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A general uproar followed. Dr. Gerard was
found guilty of a misdemeanor by the Maryland
Assembly. He was required to return the key and the
books and pay a fine of 500 pounds of tobacco toward
the upkeep of the minister.
Can you see the incident? The Lord of the
Manor, armed with shovel and wheelbarrow, marches
into the little log church, throws the books into the
wheelbarrow and deep in the Chesapeake woods,
buries the precious books. What ever got into him?
Was it a prank? Was it the natural high spirits of this
ancestor showing a streak of irreverence in a society
where religion was pietistic and humorless? Or was it
the action of a petty tyrant standing on the soapbox of
his own self-importance-- the Lord of the Manor
exercising the absolute power that was not quite his?
If Lord Gerard was asked, inside or outside the
Assembly, his answer was not recorded. Whatever his
motivation, Gerard was dealt with promptly and
severely for his interference in Protestant worship.
And it is not the only time Gerard's name is brought
into court in a religious controversy.