The Irish standard., 1898-05-28

same time appointed governor by the
king, 1892. In this manner fell the pro-
prietary government OF Maryland, after
duration Of tlfty-six years, during
which 1t was conducted with uncxampled
mildness, and with regard to the lib
erty and welfare of the people, deserv-
ing very different requital from that
which VIC have had the pain of review
ing
Tho slight notice which the policy of
Lord Baltimore. has received from the
philosophic encomists Of liberal institu-
tions attests the capricious distribution
of fame, and has probably been occa-
stoned by dislike of his religious tenets,
which. 1t was feared, would share the
commcndation bestowed on their votary.
1t was apprehended, perhaps, that the
charge Of Intolerance, so strongly pre-
ferred by Protestants and philosophers
against Catholic potcntates and tho Ro-
man church, would be weakened by tho
praise of a tOleration which Catholics
established and Protcstants ovcrthrew
Before toleration was defended by
Locke it was practically established Ivy
Lord Baltimore; md in the attempts
which both of these eminent persons
mado to construct the frame of a wise
and liberal government in America 1t
must bo acknowledged that the Profess
tnnt philosopher was greatoly cXccllcd by
the Catholic nobleman. The constitu-
tlons of William Penn have been the
theme of general panegyric; but Of those
who have commended them how few have
been found to celebrate or even acknowl-
edge the prior establishment of similar
institutions by Lord Baltimore!
The suspension OF the proprietary gov
crnment was accompanied with Il nota-
bio departure from the principles on
which It's administration was previously
conducted. The political equality of re-
ligous sects was disallowed, and the toll
Grafton that had been extended TO every
form of Christian worship was abolished
Tho Church of England was declared to
be the established ecclesiastical constitu-
tlon of the state, and an act passed in the
year 1862, having divided the several
counties into parishes legal mainten.
ance WAS assigned to n minister Of this
communion in every one of these par
ishes--consisting of n glebc, and an an
nual tribute Of forty pounds OF tobacco
| from every Christian male and every
! male or female negro above 1G years OF
age.
All Protestant disScntcrs were admit
, ted to partakc tho full benefit of the act
OF liberation passed in the commences
mrnt of William and Mary's reign by tho
English parliament. But this grace waa
strictly withheld from the Catholics. and
tho Professionals who thus enacted tolor-
pudcnt injustice Ind un-Christan cruelty
denied it to the men by whose toleration
they had been permitted TO gain an es-
| tnbishment in the province
sanctioned by tho authority and i'll
| structcd by the example of the british
government, tho legislature of Maryland
! proceeded, by the most tyrannicn per-
accution OF the Catholics, to confirm and
disgrace the Protestant nsccndcncy. Not
only were these unfortunate victims of a
conscientious belief, which the actions
OF the cxponcnts contributed additionally
to fortify, excluded from all partcipa-
tion in political privileges, hut they were
dcbarrcd from tho exercise of their ne
culiar form of worship and from the aG-
vantagcs of education.
| by an act of the Provincial Assembly,
passed in the year 1904, and renewed In
the year 17ll, it was ordained that any
Catholic priest attempting to convert a
Protestant should DO punished with fine
ana Imprisonment, and that the cclcbra-
tion of mass or tho education of youth
by n "Papist' should be punished by
transmission Of tho offending priest or
teacher to England that he might there
undergo the penalties which the English
statutes inflicted on such conduct
Transported by their cagernrss to de-
privo the Catholics of liberty, the Prot
! cStants Of Maryland seem not to have
perceived that this last measure tended
to subvcrt their own pretcnsion to indie
pendent legislation. They maintained
that the statutes of the English pnrIia-
; mcnt did not extend. by the mere opera
tion Of their own intrinsic authority, TO
Maryland; and in conformity with this
notion VIC find IN act OF assembly, in the
year 170G, giving to certain English acts
Of parliament the force Of law within
the province.
But it was manfcstly inconsistent with
such pretended Independence to declare
any of th" coIonisls amcnable to the
peculiar Jurisprudence of England for ac-
tions committed in the province and not
punishable by the provincial laws.
Though laws unjust and oppressive
were framed it was found impossible to
carry them into complete execution.
Shortly after the act OF 1701 was passed
the assembly judged it expcdicnt to sls-
pend It's enforcement so far as to admit
Of Catholic priests performing their func-
tions in private houses; and the act of