THE BALTIMORE ARMS.
[This is a fac-simile of the arms as engraved on the map accompanying the Relation of 1635. The motto was also that of the great seal, furnished to the Province in 1648 by the second Lord Baltimore, which, by a vote of the legislature in 1876, was re-established on the seal of the State. See the Critical Essay.
It is worthy of remark that when an agent of Virginia was sent to London in 1860, to discover papers relating to the bounds between that State and Maryland, he found the representative of the Calverts, and possessor of their family papers, a prisoner in the Queen’s Bench prison, in a confinement for debt which had then lasted twenty years. Colonel McDonald’s Report, March, 1861.—Ed.]
The territory granted was defined with accuracy. The southern boundary was the further bank of the Potomac, from its source to its mouth in the Bay of Chesapeake, and ran thence to the promontory called Watkins Point, and thence east to the ocean. The eastern boundary was the ocean and Delaware Bay to the fortieth degree of latitude; and the northern boundary was a right line, on the fortieth degree of latitude, to the meridian of the fountain of the Potomac, where the southern boundary began. It will be seen that Maryland, as originally defined, comprised all of the present State of Delaware and a large part of what is now Pennsylvania.
The country described in the charter was expressly erected into a Province of the empire; and the Baron of Baltimore, his heirs and assigns, were constituted the absolute lords and proprietaries of the soil. Their tenure was the most liberal known to the law. They held the Province directly of the kings of England, in free and common socage, by fealty only, yielding therefor two Indian arrows, on the Tuesday of Easter week, to the King at the Castle of Windsor. The Province was made a county palatine; and the Proprietary was invested with all the royal rights, privileges, and prerogatives which had ever been enjoyed by any Bishop of Durham within his county palatine. To the Proprietary was also given all the power that any captain-general of an army ever had; and he was authorized to call out the whole fighting population, to wage war against all enemies of the Province, to put captives to death, and, in case of rebellion or sedition, to exercise martial law in the most ample manner. He was empowered to establish courts and appoint judges, and to pardon crimes. He had also the right to constitute ports of entry and departure, to erect towns into boroughs and boroughs into cities with suitable immunities, and to levy duties and tolls upon ships and merchandise exported and imported. He could make grants of land to be held directly of himself, and erect portions of the land granted into manors with the right to hold courts baron and leet. It was further provided that, lest in so remote a region all access to honors might seem to be barred to men well born, the Proprietary might confer rewards upon deserving provincials, and adorn them with any titles and dignities except such as were then in use in England. All laws were to be made by the Proprietary with the advice and assent of the freemen, who should be called together, personally or by their deputies, for the framing of laws in the manner chosen by the Proprietary. In the event of sudden accidents the Proprietary might make ordinances for the government of the Province, provided they should not deprive offenders of life, limb, or property. Freedom of trade to all English ports was guaranteed.
Liberty to emigrate to the Province and there settle was given to all subjects of the Crown, and all colonists and their children were to enjoy the rights and liberties of native-born liegemen. There was an express covenant on the part of the Crown that at no time should any tax or custom be imposed upon the inhabitants or their property, or upon any merchandise to be laden or unladen within the Province. The charter concluded by directing that, in case any doubt should arise concerning the true sense of any word or clause, that interpretation should always be made which would be most beneficial to the Proprietary, “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 anywise suffer by change, prejudice, or diminution.”
It is especially to be remarked that the charter contained no provision requiring the provincial laws to be submitted to the Crown for approval. Nothing was reserved to the Crown except the allegiance of the inhabitants and the fifth part of all the gold and silver ore which might be found within the limits of the Province. But the powers conferred on the Proprietary were of a sovereign character; he was lord of the soil, the fountain of honor, and the source of justice. These privileges were the work of a friend of high prerogative; yet the rights of the people were not neglected. The freemen of the Province were entitled to participate in the law-making power, to enjoy freedom of trade, exemption from Crown taxation, and all the rights and liberties of native-born Englishmen. All the laws of the Province must be consonant with reason and not repugnant to the laws of England. If it be true that the powers given to the Proprietary were greater than those ever conferred on any other Proprietary, it is equally true that the rights secured to the inhabitants were greater than an in any other charter which had then been granted.
The charter expressly separated the Province from Virginia and made it immediately dependent on the Crown. The entire territory of Maryland had been included in the grants made in 1609, and subsequently to the London company for the first colony of Virginia. This company became obnoxious both to the Crown and the colonists, and, in 1624, a writ of quo warranto was issued against its patents, the judgment upon which revoked all the charters and restored to the Crown all the franchises formerly granted. Virginia then became a royal colony, and there could be no question of the right of the King to partition its territory at pleasure. But the grant of Maryland nevertheless caused a great discontent in Virginia. Although no permanent settlements had been made north of the Potomac, the Virginians regarded all the territory comprised within the old charter limits as still belonging to them, and objected to having it partitioned.
One member of the Virginia company had, indeed, established stations for traffic with the Indians on Kent Island, almost in the centre of Maryland, and on Palmer’s Island, at the mouth of the Susquehanna River. This man was William Clayborne, destined to become famous in the early history of the Province. He had been Secretary of the Virginia colony and one of the Council. Before the visit of the first Lord Baltimore to Jamestown, Clayborne had been commissioned to explore the great bay and to trade with the Indians. He may then have set up trading stations upon Kent and Palmer’s islands. In May, 1631, he obtained from Charles I. a license authorizing him to trade for furs and other commodities in all the coasts “in or near about those parts of America for which there is not already a patent granted to others for sole trade.” This license, which was merely passed under the privy signet of Scotland, could not be construed as granting any title to the soil or government. In Baltimore’s charter Maryland was described as hitherto unsettled,—hactenus inculta,—and this unlucky phrase was afterwards the source of innumerable difficulties. At the time of his visit to Virginia the region was probably unsettled so far as he could learn.