therefore also by the Lord Proprie-
tary, with the advice and consent
of the Assembly, ordered and en-
acted (except as in this present act
is before declared and set forth)
that no person or persons what-
ever within this Province professing
to believe in Jesus Christ shall from
henceforth be anyways troubled,
molested, or discountenanced for,
or in respect to, his or her religion
nor in the free exercise thereof
within this province, or the islands
thereunto belonging, nor in any
way compelled to believe or exer-
cise any other religion against his
or her consent, so that they may be
not unfaithful to the Lord Proprie-
tary or molest or conspire against
the civil government."41
The intolerations of the Toleration Act,
with its heavy penalties for blasphemy
and its requirement that one's Chris-
tianity, indeed one's religion, had to be
Trinitarian, are said to have been tem-
pered by the character of the above-
quoted paragraph and the actual situa-
tion in the colonies. The necessity for a
belief in Christianity discriminated
against the Jews, and the order for sub-
mission to a civil government, against
the Quakers; however, there were few
Jews in Maryland at that time and the
Quakers' chief difficulty seems to have
been in the oath requirements, which
were relaxed in 1688 and abolished in
1702.42 Still the law was narrow and
strict, the freedom it granted more nega-
tive than positive.
The historical significance of the "Act
Concerning Religion" has probably been
overemphasized — it was far less liberal
than the policy advocated by the Lords
41 1 archives 244 (1883).
42 petrie, supra note 20 at 37.
|
Baltimore ever since the Ark and the
Dove.43 Religious freedom had been
the common law of Maryland from its
foundation in 1634,44 as is clearly evi-
denced by the instructions given Leon-
ard Calvert, the oath required of the
governor, the ordinance of 1639 and the
record in the courts of a strong enforce-
ment of the principle of toleration.
However, the changing character and
growth of Puritanism in England and
the existence of a Protestant majority
in the legislative assembly by 164845
had its effect on the young Maryland
settlement. It seems safe to say that the
"Act Concerning Religion" was in real-
ity a compromise between the liberal
practices of the colonists and founders
prior to its passage and the intolerance
of the element about to seize control
during the impending interregnum of
Oliver Cromwell. 46
CROMWELL AND THE PURITANS
1651-1658
After several decades of persecution
in Virginia, the Puritans were invited
by Lord Baltimore (II) to come to
Maryland, under a promise of absolute
freedom of worship. At first only a small
number accepted the opportunity, but
when in 1649 the Virginia assembly
43 For the concurring view, see ives, supra
note 7 at 228.
44 riley, supra note 7 at 49.
45 Inventory of the Church Archives of
Maryland, supra note 20 at 11. "As the
political complexion of the mother country
changed, the complexion of Maryland changed
with it." W. marnell., the first amend-
ment 139 (1964).
46 Andrews, Separation of Church and State
in Maryland 167 (1934) ; browne, supra note
20 at 137. It has been suggested that one
purpose of the Act was to attract more Cath-
olics to the colony. See T. gambrall, early
maryland: civil, social, ecclesiatical
109ff. (1893).
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