"The policy of Lord Baltimore, in regard to religious matters in his colony, has, in some particulars at least, been misapprehended and therefore misstated. The assertion has long passed uncontradicted, that toleration was promised to the colonists in the first conditions of plantation; that the rights of conscience were recognized in a law passed by the first assembly held in the colony; and that the principal officers from the year 1636 or '37, bound themselves by on oath not to molest on account of his religion any one professing to believe in Jesus Christ. I can find no authority for any of these statements. Lord Baltimore's first and earlier conditions of plantation breathe not a word on the subject of religion: no act recognizing the principle of toleration was passed in the first or in any following assembly, until fifteen years after the first settlement, at which time (1649) a Protestant had been appointed Governor, and a majority of the Burgesses were of the same faith; and when, for the first time, a clause involving a promise not to molest any person professing to believe in Jesus Christ, the words "and particularly a Roman Catholic," were inserted by the direction of Lord Baltimore in the official oath."
McMahon, the tried friend of Lord Baltimore, speaking on this same subject, says:
"The proprietary dominion (Lord B.'s) had never known that hour, (when there was opportunity to persecute.) The Protestant religion was the established religion of the mother country, and any effort on the part of the Proprietary (Lord B.) to oppress its followers would have drawn down destruction on his government. The great body of the colonists were themselves Protestants, and, by their number and their participation in the government, they were fully equal to their own protection, and too powerful for the Proprietaries in the event of an open collision."
Thus it will be seen that in Maryland, as everywhere else, in all past ages, so far as toleration is concerned, it was granted to Catholics—never by them.
THE CATHOLIC QUESTION—No. 5.
Popish aims at supremacy—Avowals by distinguished Catholics—The order of Jesuits—Startling disclosures and authentic references!—The strength of Romanism in the United States!
The Romish hierarchy aims at supremacy in the Church and the State. It is nothing more nor less than a great political system, arrogating to itself the right to sway the spiritual and temporal concerns of men—a right it claims to have derived from God, and that therefore the Romish Church is above all, and may rule all. Hence the conspiracy against our government emanating from the Vatican, and planned by the Pope, his Cardinals and Bishops, in the late grand council at Rome! They there and then resolved on affecting the objects of the Leopold Foundation, established in Vienna, May 13, 1829, to support Catholic missionaries in the United States. Every member of this Society—and its branches are numerous, being scattered over the whole earth—agrees to offer prayers daily to St. Leopold, and every week to contribute as much as a crucifix. The valley of the Mississippi has been surveyed and mapped by the Jesuits, under the directions of the Vatican, and Popish Cardinals in Europe are boasting of the certainty of their subjecting this land of freedom at no distant day to papal supremacy! Rev. Dr. James, an eminent clergyman of England, says:
"The Church of Rome has determined to compensate herself for her losses in the old world, by her conquest in the new."