In the course of the discussion over the tobacco duty the burgesses sent a message to Governor Fendall and the council, saying that they judged themselves to be a lawful assembly without dependence upon any other power now existing within the province, and if anybody had any objections to this view of the case they should like to hear them. The upper house answered by asking the lower house if they meant that they were a complete assembly without the upper house, and also that they were independent of the lord proprietor. These questions led to a conference, in which, among other things, Fendall declared it to be his opinion that laws passed by the assembly and published in the lord proprietor’s name should at once be in full force. Two of the council, Gerrard and Utie, agreed with this view, while the secretary, Philip Calvert, and all the rest, dissented. In these proceedings the governor was plainly in league with the lower house, and this vote demonstrated the necessity of getting rid of the upper house. Accordingly the burgesses sent word to the governor and council, that they would not acknowledge them as an upper house, but they might come and take seats in the lower house if they liked. Secretary Calvert observed that in that case the governor would become president of the joint assembly, and the speaker of the burgesses must give place to him. A compromise was presently reached, according to which the governor should preside, with a casting vote, but the right of adjourning or dissolving the assembly should be exercised by the speaker. Hereupon Calvert protested, and demanded that his protest be put on record, but Fendall refused. Then Calvert and his most staunch adherent, Councillor Brooke, requested permission to leave the room. “You may if you please,” quoth Fendall, “we shall not force you to go or stay.” With the departure of these gentlemen the upper house was virtually abolished, and now Fendall quite threw off the mask by surrendering his commission from Lord Baltimore and accepting a new one from the assembly. Thus the palatinate government was overthrown, and it only remained for Fendall and his assembly to declare it felony for anybody in Maryland to acknowledge Lord Baltimore’s authority.
Superficial resemblance to the action of Virginia.
These proceedings in Maryland become perfectly intelligible if we compare them with what was going on at the very same moment in Virginia. In March, 1660, the assembly at Jamestown, in view of the fact that there was no acknowledged supreme authority then resident in England, declared that the supreme power in Virginia was in the assembly, and that all writs should issue in its name, until such command should come from England as the assembly should judge to be lawful. This assembly then elected Sir William Berkeley to the governorship, and he accepted from it provisionally his commission.[102]
Profound difference in the situations.
Fendall’s error.
Collapse of the rebellion.
Now in Maryland there was a superficial resemblance to these proceedings, in so far as the supreme power was lodged in the assembly and the governor accepted his commission from it. But there was a profound difference in the two situations, and while the people of Virginia read their own situation correctly, Fendall and his abettors did not. The assembly at Jamestown was predominantly Cavalier in its composition and in full sympathy with the expected restoration of the monarchy; and its proceedings were promptly sanctioned by Charles II., whose royal commission to Sir William Berkeley came in October of the same year. On the other hand, the assembly at St. Mary’s was predominantly Puritan in its composition, and one of its most influential members was that William Fuller who five years before had defeated Lord Baltimore’s governor in the battle of the Severn, and executed drumhead justice upon several of his adherents. The election had been managed in the interest of the Puritans, as is shown by Fuller’s county, Anne Arundel, returning seven delegates, whereas it was only entitled to four. The collusion between Fuller and Fendall is unmistakable. For two years the Puritans had acquiesced in Lord Baltimore’s rule, because they had not dared resist Cromwell. Now if Puritanism were to remain uppermost in England, they might once more hope to overthrow him; if the monarchy were to be restored, the prospect was also good, for it did not seem likely that Charles II. would befriend the man whom Cromwell had befriended. Here was the fatal error of Fendall and his people. Charles II. had long ago recovered from his little tiff with Cecilius for appointing a Parliamentarian governor, and as a Romanist at heart he was more than ready to show favour to Catholics. Thus with rare good fortune—defended in turn by a king and a lord protector, and by another king, and aided at every turn by his own consummate tact, did Cecilius triumphantly weather all the storms. When the news of Fendall’s treachery reached London it found Charles II. seated firmly on the throne. All persons were at once instructed to respect Lord Baltimore’s authority over Maryland, and Sir William Berkeley was ordered to bring the force of Virginia to his aid if necessary; Cecilius appointed his brother Philip to the governorship; the rebellion instantly collapsed, and its ringleaders were seized. Vengeance was denounced against Fendall and Fuller and all who had been concerned in the execution of Baltimore’s men after the battle of the Severn. Philip Calvert was instructed to hang them all, and to proclaim martial law if necessary, but on second thought so much severity was deemed impolitic. Such punishments were inflicted as banishment, confiscation, and loss of civil rights, but nobody was put to death. Such was the end of Fendall’s rebellion. In the course of the year 1661, Cecilius sent over his only son, Charles Calvert, to be governor of the palatinate, while Philip remained as chancellor; and this arrangement continued for many years.
The Quakers.
Fendall’s administration had witnessed two events of especial interest, in the arrival of Quakers in the colony and of Dutchmen in a part of its territory. Quakers came from Massachusetts and Virginia, where they suffered so much ill usage, into Maryland, where they also got into trouble, though it does not appear that the objections against them were of a religious nature. The peculiar notions of the Quakers often brought them into conflict with governments on purely civil grounds, as when they refused to be enrolled in the militia, or to serve on juries, or give testimony under oath. For such reasons, two zealous Quaker preachers, Thurston and Cole, were arrested and tried in 1658, but it does not appear that they were treated with harshness or that at any time there was anything like persecution of Quakers in Maryland. When George Fox visited the country in 1672, his followers there were numerous and held regular meetings.
The Swedes and Dutch.