Introduction. lxi

petition of protest to the King, brought in the petition which was without
division adopted (pp. 360, 406-409). Down to this point no mention of
the Massachusetts Letter had been made, but it was now to be thrown into
the arena. On the morning of June 22nd, the address to the Governor, which
had been prepared and which politely defied the orders of the Crown, was
brought into the house and by a special order passed, engrossed, and sent to
him (pp. 413-414). Immediately thereafter, a series of eight resolves were
unanimously adopted denying at somewhat tedious length the right of Parlia-
ment to tax the colonies (pp. 415-417). Sharpe promptly replied to the address
that this defiance of the King's command required that he put an end to the
session, which he did immediately, but not until he had signed certain bills
awaiting his approval (pp. 419, 420). The petition to the King, the address to
the Governor, the resolves, and the dissolution of the session will now be con-
sidered in more detail.

The petition to the King adopted on June 21st is a rather lengthy one, and,
as already stated, contains no direct reference to the Massachusetts Letter. It
opens with the usual expressions of loyalty to the best of kings, and then pro-
ceeds to assert at great length the rights of Marylanders to freedom from taxa-
tion except by their own assemblies, a right founded, it was said, not only on
the Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights, to whose benefits they were entitled
as subjects of the King, but as Marylanders by the Maryland Charter; that
taxes imposed on them for raising a revenue by a Parliament in which they
were not represented, was a direct violation of these rights. The petition closes
with the prayer that his Majesty will extend to the faithful people of Mary-
land the same paternal regard which he has in the past so invariably shown to
the just rights of his subjects, and that he will be pleased to grant them relief.

The Speaker of the Lower House, Robert Lloyd, was ordered to have the
petition presented to the King through Charles Garth, who had been previously
selected by the Lower House to act as its agent before the Crown in its dis-
putes with the Lord Proprietary. That it did not reach the King in this way,
however, is revealed by a letter from Hillsborough to Sharpe, dated November
15, 1768, in which he refers to the "unwarrantable proceeding" of the Mary-
land Assembly, and especially "that they have not seen fit to decline sending
their Petition to his Majesty on the subject of the late Acts of Parliament,
either through the Proprietor or his Deputy in the Government there, which
His Majesty considers as the only proper and constitutional channel." This
"disrespect to the Crown and undutiful behaviour on the part of the Assembly
have not however inclined His Majesty to show the least disregard to the
petition which has been delivered to me by M^r Montagu; on the contrary, His
Majesty has considered it with attention and has commanded me to signify
to you" his disapproval of the assertions and claims contained in it. Hills-
borough adds that the "two houses of Parliament do entirely concur with the
King in these sentiments" (Arch. Md. XIV, 552-553). The Mr. Montagu who
presented the petition to Hillsborough has not been identified. There are letters
from Garth to Hillsborough on the subject of the petition, and from Speaker
Lloyd to Garth attesting to its authenticity (Md. Hist. Mag. XII, 377-381).