444                           THE COUNTIES OF MARYLAND

examine the casual references and early records of land grants, etc., to
determine the original limits. From these it appears now well estab-
lished that Baltimore County was at first intended to include all the
northern portion of Maryland, situated on either side of Chesapeake
Bay from the Patapsco on the west to the Chester River on the east, and
northward as far as the northern bounds of the province. This broad
region was at the time almost entirely covered with forests and the few
settlements, limited almost exclusively to the waterways, were not as
widely separated as they would now appear to be. The unexplored
forests at their backs and the easily traversed waterways in their midst
tended to give a feeling of compactness and relative security to these
otherwise isolated settlements. The jurisdiction of Baltimore County
apparently covered the south shore of the Sassafras and the eastern part
of the Chester River from a point near the eastern limits of Talbot
at that time. It thus included the present site of Chestertown and
the major portion of Kent County. It apparently did not include the
few settlements along Eastern Neck which were under the jurisdiction
of Kent County.

During the decade and a half from the establishment of Baltimore
County to the separation of Cecil County there gradually arose a feeling
of distinction between the territory on the eastern and western sides of
the Bay, the former being called East Baltimore County from time to
time. This feeling, stimulated no doubt by the influence of Augustine
Herrman, resulted in June, 1674, in a proclamation by Charles Cal-
vert, Captain-General of the province, announcing that all the territory

" from the mouth of the Susquehanna River and so downe the easterne
side of Chesapeake Bay to Swan point and from thence to Hell point and so
up Chester River to the head thereof is hereby erected into a County and
called by the name Cecill County."

A few days later, on the 19 th of June, a second proclamation was issued
stating that

" upon further consideration .... it is thought most necessary that so
much of the Easterne side as was formerly added to Kent County doe still
remaine and belong to the said County as afore."

No record has been found to explain either the time or the territory