which had withdrawn. No neutrality was possible. A decision had to be made by Maryland for one side or the other. After some doubt, the State decided to remain in the Union and to join in its efforts to restore the seceding States to their former position.

19. Constitution of 1864. It was felt by many that the Constitution was unsatisfactory, and that a new one should be adopted, abolishing slavery and affirming Maryland's loyalty to the nation in strong terms. A convention was therefore called, which met at Annapolis in the summer of 1864, and prepared a constitution. This was submitted to the people on October 12 and 13 and declared adopted by a very small majority. It prohibited in the strictest terms any persons who had sympathized with the Confederate States from voting or holding office, and provided that all voters must take an oath that they "have been truly and loyally on the side of the United States." A lieutenantgovernor was provided for to preside over the Senate. Baltimore City was divided into three legislative districts, each of which should have a senator and as many delegates as the largest county. Registration of voters throughout the State was required. A system of public education was provided, and a township organization for counties was directed to be made by the Legislature.

20. Constitution of 1867. The exclusion of voters who had sympathized with the Confederate States was so sweeping in the Constitution of 1864 that a reaction set in after the war was ended. This reaction was so complete that the majority of the people were not con

tent with amending the Constitution by striking out the objectionable provisions, but they resolved rather to form an entirely new constitution. A convention was called by the General Assembly and sat at Annapolis from May 8 to Aug. 17, 1867. The result of its labors was ratified by the people of the state at an election held Sept. 18, 1867. This is the Constitution under which we live at present and whose provisions are described in the following chapters of this book.

21. Religion of the Inhabitants of Maryland. - The first settlers of Maryland were either Roman Catholics or members of the Church of England. A number of Puritans soon emigrated from Virginia, and shortly afterwards came the zealous Quaker missionaries who made many converts for the Society of Friends. The Presbyterians organized churches in the southern part of the Eastern Shore, beginning about 1700. Up to 1694 Maryland had no established church, and she glories in the Act of 1649, which proclaimed toleration to all Christians. The position of Maryland in this liberal attitude towards religion was largely due to the farseeing wisdom of Cecilius Calvert. Himself a Roman Catholic, he knew he would not be allowed to establish his religion in his province. He wished to establish no other and was wise enough to see that the proprietary government of Maryland would best be preserved by giving especial privileges to no branch of Christians. After his son was deprived of the proprietaryship, the Church of England was established in the province, and taxes were laid for its support, until the state became independent of England. That Church later

became the Protestant Episcopal Church. In the later provincial period the Baptists and Methodists commenced to establish churches in Maryland, while the German settlers, coming to Baltimore and Western Maryland, brought in the Reformed and Lutheran Churches. In the early part of the nineteenth century, the United Brethren Church was established in Maryland, and lesser denominations have come in at different times. Maryland has often been known as a Roman Catholic State because of the number and prominence of the members of that Church in the State. In numbers, however, the Roman Catholic Church has not the proportionate strength in Maryland which it has in such States as Connecticut, where there has been larger recent immigration from Roman Catholic countries. The Methodist Churches are also very strong in Maryland.

According to the census of 1890, there were 380,000 communicant church members in Maryland. Of these 141,000 were Roman Catholics, 124,000 Methodists of the various branches of that Church, 24,000 each belonged to the Lutheran and Protestant Episcopalian Churches, 16,000 were Baptists, 12,000 Presbyterians, 11,000 Reformed, 5000 United Brethren, and the rest members of the smaller churches. There are large numbers of Jews, especially in Baltimore City. These have enjoyed all political privileges since 1826, when the requirement that office-holders must be Christians was done away.

CHAPTER II.

GENERAL DEFINITIONS AND PRINCIPLES.

1. Society. Men were not created to live apart from each other, as Robinson Crusoes. Several hundred years before Christ, a Greek philosopher, Aristotle, stated the great truth that man was a social and political being. Men come together in all sorts of ways and form groups, united by race, customs, and mutual consent, in order to deliberate, determine, and act together for some common purpose. "No man liveth to himself," and it is natural for man to come together. Any organization of men is a society. Civil society is the organization of men so as to act together for political purposes. Society exists for the sake of its members, and only in society can a man enjoy his rights and perform his duties.

2. Government. The power or authority which controls a society is its government. It is the sum of the institutions by which a state makes and carries out those rules of action which are necessary to enable men to live in society. Whenever men come together in society, there must be a government, for there must be rules according to which the men are to act towards each other. There must be men to see that these rules are carried out and to punish those who refuse to obey the rules. Even an Indian tribe had government through

its chiefs. Government is either military, through soldiers, or civil, where men live in civilized society and in a state of peace.

3. State. The word "state" is used with us in two senses. In one of these senses we mean by a state one of those organizations or commonwealths which compose the Federal Union - the United States. In the other sense the word "state" refers to a body of men politically organized and occupying a fixed territory over which they exercise sovereignty. The body must have a fixed territory, for an Arab tribe wandering over the desert is not a state. It must exercise sovereign power over the territory, and so differs from a group of private owners. It must be politically organized with laws and public officers, or it would be a mere mob. The sovereignty may be absolute or partial, as in the case of a state protected by another. The purpose of a state is the mutual safety and advantage of its citizens.

4. Nation. The word "nation" is often used with the same meaning as state. In this country we often use it for the United States as a whole, in distinction from the state. It is also used as meaning the body of men who have the same language and customs, though living in different states; thus we speak of the Greek nation, the Polish nation, the Armenian nation. In this sense two or more nations may be included in a state. In using the word "nation" we think more of the people and less of the government and territory than in the word state.

5. Origin of Government.-A Frenchman, Rousseau, wrote a book called "The Social Contract," which was