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THE STATE OF SOCIETY. 45
the shame of Lord Frederick was against him, and that the peremptory sale
of the proprietary estates, which was just then being completed and closed
out, had broken almost the last link between the Calverts and Maryland.
The bar sinister in Harford's succession still further attenuated the bond.
Still, he sought to ingratiate himself with the people in every way, even by
diligent and personal attention to business in all its details, and by attempting
to redress every grievance, except the great grievance of all, which, before he
had been in the province many weeks, he knew could not be redressed except
in one way. Eden surrounded himself, in his council, with some of the best
men in the colony, and the governor and the assembly exchanged addresses
and replies, and then, when the ceremonial part was over, each went his own
way, proceeding to business in earnest. The business of the assembly, and
the men associated with it, was to build up as rapidly, strongly and coherently
as possible, the elements of a new government in the colony, one that would
be ready to take the place of the old one when that went to wreck, as it must
soon go. The business of Eden was to do what he could to keep the province
and all the other colonies as long as possible from drifting to the reafs where
all saw they must eventually strike. The substance of power they knew was
already pretty much gone, but its shell remained, and that was so profitable
that the question of how much longer it might be retained was an important
one. The patronage of the government wTas enormous, and such was the
wealth of the province, recently growing so rapidly, that all offices had
become profitable. ' And then, as the issues between loyalist and patriot
sharpened up by degrees, men and families began to select their sides, and
Eden found that he actually had a party about him, a party consisting not
only of placemen, and those who expected office or lived upon the crumbs
that fell from official tables, but also of those genuine deep-rooted old families,
who, from a fine spirit of self-sacrificing loyalty, had made up their minds,
when the final struggle came—much as they desired to put it aside—to be
found among the king's party at whatever cost.
There was a hard-headed merchant class, too, who were loyalists from a
business point of view, since they believed that democracy and liberty meant
small sales and fustian clothes—indeed, it was already the custom among the
patriots to affect homespun attire. But the contest had not yet actually
begun, and was not advanced enough for men to prognosticate when it would
come. Meantime, until it did come, the two sides, like swordsmen who know
that they must soon battle in mortal combat, maintained relations of the most
distinguished courtesy with one another. Eddis shows, in his careful letters,
that there never was more gaiety in Annapolis and throughout the State, than
at the time of and just after his arrival. The social whirl resembled, of
course on a reduced scale, the giddy excitement of Paris just before the outbreak of the great Revolution, and the cause was probably the same: men took
their delight to-day because they knew not what to-morrow might bring
forth.
| Title | History of Maryland - 2 |
| Creator | Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas) |
| Publisher | J. B. Piet |
| Place of Publication | Baltimore |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000070 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | THE STATE OF SOCIETY. 45 the shame of Lord Frederick was against him, and that the peremptory sale of the proprietary estates, which was just then being completed and closed out, had broken almost the last link between the Calverts and Maryland. The bar sinister in Harford's succession still further attenuated the bond. Still, he sought to ingratiate himself with the people in every way, even by diligent and personal attention to business in all its details, and by attempting to redress every grievance, except the great grievance of all, which, before he had been in the province many weeks, he knew could not be redressed except in one way. Eden surrounded himself, in his council, with some of the best men in the colony, and the governor and the assembly exchanged addresses and replies, and then, when the ceremonial part was over, each went his own way, proceeding to business in earnest. The business of the assembly, and the men associated with it, was to build up as rapidly, strongly and coherently as possible, the elements of a new government in the colony, one that would be ready to take the place of the old one when that went to wreck, as it must soon go. The business of Eden was to do what he could to keep the province and all the other colonies as long as possible from drifting to the reafs where all saw they must eventually strike. The substance of power they knew was already pretty much gone, but its shell remained, and that was so profitable that the question of how much longer it might be retained was an important one. The patronage of the government wTas enormous, and such was the wealth of the province, recently growing so rapidly, that all offices had become profitable. ' And then, as the issues between loyalist and patriot sharpened up by degrees, men and families began to select their sides, and Eden found that he actually had a party about him, a party consisting not only of placemen, and those who expected office or lived upon the crumbs that fell from official tables, but also of those genuine deep-rooted old families, who, from a fine spirit of self-sacrificing loyalty, had made up their minds, when the final struggle came—much as they desired to put it aside—to be found among the king's party at whatever cost. There was a hard-headed merchant class, too, who were loyalists from a business point of view, since they believed that democracy and liberty meant small sales and fustian clothes—indeed, it was already the custom among the patriots to affect homespun attire. But the contest had not yet actually begun, and was not advanced enough for men to prognosticate when it would come. Meantime, until it did come, the two sides, like swordsmen who know that they must soon battle in mortal combat, maintained relations of the most distinguished courtesy with one another. Eddis shows, in his careful letters, that there never was more gaiety in Annapolis and throughout the State, than at the time of and just after his arrival. The social whirl resembled, of course on a reduced scale, the giddy excitement of Paris just before the outbreak of the great Revolution, and the cause was probably the same: men took their delight to-day because they knew not what to-morrow might bring forth. |
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