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 5
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Of this class of colonies was Massachusetts, or to speak more correctly, the settlement at Plymouth, whose mem-
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bers landed in America in 1620. They had formerly been a colony in Holland, but deprived in that gracious land of that stimulus that could alone excite their enthusiasm and devotion, persecution at the hands of those who did not hold with them, they came to America and settled, mak- ing their own laws, choosing their own officers, executing the functions of state as best pleased them. They would have been a colony in that sense if they had gone to the Pacific coast or found their home in the South seas. But Maryland was a province, a definite part of the empire. Other such provinces were afterwards created, but Mary- land was the first.
This function of a province is expressed in the second clause of the quotation: "governed regularly by laws enacted in a provincial assembly." The earlier charters, as we have seen, did not provide for such assemblies, but a council, appointed by the king, made laws, or the people were governed by proclamation. The charter of Avalon did provide for the assembly of the freemen, but that was an abortive attempt and soon came to nothing. From the beginning, however, Maryland had her assemblies, who determined for themselves what laws should govern them, refusing to accept any that they did not approve, and inti- mating distinctly what they wished to have. It was this freedom of making laws for their own government, which came afterwards to be possessed and exercised by all the colonies, that fostered the spirit of freedom that at last demanded independence. Self - government went on, becoming more and more definite year after year, so that finally, in response to an attempt to exercise humiliating and undue control, the colonies, one and all, said, We will be entirely free. And Maryland first possessed this honor.
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Let us now look at the province of Maryland as under the charter it was first intended to be. It was the first of all the colonies to have its boundaries definitely deter- mined, and according to them it ought to be a great deal larger than it is now. For on the north it was to run with the fortieth degree of north latitude, and yet, if you will examine the map, you will find that that line will carry the state beyond Philadelphia. Again, on the west it was to be bounded by a north and south line to the farthest source of the Potomac; yet, if you will look, to-day you will see that a large section of the territory that is included within that line, belongs to West Virginia. Again follow- ing the farthest bank of the Potomac to the mouth of the river, the line was to pass across the bay and the eastern peninsula to the Atlantic ocean; but instead, the present line of division is to the north of that. Then the line was to run with the Atlantic and the Delaware bay and river back to the fortieth degree of north latitude; but within that region lies the State of Delaware. You see, therefore, how large a part of Maryland has been lost to it.
Why? Because other parties possessed greater skill and greater influence than Lord Baltimore did. As regards the large section of Pennsylvania that of right belonged to Maryland, it is to be said that neither Lord Baltimore nor William Penn knew about the boundaries of their two territories where the fortieth degree would run; and that afterwards, when it was discovered that Lord Baltimore's right, in virtue of prior grant, covered the territory above where Penn had fixed his city of brotherly love, it became an earnest and shrewd effort on Penn's part, by every conceivable subtlety of misrepresen- tation, to claim the region as far south as the present
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boundary. Penn wanted for his colony the commercial advantages which: would be furnished by the Delaware bay and river, and he and his sons, being of superior skill to Lord Baltimore and his son, got at last what they desired, though the long contention was not finally settled till the year 1760.
Penn's ambition, however, did not stop with desiring this large section on the north of Maryland. He soon came to yearn for Delaware as well. This was, as we have seen, a part of Maryland beyond all question; but it was lost to her through two pleas. The first of these was, that when Lord Baltimore got his charter it was expressly stipulated that the territory given should be found uncul- tivated, whereas it was said that Delaware was already occupied along its shores by the Dutch and Swedes, and that this invalidated his title. The other plea was, that the Dutch and Swedes having been permitted to con- . tinue and retain their settlements, without having been compelled to acknowledge Lord Baltimore as proprietor, it was a tacit acquiescence in their right, and that when they, along with New York, were reduced by the English, their settlement, as a dependency of the Dutch colony, passed to the Duke of York when that territory was bestowed upon him.
William Penn, in his desire for commercial advantages for his province, of course yearned for Delaware also, a yearning that James satisfied by passing it to him. Con- tentions arose, Lord Baltimore struggling to retain his own. In 1685, however, James being now king, the deci- sion was given against Baltimore's right, and the present division of the peninsula between Delaware and Mary- land took place. As to the claim that the Dutch and
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Swedes occupied the territory, the fact that the English did not recognize their right but regarded them as inter- lopers, ought to have been a sufficient answer in law. The whole, however, was rather a question of influence and of private favor, than of law.
As to the loss of territory on the western part of the province, the question was in the beginning, which was the farthest source of the Potomac; for the geography of Maryland was then wholly undetermined. There was no distinct purpose of fraud, as in the other case, no evident intention to seize, through influence in high quarters, upon what belonged to another. According to the con- ditions of the charter, however, the south branch of the Potomac is the true line of division. The same also is true of the small bit of territory along the southern line, on the Eastern Shore.
The first body of immigrants that came to Maryland brought with it every assurance of success that the enter- prise admitted of. Lord Baltimore himself did not come over, seeing it to be his interest to remain in England to guard his rights, which were sure to be assailed. But the men that did come possessed, as a body, every qualifica- tion that promised success. For, first of all, the company consisted in part of twenty "gentlemen," which meant men well born, of fair intelligence and some education. They were such men as in England would have exercised influence in their own communities. There may have been exceptions among them as regards some of these particulars, but that probably was the character of the prin- cipal body. Again, they were certainly men of enterprise; for everything indicates that they did not come out to America " to play the gentleman," or to discover gold and
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silver mines, or to trade in a lucrative way with the Indians and to get rich suddenly; but they came over to take up land and work, and make Maryland their home. All their interests were to be in the colony. They were also men of some property, not merely bankrupts that came over to improve their fortunes. This is seen in the fact that they brought with them servants, for whose expenses of all kinds they had to provide, not only in the coming over, but also for the whole time that was to elapse till the first harvests could be gotten in. For it was not for Lord Bal- timore to provide for the colony in these things. They were to be at their own expense and charges, and were to receive in compensation certain quantities of land, accord- ing to the number of servants introduced. This number in the first company that came was from six to ten to cach " gentleman."
Observe, the servants here spoken of were not negroes, but white men, men that, wanting to come into the colony, and not having the means to pay their expenses, sold themselves for a term of years. There were negro slaves here from the foundation of the colony, but they were at first few in number, and these white men were doubtless often men of enterprise, and sometimes of as good birth and training as their masters. Only they were anxious to come to the province and had not the means necessary. For after they had worked out their time, they became freemen and were entitled for themselves and for their wives and children, to a certain portion of land, and so to become freeholders and exercise all the rights and privileges of the rest of the citizens.
Every quality, therefore, was found in the early colonists, intelligence, property, character, industry. These quali-
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ties were demonstrated when the citizens were called to- gether to pass upon the condition of the colony and to provide laws for its government. There was another class of immigrants that came in afterwards, who were far from being so desirable, criminals of various classes and degrecs, whom England shipped from her own shores to plague her colonies. They either died out or reformed, and it is possible that some of the best blood of Maryland had its origin in that source; though it is none the worse for that. Possibly, also, through the influence of what scientific men call heredity, some of our great scamps and rascals are direct descendants of these same unwelcome importations. Certainly, there are found, sometimes in good society, families that have a taint of the blood, so that for generations past it has been true that no one of the name or connection has commanded public confi- dence. Later in the provincial history immigrants came into Maryland from many quarters, attracted by the liberal local institutions of the province, as well as by its generous naturalization laws and conditions of plantation.
Now, though Maryland had such a good start, and such a good proprietary and such a good local governor; for Lord Baltimore showed his sincere faith in the enter- prise by sending his brother with the colony as governor; yet Maryland was not blessed for many years with peace, but contention followed contention right along for a long while. I do not speak of discussions and disputations, such as took place in the House of Assembly over the rights and privileges of the people. For such things were right and according to a law of nature. Public claims have to come on as a surging tide and beat down barriers. It is the only way in which such can be beaten down.
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Tempests in houses of Parliament and in Congress, whether American, or English, or Continental, may frighten timid souls, but they are, by the law of nature, grand manifestations of the human spirit. A mighty, boil- ing, foaming human sea they may seem to be, but that is the way the ocean of human life is kept pure. And those who attempt to build barriers against such tempests prove their folly by the ruin that overtakes their works. So Charles the First demonstrated his folly, so George the. Third demonstrated his, and so Louis the Sixteenth his. The great power in this world's affairs is not the right divine of kings, but the divine right of God's voice speak- ing by the people.
That is, therefore, not the kind of contentions I mean. Maryland had them all the way along, too, and our fathers of the state demonstrated their manhood in that way. But the contentions I mean were those great commo- tions in which the power and authority of the proprietary and his government were overthrown, and other power and authority set up in their stead. When Lord Balti- more's colony came into Maryland they had the mis- fortune to find that Kent Island, lying along the eastern shore of the bay, was already occupied by a number of persons-how many it is not known-who had settled there for convenience of trading with the Indians, with whom they were in frequent intercourse. This little com- munity had come out from Virginia and held themselves to be of that colony. At the head of them was William Claiborne, a man of enterprise, intelligence and great pertinacity of character, who, deeming that his rights had been invaded by the Maryland charter, and that Kent Island belonged to Virginia, of which he was a councillor,
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refused in every way to acknowledge the jurisdiction of Lord Baltimore. This was the beginning of a strife that lasted for twenty years.
First of all, there was some reason for believing that he had tampered with the Indians, because instead of con- tinuing in their former friendly mind, they held aloof, refused to bring in provisions, and in other ways acted so suspiciously that the people stood in dread and felt com- pelled, for the sake of security, to build a block-house. Next, in the year 1635, matters came to an open rupture, and a naval battle was fought in the Pocomoke river, in which the small vessel belonging to Claiborne and manned with thirty men, which was out on a pirating expedi- tion, was taken. A little while later another conflict took place, in which again Claiborne's force met with disaster. In the year 1644, however, he was more successful; for, having allied himself with Richard Ingle, who had form- erly given some trouble in the province, he had the ability to drive Governor Calvert to take refuge in Vir- ginia, and to hold the province for two years. This time , he claimed to have the king's commission for his acts, but later, in 1652, when the royal power in England had been entirely overthrown, he received a commission from Par- liament, under which he was able to reduce Maryland and deprive the proprietary of all control. These troubles, gratifying the spirit of revenge which he so strongly fostered, lasted still for several years, after which Clai- borne disappeared from view.
It was during these troubles that the battle of the Severn was fought, in the year 1655. The occasion of the battle was this: When the parliamentary commis- sioners had reduced the colony to obedience, they retained
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the then governor, Stone, he promising to conform, in his administration, to the new order of things. When, how- ever, Lord Baltimore rebuked him for betraying the trust committed to him, and stimulated him to reassume author- ity in his name, Stone was moved to attempt it, and, gathering a force in that part of the colony that had always been loyal to Lord Baltimore, St. Mary's County, he led them up along the bay to the Severn, where a few years before a settlement of Puritans from Virginia had been made. The force was divided, some passing by land and some by water, the vessels keeping near enough to the shore to assist the land forces, when needful, in cross- ing the creeks and rivers. These Puritans, in the present troubles, had of course resisted the authority of the pro- prietary, because they were in sympathy with the parlia- mentary cause, and because for religion's sake they objected to being under the jurisdiction of Lord Balti- more, who was of the faith which they abhorred. They also objected to the powers and title which he held, as being absolute lord, to whom the oath of allegiance and obedience was to be taken.
When Stone reached the Severn, whatever may have been his expectations, he found himself face to face with a force, partly military and partly naval, which soon, in the encounter which ensued, put his whole army to rout and took him and many others prisoners. Under what plea, it is not said, but in spite of the promise of quarter," when the surrender was made, some of the soldiers were put to death by court-martial, and Stone himself was only saved by the appeal of the Puritan soldiers themselves and some of the women of the place. The battle was fought about where Annapolis now stands. These Puri-
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tans had sought refuge in Maryland, having been com- pelled by Governo: Berkeley to leave Virginia on account of their religion. They had, also, been induced by Governor Stone to choose Maryland as their place of refuge, under the promise of indulgence for their religious views and methods. It is not clear why, when they had the opportunity, they should have indulged such malig- nant feelings toward him.
After this episode the proprietary jurisdiction lapsed, and continued so tilt Cromwell ordered its restitution; and even then it was not finally secured to him; for the governor of his own choice and appointment, Fendall, again surrendered it into the hands of the malcontents. By 1659, however, all was finally adjusted, to remain so, as it proved, only till 1689, when, upon the Revolution having taken place in England, by which James the Second was dethroned and William and Mary advanced to power, the people of Maryland overturned the government of Lord Baltimore and asked to be taken under the royal juris- diction. The reason for such a course was that they were in sympathy with parliamentary ideas as opposed to royal absolutism, and had also grown to feel great dissatisfac- tion with the proprietary administration, under which the best interests of the province, moral, educational and reli- gious, had been neglected.
From this time on till 1715, about twenty-six years, the Baltimore family was stripped of all civil power and authority, though not of their private right in the soil. They were allowed to draw revenue from their whole landed interest in Maryland, the same as any other pro- prietor. In 1715, however, authority and jurisdiction were restored, and continued to be exercised till the
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people assumed jurisdiction, in the times preceding the American Revolution.
Now, why was it that Lord Baltimore had so much trouble through all this period, four insurrections in the course of the first fifty-five years-1644, 1652, 1659, 1689? Evidence is abundant and satisfactory that Cecilius Lord Baltimore was a man of eminent wisdom, and one in the very slightest degree willing to offend his people. Also it is in evidence that during his long life, dying as he did in 1675, he had the confidence of the people. He was a just, honorable, upright ruler. The same also may be said of his son and successor, who was so many years resident in the province. Why then, it may well be asked, was he so unfortunate as to have the colony so frequently disturbed and the people so suspicious as to be ever ready for rebellion?
The probable answer is not far to seek. In one great and cardinal matter Lord Baltimore was not in sympathy with his people, namely, the all-important matter of reli- gion; in that day more important than in this, because religion entered so much more into the civil administra- tion. In these days we should put under the ban any man that would refuse to vote for another on the ground simply that he differed from him in religion. It is true it is often donc, but not avowedly because of the man's reli- gious profession, but rather because of some qualities in his own character, as that he would use his official posi- - tion to promote either the advantage of his own church or the interests of the members of his church. But in the days of Cecilius Calvert it was not so. For then religious antagonisms were as strong and as violently expressed as feelings or opinions are now concerning tariff issues or
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questions involving the right of the general government to interfere with the rights of the separate States. The feeling about religion was deep and often malignant. Even Charles the First, though he was the donor to the Lords Baltimore of the handsome property and preroga- tives bestowed, was in his heart strongly antagonistic to their faith, and if he, how much more the people not only of England but of the colony also; for from the 'beginning the great body of the people abhorred Lord Baltimore's creed, and as time went on the preponderance of this sentiment increased.
This question of religion entered into everything. Take the oath of allegiance, for instance. One would suppose that it would be sufficient for that simply to embody the promise to uphold the powers that be, and to maintain the laws. But it went much farther than that and decried the right and pretensions of the Roman pontiff to excommunicate kings and thereby depose them. And the oath of supremacy went farther than this, in that it declared the king to be the only supreme governor in his realm and dominions in all spiritual and ecclesiastical things and causes. The question of religion was the burning question of that day. It entered into everything. It excited passion, created suspicion, separated men from men, justified the most hideous and exhausting wars. It was not, however, because it was religion, but rather because there were associated with religion the most unwarrantable and extensive claims, to depose monarchs, to relieve the people of the duty and obligation of obe- dience. And these claims had sometimes taken the most substantial and terrible form; nations being hurled into the vortex of civil war, and the land ruined, according as
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men would recognize the validity of these claims or would maintain the rights of their civil rulers.
This great, wide-spread principle was at the bottom of the disaffection of the people for Cecilius Lord Baltimore and his son. Whatever may have been their wisdom and uprightness, yet their church and religious connections they feared; as was evidenced by the fact that as long as these two held the government, that is, till the Protestant Revolution in 1689, fault was found and apprehension expressed. No man, probably, ever did less to deserve the apprehension, yet the sensitiveness of the people kept them always on the alert. Probably it was never so much what they did as what they left undone, the want of sym- pathy and interest in the people in matters of the highest concern, religion and education, which in that day was always connected with religion. The colony was assailed even before it was out of English waters, and brought back and made to take the oath of allegiance, containing, as we have seen, a clause denying the Pope's right to temporal power as it was then understood. This was the power to depose the English monarch, a clause inserted in the oath against the adherents of the Roman church, ยท because such a power was claimed and had before been exercised in England itself; it had been claimed, though it could not be exercised, as late as the days of Queen Elizabeth. When the first Lord Baltimore visited Vir- ginia, in 1629, he was approached with the demand to take these oaths of allegiance and supremacy.
The first proprietary knew of this feeling among the people and recognized it from the first, knew that he was not in harmony with the people. This is strongly indi- cated in the " Instructions " given November, 1633, when
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the colony was about to sail, the first of which was "that the governor and commissioners be very careful that they suffer no scandal nor offense to be given to any of the Protestants, whereby any just complaint may hereafter be made by them in Virginia or in England, and that for that end they cause all acts of the Roman Catholic reli- gion to be done as privately as may be, and that they instruct all the Roman Catholics to be silent upon all occasions of discourse concerning matters of religion, and that the said governor and commissioners treat the Pro- testants with as much mildness and favor as justice will permit."
In the fourth "Instruction" we read that by the first opportunity after their arrival in Maryland they cause a messenger to be dispatched away to Jamestown, "such a one as is conformable to the Church of England." In the fifth we again read that a messenger was to be sent to Captain Claiborne, "one likewise conformable to the Church of England." Evidently, among the "gentle- men " of his first colony there were some Protestants to perform these offices.
These "Instructions" show his recognition of the difficulties of his situation. He knew he did not have the confidence of the people, that they were keenly anxious concerning the whole matter of his faith, and therefore he was watchful not to give offense. The same policy was exhibited when it came to the administration of the settlement, for when on one occasion a Protestant chapel was violated, and when, on another, abusive lang- uage was indulged in against some that were reading a Protestant book, the offense was instantly rebuked and punished.
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