CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MARYLAND.

PART I.THE STATE.

CHAPTER I.

MARYLAND.

1. Name. This State takes its name from Queen
Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I. of England.
In its Latin form it was "Terra Mariæ." The name
was given by Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, in gratitude
for the gift of the country from the king.

2. The Charter. In 1632 King Charles I. of Eng-
land, who claimed the country for his crown because it
had been discovered by some of his subjects, granted to
Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, a charter or legal docu-
ment which gave him the right to take possession of a
large tract of land in North America and govern it for
England. Large powers were conferred on Lord Balti-
more, who was called the Lord Proprietary of this new
province. It was provided that on his death the right
to the province should descend to his heir. Many of
the privileges granted by the charter are still claimed
by the people of Maryland. (Declaration of R. 5.)

3. Boundaries. By the charter of Maryland the boundaries of the province were to be as follows: beginning at Watkins Point on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay, a line was to be drawn due east to the Atlantic Ocean. All of the peninsula north of this should be Maryland's, all south Virginia's. The line then ran along Delaware Bay to the fortieth degree of north latitude and along that parallel to the meridian of longitude which passed through the first fountain of the Potomac River. The line followed the meridian to the river and then went along the farther or southern bank to a place called Cinquack, near the mouth of the river, whence the boundary ran by a straight line to Watkins Point.

As men knew little of the new country, it is not surprising that other gifts of land in North America were made, which overlapped the boundaries of Maryland. Through such a grant to William Penn in 1682, and through mistaken surveys, Maryland has lost much territory. Penn obtained a grant which had the fortieth parallel of latitude as its southern boundary. He was very anxious to carry his territory down to the Chesapeake Bay, and tried to gain land from Lord Baltimore. Penn also bought from the Duke of York his rights to the present state of Delaware. This was originally settled by the Swedes, was taken from them by the Dutch, and from them by the English, and was given by the king to the duke, although it had been included within Maryland's boundaries.

The long dispute between Penn and Baltimore was finally settled between 1763 and 1767, when Mason and

Dixon's line was run.

The line takes its name from

the two men who surveyed it, and runs along the parallel of 39° 44' north latitude. Had Maryland kept her original boundaries, she would have included in her territory all the state of Delaware and all of Pennsylvania as far as the city of Philadelphia.

Maryland lost territory to Virginia because of surveyors' mistakes. It is almost certain that the true charter limits of the State would give her a little more land on the eastern shore than she now possesses; while on the western shore the first fountain of the Potomac is the South Branch, though Maryland has been pushed back to the North Branch, losing a valuable tract of land now in West Virginia.

The present boundaries of Maryland are on the north, the parallel 39° 44'; on the east, a line running down the centre of the peninsula between the Chesapeake and the Delaware to the latitude of Cape Henlopen, thence a line due east to that cape and along the seacoast until the line from Watkins Point is reached; on the south, a line from the ocean to Watkins Point, from that to the mouth of the Potomac, and then along the south bank of that river to the source of its North Branch; on the west, the meridian of the source.

4. Area and Position. Maryland thus lies in the north temperate zone, about midway up the Atlantic coast of the United States. Her area is 12,210 square miles, of which 9860 are land and 1203 are covered by the Chesapeake. The remainder is contained in smaller bodies of water. The State is nearly cut in half by the Chesapeake Bay, and the two portions of the State are

known as the Eastern and Western Shores of that bay. This division has been a very important one in the history of the State, and until recently (1896) one of the United States senators from Maryland was chosen from each shore.

5. Physical and Geological Characteristics. The Eastern Shore and the southern part of the Western Shore are low, and the ground is frequently sandy. This region is known as the Coastal Plain. From the Chesapeake Bay many tidal estuaries, called rivers, run up into the land and enable vessels to have easy access to all parts of the country. The Coastal Plain includes the following western shore counties: St. Mary's, Calvert, Charles, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, and parts of Baltimore and Harford. West of the Coastal Plain we come into what is known by the geologists as the Piedmont Plateau, because it lies at the foot of the mountains. It is a broken, hilly country with rolling surface, but with few mountains of considerable height or extent. It is crossed by the Potomac River, which rises in the high mountains to the west and runs with rapid current through the country. In the centre of this region, Parr's Ridge runs across the State. The Catoctin Mountain bounds the Piedmont Region on the west. All the counties on the Western Shore, east of Frederick and not contained in the Coastal Plain, are in the Piedmont Plateau.

West of this comes the Appalachian Mountain Region, which extends to the western boundary of the State. It is a country of lofty mountains, of well-timbered land, of valuable mineral deposits, and of fertile ground

in the valleys. It is subdivided into three parts: the Blue Ridge and its slopes in Frederick and Washington Counties, the Appalachian mountains proper in Allegany County, and the Allegany chain in Garrett County. Between the Blue Ridge and the Appalachians lies a very fertile and extensive valley. Some of the streams in the last county are a part of the great Mississippi River system, for we have crossed the watershed. Maryland thus has a great variety of country within its borders, and it has an equally great variety of geological characteristics. Professor Clark, of the State Geological Survey, says: "The most ancient rocks which make up the earth's crust, as well as those still in the process of deposition, are here found; while between these wide limits there is scarcely an important geological epoch which is not represented. It is doubtful whether another State in the Union contains a fuller history of the earth's past."

6. Bibliography. The most important books on the history and government of Maryland are given below. Where the books are not in print that fact is noted.

BROWNE, WM. HAND. "Maryland, the History of a Palatinate" (to 1776). Houghton, Mifflin & Co. $1.50.

SCARF, J. THOMAS. "History of Maryland to 1880." 3 vols. (Out of print. The most extensive work.)

"Chronicles of Baltimore." (Out of print, but easy to procure from secondhand bookstores.)

66

History of Western Maryland." (Out of print.) "Baltimore City and County." (Out of print.)

MCMAHON, J. V. L. "History of Maryland" (to 1776). Cushing & Co.

MCSHERRY, Jos. "History of Maryland" (to 1848). (Out of print.)