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Of this limited letterpress edition, seven hundred 
and fifty copies have been printed. Type distributed 
after printing. 




Stme of Caccoll, Qbiets of £[{1, 
Itlnfl'e County, Ireland. 



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THE LIFE OF 



Charles Carroll 



OF CARROLLTON 
i7J7-i8j2 

WITH HIS CORRESPONDENCE AND 
PUBLIC PAPERS 



BY 



KATE MASON ROWLAND: 



Author of " The Life of George Mason 



11 



VOLUME I. 



•••. 



" He had Ulents and acquirements which enabled him ^nSfl^llyX* J:«)p tB€ ^A^ 
he espoused. His ttoowledge was various, and his eioqiltac«'%aa^<a^ji^hiKA''orcnBr. 
It was like his character, mild and pleasing : like his depor^ajit* "wxneat anc^T fu^t' 
less. His taste was peculiarly chaste, for he was a scholar 6f ejctraosdy^r^ accaupflsh* 
ments. and few, if anjr, of the speakers in the New World cmji n«are/ the Jnodeh oF ^e 
more refined oratory practised in the parent %Ute."^Lx>tLi^9f^GiV^^^ *"'""' 



<« « rf . 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS ::J: 

NEW YORK & LONDON :{{y 

(Tbe l^nfclierbocfier preed :''. 

J898 -f:;: 



COMIUGHT. .8,7 

KATE MASON ROWLAND 



:::':': .....9 8 2 5 1 



"Vb( ItntclcrbocMT Viu*. *(^ S»(t 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Arms or Carroll, Chiefs of Ely, King's County, 

Ireland Frmiispiece 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton . . . i 

From a portrait by I.Ati after Stuart. Copied by per- 
mission of the Maryland Hi»torii;il Society from its 
"Centennial Memorial" pDblication. 

Carroll House at Annapolis .... 70 
From a photograph. 

Charles Carroll, Attorney-General OF Mary- 
land — 1660-1720 aiB 

From a phot<^Taph of hU portrait at "Doughor^an 

Carroll Chart, or "Genialogical Synopsis 

of the O'Carroll Pedigree "... 401 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction vii 

Preface xi 

BlBLIOGRAPHV Xvii 

List of Carroll Portraits . xix 

I,— Ancestry and Early Years. 1688-1758 i 

II. — Student Life Abroad. 1738-1764 ■ 37 

in. — Politics AND Matrimony. 1765-1772 70 

IV. — Letters OF the First Citizen. 1773-1775 97 

v.— The Mission to Canada, 1775-1776 140 

VI. — A Constitution Maker. 1776-1777 , 177 
VII, — In the Continental Congress. 1777- 

1778 "a 

Appendix A. — Letters of the First Citizen. 

«773 M3 

Letter i. February 4 . . . 345 

Letter 2. March ii . . 356 

Letter 3. May 6 283 

Letter 4. July i 318 

Appendix B. — Journal op Charles Carroll of 

Carrollton. 1 7 76 . . . . 363 



INTRODUCTION. 



IN 1825 th« "Life of Richard Henry Lee" was 
dedicated by its author, Richard Henry Lee of 
Leesbui^, Virginia, to " Thomas JeiTerson, John 
Adams, and Charles Carroll, the Surviving Signers 
of the Declaration of Independence." The Virgin- 
ian and the son of Massachusetts have long been 
known to the world through voluminous volumes, 
containing all that they wrote, and portraying all 
that they achieved on the stage of American history. 
But it has not been 50 with the Marylander. The 
biography of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last 
of the Signers, has never been fully written. And 
it is believed that the publication of his letters and 
papers, with a detailed account of his public services, 
will be acceptable to all historical students, and will 
enhance and substantiate the already high reputa- 
tion of this pure and noble-minded statesman, the 
peer in character and intellect of any of the great 
Revolutionary leaders. 

Charles Carroll's life may be roughly divided into 
three periods : thirty years, more than half of them 
spent abroad, in preparation for the patriotic duties 
which awaited him ; thirty years in the service of 



viii Introducttan. 

his State and country ; thirty years in scholarly re- 
tirement, where, as a close and interested observer 
of public events, he remained in touch with the out- 
side world even to the last months almost of an 
unusually long earthly career. 

For the first period here enumerated, the chief 
interest of this biography will centre in the corre- 
spondence between Charles Carroll of Carrollton and 
his father, of which there remain letters dating from 
1 75 3 to 1764 inclusive. The second period will 
include the Revolution and the stirring years in Mary- 
land preceding it, when, in 1773, Charles Carroll first 
became known as a patriot, through the famous 
" Letters of the First Citizen." His mission to Ca- 
nada, his course in the Continental Congress, where 
he signed the Declaration of Independence, his 
service in the Revolutionary councils of Maryland, 
and finally in the United States Senate and in the 
Senate of his native State, make up a brilliant and 
important parliamentary record ending only with the 
defeat of the Federalists and the election of Jefiferson 
in 1 80 1. The closing period of thirty years presents 
to us the philosopher, looking out from his retreat 
at the busy scenes in which he had borne so conspic- 
uous a part, and at the first a pessimist, as was nat- 
ural with a leader of the party out of power, but 
afterwards more hopeful of his country's future, and 
always solicitous for the public good. Finally, as his 
eminent contemporaries drop down, one by one, at 
his side, he is left to receive, concentrated upon his 
venerated person, the respectful afifection and esteem 
he had hitherto shared with others. And men felt 



Introduction. ix 

that in awarding to Carroll that tribute which was 
his by virtue of his position as the last of the band of 
1776 who had signed the Charter of Independence, 
they bestowed it felicitously, where singular piety 
and private virtue added lustre to talents and civic 
integrity. 

In 1895, when Charles Carroll had been in his 
grave sixty-three years, his name and fame had be- 
come so enwoven with Maryland history and tradi- 
tion as to make his story appear, in his own State, a 
fitting theme for the drama. He was impersonated 
at this time, on the Baltimore stage, as the youthful 
hero of a play, with its due commingling of love, pa- 
triotism, and adventure. The venerable sage, whom 
the great-grandfathers of eighty to-day recollect as 
they saw him in their boyhood, was to be associated 
in the imaginations of the youth of this generation 
with those early years when, fresh from the old- 
world splendors of Paris and London, Carroll came 
back to his provincial home across the sea to find 
the whole land tingling and throbbing with the first 
ardent pulsations of the approaching Revolution. 
It is fitting, perhaps, that almost simultaneously 
with this romantic and dramatic presentation of 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, history's soberer muse 
should render him the tribute his merits demand, 
correcting tradition and shunning fable, and, wher- 
ever it is possible, letting his own pen guide her 
record. 



PREFACE. 



WHILE it is believed that the biography of 
Charles Carroll of CarroUton will meet a 
public want, it should be here stated that these vol- 
umes have been prepared at the request of a mem- 
ber of the Carroll family who defrays the whole cost 
of their publication. The descendants of Charles 
Carroll who have given the author the use of their 
family papers, as indicated in the footnotes to this 
work, are the Hon. John Lee Carroll of " Doughore- 
gan Manor," Maryland, the Rev. Thomas Sim Lee 
of Washington, D. C, and Mrs. William C. Pen- 
nington of Baltimore. From the late Dr. Charles 
Carroll Lee of New York a letter of his ancestor 
was procured. And assistance in compiling the 
Genealogical Notes has been afforded by Genl. 
Charles Fitzhugh of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, a de- 
scendant of the Carrolls of Duddington. A list is 
given below of the autograph collectors and others 
who have courteously responded to the request for 
copies of their Carroll letters, though some of those 
sent were not deemed of sufficient historical impor- 
tance to be included in the biography : 
The late Dr. John S. H. Fogg of Boston; Dr. 



xii Preface. 

Thomas Addis Emmet, D. McN. Stauffer, William 
Bailey t'axon, and Hiram Hitchcock of New York ; 
Charles Roberts, Simon Gratz, Stan. V. Henkels, 
and Charles P. Keith of Philadelphia; Worthington 
C. Ford, from the collection of the late Gordon L. 
Ford, Brooklyn, N, Y, ; Nathaniel Paine, Worces- 
ter, Mass.; Frank D. Andrews, Vincland, N. J.; 
Charles J. Hoadly, LL.D., Hartford, Conn. ; Rob- 
ert J. Hubbard, Cazenovia, N. Y. ; Arba Borden, 
Dorchester, Mass.; Howard K. Sanderson, Lynn, 
Mass. ; John M. Hale, Philipsburg, Penn. ; Peter 
Van Schaack, Chicago, 111. ; Miss M. A. Cohen, Bal- 
timore, Md., from the collection of the late Dr. 
Joshua I. Cohen. 

Valuable letters were obtained from the Archives 
of the State of Maryland, in custody of the Maryland 
Historical Society, and from the manuscript collec- 
tions owned by the Society, every facility for making 
copies being given the author. She met with sim- 
ilar consideration from the Johns Hopkins Univer- 
sity, where there are some quite important Carroll 
papers among the Scharf MSS. there. Copies of 
Carroll letters were also kindly given the author by 
Mr. Martin I. J. Griffin of Philadelphia, editor of 
" American Catholic Historical Researches " ; by the 
Oneida Historical Society, Utica, N. Y., through 
its Corresponding Secretary, Genl. Charles W. Dar- 
ling; by the New York State Library, Albany, 
through George R. Howelt, Archivist ; and by the 
Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, through its 
Secretary, Reuben G. Thwaites. From the Penn- 
sylvania Historical Society, the Harvard College 



Preface. xiii 

Library, and the Department of State, permission 
was obtained to have the valuable Carroll letters 
in these repositories copied. 

Tiie author takes pleasure in expressing her thanks 
for very great assistance in her researches in Annap- 
olis, to Mr. George H. Shafer of the Land Office. 
She acknowledges her obligations also to the Libra- 
rians of the 'State Library at Annapolis, the His- 
torical Library, Baltimore, and the Congressional 
Library, Washington ; and for services of various 
kinds she is indebted to Dr. Edmund J. Lee of 
Philadelphia; to Mr. William C. Pennington, Mr. 
Henry Thompson, Mr. John C. Carpenter, Dr. 
Christopher Johnson, and Mrs. Fielder C. Slingluflf 
of Baltimore ; Snowden Hill, Esq., of Upper Marl- 
boro, Md. ; the Rev. J. H. Richards, S. J., President 
of Georgetown College, Georgetown, D. C. ; and Mr. 
George G. Eaton, Mrs. Vernon Dorsey, and the late 
Dr. Joseph M. Toner of Washington, D. C. 

It is greatly to be regretted that the collection of 
Charles Carroll's correspondence, and other papers, 
in possession of Miss Virginia Scott McTavish of 
Rome, Italy, have not been accessible to the present 
writer. It is believed, however, that copies of the 
more important letters were made by Mr, Penning- 
ton and the Rev. Mr. Lee, and are therefore included 
in these volumes. 

In classifying the autographs of the Signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton's is placed among those most readily ob- 
tained. He must have written thousands of letters 
in the course of his long life. Dozens of them have 



xiv Preface. 

passed through the hands of autograph dealers within 
recent years. At " Doughoregan Manor" there are 
over a hundred letters of Charles Carroll to his son, 
from which selections have been made for this biog- 
raphy. And in the McTavish Collection there are 
many of Charles Carroll's youthful letters, written 
to his father. Mr. John C. Carpenter had the Mc- 
Tavish papers in his hands in 1874, while writing 
his Carroll articles for Appleion's Journal^ and made 
selections from them. They contain, it is under- 
stood, some important correspondence relating to 
French-Canadian afifairs, in connection with the 
mission to Canada in 1776. The commercial value 
of Charles Carroll's letters may be indicated by the 
sums the Carroll letters in the Leffingwell Collec- 
tion brought, at the auction sale of the latter in 
1891. Nine letters, quarto size, of from one to 
three pages in length, almost all having good por- 
traits attached to them, brought only sums ranging 
from $2.25 to $9. A letter of one page folio, how- 
ever, dated 1777, sold for $22. Mr. Walter R. Ben- 
jamin of New York, the autograph dealer, it may 
be added, asked $10 and $15 apiece for some Car- 
roll letters he had for sale, several years ago. 

It should be explained in regard to the notes to 
the ** Letters of the First Citizen," that those which 
designate the sources of the classical quotations are 
not Carroll's. Many of these Latin lines or phrases 
were so incorrectly printed in the old newspapers 
from which these essays are taken, as to be scarcely 
intelligible. And they were traced to the originals 
for the present writer by a gentleman familiar with 



Preface. 



XV 



classical literature, who has thus rendered a needed 
service to Charles Carroll's reputation for elegant 
scholarship, by enabling the copyist to reproduce 
his quotations in the form he must have penned 
them himself. 

The Canada Journal of Charles Carroll, given in 
the Appendix, is republished from the Maryland 
Historical Society's "Centennial Memorial." The 
original manuscript, which is in possession of the 
Society, and was first published by them in 1845, 
was given to them in 1844 by Mrs. Emily Caton 
McTavish, she having received it from her grand- 
father, Charles Carroll of CarroUton, in 1823. 

It will be of interest to genealogists to know that 
an investigation of the line of Anthony Carroll of 
Lisheenboy (see Chart) is now being conducted in 
Ireland, which it is believed will establish the par- 
entage of James Carroll of Anne Arundel County, 
whose will is given in these volumes. 

BALTm ORE, November 24^ i8gf. 



'W^y'^ 




BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Biagrepky (•/ Ihi Signtrt ta the DeelaraHan tf ludeftndtmtt. 

Published bji R. W, Pomerojr. SiiUh of CharUs Carroll of 

Carrellten, by John H. B. Latkobb, in VoL VII., i%v\. 
ffem York Truth Ttlltr, (article luppoaed to luve been written bjr 

Dr. Richard Steuart), 1S27. 
NiUs' RigisUr, Vol. XXXVIII.. 79, 1837. 
Tht Caskit.in, 1830. 
Nrm York Mirror, Vol. X., 33. 1833. 

Nru England Magannt, Vol. III., SI9, 1831-1835, Boston. 
American Magaant\AmericaH MoHtkty Magauntf\, Vol. I., 437, 

1833-1838. New York. 
Euhgy en Charlri Carroll, Rsv. COKSTAHTINB PiSB, Georgetown, 

1833. 
Eulogy en CkarUi Carroll. John Sergeftiil, PbiUdelpbU, 1S33. 
NaHenal Portrait Gallery, Vol. I., 35. 1834. 
Hiitorical Stctckei of Statismen of Time of Gtorgi III., by Hbnrt. 

Lord Brougham, Vol. III., London, 1856, 
Hitterita! Magtttine, November, 1868. 
Judsen'i Sagei and Heroti. p. 63. 
AffUlon'i Jonrnal, Vol. XII., Nos. z86, 3S7, 1874. 
PelUr's Amtruan Monthly, Vol. VII., 403, 1876. 
Maryland Hitterical Sociel/i CmttHnial Memorial, Introdacloty 

Memoir, Bbantz Mavbr, Baltimore, 1S76. 
CatkeUc iVerld, Vol. XXIII., S37, 1S76. 
Biographical Skttehes of Distingmthed Marylandert.hrj EsiCERALDA 

BovLl, Baltimore, 1877. 



mmlm 



XVIU 



Bibliograpky, 



Magaane ef Amtrican History, Vol. II., lOO. 1878. 
TMeHemtse/Amtrica, Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, New York. 1879. 
Ckarltt Carrallof CarrelHan, Last SurvivtHg Signtr af tlu Deelar- 

alio* tf IndtpendoKt, by Rev. Hokacb Edwin Haydkn, 

WakeabuTC, Pa., 1894. 




PORTRAITS OF CHARLES CARROLL 
OF CARROLLTON. 



—Charles Carroll, ten years old (taken in Paris f). 
Owned by Mrs. C. C. McTavish, Art GtUerjr, Maryland 

Historical Society. 

—Charles Carroll, taken in Tendon by Sir Joshua 
Reynolds. 
Owned by Mrs. C. C. McTavisb, Art Gallery, Maryland 
Historical Society. 

—Portrait by Thomas Sully. 

Owned by Mrs. C. C. McTavish, Art Gallery, Maryland 
Historical Society. 

—Portrait by Gilbert Stuart. 

Owned by Mn. C. C. McTavish, Art Gallery, Maiyland 
Historical Society. 

—Portrait by Charles Willson Peale. 

—Portrait by Benjainin West. 

—Portrait by Chester Harding. 

—Portrait by R. Field (painted in 1803). 

-Portrait by Nichol. 

Owned by Mrs. C. C. McTatisb. 



XX Portraits. 

10. — Portrait by Charles Bird King, (or Samuel King) 
painted in 1816. 

II.— Portrait by W. J. Hubbard. 

Owned by Mrs. C. C. McTavish, Art Gallerjr, Muyland 
Hislorjcal Sociel;. 

1 a.— Portrait by M. Lati, after G. Stuart. 
Owoed by MacyUnd Kistorictil Society. 

13. — Crayon Profile by Charles Balthazar Julien F^vre 
de St. M^mio. 
Owned by Corcotan Art Gallery, WashLngton, D, C. 

14.— Full-Length Portrait by Sully. 
In Senate Chamber at Annapolis. 

15. — Bust of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, by 
Browere, taken in 1826. 

Field portrait, engraved by Longacre {in Biography pf the 

Signers, etc.). 

Harding portrait, engraved by Durand. 

Sully portrait, lithographed by Newsane, 

Lati portrait, engraved by H. B. Hall (in Maryland His- 
tori(al Society's Ceniennial Memorial). 




THE LIFE OF 



CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON 



■4 \j^4 


4,AJts'ic!i'.msiv*».i^^. 


i^S^f * 


^ 




w^ 



LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 

CHARLES CARROLL 

OF CARROLLTON 



CHAPTER I. 

ANCESTRY AND EARLY YEARS. 
1688-1758. 

THE Carrolls of Carrollton and Doughoregan 
Manor, Maryland, trace their descent to the 
old Irish princely family of the Carrolls of Ely 
O'CarroII, Kings County, Ireland.' Fiam or Flor- 
ence, King of Ely, who died in 1205, was the ances- 
tor in the fourteenth degree of Charles Carroll, 
Attorney-General of Maryland in 1688, the first of 
his line in the province. But at the time of the 
American Revolution, there were two other Carroll 
families prominent in the social and political life of 
Maryland ; the family of Dr. Charles Carroll of Anna- 
polis, who was descended from an older branch of the 
Ely O'CarroUs, and the family of Archbishop Car- 
' Jbtirnal af Seyal Hist, and Arth, AtsodaHon cf Irtlattd, vol. 



3 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

roll and his brother, whose paternal pedigree has not 
been traced beyond their grandfather. There was 
still a fourth Carroll family in Maryland, which had 
been conspicuous earlier, in the person of James 
Carroll, a relative of Dr. Charles Carroll and the 
Attorney-General. From one of James Carroll's 
brothers, it seems probable, the Carrolls of Somerset 
County descended, a grandson of a James Carroll 
of Somerset becoming Governor of Maryland in 
183a 

With the long and honorable Celtic pedigree of 
his paternal ancestry, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 
the subject of this memoir, united in his lineage sev- 
eral strains of English blood of more than ordinary 
antiquity and prominence, through the families of 
the Hattons, Lowes, and Sewalls ; of the Darnalls 
of Hertfordshire, England, and of " Portland Manor" 
and the " Woodyard," Maryland, and the Brookes 
of Whttechurch, Hants, England, and of " De la 
Brooke" and " Brookfield," Maryland. Charles Car- 
roll's ancestress, Jane Lowe, Mrs. Henry Sewall, 
marrying secondly, Charles, third Lord Baltimore, 
connected him also with the family of the Proprie- 
tary. 

Charles Carroll, the grandfather of Charles Carroll 
of Carrollton, came over to Maryland, October ist, 
1688. He was at this time twenty-eight, having 
been born in 1660. He had been educated at the 
University of Douai in France, and had been a stu- 
dent of law at the Inner Temple, London, in 1685, 
His descendants have preserved two papers showing 
his connection with this latter institution. The first 



Charles Carroll the Immigrant. 3 

is a copy of his admission, written in Latin, and is 
dated May 7th, 1685 : 

Interius Templum^ Carolus Carroll secundus Filius 
Danielis Carroll de Ahagurton in Reg Comitatu in Regno 
Hiberniae Gen generaliier Admissus est in Societat istiuSy 
etc. 

The other manuscript is the letter " To Mr. Minors, 
Chief Butler of the honble. Society of the Inner 
Temple, London," dated May 6th, giving him no- 
tice that ** Charles Carroll, Gent.,** was to be admitted 
by him " into Comons." * 

After leaving the Temple young Carroll went into 
the service of William Herbert, Lord Powis, one of 
the ministers of James IL, as his clerk, or secretary, 
and a little later he determined on his plan of emi- 
gration. Charles Carroll of Carrollton is reported 
to have given the following traditional account of 
the motives inducing his ancestor to leave England : 

" Remarking to his lordship [Lord Powis] one day, 
that he was happy to find that public affairs and his 
majesty's service were proceeding so prosperously, the 
secretary received for answer, *You are quite in the 
wrong, affairs are going on very badly ; the king is very 
ill-advised.' After pausing a few minutes, his lordship 
thus addressed Mr. Carroll ; * Young man I have a re- 
gard for you, and would be glad to do you a service, take 
my advice ; great changes are at hand, go out to Mary- 
land, I will speak to Lord Baltimore in your favor.' He 

' Family papers, Rev. Thomas Sim Lee. 



4 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

did so, obtained some governmeDt situation, with con- 
siderable grants of land, and left his family among the 
largestproprietors in the Union." ' 

Rut all was not smooth sailing at first. Hardly 
had Charles Carroll arrived in Maryland, when there 
took place in the province following in the wake of 
the English change of dynasty, what is known in 
Maryland annals as "the Protestant Revolution." 
The proprietary government of Lord Baltimore was 
overthrown in November, 1688, and in 1692 the 
Crown assumed the government, making Maryland 
a royal colony, which it remained until 1715- How- 
ever, Lord Baltimore was secured in the possession 
of his private rights, his ownership of the soil and the 
vacant lands, the quit-rents, port dues, and one half of 
the tobacco duties. But it was not without a struggle 
and bitter protests, that the friends of the Lord Pro- 
prietor saw the functions of the government taken 
from him, Charles Carroll had come over with the 
commission of Attorney-General in his pocket, and 
his appointment had been confirmed to him by the 
Council, October 13th, 1688.' He stoutly resisted 
the subversion of Lord Baltimore's government, and 
wrote to him indignantly in September, 1689, of the 
" strange rebellion your ungrateful people of this 
your Lordship's Province have involved themselves 
in." We find him in 1691-92 a prisoner " for high 
misdemeanours." ' Sir Lionel Copley, the Royal 

' " Biographical Sketch of Rt. Rev. John Carroll," by Johc Carroll 
Bient, p. 16. 

' Maryland Archives, vol. vui., p. 47, 

*IHd., pp. IS4, X46. 



The Young A Homey 'GefieraL 5 

Governor, committed him into custody for " several 
reflecting speeches and discourses against the Gov- 
ernment." * In April, 1693, Mr. Carroll wrote to 
Governor Copley saying he had been a fortnight in 
the sheriff's custody, and asking for"bayle." He 
had been accused of "ridiculing the Government," 
and saying, " he valued not Bonds for that for a 
small matter he could procure a Noliprosequi out of 
England, and that for a bottle of Cyder or some 
such inconsiderable value he would clear Mr. Bat- 
son, his fellow Bondsman,** etc' Dimly through 
the Council proceedings, one discerns the high- 
spirited and irate young Attorney-General, resenting 
the injuries sustained by his patron and friend, and 
suffering the political persecution inflicted by the 
successful party. 

Cecelius Calvert, a convert from the Anglican to 
the Roman Catholic Church, second Lord Baltimore 
and first Proprietary of Maryland, of which province 
he was the overlord for forty-three years, was never 
in the colony. His brother had been sent over by 
him as Governor. And Charles, third Lord Balti- 
more, was the one who was deprived of his political 
administration. But he had still much power and 
patronage left. Charles Carroll received from him 
the appointment of Judge, and Register of the Land 
Office, an important and lucrative position. He 
succeeded Col. Henry Darnall who died in June, 
171 1, and whose daughter he had married. Charles 
Carroll rapidly acquired lands in the province, nam- 

»/W</.. p. 495. 
»/W</., p. 508. 



6 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

ing several of these tracts after places which had be- 
longed to his family in Ireland. " Carroll's Forest," 
consisting of five hundred acres, in what is now 
Prince George's County, was surveyed for him, May 
3d, 1689; " Elyo Carroll," one thousand acres in 
Baltimore County was surveyed in January, 1695, 
and soon after " Litterlouna," in the same county, a 
place of four hundred acres. The original name in 
Ireland was Litreach-Luna. " New Year's Gift " was 
surveyed for him January loth, 1700, a plantation of 
thirteen hundred acres, " at a place called Elk Ridge." 
In 1701 and 1702, he obtained other tracts of land 
of nine hundred and sixty-nine, and one thousand 
acres in Baltimore County, and in 1707 he added to 
his possessions " Clynmalyra," an estate of five 
thousand acres, and the princely domain of " Dou- 
ghoregan " consisting of ten thousand acres." He 
owned also at this time " Enfield Chase" in Prince 
Geoi^e's County, and later many other tracts of land 
in various parts of Maryland, amounting in all to 
about sixty thousand acres.' 

Evidently Charles Carroll was personally a favorite 
of Lord Baltimore, who must have found his social 
qualities such as would make him a desirable neigh- 
bor, for in one of his letters he writes that Mr. 
Carroll Is to have so many acres assigned him "as 
near as possible to one of the Proprietor's Manors, 
for the benefit of his society." 

'The pMchment deeds of " Doughoregan " and other tracts of 
land are framed and pceseivedat (he Manor. 

* Rent Rolls of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and FriDce Geoige's 
Counties. Calvert Papers, Md. Hist. Society. Land Office Deed 
Books, Annapolis, 



A Favorite of Lord Baltimore. 7 

A small brick house and two lots of ground in the 
" Port of Annapolis " were granted Charles Carroll 
by the Proprietary, October loth, 1701, " for and in 
consideration of the good and acceptable services to 
us done by the said Charles, and the better to en- 
able him to continue in the performance of the like 
good services for the future to us and our heirs," etc. 
This apparent graciousness and generosity, however, 
meant only a clear title, for Charles Carroll had to buy 
the house and lots from the widow of the late owner. 
He petitioned Lord Baltimore for permission to 
make the purchase, and then paid him a quit-rent of 
two pounds yearly.* We find Charles Carroll mak- 
ing a visit to England in 1702," but do not know 
how long he remained abroad. In Lord Baltimore's 
instructions, " to be observed and pursued by Charles 
Carroll, my Agent and Receiver-General in Mary- 
land " dated September 12th, 1712, Carroll is charged 
to pay in tobacco yearly various persons for their 
services, and ** To yourself, 120CX) [pounds] of tobacco 
for your advice and trouble about my law concerns," 
adds the Lord Proprietary. In this paper he says : 
" I do hereby confirm a grant passed by Col. Henry 
Darnall, to yourself, of two hundred acres of land 
near the city of St. Mary's," which place, until 1694, 
was the capitol of the province." 

Lord Baltimore also empowered Charles Carroll to 
appoint surveyors, and displace incapable ones, mak- 
ing him temporarily his Surveyor-General. Charles 

' Calvert papers, MS :, Maryland Historical Society. 

* Council Journal, October 12, 1702. 

' ILand Office, Deed Books ; Boyle's ** Maxylanders," p. 79. 



8 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

Carroll of CarroUton, in a letter giving an account of 
his ancestry written in 1830, says of his grandfather: 
" A Roman Catholic by religion, he resolved upon 
withdrawing froni the oppressions of that period by emi- 
grating to this country. He selected Maryland chiefly 
because toleration was by Royal Charter extended to it, 
and afterwards confirmed by Provincial Statute. Upon 
leaving the mother country, he changed (with a felicity 
of thought almost prophetic) the motto of his family arras 
[" In Fide el in Belto fortes "] to ' Ubicumque cum Liber- 
tate,' in allusion to the cause which induced him to leave 
the shores of his native land. The Revolution of 1688 
in En);land was succeeded by a revolution in Maryland, 
and my Grandfather was destined to experience even in 
the asylum he had selected, the evils of that religious 
persecution from which he had so recently fled. As a 
Catholic, he was deprived of office. In course of time, 
harmony was restored in Maryland, and Mr. Carroll was 
afterwards appointed by the ist [2d] Lord Proprietor, 
(Charles, Lord Baltimore) his Agent, Receiver-General, 
Keeper of the Great Seal, and Register of the Land 
Office. He enjoyed these appointments until the year 
1717, when the Government and Assembly passed Laws 
depriving the Roman Catholics of their remaining 
privileges." ' 

Charles Carroll's commission, recorded July [t, 
1716, included the post of Naval Officer.' He had 
the authority to appoint "naval officers and land 
surveyors in the province," as his son writes in 17S9, 
in a letter to Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

> MS ; Letter, Addressed to Rev. Wm. B. Sprague, May iz, 
1830. 

* Deed Boolci, Land OfEce, Anoiipolii, 



DarnaU and Hatton Families. 9 

Charles Carroll was married after coming to Mary- 
land, to Martha, daughter of Anthony Underwood, 
for whom a place called " Underwoods Choice ** was 
surveyed, in St. Mary's County, in 1684. This lady 
died in October, 1690, and her only son, Anthony, 
died the day of his birth. The second marriage of 
Charles Carroll took place February 14th, 1693. His 
young bride Mary DarnaU, who was probably not 
more than fifteen, was the daughter of Col. Henry 
DarnaU of " Portland Manor," and his wife Elinor 
Hatton, widow of Maj. Thomas Brooke of " Brook- 
field." Ten children were born to Charles and Mary 
Carroll between the years 1695 and 1713. Of these, 
three sons and two daughters grew to manhood and 
womanhood. Henry Carroll, born January 26th, 
1697, after being educated at St. Omer's, was sent to 
England to finish his legal studies, and was entered 
at Gray's Inn, September i6th, 1718.* He died at 
sea the loth of April, 1719, on his way home to 
Maryland. Charles Carroll, born April 2d, 1702, 
the father of Charles Carroll of CarroUton, then be- 
came the heir, as the eldest son. Daniel Carroll, 
born October 30th, 1707, the youngest son of his 
parents, married Ann, daughter of Notley Rozier of 
** Notley Hall," Maryland, and became the progeni- 
tor of the Carrolls of " Duddington," Prince George's 
County. This estate is now within the precincts of 
Washington City, and the old mansion was torn 
down within recent years, to make way for modern 
improvements. Charles and Daniel Carroll, like 
their elder brother, were sent abroad for their edu- 

* Foster's ** List of Admissions to Gray's Inn," 



lo Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

cation, and a letter to them from their father, written 
in 1719. has been preserved, in which he tells them 
of Henry's death. 

Maryland, July 7. 1719. 
Sons Charles and Daniel : 

I suppose you have before this time, had the afflicting 
news of your Brother's death within about six days saJle 
of the Capes of Virginia as he was coming in ; it was 
upon the loth day of April last. I hope you both know 
your duty upon so lamentable an occasion. The most 
that you and I or any other of his relations and friends 
can doc for him now is to pray for the repose of his soul, 
wherein I desire you will not be deficient, nor in minding 
the Sodality whereof he was a member, of what is usual 
to be done on such occasions. . . , 

I have desired Mr, Kennett to remit your Rector ten 
pounds to be by him imployed after the best manner that 
such an occasion requires. 

Pray give my kind respects to the Rector, and the rest 
of the good family there, and acquaint him that I continue 
to you and your brother your usual allowance, besides 
defraying any necessarys, or journeys, or otherwise, and 
the same shall be remitted him as your pensions are. I 
do design, provided I hear you do well, that you shall 
not be behindhand in my esteem, with your brother, and 
therefore desire you will vigorously prepare for the de- 
fence of your Universal Philosophy, if the Rector and 
your Professor approves thereof, who shall be furnished 
with the necessary expence, but if they do not think that 
you can go through it with applause, it is better lett alone, 
for a dunce in a pulpit makes but a very awkward 
appearance. . . , 



Death of the First Charles Carroll. 1 1 

I am afraid your brother's theses are miscarried, for 
those of his last defence are not come to my hands yett. 
. . . Therefore desire you will take much the same 
steps your brother did, especially in your dedication to 
me, mutatis mutandis so that it appear not to be the same 
with the other. 

Your mother designs, next spring, to go with your two 
sisters either to Graveling or Dunkirk ; when she is there 
I doubt not but the good nature and affection she has for 
her children will induce her to see you and your brother. 
But I should think it more convenient and less fatigue- 
ing to her, that upon her giving you notice of her arrivall 
and appointing you a time to meet her at Saint Omers 
you would do so, if it should not prove an interruption 
to your preparation for your defension, but I must leave 
that matter to her and you. She designs you shall come 
back with her for England, leaving your brother to finish 
his studies. I would have you stile yourself in your 
Theses, Marylando-Hibernus, 

I have nothing more to say to you, save to recommend 
an exact discipline, both as to your eternal welfare, and 
virtuous demeanor in this life, and conclude 

Your affectionate father, 

Charles Carroll.* 

Charles Carroll died the 20th of July, 1720.' He 
had been in England in 171 5, at the time of the 
death of his patron and client. Lord Baltimore, and 
while in London acted as attorney for Lady Balti- 
more on her husband's demise. When about to re- 
turn to Europe in 17 18, he made his will, which was 

* Family papers. Rev. Thomas Sim Lee. 
'l4Uid Office, Chancery Suit, Damall v. Carroll. 



1 2 Charles Carroll of CarroUton, 

probated the 28th of July, 1720.' He appointed 
his three sons his executors, as Henry Carroll was 
then living, and the " overseers and trustees " of his 
will were "his loving brothers-in-law " Henry Darn- 
all and Benjamin Hall, and his "kinsmen" James 
and Daniel Carroll. The death of the third Lord 
Baltimore in 171 5 had been followed by the restora- 
tion of the Proprietary Government, in the person 
of Benedict Leonard Calvert, fourth Lord Baltimore, 
who had conformed to the Church of England. As 
Charies Carroll was a Roman Catholic, his fortunes 
had suffered some eclipse under the new order of 
things. Yet he was one of those of his religion who 
were exempted by name from the disqualifications 
imposed by the penal laws." And that his power in 
the colony was not small at this time, is shown by 
the incident related of the Jacobite youths of Anna- 
polis who, taking possession of an old cannon from 
the fort, fired a salute on the night of the Pre- 
tender's birthday, June loth, 1716. The governor 
arrested the daring oHenders and put them in prison, 
but Charles Carroll finding that one of them was his 
nephew ordered and obtained his release,' 

That religious differences and animosities embit- 
tered life somewhat in the Maryland Eden, is very 
apparent, however. Governor Sharpe In one of his 
letters to the Lord Baltimore of his day, has the fol- 
lowing allusion to Charles Carroll's death, and the 
state of feeling in the province between members of 

' Register of Wills, Annapolis. Appendix C. 

' Schaif's " History of Maryland," vol. ii,, p. laS, 

'Brown's " History of Maiyland," p. 20S, 



Carroll Lands and Manors. 1 3 

the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholics. 
He writes : " Sometime before your Lordship was 
pleased to appoint me your Lieutenant Governor, 
one Mr. Carroll, a Roman Catholic died here and 
left a considerable estate to his two sons, having 
appointed two of his relatives their guardians and 
executors of his last will and testament," * The let- 
ter goes on to say that both of these gentlemen were 
at that time of the religion of the testator, and how 
one of them later joined the Church of England, and 
was publicly denounced by the other. Retaliatory 
words followed, and the matter was taken up by the 
Assembly, to which the Churchman was a delegate, 
the Lower House " resolving that Papists were bad 
members of the community," etc. The principle 
of religious toleration had not been accepted then, 
in Europe or America. And it must be remembered, 
in extenuation of the bigotry of the English Church, 
and of the English people in general, at this time 
and for a long period after, that Spain and France 
were the relentless enemies of Great Britain, and 
members of the Roman Catholic Church in Mary- 
land, as in the mother country, suffered from being 
identified with the religious faith of the foreign foe. 
Besides his property in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, 
and Prince George's Counties, Charles Carroll had 
acquired lands in St. Mary's and Charles Counties, — 
the manors of " St. Clements," ** Bushford," " West- 
wood," etc. ; land in Kent and Somerset Counties, 
and also in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He 



'Archives of Maryland, ** Correspondence of Governor Sharpe, 
▼oL ii., p. 316. Ridgeley*s ** Annals of Annapolis," p. 95. 



»> 



14 Charles Carroll of Carrdlion. 

bought lots and houses in Annapolis, in 1713 and 
1716 (on the Duke of Gloucester Street in 1713), 
and a plat, now lost, of part of the city of Annapolis, 
dated 1760, designated the " former dwelling-house" 
of the elder Carroll and the " former dwelling, 
house " of his son.' 

Charles Carroll, the second of his name and line 
in Maryland, usually designated Charles Carroll of 
Annapolis, remaining abroad after his father's death, 
returned to Maryland in 1723-1724, at the age of 
twenty-one. His younger brother, Daniel, came 
home the following year.* In the absence of the 
brothers and during their minority, the estate had 
been managed entirely by their relative, Mr. James 
Carroll of Anne Arundel County. This gentleman, 
who was a man of prominence In the province, hav- 
ing been a deputy surveyor for Lord Baltimore and 
Keeper of the Rent Rolls, died apparently a bachelor, 
and making his will in 1728, named his nephew 
Anthony Carroll his heir. He left property In 
Annapolis to his " Cosin and Godson, Charles 
Carroll," including the " piece or parcel of a lot of 

■ Land OfRce, Charles Carroll v. Thomas Rutland, 1760. 

' There is a discrepancy in Charles CanoU's statements as to the 
dale oF his return to Maryland. He writes in 1760 that he came 
back from school in 1710, but in a chanceiy suit, 1733, he speaks of 
his " return into this Province, which was in the year 1724 " (C. Car- 
roll and Daniel Carroll, heirs o[ Charles Carroll against John Patran 
and Maiy Fairan). However in the suit of Henry Damall against 
Charles Carroll— Ewculor of Charles Carroll, deceased— 1721-1 731, 
Charles Carroll "makes answer at the court (or April 1723." In 
one of his letters he speaks of being prevented from going to the 
Temple by his father's death. He had just finished his" philosophy," 
when he was recalled to Maryland, 



Charles Carroll of Annapolis. 15 

ground given me by him and his mother,** His 
" dwelling-place,*' and other lands in Anne Arundel 
County, " Carrollsburgh," etc., in Prince George's 
County, lots in " Queen Ann's Town," etc., servants 
and slaves, and most of his personal estate, James 
Carroll left in trust to his godson, for George Thorold 
of Charles Co., but he revokes the trust in a codicil, 
some days later, *' through apprehension of the said 
Charles' death." ' 

James Carroll died at the house of his godson, 
Charles Carroll of Annapolis, the 13th of June, 1729, 
and his funeral took place on the 23d, when, says 
the Annapolis paper : " the Corps of Mr. James 
Carroll was interred at the Burial-Place of that Fam- 
ily, near this City, in a decent and handsome man- 
ner.'* ' The Carroll graveyard was three miles from 
Annapolis. In 1729 Charles and Daniel Carroll sold 
sixty acres of land, on the Patapsco River, at forty 
shillings an acre, to the trustees of the new town of 
Baltimore, This land is at that part of the city's 
harbor now called the Basin.' 

An old account book of Charles Carroll's has been 
preserved, of which the earliest entries date back to 
172 1, while James Carroll was managing his godson's 
property. The expenses of " Madam Mary Carroll " 
are set down, carefully enumerated. And we read 
of the price she paid for her " Leather Rimed Spec- 
tacles," of the oil she bought to " clean the Chariot," 
and of the " Kersey," " gimp buttons," and other 
articles designed for the wearing apparel of the old- 

* Appendix C. * Maryland GazetUy June 17 and June 24, 1729. 
■ Bro.vn's ** History of Maryland/' p. 2ii. 



1 6 Charles CarroU of Carrdlton. 

time Maryland matron.' In the summer of 1730, 
Charles Carroll, with his brother Daniel, was inter- 
ested, it appears, in what he calls the "Virginian 
Project," Daniel Carroll making a trip to Virginia at 
this time on the business referred to. Eleanor Carroll, 
one of the two sisters, died in 1734, and an itemized 
account of the funeral expenses appears in the led- 
ger. It included three dozen of men and women's 
" shamoy gloves," and three and a half dozen kid 
gloves, shamoy shoes for three ladies, four fans, four 
girdles and three buckles, two pairs of black knee 
breeches, two pieces of hatband crape, three pieces 
of white " ribband," four gauze handkerchiefs, ten 
yards of " superfine black cloth," and a hundred and 
eight yards of "finest crepe." To treat the lai^e 
company of mourners, there were provided one dozen 
bottles of white and two dozen bottles of red wine, 
two dozen nutmegs, with mace, cinnamon, and cloves 
in proportion. The coffin cost three pounds, and 
twelve shillings was the amount paid " to the person 
who carried the corpse in the chaise to the place of 
burial.'" 

Daniel Carroll of Duddington died in this same 
year, 1734, when his son Charles was but five years 
old, and the child's uncle was made the guardian 
of himself and his sisters. This estate of his deceased 
brother, Charles Carroll managed from 1734, until 
long after his nephew had attained his majority. 
And Charles Carroll wrote of himself in 1761, when 
a lawsuit was pending between uncle and nephew : 



Daniel Carroll of Duddington. 1 7 

" I have from the time I came from school, in the year 
1720, [1723] to the year 1757, been a constant servant of 
my family. The whole weight of the management of my 
father's estate and of my brother's and sisters' fortunes 
fell on my shoulders. I left my brother in Europe, my 
sisters were sent thither under their uncle Darnall's care 
for education. When it was proper to bring them home I 
could not prudently trust them to strangers, I went for 
them and bore my own expence." * 

In 1739, Charles Carroll became involved in a small 
difficulty with the Proprietary Government. Daniel 
Dulany, Lord Baltimore's Attorney-General, accused 
him of refusing to pay quit-rent for the " Barrens," 
(1000 acres) and " Carroll's Delight " and " Carrol Is- 
burg," two tracts of Scxx) acres each in Prince George's 
County, estates in which Charles, Daniel, and Mary 
Carroll had a joint interest. Charles Carroll wanted to 
appeal to his Majesty in Council, but his petition to 
this effect was refused. He was then arrested, 
" taken " by the sheriff of Anne Arundel County, at 
which indignity he was " greatly aggrieved." This 
is done, he says, ** to his great vexation and unneces- 
sary expense," before he can lay his case before his 
Majesty for his royal determination. He prays an 
appeal to the Court of Apppeals, and is " set at lib- 
erty" by order of the Court. William Cumming, 
Charles Carroll's counsel, refers to " instructions from 
the Crown," quoted in the case as ** not of that force 
they are Pretended to be of — the said Instructions 
being given when the Inhabitants of this Province 
had the Happiness to be under the immediate Gov- 

" Ibid. Letter of Charles Carroll to Clement Hill. 

VOL.1— a 



1 8 Charles Carrdl of Carrollton. 

eminent of the Crown." ' As the Lords Baltimore 
were now members of the Church of England, the 
"immediate Government of the Crown," was to be 
preferred, apparently, to the Proprietary sway. Mary 
Carroll had transferred her right in " Carroll's De- 
light "and " CarroUsburg " to her two brothers in 
• 1734, and Daniel Carroll had by his will devised 
his share to his two daughters Mary and Eleanor 
Carroll.' 

Mrs. Mary Carroll died in February, 1742. The 
glimpses caught of her through old letters and other 
documents, while residing at Annapolis through the 
twenty-two years of her widowhood, show that she 
enjoyed the esteem and conBdence of her relatives 
and neighbors, was a good mother and grandmother, 
and a prudent manager of her plantations. 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton was born, at Anna- 
polis, September 19th, 1737. His mother, Elizabeth 
Brooke, was the daughter of Clement Brooke and 
Jane Sewall, and was a near relative of her husband, 
being the daughter of Charles Carroll's maternal 
uncle by the half blood. At ten years of age, young 
Charles the third was sent to school at the Jesuits 
College of Bohemia on Herman's Manor in Maryland, 
where among his fellow students were his cousin 
John Carroll (related to him through the Darnalls), 
afterwards Archbishop of Baltimore, and Robert 
Brent of Virginia, who married a sister of John Car- 
roll. From Bohemia the two CarroUs went together 
in 1748 to St. Omer's, the famous Jesuit College at 
the town of the same name, in French Flanders. 

' Calvert papers, MS :, Maryland Historical Sodet]i. 

' Chaocerj Suits, Land Office. 



Jesuits College at Bohemia. 19 

From this place where Charles Carroll of Carrollton 
remained six years, he went first to the College of 
French Jesuits at Rheims for a year, and then to 
the College of Louis le Grand at Paris. In 1753 
Charles Carroll removed to Bourges, to study civil 
law, but at the expiration of a year he returned to 
Paris, where his father came over to visit him in 1757. 
He left Paris for London in this year, taking apart- 
ments at the Temple, and studying law there for 
three or four years ; but " not with a professional 
view," as he says in one of his letters. In 1765, at 
the age of twenty-eight, he returned to America. 

Maryland historians have designated three periods 
in the province, between 171 5 and 1776, as times of 
special agitation and excitement in its annals ; the 
first between 1722 and 1732, the second between 
1754 and 1763, the epoch of the French war, and the 
third between 1770 and 1773. It was during the 
second of the two decades above named that Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton was completing his studies, in 
Paris and London, and forming himself for the 
career the future held out for him. And an inter- 
esting correspondence between the father and the 
son, covering most of these years, has been pre- 
served, in which the details of Charles Carroll's life 
abroad, are put before us, and public events, both in 
Europe and America, are touched upon. The earli- 
est letter of importance in this collection is as fol- 
lows. It is written from Maryland by Charles 
Carroll the elder. It appears that the latter had 
been to London in 1751* and he probably went to 
see his son at this time. 

I Land Office, Chancery Suit. 



20 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

October loth, 1753, 
Dear Charley : 

I received your several letters ot August 30th, Decem- 
ber 30th, 1752, and March 6th, 1753, which are all most 
welcome to me, and altho' a hurry of business prevents my 
often writing to you, you may be assured you are always 
in my thoughts and that I most earnestly wish your hap- 
piness. As you have no such avocations I desire I may 
often hear from you. Since you have not a good danc- 
ing-master, you were in the right to discontinue learning, 
but when you can meet with a good one you must resume 
it, for nothing contributes more to give a gentleman a 
graceful and easy carriage. You may sometime hence 
meet with a good painter and then with your mother I 
shall be glad to have your picture in the compass of 15 
inches by 12, 

Your opinion of Europe and the people there will be 
much altered when you return to your native country. 
Fops are the object of contempt and ridicule everywhere, 
but it is from the fine gentleman you are to take example. 
Dear child, I long to see you, but I did not send you so 
far only to learn a little Greek and Latin. Where you 
are you can only lay a foundation for other studies which 
may hereafter be profitable to yourself and useful to your 
friends. When you have gone thro' them the rest of 
your hfe will be a continued scene of ease and satisfac- 
tion, if you keep invariably in the paths of truth and of 
virtue. The husbandman annually repeats the toil of 
dressing, plowing and sowing for his harvest. When you 
have completed higher studies your toil will be over, and 
your harvest will daily and always come in. I am very 
glad to see you are so sensible of the advantages of a 
virtuous education, and that you are resolved to make 
the best use of it. Mr. Wappeler informs me you are 



At St. Omer^s and in Rheims. 2 1 

third in your school, which gives me great pleasure, and 
as your judgment unfolds itself and ripens, I expect to 
hear of your still rising ; Aut Casar aut Nullus, The 
ambition to excel in virtue and learning is laudable. 

We are still threatened by our Assembly, but I hope 
by the interposition of our friends in London, it will not 
be in their power to hurt us. A continual calm in life is 
no more to be expected than on the ocean. 

Pray present my humble services to your Master, 
whose care of and kindness towards you deserve greater 
acknowledgments from me than I have in my power to 
repay. I am under the same obligations to Mr. Wap- 
peler and Newton, which, pray let them know with my 
humble service and compliments to them. I desire also 
my compliments to Mr. Falkner, and am very glad to 
hear he is contented in his station. If you please he 
may be of service to you in arithmetic. Jacky I suppose 
is gone up the hill. Remember me to Watty, Mr. Warr- 
ing and all the Marylandians. Your mama, grandmama, 
aunt Jenny and all your friends in general are well. I 
hope the books got safe to you, and that Cicero's life has 
in particular given you pleasure. 

You entered into the 17th year of your age on the 
19th of last month, being born the 8th of September, 
1737, old stile. Your judgment therefore will enable 
you to enter into the reason of the rules and lessons you 
are learning. Children learn like parrots, memory and 
practice aid them chiefly, but men of sense do not con- 
tent themselves with knowing a thing, but make them- 
selves thoroughly acquainted with the reasons on which 
that knowledge is founded. I beg you will carefully ob- 
serve this in your present and future studies. Memory 
may fail you, but when an impression is made by reason 
it will last as long as you retain your understanding. 



22 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

I cannot wish to have a better account of you than 
what I have from Messrs. Carvall, Wappeler and New- 
ton, and I doubt not you will daily merit it more and 
more. If you do it will afford me the greatest comfort 
and satisfaction and increase the love I have for you. 
I am, dear Charley, 

most affectionately your father 

Charles Carroll. 
To Mr. Charles Carroll 
at Blandike.' 

The father wrote again to his son, September 
30th, 1754: 

" You say that you do not like Poetry nor succeed in 
it as well as in your other studies. This will find you at 
Rheims. You will there enter upon a new stage and en- 
joy a greater degree of Liberty than you have hitherto 
had. I trust that your conduct may be instructive and 
edifying to your schoolfellows. 

It gives me great pleasure that you are so exceedingly 
fortunate as to have your cousin Anthony with you who 
can so much better serve you. Cherish and be thankful 
for the blessing, and to show that you are so, behave al- 
ways with ail possible respect towards him. Never be 
on the reserve with him, or backward in asking his ad- 
vice in everything, though to you seemingly insignificaDt. 
Look always upon him as your Friend and not as your 
Tutor." ' 

Anthony Carroll was a second cousin of Charles 
Carroll of CarroUton, being descended from his 
grandfather's elder brother who had remained in 

> Family p«pen, Mn. William C. Pennington 

* Ibid., Rev. Thomu Sim I^e. 



Dr. Charles Carroll and his Son. 23 

Ireland. A letter of the elder Charles Carroll is 
extant, written September 12th, 1755, introducing to 
some " reverend gentleman *' whose name is not 
preserved, a survivor of the battle of Monongahela : 

" The bearer, Mr. Hopkinson, is a young gentleman 
of this province, and went as a volunteer with General 
Braddock, — was in the unfortunate action at Mononga- 
ella \sic\ where I am told he behaved well, and suffered 
much by the loss of his baggage, besides the expence he 
has been at in fitting himself out. Not discouraged by 
a loss which has much impaired his fortune, he is willing 
again to venture, and as it is fitting persons of such a 
disposition should be encouraged, I take the liberty to 
recommend him to you, having myself no interest, and 
if you will be pleased to recommend him to General 
Shirley, or any other person of interest, I doubt not he 
will behave in such a manner as to give you no reason to 
repent the favors you may show him." * 

About this time, September 29th, 1755, Dr. Charles 
Carroll, father of Charles Carroll, barrister, died, at 
the age of sixty-four, having been forty years in the 
colony. He was associated with his relative Charles 
Carroll of Annapolis and Doughoregan Manor, in 
the Baltimore or Patapsco Iron Works Company, 
founded in 1731, in Baltimore, or Anne Arundel 
County. A letter from Dr. Carroll to Charles 
Carroll, Esq., written in 1748, and messages from one 
to the other in the correspondence of the two 
cousins through the years 1748 and 1749, with their 
relative, Richard Croxall, the manager of the works, 
attest the intimacy existing at this time between 

' Pennsylvania Historical Society. 



24 CharUs Carroll of CarroUton. 

the two families.* Richard Croxall and his brother 
Charles are frequently mentioned In the Carroll 
letters. Their mother, Joanna Carroll was a sister 
of Mr. James Carroll. The exact relationship of 
James and Joanna Carroll to Dr. Carroll, and to the 
Carrolls of CarroUton, has not been determined. 
Charles Carroll left his affairs in charge of Richard 
Croxall, on his visit to Europe in 1757. He wrote 
to his son the following admirable letter, in 1756 : 

Joly a6tb, 1756. 
Dear Charley : 
I have received the following letters from you Dec. 14th, 

1755, one without a date, wrote as I suppose about the 
loth of last January, and the last dated February ayth, 

1756. You may be assured they were all very welcome 
to me and your mama. I suppose you may buy Locke 
and Newton in Paris, if not desire your cousin Anthony 
to write to Mr. Perkins to send them to you or any other 
books you may want. As war is declared I know not 
how you will get these books. The carriage through 
Holland will amount to more than the first cost. If they 
could be sent to Rouen they would by the Seine reach 
you at litde expense. 

Tho' we are threatened with the introduction of the 
English Penal Laws into this Province, they are not yet 
introduced. But last May a law passed here to double 
tax the lands of all Roman Catholics. I wrote you the 
i6th of last September and then inclosed one from your 
mama ; as you do not acknowledge the receipt of that 
letter, I suppose your mama's letter miscarried with it. 

I am glad to hear you enjoy your health at Paris. I 
' FuDilf papen, Mn. William C. PenainBtoii. 



Ai School in Parts. 25 

sent your letter to your cousin Walter Hoxton. There 
was no final decree against Dr. Carroll. He died before 
the cause was ripe for a trial, but I hope his son will be 
obliged in time to pay what his father justly owed. All 
your letters give reason to hope my scheme will succeed. 
I have wrote to cousin Anthony to whom I refer you on 
this heady as I refer him to you for what follows : You 
desire to know the origin of our American war, and the 
events that have happened in the course of it. I will 
endeavor to satisfy you in as clear and concise a manner 
as I can. If the priority of discovery was only to give a 
title to lands in America, the King of Spain would be 
entitled to all America ; as neither France or England 
would agree to such a claim each of them must found 
their title to their several dominions here in possession. 
The uncontested possessions of the English seem to be 
from Kennebeki River southward to the river Savanna 
which is the northern boundary of our new colony of 
Georgia. 

The possessions of the French before the Treaty of 
Utrecht were from the Kennebeki to the northward to 
include Acadie, He Royal, all Nova Scotia, New France 
or Canada, and Louisiana. The first settlements of both 
nations were upon the shores of the seas and rivers that 
wash their several territories. As their colonies increased 
the French extended their settlements to the eastward, 
the English theirs to the westward. The settlements 
under the different nations now approaching each other 
the question is how far the English shall extend theirs to 
the westward and the French theirs to the eastward. 

The English in many or most of their grants extend 
the western bounds of their colonies to the South Sea but 
may be not with much justice or reason, for by this pre- 
tension they would not only swallow up all the French 



26 Charles Carrdl of CarrolUon. 

settlements on the Mississippi, but New Mexico which 
the Spaniards will hardly consent to. Nature seems to 
have pointed out other boundaries to the two nations 
which perhaps in the next treaty of peace they may 
establish. The French as settled on St. Lawrence and 
the Mississippi, I suppose claim all the lands watered by 
the several rivers and streams falling into the said rivers. 
The English by a parity of reason may as justly claim 
the lands lying on the several rivers and streams empty- 
ing themselves into the Atlantic Ocean. This division 
of the waters is made by the Apalathean Mountains 
which take their rise in the point of Florida and extend 
thence to the northward, inclining more or less to the 
eastward, and this chain of mountains as I said before, 
may perhaps be hereafter agreed on as the common 
boundary between the contending powers. 

The dispute about their possessions to the northward 
is of a more intricate nature. The French were certainly 
the first settlers not only of Canada but of Nova Scotia 
and Acadie which they contend to be two different prov- 
inces. The English on the contrary contend that Nova 
Scotia includes all Acadie. The priority of the French 
possession of the aforesaid countries I believe is undis- 
puted, and tho' they were formerly disturbed in their 
possession of Nova Scotia, under which name I include 
Acadie, yet by treaties Nova Scotia was always restored 
to them, except by the Treaty of Utrecht. By the Treaty 
of Utrecht the French ceded all Nova Scotia to England. 
The dispute at present between the two nations is about 
the bounds of Nova Scotia, which the French pretend to 
establish in such a manner as to leave out a great part 
of that province to themselves under the names of Acadie 
and Gaspisie. As far as I have read, the English by the 
Treaty of Utrecht, seem to have a right to all Nova 



England and France at War. 27 

Scotia and Acadie, but as provinces and states seldom 
think themselves bound by treaties which unsuccessful 
war, or a bad state of their affairs, forces them to enter 
into, I imagine that France, seeing the importance of 
Nova Scotia and Acadie, not only to their trade and 
navigation, but to their colony of Canada, are now en- 
deavoring to avail themselves of a favorable time and 
occasion to recover by force Nova Scotia and Acadie, 
which only force and necessity wrested from them. 

Accordingly ever since the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 
the French have been encroaching on the English in 
Nova Scotia. They made some settlements at St. John's 
River in the Bay of Fundy, or as the French call it Baye 
Francois ; they erected forts on the peninsula between 
Bay Vert and Beaubasin. The English last summer took 
these places from the French by forces sent from New 
England, with little loss, and have removed all the 
French neutrals in Nova Scotia, some say to the number 
of II or 15000 souls, to their different colonies on the 
continent, where they have been treated with more or 
less humanity. It has been the misfortune of 900 and 
odd of these poor people to be sent to Maryland, where 
they have been entirely supported by private charity, and 
the little they can get by their labor, which for want of 
employment has been but a poor resource to them. Many 
of them would have met with very humane treatment 
from the Roman Catholics here, but a real or pretended 
jealousy inclined this government not to suffer them to 
live with Roman Catholics. I offered the government 
to take and support two families consisting of fourteen 
souls, but was not permitted to do it. 

The case of these poor unhappy people is so hard that 
I wonder it has not been taken notice of by some of our 
political writers in Ei^land. They, since the Treaty of 



28 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Utrecht have been permitted to enjoy their property and 
possessions upon taking an oath of allegiance to the 
King of England. This oath they say they have never 
violated, the truth whereof seems to be confirmed by the 
capitulations of the forts of Beaubasin, by an article 
whereof the neutrals taken in these forts were pardoned 
as being forced by the French under the pain of military 
execution to take up arms. However their fidelity was 
suspected and they have been sacrificed to the security 
of our settlements in her part of the world. They have 
neither been treated as subjects or enemies ; as subjects 
they were entitled to the benefit of our laws, and ought 
to have been tried and found guilty before they could be 
punished, and to punish them all, all ought to have been 
tried and convicted. If they are deemed enemies they 
ought to be treated as such and maintained as prisoners 
of war. But no care has been takeo here in that respect. 

These poor people for their numbers were perhaps the 
most happy of any on the globe. They manufactured 
all they wore, and their manufactures were good ; they 
raised in great plenty the provisions they consumed ; their 
habitations were warm and comfortable ; they were all 
upon a level, being all husbandmen, and consequently 
as void of ambition as human nature can be. They 
appear to be very regular and religious, and that from 
principle and a perfect knowledge of their duty, which 
convinces me that they were blessed with excellent pastors. 
But alas, how is their case altered ! They were at once 
stripped of everything but the clothes on their backs : 
many have died in consequence of their sufferings, and 
the survivors see no prospect before them but want and 
misery. 

The first hostilities on the Ohio began in 1734. The 
Virginians attempted to build a fort there, which the 



Hostilities in America. 29 

French prevented, and constructed one themselves called 
Fort DuQuesne. It was upon his march to this fort that 
General Braddock was defeated and killed. The victory 
was as complete as could be. We lost at least 800 in the 
field. The greatest part of our train and magazines fell 
into the enemies hands, the rest was destroyed to facilitate 
our retreat. What adds to our shame is that we suffered 
this disgrace from between three and five hundred In- 
dians. This information I had from an officer of distinc- 
tion who I believe knew what he said to be fact, and 
on whose honor and veracity I have reason to rely. I 
hope for the honor of the French nation, that Indians 
were only concerned in this action, for the wounded 
were all massacred, an inhumanity which I am confident 
French officers and soldiers would not be guilty of. 

The next action of consequence was between the troops 
under the command of the Generals Dieskau and John- 
son near the Lake of the Sacrament. The loss of men 
on either side was very inconsiderable ; I believe we 
lost most, about three hundred. We were prevented 
from attacking Fort St. Frederic, as were the French 
from destroying General Shirley's army at Oswego on 
Lake Ontario, by cutting off the communication between 
Albany and that place. In case Dieskau (who is still at 
New York and likely to live) had been victorious Shirley 
must have surrendered himself, his army and Oswego, 
probably without striking a stroke. Albany must also 
have surrendered, and New York perhaps might have 
been destroyed, which will give you a proper idea of the 
importance of the lucky stand made by General Johnson, 
whose service has been honorably and bountifully 
rewarded by his Majesty. 

Since that action both nations seem to act on a defen- 
sive plan, except that the French by parties have now 



30 Charles Carrdl of CarroUton. 

and then surprised small convoys of prisoners &:c., going 
to Oswego. Our naval force on Lake Ontario according 
to our Gazettes, consists of seven armed snows, brigs, 
sloops and schooners carrying 33 six pounders, 51 four 
pounders, and 80 swivels, and upwards of 230 whaleboats 
each carrying 16 men. I know not what vessels the 
French have there to oppose us. Their not attacking 
Oswego last winter seems to point out their weakness. 
This is all I know of the events of the war to the north- 
ward to this time, except several murders committed by 
their savages. 

From New York southward, since Btaddock's defeat, 
the French have only attacked us by their Indians, who 
have [committed] and still continue to commit, the most 
shocking barbarities on our back settlers in Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, and Virginia ; but I find these our sufferings 
are vastly magnified in the English papers. I do not be- 
lieve these provinces have lost at this time, killed and 
captivated, three hundred souls, 300 in Pennsylvania, 
about 35 in Maryland, the rest in Virginia. The remot- 
est of my lands have not suffered, and I think myself 
and your mama to be in no more danger than you are at 
Paris, Maryland being in a great measure screened by 
the more advanced settlements of Pennsylvania and Vir- 
ginia. The Indians act as wolves in small parties and 
by surprise, and it is no wonder that the British subjects 
entirely undisciplined, should hitherto have suffered, but 
daily precautions are taking for our security, by erecting 
lines of forts on all our frontier, which will not only pro- 
tect us but intercept the savages on their retreat, which 
they constantly make as soon as they [paper torn]. 
My plantation where you lived has been greatly improved. 
But that and all my other possessions I am determined to 
quit, if I can meet with the success I expect from my 



Parental Letters aftd Home News. 3 1 

scheme. I shall remove from a settled and a well im- 
proved estate, and in the sale of which I expect to lose 
to the value of at least ;^ 10,000 sterling ; but to procure 
ease to myself by flying from the pursuits of envy and 
malice, and to procure a good establishment for you, I 
am willing to undergo and struggle with all the difficul- 
ties and inconveniences attending on a new settlement 
in a new climate. There is but one man in the Province 
whose fortune equals mine. Judge from this of the love 
I bear you, but at the same time be persuaded that my 
affection is greatly increased by the most agreeable ac- 
counts I receive of your pious, prudent and regular 
behavior, of your sweet temper and disposition, of the 
proficiency and figure you make in your studies. * 

Mrs. Carroll writes to her son : 

" Watty Hoxton came to see us about three weeks 
ago. He told me he would answer your letter by the 
first opportunity. I bid him inform you he was going 
to be married. He is to be shortly married to an agree- 
able young woman of a good fortune and a Roman Cath- 
olick. I wish him [paper torn] happy but I think him 
quite too young to marry. You are always at heart my 
dear Charley, and I have never tired asking your papa 
questions about you. I daily pray to God to grant you 
his grace above all things, and to take you under his 
protection." ■ 

Charles Carroll very naturally chafed under the 
disabilities suffered by the Roman Catholics in 
Maryland at this time, and he thought seriously of 
leaving the province altogether. At the head of 
other gentlemen of his faith, he proposed to obtain 

^ Family papers, Rev. Thos. Sim Lee. 
' Jbid,^ Mrs. William C. Pemiington. 



32 Charles Carroll of Carrdlton. 

from the French court the grant of an immense 
tract of land on the Arkansas River in Louisiana. 
But objection was made to the extent of the terri- 
tory asked for, and other obstacles intervening, the 
project was delayed, and as the unfriendly laws were 
relaxed, it was finally abandoned. To look after hts 
" scheme " for moving to Louisiana, was one of the 
objects of Charles Carroll's visit to Europe the fol- 
lowing year. He set sail early in June, i7S7- I" 
the correspondence of Governor Sharpe is the fol- 
lowing reference to his movements, and an estimate 
of his character and standing, proving that he was 
looked upon as a leader in the community. It was 
not surprising that the Roman Catholics regarded 
Governor Sharpe as their " professed enemy," as he 
himself says, for he had just passed, against their 
urgent protest, the law for the double assessment of 
their lands. The letter is to the Governor's brother, 
William Sharpe, in London, and is dated July 6th, 
1757. Governor Sharpe writes : 

"One Mr. Carroll, who is at the head of that sect 
[the Roman Catholics,] and is possessed of a fortune of 
^30,000 or ;^40,ooo sterling, among us, has taken a 
passage to England in a vessel that lately sailed hence, 
and will probably be in London before this can be deliv- 
ered. What his views or intentions are in taking such a 
voyage at this time I know not. It has been said that 
he has thought of leaving Maryland and carrying his 
fortune to Europe, He has a son about twenty two 
years of age, now at Paris, and if he should determine 
to spend the remainder of his life in Europe it is not 
improbable that he will take up bis residence in some 



A Visit from his Father. 33 

part of France, as he seems by sending his son to that 
kingdom while he was very young, and by supporting 
him there since he has finished his studies, to prefer that 
country. He is a sensible man, has read much and is 
well acquainted with the constitution and strength of 
these American colonies. If he is inclined to give the 
enemy any intelligence about our American affairs, none 
is more capable, but indeed I do not conceive he has 
any such intention. He was heretofore a bitter enemj^ 
to the Lord Proprietary, but having behaved with mod- 
eration since I came hither, we were on good terms 
until I incurred his displeasure by assenting to an act 
which I thought equitable and which you say appears 
to you in the same light. Since that time all corre- 
spondence between us has been broken off. I presume 
he will be much among the merchants while he stays 
in London, and in particular with his friend Mr. Phil- 
pot. Should he endeavour to do me any prejudice 
with my Lord [Baltimore] or any one else during his 
residence there, I hope you will be able to render his 
attempts abortive." * 

On his way back to America, in the winter of 
1757-1758, Charles Carroll wrote from London the 
following letter to the son with whom he had parted 
in Paris a few weeks previously. The upper part of 
the first page in the original is torn : 

[London, January, 1758.] 

I wrote to you I think the 15th of December, the day 
after my arrival here, and January ist, acknowledging 
the receipt of yours of December 19th, and this is an 
answer to yours of December 28th. In your last you 

^ ** Correspondence of Governor Sharpe," Archives of Maryland, 
vol. ii., p. 46. 

VOL. 1—3 



34 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

say you wrote to mc the nth of December ; if you did 
so the letter is not come to hand. I hope my letters to 
you have not miscarried, but that the first reached you 
in a few days after the date of your last. My dear 
child, I thank you for your good wishes, nothing can 
happen to me more agreeable than a completion of them. 
However, I beg you will be persuaded, that in every 
step of mine relating to you, your happiness only has 
been my aim. Make use of the advantages I give you ; 
improve your time, and in a few years you will clearly 
see the advantages bestowed on you by a provident and 
tender father. 

I am well pleased you consider how your money goes 
out ; keeping regular accounts need not restrain you 
from things necessary and decent, it will rather enable 
you to procure thetn with the greater satisfaction, as by 
a review of your accounts you will see whether your 
money has been well or needlessly expended. As to 
things decent and necessary you must have them. I 
shall not begrudge my money if paid out in that way, 
and therefore you must draw on Mr. Perkins, [paper 
torn] should have money in his hands which I have 
hopes of. You did well to write to L' Isle Dieu. I 
have also wrote to him. Pray write to Mr. Crookshanks 
to get your Master an English and French Dictionary. 
Do not consult me on such trifles. Pray present my 
compliments to Messrs. Mat Fiteau and any others to 
whom you think yourself more particularly obliged. I 
have bought the translation of Pindar for Mr. Power 
which shall be sent by the Arst conveyance, and I desire 
you will present my sincerest service and compliments 
to him, wishing him many happy New Years. 

I advise you not to make too general an acquaintance. 
A return of civilities is to be paid to all ; an intimacy 



H<nu to Select a Friend. 35 

is not to be contracted with any, until you are well 
acquainted with their characters and manners and until 
you are convinced they are in the esteem of good men. 
It is much easier to make acquaintance than to shake 
off acquaintance when made. Be nice in this point, and 
very circumspect in the choice of your friend, the 
number that will deserve that name I am certain will 
be but small. Be regular in the distribution of your 
time ; relaxation is necessary, two afternoons in a week 
will not be too much. All beginnings are difficult. Your 
understanding will open in proportion to the progress 
you make in reading. By a compendium you may prob- 
ably mean what I mean by a Common Place book which 
I mentioned and recommended in my last [paper torn] — 
of last November. He says he saw your mother, that 
she was very well and in high spirits, having heard of 
my safe arrival. Capt. Carroll, Mr. Croxall and Daniel 
Carroll all desire their compliments and services to you. 
General Mordaunt has been acquitted by the Court 
martial but with General Connoway and another has 
been disgraced by his Majesty, being struck off of the 
list of staff officers. We have taken 3 or 4 French 
frigates since my arrival here, and by the papers of 
yesterday a frigate of 36 guns overset in chacing and 
every soul perished. We have besides taken a great 
number of privateers and three transports, vessels with 
provisions, and 1800 soldiers bound to Louisburg, and 
we were in pursuit of three more. Our superiority at 
sea is so great and our attention to America so much 
in earnest, zooo soldiers going thither immediately 
and 8000 to follow in six weeks, that we flatter ourselves 
we shall not only be able to keep down the marine of 
Fiance and entirely destroy her trade, but that we shall 
be able next summer to distress her greatly in America, 



36 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

while by supplies to the King of Prussia, we shall keep 
her fully employed on the continent, 

I thank God I am very well. I dayly pray to Him to 
keep you so. I wish you many, many happy New Years, 
and I am, 

your most affectionate father 
Cha : Carroll. 
P. S, Dear Charley, Another secret expedition is 
much talked of. I believe I shall not leave London 
before the first of March.' 

' Familj pit]>ers, Mrs. William C. Penniiiglan. 



CHAPTER II. 



STUDENT LIFE ABROAD. 



1758-1764. 

CHARLES CARROLL of Carrollton had now 
attained his majority, but was to remain 
abroad some years longer. His father still enter- 
tained thoughts of leaving Maryland, The condition 
of the Roman Catholics, in the province founded as 
an asylum for those of this faith, was no better 
than in any other English colony. The discrim- 
inating test-oaths, enforced to protect the Hano- 
verian dynasty from the Jacobites, excluded Roman 
Catholics from the Assembly, prevented them from 
holding office, denied them the privilege of the 
suffrage. They were not allowed the public exercise 
of their religion. For this reason gentlemen of 
means had their private chapels, and Charles Car- 
roll had one at his town house in Annapolis, as 
well as at " Doughoregan Manor." The mansion 
at the latter place had been completed, it is said, 
by the first Charles Carroll, about 1717, though it 
had been considerably altered and extended since. 
Returning from his visit to Paris, Charles Carroll 



38 Charles Carroll of CarrolUott. 

the elder arrived " at his seat in town," Sunday 
evening, June nth, 1758, making the voyage on 
the Duke William, Captain Bradford, after a stormy 
passage lasting over two months. The ship was 
one of a fleet of twenty under convoy of the man- 
of-war Chesterfield^ The father wrote to the son 
February 19th, 1759: " I observe the advance you 
have made in reading the civil law." In April he 
tells him : " I shall write to Mr. Perkins as you 
desire, to take Chambers in the Temple on your 
arrival in London." The son was established in 
the English metropolis, and engaged in his legal 
studies when his father wrote to him as follows : 

October 6lh, 1750. 
. . . Altho' I still think it will be for your interest 
and happiness to sell my estates in Maryland, yet I would 
not have you either decliue or solicit an acquaintance 
with Lord Baltimore or his uncle Mr, Caecelius Calvert, 
If you should accidentally fall in their way you may when 
proper let them know that you are not unacquainted 
your grandfather came to this country after regular 
study of the law in the Temple, Attorney General ; that 
he was honored with the posts of Agent, Receiver Gen- 
eral, Judge in Land affairs, Naval OfHcer, and that he 
had the appointment of several naval officers and land 
surveyors in the Province ; nor that after he had served 
three Lord Baltimores for many years with credit and 
reputation he was deprived by the late Lord of his posts 
to gratify a faction whose aim was to divest the family 
of the government- You may also let him know you 
are not ignorant of the laws made at that time and lately 
' Maryland Gatellr, 1758. 



In London at the Temple. 39 

to deprive the Roman Catholics of their liberties, and 
to distress and vex them. That the memory of the 
favors conferred on your grandfather will always incline 
you to promote the interest of the Proprietary family 
where you can do it in honor and justice. But remember 
the ill treatment your grandfather met with after so long 
a series of services ; remember the cruel usage of the 
Roman Catholics by the late and present Lord Baltimore, 
and let that so weigh with you as never to sacrifice your 
own or your country's interest to promote the interest 
or power of the Proprietary family. It is true they have 
it in their power to confer some places of profit and 
honor with acceptance, but as you cannot hold any of 
them as the laws stand, and supposing that impediment 
removed, as I would not wish you to hold any of them 
but upon honorable tenns, I cannot think it will be worth 
your while to pay a court there, or show any other re- 
spect than such a one as is due to them as Lords of the 
country where your fortunes lie.' 

Charles Carroll wrote to his son January 19th, 
1760: "You must stay at least four years in the 
Temple, You cannot acquire perfect knowledge of 
the law in less, if in so short a time, and that know- 
ledge is essential to you, as I shall leave you to dis- 
pute many things which the present injustice of the 
times will not permit me in prudence to contest." ' 
Governor Sharpe wrote from " Belair," Colonel Tas- 
ker's place where he was visiting, on the 8th of 
July, 1760, and thanked his brother William for his 
civilities to certain Maryland gentlemen then in Lon< 
don, of whom Charles Carroll of CaroUton was one. 
' Funily papers, Rct. Thomas Sim Lee, * SHd, 



40 Charles Carroll of Carrdlton. 

Tliey had been asked to dine at William Sliarpe's. 
The Governor says : 

" Two of them, Mr. Key and Mr. Plater, were, before 
they went to England, members of the Lower House of 
Assembly, and as such opposed as far as in their power, 
those who endeavoured to render my administration un- 
easy. The first of them is at the Temple, where I believe 
he intends to reside three or four years. The other two 
gentlemen that dined with you were Roman Catholics. 
Mr. Carroll I never saw, he having been in France many 
years, and the other's errand home or in Europe was to 
carry his children to some college in Germany where he 
has a relation that is a Jesuit." ' 

Mrs. Elizabeth Brooke Carroll, the mother of 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, died March 12th, 1761, 
after an illness of two years and eight months. It 
was at the time of the annoying lawsuit before re- 
ferred to, between Mr, Carroll and his nephew. 
Clement Hill and Basil Waring, who were acting for 
the younger Carroll, professed to find Charles Car- 
roll's accounts, as manager of the estate, at fault. 
The latter speaks feelingly of the action of these 
gentlemen, " when they knew his wife had long been 
and was dangerously ill of the sickness whereof she 
soon afterward died." And " from his then dis- 
tressed situation [he] could not possibly enter into a 
particular examination of such long accounts," as 
they had sent him. 

Very clever, and keenly sarcastic sometimes, are 

' " CorrcspondcDcc of Goveinor Sharpe," vol. ii., p. 443, Archives 
of Maryland. 



A Family Lazosuit. 41 

the letters of Charles Carroll to Messrs. Hill and 
Waring, and he apparently completely refutes the 
charges made against him, of having overcharged 
his nephew and nieces in managing their estates. 
He in turn accuses HitI of taking a bribe from 
Charles Carroll of Duddington, his employer, of a 
pipe of Madeira wine, to make the award against the 
elder Carroll. Writing to Clement Hill, he says: 
" Well you are to have a pipe of wine ; some men 
perhaps would chuse to drink water all their lives 
rather than accept a pipe of wine on such an occa- 
sion. Are they not fools? A Pipe of Wine is a 
Pipe of Wine, but honour is an empty-sounding 
thing like an empty Pipe." ' An agreement had 
been made between Charles Carroll and his nephew, 
March 21, 1752, as to the division of the property in 
Baltimore County or Anne Arundel, inherited by 
them under the will of the Immigrant. Charles Carroll 
of Annapolis was to have the whole of " Doohore- 
gan " (iic), lO.OOO acres, and "Chance," 969 acres, 
and Charles Carroll, Junr., was to have " Clynma- 
lyra," the "Vale of Jehosopliat," "Ely O'Carroll" 
and " Litterlouna." Parts of two other tracts of land 
"both lately in Prince George's County, but now in 
Frederic," Charles Carroll of Annapolis agreed to 
convey to Charles Carroll, Jr., in order to give the 
latter " more than an equivalent for the exchange." ' 
The following correspondence passed between 
Charles Carroll and his son during the years 1760- 
1764. Charles Carroll, Sr., wrote: 



42 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon, 

July 14th, 1760. . . . My father directed I should 
go to the Temple, but he dying just as I had finished my 
Philosophy, my friends thought my presence necessary 
in Maryland, and that I might study the law here. I 
attempted it but to no purpose. 

Maryland was granted to Ca^cellus, Lord Baltimore, a 
Roman Catholic. All persons believing in Jesus Christ 
were by the charter promised the enjoyment not only of 
religious but of civil liberty, and were entitled to all the 
benefits of lucrative places, &c. It was chiefly planted 
and peopled in the beginning by Roman Catholics ; 
many of them were men of better families than their 
Proprietary ; these privileges were confirmed by a funda- 
mental and perpetual law past here, and all sects con- 
tinued in a peaceful enjoyment of these privileges until 
the Revolution, when a mob encouraged by the example 
set them by England, rebelled against the Lord Balti- 
more, stript him of his government, and his officers of 
their places. Then tlie crown assumed the government, 
the Toleration Act as I may call it, was repealed, and 
several acts to hinder us from a free exercise of our re- 
ligion past. Benedict, Lord Baltimore, upon conforming 
to the Established Church in the year 1714, was restored 
to his government, and died the same year. His son 
Charles, Lord Baltimore, the present Lord's father, suc- 
ceeded, and the people here making a handle of the Re- 
bellion of 1715, enacted laws enjoining all the oaths 
taken in England to be taken here, and disqualified any 
person from voting for members to represent them in our 
Assembly who would not take these oaths, and many 
other scandalous and oppressive laws. 

To these the Proprietary was not only mean enough to 
assent, but he deprived several Roman Catholics em- 
ployed in the management of his private patrimony and 



Roman Catholics Double Taxed. 43 

;, of their places, and among the rest your grand- 
father who was his Agent and Receiver General, etc., and 
had held the former places under three Lord Baltimores ; 
this no act compelled him to do, and he did it to cajole 
an insolent rabble who were again aiming to deprive him 
of the government. From that time to the year 1751 we 
were unmolested, but then the Penal Laws of England 
were attempted to be introduced here and several bills 
to this and the like purposes past by our Lower House 
but rejected by the Upper House. At last in 1756, an 
act was passed by all the branches of the legislature here 
to double tax us, and to this law the present Proprietor 
had the meanness to assent, tho' he knew us innocent of 
the calumnies raised against us. 

From what I have said I leave you to judge whether 
Maryland be a tolerable residence for a Roman Catholic. 
Were I younger I would certainly quit it ; at my age (as 
I wrote you) a change of climate would certainly shorten 
my days, but I embrace every opportunity of getting rid 
of my real property, that if you please you may the 
sooner and with more ease and less loss leave it. How- 
ever, my most valuable lands and slaves shall be kept to 
the last that you may chuse for yourself, and make your- 
self as happy as possible. It is my greatest study and 
concern to make you so. ' 

August 4t]i, 1760. 
Dear Charlie : 

I received yours of the 13th of last April by Capt, 
Kelty, the 50th of last month. It gives us great pleas- 
ure to hear from yourself that you was well, and much 
better than you had been for some time past. Mr. 
Rozer [Rozicr] went from my house yesterday. His 
' Family papeis, Rev. Thomai Sim Lee. 



44 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

stay was so short that I had not time to ask him halt 
enough about you. He {)romises me a longer visit soon. 
By him I learn that Mr. Calvert accidentally invited you 
to dine with Mr. Sharpe. I hear you have seen Mr. 
Jenifer which must have given you great satisfaction. 
Pray present my humble and sincere service to him, and 
to Mr. Crookshanks whenever you write to him. 

We are well and present our love and blessing to you. 
1 am, dear Charley, 
Your most affectionate father 

CiiAS. Carroll.' 

In a postscript to this letter the father quotes from 
some one of the Maryland kinsfolk, who had written 
home the following family gossip: 

" My cousin Charles Carroll writes to me from 
London with all the indifference of a philosopher that 
he is very unconcerned about news ; ' Madievitas,' says 
he ' is not that best ?' What Mr. Carroll told you con- 
cerning the result of his voyage to Europe is conform- 
able to what I understood from his son when I saw him 
last September, who told nie his father had not succeeded 
at Paris. If it had been thought proper I should know 
the motive of his journey he would probably have taken 
the opportunity to tell me. But as he did not I suppose 
it would not be becoming in me to push my inquiries any 
further. I went from Liege to Ghent to meet my cousin 
Charley Carroll, on his way from Paris to London. 
Mr. Rozer will give you an account of the great 
improvement he has made in France and his elegant 
way of living in London," 

' Family papers, Mrs. William C. Pennington. 



The Bladens and Taskers. 45 

A portion of the letter of Charles Carroll is torn 
here, and then it continues : 

In yours of the loth of April you say you arc not 
acquainted with Mr. Bladen, and that you do not wish 
to he acquainted with him as he is a ga[mbler?] and 
that that is not your only reason for declining his acquaint- 
ance. This is mysterious, what reason have you ? He 
was civil to me when [paper torn], I have been long 
acquainted with htm, his and my father were neighbors 
and friends. I am intimate with Mr. Tasker who 
married hts sister, therefore if he makes the first ad- 
vances be polite and civil [torn]. 

October ijlh, 1760. 

In mine of the 15th past I acquainted you that I had 
sent you by Mr. Brown 2 doz. of Cain spirits, but as 
Capt. Henrick importuned me very much for some of 
my old Madeira wine and would not be refused, I have 
sent the Cain spirits by him with an equal quantity of 
Madeira wine which you will find to be very good. 

Pray do me the favour to see the inclosed be safely 
conveyed and write to Mons. Poison acquainting him 
that you will take care of any letters of his to Mrs. 
Manjan. Send him your address and present my com- 
pliments to him and his lady. You remember old Mr. 
Tasker and his son the Colonel, a very worthy young 
gentleman. The son is dangerously ill and may not 
recover. In that case many applications will be made 
for the place he enjoys, viz. the Secretary's office. 
Among the rest, I suppose Mr. Henry Darnall, my first 
cousin by the whole blood, will not be so wanting to 
himself as not to lay in his claim, and, in my opinion 
ought to succeed, if merit [will give it to him,] his being 
related to ray Lord Baltimore and consequently to Mr. 



46 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

Caecelius Calvert, his being descended from one of the 
best families of the country, from a family which early 
settled in this province, has made a very considerable 
figure in it, has held the chief posts in it, has been very 
serviceable to it, has been remarkably serviceable to the 
Proprietary family, has suffered for it, and whose at- 
tachment to it has been faithful, and so constant that no 
one act of theirs can give the least grounds to doubt it ; 
and yet considering the little notice that has been lately 
taken of him, I think it more than probable he will not 
succeed. 

Though I am convinced it is Mr. Calvert's inclination 
to serve him, for as soon as he came into power, to the 
post of Attorney General which Mr. Darnall then held, 
he added that of Naval Officer of Patuxent, and ordered 
him to be made one of the Committee. This plainly 
showed Mr. Calvert thought him worthy of the highest 
offices here, and consequently made him enemies who 
despairing of preventing his rise, branded him with being 
Papist, popishly affected, disaffected to the government 
&c. &c., (for what will not malice, faction, ambition and 
envy prompt men to do) although he had long conformed 
to the Established Church and taken all the oaths. The 
Governor at the same time was influenced by these men, 
and I suppose represented Mr. Darnall to Mr. Calvert in 
such a light as to put a stop to his intentions to serve him, 
which with Mr. Calvert's fears of being himself accused 
of being popishly [paper torn]. Thus the family of the 
Proprietary have sacrificed us, abandoned their friends, 
courted their enemies by bestowing all favours on them ; 
a policy as weak and foolish as it is scandalous and 
ungrateful. 

By yours I see you have had some discourse with Mr. 
Calvert about the Roman Catholics. This I took notice 



Ingratitude of the Calverts. 47 

of before, and some passages in mine to you of April 
i6th, T759, February 9th, 1759, October 6th, 1759, 
January ist, 1760, May ist, 1760, July 14th, 1760, will 
show you that no dependence is to be had on peace for 
us here, since in the last instance of the act double 
taxing us, my Lord thought proper to assent to it, 
though he knew us to be innocent, and the charges 
brought against us to be false and scandalous. I would 
never have you be ungrateful or act dishonorably by 
opposing the Proprietary family merely for oppositioa 
sake (should you resolve to settle in Maryland against my 
opinion), but at the same time I think you will act foolish- 
ly if from principle you espouse the interest of a family 
who have plainly showed that they have no principle at 
all, or at least that gratitude and justice and honor have 
no influence on their principles. 

This accompanys Mr. Brown. My house has been 
his home, and he well deserves the little civilities I 
showed him. He cannot be reconciled to Maryland 
notwithstanding your mother's banter. He will present 
my service to Mr. Perkins and his uncle Jo :, and the 
gentlemen in the house. I hope you will do the same, 
and to all my other friends in Paris, London, &c. God 
bless and grant you health. 

I am, dear Charley, your most affectionate father 
Cha. Carroll." 

June 33nd, 17G1. 

Dear Charley : 

You remember I got the Genealogy of our family 
translated from the Irish when I was at Paris. But I 
know not from which of the branches our family is 
descended, but I should think from the family of Daniel 



48 Charles Carroll of Carrolion. 

of Adamstowti, but by the enclosed print you will see 
your grandfather stiles himself md son of Daniel Car- 
roll of Littcrlouna, His elder brother was Antony, your 
cousin Antony's grandfather who I suppose was bom 
about the year 1630 [1650 f]. His son Michael was 
living a few years past and may be still living, and from 
him by the means of your cousin Antony, or from others 
you may trace our branch of the family back to 1500 or 
higher if you can, and in as distinct a manner as you can, 
and I desire you will do it. 

I find by history as well as by the genealogy, that the 
country of Ely O'Carroll and Dirguill which compre- 
hended most of the King's and Queen's countys, were 
the territories of the O'Carrolls and that they were 
princes thereof. You may as things are now circum- 
stanced, and considering the low estate to which all the 
branches of our family are reduced by the struggles the 
ancient Irish maintained for the support of their religion, 
rights and properties, and which received their finishing 
stroke at the Revolution, think my inquiry an idle one, 
but I do not think so. If I am not i\^\\, the folly may 
be excused by its being a general one, and I hope for 
your own and my sake, you will gratify me in making as 
careful an inquiry as possible, and giving me what light 
you can on the subject. As soon as there is a peace, I will 
send you the Genealogy, in Irish and English, and I desire 
you will get our family in particular traced to its origin. 

I am, my dear Charley, your most affectionate father 
Ch : Carroll. 

To Charles Carroll, Esq: London.' 

\yuly, iy6i\ I again seriously recommend it to you 

to leam the art of bookkeeping ; half an hour a day spent 

' Family papeis, R«v. Thomas Sim Lee. 



Genealogical Investigations. 49 

with a master will be sufiicient. Learn arithmetic also 
methodically ; Surveying with a compass and chain will 
not take so much time as bookkeeping, and the know- 
ledge of it and to cast up the contents of any survey is 
absolutely necessary to every landed gentleman here,' 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton wrote to his father 
as follows : 

If6i. No degree at law can be obtained wilhout 
being called to the bar. The being entered of the Tem- 
ple is a necessary, previous, and preparatory step to that 
ceremony, which, though a ceremony, is an opening to 
all prefennents in the law ; 't is attended with no other 
advantages, but many and great inconveniences; the 
chiefest is the frequenting loose and disolute compan- 
ions. For this reason I have resolved not to enter 
myself of the Temple — to what purpose ? Why should 
I expose myself to danger and be at needless though 
small expense without any view or hope of profit and 
advantage ? 

August, 6lh, 1763. 
Dear Fafa : 

I wrote to you the 4th of last month. In that letter I 
started some difficulties in your lawsuit with Clifton 
which as that letter may have miscarried, I shall here 
repeat . . , The r6th October, 1751 you obliged 
Chfton to execute a bond to Ignatius Digges . . . 

You desired me in one of your letters to trace our 
branch of the family back to 1500 by means of Cousin 
Antony or some one else. He is the only one to whom 
I could apply for information, or any other lights on this 



50 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

subject. 1 wrote to him and have received his answer 
which for your satisfaction I shall transcribe verbatim : 

" I shall do all in my power to procure the information 
both you and your father desire, tho' it seems pretty 
certain I cannot do much considering how matters stand 
at this time. The last letter I had from Ireland gave an 
account of the death of Mr. Alexander Carroll, Cssar's 
father, Mr. John Carroll the Colonel's brother, and 
Uncle Michael. I scarce know anyone that I can expect 
intelligence from. When I was a boy we had Dr. 
Keaton's Irish History in MS., in which I remember to 
have heard say that our genealogy was preserved, but 
that as well as other things disappeared before I left the 
kingdom. This I mention to let you see bow hard it 
will be to get any satisfactory account of our extirpated 
family. It does not make to the present purpose, but it 
is proper to know that in Cambden's account of the 
county of Galloway mention is made of the chief of our 
name, who was defeated, with some other leaders, at the 
battle of Knoc-tee, [Knocktua, 1504?] by Gerald, Earl 
of Kildare, anno 15 16. The same author in his account 
of the county of Tipperary tells us 'tis bounded on 
the north with the territory of the O'Carrolls, which I 
am confident is to this day called Carroll's Isle, at least 
there is I know, a place so called in that part of the 
country." So far the letter . . . 

I am, dear papa, your most affectionate and dutiful 
son, Ch. Carroll.' 

January yth, 1763. 
Dear Papa : 

Accept of my sincere wishes for your health and hap- 
piness during the course of this New Year and many 



Hearing Pitt in Parliament. 51 

succeeding years. This I hope will be the last I shall 
pass in absence from you. Tho' 1 am impatient to return, 
I readily submit in obedience to your will to remain here 
this one year more, and my impatience shall not hinder 
my application to the law. 

The preliminary articles have received the sanction of 
Parliament. Warm debates It was Imagined would ensue ; 
the expectations of the public have however been de- 
ceived. Both Houses voted an address of thanks to his 
Majesty for obtaining a safe, advantageous, and honor- 
able peace. The House of Commons divided, but the 
division 't Is said, was only to show the opposition their 
weakness and unimportance. Mr. Pitt had prudently 
withdrawn before the division came on. His friends 
wish he had not appeared in the House Ihat day, or at 
least had not spake in it ; his eloquence failed him, his 
mind partook of the infirmities of his body, the vehement, 
the impetuous Pitt was for once dull, tedious and insipid. 
He spoke as one cautious of oSending, unwilling to ap- 
prove, fearful of disapproving ; the real sentiments of his 
mind seemed sacriliced to his interest, the dictates of his 
conscience or of his passion to his pension. Notwith- 
standing the great majority in favour of the present 
ministry and of their measures, there have been many 
and considerable resignations. The list may surprise you, 
particularly as several have resigned very lucrative em- 
ployments. Would a concurrence with the leading party 
have procured a continuance of those employments in 
the former possessors the list of the suits would have been 
much shorter. The King of Prussia Is endeavoring to 
force the Princes of the Empire to a neutrality. His 
forces have invaded and pillaged Franconia. Peace 
between that monarch and the Empress Queen seems 
still distant. 



52 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

I shall now answer your letter of the and of Septem- 
ber, the last I have received. As I knew Captain Carroll 
had laid aside the thoughts of going to sea again, I gave 
myself no further concern about the mares. I intend 
bringing over a couple with me if they can be had at a 
reasonable rate. Would not a thorough-bred stallion be 
of greater advantage ? I am creditably informed that 
there are people in Maryland and Virginia who make 
200 or 300 pounds a year by their stallions. If this be 
true should mine arrive safe in the country he will amply 
repay me his purchase, passage, and other additional 
charges. I should be glad to know how much it would 
be proper to allow a groom for his taking care of the 
horses upon their passage, as also the wages of a game- 
keeper, a footman's I suppose would nearly amount to 
the same. I don't imagine a good and trusty servant 
would transport himself to a foreign country for the same 
pay he would receive in his own. Mr. Dulany tells me 
that white servants seldom turn out well in Maryland, 
that they disagree with the negroes and will not eat with 
them. Would it be better for me to provide my servant 
or let him provide himself with clothes, and increase his 
wages proportionably ? I should chuse the first and allow 
a livery suit and frock yearly. 

I shall take particular care to lay in a good stock of 
Bristol water for my voyage, to get bookcases, and what- 
ever else you recommend to me to bring over, as genteel 
clothes, horse furniture &c. I thank you for the present 
of the pistols, and for reminding me of the necessaries of 
the voyage. It is a further proof of that aEfection you 
have always borne me and on which I set the greatest 
value. My picture shall be drawn according to directions 
and sent by the fleet. Mr. Kay [Key ?] proposes to re- 
turn home very soon. I shall send by him the magazines, 



The Way to Become a Good Lawyer, 53 

newspapers, and three French pamphlets relative to the 
French Jesuits, as likewise the tryat of the Roman 
Catholics in Ireland, lately published and which will 
please you much. The guns Mr. Perkins sent you were 
made by the person who on Garvey's death succeeded 
him in his business. My bookseller tells me there are 
three volumes of Cambell's Vitruvius Brilannka ; if so 
you want the ist and 3rd volumes. He fears it will be 
impossible to procure the odd volumes without buying 
the whole work. I have begun a Common-place book. 
But Bacon's new abridgment of the law comprised in four 
volumes folio which I have got is much better than any 
common place book I am able to make. The whole body 
of the law is there alphabetically digested under proper 
heads, with references to the year books, statutes and 
reports. The new edition of the statutes to which I 
have subscribed, will I hope, be finished before I leave 
England. Two or three volumes are already published. 
If I had known how to procure a person to iostruct me 
in the law, or where such a person was to be found, I 
should not have neglected doing it, but indeed such a 
one is not easily to be met with. The best way to become 
a good lawyer is to be under an attorney, not as his 
clerk, that would not be so proper for a gentleman, but to 
be in his office on the footing of a gentleman by allowing 
him a handsome gratification. I should then have known 
the practical part of the law, by which knowledge many 
difficulties would be removed which for want of it are 
now insurmountable. Most of our great lawyers have 
been brought up under attornies. The great Lord Hard- 
wicke is a recent instance of that method's being the best 
for forming a sound lawyer. Nothing can be more absurd 
than the usual manner of young gentlemen's studying the 
law. They come from the University, take chambers in 



54 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

the Temple, read Coke Little : whom they cannot possibly 
understand, frequent the courts whose practice they are 
ignorant of ; they are sood disgusted with the difficulties 
and dryness of the study, the law books are thrown aside, 
dissipation succeeds to study, immorality to virtue, one 
night plunges them in ruin, misery and disease. 

I think I understand the theory of Italian bookkeep- 
ing and am able to follow that method if need be, in 
the transacting of my own business. I shall soon dis- 
charge my master. I have agreed with Mr. Cowley, 
professor of mathematics at Woolich [Woolwich] to 
teach me surveying. He is to have two guineas entrance 
money, a guinea per month, the month to consist of eight 
lessons. I begin the iSth instant. My accompitant 
master has brought me to raise a form of books, consist- 
ing of wastebook, journal and ledger, which I shall not 
fail to keep by me, as they will be of use hereafter. Mr. 
Crookshanks upon the dissolution was obliged to leave 
Paris. I have now no correspondent there. I remember 
Poison made some scruple about paying the postage of a 
letter from his relations, tho" he was only charged with 
the postage from England to France. His affection can- 
not be very great, or his necessities are very pressing. 
Mr. Kennedy returas soon to Paris. I shall write a line 
or two by him to Mr. Poison letting him know my 
address, and that I will forward his letters to Maryland. 

I don't find any provision made or indemnification 
stipulated by the preliminaries for the poor neutrals. I 
am afraid they will be overlooked in the definitive treaty, 
and their redress sacrificed to more important interests. 
In looking over your list of English books I am sur- 
prised not to meet with Shakespeare's works. If I 
remember well you had them when I was in Maryland. 

The negotiations are going on. There seems to be a 



Peace Negotiations Going on. 55 

demurrer about the evacuation of Cleves and Guetores. 
The French want to give up those places to the Austrians, 
the English insist upon their being put into the hands of 
the King of Prussia, In my next I shall answer the 
letter in your own handwriting. I beg my compliments 
to cousin John Damall and his sons, to Mr. Croxall and 
Harry Carroll, and to cousin Rachel Darnall. 

1 am, dear papa, your most dutiful and loving son 
Ch. Carroll. 

To Charles Carroll, Esq. 

of Annapolis, in Maryland.' 



The remaining letters were written by the elder 
Carroll. 

April 28ih, 1763, 
Dear Charley : 

The loth instant I received yours of the last Novem- 
ber. Before Ihat I had a cover from you to a letter 
directed to James Maccollum without a date. Maccollum 
is in Philadelphia extremely poor. He mortgaged his 
land and ran away from this Province in debt I do not 
take the young man to be MaccoUum's son. I think he 
had no son. An orphan boy lived with him who as I 
apprehend run away from him and I suppose to be the 
same who gave you the trouble to forward the letter, 

I find you know Mr. Dulany pretty well. Dulany 
before he left Maryland sued me for his part of the 
money I received of Wright and Frazier. The suit 
hangs as he filed no declaration. If on his return he 
does not drop the action, and he and my other partners 
do not pay me the damages I have suffered by Mercer's 

' PennsylvBDis Historical Society. 



56 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

suit I shall prefer a bill in chancery against them. Since 
my partners do not advise me to it, I do not think it 
worth my while singly to appeal against the decree of 
Clifton and Mercer- I do not intend to abide by Cle- 
ment Hill and Basil Waring's award in favor of my 
nephew. I have prepared a bill in chancery against 
them and my nephew which is under the consideration 
of council and will be filed by next September, and I am 
not in the least afraid of not succeeding to set aside the 
award. 

If by cousin Antony and by such relations in Ireland 
you cannot trace our family as I formerly directed, I 
know not what other directions to give you. You see 
by the Coat-of-arms I sent you that your grandfather 
stiles himself the second son of Daniel Carroll Esq, of 
Litterlouna in the King's county. May not cousin An- 
thony's mother, sisters, or some of Michael Carroll's 
children, or some of their relations, trace up our branch 
[torn]. You may perhaps hereafter wish more earnestly 
than you do at present that this bad been done. I shall 
be glad to see the Irish History when completed. 

Do not refer me to the accounts I may receive from 
others of the proceedings against the Jesuits ; such 
accounts if sent may not be communicated to me. You 
are on the spot and may procure and transmit as perfect 
information as anyone. I doubt not you received Mr. 
Kennedy kindly and showed him proper civilities. If he 
transmits to you the papers he promised, he will lay an 
additional obligation on me, and if you should write to 
him present my respects to him. 

It pleases me much to hear you are not disheartened 
with the difficulties you meet with in the study of the 
law, but I think you have been unfortunate in not meet- 
ing with anyone to direct you in the most profitable 



Nimble Put in for the Races. 57 

method of reading it and instnicting you in your difficul- 
ties. If you could not by friendship I think you might 
by money have procured such a one. 

I have made your compliments as desired. I saw 
Captain Carroll a few days past Cousin Jo : Damall 
is now with me — they, Rachel Damall and Mr. Croxall 
desire to be kindly remembered by you. My last to you 
bore date December 24th, 1762, in which I acknowledged 
the receipt of yours of August 6th, 176a. You see I 
keep my resolution of not writing oftener to you than 
you write to me. On the 13th instant my niece Eleanor 
Carroll the wife of Daniel Carroll died. I sincerely 
regret the loss of her, for she was in every respect a very 
worthy and valuable woman. My nephew who is not 
capable of doing a wise thing, has lately done the fool- 
ishest thing he ever did, for he has taken to himself a 
wife, the daughter of Mr. Henry Hill. 

The 32nd instant I put in your horse ^/w^/if for the 
four year old purse. I shall give you the event in the 
words of our Gazette : " Mr. Carroll's horse Nimdle won 
the two first heats, but in running the third to save his 
distance only, the foolish rider endeavoured to get be- 
fore and ran within one of the poles." Nimble will, I 
think, make a fine horse. He is allowed by all to have 
a very good bottom. 

In February you will prepare for your voyage, and I 
shall expect you sometime in the May following. Do 
not come in a ship with fellows or servants, and it will be 
agreeable to you not to be crowded with cabin passen- 
gers ; two or three you will find to be company enough. 
Try to get a neat Captain and one who loves to live well. 
Be very inquisitive as to the age of the ship, and whether 
she be sound and strong, and well found. About this 
time twelvemonth, I shall be as impatient as you have 



58 Charles Carroll of CarroUion, 

been for a long time past. I shall then long to see you, 
for I am, ray dear Charley, 

Your most affectionate father 

Charles Carroll. 

P. S. I have been offered 100 pounds for Nimble 
and have refused it. 

To Charles Carroll, Esq., London.' 

July 20th, 1763. 
Dear Charley : ... As to Mr. Whitten's letter 
about our genealogy, your grandfather's narae was 
Charles, your great-grandfather's name you see by your 
arms was Daniel, my father's oldest brother's narae was 
Antony, his eldest son's narae Daniel who was your 
cousin Antony's father. I know nothing of ray grand- 
father's or Uncle Antony's wives, or into what families 
they married. As to any expence do not begrudge what 
you think proper. Your grandfather left Europe and 
arrived in Maryland, October ist, 1688, with the commis- 
sion of Attorney General. He on the 19th of February, 
1693 married Mary Damall, the daughter of Col. Henry 
Damall. I know not how my father came to style him- 
self of Ahagurton and afterwards of Litterlouna. I was 
born April ind, 1702. Your mother was the daughter of 
Clement Brooke Esq : of Prince George's County ; you 
was born September 8th, 1737. This is as much as I 
can furnish towards our pedigree, with the translation I 
obtained in Paris and which I will send you by the first 
safe hand. 

Dear Charley, your most affectionate father 

Cha : Carroll. 

' Family papers, Mis. William C. Pennington. 



Paying Addresses to Miss Baker. 59 

September aoth, 1763. 
Dear Charley ; ... It is very probable my grand- 
father Daniel Carroll was living in 1688 ; it is certain my 
uncle Antony was, and consequently Kean Carroll men- 
tioned in Mr. Whitten's letter to Mr. Kennedy could not 
be an ancestor of ours in a direct line. You may get a 
fresh plate of our arms, styling yourself the only son of 
Charles Carroll Esq. of the city of Annapolis in the Pro- 
vince of Maryland, and greatgrandson of Daniel Carroll 
of Litterlouna Esq., in the King's County in the Kingdom 
of Ireland ; and get at least 1000 stamps from the plate 
to be pasted in all the books, I shall send you by Kelty 
or Hanson the genealogy of our family as copied from 
the Irish original, and translated at Paris into English 
This may be copied and sent to Mr. Whitlen. Those 
acquainted with heraldry may trace the several branches 
by this and make out the genealogies. If this cannot 
be done while you are in London, you may possibly 
get someone who can be trusted to see it done, but do 
not part with the book,' 

January gth 1764. 
Dear Charley : 

I yesterday evening received yours of the nth of 
October past. , , . I hope Miss Baker may be en- 
dowed with all the good sense and good nature you say 
she has. Giving this for granted you have my full con- 
sent to pay your addresses to her, ... I hereby 
again bind myself to comply with what I promised in the 
letter relating to the settlement to be made on your wife. 
And that Mr. Baker may be convinced I am capable of 
securing whatever fortune he may think proper to give 

' Family papers. Rev, Thomas Sim Lee. 



6o Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

his daughter, I hereby give you a short abstract of the 
value of my estate : 

Forty thousand acres of land, two seats alone contain- 
ing each upwards of twelve thousand acres would now 
sell at 2 OS ster. per acre . . . ;£'40,ooo,o-o. 

One fifth of an Iron Work consisting of the most con- 
venient furnace in America, with two forges built, a third 
erecting, with all convenient buildings ; 150 slaves, young 
and old, teams, carts &c., and thirty thousand acres of 
land belonging to the works, a very growing estate which 
produces to my fifth annually at least 400 pounds ster. 
at twenty-five years purchase . . ;^io,ooo,o,o. 

Twenty lots in Annapolis with the houses thereon, 

;^4,ooo,o,o. 
Two hundred and eighty-five slaves on my different 
plantations at ;£^3o ster., cash each, on an average, 

Cattle, horses, stock of all sorts on my plantations, with 
working tools, &c j;^ 1000,0,0. 

Silver household plate .... ;£^6oo,o,o. 

Debts outstanding at interest in 1762 when I balanced 

my books ;^24,23o. 9s yd 

;^ 88380. 9s 7d 

You must not suppose my annual income to equal the 
interest of the value of my estate. Many of my lands 
are unimproved, but I compute I have a clear revenue of 
at least ;;^i8oo per annum and the value of my estate is 
annually increasing by the increase of the value of my 
lands. 

Your most affectionate father, 

Cha. Carroll.* 

» Ibid. 



Marriage Settlements Debated. 6i 

February ^ith, 1764. I have yours of the izth of 
November which I was in hopes before I opened it 
would have iafonned me whether you had Mr. Baker's 
consent to pay your addresses to his daughter,' 

February i%th, 1764. This is only to inform you [I 
have] this day received yours of the 8th of December, If 
you hke the lady I hope her merit may in a great measure 
make up for what her fortune may fait short of your ex- 
pectations. . . . Could you not learn what Mr. Baker 
is supposed to be worth, where his estate lays, of what it 
consists, what sum you suppose he may or may not be 
able to give his daughter ? 

April lolh, 1764. . . . Mr, Baker's letter to you 
speaks him to be a man of sense and honor. . . . 
He promises at his death to make his daughter share 
equal his estate with his sons. I proposed upon your 
coming into Maryland to convey to you my Manor of 
Carrollton, loooo acres, and the addition thereto called 
Addition to Carrollton 3700 acres, now producing an- 
nually ;^z5o sterling and greatly improving as not nigh 
half of the 13700 acres is let, and what is let, is let to 
tenants at will, and my share of the Iron Works produc- 
ing at least annually ^400 ster. If this should be 
deemed insufEcient settlement and gift to you, and se- 
curity for the lady's jointure, I am willing to add on my 
death my Manor of Doohoregan, loooo acres and 1425 
acres called Chance adjacent thereto on which the bulk 
of my negroes are settled. ... As you are my only 
child you will of course have all the residue of ray estate 
on my death. . . . Your return to me I hope may 
be in the next fall.' 

I IHd. * IHd. 



62 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

The following attractive description of the youth- 
ful Charles Carroll of CarroUton, written by one of 
his tutors, was carefully preserved by his father, 
endorsed by him as here given : 

" A character of my son : By Mr. Jenison his Master." 

Tho' I am not in a disposition of writing letters, having 
lost this morning the finest young man, in every respect, 
that ever enter'd the House, you will perhaps, afterwards, 
have the pleasure of assuring yourself by experience that 
I have not exaggerated Charles Carroll's character in the 
foregoing lines. The Captain will be able to give you, 
I hope, a satisfactory account of him. *T is very natural 
I should regret the loss of one who during the whole time 
he was under my care, never deserved, on any account, a 
single harsh word, and whose sweet temper rendered him 
equally agreeable both to equals and superiors, without 
ever making him degenerate into the mean character of 
a favorite which he always justly despised. His applica- 
tion to his Book and Devotions was constant and un- 
changeable, nor could we perceive the least difference in 
his conduct even after having read the news of his desti- 
nation, which, you know, is very usual with young people 
here. This short character I owe to his deserts ; — preju- 
dice I am convinced, has no share in it, as I find the 
public voice confirms my sentiments. Both inclination 
and justice prompt me to say more, yet I rather chuse to 
leave the rest to Captain Carroll, to inform you of by 
word of mouth. 

Underneath Charles Carroll wrote when he was 
looking over his father's papers, after his death : " I 
fear this, letter was dictated by Mr, Jenison's partial- 



Appreciation of his Teachers. 63 

ity to me. I never found till this day (27th June, 
1782) that he ever wrote to my Father about me," ' 
In his old age Charles Carroll of Carrollton was often 
heard to speak 

"in strains of the highest eulogy, and with sentiments 
of the most devoted attachment, and expressions of the 
noblest gratitude, of his ancient preceptors. To them he 
attributed all that he knew, to their solicitude he referred 
all that he valued in his acquirements ; and particularly 
that deep and hallowed conviction of religious truth, 
which was the ornament of his youth, and the solace of 
his old age. When anyone uttered a sentiment of aston- 
ishment how in his advanced years, he could rise so early 
and kneel so long — 'these good practices,' he would 
answer with his high tone of cheerfulness, ' I learned 
under the Jesuits at the College of St. Omers.' " ' 

Of his indebtedness to the instruction at the 
College of Louis le Grand he gave testimony, re- 
corded by the same authority. Here he 

"grounded himself in the critical knowledge of the 
ancient languages ; became master of all the intricacies 
and beauties of style, as well in his own tongue, as in the 
learned languages ; stored his mind with the poets and 
historians, with the orators and philosophers of Greece 
and Rome, and acquired that general information, that 
universal knowledge which shed a charm around his 
conversation, and gave increased interest to the natural 
fascination of his n 



' MaryUnd Historical Society's " Centennial Memorial," 
'Oration of Kev. Conslanline C. Pise, 1S33. 



^^'^' 



64 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

The years in Paris and in London, from twenty- 
one to twenty-eight, were passed as we have seen, 
his studies occupying him, but not to the exclusion 
of society. He had not neglected the accomplish- 
ments befitting the gentleman of fashion, learning 
to dance, to give him, as his father said, a " graceful 
and easy carriage." His portrait was to have been 
painted in Paris, " fifteen inches by twelve," when 
he was a boy of sixteen, and again in London ten 
years later, when Sir Joshua Reynolds is the artist. 
His schoolmates " Jacky," probably John Carroll, 
who was but two years his senior, and " Watty," 
Walter Hoxton, both of them his cousins, were 
Charles Carroll's friends and companions in the 
earlier years. There were always some " Mary- 
landians " abroad among his associates. In London, 
dining with him at William Sharpens, were George 
Plater afterwards prominent in the Revolution, 
Edmund Key who had Chambers at the Temple, 
1 759-1 763, and was later Attorney-General of Mary- 
land and member of the Assembly, dying in his early, 
brilliant manhood, and Henry Rozier, a half-brother 
of Mrs. Daniel Carroll of Duddington. 

Other Maryland gentlemen whom Charles Carroll 
mentions in his letters are Lloyd Dulany who was 
at the Middle Temple, Edmund Jennings, son of the 
Attorney-General of Maryland, and one of the Jeni- 
fer family. But he doubtless met all the prominent 
men among his fellow colonists, whose business or 
pleasure brought them to London in these years; 
merchants and lawyers, most of them, John Ham- 
mond and Philip Lee, John Brice, Jr., and the Hon. 



Marylanders in London. 65 

Daniel Dulany being among them. The latter 
gentleman, Charles Carroll of Carrollton's future 
antagonist in the polemical arena, with his eldest 
son, and his nephew, young Benjamin Ogle, sailed 
for London in the summer of 1761. Capt. Henry 
Carroll of The Two Sisters, who was possibly a rela- 
tive of Charles Carroll of Annapolis, was going back 
and forth between London and Maryland in these 
years. His ship was owned by William Perkins, a 
London merchant, of whom mention is made in this 
correspondence. Captain Carroll's eldest son, Henry 
James Carroll, was living in 1767. Among the 
Americans studying at the Temple were the Mary- 
landers Alexander Lawson and William Paca, the 
latter to become one of Charles Carroll's associates 
in the Revolution. 

The letters of Charles Carroll, &, impressed upon 
his son the duty of remembering the wrongs suffered 
by those of his religion, in Maryland, and the in- 
juries received by his family through the ingrati> 
tude and selfishness of the Proprietary. But if he 
meets Lord Baltimore or Mr. Cecelius Calvert, he 
is to show them a proper respect, while not leaving 
them in doubt as to his sentiments. The oppor- 
tunity came for an interview with Cecelius Calvert, 
which young Carroll improved by talking with him 
on the subject of the Roman Catholies, though he 
does not record the conversation. 

Henry Rozier and others who visited Charles 
Carroll in 1760, wrote home reports of "his ele- 
gant way of living," and of the philosophical in- 
difference to current events which he affected. 



66 Charles Carroll of Carrdlton. 

With his father the " affectation" was put aside, 
and he appears wholly alert and practical ; interested 
in public affairs and attending the sessions of Fartia- 
ment, of which body at least two of his friends 
or acquaintances were to become members later: 
William Graves, a master in chancery, and Daines 
Barrington. The Mr, "Hussey" mentioned in a 
letter written in 1768, was probably the gentleman 
who was in Parliment at that time. Charles Carroll 
heard the great Mr. Pitt in 1763 and gives a graphic 
account of his impressions on seeing him, lamenting 
the deterioration which his genius had suffered since 
he drew a pension from the government. He made 
the acquaintance of Edmund Burke, the friend of 
America, and dined with him en famille? He was 
busy, at his father's request, corresponding with 
Irish cousins, about the genealogy of the family ; 
and he was buying books for the home library, 
which was evidently of respectable magnitude as he 
orders a thousand impressions of his father's armorial 
book'plate, to put in these volumes. But while 
reading Locke and Cicero, and keeping a " compen- 
dium," or common-place book, studying law, philoso- 
phy, and accounts, softer thoughts intrude upon his 
studies, and he falls in love. Then at one time he 
takesatrip to Margate, and later to Tunbridge Wells 
with Mr. Jennings, whom he describes as a "sensible, 
sober, discreet, well-behaved young man." ' While 
at Ryegate, which he also visits, he is evidently, as 
we learn from subsequent reminiscences, under the 

■Oration of Rev. ConslantiDe C. Pise, 1833, 
' Afjiltlon'i yeumal, September I3, 1874. 



The " Crown and Anchor" Tavern. 67 

spell of Miss Baker, the fair " Louisa" of whom we 
hear in the letters he writes on his return home. 

He moved in a circle of friends of not a little con- 
sequence and fashion, some of whom he was wont 
to meet at the "Crown and Anchor," the famous 
Tavern on Arundel Street, and he does not forget 
them when he is back in Maryland, as his correspond- 
ence testifies. Dr. Johnson and Boswell were fre- 
quently to be seen in the Coffee Room of the " Crown 
and Anchor," and many other celebrities resorted 
there. It was burned down in 1854 but subsequently 
rebuilt and is now the Temple Club. But the time 
approached for Charles Carroll's long residence 
abroad to close,' He was to bring over thorough- 
bred horses, and a gamekeeper, and doubtless the 
newest London fashions in dress and equipage. 
That he had hoped to bring home an English bride 
to his Maryland manor, is evident. But for some 
reason his suit failed, and the romance came to an 
untimely end. The estate of " CarroUton " in Fred- 
erick County was to be settled upon him on his re- 

' Charles CatroU of CarroUton brought home with him a valuable 
testimonial of his remarkable pioliciency in his collegiate course, 
which is now to be seen framed atid hanging on the wall of the lib- 
rary at " Doughor^an Manor." It is a list, in Latin, of the theses 
delivered by him at the close of his studies in Paris, and is ornamented 
by the Carroll crest, and what appears to be an all^^rical group at 
the head of the engraving. The Rev. F. H. Richards, President of 
Georgetown College writes that these essays represented " a public 
defence covering the whole of philosophy, both mental and physical. 
This no doubt was a great honor, as be would not have been allowed 
to make a public defence had he not been thoroughly conversant with 
the subjects of his theses. 1 presume that he received a d^ree upon 
that occasion." 



68 Charles Carroll of CarroUlon. 

turn home, and he was to be known henceforward 
as Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

The name " Carrollton " was first given to a tract 
of land surveyed, February loth, 1702, for James 
Carroll. It was part of a grant of 3500 acres in 
Spesutte Hundred, Baltimore County.' " Carroll- 
ton," in Frederick County, was patented by Charles, 
Daniel, Mary, and Eleanor Carroll, being the half of 
% 20,000 acres granted them, April 19th, 1723. It had 
come to them from their father, and was then in 
Prince George's County.' Philemon Lloyd wrote, 
July 28th, 1722: "Mr. Charles Carroll purchased 
from the Indians a Lycence to take up his Tract of 
land in the ffork of Patowmeek and Monockkessy." ' 
In the will of Daniel Carroll of Duddington, drawn 
up in 1734, after the death of Eleanor Carroll, he 
says : " And whereas a patent has passed to me and 
my brother and sisters for 10,000 acres of land at the 
mouth of Monnokasi, I hereby devise, release and 
confirm unto my sister Mary all my right, etc., to 
the tract according to the intention of my father's 
will."* Referring to the will of Charles Carroll the 
Immigrant, it will be seen that the manor is 
there referred to as " my tract of Land of twenty 
thousand acres intended to be laid out for me on 
Potomack," of which five thousand acres each 
were devised to his daughters.' The Hon. Charles 
Browning, nephew of Frederick, sixth and last 
Lord Baltimore, writing in 1821, gives the fol- 

' Calvert Rent Rolls, Maryland Historical Society. 
' Deed Books, I^nd Office, Annipolis. 

• Calvert Papers, vol. ii., p. 3g. 

• RegiElei of Wills GBftce, Annapolis. ' Appendix C. 



Grant of Carrollton Manor. 69 

lowing account ot the patenting of "Carrollton 
Manor," as received at that time from the lips of 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Writing of Cecelius, 
Lord Baltimore, Mr. Browning says: 

"It was also his Lordship's desire that his agents 
should purchase (he native's interest in any lands, rather 
than take from them by force what they considered their 
right, and it appears the same conduct was strictly ad- 
hered to by their Lordships as they became proprietors 
in succession. A case of this nature occurred a very few 
years prior to the Revolution, and which was related to 
me by Charles Carroll of CarrolUon Esq., whose ancestors 
having obtained from Charles, Lord BaUimore (father of 
the Hon. Mrs. Browningi, a grant of 10,000 acres of land 
in Frederick County, with liberty to select the best land 
they could find ; they first fixed on a spot beyond Freder- 
ick town but finding the land better on this side of 
Frederick, changed to the spot which the present Mr. 
Carroll now possesses on Monocacy River who went 
there and entered into a treaty with the Indians, and pur- 
chased their pretended right for ^zoo, and for which he 
paid them in different merchandize such as suited them. 
The grant of this land first appears to have been made 
on the loth of April, 1723, to the Carroll family, some 
of whom dying, there were different assignments from 
time to time, up to 1734 ; but I understand the land was 
not taken up till just before the Revolution, by the pres- 
ent Charles Carroll of Carrollton Esq., for his father ; 
and the only money that appears to have been given for 
this land was a rent of £,20 per annum, which the present 
Mr. Carroll got rid of by the act for the abolition of quit- 
rents, 1780." ' 

' Scharf s " Hutory of Maryland," vol. ii., p. 137. " A Brief Ex- 
planation, etc.," Charles Browning, p E8, Baltimore, 1S21. 



CHAPTER III. 



POLITICS AND MATRIMONY. 

i;65-i7;2. 

THERE appeared the following notice of the 
arrival of Charles Carroll of Carrollton in 
America, in the Annapolis paper of Thursday, 
February 14th, 1765 : 

" Tuesday last arrived at his Father's House in Town, 
Charles Carroll Jun'r, Esq. (lately from London by way 
of Virginia) after about sixteen years absence from his 
Native Country at his Studies and on his Travels." ' 

He came home, at twenty-seven, an amiable, up- 
right, accomplished young man, with the polish of 
European society, and the solid acquirements of 
studious culture. Debarred by his religion from the 
attainment of political honors, he anticipated only, 
in the present, the sweets of social life, among friends 
and kindred, in the affluent ease of his class, the 
slave-holding and manorial aristocracy of colonial 
Maryland. Charles Carroll had evidently not thought 
that it was to his interest and happiness to sell his 
' Maryland Gaulle, 1765, 



A Maryland Tobacco Planter, 71 

estates in the Province and expatriate himself, as his 
father would have persuaded him, a few years before. 
As yet he had had, personally, no experience of the 
" injustice of the times," and with youthful optimism 
he no doubt looked forward to a better era, without 
forecasting the wider liberties, civil and religious, 
that he would take a part in establishing. And a 
little later he wrote to his friend, Mr, Graves, who, 
it seems, was contemplating a visit to the colonies : 

" As to travelers in America, besides that there is lit- 
tle worth a traveler's notice, there is the disadvantage 
attending a long journey — one's affairs will suffer greatly 
in his absence. 

Our estates differ much from yours, the income is 
never certain. It depends upon the casual rise or fall in 
the price of tobacco. Notwithstanding these disadvan- 
tages, and some others more personal and applicable to 
myself, my views reach not beyond the narrow limits of 
this province ; — so little is my ambition, and my bent to 
retirement so strong, that I am determined, leaving all 
ambitious pursuits, to confine myself to the improvement 
you recommend of my paternal acres. May 1 not en- 
joy as much happiness in this humble as in a more exalted 
station ? Who is so happy as an independent man ? and 
who is more independent than a private gentleman pos- 
sessed of a clear estate, and moderate in his desires ? " ' 

But already America had entered into the penum- 
bra of the political eclipse from which the colonies 
were to emerge as sovereign states in 1776. The 
Stamp Act was the supreme question of the hour, 
and Charles Carroll in his retirement could not escape 

' Family papers : Afpltton's Journal, Sept, 19, 1674, p. 353. 



72 diaries Carroll of Carrollton. 

the influence of the agitation and ferment surround- 
ing him. He caught the contagion of patriotic en- 
thusiasm, responding warmly to the appeals of the 
local leaders. In the summer of 1 765, Zachariah Hood, 
a merchant of Annapolis, was given the appointment 
of stamp distributor in Maryland. But on his arrival 
he was not permitted to land his vessel, and had to 
eflfect his purpose later, unseen by the angry crowd 
which had opposed him. He was hung in efligy at 
Annapolis, Baltimore, Frederick, and Elk Ridge. 
The latter place was near Doughoregan Manor. The 
prominent men of Annapolis, with all others in the 
neighborhood in sympathy with them, met together 
on the 27th of Augu.st, and calling themselves " As- 
sertors of British American privileges," stirred up 
resistance to the execution of the obnoxious law. 
In all probability, Charles Carroll of Carrollton was 
one of those who were present. 

The Maryland Assembly met, in September, and 
appointed delegates to the " Stamp Act Congress," 
as it has been called, which met In October. Col. 
George Mercer of Virginia, then living in London, 
brought over some of the stamps for Maryland, 
with those for Virginia, in November, but he found 
the sentiment against admitting them too strong 
to be withstood, and prudently forebore to carry 
out his agreement. The " Sons of Liberty," an 
association which had sprung up in various parts 
of the country, had its representatives in Maryland, 
and those of that province met in Baltimore, Feb- 
ruary, 1766, and signified their determination to 
put an end to the stagnation of business which had 



The Stamp Act Controversy. 73 

ensued from the fears of the crown officers to act 
without stamped paper. A full meeting later of 
all the members from the counties accomplished 
that object. It was resolved also to wear home- 
spun, and to inaugurate a non-importation policy. 
In all these measures, it is evident, Charles Car- 
roil of CarroUton was in concert with Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, and the other Maryland patriots. 
Chase and Paca were of the Anne Arundel Com 
mitteeof the "Sons of Liberty," Charles Carroll's 
correspondence at this time, with his friends in 
London, depicts vividly the condition of affairs. 
To one of them, probably Edmund Jennings, he 
wrote, September 5th, 1765, and subsequently, 
as follows : 

"Things are in pretty much the same situation as 
when you left us. The Stamp Act continues lo make 
as much noise as ever. The spirit of discontent in 
the people rather continues to increase than diminish. 

The slamp-master of Boston has been obliged to 
resign his office ; the house building here for the re- 
ception of the stamps has been leveled to the ground. 
Our stamp- master, Zachariah Hood, is hated and de- 
spised by everyone ; he has been whipped, pilloried and 
hanged in effigy, in this place [Annapolis], Baltimore 
town, and at the landing [Elk Ridge] ; the people seem 
determined not to buy his goods. His last dying speech 
has its humor : it contains, as most dying speeches, an 
account of his birth, parentage, and education." 

" September 28, 1763 : Should the Stamp Act be 
enforced by tyrannical soldiery, our property, our liberty, 
our very existence, is at an end. And you may be per- 



74 Charles Carroll of CarroHlon. 

suaded that nothing but an armed force can execute the 
worst of laws. Thus you see how necessary it is, at this 
critical juncture, to have cool, dispassionate, condescend- 
ing men at the helm. It is sometimes with governments 
as with private men ; they obstinately persevere from 
resentment and passion in measures which unbiased 
reason would condemn." 

" September jo, 167$ ; Nothing can overcome the aver- 
sion of the people to the Stamp Act, and [overcome] their 
love of liberty, but an armed force ; and that, too, not a 
contemptible one. To judge from the number of the 
colonists, and the spirit they have already shown, and 
which I hope to God will not fail them on the day of 
trial, twenty thousand men would find it difficult to en- 
force the law ; or more properly speaking to ram it down 
our throats. Can England, surrounded with powerful 
enemies, distracted with intestine factions, encumbered, 
and almost staggering under the immense load of debt — 
little short of one hundred and fifty million pounds — 
send out such a powerful army to deprive a free people, 
their fellow-subjects of their rights and liberties? If 
ministerial influence and parliamentary corruption should 
not blush at such a detestable scheme ; if Parliament, 
blind to their own interest, and forgetting that they are 
the guardians of sacred liberty, and of our happy consti- 
tution, should have the impudence to avow this open in- 
fraction of both, will England, her commerce annihilated 
by the oppression of America, be able to maintain those 
troops ? 

The absurdities of such an attempt are so glaring, the 
evil consequences so obvious, that unless a general frenzy 
has seized the whole English nation, I cannot suppose 
that a measure will be adopted which will inevitably end 
in the ruin of the English Empire. At a moderate com- 



Palriois Wearing Homespun, 75 

putation, the inhabitants of these continental colonies 
amount to two million, five hundred thousand ; and in 
twenty years time as propagation increases in proportion 
to the means of an easy subsistence, the number will be 
doubled. Reflect on the immense ocean that divides 
this fruitful country from the island whose power, as its 
territory is circumscribed, has already arrived at its zen- 
ith, while the power of this continent is growing daily, 
and in time will be as unbounded as our dominions are 
extensive. The rapid increase of manufactures surpasses 
the expectations of the most sanguine American. Even 
the arts and sciences commence to flourish, and in these, 
as in arms, the day, I hope, will come when America will 
be superior to all the world. Without prejudice or par- 
tiality, I do not believe the universe can show a finer 
country — so luxuriant in its soil ; so happy in a healthy 
climate ; so extensively watered by so many navigable 
rivers, and producing within itself not only all the neces- 
saries, but even most of the superfluities of life. 

A great many gentlemen have already appeared in 
homespun, and I hope soon to make one of the number. 
Many imagine the Stamp Act will be suspended for a 
time, till some expedient may be hit on to reconcile the 
exemption we claim from a parliamentary taxation, with 
the right and power asserted of late by the Parliament. 
If the act be suspended until such an expedient can be 
found, it will be suspended for all eternity." ' 

In a letter, dated August 12, 1766, which is 
thought to have been written to William Graves, 
Charles Carroll says : 

"The colonies are far from aiming at independence. 

If, indeed, slavery and dependency be convertible terms 

' Ibid., September 13, 1B74. p. 323. 



76 Charles Carroll of CarroUion. 

— and if your government should not make the proper 
distinction, and should treat us, not as culprits composing 
a part of the same society, and entitled to the same priv- 
ileges with the rest, but should look upon us as staves, 
and should use us as such, I believe every American 
would disclaim that sort of dependency.'" 

The disappointment in courtship, which had been 
a part of Charies Carroll's London experience, had 
disinclined him to thoughts of matrimony, as he 
believed, on his return to Maryland. But the wise 
bachelor philosophy to which he gives utterance in 
the fall of 1765, had all been dissipated in the space 
of a few months, and in the spring of 1766, we find 
him again under the influence of the softer passion. 
He was in love with his cousin Rachel Cooke, and 
she returned his affection. This lady was descended, 
like himself, from Jane Lowe, Lady Baltimore. 
The wedding was to have taken place the Sth of 
July, 1766, but the lover was seized with a fever in 
June, which lasted for so long a time that the. cere- 
mony was postponed until early in November. He 
then writes over to London for gifts to be purchased 
for his bride, and he asks a friend to buy him a 
"curricle," in view o{ the coming event. But now 
it was the lady who fell sick, and in the very month 
she was to have been married, Charles Carroll was 
shocked and stunned by her death. His grief for 
her loss seems to have been poignant, if not long- 
lived. But at thirty the spirit is elastic, and a bruised 
heart is soon healed. Another fair cousin was at 



Reflections of a Bachelor. 7 7 

hand to oRer consolation, and to this lady, Mary 
Darnall, Charles Carroll of CarroUton was married, 
June sth, 1768. She and her mother had been living 
in his father's family for some years, which accounts 
for the brief courtship. The following letters to 
his English friends and others, tell the story of these 
several vicissitudes of feeling, and of the final happy 
consummation. 

I5tli September, 1765. 
Dear Graves : 

The gentleman who informed you of my Father's hav- 
ing presented me with ;^40,ooo sterling, was misinformed, 
or was willing to impose on you a piece of news of his 
own coinage — not only 40,000 pounds but the whole of 
my Father's estate is at my disposal. We are, and are 
likely to continue on the best of terms : never Father 
and Son were [on] better. 

Matrimony is at present but little the subject of my 
thoughts ; indeed I am uncertain whether I shall ever 
marry, unless I meet with a lady of good sense and good 
nature. . . . 

Affectionately yours 
Ch. Carroll of Carrolltok.' 

aist November, 1765. 
Dear Bradshaw : 

. . . As to your humble servant, he is much as you 
left him — as thin, as easy, and as sincere and unalterable 
in his friendship ; still a bachelor and likely to remain 
so — not from any fixed purpose, or former disappoint- 
ment, but merely from indifference. At our years the 
passions grow cooler, and our reason generally operates 
' Fftinily ptpeis, Rev. Thomu Sim Lee. 



78 Charles Carroil of Carrdlton. 

the stronger in proportion to the abatement of youthful 
heat. A man of common sense at twenty [thirty?] is 
well convinced, or ought to be, of the emptiness of that 
passion (which exists nowhere but in romance). If he 
marries, he will marry from alTertion, from esteem, and 
from a sense of merit in his wife. . . . It is indeed a 
misfortune too common, that the generality of women 
neglect to improve their understandings — their whole 
time being taken up in emptiness, in adorning and setting 
off to advantage their charms. They do not reflect that 
these, in the eyes of the world have but a few years to 
last, and in the eyes of a husband, but a few months ; 
and good sense, good nature, improved by reflection, by 
reading, are the only means to bold the affection of a 
husband, and to perpetuate that empire which beauty 
first established. What more dreadful, what more irk- 
some, than to be linked for life to a dull, insipid com- 
panion, whose whole conversation is confined to the 
color and fashion of her dress — the empty chit-chat of 
the tea-table ? Nor would I be understood to insinuate 
that the domestic cares, and charge of a family, are be- 
neath the notice and dignity of a wife, for due attention 
to the duties that fall to the mistress of a family, far from 
beinR derogatory, would do honor to a lady in the high- 
est station in life.' 

May 29, 1766. 
Dear Daniel : 

Before you receive this, 1 shall probably be married to 
Miss Cooke, . . . 

' Family papers : AppUloiit Journal. September ig, 1874, p. 354. 



Engaged to Miss Cook 79 

22nd July, 1766. 
Dear Christopher : 

I was to have been married the 8th inst, but a sharp 
fever seized me about the zoth of last month. It con. 
tinued without intermission for thirteen days, and from 
that time, though with several intermissions, it has hung 
upon me till a few days ago. 

■ August 36th, 
Dear Bradshaw : 

I was to have been married the 8th of last month to 
an amiable young lady, but was taken ill with fever in 
June. If I continue thus recruiting I hope to be mar- 
ried early in November.' 

17th September, 1766. 
Dear Christopher : 

About the loth next November I shall be initiated in 
the mysterious riles, as Milton calls them of Hymen, A 
greater commendation I cannot make of the young lady 
than by pronouncing her no ways inferior to Louisa, 
and that the sweetness of her temper and other amiable 
qualities have contributed to efface an impression which 
similar qualities had made on a heart too susceptible 
perhaps, of tender feelings, and on a mind not sufficiently 
strengthened by philosophy to resist those and the 
united power of good sense and beauty.' 

October 6, 1766. 
Dear Madam : 

I wrote to your nephew the i7tb of last month and in 
that letter acquainted him with my intended marriage 
which I believe if nothing unforseen happens will take 

■ Family papers, Kev. Thomas Sim Lee. 

* Family papers, Mrs. William C. PeDiibglon, 



8o Cltarles Carroll of CarroUton. 

place the first week in November. You have no doubt 
some curiosity to know what sort of choice I have made. 
Were I not afraid of doing injustice to the lady, I would 
endeavour to present you with her picture, but I have 
been so accustomed to draw ugly likenesses that I fear I 
shall make but a bad hand at a handsome one. This 
much I will say, and this is her chiefest commendation, 
she has good sense, a temper equally sweet as yours, and 
a modesty thar would charm a rake. 

[And after a few jests about women which he 
fears his correspondent might Interpret as "a satyr 
upon your sex " the letter continues.] 

I assure you I have been more sparing in my reflec- 
tions, and in pronouncing judgment on that amiable part 
of mankind since the opinion a charitable lady of your 
acquaintance was pleased to form of me behind my back, 
from little inadvertencies, and that opinion was delivered 
seriously and deliberately before a sister whom at that 
time I would have given the world to entertain better of 
me. Well then, since the subject has somehow unac- 
countably led me on to the lady, I may mention her 
name. How is Louisa? There was once more music 
in that name than in the sweetest tines of Pope ; but 
now I can pronounce it as indifferently as Nancy, Betsy, 
or any other common name. If I ask a few questions 
I hope you will not think I am not quite as indifferent 
as I pretend to be. But I protest it is mere curiosity, 
or mere good will, that prompts me to inquire after her. 
Is she siill single ? Does she intend to alter her state or 
to remain single ? If she thinks of matrimony, my only 
wish is that she may meet with a man deserving of her. 

I write to your nephew by this opportunity. Pray 



Death of his Betrothed. 8i 

remember me to your brother for whom as for yourself 
I shall ever retain an unfeigned esteem and sincere 
regard. 

The first part of this letter contains a request to 
his correspondent to execute some commissions for 
the writer's intended bride, Brussels lace, a necklace, 
etc. In a postscript Charles Carroll adds: 

"I have sent the measure of the lady's stays, and 
of the skirts of her robes. I hope you will excuse any 
impropriety in my expressions, for I confess an utter 
ignorance in these matters. The silk marked S . ^jj is 
(or a young lady who lives with us." ' 

This young lady so casually mentioned "who 
lives with us," was no doubt Mary Darnall. The 
wedding dress intended for Miss Cooke was brought 
over, and remains to-day an heirloom in her family. 
It was worn "in 1876, more than a hundred years 
later [than the date of the above letter], at one 
of the Martha Washington parties, the fabric almost 
untarnished by time."' 

November 27th, 1766; Dear Graves: The young 
lady to whom 1 was to have been married died the 25th 
instant. She was acknowledged by all her acquaintance 
to be a most sweet-tempered, amiable and virtuous girl. 
I loved her most sincerely and had all the reason to be- 
lieve I was as sincerely loved. Judge of my loss, and by 
it of what I now feel." 

• Magaiint of Amtn 
' Family papers. Rev 



82 CharUs CarroU of Carrdltoti. 

Slh March, 1767. 
Dear Christopher: 

The lady's name to whom I was to have been married 
was Cooke, a cousin of mine, but not the same I spoke 
of to your Aunt. She possessed every qualification 
requisite to make me happy, virtue, prudence, and conse- 
quently good sense ; a cheerful and even temper, an 
agreeable person. Her death was the greatest shock to 
roe as it was not apprehended. She had been ill four or 
five weeks, but the doctor either knew not or dissembled 
her danger. During her illness I often visited her, her 
father's house not being more than twenty-two or twenty- 
three miles from ours. The last visit I paid her was on 
the jsth of November. On that day in about three 
hours after my arrival she died. She retained her senses 
almost to the last ; perfectly resigned to her fate she 
seemed to feel much more for us than for herself. I 
make no doubt if virtue is to be recompensed in a future 
state, she now enjoys perfect happiness. VVhat must I 
not have felt during this distressful scene, of which I 
was not only an eye-witness, but the principal sharer. 

Your heart is too tender not to partake even at this 
distance of your friend's grief, and to sympathize with 
him. All that now remains of my unhappy affection is a 
pleasing, melancholy recollection, of having loved and 
being loved by a most deserving woman. 

I really know not how it is, but either from lowness of 
spirits, or from a puny, weakly frame, perhaps from both, 
as reciprocally the cause and effect, I am grown quite 
indifferent to everything in this world, even to life itself. 
I assure you — I speak without affectation, and with due 
submission to the will of God — I care not how soon a 
period is put to this dull tamcness of existence here, but, 
I am sensible, to merit immortal happiness, we must pa- 






Thoughts on Life's Trials. 83 

tiently submit, I was going to sa.y cheerfully, but I have 
not virtue enough to do that — to the crosses and trials 
of this life, nay we must drink up the very dregs of it. 
I am now come to the dregs of mine. Is it then surpris- 
ing that I should wish the bitter potion down ? Do not 
be startled at this morality. Virtue, believe me, is the 
only foundation of happiness in this life ; there can be 
no other foundation for happiness in any other but virtue 
— reason and revelation both teach this ; constant ex- 
perience, too, confirms it to be true — else whence that 
perpetual anxiety, those endless, restless desires in men 
possessed of all worldly advantages — dignities, power, 
wealth, strength, beauty, health, wisdom ? Even these 
favorites nf nature are as craving, as uncontented, as her 
most destitute, impoverished children ! Why ? These 
men want virtue ; their desires are insatiable because not 
fixed on the only object capable of satisfying man, and 
intended to satisfy him, by rendering him completely 
happy — infinitude, and to the enjoyment of this virtue 
only can entitle us. 

The mentioning Ryegate has recalled a thousand 
pleasing ideas to my mind. How many happy hours 
have I past in that pretty spot, with an innocent, cheer- 
ful and contented family, the peace of which the worst 
of tempers could not disturb. Excuse this reflection on 
an Aunt who hated the best of sisters. If possible my 
regard for your Aunt Esther, that amiable woman, is in- 
creased. My poor dear Miss Cooke often put me in 
mind of her, there was a striking likeness in their temper 
and manner,' 

' Family papers, Mrs. W. C. remiington : Portly published in 
AppltUm, Sept. 19, 1874. 



84 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

gth March, 17(17. 

Dear Jennings : 

I received a few days ago your letter of 18th Novem- 
ber. You must have received before this comes to hand 
the news of Miss Cooke's death. From the sweetness of 
her temper, her virtue and good sense, and from our 
mutual affection, I had the strongest assurances of hap- 
piness in the married state. It has pleased God to teach 
me by this severe visitation that no happiness but what 
results from virtue is permanent and secure.' 

Long years after the death of Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton, there were found in a secret drawer of 
his writing desk a miniature of Rachel Cooke and a 
lock of her hair. 

But now the new love appears on the scene. 

Angust 13, 1767- 

Dear Jennings: 

Perhaps before you receive this I shall be married. I 
have been so successful as to gain the affections of a 
young lady endowed with every quality to make me 
happy in the married state. Virtue, good sense, good 
temper. These too receive no small lustre from her per- 
son, which the partiality of a lover docs not represent to 
me more agreeable than what it really is. She really is 
a sweet-tempered, charming, neat girl — a little too young 
for me I confess, but especially as I am of weak and 
puny constitution — in a poor state of health, but in hopes 
of better. " Hope springs eternal in the human breast." * 

a7tli August, 1767. 
Dear Graves : 

I have yours of the 4th of last February now before 
me. I am quite of your opinion. I adopt all your argu- 

' Family papers. Mrs, William C. Pennington. ' Ibid. 



In Love with Miss Darnall. 85 

meats in favor of the matrimonial state ; after such a 
declaration you will no doubt expect to hear that I en- 
tertain fresh thoughts of matrimony. I not only do so, 
but the thing is already concluded on and the ceremony 
will be performed some time in September or October 
next. The lady's name is Darnall, of a good family 
without any money ; and in every other respect she is 
such as you would recommend to your friend, cheerful, 
sweet-tempered, virtuous and sensible.' 

September lo, 1767. 
To Mr, BlItD, JUNR. 

Dear Sir : 

My last to you was dated the 8th of last March. 
Your silence is the more surprising as I not only expected 
letters from you, but to receive some things which I 
took the liberty of troubling your Aunt to buy for my 
cousin Miss MoUie Darnall, and who is greatly disap- 
pointed at not receiving them. 

Immediately on the death of Miss Cooke, my father 
wrote to your Aunt countermanding what I had desired 
her to purchase for that lady. ' 

October 17th, 1767, 
To Mr. William Brown : 

Miss Darnall has taken the liberty to request Mrs. 
Brown to purchase some articles in the enclosed invoice, 
and I doubt not but Mrs. Browr -.111 be so good-natured 
as to execute the commission to Miss Damall's satis- 
faction. I compute her invoice will amount to 150 or 
160 pounds. Perhaps It may amount to jC2O0. On 
this head I can say no more than this, let the things be 
bought at the best rate, but at the same time handsome 
and genteel.' 
'/«</. ^/HJ. '/Aid. 



86 CItarles Carroll of Carrollton. 

November 7, 1767 — Dear Graves : My last to you was 
dated 27th August. . . I informed you that I expected 
to be married this last October to Miss Darnall, but the 
frequent prorogations of our Assembly which will be 
dissolved, of course, next month, have hitherto prevented 
our marriage from taking place. A new Assembly will 
be chosen this winter which will meet early next spring 
and then I propose getting a law passed to impower Miss 
Damall who is under age, to consent to a settlement in 
bar of dower. If I succeed in my application to the 
House for this purpose, I imagine I shall be married 
some time next May. 

Pray what are your sentiments of the late expulsion 
of Jesuits from Spain? General accusations against a 
body of men, of great crimes and misdemeanours, with- 
out particular proof, are to me strong confirmation of 
the falsity of those accusations. It is my private opinion, 
that the Roman Catholic princes are desirous of rooting 
out the regular clergy in their dominions, not only wiih 
a view of seizing their estates, and enriching with their 
plunder a few court favorites, but to ease their people 
of a dead weight and themselves of a political incum- 
brance.' 

January 16, 1768, Dear Graves: I hope you have 
received my last letter of the 7th November, By that 
you will learn that my marriage wiih Miss Darnall 
was put off till the next spring, in order to obtain an 
Act of Assembly. . , , Thus you see if the settle- 
ment cannot be securely made without an Act to give 
it a legal force, I may wait two years longer, that is 
till the young lady comes of age. She will be 19 years 
old the igih of next March. 1 leave you to judge how 
disagreeable such a delay must be in my situation. I 



The Marriage Contract. 87 

wish you would apply to one or two aMe lawyers for their 
opinion upon this point. Inclosed is an order in blank 
upon Messrs Perkins & Co. for what money it may be 
necessary to give to the lawyers for their advice. . . . 
Pray do not lose any time. By the laws or the usage 
of this Province, widows are entitled to one-third of the 
personal estate absolutely and negroes are accounted as 
part of the latter. 

The bulk of my estate consists of negroes and money. 
We have near ^30,000 at interest and above 300 negroes, 
worth at least in average j[,%,q sterling each. In case of 
my death a very large proportion of my estate would 
probably be carried into another family, to (he prejudice 
of my own children or of the heir at law. 

The young lady to whom I am to give my hand and 
who already has my heart, altho' blessed in every good 
quality, has not been favored by fortune in respect to 
money, and (his among many others is a strong instance 
of the partiality and blindness of that goddess ; or that 
riches are not always bestowed upon the deserving. I 
mention not this circumstance as an objection to the 
young lady. I prefer her thus unprovided to all the 
women I have ever seen — even to Louisa — but only as a 
reason inducing the necessity of a settlement, and strongly 
justifying it. I am willing and desirous that all my 
future actions should stand the test of those two severe 
judges — Reason and Justice," 

The marriage contract was drawn up on Saturday, 
the 4th of June, 1768, and is styled an " Indenture" 
between Charles Carroll of Carrollton, of the first 
part, Henry Darnatl, Jr., of the second part, Rachel 
Darnall, wife of said Henry, of the third part, Mary 



88 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

Damall, daughter of said Henry and Rachel, of the 
fourth part, and Robert Darnall, uncle to said Mary, 
of the fifth part. The witnesses to the signatures of 
Henry Darnall, Jr., and Robert Darnall are William 
Digges, Jr., and Joseph Digges. The witnesses to 
the signatures of Charles Carroll of Carrotlton and 
of Rachel Darnall and Mary Darnall, are Charles 
Digges, Ann Darnall, and Mildred Hanson.' The 
marriage took place the following day, and is thus 
noticed in the Annapolis paper of the 9th of June. 

"On Sunday evening was married at his Father's 
House in this city, Charles Carroll Jr. Esq :, to Miss Mary 
Dainall, an agreeable young Lady endowed with every 
accomplishment necessary to render the connubial state 
happy." ' 

The bride, as the daughter of Henry Darnall of 
Prince George's County and Rachel Brooke, was 
related to the bridegroom through both sides of his 
house. 

The Hon. Daines Harrington, Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton's English friend, to whom the following 
letter was written, belonged to a distinguished band 
of brothers, one of whom became a bishop, one an 
admiral, and one a major-general, and two of them 
were writers and statesmen. Daines Harrington, 
M.P,, published his quarto volume, " Observations 
upon the more Ancient Statutes, from Magna Charta 
to James I.," in 1766, and it was republished the 
following year, when Mr. Graves, who seems to have 
visited America at this time, brought over a copy 
from the author as a present to Charles Carroll. 

> Fftraily papers. * Maryland Gawttu, 176S. 



Letter to Dairies Barrington. 89 

The latter evidently placed a high value upon the 
book, for its stores o( legal learning, and its valuable 
emendations, and he quoted from it more than once 
in his controversy with Daniel Dulany a few years 

later. 

August 19, 1767. 
To THE Hon. Daines Barrington : 

I received from Mr, Graves your agreeable, judicious, 
and entertaining observations on the statutes. The least 
I can do for the pleasure they have afforded me is to 
acknowledge it, and thank you. What, too, not a little 
enhances the value of the present, independent of its 
intrinsic worth, is your remembrance of me ; if to be 
praised by a great man is the highest praise, to be re- 
membered by one is not less flattering. As a token of 
friendship, your book cannot but be pleasing to me ; the 
perusal of it has afforded me no small amusement and 
instruction. Indeed I could not have thought so dry a 
subject capable of such embellishments. You have 
thrown a new hght on the old statutes by making them 
expositions of the manners of our ancestors. Perhaps 
the only fault in the book is the quotation of so many 
different languages ; few of the readers, I believe, will 
understand all the languages you have quoted ; at least 
I wish you had Englished many of them for such ignor- 
ant ones as myself. 

Graves tells me the bear-hams were spoilt, they were 
perfectly sound when they left this place. I have en- 
deavored to procure you a taste of American venison, 
but hitherto without success ; but I hope to get some 
venison time enough to send in the spring. 

I am, sir, etc, 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton.' 
' Family p&p«rs : AfpUton's Journal, September ig, 1874, p. 354, 



90 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

At this time appeared, 1767-1768, John Dickin- 
son's Letters of the "Pennsylvania Farmer," which 
were so greatly admired by the patriots of America. 
The first one was copied into the Maryland Gazette, 
December 17, 1767. Charles Carroll read them all 
with avidity, doubtless. And when writing his 
" Letters of the First Citizen," he called special at- 
tention to the eleventh one of these papers, which 
he recommends to his countrymen for its wisdom 
and patriotism. 

William Cooke, a brother of Charles Carroll's ill- 
fated ladylove, went to London in the spring of 
1768, to study law at the Temple, and carried with 
him a letter from Carroll to his friend Graves, who 
was to introduce young Cooke to some of the pleas- 
ant set whose acquaintance he had enjoyed. They 
were " learned and sensible men " who were wont to 
meet at the " Crown and Anchor," we are told. 
Charles Carroll's good opinion of his cousin was well 
founded, for making the most of his student years 
in England, he became subsequently one of Mary- 
land's most distinguished jurists. 

April 16. 176S. 
Dear Graves : 

This will be delivered to you by Mr. William Cooke, 
a relation of mine for whom I have a sincere friendship 
and esteem, and whom upon acquaintance I make no 
doubt you will find worthy of yours. 

It was this gentleman's sister I was to have espoused. 
SedDis aliter visam. 

Mr. Cooke intends to remain in London two or three 
years in order to perfect himself in the law by a diligent 



William Cooke in London. 91 

application to that science and constant attendance on 
the courts, and by such further helps as his residence in 
the Temple or some other Inn of Court may afford him. 
An acquaintance with and the conversation of some good 
lawyers will 1 apprehend be particularly useful to him 
not only by their poiiiting out a proper method and 
proper books, but by resolving such difKculiies as may 
occur in the course of his reading. It is with this view 
chiefly that I make bold to recommend him to you for 
advice in the profession which he has embraced, and 
in which you have acquired a considerable degree of 
knowledge. Any assistance you may lend him in this 
way, or any services you may please to confer on him by 
introducing him to good acquaintances he will gratefully 
acknowledge, and I shall deem as conferred upon my- 
self. His finances are too scanty to permit him to keep 
constantly the same agreeable company with which you 
brought me acquainted. However, by a well-regulated 
economy at other times he may now and then afford to 
spend his half guinea, if that expense should be necessary 
to procure him the acquaintance and countenance of 
learned and sensible men. 

Mr. Cooke has for some years past applied himself to 
the study of the law, and I believe he is pretty well ac- 
quainted in the practice of the court and judicial pro- 
ceedings. For any further particulars relating to this 
gentleman I must refer you to himself. I have sent by 
him three venison hams which you will be pleased to 
accept of for your use and the gentlemen at the Crown 
and Anchor to whom, particularly lo Mr. Barrington and 
Hussey I desire to be remembered. 

I hope you have received my several letters of the i6th 
and 22nd January and 7th of February, and complied 
with what I have therein requested of you. Not that I 



9 2 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

think the opinion whatever it may be, will be necessary 
for the regulation of my conduct. Our Assembly will set 
the i9lh of May when 1 intend to apply for a bill to dis- 
pense with the disability of Donage. Such applications 
are, I believe, not uncommon. In the present instance 
it is just and reasonable, and can be attended with no 
inconvenience to the public, consequently I hare solid 
grounds to hope for success." ' 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton, besides his Maryland 
friends, and those made in his long sojourn in Europe, 
was more or less intimate with some of his Virginia 
neighbors. Robert Carter of " Nomini Hall " in West- 
moreland, a member of the Virginia Council, he came 
to know in business as well as socially, as they were 
co-partners in the ownership of the Baltimore Iron 
Works, and met frequently, besides keeping up some 
correspondence on the concerns of the company. 
Another prominent Virginian with whom Charles 
Carroll was intimate, and whom he may have met in 
England, was Philip Ludwell of " Greenspring," who 
died in London, March 25th, 1767, leaving three 
daughters, co-heiresses, one of whom married Wil- 
liam Lee. In his will, Philip Ludwell made a be- 
quest of some books to Charles Carroll, and the latter 
wrote the following letter to the executors of Lud- 
well's estate, Richard Corbin and Robert Carter 
Nicholas : 

Bih November, 1767. 
Gentlemen : 

I have made choice agreeable to the bequest of my 

worthy friend. Colonel Ludwell, of the books on the op- 

' Familj papers, Mrs. William C, Pennington. 



Colonel LudxvcWs Legacy. 93 

posite side of this. The presses and shelves are referred 
to, that you may the more easily discover at one view 
what books I have chosen. A very sincere friendship 
subsisted between us. The legacy he hath bequeathed 
to me, and particularly the manner in which it is ex- 
pressed, is a proof of that friendship ; and I have ac- 
cepted of this token of my friend's remembrance, more 
from this motive, than from any real want of the books 
I have selected from his collection for my own use. I 
desire the books may be safely packed up and sent by water 
to Annapolis, directed to Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 
I hope you will excuse the trouble you are put to on my 
account, as I would willingly undertake the same to serve 
you — I am, 

Gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant, 
Ch. Carroll of Carrollton. 

P. S. — If it should be loo troublesome, or it should not 
lay in your way to look out for a proper opportunity of 
sending the books to Annapolis, you will be pleased to 
commit them to the care of Sir Peyton Beckwith, with 
whom I am well acquainted, who will take the proper 
care of them. 

To The Hon. Richard Corbin, Esq., 

and Robert Carter Nicholas, Esq., 

at Williamsburg, Virginia."' 

The half sheet containing the names of the books 
has been lost. 

Charles Carroll's acquaintance with George Wash- 
ington first began, probably, through his father's 
connection with the Clifton estate, and the lawsuit 
growing out of that business, to which reference has 
been made in the Carroll correspondence. Charles 
' MS. Letter, Nathaniel Piine, Worcester, Mass. 



94 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

Carroll, Senior, held a mortgage on the plantation 
of William Clifton, in Fairfax County, Virginia, 
which was sold to satisfy Clifton's creditors in May, 
1760, and Washington was the purchaser.' On his 
not infrequent trips to Annapolis, Washington visited 
at the Carroll house, where he would meet the son 
as well as the father, after 1765. When he went to 
the Annapolis races, in September, 1771, as Wash- 
ington records in his diary, he dined and lodged with 
the Digges, William and Ignatius, and dined one 
day with Lloyd Dulany, the next day with Governor 
Eden, going from there to the play. He dines with 
other friends two evenings in succession, each time 
going to the play, and on the 27th the entry is 
" dined at Mr. Carroll's and went to the ball." More 
dinners, with Mr. Jenifer and others, visits to the 
play and the Coffee House, and a supper at Daniel 
Dulany's on the 29th, fill out the gay chronicle.' 

The friendship thus begun between Charles Carroll 
of CarroUton and Wasliington was cemented later 
in the trials and labors of the Revolution, and con- 
tinued unimpaired through all the subsequent years, 
when their sympathy on all questions of Federal 
politics will be seen to have been complete and cor- 
dial. Charles Carroll of CarroUton was associated 
with Washington, and other gentlemen of Virginia 
and Maryland, about this time, in their scheme for im- 
proving the navigation of the Potomac River. The 
Potomac Company was formed before Charles Car- 
roll's return to America, when in May, 1762, a meet- 

' Washington Ledgers, Toner Trnnscripls. 

' Ford's " Writings of Washington," vol. ii., p. 339, 



Charles WtUson Peak: 95 

ing was held in Frederick, Maryland, managers were 
elected and two treasurers appointed. At the ses- 
sion of the Virginia Assembly in 1772, a bill was 
introduced for opening and extending the navigation 
of the Potomac, from Fort Cumberland to tide- 
water, and Washington, who was in the Assembly, 
was one of the committee having the matter in charge. 
John Ballendine, a Virginian merchant, proposed to 
undertake this work. The Company were to sub- 
scribe ^30,000, to defray expenses, and a paper is ex- 
tant containing the names of some of the subscribers. 
Charles Carroll of CarroUton is put down for ^£'1000.' 
Charles Willson Peale was living in Annapolis in 
1767, where his talents received their first encourage- 
ment through the kind interest and assistance of 
John HesseJius, a Swedish artist then located at the 
Maryland metropolis. Wishing to go to London to 
study his art, some of the prominent gentlemen of 
Annapolis subscribed a sum of money to defray his 
expenses, Charles Carroll of CarroUton heading the 
list.' These patrons were to be repaid by the artist 
in pictures on his return to America. In London 
Pcale painted the portrait of Lord Chatham which 
Edmund Jennings presented, through Richard Henry 
Lee, to the " Gentlemen of Westmoreland," in 1768. 
" It was executed by Mr. Peale of Maryland who 
was recommended to me by several friends in that 
province, as a young man of merit and modesty," ' 

' Papers of Ihe late Dr, J. M. Toner, 

* Litlel's Living Age. vol. xliv— (Krom The Crayon — Article by 

Rembrandl Peale.) 
' " Virginia Historical Keglster," 1843. 



,6 



Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 



wrote Jennings to Lee, and no doubt Charles Carroll 
was one of the friends here spoken of. Enumerated 
in the list of Charles Willson Pealc's portraits of 
eminent Americans is that of Charles Carroll,' and 
it is more than probable he painted other canvases 
for Charles Carroll of CarrolUon which have not been 
identified. 

& of American liiograpby," edition of 




CHAPTER IV. 



I.K'ri'EltS OF THE riRST CITIZEN. 



I773-177S- 

THE third memorable period in Maryland's eigh- 
teenth-century annals, of which we have made 
mention — that between 1770 and 1773 — lound 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton ready equipped and 
eager to take his place as the champion of popular 
liberties. The rating of tithes and the collection of 
officers' fees were the two subjects agitating the 
province during these years. With the former, as a 
Roman Catholic, Charles Carroll doubtless thought 
he could not with propriety concern himself, but he 
felt that as a citizen he could speak with authority 
in behalf of the civil franchises of his native colony. 
The fees had been fixed by the Legislature from year 
to year, and were paid to the officers of the province, 
either in money or tobacco, in place-of salaries. The 
House of Burgesses, however, had determined that 
the perquisites were too large in some instances, 
and in one case, at least, an officer had been guilty 
of taking illegal fees. 

But all the efiforts of the Burgesses to reform the 



g8 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

abuse, and reduce the amounts, were resisted by the 
Council, which refused to concur in a new law framed 
by the Assembly to regulate fees. And the Council 
contained among its members, several persons who 
benefited by the excessive rates, among others the 
two Dulanys, Daniel and Walter, the one the Sec- 
retary, the other the Commissary-General, of the 
province. When this matter was brought up by 
the Legislature in 1770, and the arrest ordered of 
the land-ofHce clerk accused of taking fees not due to 
him. Governor Eden cut short the difficulty by pro- 
roguing the Assembly, and taking the case into his 
own hands. The old law had expired and the Bur- 
gesses and Council could not agree upon a new one. 
The wheels of state could not stand still, therefore, 
argued Governor Eden, it was the duty of the exec- 
utive to settle the fees, which he accordingly did by 
a proclamation, dated the 26th of November, 1770, 
fixing them at the former rate. Thus the Assembly 
or Lower House, which was the Legislature proper, 
saw its will disregarded, and an arbitrary mandate 
superseding the decision of the people's represent- 
atives. 

The law for the rating of tithes having expired also, 
the clergy went back to an old act which gave them 
ten pounds more of tobacco for each tithable than 
the one recently in operation. The murmurs of the 
people against these two " grievances " were loud 
and deep. Rut the former, as involving an import- 
ant principle, the right of the people to tax them- 
selves, fees being looked upon as taxes, struck at the 
base of Maryland's legislative liberties, and menaced 



Proclamation Settling Fees. 99 

the whole structure, exciting wide-spread indigna- 
tion and alarm. The colonists resented bitterly what 
they considered a tyrannical and contemptuous dis- 
regard of their rights and privileges. For two years 
and more the injustice rankled, the small body of 
officials, only, defending the action of the Governor, 
while the popular voice was unanimous against it. 

At length the Government seemed to have found 
a champion able to make good the contention as to 
the legality of its proceeding, and to silence all of 
Eden's detractors. The Afarjr/and Gazette oi January 
7th, 1773, contained his first letter, under the signa- 
ture of " Antillon," in the form of a dialogue between 
the " First " and " Second Citizen," the latter defend- 
ing the Proclamation, while the " First Citizen" 
attacked it. The learned and ingenious author so 
managed his ai^ument, as to give the " Second Cit- 
izen " the complete victory in the controversy. Then 
appeared the protagonist of the people, in a new and 
unknown writer, who, taking up the gauntlet thus 
thrown down, and styling himself the " First Citi- 
zen " with equal ability and knowledge, maintained 
the thesis that fees were taxes, and taxes should only 
be laid upon the people by those who represented 
them. 

The letters were continued, one answering the 
other, " Antillon " writing four and the " First Cit- 
izen " an equal number, until July ist, when with 
the last letter of the " First Citizen," his victory 
was seen to be complete, an overwhelming popular 
sentiment sustaining him. Long before the conflict 
closed, the incognito of the two controversialists 



lOO Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

was an open secret. The famous jurist, Daniel Du- 
lan/, stood confessed in " Antillon," orthe " Second 
Citizen " ; while as the " First Citizen," Charles Car- 
roll of Carrollton first came before the world in de- 
fence of those principles of liberty with which his 
name was afterwards to be identified, throughout a 
long and distinguished career. 

Letters of thanks came to the " First Citizen," 
from William Paca and Matthias Hammond, the 
representatives of Annapolis in the Assembly, 
and from the freemen of Frederick, Anne Arundel, 
and Baltimore counties. And the citizens of An- 
napolis, not thinking the letter of their delegates 
sufHcient to show their gratitude, came in a body 
to present their thanks, as soon as it was generally 
known that Charles Carroll of Carrollton was the 
" First Citizen." ' 

The Governor had felt it necessary to repeal the 
Proclamation, and its mock funeral was performed 
by the people with appropriate ceremonies. The 
rejoicing was universal at this triumph. William 
Paca and Samuel Chase meanwhile had been discus- 
sing tithes with a clerical antagonist, the Rev. Jona- 
than Boucher. And it seems probable the following 
anecdote relates to these controversies over tees and 
tithes, though the date of the conversation must 
have been later than that assigned to it. 

" From the earliest symptoms of discontent, Mr. Car- 
roll foresaw the issue, and made up his mind to abide it. 
Once when conversing with Samuel Chase, in 1771 or a, 
1 Charlei Curoll of 



Carroll and Daniel Dulany. lOt 

the latter remarked, ' Carroll, we have the better of our 
opponents, we have completely written them down.' 
' And do you think,' Mr, Carroll asked, ' that writing will 
settle the question between us ? ' ' To be sure,' replied 
his companion, ' what else can we resort to ? ' ' The 
bayonet,' was the answer. ' Our arguments will only raise 
the feelings of the people to that pitch when open war 
will be looked to as the arbiter of ihe dispute.' " ' 

The letters of Carroll and Dulany, dealing some- 
what too much in invective, and abounding in per- 
sonalities, many of which are unintelligible to the 
modern reader ; bristling with classical quotations, 
and freighted heavily with the lore of the law 
pedant; their argument sustained by laborious pre- 
cedent and learned maxim, are now little read, 
though they remain worthy memorials of the emi- 
nent men who penned them. " They are political 
essays of a high order," says a distinguished Mary- 
land historian, " taking a wide range through the 
doctrines of constitutional liberty, evincing much 
research, abounding in happy illustrations, and often 
pointed with the most caustic satire." ' 

These essays of Charles Carroll brought the mod- 
est, studious, and retiring planter out of the shades 
of private life into the (uU glare of political publicity. 
He was evidently little known at this time, even in 
his own province, while his adversary, Daniel Dulany, 
the author of a pamphlet on the Stamp Act, the 

' Ibid. This article is believed lo have been written by Dr. 
Richard Steuarl, Charles Carroll's friend and physician, and to have 
passed under CarroU'i eyes. 

' McMabon's " History of Maryland," p. jSq. Baltimore, 1831. 



I02 Charles Carroll of Carrolltofi. 

Secretary of the colony, and the great ornament of 
its judiciary, had established a reputation that had 
reached to the bounds of the colonies, and was 
familiar to the legal profession in the mother coun- 
try. A traveller from New England, young, gifted, 
patriotic, an inquisitive student alike of books and 
of political institutions, visited the Southern Colo- 
nies at this time, and recorded in his journal an 
account of the political agitation then existing in 
Maryland. He writes : 

" I spent about three hours in company with the cele- 
brated Daniel Dulany (author of the * Considerations'), 
the Attorney-General of the Province [Edmund Jen- 
nings], and several others of the bar, and gentlemen of 
the Province. Dulany is a diamond of the first water, 
a gem that may grace the cap of a patriot or the turban 
of a sultan. A most bitter and important dispute, is 
subsisting, and has long subsisted, in this Province 
touching the fees of the officers of this colony, and 
the Governor's proclamation relative thereto, which I 
have in print. At the conference of the two Houses, 
the dispute was conducted with good sense and spirit, 
but with great acrimony, by Daniel Dulany of the Coun- 
cil, and the Speaker, Tillingham [Tilghman], of the 
Lower House. The same dispute is now kept up in the 
public papers by Daniel Dulany on one side, and Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton on the other, with mutual bitter- 
ness. The signature of Dulany is 'Antillon,' that of 
Carroll is * The First Citizen.* Carroll and Dulany are 
both men of great fortune.' 



>» 1 



1 << 



Memoir of Josiah Quincy, Junior/' p. loo. 



An Influential Connection. 103 

Charles Carroll began his rejoinder to the Editor 
of the Dialogue very cleverly, by sarcastically allud- 
ing to the latter's incognito as injurious chiefly to 
the writer himself, as his admirers would not know 
where to bring their incense. He then complains 
that he, the " First Citizen," has been misrepre- 
sented, in the conversation the Editor reports himself 
as having overheard, and he claims the right to give 
his sentiments in his own language. The Dialogue 
is then taken up, and the Editor, henceforward be- 
comes identified with the " Second Citizen." This 
gentleman, writes Carroll, evinces a singular change 
in his principles. What has happened to cause it ? 
Are not the same rulers in the Province now as in 
1765, when the ** Second Citizen " held such diflferent 
views as to their wisdom and patriotism ? Or is it 
not the case that a certain family, a few of whom 
held power then, wish to provide offices for all the 
rest of their connection ? It was men then, not 
measures, to whom the patriot of the Stamp Act 
agitation was opposed. 

It was true enough, as Charles Carroll had stated, 
that the Maryland Government had been for years 
very much in the hands of one family connection, 
theTaskers, Bladens, and Dulanys. Daniel Dulany's 
father-in-law, Benjamin Tasker, had been President 
of the Council for a long period before his death in 
1767, and Dulany's brother-in-law. Col. Benjamin 
Tasker, Jr., who died in 1760, was also of the Council, 
and at the same time Secretary of the Province. 
The offices of Commissary-General and Secretary 
became almost hereditary in the Dulany family, 



I04 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Col. Tasker, Sr., being Commissary-General in an 
interval between the two Daniel Dulanys, father and 
son, and now, in 1773, Walter Dulany held this place 
while his cousin was Secretary. Mrs. Daniel Dulany's 
mother, the wife of Benjamin Tasker, Sr., was a 
Bladen, niece of the former Governor of Maryland ; 
and the present Governor, Robert Eden, who came 
to the Province in 1767, while he had married Lord 
Baltimore's daughter, had also connected himself 
with the Bladens, as this lady was a niece of Gover- 
nor Bladen's wife. So that many ties seemed to 
bind the Dulanys to the Governnrient, and to render 
it difficult for one of them to antagonize the Execu- 
tive. 

A little further on, Charles Carroll quotes from 
Daniel Dulany's own writings in support of the ar- 
gument he makes against him. " On this occasion," 
he writes, " I cannot forbear citing a sentence or two 
from the justly admired author of the 'Considera- 
tions,' which have made a deep impression on my 
memory." * Dulany had said then that in a question 
of public interest the opinion of no Court lawyer, 
however respectable, should weigh more than the 
reasons adduced in support of the point. But now 
he seemed to think that the opinion of the Council 
in England, approving of the Proclamation, was all- 
sufficient to establish its legality. And the " First 
Citizen " goes on to show from examples in history, 
how Court lawyers have often betrayed the cause 
of the people, and that " Court and Country inter- 
ests " are often dissimilar, though they should be 

' Appendix A. 



The ^'Independent Whigs'^ 105 

identical. A wicked minister, he asserts, is respon- 
sible for a violation of the law here in Maryland, as 
had often been the case in England. And to pre- 
serve their own salaries from diminution, a few offi- 
cials had impaired the fortunes of all the rest of 
their countrymen. 

Adopting the maxim of the British Constitution, 
"the King can do no wrong," Carroll gives the 
blame here to Governor Eden's advisers, his ** min- 
isters,'' and so adroitly avoids a personal charge 
against the Governor himself. To the contention 
that ministers are as much concerned in the preserva- 
tion of the public liberties as other people in a com- 
munity, and that they would not ** engage to pull 
down a fair and stately edifice, with the ruins of 
which, as soon as it is leveled to the ground, they 
and their families are to be stoned to death," the 
answer is one of wisdom, and of warning, for all 
times and countries, " that for the present enjoy- 
ment of wealth and power liberty in reversion will 
be easily given up." History is full of examples, 
writes Carroll of this melancholy truth. And " power 
is apt to pervert the best of natures." * 

In recognition of the first letter of Carroll, there 
appeared in the Maryland Gazette of February nth, 
a letter to the " First Citizen," thanking him for 
having spoken with an ** honest freedom." The 
writers of this epistle who signed themselves " Inde- 
pendent Whigs," add their condemnation of the 
Proclamation and its defenders to that of the " First 
Citizen," and add : ** We had for a long time impa- 

' Ibid, 



io6 Charles Carroll of Carrolton. 

tiently waited for a man of abilities to step forth, 
and tell our darling ministers in a nervous style the 
evils they have brought upon the community." ' 
Doubtless Samuel Chase and William Paca were 
among these " Independent Whigs," and Chase may 
have been the writer here. " Antillon," the name 
now assumed by the " Second Citizen," in answer- 
ing the Whigs, alludes sarcastically to the " First 
Citizen " as a pupil of St. Omer's, " the best seminary 
in the universe of the champions for civil and re- 
ligious liberty."' He ridicules the maxim quoted 
by Carroll, and repeated by the " Independent 
Whigs," that " the King can do no wrong," especially 
as applied to a colonial governor. A card then ap- 
peared from the Whig gentlemen, solemnly asserting 
that the " First Citizen " " was and is totally a 
stranger to our signature," and adding : " If he has 
been told who we are, treachery alone could have 
communicated the information." ' 

The " First Citizen " in his second letter assures 
" Antillon " that he is writing without collusion with 
the " Independent Whigs," and does not know who 
they are, but he takes this occasion to thank them 
for their compliments. In his first letter, Charles 
Carroll had compared the Proclamation to the assess- 
ment of ship money by Charles I., and he had warned 
Governor Eden's minister of the fate of that mon- 
arch. He reasserted now, in reply to " Antillon's " 
palliating statement of the ship money controversy, 

' Maryland Gatttle, February lllh, 1773. 
' Ibid., Febniar? 18th, 1773. 
• Ibid., March 4th, 1773. 



Governors Ogle and Eden. 107 

that the king's conduct would admit of no apology; 
and while the assessment ** was a more open and 
daring violation of a free constitution/* the Procla- 
mation was ** a more disguised and concealed attack, 
but equally subversive in its consequences, of lib- 
erty.*' He relates the circumstances; how the 
Assembly, fearing, " in case the two branches of the 
Legislature should not agree in the regulation of 
officers* fees,** that the Government would attempt 
to establish them by proclamation, addressed the 
Executive, asserting ** that the people of this Prov- 
ince will ever oppose the usurpation of such aright.** 
And the Governor in his reply, November 20th, 
1770, declared in effect that he would not interpose 
in the matter, yet a few days later, on the 26th, he 
issued the Proclamation, or his minister did it in his 
name. 

Daniel Dulany was the "minister** against whom 
Carroirs attacks were directed, as it was the general 
belief that it was by his advice that Governor Eden 
had issued the Proclamation. The accusation, adds 
the " First Citizen,** " will not appear too rash, when 
we reflect on the abilities of the man, his experience, 
his knowledge of the law and constitution, and his 
late flimsy and pitiful vindication of the measure.'* * 
Dulany knew that a similar Proclamation in 1733 
" had agitated and disjointed this province till the 
year 1747.** Governor Ogle, as "Antillon** ad- 
mitted, had aroused by this act " the most violent 
opposition that ever a Governor of Maryland met 
with.** Then what he had decreed as the Executive, 

' Appendix A. 



io8 Charles Carroll of Car roUton. 

he in his office of Chancellor determined to be law- 
ful, making himself both judge and party. But, 
asked Dulany, did Ogle then as the *• First Citizen " 
had declared of such oflfenders, "deserve infamy, 
death, or exile." ' " No — not quite so severe a pun- 
ishment, Antillon," responded Carroll, *' he only 
deserved to be removed from his government, if he 
was directed, advised, and governed by such a min- 
ister as thou art." 

" Antillon " had shown ** excellent reasoning, 
exquisite wit and humor " by his argument that if 
a governor was king, and the king could do no 
wrong, then Governor Eden could cut the throats 
and pick the pockets of all his Maryland subjects. 
But the " First Citizen ** admitted that if the Gov- 
ernor, inspired by the counsels of '* Antillon," should 
continue to oppose the wishes of the people, he 
" should be one of those who would most heartily 
wish for his removal." He then describes Governor 
Eden in these words, addressing Dulany: 

" I know the man ; I know him to be generous, of a 
good heart, well disposed, and willing to promote, if 
left to himself, the happiness and welfare of the province, 
but youthful, unsuspicious, and diffident of his own 
judgment in matters legal and political, failings (if they 
deserve the name) that have caused him to repose too 
great a confidence in you'* 

And animadverting on his application of the British 
maxim before quoted, Charles Carroll says : 

' Maryland Gazette ^ February i8th, 1773. 



Ministerial Responsibility. 109 

" The Governor is improperly called the King's min- 
ister, he is rather his representative or deputy ; he forms 
a distinct branch, or part of our Legislature ; a bill, 
though passed by both Houses of Assembly, would not 
be a law, if dissented to by him ; he has therefore the 
power, /ffu Regis, of dissenting to laws ; in him is lodged 
the most amiable, the best of power, the power of mercy, 
the most dreadful also, the power of death." 

The maxim "the King can do no wrong," mean- 
ing that on his ministry responsibility rests, Carroll 
declares admits of limitation, and instances are not 
wanting in history where this limitation is recognized 
and acted upon. "Thus James the Second, by 
endeavoring to introduce arbitrary power, and to 
subvert the Established Church, justly deserved to 
be deposed and banished." Having followed " An- 
tillon " in his digression and " hunted him through 
his labyrinths," the " First Citizen " returns to his 
subject, the Proclamation. In spite of the protest 
made against it beforehand, it came out " cloathed 
with the specious pretence of preventing extortion 
in officers." In a subsequent session of the As- 
sembly it was denounced as "illegal, arbitrary, un- 
constitutional, and oppressive," and the " advisers of 
the said Proclamation " were declared to be " enemies 
to the peace, welfare and happiness of the Province, 
and to the laws and constitution thereof." Carroll 
ridicules " Antillon's" description of the Proclama- 
tion as a " restriction of t/te officers " and "preventive 
of extortion," when " in fact it ought rather to be 
considered as a direction to the officers, what to de- 
mand, and to the people, what to pay." 



r lo C/iarles Carroll of CarroUton. 

Common sense tells the people that the avowed 
object of the Proclamation was not the real one. And 
to demonstrate this Carroll introduces a dialogue be- 
tween an officer and a citizen, the former declaring 
that if the fees had not been fixed he could exact 
what he pleased, and it would not be extortion, " for 
there must be some established measure or there 
can be no excess." The citizen bluntly retorts that 
this may be good law, but for his part he would 
simply refuse to pay what he considered an exorbi- 
tant demand, and if the ofHcer sued him a jury would 
determine what was a reasonable recompense. The 
Proclamation as" Antillon " admitted would have no 
power to fix the rates, and therefore was " not preven- 
tive of extortion," unless its legality were established 
by the courts. The " First Citizen " pertinently 
asks if the judges or a jury are to decide the matter, 
if the former, they might be both judge of and 
party to the case, as in the instance of the Governor 
above mentioned. IJut granting that the judges 
have the right to do so, and they decide the Procla- 
mation to be legal, the effect would be most 
pernicious : 

" The right of the Lower House to settle fees with the 
consent of the other branches of the Legislature, a right 
which has been claimed and exercised for many years 
past, to the great benefit of the people, would be rend- 
ered useless and nugatory. The old table of fees, 
abounding with exhorbitances and abuses wonid ever 
remain unalterable, government would hold it up per- 
petually, as a sacred palladium, not to be touched and 
violated by profane hands." 



Cokes De^nttiofi of Taxes. 1 1 1 

But the question of deciding its legality should 
not be left with the judges, urges Carroll ; to name 
but one reason, because the Council advised the 
Executive to issue the proclamation, and three of 
the judges are members of the Council. The 
" First Citizen *' then enters into an argument to 
prove that fees settled by proclamation are taxes, 
quoting from Lord Coke, as to the definition of 
taxes as " a charge //// or set upon any man, and 
new officers erected with new fees.*' 

" So rates that have expired by law, and are revived 
by Proclamation and enforced by a decree of the 
Chancellor or the Provincial Court, are in fact new fees, 
and not those fixed originally by Act of Assembly. The 
settling of fees and the imposition of taxes are powers 
belonging to the representatives of the people acting in 
conjunction with the Executive and Upper House. 
. . . That the circumstances of the province are 
much changed since the enacting of [the Inspection 
Law] in 1747, the Proclamation itself evinces, by allow- 
ing planters to pay the fees of officers in money, in lieu 
of tobacco, which alternative has considerably lessened 
the fees, and is a proof, if any were wanting, that they 
have been much too great." 

A further reduction of fees was desired by the 
Lower House, and opposed by the Upper. 

" One would imagine that a compromise, and a mutual 
departure from some points respectively contended for, 
would have been the most eligible way of ending the 
dispute ; if a compromise was not to be effected, the 



112 Charles Carroll of Carrdlton. 

matter had best been left undecided ; time and necessity 
would have softened dissention, and have reconciled jar- 
ring opinions and clashing interests, and then a regula- 
tion by law of officers' fees, would have followed, of 
course. What was done ? The authority of the Su- 
preme Magistrate interposed, and took the decision of 
this important question from the other branches of the 
Legislature to itself ; in a land of freedom this arbitrary 
exertion of prerogative will not, must not be endured." 

" Antillon" had said that if fees were taxes then 
only the Legislature could settle them ; yet they 
had been settled in England by the separate branches 
of Parliament and by the Court in Westminster Hall, 
and in Maryland by the Upper and Lower House, 
each acting alone. Carroll admits that such was the 
case with Parliament " by a right derived from long 
usage," and that the Assembly was modelled on that 
body, but as to the Courts in Westminster Hall — 
admitting that they have settled fees in some cases 
— they have never settled their own fees, whereas 
in Maryland, by the Proclamation, the Commissary- 
General, the Secretary, the Judges of the Land 
Office, all members of the Council, may with truth 
be said to have settled their own fees. So the Gov- 
ernor, in his office of Chancellor, would settle his 
own fees, and be "judge in his own cause." Com- 
paring a British precedent brought up by "Antil- 
lon" with the Maryland case, Carroll says: "The 
settlement of fees by order of the Chancellor, under 
his majesty's commission, issued pursuant to an ad- 
dress of the House of Commons, is not, I will own, 



" Antillon's " Intrenchments. 1 1 3 

a tax similar to ship-money. But a regulation of 
fees by Proclamation, contrary to the express declar- 
ation of the House of Burgesses, is very similar 
thereto." In forcible and picturesque language, the 
" First Citizen," near the close of his letter, thus de- 
scribes his adversary: 

"Dismayed, trembling and aghast, though slculking 
behind the slrong rampart of Governor and Council, this 
' Antillon ' has intrenched himself chin deep in prece- 
dents, fonilied with irnnsmarine opinions drawn round 
about him, and hid from publick view, in due time to be 
played off as a masked battery, on the inhabitants of 
Maryland." ' 

The pupil of St. Omcr's certainly had the ad- 
vantage over the graduate of Cambridge in the use 
of clear and flexible English. Daniel Dulany, the 
learned lawyer, is not always the purest writer. In 
one of his letters he says, using difficult as a verb, in 
this following Sir William Temple's example, — " I 
am not difficulted." In his reply to Carroll's let- 
ter of March iith he writes of the " First Citizen's" 
assertion that "Antillon's" account of the ship 
money assessment "is in the main true," and is not 
impartial, that " the exility of the insinuation shall 
not protect the principle of it, nor shall contempt 
so entirely extinguish indignation as to hinder me 
from exposing the subdolous attempt.'" With 
much cleverness, but with too many personalities, 
Dulany combats the propositions of the " First Citi- 

' Appendix A. 

• Maryland Gautle, April 8th, 1773. 



114 Charles Carroll of Carrollion. 

zen/' ending with an ungenerous taunt as to CarroU's 
disfranchisement — warning the people not to put 
any trust in him where their " civil or religious 
rights '' may be concerned.* 

In the "First Citizen's" third letter he begins 
with a quotation as a heading from the " True 
Briton " on which he makes a commentary, pointing 
the moral of the value to a prince of a worthy min- 
ister. He quotes from Tacitus on the character of 
Sejanus, and notices some resemblances between 
the latter and "Antillon.'* He animadverts upon 
Dulany's allusions to his antagonist's character, un- 
derstanding, personal appearance, and his " political 
and religious principles.** And Carroll adds : ** What 
my speculative notions of religion may be, this is 
neither the place nor time to declare; my political 
principles ought only to be questioned on the pres- 
ent occasion ; surely they are constitutional, and 
have met, I hope, with the approbation of my coun- 
trymen." " Antillon " had asked, " Who is this 
Citizen ? " And Carroll replies : ** A man, * Antil- 
lon,* of an independent fortune, one deeply inter- 
ested in the prosperity of his country ; a friend to 
liberty, a settled enemy to lawless prerogative.** * 
Then the " First Citizen,*' after the controversial 
customs of the time, retaliates on " Antillon," giv- 
ing personalities in return, and inveighing with per- 
haps pardonable warmth against his illiberal foe. 

He returns to the charge ** that fees are taxes, and 
that the settlement of them by Proclamation is arbi- 
trary and illegal ** — two points he believes he has 

* Ibid, * Appendix A, 



Shrewd Political Maxims. 115 

already proved, " Antillon " not having refuted the 
arguments he had adduced. But the " First Citi- 
zen " proceeds to cover again some of the same 
ground, bringing out new applications of his former 
reasoning, dwelling on the weak places of "Antil- 
lon's" pleas, and presenting further illustrations in 
support of his main contention. The proclamation 
came out " cloathed with the specious and pretended 
necessity of protecting the people from the rapacity 
of officers," But this very circumstance, considering 
the character of the minister, was likely to arouse 
suspicion. And Carroll adds these shrewd maxims, 
applicable to all political charters : " Our constitu- 
tion is founded on jealousy and suspicion ; its true 
spirit and full vigor cannot be preserved without 
the most watchful care, and strictest vigilance of 
the representatives over the conduct of administra- 
tion.'" The " First Citizen " refers to the similar 
controversy between the Government and the As- 
sembly in 1739, and quotes from the records of the 
Council at that period to show that "Antillon's" 
"arguments and vindication of his favorite scheme" 
were the same in substance as those then used. 

" Antillon " had taken exception to the " First 
Citizen's" statement in connection with the Revo- 
lution — that it had "rather brought about than fol- 
lowed King James' abdication of the crown." This 
Carroll explains in the following words, which cer- 
tainly are free from any suspicion of Jacobitism : 

"James' endeavors to subvert the establishment of 
Church and State, and to introduce arbitrary power, oc- 



1 16 Cliarles Carroll of Carrollton. 

casioned the general insurrection of the nation in vin- 
dication of it's liberties, and the invasion of the Prince 
of Orange, soon afterwards crowned King of England. 
James, dispirited by the just and general desertion of 
his subjects, and fearing or pretending to fear violence 
from his son-in-law, withdrew from the kingdom ; his 
withdrawing was what properly constituted his abdica- 
tion from the crown ; his tyrannical proceedings were 
the cause indeed of that abdication, and voted, together 
with his withdrawing^ an abdication of the government ; 
till that event the Revolution was incomplete." 

No one but " Antillon," says Carroll, would have 
seen in such a statement any slur upon the Revolu- 
tion. The ** First Citizen," taking up the argument 
again, gives ** Antillon's *' defence of the Proclama- 
tion in the form of a syllogism, and proceeds to 
deny the major premise : " Taxes cannot be laid but 
by the Legislative authority ; but fees have been 
laid by the separate branches thereof ; therefore fees 
are not taxes." * Yet admitting the major premise 
in a narrow, restricted sense, ** such cases as are war- 
rented by long, immemorial, and uninterrupted 
usage " — they are exceptions to the general rule. 
" Antillon " had also maintained that the judges in 
Westminster Hall had settled fees, and inferred 
from this that the Governor of Maryland possessed 
a similar power. But, Carroll argues, even if it 
were granted that the assertion was exact, the in- 
ference would be illogical. To prove, that the Mary- 
land Executive had such a power, it would be 
necessary to show "that the King by his sole au- 

' IHd. 



fVAo Pays Pees should Fix tliem. 1 1 7 

thority, contrary to the express declaration of the 
Commons, has settled the fees of officers belonging 
to the courts of law and equity [n Westminster 
Hall, that is, hath laid new fees on the subject, at a 
time when they were no longer paid out of the 
royal revenue, but taken out of the pockets of the 
people." ' 

Carroll discusses the assertion of "Antillon" 
that the judges had settled fees in England, and 
says it was done on such occasions " by virtue of the 
King's commission, at the request of the House of 
Commons — but it was without the sanction of a 
statute and was no precedent for the present case. 
The King had originally paid all his officers and it 
was but following out the spirit of the English Con- 
stitution "that he who pays salaries should fix 
them." The judges apparently had never settled 
new fees by their sole authority. Carroll quotes 
Coke upon Littleton, and Serjeant Hawkins in sup- 
port of his position. But should "Antillon" be 
right this can make no difference in the Maryland 
case. The Legislature had settled fees in Maryland 
as far back as 1638. A law had been passed on this 
subject at that period, and in 1692, the Lower House 
had expressly denied the Governor's authority to 
settle fees, and claimed it for the freemen of the 
province — a claim which the Executive admitted. 
From time to time since, the claim had been reas- 
serted by the Executive, and as many times expressly 
denied by the Legislature. And Carroll pertinently 
adds: 



1 1 8 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

" Precedents drawn from the mere exercise ol a dis- 
puted authority, so far from justifying the repeated exer- 
cise of that authority, suggest the strongest motive for 
resisting a similar attempt, since the former temporary 
and constrained acquiescence of the people under the 
exertion of a contested prerogative is now urged as a 
proof of its legality." ' 

The " First Citizen " again quotes " Antillon " 
against himself, giving a passage from the " Consid- 
erations" in support of the point he has just made. 
" Antillon " should not assume, as Carroll says, that 
the Proclamation is constitutional because its legal- 
ity is determinable in the courts. On the same 
principle the ship money asssessment would be con- 
stitutional, for the majority of judges did actually 
so decide it, and a decision on the Proclamation 
might be just as fallacious. Recapitulating and 
summing up the matter, Carroll says: 

"That fees are taxes, I hope has been proved; but 
should it be granted that they are not taxes, because they 
have been settled in England by other authority than the 
Legislature, (which I do not admit, if by a settlement of 
fees under the authority of the judges, an imposition of 
new fees be meant,) still I contend, that a settlement of 
fees in this Province by Proclamation is illegal, and un- 
constitutional, for the reasons already assigned." 



But he goes on to add new reasons, and puts the sup- 
posititious case of a similar exercise of prerogative 
in a British minister against the expressed will of the 
House of Commons, and asks what would be the 



Doctrines of a Free Country. 1 19 

consequence. " If a minister should be found daring 
enough to adopt the measure, a dismission from 
office might not be his only punishment," and he 
goes on to detail what the Commons would probably 
say to such a minister in the way of trenchant argu- 
ment and scathing rebuke. And returning to the 
case in hand, he asks, What will the people of Mary- 
land say to " Antillon " P 

" They will probably tell him, you advised the Procla- 
mation, with you it was concocted in the Cabinet, and by 
you brought into Council ; your artifices imposed on the 
Board and on the Governor, and drew them into an ap- 
probation of a scheme outwardly specious and calculated 
to deceive ; you have since defended it upon principles 
incompatible with the freedom, ease, and prosperity of 
the Province." ' 

The settling fees by proclamation is the exercise 
of an arbitrary will taking away " a part of the 
people's property without their consent." "Antil- 
lon" had not only made the Governor Ksponsiblc 
for the Proclamation, but he tried to show that it 
had met with the approbation of the King. Of this 
intimation Carroll asks, " Was it to intimidate, and to 
prevent all further writing and discourse about the 
Proclamation?" " Antillon " had affected to hear 
with horror Carroll's brave words; "In a land of 
freedom this arbitrary exertion of prerogative will not, 
must not be endured," and to declare the repetition 
of them dangerous. But the " First Citizen" fear- 
lessly responds: "In a free country, a contrary doc- 
' lUd. 



1 20 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

trine is insufferable; the man who dares maintain 
it, is an enemy to the people." After defending 
himself against " Antillon's " charges of unfairness 
in his citations, and referring to ** Antillon's " person- 
alities, and the threat of religious persecution lying 
under one of his Latin quotations, Carroll closes his 
third letter with a citation on the evils to be appre- 
hended as coming to his fellow-citizens and to his 
prince, from a tyrannical minister. 

In his fourth and last letter, the " First Citizen '* 
gives some further elucidation of his answer to 
** Antillon's ** argument, " that fees are improperly 
styled taxes, because they have been settled by the 
separate branches of the Legislature, which only can 
impose a tax." * " It is true, as Carroll admits, that 
" the Lords and Commons, and the Upper and Lower 
Houses of Assembly have each separately settled 
the fees of their respective officers by the particular 
usage of Parliament, which must be deemed an ex- 
ception to the general law, and ought, as all excep- 
tions, to be sparingly exercised, and in such cases 
and such manner only, as the usage will strictly war- 
rant." And as Carroll adds : " Inconsistencies in all 
governments are to be met with ; in ours, the most 
perfect which was ever established, some may be 
found. A partial deviation from a clear and funda- 
mental maxim of the constitution cannot invalidate 
that maxim." Coming back to a discussion of the 
meaning of old and new fees, the " First Citizen " 
says : " The question therefore is now reduced to 
these two points. First, Has not government 

» Ibid. 



Powers of Crown and Parliament. 1 2 1 

attempted to settle the rates of officers' fees by 
Proclamation, secondly. Are not fees so settled, new 
fees? If they are, upon 'Antillon's' own principle, 
government hath no right to settle them." In re- 
gard to the alleged power of the judges to settle fees 
Carroll says here : 

" It has been already noticed that the authority exer- 
cised by the judges of settling fees, that is, of ascertain- 
ing the a»«V«/ and /irfa//(r«, in pursuance of a commission 
issued by the King, on the address of the House of Com- 
mons, is very different from the authority now set up, 
of settling fees by Proclamation, issued contrary to the 
declared sentiments of the Lower House of Assembly ; 
if judges in this province may settle fees, because the 
judges in England have settled them in the manner 
above-mentioned, where was the necessity of settling 
fees by Proclamation ? " 

But leaving English precedents out of the question 
Carroll goes on to say ; 

" The regulation of officers fees in Maryland has been 
generally made by the Assemblies. The authority of the 
Governor to settle the fees of officers, has twice only, as 
we know of, interposed, but not then without meeting 
with opposition from the delegates, and creating a gen- 
eral discredit among the people, a sure proof that it has 
always been deemed dangerous and unconstitutional." ' 

To the question how came the British Parliament 
to suffer the judges in England to exercise a power 
there of which they had always been tenacious, 



122 Charles Carroll of Carroilion. 

Carroll says the answer may be made by putting the 
further question: " How came many unconstitutional 
powers to be exercised by the Crown, and suffered 
by Parliament?" The constitution has been only 
gradually, and by the constant efforts of patriots 
brought to its existing state of perfection. " Upon 
the whole, the fabric is stately and magnificent, yet 
a perfect symmetry and correspondence of parts is 
wanting; in some places the pile appears to be de- 
ficient in strength, in others the rude and unpolished 
taste of our Gothic ancestors is discernible." Carroll 
then takes an historical view of the English consti- 
tution, from the Saxon period and the Norman 
revolution, down to his own time. Under Edward 
the Sixth, Mary, and Elizabeth, says Carroll, "the 
Parliaments were busily engaged in modelling the 
national religion to the Court standard; their ob- 
sequiousness in conforming to the religion of the 
prince upon the throne, at a time when the nation 
was most under religious influence, leaves us no 
room to expect a less compliant temper in matters 
of more indifference." 

Though the Parliaments under the Tudors were 
generally compliant "instruments of power," rather 
than the " guardians of liberty," yet under Eliza- 
beth's wise administration, the national prosperity 
increased, and the supremacy of law was more fully 
recognized as dividing allegiance with the ipse dixit 
of an arbitrary sovereign will. 

Carroll notes that during the reign of Charles the 
Second " Parliaments were sedulously employed in 
composing the disorders consequent on the Civil 



Officers and the Proprietary. 1 23 

War, healing the bleeding wounds of tlie nation, 
and providing remedies against the fresh dangers 
with which the bigotry and arbitrary temper of the 
King's brother threatened the constitution. Since 
the Revolution," he adds, " Parliaments have relaxed 
much of their ancient severity and discipline. 
Gratitude to their great deliverer, and a thorough 
confidence in the patriotic princes of the illustrious 
house of Brunswick, have banished from the majority 
of those Assemblies all fears and jealousies of an un- 
constitutional influence in the Crown." The " First 
Citizen " concludes this subject with the observation 
that "the necessities of the English Kings, which 
constrained them to have frequent recourse to Par- 
liamentary aids, first gave rise to, then gradually se- 
cured the liberty of the subject." But in Maryland 
he adds, the Government is almost entirely inde- 
pendent of the people, therefore is it the more im- 
portant for the latter to maintain their right to 
provide for the Government's officers by legislative 
enactments, to which Governor and Council give 
the final seal by their consent. Otherwise 



"the delegates will soon lose their importance. Gov- 
ernment will every day gain some accession of strength ; 
we have no intermediate state to check its progress ; the 
Upper House, the shadow of an aristocracy, being com- 
posed of officers dependent on the Proprietary, and re- 
movable at pleasure, will, it is to be feared, be subservient 
to his pleasure and command." ' 



124 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Carroll thinks a change should be made in the con- 
stitution of the Council, excluding the officers — 
Secretary, Commissary-General, and Judges of the 
Land Office from a seat in the Upper House. 

The "First Citizen" then gives categorical an- 
swers, twelve in number, to the " argumentative 
part " of his adversary's last letter, and these replies 
embrace very nearly the whole of the remaining 
part of this paper. 

In the course of these counter arguments, Carroll 
thus comments sarcastically on Dulany's personal 
position in the pending controversy. " Encomiums 
on the disinterestedness of officers, and censures of 
some obnoxious members, in fact of the whole 
Lower House, come with peculiar propriety and 
decorum from a man who is an officer, and was 
particularly levelled at in the spirited and patriotic 
resolves of that House." And he adds these wise 
reflections on the causes and the source of political 
liberty: "Not a single instance can be selected 
from our history of a law favorable to liberty ob- 
tained from government, but by the unanimous, 
steady, and spirited conduct of the people. The 
Great Charter, the several confirmations of it, the 
Petition of Right, the Bill of Rights, were all the 
happy effects ol force and necessity." 

In his seventh answer to " Antillon," comment- 
ing on the assertion of the latter that the Governor 
was not directed by the majority of his Council, 
"they having no authoritative influence," Carroll 
thus apostrophizes the young Maryland Executive. 
" Oh unsuspicious Eden ! How long wilt thou suffer 



Personalities Answered. 125 

thyself to be imposed on by this deceiving man?" 
He objects to the hardship that charges should be 
levied on the people, " without — nay, against the con- 
sent of their representatives," that some officers may 
enjoy large salaries, with little work. The Secretary's 
office (that held by " Antillon ") Carroll considers a 
sinecure, " yet he has had the assurance to ask a net 
income of ;£'6oo sterling per annum to support his 
dignity." On the subject of precedents and their 
value, the " First Citizen " justly observes : 

"The instances mentioned by 'Antillon' of fees set- 
tled by Proclamation prove only the actual exercise of 
an unlawful prerogative. The dangerous use which has 
so often byen made of bad, should caution us against 
the hasty admission of even good precedents, which 
should always be measured by the principles of the Con- 
stitution, and if found the least at variance, or inconsist- 
ent therewith, ought to be speedily abolished." ' 

Here follows an apposite quotation from Dickin- 
son's letters of a " Pennsylvania Farmer," with a 
eulogistic note, from Carroll recommending these 
papers to his countrymen, as abounding with " judi- 
cious observations, pertinent to the present subject, 
and expressed with the utmost elegance, perspicacity, 
and strength." 

Having replied to " Antillon's " arguments, the 
" First Citizen " takes up the personal part of " An- 
tillon's " letter, the latter having still insisted that 
Carroll had " assistants and confederates," and " silly 
as my productions are," Carroll adds humorously, 
' IHd. 



1 26 diaries Carroll of CarroUton. 

"he will not allow me the demerit of being single 
in my folly." To the accusation that he is influenced 
in his attacks on " Antillon " by " envy and malice," 
the "First Citizen " responds, why should he be 
accused of malice? Has "Antillon" injured him? 
The " suspicion implies a consciousness of guilt." 
As to the other count in the indictment, Carroll 
replies proudly: "What should excite my envy? 
The splendour of your family, your riches, or your 
talents ? I envy you none of these, even your 
talents upon which you value yourself most, and for 
which only you are valued by others." 

Carroll's liberal views find remarkable expression 
in these sentences, in relation to the English Revo- 
lution : 

" That the national religion was in danger under 
James the Second from his bigotry, and despotic temper, 
the dispensing power assumed by him, and every other 
part of his conduct clearly evince. The nation had a 
right to resist, and so secure it's civil and religious liber- 
ties. I am as averse to having a religion crammed down 
people's throats as a Proclamation. These are my politi- 
cal principles, in which I glory ; principles not hastily 
taken up to serve a turn, but what I have always avowed 
since I became capable of reflection. I have not the 
least dislike to the Church of England, though I am not 
within her pale, nor indeed to any other church ; knaves 
and bigots of all sects and denominations I hate and 
despise." ' 

The " First Citizen " retorts with manly sarcasm 

to Dulany's unworthy insinuation, implied in the 

^Ibid. 



The Tax on Tea. 127 

words quoted from him : " Papists are distrusted by 
the laws and laid under disabilities " : 

" They cannot, I know (ignorant as I am) enjoy any 
place of profit or trust, while they coatioue papists ; but 
do these disabilities extend so far as to preclude them 
from thinking and writing on matters merely of a politi- 
cal nature ? ' Antillon ' would make a most excellent in- 
quisitor ; he has some striking specimens of an arbitrary 
temper, the first requisite. He will not allow me freedom 
of thought or speech." 

The last shaft of the " First Citizen " is a retort 
on Dulany's declaration that he does not believe 
him to be " a man of honor or veracity." To this 
Carroll replies: 

" It gives me singular satisfaction that you do not, for 
a man destitute of one, must be void of the other, and 
cannot be a judge of either. Your mode of expression, 
which, in general is clear and precise, in this instance 
discovers a confusion of ideas, to which you are not often 
liable ; but you have stumbled on a subject of which you 
have not the least conception. . . . Honor, or ver- 
acity ? Are they then distinct things ? Do you imagine 
that they can exist separately ? No, they are most in- 
timately connected : who wants veracity wants principle, 
honour, oi course, and resembles 'Antillon.'"' 

Dulany's attempt to " rekindle extinguished ani- 
mosities," or to fan into a flame dormant prejudices 
against the Roman Catholics, is nobly rebuked by 
Carroll in the magnanimous sentiment, spoken for 



128 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

himself and his co-reh'gionists, Meminivius et ignosci- 
mus — ** We remember and forgive." 

The ** thorough confidence in the patriotic princes 
of the illustrious house of Brunswick,** had given 
place less than a year later to ** fears and jealousies 
of an unconstitutional influence in the Crown.** And 
in 1774, America was on the eve of a Revolution. The 
troubles of 1765 were revived by the tax on tea which 
met with a general resistance throughout the colonies. 
And the action of the citizens of Boston in Decem- 
ber, 1773, in destroying the shiploads of this com- 
modity sent there, which brought upon them the 
vengeance of the Government, in the passage of the 
Boston Port Bill, forced matters to a crisis. In 
Maryland the sentiment against the obnoxious duty 
was as strong as in any other colony, and when some 
Scotch merchants of Annapolis braved public feeling 
by accepting a consignment of tea and actually pro- 
posed to land it at the Maryland capital, the indig- 
nation and excitement in the small metropolis knew 
no bounds. The citizens had recently adopted a 
Non-Importation Agreement pledging themselves 
neither to import nor to pay duties on tea. Yet 
Mr. Anthony Stewart, proprietor of the brig Peggy 
Stewarty one of the signers of this paper, unmindful 
of his pledges, had paid the duties on seventeen 
packages of tea which were brought from London 
on his vessel, consigned to a firm of Annapolis mer- 
chants, Thomas Charles Williams & Company. The 
ship arrived on the 15th of October, 1774, and a 
meeting of the citizens was immediately called to 
investigate the matter and punish the transgressors. 



Burning of the Peggy Stewart. 1 29 

A committee was appointed to prevent the landing 
of the forbidden cargo, and another general meeting 
called for Wednesday the 19th of October, at which 
the sense of the community would be fully made 
known, on the course to be pursued. Mr. Stewart 
hastened to exonerate himself, in a handbill distribu- 
ted to the citizens. Captain Jackson, who com- 
manded the brig, made an affidavit that he knew 
nothing of the tea's being on board until just as 
he was leaving England, when it was too late to return 
it. Mr. Stewart acknowledged his error in paying 
the duty, having done it, he explained, to enable the 
captain to land the fifty-three people who had been 
three months on shipboard, the vessel moreover 
being leaky adding to their discomfort. 

At the meeting on the 19th, which was largely at- 
tended, James and Joseph Williams and Anthony 
Stewart read their confession and apology, a paper 
prepared for them by the committee, in which in 
humble terms they admitted they had been guilty 
of a "daring insult, an act of the most pernicious 
tendency to the liberties of America," the Williamses 
in importing, and Stewart in paying duty on the tea. 
They asked pardon tor their oiTence and made solemn 
promises for the future, closing in these words: 

" And to show our desire of living in amity with the 
friends of America, we requL.t this meeting, or as many 
as may choose to attend, to be present at any place where 
the people shall appoint, and we will there commit to the 
tiames or otherwise destroy, as the people may choose, 
the detestable article which has been the cause of this 
our misconduct." 



130 Charles Carroll of Car roUton. 

Anthony Stewart then offered, by the advice, it is 
said, of Charles Carroll of Carrollton,* to burn the 
brig also, as the destruction of the tea alone would 
only punish its owners, and Stewart who was regarded 
as the chief offender would go scot free. And Stew- 
art was assured that only by such a sacrifice could 
he reinstate himself in public favor. With his own 
hand, therefore, he fired the vessel, the fair Scotch 
Peggy, his daughter, for whom the ship was 
named, sitting on the piazza of her father's house, 
according to tradition, and watching the work of 
destruction. 

Not long afterwards, at an entertainment given by 
Lloyd Dulany, who had returned to Maryland and 
was living in Annapolis, the punch was brewed in a 
handsome silver bowl the guests had never seen 
before. Their host explained that it had been 
brought over in the Peggy Stewart, sent to him by 
a friend in England, and placed by Captain Jackson 
in his cabin, with his own private property. Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton was present among the com- 
pany assembled, and smilingly responded to Du- 
lany's account : " We accept your explanation, 
provided the bowl is used to draw always this 
same kind of tea." * This historic bowl is still pre- 
served, one of the relics of the "Ancient City** by 
the Severn. 

Maryland, in the burning of the Peggy Stewart 
and her cargo, here made her own spirited and 

* McMahon*s ** History of Maryland," p. 409. Ridgeley*s ** Annals 
of Annapolis," p. 162. 

• Riley's ** History of Annapolis," p. 309. 



The Continental Coiigress, 131 

picturesque protest against the doctrine of taxa- 
tion without representation, and Charles Carroll 
of CarroUton is seen to have been a prominent 
figure on the occasion. Mindful of the value of 
such an object-lesson to her children, Maryland 
holds in honor now, among her State holidays, the 
19th of October, which has a place in her calendar 
as " Peggy Stewart's Day." 

The Continental Congress met in Philadelphia 
in the fall of 1774, an event of great interest to all 
Americans. The delegates from Maryland were 
Matthew Tilghman, Thomas Johnson, Robert 
Goldsborough, William Paca, and Samuel Chase. 
Among the visitors who were drawn thither by 
the spectacle was Charles Carroll of Carrollton." 
"This day," wrote John Adams in his diary for 
September 14th, 

" Mr. Chase introduced to us a Mr, Carroll of Annap- 
olis, a very sensible gentleman, a Roman Catholic, and 
of the first fortune in America. His income is ten 
thousand pounds sterling a year now, will be fourteen 
in two or three years, they say ; besides his father has 
a vast estate which will be his after his father."' 

On the 25th of May, 1774, there had been a 
meeting of the citizens of Annapolis to express 
their sympathy with Boston on the closing of her 
port by the British authorities, and a committee 
was then appointed to join with Baltimore and 
other parts of the Province in forming a Non- 

' Works of John Adams, vol. ii., p. 380. 



132 , Charles Carroll of Carroll ton. 

Importation Association. The first Maryland Con- 
vention, which met in June, appointed delegates 
to the Continental Congress. And in October, as 
has been seen, the " Peggy Stewart " incident had 
been the outcome of the violation of the Associa- 
tion pledges. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who 
had no doubt been present at the town meeting 
of May 25th, and was conspicuous in the October 
affair, was also prominent at a large assemblage 
of the inhabitants of Anne Arundel County and 
the city of Annapolis, which met at the latter 
place, November 9th, 1774. Forty-four persons 
were there named a Committee for the County 
and City, to carry into execution the resolves of 
Congress against imports and exports. Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton was appointed one of this com- 
mittee, and any seven of them had power to act for 
the whole. 

He was also named, with six other gentlemen, 
a member of the Committee of Correspondence 
for the county and city, and was associated here 
with Samuel Chase, William Paca, and Thomas 
Johnson. It was then resolved, *' that the gentle- 
men appointed to represent the county and city 
in the late Provincial Convention, together with 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, ought to attend the 
next provincial meeting on the 20th instant, and 
have full power to represent the county and city.'* * 
Sweeping aside the outworn and invidious limita- 
tions that had hitherto prevented Charles Carroll 

* Riley's ** History of Annapolis," p. 170. 



Entrance into Public Life. 133 

as a " Papist " from holding a seat in the Assembly, 
his fellow citizens now forced their champion and 
favorite to the front, to begin his many years 
of conscientious and conspicuous service in their 
behalf. 

The Convention met November aist, remaining 
in session until the 25th. The Maryland delegates 
to the Congress submitted the proceedings of that 
body to the Convention, and the latter pledged its 
faith afresh to carry out the resolutions of the Con- 
federate Colonies. As the counties were not all 
represented, the Convention adjourned to meet again 
the 8th of December. Its numbers had been aug- 
mented from fifty-seven to eighty-five deputies, 
when it was called together in December; and 
at this time it passed those spirited and caustic 
resolves on the subject of arming the miHtia, which 
were in a part of their phraseology copied by some 
of the Virginia patriots, and re-echoed by Patrick 
Henry in the Virginia Convention. ' 

Meeting again in December, the Convention ap- 
pointed a Provincial Committee of Correspondence, 
and Charles Carroll of Carrollton was made a mem- 
ber of it. The six others on the committee were 
Charles Carroll, barrister, Matthew Tilghman, John 
Hall, Samuel Chase, Thomas Johnson, and William 
Paca, The last five named were appointed delegates 
to Congress for the coming year, Robert Golds- 
borough was reappointed, and Thomas Stone was 
added to the delegation. The Convention met 

' Journal o( ih« Convention ; Maryland Archives, i., 1254. 



1 34 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

next time in April, 1775, one hundred members 
answering to the roll-call. While declaring their 
unaltered allegiance to George III., the Maryland- 
ers renewed, on this occasion, their provisions for 
the regulation of the militia, and the news of the 
battle of Lexington, received in letters from the 
North, warned them that the Revolution had 
reached the stage of armed resistance.* 

In the meantime the Anne Arundel County Com- 
mittee of Observation was busy keeping the town 
and county faithful to the prohibitions of Congress 
and Convention. On the 28th of June, seven of the 
Committee, with Charles Carroll of Carollton presid- 
ing, met to consider the case of a certain Captain 
Henzell of the ship Adventure, who had arrived at 
Annapolis with a cargo of porter, cheese, and coal, 
and seventy passengers, including servants. Captain 
Henzell testified that he had intended to stop at 
Madeira, and sell his goods there, but had been pre- 
vented by unfavorable winds. The Committee 
refused to allow him to land his merchandise, but 
permitted him to put his passengers ashore.* 

At the session of the Maryland Convention, be- 
ginning July 26th and ending August 14th, 1775, 
there were present a hundred and forty-one members, 
Anne Arundel County sending nine delegates, both 
Charles Carroll, barrister, and Charles Carroll of 
CarroUton being among the number. The first act 
of this Convention was to adopt the " Association 



* Journal of Maryland Convention. 

• Riley's ** History of Annai>olis," p. 176. 



Revolutionary Conventions. 135 

of the Freemen of Maryland," which was to be 
signed by all the members, and by the freemen of 
the province generally. This paper, which recited 
the wrongs of the colonics, and approved "of the 
opposition by arms to the British troops employed 
to force obedience to the late acts of Parliament," 
pledged the Association to support an armed resist- 
ance to Great Britain in the present crisis, as well as 
the measures restraining commerce with the mother- 
country which Congress had adopted. The declara- 
tion of the Associators then became the charter of the 
colony, until supplanted by the Constitution of 1776. 
It sketched a military system, one feature of which 
was the enlistment of forty companies of minute- 
men ; it put the executive power, during the recess 
of the Convention, into the hands of a Committee 
of Safety ; and it provided for the expenses of the 
Province by the issue of paper money.' 

On Thursday, the 27th of July, a committee was 
appointed consisting of nine of the most promi- 
nent members of the Convention, the two Carrolls 
being among them, to " consider the ways and 
means to put this province into the best state of 
defence." The Committee of Safety, appointed on 
the last day of the session, consisted of eight mem- 
bers from the Eastern, and eight from the Western 
Shore. These last were Daniel of St. Thomas 
Jenifer, Thomas Johnson, William Paca, Charles 
Carroll, barrister, Thomas Stone, Samuel Chase, 

' Journal of Ihe Convention. The original manuscript of the 
" Association of the Freemen ot Maryland " (a part of it missing) it 
preserved under a glass case at the Slate House, Annapolis. 



1 36 Cliarles Carroll of CarrdUon. 

Robert Alexander, and Charles Carroll of Car- 
rollton.' 

Charles Carroll Sr. writes to his son, presumably 
from " DougHoregan Manor," August 4th, giving a 
few items of public interest, showing on what sub- 
ject men's thoughts were bent : " 1 have a letter of 
this day from Mr. Lux. He says 400 barils of gun- 
powder are come to Philadelphia, 800 do. to New 
York. The saltpetre work at Philadelphia goes on 
well ; they expect to have 30 tons ready by Jan- 
uary." ' 

The citizens of Anne Arundel County and the 
City of Annapolis met on the 12th of September, 
177s, with Charles Carroll, barrister, in the chair, 
and a Committee of Observation for the town and 
county was appointed for one year, consisting of 
thirty persons, of whom Charles Carroll of Carroll- 
ton was one. He was also elected one of the depu- 
ties to represent the county in the Convention for 
one year; and with six others he was to be of a 
committee to license suits in the county, for the 
same period. His name comes first on the Com- 
mittee of Correspondence appointed for the county, 
for the ensuing twelve months.' 

It will be seen that Charles Carroll's work, as 
mapped out for him at this lime, called for a full 
surrender of his talents and energies, as a member 
of the Provincial Convention, and Provincial Coun- 
cil of Safety, and of three important committees in 

' Journal of ihe Convenlion, Archives of Maryland, vol li. 
* Wisconsin Historical Society. 
'Kiley's " History of Annapolis," p. 176. 



In the Council of Safety. 137 

his own county. The Council of Safety was in ses- 
sion, at intervals, from August 29th to November 
29th, 1775. They took into consideration proposals 
for erecting a powder mill, salt and saltpetre works, 
and for the manufacturing of arms. On one day 
they contracted for 650 "musqiiets" to be made 
in " Frederick Town," and 500 in " Baltimore 
Town." Then there were cartouche boxes, bayo- 
nets, and other paraphernalia of war to be procured 
for the Maryland soldiery. A letter from Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton to Daniel of St. Thomas Jeni- 
fer then in Baltimore, of the loth of September, 
shows him sharing the responsibility with William 
Paca of sending, on their own authority, powder to 
the frontier, where the inhabitants were in alarm at 
the approach of the Indians. Of the necessity of 
this informal action he writes: 

" I am sensible this manner of proceeding is not quite 
regular, but it would be a great loss of time to call to- 
gether the Council of Safety, and if we should agree 
separately to what we should agree if collected together, 
the difference is not material ; at this critical juncture, 
and as the exigency seems pressing, we must not stand 
too much in form." ' 

The following letter from Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton to General Washington, who had been 
in command of the Continental Army since the 1 5th 
of June, was written to introduce " Mr. Key." This 

' Marybnd Archives, vol. xi., "Journal aad Correspondence of 
the Council of Safet]!." 



138 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

genlleman was probably John Ross Key of Fred- 
erick County, a nephew of Edmund Key, and a 
lieutenant of a Maryland Rifle Company which went 
to Boston in this year. He was the father of 
Francis Scott Key. 

Annapolis, 36th September, 1775. 
Sir, 

At the request of the bearer Mr. Key, I have presumed 
to trouble you with this letter, to introduce to your notice 
and countenance, that young genileman, who, I (latter 
myself will endeavour to deserve your good opinion and 
favour. Should hostilities be suspended, and a negotia- 
tion take place this winter, I hope to have the pleasure 
of seeing you in this city on your way to Virginia. If a 
treaty is but once set ou foot, I think it must terminate 
in a lasting and happy peace ; an event, I am persuaded, 
you must earnestly desire, as every good citizen must, in 
which number you rank foremost ; for who so justly 
deserving of that most glorious of all titles, as the man 
singled out by the unanimous voice of his country, for 
his love and attachment to it, and great abilities, and 
placed in a station of the most exalted and dangerous 
prominence. If we cannot obtain a peace on safe and 
just terms, my next wish is, that you may extort by force 
from our enemies what their policy and justice should 
have granted, and that you may long live to enjoy the 
fame of the best — the noblest deed — the defending and 
securing the liberties of your country. 

I am with the greatest esteem Sir, 

Your most obedient, humble servant, 

Charles Carroll ok Carrollton. 

P. S, I desire my most respectful compliments to 
Generals Lee and Gates. I should have done myself 



Letter to General Washington. 139 

the pleasure of writing to the former by this opportunity, 
but that I know he has other things to do than to read let- 
ters of mere compliment — this city affords nothing new,' 

I MS : Letter, Dr. Roliert A. Emmet. This letter was taken by 
Jared Sparks from the Washington MSS : , and given by him to 
someone in England. See facsimile in Ihe Magazine of American 
History, vol. xxii, p. 353. 




CHAPTER V. 



THE MISSION TO CANADA. 



I 775-1776. 



THE Council of Safety met at Chester Town in 
Kent County, on the 20th of October, 1775, 
and Charles Carroll of Carrollton was among the 
ten members present. Samuel Chase wrote to the 
Council the ist of November, transmitting papers 
from Congress, and copies of them were to be sent 
to the Committee of Observation in each county. 
The Convention met again, Thursday, December 
7th. The Anne Arundel County delegates were 
Charles Carroll, barrister, Thomas Johnson, Samuel 
Chase, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton. On the 
13th a committee of five was appointed, wilh 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton as its chairman, "to 
devise ways and means to promote the manufacture 
of saltpetre," A report from this committee was 
brought in on the 26tb, elaborating a plan for a 
saltpetre manufactory in every county, and one 
general refinery where all the saltpetre could be 
taken to be purified, while a powder mill was to be 



Provisioji for Raising Troops. 141 

erected in which the saltpetre was to be made into 
gunpowder. 

The Convention, on the ist of January, 1776, re- 
ported resolutions to put the province in a state of 
defence. Of the force of over one thousand four 
hundred men which was to be raised, eight compa- 
nies were to be formed into a battalion, and the rest 
were to remain in companies of one hundred each. 
Two committees were appointed, one intrusted with 
the raising, clothing and victualling the forces, 
and the other charged with the work of formulating 
the rules for their government. Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton was one of the five appointed on the last 
named committee. On the 5th of January, the 
committee which had been named, December 29th, 
to prepare instructions for the delegates in Congress 
brought in their report. As it was finally passed on 
the nth of January the report instructed the Mary- 
land delegates " to disavow, in the most solemn 
manner, all design in the colonies of independence." 
It is known that Charles Carroll of Carrollton 
strongly opposed the position here taken by Mary- 
land, and that he advocated in the Convention the 
"design of independence." ' 

With the report for the emission of bills of credit, 
and that for the regulation and government of the 
forces, the latter a document consisting of sixty-five 
articles, the Convention closed its proceedings.' 

The Council of Safety met January i8th, the day 
the Convention adjourned. A resolution of Congress 

' Sanderson's "Biography of the Sifrners," vol. vii., p. aja. 
' Joum*! of the Maryland CoaventiOQ. 



142 Charles Carroll of CarroUlon. 

was read, recommending the selection of suitable 
persons in each colony, to collect all the gold and 
silver coin to be found, to supply the financial needs 
of the government in the Canada campaign, and 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton was one of those se- 
lected for Anne Arundel County.' The correspond- 
ence of the Council in the early spring of 1776 gives 
evidence of the alarm felt in Annapolis and Balti- 
more, at the appearance of the British man-of-war, 
the Otter, with her tenders, in the waters of the 
Chesapeake. Charles Carroll of Carrollton wrote 
from Baltimore to Col, Thomas Dorsey of the Elk 
Ridge Militia March 8th : 

"Sir: I left the Council of Safety yesterday in the 
afternoon, after the man-of-war and her tenders had 
passed the mouth of our river. If any place is in danger 
of an immediate attack, I think it will be the town of 
Baltimore ; and on talking with their Committee of Ob- 
servation, I find they have men enough, but they are very 
badly armed. I think, therefore, it will be proper that 
you march your battalion, or all the companies of men in 
it that have serviceable arms, with all expedition to this 
town, unless you have express directions from the 
Council of Safety to go with your battalion to some other 
place. They will confirm this order of mine," 

But on Saturday, March lOth, at midnight, a let- 
ter went from the Council to Barrister Carroll of the 
Baltimore Committee of Observation, reporting the 
Otter to have appeared off Annapolis that day. 
' Maryland Archives, vol. xi., "Journal and Correspondence of the 
Council of .Safety," p. 133. 



To Erect Iron Mills in Maryland. 143 

The Chairman of the Baltimore Committee, Samuel 
Purviance, wrote to Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 
who was again in Annapolis, early on the morn- 
ing of this same day, stating that he had been 
roused at one o'clock, by a letter which was to be 
dispatched to Captain Nicholson of the Defence, 
who he thinks " is very capable " of taking the Brit- 
ish vessel. The Otter, however, got off, down the 
bay, with her tenders and four prizes.' At a meet- 
ing of the Council on the 14th of March, it was 
ordered that the Treasurer of the Western Shore 
pay to Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer ^120 currency 
for so much in specie by him paid to Charles Car- 
rol! of Carrollton.' This was doubtless the coin col- 
lected in Anne Arundel County for the Canada 
operations, 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton had written to Rob- 
ert Carter of Virginia in February, on the subject of 
erecting iron mills for the province, on part of the 
property of the Baltimore Company. The three 
members of the Company, Charles Carroll of Carroll- 
ton, Charles Carroll, barrister, and Daniel Dulany 
(" Antilloa "). had consented to the contract, and 
Carter was asked for his signature. His reply is as 
follows : 

Mwch 16, 1776. 
Sir: 

Your letter of the 22nd day of last month, February, 
came to hand yesterday only, it being enclosed in one 
signed by William Whitecroft. The letters advise that 
the active gentlemen of the Province of Maryland are of 



144 CJtarles Carrdl of CarrollUm. 

opinion that mills for flatting and slitting iron should be 
erected in that Province, immediately, that yourself, C. 
Carroll, Barrister, and Daniel Dulany, Esqrs., of the first 
part, Mr. William Whitcroft on the second part, have had 
under consideration the following scheme — viz : 

The Baltimore Company to lease to William Whitcroft 
the old Forge and 30 acres of land adjoining thereto, and 
100 acres of woodland, for the term of 21 years. VV. W. 
to erect on the premises two mills, one thereof for flatting 
iron, the other for slitting iron, he to pay ^^20 Maryland 
currency yearly rent during said term, and furthermore, 
that all the improvements arc to be left in good tenant- 
able repair, they to be the property of our company, at 
the expiration of said lease without paying any compen- 
sation for them. 

As it is now thought expedient in your province to 
erect such mills as mentioned before, and as Mr. W. W. 
has chosen a situation, belonging to our Company for said 
works, I apprehend clearly that that situation should not 
be withheld from the publick, and do most heartily con- 
cur with those three gentlemen of our Company men- 
tioned before, relative to leasing the Old Forge to W, W,, 
and pray, Sir, write my name to the lease, which the 
Baltimore Company may execute to W. W. 

I am, sir, yours etc., 

Robert Carter. 
To Charles Carroll, Esq : 

of Carroll ton.' 



Charles Carroll was now to come forward more 

prominently before the general public, as one of the 

agents designated by the Continental Congress to 

■ Cuter Letter Books. 



John Adams Describes Carroll. 145 

represent the Colonies in Canada. A commission 
of three had been named by Congress in February, 
to visit Canada in its behalf. Benjamin Franklin, 
then over seventy years old, Samuel Chase, and 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton were the persons 
chosen. 

John Adams in a letter to a friend, February 18, 
1776, telling of the committee says : 

" The characters of the two first you know. The last 
is not a member of Congress, but a gentleman of inde- 
pendent fortune, perhaps the largest in America — a hun- 
dred and fifty or two hundred thousand pounds sterling j 
educated in some University in France, though a native 
of America ; of great abilities and learning, complete 
master of the French language, and a professor of the 
Roman Calhohc religion ; yet a warm, a firm, a zealous 
supporter of the rights of America, in whose cause he 
has hazarded his all." ' 

This selection of Carroll, who was not then in 
Congress, was a merited compliment to the distin- 
guished Marylander, and doubtless was suggested 
by his fellow townsman Chase who had been asso- 
ciated with him in provincial politics, and knew his 
worth and sterling patriotism. But there were two 
reasons why Charles Carroll of Carrollton should 
have been specially selected for this mission ; his 
religion, which was that of a large majority of the 
population of the province of Quebec, where there 
were about 150,000 Roman Catholics and only 360 

' Ilayden's " Charles Carroll of Carrolllon," p. 6. AmeriMn Ab 
chives, iv., 1183. 



1 46 Charles Carroll of Carrollion. 

members of the Church of England; and his famili- 
arity, from his long residence abroad, with the 
French language, the native tongue of these Cana- 
dian Roman Catholics. The Rev. John Carroll was 
requested to accompany the party, to use his influ- 
ence with the priests, in securing their neutrality in 
the contest between the colonies and Great Britain. 
The object of the commission was " to promote or 
form a union" between the Colonies and Canada. 

American military operations, after the successes 
at Ticondcroga and Crown Point, had not been pro- 
gressing favorably, and it was hoped a little diplo- 
macy would put matters right, assure Canada that 
it was to her interest to join the Americans, who 
were fighting Canada's enemy in fighting Great 
Britain, and were ready to welcome with open arms 
the Northern province into their confederacy. Un- 
fortunately, indiscreet politico-religious utterances 
of Congress had offended the French Canadians and 
rendered them distrustful of their new friends, while 
the exactions of the Continental soldiery, who with 
an insufficient commissariat and no money, were 
forced to forage on the natives for subsistence, wid- 
ened the breach. In truth, Canada, so lately won 
from the French, and substantially a French com- 
munity, had by the Quebec Bill of 1774 been given 
all that she could desire in the way of civil and re- 
ligious liberty, and was without the grievances under 
which the thirteen Colonies were chafing. The inter- 
ests of the French Canadians had been preferred over 
those of the British American, the colonists thought, 
and the Quebec Bill, as injurious in its effects on the 



The Journey Northward. 147 

Colonies, was one of their acts of indictment against 
the English Crown. 

Under these circumstances, the Canadian Com- 
mission had a difficult and delicate task before them. 
The journal of Charles Carroll of CarroUton, which 
gives in outline the details of the expedition, has 
been preserved ; while the correspondence of the 
Commissioners with Congress, and with the gener- 
als operating in Canada, Thomas, Schuyler, Arnold, 
Thompson, and Wooster, picture the deplorable con- 
dition of the American troops, and convey a vivid 
impression of the annoyances and perplexities which 
confronted the Commissioners, and of the patience 
and tact required to surmount them. Arnold, who 
since the fall of General Montgomery in the assault 
on Quebec in December, had been keeping his 
ground with a small, undisciplined and ill-fed force, 
was superseded early in April by his ranking offi- 
cer General Wooster, who, weak and incompetent, 
had remained in masterly inactivity at Montreal all 
the winter. And now he assumed to conduct the 
difficult siege of Quebec while Arnold took his place 
at Montreal where there was no enemy to contend 
with. It was at this juncture that the Commission- 
ers were sent out to meet at least a partial need — 
where troops, " hard cash," and wise counsels were 
all in demand. 

Following Charles Carroll in his itinerary we find 
he left New York with the rest of the party on 
a sloop the afternoon of April the 2d to take his 
leisurely way to Albany. The weather was bad and 
rainy the next day, and they had a storm that night. 



148 CluirUs Carroll of CarroUton. 

On the 4th, says the journalist "Just before we 
doubled Cape Saint Anthony's Nose, Mr. Chase and 
I landed to examine a beautiful fall of water. Mr. 
Chase very apprehensive of the leg of mutton being 
boiled too much, impatient to get on board ; wind 
breezing up, we had near a mile to row to overtake 
the vessel." The beautiful scenery of the Hudson 
is described as they sail along ; they had passed 
" opposite to Colonel Philip's, (a tory,) " on the 3rd. 
With Mr. Chase, Charles Carroll goes on shore to 
examine Constitution Fort, and from there they 
write a letter to General Heath at New York to tell 
him of the defenceless condition in which they find 
the fort. They have " a most glorious run " on the 
6th and pass several country houses. Charles Car- 
roll writes: "Vast tracts of land on each side of 
Hudson's River are held by the proprietaries or as 
they are here styled the ' Patrones ' of Manors. One 
of the Ransalaers has a grant of 20 miles on each side 
of the river. Mr. Robert R. Livingston informed 
me that he held three hundred thousand acres." 

They landed at Albany early on the morning o£ 
the 7th and were met by General Schuyler, "who, 
understanding we were coming up, came from his 
house, about a mile out of town, to receive us, and 
invite us to dine with him; he behaved with great 
civility ; lives in pretty style, has two daughters 
(Betsey and Peggy,) lively, agreeable black eyed 
girls." Carroll finds more houses in Albany than in 
Annapolis, and the people chiefly speak Dutch. 
They leave Albany early on the morning of the gth 
and pursue their journey in a wagon, in company 



■^P5ss?ss?a 



Staying with the Sckuylers, 149 

with General and Mrs. Schuyler and their two 
daughters, and General Thomas. Charles Carroll 
leaves the wagon and with the two generals goes 
on horseback to see the falls of the Mohawk, about 
six miles from Albany. That evening they arrive 
a little before sunset at General Schuyler's country- 
seat, Saratoga, thirty-two miles from Albany. Bad 
roads and delays at the ferries, account for their 
slow progress. But the occasion is utilized by the 
observant and intelligent traveller, and he discourses 
with General Schuyler on the plan for " uninter- 
rupted water-carriage between New York and Que- 
bec"; the manner In which the great proprietaries 
of New York lease their lands, etc., and he is inter- 
ested at Saratoga in the general's mills, one of which 
is on a new plan, of which he requests a model. 
"General Schuyler," he writes, "is a man of good 
understanding, improved by reflection and study ; 
he is of a very active turn, and fond of husbandry; 
and when the present distractions are composed, if 
his infirm state of health will permit him, will make 
Saratoga a most beautiful and most valuable estate." 
On the nth the two generals left for Lake 
George, and the Commissioners set off from Saratoga 
on the i6th. The snow was six inches deep on the 
ground the day before. "I parted with regret," 
says Carroll, "from the amiable family of General 
Schuyler; the ease and affability with which we 
were treated, and the lively behavior of the young 
ladies, made Saratoga a most pleasing sejour, the 
remembrance of which will long remain with me." 
Partly by land and partly by water, our travellers 



1 50 Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 

pursue their way, breakfasting with Colonel Allen 
at Fort Edward on the 17th. But hardly had they 
gone a mile from the fort when a messenger meets 
them, sent by General Schuyler to say that Lake 
George is not open. However, they reach Fort 
George on the 18th, and embark from there the 
next day, in company with General Schuyler. 
They drink tea on shore in Montcalm's Bay, land 
again at nightfall and build fires, but they have 
trouble in getting the boats through the ice, and 
after various attempts and delays, succeed in reach- 
ing the landing-place at the south end of Lake 
Geoi^e. 

Carroll writes April 21st: "I took a walk this 
evening to the saw-mill which is built on the 
principal fall of the river flowing from Lake George 
into Lake Champlain. . . A little to the north- 
westward of the saw-mill, on the west side of the 
river I visited the spot where Lord Howe was killed." 
Charles Carroll rides with General Schuyler over 
to Ticonderoga the next day, and views the works 
left there by the French in the last war. They 
remained all of the 23d at the landing-place, wait- 
ing for the boats to be made ready that were to 
take them through Lake Champlain. General 
Schuyler and his troops were busy getting the 
bateaux, cannon, etc., carted to the saw-mill to be 
embarked on Lake Champlain for their destination 
at St. Johns. Leaving the landing-place at Lake 
George on the 24th, they go by water to Ticon- 
deroga, where they wait an hour to take in provis- 
ions, and reach Crown Point that afternoon, " with 



Rowing on Lake Champlain. 151 

the help of our oars only." They slept that night at 
a farmer's house in the neighborhood, leaving at five 
A.M. and breakfasting in a small cove near the Split 
Rock, while they dine on cold provisions at a house 
on shore, where they put in to avoid a gale of wind. 
Again taking to the boat, they are rowed seven 
miles down the lake to a point of land, not far 
from the islands called the Four Brothers. 

" Mr. Chase and I slept this night on shore, under 
atent made of bushes," the journalist records. This 
place Carroll calls " Commissioner's Point." So they 
continue their picturesque journey, which to the 
younger men. Chase and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 
had no unwelcome flavor, doubtless, of novelty and 
adventure. At one time they land and breakfast 
"on tea and good biscuit." Then the rowing 
begins again, until they come to the island of La 
Motte. "We lay under this shore all night in 
a critical situation, for had the wind blown hard 
in the night, from the West, our boats would proba- 
bly have been stove against the rocks. We passed 
the night on board the boats, under the awning 
which had been fitted up for us." They slept in 
the four beds they had brought with them from 
Philadelphia, and unless they had been thus pro- 
vident they would have been forced on this voyage 
to lie on the bare ground or on planks. They 
breakfast on shore, at a tavern, the morning of the 
27th and despatch a messenger to Montreal for 
carriages for themselves and their luggage. They 
stay the next day at Colonel Hazen's house and 
watch the bateaux of troops which arrive here 



152 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

from Ticonderoga and go down tliu river to Chani- 
blay. The next morning they leave Colonel Haz* 
en's and cross over to St. Johns where carriages 
and carts meet them, and they set off for La 
Prairie, eighteen miles distant ; never had they seen 
worse roads or worse conveyances. " From La 
Prairie" says the journal, "you go slanting down 
the river to Montreal," a passage of six miles. 
" The river where we crossed is filled with rocks 
and shoals, which occasion a very rapid current 
in some places." The arrival at Montreal is thus 
described : 

" We were received by General Arnold on our landing, 
in the most polite and friendly manner ; conducted to 
headquarters, where a genteel company of ladies and 
gentlemen had assembled to welcome our arrival. As 
we went from the landing place to the general's house, 
the cannon of the citadel fired in compliment to us as 
the Commissioners of Congress. We supped at that 
general's, and after supper were conducted by the 
general and other gentlemen to our lodgings, the house 
of Mr. Thomas Walker, the best built, and perhaps the 
best furnished in this town." ' 

On the 1st of May the Rev. John Carroll wrote 
home to his mother an interesting account of the 
journey, and oftheirreception at Montreal. "When 
we came to New York," he says, " it was no more 
the gay, polite place it used to be esteemed, but 
it was become almost a desert, unless for the troops." 
Of the passage of three days and a half on Lake 

* Appendix B. 



Arrival at Montreal. 1 53 

Champlain, he writes: " We always came to in the 
night time. Passengers generally encamp in the 
woods, making a covering of the boughs of trees, 
and large fires at their feet ; but as we had a good awn- 
ing to our boat, and had brought with us good beds 
and plenty of bed clothes, I chose to sleep aboard." 
Mr. Carroll tells of the greeting given them "by 
General Arnold and a great body of officers, gentry, 
etc.," and he adds: 

"Being conducted to the General's house, we were 
served with a glass of wine, while people were crowding 
in to pay compliments ; which ceremony being over, we 
were shown into another apartment, and unexpectedly 
met in it a large number of ladies, most of them French. 
After drinking tea and sitting some time, we went to an 
elegant su|>per, which was followed with the singing of 
the ladies, which proved very agreable, and would have 
been more so if we had not been so much fatigued with 
our journey. The next day was spent in receiving visits 
and dining in a large company, with whom we were 
pressed to sup, but excused ourselves in order to write 
letters, of which this is one, and will be finished and 
dated to-morrow morning." ' 

The first letter of the Commissioners to the Presi- 
dent of Congress, of the same date as the foregoing, 
makes mention of some of the difficulties that met 
them at the outset, the want of specie, the need of 
more troops and the poorly paid condition of those 
in Canada, who were also suffering from smallpox. 
They write : 

' American Aichlves, v., 1668 ; Brent's " Lite of Archbishop Car- 
roll," p. 40 ; " Life and Times of Archbishop Curoll," p. 149. 



154 Charles Carroll of CairolUon. 

" It is impossible to give you a just idea of the lowness 
of the Continental credit here, from the want of hard 
money, and the prejudice it is to our affairs. . . 
The express we sent from St. John's to inform the Gen- 
eral of our arrival there, and to request carriages for 
La Prairie, was stopped at the ferry till a friend passing 
changed a dollar bill for him into silver, and we are 
obliged to that friend (Mr. McCartney,) [McCarty?], 
for his engagement to pay the calashes, or they would 
not have come for us. The general apprehension that 
we shall be driven out of the Province as soon as the 
King's troops can arrive, concurs with the frequent 
breaches of promise the inhabitants have experienced, 
in detennining them to trust our people no further. . 
. . Therefore till the arrival of money, it seems im- 
proper to propose the Federal Union of this Province 
with the others, as the few friends we have will scarce 
venture to exert themselves in promoting it, till they see 
our credit recovered, and a sufficient army arrived to 
secure the possession of the country." ' 

The Commissioners were clothed with ample 
powers; to supervise the military operations in 
Canada, to compose disputes, and to administer 
discipline, suspending any officers, if deemed neces- 
sary, until the pleasure of Congress should be known. 
They were to negotiate with the Indians, and en- 
courage the Indian trade, and they were to sit and 
vote in councils of war. The day after their arrival, 
March 30th, 3 council of war was held, the minutes 
of which they send to the President of Congress. 
It was there proposed to fortify the important post 
' Ametican Archives, v., p. it66. 



Agreement with Indian Tribes. 155 

of Jacques Cartier between Montreal and Quebec; 
and to buiid six gondolas to carry heavy cannon, at 
Chamblay, of which place General Arnold was to 
have command. In the meantime the Commission* 
ers directed the opening of the Indian trade, and 
they asked for £ 20,oc» in specie from Congress to 
pay the debts then owing, and to form a fund for a 
bank they proposed to open for exchanging Con- 
tinental bills.' They wrote to Congress again on the 
6th of May, reiterating the ut^ent need for " hard 
money" to buy flour and other necessaries for the 
troops : " The want of money frequently constrains 
the commanders to have recourse to violence in 
providing the army with carriages, and other con- 
veniences, which indispose and irritate the minds of 
the people. We have reason to conclude that the 
change of sentiments, which we understand has 
taken place in this colony, is owing to the above- 
mentioned cause, and to other arbitrary proceedings." 
They advise if this specie cannot be sent, that the 
Americans should evacuate Canada, and fortify the 
passes on the Lakes, to prevent the enemy from 
invading the Northern colonies. The Commission- 
ers also report that they had had an interview at 
Fort George with deputies from the seven Indian 
tribes of Canada, and since their arrival in Montreal 
had conferred again with these same deputies, re- 
ceiving their promise of neutrality in the present 
contest, for which assurance a small present was 
made them, and a larger present is to seal the com- 
pact, " when the hatchet is delivered up," ' Another 
*JiU. * Ibid., p. 1114. 



1 56 Charles Carroll of Carrollion. 

letter went from the Commissioners to Congress on 
the 8th, with the same burden as the former ones. 
It had been expected by their Friends in Canada that 
they wouM bring a supply of specie, whereas they 
had only been furnished with enough for their own 
expenses. The disappointment was great, and led 
to the opinion that none was to be had. The purses 
of those in sympathy with the Americans were 
drained dry, and the Tories would not trust them 
a farthing. 

" Our enemies take the advantage of this distress to 
make us look contemptible in the eyes of the Canadians, 
who have been provoked by the violences of our military, 
in exacting provisions and services from them without 
pay, a conduct towards a people who suffered us to enter 
their country as friends, that the most urgent necessity 
can scarce excuse, since it has contributed much to the 
changing their good disposition towards us into enmity, 
and makes them wish our departure ; and accordingly 
we have daily intimations of plots hatching and insur- 
rections for expelling us on the first news of the arrival of 
the British army. You will see from hence that your 
Commissioners themselves are in a critical and most 
irksome situation, pestered hourly with demands great 
and small, that they cannot answer, in a place where our 
cause has a majority of enemies, the garrison weak, and 
a greater would, without money, increase our difficulties." 

With a supply of money, the sinews of war, and a 
little success, the Commissioners think " it may be 
possible to regain the affections of the people, to at- 
tach them firmly to our cause and induce them to 
accept a free government, perhaps to enter into the 
Union." ' 

'/(SiV., p. 1337. 



A Reverse at Quebec. 1 5 7 

The threatened disasters were already at hand. 
Instead of a " little success," there came a decided 
reverse. General Thomas, who had been in com- 
mand at Quebec since the ist of May, and who had 
but a thousand men fit for duty, and only six days' 
provisions, was about to remove his artillery and 
stores up the river, when news came of the approach 
of British war ships, five of them appearing in sight 
on the morning of the 6th. The enemy landed a 
thousand men and six cannon, and attacked a force 
of two hundred and fifty Americans, the outposts 
of the garrison, who with one field-piece made but a 
short stand against such odds. The order for retreat 
was given, and the retreat became a rout, all the 
cannon falling into the enemy's hands, with small- 
arms, and two hundred of the sick in the deserted 
camp. Retreating towards Montreal, the discom 
fited command stopped first at Point Descham- 
bault where General Thomas wrote a letter to the 
Commissioners on the 7th telling of the disaster.' 

Early on the morning of the loth the Commis- 
sioners received the news by word of mouth from 
Colonel Campbell, an officer of Thomas's army, and 
they wrote immediately to Congress and to General 
Schuyler. The latter was requested to send the sup- 
plies that were expected from Ticonderoga as 
speedily as possible to the troops in Canada; and 
those who had left Quebec were to make a stand at 
the mouth of the Sorel, on the St. Lawrence not far 
from Montreal.' General Schuyler had written to 
Franklin on the 2d. To Congress the Commissioners 

' American Archives, vi.,p. 451. * IHd., p. 449. 



158 Charles Carroll of CarroUton, 

wrote the same deplorable story. General Arnold 
was to go down to the Sorel that day to confer with 
General Thomas on the situation. " We are afraid," 
say the Commissioners," it will not be in our power 
to render our country any further services in this 
colony." ' 

It was felt that the chief object of the Commis- 
sion had certainly proved a failure, the effort to 
enlist the Canadians in the American cause, and 
there only remained the duty of looking after the 
wants of the troops. Doctor Franklin, whose age 
and infirmities made the hardships of the expedition 
sensibly felt by him, therefore resolved to return to 
Philadelphia with the Rev. John Carroll, and he left 
Montreal on the I ith, Mr. Carroll Joining him on the 
following day. The other Commissioners in pursuit 
of the work now consigned to their sole charge, 
repaired at the same time to La Prairie.* Chase and 
Charles Carroll of CarroUton wrote from Montreal 
the evening of the nth to Franklin and they also 
wrote to General Schuyler. To the latter they say : 

" After the arrival of the brigade under General 
Thompson, we compute there will be about five thousand 
troops in Canada. We understand this brigade brings 
only ten days' provisions with them. . . . General 
Arnold leaves us this afternoon to go down to Descham- 
bault, we cannot flatter ourselves with the keeping pos- 
session of that post. . . We are unable to express our 
apprehensions of the distress our anny must soon be re- 
duced to from the want of provisions, and the small-pox 

'Ibid., [>, 449. *App«DdixB. 



_ ■^■. -^ 



Letter to General Thomas. 1 59 

If further reinforcements are sent without pork to victual 
the whole army, our soldiers must perish, or feed on each 
other. Even plunder, the last resource of strong neces- 
sity, will not relieve their wants, . . . You will be 
pleased to communicate the present situation of affairs, 
and forward the enclosed papers to Congress." ' 

After arriving at La Prairie on the I2th, the two 
Commissioners wrote the following letter to General 
Thomas : 

To Maj. General Thomas. 

La Prairie, May 12,1776. 6o'cIk. p.m. 

Dear Sir : We are informed by Mr. Price that there 
is not water enough in Lake St. Pierre for a frigate to 
pass over with the guns and stores ; he says that there is 
not even at this season of the year when the water is 
highest, more than fourteen and fifteen feet in the 
channel, which is very narrow. If this representation be 
just, our gondola ships, ere now at the mouth of the 
Sorrell may, perhaps prevent the enemies ships of war 
from coming higher up the river St. Lawrence than Lake 
St. Pierre. Fresh provisions and flour Mr. Price says 
may be had for specie, if authority should be exercised 
over those who having such provisions should refuse to 
part with them on the tender of a reasonable price in 
hard money. Mr. Price is also firmly of opinion that 
provisions of the aforesaid sort may be had in the country 
above the Sorrell sufficient to support an army of fifteen 
thousand men about six months. 

You sir, are the best judge whether a stand may be 

made at the Sorrell and must certainly be well informed 

of the quantity of gunpowder we now have in Canada. 

If our military stores arc adequate for the defense of the 

' Americui Archives, vi., p. 4B1. 



l6o Charles Carroll of CarroUton, 

part of the country above the Sorel, and our forces 
should be judged capable of opposing the enemy, of 
whose numbers we hope you are by this time pretty well 
informed, we are clearly of the opinion that the present 
difficulty arising from the want of provisions may be 
surmounted by the specie now in the hands of Mr. 
Price, or by using force if a reasonable price should be 
refused. We think force regulated by proper authority 
not only justifiable in this case, but that it will prevent 
the horrors arising from the licentiousness of a starving 
and, of course, an uncontrollable soldiery. 

It has been suggested to us by Mr. Price, that if we 
abandon Montreal and that side of the river from Ber- 
thier upwards, that it will be extremely difficult to keep 
possession of the country adjacent to the Sorel and 
between that river and the St. Lawrence even if we should 
[obtain ?] ten thousand men to defend it, Mr. Pricere com- 
mends the little river Berthier as the properest post to 
be taken on the north side of the St. Lawrence to pre- 
vent the enemy from coming on that side. The above 
intelligence and observations appear to us so material 
that we have thought it advisable to setid off an express 
with this letter, to which we request your answer as soon 
as possible. 

We are with great respect 
Dear Sir 
Vour most obedient humble servants 

Samuel Chase, 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

P. S. The depth of water in Lake St. Pierre may be 
ascertained by sounding.' 

■ MS : Letter, Dr. Thomu Addis Emmet, New York. 



UJS^r£i 



Necessities of the Army. i6i 

From the day of his arrival, the 29th of April, to 
May nth, there had been no entiy in Charles Car- 
rol's journal. His time had been too fully occupied, 
doubtless, with the labors of his oflice and his cor- 
respondence. But he had now leisure for a little 
military expedition, of which he gives some account. 
He writes on the 13th: " I went to St. John's to 
examine into the state of that garrison, and of the 
batteaux. There I met with General Thompson and 
Colonel Sinclair, with part of Thompson's brigade. 
That evening I went with them, down the Sorel to 
Chamblay."' He describes Chamblay fort which 
had been taken from the British, and the capture of 
which had occasioned the taking of St. Johns. He 
writes on the 14th of his return to Montreal by La 
Prairie, and looking with a farmer's eye on the fer- 
tile land over which he passes, he tells of the large 
exports of wheat from the Sorel district, " the best 
part of Canada." 

General Thomas wrote to the Commissioners from 
the " Three Rivers " on the 1 5th. Chase and Carroll 
write letters on the 14th and 17th to Congress, and 
to General Schuyler. They recommend Major Du 
bois to Congress for promotion. They enclose to 
General Schuyler letters from Arnold with " the 
latest intelligence " they had received from below, 
and they add : 

"General Thompson and Colonel St Clair sailed 

from this place yesterday for the mouth of the Sorel, which 

place we hope they reached last night. They intended 

to proceed to Deschambault immediately. . . . We 

' Appendix B, 



1 62 diaries CamM of CarrolUon. 

have been alarmed this morning with the approach of 
some Indians and soldiers from Detroit and the upper 
garrisons with a design to attack our post at the Cedars. 
We have detached one hundred and fifty men, com- 
manded by Major Sherburne, to reinforce that garrison, 
already consisting of three hundred effective men. . . , 
For God's sake send pork and powder. You know we 
lost twenty barrels of the powder which lately came over 
the Lakes." ' 

The letter of the 17th to General Schuyler gives 
news just received, as to the condition of the British 
garrison at Quebec and the movements of the 
Americans. The latter had left Jacques Cartier and 
Deschambault, General Thomas was at Three Rivers 
with about a thousand men, and the Commissioners 
say of themselves : 

" At present we procure a little fresh provisions. We 
intend to proceed to the mouth of the Sorel, where our 
army is collected. We have no fixed abode, being obliged 
to follow your example and become generals, commissa- 
ries, justices of the peace, in short to act in twenty differ- 
ent capacities. Things are in great confusion, but out of 
confusion we hope order will arise." 

They make known their several wants : ammuni- 
tion, powder, pork, a gondola built to carry a 24- 
pounder, etc., and they add : " Pray send back the 
batteaux in which Doctor Franklin and Mr. Carroll 
returned, and remember us most affectionately to 
them." ' 

" Dr. Franklin who left this place the I Ith instant " 
■AmericaD Archives, iv., 578. ' Ibid., p. 586. 



Canada Unfriendly to Union. 163 

(write the Commissioners to Congress on the 17th) 
" will give you the fullest information of the state of 
our affairs in this Province. We are sorry to say 
they have not mended since the Doctor's departure." 
The letter proceeds to furnish some details of the 
confusion and disorder ; the troops living from hand 
to mouth ; the three months' men going home; the 
need of contractors and commissaries. "Your Gen- 
erals," they say, " are now obliged to be contractors 
and commissaries, and your Commissioners, who 
have neither abilities nor inclination, are constrained 
to act as Generals." They go on to give instances 
of the want of proper discipline among both officers 
and men. 

" The importance of this Colony will be made known to 
you by Doctor Franklin. . . . The Indian trade is 
an object already sufficient to engage the attention of 
the Colonies, and growing yearly of more importance. 
The inclinations of ihe common people are said to be in 
general with us, but they are timorous and unsteady ; no 
assistance can be expected from them unless they find 
themselves supported by an army able to cope with the 
English forces." 

The Commissioners excuse themselves for exceed- 
ing their powers by appointing Mr, William McCarty 
Deputy Quartermaster-General, as the public good 
requires it. And they add in conclusion : 

" In the present situation of our affairs it will not be 
possible for us to carry into execution the great object 
of our instructions, as the possession of this country 



164 Charles Carroll 0/ CarrolUon. 

must finally be decided by the sword. We think our 
stay here no longer of service to the public. We are 
willing, however, to sacrifice our time, labour, and even 
our lives, for the good of our country ; and we wait with 
impatience the further orders of Congress." ' 

General Arnold had written to the Commissioners 
on the 17th of May from Sorel, and General Thomas 
on the 20th,' but now the Commissioners were to go 
themselves to the camp, there to look into the con- 
dition of things, and Charles Carroll resumed his 
journal at this point. On the 21st of May he writes: 
" This day Mr, Chase set off with me for the mouth 
of the Sorel." They embarked on a bateau from 
Montreal, and when the wind was against them took 
post. At La Nore they got into a canoe and were 
paddled down the St. Lawrence the remaining nine 
miles. The journal says : " In going from La Nore 
to the mouth of the Sorel, we passed by Brown's 
battery (as it is called), although it never had a can- 
non mounted on it. To this battery without can- 
non, and to a single gondola, ten or twelve vessels 
under the command of Colonel Prescott surrendered." 
This was accomplished by a clever ruse of the Ameri- 
can Major, which the journal details. Carroll adds : 
' We found the discipline of our camp very remiss, 
and everything in confusion. General Thomas, who 
was ill of the small pox, had but lately resigned the 
command to Thompson, by whose activity things 
were soon put on a better footing,"' 

On the 22d the Commissioners left the camp for 

'/?»"</., p. 587, 588. '/«(/., 592, 'Appendix B. 



At Sorel and Chamblay. 165 

Chamblay on the Sorel River, which place they 
reached the following morning, having made the 
journeybyland. They had in the meantime ordered 
a detachment under Colonel De Haas to reinforce 
General Arnold, and together these two commands 
were to drive oft the force of British and Indians, 
who had taken the post at the Cedars, and were ad- 
vancing on Montreal. At Chamblay the Commission- 
ers found the same confusion and disorder as at 
Sorel, and the Americans without credit and without 
money. They had to advance some silver coin to 
pay for the carriage of three barrels of gunpowder 
down the river, the officer in charge of the guard 
not having a shilling. They returned to Montreal 
that evening, and De Haas's detachment arrived the 
next day, marching out on the 25th to Join General 
Arnold at La Chine, " They were detained," writes 
Carroll, " from want of many necessaries which we 
were obliged to procure for them. General Wooster 
being without money, or pretending to be so." ' 

Chase and Carroll wrote a note to General Wooster 
on the 25th of May desiring him to forward a com- 
munication for them " by the Express to St. Johns," 
which they presume he will send off. They add: 
" Unless immediate steps are taken to procure pro- 
visions for the Army, the Soldiers must starve or 
plunder the Inhabitants. It is a Duty incumbent 
on our Generals to prevent such a dreadful scene by 
every means in their power." ' 

The President of Congress wrote to the Commis- 
sioners on the 24th, General Thompson and General 

^Ibid. < MS : Letter, Simon Gratz, Philadelphia. 



m JU&A^ 



1 66 Charles Carroll of Carrollion. 

Thomas wrote to them on the 25th, and General 
Arnold on the 27th.' The following is the reply of 
Chase and Carroll to the letter of General Thomas. 
The latter, unfortunately, fell a victim, soon after, 
to the dread disease from which he was then suffering. 

Montreal, Maj 26th, 1776. 
Sir: 

We are favored with yours of yesterday from Cham- 
blay. We went to Sorel on purpose to learn the condi- 
tion of our army and to know the sentiments of the 
general officers respecting the future operations of the 
campaign. We expected lo have had the pleasure of 
meeting with you there. On our way to Sorel we were 
informed of your being taken ill with the small-pox, and 
that you had left the camp. We hoped to have found 
you at Chamblay, and to converse with you on the state 
of our affairs in this country was the principal end of our 
journey thither ; unluckily we passed you on the road. 

In the present situation of the army, we think it would 
be impracticable to occupy and fortify the posts of Des- 
charobault and Jacques Cartier. We are sorry to find so 
little discipline in the army, and that it is so badly pro- 
vided in every respect. We have sometime since written 
pressingly to Congress for hard money, without which 
we believe it impossible to relieve our wants. The most 
immediate and pressing necessity is the want of flour. 
We have advised General Wooster to issue an order to 
the town major to wait on the merchants or others hav- 
ing provisions or merchandise for sale and request a 
delivery of what the soldiers are in immediate want of, 
and pledge the faith of the United Colonies for pay- 
ment ; and have given it as our opinion, that on refusal, 
' American Archives, vi., 5^6, 5<)3, sq6. 



Flour Wanted for the Soldiers. 167 

our necessity requires that force should be used to com- 
pel a delivery. 

We have advised the General to issue a similar order 
to Messrs. Price and McCarty. The General has com- 
plied with our advice in both instances, and yesterday 
evening dispatched an express to St. Johns with a letter 
to those gentlemen. We wrote to them by the same op- 
portunity our sentiments. Flour is not to be procured 
in any considerable quantity on this island. Unless 
immediate steps be taken to secure large quantities of 
wheat, and have it ground up into flour with the utmost 
dispatch, the army will be reduced to the greatest straits 
/or want of bread. We most earnestly intreat you to turn 
your attention to this matter, and to use all the means 
which your prudence will suggest to procure flour for the 
troops. None is to be expected, at least for some time^ 
from over the lakes. Qui soldiers will be soon reduced 
to the dreadful alternative of starving, or of plundering 
the inhabitants ; the latter will surely happen if our troops 
should not be supplied with bread in a regular way. 

Their other immediate wants may in some measure be 
relieved by compelling a delivery of some goods on the 
same terms with wheat and flour. This, however, we 
confess a violent remedy, which nothing can justify but 
the most urgent necessity, and therefore cannot be long 
pursued without drawing on us the resentment of the 
inhabitants. In short, sir, without a speedy supply of 
hard money it appears to us next to impossible to remain 
in Canada, even if we had no enemy but the inhabitants 
to contend with. 

We have already mentioned the bad discipline of the 
army. It is no doubt in a great measure owing to the 
cause assigned in one of your letters, the short enlist- 
ments. But there appear to us other causes ; the officers 



1 68 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

are not sufficiently active, nor do they seem actuated by 
those disinterested principles and generous sentiments 
which might be expected from men fighting in so just 
and glorious a cause. We would not be understood to 
cast a general reflection. There are many oflicers, we 
are satisfled, who act upon the noblest motives, but it 
gives us pain to assert on the best information, that there 
are several whose conduct has too plainly proved them 
unworthy of the character and trust conferred on them 
by their countrymen. We have mentioned our senti- 
ments with freedom. We shall always give our opinions 
with the same ; we mean not to dictate but to advise with 
you and the general officers on the most effectual ways 
and means of extricating ourselves from our present diffi- 
culties and promoting the general service. 

As by this time the virulence of your disorder we 
hope is abated, we recommend a meeting of the general 
officers at Chamblay to consult about, and agree upon 
the future operations of the war in Canada. The en- 
closed copy of General Arnold's last letter will give you 
the best intelligence respecting the affair at the Cedars, 
and the actual state of the enemy, and our forces on this 
island. Col. De Haas marched yesterday evening from 
this town at six o'clock, with 400 men to La Chine. 
We flatter ourselves we shall drive the enemy oflf the 
island, redeem our prisoners, and recover our post at the 
Cedars. We are with sincere wishes for your speedy 
recovery. Sir, 

Your most obedient humble servants 
Samuel Chase, 
Ch. Carroll of Carrollton. 

Major General Thomas.' 

' Sparks MSS :, Harvud College Libruy. 



General Wooster^s Incapacity. 169 

The last letter of the Commissioners to Congress 
was written from Montreal on the 27th of May, in 
which they sum up the woes of the army : without 
meat, bread, tents, shoes, stockings, shirts ; and out 
of the four thousand men, four hundred sick with 
different disorders. 

"We cannot find words strong enough, to discribe our 
miserable situation ; you will have a faint idea of it, if 
you figure to yourself an army broken and disheartened, 
half of it under inoculation, or under other diseases ; 
soldiers without pay, without discipline, and altogether 
reduced to live from hand to mouth, depending on the 
scanty and precarious supplies of a few half-starved 
cattle, and trifling quantities of flour which have hitherto 
been picked up in different parts of the country." 

The Commissioners inform Congress that they had 
induced General Wooster not to take command at 
Sorel, when General Thomas upon being taken sick 
with smallpox, had written for him. And they state 
plainly their sentiments as to this ofBcer's incompe- 
tency: "General Wooster is, in our opinion, unfit — 
totally unfit — to command your army, and conduct 
the war. We have hitherto prevailed on him 
to remain in Montreal. His stay in this Colony is 
unnecessary, and even prejudicial to our affairs. 
We would therefore humbly advise his recall."' 

The time was now at hand when they were at 

liberty themselves to leave this discouraging theatre 

of action, these impromptu generals, commissaries, 

contractors, and justices of the peace. They had 

' American Arcliivei. vi., 589. 



170 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

recommended, as we have seen, a council of war at 
Chamblay to decide on the future campaign, and 
Charles Carroll says in his journal that they left 
Montreal at three o'clock on the afternoon of the 
29th to attend this council. It was held on the 
30th and the decision was to " maintain possession 
of the country between the St. Lawrence and Sorel, 
if possible ; in the meantime to dispose matters so 
as to make an orderly retreat out of Canada." * 

The Commissioners visited St. Johns the next day, 
General Sullivan having arrived there the night 
before with fourteen hundred men. Chase and 
Carroll sailed from St. John's June ist, on their way 
back to Philadelphia, arrived at Crown Point on the 
evening of the 3d, and rowing all night, reached 
Ticonderoga at one in the morning, where they 
were welcomed by General Schuyler. ' 

The Rev. John Carroll wrote from Philadelphia, 
June 2d, to his cousin Charles Carroll, senior, giving 
the latter the news from his son. He tells of having 
just arrived two days before, with Doctor Franklin : 

" Cousin Charles and Mr. Chase left Montreal with me 
on the 12th of May, that they might not be in any danger 
from a frigate running up the river, and getting between 
them and the eastern shore of St. Lawrence. As Doctor 
Franklin determined to return to Philadelphia on ac- 
count of his health, I resolved to accompany him, seeing 
it was out of my power to be of any service after the 
Commissioners had thought it advisable for them to leave 
Montreal, Your son and Mr. Chase proposed staying at 

* Appendix B. * Ibid. 



Letter of Rev. yokn Carroll. 171 

St. John's or in that neighborhood, till they should know 
whether out army would keep post at De Chambeau 
[Deschambault] ; and the former desired me to give you 
notice of his being safe and well. . . . When I left him 
he expected to follow us in a few days ; but Mr. Hancock 
tells me that if an express sent some days since from 
Congress reaches them before they have left Canada, he 
is of opinion they will continue there for some time. I 
shall set out from hence, next week and propose doing 
myself the pleasure of calling at Elkridge. My affection- 
ate and respectful compliments to Mrs. Damall and 
Carrol], with love to Polly. Nothing new from Canada, 
nor indeed any advices at all since we left it. Great 
divisions here between the contending parties. . . . 
Ten tons of powder, five hundred small arms came in 
yesterday. Cousin Charles received large packets of 
letters from you a few days before we left Montreal," ' 

Charles Carroll, continuing his journal, tells how 
he and Mr. Chase set off with their friend General 
Schuyler at five on the morning of the 4th hauling 
their bateaux "over the carrying place at Skeenes* 
borough into Wood Creek." They stop to admire 
the saw-mill, grist-mill, and forge built by Major 
Skeene, row up Wood Creek ten miles, and then 
lie all night on board the boat. They are off again 
by three o'clock the next morning, rowing up the 
serpentine, and winding river or creek, and at one 
place obliged to land where the trees and brushwood 
have been piled across the water, while the crew 
carry the boat through the narrow channel that is 
open. Carroll walks, with General Schuyler as his 

' Maryland Historical Society's "Centennial Memorial," p. 109. 



172 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

companion, seven miles when ttiey meet horses sent 
forward for them. They dine at a house two miles 
farther on, and ride after dinner to Fort Edward, 
four miles. " Mr. Chase joined us this evening," 
says the journal, " he took the lower road, and was 
obliged to walk part of the way." They separated 
from General Schuyler the next day, as he was 
obliged to return to Fort George, and rode on to 
Saratoga, "but did not find the amiable family 
[the Schuylers] at home," 

Here they waited all day for their servants and 
luggage, and on the morning of the 7th were off 
again, taking a boat on the Hudson for Albany, 
which place they reached at half past five, and in 
half an hour they were on a sloop which was just 
ready to sail for New York. They arrived in the 
latter city without further adventures at one P. M. 
on the 9th where the journal says: "Waited on 
General Washington at Motier's ; — saw Generals 
Gates and Putnam, and my old acquaintance and 
friend, Mr. Moylan. About six o'clock in the even- 
ing got into General Washington's barge, in com- 
pany with Lord Sterling, and was rowed round by 
Staten Island and the Kilns, within two miles of 
Elizabeth-town, where we got by ten at night." ' 
They reached Philadelphia by boat at two o'clock 
in the night of June loth. And so ended this inter- 
esting and laborious episode in Charles Carroll's 
public career. General Washington sat down on 
the loth, after parting with the Commissioners, and 
wrote to the President of Congress : 
' Appendii B. 



The Commissioners Return. 1 73 

" Since I did myself the honour of writing to you yes- 
terday, I have had the satisfaction of seeing, {and for a 
few minutes conversing with,) Mr. Chase and Mr. Car- 
roll, from Canada. Their account of our troops, and the 
situation of affairs in that department, cannot possibly 
surprise you more than it has done me. But I must not 
touch upon the subject, which you will be so well in- 
formed of from the fountain head," ' 

The Journal of Congress records that on June 
nth " Mr. Chase and Mr. Carroll of Carrollton, two 
of the Commissioners being arrived from Canada, 
attended and gave an account of their proceedings 
and the state of the army in that country," and on 
the same day Doctor Franklin laid before Congress 
an account of his expedition to Canada. The next 
day the Commissioners sent in their formal report 
in writing, but this document, unfortunately, has 
been lost.' 

While still in Philadelphia, attending the debates 
of Congress, and resting from the fatigues of his 
long journey, Charles Carroll wrote the following 
letter to General Gates, who it was believed would 
succeed to the command in Canada. He bad just 
seen Gates in New York, and he now gives him, 
with becoming modesty, but with the confidence of 
trained and careful observation, his views as to fu- 
ture military operations in the General's proposed 
new field of action. However, with the defeat of 
General Sullivan, the Americans were forced to 
abandon Canada altogether, and the " success " of 

' Ford's " Writings of Wasliingtoii," vol. iv., p. isg. 

' Muyland Historical Society's " Centennial Memorial," p. 37, 



1 74 Cliarles Carroll of Carrolllon. 

General Gates was reserved for the gallant day of 
Saratoga. 



PlIlLADELPIIIA, June 14, 177O. 

Dear Sir : 

As you will probably be appointed to the chief com- 
mand in Canada, I take the liberty to suggest the follow- 
ing hints. Your better judgment and experience, and 
future knowledge of Ihe country, will enable you to de- 
termine whether they are worthy of your attention. 
However, as they may possibly be of some service, I will 
hazard them, being convinced your good-nature will put 
the most favorable coostruclion on my observations. 

Various are the reports concerning the number of 
troops to be employed against us in Canada. Notwith- 
standing it has been given out that Burgoyne is to com- 
mand ten thousand, I much question whether our enemy's 
force will exceed four. It this should happen to be the 
case, our present army in Canada is sufficient, when re- 
covered of the small-pox, and from the confusion which 
bad discipline, want of provisions and other necessaries, 
and the checks it has met with, have occasioned, to resist 
the enemy, and keep possession of that part of the coun- 
try lying between the Sorel and the St. Lawrence, and 
above Montreal on each side of the St. Lawrence. The 
enemy's armed vessels will not be able to go higher up 
the St. Lawrence than Montreal. Above that city, the 
vessels which they may use will not be an overmatch 
for such vessels as we may have on the St. Lawrence, 
above Montreal. 

If we can repossess ourselves of the Cedars, and fortify 
it so as that the enemy will not be able to force that 
post, without running the risk of losing a great number 
of men, it is probable that we shall cut ofiE their com- 



Letter to General Gates. 1 75 

munication with the Indian tribes, and deprive them of the 
Indian trade. Will it not be proper to send a body of 
forces up the Mohawk River, and to Detroit, to make a 
diversion, and to give employment to the Eighth Regiment 
posted there, and at the different garrisons in what is 
called in Canada, the upper country ? In keeping pos- 
session of the Sorel, and adjacent country, we shall de- 
prive the enemy of large supplies of wheat, for in that 
part the most wheat is made. It is a woody country, 
and by intrenching, making abbaties, breaking up the 
roads, harassing the enemy on their march, and reducing 
the campaign to a war of posts, in forcing of which they 
will lose many men, we may probably keep a footing in 
Canada this summer and fall. 

Toward the middle of October, a strong reinforcement 
(of ten thousand men if they can be spared) should be 
sent into Canada, well provided in every respect. This 
body, joined to our other forces will probably compel 
the enemy to retire into, or under the walls of, Quebec, 
In that case, the passes of Jacques Cartier and Deschara- 
bault, should be instantly secured, and the latter so 
well fortified, as to render the enemy's passage, next 
spring, through the falls of Richelieu impracticable. 

Their shipping will be obliged to fall below Descham- 
bault, by the latter end of October. If by fortifying 
the eminences at Deschambault, and obstructing the 
navigation, by which means the enemy's vessels should 
be prevented from coming up the St. Lawrence, next 
spring and summer, we may keep possession of all that 
part of Canada lying above Deschambault, the country 
below it is not worth holding. Good use must be made 
of the fall and winter in constructing gondolas, and, if 
necessary, a 36 gun frigate to be employed above the falls 
of Richelieu. This frigate and the gondolas, will aeire 



1 ^6 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

to obstruct the enemy's vessels attempting to come 
through the falls of Richelieu, and may give us the entire 
command of the river St. Lawrence above those falls. 
Should this happen the enemy must have next year a 
very strong army indeed to reduce Canada, as their 
march by land on the north side of the St. Lawrence 
would be rendered dangerous and difficult, through a 
woody country intersected by several large rivers, in 
passing which they might be opposed with great advan- 
tage, by our shipping and land army acting in conjunc- 
tion. 

I beg your suspicions of Gen. Schuyler may not pre- 
judice you against him. See with your own eyes, and 
all your suspicions will vanish. I am confident that 
you will judge very differently of him on acquaintance, 
and that you will find him a diligent, active and deserv- 
ing officer. I hope a good understanding may subsist 
between you, as it will promote the service. God grant 
you success and health. My respectful compliments 
to Gen. Washington, and remembrances to Gen, Mifflin 
and my friend Moylan. 

I am etc. 

Ch. Carroll of Carroli-ton.' 

' Sparks MSS : Haiviid CoUege Library. 




■^i -/: 




CHAPTER VI. 



A CONSTITUTION MAKER. 
1776-1;;;. 

THE Maryland Convention met in Annapolis, 
May 8th, i^j6, while Charles Carroll of Car- 
rollton was in Canada, Anne Arundel County being 
represented by Charles Carroll, barrister, and Thomas 
Johnson. They passed the following resolution, 
among others, to be sent to the Maryland delegates 
in Congress: 

" That as this Convention is fimily persuaded that a 
reunion with Great Britain on constitutional principles 
would most effectually secure the rights and liberties, 
and increase the strength and promote the happiness of 
the whole empire, objects which this province hath ever 
had in view, the said deputies are bound and directed 
to govern themselves by the instructions in its session 
of December last, in the same manner as if the said 
instructions were particularly repeated." ' 

This resolve precluded the Maryland delegates 

from concurring in any movement for independ- 

ence, and was heard of with dismay by Carroll and 

' Journal of the Convention. 



1 78 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Chase, and other members of the advanced party, 
A new Convention, however, was called to meet 
the 2ist o( June, and Samuel Chase was in his 
seat on that day, Charles Carroll of Carrollton 
appearing in the house on Monday, June 24th. 
Four days later, June z8th, the Convention, — 

" Resolved, that the instructions given by the Con- 
vention of December last (and renewed by the Conven- 
tion in May) to the deputies of this Colony in Congress 
be recalled, and the restrictions therein contained re- 
moved ; that the deputies of this Colony attending in 
Congress, or a majority of them, or any three or more 
of them, be authorized and empowered to concur with 
the other united Colonies, or a majority of them in 
declaring the United Colonies free and independent 
States, provided the sole and exclusive right of regulaf 
ing the interna) government and police of this Colony 
be reserved to the people thereof." ' 

On the 3d of July a resolution was passed in refer- 
ence to the election of a new Convention for the 
purpose of framing a form of government, and on 
the 4th, delegates were elected to Congress. These 
were Matthew Tilghman, Thomas Johnson, William 
Paca, Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, and Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton. On the 6th of July the Con- 
vention adjourned, after giving to the people, "A 
Declaration of the Delegates of Maryland" which 
recited the wrongs sustained by the Colonies, and 
stated the necessity for a separation of Maryland 
from the mother country, the King of Great Britain 
having "violated his compact with this people," 



Free and Independent States. 1 79 

And the Maryland deputies in Congress were 
empowered to join with those of the other Colonies 
" in declaring them free and independent States, 
in framing such other Confederacy between them, 
in making foreign alliances, and in adopting such 
other measures as shall be judged necessary for 
the preservation of their liberties, etc." ' 

The important resolve of the 28th of June, which 
placed Maryland in line with her sister colonies on 
the subject of independence, is attributed to Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton.' " Principally instrumental in 
obtaining the passage of this resolution," says Mc- 
Sherry, " was Charles Carroll of Carrollton," and he 
adds that, "as a reward for his labors in behalf of 
the measure in Convention, he was on the 4th of 
July chosen a delegate to Congress." ' 

Carroll and Chase were just from Philadelphia and 
they had been able to sound the temper of the other 
Colonies, as expressed by their delegates, and knew 
that public opinion was ripe for the formal avowal of 
a separation which already had a de facto existence. 
Maryland's nearest neighbor south of the Potomac, 
the Old Dominion, had early made her splendid rec- 
ord, under the leadership of Mason, Henry, and the 
Lees, as the first of the Colonies to declare herself a 
sovereign State, and Maryland's impatient patriots 
could brook no longer delay. Samuel Chase wrote 
from the Convention on the 29th of June to Richard 

' Ridgeley'3 " Annslsof Annspolis," p. 177. Riley's " History of 
Annapolis," p. I So. 
' Scharfs " History o( Maryland," vol, ii., p. 231. 
• McSheny'* " UistoTy of MarylaiKl," p. 195. 



l8o Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Henry Lee, then in Williamsbui^: "I cannot but 
envy our older sister, Virginia, for having adopted 
this wise and salutary measure before us. I shall 
endeavor to procure a new Convention before we es- 
tablish a new Government. Be pleased to com- 
municate to me the plan proposed in your Colony." ' 
From the Convention the Maryland delegates has- 
tened back to Congress, carrying with them, among 
their new members, Charles Carroll of Carrollton 
who took his seat in this distinguished body on the 
i8th of July, 1776. The following day, the Declara- 
tion of Independence, passed on the 4th of July, was 
ordered to be engrossed on parchment, and August 
2d it was signed by those then present, and it was 
on this day that Charles Carroll of Carrollton put 
his signature to this world-renowned instrument.' 
The story often repeated and as often denied, that 
Charles Carroll added " of Carrollton " to his signa- 
ture, when jestingly reminded by one of his colleagues 
that there were others of his name in Maryland, and 
he would therefore incur little risk, though a pretty 
legend is, of course, not tenable as history. It has 
been seen that Charles Carroll had signed himself as 
"of Carrollton" from the time of his return to 
America in 1765. He wrote to his friend Edmund 
Jennings soon after his arrival in Maryland, using this 
signature, and saying " by which appellation. If you 
favor me with an answer, direct to me your letter." * 

'MS.: Letler, Lee Papers. 

' Tki Trulfi-Trlltr, New York, 1827, Article on Charles Carroll 
of Carrollton. 
* ApfUten's Journal Seplember t2 1874, 






Signing the Declaration. i8i 

In his letter to Mr. Sprague of 1830, he says he took 
the surname to distinguish him from his father. 

The Carroll entries in the Land Office from 1765 
to 1773 distinguish those of the same name, as 
" Charles Carroll of Elk Ridge " [Doughoregan 
Manor], or " Charles Carroll, Esq.," " Charles Carroll 
of Carrollton," "Charles Carroll, barrister-at-law," 
and " Charles Carroll the Younger " (of Duddington 
Manor). The last died in 1773 leaving three 
Charles Carrolls prominent in Maryland in 1776. 
In the biographical sketch of Charles Carroll of Car- 
rollton written by John H. B, Latrobe, eight years 
before the death of Mr. Carroll, and submitted to 
him for inspection, there is no mention of the above 
anecdote, though the other story that usually goes 
with it is related. John Hancock, the President of 
Congress, after the Declaration had been placed 
upon the Secretary's desk, while in conversation 
with Charles Carroll of Carrollton, said to him " Will 
you sign it?" "Most willingly," was the prompt 
reply, and as he made his signature, a member stand- 
ing near observed " There go a few millions," and all 
admitted that few risked as much, in a material sense, 
as the wealthy Marylander.' 

Charles Carroll had been appointed, on the 18th of 
July, the day he took his seat, one of a committee of 
three, to examine and report on some intercepted 
correspondence from Lord Howe to the colonial 
governors, including Dunmore of Virginia and Eden 
of Maryland. On the 19th, he was appointed on the 
Board of War, increasing its number to six. The 
' Sanderson's " Lires of the Signers," vol. vii., p. 257, 



1 82 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Committee of Congress, elected the 12th of June, 
1776, which went under the name of the Board of 
War and Ordnance, as originally constituted, con- 
sisted of five members, John Adams, Roger Sher- 
man, Benjamin Harrison, James Wilson, and Edmund 
Rutledge. Richard Peters was the Secretary of the 
Board. They were entrusted, under the general di- 
rection of Congress, with all the executive duties of 
the military department. They were to forward 
despatches from Congress to the armies in the field, 
or to the Colonies ; to superintend the raising, fitting 
out, and despatching the forces ; to keep 3 roster of 
all the officers in the Continental Army, their rank 
and dates of commissions ; to have charge of the 
military provisions, and to keep an account of them, 
and of the artillery stores. 

The Board of War was to enter into books copies 
of all their correspondence and despatches, and a 
seal was adopted by them for official purposes.' It 
will be seen that this committee had arduous duties 
to perform, and the Journals of Congress show 
that the most important matters were being contin- 
ually referred to it. John Adams, the Chairman of 
the Board, thus mentions in his autobiography the 
appointment of Carroll : 

"Thursday, July 18. Resolved, That a member 
be added to the Board of War. The member chosen 
Mr. Carroll. An excellent member whose educa- 
tion, manners, and application to business and to 
study, did honor to his fortune, the first in Amer- 
ica." * 

' Journal of Congress, 1776, 
' Works of John A<Ums, vol, iii., p. 60, 



'v'^n^k^'*. I. - 



On the Board of War. 183 

Charles Carroll's information as to military affairs, 
and the state of the army in the North, derived from 
his Canadian mission, would naturally recommend 
him for this important committee. And one who 
knew of what he was speaking says that, "during 
the investigation by the Board of the disputes aris- 
ing out of the Canada expedition, and in the consid- 
eration of the movements of the army in the North, 
the local knowledge which Mr. Carroll had acquired 
in his late journey, together with his acute observa- 
tions upon the state of the country, and the charac- 
ter and disposition of the people, were of important 
service." ' That there is no mention of Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton in the meagre Journal of Con- 
grcss from July 19th to the close of his stay, during 
this session, August 14th or 1 5th, proves only, there- 
fore, that he was too closely occupied on the Board 
of War to undertake other duties. Letters and de- 
spatches were continually coming before him, as 
they were referred by Congress to the Board of War, 
and every few days he united with his colleagues in 
a report which was sent to Congress, and considered 
by them in Committee of the Whole. 

On the 4th of July the adoption of the Declara- 
tion of Independence was not the only event of the 
day. More prosaic business occupied the attention 
of Congress during part of this time, and they re- 
solved, among other things, 

' Tht Trutk-TelUr, New York, \%Vj, Article on Chaclet Carroll 
of CBtioUtoo. 



1 84 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

"That the Board of War be impowered to employ 
such a number of persons as they shall find necessary to 
manufacture flints for the continent, and for this pur- 
pose to apply to the respective Assemblies, Conventions, 
and Councils or Committees of Safety of the United 
American States, or committees of inspection of the 
counties and towns thereunto belonging, for the names 
and places of abode of persons skilled in the manufac- 
tory aforesaid, and of the places in their respective 
States where the best flint-stones are to be obtained, 
with samples of the same.' 



»» 1 



It is to this subject that the following letter of the 
Maryland delegates. Chase and Carroll, to the Mary- 
land Council of Safety, has reference. 

Philadelphia, July 27, 1776. 
Gentlemen : 

Col. Smallwood, apprehending his battalion would be 
in want of many necessaries at the camp, applied to us 
for a sum of money, and we advanced him $1,335, ^^^ 
which he is to be accountable to the Convention of 
Maryland. We hope this advance will meet with your 
and their approbation, as not much can be expected 
from soldiers badly provided, and such is the discretion 
and economy of Col. Smallwood, that we are persuaded 
he will make a very judicious application of this money. 

The Congress has allowed a regimental paymaster to 
each battalion in the Flying-Camp, the appointment of 
which officer is left to the several States from which 
these battalions come. In the recess of our Convention 
the appointment is in you, and we beg you may appoint 
one as soon as may be. Col. Smallwood recommended 

' Journal of Congress, 1776. 



Flints to be Manufactured. 185 

to us for this place, Mr. Christopher Richmond. We 
mention this circumstance because we know the appoint- 
ment of Mr. Richmond will be very agreeable to the 
Colonel. 

There are now lodged in Mr. Shries's house fifty odd 
muskets, lately imported for the use of our State ; they 
want repairing and cleaning. We submit it to you 
whether we shall not keep these muskets here, to arm 
in part one of our militia companies passing through 
this city, and on its way to the Flying-Camp ; this will 
save the expense and trouble of sending them to Mary- 
land. We are informed that there are large quantities 
of flint stones at the landings on Wye and Choptank 
Rivers ; these were brought by the ships as ballast, and 
thrown out on the banks. The Congress has desired us 
to write to you on the subject, and to procure some per- 
son who understands flints, to look after them, and to 
report to Congress, whether they are good or not. 

We have nothing new from New York ; the post is 
not yet come in. We heard from General Washington 
yesterday ; all was quiet The ten vessels mentioned in 
the papers appearing in the offing at New York brought 
over Highlanders ; how many we know not. As the har- 
vest is now over, we imagine the militia will come in fast 
to compose the Flying-Camp ; and we hope the Maryland 
militia will march with all possible expedition. 

We are, with regard, gentlemen, your most obedient, 
humble servants 

Samuel Chase. 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

To the Hon. the Council of Safety 
at Annapolis.' 

' American Archives, vol. i., p. 6lS ; Muyland Archives, vol. zil., 
p. ia9. 



1 86 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

The new Convention appointed to frame a form 
of government for the State of Maryland, met in 
Annapolis, August 14th, 1776. William Paca and 
Charles Carroll of CarroUton were the delegates 
elected to represent Annapolis, and on the 17th of 
August Charles Carroll, who had recently arrived 
from Philadelphia, took his place In the Convention. 
The resolution of Congress declaring the United 
Colonies free and independent States, was the first 
subject brought up for consideration, and a resolve 
was passed, " That this Convention will maintain the 
freedom and independency of the United States 
with their lives and fortunes." ' A committee of 
three was then appointed, of which Charles Carroll of 
CarroUton was one, to examine into and report 
upon the state of the loan ofHce. 

On the election of the members of the committee 
who were to prepare a Declaration of Rights and 
Constitution, the President of the Convention, 
Matthew Tilghman, headed the list ; and after him 
came Charles Carroll, barrister, William Paca, 
Charles Carroll of CarroUton, George Plater, Samuel 
Chase, and Robert Goldsborough. These were 
among Maryland's choicest spirits. Four of them 
had been elected to Congress, and of these, three 
had Just signed the Declaration of Independence. 
The others had held high places in colonial Mary- 
land and were to associate their names thereafter 
with her Revolutionary history and genesis as a 
sovereign State, Thomas Stone, who had remained 
in Congress, and represented Maryland's interests 
' Journal of the Convention. 



Maryland's Form of Government. 187 

there, sent a letter to the Convention on the 21st of 
August with resolutions of the former body passed 
on the 26th of June and 17th of August, and a com- 
mittee appointed by the Convention to consider 
them, consisted of Col. William Fitzhugh, George 
Plater, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

The Declaration of Rights was brought in from 
the committee to the Convention, by George Plater 
on the 27th of August. And on the same day, 
Charles Carroll, barrister, and two of his colleagues 
from Anne Arundel County, Brice Thomas Beale 
Worthington and Samuel Chase, asked leave to re- 
sign from the Convention, as there were points in 
the plan of government to which, by their instruc- 
tions from their constituents, they could not accede. 
Worthington and Chase were subsequently returned 
as delegates, but Barrister Carroll was not re-elected, 
very probably at his own desire, and November 19th 
he took his seat in Congress. 

On the 17th of September, the last day of the 
Convention, it was voted that the members of Con- 
gress present should return to their post of duty. 
Johnson, Chase, and Paca had already left the Con- 
vention several days before. The Bill of Rights and 
Constitution were referred to a future session of the 
Convention, after a motion had been adopted to 
print them and send twelve copies to each county. 
And when Col. Fitzhugh had brought in his report 
from the committee to consider the resolutions of 
Congress, the Convention adjourned. 

The Maryland Convention met again on the 2d 
of October, to perfect their work on the State Con- 



1 88 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

stitution, having allowed their constituents time to 
examine into the merits of the proposed plan. 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton was present on the 
roll-call. On the 4th of October he was placed on a 
committee, with Samuel Chase, William Paca, and 
others, to prepare a scheme for the emission of bills 
of credit, to enable the State to carry on its defence 
against British invasion. A letter from Congress, 
containing its resolves as to the disposition of troops 
and appointment of officers, was laid before a com- 
mittee of seven, which included the Maryland dele- 
gates to Congress who were present. Chase, Paca, 
and Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Thomas Johnson was added to the committee on 
his arrival from Philadelphia, October 7th, and the 
reports of the two committees were brought in the 
following day. The Convention resolved itself into 
a Committee of the Whole, from day to day, to con- 
sider and discuss the Declaraton of Rights and Con- 
stitution. On Friday, the 2Sthas the journal records, 
Charles Carroll had leave of absence till the following 
Wednesday, " on account of the indisposition of his 
family." ' But he was in his place again on Sunday, 
the 30th, the Convention meeting on the Lord's 
Day, a practice kept up by the Maryland legislators, 
one is surprised to see, sometime after there was any 
ostensible need for it. 

Resolutions not very friendly to her " older Sister, 

Virginia," were passed by the Convention on the 30th, 

and Maryland here, unfortunately, placed herself in 

the position of opposing the charter rights of a 

' Joiunal of the CoDTentioD. 



Services of the Two Carrolls. 189 

colony, the basis of those State Rights so important 
to herself and to all members of the Confederation, 
the " United States." On the 31st the Bill of Rights 
was reported, and as amended by the Convention 
was agreed to on the 3d of Novtmber. The 
Constitution was taken up the following day, and 
fully discussed, amendments being suggested by 
Jeremiah Townley Chase, Samuel Chase, Col. Wil- 
liam Fitzhugh, Thomas Johnson, and others, until 
the 8th, when it was adopted, and the Convention, 
adjourned November nth.' 

The journals of public bodies in those early days, 
give for the most part, but the skeleton framework 
of their proceedings, which must be filled out, 
wherever possible, by private and personal records. 
The descendants of the constitution-makers of the 
thirteen Colonics, and all inquiring students of early 
American institutions, desire to know as much as is 
attainable as to the authorship of these charters, 
and all obscure sources of information are eagerly 
searched for and scanned in the hope of discovering 
the data sought. McMahon, writing in 1831, after 
mentioning that Thomas Johnson and Robert Hooe 
took the places on the committee appointed to frame 
Maryland's Declaration of Rights and Constitution 
vacated by the resignation of Samuel Chase and 
Barrister Carroll, and that Chase though re-elected 
to the Convention did not take his seat again until 
the day on which the committee reported, adds : 
" The form of government and Bill of Rights so 
reported, were but slightly altered in their passage 



I go Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

through the Convention. We know not by whom 
they were drafted ; nor whether they were the pro- 
duction of any particular member or members of 
the Committee." ' 

It has subsequently been asserted that Charles 
Carroll, barrister, drafted the Declaration of Rights,' 
though he did not see it through its several stages in 
the committee and in the Convention. This gentle- 
man, a graduate of Cambridge and a student of the 
Temple, in legal learning and statesman-like accom- 
plishments was not surpassed by any of his associ- 
ates. With whom originated the first draft of the 
Maryland Constitution, if it was the design of any 
one person, history has not yet informed us, but one, 
and that the most unique feature of this " form of 
government," Maryland owed to Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton. This was in relation to the composition 
of the Senate, or the manner of electing its members. 
Of his service in this respect, Charles Carroll wrote 
to a friend in 1817: 

" I was one of the Committee, that framed the Consti- 
tution of this Stale, and the mode of chusing the Senate 
was suggested by me ; no objection was made to it in the 
Committee, as I remember, except by Mr. Johnson, who 
disliked the Senate's filling up the vacancies in their own 
body. I rephed that if the mode of chusing Senators 
by Electors were deemed eligible, the filling up vacancies 
by that body was inevitable, as the Electors could not be 
aonvened to make choice of a Senator on every vacancy, 

' McMahon's " History of Marylanil," p. 437. 
'Hanson's "Old Kent," p. 147. 



Construction of the Senate. 



191 



and that the Senate acting under the sanciton of an oath 
and r esprit de corps, would insure the election of the 
fittest men for that station, nor do I recollect while I was 
in the Senate, that the power intrusted to it in this in- 
stance was ever abused and perverted to party views. 
I do not remember, at this distance of time, whether this 
part of the Committee's report was objected to in the 
Convention, nor any report of its debates and proceed- 
ings other than what is to be found in Hanson's Edition 
of the laws, nor what was the understanding of that body 
respecting the right of the Governor of nomination to the 
Council." ' 



The Senate was composed of fifteen members, 
who were to be chosen by a body of electors, forty 
in number, two from each county and one each from 
Annapolis and Baltimore. The principle of the 
representation of small constituencies, carried out in 
the election of the Lower House, was disregarded 
here, the nineteen counties and two cities not being 
parcelled into districts but attaining representation 
only en masse in this miniature House of Lords. In 
other words, the State itself was represented as a 
whole or unit in, or by, its Senate (except that nine 
Senators were to be from the Western Shore), as 
Maryland was herself to be represented later in the 
Senate of the Union. The term of service was for 
five years. This peculiar construction of the Mary- 
land Senate, differentiating it from all similar bodies 
on the continent, called forth much comment, many, 
a majority, praising while others condemned it. 

' MS ; Letter, Worthington C. Ford, 



ig2 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Samuel Chase is reported to have declared his 
warm approval in the exclamation, " It is virgin 
gold ! " ' Ramsay says : 

" Ten of the eleven States, whose legislatures con- 
sisted of two branches, ordained that the members of 
both should be elected by the people. This rather made 
two co-ordinate houses of representatives than a check 
on a single oneby the moderation of a select few. Mary- 
land adopted a singular plan for constituting an inde- 
pendent Senate. . , By these regulations, the Senate 
of Maryland consisted of men of influence, integrity and 
ability, and such as were a real and beneficial check on 
the hasty proceedings of a more numerous branch of 
popular representatives." ' 

It elicited the admiration of such political students 
as James Madison (who was probably the author 
of the defence of it in The Federalist,) and 
Dugald Stewart. Doubtless it suggested to the 
framcrs of the Federal Constitution the mode of 
constructing the United States Senate. Madison, 
in supporting the latter against objections made to 
it, points to Maryland as having successfully worked 
out the problem. She had disproved the charge, 
" that a Senate appointed not immediately by the 
people and for the term of six years, must gradually 
acquire a dangerous preeminence in the government, 
and finally transform it into a tyrannical aristocracy." 
The experiment had been tried and these fears had 
proved fallacious. 

' McMahon's " History of MuyUnd," p. 471, 

'Ram&ty's " History of tbe American RcvoIutioD," vol. i., p. 445. 



Tributes to its Excellence. 193 

" If reason condemns the suspicion, the same sentence 
is pronounced by experience. The Constitution of 
Maryland furnishes the most apposite example. The 
Senate of that State is elected, as the Federal Senate will 
be, indirectly by the people, and for a term less by one 
year only than the Federal Senate. It is distinguished, 
also, by the remarkable prerogative of filling up its own 
vacancies within the terra of its appointment ; and at the 
same time, is not under the control of any such rotation 
as is provided by the Federal Senate. There are some 
other lesser distinctions, which would expose the former 
to colorable objections, that do not lie against the latter. 
If the Federal Senate, therefore, really contained the 
danger which has been so loudly proclaimed, some symp- 
toms, at least, of a like danger ought by this time to have 
been betrayed by the Senate of Maryland ; but no such 
symptoms have appeared. On the contrary, the jeal- 
ousies at first entertained by men of the same descrip- 
tion with those who view with terror the correspondent 
part of the Federal Constitution, have been gradually ex- 
tinguished by the progress of the experiment ; and the 
Maryland Constitution is daily deriving, from the salutary 
operation of this part of it, a reputation in which it will 
probably not be rivalled by that of any State in the 
Union." ' 

Dugald Stewart in his lectures says of the " Di- 
vision of the Legislature," as the experiment was 
made in America : 

". In reviewing the various modes in which this im- 
provement has been effected in the several States, it is 

< Tht FidiraHst, No. LXIII. (edition of 1857). McMahon gives 
thisai No. III. uid itnu at Chat time attributed without question 
to Akxander Hamilton. 



194 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

extremely interesting to consider the different expedients 
by which they have attempted to accomplish the ends 
secured in this country by a hereditary nobility. The 
Constitution of Maryland in this respect, as well as in 
various others, reflects peculiar honor on the wisdom of 
its framers ; and (if I have not been mistaken) the re- 
sult has corresponded, in a very remarkable degree, to 
their expectations." 

In the work from which Dugald Stewart chiefly 
gets his information, "A Comparative View of the 
Constitutions of the Several States," etc., by William 
Smith of South Carolina, the appointment by elec- 
tors, the oath to select proper men, the voting by 
ballot, and the duration of five years, are points in 
the Maryland Senate enumerated as " almost peculiar 
to the Constitution of this State, and are certainly, 
all of them, very happily calculated to ensure a 
well-constituted Senate,"; and, continues Dugald 
Stewart : 

" Upon several occasions accordingly, we are told that 
' their integrity and firmness have withstood the danger- 
ous and tumultuous shocks of the more numerous branch,' 
and ' although they have at the moment been the subjects 
of popular indignation, yet returning reason and modera- 
tion have always rewarded them with the public esteem 
and afifection. In the other States, the election of Sena- 
tors immediately by the people, has been found not only 
liable to cabal, but to make the Senators too dependent 
on leading and intriguing characters in the several 
States.' " ' 

' Dagald Stewart's " Lectures oa Political Economy," 1656, Vol. 
ii., p. 433- Smith's " Comparative View," etc., Philadelphia, 1796. 






High Character of its Members. 195 

Roger Brooke Taney, who was one of its most 
distinguished members, bore his testimony to the 
excellence of the Maryland Senate, and its value 
as a check upon the House of Delegates, an opinion 
shared by his biographer, Samuel Tyler; 

" The mode of electing the Senate by Electors sworn 
to elect men most distinguished for their wisdom, talents 
and virtues ; and their term of service for five years, 
constituted the Senate such a body that Mr. Taney 
always talked of his service in it with singular pleasure. 
. . . Upon several occasions the integrity and firm- 
ness of the Senate withstood the unwise course of the 
more popular branch. Before the adoption of the Con- 
stitution of the United States, Samuel Chase proposed 
in the House of Delegates the issue of paper money, 
and the House approved it, but the Senate, under the 
lead of Thomas Stone and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 
rejected the bill," ' 

In the letter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton be- 
fore quoted, he says : 

" That the manner of electing Senators was approved 
by the experience of many years, and that no inconven- 
ience resulted from the Senate's filling up vacancies, can- 
not I think be denied. When parties run high the best 
institutions afford but a feeble defence against the pas- 
sions of interested or deluded men. Party spiKt seems 
to be abated [1817], and to have lost much of its viru- 
lence ; whether it will be prudent, in this state of things 
to alter the mode of electing the Senate, I leave to your 
better judgment." 

' Tyler"* " LifM>f R<^er B. Taney," p. lai. 



196 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

It was under Democratic auspices in 1807, that ef- 
forts were first made to alter the mode of electing 
the Senate. But the bill for that purpose, passed 
in the House, was defeated in the Senate, at that 
time, and on later occasions the measure met with 
similar opposition. And it was not until 1837, six 
years after Charles Carroll's death, that his distinct- 
ive part in the State's early Constitution was altered, 
the Maryland Senate thereby losing its high charac- 
ter for conservative wisdom and ability. 

A letter from Charles Carroll's father, written to 
him while he is in the Convention, October 21st, 
contains some pleasant little domestic details. He 
thanks his son for a present of oysters sent from 
Annapolis, and in return despatches a barrel of ap- 
ples from the plantation home at " Doughoregan " 
where the good daughter-in-law is keeping house. 
The eider Carroll has not been well, and he writes : 
" Molly's tenderness and love increases her appre- 
hensions," The only member of the Convention 
mentioned in this letter is " Mr. Chace" to whom 
Mr. Carroll sends his " service and compliments." ' 

James Sterett wrote from Baltimore to Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton, December 2nd, giving some 
war news : 

" You have no doubl heard of the surrender of Fort 
Washington which was garrisoned by twenty-four hun- 
dred men, who with the stores etc., have fallen into the 
haods of the enemy. It is said our number in killed and 
wounded is about three hundred, and the enemy's double 



First Session of t)ie Assembly. 197 

that number. Our army have retreated as far as New Ark 
in the Jerseys, It is said they have received certain in- 
telligence of their design to come to Philadelphia, and 
that they are embarking a number of their troops either 
to come up the Delaware and make the attack on both 
sides, or amuse the Southern States that they may not 
send any assistance to our General. 
"lam 
" Your humble servant, 

Ja. Sterett." ' 

The Continental Congress met in Baltimore, De- 
cember 20th, 177S, and Charles Carroll of Carrotlton 
doubtless was in attendance. Charles Carroll, 
barrister, remained in Congress from November igth 
to the close of the session, December 31st, The 
Congress was still in Baltimore in February, I777i 
when the first Assembly of the State of Maryland 
convened in Annapolis, on the 5th of that month. 
It was called together by the Council of Safety, 
which now met for the last time. 

In the small but august body, the new Senate, 
which took the place of the old Council, was in- 
cluded the statesman who had borne such an im- 
portant part in its theoretical construction. The 
other members elected to this first Maryland Senate 
were Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, George Plater, 
William Paca, Thomas Stone, Joseph Nicholson, 
Junr,, Brice Thomas Beale Worthington, Turbutt 
Wright, Samuel Wilson, James Tilghman, Matthew 
Tilghman, Robert Goldsborough, Charles Carroll, 
barrister, Thomas Johnson, and Thomas Contee. 
' Maryland Historical Sodety. 



igS Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

James Tilghtnan declined to serve and Edward 
Tilghman was elected in his place, but he also refus- 
ing to serve Thomas B. Hands was elected. Thomas 
Johnson refusing the senatorshlp — Charles Grahame 
was put in his place. Jenifer was elected President of 
the Senate, and Richard Ridgeley appointed Clerk. 
The first business before the Assembly was to ascer- 
tain the force necessary to suppress an insurrection 
in Somerset and Worcester Counties. On the 8th 
a committee was named to draw up rules for the 
regulation of the Senate, consisting of Matthew 
Tilghman, Robert Goldsborough, and Charles Carroll 
of Carrollton. 

A few days later there came a message from the 
House of Delegates in regard to a Virginia regi- 
ment which was in the service of Maryland, and was 
no longer needed. Charles Carroll of Carrollton 
carried the answer of the Senate to the House, but 
there was a difference of opinion as to what instruc- 
tions should be given General Smallwood. The 
matter was settled by a conference between the two 
branches of the Legislature, and the Senate con- 
ferrees appointed were Matthew Tilghman and 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton. The order dismissing 
the Virginia regulars was countermanded, and they 
were to be sent to Worcester and Somerset Coun- 
ties. 

The ballot for Governor was taken on the 13th, 
and Thomas Johnson was raised to this important 
office. On the election of his five Councillors the 
following day, Charles Carroll, of Annapolis, father 
of the subject of this memoir, headed the list. No 



Bill opposed by Carroll. 199 

doubt Mr, Carroll and his son both appreciated this 
mark of confidence and esteem. The elder Carroll, 
who had so long chafed under the political disabili- 
ties of his family and friends, was now not only to 
see his heir in the highest places of the land, but 
was himself asked to accept a prominent position in 
the government of Maryland. His infirm healthy 
perhaps, was the cause of his declining the compli- 
ment accorded him. 

Maryland elected her members of Congress on the 
15th, and the following delegates were appointed: 
Samuel Chase, Benjamin Rumsey, William Smith, 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Thomas Stone, and 
William Paca, but Thomas Stone declined the seat. 
The Senate having thus put the wheels of the ma- 
chine in motion, seems to have thought there was 
no further immediate need of Its services. The 
temptation to attend the sessions of Congress, held 
so near, may have proved irresistible to many of the 
members. For only a few of them came together 
on the 25th of February, and from day to day after 
wards until the 17th of March, when there were 
enough members present to form a quorum. Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton, however, was sedulous in his 
attendance all this time, except for five days' leave 
of absence, and his name appears in the journal as 
active in the work of the Senate from March 17th 
until its close the 20th of April. 

The bill put to the Senate for its passage on the 
9th of April, entitled " An Act to make the bills of 
credit emitted by Acts of Assembly and resolves of 
the late Conventions a legal tender," was opposed 



IJM \ 


^^r^^^H 



200 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

by Charles Carroll on the ground of its discrimina- 
tion against one class of creditors, and he filed 
against it the following reasons for his vote : 

Dissentient, Became I conceive this bill to be ex- 
tremely partial, affecting a particular class of men, whom 
it obliges to receive for money due to Ihem, the Conti- 
nental bills of credit and the bills of credit of this State 
at their nominal value, while all others are left at liberty, 
in consequence of a real and great depreciation of those 
bills, to exact the most exhorbitant prices for their land, 
the produce thereof, and for every other saleable com- 
modity. 

Because, there is no justice in punishing the innocent, 
to prevent the evil practices of disaffected persons, de- 
sirous of depreciating our paper currencies, against the 
future commission only of which practices this bill pro- 
vides ; without giving it a retrospect, all future monied 
contracts might be made dischargeable in the Continental 
bills of credit, and in the bills of credit of this State, 
which provision, I conceive, would remedy the mischiefs 
complained of, as far as human laws can guard against 
the secret workings and devices of the avaricious and 
artful ; and by providing that creditors shall receive 
their interest in these bills of credit at their respective 
nominal values, and the principal too, should they sue 
for the recovery thereof during this war, or in a limited 
time afterwards, the only plausible argument in support 
of the bill would be fully answered, and debtors would 
be relieved from the accumulation of interest, and the 
distress which that accumulation and the unfeelingness 
of their creditors, not so restrained, might otherwise 
heap upon them. Charles Carroll of Carrollton.' 
' Journal of the Mu;IaodSen*Ie, 1777. 



Letter from Col. Fitzgerald. 201 

The Maryland delegates to Congress received 
their instructions from the Assembly at this ses- 
sion, on the subject of bringing the States together 
under some written compact of union. The Legis- 
lature declared : 

"We have long and impatiently expected, that a con- 
federacy would have been formed between the United 
States . . . We do therefore instruct you lo move 
for a stricter Union and Confederacy of the Thirteen 
United States, reserving expressly to the General Assem- 
bly of this State the power of confirming and ratifying 
the said Confederacy, without which ratification we shall 
not consider it as binding upon this Stale ; and should 
any other Colony sohcit to be admitted into that Con- 
federacy, you are to oppose such admission until the 
General Assembly can be informed thereof, and their 
consent obtained thereto,"' 

Another point in the instructions related to the 
manner of ascertaining the quota of the State's 
debt ; negro taxables were to be deemed and taken, 
" as part of our people for the purpose of taxation." 
The delegates were also to urge that the proceed- 
ings of Congress be made public. 

The following letter was addressed to Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton by Col. John Fitzgerald of 
Alexandria, Virginia, who was with the army at 
Washington's headquarters, a member of Washing- 
ton's staff. 

Morris Town, March 2<)(h, 1777. 
Dear Sir : 

Give me leave to communicate the following piece 
of intelligence to you which this day we have from 



202 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

Boston, so well authenticated as not to admit of the 
least doubt. 

"On the i8th inst. arrived at Portsmouth an armed 
vessel of 14 guns from France ; her cargo consists of 
twelve thousand stand of aims, one thousand barrels 
of powder, flints, guns for the frigate there, woolens, 
linens, etc., etc. She has been out 42 days. A fifty 
gun ship sailed at the same time and from the same 
place for this port. She is richly laden with heavy 
artillery and military stores. Two very valuable prizes 
are now riding in this harbour, both from London. 
Their cargoes are the woolens, linens and summer cloth- 
ing to a great amount. I had almost forgot to tell you 
that the Court of France has remonstrated against any 
more foreigners being sent to America, and that upon 
Doctor Franklin's arrival they demonstrated their joy 
by bonfires etc." Another letter says that a General, 
a Colonel and a Major all strongly recommended by 
Dr. Franklin are come in this vessel. 

This news, I am sure, will be very agreeable to you 
and every other gentleman so strongly attached and 
deeply interested in this dispute. I therefore sincerely 
congratulate you thereon, and hope you'll pardon the 
liberty on my side of beginning a correspondence with 
you. The public prints will inform you nearly as much 
of our situation here as I am at liberty to mention. 
The General is quite recovered from his late indisposi- 
tion. I shall be glad of the honor of a line from you 
by post, and am with most respectful compliments to 
Mrs. Carroll and family, 
Dear Sir 

Your obedient, humble servant 
John Fitzgerald.' 
' Maryland Historical Society, 



Again in the Federal Council. 203 

Robert Carter wrote to Charles Carroll from 
" Nomini Hall," in April and May, about some busi- 
ness of the Baltimore Company, and in one of 
these letters he says, showing the inadequate postal 
facilities of the period: "There is an intercourse 
between the people here and those residing in St. 
Mary's County, Maryland, except during the winter 
season. Letters for me forward to Leonard Town 
in St, Mary's will seldom lay long there." ' 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton returned to his seat 
in Congress, May jth, 1777. He had given himself 
an interval of fourteen days from the adjournment 
of the Assembly, April 20th, to look after his 
domestic and plantation affairs. Arrived again in 
the Federal council, he resumed his former place 
on the Board of War. In September, 1776, this 
committee had been charged with the duty of 
preparing a plan of military operations, and drawing 
up resolutions for enforcing and perfecting disci- 
pline in the army. Benjamin Harrison left Congress 
about that time, but on his return in November 
he was immediately assigned again to the Board of 
War. Francis Llghtfoot Lee had been placed upon 
it in Harrison's absence, and in January Samuel 
Adams had been made a member of the Board. 
An assistant clerk was given them in Mr. Nourse, 
who had been employed in this capacity by Genl. 
Charles Lee. One of the duties of the Board of 
War after the battles of Trenton and Princeton was 
to direct the disposition of a number of British 
prisoners, some of whom were sent to Dumfries 
and some to Leesburg in Wngmii. 
' Carter Letter Books. 



204 Charles Carroll of Carrol/ion. 

On the I2th of May, Charles Carroll of Carrollton 
was added to the Committee on Foreign Applica- 
tions. A letter had been received from General 
Washington, with a copy of one from Silas Deane 
of November 30th, 1776, brought to America by 
General Conway — which after being read by Con- 
gress were referred to the above committee. Their 
report was brought in to Congress on the 30th, 
whereupon it was resolved that commissions be 
sent to General Washington " for the French 
officers lately arrived in the Amphitrite, to be filled 
up agreeable to a list to be forwarded to him by the 
Committee ; the rank of each class of the said offi- 
cers to be settled by the date of their commissions 
from the King of France." " Monsieur de Coudray, 
the Chevalier du Fortail, Monsieur de Laumoy, 
Monsieur de Gouvion, Monsieur La Badiere, and 
other French officers had been promised by Frank- 
lin and Deane certain appointments in the Ameri- 
can army which Congress was not willing to confirm. 
And on June 25th the Committee on Foreign 
Applications brought in a report concerning De 
Coudray's case. 

Congress in Committee of the Whole, July 15th, 
decided that the agreement made by their agents 
in France with Monsieur de Coudray could not be 
earned out, but they softened this decision by 
assurances that they would give him such rank 
and appointments as the honor and safety of the 
States and their duty to their constituents per- 
mitted. The Board of War was then directed to 
'Journal of Congress, 1777. 



On an Important Committee. 205 

lay before Congress a list of the foreign officers in 
the Continental service, with full details as to their 
rank in France or any other European state. 
Monsieur du Portai! and his contrferes who asked 
iox higher x^nV than that agreed on between them 
and the American envoys, Deane and Franklin, had 
their memorial referred to the Board of War, Con- 
gress, upon its report, giving them an answer in the 
negative. But the treaty made with them by the 
envoys was confirmed. 

The Committee on Foreign Applications was an 
adjunct to the Board of War. And Charles Carroll, 
from his long residence in France and his knowledge 
of the language and the people, was no doubt a 
most useful and acceptable addition to Us members 
William Duer was added to the Board of War, July 
2nd ; and on the i8thof July Congress resolved that 
three gentlemen, not members of Congress, be ap- 
pointed to conduct the business of the Board of 
War, under the direction of the present Board.' 

Samuel Chase took his seat in'Congress July 2rst, 
and it is probable Charles Carroll of Carrollton left 
there soon after for his plantation home. From 
" Doughoregan Manor" he wrote to Dr. Franklin, 
early in August, giving him an interesting account 
of the progress of the war and ofthe condition of the 
country. It is evident he was corresponding at this 
time with Samuel Chase, and it is much to be re< 
gretted that none of these letters seem to have been 
preserved. 



2o6 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

DooHOBAGEN, Anne Arundel Co. [M»,], 

August I2lh, 1777. 
Dear Sir: 

I lately received a letter from Mr. Carmichael to 
which the enclosed is an answer. This letter was without 
date, nor could I certainly gather from any circumstances 
contained in it, the place of his residence. As the busi- 
ness in which he is engaged may occasion him to shift 
frequently his abode, I request the favor of you to forward 
to him the inclosed letter, or to deliver it, should he be 
in Paris. I left the letter open for your perusal, as it 
relates principally to public concerns; when you have 
read it please to seal it. 

No doubt the secret commitlee will give you a full and 
true account of the present situation of our affairs and 
of our wants ; they may not perhaps enter into the causes 
of our miscarriages on Lake Champlain. The loss of 
the forts of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, and 
of our stores must be imputed to the diJatoriness of the 
New England States in not sending sufficient forces to 
defend the lines ; to an unhappy difference between 
General Schuyler and Gates, the foundation of which 
was laid before you left Congress ; and lastly to the im- 
providence of Congress In not giving positive orders for 
evacuating those posts and the removal of the stores 
before the arrival of the enemy at Crown Point. The 
campaign hitherto has been inactive. General Howe 
must have been weaker than we imagined, or must have 
wanted some essentials, otherwise his remaining cooped 
up at Brunswick all the spring, must appear to every 
military man a strange piece of conduct. 

The temperature of the weather at that season, and the 
weakness of General Washington's army, were strong in- 
centitives, one would think, to action. It is their interest 






Letter to Dr. Franklin. 207 

to be active and enterprising in order to finish the war 
with the utmost expedition ; it is ours to procrastinate 
and avoid a general battle. Perhaps the enemy mean to 
worry us into slavery by a lingering and expensive war, 
and despair of succeeding by open force, viribus et lacertis. 
The enemy will probably direct their whole force this fall 
against the State of New York with a view to reduce it 
entirely, and thus open a communication with Canada, 
and render difficult and hazardous the communi cation 
between the Eastern and Middle States ; whether they 
will succeed in this plan time must discover. The 
chances, I think, are against them if the Eastern and 
Middle States exert themselves, and as their own pre- 
servation depends on speedy and vigorous exertions, we 
may hope the enemy will be baffled in their attempt. 

I flatter myself our struggles for Independence will, in 
the end, be crowned with success, but we must suffer 
much in the meantime, and unless we continue to receive 
powerful assistance in arms, ammunition, and clothing, 
and other warlike stores, and supplies of cash or a credit 
in Europe, equivalent thereto, we must sink under the 
efforts of a rich and inveterate enemy, mistress of the 
ocean, and determined, it seems, to run every hazard in 
subduing these States to unconditional submission. 

My greatest apprehensions arise from the depreciation 
of our paper money ; if we emit more bills of credit they 
will fall to nothing ; we cannot tax to the amount of the 
charges of the war, and of our civil establishments ; we 
must then raise money by lotteries or by borrowing : 
But the adventurers in lotteries will be few, and the 
monied men will not part with their money without a 
prospect of having their interest paid punctually, and in 
something that deserves the name of money, and will 
serve the uses of it. If the annual interest of the sums 



2o8 Charles Carroll of Carrollion. 

borrowed could be paid in gold and silver, it would be 
a great inducement in monied men to lend their money 
to Congress ; where one pound is now lent forty pounds 
would then be lent. If bills of exchange drawn by Con- 
gress on some house in France would be accepted to a 
certain amount, considerable sums proportionable to the 
obtained credit, might be speedily raised by the sale of 
such bills, particularly if advantages were taken by the 
public of such exchange. But of these matters I shall 
say no more, as the secret committee will certainly write 
fully on the subject, and in a more masteily manner than 
I am capable of. 

I hope you continue to enjoy your health, and that 
flow of spirits which contributed to make the jaunt to 
Canada so agreeable to your fellow-travellers, Mr. John 
Carroll, and Chase are both well ; the latter is now at 
Congress, and has been so fully and constantly employed 
that I believe he has not had leisure to refute your 
reasons in favor of the old ladies, I often think of you 
and wish for your company ; this I own is selfish, as it 
would be depriving you of those pleasures which you 
enjoy in the company and conversation of the literati of 
Paris, and these States of your abilities, and those services 
you have rendered and may render them in your present 
station. If the important occupations of it will permit, I 
shall be extremely glad to hear from you, I wish you 
health, a long continuance of it, and success in your 
negotiations, and remain, 
Dear Sir 
Your most obedient humble servant 
Chakles Carroll of Carrollton. 

P. S. In looking over my letter, I find I have omitted 
some things which you may be desirous to know ; prob- 
ably you will be informed of them by others, but lest 



Anxious for a Confederacy. 209 

you should not, I shall mention such as I think will be 
most interesting ; indeed to a person 3000 miles off, the 
most trifling circumstances are interesting. We have 
not yet confederated, but almost every member of Con- 
gress is anxious for a Confederacy, being sensible that a 
Confederacy formed on a rational plan will certainly 
add much weight and consequence to the United States 
collectively, and give great security to each individually, 
and a credit also to our paper money ; but I despair of 
such a Confederacy as ought and would take place if 
little and partial interests could be laid aside ; very few 
and immaterial alterations will be made in the report of 
the Committee of the whole house. This is only my 
opinion, for we have made but very little progress in the 
house, in Chat important affair, immediate and more 
pressing exigencies having from time to time postponed 
the consideration of it to this day, when I am informed 
it is to be again resumed. 

If this war should be of any considerable duration, 
we shall want men to recruit our armies ; could we 
engage five or six thousand men, Germans, Swiss, or the 
Irish Brigade ? I have mentioned this matter to several 
members of Congress, but they did not seem to relish 
the introduction of foreign mercenaries. I own it ought 
to be avoided if possible. Handycraft men would be 
very serviceable to us, such as blacksmiths, shoemakers, 
weavers, and persons skilled in the management of hemp 
and flax. 

One of the greatest distresses we have yet felt is the 
want of salt, but I hope we shall not be in so great want of 
that essential article for the future as we have been. A 
bushel of salt some months ago was sold at Baltimore 
Town for f,^. Necessity is said to be the mother of 
invention ; it surely is of industry among a civilized 



2 lo Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

people. Many private persons on our sea-coasts and 
bays, are now making salt to supply themselves and neigh- 
bors ; these private and the public salt-works together, 
will in a few months, I hope, yield a tolerable supply to 
our people, and at pretty reasonable rates compared with 
those which have obtained for some time past. Perhaps 
the private saltmakers may afford to sell salt at 30/ per 
bushel ; the undertakers of the public saltworks in this 
State are under contracts to sell what salt they make at 
5/. We are casting salt pans, but they cost ;^ioo per 
ton, and are subject to crack. When our plating mills 
get in full work it will be better to make the pans of 
plate-iron, although they will come considerably higher. 
A large importation at this time from Europe of salt 
pans would be very serviceable ; they would sell high. 

The necessaries of life, except wheat and flour, are 
risen to an amazing nominal price, owing to an increased 
demand, and great depreciation of our currencies ; wheat 
sells at 6/6 in this part of the country ; the market for 
flour is very dull at present. The price of live stock of 
all kinds is prodigiously advanced, a cow for instance, 
which a year ago would have sold for 16 only, would 
now sell for ;^i8 or 20 ; cloths, linens, and woolens, are 
excessive high. I have a coat on, the cloth of which is 
not worth more than 10/ a yard, and would not have 
cost more 18 months ago, which lately cost me ;^4,io a 
yard. Rye sells as high as 10/ per bushel ; the distillers 
give that price to distill it into whiskey ; stills are set up 
in every comer of the country, I fear they will have a 
pernicious effect on the morals and health of our people. 

The months of June and July were pleasant and 
seasonable ; the spring was very cold and dry, with late 
frosts. We had a frost here the 28th of May which 
destroyed our European grape-vines and apples. The 



Prices and Ike Crops. 2 1 1 

crops of flax throughout this State are bad ; the crops of 
wheat and rye, in general, good. The ist instant the 
weather set in very hot, and has continued so ever since ; 
yesterday was the hottest day I ever felt, this is almost as 
bad. I have not a thermometer or I would let you know 
the exact degree of heat. This postscript is longer than 
my letter ; excuse the length of both, and believe me to 
be. Dear Sir, 

Your affectionate humble servant 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton.' 
' Sparks MSS : Harvard Collie Libru^. 



CHAPTER VIK 



IN THE CONTINENTAL CONGRKSS. 



1777-1778. 

CHARLES CARROLLdid not remain long away 
from his public duties. And he wrote from 
Philadelphia an anxious letter to Governor Johnson, 
on hearing that Lord Howe's fleet was in Chesapeake 
Bay, the latter part of August, 1777. In September 
he was sent by Congress with Samuel Chase and 
John Penn to the army to look into its condition, 
and he wrote to Governor Johnson from General 
Smallwood's headquarters a report of affairs in that 
direction. 

August ssnd 1777. 
Dear Sir : 

Mr. Doans who got here late yesterday evening brought 
me ihe first authentic intelligence of the enemy's grand 
fleet being in our Bay. An express passed through this 
place Tuesday morning, with an account that part of the 
enemy's fleet was ofF the mouth of Potomac. I could 
not persuade myself that this fleet was anything more 
than some ships sent to pillage, and collect stock ; but it 
seems that Howe's army is on board this fleet, and it is 



Letters to Governor yoknso». 2 1 3 

now plain he means to land at the head of the Bay. 
Perhaps he will form an encampment on the isthmus or 
narrow neck of land between the two Bays, and thus 
enclose the peninsula lying between Chesapeake and 
Delaware Bays ; from thence he may flatter himself with 
recruiting his army with the disaffected and supplying it 
with provisions. 

Pray let me know yoiir determinations. Do you think 
it proper lo call the Assembly ? Can it meet if you call 
it ? I suppose the enemy's shipping will endeavor to cut 
off, if it can be done, the communication between the 
two shores. I imagine the militia, or a part of it, will be 
called out and sent to the head of the Bay ; but what mag- 
azines are formed there for their support ? And what 
can be collected to feed our militia, and General Wash- 
ington's army in the space even of six weeks ? I imagine 
Howe's intention is to do what I have mentioned above, 
and when his army is refreshed to move towards Phila- 
delphia. I shall be much obliged to you for a few lines 
informing me what you think had best be done in our 
present situation. 

I received yesterday evening a letter from Col. Fitz- 
gerald dated Bucks County, twenty miles from Philadel- 
phia, the 19th instant. The following are extracts from 
his letter : " General Howe's not attempting to force his 
way to the city was displeasing to both Whig and Tory ; 
our army prayed most religiously for it, and even the 
private men appeared individually concerned in defence 
of it. It is now a month since General Howe sailed from 
Sandy Hook, and as yet we are unable to determine the 
place of his destination, having had no account of him 
since he was seen oft Sinepresent. The general opinion 
now prevailing is that Charles Town is the object of his 
present views, in which case as it will be impossible for 



214 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

this anny to follow him there, its operations wilt be 
turned against Burgoyne, and I have no doubt will (if 
it can come up with him) effectually secure the conti- 
nent against any future incursions from him. 

Gates, Lincoln and Arnold are arrived at Albany ; re- 
inforcements have been lately sent to them, Morgan's 
riflemen among the rest, which I am satisfied will be a 
match for them in their own way. Some troops we have 
at Fort Schuyler up the Mohawk River, assisted by 
the militia of Tryon County, have lately had two skir- 
mishes with a party of the enemy there, in both which 
they behaved with great bravery, and gained some con- 
siderable advantage over them. General Clinton remains 
on York. Island, and from the best accounts we can get 
has not 3000 effective men with him, most of them Hes- 
sians. They are building redoubts and breastworks all 
along Harlem River, and appear very apprehensive of a 
visit from us. We have had no answer to the proposal 
for the exchange of General Lee for Frescot, and I am 
doubtful it will not take place," 

Thus far Fitzgerald's letter. I find by a passage in it, 
the prejudices seem strong in the army against Schuyler 
and St. Clair. I own the conduct of the latter in not 
evacuating those posts sooner appears very blameworthy. 
However, time will clear up all these matters. 
I heartily wish you well, and am 

Your afifectionate humble servant 

Ch. Carroll of Carrollton.' 

' Pennsjrlvania HUlorical Society. (A copy in the Maryland Hist. 

Society.) 



IVt^A Sjuallwood at Swan Creek. 2 1 5 

Swan Creek, 8th September, 1777. 
Dear Sir : 

I beg the favor of you to forward the inclosed by the 
first safe opportunity, my father will be anxious to hear 
from me. Genl. Smallwood writes to you by this oppor- 
tunity and transmits a return of the militia here, their 
arms, ammuuttion and accoutrements, and I suppose will 
inform you he proposes to order the militia to rendezvous 
at Johnson's Ferry. The militia at this place will march 
to-morrow for that ferry. I shall proceed to headquar- 
ters. No doubt you have better information from Mr. 
Jones of the enemy's position and motions than I can 
collect at (his out of the way place. Howe I hear is at 
Aitkens's Tavern, five miles from head of Elk. 

Col. Rumsey, who is now here, was Saturday at head of 
Elk and made some prisoners. Comwallis is at Crouch's 
Mills, Kniphauscn at Fisher's Mills, the last distant from 
Newark three miles. Poor Alexander is gone along with 
the enemy with all his family. He can never remain in 
this country unless in the disagreeable situation of seeing 
it conquered by the enemy ; if he has any virtue, this 
thought alone must pain him. Dr. H. Stevenson, it is 
said, cried like a child when he left his plantation in this 
neighborhood ; unfortunate, misguided men ! G W. 
made a speech (I am told by one Rogers who keeps Sus- 
quehanna Ferry) to his army which was received with 
great applause; oflicers and men desired to be led to 
battle. 

Washington is said to be at the head of 30,000 men. 
I believe this number exaggerated by at least a third. I 
believe General Smallwood does not intend to cross 
Susquehanna till he receives the field-pieces, at least not 
to proceed near the enemy. General Washington, I am 
sure, will not hazard a general battle. We this day had 



2 1 6 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

a full view from Stony Point of the enemy's fleet lying 
from the mouth of Elk to Sassafras, but chiefly about 
the mouth of Sassafras. 

If Mr. Smith should be desirous to return home, as it 
appears he is by a letter of his I this day saw, written to 
Col. B. Rumsey, I shall proceed to Congress, and not re- 
turn to join Smallwood's brigade of militia. Indeed I 
already find this kind of sauntering life extremely disa- 
greeable and fatiguing, and hard lodging and irregular 
hours of eating, begin to disagree with my puny consti- 
tution, and habit of body. But perhaps I shall soon be 
more inured to and better able to support the fatigue of 
a campaign. 

I heartily wish you well, and am, 
Your affectionate friend, 

Ch. Carroll of Carrollton. 

P. S. — Please to put my letter to my father into the 
postoffice at Baltimore Town. 

To His Excellency 

Thomas Johnson Esq : 
Baltimore.* 

General Smallwood wrote to Governor Johnson 
from Nottingham, September 14th, that he was 
just "setting out for Philadelphia to join General 
Washington's army," and Qharles Carroll of Carroll- 
ton added a postscript to the letter : 

" Dear Sir : I shall proceed with General Small- 
wood till he joins the main army, and shall then 
either go to Congress or return home. I am well 
and desire you will inform my father thereof by the 
first opportunity.'" 

' MS : Letter. ' Maryland Historical Society. 



Letters to General Washington. 2 1 7 

The following letters, on army affairs, one from 
the field and the other from Congress, were written 
by Charles Carroll to General Washington a little 
later in this same month. 
Dear Sir ■ Potts Groves, aind September, 1777. 

I would just suggest the propriety of sending some 
active persons to Bristol and Trenton to impress wagons 
to remove what continental stores are at those places. 
and may be carried thither from Philadelphia in conse- 
quence of your orders to Colonel Hamilton. This meas- 
ure is the more necessary as the order of Congress for 
removing these stores is suspended till their meeting at 
Lancaster, which may not be for some days. Mr. Smith, 
one of our delegates, being returned home I must pro- 
ceed to Congress to keep up a representation from our 
SUte. 

I desire my compliments to the gentlemen in your 
family, and wish your Excellency health and success 
against our common enemy. 

I am with great esteem 

Vour most obedient humble servant 

Ch. Carroll of Carrollton. 

To his Excellency 

General Washington.' 
Dear Sir ■ Lancaster, a7th September, 1777, 

I have had some conversation with Mr. Peters, secre- 
tary to our board, who informs me that in the month of 
June last 1000 tin cartridge boxes were sent to the Army 
and delivered to a Captain French. Mr. Peters more- 
over informs me that to his certain knowledge several of 
these cartridge boxes were converted by the soldiers into 
■ Washington MSS :, Department of Slate. 



2i8 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

cantines, and by some officers into shaving boxes. Com- 
missary Flowers also acquainted me that there are now at 
Carlisle upwards of 2000 tin cartridges boxes ; if these are 
wanted in the Army they may be immediately sent for. 

I am sorry to observe that two officers in high com- 
mand in our Army are said to be much addicted to 
liquor ; what trust, what confidence can be reposed in 
such men ? They may disconcert the wisest and best 
laid plans. Such men ought to be removed from their 
command and the army, for their example, besides the 
mischief which may be occasioned by a clouded and 
muddled brain, will have a pernicious influence on others. 
But how are they to be removed from their command ? I 
could wish to know your Excellency's sentiments on this 
subject The interest of the best and most glorious 
cause ought not to be sacrificed to a false delicacy. 
These are not times to put into competition the interests 
of a few with those of a great community. 

Nothing but severe punishments will, in my opinion, 
make the Commissaries and quartermasters attentive to 
their duty ! Your Excellency has the power, and I hope 
will not want the will, to punish such as deserve punish- 
ment. I hope your Excellency will excuse the freedom 
of this letter. My zeal for our Country, and my wishes 
for your success, have impelled me to write thus freely 
on a subject which claims all your attention, the reforma- 
tion of the army, and of the abuses prevalent in the two 
important departments of the Quarter Masters and Com- 
missary General, I am, with much esteem. 

Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant, 
Ch. Carroll of Carrollton. 
To his Excellency General Washington 
at Head Quarters." 

■ IH4. 



i:^--. ..■ - _a 



Western Boundaries of States. 2 1 g 

Samuel Cliasc and Cliarics Carroll of CarrolUon 
were the only delegates present from Maryland when 
Congress met at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, September 
27th, 1777. From Lancaster the Congress went to 
Yorktown, September 30th. The Articles of Con- 
federation, which had been under consideration dur* 
ing the summer, were taken up, and the provision 
for voting in Congress discussed. William Smith 
was in his seat, October 7th, when the vote was 
taken, and the three Marylanders opposed the mo- 
tion for representation according to population, one 
for every fifty thousand inhabitants. Two other 
similar propositions were negatived by them, as they 
were by the majority of the delegates. Then the 
resolution was passed, " Each State shall have one 
vote" in determining questions. 

On the 14th, the manner of constituting the Con- 
gress of the United States was considered, and it 
was determined that no State should have less than 
two or more than seven members. It was moved 
in Congress the following day, that it be " recom- 
mended to the Legislature of each State to lay be- 
fore Congress a description of the territorial lands of 
each of their respective States, and a summary of 
the grants, treaties and proofs upon which they are 
claimed or established." The Maryland delegates 
voted for this motion, but it was defeated. The fol- 
lowing extraordinary proposition was also negatived : 
"That the United States in Congress assembled, 
shall have the sole and exclusive right and power to 
ascertain and fix the western boundary of such States 
as claim to the South Sea, and to dispose of all lands 



220 Charles Carroll of Carrollion. 

beyond the boundary so ascertained for the benefit 
of the United States." ' 

A third motion, evidently made by one of the 
Maryland members, as Maryland was the only State 
that voted for it, was similar to the one above, ex- 
cept that, after " Mississippi or South Sea " the 
boundaries named, these words were added: "and 
lay out the land beyond the boundary, so ascer- 
tained, into separate and independent States, (rom 
time to time, as the numbers and circumstances of 
the people thereof may require." The States were 
not disposed thus to sacrifice their rights and limit 
their sovereignty, and the single vote, outside of 
Maryland, given in favor of this motion was that of 
Jonathan Elmer of New Jersey. When the question 
was finally put as to the adoption of the Articles of 
Confederation, October 30th, the only member pres- 
ent from Maryland was William Smith. 

The discomfiture of Burgoyne at Saratoga, tak- 
ing place at this time, is the theme of congratula- 
tion in the following characteristic letter from Mens. 
Pliarne to Charles Carroll Sr., as it is also in a letter 
of Charles Carroll of Carrollton to Richard Peters, 
Secretary of the Board of War. 

Baltimork, October 16, 1777. 
Sir: 

The first use of my time at my arrival in town has 
been to inquire for news to convey to you. Nothing im- 
portant happened since Germantown's affair. All the 
intelligence from the armies is in a letter from Mr. Chase 
to the Governor. Mr. Lux who has got it will give you 
an extract of it. You will be surprised to see Fort Mont- 
' Jonma] of Congress. 



Defeat of General Burgoyne. 2 2 1 

gomery taken without seeing Putnam marching to defend 
it. The fort is about eight, ten miles above Pickskili 
where Putnam is encamped. Now did the transports 
going up the river escape to him ? I must believe he has 
acted for the best, but if Clinton goes so rapidly he will 
be soon at Albany. Time will satisfy us better than all 
the conjectures ; few weeks will bring important events. 
As long as I will be in the way of hearing from the ann- 
ies, be sure, Sir, to receive all possible intelligence. 
Should Mr. Carroll leave the Congress to go to the As- 
sembly, I will try to make his absence in those quarters 
insensible to you ; you will have the news exactly. 

How happy I will esteem myself if I can convince you 
of the sentiments you have inspired to me. You don't 
like compliments, and for fear you should take for com- 
pliments the protestations of my sincere gratitude and 
profound respect, I must keep within myself all my feel- 
ings, but give me leave, Sir, to tell you in every occasion, 
that I will be truly happy if you remember me sometimes 
to your esteem. I am with a sincere respect, 

Sir, your most obedient humble servant 

Pliarne. 

P.S. — I have tried all possible to find a man to come 
with me to York, None is to be got. I take the liberty 
to bring your boy with me to M. Buckanan. I will send 
him to you the same day, and it will not be difference to 
you. Pardon this liberty. My respectful compliments 
to Mrs. Darnall and Mrs, Carroll. I kiss thousand times 
Moly, Charles and Nancy. 

In this world good and bad are so well mixed that a 
good thing is generally near a bad one. Fort Mont- 
gomery taken ; but Burgoyne is defeated. It is now 
Friday, 13 o'clock noon. I just arrived at Mrs. Buckanan. 
Between here and Baltimore I have met a man at horse- 



222 Charles Carroll of Carrolltoii. 

back. I have stopped him. Mrs. Carroll knows I stop 
everybody upon the road. He says to be himself express 
come to Congress from Albany. Burgoyne is totally 
defeated ; the engagement took place the 3d of the month 
and continued till the next day. Great many killed upon 
the enemy ; five, six hundred taken prisoners, 18 field 
pieces taken. This man adds great many principal 
officers of the enemy killed. But Burgoyne was safe 
in that affair. The loss of the Americans is not great ; 
Generals Arnold and Lincoln both wounded, not danger- 
ously. Ticonderoga was yet in the possession of Bur- 
goyne, the French lines only occupied by a party of 
Americans, but all the boats are destroyed_and Burgoyne 
cannot retreat. The express says for this time he must 
be himself and the trifling remains of his army, in the 
possession of Gates who is 16000 strong. If alt this is 
true, Genera! Washington will call soon that army under 
Gates, and when all the shipping at New York will be 
stopped by the frost, he will force that town and at once 
will take all the British troops there, Staten Island, Long 
Island and Philadelphia. Fine thing indeed, but it is 
not done yet. However, this man seems to be a true 
express, and I give credit to the news. 

Mr. and Mrs. Buckanan desire their compliments to 
you and all the family. Mrs. Buckanan who sends her 
love to Mrs, Carroll, give me commission here to tell her 
that the things are not ready. She will send them down 
when they will be made. Now M. Carroll must pardon 
me for having taken the liberty to take the boy with me 
here — so tine news from Burgoyne pleads in ray favor. 
Do be well and take care of your health. 

Charles Carroll Esq : 

at his Manor.' 
' MarfUnd Historical Society. 



Cabal to Displace Washington. 223 

DOOHORAGEN, lad October, 1777. 

Dear Sir : 

Yesterday we received the glorious news of the taking 
Burgoyne and his whole anny prisoners of war. 1 sin- 
cerely congratulate you oa this important event. I hope 
it will be followed by the defeat of Howe ; at least by a 
disgraceful and precipitate retreat from the City of 
Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, 

I write this letter to request the favor of you to obtain 
from the Board of War, two weavers from among the 
British prisoners. I would prefer British workmen on 
account of language and superior skill, to Hessians, but 
rather than not get weavers I must take Hessians, or else 
my poor slaves must go naked this winter. Mr. Attlee 
can inform you whether there are such workmen among 
the prisoners at Lancaster or Lebanon, for although the 
most of them have been removed, it is most probable 
some of them have remained behind. I must intreat 
you sir, to exert yourself in rendering me this essential 
piece of service. My father would pay them _^3 a month 
apiece. They will be well fed, and will live in a whole- 
some country, and so remote that they will not be able 
easily to make their escape, if they should attempt it. 

I hope General Washington will soon give us a fresh 
supply of prisoners, and from these perhaps you will be 
able to select the weavers, if not from those already in 
our possession. The weavers we want are such as have 
been used to weaving coarse linens and woolens, 

I beg my compliments to Mrs. Peters, and remain 
Dear Sir, your most humble Servant, 

Ch. Carroll of Carrollton. 

P.S. — Please to acknowledge the receipt of this letter, 
and let me know whether there is any prospect of obtain- 



224 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

ing soon the weavers. If they are to be had I will send 
for them ; one, if two cannot be had will be belter than 
none. Please to direct to me at Annapolis, as I shall be 
there in a few days attending our assembly. 
To Richard Peters Esq. 

Secretary to the Board of War 
At York, Pennsylvania.' 

During his service in Congress in the fall of 1777, 
Charles Carrol] of Carrollton had continued a mem- 
ber of the Board of War, to which body many im- 
portant letters and papers had been referred. And 
about this time is to be dated the beginning of the 
Conway Cabal, by which it was designed to force 
General Washington to resign the command of the 
army, his place to be taken by General Charles Lee 
or General Horatio Gates. The changes made in 
the organization of the Board of War in October 
and November, it is charged, were brought about 
with this end in view. General Conway, whose 
name has been given to the plot, had been much 
dissatisfied at the position assigned him, and had 
asserted a priority of rank in France over the Baron 
de Kalb, and he had written to Congress on the 
subject in September. On the 17th of October four 
members had been added to the Board of War ; and 
on the same day, it was resolved that a Board of 
War be established to consist of three persons not 
members of Congress, to sit whenever Congress met 
and submit their proceedings to its supervision. All 
the military officers of the United States were re- 
quired to observe the directions of the Board, and it 
' Archives, Pennsylvanii Historical Society. 



Letter of General Conway. 225 

was to have a general superintendence of all military 
operations. 

Francis Dana of Massachusetts and J. B, Smith of 
Pennsylvania were added to the Board on the 17th 
of November, and a day or two later General Thomas 
MifHin, who had just been reported by Washington 
for incompetency in the Quartermaster-General's 
office, notified to Congress his acceptance of an ap- 
pointment to the new Board of War. On the 27th 
of November, General Gates was made President of 
the Board. This was the situation in November, 
after Charles Carroll had returned to Maryland. 
General Conway wrote him a letter on the 14th of 
this month, detailing his grievances, which epistle 
was read in Congress on the 24th of November, as 
it was a part of the correspondence of the Board of 
War. A letter written two days later by Monsieur 
Pliarne to Charles Carroll, Sr., contains allusions 
showing how the forces were working towards the 
elevation of Conway and his friends. 

Camp at White Marsh, 
Uie 14th NovEmber, 1777. 
Sir: 

This day I have sent my resignation to Congress. 
Seven weeks ago several gentlemen wrote to me from 
the seat of Congress, mentioning the extraordinary dis- 
courses held by you Sir, by Mr. Lovell, Mr. Duer and 
some other members on account of my applying for the 
rank of major general. If I had hearkened to well 
grounded resentment, I should undoubtedly have left 
the army instantly. But my delicacy pointed out to me 
to continue in the army until the end of the campaign ; 



226 Charles Carroll of Carrolltan. 

this I have done. I look upon the campaign as finished, 
for I am pretty clear that since the enemy is reinforced^ 
and has had time to secure his front with a double line 
of fortifications, nothing can be attempted with any de- 
gree of safety, propriety, or appearance of success. Now 
Sir, I will undertake to show that my request of being 
made a major general had nothing in it so unreasonable 
as to cause your astonishment, and the most disobliging 
reflections, thrown by you Sir, and other members of 
Congress. 

Of all the French officers who came to this continent, 
I am the most advanced in rank, and the only field offi- 
cer bearing rank in actual service. Chevalier de Barr^ 
was a lieutenant colonel in 1757 ; he was thanked in 
1 76 1 ; if he had continued in service he would be now a 
major general in the French army, and mentioned in 
the Military Kalendar, which is printed every year, and 
wherein every officer bearing rank, from the Marechal of 
France to the last sub lieutenant, is carefully mentioned. 
Baron de Kalb got a commission of lieutenant colonel, 
and left the army in 1762. If he had been continued in 
service and had bore a rank in our army, he would be in 
the centre of our brigadiers, but I am very certain that 
you *11 find neither of these gentlemen in the Kalendar, 
because they have no rank in the army, and indeed did 
not interfere with it these sixteen or seventeen years 
passed. 

I am told that Baron de Kalb has a brevet of brigadier 
from the Minister of the Navy, such as was obtained by 
Mr. Ducoudray and some of his officers. Whether he 
has or not, I am still certain that this brevet cannot give 
him the rank over me in the French army, because there 
has never been an instance of it in our service. I always 
appeal to the Military French Kalendar, which is the 



His Grievances Detailed. 227 

true standaid of rank. It was in order to guard against 
those sham brevets, for which I understood that some 
people were applying, that I made with Mr. Deane the 
only condition which is to be found in my agreement. 
The condition was that no officer who had not an equal 
rank with me in actual service, should be put over nie. 
Mr. Deane promised it to me, and told me, in taking me 
by the hand, that I was the only gentleman who had not 
taken advantage of his present situation. 

He directed me to encourage and bring over some 
officers of the Irish Brigades. I got one hundred and 
sixty guineas for that purpose, I gave eighty-four guin- 
eas to two officers who came over with me, and whose 
receipts I can produce. Seventy-six guineas I sent to 
four officers of the Irish Brigade who were prevented 
from embarking on account of the noise made about the 
Amphiirite. 1 charged nothing for myself although my 
expcnces to come to this country amounted to above one 
hundred and twenty guineas ; although I am now in the 
case of selling my effects in order to reach some seaport. 
But I will not dwell upon the article of cash. After Mr. 
Ducoudray had left me in Port I.orient last January, I 
got charge of the Amphitrite, and of the letters for Con- 
gress, which letters I delivered to Col. Langdon upon 
my landing at Portsmouth. The captain of the Amphi- 
trite had positive orders to sail for St. Domingo, and the 
Commissary of the Navy Board at Port Lorient had 
made him sign a formal promise not to come to this 
continent. He was determined to follow his orders ; in 
order to make him alter his detennination, I gave him 
a certificate by which 1 acknowledged that by violence I 
compelled him to infringe the King's positive orders, and 
steer for this continent. The captain is now in posses- 
sion of the certificate. If France does not take an active 



228 Char Us Carroll of Carrollton. 

part- or a public one in the present contest, the captain 
of the Amphitritej which ship has caused such loud com- 
plaints from Lord Stormont, will be brought to an ac- 
count for disobedience ; he will have my certificate to 
produce ; I may fall a sacrifice to policy, lose my rank, 
and the prospect of speedy promotion in France, and the 
fruits of thirty years constant service. 

At my arrival here M. De Barre, my inferior in rank, 
who got six thousand livres in France, was made a brig- 
adier, and paid as such from the month of December, 
when I was appointed the last brigadier of the army. 
After the battle of Brandywine, Baron de Kalb, also my 
inferior, who got about a thousand pounds here or in 
France, was made a major general. If I patiently bore 
such repeated wrongs, it might be concluded in France 
that I misbehaved ; and indeed the Congress instead of 
looking upon me as an officer who enjoyed some esteem 
and reputation in the French infantry, must take me for 
a vagabond who flew here to get bread. I thank God 
that neither one nor the other is the case. I came over 
here because I liked the cause and like it still ; because 
I was often and warmly invited by Mr. Deane. My 
candid way of acting with him will testify it. As to my 
behaviour I appeal to the army. 

The French gentlemen told me, Sir, that you asked in 
a most despising manner what I had done. Indeed I 
must confess that I did not do all that I wish to have 
done, but I hope I have done as much as was left in my 
power. As I am not acquainted with your gazette writ- 
ers, I must tell you that upon my arrival in camp I was 
night and day employed in writing instructions concern- 
ing the camp, the outguards, the orders of marches, of 
which I found not the least notion in this army. Part 
of those instructions was followed, the greatest part was 
not ; this is not my fault. I wrote several plans about 



yealous of Baron de Kalb. 229 

the economical administration of this army where I saw 
many striking abuses. I am confident that this army is 
sufficient [if] not to ruin, at least to distress the conti- 
nent, whereas it could be kept upon a flourishing footing 
in saving one-third part of the money spent upon it. As 
[it] seems I have not heen understood, at least I saw no 
alteration for the belter. 

At the Short Hills I was first ready, and first attacked, 
drew up in battle, stopped the enemy, and made my re- 
treat without running, and without losing a single pris- 
oner. The other brigade has been attacked an hour 
after mine, and I think I had given it full time to make 
a retreat. At Brandywine my brigade remained the last 
upon the ground, and though I had been abandoned 
pretty early by the brigades of the right and left, my 
brigade continued fighting until it was flanked on both 
sides by the enemy. That same brigade was the first or 
rather the only brigade that rallied to oppose the ene- 
my's pursuit, when for want of ammunition it was ordered 
to be relieved at the close of the evening by a French 
brigade which had not yet been engaged. At German- 
town, with little belter than four hundred men, I began 
the attack, and was fighting three quarters of an hour 
before any individual came to support me. 

You asked upon what grounds I could call for the rank 
of major general. Because I can be more useful at the head 
of a division than at the head of a small brigade. Because 
in my young days I had a larger command before the 
enemy than what I have had in your army. Because be- 
ing those twenty years constantly studying military oper- 
ations, having travelled through Europe to take a view 
of the different armies, having been lately employed in 
making out a set of field manceuvres, having practiced 
and tried said manceuvres last year in the presence of 
several experienced generals, both German and French, 



230 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

I thought myself more qualified to command a division 
than such major generals who had never seen a line of 
battle as they confess themselves, before Brandywine, 
and as it too well appeared. 

It was for want of knowledge and practise in forming 
the lines that Brandywine was partly lost. I can assign 
many other reasons for the loss of that battle. It was 
for want of forming the line and of manoeuvering that 
we miscarried at Germantown, our left wing composed 
of the largest part of our army, having lost near an hour 
in an useless countermarch, as it appears by the several 
testimonies given at a court martial now sitting, of which 
I am a member. I am far from thinking myself a gen- 
eral, but I believe that after having studied and practiced 
this trade steadily during almost all my life, I may ven- 
ture to say that I know somewhat more of it than the 
brave, honest men who never made it their business. I have 
much regard for Baron de Kalb and think that the con- 
tinent has made in him the acquisition of a good officer, 
but I can venture to say that I have gone through and 
seen at least as much service as he did. 

This letter, sir, if you have patience enough to read it, 
will convince you that my request of being made a major 
general was not altogether as impertinent as you, sir, and 
other gentlemen have styled it. I was much surprised at 
the reflections which you made upon the subject, as I am 
conscious that I have done nothing in my life that could 
make me contemptible in the eyes of any honest man. I 
suppose that your strange opinion of me originates from 
the misfortune I have of not being better known to you. 
However I shall always cherish the cause I fought for, 
and shall be very happy to hear of its success. 

I am, with much regard. Sir, 

Your obedient, humble servant 

T. Conway. 



Maryland Senate in Session. 231 

[Endorsed] Letter from T. Conway to Charles Car- 
roll Esq. : , or in his absence to Secretary of Congress, 
Nov. 14th, read 24th Nov. 1777. General Conway to be 
requested to attend the Board.' 

VoRKTOWN, November 36lb, 1777. 
Dear Sir : 

I had the pleasure to write to you yesterday that Com- 
wallis was gone to attack Red Bank. Just this moment 
we learn that the fort was evacuated last Friday. This 
intelligence comes by officers who have left the army few 
days ago, and nobody doubts it. The gallies are gone 
up to Burlington, so the river is entirely in the power of 
Howes. 

I have just seen a French officer who left the army last 
week. He says confusion and bad discipline prevailed 
too much to expect anything good, and in every case it 
is almost impossible to attack Howe in Philadelphia, 
though everybody cries against poor General Wash- 
ington. 

Conway is at Reading and has left the army, but the 
Congress conscious of their love in so able man intend 
to offer him the [word illegible] employment of Adjutant 
General, and I think he will receive it. With him, and 
the Board of War filled by Gates, Mifflin and some other 
experienced officer, the army will be this winter altered 
for the best. Some reinforcements from the Northern 
army are with General Washington. I have an oppor- 
tunity to send down to Baltimore this piece of intelli- 
gence by a gendeman who sets off in two minutes, and 
leaves only the time to assure you that I am for life, with 
a sincere respect, 

Dear Sir, your most obedient servant, 

Fliarne. 
' MSS :, Deputment of State. 



232 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

P. S. — My best respects to Mrs.'Darnall,.to whom I 
beg Mr. Carroll to deliver the message to. My compli- 
ments to Captain Ireland. The Congress has received 
intelligence that last week the English made a sortie 
from Philadelphia and burnt all the houses upon the 
Germantown road, about Mr. Dickinson's seat, which 
has the same fate. They were the finest country-houses 
in that part. 
To Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Senior, Esq. 
At Elkridge, 

To the care of Miss Godard, 
At the Post Office, Baltimore.* 

The Maryland Assembly met on Wednesday, 
October 22d, 1777, but it was not until the 31st 
that Charles Carroll of Carrollton took his seat in 
the Senate. Charles Carroll, barrister, arrived still 
later, on November 7th. The act to procure cloth- 
ing for Maryland's quota in the Continental army 
passed the Senate on the 24th of November, and 
was probably drafted by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 
who carried it to the House on this day. Daniel 
Carroll of Rock Creek was elected to the Council at 
this time, making three of the name in the Maryland 
government. 

A commission was proposed at this session, to set- 
tle with Virginia the disputed questions of the juris- 
diction and free navigation of the rivers Potomac 
and Pocomoke, and the Chesapeake Bay. The 
" Articles of Confederation and Union between the 
United States," were received from Congress, with 
resolutions of that body for raising a sum of money 

* Maryland Historical Society. 



Questions of yurisdicHon. 233 

by taxation for supplying the army with clothing; 
for regulating the prices of commodities throughout 
the United States ; and for the confiscation and sale 
of forfeited estates,' These papers were all taken 
to the House of Delegates by Charles Carroll of Car- 
rollton. The members of Congress were elected on 
the 5th of December. These were Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, George Plater, Charles Carroll of Car- 
rollton, Thomas Stone, and Joseph Nicholson. 

Amendments to an " act for the better security of 
the government," requiring Quakers and others to 
take the oath of allegiance, or forfeit a part of their 
property, were defeated in the Senate a few days 
later, Charles Carroll of CarroUton, George Plater, 
William Paca, and Turbutt Wright voting for their 
passage. 

On the i6th of December a message was received 
from the House relative to the recommendation of 
Congress that Commissioners from Virginia, Maty- 
land, and North Carolina should meet at Fredericks- 
bui^ on the 1 5th of the following month, to regulate 
and ascertain the price of labor, manufactures, inter- 
nal produce, and commodities imported from abroad. 
Other business in which Charles Carroll of CarroUton 
is seen to have been prominent, occupied the Senate 
up to the 19th, when the subject of appointing the 
Commissioners to meet those of Virginia, to settle 
the jurisdiction of the rivers and bay dividing the 
two States, was taken up. Charles Carroll of Car- 
roUton, Thomas Stone, and Brice Thomas Beale 
Worthington were nominated a committee by the 
I Journal of the Maryland Senate. 



234 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Senate to unite with one from the House to draw 
up instructions for the guidance of the Maryland 
Commissioners. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer was 
afterwards substituted for Brice Thomas Beale 
Worthington. And on the 21st, Jenifer, Stone, and 
Chase were elected Commissioners. It was resolved 
" that they will meet the Commissioners of Virginia 
at Alexandria, on Monday, 2nd of February next 
or at any other time or place more convenient to 
the Virginia Commissioners." ' Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton carried these resolutions to the House, 
and on the 22d, the day before the Assembly ad- 
journed, he brought in the report of the committee 
to prepare instructions for the Commissioners. They 
consisted of a preamble and three " particulars.'* 

" First, that Virginia should relinquish the claim to im- 
pose tolls on vessels sailing through the capes of Chesa- 
peake Bay, either to or from Maryland ; Second, that 
the Commissioners should endeavor to settle the juris- 
diction over that part of the Bay lying within the limits 
of Virginia ; that crimes committed there against sub- 
jects of Maryland, either by Marylanders or any other 
persons not subjects of Virginia, should be tried in the 
courts of Maryland. And thirdly, that the use and navi- 
gation of the two rivers dividing Maryland and Virginia 
should be free to the subjects of both States, as well as 
to all other persons trading to either State, each State 
having the right of imposing tolls, duties or customs on 
vessels coming into its respective ports on these rivers." ■ 

On the 22d of December also, the delegation to 
Congress was altered by the substitution of James 

' IHd. « IHd. 



Three Months at Valley Forge. 235 

Forbes and John Henry for William Pacaand Joseph 
Nicholson who had declined the election. 

Charles Carroll made his appearance in Congress, 
January 17th, 1778, accompanied by James Forbes, 
the earliest of the Maryland delegation to take their 
seats at this session. John Henry arrived January 
20th, and on that day Congress resolved that two 
members be added to the committee appointed, by 
a resolution of the loth of January, to repair to 
camp and inquire into the state of the troops. The 
two gentlemen added to the committee were Charles 
Carroll of CarroUton and Gouverneur Morris. The 
three original members of the committee were 
Francis Dana, Joseph Reed, and Nathaniel Folsom. 
Congress had decided " that it was essential to the 
promotion of good discipline and economy in the 
army of these States, that speedy and effectual means 
be taken for reducing the number of regiments in 
Continental service and reforming abuses which 
have long prevailed in different departments of the 
army." ' To this end the three members of Congress, 
with three members of the Board of War, were made 
a committee, to attend at General Washington's 
headquarters, and in concert with him, form and exe- 
cute a plan for the purpose above stated. Charles 
Carroll of CarroUton remained nearly three months 
at Valley Forge, on this business. Washington pre- 
pared a memoir of fifty folio pages in the form of a 
letter to the committee, containing his views and 
those of his officers, and this paper was used by these 
gentlemen and became the basis of their report.* 

I Jouma] of Congress, Janaary lotb. 1778. 

• Ford's " Writings of Washington," vol. vi,, p. 300, 



236 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

We find Charles Carroll again in his seat, April 
13th, and Gen. Charles Lee, in writing to the Presi- 
dent of Congress about his exchange, April 17, 1778, 
asks him " to put the affair into the hands of some 
of my particular friends, Mr. Lee, Mr. Carroll or Mr. 
Chase.'* * These gentleman, Richard Henry Lee, 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and Samuel Chase were, 
of course, wholly ignorant, as were most of General 
Lee's contemporaries, of the real character of the 
false-hearted Englishman who thus claimed them as 
his " particular friends.** It was at Valley Forge in 
the early part of January, before Charles Carroll 
arrived there, that Generals Gates, Charles Lee, and 
Conway first met to mature their plans for displac- 
ing Washington. But imprudent words used by an 
aid-de-camp of Gates, and reported by a friend of 
Washington to his chief, with a letter of Conway to 
Gates which fell into Washington*s hands, disclosed 
the plot in time to render it abortive. 

Of the Cabal, as far as it affected the members of 
Congress, we have no certain information. A recent 
Maryland historian writes: "The movement was 
headed by the Lees and Adamses; but it was re- 
sisted and ultimately defeated by Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton, Morris and Duer.**' Great injustice is 
here done to the Lees of Virginia, whatever may be 
said of the Adamses. Richard Henry Lee denied 
any knowledge of the existence of such a design 
among the members of Congress, as did Benjamin 
Harrison and others. Certainly, if such a faction 

* The Lee Papers, vol. ii., p. 390. New York Historical Society 
Collections . 
' Scharf's ** History of Maryland," vol. ii., p. 342. 



A Tory Insurrection. 237 

existed, the Virginians were no parties to it. With- 
out doubt, Charles Carroll of Carrollton was a firm 
friend always of the Commander-in-chief, admiring 
his abilities and integrity, and fully believing in his 
fitness for his high position. And it may be safely 
assumed that he used his influence to support Gen- 
eral Washington against those who antagonized 
him, whether in camp or in Congress. 

The following letters were written by Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton to Governor Johnston in April 
and May, 1778, and give an insight into the opera- 
tions of Congress at this time, with other items of 
public interest. 

York, aist April, 1778. 
Dear Sir : 

By a letter from General Smallwood of the lylh instant 
from Wilmington, we are informed of an insurrection of 
the Tories, at a place called Jordan's Uland, ten miles 
from Dover. Smallwood apprehends this insurrection 
may become very serious unless speedily suppressed. 
This letter is referred to a committee of which I am one. 
We shall report that you be requested to call out 300 
of the militia from the adjacent counties of Maryland 
and put them under a spirited and active officer who will 
receive his instructions from a committee of Congress. I 
beg your attention to this business. Smallwood writes 
that we have considerable stores at Charles Town, which 
he fears may be taken or destroyed by these insurgents. 
If we have any considerable stores at Charles Town, or 
at any other place near the Bay, they run an equal or 
greater danger of being destroyed by parties from the 
enemy's shipping. You cannot take too much precaution 
to secure these or any other stores that may be near the 
water. 



238 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Mr. Henry has sent you a copy of draughts of two 
bills, which as they are of a most insiduous tendency, I 
make no doubt have long since been passed into Acts of 
Parliament. I wish you would employ some ingenious 
writer to combat and expose the perfidiousness of our 
enemies ; they stop at nothing, the whole British nation 
seems rising against us. They will unite art and force to 
conquer us. I am persuaded they will send over during 
the course of the summer and fall, at least 14,000 men, 
principally British. Is it not strange that the lust of 
domination should force the British nation to greater ex- 
ertions, than the desire of liberty can produce among us ? 

By the Mercury packet in seven weeks and three days 
from Falmouth, we hear that all hopes of an amicable 
settlement between the Turks and Russians were at an 
end. By a courier who arrived at Warsaw the middle of 
December, there was reason to believe hostilities had 
then, or were on the point of being commenced. The 
Elector of Bavaria is dead ; his death may possibly in- 
volve Germany in a war. 

If our people would but exert themselves this campaign, 
we might secure our liberties forever. General Washing- 
ton is weak ; reinforcements come in slow. Try for 
God's sake and the sake of human nature, to rouse our 
countrymen from their lethargy. Gates will command 
a body of men in the Highlands on Hudson's River, for 
the security of its navigation. The Congress do worse 
than ever ; we murder time and chat it away in idle, im- 
pertinent talk. However, I hope the urgency of affairs 
will teach even that body a little discretion. 

I wish you heallh and happiness, and am with great 
regard. Dear Sir, your most humble servant, 

Ch. Carroll of Carrollton.' 
' Muyltnd Hifltoricil Sodety. 



Lord North's Speech. 239 

April 23d, 1778. 
Dear Sir : 

By this opportunity yoji will receive draughts of two 
bills and Lord North's speech ushering them into the 
House of Commons. I have little doubt myseU but that 
these bills have long since been clothed with all the for- 
malities of law. If Lord North's speech is genuine (and 
I think we have no reason to suspect it to be otherwise) 
we may fairly conclude that the Administration begin 
to see the impractibility of reducing these States, or of 
retaining them, when reduced, in such a state of subor- 
dination as to be useful to Great Britain. The heavy 
and increasing expence of the war, a jealousy of France 
and Spain, perhaps the appearance of an approaching 
rupture in Germany about to be occasioned by the death 
of the Elector of Bavaria, the actual commencement of 
hostihiies between Russia and the Porte, have forced the 
British Ministry on this measure. However I am satis- 
fied they will try the arts of negotiation first, in order to 
divide us, if possible, and will hazard another campaign, 
before they acknowledge the independence of these 
States. 

To withstand their hostile efforts this campaign, which 
I am convinced will be vigorous, and to counteract their 
insiduous proffers of reconciliation, it will be absolutely 
necessary to have a very respectable force in the field this 
year, and if a right and dexterous use is made of the 
Minister's speech, it will probably much promote the re- 
cruiting service among us. In a word if we guard against 
their insiduous offers on the one hand, and can resist 
their warlike efforts on the other during the ensuing cam- 
paign, I have not the least doubt but that they will ac- 
knowledge our independency next winter, or spring, 
particularly if no alliance between these States or any 
other European power be concluded on in the interim. 



240 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

The Raleigh continental frigate is arrived at Porls- 
mouth in thirty-two days from France ; the Alfred which 
sailed with her is taken. We have not yet received by 
this opportunity any dispatches from our Commissioners 
at Paris, though I do not yet despair of receiving them, 
as the express may be on the road. The Congress has 
passed some observations on the two draughted bills, to 
counteract their obvious design, or at least the possible 
bad effects they might produce in the minds of the people, 
if published without such strictures. These observations 
will be printed to-day ; they will be immediately dis- 
tributed throughout the United States. I fear they are 
not so perfect as they ought to be, but the hurry of busi- 
ness, and the want of time must, and will, no doubt, 
sufficiently apologize with an impartial public, for all 
their imperfections. I am with real regard, dear Sir, 
Your most humble Servant, 

Ch Carroll of Carrollton.' 

Monday, 27th April, 177S. 
Dear Sir : 

We have your letter and have written this day to Mr. 
Morris for the articles therein mentioned. Our letter is 
gone by an express which the president had occasion to 
send in order to return the original of the enclosed copy 
of a letter from Gov. Johnstone to Mr. Morris. Your ap- 
plication to Congress for $100,000 shall be laid before 
Congress to-morrow. We will write you the result by the 
first opportunity. Gen. Amherst, Gen. Murray and 
Admiral Keppel are the commissioners coming out under 
the Act of Parliament for offering terms of peace and 

' Jbid. The original was sent lo Jated Sparks lo be used " in « 
volame of Fac Sitnilies nhich tbe said Sparki designs to publish 
of Letters of diitinpdshed Revolationaiy chaMcters." 



Ihe Treaty with France. 241 

reconciliation. Gen. Howe is recalled and Sir Henry 
Clinton is to succeed him, but I apprehend only till Genl. 
Amherst's arrival. I think as he is one of the Commis- 
sioners, he will have the supreme command of the army. 

I think we may fairly conclude from Gov. Johnstone's 
letter and from the articles in the newspapers which you 
have seen, that some treaty or the preliminaries of a 
treaty, have been entered into between France and our 
commissioners. We have had no letters from them since 
last May ; several, no doubt, have been intercepted. 
The Administration getting wind of this treaty, have 
been induced thereby to offer terms to this country ; 
but no terms short of independence are, in my opinion, 
admissible without the utmost danger and disadvantage 
to these States. 

I am with great esteem, dear Sir, 
Yours etc., 

Ch. Carroll op Carrollton. 

N. B. Do not print Gov. Johnstone's letter, as it is a 
private letter. Genl. Lee is exchanged for Genl. Prescot.' 

177S, iithMky. 
Dear Sir : 

Mr. Brown of Annapolis has applied to me to intercede 
with you or some gentlemen of the Council, to grant him 
leave to go to Philadelphia, from which place he may 
embark for England. I would not endeavour to per- 
suade or influence you or any man to do what I would 
not do in a similar situation. I think Mr. Brown's re- 
quest highly reasonable ; from indulging it no possible 
inconvenience can result to the public. If it should be 
thought necessary Mr. Brown may be put on oath not to 
divulge to the enemy anything of importance that may 
^ Ibid. 



242 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

come to his knowledge respecting our situation or prep- 
arations. It seems to be very hard to detain a man in a 
place in which he is cut off from all intercourse with his 
friends and connections and even from the means of sub- 
sisting. If this matter should appear to you in the same 
light it strikes me, neither you or the Council will make 
the least difficulty in granting Mr. Brown his request. 

Yesterday Mr. Henry sent to Mr. William Lux by one 
David Poe, thirty six thousand dollars, part of the one 
hundred thousand obtained lately from Congress. Mr. 
Henry wrote by the same opportunity to Mr. Lux desir- 
ing him to forward the money on to you as soon as 
possible. 

I sincerely rejoice with you on the treaty entered into 
with France, and on the favorable dispositions of the 
most considerable European States. For news I refer 
you to my letter to Mr. Chase, which I shall write to- 
morrow morning, as I understand an express from our 
General is on his way to Congress. 

I am with great regard and esteem, dear sir. 
Your most humble servant, 

Ch. Carroll of Carrollton.* 

^ Ibid, 



«><^<^©?5li 




APPENDIX A. 

LETTERS OF THE " FIRST CITIZEN" 

FROM 

THE Maryland Gaxette 

OF 

I. February 4TH, 1773. 
». March iith, 1773, 

3. Mav 6th, 1773. 

4. July ist, 1773. 



APPENDIX B. 

JOURNAL OF CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON. 

1776. 



^H ^^■B^^BS 




LETTER I. 

February. 41b, 1773. 
Tie FirsI Citizen to the Editor of the Dialogue between Two 
Citizens : 

Sir, the intention of this address is not to intice you to 
throw off a fictitious and to assume a real character, for 
I am not one of those who have puzzled themselves with 
endless conjectures about your mysterious personage ; a 
secret too deep for me to pry into, and if known, not of 
much moment ; of as little is it in my opinion whether 
your complexion be olive or fair, your eyes black or gray, 
your person strait or incurvated, your deportment easy 
and natural, insolent or affected. You have, therefore, my 
consent to remain concealed under a borrowed name, as 
long as you may think proper. I see no great detriment 
that will thereby accrue to the publick ; you will be the 
greatest, nay, the only sufferer ; your fellow citizens, igno- 
rant to whom they stand indebted for such excellent 
lucubrations, will not know at what shrine to offer up 
their incense, and tribute of praise ; to you this sacriiice 
of glory will be less painful, as you are not actuated by 
vanity or a lust for fame, and in obscurity you will have 
this consolation still left, the enjoyment of conscious 
merit, and of self -applause. Modest men of real worth 
are subject to a certain diffidence, called by the French 
la tnauvaise honte,' which frequently prevents their rising 
' An awkward bashfulnesa. 



246 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

in the world ; you are not likely, I must own, to be guilty 
of that fault ; invitium duett culpa fuga^ ; you seem rather 
to have fallen into the other extreme, and to be fully 
sensible of the wisdom of the French maxim, il faul st 
/aire valoir'' which for the benefit of my English readers I 
will venture to translate thus, " a man ought to set a high 
value on his own talents." This saying is somewhat analo- 
gous to that of Horace : Sume superbiam quasitam merilis* 
As your manner of writing discovers a vast erudition, and 
extensive reading, I make no doubt you are thoroughly 
acquainted with the Latin and French languages, and 
therefore a citation or two from each may not be unpala- 
table. Having paid these compliments to your literary 
merit, I wish it were in my power to say as much in favor 
of your candour and sincerity. The editor of the dia- 
logue between the two Citizens it seems, is the same 
person, who vi<er heard and committed to writing the con- 
versation. I was willing to suppose the editor had his 
relation at second hand, for I could not otherwise account 
for the lame, mutilated and imperfect part of the conver- 
sation attributed to me, without ascribing the publication 
to downright malice, and wilful misrepresentation. Where 
I can, I am always willing to give the mildest construc- 
tion to a dubious action. The editor has now put il out 
of my power of judging thus favorably of him, and as I 
have not the least room to trust to his impartiality a 
second time, I find myself under the necessity of making 
a direct application to the press, to vindicate my intellec- 

' Hor., "A. P.," 31 (In vitium duiit culfafu^ ri caret arUj. 
The avoiding one fault is apt to lead into another. 

' In the text these words have received a liberal interpretation ; 
they mean strictly that a person should assume a. proper consequence. 

* Hor., " C," iii., 30, 14, May be translated — Assume a pride 
to merit justly due. 



Appendix A. 247 

tual faculties, which no doubt have suffered much in the 
opinion of the publick (notwithstanding its great good 
nature) from the publication of the above mentioned 
dialogue. 

The sentiments of the First Citizen are so miserably 
mangled and disfigured, that he scarce can trace the 
smallest likeness between tho&e which really fell from 
him in the course of that conversation, and what have 
been put into his mouth. 

The First Citizen has not the vanity to ihink his thoughts 
communicated to a fellow citizen in private of sufficient 
importance to be made publick, nor would he have had 
the presumption to trouble that awful tribunal with his 
crude and indigested notions of politics, had they not 
already been thus egregiously misrepresented in print. 
Whether they appear to more advantage in their present 
dress, others must determine ; the newness of the fashion 
gives thera a quite different air and appearance ; let the 
decision be what it wilt, since much depends on the man- 
ner of relating facts, the First Citizen thinks he ought to 
be permitted to relate them his own way, 

1st Citizen : I am sorry that party attachments and 
connexions have induced you to abandon old principles ; 
there was a time, Sir, when you had not so favorable ar 
opinion of the integrity and good intentions of Govern- 
ment as you now seem to have. Your conduct on this 
occasion makes me suspect that formerly some men, not 
measures, were disagreeable to you. Have we reason to 
place a greater confidence in our present rulers, than in 
those to whom I allude ? Some of the present set (it is 
true) were then in power, others indeed were not yet pro- 
vided for, and therefore a push was to be made to thrust 
them into office, that all power might centre in one family. 
Is all your patriotism come to this ? 



248 Charles Carroll of Carrdlion. 

and Cilism : I do not like such home expostulations, 
convince me that I act wrong in supporting Government 
and I will alter tny conduct, no man is more open to 
conviction than myself — (Vide Dialogue to the words — 
" Would be all fair argument.") ' 

1st Citizen : I am not surprised that the threadbare 
topics of arbitrary princes, and proclamations, should 
give you uneasiness. You have insinuated that the repe- 
tition of them is tiresome, but I suspect the true cause of 
your aversion proceeds from another quarter. You are 
afraid of a comparison between the present ministers of 
this province, and those who influenced Charles the First, 
and brought him to the bloclc ; the resemblance, I assure 
you, would be striking. You insinuate that " The opinions 
of the greater Council in England" are come to hand, in 
favour of the Proclamation, and 40 per poll, and you 
seem to lay great stress on those opinions. A little re- 
flection and acquaintance with history will teach you, 
that the opinions of Court Lawyers are not always to be 
relied on ; remember the issue of Hambden's trial, " The 
f rejttdiced or prostituted judges (/our excepted)^' ^aysmnrntf 
"gave senteiue in favour of the Croion." The opinion 
even of a Camden, will have no weight with me, should 
it contradict a settled point of constitutional doctrine. 
On this occasion I cannot forbear citing a sentence or 
two from the justly admired author of the " Considera- 
tions," which have made a deep impression on my mem- 
ory. "In a question [says that writer] of public 
concernment, the opinion of no Court Lawyer, however re- 
spectable for his candour and abilities, ought to weigh more 
than the reasons adduced in support of it. He then gives 
his reasons for this assertion ; to avoid prolixity I must 

' The refereDce here h to the " DUIc^e belwecD Two Citizens," 
or the first paper of Daniel DuUny's, Maryland Gatelle, Janoaiy jlh. 



Appendix A, 249 

refer you to the pamphlet ; if I am not mistaken you 
will find them in page 12. Speaking shortly after of the 
opinions of Court Lawyers upon American affairs, he 
makes this pertinent remark. " They [Court Lawyers' 
opinions] have been all strongly marked with the same char- 
acter ; they have been generally very sententious, and the 
same observation may be applied to them all, fh^ have de- 
clared THAT lo be LEGAL which the minister for the 
time being has deemed to be EXPEDIENT." Will you 
admit this lo be fair argument? 

2nd Citizen : I confess it carries some weight with it ; 
I cannot with propriety dispute the authority on which it 
is founded ; make, therefore, the most of my concession. 
Should I admit your reasoning on this head to be just, 
does it follow that the Court and Country interests are 
incompatible, that Government and Liberty are irrecon- 
cilable ? Is every man, who thinks differently from you 
on publick measures, influenced or corrupted? 

1st Citizen : " God forbid it should be the case of every 
individual." I have already hinted at the cause of your 
attachment to Government ; it proceeds, I fear, more 
from personal considerations than from a persuasion of 
the rectitude of our Court measures ; but I would not 
have you confound Government with the ofiBcers of Gov- 
ernment ; they are things really distinct, and yet in your 
idea, they seem to be one and the same. 

Government was instituted for the general good, but 
officers intrusted with its powers have most commonly 
perverted them to the selHsh views of avarice and ambi- 
tion ; hence the Country and Court interests, which 
ought to be the same, have been too often opposite, as 
must be acknowledged and lamented by every true friend 
to liberty. You ask me are Government and Liberty 
incompatible } Your question arises from an abuse of 



250 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

words, and coofusion of ideas ; I answer that so far from 
being incompatible, I think they cannot subsist indepen* 
dent of each other. A few great and good princes have 
found the means of reconciling them even in despotic 
States ; Tacitus says of Nerva : " Res olim dtsiociabiles 
misaiit principatum ac UbertaUm'' ' A wicked minister 
has endeavoured, and is now endevouring in this free 
government, to set the power of the supreme magistrate 
above the laws ; in our mother country, such ministers 
have been punished for the attempt with infamy, death, 
or exile. I am surprised, that he who imitates their ex- 
ample, should not dread tkeir fate. 

2nd Citizen : This is not coming to the point, you talk 
at random of dangers threatening liberty, and of infringe- 
ments of the Constitution, which exist only in your imag- 
ination. Prove, I say, our ministers to have advised 
unconstitutional measures, and I am ready to abandon 
them and their cause ; but upon your ipse dixit, I shall 
not admit those measures to be unconstitutional, which 
you are pleased to call so, nor can I allow all these to be 
Court hirelings, whom you think proper to stigmatize 
with that opprobrious appellation, and for no other rea- 
son but that they dare exercise their (ja»« Judgment in op- 
position to yours. (Read the 2d Citizen's harangue from 
the last vojAi— opposition to yours — to the following in- 
clusively — sweat of his brow.)* 

1st Citiien : What a flow of words I how pregnant 
with thought and deep reasoning ! If you expect an an- 

' Tacitus, " Agricola," ch. 3 {quamguam . . . Nerva Cicsar 
rei oUm JitsociaiiUs miicturit, prinHpalum ac tihtrtalini). 

Thus translated b; Gordon ; Nervs blended together two things 
once found iireconciUblc — Publick Libcrti^ and sovereign Power. 

' " Dialogue between Two Citiiens," Maryland Gatelle, Jannary 



Appendix A. 251 

swer to all the points on which you have spoken, you 
must excuse ray prolixity, and impute it to the variety of 
matter laid before me. I shall endeavour to be concise, 
and if possible avoid obscurity. You say, / know not 
what or wheat I mean fy wf, and the friends 0/ the Consti- 
tution ; I will tell you, Sir, whom I do not mean, from 
whence you may guess at those whom I do. By friends 
of the Constitution I mean, not those, whose seliish at- 
tachment to iheir interest has deprived the publick of a 
most beneficial law, from the want of which, by your own 
account, "our staple is fallen into disgrace in foreign mar- 
kets, and every man's property in a degree decreasing and 
mouldering away." I mean not, those few, out of tender- 
ness and regard to whom, the general welfare of this 
province has been sacrificed ; to preserve whose 
salaries from diminution, the fortunes of all their 
countrymen have been suffered to be impaired ; I 
mean not those, who advised a. measure which cost the 
first Charles his crown and life ; and who have dared to 
defend it upon principles more unjustifiable and injurious 
than those, under which it was at first pretendedly palli- 
ated. You see, Sir, I adopt the maxim of the British 
Constitution, The King can do no wrong ; I impute all 
the blame to his ministers, who if found guilty and dragged 
to light, I hope will be made to feel the resentment of a 
free people. But it seems, from your suggestion, that 
we are to place an unlimited trust in the men, whom I 
have pretty plainly pointed out, because they are men of 
great wealth, and have " as deep a stake in the safety of the 
Constitution as any of us." Property even in private life, 
is not always a security against dishonesty ; in publick, it 
is much less so. The ministers, who have made the 
boldest attacks on liberty, have been most of them, men 
of affluence ; from whence I infer, that riches, so far 



252 Charles Carroll of CarroUion. 

from iDsurin); a minister's honesty, ought rather to make 
tis more watchful of his conduct. 

You go on with this aigumeot, and urge me thus, 
" Do I conceive that such men can possibly be hired unless 
they be overtaken by infatuation, to engage to pull dtnvn a 
fair and stately edifice, with the ruins of -which, as soon as 
it is levelled to the ground, they and their families are to be 
stoned to death'' I have read of numberless instances 
of such infatuation ; there are now litdng examples of it ; 
the history of mankind is full of them ; men in the 
gratification of sensual appetites, are apt to overlook 
their future consequences ; thus for the present enjoy- 
ment of wealth and power, liberty in reversion will be 
easily given up ; besides, a perpetuity in ofGce may be 
aimed at ; hopes may be entertained that the good thing, 
like a precious jewel will be handed down from father 
to son. I have known men, of such meanness, and of 
such insolence (qualities often met with in the same per- 
son) who exclusive of the above motives, would wish to 
be the first slave of a sultan, to lord it over all the rest ; 
power, sir, power is apt to pervert the best of natures ; 
with too much of it I would not trust the milkiest man 
on earth ; and shall we place confidence in a minister too 
long inured to rule, grown old, callous and hackneyed 
in the crooked paths of policy ? 

and Citizen : " I do not chute to answer this last ques- 
tion." You grow warm and press me too close. But 
why is all your indignation poured out against our min- 
isters, and no part of it reserved for the lawyers, those 
cutthroats, extortioners, those enemies to peace and 
honesty, those rei publica portenia ac pane funera' to 
use the energetic words of Tully, because I can find none 

' Cic. , Prov. Cons. , I , a. (GoHmiit et Pita duo rei publiea for- 
tenta ac patu /intra.) 



Appettdix A. 253 

in English to convey my full meaning, but by comparing 
our harpies to those two monsters of iniquity, Piso and 
Gabinius. 

Mr, Melmoth, the elegant translator of Cicero's familiar 
letters, makes this remark on the 8th letter of the first 
book, Vol. I. "Cicero has delineated the characters at 
large of these consuls (Piso and Gabinius) in several of 
his orations, but he has in two words given the most 
odious picture of them that exasperated eloquence per- 
haps ever drew where he calls them 'duorei publicse 
ac pene funcra' — an expression for which modem 
language can furnish no equivalent." 

1st Citizen ; From this vehemence of yours, I perceive 
you are one of those who have joined in the late cry 
against lawyers ; from what cause does all this rancour 
and animosity against these gentlemen proceed ? Is it 
a real tenderness for the people, which has occasioned 
such scurrility and abuse ? Or does your hatred, and 
that of your kidney, arise from disappointment and the 
unexpected alliance between the lawyers and the people, 
in opposition to officers. This alliance, I know, has 
been termed unnatural, because it was thought contrary 
to the lawyers interests to separate themselves from the 
officers ; since a close and firm union between the two, 
would probably secure success against all patriotic at- 
tempts to relieve the people from their late heavy bur- 
thens, of which too great a part still subsists. 

and Cititen : "For heaven's sake to what purpose is all 
this idle talk t You well know it does not touch us, we are 
not galled, and there/ore need not wince." But reconcile 
if you can, the inconsistency of conduct, with which 
some of your favourites may be justly reproached ; I have 
one or two in my eye (great patriots) whose conduct, I 
am sure, will not bear a strict scrutiny. I can tell them 



254 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

with truth. (Vide dialogue from the last words, to these 
— " glorious and palriotic particulars.") ' 

1st. Citizen : Is it a crime then to be seen in the com- 
pany of certain great officers of government ? Surely 
their principles must be pestilential indeed, whose very 
breath breeds contagion. But you can name " the very 
appointments they have laid their fingers upon, you are 
well apprized of their eager impatience to get into office ;" 
if you are well assured of all this, if you can name the 
appointments, why, in God's name, do it : speak out at 
once, undeceive me, show me that I have mistaken my 
men, that J have been imposed on. For never will I 
deem that man a fast and firm friend to his country or fit 
to represent it, who under their circumstances applies 
for, or accepts an office from government ; the applica- 
tion for or the acceptance of a place by the persons 
alluded to would, in my opinion, as much disqualify 
them for so important a trust, as the duplicity of charac- 
ter which you lay to their charge. 

2nd Citizen : Do not mistake my meaning, or wilfully 
misrepresent it ; I do not pretend to insinuate, that a 
person accepting a place thereby becomes unfit for a 
representative, but that no dependence can be placed in 
one who declaims with virulence against officers, and yet 
would readily take an office. 

ist. Citizen : So I understood you ; have I put a dif- 
ferent construction on your meaning ? 

2nd Citizen : Not expressly, but you seem to think the 
acceptance of a place as exceptionable, as duplicity of 
conduct ; I am not quite of that opinion. 

ist Citizen : There we differ then ; I esteem a double 
dealer, and an ofllcer equally unfit to be chosen a mem- 

' " DUlt^ue belvreen Two Citizens," Maryland GsKtte, Januai; 
7tli. 



Appendix A. 255 

ber of Assembly ; for this opinion I have the sanction of 
an act of Parliament, which vacates the scat of a member 
in the House of Commons on his obtaining a post from 
Government, presuming that men under the bias of self 
interest, and under personal obligations to government, 
cannot act with a freedom and independence becoming a 
representative of the people. The act, it is true, leaves 
the electors at liberty to return the same member to Parlia- 
ment, in which particular (be it spoken with due defer- 
ence) it is more worthy our censure than our imitation ; 
I have a wide field before me, but I perceive your 
patience begins to be exhausted, and your temper to be 
rufded. I have told some disagreeable truths with a 
frankness which may be thought by a person of yimr 
steadiness and importance, somewhat disrespectful ; I leave 
you to ponder in silence, and at leisure on what I have 
said. Farewell. 




LETTER II. 



— " Though SOME counsellors vill be found to hare eon- 
tribute J their endeavours, yet there is one who ehallenges 
the infamous preeminence, and who by his capacity, craft, 
and arbitrary c:ounse]s,' is entitled to the first place among 
these betrayers of their country" — Hume's " Hist, of Eng.," 
vol. v., p. 343, 4^0 dit. 

The most despotic councils, the most arbitrary meas- 
ures, have always found some advocates, to disgrace a 
free nation. When these men, in the room of cool, and 
dispassionate reason, substitute virulent invective, and 
illiberal abuse, we may fairly presume, that arguments 
are either wanting, or that ignorance and incapacity 
know not how to apply them. 

Considering the known abilities, as a writer of the 
person pointed out to be the principal adviser of the 
"Proclamation," considering too, his legal and constitu- 
tional knowledge, we can hardly suppose, if solid reasons 
could be adduced in support, or extenuation, of that 
measure, but what they would have been urged, with all 
the force of clear, nervous and animated language. There 
will not, I imagine, be wanting lawyers, to undertake a 
refutation of Antillon's legal reasoning in favor of the 

' The words in small roman letters are substituted instead of the 
word* enltrfrisi, and amrogt, made use of b; the historian. 



Appendix A. 257 

Proclamation ; I shall therefore examine his defence of 
it, rather upon conslitutional principles, and endeavor to 
show, that it is contrary to the spirit of our cotutitution, 
in particular, and would, if submitted to, be productive 
of fatal consequences ; but previous to my entering upon 
this inquiry, it will be necessary to expose the " shameless 
effrontery " with which Antillon has asserted facts, en- 
tirely destitute of truth, and from which he has taken 
occasion to blacken the character of a gentleman, totally 
unconnected with the present dispute. Who that gentle- 
man is, no longer remains problematical ; the place of 
his education, and his age, have been mentioned, to fix 
the conjectures of the publick, and to remove all doubt. 
" He instigated by inveterate malice, has invented false- 
hoods for incorrigible folly to adopt, and indurated im- 
pudence to propagate," of this Antillon has confidently 
accused him, but upon what proof? on no other than his 
own conjecture. 

The First Citizen avers (and his word will be taken 
sooner than Antillon '5) that he wrote the dialogue be- 
tween two citizens published in the Maryland Gazette of 
the 4th instant, without the advice, suggestion, or assist- 
ance of the supposed author or eoadjulor. But the First 
Citizen and the Independent Whigs are most certainly 
confederated ; they are known to each other ; an asser- 
tion this, Antillon, equally rash and groundless with your 
former. Why do you suppose this confederacy ? From 
a similitude of sentiments with respect to your conduct, 
and Proclamation ? If so, then indeed are nine-tenths 
of the people of this province confederated with the 
First Citizen. The Independent Whigs, however, as it 
happens, are unknown to the First Citizen ; of their 
paper he had not the least intelligence, till he read it in 
the Maryland Gaxttte of the nth instant. He now takes 



258 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

this opportunity of thanking these gentlemen for the 
compliments, which they have been pleased to bestow on 
his endeavors, to draw the attention of the publick, from 
other objects, to the real authors, or rather author of all 
our evils. 

With what propriety, with what justice can Antillon 
reproach any man with malignity, when stimulated by 
that passion, he accuses others without proof of being 
confederated with the First Citizen, and from mere sus- 
picion of so treasonable a confederacy, vomits out scur- 
rility and abuse against imaginary foes ? Not content 
with uttering falsehoods, grounded solely on his own 
presumption, he has imputed the conduct of ** one of the 
confederates " to a motive, which, if real, can only be 
known to the great searcher of hearts. This confederate 
is represented as " wishing most devoutly " (a pious and 
Christian insinuation) for an event of all others the most 
calamitous, the death of a most loved parent ; ungener- 
ous suggestion, unfeeling man ! do you really entertain 
such an opinion of the son ? Do you desire, that the 
assigned cause of the imputed wish should have its in- 
tended effect, create uneasiness, a coolness or distrust ? 
What behavior, what incident, what passage of his life, 
warrant this your opinion of the son, supposing it to be 
real ? That they have always lived in the most perfect 
harmony, united by nature's strongest ties, parental love, 
filial tenderness and duty, envy itself must own. That 
father^ whose death the son devoutly wishes for, never 
gave him cause to form a wish so execrable ; he has been 
treated with the utmost affection and indulgence by the 
father ; in return for all that tenderness and paternal 
care — 

** Him let the tender office long engage, 
To rock the cradle of reposing age ; 



Appendix A. 259 

Wilh lenient art cilenil a Tather's breath, 

Make Unguor smile, and smnothe the bed of death." 

POFK. 

I cannot conceive what "the generous and spirited be- 
havior of one of the confederales " (who, by the bye, is 
no confederate) on a former occasion, has to do with the 
present question, unless to divert the attention from the 
subject, or to introduce a specimen of satire and false- 
hood prettily contrasted in antitheses. The period, I 
confess, runs smooth enough ; but Antillon, let me give 
you a piece of advice, though it comes from an enemy, 
it may be useful ; whenever you mean to be severe, con- 
fine yourself to truth, illiberal calumny recoils with 
double force on the calumniator. An expression of the 
First Citizen has been construed into z." preparation'' 
to malign the minister's son ; if this intention could be 
fairly gathered from the words inserted in the note ' 
(and there are no other to give the least color to the 
charge) it would cause the First Citizen unfeigned con- 
cern. To wipe off the imputation, I must beg leave to 
refer the reader to the dialogue pubhshed by the First 
Citizen ; he will there see that the Second Citizen inti- 
mates, a confidence ought to be placed in imr ministers, 
because they are men of property, " and have as deep a 
stake in the safety of the Constitution as any of us." 

In answer to this reasoning the First Citizen observes, 
that a minister's wealth is not always a security for his 
honesty ; because, to increase that wealth, to maintain 
his seat, and to aggrandize his own, he may be tempted 
to enlarge the powers of the Crown (the First Citizen 
speaks generally), more especially should he (the minis- 
ter) have any expectation of transmitting his post to one 

' " Hopes ma; be eotertained that the good Iking like a predons 
jewel will be handed down from father to son." 



26o Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

of his own family, to his son, for instance. '' It has been 
the maxim " (says a judicious historian *) of " English 
princes whenever popular leaders encroach too much on 
royal authority, to confer offices on them, in expecta- 
tion that they will afterwards become more careful, not 
to diminish that power which has become tluir awn.** It 
is not even asserted, that the minister does actually en- 
tertain a hope of securing his office to his son, but that, 
possibly, he may entertain such a hope. It may be impol- 
itic in the Supreme Magistrate, to grant offices to many 
of, and to continue them in the same family, but it is 
natural for the head of that family to wish it ; if even to 
wish to transmit an office to his son, should be thought 
culpable in the father, yet still is the son exempt from 
all blame. 

I must answer a question or two, put by Antillon, be- 
fore I go into an examination of his reasons in support 
of the Proclamation, that the argument may be as little 
interrupted, and broke in upon, as possible, by topics 
foreign to that inquiry. Antillon asks, " What do the 
Confederates mean [he should have said what does the 
First Citizen mean] by dragging to light — made to feel 
the resentment of a free people — endeavour to set the 
power of the Supreme Magistrate above the laws — dread 
of such fate." Answer — By dragging to lights nothing 
more was meant, than that the House of Delegates should 
again endeavour, by an humble address to the Governor, 
to prevail on him to disclose the ill adviser, or ** those 
ill advisers, who have most daringly presumed to tread 
on the invaluable rights of the freemen of Maryland." — 
" Made to feel the resentment of a free people " may need 
a little explanation ; the sense of the subsequent quota- 
tions is sufficiently obvious. If the real adviser^ or advis- 

* Hume. 



Appendix A. 261 

ers of the Proclamation, could be discovered, in my 
opinion (I do not mean to dictate, and to prescribe to 
the delegates of the people) they ought in justice to 
their constituents, humbly to address the Governor, to 
remove him, or them, from his counsels, and all places 
of trust and profit, if they be invested with such, not 
merely as a punishment on the present transgressor, or 
transgressors, but as a warning to future counsellors, not 
to imitate their example. I have dwelt the longer on the 
meaning of the words — " made to feel the resentment of 
a free people," because I perceive pusillanimity and con- 
scious guilt have inferred from the expression, " a san- 
guine hope in the ' Confederates ' that the free people 
of Maryland will become a lawless mob at their instiga- 
tion, and be the dupes of their infernal rage." 

Sleep in peace, good Antillon, if thy conscience will 
permit thee ; no such hope was conceived by, a thought 
of the sort never entered the First Citizen's head, nor 
(as he verily believes,) of any other person. The First 
Citizen rejects with horror and contempt the cowardly 
aspersion. But should a mob assemble to pull down a 
certain house, and hang up the owner, methinks it would 
not be very formidable, when headed and conducted by 
a monkey, against a chief of such spirit and resolution. 
Sarcasms on personal defects have ever been esteemed 
the sure token of a base and degenerate mind ; to pos- 
sess the strength and graces of your person, the gentle- 
man alluded to would not exchange the infirmities of 
his puny frame, were it on that condition, to be animated 
by a soul like thine. 

I have at length gone through the painful task of silenc- 
ing falsehood, exposing malice, and checking insolence. 
The illiberal abuse so plentifully dealt out by Antillon 
would have been passed over with silent contempt, had he 



262 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

not so interwoven it with positive assertion of facts, that 
the latter could not be contradicted, without taking some 
notice of the former. I shall now examine Antillon's 
reasons in justification of the Proclamation, and after his 
example, I shall first compare the two transactions, the 
Proclamation, and the assessment of ship-money. That 
the latter was a more open and daring violation of a free 
constitution * will be readily granted ; the former I con- 
tend to be a more disguised and concealed attack, but 
equally subversive, in its consequences, of liberty. An- 
tillon's account of the levy of ship-money, though not 
quite so impartial as he insinuates, I admit in the main 
to be true. "The amount of the whole tax was very 
moderate, little exceeding ;^ 200,000 ; it was levied upon 
the people with justice and equality, and this money was 
entirely expended upon the navy, to the great honour 
and advantage of the kingdom." At that period the 
boundaries between liberty and prerogative were far 

^ The most open and avowed attacks on liberty are not perhaps 
the most dangerous. Where rigorous means, *' the arbitrary seizure 
of property and the deprivation of personal liberty are employed to 
spread terror, and compel submission to a tyrant's will," they rouse 
the national indignation, they excite a general patriotism, and com- 
municate the generous ardor from breast to breast ; fear and resent- 
ment, two powerful passions, unite a whole people, in opposition to 
the tyrant's stem commands ; the modest, mild, and conciliating 
manner in which the latent designs of a crafty tnimster come some- 
times reconmiended to the publick, ought to render them the more 
suspected, **' timeo Danaos^ et dona ferenUs" : The gifts and smiles 
of a minister should always inspire caution and diffidence. There is 
no attempt, it is true, in the Proclamation *'to subject the people 
indebted to the officers for services performed to any execution of 
their effects or imprisonment of their persons — on any account** If 
the judges however should determine costs to be paid, according to 
the rates of the Proclamation, execution of a person's effects or impris- 
onment would necessarily follow his refusal to pay those rates. 



Appendix A. 263 

from being ascertained ; the Constitution had long been 
fluctuating between those opposite and contending inter- 
ests, and had not then arrived to that degree of consist- 
ency and i>erfection it has since acquired, by subsequent 
contests, and by the improvements made in later days, 
when civil liberty was much better defined and better 
understood. The assessment of ship-money received the 
sanction of the judges. "After the laying on of ship- 
money, Charles, in order to discourage all opposition, 
had proposed the question to the judges," whether in 
a case of necessity, for the defence of the kingdom, he 
might not impose this taxation, and whether he was not 
sole judge of the necessity. " These guardians of law 
and liberty, replied with great complaisance [reflect on 
this, good reader], " that in a case of necessiiy, he might 
impose that taxation, and that he was the sole judge of 
the necessity." The same historian, speaking of that 
transaction, concludes thus : " These observations alone 
may be established on both sides. That the appearances 
were sufficiently strong in favour of the King, to apolo- 
gize for his following such maxims ; and that publick 
liberty must be so precarious, under this exorbitant pre- 
rogative, as to render an opposition, not only excusable 
but laudable in the people." But I mean not to excuse 
the assessment of ship-money, nor to exculpate Charles ; 
his conduct will admit of no good apology. 

Now let us take a view of the Governor's Proclama- 
tion, advised by the minister, and of all its concomitant 
circumstances — a disagreement in sentiment between the 
two branches of our Legislature about the regulation 
of officer's fees, occasioned the loss of the inspection law 
in the month of November, 1770 — Some proceedings in 
the land-ofGcc, had created a suspicion in the members 
of the Lower House of that Assembly then sitting, 



^^ 



264 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

" That the government had entertained a design, in case 
the several branches of the Legislature should not agree 
in the regulation of officer's fees, to attempt establishing 
them by Proclamation.*' To guard against a measure 
incompatible with the permanent security of property 
and the constitutional liberty of the subject, they in an 
address to his Excellency asserted, ** That could they 
persuade themselves, that his Excellency could possibly 
entertain a different opinion, they should be bold to tell 
him, that the people of this province will ever oppose the 
usurpation of such a right." To which address the Gov- 
ernor returned this remarkable answer in his message of 
the 20th day of November, 1770, "That his lordship's 
authority had not yet interposed in the regulation of fees 
of officers, nor had he any reason to imagine it would 
interpose in such a manner as to justify a regular opposi- 
tion to it." * Notwithstanding this declaration, a few 
days after the prorogation of that Assembly, the Procla- 
mation of the 26th day of November (the subject of 
the present controversy) was issued contrary to a seem- 
ing promise given by the minister (for I consider the 
Governor's speeches and messages as flowing from his 
minister's advice) and contrary to the opinion entertained 
by the minister himself, of its legality. The accusation 
will not appear too rash, when we reflect on the abilities 
of the man, his experience, his knowledge of the law and 
Constitution, and his late flimsy and pitiful vindication 

^ From the words in the text, I think it is evident, the minister 
had at that very time determined on issuing the Proclamation ; should 
he afterwards be reproached with a breach of promise, he had his 
answer ready, the Proclamation was not issued in suck a manner ^ as 
to justify a regular opposition^ it was only issued with a view to pre- 
vent the extortion of officers — for this reason I have called the 
minister's promise a seeming promise. 



Appendix A. 265 

of the measure. He knew that a " similar Proclamation 
published in the year 1733 had agitated and disjointed 
this province till the year 1747, The evils, which were 
thereby occasioned, ought strongly to have dissuaded a 
second attempt, to exercise such power." Antillon has 
admitted this fact, and has attributed " the most violent 
opposition that ever a Governor of Maryland met with " 
to this very measure. " He [Ogle] was so well convinced 
of the authoritative force of the Proclamation, for settling 
fees of officers, that he expressly determined, as Chan- 
cellor, by a final compulsory decree, fees should be paid 
upon the authority, and according to the very settlement 
of the Proclamation," which, of his own will and mere 
motion he had pre-ordained as Governor. 

What is the meaning of all this in plain English ? 
Why that Ogle made himself both judge and party ; like 
the French King, he issued out his edict as a law, which 
he enforced in his own court, as judge. I am unwill- 
ingly, and unavoidably drawn into the censure of a man, 
who by his subsequent conduct, which was mild and 
equitable, fully atoned for the oppressions (shall I call 
them errors) of his former administration. Antillon asks, 
" What did he [Ogle] deserve ; infamy, death or exile ? " 
No, not quite so severe punishment, Antillon ; he only 
deserved to be removed from his government, and not 
even that punishment, if he was directed, advised, and 
governed by such a minister as thou art ; for in that case, 
the disgrace, and removal of the minister would have 
been sufficient, and would probably have restored ease, 
security, and happiness to the people. But if Eden 
should follow Ogle's example, what then ? Eden is a Gov- 
ernor, a Governor is a King, and a King can do no wrong, 
ergo, a Governor may cut the throats of all the inhabi- 
tants of Maryland, and then pick their pockets, and will 



266 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

not be liable to be punished for such atrocious doings ; 
excellent reasoning ! exquisite wit and humor ! 

If you, Antillon, should still be hardy enough, 
to continue to inspire the same councils, which 
have already set this Province in a flame, and the 
Governor, when warned and cautioned against your per- 
nicious designs, should still listen to your advice, in op- 
position to the wishes and inclinations of the people, 
over whom he has the honour to preside, I confess, I 
should be one of those, who most heartily wish for his 
removal. Does this look like flattery, Antillon ? I scorn 
the accusation. The First Citizen has always treated his 
Excellency with that respect which his station commands, 
and with that complacence, which is due from one gentle- 
man to another ; to flatter, or to permit flattery, is equally 
unbecoming that character ; Antillon accuses the con- 
federates, of fawning servility^ extravagant adulation^ and 
the meanest debasement^ yet this very man is not entirely 
exempt from the imputation of flattery — " They know not 
the man, whom they thus treat," cui male si palpere recalcit- 
rat undique tutus * was an artful compliment, paid by a 
courtly poet to the tyrant Augustus. Yes, Antillon, I 
know the man ; I know him to be generous, of a good 
heart, well disposed, and willing to promote, if left to 
himself, the happiness and welfare of the Province, 
but youthful, unsuspicious and diflident of his own judg- 
ment in matters legal and political,' failings, (if they de- 

» Hor.,»'Sat.,"ii., i, 20. 

• It cannot be supposed that the King can have a thorough know- 
ledge of every department in his kingdom ; he appoints judges, to 
interpret, and to dispense law to his subjects ; ministers to plan, and 
digest schemes of policy, and to conduct the business of the nation ; 
generals, and admirals, to command his armies, and fleets ; over all 
these he has a general superintendency, to remove, and punish such 



Appendix A. 267 

serve the name) that have caused hjm to repose too great 
a confidence m.you ; from this opinion of the man, from 
a persuasion of his good intentions, I was induced to 
apply to him the maxim of the British Constitution, "the 
King can do no wrong" which you have so wittily and 
humorously ridiculed. The Governor is no King, won- 
derful discovery ! who said he was ? you comprehend 
the full force and justice of the application, and you best 
know the reason of it ; in order to elude and defeat its 
as from incapacity, corruption or other misdemMnors m*/ be unfit, 
and unworthy of the trust reposed in them — " The King cannot exer- 
cise a judidaJ office himscK, for though justice and judgment Sow 
Irom him yet he dispenses them by bis ministers, and has com- 
mitted all his judicial power to different courts ; and it is highly nec- 
e^isary for bis people's safety he should do so, for as Montesquieu 
justly observes — There is no liberty if the power of judging be not 
separated from the legislative and executive powers. Were it joined 
with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be ex- 
posed to arbitrary control, for the judge would then be l^slator; 
were it joined lo the executive power, the judge might behave with all 
the violence of an opprtssor. Here, the Governor, who exercises the 
executive attd a share of the legislative power holds and exerciser 
also one of the most considerable judicial offices — for he is Chancel- 
lor, a jurisdiction, which in the course of some years, inay bring 
a considerable share of the property of this country, to his determina- 
tions." The Governor is so well satisfied of wanting advice, that in 
determining causes of intricacy, he always chuses to have the assist- 
ance of some gentleman, who from study and a knowledge of the 
law, may be presumed a good judge, and able to direct him in cases 
of difficulty and doubt. He has recourse lo the advice of his Council 
in all matters of publick concernment ; it is therefore highly probable 
he took the advice of some, or of one in the Council before be issued 
the Proclamation. It is well known, that in England the frimi 
minister directs and governs all his Majesty's other ministers ; in 
Charles the Il.d's. time the whole care of Government was com- 
mitted to five persons, distinguished by the name of the Cabal: the 
other members of the Privy Council were seldom called to any de- 
liberations, or if called, only with a view to low appearancts. 



268 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

aim, you affect to be witty, and not to take my meaning. 
You want to shelter yourself under the protection of 
the Governor, and to draw him, and all the Council, 
into a justification of measures peculiarly yours^ by en- 
deavoring to make them responsible for your counsels, 
" There can be no difficulty in finding out his (the King's 
ministers,) the Governor and Council are answerable in 
this character ; he cannot disavow an act to which his 
signature is affixed." Have not many Kings of England 
revoked and cancelled acts to which their signatures were 
affixed ? Have not some Kings too, at the solicitation 
of their Parliaments, disgraced ministers, who advised 
these acts, and affixed to them the royal signature ? 

The Governor is improperly called the King's minister, 
he is rather his representative, or deputy ; he forms a 
distinct branch, or part of our Legislature ; a bill, though 
passed by both Houses of Assembly, would not be law, 
if dissented to by him ; he has therefore the power, loco 
Regis y of assenting and dissenting to laws ; in him is 
lodged the most amiable, the best of power, the power of 
mercy ; the most dreadful also, the power of death. A 
minister has no such transcendent privileges, — To help, 
to instruct, to advise, is his province, and, let me add, 
that he is accountable for his advice, to the great council 
of the people ; upon this principle the wisdom of our 
ancestors grounded the maxim, " The King can do no 
wrong." They supposed, and justly, that the care and 
administration of government would be committed to 
ministers, whose abilities, or other qualities had recom- 
mended to their sovereign's choice ; lest the friendship 
and protection of their master should encourage them to 
pursue pernicious measures, and lest they should screen 
themselves under regal authority, the blame of bad coun- 
sels became imputable to them and they alone were made 



Appendix A. 269 

answerable for the consequences ; ifliableto be punished 
for maladministration, it was thought, they might be 
more circumspect, diligent, and attentive to their charge ; 
it would be indecent and irreverential to throw the 
blame of every grievance on the King, and to be per- 
petually remonstiating against majesty itself, when the 
minister only was in fault. The maxim however admits 
of limitation. 

Est modus in rebus, sunt ctrli deniquf Jines. 
Quel ultra, cilrague, atquit consistiri reelum.^ 

Should a King, deaf to the repeated remonstrances of 
his people, forgetful of his coronation oath, and unwill- 
ing to submit Co the legal limitations of his prerogative, 
endeavor to subvert that constitution in Church and 
State, which he swore to maintain, resistance would then 
not only be excusable, but praiseworthy, and deposition, 
imprisonment, or exile might be the only means left of 
securing civil liberty and national independence. Thus 
James the Second, by endeavoring to introduce arbitrary 
power, and to subvert the established Church, justly de- 
served to be deposed and banished. The Revolution 
which followed, or rather brought on James' abdication 
of the crown, " is justly ranked among the most glorious 
deeds, that have done honour to the character of English- 
men." In that light, the First Citizen considers it ; and 
he believes the independent Whigs entertain the same 
opinion of that event, at least, nothing appears to the 
contrary, save the malevolent insinuation of Antillon. 

It is high time to return to the Proclamation ; your 

digressions, Antillon, which have occasioned mine, shall 

not make me lose sight of the main object. " It is not to 

be expected that any man will bear reproaches without 

' Hor., S., i. I, 106-107. 



2 JO Cha^'les Carroll of Carrollton. 

reply, or that he who wanders from the question, will not 
be followed in his wanderings, and hunted through his 
labyrinths." We have seen the Proclamation was appre- 
hended some time before its publication, and guarded 
against by a positive declaration of the I^ower House — 
" The people of this province will ever oppose the usurpa- 
tion of such a right, ^* Nevertheless our minister^ regard- 
less of this intimation, advised the Proclamation. It 
came out soon afterwards, cloathed with the specious 
pretence of preventing extortion in officers. I shall soon 
examine the solidity of this softening palliative. In a 
subsequent session, it was resolved unanimously by the 
Lower House, " to be illegal^ arbitrary^ unconstitutional 
and oppressive,** It was resolved also, " That the ad- 
visers * of the said Proclamation are enemies to the peace^ 
welfare and happiness of this Province^ and to the laws and 
constitution thereof** I shall now give a short extract 
from Petyt's Jus Parliamcntarium^ page 327, and leave 
the reader to make the application. — ** In a list of griev- 
ances presented by the Commons to James the First, are 
Proclamations, of which complaining bitterly, among 
other things they say, nevertheless, it is apparent, that 
Proclamations have been of late years much more fre- 
quent than heretofore, and that they are extended, not 
only to the liberty, but also to the goods, inheritances, 

' It is plain from the above resolve of the Delegates, that they con- 
sidered the Governor, not as my lord's minister, but as his deputy, 
or lieutenant, acting by the advice of others, nor pursuing his own 
immediate measure, and sentiments. It is no imputation on the 
Governor's understanding to have been guided by a counsellor, from 
whose experience, and knowledge, he might have expected the best 
advice, when he did not suspect, or did not discover the interested 
motive, from which it proceeded ; the minister has the art of cover- 
ing his real views with fair pretences. 

** And seems a saint, when most he plays the devil." 



Appendix A. 271 

and livelihood of men ; some of them, tending to alter 
samt pohUs of the law, and make them new ; others some 
made shortly after a session of Parliament for matter 
directly rejected in the same session," and some vouch- 
ing former proclamations, to countenance and warrant 
the latter. The Proclamation is modestly called by 
Antillon, '^ a restriction of Ike officers," sX another time, 
"preventive of extortion," though in fact, it ought rather 
to be considered as a direction to the officers, what to 
demand, and to the people, what to pay, than a restriction 
of the officers. I appeal to the common sense and con- 
sciences of my countrymen ; do ye think, that the avowed 
motives of the Proclamation, was the true and real one ? 
If no such Proclamation had issued, would ye have 
suffered yourselves to he oppressed, and plundered by 
the officers ? Would ye have submitted to their exorbit- 
ant demands, when instructed by a vote of your Repre- 
sentatives, " That in all cases when no fees are established 
by law, for services done by officers, the power of ascer- 
taining the quantum of the reward for such services is 
constitutionally in a juiy upon the action of the party " ? 
To set this matter in a clear point of view, and to expose 
the hollow and deceitful show of a pretended clemency, 
and tenderness for the people, it may not be improper 
to introduce a short dialogue between an officer and 
citizen. 

Officer .- How wretched and distressed would have 
been the situation of this Province, if the well-timed and 
merciful Proclamation had not issued. 

Cit. : How so ? 

Officer : The reason is obvious : had it not issued, we 
should have been let loose on our countrymen to live on 
free quarter, for every liii/e piece of service we should 
have exacted Ol genteel reward, in a short time your pock- 



272 Charles Carroll of Carrolltoiu 

ets would have been pretty well drained, and to mend 
the matter, we might have pillaged and plundered, with- 
out being liable to be sued for extortion ; for we could 
not be guilty of extortion merely in taking money or other 
valuable thing for our services, unless we were to take 
more than is due ; it is obvious to common sense that 
there must be some established measure or there can be 
no excess. That ascertained^ there must be a positive^ or 
there can be no comparative ; let the result then be con- 
sidered, if something be undeniably due, when a service 
is performed, and no certain rule or measure to determine 
the rate, should an officer take as much as /le can excut, he 
would not commit extortion according to the legal accep- 
tation of the term extortion, 

Cit, : This may be good law for aught I know, but if 
I could not sue you for extortion, I should still have a 
remedy. 

Officer : What, pray ? 

OV. .• I would only pay you what I thought reason- 
able. 

Officer : But suppose I should not think the sum ten' 
dered sufficient, and refuse to receive it ? 

Cit, : Why then you might either go without any re- 
ward for your service or you might sue me, to recover, 
what in your estimation would be adequate thereto, and 
thus leave the question of the recompense to be settled 
by a jury. 

Officer : This expedient did not occur to me ; your 
condition, I own, would not have been quite so deplora- 
ble as I imagined. 

The plain answer of this citizen will be understood by 
many who will not comprehend the more refined reasoning 
of the officer upon extortion ; and I fancy the citizen's 
resolution in a like case would be adopted by most peo- 



Appendix A, 273 

pie. Antillon has admitted that " If the Proclamation 
had not the authority to Ax the rates according to which 
the officers might receive and beyond which they could not 
lawfully rective, it was not preventive of extortion, but 
whether it had or not such authority depended on its 
legality, determinable in the ordinary Judicatories." I 
should be glad to know whether its legality be deter- 
minable by the judges, or by a jury ; if determinable by 
a jury, the liberty and property of the people will be ex- 
posed to less danger; were we sure of always having 
judges as honest and upright as the present, the ques- 
tion, though, of the most momentous concern, might per- 
haps be safely left to their decision ; but our judges are 
removable at pleasure ; some of them might be inter- 
ested in the cause, and if suffered to establish their own 
fees would become both judges and party ; — a Governor, 
we have seen, decreeing as Chancellor fees to be paid 
upon the authority of his mvn Proclamation, would fall 
under that predicament. Let us admit, by way of argu- 
ment, that the decision of this question (the legality of 
the Proclamation) belongs properly to the judges ; sup- 
pose they should determine the Proclamation to be legal ; 
what consequence would follow ? The most fatal and 
pernicious that could possibly happen to this Province : 
the right of the Lower House to settle fees, with the con- 
currence of the other branches of the Legislature, a right 
which has been claimed and exercised for many years 
past, to the great benefit of the people, would be ren- 
dered useless and nugatory. The old table of fees 
abounding with exorbitances and abuses, would ever 
remain unalterable ; government would hold it up per- 
petually, as a sacred palladium, not to be touched, and 
violated by profane hands. 

Reasons still of greater force might be urged against 



2 74 Charles Carroll of Carrolllon. 

leaving with the judges the decision of this important 
question, whether the Supreme Magistrate shall have the 
power to tax a free people without the conseot of their 
representatives, nay, against their conseDt and express 
declaration ; I shall only adduce one argument, to avoid 
prolixity. The Governor, it is said, with the advice of 
his Lordship's Council of State, issued the Proclamation : 
three of our provincial judges are of that Council ; they 
therefore advised a measure as proper and consequently 
as legal, the legality of which, if called in question, they 
were afterwards to determine. Is not this in some degree. 
prejudging the question ? It will perhaps be denied (for 
what will not some men affect to deny ?) That to settle the 
fees of ofhcers by Proclamation, is not to tax the people ; 
I humbly conceive that fees settled by the Governor's 
Proclamation, should it be determined to have the force 
of law, are flowing from an arbitrary and discretionary 
power in the Supreme Magistrate, — for this assertion, I 
have the authority of my Lord Coke express in point. 
That great lawyer in his exposition of the statute ie tal- 
lagio non concedendo makes this comment on the word 
tallagium : " Tallagium is a general word, and doth in- 
clude all subsidies, taxes, tenths, fifteenths, impositions, 
and other burthens or charge put or set upon any man ; 
that within this act are all new officers erected with new 
fees for that is a tallage put upon the subject, which 
cannot be done without common consent by Act of Par- 
liament." The inspection law being expired, which 
established the rates of officers fees, adopted by the 
Governor's Proclamation, I apprehend the people (sup- 
posing the Proclamation had not issued) would not be 
obliged to pay fees to officers according to those rates ; 
this proposition, I take, to be self-evident ; now if the 
Proclamation can revise those rates, and the payment of 



Appendix A. 275 

fees agreeable thereto, can be enforced by a decree of 
the Chancellor, or by judgment of the provincial court, 
it will most clearly follow, that the fees are new, because 
enforced under an authority entirely new, and distinct 
from the act, by which those rates were originally fixed. 
Perhaps my Lord Coke's position will be contradicted, 
and it will be asserted, that fees payable to officers are 
not taxes ; but on what principle such an assertion can 
be founded, I am at a loss to determine; they bear all 
the marks and characters of a tax ; they are universal, 
unavoidable, and recoverable, if imposed by a legtd 
authority, as all other debts ; universal and unavoidable, 
"for applications to thepublick offices are not oi cJioiee 
but of necessity, redress cannot be had for the smallest 
or most atrocious injuries but in the courts of justice, 
and as surely as that necessity does exist, and a binding 
force in the Proclamation be admitted, so certainly must 
the fees thereby established, be paid in order to obtain 
redress," There is not a single person in the commu- 
nity, who at one time or another, may not be forced into 
a court of justice, to recover a debt, to protect his prop- 
erty from rapacity, or to wrest it out of hands which may 
have seized on it with violence, or to procure a repara- 
tion of personal insults. 

Why was the inspection law made temporary ? With 
a view no doubt, that on an alteration of circumstances, 
the delegates of the people, at the expiration of the act, 
with the consent of the Governor, and Upper House, 
might alter and amend the table of fees, or frame a new 
table. That the circumstances of the Province are much 
changed since the enacting of that law in 1 747, the Proc- 
lamation itself evinces, by allowing planters to pay the 
fees of officers in money, in lieu of tobacco, which altern- 
ative has considerably lessened the fees, and is a proof. 



276 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

M any were wanting, that they have been much too great. 
It was insisted on by the Lower House, that a greater 
reduction of fees was still necessary ; by the Upper, that 
the fees were already sufficiently diminished, and that 
they would not suffer any further reduction of fees, than 
that, which must necessarily follow from the election 
given to all persons, to discharge the fees in tobacco, or 
money as may best suit them. One would imagine that 
a compromise, and a mutual departure from some points 
respectively contended for, would have been the most 
eligible way of ending the dispute ; if a compromise was 
not to be effected, the matter had best been left unde- 
cided : time and necessity would have softened dissen- 
tion, and have reconciled jarring opinions, and clashing 
interests ; and then a regulation by law, of officers fees, 
would have followed of course. What was done ? The 
authority of the Supreme Magistrate interposed, and took 
the decision of this important question, from the other 
branches of the Legislature to itself ; in a land of freedom 
this arbitrary exertion of prerogative will not, must not, 
be endured. 

From what has been said, I think it will appear that 
the idea of a tax is not improperly annexed to a regula- 
tion of fees by Proclamation, " but if the idea be proper, 
then fees can be settled in no case except by the Legis- 
lature, because it requires such authority to lay a tax ; 
but the House of Lords, the House of Commons, the 
court of law and equity in Westminster Hall, the 
Upper and Lower Houses of Assembly have each of 
them settled fees — " they have so : the House of Lords, 
and the House of Commons have that right derived from 
long usage, and from the law of Parliament, which is . 
Ux terra, or part at least of the law of the land. Our 
Upper and Lower Houses of Assembly claim most of the 






Appendix A. 277 

privileges, appertaining to the two Houses of ParliameDt, 
being vested with powers nearly similar, and analogous ' 
to th«se inherent in the Lords and Commons. " The 
courts of law and equity in Westminster Hall, have tike- 
wise settled fees " ; by what authority ? Antillon has 
' I say nearly similar ; a perfect similitude cannot be expected ; 
our Upper House falls vastly short of the House of Lords in dignity, 
and independence ; our Lower House approaches much nearer in itl 
constitution to the House of Commons, than oui Upper House to the 
House of I^ords ; the observation of a sensible writer on the Assembly 
of Jamaica may be applied to ours — " The legialalure of this province 
wants in its two lirst branches (from the dependent condition of the 
Governor and Council) a good deal of that freedom which is necessary 
to the legislature of a free country, and on this account, our constitu- 
tion is defective in point of l^slature, those two branches not pre- 
serving; by any means, so near b resemblance to the parts of the Brit- 
ish legislature, which they stand for here, as the Assembly does ; this 
is a defect in our constitution, which cannot from the nature of things 
be entirely remedied, for we have not any class of men distinguished 
from the people by inherent honours ; theAssembly, or Lower House 
has an exact resemblance of that pari of the British constitution, 
which it stands for here, it is indeed an epitome of the House oE Com- 
mons ; called by the same authority, deriving its powers from the 
same source, instituted for the same ends, and governed by the same 
forms ; it will b; difficult, I think to find a reason, why it should not 
have the same powers, the same superiority over the courts of justice 
and the same rank in the system of our little community, as the 
House of Commons in that of Great Britain. 1 know of no power 
exercised by the House of Commons for redressing grievances or 
bringing publick offenders to justice, which the Assembly is incapable 
of — [ know of none, which it has not exercised at times except that 
of impeachment, and this has been forbom, not from any ina^acity 
in that body, but from a defect in the power of the Council : an im- 
peachment by the House of Commons in England, must be heard in 
the House of Lords, it being below the dignity of the Commons to 
appear as prosecutors, at the bar of any inferior court," The power* 
therefore of the House of Commons, and of our Lower House being 
so nearly similar, their respective privil^es must be nearly the same. 
— See the privileges of the Island of Jamaica vindicated. 



2 78 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

not been full and express on this point. Have the judges 
settled the fees of officers in their respective courts solely 
by the King's authority, or was that authority originally 
given by act of Parliament to his Majesty, and by him 
delegated to his judges ? Admitting even, that the chan- 
cellor and judges of Westminster Hall have settled fees, 
by virtue of the King's commission, without the sanction 
of a statute, yet the precedent by no means applies to the 
present case. The judges in England have not settled their 
awn fees ; if the Proclamation should have the force of 
law, the Commissary-General, the Secretary, the judges 
of the land office, who are all members of the Council, 
and who advised the Proclamation, that is, who concurred 
with the minister* s advice, may with propriety be said to 
have established their own fees. The Governor as Chan- 
cellor decreeing his fees to be paid " according to the 
very settlement of the Proclamation " would undoubtedly, 
ascertain, and settle his own fees ; would he not then be 
judge in his own cause ? Is not this contrary to natural 
equity ? Where a statute is against common right and 
reason, the common law shall control it and adjudge it to 
be void; a statute so contrary to natural equity, as to 
mai^ a man Judge in his own cause, is likewise void, for 
jura natura sunt immutabiiia. 

The quotation from Hawkins given by Antillon, mili- 
tates most strongly against him ; the chief danger of 
oppression, says the serjeant, is from officers being left 
at liberty to set their own rates on their labour, and make 
their own demands. Answer this question, Antillon ! If 
you remain silent, you admit the imputation ; if you 
deny it, you will be forced to disavow the advice you 
gave. The Proclamation is sometimes represented by 
Antillon as a very harmless sort of a thing, ** It has no 
force, no efficacy but what it receives from its legality 




Appendix A. 279 

deUrminabie in the ordinary judicatories." He has not 
indeed told us expressly, who are to determine its legal- 
ity ; if the judges of the provincial court are to decide 
the question, and they should determine the Proclama- 
tion to be legal, in that case, I suppose, an appeal would 
lie from their judgment, to the court of appeals. Would 
not an appeal to such a court, in such a cause, be the 
most farcical and ridiculous mummery ever thought of ? 
All that has been said against the Proclamation, applies 
with equal, or greater force against the instrument under 
the great seal for ascertaining the fees of the land office. 
Antillon having noticed " That in consequence of a com- 
mission issued by the Crown, upon the address of the 
British House of Commons, the Lord Chancellor by the 
authorily of his station, and by and wilh the advice and 
assistance of the master of the rolls, ordered, that the 
officers of the Court of Chancery should not demand ' or 

' Abtillon infers from this argument, that the Governor has the 
same power in (his Province. In England, the King originally paid 
all hi& own officers ; nothing therefore could be more consistent with 
the spirit of the constitution, than that kc should establish the wages, 
who paid them. It is not so in this country, nor is it at present the 
case in England : they are now paid out oE the poctets of the people : 
sherifls, and many other officers have therefore their fees ascertained 
by Act of Parliament, and in those cases, where the fees given origi- 
nally by the crown, are now established by custom, the Parliament 
claims, and has exercised a power of contronl over them, as will ap- 
pear by the following quotations. " The Commons ordered in lists 
of all the fees taken in the publick offices belonging to the law, 
which amounted annually to an incredible sum meil of it tv ojktri 
for doing tiathiHg ; but the enquiry was too perplexed, and too tedi- 
ous for any eflectnal stop being put to the evil within the period of 
one session." — Tindal's Continuation of Rapin's History. 

Extract of a report of a Cammitttt of the Hoiut 0/ Commom im- 
powertd le tnqtari into the stati tf Ike officers fees ieloHging lo the 
courts in IVeiltKinsler-kall — April, lyj^. 

" Among the various claims of those, who now call themselves ofli- 



28o C/tarles Carroll of CarroUton. 

take any greater fees for their services, in their respec- 
tive offices, than according to the rates established," I 
have thought proper to insert in the note referred to, 
some particulars relating to a similar measure, for the 
information of my readers, and to shew, that a regulation 

cers of the court of chancery, none appeared more extraordinary to 
the committee, than the fee of the secretary, and clerk of the briefs, 
who upon grants to enable persons to beg, and collect alms, claim 
and frequently receive a fee of forty, fifty, or sixty pounds, and the 
register taker besides twelve or thirteen pounds for stamping and 
telling the briefs, which fees, with other great charges upon the col- 
lection, devour three parts in four of what is given for the relief of 
persons reduced to extreme poverty by fire, or other accidents." The 
committee closing their report with * ' observing how little able or 
willing many officers were to give any satisfactory account of the fees, 
they claim, and receive," came to the following resolution. 

** Resolved^ That it is the opinion of this committee that the long 
disuse of public enquiries into the behaviour of officers, clerks, and 
ministers of the courts of justice has been the occasion of the increase 
of unnecessary officers and given encouragement to the taking ilUgal 
fees. 

Resolved^ That it is the opinion of this committee that the interest^ 
which a great number of officers and ckrks have in the proceedings 
of the court of chancery has been a principal cause of extending 
bills, answers, pleadings, examinations and other forms, and copies of 
them to an unneccessary length to the great delay of justice and the 
oppression of the subject. 

Resolved^ That it is the opinion of this committee that a table of 
all the offices, ministers, and clerks, and of their fees in the court of 
chancery should be fixed, and established by authority, which table 
should be registered in a book, in the said court, to be at all times 
inspected gratis, and a copy of it signed and attested by the judges 
of the court, should be returned to each House of Parliament, to 
remain among the records." 

If the Commons had a right to enquire into the abuses committed 
by the officers of the courts of law, they had, (no doubt) the power 
of correcting those abuses, and of establishing the fees, had they 
thought proper, to be paid to the officers of those courts. 



Appendix A. 281 

of officer's fees fell under the consideration of the House 
of Commons, and that the same encroaching spirit of 
office, which has occasioned such altercations, heart 
burnings, and confusion in this Province, has prevailed 
also in the parent state. The settlement of fees by order 
of the Chancellor, under his Majesty's commission, is- 
sued, pursuant to an address of the House of Commons, 
is not, I will own, a tax similar to ship-money. But a 
regulation of fees by Proclamation, contrary to the ex- 
press declaration of our House of Burgesses, is very 
similar thereto.' 

Exclusive of the above reasons, another very weighty 
argument, arising from the particular form of our pro- 
vincial Constitution, may be brought against the usurped 
power of settling fees by Proclamation, and against the 
decision of its legality, in our " ordinary judicatories." 
We know, that the four principal officers in this province, 
most benefited by the Proclamation, are all members of 
the Upper House ; I have said it, and I repeat it again, 
a tenderness, a regard for those gentlemen, a desire to 
prevent a diminution of their fees, have hitherto pre- 
vented a regulation of our staple ; in a matter of this 
importance, which so nearly concerns the general welfare 
of the Province, personal considerations and private 
friendships, shall not prevent me from speaking out my 
sentiments with freedom ; neither shall antipathy to the 
man, whom in my conscience I believe to be the chief 
author of our grievances, tempt me to misrepresent his 
actions, " or set down aught in malice " — neither a desire 
to please men in power, nor hatred of those who abuse 
it, shall force me to deviate from truth. " But the pres- 

' Because it is a tax upon the people without the consent of their 
Keprescnlatives in Asi^embly, as has been, I hope, demonstrated to 
the satisfnciinn of my readers. 



282 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

ent Proclamation is not the invention of any daring 
ministers now in being." Who said he was the inventor ? 
The minister now in being has revived it only, in opposition 
to the unanimous sense of the people, expressed by their 
representatives, after a knowledge too, of the evils and 
confusion, which it heretofore brought on the province. 
Dismayed, trembling, and aghast, though skulking behind 
the strong rampart of Governor and Council, this An- 
tillon has intrenched himself chin deep in precedents, 
fortified with transmarine opinions, drawn round about 
him, and hid from publick view, in due time to be played 
off, as a masked battery, on the inhabitants of Maryland. 
I wish these opinions of " Lawyers in the opposition ** would 
face the day. 1 wish the state on which they were given 
was communicated to the publick ; " the opinion respect- 
ing the Proclamation is on no point which the minister for 
the time being aims to establish " — if in favour of the Pro- 
clamation, I deny the assertion ; the Proclamation is a 
point which the minister of Maryland aims to establish, 
in order to establish his own power, and perquisites. 
Antillon asks " If they (the confederates) have any other 
measures besides the Governor's Proclamation, to arraign 
as an attempt to set the Supreme Magistrate above the 
law ? " First evince, that the Proclamation is not such 
an attempt ; till then, it is needless to point out others. 
Without entering into foreign matter, I have already given 
you an opportunity " of shewing me stripped of disguise, 
JVAat I am. ** I have shewn what {stripped of disguise) you 
are. " Homo natus in perniciem hujus rei publicce** a 
man bom to perplex, distress, and afHict this country. 

First Citizen. 

February 27, 1773. 




^^^mpmfmmmm^mmmm 




LETTER III. 



"Our Places are disposed of to men, that are the 
ornaments of their own dignity ; to men that have the 
welfare of the kingdom wholly at heart and who accept 
of offices only to do the necessary drudgery of the state, 
and neither to amass estates from their services, nor 
aggrandize any branches of their family ; hence it hap- 
pens that England can never be infamous for a Sejanus, 
who rose from the dunghill to grasp all power, and whose 
working wickedness had generally a double plot, upon 
his prince and upon the people." — True Briton, No. 38. 

The Prince who places an unlimited confidence in a 
bad minister, runs great hazard of having that confidence 
abused, his government made odious and his people 
wretched ; of the many instances, which might be 
brought to confirm the observation, none more instruct- 
ive, can perhaps be selected, from the annals of man- 
kind, than the story of Sejanus. We need not, however, 
have recourse to the history of other nations and of other 
ages, to prove, that the unbounded influence of a wicked 
minister, is sure to lead his master into many difficulties, 
and to involve the people in much distress ; the present 
situation of this province is a proof of both. 

It is not my intention to compare Antillon with Seja- 
nus ; yet whoever has the curiosity to read the character 
of the latter drawn by the masterly pen of Tacitus, and 
a83 



284 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

is well acquainted with the former will discover some 
striking liknesses between the two. The animus sui 
obtegenSy in alios criminator. * Thejuxia adulatio et supcrbia 
are equally applicable to both. 

Does it yet remain a secret who this wicked minister, 
this Antillon is ? Are ye my countrymen ^^ puzzled to find 
him out *' ? Surely not ; his practises have occasioned too 
much mischief, to suffer him to lurk concealed, notwith- 
standing all his mean and dirty arts, to gain popularity, 
by which he rose to his present greatness, and the inde- 
fatigable industry of his too/s in echoing his praises, and 
celebrating the rectitude of his measures. 

In vindication of his conduct, Antillon has not en- 
deavoured to convince the minds of his readers by the 
force of reason, but " in the favourite method of illiberal 
calumny y virulent abuse and shameless asseveration to affect 
their passions "has attempted to render his antagonist 
ridiculous, contemptible and odious ; he has descended 
to the lowest jests on the person of the Citizen, has ex- 
pressed the utmost contempt of his understanding, and a 
strong suspicion of his political and religious principles. 
What connection, Antillon, have the latter with the 
Proclamation ? Attempts to rouse popular prejudices, 
and to turn the laugh against an adversary, discover the 
weakness of a cause, or the inabilities of the advocate, 
who employs ridicule, instead of argument. " The Citi- 
zen' s patriotism is entirely feigned'' ; his reasons must not 

' Tac, A. , 4, 1. (Animus audax^ suiobtegenSy in alios criminxiior . ) 
**Amind dark and unsearchable, prone to blacken others, alike 
fawning and imperious." 

If the Latin word adulatio^ implies that Sejanus was fond of flat- 
tery and inclined to flatter, the sentiment is still more apposite to our 
wicked minister, who is known to swallow greedily the fulsome and 
nauseous praises of his admirers, and to bear a great deal of daubing. 



Appendix A. 285 

be considered, or listened to, because his religioui princi- 
ples are not to be trusted. Yet if we are to credit An- 
tillon, the Citizen is so little attached to these principles, 
" That he is most lieroutfy wishing for the event," which is 
to free him from their shackles. What my speculative 
notions of religion may be, this is neither the place nor 
time to declare ; toy political principles ought only to be 
questioned on the present occasion ; surely they are con- 
stitutional, and have met, I hope, with the approbation 
of my countrymen ; if so Antillon's aspersions will give 
me no uneasiness. He asks, who is this Citizen ? A 
man, Antillon, of an independent fortune, one deeply in- 
terested in the prosperity of his country : a friend to 
liberty, a settled enemy to lawless prerogative. I am 
accused of folly, and falsehood, of garbling moral and 
legal maxims, of a narrow, sordid and personal enmity ; 
of the first and second accusation, 1 leave the publick 
judge, observing only, that my want of veracity has not 
been proved in a single instance. What moral, what 
legal maxims have I garbled ? Point them out, Antillon : 
You assert that my censures of your conduct flow from a 
narrow, sordid and personal enmity ; that I dislike your 
vices is most true ; that my enmity is rancorous and sor- 
did I deny. You have made the charge, it is incumbent 
on you to prove it ; should you fail in your proofs, admit 
you must, on your own principles, that you have exhibited 
the strongest tokens of a base mind : but what is evident 
to all, can receive no additional confirmation from your 
admission. Take this as an answer, the only one I shall 
give, to all your obloquy and abuse — That vitufierari ab 
iinprobo summa est laus. The bad man's censures are the 
highest commendations. 

If it be irksome to be engaged against a writer of a 
" weak head," and corrupt heart, the task becomes infi- 



286 Charles Carrdl of CarrolUon. 

nitely more disgusting, when we have to encounter not 
only the latter vice, but likewise the wiHuI misrepresenta- 
tions of craft, and falsehoods dictated by " ihameUss 
impudence." It will be shown in the course of this paper 
that Antillon is guilty of both charges. 

The assessment of ship-money, the Citizen has said, 
was a more open, the Proclamation a more disguised, 
though not less dangerous attack on liberty; it has, I 
hope, been proved already, that fees are taxes, and that 
the settlement of them by Proclamation is arbitrary and 
illegal : Anlillon has not refuted the arguments adduced 
to prove both propositions ; other reasons in support 
thereof shall be brought hereafter ; at present let us con- 
sider whether the Proclamation be not a disguised and 
dangerous attack on liberty. If we attend to the time, 
circumstances, and real motive of issuing the Proclama- 
tion, they will, 1 think, evince beyond all doubt, the 
truth of the assertion, The Proclamation came out a 
few days after the jirorogation of the Assembly, under 
the colour of preventing extortion, but in reality to 
ascertain what fees should be taken from the people by 
the officers, and after a disagreement between the two 
Houses about a regulation of fees by law. It would 
have been too insolent to inform the people in plain 
terms; your representatives would not come into our 
proposals, the Governor was therefore advised to issue 
the Proclamation for the settlement of fees, adopting the 
very rates of the late regulation objected to by your 
delegates, as unjust and oppressive in several instances ; 
their obstinate and unreasonable refusal to comply with 
our moderate demands, constrained us to recur to that 
expedient. It would, I say, have been too daring, to 
have talked openly in this manner, and loo silly, to have 
avowed, that, to cover the dangerous tendency of the 



Appendix A. 287 

Proclamation, it was cloaked with the specious, and pre- 
tended necessity of protecting the people from the rapa- 
city of officers. This affected tenderness for the people, 
considering the character of the minister, who made a 
parade of it, and has since assigned it as the best excuse 
of an unconstitutional measure, was sufficient to awaken 
suspicion and fears. Our constitution is founded on 
jealousy, and suspicion ; its true spirit, and full vigor 
cannot be preserved without the most watchful care, and 
strictest vigilance of the representatives over the con- 
duct of administration. This doctrine is not mine, it 
has been advanced and demonstrated by the best con- 
stitutional writers ; the present measures call for our 
closest attention to it ; the latest designs of our crafty 
minister will be best detected by comparing them with 
the open and avowed declarations of government in 
r739 on a contest exactly similar to the present. The 
pursuits of government in the enlargement of its powers, 
and its encroachments on liberty are steady, patient, 
uniform, and gradual ; if checked by a well-concerted 
opposition at one time, and laid aside, they will be 
again renewed by some succeeding minbter, at a more 
favorable juncture. 

Extract from the rules and proceedings of the As- 
sembly, 1739 : 

" The conferrees of the Upper House are commanded 
to acquaint the conferrees of the Lower House, that they 
conceive the Proprietary's authority to settle fees, whtre 
there is no poiitive law for that purpose, to be indispu- 
table, and that they apprehend the exercise of such an 
authority to be agreeable to the several instructions from 
the throne to the respective governments, and therefore 
that the Upper House cannot but think a perpetual law 
in this case, reasonable and necessary, &c." 






288 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

Compare, my countrymen, the Proclamation issued in 
1739 with the present ; compare the language of the 
conferrees of the Upper House in 1739, with Antillon's 
arguments and vindication of his favourite scheme; in 
substance they are the same. Antillon's account of ship 
money, I have admitted in the main to be true, though 
not entirely impartial ; this sentence conveys no insinua- 
tion, but what is plain, and easily justified. A writer 
may give a relation of facts generally true, yet by sup- 
pressing some circumstances, may either exaggerate, or 
diminish the guilt of them, and by so doing, greatly alter 
their character and complexion. The justice of the 
remark will hardly be denied, and the application of it 
to the present case will evince its utihty. Antillon has 
vented part of his spleen on Mr. Hume ; the censured 
passage is taken from that author, acknowledged by a 
sensible writer' and thorough Whig, to be an instructing 
and entertaining historian. To exculpate the notorious 
apologist, and myself, it is necessary to observe that the 
words " levied with Justice and tquality " (not equity, as 
cited by Antillon) mean, the tax was equally divided 
among, or assessed upon the subject without favoi and 
affection to particular persons ; that the imposition, 
though applied to a good and public use, was contrary 
to law, the historian has acknowledged in the most forci- 
ble and express words. 

Has the Citizen anywhere insinuated, that the assess- 
ment of ship money was legal ? Has he not expressly 
declared, that he does not mean to excuse that assess- 
ment? That the conduct of Charles will admit of no 
good apology ? Yet that there were some appearances in 
his favor, the passages already quoted, candid men, I 

' Daines Barrington. "Observations on the SUIutes, chiefly Ihe 




Appendix A, 289 

think, will admit, if not as a proof to convince, at least 
as an inducement to inctine them to that opinion ; mine, 
I confess, it is, and I make the acknowledgment, without 
fear of incurring the odious imputation of abetting arbi- 
trary measures, or of being a friend to the Stuarts. 

What means the insinuation, Antillon, conveyed in this 
sentence, " The apptllation tyrant has I suspect rubbed the 
sort." Your endeavours to defame, excite only pity and 
contempt ; your heaviest accusations, thank God, have 
no better foundation than your own suspicions. But to 
return — I again assert, that notwithstanding all the acts 
ascertaining the subject's rights, cited in your last admir- 
able, and polite performance, that the boundaries be- 
tween liberty and prerogative were far from being 
ascertained in Charles's reign with that precision, and 
accuracy, which the subsequent resolutions, and the im- 
provements our constitution in later times have intro- 
duced.' I must trouble my readers with a few more 
quotations from the obnoxious historian above men- 
tioned, submitting the justice of his observations, and the 
inference drawn from them to their decision, and better 
judgment : 

" Those lofty ideas of monarchical power which were 
very erroneously adopted during that age and to which the 
ambiguous nature of the English constitution gave so plausi- 
ble an appearance, were firmly riveted in Charles." 
Again, speaking of illegal imprisonment, " But the Kings 
of England " (says he) " who had not been able to pre- 
vent the enacting these laws " (in favor of personal lib- 

' " The latter years," saj^s Blackslone, " of Henry VIII, were the 
times of the grcatesl despotism, that have been known in this island, 
since the death of William the Nurman : the prerogative as it then 
stood by common law (and much mote when extended by Act of 
Parliament) being too large to be endured in a land of liberty." 



290 Charles CarroU of Carrtdtton. 

erty) " had sufficient authority, when the tide of liberty 
was spent, to hinder their regular execution, and they 
deemed it superfluous to attempt the fonnal repeal of 
statutes, which they found so many expedients, and pre- 
tences to elude." 

"The imposition of shipraoney" (the same historian 
remarks), " is apparently one of the most dangerous in- 
vasions of national privileges, not only which Chades 
was ever guilty of, but which the most arbitrary princes 
in England, since any liberty had been ascertained to 
the people, had ever ventured upon." He subjoins in a 
note, "It must, however, be allowed that Queen Eliza- 
beth ordered the seaports to fit out ships, at their own 
expence, during the time of the Spanish invasion." 
Elizabeth treated her Parliaments with haughtiness, and 
assumed a tone of authority in addressing those Assem- 
blies, which even the tyrant Charles did not exceed : — 
her father governed with despotic sway. To these 
opinions, and unsettled notions of the Kingly power, and 
to the prejudices of that age, candour, perhaps, will 
partly ascribe the determination of the judges in favour 
of shipmoney, and not solely to corruption. 

The Citizen has said, " that the Reuolution rather 
brought about, than foUowid King James's abdication of 
the crown." The assertion is warranted by the fact, 
James's endeavours to subvert the Establishment of 
Church and State, and to introduce arbitrary power, 
occasioned the general insurrection of the nation in vin- 
dication of its liberties, and the invasion of the Prince of 
Orange, soon afterwards crowned King of England. 
James, dispirited by the just, and general desertion of his 
subjects, and fearing, or pretending to fear violence from 
his son-in-law, withdrew from the kingdom ; his with- 
drawing was what properly constituted his abdication 



Appendix A. 291 

from the Crown : his tyrannical proceedings were the 
cause indeed of that abdication, and voted together with 
his withdrawing, an abdication of the government ; till 
that event the Revolution was incomplete. Will say 
man, except Antillon, or one equally prejudiced, infer 
from the last mentioned quotation, that the Citizen in- 
tended to cast any reflection on the Revolution, to repre- 
sent it as an unjust act of violence, or that he does not 
approve the political principles of ihose by whom it was 
principally accomplished ? — I shall now consider An- 
tillon's main argument in support of the Proclamation, 
first reducing it into a syllogism. "Taxes cannot be laid 
but by the legislative authority ; but fees have been laid 
by the separate branches thereof ; therefore fees are not 
taxes." i deny the major, Mr, Antillon, in the latitude 
laid down by you, but admit it with this restriction, sav- 
ing in such cases as are warranted by long, immemorial, 
and uninterrupted usage. The very instances adduced 
in your paper are an exception to the general rule- The 
two Houses of Parliament have separately settled fees, as 
I said before, by the usage, custom and law of Parlia- 
ment, which is part of the law of the land. 

'* The Judges in Westminster Hall settled fees," yoM say, 
without defining what you mean by a settlement of fees 
in this instance ; your inference, " there/ore a similar 
power is vested in the gtwernor of this province" I deny. 
The inference will not be granted, unless you prove, that 
the king by his sole authority, contrary to the express de- 
claration of the Commons, has settled the fees of officers 
belonging to the courts of law, and equity in Westminster 
Hall, that is, hath laid new fees on the subject, at a time 
when they were no longer paid out of the royal revenue, 
but taken out of the pockets of the people. The fees of 
officers have been established for many years past in this 



292 Charles Carroll of CarrdUon. 

province by the I^egistature, and the act establishing them 
was made temporary, that on a change of circumstances 
an alteration of the fees, if expedient should take place ; 
that this was the sole motive of making the inspection 
law temporary, the Citizen has not asserted, nor has 
Antillon denied it to be one of the motives. An in- 
spection of the votes and proceedings of Assembly in 
1739 will evince that the principal reason of giving a 
temporary existence to that act was to alter, and correct 
the table of fees on the expiration of it. 

"May 31, 1739, The conferrees 0/ the Upper House 
acquaint the conferrees of the Lower House, that the 
Upper House could agree to no law to establish officers 
fees, but what should \it perpetual, and were ordered not 
to proceed to consider of any fees, till the sense of the 
Lower House on that point should be made known. 

" 2nd June, 1739, This House (the lower) having taken 
into consideration the report of their members appointed 
conferrees concerning the officers fee bill, and the pro- 
posal made by the conferrees of the Upper House, of 
making that bill a perpetual act, do unanimously agree, that 
it would be of the most dangerous and destructive eonsequeme 
to the people of this province to make such act perpetual." 

Judge now, reader, what was the principal intention 
of the delegates in making the inspection law temporary ; 
but if fees may be lawfully settled by proclamation, 
" when there happens to be no prior pr<n<ision, or establish- 
ment of them bylaw" then may the fees originally settled 
by a temporary act, be upheld by prerogative, and made 
perpetual, and the province be left exposed to the same 
dangerous, and destructive consequences, which were 
apprehended from a perpetuity of the law, 

Antillon asserts, " That the Citizen has been constrained 
to admit that the judges in England have settled fees." 






Appendix A. 293 

This assertion I must take the liberty of contradicting ; 
if the reader will be at the trouble of turning to the Citi- 
zen's last paper, he will there see, that the Citizen after 
quoting Antillon's words, The courts of law and equity in 
Westminster-hall have likewise settled fees" asks by what 
authority? " Antillon," says he, " has not been full and 
express on this point." "Admitting even " (continues 
the Citizen) "that the chancellor and judges have settled 
fees, by virtue of the King's commission, at the request 
of the House of Commons, without the sanction of a 
statute, yet the precedent by no means applies to the 
present case." Is this being constrained to admit that 
the judges in England have settled fees ? Once for all, 
Antillon, I must inform you, that I shall never admit 
your assertions, barely on the strength of your ipse dixits 
unsupported by other proof ; I perceive your drift but I 
know my man, and will not suffer myself to be entangled 
in his snares. 

Vane ligvs , fruslraque aitimis tlalt mftrbii, 
Nequiquam patrias ItmplasH Mricui arfii.' 

Proud Antillon, 

" Od others practbe thy deceiving aits ; 
Thin litRitBgems, and tricks of little heuls 
Are loiit on me, — " 

" The judges in Westminsttr-hall have settled fees'' A 
full enquiry into this matter, I am inclined to believe, 
would expose Antillon's disingenuity, and show how in- 
conclusive his inference is. " Therefore the Governor 
may settle fees" thai is, impose fees on the inhabitants of 
this province. It has been already observed, that the 
King originally paid all his ofBcers, and that nothing cat) 
be more consistent with the spirit of our constitution, 
'Virg., '■ jtn.,"Ki., 71S-716. 



294 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

than that he, who pays salaries, should fix than. " Fees 
are certain perquisites allowed to officers, who have to do 
with the administration of justice, as a recompeose for 
their labor, and trouble, and these are either ascertained 
by Acts of Parliament or established by ancient usage, 
which gives them aa equal sanction ■with an Act of Parlia- 
ment^ Coke on his comment on Littleton, sect 701, 
observes, that it is provided by the statute of Westminster, 
ist, that no sheriff or any other minister of the King, 
shall take any reward for doing his office, but that which 
the King alloweth. That the subsequent statutes having 
permitted fees to be taken in some instances, under color 
thereof, abuses had been committed by oflicers ; but that 
they cannot take fees, but such as are given by Act of 
Parliament, " But yet such reasonable fees as have been 
allowed by the courts of justice of ancient time to inferior 
ministers, and attendants of courts for their labour and 
attendance, if they be asked and taken of the subject is no 
extortion." It does not appear to me, that the judges 
have ever imposed new fees by their sole authority. Hawk- 
ins says, " the chief danger of oppression is from 
officers ' being left at liberty to set their own rates, and 
make their own demands," therefore the law has author- 
ized the judges to settle them," 

What law, common, or statute, has either empowered 
the judges to impose new feesf Antillon asks, how are 
these settlements, and the admission of l/ieir legality (take 

' Bacon's Abiidg., id. vol. 

* AntiUoD has acknowledged that two counsellors were inleresCed 
in the selllement of fees ; he is, perhaps one of Ihem ; he has also 
acknowledged, that he advised the Froclamation as expedient and 
legal : he has held up the Proclamation as the standard, by which 
the courts of justice are to b« guided in awarding costs : if all this be 
true, has he not endeavoiued to set his own rates, and make his own 
demands? 



Appendix A. 295 

notice, reader, I have not admitted t/ieir legality) to be 
reconciled with the position, that fees are taxes 9 Before 
you can reasonably expect an answer to this question, 
it is incumbent on you, Antillon, first to fix a certain, 
and determined meaning to a settlement of fees ly the 
judges, and to explain in what manner, upon what occa- 
sions, and at what time, or times, the judges have settled 
fees, then shall we have some fixed and certain notion of 
those settlements. After you have taken all this trouble, 
the information may be pleasing (man is naturally curi- 
ous, and fond of having mysteries unfolded) but the 
inference, " Therefore, the governor may legally impose fees 
by his sole authority" will be rejected for this plain and 
obvious reason. Fees in this province have been gener* 
ally settled by the legislature ; so far back as 1638, we 
find a law for the limitation of officers fees ; in 1693, the 
governor's authority lo settle fees was expressly denied 
by the Lower House ; it was voted unanimously by that 
House, " That it is the undoubted right of the freemen 
of this province not to have ANY FEES imposed upon them 
but by the consent of the freemen in a General Assembly." 
The Speaker of that House attended by several members 
went up to the Council Chamber, and informed the gov- 
ernor and members thereof, " That no officers fees ought 
to be imposed upon them, but by the consent of the 
representatives in Assembly, and that this liberty was 
established and ascertained by several acts of Parliament, 
the authority of which is so great, as to receive no answer, 
but by repeal of the said statutes, and produced the same 
with several other authorities ; to which the governor's 
answer was, that his instructions from his Majesty were 
to lessen and moderate the exhorbitancy of them, and not 
to settle them ; to which Mr, Speaker replied that they 
were thankful to his Majesty for the same, but withal 



296 Charles Carroll of CarroUton, 

desired that no fees might be lesiened or advatieed\mt by 
the consent of the Assembly, to which the Governor 
agreed." An act was passed that very session for rega- 
lating officers fees. 

Here was a formal relinquishment of the claim to set- 
tle fees by prerogative ; from that day to this the claim 
has been constantly opposed by the representatives of 
the people, and in consequence of that opposition laws 
have been made from time to time for the limitation of 
officers fees ; these laws ought to be considered as so 
many strong and express denials of the Proprietary's 
authority to settle fees, and as so many acknowledg- 
ments on the part of government of its illegality. Prece- 
dents, I know, have been brought to show that the power 
hath been exercised; so have many other unconstitu- 
tional powers ; the exercise doth not prove the right ; it 
proves nothing more than a deviation from the principles 
of the Constitution in those instances in which the power 
hath been illegally exercised. Precedents drawn from 
the mere exercise of a disputed authority, so far from 
justifying the repeated exercise of that authority, suggest 
the strongest motive for resisting a similar attempt, since 
the former temporary and constrained acquiescence of 
the people under the exertion of a contested prerogative 
is now urged as a proof of its legality. As precedents 
have been mentioned, their proper use, and misapplica- 
tion, cannot be better displayed than by a quotation 
from the author of the " Considerations." After perus- 
ing the passage with attention, the reader, I think, will 
be disposed to treat Antillon's argument drawn from the 
precedent of New York, with great contempt, perhaps 
with some indignation should he have reason to believe 
that the " Considerations " were wrote by this very An- 
tillon : " When instances are uiged as an authoritative 



Appendix A. 297 

reason for adopting a new " (or an illegal measure, the 
reason is applicable to either) " they are proved to be more 
important from this use of them " (the countenance and 
support they are made to give to arbitrary proceedings) 
" and ought therefore to be reviewed with accuracy and 
canvassed with strictness ; what is proposed ought to be 
incorporated with what hath been done, and the result 
of both stated and considered as a substantive, original 
question, and if the measure proposed is incompatible 
with the constitutional rights of the subject, it is so far 
from being a rational argument that consistency requires 
an adoption of the proposed measure, that, on the con- 
trary, it suggests the strongest motive for abolishing the 
precedent ; when therefore an instance of deviation from 
the Constitution is pressed as a reason for the estab- 
lishment of a measure striking at the root of all liberty : 
though the argument is inconclusive, it ought to be use- 
ful. Wherefore if a sufficient answer were not given to 
the argument drawn from precedents, by shewing that 
none of the instances adduced are practicable, I should 
have very little difficulty in denying the justice of the 
principle on which it is founded ; what hath been done if 
wrongful confers no right to repeat H j to justify oppres- 
sion and outrage by instances of their commission, 
is a kind of argument which never can produce convic- 
tion, though it may their acquiescence whom the terror 
of greater evils may restrain from resisting ' ; and thus 
the despotism of the East may be supported, and the 
natural rights of mankind trampled under foot The 
question of right therefore doth not depend upon prece- 
dents, but on the principles of the Constitution, and hath 
been put upon its proper point already discussed," whether 
' The lost two words are omitted as the passage is quoted in the 
Maryland Gaitlli. 



2 98 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

the prerogative may lawfully settle fees in this province. 
Aatiilon has laid great stress on the authority of the 
English judges to settle fees, and from that authority has 
inferred a similar power in the governor of this province ; 
he has not indeed explained as it behoved him to do, the 
origin, nature, and extent of that authority, nor has he 
shewn in what manner it has been exercised. 

No man, I believe, hath a precise and clear idea of a 
settlement of fees by the judges, from what Antillon has 
hitherto said on the subject. What does it mean ? I 
ask again, does the authority to settle imply a power to 
lay ntu' fees ? The judges, it is allowed cannot alter, or 
increase the old fees ; they have not therefore, I presume^ 
a discretionary power to impose new j if their authority 
should extend to the imposition of new fees^ why, in a 
variety of instances, have fees been ascertained by act of 
Parliament. Where was the necessity of enacting those 
statutes, if the judges were empowered by law to settle, 
that is, to impose fees by their own, or delegated author- 
ity ? Here seem to be two distinct powers in the same 
state, capable of the same thing ; if co-equal, they may 
clash, and interfere with each other ; if the one be sub- 
ordinate to the other, then no doubt, the power of the 
judges must be subject to the power of Parliament, 
which is, and must be supreme ; if subject to, it is con- 
trolled by Parliament. The Parliament, we all know, 
is composed of three distinct branches, independent of, 
yet controlling and controlled by each other ; no law 
can be enacted, but by the joint consent of those three 
branches ; now, if in case of disagreement between them 
about a regulation of fees, the power of the judges may 
step in, and supply the want of a law, then may the in- 
terposition, and authority of Parliament in that case be 
rendered useless and nugatory. Suppose the leading 



Appendix A. 299 

members of one branch to be deeply interested in the 
regulation, that branch will probably endeavour to obtain, 
if it can, an exhor^tant provision for ofRcers : the Other 
may think Ihe provision contended for, too great, they 
disagree ; the fee bill miscarries ; the power of the 
judges is now left at liberty to act, a necessity for its 
acting is insisted on, and they perhaps establish the very 
fees, which one branch of the Legislature has already 
condemned as unreasonable and excessive. Suppose the 
judges should hold their seats during pleasure, suppose 
them strongly prejudiced in favor of government, might 
not a bad administration, if this power were submitted 
to, obtain what establishment it pleased for its officers ? 
Should the judges discover a disinclination to favor the 
views of government, the removal of the stubborn and 
the putting in of others more compliant, would overcome 
that difficulty, and not only secure to government for a 
time, the desired establishment of fees, but render that 
establishment perpetual. That a bold and profligate 
minister will embrace the most bare faced, and shameful 
means to carry a point, the creation of twelve peers in 
one day " on the spur of the occasion" is a memorable 
proof. A settlement of fees by Proclamation, I still pre- 
sume to assert, notwithstanding the subtle efforts of 
Antillon to prove the contrary, to be an arbitrary and 
illegal tax, and consequently thus far similar to the ship 
money assessment : my Lord Coke's authority warrants 
the assertion and his reasoning will support the principle ; 
all new ofiices erected with new fees, or all offices with 
new fees, are within this act {de tallagto non concedendo) 
that is, they are a talliage or tax upon the people. 

I never asserted, that our offices relating to the admin- 
istration of justice were not old, and comtituHonal ; but I 
have asserted, that we have no old and established fees j 



300 Charles Carroll of CarroUtan. 

that fees settled by Proclamation are newitt% and that 
consequently they come within the act, and Coke's ex- 
position of it ; and therefore, as nrw fees are taxes, and 
taxes cannot be laid but by the Legislature, except in the 
cases heretofore mentioned, fees settled by one, or two 
branches thereof, are an unconstitutional and illegal tax. 
What Coke observes, says Antillon, in his comment on 
the statute {de tallagio non concedendo) " may be fully 
admitted, without any proof," that " every settlement of 
fees is a tax ; " therefore, I presume, some settlement of 
fees is a tax ; what settlement of them, Antillon is a tax ? 
If fees settled by Act of Parliament are taxes, why should 
they cease to be taxes, when settled by the discretionary 
power of the judges? If when settled by the latter 
authority they come not within the strict legal definition 
of a tax, are they on that account less oppressive, or of a 
less dangerous tendency ? According to Antillon, the 
words *'^ne7v fees are not to be annexed to old offices^* mean 
" that the old and established fees are not to be augmented 
or altered but by Act of Parliament ; " yet, in " the old 
offices, fees may be settled,'* That is, if I comprehend him 
right, new fees may be established by the judges "/i^r 
necessary services j ivhen there happens to be no prior pro^ 
vision made by law for those services," 

How is this interpretation of my Lord Coke's com- 
ment to be reconciled with his position, that fees cannot 
be imposed but by Act of Parliament, and with the doc- 
trine laid down in 2d Bacon already recited ? The legcU- 
ity of the Proclamation, Antillon has said, is determinable 
in the ordinary judicatories ; does it follow, therefore, 
that the measure is constitutional? On the same princi- 
ple the assessment of ship-money would have been con- 
stitutional ; for the legality of that too was determinable 
in the ordinary judicatories, and it was actually deter- 



Appendix A. 301 

mined to be legal by all the judges, four excepted ; if in 
that decision the Parliament and people had tamely 
acquiesced, Proclamations at this day would have the 
force of laws, indeed would supersede all law. 

Antillon's next argument in support of the Proclama- 
tion is derived from the necessity of ascertaining pre- 
cisely by the judgment or final decree, the costs of suits, 
which are sometimes wholly, sometimei partly composed 
of the lawyers, and officers fees. If fees are taxes, and 
taxes can be laid by the Legislature only, that necessity 
(admitting it for the sake of argument to exist) will not 
justify the settlement of fees by Proclamation ; who is to 
be judge of the necessity ? Is the government ? Then is 
its power unlimited. Who will pretend to say, that the 
necessity is urgent and invincible ? Such a necessity only, 
can excuse the violation of this fundamental law ; " The 
subjects shall not be taxed but by the consent of their repre 
sentatives in Parliament." "If necessity is the sole 
foundation of the dangerous power " of settling fees by 
prerogative, when there is no prior establishment of them 
by law, " it behoves those who advise the exercise of that 
power, not only to see that the necessity is indeed invin- 
eible, but that it has not been occasioned by any fault of 
their own ; for if it is not the one, the act is in no way 
justifiable, and if the other, that very necessity which is 
the excuse of the act, will be the accusation of those, 
who occasioned it, and in place of being justifiable in 
their conduct, they must be chargeable, ist, with the 
blame of the necessity, and next with the danger of the 
violation of the law, as the drunken man who commits 
murder, justly bears the guilt both of inebriation and of 
bloodshed, " ' To whom is the blame of the supposed 

' Quoted from a psmphlet enlilled " A Speech ag&inst the Sospend- 
ing and Dispensing Pren^ttive," supposed to be writteo by Lord 



302 Charles Carroll of Carrolllon. 

necessity, now plead as an excuse for acting against law, 
imputable ? Is it not to those, who rather than submit 
to a regulation by law of their fees, and to an appre- 
hended diminution of income, chose to shelter themselves 
under the wings of arbitrary prerogative, and to expose 
their country to all the difficulties, and distress, 
which the wanton exercise of an unconstitutional power 
was sure to introduce ? 

Who, the least acquainted with the arguments in 
favor of ship-money, and the dispensing pawer^ does not 
perceive this part of Antillon's defence to be a repeti- 
tion, and revival of those exploded, and justly odious 
topics tricked off in a new dress to hide their deformity, 
the better to impose on the unthinking and unwary. 
Antillon asserts, that the Citizen from some proceedings 
of the House of Commons, infers a power in the Com- 
mons " aloM " to settle the fees of officers belonging to 
the courts of law. Want of accuracy in the expression 
has, I confess, given a color to the charge ; but Antillon 
to justify his construction of the sentence referred to, 
and to exclude all doubt of the Citizen's meaning, has 
inserted the word " alone'' " If the Commons," says 
the Citizen, " had a right to enquire into the abuses com^ 
mitted by the officers of the courts^ they hady no doubt the 
power of correcting those abuses ^ and of establishing the fees 
in those courts^ had they thought proper " — he should have 
added (to prevent all cavil) — with the concurrence of the 
King and Lords, This was really the Citizen's meaning, 

Mansfield. Mr. Blackstone, speaking of the very measure, which 
occasioned that speech, observes : '* A Proclamation to lay an em- 
bargo in time of peace upon all vessels laden with wheat (though in 
the time of a public scarcity) being contrary to law, the advisers of 
such a proclamation, and all persons acting under it, found it necessary 
to be indemnified by a special Act of Parliament, 7 Geo. 3d. C. 7." 




Appendix A. 303 

chough not expressed ; his whole argument should be 
considered, and taken together ; he endeavors all along 
to prove, that fees are taxes, that taxes cannot be laid 
but by ihe Legislature, except in the instances already 
mentioned, which, as I said before, are exceptions to the 
general rule. The extracts from the report of the com- 
mittee were adduced to show, what abuses had crept 
into practice by officers charging illegal fees ; what op- 
pressions the encroaching spirit of oflice had brought 
upon the subject ; and the controlling power of the 
House of Commons over the officers of the courts of jus- 
tice. They resolved, that all the fees should be fixed, and 
established by authority, that they should be registered 
in a book, and inspected gratis ; that the rates being 
publicly known, officers might not extort more than the 
usual, ancient, legal and established fees. It does not 
appear, that the Commons authorised the judges to 
create new fees, or to alter, or increase the old, but in- 
sisted, that a table of all the fees should be made out 
under the inspection of the judges, and to give it a 
greater sanction, should be signed and attested by them, 
to prevent, no doubt, the secret and rapacious practices 
of officers. That fees are taxes, I hope has been proved ; 
but should it be granted, that they are not taxes, because 
they have been settled in England by other authority, 
than the legislative (which I do not admit, if by a settle- 
ment of fees under the authority of the judges, an im- 
position of new fees may be meant) still I contend, that 
a settlement of fees in this province by Proclamation is 
illegal, and unconstitutional, for the reasons already 
assigned ; to which the following may be added. If a 
table of fees had been framed by the House of Com- 
mons, confirmed by Act of Parliament, and all former 
statutes relating to fees had been repealed, and a tempo- 



304 Charles Carroll (tf CarrollUm. 

rary duration given to the new act, that at its expiration, 
corrections and amendments (if expedient) mig;ht be 
made in the table of fees ; if in consequeace of a dis- 
agreement between the branches of the Legislature about 
those amendments, the law had expired, and the Com- 
mons had resolved, that an attempt to establish the late 
rates by Proclamation would be illegal, and unconstitu- 
tional would any minister of Great Britain advise his 
sovereign to issue his Proclamation, under color of pre- 
venting extortion, but in reality for the very purpose of 
establishing the contested rates? If a minister should 
be found daring enough to adopt the measure, a dismis- 
sion from office might not be his only punishment, al- 
though he should endeavour to justify his conduct upon 
legal principles, in the following manner. 

The same authority distinct from the legislative, that 
has settled may settle the fees, when the proper occasion 
of exercising it occurs: the proper occasion has. now 
presented itself, we have no law for the establish- 
ment of fees ; some standard is necessary, and there- 
fore the authority distinct from thu legislative, which used 
to settle fees, must interfere, and settle them again ; 
necessity calls for its exertion, and it ought to be active ; 
recourse, I allow, should not be had to its interposition, 
but in a case of the utmost urgency. 

" Na dms intersil iiiii digiius finiiut iiadus."* 

" Nor let a god in person stand displayed, 

Unless the laioHtis flat deserve his aid." 

Such reasoning would not screen the minister from the 

resentment of the Commons : they would tell him, that 

the necessity, " The tyrant's pita," was pretended, not 

real, if real, that it was occasioned by his selfish views, 

'Hor., "A. P.," pp. 111-122. (Na Jtiii ittlersU nisi dignta 

vindiie nedut inctderil). 



Appendix A. 305 

which prevented the passage of a law, for the settlement 
of fees ; they would perhaps assert, that a power, distinct 
from the legislative, unless authorized by the latter, had 
never attempted to impose fees, since they began to be 
paid by the people ; they might possibly show, that a 
settlement of fees by the judges, does not imply an 
authority in them to impose new fees, if it should, that 
the power is unconstitutional, and ought to be restrained ; 
they might contend that a settlement of fees by the judges, 
was nothing more than a publication under their hands 
and seals of such fees, as had been usually, and of ancient 
time received bythe officers of the courts ; that the pub- 
lication by authority was made, to prevent the rapacious 
practices of officers ; they would probably refer the min- 
ister to my Lord Coke, who says expressly — that, while 
officers "could take no fee at all for doing their office but 
of the King, then had they no color to exact anything of 
the subject, who knew, that they ought to take nothing of 
them, but when some Acts of Parliament, changing the 
rule of the common law, gave to the ministers of the 
King, fees in some particular cases to be taken of the 
subject, abuses crept in, and the officers and ministers 
did offend in most cases, but at this day, they can take 
no more for doing their office, than have been since this 
act allowed to them by authority of Parliament." (West- 
minister 1st.) 

But let us leave fiction and come to reality ; what will 
the delegates of the people at their next meeting say to 
our minister, this Antillon, this enemy to his country^ this 

' Voted by the Lower House. AntiUon seems to make veiy light 
of those resolves, « wicked minister is never at a loss to find out 
motives, to which he majr ascribe the censure and condemnation of 
his conduct, these he will impute either to posdoo, to the diuppoint- 
ment of a faction, or to rancorous and peiional enmity ; however, if 



3o6 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon, 



bashaw — who calls a censure of his measures, arrogance 
and freedom of speech, presumption ? — They will prob- 
ably tell him ; you advised the Proclamation, with y^u it 
was concerted in the cabinet, and by you brought intc 
Council ; your artifices imposed on the Board, and on 
the Governor, and drew them into an approbation of a 
icheme outwardly specious, and calculated to deceive s you 
have since defended it upon principles incompatible with 
the freedom, ease, and prosperity of the province. II 
your endeavours should prove successful, if the Procla- 
mation should be enforced, we shall never have it in oui 
power to correct the many glaring abuses, and excessive 
rales, of the old table, adopted by the Proclamation, 
nor to reduce the salaries of officers, which greatly ovei 
pay their services, and give an influence to government, 
usually converted to sinister purposes, and of course 
repugnant to the general good. 

The monies collected from the people, and paid to 
oRicers, amount annually to a large sum ; officers are de- 
pendent on, and of course attached to government ; powei 
is said to follow property ; the more, therefore, the 
property of officers is increased, the greater the influence 
of government will be ; fatal experience proves it already 
too great. The power of settling fees by Proclamation 
tbe Proclamatinn is illegal, and of a dangerous tendency tbe votes 
alluded to, so fai from l>eing justly imputable to aoy of those causes, 
ought to be deemed the result and duty of real patriotism. AdIIIIod 
has compared the votes of a former Lower House against certain re- 
ligionists, to the late votes agsinst the adviser of an nnconstitutioDal 
measure. The unprejudiced will discern a wide difference between 
the two proceedings, but ■ review of the former would answer no 
good puqKKe ; it might perhaps, rekindle extinguished a 
ai that transaction I shall say no more than — 

MitHimmus. et igncscimus, 
" We remember and forgive." 



Appendix A. 307 

is utterly inconsistent with the spirit of a free constitution : 
if the Proclamation has a legal, binding force, then will 
it' undoubtedly take away a part of the people's property 
without their consent. "Whatever another may right- 
fully take from me without my consent, I have certainly 
no property in." ' if you render property thus insecure, 
you destroy the very life and soul of liberty. What U 
this power, or prerogative of settling fees by Proclama- 
tion, but the mere exertion of arbitrary will? If the su- 
preme magistrate may lawfully settle fees by his sole 
authority, at one time, why may he not increase them at 
some other, according to his good will and pleasure?* 
What boundary, what barrier shall we fix to this discre- 
tionary power ? Would not the exercise of it, if sub- 
mitted to, preclude the delegates of the people from 
interfering in any future settlement of fees, from correct- 
ing subsisting abuses, and excesses, or from lowering the 
salaries of officers, when they become too lucrative ? It 
is imagined, the salaries of the Commissary, and Secre- 
tary, from the increase of business, will in process of 
time, exceed the appointments of the Governor: does 
not this very circumstance point out the necessity of a 
reduction ? But if the authority to regulate officers' fees, 
with the concurrence of the other branches of the Legis- 
lature, should be wrested from the Lower House, what 
expectation can we ever have, of seeing this necessary 
reduction take place ? 

" That question ought not to be prejudged," says An- 
tillon "is another of the Citizen's objections." Here 
again he willfully misrepresents the Citizen's meaning. 
The passage in the Citizen's last paper alluded to by 

' Molynenn, " Case of Ireland stated." 

'Fees were actually increased by Proclamation in 1739, on the ap- 
plication of several sheriSi. 



308 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

AntilloD, is this: "The Governor, it is said, with the 
advice of his Lordship's Council of State, issued the Proc- 
lamation : three of our provincial judges are of that 
Council, they therefore advised a measure, as proper, and 
consequently as legal, the legality of which, if called in 
question, they were afterwards to determine : is not this 
in some degree prejudging the question?" Antitlon 
talks of precedents, and established rules ; the Citizen 
says not a word about them, his meaning is too plain to be 
mistaken, without design. The Council, it has been 
said, advised the Proclamation, the judges therefore, 
who were then in Council, and concurred in the advice, 
thought it a legal measure ; the legality of it may here- 
after be questioned ; as judges of the provincial court, 
they may be concerned in the determination of the 
question. Is there no impropriety in this proceeding ? 
if they should determine the Proclamation to be illegal, 
will they not condemn their former opinion ? When they 
advised the Proclamatioo, they no doubt judged it to be, 
not only " expfdienl" but legal ; possibly the decision of 
this controversy may rest ultimately with the members of 
the Council, who constitute the court of appeals ; these 
gentlemen, it seems, unanimously concurred in advising 
the Proclamation : " Is not this to anticipate questions 
before they come to them through their regular channel; to 
decide first, and hear afterwards." ' 

' " \Vhether an}' officer has been guill]' of extortion, is a question, 
which neither your notoui dcclaralion ought Co prejudicate ; but that 
your declaration held out to the public would h*v«, in no small 
degree, this effect, can hardly he doubted, and our part parlituhrly, 
such a declaration would be the more improper, 'Cac laii Ugal appeal 
in this province being to us ; it would be to anticipate questiona, 
before they come Co us Chrough their regular channel, to decide first, 
and hear afterwards." Vidt. Upper House, Message, aoth Novem- 
ber, 1770. 



A^endix A. 309 

Of the twelve counsellors, says Antillon, "Two only 
were interested." — Suppose a suit to be brought before 
twelve judges, two of whom are plaintiffs in the cause, 
and these two should sit in judgment, and deliver their 
opinions, would not the judgment, if given in favor 
of the plaintiffs, be void on this principle, that no man 
ought to be judge in his own cause, such proceeding being 
contrary to reason and natural equity ? Two counsellors 
only, it seems, were interested, that is immediately inter- 
ested ? But might not others be swayed by a remote 
interest? Are the views of thinking men confined to 
the present hour ? Are they not most commonly extended 
to distant prospects ? If one of the interested counsellors, 
from his superior knowledge of the law, and constitution, 
and from the confidence reposed in his abilities, should 
have acquired an uncommon ascendant over the Council, 
may we not rationally conclude, that his opinion would 
have great weight with those, who cannot be supposed 
equally good judges of the law, and constitution ? Sup- 
posing this interested counsellor to be an honest man, ought 
not his opinion to have the greatest weight with mere lay- 
men on a legal and constitutional question ? The Proc- 
lamation has no relation to the Chancellor, says Antillon. 
Does not the Chancellor continue to receive fees in his 
court according to the rates of the old table P Is not 
the Governor Chancellor, and has not the Proclamation 
set up the very rates of the old table ? How then can it 
be said, that the Proclamation has no relation to the 
Chancellor ? Should some refractory person refuse to 
pay the Chancellor's fees, what methods would be taken 
to enforce the payment of them ? The Chancellor, I 
suppose, would decree his own fees to be paid ; would he 
not therefore be judge in his own cause? Or if he should 
refuse to do the service, imless the fee were paid, at the 



3 1 o Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

instant of performing it, would not this be a very effectual 
method of compelling payment ? 

Antillon's strictures in one of his notes on the citizen's 
crude notions ' of British polity fall entirely on another 
person ; they are the notions of Montesquieu and of the 
writer of a pamphlet entitled, " The Privileges of the 
Assembly of Jamaica Vindicated, etc.," and quoted as 
such. Notwithstanding the appeal from the court of 
Chancery to a superior jurisdiction, the impropriety of 
having the offices of governor, and chancellor united in 
the same person, must be obinous to every thinking matt' 
" The Proclamation was the act of the Governor, flowing 
from his persuasion of its utility ; he was not to be 
directed by the suffrage of the Council, he was to judge 
of the propriety of their advice, upon the reasons they 
should offer ; they were twelve in number," and no 
doubt each offered his reasons apart ; all this may be very 
true, Antillon, and you may still remain the principal 
adviser, the %o\^ fabricator of the Proclamation. Was the 
Proclamation thought of, at one and the same instant by 
all the twelve ? Who first proposed it? If you did not 
first propose the measure, did you not privately instigate 
the gentleman, who did propose it to the Board, to make 
the motion ? I know you of old ; you never choose to ap- 
pear openly the author of mischief, you have always 

' If the Governor may lawfully issue his proclamation for the es- 
tablishment of fees, and it should receive a legal, binding force from 
the decree of the Chancellor, who in this province is Governor, or 
from the determination of judges appointed by him, and rcmoveal)le 
at his pleasure, '' Then may he behave with all the violence of an op. 
pressor*' The will to ordain, and the power to enforce, will be 
lodged in the same person. I do not assert that the Governor will 
act tyrannically ; "but the true liberty of the subject " (as Black- 
stone justly observes) *' consists, not so much in the gracious beha- 
viour, as in the limited power of the sovereign.*' 



^^^^ 




^^ 


^■^^■t^.-^r*-- - '' ->f«r-T^~- 



lix A. 



311 

fathered your " mischievous tricks," on some one else — 
to these questions I would request your answer, and rest 
the truth of the accusation on your averment ; but the 
averments of a "cankered" minister are not more to be 
relied on than his promises, I have charged, you say, all 
the members of the Council with being your implied de- 
pendents ; I deny the charge ; I have said they were im- 
posed on by your artifices ; is it the first time, that sensible 
men have been outwitted by a knave ? You are now try- 
ing to engage them on your side, and to make them parties 
to ytntr cause. To raise their resentment against the 
Citizen, you endeavour to persuade them that they have 
been treated as ciphers, dependent tools, idiots, a mere 
rabble, 

" Nos Humerus sumus, et fruges consumere natt.' " 
" We are but cyphers, bom to eat and sleep." 
To draw the governor into your quarrel, you assert, that 
I have contradicted him in the grossest manner ; but as 
usual, you have failed in your proof. " In his pro- 
roguing speech he has declared, that he issued his Proc- 
lamation solely for the benefit of the people, by nine 
tenths of whom, he believed it was so understood." That 
you persuaded him to think the Proclamation was calcu- 
lated solely for the benefit of the people, I easily credit, 
and that he really thought so, I will as readily admit ; your 
sitbdolous attempts to involve the Governor in your guilty 
counsels, and make him a partner myour crimes, discover 
the wisdom of the maxim, " The King can do no wrong," 
and the propriety, nay the necessity of its application to 
the supreme magistrate of this province, I shall adopt 
another maxim, established by the British Parliament, 
equally wise and just, " The King's speeches are the min' 
isttr's speeekes." The distinction, perhaps, will be ridi- 
' Hot., " Ep.," i., a, 37. 



3 1 2 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

culed with false wit, and treated by ignorance as a device 
of St. Omers. The proroguing speech, though perhaps 
not penned, yet prompted by you, suggests that nine 
tenths of the people understood the Proclamation was 
issued for their benefit ; how is the sense of the people 
to be known, but from the sentiments of their represen- 
tatives in Assembly ? To judge by that criterion, the 
Proclamation was not understood by nine tenths of the 
people as issued for their benefit. That the application 
of the above maxims should give you uneasiness, I am 
not surprised ; they throw guilt of bad measures on the 
proper person, on you, and you only, the real author of 
them ; the glory and the merit of good are wholly ascribed 
to you, by your unprincipled creatures ; the spirited reply 
to the petitioners for a bishop was delivered, it is said, 
in pursuance of your advice ; be it so, claim merit 
wherever you can, I will allow it wherever it is due ; but 
cease to impose on your countrymen, think not to assume 
all the merit of good counsels, and of bad to cast the 
blame on others. Hampden has been deservedly cele- 
brated for his spirited opposition to an arbitrary, and 
illegal tax ; a similar conduct would deserve some praise, 
and were the danger of opposition and the power of the 
oppressor as great, the merit would be equal. The vio- 
lent opposition which Mr. Ogle met with proceeded, I 
thought, in great measure from the cause assigned in my 
last paper ; it certainly occasioned great discontents. 

The decree for the payment of fees " according to the very 
settlement of the Proclamation^* was given, as I conceived, 
in his fi rst administration. A misconception of Antillon's 
meaning led me into this error ; that I would wilfully 
subject myself to the imputation of a falsehood so easily 
detected, will scarcely be credited, unless it be believed, 
that the hardened impudence, and habitual mendacity of an 




Appendix A. 313 

Antillon, become proverbial, had rendered me insensible 
of shame and regardless of character. " The citizen 
has said, the Proclamation ought rather to be considered 
as a direction to the officers, what to demand, and to the 
people what to pay, than a restriction of officers." An- 
tillon afTects to be much puzzled about the meaning of 
the word direction \ it is surprising he should, when he 
holds up the Proclamation as the standard, by which 
the courts of justice are to be governed in ascertaining 
costs, as the only remedy against the extortion of officers, 
by subjecting them to the governor's displeasure, and 
removal from office, if they should exceed the established 
rates, or to a prosecution for extortion, should the legality 
of the Proclamation be established in the ordinary judi- 
catories. It is a common observation confirmed by 
general experience, that a claim in the colony -govern- 
ments of an extraordinary power as incidental to, or 
part of the prerogative, is sure to meet with the encour- 
agement, and support of the ministry in Great Britain. 
That the Proclamation is a point which the minister of 
Maryland, {pur Antillon) wants to establish, is by this 
time evident to the whole province. Every artifice has 
been made use of, to conceal the dangerous tendency 
of that measure, to reconcile the people to it, and to 
procure their submission. Opinions of eminent counsel 
in England have been mentioned, the names of the 
gentlemen are now communicated to the public ; the 
state on which those opinions were given, though called 
for, the person who drew it, and advised the opinions to 
be taken, still remain a profound secret. The sacred 
name of majesty itself, is prostituted to countenance a 
measure, not justifiable upon legal and constitutional 
principles, to silence the voice of freedom and of censure, 
and to screen a guilty minister, from the just resentment 



314 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

of an injured ^nd insulted country. The whole tenor 
of Antillon's conduct makes good the old observation^ 
" that where ministers are pinched in matter of proceed- 
ing against law, they throw it upon the King," * Antillon 
has represented the Proclamation, as the immediate act 
of the Governor, " T/ie Governor was not to be directed^ 
6r*r." Now to give it a still greater sanction, we are 
told, the Governor's conduct in this very business, has 
met with the royal approbation. To what purpose was 
this information thrown out? Was it to intimidate, 
and to prevent all further writing, and discourse about 
the Proclamation ? Unheard of insolence ! The pride 
and arrogance of this Antillon, has bereft him of his 
understanding; quos deus vult perdere prius dementat^ 
Speaking of the Proclamation the citizen has said, "/« a 
land of freedom^ this arbitrary exertion of prerogative will 
noty must not be endured.*' Antillon calls these naughty^ 
words ^ and intimates a repetition of them would be dan- 
gerous. In a free country, a contrary doctrine is insuf- 
ferable ; the man who dares maintain it, is an enemy to 
the people, perhaps, the time may not be very distant 
when this haughty self -conceited, this tremendous \n\\\\on 
will be obliged to lower his tone, and will find perchance, 
my Lord Coke's saying prove true, " That the minister, 
who wrestles with the laws of a free country, will be 
sure to get his neck broke in the struggle." I have 
asserted that the citizen's first paper was wrote without 
the advice, suggestion, or assistance of any person ; 
these words, it seems, are not sufficiently comprehensive ; 
what words of a more extensive import can be made use 
of 1 I have denied all knowledge of the paper wrote by 
the " Independent Whigs," till it was published in the 

'Grey*s** Debates." 

' Boissonade's translation into Latin of a fragment of Euripides. 



Appendix A. 315 

Maryland Gazette; to this moment the "Independent 
Whigs " are unknown to me. The communication to some 
gentlemen in private, of a paper wrote against an obnox- 
ious minister, censuring his public conduct, though the 
strictures might meet with their approbation, ought not 
to render them so culpable as to justify the minister in 
loading them with the foulest, and most virulent abuse. 
Does the writer even deserve such treatment ? I was 
too well acquainted with the temper, and character of 
Antillon, not to be prepared against the bitterest invec- 
lives, which malice might suggest, and falsehood could 
propagate ; such, I was persuaded, a censure of his 
measures would draw on his censurer. Conscious of my 
integrity, confiding in the goodness of my cause, and 
desirous of counteracting the insidious designs of a 
wicked minister, I took up my pen, determined to despise 
the calumnies of a man, which I knew, a candid public 
would impute to his malevolence. The event has con- 
firmed my apprehensions ; Antillon has poured out the 
over flowing of his gall, with such fury against the citizen, 
that 10 use the words of Cicero applied to Anthony : 
Omnibus est visus vomere sue mere non dicere. ' 

He seems according to custum, rather to spew, than 10 
speak. 

The extracts from Petyt were to shew, that the Com- 
mons had censured proclamations issued to ''^establish 
matters rejected by Parliament in a session immediately 
preceding;" That "Former proclamations Aad been vouched 
to countenance and to warrant the latter." The Citizen 
had no intention to deceive the people ; no wish, that 
more might be inferred from his little scraps, than what 
was plainly announced. The proclamations alluded to 
were contrary to law ; and it is conceded, and, I trust, it 
' Cicero said of Anthony. 



3 1 6 Charles Carroll of Carrdlton. 

has been proved, that the proclamation for settling offi- 
cers' fees is also contrary to law. Had the Citizen 
designedly suppressed the titles of the Proclamations 
recorded in Petyt, would he have mentioned the author's 
name, and referred his readers to the very page, from 
which the extracts were taken ? Would he not rather 
have imitated the conduct of Antillon, who speaking in his 
first paper, of a commission issued by the King to the 
Chancellor for settling fees, neither mentions the book, 
from which the quotation is given, nor the time of the 
transaction. I comprehend fully, Antillon, your threats 
thrown out against certain religionists ; to shew the 
greatfuss of your souly and your utter detestation of malice, 
I shall give the public a translation of your Latin sen- 
tence ; the sentiment is truly noble, and reflects the 
highest lustre on its author or adopter ; Eos tamen iaecUre 
nan exoptemus^ qui nos laedere non exoptant^ we would not 
wish to hurt those who do not wish to hurt us ; — in other 
words, " I cannot wreak my resentment on the Citizen, 
without involving all of his religion in one common ruin 
with him ; they have not offended me, it is true, but it is 
better that ninety-nine just should suffer, than one guilty 
man escape, — a thorough paced politician never sticks at 
the means of accomplishing his ends ; why should I, who 
have so just a claim to the character 1 ** These, Antillon, 
are the sentiments and threats, couched under your 
Latin phrase, which you ei>en were ashamed to avow in 
plain English ; how justly may I retort, Pudet haec 
opprohria did et non potuisse revelli^ et did potuisse. The 
conclusion of a late excellent pamphlet * is admirably 
suited to the present subject ; I shall therefore tran- 
scribe it, taking the liberty of making a few alterations, 

* Intitled, **A Speech against the Suspending and Dispensing 



Prerogative. 



i> 



Aj^endix A. 317 

and insertions : " If we see an arbitrary and tyrannical 
disposition somewhere, the call for watchfulness is a loud 
[allowed?]" That there is such a disposition somewhere 
and where, we all know, the Proclamation, and the arro- 
gance of its supporter, are convincing proofs. " A tyran- 
nical subject wants but a tyrannically disposed master, 
to be a minister of arbitrary power ; if such a minister 
finds not such a master, he will be the tyrant of his 
prince" — or prince's representative — "as much as of his 
fellow servants, and fellow subjects. I should be sorry 
to see," the governor of this province, " in chains, even if 
he were content to wear them — to see him unfortunately 
in chains, from which perhaps, he could with difficulty 
free himself, till the person who imposed them, runs 
away ; which every good subject would, in that case, 
heartily wish might happen ; the sooner, the better for 
all." 

First Citizen. 




LETTER IV. 



" Though our Kings can do no wrong, andihough /fay 
cannot be called to account by any form our consritution 
prescribes, their ministers may. They are ans^oerable for 
/<^ administration of the government, each /fr /Sm par- 
ticular part, and the prime^r sole minister, w^^w, there hap- 
pens to beone for the wliole : he is the more so, and the more 
justly, if he hath affected to render himself so, by usurpiitg 
on his fellows, by wriggling, intriguing, whispering, and 
bargaining himself into this dangerous post, to which he 
was not called hy the genera! suffrage, nor perhaps fy the 
deliberate choice of his master himself," — Dedication to the 
Dissertation upon Parties. 

The noble author of the Dissertation upon Parties 
begins his fourth letter with the following sentiment, 
taken from Cicero's treatise on the nature of the gods. 
Balbus, when he is about to prove the existence of a 
Supreme Being, makes this observation, Opinionum com- 
menta deleldies, natura autemjudicia confirmat: ' " Ground- 
less opinions are destroyed, but rational judgments, or 
the judgments of nature, are confirmed by time." The 
observations may be applied to a variety of instances, in 
which the sophistry and ingenuity of man have been em- 
ployed to confound common sense, and to puzzle the 
'Cic, "DeN. D.,"ii, a, 5. 
318 



Appendix A. 319 

understanding, in order to establish opinions suited to 
the views of interest, or of power. 

An examination of Antillon's arguments and answers 
to mine will show how forcibly the judicious remark of 
Balbus applies to the legal subtleties and metaphysical 
reasonings of my adversary. I shall take his arguments 
and his answers nearly in the order they occur in his last 
paper. The revival of the Governor's authority to regu- 
late the fees of officers, on the expiration of the inspec- 
tion law, is admitted, provided that authority had a legal 
existence ; but the legality of the authority is denied, for 
whether it be legal or not, is the very matter in debate. 
" The ofiices being old and constitutional, and supported 
by incidental fees, the right lo receive such fees is old and 
constitutional," and therefore my adversary would infer, 
that the fees settled by Proclamation are old and consti- 
tutional. 

This inference does not follow from the premises, not- 
withstanding the crafty insertion of the word such. The 
offices being old, the right to receive fees may be old ; 
but the question recurs, what fees ? of whom ? where re- 
sides the authority of fixing the rates? for fixed they 
must be by some authority. That they may be fixed by 
the Legislature is admitted on all sides ; should the dif- 
ferent branches of the Legislature disagree about the 
settlement, what authority must then interpose, and settle 
the rates hitherto unascertained ? Antillon contends 
that in such case, the supreme magistrate, or the judges 
acting under an authority delegated from him, may settle 
them. If this doctrine be constitutional, what security 
have we against the imposition of excessive fees ? Does 
it not give a discretionary power to the Governor of 
making what provision he may think proper for his offi- 
cers, and of rendering them independent of the people ? 



320 Charles Carroll of CarroUton, 

Wiien a service is performed, the performer is clearly 
entitled to some recompence, but whether he is to re- 
ceive that recompence from the person served or from 
another, may be a matter of doubt, the quantum of the 
recompence may not be ascertained, either by contract 
by usage, or by law, and then, in case of a dispute, must 
be settled by the verdict of a jury. 

If the authority to regulate the fees of officers by Proc- 
lamation be illegal, the Proclamation can prevent the 
extortion of officers only by operating on their fears of 
the Governor's displeasure, and of a removal from office ; 
"But if the Proclamation had not issued prohibiting the 
officers from taking other or greater fees than allowed by 
the late inspection act, then would the officers have had 
it in their power to have demanded any fees'' Their 
rapacity, perhaps, might have prompted them to demand 
most excessive fees ; but under what obligation were the 
people to comply with their exorbitant demands ? Sup- 
pose a person should carry a deed to be recorded in the 
provincial office ; Che clerk refuses to record it unless the 
party will pay him fifty guineas ; must he submit to this 
unreasonable exaction, or run the risk of losing his prop- 
erty by suffering his title to remain incomplete? To 
avoid that danger, the money is paid ; will he not be 
entitled to recover of the officer by the verdict of a jury, 
what they might think above the real value of the serv- 
ice ? Or, suffering his title to remain incomplete, might 
he not sue the ofiicer for damages, first tendering a rea- 
sonable fee adequate to the trouble and expence of record- 
ing the deed ? Answer, Antillon, without equivocation, 
yes, or no. If the officer might be indicted for extor- 
tion, what benefit could the people expect from such a 
prosecution, when the power of granting a nolle prosequi 
is confessedly vested in the government 7 The present 



Appendix A. 321 

regulation, wc are told, " contains no enforcement of pay- 
ment from the people, the officer being left to his legal rem- 
edy." There is not, it is true, any immediate enforcement 
of payment, unless, indeed, the ofiicer should refuse to do 
the service, which, as I formerly remarked, would be in 
most instances an effectual method of enforcing pay- 
ment. 

Suppose the officer should not insist on an immediate 
payment, and that his account of fees should be con- 
tested ; he brings an action to recover his fees, accord- 
ing to the very settlement of the Proclamation ; to whose 
decision is this question to be left? To the judges? or 
to a jury? If to the former and they should be of 
opinion, that the Governor has a right to regulate fees 
by Proclamation, when there is no prior establishment 
by law, and the defendant should refuse to submit to the 
sentence of the court, he will be committed to jail, or the 
sum will be levied by execution of his effects ; distress 
though delayed for some time, will surely overtake him 
in the end, Some of the judges discover a disinclination 
to remain in office ; they solicit a removal, granted and 
approved of ; others are requested to succeed them ; 
should he not have cause to suspect the rectitude of 
applications made to men who have publicly declared 
their opinion of the legality of the measure attempted to 
be enforced by the sanction of the courts of justice ? 

Other methods may be employed to enforce the Proc- 
lamation. The powers of government will awe the 
timid into a compliance ; the necessitous cannot with- 
stand the force of temptation, or the threats of power, 
the disobedient and refractory must relinquish all hopes 
of promotion, or of promoting their friends ; who have 
favours to ask at court, must merit court favour by set- 
ting examples of duty and submission. 



32 2 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

It has been alleged that fees are taxes ; to prove the 
assertion, the authority of Coke and reasons grouoded 
on the general principles of the constitution have been 
produced ; mark how, Antillon has endeavored to get 
over the authority, and confute the reasons. One of the 
great objections to the Proclamation is, that it imposes a 
tax on the people, and consequently is competent to the 
Legislature only. Antillon contends, that fees are im- 
properly stilcd taxes, because they have been settled by 
the separate branches of the Legislature, which only can 
impose a tax. I have already exposed the sophistry 
of this argument, I hope to the satisfaction of the un- 
prejudiced ; some farther elucidation, however, may be 
necessary to men not thoroughly conversant with the 
subject. The Lords and Commons, and the Upper and 
Lower Houses of Assembly have each separately settled 
the fees of their respective officers by the particular 
usage of Parliament, which must be deemed an excep- 
tion to the general law, and ought, as all exceptions, to 
be sparingly exercised, and in such cases, and in such 
manner, only as the usage will strictly warrant. It was 
foreign to my purpose to inquire into this usage, custom 
or law of Parliament, to investigate its origin, or to ex- 
amine its constitutionality. On an inquiry, it would 
perhaps be found co-eval with Parliaments. But do you, 
Antillon admit the right of the Lower House to rate the 
fees of its officers ? If you do not admit the right, to 
argue from the mere exercise of it, is certainly unfair in 
you. You still insist that I have admitted the right of 
the judges to settle the fees of the officers attendant on 
their courts ; be pleased to turn to the passage in my 
answer to your first paper, part of which you have cited, 
and then be candid enough to acknowledge, if you have 
not willfully misrepresented, that you have mistaken my 



Appendix A. 323 

meaning. The major proposition, that taxes canoot be 
laid, but by the Legislature, I have admitted with this 
exception, "saving i» suck cases," &c. It was not incum- 
bent on me lo prove the exception, it is sufficiently 
proved by the journals of Parliament ; the right, or the 
poitier, if you like that word better, has been frequently 
exercised, whether constitutionally, or not is another 
question. The two Houses of Parliament are the sole 
judges of their own privileges, with which I shall take 
care not to intermeddle. Inconsistencies in all govern- 
ments are to be met with ; in ours the most perfect, 
which was ever established, some may be found. 

A partial deviation from a clear and fundamental 
maxim of the constitution cannot invalidate that maxim. 
To explain my meaning. It is a settled principle of the 
British constitution, that taxes must be laid by the whole 
Legislature, yet in one instance, perhaps in more, the 
principle hath been violated. The separate branches of 
the Legislature have settled the fees of their own officers. 
AntiUon has inferred from that exception to the general 
rule, or maxim which exception should be considered 
as the peculiar privilege of Parliament " that fees are not 
taxes." He has admitted, (if I comprehend hismeaning) 
that fees are sometimes taxes, that is, when imposed by 
the Legislature ; but when regulated by the judges they 
come not within the legal definition of a tax. Thus the 
fees regulated by the late inspection law were taxes, the 
same fees now attempted to be established by proclama- 
tion cease to be taxes because regulated by an authority 
distinct from the legislative ; but are their nature and 
effects altered by these two different modes of settlement ? 
Should an act of Parliament pass for the payment of the 
identical fees, laid to be paid to officers, under the sole 
authority of the judges ; according to Antillon's doctrine, 



324 Charles Carroll 0/ CarrolUon. 

the fees thus established by act would become instantly 
taxes ; but are they less oppressive, because settled by 
the discretion of the judges ? I presume to think them 
more oppressive, because of a more dangerous tendency, 
particularly from a disagreement between the branches 
of the Legislature, that authority may interpose, and es- 
tablish the very fees, and along with them, a variety of 
abuses which the representatives of the people wish to 
have reformed. "The judges are not governed by the 
law of Parliament, they have no authority to tax the sub> 
ject, but their allowance of fees to their necessary officers 
is lawful — " of ancient fees — admitted. I had observed — 
" It does not appear that the judges have ever imposed new 
fees by t/teir sole authority." 

In answer to this Antillon remarks "that the fees when 
originally allowed were new, and the allowance being 
made by the judges therefore they originally allowed 
neiv fees, and if fees when originally taxed were new, 
they have not ceased to be taxes in consequence of the 
frequent repetition of the acts of payment and receipt, 
and of their having obtained the denomination aneient 
fees." It will be proper to remind Antillon of another 
observation which I made in my former papers on this 
very subject, and of which he has taken no notice. The 
King originally paid all his oncers out of his own revenue ; 
the subject was not taxed to support the civil establish- 
ment ; in extraordinary emergencies, as foreign or civil 
wars ; tenths, fifteenths, and other impositions were 
granted by the common Parliament to defray extraordi- 
nary expenses. It was consistent with the principles of 
the constitution, and agreeable to justice, that the King 
who paid all his officers out of his own purse, should have 
the right of ascertaining their salaries, or of delegating 
that right to his judges. The ancient fees so often spoken 



Appendix A. 325 

of, were those perhaps, which the King formerly paid, 
and were settled by the judges, I say perhaps, for in a 
matter so obscure, it would be rash to pronounce decis- 
ively. If I am right in this conjecture, ancient fees were 
not originally taxes because not paid originally by the 
people. 

Ancient usage, according to Bacon, gave fees an equal 
sanction with an act of Parliament ; upon this principle 
I apprehend that such fees are presumed to have been 
originally established by the proper authority, although 
their commencement and the authority which imposed 
them at this day be unknown — " At common law, none 
of the king's officers whose offices, did any way concern 
the administration of justice, could take any reward for 
doing their office, but what they received of the King — " 
These words are sufficiently comprehensive to take in all 
the inferior ministers and officers of the courts of Justice, 
The fee of aos. commonly called the bar fee was 
an ancient fee, says Coke, taken time out of mind by the 
sheriff of every prisoner acquitted of felony ; " and there- 
fore accordingto the above principle laid down by Bacon, 
acquired an equal sanction with fees established by law ; " 
an office " erected for the public good, though no fee is 
annexed to it, is a good office, and the party for the labor 
and pains which he takes in executing it, may maintain 
a quantum meruit, if not as a fee, yet as competent recom- 
pence for his trouble." This clearly relates to an office 
newly erected ; but what follows seems to include the 
unsettled fees of all offices new and old. " Where a per- 
son was libelled in the ecclesiastical court for fees, upon 
motion, a prohibition was granted for no court has apower 
to eslciblish fees ; the judges of the court may think them 
reasonable, but this is not binding." But if on a quantum 
meruit — a jury thinks them reasonable, then they become 



326 Charles Carroll t^ CarrolUon. 

established fees ; — probably the fees, which now go under 
the denomination, ancient fees, and not expressly given 
by act of Parliament, were originally established by the 
verdict of a jury, and their having been long allowed by 
the courts of justice, may be deemed presumptive evi- 
dence of such establishment. 

The method of reforming abuses in the courts of jus- 
tice by the presentment of experienced practicers upon 
oath, appointed by the judges, to inquire what fees had 
been exacted other than " the aneieni and usual fees," 
seems to favor this conjecture. In the year 1743 an or- 
der was made in chancery by Lork Hardwicke reciting, 
that the King, upon the address of the Commons, had 
issued his commission for making a diligent and particu- 
lar survey, and view of all officers of the said court, and 
inquiring what fees and wages every one of these officers, 
might, and ought lawfully to have in respect of their 
offices, and what had of late time "been unjustly and 
[unlawfully] imposed upon the subject, etc." "Then are 
added " — continues Antillon, " tables of fees of the 
respective offices, and among the fees settled by this or- 
der are the fees of the master of the rolls," who advised 
and assisted the chancellor in making the settlement. 
How is this transaction to be reconciled with the doc- 
trine of Hawkins, " that the courts of justice are not re- 
strained from allowing reasonable fees to their officers, as 
the chief danger of oppression is from officers being left 
at liberty to set their own rates, and make their own de- 
mands 7 " In this instance certainly, if by the settlement 
aforesaid an imposition of new fees, and not an authen- 
tication of the old established fees, be understood, the 
master of the rolls was advised with, and assisted in set- 
ling his own rates. Is this proceeding consonant to the 
principles of justice ? What says Hawkins ? " There 



Appendix A. 327 

can't be so much fear of abuses when officers are re- 
strained to known and stated fees settled by the discretion 
of the couns, because the chief danger of oppression etc." 
Should the judges be any ways interested in the settle- 
ment ' of their officer's fees, would not the reason assigned 
by Hawkins for the interposition of their authority, in 
the manner explained by Antillon, operate most forcibly 
against the exercise of it ? Would it for instance be 
agreeable to equity and natural justice, to permit the 
Secretary of this Province to settle the fees of the county 
clerks, on the gross amount of whose lists he receives a 
clear tenth ; carry the case a little farther ; suppose the 
practice had long prevailed of offering the Secretary a 
genteel present on every grant of a commission for a 
county clerkship ? The gratuity would probably bear 
some proportion to the value of the place bargained for. 
Do the judges in Westminster Hall receive gratuities on 
granting offices in their appointment ? If they do, Haw- 
kins' reason is ftlo de se j it is the strongest that can be 
urged against the power, which it is meant to support. 
If the judges have an interest in the ofRces, in their 
disposal, a discretionary power to allow fees to their ofiB- 
cers, is in some measure a power of settling their own 
rates and making their {min demands. Coke's authority 
proves most clearly, that new fees annexed to old oflices 
are taxes ; whether the fees settled by proclamation are 
new fees remains to be considered : " fees," says Antillon 
" may be due without a precise settlement of the rates, 
and the right to receive them, may be coeval with the 
first creation of the offices, as in the case of our old and 
constitutional offices ; when such fees are settled they 
' If such settlement implies & discretionary power in the judges lo 
fix the precise rales lo be paid to their officers, when they are not fixed 
by ancient usage, the verdict of a jury, or by Act of Failiament. 



328 Charles Carroll 0/ CarrplUon. 

are not properly ntai fees, and therefore a reguUtioD 
restraining the officer from talting beyond a stated sum 
for each service, when he was before entitled to a fee for 
such service is not granting or annexing a new fee to an 
old office." 

The question therefore is now reduced to these two 
points — 1st, Has not government attempted to settle the 
rates of officers' fees by proclamation 7 adly, Are not 
fees so settled — new fees ? If they are, upon Antilloii's 
own principle, government hath no right to settle them. 
The restraint laid on ofEcers, by the Proclamation from 
taking other or greater fees than allowed by the late regu- 
lation, can be considered in no other light than an im- 
plied affirmative allowance to take such fees, as were 
allowed by that regulation, and of course must be deemed 
an intended settlement of the rates.' The fees payable to 
our old and constitutional officers, have been differently 
rated by different acts of Assembly ; those various rates 
were never meant to be extended beyond the duration of 
the temporary acts, by which they were ascertained, for 
one principal reason of making those acts temporary, we 
have seen, was to reduce the rates occasionally, and to 
lessen the burthen of them. On the expiration therefore 
of the late inspection law, the regulation of officers' fees 
expired with it, that is, there remained no obligation on 
the people to pay the rates settled by that, or any former 
regulation, and consequently the fees, as to the quantum 
or precise sum, were then unsettled. Government enter- 
tained the same opinion, and issued a Proclamation to 
ascertain the rates, or as is sometimes pretended to pre- 
vent extortion, because the rates being unsettled, the 
officers might have demanded any fees ; the fees there- 

' I say intended, because the seltlemeni by Proclamation belD^ 
iU(s>l. is ID f&ct DO settlement. 



Appendix A. 329 

fore, not being settled when the inspection law fell, the 
settlement of them by proclamation was a netv settlement, 
and of course the fees so settled were new, but new fees, 
according to Coke cannot be annexed to old offices un- 
less by act of Parliament ; his authority therefore, even 
as explained by Antillon, proves that a settlement by 
proclamation of fees due to old officers is illegal. A 
mere right in officers to receive fees, cannot be oppres- 
sive ; the actual receipt only of excessive or unreasonable 
fees is oppressive ; now, who are the properest judges 
whether fees be excessive or moderate ? Officers certainly 
are not, the same objections which may be made to their 
decision, apply to the Governor, and most of them to the 
judges ; juries may be partial or packed. 

All these considerations plead strongly for a legislative 
regulation, which is liable to none of the objections 
hinted at. The doctrine laid down by Antillon in oppo- 
sition to Coke's, teems with mischief and absurdities — 
" Old officers have a right coeval with their institution to 
receive fees," the inference therefore " when their fees 
are not ascertained by the Legislature, Ihe judges may 
ascertain them," is by no means logical, it contradicts the 
most notorious and settled point of the constitution, it 
lodges a discretionary power in the judges appointed by 
the Crown, and formerly removable at pleasure, to im- 
pose excessive fees, and consequently to oppress the sub- 
ject, without a possibility of redress, should the King or 
Lords refuse to concur with the Commons in passing a 
law to moderate the rates, and to correct abuses. — " The 
governor adopted the late rates as the most moderate of 
any." — If he might have adopted any other rates, his ex- 
eeediiig lenity deserves our warmest thanks ; but then 
we are more indebted to his indulgence, than to the limi- 
tation of prerogatives ; we cannot therefore be said to 



330 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

enjoy true liberty, " for that," (as Blackstone justly ob- 
serves) " consists not so much in the gracious behaviour, 
as in the limited power of the Sovereign." 

According to Antillon— " The late regulation of fees 
expiring with the temporary act, the governor's authority 
to settle the rates revived," and he insinuates that, it was 
optional in him to adopt the rates of the late, or of any 
prior regulation, or even to prescribe rales entirely new. 
" If the old and constitutional officers have a right to re- 
ceive fees, have they not, it may be asked, a remedy to 
come at that right, and if so, what remedy ? " The remedy, 
which the constitution has given to every subject under 
the protection of the laws. If a contest should arise 
between the officer and the person for whom the service 
is done, about the quantum of the recompence, the former 
must have recourse to the only true and constitutional 
remedy in that case provided, the trial by jury. Among 
other great objections to the Proclamation, at least to 
Antillon's defence of it, are his endeavors to set aside 
that mode of trial, the best security against the encroach- 
ments of power, and consequently the firmest support of 
liberty. The person, who calls himself Antillon, has hied 
a bill in chancery for the recovery of fees, principally 
due for services done at common law ; by appealing to 
the court of chancery, of which the governor is sole 
judge, and in whom, he contends, the will to ordain the 
rates, and the power to enforce them are lodged, he has 
endeavored to establish a tyranny in a land of freedom.' 
In answer to the declaration of Chief Justice Roll, I 
shall give the declaration of a subsequent chief justice, 
of greater, at least, of equal authority. The case I allude 
to is reported by Lord Raymond, Vol. I. p. 703. It was 

' See the Governor's answer to Ihe address of the House of Dele- 
gates in 1771. 



Appendix A. 331 

attested by council that the court of King's Bench, or 
judge of assize respectively, would exeit their authority 
and commit persons refusing to pay fees due to the old 
officers of the courts, and that this was the constant prac- 
tice. " But Holt, chief justice said, he knew of no such 
practice ; he could not commit a man for not paying the 
said fees. If there is a right, there is a remedy ; an in- 
debitatus assumpsit will lie, if the fee is certain, if uncer- 
tain, a guantiim meruit — " and in both instances, a jury 
is to be judge. From hence it may be collected, that 
when the fees claimed by the old and constitutional 
officers were unastertained recourse was had to a jury, that 
their verdict might ascertain them. When fees are due to 
old officers, and not settled by the Legislature, a jury 
only, upon the principles of our constitution can settle 
them. 

The uniform practice of the courts cannot establish a 
doctrine inconsistent with those principles, " If on en- 
quiry into the legality of a custom, or usage, it appears to 
have been derived from an illegal source, it ought to be 
abolished ; if originally invalid, length of time will not 
give it efficacy." It has been already noticed that the 
authority exercised by the judges of settling fees, that is, 
of ascertaining the ancient and legal fees, in pursuance of 
a commission issued by the King, on the address of the 
House of Commons, is very different from the authority 
now set up, of settling fees by proclamation, issued con- 
trary to the declared sentiments of the Lower House of 
Assembly ; if judges in this Province may settle fees 
because the judges in England have settled them, in the 
manner above-mentioned, where was the necessity of as- 
certaining fees by proclamation ? Was it to influence 
and guide the decision of our judges? If they have a 
right to exercise their own judgment in settling fees, in 



332 Charles Carroll of CarroUtoM. 

fact, in imposing them, why was a standard held up by 
the supreme magistrate for their direction ? In setting 
up that standard, is it not notorious, that he was advised, 
and principally guided by the very man who is most 
benefited by that illegal settlement ? Notwithstanding 
the misrepresented power of the English judges to regu- 
late fees, and the different orders of the courts in West- 
minster Hall for restraining the exaction of illegal fees, 
the encroaching spirit of office had rendered all the pre- 
cautions of the judges ineffectual ; insomuch, that the 
Commons in the year 1730 were obliged to take the mat- 
ter under their own consideration. I mentioned in a for- 
mer paper that transaction. In consequence of the enquiry 
a report was made by the committee in 1 732 to the House 
of Commons, from which I gave some extracts in my 
first answer to Antillon. It appears from the report, 
" That orders had been sometimes made for the officers 
to hang up publickly lists of their fees, most of which 
lists are since withdrawn, or have been suffered to decay 
and become useless ; that the officers themselves seemed 
often doubtful what fees to claim, and most of them relied 
upon no better evidence than some information from 
their predecessors, that such fees had been demanded 
and received." It is hereby evident, that the regulation 
of officers fees had been long neglected, that in conse- 
quence of such neglect excessive abuses had crept into 
practice, and had grown from length of time into a kind 
of established rights ; that a thorough discovery and 
reformation of those abuses required more time and at- 
tention than the Commons could spare from more impor- 
tant objects. As well might they have attempted to 
cleanse the Augean stables, a work, which the strength 
only of a Hercules could accomplish ; disgusted with the 
tediousness and intricacy of the inquiry, they probably 



Appendix A. 333 

chose to refer the correction of abuses to the judges, men 
of integrity, and best acquainted wilh the practices of 
their own oflicers, and of course best qualified to reform 
them. 

It is asserted by Antillon that the legislative provisions 
do not extend to any considerable proportion of the fees 
of officers and therefore, that by far the greatest part of 
officers' fees hath been settled by allowance of the courts, 
and not of statutes — this fact may be admitted, and the 
inference he would draw from it be denied ; that judges 
have allowed fees to their officers in the first instance, 
without Che intervention of a jury to ascertain them. If 
the judges have acted thus, they have certainly assumed 
a power contrary to the Petition of Right, contrary 
to this first and most essential principle of the 
constitution, " that the subject shall not be compelled 
to contribute to any tax, tallage, aid or other like 
charge, not set by common consent in Parliament." All 
levies of money from the subject by way of loan or 
benevolence, are also cautiously guarded against by the 
Petition of Right. The very putting or setting a tax on 
the people, though not levied, has been declared illegal ; 
even a voluntary imposition on merchandize — granted by 
the merchants, without the approbation of Parliament, 
gave umbrage to the Commons, was censured and con* 
demned. " This imposition though it were not set on by 
assent of Parliament, yet it was not set on by the 
King's absolute power, but was granted to them by the 
merehanis themselves, who were to be charged with it. So 
the grievance was the violation of the right of the people 
in setting it on without their assent in Parliament, not the 
damage that grew by it, for that did only touch the mer- 
ehanis, who could not justly complain thereof, because it 
was their own act and grant." Petyt parliam: p. 368-369. 



334 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

A tax may be defined a rale, settled by some publick 
charge, upon lands, persons or goods. By the English 
constitution the power of settling the rate is vested in the 
Parliament alone, and in this province in the General 
Assembly. 

Representation has long been held to be essential to 
that power, and is considered as its origin ; upon this 
principle the House of Commons, who represent the 
whole body of the people, claim the exclusive right of 
framing money bills, and will not suffer the Lords to 
amend them. The regulation of ofiicers' fees in Mary- 
land has been generally made by the Assemblies. The 
authority of the Governor to settle the fees of officers 
has twice only, as we know of, interposed, but not then, 
without meeting with opposition from the delegates, and 
creating a general discontent among the people, a sure 
proof that it has always been deemed dangerous and 
unconstitutional. The fees of officers, whether imposed 
by Act of Assembly, or settled by proclamation, must be 
considered as a publick charge, rated upon the lands, 
persons or goods of every inhabitant holding lands, or 
possessed of property within this Province. That they 
have been looked upon as such by the officers themselves, 
is evident from their lodging lists of their respective fees 
with the deputies from this Province to the Congress at 
New York, who might thereby be enabled to make known 
to his majesty, and to the Parliament, the great expence 
of supporting our civil establishment. The author of the 
"Considerations" once entertained the same idea, but 
such is the versatility of his temper, such his contempt 
of consistency, that he changes his opinions, and his 
principles, with as little ceremony as he would change 
his coat. Speaking of the sundry charges on tobacco^ 
" The planter " (says he) " pays a tax at least equal to 



Appendix A. 335 

what is paid by any farmer of Great Britain possessed of 
the same degree of property, and moreover the planter 
must contribute to the support of the expensive internal 
governnutU of the colony in which he resides." Now, the 
support of civil officers, unquestionably constitutes a 
part of that expence — he then refers to the appendix, 
where we meet with the following note. "The atten- 
tive reader will observe, that the nett proceeds of a 
hogshead of tabacco at an average are ^£, and the taxes 
3;^ — Quaere — how much per cent, does the tax amount 
to which takes from the two wretched tobacco colonies 
■^£, out of every •}£, — and how deplorable must their 
circumstances appear when their vast debt to the mother 
country and the annual burthen ef their Hvtl eslablishments 
are added to the estimate." 

Impressed with the same idea were the conferrees of 
the Upper House in the year 1771. In their message of 
the aoth of November they assert " Publick offices were 
doubtless erected for the benefit of the community, and 
for the same purpose are emoluments given to support 
them." AH taxes whatever are supposed to be imposed 
and levied for the benefit of the community. If then 
fees are taxes, or such like charges, it may be asked, how 
came Parliament to place such confidence in the judges 
as to suffer them to exercise a power, of which those 
Assemblies have always been remarkably tenacious, and 
which is competent to them only ? I might answer this 
question by asking another ; how came many unconsti- 
tutional powers to be exercised by the Crown, and suffered 
by Parliament ? for instance, the dispensing power — the 
answer is obvious ; it required the wisdom of ages, and 
the accumulated efforts of patriotism, to bring the con- 
stitution to its present point of perfection ; a thorough 
reformation could not be effected at once ; upon the 



336 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

whole, the fabrick is stately and magnificent, yet a per- 
fect symmetry, and correspondence of parts is wantiag ; 
in some places, the pile appears to be deficient in strength 
in others the rude and unpolished taste of our Gothic 
ancestors is discoverable — '^hodUque manuet vestigia runs." 
It does not appear in many instances, upon what occa- 
sions, and in what manner, the judges have allowed fees 
to their officers — that is, have permitted them to take 
fees, not before settled by law, usage, or the verdict of 
a jury. The power if conclusive on the subject, and if 
exercised in the manner explained by Anlillon, is unjusti- 
fiable and may be placed among those contradictions, 
which formerly subsisted in the more imperfect state 
of our constitution, and of which some few remain even 
unto this day. How it came to be overlooked by Parlia- 
ment may be accounted for somewhat after this manner. 
The liberties, which the English enjoyed under their Saxoo 
Kings, were wrested from them by the Norman conquerer ; 
that invader entirely changed the ancient constitution 
by introducing a new system of government, new laws, a 
new language and new manners. The contests, which 
some time after ensued between the Plantagenets, and 
the barons, were struggles between monarchy and aristoc- 
racy, not between liberty and prerogative : the common 
people remained in a state of the most abject slavery, a 
prey to both parties, more oppressed by a number of petty 
tyrants than they probably would have been by the un- 
controuled power of one. 

Towards the close of the long reign of Henry the 3rd 
we meet with the first faint traces of a House of Com- 
mons ; that house, which in process of time, became the 
roost powerful branch of our national assemblies, which 
gradually rescued the people from aristocratical, as well 
as from regal tyranny, to which we owe our present 



Appendix A. 337 

excellent constitution, derived its first existence from an 
usurper ' Edward the First has merited the appellation 
of the English Justinian by the great improvements of 
the law, and wise institutions made in his reign. He 
renewed and confinned the great charter, and passed the 
famous statute, de tallagio non comedendo, against the im- 
position of, and levying taxes without consent of Parlia- 
ment. Within the meaning of which act, says Coke, are 
new fees annexed to old offices. Have any new fees 
been annexed to old offices since that period by the sole 
authority of the judges? or have they increased the old 
and established fees ? if either, they have certainly acted 
against law. If Coke was of opinion, that the judges had 
a discretionary power to settle the fees of old offices, it is 
most surprising he did not intimate as much in his com- 
ment on this statute, so often quoted. He not only ought 
to have declared his opinion on that occasion, but also 
to have shewn the diGFerence between a settlement of 
fees due of old and constitutional offices and the an- 
nexing new fees to old ofhces. I believe it would have 
puzzled him, as much as it has Antillon, to shew the 
difference ; in reality, there is none, they are but dif- 
ferent names for the same thing. Although the neces- 
sities of Edward, and the exigency of the times, forced 
him to submit to those limitations of prerogative, he fre- 
quently broke through them ; from whence we may 
conclude, that public liberty was imperfectly understood 
in that rude and unlettered age, and little regarded by a 
prince impatient of restraint, and fond of arbitrary 
power, though inclined to dispense equal justice among 
his subjects. The fatal catastrophe of his son, and the 
causes which occasioned it, are well known. In those 
' Simon MontfoTt, E«rl of Leicester. Vidi iit voL Parliamentur 



3.^8 Charles Carroll of Carrdlton. 

tiii)i-!i or discord and distraction, the gml 

wen- (ommiticd by the very men, who under the pre- 

lemc o( reforming abuses, sought to promote their own 

l-owor. 

Kiiiially unfortunate, and equally unfit for improving 
IJH- consiilution, was the reign of Richard the sad. 
Hume tvarhcs us what idea we ought to form of the 
KiiKlish ({overnment under Edward the 3rd — " Yet on 
ihf wluilc it appears that the government at best was 
nnlv 11 barbarous mon.iTchy, not regulated by any fixed 
maxima, tuir hounded by any certain undisputed rights, 
wliiih tt'iTO in praciicc regularly observed. The Ring 
rondui'ti'd himsi-lf \tf. one set of principles, the barons 
by nnothiT, ihc touimons by a third, the clergy by a 
fourth ; all theso systems of government were contrary 
and iiu-nminitible: each of them prevailed according as 
im-idcnls wore favorable to it." This short historical 
tleiluttioii may s^vin foreign to my subject, but it really 
is not. The frci|iient and bare-faced violations of laws 
fiivorable to the people, the pardoning of offences of the 
deepest dye, committed by men of the first distinction, 
or the inability to punish the offenders, the curniption 
and venality of the judges, all tend to discover that 
practices as subversive of liberty, as a discretionary 
power ill the judges to impose fees, went unnoticed, or 
remained unredressed. From the deposition of Rich- 
ard the and to the battle of Bosworlh, the English were 
continually involved in wars, foreign or domestic. 
Silent Ifges inter arma. 

Wc may presume, during that period, the courts of 
justice were but little frequented, and the business trans- 
acted in them inconsiderable ; from whence wc may 
infer, that the rules of practice, and orders established 
by the judges in their courts being slightly known to the 



Appendix A. 339 

nation at large, escaped the notice of Parliament, in a 
time of general poverty, and confusion. Frequent in- 
surrections disturbed the peace of Henry the 7th. The 
first Parliament of his reign was chiefly composed of his 
creatures, devoted to the house of Lancaster, and obse- 
quious to their sovereign's will. The 2nd Parliament 
was so little inclined to inquire into the abuses of the 
courts of law, or into any other grievances, that the 
Commons took no notice of an arbitrary taxation, which 
the king a little before their meeting, had imposed on 
his subjects. His whole reign was one continued scene 
of rapine and oppression on his part, and of servile sub- 
mission on that of the Parliament. " In vain (says 
Hume) did the people look for protection from the Par- 
liament : that assembly was so overawed, that at this 
very time, during the greatest rage of Henry's oppression 
the Commons chose Dudley their speaker, the very man, 
who was the chief instrument of his oppressions." 
Henry the 8th governed with absolute sway ; Parliaments 
in that prince's time, were more disposed to establish 
" tyranny than to check the exercise of unconstitutional 
powers " ' During the reigns of Edward the 6th, Mary 
and Elizabeth, these assemblies were busily engaged in 
modelling the national religion to the Court standard ; 
their obsequiousness in conforming to the religion of 
the prince upon the throne, at a time, when the nation 
was most under religious influence, leaves us no room to 
expect a less compliant temper in matters of more indif- 
ference. In truth ; under the Tudors, Parliaments gen- 
erally acted more like the instruments of power, than 
the guardians of liberty. 
The wise administration of Elizabeth made her people 
' An act was passed in his reign to give proclamations the force of 



340 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

happy. Commerce began to flourish, a spirit of industry 
and enterprise seized the nation ; it grew wealthy, and 
law, the usual concomitant of wealth, increased. "Id the 
40th year of her reign, a presentment upon oath of 15 
persons for the better reformation of sundry exactions 
and abuses supposed to be committed by the officers, 
clerks, and ministers in the high Court of Chancery was 
shewed lo the Committee " (appointed by the House of 
Commons in 1739, to inquire into the abuses of the 
courts oF law and equity), "by which presentment it 
plainly appeared who were the officers of the Court at 
that time and what were their legal fees." It appears 
from the same report, that the officers of the Court of 
Chancery had exceedingly increased since the 40th year 
of Elizabeth to that time, by patents and grants, and in 
consequence, I suppose, of the increased business of the 
Court. It likewise appears from the report aforesaid, 
that commissions had frequently issued in former times 
to inquire into the behaviour of the officers in the courts 
of justice, with power to correct abuses. The enrolment 
of two surh commissions in the reign of James the ist, 
and four in the reign of Charles the ist, were produced 
to the committee, but they certify that no such commis- 
sion had issued since the Reformation. 

During the reign of Charles the and, Parliaments were 
sedulously employed in composing the disorders conse- 
quent on the civil wars, healing the bleeding wounds of 
the nation, and providing remedies against the fresh dan- 
gers with which the bigotry and arbitrary temper of the 
king's brother threatened the constitution. Since the 
Revolution Parliaments have relaxed much of their an- 
cient severity and discipline. Gratitude to their great 
deliverer, and a thorough confidence in the patriotic 
princes of the illustrious house of Brunswick have ban- 



Appendix A. 341 

jshed from the majority of those assemblies all fears and 
jealousies of an unconstitutional influence in the Crown. 
Parsimonious grants of public money have grown into 
disuse ; a liberality bordering upon profuseness has 
taken place of a rigid and austere economy ; compla- 
cence and compliment have succeeded to distrust and to 
Parliamentary inquiries, into the conduct and to impeach- 
ments of ruling minisUrs. While Parliaments continue 
to repose this unbounded confidence in his Majesty's 
servants, we must not expect to see them very solicitous 
to lessen the profits of officers appointed by the Crown. 
Political writers in England have complained bitterly of 
the vast increase of officers, placemen, and pensioners, 
and to that increase have principally ascribed an irresisti- 
ble influence in the Crown over those national councils. 
Will any impartial man pretend to say that these com- 
plaints are altogether groundless ? exaggerated they may 
be. Let us, my countrymen, profit by the errors and 
vices of the mother country ; let us shun the rocks, on 
which there is reason to fear her constitution will be 
split. The liberty of Englishmen, says an admired writer, 
can never be destroyed but by a corrupt Parliament, and 
a Parliament will never be corrupt if government be not 
supplied with the means of corrupting. Among these 
various means, we may justly rank a number of lucrative 
places in the disposal of the Crown. 

A member ' of the House of Commons speaking on 
this very subject, before the House, expressed himself in 
the following manner : " But the Crown having by some 
means or other got into its possession the arbitrary dis- 
posal of almost all offices and places, ministers soon 
found that the more valuable those offices and places 

■ Edward Southwell, Esq. ; vidi Debates of the House of Com- 
inons foi the yetu 1744, anno. iS Geo^e 3d. 



U i 



342 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

were, the more their power would be extended ; there- 
fore, they resolved to make them lucrative as well as 
honourable, and from that time they have been by de- 
grees increasing not only ilie number of offices and 
places, but also the profits and perquisites of each." 
" Not only large salaries have been annexed to every 
place or office under government, bui many of the offi- 
cers have been allowed to opprea tkt subject by the sale of 
plaits ttuJer them, and by exacting extravagant and unrea- 
sonaMe/ees, which have been so long suffered that they are 
now looked upon as the legal perquisites of the office, 
nay, in many offices ihey seem to have got a atstomary 
right to defraud the public, and we know how careful 
some of our late ministers have been Xo prevent or defeat 
any Parliamentary inquiry into the eonduct and management 
of any office." 

I am inclined to think (hat some of our former As- 
semblies foresaw the great power, which the offices 
established in this province for the fulherance of justice, 
and administration of government, would sooner or later 
throw into the hands of the persons invested with those 
offices ; a little foresight might have discovered, that 
their incomes would increase amazingly with the rapid 
increase of population, trade, and law. Aware of the 
danger they wisely determined to provide a timely 
remedy, and fell upon the true, and only expedient, by 
passing temporary laws for the limitation of officers fees, 
not by delegating that most important trust to judges 
removable at pleasure, liable to be swayed, perhaps, dis- 
posed to overlook the evil practices of their officers, and 
even to countenance " the ne^v invented and colourable 
charges of combined interest and ingenuity." I have men- 
tioned the great abuses, which had infected the courts of 
justice in England, the methods these pursued to correct 



Appendix A. 343 

them, and to prevent the exaction of tuw and illegal fees, 
and the long interruption of those methods, or inquiries. 

The grievance had become so intolerable that the 
Commons were at last forced to take cognizance of it 
themselves ; from the necessity of their interposition, 
either a neglect in the judges to reform abuses, or a want 
of power is dcducible ; and hence this other inference 
may be drawn, that a law, limiting the fees of officers, is 
the best method of preventing their encroachments and 
illegal practices. Notwithstanding the late law many 
abuses had been committed by officers in the manner of 
charging their fees under that law. These abuses, if the 
Proclamation should be enforced, will continue, and go 
on increasing till they become insupportable to a free 
people, or the people be enslaved by a degenerate and 
abject submission to that arbitrary exertion of preroga- 
tive. The necessities of the English kings, which con- 
strained them to have frequent recourse to Parliamentary 
aids, first gave rise to, then gradually secured, the liberty 
of the subject In this Colony, government is almost 
independent of the people. It has nothing to ask but a 
provision for its officers ; if it can settle their fees without 
the interposition of the Legislature, administration will 
disdain to owe even that obligation to the people. The 
delegates will soon lose their importance, government 
will every day gain some accession of strength ; we 
have no intermediate state to check its progress ; the 
Upper House, the shadow of an aristocracy, being com- 
posed of officers dependent on the Proprietary and re- 
movable at pleasure, will, it is to be feared, be subservient 
to his pleasure and command. 

I shall now proceed to examine Antillon's answer to my 
former arguments against the power of regulating fees by 
proclamation. The whole force of his first answer depends 



344 Charles Carroll of CarroUion. 

on the revival of the authority, which he contends existed 
before the enaction of the temporary law ; if that authority 
is illegal, it did not exist, and consequently could not re- 
vive. The reasons already assigned prove the illegality, 
snd Answer : " Parliament may have peculiar motive, 
&c. &c." Parliament it is true, may have many motives 
for settling fees in various instances. To preclude a 
discretionary power in the judges, incompatible with the 
spirit of our constitution, and to obviate the inconven- 
iences resulting from uncertainty, and endless litigation, 
should induce Parliament to settle the fees in every 
instance. The notion of the judges and the Parliament 
having a co-ordinate power, which might clash, was never 
entertained ; from the absurdity of two co-equal powers 
subsistin g in the same state, a subordination of the judges 
to Parliament was inferred ; but if mercenary officers, or 
an artful intriguing minister, by obstructing a legislative 
regulation of fees, may leave the power of the judges 
uncontrolled by Parliament, and at liberty to act, then do 
I insist, that the authority of Parliament to regulate fees 
may be rendered altogether useless and nugatory. 

3rd Answer : " I might in my turn suppose &c., &c." 
Thus may the most insolent, profligate, and contemptible 
Minister, that ever disgraced a nation, or the prince, 
suppose every opposition to his measures flows from sim- 
ilar motives. I argue not upon supposition, but from 
facts. The late regulation of fees was unequal, therefore 
unjust. A planter paid 2as for the same service, which 
cost the farmer only 10 s. To place all the subjects on 
equal footing was doing equal justice to all; it was 
bringing back the law to its true spirit and original intent. 
Abuses had crept into practice, owing either to design, 
or to a misconception of the act, or to a doubtfulness of 
expression ; among others, fees were often charged for 



Appendix A. 345 

services not done ; the delegates attempted to reform 
these abuses, and to lessen the rates where excessive ; in 
this laudable attempt they were disappointed by the ob- 
stinacy and selfishness of men, who made themselves 
judges of their own merits and own rewards. I agree 
with Antillon : " That our Constitution may be much 
improved by altering the condition of our judges, by mak- 
ing them independent, and allotting them a liberal in- 
come." But I fancy the delegates would disagree with him 
about the means. They perhaps would propose to lessen 
the exorbitant income of an inferior officer, who does lit- 
tle to deserve it, who grows more insolent as he grows more 
wealthy, and by a reduction of fees annexed to his, and to 
other offices not attended with much trouble, they would 
probably endeavor to make such savings, as might enable 
them to allow the judges a genteel salary without loading 
the people with any considerable additional charge. An- 
other very great improvement might be made in our Con- 
stitution, by excluding all future secretaries, commissaries 
general, and judges of the land office from the Upper 
House ; till that event takes place, we may despair of see- 
ing any useful laws pass, without some disagreeable tack 
to them, should they clash with their particular interests. 
Those officers have long been connected with the law for 
the regulation of our staple, a law of the most sal- 
utary and extensive consequence to the community, 
and which has hitherto been purchased by a particular 
attention to their interests, and a deference to their de- 
mands, as impolitic as unaccountable in the representa- 
tives of a free people. 

4th Answer : A great part of this Answer has been 
already obviated. It has been noticed, that the excessive 
exactions so much talked of, and so much dreaded 
by our merciful minister, are mere bugbears. Freemen 



346 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

are not to be terrified with visionary fears : over-solicit- 
tude to protect us from imaginary dangers, and a strong 
inclination discovered at the same time to pick our pock- 
ets, look a little like mockery. Fees being taxes ; to im- 
pose them on the subject by proclamation, was as illegal 
as to levy ship-money by proclamation. The design of 
the two measures was nearly the same. Charles wanted 
to raise money without a Parliament, and ourupstart min- 
ister wanted to provide for himself and his brother officers 
without an Act of Assembly, as the delegates would not 
provide for him, and them, in a manner suitable to their 
wishes. Was not the legality of the ship-money assessment 
determinable in the ordinary judicatories? Did it not 
receive the most solemn sanction ? The sanction of eight 
judges out of twelve? You still retain, Mr. Antillon, all 
the low evasive cunning of a pettifogger. 

Quo semfl est imbuta tecens servabit odorent 
Tata diu: 
jth Answer : — When fees are not ascertained by law, 
the verdict of a jury must ascertain them ; when thus 
ascertained — the judges in awarding costs are obliged, 
by statute, to include them in the costs ; the necessity 
therefore of fixing the rates of fees, either by proclama- 
tion, or by the allowance of the judges, is a pretended and 
false necessity : consequently not urgent and imiincible. 
If such a necessity really exists when there is no legisla- 
tive regulation of fees, it was foreseen in 1770, and ought 
to have been guarded against by passing an Act of As- 
sembly for settling the rates. The pretended necessity 
therefore aggravates their crime, who from a mercenary 
motive prevented a regulation by law. The famine, 
which occasioned the embargo, was not a sudden and 
peculiar necessity ; it was apprehended long before it was 
' Hot., "Ep,," i., 2, 70. 



Appendix A. 347 

felt ; Farltament might have been assembled, its advice 
taken, and a law passed to enable his majesty to lay the 
embargo. The ministers were blamed for not calling 
the Parliament in proper time, and the necesiity of acting 
against law flowing from that neglect, was urged as their 
accusation, not their excuse. Although the question, 
" whose fault was it that a legislative regulation did not take 
plate t" be not determinable in any jurisdiction or by 
any legal authority, yet, has a discerning public already 
decided it, and has fixed the blame on the proper person. 
Although he cannot be punished by the sentence of any 
ordinary judicature, yet might he be removed from 
office, on application made to the governor by the dele- 
gates of the people. 

Encomiums on the disinterestedness of officers, and 
censures of some obnoxious members, in fact, of the 
whole Lower House, come with peculiar propriety and 
decorum from a man, who is an officer, and was particu- 
larly levelled at in the spirited and patriotic resolves of 
that House. It might have given satisfaction to mar^ to 
have had the regulation of the clergy and officers estab- 
lished on the terms once proposed by the Upper House ; 
but this satisfaction would not have resulted from a con- 
viction, that the terms offered were just and advanta- 
geous to the public, but from a despair of obtaining better ; 
if this despair should become general, the cause of the 
public must yield to the interest of a few officers. Dis- 
graceful and afflicting reflection ! Not a single instance 
can be selected from our history of a law favourable to 
liberty obtained from government, but by the unanimous, 
steady, and spirited conduct of the people. The great 
Charter, the several confirmations of it, the Petition of 
Right, the Bill of Rights, were all the happy effects of 
force and necessity. 



348 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

I am not surprised that Antilloo's resentment should 
be directed against a man who has publickly spoke some 
very home truths. The wit and verses borrowed fiom 
Horace cannot destroy the evidence of facts. I am re- 
strained by the limits of this paper from descanting oo 
the merits of tub oratory, it has its use and abuse, like 
most other institutions, and is not so prejudicial to char- 
acters attacked, as the whispered lye, the dark hint, and 
jesting story toid with a sting at the end of it. I know 
a ])crson, who has an admirable knack at defamation in 
this sly, oblique, insinuating manner; he has stabbed 
many a reputation with all the appearance of festivity 
and ^ood humor ; in the midst of gaiety, in the social 
hours of convivial mirth, malice preys inwardly on bis 
soul ; sometimes he is given to deal in the marvellous, to 
captivate the attention of his admirers (generally fit tools 
for him to work with) and to leave on theii minds a 
lively impression of his own consequence. Surrounded 
by a group of these creatures, he will now and then re- 
count most wonderful wonders ! " Spectosa miracula," ' 
celebrate his own feats, prowess, and hair-breadth scapes, 
in short forge such monstrous improbabilities, as would 
shock the faith of the most credulous Jew. They listen- 
ing gape applause, " Conticuere omnes, iatenti^ue ora tene- 
bant." ' 

Answer 6. Rules or ordinances respecting the practice 
of the courts may be made without any danger of pre- 
judging questions of law. "Judges have been called 
upon in council to advise their sovereign cm guetlions of 
law" — true — and in consequence of their advice, per- 
nicious measures have been frequently pursued by sover- 
eigns—witness, the proclamation for levying ship-money, 

' Hoi., " A. P.." 144. (hI ipeeiata dthiuc miratula premai.) 

•Virg., "^D.,"ii,, 1. 



Appendix A. 349 

the dispensing power, and others equally unconstitu- 
tional. These examples should make judges very careful 
how they advise their sovereign ; for bad advice they are 
amenable to Parliament, and some of them have been 
punished for giving extra-judicial and unconstitutional 
opinions. 

" Expedit reipublicae ut fit finis litium." " Misera at 
servitus ubi Jus at vagum " — are sentiments truly liberal 
and useful ; equally so are these — a free eonslitution will 
not endure discretionary powers, but in cases of the most 
urgent necessity. The property of Englishmen is secured 
by the laws, not left to depend on the will of the sovereigUf 
or of officers appointed by him. There is an impropriety 
in advising measures tending to the immediate benefit of 
the advisers. Self-interest may warp the judgment of 
the most upright ; hence, the maxim, " no man ought to 
be a judge in his own castle." The advisers of a meas- 
ure as legal and txpe^eni will probably remain of the 
same opinion when they come to determine on its legality 
in their judicial capacity. Should the question be 
brought before the Court of Appeals, ought the officers, 
who are deeply interested in its decision, to sit as judges ? 
If it would be unjust in them to judge of the legality of 
the Proclamation, there was surely some impropriety in 
their advising it. The Chancellor in all causes of intricacy 
is advised by an assistant, whose opinion would not, I 
presume, be asked, if interested in the suit. Should a 
bill be filed against the usual assistant, for instance, by a 
Dutchman, could he be so insensible, as not to discover ' 
some anxiety at seeing his adversary in the capacity of 
an adviser, directing and guiding the opinions of the 
judge 1 Would not the impropriety strike even a Dutch- 
man ? Would he not have great reason to suspect an 
unfavourable decree ? Had there been an open rupture. 



350 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

a declared enmity, which still subsisted between the as- 
sistant, and one of the parties to a chancery suit, aod 
notwithstanding the assistant should discover an inclina- 
tion to act in his usual capacity, would not his conduct 
raise indignation in every honest mind ? Reader make 
the application. 

Answer 7. " The Governor was not to be directed by 
the votes of the majority of the advisers, they having no 
authoritative influence : " on a former occasion we were 
told, there can be no difficulty in finding out his (the 
kings) ministers, " the Governor and Council are answer- 
able in this character." If the Governor is not to be 
directed by the advice of his Council, why should they 
be answerable for their advice ? He by adopting the 
measure advised makes it his own, because he uses his 
own manly judgment ; the advice of the Council can have 
no authoritative influence over him, and therefore accord- 
ing to Antillon's latter opinion, contradicted by his former, 
the Governor must take the whole blame upon himself. 
Oh unsuspicious Eden ! How long wilt thou suffer thy 
self to be imposed on by this deceiving man? "The 
fee for the seals was the same in all the proposed regula- 
tions," and none of them have the least efhcacy, wanting 
the sanction of law. To exact fees under the settlement 
of the new table, proposed by the Lower House, would 
be equally unlawful, though not so dangerous, as to ex- 
act them under the settlement by Proclamation — " the 
Governor rtceives his fees now — " and receives them in- 
stantly, and will not do the service without immediate 
payment. The practice may become general, and the 
good natured easy people of Maryland, will, I dare say — 
submit to it without reluctance or murmuring. 

Answer 8. Antillon has admitted that he concurred 
with the rest of the Council in advising the Proclamation 



Appendix A. 351 

as expedient and legal— he has since justified it as a /leees- 
sary unavoidable act. It is not the first time that '^ex- 
pediency has covered itself under the appearance of 
necessity." From whence does Antillon infer this neces- 
sity? The judgment or decree, says he, awarding the 
costs must necessarily be precise, unless the officers' fees, 
which constitute part of the costs be settled ; if not set- 
tled by a law, they must be settled by some other authority 
and therefore he concludes they must be settled by Proc- 
lamation—why not by the verdict of a jury ? Endless 
litigation, it is answered, would ensue from that method 
of settlement. A much greater mischief 1 reply — would 
result from the other ; charges would be set, and levied 
on the people without, — nay against the consent of their 
Representatives. Between two such evils, what choice 
have we left ? The choice of the least. Hard indeed is 
the fate of the Province to be reduced to such extremity, 
that some officers may enjoy great incomes for doing 
tittle. The Secretary's office is a mere sinecure — yet has 
he had the assurance to ask a net income of ;f 600 ster- 
ling per annum to support his dignity. To hear Antillon 
talk in this strain is enough to rouse the indignation of 
apathy itself ; but indignation sinks into contempt, the 
moment we reflect on the farcical dignity tsi the man. 

Answer 9. The fees settled by Proclamation have 
been proved a charge upon the people ; now the 
settling a charge upon the people without the consent 
of their Representatives, is a measure striking at the root 
of all liberty. Antillon has endeavored to justify the 
measure by precedents. The precedents he has pro- 
duced do not in the least apply. The settlements of fees 
made by the judges appear to have been merely authen- 
tications of the usual and aneieni (ets. The long disuse 
of inquiries into the conduct of officers gave them an 



-m -w 



352 Charles CarroU of GirroUton. 

opportunity of exacting nne and illegal fees ; the griev- 
ance was suffered to run on so long, that at last it became 
difficult to distinguish the new and iilegal fees from the 
ancieni and legal fees. The fees so certified by the 
judges, were to be deemed ancient fees ; to facilitate 
their scrutiny — "juries of officers and clerks were im- 
panelled to inquire, what fees had been usually taken by 
the several officers, for the space of 30 years last past," 
on a supposition, I presume, that fees, which had been 
paid for so long a time, were probably aruieni/ees. The 
judges therefore, I conceive, did not settle in that in- 
stance the rates of fees, but certified what were the rates 
heretofore settled. With us the rates of fees were not 
settled ; the Delegates did not request the Governor to 
issue a commission to the judges to fix the rates; they 
remonstrated against the apprehended exercise of the 
unconstitutional power of settling them by his sole 
authority, I hope it has been proved, that if the judges 
settled, that is Imposed fees, not before settled, they acted 
against law, and consequently wrong, and therefore, " if 
vihat has been done be wrong, it confers no right to repeat 
it." To establish which axiom the "Considerations" 
were cited. I have known you, Antillon, long enough to 
form a true judgment of your character, and I have ex- 
hibited a true picture of it to the public : an intimacy I 
have cautiously avoided, as dangerous, and disreputable. 
The frequent repetition of the word " Barber " in all 
your papers, makes me suppose some concealed wit or 
joke ; perhaps it may be founded on the production of 
your fertile invention ; pray disclose it — I will add it to 
the catalogue ; you understand mc. 

Answer 10. The fees allowed to the petitioning sheriffs 
by an order of Council of the isth of July, 1735 had, it 
seems, been omitted in the Proclamation issued 1733, 



■qnsssR?^ 



Appendix A. 353 

and such fees only thus omitted as had been settled by 
an Act of Assembly or established by any former order 
of Council were allowed ; fees allowed by such orders 
of Council, cannot, perhaps, with strictness be called 
increased fees unless the former rates were increased, 
but the reasons already assigned, demonstrate, they are 
new feet. Had these services, to which fees were an- 
nexed by a subsequent Proclamation, been totally omitted 
in all former orders of Council and temporary acts, would 
such allowance of fees have been lawful or not ? If law- 
ful, it is plain, fees would in that case have been in- 
creased, being annexed to services never before provided 
for. If unlawful, it should seem, that the power, which 
at the original creation of constitutional offices, might 
have annexed a fee to every service there enumerated, 
would be concluded, and might not annex fees to ser- 
vices not there enumerated, though actually performed 
by the officers ; so that whether an officer may lawfully 
receive a fee does not depend on his doing a service, but 
on that service having been enumerated, and having had 
a fee annexed to it in the first settlement, or table of 
fees ; but if under a right to receive fees co-cval with 
the institution of constitutional offices, the Icing or his 
deputies may settle fees, that is ascertain what fee an 
officer shall take for doing a service, not having a settled 
or known fee annexed to it, then may government in- 
crease ad libitum the amount of officers fees. Ingenuity 
will point out many services performed by old officers, 
that have no settled fees annexed to them, and the right 
to receive sueh fees beiog old and constitutional ; the 
settlement of such fees, cannot according to Antillon's 
doctrine, be deemed an annexation of new fees to old 
offices. 
Answer It. "When the GovemiDent in 169a under- 



354 Charles CarroU of CarroUion, 

took to regulate fees, there was an act of Assembly for 
that purpose," The Delegates did not object to the 
Governor's undertaking to regulate, beeause tk^ were 
already regulated ly law. If that had been the real cause 
of the objection they would have declared it, to have 
precluded at once all controversy ; but they objected 
upon this general principle — " that it is the undoubted 
right of the freeman of this Province, that no officers 
fees ought to be imposed on them but by the consent of 
the Representatives in Assembly." To which general 
proposition the government agreed. The Delegates pro- 
duced several acts of Parliament to show, that govern- 
ment could not settle the fees of officers by prerogative ; 
but if they relied on the act of Assembly then in force, 
why did they not cite it ? Where was the necessity 
of citing Acts of Parliament to prove what was already 
most clearly decided in their favour by a positive and 
subsislinglaw of the Province f The instances mentioned 
by Antillon of fees settled by proclamation prove only 
the actual exercise of an unlawful prerogative. The 
dangerous use which has so often been made of bad, 
should caution us against the hasty admission of even 
good precedents, which should always be measured by 
the principles of the constitution, and if found the least 
at variance, or inconsistent therewith, ought to be speedily 
abolished. " For millions entertain no other idea of the 
legality of power, than that it is founded on the exer- 
cise of power.' "There is nothing," saith Swift, "hath 
perplexed me more than this doctrine of precedents ; if 
a job is to be done," {for instance a provision to be 

■ Vidt Fenc; Fanner's nth Letter. I recommend an attentive 
perusal of that Letter to my countrymen ; it abounds with judicioui 
observations, pertinent to the preseni subject, and expressed wilb the 
ntmost elegance, perspicacity and strength. 



Appendix A. 355 

made for officers) "and upon searching records, you find 
it hath been done before, there will not want a lawyer 
(an Antillon) to justify the legality of it, by producing 
his precedents, without ever considering the motives and 
circumstances that first introduced them, (he necessity, 
or turbulence, or iniquity of the times, the corruption of 
ministers, or the arbitrary disposition of the prince then 
reigning." 

Answer 13. "It is not probable the fees of some 
ofiScers will in time exceed the Governor's income." 
Snch an event is most probable. The Governor's fees 
as Chancellor, fall far short of the register's fees for re- 
cording the proceedings of the court, copies of bills &c. 
The register pays his deputy 40 or 50^ a year, and 
pockets fees to the amount of 50,000 pounds of tobacco, 
discharged in money at 12 ^ 6 per hundred pounds. 
Except the marriage licenses, all the other branches of 
the Governor's revenue will probably decrease, or con- 
tinue in their present state. The Secretary's and Com- 
missary's fees must increase with the increase of business, 
the trouble and expence do not increase in proportion. 
The Secretary has no trouble ; the expence of this office 
is a mere trifle compared to his profits. 

Having, at length waded through the argumentative 
part of my adversary's last paper, I am now come to the 
passages more immediately addressed to myself; for, 
Antillon still insists that I have assistants and confeder- 
ates ; silly as my productions are, he will not allow me the 
demerit of being single in my folly. Formerly I was ac- 
cused of confidence, and self-conceit, now I am repre- 
sented as begging from others, the little sense contained 
in my last piece. Antillon can reconcile contradictions, 
and expound knotty points of law, just as they may 
suit him. 



356 Charles Carroll of CarrvlUon, 

" Veitiet deplebe togaid. 
Qui juris modes, et legum aemgmata soivat." ' 

You see, sir, I take every opportunity of compli' 
roenting your abilities, somewhat at the expence of your 
integrity, I confess, but not of truth. The observa* 
tion, that, an unlimited confidence in a bad minister 
will be assuredly abused — "besides the merit of beii^ 
true" has this further merit; \\iK applicatiffn of it to An- 
tilhn was just. He denies in the most direct terms the 
pernicious influence ascribed to him. The most no- 
torious criminals seldomest plead guilty ; the assertion of 
one, who has long forfeited all title to veracity, cannot be 
credited. I repeat the questions put to you in my last 
paper. Was the Proclamation thought of by the whole 
Council at the same instant? VVho first advised that 
measure ? Did you not privately instigate some member 
of the board to open the scene of action while you lay 
lurking behind the curtain, ready to promote mischief, 
though unwilling to be thought the first mooert 

Matters of a public concern are the objects of public 
disquisition. When the real advisers of a measure, from 
the secrecy of the transaction, are unknown, we must 
look to the ostensible minister ; if the known character of 
the man should perfectly correspond with the iit^uted 
conduct, an assurance of the truth of the accusation 
instantly arises in the mind, far superior to the evidence 
grounded solely on his denial of the fact, and his most 
positive asseverations of innocence, or confederated guilt, 
" Many members of the Council have already avowed 
the part they took in the measure." And pray what part 
did they take? That is the very thing we all want to 
know. If they acted only a secondary part, if mislead 
■Javeul, viii,, jg. 



Appendix A. 357 

by your artful misrepresentations and sophistical reasons, 
they coincided with your opinion ; not the least degree 
of blame can be imputed to them. " They have ex- 
pressed their resentment at the indignity of the impu- 
tation " — What imputation ? that they were imposed on 
by your artifices ; are they the first, will they be the 
last, whom you have deceived ? If any gentleman of the 
Council has taken oSence at what I have said, it must 
be owing, either to misapprehension, or to your crafty 
suggestions. I meant not to oCend ; it would grieve mc 
" Tomftkeone hontttmOH my foe." 

You still carp at the maxim, " The king can do no wrong," 
or rather at the application of it to the Governor ; the 
public, and you more than any one, can see the propriety 
of the application ; the Governor, perhaps, when too 
late, may be sensible of it also, and wish that he had not 
placed a confidence which he will hereafter discover has 
been abused, and may possibly give him many hours 
uneasiness. " The eitiun is a wretch " (says Antillon), 
" haunted by eiwy and malice" Antillon has been already 
called upon for his proofs ; the truth of the accusation 
rests entirely on his ipse dixit, which is at least presump- 
tive evidence, that the accusation is false. Why, Antil- 
lon, am I suspected of bearing you malice ? Have you 
injured mc ? Your suspicion implies a consciousness of 
guilt. What should excite my envy ? The splendour of 
your family, your riches, or your talents ? I envy you 
none of these ; even your talents upon which you value 
yourself most, and for which only you are valued by 
others, are so tarnished by your meannesses, that they 
always suggest to my mind the idea of a jewel buried in 
a dunghill. 
' As we agree in the essential point, that the Revolution 



358 Charles CarrM of CarrolUon. 

was both just and necessary, it is needless to say more on 
the collateral question, whether the abdication followed 
or preceded that measure ; the dispute at best is almost 
as insigniflcant as that about the words abdicated and 
deserted^ which disgraced the House of Lords. That the 
national religion was in danger under James the 2nd 
from his bigotry and despotic temper, the dispensing 
power assumed by him and every other part of his con- 
duct clearly evince. The nation had a right to resist^ 
and so secure its civil and religious liberties. I am as 
averse to having a religion crammed down people's 
throats as a proclamation. These are my political prin- 
ciples, in which I glory ; principles not hastily taken up 
to serve a turn, but what I have always avowed since I 
became capable of reflection. I have not the least dis- 
like to the Church of England, though I am not within 
her pale, nor indeed to any other church ; knaves, and 
bigots of all sects and denominations, I hate, and I 
despise. 

*' For modes of faith let zealous bigots fight, 
His can't be wrong, whose life is in the right." 

'* Papists are distrusted by the laws, and laid under 
disabilities." They cannot, I know, (ignorant as I am) 
enjoy any place of profit, or trust, while they continue 
papists ; but do these disabilities extend so far as to pre- 
clude them from thinking and writing on matters merely 
of a political nature ? Antillon would make a most excel- 
lent inquisitor ; he has some striking specimens of an 
arbitrary temper, the first requisite. 

He will not allow me freedom of thought or speech. 
The resolves of a former Assembly against certain relig- 
ionists have been compared to the resolves against the 
Proclamation. I again repeat, the unprejudiced will 



Appendix A. 359 

discern a wide difference between those resolves and the 
spirit which occasioned these ; it would be no difficult 
task to show the disparity, but I choose not to meddle 
with a subject, the discussion of which may rekindle ex- 
tinguished animosities. The contemptible comment on 
the expression — " We remember and we forgive^* scarcely 
deserves animadversion. " This," says Antillon, " is rather 
too much in the imperial style." The Citizen did not 
deliver his sentiment only but likewise the sentiment of 
others. We Catholics, who think we were hardly treated 
on occasion, we still remember the treatment though our 
resentment hath entirely subsided. It is not in the least 
surprizing that a man incapable of forming an exalted 
sentiment, should not readily comprehend the force and 
beauty of one. My exposition of the document of Min- 
ucius, as applied by you, is warranted by the whole 
tenor and purport of your publications. To what pur- 
pose was the threat thrown out of enforcing the penal 
statutes by proclamation ? Why am I told that my con- 
duct is very inconsistent with the situation of one, who 
" owes even the toleration he enjoys to the favour of gov- 
ernment ? " If by instilling prejudices into the Governor, 
and by every mean and wicked artifice you can rouse the 
popular resentment against certain religionists, and thus 
bring on a persecution of them, it will then be known 
whether the toleration I enjoy, be due to the favour of 
government or not. That you have talents admirably 
well adapted to the works of darkness, malice to attempt 
the blackest and meanness to stoop to the basest, is too 
true. The following lines convey an imperfect idea of 
your character : 

** Him there they found, 
Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve ; 



360 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

Assaying by his devilish art, to reach 

The organs of her fancy, and with them 

Forge illusions, as he lists." 

Milton. 

Impudence carried to a certain degree, excites indigna- 
tion — pushed beyond it becomes ridiculous. The Citizen's 
scandalous misrepresentation of Petyt is again insisted on. 
" The Citizen referred to the yus Parliameniarium^ he knew 
the hook was in the hands of few** If in your hands, it was 
sufficient ; he knew you exceedingly well inclined to expose 
his misrepresentations, even upon the catch, and ready 
to lay hold of mere mistakes and inaccuracies, and when 
acknowledged, still to harp upon them. The crude no- 
tions of British polity, which Antillon in a former paper 
imputed to the Citizen, were quoted as the notions of 
Montesquieu, enlarged upon, and explained by the writer 
of a pamphlet on the privileges of the Lower House of 
Assembly in Jamaica : he was apprized thereof in my 
last paper, and he calls this exculpation a tiny evasion. 
The notions, whether crude or not, were not the Citi- 
zen's : but I presume to assert, that so far from being 
crude^ they are judicious, and discover a perfect knowl- 
edge of our constitution. " Hume's history is a studied 
apology for the Stuarts', particularly of Charles the first." 
Has the historian suppressed any material facts ? If not 
but has given an artificial colouring to some, softened 
others, and suggested plausible motives for the conduct 
of Charles, all this serves to confirm the observation, that 
an account may in the main be true, and not entirely impar- 
tial ; the principal facts may be related, yet the suppres- 
sion of some attendant circumstance will greatly alter 
their character and complexion. 

I asserted that the constitution was not so well improved, 
and so well settled in Charles' time as at present. In 



Appendix A. 361 

answer to this, Antillon remarks, that the constitution was 
clearly settled in the very point infringed, by the levy of 
ship money. To this I reply, that the Petition of Right 
was only a conflrmation of former statutes against the 
same unconstitutional power, which had been assumed 
by most preceeding kings in direct violation of those stat- 
utes. To the imputation " That you have always fathered 
your mischievous tricks on others** you reply — " roundly 
asserted, but what proof have you ? " Sufficient to sup- 
port the charge — ^the mask of hypocrisy, which you have 
worn so long, is now falling off ; the peoples eyes are at 
length opened ; they know the real author of their griev- 
ances ; and his efforts to regain lost popularity will be 
ineffectual ; once distrusted he will ever remain so. A 
particular detail of all your mean and dirty tricks would 
swell this paper (already too long) to the size of a volume. 
I may on some future occasion entertain the public with 
Antillon's cheats. 

^^ Flelnt, et insignis tota cantaMtur urbe** * 

They would discredit even a Scapia, and therefore must 
not be blended with a question of this serious and gen- 
eral importance. You have said, '' You do not believe me 
to be a man of honor or vercuity** It gives me singular 
satisfaction that you do not, for a man destitute of one^ 
must be void of the other^ and cannot be a judge of 
either. Your mode of expression, which in general is 
clear and precise, in this instance discovers a confusion 
of ideas to which you are not often liable ; but you have 
stumbled on a subject of which you have not the least 
conception. 

" Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur.** 

* Hor.,S., ii., i, 46. 



362 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

If once the mind with clear conceptions glow, 
The willing words in just expressions flow." 

" Honour, or veracity** Are they then distinct things ? 

Do you imagine that they can exist separately? 
No, they are most intimately connected ; who wants 
veracity wants principle, honour, of course, and resembles 
Antillon. 

First Citizen. 




APPENDIX B. 

JOURNAL OF CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON, 

DURING HIS VISIT TO CANADA, IN 1776, AS ONE 

OF THE COMMISSIONERS FROM CONGRESS. 



APRIL ad, 1776. Left New York at 5 o'clock p.m. ; 
sailed up North River, or Hudson's, that afternoon, 
about thirteen miles. Aboutoneo'clockin the night were 
awaked by the firing of cannon : heard three great guns 
distinctly from the Asia ; soon saw a great fire, which we 
presumed to be a house on Bedloe's island, set on fire 
by a detachment of our troops. Intelligence had been 
received that the enemy were throwing up intrenchments 
on that island, and it had been determined by our gen- 
erals to drive them off. Dr. Franklin went upon deck, 
and saw waving flashes of light appearing suddenly and 
disappearing, which he conjectured to be the fire of 
musquetry, although he could not hear the report. 

jrd. A bad, rainy day ; wind north-east ; quite ahead. 
A.M., eleven o'clock, opposite to Colonel Phillips's (a 
tory) ; pretty situation near the river ; garden sloping 
down to it, bouse has a pretty appearance ; a church at 
a little distance on the south side, surrounded by cedar 
trees. The banks of the river, on the western aide ex- 
ceedingly steep and rocky ; pine trees growing amidst 
363 



364 Charles Carroll of CarroUUm. 

the rocks. On the eastern, or New York side, the banks 
are not near so steep, they decline pretty gradually to 
the water's edge. The river is straight hitherto. About 
five o'clock wind breezed up from the south ; got under 
way, and ran with a pretty easy gale as far as the high- 
lands, forty miles from New York. The river here is 
greatly contracted, and the lands on each side very loft}-. 
When we got into this strait the wind increased, and 
blew in violent flaws ; in doubling one of these steep 
craggy points we were in danger of running on the rocks ; 
endeavored to double the cape called St Anthony's 
nose, but all our efforts proved inefifectual ; obliged to 
return some way back in the straits to seek shelter ; in 
doing this our mainsail was split to pieces by a sudden 
and most violent blast of wind off the mountains. Came 
to anchor ; blew a perfect storm all night and all day the 
fourth. Remained all day (the fourth) in Thunder Hill 
bay, about half a mile below Cape St. Anthony's nose, 
and a quarter of a mile from Thunder Hill. Our crew 
were employed all this day in repairing the mainsail. 
The country round about this bay has a wild and roman- 
tic appearance ; the hills are almost perpendicularly 
steep, and covered with rocks and trees of a small size. 
The hill called St. Anthony's nose is said to be full of 
sulphur. I make no doubt this place has experienced 
some violent convulsion from subterraneous fire : the 
steepness of the hills, their correspondence, the narrow- 
ness of the river, and its depth, all confirm me in this 
opinion. 

^th. Wind at north-east, mainsail not yet repaired. 
Sailed about twelve o'clock from Thunder Hill bay ; 
just before we doubled Cape St. Anthony's nose^ Mr. 
Chase and I landed to examine a beautiful fall of water. 
Mr. Chase, very apprehensive of the leg of mutton being 



Appendix B. 365 

boiled too much, impatient to get on board ; wind breez- 
ing up, we had near a mile to row to overtake the vessel. 
As soon as we doubled Cape St. Anthony's nose a beau- 
tiful prospect opened on us. The river, from this place 
to Constitution fort, built on Marbler's rock, forms a fine 
canal, surrounded with high hills of various shapes ; one, 
in particular, resembles a sugar loaf, and is so called. 
About three miles from Cape St. Anthony's nose is an- 
other beautiful cascade called '^ the Buttermilk." This 
is formed by a rivulet which flows from a lake on the 
top of a neighboring mountain ; this lake, we were told, 
abounds with trout and perch. Arrived about five o'clock 
at Constitution fort ; Mr. Chase went with me on shore 
to visit the fort ; it is built on a rock called Marbler's 
rock ; the river at this place makes a sudden bend to 
the west ; the battery (for it does not deserve the name 
of a fort, being quite open on the north-east side) has 
two flanks, one fronting the south, and the other the 
west ; — on the south flank were planted thirteen six and 
one nine pounder ; on the west flank, seven nine pound- 
ers and one six pounder, but there were no cannoneers 
in the fort, and only one hundred and two men fit to do 
duty ; — ^they intend to erect another battery on an emi- 
nence called Gravel hill, which will command vessels, 
coming up the river as soon as they double Cape St. 
Anthony's nose. A little above this cape a battery is 
projected to annoy the enemy's vessels, to be called Fort 
Montgomery ; they intend another battery lower down 
the river, and a little below Cape St. Anthony's nose. 
In the highlands are many convenient spots to construct 
batteries on ; but in order to make them answer the in- 
tended purpose, weighty metal should be placed on these 
batteries, and skilful gunners should be engaged to serve 
the artillery. About nine o'clock at night, the tide mak- 



366 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

ing, we weighed anchor, and came to again about two 
o'clock in the morning, the sixth instant. The river is 
remarkably deep all the way through the highlands, and 
the tide rapid. When we came to an anchor oflf Consti- 
tution fort we found the depth of water above thirty 
fathoms. These highlands present a number of romantic 
views, the steep hills overshadow the water, and in some 
places the rocks, should they be rolled down, would fall 
into the river several feet from the banks on which they 
stood. This river seems intended by nature to open a 
communication between Canada and the province of 
New York by water, and, by some great convulsion a 
passage has been opened to the waters of Hudson's River 
through the highlands. These are certainly a spur of 
the Endless mountains. 

6th, Weighed anchor about seven o'clock in the morn- 
ing : had a fine breeze ; the country more cultivated above 
the highlands ; passed several mills, all of them overshot ; 
saw two frigates on the stocks at Pokeepsay, building 
for the service of the United Colonies ; saw a great many 
lime-kilns in our run this morning, on both sides of the 
river, the banks of which begin to slope more gradually 
to the water's edge. We wrote to General Heath, from 
off Constitution fort, and sent the letter to the command- 
ing officer of the fort, with orders to forward it by ex- 
press immediately to the general at New York. The 
purport of the letter was to inform the general of the very 
defenceless condition of the fort, that measures might be 
immediately taken to put it in a better posture of defence. 
If Howe was a man of enterprise, and knew of the weak 
state of the fort, he might take it in it's present situation 
with sixty men, and without cannon. He might land his 
party a little below the fort on the east side, march over a 
marsh, and attack it on the back part. It was proposed 



Appendix B. 367 

to erect a battery of some cannon to sweep this marsh ; 
but this, and also the battery above mentioned, on Gravel 
hill, have been strangely neglected, and nothing as yet has 
been done towards constructing either of these batteries, 
more than levelling the top of Gravel hill. 

Six o'clock, P.M., came to anchor four miles from Al- 
bany ; had a most glorious run this day, and a most 
pleasant sail ; including our run in the night, we ran this 
day ninety-six miles — Constitution fort being one hun- 
dred miles from Albany, and sixty from New York. We 
passed several country houses pleasantly situated on the 
banks, or rather, eminences commanding the banks of the 
river ; the grounds we could discover from the vessel 
did not appear to be highly improved. We had a distant 
view of the Katskill mountains. These are said to be 
some of the highest in North America ; they had a pleas- 
ing appearance ; the weather being somewhat hazy, they 
appeared like bluish clouds at a great distance ; when we 
were nearest to them, they were distant about ten miles. 
Vast tracts of land on each side of Hudson's river are 
held by the proprietaries, or, as they are here styled, the 
Patrones of manors. One of the Ransalaers has a grant 
of twenty miles on each side of the river. Mr. Robert R. 
Livingston informed me that he held three hundred thou- 
sand acres. I am told there are but ten original patent- 
ees between Albany and the highlands. The descendants 
of the first proprietaries of these immense tracts still keep 
them in possession ; necessity has not as yet forced any 
of them to sell any part. 

yth. Weighed anchor this morning about six o'clock. 
Wind fair : having passed over the overslaw, had a distinct 
view of Albany, distant about two miles : — landed at Al- 
bany at half past seven o'clock ; received at landing, by 
GENERAL SCHUYLER, who, understanding we were 



368 Charles CarroU of Carrolltan. 

coming up, came from his house, about a mile out of town, 
to receive us and invite us to dine with him ; he behaved 
with great civility ; lives in pretty style ; has two daugh* 
ters (Betsy and Peggy), lively, agreable, black-eyed girls. 
Albany is situated partly on a level, and partly on the slope 
of a hill, or rising ground, on the west side of the river. 
Vessels drawing eight and nine feet of water may come to 
Albany, and five miles even beyond it, at this season of 
the year, when the waters are out. The fort is in a ruin- 
ous condition, and not a single gun mounted on it There 
are more houses in this town than in Annapolis, and I 
believe it to be much more populous. The citizens 
chiefly speak Dutch, being mostly the descendants of 
Dutchmen ; but the English language and manners are 
getting ground apace. 

pM. Left Albany early this morning, and travelled in 
a wagon in company with Mrs. Schuyler, her two daugh- 
ters, and Generals Schuyler and Thomas. At six miles 
from Albany I quitted the wagon and got on horseback 
to accompany the generals to view the falls on the Mo- 
hawk's river, called the Cohooes. The perpendicular 
fall is seventy-four feet, and the breadth of the river at 
this place, as measured by General Schuyler, is one thou- 
sand feet. The fall is considerably above one hundred 
feet, taken from the first ripple or still water above the 
perpendicular fall. The river was swollen with the melt- 
ing of the snows and rains, and rolled over the frightful 
precipice an impetuous torrent. The foam, the irregu- 
larities in the fall broken by projecting rocks, and the 
deafening noise, presented a sublime but terrifying spec- 
tacle. At fifty yards from the place the water dropped 
from the trees, as it does after a plentiful shower, they 
being as wet with the ascending vapor as they commonly 
are after a smart rain of some continuance. The bottoms 




Appendix B, 369 

adjoining the river Hudson are fine lands, and appeared 
to be well cultivated ; most of Iheni that we passed through 
were in wheat, which, though commonly overflowed in 
the spring, we were informed by our driver, suffered no 
hurt, but were rather improved by the inundation. We 
arrived in the evening, a little before sunset, at Saratoga, 
the seat of General Schuyler, distant from Albany thirty- 
two miles. We spent the whole day in the journey, 
occasioned by the badness of the roads, and the delay 
the wagons met with in crossing two ferries. The roads at 
this season of the year are generally bad, but now worse 
than ever, owingto the great number of wagons employed 
io carrying the baggage of the regiments marching into 
Canada, and supplies to the army in that country. Gen- 
eral Schuyler informed me that an uninterrupted water- 
carriage between New York and Quebec might be 
perfected at fifty thousand pounds sterling expense, by 
means of locks, and a small canal cut from a branch that 
runs into Wood creek, and the head of a branch which 
falls into Hudson's river; the distance is not more than 
three miles. The river Richelieu or Sorel, is navigable 
for batteaux from the lake Champlain into the St. Law- 
rence. The rapids, below St. John's, are not so consid- 
erable as to obstruct the navigation of such vessels. 

The lands about Saratoga are very good, particularly the 
bottom lands. Hudson's river runs within a quarter of a 
mile of the house, and you have a pleasing view of it for 
two or three miles above and below. A stream called 
FishkitI, which rises out of Luke Saratoga, about six miles 
from the general's house, runs close by it, and turns 
several mills ; one, a grist mill, two saw mills, (one of 
them carrying fourteen saws,) and a hemp and flax mill. 
This mill is a new construction, and answers equally 
well in breaking hemp or flax. I requested the gen- 



370 Charles Carroll of CarroUtan. 

eral to get a model made for me by the person who 
built it. Descriptions of machines are seldom accurately 
made, and when done with exactness are seldom un- 
derstood. I was informed by the general that it is 
customary for the great proprietaries of lands to lease 
them out for three lives, sometimes on fee-farm-rents, re- 
serving by way of rent, a fourth, or, more commonly, a 
tenth of all the produce ; but the proprietaries content 
themselves with a tenth of the wheat. On every trans- 
mutation of property from one tenant to another, a 
quarter part of what the land sells for is sometimes paid 
to the original proprietary, or lord of the manor. The 
general observed to me that this was much the most ad- 
vantageous way of leasing lands ; — that in the course of a 
few years, from the frequent transmutations of tenants, 
the alienation fines would exceed the purchase of the 
fee-simple, though sold at a high valuation. General 
Schuyler is a man of a good understanding improved by 
reflection and study ; he is of a very active turn, and 
fond of husbandry, and when the present distractions 
are composed, if his infirm state of health will permit 
him, will make Saratoga a most beautiful and most valu- 
able estate. He saws up great quantities of plank at 
his mills, which before this war, was disposed of in the 
neighborhood, but the greater part of it sent to Albany. 

nth. Generals Thomas and Schuyler set off this morn- 
ing for Lake George ; the former to be in readiness to 
cross the lake on the first breaking up of the ice, the latter 
to forward the embarkation and transportation of military 
stores and supplies. 

I2th. It snowed all this morning until eleven o'clock ; 
the snow above six inches deep on the ground : it was not 
off the neighboring hills when we left Saratoga. 

i6th. This morning we set off from Saratoga ; I parted 



Appendix B. 371 

with regret from the amiable family of General Schuyler ; 
the ease and affability with which we were treated, and 
the lively behavior of the young ladies, made Saratoga a 
most pleasant s^jour^ the remembrance of which will long 
remain with me. We rode from Saratoga to McNeill's 
ferry, [distance two miles and a half,] crossed Hudson's 
river at this place, and rode on to one mile above Fort 
Miller, which is distant from McNeill's two miles. A 
Mr. Dover has a country-seat near Fort Miller ; you see 
his house from the road. There is a very considerable 
fall in the river at Fort Miller. Just above it our bag- 
gage was put into another boat ; it had been brought in 
a wagon from Saratoga to McNeill's, carried over the 
ferry in a wagon, and then put on board a boat, in which 
it was conveyed to the foot of Fort Miller falls ; then 
carried over land a quarter of a mile and put into a 
second boat. At a mile from Fort Miller we got into a 
boat and went up the Hudson river to Fort Edward. 
Although this fort is but seven miles distant from the 
place where we took boat, we were above four hours row- 
ing up. The current is exceedingly rapid, and the ra- 
pidity was increased by a freshet. In many places the 
current was so strong that the batteau men were obliged 
to set up with poles, and drag the boat by the painter. 
Although these fellows were active and expert at this 
business, it was with the greatest difficulty they could 
stem the current in particular places. The congress 
keeps in pay three companies of batteau men on Hud- 
son's river, consisting each of thirty-three men with a 
captain ; — the pay of the men is £^A.\o per month. 
The lands bordering on Hudson's river, as you ap- 
proach Fort Edward, become more sandy, and the prin- 
cipal wood that grows on them is pine. There are 
several saw mills both above and below Fort Miller. 



372 diaries Carroll of CarroUton. 

The planks sawed at the mills above Fort Miller are 
made up into small rafts and left without guides to the 
current of the river ; each one is marked, so that the 
raftmen that remain just below Fort Miller falls, watch- 
ing for them coming down, may easily know their own 
rafts. When they come over the falls they go out in 
canoes and boats and tow their rafts ashore, and then 
take them to pieces and make them again into larger rafts. 
The smaller rafts are called cribs. The ruins only of 
Fort Edward remain ; there is a good large inn, where we 
found quartered Colonel Sinclair's regiment. Mr. Allen, 
son of old Mr. Allen, is lieutenant-colonel ; he received 
us very politely, and accommodated us with beds. The 
officers of this regiment are in general fine sized men, and 
seemed to be on a friendly footing ; — the soldiers also are 
stout fellows. 

lyth. Having breakfasted with Colonel Allen, we set 
off from Fort Edward on our way to Fort George. We 
had not got a mile from the fort when a messenger from 
General Schuyler met us. He was sent with a letter by 
the general to inform us that Lake George was not open, 
and to desire us to remain at an inn kept by one Wing at 
seven miles distance from Fort Edward and as many from 
Fort George. The country between Wing's tavern and 
Fort Edward is very sandy and somewhat hilly. The 
principal wood is pine. At Fort Edward the river Hud- 
son makes a sudden turn to the westward ; it soon again 
resumes its former north course, for, at a small distance, 
we found it on our left and parallel with the road which 
we travelled, and which, from Fort Edward to Fort 
George, lies nearly north and south. At three miles, or 
thereabouts, from Fort Edward, is a remarkable fall in 
the river. We could see it from the road, but not so as 
to form any judgment of its height. We were informed 



Appendix B. 373 

that it was upwards of thirty feet, and is called the 
Kingsbury falls. We could distinctly see the spray aris- 
ing like a vapor or fog from the violence of the fall. The 
banks of the rivei, above and below these falls for a mile 
or two, are remarkably steep and high, and appear to be 
formed or faced, with a kind of stone very much resemb- 
ling slate. The banks of the Mohawk's river at the 
Cohooes are faced with the same sort of stone ; — it is 
said to be an indication of sea-coal. Mr. Wing's tavern 
is in the township of Queensbury, and Charlotte county ; 
Hudson's river is not above a quarter of a mile from bis 
house. There is a most beautiful fall in the river at this 
place. From still water, to the foot of the fall, I imagine 
the fall cannot be less than sixty feet, but the fall is not 
perpendicular ; it may be about a hundred and twenty or 
a hundred and fifty feet long, and in this length, it is 
broken into three distinct falls, one of which may be 
twent-five feet nearly perpendicular. I saw Mr. Wing's 
patent, — the reserved quit-rent is two shillings and six- 
pence sterling per hundred acres ; but he informs me it 
has never been yet collected. 

iSlh. We set off from Wing's tavern about twelve 
o'clock this day, and reached Fort George about two 
o'clock ; the distance is eight miles and a half ; — you 
can not discover the lake until you come to the heights 
surrounding it, — the descent from which to the lake is 
nearly a mile long ; — from these heights you have a beau- 
tiful view of the lake for fifteen miles down it. Its 
greatest breadth during these fifteen miles does not 
exceed a mile and a quarter, to judge by the eye, which 
however, is a very fallacious way of estimating distances. 
Several rocky islands appear in the lake, covered with 
a species of cedar called here hemlock. Fort George 
is in as ruinous a condition as Fort Edward, it is a 



^BmmatmmmmmmiaBmj^ . l lm iS 



374 Charles CarrM of CarroUton. 

small bastion, faced with stone, and built on an emi- 
nence commanding the head of the lake. There are 
some barracks in it, in which the troops were quartered, 
or rather one barrack, which occupied almost the whole 
space between the walls. At a little distance from 
this fort, and to the westward of it, is the spot where 
the Baron Dieskau was defeated by Sir William John- 
son. About a quarter of a mile further to the west- 
ward the small remains of Fort William Henry are to 
be seen across a little rivulet which forms a swamp, and 
is the morass mentioned by Sir William Johnson in his 
account of the action with Dieskau. Fort William Henry 
was taken last war by Montcalm and destroyed ; — the 
garrison, consisting of four hundred men, and sixteen 
hundred others that were intrenched without the fort, 
capitulated ; — 2l considerable part of these men were 
murdered by the Indians, on their march to Fort Edward, 
after they had delivered up their arms, according to the 
terms of capitulation. The bay in which Montcalm 
landed is seen from Fort George ; he left a guard of five 
hundred men only to protect his boats and artillery, and 
marched round over the heights to come to the south- 
ward of Fort William Henry. When on these heights, 
he discovered the intrenched body without the fort, 
and seeing the great indiscretion he had been guilty 
of in leaving so small a force to guard his baggage 
and boats, he rashly marched back to secure them. Had 
Our troops attacked Montcalm's five hundred men, they 
would probably have defeated them, taken his cannon 
and boats, and forced him to surrender with his whole 
army. There was nothing to impede the attack but 
want of enterprise and conduct in the commanding 
officer. The neighborhood of Fort George abounds 
with limestone, and so indeed does all the country sur- 



Appendix B. 375 

rounding the lake, and all the islands in it. Their rocky 
coast and bottom contribute, no doubt, to the clearness 
of the lake water. Never did I see water more trans- 
parent, and to its transparency, no doubt, must be 
ascribed the excellency of the fish in this lake, which 
much exceed the fish in Lake Champlain. Lake George 
abounds with perch, trout, rock, and eels. 

iQth, We embarked at Fort George this evening, about 
one o'clock, in company with General Schuyler, and 
landed in Montcalm's bay about four miles from Fort 
George. After drinking tea on shore, and arranging 
matters in our boats, we again embarked, and went about 
three or four miles further, then landed, (the sun being 
set), and kindled fires on shore. The longest of the 
boats, made for the transportation of the troops over 
lakes George and Champlain, are thirty-six feet in length 
and eight feet wide ; they draw about a foot water when 
loaded, and carry between thirty and forty men, and are 
rowed by the soldiers. They have a mast fixed in them 
to which a square sail, or a blanket is fastened, but these 
sails are of no use unless with the wind abaft or nearly 
so. After we left Montcalm bay we were delayed con- 
siderably in getting through the ice ; but, with the help 
of tentpoles, we opened ourselves a passage through it 
into free water. The boats fitted up to carry us across 
had awnings over them, under which we made up our 
beds, and my fellow travellers slept very comfortably ; 
but this was not my case, for I was indisposed the whole 
night with a violent sickness at my stomach and vom- 
iting, occasioned by an indigestion. We left the place 
where we passed the night very early on the 20th. 

20th. We had gone some miles before I rose ; soon 
after I got out of bed we found ourselves entangled in the 
ice. We attempted, but in vain, to break through it in 



376 Charles Carroll of CarroUton* 

one place, but were obliged to desist and force our pas- 
sage through another, which we effected without much 
difficulty. At eight o'clock we landed to breakfast. After 
breakfast the general looked to his small boat ; being 
desirous to reach the landing at the north end of Lake 
George, we set ofif together ; but the general's boat and 
the other boat, with part of the luggage, soon got before 
us a considerable way. After separating, we luckily fell 
in with the boat bringing the Montreal and Canada mail, 
by which we were informed that the west shore of the 
lake at a place called Sabatay point, was much encum- 
bered with ice, but that there was a free passage on the 
east side ; accordingly, we kept along the east shore, and 
found it free from ice, by which means we got before the 
general and the other boat ; for the general, who was 
foremost, had been delayed, above an hour in breaking 
through the ice, and, in one place, was obliged to haul his 
boat over a piece or neck of land thirty feet broad. Dr. 
Franklin found in the Canada mail, which he opened, a 
letter for General Schuyler. When we had weathered 
Sabatay point, we stood over for the western shore of the 
lake, and a mile or two below the point we were overtaken 
by the general, from whom we learned the cause of his de- 
lay. Mr. Chase and myself went on board the general's 
boat, and reached the landing place at the south end of 
Lake George near two hours before the other boats. Lake 
George lies nearly north and south, or rather, as I think, 
somewhat to the eastward of a due north course. Its 
shores are remarkably steep, high, and rocky (particularly 
the east shore), and are covered with pine and cedar, or 
what is here termed hemlock ; the country is wild, and 
appears utterly incapable of cultivation ; it is a fine deer 
country, and likely to remain so, for I think it never will 
be inhabited. I speak of the shores, and I am told the 



Appendix B. 377 

inland country resembles these. The lake, in its greatest 
width, does not exceed, I think, two miles ; the widest 
part is nearest the north end, immediately before you 
enter the last narrows, which are not, in their greatest 
width, above half a mile. There are two places where 
the lake is considerably contracted, one about the middle 
of it, the other, as I have said, at the north end ; this last 
gradually contracts itself in breadth to the size of an in- 
considerable river, and suddenly, in depth, to that of a 
very shallow one. The landing-place of Lake George is 
a few yards to the southward of the first fall or ripple in 
this river, through which the waters of Lake George 
drain into Lake Champlain. We passed through this 
ripple, and though our boat did not draw above seven or 
eight inches, her bottom raked the rocks ; the water ran 
through this passage about as swift as it does through 
your tail race. From the landing-place to Ticonderoga 
is three miles and a half. The boats, in coming through 
Lake George, pass through the passage just described and 
unload at a quarter of a mile below the usual landing- 
place. Their contents are then put into wagons, and 
carried over to Ticonderoga. General Schuyler has 
erected a machine for raising the boats when emptied, 
and then letting them gently down on a carriage con- 
structed for the purpose, on which they are drawn over 
land to Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain, to carry the 
troops over the last mentioned lake, and down the Sorel 
into the river St. Lawrence. These carriages collSist of 
four wheels, united by a long sapling, at the extremities 
of which the wheels are placed ; over the axletrees is 
fixed a piece of wood, on which each end of the boat is 
supported and made fast by a rope secured round a bolt 
at the undermost part, and in the centre of the axletree. 
Jhis bolt is made of iron, and passes through the afore- 



378 Charles Carroll of CarroUtotu 

said pieces of wood and the axeltree. These carriages 
are drawn by six oxen, and this morning (21st instant) I 
saw three or four boats carried over upon them. Lake 
George, from the south end of it to the landing place at 
the north extremity, is thirty-six miles long. Its average 
width does not, I think, exceed a mile, and this breadth 
is interspersed and broken by innumerable little rocky 
islands formed of limestone ; the shores of which are 
commonly so steep that you may step from the rocks into 
ten or twelve feet water. The season was not sufficiently 
advanced to admit of catching fish, a circumstance we 
had reason to regret, as they are so highly praised by the 
connoisseurs in good eating, and as one of our company 
is so excellent a judge in this science. There are no 
considerable rivers that empty themselves into Lake 
George. We saw some brooks or rivulets, which, I pre- 
sume, after the melting of the snows, are almost dry. 
The lake must be fed, principally, with springs, the melt- 
ing of snows, and the torrents that must pour into it, 
from its high and steep shores, after rains. As there is 
no considerable river that flows into it, so is the vent of 
its waters into Lake Champlain very inconsiderable. In 
summer you may step, dry-footed, from rock to rock, in 
the place which I have called the first ripple, and which 
I said we passed, coming out of Lake George. The 
water suddenly shallows from a great depth to nine or 
ten feet or less. This change is immediately discoverable 
by the great change in the color of the water. The lake 
water is of a dark bluish cast, and the water of the river 
of a whitish color, owing not only to the difference of the 
depth, but the difference of the bottoms and shores, 
which, adjoining the river, are of white clay. 

2ist, I took a walk this evening to the saw-mill which 
is built on the principal fall of the river flowing fron^ 



Appendix B. 379 

Lake George into Lake Champlain. At the foot of this 
fall, which is about thirteen feet high, the river is navi- 
gable for batteaux into Lake Champlain. From the saw- 
mill to the place where the batteaux are put on carriages 
to be carried over land, the distance is one mile and a 
half. I saw them unload a boat from the carriage, and 
launch it at the same time, into the river ; this was per- 
formed by thirty-five or forty men. To day they carried 
over this portage fifty batteaux. I saw the forty-eighth 
put on the carriage. A little to the north-westward of 
the saw-mill, on the west side of the river, I visited 
the spot where Lord Howe was killed. At a small 
expense a continued navigation for batteaux might 
be made between the Lakes George and Champlain, by 
means of a few locks. General Schuyler informed me 
that locks, sufficient and adequate to the above purpose, 
might be constructed for fifteen hundred pounds sterling. 
There are but four or five falls in this river, the greatest 
of which is not above fourteen or fifteen feet. But the 
general informs me a much more advantageous water 
carriage may be opened through Wood creek, which falls 
into Lake Champlain at Skeensborough, twenty-eight 
miles south of Ticonderoga. The general proposes to 
have this creek accurately surveyed, the heights ascer- 
tained, and estimate made of the expense of erecting 
locks on Wood creek, and the most convenient branch 
which heads near it and falls into Hudson's river. If 
this water communication between Lake Champlain and 
the province of New York should be perfected, there is 
little danger of the enemy's gaining the mastery of Lake 
Champlain, or of their ever having it in their power to 
invade these colonies from Canada with any prospect of 
success, besides the security which will be obtained for 
the colonies in time of war by making this navigation. 



380 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

Trade, during peace, will be greatly benefited by it, as 
there will then be a continued water communication 
between New York and Canada, without the incon- 
venience and expense attending the portages over land. 
22nd, I this morning took a ride with General Schuy- 
ler across the portage, or from the landing place at the 
bottom of Lake George, to Ticonderoga. The landing 
place is properly on the river which runs out of Lake 
George into Lake Champlain, and may be a mile and a 
half from the place where the former may be said to 
terminate, /. ^., where the lake is contracted into a river, 
as a current and shallow water. This river, computing 
its length from the aforesaid spot to the foot of the falls 
at the saw-mills, and its windings, which are inconsider- 
able, is not more than four or five miles long. From the 
foot of the saw-mill falls there is still water into Lake 
Champlain. It is at the foot of these falls that the bat- 
teaux, brought over land, are launched into the water, 
and the artillery and the apparatus belonging to it are 
embarked in them ; the stores, such as provisions, ball, 
powder, &c., are embarked from Ticonderoga. At sixty 
or seventy yards below the saw-mill there is a bridge 
built over the river : — this bridge was built by the king 
during the last war ; — the road from the landing place to 
Ticonderoga passes over it, and you then have the river 
on the right ; when you have passed the bridge you im- 
mediately ascend a pretty high hill, and keep ascending 
till you reach the famous lines made by the French in 
the last war, which Abercrombie was so infatuated as to 
attack with musquetry only ; — his cannon was lying at the 
bridge, about a mile or something better from these lines. 
The event of the day is too well known to be mentioned ; 
we lost [killed and wounded] near one thousand, six 
hundred men ; had the cannon been brought up, the 



Appendix B. 38 1 

French would not have waited to be attacked ; — it was 
morally impossible to succeed against these lines with 
small arms only, particularly in the manner they were 
attacked ; — our army passing before them, and receiving 
a fire from the whole extent ; — whereas, had it marched 
lower down, or to the north-west of these lines, it would 
have flanked them : — they were constructed of large 
trunks of trees, felled on each other, with earth thrown 
up against them. On the side next the French troops, 
they had, besides felling trees, lopped and sharpened 
their branches, and turned them towards the enemy ; the 
trunks of the trees remain to this day piled up as de- 
scribed, but are fast going to decay. As soon as you 
enter these lines you have a full view of Lake Champlain 
and Ticonderoga fort, distant about a quarter of a mile. 
The land from thence gradually declines to the spot on 
which the fort is built. Lake Champlain empties itself 
opposite the fort, and runs south twenty-eight miles to 
Skeensborough. Crown Point is fifteen miles down the 
lake from Ticonderoga. The lake is no where broad in 
sight of the last mentioned place, but the prospect from 
it is very pleasing ; its shores are not as steep as those 
of Lake George. They rise gradually from the water, 
and are covered more thickly with woods, which grow in 
good soils, or at least in soils much better than can be 
seen on Lake George. There is but one settlement on 
the latter, at Sabatay point ; I understood there were 
about sixty acres of good land at that point. Ticon- 
deroga fort is in a ruinous condition; it was once a 
tolerable fortification. The ramparts are faced with 
stone. I saw a few pieces of cannon mounted on one 
bastion, more for show, I apprehend, than service. In 
the present state of afifairs this fort is of no other use 
than as an enirepSt or magazine for stores, as from this 



382 Charles Carroll of Carrdltofu 

place all supplies for our army in Canada are shipped to 
go down Lake Champlain. I saw four vessels, viz.: three 
schooners and one sloop ; these are to be armed, to keep 
the mastery of the lake in case we should lose St. John's 
and be driven out of Canada ; — in the meantime they 
will be employed in carrying supplies to our troops in 
that country. Of these three schooners, two were taken 
from the enemy on the surrender of St. John's, one of 
them is called the Royal Savage^ and is pierced for twelve 
guns ; she had, when taken, twelve brass pieces — I think 
four and six pounders ; these were sent to Boston. She 
is really a fine vessel, and built on purpose for fighting ; 
however, some repairs are wanted ; a new mainmast must 
be put in, her old one being shattered with one of our 
cannon balls. When these vessels are completely rigged, 
armed and manned, we may defy the enemy on Lake 
Champlain for this summer and fall at least, even should 
we unfortunately be driven out of Canada. When our 
small army last summer, or rather fall, [in number about 
one thousand seven hundred,] came to Isle aux NoiXy 
this vessel was almost ready to put to sea, she wanted 
only as much to be done to her as could easily have been 
finished in three days, had the enemy exerted themselves. 
Had she ventured out our expedition to Canada must 
have failed, and probably our whole army must have sur- 
rendered, for she was greatly an overmatch for all the 
naval strength we then had on the lake. Had Preston, 
who commanded at St. John's ventured out with his gar- 
rison, consisting of six hundred men, and attacked our 
people at their first landing, he would, in all probability, 
have defeated them, as they were a mere undisciplined 
rabble, made up chiefly of the ofRngs and outcasts of 
New York. 
2jrd, We continued this day at the landing place, our 



Appendix B. 383 

boats not being yet ready and fitted to carry us through 
Lake Champlain. General Schuyler and the troops were 
busily engaged in carting over land, to the saw-mill, the 
batteaux, cannon, artillery stores, provisions, &c., there 
to be embarked on the navigable waters of lake Cham- 
plain, and transported over that Lake to St. John's. 

24th. We this day left the landing place at Lake 
George and took boat at the sawmill. From the saw- 
mill to Ticonderoga, the distance, by water, is about a 
mile ; the water is shallow, but sufficiently deep for 
batteau navigation. A little below the bridge before 
mentioned, the French, during the last war, drove pick- 
ets into the river, to prevent our boats getting round 
from the saw-mill to Ticonderoga with the artillery ; 
some of the pickets still remain, for both our boats struck 
on them. Ticonderoga fort is beautifully situated, but, 
as I said before, it is in a ruinous condition ; — neither is 
the place, in my opinion, judicially chosen for the con- 
struction of a fort ; a fort constructed at the saw-mill 
would much better secure the passage or pass into the 
province of New York by way of Lake George. Having 
waited at Ticonderoga an hour or two, to take in provi- 
sions for the crews of both boats, consisting entirely of 
soldiers, we embarked at eleven o'clock, and reached 
Crown Point a little after three, with the help of our oars 
only. Crown Point is distant from Ticonderoga only 
fifteen miles. The lake, all the way, from one part to 
another, is narrow, scarce exceeding a mile on an average. 
Crown Point is situated on a neck or isthmus of land, on 
the west side of the lake ; it is in ruins ; it was once a 
considerable fortress, and the English must have ex- 
pended a large sum in constructing the fort and erecting 
the barracks, which are also in ruins. A great part of 
the ditch is cut out of the solid limestone rock. This 



384 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

ditch was made by blowing the rocks, as the holes bored 
for the gunpowder are plainly to be seen in the fragments. 
By some accident the fort took fire, the flames communi- 
cated to the powder magazine, containing at that time 
ninety-six barrels. The shock was so great as to throw 
down the barracks — at least the upper stories. The 
explosion was distinctly heard ten miles ofF, and the earth 
shook at that distance as if there had been an earthquake. 
This intelligence I received from one Faris, who lives 
ten miles down the lake, and at whose house we lay this 
night. The woodwork of the barracks is entirely con- 
sumed by fire, but the stonework of the first stories 
might be easily repaired, and one of these barracks might 
be converted into a fine manufactory. The erecting of 
these barracks and the fort must have cost the govern- 
ment not less, I dare say, than one hundred thousand 
pounds sterling. The lake is narrow opposite the fort, 
and makes a bend, by which the vessels passing on the 
lake were much exposed to the artillery of the fort ; and 
this advantageous situation first induced the French, and 
then the English, to erect a fort here. The French fort 
was inconsiderable, and close to the water ; the English 
fort is a much more extensive fortification and farther 
from the lake, but so as to command it. 

2sth, We set off from Faris's at five o'clock in the 
morning. If Faris's information may be relied on, his 
land and the neighboring lands are exceedingly fine ; 
— he told us he had reaped thirty bushels of wheat 
from the acre ; the soil appears to be good ; but, to 
judge of it from its appearance, I should not think it so 
fertile. Three miles north of Faris's the lake begins to 
contract itself, and this contraction continues for six 
miles, and is called the narrows. At Faris's the lake is 
about two miles wide. We breakfasted in a small cove 



Appendix B. 385 

at a little distance to the southward of the Split rock. 
The Split rock is nine miles from Faris's house. At the 
Split rock the lake grows immediately wider as you go 
down it ; its width, in this place, cannot be much short 
of seven miles. When we had got four or five miles 
from the rock, the wind headed us, and blew a fresh 
gale, which occasioned a considerable swell on the lake, 
the wind being northeast, and having a reach of twenty 
miles. We were constrained to put in at one McCauUy's 
where we dined on cold provisions. The wind abating 
about four o'clock, we put off again and rowed seven 
miles down the lake to a point of land a mile or two to 
the southward of four islands, called the Four Brothers ; 
these islands lie nearly in the middle of the lake which 
is very wide in this place, and continues so far as you 
can see down it. Mr. Chase and I slept this night on 
shore under a tent made of bushes. 

26th, We set off this morning at four o'clock from 
the last mentioned point, which I called " Commissioners' 
point." Wind fair ; a pretty breeze. At five o'clock 
reached Schuyler's island ; it contains eight hundred 
acres and belongs to Montreson, distant seven miles 
from the Four Brothers. Schuyler's island lies near the 
western shore. The lake continues wide ; at ten o'clock 
got to Cumberland head, fourteen miles from Schuyler's 
island. Cumberland head is the south point of Cumber- 
land bay. The bay forms a deep recess on the western 
side of the lake ; its length, from Schuyler's island, at 
the point of land opposite to it, to Cumberland head-land 
is fourteen miles, and its depth not less than nine or ten 
miles. The wind luckily favored us until we reached 
Cumberland head ; it then ceased ; it grew cloudy and 
soon began to rain, and the wind shifted to the north- 
east. We breakfasted at Cumberland head on tea and 

VOL. I.— 35 



386 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

good biscuit, our usual breakfast, having provided our- 
selves with the necessary furniture for such a breakfast. 
As soon as it cleared up we rowed across a bay, about 
four miles wide, to Point aux Roches ^ so called from the 
rocks of which it is formed. Indeed it is one entire 
stone wall, fifteen feet high, but gradually inclining to 
the north-east. At that extremity it is little above the 
water. Having made a short stay at this place to refresh 
our men, we rowed round the point, hugged the western 
shore, and got into a cove which forms a very safe 
harbor. But the ground being low and swampy, and no 
cedar or hemlock trees, of the branches of which our 
men formed their tents at night, we thought proper to 
cross over to Isle la Motte^ bearing from us about north- 
east, and distant three miles. The island is nine miles 
long and one broad. The south-west side of it is 
high land, and the water is deep close in shore, which is 
rocky and steep. We lay under this shore all night in a 
critical situation, for had the wind blown hard in the 
night, from the west, our boats would probably have 
been stove against the rocks. We passed the night on 
board the boats, under the awning which had been fitted 
up for us. This awning could effectually secure us 
from the wind and rain, and there was space enough 
under it to make up four beds. The beds we were prov- 
ident enough to take with us from Philadelphia. We 
found them not only convenient and comfortable, but 
necessary ; for, without this precaution, persons travelling 
from the colonies into Canada at this season of the year, 
or indeed at any other, will find themselves obliged 
either to sit up all night, or to lie on the bare ground or 
planks. Several of the islands in Lake Champlain have 
different claimants, as patents have been granted by the 
French government and the government of New York. 



Appendix B. 387 

According to the present division, most of them, indeed 
all, except Isle aux Naix, are in the colony of New York. 
27th. A fine morning. We left our nation's station 
at four o'clock, and rowed ten miles to Point aux Fer^ 
so called from some iron mines at no great distance from 
it ; the land here, and all the adjacent country, is very 
flat and low. Colonel Christie has built a house at this 
point, which is intended for a tavern ; the place is judi- 
ciously chosen. A small current begins here, and the 
raftsmen are not obliged to row ; after they bring their 
rafts to Point aux Fer^ the current will carry them in a day 
to St. John's, which is distant from this point thirty 
measured miles. Windmill point is three miles below 
Point aux Fer ; and, a mile or two below the former, runs 
the line which divides the province of Quebec from New 
York. At Windmill point the lake begins to contract itself 
to the size of a river, but of a large and deep one. Oppo- 
site to this point the width can not be much short of two 
miles ; six miles below Windmill point you meet with a 
small island called Isle aux Tites : from a number of heads 
that were stuck upon poles by the Indians after a great 
battle that was fought between them on this island or near 
it. At this island the current is not only perceptible, but 
strong. We went close by the island and in shallow water, 
which gave us a better opportunity of observing the swift- 
ness of the current. A mile or two below this island, we 
breakfasted at a tavern kept by one, Stodd. At Isle 
aux Tites f the river Richelieu^ or St. John's, or Sorel (for 
It goes by all these names), may be properly said to begin. 
It is in this place above a mile wide, deep, and the cur- 
rent considerable ; — its banks are almost level with the 
water, — indeed, the water appears to be rather above the 
banks ; the country is one continued swamp, overflowed 
by the river at this season ; as you approach St. John's 



388 Charles Carroll of CarroHtatL 

the current grows stronger. Isle aux Noix is half way be- 
tween St. John's and Point aux Fer^ and consequently 
fifteen miles from each ; we passed close by it : it is very 
level and low, covered at the north end with hazel bushes ; 
but the land is higher than the banks of the river. We 
saw the intrenchments thrown up by the French during 
the last war, and the remains of the pickets driven into 
the river, quite across to the island, to prevent the Eng- 
lish boats from getting down to St. John's. These forti- 
fications induced Gen'l Amherst to penetrate into Canada 
by Oswego lake and the St. Lawrence, rather than run the 
hazard of being stopped at Isle aux Noix. Indeed I 
believe he would have found it a difficult matter to force 
his way through this pass, which appears to me of great 
consequence in the present contest, should the forces of 
the United Colonies be obliged to evacuate Canada ; for 
if we occupy and fortify this island, drive pickets into the 
river, and build row galleys, and place them behind the 
pickets, or between the little islets formed by the several 
smaller islands, almost contiguous to Isle aux Noix^ the 
enemy will not be able to penetrate into the colonies from 
Canada by the way of Lake Champlain. It is certain 
that Amherst, rather than expose himself to the disgrace 
of being foiled at this post, chose to make a roundabout 
march of several hundred leagues, and encounter the 
rapids of the St. Lawrence, by which he lost some of his 
boats and several hundred men. Having passed the 
Isle aux Noix^ the wind sprang up in our favor ; — assisted 
by the wind and current, we reached St. John's at three 
o'clock. Before I speak of this fortress, it may not be 
improper to make some remarks on the navigation of Lake 
Champlain, the adjacent country, and its appearance. The 
navigation appears to be very secure, as there are many 
inlets, coves, and harbors, in which such vessels as will 



Appendix B. 389 

be used on the lake may at all times find shelter ; the 
water is deep, at least wherever we touched, close in with 
the land. There are several islands in the lake, the most 
considerable of which we saw ; the principal is Grand 
isie, — it deserves the appellation, being, as we were in- 
formed, twenty-seven miles long, and three or four miles 
wide. Isie la Motte is the next largest and Isle de Belle 
Caur ranks after that. Isle la Motte we touched at ; the 
others we could plainly distinguish. We saw several of 
the islands on the eastern shore of the lake, some of 
which appear as large as Poplar's island ; but having no 
person on board our boats acquainted with the lake, we 
could not learn their names. The lake, on an average, 
may be six miles broad ; in some places it is above fifteen 
miles wide, particularly about Cumberland bay and Schuy- 
ler's island ; but in others it is not three miles, and in the 
narrows not above a mile and a half, to judge by the eye. 
As you go down the lake, the mountains which hem it 
in on the east and west extend themselves wider, and 
leave a greater extent of fine level land between them 
and the lake on each shore. Some of these mountains 
are remarkably high. In many places, on or near their 
tops, the snow still remains. They form several pictur- 
esque views, and contribute much, in my opinion, to the 
beauty of the lake. The snow not dissolving, in their 
latitude, at the end of April, is a proof of their height : — 
the distance at which some of these mountains are visible 
is a still stronger proof. Several of them may be distinctly 
seen from Montreal, which can not be at a less distance 
from the most remote than seventy or eighty miles, and, 
I am inclined to think, considerably further. If America 
should succeed, and establish liberty throughout this 
part of the continent, I have not the least doubt that the 
lands bordering on Lake Champlain will be very valua- 



390 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

ble in a short time, and that great trade will be carried 
on over Lake Champlain, between Canada and New York. 
An easy water communication may be opened, at no great 
expense, (if General Schuyler be not mistaken) between 
the cities of New York, Montreal, and Quebec, and 
several other places in Canada. Richelieu^ or Sorel river 
from Isle aux Tites to St. John's, would be esteemed a 
large river even in Maryland. The navigation of it be- 
tween those places is good, for the current is not so 
strong as not to be stemmed with oars, or a wind. At 
St. John's the current is very rapid, and continues so, 
sometimes more, sometimes less, to Chamblay, — distant 
twelve miles from St. John's. Opposite St. John's, I 
think the river is half a mile wide. 

The fortifications of St. John's were not injured by the 
siege, — they consist of earth ramparts, enclosed by a 
ditch filled with water ; palisadoes, closely joined to- 
gether, are fastened at the base of the ramparts, and con- 
fined by the weight of them projecting half way over the 
ditch, to prevent an escalade. There are, properly 
speaking, two forts, built around some houses, which 
were converted into magazines and barracks ; the com- 
munication between the two is secured by a strong en- 
closure of large stakes driven deep into the ground, and 
as close as they can stand together. A ditch runs along 
this fence. The houses within the forts suffered much 
from our batteries which surrounded the forts, but the 
cannon was not heavy enough to make any impression 
on the works. Want of ammunition and provisions, and 
the inclemency of the season, obliged the garrison to 
surrender ; for the soldiers were constrained to hide them- 
selves in the cellars, which are bomb-proof, or lie behind 
the mounds of earth thrown up within the forts, exposed 
to the severity of the cold and rains, or run the risk of 



Appendix S. 391 

having their brains beaten out in the houses by our shot, 
or by a fragment of the walls and timbers, and bursting of 
the bombs. As you go down the river from Point au Fer 
to St. John's, you have a distant and beautiful prospect of 
the mountains on either side of the lake. After passing 
Isle aux Noix^ you have a fine view of the mountain of 
Chamblay, on the top of which is a lake stored with excel- 
lent trout and perch. Having despatched a messenger to 
Montreal for carriages for ourselves and baggage ; we 
crossed the river to go to a tavern on the east side of the 
river, about a mile from the fort. The house belongs to 
Colonel Hazen, and has greatly suffered by the neighbor- 
hood of the troops. There is scarcely a whole pane of 
glass in the house, the window shutters and doors are 
destroyed, and the hinges stolen ; in short, it appears a 
perfect wreck. This tavern is kept by a French woman, 
married to one Donaho, now a prisoner in Pennsyl- 
vania. 

28th. We remained at Colonel Hazen's house. 
Several batteaux with troops arrived this day and yester- 
day evening from Ticonderoga, and most of them fell 
down the river this day to Chamblay. The land appears 
to be very fertile, and well adapted to pasture ; the grass 
began to grow fast, although the frost was not then out 
of the ground, the surface only being thawed. 

2pM. Left Colonel Hazen's house ; crossed over to 
St. John's, where we found our caliches ready to receive 
us. After an hour's stay spent in getting our baggage 
into the carts, and securing the remainder, — which, for 
want of carts, we were obliged to leave behind us — we 
set off from St. John's for La Prairie^ distant eighteen 
miles. I never travelled through worse roads, or in 
worse carriages. The country is one continued plain 
from St John's to La Prairie^ and two-thirds of the way 



392 Charles Carroll of CarroUton. 

uncultivated^ though deserving the highest cultivation. 
About five or six miles from La Prairie you meet with 
houses and ploughed lands, interspersed with meadows, 
which extend as far as you can see ; — all this tract of land 
is capable of being turned into fine meadow, and when 
the country becomes more populous, and enjoys a good 
government, I doubt not it will be all drained and made 
into excellent meadow or pasturage. Without draining, 
it will be impossible to cultivate it in any way. You have 
no view of the St. Lawrence, or of Montreal, until you 
come within three or four miles of La Prairie, At La 
Prairie the view of the town and the river, and the island 
of Montreal, together with the houses on the eastern side 
of the St. Lawrence, form a beautiful prospect. As far as 
the view extends down the river, you discern houses on 
either side of it, which are not divided from each other 
by more than four acres, and commonly by not more than 
two. From La Prairie you go slanting down the river 
to Montreal ; this passage is computed six miles, though 
the river, in a direct line across from the eastern shore to 
the town, is not more than three miles. Ships of three 
hundred tons can come up to Montreal, but they cannot 
get up above the town, or even abreast of it. The river 
where we crossed is filled with rocks and shoals, which 
occasion a very rapid current in several places. We were 
received by GENERAL ARNOLD, on our landing, in 
the most polite and friendly manner ; conducted to head- 
quarters, where a genteel company of ladies and gentle- 
men had assembled to welcome our arrival. As we went 
from the landing place to the general's house, the cannon 
of the citadel fired in compliment to us as the commis- 
sioners of congress. We supped at that general's, and 
after supper were conducted, by the general and other 
gentlemen, to our lodgings, — the house of Mr. Thomas 



Appendix B. 393 

Walker, — the best built, and perhaps the best furnished 
in this town. 

May nth. Dr. Franklin left Montreal to-day to go to 
St. John's, and from thence to congress. The doctor's 
declining state of health, and the bad prospect of our 
afifairs in Canada, made him take this resolution. 

I2th, We set off from Montreal to go to La Prairie, 
Mr. John Carroll went to join Dr. Franklin at St. John's, 
from whence they sailed the 13th. 

ijth. I went to St. John's to examine into the state of 
that garrison, and of the balteaux. There I met with 
General Thompson and Colonel Sinclair, with part of 
Thompson's brigade. That evening I went with them 
down the Sorel to Chamblay. Major Wood and myself 
remained in the boat when we got to St. Ther^se, where 
the rapids begin and continue, with some interruptions, 
to Chamblay. Flat bottomed boats may go down these 
rapids in the spring of the year, when the water is high ; 
— even a large gondola passed down them this spring ; 
but it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to bring 
a gondola up against the stream. I much question 
whether the batteaux could be brought up ; certain it is 
that the labor of towing them up, or setting them up 
the current with setting poles, would be greater, and 
take much more time, than carting them over the car- 
rying place from Chamblay to within three miles of St. 
Ther^se. All our batteaux which shoot the rapids and 
go down the Sorel to Chamblay and that are brought up 
again to St. John's, are carted over the carrying place on 
frames constructed for the purpose. It was proposed 
by some to bring a gondola^ built at Chamblay, over 
land three miles into the Sorel, three miles below St. 
Ther^se ; others were of opinion it could be more easily 
towed up over the rapids. Chamblay fort is a large 






394 Charles Carroll of CarrolUon. 

square stone building, with square towers at each anglC) 
a place intended only as a protection against the savages. 
I saw the holes made by a six pounder, when it was taken 
by Major Brown. Major Stafford might have held out 
against the force which besieged him at least for some 
days, in which time he would probably have been relieved 
by Carleton. But, by Carleton's subsequent behaviour, 
when he made an attempt to go to the relief of St. John's, 
I much question whether he would have taken more 
effectual measures to rescue Stafford. The taking of 
Chambtay occasioned the taking of St. John's ; against 
the latter we should not have succeeded without the six 
tons of gunpowder taken in the former. 

i^lh, I returned to Montreal by La Prairie; the 
country between Chamblay and La Prairie is extremely 
fine and level, abounding with most excellent meadow- 
ground as you approach the St. Lawrence, with rich arable 
land round about Chamblay. The country lying between 
the St. Lawrence and the Sorel is the best part of Canada, 
and produces themost and best wheat. In the year 1771 
four hundred and seventy-one thousand bushels of wheat 
were exported out of Canada, of which two-thirds, it is 
computed, were made in the Sorel district. 

3ist. This day Mr. Chase set off with me for the mouth 
of the Sorel ; we embarked from Montreal in one of our 
batteaux, and went in it as far as the point of land on 
the north shore of the St. Lawrence, opposite to the north- 
ern extremity of the Island of Montreal ; here, the wind 
being against us, we took post and travelled on the north 
side of the St. Lawrence as low down as La Nore, where 
we got into a canoe, and were paddled down and across the 
St. Lawrence to our camp at the mouth of the Sorel ; — it 
^a s a perfect calm, the distance is computed at nine miles, 
country on each side the St. Lawrence is level. 



K-^ 



Appendix B. 395 

rich, and thickly seated ; indeed, so thickly seated, that 
the houses form almost one continued row. In going 
from La Nore to the mouth of the Sorel, we passed by 
Brown's battery (as is is called), although it never had a 
cannon mounted on it. To this battery without cannon, 
and to a single gondola, ten or twelve vessels, under the 
command of Colonel Prescott, surrendered. Major 
Brown, when the vessels came near to his battery, sent an 
officer on board requesting Prescott to send another on 
shore to view his works. It is difficult to determine 
which was greatest, the impudence of Brown in demand- 
ing a surrender, or the cowardice of the officer who, go- 
ing back to Prescott, represented the difficulty of passing 
the battery so great and hazardous, that Prescott and 
all his officers chose to capitulate. Brown requested the 
officer who went on shore to wait a little until he saw the 
thirty-two pounders, which were within a half a mile, 
coming from Chamblay ; — says he, " If you should chance 
to escape this battery, which is my small battery, I have a 
grand battery at the mouth of the Sorel, which will infalli- 
bly sink all your vessels." His grand battery was as 
badly provided with cannon as his little battery, for not 
a single gun was mounted on either. This Prescott 
treated our prisoners with great insolence and brutality. 
His behaviour justifies the old observation, that cowards 
are generally cruel. We found the discipline of our 
camp very remiss, and everything in confusion ; — Gen- 
eral Thomas had but lately resigned the command to 
Thompson, by whose activity things were soon put on 
a better footing. 

22d, We left our camp and travelled by land along 
the eastern bank of the Sorel At five or six miles from 
the mouth of the Sorel the country grows rich, and con- 
tinues so all the way to Chamblay. Near the mouth of 



396 Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

the river it is very sandy. This part of the country is 
very populous, the villages are large and neat, and joined 
together by a continued range of single houses, chiefly 
fanners' houses. These are the rich men in Canada : 
the seignieurs are in general poor. They were constrained 
by the ordinances of the King of France to lease their 
lands forever, reserving two dollars for every ninety 
acres, and some other trifling perquisites, as tolls for 
grinding wheat ; the tenants being obliged to have their 
wheat ground at their seignieurs* mills. It is conjectured 
that the farmers in Canada can not be possessed of less 
than a million sterling, in specie ; they hoard up their 
money to portion their children ; they neither let it out 
at interest, nor expend it in the purchase of lands. Be- 
fore we left the camp we ordered a detachment up to 
Montreal, under the command of Colonel De Haas, con- 
sisting of near four hundred men, to reinforce General 
Arnold, and, in conjunction, to drive off a party of the 
eighth regiment, who, with three hundred and fifty sav- 
ages, and some Canadians, had taken our post at the 
Cedars, through the cowardice of Major Butterfield, and 
had advanced, on the 25th instant, within fifteen miles 
of Montreal. 

2jrd, We got early this morning to Chamblay, where 
we found all things in much confusion, extreme disorder 
and negligence, our credit sunk, and no money to retrieve 
it with. We were obliged to pay three silver dollars for 
the carriage of three barrels of gunpowder from Little 
Chamblay river to Longueil, the officer who commanded 
the guard not having a single shilling. 

24th, Colonel De Haas's detachment got into Mon- 
treal this evening ; the day before, we also arrived there, 
having crossed the St. Lawrence in a canoe from Lon- 
gueil. 



Appendix B. 397 

2Sth, In the evening of this day Colonel De Haas's 
detachment marched out of Montreal to join General 
Arnold at La Chine ; they were detained from want of 
many necessaries, which we were obliged to procure for 
them, General Wooster being without money, or pretend- 
ing to be so. The enemy, hearing from our enemies in 
Montreal, of this reinforcement, had retreated precipi- 
tately to Fort St. Anne's, at the southern extremity of the 
Island of Montreal, and from thence had crossed over to 
Quinze Chiens, on the north side of the St. Lawrence. 

2Qth, We left Montreal this day at three o'clock, to 
go to Chamblay, to be present at a council of war of the 
generals and field-officers for concerting the operations 
of the campaign. 

joth. The council of war was held this day, and de- 
termined to maintain possession of the country between 
the St. Lawrence and Sorel, if possible ; — in the mean- 
time to dispose matters so as to make an orderly retreat 
out of Canada. 

jist. Set off from Chamblay for St. John's ; — all things 
there in confusion : — slept at Mrs. Donaho's. 

^utu 1st. Crossed over this morning to St. John's, 
where General Sullivan with fourteen hundred men, had 
arrived in the night of the 31st past ; saw them all under 
arms. It began to rain at nine o'clock, and continued 
raining very hard until late in the evening; — slept at 
Donaho's. 

2nd. Crossed over again to the camp ; took leave of 
General Sullivan, and sailed from St. John's at six this 
morning, with a fair wind ; — got to Point au Fer at one 
o'clock ; — got to Cumberland head about seven o'clock, 
P.M. ; set off from thence about nine, and rowed all 
night. We divided our boat's crew into two watches. 

Srd, Breakfasted at Willsborough ; rowed on and 



398 Charles Carroll of CarrolUan. 

received despatches by Major Hickes ; got to Crown 
Point half-past six o'clock, p.m. Set off at eight, rowed 
all night, and arrived at one o'clock in the night at 
Ticonderoga, where we found General Schuyler. 

4th, Set off this morning at five with General 
Schuyler, for Skeenesborough, and got there by two 
o'clock. The lake as you approach Skeenesborough, 
grows narrower and shallower ; indeed, within five or 
six miles of Skeenesborough, it has all the appearance of 
a river. We hauled our batteau over the carrying place 
at Skeenesborough into Wood creek. This carrying 
place is not above three hundred feet across ; a lock may 
be made for two hundred pounds at Skeenesborough, by 
which means a continued navigation would be effected 
for batteaux from one Chesshire's into Lake Champlain. 
Major Skeene has built a saw-mill, gristmill, and a forge 
at the entrance of Wood creek into Lake Champlain. 
Set off from Skeenesborough at four o'clock, rowed up 
Wood creek ten miles, to one Boyle's, here we lay all 
night on board our boat. 

jM. Set off at three in the morning and continued 
rowing up the creek to one Chesshire's. This man lives 
near Fort Ann, built by Governor Nicholson in 1709 
The distance from Skeenesborough to Chesshire's is 
twenty-two miles, — by land, fourteen only ; from this it 
appears that Wood creek has many windings, in fact, 
I never saw a more serpentine river. The navigation is 
somewhat obstructed by trees drifted and piled across 
the creek ; however, we met with little difficulty but in 
one place, where we were obliged to quit our boat, and 
carry it through a narrow gut, which was soon performed 
by our crew. Two hundred men would clear this creek 
and remove every obstruction in six days' time. This 
measure has been recommended by the commissioners 



i 



Appendix B. 399 

to congress, and congress has complied with the recom- 
mendation, and orders will soon be given to General 
Schulyer to clear it, and render the navigation easy. 

I set off with General Schuyler, on foot, from Ches- 
shire's, at one o'clock ; walked seven miles, and then met 
horses coming from Jones's to us. Jones's house is dis- 
tant nine miles from Chesshire's. We dined at Jones's, 
and rode, after dinner, to Fort Edward ; — the distance 
is computed four miles ; — Mr. Chase joined us this even- 
ing. He took the lower road and was obliged to walk 
part of the way. 

6th, Parted with General Schuyler this morning ; 
he returned to Fort George on Lake George. We rode 
to Saratoga, where we got by seven o'clock, but did not 
find the amiable family at home. We were constrained 
to remain here all this day, waiting the arrival of our 
servants and baggage. 

yth. Our servants and baggage being come up, we 
left Saratoga this morning at nine ; took boat and went 
down Hudson's river through all the rapids, to Albany. 
The distance is computed thirty-six miles. We arrived 
at Albany half an hour past five. At six o'clock we set 
off for New York in a sloop : which we luckily found 
ready to sail ; got that evening and night twenty-four 
miles from Albany. 

8th, Found ourselves, this morning, twenty-four 
miles from Albany ; — at seven in the morning wind 
breezed up, had a fine gale, and got below the highlands ; 
— a very great run. 

gth. Arrived at New York at one o'clock, p.m. ; 
waited on General Washington at Motier's ; — saw Gen- 
erals Gates and Putnam, and my old acquaintance and 
friend, Mr. Moylan. About six o'clock in the evening 
got into General Washington's barge, in company with 



"^ST? 



400 Charles Carroll of Carrdlton. 

Lord Stirling, and was rowed round by States Islmd 
and the Kilns, within two miles of Elizabeth -town, 
where we got by ten at night. 

lotk. Set oS from Elizabeth-town half-past five. 
Got to Bristol at eight o'clock, p.m. :— at nine, embarked 
in our boats, and were rowed down the Delaware to 
Philadelphia, where we arrived at two o'clock in the 
night. 



END OK VOLUME I. 




M«- 



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