_AND I do solemnly, in the Presence of_ GOD, _profess, testify and declare. That I do make this Declaration and every Part thereof, in the plain and ordinary Sense of the Words read unto me, as they are commonly understood by_ English Protestants, _without any Evasion, Equivocation or mental Reservation whatsoever and without any Dispensation already granted me for this Purpose by the Pope, or any other Authority or Person whatsoever, or without any Hope of any such Dispensation from any Person or Authority whatsoever, or without thinking I am or may be acquitted before_ GOD, _or Man, or absolved of this Declaration, or any Part thereof, although the Pope, or any other Person or Persons, or Power whatsoever, should dispense with or annull the same, or declare that it was null or void from the Beginning_. _AND I_ A. B. _profess Faith in_ GOD _the Father, and in_ JESUS CHRIST, _his eternal Son, the true_ GOD, _and in the_ HOLY SPIRIT, _one_ GOD, _blessed for evermore; and do acknowledge the_ Holy Scriptures _of the_ Old _and_ New-Testament, _to be given by divine Inspiration_. Lord Baltimore, the Roman Catholic proprietor of Maryland, was far in advance of his Church. He came to the New World to secure religious liberty for himself and his friends. The Maryland Act of Toleration, issued in 1649, provided that Blasphemy against God, and a denial of the Trinity should be punished with death and confiscation of lands and goods, and blasphemy against the Virgin Mary should first be punished by a fine of five pounds, and if persisted in, by a forfeiture of all possessions and banishment from the colony. [Illustration: The Law Concerning Religious Toleration in Maryland Colony. It is not Religious Liberty.] [Sidenote: 1649.] Acts and Orders of ASSEMBLY, assented to, enacted and made, at a General Session of the said Assembly, begun and held at _St. Mary_’s on the 2d Day of _April_ 1649, and ended the 21st Day of the same Month. WILLIAM STONE, Esq; Governor. CHAP. I. [Illustration] [Sidenote: Passed 21st of _April_ 1649.] _An Act concerning Religion. Lib._ C _and_ WH. _fol._ 106. _Lib._ WH. _fol._ 111. _and Lib._ WH _and_ L. _fol._ 1. Confirmed among the perpetual Laws 1676, _ch._ 2.