Well-intentioned, this Calvert
lacked something of the ability of either his father or his grandfather.
Though he lived in Maryland while his father had lived in England, his
government was not as wise as his father's had been.
But in Maryland, even before the death of Cecil Calvert, inherent evils
were beginning to form of themselves a visible body. In Maryland, as in
Virginia, there set in after the Restoration a period of reaction, of
callous rule in the interests of an oligarchy. In 1669 a "packed" Council and
an "aristocratic" Assembly procured a restriction of the franchise similar to
that introduced into Virginia. As in Virginia, an Assembly deemed of the right
political hue was kept in being by the device of adjournment from year to
year. In Maryland, as in Virginia, public officials were guilty of corruption
and graft. In 1676 there seems to have lacked for revolt, in Maryland, only
the immediate provocative of acute Indian troubles and such leaders as Bacon,
Lawrence, and Drummond. The new Lord Baltimore being for the time in England,
his deputy writes him that never were any "more replete with malignancy and
frenzy than our people were about August last, and they wanted but a
monstrous head to their monstrous body." Two leaders indeed appeared, Davis
and Pate by name, but having neither the standing nor the strength of the
Virginia rebels, they were finally taken and hanged. What supporters they
had dispersed, and the specter of armed insurrection passed away.
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