USA > Maryland > Maryland, two hundred years ago, a discourse > Part 2
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' The exact period of Lord Baltimore's conversion cannot now be fixed ;- but there can be no doubt that he was a Roman Catholic in sentiment for some time before he retired from office and publicly united himself to the Church of Rome. In a work written by a contemporary, and attributed to Bishop Good- man, himself of a strong Catholic tendency, we have the following statement. " As he (Secretary Calvert) was the only Secretary employed in the Spanish match, so undoubtedly he did what good offices he could therein for religion's sake; being infinitely addicted to the Roman Catholic faith, having been con- verted thereunto by Count Gondomar and Count Arundel, whose daughter Sec- retary Calvert's son had married. And, as it was said, the Secretary did usual- ly catechize his own children so to ground them in his own religion, and in his best room having an altar set up, with chalice, candlesticks, and all other orna- ments, he brought all strangers thither, never concealing any thing, as if his whole joy and comfort had been to make open profession of his religion."- Court of James Ist, vol. 1, p. 376.
From this statement, we may infer that Lord Baltimore's mind had begun to incline towards Catholicism, at least two or three years before his retirement from office in January, 1625.
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Lord and Proprietary. There, about the time of the landing of the Plymouth pilgrims, a settlement had been formed under his auspices, which now assumed a distinct colonial existence, under the name of AVALON. This colony, how- ever, did not, like that of Plymouth, have its origin in a desire to enjoy a religious faith unmolested. For himself, Sir George Calvert, had no occasion to provide a place of refuge, as he was high in favor at court, and a prominent agent in the king's favorite plan, -- that of matching Charles with the Infanta, which seemed on the point of consumma- tion; and, as for the Catholics in general, their hopes of 73 > toleration under a Protestant prince had never been fairer ; and there had not been, for years, so little inducement for the members of that communion to expatriate themselves, or so little apparent probability of the necessity of such a course, as when, under the new charter, the Proprietary made fresh exertions to strengthen and extend his colony on the island of Newfoundland.
As an officer of the crown, and we may presume, from sincere conviction, Sir George Calvert zealously sustained the public policy of his royal master, and labored to uphold that prerogative, which he regarded as an essential attribute of kingly rule. But his political horizon was suddenly over- clouded, by the unexpected failure of the negotiation for the Spanish match, almost at the moment when its consumma- tion appeared so certain, that James exultingly declared, " all the devils in hell could not break it." As a conse- quence, Calvert lost ground in the Council, and ultimately resigned his office of Secretary of State ;- but the king, well satisfied with his past services, created him Baron of Balti- more in Ireland, and, notwithstanding his Catholic tenden- cies, continued him a member of the Privy Council. Thus, one of the last acts of that weak monarch's life, was the bestowal of honor, in the face of party opposition and not- withstanding his change of faith, on one who had long been his zealous and devoted servant.
The accession of Charles to the throne, brought no cessa- tion of that struggle which had already commenced, openly
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on the floor of Parliament and in the halls of justice, and silently among the masses of the people, between prerogative on the one hand, and the liberty of the subject on the other ; on the contrary, his devious and deceptive course soon aggra- vated existing difficulties, and pushed matters beyond the possibility of a peaceable adjustment. At last, finding he could neither cheat nor cajole the popular leaders, nor bend Parliament to his own wishes, Charles suddenly dissolved that body, prohibited even the mention of its re-assembling, .3 and commenced the desperate experiment of governing Eng- land, free from the restraints of that legislature which had proved itself so determined to thwart the royal will, to crush the royal favorites, to overthrow monopolies, and to abridge the royal power.
It was at this critical period, (January, 1630) that Sir George Calvert, now Lord Baltimore, and a professed Roman Catholic, returned to England. At the accession of Charles, he had hesitated to take the oaths of allegiance and suprein- acy, and was therefore left out of the Privy Council, when he retired to his estates in Ireland. Thence he was called to Court in March, 1627, having been selected as a most fitting person, to act as one of the Commissioners to meet at Brus- sels, for the purpose of negotiating a treaty of peace with Spain, which, however, was not then accomplished. Three months after, he sailed for Avalon ; and finding the colony in a flourishing condition, returned to London, and again, with all his family, except Cecilius, his eldest son, embarked for Newfoundland. There, he rendered good service by protect- ing with his ships the English fishermen in those waters, while he endeavored to build up and consolidate his settle- ment. A fair trial convinced him, that in such a climate and locality, there was little hope of the success of his plans of colonization ;- he, therefore, in the summer of 1629, sent his children to England, and with his lady sailed for Virginia, where he arrived in October of the same year. The arrival of a visiter so distinguished caused some excitement at James City; and the authorities inquired why he, the Governor of another colony, had abandoned that and come to theirs. "To
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seek a plantation and dwelling place among you," was his lordship's reply. "Very willingly," answered they, " pro- vided you will take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, as we have done, and which we are obliged, by the royal order, to exact from every person, who becomes a member of this colony." A modified form of the oath was proposed by him as one which his obligations as a Catholic would allow him to take ;- but the Governor and Council, moved without doubt by that jealousy of Catholicism which was felt by the colonists as well as by the people of the mother country, (though professing to act solely upon the royal instructions,) declined to admit into their community a man, however dis- tinguished, " who was unwilling to acknowledge all the pre- eminences belonging to his majesty," and prayed him to make provision to depart from the colony by the next ship that sailed for England. He complied with their request; but not before he had examined the broad bay of " Chesapiack," the islands that stud its surface, the beautiful rivers which flow into it, especially from the west, and the rich and invit- ing country which, almost without an inhabitant, except a few savage tribes, spread out upon its borders.
From this remark must be excepted, however, a large island in the bay, on which Capt. William Claiborne, a mem- ber of the Council of Virginia, and a man of great energy and untiring enterprise, had established a trading settlement, and to which he had given the name of Kent : as also an island in the mouth of the Susquehanna river, on which he had placed an advanced post to facilitate his trading operations ; both of which he had purchased of the native chiefs, besides taking up lands upon each, according to the custom of the country, at that period.
Leaving his lady and servants behind, Lord Baltimore pro- ceeded to England, hoping that, by a personal appeal, the king might be induced to relax in his favor the regulation in regard to emigrants to Virginia, and accept of a modified forin of oath ; but he was disappointed. His application was ineffectual, and he found himself under the necessity of fitting
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out a vessel (February, 1630) and sending her to Virginia, to convey his lady and servants to England.
The two years succeeding Lord Baltimore's return to Eng- land, were crowded with stirring and important events. On the continent, was raging that fearful struggle, which was destined to depopulate the cities and blast the soil of central Europe ;- in which the spirit of Catholicism battled with the spirit of the Reformation; and the great Gustavus, the cham- pion of the Protestant cause, found a fitting field for the dis- play of his grand military genius, competitors worthy of his fame, and a glorious end, at a time when the laurel was greenest upon his brow, and before full success or imperial power had too severely tested his sincerity and his self-com- mand. In England, too, was commencing a struggle, that was to outlast that going on among the states of Europe, but ' the elements of which were not essentially different ;- preroga- tive against public right ;- the court against the people ;-- the prescriptions of the established church against the claims of dissenting sects to worship according to the dictates of > their own consciences. The king had thrown down the gauntlet ; the best men of the country had not hesitated to take it up; and the people listened to the controversy and watched the aggressive and defensive movements of the respective parties, until the sympathy with their own cham- pions became deep and abiding, and the general watchword and rallying cry became, " the liberties of the free-born sub- jects of the realm."
It was during this period that Lord Baltimore, having relinquished the hope of obtaining admission into the colony of Virginia, conceived the design of obtaining from the king a grant of a portion of that territory which he had visited on the shores of the Chesapeake, and there carrying out those plans of colonization, which had failed on the frozen and barren isle of Newfoundland. Ilis application was success- ful;' and a charter was prepared, similar in its provisions to
1 In a letter addressed by him to Strafford, from his " lodging in Lincoln', Inn Fields," on the 11th of October, 1631, he condoles, with his inend on the recent loss of his wife, and assures him that nothing but the " urgent business
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that which he had received for Avalon,' and to one which had been granted five years before to the Earl of Carlisle, for the West India islands; but before it passed the great seal, he died, leaving his eldest son Cecilius, to carry forward the enterprise, in which he had felt so deep an interest. Two months after his death, (June 20th, 1632,) the necessary formalities were completed, and Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, became the titular absolute Lord and Pro- prietary of MARYLAND.
The announcement of the new grant called forth a strong remonstrance from the planters of Virginia against this divi- sion of their territory and interference with their trade in the "Great Bay;"-but the Privy Council decided (July, 1633,) that Lerd Baltimore should be " left to his patent and the petitioners to their remedy at law, as they desired." Opposition was not wanting also from parties in England, hostile to the plan of the new colony. False and exag- gerated representations were made through the Attorney General before the Star Chamber relative to the designs of Lord Baltimore ;- that he intended to carry nuns into Spain and soldiers to serve the king ;-- that his ships had left Graves- end without due authority from the Custom House ;- and that his people had abused the king's officers and refused to take the oath of allegiance. But Calvert succeeded in shew- ing the falsity of all the charges brought against him, and at the end of about eighteen months from the time the Charter passed the great seal, all obstacles were overcome, and his ships, which had been detained in consequence of these false reports, were allowed to depart .? In November,
which he has in hand" prevents him from starting at once for Ireland, to com- fort his friend in his affliction. Strafford's Letters, vol. 1, p. 30, -- quoted by Anderson in his History of the Colonial Church, rol. 2, p. 113.
1 So says Chalmers. I have attempted, through the aid of a correspondent in London, to obtain the charter of Avalon, for the purpose of comparing it with that of Maryland, but have not yet succeeded.
2 These particulars are drawn from a letter from Calvert to Strafford, written January 10tk, 1633-4. after the sailing of the expedition, in which he gratefully acknowledges, that, " by the help of some of his Lordship's good friends and his own," he has been enabled to overcome opposition and send a hopeful
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1633, the Ark, bearing the fortunes of Leonard Calvert, the brother of the Proprietary, and nearly two hundred settlers, preceded, as in the old diluvian time, by the Dore, went forth in quest of that spot of western earth, upon which they might set foot, with the hope of peaceful enjoyment of civil rights and religious opinions, and the organization of a prosperous community.1 Many of the first adventurers were Roman Catholics ;- many, especially of those who went in the capa- city of laborers or servants, were Protestants ; and with the expedition sailed two brethren of the Society of Jesus, not 25. only to act as spiritual guides of the colonists, but ready also and anxious to endure exposure and suffering, for the sake of spreading the seeds of Christian truth among the aboriginal tribes.
On their way, the voyagers visited the island of Barba- does, to establish relations of trade and obtain certain needed supplies ; but it must have possessed an additional interest in their eyes, from the fact that its inhabitants had been living and greatly prospering for several years, under a
colony into Maryland. In the same letter, he also states that two of his brothers have gone, "with very near twenty other gentlemen of very good fashion, and three hundred laboring men, well provided in all things." -- Strafford's Letters, vol. 1, 178, quoted by Anderson.
One of the brothers mentioned, was Leonard, the Governor of the colony ;- the other was George ; who, I think, settled and died in Virginia.
1 Lord Baltimore's original intention was, to lead his own colony to Mary- land; but circumstances induced him to change his purpose. That the impres- sion prevailed in England, that his Lordship intended to follow his brother Leonard, with a second body of emigrants, is evident from a petition presented to the Privy Council in November, soon after the sailing of the Ark and the Dove. It appears that " Gabriel Hawley, servant to Lord Baltimore," had bil- leted upon certain citizens of London, several men and women destined for Maryland, who finally sailed without payment having been made for their entertainment; whereupon the parties presented their accounts to his Lord- ship; but he referred them to Hawley, who unfortunately was then under arrest for debt, and confined in the Fleet prison. The petitioners then applied to the Privy Council to order Lord Baltimore to satisfy their demands . before he sailed for Maryland;" but we are not informed whether their prayer was granted, or in what manner the claim was adjusted. See Vol. 1of ABSTRACTS presented to the MI. Hist. Society, by George Peabody, Esq., of London ;- under date of November, 1633.
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charter> similar to that under which they were about to establish themselves in Maryland. The islanders had not arrived at their present point of strength and prosperity, how- ever, without a severe struggle and a contest at the very commencement of their settlement, with previous occupants of a portion of the soil, who claimed rights under an original grant from James I. and a subsequent one from Charles. Could the Maryland colonists have looked forward into the future, they would have been startled to see re-enacted in their own history, the events that accompanied the establish- ment of the colony at Barbadoes; and, even with the pros- pect of ultimate success, would have shrunk from a contro- versy, entailed upon them by the double dealing or careless- ness of their time-serving king. As they coasted along the West India islands, the lovers of the marvellous among the crew and the credulous among the passengers, were aroused by the report, that in that region existed an animal, in the head of which was set a precious stone that shone with inconceivable splendor. The more refined among the colo- nists, familiar with the language of the great dramatist, whose genius was then new to the world, may have . been reminded by this fable of those lines in which he compares Adversity to the toad, which,
"ugly and venomons, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;"
and the after experience of all certainly taught them, that, though no such creature was to be found within the limits of their territory, there was abundant opportunity for them to gather from stern trials and adverse events, the jewels of patience, firmness, and perseverance, with which alone, in any enterprise, man is able to purchase success.
Arrived at Point Comfort, they were agreeably surprised to 2/ receive a courteous greeting from Sir John Harvey, the
1 The Earl of Carlisle was made absolute Lord and Proprietary of all the Caribbee islands, including the Barbadocs, Jan. 2nd, 1627 ;- and his charter, so far as I have been able to compare it with Lord Baltimore's, was the saine as that granted for Maryland.
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Governor of Virginia, from whom they had rather appre- hended opposition ; and there, among the Governor's attend- ants, Leonard Calvert met for the first time Capt. William Claiborne; to whose energy and enterprise the colony of Virginia had been indebted for the exploration of the bay, and the establishment of a profitable Indian trade from Kent and Palmer's islands.
By the aid of Capt. Henry Fleet,1 an Indian trader from Virginia, selection was made of an eligible situation for the new settlement, on the site of an Indian village; and on a branch of the beautiful Potomac, with appropriate religious and civic ceremonies, was established ST. MARY's, the capi- tal of the colony of MARYLAND. Now began in reality the trials of this little band of adventurers in the wilderness. The energy and ability and sterling character of Leonard Calvert, the zeal and self-sacrificing spirit of the missionaries, would each furnish topics for a volume ; and the pens of valued members of this society have paid a richly merited tribute to both ;- I may, therefore, without exposing myself to the charge of want of appreciation or neglect, pass by these themes, in order to dwell, on this occasion, on the character and development of the people, their relation to the Lord Pro- prietary, and the causes which were in operation to affect their intercourse with and confidence in him, and to modify the social, civil, and religious institutions of Maryland, two hundred years ago.
1 Capt. Fleet, though a member of the Virginia colony, was induced by Leonard Calvert " to accept a proportion in beaver trade to serve the Maryland colony," of which he was for several years an active and useful member. The unwillingness of the Virginians to part with him, may be inferred from the fact that, on the 11th of May, 1636, the Governor and Council of Virginia, on the plea that " the instant danger and necessity of the colony exacteth this so strict a course," authorised Lieut. Richard Popely " to proceed in a vessel with the first fair wind and weather into the Chesapian Bay and into a river or creek thereof, in pursuit and inquiry of Capt. Henry Fleet ; and to apprehend him and bring him prisoner to the Governor." The expedition was not successful ; or if Capt. Fleet temporarily visited James City, to assist his old friends in their negotiations or contests with the Indians, he returned again to St. Mary's. HIe finally left Maryland, however, and again took up his residence in Virginia. Virginia Records.
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There were three prominent causes, which, from the very commencement of the enterprise, tended to render the task of the Proprietary a most difficult one, and to make his effort to govern and guide his colony, for many years, a continual and oftentimes apparently a desperate struggle against individuals / and events. In the first place, he had to encounter the set- tled opposition of the Virginians to the legality of his charter, and the determined efforts of Capt. Claiborne to maintain his claim to rights of settlement and trade on Kent and Palmer's 3 islands ;- secondly, his own construction of his proprietary rights, as absolute Lord, with royal jurisdiction, over the province, was in direct antagonism with those high ideas of the liberty of the subject, which prevailed in England at that period, and which the greater part of the colonists undoubt- 3 edly brought with them ;- and thirdly, he was of the pro- scribed Roman Catholic religion ; and therefore, though fully trusted by those of the same faith, was, from the beginning, > closely watched at home, and an object of jealousy to most of those in the colony, professing the Protestant doctrines, x whose numbers increased much more rapidly than that of the Catholics, and whose distrust on this point kept pace with « their numerical increase. These influences were modified and aggravated by the disturbed state of public affairs in Eng- land, the aspect which the struggle between Charles and the Parliament finally assumed, and the influence which political and religious developments in the mother country, of neces- sity exerted over the position and fortunes of the Proprietary, and the opinions and actions of the colonists.
A full discussion of the influence which the causes just mentioned exerted on the condition of the colony during the first twenty years of its existence, would lead me fairly to 34 - detail the long misrepresented proceedings of Claiborne ;- to show what questions of conflicting right arose between the Proprietary and the people, and how they were adjusted ;- to sketch, as illustrative of these and of the influence exerted upon the political and religious sympathies of the colonists, by the progress of events in the mother country, the promi- nent incidents connected with Ingle's rebellion ;- to show the
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origin and aim of the famous Act of Toleration of 1649 ;- and to trace the course of events, by which, just two centuries ago, Lord Baltimore was deprived of his jurisdiction, and Maryland was reduced under the government of the Common- wealth of England ; while the principles of absolute lordship and royal jurisdiction were discarded from its code, as subver- sive of the rights of the people, and unfit to be exercised by a subject of that government, which claimed to have put down absolutism in the person of the king, and to have trampled the insignia of royalty under its feet. But, to do justice to all the subjects enumerated, would occupy a much longer time than that usually allotted for the delivery of a public address. I propose, therefore, after sketching the prominent events connected with the early progress of the colony, to discuss the origin of the "Act of Toleration" of 1649, and the events connected with the reduction of Maryland to Parliament in 1652; not because they present strongly attractive points for illustration, or are especially interesting to myself; but because they come nearest in point of time to that period in the his- tory of the colony on which I have determined to dwell, and mark also important epochs in the religious and civil progress of the province.
In the discussion of these topics, I shall speak with the utmost freedom. I have studied the history of Maryland with a deep respect for the high qualities of its founder, and an equal regard for the admirable traits of character manifested by the earlier colonists in their difficult enterprise; but I do not conceive myself bound or even permitted to add a single light to the picture, for the sake of emblazoning their merits in the eyes of their posterity, or to temper a single shade, with a view of covering the weaknesses or the faults, to which as men, they must have been subject. The desire to magnify the merits of our ancestors, is a common, and in the estima- tion of some, a pardonable weakness ;- but he who know- ingly attributes to the men of the Past, deeds which they never performed or motives by which they were never actuated, distorts the characters he professes to draw, misleads those
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whom he pretends to instruct, and proves himself unworthy of confidence. The simple truth, as to men and actions, should be the great aim of historical narration ; and sincerity, diligence, freedom from prejudice, and an extended survey of the causes of events and the characters of individuals and nations, are essential requisites of the Historian.
He who endeavors to obtain a distinct view of the events of long past time, has, in many respects, similar precautions to take and similar difficulties to encounter, with him who endeavors to extend the range of his vision into the remote realms of space. The shades and cross reflections of preju- dice, the indistinctness engendered by distance and interpos- ing events, and various other causes, serve to obstruct his view, and to give him but a faint or distorted image of the objects he wishes to survey ;- and it is only when he has achro- matized his mind, purified himself from all bias and excite- ment, and brought the persons and events that he wishes to examine fairly within his field of vision, and poured upon them the light of truthful inquiry, that he can hope to obtain views of them, worthy the efforts of an honest mind, and wor- thy the attention and confidence of honest men. Guided by these principles, I shall proceed to detail the facts which I have collected, and the inferences which I draw from them, without pausing to inquire, whether they conform to what has been said by others, whether they flatter or wound the pride of parties and sects, whether they confirm or contradict the assumptions of those who would glorify their country, their state, or themselves, through the merits, real or imaginary, of those who have gone before them.
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