Page 163 - Transcriptions d'actes notariés - Tome 20 - 1682-1686

compel the Xmerieaiis to bc les5 ihan they Iiad the poiver to heconie,
theii they would be better off ontside it, ii~haiever they might lose by
the ~eparation."(*~) His old vision of Enipire was gone.
For the second rnemlier of the Commission there is little to Le said.
-4 rnerriber rif the Maryland -4saernbly in syrnpathy from the beginiiing
irith the peiriot cause, a deleytc from 31zruland to the Coritinental
Congress. atid a Proiestant, Mr. Samnel Chsse was ~vell kniiwn to the
leeders in cnloiiial polilics.
The two Carrolls, Charles and John, natives of hlarylsnd, were
eousiris, of Irish Catliolic anee9try. Both families were of solne staiiding
in llaryland ior they lind corisiderabl~ means. Kighteeiith centcry
XIarjlsiid had rcvcrted tci riprous aizti-Catliolic laws: Ca~liolics cou!d
not vcite or hold ofiiee. the? eoiild ririt elwt clirirchcs, nor could tI;ey
teaeh.cZ4i Rerause the parents were determined to pre+erre the f si~h
of thcir chjldren, as moet Catliolicj in the colo~iy ruere, Iioth boys. acre4
12 and 14. were sent abroad to Flanders in 1145 to Saiiit Orner's, a
school conductcd by Englisli Jesuits rinre 1592.":)
Alter iour Yeats at this school. rising at 5 arid re~irins at 9, Char!es
Carroll wag anxiiius to rnove tn riew fields of lesrtiing and a maire
colourful type of lifc. For the ncxt twelve yeara he applicd hiniself to
the stridy of law - 3t a French lcsnit cnllege in Rheims. at Bourges, at
the cnllegc of Louis le Grand in Paris aitd in London.
After ihe ciirnpletion of his stndies iri Englanil, Charls returned tii
Maryland in 1765 and beyan to show yreat interest ;n colonial a8aii.s.
He hernne e~peeially rncikruus againsl ihe Stam~i Act. Betii-en 1773
arid 1776 he carne into ~irtirniiierice thrriiish a neirspappr. ccinrlict in the
. .
.IlurylaniJ Gcrsette. He, signinz IiimseIf as the "I:ir=t Litizcii", l>ecnine
i~ivolved in a coritrnvcrsy rvitli Daniel Drilnny the Ynunyer rvh::sc
pseudonym itaa Antil~n.'~~)
Charles Carroll rvrcrte hrilliantly. Thc Go,-eftc's circnlatioq rose to
an al1 tirne high nc this disiranchieed Ca~hrilic gare 1 pire to the people's
righte arid the patriotic cauFe i~gainst Du1an)'s aryments supprirtiii~ the
Governor antl the ri~ht io iax. The First Citizen's Ietrers Jeteimiiied
the onieonie of the May election iti 1773 oi the 3Iarylanil A~sembly -
a landsiide for the patriot cause. When, wi~hin a pear, ilelegates had
to Le chosen ici the fi I AL Coritirientnl Congress. \Tai ulander~ thoiight nf
tlie First Citi~~ii, Charles Carroll, ns their ablest rey:ese!itati\p. Carroll
refnsed, however. knnwirip thnt although hi5 own eolony had aceepted
him in cpite of hi5 religion, the cither colonie^ retairied their prcj~idices.
With the furore over ihe Quehec Aet, it ~6is not the tinie as vet for him
to serve hi3 province to the frillest of his enpabilitiea. Hoirever, jii an

(23) Iliitl.. pp. 531-532.
(24 i Ann~hcllc SI. %Ielrilli~. Juhii Lai,ro!! 01 Bn!iiinorr : Fociider oi !hi: Ahtericon
C'rril!olic Ilierarchy ! Krib- York : Charlr': Scrihner's Sons. 1955 1. p. 6.
Iliid., pp. 9.10.
(l:J
i";] Ell~n IIari Siiiith, Chnrles Ccrroll 01 CiirrolEton (Cn;nhridKe, Mus.: Han--rd
L'sirerziry Pie-s, 19421, pp. 103-104,