form. Maryland, occupying a space between North and South Virginia,' was first settled by persecuted Roman Catholics from England and Ireland. While king James worried the Puritans on one hand, for non-conformity,' the Roman Catholics, at the other end of the religious scale, were subjected to even more severe penalties. As the Puritans increased in numbers and influence, their cry against the Roman Catholics grew louder and fiercer; and, while defending themselves from persecution with one hand, they were inflicting as severe a lash upon the Romanists with the other. Thus subjected to twofold opposition, the condition of the Roman Catholics became deplorable, and, in common with other sufferers for opinion's sake, their eyes were turned toward free America. Among the most influential professors of Catholicism was George Calvert, an active member of the London Company, and Secretary of State at the time when the PILGRIMS were preparing to emigrate to America. He was so much more loyal in action to his sovereign than to his faith, that he did not lose the king's favor, although frankly professing to be a Roman Catholic; and for his services he was created an Irish peer in 1621, with the title of Lord Baltimore. He also obtained from James, a grant [1622] to plant a Roman Catholic colony on a portion of Newfoundland. He called the territory AVALON, but his scheme was not successful. The barren soil, and French aggressors from Acadie, were too much for the industry and courage of his colonists, and the settlement was abandoned.

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Foiled in his projects in the east, Lord Baltimore went to Virginia in 1628, with a view of establishing a colony of his brethren there. But he found the Virginians as intolerant as the crown or the Puritans, and he turned his back upon their narrow prejudices, and went to examine the beautiful, unoccupied region beyond the Potomac. He was pleased with the country, and applied for a charter to establish a colony there. The London Company was now dissolved, and the soil had become the property of the monarch. King Charles the First, then on the throne, readily granted a charter, but before it was completed, Lord Baltimore died. This event occurred on the 25th of April, 1632, and on the 20th of June following, the patent was issued to Cecil, his son and heir. In honor of the queen, Henrietta Maria, the province was called MARYLAND. The territory defined in the charter extended along each side of Chesapeake Bay, from the 30th to the 45th degree of north latitude, its western line being the waters of the Potomac.

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It is believed that the Maryland charter was drawn by the first Lord Baltimore's own hand. It was the most liberal one yet granted by an English monarch, both in respect of the proprietor and the settlers.

The government of the province was inde- CECIL, SECOND LORD BALTIMORE.

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pendent of the crown, and equality in religious rights and civil freedom was secured to every Christian sect. Unitarians, or those who denied the doctrine of the Trinity, as well as all unbelievers in Divine revelation, were not covered by this mantle of toleration. The king had no power to levy the smallest tax upon the colonists, and all laws were invalid until sanctioned by a majority of the freemen, or their deputies. Under such a wise and liberal charter the colony, when planted, flourished remarkably, for those persecuted by the Puritans in New England, and the Churchmen in Virginia, there sought refuge, and found peace.

Emigration to Maryland commenced in 1633. The first company, mostly Roman Catholics, sailed for America on the 2d of December of that year, under Leonard Calvert, brother of the proprietor, and appointed governor of the province. They arrived in March, 1634, and after sailing up the Potomac, as far as Mount Vernon, they descended the stream, almost to its mouth. They landed upon an estuary of the Chesapeake, purchased an Indian village, and laid the foundation of a town [April, 1634], which they named St. Mary.' The honesty of Calvert, in paying for the land, secured the good will of the Indians; and, unlike the first settlers of most of the other colonies, they experienced no sufferings from want, or the hostilities of the Aboriginals.

Popular government was first organized in Maryland on the 8th of March, 1635, when the first legislative assembly was convened at St. Mary. Every freeman being allowed to vote, it was a purely democratic legislature. As the number of colonists increased, this method of making laws was found to be inconvenient, and in 1639, a representative government was established, the people being allowed to send as many delegates as they pleased. The first representative assembly made a declaration of rights, defined the powers of the proprietor, and took measures to secure to the colonists all the civil liberties enjoyed by the people of Old England. Then was founded the commonwealth of MARYLAND.

CHAPTER VI.

CONNECTICUT. [1632-1639.]

ADRIAN BLOCK,' the Dutch navigator, discovered and explored the Connecticut River, as far as the site of Hartford, in 1614, and named it Versche,

1 Trading posts were established a little earlier than this, within the Maryland province. In 1631, William Clayborne obtained a license from the king to traffic with the Indians; and when Calvert and his company came, he had two settlements, one on Kent Island, nearly opposite Annapolis, and another at the present Havre de Grace, at the mouth of the Susquehannah. He refused to acknowledge the authority of Baltimore, and trouble ensued. He collected his people on the eastern shore of Maryland in 1635, with a determination to defend his claims by force of arms; and in May quite a severe skirmish ensued between his forces and those of the colonists. Clayborne's men were taken prisoners, and he fled to Virginia. He was declared guilty of treason, and sent to England for trial. His estates were forfeited; but, being acquitted of the charge, he returned to Maryland and incited a rebellion. See page 151. Page 72.

or Fresh Water River. Soon afterward Dutch traders were upon its banks, and might have carried on a peaceful and profitable traffic with the Indians, had honor and honesty marked their course. But the avaricious agent of the Dutch, imprisoned an Indian chief on board his vessel, and would not release him until one hundred and forty fathoms of wampum' had been paid. The exasperated Indians menaced the traders, and near the site of Hartford, at a place yet known as Dutch Point, the latter commenced the erection of a fort. The Indians were finally conciliated, and, at their request, the fort was abandoned for awhile.

A friendly intercourse was opened between the Dutch of New Netherland and the Puritans in 1627. With the guise of friendship, but really for the purpose of strengthening the claims of the Dutch to the Connecticut valley, by having an English settlement there under the jurisdiction of New Netherland, Governor Minuit' advised the Puritans to leave the barren land of Massachusetts Bay, and settle in the fertile region of the Fresh Water River. In 1631, a Mohegan chief, then at war with the powerful Pequods,' desirous of having a strong barrier between himself and his foes, urged the English to come and settle in the Connecticut valley. The Puritans clearly perceived the selfish policy of both parties, and hesitated to leave. The following year [1632], however, Governor Winslow, of the Plymouth colony, visited that fertile region, and, delighted with its appearance, resolved to promote emigration thither. In the mean while, the Council of Plymouth' had granted the soil of Connecticut [1630] to the Earl of Warwicke, who, in 1631, transferred his interest to Lord Say-and-Seal, Lord Brooke, John Hampden, and others. The eastern boundary of the territory was "Narraganset River," and the western (like all other charters at that time) was the South Sea, or Pacific Ocean. The Dutch became apprised of these movements of the English; and perceiving no advantage (but detriment) to themselves, they purchased of the Indians the land at Hartford and vicinity, completed their fort, and placed two cannons upon it, in 1633, with the intention of preventing the English ascending the river.

Although the Plymouth people were aware of the preparations made by the Dutch, to defend their claim, they did not hesitate, and in October, 1633, Captain William Holmes and a chosen company arrived in the Connecticut River, in a sloop. Holmes bore a commission from Governor Winslow to make a settlement, and brought with him the frame of a house. When he approached the Dutch fort, the commander menaced him with destruction if he attempted to pass it. Holmes was not intimidated, and sailing by unhurt, he landed at the site of Windsor, and there erected his house. Seventy men were sent by the Dutch the following year, to drive him from the country. They were kept at bay, and finally a parley resulted in peaceful relations." Holmes's colony flourished, and in the autumn of 1635, a party of sixty men, women, and children, from the Puritan settlements, commenced a journey through the wilder

1 Connecticut is the English orthography of the Indian word Quon-eh-ta-cut, which signifies "the long river."

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Probably about four hundred dollars. See note 2, page 13.

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