Nevertheless, in spite
of everything, Leonard Calvert set sail with his colonists, many
of whom were well-to-do people, in two ships called the Ark and
the Dove.
They had a prosperous voyage and landed in Virginia full of doubt
lest the inhabitants, who were very angry at their coming, should
be plotting something against them. But the letters which they
carried from the King seemed to appease the anger of the Virginians
for a little, and the newcomers sailed on again to their own
destination in Chesapeake Bay.
So at length they reached the "wished-for country" and Calvert
landed with solemn state to take possession of the land in the name
of God and the King of England.
As he stepped ashore a salute was fired from the boats. Then,
reverently kneeling, the colonists listened while Mass was said for
the first time in English America. Mass being over, they formed a
procession at the head of which a rough wooden cross was carried.
Then when they reached a spot chosen beforehand they planted the
cross, and, kneeling round it, chanted the Litany of the Sacred
Cross with great fervour.
And thus a new colony was begun.
With the Indians Calvert made friends, for he was both just and
kind to them, paying them for their land in hoes, hatchets, coloured
cloths and the beads and gew-gaws they loved. So in those early
days there were no Indian wars and massacres in Maryland.
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