Letter of Transmitted. xxv

college. No one was to conduct a school or act as tutor who did not take the
oaths of allegiance and supremacy. Conversion of a Protestant to Catholicism
was to be punishable as high treason. A priest, marrying a Protestant and a
Catholic, who exacted the promise that the children were to be brought up as
Catholics was subject to a fine of £100. All lands held by priests must be sold
within three years and no priest might inherit land or money, or purchase land.
Priests were to give bond for f 500 to keep the peace and not to leave the Prov-
ince without permission. No Roman Catholic was to keep arms or ammunition
except for personal defence. Drastic fines and penalties were provided, one-half
of which were to go to the Proprietary for the support of government and one-
half to the informer. The Lower House changed the preamble to the bill, put a
number of additional teeth in it, and finally made a change in the amount and
disposition of the fines and forfeitures, which was doubtless the reason for its
rejection in its amended form by the Upper House. This amendment by the
Lower House provided that a moiety, instead of going to the Proprietary gov-
ernment, was to be used for the support of the free schools of the Province.
In other words, there was to be no rake-off to enrich the Provincial officials.
The bill failed of passage, but by the vote of the Lower House it was ordered to
be printed in the Journal of its Votes and Proceedings of the session.

A separate bill to prohibit Roman Catholics from entering the Province by
way of Pennsylvania and Delaware also failed to become a law, apparently be-
cause the Lower House objected to any part of the fines going to the Proprietary.

The problem of an adequate supply of arms and ammunition to equip the
militia gave great concern. It was reported that a large supply for the use of
the colonies was to be shipped from England to Virginia and to New York.
Under date of March 3d the Lower House desired the Governor to make a re-
quest for a supply for the use of this Province, and also asked him whether the
arms lent to Col. Innes by the Province had been returned. Governor Dinwiddie
of Virginia wrote Sharpe, March 8th, that none had yet been received from
England although it was said that six thousand had been sent to New England
to be distributed among the colonies. The Lower House, March 15th, appointed
a committee to investigate the condition of the arms and ammunition belonging
to the Province. This committee reported in detail on the military equipment and
severely criticised the armourer, Henry Walls, for his neglect in the care of the
arms. The House then addressed the Governor, requesting him to remove the
armourer on the ground that the firelocks and pistols were in general unfit for
use. The Governor replied that the armourer was not at fault and that their
condition was due to their having fallen in the water at the time of their removal
from one of the vessels.