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24th, Hatton Fish,
66 Ann Robertson
214
COLONIAL MARYLAND
except the necrology as well as the curious record of marriage and funeral fees, which were combined with it, are omitted.
The first Roman Catholic church in Maryland was at Saint Mary's City, the history of which has been given in the
Nov. 19th, Joseph Madden,
Dec. Ist, Fredrick Linthicum,
8th, Nathan Dickerson,
"6 Margaret Turnbull
66 10th, Jesse Owings, Hannah Hood
17th, William Orr,
Eliz. Macklewain
.. 22d, Nathan Trail,
Susanna Buxton
22d, George Heater,
3Ist, Wm. R. Jones,
Eliz. L. Richardson
3Ist, Henry Fowler,
To Lewis Beall's Mulatto Woman Nelly
1802.
Jan. 7th, Benj. W. Jones,
And Margaret Willson
Sarah Oden
12th, Thos. Clagett,
Rachel Offutt
" 2Ist, Thos. Davis,
28th, James Northcraft,
" 30th, James Cooke,
66 Patsey Beeding
" Mary Griffith
" Eliza Campbell
Eliz. Warfield
Mary Beard
Eliz. Mudd
" 12th, James Groome,
Eleanor Fish
" 21st, Joseph Cox,
Susanna Hogan
Maryann Clark
Priscilla Williams
Maryann Trail
14th, Azariah Kindle,
Amelia Nicholson
66 2Ist, Wm. M. Elfresh,
Sarah Linthicum
30th, Adam Klay,
Sabina Summers
1803.
Jan. 18th, Geo. W. Riggs, 20th, James Brown,
Mar. Ioth, James Jarvis,
3Ist, Archibald Summers,
Apr. Ioth, Charles Porter,
May 5th, Jeremiah Browning,
June 19th, Isaac Forsythe,
" 28th, William Candler,
And Eliza Robertson
Ann Leek
Eliz. Linch
66 Margaret Pain
Polly Fry
Eliz. Summers
Anna Letton
" Rebecca Ray
Eliza Bowie
Rachel Fryer
Feb. 9th, Barton Harriss,
Mar. 21st, Wm. Sparrow,
Apr. 20th, Andrew Offutt,
Aug. 3d, Joseph Astlin,
Sept. 2d, Walter Madden,
Nov. 9th, Dr. Jno. M. Read, 66 25th, Saml. Bealmear, Dec. 7th, George Buxton,
And Susanna Sparrow
Rachel Macklefresh
66 Charlotte Porter
. 12th, Lawrence O. Holt,
215
EARLY CHURCHES
chapter entitled, "The First Capital". The next one in Saint Mary's County, of which there is a record, was at Newtown. On the 10th day of August, 1661, Mr. William Bretton, a prominent citizen of the Province, executed the following deed :
Aug. 7th, Edward Magruder, " 28th, Benjamine Lyon,
And Jane Ayton
Rachel Davis
Sept. IIth, Richd. Brooke Smith,
Sarah Letton
15th, Nicholas Haney,
Sarah Golden
22d, Brice Letton,
Hariot Moore
Oct. 20th, Elias Elville,
27th, Thos. Linsted,
Anna Maria Summers
Anna Clagett
Harriot Holmes
24th, Thos. Hilleary,
66 Sarah Wheeler
Dec. Ist, John Crown,
Eliz. Ball
66 Anne Sanders
Sarah Richards
1804.
Jan. 5th, James Alex. Beall,
Feb. 2d, Benj. Perry,
.. Eliz. Magruder
Sarah Hurst
.. Mary McFarland
" 16th, William Burditt,
Ruth Fitzgerald
Mar. 27th, Joshua W. Dorsey,
Lucetta Plummer
Apr. 8th, Peter Dent Moore,
May 6th, William O'Neal,
Anna Bell
June 9th, Wm. Wheatley,
" Mary Cashell
¥
17th, George Cashell,
Eliz. B. Edmonstone
19th, James Rawlings,
Sarah Richardson
Sept. 6th, Saml. Golden,
Dollie Haney
6th, Ninian Clagett,
Margret Burgess
8th, Hezekiah Saffell,
Lydia Davis
25th, Zachariah Muncaster,
Harriott Magruder
Nov. 29th, Walter Bailey,
Sarah Ball
Dec. 7th, Jesse Wade,
= Mary Fleming
Mary Owen
Sarah Willson
1805.
Jan. 8th, Wm. Langville, 3Ist, Thos: Sparrow,
And Naney Current " Sarah Sparrow
66 3d, Warren Magruder,
= Elizabeth Burress
Nov. Ist, Zachariah Linthicum,
17th, Lloyd Hammon,
Elizabeth Merriweather
29th, Ashford Trail, 3Ist, Hazil Butt,
And Eleanor Culver
Feb. IIth, Joel Ketchen,
12th, Samuel Horner,
Louisa Stanger
" 20th, Aquila Gatton, " 23d, Philip Garlon,
216
COLONIAL MARYLAND
"AD. PERPETUAM MEMORIAM
"Forasmuch as divers good and zealous Roman Catholic inhabitants of Newton and Saint Clement's Bay, have unan- imously agreed among themselves to erect and build a church or chapel * * * and the most convenient place for that purpose, desired and pitched upon by them all, is a certain parcel of land belonging to William Bretton gentleman, Now
Feb. 12th, Reubin Riggs, 27th, Charles Shook,
And Mary Thomas
Priscilla Ball
Apr. 18th, William Leemar,
66 Sarah Roberson
23d, Archibald Mullican,
Anna Mathews
25th, Walter Summers,
Sarah Swearingen
" 30th, Abishai Gray,
Eleanor Miller
May 9th, Robert Windsor,
Eliz. Thompson
June 6th, Henry Rabbett,
Anne Wilburn
Oct. 15th, Azel Waters,
Cassandra Williams
Dec. 29th, James Beall, 1806.
" Margaret Smith Benson
Jan. 2d, James Deselem,
And Catherine Fulks
Feb. 4th, Elbert Perry, Rebecca Margruder
" 'IIth, Daniel Robertson,
66 Sarah Greenfield
" 13th, Jno. Heater,
Frances Shook
Mar. 4th, Denton Porter,
Kitty Heater
Apr. 3d, Thos. Gettings,
Christiana Perry
May 13th, Dr. Peregrine Warfield,
Harriot Sappington
June 17th, Dr. John Wootton,
Betsy Lynn Magruder
Aug. 28th, Lawrence O'Neal,
Nany Galworth
Sept. 18th, John Dickerson,
Eliz. Turnbull
Dec. 4th, Thos. S. Davis,
Creece Swearingen
25th, Jno. Williams,
Sarah Neritt
1807.
Jan. Ist, Jacob Miller, And Naney Ricketts
66 13th, John Wesley Ward,
Feb. 26th, James Case,
Mar. 5th, George Ray,
Sarah Robertson
8th, Benj. Grymer,
Sarah Lowery
" 26th, Thos. W. Howard,
Elizabeth Crabb
June 16th, Henry Woodward Dorsey,
Rachel Cooke
Rachel Griffith
Eleanor White
" Eleanor Swearingen
" Ann Preston
Dec. Ist, David Hammelton,
To Eleanor Greentree And Eliz. Bowman
Oct. 13th, Henry Gassaway, " 20th, Benj. Sedgwick,
Nov. 12th, Wm. Elson Wilson,
217
EARLY CHURCHES
know ye, that I William Bretton, of Little-Bretton, in ye county of Saint Mary's in ye province of Md. Gentlemen, with the hearty good-liking of my dearly beloved wife Tem- perance Bretton, * * have given, and do hereby freely forever give, to the behoof of the said Roman Catholic inhabi- tants, and their posterity or successors, Roman Catholics, so much land as they shall build ye said church or chapel on * * with such other land adjoining to ye said church or chapel, convenient likewise for a church-yard wherein to bury their dead, containing about one acre and a half of ground, situated 'and lying on a dividend of land called Bretton's Outlet, and on the east side of ye said dividend, near to ye head of the creek called Saint Williams creek, which falleth into Saint Nicholas creek, and near unto the narrowest place of ye free- hold of Little-Bretton, commonly called The Straits".1 Upon this ground was erected Saint Ignatius Chapel, the first Roman Catholic church at Newton. It was apparently a frame build- ing, though a few scattered brick may still be seen around its site, and which are the only traces of it, that are to-day visible. But the old graveyard, surrounding the spot where once it stood, has been used as a place of Roman Catholic burial for nearly two hundred and forty years. It is recorded that upon at least two occasions, the little chapel of Saint Ignatius was the recipient of legacies, one in 1670 and another the following year.3
1808.
Jan. 3d, John Hurley,
Feb. IIth, John Jenkins,
Apr. 18th, Daniel Golding,
June 5th, Hosea Edmonson,
Mary Orme
Oct. 8th, Allen Warfield,
Mary Dugan
Dec. 27th, Wm. Fish, 1809.
Hellen Joy
Jan. 12th, Walter Stewart, Feb. 12th, Joseph Gittings,
And Eleanor Gray
Tabitha Beans
1 Lib. S. 1658 to 1662, p. 1026; Day Star, p. 227.
2 Shea, pp. 78 & 349.
3 Wills, Wm. Tattershall & Col. Jarboe, Annapolis.
To Milly Offutt Charlotte Sparrow
And Eliz. Harris
218
COLONIAL MARYLAND
The manor of Newtown or Little Bretton, patented to William Bretton in 1640,' passed out of the family, and was purchased by the Jesuit missionaries. In their hands the house and handsome chapel Saint Francis, since erected near by, have long been a centre of Catholicity. The house, said to have been built by Mr. William Bretton, of English brick, is still standing, its original story-and-a-half having had another added, making it an imposing and stately looking mansion.2 It occupies a commanding position, over-looking Bretton's Bay, Saint Clement's Bay and the Potomac River.3
In 1698, the Sheriff's return of Saint Mary's County, upon the requisition of Governor Nicholson, states, that there were then in the county four places of Roman Catholic worship; a brick church at Saint Mary's City, a frame chapel at Saint Clement's town, a frame chapel at Mr. Gulick's, and a frame chapel near Mr. Heywood's, beyond the Patuxent road. There were at the same time two priests, Rev. Nicholas Gulick, and Rev. John Hall, and one lay brother in the County.'
When the first church at Saint Inigoes was built is not definitely known. While it became a Jesuit Mission at a very early period, owing to its proximity to Saint Mary's City, where there was a Roman Catholic church, it is not probable that Saint Inigoes had a church for many years after the settlement of the Colony. The site of the first chapel there is still pointed out. The present Saint Inigoes church, close by
1 Kilty, p. 73.
? Shea, p. 78.
3 William Bretton, the Lord of the manor of "Little Bretton," came to Maryland in 1637, with his wife Mary, the daughter of Thomas Tabbs, and one child. He was a member of the Assembly in 1648 and 1649; was clerk of the Assembly in 1650, and was clerk of the Lower House from 1661 to 1666 inclusive. The last official notice of him ap- pears to have been his appointment as a Justice of the County Court of Saint Mary's in 1667. In 1651, he married 2d Mrs. Temperance Jay. His latter life is veiled in obscurity, and, though at one time pos- sessed of a large and productive estate, he is supposed to have died in poverty. His children, a son and daughter, became objects of charity, being reported in "extremity of want," and from this fact, it has been
4 Cl. Pro. H. D., p. 539.
219
EARLY CHURCHES
is said to be the third in order.1 The Manor of Saint Inigoes was patented to Mr. Thomas Copley, a Jesuit priest, known officially as Father Phillip Fisher, " the Superior of the Mary- land Mission.3 He died in 1653, leaving the Rev. Lawrence Starkey his successor.4 It contained two thousand acres, and is still retained by the Jesuits, almost in its entirety. It is divided into small farms, which are rented for the support of the church. The manor-house, a quaint building, is beauti- fully located at the juncture of Saint Inigoes Creek and the Saint Mary's River. It was built in 1705, under the auspices of Father Ashbey, of the bricks, it is said, from the old Catholic church at Saint Mary's; and about the same time a small church was erected in the chapel-field, and a graveyard was laid out and attached to it.5 This was, in all probability, the first church on Saint Inigoes Manor.6 In 1778 the British
suggested, arose the euphonius name which that beautiful neck of land that constituted the Manor of Little Bretton, to-day bears-"Beggar's Neck."-See Liber I, p. 69; Arch., Ass. Pro. 1648 to 1650, and 1661 to 1666, inclusive; Ibid, Cl. Pro., 1667, p. 33; Day Star, p. 226; Old Brick Churches, p. 59.
In August, 1670, the Sheriffs of the several counties, were ordered by the Governor, to meet at the house of Thomas Cosden, at Newtown, to "make up their accounts with Mr. Thomas Notley, Receiver Gen- eral," and to "bring a list of taxables within their respective counties." -Archives, (Cl. Pro. 1670) p. 70.
1 Bryant, History United States, p. 513.
2 That Thomas Copley and Father Philip Fisher were one and the same person there can be no doubt. Both are represented as born at Madrid at the close of the 16th century; each came to Maryland in 1637, (August 8) with Father Knowles; each was carried off, and each died in 1652. Neither recognizes the existence of the other. Copley took up lands for all the Jesuit Fathers, but no lands for Fisher, and Fisher as Superior alludes in his account of the mission to no Father Copley-Shea, p. 47, note; Foley records, 7, 1146; Woodstock letters, II, pp. 18, 24.
The Statutes of Mortmain prohibited the taking of land to pious uses, and hence a necessity for this separate identity. The second tract
3 "The Foundation of Maryland," p. 200; Shea, p. 47.
‘ Shea, p. 75. 5Archives (C1. Pro.) p. 418.
" Fenwick, Brief Account, Settlement of Maryland; Shea, p. 370.
220
COLONIAL MARYLAND
sloop of war, General Monks, threw a shot through the walls of the house, the Rev. Father Lewis having just left a bed over which it passed. In October, 1814, this house and chapel were robbed and pillaged by the crew of the British sloop Saracen, who not only took all that was valuable of the house- hold furniture, plate and clothing, but even invaded the sacred precincts of the church-desecrated some of its most holy vessels, and carried many of them away. Complaint having been made to the Commander of the vessel, some of the property was returned, but the loss on this, and a former like occasion, was estimated at about twelve hundred dollars.1
On the Manor was located Fort Saint Inigoes, erected in I637. It stood on the Point still known as "Fort Point", and about half a mile from the mouth of the Saint Mary's River, which it was intended to guard. By the Act of 1650, all ships trading within the Saint Mary's River, were required to pay a half pound of powder and two pounds of shot, as a port duty to Fort Saint Inigoes, and also to ride at anchor for two whole tides, both coming and going, within command of the said Fort.2 Many of the early proclamations were dated at, and issued from this Fort, and the General Assembly of 1646 met there.ª It was also, by order of Governor Calvert, made the place of general refuge, in times of threatened attack, for the women, children and helpless men living between Saint Inigoes Creek and Trinity Creek.4 Captain John Price was the first Commander of the Fort, and he held the position for many years. The early records furnish repeated instances in which corn and cattle, by order of the Governor, were
taken up in Maryland by Copley for the use of the church, was Saint Thomas and Cedar Point Neck in Charles County, and which, with Saint Inigoes Manor, has gone far toward supporting Roman Catholic worship in their respective counties, for more than two centuries and a half .- "Foundation of Maryland." For further particulars as to the Statutes of Mortmain in Maryland, see chapter on "The Land Tenure of Colonial Maryland."
1 Scharf, 3, p. 127.
2 Archives (Ass. Pro.) 1650, p. 293.
8 Ibid (Ass. Pro.) p. 209. 4 Ibid (Ist Cl. Pro.) p. 108.
221
EARLY CHURCHES
"pressed" for the use of the garrison at Fort Saint Inigoes, which occurred in time of peace, would to-day be regarded as a somewhat remarkable exercise of executive power.
How the Fort was built and mounted the records do not show. Some of the cannon from there, however, are still to be seen. In 1824, the Rev. Joseph Carberry drew out of the river several of them, which, either from the washing of the Point, or the force of the current, were two hundred yards from the shore.1 One of these early muniments of war and fortification, is now on the State House grounds, at Annapolis ; two of them are at Georgetown College, and at least one' of them, it is said, is still on Saint Inigoe's Manor, where it now performs the function, painful to relate, of an ordinary boun- dary post.2
In speaking of this Fort and its situation, Bryant says: "at the lower end of the bay of Saint Ignatius (of whose name saint Inigoe's was an old, and once common corruption),3 was a bluff much like that at Saint Mary's, though lower and less picturesque. From it, looking to the north, across the bay, could be seen the point of the first landing, and to the south, the view extended to the mouth of the Saint Mary's River. It was a commanding site, and on it Governor Calvert erected a Fort, which effectually guarded the approach to the town above. Near, or in the Fort, stood a mill, and above it a few scattered buildings. No ruins of either Fort or houses remain, save a few scattered bricks and hewn stone".ª
1 Scharf, I, p. 76.
2 To the Saint Inigoes Mission is due the credit of having collected and preserved almost the only relics now to be seen, which were associ- ated with the early history and first Capital of the Province. Among these may be mentioned, the "Council Table," "the old bell," and Gov- ernor Calvert's "Cut Lass and leather scabbard" as well as some of the early muniments of war and fortification. The most of these, as well as the records of the order, are now at Georgetown College.
3 From Ignatius Loyola, Inigoes Lopez, the founder and first gen- eral superintendent of the order of Jesuits, organized in 1534. "Saint Inigoe's Hill" was the name of the home of the society, where it owned a large estate. Baltimore refers to them as "those of the Hill". Calvert Papers, number I, p. 216.
Bryant, United States, p. 312.
222
COLONIAL MARYLAND
Of the Roman Catholic churches in Saint Mary's County belonging to the Colonial period, around which the greatest local interest centres, by reason of the fact that its graveyard, from an early date, became the place of interment for many of the more prominent Roman Catholic families in the county, was perhaps, "old Saint Joseph's". It was erected, it is said, about 1740, but the earliest recorded notice of its existence, which has been found, is the fact, that Father Joseph Mosley was officiating there in 1759.1 It was a brick building, about 25x45 feet, with steep roof and square windows, and though unpretentious in design, it was a substantial and church-like edifice. About three hundred yards north of where it stood, a large and handsome church has been erected in recent years, after which the old building was allowed to crumble, though its site can yet be identified. It stood near the centre of the old graveyard, still used as a place of Roman Catholic burial.
When Saint John's, Sacred Heart and Saint Aloysius churches (the latter situated near Leonardtown, and long since disappeared) were built, has not been ascertained. A legacy2 however, to "Saint John's Chapel" in 1786, a tombstone in the graveyard of Sacred Heart, to the memory of Mrs. Susanah Margan, dated 1795, and one in the graveyard of Saint Aloysius, to the memory of Ignatius Benedict Drury, dated 1803, prove them all to belong to an early period. Owing to the stringent laws passed, the intolerant spirit, and the ungenerous policy pursued against Roman Catholics in Mary- land, from 1698, to the Revolution, it is not probable they were built within that time, though they appear to have been erected soon after the latter date.
1 Old Catholic Maryland, Tracey, p. 134.
2 Will of Mary Henrietta Taney, Saint Mary's County.
CHAPTER XII
The Great Seal of Maryland and Her Flag
IT has been aptly noted, that Maryland is unique in her Great
Seal and presents a marked contrast to those of the other States of the American Union, in that it consists of armorial bearings of a strictly heraldic character, the Great Seal of most of the States bearing "emblems indicative of agriculture and commerce, plenty and prosperity, or kindred subjects, repre- sented in a more or less pictorial or allegorical manner".1
The first Great Seal of Maryland, brought over by Gov- ernor Leonard Calvert, in 1643, was in the language of Balti- more, "treacherously and violently taken away by Richard Ingle or his accomplices, in or about February, Anno Domini 1644, and hath been ever since so disposed of it cannot be re- covered".ª
No impression of this Seal appears to be extant, owing per- haps, partly to the destruction of the records of the times, and partly to the fact that its use was more limited at first than at a
1 The great seal of a state or a nation stands as her symbol of honor ; it is the instrument through which she officially speaks and the signet by which her official acts are authenticated and accredited. It is there- fore a most important factor in governmental administrations. So es- sentially so was it regarded at the time of James II of England that, when that monarch fled from the realm before the wrath of his infuri- ated subjects, he took with him the great seal of England and threw it in the river Thames, believing that without it, no writs could be issued for a new Parliament and that Parliament alone could authorize a new great seal. A thorough and interesting treatise on the Great seal of Maryland was read before the Maryland Historical Society by Major Clayton C. Hall, and published by the Society in 1886 as "Fund Publica- tion No. 23", to which the author is indebted for much of the material of this chapter.
2 Archives (Cl. Pro.) 1648, p. 214.
224
COLONIAL MARYLAND
later date, it not having been attached to land grants until 1644,1 the same year it was lost. In 1648, Baltimore sent to the Province through Governor William Stone, a second Great Seal which in the minute description accompanying it is repre- sented as "cut in silver" like its predecessor, and very similar to it in size and design. The escutcheon of this Seal bore the Calvert and Crossland arms quartered. The first and fourth quarters consisted of "six pales" or vertical bars alternately gold and black, with a "bend dexter counter charged"-that is a diagonal stripe on which colors are reversed-being the Cal- vert arms; the second and third quarters consisted of a quar- tered field of red and white charged with a greek, or equal, limbed cross, classified as "botonny"-its arms terminating in trefoils-and also counter charged, that is with the colorings reversed, red being on the white ground and white on the red-the latter quarterings being from the Crossland, Balti- more's maternal arms - Alicia Crossland having been the mother of the first Baron of Baltimore. These quarterings were surmounted by an earl's coronet and full-faced helmet, which indicated his rank in America as that of a Count Palatine-his rank in England being that of a Baron only-a distinction which no other American colonial charter conferred. On the helmet rested the Calvert crest-a ducal crown with two half bannerets, one gold and one black. The escutch- eon was supported on one side by the figure of a farmer, and the other by that of a fisherman - symbolical of his two estates, Maryland and Avalon. Below them was a scroll bearing the Calvert motto: "Fatti Maschii Parole Femine"- manly deeds, womanly words, or more strictly deeds are males, words females. Behind the escutcheons and coronets was en- graved an ermine lined mantle, and surrounding all, on a border encircling the seal, was the legend: "Scuto Bona Voluntatics Tue Coronasti"-With favor will thou compass him as with a shield.2
The heraldic terms used in describing the colors in the
1 Bland, Maryland Report, I, p. 308.
2 Archives (Cl. Pro.) 1648, pp. 214, 215; Hall, pp. 17, 23.
225
THE GREAT SEAL AND FLAG
Calvert arms are or1 and sable, which means gold and black," and not orange and black, as it has so frequently been mis- interpreted.3
Such is the design of the coat of arms of Maryland- armorial bearings either connected with the family of her founders, or reflecting upon the nature and scope of her foundation-and its meaning is of marked significance and deep interest.
The most prominent part of the coat of arms is its escutch- eon, or shield as it was formerly called. Shields are of ancient origin and were regarded as an important equipment of every soldier until the invention of fire arms rendered them prac- tically useless for that purpose. At first they were of plain metal designed for protection only, but later they were or- namented with devices, which in the absence of modern military trappings, would enable friend and foe to distinguish each other on the field of battle, or in the language of the poet "That no Norman might die at the hand of a brother, nor that one Frenchman be killed by another". Still later, designs and colorings were used, by which the individual bearing them could be identified, those selected for the purpose being some- thing suggestive of his name or a reminder of some military achievement for which the bearer, or his family, had become distinguished. It was from the latter kind that the shield or escutcheon of the Maryland coat of arms was designed. In the first and fourth quarterings, taken from the Calvert arms, the six vertical payles or stockades, signify in heraldry a palisado or fortification, and the diagonal bend or band, ex- tending from the bottom to the top represents a scaling ladder by which Calvert is supposed to have reached the top of the Bastile fortification and demolished it. The question of whether the arms were granted to Calvert for destroying rather than for building forts, is determined by this band or parti-colored field as it is called in heraldry, having its colors transposed,
1 Ibid.
2 Clark's Heraldry, p. 16.
3 Most prominently of all by the State itself, in the handsome painting of the Great Seal which now decorates the Senate Chamber of the State House at Annapolis.
226
COLONIAL MARYLAND
that is the gold on the black and the black on the gold, meaning broken-scattered. The second and third quarterings, taken from the Crossland arms, also have a parti-colored field with its colors, silver and red, counter charged, that is, the silver on the red and the red on the silver, indicating that its bearer had been valiant and successful in destructive warfare. The cross is suggestive either of the name of the bearer, or the time when his honors were won, it being one of the symbols de- noting the Christian warrior. The arms of the cross termi- nating in a flower full bloom, rather than a botonny or budding design, indicates that the bearer is in the full flower of his glory, and is not simply a bud of hope and promise. The earl's coronet, which surmounts the shield, indicates the nature and scope of the Maryland charter, and shows it to have been a Palatine, an Earldom, the highest grant that the English mon- arch could confer, and one which was not conferred upon any other American colony. Above that was a full faced helmet. As the earl's coronet indicated the nature of the Maryland grant, the helmet shows the rank of the Proprietary in his rela- tion to his Maryland possessions. Helmets were either full faced or in profile, the former showing a jurisdiction that was absolute-looking straight ahead at the possessions over which he was the supreme ruler, while the latter showed a feudal allegiance, as though looking around for the approach of his sovereign, liege or lord. An earl's coronet was a crown of gold with eight prongs, each holding a pearl, and between each was a strawberry leaf. The full faced helmet was a covering, usu- ally of steel, for the face, but so arranged as to enable the bearer to see in front between six projecting bars, while in the helmet in profile view the front is closed and only that on the side is exposed.
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