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Gerard, a Catholic, also erected a Catholic
chapel on St. Clement's Manor for his family, friends
and servants. On October 5, 1658 the Attorney
General of Maryland preferred charges against Jesuit
Father Francis Fitzherbert for harassing Dr. Gerard
concerning the eternal salvation of his Protestant
family.
Such incidents as that described in court did
occur, perhaps with some regularity, as over-zealous
but under-theologized clerics, believing heaven the
domain of Catholics alone, attempted the conversion
of honest but misguided Protestants. But seldom were
clerics put on public display to defend their religious
rigidities.
Even two hundred years after his death, Dr.
Gerard continues to attract clerical animosity. In a
compact dated March 30, 1670, Gerard and his friends,
John Lee, Henry Corbin and Isaac Allerton, agreed to
build a banqueting house near the corner of their