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Kilty's Land-Holder's Assistant, and Land-Office Guide
Volume 73, Page 161   View pdf image (33K)
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LAND-HOLDER'S ASSISTANT. 161

in the year 1684, being called thither to defend himself against
several heavy imputations, one of which, namely, that he had
obstructed the custom house officers in the collection of the
parliamentary duties, was unluckily, not without foundation.
The other complaints turned chiefly upon his alledged
partiality to those of his own religion in the disposal of offices;
and he was required, under the threat of a writ of quo
warranto against his charter, to reimburse a considerable sum
stated to have been lost to the customs by his interference.
He submitted to this exaction, and continued to parry the
efforts of his enemies, till about the close of the reign of James
II. when the violent animosities that prevailed in England
against the religious faith professed by that monarch, reached
the province of Maryland, and produced similar effects. The
moment that James's abdication, and its immediate
consequences, were announced, this spirit displayed itself in a manner
not to be controuled. The administration of lord Baltimore
had, upon news of the seeming invasion of England by the
Dutch, put the province into some state of defence, and took
other measures of security, which to the jealous conceptions
of the people indicated a design to strengthen their own hands
to the danger of the protestant colonists. The first
suggestion of this idea was sufficient to produce the highest degree
of alarm and exasperation. The proprietary had, moreover,
been unfortunate in the miscarriage of the orders sent to his
deputies to proclaim William and Mary, or at all events it had
not been chearfully and seasonably done: All these
circumstances concurring to impress on many a degree of real alarm,
and to furnish the more designing with means to augment it,
an armed (a) association was at length formed in 1689," for
" the defence of the protestant religion, and for the asserting
" the right of king William and queen Mary to that province
" and all the British dominions;" but the real and open
object of which was the immediate suppression of all authority
in those whom the proprietary had left charged with the
administration of his government. The deputies made some
attempt towards defence, but wanting support, surrendered
their powers and their persons to this violent association.

    (a) At the head of this association was a certain John Coode, who is
treated by writers on the affairs of Maryland with still more severity
than either Cleyborne or Fendall. It is not an agreeable thing to abuse
men a hundred years after their death, and I shall therefore say nothing
further on this subject. In regard to the manner in which I speak of the
popular alarm, and its effects, it will be deemed excusable, I presume,
that I do not admit there was a plot to massacree the protestant inhabitants,
and that I cannot therefore consider the alarm and ferment here related as
having any just foundation. As to spleen or prejudice in regard to those
long past events, I feel none, and trust therefore that none will appear in
the slight references I have had occasion to make to the subject of religion.

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Kilty's Land-Holder's Assistant, and Land-Office Guide
Volume 73, Page 161   View pdf image (33K)
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