mac, from source to mouth,
with a line across Chesapeake and the Eastern Shore to the ocean formed
his southern frontier; his northern was the fortieth parallel, from the
ocean across country to the due point above the springs of the
Potomac. Over this great expanse he became "true and absolute lord and
proprietary," holding fealty to England, but otherwise at liberty to
rule in his own domain with every power of feudal duke or prince. The
King had his allegiance, likewise a fifth part of gold or silver found
within his lands. All persons going to dwell in his palatinate were to
have "rights and liberties of Englishmen." But, this aside, he was lord
paramount. The new country received the name Terra Mariae--Maryland--for
Henrietta Maria, then Queen of England.

Here was a new land and a Lord Proprietor with kingly powers. Virginians
seated on the James promptly petitioned King Charles not to do them
wrong by so dividing their portion of the earth. But King and Privy
Council answered only that Virginia and Maryland must "assist each
other on all occasions as becometh fellow-subjects." William Claiborne,
indeed, continued with a determined voice to cry out that lands given
to Baltimore were not, as had been claimed, unsettled, seeing that he
himself had under patent a town on Kent Island and another at the mouth
of the Susquehanna.

Baltimore was a reflective man, a dreamer in the good sense of the term,
and religiously minded. At the height of seeming good fortune he could
write:

"All things, my lord, in this world pass away.... They are but lent
us till God please to call for them back again, that we may not esteem
anything our own, or set our hearts upon anything but Him alone, who
only remains forever." Like his King, Baltimore could carry far his
prerogative and privilege, maintaining the while not a few degrees of
inner freedom. Like all men, here he was bound, and here he was free.

Baltimore's desire was for "enlarging his Majesty's Empire," and at
the same time to provide in Maryland a refuge for his fellow Catholics.
These were now in England so disabled and limited that their status
might fairly be called that of a persecuted people. The mounting
Puritanism promised no improvement. The King himself had no fierce
antagonism to the old religion, but it was beginning to be seen that
Charles and Charles's realm were two different things. A haven should be
provided before the storm blackened further. Baltimore