red in 1638 retaliated, rejecting the laws brought
forward by the proprietary.

[1639]

For a time the colony was without laws except the common law of England.
But Baltimore was too wise and conciliatory to allow such a state of
affairs to continue. He gave authority to the governor to assent to the
acts of the assembly, which he himself might or might not confirm.

[Illustration: Fight between Clayborne and the St. Mary's Ship.]

Accordingly in 1639 the assembly met and passed various acts, mostly
relating to civil affairs. One, however, was specially noteworthy, as
giving to the "Holy Church" "her rights and liberties," meaning by this
the Church of Rome, for, as Gardiner says, the title was never applied
to the Church of England. It was at the same time expressly enacted that
all the Christian inhabitants should be in the enjoyment of every right
and privilege as free as the natural-born subjects of England. If Roger
Williams was the first to proclaim absolute religious liberty, Lord
Baltimore was hardly behind him in putting this into practice. As has
been neatly said, "The Ark and the Dove were names of happy omen: the
one saved from the general wreck the germs of political liberty, and the
other bore the olive-branch of religious peace."

[1646]

During the civil war in England the affairs of Maryland were in a very
disturbed condition. Clayborne, Maryland's evil genius, seized the
opportunity to foment an insurrection, possessed himself once more of
Kent Island, and compelled the governor to flee to Virginia. Returning
in 1646, Calvert was fortunate enough to recover the reins of
government, but the following year witnessed the close of his
administration and his short though useful and eventful life. Few men
intrusted with almost absolute authority have exercised it with so much
firmness and at the same time with so much ability, discretion, and
uprightness.

[1650]

His successor, Greene, a Catholic, was not likely to find favor with the
Puritan Parliament of England, and Baltimore, in 1648, to conciliate the
ruling powers and to refute the charge that Maryland was only a retreat
for Romanists, removed the governor and appointed instead one who was a
Protestant and a firm supporter of Parliament. The council was also
changed so as to place the Catholics in the minority. The oath of the
new governor restrained him from molesting any person, especially if of
the Roman Catholic persuasion, on account of