of as firm and uncompromising patriots, as ever directed the councils of any country ; and their memory requires no vin- dication, but the history of their transactions.
At the close of the year 1775, the proposition to declare the independence of the colonies began to engross the public atten- Objects of the tion. Before that period, the declarations of the
colonies in their
repeated dis- colonies present a striking contrast with their acts. claimers of this design. The former breathed nothing but peace and the most ardent desires for reconciliation: the latter exhibited no- thing but the preparations for war. Every new measure of hos- tility was accompanied by new professions of allegiance. The renewal of these professions was rendered necessary, by the con- stant misrepresentation of their purposes. From the origin of the struggle, it had been the effort of the English ministry to fix upon them the character of rebels, whose aim was independence, and whose grievances were pretexts. Apart from such a design,
Chap. VI.]
TO THE REVOLUTION. 427
the claims of the colonies came with great power to the hearts and minds of the English people. They asserted a right, fami- liar to that people, identified with their political liberties, and in times past established by their forefathers with the strong hand. What was consecrated as the patriotism of their ancestors, could not be licentious rebellion in their brethren : what was cherished as the bulwark of their own liberties, could not be unnecessary for the protection of the colonies. The English ministry were aware, that such considerations, if left to their full operation, could not long fail to array against them even the public senti- ment of the English people. But if the establishment of inde- pendence was believed to be the first purpose of colonial re- sistance, they knew also that the pride and interests of that peo- ple would at once rally them in support of the dominion of England. Hence their studious efforts to establish this purpose; and hence the anxious disclaimers of it by the colonies. At the opening of the parliament of 1775, this design was at length ascribed to them in the speech from the throne, which gave but faint hopes of compromise; and many of the American people began now to consider a total separation as their only security. Yet the great body of the truest and firmest patriots of that period, still believed that the minds of the English people and king were abused by the ministry, and deceived by the representations of the corrupt minions of power amongst themselves ; and one last effort was made to rescue them from that influence. About the close of the year 1775, and in the beginning of the year 1776, the purpose of independence was again disclaimed by most of the colonies in declarations of a most solemn character.
In Maryland, it had hitherto been the course of its convention to confide unrestrained power to its delegates in the general Instructions of congress; and at each appointment, to renew the the Convention to the Delegates pledge of the colony to abide by their acts. At its in Congress, of 12th Jan. 1776. session in January, 1726, restrictions were, for the first time, imposed upon the delegates; and a formal declaration was again made of the purposes of its opposition. The ob- ject of these proceedings is fully illustrated by the cotemporary transactions of the other colonies, and the language of the con- vention. They were the acts of men determined to be in the right, and to evince to the world, that be the issue what it
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