14. Founding of the First Capital (St. Mary's); Relations with the Indians. Governor Leonard Calvert at once undertook to

win the friendship of the native tribes of Indians.

These poor creatures were ignorant and uncivilized; they dressed in mantles of deerskins or other hides, painted their faces, and with bows and flint-tipped arrows hunted the wild animals of

the forests. Wars with the Indians, in which the most horrible and bloody deeds were committed, occurred in many other parts of America, but Maryland was spared this terrible experience. It is to the everlasting honor of Leonard Calvert and of Maryland that the settlement of the state was effected without shedding the blood of this unfortunate colonies were settle

ments so made. To this end, Governor Calvert sailed up the Potomac river to visit the emperor of the Indians, and he managed the interview so well that he won the permission of the chief to form a settlement with his colony.

1 Built in 1824, of the bricks of the first State House, which stood almost on the spot.

As the little isle of St. Clement's was far too small to accommodate the settlers, a home had now to be sought. Guided by a Virginian named Henry Fleet, they sailed into a broad and deep river, which flows into the Potomac from the north, not far from its mouth. This river, which they named St. George's, is now called the St. Mary's. Some distance up they found an Indian village, on the east bank of the river, and here they determined to make their future home. A large tract of land was purchased from the Indians and named Augusta Carolina, and it was arranged that the colonists should occupy half the village until harvest time, after which it was to be entirely abandoned to them. The terms of the treaty being fully arranged, the colonists landed with much show and ceremony. The governor took formal possession of the soil and named the new town St. Mary's. Thus was founded the oldest city of Maryland and its first capital March 27, 1634.

The dealings of Governor Calvert with the Indians were marked by kindness, tact, and justice. The natives were paid for the land with English cloth, axes, hatchets, knives, and hoes, which was very creditable, for in other colonies purchases were often made from the Indians with worthless strings of flashing beads and bits of shining glass, in which the simple natives took a childish delight.

During the joint occupation of the village

St. Mary's Female Seminary, Site of St. Mary's City
From a photograph

by the English and the Indians perfect peace and friendliness prevailed. Many of the Indian women and children dwelt with the families of the English, and learned from them some of the arts and refinements of civilization. The Indian women taught the English how to make hominy and "pone" of the corn, the Indian men hunted wild turkeys and deer for them in the forest. Thus happily did the two peoples dwell together until the harvest.

15. The Prosperous Beginning. — In the early history of Virginia there was a "starving time," in the course of which the entire colony came very near being extinguished. Maryland never knew such a condition, the colony being prosperous from the start. The voyage had been so planned that the colonists arrived in Maryland in the early spring, having thus the longest possible time to prepare for the winter. A supply of food was brought from England, and corn for planting from the West Indies, while cattle and hogs were bought in Virginia. Farms were laid out, and soon the province was settled in earnest.

No scarcity of food ever existed. The bay and rivers were teeming with fish and covered with water-fowl, while the forests held multitudes of wild turkeys, deer, bears, and small game. As for the corn harvests, they were so bountiful that corn was almost immediately sent to New England, and there exchanged for salt fish and other supplies. In the proper seasons strawberries and nuts were plentiful.

16. Legislative Assemblies; the People Win the Right to Propose Laws. Hardly was the colony firmly established before the people began to make laws under which to live. The first legislative assembly met at St. Mary's in February, 1635, and was composed of all the freemen of the province. Unfortunately, the records of the proceedings of this interesting assembly have been lost, but we do know that a body of laws was passed.

Now the seventh section of the Maryland charter provides that the proprietary may enact laws with the advice and consent of the people of the province or their representatives. This seems to mean that all laws should originate with the proprietary, and then be submitted to the people, who could accept or reject them as they chose. This is just a reversal of the usual method of legislation, by which the law-making power belongs

to the representatives of the people, while the ruler exercises the right of veto (which means, "I forbid "). But taking the ground that his charter gave him this right, Lord Baltimore refused to assent to these laws. In April, 1637, he directed Governor Leonard Calvert to call an Assembly of the people on the 25th of the following January, and inform them of his lord

The First State House in Maryland (A restoration)

From J. W. Thomas's "Chronicles of Colonial Maryland," by permission of the author ship's dissent to all laws previously passed by them. The issue was now openly raised.

Accordingly, the Assembly met on January 25, 1638. It was composed of all the freemen of the province, and not of representatives. Those who could not come engaged other persons to vote for them, and such a person was called a proxy." Thus one man might have the privilege of casting ten votes, his own and those of nine other men who had empowered him to

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