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William Penn in America

ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE

I'ROM THE TIME HE RECEIVED THE GRANT OF PENNSYLVANIA

IN 1681, UNTIL HIS FINAL RETURN

TO ENGLAND.

Givinif, as far as possible, his every-day occurrences
ivhile in the Province.

liV ^\\

WILLIAM jf BUCK,

MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA,

Author of " History of Bucks County," "History of Mor eland," "History 0/
Montgomery County tuithin the Schuylkill Valley," "History of Montgom-
ery County," '■'Life of Chief Justice Layighorne'" " Contribzitions to
the Hist'ory of Bucks County," "The Cuttelossa," "The Local
Historian," " History of the Indian Walk," " Local Sketches
and Legends" "Early Discovery of Coal in
Pennsylvania," "Early Accounts of Petro-
leu7n in the United States" etc., etc.

PHILADELPHIA :

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.
1888.

PV'

Edition limited to Three Hundred Copies.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1888, by

WILLIAM J. BUCK,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

PREFACE.

Although several biographies have appeared re-
specting the Founder of Pennsylvania, the author
believes that there is still room for another ; relating to
that particular portion of his life which he spent in the
Province : commencing with his first application
for the grant until his final return to England, extend-
ing through a period of more than twenty years.
Within this time transpired the most important events
by which he will continue to be best known. Judging
by the little space given hitherto to these matters
would go to show that there must have been either
inattention, or a paucity of materials. Though his
several biographers have written with different motives,
but not one with a view of enlarging upon the details
of his residence in America.

During the author's long connection with the His-
torical Society of Pennsylvania, he observed that no
information was more sought after than that of Penn
while living in his Province. The object of this work
is to supply this want, and what is now offered is the
result of upwards of thirty-five years diligent labor in

bringing together the materials, involving considerable
travel and expense. When we remember that nearly
the whole of its contents relate to almost two centuries
ago, we are gratified at our success in thus producing
a valuable addition, not only to the life of Penn, but to
the early history of Pennsylvania, derived, as it chiefly
is, from original sources, and that of the most reliable
kind, particularly official documents and correspond-
ence, from which we have been enabled to give nu-
merous extracts.

Our object as far as possible was to show the every-
day movements of Penn whilst among us ; this has
enabled us to detect as well as to correct several errors
respecting dates. With the exception of Janney, his
biographers appear to have given little attention to
chronology, particularly Clarkson and Dixon. At the
remissness of the latter in this respect we wonder when
we consider how well his work has been digested. From
the extensive use made of early original manuscripts we
were necessitated to take some liberties therewith.
While we have in some cases made literal extracts, in
others we have modernized the phraseology, or filled
up the abbreviations ; but in no instance did we alter
the language or endeavor to give it a construction
different from the original ; our intention in this respect

was only to perform the part of a careful editor. This
work naturally divides itself into two parts, namely :
his first and second visits here. The former begins
with Penn's grant and ends with his arrival in Eng-
land, the next with his second return and final de-
parture to the appointment of Governor Evans.

To avoid too many notes or references, a list is fur-
nished of the various authorities consulted in the pre-
paration of this work. It will be noticed that among
those published, about one-fourth are rare and little
known, whilst of the manuscripts perhaps no other
complete copies exist. On any disputed points, or
where the author's opinion might differ, he was the
more careful to furnish his authorities. Taken on the
whole, Penn's character by this work is favorably sus-
tained ; at the same time we did not desire to be
partial, but to do him that ju.stice to which he is fairly
entitled. Neither have we sought to raise him up by
reviling his enemies, but to let his actions speak for
themselves. We attribute most of his troubles, not so
much to the opposition that he encountered, as to his
own pecuniary mismanagement; this was his dire afflic-
tion and if it did not follow him through his whole career,
it did at least through most of it. It was his weak-
ness ; — naturally generous, warm-hearted and indulgent

as a parent, he could not resist the strong appeals
continually made to him, and hence his em-
barrassments.

Among published works we have derived great aid
from the Penn and Logan Correspondence, the Colonial
Records and Archives, and the Memoirs and Col-
lections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
From manuscript sources we have obtained considerable
from the Penn Manuscripts, the Dreer Collection of
Penn and Markham Manuscripts, the Penn Private
Correspondence, the Claypoole Letter Book, the Har-
rison Letters, the Logan Papers, and the Records and
Minutes belonging to at least five Monthly Meetings
of the Society of Friends, were all personally ex-
amined. In the way of assistance for information fur-
nished, tender grateful acknowledgements to Ferdinand
J. Dreer, to whose invaluable collection of manuscripts
I owe much, also to John Jordan, Jr., and the Histori-
cal Society of Pennsylv^ania ; thanks are also due for
favors to the several custodians of the Records men-
tioned in the following list. This work we know
might have been greatly extended, but our object
was to be concise, while we aimed at fullness with
detail.

To a work of this kind we have noticed several

references. Peter S. Du Ponceau, in his Address be-
fore the Philosophical Society in 182 1, remarks, " No
other State in this Union can boast of such an illustri-
ous founder; none began their social career under
auspices so honorable to humanity. Every trait of the
life of that great man, every fact and anecdote of those
golden times, will be sought for by our descendants
with avidity, and will furnish many an interesting
subject for the fancy of the novelist, and the enthusi-
asm of the poet. It is, therefore, highly important,
that while recent traditions and numerous authentic
but perishable documents are still in our power, we
should collect all those valuable materials, and embody
their substance in an historical work worthy of being
handed down to posterity. Although such a work
will not be fruitful of great incidents, still it will ex-
hibit human nature under a varied aspect ; great faults
will be found associated with great virtues ; the reader
more than once, while he admires the latter, be com-
pelled with regret to acknowledge, as the former
strikes his view, that no efforts of the human mind can
ever produce absolute perfection in this sublunary
world ; and upon the whole, it may with truth be
asserted, that there will be found in the history of
Pennsylvania, much to instruct and much to delight."

William Rawle, in his address before the Historical
Society in 1825, expressed the following views : "Of
the founder of Pennsylvania, though the public knows
much, it does not perhaps know all. There is reason
to believe that many private documents are still in ex-
istence, which would present to us in colors strong and
true, the enlightening, vivifying and chastening power
of his genius on all around him ; while the colony
hung on him as their judge, their legislator, and their
guide." " That such a character," remarks James
Bowden, " as William Pcnn should have had many
biographers cannot excite surprise. His fame may be
said to be world-wide, and men of far different senti-
ments to have inscribed his name on the pages of
history, as one of the most illustrious of his age — an
age, it should be remembered, of stirring events, and
conspicuous for men of brilliant attainments."

W. J. B.

Jenkhitoton, Montgomery County, Pa., November, 1888.

LIST OF AUTHORITIES.

Correspondence between Wm. Penn and James Logan, 2 vols., Phila.,

1870.
Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 1. Edited by Samuel Hazard, Phila., 1852.
Annals of Pennsylvania, by Samuel Hazard, Phila., 1850.
Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, commonly called

Colonial Records, vols. I. and H., Phila., 1852.
History of Pennsylvania, by Robert Proud, 2 vols., Phila., 1797.
Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, 16 vols. Phila., 1828 to 1836.
Life of William Penn, by Samuel M. Janney, Phila., 2ded., 1856.
Documents relating to the Colonial History of New York, Albany, vols.

111. and IV., 1854.
Present State of America, by Robert Blome, London, 1687.
British Empire in America, by J. Oldmi.xon, 2 vols., London, 1708 and

1 741.
William Penn : An Historical Biography, by Wm. Hepworth Di.xon,

Phila. ed., 1851.
Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, by John F. Watson, 2 vols.,

Phila., 1844.
History of Pennsylvania, by Thomas F. Gordon, Phila., 1829.
Histoiy of Delaware County, Penna., by George Smith, Phila., 1862.
Friends' Library, Phila., 1840, vol. IV., and vol. X. for 1846.
History of Friends in America, by James Bowden, London, 2 vols.,

1854-
Travels in North America, by Robert Sutcliff, Phila., 1812.
Life of William Penn, by Thomas Clarkson, 2 vols., London, 1813.
Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, vols. I., II., III., and

IV.
Address to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, by Ed. Armstrong, in

1851, Phila., 1852.
Friends' Miscellany, Phila., vol. VII. for 1835.
Collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania., vol. VI., 1853,

Phila.
The Friend, Phila., 1829-30, vol. III.

Original Settlements on the Delaware, by Benj. Ferris, Wilmington, 1846.
Friends' Weekly Intelligencer, vol. II. for 1845, and vol. IV. for 1848.

Historical Review of the Government of Pennsylvania, London, 1759.

History of Bucks County, Penna., by Wm. J. Buck, Doylestown,i8ss.

Contributions to the History of Bucks County in B. C. Intelligencer, by
Wm. J. Buck, 1859.

Life of William Penn, by George Ellis, in Sparks' Amer. Biog., vol.
XXII., Boston, 1847.

History of the United States, by George Bancroft, 12th ed., Boston, 1846,
vols. II. and III.

History of Chester, Pa., by J. Hill Martin, Phila., 1877.

Plantation work, or English Plantations in America, London, 1682.

Peasant Life in Germany, by A. C. Johnson, N. Y., 1858.

History of Montgomery County, Penna., by Wm. J. Buck, Phila., 1877.

Account of Pennsylvania, by Gabriel Thomas, London, 1698.

Catalogue of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Phila., 1872.

A Further Account of the Province of Pennsylvania, by Wm. Penn, Lon-
don, 1685.

The Penns and Peningtons, by Maria Webb, London, 1867.

History of Philadelphia, by Thompson Westcott, in the the Sunday Dis-
patch.

Geographische Beschreibung Pennsylvania, by F. D. Pastorius, Leipzig,
1700.

Geschichte von Pennsylvania, by Ebelung.

William Penn, the Founder of Pennsylvania, by John Stoughton, D. D.,
London, 1882.

History of Montgomery County, Everts and Peck, Phila., 1884, contribu-
tions by Wm. J. Buck.

History of the Indian Walk, by Wm. J. Buck, 1886.

MANUSCRIPTS

Private Correspondence in Penn MSS., vol. I. (i.)

Dreer Collection of Penn and Markham Papers. (2.)

Penn-Physick Correspondence, vol. I. (3.)

Letter Book of Wm. Penn, 1699 to 1703. (4.)

Official Correspondence, Penn MSS., vol. I.

Marriage Record of Falls Monthly Meeting, Book A.

Births and Deaths of Falls Monthly Meeting.

Records of Middletown Monthly Meeting.

Land Records of Philadelphia.

Records of Surveyor-General's Office, Harrisburg.

Bucks County Court Records.

Registry of Arrivals in Philadelphia, 1682.

Book of Ear Marks, Bucks County Records.

James Claypoole's Letter Book.

Marriage Records of Phila. Monthly Meeting, Book A.

Bucks County Land Records, vol. VL

Marriage Records of Burlington Monthly Meeting.

Records of Chester Monthly Meeting.

Minutes of Middletown Monthly Meeting.

Records of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting.

Penn's Correspondence with James Harrison.

Bucks County Quarterly Meeting Records.

The Logan Manuscripts.

Warrants and Surveys in Philadelphia County, vols. L, IL, III. and IV.

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER. PAGE.

I. — The Grant of Pennsylvania i"

II. — Markham despatched to Pennsylvania 27

III. — Penn's exertions for the welfare and prosperity of his

Province, 44

IV. — Penn's departure and arrival in America, 58

V. — The Landing at New Castle, Upland and Philadelphia, . 66
VI. — The first Assembly. — Liberty of Conscience. — Conference

with Lord Baltimore, 78

VII. — Penn's Correspondence. — Evil reports concerning him, . 87
VIII. — Penn's first meeting in Council in Philadelphia. — Friends'

Meetings, • 96

IX. — Another meeting with Lord Baltimore. — Purchases from

the Indians 102

X. — More Indian Purchases. — Pennsbury. — Further Accounts

of the Province 109

XI. — E.xertions of Penn on the boundary question. — Writes a

pamphlet on the Province. — Arrival of Pastorius, . . 124
XII. — More Indian Purchases. — Additional troubles respecting
the boundaries. — Visits Umbilicamense. — Selects a tract

for the Manor of Springfield 134

XIII. — More of Penn's correspondence. — Presides at a trial for

witchcraft, 143

XIV. — The Welsh tract. — Letters to the Duke of York and

others 151

XV. — Penn's preparations for departure.- — Safe arrival in England. 163
XVI. — Penn writes and has published another account of his Prov-
ince 173

XVII. — Opinions respecting the results of Penn's labors in the es-
tablishment of his Colony 181

XVIII. — The Society of Friends. — Several matters about Penn and

Pennsbury 194

CHAPTER. PAGE.

XIX. — Penn reinstated in his government. — Resolves to return. —

Proposes a union of the Colonies 202

XX. — Penn departs with his family to the Province. — His arrival

and reception at Chester and Philadelphia 219

XXI. — Troubles respecting Pirates. — The Governor has a son born

on whom he bestows the Manor of Perkasie 234

XXII. — Penn's proposals for the moral improvement of the Negroes
and Indians. — Meanness in allowing him no compensa-
tion.— His abilities as a writer 246

XXIII. — Penn suggests the night watch in Philadelphia. — Attends
Haverford Meeting. — Makes additional improvements

at Pennsbury, 258

XX I\". — Too much the practice to cheat the Governor. — Pacifies a
troublesome Indian. — Visits New York with the Gov-
ernors of Virginia and New Jersey, 268

XXV. — Important meeting at New Castle. — Intercession and self-
sacrifice for a condemned vessel. — Able reply to Colonel

Quarry, 277

XXVI. — The Proprietary officials given to land speculations. — Courts
of Inquiry established. — Pamphlets printed and circu-
lated in Germany to promote emigration, 292

XXVII. — A beautiful letter sent to the Countess of Bellomont on the
death of her husband. — Additional treaty with the Sus-
quehanna Indians. — A second charge of witchcraft, . 306
XXVIII. — Penn's journey to the Susquehanna. — Visits Maryland,

Merion and Gwynedd. — Retires to Pennsbury. . . . 317
XXIX. — Penn's advice sought in treating with the Indians. — Attends
Falls Meeting. — Has a long account pending with

Thomas Fairman 324

XXX. — Efforts made in Parliament to deprive Penn of his Colony.
— Political knavery no new thing. — Writes numerous

letters in defence of himself and government 333

XXXI. — Remarkable industry of the Governor. — Illness of Phineas
Pembertoh. — Interesting address to the Assembly. —

Notice of Joseph Growdon 339

XXXII. — The Assembly not harmonious. — A delegation of Indians
come to bid the Governor farewell. — Marriage in the
olden time, with some account of John Sotchcr. — The

German purchase 349

XXXIII. — Philadelphia incorporated a city. — The Swedish purchase
at Morlatton. — The Proprietarj' makes additional pro-

CHAPTER. PAGE.

vision for his children. — The new Charter of Privileges.
— Makes his will at New Castle. — Arrives safely in Eng-
land 363

XXXIV. — Penn's troubles in England. — How Evans became Deput\
Governor. — Account of Letitia Penn. — The Proprie-
tary no financier. — Affairs at Pennsbury 386

XXXV. — Divers opinions respecting the results of Penn's labors and
policy, particularly in relation to his last visit to the
Colony 405

WILLIAM PENN IN AMERICA

WILLIAM PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER I.

THE GRANT OF PENNSVLVANIA.

The Government having become indebted to V^ice-
Admiral Sir William Penn, a distinguished officer in
the British Navy, to the amount of about i^i6,ooo,
including interest; his son, in consequence of the long
delay, became desirous of winding up the affairs of his
estate, and to have the same settled. Either unable or
unwilling to pay the same, the latter conceived the
plan of asking in lieu thereof the grant of a tract of
land in America, for the purpose of more particularly
establishing a colony. A conveyance was made
August 1 6th (6th mo.). i68d,* to Edward Billinge,
William Penn, G. Laurie, N. Lucas, John P^ldridge,
and Edward Warner, of all the territory of the province
of West New Jersey. It was this, no doubt, that helped
to attract the attention of the subsecjuent great founder
to this portion of the country, as he first became
interested in the same in 1675.

* The year then commenced with March as the first month, and the old style
will be retained throughout this work.

1 8 \VM. PEXX IX AMERICA.

It niList have been about the date of the aforesaid
grant that he first prepared his proposals in a petition
to the then reigning monarch, Charles II. His Majesty
referred the same to the consideration of the Committee
of the Lords of Trade and Plantations, accompanied by
a draft for a grant of a tract of land for settling a colony
and plantation in America, which he desires may pass
to William Penn for the government of that colony.
On November 19th, the Secretary was authorized to
hand to the Attorney-General for his observations the
powers proposed, and to report whether there was any-
thing to object. The latter, on the 21st, presented his
views at some length as to the nature, requirements
and conditions of the patent. The Committee met
again P'ebruary 24th, reading over carefully the grant
as prepared, and then made a favorable report to the
King, in which they say :

" May it please Your Majesty. In Obedience to
Your Majesty's Orders signifyed unto us by the PLarl
of Sunderland on the ist of June last. We have pre-
pared the Draught of a Charter constituting William
Penn, Esq., Absolute Proprietary of a Tract of Land in
America therein mentioned, which we humbly present
to Your Majesty for Your Royal Approbation, leaving
also the Naming of the Province unto Your Majesty.
Which is most humbly submitted.

2^t]i Fcbry., iSSo-i^

THE CRANT OF PENNSYLVANIA. I9

We possess sufficient evidence in the aforesaid, that
the King bestowed on the grant the name of Pennsyl-
vania. From the beginning it required a vexatious
attendance on the part of Penn on the Committee, the
Chief Justice, Attorney-General, and agents of Lord
Baltimore, before he could reach the consummation of
his wishes. At length, after many delays and much
solicitude, he had the gratification of learning that
his patent was j)repared, and to which the King affixed
his signature, March 4th, 1681. This venerable docu-
ment may be seen in the office of the Secretary of
State at Harrisburg, written in the old P^nglish style,
every line underscored with red ink, and the borders
gorgeously ornamented with heraldic devices, and at
the beginning a likeness of his Majesty.

Penn must have received this information with great
satisfaction, if we are to judge his feelings as expressed
in a letter written the next day to his friend, Robert
Turner, a merchant of Dublin, very probably just after
he had received his charter.

" 5th of 1st mo., 1 68 1.
" Dear Friend : — My true love in the Lord salutes
thee and dear friends that love the Lord's precious
truth in those parts. Thine I have, and for my business
here, know that after many waitings, watchings, solici-
tudes, and disputes in council, this day my country
was confirmed to me under the great seal of hjigland,
with large powers and privileges, by the name of

20 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Pennsylvania; a name the King would give it in honor
of my father. I chose New Wales, being, as this, a
pretty hilly country, but Penn being Welsh for a head,
as Penman moire in Wales, and Penrith in Cumberland,
and Penn in Ikickinghamshire, the highest land in
PLngland, called this Pennsylvania, which is the Iiig/i.
or head zvoodlaiids ; for I proposed, when the Secretary,
a Welshman, refused to have it called New Wales,
Sylvauia, and they added Pe)in to it ; and though I
much opposed it, and went to the King to have it
struck out and altered, he said it was past, and would
take it upon him ; nor could twenty guineas move
the under-secretary to vary the name ; for I feared lest
it should be looked on as a vanity in me, and not as a
respect in the King, as it truly was to my father, whom
he often mentions with praise. Thou mayest communi-
cate my grant to P^riends, and expect shortly my
proposals.

"It is a clear and just thing and my God that hath
given it me through many difficulties, will, I believe,
bless and make it the seed of a nation. I shall have
a tender care to the government, that it be laid at first.
No more now, but dear love in the truth. Thy true
friend,

Wm. Penn."

By said charter, William Penn is made absolute pro-
prietary, saving to the King and his successors the
sovereignty of the country, and due allegiance being

THE GRANT OF PENNSVT.VANIA. 2 I

rcfiuircd from all. The grant was not " /// capita," but
in " free and common socage by fealty only," yielding
and paying to the King tivo beaver skins aiunially, to
be delivered at the castle of Windsor, and also the
fifth part of all gold and silver ore which shall be found
within said limits. The proprietary, with the assent
and approbation of the freemen of the colony, was em-
powered to make all necessary laws not inconsistent
with the laws of England. The laws of the province
were to be transmitted to the privy council for appro-
bation. Appeals from the judgment of the colonial
courts might, in certain cases, be taken to the King.

The extent of this grant is stated to comprise " all
that tract or parte of land in America, with all the is-
lands therein conteyned, as the same is bounded on the
East by Delaware River, from twelve miles distance,
Northwarde of New Castle Towne, unto the three and
fortieth degree of Northern latitude if the said River
doth extend soe farre Northwards; But if the said River
shall not extend soc farre Northwards ; then by the
said River soe farre as it doth extend, and from the
head of the said River the Eastern bounds are to be
determined by a meridian line, to bee drawn from the
head of the said River unto the said three and fortieth
degree, the said lands to extend Westwards five de-
grees in longitude, to be computed from the said
Eastern Bounds, and the said lands to be bounded on
the North by the beginning of the three and fortieth

22 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

degree of Northern latitude, and on the South by a
chxle drawn at tweK^e miles distance from New Castle,
Northwards and Westwards unto the beginning of the
fortieth degree of Northern latitude ; and then by a
straight line Westwards to the limitt of Longitude
above menconed."

The fruits and commodities of the province might be
imported into any of the ports of England, and not
into any other port whatsoever, but within a year after
the landing of the same in England they might be re-
shipped to any other country, paying such duties as
British subjects are bound to pay. Penn and his heirs
were to enjoy such customs on imports and exports in
the province as he or they and the people there, when
assembled, may reasonably assess, saving to the King
and his successors such impositions and customs as are,
or by act of Parliament shall be appointed. But the
King was to levy no taxes upon the inhabitants of the
province without the~consent of the proprietary or as-
sembly, or by act of Parliament. Penn was invested
with all the powers of a " captain-general," also " to levy
muster, and train all sorts of men " to make war by sea
and land against barbarous nations, pirates and robbers.

For the greater security of his province, the Duke of
York also executed a deed for Pennsylvania to William
Penn for any pretensions or claims that might be set
up at any time in the future, either by himself, his heirs,
successors, or others. It was dated August 20th, 1682,

THE (IRANT OF PENXSVLVAXIA. 23

and in which he says, " Now, therefore, this indenture
witnesseth, that his said royal hi<^hness, out of a special
regard to the memory and many faithful and eminent
services heretofore performed by the said Sir W^illiam
Penn to his said majesty and royal highness, and for
the better encouraging him, the said William Penn, to
proceed in culti\'ating and impro\ing the said tract of
ground and islands therein and thereunto belonging,
and reducing the savage and barbarous natives thereof
to civility, and for the goodwill which his said royal
highness hath and beareth to the said William Penn,
and for other good causes and considerations hath re-
mised, released, and forever quit claim." This was
deemed necessary on account of its jurisdiction having
been for some time previously under the governors of
New York.

Penn deemed it also prudent but it was not ob-
tained without some negotiation from the Duke, two
additional conveyances or deeds of feoffment from him
on the 24th of the same month. By one of which he
conveyed the town of New Castle and the country
lying within a circle of twelve miles about it, and by
the other all the land on Delaware Bay south of said
circle to Cape Henlopen. These now comprise the
State of Delaware, and were to be held " in free and
common socage." For the first, he was to pay to the
Duke the yearly rent of five shillings, and for the sec-
ond ''one rose at the feast of St. Michael the Archangel

24 WM. PENX IN AMERICA.

yearly, if demanded," together with the moiety of all
the rents and profits thereof However, the Duke did
not obtain for himself a regular conveyance for the
same from his brother, the King, till March 22d, 1683.
The leading object in this was to secure these terri-
tories from the claim entered upon by Lord Baltimore,
and \\hich led to so long and expensive a controversy
afterwards. This section had been successively held
by the Swedes and Dutch, and latterly by the govern-
ment of New York under the Duke.

Th ' Ro\'al Charter, in its beginning, thus alludes to
Penn's petition for the grant : "Whereas our trusty and
well-beloved subject, William Penn, P^squire, son and
heir of Sir William Penn, out of a commendable de-
sire to enlarge our British Empire, and promote such
useful commodities as may be of benefit to us and our
dominions, as also to reduce the savage natives by just
and gentle manners to the love of civil society and
Christian religion, hath humbly besought leave of us,
to transport an ample colony into a certain country,
hereinafter described, in the parts of America, not yet
cultivated and planted, and hath likewise so humbly
besought our royal Majesty to give, grant, and confirm
all the said country, with certain privileges and juris-
dictions requisite for the good government and safety of
the said country and colony, to him, and his heirs
forever."

W'e observe in the aforesaid a positive mention, if not

Tllli (iKANT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 25

a i)ronii.se faithfully made, by the Proprietary, that "out
of a commendable desire," among other matters, "to
reduce the savage natives by just and gentle manners to
the love of civil society and Christian religion," as de-
serving some consideration hereafter. As respects the
original proposals, John Stoughton [JVut. Penn, the
Founder, p. 165) gives us the following information :
" The petition existed, but in a mutilated state, in 1735,
when it was adduced in evidence during a trial in ref-
erence to the Penn possessions." No copy was dis-
covered among the recently-acquired Penn manuscripts
in possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
and its disappearance is therefore to be regretted. ■

It was the fortune of William Penn to have warm
friends in Charles II. and his brother James, Duke of
York. The former knighted his father for his distin-
guished services, and always held his memory in last-
ing esteem, as we also know by his naming this noble
commonwealth after him when he had been consigned
to the tomb upwards of ten years. P"or the Stuarts
few good words are found, and we hesitate for these
actions in the life of Penn, whether justice has been
done them. In speaking of this family, Bancroft says
that "North America acquired its British colonies dur-
ing their rule, and towi.s, rivers, headlands, and even
states, bear their names. The pacific disposition of
James I. promoted the settlement of Virginia ; a
timely neglect fostered New England ; the favoritism

26 \VM. FENN IN AMERICA.

of Charles I. opened the way for religious liberty in
Maryland; Rhode Island long cherished the charter
which its importunity won from Charles II. ; the hon-
est friendship of James II. favored the grants which
gave liberties to Pennsylvania, and extended them to
Delaware; the crimes of the dynasty banished to our
countrv men of learning, virtue, and fortitude."

CHAPTER II.

MARKHAM DESPATCHED TO PENNSYLVANIA.

A MONTH had nearly elapsed from the sii^ning of
the charter, when the King issued a declaration of the
fact in the following address to the inhabitants of
Pennsyh^ania, which, it would appear, was to prepare
them for the coming of the Proprietary, and the re-
ception of his government: —

" Charles R. — Whereas his majesty, in consideration
of the great merit and faithful services of Sir William
Penn, deceased, and for divers other good causes him
thereunto moving, hath been graciously pleased, by
letters-patent bearing date the 4th day of March last
past, to give and grant unto William Penn, Esq., son
and heir of the said Sir William Penn, all that tract,"
[etc., as described in the charter.]

" His majesty doth, therefore, hereby publish and
declare his royal will and pleasure, that all persons
settled or inhabiting within the limits of said province,
do yield all due obedience to the said William Pcnn_
his heirs and assigns, as absolute proprietaries and
governors thereof, as also to the deputies, agents, or

28 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

lieutenants, lawfulh' commissioned by him or tliem,
according to the powers and authorities granted by the
said letters-patent, wherewith his majesty expects and
requires a ready compliance from all persons whom it
may concern, as they tender his majestie's displeasure.
Given at Court, etc., 2d April, thirty -third )'ear of
reign, By his majesty's command.

Conway."

About this time Penn had decided to appoint his
cousin, William Markham, of London, his Deputy-
Governor, to proceed in a few days to the new prov-
ince and assume the government, and also be prepared
for his coming as soon as he could make all the re-
quisite arrangements in his business affairs to take
charge of those duties. In the selection of his kins-
man for so important a post he no doubt made an ex-
cellent choice, and it is remarkable that in the several
biographies of Penn, nothing appears relative to so
conspicuous a character. He was the son of the Ad-
miral's sister, and we infer from the Penn manuscripts
that his father's name was also William, and that he had
died some time previous. Some authorities state that
he was a captain, and others a colonel in the British
Army; we have also noticed in some documents his
being called "gentleman," and he is mentioned in the
Admiral's will, which bears date January 20th, 1669, as
his "nephew," at which time he must have been quite
young.

MAKKIIAM DKSrATCIIED TO TENNSVLVANM A. 29

Venn also prepared an address a few days after, which
we give as copied verbatim from the original :

" For the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania. To be read
by my Deputy," and is indorsed, " The Proj)rietor's
Letter to ye Inhabitants of Pennsilvania."

" My Friends: — I wish you all happiness here &
hereafter. Thes are to lett you know that it liath
pleased god in his providence to cast you within my
Lott & care. It is a business yt though I never
undertook before, yet god has given me an under-
standing of my Duty & an honest minde to doe it
upright!}'. I hope you will not be troubled at ye
chainge & the King's choice, for you are now fixt, at
ye mercy of no Governour yt comes to make his for-
tune great, you shall be govern'd by laws of yr own
making, & live a free and if you will a Sober & in-
dustrious People. I shall not usurp the right of any,
or oppress his person. God has furnisht me with a
Better resolution, & has given me his grace to keep it.
In short wt ever sober & free men can reasonably de-
sire for ye security & improvement of their own happi-
ness, I shall heartily comply with, & in five months
resolve if it pleas god to sec you. In ye mean time,
pray submitt to ye commands of my Deputy, so larr
as they are consistant with ye law, & pay him thos
dues (yt formerly you paid to ye order of ye Govern-
ours of New York) for my use & benefitt, & so I

30 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

beseech god to divert you in ye way of righteousness
& therein prosper you & yr children after you, I am
your true Frd.

Wm. Penn.

London, Sth of yc month caird Aprill, idSiT (2.*)

The necessary arrangements having been made with
Markham for his speedy departure, the Proprietary
proceeded forthwith to give him such instructions as
the short interval would allow since he came in
possession of the charter. For a copy of his appoint-
ment we are indebted to Mr. Hazard, who in his
Annals says he unexpectedly found the original in the
Secretary of State's office at Boston, in a volume
marked "Colonial."

"The commission given by William Penn, governor
and proprietor of the province of Pennsylvania, to his
cousin, William Markham, to be deputy governor for
him, of the aforesaid province. At Westminster, this
10th of 2d mo. 1 68 1.

" Whereas the king hath graciously, upon divers good
considerations, to settle upon me and my heirs forever,
by his letters-patent, under the great seal of ICngland,
dated the 4th of March last, a tract of land in America,
by the name of Pennsylvania, lying and bounded as
in the said letters-patent is particularly expressed, with

* These figures have reference to our manuscript authorities mentioned at the
beginning.

MAKKIIAM DESrATCIlEI) TO PENNSYLVANIA. 3 I

ample powers and authorities for the well-governing;"
of the same, to be exercised by me or my deputy. Out
of the special regard that I have to the care and fidelity
of my cousin William Markh^n, I do hereby appoint
him my deputy, and fully authorize him in my stead and
for my behoof, and for the benefit of the said province,
to act and perform what may be fully needful to the
})eace and safety thereof, till I myself shall arrive, or
he shall receive further orders; that is to say, he has
hereby power. To call a council," etc. Is also directed
to read a letter and the King's declaration to the in-
habitants, settle boundaries with neighbors, erect courts,
appoint officers, call on the inhabitants to suppress
tumults, and generally do all but calling an assembly
to make laws. Witnesses to the same are Henry West
and John West.

Hazard appears to express some surprise that noth-
ing is therein mentioned in relation to the Indians, but
this will be found in another paper to Markham, dated
the 1 8th of 8th month following, of which he could
have had no knowledge.

Markham at this time has-been represented as being
scarcely of age, but we question this, for he was a
married man, and, like Penn in his first voyage, thought
it prudent to leave his partner behind till he had at
least got comfortably fixed in the thinly-settled coun-
try whither he was going, l^^rancis Richardson ac-
companied him, but the name of the vessel he em-

32 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

barked on is not known, which would indicate that
there could have been at most but few passengers on
board. He arrived at New York June 15th, with all
the necessary papers aifd instructions from the King,
the Duke, the Proprietary, his kinsman, as well as of
others, so as to facilitate and open the way for the
mission on which he had been sent.

Before he left New York, he received from the Lieu-
tenant-Governor there an order dated June 21st, ad-
dressed " To the justices of the peace, magistrates, and
other officers within the bounds and limits mentioned
now called Pennsylvania," and which had hitherto
been under his jurisdiction, be now surrendered. It is
very probable that Markham proceeded overland, en-
tering the newly-acquired territory at the Falls, now op-
posite Trenton. Near the beginning of October, he was
at Passyunk, now near the south-western portion of the
built-up part of the city of Philadelphia. In evidence
from an original document we copy the following :

" Whereas, the selling of Strong Lickers was pro-
hibited in Pensilvania, and not att Newcastell and ther
beeing Rom and making themselves more debeiched
then before (in spite of this prohibition). Therefore
we, whouse Name are heare under written doe desire
that the prohibition may be taken off and Rome and
Strong Lickers may be sould (in the fore said Prov-
ince) as formerly, untill it be prohibited in Newcastell
and in that Governmt of Deleware.

MAKKIIAM DKSI'ATCIIKI) TO PENNSVIAANI A. T, T,

Pesienck in Peiisilvania, Stli ()ct(.)br, i6<Si.

To tliL! Govener and Counsell of Pennsylvania.

Nanne Seka
Keka Raffan

TONCi GORAS

EsPAN Afpe" (2.)

Although but little over seven months had passed
since the granting of the charter, and Markham had
not l;)een four months in the country, beini^ addressed
" To the Governer and Counsell of Pensilvania," it
would imply that in this brief time he must ha\'e been
pretty active, to cause such a missive in this early at-
tempt at suppressing the liquor traffic with the Indians.
The first signature for " his marke," has a representa-
tion of a strung bow, the second a tortoise, the third a
turkey and the last a rattlesnake, all pretty well drawn.

At the second session of the Court, held at Upland,
November 30th, as we learn from the records: "Wil-
liam Markham, Plsq., governor and president," was
present, and no doubt remained there over winter. On
December 7th, he dated from here two interesting let-
ters, from which we give space for extracts. The first
was addressed to his wife, and that in the next para-
graph to a friend. He appears to have been delighted
with the country, and must have impressed the readers
of that day with considerable novelty.

" It is a very fine Country, if it were not so over-
grown with woods ; and very healthy. Here people

34 • WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

live to be above lOO years of age. Pi'o\'ision of all
sorts are indifferent plentiful : Venison especially. I
have seen four Bucks bought for less than 5s., the
Indians killing them only for their skins. In the Win-
ter, there is mighty plenty of Wild Fowl of all sorts ;
Partridges I am cloyd with; we catch them by hun-
dreds at a time. In the fall of the Leaf, or after Har-
vest, here are abundance of wild Turkeys, which are
mighty easie to be shot; Duck, Mallard, Geese and
Swans in abundance wild ; Fish are in great plenty.
In short, if a Country Life be liked by any, it might
be here. That which is most scarce is Mutton and
Beef, because you must kill it yourself, I mean of your
own. What Beef is kill'd, is in October, or there
abouts, and salted up for the whole year: last October
I kill'd two very fat Bullocks."

" I will now give you an Account of the Country;
It is in a mighty good Air, and very healthy. Here
are abundance of good Fruits ; all sorts of yVpples,
Cherries, Pears, good Plumbs ; but I knew not what
to call them ; Peaches as good as any in the W' orld ;
some they feed their hoggs with, and some they distill
and make a sort of Brandy: Abundance of Mull-
berrys. The Hoggs eat the Chesnuts as they do the
Acorns; abundance of Walnuts; Grapes grow wild in
the Woods, and indifferent good : they might be made
very good ; Mellons both Mus and Water as good as
can be; and several others I cannot think of Fish

MAKKIIAM DESPATCHED TO PENNSYLVANIA. 35

good Store; but we are afraid to put out a Net lest a
Sturgeon gets in and breaks it, for we have innumer-
able of them, that they leap into the Boats very often.
Beasts we have of all kinds, and Tame Fowl. Abun-
dance of Dear : the Indians kill them only for their
skins, and leave the Flesh in the Woods. We have
very good Horses, and the Men ride madly on them :
they make nothing of riding 80 miles of a Day ; and
when they get to their Journeys end, turn the Horses
into the Field : they never Shoo them."

While at Upland about this time he received from
England the following letter, which may have been the
first from there since his departure. It is given ver-
batim from the original, and we have reason to beliex-e
that it has not been previously published.

"London, i<Sth <Sth mo., 1681.
" Cosen Markham : — My sincere love salutes thee,
wishing thy prosperity every way, with this comes In-
structions and concessions with some Company. I
hope thou hast made Convenient provisions for them.
I have sent my Cosen William Crispin to be thy Assis-
tant, as by Commission will appear, his skill, exper-
ience, industry and integrity are well known to me
and particularly in Court keeping, etc. So yt is my
will and pleasure, that he be as Chief Justice to keep
ye Seal ye Courts and Sessions ; and he shall be ac-
countable to me for it. the profitts redounting are to
his proper behoof he will show thee my Instructions

36 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

wch will guide you all in ye business, ye rest is Left to
your discretion ; yt is, to thee, thy two Assistants and
ye Council.

How I shall tell thee, that if thy Inclinations rather
run to a sea life, I shall put thee in Command of a
vessel to carry People and goods betwixt this country
and that, wch if thou chusest it come wth all ye speed
thou canst, yt thou mayst be here before I goe and
command a vessel backwards, the proffit is more, I
think the credit not less, but this is left to yee to come
or stay till I come thither, pray be very respectful to
my Cosen Crispen, he is a man my father had great
confidence in and value for, also Strive to give Content
to ye Planters and wth meek and sweetness, mixt wth
Authority carry it So as thou mayst honour me as
well as thyselfe, and I do hereby promess thee, I will
effectually answer it to thee and thyn. give the In-
closed in Sweeds, to ye Sweed's Priests to read to ye
Sweeds ; it comes from Sweeds embassador's in Eng-
land, ye Ld Liembergh, whos lady is lately dead, also
myn to ye Natives and the Inhabitants, and be tender
of my creditt wth all watching to prevent all fals Storys,
and inculcate all the honest and advantageous things
on my behalf yt may be, in wch be diligent, I can say
no more, but wish you all prosperity in ye fear of ye
lord, to whom I committ you all, and rest

Thy true Frd and Affect Kinsman,

Wm. Penn."

MARK HAM nESPATCHEn TO PENN.S\LVANIA. 37

" I mention yc ship because it was thy motion to
mc." (2.)

With the above came another letter, to be communi-
cated to the Indians. It is too long for us to give en-
tire, and from the interest it possesses omit a portion
with reluctance. How much it is imbued with the
benevolent spirit of the great Founder, and character-
istic of the honorable motives which actuated him in
his dealings with them !

" London, i8th of 8th mo., i68i.
" My Friends : — There is one great God and power
that hath made the world and all things therein, to
whom you and I, and all people owe their being and
well-being, and to whom you and I must one day give
an account for all that we do in the world ; this great
God hath written his law in our hearts, by which we
are taught and commanded to love and help, and to
do good to one another, and not to do harm and mis-
chief one to another. Now this great God hath been
pleased to make me concerned in your parts of the
world, and the King of the country where I live hath
given into me a great province, but I do desire to enjoy
it with your love and consent, that we may always
live together as neighbors and good friends, else what
would the great God say to us, who hath made us not
to devour and destroy one another, but live soberly
and kindly together in the world? I shall shortly

38 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

come to you myself, at what time we ma}- more
largely and freely confer and discourse of these matters.
In the meantime, I have sent my commissioners to
treat with you about land, and a firm league of peace.
I>et me desire you to be kind to them and the people,
and receive these presents and tokens which I have
sent to you, as a testimony of my good will to you,
and my resolution to live justly, peaceably and friendly
with you.

I am your loving friend,

WiiJJAM Penx."

Markham had not left England three months before
Penn appointed three Commissioners, who were to
proceed to Pennsylvania, and with whom they were to
act in settling the colony. The original Instructions
to the aforesaid are now in possession of the Historical
Society, who have lately had it framed. It was found
amongst the Hamilton papers at the Woodlands. The
last two lines and signature are in the handwriting of
the Proprietary. As they are of some length, I will
a\'ail myself only of that portion that relates to the
Indians. They are dated "30th of 7 ber, 168 1,"
and addressed " To my Trusty and loving Friends,
William Crispin, John Bezar and Nathaniel Allen, my
Commissioners for the settling of the present Colony
this year transported into ye said Province."

" Be tender of offending the Indians, and harken by
honest Spyes, if you can hear yt anybody inveigles ye

MARK II AM DESPATCHED TO PENNSYLVANIA. 39

Indians not to sell, or to stand off, and raise the valine
npon yon. You cannot want those yt will inform you,
but to sofften them to mee and the people, let them
know yt you are come to sit down Lovingly among
them. Let my Letter and Conditions with my Pur-
chasers about just dealing with them be read in their
Tongue, that they may see wee have their good in our
eye, equall with our own Interest, and after reading my
Letter and ye said Conditions, then present their
Kings with what I send them, and make a Friendshipp
with them according to those Conditions, wh carefully
observe, and get them to comply with you ; be Grave
they love not to be smiled on. From time to time in
my Name and for my use buy Land of them, where
any justly pretend, for they will sell one another's, if
you be not CarefuU, that such as buy and come after
these Adventurers may have Land ready, but by no
means sell any Land till I come, allow no old Patents,
they have forfeited them by not planting according to
the Law of the place and it cost mee too dear to allow
such old Storyes, rather than fail offer them the Patent
Charge, and where Survey'd the Survey money, but
this is understood only of unplanted places only."

By two deeds, dated July 15th and August ist,
1682, Markham purchased for Penn a considerable
tract of land from the Indians, situated on the west side
of the Delaware river, for some distance above and be-
low the Falls. This business, it appears, was concluded

40 \\M. PENN IN AMERICA.

at the liou.se of Capt. Lasse Cock. The first was
granted by twelve " Indyane Sachamakers," as they are
therein called. In the other, mention is made of "ye
land called Soepassincks, and ye island of ye same
name." Not long after, this constituted Pennsbury
Manor, comprising 6558 acres, and on which Penn had
his mansion erected, and where he dwelt for a consider-
able time while in this country. Both these purchases
lay wholly within the limits of Bucks County, which
was not established till in the following year. These
deeds may be seen in the first volume of the Pennsyl-
vania Archives.

Capt. Thomas Holme, a resident of Waterford, Ire-
land, was commissioned by Penn Surveyor-General of
Pennsylvania, April 1 8th, 1682. He was to survey
the whole of the province, for which purpose he reposed
"special confidence" in his "integrity and ability."
He embarked on the ship Amity, which left the
Downs on the 23d, for America. He brought with
him four children, John Claypoole, an assistant, and
Silas Crispin, afterwards his son-in-law. Penn confided
to Capt. Holme another letter to the Indians, which
he read to them through an interpreter. A fac-simile
of the original is framed at the Historical Society, pre-
sented by the late Benjamin Ferris, of Wilmington, in
1842. The following is copied from the same:

" The great God, who is the power and wisdom that
made you and me, incline your hearts to righteousness,

MARKHAM DESPATCH F-:n TO PENNSVrA'ANIA. 4 I

love, and peace. This I send to assure you of my
love, and to desire your love to my friends, and when
the ijreat God brings me among you, I intend to order
all things in such a manner that we may all live in
love and peace one with another, which I hope the
great God will incline both me and you to do. I seek
nothing but the honour of His name, and that we, who
are His workmanship, may do that which is well
pleasing to Him. The man which delivers this unto
you is my special friend, sober, wise, and loving; you
may believe him. I have already taken care that none
of my people wrong you, by good laws I have pro-
vided for that purpose; nor will I ever allow any of
my people to sell rum, to make your people drunk. If
any thing should be out of order, expect, when I come,
it shall be mended, and I will bring you some things
of our country that are useful and pleasing to you.
So I rest in the love of our God that made us.
I am your loving friend,

William Penn.

England, 21st of Second mouth, 1682.

" I read this to the Indians by an interpreter, the
Sixth month, 1682. — Thomas Holme."

It has been supposed that this was done at Shacka-
maxon, and a late discovery of a bill of charges made
by Thomas Fairman against William Penn, for 1682,
states, " To lodging Capt. Holme, his two sons and

42 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

two daughters, with their and his other friends' accom-
modations in the Proprietor's service, ^50." This
clearly estabUshes the fact at least that he resided for a
time there^ He has also a bill of £],, for horse hire
for him and Markham and accompanying them to
" Piahe Wickon," most probably as a guide. The
Friends, we know by the Abington Records, held a
meeting for worship at Fairman's house as early as
Fourth month of this year. We thus find it a place of
note several months before Penn's arrival.

Before we close this chapter, it may be worth while
to state a kw additional matters relative to this early
period of the colony. In a letter sent from Fngland,
under date of 30th of 9th month, 1 681, the writer
mentions that " Ships come pretty often from New York,
New Jersey, or Maryland, by one of which ways I
believe, thou maycst send almost every month in the
summer." This shows his opinion that communication
between the two countries was now becoming more
and more frequent.

The Swedes at this time had erected three houses of
worship ; one at Upland or Chester, one at Wicacoe,
and one at Tinecum. The Friends held meetings at
Upland, Shackamaxon, and at the Falls of Delaware.
Ellis, in his Life of Penn, estimates the population of
the Dutch, Swedes, and English residing within the
patent on the arrival of Markham, at about three
thousand. No mean number for the commencement

MAKKHAM DESFATCHED TO AMERICA. 43

of a colony. Dixon compliments his Deputy-Gover-
nor as "an excellent choice. Bold, resolute, devoted to
the proprietor," and that " he set about his work with
equal zeal and discretion."

44 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER III.

PENN's exertions for the welfare and PROSI'ERITY
OF HIS PROVINCE.

As soon as he had received the grant of Pennsyl-
vania, Penn set himself earnestly at work to carry out
his plans and to promote the interests of the colony,
which he was fully aware stood iu need of fostering
hands. Amongst the means adopted was to secure all
the information he possibly could relating to the newly-
acquired territory, from which he prepared a description,
and had it published in a folio pamphlet of ten pages.
We give its title followed by several extracts :

" Some Account of the Province of Pennsilvania
in America ; lately granted under the Great Seal of
England to William Penn, &c. Together with Privi-
leges and Powers necessary to the well-governing
thereof Made publick for the Information of such as
are or may be disposed to Transport themselves or
servants into those Parts. London : Printed and sold
by Benjamin Clark Bookseller in George-Yard, Lom-
bard Street, 1681.

" Since (by the good providence of God) a country
in America is fallen to my lot, I thought it not less

PENN S EXERTIONS I'-OK HIS I'KOVINCE. 45

my duty than my honest interest to give some pubUck
notice of it to the world ; that those of our own, or
otlier nations, that are inchned to transport- themselves
or families beyond the seas, may find another country
added to their choice, that if they shall happen to like
the places, conditions and constitutions (so far as the
present infancy of things uill allow us any prospect)
they may, if they please, fix with me in the province
hereafter described. But before I come to treat of ni)'
particular concernment, I shall take leave to say some-
thing of the benefit of plantations or colonies in
general, to obviate a common objection. Colonies
then are the seeds of nations begun and nourished by
the care of wise and populous countries ; as conceiv-
ing them best for the increase of humane stock, and
beneficial for commerce.

" Of old time the nobility and gentry spent their
estates in the country, and that kept the people ih it ;
and their servants married and sate at easie rents under
their masters' fa\-our, which peopled the place ; now
the great men (too much loving the town, and resort-
ing to London) draw many people thither to attend
them, who either don't marry; or if they do, they pine
away their small gains in some petty shop; foi' their
are so many, they prey upon one another. The
country being thus neglected, and no due balance
kept between trade and husbandry, city and country,
the poor countryman takes douljle toil, and cannot (for

46 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

want of hands) dress and manure his lands to the ad-
vantage it formerly yielded him, yet must he pay the
old rents, which occasions servants, and such children
as go not to trades, to continue single, at least all their
youthful time ; which also obstructs the increase of
our people.

" The decay of some of our country manufacturers
(where no provision is made to supply the people with
a new way of living) causes the more industrious to go
abroad to seek their bread in other countries, and gives
the lazy an occasion to loiter and beg or do worse, by
which means the land swarms with beggars ; formerly
it 'twas rare to find any asking alms but the maimed, or
blind, or very aged ; now thousands of both sexes run
up and down, both city and country, that are sound
and youthful, and able to work, with false pretences
and certificates ; nor is there any care taken to emjjloy
or deter such vagrants, which weakens the country, as
to people and labour."

He gives therein a number of cogent reasons, very
ingeniously expressed, showing how beneficial emigra-
tion would be to the mother country, to the colony,
but above all to the emigrant. Treats in this new and
inviting field of the great advantages conferred and en-
couragements offered, also of the many evils in old
settled countries that prevail and arise from luxury,
effeminacy and fashion or custom. Among the in-
ducements held forth was the easy terms on which the

PENN S EXERTIONS FOR HIS PROVINCE. 4/

lands should be sold. Forty shillings sterling for one
hundred acres, and one shilling per annum forever as
quitrent.

" To conclude," he says, " I desire all my dear
country-folks, who may be inclined to go into those
parts, to consider seriously the premises, as well as the
inconveniency as future ease and plenty ; that so none
may move rashly, or from a fickle, but from a solid
mind; having, above all things, an eye to the pro\i-
dence of God, in the disposing of themselves ; and I
would further advise all such, at least, to have the per-
mission, if not the good liking, of their near relations ;
for that is both natural, and a duty incumbent upon
all. And by this will natural affections be preserved,
and a friendly and profitable correspondence between
them; in all which I beseech Almighty God to direct
us ; that his blessing may attend our honest
endeavours ; and then the consequence of all our
imdertakings will turn to the glory of his great name,
and all true happiness to us, and our posterity.
Amen."

James Claypoole, in a letter dated the 26th of Second
month, says in regard to his " judgment of Penns)'l-
vania, I and many others wiser than I am, do very
much approve of it, and do judge William Penn as fit
a man as any in Europe, to plant a country." In re-
lation to a paper that Penn hatl given him respecting
the province, he remarks, " I would have some discourse

48 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

with him, but he was in such extreme haste to be
gone." Respecting emigration, " there is great en-
couragement both as to the country and go\'ernor,
who I beheve, will establish good laws, as near as
he can."

Lewis Morris, recently from Barbadoes, and an
intimate friend of Penn, sent him a letter from New
York, dated 3d of Fourth month, in which he says,
" I was not a little rejoyced to read thine, but rest in
some hopes that 'tis possible I may live to see thy
Face in these Parts, especial!}- since I have spoken
with S. Jennings, who told me he judged thou hadst
obtained a grant for the West part of the River Dela-
ware, of which myself and all our Friends were glad
to hear. I doubt not but .Samuel will sufficiently
encourage thee to press forward and perfect the Work
of setling there as much as in thee licth. I cannot
but let thee know that I am in truth glad, and in my
heart sensible of the great goodness of God to us in
these Parts, in casting thy Lot amongst us for surely
there will be great need of thee." Again, on the 25th
of the same month, he says, " I received thy second
Letter, and am very glad thy Lot is fallen amongst us;
and do assure thee, that I think it the finest Piece or
Tract of Land in all this North part of America."

He also prepared at this time " Certain Conditions,
or Concessions," for "those who are adventurers and
purchasers " in the said province. We take from the

PENNS EXERTIONS FOR HIS PROVINCE. 49

same the following extracts, which are the more
interesting as exhibiting his views in advance of his
arrival :

" Great roads from City to City not to contain less
than forty feet in breadth shall be first laid out and de-
clared to be for highways before the dividend of acres
be laid out for the purchaser, and the like observa-
tion to be had for the streets in the Towns and Cities,
that there may be convenient roads and streets pre-
served not to be encroached upon by any planter or
builder, that none may build irregularly to the damage
of another. In this customs governs. Notwithstand-
ing there be no mention made in the several deeds
made to the purchasers, yet the said William Penn,
does accord and declare, that all Rivers, Rivulets,
Woods and Underwoods, Waters, Watercourses,
Quarries, Mines and Minerals (except mines Royal),
shall be freely and fully enjoyed and wholly by the
purchasers into whose lot they shall fall.

" No man shall by any ways or means, in word or
deed, affront or wrong an Indian, but he shall incur the
same penalty of the Law, as if he had committed it
against his fellow planters; and if any Indian shall
abuse, in Word or Deed, any planter of this province,
that he shall not be his own Judge upon the Indian,
but he shall make his complaint to the Governor of
the province, or his Lieutenant or Deputy, or some in-
3

50 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

ferior magistrate near liini, who shall, to the utmost ol
his power, take care with the king of the said Indian,
that all reasonable satisfaction be made to the said
injured planter. All differences between the Planters
and the natives shall also be ended by Twelve men,
that is by Six planters and Six natives, that so we may
live friendly together as much as in us lieth, preventing
all occasions of Heart burnings and mischief The
Indians shall have liberty to do all things relating to
improvement of their ground, and providing susten-
ance for their families, that any of the planters shall
enjoy.

" All shall mark their hogs, sheep and other cattle,
and what are not marked within three months after it
is in their possession, be it young or old, it shall be
forfeited to the Governor, that so people may be com-
pelled to avoid the occasions of much strife between
Planters. All ship masters shall give an account of
their Countries, Names, Ships, Owners, Freights and
Passengers, to an Officer to be appointed for that pur-
pose, which shall be registered within Two days after
their arrival; and if they shall refuse so to do that
then none presume to trade with them, upon forfeiture
thereof; and that such masters be looked upon as hav-
ing an evil intention to the province."

In the preface to the Frame of Government he in-
geniously observes : " I do not find a model in the
world, that time, place, and some singular emergencies

PENN S EXERTIONS FOR HIS PROVINCE. 5 I

have not necessarily altered; nor is it easy to frame
a civil government, that shall serve all places alike. I
know what is said by the several admirers of monarchy,
aristocracy and democracy, which are the rule of one,
a few, and many, and are the three common ideas of
government, when men discourse on that subject.
But I choose to solve the controversy with this small
distinction, and it belongs to all three ; any government
is free to the people under it (whatever be the frame)
where the laws rule, and the people are a party to these
laws, and more than this is tyranny, oligarchy and con-
fusion. Governments, like clocks, go from the motion
men give them, and as governments are made and
moved by men, so by them they are ruined too.
Wherefore governments rather depend upon men, than
men upon governments. Let men be good, and the
government cannot be bad; if it be ill, they will cure
it. But if men be bad, let the government be never
so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil to their
turn."

He did not in his benevolence forget his friend, the
celebrated George Fox, the founder of the Society of
Friends, for in an indenture dated 20th of Eighth
month, he granted to him 1250 acres to be located in
Pennsylvania. " Yielding and paying therefore
and during the term unto the said William
Penn and his Heirs the Rent of one Pepper
Corn onely if the same be lawfully demanded, on con-

52 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

sideration of five shillings in hand paid at the time of
the agreement." In this instrument he is styled
" George Fox of London, gentleman," and who was
now in the 58th year of his age.

The Frame of Government was followed by a code
of laws, forty in number, intended to be altered and
amended by an Assembly in Pennsylvania, as was
done the following year. In his penal code particu-
larly, he was far in advance of his age ; for instance, in
England, at this very time, two hundred offences were
punishable with death, he reserving this punishment
only for one, which was for wilful murder. There were
several great defects which were not in his power to
remedy. He held his province as a fief from the
crown, and of which he was made a feudal sovereign,
yet governed it more satisfactorily while here than any
of his Deputies.

According to said code, no taxes were to be collected
but by law ; in the courts, all persons might appear in
their own way, and plead their own cause ; all trials
were to be by jury ; no oaths to be required ; all fines
to be moderate ; all prisons to be workhouses ; all
marriages to be published before solemnized, and to
be solemnized by the parties taking one another as
husband and wife, before witnesses, signing a certificate
of the same, and having it recorded. The estates of
felons were liable to make satisfaction to the family
wronged to twice the value, and in default to such pay-

PENNS EXERTIONS FOR HIS PROVINCE. 53

merit being made the felons to be bondsmen in the
workhouse until the party injured be satisfied. All
children of the age of twelve years to be taught some
useful trade. Slanderers to be punished as enemies of
the public peace.

All courts to be open, and justice to be neither sold,
denied or delayed. All prisons to be workhouses for
felons, vagrants, and loose and idle persons ; of which
one shall be in every county. All persons living in
this province, who confess and acknowledge the one
almighty and eternal God, to be the Creator, upholder
and ruler of the world, and that hold themselves
obliged in concience to live peaceably and justly in
civil society, shall in no ways be molested or pre-
judiced for their religious persuasion or practice in
matters of faith and worship, nor shall they be com-
pelled at any time to frequent or maintain any religious
worship, place or ministiy whatever. These laws were
agreed upon and signed by Penn, the 5th of 3d mo,
(May), 1682, and clearly show how far in justice and
liberality he was in advance of an age distinguished
for its sanguinary laws and religious intolerance.

At a meeting of the " Free Society of Traders in
Pennsylvania," held in London the 29th of 3d month,
1682 ; Nicholas More, a physician of London, was
elected president for seven years, John Simcock, yeo-
man of Pennsylvania, deputy-president, and James
Claypoole, merchant of London, treasurer. A com-

54 ^^'^I- PENN IN AMERICA.

mittee of twelve were also chosen, to reside in the
province ; these were Thomas Brassy, Robert Turner,
Thomas Holme, John Bezer, Fra. Plumstead, Griffith
Jones, Antho. Elton, James Harrison, John Blumston,
Isaac Martin, Walter King, and Wm. Haigue. A
pamphlet was published by Benjamin Clark, " printer
to the Society," this year, entitled, " The articles,
settlement and offices of the Free Society of Traders
in Pennsylvania : agreed upon by divers merchants
and others for the better improvement and government
of trade in that province." The preface is dated
"London 25th of ist mo. called March, 1682;" and
signed by Nicholas More, James Claypoole and James
Ford, who appear to be the most conspicuous pro-
moters in the enterprise.

The extraordinary industry so actively exhibited by
Penn in various ways, for the adv^ancement of his great
undertaking, was seriously interrupted by the death of
his mother in June of this year, to whom he was most
tenderly attached, and by whose loss he was deeply
affected. She was represented as an excellent woman,
and in the many trials he encountered for his religious
principles, had in her a ready sympathizer and coun-
sellor. Clarkson says that he was so affected by the
occurrence that it brought on an illness of several days
duration. This lady was Margaret, the daughter of
John Jasper, a native of Rotterdam, where the latter
was a merchant. Pepys describes her as "a well-

1'enn's exertions for his province. 55

looked, but short old Dutch woman, but one that hath
been heretofore pretty handsome, and believe hath
more wit than her husband." My friend, Dr. James
J. Levick, in a late address on William Penn (see Phila.
Public Ledger, Oct. 29th, 1887), remarks, "Unless we
attribute it to a special Divine interposition I can ac-
count for it in no other way than by the fact that the
wife of Sir William Penn and the mother of his boy
came of that quiet, thoughtfully earnest race who have
made Holland a garden spot, and the purity of whose
domestic life has been recognized for generations.
Each year of my life I am the more convinced of the
influence of heredity in determining the character of
the offspring. Had Sir William Penn chosen his wife
from the giddy creatures of the court of Charles, or
even from among the P^nglish women of what was his
own station in early manhood, I fear that William
Penn, as the founder of a great, peaceful common-
wealth, would have been unknown to history."

To encourage emigration still further, Penn prepared
another work on his colony, which appeared in a small
octavo pamphlet of eighteen images, with the following
title: " Plantation Work, the Work of this Generation.
Written in True- Love To all such as are weightily in-
clined to Transplant themselves and Families to any
of the English Plantations in America. The Most
material Doubts and Objections against it being
removed, they may more cheerfully proceed to

$6 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

the Glory and Renown of the God of the whole Earth,
who in all Undertakings is to be looked unto, Praised
and Feared for Ever. Aspice venturo ItPtetur ut India
Seclo. London, Printed for Benjamin Clark in George-
Yard in Lombard-street, 1682." Though published
anonymously, mention is made on the first page that
" W. Penn and his PViends are now engaged in these
plantations." At page 3, it is stated, " England
was once as rough and rugged as America, and the
Inhabitants as blind and barbarous as the Indians."
It contains also several letters addressed to Penn from
America, of which we have gladly availed ourselves, as
this work is but little known.

In a Discourse by William Rawle before the His-
torical Society of Pennsylvania, delivered Nov. 5th,
1825, we find the following high compliment to such
labors : " The first colonists were invited in Europe
by William Penn, in the most fair and candid manner,
to become not conquerors but cultivators of the soil ;
to conciliate not to extirpate the natives — to earn their
bread by labour, not to acquire wealth by the prodig-
ality of chance, the pursuit of precious metals, or by
reducing the helpless natives to slavery. They felt no
disappointment when they found, that woods were to
be prostrated, cabins to be erected, the earth to be
opened, and its slow returns received, before subsistence
was obtained. They relied on the smiles of a graciou^
Providence, but they knew that His aid is only granted

penn's exertions for his province. 57

to those who exert all their own faculties to help
themselves."

Janney, not without strong reason, in his Biography
remarks : " Is not the superiority of Penn's frame of
gov^ernment to be attributed to the peculiar influence
of his religious associations ? He was united in fellow-
ship with a people whose principles and practice were
essentially democratic ; they acknowledged no dis-
tinction of clergy or laity ; they placed a low estimate
on hereditary rank, and they laid the foundation of
their church discipline on the supremacy of that
divine principle in man which leads to equality of
rights and universal fraternity." These exertions of
Penn were not unavailing, they have left their impress
on the age, and their influences have been extending.

WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER IV.

PEXN's departure and arrival in AMERICA.

\_Aiigiist-Octobcr 2^, i6S2?\

A YEAR and a half had now nearly passed since Penn
received his charter, and a few months less when Mark-
ham started for the distant colony. All hopes for a
year or two at reform in Parliament vanished, and, as a
consequence, bigotry and tyranny prevailed the more,
which was an additional incentive for Friends to seek
an asylum in the wilds of the New World for the en-
joyment of that freedom which was denied them at
home, and for which they had so long been persecuted
for conscience' sake. No wonder that Penn bent all
his energies to the noble work on which he was en-
gaged, and endeavored to execute that abroad which
was found impracticable in the land of his birth. Our
greatest admiration is, that he was ever permitted, under
the circumstances, to carry out the realization of his
darling schemes, however distant. That he achieved
this in our opinion is one of his greatest triumphs,
though scarcely dwelt on by his biographers.

After having made the most necessary arrangements
in his business affairs, with a view to his absence in

PENN's departure and arrival in AMERICA. 59

America, he engaged passage in the ship ]Velcoine, of
three hundred tons burthen, Robert Greenaway,
master. Shortly after he prepared at his house in
Worminghurst, Sussex, a beautiful, instructive and
affecting letter by way of counsel, addressed to his wife
and children, dated the 4th of Sixth month, 1682;
and from which we take the following extracts :

" My dear Wife and Children : — My love, which
neither sea, nor land, nor death itself, can extinguish
or lesson toward you, most endearedly visits you with
eternal embraces, and will abide with you for ever;
and may the God of my life watch over you and bless
you, and do you good in this world and for ever! —
Some things are upon my spirit to leave with you in
your respective capacities, as I am to one a husband,
and to the rest a father, if I should never see you more
"in the world.

" My dear wife ! remember thou wast the love of
my youth, and much the joy of my life; the
most beloved, as well as the most worthy of
all my earthly comforts : and the reason of
that love was more thy inw^ard than thy outward ex-
cellencies, which yet are many. God knows, and thou
knowest it, I can say it was a match of Providence's
making ; and God's image in us both was the first
thing, and the most amiable and engaging ornament in
our eyes. Now I am to leave thee, and that without
knowing whether I shall ever see thee more in this world,

6o WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

take my counsel unto thy bosom and let it dwell with
thee in my stead while thou livest.

" Cast up thy income, and see what it daily amounts
to : by which thou mayst be sure to have it in thy
sight and power to keep within compass : and beseech
thee to live low and sparingly till my debts are paid;
and then enlarge as thou seest it convenient. Remem-
ber thy mother's example, when thy father's public-
spiritedness had worsted his estate (which is my case.)
I know thou lovest plain things, and art averse to the
pomps of the world — a nobility natural to thee. I
write, not as doubtful, but to quicken thee, for my
sake, to be more vigilant herein ; knowing that God
will bless thy care, and thy poor children and thee for
it. My mind is wrapt up in saying of thy fathers, ' I
desire not riches, but to owe nothing ; ' and truly that
is wealth, and more than enough to live is a snare
attended with many sorrows. I need not bid thee to
be humble, for thou art so ; nor meek and patient, for
it is much of thy natural disposition but I pray thee
be oft in retirement with the Lord, and guard against
encroaching friendships.

" I choose not they should be married to earthly,
cov^etous kindred; and of cities and towns of concourse
beware ; the world is apt to stick close to those who
have lived and got wealth there : a country life and
estate I like best for my children. Next be obedient
to your dear mother, a woman whose virtue and good

PENN's departure and arrival in AMERICA. 6 I

name is an honour to you ; for she hath been ex-
ceeded by none in her time for her plainness, integrity,
industry, humanity, virtue, and good understanding —
qualities not usual among women of her worldly con-
dition and quality. Ruin not yourselves by kindness
to others ; for that exceeds the bounds of friendship,
neither will a true friend expect it."

We may well judge the feelings under which the
above was written, not knowing when he would return
or whether he should indeed ever see them again. He
embarked at Deal in company with several friends, and on
the 30th he addressed from the Downs, " A salutation
to all Faithful Friends in England." Over one hun-
dred passengers went on board, a portion of whom
were from Sussex and Yorkshire, and nearly all belong-
ing to the Society of Friends. On or about Septem-
ber I St the vessel weighed anchor, and under a light
breeze stood out to sea, and those on deck could
observe the Foreland and Dover Castle fading in the
distance, the last glimpse of their native land.

It may be well at this place in our labors to give a
list of those who accompanied the great Founder in
this his first voyage across the broad Atlantic. Many
of these have numerous descendants and amongst the
best citizens of our land, and to whom it will possess
an especial interest. My friends, Wm. F. Corbitt and
Dr. E. D. Buckman, of Philadelphia, have given the
matter particular attention, and we are greatly indebted

62 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

to them for assistance in preparing the following list,
which is believed to be nearly complete, and will be
found to differ somewhat from those published, owing
to a more recent and fuller investigation of au-
thorities :

Passengers in the "Welcome."

William Penn, John Barber and wife Elizabeth ;
Wm. Buckman, wife Mary, children Sarah and Mary
and sister Ruth Buckman ; John Carver and wife
Mary; Benjamin Chambers, Thos.Croasdale, wife Agnes
and six children ; Ellen Cowgill, a widow, and five
children ; John Fisher, wife Margaret and son John ;
Thos. Fitzwater, wife Mary and children Thomas,
George, Josiah and Mary and John Otley, his servant;
Thomas Gillett, Cuthbert Hayhurst, wife and children ;
Thomas Heriot, Wm. Hayhurst, John Hey, Richard
Ingels, Isaac Ingram, Giles Knight, wife Mary and son
Joseph ; Wm. Lushington, Hannah Mogridge, Joshua
Morris, David Ogden and two sisters ; Evan Oliver,
wife Jean and seven children ; John Rowland and wife
Priscilla, Thos. Rowland, John Songhurst, Thomas
Stackhouse and wafe Margery; George Thompson ;
Richard Townsend, wife Anne and children James and
Anne; William Wade; Thos. Walmsley, wife Eliza-
beth and six children ; Nicholas Wain, wife and three
children ; Joseph Woodroofe ; Thos. Wigglesworth
and wife ; Thomas Wynne and wife Elizabeth ; Jane

PENN's departure and arrival in AMERICA. 63

and Margery Maud, daughters of Elizabeth Wynne ;
Bartholomew Green ; Nathaniel Harrison ; Thomas
Jones ; Jean Mathews ; Dennis Rochford, wife Mary
and daughters Grace and Mary; William Smith.

The aforesaid list contains a mention of one hundred
and two persons, besides several children, and it is
possible that Penn was accompanied by one or more
servants. To the Records of Middletown Monthly
Meeting, Bucks County, we are chiefly indebted for
the information respecting Thomas Croasdale, Cuth-
bert Hayhurst, Wm. Hayhurst, Thos. Stackhouse,
Thos. Walmsley, Nicholas Wain and Thomas Wiggles-
worth, who, with their families, originally settled there.

We may well suppose, as the goodly ship Welcome
sped on her way for the distant shores of America, with
what anxious hopes Friends in England must have
watched her departure, for on Penn and his colony chiefly
depended the expectations of their society. However
bright the anticipations of those on board in the begin-
ning, sickness and sorrow soon saddened their hopes.
That terrible malady, the small-pox, appeared, at first
in a mild form, but developed itself more and more as
the voyage continued, till at last nearly all were
attacked, and the deaths alarmingly increased.

Richard Townsend, one of the passengers, in his
Testimony, says, " I went aboard the ]\^eIcovi€ in
company with my worthy friend William Penn, whose
good conversation was verv advantafjeous to all the

64 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

company. His singular care was manifested in con-
tributing to the necessities of many who were sick on
board of small-pox, of whom as many as thirty died.
After a prosperous passage of two months, having had
in that time many good meetings on board, we arrived
there." James Claypoole, a merchant of London, in a
letter to Robert Turner, dated the 9th of i ith month,
in which he says, he had heard that " thirty-one friends"
had died in " William Penn's ship of the small-pox."
Being upwards of one-fourth the entire number.

From the crowded condition of the vessel, it was
impossible to prev^ent contagion spreading, but by all
possible care, attention and medicines on the part of
those most able, much was done to ameliorate the
condition of the sufferers, and keep the malady under.
As we see, Penn nobly exerted himself in their behalf,
and contributed liberally whatever was needed from
his own stores. Need we wonder, under such circum-
stances, that they hailed with joy their first glimpse of
the low-wooded shores of the Delaware as a timely
deliverance from the dread monster that was destroying
them. The horrors of the passage were long retained in
the recollections of the survivors and of their descend-
ants. Of those that died, the following names have
been ascertained : John Barber, Mary, wife of Thos.
Fitzwater, and children Josiah and Mary, Thomas
Heriott, Isaac Ingram, William Wade, and Grace and
Mary, the daughters of Dennis Rochford.

PENX'S DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 65

Penn had a fondness for horses, and Dixon states
that in this voyage he brought over three blooded
mares, a fine white horse, and other inferior animals
for labor. His inquiries afterwards concerning the
mares were as frequent and minute as those about the
gardens.

After having been at sea about fifty-four days, on the
24th of October (8th mo.j, they arrived in sight of the
Capes, and the vessel stood up the bay. Eager excite-
ment was now on board, with impatient longings to be
speedily delivered from the endurance of confined
quarters and a dangerous disease. Not three days
more, and they were to set their feet for the first time
on the soil of the newly-acc|uired territory.

66 WM. PENX IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER V.

THE LANDING AT NEW CASTLE, I'l'LANI) AND IMIILA-
DELPHIA.

[Cr/. 2y-No7K, 1682.']

On the 27th of October, the Welcome arrived before
the town of New Castle, in Delaware, and it is likely
that Penn and several of his companions at once pro-
ceeded on shore to visit some of the princi}:)al inhabit-
ants, and make known his most important business.
In the forenoon of the next day a meeting was held,
when he made an address to the magistrates and others,
in which he explained to them the nature of his govern-
ment, his designs in coming and what he expected to
accomplish. He produced the two deeds of feoffment
executed to him August 24th, 1682, by James, Duke
of York and Albany. One for this town of New
Castle and twelve miles about it, and the other for the
two lower counties, the Whorekills and St. Jones's.
By virtue of the power conferred in these instruments
he now demanded possession of the same from John
Moll, Esq., and Ephraim Herman, constituted attorneys
by his Royal Highness. According to the usual form,
these gentlemen delivered unto him " the fort of said

LANniXG AT NEW CASTLE AND PHILADELPHIA. 6/

town, and leaving the said William Penn in quiet and
peaceable possession thereof, and also by the delivery of
turf and twig, and water and soyle of the River Dela-
ware."

Having received written pledges of fidelity and
obedience to him and his government, he at once com-
missioned John Moll, Peter Aldricks, Johannes de
Haes, William Simple, Arnoldus de la Grange, Justices
of the Peace, and a Court of Judicature, for the town of
New Castle. His Deputy Markham he appointed his at-
torney to receive from Moll and Herman possession of
the counties below New Castle, which was accomplished a
few days afterwards. Having received the formality
of quiet possession, and the requisite business des-
patched, Penn without delay went on board the JJW-
come, and under a favoring breeze on the afternoon of
the same day the passage of near twenty miles was
soon made, and he arrived at Upland, a seat of judica-
ture, and the most populous place in his province.
That Penn arrived here on this day we have the
authority of Evan Oliver, one of the passengers, who
says, in a manuscript book, "We came out of Radnor-
shire in Wales, about ye beginning of ye 6
mo '82, and arrived at Upland in Pensilvania in
America, ye 28 of ye 8 month, '82." — From a letter
by Benjamin F'erris to Edward Armstrong, dated
Twelfth month 31, 185 I, and now in the possession of
the Historical Society.

68 WM. PENN IX AMERICA.

On the following day (" 29th 8ber ") he dated
from here two letters. The first is directed to
Ephraim Herman, in which he says, " With my love,
this is to desire thee to despatch awa\' a messenger,
upon receipt hereof, with the enclosed letters, to
several persons and places they are directed to, that so
they may be at New Castle, at the court, the 2d of
of 9th month, in which thou wilt oblige thy loving
and true friend,

" William Penn."

By way of postscript adds, " Direct the enclosed
letters and seal them. I will pay the messenger."
He here refers to the following, addressed separately
to Wm. Darval, Francis Whitewell, John Hillyard,
Robert Starr and John Briggs, and \\hich, from the
shortness of the time, now required despatch in their
delivery :

" Thes are to desire you to meet me at New Castle, next
Thursday, (so called,) being ye 2d of November, where
I shall hold a General Court for the settlement of the
Jurisdiction of thes and your parts, and in so doing
you will oblige,

" Your Loving Friend,

" Willi A.M Penx."

And adds, " if, there be any persons of note, or others,
yt desire to come, they may freely do it, and this
pray signify."

LAXDINf! AT NEW CASTLE AND PHILADELPHIA. 69

Upland, distinguished as the place of Penn's first
landing in the province, may deserve some further no-
tice. It was founded by the Swedes, and known by
this name as early as 1648, and is said to have been so
called after a province in Sweden on the Gulf of Both-
nia, but its Indian name was Mecopanaca. Robert
Wade, a Friend from England, who had suffered there
for his religion, had settled here as early as 1675,
when the first Meetings of Friends in the colony were
held at his house, which was visited the same year by
William Edmundson, as mentioned in his journal. It
stood on a beautiful rising ground on the west side of
Chester Creek, but near its mouth, where he had a
landing place. At his house, too, the Friends "belong-
ing to Marcus Hooke and Upland " held their first
Monthly Meeting the loth of nth Month, 168 1 ;
which is the date of their earliest records. A court
had been held in the place for some time, and a prison
built for offenders.

No doubt, on landing, Penn proceeded to the house
of Robert Wade, the hospitable Friend, and attended
on this day (the 29th was First-day) one of the Meet-
ings for worship which had now been held here for up-
wards of seven years. As regards changing the name of
Upland to Chester, the Proprietary has been rather
sharply criticised. All this appears to rest on the au-
thority of Clarkson, in a work, published at London in
18 1 3, that contains numerous errors. Those who have

70 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

given especial attention to the matter say that they
cannot find evidence of any person by the name of
Pearson being a passenger in the Welcome. This will,
at least in part, explain that it was not done in " a
mere whim," by " caprice," or any exhibition of undue
vanity, and which it is time should, at least, be ques-
tioned, if not exposed.

According to notice given, Penn was present at the
Court held at New Castle on November 2d, being the
fifth day of the week. There was also in attendance
his Deputy, Markham, the Mayor, Thomas Holme,
William Haigue, John Simcock, and Thomas Brazie of
the Council, and John Moll, John de Haes, William
Simpell, Arnoldus de la Grange, and John Cann, Jus-
tices. The proceedings were opened in the name of
"Our sovereign Lord, King Charles II., etc., and by
the commissioned appointment of William Penn, Esq.,
Proprietary and Governor of Pennsylvania." At its
close, Penn stated that if any person had requests or
petitions to present to him, he desired it done now, for
an answer at their next meeting. The Court then ad-
journed till the " First Tuesday of December next."

It is related on the authority of tradition, that from
Upland Penn went with several of his friends in an
open boat or barge to the site of Philadelphia. If this
was the case, he may have returned from the Court at
New Castle by land, unless the former mode of con-
veyance had been used by him the whole distance.

LANDINCi AT NEW CASTLE AND PHILADELPHIA. /I

Near a high, bold shore, covered with lofty pines and
called Coaquannock, they entered Dock creek, a small
stream, deep at its mouth, with a low, sandy beach,
where they landed, and the Proprietary and his com-
panions went on shore near a house then building by
George Guest on Front Street, and afterwards known
as the " Blue Anchor Tavern." He was so pleased
with the conveniences of the spot, that he reserved it
for a public landing-place in the original city charter.

The time of his arrival here is thus noted in the
Minutes of Abington Records: "At a Monthly
Meeting the 8th of 9th month, 16.S2 : At this time Gov-
ernor William Penn,and a multitude of Friends arrived
here, and erected a city called Philadelphia, about half
a mile from Shackamaxon, where meetings were estab-
lished. Thomas Fairman at the request of the Gov-
ernor, removed himself and famil)' to Tacony, where
there was also a meeting appointed to be kept, and the
ancient meeting of Sackamaxon removed to Philadel-
phia, from which meeting, also, other meetings were
appointed in the province of Pennsylvania."

The cause of Fairman removing was, that Penn had
now engaged his house, as we learn from his " bill of
charges " for 1682, in which he says, " To leaving my
house in the winter season for the Proprietor's use."
He also mentions therein several journeys made with
Penn, and for supplying him with horses. There is
one for " taking the courses of Schuylkill above the

72 WM. PEXN IN AxMERICA.

town," one " to Senew Sickon," one "to Umboleke-
mensin," and another " to search out a svvanip for the
Societies tannery." That he was at least nearly two
years here before Penn's arrival we have certain evi-
dence from the Marriage Records of Burlington
Monthly Meeting, wherein it is stated that " Thomas
Fairman of Shackamaxon on ye river Delaware," was
married to Elizabsth Kinsey the 24th of loth month,
1680, at the house of John Woolston in Burlington.

The aforesaid mention of Philadelphia in the Abing-
ton Minutes is the earliest known to us of the name,
and appears not to have been given to it till after the
arrival of Penn. No doubt it was applied by him
after that of a city in Lydia, Asia Minor, the seat of
one of the seven early Christian churches. Its signi-
fication, brotherly love, coincided with his principles,
and therefore commended it to his judgment.

The site of the city had been determined by three
commissioners, appointed September 30th, 168 1 ; sent
out in advance of his arrival, and acting under his in-
structions. No doubt, under their direction, Thomas
Holme, the surveyor-general, with the assistance of
Thomas Fairman, had already made some progress in
laying out the streets, and several buildings may have
been erected. Afterwards, Penn made several changes
in the location and names of the streets. It was con-
templated in the original plan to allow no buildings to
be erected near the banks of the river, and to have

LANDING AT NEW CASTLK AM) HIULADELPHIA. 73

there a broad avenue along the entire length of the
city. This salutary and beautiful arrangement in time
was permitted to be infringed, and to this cause can be
attributed the narrow and irregular streets that discom-
mode its eastern front.

As Penn had determined on calling a meeting of
the Assembly at Upland, now called Chester, on the
4th of the following month, and to which his presence
as proprietary and gov^ernor would be required, he
concluded in the interval to avail himself of a trip to
New York, in order "to pay his duty to the Duke of
York in \'isiting his province." At what time he set
out in this month and the period of his absence is not
known. Our information respecting the same is
chiefly derived from a letter dated at Chester, 29th of
loth month, in which he says, " I have been also at
New York, Long Island, East Jersey and Maryland ;
in which I have had good and eminent service for the
Lord." It seems to have been chiefly made on a
religious account, visiting Friends' Meetings, and ex-
tending the circle of his acquaintance. In this journey
it is likely he proceeded by boat to Burlington, or the
Falls, thence by horseback overland to New York.
It may have been then that he fixed upon the site of
his mansion in Pennsbury Manor, which was on his
way between Burlington and the P'alls, on the west
side of the river.

About this time he must have held his great treaty

74 ^^'M- PENN IX AMERICA.

of amity with the Indians, and to which he had refer-
ence in his letter to them, dated " London, i8th of 8th
month, 1 68 1," wherein he says, " I shall shortly come
to you myself, at what time we may more largely and
freely confer and discourse on these matters;" mean-
ing the harmony and friendship that should exist be-
tween them and himself and his people. As stated, he
had now taken up his abode for awhile at Fairman's
mansion at Shackamaxon, and it looks as if the jour-
neys made by him and Fairman on horseback to
" Senew Sickon" and " Umbolekemensiif," were ex-
pressly for the purpose of engaging and drawing the
Indians together in a general council.

I have faith in the great treaty, held at Shacka-
maxon under the elm, for the same reasons and au-
thority that Thomas Holme had read there the Pro-
prietary's letter through an interpreter in August
previous.'^' The great belt of wampum, given by the
Indians to Penn, is another evidence, and which by
him was ever after highly regarded. This was pre-
sented to the Historical Society by his great-grandson,
Granville John Penn, from England, April 13th, 185 i.
It is composed of eighteen strings of wampum woven
together into a belt, six inches wide and twenty-six
inches in length. In the centre is a representation of
a man with a hat on, holding another by the hand.
I would ask. What does this signify but amity or

* See Penn's letter to the Indians in Chapter II.

LANDING AT NEW CASTLE AND I'HILADELPHIA. 75

friendship performed in deeds of peace? Such a one
it is not Hkely would have been given at any purchase
of lands ; according to the Indian idea it would not
have been appropriate, and such are my views. On
this subject the imagination of Clarkson has been so
extravagant, and a few others, that we do not wonder
that faith in the great treaty has been impaired.

The great elm, or Treaty Tree, stood till the year
1 8 10, when it was blown down. It was 24 feet in
girth, and believed to be 280 years old, making its age
at the time of the treat}' 152 years; sufficient to have
been then a large tree adapted to the purpose. A
scion of it is growing vigorously, and is now a fair-
sized tree on the grounds of the Pennsylvania Hos-
pital. (3n the site of the treaty, the Penn Society
erected, several years ago, a small monument with
appropriate inscriptions, in commemoration of the spot.
Watson, in his Annals, relates that from the time of
Penn down to the present day, tradition among the
Indians, as well as the inhabitants of Philadelphia, has
been uniform in designating the elm tree at Kensing-
ton as the spot where the great treaty was held ; and
so confidently was this believed during the Revolution
that the British General Simcoe, when his troops oc-
cupied the town, placed a guard around the venerated
tree to protect it from injury, as, from the need they
had for fuel, it otherwise might have been destroyed.

The name Shackamaxon, or, in old records, Sacha-

76 WM. PENN IX AMERICA.

maxing, in the Delaware language signifies the Place
of Kings ; Sakema or Sachem being the name for a
king or chief From the Penn Papers we learn that
our distinguished countryman, Benjamin West, was em-
ployed by the Penn family, in 1773, to paint the
original historical picture of the treaty of 1682, and for
which he received ^"420. It was piuxhased by the
late Joseph Harrison, of Philadelphia, from Granville
John Penn, in P'ngland, in 185 i, for £500, and may
now be seen in the City Museum in the State House.
The Historical Society has, framed, a handsome paint-
ing of the Treaty Tree, presented by the late Cephas
G. Child, made from a drawing taken on the spot by
J. J. Barralet, a few years before it was blown down,
also showing the regard in which it was held.

Penn was at Upland on the 28th of 9th month, we
know from a letter he addressed to Markham, at New
Castle, and from which we also learn that the JVc/rome
had just departed on her return to P>ngland. It is
probable that it has never before been published, hav-
ing been copied from the original. (2.)

" Upland, ye 28, Qbr, 1682.
Cousin Markham. Upon receipt hereof dispatch
ye Messenger to ye Counties of St. Jones and Whore-
kills, alias New Deal, with a letter to ye Deputies in
which inclose }'e inclosed severally. Be sure it is a
trusty Person that can compass ye business, which

LANDING AT NEW CASTLE AND PHILADELPHL\. JJ

done, dispatch hitherto immediately, leaving John Moll

or Peter Aldricks deputy in the room. If Robert

Greenway be not past that sd port, I would willingly

bespeak with him ; having received a letter out of

Maryland yt concerns Freight of a ship. Pray, let all

ships clear at New Castle, ye River now being mine,

in wch be civil to ye Commanders and for this year yt

nothing be taken of ym. His horse yt brings ye

bearer is to go with Tho. Hudson to Barbadoes if he

be there, remember m\^ love to him. Thy Loving frd

and kinsman,

" Wm. Penn."

In this month, as we learn from one of James Clay-
poole's letters, Nicholas More, President of the Society
of P'ree Traders, with sixty or se\'enty servants, and
numerous other passengers, arrived here in only twenty-
nine days from England. Another ship came about
the same time, equally fortunate in having so short a
trip.

78 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER VI.

THE FIRST ASSEMBLY. LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. CON-
FERENCE \YITH LORD BALTIMORE.

\_Dec. and Jan., 16S2.']

From notice given the previous month by the
Proprietary and Governor to the several Sheriffs to
summon all freeholders in their respective districts to
meet and elect from amongst themselves " persons of
most note for wisdom, sobriety, and integrity, to serve
as their deputies and representatives in general assem-
bly, to be held at Upland, Pennsylvania, December 4th
next, and then and there to consult with him for the
common good of the inhabitants of that province and
adjacent counties of New Castle, St. Jones, and Whore-
kill, alias Deal," and of the result to make him a true
return.

Accordingly the several members chosen, duly met
agreeably to proclamation at the time and place men-
tioned. From the minutes it is ascertained that
amongst those present was Christopher Taylor from
Bucks, Nicholas More from Philadelphia, John Sim-
cock from Chester, William Clark from Deal, Francis
Whitwell from Jones's, and the names of Griffith Jones,

THE FIRST ASSEMllLV. 79

Luke Watson, William Sample, William Yardley,
Thomas Brassy, John Briggs, and Ralph Wethers are
mentioned the first day as being on committees.
Nicholas More was appointed the following day presi-
dent of the body.

On the fourth day of meeting, this first General As-
sembly of PennsyKania distinguished itself by passing
the " Great Law," so celebrated for its remarkable
provision relating to liberty of conscience. The por-
tions relating thereto we extract :

" Whereas, the glory of Almighty God, and the
good of mankind, is the reason and end of govern-
ment, and therefore government, in itself, is a venerable
ordinance of God ; and for as much as it is principally
desired and intended by the proprietary and governor,
and the freemen of the province of Pennsylvania, and
territories thereunto belonging, to make and establish
such laws as shall best preserve true Christians and civil
liberty, in opposition to all unchristian, licentious, and
unjust practices, whereby God may have his due,
Caesar his due, and the people their due from tyranny
and oppression of the one side, and insolency and
licentiousness of the other, so that the best and firmest
foundation may be laid for the present and future hap-
piness of both the governor and people of this province
and territories aforesaid, and their posterity. Be it
therefore enacted, by William Penn, proprietary and
governor, by and with the advice and consent of the

8o WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

deputies of the freemen of this province and counties
aforesaid, in assembly met, and by the authority of the
same, that these following; chapters and paragraps
shall be the laws of Pennsylvania and the territories
thereof

" Almighty God being only Lord of conscience,
father of lights and spirits, and the author as well as
object of all divine knowledge, faith and worship, who
only can enlighten the mind, and persuade and con-
vince the understanding of people, in due reverence to
his sovereignty over the souls of mankind. It is en-
acted by the authority aforesaid, that no person now
or at any time hereafter living in the province, who
shall confess and acknowledge one Almighty God to
be the Creator, upholder and ruler of the world,
and that professeth him or herself obliged in con-
science to live peaceably and justly under the civil
government, shall in anN'wise be molested or prejudiced
for his or her concientious persuasion or practice, nor
shall he or she at any time be compelled to frequent or
maintain an}- religious worship, or ministry whatever,
contrary to his or her mind, but shall freely and fully
enjoy his or her Christian liberty in that respect, with-
out any interruption or reflection ; and if any person
shall abuse or deride any other for his or her different
persuasion and practice in matter of religion, such
shall be looked upon as a disturber of the peace, and
be punished accordingly."

THE FIRST ASSEMBLY. 8 I

According to the great work done, the legislature was
to consist of two houses, the members of which were to
be elected by the freemen of the province. The upper
house to be composed of three members from each
county and to be called the " Provincial Council,"
The lower house to be composed of six members from
each county, " men of most note for their virtue, wis-
dom and ability." This was Penn's idea of what should
constitute the qualification essential to a legislator, and
that it has not been retained in our statutes is a step
backwards, to be regretted.

The executive authority was vested in the governor
and council, who were charged with the execution of
the laws, the care of the public peace, the establish-
ment and order of public schools, instituting courts of
justice, &c., &c. Every freeman of the province was
to be entitled to a vote, and all the laws relating to
raising revenue and other purposes to be enacted by
the representatives of the people. The estates of aliens
were to descend to their legal representatives like those
of citizens, and all the settlers had the liberty to fish,
fowl and hunt, without restriction on their own lands,
and on all not enclosed. The Proprietary as chief lord
of the fee or as governor reserved no especial privi-
leges. These briefly enumerated rights with the liberty
of conscience allowed was a great step in advance
over the existing laws of the parent country.

Among the acts passed, was the following given

82 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

literally, requiring the year to commence with March
as the first month : " And be it enacted by the Author-
ity aforesaid that ye day of ye week and ye months
of ye year, Shall be called as in Scripture, and not by
Heathen names, (as are vulgarly used,) as ye first,
Second and Third dales of ye week, and first. Second
and Third of ye year, beginning with ye day called Sun-
day and ye month called March."

An Act of Union was also passed for annexing and
uniting the counties of New Castle, Jones's, and
Whorekill, alias Deal, to the province of Pennsylvania
and including the naturalization of all foreigners resid-
ing within the aforesaid counties and province. This
was probably brought about in justice to the Swedes,
Finns and Dutch, who, a few days before, had presented
a petition to Penn requesting that he would be pleased
to make them as free by the laws as any others, and
that also their lands may be entailed on them and their
heirs for ever. The aforesaid was signed by the Gov-
ernor as done at " Chester alias Upland " on the 7th of
lOth month 1682. This is the earliest mention found
in any document of the place being called Chester.
Clarkson states that the change was made at the time
of arrival, forty days previously.

Penn was now to make good what he had promised
to " the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania ; " in a letter to
be read to them by his Deputy Markham, dated " Lon-
don 8th of ye month call'd ApriU, 1681 ; " only thirty-
four days after he had received his grant. " You shall

CONFERENCE WITH LORD BALTIMORE. 83

be governed by the laws of your own making, and live a
free, and if you will, a sober and industrious people. I
shall not usurp the right of any, or oppress his per-
son. God has furnished me with a better resolution,
and has given me the grace to keep it. In short,
whatever sober and free men, can reasonably desire for
the security and improvement of their own happiness,
I shall heartily comply with."

The Assembly being over, with his usual activity,
Penn set out on the i ith for Maryland to meet Lord
Baltimore for the purpose of entering into a negotia-
tion respecting the boundaries between the two prov-
inces. For this purpose he had sent two messengers,
soon after his arrival, preparatory to a conference with
the latter. They met at the hospitable mansion of
Col. Thomas Taylor near West River in Annarun-
del county on the 19th, the time agreed upon.
Penn was accompanied by the Council and Lord Bal-
timore, by a considerable retinue of the principal per-
sons in his province. The illustrious visitors had a
spirited debate over the matters in dispute, which con-
tinued, however, with courtesy and kindness for three
days without arriving at any satisfactory conclusion.
Owing to the inclemency of the season, the business
was deferred with an understanding to meet again in
the following spring. In a letter to the Lords of
Plantations, Penn, says his lordship " took occasion by
his civilities to show him the greatness of his power."
It is probable that he crossed the Bay on his return.

84 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

for he attended a religious meeting at the Choptank on
the Eastern shore, and one or two others in that vi-
cinity.

About this time the province had been divided into
three counties, Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester, and
the territories into New Castle, Jones and Whorekill
alias Deal. On the 25th Jones was changed to Kent
and Deal to Sussex, names they continue to bear, and
which is rather unusual in so long an interval, all
three retaining the same boundaries. Penn also
directed that Cape Henlopen be called Cape James,
after his kind friend the Duke of York; which was
afterwards prevented from going into effect by the ac-
cession of William III, prince of Orange.

It would appear after Penn's return from Maryland,
he continued at Chester, where he dated a letter to a
friend on the 29th, in which he says. — " I bless the
Lord I am very well, and much satisfied with my
place and portion ; yet busy having much to do to
please all, and yet to have an eye to those that are not
here to please themselves." He also mentions of hav-
ing " had good and eminent service for the Lord" in
his late visit to Maryland and elsewhere. Of twenty-
three ships that arrived in his province none miscar-
ried, and only two or three of which had the small-
pox on board. Several had made the passage in
twenty-eight days, and few longer than six weeks.
Lord Culpepper sent him a friendly letter on the 23d
from Green Spring, Virginia, in which he says, " I con-

CONFERENCE WITH LORD BALTIMORE. 85

gratulate your arrival into your new dominion, where
I hope things will answer your expectations, and that
you may have all success and prosperity therein, are
the wishes of your affectionate humble servant."

About this time Penn wrote a letter which has
neither address or date, probably to the Earl of Clar-
endon or Sunderland, as " My noble friend " is at the
beginning. It has been published in the Memoirs
(vol. IV, p. 177-8) of the Historical Society, from
which we take the following extract:

" I thank God I came well in six weeks time, find
the land good, the air sweet and serene, the provision
divers and excellent in its kind — beef, mutton, veal,
pork, all sorts of admirable fowl, good venison, bread,
butter, beer and cider, not inferior to England, and of
these things great plenty and cheap. There seems to
me no want, but of industrious and ingenious people,
to render these parts at least equal to the best reputed
places of Europe. I shall have that regard to the
honour and advantage of the Crown, as well for
private profit in the guidance and improvement of this
Plantation, that I hope by God's assistance in seven
years, to be able to come into the scale against planta-
tions of forty years standing. God Almighty recom-
pense to thee thy many kindnesses to me and mine."

This shows that he entertained a high opinion of the
country, and full confidence in the prosperity of his
province.

James Claypoole, in a letter dated London, 9th of

86 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

I ith month, 1682, and addressed to his friend, Robert
Turner, of DubHn, thus alludes to the new colony:
" As for any news from Pensilvania we have of late
none but good, there had been twenty-one ships ar-
rived last summer in Delaware, and the country is very
well liked for pleasantness by the people. Wm.
Penn was well and things was like to be settled to con-
tent and was received with a great deal of love and
respect and had held a Court in Pensilvania and was
gone- to hold another at New Castle, and there also
the people readily subjected to him and there was like
to be a good understanding and a fair settlement of
the bounds between Baltimore and him." Again, in
another letter of the i6th, addressed to his brother,
Edward Claypoole, he hopefully mentions that "here
have come letters from Wm. Penn above a month since
that he was well in health and was settling the coun-
try and they had begun to build a city which they call
Philadelphia, and there had been that summer twenty-
one sail ships arrived there with passengers." This
confirms the fact that Philadelphia was named here
and so called at least as early as the beginning of the
previous month, making it about three weeks later than
the Abincrton Minutes.

penn's correspondence. 87

CHAPTER VII.

penn's correspondence. EVIL REPORTS CONCERN-

IN(; HIM.

\_Ft'briiarv, 16S2.']

With his usual activity and industry, when the
weather was too rigorous to be abroad, Penn engaged
himself in an extensive correspondence relating to the
affairs of the province and the interests ot which he
was so desirous of promoting. The most troublesome
of all w'as the famous boundary dispute with Lord
Baltimore. In the latter he had no mean opponent,
one, perhaps, equally as devoted and zealous for his
cause. This bone of contention, unfortunately, con-
tinued down nearly to the Revolution, and the tedious
litigation involved in it cost the parties a great amount.
From his letters it is quite probable that previous to
March loth, Penn had remained most of his time at Ches-
ter. It was still much the largest place in the province and
where the greatest conveniences abounded. Philadel-
phia, the future metropolis, and now one of the great
cities of the world, had only sprung into being within
a few months, and must still be wanting in many of the
comforts that are to be found in longer established com-
munities.

05 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Under date of Chester, 5th of 12th month, 1682, we
find no less than three letters written by Penn, all of
considerable length and of more than ordinary interest.
The want of space compels us reluctantly to make ex-
tracts.

" I was very glad," he writes to Lord Culpepper, " to
hear of thy arrival, not less that there was no need of
it. Pray stay, and let us be the better for thy coming.
There is more room for parts with less envy, as well
as more need of them : and to be happy in solitude,
is to live of a man's own, and to be less a debtor to
the contributions of others. I am mightily taken with
this part of the world : here is a great deal of nature,
which is to be preferred to base art, and methinks that
simplicity with enough, is gold to lacker, compared to
European cunning. I like it so well, that a plentiful
estate, and a great acquaintance on the other side have
no charms to remove ; my family being once fixed with
me, and if no other thing occur, I am like to be an
adopted American.

" Our province thrives with people, our next increase
will be the fruit of their labour. Time, the maturer of
things below will give thi best account of this coun-
try. Our heads are dull, what fineness transplantation
will give, I know not; but our hearts are good and
our hands are strong. I hear thou intendest a progress
into Maryland this summer. If this place deserve a
share of it, all that I can command shall bid thee wel-
come. I am, thou knowest an unceremonious man ;

penn's correspondence. 89

but I profess myself a man of Christian decency, and
besides, a relation by my wife, whose great grand-
mother, was thy great-aunt."

Thomas, the second Lord Culpepper, was one of the
proprietors of Virginia, and had recently arrived there
as governor of that colony, and this letter was sent in
reply to one of December 23d last.

To Lord Hyde : " My Noble Friend, I humbly take
this opportunity by a gentleman of Virginia, Colonel
Hill, to pay my sincere respects, beseeching God to
remember and retaliate to thee and thine the many
favours I am indebted to thee. I thank God I am very
well and the Province thrives. I hope the Crown will
sensibly receive honour and credit, and profit by it.
But humanely speaking, it will much depend upon the
benign influence of thy power and goodness ; and
there I humbly leave it, as thence in a great measure I
originally fetched it.

" In my last per a Maryland conveyance, I sent a
letter with one to the Duke. The draught of the
bounds is in my agent's hands, I most humbly pray
thy favour in its despatch. The planters must resort to
those two counties. The quitrent is a penny per acre,
formerly little more than a farthing per acre. I have
ordered two manors for the Duke, of ten thousand
acres a piece and intend two more. Their value be-
sides the quitrent, will be great in a few years.

" Pray let Pennsylvania furnish the King, the Duke
and thyself, with beavers and otters for hats and muffs.

90 \!FM. PENN IN AMERICA.

I have sent some of each accordingly. 'Tis the heart
not the gift that gives acceptance."

Lord Hyde was the second son of the Earl of
Clarendon, and held high offices under Charles, James
and Queen Anne. He was esteemed an honorable
man and regarded as a sincere friend to Penn.

Among the manuscripts of the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania, is to be found a copy of an original
letter of six compact pages, written by Penn at " Chester
ye 5th, 12 mo. 1682;" and addressed to Jasper
Yates, who had unfavorably reported him. The Gov-
ernor here makes a vigorous defence and thrusts at
him a most withering rebuke. A few lines of this
letter are given in a Life of Penn with the remark that
they were " addressed to a friend who had unduly re-
flected on him." An evident attempt to suppress the
name. A biographer, like an artist, should not neglect
the shadows in finishing his picture.

" The power," remarks Penn, " I have by Patent
runs thus : That I and my Heirs, with the assent of
the Freemen or their Deputies from time to time may
make Laws, so as they be not repugnant to the Allegi-
ance we owe to the king as Sovereign. This has
been often flung at us, viz : If you Quakers had it in
your power, none should have a part in the Govern-
ment, but those of your own way. On the other
hand, if all that are freemen may choose or be chosen
Members of the Provincial Council and General As-
sembly, and that I and my Heir have only three

PENN S CORRESPONDENCE. 9 I

voices in two hundred and seventy-two in case they
should outnumber us in vote we are gone, and this
having been hke to be done the last Assembly, in
chusing of a Speaker. Friends carrying it but by one
voice, and that through the absence of two of the
other side that were not Friends. Several of them
lamented that I have given so much power away as
I have done. At least, till Truth's interest had been
better settled, and desire me to accept of it again,
saying that as GoS so signally cast it into my hand, and
they believe for a purpose of Glory to his Name,
and for the good of his People.

" I am day and night spending my life, my time,
my money, and am not sixpence enriched by this
greatness ; costs in getting, settling, transportation and
maintainance now in a public manner at my own charge
duly considered, to say nothing of my hazard, and
the distance I am from a considerable estate, and
which is more, my dear wife and poor children. If
Friends here keep to God, and in the justice, mercy,
equity and fear of the Lord, their enemy will be their
footstool. If not, their Heirs and my Heirs too will
loose all, and desolation will follow.

" No, Jasper, Thy conceit is neither religious, politi-
cal nor equal, and without high words, I disregard it
as meddling, intruding and presumptous. So Jasper,
desiring thou mayest act more righteously, than to
smite the innocent behind his back and thy suffering
Brother, too, and that in a wrong matter and upon a

92 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

false or an impossible ground, I take my leave and
rest. Thy ancient though grieved Friend."

Jasper Yates, to whom this reply was made, came
from Yorkshire, and had received a collegiate educa-
tion and entered on the profession of the law. We
learn from Martin's History of Chester that he was
married to Catharine, daughter of James Sandeland,
and became an extensive landholder there. He was
one of the Judges of the Supreme Court from 1705
to 171 5, and afterwards a member of the Council till
the time of his death, about 1720. It is said that he
was very active in having Chester made the seat of
government, and his failure therein, which it is likely
occurred at that time, may have been one of the
causes that led to this difference with Penn. His
.speculations proved unfortunate.

Lord Baltimore on the 8th communicated to the
Marquis of Halifax the account of his late conference
with Penn respecting the boundaries, and of a previous
one with Markham. He had also sent another in
December, immediately after the meeting, in which he
states that it was held " at the house of Colonel
Thomas Tailler, in the Ridge, in Ann Arundell Coun-
ty." Copies of which have been preserved in the
State Paper Office, London.

Under date of the 15th of this month, Penn ad-
dressed a note " For Capt. William Markham, Deputy
Governor," who, it would appear, was still residing at
New Castle, in which he says, " Inclosed is an answer

PEXN S CORRESPONDENCE. 93

to the Justices below, but remember that the twelve
must be chosen for the Provincial Council in pursu-
ance of the writt, and after that, a petition to me that
3 A, B, C, should be for the Council and the other 9
for the Assembly, for 4 and 8 will not allow of a yearly
rotation of }^, as 3 and 9, then the Council will be 18,
a good number at present, and 54 for the Assembly.
The 3d Article informs thee in the charter, let all that
is done be the Act of the people and so it will be
safe." (2.)

Although at a considerable distance from his family,
home and intimate friends, and assiduously engaged
here in promoting the great objects of his mission,
namely, founding an asylum for the oppressed or per-
secuted of all nations ; one would scarce think that
such a one would be attacked abroad with all the
power that malice and envy could suggest. The
difficulties that beset him here, with those that arose in
the accomplishment of his projects, were sufficient, nay,
more than sufficient to weary the life of an ordinary
mortal. Faith in the integrity of his principles alone
must have sustained him amidst the trials and vicissi-
tudes of an eventful career. In corroboration, we give
extracts from a letter by George Hutcheson, dated
"Sheffield, 17th of 12 mo. '82;" and addressed "To
my esteemed fifriend William Penn at Buckingham in
Pensilvania, in America." With this and occasionally
others we have taken the liberty to modernize the
phraseology.

94 WM. PENX IN AMERICA.

" I can say in truth my heart is made glad and my
very soul refreshed in the news that of late is come to
hand, concerning tin* safe arrival with the rest of our
dear friends in America, and of the joyful reception of
thee by the inhabitants, and more especially in that I
understand that blessed power and precious life by
which we have been quickened and raised up together.
Methought I was with you in your first meetings after
thou came to land, and in the court house and in
measure partook of the joy of the wilderness and of
that gladness ; that it break forth of the solitary and
desolate land as also with them who were once in a
kind of despair, from living to see themselves visited
by so many of their dear and elder brethern and to
enjoy their society in those remote parts of the
world.

" I have been concerned not a little, to vindicate thy
reputation from slanderous and malicious tongues who
had sent it throughout the nation that thou wast dead
and a Jesuit, or had declared thyself upon thy death
bed thou wast a Roman Catholic, it was not a few
combats I had with persons to whom I said I knew thee
better than to believe such ridiculous stories, or to
heed them any more than a straw under my foot.
Since Philip Ford searched and found out the author
to be Thomas Hicks, of which I was glad, since it must
have a father that it fell through the just judgment of
God upon him. I got it at the coffee house where the
slander had come from in the Gazette, I mean first

penn's correspondence. 95

a copy of thy last letter and then the printed paper."

By Buckingham was probably meant Pennsbury, as
Bucks county at first was occasionally so called, as may
be noticed in the Colonial Records. In the following
month we know meetings for worship were held there
in the " Governor's house." There can probably be no
other explanation given for this address.

To Dr. Smith's History of Delaware county (p. 143)
we are indebted for the mode of attestation adopted
for jurors the 2 2d of this month, as entered in the
Court Records at New Castle. It mentions that the
following form was to be used in the place of an oath
as delivered in Court by " ye Honble William Penn,
vizt;"

" You solemnly promise in the presence of God and
this Court that you will justly try and deliver in your
verdict in all cases depending, that shall be brought
before you during this session of Court according to
evidence and the laws of this government to the best
of your understanding."

To the popular form he had conscientious scruples,
hence the change which by his direction must have
been introduced into all the other courts under the
jurisdiction of his government.

96 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER VIII.

PENN's first meeting in council at PHILADELPHIA.

— friends' meetings.

\J\Iarch and April, 7(55^.]

We now enter into the new year beginning with
March as the first month, which we have seen the
Assembly recognized by an Act based on the prevail-
ing custom of the parent country, and which remained
in force till abolished by Parliament in 1752. Hence
at that period the change of old to new style. Histo-
rians have deemed it best to use the same as they
stand, as less liable to mistakes, and such are our own
views from experience. The intelligent reader, there-
fore, should bear this in mind and a misunderstanding
prevented.

The Governor held his first Council in Philadelphia
on the loth. Amongst those present were William
Markham, Christopher Taylor, Thomas Holme, Lasse
Cock, William Biles, James Harrison and John
Richardson. The Sheriffs of the respective counties
were present: John Test for Philadelphia, Thomas
Usher for Chester, Richard Noble for Bucks, Edmund
Cantwell for New Castle, Peter Bawcomb for Kent, and
John Vines for Sussex.

PENNS FIRST COUNCIL IN PHILADELPHIA. 97

On the 1 2th the Council met again and the Gover-
nor present. Nicholas More, President of the So-
ciety of Free Traders, was called before them for
speaking in a public house against the Governor, Pro-
vincial Council and Assembly, for which he apolo-
gized. " However, his discourse being unreasonable
and imprudent, he was exhorted to prevent the like in
future." On this day the Assembly likewise met in
Philadelphia, under a new election. It was agreed in
conference with the Council on the following day
" That Twelve makes a Quorum in all business relating
to the former part of the fifth and sixth articles of the
Charter."

The Council on the 14th resolved itself into a Grand
Committee, Markham acting as Chairman in the
absence of the Governor on urgent business. Penn
was present the next day when it was " Ordered that
John Richardson, one of the Council pay five shillings
for being disordered in drink and be reproved." We
presume the reproof was made by Penn, a report
of which would have been interesting.

On the 20th, the petition of Nathaniel Allen was
read, showing he had sold a servant to Henry Bowman
for £6 Sterling and six hundred pounds of beef, in-
cluding the hide and tallow, which he delayed to pay,
and likewise that the said Bowman and Walter Hum-
phrey had hired a boat of the petitioner for only one
month, but had kept the same for eighteen weeks to his

great prejudice. It was ordered that William Clarke,

98 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

John Simcox, and James Harrison speak to the said
Bowman concerning the matter.

Among the Bills proposed for the following day, was
one that " Hoggs be ringed." The office of Coroner to
be established in each county and Grand Juries be held
twice a year. A written message was sent in by the
Assembly thanking the Governor for his kind speech
to them the day before, and gratefully embracing his
offer as to what they desired inserted into the Charter.

On the 23d, among other things it was " Ordered
that the seal of Philadelphia be the Anchor; of the
County of Bucks a Tree and a Vine, of the County of
Chester, a Plow; of the County of New Castle, a
Castle ; of the County of Kent, Three Ears of Indian
Corn ; of the County of Sussex, One Wheat Sheaf; "
when they adjourned till 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

During March the Council held its meetings fifteen
days, adjourning on the 31st till the 2d of the following
month. Penn was present during the whole session,
which was held in Philadelphia, and is probably the
earliest mention of the name to be found in the oflicial
proceedings of the Proprietar}^ government.

A second letter was sent to Penn by George Hutch-
eson, dated from London the i8th of the present
month, respecting the various evil reports in circulation
there respecting his character and designs. We may
well imagine the Governor's feelings on receipt of such
information ! The whole is nearly given with a slight
change in the style.

PENN S FIRST COUNCIL IN PHILADELPHIA. 99

" Since I came here to assist friends in their voyage
I still find thy person the butt for the arrows of malice
to be shot at and thy reputation endeavored to be so
blasted. I cannot but be free with whom I love and
desire the welfare of, and signify what men say of them
as Christ desired knowing the good effects it may pro-
duce in them that can bear both good and bad report.
Thou art reflected upon in respect to thy laws or gov-
ernment, one particularly that is instanced, is the order
that none shall teach but per order from thee which
looks like this in England, without license for which
friends now suffer.

" I heard thee yesterday reviled upon the wharf by
the searchers for the Customs, and when I told them
one tale was good till another was told. One answered
it was brought by one of our own tribe : I confess I
heard it the same day from a friend, that some had re-
flected on him because he would not revile thee at the
same rate they did for it. There is another thing I
judge not worth troubling thee about especially at
present, because I know not the authors shall be silent,
and may possibly ere long see thy face, who in haste
remains thy true friend."

There is no doubt that much the larger proportion
of the emigrants into the colony since the grant of
the Royal Charter belonged to the Society of Friends.
They sought here to enjoy unmolested the principles
and opinions they held. Chiefly owing to this cause
there was a continuous increase for a number of years,

lOO WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

which greatly helped the growth and prosperity of the
country. Many of those belonged to the middle
classes, intelligent and of industrious and economical
habits ; the very kind to lay the foundations for a
great future commonwealth. Little did they then ex-
pect as they felled the forests, built humble homes and
turned the virgin soil, what great natural wealth still
lay uncovered.

The following interesting communication in regard
to the Friends' Meetings at this time in Pennsylvania,
is taken from a letter dated the 17th of ist month,
1683, and addressed to their brethern in Great Britain,
signed by William Penn, S. Jennings, Christ. Taylor,
James Harrison and others.

"There is one at Falls, one at the Governor's house,
one at Colchester riv^er, all in the county of Bucks :
one at Tawcony, one at Philadelphia, both in that
county: one at Darby at John Blunston's, one at
Chester, one at Ridley at J. Simcock's, and one at
Wm. Ruse's at Chichester, in Cheshire. There be
three monthly meetings of men and women, for truth's
service: in the county of Chester one, in the county of
Philadelphia another, and in the county of Bucks
another. And we intend a yearly meeting in the third
month next. Here our care is, as it was in our native
land, that we may serve the Lord's truth and people."

The Governor's house was undoubtedly at Penns-
bury ; by Colchester river the Neshaminy or Middle-
town meeting is meant, which was then in existence,

PENNS FIRST COUNCIL IN PHILADELPHIA. lOI

and Cheshire was strangely substituted for Chester
county. Of these nine meetings, the number I infer,
six must have been estabhshed since the arrival of
Penn, that is within a period of less than five months,
showing in so short a time an extraordinary increase.
Chiefly brought about by the unceasing exertions of
the Proprietary. This was far more than had been
previously done by the Dutch, Swedes and English,
within the same limits in the rule of half a century.

The Governor and Council met again in Philadel-
phia on the 2d of 2d month. The Charter of the
Province was read in the evening and signed, sealed
and delivered by the Proprietary for the inhabitants to
James Harrison and the Speaker, who were ordered
to return the former one with the unanimous thanks
of the House. The Council continued in session on
the 3d and 4th, when they adjourned till the 2d of 3d
month.

I02 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER IX.

ANOTHER MEETING WITH LORD BALTIMORE. PUR-
CHASES FROM THE INDIANS.
[Afaj/ and June, /d<?j.]

The next Council held by Penn was at Lewis in
Sussex county on the 2ci of jd month. He informed
the members that he had made choice of Nicholas
More to be secretary, who took the place accordingly-
After the business had been gone through with, they
adjourned till the 23d, when they met in Philadelphia,
and continued in session the following day.

On the 20th, a letter was sent by Ephraim Herman
to Penn from New Castle, in which he says, " Last
night came here from the head of the Bay the Somer-
set county pork merchant, who sold your honor the
pork some six weeks ago, who brings certain intelli-
gence that the Lords Culpepper and Baltimore, have
designed to be this day at Captain Wards, and to-
morrow or Wednesday hither with a great number of
attendants, of which I thought it my duty to acquaint
your honor."

A few days later Penn received the following letter
from Lord Baltimore announcing his coming:

" Most Honorable Friend. — Being come this day to

MEETING WITH LORD BALTIMORE. IO3

Sassafras River, and resolving to-morrow to be at the
head of the Elk, I remembered my promise to you in
my letter of the 28th of the last month; and now send
one of my secretaries and kinsmen, Mr. John Darnal
with this salute. Assuring you, that I should wil-
lingly carry it myself, had you thought a visit from me
convenient : but being sensible, that you have desired
none may pass until we have a private conference. I
shall wait at the head of my Bay, expecting the favor
you premised me by that letter you sent me by your
servant ; hoping that I have no wise failed in point of
time, nor in any other respect due to you from Sir
" Your affectionate friend to serve you,

"C. Baltimore.
From Mr. James Frisby's on Sassafras River, 23d
of May, 1683.

Addressed " For my Hond. friend William Penn,
Esq. at Philadelphia, Pensilvania." (i.)

In regard to this meeting and the business connected
therewith, Penn gives the following interesting ac-
count:

"When the spring came I sent an express to pray
the time and place, when and where I should meet him,
to effect the business, we adjourned at that time. I
followed close upon the messenger, that no time might
be lost. But the expectation, he twice had, of the
Lord Culpepper's visit, disappointed any meeting on
our affairs, till the month called May ; he then sent
three g-entlemen to let me know, he would meet me at

104 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

the head of the bay of Chesapeake ; I was then in
treaty with the kings of the natives for land ; but three
days after we met ten miles from New Castle, which is
thirty from the bay. I invited him to the town, where
having entertained him, as well as the town could
afford, on so little notice, and iinding him only desirous
of speaking with me privately, I pressed that we might,
at our distinct lodgings, sit severally with our councils,
and treat by way of written memorials ; which would
prevent the mistakes, or abuses, that may follow from
ill designs, or ill memory ; but he avoided it, saying,
' He was not well, and the weather sultry, and would
return with what speed he could, reserving any other
treaty to another season.' — Thus we parted, at that
time. I had been before told by divers, that Lord
Baltimore had issued forth a proclamation, to invite
people, by lower prices, and greater quantities of land,
to plant in the lower counties; in which the Duke's
goodness had interested me, as an inseparable benefit
to this whole province."

From a letter by Lord Baltimore, dated June i ith,
to Mr. Blathwayte in London, we learn that the afore-
said private conference at New Castle took place on
the 29th.

Among the many interesting incidents connected
with Penn's residence in America, the following is of
too curious a nature to let pass by, and does honor to
his generosity. The first child born of English par-
ents in Philadelphia was John Key, who first saw the

MEETING WITH LORD BALTIMORE. IO5

light in a cave near the foot of Sassafras, now better
known as Race street. For this distinction the Gov-
ernor presented him with a warrant the 26th of 3d
month, 1683, for a lot of ground, 49^ feet front and
306 feet deep, on the south side of Sassafras street,
west of Fourth. Mention is made therein as " granted
unto John Key, then an infant, being ye first born in ye
city of Philadelphia." He received his patent for it
in 171 3, and afterwards sold it and removed to Ken-
net in Chester county, where he died in 1767, at the
advanced age of 85 years.

Meetings of the Council were held by the Governor
in Philadelphia, on the 6th, 8th, 9th, i ith, 20th and
26th of 4th month, but nothing of special interest ap-
pears to have been transacted. The principal object
in making such statements, is to show as far as can
be ascertained the Proprietary's daily movements. At-
tention to this has enabled us to correct several mis-
statements.

Christopher Taylor, James Harrison, Thomas Holme
and Thomas Winne were appointed by Penn, Commis-
sioners to treat with West Jersey, " concerning the
satisfaction I have demanded in a letter to the said
Governor and Council for certain great wrongs and in-
justice done unto me and this province by some of the
inhabitants of their colony. As also to settle a right
understanding between me and them about the trade
and the islands therein and whatsoever you shall do
herein, I do hereby ratify and confirm and this shall

I06 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

be to you a sufficient credential. Giv^en at Philadel-
phia the I ith of the 4th month, the 35th year of the
reign of the King, and the third of my Govern-
ment."

To the aforesaid he gave written instructions, in
which he says, " So soon as you shall arrive in
Burlington, take care to make known to the Gov-
ernor and Council, That you are sent in my name,
to treat with them about some provincial business,
and therefore desire a time that you may be heard."
He had sent the same day a letter to the Governor of
that province about the aforesaid grievances, a copy of
which is in the State Paper Office, London.

About the 26th of the previous month, Penn states
that he was in treaty with several Indian kings for
land, with what result is explained in the following
grants :

Tamanen on the 23d of this month (June) conveys
to the Proprietary all his lands lying between the
Pennepack and Neshaminy creeks for a consideration.
Essepenaike and Swanpees the same day grant all
their rights to the lands situated between the aforesaid
streams, and extending backwards from the same two
days journey with a horse, and is further confirmed by
Tamanen and Metamequan. On the 25th, Winge-
bone disposes of all his lands lying on the west side of
Schuylkill, beginning at the first falls, thence all along
upon said river and backwards of the same as far as
his rieht gfoes.

PURCHASES FROM THE INDIANS. IO7

In an address prepared by James Logan and de-
livered to Sassoonan, alias Allumapees, in Philadelphia,
August 13, 1 73 I, mention is made of an answer by
the former, in which he says that he understands every
word that was said, and remembers when William Penn
went up to Perkasie to meet the Indians there, and that
Tamany, Menangetand Hetkoquean were present, (i.)
As Perkasie is situated on the west branch of the
Neshaminy, it is very probable that on this occasion
the purchases relating to the aforesaid conveyances
were made, and the same to which Penn referred when
speaking about his business- with Lord Baltimore. In
further confirmation, these purchases are the earliest
known to have been made by him with the Indians for
lands. The originals of these deeds may be seen in
the office of the Secretary of State at Harrisburg.
Tamanen's or Taminy's signature is a rude representa-
tion of a rattlesnake. A receipt and an endorsement
on them appears to be in the Governor's handwriting

On the 24th, Lord Baltimore sent a lengthy letter
to Penn in reference to the boundaries, the contents
being equivalent to about eight pages of foolscap. It
is dated " Mattapany," and styles him " My most
Hon'd friend." A few extracts are selected, (i.)

" I am, therefore, in a most particular manner,
obliged to you for the kindness expressed by your last
letters of the 6th, and 9th instant, which came to my
hands yesterday at Port Tobacco in Charles county ;
some sixty miles from Patuxent, where I am now

I08 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

newly come, chiefly to return you my answer, and
very affectionately to acknowledge your expressions of
respects and friendship to me, for which I will ever be
your debtor. In the next place I cannot but signify
my trouble to understand by one of yours, that mine
of the 31st ultimo came not to your hands till the 6th
instant, which must be a supine neglect in John Thom-
son, Clerk of Cecil county to whom I gave that letter
the same day it was written with strict charge, and
command the messenger to deliver it the next day to
your cousin Capt. Markham, which if he did not, he
shall be severely reprehended for his contempt and
carelessness therein,

" In your letter of the 6th instant you put me in
mind of the obligations you know I lie under. First
for the honor and favor you afforded me in despatching
your secretary with two other gentlemen to acquaint
me with your arrival and with the assurance of your
respect and friendship, and secondly for the long and
unpleasant journey you took in a cold season in order
to give me further pledges of a friendly agreement and
neighborhood. As I was highly sensible of your re-
spect, kindness, and friendship therein."

A court was held at Chester for said county on the
27th, at which, as the records inform us, " William
Penn, Esqr. Proprietary and Governor " presided.
That a Governor should act in the official capacity of a
Judge in the trial of cases appears at this day strange.
It was a feudal prerogative from the parent country, and
in the hands of tyrants a power liable to gross abuse.

MORE INDIAN PURCHASES. IO9

CHAPTER X.

MORE INDIAN PURCHASES. PENNSBURY. FURTHER

ACCOUNTS OF THE PROVINCE.

[>//, t68j.-\

After holding a Council at Philadelphia on the 4th
of 5th month, we can find nothing of interest concern-
ing Penn till the 14th, when a grant was made for a
purchase of lands from Secane and Idquoquehan,
" Indian shackamakers," for all the lands lying be-
tween Maniaunk or Schuylkill river and Macapanakhan
or Chester creek, beginning on the west side Schuyl-
kill at a hill called Conshohocken, and from thence by
a westerly line to the said Macapanakhan creek. At
the same time Neneshickon, Malebore, Neshanocke and
Oscrenean dispose of their rights to all the lands
between the said Schuylkill river and Pennypack creek,
and as far north as the hill called Conshokocken
The aforesaid is now better known as Edge Hill, being
a long narrow ridge of primal white sandstone crossing
the Delaware at Trenton, and running south-westerly
into Maryland. It is chiefly remarkable for being the
first elevation of any length above tide water, and for
the purpose mentioned, served as a prominent natural
boundary.

no WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

From Philadelphia on the i 8th Penn sent a draft of
his proclamation to London, in relation to the lands of
Thomas Mathews of Burlington, a copy of which is in
the State Paper Office. This no doubt has reference
to the matter on which he appointed four Commis-
sioners on the iith of last month, to treat with the
Governor of New Jersey " for certain great wrongs and
injustice done unto me and the province about the
trade and the islands therein."

In this month the Proprietary issued an order for
the establishment of a post-office, and granted Henry
Waldy, of Tacony, authority to hold one, and also to
supply passengers with horses from Philadelphia to the
Falls and New Castle. The rates of postage on letters
from the Falls to the city was three pence ; to Chester,
five pence, and to New Castle, seven pence. It went
only once a week ; and it was Phineas Pemberton's
duty to put up a notice to this effect at the most pub-
lic places, and on the doors of the private houses
where the meetings were then held.

Phineas Pemberton, just mentioned, arrived here
shortly after Penn, and so well and favorably known
in the early annals of Bucks, was commissioned the
first Clerk of the Court as the following, copied from
the records, bears testimony :

"William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of the
Province of Pennsylvania and the Territories thereunto
belonging. To Phineas Pemberton greeting : Repos-
ing confidence in thv integrity and ability, I do here-

PENNSBURV. I I I

by constitute and appoint thee Clark of the Court of
the County of Bucks, to act in the same employment
with all diligence, faithfulness and according to law ;
and to receive the fees due as by law directed. This
Commission to be of force as long as thou shalt well
behave thyself therein. Given at Pennsbury the 21st
of 5th month, 1683.

Wm. Penn."

In the aforesaid we have the earliest mention of
Pennsbury, and estabhshes the fact that Penn was
residing there at this time — during the heated term in
the midst of summer. Mention was made of the
Friends holding meetings here at the " Governor's
house," before the middle of First month last, over
five months previous. In consequence, it becomes us
now to say something respecting its earlier history.
From Lindstrom's map of New Sweden in 1654, we
find the stream here called " Sapaessing," which name
was also applied to the country in the vicinity, as we
learn from the Albany records of 1672. It is an
Indian name, and is said to signify "a place of plums,"
from the abundance of this kind of fruit found grow-
ing here. The name was also applied to the island
above the place, now generally known as Biddle's
island.

Deputy Governor Markham purchased for Penn,
August 1st, 1682, at the house of Capt. Lasse Cock,

112 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

at Upland, of several Indian chiefs, among other ex-
tensive tracts " ye land called Soepassincks, and ye
island of ye same name." This manor originally con-
tained 8,43 1 acres, fronting on the Delaware for
several miles. The soil was fertile, and from accounts
was one of the heaviest timbered tracts in the county.
Here, by the margin of the Delaware, Penn had his
mansion erected in the years 1682-83, ^"^ it is said
under the direction of his relative Markham, at a cost
of;^7,ooo, which at that day was certainly a large sum.
For its better construction a considerable quantity of
the most finished and ornamental materials had been
brought from England. Here he afterwards resided
for a time with his family, and held treaties with the
Indians and religious meetings.

That he had an attachment to a rural life is exhib-
ited in the following extract from the parting address to
his wife on the eve of embarkation to America : " Let
my children be husbandmen and housewifes. This
leads to consider the works of God and nature, and
diverts the mind from being taken up with the vain
arts and inventions of a luxurious world. Of cities
and towns, of concourse beware. The world is apt
to stick close to those who have lived and got wealth
there. A country life and estate I like best for my
children." That he was fond of calling places after
the several members of his family, Pennsbury, Wil-
liamstadt, Springettsbury, Callowhill, Gilberts and
others sufficiently attest.

FURTHER ACCOUNTS OF THE PROVINCE. II3

During this month Penn sent four letters with his
agent Capt. Markham to England, all of great interest;
containing considerable information respecting the
colony, the Indians, the natural productions of the
country and the progress made in improvements, etc.
The prime object, however, of these, it would appear,
was to secure influence from those in power, and be of
assistance to him in his claims against Lord Baltimore
respecting the boundaries between the two provinces.

The following, dated Philadelphia, the 24th of 5th
month, 1683, "For Colonel Henry Sidney, in Leiches-
terfield," who was the third son of the Earl of Leicester,
brother to the celebrated Algernon Sidney, and an
uncle of Lord Sunderland. For the active part he
took in the Revolution of 1688, was created by Wil-
liam and Mary, P2arl of Romney. To Penn he con-
tinued a sincere and lasting friend. Nearly the whole
of this interesting letter is here given :

" The great parts of friendship are love, truth, and
constancy, and from the time it pleased thee to receive
mine, it hath not wandered in any one respect, but I
still love and honour thee, and would be glad I could
be of any service to thee ; at this distance, to be sure
I cannot, but neither can distance wear out the impres-
sions a long and kind acquaintance hath made upon
my mind. 'Tis with this familiar talk I begin to
entertain thee, though a great man, now in the govern-
ment, and long deserving to hav^e been so in thyself,

I 14 WM. PENN IX AMERICA.

nor shall I ask any excuse for this freedom with a
person whose good nature will not be offended, and
whose good sense loveth little ceremony in writing.

" I hav^e been here about nine months, and have had
my health, I thank God very well ; I find the country
wholesome, land, air, and water good, divers good sorts
of wood and fruits that grow wild, of which plums,
peaches and grapes are three; also cedar, chestnut and
black walnut and poplar, with five sorts of oak, black
and white, Spanish, red and swamp oak the most
durable of all, the leaf like the English willow.

" We have laid out a town a mile long, and two
miles deep. On each side of the town runs a navigable
river, the least as broad as the Thames at Woolwich,
the other about a mile over. I think we have near
about eighty houses built, and about three hundred
farmers settled around the town. I fancy it already
pleasanter than the Weald of Kent, our being clearer,
and the country not much closer; a coach might be
driven twenty miles end-ways. We have had fifty sail
of ships and small vessels, since the last summer in
our river, which shows a good beginning. And I
hope God will prosper our honest care and industry,
yet a friend at Court is a good thing ; and I flatter
myself to believe, I shall never want one while thou
art there. Wherefore give me leave to recommend the
bearer, my agent and kinsman, Captain William Mark-
ham, to thy favour and power.

" I hear the Lord Sunderland is Secretary of State

FURTHER ACCOUNTS OF THE PROVIN'CE. II5

again; I also remember his kind promises, and the
mighty influences thou deservedly hast upon him;
pray use it in my affair, that only I and my family, but
the province may owe a singular acknowledgement to
thy kindness. That, in which I so earnestly solicit thy
assistance, he will better communicate than I can write
it ; and I would not make my letter troublesome. The
business is just, and honourable, and prudent for the
Crown to hear me in, and that I hope will make it
easie to my noble friends to favour me. I have written
to the Lord Sunderland about it, for it belongs to his
station, and since no man can better welcome it to him
than myself, let me throw myself upon thee, and by
both thy introduction of him and countenance of the
business of the Lord. God will reward thee, and we
here shall rest the debtors of thy goodness, with much
thankfulness.

" I have only to ask pardon for a poor present I send,
of the growth of our country. Remember the offer-
ings of old were valued by the hearts of them that
made them ; which gives me assurance it will be ac-
cepted. I hear little news, and am not very careful of
it ; but a line of thy health, and success of thy affairs
will be very pleasant : nobody interesting himself with
more affection and sincerity in thy prosperity than thy
very faithful friend."

In the aforesaid, Penn remarks he had written a
letter at sea soliciting a few fruit trees raised by Lord
Sunderland's gardener, with a view of giving them a

I 1 6 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

trial as to the success and quality of what may be pro-
duced here. The willow or peach oak is somewhat of
a rare tree in Pennsylvania, but is still found in the low
grounds of Pennsbury manor.

" To the Lord Keeper North, My Noble Friend," he
writes at the same time, in which he says, " It hath
been sometimes a c|uestion with me whether writing or
silence would be more excusable, for it is an unhap-
piness incident of great men to be troubled with
the prospects of those their power and goodness
oblige, but because I had rather want excuse for
this freedom than be wanting of gratitude to my bene-
factor, I determined to render my most humble thanks
for the many favours I received at the Lord North's
hand, in the passing and great dispatch of my patent.

" I thank God I am safely arrived, and twenty-two
sail more ; the air proveth sweet and good, the land
fertile, and springs many and pleasant. We are one
hundred and thirty miles from the main sea, and forty
miles up the freshes. The town plat is a mile long and
two miles deep ; on each side of the town runs a navi-
gable river, the least as broad as the Thames at Wool-
wich, the other above a mile, and I suppose above three
hundred farms settled as contigiously as may be. We
have had since last summer about sixty sail of great
and small shipping, which we esteem a good beginning ;
a fair we have had, and weekly market, to which the
ancient lowly inhabitants come to sell their produce to
their profit and our accommodation.

FURTHER ACCOUNTS OF THE PROVINCE. \\J

" I have also bought land of the natives, treated them
largely, and settled a firm and advantageous corres-
pondency with them ; who are a careless, merry people,
yet in property strict with us, though as kind as can
be among themselves ; in council so deliberate, in
speech short, grave and eloquent, young and old in
their several class, that I have never seen in Europe
anything more wise, cautious or dexterous 'tis as ad-
mirable to me as it may look incredible on that side
of the water.

" I have only to add, that it would please the Lord
North, to smile favourably upon us, a plantation so well
regulated for the benefit of the crown, and so improv-
ing and hopeful by the industry of the people, that
since stewards used to follow such enterprises in ancient
times at least encouragement and countenance might be
yielded us, whose aims shall in everything be bounded
with a just regard to the King's service ; and we think
we may reasonably hope, that England being the mar-
ket both of our wants and industry in great measure,
there is interest as well as goodness of our side.

" I have pardon to ask for a poor present I make by
the hands of the bearer my agent and kinsman Capt.
Markham ; all I have to say is this ; 'tis our country
produce, and that of old time offerings were valued by
the heart that made them. I end with a congratulation
of the honour the King hath joined to thy great merit,
and my sincere and most affectionate wishes for thy
prosperity ; being one of those many, whom thy good-

I I 8 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

ness hath obHged to own and approve, as I really am,
thy very sensible, thankful friend."

The following, published in the Memoirs of the His-
torical Society of Pennsylvania (vol. II. pp. 243-7),
was addressed to the Earl of Sunderland, and is dated
on the 28th, from which we give several extracts :

" I had rather need an excuse than be wanting of
gratitude to my noble benefactors of which the Lord
Sunderland was one of the first, in the business of my
American country. I am now in a station, where my
own weakness or my neighbour's envy may happen to
hurt my honest interest and the good work I have in
my eye. Please to take me and my poor feeble con-
cerns into thy protection, and give us thy smiles and
countenance ; and I will venture to say ; that by the
help of God and such noble Friends I will show a
province in seven years equal to her neighbours of
forty years planting.

" I have laid out the Province into counties, six are
begun to be seated, they lie on the great river and are
planted about six miles back. The town plat is a mile
long and two deep — has a navigable river on each side,
the least as broad as the Thames at Woolwich, from
three to eight fathom water. There is built about
eighty houses, and I have settled at least three hun-
dred farms contigious to it. We have had with pas-
sengers twenty-three ships, and trading forty great and
small since last summer, not amiss for one year. Here is
a hickory nut tree, mighty large, and more tough than

FURTHER ACCOUNTS OF THE PROVIN'CE. II9

our ash, the finest white and flaming fire I have ever
seen. I have had better venison, bigger, more tender,
and as fat as in England. Turkeys of the wood, I had
of fort}" and fifty pounds weight. Fish in abundance
hereaways yet as I hear of, but oysters, that are
monstrous for bigness, though there be a lesser sort.

" The Indians are an extraordinary people had not
the Dutch, Swedes and English learned them drunken-
ness (in which condition, they kill or burn one another)
they had been very tractable, but rum is so dear to
them, that for six penny worth, one may buy that fur
from them, that five shillings, in an\' other community
shall not purchase. Yet many of the old men, and
some of the young people will not touch such spirits ;
and because in those fits they mischief both themselves
and our folks too, I have forbid to sell them any.
Pardon my noble Friend this length, I thought it my
duty to give an account of the place to one whose
favour had helped to make it mine, and who was
pleased more than once to discourse on the settlement
of it. I have only to recommend the bearer my kins-
man, Capt. Markham, and to pray access in my affairs,
yet not fully fixt, by the unkindness of my neighbour,
the Lord Baltimore."

The letter to Henry Savill was also written in
Philadelphia and dated the 30th, and may be seen in
full in the Pennsylvania Archives, vol. I. pp. 68-9.

" My Worthy Friend," he writes, " Permit a man
that has not troubled thee a lonu" time to do it now a

I20 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

little with the news of this new world that by it at least
I may continue and preserve my claims to an old and
very obliging acquaintance. I thank God I am come
well to America and what is more, like it well but that
is no news. The land is good, sand and loam some-
times strong, the air serene as in Languedoc,the waters
cool and sweet. One gteat navigable river the eastern
bounds of our Province and three or four smaller,
running into that, the woods yield us cypress, cedar,
black walnut, sassafras, oak white, black, red, Spanish,
chestnut and swamp, the hardest and most lasting pop-
lar, the best in the world, I have here a canoe of one
tree that fetches four ton of bricks also ash and many
that in England we have not. The woods also yield
us grapes, plums, peaches, strawberries and chestnuts
in abundance.

" I have laid out a town, a mile long and two deep,
on each side of which is a navigable river ye least of
which is as broad as ye Thames at Woolwich, as I re-
member, from three to eight fathom. The winter is
sometimes three months usually but two, one in three
years sharp, I suppose we have eighty houses in our
town and about three hundred farmers near it to help
us with provisions and the merchants and mechanics to
accommodate them with goods.

"The natives are proper and shapely, very swift,
their language lofty. They speak little, but fervently
and with elegancy, I have never seen more natural
sagacity, considering them without the help I was

FURTHER ACCOUNTS OF THE PROVINCE. 12 1

going to say the spoil of tradition. The worst is that
they are the worse for the Christians who have prop-
agated their views and yielded them tradition for the
worst and not for the better things. They believe in
a Deity and immortality without the help of metaphis-
ics and some of them admirably sober, though the
Dutch, Swedes and English have by brandy and rum
almost debaucht them all and when drunk the most
wretched of spectacles, of burning and sometimes
murdering one another, at which times the Christians
are not without danger as well as fear. Though for
gain they will run the hazard both of that and the law.
They make their worship to consist of two parts, sac-
rifices which they offer of their first fruits with mar-
velous fervency and labour of body sweating as if in
a bath. The other is their canticoes as they call them
which is performed by round dances, sometimes words,
then songs, then shouts being in the middle that begin
and direct the chorus this they perform with equal
fervency but great appearance of joy.

" In this I admire them, nobody shall want what
another has, yet they have propriety, but freely com-
municable, they want or care for little, no bills of ex-
change, nor bills of lading, no chancery suits nor ex-
checiuer accounts have they to perplex themselves with,
they are soon satisfied and their pleasure feeds them, I
mean hunting and fishing. I have made two pur-
chases, and have had two presents of land from them.

" Things here go on very prosperously, and with

122 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

God's help and the Kings and my noble Friend's fa-
vour I doubt not in seven years to equal plantations
forty years older, as in a town (the life of a province) I
hav^e already outdone some. I do earnestly recommend
the bearer Capt. Markham my kinsman, an ingenious
person and my agent at Court for the completing of
my affairs. Pray give him access and measures, favour
our beginnings and let not this distance rob me of the
continuance of thy favour and friendship."

These several letters do Penn infinite credit, and show
him to have been a careful observer of the habits of
the natives, the productions of the soil, and of the
growth and progress of the province, as well as
its adaptations and capabilities. In correspondence he
certainly possessed a ready pen, and few can be found
of that day treating on kindred subjects that can ap-
proach them in style and information.

About this time Penn appears to have had consid-
erable anxiety concerning his relations with Lord
Baltimore, and which, as we see, induced him to dis-
patch Captain Markham as his agent to England. In
a letter to John Tucker on the 29th, he says, " My
difficulties have been many, and are continued by the
backwardness of Lord Baltimore to comply with the
King's letter." Two days later he wrote to Col.
Thomas Taylor, of Annarundel county, at whose house
the conference had been held in December last. " I
had his promise at the same time, and treated him at
the Georee and Vulture for that verv reason where he

FURTHER ACCOUNTS OF THE PROVINCE. 1 23

challenged with me to have spoken so, but hath not
performed Again, I finding this place necessary to
my province, and that the presence of the Lord Balti-
more was against law civil and common, I endeavored
to get it, and have it, and will keep it if I can. But
the Proprietor is good or bad a charging ; for he
charges my suppositions as concessions : If thou hast
a title to the lower counties, they are not the farther
off, because I have them ; and the 40th degree of
North Latitude be higher than common fame giveth it,
what wilt thou let me have it at per mile, and so pro
rata, and I will waive the King's letter."

A communication was sent to his " Esteemed
Friend," Philemon Lloyd at Choptank, in Maryland,
dated from Philadelphia, on the 31st. It is lengthy
and treats chiefly on religious matters. Having heard
that he was recovering after considerable sickness, and
expresses the desire that he may soon be well again.
From the friendliness exhibited therein by Penn, it is
very probable that he was entertained by him, and at-
tended religious worship when on his return from West
River.

124. ^^''^^- PEXX IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XI.

EXERTIONS OF PENN OX THE BOUNDARY QUESTION.

WRITES A PAMPHLET ON THE PROVINCE.

ARRIVAL OF PASTORIUS.

{August, 1 683:]

The Governor held a Council in Philadelphia, on
the 1st of 6th month, Nicholas More, the Secretary,
being present. Among other matters, " That 'tis
thought fit the care of Magistrates, that due provision
be made for the sustenance of the people, and though
our provisions are but small, yet that there may be
care taken every one may partake." Another meeting
was held on the i6th, when they adjourned till the
29th. On the latter day, " The Governor put the
question whether a proclamation were not convenient
to be put forth to impower Masters to chastise their
servants, and to punish any that shall inveigle any
servant to go from his Master." The minutes state
that this was unanimously agreed upon, " and ordered
it accordingly."

Among the papers that Penn prepared in his defence
to send to England, was a statement made out on the
9th of this month, that at the Conference held at Col.

THE BOUNDARY QUESTION. I 25

Taylor's in Maryland, in loth month last, in reply to
his arguments about two degrees being only granted
to Lord Baltimore, Chancellor Charles Calvert had
said, " Sir, to show you that the patent was not to
begin by degrees, my father had a grant of more of
Virginia then than now my nephew enjoyeth, but that
the patent giving only unplanted land, he was advised
to let it fall least he forfeited the whole."

A few days before Markham's embarkation, Penn
prepared a letter to be presented to the King, Charles
II. A copy was made by J. R. Coates, h^sq., from the
original in London, which was published in 1827, in
the Memoirs (vol. II. pp. 241-3) of the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania. For our purpose it is too
lengthy, and therefore give only the following extracts:
" Great and Gracious Prince.

"It is a barren soil that yields no returns to the dew
that feeds it, and they are mean and ungrateful minds
that are oblivious of the favours they receive. I would
fain excuse this freedom, if I were not bound to use
it, for being destitute of better ways, gratitude makes
it necessary to me, and necessity is a solicitor that takes
no denial. Let the King then graciously please to
accept my most humble thanks for his many royal
favours, conferred upon me, more especially this of
Pennsylvania. I only lament myself, in a way suitable
to the sense I have of the great obligations I lie
under. * * * *

" Give me leave next, to say, so soon as I was

126 WM. PENN IX AMERICA.

arrived and made any settlement of this Province ; I
thought it my duty to wait upon the King by some
person of the Province, in condition of an Agent
extraordinary, which is the bearer my kinsman Mark-
ham, formerly deputy in this Government, and though
this would not look wholy free of vanity, considering
my late private capacity, yet I take it to be the duty
of those persons whom the goodness of the Kings of
England hath at any time clothed with extraordinary
powers in these parts of the world, to show their
deference to the Imperial Majesty they are tributary
to, and their dependence upon it, by the mission and
attendance of Agents in their names at the Court I
have only now. Great Prince, to pray pardon and
acceptance for a poor present of country produce, and
that it would graciously please the King to take me
still into his favour, his young Province into his pro-
tection ; and God, the bountiful rewarder of good and
gracious acts, retaliate them both with temporal and
eternal glory. I am with reverence and truth Great
and Gracious Prince thy most thankful, humble and
obedient subject and servant in all I can.

Wm. Penn.
" Philadelphia, 13th Aug. '8^."

On the 14th Penn closed his arduous labors for a
short time on the great boundary dispute. For on
this day he finished his letter to the Lords of the Com-
mittee of Plantations in London, to be forwarded with
the other letters.

HIS PAMPHLET ON THE PROVINCE. 12/

After going over the controversy he concludes as
follows : " I have only humbly to add that the province
hath a prospect of an extraordinary improvement, as
well by divers sorts of strangers, as English subjects;
that, in all acts- of justice, we name and venerate the
King's authority ; that I have followed the Bishop of
London's counsel, by buying, and not taking away the
natives' land ; with whom I have settled a very kind
correspondence. I return my most humble thanks for
)'our former favours, in the passing of my patent, and
pray God reward you. I am most ready to obey all
your commands, according to the obligations of them,
and beseech you take this province into your pro-
tection under his Majesty, and him, whom his good-
ness hath made Governor of it, into your favours."

In the aforesaid, Penn modestly pays the Bishop a
high compliment. But in this respect he was but fol-
lowing the example of the Dutch, Swedes and the Eng-
lish, in the case of Governor Andros within the same
territory. Queen Christina, in her instructions to Gov-
ernor Printz, forbid him to take land from the Indians,
except by a fair purchase. We are not aware that
either the Government or any of the Kings of P>ngland
admitted such a right in the natives, at least down to
a short time before the middle of last century. There
are documents extant to prove this, which state that
his Maje.sty was vested in the exclusive ownership of
the soil.*

* See history of the Indian Walk, chapter II.

128 WM. PEXN IN AMERICA.

We have at this time another evidence of the ex-
traordinary industry exhibited amidst his multifarious
duties in " A Letter from WilHam Penn Proprietary and
Governour of Pennsyh'ania in America to the Commit-
tee of the Free Society of Traders of that Province, re-
siding in London. Containing a General Description of
the said Province, its Soil, Air, Water, Seasons and
Produce, both Natural and Artificial, and the good
Encrease thereof" He gives in it the date of " i6th of
6th Moneth, called August 1683," and at the end signs
himself " Your Kind Cordial Friend." It was pub-
lished in a pamphlet of 1 1 pages royal octavo size, and
on the title page states, " Printed and Sold by Andrew
Sowle at the Crooked-Billet in Holloway, Shoreditch,
and at several Stationers in London, 1683." We ex-
tract the followincr interestinsf account:

"The city of Philadelphia, now extends in length,
from river to river, two miles, and in breadth near a
mile ; and the Governour, as a further manifestation of
his kindness to the purchasers, hath freely given them
their respective lots in the city, without defalcation of
any other cjuantities of purchase lands ; and as its now
placed and modelled between two navigable rivers up-
on a neck of land, and that ships may ride in good
anchorage, in six or eight fathom water in both rivers,
close to the city, and the land of the city, dry and
wholesome ; such a scituation is scarce to be parallel'd.

" The city consists of a large Front-street to each
river, and a High street near the middle from Front to

HIS PAMPHLET ON THE PROVINCE. 1 29

Front, of one hundred foot broad, and a Broad street
in the middle of the city, from side to side, of the hke
breadth. In the centre of the city is a square of ten
acres ; at each angle are to be houses for publick
affairs, as a Meeting-House, Assembly or State-House,
Market-House, School-House, and several other build-
ings for public concerns. There are also in each
quarter of the city a square of eight acres, to be for
the like uses, as the Moore-fields in London ; and
eight streets, besides the High Street, that run from
Front to Front, and twenty streets, besides the Broad
street, that run cross the city, from side to side ; all
these streets are of fifty foot breadth."

The pamphlet contains an engraved plot or plan of
the city, as laid out by the Surveyor- General, with the
lots numbered. In this also appeared his full and ex-
ceedingly well-written account of the Indians. For its
size, in our opinion, the very best in the language on
that subject that appeared within said century. Such
was the popularity of this work that it was soon after
translated into several European languages, and read
with great interest. It was republished in The Present
State of British America, by Richard Blome, in 1687,
in Proud's History of Pennsylvania (vol. I. pp. 245-
264), Hazard's Register (vol. I. p. 433), and in a num-
ber of other works.

It is remarkable that the square " in the centre of
the city," designed by Penn for the Public Buildings,

I 30 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

should, after an interval of more than a century and
three-quarters, through a popular vote, be appropriated
to that use. This shows the far-seeing plans of the
man to whom Philadelphia is now so much indebted
for the admirable arrangements of its streets and public
squares. If any one is deserving a statue, as is pro-
posed, on the lofty dome of the new City Hall, it must
be he.

In the previous year at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, in Ger-
many, was founded the first company for sending colo-
nists to America; it was called " Die Auswanderer Ges-
elchaft," but here known as the Frankfort Land Com-
pany. One of its principal agents was Francis Daniel
Pastorius, a native of Limburg, and an accomplished
scholar. Hearing of the success of Penn's colony, and
pleased with his broad and liberal views, he embarked
on the ship America, Captain Wasey, which took its
departure from Deal June 7th, 1683; and on the i6th
of August made first sight of land, but did not enter
the Capes of Delaware until the i8th. On the 20th
they passed New Castle and Chester, and towards
evening arrived at Philadelphia. He was soon fol-
lowed by thirty-three other Germans from Crefeldt, who
arrived in the Concord, William Jeffries, master, on the
8th of October.

Pastorius says they landed " in perfect health and
safety, where we were all welcomed with great joy and
love by the governor William Penn and his secretary.
He at once made me his confidential friend, and I am

ARRIVAL OF PASTORIUS. I3I

frequently requested to dine with him, where I can en-
joy his good counsel and edifying conversations.
Lately, I could not visit him for eight days, when he
waited upon me himself, requesting me to dine with
him, in future, twice in each week, without particular
invitation, assuring me of his love and friendship to-
wards m3'self and the German people, hoping that all
the rest of the colonists would do the same.

" This wise and truly pious ruler and governor did
not, however, take possession of the province thus
granted without having first conciliated, and at various
counsils and treaties duly purchased from the natives
of this country the various sections of Pennsylvania.
He, having by these means ofltained good titles to the
province, under the sanction and signature of the chiefs,
I therefore have purchased from him some thirty thou-
sand acres for my German colony. Now, although
the oft-mentioned William Penn is one of the sect of
Friends or Quakers, still he will compel no man to
belong to his particular society, but he has granted to
every one free and untrammeled exercise of their
opinions, and the largest and most complete liberty of
concience."

These interesting extracts are translated from his
" Geographische Beschreibung Der Provintz, Pensyl-
vani;t," a work of 120 duo. pages, published at Frank-
fort and Leipzig in 1 700. In the preface he says, " That
it is worthy of note that this Province in 1684 con-
tained a population of 4,000 Christian souls." Pastorius

132 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

and his Germans were the founders of Germantown, of
whom Robert Turner, in a letter dated Philadelphia, 3d
of 6th mo., 1685, says they go on finely in the manu-
facture of fine linen, having gathered one crop of flax •
and sowed for the second, and were also preparing to
make brick the next year. Pastorius died in 17 19,
aged sixty-eight years.

We have the authority of Oldmixon, derived from a
personal interview, that some time this year Penn made
a journey into the interior of the Province. It was
made on horseback, and it may be possible that it was
one of those to which Thomas Fairman alludes as
having accompanied him. The principal object, no
doubt, was to become more intimately acquainted with
the country and its natural productions, as well as the
mode of Indian life from actual observation, for the
purpose of communicating the same abroad in his
writings for the benefit of the reading public, as has
been related in this and the previous chapter. Penn
stated how he slept at nights in their wigwams, par-
took of their fare, and how they treated their sick when
ill of fevers by sweatings in heated ovens and baths.
Wherever he came he was kindly received and hos-
pitably entertained. To this journey he undoubtedly
alludes in his '' Further Account of the Province,"
written in 1685; wherein he states, " I have made a
discovery of about a hundred miles west, and find
those back lands richer in soil, woods, and fountains,

ARRIVAL OF PASTORIUS. I 33

then that by Delaware ; especially upon the Susque-
hanna river." Certainly a pretty good judgment re-
specting the present Lancaster county, one of the gar-
den spots of America.

134 WM. PENN IX AMERICA.

CHAPTER XII.

MORE INDIAN PURCHASES. ADDITIONAL TROUBLES

RESPECTING THE BOUNDARIES. VISITS UMBILI-

CAMENCE. SELECTS A TRACT FOR THE

MANOR OF SPRINGFIELD.

\_Septci)ibcr and December, i68j.^

Penn attended the meetings of the Council in Phila-
delphia on the 7th, 8th, loth, i ith and 12th of this
(7th) month. On the 8th, " The Governor proposes a
law to be drawn, that servants which run away should
serve five days for every day's absence after the time
of their servitude, and pay the costs and damages the
masters shall sustain by their absence. The Governor
stating the question it was carried in the affirmative."

Kekelappan of Opasiskunk " conveys to Penn on the
loth, all his right to lands along the Susquehanna
with a further promise to sell unto him at ye next
spring at my return from hunting, ye other half of my
land, at as reasonable rates as other Indians have been
used to sell on this river." It is likely that this was
brought about by the Proprietary's recent journey into
the interior, when he may have visited that portion of
the province.

ADDITIONAL BOUNDARY TROUBLES. 1 35

As has been stated, Penii had troubles respecting
his boundaries with both Maryland and West New
Jersey, and now, through the aforesaid purchase, there
was to be an additional one. Col. Thomas Dungan
on the 1 8th sent a letter to the authorities at Albany,
in which he says, " I have this day advised with the
Council, and after a serious consideration as a cause of
so great importance rec|uired, it is for good and
weighty reasons thought very convenient and necessary
to put a stop to all proceedings in Mr. Penn's affairs
with the Indians, until his bounds and limits be
adjusted, at the determining of which I think either to
be personally present, or else send some on purpose.
You are therefore, to suffer no manner of proceedings
in that business until you shall have positive orders
from me about it, and Mr. Haigue, Penn's agent is to
be acquainted with the contents of this letter." This
matter induced the Proprietary a few days afterwards
to go to New York, and we know that he had not yet
returned on the 24th. While there, as will be shortly
mentioned, he availed himself of having copies made
from the early records to sustain not only his own, but
also the Duke's title to the Lower Territories.

Lord Baltimore, on the 17th, commissioned George
Talbot to proceed to Philadelphia to demand from
Penn or his deputy, all the land that lay southward of
the Fortieth degree of North latitude. On the 24th,
in the absence of the Proprietary, at New York, the
same was made on Nicholas More as his aeent. On

136 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

his return, Penn wrote a reply to Talbot, dated Phila-
delphia the 4th of 8th month, in which he stated that
the said territory belonged to his grants, and he would
therefore refuse to yield the same. In consequence, on
the 1 8th (Oct.), he issued a proclamation at New Castle,
prohibiting all persons to settle on the lands between
the Delaware river and Chesapeake Bay without his
leave.

Edward Brooks, while on a visit in the province,
purchased of Penn on the 12th, 2,000 acres of land
for eighty pounds sterling, " good and lawful money of
Old England," and promises to pay the same "within
ye space of six months after my arrival in England
unto Philip Ford, merchant in Bow Lane in London
without fail." This appears to be a singular condition
of payment, and shows that the Proprietary had
already trusted some of his business matters to Ford,
and of which exentually the latter was to take undue
advantage.

Another purchase was make by Penn on the i8th
from Macholoha for all his right to lands situated
between Chesapeake Bay and Delaware river, and ex-
tending upwards to the Falls of the Susquehanna. It
must be admitted that such boundaries are vaguely
expressed, but still could be the better comprehended
by the Indians.

Meetings of the Council were held by the Governor
on the 25th, 26th, 27th, 29th and 30th. On the 26th
he sentenced Charles Pickering for passing counterfeit

ADDITIONAL BOUNDARY TROUBLES. 1 3/

coin, to redeem all called in by proclamation within
a month and to be then melted down and returned to
him, and to pay a fine of forty pounds towards the build-
ing of the Court-house, and to stand committed till
paid, and then to find security for his future conduct.
Samuel Buckley is fined for being concerned in the
same ten pounds to go towards the Court-house, and
to find security for his behavior. Robert Fenton, a
servant concerned in the same, to sit in the stocks one
hour the following morning.

During 9th month, or November, we find little tran-
spiring of interest. William Beekman sent a letter to
Penn, dated New York, November 4th, in which he
says that two days after his departure from thence he
delivered a letter to William Frampton enclosing a
copy of an agreement or deed for the land between
Cape Henlopen and Bombay Hook, and also a copy
of the capitulation made in 1655 between the Swedish
and the Dutch Governors. In examining his journal,
found mention therein of a visit made to the Delaware
in 1663 by Lord Baltimore, Chancellor Calvert, Colo-
nel Utie and others, and though they remained there
five or six days, they set up no claim to any part of
said territory, (i.)

Meetings of the Council were held in Philadelphia
on the 7th and 21st, at which the Governor presided.
But little business was transacted, after which the\^ ad-
journed to the following month.

Edward Claypoole, who had embarked at Gravesend,

138 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

and shortly after his arrival, in a letter to his brother
James, a merchant of London, dated Philadelphia, 2d
of loth month, 1683. " Where," he says, " I found my
servant had builded me a house like a barn without a
chimney, forty by twenty feet v.ith a good dry cellar
under it, which proved an extraordinary conveniency
for receiving our goods and lodging my family." In
regard to land, expresses the opinion that " people
come in so fast that it is like to be much dearer in a
little time. As judged about one thousand acres
being now worth ^^"40 sterling." This denotes a con-
siderable immigration at this time.

On the 15th, William Clark writes from Lewis, Sus-
sex county, to the " Dear Governor " to inform him,
" That thine of the 23d of 9th month, and one by the
hands of John Hill, with no date, came to my hands,
and had no opportunity to send an answer until now.
As to Lord Baltimore's pretensions to these parts I
hear nothing 'of, and things being quiet. I did intend,
according to thy order that my wife should have pickled
some oysters to send to thee. In order to obtain them
I sent my servants, but it being at the beginning of the
severe weather, they ^vere forced to leave the canoe
with its contents, but as soon as it is fit I shall give it
my attention."

Respecting the boundary dispute with Baltimore,
Penn received a letter from Nicholas Bayard, of New
York, dated December 23d, '83; and from the interest
it possesses give it in full. It is likely has never been

ADDITIONAL BOUNDARY TROUBLES. 1 39

published before, and to suit our purpose have taken
some Hberties with its style.

" Honourable Sir. Since your departure I have
made an inquir\' by Mr. Frederick Philips concerning
your affairs, but as I told them then, I find by him
nothing which is material, for he came in the country
in the year 165 i, and is very ignorant of what is past
in any countr}' affairs about that time. I have made it
my business to speak with several of the old standers
in the country, but the most having been private per-
sons and without public employ, can likewise give no
account what right the Dutch formerly had in your
parts of Delaware, only that they had possession and
built forts there long before the year 1638 ; of which I
can procure several testimonies if you desire the same,
but I question not you may have such process more
ample from Peter Cock in Timor and other old inhabi-
tants in your colony. I have earnestly desired my
friend Van Rivyvan to furnish me from Holland with
all he can give or can procure in your behalf, and am
assured he will not be wanting therein, and I promised
him satisfaction, and to place it to my account for what
charge he should be at for the land. Here enclosed is
a copy of a protest I found in the records since your
departu're, if it may be of any service you may have a
copy of the same attested by ]\Ir. West or some public
officer, and wherein I may be further able to serve you.
Please freely to command your very humble servant,
(i.) Nicholas Bavard."

140 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

The Governor held a meeting of the Council in
Philadelphia on the 26th, at which the following mem-
bers were present : Wm. Clayton, Wm. Hague and
Lasse Cock. On this occasion the minutes state that
" The Governor and Provincial Council having taken
into their serious consideration the great necessity
there is of a schoolmaster for the instruction and sober
education of youth in the town of Philadelphia, sent
for Enoch Flower, an inhabitant of the said town, who
for twenty years past hath been exercised in that care
and employment in England, to whom ha\'ing com-
municated their minds he embraced it upon the follow-
ing terms : to learn to read English four shillings by
the quarter, to learn to read and write six shillings,
to learn to read, write and cast accounts eight shil-
lings ; for boarding a scholar, that is to say, diet, wash-
ing, lodging and schooling, ten pounds for one whole
year." This action is highly creditable to Penn and
his Council, and shows that there was a desire even
at this early period, when the city had not yet been
laid out much over a year, that the education of youth
be encouraged. A meeting of the Council was held
the next day, when they adjourned to the following
month.

It is remarkable how a few documents, without an
intimate relation as to their general contents, may yet
disclose and establish important facts. The Hon. Wm.
A. Yeakle, a life-long residciit of the valley of the Wissa-
hickon, inWhitemarsh, informed the author a few years

VISITS UMBILICAMEN'CE. I4I

ago, that he had discovered, from a deed of 1 746, that his
section had formed "a part of the lands by the Indians
called Umbilicamence." As the name appeared not
unfamiliar, it suggested to us to make an examination of
Thomas Fairman's bill of charges (Penn-Physick MSS.)
against William Penn, commencing with the year 1682,
wherein is found mentioned an indebtedness " To a
journey with the Proprietor and his friends to Umbo-
lekimensin with 3 of my horses, 12 shillings." After
some further research among the warrants for surveys
the following was discovered :

" L. S. William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of
Pennsylvania and the Territories thereunto belonging.
At the request of Jasper Farmer, Junior, in the behalf
of his father. Major Jasper Farmer, his brother Richard
and himself, that I would grant him to take up five
thousand acres of land, being of the lands by the
Indians called Umbilicamence, fronting on one end
upon the River Schuylkill. These are to will and re-
quire thee forthwith to survey or cause to be surveyed
unto him the said five thousand acres in the aforemen-
tioned place where not already taken up, according to
the method of townships appointed b\' me, and make
return thereof unto my Secretary's office. Given at
Philadelphia the 31st of loth month, 1683.

Wm. Penn.

" For Thomas Holmes, Surveyor-General."
The several aforesaid papers now establish the in-

142 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

teresting information that William Penn, in company
with Thomas Fairman and several friends, made a
journey on horseback out there some time in the sum-
mer or fall of 1683, on purpose to view that section of
country. The distance from Philadelphia not exceed-
ing fourteen miles, and in coming hither no doubt
passed by where is now Chestnut Hill and P'lourtown.
The termination of the trip was no doubt in the vicinity
of where the Farmers made their settlement some two
years later, and near where St. Thomas' Episcopal
Church was erected. As an earl)- Indian settlement
is mentioned there, it is very probable that its name
was Umbilicamence. For it was here where Edward
P^armer, Nicholas Scull and John Scull acquired their
early knowledge of the Delaware Indian language
from the natives, and that enabled them on several
subsequent occasions to act as interpreters on behalf of
the pro\'incial government.

Immediately adjoining the Farmer tract on the
southeast lay Gulielma Maria Penn's Mannor," con-
taining four thousand and ten acres surveyed by Fair-
man. From his bill of charges we learn that he and
the Proprietary had made a journey on purpose " to
look out some land" that was "afterwards named
Springfield." This must have been made also about
the aforesaid time. This tract was a good selection,
the land fertile and abounding in an abundance of ex-
cellent limestone and iron-ore.

PENN S CORRESPONDENCE. I43

CHAPTER XIII.

MORE OF PENX'.S CORRESPONDENCE. PRESIDES AT A

TRIAL FOR WITCHCRAFT.

\^Janitary and Fi-bntary, i6Sj.']

We have now arrived near the close of the year
1683, old style, and the persecution of the Friends
still continues, but not with that rigor as formerly.
Though Charles II. was induced to discountenance it,
yet through the indifference of those in power, consider-
able distress prevailed. In consequence, Penn did not
remain unconcerned in regard to his suffering brethren,
for they had his warmest sympathies, with an earnest
desire to use his influence to procure them all the relief
he possibly could. It is probable that in Ireland they
were more harshly dealt with than in England, which
induced the Proprietary, as we have seen, amidst his
numerous cares and vexations here to address a letter
on the 9th of i ith month to the I^arl of Arran, Lord
Deputy of the former, whom he calls, " My Noble
and Old Friend," desiring him to exercise his sympa-
thies in their behalf It is of considerable length and
in it expresses himself strongly in favor of liberty of

144 ^'^'^J- PENN IN AMERICA.

conscience in matters relating to religion, and hopes
that persecution therefore may cease. He concludes
with the following information respecting the prov^-
ince :

" I thank God I am safely arrived in the province
that the providence of God and bounty of the King
hath made it mine; and which the credit, prudence
and industry of the people concerned with me must
render considerable. I was received by the ancient
inhabitants with much kindness and respect ; and the
rest brought it with them. There may be about four
thousand souls in all; I speak I think within com-
pass ; We expect an increase from France, Holland
and Germany as well as our native country. The
land is generally good, well watered and not so thick
of woods as imagined. There are also many open
places that have been old Indian fields. The days are
above two hours longer and the sun much hotter here
than with you, which makes some recompence for the
sharp nights of the winter season, as well as the woods
that makes cheap and great fires. Our town of Phila-
delphia is seated between two navigable rivers, having
from four to ten fathom water, about one hundred and
fifty houses up in one year, and four hundred county
settlements. We labor to render ourselves an indus-
trious colony to the honor and benefit of the Crown as
well as our own comfort and advantage, and let them
not be separated say I."

From Philadelphia on the 2d of 12th month, Penn

PRESIDES AT A TRIAL. 145

addressed a letter to the Earl of Rochester, respecting
his troubles with Lord Baltimore, and commences it
with the following forcible introduction, " My Noble
Friend, — It cannot be strange to a lord of so much ex-
perience, that in nature, all creatures seek succour against
might ; the young from their old and the feeble from
the strong, and that the same nature, by reciprocal in-
stinct, inspires the old to protect their young, and the
strong the weak of their own kind. This, my noble
Lord, is much my case and this trouble ; and to whom
can I go, with more reason and hope than to him that
hath, with so much honour and truth and a perpetual
success, been the kind and constant patron of my just
cause. Let this therefore, noble Lord, meet with thy
usual favour; which will add to the many bonds I am
under, in affection and gratitude to thy just interest
and service."

After which follows a lengthy defence of his claims
to the Three Lower Counties, and in which he also
sets forth his position, based on the settlements there by
the Dutch and Swedes, against whom previously the
Proprietary of Maryland had not set up any claims
even to a part of the same.

On the 9th he addressed a second letter to the
Marquis of Halifax in reference to his boundary dis-
pute. In it he gives some interesting information in
regard to the condition, prosperity and future prospects
of his colony. " I hope," he states therein, " my agent
10

146 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

hath presented thee with my last and the respects
I bear so honourable a friend. Our capital town is
advanced to about one hundred and fifty very tolerable
houses for wooden ones ; they are chiefly on both the
navigable riv^ers that bound the ends or sides of the
town. The farmers have got their winter corn in the
ground. I suppose we may be five hundred farmers
strong. I settle them in villages, dividing five thou-
sand acres among ten, fifteen or twenty families, as
their ability is to plant it. Germans, Dutch and French
are concerned in our prosperity with their own. The
Germans are fallen upon flax and hemp, the French on
vineyards. Here grow wild an incredible number of
vines, that though savage and not so excellent, beside
that much wood and shade sour them. They yield a
pleasant grape, and I have drunk a good claret, though
small and greenish, of Capt. Rapp's vintage of the
savage grape.

" I must without vanity say, I have led the greatest
colony into America, that any man did upon a private
credit, and the most prosperous beginnings that ever
were in it, are to be found amongst us ; and, if this
lord who may remember that his country was cut out
of Virginia, to the great abatement of the interest of
that province, and this not for debt, or salaries due, but
as mere grace shall carry away this poor ewe lamb too,
my voyage will be a ruinous one to me and my
partners, which God defend. And my honourable
.friend, I shall onl\- pray that my case may be re-

PRESIDES AT A TRIAL. 1 47

membered and recommended to the King by my noble
friend the Marquis of Hahfax."

Thomas Paschall, a factor of a Jean Company in
Chippenham, England, wrote during a residence here
" A Short Account of Pennsylvania," to which he ap-
pended his name and bears the date of Philadelphia,
February loth, 1683 ; its object appears to be to en-
courage emigration hither. It is likely that it was
first published in PIngland and afterwards translated
into German. The copy seen by us was printed at
Frankfort and Leipzig in i 700, and circulated by the
Land Company there. It occupies but three pages and
to this work can furnish nothing additional ; however,
at this early period of Penn's settlement is deserving of
notice. All we have been enabled to ascertain further
about Paschall is that he resided in Philadelphia the
17th of 7th month, 170 1, when his name is found in a
petition addressed to the Assembly.

We find the following compliment paid to Penn in a
letter by James Claypoole,* dated Philadelphia, 24th
of 1 2th month, and addressed to his friend, Gawan
Lawrie: "William Penn, our Governor, has been ex-
ceedingly kind, and is so still to me and my family as
if we were his nearest relations, and I hope his love
will continue. Truly, he is very precious in his testi-
mony and conversation, and we may be sure he takes

* Formerly a merchant in London, and had only recently arrived here. Became
Register of Wills, and died in 1687. To his MS. Letter Book we are indebted for
valuable mformation.

148 WM. PENX IN AMERICA.

counsel of the Lord, for there is much of the wisdom
that is from above manifest in his conduct and manage-
ment of affairs here, by which he is made a fit instru-
ment in the hand of the Lord for the work and service
he is called to, and I wish with all my heart that all
the Governors upon the earth were such as he is. I
and my wife and eight children are all at this place in
good health, and so have been mostly since we came,
John my eldest writes for the Register, James is book-
keeper to the Society."

A meeting of the Council was held by Penn in
Philadelphia on the 7th of this ( 12th) month, at which
Lasse Cock, Wm. Clayton, John Symcock and Thomas
Holme were present. Margaret Matson and Getro
Hendrickson were examined and about to be proved
witches, whereupon it was ordered that Neels Matson
should enter into recognizance of fifty pounds for his
wife's appearance before this board on the 27th instant,
and that Jacob Hendrickson be required to do the same
for his wife. Meetings of the board were held on the
20th and 21st, but nothing transacted of special in-
terest.

On the 27th, the Governor was present with James
Harrison, Wm. Biles, Lasse Cock, Wm. Hague, Chris-
topher Taylor, W^m. Clayton and Thomas Holme,
members of the Council. The Grand Jury made a
return and found a bill. Margaret Matson's indict-
ment was read, and pleads not guilty. Lasse Cock
was attested interpreter between the Proprietary and

PRESIDES AT A TRIAI.. 1 49

the prisoner. A jury of twelve was impanneled, of
which John Hastings was foreman. Henry Drystreet,
attested, said he was told twenty years ago that the
prisoner was a witch, and that several cows were be-
witched by her. James Sandeland's mother told him
she had bewitched her cow but afterwards saw it was
a mistake, for it was not her cow but another person's
that should die. Charles Ashcom, attested, says that
Anthony's wife being asked why she sold her cattle ;
because her mother had bewitched them, having taken
it off of Hendrick's cattle and put it on their oxen,
which she might keep, but no other cattle. Margaret
Matson says she values not Drystreet's evidence; but
if Sandeland's mother had came she would have an-
swered her, and also denies Charles Ashcom's evi-
dence. Anneky Cooling's evidence concerning the
geese she denies, saying she was never out of her ca-
noe. The prisoner denies the evidence, and that they
speak only from hearsay. After which the Governor
gave the jury their charge, who brought her in guilty
of having the common fame of a witch, but not guilty
in manner and form as she stands indicted. Neels
Matson and Anthony Neelson were required to enter
into a recognizance of fifty pounds each for the good
beha\ior of Margaret Matson for six months, and Jacob
Hendrickson in fift)' pounds under the same conditions
for his wife.

In the trial of such an extraordinary case we ha\'e
concluded to be as full as our information would per-

150 WM. PEXN IX AMERICA.

mit. The parties were all Swedes and appear to have
been ignorant of the English language, the proceedings
being conducted by Lasse Cock and James Claypoole
as interpreters. The Governor's charge to the jury at
this day would possess considerable interest. We shall
find after his return in 1701, of his presiding at another
trial for witchcraft in which the parties appear to have
been all English. No doubt the sentiment concerning
it was stronger than is now generally supposed.

THE WELSH TRACT. I s I

CHAPTER XIV.

THE WELSH TRACT. LETTERS TO THE DUKE OF

YORK AND OTHERS.

^March-July, 1684:]

About this time a considerable body of Welsh Friends
designed emigrating to this country, and through their
agents an arrangement was effected with Penn in Eng-
land, for the purchase and location in one great tract
of about forty thousand acres, which they proposed to
settle and thus be enabled to live contigiousl}^ to each
other at no great distance from the city. In conse-
quence the Proprietary issued the following warrant
to the .Surveyor General to have the same laid out :

" Whereas divers considerable persons among the
Welsh Friends have requested me that all the lands
purchased of me by those of North Wales and South
Wales, together with the adjacent counties to them, as
Haverfordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire, about forty
thousand acres, may be laid out contigiously as one
Barony, alleging that the number already come and
suddenly come, are such as will be capable of planting
the same much within the proportion allowed by the
custom of the country and so not lye in large and use-
less vacancies. And because I am inclined and deter-

152 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

mined to agree and favour them with any reasonable
conveniency and priviledge : I do hereby charge thee
and strictly require thee to lay out the said tract of land
in as uniform a manner, as conveniently may be, upon
the west side of Schuylkill river running three miles
upon the same, and two miles backward, and then ex-
tend the parellel with the river six miles and to run west-
wardly so far as till the said quantity of land be com-
pletely surveyed unto them. — Given at Pennsbury, the
13th I mo. 1684. \Vm. Penx."

On the 4th of the following month (April), Thomas
Holme, the Surveyor General, authorized his deputy
David Powell to proceed in laying out the same con-
formably to the Proprietary's instructions. This formed
what has been ever since known as the Welsh Tract,
and from which the townships of Merion, Haverford,
Goshen and others subsequently originated. The
aforesaid bounds as fixed by Penn possess quite an in-
terest and have hitherto escaped the notice of historians,
being derived from the records of the Surveyor Gen-
eral's office, Harrisburg. At this time they must have
settled on it rapidly, judging not long after by their
numbers. Oldmixon, who was here in 1708, in speak-
ing of this tract and the Welsh, says that it then was
"very populous, and the people are very industrious;
by which means this country is better cleared than any
other part of the county. The inhabitants have many
fine plantations of corn, and breed abundance of cattle.

THE WELSH TRACT. I 53

inasmuch that the}- are looked upon to be as thriving and
wealthy as any in the province — and this must always
be said of the Welsh, that wherever they come, 'tis not
their fault if they do not live, and live well, too; for
they seldom spare for labor, which seldom fails of suc-
cess."

Meetings of the Council were held by the Governor
in Philadelphia on the 20th, 2 ist, 24th, 26th, 27th, 28th,
29th and 31st, and at all of which he was present. It
is, therefore, certain that he must have spent all or the
greater portion of the previous winter in the city, visiting
only for a few days Pennsbury near the middle of this
the first spring month.

During 2d month, or April, the Proprietary held
meetings with the Council on the ist, 2d, 3d, 7th and
8th; spending a few days again at Pennsbury between
the 4th and 7th.

We are reaching now a period in the celebrated
boundary dispute in which the respective parties are
proceeding to open hostilities for the arrest of each
other's authorities in the enforcement of what they
deem their respective rights. In consequence, Penn
issued on the 6th the following commission to secure
his territory from the encroachments of his unwearied
neighboring Proprietary.

"To my trusty and loving friends, W^m. Welsh, John
Simcock and James Harrison, greeting : Being credi-
bly informed that a party of men armed some with guns
and others with axes, under the command of Col. George

154 ^^"^I- PENX IX AMERICA.

Talbot, have in a riotous manner invaded the right of
some of the inhabitants of New Castle County, under pre-
tence of a Commission from Charles Calvert, Proprietary
of Maryland, these are to empower you, or any two of
you, to raise the country and to grant Commissions to
such as you shall see cause to raise the country, and
likewise to charge and command both you and them
by the King's Authority derived to me by the assign-
ment of James Duke York and Albany, to take all
due care, and that with all possible speed, to keep and
maintain peace of our sovereign lord the King, and to
suppress all riotous and rebellious practices, and them
to apprehend and imprison whom you shall so find
therein, that they may be proceeded against accord-
ing to law, and as also to secure all persons as refuse
or neglect to assist you in this service, and whom you
have cause to suspect may be unfaithful to the govern-
ment, and for so doing this shall be your sufficient
warrant. Given at Pennsbury, this 6th of the 2 mo.
'84, being the 36th year of the King's reign."

The Assembly met at New Castle on the loth of 3d
month, to which, at the same time, the Governor ad-
journed his Council, which continued in session there
till the 22d, when they adjourned to Philadelphia where
they met on the 29th and the two following days. On
the loth the Goversor informed the Council that he
had called the Indians together, and proposed to them
to let them ha\'e rum if they would be satisfied to be
punished as the English were ; which they agreed to.

THE WELSH TRACT. 155

pro\-ided that the law of not selHng them rum be
abolished. In a case between Andrew Johnson,
plaintiff, and Hans Peterson, defendant, the Governor,
and Council advnsed them to shake hands, and to for-
give each other, which they accordingly did, and for
their future good behavior were ordered to enter into
bonds of fifty pounds each.

The Governor held meetings of the Council in Phila-
delphia on the 3d, 4th, I ith, I2th, i8th and 19th of this
(4th) month. On the 1 8th he read the Declaration con-
cerning the difference between Lord Baltimore and
himself, desiring the Council's approbation ; who ap-
proved of it, but suggested that some things mentioned
therein might for the present be omitted.

In consideration of two matchcoats, four pair of
stockings, and four bottles of cider Maughoughsin,
grants under his hand and seal at Philadelphia the 3d
of 5th month, 1684; all his land upon Pahkehoma to
William Penn, his heirs and assigns forever, " with
which I own myself satisfied and promise never to
molest any Christians so called that shall seat thereon
by his orders." This has reference to the lands on the
Perkiomen creek in the present Montgomery county.

On the 7th another purchase was made by Penn at
Philadelphia, from Richard Mettamicont, as owner
of the land on both sides of Pennepack creek
to the river Delaware, and hereby agrees "never
to molest or trouble any Christians so called settled
upon any part of the aforesaid land." Poor Indians,

156 \VM. PEXN IX AMERICA.

though they and their lands have long since parted, we
beheve they faithfully adhered to the aforesaid condi-
tions. In regard to these purchases, Oldmixon very
sensibly observes in his " British Empire in America,"
that " As soon as Mr. Penn had got his patent, he in-
vited several persons to purchase lands under it. He
did not satisfy himself with the title granted by Charles
II. and his brother he also bought the land of the In-
dians, which doubtless, was the best right he had on
them."

We need not wonder at the energy displayed by
Penn to secure himself against the encroachments of
Lord Baltimore. The claims set up by the latter, if
successful, would have taken all the lands in the
province south of the city of Philadelphia, including
the three lower counties or territories. It would have
deprived him of several sea ports and the command of
Delaware Bay. He very justly observes, " If the Lord
Baltimore's patent were title good enough for what Was
another's before, and which he never enjoyed since,
Connecticut colony might put in for New York as
reasonably as the Lord Baltimore can for Delaware,
their patent having that part of the Dutch territories
within its bounds, on the same mistake. I must take
leave to refer the Lord Baltimore to His Royal High-
ness, who is a prince, doubtless, of too much honour
to keep any man's right, and of too much resolution
to deliver up his own ; whose example I am resolved
to follow."

TO THE DUKE OF YORK. I 57

In addition, the Proprietary resolved to send a letter
to his friend the Duke of York, setting forth his
griex'ances and the difficulties he labored under, with an
intimation that he would shortly follow Lord Balti-
more to England, with a view to giving personally his
attention to the great interests at stake. The follow-
ing is a copy of the address :

TO THE DUKE OF YORK.

" Great Prince. — It is some security to me, and an
happiness I must own and honour, that in these my
humble and plain addresses, I have to do with a Prince
of so great justice and resolution, one that will not be
baffled by crafts, nor blinded by affection ; and such a
Prince with humility be it spoken, becometh the just
cause I have to lay before him.

" Since my last, by which I gave the Duke to under-
stand that the Lord Baltimore had sent agents to offer
terms to the people, to draw them from their obedience
of this government, where his Royal Highness had
placed them, and that without having any special
order for the same, it hath pleased that lord to com-
missionate Colonel George Talbot to come, with
armed men, within five miles of New Castle town,
there upon a spot of ground belonging to one Ogle,
that came with Captain Carr, to reduce that place by
force, erected a fort of the bodies of trees, raised a
breastwork, and palisaded the same, and settled armed
men therein. The president of that town and county,
toijether with the sheriff and divers magistrates and

158 \VM. PEXX IX AMERICA.

inhabitants of the same, went to the said fort, demanded
of Colonel George Talbot the reasons of such actions,
being a warlike invasion of the right of his Majesty's
subjects, never in his possession. He answered them,
after having bid them stand off, presenting guns and
muskets at their breasts, that he had Lord Baltimore's
commission for what he did. The president being an
old experienced man, advised him to depart, and to
take heed how he obeyed such commands as these
were, since acting in such a way of hostility against
the right of his Majesty's subjects not in rebellion, and
not by his commission, might cost him and his lord
dear in the issue. He still refused, upon which proc-
lamations wer» made in the King's name, that they
should depart, but he, with some more, would not
depart but in the name of Lord Baltimore, refusing to
go in the King's name ; and there the garrison is kept,
the commander and soldiers threatening to fire upon
and kill all such as shall endeavor to demolish the
block-house, and say they have express commands so
to do from that lord.

" How far these practices will please the King or
Duke is not fit for me to say ; but, if not mistaken, I
shall be able to make evident by law, he hath almost
cancelled his allegiance to the King herein, and ex-
posed himself to his mercy for all he hath in the
world. I hear he has gone for England, and was so
just to invite me by a letter in March, delivered in the
end of April, informing me that towards the end of

TO THE DLKE OF YORK. I 59

March he intended for England. This was contrived
that he might get the start of me, that making an in-
terest before I arrived, he might block up my way,
and carry the point. But such arts will never do,
where there is no matter to work upon, which I am
abundantly satisfied they will not, they cannot find in
the Duke, with whom I know he hath great reason to
ingratiate his cause and malconduct, if he could.

" I am following him as fast as I can, though
Colonel Talbot, since his departure, threatened to turn
such out by violence, as would not submit to him, and
drive their stocks for arrears : believing that the worse
the better, I mean the more illegal and disrespectful he
and his agents are, to His Majesty and Royal High-
ness, and humble and patient I am, they will the more
favour my so much abused interest. I add no more,
but to pray, that a perfect stop be put to all his pro-
ceedings till I come, who hope to show myself the
King's dutiful and in reference to his American
Empire, not unuseful subject, and as well the Duke's
most faithful friend, to serve him to my power,

WiLLi.VM Pexx.

" Philadelphia, The 8th of the 4th month (June),
1684."

On the same day Penn addressed another letter to
his " Noble and Old Friend " the Earl of Sunderland,
who had been his classmate at Oxford University to
incline his influence to his cause. As it is entireK' too

l60 WM. PEXX IN AMERICA.

long for our use (see Memoirs of Hist. Society, vol.
IV. pp. 183-6), select the following extracts;

" The station in which it hath pleased his Imperial
Majesty to place me in his American Empire, com-
mands this direction from me, and therefore excuseth
the freedom of it, though the liberty thy former kind-
ness giveth me would not let me despair of accept-
ance, at least of pardon. My last gave some ac-
count of the carriage of the Lord Baltimore, and his
agents in reference to this Province and annexed coun-
ties, conveyed to me by deed ' of feoffment from the
Duke: since which time, he hath made great advances
with what justice to me duty to his Majesty, and
safety to himself, I leave to my superiors to judge."

After going at some length over his difficulties, he
remarks that " This doctrine hath tied the hands of
the inhabitants of this place from absolute war on this
part. I ^ tell them that our great Justinian must issue
this difference, take this fort and get the victory ; and
if the Crown itself disowns not the power of raising
forces against subjects in rebellion, the Proprietary of
Maryland, is more concerned to defend his fort against
the King, than we are to defend ourselves against his
fort, which .is plainly acting in a way of hostility
against the subjects of our sovereign lord the King,
now under his obedience and protection.

" My humble motion from these premises is this,
that though I am following this lord as fast as I can,
my circumstances may be so far considered, at the

TO THE DUKE OF YORK. l6l

first, nothing may be done in this affair till I am on the
spot. He took care to prolong my notices of his
going for FLngland till gone, or just upon it, that I
having all to do in reference to the settlement of this
country, he might get the start, and endeavour to block
up my way : but I hope these acts will find no matter
to work upon to my disadvantage. My case is plain
and fortified, by the very opposition of my adversary."

Every candid reader, we thfnk, must admit that
these letters of Penn are admirable, both in style and
logic, with here and there a \'ein of satire mixed with
caustic. This was one of the greatest troubles that
attended the foundation of his colony, and to which it
clung like a parasite to be fostered by its growth.

The Governor on the 25th appointed James Harrison,
William Yardley, Thomas Janney, John Otter, William
Beeks, William Biles and Edmund Bennett, Justices ofthe
Peace for the county of Bucks, as the records ofthe Court
inform us. This would already denote a considerable
increase in population since the organization of the
county. On the 27th, Penn was present at the opening
of the Court at Chester.

A meeting of the Council was held in Philadelphia
on the 25th of 5th month, at which the Governor pro-
posed a law to suppress the sale of rum to the Indians
in quantities. Robert Terrill and all others that are
engaged in selling rum as aforesaid are ordered to ap-
pear before the Board. For his doings Terrill re-
1 1

1 62 WM. PEXN IX AMERICA.

ceived a reprimand from the Governor on the follow-
ing day, and a proclamation was ordered to be issued
to suppress the same. The Council was in session on
the 28th, when they adjourned to the 14th of the fol-
lowing month.

John White and Robert Hall of Bucks county, on
the 26th petitioned the " Dear Governor " that " we
formerly did take up i 500 acres of land on Neshamin}-
creek, which our father George White did purchase of
thee. After this Edward Lovitt took up land back
of us and did run upon our line, taking away a piece
of meadow next the creek which John Swart lay claim
to. Now this is to beseech thee to be mindful of ful-
filling thy former promise, and also to inform thee that
most people do look upon it as an unreasonable thing
for John Swart to have a piece of meadow two miles
from his habitation, without title and intercept us from
the benefit of the creek for the width of near 1000
acres. So desiring thee to take this into thy consid-
eration we remain thy loving friends and addressers."
(i.) WHiat action the Governor took on this matter is
unknown to us, and present it as an item of local in-
terest in our early history not heretofore published.

PREPARATIONS P'OR DEPARTURE. 1 63

CHAPTER XV.

PENN's PREPARATIONS P^OR DEPARTURE. SAFE ARRR'AL

IN ENGLAND.

{August-October, 1684.']

We have now arrived in this work to the beg-innincf
of August (6th month), 1684; when Penn had left
his home, family and most of his friends one year and
eleven months, and was actively engaged in making pre-
parations for his return. As stated on the boundary
question. Lord Baltimore had taken the advantage of
him in an earlier start to P^ngland than he had ex-
pected, and in consequence had written to the Duke of
York and others that he intended speedily to follow to
be enabled to confront him and attend to his claims
personally before the Lords of the Committee of
Trades and Plantations. It is probable, too, that he
may have been also induced to return by hearing of
his wife's illness, as we infer from his correspond-
ence.

On the 4th he appointed Nicholas More, William
Welch, William Wood, Robert Turner and John PLck-
ley, Prox'incial Judges for two years from this date ;

164 ^V-M. PENX IN AMERICA.

" you and every of you behaving yourselves well
therein, and acting according to the same." Their
jurisdiction extended only to " the three Upper
Countyes and Towne of Philadelphia." This, in fact,
was the origin of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl-
vania.

The Proprietary deemed it prudent before he em-
barked on his voyage, to appoint three Commissioners
to act as f^uardians in the government of the Province,
in the event of his death or any other causality. The
following is copied from the original on parchment
with the great seal attached, and probably now pub-
lished for the first time :

" William Penn Proprietary and Governor of ye
Province of Pennsilvania & }'e Territories thereunto
belonging. To mj^ Trusty and Loveing Friends Tho.
Lloyd, James Harrison & John Simcock. Not
knowing how it may please Almighty God to deal
with me in this voyage & considering of how great
moment it is that the Administration of ye Govern-
ment be carefully provided for in case of my Decease,
before I return or send any other ordr or Commissions
than what I leave behind me, Know yee that out of
ye Singular regard I have to ye Wisdome Justice &
Fidelit}', I have nominated constituted & appointed
& do hereby nominate, constitute & appoint you
Commissioners and Guardians in Gov-ernment to my
dear Heir Springett Penn, of which the first named to
preside according to Charter, &: in case of ye decease

PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 1 65

of my Heir before he comes of Age, then to ye next
successively till of Age. Strictly charging all persons
that they yield you ye same Obedience in ye Discharge
of your Trust as if I myself were living or ye Minor
were of Age, Charging you also before God, Angels
and Men, that directly or indirectly you Act nothing
to ye Injury of his Right or to ye Detriment of ye
People, but that with wisdome you preserve ye Union
of their Interests to ye mutual Joy & Benefit of }'e
Governr & Governmt to ye best of your skill,
& in case any of you should decease or remove from
ye Province before my Heir come of Age, that then
those that survive or remain shall chuse one in his
stead for ye service aforesaid. Given at Philadelphia
ye Seventh day of ye Sixth Month, One Thousand
Six Hundred and Eighty Four, being ye Thirty Sixth
year of ye King's Reign & ye Fourth of my Gov-
ernment. ( I .)

Wm. Penn."

Mention has been made of Nicholas More, presi-
dent of the Society of Free Traders, who arrived here
in 9th month, 1682, and who held several important
offices. A warrant was granted him the 5th of iith
month of said year, for 9,<Si5 acres which was located
and the deed given by Penn on the 7th of 6th month,
1684, and called by him the Manor of Moreland. By
the conditions of his patent, Nicholas More, and his
heirs and successors, were recjuired to pay forever

1 66 \VM. PEXN IX AMERICA.

unto the Proprietary, and his heirs and successors, a
silver EngHsh shilHng for every one hundred acres
annually as quitrent. This payment was equivalent to
the interest of S375 at six per cent. About 1685 the
Chief Justice commenced the erection of buildings,
on the eastern part of his tract, near the present village
of Somerton, and where he also built a mansion house,
calling the place Green Spring. After his death in
1688, his heirs continued selling off portions of the
estate to actual settlers and others, that much the
greater portion was sold before 1720. This tract re-
tained its name of Manor of Moreland for a century,
or till the erection of Montgomery county in 1784,
when it became divided into two townships of the
name, one of which was left to Philadelphia.

Before his departure, Penn was called upon to settle
an important question concerning the interests of
Philadelphia. This was in relation to the front lots on
the river Delaware. As has been stated, he reserved
the river bank for the use of the public, and as con-
ducing to the health of the city. Those who owned
the lots adjoining on the westward, claimed also the
right to build vaults or stores on the aforesaid, oppo-
site their property. He decided that they had no
more right to build there than those living elsewhere
in the city, and that he designed the same as a public
walk and for the common benefit forever.

On the 14th, Penn held a meeting of his Council at
Lewis, near Cape Henlopen, Sussex county, and where

PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 1 67

we know by the following document addressed to T.
Holme, Surveyor General, that he remained there at
least till the i6th:

" William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of the
Province of Pennsylvania and the Territories thereunto
belonging. At the request of Ralph P'retwell and
Company, that I would grant him to take up a Tract
of Land either in the County of Chester or Philadel-
phia on Schuylkill. These are to require thee to sur-
vey unto him, if in the County of Chester so much
Land there, not under Ten Miles and not exceeding
Twelve Miles square, and if on Schuylkill beginning
on the hither end of the long Island called Barbadoes
and to run upward on each side of Schuylkill six
miles* on the Water side, not to go less backward than
Seven Miles, nor to exceed Twelve on each side where
not already taken up according to the Method of
Townships, and make returns thereof unto my Secre-
tary's office. Given at Lewis ye i6th, 6th mo. 1684."

It is surprising that the island of Barbadoes at
Norristown should at this early period already have
borne this name which it has ever since retained. It
indicates likewise an earlier acquaintance along the
Schuylkill than would have been otherwise supposed,
and it was very probably visited by Penn in one of his
journeys.

The Proprietary had made arrangements to take his

1 68 \VM. PEXX IX AMERICA.

passage in the ketch or brig Endeavour of London,
George Thorp, master ; who had made a pre\'ious trip
to Philadelphia in September of last year. It is
possible that he embarked on the i6th, or the follow-
ing day when he communicated from on board for
those he left behind an affectionate valedictory. It
was addressed " For Thomas Lloyd, J. Claypoole, J.
Simcock, Ch. Taylor and James Harrison, to be com-
municated in meetings in Pennsylvania, &c., among
Friends." The whole may be seen in Proud (vol. I. p.
189), from which we select the following extracts:

"Dear Friends, My love and my life is to you, and
with you ; and no water can quench it, nor distance
wear it out, or, bring it to an end. I have been with
you, cared over you, and served }^ou with unfeigned
love ; and you are beloved of me, and near to me,
beyond utterance. I bless you, in the name and power
of the Lord; and may God bless you with his right-
eousness, peace and plenty, all the land over. And
thou, Philadelphia, the virgin settlement of this prov-
ince, named before thou wert born, what love, what
care, what service, and what travail has there been, to
bring thee forth, and preserve thee from such as would
abuse and defile thee. So dear friends, my love again
salutes you all, wishing that grace, mercy and peace,
with all temporal blessings, may abound richly among
you ; so says, so prays, your friend and lover in the
truth. William Pexx."

SAFE ARRIVAL IX ENGLAND. 1 69

" From on board the Ketch Endeavour, the Sixth
month, 1684."

Clarkson says that "The day on which he sailed
was the twelfth of August," which error I find has
been copied by one or two others.

The Council met at New Castle on the i8th, Thomas
Lloyd, president, and the following members present:
Wm. Welch, James Harrison, John Simcock, Thomas
Holme, and Edmond Cantwell. A commission from
the Governor was -read, authorizing the Provincial
Council to act in his place, and Thomas Lloyd to be
president of the same, who was commissioned to have
charge of the great seal.

After a voyage of about forty-seven days, Penn
landed at Wonder in Sussex, within seven miles of his
house at Worminghurst. From a letter to his steward,
James Harrison, at Pennsbury, dated from said place
the 7th of 8th month, '84, he says, " Last Sixth day
being the 3d inst., I got safe to my family, and found
them all well to my joy in the Lord." We extract
from the same some additional information:

" Phil. Lemain* has, most carelessly, left behind the
York papers that Thomas Lloyd brought, and should
have come as the ground and very strength of my
coming. He would not have done me a worse injury,
nor balked a greater service, if he had the bribe of
;{^iOOO to do it. W^herefore let him be quickened to

* Philip Theodore Lehman was his private secretary, died in 1687.

I/O \VM. PENN IX AMERICA.

send them by the first ship that comes out of Mary-
land or Virginia. Let Thomas Lloyd step to York
and get fresh affidavits of the three men that can
swear the Dutch possession of river and bay, before
Baltimore's patents in the governor's presence and
under the great seal of the province.

"By East come wine and strong beer ; let the beer
be sold for as much profit as is reasonable, and some
of the wine. Some may be kept for me, especially
sack and such like, to be better for age. There are
seeds for Ralph, value here four pounds and odd
money. By an Irish ship comes value 150 pounds
in provisions, butter, cheese, beer, shoes, &c. Let
Ralph follow his garden, and get the yards fenced
in, and doors to them. Expect news and further di-
rections by the next ship. I have sent some walnuts
for Ralph to set, and other seeds of our own that are
rare and good. Quicken T. Lloyd and P. Lemain as
aforesaid. Farewell in the love of God."

Though written, as will be noticed, but four days
after his arrival home, the aforesaid shows his extraor-
dinary activity in setting about his business, not only
in securing things for his Pennsbury estate, but also in
attending to and advancing his other interests. This
certainly shows that he was a man of persevering and
industrious habits.

We learn from his " Apology for Himself," published
in the Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsyl-

SAFE ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. I7I

vania (vol. III., part II., p. 235), that on his arrival
home " after some days of refreshment," he says, " I
went to wait upon the King and Duke, then both at
New Market, who received me very graciously, as did
the ministers very civilly."

As soon as he could secure the requisite leisure from
his public and private duties, he did not forget to write
to Margaret, the widow of his celebrated friend George
Fox, residing at Swarthmoor Hall, announcing his
safe return and briefly touching on his American ex-
periences. Dixon in his Biography alludes to this let-
ter, which has been preserved in the Thirnbeck col-
lection of old manuscripts at Bristol. We give the fol-
lowing as the most interesting extracts from the same :

"London, 29th, 8th mo., 1684.

" Dear M. Fox. Whom my heart loveth and hon-
oureth in the Lord, remembering thee in the ancient
love and path of Hfe which is most glorious in mine
eyes ; yea, excellent above all visible things. Dear
Margaret, herein it is I enjoy the fellowship of thy spirit
above time and distance, floods, and many waters. It
is now a few days above three weeks since I arrived
well in my native land. It was within seven miles of
my own house that we landed. I found my dear wife
and her children well, to the overcoming of my heart
because of the mercies of the Lord to us.

" I have not missed a meal's meat or a night's rest
since I went out of the country, and wonderfully hath

1/2 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

the Lord preserved me through many troubles in the
settlements I have made, both as to the government
and the soil. I find many wrong stories let in of me,
even by some I love ; but blessed be the Lord, they
are the effects of envy. Our meetings are blessed, and
I think there are eighteen in number in the province.
I have seen the King and the Duke. They and their
nobles were very kind to me, and I hope the Lord will
make way for me in their hearts, in order to serve His
suffering people as well as my own interest." I

ACCOUNT OF HIS PROVINCE. 1 73

CHAPTER XVI.

PENN WRITES AND HAS PUBLISHED ANOTHER AC-
COUNT OF HIS PROVINCE.

No sooner had the Proprietary got fairly settled
down and his most urgent business dispatched, than he
set himself earnestly to work in his intervals of leisure
to make out another and more complete account of
his beloved province. In about fourteen months after
his return he had ready for the press, and appeared in
an octavo pamphlet of twenty pages. Its title is " A
Further Accountjof the Province of Pennsylvania and
its Improvements. For the Satisfaction of those that
are adventurers, and inclined to be so." It is dated
from " Worminghurst-Place, I2th of the loth Month,
'85," and signed with his name. The original pam-
phlet must now be rare, the writer having met with but
one. It was republished at London two years after in
" The Present State of His Majesty's lies and Terri-
tories in America," by Richard Blome. It is quite in-
teresting, and contains considerable statistical matter
that is not to be found in^any previous publication.
By these works Penn certainly deserv-es a place
amongst the earl\' writers on America, in fact, it ap-

174 ^"^'^I- PEXX IX AMERICA.

pears to have escaped his biographers, who at any rate
have given but Httle attention to his struggles and
plans at colonization, and for which the numerous de-
scendants of his colonists owe him gratitude. We
have carefully gone over this work and prepared there-
from the following abstract in his own language suffi-
cient for this chapter :

" It has, I know, been much expected from me, that
I should give some farther narrative of those parts of
America, where I am chiefly interested, and have lately
been ; having continued there above a year after my
former relation, and receiving since my return, the
freshest and fullest advices of its progress and improve-
ment. But as the reason of my coming back, was a
difference between the Lord Baltimore and myself,
about the lands of Delaware, in consequence, reputed
of mighty moment to us, so I waived publishing any-
thing that might look in favour of the country or in-
viting to "it, whilst it lay under the discouragement and
disreputation of that Lord's claims and pretences.

" But since they are, after many fair and full hear-
ings, before the Lords of the Committee for Planta-
tions justly and happily dismissed, and the things
agreed ; and that the letters that daily press me from
all parts, on the subject of America, and are so volu-
minous, that to answer them severally, were a task too
heavy, and repeated to perform, I have thought it most
easy to the inquirer, as well as to myself, to make this

ACCOUNT OF HIS PROVINCE. 1/5

account public, lest my silence, or a more private inti-
mation of things, should disoblige the just inclinations
of any to America, and at a time too, when an extra-
ordinary Providence seems to favour its plantation, and
open a door to Europeans to pass thither. That then
which is my part to do in this advertisement is. First
to relate our progress, especially since my last of the
month called August, '83. Secondly, the capacity of
the place for further improvement, in order to trade and
commerce. Lastly, which way those are adventurers,
or incline to be so, may employ their money to a fair
and secure profit ; such as shall encourage poor and
rich, which cannot fail of advancing the country in
consequence.

" We have had about ninety sail of ships with pas-
sengers since the be^innins;; of '82, and not one vessel,
designed to the province through God's mercy, hith-
erto miscarried. The estimate of the people may be
thus made ; eighty to each ship, which comes to seven
thousand two hundred persons. At least a thousand
there before, with such as from other places in our
neighbourhood are since come to reside among us ; and
I presume the births at least equal to the burials. The
people are a collection of divers nations in Europe : as,
P^rench, Dutch, Germans, Swedes, Danes, Finns,
Scotch-Irish, and English ; and of the last equal to all
the rest.

" Philadelphia our intended metropolis, as I formerly
wrote, is two miles long, and a mile broad, and at each

1/6 \VM. PEXX IN AMERICA.

end it lies a mile upon a navigable river. The situa-
tion high and dry, yet replenished with running
streams. Besides the High street that runs in the
middle from river to river, and is a hundred feet broad,
it has eight streets more that run the same course, the
least of which is fifty feet in breadth. And besides
Broad street, which crosses the town in the middle,
and is also a hundred feet wide, there are twenty
streets more, that run the same course, and are also fifty
feet broad. The names of those streets are mostly taken
from the things that spontaneously grow in the country.
" I mentioned in my last account, that from my
arrival in '82, to the date thereof, being ten months, we
had got up four-score houses at our town, and that
some villages were settled about it. From that time to
my coming away, which was a year within a few
weeks, the town advanced to three hundred and fifty-
seven houses ; divers of them, large, well built, with
good cellars, three stories, and some with balconies.
There are two markets every week and two fairs every
year. In other places markets also, as at Chester and
New Castle. Some vessels have been here built, and
many boats ; divers brickerys going on, and some
brick houses going up. The improvements of the place
is best measured, by the advance of value upon every
man's lot. I will venture to say, that the worst lot in
the town, without any improvements upon it, is worth
four times more than it was when it was laid out, and
the best forty.

ACCOUNT OF HIS PROVINCE. 1 7/

" Of country settlements I had in my view, society,
assistance, easy commerce, instruction of youth, govern-
ment of people's manners, conveniency of religious as-
sembling, encouragement of mechanics, distinct and
beaten roads, and it has answered in all these respects,
I think to all universal content. I said nothing in my
last of any number of townships, but there were at
least fifty settled before my leaving those parts, which
was in the month called August, 1684. I mention
this to confute the objections that lie against those
parts, as if that, first, English grass would not grow ;
next not enough to mow ; and lastly not firm enough
to feed, from the levity of the mould.

"Of the produce of our waters. _ Allocs, as they call
them in France, the Jews allice, and our ignorants,
shads, are excellent fish, and of the bigness of our
largest carp. They are so plentiful, that Captain
Smith's overseer, at the Schuylkill, drew six hundred
and odd at one draught, three hundred is no wonder,
one hundred familiarly. They are excellent pickled
or smoked as well as boiled fresh. They are caught
by nets only. There is so great an increase in grain,
by the diligent application of people to husbandry, that
within three years, some plantations have got twenty-
acres in corn, some forty, some fifty.

" It is fit now, that I give some advertisement to
adventurers, which way they may lay out their money
to best advantage, so as it may yield them fair returns,
12

178 \VM. PEXX IN AMERICA.

and with content to all concerned, which is the last part
of my present task ; and I must needs say so much
wanting, that it has perhaps given some occasion to
ignorance and prejudice to run without mercy, measure
or distinction against America, of which Pennsyhania
to be sure has had its share.

" Many stories have been prejudicially propagated,
as if we were upon ill terms with the natives, and some-
times, like Job's kindred, all are cut off but the mes-
senger that brought the tidings. I think it requisite
to say this much, that as there never was any such
messenger, so the dead people were alive, at our last
advices. So far are we from ill terms with the natives,
that we have lived in great friendship, I have made
seven purchases, and in pay and presents they have re-
ceived at least twelve hundred pounds of me. Our
humanity has obligeci them so far, that they generally
leave their guns at home, when they come to oui
settlements ; they offer us no affront, not so much as
to one of our dogs. If any of them break our laws,'
they submit to be punished by them, and to this they
have tied themselves by an obligation under their
hands. We leave not the least indignity to them un-
rebuked, nor wrong unsatisfied. Justice gains and
awes them. They have some great men amongst
them, I mean for wisdom, truth and justice.

" The government is according to the words of the
grant as near to the English as conveniently may be.
In the whole, we aim at duty to the King, the preser-

ACCOUNT OF HIS PROVINCE. 1 79

vation of rights to all, the suppression of vice and
encouragement of virtue and arts; with liberty to all
people to worship Almighty God, according to their
faith and persuasion.

" Though ships go hence at all times of the year, it
must be acknowledged, that to go so as to arrive at
spring or lall is best. I propose therefore, that ships
go hence about the middle of the months called Feb-
ruary and August, which allowing two months for
passage, reaches time enough to plant in the spring
such things as are carried hence, and in the fall to Q-et
a small cottage, and clear some land against the next
spring. I have made a discovery of about one hun-
dred miles west, and find those back lands richer in
soil, wood and fountains, than that by Delaware;
especially upon the Susquehanna river.

" I must confess I prefer the fall to come hither,
believing it is more healthy to be followed with winter
than summer; though, through the great goodness
and mercy of God, we have had an extraordinary
portion of health, for so new and numerous a colony.
The passage is not to be set by any man ; for ships
will be quicker or slower. Some have been four
months, and some but one and as often. Generally
between six and nine weeks. One year, of four and
twenty sail, I think, there was not three above nine,
and there was one or two under six weeks in passage.

"And because some have urged my coming back,
as an argument against the place, and the probability

l8o WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

of its improvement ; adding, that I would for that
reason never return. I think fit to say, that next sum-
mer God wilHng, I intend to go back, and carry my
family, and the best part of my personal estate with
me. And this I do, not only of duty, but inclination
and choice. God will bless and prosper poor
America.

" Now for you that think of going thither, I have this
to say, by way of caution ; if an hair of our head falls
not to the ground, without the providence of God,
remember, your removal is of greater moment.
Wherefore have a due reverence and regard to his
good Providence, as becomes a people that profess a
belief in Providence. Go clear in yourselves, and of
all others. Be moderate in expectation, count on
labor before a crop, and cost before gain, for such per-
sons will best endure difficulties, if they come, and
bear the success, as well as find the comfort that
usually follow such considerate undertakings."

OPINIONS OF PENN's LABORS. I 8 I

CHAPTER XVII.

OPINIONS RESPECTING THE RESULTS OF PENN's LABORS
IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS COLONY.

We propose in this chapter to give the opinions of
various persons respecting the results of the Proprie-
tary's labors, from near the time of his grant in i68i
till his return to the province in October, 1699. Few
we can say have earned such encomiums as we here
present, bestowed voluntarily from the time that he
was Still amongst men in active life till near this day.
Such tributes to the worthy tend to exalt human nature,
and show that mankind are not altogether ungrateful,
or else such actions would soon pass to oblivion.

" Mr. Penn," remarks Oldmixon (British Emp. in
America, 1708), "staid in Pennsylvania two years, and
A\'ould not then have removed to England, had not the
persecution against the Dissenters raged violently, that
he could not think of enjoying peace in America, while
his brethren in England were so cruelly dealt with in
Europe. He knew he had an interest in the Court of
England, and was willing to employ it for the safety,
ease and welfare of his friends ; so having made a

1 82 WM. PENN IX AMERICA.

league of amity with nineteen Indian nations, between
them and all the English in America, having estab-
lished good laws, and seen his capital so well inhabited,
that there were then near three hundred houses and
2500 souls in it, besides twenty other townships, he
returned to England leaving the administration in the
hands of the Council, whose President was Thomas
Llo)-d, Esq. who by virtue of office held the govern-
ment several years, though he had no commission
then to be Deputy or Lieutenant Governor ; Mr. Penn
kept the chief government always to himself, as Lord
Proprietary. What service this gentleman did the
Quakers, in King James' reign, and how far that prince
gave him his ear, is well known to all that are ac-
quainted with the history of those times, still fresh in
our memories."

Richard Townsend, a fellow passenger in the IVf/-
cojiic, in his Testimony written about 1727, says, "As
our worthy Proprietor treated the Indians with extraor-
dinary humanity, they became very civil and loving to
us, and brought in abundance of venison. As in other
countries, the Indians were exasperated by hard treat-
ment, which hath been the foundation of much blood-
shed, so the contrary treatment here hath produced
their love and affection." Oldmixon in 1708 estimated
the Indians residing within the limits of the province
at about 6000, composed of " ten nations."

" Ju.stice cannot be done the character of Penn,"
remarks Armstrong (Address before the Historical

OPINIONS OF PENN's LABORS. I S3

Society of Pennsylvania, Nov. 8, 185 1), "unless
we view it in contrast with the age in which he lived.
He foresaw the progress of freedom, and displayed no
less courage, than sagacity. For the doctrines we have
just quoted, were the terror of the very king from
whom he received his charter; their practical enforce-
ment overturned the throne of his father, and were the
warrant for his trial and execution ; and yet they were
published and avowed by Penn ; and framed with the
assistance of the lamented Sidney, whose life the gov-
ernment had then determined, if possible, to take, and
who, two years afterwards, for asserting upon paper, the
same principles of republican liberty, perished on the
scaffold. Perhaps no branch of inquir\- has been so
much the subject of theory as the science of govern-
ment. But few of those who have thought about it,
have had the misfortune to suffer, to the full extent,
the infliction of the evils they strove to remedy, or
the good fortune to realize their cherished specula-
tions. Penn had both. A Charles was on the throne ;
Locke had not written his glorious letters on tolera-
tion ; the revolution had not taken place ; the people,
benumbed, as it were, by the political convulsions
through which the\' had just passed, slumbered, so
that no oppression, however enormous, seemed suffi-
cient to arouse them. Our Proprietary was therefore
eminently fitted for the task which Providence had
assigned him. Mark how broadly he lays the founda-
tions of relieious freedom.

184 \VM. FENX IN AMERICA.

" The stay of the Proprietary at this time was too
brief for his own interests, and those of his colonists.
But he remained long enough to leave the impress of wise
legislation. His devotion to the principles of peace with
all men — his hatred of superstition and religious persecu-
tion— and his humanity to the Indian, were in grateful
contrast with the conduct of other colonies. As to
his uniform treatment of the Indians, we regard the
fact that not one of that race was ever known to shed,
within our borders, the blood of a member of the So-
ciety of Friends, except in two instances, where there
was reason to suppose they had forsaken their peace-
ful principles, as a signal proof of the soundness of his
policy towards them."

" Returning from America in 1684," says James
Parton, " he arrived in time to witness the accession to
the throne of James II, his father's friend, and his
own. Then was presented the strange spectacle, upon
which Macauley descants so bitterly, of the great
Quaker high in favor at the court of a Catholic king.
It has not been shown, however, that Penn used his
court favor for any but humane purposes. At his in-
tercession the King released from prison thirteen hun-
dred Quakers, confined for conscience sake; and at the
same time the King set at liberty a still greater number
of Catholics, some of whom had been in prison for years.
Crowds surrounded the door and followed the foot-
steps of the Quaker favorite, asking his influence with
the King. He experienced the usual lot of a favorite.

opixioxs OF penn's labors. 185

in being enx'ied and traduced. He told his slanderers
that the King had been his father's friend from of old,
and that his father, on his death-bed, had obtained
from the King a promise that he would protect his son
from the inconveniences arising from his religious per-
suasion. ' I say,' he wrote, ' that when this is all con-
sidered, anybody that has the least pretense to good
nature, gratitude, or generosity, must needs know how
to interpret my access to the King.' "

" Meantime," says Bancroft (Hist. U. S.), "the news
spread abroad, that William Penn, the. Quaker, had
opened ' an as}'lum to the good and oppressed of every
nation ; ' and humanity went through Europe, gather-
ing the children of misfortune. From England and
Wales, from Scotland and Ireland, and the Low Coun-
tries, emigrants crowded to the land of promise. On
the banks of the Rhine, it was whispered that the
plans of Gustavus Adolphus and Oxenstiern were con-
summated ; new companies were formed under better
auspices than those of the Swedes ; and from the
highlands above Worms, the humble people who had
melted at the eloquence of Penn, the Quaker emissary,
renounced their German homes for the protection of
the Quaker king. There is nothing in the history of
the human race like the confidence which the simple
virtues and institutions of William Penn inspired.
The progress of his province was more rapid than the
progress of New England. In three years from its
foundation, Philadelphia gained more than New York

1 86 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

had done in half a century. This was the happiest
season in the public life of William Penn. ' I must,
without vanity, say ' — such was his honest exultation
— ' I have led the greatest colony into America that
ever any man did upon a private credit, and the most
prosperous beginnings that ever were in it, are to be
found among us.'" The aforesaid estimated the popu-
lation of Pennsylvania and Delaware in 1688 at
12,000.

Upon the publication of his Frame of Government
and Proposals, " many respectable families (Art. Penn,
Amer. Ency.) removed to the new province ; the city
of Philadelphia was laid out upon the banks of the
Delaware; and in 1682, the proprietor visited his
newly acquired territory, where he remained about
two years, adjusting its concerns, and establishing
a friendly intercourse with his colonial neighbors ;
during which period no less than fifty sail arrived with
settlers from England, Ireland, Wales, Holland, and
Germany. Soon after Penn returned to England,
King Charles died ; and the respect which James II
bore to the late Admiral, who had recommended his
son to his favor, procured him free access at court.
He made use of this advantage to solicit the discharge
of his persecuted brethren, fifteen hundred of whom
remained in prison at the decease of the late King."

01dmixon,who enjoyed a personal acquaintance, ex-
presses the opinion that Penn " was generous and free
of his thoughts and expressions, which were not al-

OPINIONS OF PENN's LABORS. 1 8/

wa\'s sufficiently guarded ; and after the Revolution, he
became suspected, on account of his great access to
the abdicated King, who was then Duke of York."
There may be truth in this and which led to his sub-
sequent arrest, so natural to great minds in their ex-
pressions regarding right and wrong.

Ellis, in speaking of his departure, remarks (Life of
Penn) that " He had witnessed high prosperity, and
the promises of yet greater all around him, beneath
the gentle influences of his government. He had,
for the most part, industrious, pure, and religious men
and women for his helpers. When he returned to
England, there were about seven thousand people and
three hundred houses on his patent."

"Soon after," says Thomas Clarkson, " he sailed — to
the regret of the whole colony ; to the regret of the
Dutch, Swedes and Germans, whom he had admitted
into full citizenship with the rest, and who had found
in him an impartial Governor and a kind friend ; — to
the regret of the Indians, who had been overcome by
his love, care, and concern for them ; and to the regret
of his own countrymen, who had partaken more or less
of that generosity which was one of the mo.st promi-
nent features of his character. And here I may ob-
serve, with respect to his generosity, that the whole
colony had experienced it ; for it ought never to be
forgotten, that when the first Assembly offered him an
impost on a variety of goods both imported and ex-
ported (which impost in a course of years would have

1 88 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

become a large revenue of itself), he nobly refused it ;
thus showing that his object in coming among them
was not that of his own aggrandizement but for the
promotion of a public good."

" At the time of his return," remarks James Bow-
den (Hist. Friends in America, London, 1854, vol. II.
p. 11), "from Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1684,
the city could number three hundred and fifty-seven
houses, ' divers of them', he says, ' large and well built
with cellars ; ' and at least fifty townships had been
settled. In little more than two years from its settle-
ment, ninety ships, bringing, according to the estimate
of William Penn, an average of eighty passengers in
each, or in all seven thousand two hundred, had ar-
rived in the colony, these together with the previous
colonists and those from the adjacent settlements, gave
a population of about nine thousand to the province.

" In three years from its foundation Philadelphia
had gained more than New York had done in half a
century, and the progress of the province was more
rapid than even New England. Already schools had
been established, and the printing press was at work,
sowing broadcast the seeds of morality and religion.
In the Tenth month, 1683, Enoch Flower, in a dwell-
ing formed of pine and cedar planks, commenced the
work of education; his terms being 'to learn to read,
four shillings a quarter; to write, six shillings; board-
ing scholars, to wit — diet, lodging, washing and
schooling, ten pounds the whole year.' One of the

OPINIONS OF PENN's LABORS. 1 89

earliest productions of the printing press was an epistle
by John Burnyeat, in 1686. In New England the
press was not in operation until eighteen years after its
settlement. In New York seventy-three years elapsed
before any book or paper *was printed, and in North
Carolina a still longer period."

From an Address by Peter S. Du Ponceau, on the
Early History of Pennsylvania, delivered June 6th,
1 82 1, before the American Philosophical Society, we
select the following eloquent extract:

" But I must leave it to the future historian to
delineate the character of a legislator who never had
a model, and who, though crowned with success, will
probably never have an imitator. He will describe
the state of this country, during the two years of that
great man's residence here after his arrival, he will tell us
how a legislature was formed and assembled within
six weeks at most after his landing, whos,e first act was
to recognize as brethren all who believed in one God,
the upholder and ruler of the universe ; how a code of
laws was enacted in three days, founded on the.
genuine principles of religion, justice and morality ; he
will show the territory which now forms the state
of Delaware, united to this province in legislation as
well as in government, the friendship of the Indians
secured, large territories obtained of them by fair and
honourable purchase, a noble city founded, and its walls
rapidly rising as it were by enchantment, the country
increasing in population and wealth, and enjoying lui-

IQO WM. PEXX IX AMERICA.

disturbed peace, prosperity, and happiness, until his
absence showed how much all these things were due
to the immediate operation of his powerful mind." A
legislator who never had a model, and who, though
crowned with success, will probably never have an
imitator. A passage worthy of repetition.

Robert Turner, in a letter to Penn dated Philadelphia,
3d of 6th month, 1685, says, " Now as to the town of
Philadelphia it goeth on in planting and building to
admiration, both in the front and backward, and there
are about six hundred houses in three years time.
The manufacture of linen b\' the Germans goes on
finely, and they make fine linen: Samuel Carpenter
having been lately there, declares they had gathered
one crop of flax, and had sowed for the second, and
saw it come up well. I thought fit to signify thus
much, knowing thou wouldst be glad to hear of the
people and province's welfare ; the Lord preserve us
all, and make w-ay for thy return, which is much de-
sired, not only by our Friends, but all sorts."

Gabriel Thomas who arrived in the province a few
months after the Proprietary, and resided here fifteen
years when he returned to London, where he had pub-
lished a small octavo pamphlet of 34 pages, entitled
"An Historical and Geographical Account of the Pro-
vince and Country of Pennsylvania; and of West New
Jersey." For its size contains considerable information
relatine to those colonies at that time. He dedicated

OPINIONS OF FENN S LABORS. I9I

it "to the most noble and excellent Governour Friend
William Penn."

"While the colonists of Pennsylvania," remarks
Janney, " were busily and happily engaged in clearing
their grounds, erecting their habitations and houses for
worship, establishing meetings, and enjoying all the
blessings of civil and religious liberty; their sympathies
were awakened by the sufferings of their brethren in
Great Britain, who were subjected to the severest per-
secution. The laws against non-conformists continued
to be enforced with rigour, persons who met peaceably
for the performance of divine worship were persecuted
as rioters, their meetings were broken up by armed
troops, and many hundreds of men and women, sepa-
rated from their families, were confined in noisome
prisons, where some had remained for years, and others
were released only by death." A few days after Penn's
return, as we learn from his letter to Margaret Fox, in
alluding to his visit to the King, the Duke and princi-
pal nobles, says, " I hope the Lord will make way for
me in their hearts, in order to serve His suffering people
as well as my own interest."

We will conclude this subject, which could be
greatly extended, with the following extracts taken
from a sketch of Penn, published in the " Friends'
Moral Almanac " for the year 1872 :

"The code of laws which Penn prepared for the
pro\-ince was exalted in aim, comprehensive in scope ;

192 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

yet with slender exceptions, its details were marvel-
lously practical, and if he had not the genius of the
ruler, he had, as few have had, the genius of the legis-
lator. The work of organization under Penn's vigorous
and sagacious guidance rapidly proceeded. A few
Swedes and Dutch had previously settled in Penn-
sylvania, but colonists from most various regions of
the Old World now poured in. Universal toleration
was proclaimed, a charter of liberties was solemnly
consecrated and a democratic government was estab-
lished. In his dealings with the Indians and their
chiefs, Penn manifested his accustomed magnanimity
and justice. The capital city Philadelphia, was planned
on a scale commensurate with Pennsylvania's expected
greatness. Penn's family was in England. Hearing
that his wife was ill ; hearing that his friend Algernon
Sidney had perished on the scaffold ; hearing that the
fury of fanaticism was rivalling with the fury of vice;
he, intrusting his unfinished undertakings to such men
as he deemed competent, hurried anxiously back."

" During the reign of James II, Penn was con-
tinually at court, yet from no selfish or servile reasons.
James had been his father's friend, and he had always
been glad and prompt to help Penn himself He
therefore entered the palace that he might give the
King wise counsels tending towards mercy. The
overthrow of James (near the close of 1688) was in
more than one respect a misfortune to Penn. In the
spring of 1690 he was arrested on the charge of

OPINIONS OF PENN S LABORS. 1 93

holding treasonable correspondence with the dethroned
monarch. The absurdity of the charge being glaringly
evident he was set at liberty. Yet though his con-
duct continued to be blameless, he was, by an order
in council, stripped, third month, 14th, 1692, of his
title to the Pennsylvania government, a tyrannical act
involving his utter ruin ; for besides that he had risked
his whole substance in the Pennsylvania experiment,
his estates, both in England and Ireland, had been
grievously mismanaged by incompetent or dishonest
overseers. An order in council capriciously restored
to Penn, in 1694, that Government of which they had
robbed him."

194 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. SEVERAL MATTERS

ABOUT PENN AND PENSBURY.

In his letter to Margaret Fox, dated London 29th
of 8th month, 1684 ; a few weeks after his return,
Penn states, " Our meetings are blessed, and I think
there are eighteen in the province." After giving some
attention to the matter we infer that the exact number
at that time was eighteen, of which five were in the
present limits of Philadelphia, three in Montgomery-
county, six in Delaware, one in Chester and four in
Bucks. These constituted eight Monthly meetings
called Philadelphia, Chester, Abington, Concord,
Darby, Radnor, Falls and Neshaminy or Middletown.
These were comprised in three Quarterly meetings,
called Philadelphia, formed in 1682, Chester in 1683,
and Bucks in 1684.

This shows an extrao<'dinary increase in two years,
as previous to the Proprietary's arrival meetings had
been held only at three places, namely at Upland, Falls
and Shackamaxon in private houses. This, of course,
had been greatly aided by persecution in the parent
country and which was still to bring thousands more.

THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 1 95

So numerous were the Friends in Philadelphia in 1684,
that it has been stated (Hazard's Register of Pennsyl-
vania, vol. X., p. 92) that the usual attendance at First
day meetings was about eight hundred, which is re-
remarkable when we consider the various difficulties
incident to the opening of a new country in the
wilderness.

Robert Turner* in a letter to Penn dated Philadel-
phia, 3d of 6th mo, 1685, says, "We are now laying
the foundation of a large plain brick house, for a Meet-
ing house in the Centre, sixty feet long and forty broad,
and hope to have it up soon, many hearts and hands
at work will do it. A large Meeting house, fifty feet
long and thirty-eight broad, also going up on the front
of the river for an evening meeting, the work going on
apace." Penn gave a lot of ground for a Meeting
house at Falls, Bucks county, in 1683, but we believe
none was erected thereon till 1690, which the records
tell us was built of brick, twenty-five by twenty feet in
size and not finished till in the spring of 1692. The
Neshaminy or Middletown Meeting house was built
about the same time. All meetings for worship in
Bucks county were previously held in private houses.

William Rawle, in his Address delivered be-
fore the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, No-
vember 5th, 1825, pays this compliment to the
early Friends. " There departure from their native

* A merchant from Dublin, one of the proprietors in 1681 of East New Jersey,
died in 1701.

196 WM. PEXN IN AMERICA.

lands was unrestrained and almost unnoticed. In
quietness they embarked and in quietness they landed.
Here they encountered no embittered foe, they met
no herds of indiijnant natives thronging to resist them,
for the natives were already partially acquainted \\ith
Englishmen, and with this particular description of
Englishmen. Several years before the date of William
Penn's charter, the Society of Friends had begun to
settle in New Jersey. They had fixed themselves at
Salem and at Burlington, and the vessels which
brought out additions to their numbers had occasion-
ally stopped at New Castle, and at Shackamaxon, now
Kensington. Many Swedish settlements between
these points, including Chester and Tinicum, had
already proved the tractable disposition of the natives,
and all was harmony and peace between them.."

" For many years," remarks Peter McCall in his
Address (Historical Society, 1832), "the population of
the colony was chiefly composed of members of the
same religious denomination. Philadelphia was em-
phatically a Quaker city — Pennsylvania a Quaker
province ; and when their numbers and their import-
ance receded before the flood of immigration, the
memory of their services, and the influence of their
virtues, enabled them still to sway the councils of the
growing nation. They gave a tone to our manners,
they gave a temper to our laws. The leading actors
on the arena of public life, the objects of popular
applause and proprietary favour, the Logans and the

THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 1 97

Lloyds, the Shippens and the Norris's, were prominent
members of that Society.

"The Founder himself afforded a striking illustra-
tion of Verulam's beautiful remark, that ' virtue is like
precious odours, most fragrant when they are incensed
or crushed.' Twice expelled his paternal roof, and
twice confined in the tower of London for his inflex-
ible adherence to a prescribed sect, he maintained,
through every \icissitude of fortune, a spirit which no
tyranny could daunt. It would have been no difficult
measure for the Quakers to have erected for them-
selves an ecclesiastical superiority in Pennsylvania,
long regarded as the peculiar asylum of their sect.
But such aji establishment was equally hostile to their
religious tenets and their political sentiments. Uni-
versal liberty of conscience and equality of worship
were made the corner-stone of their building, written
in capitals on the final charter, and declared to be an
indestructible element of the constitution of Pennsyl-
vania."

At a meeting of the Council held in Philadel-
phia the 9th of iith month, 1685, Captain Thomas
Holme was president and William Markham secre-
tary ; we find mention in the minutes of a singular oc-
currence. The Secretary reported to the Council that
in the chronology of the Almanac of Samuel Atkins,
printed by William Bradford, both of said place men-
tion was made therein in these words, " the beginning
of Government here by ye Lord Penn." Council sent

igS WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

for the said Atkins and ordered him to blot out the
words " Lord Penn ; " and Hkevvise for Bradford and
gave him strict cliarge, " not to print any thing but
what shall have Lycense from ye Councill." This is
the only instance known to us of the Council inter-
fering with the press.

We find in the " Conditions and Consessions "
agreed upon in England by Penn with "those who are
adventurers and purchasers in the said province " July
iith, 1681, the following in the seventeenth article :
" That all shall mark their hogs, sheep, and other cattle,
and what are not marked within three months after it
is in their possession, be it young or old, it shall be
forfeited to the governor, that so people may be com-
pelled to avoid the occasion of much strife between
planters." A law was passed in the beginning of
1683 for the " Punishment of those that shall presume
to alter their Neighbor's Eare or Brand Mark."
Phineas Pemberton as clerk kept a record of all these
marks for Bucks county, commencing with the year
1684. The original of which, containing the names of
one hundred and five persons with the peculiar marks
belonging to each, has lately been presented to the
Historical Society. The first entry by the Clerk reads
"The marks of my cattle, P. P. the loth, 6 mo. 1684."
Among others we find that of" William Penn Proprie-
tary and Govrnr, His Earmarke, cropped on both
P2ares. His Brandmarke on the nearor sholder Y^f "
This record comes down to 1693, after which only a

THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 1 99

few transfers were made. Luke Brinsley was the
" Rainger" whose duties were to see the enforcements
of the laws relating thereto. In my researches I re-
member meeting with a commission from Penn to one
Roberts to be the Ranger of Philadelphia county, but
had no date. It certainly belonged to this period.

Penn appointed James Harrison at Lewis on the
15th of 6th month, 1684, to be his steward at Penns-
bury. This was but a day or two before his embarka-
tion. Harrison having been there on the 14th at a
meeting of the Council. The duties of this office
embraced the oversight of "the servants, building, &c.,
and what relates to the place, to receive and pay, —
take, and put away every servant ; — to receive all
strangers, and to place as to lodgings." His wife was
to " overlook the maids in the dairy, accountable for
inferior matters to her." For this service, being merely
" oversight " as Penn remarks, he offered to allow them
" a couple of chambers and a horse, and besides meat,
drink, washing and lodging, forty pounds the first
year, and fifty ever after; which I conceive," he says,
" will be a clear subsistance. I have truth and virtue
in my eye for my family."

From a letter sent to Harrison by Penn in England,
dated 7th of the following 8th month, he mentions
sending a variety of seeds for Ralph, the gardener,
and directs him to set the walnuts, and have the yards
fenced in. He forwards also to the steward, " provi-
sions, butter, cheese, beer, shoes, &c." On the 12th

200 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

of 1st month, 1686, Penn sends "Instructions" to
William Markham, Thomas Ellis and John Good-
son, in which he says, " I desire and order you to see
that they are paid my inferior servants, that James
Harrison my loving Steward emploj^s for that service,
that so my family may be maintained, my improve-
ments go on, and what is owing discharged. The last
day of this month there will be two years due, which
I expect to a farthing, for that is like to be my supply
at last, and because my new rents are to be paid in
money or silver, not in produce." He here makes
reference to his quit-rents which for the entire county
of Bucks was payable at Pennsbury, and in which they
seem to have been very backward. At this early day
it was no doubt expected to become a great place, for
we find at a meeting of the Court in 1692, it was
ordered that Pennsbury be erected into a separate
township, but of which we hear nothing afterwards.

James Harrison continued in the office of steward
till his death, which took place the 6th of 8th month,
1687, at the age of sixty-two years. John Sotcher
succeeded him with Mary Lofty as housekeeper. It
appears from Penn's correspondence that gardeners,
carpenters and others were nearly constantly employed
here in making improvements and repairs, while
strange to say but only a few acres of ground were
cleared and adapted to agricultural purposes, which
will in part account why the Proprietary was at so
much expense in sending provisions here. J. Francis

MATTERS ABOUT PENNSBURY. 201

Fisher, in his private Hfe of Wm. Penn, pubHshed in
the Memoirs of the Historical Society (vol. III. part
II.), mentions that his favorite mode of traveling was
by water, and that he kept a barge furnished with a
sail, and manned by a boatswain, a cockswain, and six
oarsmen. That his visits to and from Pennsbury to
Shackamaxon, Philadelphia, Chester, New Castle, Bur-
lington, The Falls and other places were generally
performed in this way, the roads at this time being few
and difficult to travel and without bridges.

202 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XIX.

PENN REINSTATED IN HIS GOVERNMENT. RESOLVES TO

RETURN. PROPOSES A UNION OF THE COLONIES.

But a few months after the return of Penn to his
native land, great changes were to take place in the
affairs of government, and to continue for several years
to agitate the country and eventually culminate in revo-
lution. King Charles II died of an apoplectic fit, Feb-
ruary 6th, 1685, and was peaceably succeeded by his
brother the Duke of York under the title of James II.
The late King, owing to his affability, generosity and
politeness, at one time had become extremely popular,
but through a long course of profligacy, extravagance
and perfidy he lost the confidence of his subjects.
James had always been the friend of Penn and to his
credit we believe never relaxed in the confidence that
he retained for him. This affection was not misplaced
and led to a great amount of good, in the discharge of
many hundreds from loathsome prisons, who had been
languishing there for years for not conforming to the
principles of the established church.

On the 1 6th of the ist month (March), Penn sent a
letter to Thomas Lloyd, in which he gives the follow-

REINSTATED IN HIS GOVERNMENT. 203

ing interesting account : " The King is dead, and the
Duke succeeds peaceably. He was well on First-day
night, being the first of February (so-called); about
eia;ht next morningr, as he sat down to shave, his head
twitched both ways, or sides, and he gave a shriek,
and fell as dead, and so remained some hours; they
opportunely blooded and cupped him, and plied his
head with red-hot frying pans. He returned (revived),
and continued till Sixth day noon, but mostly in
great tortures. He seemed very penitent, asking par-
don of all, even the poorest subject he had wronged ;
prayed for pardon, and to be delivered out of the
world — the Duke appearing mighty humble and
sorrowful. He was an able man for a divided and
troubled kingdom. The present King was proclaimed
about three o'clock that day. A proclamation fol-
lowed, with the King's speech, to maintain the church
and state as established, to keep property and use
clemency."

On hearing of the distracted condition of affairs in
the government of the Province, Penn sent to the
Council the following letter of excellent advice which
does him great credit. Owing to its length we have
reluctantly omitted a portion :

" Esteemed Friends and Counsellors.

" I salute you all with true and unfeigned love,
wishing you temporal and eternal prosperity, whether
I ever or never should see you more. The noise of
some differences that have been in the Province have

204 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

reached these parts, with no advantage to the reputa-
tion of the country. If any thing be amiss let it be
by more hidden and gentle ways remedied. An in-
fancy of government can hardl}' bear the shakes a
riper age may and sometimes, as a last remedy, must
endure. That is no where commendable, but in
government dangerous, next to religious duty, self
denial in the administration of a government is both
requisite and laudable. I recommend it to you in
prudence and concience. If faults are committed, let
them be mended without noise and animosity ; the
pomp and clatter of complaint is oftentimes a greater
grievance to the public than that the thing complained
of

"Three things I do in an special manner recommend
to your care and inspection. First, without respect to
persons, in the fear of God and for the honor of the
Province, punish vice ; let it not escape your righteous
rod; 't is the enemy of your country and that which
causes God to leave a people to divers afflictions, and
brings them at last under dismal providences. I was
apt myself to be but too merciful ; in that follow not
my example. The repentance of the person is not
enough for the public always. Secondly, accommodate
your differences quietly and quickly ; take them up in
the counties betimes ; this prevents charge and ani-
mosity and public reproach. And to do this good
work, every man is a judge or arbitrator, for it is a
duty of good neighborhood in all. Thirdly I beseech

REINSTATED IN IIIS GOVERNMENT. 205

you to be kind to strangers, especially the poorer sort,
to all be inoffensive and helpful. You are watchmen
to the rest; be therefore careful, and let a public spirit
act you in a public station — 't is true generation work,
for which even our reward is not from men, for as
government is an ordinance of God, so most assuredly
the conciencious discharge of our duty therein shall
not be left out of the number of those good deeds
that God will recompence at the last.

" Now for myself I bless God I am well, and last
first day at night I obtained at the Cabinet an order
for a speedy hearing the Lord Baltimore which yester-
day by the Lords of the Plantations was appointed to
be this Second night ; let right and equity prevail when
that is finished, my face will be turning towards you
and nothing sooner expedite my return the good
things I have before recommended to your care and
execution. I add no more but the hearty remembrance
of my love and affection to you and yours and the
people of your respective counties, wishing and pray-
ing for you all that God the great author and fountain
of all our mercies and blessings may be with you.
Amen. Your real friend,

Wm. Penn.

"Kensington, 19th, 6 mo., '85.

Besides Lord Baltimore, Penn had a determined op-
ponent to his interests in Col. Thomas Dungan, Gov-
ernor of New York. In a letter to the Kin<r dated

206 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

March 2d, 1686, he says, " Mr. Penn hath written that
I was to be called home and I do not doubt but
would do all he can to effect it, having no great kind-
ness for me, because I did not consent to his having
Susquehanna river."

" The pretenses of William Penn, Esqr. to the Three
Lower Counties on Delaware river and to the Susque-
hanna river are equally, if not more injurious to your
Majesty and particularly in this respect. Susquehanna
river is situate in the middle of the Seneca's country,
which they gave unto your Majesty's crown and hath
belonged as an appendix to your Majesty's government
many years before Mr. Penn had his patent. Not-
withstanding thereof he endeavors to disturb your Maj-
esty in the peaceable and quiet possession of the
premises ; endeavoring to tempt the Indians to sell it
again to him, by that means not only to dispossess
your Majesty of your ancient rights -but also to per-
vert and draw away the trade of the Indians to his
Province ; which will be an irreparable loss to your
Majesty, all the nations with whom Albany hath their
trade living at the head of Susquehanna river. To the
revenue of ten per cent, the impost upon powder, lead,
alum and furs, quite lost, and if Mr. Penn should at-
tain his pretenses to the Susquehanna river, it will not
only destroy the best branch of your Majesty's
revenue, but it will likewise depopulate your Province,
the inhabitants of Albany having only seated them-
selves there and addicted their minds to the Indian

REINSTATED IN HIS GOVERNMENT. 20/

language and the misteries of the said trade, with
purpose to manage it, that if it should be diverted from
that channel, they must follow it, having no other way
or art to get a livelihood."

In his report on the state of the Province of New
York for 1686, he gives us more on the subject. " The
Three Lower Counties," he says, " of Pennsylvania
have been a dependency on this place, and a great
many of the inhabitants persons that removed thither
from this Government, and I do not believe it was his
Majesty's intention to annex it to Pennsylvania nor to
have it subject to the same laws, it being the King's
own land, the doing whereof by Mr. Penn there has
been of great detriment to this place in hindering the
tobacco to come hither as formerly, for then there
came two ships for one that comes now ; beaver
and peltry taking but small stowage in ships. I am
now informed that the people of Pennsylvania have
had last year from the Indians, upwards of two
hundred packs of beaver down the Schuylkill and will
have more this as I have reason to believ^e, which if
not prevented, his Majesty must not expect this Gov-
ernment can maintain itself" We can also see here a
jealousy extending back now almost two centuries in
the cities of New York and Philadelphia for securing
the western trade.

Unfortunately the large expenditures that Penn had
been at in peopling his Province, the frequent drafts
made upon him by his steward at Pennsbury, with his

208 WM. P'ENN IN AMERICA.

expenses incurred by traveling and living abroad and
at Worminghurst and Kensington began now to press
heavily upon him, the income derived from his estates
in England and Ireland being inadequate to meet it.
In a letter to Thomas Lloyd he states that out of five
hundred pounds per annum quit-rents, due him, he
could not get one penny. His letters written at this
time explain his stay in England, when his presence
was greatly needed and desired in the colony. In a
letter to James Harrison, dated at London, 23d of 7th
mo., 1686, he says, "and what with the fresh packets,
one after another from your side, that Baltimore com-
plies not with the King's order; I cannot come this
fall; for to leave that unfinished I came for, and so 'to
return by his obstinacy when wife and family are there,
will not be advisable. Wherefore I think to see an
end of that before I go. Besides that, the country think
not upon my supply, and I resolve never to act the Gov-
ernor and keep another family and capacity upon my
private estate. If my table, cellar, and stable may be
provided for, with a barge and yacht or sloop for the
service of Governor or Government, I may try to get
hence, for in the sight of God, I can say, I am five
thousand pounds and more behind hand, more than I
ever received or saw for land in that Province; and to be
so baffled by the merchants is discouraging, and not to
be put up. Now I desire thee to draw no more upon
me for one penny. If I cannot be supplied, I resolve
to turn over a new leaf There is nothing my soul

RESOLVES TO RETURN. 209

breathes more in this world, next my dear family's life,
than that I may see poor Pennsylvania again, and my
wife is given up to go, but I cannot force my way
hence, and see nothing done on that side inviting. The
King is kind to me and Friends, and Meetings open
again."

The Prince of Orange, landed at Torbay, November
4th, 1688, and in the following February was crowned
William III with his consort Mary, and the dethroned
monarch James II, retired to France to die in exile.
A revolution had thus been effected, and after things
had got quieted down we find a renewal of Penn's cor-
respondence. In a letter to Thomas Lloyd, president
of the Council, dated London, 14th of 4th mo., 1691,
he says, "I ask the people forgiveness for my long
stay; but when I consider how much it has been my
great loss, and for an ungrateful generation, it is pun-
ishment!— It has been ^,'20,000 to my damage in the
country, and above i^ 10,000 here, and to the Province,
500 families ; but the wise God that can do what he
pleases, as well as see what is in man's heart, is able to
requite all, and I am persuaded all shall yet work to-
gether for good in this very thing, if we can overlook
all that stands in the way of our views, Godward; in
public matters. See that all be done prudently and
humbly, and keep down irreverence and looseness, and
cherish industry and sobriety."

As his debts began to press him more and more,
14

2IO WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Peiin tried several methods to raise the necessary
means to relieve himself from his embarrassments.
Among the rest was a plan devised in the following
letter. It had no direction, but the endorsement on it
intimates that it was sent to Robert Turner, and by its
contents evidently intended also for Thomas Holme,
on both of whom he had placed considerable de-
pendence.

" London, 4th. 12th mo., 1692.
" Dear Friends "

" Considering how things stand and may stand with
you ; and the visible necessity the Province is under,
as well as my own interest, and my earnest inclinations,
that I speedily return, I have a proposal to make, in
which if you answer me, I shall be able to make my
way safe from the Government easy to myself, just to
my friends here, and this in reason I ought to desire.
In consideration therefore of my great expenses in
King Charles' time, known in some measure to
Thomas Holme and my great losses in this King's
time the one being at least ^^,'7,000, and the
other above ^."4000 or £"450 per annum totally
wasted in Ireland as Thomas Holme* can inform
you, by which means I cannot do what is requi-
site to bring me among you without that time
here which may injure our joint interest, or help to

* He was Surveyor-General of the Province and died in 1695, aged upwards of
seventy years. Served as a midshipman in Admiral Penn's expedition to the West
Indies.

RESOLVES TO RETURN. 211

shorten it ; I do propose that one hundred persons in
town, if able, or town and country, do lend me, free of
interest, each of them £ lOO for four years, or each of
them more or less, as able, so that reach the sum and
I will give you my bond to repay it to each of you, in
four years time, or if not paid in that time, a sufficient
interest for the whole, or what remains unpaid at
four years end, from that time forwards till |)aid.

" I shall take it so kindly from you, that if you gave
me at another time it should not equally please me,
and it could not be done more seasonably for your-
selves, and the whole Province, for depend upon it and
you have it under my hand God giving health for it, I
will not stay six months, no, not three months, if I
can in that time get passage to remove to you, with
family also. I hope to be more worth to you, and a
great deal more to the Province ; for the hour my back
is turned of England some hundreds, if not thousands,
will follow which will be your as well as my advantage,
you may be informed of the reason of this proposal
more particularly by Robert Turner and Thomas
Holme if there be any need for it.

" Almighty God incline and direct you for the best,
and determine quickly, for else, my course will be as
you may hear by Thomas Holme otherwise in soli-
tudes. My sincere love salutes you and my wishes,
in the will of God, are for your happiness, whether I
see you any more, which under God, depends much
upon }()ur compliance with ni\- proposal, and those

212 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

that close with it shall ever be remembered by me and
mine. So with my love farewell. Your assured
Friend

Wm. Penn."

It would appear that an effort was made by some of
his friends to assist him on this plan, and which is thus
sarcastically alluded to by Col. Benjamin Fletcher,
Governor of New York, in a letter to London a few
months afterwards, and which he mentions that he had
received the account from Philadelphia : J

" By another letter to the Friends in Pennsylvania
Mr. Penn writes to find out a hundred persons
in the country of Pennsylvania each to lend
him one hundred pounds without use for four
years and without any other security- than his own
bond, and promises them that within si.x months
at farthest after the receipt of it he will embark
for that place with all his family. Some meetings
have been about it, and it is reported that how much
soever they appear his friends the\' stagger when he
comes near their purses ; those that are able want
better security and those that are not (to excuse them-
selves) saying they would if they could."

Governor Fletcher shortly afterwards sent a letter to
the Lords of Trade and Plantations wherein he reflects
on the action of those in power here and their conduct
towards the Proprietary. " Your Lordships," he says
" will perceive these people have as little regard for the

PROPOSES A UNION OF THE COLONIES. 2I3

interest of their proprietor Mr. Penn as they have for
his Majesty's service, and are endeavoring to erect a
new model of Government of their own invention and
of their own authority. The town of Philadelphia in
fourteen years time has become near equal to the city
of New York in trade and riches, the hardships that
this province hath undergone in the defence of the
frontiers and the detaching of our people hath drove
many of them thither to enjoy their ease, and
there being no duty upon trade in that colony it is a
discouragement to the trade of this province whose in-
habitants are left wholly to bear the burthen of the
war, whilst they grow by the hardships of our circum-
stances and derive all their protection from our forces."

To his other afflictions Penn was called now to
mourn for the loss of Gulielma Maria, his beloved con-
sort. " My dear wife," he writes, " departed this life
the 23d of the 12th month, 1693, in the fiftieth year
of her age ; being sensible to the very last. During
her illness she uttered many living and weighty ex-
pressions upon divers occasions, both before and near
her end. Some of which I took down, for mine and
her dear children's consolation." She was the daugh-
ter of Sir William Springett of Darlington in Sussex,
who was killed in the civil wars at the seige of Bamber-
He was married to her in 1672, being then in his 28th
year. From the Bill of Charges by Thomas Fairman,
deputy surveyor, we learn that before Penn returned to

2 14 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

England, he made "a journey with the Proprietor to
look at some land to be called Springettsbury, above
the land designated for Germantown, afterwards named
Springfield." This formed what is marked on Thomas
Holme's Map of original surveys " Gulielma Maria
Penn's Manor of Springfield," containing 4,010 acres.
We have evidence here that the Proprietary personally
examined this tract before it was laid out and bestowed
on his wife. It was a judicious selection, being a very
fertile tract, abounding in limestone and iron, the whole
forming the township of Springfield in the present
Montgomery county, immediately north of Chestnut
Hill. Thomas Penn in 1738 still retained 1,600 acres
of it.

By the tyrannical act of an order from the Royal
Council, passed the 3d of 4th month, 1692, Penn was
deprived of his title to the government of Pennsylvania.
In consequence he petitioned to the Lords of Trade
some time after to be restored to all his former rights
and privileges there. On the ist and 3d of August,
1694, he was present at the board in which the Com-
mittee report that " Mr. Penn having declared to their
Lordships that if her Majesty shall be graciously
pleased to restore him to his Proprietary according to
the said Grants, he intends with all convenient speed
to repair thither, and take care of the Government and
provide for the safety and security thereof all that in
him lies. And to that end he will carefull}' transmit
to the Council and Assembly there, all such orders as

PROPOSES A UNION OF THE COLONIES. 2 I 5

shall be given by her Majesty in that behalf, and he
doubts not but that they will at all times dutyfully
comply with and yield obedience thereunto, and to all
such orders and directions as their Majesties shall from
time to time think fit to send, for the supplying such
quota of men or the defraying their part of the charges
as their Majesties shall think necessary for the safety
and preservation of their Majesties Dominions in that
part of America."

William and Mary accordingly restored him to all
his former privileges in Pennsylvania. The act for re-
storing him was passed the 21st of August following,
"And whereas," it states, " the said Proprietor has
given us good assurance that he will take care of the
Government of our said Province and Territories and
provide for the safety and security thereof all that in
him lies." Therefore the Queen revokes the com-
mission of Col. Fletcher, bearing date Oct. 21, 1692,
whereby he was appointed Governor and Captain
General of the colony. We need not wonder at his
sarcastic opponent making a vigorous defence, for he
had profited by Penn's misfortune, and his restoration
now cost him his position.

At a meeting of his Majesty's Commissioners for
Trade and Plantations, held at Whitehall, December
iith, 1696, Penn was present, on which occasion he
spoke of the quotas required from the neighboring
Colonies for the defence of New York. He conceived
the best plan for regulating it would be by stated

2l6 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

deputies from each province, to meet in one common
Assembly. To effect this he observed would require
one Captain General or Viceroy to preside. Upon
these heads the Board desired him to draw up a scheme
more fully in writing, to which he consented. This
remarkable document, that proposed a union of all the
Colonies and to be represented in a General Congress
to devise plans for their mutual welfare, safety and
defence, deserves to be published in full, written as it
was eighty years before the Declaration of Indepen-
dence. As may be well supposed it was never acted
upon, the home government dared not do it, it was
policy to prevent it as long as they could. The same
course is still pursued in the existing Colonies. I am
not aware of it being published before in any work
relating either to Penn or his Province, neither am I
certain whether any reference has heretofore been made
to it. It is entitled " Mr. Penn's Plan for a Union of
the Colonies in America."

A Briefe and Plaine Scheam how the English Colo-
nies in the North parts of America, viz : Boston, Con-
necticut, Road Island, New York, New Jerseys, Pen-
silvania, Maryland, Virginia and Carolina may be made
more useful to the Crowne, and one another's peace
and safety with an universall concurrence.

1st, That the, severall Colonies before mentioned do
meet once a year, and oftener if need be, during the
war, and at least once in two years in times of peace,
by their stated and appointed Deputies, to debate and

PROPOSES A UNION OF THE COLONIES. 2 1/

resolve of such measures as are most advisable for
their better understanding, and the publick tranquility
and safety.

2. That in order to it two persons well qualified for
sence, sobriety and substance be appointed by each
Province, as their Representatives or Deputies, which
in the whole make the Congress to consist of twenty
persons.

3. That the King's Commissioner for that purpose
specially appointed shall have the Chaire and preside
in the said Congresse.

4. That they shall meet as near as conveniently
may be to the most centrall Colony for ease of the
Deputies.

5. Since that may in all probability, be New York
both because it is near the Center of the Colonies and
for that it is a Frontier and in the King's nomination,
the Govr of that Colony may therefore also be the
King's High Commissioner during the Session after
the manner of Scotland.

6. That their business shall be to hear and adjust
all matters of Complaint or difference between Prov-
ince and Province. As ist, where persons quit their
own Province and goe to another, that they may avoid
their just debts tho they be able to pay them ; 2d,
where offenders fly Justice, or Justice cannot well be
had upon such offenders in the Provinces that entertain
them ; 3dly, to prev^ent or cure injuries in point of
commerce ; 4th, to consider of ways and means to

2l8 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

support the union and safety of the Provinces, against
the pubUck enemies. In which Congresse the Quotas
of men and charges will be much easier, and more
equally sett, then it is possible for any establishment
made here to do ; for the Provinces, knowing their
own condition and one anothers, can debate that
matter with more freedome and satisfaction and better
adjust and balance their affairs in all respects for their
common safety.

7ly, That in times of war the King's High Com-
missioner shall be generall or Chief Commander of
the severall Quotas upon service against the common
enemy as he shall be advised, for the good and
benefit of the whole.

In 1696 Penn married his second wife, Hannah, the
daughter of Thomas Callowhill, an eminent merchant
of Bristol, and soon after buried his eldest son, the
virtuous and amiable Springett, aged but twenty years.
In 1698, he traveled in Ireland, and resided the follow-
ing year at Bristol. She survived him upwards of
eight years, her death taking place the 20th of loth
month, 1726. From the time that Penn was reinstated
in his government until his return to the Province
was a little over five years, in which period the colony
continued tranquil, and nothing material transpired to
affect the general enjoyment of the people in prosperity
and happiness.

DEPARTS WITH FAMILY TO THE PROVINCE. 2I9

CHAPTER XX.

PENN DEPARTS WITH HIS FAMILY TO THE PROVINCE.

HIS ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION AT CHESTER

AND PHILADELPHIA.

S^JiiIy — December, idgg.']

In his " Further account of Pennsylvania," dated
from Worminghurst the 12th of loth month, 1685,
and pubhshed soon after for general circulation, Penn
stated " because some have urged my coming back, as
an argument against the place, and the probability of
its improvement ; adding that I would for that reason
never return : I think fit to say, that next summer
God willing, I intend to go back, and carry my family,
and the best part of my personal estate with me. And
this I do, not only of duty, but inclination and choice."
In his letters after this he also gave repeated assurances
of his intentions to this effect. However, according to
the Report of the Lords of Trade on his petition at
Whitehall, dated the ist and 3d of August, 1694, they
state that " being attended by Mr. Penn, who having
declared to their Lordships that if her Majesty shall

220 VVM. PENN IN AMERICA.

be graciously pleased to restore him to his Propriety
according to the said grants, he intends with all con-
venient speed to repair thither, and take care of the
government and provide for the safety and security
thereof all that in him lies." On this promise also
voluntarily made, his province was restored to him,
but as may be noticed it was not till nearly five years
had elapsed on the latter before his " duty " or " choice"
inclined him to return.

We have no positive assurances of an earlier inten-
tion on the part of Penn to revisit the colony, than in
his application to several Friends' meetings for cer-
tificates addressed to other meetings on account of ab-
sence and removal. He is known to have 4-eceived
three, recorded in the first volume of the Records of
Philadelphia Monthl)^ Meeting. One from the " Sec-
ond Day's Meeting of Ministering Friends " in Lon-
don ; which alludes to his eminent services in the
gospel ministry, his successful efforts in releasing the
oppressed, and his meekness under trial from malice
and envy, and that he parted from them in true unity
and as an approved minister of Christ. One from the
" Men's Meeting of Friends in the city of Bristol,"
where he had lately resided, and mentions their re-
luctance to part with him " as a man, a good Friend
and a true Christian." The third we proceed to give
in full :

"From our Monthly Meeting held at Horseham, Old
England, 14th, 5th month, 1699.

DEPARTS WITH FAMILY TO THE PROVINCE. 221

"To the church of Christ in Pennsylvania, and to all
the faithful Friends and Brethren unto whom this may
come. In the covenant of life and fellowship of the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the unity of
the one eternal Spirit of our God, we dearly salute
you, most earnestly desiring your prosperity in the
blessed truth.

" Now dear Friends and Brethren, whereas our
worthy Friend and Elder, William Penn, did acquaint
our Friends' Monthly Meeting with his intended voy-
age into his province of Pennsylvania, and although
we are right sensible that he needeth no recommenda-
tion from us, to pass into his own country, yet at his
request, and for the good order sake that God has es-
tablished in his church and among his people, and for
the sincere love we bear our well esteemed Friend, we
could do no less than give this small token of our
unity and communion with him, for a testimony for
him in his service in the church of Christ ; wherein he
hath been a worthy and blessed instrument in the
hand of the Lord, both in his ministry and conversa-
tion ; and has always sought the prosperity of the
blessed truth, peace and concord, in the church of
Christ; and hath walked among us in all humility,
godly sincerity and brotherly love, to our great re-
freshment and comfort ; who hath with much labour
and travail on all occasions, endeavoured the defence
of truth against its opposers, and the preservation of
true unity and good order in the church of Christ.

222 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

So in the unity of the one eternal Spirit, which is
the bond of true peace, we take our leave of him,
with earnest breathings and supplications to the great
God, whom the wind and seas obey, that he w^ould
mercifully be pleased to go along with him, and con-
duct him by the angel of his Divine Presence to his
desired port, and preserve him to the end of his days.
And that in the end he may receive an immortal
crown and be bound up in the bundle of life amongst
them that have turned many to righteousness, who
shine as the sun in the firmament of God's eternal
power, forever and ever. Amen."

Signed in the behalf and by the appointment of the
said meeting, by Richard Hallare, Resta Patdoing, Dan-
iel Hayllare, Thomas Rowland, Walter Constable, John
Greenwood, Hugh Parson, John Shaw, Isaac Parson,
Samuel Cully, John Shaw, Sen'r, John Garton, Thomas
Snashwold, Peter Johan, Abraham Jones, Benjamin
Hayllare, Richard Gates, Thomas Lellington, Thomas
Humphreys, Benjamin Martin, John Shaw, Jun'r.

On the I 3th of 6th month following he preached a
farewell sermon at Friends' Meeting house in West-
minster, which was taken down on the occasion and
shortly after printed, a copy, if we mistake not, being
in possession of the Historical Society. Just before
leaving he prepared a letter of advice to his children,
chiefly relating to their civil and religious conduct.

After the necessary preparations had all been made,
Penn now determined to carrv out his long-cherished

DEPARTS WITH FAMILY TO THE PROVINCE. 22 3

purpose, and accordingly embarked with his wife and
daughter Letitia, on board the ship Canterbury lying
at Cowes in the Isle of Wight, from which they
sailed on the 3d of 7th month (Sept., 1699.) Refore
leaving he took farewell of his Friends, in a vale-
dictory addressed to all the people called Quakers, in
Europe. He concludes by saying, " I have from the
first endeavoured to serve you, and my poor country,
and that at my own charges, with an upright mind,
however misunderstood and treated by some, whom I
heartily forgive. Accept you my services ; and ever
love and remember, my dear friends and brethren,
your old, true, and affectionate friend, brother, and
servant in Christ Jesus."

By his first marriage, Penn had five children ; Mary
and Hannah died in infancy, and Springett, the pride
of his father, in 1696. William, whom he left behind,
was married to Mary the daughter of Charles Jones,
of Bristol. Letitia, who now accompanied him, must
have been a full grown woman, for we know that she
was married three years after to William Aubrey.
This constituted at the time the whole of the Proprie-
tary's family. In his first visit to the province Penn
was in his thirty-eighth year, now he was fifty-five and
had been fifteen years and over three months absent.
A period long enough to have made a considerable
change, particularly in a young and flourishing colony.
Many that had been on the active stage of life when
he left were now numbered amongst their fathers.

224 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

whilst their sons and daughters had grown up and
were taking their places.

As Proud has stated in his History (vol. I, pp.
420-1), that Penn had sailed from the Isle of Wight
on the 9th of 7th month, in which I find that he has
since been followed by others, it becomes us here to
give our authority on the subject. This is derived
from no less than three letters written by Penn him-
self (4.) One to Governor Nicholson of Virginia,
dated Philadelphia, 12th, 10 br. following, in which he
says. "I came to this town ye 3d, that day 3 months
that I left ye Isle of Wight, a long and sometimes
rude passage, but mercifull in all our healths and in
finding ye mortality over before we came." To
Governor Blackiston of Maryland on the 13th, writes
that " We set sail from ye Isle of Wight ye 3d of 7
br., and arrived here ye 3d of 10 br., which proved a
merciful delay, the late mortality considered." He
also confirms the aforesaid in a letter from Philadel-
phia the loth of I mo., 1700, to Secretary Vernon.

On the 28th of November the ship Canterbury had
already entered the bay, and had passed New Castle,
when Penn entered his barge and the following after-
noon landed at the house of Lydia Wade, below
Chester, where he lodged that evening. The voyage
had been a very tedious one, taking three months till
the ship arrived at Philadelphia. Among the passen-
gers was James Logan, whom Penn had proposed to
accompany him to Pennsylvania as his secretary, which

ARRIVAL AT CHESTER AND PHILADELPHIA. 22 5

offer he had accepted. J. Francis Fisher in his Pri-
vate Life of Penn (Memoirs of Hist. Society, vol. Ill,
p. 89), relates that on his arrival Penn distributed
amongst the ship's company near six pounds, quite a
handsome sum for those days, in appreciation of their
services and kindness to him. On this occasion he
also brought with him the magnificent colt Tamer-
lane by the celebrated Godolphin Barb, to which some
of the best hor.ses of England traced their pedigree.
But for travel he still preferred his yacht, a fine vessel
of six oars, with a regular crew who received fair
wages while the Governor was in the country. As
the son of an Admiral he had an hereditary fondness
for water, perhaps cherished the more by the gold
medal that had been transmitted to him.

The arrival of Penn at Chester is quite interestingly
noticed in the Journal of Thomas Story (Friends'
Library, vol. X, pp. 131-4, Phila. 1846), from which
we take the following extracts:

"On the 28th (9th mo., 1699) I had a small meet-
ing at New Castle upon Delaware, which would have
been less, had it not been for the expectation several
were in of seeing William Penn, proprietor and gov-
ernor of Pennsylvania, then in the river, in his voyage
from England, in order to exercise his government in
person, having been absent many years : but he did
not land there. Being informed that the governor was
under sail, and desired me to meet him that evening
15

226 \VM. PENX IN AMERICA.

near Chester, I took horse after supper, and went to
our friend Lydia Wade's by Chester, and there waited
till he came up in his barge ; and as we had parted in
England in much tenderness, my satisfaction was also
great to meet him so well and safe in his own prov-
ince ; and that night we lodged together, and dis-
coursed on divers subjects especially on matters of
government.

"The next day, being the ist of the loth month,
we went over Chester creek in a boat, to the town ;
and as the governor landed, some young men,
officiously, and contrary to the express command of
some of the magistrates, fired two small sea-pieces of
cannon, and being ambitious to make three out of two,
by firing one twice, one of the young men darting in a
cartridge of powder before the piece was spunged, had
his lett hand and arm shot in pieces. A surgeon
being sent for from on board a ship, an amputation
was quickly resolved upon by Dr. Griffith Owen, a
Friend, the surgeon, and some other skilful persons
present ; which accordingly was done without delay.
But as the arm was cut off, some spirits in a bason
happened to take fire, and being spilt upon the sur-
geon's apron, set his clothes on fire, and there being a
great crowd of spectators, some of them were in dan-
ger of being scalded, as the surgeon himself was upon
his hands and face ; but running into the street, the
fire was quenched; and so quick was he, that the
patient lost not very much blood.

ARRIVAL AT CHESTER AND I'll I f.A DELPH I A. 22/

" Sucli is the unreasonableness of envy, and of
those that are exercised therein, that some such would
gladly have blamed the governor, because the matter
happened on that occasion, though he could not be in
any way accessory thereto, the action being without
his knowledge, and contrary to the command of the
magistrates. But as he was above the reach of his
enemies, their envy and calumnies could not hurt
him."

The unfortunate accident just mentioned must have
greatly marred the pleasure of the Governor's re-
ception. He was so much concerned for the sufferer,
that he paid the expenses of surgical aid, and con-
tinued to advance money for his relief and support, as
appears from the several entries in the Proprietary's
Cash Book of the several sums paid under the head-
ing "for B. Bevan of Chester, who lost his arm." The
last entry which was nearly five months after the
occurrence showed the sad termination of this affair,
and is " April 20th, for his funeral charges."

After visiting some of his former acquaintances and
exchanging salutations with its principal inhabitants,
the Governor went on board the Canterbury, and the
ship proceeded on her way to Philadelphia where he
arrived on the afternoon of Sunday the 3d of Decem-
ber. The city had been visited by that dreadful
epidemic the yellow fever, and was just recovering
from the distress and devastatit)n caused by its ravages,
which had not long before prevailed to an alarming

228 • WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

extent. Respecting it a letter had been sent from here
to Penn dated the i ith of 7th month, when he had
proceeded eight days on his voyage which stated
"All business and trade down. This is quite the
Barbadoes distemper, they void and vomit blood.
This has been about harvest time, the hottest summer
I ever knew : several died in the field with the vio-
lence of the heat."

The Governor in a letter from Philadelphia dated
the I oth of I st mo. (March), 1 700, to Secretary Ver-
non says, " My passage was long, three months but
merciful, in that the northwesters had purged this town
from a distemper that raged two or three months
therein, brought as believed from Barbadoes, of which
2 1 5 died." To Col. Codrington he wrote five days
later, " We have had a sickly place, but now well,
through God's mercy mine are all so, and our passage
though long and sometimes rough, yet safe, not a pas-
senger miscarried."

James Logan in a letter to William Penn, Jr., thus
describes the arrival in Philadelphia : " The highest
terms I could use would hardly give you an idea of
the expectation and welcome that thy father received
from the most of the honester party here. Friends
generally concluded that after all their troubles and
disappointments, this province now scarce wanted any-
thing more to render it completely happy. The fac-
tion that had long contended to overthrow the settled
constitution of the government received an universal

ARRIVAL AT CHESTER AND PJULADELJ'HIA. 229

damp, yet endeavoured what mischief they could by
speaking whispers that the Proprietary could not act
as governor without the King's approbation, and tak-
ing an oath, as obliged by Act of Parliament ; but that
in a great measure soon blew over.

" Directly from the wharf the governor went to his
deputy's (Markham) paid him a short formal visit, and
from thence with a crowd attending to meeting, it
being about three o'clock on First-day afternoon, where
he spoke on a double account to the people, and pray-
ing, concluded it : from thence to Edward Shippen's
where we lodged for about a month.

" David Lloyd, attorney-general, a man very stiff in
all his undertakings, of a sound judgment, and a good
lawyer, but extremely pertinaceous and somewhat re-
vengeful : he, at that time, was one of the council.
This obstinacy the governor could by no means brook ;
he could not but think there was more deference and
consideration due his character and station. Friends
love to the governor was great and sincere they had
long mourned for his absence, and passionately desired
his return. He, they firmly believed, would compose
all their differences, and repair all that was amiss."

Among the determined opponents of Penn was Col.
Robert Quarry, Judge of the Admiralty, a court estab-
lished by the British government, for the adjudication
of maritime cases, and also for the purpose of enforcing
the navigation laws, which prohibited a direct trade
from the American colonies to foreign countries. John

230 W.M. PENN IN AMERICA.

Moore was Advocate in this court, and were rendered
completely independent in their positions from both
the Proprietary and the Legislature. These with
David Lloyd were now the chief leaders in ev^ery move-
ment that was set in opposition to the Proprietary in-
terests. The latter came from Wales and had been a
captain in Cromwell's arm\', but now a member of the
Society of Friends. Quarry and Moore had been send-
ing injurious statements to the Board of Trade in Lon-
don charging the authorities here with harboring
pirates, tolerating illicit trade, not exacting oaths in
courts, nor providing military defences. Penn how-
ever had succeeded in baffling their designs, and was
desirous of promoting harmony and sent for Quarry,
when they had a talk over the matters at variance in a
courteous manner, both acknowledging to some faults
in the administration of affairs during his absence.

" Last First-day," as Lsaac Norris wrote a few days
after, " our Proprietor arrived with his wife and family,
all well. He is hearty and hale, received with much
joy by the major and better part of the inhabitants.
The same day arrived Captain Cooper with 1 20 pas-
sengers, from Bristol, all well. We have had this year
seven ships from England, some of them 300 tons.
We never had such a quantity of goods in one year
since I knew the country. Our place through great
mercy very healthy again, and an extraordinary mod-
erate and open fall."

Thomas Story in his Journal says that on the 8th

ARRIVAL AT CHESTER AND PHII^ADELPHIA. 23 I

he went to Philadelphia and visited the Governor and
some of his friends there. On the 13th he accom-
panied Penn to Chester to attend the Court of Quarter
Sessions, and the next day they held there a meeting
for worship, at which a number attended. On the i 5th
they returned together to Philadelphia, where he re-
mained till the 28th.

The 1 2th must have been a tolerable busy day with
the I'roprietary, for among his other labors he wrote
at least three tolerably lengthy letters (4.) One was
addressed to Governor Nicholson of Virginia, in which
he says, " I desire with all sincerity a good understand-
ing among ye Governors of ye Provinces under ye
Crown of England for their regulation at home and ye
prosperity of ye respective Provinces, and do assure
thee that it shall be my endeavour to discharge my
part as becomes both my dut\' and interest, suppress-
ing illegal trade and the roving of pirates about the
several colonies seems the immediate concern. I have
begun and shall continue to make it my care and on
all occasions desire thy advice and assistance in ye dis-
charge of that branch of my duty to ye Crown."

" By your Collector I am informed," he writes to
Major Donaldson and Captain Hallowcll, " of a late
trial in New Castle Court against some persons since
deceased and others who fled from Burlington before
my arrival under suspicion of piracy that carries some
censure upon ye Justice of that place. I desire you
would cause ye Clerk of your Court to draw out of

232 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

his minutes as fair an account as he possibly can and
let it with all expedition be transmitted to me that I
may be the more fully acquainted of all past proceed-
ings about it."

To William Clark, of Lewis, Sussex county, he
writes, " I am extremely glad to hear that after the
danger your kindness exposed you to in the sloop }-ou
got all so well ashore. The thoughts of it were a
great concern to me till eased by the news of your
safety. I hav^e not yet fully determined the time of
the Council and Assembly to meet, but by the first
opportunity thou mayest expect to hear farther. Pray
be careful to suffer no unknown persons to wander
about without apprehension and information sent
hither." This letter it appears was transmitted by
Samuel Rowland, and the mention of the danger that
Clark had exposed himself to in the sloop no doubt
has reference to his boarding the Canterbury in a storm
when she had got inside the Capes, to which the Pro-
prietary was witness.

On the 13th he wrote from Philadelphia, most prob-
ably in the morning before he started for Chester, to
Governor N. Blackiston of Maryland, in which he
says, " I hope my carriage will convince my neighbors
that we intend to be dutiful to the Crown, careful of
its revenues and the good of Mother country, and vevy
friendly to our neighbor colonies. Here is one
Bradenham a physician, who pretends to have left him
twenty months since, and pleads rather merit than

ARRIVAL AT CHESTER AND PHILADELPHIA. 233

guilt. I have clapt him up close prisoner, and en-
treat to know, if the penitent or ingenious pirate in
thy hands can touch him. I am doing my utmost to
show my aversions to those villains and their out-
rages, and my next may give a more ample account."
This matter of the pirates was of serious concern to
Penn, about which great complaints had been made to
the home government, that his officials here either
were unable or unwilling to arrest or suppress them,
and that they were harbored by the colonists. A let-
ter had been sent to the Proprietary from Philadelphia
the I ith of 7th month last, which stated that " We
have four men in prison, taken up as pirates, supposed
to be Kidd's men. Shelly of York, has brought to
these parts some scores of them ; and there is sharp
looking out to take them. We have various reports
of their riches, and money hid between this and the
Capes. There was landed about twenty men, as we
understand, at each Cape, and several gone to York.
A sloop has been seen cruising off the Capes for a
considerable time, but not meddled with any vessel as
yet, though she has spoke with several." The result
was that on the 23d of this month (Dec, 1699), Penn
came out in a printed proclamation for the apprehen-
sion of all pirates, and those in any way concerned or
suspected of piracy. A copy of which has been pre-
served in the State Paper Office in London.

2 34 ^^'M- PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XXI.

TROUBLES RESPECTING PIRATES. THE GOVERNOR HAS

A SON BORN, ON WHOM HE BESTOWS THE
MANOR OF PERKASIE.

\^Janiiary and February, i6gg.'\

A MEETIN(; of the Council was held b}- the Gover-
nor in Philadelphia on the 1st of I ith month, 1699.
On which occasion he proposed to them the necessity
of calling a general Assembly, to take further
measures for preventing and suppressing piracy and
illegal trade. After some debate he desired them to
consider it and be ready at the next meeting to give
him the best advice thereon. They accordingly met
on the 3d, 4th, 5th, 8th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 29th,
and 31st days of said month, at all of which meetings
the Proprietary presided.

Writs were issued by the Governor on the 9th for the
election of Members of Assembly, amongst those was
one directed to R. Hallowell, J. Donaldson and Robert
French, of New Castle, to see to the proper returns of
the several members for the Three Lower counties.
On the 1 3th he sent a letter by post to Governor

TROUBLES RESPKCTIN(; PIRATES. 235

lilackiston, of Maryland, in relation to some official
business.

Thomas Story in his Journal mentions, that "On
the I 3th the Governor set forward for Burlington, in
West New Jersey, and I went with him, where we
were favoured with a satisfactory meeting. On the
1 5th we rested at Burlington, at our friend Samuel
Jenning's, and on the i6th, being the marriage day of
two of his daughters, we had a large and good meet-
ing, and on the icSth we went down to the ferry, in
order for Philadelphia; but the river proving impass-
able, by reason of the ice and floods by the mighty rains
upon a great snow, we returned to Burlington, and the
day after went down again, and the frost being set in
e.xtremely hard the second time, we cut a wa\' through
the ice, and with much labour and difficulty got oxer,
and went sixteen miles to Philadelphia."

In my researches in the Records of Philadelphia
Monthly Meeting found a confirmation of one of
these marriages, which took place, as stated, on the
16th of I ith month, 1699. It was that of Edward
Penington, of Philadelphia, to " Sarah Jennins,
daughter of Samuel and Ann Jennins of Burling-
towne, West New Jersey," which took place in the
Meeting house there. Amongst the witnesses present
who signed the certificate, are found the names of
William Penn, Letitia Penn, Thomas and Ann Steven-
son, Isaac Merriot, John and Agnes Holenshed,
Joseph Growdon and some eighty-nine others; we may

236 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

therefore conclude with the Journahst that they " had a
large and good meeting." The aforesaid Edward Pen-
ington was the Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania, and
on his death, January loth, 170 1-2, Jacob Taylor
became his successor in the office.

The pirates at this time continued to cause a great
deal of excitement throughout all the English-American
colonies, but the matter was greatly exaggerated, their
numbers were but kw, and their captures in reality did
not amount to much. E. Randolph in a letter to the
Lords of Trade, dated New York, April 26th, 1698
(Doc. Hist. N. Y., vol. IV, pp. 300-1), thus exhibits his
prejudices on the matter, being strongly opposed to
Penn's goxernment :

" With much difficulty I got over Chesapeake Bay
and travelled to Pennsylvania, calling at New Castle
upon Delaware Bay, 't is inhabited with Scotch and
Dutch chiefly and a few French and one or two Eng-
lishmen, they are under an arbitrary Quaker Govern-
ment where neither Judges, Juries nor Witnesses are
sworn even in trials of criminals, as about four years
ago, when I was there one Richardson was tried, con-
demned and executed upon a suppo.sed murder, so
that his Majesty's subjects inhabiting in these parts
and Pennsylvania also, are in no ways secure in their
estates, lives and liberties, nor can it be expected that
the officers of his Majesty's Customs can have justice
done, where there are no persons qualified by an oath
to try their causes upon seizures or otherwise.

TROUULES RESPECTING PIRATES. 237

" I came to Philadelphia, and administered the oath
to Mr. Markham the governor the 17th of March
past, but he has not his Majesty's order in Council al-
lowing him to be Governor of that Province. Colonel
Nicholson hearing" of some of Every's men were in
Philadelphia forthwith sent the Lords Justices Proclama-
tion for apprehending them to Mr. Markham, who instead
of securing supported and encouraged them ; two of the
chief Clinton and Lassell were carried to Carolina from
Philadelphia, by one Medlicott another of Every's men
and surgeon of his ship ; another of them one Clause
a cooper lives now in Philadelphia ; I have seen him
almost every day in the streets and James Brown one
also of that company is married to Mr. Markham's
daughter."

In consequence of such information we find that the
Lords of Trade presented to the Lords Justices at
Whitehall, August lOth, 1699, a report in which they
conclude by saying, " We humbly propose that direc-
tions may be given to Mr. Penn to take care in that
matter (meaning the pirates) upon his arrival there,
according to the power conferred upon him by his
patent." This, it will be observed, was about three
weeks before his departure for America.

To Penn this must have been a painful affair, both
from his relationship and position. This can be seen
in the following letter written on the 27th of this (i ith)
month :

" Cousin Markham. WHien I was with thee to-day

2 3^^ WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

thou offered to be bound for thy son-in-law should he
bring thee into it is all the portion I believe he has with
thy daughter. What thou hast, I may ventiu'e to say
thou hast got by this government. I think it very
strange therefore that thou makest a difficulty in bind-
ing thy Ivxecutor with thyself for his appearance.
Should another be b(nuid, no man will take thy bond
for thy own life, only for a counter security. Thou
knowest it is contrary to the form of all obligations
and I cannot but take it hard thou shouldst be un-
willing to venture so much for thy own credit as well
as that of the government and for the husband of thy
only child from those I am not concerned with. I ex-
pect a more express answer than thou hast yet given
and remain thy affectionate kinsman.

W. P."

James Brown, here mentioned as the son-in-law of
William Markham, was elected a Member of the As-
sembly from Kent county, which body met in Phila-
delphia the 3d of loth mo., 1699, but he did not attend.
His father-in-law went security for his appearance in
the sum of ^^^300, and was brought before the Assem-
bly the 2d of 1 2th month following and, I believe, he
was expelled. As there was no direct proof, and being
only suspected of the charge, was some time afterwards
released. His wife, as stated, was the only child. As
respects Markham he had been commissioned by Penn
deputy Governor of the Province the 24th of 9th

TROUBLES RESPECTING PIRATES. 239

month, 1694, and continued in the office till the Pro-
proprietary's return on the 3d of loth month, 1699.

On the 30th the Governor sent a letter to John Par-
miter, whom he calls his " Cosin." We must confess
at present that we are not able to furnish any other
particulars concerning him. It would appear as if he
had been on a visit here about the time of his arrival,
and that he was now residing at New York. We
select only a few of the most interesting extracts :

" Cosin Parmiter, I am glad the rigour of the season
had no greater influence on thy journey home. But
my engagements at that time in public affairs and set-
tling my family will plead the excuse, which I hope
thy next visit shall not need. I am obliged for thy
quick care about the wine ; I doubt not but thine and
Dr. Rodman's skill, with Col. Depeister's good humour,
will supply me with what is good ; and if so, another
hogshead would not be unwelcome. This place is so
very dry of wine at present that a small sloop load from
thence would I believe, meet with a very ready market
and encouraging price."

Besides the above we find two more letters written
on this day. One to Lieut. Governor John Nanfan of
New York, in which he says, " I am sorry the rigour
of the season has had such influence upon the Earl of
Bellomont, the climate though healthy is too churlish
to the gout, but for that reason the spring will be his,
towards an easier condition. I beg my most respect-
ful salutes to him and his worthy Lady. He

240 WM. PENX IN AMERICA.

honoured me with a letter the other day, which, if not
by this I intend to acknowledge by next post."

Though hinted at, he did send however by the
same "post " a letter to Lord Bellomont from Philadel-
phia, in which he communicates the news of the
birth of a son. " I heartily condole," he says, " thy
hard treatment from the gout, a distemper easily pro-
voked by this churlish climate, or season of the year,
but I hope the approach of Spring will moderate its
rigour, and engage thee to look toward these parts. I
thank Almighty God we are all well, my wife is safely
laid of a boy and both well for their time. She was
brought to bed the 28th instant."

The son alluded to was John Penn, distinguished as
" the American," who was born in what was called the
Slate Roof House, situated at the corner of Second
street and Norris alley, now changed to Gothic street.
It was built by Samuel Carpenter and was then con-
sidered one of the best built dwellings in the town.
According to James Logan's letter, the Proprietary
must have removed with his family from Edward
Shippen's mansion into it about the beginning of the
present month. It was rented by Penn for two years,
but continued to be afterwards used by his Secretary
Logan as an office for the transaction of Proprietary
affairs and public business. It was purchased in 1703
by Wm. Trent for ^^"850, and subsequently owned by
Isaac Norris.

We have now arrived at February, the last month of

TROUBLES RESPECTINC; PIRATES. 24 1

the year 1699, and find from the minutes that meet-
ings of the Council were held in Philadelphia on the
1st, 2d, 3d, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, loth, 14th, 15th
and 1 6th, at all of which the Governor was present.
On the loth he stated to the Council and Assembly
that he intended to call the next Assembly according
to Charter at the usual and annual time. To which
the Members of Assembly through their Speaker de-
clared was to their satisfaction. The Governor then
asked them whether they had any other business that
needed his attention at this time, to which they gave a
negative answer. He then said, " Gentlemen you are
disolved, and I hereby dissolve you." Whereupon
they thanked him and departed and so ended the
session.

" Soon after his arrival," says Proud in his History
(vol. I, p. 423), " he met the Assembly; but it being
then a xery rigorous season, in the winter, much public
business does not appear to have been transacted, at
that time, besides attempting to discourage piracy and
illicit trade; for which principally, the Proprietary
seems to have convened them. He strongly repre-
sented the odium, to which he was under, to his
superiors, to correct the same. Hence, two laws were
passed, for these purposes, and measures taken to clear
the government from all unjust imputations of this
nature."

On the 2d, two letters were written by Penn, one
16

242 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

was addressed to Sir Thomas Beeston of Jamaica and
the other to the Governor of Barbadoes. In the latter
he says, " I landed the 3d of December, our place is
healthy now, and our General Assembly sitting upon
only two laws, one against piracy and the other against
illicit trade." It may be inferred from this that there
was no occasion at present for any other legislation.

A warrant was issued on the 1 7th to Thomas Fair-
man the deputy surveyor to proceed and lay out 10,000
acres of land to be called the " Manor of Perkesey,"
for the use of his infant son now but three weeks old.
He also directed him to lay out 40,000 acres additional
for the use of his other children. His charge for the
first survey was ^^37. 10 and for the other /"130. The
manor of Perkasie was situated in Rockhill township,
Bucks county. Thomas Penn in 1759 donated 2,500
acres of this tract, "being one-fourth part" to the use
of the University of Pennsylvania, who still hold the
same. According to Oldmixon the name is derived
from Perkiomen, a branch of which stream flows
through the manor.

The Governor summons Robert Asheton, " high
sheriff of Philadelphia," on the 19th of 12th month,
1699, to hold an election on the i ith of the following
month (March) for three persons to serve in the Pro-
vincial Council and to the General Assembly for said
county. As respects this sheriff we have an interest
from the fact that Penn executed a deed, the 30th of
May, 1687, in which he says, " I did give unto my

THE (iOVERNOR HAS A SON BORN. 243

cousins Robert, Francis, Mary, Rachel and John Ashe-
ton, the latter having since died, of the county of Lan-
caster, England, 3000 acres of land," whereof Robert
Asheton's share containing 314 acres was laid out to
him in Whitemarsh township, Philadelphia county, the
20th of 4th month 1 702 ; for which he is to pay " one
silver shilling for every one hundred acres on the first
day of the first month of every year." He was ap-
pointed by Penn under the charter granted to the city,
October 25th, 1701, Clerk of the Courts and Prothono-
tary. In 170H he was appointed in addition Recorder
of the City, which several offices he held till his death
in August, 1727. As mentioned in Penn's letter (Chap-
ter XXV^) he was an Episcopalian and was buried
with considerable display by torchlight at Christ
Church. According to one of his statements he mu.st
have arrived here in 1699, very probably with the
Proprietary. When the latter made his will at New
Castle the 30th of 8th month, 1701, we find him
present as one of the witnesses. I have since ascer-
tained from the Records of Christ Church that his
parents were Ralph and Susanna Asheton.

" On the 19th," says Thomas Story in his Journal,
" I went to Burlington where I met William Penn, to
our mutual satisfaction. That evening (the 26th) I re-
turned to Burlington, where was a youths' meeting
next day, which was large and comfortable ; and Wil-
liam Penn being likewise there, we tarried till the 29th,
and then went to a ([uaitcrly meeting at Nesliaminy,

244 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

in Pennsylvania, which, though not large, was well ;
and that evening we went to Philadelphia, where I
remained till the 5th of the first month," 1700. An
examination of the minutes of the Bucks County
Quarterly Meeting of that date confirms the fact of
such a meeting having been held and of which Phineas
Pemberton was clerk ; but no mention whatever is
made of the presence of either of those distinguished
visitors, though it appears considerable business was
transacted.

Penn deemed it his duty to write a long letter on
the 28th to the Commissioners of Customs respect-
ing the pirates, and to justify the proceedings of his
government in the course pursued against them, and
what he further expected from the late enactments
of the legislature.

Some time this year a mill was built about one and
a half miles northwest of Chester on the left bank
of the creek, beside the ford and road leading to
Philadelphia. The original partners were William
Penn, Samuel Carpenter and Caleb Pusey who con-
ducted the business. An iron vane was placed
thereon pierced to bear the following inscription,
s. c. ■ c. F. The mill has been demolished for some

1699.

time when the vane came in possession of Reese W.
Flower who presented it to the Historical Society,
June 13th, 1864. In 1872 the Society had it richly
gilt and placed on the roof of their new hall on Spruce

THE (iOVERNOR HAS A SOi\ liORN. 245

street, where it was engaged in doing its i8ist year of
duty, but since removed to their present location, 1300
Locust street.

246 WM. PENX IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XXII.
penn's proposals for the moral impro\ement of

THE negroes and INDIANS. MEANNESS IN

allowing him NO COMPENSATION.

HIS ABILITIES AS A WRITER.

[Marc/i — June, ijoo7\

At a meeting of the Council, held in Philadelphia
on the 6th of 1st month (March), 1700, the Governor
read the letter he had received from Secretary Vernon
about sending home the pirates, and also the remarks
of the Earl of Bellomont on the same. After some
debate about the time and mode of transporting Dr.
Brandingham and David Evans, the prisoners here, it
was the opinion of the board that the Governor write
again to the Earl of Bellomont on the matter and like-
wise to his deputy Nanfan, whether they will send for
them and their treasure with a guard, or whether they
must be sent from here to New York. Whereupon
Council adjourned to meet again on the 30th of the
present month.

Penn addressed a letter on the 6th to Lieut-
Governor Nanfan in which he savs, " I wait an answer

IMPROVEMENT OF NEGROES AND INDIANS. 247

to my last from the Earl of Bellomont, before I pro-
ceed any further about the Pirates, and should take it
for a favour to know the exact time of your frigate
being ready to take in these unhappy people. I am
glad the fair weather continues, hoping it will favour
New York with the Lord Bellomont's presence and
that at least our commerce may be easier, which I
assure will be very grateful to him that with hearty
salutes and good wishes is thy assured and affectionate
friend." On the following day he sent another letter
to the same, communicating the results of the Council's
deliberations.

He addressed a long letter to Secretary Vernon on
the I oth about the pirates. In regard to Philadelphia he
says " we are now healthy and the river open and the
spring looking favourably upon us. Here is a mighty
improvement both in town and country, and if not dis-
couraged may prove a specimen of industry not
inferior to any of this or former ages."

The Governor had a re-survey made of his manor
of Pennsbury, from which David Powell prepared a
draft completed and signed on the 1 3th, depositing
also a copy in the Surveyor-General's office. Accord-
ing to the same the manor now contained 6,543 acres,
about 1 ,888 acres having been either sold off or granted
to servants attached to the place since the close of
1682.

In a letter to Col.Codrington on the i 5th the Gover-
nor says, "The King has sent for the Pirates by the

248 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Advice frigate and their treasure whether it be money
or goods upon oath, which is hard that the Provinces
must be at the charge and that what should pay them
must go all to England."

Through the encouragement of the home govern-
ment a coiisiderable number of negroes had been
brought into the Province from Africa, and disposed of
as slaves. Their condition and improvement arrested
the attention of Penn, and accordingly in this month
and year he introduced the subject before th2 Philadel-
phia Monthly Meeting who, in their minutes, gave it
the following notice :

" Our dear Friend and Governor having laid before
this meeting a concern that hath lain upon his mind for
some time, concerning the Negroes and Indians, that
Friends ought to be very careful in discharging a good
conscience towards them in all respects, but more es-
pecially for the good of their souls, and that they
might, as frequent as may be, come to meetings on
First days, upon consideration whereof this meeting
concludes to appoint a meeting for the Negroes, to be
kept once a month, &c., and that their masters give
notice thereof in their own families, and be present with
them at the said meetings as frequent as may be."

His proposals having been agreed upon, he now en-
deavored to proceed still further in the good work, and
prepared a bill "for regulating negroes in their morals
and marriages," and another " for the regulation of their
trials and punishments." Though they met the appro-

IMPROVEMENT OF NEGROES AND INDIANS. 249

bation of the Council, the first was rejected by the As-
sembly to the regret of the worthy Governor. As re-
gards his application to the Monthly Meeting, Robert
Proud remarks (vol. I, p. 423), " Hence a meeting was
appointed more particularly for the Negroes once every
month ; and means were used to have more frequent
meetings with the Indians ; William Penn taking part
of the charge upon himself, particularly the manner of
it, and the procuring of interpreters.

Though in these opinions he was decidedly in ad-
vance of the age, we do not find anywhere in his writ-
ings anything in relation to the wrongfulness of slavery.
This we could not well expect from one while he held
and owned slaves, but by his will made the 30th of 7th
month of the following year he mentions therein of giv-
ing to " my blacks their freedom as is under my hand
already." Thus clearly demonstrating that his senti-
ments were not favorable to retaining people in bond-
age ; we might further add to his still higher credit, that
no evidence exists that he ever sold or disposed of
them.

The Council met in Philadelphia April 1st, 1 700, on
which occasion the Proprietary and Governor made to
them an able and interesting address from which we
extract the following :

" Friends, if in the Constitution by Charter there be
any thing that jars, alter it ; if you want a law for this
or that prepare it. I advise you not to trifie with
government. I wish there was no need of an\-, but

250 \VM. PENX IN" AMERICA.

since crimes prevail government is made necessary by-
man's degeneration. It is not an end but a means ; he
that thinks it an end aims at profit to make a trade of
it. He who thinks it to be a means understands the
true end of government. Friends, away with all parties,
and look on yourselves and what is good for all, as a
body politic, first as under the King and crown of
England and next as under me, by letters patent from
that crown. At the late election at Philadelphia, I was
grieved to hear some make it a matter of religion ; no
its humane and moral relating to trade, traffic and
public good consisting in virtue and justice; where
these are maintained there is government indeed.
Study peace, and be at unity for the good of all, and I
desire to see mine no otherwise than in the public's
prosperity.

" The last Assembly made two laws, the one against
piracy, the other against forbidden trade. I hear they
have not sat easy on the backs of some, but I hope, we
have therein been careful of England, we shall have
thanks for making them before we had orders so to do,
and after so many calumnies and complaints we have
been charged with. I hope these two laws will in
some degree wash us clean ; what concerns myself I
also leave with you to consider. I have now been
nineteen years your Proprietor and Governor, and I
have at my charge maintained my deputy, whereby I
have much worsted my estate, and hope it will be no
wonder to any to hear me make this mention of it.

IMPROVEMENTS OF NECiROES AN'l) INDIANS. 25 I

Some say I come to get money and begone, perhaps
they that say so, wish it so. I hope I or mine shall be
with you, while I or they live. The disasters of my
absence have been mine as well as yours, and as I am
used shall make suitable returns. I have lately two
packets from Whitehall ; also one to my cousin Mark-
ham, and two from Secretary Vernon and am com-
mended by the Lords Justices to make laws against
piracy and illegal trade. I am glad we have prevented
their commands in doing it before they came."

Meetings of the Council were also held in this
month on the 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, gth, loth,
I ith, I2th, 13th and i 5th, but nothing of particular
interest transpired.

The affair concerning the pirates still occupied con-
siderable of the Governor's attention, and in a letter
dated on the i 8th to Lord Bellomont says, " The pris-
oners and money taken in this Province namely Brad-
ingham, Eldridge and Evans I hope are safely arrived
at New York or shipped at least on board the New-
port galle^^ There were two more, one Arnold and
Stanton, the last ran away long before my arrival and
the first of them b)' Col. Quarry's orders sent with
Eldridge to Burlington, he being Judge of the Admir-
alty on that side also, and was by Col. Bass admitted
to bail and is somewhere in Rhode Island or Con-
necticut, or was lately."

"There came lately to my notice," remarks Penn in
a letter of the 22d to the Lords of Trade and Planta-

252 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

tions, " this information that when Captain Kidd was
off our Capes, there went on board one George
Thompson, Peter Lewis, Henry Stretcher, William
Orr and Diggory Tenny, from the town of Lewis in
Sussex. The three first stayed on board twenty-four
hours, the two last but an hour, both companies
brought goods on shore I hear to the value of /"300
which they concealed and sold, as they could dispose
of Some are yet in their custody. Thompson, Lewis
and Orr, were on suspicion of being old pirates, whose
comrades have long sown themselves in Boston,
Rhode Island, New York, Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mary-
land, Virginia and Carolina, where their Captain, one
Reiner now dwells and Col. Quarry tells me he
bought their ship, they were eighty-four in company.
Five of them are in this government, but thirty of them
followed husbandry turning planters, the others have
traded."

We now find from Penn's letter of the 23d addressed
to Lieut. Governor Nanfan, that Markham's son-in-law
had now also been sent on for trial. Respecting the
circumstance, he mentions that " another person one
James Brown was brought to town by warrant, who
not only lies under the suspicion of piracy, but if inno-
cent of that, had the unhappiness however of coming
home in company with Every's men. I now send him
to New York, and desire he may, with the rest in
Newport, be carried to Boston, where the whole cir-
cumstances of his voyage are best known, and where

ALLOWING HIM NO COiMPENSATION. 253

the Earl of Bellomont's prudence will best understand
what is fit to be done with him, if the evidence he says
he can produce there of his innocency be not sufficient
to clear him, as he pretends it has once done already,
before Lieut. Governor Stoughton."

During May or 3d month, we can find but very
little relating to Penn. From the minutes of Council
we know that he was present at their meetings in
Philadelphia on the loth, 13th, 14th, 15th, i6th, 17th,
24th, 25th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st.

On the last mentioned date he laid before the Coun-
cil and Assembly "a bill of supply to him as Gover-
nor, who never yet these twenty years past had had a
farthing from tliem." We are inclined to believe that
this statement thus publicly made must certainly be
true, and to those who should best know. In his ad-
dress to the Council the previous month he says, " I
have now been nineteen years your Proprietor and
Governor, and I have at my charge maintained my
deputy, whereby I have much worsted my estate."
Respecting this matter Isaac Norris thus alludes in a
letter to Philip Ford, written on the i 3th of the fol-
lowing (4th) month : " Our Assembly, after a monthly
sitting and hot debate, broke up, and did little more
than deliver up and vote out the Charter. A bill was
prepared to give our Governor three pounds tax, but
opposed and voted out — I think very unhandsomely.
They have given him, indeed, an impo.st upon liquors,
which some of them magnify to i'looo per annum,

2 54 ^^'-^l- i'ENN IN AMERICA.

because they would seem to come off^ with fl)'ing
colors; but I do not think it worth one half the
money. E.Kperience will show."

This meanness on the part of the Assembly, as well
as the people here recalls the remarks of Governor
Fletcher on this very subject in 1693. " It is reported
that how much soevei' the)' appear his friends they
stagger when he comes near their purses." Again to
the Board of Trade he says, " Your Lordships will per-
ceive that these people have as little regard for the in-
terest of their Proprietor Mr. Penn as they have for
his Majesty's service." In his Address to Friends be-
fore his late departure he said, " I have from the first
endeavored to serve you, and that at my own charges,
with an upright mind, however misunderstood and
treated by some whom I heartily forgive." The
Spaniards have been accused with ingratitude to Co-
lumbus, but he was a foreigner, and it had happened
two centuries before. Penn in comparison lived in a
modern age and the ingratitude manifested towards
him was altogether by his countrymen and friends, of
whom he had a right to expect more. It would thus
appear that cool, designing, selfish beings were not un-
frequent even in those days, from whom it was his lot
unfortunately to realize bitter lessons of experience
both here and in England.

Meetings with the Council were held by Penn on
June 1st, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 25th and 26th, when
they adjourned to the ist of the following month. On

HIS ABILITIES AS A WRITER. 255

the 25th, the Governor sent the messenger to have the
Council to attend him at his house. Edward Shippen,
Samuel Carpenter, John Moll, William Clark, Caleb
Pusey and Robert Turner appeared, Griffith Owen and
Joseph Growdon being absent. He stated to them
that since the Charter was delivered up again to him,
it was not proper that he should be without a Council
and that therefore he had made choice of them, and
desired the Secretary to read the qualification prepared
for them to sign, which was accordingly subscribed
and they took their places at the board. On the fol-
lowing day it was agreed that the Council meet every
4th day of the week at the Governor's house, at 9
o'clock in the forenoon and oftener if he should deem
it necessary to give them notice.

We have previously spoken of Penn's ability and
aptitude as a letter writer, and the following is no ex-
ception. We regret, owing to its length, that we can-
not give this letter entire ; it was addressed to M.
Birch, who, it appears, was the Collector of Customs
at New Castle, a position he held under the home
government. We wish the communication that
elicited the reply could also be given, if for no other
reason than for comparison.

" Philada. 2d, 4th month, 1700.
" M. Birch, I received thy short hand letter of the
28th past, and am sorry that after so much care taken
to make masters of vessels remember their dutv to the

256 WM. PENX IX AMERICA.

Port and solemn promises given by them before they
are discharged here, any should be so rude or negligent
as to pass you by unregarded. There is a short Bill
now before the Assembly to make omission penal.
Yet hadst thou a boat as Collectors in other places
have, and which thou canst not think I am obliged to
find thee, thou mightst easily take a course, having law
on thy side and art like to have a stronger, to make
them more observant and bring the refractory to
reason. Thou canst not expect that any at Philadel-
phia forty miles distant from you can put laws in
execution at New Castle, without any care or vigilance
of officers there, especially since no place in the river
or bay yields that prospect that is at New Castle of
seeing twenty miles one way and a dozen the other,
any vessel coming either up or down.

" I must confess I thought the particular regard I
have always shown to the King's concerns since my
arrival, as well as his immediate officers, and their par-
ticular interests might have deserved better returns than
such testy expressions as thou flingst out in thy letters
both to myself and of me to the Members of Council,
Pray let not me be a sufferer for the pique thou hast
against the Collector here. I have nothing to do with
your differences let your Masters at home decide it,
what comes fairly before me I shall acquit myself with
honour and justice to the best of my understanding,
without regard to fear or favour for those sordid pas-
sions shall never move the Proprietor and Governor of

HIS ABILITIES AS A WRITER. 257

Pennsylvania. I understood thou talkst of writing
home, and making. I know not what complaints. I
hope thou wilt be cautious on that point at least I
should write too, which when I do, may prove loud
enough to make thee sensible of it at a distance."

258 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XXIII.

PENN SUGGESTS THE NIGHT WATCH IN PHILADELPHIA.
ATTENDS H.WERFORD MEETING. MAKES ADDI-
TIONAL IMPROVEMENTS AT PENNSBURY.

\_Jiify, August, i/oo.']

As had been determined, on adjournment, the Coun-
cil met at the Governor's house on the ist of July,
1700, when it was unanimously agreed upon that a per-
son be appointed and authorized to go through the
town with a small bell during the night to give notice
of the hour and weather, and also if any disorders or
danger happen from fire or otherwise, to inform the
constables thereof It was further agreed that the Sec-
retary " give notice to Benjamin Chambers and

Powell, keepers of the ferries over Schuylkill, that after
the close of day to transport no persons unless well
known to them or that cannot give a good account of
themselves." This undoubtedly was the origin of the
night watchmen in Philadelphia. The Governor pro-
posed to the Council to consider upon the law about
making prisons more effectually workhouses. It was
upon this idea that the present penitentiaries and houses

PENN SUGGESTS THE NIGHT WATCH. 259

of refuge in the State were established, and we there-
fore need not wonder that the " Pennsylvania system "
has had such an extended reputation for the reformation
of criminals. The Governor held meetings of the
Council also on the 3d, loth, 17th, 24th and 31st of
this month.

In a letter to Lore! Bellomont, dated " Philia. 4, 5
mo., 1700" the Governor remarks, "If thy Indian
officers are true to thee, and that seasonable presents
be made them I should be under no apprehensions of
danger. I expect two hundred of our Western and
Northern Indians with me every day, and shall en-
deavor such an understanding with them as may dis-
appoint the French this way and find out their coun-
sels, as far as may be on your side. I am not without
some perplexity from the same men and measures that
have been thine but I am not without hopes of con-
quering them. A Governor has need of wisdom and
patience, as well as justice which I pray for. I have
had the company of my kinsman Parmiter some weeks
whom I find thy sincere servant."

Since his return from PLngland we now find the
earliest positive information of Penn residing at Penns-
bury. This in part, no doubt, was owing to his family
relations as well as the nature of his complicated
affairs respecting the pirates, the giving up the Char-
ter, the withholding of compensation and numerous
other matters that could best require attention at the
metropolis and seat of government. Owing to a gouty

26o WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

attack of his limb he was now in part confined to
bed, as the following extracts will show (Penn and
Logan Cors., vol. I, pp. 4, 5), from a letter dated at
Pennsbury the 23d of 5th month, 1700, and addressed
to his Secretary, James Logan, in Philadelphia. In
his letter to Lord Bellomont mention is made of an
expectation every day of a visit from several hundred
Indians, which he now directs to come to Pennsbury
if he should not be able to come to town, and for whom
he was now making preparations to entertain.

" I am concerned my leg is so little encouraging for
a journey, and John is not here to row ; however I
propose to be in town, if I can, to-morrow ; if not able
to be there by five in the afternoon, must submit to
Providence, and desire four of the Council, the collector,
and minutes and witnesses to come hither, which they
may do by my barge, which I will send to Burlington
for them, where they may come in a Burlington boat
to-morrow by twelve, and be here by two. However
let John have the coach ready, and horses to put in it,
that if I come, I may be helped down. Salute me to
the Commissioners and Council, and Friends. We are
else well, and pleased in our retreat.

" Half the five gallons of rum ran out, at Philadel-
phia, in the boat, as they say. If I am not with you
to-morrow, by eleven or five, let the Indians come
hither ; but send, in the boat, white bread, more rum,
and the match-coats. Let the Council adjourn to this
place. If I come not, here will be victuals, and they

ATTENDS HAVERFORD MEETING. 26 1

may lie at Burlington. I wrote part of this upon the
bed."

An addition having been built this year to the Hav-
erford meeting house at an expense of iJ^isS, which
greatly increased its accommodations to the wants of a
growing neighborhood. Robert Sutcliff, a Friend
from Sheffield, England, in his " Travels in North
America" (p. 109) makes mention of having visited
this meeting the 12th of loth month, 1805, and of
which he gives the following interesting account :
" This day attended Haverford meeting, at which were
several strangers. This is one of the oldest meeting-
houses in America ; and at the early settlement of this
meeting. Friends of Philadelphia went every third
First day to attend it ; most of them coming on foot a
distance of about ten miles. At that time nearly the
whole of the road was through a shady forest. By
the early minutes of the Monthly Meeting, it appears
that several Friends were appointed to mark out a road
through the woods from Philadelphia, to Haverford
and Radnor meetings."

At page 2 1 1 mentions that several months previous
he spent an evening at the house of R. J., a very aged
Friend residing near Merion, who related to him that
" he had heard from an ancient Friend at whose house
he had lodged, of the name of Rebecca Wood. When
a little girl she used sometimes to walk from Darby,
where she resided, to Haverford meeting, the distance
of a few miles. One day as she was walking along,

262 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

she was overtaken by a Friend on horseback, who
proved to be William Penn. On coming up with her
he inquired where she was going ; and on her inform-
ing him, he, with his usual good nature, desired her to
get up behind him ; and bringing his horse to a con-
venient place, she mounted, and so rode away upon the
bare back. Being without shoes or stockings, her
bare legs and feet hung dangling by the side of the
governor's horse. Although William Penn was at
that time both Governor and Proprietor, he did not
think it beneath him thus to help along a poor bare-
footed girl on her way to meeting, and notwithstand-
ing the maxims and customs of the world, these little
kind offices to those he was appointed to govern, that
there perhaps never was a Governor, who stood higher
in the opinion of those governed by him, than William
Penn did."

A tradition still prevails in the neighborhood on the
occasion of the Governor attending this meeting, which
it is very likely was about this time, that he arose and
spoke and that a number of the Welsh Friends present
could not understand him, having no knowledge of
the language. But this was nothing new, for having
settled in a great body the Welsh was chiefly spoken
there for many years afterwards.

On the 2d of 6th month, Hannah Penn writes from
Pennsbury to Logan wherein she mentions that "al-
though John tells my husband of bricks prepared by
J. Redman, yet he inclines to let E. James finish the

MAKES IMPROVEMENTS AT PENNSBURY. 263

room which his men have begun. As for bricks, let
him get no more than he has already bespoke, for my
husband is informed he may have these of a new
maker at Burlington, a crown cheaper, and much
better, besides less charge in bringing. We expect
John Sotcher to-morrow. Pray send by the first boat
the deal boards from John Parsons, and our dog-wheel,
not else ; but desire thou wilt let me hear of all op-
portunities for England, and of any considerable news
thence. We are all indifferent well. Let not Jack go
till the Indians have been there ; and get Indian meal
for mush against they come. Pray send a pound or
two chocolate, if to be had."

We ascertain from the aforesaid that considerable
improvements were being made to the buildings at
Pennsbury. By Jack the steward John Sotcher is evi-
dently meant, and we observe preparations being still
made for the expected coming of the Indians. By the
inquiry concerning news from England was meant
whether any letters had been received from there or
opportunities offered to send.

A meeting of the Council was held in Philadelphia
on the 7th of August at which the Governor was
present. On which occasion complaint was made to
the board " that the late firing of guns from on board
some vessels lying before Philadelphia, has not only
frightened women and children, but also some of the
Seneca Indians that came hither to treat with this
government to depart, believing the firing of said guns

264 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

to have been signs of hostility intended against them.
It was therefore ordered that no vessels lying before
the town of Philadelphia shall fire any guns but at
coming in and going out, as a sign of their arrival and
departure, and that James Logan give notice to Mas-
ters of vessels of this order at the entry of their vessels
in his office. The Governor also, informed the three
Seneca Indians that staid behind that it was the cus-
tom of the English to fire guns as a sign of joy and
kind entertainment of their friends coming on board ;
and as in no ways intended to frighten or disoblige
them. He also informed them, that they were and
should be very welcome to this government, and in
token of amity and friendship with them gave them a
belt of wampum, to be shown to the other Seneca
Indians that went away upon firing the said guns,
which they kindly accepted. The Governor also de-
sired the members of Council to go on board Capt.
Sims' vessel with the said three Indians and their in-
terpreter, that they might see the manner of the
English on board their vessels, which was accordingly
done to their great satisfaction."

Penn met the Council again in Philadelphia on the
14th and 15th. On the latter day it was " ordered by
the Governor and Council, that the King's highway or
public road, and the bridges thereon from the town of
Philadelphia to the Falls of Delaware that now are, be
with all expedition sufficiently cut and cleared from all
timber, trees, stumps, logs and all other nuisances

MAKES IMPROVEMENTS AT PENNSBURV. 265

whatsoever that lie across said way, and that the same
over all creeks and branches, may be made passable,
commodious, safe and easy for man, horse, cart, wagon
or team, by the respective overseers of the highways
and bridges within the respective precincts, townships
and counties of Philadelphia and Bucks, according to
law. And that the respective Courts of Justice and
Justices of the Peace in the said Counties, cause the
same to be duly performed, and the laws in those cases
made and provided to be strictly put in execution, un-
der the respective penalties therein contained, and that
the Secretary send a copy of this order to the counties
of Philadelphia and Bucks respectively."

On the 2 2d the Governor wrote from Pennsbury to
Logan, and in regard to the surveys then being made
says, "Take care also that I have five hundred acres in
every township that is laid out, and that the surveyor
do me right therein. Send me up one of Samuel
Carpenter's compasses for the woods, to steer by and
take courses, by the first opportunity. Urge the Jus-
tices about the bridge at Pennepecka and Poquessin,
forthwith for a carriage, or I cannot come down. J.
Redson would be expeditious in it, if pressed from
me."

Hannah Penn on said day to the same, mentions
that " If the Swiss Captain be uneasy to stay till next
week, fail not to accompany him Fourth or Fifth day ;
but you must depend on nothing here but a dinner,
and return to Buckingham or Burlington at night,

266 WM. PENN JN AMERICA.

because of company in the house. Endeavor to in-
form thyself of his inclination ; and if practicable en-
courage it, makes my husband the more solicitious to
have him pleased. Let Edward Shippen know his
daughters are well, and shall come in our boat with
John to-morrow or next day."

In the aforesaid we see that the Governor must have
been considerably given to journeys on horseback
through the woods at this time to require the use of a
compass. We also learn that he was desirous that the
bridges over the Pennypack and Poquessing be finished
for the crossing of his carriage to Philadelphia.
Buckingham was the ancient name of Bristol, where a
house of entertainment had been established before the
Proprietary's first arrival. The hint about ascertaining
the Captain's inclination is quite ingenious. Edward
Shippen, whose daughters had been visiting at Penns-
bury, came from Hilham in Yorkshire, PLngland, and
emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1669. Being
a member of the Society of Friends and owing to
persecution removed from there to Philadelphia in
1693. On his arrival in December, 1699, the
Governor and his family occupied his mansion for
about a month. When the city was chartered in
October of the following year he was appointed by
Penn its first Mayor. He also held other offices as
Speaker of Assembly and member of the Provincial
Council.

We hear from Pennsbury again on the 31st. "I

MAKES IMPROVEMENTS AT PENNSBURY. 26/

want," writes the Governor, "a quire of large and
small quarto paper, by first opportunity. The fur,
&c., is come, a dear voyage by the boat. Let me
know John Askew's last day, or his ships. If the
foxes be any inconvenience, pray forbid it, for I am in-
different to send or stay them. We shall want about
twelve bushels of lime more, which send off first to
Samuel Jennings for me. We are through mercy
well."

He had expected to send to England as a present to
a friend a couple of young tame foxes. By the
demand for more lime denotes that the improvements
there were still going on, and it was perhaps owing to
the unfinished state of the buildings at this time that
the accommodations for lodeers was limited.

268 WM. PEXN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XXIV.

TOO MUCH THE PRACTICE TO CHEAT THE GOVERNOR.

PACIFIES A TROUBLESOME INDIAN. VISITS

NEW YORK WITH THE GOVERNORS
OF VIRGINIA AND NEW JERSEY.

\_Septciuber, i/oo.l

"During the greater portion of September, we are in-
clined to believe, the Gov^ernor continued at Penns-
bury, where he was still vigorously going on with his
improvements. On the 3d he wrote from here to his
Secretary, wherein he says, " I think to be in town the
first fair day, and so let Edward Antill know. Send
up our great stew-pan and cover, and little soup dish,
and two or three pounds of coffee, if sold in the
town, and three pounds of wick, ready spun for can-
dles, per next opportunity. The lime may be kept till
our men come up. Lassel is plumber enough ; but
if thee can get Cornelius Empson's man, and he has
tools, send speedily, for the house suffers in great rains
for want thereof If Lassel dares undertake mend-
ing of the leads, per first opportunity send him up.
Three bundles of skins that Sol. Ward returned are

PRACTICE TO CHEAT THE GOVERNOR. 269

in my chamber ; send one to Biily, tlie others to my
father, Callowhill, and get John Askew to put them in
his chest, and give him the enclosed letters also."

It would seem that coffee was not then an article of
general sale and but little introduced. It appears the
leakage of the " leads " was a constant source of trou-
ble as well as expense, and from their imperfect con-
dition eventually caused the destruction of the man-
sion by a decay from the rains. By Billy is probably
meant his son then in England.

"Tell John Moore," he writes on the 5th, " I would
have him get indicted one John Walch of that county
for coming into this county and taking hence two
strays ; one a roan mare and colt, and the other a
brown bay gelding — both four years old last spring or
thereabouts. 'Twas last 4th month. I have often
heard ill of him for driving horses from one county to
another, and am much a loser by such fellows and
practices. It is too much a practice to think it no
fault to cheat the Governor." Moore was prosecuting
attorney in the Court of Admiralty established by the
Crown. All unclaimed strays as well as unmarked
stock were forfeited to the Governor.

He writes again from Pennsbury the following day
(6th of 7th mo., 1700), and thus alludes to Thomas
Fairman. " I hear an Indian township called To-
hickon, rich land, and much cleared by the Indians,
he has not surveyed to mine and children's tract, as I
expected. It joins upon the back of m\' manor of

270 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Highlands, and I am sorry my surveyor-general did
not inform me thereof, for which cause he shall never
survey a foot more ; but I will know where and what,
by him or his deputies. I feared a surprise, told him
so, and now find it to my great dissatisfaction ; but for
the future shall prevent it. If it be not in thy war-
rants, put it in, except lands already or formally
taken up, or an Indian township. The Indians have
been with me about it.

" Next, pray speak for 3 or 4,000 bricks, and tell J.
Parsons I expect his 150 foot of boards three months
sooner, and pay for them. Also a load or thirty
bushels of lime, and let them be ready by 6th night, if
possible, to be here by the flat on 7th day, or 2d day,
and two of my folks shall come in the little boat to
bring it up. Fail not to send up a flitch of our bacon,
and by all means chocolate, if to be had, and a cask
of middling flour, from Samuel Carpenter or I. Norris,
and some coffee-berries four pounds. Some flat and
some deep earthen pans for milk and baking, which
Betty Webb can help thee to, and cask of Indian meal ;
search Lumley's goods, search for an ordinary side-
saddle and pillion, and some coarse linen for towels.
We are as well as the heat will let us, but my leg still
out of order and swells still about my ankle.

"Captain Hans stays; we have adjusted the matter.
Encourage Hetcoqueean, and give him ten bits to
fetch down the Indians, if they desire ; else not^
assure them of friendship. Let us have four dozen of

PACIFIES A TROUBLESOME INDIAN. 2/1

square hearth tiles, with the rest of the things. Let
me know the last day of John Askew's stay ; also, if
they will take a couple of young tame foxes. Pray
examine closely about those that fired upon the
Indians, and frighted them by Dan. Pegg's, it is of
moment to us, and if true, roguishly designed, I
doubt not, and shall be severely punished."

Captain Hans was an Indian trader of whom there
is some account in chapter xxvii. John Askew was a
prominent London merchant, now on a visit to this
country, and it would appear the owner of a ship.
Daniel Pegg resided in the immediate vicinity of
Front and Willow streets, where Pegg's run now
empties into the Delaware through a culvert on the
line of the latter street. We thus see that Penn was
determined in all his actions, or as far as laid in his
power, to be on amicable terms with the Indians, for
which he cannot receive too much praise.

Heckoqucom, Hetcoquean or Wehequeekhon, his
name being variously spelled, is the only instance I
have found in all my researches of any Indian being
troublesome, either while Penn was in the colony or
in the interval of his absence up to his departure for
England. Respecting him in consequence, I have felt
curious and have gleaned from various sources suffi-
cient to make out the following account : In the deed
of June 15th, 1692, he is called " King Hickoqucom,"
and with three others disposes of all their right to lands
lying between the Neshaminy and Poquessing from

2/2 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

the river Delaware. Polycarpus Rose informs the
Council, December 19th, 1693, that about five weeks
previous he had "some discourse with a certain Indian
King, called Hicquoqueen," when he " resented the
unkindness of the English to the Indians here ; and
further said that they were not like to hold the land
much longer, for that they were not satisfied for it."
(Col. Records, vol. I, p. 396.) No doubt he is the
same whoin Samuel Smith mentions in his history of
the Province (Haz. Register, vol. II, p. 215) as coming
to the house of John Chapman, one of the earliest
settlers of Wrightstown, Bucks county, under the fol-
lowing circumstances : " One of their chiefs," he says,
" however one day coming to him in an angry tone
told him it was their land he was settled on, pointing
to a small distance, where the bounds of the English
purchase and borrowing an axe, marked a line to the
southeast of his house, and went away without giving
him any further trouble at that time ; and the Proprie-
tor's Commissioners soon after making a second pur-
chas prevented any uneasiness in the future." In the
deed of July 5th, 1697, Wehequeekhon alias Andrew,
is mentioned as the son of Tamiiny and " who is to
be king " after his death. This was for a purchase of
the lands between the Pennypack and Neshaminy
creeks. At a Council held at the house of Edward
Farmer, Indian interpreter at Whitemarsh, the 19th of
May, 171 2, mention is made that Hetoqueen had died
soon after he had eot the belts from Governor Penn

VISITS NEW YORK. 2/3

eleven years before. He is mentioned as attending
with several other Indians a Council held at Philadel-
phia, July 26th, 1 701, at which time he may have
received the afore-mentioned belts, as we know that
Penn expected some Indians there about that time.
We thus see that he was an Indian of some note
whom Penn directed his Secretary to encourage with
a present and as one possessing influence amongst
them. From his claims he must have been a resident
of Philadelphia or Bucks. He may have been of in-
temperate habits, hence his troublesomeness which it is
likely did not appear while the Proprietary was among
us.

The Governor on the 7th writes that " The weather
by water hinders me. My leg is well advanced, and
would not throw it back ; yet the first fair day, will,
God willing, set forward ; and had done so sooner, if
coach or calash had been here, as the ways are
tolerable cut." He probably means that the weather
was too stormy to travel with comfort or safety by
water in his barge. We see that tolerable advance
must have been made by this time in opening the road
from Philadelphia to the Falls.

Penn was present at a meeting of the Council held
in Philadelphia on the i ith and following day. It was
resolved on the 1 2th, that the Proprietary and Gover-
nor issue writs immediately to summon the freemen in
each county to meet on the 1st of 8th month next, to

2/4 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

choose four persons to serve as their representatives in
Assembly, to meet at New Castle on the following
14th, the Secretary to have said writs prepared forth-
with.

From the Pennsylvania Archives (vol. I, pp. 133-4),
we learn that on the 1 3th, " Weddaagh, alias Orytyagh,
and Andaggy-junkquagh, Kings or Sachemas of the
Susquehanna Indians, and of the River under that
name, and lands lying on both sides thereof, do declare
that for and in consideration of a parcel of English
goods, unto us given, by our friend and brother
William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of Pennsyl-
vania, and also in consideration of the former much
greater costs and charges, the said William Penn hath
been at intreating about and purchasing the same.
We do hereby give, grant and confirm all the said riv^er
Susquehanna and all the islands therein, and all the
lands situate, lying and being upon both sides of the
said river, and next adjoining to the same, extending
to the utmost confines of the lands, which are or
formerly were the right of the people or nation called
the Susquehanna Indians. And we do hereby rat-
ify and confirm unto the said William Penn the bar-
gain and sale of the said lands, made unto Col.
Thomas Dongan, now Earl of Limerick, and formerly
Governor of New York, whose deed of sale to the
said Governor Penn we have seen, to the said William
Penn, his heirs and assigns forever, and set our hands
and seals the 1 3th day of September 1 700. Sealed

VISITS NEW YORK. 2/5

and delivered in the presence of Edward Antill, Henry
Tregeny, Esq., Edward Singleton, David Powell and
James Logan."

On the 14th, the Governor writes to Logan from
Pennsbury that " We want rum here, having not a
quarter of a pint in the house among so many work-
men ; best in bottles sealed down, or it may be drawn
and mixed ; send by Burlington boat, except S. Hill
carefully carry it to Ann Jennings for us — six quarts ;
and if an hogshead of lime could be reasonably
brought by an\' boat that comes to the mill at Brocks,
as Isaac Norris, etc, or to Burlington, we could send
for it, and that would close all for this year of that nature
we think.

" Let Joseph Wood (sheriff of New Castle county)
know that I hear Governors Nicholson and Blackiston
intend in ten days for Philadelphia ; and that I would
have him wait upon them with a good number of
persons ; that he summon to wait at the borders of
the county, and conduct them to New Castle, and
thence till he meets with the sheriff of Chester county,
to whom write to conduct them to the confines of his
charge or county, where J. Farmer shall attend them.
Let at least twenty persons be ordered for each party ;
and write to H. Hollingsworth to help the sheriff to
manage things. The magistrates of each place to
give their attendance, some to. ride out, some to receive
them at alighting. If needful, prepare a draught of an
order or letter to each county, and send it me

276 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

forthwith, as also to lodge them, and immediate ser-
vants, at their private houses. The first fair day I
intend down."

By his orders we see that Penn was determined to
exhibit to these Governors due respect, more than we
would have otherwise expected. They accordingly came
on to Philadelphia, but were both taken ill on the way.
Col. Blackiston so much so that he was obliged to return
to Maryland. Col. Nicholson, though very weak
with the fever, came on to New York accompanied by
Penn and Col. Hamilton, the Governor of New Jersey,
where they arrived on the 22d and remained till the
4th of the following month, when urgent business re-
quired the Proprietary's return, more particularly in
relation to the meeting of the Assembly on the 14th.

MEETING OF THE ASSEMBLY. 27/

CHAPTER XXV.

IMPORTANT MEETING OF THE ASSEMBLY AT NEW CAS-
TLE. INTERCESSION AND SELF-SACRIFICE FOR

A CONDEMNED VESSEL. ABLE RE-
PLY TO COLONEL QUARRY.

\_Ocfflbcr a)id November, //oo.^

On the i st of <Sth month or October, Penn addressed
a letter from New York to his Secretary James Logan
in Philadelphia, in which he says, " Give my love to
Thomas Story, and tell him that I hope he supplies
my absence about the laws, what is to alter or repeal,
and that assist him therein. Colonel Nicholson has
been very ill, and relapsed once or twice, which truly
are of great importance to the weal of America." All
laws passed here were carefully revised before being
sent to England, and where they would have still to
receive the royal approbation before they could be ef-
fective. The Editor of the Penn and Logan Corres-
pondence (vol. I, p. 1 6), states that Governor Nicholson
of Virginia was at this time " Lieut. Governor of New
England and New York; " which is an error ; besides
we are not aware of any one person exercising such

2/8 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

extensive territorial jurisdiction. The date of the
aforesaid letter is also incorrectly given as 9th month
in Janney's Life of Penn (2d ed., p. 434.)

Respecting the visits of the several Governors to
New York and their business at this time, Lord Bello-
mont, the Governor, thus speaks in his letter to the
Lords of Trade and Plantations, dated the 17th of
this (8th mo. or Oct.) month.

" As Col. Nicholson and Col. Blackiston were com-
ing hither they were both taken ill on the way ; Col.
Blackiston could come no further than Philadelphia
and thence returned again to Maryland. Col. Nichol-
son made a shift to get hither, but was very weak with
his fever. He came here the 2 2d of last month,
and returned the i ith instant. With him came Mr.
Penn and Col. Hamilton Governor of the Jerseys.
Col. Nicholson, Mr. Penn and I, had some discourse
about these plantations ; the heads on which we dis-
coursed were drawn up in short terms by Mr. Penn.
Col. Nicholson's indisposition hindered us from putting
these heads into better form, besides too Mr. Penn has
forgot to take notice of the first head we talked of,
namely : A method how to draw the remote Indians
over to us. Mr. Penn's occasions called him hence
the 4th instant, and Col. Nicholson seemed to think
Col. Blackiston's presence for the necessary obser-
vance of your Lordship's orders, and doing something
which might answer your expectation and the end of
our meeting-.

MEETING OF THE ASSEMBLY. 2/9

"We have determined to meet next spring at Phila-
delphia. The 6th and 7th heads or articles in Mr.
Penn's paper, Col. Nicholson and I declared to him
were not pertinent to our purpose, the first of which
is calculated to people his Proprietary colony, and
the next is already ordered as he has stated it, by
the King's commission and instructions to us, that
are the Governors for the King. I shall hereafter
offer some things to your Lordships consideration
upon these and the like heads. I am assured from
good hands that the profits of the Governor of Vir-
ginia are ;£'4,ooo a year, and those of the Governor of
Maryland ^^"2,500 a year.

" Col. Nicholson and Mr. Pcnn endeavored to recon-
cile the parties here, and took pains to reconcile me
and the merchants. I told them I had no advances to
make unless it could be proved I had governed arbi-
trarily and oppressed them in their trade, contrary to
law ; that for my part I was in charity with them and
all the world, but if the merchants of New York ex-
pected to be reconciled to me, upon the terms of my
indulging them in unlawful trade and piracy they
should find themselves still mistaken, for I would be
as steady as a rock on these points."

We here give the paper to which the Earl of Bello-
mont alludes and is called " Mr. Penn's Suggestions
respecting the Plantations," and indorsed " Heads of
several things proper for the Plantations to be recom-
mended home to England." Drawn up by Mr. Penn

280 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

and communicated by him to the Earl of Bellomont
and Col. Nicholson at their meeting at New York.

1st. We are humbly of opinion for the more easy
and certain commerce of the Northern Colonies of
America under the Crown of England ; it would be
convenient that there would be one standard or coin,
or that money were of the same value ; for in Boston
that pieces of 8 are 8s., 6s. go in New York for 6s.
pd., in Jersey and Pennsylvania 7s. 8d., in Maryland
4s. 6d., Virginia at 5s. and in Carolina.

2nd. It would be much for the despatch of trade
and business, if a mint for small silver to the value of
6d. were allowed in the city of New York for preven-
tion of clipping, filing as well as wearing, which is
very troublesome.

3rd. For the encouragement of returns it would be
very expedient that due encouragement were given for
the exportation of timber from hence for England by
an impost on foreign timber, there being great quan-
tities and good for shipping in these parts.

4th. That great caution should be observed to ad-
just the bounds with the French Commissioners or the
loss will be great and irreparable. We take the south
side of the River and Lakes of Canada to be our
just and reasonable boundaries, soil and trade with the
Indians being much concerned therein.

5th. For prevention of runaways and rovers and
fraudulent debtors coming from one Province to an-
other for shelter, that it were recommended to all these

MEETING OF THE ASSEMBLY. 28 1

governments to make a law with the same restrictions
and penalties, as if the whole were one government.

6th. Foreigners coming daily of divers nations, es-
pecially Dutch, Swedes, and French, it is humbly
offered that a general law of naturalization pass in
England that such foreigners that come to inhabit in
any of the King's Colonies that are by Act of Assem-
bly declared freeman in the said Province, shall enjoy
the rights and liberties of English subjects, except
being masters or commanders of vessels and ships of
trade.

7th. That it were generally signified to the respec-
tive governments for the prevention of vexatious and
litigious practices, that no appeal for England should
be admitted under the real value of /, 300.

8th. That not only charges in apprehending of pi-
rates but a proportion of the prey may be assigned for
such as shall take them, for the encouragement of their
apprehension.

Like Penn's proposal for a Union of the American
Colonies in 1696, contains several excellent sugges-
tions which were greatly needed, particularly the ist,
2d, 5th, 6th and 8th. As may have been expected
even for such modest and reasonable requests, I believe
not one of those last-mentioned heads ever received
the least encouragement from the home government.
The most important, like those relating to the Union
of the Colonies, were left quietly to slumber, but there
is no doubt that even then they foresaw danger, but

202 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

which should yet be restrained for three-quarters of a
century.

The Governor attended a meeting of the Council in
Philadelphia on the loth, after which they met with
the Assembly at New Castle on the 14th and continued
in daily session there to the end of the month, except-
ing only on the 20th and 21st. On the i6th Joseph
Growdon, accompanied by all the Representatives, ap-
peared before the Governor and Council and acquainted
them that they had chosen him for their Speaker, from
which office he now desired to be excused, hoping the
Governor would order the Assembly to choose a more
suitable person. The Governor said that what the
Assembly had now done fully satisfied him. Then
the Speaker desired that at all times they might have
access to the Governor's person and that a favorable
construction be put on their words with freedom from
arrests ; which the Governor granted and then said :

" Friends, The calling you at this time was urgent;
you know we want a Frame of Government and a body
of Laws, without which society cannot subsist. I
recommend to you the revisal of the Laws ; which to
continue, what to repeal, what to alter, what to explain,
and what new ones to make. Secondly, I recommend
to you the settling of property, Thirdly, a supply for
the support of Government ; and I recommend to you
amity and concord amongst yourselves." This cer-
tainly may be regarded as a model address or message
to the Legislature which for brevity probably has
never been surpassed.

SELF-SACRIFICE F^OR A CONDEMNED VESSEI.. 283

In his letter of the previous month, the Governor
makes some allusion to an unfortunate affair. The
ship Providence commanded by Captain John Lumley
arrived in the Province with a cargo without having
taken out the requisite papers, which according to the
Admiralty laws forfeited both the vessel and cargo.
Under the circumstances of the case Penn took com-
passion on the owners, even to the extent of some
sacrifice, as may be seen in the following beautiful and
feeling letter addressed to them, and for whom it will
be seen he used every effort to intercede. Such a
transaction as this, happening too before his arrival,
what infinite credit it does him ! even at a time when
we know he was greatly distressed for the want of
mone}% and the colony had refused him any compen-
sation.

"New Castle, Pensia, i8th, 8 ber, 1700.
" Esteemed Friends : Expecting before this Capt.
Lumley would have received orders from you about
your ship, and from the employers about the cargo, I
have hitherto deferred writing, but now finding you
are both likely to suffer by your neglect, am forced to
put you in mind of the ruinous condition of your
interests in them. Through that unhappy slip of
neglecting the Register, both ship and cargo were
condemned before my arrival, so that there is no
remedy here, but that you should take care of the
Third allotted to me by Law, which when you please

284 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

to give orders for it, remains at your service, and to
get the other two-thirds as easy as you can. These I
have prevailed with the Judge of Admiralty to offer
the Captain for /"200 this country money, amounting
to about /"130 sterling, with which I cannot but think
it will be your interest to comply, if you can find no
other means to relieve yourselves at home. The third
of the cargo which upon division was sent me waits
also for the Merchants orders, for I intend not to be
concerned with any part of it, but it is already much
damaged and delay will make it worse. This is all I
can serve you in here, and if you can do no better for
yourselves there, I hope you will kindly accept it from
your loving Friend.

Wm. Penn."

On this matter of the ship Providoice he further ex-
presses himself in a letter without date to Charles
Lawton, Esq., in England, in which he desires him " to
take notice of the inhibitions that come from the High
Court about Capt. Lumley's ship and goods, seized
here and condemned, and goods appraised and disposed
of by Col. Quarry the Judge and Moore the Advocate,
my third remaining in statu quo, denying to accept of
it, as thinking it a barbarous case, the inclosed states
it. All I desire is, that I may not suffer by or for that
which I had rather have suffered than have done or
been concerned in."

To Col. Quarry, Judge of the Court of Admiralty

ABLE REPLY TO COLONEL QUARRY. 285

in which the vessel was condemned, he addressed from
New Castle on the i ith of 9th month, quite a lengthy
letter still further interceding, but it would appear from
his statement to Lawton that nothing availed and that
the vessel and goods fell a sacrifice to the unrelenting
prosecutors, except what his generosity saved and al-
lotted them. From the Logan correspondence we
learn that the Queen's share of the cargo (being also
one-third) amounted to /' 193. 17.061/, Pennsylvania
currency.

The Governor returns thanks on the 24th in a letter
from New Castle to Joseph Cogsgarne for " kind pres-
ents of fish," and says, " for which I must own myself
indebted, and am sorry this place affords nothing at
present to make suitable returns with ; but anything I
can oblige thee in at this distance, thou mayst assure
thyself of one ready to befriend thy interests."

That Penn was of an hospitable turn we see in a
letter written about this time to Logan, in which he
says, " Give the two Bristol captains a small collation
at I. Jones's or Robins' or where thou wilt, as neats
tongue or the like, and a bottle of wine on my account
if thou seest fit." His letters frequently mention simi-
lar instances extended to others, particularly to the
Indians.

The Council and Assembly continued in session at
New Castle from the ist to the 27th of November, ex-
cepting only on the 3rd, loth, 17th, and 24th which
were Sundavs. We believe during all this time and

286 \\\M. PENN IN AMERICA.

since the 14th of the previous month the Governor
was in attendance. On the last day he caused Joseph
Growdon, the Speaker on behalf of the Assembly, to
sign all the Laws passed or agreed upon, after which
he ordered the great seal to be affixed to the same.
He then publicly and in the presence of the Council
and Assembly declared the same to be the Laws of
the Province of Pennsylvania and the Territories thereto
belonging, according to the King's letters patent,
granted to him under the great seal of England. The
Assembly was then prorogued to the ist of 2d month
(April) next, but he said he would not call them
together till the 8th month came, unless through great
emergency.

In regard to this session the author of the Historical
Review of Pennsylvania (p. 38) observes that "in
October following, a new Assembly was summoned.
Not as before to consist of thirty-six Members, but of
twenty-four ; that is to say, four instead of six in each
county. The place of meeting was also different : for
instead of assembling as usual at Philadelphia, the
Members were convened to New Castle ; perhaps only
to gratify the inhabitants of the Territories, at a time
when extraordinary demands were to be made upon
them for the gratification of the Proprietary-Governor.
At the opening of this Assembly, the Governor said,
he had called them upon urgent occasions ; that they
were in want of a F"rame of Government ; a body of
Laws ; a settlement of Property ; and a supply for the

ABLE REPLY TO COLONEL OUARRV. 2 8/

support of Government. Adding that he would give
them all the assistance in his power. With the body
of Laws they began, and made considerable progress
in the work ; but the Frame of Government again met
with as many difficulties as before. The Conditions of
Union between the Province and the Territories, in
particular, had like to have produced an immediate
separation ; and the dispute which arose concerning
equal privileges or equal voices in the Representatives,
could be no otherwise compromised than by referring
the issue to the next General Assembly." At page 6
remarks that " This Charter of Privileges for the
Province, being the present Frame of Government
passed Oct. 28, 1701, being the third. The first
Frame of Government for the Province was made in
England, April 25, 1682. The next Frame of Gov-
ernment (the second) was passed April 2, 1683, making
three in less than twenty years." It appears by this
that the P'rame of Government here agreed upon was
still in force in 1759, when said work was published,
and so we may justly conclude was retained till the
Revolution, when it was set aside for a new constitution
independent of both the Proprietary and Royal govern-
ments.

As from what has been stated, it will be observed
that the proceedings here of the Governor, Council and
Assembly were unusually important, which deserve
some further consideration. Isaac Norris, in a letter to
Daniel Zachary dated 8th of loth month, 1700, thus

288 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

speaks on the subject : " I am at length got home from
wearisome New Castle, after near seven weeks' session,
much teasing, but in short, we brought it to a pretty
good conclusion. We compiled out of the old, and
formed some new — in all about ninety laws in a body,
as far as our capacities and general heads would admit.
And for a closing stroke gave the Governor two thou-
sand pounds, at which our malcontents are not well
pleased, and some, I hear, endeavor to withstand pay-
ing."

Among the decided opponents to the Governor's
measures was Col. Robert Quarry, who, in the sixth
charge of his " Abstract of Several Informations relat-
ing to Irregular Proceedings and other undue practices
in Pennsylvania," states that " Mr. Penn prevailed with
the Assembly, at one sitting, to make a present to him
of two thousand pounds per annum and upwards, in
taxes. The expense of their several sittings whilst he
was there, amounts to above six hundred pounds."

This brought out a reply entitled, " Answers to the
Abstract of Complaints against Proceedings in Penn-
sylvania by Wm. Penn." To the sixth charge the
Governor ably answers, that " I acknowledge the two
thousand pound money (which makes not twelve hun-
dred pounds English) ; but his one thousand pounds is
not above seven hundred pounds that money, nor five
hundred pounds this, and nearly expired. But is that
such a recompence, when five times the sum is less
than my due ; having not had for twenty years one

AliLE REPLY TO COLONEL QUARRY. 289

farthing, but maintained the deputy Governor at my
own charges. And yet more than half of what they
gave me is yet unpaid, and if Colonel Quarry and his
factious adherents can obstruct it, will never be paid
me. Whereas had the law of imposts, given me in
1683, been received, it had been twenty thousand
pounds and more, money in my way ; and which was
only by me waived for a few years in our infancy, upon
promises never performed to me."

The following letter addressed to his cousin Robert
Asheton, Sheriff of Philadelphia, is calculated to show
the liberal and kindly spirit that actuated the benevo-
lent founder, and does him credit as a Christian. It is
supposed to allude to the Rev. Dr. Evans of Christ
Church who arrived about this time, and continued in
charge till 17 i 8.

"New Castle, ist, Qber, 1700.
" R. Asheton. The new minister sent over from Phila-
delphia, has been with me, and appears a man, sober,
and of a mild disposition, that may be prevailed with
to be easy. I must therefore desire thee to use all
early methods by thyself, and such others of your
Church as are for peace, and a friendly understanding
to make impressions on his mind for the best and by
all seasonable means, endeavor to dispose him to an
easiness of mind and good inclination to the public,
and the people in general he is now to live amongst.

290 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Assuring him that while he behav^es himself with can-
dor and ingenuity, he shall want no good will from,
nor kindness that I can shew him, and that he may
expect as much favor in all reasonable things, as he
could from any Governor of his own way. Thy care
in this I hope I may depend on having assurance of
thy good inclinations to the peace of the public, and
that thou art sensible one of the greatest advantages
to be reaped from religion is a quiet easy mind, which
as it is inwardly enjoyed, will show itself no less in all
exterior things. As thou findst occasion a line from
thee on this head would be acceptable to him that is
with kind love to thyself and family thy assured
friend and affectionate kinsman. W. P."

On the 6th the Governor addressed a letter from
New Castle to Governor Blackiston, in which he hu-
morously says, that " By this time Gov^ernor Nicholson
has at large informed thee of all who surprised me at
New Castle, when I thought him upon the coasts of
Virginia. I see one must be upon one's guard with
soldiers, that understand so well, beating up their
neighbor's quarters.

" I am to complain of one Capt. Barford, who has
exceeded all bounds. He has not only without the
consent of passengers or stress of weather, altered his
port, and injured his passengers extremely by it, but
forced servants bound by indenture to serve here, to
serve in Maryland, and by such threats of treatment

ABLE REPLY TO COLONEL QUARRY. 29 1

as hardly have example. I do in the name of our Gen-
eral Assembly and laws of our Province, as well as in
behalf of the said servants, beg of Governor Blackiston
an examination of this affair, for example sake, and
that we may have justice against the said Capt. Bar-
ford, at least as far as relates to the servants, leaving
the rest to the undertakers at home to consider of"

Immediately after the adjournment of the Assembly
at New Castle, Penn returned to Pennsbury, and very
probably from over exertion and exposure from its
long sitting of six weeks, became quite unwell. In a
letter addressed to James Logan near the close of this
month his wife thus alludes to his condition and of
some other matters :

"My husband has been, for some time, especially
the two days past, much indisposed with a feverish
cold ; his sweating, last night relieved him, but not so
as to be capable of going to town without great hazard
of his health, which has prevailed with him to stay till
to-morrow, when, if better, he intends not to fail of
being in town ; wherefore he would have the Council
to adjourn, from day to day, till they see him. Also,
would have thee tell Thomas Story to read over the
laws carefully, and observe their shortness and other
defects, with memoranda of directions, especially those
about courts of justice, marriage, law of property, un-
reasonable al'ienation of fines, &c., and what time thou
canst spare he would have thee employed on the same
subject."

ig2 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE PROPRIETARY OFFICIALS GIVEN TO LAND SPECU-
LATIONS. COURTS OF INQUIRY ESTABLISHED.

PAMPHLETS PRINTED AND CIRCU-
LATED IN GERMANY TO PRO-
MOTE EMIGRATION.

\Di'CC)nber — Fcbruaiy, iyoo.'\

From Penn's letter to the Lords of Trade, written
on the 8th of loth month, 1700, we learn that he had
proposed but five days stay at New York, but instead
remained there from the 2 2d of 7th to the 4th of the
following month, some twelve days, which caused him
to leave in such haste, on account of the Assembly
meeting soon after, that he could not bring along with
him a copy of his "Suggestions respecting the Planta-
tions," and in consequence left the original with Lord
Bellomont. However he refers to it at some length,
and amongst other matters observes, " That a stricter
method also were recommended to ye respective colo-
nies about Marriage, it too often falling out that one
man has two wives and one woman two husbands, in

LAND SPECULATIONS. 293

which give me leave without vanity to desire your pe-
rusal of our law that comes by next opportunity, for
the great scandal that lies upon the American colonies
alls for a reformation in this particular with some ex-
pedition. That a general Post were settled not onh'
here, which in measure is done, but that there
were two or three little post vessels by the King ap-
pointed to bring and carry letters, at those seasons es-
pecially when greater ships cannot or do not so usually
come or go, for the benefit of trade and private con-
veniences as well as more public affairs of the Crown."
The aforesaid " Suggestions " have been given in the
previous chapter.

On the 9th the Governor addressed a letter to Lord
Bellomont, chiefly on the subject of piracy, and con-
cludes by saying, " My wife and daughter with myself
beg the acceptance of our best wishes to Lord and
Lady Bellomont." On the same day he also addressed
from Philadelphia a long letter to the Commissioners
of Customs in London, from which we select the fol-
lowing extracts :

" In my last, mentioning the business of M. Birch,
the Collector of New Castle, and James Menzies, I
promised to make a full inquiry into that affair, with
an intention to bring it to a second trial. In pursuance
of which I omitted nothing that might have the least
tendency to clear it. But the subject will scarce, I
doubt de.serve any further words : Birch himself is
dead, and the two pirates in the boat, who were then

294 ^'^'M. PENN IN AMERICA.

out of prison upon bail, taken, are executed, as we hear
by the last news from New York, and nothing could
be proved against Menzies the only person of the
company surviving, otherwise he would have suffered
smartly for it.

" The Collector deceasing about six weeks ago, I
thought myself obliged least the King's affairs should
suffer, to appoint one in his place till your pleasure
were known, his name is Joseph Wood, a sober man
of a good reputation, faithful I believe, and understand-
ing, he has been sheriff of that county for some con-
siderable time, and will serve the best of any I could
find, till you please either to dispose of it otherwise, or
if you think fit to confirm it. My longer stay at New
York with Lord Bellomont and Governor Nicholson,
than was expected, occasioned me to slip the oppor-
tunity in September last, I designed to send by. Be-
cause so many complaints have been against us upon
the account of Trade, I resolved to keep that important
office in my own hands till I had time to look about
me and consider of a person fit for the trust.

" I have only this to request that among other in-
structions that you may think requisite for our better
conduct, you would be pleased to give some directions
about the Curasao Trade. They go from hence with
provisions only, and pretend to bring back nothing
but money, but that trade affords so many temptations
for importing valuable Dutch goods, that I know not
how to be sufficiently secure in it, considering the

LAND SPECULATIONS. 295

length of our river. But your advice if you please
favour us with it, will clear all."

Meetings with the Council were held by the Gover-
nor in Philadelphia on the i8th and 19th, which I
believe were the only ones held during the month. On
the 31st he addressed a letter to Gov. Nicholson of
Virginia in which he states, " I was troubled to hear
Col. Quarr\''s ill account of thy health after leaving us
so well and brisk. Thou must excuse my solicitous-
ness for thy recovery and that I therefore recommend
an infusion of wormwood, centuary, agrimoney and
chamomile flowers in good spring water, at least the
three first. Put them in water hot, and drink it as tea
and also cold instead of other drink at meals or with-
out wine, and moderate the bitterness as it may be
grateful especially at meals. It is a course I am falling
into for prevention, for it fortifies the stomach and
sweetens the blood." And adds by way of po.stscript,
" Pray is poor Jack the Indian got home. I clothed
him and sent him from New Castle two months and
more, since as I suppose, and letters by him to thyself
and Governor Blacki.ston."

From the first book of Marriage Records in Phila-
delphia Monthly Meeting, we learn that on the 31st of
loth month, William Powell, a cooper of Philadelphia
and son of William, was marrietl to P^lizabeth Kelley,
of the same place in the meeting liou.se. Among
those present as witnesses on this occasion we find the
names of William Powell. Sr., John Powell, William

296 WM. PENX IN AMERICA.

Kelley, Thomas Shute, Joseph Estlacke, Ann Powell,
Hannah Penn and thirty-four others.

In his correspondence, Penn frequently alludes to
the dishonesty of some of the officials of his day, and
of those holding positions under him, so we must not
conclude that official corruption is altogether of modern
date. It is known that at least a few who came with
but little to this country and held positions became
eventually owners of great tracts of lands, and in some
cases extensive speculators therein and thus became
wealthy. The foundations of several prominent fami-
lies were laid in this manner, and to this class Penn
gives hints, as we have no evidence of their assisting
him in his pecuniary distresses, while they aimed at
self-aggrandizement and making the most out of him.
We will give first the following extracts from the His-
tory of New Sweden (Phila. ed. of 1874, pp. 125-7) by
the Rev. Israel Acrelius :

"On the 14th of June, i6(S3, Proprietor Penn, under
his own hand and the seal of the Province, issued an
order to all the old inhabitants of the Province, who
had not yet received deeds for their lands, but
only the Surveyor's certificates to make their surveys,
according to orders from the Governor of New York,
to send in these certificates, and take out deeds for the
same. Also, that those who had deeds from the Duke
of York should present themselves, and hand in their
old deeds. The good and simple people, who did not
know what that meant, generally handed in their cer-

COURTS OF INQUIRY ESTABLISHED. 29/

tificates and deeds. Immediately thereupon Penn di-
rected his Assembly to enact a law that old home-
steads or farms should be resurv^eyed, and then large
lots were found in excess of what the deeds covered,
as they were not so particular about land in former
times.

" Upon the ri\er and creeks there were large tracts
of swamp-lands which stood under water at flood-tide,
but were dry at the ebb, and were useful for pasturage
of cattle, but were not formerly embraced in the deeds.
Some thousands of acres were, therefore, at this time,
taken away from those who had hitherto possessed
them, and sold to others, notwithstanding it was fixed
by law that seven years of undisputed possession
should give a clear title. Those who had given in
their certificates and deeds never received them back
again, and when they took out new ones were laid
under three or four fold rents. Those who did not
pay of their own accord were sued. But those who
did not gi\'e up their old deeds, both held what they
had and were exempt from increased rents. Finally
these complaints burst forth in a petition to the As-
sembly in the year 1709, with the request that James
Logan might be empowered to restore to them their
old deeds, together with the excess of rents which he
had wrongfully taken."

While in this country Penn established by his own
authority in the several counties " Courts of Inquiry,"
selecting for its officers, persons to act under an official

298 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

sanction for his own particular benefit. This is best
explained by the following, copied from the original
commission which he issued for establishing the same
in Bucks county. To our knowledge we find used
herein by him for the first time the word " absolute "
which in the charter granted to the Borough of Ches-
ter was extended to " true and absolute.'"^

" William Fenn, absolute Proprietary and Governor
in Chief of the Proxnnce of Pennsylvania and Terri-
tories thereunto belonging.

"To my trusty and well beloved friends Phineas
Pemberton, William Biles, and Richard Hough — send-
eth greeting : —

" For the complete settling and establishing of Af-
fairs of Property within the County of Bucks in this
Province of Pennsylvania. Know ye That I have con-
stituted and appointed you, and do hereby appoint and
commission you the said Phineas Pemberton, William
Biles, and Richard Hough, or any two of you to hold
a Court of Inquiry, for examining, searching and in-
quiring into the rights, titles and claims of all and sin-
gular the Freeholders or Inhabitants of the said County,
to any Lands, Tenements, Hereditaments within the
same, at such times and places in the said county as to
\'ou shall seem most convenient. Hereby granting
unto you full power and authority by your Order or
Warrant under the hand of any two of you to summon
or cause to be summoned all persons concerned to ap-

* Also see Chapter XXXIII.

COURTS OF INQUIRY ESTABLISHED. 299

pear before you in the said Court, as you shall ap-
point ; to produce all Grants, Letters Patent, Convey-
ances, Records, and all other Papers and Writings as
you shall see cause, that in any wise relate to Their
Titles or Claims as aforesaid. Also to commend and
require all needful Officers, especially the Constables
of the said County, to attend to your service, as there
shall be occasion, who are hereby required and com-
manded to obey all your Orders respectively herein.
I do also hereby further empower you the said Phineas
Pemberton, William Biles, and Richard Hough, or any
two of you, fully to inquire into the State of my Quit-
rents in the said County and diligently to examine
what part of the said Rents have been paid, and to
whom, and what remaineth behind unpaid, and to take
and keep an exact account thereof Also carefully to
inquire into all Plscheats, Fines and P'orfeitures, that
are fallen to me or become my due in said county.
And of all your Proceedings in pursuance of this
Commission make a due and faithful Report to me
fairly in writing under your hands to the end that the
State of Property in the said County being particularly
known, the respectix'e Inhabitants and Freeholders may
be the more effectually settled and confirmed in all their
just titles and claims to lands therein. Given under
my Hand and the great Seal of the Province, at Phila-
delphia, the Eighteenth of the Tenth Month, 1700.

Wm. Penn."

300 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

As might have been expected the exercising of such
authority so Hable to gross abuse caused some excite-
ment. A petition was gotten up in consequence by
some of the inhabitants of Philadelphia, and addressed
to the Assembly the following September, from which
we take several extracts:

" The following particulars are humbly tendered to
your serious consideration, and that they may have
due weight with you is the earnest desires of us the
subscribers, in behalf of ourselves and other the in-
habitants of this Government.

" 2ndly. That before the Proprietor go for England,
he grant us such an Instrument as may absolutely
secure us in our Estates and Properties from himself,
his heirs and assigns forever, or any claiming from
under him, or any of them, as also to clear all Indian
Purchases.

" I Ithl\^ That whereas the Proprietor hath been
prevailed on to erect a Court, called by some a Court
of Inquiry, before which divers of the inhabitants
were summoned, and ordered to appear to show the
Titles of their Lands contrary to their rights and privi-
liges as Freeborn English subjects, and not warranted
by any Law, Custom or Usage of this Province, as we
know of, you would be pleased to represent the same
as a great Aggrievance, and endeavor, that no such
thing be allowed for the future.

" Also that such Person or Persons as advised him
to erect the said Court receive such reprehension or

COURTS OF INQUIRY ESTABLISHED. 3OI

other prosecution for such their ill advice, as you
shall think fit. And further that you would please make
enquiry by what Authority persons have been sent for
by warrants and mandates, signed and alleged by the
Governor's order, to his great dishonor and the in-
fringement of the Subject's Liberty, and that any
officers signing such Warrants or Mandates, may be
examined and receive such reproof for the same, as
may deter him or them from such practices for the
future."

This petition was dated "Philadelphia, ye 17th of
7th mo., 1 70 1," nearly seven weeks before the Pro-
prietary's departure, and signed by sixty-nine persons.
Among these may be mentioned Griffith Jones,
Thomas Paschall, Joshua Carpenter, Francis Rawle,
John Kensy, William Hudson, Thomas Wharton,
William Powell, Charles Read, William Coleman,
Joseph Wilcox, Benjamin Wright, Nehemiah Allen,
Thomas Masters and Thomas Coates. None of said
signers, we believe, ever held any positions under the
Proprietary government and could therefore be free in
the expression of their sentiments. It may be seen in
full at pp. 275-7 o( vol. VI. (for 1853) of the Collec-
tions of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

A committee of the Assembly the following day
agreed that the 2d article was " needful to be obtained,"
and the iith"belaid before the General Assembly,
in order to have such persons sent for as shall be
supposed delinquents therein." It was also further

302 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

agreed that the said petition " be fairly drawn over and
presented to the Proprietor for his perusal and con-
sideration, to the several particulars therein men-
tioned." This result was quite unexpected to Penn if
we are to judge by the letter from Isaac Norris to
Daniel Zachary on the 3d of 8th month following,
wherein he says, " Our Governor highly resents an
address made to the Assembly and from them recom-
mended to him." I have been unable to ascertain
anything further about this " Court," which the Pro-
prietary from its unpopularity may have shortly after
let drop, or was compelled to abandon for the want of
creditable officers willing to serve thereon.

In regard to the land speculators of this day, it
appears for instance by the records that immediately
after the Proprietary had left the Province, some of his
officials took up in great tracts some of the best lands
in the central parts of Bucks county, and retailing
them to actual settlers, I mean between the years 1701
and 1718, and of which no evidence exists of the
Indian title having been previously extinguished, and
which is confirmed by subsequent purchases from
them.* Again there was another great trouble about
the surveys. From the beginning the Surveyors with
their deputies held their positions direct from the
Proprietary, and after several years settlement and con-
siderable lands had been sold the Governor ordered his
officials to make resurveys, and where the quantity

* See History of the Indian Walk, Chapters II. and III.

COURTS OF IxN'OUIRV ESTABLISHED. 3O3

proved to be over that mentioned in the grant to be
his. There was no alternative with the purchasers or
holders than to go by his surveyors, whether the
amount was more or less than was called for, and if in
consequence unfairness was practiced in the measure-
ment was not their faults. We will take for instance
the manor of Moreland, surveyed to Nicholas More,
in 1684, for 9,815 acres. After his death the Pro-
prietary's Commissioners of Property, by a warrant
dated the loth of 5th month, 1689, directed Thomas
Fairman to make a resurvey of the same. He re-
ported an overplus of five hundred acres, which was
laid off on its upper part, and was afterwards purchased
from the Proprietary in two tracts, one of two hundred
and fifty acres by said Fairman, and the other by Anna
Salters. The records of this time prove numerous
similar instances.

We can find nothing of interest whatever relating to
Penn that transpired during I ith month or January.
Perhaps like nature, now taking a rest after long and
continuous exertions for the general good. William
Penn, Jr., under date of " Worminghurst, Feb. iith,
1700,'' addressed a letter " For James Logan, Secretary
to His Excellenc)- in Philadelphia," in which he men-
tions that "I am now to tell thee that yesterday, at
half past eight in the morning, to a minute, my wife
was brought to bed of a brave boy." This was his
eldest son Springett, who died at London in 1767.

Meetings of the Council were held in Philadelphia,

304 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

on the 14th, 15th and i8th, at all of which the
Governor was present. On the 15 th representation
was made that the law against strangers travelling
without passes and obliging the innkeepers to give
notice to some magistrate of such coming to lodge at
their houses has been much neglected, and seldom put
in practice. It was in consequence ordered that a
proclamation be issued requiring all persons to observe
said laws, and have them more effectually put in
execution.

During this year (1700) several pamphlets were
published in the German language by Andrew Otto,
bookseller at Frankfort and Leipzig, to encourage
emigration to Pennsylvania. One was called " Cur-
iesuse Nachricht von Pensylvania in Norden America,"
by Daniel Falkner, who styles himself " Professor,
Citizen and Pilgrim there." It contains 58 octavo
pages, and in it he states that he had arrived here in
1700, and settled at Germantown, where he was made
a Bailiff He was one of the agents or attorneys for
the Frankfort Land Company. Falkner's Swamp in
the upper part of the present Montgomery county was
called after him. Francis Daniel Pastorius' Description
of Pennsylvania, of 120 pages, also appeared at this
time of which we have spoken in Chapter XI. Penn's
Description written in 1683 appeared in 14 pages, and
Thomas Paschall's in 3 pages. Gabriel Thomas'
Account of the Province appeared in 1702 in 40 pages,
with a map which strange to say gives the Schuylkill

PAMPHLETS TO PROMOTE EMIGRATION. 3O5

river on it prett)' correctly for fifty miles from its
mouth, also the Neshaminy, Perkiomen and Manatawny
creeks with all their principal branches. Pennsbury
is marked on it also Newtown, and Bridlington for Bur-
lington, but not Bristol. Of course the last three
pamphlets had been translated for the purpose.

Under the auspices of the Land Company there these
five works were extensively circulated, and no doubt
done much afterwards to encourage emigration hither.
An antiquarian friend,* several years ago, secured
copies of all the aforesaid while traveling in Germany,
to which he has kindly let the author have access and
make translations. It is probable that collectively
these have never been noticed before in any work
relating either to Penn or his colony. Thus the ma-
terials for history are brought together more and
more, additions made, and obscure matters solved.

* The late Joseph J. Mickley, of Philadelphia.

306 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XXVII.

A BEAUTIFLfL LETTER SENT TO THE COUNTESS OF BELLO-
MONT, ON THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND. AD-
DITIONAL TREATY WITH THE SUSQUEHANNA

INDIANS. A SECOND CHARGE

OF WITCHCRAFT.

\_Ma!r/i-May, ijoi.]

We have now arrived, according to old .style, to the
first month of the year, 1701. Judging by hi.s corres-
pondence and Otherwise, we are inclined to believe
that Penn, with his family, spent the winter, or the
severe season, in Philadelphia, which appears to have
been his practice. Several circumstances would direct
to this : the roads at times being impassable from
snows and thaws, and the river from ice and storms.
A meeting of Council was held in town by the Gov-
ernor on the 5th, and probably the only one during the
month.

Isaac Norris, an eminent merchant of Philadelphia
and an intimate acquaintance of the Proprietary's, in a
letter to his friend Jeffry Pennell, dated the 6th of this
month, P"ives the following interestincr account of the

LETTER SENT TO COUNTESS OF BELLOMONT. 307

family : " The Governor, wife, and daughter well.
Their little son is a comely, lovely babe, and has much
of his father's grace and air, and hope he will not want
a good portion of his mother's sweetness, who is a
woman extremely well beloved here, exemplary in her
station, and of an excellent spirit, which adds lustre to
her character, and has a great place in the hearts of
good people. The Governor is our Pater Patrke, and
his worth is no new thing to us ; we value him highly,
and hope his life will be preserved till all things now
on the wheel are settled here to his peace and com-
fort, and the people's ease and quiet." John Penn, the
lovely babe he alludes to, was born here on the 28th
of I ith month, 1699, and was now a little over
thirteen months old and was the first child of the
present wife.

Notice was sent by the Council of New York of the
death there of the Governor, Lord Bellomont, on the
5th instant, who had been for some time seriously in-
disposed. The Proprietary addressed a brief reply to
them by post from Philadelphia on the 17th in which
he says:

" Hon'd Friends. I heartily condole your loss ; it is
mine as well as yours, and the King's too. May that
place be happy in a successor; you have lost a Gov-
ernor but I a friend and an honorable and friendly
neighbor. You are sure of all the good offices in my
power, that may preserve and increase a good under-
standiufT between the Colonies for the service of the

308 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Crown and our own common benefit. I take your
notice with sorrow and respect. Your affectionate and
faithful friend."

At the same time he did not forget the Countess in
this her affliction, at whose house he had been five
months previously a visitor and hospitably entertained.
The following beautiful and feeling letter was addressed
to her and we believe has never before been published:

" Countess of Bellomont.

"Noble Friend. — My grief exceeds my surprise
and as I condole so great a loss to the Lady Bello-
mont, I must not leave myself out of that measure
and share by the real honor and affection I had for
him my noble Friend. I pray God soften this other-
wise hard stroke to his family great losers, not other-
wise to be repaired, and resignation is the only way to
it. A friend as well as a husband or a wife is a double
enjoyment which renders the loss double also; but we
are born to die and death is the way to the longest as
well as the best life. He has had many fits that have
alarmed thee for this great change, so that the latter
part of his life has been a preparative for your parting.
The way to have so great a disappointment sanctioned
to our comfort, is by this sorrowful occasion to learn
how to wean our affections from those things that are
wont to move us most with pleasure and satisfaction in
this world. I wish my noble Friend, anything in my
power could serve thee, I would religiously employ it,
for the wife and friend of the Earl of Bellomont shall

LETTER SENT TO COUNTESS OF BELLOMONT. 3O9

always claim the right of survivorship in the esteem
and service of her dear Lord's and her most faithful
friend

Wm. Penn.

" Mine sends with me our salutes in true mourning."

(4.)

From the many kind letters that had passed between
the parties with the friendly relations that existed, we
think it proper to give here some further account:
Richard, Earl of Bellomont, was born in the county of
Sligo, Ireland, in 1636, and became there the second
Baron of Colvony. Through his opposition to James
II., he secured the favor of William and Mary who,
November 2d, 1689, advanced him to the dignity of
Earl of Bellomont. In 1660, he married Catharine,
the daughter and heiress of John Nanfan, Esq., of
Birch Morton, in the county of Worcester, with whom
he had two sons, who successively inherited the title,
He was buried with considerable honors in the chapel
of the fort at the Battery. Soon after his decease the
Countess returned to Ireland, where she died at the
family seat in 1728, aged 90 years. Lieut. Governor
Nanfan who succeeded him was probably her brother.

Penn addressed a letter from Philadelphia on the
31st to General Codrington, but possesses no particular
interest. We cannot clearly make out from the corres-
pondence who the General was, but infer that he was
at this time Governor of Barbadoes.

John Hans, an Indian trader, was in the practice of

3IO WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

introducing rum among them, who it appears had
promised to desist and call and see the Governor on
the subject, but instead of doing this sent an agent to
Philadelphia to procure supplies for the said traffic.
On ascertaining this the Governor on the 1 2th of 2d
month (April) sent him the following note :

" John Hans. Thou hast often promised to visit
this place in order to treat with me about thy Indian
trade, but hast as often disappointed me. Thy present
management thereof amongst us is directly contrary to
our Laws. I have therefore stopt thy goods intended
for Lechay, till according to thy frequent engagements
thou comst hither thyself and give further satisfaction
than thou hast yet done to thy friend."

A serious disturbance likely through said cause
having taken place about this time on the Lehigh
river, Edward Farmer of Whitemarsh, interpreter, and
John Sotcher of Pennsbury were sent up there in the
following month to ascertain the intentions of the
Indians in that vicinity. The above is the earliest
mention of said river known to us, and the Germans
to this day in their language in that section call it
Lechay, which appears to be the proper Indian name.
No doubt Hans conveyed his goods there by water,
taking advantage of the spring freshets which would
permit boats of si.xteen tons and more to ascend to
the forks.

A meeting of Council was held in Philadelphia on
the 23d, at which was present the Governor, several

TREATY WITH SUSQUEHANNA INDIANS. 3II

Members of the board, and divers others. On this
occasion some forty Susquehanna Indians were intro-
duced. Amongst those was Connodaghtah, chief of
the Conestogoes, Wopathha, alias Opessah chief of the
Shawanese, Weewhinjough, chief of the Ganawese, in-
habiting the head of the Potomac ; also Ahoakassough,
brother of the Emperor or great King of the Ononda-
(3es of the Five Nations, with Indian Harry as inter-
preter, besides several women and children. Speeches
were made and a Treaty agreed upon, by which the
Governor promised for himself, his heirs and successors
that he and they should at all times act towards each
other as true friends and brothers to each and all of
those present, by assisting them with the best of ad-
vice and council, and in all just and reasonable things
to befriend them, they behaving themselves and sub-
mitting to the Laws of this Province in all matters the
same as the English and other Christians therein do.
To which the said Indians faithfully agreed to abide
both for themselves and their posterity forever. The
proceedings of this treaty may be seen at length in the
Pennsylvania Archives, vol. I., pp. 145-/. A meeting
of the Council was also held on the 25th when they
adjourned.

In consequence of the encroachments of the Deputy
Sheriff of Somerset county into Sussex, and forcing
some of the citizens there to yield due obedience to
the authorities of Maryland, induced the Governor to
proceed down there and learn the facts of the case, and

312 \VM. PENN IX AMERICA.

receive the testimonies of creditable witnesses on the
subject. From Lewis he addressed a letter on the 6th
of 3d month to " Col. Jenkens and Lieut. Col. Whiting-
ton, or either of them," who were residents of Somer-
set, and no doubt concerned in the affair.

" Gaining the first time," he says therein, " since my
arrival into these parts to visit the people, know and
redress their grievances as well as to look into the con-
dition of my own interest, I find a part of my quiet pos-
session disturbed by the subsheriff of Somerset county
and part of the inhabitants claiming under me con-
strained from their obedience and fidelity to me in my
double capacity, though no line be run or any warrant
from our superiors at home to justify such an attempt.
I shall not enumerate particulars that greatly aggravate
the fault of the subsheriff, but in short say the place is
mine unless running the line deprive me being within
the bounds of the Dutch settlement and therefore first
under York and long after under my government with-
out his legislation. I therefore desire you as gentle-
men that I hope wish me peace would seek peace and
preserve it, to giv^e no disturbance to the inhabitants of
Cedar creek nor any this side Cape Henlopen. I was
first in possession and on my part I shall take all im-
aginable care that no officer of mine shall encroach
either in property or power upon your possession,
whether the line may hereafter favour me or not. I
wish you all happiness and am your cordial and affec-
tionate friend."

TREATN WITH SUSQUEHANNA INIMANS. 3I3

Respecting this affair he wrote also to Col. Blackis-
ton, the Governor of Maryland, from Philadelphia the
23d. " In my journey," he says, "in Sussex county
some weeks past I found three or four of my tenants
and inhabitants _of this Government had been forced
off by some in authority in Somerset county, Maryland,
as the affidavits which accompany this express show
and in a manner too that was an aggravation of the
breach of good neighborhood and no line run or order
from him to back it till the line was run, all was to
stand in statu quo. I am sure none of my officers
ever attempted the least encroachment in that County
or at the head of the Bay."

This long and troublesome affair, concerning which
Ellis in his Life of Penn, justly remarks that "Though
these boundaries appear to be given with definiteness
and precision, a controversy notwithstanding, arose at
once between Penn and Lord Baltimore, which out-
lasted the lives of both of them, and, being continued
by their representatives, was not in fact closed until the
Revolutionary war."

Troubles at this time were apprehended from the
Iroquois or Five Nations, residing in the central and
northern parts of New York adjoining the Great
Lakes, and of their being influenced by the French in
Canada. On this subject Penn addressed a letter to
the Council of New York on the 17th of 3d month,
1 70 1, in which he gives expression to the following
sentiments :

314 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

" Some of our Indians on Delaware and Susque-
hanna are apprehensive of ill designs against them
from some of the Five Nations, who have always been
in alliance with the government of New York, and
entered last fall into a more solemn league with the
deceased Lord Bellomont than ever. There is great
reason at this junction to support the attempts of the
French to debautch those warlike Nations from their
fidelity to the Crown of England, and therefore will
require the greater care to eye them. I have sent
messengers to inquire fully into the occasion of this
and on their return shall inform you further.

" It is now to be wished we could oblige all the
Indians that live amongst or in amity with us, to sub-
mit their differences to the respective Governments they
live under, that by their authority they might be ended
and not by military attempts of their own. It is what
I have inculcated and hope not without success among
those under my Government. While it is otherwise it
is to be feared they will be made use of by our Ene-
mies in fomenting animosities amongst them, till I
know further I shall hope for the best."

Meetings of the Council were held by the Governor
in Philadelphia on the 19th and 3 ist of this month.
At the former meeting a petition was read from Robert
Guard and his wife, stating that a certain strange woman
had lately arrived in this town, who was taken with a
very sudden illness in their presence on the 17th in-
stant, and several pins taken out of her breast. John

SECOND CHARGE OF WITCHCRAFT. 3 I 5

Richards, a butcher, and his wife Ann charged the
petitioners with witchcraft, and as being the authors of
the mischief, and therefore they desire their accusers
may be sent for in order either to prove the charge or
that they niight be acquitted, they in consequence suffer-
ing much in their reputation, and through that means
also in their trade. The said John and Ann Richards
being sent for and appearing, the matter was inquired
into, and being found trifling was dismissed. This was
the second charge or trial for witchcraft brought before
Penn and his Council. The first was tried the 27th of
1 2th month, 1683, in which Swedes were chiefly con-
cerned; an account of which is given in Chapter XIII.
In the present case the parties appear to be all of Eng-
lish extraction. From the complaint of having
suffered by it in reputation and trade would denote a
pretty widespread belief in it, much more so than one
would have otherwise supposed. Such incidents are
calculated to show the frailties of poor human nature
with the changes to which they are occasionally sub-
ject.

Witchcraft was made a crime in England in the
reign of Elizabeth in 1562, and the laws against it
were not formally repealed until 1736. However, it
may not be generally known that the law of Penn-
sylvania actually recognized its exi.stence. In con-
fimation we take the following extract from an " Act
for the Advancement of Justice," passed May 31,
17 18: "And be it further enacted by the authority

3l6 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

aforesaid, that another Statute, made in the first year
of the Reign of King James the First, Chapter 12, in-
stituted An Act against Conjuration, Witchcraft and
deahng with evil and wicked spirits, shall be duly put
in Execution in this Province, and of like Force and
Effect as if the same were here repeated and enacted."

PENN'S journey to the SUSQUEHANNA. 317

CHAPTER XXVIII.

PENN's journey to the SUSQUEHANNA. VISITS

MARYLAND, MERION AND GWYNEDD.

RETIRES TO PENNSBURY.

\^Jitnc, i7oi7\

During 4th month or June, in relation to Penn
several important occurrences transpired of which we
regret to have so few particulars. This was his favorite
month for travel or journeys into the interior, the
weather then being mild, and the roads good without
the intense heats and draughts, besides the annoyances
from insects that prevail later in the summer. Meet-
ings with the Council were held in Philadelphia on the
2d and after that not till the 26th and 27th.

Affairs with France at this time looked troublesome,
but war was not declared by England with that power
till nearly a year afterwards. Still alarms were occa-
sionally created on the subject as well as about the
Pirates. The Governor in a letter dated the 4th of 4th
month to Governor Nanfan, remarks, " I herewith send
a Proclamation, I hope it pleases though the old one
that accompanies it is very particular on these heads.

3l8 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Our alarm about a foreign ship in our Bay though
banished, has given us some trouble, or I had been
larger on the King's letter which upon my return from
Maryland I purpose to do, having communicated it to
whom it concerns, but we are so poor, that there is not
one sous or penny in purse above daily expenses."

Soon after, the Governor must have set out on a
journey into the interior of the Province. Isaac Norris
in a letter dated Philadelphia, 21st of 4th month, 1701,
to Daniel Zachary thus alludes to it : "I am just came
home from Susquehanna, where I have been to meet
the Governor; we had a roundabout journey, having
pretty well traversed the wilderness. We lived nobly
at the King's palace in Conestogoa, and from thence
crossed it to Scoolkill, where we fell in about thirty
miles up from hence."

It was on this occasion, as tradition states, that Penn
got lost among the woods on the hill on the northern
or Chester county side, near the present Valley Forge,
and that he did not know where he was till he got on
the hill this side of Valley Creek, when by a glimpse of
the Schuylkill and the country to the southward he re-
gained his way, and in consequence, named the former
hill Mount Misery, and the latter Mount Joy, which
names they respectively bear to this day.

Besides seeing more of the country at this lovely
time of the year, it is probable that the Proprietary's
principal object was to win over the Indians more to
the English interests, on account of the approaching

PENN S JOURNEY TO THE SUSOUEHANNA. 3I9

trouble with the French. It is likely that he alludes
to this in his letter to the Board of Trade and Planta-
tions, dated from Pennsbury on the 2d of the following
(5th) month. " I have had," he says, " divers meetings
with the several Nations of Indians of these parts as
the Shaweno, Susquehanna, Schuylkill and Delaware
Indians, by arguments and many presents to persuade
their submission to the Government, and not to war
one with another and other Indians under Govern-
ments that are under the Crown of England, but rather
that they would refer their differences to the respective
Governments they live under. At last they have
agreed to war no more upon Indians in the neigh-
boring Governments nor any where else under the
Crown of P^ngland, but to refer to me and the Govern-
ment of those Indians with whom they may have
differences the decision and issue of any such differ-
ences, of which I have written to the Commander-in-
chief of New York, who answers me he will endeavor
it in his present conference with the Five Nations at
Albany."

This journey of Penn's to the Susquehanna we ob-
serve has led to some error. Janney mentions it (2d
ed. p. 435) as having taken place in the spring. An
article appeared in the Lancaster Inquirer of Feb. 24,
1 872, in which mention is made of a monument hav-
ing been erected and dedicated the previous 22d at the
Gap in Salisbury township, said county, on the roof of
a frame building over a fine spring of water, " where it

320 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

is said Penn met the Indians and held a Council with
them." It is composed of a square wooden shaft
neatly painted and lettered. On the west side is en-
scribed, " In memory of William Penn who visited this
place in the year 1700." Mention is made that it was
chiefly erected " through the exertions of Isaac Walker
owner of said spring and building, who was led to it
by his researches on the subject." It is probable that
Penn may have met the Indians in council there, but
this visit must have been made in June, 1701. The
mistake consists in setting the time to one of the deeds
from the Indians for lands which were nearly always,
executed in Philadelphia.

It must also hav^e been about this time that the Gov-
ernor made his visit to Maryland, which he contem-
plated in his letter of the 4th instant. John Richard-
son, a Friend from England, who arrived in the Patux-
ent, Maryland, the 6th of ist month, 1701, and re-
mained in this country till the 6th of 9th month of the
following year. In the account of his lile (Friends
Library, vol. VI., p. 99), we can find the only additional
information respecting this journey, and which is quite
interesting, only regretting that he gave so little atten-
tion to dates.

" I had many comfortable meetings," he says, " in
my travels through these provinces, and good service.
We were at a Yearly Meeting at Tredhaven in Mary-
land, upon the Eastern shore, to which meeting for
worship came William Penn, Lord Baltimore and his

VISITS MARYLAND, MERION AND (iWYNEDD. 32 I

lady, with their retinue, but it was late when they came,
and the strength and glory of the heavenly power of
the Lord was going off from the meeting. The lady
was much disappointed, as I understood by William
Penn, for she told him she did not want to hear
him, and such as he, for he was a scholar and a
wise man, and she did not question but he could preach ;
but she wanted to hear some of our mechanics preach,
as husbandmen, shoemakers, and such like rustics ; for
she thought they could not preach to any purpose.
William Penn told her, some of these were rather the
best preachers we had amongst us; or nearly these
words. I was a little in their company, and I thought
the lady to be a notable wife, and withal a courteously
carriaged woman."

Robert Sutcliff states in his travels (p. io8), that on
the loth of loth month, 1805, he went to Radnor
Monthly Meeting and from thence to Owen Jones's,
Jr., where he spent the evening, and who was one of
the Friends " who suffered banishment on account of
their supposed attachment to the British, during the
Revolution. His sister told me that on William Penn's
arrival in America, he lodged at her great grandfather's
at Merion. At that time her grandfather was a boy
of about twelve years old; and being a lad of some
curiosity, and not often seeing such a guest as Wm_
Penn, he privately crept to the chamber door, up a
flight of steps, on the outside of the building, which

322 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

was only a log-house. On peeping through the latchet-
hole, he was struck with awe, in beholding this great
man upon his knees, by the bed-side; and could dis-
tinctly hear him in prayer and thanksgiving, that he
was thus provided for in the wilderness. This circum-
stance made an impression upon the lad's mind, which
was not effaced in old age."

The Friends in Gwynedd having become sufficiently
numerous in 1700, erected a small log building for
worship in the centre of the township, and at the site
of the present meeting-house. There is a tradition
that the Proprietary, accompanied by his daughter Le-
titia and a servant, came out on horseback to visit the
settlement not long after its erection, and that he
preached in it. Staying on this occasion over night
at the house of his friend Thomas Evans, the first set-
tler, who resided near by. As he returned to England
in the beginning of November it may be that this ex-
cursion occurred about this pleasant time. The dis-
tance from Philadelphia being about nineteen miles.

After his several journeys and the warm weather
now coming on, we find him retired again to his beloved
home and country seat, where we know that he chiefly
remained for the following three months. Under date
of Pennsbury 30th of 4th month, 1701, the Governor
writes to his Secretary, Logan, in Philadelphia, " I
forgot a material point — the last Indian instru-
ment from the Conestogo Indians — which I must have,
or a copy, before I can answer Col. Blackiston's letter;

RETURNS TO PENNSBURV. 323

a false story firing two or three of their fooHsh people
of our inviting the Piscataways from Maryland, instead
of their seeking us : but Governor Blackiston would
not believe it. Fail not, therefore, to send it to Sam-
uel Jennings for me with speed, who will be with me;
or send it by Governor Hamilton, who dines with me
on Fourth-day. Also thy sentiments by Judge Guest
who comes up to-morrow to Burlington, in order to be
here with Gov. Hamilton, by whom thou mayest send
the deed directly. Get us a third of a good pipe
of Madeira for our own use. We are through Mercy
well."

His wife at the same time adds by way of postscript,
" Send up the parlor bell, three or four stock locks,
three or four pounds of nails, from four to ten penny."
We see by this that the Governor was friendly and
hospitably inclined, and that he had frequently dis-
tinguished guests at his house, whom he desired to
entertain as became his station.

324 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XXIX.

PENN'S advice sought in treating with the INDIANS.

attends falls MEETING. HAS A

LONG ACCOUNT PENDING WITH
THOMAS FAIRMAN.

U"iy< 1701^

As the Governor remained so closely at Pennsbury
during the months of July, August and September
that we shall omit the mention of his place of resi-
dence during this time only when absent, and which as
we shall find by his correspondence or otherwise was
but seldom.

On the 2d of 5th month, 1 701, he addressed a letter
to Gov. Nanfan, of New York, respecting the best
means to preserve peace with the Indians, and how to
secure their influence from the designs of the French.
It would appear from the success he had already
acquired in his own Province on this matter, his
opinions were sought not only by the respective Gov-
ernments here, but at home, and from the profound
attention paid to his views it is very probable that he
exerted a much greater influence than has been sup-
posed, as his correspondence on this subject alone is

ADVICE SOUGHT IN TREATING THE INDIANS. 325

pretty extensive, of which very httle has heretofore
been pubhshed.

" Had I known it earlier," he writes to Nanfan, " of
thy journey to Albany I should have prayed leave to
have made one of thy retenue. It is of great import-
ance that the Five Nations and all other Indians in the
dominion of the crown of England were one people
and depended on each respective Government they
were under, than that they were a confederacy of them-
selves for that might teach them to be more formidable
to us than they are to the common enemy. I must
take the freedom to press this thought for the King's
service at this juncture, for I am not more of a better
opinion and I find the Sachemas of our Indians (that
I am told make at least one thousand fighting men)
take it well and resolve to quiet their war with the
Carolina Indians and refer themselves to me upon all
differences with the Indians in the Government under
the Crown of England.

" Pardon this repetition I am contented to leave the
honour of it to thy negotiation with the Five Nations
and hope to hear a good effect thereof at thy return.
I have been very large to the several Nations that live
within this Government by presents and entertain-
ments, and hope that if the Indians be set or rather
kept so we shall be all safe on that hand. I also offer
to thy consideration, if it is not fit to be an article of
agreement, that all former agreements and gifts and
grants of lands made by them should be ratified and

326 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

continued, and that all the subjects of the Crown of
England may freely and securely plant in any of their
territories, so as to have the allowance of the Govern-
ment under which they live so to do. I must beg thy
excuse if I look busy I take this to be the time to
fasten such points as well as that of being friends at
large."

On the 9th of this (5th) month John Routledge,
yeoman of Falls township, Bucks county, was married
to Margaret Dalton of said neighborhood. They
" appeared in a publick and solemn assembly of ye afore-
said people met together for yt end and purpose at
their usuall meeting house in ye Falls township
aforesd." The following were present and signed their
names as witnesses to the certificate : William Penn,
Hannah Penn, Edward Shippen, Thos. Chalkley,
Thos. Story, Wm. Biles, Jno. Richardson, Phineas
Pemberton, Thos. Bartlett, Richd. Hough, Wm. Beaks,
Saml. Burges, Nichos. Fairlame, Stephen Willson,Saml.
Goldy, Wm. Fishbourne, Wm. Routledge, Jane Biles,
Elizth. Brock, Esther Yardley, Ann Eliot, Sarah
Sirket, Phebe Baker, Margery Hough, Rachel Bun-
ting, Mary Hough, Mary Wildman, Sarah Clements
and Rebeckah Shippen. Edward Shippen, Rebeckah
Shippen, Thomas Story, and Wm. Fishbourne were
from Philadelphia, and probably with Thomas Chalkley
and John Richardson at this time visitors at Penns-
bury, and in attending worship here thus happened to
be present.

ATTENDS FALLS MEETING. 327

Respecting this affair, John Richardson in his Life
remarks, " I was at WiHiani Penn's country house
called Pennsburx', in Pennsylvania, where I staid two
or three days, on one of those days I was at a meeting
and a marriage." Concerning John Routledge we find
a few additional particulars in the records of Falls and
of Middletown Monthly Meetings. Thomas, his eldest
son, was born in 1702, Rachel in 1703, Elizabeth in
1705, Sarah in 171 3, and Isabel in 17 17. In this
latter year he removed to Middletown township where
he died the 23d of 5th month, 1725, and was buried in
Friends' burying ground there, now within the limits
of the present borough of Langhorne. He was a
minister amongst Friends.

The Governor attended a meeting of the Council in
Philadelphia, on the 14th, on which occasion it was
" Ordered that a Proclamation immediately issue for
calling the members of the present General Assembly
to meet at Philadelphia, the first day of August next,
to inspect into several affairs of moment, etc. Ad-
journed till the 23d instant, at 9 in the morning."
Owing to ill health and an increased pain in his leg,
was not able to be in town till the 26th, when another
meeting of the Council was held.

On the 14th he wrote to Logan, "I have wanted
thee for a proclamation for the sitting of the Assembly,
at the time to consider of the King's letters, as well as
div^ers other things of moment — N. Puckle going so
soon, with whom I would have sent something, —

328 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

tobacco, twenty hogsheads or forty, if I could have
called out so many good ones of bright tobacco. In
short, pray despatch and be here by this day or to-
morrow week. Judge Guest is this day admitted to the
Council. Governor Hamilton in town : nothing yet
done conclusive, nor shall till the Assembly is over.
Thomas Fairman comes with this to clear himself,
and to do what he can in reason for my service."
Penn has reference here to a communication sent him
by Fairman, in reply to some charges that had been
made against him in his capacity of deputy to the
Surveyor General. The whole may be seen in the
Penn and Logan correspondence (vol. I, p. 49), from
which we give the following interesting extracts:

"Governor: — Enclosed is what I promised for the
first part, considering I have above six thousand acres
of land of my own yet to take up, and much more for
my friends. The Prcprietor may confide in my having
ever without reward preferred his interest, and dare
challenge the whole country to manifest the contrary.
I confess I have took it a little hardly that strangers
less capable have been preferred to offices of profit, and
myself overlooked.

" 1 can say, since I came from England, I have
never had in all the value of forty shillings for any
surveys or other business done whatsoever, and I am
sure the account of my house and expense stands
above one hundred and forty pounds since my arrival,
besides what my plantation hath brought in; and I

LONG ACCOUNT WITH THOMAS FAIRMAN. 329

will never survey for one-half, and were I surveyor-
general myself, I should be charged with oppression
to allow my deputy less than two-thirds of .the survey
wages. There wants but a word from my mouth and
he would hardly find a deputy in the province; beside
my circumstances are not as theirs ; my knowledge in
the three counties exceeding; besides, above sixteen
years ago, at my own charge for hands, horses and
provisions.

" I laid out many manors for the Proprietor, and
never had a penny consideration ; and also, besides
all that the Proprietor may remember how I have been
as his boy, to show this and that man, such and the
other piece of land, riding my own horse and some-
times two, — one for the person to be showed. But
this is all passed. I mention it to show the difference
and much more I could say, of my service at Gov-
ernor Markham's first arrival, and my unprofitable
travels with Thomas Holme, beside my business, who
at last died my debtor as per account one hundred and
forty-seven pounds, of which I never had a penny."

If the aforesaid is correct, which we believe has
nowhere been questioned, Fairman had as good
grounds for complaint in not being compensated as
any other person. Penn must have been dilatory
both in his payments and settlements to have let
matters go on so long, extending back now for almost
nineteen years, and through the pressure of his other
debts was none the better enabled to discharge, and near

330 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

too when he was about making^ preparations to return to
England. Fairman therein intimates the appointment
of another Surveyor-General after the death of Captain
Holme in 1695, most probably meaning Edward Pen-
ington which he thinks should have been more prop-
erly filled by himself, owing both to his experience and
long position as deputy. James Logan, it seems, bore
him no good will, for in a letter on this matter to the
Proprietary says, " I have not yet discovered Thomas
Fairman about those great tracts of land. Thou fully
knows my opinion of the man, and time does not alter
it. This letter, perhaps may be of service to thee, but
there is no dependence upon him."

In regard to the aforesaid, Penn further remarks on
the 30th, " I have thine by Thomas Fairman. I can
only say that I will be certain in ni}' own right, and
that he shall. I intend him the island under some
moderate conditions, as mowing for my own use, and
having some hogs on it with him, till it be drained or
improv^ed, of which more when in town, so that I am
content to oblige him ; but remember that I ask thee a
question about the letter he writ thee when I come to
town." The island here alluded to most probably was
the one in the Delaware close to Pennsbury. Fairman
assisted Thomas Holme in laying out the city of Phila-
delphia. He died in 1714.

On the I /th the Governor wrote to Logan, " The
Master is come, and wants twenty tons of flour and
bread, and I want thee. Things happen cross at this

LONG ACCOUNT WITH THOMAS FAIRMAN. 33 I

juncture by thy absence, we see. All, through mercy,
well, only my broken shin. If thou wast here, poor
Tishe might have one bill home for Charles Read's
pay, he or his money supplying with some of the flour
now needed." He here has reference to his daughter
Letitia's yearnings for returning to England of which
we shall learn more in a few months. Perhaps the
pains of his leg were increased by his exertions and
arduous journeys the previous month on horseback-
mentioned in the last chapter.

" I was," he writes on the 23d, " for trying yester-
day to have come to town, but was feverish, and a cold
upon me, besides an ill shin. To-day my cold is
worse than yesterday, and have had a restless, feverish
night, so I am doubtful I shall not come this after-
noon ; and if so, intend a good sweat to-night, and to-
morrow by land or water to undertake my journey.
My daughter was ill yesterday with fever and cold,
but has had a good night, and is better. John should
return as soon as he well can." The 23d had been
designated for him to meet the Council in Philadelphia,
in consequence adjourned there to the 26th when he
was present.

Some time this year Edward Hunloke, who had
been deputy Governor of West New Jersey several
years previous, wrote to the Governor from Burlington :
" Honored Sir, Seth Hill's Negro brought me fifty
bottles to be filled with my best wine I have accord-
ingly done it, viz : eight gallons and a quarter of the

T,^2 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

paler sort, and three gallons of the richer. I hope it
will prove to satisfaction. The boatman saw the pack-
ing of them, and gave him .strict charge to be very-
careful. He waiting for this note. I have nothing
further to add but that I am your Honor's most hum-
ble servant." During his residence at Pennsbury, as
may be observed by his correspondence, the Governor
was in the frequent practice of receiving supplies from
Burlington.

EFFORTS TO DEPRIVE PENN OF HIS COLONV. 333

CHAPTER XXX.

EFFORTS MADE IN PARLIAMENT TO DEPRIVE PENN OF

HIS COLONV. POLITICAL KNAVERY NO NEW

THING. WRITES NUMEROUS LETTERS IN

DEFENCE OF HIMSELF AND
GOVERNMENT.

\_Atfgitsf, //o/.~\

During August or 6th month, the Governor held
meetings with the Council in Philadelphia on the ist,
2d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 22d and 23d. On the 2 2d he com-
municated to the Board advices he had received
yesterday from England by the ship Mcssoigcr,
giving an account of the great and strenuous en-
deavors, used by several combined interests, to procure
an act of Parliament for annexing to the Crown the
several Proprietary Governments, to effect which, at
the date of his letters, there was a bill before the House
of Lords which had been twice read, and though not
likely to pass this session, yet there was no probability
of -Staving it off longer than the next, unless the Pro-
prietary could personally be there to make his defence,
and obviate the arguments brought against this Gov-
ernment by evil minded persons, who were bent on

334 ^^^M. PENN IN AMERICA.

overthrowing the same. Therefore the Governor pro-
posed to the consideration of the Board, what might
be the most effectual methods to secure the general
interest of the first adventurers in founding the colony,
were in a great measure struck at by the said endeavors.
Whereupon it was resolved, that the first step that
could be taken would be to call an Assembly with all
expedition, writs for this purpose to be forthwith
issued, for calling a new Assembly, to sit on the i 5th
day of the 7th month ensuing.

Here was now a great and new trouble, involving
much additional expense on the Proprietary to remain
secure in his rights, besides requiring his attendance
in London to rebut the several charges made against
him and his Government. Politicians even in those
days were also selfish and had their deep laid plots and
plans, by which they alone expected to be benefitted, not
caring beyond this for either rights, justice or principles.
But at the same time if we carefully proceed in this
work we cannot fail to see the continual evils arising
from the colonial system ; the home Government
being so jealous and exacting, and their growth under
the circumstances must continue to make them more
so. The very nature of a representative Assembly,
elected too by the people, could not fail but help extend
the principles that must eventually aspire to freedom
and independence ; between the two the Proprietary
could belittle more than a figure head. The thoughts
of Penn no doubt often dwelt on this very subject

EFFORTS TO DEPRIVE PENN OF HIS COLONY. 335

amidst his numerous trials and vexations, as may be
occasionally observed in his writings. Take, for
instance, his plan for the Union of the Colonics, and
also his suggestions respecting the Plantations, even
intimations of this kind may also be found in several
of his letters.

It appears that the Governor at this time was very
anxious to have his papers sent to England. In his
letter to Logan on the i 3th says, " Remember that in
two of my letters to the Lords of Trade, I promised
the Laws by the first ship that goes hence ; so that I
shall be under a necessity of sending some, and, in-
deed excepting those that alienate my fines, and that of
property as it stands, the generality may go as they
are ; for this I must stop Nathaniel Puckle if it be for
a week. Pray get them transcribed by good hands
with all speed. I send John Saunders to be helpful,
and I desire cousin Asheton to assist. It is thy busi-
ness, for it was Patrick Robinson's, and he did it. I
purpose to be in town Seventh or Second day, accord-
ing as I hear of N. Puckle." This last mentioned
person was the captain of a vessel called the Bristol
Trader.

Soon after Penn had commenced the improvements
on his Pennsbury estate, he had also an orchard of
fruit set out of the best English varieties. These trees
must have now attained some size and yielded well if
we are to judge by his preparations. On the 13th he
wrote to his Secretar)', " h'cM'get not to proxide some

7,^6 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

larger vessels for the keeping of cider than barrels.
Four barrels and four hogsheads will do, and if no
hogsheads, then two pipes, one at least." A k\v days
later writes again to " send us up for cider what barrels
thou canst get in town, by the very first opportunity.
I mean such as are sweet, and have had cider in them
— they will be cheapest ; also an empty pipe or two
to put the mash of the apples in, being sawn asun-
der. I think we will send in a day or two for the casks.
S. Holt may help us to them cheaper." For that
section of Pennsylvania the making of cider in the
middle of August appears to be soon, they must have
either consisted generally of early varieties or else
that the seasons were then earlier in maturing fruit,
which may also have been the case. John Oldmixon,
who visited Pennsbury before 1708, speaks of the
orchards there producing " excellent pearmains and
pippins."

We now come to where Penn in his several letters
expresses his views on the efforts being made before
Parliament to abolish the Proprietary system and an-
nexing the several Provinces to the Crown. These re-
marks are interesting and show the great expense and
sacrifices he had made in the establishing of his
colony. To Charles Lawton, I believe a member of
Parliament, he writes on the 1 8th from Philadelphia.

" I wish myself twenty years younger and no
Englishman, and I would hope to enjoy the fruit of
my labour and receive the return of my deep and

POLITICAL KNAVERY NO NEW THING. 33/

sinking expenses. For instead of proscribing me it
pays not the debt that the Crown owed my Father but
involves me in i,"20,ooo SterHng to bring it to the
pass it is in, which the loss of the Government defeats
me of in the means and hopes of being reimbursed.
I have spent I am sure more money on the country,
government and the defence of it since I had it against
such knaves as now attempt its ruin and mine.
This it is that makes my case singular and deserv-
ing of singular notice and distinction from common
Proprietaries or incorporated bodies though the at-
tempt is unjust upon them all."

In defence of himself on this important matter he
wrote letters on the 25th to the Duke of Devonshire
and Marquis of Normandy; on the 26th to the Duke of
Somerset, Lord Jeffrey and Lord Pawlett, and on the
27th to the Earl of Dorset. To the latter he says,
" Powers are properly in this case our encouragement
in seeking our repose in a wilderness three thousand
miles from home where I never thought any could envy
our enjoyments of them, the soil and savage mere
creation and as such we purchase it of the natives. But
it is our hands and purses that have improved it to an
English sort of property, and it shall be an favour to
have a proviso for this ? Who ever made colonies at
this rate ? I took it for a great debt and meritorious,
which cost me almost as much to solicit it, and though
I could have bought it for ;6"i200 I took it in lieu of

338 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

all further hopes of ^^20,000 which my demands came
to or very near it in 1681, and about which I gave
thee many a troublesome visit. If I shall have time to
lay out just as much again and to be deprived of it
when it should make me amends, what severe usage
among men ?"

The aforesaid letters are generally lengthy, wherein
he displays his remarkable powers as a ready writer to
which we have several times before alluded. We are
not aware that any of the aforesaid letters have been
published, or that any extracts have been heretofore
given, or reference made to them by any writers.

REMARKABLE INDUSTRY OF THE GOVERNOR. 339

CHAPTER XXXI.

REMARKABLE INDUSTRY OF THE GOVERNOR. ILLNESS OF

PHINEAS PEMBERTON. INTERESTING ADDRESS

TO THE ASSEMBLY. NOTICE OF

JOSEPH (iROWDON.

\_Septcmber, 1701^

With his usual industry the Proprietary continued
writing more letters for England in justification of his
course and to thwart the designs of his adversaries.
" I have heard," he states to the Earl of Romney on
the 6th of this (7th) month, " of the very unfair treat-
ment some have given me in my absence, which I am
apt to think one word from the King if I could deserve
it would alter. I was thus attacked in King James'
time, and when he came to know the ruin it would
prove to me, he cried out God forbid, he would never
be the author of such cruelty. To be treated like a
transgressor is to observe no measure to merit or in-
nocency, at least here I am come to rectify things. I
have had an expensive and hazardous voyage done it
and now I must be turned out as a delinquent. God
help us ! "

340 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

On the same day he wrote to Logan and directs him
to " prepare dupHcates to go by Edward Shippen's ship,
of what went last. I have written to Lord Romney,
and send it now to be copied. I think to be in town
Fourth or Fifth day."

To his Secretary he addressed a long and interesting
letter on the Sth, which contains considerable informa-
tion, revealing his anxieties and the embarrassments
attending his present situation and circumstances.
" The necessity of my going," he says, " makes it ab-
solutely necessary for me to have a supply, and though
I think a i," I, ooo should be forthwith raised, by Friends
at least, to help me, yet, while land is high and valua-
ble, I am willing to dispose of many good patches that
else I should have chosen to have kept as everybody's
money. To set about this, I desire T. Fairman, and
C. P.* to come to me hither. I have opened my mind
therein to them, and they have assured me that they
will forthwith, a week being now more than six months
another season. They will communicate to thee all
they know anci remember, and endeavor to find out
what customers they can, and acquaint thee of the
value to set on the premises, in order to immediate
supplies. The present Welsh from England are divers
of them rich, and will want quantities, and T. Fairman
undertakes to accommodate them handsomely. Lose
not the opportunity.

" Joseph Growdon, and J. Swift, who had the first

* Very probably Caleb Pusey.

REMARKABLE INDUSTRY OF THE GOVERNOR. 34 1

choice, and would not serve without J. Gi'owdon, but
against them all, of one hundred freeholders, there
were not thirty-one present — an ill precedent for elec-
tions, and which I could regret, for many here are
troubled at it, and have declared themselves to me. I
think to stay over their court, which will be next
Fourth day. Poor Phineas is a dying man, and was
not at the election, though he crept, as I may say, to
meeting yesterday. I am grieved at it, for he has not
his fellow, and without him, this is a poor country in-
deed.

" I cannot prevail on my wife, and still less with
Tishe. I know not what to do. Samuel Carpenter
seems to excuse hei in it ; but, to all that speak of it,
say I shall have no need to stay, and a great interest
to return. All that I have to dispose of in this world
is here, for daughter and son, and all the issue which
this wife is like to bring me, and that having no more
gains by government to trust to for bread, I must come
to sell, pay debts, and live, and lay up for this posterity,
as well as that they may see that my inclinations run
strongly to a country and proprietary life, which then
I shall be at liberty to follow, together with her promise
to return whenever I am ready. I confess this is one
of the greatest arguments for some Friends of note
going with us — to bring us back again ; else they can
do but little there, and their expense may better help
me. We want a little good Madeira wine, and some of
the last white wine, if thou canst hit upon it. I am

342 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

troubled at Judge Guest's heat to Samuel Carpenter —
in a Judge it is scandalous. Try to cool him. His
being indiscreet, is his great fault. Fifth or Sixth day,
expect me."

We see by the aforesaid that he was at this time
greatly in want of money, and that he was willing to
resort to some sacrifice to procure it. We need not
wonder at this when we consider the necessities he was
under for the discharge of his debts and the prepar-
ations attending his return. Respecting Joseph
Growdon and John Swift, he has reference to the
Bucks county election. He was desirous to have his
wife and daughter remain on his voyage, but he con-
fesses that he could not prevail on them to do so, and
of the two, the latter appears to have been the most
desirous of returning.

A second letter was sent the same day from Penns-
bury, in which he says, " I intend to go in the Messen-
ger, and as soon as may be after the Assembly is up.
Samuel Carpenter, Isaac Norris, Caleb Pusey, and
Samuel Jennings talked about going with me. Will
it not devour what they should allow me, and signify
nothing on the other side. Let John bring up my
hair-trunk, my leather stockings, twelve bottles of
Madeira wine, and as many of the new white wine, or
six apiece. A runnel of ale from Philadelphia or
Burlington should be brought us : we make our own
small beer. I think to be in town Fifth or Sixth day.
Phineas is very weak, more like to go than remain.

ILLNESS OF PHINEAS PEMBERTON. 343

Tell R. Janney the young man can neither plow nor
mow, but has been mostly used to driving, is ready and
good-natured, but swears." Swearing, it would seem,
was a common fault even then, and objectionable to the
Governor.

Phineas Pemberton is the person referred to as being
so infirm and who survived till the ist of ist month,
1702, when he died at the age of upwards of fifty-two
years. He was a useful and highly-esteemed man in
the colony, and is deserving of some additional notice.
He had been a grocer at Bolton, Lancashire, and was
married to Phebe, the daughter of James Harrison,
whose family, and father Ralph Pemberton accompa-
nied him here in iith month, i6cS2. About a year
afterwards he purchased a tract of three hundred acres
in Falls township, near the manor of Pennsbury, on
which he settled. In 1687 he erected on it a frame
house, and had cut in relief on the oak lintel of the
door the letters " P. P. P., 7d. 2 m. 1687," which has
been duly preserved, and presented in 1876 to the
Historical Society, where it may be now seen. He
enjoyed a number of offices, and like his father-in-law,
seems to have ever retained the confidence of the
Proprietary. He was buried in the family burying
ground on the banks of the Delaware, about a mile
below the present borough of Morrisville, where a
stone denotes the grave. In regard to his death,
Samuel Carpenter, the eminent merchant of Philadel-
phia, wrote to Penn, that he " will be greatly missed ;

344 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

having left few or none in those parts, or the adjacent,
hke him for wisdom and integrity, and a general
service; and he was a true friend to thee and the Gov-
ernment. It is a matter of sorrow, when I call to mind
and consider that the best of our men are taken
away, — and how many are gone, and how few to
supply their places." His descendants are numerous,
and have been in Philadelphia a noted family.

Meetings with the Council were held in Philadelphia
by the Governor on the3d, 15th, i6th, 17th, 20th, 23d,
26th, 29th and 30th. On the whole, when we come
to consider his labors for this month (Sept.), there is
no cause for surprise at the astonishing amount of
industry he has exhibited in accomplishing what he
did, and that too amidst the most annoying anxieties
and embarrassments to which the human frame can be
subject, and wonder almost how, under the circum-
stances, he could have borne up so well. He certainly
could not have been of a melancholy or desponding
temperament, for we see no evidences of despair or that
he sought such companionship.

At the meeting of the Assembly on the 15 th the
Governor made to them a speech from which we ex-
tract the leading points :

" The reasons that hasten your session is the neces-
sity I am under, through the endeavors of the enemies
of the prosperity of this country, to go for England,
where taking the advantage of my absence, some have
attempted by false or unreasonable charges to under-

INTERESTING ADDRESS TO THE ASSEMBLY. 345

mine our Government, and thereby the true value of
our labors and property. Government having" been
our first encouragement. I confess I cannot think of
such a voyage without great reluctancy that I might
stay so long at least with you as to render everybody
entirely easy and safe ; for my heart is among you as
well as my body. Whatever some people may please
to think, and no unkindness or disappointment shall,
with submission to God's providence, ever be able to
alter my love to the country, and resolution to return
and settle my family and posterity in it. But having
reason to believe I can at this time best serve you and
myself on that side of the water, neither the rudeness
of the season nor tender circumstances of my family
can over rule my inclination to undertake it.

" Review again our Laws, propose new ones that
may better your circumstances, and what you do, do
it quickly, remembering that the Parliament sits the
end of next month, and that the sooner I am there the
safer. I hope we shall all be here. I must recom-
mend to your serious thoughts and care the King's
Letter to me, for your assistance of New York with
jCsS^ Sterling, as a frontier Government and therefore
exposed to a much greater expense in proportion to
other Colonies ; which I called the last Assembly to
take into their consideration, and they w'ere pleased, for
the reasons then given, to refer to this.

" I am also to tell you the good news of the Gov-
ernor of New York's happy issue of his conference

346 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

with the Five Nations of Indians, that he hath not
only made peace with you for the King's subjects of
that Colony, but as I had by some letters before desired
him, for those of all other governments under the
Crown of England on the continent of America, as
also the natives of Indians within those respective
Colonies, which certainly merits our acknowledgements.
I have done when I have told you that unanimity and
despatch are the life of business, and that I desire and
expect it from you for your own sakes, since it may so
much contribute to the disappointment of those that
too long have taught the ruin of your young country."

On the following day, while the Governor was in
session with the Council, two members of the Assem-
bly acquainted him that they requested to be admitted
to his presence, to which he agreed, when the several
members accordingly appeared and the Speaker, in the
name of the House, presented the following address :
" May it please the Proprietary and Governor,

" We have this day, in our Assembly, read thy speech
yesterday delivered in Council, and having duly con-
sidered the same, cannot but be under a deep sense of
sorrow for thy purpose of so speedily leaving us, and
at the same time taking notice of thy paternal regards
of us and our posterity, the freeholders of this Prov-
ince and Territories annexed, in thy loving and kind
expressions of being ready to comply with whatsoever
expedient and provision we shall offer for our safety, as
well in privileges as property, and what else may ren-

NOTICE OF JOSEPH GROW DON. 34/

der us happy in a nearer union of our interests, not
doubting the performance of what thou hast been
pleased so lovingly to promise, do in much humility,
and as a token of our gratitude render unto thee the
unfeigned thanks of the House.

" Subscribed by order of the House, Joseph Grow-
don, Speaker."

To which the Governor made answer : " That
every word of his speech was written in his heart,
and he should use his utmost endeavors to make it
all good, to which he desired their assistance, and that
they would proceed, in order to it, with all expedi-
tion."

On the 20th, he wrote to Col. Depeister of New
York, " I have another grant to show them, and if not
an account of disbursements in defence of the King's
title against Lord Baltimore as well as that I am not in
full possession till the Line be run which from time to
time I have prest at home and here upon him and his
agents. For an answer I will wait upon them God
willing in England within three or four months, and I
presume to their satisfaction."

On the same day the Assembly presented an address
to the Governor concerning property, which was signed
by Joseph Growdon as Speaker. To which he replied
at some length, but contains nothing of particular im-
portance. It may be seen in full in the Appendix
(vol. II, pp. 40-4) of Proud's History.

Isaac Norris addressed a letter from Philadelphia on

348 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

the 26th to his fritnd Daniel Zachary of Boston, in
jvhich he states, "Our Assembly still sits; and my
time almost taken up, that I am quite weary of state
affairs. Judge Guest is made our chief judge, upon
which Judge Growdon would not act as his inferior."
Joseph Growdon was a man of distinguished attain-
ments, and resided in Bensalem, Bucks county. He
was the owner of nearly half of said township, and of
whom Gabriel Thomas in 1696, states that he " hath a
very noble and fine house, very pleasantly situated, and
likewise a famous orchard, wherein are contained
above a thousand apple trees." Oldmixon in 1708,
pays him the compliment of having been " very in-
strumental in planting and settling this county, for
which, and many others things, it is very much in-
debted to his care and services." He was a Friend
and came from Cornwall, and settled here about 1683.
He appears to have been a man of an independent turn
of mind, and after the aforesaid appointment was made
exhibited a coldness towards the Proprietary. He
died in 1730, leaving three children, Joseph, Lawrence
and Hannah.

THE ASSEMBLY NOT HARMONIOUS. 349

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE ASSEMBLY NOT HARMONIOUS. A DELEGATION OF

INDIANS COME TO BID THE GOVERNOR FAREWELL.

MARRIAGE IN THE OLDEN TIME, WITH SOME

ACCOUNT OF JOHN SOTCHER. THE GER-
MAN PURCHASE.

S^Octobcr 1-17, ryoi.']

The Assembly, which had been called by the Pi o-
prietary on the 15th of 7th month, still continued in
session, whose proceedings were anything but harmo-
nious, and respecting whom Isaac Norris, in a letter to
Daniel Zachary, dated the 3d of the present (8th)
month, writes, " Our Assembly still sits, and little
done. They are now worse than ever, believing them-
selves sure of the government change. Their endeav-
ors, I mean the lower county members and our mal-
contents here, to leave us, if possible, without laws or
liberties — oppose anything that we offer for our settle-
ment. Our Governor is much grieved at this parting
carriage of the people. I know not how things will
end, but at present they have a very ill usage."

Meetings with the Council were held in Philadelphia

350 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

by the Governor on the 6th, 7th, 9th, loth, 13th, 14th
and 15th of October. On the afternoon of the 7th,
the Sachems of the Susquehanna and Shavvanese
Indians, with several others, came to the Council to
take leave of the Proprietary before his departure for
England.

He informed them that this now was like to be his
last interview with them, at least before his return; that
he had ever loved and been kind to them and ever
should continueso tobe, — not through any political de-
sign or interest, but one of real affection, and desired
them in his absence to cultivate friendship with those
he would leave behind in authority, as they would al-
ways, in some degree, continue to be to them as him-
self had ever been. The Governor also informed them
that the Assembly was now enacting a law, according to
their desire, to prevent their being abused by the sell-
ing of rum, with which Orettyagh, one of the Sachems,
in the name of the rest, expressed a great satisfaction,
and desired that that law might effectually be put in
execution, and not only discoursed of as formerly; for
they had long suffered by the practice but now hoped
for a redress, and that they should have reason to com-
plain no more.

And for the more effectually answering so good a
design, the Governor desired that whenever any trans-
gressed the said law, and came contrary amongst them,
to agreement they would forthwith take care to give
information thereof to the Government, that the offen-

INDIANS BID THE GOVERNOR FAREWELL. 35 I

ders might be duly prosecuted ; which they promised
to observe, and that if any rum were brought they
would not buy it, but send the person who brought it
back with it again. Then the Governor informed them
that he had charged the Members of Council, and then
renewed the same charge, that they should in all re-
spects be kind to them, and entertain them with all
courtesy and demonstrations of good will as he him-
self had ever done, which the said members promised
faithfully to observe ; and making them some presents,
they withdrew.

John Richardson, a travelling Friend from England,
arrived in Maryland the 6th of ist month, 1701, and
remained in this country till the 6th of 9th month,
1702, when he sailed for Barbadoes and thence to the
land of his nativity, where he died in 1753 in his 87th
year. He wrote an account of his life and travels,
published in " Friends' Library" (vol. IV., pp. 96, 7,
for 1 840, Phila.), from which we extract that portion
that relates to the aforesaid meeting of the Governor
and Council with the Indians, which by Watson in his
Annals, and one or two other writers, has been erro-
neously stated to have taken place at Pennsbury.

" Much of the other part of the time I spent in see-
ing, to my satisfaction, William Penn and many of the
Indians, not the least of them, in council concerning
their former covenants, now again revived by his going
away for England ; all which was done in much calm-
ness of temper, and in an amicable way. To pass by

352 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

several particulars, I may mention the following : They
never first broke covenant with any people; for, as one
of them said, smiting his hand upon his head three
times, they did not make them there in their heads,
but smiting his hand three times on his breast, said,
they made them there in their hearts. When they
had ended the most weighty parts for which they held
their council, William Penn gave them match-coats
and some other things ; which the speaker for the In-
dians advised to be put into the hands of one of tlieir
Kings, for he knew best how to order them. I ob-
served, and also heard the like from others, that they
did not speak two at a time, nor interfere in the least
one with another that way in their councils. Their
eating and drinking was also in much stillness.

" After William Penn and they had expressed their
satisfaction, both for themselves and their people, in
keeping all their former articles inviolate, and
agreed that if any differences happened amongst any
of their people, they should not be an occasion of
fomenting or creating any war between the people and
the Indians, but justice should be done in all such
cases, that all animosities might be prevented on all
sides for ever. They went out of the house into an
open place not far from it, to perform their worship,
which was done thus : First, they made a small fire,
and the men without the women sat down about it in
a ring, and they sang a very melodious hymn, which
affected and tendered the hearts of many who were

INDIANS BID THE GOVERNOR FAREWELL. 353

spectators. When they had thus done, they began to
beat upon the ground with httle sticks, or make some
motion with something in their hands, and pause a
httle, till one of the elder sort sets forth his hymn,
followed by the company for a few minutes, and then
a pause ; and the like was done by another, and so by
a third, and followed by the company as at first; which
seemed exceedingly to affect them and others. Hav-
ing done, they rose up and danced a httle about the
fire, and parted with some shouting like rejoicing."

On the loth the members of Assembly met in con-
ference with the Governor. He embraced the occasion
to let them know that he had further considered the
bill against selling rum to the Indians, and desired that
they would admit in it the evidence of the Indians,
without which the design of the act would be eluded;
and that though they were not under the same
conscientious obligation as Christians are to speak
the truth, yet they might be obliged to do it
through the dread of some punishment to be inflicted
in case of their giving false evidence. He also pro-
posed to the Assembly to consider of some fit persons
to be appointed by him to represent him in the Gov-
ernment during his absence. He informed them that
he had written several months ago to his son, recom-
mending for the King's approbation as deputy Gover-
nor, Col. Andrew Hamilton, the present Governor of
East and West New Jersey.

354 ^^"^I- PENN IN AMERICA.

It has been the fortune of the writer at various
places to meet with original documents respecting John
Sotcher and Mary Lofty, the steward and stewardess of
Pennsbury, especially relating to their marriage, and
as an olden time affair have concluded to be pretty
full therein, thus showing better the changes that have
since taken place, even among so staid a people as the
Society of Friends. From letters addressed by
Hannah Penn to her father, Thomas Callowhill, we
know that this marriage, at least, had been in contem-
plation as early as in the previous summer, for on the
17th and 2 2d of 6th month she wrote respecting it,
and desiring him to procure a certificate of Mary
Lofty's clearness in relation to the matter from the
Meeting she had belonged to in the city of Bristol.
Which however was not granted till the 3d of 9th
month following and forwarded the next day, when the
marriage had been accomplished two weeks and a half
The result was in consequence a stricter inquiry than
usual of both parties in this respect by the Meeting
here. The affair being hurried on account of the Pro-
prietary and his family leaving in a few weeks for
England, and who desired to be present at its con-
summation.

From the minutes of Falls Monthly Meeting we
learn that on the 4th of 7th month, 1701, John
Sotcher made known his intentions of taking Mary
Lofty for his wife, when Joseph Kirkbride and Sarah
Sirket were appointed to examine as to their clearness

MARRIAGE IN THE OLDEN TIME. 355

and report at the meeting. Penn was present at the
latter and stated that he proposed to leave them in
charge of Pennsbury, and as the season hurried his
departure, he desired to see the marriage accom-
plished before his return. The Meeting adjourned one
week, to give the committee further time to examine
and report on the subject. At the Monthly Meeting
held on the 8th of 8th month a favorable report was
made, and at which also a recommendation was read
from the Governor and his wife, when consent was
given for the marriage. Phineas Pemberton, Joseph
Kirkbride, Richard Hough and Samuel Dark were ap-
pointed to draw up the certificate.

From the minutes of Council we learn that " The
Governor, having divers affairs to settle in his
family at Pennsbury, went up thither on the i6th of
October, and did not return till the 21st instant." As
the marriage took place on the i6th at the Falls
Meeting house, it is quite likely that Penn must have
left Philadelphia quite early in the morning to have
been there in time, unless it took place in the afternoon.
Amongst the strangers present were Jennings, Logan,
Langdale, Gove, Shippen and Warder. The following
is a verbatim copy of the marriage certificate in which
the name appears and is signed Satcher, though we
have concluded to follow the common style, which was
always thus spelled by Penn. It being a general fault
in those days to spell names variously, as may be seen
in several instances in this work, which is often per-
plexing to writers on this period.

356 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

" Whereas John Satcher of Pensberrie in ye County
of Bucks and Province of Pencilvania, Cordwainer and
Mary Loftis of ye same place, county and province,
Spinster having intentions of taking each other in mar-
ryage did pubhsh ye same before severale PubHck
meetings of ye people of God, called Quakers as also
made Legale Publication thereof

" Now These are to Certifie all whom it may con-
cern that after deliberate Consideration and Consent of
Parties Concerned and approbation of ye said meet-
ings, upon ye sixteenth day of ye Eighth month Ano.
Dom. One thousand Seven hundred & one they ye
said John Satcher and Mary Loftis appeared in a pub-
lic and solemn assembly of ye afforesaid people met
together for that end and purpose at their usual meet-
ing House in ye falls Township in ye aforesaid County
and province, and then and there ye said John Satcher
taking ye said Mary Loftis by ye hand did openly de-
clare that he took ye said Mary to be his wife and also
did promise to be unto her a faithful and loving hus-
band untill death should separate them. And in like
manner ye said Mary Loftis did then and there openly
declare that she did take ye said John Satcher to be
her husband and did likewise promise to be unto him
a faithful and loving wife untill death shall separate
them.

" Moreover ye said John Satcher and Mary Loftis
(She according to ye custom of marryage assuming
her husband's name) as a further confirmation thereof.

MARRIAGE IX THE OLDEN TIME. 357

at ye aforesaid time and place to these presents set
their hands and we whose names are here under Sub-
scribed being pressent amongst others at ye solemniza-
tion & subscription of ye said marriage as witnesses
thereunto have likewise set our hands ye day & year
above Written.

John Satcher,
Mary Satcher.

" Wm. Penn, Sol. Jennings, Phineas Pemberton,
Joseph Kirkbride, Josiah Langdale, Rich'd Gove, Jos.
Shippen, Solomon Warder, Wm. Macket, Richard Cook,
Rich'd Hough, James Logan, Peter Worrall, Job Bunt-
ing, Wm. Biles, Jr., Saml. Burges, John Burges, Edw'd
Kempe, ElUza. Brock, Sarah Sirket, Rebeckah Richard-
son, Abigail Pemberton, Ann Murray, Joan Humphrey,
Hannah Penn, Lettitia Penn, Margery Hough, Mary
Warder, Junr., Rachell Bunting, Phebe Baker."

We also give a copy of the certificate of clear-
ness to which we have alluded as forwarded by
Thomas Callowhill in a letter to his daughter,
which was addressed, " William Penn, Esq. Pro-
prietor & Governor of Pensilvania for H. P. Or
if Absent for James Logan or Thomas Storie for
M. L." The said initials standing for Hannah Penn
and Mary Lofty. By absence is meant the departure
of the Proprietary and his family for England, which
by said letter it appears they expected. This certificate
did not come to hand probably for two months after
the marriaere.

358 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

"To our Friends and Brethren In the Province of
Pensylvania and whomsoever else it doth or may con-
cern.

" Mary Loafty formerly of this City now of Pensyl-
vania having signified unto us her inclination to join
in Marriage there and requested a Certificate of her
Clearness here whilst with us, she lived soberly and
was of orderly conversation and upon due inquiry
do not find but that she is free and clear from all
parties here in relation to Marriage which we certify
from our Men's Meeting in the City of Bristol this
Third day of the Ninth month 1701. Signed in and
on behalf of the Meeting by Richard Sneade, Thomas
Callowhill, Charles Jones, Benja. Coole, Joshua Cart,
Jeffr. Pennell, Arthur Thomas, Samuel Cox, Tho.
Bayly, Waltr. Kippen, Alex. Arscott."

John and Mary Sotcher had four children, Hannah
born 25th of i ith month, 1702, and married in 1720
to Joseph Kirkbride ; Mary born in 1704, and married
in 1724 to Mahlon Kirkbride; Robert born 3d of 9th
month, 1706, and Ann born in 17 10 and married in
1728 to Mark Watson. The late Anthony Burton,
long President of the Farmer's Bank of Bristol, was a
descendant.

In May, 1 70 1, the Proprietary sent John Sotcher
and Edward P'armer as agents to proceed to the Lehigh
river and enquire into a disturbance that had occurred
there amongst the Indians, and also as to their inten-
tions. In 1722 he represented Bucks county in the

THE GERMAN PURCHASE. 359

Assembly, and died the 19th of iith month, 1729.
When Penn had embarked on board the ship Dolma-
hoy, the 3d of November, 1701, in parting there with
his Secretary James Logan, impressed him to " Re-
member J. Sotcher and Pennsbury;" meaning not to
forget in his correspondence to inform him about
them.

Respecting the aforesaid, Logan wrote sometime
after 7th month, 1704, that " Though there were forty
acres cleared at Pennsbury at thy going off, there was
but little fit for immediate service. John Sotcher has
now cleared, I suppose, forty acres since and it is re-
solved to make it pay for itself, though he has not
hitherto been able to do it. — They misinform who say
the place goes to ruin. John and Mary are as good
servants as any in America, but will not stay upon it
unless thou designs over quickly. She has two little
children, — are healthy and not troublesome. The
garden, it is true, is not cultivated ; nor is there any
reason it should in your absence. All or most of
the parterres are dead by blasting."

At the close of Chapter XXVI., mention is made of
several pamphlets having been printed in Germany in
1700 to encourage emigration to Pennsylvania. This
was chiefly done under the auspices of the Frankfort
Land Company, organized as early as 1682, who at
various times thereafter took up large tracts to dispose
of to their countrymen in smaller quantities, and thus
induce them for their mutual benefit to settle together.

360 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

The agents of the company having made the requisite
arrangements with the Proprietary for a later and more
extensive purchase, who hereupon issued the following
order :

" Whereas by my Warrant bearing date the 26th of
7th month, 1 70 1, I required thee to lay out for the
German Company of Purchasers 22025 acres of Land
fronting the River Schuylkill the breadth of about 600
perches and whereas the said Germans haxe requested
that I would further Grant that their said Front should
extend downwards about 100 perches and terminating
below a small Rocky run falling into the said River.
These -therefore are to require thee to make returns of
the said Tract according to their request together with
the Islands opposite to the said Front in the River
Schuylkill, lying on the PLast side of the Channel,
for which this shall be thy authority. Given under my

Hand, 14th, 8 ber, 1701.

" Wm. Penn.

" To Edward Penington, Surveyor General."

According to a Warrant from the hand and seal
of the Proprietary, date 26th of 7th month, 1701, and
also 14th of 8th month, 1701, Edward Penington,
Surveyor General, certifies that he has surveyed to
Daniel Falkner, agent for the German Company of
Purchasers, in right of their former purchases made of
the Proprietary and Governor, a tract in Philadelphia
County, near the Mahanatawny creek on the Schuyl-
kill, amounting to 22,377 acres; beginning at a marked

TH?: GERMAN PURCHASE. 36 1

hickory, standing at the mouth of a small run about
120 perches distant from Mahanatawny creek, from
thence by the several courses of the river Schu\-lkill,
the several distances on the said several courses
amounting- to 1,288 perches to a marked corner tree
standing by the side of a rocky run, falling into the
said river, from thence by a line of marked trees and
vacant land north-east 3,846 perches to a hickory, from
thence north-west by vacant land 940 perches to a
post standing near a marked hickory, from thence west
50 degrees south by the Proprietary's and Governor's
land 4,360 perches to the first mentioned hickory,
containing 22,377 acres. The Warrant aforesaid order-
ing 22,025 acres to be laid out, and the order allowing
a certain bend in the aforesaid river Schuylkill to be
added, supposed to contain about 1 80 acres, but is
found to add to the said 22,025 acres the quantity of
352 acres, which added together makes the tract
amount to the number of acres first above mentioned.
Surveyed the 13th of 8th month, 1701. Returned
according to the above said surv^ey and bounds unto
the Proprietary and Governor's Secretary's office, 21st
of 8th month, 1701.

P^DWARD Penington, Surveyor General.

The above tract lay adjoining the east side of John
Penn's grant, mentioned in the next chapter. The
present borough of Pottstown is situated on the line,
and whose territory was taken nearly equally from

362 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

those two tracts. This German purchase comprised
considerable of Pottsgrove, the whole of New Hanover,
besides some additional territory in the adjoining
townships. This will explain how the early settlers
there were nearly all Germans.

PHILADELPHIA INCORPORATED A CITY. 363

CHAPTER XXXIII.

PHILADELPHIA INCORPORATED A CITY. THE SWEDISH

PURCHASE AT MORLATTON. THE PROPRIETARY

MAKES ADDITIONAL PROVISION FOR HIS

CHILDREN. THE NEW CHARTER OF

PRIVILEGES. MAKES HIS WILL

AT NEW CASTLE. ARRIVES

SAFELY IN ENGLAND.

[October 18 — January, //oi.']

The Governor returned from Pennsbury on the 2ist
of 8th month, 1701, and held meetings with the Coun-
cil in Philadelphia on the 22d, 23d, 24th, 25th and
28th, during which time very important business was
transacted and which necessarily kept him unusually
busy. On the 25th he signed the Charter for the city
of Philadelphia, the whole of which may be seen in
Proud's History (vol. II., pp. 534, Appendix), and
wherein we find the following extract : " That at the
humble request of the inhabitants and settlers of this
town of Philadelphia, being some of the first adventurers
and purchasers within this province, for their encour-

364 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

agement, and for the immediate and entire "'overnment
of the said town, and better regulation of trade therein,
I have, by virtue of the King's letters patent, under the
great seal of England, erected said town into a borough,
and by these presents do erect the said town and bor-
ough of Philadelphia into a city; which said city shall
extend the limits and bounds, as it is laic out between
Delaware and Schuylkill."

By the same two market days were allowed to be
held each week, to be on Fourth and Seventh days,
and two fairs ev^ery year, one to begin the i6th of 3d
month, called May, the other on the i6th of 9th month,
and each to be for two days. " And I do hereby grant,"
.says Penn, " that all the vacant land within the bounds
and limits of the said city shall remain open, as a free
common, or pasture, for the use of the inhabitants of
the said city, until the same shall be gradually taken
in, in order to build or improve thereon, and not other-
wise." He appointed Edward Shippen, mayor, Thomas
Story, recorder, Thomas Farmer, sheriff and Robert
Asheton, clerk of the courts. It will be observed by
the aforesaid, that previously the city had been an in-
corporated town or borough, but now for its better
government and regulation was allowed much more
extensive privileges.

On the 1 8th the Governor addressed a letter to
Lieut.-Gov. Nanfan, of New York, in respect to the
dilatory action of the Assembly in not voting supplies
for the defence of that colony. " Yet," he says, "they

THE SWEDISH PURCHASE. 365

could not be prevailed with to think of any supply for
the Fort, being extremely in arrears to the public, and
the Lower Counties very poor and long indebted to
the merchants, and their staple, tobacco, none of the
best and never lower." No doubt the Assembly was
scrupulous on this matter, but on which the Proprietary
had fully ccmmitted himself and now endeavored to
palliate for their neglect.

The descendants of some of the early Swedish set-
tlers below Philadelphia being desirous of removing
further up the country and found a colony near the
head of the navigable waters of the Schuylkill, in con-
sec]uence availed themselves of the opportunity whilst
Penn was still in the country to make a considerable
purchase. F"or this purpose they selected the Rev.
Andrew Rudman, their minister in Philadelphia and
provost of the Swedish church, to act as their chief
agent. Satisfactory arrangements having been made,
the following instructions were issued :

William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of Penn-
sylvania and counties annexed. At the request of
Andreas Rudman, Clerk, on behalf of himself and sev-
eral of his countrymen the Swedes, the old inhabitants
of this province desires to make a new settlement that
I would grant him to take up Ten Thousand acres of
Land on the River Schuylkill near Manatawny Creek.
These are to require thee forthwith to survey and lay
out or cause to be laid out to the said Andreas for the
uses aforesaid according to the method of Townships

366 WM. PEXN IN AMERICA.

by me appointed the said number of Ten Thousand
acres of land at the yearly rent of one bushel of wheat
per hundred acres. Beginning about six hundred
perches in a direct line up the River Schuylkill above
the German's upper line and going ten miles backwards
from the River with the said German's Land, or in case
the said place shall not appear convenient for them then
to lay out the said number of acres for the uses afore-
said in any other place afore described and make re-
turns not only of the whole tract but of the several
subdivisions thereof from time to time as they shall be
made unto my Secretary's office. Given under my
Hand and Seal at Philadelphia the 21st of 8ber, 1701.

WM. PENN,
To Edward Penington, Surveyor General.

This purchase led to the Morlatton settlement, on
which St. Gabriel's church was finished in 1737, at the
present Douglasville, Berks county. Among those
early settlers here can be mentioned Marcus Hulings,
Jonas Jones, Mounce Jones, Jonas Yocum, and several
of the name of Anderson, Kerst and Kerlin.

As is well known amidst all his pecuniary embarrass-
ments Penn continued an indulgent parent, and before
his departure concluded to make some additional pro-
vision for his children. On the 24th of this (Oct.)
month conveyed to his daughter Letitia the manor of
Mount Joy, containing 7,800 acres, located on the west
side of the Schuylkill, adjoining the Welsh tract in the
present Montgomery county and a little south of Val-

PROVISION FOR HIS CHILDREN. 36/

ley Forge. This grant included "all the powers of
court baron, court leet and frankplege." Oldmixon in
his British Empire in America, published in 1 70S, says
that the first limestone dug in America was on this
manor. On the following day he conveyed to his in-
fant son not yet two years old a tract of 12,000 acres
on the east side of the Schuylkill in the vicinity of the
present borough of Pottstown. This was retained by
the said John Penn till June 20th, 1735, when he sold
it to George McCall of Philadelphia for 2,000 guineas,
or in our present currency $9,333, and on a resurvey
was found to contain 14,060 acres. On the same day
also bestowed on the said son the manor of Perkasie
of 10,000 acres in the present township of Rockhill,
Bucks county. These were to be held in trust by Sam-
uel Carpenter, Edward Penington and Isaac Norris till
he attained his majority.

On the 27th Isaac Norris ac'dressed a letter to Jef-
frey Pennell, a Friend residing in the city of Bristol,
wherein he says that " This comes by our Proprietor
and Governor, Penn, who, with his family, are under-
taking this hazardous voyage at too hard a season. I
earnestly desire and pray for their preservation and
safety — him we shall want. The unhappy misunder-
standings in some, and unwarranted opposition in oth-
ers, have been a block to our plenary comforts in him,
and his own quiet ; but these things are externals only.
Our communion in the church sweetens all, and our
inward waitings and worships together have often been

368 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

a general comfort and consolation ; and in this I take
a degree of satisfaction, after all, that we part in love ;
and some of his last words, in our meeting yesterday,
were, ' That he looked over all infirmities and out-
wards, and had an eye to the regions of spirits, wherein
was our surest tie ; ' and in true love, there he took
leave of us. His excellent wife — and she is beloved by
all, I believe I may say in its full extent ; so is her
leaving us heavy, and of real sorrow to her friends —
she has carried under and through all with a wonder-
ful evenness, humility, and freedom ; her sweetness and
goodness have become her character, and are, I believe
extraordinary. In short we love her, and she deserves
it." We learn from the aforesaid that Penn had at-
tended meeting on the 26th in the city, and had
preached on the occasion and had taken his leave of
the congregation.

The warrant to run the line between Chester and
New Castle counties was signed by the Governor on
the 28th. This was the beginning of the famous
Mason and Dixon's line, and separating Pennsylvania
from the Territories, as the three lower counties were
called, now constituting the state of Delaware. The
said warrant directed that it should be made " By a
circular line extending according to ye King's Letters
Pattents and Deeds of Enfoeffment from the Duke for
ye same, and ye sd circular line to be well marked
two-thirds part of ye semicircle."

However among the most important matters was

NEW CHARTER OF PRIVILEGES. 369

the signing on the 28th of the new Charter of Privi-
leges for the Province, which was the third P'rame of
Government adopted. The first was made in England
April 25th, 1682, and the second April 2d, 1683. The
present one continued in force till into the Revolution,
when it was entirely supplanted by a State Constitu-
tion. Of this Charter it becomes us now to dwell, for
compared to the previous ones as respects privileges
the people were considerably the losers, while the Pro-
prietary rights were greatly strengthened. The
Council or what we might call the Senate, were no
longer elective, the Proprietary had now the power to
select and dismiss them at his pleasure and without
any restriction as to their number. The Governor had
also the power to restrain the Assembly in the passage
of any bill he now thought fit.

In the third article of the Charter we find " That the
freemen in each respective county, at the time and
place of meeting for electing their representatives to
serve in Assembly, may, as often as there shall be
occasion choose a double number of persons to pre-
sent to the Governor for sheriffs and coroners, to serve
three years, if so long they behave themselves well out
of which respective elections and presentments, the
Governor shall nominate and commissionate one for
each of the said offices." Though elections were held
and appeared free yet with such restriction could
amount to little, but to render officials pliant and tract-
24

370 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

able to the measures or designs of the Proprietaries.
We need not wonder any longer when we come to
examine into it at the high-handed or arbitrary pro-
ceedings of such men as deputy Governors Evans and
Denny, backed as they were by the powers to which
they owed their positions. In examining the Colonial
Records and Archives we frequently find the appoint-
ment of men who had received the next highest vote,
the opposing candidate continuing to be elected by
the greatest majority a number of times and still fail-
ing therein, owing to some objectionable cause to the
Proprietary party.

Gordon in his History of Pennsylvania (pp. 121— 3),
mentions another strong point gained by the Proprie-
tary in the new Charter. " Nor was the Council rec-
ognized as a part of the government, unless a prohibi-
tion to the Governor and Council to take cognizance
of any complaint relating to property, except appeals
should be allowed by law from the ordinary tribunals,
may be considered as such recognition. The practice
of trying causes relative to real estate, before the Gov-
ernor and Council, as well as those in which private
citizens were parties, as those in which the Proprietary
was interested, had been continued. This made him a
judge in his own cause, and was highly objectionable
when the Council was elected by the people ; it be-
came wholly inadmissible when that body became the
mere creature of the Governor."

The Charter of Privilei/es to the Province and

NEW CHARTER OF PRIVILEGES. 3/ 1

Counties, which Penn had signed on the 28th of Oct-
tober, 1 70 1, may be seen in full in the Colonial Rec-
ords. (Vol. II., pp. 56—61.) On the same day he ap-
pointed Edward Shippen, John Guest, Samuel Carpen-
ter, William Clark, Thomas Story, Griffith Owen,
Phineas Pemberton, Samuel Finney, Caleb Pusey, and
John Blunston to be his Council of State for the Gov-
ernment of the said Province of Pennsylvania, and
Counties annexed, of whom any four shall be a quorum
to consult and assist with the best of their advice and
council, him or his deputy Governorfor the time being.
And of whom he says " to continue in place till my
further order shall be known : and I further hereby
grant to my Lt. Governor for the time being, full
power and authority, upon the decease or removal of
any of the said Council, to nominate and appoint
others to serve in their place and stead, also to add to
the number of the Council now appointed." So passed
away the independent elective Council for the Propri-
etary Government. Ellis in his Life of Penn (p. 372)
is considerably mistaken when he says that " the new
frame of Government was essentially the same, except
in allowing the territories to separate from the govern-
ment of the province." Very probably without ex-
amining into the subject, Janney says (p. 45 i) that " in
some respects was even more liberal than those which
preceded it."

The Governor probably left Philadelphia on the 29th
or on the morning of the 30th, for we know that on

3/2 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

this day he had arrived at New Castle where he made his
will. This instrument is so interesting that we propose
to give therefrom the following extracts :

" New Castle on Delaware, 30,- 8br, 1701.
" Because it is appointed for all men once to dye, and
yt their days are in the hands of the Almighty their
Creator, I think fitt upon this my present voyage to
make my last will and testament, which is as follows,
vizt :***** * I give to my servants
John and Mary Satcher three hundred acres between
them, to James Logan one thousand acres and my
blacks their freedom as is under my hand already and
to ould Sam too acres, to be his childrens after he and
wife are dead forever, on common rent of one bushel
of wheat yearly forever, and for performance of which
I desire my loving Friends Edward Shippen, Samuel
Carpenter, Edward Penington and James Logan in
America or any three of them and Benjamin Gool,
Thomas Callowhill, Henry Goldney and Joseph Pike
in P^ngland or any three of them to be my executors,
trustees and overseers, or any three of them to see
this my last will observed, and that I have right done
me about my incumbrances and that my family suffer
not by oppressive demands but to get me and myne
righted in the law or equity, and I do hereby charge
all my children, as their loving dying Father's last
command and desire that they never goe to law, but if
any difference should arise wch I would hope will not,

MAKES HIS WILL AT NEW CASTLE. 373

that they be concluded by the Judgement of Frds to be
chosen by the meeting of sufferings of the people called
Quakers in England for English and Irish concerns,
and in America of the ffrds of the quarterly meeting
at Philadelphia in Pennsylvania for a small decision. —
I do further ordain by this will that my estate I here
give to either or any of my children be never alienated
from my family for want of heirs of their own body
but that debts being payd they may owe, the rest to be
inherited by the next of blood of my body and de-
scent and for want thereof my dear sister and her
blood in such manner as she shall appoint.

" And now — if ever I have done amiss to any I desire
their forgiveness — and for all the good offices I have
ever done, I give God who enabled me the honor and
thanks — and for all my enemies and their evil reflec-
tions— and reports and endeavors to ruin me in name
and estate — I doe say the Lord forgive them — and
amend them. — P^or I have ever from a child loved the
best things and people, and have had a heart — I bless
the name of Almighty God to do good without gain.
Yea sometimes for evill — and to consume my own to
serve others, which has been my greatest burden — an
infirmity having a minde not only just but kinde even
to a fault. For it has made me hardly so just by
means of debts thereby contracted as my integrity
would have made me.

" And now for all my good Friends that have loved'
and helped me doe so still in my poor children what

374 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

you can, and God Almighty be to you and yours an
ample reward — You have my hearty and grateful ac-
knowledgements and commemoration who never lived
to myself From my very youth But you and the
whole world in love and service. This I ordain to be,
and accordingly is my last will and testament revoaking
all other. Given under my hand and seal, the day and
year above written.

Wm. Penx [.seal.]

" Sealed and delivered in the presence of Richard
Hallowell, Joseph Wood, Robert Asheton, James
Logan."

It is entirely too long for our purpose but the
whole may be seen in Friends Intclligc)iccr{yo\. II., p.
337, for 1846), besides it was superseded by a later
Will, made on the 27th of 3d month, 171 2. How-
ever, its contents are calculated to give the general
reader a deeper insight into his principles on a serious
matter, and that too just before undertaking a long
voyage at a hazardous time of the year and as char-
acteristic of the man. It also gives his sentiments on
several important subjects: particularly relating to
differences of opinion that might arise as to the mode
of adjusting and settling the affairs of his estate. The
original was found among the papers of the late
Miers Fisher, and from thence came into the possession
of Thomas Gilpin.

On the same day " The Proprietors Agreement

MAKES HIS WILL AT NEW CASTLE. 375

about the Charter for the Lower Counties " was agreed
upon at New Castle and is as follows :

" Because my time has been very short, and many
matters of moment crowding at once upon me, I have
not been able to digest and thoroughly consider the
Charter of Property in all the branches of it, especially
in point of courts, and powers therein expressed. I
have thought fit, for a common safety to forbear the
complete passing of the same, until I see the state of
affairs at home.

2dly. Because the lower counties are not included ;
and till they either are included, or have a charter
for their properties also, I cannot safely do it.

3dly. I shall, in the compass of six months, order
the passing of the said charter, under the Great Seal, if
God give me life, unless affairs at home require us to
change measures for the general good. .

4thly. I do hereby declare, grant and confirm the
first part, relating strictly to titles of lands, as amply
to be of force as if I expected the same, and only
decline that of powers from necessary caution for a
common safety.

Wherefore I do hereby order that my honored
friend, Governor Hamilton, keep the said draught
in his custody, signed by me, unsealed, till he hears
from me ; and if he hears not from me to the contrary,
or my heirs, in six months' time, that then he suffer it
to pass under the seal, and not otherwise ; hereby
promising to all concerned that that, or such an

376 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

instrument in the substance thereof as counsel learned
in the law in England shall advise to be safe for me
and the people to pass, shall be by me executed, there
or here, for our mutual further security. In testimony
of which, I do hereunto set my hand and seal, this
31st, 8br, 1 70 1.

William Penn. [seal.]

" I do also promise to the lower counties a charter
of property suitable to our relation to one another, if
they require it from me."

The Charter of the Borough of Chester was signed
on the 31st, and to which he ordered the Great Seal of
the Province to be affixed. It is curious from what
motive he should have thus deferred it to be also signed
at New Castle. The following interesting extract is
given from the same:

"William Penn true and absolute Proprietary and
Governor-in-chief of the Province of Pennsylvania, and
Territories thereunto belonging : To all to whom these
Presents shall come, sends greeting. — Whereas in my
first Regulation and Division of the counties of this
Province, I thought fit to order, That the Townstead
or village then having the Name of Upland should be
called Chester, which I thereupon constituted the
Shiredom of the County of Chester, and ordained and
appointed all my Courts of Judicature for the affairs of
that County to be there held and kept, and the County
Goal or Prison to be and remain there for ever. And
whereas about the same Time or soon after, for the

MAKES HIS WILL AT NEW CASTLE. 3//

Encouragement of the said Town, I was pleased to
grant unto my ancient Friend John Simcock in behalf
of himself and others the Inhabitants of the said Place,
the Privilege of a Market to be there weekly held and
kept. After which the said Inhabitants, upon their
special Instance, did also obtain from my late Lieuten-
ant Governor and Council a Grant for two Fairs to be
held in the said town yearly. All which the inhabitants
of the said Town, and of the adjacent Parts of the said
County of Chester, having humbly brought me to con-
firm unto them, together with such additional Privi-
liges and Franchises as I might think fit or requisite
for the better Encouragement of the Settlers, and regu-
lation of trade therein."

From the flourish that the descendants of Penn had
made with their titles down to the Revolution, we were
not aware before that they could go to him for prece-
dence, but we have here the fact, in styling himself
" true and absolute Proprietary and Governor-in-chief of
Pennsylvania, and Territories thereunto belonging."

The Proprietary had already on the 12th of Octo-
ber, or 8th month, made an agreement with Captain
John Fitch, the commander of the ship Dobnahoy, for
his passage to England under the following con-
ditions :

"That the said Governor shall have the full and free
use of the whole great cabin of the ship, in her voyage
from Pennsylvania to London, to himself and family ;
for which he shall pay the said Captain at London, 50

3/8 WM, PENN I\ AMERICA.

guineas. And for every person going in said cabin
(a young child excepted) ^^3 per head, for their
necessary accommodations of fire, water, etc., and
storage for provisions ; for such passengers as lie out
of the cabin, and eat of the ship's provisions, £6
per head, and for those that do not eat of the same.
That, for all such dry-goods and packages as the said
captain must pay E. Shippen freight for, the said
Governor shall pay the Captain the same rate.
That, in case the captain should be obliged to sail
without the Governor, he shall then be paid at
London for his disappointment. In witness, whereof,
the said parties have hereunto interchangeably set
their hands the day and year first above written."

On the 3d of November from on board the ship he
gave his " Instructions to James Logan, my Receiver
and Secretary," and which the latter endorsed " Pro-
prietor's last instructions to me. just at Parting." We
give the greater portion of its contents : the whole
may be seen in the Penn and Logan Correspondence
(vol. II., pp. 59-61.)

"I have left thee in an uncommon trust, with a
singular dependence on thy justice and care, which I
expect thou wilt faithfully employ in advancing my
honest interest. Use thy utmost endeavors, in the
first place, to receive all that is due to me. Get in
quit-rents; sell lands according to my instructions to
my commissioners ; look carefully after all fines,
forfeitures, escheats, deodands, and strays, that shall

MAKES HIS WILL AT NEW CASTLE. 3/9

belong to me as proprietor or chief governor. Get in
the taxes and Friends' subscriptions, and use thy
utmost dihgence in making remittances to me, with all
my effects, by bills of exchange, tobacco or other
merchandise, or by any means that in the best judg-
ment, or the advice of my friends skilled in those
affairs, may be my advantage, not only directly to
London, but by the West Indies, or by any other pru-
dent method whatsoever; but take advice especially
of Edward Shippen and Samuel Carpenter, and others
best experienced in trade.

"Thou may continue in the house I lived in till the
year is up. Pay off all my notes and orders on thee,
settle my accounts, discharge all my debts honorably
but carefully, make rent-rolls, draw up an estimate of
my estate, and of what may be raised from it, which send
over to me as speedily as possible, for it may be of
great use to me; and in all other things show thyself
a careful and diligent agent to justify my trust of thee
for so great a trust. Thou must make good to Col.
Hamilton, my deputy Governor, two hundred pounds
per annum of your money, till such time as I procure
an approbation for him, and afterwards three hundred
pounds. Also to John Moore, as attorney-general,
thirty pounds a year, so long as he shall serve me
faithfully.

" Write to me diligently, advising me of everything
relating to my interest. Send all mv household goods
up to Pennsbury, unless thou inclines to keep sufficient

380 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

furniture for a chamber to thyself, for which thou hast
my leave : take care that nothing be damnified or lost.
Give my dear love to all my friends, who I desire may
labor to soften angry spirits, and to reduce them to a
sense of their duty ; and at thy return give a small
treat in my name to the gentlemen at Philadelphia, for
a beginning to a better understanding, for which I pray
the Lord to incline their hearts for their own ease, as
well as mine and my friends.

" For thy own services I shall allow thee what is
just and reasonable, either by commission or salary.
Serve me faithfully as thou expects a blessing from
God or my favor, and I shall support thee to my ut-
most, as Thy true friend.

Will. Penn."

According to the custom of Friends, it is quite
probable that Penn and his wife received certificates of
removal from Falls Monthly Meeting, as we know that
his daughter Letitia had from the Monthly Meeting of
Women Friends in Philadelphia, and which was dated
27th of 7 th month previous.

It may be presumed that on the 4th, the second day
of the voyage, the ship had cleared the Capes and was
now on her way across the Atlantic, when a curious
incident transpired. W^e mean the writing of a letter
on said day by Thomas Callowhill to his daughter, ad-
dressed " William Penn, Esqr., Proprietor and Governor
of Pensilvania for H. P." We eive the following

ARRIVES SAFELY IN ENGLAND. 38 I

extracts, copied from the original, perhaps now first
pubhshed : (2.)

Bristol, 4th of 9th month, 1701.
Dear Hannah.

Thine of the 17th and 22d of 6th month last came
to our hands and gave us the satisfaction of hearing of
your health, &;c., so welcome to us. We continue in
indifferent good health. I bless God many are in ex-
pectation of your sudden coming over, which makes
me doubt whether this may find you at Pensilvania or
not, if it doth let it bring to thy remembrance what I
wrote in my former touching my lands purchased there
of which I expected thy care and some answer. Thy
letter hints great uncertainty in your settlement and it
is the opinion of B. C. and other Friends that you will
come over suddenly, otherwise thy mother would in-
cline to send over some necessaries which she now
omits because of the uncertainty of its finding thee.
We are now come to the i6th and in pretty good de-
gree of health but not without weakness and pains that
attends our age and decaying bodies. Last five days
past brought us news that Parliament was disolved and
that the King would issue out writts for a new Elec-
tion to sit the 30th of loth month. This letter is now
sent with dear love from myself and thy Mother to the
Governor, thyself, dear John, Tishe and our friends in
general. Phebe desires to be kindly remembered to
vou. Tiio. Callohili,.

382 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

We can see in the aforesaid that from information
derived from previous correspondence that Hannah
Penn had determined on returning to England, and
that even this coming would not, to her family, be
wholly unexpected, and who appear to have encour-
aged her in it. This reminds us of the Proprietary's
letter from Pennsbury the 8th of 7th month previous
to James Logan, wherein he says, " I cannot prevail on
my wife to stay and still less with Tishe. I know not
what to do." We may well fancy the poor man's feel-
ings when that was written.

In his return Penn had a remarkably quick passage,
and infer from his correspondence that he must have
arrived at Portsmouth about the 4th of December.
On the loth of i ith month he addressed a letter from
Kensington to his " Honored and Esteemed Friends,"
most probably his Provincial Council in which he
mentions " having all ready written from Portsmouth
by the Jersey Frigate to Governor Hamilton. I bless
God this leaves us all well save my sore leg and toe
which yet are in a kindly way to be better. I have little
news to write you ; only am told the business I came
about is like to be dropt, and I am at some stand still
what to do, I hope God will direct for the best.

" Here has been villainous work against us, such
fallacy, malice, and trickery, 't is contemptible as well
as wicked; but I do not despond. Affairs here are
dubious, a war likely next .spring. Parties very warm
and contesting, hard to say which may carry it. I

ARRIVES SAFELY IN ENGLAND. 383

wish a discreet composure. I say no more than that
I pray God Almighty to be with and among you in
his fear and wisdom, and bring us once more together,
which will be a comfortable day I hope."

" Thou wilt hear," he wrote to Logan on the 4th of
iith month, "long ere this comes to thy hand, I
doubt not, of all our safe arrival, through the great
and continued mercies of God ; save my leg got a
small rub about four days before our coming into the
channel, which by contrary applications in town, has
disabled me from having the benefit of my swift pas-
sage, as I might otherways have had. We were but
twenty-six days from land to soundings, twenty-eight
to the start in Devonshire, and thirty to Portsmouth.
Nothing yet done in my affairs, but my coming I do
more and more see necessary, on divers accounts ;
though a troublesome and costly journey. My son
has been very serviceable, but costly, and half given
away for the country.

" I wrote by an English ship, last week — in short,
not time to read it — that if John and Mary come, his
brother leaving him £150, if he come in two years for
it, that Hugh be steward and gardener, and old Peter
go to the garden when needful ; and that Phineas
Pemberton's wife and daughter sec to the bedding and
linen, once a month. Mind that the leads be mended.
I pray God continue poor Phineas. We remember
you all, in }-our respective capacities, with much love
and rcijartl, and Pennsvlvania will not be forgotten.

384 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Remember me to all officers in Government, and to de-
serving friends, &:c."

He also states respecting the voyage that " five of
the last days clear for observation, before we came to
the Channel. The Captain very civil, and all company.
Tishe and Johnne, after the first five days hearty and
well, and Johnne exceedingly cheerful all the way."
By John and Mary he means the steward and his
wife at Pennsbury, and Tishe and Johnne, his daugh-
ter and infant son. In his letter to the Proprietary
dated the 2d of loth month, Logan says, " This it
is hoped, will find thee, through the good providence
of God, safely arrived on the English shore, which
is the repeated desire and prayer of thousands here."

Having now followed Penn for the last time to his na-
tive land and from the beginning of his two voyages
to their close, it may be well for comparison's sake
to furnish the amount of time occupied in each and
how long he was altogether in the Province. The
first time he left England September ist, 1682, and
returned about October 6th, 1684, consequently absent
about two years and thirty-six days. The second
time he left September 3d, 1699, and returned about
December 4th, 1701, making about two years and
three months, the total being four years and a little
over four months. He arrived in the colony the first
time October 27th, 1682, and left August i6th, 1684,
making one year and nearly nine and a half months.
The second time December ist, 1699, and left Novem-

ARRIVES SAFELY IN ENGLAND. 385

ber 3d, 1 70 1, making one year and upwards of eleven
months, being altogether in the Province about three
years and ten and a half months in his lifetime of
upwards of thirty-four years since he received his
grant.

386 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

PENN's troubles in ENGLAND. HOW EVANS BECAME

DEPUTY GOVERNOR. ACCOUNT OF LETITIA PENN.

THE PROPRIETARY NO FINANCIER. AF-
FAIRS AT PENNSBURY.

According to the Proprietary's cash book kept by-
James Logan and now in the possession of the Ameri-
can Philosophical Society, his whole expenses while
here from November, 1699, to the same month, 1701,
amounted to /'2,049 Pennsylvania currency, being
equivalent to $5,464.86 of our present money. This
probably also includes all expenses for repairs and im-
provements made at Pennsbury within said period, as
well as all outlays for labor.

A catalogue of the goods left at Pennsbury was made
by James Logan the 3d of i ith month, 1701, and con-
tains a long list of the various articles of furniture, etc.,
remaining in the several rooms of the mansion house
there. It is too length}' for our use, but the whole
may be seen in the Penn and Logan Correspondence
(vol. I., p. 62.), and is not without interest.

From the Bucks county records we learn that on the
17th of I Ith month, 1701, for the sum of ^" 100 Ster-

PENN's troubles in ENGLAND. 387

ling, Penn conveyed to George Beale, yeoman of Guil-
ford, in Surrey " 3000 acres of land clear of Indian in-
cumbrances in the said Province between the river
Susquehanna and Delaware," and to which he duly
affixed his hand and seal, witnessed by "William Lirk-
fold and William Beale. This instrument we find was
not recorded till April 4th, 1729. The stipulations in
this deed are so unusual, at least to us, having never
observed anything like it in any other grant. We
must therefore conclude that it was his great need of
money alone that caused him to submit to the require-
ments of such a title.

No doubt on his arrival home the Proprietary nmst
have felt some relief, while his wife and daughter on
this account must have continued in happiness for
months. But his anxieties were yet by no means over
if we are to judge his feelings as expressed in the fol-
lowing, addressed to the Lords Commissioners of
Trade and Plantations on the 7th of 2d month, 1 702 :

" As I am much obliged to your justice that I shall
not be condemned unheard so I must by the continu-
ance of it to allow my circumstances the time required
to wait upon you. I am one hundred miles off with a
weak family and divided ; my wife in one place ; a
poor weak child in another whose languishing condi-
tion occasioned my leaving the town some days sooner
than I intended though I had been unprofitably as well
as expensively there a whole month. And indeed I
thought all attempts against us over for this session

388 \VM. PENX IN AMERICA.

and had leave as I may call it of Lord Manchester to
follow my family concerns. I shall leave nothing to
an agent being upon the spot myself, and hope I shall
not be surprised by hasty commands. If I did not
write I told your Secretary why. It was no fault but
my trouble. I was too infirm to stand an hour or two
with legs as feeble as mine are well known to be. I
hope the malice of my enemies and those of my de-
serving country shall not have that power with you to
hurry me away without some reasonable allowance of
time. And in the mean time I pray for a copy of the
accusations."

Governor Hamilton, whom Penn had appointed as
his deputy, died in February, on which account he ad-
dressed a letter to the Lords Commissioners of Trade
on the 2d of 5th month, 1703, in which he says that
he was "informed by a letter from New York the 3d
of the month called May of the death of Col. Hamilton,
and well knowing the importance of it to the public
that this place be supplied forthwith I humbly propose
to the Board to recommend to the Queen's approba-
tion Col. Wm. Markham or Capt. John Finney."

On the 6th, or a few days after he wrote to the same :
" Finding some difficulty was made at the Board upon
my naming Col. Markham to you though the most
capable person to fill up the present vacancy by the
death of Col. Hamilton there and being unacquainted
with Capt. Finney's friends in England that should
give security for his regular administration, I presented

HOW EVANS BECAME nEI'l'TV GOVERNOK. 389

to the Queen in my petition John Evans, Esq. for her
Royal approbation, a person of good sense and repu-
tation to'be my Lieutenant Governor for the Province
of Pennsylvania and Territories, which being referred
to your last Cabinet I earnestly beg you will not suffer
me to lose the Council to-morrow the ship being ready
to go in a very few days by way of Boston, and the
Province suffering greatly in their affairs for want of a
Governor upon the spot and you will oblige, &c."

Two days after he wrote another letter urging still
more strongly the approval of Evans, and as it is brief
and has never before been published, give it in full that
the reasons for his choice may be known.

" To the Lords of Trade, &;c.

8, 5 mo. (July) 1703.

" Hon'ble Friends. The Gentlemen named in my
Petition to the Queen and Letter to you, is a person
that has had a liberal education, been abroad and
loiows the world very well is sober, discreet and of a
good understanding for his time. No merchant and
to no temptation that way. No soldier but has been
in Planders and observed the discipline of the troops
frequently and penetrates more than I presume our
poor colony wants. He will give security as Col.
Hamilton did and has more than enough to secm'e
them that are his and is not in debt but lives like a
gentleman upon his estate here. He is a single man
neither voracious nor extravaeant and is a known

390 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

zealous member of the Church of England, and I pre-
sume will be recommended by gentlemen of undoubted
reputation. I am in hopes this may satisfy your in-
quiry and the gentleman that gives this for me being
his acquaintance Charles Lawton, Esq., who may be
more particular if you think it necessary. I am your
respectful Friend,

Wm. Penn." (4.)

Markham was a good selection and it is to be re-
gretted that he failed therein. Evans, though only
about twenty-six years of age, must have evidently
been a man of some means, according to what he
states in the above letter. One account represents
him to have been at this time an officer in the Queen's
household, and that his father was on the most inti-
mate terms with the Proprietary. Of the subsequent
scandalous conduct of Governor Evans and William
Penn, Jr., in Philadelphia, a pretty full account may be
seen in Dixon's Biography.

As has been stated in a previous chapter when the
Proprietary sailed for this country he left behind him
his only surviving son by the first wife, William Penn,
Jr., who had been married and the father of several
children. On his return he found that he had become
addicted to dissipated habits, evil companions and
greatly involved in debt. He concluded for his good
to send him over with Governor Evans to Pennsyl-
vania, recommending him to the care of James Logan.
He arrived with hounds, hunting equipments and fish-

ACCOUNT OF LETITIA PENN. 39 1

ing tackle to divert his mind and keep him from city
temptations at Pennsbury. But the novelty soon wore
off, he took to Philadelphia, and fell into his former
habits, and after a few years residence returned with
as little respect for the colony as the people had here
for him. As early as 1689, the Proprietary had di-
rected Thomas Holme, the Surveyor-General, to lay
out a tract of land " on the canoable part of Schuyl-
kill," and as a provision had conveyed to him the 2d
of 8th month, 1704, as the "manor of Williamstadt,"
containg 7,482 acres. The spendthrift son five days
afterwards sold it to Isaac Norris and William Trent
for ^^850 incurred for debts. He was the cause of
great anxiety and expense to his father. To avoid his
creditors he fled to France, leaving his wife and child-
ren to be maintained at the family seat at Rushcombe.
He died at Liege in 1720, of consumption and fever
brought on by his excesses. Though we give addi-
tional information, Dixon gives a pretty full account
of him, while he is barely mentioned by the rest of
Penn's biographers.

Respecting Letitia Penn, who accompanied her
father to Pennsylvania, we have not been enabled to
find any published account beyond an incidental men-
tion of her name. We are now enabled, however, to
supply, in part, this defect from information derived
chiefly from manuscript sources. Her age we have
been unable to ascertain, but we know that at her de-
parture for America she must have been a full-grown

392 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

young woman. Among her associates and visitors at
Pennsbury we find mention of the daughters of Ed-
ward Shippen, of Philadelphia, and Governor Jennings,
of Burlington. She was present at the marriage of
one or two of the latter at the meeting house there.
On the marriage of Mary Lofty, the stewardess of
Pennsbury, she made her a present of a chest of
drawers that had cost ^7. Her father bestowed
on her, the 29th of ist month, 1701, the large lot on
the south side of Market street between Front and
Second, with the cottage theron, which was occupied
by him on the occasion of his fir.st visit. She sold off
a portion of this ground to Charles Read the following
9th of 5th month. The manor of Mount Joy, con-
taining 7,800 acres on the Schuylkill, adjoining the
Welsh tract was patented to her the 24th of 8th month
of the same year. Of this she retained possession till
1736. In his letters Penn calls her Tishe and
mentions her increasing desire to return, her illness
and how after the first five days of the voyage she
continued in good health. When arrangements had
been made for returning, according to the custom of
Friends she made application for a certificate of
removal which was granted and read as follows :

From our Monthly Meeting of Women Friends in
Philadelphia, the 27th of 7th month, 1701.

To our worth)- and well deloved sisters in London,
Bristol, or wherever these may come, grace, mercy,
and peace, from God the Father, be greatly multiplied
amo.ig you all. Amen.

ACCOUNT OF LETITIA PENN. 393

These may certify you, that our worthy and well
beloved friend, Letitia Penn, intending to cross seas
with her honourable parents, hath for good order's
sake desired a certificate from us, and we can freely
certify all whom it may concern, that she hath well
behaved herself here, very soberly, and according to
the good instructions which she has received in the
way of truth, being well inclined, courteously car-
riaged, and sweetly tempered in her conversation
amongst us, and also a diligent comer to meeting, and
hope she hath plentifully received the dew which
hath fallen upon God's people, to her settlement, and
established in the same.

" She is free from any engagement on the account of
marriage, as far as we know, and our desires are ear-
nestly for her preservation, that she may faithfully ser\'e
the God of her fathers, that her green years being sea-
soned with grace, may bud and blossom, and bring
forth ripe fruits to the praise of God, and the comfort
of his people, which is the true desire of your friends
and sisters in the near relationship of the unchangeable
truth. Signed on behalf of and by appointment of the
meeting."

She was married to Wm. Aubrey 20th of 6th month,
1702, about nine months after her arri\al in England.
Her father, in a letter to James Logan, dated 6th of 7th
month, thus mentions it : " My daughter is married
next Fifth day will be three weeks. We have brought
her home, where I write, a noble house for the citv,

394 ^^'^'- PE^'>-' '^' AMERICA.

and other things I hope well." Respecting this
affair John Stoughton makes the following remarks
(Wm. Penn the Founder, London, 1882, pp. 318-19):
" Some said Letitia at the time was under an engage-
ment to William Masters, and when the persons who
signed the certificate heard this, they wished to recall
it, whereupon much controversy ensued. For soon
after her return to England she was married to one
William Aubrey. Certainly we find her brother say-
ing in a letter from London, ' My sister Letitia has, I
believe, a very good sort of man, that makes a good
husband : William Masters, whatever ground he had
for it in Pennsylvania, made a mighty noise here, but
it lasted not long.' The father also remarked that she
was married, adding : ' But S. Penington's, if not S.
Harwood's, striving for William Masters against faith,
truth, and righteousness, will not be easily forgotten ;
though things come honourably off, to his and the old
envy's confusion, his father's friends nobly testifying
against the actions of both.' Penn has not clearly ex-
pressed himself in this last sentence, but I gather from
it that there had been a family dispute ; that the rela-
tions of Letitia's mother did not approve of the match,
and herein differed from the father's opinion. He
clearly had a strong feeling of displeasure, and makes
no secret of it."

In the work on " The Penns and Peningtons (Lon-
don, p. 418) mention is made that Letitia Aubrey's
husband having got a portion in money with her and

THE PROPRIETARY NO FINANCIER. 395

a promise of land in Pennsylvania, ten thousand acres
were bequeathed to her." We feel positive that we
somewhere saw in the receipts and expenditures
amongst the Penn manuscripts that this portion had
been fixed at ^2,000 Sterling, for which Penn had
given obligations, and that for several years thereafter
had been in the practice of paying him the interest
thereon. To a man so in debt this sum appears enor-
mous, but presume in justice to Letitia was small
enough to what William Penn, Jr., had already cost
him. She had no children and died in 1745, and was
buried near her parents at Jordans. She had made a
will, dated 20th of 5th month, 1744, and which was
proven 5th of 2d month, 1746.

It has been the practice of several of the biographers
of Penn to dwell on the obstinacy of Lord Baltimore
and the faithlessness or dishonesty of his agents, par-
ticularly the Fords, as the causes of his pecuniary em-
barrassments, without a word of reflection as to his
own capacity or abilities as a financier. As a scholar he
possessed literary abilities of a high order, and as a
statesman was endowed with executive qualifications,
whose ideas were even in advance of his age, and at
once bold, original and practical. He was no cold
.statue as some would build up, but a man of generous
views, benevolent and warm hearted even to impulsive-
ness, hence the indulgent parent, the liability to credu-
lousness, the chief causes of pecuniary distress and ruin
arising directly or indirectly from its promoters in-
debtedness and extravagance.

396 WM. PENN IX AMERICA.

If ever a mind suffered from these causes it was
Penn's, and to which he so often alludes in his writings.
In his parting address to his wife and children at
Worminghurst on the 4th of 6th month, 1682, he
says, " Ruin not yourselves by kindness to others ; for
that exceeds the bounds of friendship, neither will a
true friend expect it." This he should also have par-
ticularly heeded and wherein he alludes also to his
father-in-law Springett by his "public-spiritedness hav-
ing worsted his estate." He thus wrote to Logan in
1 2th month, 1702, " I strictly charge thee to represent
to Friends that I am forced to borrow money, adding
debts to debts, for conferences, counsel's opinions,
hearings, etc., with the charges for them. Guineas
melting away, four, five, six a week, and sometimes as
many in a day." Again he wrote eight months later,
and but a few days after Letitia's marriage. " I never
was so reduced; for Ireland has hardly any money.
England severe to her. No trade but hither and at
England's mercy for prices, so that we must go and
eat out half our rents, or we cannot enjoy them." In
another letter he says, " I am sorry to have such a
prospect of charges ; two houses and the Governor's
salary, my son's voyage, stay, and return ; and no
revenue nor Susquehanna money paid, on which ac-
count I ventured my poor child so far away from his
wife and pretty children, and my own oversight. Oh !
Pennsylvania, what hast thou not cost me ? Above
£^30,000 more than I ever got ; two hazardous and

THE PROPRIETARY NO FINANCIER. 39/

fatiguing voyages ; my straits and slavery here ; and
my child's soul almost."

We think that in these his voluntary doings he has
been unnecessarily severe and perhaps unthankful, and
shall therefore give the views of Judge Quarry on
this matter in his letter to the Lords of Trade, dated
May 30th, 1704 (see Docs, relating to Col. Hist, N.
Y., vol. IV., p. 1083), and who appears was thus
acting under instructions from the Government who,
it is evident, exercised a system of espionage.

" I am obliged to acquaint your Lordships that
besides the i,"2,ooo which the Assembly gave Mr.
Penn before he went hence, and the Excise on beer,
wine, &c., he had managed the people so with his
specious promises, that he got a subscription from
all the severall meetings throughout the whole Pro-
vince, which by a very modest computation amounts
to ^^2500, one of the original subscriptions and an
original receipt from his Secretary and Receiver
General to the Collector ; I have in my possession,
a copy of which is here enclosed by which your
Lordships will see the pretences he uses to impose
upon the poor people, and to gain his point, so that
by these ways together with the Quit rents, Super-
numerary land, and the constant sale of land, the
Country is quite drained of all the mone}', there is
scarce enough left to go to market."

In his parting instructions to Logan, the 3d of 9th
month, 1 701, he stated among the rest that he should

398 ^VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

"get in the Friends subscriptions," and as these were
continued for some time after Judge Quarry's report
may have considerably exceeded said sum. It is re-
markable how silent this matter has remained, we
believe none of Penn's biographers make any mention
of it, and the whole amount thus received by him it is
likely was never made known. In his Will, made at
New Castle, October 30th, 1701, Penn thus alluded to
the cause of his financial troubles : " To do good with-
out gain, yea sometimes for evil, and to consume my
own to serve others, has been my greatest burden. An
infirmity having a mind not only just but kind even to
a fault. For it has made me hardly so just by means
of debts thereby contracted as my integrity would
have made me."

On this subject Robert Sutcliff, a Friend from Eng-
land, relates an anecdote that he had received in 1 805
(Travels, p. 104), from an old family he had been
visiting in Merion, Montgomery county. " At this
place," he says, " I was told that as William Penn was
once coming up from New Castle to Philadelphia, a
Friend in the vessel remarked that both the wind and
the tide were against them ; William Penn im-
mediately replied, that ' himself had been sailing
against wind and tide all his life!' This reply was very
descriptive of the difficulties which this great man en-
countered in the world."

As respects the holding of slaves and the subject of
slavery Penn's views were decidedly in advance of his

THE }'K0PKI1£TARV NO FINANCIER. 399

age, and that for himself his character stands undimin-
ished. By his Will made at New Castle, the 30th of
8th month, 1 701, he gives his "blacks their freedom as
is under my hand already." Hannah Penn, in a letter
dated London, 9th of 3d month, 1720, to her cousin,
Rebecca Blackfan, at Pennsbury, says, " The young
blacks must be disposed of to prevent their increasing
charge. I have offered my daughter Aubrey one, but
she does not care for any, I would however have the
likeliest boy reserved, and bred up for reading and
sobriety as intending him for myself, or one of
my children ; about which I design to write to J.
Logan, for if Sue promises a good industrious servant
and sober I would have her the more tenderly used
than I had intended."

Accordingly she wrote to Logan the 6th of the fol-
lowing month : " I find from my Cousin Blackfan that
there are several small negroes at Pennsbury incapable
of working if so it is hard I should be at the expense
of keeping them on my charge and as that estate
belongs to my son Penn, wherefore I must desire thou
wilt consider of it and dispose of them to the best
advantage. Though I would not have poor Sue sold
to one that would use her hardly nor if possible have
the children separated from her. I hav^e offered my
daughter Aubrey one of them, but she declines it, yet
I would have the handsomest and best disposed boys
reserved for me and I would have an inventory taken
and sent over though there is no need to remove them

400 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

till my son has wrote to me about it which he has not
yet or if he should order any body to take possession
of the place."

To this Logan did not reply till the i ith of 3d
month, 1 72 1, nearly a year afterwards. " The Pro-
prietor," he says, " in a Will left with me at his de-
parture, hence gave all his Negroes their freedom but
that is entirely private, however there are very few left.
Sam died soon after your departure hence and his
brother James very lately, Chevalier by a written order
from his Master had his liberty several years ago, so
that there is none left but Sue whom Letitia claims, or
did claim as given to her when she went to England
but how rightfully I know not these things you can
best discuss. She has several children there are be-
sides two old Negroes quite worn out the remainder
of three which I recovered near eighteen years ago of
E. Gibb's estate."

Respecting Pennsbury in this letter he says, " I have
lately sent for the books, hither but the goods after
about twenty years age added to them, thou may as-
sure thyself are much impaired. I wish some order
were given about the house which is now ruinous.
Buildings in this country as thou art sensible being
but of small duration, compared with those of Europe.
I have not for some years had one farthing from
Rebecca, the plantation she says being scarce able to
maintain itself which I know to be too true a story by
the experience I have of one near Germantown."

AFFAIRS AT PEXNSBURV. 4OI

After he had arrived in England the Proprietary had
strictly charged his Secretary Logan to " mind that
the leads be mended," we do not know of it having
been done, and from the tradition of the neighborhood
it was this cause that brought about the very damage
he mentions.

It is apparent by this correspondence that Hannah
Penn was entirely ignorant of the Will that her hus-
band had made, though it is quite probable that she
was with him at the time at Nevv Castle. According to
Logan's letter there must have been at least seven full
grown negro slaves at Pennsbury in 1704, of which
three had been received from an estate probably for
debt, without counting the children. It is true the
Will of 1 70 1 was overruled by that of I7I2 in which
no mention is made of their liberation, but it appears
that had been already provided for in another paper
probably held by Logan, and of whose existence we
know nothing. Ellis is clearly mistaken (Life of
Penn, p. 405 ) where he says, " There is no proof of
Bancroft's assertion that Penn lived and died a holder
of slaves. The utmost that can be shown, by the evi-
dence of documents and 'Penn's cash books, is that
he hired a few, the slaves of others."

-In relation to Penn and slavery in America, Dix-
on eloquently remarks, " His latest on the colonial
legislature, was in behalf of the poor negroes. Ten
years before this period, he had tried in vain to get
26

402 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

a formal recognition of their claims as human be-
ings ; but the question of slavery had made rapid
progress in the interval, thanks to the efforts of his
simple and earnest disciples from W^orms and Kirch-
heim, — and his own ideas had also undergone a con-
siderable development. The Assembly in 171 1
passed an act declaring their importation for the fu-
ture, under any condition, absolutely prohibited. But
as soon as the law reached England, to receive the
usual confirmation of the Crown, it was peremptorily
cancelled. The germs, however, of truth, humanity,
and justice, were planted in the colony, and in due
season came the harvest. It was only with the re-
volt against England, that freedom came to any part
of the black race in America."

Allusion has been made as to whether Penn had
brought up his children in his religious faith, and if
so, how long did they conform to the same ?
William Penn, Jr., during the lifetime of his father,
joined the Episcopal Church,'" but his recklessness
was such that he could by no means be considered a
consistent member. Letitia, we are satisfied, lived and
died in his faith. Thomas Penn came to this Province
with a certificate from the Two Weeks Meeting in
London, dated 8th of 3d month, 1732, as did also his
elder brother John, which was duly recorded in the
minutes of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting from

* He no doubt had been married by Friends' ceremony, as his father-in-law,
Charks Jones, was a member f.f the Meeting at Bristol.

AFFAIRS AT PENNSBURY. 4O3

whence we have this information. Some time after
Thomas left the faith, but as far as we know John re-
tained it to the last. On this subject it has been a pre-
vailing opinion that his children had all early forsook
the Friends, which it will be seen is not the fact.

Mention has been made that Penn had recommended
his cousin, Wm. Markham, as Deputy Governor the
2d of 5th month, 1703. However he had been ap-
pointed Register-General of Pennsylvania the 29th of
I St month previous in the place of John Moore, who
refused to yield him the office. He died in Philadelphia
the 1 2th of 4th month, 1704. He left a will which
may be seen in the Register's office, and bequeathed
the bulk of his property to his wife ; he had an only
child, a daughter of whom mention has been made in
a previous chapter. He was the owner of several
slaves, one of which, an Indian boy born in 1700 and
called Ectus Frankson, was to be manumitted at the
age of twenty-four, unless his wife by a special deed
should otherwise direct.

In chapter XVIII. of this work, we gave statistics
relating to the Society of Friends on the departure of
Penn in 1684, of which mention was made of eighteen
meetings previously organized. We now give the
same on his departure in 9th month, 1701. At this
time there were in Philadelphia, including the present
Montgomery county, eleven, in Bucks, six, and in
Chester, including the present Delaware county, eleven ;
making altogether twenty-eight meetings, of which

404 WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

probably three-fourths had houses of worship erected,
showing an increase of nine or nearly one-third the en-
tire number in seventeen years. In 1 702 it is supposed
that near one-half the whole population of the Province
were Friends. James Logan, in a letter to Penn writ-
ten in Third month of said year, estimated that Phila-
delphia contained half the population of the Province,
and of which about one-third were Friends, but that
in the country they were largely in the majority.

OPINIONS OF PENN S LAIJORS AND POLICY. 405

CHAPTER XXXV.

DIVERS OPINIONS RESPECTING THE RESULTS OF PENN'S

LABORS AND POLICY, PARTICULARLY IN RELATION

TO HIS LAST VISIT TO THE COLONY.

As we have arrived at the concluding chapter we
propose to give the opinions of various persons re-
specting the results of the Proprietary's policy and
labors for the advancement of his colony, particularly
relating to his second visit here in 1699 to the time of
his departure. Those that refer to his first stay have
been given in chapter XVII. Such encomiums possess
considerable interest, and go to show the various opin-
ions that men may entertain or pass on a subject when
viewed from different positions. This diversity is not
only instructive but suggestive, and enables us the
better to form our own judgments on matters which
otherwise might be more perplexing.

Peter S. Du Ponceau, in his Address delivered before
the American Philosophical Society, June 6th, 182 1,
thus eloquently speaks of Penn :

" I should love to dwell on the character of our
immortal founder, and to point out, by numerous ex-
amples, that astonishing ascendency over the minds of

406 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

the mass of mankind, which enabled him to raise a
flourishing and powerful commonwealth by means of
all others the most apparently inadequate. To acquire
and secure the possession of an extensive country,
inhabited by numerous tribes of warlike savages, with-
out arms, without forts, without the use or even the
demonstration of physical force, was an experiment
which none but a superior mind would have conceived,
which none but a master spirit could have successfully
executed. Yet this experiment succeeded in a manner
that has justly excited the astonishment of the whole
world. ' Of all the colonies that ever existed,' says
Ebelung, ' none was ever founded on so philanthropic
a plan, none was so deeply impressed with the charac-
ter of its founder, none practiced in a greater degree
the principles of toleration, liberty and peace, and none
rose and flourished more rapidly than Pennsylvania.
She was the youngest of the British Colonies established
before the eighteenth century, but it was not long
before she surpassed most of" her elder sisters in popu-
lation, agriculture and general prosperity.'

" For during the fifteen years which followed the
departure, until his next return in 1699, history will
have to picture far different scenes. The territories
separated from the province, a schism in the church,
and factions in the state, carried to such a degree of
violence as to afford a pretext to the British Ministry
to take into their hands the government of the country,
and ignominiously annex it to that of a neighboring

OPINIONS OF PENN S LABORS AND POLICY". 407

colony. The historian will tell how William Penn
rose superior to all these difficulties, recovered his former
authority, and by his presence here, seduced all factions,
re-united the lower counties, and restored the land to
its former unanimity and peace. It was then that after
three different constitutions had been successively tried
and found inefficient, he gave to Pennsylvania that
charter, which continued in force until the revolution,
and which the people received with expressions of
gratitude too soon afterwards forgotten. Unfortunately,
this charter contained the seeds of that division between
the province and territories, which after his departure
broke out again, never to be healed.

" It will ever be a source of regret that William Penn
did not, as he had contemplated fixed his permanent
residence in his province, and that, after the lapse of
nearly two years, he again embarked for lingland,
whence it had been decreed by Providence that he
never should return. There is too much reason to
believe that in this he yielded to the influence of his
wife and of his daughter Letitia, who did not appear to
have been pleased with a residence in the country.
Yet Hannah Penn was a woman of great merit, and her
name will shine conspicuously, and with honor in our
history. But when we consider her rank, education,
and fortune, and the situation of Pennsylvania at that
time, we need not wonder that she preferred the society
of her friends in her native land to a life of hardship
and self-denial in a newly settled colony. And it is

408 WM. PENX IN AMERICA.

easy to conceive how William Penn's return may have
been postponed amidst efforts to conquer her reluctance,
until other circumstances intervened which prevented
it altogether."

" Thus we have given," states Oldmixon (Brit. Emp.
in America, 1708), "the reader as full an account, as
we could get by the best information of Pennsylvania,
which was, to use the Proprietary's own words, made
at once a country. For it is certain no colony in
America came to such perfection in so little time, both
in trade, settlements and numbers. Every one of the
six counties has a quarterly and monthly Sessions, and
Assizes twice a year. There is a Sheriff, for each shire
or county, and Justice is frequently and regularly ad-
ministered. The six counties run along twenty or
thirty miles upon the rivers and bays, and backwards,
as far as they are planted ; in some places above
twenty miles.

" The inhabitants consist of people of almost all
nations and religions; but the opinion of the Quakers
prevails so far, that they are by much the majority as
the English are of all the other nations. And the Eng-
lish, Dutch, Swedes, French, Indians and Negroes, in
the province of Pennsyhania, may modestly be com-
puted at 35,000 souls. All provisions are reasonable,
but labour dear, which makes it a good poor man's
country; husbandmen and mechanics getting ^15 and
,-C20 wages per annum for their work, besides diet ;
.s icli as carpenters, smiths, joiners, tailors, shoemakers.

OPINIONS OF PENN S LAIJORS AND POLICY. 4O9

cartwrights, husbandmen, &c. By which the reader
may see, that the temptation for people to go thither,
to mend their fortunes, to live pleasantly and plenti-
fully, is so great, that it is not to be doubted but this
province will get the start of all the other English
settlements on the continent of America."

" Though less cruel than the Spaniards," remarks
Dixon (Biog. of Penn), " in their greed of gold, the
English had scarcely proved themselves more just or
rational. Even the Puritan settlers had been at con-
tinual war with the natives of the soil, and more than
one scene of treachery and atrocity stains the memory
of the New England pilgrims. Penn strong in his
belief in human goodness, would not arm his followers
even for their own defence. In his province he had
resolved that the sword should cease to be the symbol
of authority ; neither soldier nor implement of war
should be ever seen ; he would rely entirely on justice
and courtesy to win the confidence of those whom it
had hitherto been the vice of his countrymen to treat
only as enemies. The world laughed at the enthusiast
^\■ho thought of placing his head under the scalping
knifes of the Lenni Lenape ; but his stern lieutenant,
who had known something of the horrors of our civil
war, did not despair of success. An eternal witness of
Penn's sagacity is the fact that not one drop of Ouaker
blood was ever shed by an Indian."

James Bowden in his History of Friends in
America (vol. 11., pp. 123-4), mentions, " WMien Wil-

4IO WM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Ham Penn founded his colony there were states on
that continent, in which the non resisting principles of
Christianity were recognized ; this as we have seen,
was the case in the Httle colony of Rhode Island, and
in the more recently established plantations of East
and West New Jersey. In political importance and
general interest, however, these provinces bear no
comparison to that of Pennsylvania. Its extent, its
prosperity, its rapid growth in population, the entire
recognition of equal rights, the democratic form of its
government, together with the large proportion of
Friends among the early settlers, — all constitute to
render that portion of the history of the province,
during which it was conducted on the Christian prin-
ciples of its enlightened founder, one of no ordinary
moment.

" The early settlers in this province, were mostly in
religious profession with William Penn. The consti-
tution, therefore, which he had framed harmonized
with their views of civil things ; and whether in the
Council, or in the Assembly, as officers of the peace,
jurymen, or constables. Friends not only took their
full share in serving the state, but, from the confidence
reposed in them by the other colonists, the civil
officers were for a long time, mostly occupied by them.
In the Council of 1683, composed of eighteen repre-
sentatives, six, it appears, were ministers in our Soci-
ety, and a still larger number of Friends in that station
were members of the Assembly. During his stay in

OPINIONS OF PENNS LABORS AND POLICY. 4II

the Province, William Penn always presided at the
Council; and in the infant days of the colony, so
largely were the practices of our religious Society,
recognized among the representatives, that instead of
opening the proceedings of the day with formal
prayer, as in the Parliament at home, and in the
Assemblies of neighboring provinces, they waited in
solemn silence upon the God of the spirits of all flesh,
and inwardly craved his aid, and his blessing, in their
efforts thus to serve their fellow men.

"At the decease of William Penn (ib. p. 147), the
European population of his province is estimated to
have numbered not less than 40,000, of whom one-
fourth were inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia.
The remaining portion of the population were engaged
in the cultivation of the soil, and occupied the coun-
try for about one hundred miles along the banks of
the Delaware, and from twenty to thirty miles west of
that river. About one-half of the community were
Friends ; the other religious bodies being chiefly
Presbyterians, Lutherans and Episcopalians."

" An Examination of the various charges brought
by historians against William Penn both as a man and
as a political Governor," was the subject of a paper
read before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
February 3d, 1830, by Job R. Tyson, from which we
select the following extract: " Penn, too as a man and
a Christian, was anxious to reconstruct the social and
moral edifice upon purer principles than the old ; but

412 W.M. FEXN IX AMERICA.

though intent upon this, he used neither intolerance
nor cruelty to aid him in the workmanship. No evi-
dence of either is perceptible in his code. It pro-
claimed liberty to all, and hailed with open arms pro-
fessors of every religious persuasion. Let the sanguin-
ary penalties of the New England code of 1 641, be
placed in opposition to its mild inflictions ; or let its
universal toleration be contrasted with the laws of
Connecticut, passed in 1705, against heretics. If more
be wanting, it may be added, that Burke, Anderson,
Oldmixon, Father (3'Leary, Ebelung, and most of
Penn's biographers unite in attributing the superiority
of Pennsylvania, in social happiness and domestic
quiet, over the other settlements in America, to the
early influence of his laws." Respecting the act of
1705, Mr. Tyson remarks that it "was abolished by
Queen Anne. After proscribing all kinds of heretics,
it provides in particular, that Quakers shall be im-
prisoned or sent out of the colony ; that all unneces-
sar}' discourse with Quakers, or the possession of their
books shall be penal ; and that the master of a vessel
who shall land Quakers without carrying them away,
shall pay the penalty of ^^20."

" The history of the province," remarks PMward
Armstrong (Address, Hist. Society, 1858, p. 32), "in
its relation to the interests and happiness of Penn, is a
melanchol}' one. It touches the heart. The strife
between his deputies and the Assembly — the ingrati-
tude, unjust and grasping spirit of the people — the

OPINIONS OF PENN S LABORS AND POLICY. 413
/

misrepresentations of his enemies, Quarry, Lloyd and
their adherents — his difficulties with Lord Baltimore
— the consequences of his misplaced confidence in his
fraudulent agents, the Fords — his distressing pecuniary
embarrassments — the constant threats of taking his
government from him — the political persecutions which
he underwent in England — in short, the incidents of
his troubled career from the day on which he landed
here, until a merciful Providence clouded his intellect,
and dulled the sharpness of his sorrows, form as pain-
ful a picture as was ever presented to the eye of sym-
pathizing humanity."

" It is possible," says James Parton, " to overpraise
the most virtuous action ; and perhaps William Penn
has received for his conduct to the Indians more com-
mendation than is due. Nevertheless the act was wise
and right: and so let it stand. His greater glory
was, that in his Province of Pennsylvania he did not
follow the bad example set him by the Puritans of New
England, in persecuting people for the sake of their
religious principles. Quakers were whipped, branded,
banished, pilloried, hanged, in New P2ngland ; but no
Puritan was ever molested for religion's sake in Penn-
sylvania. This was due, chiefly and immediately, to
the wisdom and magnanimity of William Penn, and it
will remain a glory to his memory forever. It was
this which gave to Pennsylvania its rapid prosperity ;
for while New P'.ngland, which was a refuge only for
Puritans, ceased to attract emigrants when Puritans

414 ^^'^I- PENN IN AMERICA.

ceased to be persecuted in England, Pennsylvania con-
tinued for a century to receive a tide of virtuous Prot-
estants from Sweden, Norway, England, Germany, and
even from New England itself"

Respecting the Indians, says Janney (Life of Penn,
p. 219), " It is certain that no other man ever attained
so great an influence over their minds ; and the affec-
tionate intercourse between them and the inhabitants
of Pennsylvania, which continued as long as the prin-
ciples of the first colonists preserved their ascendency,
is the most beautiful exemplification afforded in history,
that the peaceable doctrines of Christ are adapted to
promote the happiness of man." As is well known,
Penn was called by the Iroquois in their public
speeches Onas and by the Delawares Miquon, which
in both languages is the name for a pen or quill.

" Nor is this high reputation," says Macaulay,
" altogether unmerited. Penn was, without doubt, a
man of eminent virtues. He had a strong sense of
religious duty, and a fervent desire to promote the
happiness of mankind. On one or two points of high
importance, he had notions more correct than were in
his day common, even among men of enlarged minds ;
and as the proprietor and legislator of a province
which, being almost uninhabited when it came into his
possession, afforded a clear field for moral experiments,
he had the rare good fortune of being able to carry
his theories into practice without any compromise, and
yet without any shock to existing institutions. He

OPINIONS OF PENN S LAP.ORS AND POLIC\. 415

will always be mentioned with honor as the founder of
a colony, who did not, in his dealings with a savage
people, abuse the strength derived from civilization,
and as a lawgiver, who in an age of persecution, made
religious liberty the corner stone of a polity."

" William Penn," said Edmund Burke, " as a legis-
lator, deserves great honor among all men. He
created a Commonwealth which, from a few hundreds
of indigent refugees, has in .seventy years grown to a
numerous and flourishing people. But what crowned
all, was the noble charter of privileges, by which he
made them more free, perhaps, than any people on
earth, and which, by securing both civil and religious
liberty, caused the eyes of the oppressed from all parts
of the world, to look to his country for relief This
one act of godlike wisdom and goodness, has settled
Penn's country in a more strong and permanent man-
ner than the wisest regulations could have done on
any other plan."

" In spite of its frequent political jars and bicker-
ings," remarks Ellis (Life of Penn, p. 406), " the
province of Pennsylvania was, at the time of its
founder's death, a monument to his wisdom and
benevolence. It numbered then a population of sixty
thousand, and Philadelphia alone contained fourteen
hundred houses. The province continued to be owned
and governed by the Penn family until the war of the
revolution."

" That such a character as William Penn," remarks

4l6 \VM. PENN IN AMERICA.

Bowden, " should have had many biographers cannot
excite surprise. His fame may be said to be world-
wide, and men of far different sentiments have inscribed
his name on the pages of history, as one of the most
illustrious of his age — an age, it should be remembered,
of stirring events and conspicuous for men of brilliant
attainments." Bancroft says, " His fame is now as
wide as the world," and Montesquieu calls him " the
modern Lycurgus."

These encomiums we know might be extended, but
our desire is merely to select such as possess senti-
ments in which we generally can concur, and be
restricted to a moderate chapter.

INDEX.

I N D 1^: X

PAGE.

Abington Monthly Meeting Records,

71, 72, 86

Account of Pennsylvania, by Markhani,

33 ; by Penn, 44,85, 88, 114, 120, 132,

144, 173, 219 ; Pastorius, 131 ; Thos.

Paschall, 147; Gabriel Thomas, 190;

Oldmixon, 408

Account West's Painting Great Treaty, 76
Acrelius on Official Corruption, . . . 296

Allen, Nathaniel, 97

Appeals to the King, 21

Arran, Ear! of, 143

Armstrong, Edward, Address, . .67,412
Asheton, Robert, sheriff, 242 ; Kotice
of, 243 ; Penn's Cousin, 289 ; Clerk

of the Courts, 364

Assembly at Upland, 73, 78 ; at New
Castle, 274 ; Meanness to Perm, 254,
348 ; Model Message to, 282 ; Penn's
Speech, 344 ; Address to Penn, 346 ;

Not Harmonious, 349

Atkins and Bradford Reprimanded, . 197
Attention of Penn to America, ... 17
Aubrey, William, Marriage 393

Baltimore, Lord, Agents, 19 ; Letters
to Marquis of Halifax, 92 ; to Penn,
104, 107 ; Blatheway te, 104 ; Claims

of, 156, 313

Bancroft on the Stuarts, 25

Barbadoes Island on Schuylkill, . . . 167
Bayard, Nicholas, Letter to Penn, . . 138

Beale, George, Purchase, 387

Beaver Skin Tribute, 21 ; Sent to the

King, 89 : Trade on Schuylkill, . . 207
Beekman, Wm , Letter to Penn, . . . 137

Beggary in England, 46

Bellomont, Lord, Gov. N. Y., 240,
246, 251, 253, 259, 260 ; Penn's Visit
10,278; Respecting Pirates, 279 ; on
his Death, 307; Condolence to the
Countess, 308 ; Biographical Sketch, 309

Bevan, B , Accident to, 227

Biographers of Penn, . 395, 398, 407, 416
Blackiston, Governor of Maryland,

224, 232, 276, 290
Blue Anchor Tavern, 71

PAGE.

Boundary Dispute with Baltimore, 83,
87, 9-. "3, 122, 125, I35> 137. 14s,

153. 155, 163, 205,311,413
Bowman, Henry, Charge against, . . 97
Brinsley, Luke, Ranger, . . . . 199

Bristol and Buckingham, • 266

British Government, 281

Brooks, Ed. and Ford, 136

Brown, James, Suspected of Piracy,
237 ; Penn on the Matter, 238 ; Sent

to New York, 252

Bucks County, Justices for, 161 ; Book
of Earmarks, 198; Slow Paying Quit-
rents, 200; Highway in, 264 ; Elec-
tions, 340

Burlington Monthly Meeting, .... 72
Burlington, Penn gets Supplies from,

260, 263, 275, 331

Callowhill, Thos., to H. Penn, . . . 571
Carpenter, Samuel, 244, 341, 342, 372, 379

Change of Names, 84

Charles IL, Charter from, 18 ; Names
Pennsylvania, 19 ; Receives Two
Beaver Skins Yearly, 21 ; Friendship
for Penn, 25 ; Address to the Colo-
nists, 27 ; Court Opened in his Name,
70 : Penn Presents him Beaver and
Otter Skins, 89 ; Has Sympathy for
Friends, 143 ; Called Justinian, 160;
Penn Visits him, 172 ; Death of, . 202
Charter, Royal at Harrisburg, 19 ;
Powers of, 20 ; Penn's Promise
therefor, 24 ; Petition for Lost, 25 ;

for Lower Comities, 375

Cheating the Governor, 269

Chester, Penn's Residence, 88 ; Court
held there, 230 ; Penn Partner in a
Mill, 244 ; Vane of Preserved, 245 ;
Sheriff of, 275 ; Incorporated a Bor-
ough, 377

City Square, 129

Clark, Benjamin, Printer, 56

Clark, Wm., 138; Penn's Letter to, . 232

Clarkson's Errors, 69, 75, 169

Claypoole, Edw., Arrival, 137

420

INDEX.

PAGE.

Claypoole, James, Opinion of Penn, 47 ;
Merchant of London, 53; Letters
from, 64, 77, 85 ; I'enn's Kindness to,
147 ; Notice of, 148 : Acts as Inter-
preter, 150

Coaquannock, 7^

Cock, Capt. Lasse, 40, in ; Interpre-
ter, 148

Coffee and Chocolate, 269, 270

Colonial Money Unequally Valued, . 280
Commissioners Sent by Penn, .... 38

Concessions and Conditions, 48

Conshohocken, or Edge Hill, .... 109
Coroner's Office Established, .... 98
Council, How Formed, 93; Members
of, 96; No Longer Elected, 369 ; Gor-
don's Views on, 370

County Seals Ordered, 98

Courts of Inquiry Established, 297;
Judges Commissioned, 298 ; Its Un-
popularity, 300,301,302

Culpepper, Lord, Letter to Penn, 84 ;
Governor of Virginia, 8g ; Visit ex-
pected from, 103

Culpnts, Sentence of, 136

Deaths on the Welcome, 64

Deeds, Indian at Harrisburg, .... 107
Delaware Government, .... 24, 32, 67

Depeister, Col., 239, 347

Dixon's Defence of Penn, . . .401,409
Duke of York's Release, 22 ; Good

Will to Penn, 23 ; Friendship for, . 25
Dungan, Col. "Thomas, 135 ; Writes to

King about Penn, 205, 274

Du Ponceau's Eloquent Remarks, 189, 405

Edge Hill a Boundary, 109

Ellison Boundary Dispute, 313 ; Error

in his Biography, 401

Emigration, German Pamphlets on, . 304
Encroachments of Baltimore resisted, 153
England, Condition of its People, . 45
Evans, John, Proposed for Governor,

389, 390
Exports to go only to England, ... 20

Extension of Privileges, 26

Extent of Pennsylvania, 21

Fairman, Thomas, 41, 71 ; R^llS his
House to Penn, 71 ; His Marriage,
72 ; Horseback Journeys with Penn,
74, 142 ; the Indian Tract, 269 ; Re-
surveying Manor of Moreland, 303 ;
Defends his Services, 328 ; Logan's
111 Opinion, 330 ; Notice of, ... . 330
Farmer, Edward, Interpreter, . . . .310

Ferris, Benjamin, 40, 67

Ferries on Schuylkill, 258

Fines to go to Building Court-House, 137

Finney, Capt. John, 388

Fletcher, Gov. on Penn, 212 : Com-
mission Revoked, 215

PAGE.

Flower, Enoch, School, 140

Foxes for England, 267

Fox, George, Presented with Land,
51 ; Penn's Letter to his Widow, . 171

Frame of Government, 50

Frankfort Land Company, . 130, 305, 359
Free Society of Traders, 53 ; Direc-
tors of, 54 ; Issue a Pamphlet, 54 ;

Penn's Letter to, 128

Friends Worship at Fairman's House,
42, 100; Essentially Democratic, 57;
Hold Worship at Upland, 69 ; Ac-
count of 99 ; in 1684, 94 ; Rawle's
Compliment, 195 ; McCall's, 196 ;
Bowden's, 410, 411 ; Statistics of,
403 ; Logan's Estimate, 404 ; Per-
secution of, 409, 412, 413

Fruit, Abundance of, 34

Game, Abundance of, ■. . 35

Germans, Early Arrival, 130; Found

Germantown, 132 ; make Extensive

Purchase, 360; Its Location, 362 ;

First Opposers to Slavery, .... 402
Government Indebtedness to Admiral

Penn, 17

Governor, Powers Vested in, .... 81

Governor's Earmark, 198

Grant of Pennsylvania, 17 ; of West

New Jersey, 17 ; Charter to Penn,

18 ; of Delaware 23

Grapes, Wild, Abundant, 146

Great Law Passed, 79

Growdon, Joseph, 282, 286, 340, 347;

Biographical Notice, 348

Hamilton, Gov. Andrew, 276, 278, 353,
375: his Death, 388; Gives Security
for Governor, 389

Harrison, James, Steward at Penns-
bury, 199

Harrison, Jos., Purchases West's
Treaty, 76

Hans, John, Indian Trader, 270, 271, 309

Haverford Meeting House, .... 261

Heckoqucom, Biogrf phical Sketch of, 271

Herman, Ephraim, Attorney, 66;
penn's Letter to, 68 ; Letter to Penn, 102

Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
25, 40, 67, 74, 76, 90, 182, 195, 196,
198, 222, 224, 343 ; Memoirs of, 85,
118, 125, 160, 170, 201, 225 ; Collec-
tions of, 302

Holme, Thos , Arrival, 40 ; Letter to
Indians, 41 ; Mayor of New Castle,
70 ; Surveyor ueneral, 72 ; Notice
of, 210

Hutcheson, George, on Evil Reports,

93.98

Hyde, Lord, Notice of, 90

Indians to be Kindly Treated, 24 ; to
be kept Cvil, 23 ; Markham's Rela-

INDEX.

421

PAGE.

tion to, 31 ; Treats with at Passyunk,
33 ; Their Signatures, 34 ; Perm's
Regards for, 36 ; Letters to from
Penn, 37, 40; Desires Peace with
them, 38, 49 ; On Setthng Difficulties,
50; Great J'reaty with, 74; Purchases
from, 39, 106, log, 134, 136, 155, 272,
274; Character by Penn, 120; Ex-
emption from Care, 121 ; A Bishop
Intercedes for, 127 ; Right to the Soil,
127; Christiana Befriends them, 127;
Demand Rum, 154 : Rumors About,
178 ; Their Numliers, 186 ; Moral
Improvement, 24S; Worship for,
249 ; Visits from. 259 ; 'J'heir To-
hickon Lands, 269 ; Troublesome,
270; Difficulties with, 310, 313;
Delegation to Penn, 311; King's
Palace, Conestoga, 318 ; Penn's
Travels among, 319 ; Advice to
Treat with, 324 ; Treaty with Five
Nations, 346

James Duke of York, 66 ; Cape Hen-
lopen called after him, 84 ; Penn

Gives him Manors, 89

Janney's Biography of Penn, 57, 90 ;

Errors in, 278, 319

Jasper, John, 54

Jennings, Samuel, 267

Jurors' Attestation, 95

Justices New Castle Court, 70

Key, John, first born, 104,105

King to Levy no Taxes, 22 ; Grants

Delaware, 24 ; Sends Address, . . 27
King's Highway, 264, 273

Lancaster, Penn's Journey to, .... 133

Laws, Penn's Code of, 191

Leather Stockings Used, 342

Legislator, Qualifications for, .... 81
Lehman, P.L., Penn's Secretary, . 169

Levick, James J., 55

Liberty of Conscience, 79

Limestone at Mount Joy 367

Lloyd, David, 229 ; Notice of, . . . . 230
Logan, James, Arrives with Penn,
224 ; at Philadelphia, 228 ; Early
Deeds on Lands, 297 ; on Penn's

Slaves, 291, 398, 400

Lords of Trade and Plantations, 18, 126,
163, 205, 212, 215, 219, 237,
251, 278, 279. 335, 387
Lumley, Capt., John, 270, Ship Provi-
dence, 283 ; Penn's Letter on, . . . 283

Manor of Springfield, 142, 214

Markham Sent to America, 27 ; Notice
of, 28; Penn's Instructions to, 30 ;
Arrival, 32 ; Letters from, 33 ; to
Prevent Falsehood, 38 ; Compliment
of, 43; Makes Purchases, 11 1 ;

PACE.

Agent to England, 113, 122; Son-in-
Law Brown, 237; Proposed for
Governor, 388 ; Register General, . 403
Maryland, Proclamation about, . . . 136
Masters, 'I'homas opposed to Penn, . 301
Masters, \Vm. and Letitia Penn, . . . 395
Maughhoughsin's Landon Perkiomen, 155
Members of First Assembly, .... 78

McCall, Peter, Address, 196

Middletown Monthly Meeting Rec-
ords, . . 63

Monument on Treaty Ground, ... 75
Moore, John, Attorney-General, 229, 230,
269, 379
More, Nicholas, Physician, 53; Arrival,
77; President of Assembly, 79 ; Re-
buked, 97: apt. Secretary, 102;
Provincial Judge, 163 ; His Manor,

165, 303 ; biog. sketch 166

Morris, Lewis, Letter to Penn, ... 48

Negroes, their Moral Improvement,
248 ; Worship Provided, 249 ; Slaves
at Pennsbury, 400

New Castle, Grant of, 23, 66 ; Court at,
68, 71 ; Vessels Depart Free, 77 ;
Records at, 95 : Sheriflf of, 275 ; Penn
Makes his Will, 373

New York Governors, 23, 29, 217,
278 ; Boundary Dispute, 135 ; Money
for Defence, 345

Nicholson, Gov, of Va., 224, 231, 276, 277,
278, 280, 294

Norris, Isaac on Penn, 230 ; Writes to
Ford, 253 ; to Daniel Zachary, 287,
302,348, 349; Jeffry Pennell, 306,
367; on Penn's Family, . . . 307, 318

Oaths, Scruples About, 95

Oldmixon's Account of Penn's Jour-
ney, 132 ; Orchards at Pennsbury,
336 ; Prosperity of Penn's Colony, 408

Official Corruption, 296, 302

Oliver, Evan, on Penn's Arrival, , . . 67
Owen, Dr. G!, at Chester, 226

Pamphlets, German, 304

Parmeter, John from N. Y., 239 ;

Visits Penn, 259

Pastorius, F. D., Arrival, 130; Visits

Penn, 131

Passes Required 304

Pemberton, Phineas, no, 343 ; Records

Earmarks, 198; in 111 Health, . . 383
Penington, Edward, Marriage, 235 ;

Surveyor-General, 236; Executor, . 372
Penn, Granville John, 74 ; Disposes of

West's Treaty, 76

Penn, Gulielma Maria, Manor, 142;

Notice of, . . 213

Penn, Hannah, 262,265,291, 296, 323, 326,
368, 381, 399, 400, 401, 407

422

INDEX.

PAGE.
Pcnn, John, Born in Phila., 240, 307 ;
Receives Perkasie Manor, 242 ; a
Manor on Schuylkill, 367; Religion, 402
Penn, Letitia, biog sketch, 223 ; Anx-
ious for England, 341, 407 ; Receives
Mount Joy Manor, 366, 392 ; Joy on
Return, 387 ; Marriage, 393 ; Por-
tion, 395; Declines Slaves, 399, 400;
Notice of, 391 ; Certificate of Re-
moval, 393 ; Religion, 402

Penn Manuscripts, 25

Penn, Springett, 303

Penn, Wm., Admiral, 17, Knighted,
25 ; Wife Margaret Jasper, 54 ; In-
debtedness to, 337

Penn, Wm., Proprietary ; His Charter
and Powers, 22; His Promises
therefor, 24 ; Sends Markhain to
Penna., 27; Address to Colonists,
29; Commission to Markham, 30;
The Swedes, 36; Exertions for the
Colony, 44 ; Ideas of Government,
51 ; Prepares Laws, 52 ; Opinion of
Justice, 53; Death of his Mother,
54 : Encourages Emigration, 55 ;
Departs for America, 58 ; On a
Country Life, 60 ; Address to
Friends, 61 ; Fondness for Horses,
65 ; Arrives at New Castle, 66 ; Ap-
points Justices, 67 ; Horseback
Journeys, 72, 74, 142; Visits N. Y.
and Md., 73; His Promises, 82;
Visits Lord Baltimore, 83 ; His Ex-
tensive Correspondence, 87; Send
him Evil Reports, 93, 98 ; Account
of his Late Visit, 103 ; Gift of a Lot,
105 ; Complains of West Jersey,
105 ; Presides as Judge, 108 ; At-
tachment to the Country, 112;
Writings Translated and Published,
129; Travels to the Interior, 132;
Susquehanna Purchase, 134 ; Issues
a Proclamation, 136; Presides at
Two Trials for Witch.:raft, 148 ;
Admirable Letter Writer, 161 ;
Reprimands Selling Rum to Indians,
i6i ; Appoints Provincial Judges,
163: Commissioners, 164; Settles
about River Lots, 166 ; Fretwell's
Great Tract, 167 ; Embarks on Brig
Endeavor, 168 ; Valedictory to
Friends, 168 ; Arrival in England,
169 ; Visits the King and Duke,
172 ; Writes Another Account, 173 ;
Advice to Emigrants, 179 ; Mis-
fortunes, 192 ; Called " Lord Penn,"
197; His Barge, 201,260; Advice
for Harmony, 203 : Gov. Dungan's
Opposition, 206 ; Financial Troubles,
208 ; Solicits Money, 211 ; Restora-
tion of his Province, 214 ; Union of
the Colonies, 216 ; Hannah Callow-
hill, 218; Procrastinates, 219 : Cer-

PAGE.

tificates of Removal, 220; Delivers
a Farewell Sermon, 222 ; Embarks
for America, 223 ; Family, 223 ;
Landing at Chester, 224 ; Arrives at
Phila., 227 ; Visits Markham, 229 ;
Pirates, 237 ; Indians and Negroes,
248 ; Address to Council, 249 ;
Compensation for Services, 253 ;
Gouty Attacks, 259, 273, 327, 331,
383, 388; Pocket Compass, 265; Re-
ception of Governors, 275 ; Sug-
gestions, 279; Visits Lord Bello-
mont, 278 ; Model Address, 282 ;
Exertions for a Ship, 283, 285 ; In-
disposed, 291 ; Court of Inquiry,
298; Winter in Phila., 306; On the
Death of Lord Bellomont, 308 ;
Second Trial for Witchcraft, 314 ;
Efforts to Deprive him of his Prov-
ince, 333, 336, 337, 339 ; Remark-
able Industry, 339 ; Embarra.ss-
ments, 340, 396, 413 ; Disapproves of
Swearing, 343 ; Makes a Speech to
Assembly, 344 ; Indians' Farewell,
350 ; Covenants With, 351 ; the
Germans' Tract, 360 ; Dispo.ses to
the Swedes, 365 ; New Charter of
Privileges, 369 ; Makes his Will,
371 ; Arrangements for Final De-
parture, 377; Instructions to Lo-
gan, 378, 380, 397 ; Embarks on
Ship l^ohnahoy , 380, ; Arrival in
England, 382 ; Expenditures in
Penna., 386 ; Proposes Gov. Evans,
389 ; No Financier, 395 ; Holding
Slaves, 398, 401; Children as Friends,

402 ; His Indian Names, 414

Penn and Assembly, 73, 78, 154^ 241, 250,
253, 274, 276, 282, 285, 286, 301, 334,

342. 353. 364

Penn's Benevolence, 51, 89, 105, 147, 166,
225, 227, 261, 283, 284

Penn and Council, at Phila , 96, 124, 136,
137, 140, 148, 153, 161, 203, 241, 246,
249, 253, 254, 255, 258, 259, 260, 263,
264, 273, 282, 295, 303, 306, 310, 314,
317, 327, 333,350; at New Castle,
154, 169, 285; at Lewis, 166

Penn, encomiums on, by James Clay-
poole, 47, 147 ; Pastorius, 131 ; J.
Oldmixon, 181 408; Richard Town-
send, 182 ; Ed. Armstrong, 183, 412 ;
James Parton, 184, 413 ; George
Bancroft, 185, 416 ; Amer. Encyclo-
pedia, 186 ; George Ellis, 187. 415 ;
Thos. Clarkson, 187; Jas. Bovvden,
188, 410, 416; Du Ponceau, 189,
405; S. M. Janney, 191, 414:
Moral Almanac, 191 ; Peter McCall,
196; Dixon, 409: Macaulay, 414 ;
Ed Burke, 415 ; Montesquieu, . . 416

Penn's Letters : to the Colonists, 29 ;
to Markham, 37, 76, 92, 237 ;

INDKX.

423

I'AGE.

Indians, 37, 40 ; Wife and Children,
59; E.Herman, 68; Lords of Plan-
tations, 83, 251,2 92, 388, 389 ; Earl
of Clarendon, 85 ; Lord Culpepper,
88 ; Win. Darval, 63 ; Lord Hyde,
80 ; Jasper Yates, 90 ; Col. Henry
Sidney, 113 ; Lord North, 116 ; Earl
of Sunderland, 118, 159 ; Henry
Savill, iig; Col. Thos. Taylor, 122;
John Tucker, 122; Philemon Lloyd,
123: King Charles, 125 ; Free So-
ciety of Trades, 128; Earl of Arran,
145 ; Earl of Rochester, 145 ; Mar-
quis of Halita.x, 145 ; Duke of York,
157 ; James Harrison, 169, 199 ;
Margaret Fo.\, 171 ; Thos. Lloyd,
202 ; Provincial Council, 203, 208 ;
Robert Turner, 210 ; Secretary
Vernon, 228, 247, 286 ; Col. Codring-
ton, 228, 247, 30Q ; Governor Nich-
olson, 231; Major Donaldson, 231 ;
Wm. Clark, 232 ; Gov. Blackiston,
232, 290, 313 ; John Parmeter, 239,
259 ; Gov. Nanfan, 239, 246, 252,
317, 324, 364 ; Lord Bellomont, 240,
251, 259; Sir Thos. Beeston, 242;
Gov. of Barbadoes, 242 ; Commis-
sioners of Customs, 244, 293 ; M.
Birch, 255 ; James Logan, 260, 265,
268, 269, 273, 275. 277, 322, 327, 330,
335) 34°i 383 : Owners of Ship
Providence, 283; Judge (Quarry,
288, 288 ; R. Asheton, Sheriff, 2S9 ;
Death of Lord Bellomont, 307, 308 ;
John Hans, 310 ; Col. Jenkins, 312 ;
N Y. Government, 313 ; Chas.
Lawton, 336; Duke of Devonshire
and Others, 337 ; Earl of Komney,
339 : Col. Depeister, 347

Penn's Travels : Embarks for Amer-
ica, 59,223; at Nevif Castle, 66, 70,
104, 136, 289, 370, 398; Upland and
Chester, 67, 84, 108, 225 ; Philadel-
phia, 71, 96, 98, 126,159,227,255;
East Jersey, 73 ; New York, 73, 135,
276, 278; Long Island, 73; Mary-
land, 73, 83, 320 ; Pennsbury, 93,
95, 100, III, 259, 291 ; Lewis, 103,
166, 312 ; Pericasie, 107 ; Susque-
hanna River, 132, 317, 318; Umbili-
camence, 74, 142 ; Piahewickon, 42 ;
Sinevvsickon, 74; Burlington, 235,
243 ; Neshaminy, 243 ; Embarks for
England, 16S, 378 ; Haverford, 261 ;
Welsh Friends, 262 ; Indians on
Schuylkill and Susquehanna, 319 ;
Merion, 321 ; Gwynedd, 322

Penn, Wm. Jr., Marriage, 223; Letter
to Logan, 303; Biography Sketch,
390; Character, 391 : Religion, . .409

Pennsylvania: Grant of, 17; Penn's
Petition for, 24, 25; How Named,
18, 19, 20 ; Bounds of, 21 ; Products,

I'A(;e.
33; Toleration in, 58; Divided into
Counties, 84; Prosperity of, 88, 115,
146, 408, 411; Described by Penn,
44, 85, 88, 114, 120, 132, 144; F. D.
Pastorius, 131 ; Thos. Paschall, 147;
Gabriel Thomas, 190 ; Oldmixon
408; Government Reviewed, 286;
Time Spent by Penn, 384

Pennsbury Manor, 40 ; Site for the
Mansion, 73 ; Friends hold Worship,
100; First Mentioned, III ; Account
of, 112; Residence of Penn, 153;
Provisions and Seeds from England,
170, 199; Harrison Steward, 199;
Resurveyed and Draft, 247 ; Penn's
Return, 259, 291, 322, 324, 363 ; In-
dians E.\pected,26o; Improvements,
263,267, 268, 270; On Early Map,
304 ; Cider-making, 335 ; Old-
mi.von's Visit, 336; Brew-house,
342 ; Error about, 350 ; Goods
Catalogued, 386; Condition, 400;
Neglected by Logan, 401

Pennypack and Poquessing Brif'gts,

265, 266

Perkasie Visited by Penn, 107 ; Manor
Surveyed, 242

Philadelphia, First Mentioned, 72 ;
Commerce, 116; Plan ot, 129 ; De-
scribed by Penn, 114, 128, 144, 146,
175; Prosperity, 176, 188,190,230;
Yellow Fever, 224, 227 ; Night
Watch Appointed, 258; Indian
Alarm there, 263 ; Governor's Meet-
ing, 279 ; Incorporated a City, 363 ;
Bounds of, 364 ; Penn Preaches
there, 368 ; Governor's Final De-
parture, 371 ; Population in 1702, . 404

Pirates, Troubles About, 231 ; Bra-
denham Captured, 232; Suspicions
Respecting, 233 ; Proclamation Con-
cerning, 233; Randolph's Letter,
236; Lords of Trade Thereon, 237;
James Brown Suspected, 237; Laws
"Passed Against, 241, 250, 279;
Penn's Letters Thereon, 244, 246, 247,
251. 252, 293, 317,

Population, Estimate of, 42, 131, 146, 187,
408, 411, 415

Post Offices Established, no

Prison at Upland or Chester, . . 69, 376

Proud's Pennsylvania, 129; Error in, 224

Quarry, R., Judge of Admiralty, 229, 230,
251, 284, 285, 288, 398, 413

Randolph, E., on the Quakers, . . .236

Rawlc, Wm., Address, 56, 195

Richardson, F., Arrives with Mark-
ham, 31

Richardson, John, 351

Roberts, Ranger of Phila. County, . 199

424

INDEX.

PAGE.

Routlege, John, 326; Notice of his

Family, 327

Rudman, Rev. Andrew, 365

Kum Prohibited to Indians, 32 ; De-
mand it, 154; Reprimanded, 161;
John Hans, Trader, 270, 271 ;
Penn's Opposition, 353

Sapasnick Island, 40, iii, 112

Schooling, Cost of, . . 140

Schuylkill River, 109 ; Ferries at, . . 258

Servants Chastised, 124

Shad, Abundance of, 177

Sheriffs and Coroners, 369

Shippen, Edw., Notice of, 266 ; Own-
ers of a Ship, 340 ; Mayor, 364 ;

E.xecutor, 372, 379

Shipping Increase, 42

Sidney, Col. Henry, 113

Simcoe, Major, Protects Treaty Elm, 75

Small-Po.x on the H-'elcoiite, 63

Sotcher, John, 200, 263, 310

Sotcher, John and Mary Lofty, 200;
Marriage, 354; Their Certificates,
356,357; Descendants, 358; Notice
of, 359 ; Receives a Legacy, .... 383
State Paper Office, London, 106, no, 233
Story, Thos., Account of Penn's Arri-
val, 225 ; With Penn at Burlington,
235, 243; Bucks Quarterly, 244;
Penn's Esteem for, 279 ; E.xamines

Laws, 296 ; Recorder 364

Sunderland, Earl of, 18, 85, 114

Sussex County, Troubles in, 311

Susquehanna Falls Purchase, . . 136, 274

Swedish Ambassador, 36

Swedish Houses of Worship, 42 ; Pur-
chase at Molatton, 365

i'albot, Col. George, .... 135, 157, 159

Tamanen and Wingebone, 106

Taylor, Col. Thos., 83, 112, 125

Tenill, Robert, Reprimanded, . . . 161
Thomas, Gabriel, Account of Penna,, 190

PAGE.

Toleration in Pennsylvania, 58, 79, 410,

412, 413, 415
Townsend, Richard, Arrival, .... 63
Treaty Tree, 75 ; Monument on its

Site, 75

Tribute of Beaver Skins, 21 ; A Rose

on St. Michael's Day, 23

Turner, Robert, Merchant, 19 ; Letter

to, 64; On the Germans, 132 ; Apt,

Judge, 163 ; Progress of Phila., igo ;

New Meeting Houses, 195

Umbilicamence, 74, 141, 142

Union of Colonies Proposed by Penn, 216
Union Penna. and Delaware, .... 82
Upland, Court at, 33; Account of 6g ;
Name Changed, 82 ; First Assembly, 73

Vane, Ancient, on Chester Mill, . . . 244

Venison Abundant, 34, 35, 18

Virginia Governors, . ... 277, 279

Wade, Robert, at Upland, 69 ; Wife

Lydia, 226

Wampum, Penn's Great Belt, .... 74
Warrants for Surveys, 141, 151, 167, 303,

360. 365

Watson's Annals, Error in, 351

Welcome sails for England, 76

Welsh, Arrival of, 151 ; Purchase

Large Tract 152

West, Benjamin, Paints Great Treaty, 76
West New Jersey, Grant of, 17 ;' Com-
missioners to Treat with, 105

White, George, Purchase, 162

William III. becomes King, . . 209

Witchcraft, Trial for, 148 ; Another

Charge, 314 ; Recognized by Law, . 315
Woolston, John, at Burlington, ... 72

Yates, Jasper, Penn's Reply to, 60 ;

Notice of, 92

Year to begin in March, 81

York, Duke of, Penn's Friend, 23, 25 ;

Visits him, 172

1^^-^

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Full text of "William Penn in America : or an account of his life from the time he received the grant of Pennsylvania in 1681, until his final return to England"

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