' A 
 
 _ J4^: ^:-*^/- 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 IN 
 
 C03I3IE3IORATION OF THJE LANDING 
 
 OF THf. 
 
 PILGRIMS OF MARYLxiNO, 
 
 pao>0IM.I.3i AT .-^1. :^T. XATtV R COLLHOB, JIAT 10, X^VS-. 
 
 GEOKGE H. ?\IILE^-, ESQ- 
 
 EM.MI'J'TSLirKU ; 
 Frinied ai the " Star (''fficc' 
 
DISCOURSE 
 
 IN 
 
 COMMEMORATION OF THE LANDING 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PILGRIMS OF MARYLAND. 
 
 ,„o,NOVNrE» AT MT. ST. ^.vR^s coLLKc.s, M ..■ 10, 1847. 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE H. MILES, ESQ. 
 
 C/» EMMITTSBURG : 
 Printed at the " Star Officer 
 1*847. 
 
 U. S.A, 
 
4- 
 
 
 4- 
 
Mt, St.Mcmjs College, May lOth, 1847. 
 
 George H. Miles, Esq., 
 
 Dear Sir : — The Students of Mt. St. Mary's Col- 
 lege, highly gratified by the able and eloquent Oration which you have delivered be- 
 torc them, beg leave, through us their Comcaittee, to tender you their thank?, and so- 
 licit a copy for publication. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 your ob't servants, 
 WM. GEO. READ, 
 JAMES E. GOWEN, 
 ^ JOHN M. TIERNAN, 
 
 LAURENCE M'CLOSKEY, 
 H. CHATARD SCOTT, 
 MARSHALL M'lLHENNY, 
 
 Co.>t.'mTT££. 
 
Mt. St. Marys College, May lOth, 1847. 
 
 Messk!!. "\V'm. Gr.o. Kevd, 
 .Tamks E, (jowkx, 
 
 JOHX M. TlKKJTAN, 
 
 Laurkxce M'Closket, 
 H. Chxtari) Scott, 
 Marshall IVriLiiKX.NT, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 Gr.XTLliME.N, 
 
 I send you with this a copy of my remarks, and, most grateful for 
 your kindness, renmiti 
 
 "i'our obedient servant, 
 
 GEORGE H. MILES, 
 
Not many years ago, the Pilgrims of Maryland were permitted 
 to sleep uncommemorated even by those, who trod the very soil that 
 had been tlie cradle of the infant colony : but they are no longer un- 
 sung and unrevered. Though we learned as soon as we could read, to 
 admire the Puritan and to sympathize with him in all his struggles 
 with the Indian, there was no juvenile history to people the shores of 
 the Chesapeake with venerated forms. Cape Cod was our first love. 
 But this season of apathy is over. The historian whose " first 
 fruits "* make us so deeply regret that they are still his last, has 
 brought to light the ancient image of our State, long buried like the 
 masterpiece of antiquity, — has given us a classic Maryland to cherish 
 and preserve. The name of Calvert is prominent in Bancroft's co- 
 lonial history, where the peculiar glory of the colony he planted, is 
 briefly but forcibly displayed. An altar has been thus erected to the 
 founders of our State, You know, my friends, how that altar has 
 been enriched with the yearly ofierings of genius and eloquence, by 
 some who are amongst us, by others whose hearts are here, and by 
 one who has left us in the hope of a better world, until it has become 
 a fitting memorial of the virtues it celebrates. I can add nothing to its 
 beauty : but we can observe together the rite that should never he ne- 
 glected, of dedicating one day in the year to the memory of the Pit- 
 GR1M3 OF Maryland. Though there be something of human weak- 
 ness in pride of ancestry, there is much of tilial reverence , — a lively 
 "M'Mahon's Marvbnd, Freface. 
 
contemplation of noble actions is a strong incentive to equal exertion ; 
 — the memory of the American Revolution, is, next to religion, the 
 best guardian of our liberti.s. 
 
 It is not my purpose to enumerate all the claims which the colonists 
 of St. Mary's have to our remembrance : we are now familiar witii 
 them. We will not dv/ell upon the many expeditions to our shores, 
 set on foot by avarice or ambition. Columbus had sailed to discover 
 a new passage to the Indies, — Cabot to establish lucrative fisheries in 
 the north, — Cortereal to kidnap the Indian ; Verrazzani had discerned 
 gold in the hills of New Jersey ; Champlain had scaled the cliff of 
 Quebec to secure a monopoly of the fur-trade ; John Kibault of Dieppe 
 had mistaken the caterpillar of the St. John's for'lhe silk-worm ; the 
 piracies of the " motley groups of dissolute men,* under Laudon- 
 niere, had provoked, but could not justify the atrocities of Melendez: 
 Ponce de Leon had repaired to Florida in quest of the magic spring, 
 whose waters had power to restore health, youth and beauty, remove 
 the wrinkle, and re-light the eye ; De Soto had roamed from St. Au- 
 gustine to the Mississippi, finding only a grave where he had fancied 
 riches surpassing those of Mexico and Peru ; Frobisher had penetra- 
 cd Baffin's Bay, and sought for gold i|i the islands of the coast ; Gil- 
 bert had examined the minerals of New Foundland and perished in the 
 Squirrel ; Sir Walter Raleigh had sacrificed his fortune in attempting 
 to impart to the New World the civilization of the Old. But wc must 
 abstain from these tempting themes. 
 
 Nor shall we pause to watch the Jesuit missionary under the auspi- 
 ces of Mary ol Medici, chaunting matins and vespers on (^ilic northern 
 bank of Penobscot, or the Dominican erecting the cross on the Peninsu- 
 la, that was wet with Spanish blood, and suffering inartYrdom in liis zeal 
 
 to teach the Seminole. ^ Such instances of Clirislian charity and fear- 
 'F.ancroli'ii L'niled fSUlcs. vol. l.paeo (>.'>. 
 
7 
 less derolion, gleam with almost supernatural lustre amidst scenes of 
 selfish adventure and reckless ambition. 
 
 I shall confine myself to a consideration of the cwz^scs that led'to 
 the permanent English colonization of a portion of the Atlantic coast 
 of North America, and to the main features in the history of that colo- 
 nization. 
 
 The history of a colony is always so interwoven with that of its pa- 
 rent country, that the career of the one can only be fully explained 
 by the conduct of the other. Itthus becomes a very important part of 
 our inquiry to obtain a clear idea of the condition of England under 
 James I. 
 
 " In the fifteenth century," says an elegant and accurate author, 
 " England had acquired a just reputation for the goodness of her laws 
 and the security of her citizens from oppression. This liberty had 
 been the slow fruit of ages, still waiting a happier season for its per- 
 fect ripeness, but already giving proof of the vigor and industry which 
 had been employed in its culture.t" But a long and disastrous period 
 was to intervene before that perfect ripeness could be attained ; nor 
 is it certain that the happier season has yet arrived. 
 
 The next century presented a revolution, only second in interest 
 to that which overthrew the Gods of Greece and Italy. 
 
 — " The majestic lord 
 
 "Who broke the bonds of Rome," 
 as Gray styles the English Blue Beard, assuming an absolute spiritual, 
 in virtue of his temporal power, constituted himself head of Church 
 and State; thus aiming the first blow at the religion, that had planted 
 and fostered the liberty and happiness so conspicuous in England of 
 the fifteenth century. Avarice and envy soon plundered the monaste 
 * Bancroft's United States, vol. 1, p. 60. 
 fHulIamV Constitutioiiiil Historv. vol. 1, p. 2. 
 
8 
 
 ry, the church, the hospital, the free school, — and a strange fanaticism 
 exulted over their ruins. It would require a volume to trace the tri- 
 umph of the principles of tlieReformation over the old faith of the is- 
 land. The triumph was complete however, and the monk was huftt- 
 ed down like a dog in midsummer. 
 
 The spiritual supremacy of Henry VIII was not gained without an 
 accession of temporal power, afterward carried to an alarming height. 
 The Commons had lost the spirit displayed under Edward III and 
 Richard II ; — a " perfidious parliament " permitted the monarch and 
 his successors after the age of twenty four, to repeal any act passed in 
 their reigns, and gave to all proclamations made by king and council 
 and not conflicting with established laws, the force of statutes. *^ With 
 a terrified House of Commons and a nobility led on by the baser influ- 
 ence of gain, Henry wanted but his father's parsimony to render the 
 roy.il revenue independent of parliamentary grants, and to build up an 
 unconiroliable despotism.! 
 
 But the intolerance of the monarchy church was not long to be lev- 
 elled against the Cailiolie alone. If Luther had disputed at Leipsic, 
 Calvin had preached at Ccneva. The reformers had been at some 
 pains to tear down an existing system ; but they found it easier to de- 
 stroy tiian to create. Like one who unravels some nice piece of me- 
 chanism and vainly endeavours to re-unite the disjointed parts, they 
 failed in the efTort to restore the unity they had broken. The stream 
 of light that once shot upward with such a steady and undivided blaze, 
 seemed about to fall like the rocket in a shower of sparks. There 
 was fast springing up, in England, alarge class of men who regarded the 
 Established Church as but a modification of Popery. They beheld her 
 ceremonies with mistrust and condemned them as tending to perpetu- 
 iilc Romish sui)er£'.ilion and idolatry. Not satisfied with the extinc- 
 
 •Hrtllnin.ror). Uist. vol. I, pp. I'l, 17. 
 
 ;M':'i., fp. '(."). Ifl, And irr U rm\ I'-.^jv on •• : l;- IMiti-h Hincviirirnt." 
 
9 
 
 I'lon ol the gfrong-holds of Catlioliclty, tliey recoiled from the mere 
 semblance of its least treasonable ceremonies. The sign of the cross 
 was to them the seal of infamy, — a surplice or a cassock, the livery of 
 Satan. They loathed all traditionary forms and tolerated no ceremo- 
 hy not expressly enjoined by the written Word of God.* They even 
 went so far, as to call Queen Elizabelh's'chapel, the " pattern and prece- 
 dent of all superstition. "t But though thus widely differing from the 
 fipiscopalian, the Puritan contrived to escape the stake and the rack 
 until he became politically obnoxious. Yet he' could not remain long 
 unsuspected ; for the State was too intimately connected with the 
 Church, not to construe a coarse abuse of its partner info an insult to it- 
 self. But the temper of the State-Church was destined to be more se- 
 verely tried. 
 
 As Puritanism sprung from Reform, so it quickly gave birth to a bo- 
 dy subsequently known as tndependants. While yet'in its cradle, thfe 
 child inveighed against its mother for opposing^too cold and feeble a re- 
 sistance to the corruption and evil tendencies of the progenitor of both. 
 The Puritan was content with a reformation of discipline, but the In- 
 dependent deemed it incapable of amendment and required. separation.! 
 It was inconsistent with the principles they held in common, to sub- 
 mit to the authority of a body of prelates, when, claiming the right of 
 private interpretation, they were inspired to reject the doctrines of their 
 teachers. These principles were fast gaining ground, and the results 
 to which they led began to be dimly shadowed forth to the few who 
 • tead the future. It was urged against the Puritan faction, " with 
 
 * Bancroft, vol. I, p. 279. 
 
 tHallam's Cons. Hist. vol. I, 231. 
 
 'Sec HiUain and Bancroft'under the head of Puritan, 
 
 B. 
 
10 
 
 more or less of initli,*'' thatil aspired to subvert the Episcopacy, anil to 
 reiiodcl the civil institutions of the kiiijjdom. liut though the- result 
 proves that ihe seeds of civil war were iheii sown, it is iiiiproba- 
 hle that the bulk of thfi party sa.v the mighty storm gathering beneath 
 the horizon. In IGOl, the Lower House had manifested an inclina-^ 
 lion to Pniitanism, and the remainder of Elizabeth's reign abounds in 
 specimens of tlie reforming temper of the Commons and the Queen's 
 jealous maintenance of her eupren^Hcy. The far-seeing danghter of 
 Ann Boleyn discovered the direciiofi of the anti-ceremonialists and es- 
 sayed to curb it. "NVhilst the rich learning and eloquence of Hooker 
 were employed in combating the theories of ihe adversaries of hia 
 faith, his virgin mistress resorted to sterner weapons against the theo- 
 rists themselves. Barrow and fireenwood perished with expressions 
 ofloyalty upon their lips, and their disciples were compelled to seek 
 refuge in Hoilatul.t 
 
 Despised and persecuted by Puritan, Indepcndanf, and Cimrchman, 
 the Catholics of England bent over their bitter clialice. All that the 
 retaliation of Queen !\Iary had effected, was to render them still more 
 odious to her successor. Collectively, ihcy experienced the most re- 
 fined cruelty from a co\irt, to whi'jh mercy and truth were stranger9, 
 and were deprived even of incidental protection ; fcr to pardon a sin- 
 gle Cal?)oIic, was to give mortnl ofience to the Puritan, who was con- 
 ciliated even wlicn persec'uteil.: Yet they were cliarged with no trea- 
 sonable designs. T.ord AIontLi;.'UC had borne fearless and unriuestion- 
 ed testimony lo tiicir loyally. " 'Diey dispute not, they preach not, 
 they disobey not the Queen 1" — lie exclaims in his powerful ap- 
 peals to the lords. § They had seen their fondest hofies v.itl.er on the 
 
 •llall.jm. Cod:--. Hi.-l. vol. 1, -^'Sl. 
 tihiil. ('oi;:^. U:-t. V..!. I. "i^'!. 
 
11 
 
 scaflold of Mary of Scotland, and yet gave vent lo no open murmur.* 
 •' In that memorable year when Europe stoot! by in fearful suspense 
 to beliold what should be the result of that great cast in tiie game of 
 human politic?, what the craft of Kome, the power of Philip, tlie ge- 
 nius of Farnese could achieve against the island Queen with her 
 Drakes and her Cecils, — in that agony of the protcslant faith and Eng- 
 lish name they stood the trial of their spirits without swerving from 
 their allegiance. " t Tliey liew from every country to the standard 
 of the Lord Lieutenant, and the venerable Lord Montague broucrht a 
 troop of horse to the queen at Tilbury commanded by himself, his 
 son, and grandson. But neither uncomplaining submission, nor cou- 
 age, nor patriotism, that, superior to the scavenger's daughter 
 and the dungeon, to insult and wanton spoliation, had rushed to the 
 seashore when the terrible Armada came on, could soften the stern, un- 
 sparing bigotry that demanded their extermination. There was not 
 one generous pulse to stay the hand that crushed them, and the work 
 of death and confiscation went on more mercilessly than before. 
 Archbishop WhitgilVs court of high commission clothed with almost 
 tinlimited powers, studied to entrap the unwary dissenter and employ- 
 ed every artifice to hush forever the uncouth voice of liberty of con- 
 science. The cruelty of this tribunal must have been excessive in- 
 deed, since Strype and Burleigh, employing terms by which they 
 meant to express the height of fiendi?h malice, stamped it as worse 
 than the Spanish Inquisition. J 
 
 As the oath of supremacy denied the spiritual power of the Pope,§ 
 the Catholic found that perjury or aposfacy were conditions precedent 
 to his enjoyment of civil ]irivilcgcs. On the other iiand, it was not 
 
 'Ital'ani, Cons. Hist. vo!. I, '.nO. 
 •jlhid. '-'lO. 
 
 . nancioH, vol, 1. '-SfK — Jliillniii, ('on?. lli>t. vol, •'.-.lO. 
 \Ut Kli/. d\. ': "all- 'Vni-. !(i.'-f. p. i.'-o. d. 1. 
 
12 
 
 until ihe Puritan became the Independant, that he refiised^to concede 
 nhat the monarch claimed in the oath. There was a wide dilTerence 
 between persecuting the Catholic and persecuting the Independant. 
 In the first case, it was unprovoked oppression ; — in the last, partly 
 defensive. The Catholic, as we have seen, guilty of no political of- 
 fence, could not expiate his sin by any political virtue. A deep root- 
 ed antipathy to his faith sealed his doom, thougli his behaviour as a 
 citizen was unquestioned. But the Independant had^long d-splayed 
 that restless and .determined opposition which ultimately] triumphed at 
 Naseby. He repeated to the Established Church the lesson her ex- 
 ample had taught him, to respect no religious authority but his own. 
 Still, the efforts of Elizabeth were levelled, not so much against his in- 
 ferior illumination, as against the political consequences flowing from 
 his religious tenets. The Catholic sufiered, because he obeyed tlie 
 Pope as head of the Church; — the Independaiit, because'he'was a po- 
 litical agitator. The acts of Parliament and the Slate Trials suggest 
 this distinction. Mayne was hanged with no charge against liim but 
 Papistry; — but it was necessary to convict the Brownists under the 
 statute against the spreadmg of seditious writmgs.* The statutet was 
 an expedient to bring the Independant within the pale ol persecution ; 
 lor the temper of the nation required a political offence to justify seve- 
 nty to the Protestant dissenter. In the year I08I, we hear the Com- 
 mons condenmii)g the casligat.on'of Puritans, and in the next breath 
 declaring their willingness to assist in the extirpation of Popery .+ 
 
 But wc have marked, clearly enough for our purposes, the position 
 and aims of the religious parties under Elizabeth. It would be a mel- 
 ancholy task to explore the anuals of the charnal hogsc kept b7 
 
 •Hallain.Cons. I.'isl. vol. 1^ -^'CU— i;8l>. 
 j-3d Elizabc'lh. 
 IJallam, ruiis.Ili.f. vul. 1. i;t.". 
 
13 
 
 this unn-lenling woman, anil listen to llio " never idle rack "-^ creak- 
 ing a hoarse defiance to the violated precepts of the common law. 
 Her name shonid rathernot be mentioned when men are thns assem- 
 bled ; for her nature abhorred tlie glory we celebrate. If the virgin 
 whiteness she claimed have no other stain, it is at least red with blood 
 far purer than her own. 
 
 You must be familiar with the character of James I, since it is well 
 drawn by Ilallam, Lingard and Bancroft, and its brighter side happi- 
 ly sketched in the fortunes of Nigel. Forgetting Elizabeth in four 
 days, the nation anxiously^ awaited a sign of the future from her suc- 
 cessor. The Catholic hugging a/aint hope that he might by chance 
 hare inherited the inclinations of his mother: — the Puritan half be- 
 lieving that a Scottish education had secretly swayed him to the prin- 
 ciples of the kirk ;— t!ie regular clergy confidently tempting the 
 approaching monarch with the golden bait of arbitrary power.t 'J'he 
 king yielded to the allurements of the Bishops. Then began, in earn- 
 est, the struggle between Prerogative and Privilege. The insolence 
 of the Court was inflamed by the stubbornness of the Commons, and 
 every Iresh stretch of power awakened a corresponding burst of oppo- 
 sition. Zeal for prerogative had reached an alarming height under 
 Elizabeth, when Ileyle and Cecil insisted that her ability to convert 
 her subjects' property to her own use, was as clear and perfect as her 
 right to any revenue of the Crown ;+ but it fell lar short of the mad- 
 ness for despotism that raged under James. Then, ' tlie_^Barons of 
 the Exchequer tore down with savage joy the fundamental liberties 
 which neither Henry VH nor his less scrupulous son had dared to 
 
 'Hallam, Cons. Hist. p. "^00. 
 
 ■j' " The Bishops hud promised him an obsequioiit-LCss to wliich ho had been little 
 accufetoiaed, and a zeal to_t;iihuncc_his [acrogalivc v h'ldi they al'tcrward loo well 
 dljplnytd. "—■//«//«;;;, CoHi, Iliil. vol. 1, p, 100. 
 
■•.4..W. 5 1 
 
 « 
 
 invade. ' ••'I'lie seaports are ihe king's gales, lie may open anJ siiul 
 lIiiMii to whom he pleases !■" — ^v■ns the argiiment by which the ina- 
 bility of the king to impose a duty without the assent of parliament, 
 was answered. Even Raleigh was infected with the despotism mania, 
 tniless we suppose tliat he stooped to conquer, and flattered the kinsrto 
 induce him to call a parliament. How strange this gallant knight 
 could ever have written, — " Tho bonds of sulijects, to their kings, 
 shordd always be wrought out of iron ; the bonds of kings unto sub- 
 jects but with cobwebs !'*t Bui cries of a fur more alarming na- 
 ture were sounded by the Birdiops and the lliglichurchmen. The 
 canons of IGIO prescribe passive obedience in all cases to the estab- 
 lished monarch.';: " Civil power is God's ordinance," exclaims the 
 second canon. § The logic of Cowel supported by the Archbishop and 
 approved by the king, enjoins that — •* the king is above law by his 
 absolute power and may disregard his coronation oath ! lie may 
 break all laws, inasmuch as they were not made to bind him, but to 
 benefit the people, and to fetter the king is to injure the people I''1 Hut 
 the crowning jiem to this Asiatic servility, was the complacency with 
 which the Star Chamber listened to .lames in lOlG. " It is atheism 
 and blasphemy," says James, " to dispute what God can do ; good 
 Christians content themselves with his will revealed i;i liis word ; so 
 \l is presumption and liigh contempt in a subject to dispute what a 
 king can do, or say thai a king cannot do this and cannot l\o that."!| 
 'J'liese doctrines, which now found in the clergy their warmest advo- 
 cates, were the Icgitimalc consequence of the movements of Henry 
 
 'llallai;!. Cons. Hist. vol. 1. 4'r/,l:!l. 
 
 jlbid. :n4, n. I. • 
 
 ■.11.1(1. V. 1, lo."). 
 
 ^. 'bill. Mime pav;<:. 
 ' ll.i,!. p. 4:!!', 
 
in 
 
 VlII. spiritual sUpremac}- once assumed as (levoiopcd fronl Innpri" 
 ral power, the crown must have possessed an inlierenl divinity. IJe-' 
 fled for a moment : — spiritual rupremacy was made to issue IVoni the 
 throne, and thus tlie same amount of authority idaiinod l»y liie Ivoman 
 PontilT", beeame a mere corollary to the oauilpotenfe ol' the kin^^ ot" 
 England. The liappiness and prosperity ol tlie Inland, the national 
 honor and the religion of Alfred, had been sacrificed to cast oil' tlie 
 yoke of Rome ; and tlie consistent destroyers now set up a I'opo 
 whose temporal power was as great as his spiritual autliority, and put 
 no limit to eitlier. 'i'hus, wiih a minisiry straining every nerve to 
 sanctify the person of their head, and claiming infallibilty not only for 
 ills dogmas but for his policy, England had well nigh forl'eiletl fore- 
 ver the name of a limited monarchy. 
 
 It was natural Ibr men who denied the divine riglils of kings, and 
 smarted under t!ie tyranny whicli sueh a system is sure to engender, \o 
 seek an asylum where its rigor would be sofiened or unfeli. The Pu- 
 ritan was painfully convinced that .Fames and his Church were steel- 
 ed a<rainst him ; — that to question the prerogative only imped its ma- 
 lignity. In 1G08, tlie disciple of Roliinson escaped to Amsterdam, 
 where freed from the petty annoyance and stern severity of bigotry, 
 he enjoyed the blissful immunity of obeying unmolested the voice of 
 conscience. r)Ut there was sometliing beyond tiiis, for which the ex- 
 ile sished. The Puritan believed himself the chosen of God, favored 
 above all men by the new light poured down upon his soul ; he pant- 
 ed for seclusion from all intercourse wiih less favored mortals, and 
 longed to build up a Church State to shine as a beacon-light to tho 
 world, wlierc none hut the clean and godly might minister. The 
 :'\lavnowcrleft Southampton in September 1030 : in sixty-three days 
 she ancfiored in the liarbor of Cape Cod. V»'e cannot trace step bv 
 ■'Aeu the progre?!s of t!iis rtisohttf; bin 1. or watch over th-j cradh^ of the 
 
10 
 Colony iIkiI grew to llio Stale ofMnsPacliuseltP. Tliis has been done 
 
 hy a liistorian, who bronoht to the task, learning, acutene=s, sagaci- 
 ty — and a burning enthusiasm. As we read the ovnato and elegant 
 pnge of Bancroft, we catch glimpses of tlie spirit that interwove the 
 Gods with the infancy of Greece and Rome. 
 
 In America, tlie Pilgrim resolved not merely to worship unmolested, 
 but to preserve himself uncomtaminated from association with such as 
 siiared not his election, lie drew around his retreat a magic circle, 
 which none but the initiated might enter with impunity. This policy 
 was very different from the 'I'heban treachery of those who rose 
 against their brethren at the feast of peace, and butchered before thoy 
 bad said " Beware !" The intolerance first displayed at Plyniputh, 
 M-as prohibitory and warned ofi' the dissenter : but the movement of 
 Henry VIII was a war of extermination against those in posssession, 
 and bad to wade through crime and blood to overturn existing institu- 
 tions, before it could set a fabric of its own. The one asserted no con- 
 trol over their opponents, provided they remained without their sanc- 
 tuary — and all within it were of the same persuasion ; the other laid 
 Haim to a populous kingdom for its peculiar forms, and thundered 
 death to tlie starUed non-conformist, who was then, and for a long time 
 remained in a numerical majority. But the Pilgrim soon ^found that 
 defection might spring from a cause he could not control, and error 
 thill the ranks of the elect within the circle. The spirit of inquiry that 
 had struck out the Puritan from'the Churchman, the Independant from 
 the Puritan, was not to be confined to its most'recent development. 
 Yet it is evident, that tlie colonists looked with some pity upon those 
 who entered their New .Jerusalem pure but nfierwanl swerved aside, 
 though they showed no mercy to__tho culprit intruding all unclean into 
 their society ; since their heretical members were sent away in the 
 r.ioa's Whelp, wliiist they h.inir i|,e Catliolic a;id burned the Quaker. 
 
17 
 
 Such a course was repugnant to the loftiest benevolence or to Christian 
 charity ; and conHiols with their articles of faith. They denied to oth- 
 ers the right of inquiry, they claimed as an universal gift to fallen huma- 
 nity, and banished Roger Williams for preaching the irresistible con- 
 clusion from their doctrines, that private interpretation resided equally 
 in all. 
 
 It may appear unnatural, that a band of exiles just escaped from 
 persecution, should display the very intolerance under which they had 
 groaned and protested against. But we must remember, that the Puri- 
 tan did not condemn the persecution of error, but the persecution of 
 truth. He claimed exemption from bondage, because he walked in 
 the paths of life ; but, with singular inconsistency, constituting himself 
 the sole judge of truth, he limited the elect to a very small number, and 
 held it to be obligatory upon them to extirpate heresy. " God forbid 
 that we should tolerate error !" was the epitome of his creed in this 
 respect: — " Religion has no eccentric motions ; — better the hypocrite 
 than the thorn ; — poly piety is the greatest impiety ; — he that is wil- 
 ling to tolerate any unsound opinion that his own may also be tolera- 
 ted, though never so sound, will for a need hang God's Bible at the 
 Devil's girdle."* These opinions would not only banish the dissenter 
 with Japanese jealousy, but surely lead to the aggressive persecution 
 of Elizabeth. There was however anoihet element in Puritan intoler- 
 ance. They had been buffeted about by the church that had ever prov- 
 ed herself the champion of divine right and arbitrary power, until an ir- 
 ritation was produced against all who rejected the truths for which 
 they had toiled and bled. This disposition to retaliate is firmly root- 
 ed m man's nature, and is seen in the spite of youth or the revenge of 
 maturity. Instead of being unnatural, its violent impidses will only 
 
 *Bnnrrort, vol. !.f,.419. Bnnvnson's Kevi?w, ISlf., vol. 1 1 , p. 33fi, "Simple 
 ''..bbler." 
 
18 
 
 yield to the superhuman voice ofKeligion. 1 have stili less desire 
 than IJancrofUo palliate the crime of Puritan persecution, nor have 1 
 nny inclination to magnify its infamy. My object has been to exhib- 
 it "the tendency of persecution to beget a lundred spirit, as exemplified 
 in the founders of Plymouth ; and. whilst admitting their principles if 
 carried out to involve results equally terrible, to distinguish their ca- 
 reer in America from the despotism from which they fled. I am wil- 
 ing to adopt this exposition :-" The Puritans were a body of sincere 
 believers, desiring purity of religion, and not a colony of philosophers 
 bent upon universal toleration."^ This cannot be unqualified eulogy, 
 nor can it contain a reflection upon the Pilgrims of Maryland ; 
 for the wrUcr would scorn to insinuate that universal toleration is 
 incompatible with spivitual purity.t 
 "Bancroft, vol. 1. 1'. aSf). 
 
 tit i« not easv to detor.ninc whether the historian intends to exalt or to c.cusc h.. 
 idols. Nor i. this the only instance of .his ambigni.y on thi. point. ^^ e Hnd ^he 
 
 T led? n fiO • "The first band 
 
 follo^vu,, passage in the F.ainhur.h Review. Jannarj , 1.4 < , p. • 
 
 oi settlers .ho went out nnder the charter, seized upon two ministers of the nan.e of 
 Browne who professed Episcopal doctrine. ; they were treated as .f they had been 
 caiminals and .sent hack to England." Mr. Bancroft makes hereupon tins some- 
 what extraordhrarv re,nark-' They (.he Brownes) were bun.hed from Salem, be- 
 eanse thov were Chur-hmen. Thus was Episcopacy first professed in Massachu- 
 setts, and thus was U exiled. The blessings of the promised land were to be kept 
 tor P«r.tan disinters.- It is difi^cnU to ascertain whether Mr. Bancroa n. . ge. 
 Ueremabittersnecr at insbrcthren. or whether he adopts their language and s.r. 
 onslv believes it an exculpation. The intolerance of the Burhans . evidently 
 a stn.ubhng block nt hi. w.v. ll.s reason and better nature revolt agamst the 
 atrocmes he describes; bat the narrow prejudices of his people interfere with his 
 better judgnieut, a«d induce iiim to frame an unsatisfactory apology for a tyranny 
 which, when.exerted agai.ist his f^ivorites, he visits with an honest and vehement in- 
 di^nation. The Kcviewer is perhaps too anxicus to toe his motto. Bancroft, 
 airou..>out h. character and history of the Puritans, moves along with an Ep.e ..g- 
 ,Uv ; and we .nust not i-npute to an improper motive an occasional Epic obscurity^ 
 
U) 
 
 k pcrseculioti had forced ilie Puritan to riymoutli, so it now drove 
 the Catholic to St. Mary's. The sufferings of the latter had much ex- 
 ceeded those of the former, not solely because the penal laws weighed 
 more heavily upon him, but also by reason of the different character of 
 his faith. Puritanism frowning down material rites and ceremony, 
 asked but spiritual contemplation and the Bible : it could not be de- 
 prived of the one, — it had but to stretch forth its hand for the other. 
 Catholicity enjoined a participation in the sacraments through the medi- 
 um of a ministry : but the priest was condemned to a traitor's fate, 
 — the altar lay soiled and prostrate in the dust, — hanging andembow- 
 elling was the penalty* for administering the last sacred rites that com- 
 fort the soul, when human art, impotent as the royal Dane, stands a- 
 bashed and inefficient, whilst the tide of death creeps on. The Puri- 
 tan lost nothing but the privilege of worshipping in large bodies and 
 of unrestricted preaching : — the Catholic was deprive<l of what he be- 
 lieved to be the bread of salvation, and of all that he honored as holi- 
 est and highest. 
 
 There was at this time a nobleman at the Court of King James, who 
 had recently embraced the much detested Roman Catholic faith. 
 From n plain Yorkshire gentleman he had risen to be Secretary of State. 
 But the ambition that exalted him yielded to a new-born sense of duty. 
 If he had ever prized the honors now within his grasp, they lost all 
 their sweetness, when they could not be conscientiously enjoyed. His 
 position implied a denial of transubstantiation and an acknowledgmen 
 of the spiritual supremacy of the king, and Calvert resigned his seals 
 of office, avowing his conversion. James may have looked suspici- 
 ously upon the convert to the ascendant for the Church, for there was 
 every temporal inducement to the change, but with all his folly he 
 
 He gives the motives of his heroes in the most plausible light, without attempting 
 lo justify their sophistry. 
 
 'By 2 Ah Eliz, ch. ", sec. 3, Jesuits and priesti sufTec the painb of high lieat.oii. 
 
20 
 
 could not impute insincerity to one who perilleJ life and lortune, by 
 openly enrolling himself amongst the benighted and persecuted follow- 
 ers of the" Romish superstition." Yet, iieitfier the monarch's undimin- 
 ished esteem, nor a seat ill llie privy council, could control the con- 
 vert's determination to seel: abroad the perfect frcedoni denied hira at 
 home. First at Newfour.dland and then at Virginia he sought an asy- 
 \uvr. ; but the climate and condition of the island proved unpropitious, 
 and the province echoed the intolerance of the mother country. For- 
 tunately, he saw the noble Chesapeake with its broad tributaries, and 
 returning to England, petitioned Cliarlcsl to sign the Charter of Ma- 
 ryland. This precious grant was ready for the great seal, when he 
 whose encrsy and foresight had framed it, died at the early age of 
 fifty. All that we know of the first Lord Baltimore, indicates a man 
 of superior integrity, resolution, benevolence, and ability. Wilson 
 may have sneered at his papistical sinning, but his celebrity is neither 
 to be sneered nor explained away. Even Socrates had his Aristopha- 
 nes and Cicero his Sallust. Nor can we be surprised if prejudice and 
 pride of theory have essayed in Germany and France to reduce tlie 
 miracles of Christianity to tricks or metaphors, to find one in a thous- 
 and a liitlc sceptical of the sincerity of an English peer. 
 
 A lew months after the death of Sir Geoore Calvert, the State of Ma- 
 ryland with all the islands in the Chesapeake Bay, were assigned to 
 Cccilius, son and heir to the late Baron of Baltimore, his heirs and as- 
 signs. The rights of the Proprietary are so jealously guarded by the 
 charter, and the prerogative of the Crown so carefully excluded, that 
 we must suppose the king to have permitted the Baron to dictate the 
 terms.* 
 
 Tliirtcen years after the Mayllowcr had borne across the Atlantic 
 the kernel of New England, the Ark and the Dove sc' sail from 
 
 ".M'.Maliou's Maiy'.niKl. p. 01, 
 
21 
 
 the Isle of Wight, and on tlie 27th February ■■ 1033 reached Point 
 Comfort, whence they ascended the Potomac in search of a site for a 
 colony. The colonists were two hundred gentlemen of family and 
 fortune, principally Roman Catholics. The expedition was com- 
 manded by Leonard Calvert, the brother of the patentee. Tiie charter 
 recites thatCecilius Calvert " treading in the steps of his father, being 
 animated with a laudable and pious zeal for extending the Christian 
 religion and also the territories of our empire," is encouraged in " the 
 pious and noble purpose of the aforesaid Barons of Bahimorc," by 
 the grant of the province of Maryland. It appears upon tlie face of 
 (he charter, that the conversion of" savages having no knowledge ot 
 the Divine Being"t was part of George Calvert's plan. Through 
 Father White and his companions, this " pious and noble purpose" 
 was faithfully and fearlessly pursued. One of the most beautiful fea- 
 tures in the colonization of Maryland," is a zealous compliance with 
 the divine precept, — '• Go ye and teach all nations !" — To obedience 
 to this imperative charge, Europe owes her preservation from the fate 
 of the Abyssinian and the Toltec. We cannot read witliout reflecting 
 deeply, the behaviour of the repentant Indian murderer upon the scaf- 
 fold, — the baptism of king Chilomacan with his daughter, the heiress 
 of his dominions and Mosorcoqucs, — the pious disposition of Anacos- 
 tan, — the conversion of the Chief and principal inhabitants of the 
 town of Potomac, — and the numbers of less distinguished natives, who, 
 easily induced to accept the new faith of their hereditary leaders, 
 adorned the triumph of the Cross.J But the progress of Christianity 
 was arrested by the Revolution that condemned the form in which it 
 was administered to the aborigines, yet made no provision for the dis- 
 
 *M'Mahon gives tlie24tli: Father White's Narrative the 27th. 
 
 f Charter of Maryland, sec. 11. 
 
 iBiographicalScetchcsof Father Andrew White and liis companion!,. B. U. 
 '-'amphell, Esq. Calh. Aim. 1841, pp. Li to 68, 
 
22 
 
 semination of the aniciKk'd religion wliicli conipclled the missionary 
 to retreat. The last disappearing red man must have fared very dilTer- 
 aiitly, had his conversion to Christianity been always half so eagerly 
 coveted as his corn-fields and hunting grounds. Now, in his own 
 forcible metaphor, he totters on the edge of the log. Powhatan was 
 but a poor prophet, when he said of the pale-faced strangers, " Thev 
 hurt you not ! — They take but a little waste land !"* As the scythe 
 of civilization sweeps westward, we apply his words to his shrinking 
 descendants, whilst our " waste land " is daily diminishing, and the 
 Indian and the buffalo fall as we reap.f Inferiority, the curse of the 
 [ndian, deprived him of an estate in common with the intruders. 
 Christianity alone, could raise him to the standard of fellowship with 
 tlic white man, by purifying and elevating the American and by sub- 
 duing the pride of the Saxon. Rolfe married Pocahontas, — but it is a 
 solitary case, without a precedent or a follower. The Re- 
 viewer of Bancroft leaves unsolved as a curious fact, that in both 
 hemispheres — in Hindostan and in America — the French displayed an 
 acknowledged superiority over the English,in making the natives of both 
 regions subservient to their designs of aggrandizement.t The an- 
 swer to the problem is given by M. Mofras in his exploration of Ore- 
 gon territory and California in these words ; — •' The wooden cross of 
 a few religious has conquered more provinces for France and Spain, 
 than have ever been won by the swords of their best Generals." The 
 Jesuit missionary, and not the superior tact of the Frenchman, made 
 the dominion of France more acceptable to the Indian, than that of 
 England. It was the absence of the mission and the influence exert- 
 ed by its benevolent spirit, that involved the New England States and 
 
 'Bancrofi's UnitcJ States, vol. 1, p. 1-6. 
 
 •j Indian and bulTalo dccieaMng in same ratio, rrciuonl'b Kepoit, 16-lJ, \i. 
 
 ■.Edinburgh Kevicw, January, 1847, p. 6U. 
 
23 
 Virginia in the wars which stain their annals. Indeed, a syslcmalin 
 conversion of an idolatrous people would seem at variance with the 
 genius of Puritanism. The exiles who disdained communion with 
 Christian Europeans a little less enlightened than themselves, would 
 hardly stoop to solicit the untutored savage to share their privileges 
 and election. But as we cannot be surprised that the system 
 should not have existed in the north, so we naturally expect to find the 
 missionary in Maryland, preparing an Indian grammar, dictionary, and 
 catechism, — seizing every opportunity to fit the simple mind of the 
 native for the reception of the truth,— making painful voyages up the 
 Patuxent in an open boat to instruct the inhabitants of Potopaco, in 
 spite of the menacing attitude of the warlike Susquehannahs, — and un- 
 subdued by chains and an English dungeon, still thirsting for the sal 
 vation of his dear Marylanders.* Such generous d6votion has always 
 been the attendant, and often the precursor of a Catholic colony. 
 
 The occupation of St. Mary's by the Pilgrims, was hallowed by the 
 celebration of mass, and the erection ofalarge wooden cross. The co- 
 lonists were hospitably received by the Indians of Piscataway and 
 their regent Archihu, who invited them to eat at his own table, and en- 
 joy all things in common with his tribe.t " This confidence was not 
 abused. King Yaocomico was protected from the incursions of the 
 Susquehannahs, and his lands purchased with articles both innocent 
 and useful. Sa kind and forbearing was the policy of the settlers tha^ 
 they may be said to have merited the eulogy of the ^Yerowanee of 
 Patuxent.t 
 
 Such was the calm and pure beginning ol the Slate of Maryland. 
 Her charter was one " of power and privilege to the subject," and her 
 career displayed an unexampled prosperity. During the first seven 
 
 *.Sketche9 of Father Andrew White, etc. Cctlr. A!in. 1841, pp. GO, G5. 
 
 jNarrative of the Voyage to Maryland, Cath. Aim. 1840. 
 
 1" I love the English so well, ihat if ihey should go about to kill me, il' I had ?a 
 
24 
 
 years, nothing occilrred to ret:ml the growth of the infant State. Mr. 
 Ar.Mahon has prorlbunceil the history of colonies or nations uninterest- 
 ing ; but whoever will consult his pages, must reject his opinion. It 
 is true, as he happily expresses it, " our annals want the spice of In- 
 dian v,ars ;" but they contain much v;hdlesofne and agreeable nourish- 
 ment. Frnissart dismisses an interval of two years peace with the sin- 
 gle remark, that it Contains nothing worthy of note, since no gallant 
 teats of arms were done ; but as we blame the silence of tlie chronicler, 
 we relish the copiousness of our historian. 
 
 I have long detained you from the contemplation of Maryland's pe- 
 culiar glory. I now submit it without an ornament, in naked loveli- 
 ness. 
 
 The government of Maryland frofn the moment of its institution, 
 *' tolerated all Christian churches, and established none." The oath 
 ofofllce prescribed by the Proprietary to the Governor, requires lum 
 to swear not to molest or discountenance directly or indirectly any per- 
 son professing to believe in Jesus Christ ; — to punish any one who 
 should molest or discountenance such believer ; — and to make nd dis- 
 tinction, for, or in respect of religion, in Cdnferring offices, favors or 
 rewards.* These principles of civil and religious liberty emanating 
 from theCalverts, were blazoned forth in the act of 1(»49. Under this 
 imperishable law, Catholic and Quaker, Puritan and Episcopalian, were 
 invited to dwell togellier in peace and civil unity. A happy harmony 
 prevailed in the relations of the people to each other and to the Propri. 
 etary. The evil genius of the colony quailed before the superior spi- 
 
 in iidi l)rcalh as to speak, I would coiniirui.l the people not to revenge my dcatli ; for 
 1 know they would not do sucli a thing exeept through niy own fault." The Indian 
 may have overrated his inaynaniniity, but he did no more than justice to the colo- 
 nisst. M'.Mahoi), p. I'JC), is. (5. This note contains an appeal that has hecn well 
 responded to ; but no echo has yet surpassed the elonuenee of the call. 
 ■• M'M.dion. p. '^"^G. 
 
25 
 
 rit of civil and religious liberty. Maryland became the home of the 
 victim of Virginia and New England intolerBnce,— her wealth and 
 strength increased with every year.—and a printing press, •• that natu- 
 ral associate of liberty," was established for the first time in America 
 at St. Mary's. I have not commented upon the terms of the oath of 
 office, or Upon those'of the act of 1 649 ; nor shall I enlarge upon the in- 
 troduction of the printing press. Facts like these speak volumes, and 
 require no elaborate exposition when addressed to a thinking being. 
 Mr. M'Mahon has well summed up this epoch by styJing it " the 
 golden age '' of our colonial existence. 
 
 It is cleaf that no other cause than the enlightened policy of the Pro- 
 prietary could have swelled a colony, numbering but two hundred per- 
 sons in 1634, to a people of more than twenty thousand in 1668.* 
 But it were in violation of history, of the better judgment of mankind, 
 and of common charity, to suppose temporal prosperity the main ob- 
 ject of the founders of our State in proclaiming liberty of conscience. 
 The most virtuous course is often, in the mercy of Providence, the 
 most conducive to our worldly interests ; and it is often illogical and 
 self-debasing to ascribe every beneficial result to an interested motive. 
 Nor let it be said that the Catholic Marylander could not have perse- 
 cuted if he would. M'Mahon must not be misunderstood on this 
 point. He adduces all that envy had alleged against Catholic tolera- 
 tion and mercy suggested in palliation of Protestant persecution ; but 
 he does not adopt one particle as his own.t There is no passion in man 
 so strong as revenge. We have seen the Puritan retaliating, and we 
 made some allowance for the strong bent of unassisted human nature- 
 The Catholic of England had suflTered more than he ; yet sighed for re- 
 pose, not revenge. Our knowledge of England's critical situation and 
 of the behaviour of the Pilgrims of Massachusetts, enables us to meet 
 •M'Mahon, p. 222. 
 I [bid, p, '^43, -,'44, D. 
 
20 
 
 the objection at once. The expulsion oi' High Churchmen from Ply- 
 mouth excited the liveliest alarm in the bosom of the Puritan in Eng- 
 land ; ■■ but the Court did not interfere, and the Episcopalian dared not 
 land at Boston. England was too much occupied with the cancer at 
 hefheart, to regard the iudisposition of her extremities. Maryland be- 
 ing riiore than equally clear of royal supervision, might have persecu- 
 ted with equal impunity. The Protestants who emigrated with Leon- 
 ard Calvert could have had no love for the established Church, orlhey 
 would not have tempted the uncertain sea and still more uncertain 
 shore: Virginia was just across the fiver. Besides, in 1638 they 
 were nearly all converted to CalhMicity.t It must be conceded then, 
 that the Pilgrims of Maryland were open to the same passions and en- 
 joyed the same opportunities that prompted and sustained the intoler- 
 ance of the Pilgrims of Massachusetts. APMahon has truly said — 
 " The fallen and corrupt nature of man is ever warring figainstlhe spi- 
 rit, (of toleration) — and il requires all the cfibrts of reason and the in- 
 junctions of the gospel, to retain us in steady obedience to its gentle dic- 
 tates."! For this reason, we dealt not harshly with the founders of 
 New England, — for this reason, we cnnnot sufTicicntly admire the 
 event we celebrate to-day. 
 
 ]>ut Maryland's prosperity was sadly retarded by the Protestant 
 Revolution. I am not disposed to tnrn from this part of our liistory 
 as a scene too horrible to dwell upon. It stands out in bold relief 
 against the " golden age ;" — we cannot shut our eyes to it or blot it 
 from our annals. On this day we owe a duty to our Pilgrim fathers, 
 Protestant as well as Catholic. I stand not here as a Catholic, but as 
 a Marylander. And I proceed to a calm investigation of the revolu- 
 tion, that I may vindicate the memory of the Protestant Pilgrims of 
 ' Bancroft's llnitei! f?tatc-, p. H M. 
 
 ■jSkflclii's ofFailirr AiiJi>-,v Whit.-, olc, (' itli. Mm. 1S41. p. 19. 
 ■ -M". Mall an, [i. '2-lX 
 
27 
 
 Maryland and their Pratestant descendants. More rnay be done for 
 their memory by discussing this period thoroughly, than by turning 
 from it with misplaced compassion. It was partly to explain this un- 
 fortunate event, that I dwelt so long upon the condition of England, and 
 for which I shall resume the inquiry. 
 
 The apprehension which went so far as to suggest that James might 
 deduce his rights '^from the kings before the Norman conquest and by 
 remitter escape the shackles of Magna Charta,* had not abated when 
 Charles ascended the throne. The edifice seated npon the ruined 
 monastery and desecrated Cathedral, was tottering to its fall. Prerog- 
 ative had soared too high and its wings were melting. 
 
 Many eminent writers have asserted that the spirit of Puritaniste 
 kept alive the vestal fire of liberty which had else expired under the 
 Stuarts.t ♦♦ He who is leaping the hedges of custom should be well 
 mounted ;" but facts have little respect for fashion. It will appear 
 from the hasty glance permitted us, that although the Puritans 
 did much to curb the despotic temper of the crown, they were spurred 
 to resistance by a contempt of all authority but their own, and not by 
 the spirit of Puritanism pointing to liberty. Instead of aiming at equal 
 rights, they struggled for individual pre-eminence. They dispensed 
 with a regular ministry, but they set up a religious oligarchy. Their 
 enthusiasm was too headlong not to be made the instrument of crafty 
 ambition, and be moulded if not into State church, at least into a 
 church State military theocracy. 
 
 After repelling royal usurpation, the popular party assumed the of- 
 fensiveand assailed the just prerogative of the crown. In 1640, the 
 Commons, then thoroughly Puritan, passed a law, in the teeth of the 
 Constitution, declaring that they could not be dissolved without their 
 
 *Hanam, Cons. Hist. vol. I, p.420,n. 1. 
 
 fBaucroft, vol, I, p. 462, carries this (o an extraordinary excess. 
 
28 
 
 own consent ; and introduced ami carried on its second reading a bill 
 for the utter extirpation of Episcopacy.* In 1G41, the Bishops fell, 
 like the mitred Abbots, shorn of their suffrages among the peers. t 
 The Puritan dissenter no longer prayed in a whisper, but insults were 
 heaped upon the conforming minister, and his church despoiled of its 
 superstitious pictures and ceremonial novelties.it I' is written on the 
 statute book, that, after the execution of Strafford, the rigor of Charles 
 was succeeded by leniency. He yielded again and again. But the 
 triumph of Puritanism was beginning ; — it was too late for indulgence 
 to stem the tide. Renewed concession provoked repeated extortion, 
 until the dignity of station and the security of his seat compelled him 
 to tighten the rein. One circumstance that powerfully assisted in 
 turning the scale against the king, was his alleged connivance at Po- 
 pery and the idolatry of the queen; Rumors of Catliolic plots, of Irish 
 rebellion and massacre, were perpetually in circulation. § The two 
 great parties paused upon the threshold of civil war, the king mistrust- 
 ing the Honse, and the House suspecting the king. At this critical 
 point, every member of the Commons at Westminster and thirty 
 " peers subscribed a solemn league and covenant to overturn the estab- 
 lished Church. The weight of the Commons was rapidly increasing, 
 when the attempt to seize the five members gave it an overwhelming 
 preponderance. Parliament arrogated all the legislative and judicial 
 power, levied troops without the royal seal and finally forced the king 
 to the battle of Edgehill. Naseby decided the monarch's fate, and 
 the treachery of the Scots brought his head to the block. We read 
 the motives of the victors in their endeavor to introduce a perpetual 
 parliament.il But Cromwell was not to be fettered by a dictatorial 
 
 *HalIam, Cons. Hist. vol. II, p. 223. Sec n. 2, Cheshire Petition. 
 
 flbid. vol. II, p. 224. 
 
 UhiJ. Tol. II, p. 227 
 
 ^^Hallam, Cons. Hist. vol. II. j>. 233. 
 
 ;!lbid. Tol. II. p. 318. 
 
29 
 
 oligarchy, and he betrayed the parliament he had flattered. If the 
 power claimed by Charles was great, that exercised by the Protector 
 was unlimited. '• No hereditary despot," says Hallara, " proud in 
 the crimes of a hundred ancestors, could more have spurned at every 
 limitation than this soldier of the Commonwealth."* This was all 
 that the spirit of Puritanism accomplished for civil liberty. Its impa- 
 tience of control and successful rebellion, revealed a secret to the pos- 
 sessors of co-equal civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and taught them 
 a lesson still remembered ; but with all the boasted love of liberty of 
 those who struck down the tyrant, they found it impossible to build 
 up a Republict Respect for authority only when self-improved, 
 must vary with the opinions of the individual who bends the knee ; 
 and idol after idol is set up and pulled down, as passion or inter, 
 est may inspire. A hundred factions split up the party. Leveller, 
 Anabaptist, the fifth monarchy man, — all clamored for precedence. 
 The Restoration showed how little the spirit of Puritanism had 
 done for civil liberty 
 
 But with the Restoration there came no relief to the English Catho- 
 lic. The attendant horrors of Titus Gates' plot, that infamous fabri- 
 cation got up to stimulate fanaticism, by proffering a shallow excuse, 
 *HalIain,vol. II, p. 453. I have only followecl Hallam in his facts, which he al- 
 ways gives accurately, and about which there can be no dispute. I have carefully 
 avoided adopting his conclusions, lest a prejudice against Puritanism — the embers 
 of the former party fires — which he sometime displays, should mislead mc. I have 
 no desire to adopt his language, when he calls Knox and his party " the blood-thirsty 
 bull-dogs of the sixteenth century ;" (vol. I, p. 189, n. 2,) or when he charges the 
 House of Commons, under Charles I, with •' oppression far more sweeping than that 
 which rendered the Star-chamber odious." Vol. II, p. 200. 
 
 -{■Hallam, Cons. Hist. vol. II, p. 442. Sec p. 440. » It is not in general ditTicuH 
 for an armed force 'to destroy a government, but something] else than the sword is 
 required to create one." " The Fapublican r«'tV amounted to a few hundred pei^ 
 sons." 444, 
 
30 
 
 a forTcd warrant for its excesses, inform us how dearly lie stili paid 
 for cherishing the faith of his fathers. An implacable hatred to his re- 
 ligion was able, when all other means failed, to reconcile the jarring fac- 
 tions in England. Though differing in all else, they were united in a 
 cordial detestation of Popery ; and the Puritan and Episcopalian, 
 throwing minor differences aside, joined hands over the vacant throne 
 of James and hailed with loud acclaim Prince William of Orange. In 
 consequence of this compromise, all dissenters enjoyed immunity from 
 persecution, but Papists and Anti-Trinitarians. 
 
 These convulsions, in the kingdom, exerted a corresponding influ- 
 ence over the colonies. It was in vain the Proprietary had preserved 
 a strict neutrality between the conflicting parties. The English lan- 
 guage was rich in terms abusive of Catholicity, the English laws dealt 
 out death, confiscation and banishment to her votaries, and it was not 
 fitting that they, who were the Helots in the] Empire, should be the 
 masters in the Province. Accordingly, under Cromwell we find the 
 government in the hands of parliamentary commissioners, and Stone, 
 the Proprietary governor, only saved from being shot by the affection 
 of the soldiers, who were ordered to shoot him. Keeping pace witli 
 ^he temper of the times, the Commissioners urged the Protestants to 
 extinguish the Proprietary's claim, because religious toleration had 
 existed 'under the proprietary government, and iras incorporated 
 ivith its laws and institutions* It may well startle us, that the great- 
 est glory of the Calverts should ever have been deemed an offence to be 
 punished by the forfeiture of Maryland. Whilst the Commission- 
 ers held the reins. Catholics were declared by law to be entitled to as 
 little protection in Maryland, as tlicy could claim in England.t In 
 1658, Fendall received a commission from the Proprietary, but soon 
 announced himself free from any control but his own ambition. We 
 
 •M'Mahon, 208. 
 
 fAcloflG54, ch. 4. 
 
31 
 
 see how closely these adventurers watched the political current in the 
 mother country, by Fendall's proclnmation declaring Richard Crom- 
 well successor to Oliver.* In the interval of joy and security immedi- 
 ately following the restoration of King Charles II, the government of 
 Maryland was again vested in the Proprietary ; and Virginia, always 
 royalist, assisted in the expulsion of Fendall, But as the waters of 
 exultation subsided, the harsh features of intolerance began to re-appear 
 in all their former malignity. In 1675, Charles Calvert, then governor, 
 sailed for England, and on his arrival, found himself in disgrace. A 
 letter from a colonist clergyman, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 had portrayed in lively colors the deplorable condition of the province 
 resulting from the want of an established ministry. Tlie fault was con- 
 fessedly not with the Proprietary, since the concluding prayer of the 
 letter solicits an established support as a necessary precedent.t He 
 returned in triumph in 1680, nor could the arts of Fendall and Coodc 
 win from him the love of the people. Even when the persecution fan- 
 ned by the pretended Popish plot raged fiercest, compelling him to re- 
 visit England to protect his threatened title, his departure was general- 
 ly regretted by the colonists.^ Calumny had again been busy with 
 his name. He was greeted by the king with an accusation of partial- 
 ity to Catholics in his official appointments. His answer was a list of 
 all his appointments completely refuting the charge, and sliewing the 
 military power to have been almost exclusively committed to Protes- 
 tants.§ The monarch replied,—" Put all the offices into the hands of 
 the Protestants !"— This narrow minded order, calculated to feed the 
 torch of bigotry^within the province, indicates that, although the prin- 
 
 . ciple of intolerance existed in the colony, it was developed to a pas- 
 *M'Mahon, p. 214, 
 flbid. p. 215, n. 38. 
 ilbifl. p. 217. 
 ■ilbid. p. 218. 
 
35 
 
 fiion and warmed to action by English patronage. The deposition of 
 James, in the nature of things, operated fatally against the Catholic 
 cause ; and on the accession of William ot Orange, the Catholic of 
 Maryland found himself a criminal and an intruder in the laud so pe- 
 culiarly his own. 
 
 In April 1689, an association in arms was formed " for the defence 
 of the Protestant religion and for asserting the right of King William 
 and Queen Mary to the province of Maryland and all the English do- 
 minions." The deputies of the Proprietary were compelled to fly, 
 nnd the associators entered into the undisputed enjoyment of power. 
 'J'lie victors, revealing the partisan zeal by which they had been ani- 
 mated, threw themselves at once upon the pleasure of King William, 
 and received his royal sanction and a royal governor. Thus, the 
 first effect of the Protestant Revolution was to sweep away all the bar- 
 riers against tyrannical encroachment, so carefully planted by the char- 
 ter, by bringing the province under the direct administration of the 
 Crown.* Under Cromwell's commissioners, the Catholics of Mary- 
 land had felt for a short time the lash of Puritan animosity directed by 
 the Act of 1G54 ; but they were doomed to sufler for a much longer 
 period from the effects of a servile desire in their oppressors to imitate 
 the High Church party again in possession of the British crown. 
 The Act o.'' 1700, establishing the church of England in the province, 
 liad been excepted to by the king and sent back with amendments, 
 which, being at once accepted, passed into the statute of 1702, ch. 1. 
 This amended Act simply declares, that the course of Maryland's reli- 
 gious legislation shall be governed by the example of the mother 
 country. Two years later, a bolder tone was employed ; and the Act 
 of 1704 expressly aims at the prevention of the growth of Popery, and 
 provides for the prosrruliou of all priests found in the discharge of 
 
 'M'Mjluni. p. 'Ml. 
 
33 
 
 their spiritual functions. A subsequent provision of the December 
 session of the same year, with more generosity permitted a priest to offi- 
 ciate in a private family of the Roman Catholic communion. In 1715, 
 this harshness put forth a viler feature, and it was enacted, that the chil- 
 dren of a Protestant might be taken from a Papist mother, and 
 placed where they might be securely educated in the protestant reli- 
 gion. The act of 1716,ch. 5, excludes Catholics from all offices of trust 
 and profit, by requiring from the candidate a denial of transubstantia- 
 tion. In 1718, Catholics were rendered incapable of giving a vote in 
 any election for delegates, without having first renounced their faith 
 by swallowing the odious test which they regarded as a corsned sure 
 to work a spiritual death. The fourth chapter of the same year re- 
 peals all former legislation against the growth of Popery, — but adopts 
 the full measure of 'English severity. The recital of this statute al- 
 ludes to disputes caused by a suspension of some mitigatory clauses in 
 preceding acts, " until her late Majesty's further pleasure should be 
 declared and signified therein." The terms in which the law is con- 
 ceived, indicate a strong wish to commit the odious task ofdisfran" 
 chisement and exile, to the more practised hand of the island parent. 
 It concludes by consigning papists to the " good provision made for 
 them by the 11th and 12th William III, ch. 4," with this monstrous 
 admission, that — " An Act of Assembly, of this province, can in no 
 way alter the effect of that statute."* The extremities to which the 
 Catholics of Maryland were reduced by the incorporation of the Uth 
 and 12th William III, ch. IV, with the colonial code, will appear by a 
 reference to its bitter provisions.! 
 
 *]VrMahon,in commenting on this passage, says : — This admission of the supre- 
 macy of the legislative power of parhament in matters oiinternal regulation, is a no 
 velty in the legislative records of Maryland, p. 245, (n. 13.) 
 
 jThe following is a brief abstract of the statute. It ofldrcd a reward of X' 100 for 
 the apprehension of a Popish Bishop, priest, or Jesuit, and prosecution of the same' 
 
34 
 
 It is almost nmusing, at this day, to watch the polic)' pmsucd witii 
 respect to Irish Catholics, beginning with an impost of twenty shil- 
 lings per poll on negroes and Irish papists imported into the province. 
 Irish protestants came in duty free, by a kind of incidental protection. 
 A later act repeats the imposition : — still later it is raised to six pounds; 
 Irish papists appear to have been looked upon with peculiar horror : 
 they were not only slaves to Rome, but what was nearly as bad, friends 
 to James II. They had a double title to contempt. No less than 
 twelve acts, in the space of sixteen years, were levelled against their 
 entering Maryland. They were lumped with negroes and liquor, and 
 subjected to a most scorching tariff. But, like the wheat-fly, they 
 showed themselves in spite of every precaution ; and the legislator, in 
 despair, at last prevented owners of vessels from shipping them.* But 
 whilst the Irish Catholic was forbidden our coast, and the Indian forc- 
 ed still farther back — still farther back — the branded convict was wel- 
 comed to the shores of Maryland, and permitted to amalgamate with 
 the ordinary population.! 
 
 In vain we seek a cause for the Protestant revolution in the conduct 
 of the'Catholic Proprietary. He was a Catholic : — that was his only 
 offence. I We have seen the emptiness of the charges'preferred by his 
 warmest opponents, who in recounting his sins, unconsciously enume- 
 
 until he or they be convicted of saying mass. It maJe_ the penalty forsajlng mass or 
 exercising any other priestly function, except in theliousc of a foreign minister, per- 
 petual imprisonment. The same fate impended over any ono making profession of 
 ihe Popish religion, who taught school or undertook in any way the government or 
 cddcation of youth. The papist was disabled from taking land t^y purchase or dc- t 
 scent. The Catliolic parent could not send his son to foreign parts to ohtain the 
 Cathohc education denied him Bt Iiomr-, under a penalty of £100. 
 
 *See Acts 1704. ch. 0:5: ITl.'i, ch.:3fl : 1710, ch.G: 1717, ch. 10 : 17'20,ch. 20. 
 
 jM'Midion, p. ~['2. (ii. '2.) 
 
 ni.iid. p. -.i'^t;. 
 
35 
 
 rated his virtues. The articles of grievance do not charge the Proprie^ 
 tary witli a single act of intolerance and oppression.* In 1701, when 
 called upon for objections to his government, the colonists have none 
 to offer,! If the party spirit of his times could not fix a stain upon 
 his reputation, it is impossible at this day to question Charles Calvert's 
 integrity. His proprietary rights were wrested from him without a 
 hearing and without judicial sanction. The king contented himself 
 with the opinion of Lord Holt," whose high character as an impartial 
 and inflexible judge cannot shield him from the suspicion of having 
 here yielded his judgment to the royal will, "J or to his own prejudice. 
 We must seek the cause in England : — the Protestant Revolution was 
 but the throe of the earthquake there. By comparing the province 
 \vith the mother country, we see the intolerance of the one awakened 
 by and following with emulous footsteps the path of the other. It is 
 the jackall stealing behind the lion, The destruction of what had been 
 the birth-right of every Marylander — Liberty of conscience, — the sur- 
 render of the highest civil privileges wested by the charter, — and a 
 complete dependence upon the crown, mark the period of this Revolu- 
 tion. It is a pleasure to acquit the Protestant Pilgrims of Maryland of 
 all participation in the ignoble game. If many, whom the Proprietary 
 had taken to his bosom, turned upon him like the asp when they re- 
 covered the power to sting,— fAe?/ were not of the number. Coode, 
 Cheseldine, and Jowles, the leaders of the Association of 1689 were 
 reckless adventurers and not part of ihe old Protestant stock of the 
 province. The first was afterwards convicted by the government he 
 had helped to seat, of calling religion a trick and asserting that all the 
 morals worth having were contained in Cicero's Ofilces. The secomj 
 
 M'Mahon, p. 231. 
 jlbid. i-. 269. 
 [Uk\. 242, n. 2. 
 
36 
 
 was dismissed from a lucrative office for carelessness and negligence.* 
 It is evident from the most cursory review of the fuels, that the Protes- 
 ant Revolution was schemed and conducted by a body of adventurers 
 from England and Virginia, who brought into Maryland the prejudices 
 of the times, and perceiving themselves thirty to one of ihe adherents 
 to the creed of the Proprietary, resolved to cast off a degrading yoke so 
 lightly imposed, so feebly riveted : — and that fear of England paralys- 
 ed opposition. The Act of 1718, ch. 1, sec. 3, recites that papists 
 still increase and multiply, and that great nnmbers of others adhere to 
 and espouse their interests in opposition to the Protestant establish- 
 ment. In this generous opposition, we recognize the descendants of 
 those Protestants, who emigrated with Leonard Calvert — who, though 
 professing another faiih, had caught a portion of the splendour of 
 Catholic liberality, and claimed for the Catholic in bondage, the privi- 
 leges he had extended to all in his hour of strength and freedom. 
 
 The province withered under the royal administration fastened on it 
 by the Revolution. Its population had increased but five thousand in 
 eleven years.f At the restoration of the proprietary government to 
 Benedict Leonard Calvert, it had dwindled down to a feeble and de- 
 pendent settlement, trammelled in its trade, limited in its resources, and 
 
 humble in its aims. J 
 
 Here our review of Maryland's colonial history must end. We in- 
 dulged in no eulogy of her early liberality, — we shall abstain from all 
 comment upon her subsequent intolerance. I regret that the limited 
 compass of this sketch will not permit us to follow the career of our 
 State from the expiratation of the royal government to the time when 
 Charles Carroll, excelling the brilliant example of Lord Montague 
 when he spurred to meet the Armada, snatched from his country the 
 
 •M'Mahon, 238, n. 9, 
 flbi-d 274. 
 ilbiJ. p. -:7C^. 
 
37 
 
 imperishable honor she gladly yielded, though her pettiest dignities 
 had been denied him, and broiiglit an untarnished name and " a cool 
 million" to uphold the declaration of Independence. 
 
 There were two incidents which I wished to display in all their 
 bearings : — the establishment of civil and religious liberty, and its over- 
 throw. To accomplish my first purpose, it was necessary to describe 
 the exact position of the Catholic founders of Maryland. This could 
 not be done without exposing the religious difficulties that were hurry- 
 ing England to civil war. The history of that country from the de- 
 struction of the monasteries to. the expulsion of James, is a mystery, 
 without a clear knowledge of the doctrine and practice of Puritan, 
 Hi<yh Churchman, and Catholic. I also desired to convey the peculi- 
 ar glory of Maryland, and I drew the pilgrim of Plymouth. If the 
 fathers of Massachusetts lose by the contrast, the fault is their own. 
 I have neither sneered at their singular austerity, nor taunted them with 
 the abandonment of Miantonomah to Uncas and the extermination of 
 the Pequods : but I have endeavored to explain the cause of their infat- 
 aution. It is always well to take as a measure of excellence, that which 
 is considered admirable. I therefore brought the Puritan in all the 
 tints with which the epic eloquence and filial fervor of Bancroft invest 
 him, and stood him beside the old Marylander adorned only by a plain 
 and brief narrative of his actions. V/ho, or what is to blame, if the 
 former shrink to a pigmy ! — He failed not in fortitude and reliance 
 upon Providence, but he lacked the charity to man, that hovered like 
 an angel over St. Mary's. 
 
 To explain the Protestant Revolution, I was obliged to resume the 
 thread of England's religious history. In this way I could best clear 
 the Protestant Pilgrims of Maryland from the reflected disgrace in 
 which they are apt to be involved by the Revolution. 
 
 If an outline of the eflorts of the two great parties that struggled for 
 the throne of the Stuarts, should seeui unfavorable to cither, the hill 
 
:i8 
 
 picture will appear a malignant satire upon both. But it will not do to 
 shrink from truth, because the tale she tells might befit the mouth of bi- 
 gotry. The subject to which I invited your attention, has been much 
 misrepresented and is little understood. It must be mastered, or the 
 colonization and development of our State remain an enigma or lose 
 halfiheir interest. I have but suggested what you will find most in- 
 structive to study ; for the important and complicated results of two 
 centuries cannot be condensed into a fe\v pages. Still, I fear I have 
 fatigued you. But you must have beheld, with more or less of interest, 
 the Pilgrims of Maryland practising in England the sweet maxims of 
 Lactantius, — '* Defendenda enim est Religio, non occidendo, sed mo- 
 riendo ; non sasvitia, sed patientia ; non scelere, sed fide :" — and at 
 old St. Mary's, breathing the remainder of that divine passage into 
 their legislation, •' ilia enim malorum sunt, hxc bonorum. El ne- 
 cesse est bonum in religione versari, non malum. Nam si sanguine, 
 si tormcnlis, si malo, religionem defendere velis, jam non defendetur 
 ilia ; sed polluetur atque violabitur. Nihil tam voluntarium quam re- 
 ligio ; in qua si animus saerificantis uversus est, jam sublata, jam nulla 
 
 est.''* 
 
 The glory of the Pilgrims of Maryland is a happy subject for decla- 
 mation ; but after accepting your invitation to appear here to-day, I 
 found the ground pre-occupied. I could oiler nothing, that would not 
 look poorly besides the garlands already woven, and 1 chose rather to 
 weary you by long digre.^sion, than to tax you with inferior repetition. 
 
 *Lactantii Divina. Institulioncs. Lib. V, C. XX. " Religion is to be dclenJcd, not 
 by killing, but l>>- dyi..g ; "ot by cruelty, but by endurance ; not by crimes, but by 
 'ailh :-lho«e bdlt ll.e wicked, these the good. And in religion good, not evil mu.l 
 ho found. For if by blood, by torture, and by evil you wi.li to defend religion, «l>e 
 ^vill nol be defended ; but xvill be dctlled and i.rofa.ad. There i. nothing so purely 
 NoluuKuy a. Kcli^iou ; in which if the will do no conceal to tlu act of .acrilicc. relr 
 iiion is j^onc; it exists no lougci.' 
 
39 
 
 i am aware that feeling rather than jaJginent iliroctcil youi choice", 
 when it fell on me ; and I rejoice that it was so. I am so much at- 
 tached to this dear Mountain College, that I prize every token of her 
 love more than the proudest literary honour in her gift. I would as soon 
 forego the future, as forget the nine years tliat were spent here. This 
 is not an empty exclamation. When yon return some years after the 
 relations of master and scholar were ended, and find the hands that 
 cherished your childhood still proffering a pure friendship to your 
 manhood, and the smiles that cheered the ruggedness of the Grecian, 
 or Latin, or German muse, inviting you with undiminished sweetness 
 to come and linger in this delightful retreat, — when the unfailing care 
 that kept "the raised ken of youth" fixed on the world above the 
 stars, still points to 
 
 " The lure which Heaven's eternal King 
 Whirls in the rolling spheres ; — ''Dante Purgatory, 
 then will you feel as I now do, that the language of affection we em- 
 ploy when speaking of our " Mountain Home," but feebly expresses 
 the love that burns in the heart. 
 
 I have detained you too long, and now leave you to continue the ce- 
 lebration of the day, as the impulses of your hearts may more happdy 
 and joyously suggest. 
 
LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 366 644 fl ^ 
 
 It 1 1 
 
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