Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1891-06-11

ls
George Calvert, the father of the
province of Maryland, who. had ris-
en- III 1919 To be secretary of State.
yielded his ambition in 1924 to q
newborn sense of duty and ayowed
his conversion. Influenced by the
sufferings of those of his creed and
prompted by that enlarged charity
which marks the true Christian,
George Calvert turned his ewes 10
the New World in search of u home
for those who were forced to feel
themselves strangers in the land of
their nativity. Animated by these
views, in. 1923 he obtained from
danes / the charter Of Avalon for
gsettlcmenk in Newfoundland ffc
made two voyages to that country,
but the rigor of the climate forced
him to abandon the enterprise.
'Lord Baltimore's health had
long been declining, and on April
1G, 1852, before his patent for Ma
ryland had passed the great seal. he
died. The grant of Maryland--so
named in honor of the Queen Hen
rletta Maria-was made out and
confirmed June 20, 1852, in the
name of Cecilius Calvert, George
Caivcrt's eldest son and heir to the
title OF Baron baltimore.
ASYLUM FOR THE OPPRESSED.
Gas soon as the charter passed
the great seal Cecilius began his OPP
erations to colonize the new terrific
ry. He at first proposed to accom-
pany the colony, but abandoned
this intention and sent his Younger
brother, Leonard, whom he ap-
pointed Lieutenant Governor. or
general. At this time civil and re-
hgious liberty in England ceased to
exist. Puritan and Catholic were
under the law of prescription, and
mu'titudes OF the former sought a
refuge in New England. But for
the latter, suffering under still more
cruel oppression, there was no such
asylum; and this Lord Baltimore
proposed to provide, with the as
slstance of Father Richard Blount.
provincial of the Society of Jesus.
and the great families of high rank
and influence of the Catholic peer
age i'll England. Bidding adieu to
all familiar objects and wonted COM
forts and enioyments. and breaking
the sweet ties of many beautiful af-
fections, our wanderers in the Ark
and Dove, on the 22d of November.
l633-being st. Cacilia's Day. as
We are told by the narrative of Fa-
ther White-set sail from Cowes for
the New World.
LANDING IN MARYLAND.
"The course of the Pilgrims. it
seems, was by the Antilles, Strait
of Gibraltar, the Madeiras, Fortu-
nate Isles, Bona Vista Island, near
Angola, Barbados, Island of. ST.
Lucia, Martalina, and from thence
to Point Comfort on the coast of
Virginia, which they reached on the
27th of February. Some eight or
nine days spent in the enjoyment
OF the kindness of Governor Har-
vey, they set sail, and OH the Sd of
March reached the Chesapeake.
Sailing up the bay, they entered the
Potomac and named Smiths Point
st. Gregory and Point Lookout St,
MichaePs, in honor of all the an
gels. The shores of the Potomac
were lined with armed warriors.
Signal fires blaze on every point,
and their pOrtentous arrival is an
nounced throughout the region with
all the exaggerations of savage won
der. They anchor near an island
which they name St. Clements.
Catholic and Protestant, they adored
God, and returned thanks for the
beautiful land He had given them
for this was Maryland. The memory
of that day must make the heart of
every Marylander beat with pride
and pleasure
THE INDIANS CoNCILIATRD.
"Guided by the spirit of their re-
ligion, the colonists conciliated the
friendship of the native Indians,
and in all their dealings with them
were governed by the strictest rules
of equity and the purest sentiments
of humanity. They did not usurp
possession of the soil. They pur-
chased thirty miles of their district
for good consideration-not with
trinkets and finery with which the
credulous savage might find him
self, on returning reflection, a splen-
did beggar, not with the madden
ing draught that would steep his
senses in blissful delirium for an
hour and leave him unneryed and
despairing to the waking sense Of
his beastly degradation; not with
the envied implements of European
warfare, which, through the accel-
Grated extirpation of the red race
| by kindred hands, should clear the
forest for the steady encroachment
Of the stranger.
ST. MARY's FOUNDED.
Having obtained a right to
portion Of the soil, Calvert and his
associates landed on the 9th of
. March, 1884, near what is now
called Chancellor Point, and going
about a mile, laid out a convenient
site for a city, which they named
St. Mary's. in honor of the Blessed
Virgin. The first thing the colo