22. The king and council, however, did not hesitate to declare the supremacy of the secular power, and thus was begun a controversy which, united with the attempts on the part of the sovereigns and parliament to restore the Episcopal form of church government, led to violent persecutions on the part of the secular authority, and to heroic resistance on the part of the people of Scotland. In that protracted struggle, persecuted by both parties with varying fortunes, the people were at last successful; though their victory was not secured for them until the Stuart line of monarchs were driven out of Scotland and England by the revolution of 1688, which dethroned James II of England and VII of Scotland, and placed William, Prince of Orange, and Mary, his wife, on the British throne.
23. The Discovery of America--Its Influence on Liberty.--It is significant that about the time of the "Revival of Learning" in Europe, America was discovered by Columbus, { 264} led hither by the inspiration of God. [Note 11, end of section.] Between this struggle for liberty in the Old World and the discovery of the New there was doubtless a providential connection. God knew there could be but a stunted growth of the tree of liberty in the Old World, hence he opened the way for it to be planted in a land more congenial to its growth. The whole continent of America is a land consecrated by the decrees of Almighty God to liberty, and the people who inhabit it are assured by that same decree of their freedom.[52] Hence when a fullness of liberty was denied the Puritans in England, they fled to America, and here found room for the planting of colonies where they could enjoy the liberty denied them in the Old World, and the founding of the New England colonies (now the New England States) was the result.
24. Catholics Seek Liberty in America--Nor were the Puritans the only ones who sought liberty in the New World. Even the Catholics came; for they, no less than the Puritans, were persecuted in England. Sir George Calvert, whose title was Lord Baltimore, a Roman Catholic, desiring to establish a colony in America that would be a place of refuge for persecuted Catholics, obtained a charter for that territory comprised within the boundary lines of the state of Maryland. Before the charter was signed, Sir George died; but it was made out to his son Cecil, who carried out his father's designs. The charter granted to Lord Baltimore was unlike any which had hitherto passed the royal seal, in that it secured to all who should settle in the colony, religious liberty. That is, Christianity was the recognized religion, made so by the law of the land, but no preference was given to any sect or party.