special difficulties. They could not hold office or serve
in the army, the legal profession, or the Anglican
Church, which otherwise would have provided a means
of economic and social opportunity. For such men,
adventuring their future and their fortunes in a Catholic-
led colony held promise of security and prosperity.

   In all Lord Baltimore's first promotional efforts ap-
pealed to a very narrow segment of English society: the
younger sons of the Catholic gentry, few of whom, in
the end, proved willing to join his colony. English Cath-
olics were what historian John Bossy has termed "reluc-
tant colonists." Earlier efforts to establish Catholic
Englishmen in the New World had generated little en-
thusiasm among those expected to participate. To sur-
vive in England, Catholics had to carry on the practice
of their religion entirely within the household, and fam-
ily rituals and holy places dominated their religious
lives. Such conditions did not provide much inducement
for emigration to parts unknown. Many English Catho-
lics felt that removal to America meant exile to a barba-
rous country, not an opportunity to build a new life free
of religious persecution.¹²

   Lord Baltimore's slight success in recruiting investors
had unfortunate consequences. Politically, the partici-
pation of Protestant leaders would have been helpful in
dealing with threats to Lord Baltimore's charter and
with the charges that he was discriminating against
Protestants. Financially, the lack of investors put con-
siderable strain on Lord Baltimore's personal fortune
already drained by large sums spent in obtaining and
defending the charter. He purchased half the joint stock
in the fur trade venture and one-eighth of the Dove,
which, with seven other investors, he had purchased for