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CALVERTS MOTIVES OF COLONIZATION. 155
contains numerous extracts from various other historians to the same purpose, and concludes this branch of the subject with remarking: " Many other
passages from books to the like effect might be cited, but we presume they
would be unnecessary."
In Governor Sharpe's MS. Letterbook, in the Maryland State library,
there is a letter written by him, December 15, 1758, to the lord proprietary
in England, in which he says: " It might, perhaps, be unknown, if not to the
authors, at least to some of the propagators of the above mentioned report,
that the people who first settled in this province were, for the most part,
Roman Catholics, and that, although every other sect wras tolerated, a majority of the inhabitants continued Papists till the revolution, soon after which
event an act was made here for the support of a clergyman of the Church of
England in every parish, which is still in force; and the Papists, as well as
Protestants, are thereby obliged to pay annually very considerable sums for
that purpose." " Upon the whole, my lord, I must say that, if I was asked
whether the conduct of the Protestants or Papists in the province hath been
most unexceptionable since I have had the honor to serve your lordship, I
should not hesitate to give an answer in favor of the latter."
And now, with such evidence as the early Protestant writers on Maryland
furnish, sustained by the testimony of a Protestant legislature of 1758—
for no Catholic was then eligible as a member, or even entitled to vote
for members—it is hard to give any charitable explanation of the conduct of writers who seize upon the facts of history and deduce therefrom
arguments against the motives of Calvert and his colonists, which these facts (
in no way sustain—which they scarcely suggest.
As for those who attribute to Sir George Calvert mere mercenary motives,
and look upon his attempts at colonization as so many commercial speculations, they, as we have already shown, are sufficiently answered by his public
conduct. That he trusted his colony would flourish and prosper, is a matter of
course; and that, in the course of time, when it was populous and prosperous,
his heirs would reap a return for all his labor and expense, was a natural and
laudable hope; but this was not the nearest motive with him. His contemporary, Fuller, judged him truly, when he said: " Indeed his public spirit
consulted not his private profit, but the enlargement of Christianity
and the king's domains." Power, wealth, and high position were already
within his grasp; and to attain his utmost desires in either, he had nothing
to do but to avoid open profession of his faith, and retain his assured place in
the affection of the king.
There are other objectors who, admitting the existence of toleration in
Maryland, endeavor to deprive the proprietary and the founders of the colony
of the honor of introducing it, on the ground that it was in the charter, and
that they were hindered by that instrument from displaying the same persecuting spirit that was' active elsewhere—in the other colonies, for instance.
Even if the facts were as stated, it is but a weak charge to impute to a man
| Title | History of Maryland - 1 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000180 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | CALVERTS MOTIVES OF COLONIZATION. 155 contains numerous extracts from various other historians to the same purpose, and concludes this branch of the subject with remarking: " Many other passages from books to the like effect might be cited, but we presume they would be unnecessary." In Governor Sharpe's MS. Letterbook, in the Maryland State library, there is a letter written by him, December 15, 1758, to the lord proprietary in England, in which he says: " It might, perhaps, be unknown, if not to the authors, at least to some of the propagators of the above mentioned report, that the people who first settled in this province were, for the most part, Roman Catholics, and that, although every other sect wras tolerated, a majority of the inhabitants continued Papists till the revolution, soon after which event an act was made here for the support of a clergyman of the Church of England in every parish, which is still in force; and the Papists, as well as Protestants, are thereby obliged to pay annually very considerable sums for that purpose." " Upon the whole, my lord, I must say that, if I was asked whether the conduct of the Protestants or Papists in the province hath been most unexceptionable since I have had the honor to serve your lordship, I should not hesitate to give an answer in favor of the latter." And now, with such evidence as the early Protestant writers on Maryland furnish, sustained by the testimony of a Protestant legislature of 1758— for no Catholic was then eligible as a member, or even entitled to vote for members—it is hard to give any charitable explanation of the conduct of writers who seize upon the facts of history and deduce therefrom arguments against the motives of Calvert and his colonists, which these facts ( in no way sustain—which they scarcely suggest. As for those who attribute to Sir George Calvert mere mercenary motives, and look upon his attempts at colonization as so many commercial speculations, they, as we have already shown, are sufficiently answered by his public conduct. That he trusted his colony would flourish and prosper, is a matter of course; and that, in the course of time, when it was populous and prosperous, his heirs would reap a return for all his labor and expense, was a natural and laudable hope; but this was not the nearest motive with him. His contemporary, Fuller, judged him truly, when he said: " Indeed his public spirit consulted not his private profit, but the enlargement of Christianity and the king's domains." Power, wealth, and high position were already within his grasp; and to attain his utmost desires in either, he had nothing to do but to avoid open profession of his faith, and retain his assured place in the affection of the king. There are other objectors who, admitting the existence of toleration in Maryland, endeavor to deprive the proprietary and the founders of the colony of the honor of introducing it, on the ground that it was in the charter, and that they were hindered by that instrument from displaying the same persecuting spirit that was' active elsewhere—in the other colonies, for instance. Even if the facts were as stated, it is but a weak charge to impute to a man |
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