xii Preface.

whole Calvert pedigree. His letters show his charm and we may well regret
that he was not spared for a longer life. He made the grand tour and his
letters from Italy have been printed in the Suwanee Review (Vol. 17, page
161). As early as 1724 it had been proposed to send him to Maryland as
Governor of the Province, but the appointment was not made for three years
more. His commission was dated March 24, 1726/7, and he arrived in
Maryland on July 3, 1727, when he took the oath of office. He continued as
Governor for four and a half years, and was succeeded by Samuel Ogle, whose
commission bore date September 16, 1731, and who took the oath of office on
December 7, 1731. Soon after Governor Calvert's arrival he fell out with
his predecessor, Charles Calvert, the Commissary General, with reference to
the emoluments of their respective offices, as a result of which differences the
latter was removed from office and succeeded by a younger brother of the
Proprietary, Edward Henry Calvert, a jolly, careless youth. Edward Cal-
vert came out to the Province as Commissary General and President of the
Council, together with his wife Margaret, and arrived about the beginning of
February, 1729. Governor Calvert did not long enjoy his brother's company,
since he soon fell ill of consumption and died about the middle of 1730 (n
Md. Hist. Mag. 285). Only one letter written on Provincial affairs by Gov-
ernor Calvert during his term of office has been preserved, and this letter,
dated on October 16, 1729, and sent to his brother, the Lord Proprietary, is
contained in the Calvert papers. (It has been twice printed: in 34 Fund Pub-
lications, page 68, and in 25 Archives (Council) 601.)

After Ogle arrived in the Province, he wrote Lord Baltimore a letter which
is severe in its censure of Governor Calvert's administration, but it is difficult
to see wherein he had done wrong, nor wherein his opinion was different from
the Proprietary's, except that he was more firm in his opposition to the claims
of the Penns (28 Fund Publication, 81).

As early as in the speech which opened the Session of 1728, Governor Cal-
vert complained of his " frequent indispositions," and his health continually
failed during the years which followed. He tarried in Annapolis throughout
the winter after the conclusion of his governorship, and embarked for
England about the end of April, 1732. He was not to see his native land,
however, for he died of consumption while on the voyage, and was buried in
the sea. His friend, Hearne, had tried to dissuade him from going to
America, " but he urged as a motive the doing what service he could for the
Family." We may well believe, however, that, when he came to Maryland,
he devoted himself also to the good of the Province. By his will, made just
before he left Maryland, he left one-third of his personal estate to King
William School at Annapolis.