Page 397 - Third Book of Reading Lessons

396 T'HIRD BOOK OF
enthusiasm of England in vour of merican plan­ tations; he had been.a member of the great com­ pany r Virginia; and, while secretary of state, he had obtained a special patent r the southern prom­ ontory of New undland. But numerous di culties prevented success in New undland, and he looked to Virginia, of which the climate, _the fertility, and the advantages were so much extolled. Yet, as a papist, he could hardly expect a hospitable welcome in a colony om which the care l exclusion of Ro­ man Catholics had been originally avowed as a special object, and where the statutes of the provin­ cial legislature, as well as the commands of the sov­ ereign, aimed at a perpetual religious uni rmi .
5. But the country beyond the Potomac seemed to be as yet untenanted by any but the scattered hordes of the native tribes. The French, the Dutch, and the Swedes, were preparing to occupy the coun­ try, and a grant seemed the readiest mode of se­ curing the soil by an English settlement, and it was not di cult r Calvert-a man of such moderation that all parties were taken with him-sincere in his character, dise.ngaged om all interests, and a ­ vourite with the royal mily, to obtain a charter r domains in that happy clime.
6. The fundamental charter of the colony of Mary­ land, which, beyond all doubt, was penned by the rst Lord Baltimore himself was the su cient ank pledge of the liberties of the colonist, not less than of the rights and interests of the proprietary; and while Christianity was made by it the law of the land, no preference was given to any sect, and equality in religious rights, not less than in civil
eedom, was assured to all.