P 184 .C4 Copy 2
THE
FOURTH CELEBRATION
LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS
OF MARYLAND.
O I^ -A. T I o 3sr
BY HON. JOSEPH R. CHANDLER.
CIVIL .A. KT ID E, EXi I C3-I O XJ S E Gi XJ -A. L I T "^ .
AN ORATION
DELIVERED AT THE OF THE
LANDIiG OF THE PILGRIMS OF MARYLia
CELEBRATED MAY 15, 1855.
UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE
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By Hon. JOSEPH R. CHANDLER,
A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETT. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A NOTICE OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE CELEBRATION.
" I will make no difference of persons in conferring offices, favors or rewards for, or in respect of Eeligion." — Oath of office of the first Governor of Maryland.
"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." — Constitution of the United States.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. CHANDLER, PRINTER, 123 CHESTNUT STREET, THIRD STORY.
1855.
Georgetown, D. C, May 21, 1855. To THE Hon. J. R. Chandler,
Dear Sir : — At a late meeting of the Philodemic Society of Georgetown College, the undersigned were instructed to extend to you the sincere thanks and un- qualified congratulations of the Society, upon the distinguished manner in which you represented them, as well as the cause of civil and religious liberty, at the celebration of the landing of the Maryland Pilgrims, and, also, to express the hope that you will allow the address delivered on that occasion to be pub- lished. The undersigned take great pleasure in having the present opportunity of expressing to you, personally, their high esteem and kind regards.
Your most obedient servants,
HENRY BAWTREE, R. C. CAMP, SCOTT B. SMITH.
Committee of Corresjjondence.
Philadelphia, Mmj 25, 1855.
Gentlemen : —
The address which I had the honor to deliver, at the request of the Philodemic Society, at the celebration of the Landing of the Maryland Pilgrims, is placed at your disposal, with my grateful acknowledgments of the courtesies of the members of the Society, and the kind manner in which you have conveyed to me their sentiments.
I have the honor to be,
With great respect.
Your obedient servant,
JOS. R. CHANDLER.
To Messrs. Heney Bawtkee, R. C. Combs, Scott B. Smith,
Committee of Correspondence of the
Philodemic Society of Georgetown College.
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
OF THE
LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS OF MARYLAND,
AT THE SITE OF ST. MARY'S CITY,
It was a beautiful thought, and does honor to those who entertained it and gave it utterance, and finally put it into practice, to make a public celebration of the " Landing of the Pilgrims of Maryland." The commemoration of sacrifices for truth, is a perpetuation of reverence and love for truth; and since "the glory of the children are their fathers," those who perpetuate the good fame of their ancestors, keep alive the means of their own honor.
It was intended to present an interesting statement of all the proceed- ings at the great celebration, of which this is only a memorial, not only on account of the importance of such a festival, but also from the fact that the fourth celebration, that which we now record, was, from seve- ral circumstances, shared in and honored by a much larger number of persons of both sexes and all conditions, than had assisted at any pre- ceding commemoration of the Landing of the Pilgrims ; and let it be recorded with gratitude to God, and honor to all, that persons of all creeds were present, and participated in the general sentiment of reverence for those who, by theory and practice, recommended civil and religious equality.
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The members of the Philodemic Society of Georgetown (D. C.) College, who have made it a part of the objects and duties of their Asso- ciation to hold a triennial celebration of the Landing of the Pilgrims, had, with their customary forethought, made all provisions for the interesting ceremonies at St. Mary's, having the hearty co-operation and liberal contribution of the people of that vicinity; and on the afternoon of the 14th, the Philodemics and the Young Catholic Society of Washington, and other societies and numerous citizens of the Dis- trict of Columbia and the adjacent parts of Maiyland and Virginia, set forth for the place of celebration, having two steamboats well loaded with those who were Pilgrims to the shrine where their fathers found a home, and their religion had made a sanctuary. Among those on board the steamer, besides the members of societies, were the Rev. Father Stonestreet, Superior of the Order of Jesuits; the Rev. Father Maguire, President of Georgetown College, and a great number of other clergymen, professors in that institution. With them were the Rev. John Donelan, of Piscataway, and the Rev. James D. Donelan, of St. Matthew's Church, Washington. D. C.
The weather was providentially all that the most fastidious could ask in such a climate, and men, women, and children seemed to do all they could to make delightful the celebration to each other. Provi- dence blest those efforts, by making it most interesting and gratifying to all ; compensating those who had most laboriously ministered to the success of the occasion, by evidences of the appreciation of their efforts by othere, and a consciousness of duties well discharged.
The few pages which we can give to the account of the proceedings of the day, would not suffice to record all the interesting occurrences ; and a volume would be too small to portray the beautiful scenes, the interesting groups, and the felicitations of old and long-parted friends meeting, under such delightful circumstances as that day pre- sented. Enlarged generous feelings were in active operation ; men thought of the glory of their ancestry, and recalled with pride the prominent features of that policy which distinguished the government of the first settlers of St, Mary's county, and has become a part of the inheritance of the State, and the principles of our National Government.
No peculiarity of creed was necessary to a Marylander, to enjoy pro- perly a celebration of such a character and of events and principles such
as those commemorated. Accordingly, tliere were seen distinguislicd men of various creeds, and of all republican political distinctions. Each felt that by his presence there, he was doing honor not merely to the memory of Lord Baltimoi'e, of Calvert and his followers, but he was celebrating the adoption of the principles of civil and religious equality, the rightful inheritance of every citizen of this country, of whatever political creed or religious denomination. Piety and patriotism, Chris- tian charity and active philanthropy, found exercise and gratification in this beautiful festival.
The number of the company and the enjoyment of the festivity, were greatly augmented by the contributions from the city of Baltimore ; and as the proceedings of the day were ably and graphically reported for the Daily American, of that city, we copy from that paper additional details : —
THE BALTIMORE EXCURSIONISTS,
" The fine steamer Georgia, Captain Pearson, of the Norfolk Line, was engaged by the Committee of Arrangement, appointed by the Catholic Institute and the Young Catholic's Friend Society, under whose super- intendence the Baltimore division of the celebration took place, and Monday, 6 P. M., was appointed for her departure. Before that hour a large company, rising two hundred in number, had assembled on board, and in the interchange of friendly salutations and the bustle of departure anticipated the enjoyment expected to be derived from the excursion. Among those on board were Archbishop Kenrick, Bishop Whelan of Wheeling ; Bishop Young of Erie ', Rev. Mr. Cochran, and Rev. Dr. Lynch, of Charleston, and a number of the Roman Catholic clergy of the city, together with ex-Governor Lowe, Judges Legrand and Howard, of the Maryland Court of Appeals, and a number of well known and highly esteemed citizens. A small company of ladies also gave their welcome countenance to the excursionists, and added by their presence to the general pleasure. Amidst the music of Lien- hardt's band, the rattling crack of a small swivel, which became well known for its noisy qualities before the party returned, the boat left the wharf and as the evening pleasantly closed, passed down the river. A spirit of sociability and kind feeling prevailed among the whole com-
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jDauy, and had the immediate effect of disposing all to unite in increas- ing the general stock of pleasure to be derived from the trip. The promenade performance of the band, vocal music from different ama- teurs, and the more quiet enjoyments of conversation, held their dif- ferent votaries scattered throughout the boat, until as the night advanced the company sank into partial quiet, and sought rest in the spacious cabins of the boat, where arrangements for their accommoda- tion had been made.
THE KENDEZVOUS AT PINEY POINT.
Four o'clock on Wednesday morning found the boat at anchor off Piuey Point, and as daylight dawned we perceived that the steamers George Washington and Powhatan, from Washington, and the Planter, from the Patuxent, were already at the Point, with the excursionists, who were to proceed with ourselves to the celebration. Between six and seven o'clock the boats got up steam and moved for St. Inigoes, which was the point for the religious observances of the day. The morning was a beautiful one, and the broad Potomac, glancing in the rays of the early suulight, presented a scene of surpassing beauty, to which the simultaneous movements of the gaily decked and thronged steamers gave an added charm. Amid the music of the bands, and a morning salute from the Baltimore boat, the fleet moved down the Potomac and soon turned into St. Mary's river. The quaint old wind- mill, and the yet more quaint old house at St. Inigoes was soon in sight, and entering St. Inigoes Bay the landing of the company was in a short time effected, without any more serious contretemps than the accidental ducking of some half dozen gentlemen, who endured their misadventure with a good humor that even the laughter of their asso- ciates could not rufile, and the whole company soon gathered on the shore. An interchange of civilities with those who had come down in the other boats followed.
THE RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES.
Shortly after landing, the various Societies were formed in line, and with banners displayed and music playing, luarched to the Church of
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St. Inigoes, where the religious portion of the observances were to take place. The company was here joined by Mr. Chandler, the orator of the day, who, with his wife and daughter had been spending some days with Colonel Coad, whoso extensive and highly improved pro- perty lies immediately in the vicinity of St. Inigoes, and, also, by Rev. Mr. Lilly, the parish priest of St. Inigoes and a number of ladies and gentlemen of the neighborhood.
The procession was dismissed on arriving at the church, and the services commenced immediately. High Mass was celebrated by the Chaplain of the day. Bishop Whelan, assisted by Rev. Mr. Boyle, of Washington, as Deacon, Rev. Mr. Hagan, of Georgetown College, as sub Deacon, and Rev. James D. Donelau as Master of Ceremonies. The choral portion of the services was performed by a choir led by the Rev. Mr. King, Musical Preceptor of Georgetown College, accom- panied by Lienhardt's full band. At the conclusion of the mass, Bishop Whelan spoke briefly to the congregation which crowded every portion of the church. He said that it was a day of joy and exultation for those who had assembled to commemorate the landing of the pilgrim fathers. Those ancestors, who, fleeing from religious persecution in England, were the first to proclaim on the American shores perfect civil and religious liberty. This fact, so honorable to them and so glorious to us, he said, should not induce us to use invidious compari- sons, but must urge us to the exercise of true charity — a charity like theirs which embraced love to all, and was in perfect observance of the rule to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. The cele- bration, to-day, of the glorious event commemorated should make them ever cherish, more and more, the sacred principles of freedom of con- science.
The church being entirely insufficient to accommodate more than a small portion of those who had assembled, many took the opportunity to examine the objects of interest in the vicinity. The church itself is a small, unpretending brick edifice, pleasantly surrounded by woods. It is of recent erection, but occupies the site of the first church built in Maryland, and in which the pilgrims first worshipped in the land. In the quiet, shaded graveyard which surrounds it the principal object that attracts attention is the neat white marble obelisk erected to the memory of the Rev. Joseph Carberry, born May od, 177G, died May
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25tli, 1849, wlio was for many years parish priest of St. Inigoes, and by his irreproachable Hfe and hospitable and generous qualities, won an esteem and respect that was not limited to those of his own charge or faith, but was general and sincere among all the inhabitants in the vicinity. The Rev. Mr, Lilly, who succeeded him, seems to be, in many respects, similar, and evidently warmly attaches to himself those who are placed under his care.
The old edifice at St. Inigoes has lost its antiquity of aspect, though it has gained perhaps in appearance, by the white washing that now so prettily relieves it amidst the green of the surrounding foliage ; but its peaked roof, curiously shaped dormer windows, and multiplicity of chimneys still indicate its claims as a material link with the past. Its age is thought to be something over two centuries, as it was erected about 1640-'45. It was built for Cecelius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, and was undoubtedly the first brick house built in Blaryland.
Our stay at this point was necessarily brief, as the remainder of the celebration was to take place near the site of the ancient city of St, Mary's, some miles distant, on the main bank of the river. Re-embark- ing, the boats were soon again under way, ruffling the placid bosom of the St. Mary's with their unusual commotion.
THE CELEBRATION AT ST. MARY'S.
A very brief run brought us in sight of the beautiful headland and sheltered harbor which no doubt attracted the pilgrims in the Ark and the Dove, and induced them to choose it as the site of their first permanent settlement. The aspect it now presented was in striking contrast to that which must have met the eyes of the first settlers. As the boat advanced, with the music of the bands and the cheers of the excur- sionists blending, the whole hill side, from the water up, was thronged with the people of St. Mary's county, who had assembled to attend the celebration. The ladies and gentlemen of the county occupied the centre and crown of the hill, whilst on either side the colored popu- lation were gathered in clusters, showily and comfortably clad and overrunning with superabundance of mirth, that perpetually exploded in the wildest glee and the most extraordinary of laughs.
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THE PROCESSION.
The excxirsionists were received, on landino;, by H. Gr. S. Key, Esq., Marshal-in-Cliief, and aids, appointed by the citizens of St. Mary's county. The various Associations were formed as they moved off tlie boats, and the line marched to the scene of the celebration in the fol- lowing order :
Marshal-in-Chief— H. G. S. KEY. Music.
The Philodemic Society, of Greorgetown, with the Chaplain and Orator of the day. This society carried with it two beautiful banners. The foremost bore upon it a painting representing the first celebration of religious worship, by the pilgrims, after their landing in Maryland. The figure of the officiating priest, and those of the principal pilgrims, with a group of Indians in the rear, being presented with much effect. Below is the quotation " The glory of the children are their Fathers," Prov. xvii. 6, and on the reverse the announcement that the banner was presented to the Society by the ladies of St. Mary's county. The other banner was presented to the Society by the ladies of the Cathe- dral, of Baltimore. It bears on its front three figures, representing father White, the priest who accompanied the pilgrims, Leonard Calvert and an Indian warrior, with the inscription below, " Civic and Religious Liberty." Following this Society came the members of the Maryland Judiciary present, and next the reverend clergy.
The Faculty of Georgetown College, headed by their President, the Rev. Bernard A. Maguire, and the students of the College followed, and were succeeded by a numerous delegation of citizens of Virginia, bear- ing a neat white satin banner with gold lettering, and accompanied by a band of music.
Next in line came the Baltimore delegation, consisting of members of the Catholic Institute, the Young Catholic Friends' Society, and of the Calvert Beneficial Society, the whole under the direction of T. Parkin Scott, Esq., first Vice-President of the Catholic Institute. The Baltimoreans all wore crape on the left arm, in respect for the memory of the late B. U. Campbell, Esq. They carried no banner, but were distinguished merely by the American flag borne at the head. Lein- hardt's band accompanied them.
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Behind the Baltimoreans followed a long array of citizens of St. Mary's county and other portions of the state.
After a march, which was rendered somewhat fatiguing by the heat of the sun and the excessive dust, the procession reached the site of the celebration, on the lands of Dr. J. M. Broome, who had liberally tendered them for the purpose. The locality is known as the " Grover- nor's Spring," it being on the spot where the first house for the use of the Governor of Mai-yland was built, and is provided with a fine spring, to which, in consequence of that fact, the above historic name had been attached. The most generous and estensive arrangements had been made here by the citizens of St. Mary's for the accommodation of the visitors. A rostrum for the speakers was erected, and a long vernal arcade, with seats arranged for the accommodation of the audience.
The arrangements having been comj)leted. Colonel Chapman Bil- lingsley called the assemblage to order, and announced that the delivery of the oration and other ceremonies would take place. Before reading the order of proceedings. Colonel Billingsley spoke briefly and impres- sively of the religious and patriotic associations connected with the occasion, and said he was sure that those who had been brought together by desire to join in the commemoration of such events, amidst scenes so calculated to appeal to the most sacred feelings, would need no request from him to preserve order and decorum whilst the ceremonies were in progress.
The exercises were then opened with music from the bands ; after which the choir sang the followino- ode : —
13 o r> E
On the Celebration of the Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers of Maryland, held on the site of the ancient town of St. Mary's.
BY MBS. MAHY A. FORD, OF PHILADBLPHIX.
AiK — Araby's Daughter. St. !Mary's ! St. Mary's ! awake from thy slumbers,
For footsteps are crowding thy late lonely plain ; Its silence is broken by music's sweet numbers —
Awake thee ! and list to the patriot strain. There rest on thy bosom no ruined old towers,
No relics of pride that have battled with time ; But the low simple hearths which the waving grass covers
Have beautiful mem'ries of virtues sublime.
For here breathed the spirit of ardent devotion,
With freedom of conscience, a priceless bequest ; Thy Calvert and pilgrims for this braved the ocean.
Then offered to others a haven of rest. And planted the Cross, in its glory outshining
The pageants that herald a colony's bii'th ; Beneath its blest shadow the Indian reclining.
Then fancied the Spirit-land nearer to earth.
His own loved Yeocomico* still smiled at even,
Unharmed was his wigwam that rose by the stream ; The stranger's bi'ight faith, while it guided to heaven.
Yet gladdened the pathway of life with its beam. And stiU round their mem'ry a halo is glowing.
That lights with mild lustre our coimtry's first page ; Like the beautiful waters that past thee are flowing,
Their virtues glide on to a more distant age.
Then list thee, St. Mary's ! thou art not forsaken.
Though long years have flown o'er thy sleep by the wave ; For patriots' hearts have now come to awaken
The glorious past from a hallowed grave. New cities have risen, in grandeiu* and splendor.
In the beautiful land where thy dwellings first rose, But dearer the mem'ry, more thi'iUing, more tender.
Of thee, on this spot of thy dreamless repose.
* Yeocomico was the name of the Indian village and tribe found there by the first settlers of Maryland.
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The Hon. Josepli R. Chandler was then introduced by Colonel Billingsley, and received with long-continued and hearty applause. He proceeded to deliver, in an earnest and emphatic manner, and with a dis- tinctness of utterance that enabled his hearers to catch every word, the oration of the day.
Notwithstanding its immense length, requiring over an hour in its delivery, he was listened to with close and earnest attention, and fre- quently drew forth the warmest tokens of approval. At its close, he retired amid another hearty round of applause.
Music by the bands followed, and the President announced that by special request, George Washington Parke Custis, who was present, would make a few remarks. The venerable orator was warmly received, and proceeded to express his thanks for the kindness with which the "old man" had been greeted. He would not say he was among strangers, because, among his countrymen, he had a home everywhere. It was not by any worth of his, but his name, that earned for him their kind consideration. He was cradled and brought up in Mount Vernon, and the Father of his Country was the only earthly father he ever knew. Mr. Custis then referred to different revolutionary incidents, showing the bravery of the old Maryland band, the confidence reposed in them by Washington, and after relating an anecdote of Carroll of CarroUton, and paying a tribute to his devoted patriotism and honor, remarked upon the celebration, and closed by reciting some original lines upon the " Old Maryland Line."
There were numerous calls upon es-Grovernor Lowe for an address; but the length to which the ceremonies had already been protracted, and the fact that the citizens of St. Mary's were waiting to entertain their guests, prevented Mr. Lowe from complying with the call.
At the close of the ceremonies, the company were quickly assembled around the dinner-tables, which were spread under the shade of the trees, and covered with an abundance of the most substantial food. The fiimous hospitality of St. Mary's county was most practically demon- strated, and no effort on the part of the entertainers omitted to render the enjoyment of all as full as possible. The arrangements of the pro- cession and upon the ground, were under charge of the following gentlemen : —
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CMcf MarsJial—R. G. S. Key, Esq.
Assistant Marshals — Col. J. II. Sothoron, Z. D. Blakistone, William D. Kirk, Dr. B. Jones, Dr. McWilliams, L. W. B. Hutchins, Dr. Stewart, James Cresswell, Thomas Harrison, J. C. Wilburn.
Committee of Arrangements — George C. Morgan, Esq., George F. King, Esq., Robert Ford, Mr. Hopewell, Dr. J. M. Broome, J. E. Coad.
The Committee of Arrangements received numerous letters, from Governor Ligon and other prominent gentlemen, who were unable to accept the invitation to be present on the occasion. The Governor pleads official business, which rendered necessary his presence at Annapolis.
A portion of the letters received by the Committee, from those who had been invited, but were unable, from various causes, to assist in the celebration, are subjoined. They express the feelings of a large class of citizens, with regard to the celebration and the events and princi- ples celebrated. It may be proper to add also, that the President of the United States and members of the Cabinet had been invited, whose letters to the Committee pleaded official demands upon their time, as a reason for absence.
Letter from Governor Ligon.
Annapolis, May 8, 1855.
Dear Sir : — I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of yoiir favor of the 25th ult., informing me that the Committee of Arrangement for the Celebra- tion of the Landing of the Pilgrims of Maryland, have honored me with the appointment of " President of the day," on the occasion of the approaching anniversary.
A reply to your letter has been delayed for some days, with the hope that it would be in my power so to arrange my business here, as to say with certainty that I could accept this very kind and flattering invitation. I regret very sin- cerely to find now, that my official engagements at Annapolis dui'ing the present month, will deprive me of the pleasure of participating with you in the proposed celebration.
More then two centuries have passed away since the voices of the Pilgrims of Maryland were lifted up from the shore of "old St. Mary's," to celebrate the joyous occasion of the first landing and settlement of the infant colony. The wisdom, justice, moderation, and charity which characterised the colonists of Maryland, in all their intercourse with the savage tribes around them, and the heroism displayed, under privations and amid the trying and perilous scenes
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through which they passed, have not been surpassed by any people of whom history gives us an account, and fui-nish the occasion of just pride and exulta- tion to the entire people of the State.
A visit at any time to this consecrated spot, where the fathers and founders of the State laid broad and deep the foimdations of our government, would be an occasion of the deepest interest ; but at the present time, when the spirit of intolerance and bigotry seem so rife in the land, and when so large a portion of oiir coimtrymen seem ready to ignore the veiy principles and objects for which, under Providence, our Government was established, it is particulai'ly appropriate to recur to these primitive times, and to commemorate an event especially dear to the people of Maryland, and held in grateful remembrance and veneration by all who appreciate the blessings of civil and religious freedom. In the language of a distinguished son and faithful historian of Maryland,* " surely such a birthday of a free people is worthy of commemoration to the latest period of their existence."
I beg you to acquaint the Committee with the cause of my absence, and to thank them for the honor they have done me.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
T. WATKINS LIGON. To George S. King, Esq.,
Secretary of Committee of Arrangements,
Leonardtown, St. Mary^s county.
The following are letters, among others, received by George S. King, Esq., of Leonardtown, Secretary of the Committee of Arrange- ments of St. Mary's county, from those of the other counties who had been chosen Vice Presidents for the day, and were not able to be present : —
Baltimore, April 27, 1855. George S. King, Esq., Secretary, ^c.
Sir: — I have to thank you for your letter of the 25th inst., informing me of my election as one of the Vice Presidents for the celebration of the Landing of the Maryland Pilgrims, and am deeply indebted to the Committee of Arrange- ments for the honor they have done me. I regard the occasion as one of high and just pride to us as Marylanders, and of profound interest to all who cherish those principles of religious liberty which seem at present to be in temporary eclipse. While, therefore, I fear that imperative professional engagements may render it difficult for me to meet you, I shall certainly do so, if I am able. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. T. WALLIS.
* J. V. L. McMahon.
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Snow Hill, May 8, 1855.
Dear Sir : — Your letter announcing my selection as one of the Vice Presidents upon the occasion of the "Celebration of the Landing of the Maryland Pil- grims," to take iMace on the 15th of May inst., reached me to-day. Few things •would give me more pleasure than to be with you. I know I should receive the kindly greetings of many friends, and enjoy a hospitality as cordial as it is un- bounded ; but the session of my court commencing upon the same day, will compel me to be absent. I regret this the more, because I think there is more than ordinary reason, at the i^resent time, for recurring to the early history of our State. The mind and heart Avill both be benefitted by reverting to the com- mon persecution which drove the Massachusetts and the Maryland Pilgrims to seek a home iu the Western Continent, the common perils and oppressions which they endured, and their common glorious emancipation.
Hoping that you may be favored in all things which may tend to render your celebi'ation agreeable, and regretting my own inability to attend, I remain your obedient servant,
J. R. FRANKLIN. George S. King, Secretary.
Elkton, Md., 3Iay 2, 1855.
Dear Sir : — I have just received your letter, informing me that the Committee of Arrangements for the celebration of the Landing of the Maryland Pilgrims, on the 15th inst., has done me the honor to elect me one of the Vice Presidents for the occasion, and inviting me to attend on that day. It would afford me very great pleasure, I assure you, to unite in commemorating an event which has been followed by so many civil and religious blessings, and in doing honor to the memories of men who, far in the advance of the spirit of the age in which they lived, laid the foundation of a prosperous and happy colony, by granting security to property and liberty of conscience. But I cannot promise to be certainly with you; for even if the Circuit Court, which has been ad- journed to meet on Monday next, should not remain in session until the 15th inst., I have a particular engagement for that day, which I fear may require my presence elsewhere. I will attend, however, if I can do so without too much in- convenience.
I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
JOHN C. GROOME. George S. King, Esq. 9
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Chestertoion, May 10, 1855.
Sir : — I acknowledge the receipt of your letter, informing me tliat I had been elected a Vice President of the meeting to be held on the 15th inst., for the celebration of the Landing of the Maryland Pilgrims. An indisposition of more than a week, from which I am not yet relieved, will excuse this tardy reply.
It will also make it impossible for me to attend on the occasion, which I regard as abounding in historic interest, and in remembrances to which our State pride may justly cling.
Very respectfully.
Your obedient servant,
J. A. PEARCE, Geokge S. King, Esq.
Riversdale, May ?>d, 1855.
Sir : — Your favor, informing me of ipy election as a Vice-President for the celebration of the landing of the Maryland Pilgrims, has been received, and I regret extremely that I shall be unable to attend, as it would give me peculiar pleasure to join in any manifestation of respect and veneration for the memory of those who were the iirst to pi'oclaim religious toleration to all denominations. It would be most fortunate if every citizen of Maryland could be present, and have distilled into him the princii^les of the good men whom you desire to honor by this celebration, and I should be particularly pleased to be present on this occasion, in order that I might, on the ground first trodden by that Holy Band, enter my protest against the monstrous doctrines and practices of a party which is endeavoring to blot out from the escutcheon of our glorious old State, its brightest ornament. With many thanks to the committee of arrangements for the honor conferred on me,
I have the honor to be.
Respectfully, Your obedient servant,
CHAS. W. CALVERT. To George S. King, Esq.,
Secretary of Committee of Arrangements,
We annex the following letter, received by the Committee of Invita- tion of the Catholic Institute of Baltimore :
May 'Sd, 1855.
Gentlemen : — Accept my sincere thanks for your kind invitation to be the guest of the members of the Catholic Institute on theii* excursion to St. Mary's city, to celebrate the landing of the Maryland Pilgrims. My age and infirm health
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put it out of my power to avail myself of the invitation -with -wliich you have honored me. I truly regret it, for under a more favorable condition of health and strength, it -would have given me real pleasure to accompany the members of the Catholic Institute to a spot, and to celebrate an event, in which I have ever felt the deepest interest.
With great respect, I am gentlemen.
Your obedient servant,
R. B. TANEY.
A letter was also received from Gen. Spear Smitli, assigning previous engagements as the cause of his non-acceptance of the invitation with which he felt himself highly honored.
Letters were also received from Hon. Judges W. L. Marshall, and W. F. Griles, of Baltimore; Judges P. B. Hopper, of Queen Anne's county; Judges J. B. Eccleston and Tuck, of the State Court of Appeals; Hon. Wm. T. Goldsborough, of Dorcester (one of the Vice- Presidents); Hon. J. R. Franklin, of Worcester, ditto; Col. Charles Carroll, of Howard county, ditto ; Hon. Edward Lloyd, Speaker of the last Senate of Maryland; and Thomas Swanu, Esq., of Baltimore, in acknowledgment of an invitation to attend, but regretting their inability to do so, the Judges on account of court sessions, and the others by business engagements.
The historical ground which formed the site of the old city of St. Mary's, attracted much interest, and the vestiges of that early settle- ment were pointed out to numerous parties of the visitors. The Pro- testant Episcopal Church and graveyard of St. Mary's parish now occupy the headland upon which the town stood, whilst another portion has upon it a seminary which is supported by the State. The church is a plain, square building, and is constructed of bricks taken from the old State House at the time of its removal. The cruciform remains of the foundation of the old State House are still to be seen not far from the church. Near the river there is shown a mammoth mulberry-tree, which its size and appearance attest that it has flourished there for centuries, and under wliich, tradition says. Lord Baltimore concluded his equitable treaty with the Indian tribes who then inhabited this region of countiy. The trunk of this tree cannot be less than thirty feet in circumference. With the exception of one branch, which still gives evidence of vigorous life, the old veteran of the forest appears to
20
be rapidly going to decay, whilst a creeping oak has forced its way up through its trunk, and waves in green luxuriance over it. In a field some distance from the landing, are the remains of the vaults of the first Governor's house, the masonry of which is still in an excellent state of preservation.
At five o'clock, the visiters again re assembled on board their respec- tive boats, and, amidst parting cheers, the music of the bands, and the roar of a salute of thirteen guns from the Baltimore boat, bid farewell to St. Mary's.
Returning to the Potomac, the excursionists in a short time were landed at Piney Point, where the Washington visitors designed remain- ing over night, the Baltimoreans only intending to stop for a few hours. After spending some time, enjoying the promenade, listening to the music of the bands, and joining in the ball that was in animated pro- gress, the Baltimoreans at ten o'clock returned to their boat, and at six o'clock next morning were landed at Baltimore, the Georgia having made the trip of one hundred and thirty miles in eight hours."
Thus closed the united celebration of the Landing of the Pilgrims of Maryland. Those who lingered a few moments upon the broad plain upon which was to be built the city of St. Mary's, and looked down upon the beautiful river, enjoyed a sight rarely exhibited in this country. The wide expanse of water, above and below, was crowded with steamers, sailing vessels, and boats, all filled with joyous beings, returning from the out-of-door celebration, and many of them to contri- bute to and share in the in-door gaiety which was to close the festivities of the day. Few scenes exceed in beauty that which meets the eye from this eminence. It is a continual testimony of the taste of the Pilgrims : it is an ample reward to the man of taste, who might travel days to see it. But seen as it was then, in the beautiful light of a declining sun, and in the exercise of the most delightful feelings of the human heart, — ^joy in the association of the joyful, newly-awakened pride in the honor of ancestry, and gratitude to God for his abundance of favors, favors renewed in their remembrance, — it wanted no roseate hue like that of Naples, to give it beauty, nor mouldering palaces like that of Bfeia, to give it interest. It was lovely in itself, and rich in all the re- miniscences which give pride to patriotism and confidence to religion.
o Ti j^rr X o i<T^
Br HON. JOSEPH K. CHANDLER.
The desire to make a commemoration of distinguished favors, is among the "best impulses of the human heart. The gratifica- tion of the desire has marked domestic, social and even national movements in all ages, and has had for its sanction not only the spirit of purest gratitude for the benefits of the past, but a hope of connecting the favors, and the spirit they suggest with the experience, of the future.
"Gratitude," says a French satirist, "is a strong sense of favors to come," and the apothegm conveys more of truth than at first blush it seems to imply ; and, correctly received, it has less that is offensive than at first strikes the ear, or perhaps was intended by the author.
Nothing merely present deeply concerns a human being. His natm-e, his instincts, his impulses, lead him to look away from the present and connect himself with the realities of the past, to strengthen his hopes and his enjoyments of the future. This is no accident of position, it is the gift of God. " He made us with such large discourse looking before and after."
Scarcely a festival, domestic or national, among the Hebrews was unconnected with the past. Gratitude for special providen- ces, or sorrows for peculiar offences were the motives of the feasts and fasts of the chosen people ; and the sanctity of the weekly Sabbath was commemorative of the rest of the Most High. — Their passovers preserved the recollection of the sparing mercies of God towards the male born of their tribes in Egypt, and their Purim kept bright the remembrances of salvation from the destructive edict of the Assyrian monarch.
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Year by year pagan nations, pagan municipalities, and pagan individuals, made memorial of important events. Marathon, Leuctra, Thermopolag, were remembered, and the obligations of the present and hopes of the future Avere connected with the illustrious past It was the great work of the orator and the poet to pour the lustre of eloquence and song upon the loftiest deeds of the departed, and it was the delight and honor of an admiring people, to mark the names of the mighty dead, as they left the shadows of the past, to grow lustrous in the praise and gratitude of the present. As the summit peaks of the momitains are kept visible and beautiful by the posthumous rays of that sun which has gone to enlighten other worlds.
But I have said that gratitude for the past connects itself with the enjoyments of the present and the hopes of the future. No event deserves special commemoration that does not . appeal to the present for evils avoided or benefits procured ; and that anni- versary which is not sanctified by a commemoration of what belongs to the present, and relates to the future is unworthy of general or individual observance.
We commemorate to day the landing in 1634 of the emigrants from Great Britain on the very spot on which we stand. Their advent has been deemed of consequence sufficient for special memorial. In these times, every day brings to our coast more than a thousand European emigrants, who are crowding our cities, peopling our plains, felling our forests, swelling our com- merce and augmenting our national resources and national im- portance. Let the future commemorate the benefits which they shall have derived from these their ancestors. But to-day the shadows of the past are entered, and the arrival of only two ship loads of human beings is selected for a commemoration in which science and the arts, patriotism and religion are deemed to have an interest. What claim have the immigration and colonization of Calvert and his followers upon our gratitude for a commemo- ration ? Is it that we have descended from the stock of those educated, high minded and generous emigrants, and would do
23
honor to tlie families of which we are a part ? Probably not half of this assembly can trace their ancestral line to any of that company. Is it that those Pilgrims fled away from religious persecution at home and thus became confessors in the cause of Christian truth ? Why, almost every one of the original colonies of this country owes its foundation to the same spirit of religious intolerance on one side, and religious independence on the other. Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania present strong instances of attachment to creeds and of sacrifices for their free enjoyment. Is it that they, who fled from intolerance at home and sought religious liberty here, were of our own creed, and thus appeal to our denominational sympathies for grateful remem- brance and ceremonious commemoration. We may safely say, as members of that church of which these immigrants formed a part, that mere endurance of persecution for conscience sake, is too general for special commemoration ; and the bare profes- sion of Catholicity is no enforcement of an appeal for perpetual distinction.
Religion — Christianity — is a personal concern with each individual, and man adopts and practices it for his own salvation. He endures the present for the sake of its effect on his own future, and he may abide amidst the embarrassments and fears of legal persecution in a belief that it is more endurable than the perils of removal. Or he may hasten to hide himself away from the storm in the hope of reaching and enjoying the sun- shine and calm of a situation that is exempted from those annoy- ances.
Does he confess or does he apostatise amid antagonistic influ- ences, his confession or liis apostacy is his own, and the greatest consequences are his. Thousands, amid the terror of early pagan persecution, gave fortune and life for the faith they pro- fessed, and many shrunk from the anguish of the torture and the terrors of the amphitheatre. Neither party from the simple act appeals to us for commemoration of its proceedings. The strength of faith and the hope of immortal salvation were the
24
prevailing motives, with one portion ; and weakness, that made the present hide the mighty future, prevailed with the other. In both cases personal feelings and views, attachments to the present or trust in the future, merely individual considerations, predominated, and if unconnected with subsequent events, by indirect influence, none of those martyrs or apostates have a claim upon consideration beyond their bare connection with the history of the times of which they constitute a part.
And considered only as of and for themselves, the pilgrims of St. Mary's, though demanding our admiration for purity of character, loftiness of purpose, and clear, well defined sense of justice in their aims ; yet considered as only for themselves and their own times, these pilgrims entitled themselves to no special commemoration, and they established as certainly they pre- ferred, no claim upon the gratitude of succeeding ages. The past and the present must be concerned to give character or effect to a public celebration.
Who does not feel that the great current of human events gives to the latter the influence and character of the former ages, and the present catches and displays the characteristics of the past, as the lower waters of the Mississippi owe a portion of their quality and their depth to the sources and the streams above.
The claim of the past upon the present is then founded upon the beneficial influence of the former on the latter ; and the pro- priety and importance of the celebration, this day, are referable to what the celebrants most value in what the celebrated in- tended and performed.
It will be my aim, on the present occasion, to invite and lead you to a consideration of certain important and distinguishing characteristics in the early movements of the colony of INIary- land ; and I shall, perhaps incidentally institute a comparison of the conduct, laws and customs of some of the other colonies with those of Lord Baltimore, especially Avith regard to the influence of creed upon the pursuits of the colonists, of the effect of that creed upon their treatment of the aboriginal inhabitants, the
25
owners and occupants of the soil which the colonists desired to possess, and, above all, because connected with the motives which influenced their emigration from Europe, the effect of that creed on the regulations and enactments of the executive and legislative bodies of those colonists, with regard to the freedom of worship by difierent denominations and the entire political and social equahty of men of different religious creeds.
I shall endeavor, also, to institute an inquiry as to the connec- tion between the character of our present form of national government, its exclusion and protections, and the plans and objects of those who were the founders of the colony whence sprung the State of Maryland. '
As patriots loving our country above all countries ; as philan- thropists feeling for man in every relation of life, and respecting the rights of man, however they may be exposed to injury and neglect ; as Christians believing in the doctrines and loving the example of the founder of our creed, and as Catholics interested in all that concerns the history of our church, and all that illus- trates its graces and its influences, the inquiry is one of deep concern, and we have only to lament that the time and the pecu- liarity of the celebration allow only a hasty reference to the great and the most salient points of consideration, and compel us to refer to future celebrations and more accomplished orators the completion of a task that as much concerns the future as the present ; a task always growing.
Who shall record the whole glories, the sufl"erings and triumphs of the Church of Christ ? Who shall make mention of the ex- perience of its members, which is that Church's history here, its glories and its merits hereafter ? Who shall declare all the pro- gress of that religion which, rising on imperial pagan Rome, sustained the shock of its public contempt and the terrible inflic- tion of its hatred — tamed the wild beasts of the amphitheatre — shamed the persecutors till it poured its influence over their hearts — moulded them to Christian graces, and prepared them for those high responsibilities as Christians Avhich they might not
26
have incurred as heathens ; — responsibilities that brought down the pagan hordes upon the mistress of the conquered world, and gave her to desolation and ruin ; — that religion which paused in awe amid the inflictions which a just God had sent, and while the infidel victor was filling the palaces of the Caesars, or stalking among the ruins of pagan pride and Christian ingenuity, con- quered the conqueror, and led captivity captive, sending back the ruthless invaders, missionaries of Christian truth and Chris- tian peace. This is a theme that demands the inspiration of poetry to begin on earth, and which the redeemed will perpetuate in heaven.
The course which I am about to pursue, though it will not admit, and I hope will not be regarded as requiring much atten- tion to order, is favorable to a candid investigation of the subject, inasmuch as it calls for a judgment upon the character and motives of a people — a judgment to be founded upon their earli- est public acts, with regard to others, and especially their legis- lation for themselves, and for those who might come into connection with them by commerce, war, social intercourse, or political relations.
The history of the planting of the colony of Maryland, is within the reach of all ; its events must be so familiar to most of you, that I shall not occupy my time with even such an abstract thereof as would, under ordinary circumstances, be deemed ne- cessary to a proper understanding of the course of the argument. I shall suppose you familiar with the record, and hence I shall rarely quote, except in support of a direct assertion.
The philosophical historian, or the careful observer of events in nations, must be often struck with the fidelity with which the early laws of a people become the exponents of their views and feelings. Those laws originate rather in their authors' general train of thought, than in any particular circumstances or require- ments of the people. They are often made to prevent difiiculties of which the anticipation is due rather to the habits of people's minds, than to events that really occur ; or if they are suggested
27
by errors or wants at home, those errors or wants spring natu- rally from the mode of thinking common to the people.
Later laws are made to suit a state of society that is conse- quent upon enlarged intercourse, rival efforts, and emulous minds. They prevent or correct evils that could scarcely have come from the simplicity of early associations, and present less the real state of a community than a portion of the inconve- niences and evils to which that community has been exposed by age and enlarged association. These later laws denote the extent of trade, the change of manners, and the necessities of a mixed community. They seem to be a sort of estimate of what good qualities a people ought to have, by providing punishment for the evil qualities which they exhibit ; while the earlier enact- ments speak the general feelings and wishes, and denote the exact state of the community. The enactments of older society show what effect vice or error has had upon the general morals, Avhile the laws of a young community bear testimony to the influences of the reliorious creed. The late enactments show the deficiency of the moral code ; the former the suggestions of the religious sentiment.
We have an opportunity to judge of the character of the St. Mary colonists by their trade with the Indians, and their legisla- tion with regard to that people whose existence and rights seem to have been a stumbling-block to most of the colonies.
The acquisition of territory, by the various bodies of colonists, was made by different modes ; sometimes by means that suited the peculiar character of the purchaser, sometimes in a manner that denoted the estimate in which the seller was held by the purchaser. Sometimes a distribution of miserable trinkets sent away the uninformed savage to comprehend at his leisure the entire alienation of his fields and hunting grounds, and the utter worthlessness of the finery which, with barbaric taste, he had associated with the display and dignity of his seignorial rights, but Avhich became utterly useless when he found that he had bartered away the realities of power for the worthless insignia of condition.
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Others debased the appetite of the aborigines, and then min- istered to their morbid cravings, till the poor Avretches became maddened with the liquid fire, and exposed themselves to the visitations of vengeance that thinned their number and confis- cated their possessions.
Others made treaties which they could scarcely believe — which probably they did not hope — would be observed by the native party to the compact, and swept the tribe with exterminating vengeance, for the violation of agreements that had in them neither reason nor right ; a vengeance that stretched the first reached offenders dead upon their lordly paternal possessions, and dragged the fugitives from their fastnesses to be sold into foreign slavery.
Christianity was made terrible to these worshippers of the Great Spirit, by the vindictiveness of its professors, who pun- ished offences watli unforgiving rigor, and confounded invincible ignorance with premeditated crime. Nay, that religion was often made abhorrent to the savages by the haughtiness of its teachers, who w^ould not admit of any adaptation of its adminis- tration and influences to the nomadic taste and habits of the lords of the soil.
One other mode of dealing with the Indians was adopted by a portion of the early white settlers, and has been by practice, transmitted down to the present day, not always with the same amount of actual injury as formerly, but often with an equal liability to abuse. The improved sense of the community, sus- tained by the conduct of one small class of immigrants, and the philanthropic teachings of the Quakers, prevented a portion of the injury which might result to the Indians from a natural, though perhaps not a legal operation of the treaty-making customs.
The terrible inflictions which preceded some of these treaties, and the utter deprivation which followed, must have made the natives more apprehensive of the pen of the white man than of the sword; and what was called a treaty by European emigrants,
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must have seemed a forceful distress to the natives ; and that which was dignified with the name of Peace, had in it certainly more of destruction and solitude. Under these circumstances, the Indians might well exclaim, "Auferre trucidare, rapare, falsis, nominihus, imperium," if they had ever read Tacitus, or heard of Agricola, "atque solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant."
In strono; and beautiful contrast with these various modes of transferring the possessions of the nations, and of alienating their affections, is the plan adopted by the Catholic Pilgrims of Maryland, who acknowledged the poor Indian to be the proprietor of the soil, and recognized in him the form of the Creator, and the object of the sacrifice and redemption of the Saviour. They saw and confessed him a man, and as such, Christianity as they understood it — Humanity as they had been taught to practice it — Paganism, indeed, as explained by the polished bondman of Rome,* forbade that the rights, interests, and whatever else related to those members of the human family, should be alien to their own hearts. If they took the land of the savages, it was not to repay them with profitless gewgaws ; not to hold by the dead hand of unsatisfied contract, nor the red hand of vio- lence ; not, indeed, to pay for the material and valuable posses- sions of the aboriginal planters in the cold lessons of selfish morality, or impracticable and repulsive forms of Christianity.
They purchased the lands, and paid for them. They offered peace, and peaceful associations ; and they presented the most attractive points of the Christian religion for the admiration and confidence of the Indians, viz., peace among themselves, and kindness and justice towards others.
Those who had left England to avoid the unjust penal statutes of the government, and the persecuting spirit of non-conformists, felt how attractive must be the evidences of justice, and how conciliating the procedure that recognizes in man the dignity and the rights of man.
* Terrence.
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The Christian religion is never more exalted in the eyes of the pagan or skeptic than when its possessors manifest their high sense of its character and importance, by making its re- quirements the most distinguished of all the difference between men, and it never is more attractive than when all other distinc- tions are merged in that difference ; all differences buried in the effort to make it respected by the virtues of its professors, and to have it adopted because of the gentleness and charity with which it is presented.
The Pilgrims who came to this spot with Calvert, were of the same countiy and of the same age as those who settled Virginia and New England. They had grown up amid the same contests, and had had their minds moulded, their opinions formed, in the same circumstances as Avere those of the other contemporary colonies. If, then, we succeed in showing that in purity of life they excelled, in righteousness towards others they exceeded, and in the presentation of the elements of our present form of na- tional government they stood, if not alone, at least pre-eminent, we may well inquire — it is our duty as Americans to inquire — it is our privilege as religionists diligently to inquire, what were the extent and influence of their superiority, and to what princi- ple it is to be referred.
For myself I have, by reading and reflection, formed an opinion on that subject ; and it is a part of the duty I assumed for this day to express and to support that opinion.
I do not think that the colonists who came witli Calvert were men of education (in the ordinary sense of that word) much superior to many of the settlers of Virginia. They were cer- tainly not of more acute intellects than the first colonists of Plymouth or Massachusetts. They stood in the same relation to the savages as did the other colonists, with regard to the danger from violence or the advantages of peace. They had the means of vitiating the physical appetites of the Indians as abundant as others ; and could have used cunning (I say not fraud) to become owners of the soil, and could have appealed to
31
the love of finery or the thirst of revenge, to limit the posses- sions of the natives or diminish their number. But they did not resort to these modes, which distinguished the conduct of some other colonists ; and their forbearance was not the consequence of impaired appetite for possession, or a deficiency of means to enforce a wrong. In all these circumstances, in all their ante- cedents, these settlers stood on the same ground of power, the same strength of desire, the same means of appreciation, as did the English immigrants to other colonies of this country. The difference in conduct was great ; it was eminently distinguishing. Whence did it come ?
The only difference in the circumstances of the colonists of Maryland, and those of Virginia and New England, the only operative difference was in their religious creed, and the educa- tional influences immediately and necessarily resulting therefrom, combined with the painful experience to which that creed had ex- posed them, and the lofty motives of purity and justice which the Christian religion supplies to all its followers, at all times, but which it suggests with great cogency when it also exposes them to the persecution of a tyrant king, or a thoughtless infuriate ^populace.
There is scarcely a more beautiful page in history, sacred or profane, than that which records the dealings of Leonard Calvert and his followers with the aborigines, who tilled the soil on which we stand. He landed not as a proprietor, but as a visitor. He addressed the native chief, not as one who comes to conquer, but as one who came to purchase. His manners were not those which offended first, and then irritated to hostilities. They awakened caution, but they conciliated esteem and secured confidence.
When the intrigue of an enemy in disguise provoked a portion of the savages to a war, the followers of Calvert made it a duty of the colonists to restore lands acquired by conquest, and made it a penal offence to kidnap or sell a friendly Indian, and a high misdemeanor to supply them with intoxicating liquor. Surely in
S2
these arrangements, not only is there manifested the true spirit of Christianity, with the fruits of charity and justice, but we must find in them something which appeals to our approval more than does the conduct of some of the other colonists ; and I may as well add, that the difference in the conduct of Calvert and that of the Governors of the other colonies, was noticed at the time ; and an old contemporary writer says, "Justice Pop- ham and Sir George Calvert agreed not more unanimously in the public design of planting, than they differed in the private way of it. The first was for extirpating heathens ; the second for converting them. He sent away the lewdest ; this the sober- est people. The one was for present profit ; the other for rea- sonable expectation. The first set up a common stock, out of which the people should be provided by proportions. The second left every one to provide for himself."
This is not the time nor the place to pursue at length a com- parison between the different modes of colonizing, adopted by men of different objects.
Where entire dominancy and sudden profits are expected, the utter destruction of the conquered race is the policy of the victor. Wherever Christianizing and humanizing our fellow- being are the leading motives, there patient endurance, and the delay of the fruition of hopes and the reward of labors, are the duties and the compensation of the conquering or dominant race.
Favor to the original inhabitants, works a diminution of spoils ; and the exercise of Christian graces and the presentation of Christian example, ensure the postponement, if not the destruc- tion, of the largest expectation of the conquerors.
Strike down the pagan Indian by tribes and nations, and do you not open the way for the Christian white man ? Spare the miserable idolater because he may have a soul, and, like the good Las Casas, you hinder if not defeat the end of conquest. Civilization seeks the extension of her arts by the destruction of her opponents, and the distribution of her professed followers. Christianity seeks extent, not so much by the cultivation of the
33
field as the purification of the heart ; and she often delays the gratification of cupidity in newly-acquired territory, by a post- ponement of the advantages of trade to the benefits of salvation, and, amidst the eagerness of the white man for profit and power, she pauses to recognise the claims of the red man to life and immortality. The colonist leader leans upon the charter or treaty that grants the possession of flood and field to him and his fellow-colonists, and he must secure it. The Christian mis- sionary considers the redemption of his Saviour as wrought for all, and he regards it as his duty to apply it. The one certainly promotes business and populates a colony ; the other secures sal- vation and peoples heaven.
Two other important views of the subject enter into the plan of this discourse. First, the connection of the form and admin- istration of the early colonial government of Maryland with the democratic theory of our national government, and the great provisions of our Constitution.
And secondly, and especially those negative provisions which always concern the rights of a people whose theory is that of self-government, and these are eminently worthy of notice, because those negative provisions are not what the government may do — not the establishment and definition of the duties of that government towards itself and towards other nations, but they are the restrictions upon the power of government, the true distinction between the privileges of the government and the inalienable rights of the citizen ; not even how much the government ought to protect and defend, but a clear statement of those reserved points, which it would be an outrage by the government upon the people, to oppose ; which it would be an insult by the government to the people to attempt to protect.
There are personal rights so sacred to every man, that even the form of protection seems an outrage. There are things too sanctified in their character or uses, for protection or defence — so blended with the character of one government as to be inope- rative or ofiensive in another, and yet above all assault from 3
34
abroad, as they are above all defence at home — as the Jewish ark brought disease and disasters to the Philistines who dared assault it, and death to the Hebrews Avho reached forth in its support. That sanctity belongs to religious creeds in our country, and is fully recognised in the Constitution, in the first place by withholding from the government the right to apply any religious test to candidates for office, and thus are the pro- fessors of any single creed saved from the outrage of direct pro- scription. And in the second place, it is provided for in that sacred instrument, that no legislation shall be had by which indi- viduals of any creed shall be specially favored, nor any form of worship established or prescribed.
While we admire the beautiful theory of the government which thus manifests itself in the fundamental law of the nation, we may, without inquiring into the neglect or violation of these principles and provisions, look back and find in the theory and practice of the first colonial government of Maryland, the only precedents for such provisions — precedents, I mean, not merely in the idle declamation, not merely in pompous assertion, Uto- pian schemes — but precedents which rest on the plan, and ample fulfillment of that plan, by men who knew that the theory which they promulged was unfashionable ; who knew that while the opposite plans of government were excluding them from the protection and political benefits of all the other colonies, their own plan was exposing them to the imminent risk of persecution and disfranchisement in their own colony.
It is to be remarked of the history of the colonies of which our Union Avas formed, that almost every one claims to have owed its existence to persecution at home, and almost every one made intolerance a leading feature of its own government. And it is still more remarkable that not one of those colonies was formed by immigrants who had left their country on account of the intolerance of Roman Catholics. Nor is this all : while almost every colony owes its existence to religious intolerance, none but Maryland, the only Catholic colony of them all,
35
attempted to practice religious liberty. Slie proclaimed universal liberty to every sect and division of sect that professed a belief in Jesus Christ ; and knowing that France had contributed to the amount of our colonial population, by the violence of a Catholic government against its Protestant subjects, she, following out the principle upon which was established her colonial government, opened her heart and her fields also to their ingress ; and, as the peculiarity of their position might make them doubtful of their wel- come, she passed a special law, inviting Huguenots to come and enjoy in the colony of Maryland the freedom to worship God, wliicli had been denied to them in France. (a.)
At the present moment, when it is the object of political pro- scriptionists to conceal or deny the existence or practice of vir- tues in members of the Catholic church, we hear it gravely asserted that the tolerance, the Christian liberty that distin- guished the laws and government of the Maryland colony, was due to the respect which those colonists and the noble proprie- tary owed to the feelings and wishes of the Protestant monarch of England. If such an explanation of the motives of the various colonies, with regard to tolerance or intolerance, be admitted, it will prove too much. It may, indeed, deprive the Catholics of some portion of the credit for voluntary tolerance claimed in their behalf, but it makes it fairly inferable that the Protestant government made it not only a sine qua 7ion that Catholics should not disturb Protestants, but that Protestants should per- secute Catholics, as some of the Protestant colonies enacted laws against sects differing from the dominant religious party, and most of them, even when a little charitable to Protestants of different views, fixed their canons against Roman Catholics ; and some of the children of persecution themselves assigned as a reason for intolerance, the special hostility of the British government to the Papists, and the necessity of accommodating themselves and their laws to the wishes of the king and the home government.
The Catholic colony then, according to a certain class of com-
36
mentators, was charitable and tolerant out of fear of the king, while the Protestant colonies were intolerant and persecuting from love of the king. I admit of neither. I demand that each colony be judged by its own acts, Avithout any reference to the imaginary wishes of the parent government ; and I do this the more earnestly, because I know that whenever it suits the pur- poses of certain writers, they Will make the state of the British government and the British king, during the early part of the seventeenth century, the means and the motive for conduct exactly opposite to that imputed to the respective Catholic and Protestant colonies. It is just to all parties to allow to each that amount of credit for motives which is fairly deducible from their acts ; and if, in a period of much religious intolerance, a colony hedges itself about with edicts of the most persecuting character, and inflicts penalties, pains and death on those whose views of Christian requirements difi"er from those of the majority, it is but just to suppose that they left the parent country with no disrelish for intolerance in itself, but only as it afiected their non-conformity, especially Avhen the intolerance is practised by those who are opposed to the parent government, and scarcely in some places with a tolerance of the established creed of that government, when it makes it criminal to profess a creed not in accordance with the platform of those who constitute the ma- jority, and would be the whole ; and it is no less fair to believe that a colony which, leaving an intolerant country, gives freedom to religious creeds, and makes it criminal to interfere with the difierences of men's belief; nay, that not only admits to equality all that are within its borders, but invites to itself, as to an asy- lum for the oppressed, the sufferers in other colonies. It is fair, I say, to conclude that such a colony has in itself a better appreciation of human rights and Christian freedom, than exists amongst its intolerant neighbors. And I shall not, I hope, be considered as departing from the proprieties of these exercises, if I ask to present the facts of the tolerance or intolerance of the colonies in another light.
37
It is a favorite mode of attack with some writers of all recent times, and especially with certain demagogues of the present day, and in our own country, to seize upon the facts of history, and deduce therefrom arguments against the Catholic creed which these facts in no way sustain — which they scarcely sug- gest. The intolerance of certain governments of Europe, in which the Catholic religion is a part of the State, is made an argument against that religion, as if Catholicity leaned upon the State for support, and required intolerance for its maintenance ; though equal intolerance, exercised by a Protestant government connected with a State religion, is passed over without comment, or as if supplying no argument against the requirements of that creed.
Denying, as we of the Catholic church must deny, and as I do now deny, that there is aught of political intolerance in the creed of the Catholic church, and asserting, as I do assert, that political man, and not the religious creed, is responsible for the evils done in the name of the Catholic faith, I look to no com- bination of Church and State to sustain my assertion in behalf of Catholicity, and I appeal to no such destructive or deterio- rating association to prove that Protestantism has been bellicose and intolerant.
The colonies, whence sprang the States that constitute this nation, afford admirable means of judging of the character of the religious creeds transplanted to this soil, as no necessity was laid upon any colony to enact laws intolerant of religious sects ; no commands of the parent government fixed the religious creed of any association, or rendered necessary the observance of pre- scribed forms and ceremonies. The Avhole were in a remarkable degree independent, and therefore each may well be supposed to act upon the impulses or suggestions most naturally springing from its religious principles, without regard to considerations of State or of municipal benefits. Nothing can be more evident, than that the emigrants who left England to establish these colo- nies, (the more needy adventurer, the money-loving, and the
38
involuntary immigrants excepted,) made it a part of their plan to divest tlieir new government of all that seemed to them oppres- sive in its character and disagreeable in its operations at home ; to place themselves where neither proscription nor habit rendered necessary a countenance of customs and laws that operate un- equally, or that seemed, by a change of circumstances, to have outlived the necessities of the time in which they originated, or the character of the age that rendered them appropriate or tolerable.
It does not appear that all had definite views of all that would result from their new arrangements, or that they fully antici- pated the harvest that was to be gathered from their planting. But great changes certainly were contemplated by the leading minds — important corrections of painful abuses. The tyranny of the few over the rights of the many, was to have a remedy in the political association in Plymouth(B.) ; and no one can doubt that Lord Baltimore fore-ordained the religious tolerance that distinguished his colonists, and planned for careful observation the scheme of justice, kindness and equality, with which his people dealt with the Indians. What, then, is the course adopted by the leaders of various colonies with regard to this recurrence to first principles — this divesting themselves of the conventional- isms of ages, under social and political circumstances that need have no operation on this side of the Atlantic ? — where each re- ligious creed was allowed to present itself and its suggestions without the intervention of political influences, and to stand forth unaffected by any concessions to temporal power or the influences of persecution or favoritism. I invite the cui'ious in history, I invite the searcher after truth, to investigate tliis subject, and to see what was the effect of the divers creeds upon the different colonies, that they may determine which colony (regarded as a political body and an exponent of certain views or forms of gov- ernment) manifested a practice which involved not merely the greatest good of the greatest number, but which invited the greatest portion af its members to direct action in all legislation
39
that concerned the whole, and which colony, as the professor and exponent of a particular religious creed, manifested the most of Christian charity — the most of forbearance to others ; which allowed the exercise of the largest liberty to all, without making the possession or profession of any portion of the various creeds (which even at that day distinguished the Christian world) a claim for special favor, or a bar to domestic quiet, social equality, and political preferment.
It appears to me that this is a view of the subject that ought to be taken ; and as we seek for truth, and for truth only, we ought not to neglect the suggestion which the facts of the history of such a remarkable juncture present. I need not tell this au- dience again, what were the statutes and ordinances of the East- ern colonies, with regard to those who professed religious opinions at variance with the creed of the dominant sect. History fur- nishes the record, and there are none to deny or doubt its cor- rectness. And while quakerism, ana-baptism, antinomianism, unitarianism, or any other ism than that which was the distinctive ism of the majority, was made the cause of imprisonment, stripes, banishment, and death in one colony, it is a lamentable truth that the colony formed by the persecuted, the whipped, and the banished, excepted from the operation of its enforced toleration, the religious denomination that included the largest part of Christendom ; nay, levelled its canons of intolerance and pro- hibition against that Christian denomination which, of all those gathered in this New World, had, by special enactment, pro- claimed equality to all other sects, and which gave laws, indeed, to almost the only colony in which the persecuted persecutors could have had a resting-place out of their own narrow confines. Aye, Rhode Island, the child of persecution, persecuted. The little colony whose inhabitants were driven together by the sound of the whip and the threats of the rope, menaced other Chris- tians with banishment, and other modes of persecution ; and if it did not banish, it was because by its threats it precluded admission to those who, by entering the colony, would have
40
become obnoxious to the penalties of her uncharitable sta- tutes.
It seems, then, as if the spirit of intolerance was a part of the creed that influenced some of the colonies ; and, without going into details, we may say that just in proportion as religion was made prominent in some of the colonies, did the hostility to those of other sects manifest itself in the laws and customs of the people. And whatever exception Pennsylvania may have formed to the evidence of general hatred of denomination for denomi- nation, it is evident that the mild, sagacious, and philanthropic founder and proprietary of that colony yielded up to fear and expediency what others sacrificed with a hearty good will ; and his dread of the effects of Mass Houses in his colony, upon public sentiment at home, almost overcame his resolve and his desire to practice tolerance in America.
"While the colonies in general were manifesting this settled hostility against those who refused to conform to the religious creed of the majority, and especially against the Roman Catho- lics, Lord Baltimore's colony took possession of the grant on the Chesapeake, and commenced the work of government. Free from the trammels of foreign influences, unfettered by any laws of conformity, and as yet without the vexations of inconvenient customs, he had no bad precedents to embarrass him ; he had no favorites to reward, and no enemies to defeat or punish. The people who followed his brother understood the object of their mission, and had received lessons of political wrongs and religious persecutions, to makB them in love with tolerance ; and they pos- sessed too much of the spirit of Christianity to deny to others what they coveted for themselves.
The world has seen in other colonies the effect of dominant sectaries, yielding themselves up to the suggestions of their creeds, and it was evident nothing had been gained by making any sect the repository of power. It was therefore evidently the intention of Lord Baltimore to give a new feature to coloni- zation, by allowing his own creed to suggest the treatment to
41
others, and to make Catholicity, untrammeled by State depen- dence, the exponent of religious rites and the minister of politi- cal equality. Hence the Protestant historian* is enabled to say, " with a policy the wisdom of Avhich was the more remarkable, as it was far in advance of the age, (that is, because it was not derived from the spirit of the age, but from the spirit of the gospel,) Lord Baltimore laid the foundation of his province on the broad basis of freedom in religion and security to property. Christianity, as a part of the old common law of England, was estabhshed by the proprietary, without allowing any pre-emi- nence to any particular form of its exhibition."
How truly Christian, as we all understand Christianity, as we hear it cited around us, every day, are the views thus imputed to Lord Baltimore thus entering into and influencing all his plans for the colonial government. But I know it may be said, nay, it will be said that the professions of a founder of a colony may be truly admirable, while the experience of his colonists may be very different from the hopes which those professions warranted. That the real intentions, indeed, of the founder and proprietor may be neglected by his secular officers, and the administration of affairs be in entire opposition to his plans. Such, it may be supposed, was the case in some of the colonies. Such, it is cer- tain was not the case in Maryland, while the religion of which the founder and most of the colonists were professors, was allowed its operation in the legislation of the inchoate state. And with a view of securing and perpetuating that freedom of con- science for which he labored, Cecil Calvert prescribed for the Governor of his province from 1636 onward the following oath of office : —
" I will not, by myself or any other, directly or indirectly, trouble, or molest, or discountenance any person professing to believe in Jesus Christ, for, or in respect to, religion ; I will make
* Chalmers, as quoted by Hawkes.
no difference of persons in conferring offices, favors or rewards, for, or in respect of, religion, but merely as they shall be found faithful and well deserving, and endued with moral virtues and abilities ; my aim shall be public unity ; and if any person or officer shall molest any person professing to believe in Jesus Christ, on account of his religion, I will protect the person molested and punish the offender."
Surely the spirit of entire equality never did a more perfect work, than that proposed by Lord Baltimore, and carried out by his colonists. Persecuted at home ; oppressed with legal disa- bilities, and still more embarrassed with the annoying antagonism of a dominant party, and the irritating hostility of numerous sectaries, agreeing only in that hostility, those colonists mani- fested a spirit of Christian kindness that does infinite credit to the creed which they professed. And if subsequent observation enables some to say that it was the true mode of perpetuating the colony, by securing immigration to the oppressed and suffer- ing of other creeds, it may be said in reply that the dictates of Christianity are always the most expedient in a full experiment ; and we have advanced in our argument, if we show a perfect consistency in the practice of those elements and the dictates of Christianity, and make apparent the coincidence of their creed with their beautiful practice.
I have felt called on to present the action of the early colonist of Maryland, with regard to religious liberty, in a strong con- trast with the facts which liistory presents in its record of the proceedings of other colonies, not because it is agreeable to throw a shadow over the glory of the settlers of other portions of this country, or that under ordinary circumstances, such comparisons are expedient. It would be more agreeable to dwell on the sterHng virtues of other colonists, and they had stern and sterl- ing virtues, and to give them credit for a subsequent adoption of that practice which distinguished the Pilgrim Fathers of St. Mary's. But we do not, and we ought not to conceal from our- selves, or attempt to deny to others that we celebrate in the land-
43
ing of these Pilgrims — the advent of men of a certain creed — and that the circmnstances of the people of the various colonies at that time render it easy to compare the character of the motives bj which each community was influenced, and to judge of the nature and propriety of the leading principle of all, by the eifects which that principle wrought upon the conduct, wishes and legis- lation of the several bodies. And, let me add, that the circum- stances of the present times, fully justify the inquiry. Nay more, those circumstances render such an inquiry, and such a comparison, a solemn duty to ourselves and our creed, and we may regard this celebration as one of providential occurrence, supplying the opportunity and the means of a deserved and tri- umphant vindication. Not for the triumph, hut for the vindica- tion.
In the particular instance of religious tolerance, the comparison is presented, not by the records of men of the creed of the early colonists of St. Mary's, not by men, who from education, asso- ciation or interest could be supposed to lean towards that unfriended creed. The history of all those events is from writers who are strongly hostile to the creed which Lord Baltimore had adopted, and in one instance it is presented by a historian* whose life is dedicated to the promulgation of the doctrines of another church. His work does honor to himself and his prin- ciples, and appeals to the judgment against the prejudices of the ignorant and the erring.
If the peculiar characteristics of the early institutions of the colony are found pervading, in a superior degree, the theory of om- national government, and the broad and expansive liberality of the colonial legislature is, more than the legislation or practice of any other colony, reflected in the constitutional provisions of our general government, it may not be an extravagant presump- tion to conclude that those institutions, and especially that libe-
* Dr. Hawkes, historian of the Episcopal Church in Maryland and Virginia.
44
rality, had much to do with the formation and cultivation of a state of feeling which led to the declaration and achievement of national independence.
I have no time now to trace up these effects to their natural causes, nor to seize upon the admitted circumstances of the Maryland colony, and follow them doAvn with their constantly augmenting effects, until they connect themselves (as causes with results) with the movements of the colonies towards a redress of wrongs, and then with those events which led to our existence as a nation, and the moulding of the government and the adoption of the constitution in a form so truly democratic in its theory.
It is the opinion of many British writers who have access to American anti-revolutionary documents, that it was the fixed and well arranged purpose of the American colonists, at an early day to become independent of the parent government. I do not possess the means of arriving at such a conclusion ; but, to me it is rather evident that the democratic character of the colonial governments, the various degrees of freedom recognised under them, and the habits of self-reliance inculcated and formed, were certain to lead to that independence, which may therefore be regarded as the inevitable result of peculiar circumstances, rather than the accomplishment of any preconcerted plan. Surely it is more to the lasting honor of our ancestors of the early colonies, that the national independence and national character were rather the natural results of practical virtues, of liberal princi- ples, adopted for the sake of their liberality, and of a lofty esti- mation of human rights, than the effect of any idea of rebellion first, and victory afterwards. Both produce a nation, but each proceeds from a separate class of motives, and each, when suc- cessful, is productive of different national characteristics.
I do not now deny that our ancestors very early entertained an idea of separation from the mother country, but still I doubt it. It is not quite consistent with all their professions. Our independence was the inevitable result of early circumstances, and a state of feelings and a mode of action almost necessarily
45
resulting from such circumstances ; and, with that view, I think it easy to see how the spirit of the Pilgrims of St. Mary's county worked, not only to produce that great result, hut also how it co-operated to mould the features of that result to the particular form they presented in 1776 and 1778, and how they have led to the amelioration of much which, though at that time it was consistent with the general feeling of the public, subse- quently required an accommodation to the advances in public sentiment. We must never overlook the important fact, that though truth is immutable in its character, it is altogether pro- gressive in its influences. And good principles operate not always to the extent of their goodness, so much as to the capabilities and power of their subject, and different co-efficients express that power under different circumstances. He who saw "men as trees walking," was using the full measure of his perception, and the fullness of the grace that had wrought the miracle, as much as he was when he became enabled to direct his vision to a proper estimate of forms and distances. It was not the principle, it was not the power restoring the sight, that was deficient, it was the weakness of the unprepared organ that was unable to accom- modate itself to the blessing, that was in itself unable to grasp the full measure of the gift, but had from its own imperfection to await the result of that principle which had begun its ope- ration.
So while I see, and we all acknowledge an immense difference between the administration of Republican governments now and that of the early colony of Maryland, we yet can see the close relation which the former, as a result, bears to the latter as a cause ; and we as readily discover, not merely how much these beneficial changes of modern times are dependent on the im- provement of circumstances, but we also see how much that improvement is due to the character of the early government.
The charter granted to Lord Baltimore differed essentially from those held by other proprietaries. It conveyed a power not usually granted ; and instead of giving Maryland a mere
46
colonial existence, it conferred on it the character and dignity of a palatinate. Starting at once with that long step in advance, it had the lead of other colonies in the essential property of in- dependence ; and it cannot be doubted, that during the time the colony was governed by the dynasty which founded it, it mani- fested the benefits of that incipient independence.
In the next place, while an unusual degree of independence was secured to the province as a whole, the character of the government was, to an unusual degree, essentially and purely democratic. The legislative power was in an assembly in which was present the majesty of the people, not by a fiction of govern- ment or laws, but in very deed. The people of the province were assembled in person to accept, and subsequently to enact their own laws, and to try the experiment of self-government ; and when the good spirit of the new government had so conci- liated the Indians as to produce a multiplication, and call for a dispersion of the colonists, and thus to render inconvenient a personal attendance of the people in the grand Wittenagemote of the young nation, a representative character was given to the legislature, but with such a careful regard to the great principles of democracy, which lay at the foundation of all, that it was permitted to individuals who did not choose to depend upon rep- resentatives, to come themselves and present their own views, and advocate their own measures.
Here was evidence of a deeply-seated reverence for the great principles of self-government, the sovereignty of the people ; and whatever changes may have occurred in the forms and measures of government, we cannot doubt that this leading characteristic of repubhcanism was always operative to prevent much of evil, and in the end to produce much good by reproducing itself. I am aAvare that there was an earnest wish on the part of the Lord Proprietary to continue to originate all laws which should be submitted to the legislature of his colony. This was the practice of European national legislation at the time, and the theory now. (It is, I think, slowly growing into prac-
47
tice in our own Government). It raised a momentary difficulty between the legislature and the proprietary ; but the principle of liberty which he had planted in his colony, and with his colony, was too potent for that remnant of royalty, and Lord Baltimore felt how operative, how progressive are the principles of human rights, when freed from the trammels of proscription, and unre- strained by hereditary prejudices. He learned to view the ques- tion of government in the light in which he had himself placed it, and he gracefully yielded to that influence which he had so essentially promoted, without being able to anticipate its operation. Here is a species of territorial sovereignty of which we hear so much in these days.
How beautiful ! how republican is all this ! How sternly true were the disciples of democracy in Maryland to the great lessons which they had worked out ; and how gracefully, nobly yielding was the proprietary in England to the circumstances which his own principles, means, and labors had produced. Perhaps he had not thought of that consequence of his ideas of human rights and his efforts for their establishment. Human greatness does not consist in foreseeing all events or in discerning in the future the full effects of the correct principles which are put into opera- tion. The great man is not he who knows all the good which his measures may produce ; it is rather he who yields to the results which the operation of his good principles by good mea- sures makes evident ; and it seems to me that the beautiful spirit of freedom and equality which influenced the founders of this colony is discernable — is to be seen at work — in the establishment of our national government, that the unyielding spirit of right manifested by the colonial legislators, was reproduced in the steady, stern demand of the rebellious colonies in the later days, and that the graceful relinquishment of power by the noble pro- prietary was the illustrious example that was lost on the sovereign of Great Britain, but which was found in the concessions of rights, feelings, and interests that distinguished the different colonies when they made themselves "one out of many."
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. I have already more than once called your attention to the close resemblance of the provisions of the Constitution of our country to the great principles of religious equality that distin- guished the early action of this colony. If there is one thing that specially distinguishes our National Government from that of every other country on earth, it is that pervading principle of toleration and religious equality which is proclaimed in the Con- stitution, not as a simple assertion, but as a memorial of perpe- tuity ; and if there was one thing more than another which distinguished the colony of Maryland from all the other colonies of the country, it was that entire religious equality before the State, before the court, before the people.
If our country claims a pre-eminence over other nations in the mode of treating barbarian conquests, it is in the treaties which she makes with, and the largesses she bestows upon, the Indians, and that superiority is usually conceded by those who know the circumstances of the conqueror and the conquered. How pre-eminent in the history of colonial dealings with the aborigines, is the merciful conduct of the colonists of Maryland, who, though unrestrained by religious scruples on the subject of war, and powerful in means offensive and defensive, so Hved with the red lords of the soil, so commended themselves and their interests to those true owners, that the spirit of brotherly affection was as operative between the two races as among the individuals of the favored caste. I will not say that to the spirit of justice and charity Avhich animated the colonists of Lord Baltimore, is the nation indebted for the credit she claims for the good which was done, and the evils forborne, towards the various tribes of Indians that are brought under our national limits ; but this I may say, without incurring the charge of as- sumption, that if the nation had needed an example of righteous dealing with the red men, she would have found it in the early dealing of that colony.
I feel thus authorized to say, that the early colony of Mary- land presented to the government of the United States the best
49
example of republican simplicity in its form and action of gov- ernment ; that it afforded the loftiest example of religious toler- ance and equality that was ever presented, and the first that was presented in this country ; and that in the treatment of the Indians its conduct was that of surpassing righteousness. And as these were constantly and heartily practised in that period, it is fairly deducible that the founders of the government of this nation were largely and effectively influenced by these examples, and hence to these examples in their effect on the minds of others do we owe in part the recognition and the security by constitu- tional provisions of some the rights dearest to us as men, as pa- triots, as christians, and some of the practices of those national virtues which concern us as philanthropists.
To the early colony of Maryland is our government indebted for the development of some of the best principles that distin- guish our institutions and do honor to their operation, and that colony owed these principles and her determination and ability to give them practice, to that pure and undefiled religion which the the colonists brought with them from the persecutions and the more dangerous favors in Europe, to establish its altars here, and to proclaim "life and immortality" to its professors, and unbounded love and unrestrained equality to all Avho should profess a belief in its divine founder. Honor and fame to the self-sacrificing Pil- grims who thus came to the new world to give full operation to the pure principles of Christianity I Honor and reverence to the venerable and reverend "Fathers" who led the Pilgrims, who erected an altar, lighted its incense and offered its victim ; who poured back the light of truth upon their faithful followers, and sent forward its rays to the eye of the astonished pagan ; who made the work of conquest honorable to the conqueror and ac- ceptable to the conquered ; Avho showed their confidence in their own creed by recommending full indulgence to the creed of others ! Honor to the venerable Fathers who recommended their religion by active benevolence, and invited the red man to the adoption of the Christian faith by the beauty of the white man's practice. 4
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Our orators and our poets have lauded the motives and cele- brated the perseverance of the Pilgrim Fathers of St. Mary's. They have noted the perils of the sea which they incurred in the little vessels when they left their homes in Englajid to cross the Atlantic in the months of winter, and the historians have care- fully portrayed the terrors of the storms encountered, and the dangers from the merciless foes that infested the seas at that time. All of us have heard of the sufferings of those fathers, of the sympathy manifested by those of the tempest-tossed Ark — for those on board the defenceless Dove. All of us have read of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on a neighboring island, and how, true to their faith, they celebrated its holy mysteries of the altar, and erected as a memorial of that faith and as a token of their hopes, a simple cross in imitation of the " world's redeem- ing wood." Beside this, w^e follow these Pilgrim Fathers up- ward on the Potomac and backward again to the sanctified spot on which we now celebrate their landing, and commemorate the virtues which they imparted and cherished.
Graham, a writer of great purity of motive, says, mistaking here and there some of the minor facts, "the first band of emi- grants consisting of about two hundred gentlemen of considerable rank and fortune, with a number of inferior adherents, in a ves- sel called the Dove and Ark sailed from England under the com- mand of Leonard Calvert, and reached the coast of Maryland in the beginning of the following year."
Hawkes speaks of the arrival of these " two hundred gentle- men of rank and fortune," of their faithful and Christian-like commencement of the province which they came to found.
Chalmers, another historian, speaks of the immigration of the fathers of this State, and lauds their character and their conduct. Wherever we find a record of the settlement of Maryland, we meet with accounts of proceedings which do honor to the " few hundred gentlemen of the first character," who came in the Ark and Dove, or who succeeded, in places and duties, those distin- guished men, but no one has paused to tell of the Pilgrim
51
Mothers. Great dangers Avere encountered by those gentlemen in crossing the Atlantic in a small vessel, but was there exemp- tion from danger and from suffering for the women ? Was there nothing in the crow^ded state of those small vessels to make almost unavoidable great physical sufferings to "well-born and well-educated ladies ?" and to shock female delicacy even more than deprivation could injure and tempest and pirates affright ? In the organization of the domestic circle when they had arrived, and in its extension, was nothing due to woman ? When the altar was reared in its fragile temple,* was there no female there to give to it the beauty of holiness ? none to gather around the simple sanctuary as woman once clung around the cross on Cal- vary, to make more impressive the august sacrifice ?
When Tayac, the King, bowed his head to baptism, he, of course, owed his conviction to the instruction of the reverend teachers ; but when his queen came to the sacred font, had she not been invited by the gentle precepts and attractive examples of the female pilgrims ? Or, if the argument of the priest or the example of the husband was alone operative upon the wife, who taught their princess daughter to profess the creed, receive the sacraments and illustrate the doctrines of Christianity ? That was alone, the office of woman ; nameless, fameless, perhaps, but ever the missionary of benevolence, piety and purity.
The holy religion of those pilgrims, which in its first proclama- tion had released woman from the degradation of pagan condition, made her the co-worker in the great mission of domestic and social piety ; endowed her with all the dignity of recognized co- operation in the office Of Christianity ; and, though sparing her the burthen of sacramental labors, yet honoring her with the passive distinction of the baptism of sorrow in herself, and the commission to lead up others to all the blessings that follow vir- tue, and all the dignity that is conferred by religion.
Why, then, have we no record of the sufferings endured in
* The Indian Wio;w:uii.
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themselves, and lessened in others by the women who commenced the work of regenerating the colony ? They were there, else whence the gentle sentiments that pervaded all the public acts and social business intercourse of the Fathers. They were there, and though we knew them not by their names nor by the special mention of their usefulness, yet, we discover their influence in the growth, the piety and the constant peace of the early colony. We find woman there in all her sex's fullest dignity, by the per- petuation of the names of those who first landed. She was there in all her sex's gentleness, to mould the manners and direct the conduct of those whose courage has given fame to Maryland, and whose genius has augmented her scientific and literary character. She was there in all her sex's holiest influences, to prepare the messengers and ministers of love and philanthropy for the duties of the convent cell, and the sacrifices and devotion of the pesti- lential hospital. She was there in all her sex's loftiest office, to fill the sanctuary with the dispensers of the august mysteries of our faith, and to prepare them to wear the mitre and the crozier with dignity and grace, and to deserve the Tiary by their learn- ing, their piety, and their devotion.
Why, then, is woman in such a commemoration unrecognised ? While leaders and teachers, warriors and philanthropists of the other sex are celebrated, why are women, their companions in dangers and triumphs, unnoticed ? I cannot tell, unless their modesty forbade them to chronicle their own worth, and an un- worthy motive lead the historians to make prominent only the names and deeds of the fathers. Special and extraordinary acts we know are those which strike the public mind, and obtain a place in general history ; while continual usefulness so connects itself with the daily experience of man as to become unnoticed by its benefits. Woman is ahvays in the discharge of that mis- sion. Man, at best, is only "instant in season." Man's office is like the offering of the laity of Israel, which was yearly, only, but generous ; woman's is like the sacrifice of the Christian Church, daily, small indeed, but precious, clear and pure.
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Yes ! woman was here in all lier sex's sweetest offices to per- petuate lier own virtues in her own sex, to insure innocency, purity and loveliness to the virgin, dignity and grace to the ma- tron, and benignity and charity in the aged, to mould them to all the perfection of the female character, and make this portion of the colony, dedicated in its name to the Mother of God, redolent with all the odors that exhale from her purity, her piety, and her grace.
If not by special act, if not by the record of extraordinary en- durance, if not by commemorated courage or embalmed affection, are the names of these Pilgrim Mothers of St. Mary's to find a place in the history and commemoration of the foundation of Maryland, yet we cannot fail to recognise in all the graces that enrich the State, and all the virtues that have gone forth hence to bless other portions of our Union, the emanations from avo- man's peculiar excellence, and the exercise of her peculiar virtues. Virtues, such as these, demand from the philanthropist, the pa- triot, and the Christian, the most grateful recognition ; especially do they appeal to us who celebrate them here where they were so beneficially developed ; but their best celebration and their perfect reward, are alone in Heaven.
Gentlemen of the Philodemic Society : — Though the task which I assumed may not have been accomplished, yet the time for its completion has passed, and it will be permitted to me only to close my address with that special reference to the occasion which the festivity would seem to demand, and to your society, which, holding the commemoration of events, keeps alive their remembrance, and thus commends to practice these Christian virtues which are the glory of the Pilgrim Fathers of Maryland. Your association is the arcMtriclanos of this commemorative mar- riage feast of truth and piety. Let our zeal for religion, and our love for truth, and our affections for our fellow men show that the great author of truth has been invited, and that the im- maculate mother of purity is here in our remembrance.
The ground on which we stand is holy ; the foot prints of the
54
good are on its sands, and its soil is enriched with the ashes from the sanctified thurible. The line which sweeps round this limited horizon, includes a space whence history draws her most attrac- tive record, and presents scenes where indeed the purity of the motive and the beneficence of the act seem to invest the genius of history with the spirit of inspiration, and enable us to find be- neath the simplicity of secular narrative the means of spiritual instruction.
Grateful to the heart of every visitor here, must be the hospi- tality that makes our celebration a double festivity. This is the land of bountiful hospitality. The characteristics of the earliest settlers were domestic, social, and municipal hospitality ; and whatever change may have come over the creed or character of the country, the direct inheritance of hospitality is unbroken. Fields are here as of old, improved by culture, and streams made ministrant to trade. Faith and freedom, the boast of the Pilgrim fathers, are yet the attributes of the sons ; and piety and beauty, which made lustrous the cabin-chambers of the Pilgrim mothers, now give charms to the stately mansions of their lovely descen- dants ; and all that was the special and peculiar attribute of the Pilgrims of St. Mary's city, has become the general possession, the principle and practice of the people of the Commonwealth.
Nor are we unmindful of the distinction conferred on this day's celebration, by the participation therein of the Ex-chief Magistrate and a portion of the judicial and other ofiicers of the Commonwealth. The successor of the Calvert honors him- self and his co-celebrants when he does honor to his great prede- cessor. The representatives of the popular sentiment thus express sympathy with the dogma of no communion, the rules of no association, the politics of no individual ; but they who hold place by the voice of the people, appropriately commemorate the sacrifices and the virtues that gave value and potency to the people's voice. Nor can the functionaries of this or any State more magnify their office, more satisfactorily pledge themselves to an equal administration of the laws, than by presenting them-
55
selves among tliose who honor the declaration and establishment of those great Republican principles, civil and political equality, the right to the pursuit of happiness, and, without diminishing or jeoparding thereby any other right, the glorious right indispensa- ble to our form of government, "freedom to worship God."
Beautifully appropriate to the circumstances of the objects celebrated, are the character and condition of those who main- tain the celebration. Men of condition, of learning and character directed and formed the civilization of Maryland. Most meet is it then that the halls of classical learning should supply the guardians of the annual festival, and since the "Fathers" of a learned and laboring religious order, were the companions and guides of the great exodus, meet is it that the influence of that order should be felt, and the presence of its members enjoyed in the solemnities that commemorate the entry into the promised land.
Since woman shared in the dangers and in the glories of the enterprise, woman is appropriately a part of the memorial which this day presents ; not by her presence to give attraction to the celebration of man's achievements, but to be the representative of the principles and sex that gave order and ornament to the early colony, like the caryatides of palatial architecture, to support and beautify the edifice.
Eminently appropriate, also, is the presence of those of various creeds in this celebration which, though it is sustained by the professors of that faith which was held by the founder of Mary- land and most of his colonists, is intended as a commemoration of social and political virtues which are universal in their cha- racter, and may be and have been, practiced by men of all creeds. God forbid that in celebrating the beautiful example of Christian virtues of those who are of our own faith, we should do injustice to the merits of those who profess a difierent faith. God forbid that in pursuing a comparison which we think results in favor of our own creed, we should presume that others who profess a faith in Jesus Christ, are unmindful of the works which should illus-
56
trate that faith. Rather, while we meet the spirit of unfriendli- ness towards ourselves that pervades the social atmosphere at the present time, and seek by comparison and example to avoid a reproach that is cast upon us, and enlighten the careless and forgetful upon the facts of history, let us so manifest our re- ligion that we shall win the love of those who have looked coldly on us, and regain the confidence of those who have doubted. The viper has come from the fire, indeed, which we helped to kindle for general benefit, and it has fastened upon our hand. But let us show the power of innocence, by casting the reptile, not upon those who expect our injury, but back into the fire, that it may perish in the flame whence it issued.
If we complain of the spirit of hostility that is abroad, let us ask if it be worse than that which scattered the sectaries of various creeds, and compelled those of our own faith to seek refuge in tliis asylum. Do we need an example of duty in the present emergency ? Look back upon the conduct of the founder of this colony, who, amid scenes of violence against himself and his, calmly put in operation his plan of Christian benevolence ; and while segments of parties pursued each other with implacable hatred, he manifested the beauty of his own principle by opening to those mutual opponents his own colony as a refuge from each other's antagonism. He could not have been unmindful of the dangers which such a course rendered probable, nor have failed to foresee the very political evils which ensued ; but where right and danger are the only alternatives, the good man has no hesi- tancy in his choice.
The piety, the forbearance, the enlarged views of right that distinguished the plans of the founders of Maryland, and which are illustrated in the practice of the earliest colonists, are no less our duties than they were theirs ; and oh ! how much more easily practised are all those virtues now, since the pathway is desig- nated by their foot-prints, and enlightened by their example. And the celebration of this day would be imperfect, would lack the spirit which would make it acceptable to God and honorable
67
to us, if it recalled a single virtue of our Catholic Fathers, merely to gratify the pride of their successors, or if it selected a single error of their separated contemporaries, only to generate a feeling of unkindness in the present generation.
Here on this chosen spot — here on this sanctified ground — here let there be prevalent no sentiment but that of love to God and love to our fellow man. Here, where the red man received the Pilgrim fathers with tokens of friendship and favor, and where men of other creeds welcome us to-day to our celebration, here may the spirit of Calvert pervade all of those who com- memorate his virtues and his triumphs ; and may the spirit of God animate all, of every name and every creed.
NOTES.
Note — Page S-l.
The terms "toleration" and "tolerance" are used in the course of these remarks, to express the freedom of public worship authorized in the colony of Maryland. And ■wherever there exists in a gOTCrnment legal or constitutional right to interfere with that freedom, such a word as " tolerance" may be tole- rated. Tolerance has its degrees. A religious creed may be only so far tolerated as to allow its profes&ors the privilege of worshipping in private, as the Chris- tians were sometimes tolerated in Pagan Rome. A creed may be tolerated so as to allow the professors the right of public worship, but not admitting them to political equality, as it was recently in England. Europe even now presents the various phases of toleration which advancing civilization has secured, and the remains of that intolerance which not even the nineteenth century, with all its boasted light, has been able, so far, to remove. Sweden and Tuscany are in- stances of the abuse of the religious by the civil power. But Avherever in Europe there is any religious intolerance by the State, it is sustained by the Constitution (written or unwritten) of the country. It is, indeed, none the better for that authority, but it is not generally a violation of law or compact. In this country, the word "tolerance" is not applicable to the religious freedom which is the right of the citizen, because here perfect, entire equality is pledged to every citizen ; and the government of the country not only has no inherent right to legislate for or against any religious denomination or member of any religious denomination, on account of a creed, but such legislation, or any such preference or hostility, is positively prohibited by the Constitution of the United States. It is hence no argument against a Protestant in this country, that in England a Protestant government persecuted Catholics and Non-conform- ists— that in Sweden the Protestant government is intolerant ; nor is it to be
60
urged against American Catholics, that in Tuscany the Catholic government is equally intolerant.
No American Protestant holds himself accountable for the religious intolerance of his brother Protestants abroad, and no American Catholic is answerable for the misrule of a Catholic government in Eui-ope. Abroad, governments are gene- rally Protestant or Catholic ; in the United States, the government is by design, by constitutional prohibition, neither one nor the other, it is neither a division of the one nor a shade of the other. No denomination, no combination of sects, has any right here to pretend to tolerate any other denomination or sect. Per- fect freedom, perfect equality, is the right of all. It was pledged in the National Constitution, before any State accepted that Constitution, and then became part of the compact of National Union. It is a principle, not a measure of our Government. There is no limitation, no degrees. The Constitution is full, clear, and explicit ; and the man or set of men who would establish a degree of liberty to any one regarded as a citizen — who would deprive any man or set of men of one single social or political right, the right to vote or to be voted for, the right to elect or the right to be elected — who would close the ballot-box or the door of ofBce to a man, on account of his religious creed, seeks a violation of the fxmdamental law of the land, and is at heart a traitor.
Equality, then, and not toleration, is the proper term to express the regard of the Constitution of our country for religious denominations.
(A.) Note — Page 35,
Slaryland seems to have taken the lead iii the work of naturalization. For example : —
The removal of the Dutch from Cape Henlopen, induced many of the planters to unite themselves to the colony of Maryland, into which they were readily ad- mitted; and, in the year 1660, the Maryland Assembly enacted, in favor of them and of certain French refugees, the first law ever passed by any provincial legislature for the naturalization of aliens. Many similar laws were enacted in every subsequent session, till the British Revolution ; and, during the intervening period, great numbers of foreigners transported themselves to the province, and became completely incorporated with its other inhabitants. — Bacon's Letters, Oldmixon, Chalmers, S^c. *
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(B.) Note— Ptf^e 88.
The Pilgrims of Plymouth, previously to the landiug, drew up aud signed the following principles or compact : —
"In the name of God, Amen. We, wh»se names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and having undertaken, for the glory of God and advancement of the Cliristian faith, and honor of our King and country, a voyage, to plant the first colony in the north- ern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the pre- sence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and presei-vation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid, and by notice hereof, to enact, constitute and form such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and ofiBces, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto vrhich we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names, at Cape Cod, the 11th November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James, and the 54th A. D. 1620."
This was signed by the male Pilgrims, and it goes to bind all by the will of the majority, that of course was necessary in civil aifairs ; but Lord Baltimore's views differed from those of the Plymouth Pilgrims. They thought only of the majority, which generally can take care of itself; he provided for the minority, which is too often left to suffer, without means of redress. And it will be found in general, that just in proportion as a government tends towards a popular character — that is, in proportion as it is democratic — are the rights of the minority guarded by the fundamental laws.
Note — Page 39.
Though Roger Williams allowed a kind of qualified tolerance, with regard to Roman Catholics, yet in 1GG4, at the first Assembly under the charter of Rhode Island, it was ordained that all men of competent estates and of civil conversa- tion, Roman Catholics excepted, shall be admitted freemen or chosen colonial of&cers. — Chalmers, Douglass, Holmes, ^-c.
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Note — Page 46.
It was not until the assembling of the third Legislature of Maryland, (1639,) that we see the principle of representation introduced into the Constitution of the province ; writs of election were issued, and the delegates were called Bur- gesses. " But," say the writers, "though the election of representatives was thus introduced for the convenience of the people, they were not restricted to this mode of exercising their legislatorial rights ; for, by a very singular pro- vision, it was ordained that all freemen declining to vote at the election for Bur- gesses, should be entitled to assume a personal share in the deliberations of the Assembly." It docs not appear that there was any compensation out of the public treasury for those who represented others or those who represented them- selves. It is not necessary to notice the want of compensation, with the fact that the legislative body was not numerous ; but it is a fact, that so limited was the number, that ihe several branches of the Legislature were appointed to meet in one chamber at the same time.
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