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142 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.
cial intercourse with Boston, and after the 1st of June following, prohibiting
the landing or shipping of any goods, wares or merchandise whatsoever at
that port. The bill passed both Houses with slight opposition, and on the
31st of March, received the assent of the king. A bill " for the better regulating the government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay " then succeeded.
By this Act, which received the sanction of the king on the 20th of May, the
people of Massachusetts were, without a hearing, deprived of some of the most
important rights and privileges secured to them by their charter. After the
1st of July, the governor was authorized to appoint and remove, without the
consent of the counsel, all judges of the courts, attorney-general, provosts,
marshals, justices of the peace, and other officers; and to appoint sheriffs
without the consent of the council, but not to remove them without such
consent. The right of selecting jurors was taken from the people and
placed in the power of the sheriffs. It also totally repealed the laws permitting town meetings after the 1st of August without the permission of the
governor.
An Act was also passed " for the impartial administration of justice,"
which ordained that any person indicted for capital offences committed in
aiding the magistrates in the execution of the laws, might be sent by the
governor to any other colony, or to England, if necessary, for trial. This was
followed by an Act which authorized the quartering of soldiers in the houses
of the citizens; and lastly, by the "Quebec Bill," which granted to Boman
Catholics in Canada greater privileges, established a legislative council
invested with arbitrary power, and extended the limits of the province so as
to comprehend the territory between the lakes, the Ohio and Mississippi; and
thus by increasing the dominions, securing the fidelity and subordination of
this colony, they procured a place of debarkation for troops and munitions
of war, and augmented the influence and facilities of the royal party in
America.
To carry these plans into effect, General Gage was appointed Governor of
Massachusetts, and he arrived there about the middle of May and took charge
of the government of that colony.
On the arrival of the news of the passage of these measures, the colonists
in general made common cause with the people of Massachusetts, and in
various ways expressed their sympathies for the inhabitants of Boston. We
cannot better describe the feeling in Maryland than in the language of a
contemporary, an officer of the English government.
Mr. Eddis, in a letter from Maryland, dated May 28th, 1774, says:
" All America is in a flame: I hear strange language every day. The colonists are
ripe for any measure that will tend to the preservation of what they call their natural
liberty. I enclose you the resolves of our citizens; they have caught the general contagion.
Expresses are flying from province to province. It is the universal opinion here, that the
mother-country cannot support a contention with these settlements, if they abide steady
to the letter and spirit of their association."
| 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 | 00000169 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 142 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. cial intercourse with Boston, and after the 1st of June following, prohibiting the landing or shipping of any goods, wares or merchandise whatsoever at that port. The bill passed both Houses with slight opposition, and on the 31st of March, received the assent of the king. A bill " for the better regulating the government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay " then succeeded. By this Act, which received the sanction of the king on the 20th of May, the people of Massachusetts were, without a hearing, deprived of some of the most important rights and privileges secured to them by their charter. After the 1st of July, the governor was authorized to appoint and remove, without the consent of the counsel, all judges of the courts, attorney-general, provosts, marshals, justices of the peace, and other officers; and to appoint sheriffs without the consent of the council, but not to remove them without such consent. The right of selecting jurors was taken from the people and placed in the power of the sheriffs. It also totally repealed the laws permitting town meetings after the 1st of August without the permission of the governor. An Act was also passed " for the impartial administration of justice," which ordained that any person indicted for capital offences committed in aiding the magistrates in the execution of the laws, might be sent by the governor to any other colony, or to England, if necessary, for trial. This was followed by an Act which authorized the quartering of soldiers in the houses of the citizens; and lastly, by the "Quebec Bill," which granted to Boman Catholics in Canada greater privileges, established a legislative council invested with arbitrary power, and extended the limits of the province so as to comprehend the territory between the lakes, the Ohio and Mississippi; and thus by increasing the dominions, securing the fidelity and subordination of this colony, they procured a place of debarkation for troops and munitions of war, and augmented the influence and facilities of the royal party in America. To carry these plans into effect, General Gage was appointed Governor of Massachusetts, and he arrived there about the middle of May and took charge of the government of that colony. On the arrival of the news of the passage of these measures, the colonists in general made common cause with the people of Massachusetts, and in various ways expressed their sympathies for the inhabitants of Boston. We cannot better describe the feeling in Maryland than in the language of a contemporary, an officer of the English government. Mr. Eddis, in a letter from Maryland, dated May 28th, 1774, says: " All America is in a flame: I hear strange language every day. The colonists are ripe for any measure that will tend to the preservation of what they call their natural liberty. I enclose you the resolves of our citizens; they have caught the general contagion. Expresses are flying from province to province. It is the universal opinion here, that the mother-country cannot support a contention with these settlements, if they abide steady to the letter and spirit of their association." |
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