A letter from the chancellour of Mary-land to Col. Henry Meese, merchant in London concerning the late troublesin Mary-land.

A LETTER FROM THE CHANCELLOUR OF MARY-LAND, TO Col. Henry Meese, Merchant in LONDON: Concerning the late Troubles in MARY-LAND.

Colonel Meese,

YOAKELY being now ready to Sail, I thought it fit to acknow∣ledg the receipt of your Letters this year; I have only that before me which you writ by Mr. Ambrose Sanderson, and shall for your sake, his Functions, and his own, serve him in any thing I may; The rest of your Letters I have left at home, so must defer my answer till the next Ship.

I find by the Masters of the Ships, that the Imprisonment of Capt. Josias Fendal, and Capt. John Coode, hath made so great a noise at London; and therefore I thought it necessary to give you an account of it, as having been formerly an Inhabitant of Mary-land, and an Eye-witness of the car∣riage of Capt. Fendal, in the years 1659, and 1660. when he Perfidiously broke his Oath and Trust, being Governour of this Province; cancell'd his Commission from the then Lord Proprietor, and took a new one from the Assembly. For that offence he was only Fin'd, and declar'd uncapable of ever bearing any Office in this Province, as you may remember, and that hath gaul'd him ever since; and to get into Office, he now sets all his Wits to work, inciting the People in Charles's County to Mutiny and Sedition; and Tampering with some of the Justices of Peace in St. Maries County: First, telling the People they were Fools to pay any Taxes, (though laid by Act of Assembly;) that there was Wars in England between the King and the Parliament; and that now nothing was Treason, a man might say any thing: And then to the Justices, hinting how easie a matter it was to overturn the Government here, by seizing the Lord Proprietor, the Chan∣cellor, Secretary, and Colonel Darnal, all the rest (as he said) signifying nothing. The Justice of Peace told him, he had no Commission, and that it would be down-right Rebellion; He went from him, and revealed this discourse to another Justice, who discovered this whole matter to my Lord.

Shortly after this, Capt. John Coode falls upon a time, at a Feast, into discourse with a Papist, who was Suing a Friend of his for a piece of Land; and said, That he need not trouble himself for a piece of Land, for that no Pa∣pist in Mary-land should be Owner of any Land at all in this Province with∣in three Months; for that he had ten thousand Men at his Command; and he could make it High-Water, or Low-Water, when he pleased.

After this, Coode was observed to make Visits to Fendal, which he never used to do before, and they both went over into Virginia; and within few days after their return from thence, a Bo•••• designed for Carolina from Mary-land, was forced in by bad weather to a House in Virginia, where the Owner of the Boat heard that Fendal and Coode had been thereabouts; and that the whole discourse there was, that Fendal intended to raise Mutiny in Ma∣ry-land, and that he and Coode would carry their Families into Virginia. This being Sworn to, and at that very instant Information being given, that one of Capt. Coode's Servants reported, that his Master intended to re∣move his Family on the Thursday following into Virginia; made my Lord think it high time to look to the Security and Peace of the Province, and therefore sent Colonel Darnal with about ten Men, to bring Coode and Fendal before him and the Council; Colonel Darnal came to Coodes when it was light, and the Servants using to go to work opened the door, at which Colonel Darnal entered alone, leaving his Men without, and com∣ing into Mr. Coode's Chamber, told him he was his Prisoner; Coode at first laid his hand upon his Sword, but at last yielded; after which Col. Dar∣nal went over the River, and took Capt. Fendal also, and brought them be∣fore my Lord and Council. And the next day after, Mrs. Coode did Hector my Lord at a rate I never heard from a VVoman before; by which you may conclude she was not run mad with the fright of her Husbands being pull'd out of his Bed, as we are told her Son Slye falsly reports at London.

Three or four days after I saw her at St. Maries, and then I did suspect she would not continue long in her Wits, knowing she had been Mad a while upon the death of her eldest Son, about the year 1659 and had heard she sometimes fell into the like Fits since.

After this, my Lord took Bail for Coode within five days, but Fendal was kept till my Lord had secured Lieutenant George Godfrey, who laid a Plot to unhorse his Captain, and carry the Troop to the rescue of Fendal, in∣stead of searching for the Indians, that had Murther'd some of our Planters, and were daily expected to fall into Charles County, in great numbers; as they afterwards did in less than three VVeeks.

My Lord intends to send over their Tryals, that the VVorld may see with how much Favour the Court proceeded, and to stop the Mouth of Calumny; So that I shall not trouble you now any further, but ere I make an end, must present my own and my VVifes service to your Second-self, as you stile her; and so subscribe my self, Sir,

From Patuxent River-side, this 29th. December, 1681.

Your humble Servant PHILIP CALVERT.