90 MARYLAND MANUAL.

held in abeyance because of the Proprietary's faith, that
reason now no longer existed, and, on the petition of Charles'
guardian, the province was restored to him in 1716.

In 1751 Charles, the Proprietary died, and was succeeded
by his only son, Frederick, sixth and last Baron of Balti-
more, who sent out Horatio Sharpe as Governor.

The stamp tax, imposed in 1765, met with violent opposi-
tion in Maryland, the stamp distributor being compelled to
fly the province, and the stamps were shipped back to Eng-
land, as no one would use them.

About this time the long-standing dispute about the north-
ern boundary was finally settled, and two eminent English
mathematicians, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, were
engaged by the Proprietaries of Maryland and Pennsylvania
to run the line between the provinces and mark it by suitable
monuments. They began their labors in 1763 and continued
them for four years. The line thus run is the famous Mason
and Dixon's line, dividing the Northern from the Southern
States.

Frederick, the sixth and last Baron of Baltimore, died in
1771, leaving the province to his illegitimate son, Henry
Harford, a minor.

The opposition to the tea tax, first laid in 1767, was fierce
and revolutionary, and associations were formed throughout
the province to prevent the introduction of tea. A firm of
Annapolis merchants, having in defiance of the public senti-
ment, paid the tax on a consignment of that commodity, pop-
ular indignation rose so high that a town meeting was held,
and the owner of the brig that had brought it, to avert
further mischief, publicly burned his vessel, the Peggy
Stewart, with its obnoxious cargo, in the sight of a large con-
course of spectators, on October 19, 1774.

The associations were felt to embody the spirit of resist-
ance to the tyrannous pretensions of England, but something
more organic was seen to be necessary if the struggle was to
be carried on with any hope of success, and delegates were
chosen to a convention which met in Annapolis. This Con-
ention became the organ of the sovereign power of the
people of Maryland. It appointed the deputies to the Conti-
nental Congress and instructed them from time to time. As
it was too large to remain in permanent session, a portion of
its members were appointed a Council of Safety, which sat
in Annapolis, and was the executive hand of the convention,
assisted by committees of correspondence in the counties.

The Council of Safety soon began military preparations,
organizing the militia and providing them with military