The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present TimeCampbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
History
The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present Time
Campbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
Jesuits -- History
On March 25, 1634, the Jesuit Fathers White and Altham landed with
Leonard Calvert, the brother of Lord Baltimore, on St. Clement's Island
in Maryland. With them were twenty "gentlemen adventurers," all of whom,
with possibly one exception, were Catholics. They brought with them two
hundred and fifty mechanics, artisans and laborers who were in great
part Protestants. It took them four months to come from Southampton and,
on the way over, all religious discussions were prohibited. They were
kindly received by the Indians, and the wigwam of the chief was assigned
to the priests. A catechism in Patuxent was immediately begun by Father
White, and many of the tribe were converted to the Faith in course of
time, as were a number of the Protestant colonists. Beyond that, very
little missionary work was accomplished, as all efforts in that
direction were nullified by a certain Lewger, a former Protestant
minister who was Calvert's chief adviser. The adjoining colony of
Virginia, which was intensely bitter in its Protestantism, immediately
began to cause trouble. In 1644 Ingle and Claiborne made a descent on
the colony in a vessel, appropriately called the "Reformation." They
captured and burned St. Mary's, plundered and destroyed the houses and
chapels of the missionaries, and sent Father White in chains to England,
where he was to be put to death, on the charge of being "a returned
priest." As he was able to show that he had "returned" in spite of
himself, he was discharged.
Calvert recovered his possessions later, and then dissensions began
between him and the missionaries because of some land given to them by
the Indians. In 1645 it was estimated that the colonists numbered
between four and five thousand, three-fourths of whom were Catholics.
They were cared for by four Jesuits. In 1649 the famous General
Toleration Act was passed, ordaining that "no one believing in Jesus
Christ should be molested in his or her religion." As the reverse of
this obtained in Virginia, at that time, a number of Puritan
recalcitrants from that colony availed themselves of the hospitality of
Maryland, and almost immediately, namely in 1650, they repealed the Act
and ordered that "no one who professed and exercised the Papistic,
commonly known as the Roman Catholic religion, could be protected in the
Province." Three of the Jesuits were, in consequence, compelled to flee
to Virginia, where they kept in hiding for two or three years. In 1658
Lord Baltimore was again in control, and the Toleration Act was
re-enacted. In 1671 the population had increased to 20,000, but in 1676
there was another Protestant uprising and the English penal laws were
enforced against the Catholic population. In 1715 Charles, Lord
Baltimore, died. Previous to that, his son Benedict had apostatized and
was disinherited. He died a few months after his father. Benedict's son
Charles, who was also a turncoat, was named lord proprietor by Queen
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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