10. In 1651 parliamentary commissioners came to America to assume control of Maryland. Stone, the deputy of Baltimore, was deposed from office; but in the following year he was permitted to resume the government. In April of 1653 he published a proclamation, declaring that the recent interference had been a rebellion. Clayborne thereupon collected a force in Virginia, drove Stone out of office, and directed the government himself.
11. In 1654 a Protestant assembly was convened at Patuxent. The supremacy of Cromwell was acknowledged, and the Catholics were deprived of the protection of the laws. Civil war ensued. Governor Stone armed the militia, and seized the records of the colony. A battle was fought near Annapolis, and the Catholics were defeated, with a loss of fifty men. Stone was taken prisoner, but was saved from death by the friendship of some of the insurgents. Three of the Catholics were tried and executed.
12. After the death of Cromwell, Maryland was declared independent. On the 12th of March, 1660, the rights of Lord Baltimore were set aside, and the whole power of government was assumed by the House of Burgesses. On the restoration of monarchy the Baltimores were again recognized, and Philip Calvert was sent out as governor. From 1675 to 1691 Charles Calvert was governor of Maryland.
13. On the 1st of June, 1691, the charter of Lord Baltimore was taken away and a royal governor appointed. The Episcopal Church was established by law. Religious toleration was abolished and the government administered on despotic principles. This condition of affairs continued until 1715, when Queen Anne restored the heir of Lord Baltimore to the rights of his family. Maryland remained under the authority of the Calverts until the Revolution.
Settlement of the Carolinas.
14. The first effort to colonize North Carolina was made by Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1630 the country was granted to Sir Robert Heath. But, after thirty-three years, the patent was revoked by the English king. The name of Carolina had been given to the country by John Ribault, in 1562. The first actual settlement was made on the Chowan about the year 1651. In 1661 a company of Puritans settled on Oldtown Creek. In 1663 Lord Clarendon, and seven other noblemen, received a grant of all the country between the thirty-sixth parallel and the river St. John's.
15. The work of preparing a frame of government for the new province was assigned to Sir Ashley Cooper. The philosopher John Locke was employed by him and his associates to prepare the constitution. From March until July of 1669, Locke worked away in drawing up a plan which he called The Grand Model. It contained one hundred and twenty articles; and this was but the beginning! The empire of Carolina was divided into districts of four hundred and eighty thousand acres each. The offices were divided between two grand orders of nobility.
16. All attempts to establish the new government ended in failure. But the settlers had meanwhile learned to govern themselves. They grew prosperous by trading in staves and furs; and when this traffic was exhausted, they began to remove to other settlements.