CHAPTER XX.

MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA.

1. THE principal city of Maryland to-day is Baltimore. How did it get its name? How did Maryland itself get its name?

2. Before William Penn received the gift of Pennsylvania from the king of England, the land on both sides of Chesapeake Bay was given by the king to another Englishman, George Calvert, who bore the title of Lord Baltimore. Calvert had already tried to establish a colony in Newfoundland, and had spent much money in the attempt.

3. It seems strange to us now, that Englishmen should have chosen such a country as Newfoundland, with its long winters and short summers, when there were pleasanter lands to the southward. But the early travelers to the New World shut their eyes to much that was disagreeable. Each new discoverer persuaded himself that he had found a more wonderful part of the country than had been known before, and each tried to tell a finer story than the last.

4. Calvert knew that Newfoundland was in the same latitude as France, but he did not know anything about the Gulf Stream. It had not then been learned that a river of warm salt water flowed through the Atlantic Ocean, and swept along the northwest coast of Europe, making it warmer there than in the same latitude in America.

5. When he went to Newfoundland, however, with his family, and with additions to his colony, he discovered

that it was no place for them. The French who were near by fell upon his colony, and there were fights at sea between the French and the English; worse than that were the bitter cold and the long winters.

6. Calvert, therefore, abandoned Newfoundland, and applied to the king for land farther south. He still meant to plant a colony in America. The king made the grant, but Calvert died before he could receive it. His son, Cecilius, who now became Lord Baltimore, received the charter, and the country was named Maryland from the king's wife, Henrietta Maria.

7. Lord Baltimore remained in England, but he sent out a colony under his brother, Leonard Calvert. For nearly a hundred and fifty years the Calvert family continued to hold Maryland. They governed it either in person, or by some agent whom they appointed. They were constantly seeking the good of the people, and that is one reason why they continued so long in power.

8. One of the most important acts in Maryland was that by which the people were free to follow whatever form of religion seemed best to them. While other colonies attempted to decide which should be the prevailing religion, Maryland set the example of not interfering with the choice the colonists might make.

9. One reason for this was that the Calverts were Roman Catholics, and thus liable to be interfered with. They desired that persons of their Church should have a right to their own ways in Maryland; therefore, they gave to others the same rights. This did not prevent quarrels, however. Few had yet learned to be as just and generous in religion as the Calverts were.

10. Maryland was neighbor to Virginia, and there· was a long dispute between the two colonies about their

boundary. The land occupied by both was very much the same in kind. It was fertile land, broken into by broad bays and rivers. There was not much difference, therefore, in ways of living in the two colonies.

11. The most profitable crop was tobacco, and negro slaves cultivated it. The planters lived for the most part on the banks of the bays and rivers. They built roomy, generous houses for themselves, and surrounded these houses with groups of cabins for their slaves.

12. The planter had a wharf, and loaded a ship with his tobacco, to be sold in London. When the ship came back, it brought him goods which his tobacco had bought. There were clothes for himself and his family; sugar and coffee, and tea and wines for his table; furniture of the better sort for his house, and linen, with any luxuries he might desire.

13. It was easy to supply the table of a Maryland or Virginia planter. Besides the vegetables which his garden afforded, there were deer and wild turkeys in the forests; the bays and rivers were stocked with a great variety of fish and shell-fish. Wheat-bread was not much used, but corn-cake and hominy were on every table.

14. The houses of the better class were often built of brick. Sometimes the bricks were brought from England; oftener they were made from clay dug in the neighborhood. There were not many carriage roads between the plantations, but there were plenty of horses and saddles; and every planter by the water had boats, for the water made it easy to get from one plantation to another.

15. For a long time it was not thought worth while to raise anything but tobacco; but, in Maryland, they began to raise wheat and Indian corn. Smaller farms

Some of the planters no
Instead of having ships.

were formed in the interior. longer lived by deep water. come to wharves near their houses, these planters had to carry their tobacco and corn to market.

16. Then, since they had to sell in their own country, there were merchants to buy, who sold them other goods. in return. Thus towns were formed, where there were good harbors, or where the court-houses stood. But, to this day there is only one large city in Maryland, and there are only six towns in Virginia which have a population of more than ten thousand each.

CHAPTER XXI.
TER

THE CAROLINAS.

1. FAR to the south of Virginia, there were a few Spanish settlements in Florida, but the country between received new settlers slowly. There is a long stretch of sea-coast sheltered by islands, which make sounds and bays of quiet water.

2. At two points on the coast small settlements were early made. Some Virginians found their way to the River Chowan, and a few persons from the Barbadoes Islands came across to Cape Fear. There was good lumber to be had, and tar, turpentine, and fish. They could raise tobacco, also.

3. The New Englanders had once formed a settlement near Cape Fear River, but had given it up. Their captains, however, knew the waters of the sounds, and now they came down in coasting-vessels and traded with the people. They bought their lumber and cattle, and carried them across to the West Indies.