terra mariæ, or maryland, was granted to lord baltimore, as the successor of his father, who had begun before his death the movement for settling his people in america. the charter gave to all freemen a voice in making the laws. among the first laws passed was one giving to every human being upon payment of poll-tax the right to worship freely according to the dictates of his own conscience. america thus became the refuge for those who had any peculiarity of religious belief, until to-day no doubt more varieties of religion may be found here than almost anywhere else in the world.