USA > Maryland > The history of Maryland : from its first settlement, in 1633, to the restoration, in 1660 ; with a copious introduction, and notes and illustrations > Part 78
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"And the governor adjourned both houses till the tenth day of January next, unless upon urgent occasion, as the governor shall see cause, proclamation shall issue forth anticipating the said ad- journment."*
The first of the acts passed at this session, deserving atten- The acts of tion here, besides that for settling the assembly, before stated, this ses- sion. was one entitled, "an act prohibiting all compliance with captain William Clayborne, in opposition of his lordship's right and do- minion over this province." The cause of making this act is very fully stated in the preamble to it, in which, after reciting the decision of the lords of the council in England on the fourth of April, 1638, and the proclamation relative thereto by the go- vernor of Virginia on the fourth of October, 1638, both of which have been herein before exhibited and remarked upon, it is fur- ther stated :- "And whereas further the said captain Clayborne hath of late, by his letters to the present governor of this pro- vince, presumed, in an upbraiding insolent threatening manner, to renew his former pretended claims here, in opposition of his lordship's right and dominion, and (as is credibly reported,) gives out in speeches, that he purposeth e'er long to make some attempt upon the isle of Kent against the peace and safety of the province," &c. The act then prescribes the penalty of death and confiscation of property upon any inhabitant of the province, who should presume in any sort to assist, abet, or countenance the said Clayborne or any of his adherents in any attempt what- soever upon the isle of Kent or any other place within the pro- vince.} This corresponds with what has been before observed, that since the death of the late king, the abolition of the house of lords, and the ascendancy of the independent party in Eng- land, many of whom aspired after the levelling scheme, rumours had existed in Virginia as well as in Maryland, that lord Balti-
* The proceedings of this assembly, as above stated, were extracted from the' book in the council chamber, entitled, "Assembly Proceedings from 1637 to 1658," p. 398.
t See this act at large in note (LXXV.) at the end of this volume.
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CHAP. V. more would be deprived of the government of his province.
1650. The sentiment expressed by the author of the pamphlet, before cited, entitled, "Babylon's Fall," &c., (written on the occasion, and by one of lord Baltimore's opponents,) strongly intimates what were the general opinions prevalent on the subject. "This royal jurisdiction," says he, "was thought far too high for him, being a subject, and too much unsuitable to the present liberty, which God had given the English subjects, from arbitrary and popish government." Of these general sentiments Clayborne had now resolved to avail himself, and expressing this resolution in threatening speeches in Virginia and in some rude letters to the governor,* he had alarmed the adherents and friends of lord Bal- timore in Maryland. They, therefore, endeavoured to fortify them- selves, as well as they could, by the terrors of a law on the oc- casion.
This precarious and doubtful state of lord Baltimore's title and possession of his province seems to have effected the pro- gress of colonizing and settling it. Many of those plantations, which had been "taken up and seated," and holden under certi- ficates of survey, without legal grants thereof having passed from his lordship's land office, had been "deserted," and no rents therefor paid to his lordship. As this was deemed by the assem- bly, not only a "great injury to the lord proprietary in the loss of his rent," but also "very inconvenient to the commonwealth,t by hindering others from taking the same up and seating near together for the common security," it was thought proper to ap- ply a remedy to this inconvenience by enacting the law, passed at this session, entitled, "an act concerning deserted planta- tions ;" which authorised his lordship to regrant such lands so "deserted," after the lapse of three years.}
The Puritans having formed a settlement on the Severn, at a place which they called Providence, now Annapolis, as before mentioned, consisting of a considerable population, and having sent and been represented by their burgesses or delegates at this
* These letters to the governor of Maryland are not now extant at least upon record. Could they be produced, they would afford interesting matter to the historian.
t This word, here used by the assembly, seems to indicate the progress of those republican principles across the Atlantic, which had by this time been adopted in the mother country.
#As this act has been published at large in Kilty's Landholder's Assistant, p. 249, it is deemed improper to swell this volume with the insertion of unnecessa -. ry documents.
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fast assembly, and so far submitting to the proprietary govern- CHAP. V. ment, an act was passed at this session, entitled, "an act for the 1650. erecting of Providence into a county, by the name of Ann-Arun- del county." The tenor of this act was, that "that part of the province of Maryland, on the west side of the bay of Chesa- peake, over against the isle of Kent, formerly called by the name of Providence, by the inhabitants there residing, &c., shall from henceforth be erected into a shire or county, by the name of Ann Arundel county, and by that name be ever hereafter called."* This is the first act of assembly, and indeed almost the only le- gislative provision, for the erecting of any county within the province. It is probable, that such regulations for the appor- tioning of the province into shires or counties were deemed to appertain to the palatinate regalia of the lord proprietary of the province, upon the same principle as the counties of England were, originally laid out and divided by the celebrated king Alfred under the authority of his royal prerogative.t It will be observed, however, that no limits or boundaries were assigned by this act to the county. As the population of that part of the province was detached from the inhabited parts, and like the isle of Kent, now a county, insulated from the rest of the province, such population constituted the limits of the county, until in pro- cess of time other counties, being erected adjacent thereto, form- ed limits to the prior county.
These detached populations had, however, some inconvenience. They became thereby not only more obnoxious to the Indians, but more liable to alarm and more easily assailed by these abori- gines. Some acts of assembly made at this last session indi- cate considerable uneasiness subsisting at this period of time among the colonists on account of some recent murders and cap- tures committed upon them by the natives. Accordingly an act was passed, "prohibiting any Indians to come into Kent or
* It was probably so called from the maiden name of lady Baltimore, then late deceased,-Lady Ann Arundel, the daughter of lord Arundel of Wardour, whom Cecilius lord Baltimore had married, as has been herein before stated. Ante p. 193.
t In Spelman's Glossary, under the head-Comitatus, quid ejus origo, is the fol- lowing passage. "Rex (Alfredus, qui regnum iniit An. 871,) totius (inquit In- gulphus) Anglic pagos et provincias in comitatus primus ominum commutavit, comitatus in centurias et hundredas et in decimas, i. e. tithingas, divisit."-Thus we have before seen, (ante p. 376,) that lord Baltimore directed, in virtue of his " Royal Jurisdiction," a county to be laid out, of which Robert Brooke, esqr., was constituted commander.
VOL. II .- 50
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CHAP. V. Ann Arundel counties without notice thereof given." As these
1650. acts of assembly, relative to the fears and alarms, which our early colonists experienced from their savage neighbours, become dai- ly more interesting, especially to the inhabitants of the Atlantic states, who gradually become less familiarized to the customs and habits of these savages as they recede from their neighbour- hood, it may not be improper to insert in the body of our his- tory some of these legislative measures, adopted by our ances- tors, to guard against such their daily impending dangers. The act entitled, as last mentioned, was as follows :
"Whereas two of the inhabitants of Kent and Ann Arundel counties have been lately, in a most barbarous and cruel man- ner, murthered by certain Indians ;* for the better preventing of the like mischiefs (under God) for the future, Be it enacted by the authority of this present general assembly, that the com- manders of the said several counties shall cause speedy notice to be given to all Indians that use to resort or come unto the towns or dwelling houses of any the inhabitants there, and to all other Indians that shall happen to come into these parts or live near at hand, (as with conveniency they may,) that they and every of them refrain coming thither for the future, either to hunt or upon any other occasion [except to]t speak with the said commander upon some urgent occasion, and that before they shall approach too near the towns or habitations as aforesaid, either by land or water, they shall give or make some known sign or token of such their approach for the purpose aforesaid, and in this case all and every the inhabitants of the said several counties are hereby strictly charged and required, as they will answer the contrary at their perils, not to offer any such Indian or Indians any harm or violence, but safely to conduct them, not
* It appears from a treaty made by the Marylanders with the Susquehanocks, within about two years from this peroid, viz. in 1652, (which will be inserted hereafter, ) that all that part of Maryland, which lies between the Patuxent and Susquehanogh rivers on the western shore, and all from the Choptank to the Susquehanogh on the eastern shore, were claimed, having been conquered pro- bably at some period of time prior to this treaty, now unknown, by the Susque- hanogh nation of Indians. It is most probable, therefore, that the Indians, who committed the above mentioned murthers, were the Susquehanocks, and that the recent settlement of the English, on the Severn particularly, must have given to them additional umbrage and vexation.
t In the record of this act, instead of the two words [except to] within brack- ets as above, the words-"either to hunt"-are repeated. But as the sense of this clause appears very clearly to have been as above, I have taken the liberty of altering it by inserting the words-"except to."
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being above four in number, to the commander or commanders CHAP. V. aforesaid, both in the coming and going; and in case any In- 1650. dian or Indians whatsoever, after such notice given as aforesaid, shall presume, contrary to the direction herein prescribed, to ap- proach or come unto or near any the towns or dwelling houses before mentioned, it shall be lawful for any inhabitant or inhabi- tants of either of the said counties, with gun or other weapon to shoot, kill, beat, or take prisoner any such Indian or Indians, any act of assembly or other law or order to the contrary here- of at any time heretofore in any wise made notwithstanding; and all and every the inhabitants of the said several counties are hereby strictly charged and required not to harbour or conceal any Indian or Indians whatsoever, which shall happen contrary to the direction herein before expressed to come unto any of their houses or plantations within the said counties or either of them, upon peril of such punishment or penalty, (not extending to life or member,) as the said commander and commissioners* of either of the said counties respectively shall think fit ; and all and every of the inhabitants of the said counties are to yield obedience in all things to the directions of this present act, un- till the governor of this province for the time being, by proclama- tion for that purpose, shall give order to the contrary thereof."t
This assembly, moreover, not content with this cautionary mode of preventing a reiteration of such murders by the Indians, thought it proper, that some more effectual remedy to such con- duct of the natives should be applied; and accordingly enact- ed, "an order providing for a march upon the Indians," as fol- lows :
* Throughout the early records of our province the word "commissioners," when used as above, means-justices of the peace ; who were the judges of the county courts in the same manner as in the courts of quarter sessions in Eng- land. From this also it may be inferred, that the commander of any county in the province was generally the person first named in the commission of the peace for that county.
t Taken from the record book in the council chamber, entitled, "Assembly Proceedings from 1637 to 1658," p. 383 .- It may probably be worth mentioning here, that a memorandum is subjoined to the first act of this session, as they stand on the record, after that "for settling this present assembly," as follows : "The lower house assented :- William Britton. The upper house hath assent- ed :- Thomas Hatton. Enacted by the governor,-William Stone." To all the other acts of this session also, are subjoined,-"Assented ut supra .- Enact- ed ut supra." From which it is to be inferred, that each respective act of this session passed through the forms of investigation and assent in the two respec- tive houses-the assembly and council, and finally received the assent and signa- ture of the governor.
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CHAP. V. "Whereas certain Indians this last year have most wickedly 1650. and barbarously murthered an English inhabitant of the county of Kent,* and another inhabitant likewise since in Ann Arundel county, Be it therefore ordered, that the governor, with the ad- vice of the council or the major part of them, shall have power, in case such Indians, who have committed such barbarous and wicked murthers, shall not be sent in, after demand made of them, to the government here, to receive such punishment as is due for such offence, to press men, and to appoint such allowance for their pay, and to make war upon these nations of Indians refus- ing to deliver up those offenders as aforesaid, as in his and their best discretion shall be thought fit; the charge of which war to be laid by an equal assessment on the persons and estates of all the inhabitants of this province."
Two children also of a certain Thomas Allen deceased had been, at some time previous to this assembly, captured by the Indians, and some difficulty seems to have arisen with the pro- vincial court, who first took cognizance of the business, in rais- ing money or tobacco sufficient for the redemption of these two unfortunate orphans, which sum amounted to 1500 lb. tobacco; viz. 900 lb. for the eldest, and 600 lb. for the youngest. The administrator of Allen's estate informed the court, that the testa- tor's estate was not sufficient to defray the charge after paying all the debts; and the provincial court having referred the mat- ter to the assembly, the latter made an order, in which, after stating, that "the public charge this year being like to be very great and burthensome," they directed, that the said two chil- dren should serve any inhabitant of the province till they attain to their several ages of twenty-one years, as the provincial court shall think fit; such inhabitant paying the said charge of their redemption." It must be confessed, that the circumstances of this order, seem to indicate some deficiency of generous feelings in this assembly on so interesting an occasion.
It would appear, however, that notwithstanding all this war- fare with the Indians, or some particular tribe or tribes of them, yet a considerable trade was still carried on, either with these hostile Indians, or more probably with some other tribe or tribes, who remained in a state of peace with our colonists. An act
* The isle of Kent is here meant, which had been before erected into a coun- ty. The county denominated Kent at this day does not appear to have been in- habited by any English at the time of this session of assembly.
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was passed at this session, entitled, "an act concerning trade CHAP. V. with the Indians," which contained in substance the following 1650. regulations.
"1. All inhabitants of the province had free liberty to trade with any Indians, for any beaver, or other commodities, and the same to export (corn excepted,) which could not be exported without special leave from the governor,) paying a tenth in weight or value, for all beaver so traded for, for a custom to his lordship, &c.
"(2.) No such traders to sell any arms or ammunition to any Indians, or quarrel with, or give just occasion of offence to, the Indians, whereby the public peace, &c., might be endanger- ed; nor to enhance the price of corn, to the prejudice of the people; nor to go out upon such trade too weak in strength, or arms, whereby the Indians might be emboldened to do them mischief.
"(3.) Inhabitants of this province, desirous so to trade, were to take out license from the governor, (which was never to be denied upon application,) and give security for observing the provisoes above mentioned.
"(4.) No persons, not being inhabitants, were permitted to trade with the Indians, without special license, under the great seal, on pain of confiscation of all goods and commodities so traded with, or for, &c."*
Analogous to this last clause, another "order" was passed this session, entitled, "An order prohibiting foreigners to hunt within this province." This deserves mention particularly on account of the word "foreigners;" which, from an expression in the or- der, viz. "no foreigner, either English or Indian," &c., must have meant the same as the expression in the last mentioned pre- ceding act, to wit, "no persons, not being inhabitants," &c.
This last mentioned order seems to have been intended to prohibit a very mischievous practice, which has been before mentioned, and which, until this session, must have existed in a considerable degree. It was common with the inhabitants of the province to employ Indians to hunt and kill deer for them, fur- nishing them with guns for that purpose. These savages were thus enabled, not only to learn the use of fire-arms, but in some measure to furnish themselves with those arms, pretending that
* The above abstract of the act is from Bacon's Laws of Maryland .- This "Act concerning trade with the Indians," seems to have been one of those sent in by his lordship, from his "Declaration, anno 1649," before cited.
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CHAP. V. they were either lost or destroyed. It gave considerable dis- 1650. pleasure also to the inhabitants of the province, that "English foreigners," (by whom we must understand some of the inha- bitants of Virginia to have been meant, perhaps those who re- sided just across the Patowmack,) had licenses granted to them to hunt deer on the Maryland side of the river. The practice, before mentioned at the last session, also, of turning hogs out into the uninclosed woods or forest, had created a breed of wild hogs, being unmarked, became, like deer, lawful game, to be hunted like them under special licenses granted for the purpose. These inconveniences occasioned, not only the passage of the act, relative to hunting deer by the Indians and foreigners, as just stated, but also a renewal or revival at this session of the "order," entitled, "An order for recording the mark of cattle and hogs." To enforce which acts, it may be here men- tioned, that governor Stone issued a proclamation on the same day on which the assembly rose, to wit, on the 29th day of April, (1650,) for revoking and making void all licenses here- tofore granted for the preceding purposes.
Most of the acts of this session of 1650, of a political com- plexion, appear to have been, as before stated, some of those acts sent in by his lordship for the assent of the assembly; which acts, although they were not admitted by the assembly in toto, as his lordship directed, yet were culled and some of them selected and passed at this session of 1650. Among them was the act entitled, "An act of recognition of the lawful and undoubted right and title of the right honourable Cecilius lord baron of Bal- timore, absolute lord and proprietary of the province of Mary- land, unto the said province, and unto all islands, ports, and creeks, to the same belonging." The preamble to this act, how- ever, is couched in such flattering terms personally to his lord- ship, that we can hardly suppose it to have been so penned under his lordship's inspection in England, but must have been super- added by some of his faithful tenants in the colony, perhaps by the secretary of the province-Mr. Hatton ;- as follows:
* Another proclamation for recalling these "licenses and warrants" was issued by the governor on the 20th of November, 1650, in which the inconveniences resulting from these licenses, &c., are more clearly stated,-that "this county of St. Mary's and the parts adjoining are very much pestered with great concourse of Indians from several parts, to the annoyance and terror of divers of the inhabit- ants here, and excessive waste and destruction of the game of this province, and dispersing and scattering of the cattle and hogs of the inhabitants."-Council Proceedings from 1636 to 1657, p. 253.
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"Great and manifold are the benefits, wherewith Almighty God CHAP. V. hath blessed the colony, first brought and planted within this 1650. province of Maryland, at your lordship's charge, and continued by your care and industry in the happy restitution of a blessed peace unto us, being lately wasted with a miserable dissention, and unhappy war. But more inestimable are the blessings there- by poured on this province, in planting christianity among a
people, that knew not God nor had heard of Christ .* All which we recognize and acknowledge to be done and performed next under God, by your lordship's industry and pious inten- tions towards the advancement and propagation of christian re- ligion, and the peace and happiness of this colony and province : So we doubt not, but our posterity will remember the same, with all fidelity, to the honor of your lordship and your heirs forever." It is then enacted, "That we being bound thereunto, by the laws both of God and man, do recognize and acknowledge your lord- ship's just title and right unto this province, by the grant and donation of the late king Charles, of England, &c. And do also recognize and acknowledge your lordship to be true and absolute lord and proprietary of this province. And do humbly submit unto all power, jurisdiction, and authority, given, grant- ed, and confirmed unto your lordship and your heirs, in and by the said grant and donation : And do hereby submit and oblige us, our heirs and posterities forever, until the last drop of our blood be spent,t to maintain, uphold and defend your lordship and your heirs, lords, and proprietaries of this province, in all the royal rights, jurisdictions, authorities, and preheminencies, given, granted, and confirmed unto your lordship, by the said grant and donation, so far as they do not in any sort infringe or prejudice
* With what absurd pertinacity is this false and unfounded sentiment held forth even at this day! With the exception of a few individuals brought up and educated among the whites, the Indians generally continue to reject the system of christianity with disdain, and in the few instances wherein they conform to its ceremonies they adopt only its superstitious concomitants, their moral principles remaining unimproved. Were a total prohibition enacted by law against mis- sionaries being permitted to go among them, and instead of them artisans and agriculturists sent, with strong injunctions to refrain from the propagation of any religious opinions, the sense and reason of these savages would be addressed, and not their imaginations. They would then, most probably, perceive the advan- tages of civilization. But even civilization communicated to them would be rather a curse than a blessing, if their country is to be entirely taken from them.
t This strong expression seems to be further proof, that this act was modified by some friend of lord Baltimore after it was sent in. His lordship himself would hardly have introduced such an expression into a law of his own framing and propounding.
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CHAP. V. the just and lawful liberties or privileges of the free born subjects 1650. of the kingdom of England."
From "his lordship's Declaration, anno 1649," as before stated, it appears that the assembly of the last session, to wit, in 1649, had refused to pass this act on account of the two ex- ceptionable expressions in it,-""absolute lord and proprietary," and "royal jurisdiction." Why the assembly of this session, of 1650, now assented to it, as it is, with those expressions in it, we have no authority or foundation even for conjecture. If these objections emanated from the Puritans within the province, as they appear to have been subsequently entertained by them,* it is more difficult to account for the passage of the act at this ses- sion than the former; for, at this session they had burgesses or delegates from their settlement at Providence, but none at that of 1649. The saving of the "liberties and privileges of English subjects," at the end of the clause, might have been inserted in the original act sent in by his lordship; for, by the fifth section of the charter, lord Baltimore and his heirs were "created and constituted the true and absolute lords and proprietaries of the region aforesaid," (to wit, Maryland,) "saving always the faith and allegiance and sovereign dominion due to us," (the king) "our heirs and successors," -- which saving in the charter seems to be synonymous to that in the act.
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