[Footnote: His father, George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, with this same design had attempted to plant a colony in Newfoundland. But having failed on account of the severity of the climate, he visited Virginia. When he found that the Catholics were there treated with great harshness, he returned to England, took out a grant of land, and bestowed upon it, in honor of the queen, Henrietta Maria, the name Maryland. Ere the patent had received the great seal of the king, Lord Baltimore died. His son, inheriting the father's noble and benevolent views, secured the grant himself, and carried out the philanthropic scheme.] [Footnote: It is curious to observe how largely this country was peopled in its earlier days by refugees for religious faith. The Huguenots, the Puritans, the Quakers, the Presbyterians, the Catholics, the persecuted of every sect and creed, all flocked to this "home of the free."] He accordingly obtained from King Charles a grant of land lying north of the Potomac. The first settlement was made (1634) by his brother at an Indian village which he called St. Mary's, near the mouth of the Potomac. THE CHARTER was very different from that granted to Virginia, since it gave to all freemen a voice in making the laws. An Assembly, called in accordance with this provision, passed (1649) the celebrated _Toleration Act_, which secured to all Christians liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. Maryland, like Rhode Island, became an asylum for the persecuted. [Footnote: Two years before, Rhode Island had passed an act protecting every kind of religious faith and worship. Maryland extended protection to all forms of Christianity alone.] CIVIL WARS. 1. _Clayborne's Rebellion_ (1635).--The Virginia colony claimed that Lord Baltimore's grant covered territory belonging to them. Clayborne, a member of the Jamestown council, was especially obstinate in the matter. He had already established two trading posts in Maryland, which he prepared to defend by force of arms. A bloody skirmish ensued, in which his party was beaten. He, himself, had fled to Virginia, on the eve of battle, but being accused of treason, was sent to England for trial. He was, however, acquitted of this charge. Ten years afterward he came back, raised a rebellion, and drove Calvert, then governor of Maryland, out of the colony. The governor returned at last with a strong force, and Clayborne fled. This ended the contest.