APPENDIX No. I.
It is singular that the clause in the XXII section of Charles Ist's charter to Lord Baltimore, relating to the interpretation of that instrument in regard to religion, has never been accurately translated, but that all commentators have, hitherto, followed the version given by Bacon. I shall endeavor to demonstrate the error.
The following parallel passages exhibit the original Latin, and Bacon's adopted translation:
| ORIGINAL LATIN. | ENGLISH TRANSLATION. |
| The 22nd section of the charter of Maryland, copied from Bacon's Laws, wherein it was adopted from an attested copy from the original record remaining in the Chapel of Rolls in 1758: | Translation of the 22nd section of the charter, from Bacon's Laws of Maryland, wherein it is copied from an old translation published by order of the Lower House in the year 1725: |
| "Section xxii. Et si fortè imposterum contingat Dubitationes aliquas quæstiones circa verum sensum et Intellectum alicujus verbi clausulæ vel sententiæ in hâe presenti Charta nostrâ contentæ generari Eam semper et in omnibus Interpretationem adhiberi et in quibuscunque Curiis et Prætoriis nostris obtinere Volumus præcipimus et mandamus quæ præfato modò Baroni de Baltimore Hæredibus et Assignatis suis benignior utilior et favorabilior esse judicabitur Proviso semper quod nulla fiat Interpretatio per quam sacro-sancta Dei et vera Christiana Religio aut Ligeantia Nobis Hæredibus et successoribus nostris debita Immutatione Prejudicio vel dispendio in aliquo patiantur:" &c. &c. | "Section xxii. And if, peradventure, hereafter it may happen that any doubts or questions should arise concerning the true sense and meaning of any word, clause or sentence contained in this our present charter, we will, charge, and command, That Interpretation to be applied, always, and in all things, and in all our Courts and Judicatories whatsoever, to obtain which shall be judged to be more beneficial, profitable and favorable to the aforesaid now Baron of Baltimore, his heirs and assigns: Provided always that no interpretation thereof be made whereby God's holy and true christian religion, or the allegiance due to us, our heirs and successors, may, in any wise, suffer by change, prejudice or diminution:" &c. &c., |
It will be noticed that this Latin copy, according to the well known ancient usage in such papers, is not punctuated, so that we have no guidance, for the purpose of translation, from that source.
The translation of this section as far as the words: "Proviso semper quod nulla fiat interpretatio," &c. is sufficiently correct; but the whole of the final clause, should in my opinion, be rendered thus:—
"Provided always that no interpretation thereof be made, whereby God's holy rights and the TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, or the allegiance due to us our heirs or successors, may, in any wise suffer by change, prejudice or diminution." Let me offer my reasons for this alteration:
1st, This new translation harmonizes with the evident grammatical construction of the Latin sentence, and is the easiest as well as most natural. The common version, given by Bacon: "God's holy and true CHRISTIAN religion,"—is grossly pleonastic, if not nonsensical. Among christians, "God's religion," can of course, only be the "christian religion;" and, with equal certainty, it is not only a "true" religion, but a "holy" one!
2nd, The word Sacrosanctus, always conveys the idea of a consecrated inviolability, in consequence of inherent rights and privileges. In a dictionary, contemporary with the charter, I find the following definition,—in verbo sacrosanctus.
"Sacrosanctus: Apud Ciceronem dicebatur id quod interposito jurejurando sanctum, et institutum erat idem etiam significat ac sanctus, santo. Tribunus plebis dicebatur sacrosanctus, quia eum nefas erat attingere, longè diviniori ratione Catholici appellamus ecclesiam Romanam sacrosanctam. Calpinus Parvus;—seu Dictionarium Cæsaris Calderini Mirani: Venetiis, 1618.