LIFE OF CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON

CHAPTER I

THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND AS THE FIRST CARROLL FOUND IT

The government which Lord Baltimore gave to the Colony of Maryland was not only the most liberal and the fairest that the world had known up to that time, but it was peculiar and novel as well as most fascinating. It was the fascination of this government as well as its liberality that caused settlers from all directions to flock to the province.

George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, was no novice in either statecraft or the work of planting a colony. He had the advantage of experience in both lines of work before the Maryland undertaking was considered.

Although his conversion to the Catholic faith had caused the forfeiture of his official positions, it in no way seemed to lessen the regard and confidence that his Sovereign had in him. It was, therefore, mainly by reason of his high standing, lofty character and great ability that he was enabled to secure a concession or charter for the territory, which became the Province of Maryland; of a nature different from any concession that had ever been made. He became the absolute owner of the territory. All titles had to come from him. He arranged the plan of government and was the source of all power, and the maker of all laws. No one, not even the King had to be consulted in the management of the Province and its people.

Although George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, died before any of his plans could be put into operation, the whole scheme was the result of his experience and deep thought.

Previous to the Maryland charter, Lord Baltimore had established a settlement in Newfoundland. First, this was merely an estate, then a settlement and finally a colony. This effort was a kind of experimental school. He called the settlement Avalon and its capital city was Annapolis; the first Annapolis. Though the climate was hard, and the soil rough and unproductive, the colony flourished, till news of the beautiful location, rich soil, and mild climate of the Maryland concession caused dissatisfaction and made many of the colonists want to move south. They were humored in this desire and nearly two hundred of them were brought down the coast under command of Nathaniel Leonard, cousin of Lord Baltimore, who had succeeded John Wyatt as Governor of Avalon. These reached Maryland two months after the Ark and the Dove had brought Lord Baltimore's first settlers to the Chesapeake, and there formed the first considerable accession to the new colony. But Avalon survived the loss of so many of its people and was made a division of Maryland to which it paid fealty of a bushel of grain and twelve arrow heads each year as long as the proprietary government existed, or till about the time just previous to our Revolutionary War.

The death of George Calvert left the colony as an inheritance to his son, Cecelius Calvert, who appointed his brother, Leonard Calvert, Governor of the Province and manager of his affairs. The first Lord Baltimore had matured his plans so carefully, and had so fully arranged all the details of government and management, that it was only necessary to consult

instructions and be prepared to meet new conditions as they arose. And the new conditions did arise thick and fast. The colony was assailed from without and within by enemies in London and neighbors in Virginia. But a detail of these is not necessary for the purposes of this effort. In spite of all these obstacles the colony grew and developed and the laws, customs and manner of living were carried out, much as outlined by the original Proprietor. The Province was divided into counties and the counties into hundreds. Grants of land were made to gentlemen and the size of the grant depended on the number of followers, attendants or subtenants which the gentleman could command.

There was no idea of democracy as we understand it; yet the charter provided that the Governor should consult the people in the making of laws. The manner of this consultation was left entirely to the Lord Proprietor or the Governor appointed by him.

But the Governor seems to have been fair and liberal in all things and no conflict between him and the Assembly occurred. The Assembly was elected by the gentlemen who were the large land owners and known as Lords of the Manor. Each manor was a tract of many thousands of acres, not less than 2,000; either cultivated by the Lord of the Manor or let to subtenants. The Manor House was the head of the settlement and the owner as Lord of the Manor, was a kind of magistrate. He held Manor Court for the settlement of disputes between the Lord of the Manor and his tenants or followers and Leet court for the adjustment of matters between these tenants.

The Manor House was the social centre; and the Lords and Ladies of the Manor engaged in such sports and social accomplishments as they learned in England

and Ireland or had been developed as a result of conditions in the new world. These social doings took such a hold, that after other features of colonial life had been supplanted, the people held fast to many of them. The house party at the Manor, the hunt, the regatta, the riding tournament claimed places in the social life of Maryland till after the Civil War.

And these Manor Lords had each his coat of arms and the province boasted of its own flag, as artistic and pretty a banner as any people ever unfolded to the breeze.

The introduction of slavery which warped the plans of Manor life in many respects did not materially lessen the social features. Lord Baltimore did not contemplate an ideal republic nor conceive of a democracy; but his ambition was to found an aristocratic state where the people would be prosperous and happy, and where all would enjoy the full measure of that liberty for which each was fitted. It is believed by many that he contemplated conferring patents of nobility. His laws provided that the Lord of the Manor should be addressed as Esquire and other landowners as Mister.

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But above all he made it clear that the fullest measure of religious liberty should be enjoyed. His motto was toleration for all religion that accepts the divinity of Jesus Christ; but the establishment of none."

His laws also provided that no church or religious body should become the holder of a large tract of land nor should any minister, priest or preacher be eligible as a member of the Assembly. These principles took such a hold on the people of the colony that they were grafted on the laws of Maryland after the Revolution, and their influence is seen on the statute books to the present day.

While Massachusetts and the other Puritan colonies were persecuting Quakers, selling them into slavery in Jamaica because of their religious belief, and persuasively using a hot iron on the tip of the tongue to convince them of the error of their beliefs; and while Boston was going so far as to tie a clergyman to the tail of a cart and whip him through the streets as an argument against immersion as a religious rite, and the Colony of Virginia was expelling the Puritans; the Province of Maryland, through its Assembly and at the instance of the Lord Proprietor was proclaiming religious liberty; the motto from the first, being "toleration for all religions and the establishment of none."

While these principles had prevailed from the first, on April 21, 1649, the Assembly at the instance of the Proprietor passed the following law to make the matter entirely clear:

No person professing to believe in Jesus Christ shall from henceforth be any ways troubled, molested or discountenanced for, or in respect of his or her religion; nor in the free exercise thereof within this Province nor in any way be compelled to the belief or exercise of any other religion against his or her consent.

The act further provided that "if any person shall willfully wrong another person because of his religion, he shall be compelled to pay treble damages to the person so wronged. And if the wrong doer shall refuse or be unable to pay damages, he shall be publicly whipped and imprisoned."

The enunciation of these principles brought to the Province people of all shades of religious views and it isn't to the credit of the new comers that as soon as