THE Roman Catholic claim that Roman Catholics established religious liberty in Maryland and passed the Act of Toleration of 1649, was brought to the attention of the Washington public some months ago by its indorsement, at an important public Roman Catholic celebration, by the president of the board of commissioners for the District of Columbia. A very successful and conclusive challenging of that indorsement and claim was at once made by several correspondents of the Washington Post, who, bringing the facts of history to view in the matter, left the claim not a peg to stand upon.
Recently the matter has been still more conspicuously brought to the attention of the Washington public. On May 10 the proceedings of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, in session at the Church of the Ascension, "were enlivened by an attack by Rev. C. Ernest Smith, pastor of St. Thomas' Church, on what he termed an attempt to teach in the public schools that Maryland was founded by Roman Catholics, and that the Toleration Act of 1649 was the work of the Catholic Church." The large number of lay and clerical delegates in attendance applauded loudly as he introduced the following resolution calling for the appointment of a committee to investigate the matter:
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to study the various histories in use in the public schools of Maryland and the District of Columbia with reference to the teaching given them concerning the religious beliefs in founding Maryland colony; and that if such teachings be found erroneous and misleading to bring the same to the attention of the District and State of Maryland authorities, with a view to the making of a correction in accordance with the true facts of the case.
The laymen and clergymen followed carefully the reading of the resolution, and then Dr. Smith read from a book which he held in his hand, which proved to be MacMaster's School History of the United States, statements which he declared to be untrue. Among other things he said:
It is well known that the Roman Catholic claim that Maryland was founded by them as a refuge for all those persecuted in the Old World on account of their religious faith. But this is absolutely untrue. The original settlers were almost all members of the Anglican Church and not of the Roman Catholic faith. Out of the 300 settlers only twenty were of the latter belief, and of these two were Jesuits who had been smuggled aboard. Yet this heresy is published in the school books, and is poisoning the minds of the children of the State of Maryland.
The Roman Catholic Church also claims that they were the original teachers of toleration in Maryland, where, as a matter of fact, in the Toleration Act of 1649 most vigorous measures were resorted to against those who did not believe in the Trinity. All the enactments of that time, good or bad, were framed by the Anglican influence and not by the Roman Catholic. They made a great deal of noise, of course, as they always do, to which the Jesuit priests gave the whole tone, but they were heathen to God's work, and came merely for what there was in it, for money and lands which they might secure.
These statements were "greeted with applause." The next day, after the adoption of an amendment providing that the committee report to the convention instead of appealing directly to the authorities of Maryland and the District, Dr. Smith's resolution was adopted. The committee "will immediately commence their work of investigating the teachings of the school histories on the points in question, and will report to the convention when it meets one year hence." In a further statement regarding the matter to a representative of the Post, Dr. Smith said:
The matter was brought up at this time because of statements made during the celebration of Maryland day in March. I found the statements rank heresy. It is time to make a protest. Half truths are the worst of lies, and the school books that teach them should be expurgated. The whole claim that Roman Catholics were tolerant is absurd. Being in the minority, they couldn't be otherwise. The act concerning toleration was passed to save Roman Catholics from persecution. Of this the proof is in the final clause, which states that no Roman Catholic shall be persecuted. The act of 1649 was passed by a Protestant assembly, when Cromwell was Protector of England.
