Although these people had thus with the permission of the Lord Proprietary's government, seated themselves within the province of Maryland, yet it does not appear that they had immediately thereon subjected themselves to the proprietary government at St. Mary's.

The peninsula or neck of land whereon Annapolis stands, was probably uninhabited by any Europeans before their arrival; and, thus secluded from the rest of the inhabitants of the province, it is probable that, according to the usage of the congregational church of New England, a branch of which church they were, a sort of hierarchical government was established by them, similar to that which had been practised by the first colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

Neither does it appear that any grants of land or territory were made to these people, either collectively or individually, either prior to or subsequent to their arrival in Maryland, until the latter end of July, 1650, when their settlement was organized as a county, under a commander and commissioners of the peace, as the Isle of Kent had been before.

In this year, (1649) when Charles the First was beheaded, Mr. Thomas Greene, who was now governor of Maryland, in the absence of governor Stone, caused the Prince of Wales to be proclaimed in the province, as 'the undoubted rightful heir to all his father's dominions,' on the fifteenth day of November of this year.

Another proclamation was also issued of the same date, 'to further the common rejoicing of the inhabitants upon that occasion,' declaring a general pardon to all the inhabitants of the province, for every offence before committed.

It appears, however, that the puritans who had just settled on the Severn, did not join in the 'common rejoicing;' but preferring the rule and dominion of the commonwealth of England, just established in the mother country, to that of the declared succession of their late sovereign, Charles the First, desired to be exempt from the common privilege of causing the shores of their beautiful Severn to re-echo with their 'rejoicings' on this occasion.

1650.

In January of this year, governor Stone having returned to the province and resumed the functions of his office, convened the legislature by proclamation, to meet at St. Mary's on the second day of April ensuing.

On the day appointed the assembly accordingly convened-but as no returns were made, nor any appearance of the freemen or burgesses, from Providence, 'the governor adjourned the house till Friday next, the fifth day of the same present month.'

In the meantime it appears that governor Stone visited the new colony at Providence; probably with a view of reconciling in an amicable way the refractory puritans to the proprietary government. For it seems that they consented to send two burgesses to the assembly, and the governor himself made the return thereof as follows:

'By the lieutenant, &c. of Maryland. The freemen of that part of Maryland, now called Providence, being by my appointment duly summoned to this present assembly, did unanimously make choice of Mr. Puddington and Mr. James Cox for their burgesses, I being there in person at that time.'

Accordingly, on the 6th of April the assembly met,

and after choosing Mr. James Cox speaker, and Mr. William Britton their clerk, proceeded to business. We may remark here, that this choice of the speaker seems to indicate the growing strength and influence of the infant colony that had settled at Providence.

The puritans who had founded Providence, formed, at this early period of their settlement, a considerable population. And having sent, and been represented by their burgesses or delegates at this last assembly, and so far submitting to the proprietary government, an act was passed at this session, entitled, 'an act for the creating of Providence into a county, by the name of Anne Arundel County.' The tenor of this act was, 'that part of the province of Maryland, on the west side of the bay of Chesapeake, over against the Isle of Kent, formerly called by the name of Providence, by the inhabitants there residing, &c. shall from hence> forth be erected into a shire or county, by the name of Anne Arundel county, and by that name be ever hereafter called.'

It was probably so called from the maiden name of Lady Baltimore, then late deceased-Lady Anne Arundel, the daughter of Lord Arundel of Wardour, whom Cecilius Lord Baltimore had married.

No boundaries were assigned by this act to the county. As the population of that part of the province was detached from the other inhabited parts, and like Kent Island, was insulated from the rest of the province, such population constituted its limits in fact, until in process of time other counties being erected adjacent thereto, defined its boundaries.

This detached colony had its inconveniences and difficulties to contend with, incident to all newly-set

tled places. It became thereby not only more obnoxious to the Indians, but more liable to alarm, and more easily assailed by these aborigines.

Some acts of assembly, made at the last session of assembly, indicated considerable uneasiness existing at this period among the colonists, on account of some recent murders and captures committed upon them by the natives. It appears that two of the inhabitants of Kent and Anne Arundel counties had been lately murdered in a most cruel and barbarous manner by certain Indians.

It is most probable, that the Indians who committed the above-mentioned murders, were the Susquehanocks, a powerful and warlike tribe, who inhabited all that part of Maryland which lies between the Patuxent and Susquehanough rivers, on the western shore, and all that portion of country from the Choptank to the Susquehanough, on the Eastern Shore.

This assembly, in addition to this cautionary measure of preventing a repetition of such murders by the Indians, thought it necessary that some more effectual remedy to check such conduct of the natives, should be applied, and accordingly enacted, 'an order providing for a march upon the Indians,' as follows: 'Whereas, certain Indians, this last year, have most wickedly and barbarously murthered an English inhabitant of the county of Kent, and another inhabitant likewise since, in Anne Arundel county, Be it therefore ordered, That the governor, with the advice of the council, or the major part of them, shall have power, in case such Indians, who have committed such barbarous and wicked murthers, shall not be sent in, after demand made of them, to the government here, to re

ceive such punishment as is due for such offence, to press men, and to appoint such allowance for their pay, and to make war upon these nations of Indians refusing to deliver up those offenders as aforesaid, as in his and their best discretion, shall be thought fit; the charge of which war to be laid by an equal assessment on the persons and estates of all the inhabitants of this province.'

It would appear, however, notwithstanding all this preparation for an Indian war, that a considerable trade was still carried on, either with these hostile Indians, or more probably with some other tribe or tribes, who remained in a state of peace with our colonists.