USA > Maryland > Studies in the civil, social and ecclesiastical history of early Maryland; lectures delivered to the young men of the Agricultural College of Maryland > Part 10
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The law had its drawbacks, as all compromise measures have, and this law was in a pronounced degree a com- promise measure. Probably not one person in five was pleased with it. Its chief drawback was the attempt under the law, as at first passed, to restrict the liberty of wor- ship, which did not of necessity belong to the measure. Rather it was a kind of pungent spice thrown in by the spirit of the times. It had to be abandoned, however, as the discussion proceeded; for, as we have seen, it required ten years to bring the law into such shape that it could meet with the king's approval. The king had more liberality than most men in his day, owing to his Dutch training as well as his natural endowments. Eng- lish thought also wonderfully developed at this time, at any rate among statesmen, as the Toleration Act indi- cates. There was no necessity for any restriction upon any form of worship, and the right was finally conceded in all cases save that of the Roman Catholics, who, how- ever unreasonably, were dreaded all through this time. The privilege of private worship was accorded them in their various chapels, which were found probably on all estates. But open church doors and invitations to enter,
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HISTORY OF EARLY MARYLAND.
were forbidden. And this feeling continued down till near the close of the colonial period, and until the great thought of the province was fully engaged in other mat- ters connected with the approaching separation of the colony from the mother country. Proselyting was dreaded. Protestant children were withdrawn from the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, as when a Protestant father dying, the mother was of the Roman faith. The importation of servants of the Roman faith was restricted; the privilege of exercising the franchise was denied, not directly, but by the imposition of test oaths which no faithful Roman Catholic could take.
It is to be observed, however, in regard to all the oathis imposed, that such imposition was not the act of the Church of England as at this time established. That church was in a small minority. It was not established by the act of its own members. All the stringent measures, like the act of establishment, the forty pounds per poll under it, the restraints put upon the Roman Church, the imposition of oaths, were the act of the people irrespective of church connection. The oaths were imposed on vestrymen because they had certain civil duties to perform, and werc, as vestrymen, State officials. The vestrymen need not be members of the Church of England, as was officially, determined in one interpreta- tion of the law, and sometimes they were not of that church. The same oaths were also imposed on all officers, and that not only in the colony, but in England as well, being only of English enactment, and : extended to the colonies in the agitation and anxiety of the day.
Some one speaks of Anglican toleration, and contrasts it with the toleration of the proprietaries, but the term is
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radically deceptive. The church was only made use of because it alone was available for the purposes of the people. This, however, is to be said, that having become established, it gradually drew into it a very large part of the colonial population, at any rate of the influential section; though to its shame and ultimate misfortune it neglected the great body of the people, failing to grasp a splendid opportunity.
The oaths spoken of above were these: First, I do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his majesty King William.
Secondly, I do swear that I do from my heart abhor, detest and abjure, as impious and heretical, the damnable doctrine and position that princes excommunicated and deprived by the Pope or any authority of the Sce of Rome, may be deposed or murthered by their subjects or any other whatsoever.
Thirdly, And I do declare that no foreign prince, person, prelate or potentate, hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, power, superiority, primacy or authority, (cclesiastical or spiritual, within the realm of England or the dominions thereto belonging.
Fourthly, The following test also was required of every church officer: We, the subscribers, do declare that we do not believe that there is any Transubstantiation in ye Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or in the elements of bread and wine, at or after consecration thereof by any person or persons whatsoever.
The third and fourth of these were intended to be test oaths, and they were only English acts extended to the colony. The first and second were certainly legitimate, and what every state is justified in requiring,-the oath
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of allegiance to the reigning king, and the declaration that no man, citizen or foreigner, has any right what- soever, derived in any way, to murder him. Whether such oaths were required, the men of that day ought to have known better than we of this. Certainly their apprehensions called them out. They were, however, no part of "Anglican toleration," for the Anglican Church had nothing whatever to do with them. They were political measures.
In another respect, also, the time of the Protestant Revolution is notable: that then first education came to be considered as a popular necessity. There is no evi- dence that during the whole of the period down to this time any consideration was given to the subject. Some few of the wealthier citizens, probably, sent their sons abroad for training, as they did later in the colony; and of course educated parents saw that their children ac- quired at least the rudiments of common learning. But we can only suppose this. Education was not a subject in which the authorities showed any interest. As we have seen, even that influence which is exerted by a weekly hearing of a man of intelligence preach, was in a great measure denied them through the want of provision for the support of such teachers. It requires but a slight effort to conceive of the wretched condition of the colony, the rudeness, ignorance and depravity that must have been widespread everywhere within its borders.
But with the setting up of the royal authority in place of the proprietary's, a change took place. The admin- istration was exercised not for private revenue, but for public advantage. Governor Nicholson, who was a man of a great deal of force and energy, no sooner
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came into the province than he began to agitate for the establishment of schools, and so far succeeded, that in 1696 King William's School at Annapolis, out of which St. John's College has since grown, was founded, and provision was made for the support of this and other schools throughout the province. By a later law, passed in 1723, one school was to be opened as near as possible in the center of each county. Beside that, Dr. Bray, who was the first. commissary of the colony, that is, presiding officer in church affairs, strove to establish libraries in every parish, and though they were under the control and for the especial use of the rector, doubt- less did much good.
The change, therefore, that took place in 1689, by which the government of the proprietary was overthrown and that of the king set up in its place, notwithstanding all the animadversion that has been heaped upon it, accomplished large benefits for the colony. One-man power has never been advisable, and one-man power, when the power is exercised to produce the largest revenues for the man, has always crippled the energies and narrowed the minds of those who have been sub- jected to it. Say what we please in eulogy of Charles Lord Baltimore and his predecessors, Maryland was their private property. All officers were appointed and re- moved by them, all laws were vetoed that did not meet with their approval. The province had been established for revenue and it had been administered for revenue; and granting all integrity, no man whose mind is fixed on revenue, is capable of taking exalted views of men or measures. The commercial standpoint is not a good one from which to look at anything. Self must always
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be dissociated if high purposes are to be apprehended or achieved. In the case of the Lords Baltimore, for the most part it was revenue drawn from the province to be spent in Europe,-absenteeism of the most pronounced kind.
Possibly the great body of the colonists did not know what the ailment was with which the province was afflicted. But the spirit of liberty and of larger things was abroad in the English world. Not only had a tyrant been overthrown in England, but a new principle had, in his overthrow, been definitely established. The corner- stone of a republic had been laid, so that though a life tenure was granted to his majesty, and the privilege of hereditary succession recognized, yet he ruled by act of Parliament, and he knew that that was his right and no longer the old myth of a right divine.
And that was the spirit that influenced Maryland at this time. No longer were they satisfied with an "absolute lord" that exercised dominion by virtue of a charter granted by an expelled family; but they wanted to enter the current of English life. And therefore, though they had nothing of a tyrannical character that could be charged against Lord Baltimore, and the charges that were made were in some respects exaggerations, yet what they did was legitimate,-it was human nature breaking loose from old shackles, sloughing off its old skin, and seeking association in a larger world. And church establishment for the correction of evils, educa- tion for the greater elevation of the mind, test acts against those who were dreaded, however unjustly, as ministers and upholders of ancient tyranny, oath of abhorrency as denouncing a principle that had been
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avowed in other days,-all these were but incidental to the new life upon which the colony was now entering. It is true that in 1715, some twenty-six years after this time, the proprietary government was re-established, but every one that is familiar with the two periods knows that the tone, spirit, character of the people in the later differed widely from what they had been in the earlier. Maryland, instead of being merely the province and private estate of Lord Baltimore, with the feudal right of over-lordship, became in all the great questions that agitated the English world, part of the great British empire.
EIGHTH LECTURE.
FROM THE RESTORATION OF THE PROPRIETARY GOVERN- MENT TILL THE CLOSE OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
We have now come to the time in the history of the province when another great change was made in its government. The royal administration does not seem to have been marked by any unusual degree of prosperity or of growth, though during the period matters generally moved smoothly. Any contentions that may have been in the colony, however much they may have disturbed society then, were not of a character to outlast their day or leave permanent marks behind them. But in 1715 great changes occurred, being nothing less important than the restoration of the old feudal form of govern- ment to the family of the Calverts, in whose hands it was to continue till the American Revolution; though it is true the last proprietary, Henry Harford, did not bear the name or title of the family.
What brought about this change was that the family of Lord Baltimore had in the meanwhile reverted to the first faith of the family and become members of the Church of England. For this change they have been very severely dealt with by some historians, though why one hardly knows. The first Lord Baltimore, George, changed his faith, and it was said by Archbishop Abbot that he did the same three several times before he became finally settled, and certainly he was not called on to suffer martyrdom for so doing. Rather time and
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THE CLOSE OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
circumstance proved very auspicious; whether by his selection or not is not known. The second Lord Balti- more seems to have been a voluntary convert also, though but little is known, if anything, as to his age when he left the church of his fathers, or what circumstances influenced him. Certainly, however, he was not called on to suffer martyrdom.
But when Benedict Leonard renounced his father's faith and became a Protestant, interested and pecuniary motives were imputed to him. He made the change during his father's lifetime, receiving from his father a very severe rebuke, together with the cutting off of the allowance which up to this time he had received. He remained faithful, however, and as a compensation for his father's severity received from the Queen a pension during his father's life, and also five hundred pounds sterling from Governor Hart out of the emoluments of his office in Maryland. His children also were brought up in the faith of the Church of England. That un- worthy motives influenced him ,we have no right to say, for we know nothing whatever about it. The days of Queen Anne were days of great religious controversy, and some of the best works in the English language on the subject of religion were written at that time. There is no reason whatever to believe that the son of Charles Calvert was not rationally convinced by the arguments that convinced so many others.
His father died in the year 1715, having enjoyed ample revenues from the province as well as from his other estates. Immediately his son solicited King George to restore to him the province, with all the extensive franchises of the proprietary. This the king granted,
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but Lord Baltimore had hardly received these when he also passed away, leaving the family title and all its honors and wealth to a minor child, Charles. This, I say, was in the year 1715, and from this time on till the American Revolution Maryland continued under the proprietary government. Becoming Protestants, they were no longer feared. Maryland, however, was a dif- ferent Maryland from what it had been twenty-six years before. It had grown into vigorous youth; it had become conscious of new rights; it felt itself a part of the great British empire; it claimed the rights of British subjects; it felt itself, as a province, superior to a pro- prietor who was himself, like all its citizens, subjects of the head of that empire. That explains why it had so many and such long contentions with the proprietaries till the close of the colonial days. It was conscious of rights and it strove to maintain them, though it had to do so often in defiance of ridicule and opposition from those who, as officials, represented the proprietary. It was a constant series of contentions which, begun with a definite purpose, never ceased till that purpose was achieved. For this was the characteristic of Maryland legislation, that what the people once set their minds on achieving was sure at last to be obtained.
The character of the colonial Assembly of Maryland must here be considered. The lower house was com- posed of those elected by the people as their represen- tatives. At this time the suffrage was not universal; for beside the law of 16SI, by which the franchise was limited to freeholders, the test oath, which could be required of any one offering to exercise any of the privi- leges of the franchise, shut out all consistent and faith-
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. دجه
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THE CLOSE OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
ful Roman Catholics. They could not be faithful to their church and at the same time deny its great leading doctrine and the supremacy which the head of their church claimed as of right to possess. Often, doubtless, too, the members of the Assembly were untrained men; for the standard of education was never high in the colony. But they were evidently men with definite ideas and strong will, and they pursued their ends with a persistency that always secured success.
For this purpose a proprietary government was more propitious than a royal one would have been. For the difference was immense between contending for certain rights which an English baron would deny, and con- tending with the sovereign of the British empire. It is true they came at last to contend not only with the British sovereign and the British parliament, but with the whole power of Great Britain. But that came after- wards when they had for years been contending for their rights as Englishmen, with their immediate over-lord. Besides, they had a fight of their own to make, whereas had it been a royal government that was immediately over them they would have been only one among many colonies. A proprietary government, therefore, afforded them excellent exercise. It was not too much for them in their earlier days. It hardened their civil muscles, expanded their patriotic chest, and in time they became athletes, ready and able to meet any foe.
This of the lower house. The upper house was a very different body. It was not elective, but appointed by Lord Baltimore. It was composed of various colonial officers, whose salaries were dependent upon the fees of their offices. Their interests, therefore, were just the
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opposite of those of the people. Dependent upon Lord Baltimore for their places, they became custodians of his claims and interests; and enjoying advantages according to the liberality of the monetary policy pursued, they were ever ready to resist the attempts of the lower house to limit fees, to control taxes, to scan appropriations.
' And this position was recognized all the time. Through many years in every way they restricted and suppressed, as far as possible, every attempt of the lower house to extend its functions. Beside that, they bore themselves quite loftily, not merely antagonizing, but scorning and ridiculing the lower house. They stood for Lord Balti- more and they stood for themselves. They were gen- erally men of education and men of position, sometimes men of exalted merits; and doubtless the difficulties they put in the way of the lower house had the effect of rec- tifying their projects, so that what was finally done was generally much better done than if there had been no objection. For while our ends may in the main be right, yet they are seldom so entirely so that criticism may not find some rational ground of objection. As it happened, also, the claims of the lower house often trenched upon the emoluments of the members of the upper house, and their criticisms were the more pungent on that account. The lower house, too, made a broad sweep in their claims, insisting that they occupied in Maryland the position of the House of Commons in England, and that the whole financial policy of the colony was in their hands, in that all money bills must originate in their house. And they carried this claim so far that during the French War, after the first year, 1754, nothing was done by Maryland, because the colony would only
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THE CLOSE OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
grant a requisition on its own terms, which terms the governor and the upper house would not approve.
Before going into specifications in this matter, let us look at the men who ruled over the province as lords proprietary through this time. We have seen that the aged Charles died in 1715, having remained true to his religious convictions through the twenty-six years since he had been deprived of the administration. All that can be said of him is that he was evidently a very re- spectable man, and so bore himself towards the people of the colony, whether among them or in England, that he won their regard. This they testified publicly. Beyond this, however, they did not go, and as soon as trouble arose it became evident he had not constrained their loyalty; for they cast off their allegiance and were more severe toward him than even the Protestant king of Eng- land was, wishing to take from him not only the govern- ment, but also some of his private resources from the colony.
His son, Benedict Leonard, was proprietor so short a time that the colonists knew scarcely anything of him, nor did he leave sufficient memorials to enable us to form a definite opinion of him. Certainly he did not distinguish himself by any marked excellence cither of mind or heart.
His son again, Charles, the fifth Lord Baltimore, and fourth proprietary, is better known, having been promi- nent in the social circles of England as a follower of Frederick the Prince of Wales, who, it will be remem- bered, set up a rival court to that of his father, George the Second. Not that his prominence bestows any honor upon him, for the prince used him in some of his dis-
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reputable conduct as a go-between, and afterwards, when his conduct caused great social scandal, he disavowed Lord Baltimore, leaving to Baltimore the further dis- reputable part of attempting to screen himself and the prince by disavowing all that had been done. He was something of a traveler also. He made a trip to Russia, which was a distant point in those days, and on his way back stopped with the Crown Prince of Prussia, after- wards Frederick the Great, upon whom he made a very agreeable impression. He made also some pretensions to learning, and withal seems to have been a - good- natured, agreeable kind of a man in society.
He did not command any respect, however, either for his abilities, acquirements or character. Walpole once described him as "the best and honestest man in the world, with a good deal of jumbled knowledge"; and again, on another occasion, as "poor Lord Baltimore, a very good-natured, weak, honest man." The king also once described him in conversation: "There is my Lord Baltimore, who thinks he understands everything and understands nothing, who wants to be well with both courts and is well with neither, and, entre nous, is a little mad."
This is the man, then, that was " absolute lord of Mary- land" from 1715 to 1751, a period of thirty-six years, a man who could veto her laws, nullify the will of the people, appoint all her officers, consume taxes laid upon her produce, squander her port dues, absorb the fines that might have gone to reduce the burdens of the state. And all because nearly a hundred years before a king of England had given to his ancestor, for two arrow-heads, the princely domain included within her borders. He
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THE CLOSE OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
could excite no respect, for he was worthy of none. He was not a patron to the province, for it needed none; while in virtue of his family connection he drew immense sums every year from the colony to consume in osten- tatious and absurd display.
No wonder, therefore, that the people sought, by claiming the privileges of English citizens, though born in the colony, to acquire for themselves, as their birth- right, the English statutes where they applied, as well as the common law of England. Over these there could be no veto. It was as in the days of Charles the First, when the people, passing over precedents that had accumulated during two hundred years and more, went back to the days of the earlier Edwards for the rights and principles of the English people. The charter bestowed certain functions on the proprietary, but it was presupposed that all would be like the first, men of judgment and men of character. When such ceased to be the case, and when also the province had outgrown the days of its infant numbers and of its narrow intercourse, the people, as of necessity, fell back upon the great inalienable rights of their imperial connection. They were Englishmen, and claimed all the franchises of Englishmen, and did not recognize the right of any sovereign to bestow, by charter or otherwise, any of their inherent rights upon any one.
When we turn, however, to Charles's son, the next proprietary, Frederick, we find all that has been said of the father applicable, only drawn in stronger colors. Like his father, he was a traveler. He had desire also to pose as an author, and distinguished himself chiefly by show- ing how much paper and ink he could waste on the
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display of vanity and self-conceit. The description given of him by one of his own day is this, that he imagined " that he had too much genius, and that his Creator would have shown much more benevolence had He given bim less intelligence and more bodily strength. He was one of those worn-out beings, a hipped Englishman, who had lost all moral and physical taste. He knows not what to do with himself, finds nothing to his taste. With an income of thirty thousand pounds sterling, he knows not how to enjoy it. He became so intolerable that at last I frankly told him my opinion." In addition to this, he was a man of very bad habits. In 1768 he was tried for a most infamous crime, an assault upon a female, and though acquitted, the universal feeling was D: Bort that he was guilty. As is well known, his private life was bad. He died in 1771, worn out by a life of dissi- pation .-
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