The Irish standard., 1897-01-23

the designated spot, assisted by the gov
ernor and his associates end other Cath
9o1ics, we erected the trophy of Christ,
the Savior, and on our Bonded knees
humbly recited the Litinies of the Holy
Cross
I The Catholic freemen of the province,
as hong as power remained in Catholic
hands, were not behind the proprietary
In lberality of spirit. To their eternal
honor be it said, they: most heartily con-
Cured in every measure which extended
to their Protestant brethren all the bene-
fits Of their own condition. In order that
the uniform practice of the government
from the beginning might have the SOL
emn sanction and security of a legisla-
tive enactment, they passed the law OF
1649 in favor Of religious freedom ri
thus placed on the statute book an en-
during record Of .,.eir enlightened views
and -r,+Sahle disposition. Whereas
such was the sublime tenor of the statute
':the enforcing of conscience in matters
.Df religion hath frequently fallen out to
be Of dangerous consequence to those
ronmonweaiths where it hath been prac-
t!ced; for the more quiet and peaceable
government of this province, and the
better to preserve, mutual love and unity
among the inhabitants, no person or per-
sons whatsoever within this province,
protesting to believe in Jesus Christ,
shall from hencefOrth be anywise trOu-
bled, molcsted or discountenanced for or
in respect Of his or her religion, nor in
the free exercise thereof within this
province, nor any way compelled to the
belief or exercise Of any other religion
against his or her consent"
Thus Maryland established the prin-
ciple, and above all the practice of
Christian liberation in the new hemi-
sphere, and laid the ground work for
the complete superstructure which was
afterwards reared by the hands of JEFF
The cause of truth. She was the first to
give religious liberty home, f'its only
home in the wide world" where the dis
sranchised friends from Massachusetts,
and the Pu1itans from Virginia, were
welcome to equal liberties of conscience
and political rights. The passage of this
law by the Catholics of Maryland is
also in marked contrast with the rule Of
Roger Williams at Providence, where
FOR fifty years he excluded the Catholics
from the franchises of his own asylum
from Puritan persecution. 1t is also in
contrast with the government of Will
liam Penn, who, Notwithstanding he cop
led all the liberal provisions Of his char
Ter from the charter Of Maryland, re-
buked his officers for federation of the
Catholic worship. Both of these men
were infected with pious hatred of the
Mother Church, and Roger Williams
went so far as to cut the cross out of the
British flag. ..
When the fugitives from Protestant
Intolerance found refuge in Maryland
they exemplified the snake in the fable.
and afterwards stung the bosom that
sheltered them when, prosecuted and
homeless, they were wanderers upon the
face of the earth, Nor did these only
find an asylum in the Land of the Sane
tuary'-every cline sent its emigrants,
and In the benign spirit Of legislation the
sympathies of the Catholic colonists
were extended to them all, without re-
gard TO the sect to which they belonged
or the nation from whence they came.
OF these facts mo information was
sought All that was known was that
the emigrants were children Of misfor-
tune, and as such they were kindly re-
ceived and nobly cherished. The Hugu-
enots from France and the afflicted from
Holland, from Germany, from Finland,
from Sweden, from Piedmont, from Je-
rusalem, and even from Bohemia, the
country of Jerome and of Huss, came
there seeking protection under the toll
Grant sway of the founders of Maryland,
and at once, with equal franchises, were
made citizens.
The first priests who are known to
have offered the mass on our soil were
the Dominicans, Fathers Anthony de
Montesinos and Anthony Cervantes, who
accompanied Aylfon in 1926 when he
founded his settlement of st. Michael on
James River, Virginia. The first Jesuit
to enter the limits. of this country was
Father Peter Martinez, who was killed in
Florida; one Of the next was Father
Rogel, who founded an Indian school
On the South Carolina coast. Then came
Fathers Segura and Quiros, WHO were
killed on the Rappahanock river in Vir-
ginia, while endeavoring to convert the
natives. All this was nearly century
before there was a Protestant in the
country.
The next Jesuits we hear of were at
the North, where Father Biard and his
companions tried to establish an Indian