Produced by ellinora, RichardW, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) A CHARACTER OF THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND BY GEORGE ALSOP A Character of the Province of MARYLAND. [Illustration] By GEORGE ALSOP. 1666. Baltimore, 1880. ALSOP’S MARYLAND. 1666. REISSUED AS Fund-Publication, No. 15. A Character of the Province of MARYLAND. [Illustration] By GEORGE ALSOP. 1666. Baltimore, 1880. GOWANS’ BIBLIOTHECA AMERICANA. 5 “Thy fathers went down into Egypt with three score and ten persons, and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.” . . . _Moses._ “Two things are to be considered in writing history, truth and elocution, for in truth consisteth the soul, and in elocution the body of history; the latter without the former, is but a picture of history; the former without the latter, unapt to instruct. The principle and proper work of history, being to instruct, and enable men by their knowledge of actions past, to bear themselves prudently in the present, and providently towards the future.” . . . _T. Hobbes._ [Illustration] NEW YORK: WILLIAM GOWANS. 1869. 64 COPIES PRINTED ON LARGE PAPER 4TO. A CHARACTER OF THE PROVINCE OF MARYLAND. DESCRIBED IN FOUR DISTINCT PARTS. ALSO A SMALL TREATISE ON THE WILD AND NAKED INDIANS (OR SUSQUEHANOKES) OF MARYLAND, THEIR CUSTOMS, MANNERS, ABSURDITIES, AND RELIGION. TOGETHER WITH A COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL LETTERS. BY GEORGE ALSOP. A NEW EDITION WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND COPIOUS HISTORICAL NOTES. BY JOHN GILMARY SHEA, LL.D., MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY. _Our western world, with all its matchless floods,_ _Our vast transparent lakes and boundless woods,_ _Stamped with the traits of majesty sublime,_ _Unhonored weep the silent lapse of time,_ _Spread their wild grandeur to the unconscious sky,_ _In sweetest seasons pass unheeded by;_ _While scarce one muse returns the songs they gave,_ _Or seeks to snatch their glories from the grave._ ALEXANDER WILSON, The Ornithologist. _The greater part of the magnificent countries east of the Alleghanies is in a high state of cultivation and commercial prosperity, with natural advantages not surpassed in any country. Nature, however, still maintains her sway in some parts, especially where pine-barrens and swamps prevail. The territory of the United States covers an area of 2,963,666 square miles, about one-half of which is capable of producing everything that is useful to man, but not more than a twenty-sixth part of it has been cleared. The climate is generally healthy, the soil fertile, abounding in mineral treasures, and it possesses every advantage from navigable rivers and excellent harbors_ . . . MRS. SOMERVILLE. [Illustration]