o occasion
would arise to make accusations against any of Ingle's opponents, but
historic truth now requires it to be done. It must be remembered that
Baltimore was in constant danger of losing his charter, in a great
measure, on account of Ingle's activity against him. Upon his
authority alone is based the charge against Ingle about the seal, but
of how much value is the authority of one who, at the very same time
and in a commission sent out with that of the seal, wrote that Leonard
Calvert "was limited by our commission to him not to appoint" any
person governor "unless such person were of our privy council
there,"[75] although no such limitation as to the governor's right was
made in any of the commissions to Leonard Calvert so this clause in
the lord proprietor's commission resolves itself into a Machiavellian
statement. It is hardly credible that Lord Baltimore could have made
such a statement from ignorance, for no one knew the commission better
than the author of it. But notwithstanding the evidence against Lord
Baltimore, the writer has too high an opinion of his character to
attribute to him the diplomatic lie. Lord Baltimore was no doubt
influenced a great deal, by what was reported to him concerning
Maryland, so the blame must rest upon his informers. Still if these
persons would resort to such methods in one case, they would be likely
to do so in other instances. Whoever was the author of the statement,
it throws doubt upon other supposed facts of this period, and leads to
the conclusion that the commission for a new seal was one of the
reconstructive acts of the proprietor, on a par with the treatment of
Hill.

Ingle has been charged with the destruction of the records of the
province. What was Baltimore's opinion? "We understand" he wrote in
1651, "that in the late Rebellion there One thousand Six hundred
Forty and four most of the Records of that province being then lost or
embezzled."[76] This hearsay statement of Lord Baltimore may have been
based upon the testimony in 1649, of Thomas Hatton, Secretary of the
province, of the receipt of books from Mr. Bretton, who "delivered to
me this Book, and another lesser Book with a Parchment Cover, divers
of the Leaves thereof being cut or torn out, and many of them being
lost and much worn out and defaced together with divers other Papers
and Writings bound together in a Bundle,"[77] and swore that they were
all the documents belonging to the secretary or regi