Thus, in the ninety years from 1607 to 1697, the population of Virginia had increased from a few score to nearly a hundred thousand; the dreams of speedy wealth entertained by the patentees had been idle, but the hard labor of Englishmen, supplemented by the forced service of negroes, had built up a prosperous agricultural community. More important still was it that, through all the vicissitudes of control, of government in England, and of party in America, the germ of popular government had grown into an established system, jealously watched by the colonies. 33. Settlement of Maryland (1632-1635). Sidenote: George Calvert, Lord Baltimore. George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, had been one of the members of the London Company as well as a councillor in the Plymouth Company. From the beginning of the century he had taken a strong interest in English colonization schemes. A staunch Roman Catholic, he was (1618-1625) principal Secretary of State to James I. Baltimore's observation of the turbulent career of Virginia had convinced him that a commercial colony could not be successful, because of divided administration and the mercenary aims of non-resident stockholders. He went out with a colony to Newfoundland (1621) under a proprietary patent, but the inhospitable climate was against the project. In 1629 he landed at Jamestown with forty Catholic colonists; but the Protestant Virginians made it uncomfortable for the Romanists, and they returned to England. Sidenotes: Secures a charter for Maryland. His son Cecil succeeds him. Provisions of the charter.