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 6
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HISTORY OF EARLY MARYLAND.
It was this question that gave Lord Baltimore his hands full of trouble and vexation from the start. His own church and the religious order that he had for some reason sent over, who were not then known as they came afterwards to be known, and to be reprobated both by popes and kings,-the Jesuits, harassed him by their assumptions in a matter of the highest moment; for they assumed, by an old ecclesiastical pretension, which had excited the antagonism of the crown and people of Eng- land in early days,-the right to acquire lands for them- selves irrespective of the civil power altogether. In Eng- land, at one time, of course, such lands might be received by gift, devise or purchase, and being received were held forever. To prevent this the statute of mortmain was passed, which prevented the conveyance of landed prop- erty to the church, lest the church should, in the course of ages, swallow up the whole kingdom. The Jesuits in Maryland attempted to ignore this entirely, and though, under the charter, all of the territory of Maryland belonged to the proprietor, they attempted to override his right by acquiring land directly from the Indians, and to hold it independently of him and without his consent.
He fought them diligently on this question, though in doing so he excited doubts in the minds of the Jesuit fathers whether he was a true "Catholic"; while his secretary, Lewger, was vilified as if the leaven of his old Protestantism still pervaded his whole spirit. On the other hand Lord Baltimore could use severe language, and he exercised his capacity for epithets entirely without stint. Through the influence of the provincial of the order, however, he was able at last to reduce them to his will. He even ordered their withdrawal from the province; but
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THE COMING OF THE COLONISTS.
when they at last submitted, he proceeded no further. Doubtless the sole question with him was not their pre- rogative as churchmen to hold the land in such a way, though that would have excited his rebuke, but for example's sake; for had they been allowed to acquire lands in an English province, in violation of a law of the kingdom of England, and that one of the most important laws that an anxious people ever passed for their protection, and for which they had been compelled to strive throughi many years, and to counteract many devious and indirect attempts to circumvent the law, the fact would have struck a death-blow at his tenure of his territory. For a Roman Catholic to enjoy religious liberty in an English dependency, was in that day strange enough, but for a Roman Catholic order to have the power of acquiring property to an untold extent, would have ex- cited the bitterest denunciation. Out of this struggle came the Maryland law requiring the consent of the legislature for any church organization to hold land beyond a small lot for church or house purposes.
Before the colony left England the difficulty of the situation was fully and clearly understood, as is evidenced by a paper drawn up by the provincial of the Jesuits, within the year preceding their departure, for the guidance of the proprietary and the society. For that paper was prepared for arming Lord Baltimore and the members of the Roman Catholic church against certain objections that would probably be made against the church, in view of various English laws as well as for other causes; and its purpose was to provide answers to such objections. The whole thing seemed to be wonderful at that time, that a body of men who were, however unjustly, looked upon
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with so much suspicion as being malignant against their native land, should be allowed to leave it endowed with so many privileges and prerogatives, and to establish a province within the English dominions with such exten- sive jurisdiction. There is no wonder, therefore, that from the start so much objection should have been made.
This explains the insurrections and disturbances within the colony. The majority of the people were always opposed to Lord Baltimore in this matter of religion, and with the opposition they were afraid of him. For beside the insurrections which were always conducted by those of the Protestant faith, there were complaints heard from time to time, as that he had put all the offices in the hands of Roman Catholics, that the Roman Catholics were pre- paring a rising against the Protestants, that the oath of allegiance which they were required to take was to one of the Roman faith, that ministers and churches of the Roman faith were provided for, while all Protestants were neglected. Also when the province was in the hands of the Puritans, during the troubles between 1652 and 1659, their animus was strongly expressed against the Roman Catholics, though they included members of the Church of England as well-papists and prelatists. For it is to be remembered that in 1676 Charles, the third Lord Balti- more, who had just returned to England, after a long resi- denre in Maryland as governor under his father, said that the nonconformists in the colony outnumbered the mem- bers of the Church of England and the Roman Catholics together, about three to one.
The position of Lord Baltimore was therefore most difficult. The colonists from time to time expressed con- fidence, made provision for revenue, and apparently were
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THE COMING OF THE COLONISTS ..
well content to live and thrive under his jurisdiction, who- ever might be the absolute lord at the time. But they never loved him, never admired, never had faith in him; and let occasion arise, they were immediately ready to throw off his authority. Their fears were always ready to be called into play; they seemed to be incapable of understanding that one of his faith was or could be reli- able, a state of feeling that all through this period, down to the time of the Protestant revolution, was fostered by the condition of things in England and on the Continent. For while the whole Continent was agitated by the ques- tion of religion, England was passing through that series of civil and military disturbances that, beginning with the accession of Charles the First, did not end till his son James was finally driven from the throne and England, because of his arbitrary pretensions in what he esteemed the cause of religion.
FIFTH LECTURE.
THE LEGISLATION OF THE PROVINCE.
A feature of the province from the beginning, which, though not legislative, had the force of law, was the " Conditions of Plantation," or the conditions published as an inducement to persons to transplant themselves to Maryland. These were always generous, and in the beginning particularly so, because the territory was abund- ant, and useless unless occupied. As immigrants became more numerous the terms became less generous, but were always sufficiently so to keep up a constant stream of people into the province. In 1633, when the colony was setting out for Maryland, the offers of the proprietary were, that to every one who brought in five men between sixteen and fifty years of age, two thousand acres should be given, the proprietary exacting for himself an annual quit-rent of four hundred pounds of wheat. To every one that brought in less than five men one hundred acres were given for himself, one hundred for his wife, for every servant one hundred, and for every child under sixteen years fifty acres, a child over sixteen being regarded as an adult. In this case the quit-rent was ten pounds of wheat for every fifty acres. In 1634 and 1635, when the colony had been started, two thousand acres were allowed for ten men, with a yearly rent of six hundred pounds of wheat, while to those who brought in less than ten the same gifts were made for each, only with the annual quit-rent of seventy pounds for every
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THE LEGISLATION OF THE PROVINCE.
fifty acres. In 1641 a further reduction was made in the amount of land given,-two thousand acres for twenty men, with fifty acres for each adult and twenty- five for cach child, with a further increase in the amount of quit-rent.
Sometimes persons, either at once or at various times, brought in more than the number given, so that exten- sive estates were held by individuals. Thomas Corn- waleys, one of the most important and enterprising of the first settlers, introduced fifty-one persons in all, so that his estates, which were held in different parts of the colony, were very extensive. One thousand acres or more, were a manor, of which the early intention was not only that such should be the name, but also that it should carry with it certain territorial authority, such as the holding of manorial courts and the prosecution of offenders both in civil and criminal cases.
Evidently in the charter the intention had been to make the lords of the manor a colonial aristocracy, hav- ing peculiar class rights and privileges. Permission was given to Lord Baltimore to create such an aristocracy, and this was a move in that direction. For in his laws submitted in 1637 there was one providing for the trial of a lord of a manor, as if he were of a superior class of citizens, and by it he was to be treated as in England a member of the House of Lords was treated,-tried by his peers, if a sufficient number could be found. in any accusation against him; and if condemned to capital pun- ishment, it was to be, not by hanging, as all the rest of the people, but by decapitation. As the method by which manors were obtainable was the ability to bear the expense of bringing a given number of servants to the
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HISTORY OF EARLY MARYLAND.
colony, neither respectability nor intelligence necessarily accompanying such ability, one feels that Lord Baltimore did not exhibit his good sense in proposing such a law.
It was, however, so offensive to the Assembly that it never passed to a third reading, and consequently Mary- land never had a landed aristocracy, no class that ever enjoyed exclusive privileges. The manorial right of exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction, of apprehending and trying offenders, and keeping the peace, was exer- cised, but only for a limited period. It was soon entirely superseded everywhere by the usual magisterial and county courts, the latter consisting of the magistrates of the county sitting as a bench. How strange it is that though other colonies, as New England, New York and Virginia, have bestowed a kind of prescriptive honor upon the families of their founders, Maryland has done nothing of the kind, so that even the names of the greater part of the first founders are unknown. I do not speak of what the archives may show, but of the fact as it is in common life. One may guess at the reason of this, but cannot be certain. There are various old names in Maryland, but they do not date from the begin- ning, and where they do exist, do not claim, and do not receive, any special consideration on that account.
Now in attempting to understand the legislation of the colony we must try to understand the population, for there was no quackery in Maryland in law-making, but definite, practical work all the time. By quackery I mean such attempt as was made in North Carolina, where the philosopher Locke got out for the proprie- taries a whole body of laws, which, however perfect in themselves, were not fitted for the work they were
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THE LEGISLATION OF THE PROVINCE.
intended to do. Laws grow out of the needs of the people, and out of the minds of the people, an expres- sion of their voice; and whenever they are not that, or have ceased to be that as society has advanced, they are inoperative or obsolete. That is the reason there are so many dead laws on the statute-books, laws in some instances that have always been dead. They have been begotten of enthusiasm, or they have been run through the legislature in some emergency, and, meeting no need, they have ceased to be. Lord Baltimore attempted to prescribe such laws for the regulation of the people, while living in England, and utterly ignorant of the thousand peculiarities that were found in the little local company in the wilderness; but the people feeling the Englishman's right, and knowing how fully that right was ignored in England at this time,-the period of eight or nine years after Charles had dissolved his last parliament,-they rejected Lord Baltimore's pretensions, and presented and passed their own laws. They were passed subject to his approval; nor did they deny his right to suggest, but only his exclusive right. It is true he was acting according to his charter right, as that charter was drawn up by himself or his father and approved by the king. Free-born Englishmen, however, had a prescriptive right, which was founded upon a greater charter, the Magna Charta, which Englishmen had wrung from a previous king.
Now, what about the population? It was greatly mixed from the start, and mixed in various ways. First as to social condition and distinction; for while many of the servants were of good birth and breeding, as Corn- waleys says in regard to some that he had brought over,
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HISTORY OF EARLY MARYLAND.
others were doubtless of the ignorant and laboring class. But all were willing emigrants, having left their home because they desired to better their fortunes, the very best material out of which new states could be made. Afterwards there came in another class composed of those who were sent from England for various crimes, sometimes felons, sometimes those charged with smaller offenses, sometimes state prisoners who had been taken in arms. But in the beginning it was the better elements of society that made up the body of the people. In fact, it was only such that would brave the deep and the dangers of the wilderness as they were thought to be; and on one occasion, when it was propounded as an alternative to a felon under- sentence of death that he should pass over to the colonies or go to the gallows, he chose the gallows as the shorter road to the end of the miseries of life.
The term of service for which indented servants were bound, was generally five years, after which they became freemen. And as universal suffrage was the law of the colony at first, being limited to freeholders only after 1681, and every man could enjoy the privilege of a seat and voice in the Assembly, a man that was a servant to-day might be a lawmaker to-morrow.
Another class of people was found in the colony at the start, that is, emigrants from Virginia who had settled a few years before on Kent Island in the Chesapeake. These were Englishmen, of course, but because the Vir- ginians - had objected to the grant to Lord Baltimore of the territory which up to this time had belonged to them, these colonists were from the start hostile to Lord Baltimore and gave him what trouble they could. This
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THE LEGISLATION OF THE PROVINCE.
is the settlement that had been made by Claiborne, and for whose privileges, as independent of Maryland, he waged such warfare.
Then again there was another class that came into the province from the year 1644 onwards. They were Puri- tans that had been expelled from Virginia because of their religious faith, for Virginia always differed radically from Maryland in the matter of tolerating dissent. In fact, the governor, Sir Wm. Berkeley, was severe in every way, and tolerated in no degree any dissent from the legal and established order. The Puritans came into Maryland because they were assured of liberty in religion and of all the privileges of citizenship; but being here, and firmly secured in their possessions, their conscience troubled them about submission to one who, as they thought, was of the false church and faith. They were the most troublesome of all those who went to make up the early colony, for they were irrepressible, and until the year 1659 gave constant trouble and offered frequent violence. As long as either Parliament or Protector was controlling affairs in England they created disturbance in the colony. When Cromwell was dead they settled down into peaceful ways, and seem after a few years to have abandoned their early propensity to contention. Naturalization of foreigners was provided for in the Assembly of 1659-60, and soon after various nationalities came to be represented in the province. Later down the Germans especially settled in the western parts of the State, giving to society and enterprise there a very strong expression of their national characteristics.
A troublesome body of men, however, was found where Lord Baltimore might well have had no cause for
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anxiety. I speak of the members of the Society of Jesus, whom he had himself sent over to the colony in the beginning, and whom he had chosen for the work, not only of ministering to the people, but also to preach to the Indians, a work which they faithfully performed, at any rate at first. It is to be said of them, however, that with all their devotion to their work, and all the occasion they had to show consideration for the proprietary, the members of the society that came into Maryland were, by their training, disqualified to be members of a free com- monwealth; for their training as ecclesiastics had given them the notion that as churchmen, that is, ministers of the church, they were not under the civil law at all, but were subject to the canon law and pontifical prescripts only ; so that in whatever way they might offend the laws of the colony they could not be tried by the laws of the colony, but must be tried by the ecclesiastical or canon law, and that not by laymen, but by their own tribunal and by church officers of their own degree. Such a plea had been made and established during the supremacy of the church in earlier ages, and had been the occasion of many abuses. That it should have been attempted now again in an English dependency, near the middle of the seventeenth century, can only excite astonishment.
But the claims of these Jesuit fathers not only covered the persons of the clergy, but also property and pre- rogative. They claimed jurisdiction in all testamentary cases and the administration of all estates. They claimed jurisdiction in the matter of matrimony also, pronounc- ing who should marry and the conditions under which persons should marry. In the same way they claimed the prerogative to act outside the common and statute
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THE LEGISLATION OF THE PROVINCE.
law, and to acquire for the church any property that might in any way lie open to them. In other words, in view of the canon or ecclesiastical law in this case named, the clergy were a different state or community, not imperium in imperio so much as an independent state and government, having its own laws and law officers, its own privileges and prerogatives, which, whenever and wherever there was conflict, was always to have prece- dence.
The claims of the Jesuits were in part formulated by the priest Thomas Copley in 1638, of which the follow- ing are the points made by him:
Ist. That the church and our houses may be sanctuary (that is, might afford refuge to persons pursued by officers of the civil law).
2d. That ourselves and our domestic servants and at least one-half of our planting servants may be free from public taxes and services. Though the rest of our ser- vants be ostensibly taxed, yet that privately the custom of the other Catholic countries be observed.
3d. That though causes of priests be tried by public magistrates, yet that in private they know they do it as arbitrators and defenders of the church, because ecclesi- astical jurisdiction is not yet here settled.
4th ....
5th. That though we relinquish the use of many eccle- siastical privileges which we judge it convenient to do for satisfaction of the state at home, yet that it be left to our discretion to determine when this is requisite.
This was an extreme and dangerous state of things, and Lord Baltimore immediately perceived it to be so. He had a great talent for expletives, and he launched
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them against the fathers without stint. The claims of the fathers invaded in an eminent degree, his own charter right to the property in the territory of the colony. They invaded also his own charter right to jurisdiction, and they exposed him to the severest animadversion of the Protestant people of the colony and at home. And so in 1641 he published conditions of plantation covering the whole ground of controversy. The matter had by that time advanced to a point where the temper on both sides was severely tried. By the church all these claims were regarded as founded upon the gift of Christ to His church and as being the inalienable right of the so- called head of the church here on earth, resistance to which was deemed a gross sin. By Lord Baltimore the whole claim was denied and the canon law was declared not to reach to Maryland.
According to the church's claim the canon law reached the citizen in all his duties as a member of the common- wealth, and in anything that touched what the church might claim as belonging to her jurisdiction, which extended to almost all things that concerned either life or death, the citizen was supposed to have committed sin if he assisted in the denial to the church of her rights. All the claims of the church had been fully formulated in the Bulla in cana Domini, issued in 1536 when the Reformation was making its rapid strides. This had, to the members of the Roman church, the force of law, and in it supremacy is asserted for the church over all per- sons and powers, temporal and ecclesiastical. During the controversy reference to this was frequently made, and Lord Baltimore, as well as his local officers in the colony, were regarded as guilty of sin in their resistance.
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THE LEGISLATION OF THE PROVINCE.
Fortunately for Lord Baltimore he had a man as secretary who was of his own mind in this matter, a member of his own church and a convert from the min- istry of the Church of England, who, being a married man, had not entered the ministry of the Church of Rome. He was an educated man and fully informed as to this whole question; for it was an old question in England, one that had been fought over during cen- turies, with the result that the liberty of the land was finally rescued and secured. He was enough of an Englishman to abhor the pretension, though he was exposed to all possible taunts and accusations. By the church it was supposed to be of the very first importance, so that Father White, of the Jesuits, says, "The fathers of the society warmly resisted this foul attempt, profess- ing themselves ready to shed their blood in defense of the faith and the liberty of the church, which firmness greatly enraged the secretary." What made them par- ticularly angry was that Secretary Lewger " summoned a parliament in Maryland, composed, with few exceptions, of heretics, and presided over by himself in the name of the Lord Baltimore," and attempted to pass laws covering the points at issue; the indignation being at the fact that heretics were called on to decide concerning the preroga- tives of the church.
Lord Baltimore, however, persisted, notwithstanding the pressure brought to bear upon him: the statute of mortmain was declared to hold in the colony, the pro- vincial of the Jesuits at last sustained the Conditions of Plantation, which distinctly presented the proprietary's claims, the local members of the society receded from their position, and peace was restored. At one time, in
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1641, the Jesuits were ordered to remove from the prov- ince, and authority was passed to another to take charge of Maryland. However, after the end sought for had been attained, the order for removal was rescinded and the priests continued their labors.
Lord Baltimore, however, felt their conduct most keenly and bitterly. Writing to his brother, the gov- ernor of the colony, in 1642, he describes the Jesuit priests as "full of shifts and devices," and says, "If all things that clergymen shall do upon these pretences should be accounted just and to proceed from God, lay- men were the basest slaves and most wretched creatures upon earth."
Among all these diverse interests we can readily see that the position of Lord Baltimore was difficult. From the start the heretics, as the fathers called them, out- numbered the adherents of his own church, exciting in the latter, as we have seen in the case of the Jesuits, irritation and anxiety, for these had anticipated a freedom in this English dependency which they had found no- where else in the English dominions, and now they found themselves as jealously watched and restrained in the matter of ecclesiastical independence as they were in England itself. They possessed all the riglits and privi- leges of worship, they were allowed to make converts from among the people of the province, as well as from among the Indians, they had every prerogative which we of this day think belongs to any body of Christians; but in the mighty claims which the Roman Church put forth, and which they thought a good Catholic, as Lord Baltimore and his secretary Lewger claimed to be, ought to recognize and allow as essentials of the faith, they
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