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P. R. O.
Colonial
Papers.
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under the conduct of the Lord proprietary as His Majesty's
Generall and his lift Tennant and Governor and Government
established here not repugnant to the laws and customs (with-
out infringeingeinge uppon the liberties and priviledges) off the
freeborne Subjects of England, and hereuppon wee doe now
appeal to owr gratious Kinge and parliament, iff wee by Mary-
land charter are otherwise obliged, and produce by the pro-
prietarys first Comistione off Plantations published, that wee
are not otherwise required nor invited, and therefore by an
usurped Power thy Will make themselves absolute over owr
lives, fortunes and estates.
Furthermore owr priviledges are preserved by the expres-
sion in Maryland charter to the Adventurers, for wee ourselves
thereuppon have transported our selves and our estates into
this Country, purchased the land from the Indians with loss of
Estate and many hundred mens lives (yea thousands) and must
defend ourselves continually without my Lord Baltemore's
ability, whereby our land and possessions are become owr
Owne, and now wee have made it a Country for the glory and
enlargement of the Dominion and Emperial Crowne of Eng-
land Shall wee and our posterity bee domineered over by the
Proprietary, as Kebells to him, because wee will not bee
Rebells and Traytors to the Kinge and Kingdom of England
and become his purgatory slaves ? And for this thy begin to
hang and fine People.
Wee confess a great many of us came in servants to others,
but wee adventured owr lives for it, and got owr poore living
with hard labour out of the ground in a terrible Willdernis, and
som have advanced themselves much thereby: And so was my
Lord Baltemore but an inferiour Irish Lord, and as is sayth
one of the Popes privy Agents in England.
The King's Majesty hath intrusted the Proprietary with
Maryland by Charter, to bee a good steward to the Reallm of
England with it and to manage the affayres thereof for the
comon good, esfablishing the Country from the beginninge in
Townes and Corporations, that the Kings Subjects might live
secure from the incursion of the Indians and not bee cut of
and Massacrated as before times they where in Roanok and
Virginia and New England was a good pattern, to have Mary-
land seuted with the same felicity, but thy have made Mer-
chandize of the land and now it is passed all most remedy;
take peoples lands and will make Townes on 50. or 100 acres
without comons or possibility for poore people to live in Thy
King's Majesty hath encourradged his Subjects by that charter
to com and to inhabit Maryland as his other liege people, pro-
duce now out of that Charter the power to make the Tennants
swear Alleagiance and suppremacy under the cloake of fideli-
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