A colonial governor in Maryland

Front matter

Class P// ^i

HORATIO SHARPE AND HIS TIMES 1753-1773

BY

Preface

In August 1753, Colonel Horatio Sharpe, late of His Majesty's 20tli Regiment, crossed the Atlantic to take the governorship of the province of Maryland under the sixth and last Lord Baltimore. Accompanied by his young secretary, John Ridout, he arrived at Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, just before the breaking out of the final war with the French in America. He reigned as governor for sixteen years, and remained in the province until 1773. That period covered some of the most eventful days in colonial history.

Although Horatio Sharpe may be considered a character of minor importance in that great drama which was being played on the American Continent, yet his career is distinctly interesting, not only from his personal character, but also by reason of the points of contact between his life and the lives of his great contemporaries. He was eminently a man of his time, and a study of his career serves to illumine a most fascinating period.

The materials for this sketch have been taken from the Sharpe correspondence, from contemporary newspapers, and from private sources. If letters have been largely drawn upon, it is because, as Cardinal Newman says, ' Not only for the interest of a biography, but for the arriving at the inside of things, the publication of letters is the true method.'

Contents

CHAPTER I l-AQE

Arrival of Horatio Sharpe — His proclamation as Governor — Annapolis in 1753 — Its English characteristics — Schools — Racecourse — Theatre — Ballroom — Manners — The Council — Its members — Description of Governor's entertainments . . 1

Chapter II

Government House, Annapolis — The Ohio Company — French aggression — Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia — Difficulties with assemblies — Confederation of colonies — Congress at Albany — Benjamin Franklin's proposal — Fort at junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela — George Washington in command — Coulon de Jumonville — Fort Necessity — Capitulation — George Washington blamed . . . . . .11

Chapter III

Sharpe's commission — Colonel Fitzhugh — Letter to the Secretary of State — Sharpe's plans — Washington resigns commission — A question of rank — Tour of inspection — Sharpe superseded in command — General Braddock — Letter from Sir Thomas Robinson — Troops raised in Maryland — Military expenses — Sharpe proposes a stamp duty — Conciliation of Indians — Wampum belts — Arrival of Sir John St. Clair — Joins Sharpe at Wills' Creek — Down the Potowmac in a canoe — Arrival of Braddock — Chain of French forts — English forts — Meeting of governors . 23

X A COLONIAL GOVERNOR IN MARYLAND

Chapter IV Page

Question of taxation — General Braddock's indignation — Horatio Sharpe's diflSculties — A troublesome assembly — The Upper House — Braddock's plans — Expedition to Fort Duquesne — George Washington — Benjamin Franklin — "Warning from Bradstreet — Letter from Calvert — News from Braddock — News from England — The French fleet — State of province — Indian depredations — News from the front — First tidings of disaster — Naval successes — Letter from Innes — Letter from Lieutenant Orme— Braddock's death— The Governor goes to Fort Cumberland — Panic of troops— Sharpe's account — Colonel Dunbar — Militia called out ..... 42

CHAPTER V Shirley, Oommandter-in-Chief, 1755

Governor Shirley — Story of Louisbourg — Pepperell — Shirley at Oswego — Plans for winter — Lake George — Dieskau — Johnson's victory — Rejoicing in England — Troubles in Maryland — Fort Cumberland — George Washington — Indian outrages — Terror in Annapolis — Monckton in Acadia — Takes three forts — Naval affairs — Council of war — New York, 1755 — Sir Charles Hardy — Letter from Sharps— Shirley's delay— Death of his son- Shirley's plan of campaign — Approved of by council . . 64

Chapter VI

The Acadian exiles — In Nova Scotia — French or English — Oath of allegiance — The crisis — Beau Sdjour — Colonel Monckton — Governor Shirley — Governor Lawrence — John Winslow — Sentence of banishment — Anguish of Acadians — Their deportation

I —Acadians in Maryland— Their treatment— Mr. Callister—

Nemesis— Story of Le Blanc and Munier . . .83

CONTENTS xi

CHAPTER VII Shirley's Recall PAGE

Sharpe to Sir Charles Hardy — New commander-in-chief — The Earl of Loudoun — Swiss officers — German emigrants — Indians in Maryland — Scalping parties — Letters to Gazette — Forts on frontiers — George Washington — A gentleman of merit — John Winslow — Sir William Johnson— Shirley's failure — Montcalm — De L^vis — Sir John St. Clair — His discontent — Colonel Bradstreet — His success — Condition of Maryland — Arrival of Webb and Abercrombie — Letter from Shirley — Anecdotes from Franklin— Shirley's fate — Pennsylvania, . . .94

Chapter VIII

Friction between provincials and regulars — Montcalm and Oswego — Who was to blame ? — Death of Sharpe's brother — Pitt Secretary of State — Troops for America — The Sharpe family — Gregory Sharpe — Anecdote — News from Europe — Battle of Prague — Coalition ministry — Loudoun's plan of campaign, 1757 — Sir John St. Clair — Louisbourg — Failure of Loudoun — Franklin's anecdote — Fort William Henry — Montcalm and De L4vis — Fall of the fort — Indian massacre .... 106

Chapter IX

French sovereignty — Population — Cherokees offer services to English — Letter to Sharpe — Wahachy of Keeway — Ridout and Wolstenholme sent as envoys — Their account of mission — Indian scalps — Wampum belts — Wahachy's speech . .123

Chapter X

Sharpe's troublesome assembly — No supplies granted — Lord Loudoun's letter — Sharpe to Calvert — Proposal of taxation — Lord xii A COLONIAL GOVERNOR IN MARYLAND

FAOE

Colville — Sir John St. Clair — Governor Dinwiddle — Quartering of troops — Great dissatisfaction — Colonel Haldimand — His letter to Sharpe — Lord Loudoun's recall — Abercrombie succeeds — Calvert to Sharpe — Colonel Amherst — Expedition to Louisbourg— Sir John St. Clair to Sharpe — Fort Duquesne — Brigadier Forbes — Sharpe's action — George Washington — Colonel Bouquet — Forbes's campaign — Boscawen's fleet — Amherst and Wolfe — Lake George . . . . .136

Chapter XI

Abercrombie's campaign — His troops — July 1798 — Lake George — Lord Howe — His death — Carillon — Montcalm's defence — Abercrombie's orders — Disastrous defeat — Louisbourg — Amherst and Wolfe — Victory — Loudoun's triumph — Abercrombie's recall — Amherst succeeds — Colonel Bradstreet — Takes Fort Frontenac — Bouquet's road — Convention with Indians — Forbes occupies Fort Duquesne . . . . .150

CHAPTER Xn

TiCONDEROGA — OsWEQO — NlAGAKA — QUEBEC

Pitt's instructions — Amherst's work — Governor Sharpe — No supplies voted for army — Death of Forbes — Stanwix succeeds — Amherst to Sharpe — Campaign of 1759 — Governor Denny — Ticonderoga — Letter from Amherst — Haldimand and Oswego — Prideaux and Niagara — Death of Prideaux — Sir William Johnson succeeds — Takes Fort Niagara — The St. Lawrence — Quebec — James Wolfe — Letter in Gazette — London dispatches — Death of Montcalm and Wolfe — Quebec taken . .162

Chapter XIII 1759-1760

Affairs in Maryland — The church — Letter from ex-governor Din- Aviddie to Sharpe — Condition of France — Murray and De Levis — Quebec — The second siege — English on defensive — Waiting

CONTENTS xiii

PAOK

for succour— French or English— An English ship— Amherst's plans — His descent of the St. Lawrence — Junction of English — Montreal — Vaudreuil surrenders — General Murray — Jefifrey — Amherst ....... 176

Chapter XIV 1760-1765

Sharpe and Lord Baltimore — Whitehall — Story of Woodcarver— Secretary Ridout — Appointment to King's Council — Jealousy in province — Letter from Calvert — News from London — Pitt's resignation — George ni. — Interview with Calvert — His Majesty's opinion of Sharpe — The assembly of Maryland — Calvert's scheme — Sharpe's answer — Peace of Paris, 1763 — Unrest in colonies— Pontiac — Bouquet and Fort Pitt — Treaty with Indians — Boundary question — Mason and Dixon's line — Presents from Lord Baltimore — His character . . .188

CHAPTEE XV

A new cabinet in England — Lord Grenville chief — The Stamp Act — Storms in America — Mr. Hood — Mr. Mowbray — The Virginians — Convention of assembly— Dispatches from England — Death of Secretary Calvert— Hamersley succeeds — His letter to Sharpe — Parliamentary report — Pitt's speech— Lord Camden — Lord Mansfield — The chancellor— Repeal of Stamp Act . 207

Chapter XVI

Enthusiasm in America — Statue for Chatham — Portrait of Camden — Address from assemblies to King — Presented by Lord Baltimore — The liberty lottery — Sale of lands — Rockingham's administration ends 1766 — Pitt's return — Townshend's plan — The Revenue Act — Sharpe and convict ships — Story of a convict — Episcopacy in America — A Maryland parson — Rev. Bennett Allen — Another type — Rev. Jonathan Boucher . 225 xiv A COLONIAL GOVERNOR IN MARYLAND

Chapter XVII Pagk

The Revenue Act — Excitement in America — Pennsylvania farmer s letter — John Dickinson — Loyalty to King — Non-importation Act unpopular in England — King withdraws taxes except tea — Agitation increased — Burke — Horatio Sharpe superseded — Letter from Hamersley — Death of Benjamin Tasker — Captain Eden appointed Governor — Arrives June 1769 — Lord Baltimore's death — Dispute on succession — Character of Sharpe — Eddis's letters — Washington's Diary — Gathering storm — Sharpe's departure . . . . . .241

Appendix

Maryland and the Lords Baltimore

George Calvert — Colony in Newfoundland — A new Charter — Cfecilius Calvert, founder of Maryland — Leonard Calvert — A Representative Legislature — The Indians — Claibourne's Rebellion — Proprietary government overthrown — The English Revolution — William Stone, Governor — Charles ii. — Davenant appointed Governor— Taken prisoner — Cromwell — Restoration — Philip Calvert — Charles Calvert — Death of Ctecilius — Charles, third Lord Baltimore — Catholics and Protestants — William and Mary — A royal governor — Sir Lionel Copley — Sir Edmund Andros — Colonel Greenbury — Nicholson — Anne Arundel town — ^Blaikiston — Death of Charles Calvert — Benedict Leonard, fourth Lord Baltimore — Last royal governor — Death of Benedict Leonard — Charles, fifth Lord Baltimore — Restoration of proprietary rights — Charles Calvert, Governor — His death — Benedict Leonard succeeds — Samuel Ogle — Thomas Bladen — Death of Charles, fifth Lord Baltimore — Succeeded by his only son Frederick — Samuel Ogle, Governor — Death in 1753 — Horatio Sharpe 282

INDEX 297

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Whitehall — Governor Sharpe's Country Seat — Front View ....

GoA'ERNOR Horatio Sharpe ....

The Colonial Governor's House : Official Residence OF Governor Sharpe, 1753-1769 .

Governor Horatio Sharpe

Chevalier de Levis ....

Whitehall .....

South Doorway of the Hall at Whitehall

Facsimile Letter referring to Ridout's Appoint MENT to a Seat in the Council

North-west Doorway of the Hall at Whitehall

Facsimile Letter from the Boundary Commissioners

to Governor Sharpe . . . between pp. 204 a/wZ 205

Frontispiece facing page

Governor Sharpe's Signature .

Whitehall — Rear View

The Ridout House

Cameo Portrait of Governor Sharpe

Hall of the Chase House xvi A COLONIAL GOVERNOR IN MARYLAND

Mrs. George Samuel Ogle and Child, n^e Anne

Tasker ....•• facing page 262

The Upton Scott House . , . . „ 277

George Benjamin Tasker-Ogle . . • » 280

Governor Ogle's House . . . . „ 294

Chapter I

An extract from the Maryland Gazette, then the only newspaper in the province, dated Thursday, 16th August 1753, gives the following item :

' Early on Friday morning last, we had the pleasure of seeing in the Bay, coming towards the Town with a fair gale, a ship with a Flag at her foretop mast-head, which proved to be the long wished-for Captain Nicholas Coxen in the Molly, with His Excellency Horatio Sharpe our Governor. At eight o'clock the ship anchored in the Severn near the Town, and at nine His Excellency disembarked and landed in good health at the Dock, where he was received by His Honour the President,^ some of the gentlemen of His Lordship's Council and a number of other gentlemen,

' From thence they walked through Green Street to His Honour the President's, where he tarried till after dinner. About four in the afternoon, His Excellency, attended by His Honour the President and the members of His Lordship's Honourable Council, walked to the Council House, where His Excellency's Commission was opened and pubHshed. After which His Excellency issued the following Proclamation.'

This was the formal announcement of his appointment as governor, ending with :

' Given at the City of Annapolis this 10th day of August,

^ Hon. Benjamin Tasker.

A in the 27th year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second of Great Britain the King, and in the 3rd year of His Lordship's Dominion, Anno Dom. 1753.

' J. Ross. Horatio Sharpe.

' God Save the King.'

Passengers with Captain Coxen on this tedious twelve weeks' voyage were the Rev. Matthew Harris, his Lordship's chaplain ; John Ridout, Esq., his Excellency's secretary ; Dr. Upton Scott, his Excellency's physician ; Mr. Daniel Wolstenholme, merchant, and Mr. John Murdock.

A word must be said here to introduce the new governor and his companions.

Horatio Sharpe was a native of Yorkshire and one of a numerous family, some of whom distinguished themselves in the literary and political world. He was born near Hull, Yorkshire, in 1718, and therefore at the date of his arrival in America was in his thirty-fifth year. His eldest brother was the celebrated Dr. Gregory Sharpe, a prebendary in SaMsbury Cathedral, chaplain to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and to George iii., and Master of the Temple. Their mother lived at this time in Marlborough Street, London. Governor Sharpe's commission as captain in Brigadier - General Powlett's regiment of marines, dated 1745, and also his commission as lieutenant-colonel of foot in the West Indies are still extant.^ His character as an administrator, a friend and a citizen, public and private, is portrayed in the annals of Maryland.

An important member of that company on the Molly

1 The original commissions were bequeathed by Governor Horatio Sharpe to his secretary, Hon. John Ridout, and are now in the possession of the latter 's great-grandson, Wm. G. Ridout, M.D., of Annapolis, to whom I am indebted for much private information contained in family letters of the time which have never hitherto been published.

GOVERNOR HORATIO SHARPE

To face /.

was Dr. Upton Scott, who came to America as his Excellency's physician, and whose presence in that capacity throws some light on the military antecedents of Colonel Sharpe. Dr. Upton Scott was born in the year 1722 at Temple Patrick, County Antrim, Ireland. He received his early education at Dublin University, and studied medicine with the celebrated Dr. Cullen of Glasgow. After graduating at that University, he obtained a surgeon's commission in the British army, and served under General, then Colonel, Wolfe in Scotland. It was doubtless in this campaign that he formed what was to be a lifelong friendship with Horatio Sharpe, for though the latter's commission was that of captain in the marines, it is also stated that he served with the 20th regiment of foot, of which regiment James Wolfe was lieutenant-colonel.

Upton Scott resigned his commission as surgeon of the 20th in order to accompany Sharpe to America, bearing with him as a token of remembrance from General Wolfe a splendid pair of pistols, now in the possession of Major Rogers Birnie of the Ordnance, U.S.A. Afterwards, in those sad days before Quebec, when the great general was ' sick unto death,' it is said that he sent for his friend and old comrade to prescribe for him.

Upton Scott had a very distinguished career in Maryland. Being a protege of the governor he soon acquired an excellent practice, and in course of time so high a reputation that he was often sent for as consulting physician by the adjoining colonies. He married Elizabeth Ross, an heiress with a large landed estate in Frederick County. An ardent lover of flowers he shared this taste with his two friends, Horatio Sharpe and John Ridout.

John Ridout, the youngest of the trio, was born at Sherborne, Dorsetshire, England, in 1732, and was therefore but twenty-one years old when he arrived in Maryland. He had just graduated at the University of Oxford after five years' residence there, and had been recommended for the position of secretary by his Hebrew professor to Dr. Gregory Sharpe, who had been commissioned by his brother the governor to find him ' a scholar and a gentleman ' to accompany him to America. That the place of secretary was no sinecure the voluminous correspondence preserved in the archives of Maryland bears witness. Of Huguenot descent, for the Ridouts had left France in the sixteenth century, presumably on account of the religious persecutions in that country, John Ridout was throughout his life firm in his convictions, straightforward in his conduct and, as became his ancestry, somewhat austere. He soon won the esteem and affection of Governor Sharpe, whose letters bear testimony to the worth of his young secretary.

And what was this good town of Annapolis like when Horatio Sharpe landed there in 1753 ?

It was in 1694 that Governor Nicholson moved the seat of government from St. Mary's to Anne Arundel town, so called after the wife of the third Lord Baltimore. Not long afterwards that name was changed to Annapolis. We read that, in 1696, the secretary of Maryland, Sir Thomas Lawrence, with Mr. Bray, waited on the Princess Anne of Denmark on behalf of the province, ' to request her gracious acceptance of the Governor's and Country's dutiful Respects in having denominated the metropolis of the Province there but lately built from her Royal Highness' name.' She graciously accepted the compliment, and when she ascended the throne of England she took the new town under her patronage and granted it many marks of royal favour. It was an ideal situation for the capital of the province, being on a beautiful peninsula at the mouth of the Severn

River, and possessing a harbour that ought to have given it the commercial supremacy of the colony.

It was no mere settlement in the backwoods, nor did it spring into existence like the pioneer towns of to-day, where log shanties give place to frame dwellings, to be changed in a few years to the brick houses of the suburban villa style. Annapolis was planned and laid out by English gentlemen, or by those whose associations and education were thoroughly English. Everywhere was the stamp of elegance and good taste. The town houses were of red brick (at first imported from England), well and solidly built, as their appearance to this day bears witness. The gardens, often terraced to the water's edge, were surrounded by the high red-brick walls so dear to Enghsh eyes, and full of Enghsh flowers whose beds were separated by box borders in the quaint stijff style of the Georgian era.

A curious plan was adopted in the laying out of the city, namely, on the highest elevation there was set apart a large circle for the government buildings with a radius of 538 feet, and further west a smaller circle for the church. From these two circles the streets radiated in all directions. East of the State or Stadt House, as it was called, and between it and the fine harbour was the portion reserved for business, and the large wharves and capacious storehouses gave evidence of the extensive foreign trade which then existed. Ships from all countries came here, bringing all that wealth and fashion and culture could desire from those lands beyond the sea, and going out again laden with that kingly weed, tobacco, which was the principal wealth of the province.

To the west of the State House was the high road, also devoted to trade, where were the shops and the homes of the tradespeople, who had their own common, Bloomsbury

Square as it was called, where they could disport themselves on high days and holidays ; for very rigorous were the restrictions these_same_trad^speople had to submit to in this aristocratic town. The very names of the streets were entwined with memories of the motherland. There were Fleet Street and Cornhill, and, in compliment to the Royal Princess who had given her name to the town, Prince George Street, so called after her spouse of Denmark, and Duke of Gloucester Street, named after her hapless heir. There was an endowed school or college, known as King William's, afterwards loiown as St. John's, although it was much the custom of the wealthy inhabitants to send their children home, as they called it, to Eton or Harrow and the Universities.

There was gaiety enough in the pleasure-loving place, for the first theatre to be established in America was there, and the racecourse was well patronised. Benjamin Tasker and Samuel Ogle were lovers of the latter, and were noted for the fine horses they imported from England, and as to the theatre, it was opened with great eclat by Governor Tasker in IZ&2, and the first play-bill ever printed in America is to be found in the Maryland 6ra2e^^ejof_the^2nd_ July of that year, when it is announced that, by permission of his Honour the President, the plays of The Busy Body and The Lying Valet will be performed.

The ballroom ^ was a necessity, and the latest fashions in ruffs and silken hose, brocades and velvets were there exhibited ; and probably no London assembly turned out better-dressed women or more gallant gentlemen. Coaches and four, and coaches and six, and outriders, and hveried servants, were by no means uncommon ; and royal hospitality reigned in the country houses, which, like the

^ The Assembly Room where balls and routs were given, was built on land presented to the town by President Tasker.

town houses, were solidly built, with ample accommodation, too, in the outbuildings for the indispensable negro slaves. ' Bel Air,' Governor Ogle's country seat in Prince George's, is described as a stately colonial mansion not to be surpassed by more recent structures, and a model of convenience and comfort.

With rivers and bay teeming with fish, oysters, and terrapin ; with the country swarming with game ; with wine, both home-made and the choicest brands of Madeira, France and Spain, what wonder that gaiety overspread the land, and that from 1750, until the Revolution, Annapolis was the centre of fashion, culture and hospitality !

Among those trim box hedges and quaint gardens of roses and hollyhocks, leaning over the sundials that marked the Shadow of Time, one might see the young belles of Annapolis, patched and powdered, dressed in brocaded gowns and aU the latest devices of London fashion, or in gay chintzes and gipsy hats, tending the flowers they loved so well. Nor were there wanting gallant beaux, who might have stepped from Reynolds's canvas, ready to hand them into coach or barge, or lead them in the assemblies through stately minuets, to those old-world tunes which have vanished like the odours of rose leaves and lavender.

A glance must be taken at some of the members of his Lordship's Council and other gentlemen, who met the new governor on his arrival. First, of course, comes the Hon. Benjamin Tasker, at whose house his Excellency was received. He had been president of the council for thirty-two years, and acting-governor since the death of his son-in-law, Samuel Ogle, in 1751. His father. Captain Thomas Tasker, had settled in Calvert County in 1682. He was for many years treasurer of the province, and a man of wealth and influence.

Benjamin Tasker's wife was Anne Bladen, whose brother Thomas had also been governor of Maryland. She was the granddaughter of Nathaniel Bladen of York, and Isabella, daughter of Sir WiUiam Fairfax of Streton, and daughter of William Bladen who settled in Annapolis early in the eighteenth century. So by marriage the Taskers were related to some of the most interesting and prominent people in the colony. The Hon. President was not only a pohtician, but was also a passionate lover of horses, and founded the celebrated Jockey Club of Maryland. He and his only son, Benjamin, who shared his father's tastes, owned the best racehorses in America, which they imported from England, among which was the famous Selina, whose successes are told in the annals of the club.

In the group, no doubt, were the Dulanys, father and son, notable as lawyers, statesmen and orators. The history of Daniel Dulany, the elder, reads hke a romance. Early in the eighteenth century, at the age of eighteen, while a student at Trinity College, Dubhn, he quarrelled with his stepmother and ran away from his Irish home. In the heat of his passion, and without counting the cost, he indentured himself, in order to defray his passage money, to the captain of a ship sailing for the plantations. On his arrival in Annapolis the captain, as the custom was, sold the youth's services to Attorney-General Plater, who soon discovered that the so-called redemptioner was an educated gentleman. With a wisdom and kindness that time justified, Mr. Plater articled him in his office for the study of law, and he was called to the Maryland Bar in 1710. He then went to England and entered at Gray's Inn, and was called to the Enghsh Bar in 1716. From that time his career was one of honour and influence. Returning to Maryland he married, in the orthodox fashion of romance, his benefactor's daughter.

Their eldest son, Daniel Dulany the younger, as he was known, was sent to England for his education, first to Eton and then to Clare College, Cambridge. He entered at the Temple, but returned to practise law in his native province, where he married Rebecca, the eldest daughter of President Tasker. He won the highest place at the Bar of Maryland, and was also frequently engaged to argue cases in England, being unsurpassed, it is said, in abihty by any of the Crown lawyers of the day. Even the great Pitt was captivated by the young colonial statesman. He was noted as the author of a pamphlet on the Stamp Act of 1765, called Considerations on the propriety of imposing taxes on the British Colonies for the purpose of raising a revenue by Acts of Parliament. Strong as the Dulanys were in opposition to the Stamp Act, they remained Tories to the last, and the family chose exile and loss of property rather than renounce their allegiance to the Crown. The elder Dulany, who was a member of his Lordship's Council under Governors Bladen, Ogle, and Sharpe, only survived the latter's arrival a few months.

Another notable who must have been present at the governor's reception was Thomas Addison of Oxon Hill, a descendant of Colonel John Addison, who came out to the province in 1667, and was the brother of Launcelot Addison, Dean of Lichfield. Many letters from the famous Joseph Addison are said to have found their way to his cousins of Maryland.

Nor must we forget to mention in that company of gentlemen Charles Carroll, whose father had emigrated from Ireland in 1686, and had been agent and receiver of rents for many years for the Lords Baltimore. He was the father of Carroll of Carrolton, so famous in the history of the Revolution.

Two others were present that day at the President's reception, Mistress Mary Ogle, the ten-year old daughter of the late governor, and her little brother Benjamin, who had come to their grandfather's house to see the fine company assembled there. As the httle maid looked with wondering eyes at the stately figure of the new governor little did she dream that he would one day be a suitor for her hand, and that the grave young student by his side would be the husband of her choice. And the boy — if it had been given him to peep into the future, he might have seen the day when he, too, would be governor of Maryland, but elected by the people, when proprietary governments and royal warrants should have vanished for ever.

NOTE ON THE RIDOUT FAMILY.

The Ridouts (spelt also Rideout) of Sherborne, were descendants of Thomas Ridout of Henstridge, Somerset. The family came originally from France from the neighbourhood of Fontainebleau and settled in England about the middle of the sixteenth century.

In Hutchins' Visitation of the Somerset, now in the College of Arms, London, mention is made of the granting of a coat-of-arms in 1551 to Thomas Ridout of Henstridge. These arms bear a striking resemblance to those borne by the de Rideouts de Sance (see Hozier's Armorial General of the French Nobility), near Fontainebleau.

In the will of Walter Ridout of Langlin, Dorset, a descendant of Thomas, dated 1582, among other legacies he bequeaths a large sum of money to the church at Fontainebleau. Christopher Ridout, son of Thomas, was baptized at Henstridge, Somerset, 24th November 1664, and settled in Sherborne, Dorset. His eldest son, George, born at Sherborne in 1702, was the father of the John Ridout who came to America with Horatio Sharpe. Another descendant of Thomas of Henstridge settled in Bristol, and mention is made in Hutchins of the marriage in 1674 of Susannah, daughter of John Ridout of Bristol to Thomas Strangways of Melbury, Dorsetshire. Their granddaughter Elizabeth married Stephen Fox, who was created Earl of Ilchester.

CHAPTER II Government House, Annapolis, was not finished when

Horatio Sharpe arrived, but in spite of the difficulty in

getting the assembly to vote supplies for its completion,

it was ready for occupation by the close of the year. There