George Calvert, who had been one of the origi nal associates of the London Company, and later of the governing council, and who four years sub sequently was elevated to the Irish peerage with the title of Baron Baltimore, was then Secretary of State and one of James's most intimate favourites, owing doubtless to his Spanish leanings. While Claiborne was Protestant, Calvert was Catholic a Catholic convert. Calvert well reflects the attitude of his period. It was a ruder and rougher age than our own, with hardly any perceptible advantages and much that gave life a gloomier tinge.