CHARLES CARROLL

OF CARROLLTON.

IT has been asserted that the American colonies, now the United States, began seriously to entertain the design of throwing off their allegiance to the British king, soon after the conquest of Canada by the arms of the British and provincial forces. There is, however, no evidence to sustain that assertion; and the probability is, that the colonies, although they each had cause for discontent, had never been united in their complaints until the British parliament united them by a series of general grievances. The charters granted to the various colonies had been uniformly violated so soon as they began to thrive; and they, in their weakness and sincere attachment to "the mother country," had patiently submitted. Yet it is evident that they retained, from generation to generation, a lively sense of their natural and chartered rights. The descendants of those who had braved the dangers and hardships of the wilderness for the sake of civil and religious liberty, inherited the spirit of their fathers;- what the fathers had gained by patient toil, unbending fortitude, or by charter from the king, their children claimed as their birthright.

In 1764, parliament, for the first time, attempted to raise a revenue in the colonies without their consent. This led to a discussion of the right in the provincial assemblies and among the people, and the general sentiment appears to have been, that "taxation and representation were inseparable." In 1765 the famous Stamp Act was passed; and the policy of the British government being unveiled, an universal expression of indignation and opposition was echoed through the colonies. In addition to these general causes for complaint, each colony remembered its own individual grievances. It is only our purpose, on this occasion, to trace the causes of discontent in Maryland; and to show, that when her sons embarked

their "lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor," in their country's cause, they had reason and justice on their side.

The charter of Maryland was obtained by Lord Baltimore, from Charles I., in June, 1632. By the charter it was declared, that the grantee was actuated by a laudable zeal for extending the Christian religion and the territories of the empire. Lord Baltimore was a Roman Catholic; and his avowed intention was, to erect an asylum in America for the Catholic faith. In honor of the queen the province was named, and its endowment was accompanied with immunities more ample than any other of the colonies. Lord Baltimore was created the absolute proprietary, saving the allegiance due to the crown-license was given to all British subjects to transport themselves thither, and they and their posterity were declared entitled to the liberties of Englishmen, as if they had been born within the kingdom; with powers to make laws for the province, "not repugnant to the jurisprudence of England,"-power was given to the proprietary, with assent of the people, to impose all just and proper subsidies, which were granted to him for ever; and it was covenanted on the part of the king, that neither he nor his successors should at any time impose, or cause to be imposed, any tollages on the colonists, or their goods and tenements, or on their commodities, to be laden within the province. The proprietary was also authorized to appoint officers, repel invasions, and suppress rebellions. The charter contained no special reservation of royal prerogative to interfere in the government of the province. Thus was laid the foundation of a popular government not likely to be willingly renounced when once possessed.

No efforts were spared by Lord Baltimore to facilitate the population and happiness of the colony; and in five years it had increased to such an extent that a code of laws became necessary. Lord Baltimore composed and submitted a body of laws to the colonists for their assent, but they not approving of them, prepared a code for themselves. At a very early period the proprietary had declared in favor of religious toleration; in 1649 the assembly adopted that principle by declaring, "that no persons professing to believe in JESUS CHRIST should be molested in respect to their religion, or in the free exercise thereof;" thus placing themselves among the first of the American States in which differences as to religious opinions were tolerated by law. In 1654 Cromwell sent commissioners to reduce the colony to his subjection, who, although they met with no opposition in Maryland, abolished its institutions