The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-11-17
VOL. VII,

and of the opening Of faction in rolioi,,
nnder this proclamation one William ~
jealous Catholic, for his abuse Of wi
/ Protestant sermons which certain ;oIoA
servants delighted to read, aud forbidd;n"ueIl'
to read it, had been fined, and was oII;ssIe
give security to keep the peace. n ,r 'Sea
as much as the state Of feeling IN F nn u
'oould permit, that the public Sr,y,;,e "sra'
Catholic religion should be Gliotred IN a.: "a
ny ii nsUer wouid haze been e,J,. ""J 60
ProtedantiSm should be erci,tded R,i,
was no zealot bis great tject was 70 I'M n.Hl
settlers and he privately sent agents g. p.O y
purpose, though without success, into D.. W
New England'* N'''f
No intelligent man can help seeing that -
federation, or religious freedom PAN.
in the early settlement Of Maryland Voc,
result Of necessity not principle. This ia sho
further by the conduct of Lord Bsl6no.o
ring the civil wars Of England Tn n
lament having completely triunpbsd !
deemed it expedent to displace Green. 81
was q Catholic, and appoint as Govern, wv
liam Stone, an inhabtant Of Virginia, a 10,
GUS Protestant, and Parliamentarap. n
motive for this appointment, as set forth
Stones commission, was an undertaking On l.
part to introduce into the colony five hupd,.l
settlers of English or Irish descent hba
Price, also Protestant, was Commissioned .,
muster-master general, not only for his knou,
edge and great abilities in martial affairs br,
{ for his great fidelity to his lOrdshp on Gee,
sion of the late rebellion A Protestant 60,
rotary was likewise appointed, and a majority
of the Council, in which, however Greene II.
late Governor, retained his seat appear IA
have been Protestants"
OF course it was an astute policy not a ssn
timent of federation, that dictated these chan
ges, deemed expedient to propitiate ParEh
ment bigOtedly Protestant. 1t is simply rid,
ulous to attribute to an abstract Princinle If
Right, acts sprnging directly from the instinct
of self preservation. The principle of Toers.
ton was just as little appreciated in Mary.
land as anywhere else at that age of the world
For example, an act entitled "An Act Of
liberation" passed in 1910 by the Assembly
denounced death, with forfeiture of lands and
goods, to all "who shall blaspheme God, that
is, curse him, or shall deny our Saviour, Jesus
Christ, to be the Son of God, or shall deny
the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and
Holy Ghost, or the Godhead of any of the said
three persons Of the Trinity, or the Unity Of
the Godhead, or shall use or utter any re.
proachful speeches against the Holy Trinity
Fine, whipping, and banishment for the third
offence, are denounced against all who " shall
utter any reproachful words or speeches con.
corning the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the holy
apostles and evangelists.'
"After this incongruous preamble says
Hildreth, the fifth section let's out that the
enforcing the oOnsc .ence in matters of religion
hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous
consequence in those mmonwealths where it
has been practiced, and therefore enacts that
for the more quiet and peaceabe government
of the province, and the better to preserve mu.
tual love and unity no person processing to
believe in Jesus Christ should be mulcted or
discountenanced on account of his religion, nor
interrupted in the free exercise Of it; breaches
of this section to be punished by fine and i'm.
prisonment."
The draught Of this act was received twelve
years after the settlement of the colony, from
the second Lord Baltimore, then residing in
England, and who was aware of the state Of
feeling prevailing in the Parliament in regard
to Catholicism. Once more We quote from
Hildreth
"Policy, it is evident, had u much greater
share in the enactment Of this act, than any
enlightened view Of the right of opinion OF
which indeed il evinces but limited and con.
fused idea Now that the Puritans were tn.
umphant in England, an exclusively Catholic
colony would not have been tolerated for
moment The only chance of securing to the
Catholics the quiet enjoyment of their faith
consisted in bestowing like liberty on tho
Protestants-a policy indeed upon which Bal
tmore had found it necessary to act, from the
very first planting of the colony."f
So much for the groundless claim in behaI
of Roman Catholicism--tha Maryland, unde
its auspices, was the first colony to rccognis
the principle of Religious Freedom. The homo
OF being the first champion of Religious Free
dom in this country belongs to Roger Wi
liams and the first colony that recognised
on principle practiced it consistently, and i
the face of most formidable opposition fro'
her sister colonies was Rhode Island
Hildreth's History, Vol. |, p. 2O4.
[ Vol | u go Lat Sarins uildrnIh 8 History.