frequently by negroes. The Governor discharged multifarious offices. He was Commander and Vice-Admiral, Lord Treasurer, Lord Chancellor, and Chief Justice, with certain powers, also, that belong to a Bishop. The councillors, whom he could generally control, held a similar variety of offices. The County Court was composed of eight or ten gentlemen, having no education in law, and receiving annually their commissions from the Governor. The General Court, a court for the trial of the most important causes, and for the hearing of appeals, was composed of the Governor and Council as judges. Thus the judicial and executive offices were blended in the same body. The taxes for the support of the church and of the poor were assessed each year by the vestry; the county taxes by the justices of peace; and the public levy by the Assembly. The parishes, since they paid The parishes. the ministers, claimed the right of presentation, and could exercise it, despite the Governor, since they could refuse to pay the salary. But the vestries, as we have seen, contrived to avoid presentation altogether by hiring the ministers from year to year. The ministers were thus made subservient to the will of those who employed them. There were good men among the ministers, but their character on the whole was not such as to command or deserve respect. It need not be said that they were the champions of the intolerant spirit that prevailed toward Dissenters. The number of parishes was twice as great as the number of the clergy. Lawyers were not held in esteem, and the condition of the medical profession was quite low.

The distinguishing element which merits attention in Virginian society was the aristocratic class. They were The aristoc- far from being always thrifty. By lavish expenditures and by anticipating their profits, they often needlessly allowed themselves to become

racy.

involved in debt. They were men of virile character, capable of energetic exertion, with the spirit and the manners to be expected in a class accustomed to command. To possess numerous horses, and horses of a choice breed, and—few and bad as the roads were-showy equipages, was a prevalent ambition. The loneliness of the life of the rich planters on their estates, and their love of social intercourse, led to the frequent interchange of visits among themselves, and to the exercise of a liberal hospitality to strangers. The blending of high-bred courtesy with a temper impatient of an affront is natural to such a class. Where there was no town life, the means of intellectual cultivation were scanty. Yet there is evidence that, even in the seventeenth century, libraries, larger or smaller, were found in some of the planters' houses. There was one subject-politics-from which the minds of the aristocratic class were seldom withdrawn. In political discussions and struggles the intellect of the leaders of society was exercised and disciplined. "The Virginia planter was essentially a transplanted Englishman in tastes and convictions, and imitated the social amenities and the culture of the mother country. Thus in time was formed a society distinguished for its refinement, executive ability, and a generous hospitality for which the Ancient Dominion is proverbial." If we understand by "Englishman" the ordinary type of English country gentleman, and make due allowance for the effect of remoteness from the direct influences of English society, the preceding remarks of a recent Virginian historical writer hold good. It must not be understood that there was no middle class in Virginia. There were the tradesmen, and there were the proprietors of smaller farms, who were possessed of fewer slaves. These were separated by an imperceptible line from the richer and more powerful landowners.

CHAPTER V.

MARYLAND UNTIL 1688

The First Lord Baltimore-Avalon-Grant of Maryland-The Maryland Charter-Religion in Maryland-Toleration-Clayborne's Settlement-The Maryland Colony--Conflict with Clayborne-Period of the Commonwealth-Non-conformists in Maryland-Act of Religious Freedom-Puritan AscendencyBaltimore Regains His Province-Fendall-Slavery-Dispute with Penn-End of Proprietary Government-Society in Maryland.

THE names of George and Cecilius Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore and his son, who inherited the title, are The first Lord inseparably associated with the planting of

Baltimore. Maryland. George Calvert sprung from a respectable family in Yorkshire. He was educated at Oxford. He early made the acquaintance of Sir Robert Cecil, and became his private secretary. After the death of Cecil he was advanced by the special favor of King James I., and in 1017 was raised to the honor of knighthood. He supported the Spanish policy of James, and was a prominent leader of the monarchical party in Parliament. In 1619, he was appointed one of the principal Secretaries of State. Two years later he received a grant from the king of a manor in the County of Longford, Ireland, and later obtained a place on the roll of the Irish peerage under the name of Lord Baltimore. His moderate temper and habitual courtesy caused him to be generally liked, although his political course had been distasteful to the popular party in the House of Commons. Perseverance

Avalon.

in carrying out his plans, with no display of enthusiasm, characterized him through life. In 1625, he was converted to the Roman Catholic faith. For years he had participated in the growing interest that was felt in schemes of colonization. He had been a member of the Virginia Company, and in 1622 became one of the eighteen members of the Council for New England, which succeeded the Plymouth Company. He sent out colonists to a plantation in Newfoundland, and by the charter which he obtained in 1623 he acquired a palatinate, or almost royal authority, in Avalon, his province in the southeastern part of that island. Twice he visited his American dominions. He repelled, bravely and successfully, attacks of the French. But a personal experience of the hardships of a winter in Avalon convinced him that the rigor of the climate was too great to permit the hope that a permanent and prosperous settlement could be established there. In a letter to Charles I., in 1629, he states that nothing prevents him from giving up for the future "all proceedings in plantations," except his natural inclination to "these kind of works." Leaving Avalon, he embarked for Virginia, whither his wife had gone before him; but there his creed stood in the way of a gracious welcome, and since he declined to take the oath of supremacy, because the terms of it were repugnant to his conscience as a Roman Catholic, nothing was left for him but to return to England. What he desired was "a precinct" of land in Virginia. This he obtained. He died two months before the charter passed the seal, and the grant was made to his son Cecilius, in 1632. The territory thus bestowed was named Maryland, in honor of the queen, Henrietta Maria. ern limit was the southern boundary of the Plymouth Company's grant, the fortieth parallel; on the west its limit was the most distant fountain of the Potomac.

Grant of
Maryland.

Its north

The charter

Thence the line descended southeast on the right bank of the Potomac to a specified place, Watkin's Point, whence it ran due east to the Atlantic. The charter was modelled on that of Avalon, and was of the most liberal character. It made Baltimore and his heirs the of Maryland. proprietaries of the territory, which was to be a palatinate, like the see of Durham in England. That is to say, the prerogatives of the proprietor were well-nigh regal. He was simply bound to pay to the king a yearly rent of two Indian arrows, in acknowledgment of his feudal subordination, and a fifth portion of whatever gold and silver might be found in the province. He was to own the soil; to exercise the powers of a sovereign, both civil and military; to levy taxes; to confer titles and dignities, under a system of sub-infeudation; to constitute courts, from which there was to be no appeal; and to make laws with the assent of the majority of freemen, or of their representatives. His subjects were exempted from taxation by the crown. It was stipulated that on doubtful points of interpretation the charter should be construed in the sense most favorable to the proprietary.

Only two references to religion are to be found in the Maryland charter. The first gives to the proprietary the Religion in patronage and advowsons of churches. The Maryland. second empowers him to erect churches, chapels, and oratories, which he may cause to be consecrated according to the ecclesiastical laws of England. The phraseology of these passages is copied from the Avalon patent that was given to Sir George Calvert when he was a member of the Church of England. Yet the terms were such that the recognition of that church as the established form of religion does not prevent the proprietary and the colony from the exercise of full toleration toward other Christian bodies. It was well understood by the recipient of the charter, and by those who