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230 MAKYLAND most active adherents. Under the charter Lord Baltimore had the power of enacting all necessary laws, with " the advice, consent, and approbation of the freemen of the province," or their representatives convened in general assembly. The first assembly met in the be- ginning of 1635, and submitted certain laws to the approval of the proprietary. A dispute thereupon arose respecting the right of initia- tive in legislation, which was settled in 1638 by Lord Baltimore's yielding the right to the assembly. (See CALVERT.) In the following year the first statutes of Maryland were enact- ed. In 1642 a company of Puritans, who had been expelled from Virginia for nonconform- ity, settled in Maryland, and soon began to manifest a spirit of resistance to the authority of the proprietary. Clay borne also had re- turned from his exile and regained possession of Kent island. The efforts of the governor to dispossess him not only failed, but Clayborne and lus partisans, with the Puritan party, made themselves complete masters of the province, and compelled the governor in his turn to fly into Virginia. This event occurred in 1645. In 1647 the governor returned at the head of a military force and recovered possession. In 1649 the assembly passed an act by which Christians of all sects were secured in the pub- lic profession of their faith, and allowed to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. The Puritans, whose arrival in the colony has already been noticed, settled at Providence, which at a later period received the name of Annapolis and became the seat of government. They still proved turbulent, and a* a means of conciliating them their settle- ment was erected in 1650 into a separate coun- ty under the name of Anne Arundel ; and still additional members of this denomination arriving from England, Charles county was or- iMiiix-'d for them a short time afterward. From this time they began to exercise a controlling influence in public affairs. On the overthrow of the royal government and the establishment of the commonwealth in England, their party insisted upon an immediate recognition of the new order of things ; but the authorities pro- ceeded to proclaim Charles II. In the next assembly it was found that the Puritans had a majority ; and in 1652 commissioners from England visited Maryland, with whom were associated Clayborne, the old opponent of the proprietary government, and Bennett, the lead- er of the Puritans of Anne Arundel county. They removed Gov. Stone, who was subse- quently reinstated by them, and completely es- tablished the authority of the commonwealth. Kent island was once more delivered up to Clay- borne, and he acquired also Palmer island at the mouth of the Susquehanna. In 1654 Lord Baltimore made a determined effort to regain ion of the province, and directed Gov. Stun.- to require all persons to take the oath of lid'-lity. ;uil to reestablish the proprietary government ; but Bennett and Clayborne, the former of whom was now governor of Vir- ginia, again interfered, and reversed all that Lord Baltimore had accomplished. They es- tablished a commission for the government of the colony, and placed Capt. Fuller at its head. Hereupon a civil contest ensued, and hostilities were carried on by land and water. Providence was attacked by the proprietary party, but the Puritans were victorious, and killed or captured the whole invading force. Many of the cap- tives, among whom was Gov. Stone, were con- demned to death, and at least four of them were executed. This decisive action was fought March 25, 1655. Three years later the power of the proprietary was completely restored. In 1662 the Hon. Charles Calvert, son of the lord proprietary, was appointed governor, and so continued till 1676, when on the death of his father he succeeded to his rights, and appointed Thomas Notely his representative. After the revolution of 1688 the government was assumed by King William, and in 1691 Sir Lionel Copley was sent out as governor. Among the first acts of importance under the new government was the removal of the capital from St. Mary's to Providence, thenceforth known as Annapolis. In 1714 Benedict Leonard Calvert succeeded on the death of his father to his hereditary rights, and dying the following year was suc- ceeded by his son Charles, a Protestant. The principal obstacle to the recognition of the claim of this family being thus removed, the authority of the proprietary was restored throughout the colony after a suspension of 24 years. Hart, the last of the royal governors, was continued in office. In January, 1730, Baltimore was laid out. In 1745 the "Mary- land Gazette," the first newspaper printed in Maryland, was established at Annapolis, and continued to be issued by the descendants of Thomas Green, its founder, until 1839. Fred- erick City was founded in 1745, and was so named after the son and successor of the then proprietary. Georgetown, now in the District of Columbia, was laid out in 1751, and, being at the head of the navigation of the Poto- mac, grew rapidly in population and trade. The policy of the English government was to repress all efforts to establish manufactures ; but in 1742 copper works were in operation, and in 1749 eight furnaces and nine forges; and wine was produced to a considerable ex- tent. The great staple export, however, was tobacco, of which 30,000 hogsheads were ex- ported annually, and for many purposes tobac- co was the currency of the province. In 1732 it was made a legal tender at one penny a pound. Almost from the date of the founda- tion of the colony disputes with the neighbor- ing provinces regarding boundaries had been a serious cause of disquiet. The boundary with Virginia on the eastern shore was adjusted in 1668 by the running of the " Calvert and Scar- brough " line. That on the side of Delaware and Pennsylvania was not finally settled till 1760, when commissioners were appointed to