duties.70 Thus the feeling arises that
"in the land which Catholics had
opened to Protestants, the Catholic in-
habitant was the sole victim of Anglican
intolerance."71
Maryland was returned to the Balti-
mores in 1715 in the person of 16-year-
old Charles Calvert, the fifth Lord Bal-
timore. His father had publicly con-
verted to the Anglican Church two
years earlier and Charles, proclaiming
himself Protestant, was not to follow the
noble traditions of his lineage. The
assembly adopted a resolution expres-
sive of its "deep . . . gratitude that the
administration of the province had been
finally put upon a wholly Protestant
establishment, and expressing the hope
that further toleration might not be
granted to Catholics."72 And indeed it
was not. Unworthy Protestant clergy-
men insulted Catholics regularly and
subjected them to base indignities. A
law was passed which deprived a Prot-
estant widow marrying a Catholic from
the custody of her children,73 and an-
other act declared that any Protestant
officeholder who joined the Catholic
Church would forfeit his office.74 In
1718, another act to prevent popery
was passed, this one depriving Catholics
of their franchise.75
It must be pointed out that, with the
exception of those laws noted above
(which were enacted under the govern-
orship of John Hart [1715-1720] none
70 26 archives 289ff. (1906).
71 3 G. bancroft, history of the united
states 32. Generally, W. russell, mary-
land: the land of sanctuary 370-88
(1907).
72 russell, id. at 396. Charles Calvert
(fifth Lord Baltimore) then became the first
of his family to live in Maryland.
73 Bacon's Laws, ch. 39, §10 (1715).
74 Id., (1716).
75 russell, supra note 71 at 400-02.
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expressly intolerant of Catholicism was
passed after the proprietorship was re-
stored to the Calverts, who were too pre-
occupied with political quarrels to deal
with religion.76 However, neither were
any repealed, although the Calverts re-
mained in control until the Revolution.
Maryland now had a state church
which compelled orthodoxy under pen-
alty of fine and imprisonment. The
Blasphemy Act of 1723, as its counter-
part in 1692, provided that offenders
be bored through their tongues, fined
20 pounds, or imprisoned six months
for a first offense; a second conviction
of the same crime resulted in being
branded on the forehead with a "B" or
fined 40 pounds, or be imprisoned 12
months; and a third instance was pun-
ishable by death without benefit of
clergy.77
Maryland now had a state church
whose members alone were eligible to
vote, hold office and practice a profes-
sion. The test oaths accomplished their
purpose; to possess what we consider
today basic rights of every citizen, in the
18th Century one had to be Protes-
tant.78
Maryland now had a state church
willing to force dissenters from the com-
monwealth. A law was on the books
which forbade Catholics to bear arms —
"a circumstance likely to discourage life
on the frontier."79 In 1729 another
76 Id. at 410; marnell, supra note 45
at 69.
77 Laws of Maryland chs. 1, 13, 16 (1623).
See C. antieau, A. downey & E. roberts,
freedom from federal establishment 17
(1963) and gambrall, supra note 46 at
112-13.
78 Although by 1724 Maryland Quakers
were permitted to make an affirmation. S.
cobb, the rise of religious liberty in
america 397 (1902).
79 antieau, downey & roberts, supra
note 77 at 18.
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