The year 1673 brought fresh persecutions to the Quakers through the passage by Parliament of the so-called Test Act, excluding all dissenters from holding office of any kind under the crown, which King Charles had been forced to sign, much against his will, since it also applied to Catholics. As the Quakers were looked upon as among the worst enemies of the established church, not only on account of their extreme candor and boldness, but also for their contempt of all outward forms of worship, their day of trial was not long delayed. George Fox was one of the first victims, and in order to secure his release Penn once more made his appearance at court after an interval of five years. His guardian and protector, the Duke of York, received him most graciously, reproached him for his long absence, and promised to use his influence with the King in Fox’s behalf. He also agreed to do all in his power to put an end to the oppressive persecution of the Friends, and dismissed Penn with the assurance that he would be glad to see him at any time or be of any service to him. The promised intercession, however, was either forgotten or without avail, for the merciless enactments against dissenters of all kinds continued as before and filled all the prisons in the country. Little wonder that their thoughts turned to emigration, in which some of their brethren had already taken refuge. For deep-rooted as is the Englishman’s attachment to his native land, even patriotism must yield to that inborn love of freedom and the higher demand of the spirit for liberty of conscience.
To Penn especially this idea appealed with irresistible force now that he had at last given up hope of ever securing these rights in England. But whither? Not in Holland or Germany was to be found the longed-for freedom. Refugees in those countries were scarcely less oppressed and persecuted than at home. It was across the sea that Penn’s thoughts flew, to the silent primeval forests of the New World, where no tyrannical power yet held sway; where every man was the builder of his own fortune and the master of his destiny, unfettered by iron-bound laws and customs; where a still virgin Nature, adorned with all the charms of a favored clime, invited to direct communion with the Creator of all things and inspired a peace of mind impossible to secure elsewhere. There was the place to found the commonwealth of which he had dreamed. All that as a boy he had heard from his father’s lips of that wondrous new Paradise beyond the seas; all that as a youth with his intense longing for freedom his fancy had painted of such an ideal community; all that as a man he had learned from the letters of emigrants who had already reached this land of promise, all this combined to create an inspiring vision that ever unfolded fresh beauties to his mind. And when, in 1676, Penn was unexpectedly brought into actual contact with this country, no doubt it seemed to him like the finger of God pointing out to him the land of his dreams.
In that year Charles the Second, who had already disposed of various English conquests and possessions in North America, made over to his brother James, Duke of York, the province of New Netherlands, ceded to him by the Dutch after their defeat in 1665. This was that fertile tract of country lying between the Delaware and Connecticut Rivers, where the Dutch West Indian Trading Company had already made some settlements. The Duke of York kept only a part of this territory, however; that which was named for him, New York. The territory between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers he gave in fee to two noblemen, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, the latter of whom, having been formerly governor of the channel island of Jersey lying off the French coast, called his part New Jersey. Both these provinces granted full freedom of government and of belief to all sects—a matter not so much of principle perhaps as of policy, to attract thither victims of the penal laws in England, for the greater the number of colonists who settled in these still sparsely populated territories, the more their value and their revenues would increase. Nor were these calculations unfounded. Hundreds of Puritans, among whom were many Quakers, took advantage of this opportunity to seek new homes, and their industry and perseverance soon brought the land to a state of most promising productiveness. Finding the care of these distant possessions burdensome, however, Lord Berkeley sold his share for a thousand pounds to one Edward Billing through his agent John Fenwick. Some dispute concerning the matter having arisen between these two men, both of whom were Quakers, Penn was chosen to settle the controversy and decided in favor of Fenwick, who had emigrated with a large party of Friends to the coast of Delaware and founded the town of Salem.
Penn’s connection with the American province did not end here. Billing, having become embarrassed in his affairs, was forced to resign his interest in the territory to his creditors, who at his request appointed Penn as one of the administrators. This office, though not altogether agreeable to him, he felt obliged to accept in the interest of the many Quakers already settled there; but if his model community were to be founded there, he must have a free hand and not be hampered by any regulations or restrictions which might be made by Sir George Carteret as joint owner of the province of New Jersey. He therefore directed his efforts to securing a division of the territory, in which he finally succeeded, Carteret taking the eastern part, while the western, being sold to the highest bidder for the benefit of Billing’s creditors, came into the sole possession of the Quakers.
For this new State of West New Jersey, Penn drew up a constitution, the chief provision of which was the right of free worship and liberty of conscience. The legislative power was placed almost entirely in the hands of the people, to be exercised by chosen representatives, while all matters of law and justice were intrusted to a judiciary the members of which were to serve for a period of not more than two years. Copies of this constitution were printed and widely circulated among the Quakers, together with a full description of the soil, climate, and natural products of the new colony. The result was amazing. Penn’s home, then at Worminghurst in Sussex, was literally besieged by would-be emigrants seeking for information, in spite of the fact that in these published pamphlets he had strongly urged that no one should leave his native land without sufficient cause and not merely from idle curiosity or love of gain. Two companies were now organized to assist in the work of emigration. The first ship carried over two hundred and thirty colonists, and two others soon following, it became necessary to establish at once a provisional government, consisting of Penn himself with three other members chosen from the two companies.
One of the first acts of the settlers, after safe arrival in the New World, was to arrive at an amicable understanding with the native tribes by paying them a good price for the land they had occupied or claimed for their hunting grounds. This was quite a new experience to the Indians, who had hitherto met with only violence and robbery from the white men—treatment for which they had usually taken bloody revenge. They willingly consented, therefore, to bargain with these peaceful strangers, so different from any they had yet seen. “You are our brothers,” they declared in their broken English,” and we will live with you as brothers. There shall be a broad path on which you and we will travel together. If an Englishman falls asleep on this pathway the Indian shall go softly by and say, ‘He sleeps, disturb him not!’ The path shall be made smooth that no foot may stumble upon it.”
It was no small advantage to these early settlers, struggling against hardships and privations to make a home in the wilderness, to be at peace with the natives and have nothing to fear from their enmity. Often indeed, when threatened with want or danger, they were supplied with the necessities of life by the grateful Indians, who knew how to value the friendship and honesty of their new neighbors.
Thus West New Jersey bade fair to develop into a favorable place for Penn to found that ideal Commonwealth of which he had so long dreamed. But in the preoccupations of this new enterprise Penn did not lose sight of the duties that lay nearest to him. Hearing that the Friends he had formerly visited in Holland and Germany were anxious to learn from his own lips of the settlement in New Jersey, he decided to make another journey to those countries, the more so as it was important to secure for the new colony as many as possible of the German artisans, who at that time held a high reputation for skill and industry.
Penn was also especially desirous of making the acquaintance of a noble lady whom Robert Barclay had first interested in the Quakers and whose influence would be of the utmost importance to the members of that persecuted sect in Germany. This was the Princess Elizabeth of the Rhine, daughter of the Elector Palatine Frederick the Fifth, afterward King of Bohemia. She was closely connected with England, her mother having been a daughter of King James the First, and was deeply interested, therefore, in all that concerned that country. At this time she was living at Herford in Westphalia and was distinguished not only for her learning, but still more for the benevolence and sincere piety that made her the friend and protectress of all persecuted Christians of whatever sect. She had learned from Robert Barclay to feel the greatest respect and admiration for the Quaker form of belief, and much was hoped from her protection.
In 1677, therefore, Penn again sailed for Holland with George Fox, Robert Barclay, and George Keith, all prominent members of the Society of Friends, in a vessel the captain of which had served under Admiral Penn. Rotterdam, Leyden, Haarlem, and Amsterdam were visited in succession and large meetings held, there being many Quakers in each of these cities. At Amsterdam George Fox was left behind to attend a general assembly or conclave, where questions of importance to the Society were to be settled, while Penn and his other two companions went on to Herford. They were most kindly received by the Princess Elizabeth, who not only permitted them to hold several public meetings, but also invited them frequently to her own apartments for religious converse, owing to which she finally became a member of the sect herself.
Robert Barclay now returned to Amsterdam to join Fox, but Penn, accompanied by Keith, who was almost as proficient as himself in the German language, journeyed on by way of Paderborn and Cassel to Frankfort-on-the-Main, where Penn preached with great effect, winning over many influential persons to his own belief. From Frankfort the two Quaker apostles went up along the Rhine to Griesheim near Worms, where a small Quaker community had been formed. Here Penn’s plan for founding a trans-atlantic State for the free worship of their religion was received with the greatest enthusiasm, and large numbers did indeed afterward emigrate to New Jersey, where they took an important place in the colony, being among the first to condemn and abolish the slavery then existing in America, and established a reputation for German worth and integrity beyond the seas.
On his return to Cologne, Penn found a letter from the Princess Elizabeth urging him to go to Mühlheim to visit the Countess of Falkenstein, of whose piety she had already told him. In endeavoring to carry out this request of his royal patroness, however, Penn and his friend met with a misadventure. At the gates of the castle they encountered the Countess’ father, a rough, harsh man with small respect for religion of any sort. He roundly abused them for not taking off their hats to him, and on learning that they were Quakers, he had them taken into custody and escorted beyond the boundaries of his estates by a guard. Here they were left alone in the darkness, at the edge of a great forest, not knowing where they were or which way to turn. After much wandering about they finally reached the town of Duisburg, but the gates were closed and in spite of the lateness of the season they were forced to remain outside till morning.
From Amsterdam Penn went to join Fox again at Friesland, improving this opportunity to make another satisfactory visit to Herford, and parting from the noble Princess as a warm friend with whom he afterward enjoyed a frequent correspondence. Not till early in the winter did the four friends return to England, and the stormy passage, together with his nocturnal adventure at Duisburg, so affected Penn’s health that for some time he was obliged to submit himself to the care of his devoted wife, especially as the importunities of prospective emigrants gave him little chance to recuperate.
The year 1678 seemingly opened with brighter prospects for those who had suffered so severely in the past for their religious beliefs. The clearest sighted members of Parliament must have realized the detriment to England when such numbers of peaceable citizens, blameless in every respect save for their form of worship, were forced to abandon their native land, taking with them their possessions and their industries, and must have realized that such persecutions must end.
Penn, in spite of being a Quaker, had won the esteem of all classes by his high character and his ability and enjoyed the confidence of some of the most influential personages in the kingdom. Hearing of this change of attitude adopted by Parliament, he laid aside for the time being all thoughts of his transatlantic commonwealth and gave himself up to the work of securing recognition of his great principle of liberty of conscience. Profiting by the favor in which he stood with the Duke of York, he endeavored to obtain through him the submission to Parliament of an Act of Toleration. The Duke looked favorably on the plan, but being himself a member of the Church of Rome, maintained that such a law should not be restricted to Protestant dissenters only, but apply also to Catholics. All seemed to be going well and Penn’s efforts bade fair to be crowned with success, when suddenly an event occurred which deferred for years the passage of this act and added fresh fuel to the fires of persecution. This was the invention of the famous Popish Plot by an infamous wretch named Titus Oates. Formerly a clergyman in the Anglican Church, he had been deprived of his living because of his shameful excesses and fled to Spain, where he joined the Jesuits. Expelled from this order also for improper conduct, he revenged himself by turning informer and swore to the existence of a conspiracy among the Jesuits to massacre all the prominent Protestants and establish the Catholic religion in England. Even the King, for permitting the persecution of Catholics in his kingdom, was not to be spared, nor the Duke of York, who was not credited with much real devotion to that faith.
It is doubtful whether there ever was any real foundation for this atrocious charge based by Oates upon letters and papers intrusted to him by the Jesuits and which he had opened from curiosity. Nevertheless the story was generally credited in spite of the absurdity of the statements of such a worthless wretch, and aroused the wildest excitement throughout the country, in consequence of which the established church, alarmed for its safety, enforced more rigorously than ever the edicts against all dissenters. Seeing his hopes of religious freedom in England once more fading, Penn bent his efforts the more resolutely toward the establishment of a haven in America. He had long ago decided the principles by which his new commonwealth was to be governed; namely, the equality of all men in the eyes of the law, full liberty of conscience and the free worship of religion, self-government by the people, and the inviolability of personal liberty as well as of personal property—a form of government which, if justly and conscientiously carried out, must create indeed an ideal community such as the world had never yet seen. Nor was it an impossibility, as was proved by the gratifying success of the New Jersey colony, where a part of these principles, at least, had already been put into practice.
But where was this model State to be founded? It must be on virgin soil, where no government of any kind already existed, and where the new ideas could be instituted from the beginning. As the most suitable spot for this purpose Penn’s glance had fixed upon a tract of land lying west of New Jersey and north of the royal province of Maryland, which had been founded in 1632 by a Catholic nobleman, Lord Baltimore, as a refuge for persecuted members of his own faith, but which also offered liberty to those of other sects. The only occupants of this territory were a few scattered Dutch and Swedish settlers, but they were so small in number and so widely separated that they need scarcely be taken into consideration as possible obstacles to Penn’s plans after the arrival of the class of colonists he favored in numbers sufficient to populate this wide extent of land. For the rest the country was still an unbroken wilderness, where one could wander for days hearing no sound but the songs of the countless birds that filled the vast forests. As to the natives, in spite of their undeniable cruelty and savage cunning when provoked or wronged, it was quite possible to make friends and allies of them by kindness and fair treatment, as the New Jersey settlers had already learned.
This was the territory of which Penn now determined to secure possession if possible, a task which promised no great difficulty, as the English crown claimed sovereignty over all that portion of North America lying between the thirty-fourth and the forty-fifth degrees north latitude, on the strength of the discovery of its coast line by English navigators. King James the First had given a patent for part of these possessions to an English company, the grant including all the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and some attempt had been made to found colonies and develop the riches of the country, but later this company was divided into two, one taking the northern portion, the other the southern. This latter, called the London Company, lost no time in fitting up a ship which entered Chesapeake Bay in 1607, sailed up the James River, and landed its passengers at what was afterward called Jamestown, the first English colony in America. These colonists were soon followed by others, and by the year 1621 the settlement had so increased that the London Company, which had retained the right of ownership, exercised through a governor, granted a written constitution to the province, which they named Virginia. In 1624, however, this company, having some disagreement with King James, was dissolved and Virginia became the property of the crown. This being followed by the voluntary withdrawal of the parties owning the northern half of the territory, the tract between the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees, known as New England, was then deeded by James to the Plymouth Company, which made no attempt at colonization itself, but sold land to others, part of which thus came into possession of the Puritan emigrants.
In 1639, however, during the reign of Charles the First, their charter expired and the lands still belonging to them, including what were afterward the States of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, again reverted to the crown. The district lying between the Delaware and Hudson Rivers had been claimed by the Dutch—Hudson, the English navigator who discovered it, having been then in the service of Holland; and here between Delaware Bay and the Connecticut River they had founded their colony of New Netherlands. In 1655 the adjoining territory on the west bank of the Delaware, comprising the present State of Delaware and the southern part of Pennsylvania, had been bought from the Indians by a Swedish trading company at the instigation of King Gustavus Adolphus and a settlement founded under the name of New Sweden. Not proving the commercial success hoped for, this was afterward abandoned. England’s acquisition of New Netherlands as the prize of her naval victories over Holland, the formation of the colonies of New York and New Jersey, the possession of the latter by the Quakers and the drafting of its constitution by William Penn,—all these have been related in the preceding chapter.
The territory which Penn now had in mind, therefore, had belonged to the crown since the dissolution of the Plymouth Company and was again at the disposal of the King. As to Penn’s confidence in his ability to obtain possession of it without difficulty, it will be remembered that he had inherited from his father a claim of fifteen thousand pounds against the royal exchequer. As neither the King nor the Duke of York were able to repay this sum, the unpaid interest on which, during the ten years since the admiral’s death, amounted to more than a thousand pounds, Penn felt sure the King would welcome a proposal to cede this tract of land in America as payment of his claim—certainly a simple method of releasing himself from this large debt.
But the affair was not to be so easily settled after all, for the time was past when the sovereign had absolute power to dispose of crown possessions as he would, the privy council now having a voice in the matter, and to obtain their consent was difficult, Penn’s ideas in regard to the government of this new State being regarded not only as preposterous, but also as dangerous to itself and to the crown. He was urged, therefore, by his friends to make no mention of his real purpose in his petition to the King, lest he be forced to renounce his long-cherished plan. Although he accepted this prudent advice, there were still many obstacles to overcome, owing to the difficulty of defining any exact boundaries in that trackless wilderness and the precautions necessary to incorporate in the patent all possible security for the maintenance of crown prerogatives.
While the matter was still before the council and the result by no means certain, Penn took advantage of an opportunity which offered itself of becoming a joint owner of New Jersey, by which, even should his petition be refused, his plans could still be carried out in that province, if only on a small scale. Sir George Carteret, tired of his colonial possessions, offered to sell his ownership, and Penn, with a number of others, concluded the purchase. Again the public confidence in him and his enterprises was shown by the haste with which hundreds of families, especially from Scotland, took advantage of the liberal terms offered to emigrants in his published prospectus and enrolled their names as future colonists. At length, after much deliberation, and owing largely to the influence of the Duke of York, to whom Penn had again applied for assistance, the council agreed to comply with his proposal, partly also, perhaps, from the fear that in case they refused Penn might insist upon the payment of his debt, for which at the moment no means were available.
On the twenty-fourth of February, 1681, the King signed the deed granting to Penn the absolute ownership of all that territory extending from the Delaware River to Ohio on the west and as far as Lake Erie on the north, covering an area equal to the whole of England, and the fifth of March, at a special meeting of the privy council, this patent was delivered to Penn in the presence of the King. As evidence of His Majesty’s high good-humor on this occasion, a popular anecdote is told. As Penn, according to the Quaker custom, neither took off his hat on the King’s entrance nor made the usual obeisance, Charles quietly removed his own hat, although it was the royal prerogative to remain covered on entering an assembly of any kind. To Penn’s astonished query as to the reason for this unusual proceeding he replied smilingly, “It is the custom at court for only one person to remain covered.”
Another proof of the King’s satisfaction at thus being freed from his indebtedness to Penn was shown in choosing a name for the new province. Penn at first suggested New Wales, on account of the mountainous character of the country, but one of the councillors, who was a Welshman and none too well disposed toward the Friends, objected to the idea of giving the name of his native land to an American Quaker colony. His new domain being as thickly wooded as it was hilly, Penn then proposed Sylvania, which met with general approval, the King, however, insisting that Penn’s own name should be placed before it, making Pennsylvania or “Penn’s woodland.” In vain he protested that this would be looked on as vanity in him. Charles would hear of no denial, declaring good-naturedly that he would take the whole responsibility on himself. The name of Pennsylvania was inserted in the patent, and Pennsylvania it remained.
This document is still in existence, carefully preserved among the State archives. It is written in old English script on a roll of stout parchment, each line underscored with red ink and the margins adorned with drawings, the first page bearing the head of King Charles the Second. It was a proud and joyful moment for Penn when he received this deed from the King’s hand, marking the first and most important step toward the realization of his dreams. “It is a gift from God,” he declared reverently. “He will bless it and make it the seed of a great nation.”
The patent conferred upon the new owner the right to divide the province into counties and municipalities; to incorporate towns and boroughs; to make laws with the people’s consent; to impose taxes for public purposes; to muster troops for the defence of the State, and to execute the death sentence according to martial law—all on condition that no laws should be made in opposition to those existing in England, that the royal impost on all articles of commerce should be lawfully paid and allegiance to the crown duly observed. In case of failure to comply with these conditions the King reserved the right to assume control of Pennsylvania in his own person until he should be indemnified to the full value of the land. Parliament also reserved the right to impose taxes on the colonists. By the express desire of the Bishop of London it was stipulated that should twenty or more of the inhabitants of the province desire the services of a clergyman of the established church, he should be permitted to dwell among them unmolested. Lastly, Penn, the owner, in recognition that the land was held in fee of the English crown, was to pay an annual tribute to the King of England of two bear-skins, with the fifth part of all gold and silver found in Pennsylvania at any time.
Penn set to work at once upon the task of drawing up a constitution for his new colony, “with reverence before God and good-will toward men,” as he states in the introduction to this instrument. The sovereign power was to be exercised by the governor, Penn himself, jointly with the citizens of the commonwealth. For legislative purposes a council of seventy-two was to be chosen by the people, one-third of which number was to retire at the end of every year and be replaced by others selected in the same way. This council was to frame laws and superintend their execution; to maintain the peace and security of the province; to promote commerce by the building of roads, trading posts, and harbors; to regulate the finances; to establish schools and courts of justice and generally do all that should be required to promote the welfare of the colony. The only prerogative claimed by Penn for himself was that he and his lawful heirs and successors should remain at the head of this council and have the right of three votes instead of one.
In addition to the council of state there was to be an assembly which at first was to include all free citizens of the State, but later, when their number became too large, to consist of not more than five hundred members, to be chosen annually. All laws made by the council must be submitted for approval or rejection to this assembly, which also had the right to select candidates for public offices, of whom at least half must be accepted by the governor.
These were the outlines of Penn’s masterly scheme of government, to which were added some forty provisional laws to remain in force until such time as a council of state could be chosen. These included entire freedom of religious belief and worship, any molester of which was to be punished as a disturber of the peace, and the prohibition of all theatrical performances, games of chance, drinking bouts, sports that involved bloodshed or the torture of animals—all, in short, that could encourage cruelty, idleness, or godlessness. Prisoners must work to earn their support. Thieves must refund double the amount stolen or work in prison until the sum was made up, and all children above the age of twelve years must be taught some useful trade or occupation to prevent idleness. Many of these provisional laws and regulations have remained permanently in force in Pennsylvania, the council being unable to substitute anything better, and their wisdom has been amply proved by the experience of more than two hundred years.
This newly acquired territory, which was henceforth to absorb all Penn’s attention, lay to the north of Maryland and west of New Jersey, of which Penn was now joint owner, reaching from the Delaware River on the east to the Ohio on the west, and north as far as Lake Erie. The eastern and western boundaries were well defined by these two rivers, but on the north and south the lines had yet to be agreed upon with the owners of the adjoining colonies—no easy matter where the land was largely primeval forest, untrodden by human foot save for the Indians who traversed it on their hunting expeditions. The greater part of the tract was occupied by the various ranges of the Allegheny Mountains, whose bare rocky peaks offered no very inviting prospect and held out few hopes as to a favorable climate. But wherever trees could find nourishment for their roots, dense forests extended, untouched as yet by any axe, while verdant meadows lined the countless streams that descended from the mountain heights to empty their waters into the Allegheny and Susquehanna Rivers which flowed through the middle of the State. The only outlet to the ocean was through the Delaware River, which opened into Delaware Bay, where there was a good harbor.
The climate of the country was a diversified one. While in the mountain regions the winters were severe, the eastern slopes toward the Atlantic Ocean, as well as those in the northwest toward the Ohio River and Lake Erie, enjoyed a temperate climate with often great heat in the summer. In these regions the soil was rich and fruitful, promising bountiful returns to the settler after he had once succeeded in clearing the land and making room for the plough. The forests, almost impenetrable in places with masses of sumach bushes and climbing vines, furnished almost every kind of wood already known to the English colonists: cedar, cypress, pine, and sycamore, as well as the full-blooming tulip tree, which flourished in sheltered spots. Game of all sorts abounded and the streams were full of fish. The most delicious grapes and peaches, chestnuts and mulberries grew wild in protected places, and flowers of tropical gorgeousness greeted the eyes of astonished settlers. The gold and silver of which King Charles had been so careful to reserve a share were not found in the province, but there was plenty of iron and an inexhaustible supply of the finest coal. Also there were valuable salt springs, as well as those useful materials, lime, slate, and building stone. In short, it was a country well fitted to supply every need of the settler and offering magnificent prospects for the future.
To be sure, it was inhabited by several tribes of Indians, chief of which were the Lenni Lennapes in the southern part and the Iroquois in the northern, but if they were disposed at first to regard with suspicion this invasion of their domains, they soon found the newcomers fair and honest in their dealings with them and willing to pay for the right to settle there, like the New Jersey colonists. Indeed these semi-savage natives seemed to place little value on the permanent possession of the land over which they claimed sovereignty. They had no fixed abiding place, but roamed about at will, settling down for a time where the hunting was especially good or the streams promised to fill their nets with fish. So long as they were free to hunt and fish as they chose and their women had a small piece of open ground in which to prepare the maize cakes that served them for bread, no hostile attacks were to be feared from them.
Penn himself little suspected that he had received an empire in exchange for his claim against the crown, nor did he realize as long as he lived the full value of his newly acquired territory. The idea of enriching himself or his family was as far from his thoughts as it had been close to his father’s. With him it was purely a question of obtaining a home for his ideal Commonwealth, and he refused all the offers to purchase rights of trade there that poured in upon him as soon as the patent had been granted, even though he was in great need of money at the time and although the sale of such rights was not only perfectly legitimate, but no more than any other in his position would have done without hesitation. One merchant, for instance, offered him six thousand pounds, besides two and a half per cent of the yearly profits, for the exclusive right to trade in beaver hats between the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers. Penn was resolved that trade in his colony should be no more restricted than personal liberty or freedom of conscience, and the more widely his principles of government became known, the larger grew the number of would-be emigrants who wished to settle there. He soon found himself so overrun with agents wishing to consult him as to the sale of lands or the formation of trading companies that he scarcely knew which way to turn. There was hardly a city in the three kingdoms that did not send messengers or petitions, while offers came even from Holland and Germany, where Penn was so well known.
Emigration companies were also formed for the foundation of settlements on a larger scale. To one of these, in Frankfort-on-the-Main, Penn deeded a tract of fifteen thousand acres along the banks of a navigable river, with three hundred acres in the interior on which to found the capital of the new State. A trading company in Bristol concluded a contract for the purchase of twenty thousand acres and set to work at once to fit out a ship, while in London, Liverpool, and Bristol emigrants gathered in such numbers that Penn soon had no fear as to the settlement of his colony. Among these, it is true, were many adventurers in search of a fortune only, which they hoped to make more quickly and easily under Penn’s form of government than elsewhere. But by far the greater number were victims of oppression, seeking to escape the endless persecutions to which they were subjected at home on account of their religious opinions, and taking with them little but good resolution and a pair of useful hands.
Immediately on receiving the patent Penn despatched his cousin, Colonel Markham, with three ships to take possession of the new province in his name, to arrange with Lord Baltimore as to the doubtful boundary lines on the south, and above all to make friends with the Indians by concluding a formal treaty with them for the purchase of such lands as they laid claim to. The kindliness of his nature made it impossible for him to treat the unfortunate natives as other Europeans had done, driving them ruthlessly from their own hunting grounds wherever the land was worth taking possession of and forcing them as far as possible into slavery. The Spanish explorers especially, in their insatiable thirst for gold, had even robbed them of all the precious metals and pearls they had and endeavored by the most shameful cruelty to extort from them knowledge of the location where they found the gold of which their ornaments were made. If they offered the slightest resistance or took up arms to defend themselves or regain their liberty, they were hunted like wild beasts by bloodhounds trained for that purpose, or fell in heaps before the murderous bullets against which their arrows were of no avail. Even the Puritan settlers of New England, who should have practised the Christian virtues of justice and humanity, were guilty of many acts of cruelty and treachery toward the red men, with whom they were perpetually at warfare in consequence.
Penn hoped, by the use of gentler methods, to win the confidence of the Indians, who must have already discovered from the New Jersey settlers that all white men were by no means like those with whom they had first come in contact. It was necessary, in fact, if his colony were to enjoy permanent peace and security, and in spite of the ridicule which such humane ideas was likely to evoke, Markham was charged with the strictest instructions in this regard. He was a bold and determined man, devoted to his kinsman Penn, the wisdom and purity of whose ideas he fully appreciated in spite of his soldierly training. On his arrival in Pennsylvania he lost no time in concluding a treaty with the chiefs or sachems of the principal tribes, conveying to Penn for a fixed sum all lands claimed by them with the solemn assurance in his name that no settler should ever molest or injure them. The next two ships which came over from England brought three agents authorized to make further treaties of peace and friendship, thus strengthening the work begun by Markham, and also an address written by Penn himself to be read to the Indians, expressing it as his earnest wish “by their favor and consent, so to govern the land that they might always live together as friends and allies.”
Markham was less fortunate, however, in his negotiations with Lord Baltimore concerning the doubtful boundary lines, which, if not definitely fixed, were likely to prove a source of much contention. The existence of a Quaker colony adjoining his own province was by no means pleasing to the Catholic nobleman, who, if left to himself, would have done all in his power to prevent its foundation. The matter was only settled by the King’s personal interference in Penn’s behalf, and then only a temporary decision was arrived at, the Duke of York’s influence having finally to be brought to bear before everything could be arranged satisfactorily for the future prosperity of the new State. Pennsylvania, as already mentioned, had but one direct outlet to the Atlantic Ocean. Should this be cut off or obstructed at any time by enemies, it would be ruinous to the trade of the colony. Penn therefore determined to acquire if possible a strip of land forming the west shore of Delaware Bay on the peninsula extending between Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, the possession of which was indispensable for the protection of Pennsylvania’s trading vessels. After much negotiation this was accomplished with the Duke of York’s aid and the sovereign rights to this piece of coast granted to Penn and his heirs forever. This removed the last obstacle to his undisputed possession of the new territory and its successful development, and he was now free to cross the Atlantic and assume the government in person.
Just at this time, however, a great misfortune befell him in the sudden death of his mother, that tender guardian of his childhood, friend and mediator of his troubled youth, and devoted sharer of the hopes and plans of his manhood, whose support and sympathy had never failed him. So overwhelmed with grief was he by this loss that for a time his health was seriously affected and it was many weeks before he recovered his peace of mind. This sad event also added to Penn’s difficulties. Being unwilling to take his wife and children with him on this first voyage, he had hoped to leave them under his mother’s wise and experienced guardianship, in which case he could have parted from them with good heart, feeling sure that all would be well during his absence. This was now no longer possible, however, and another anxiety was added to his load.
In these days of swift and luxuriously appointed steamships, when the voyage from Europe to America is so quickly and comfortably made, it seems strange to think of regarding it with so much anxiety and apprehension; but in Penn’s time steamships were unknown and travellers had to depend on clumsy sailing vessels, entirely at the mercy of the winds, while the passage, now made easily in from five to seven days, then required at least six weeks, and sometimes, with contrary winds, double that. And aside from the dangers of such a sea voyage, what unknown experiences awaited them in that distant land, where homes must be hewed out from the wilderness, where privation and hardships of every sort must be endured, where death indeed by Indian tomahawk or knife was possible at any moment! Under these circumstances even so brave and resolute a man as William Penn might well feel anxiety over such a voyage and its outcome. For a time he did think of taking with him the wife and children from whom he found it so hard to part, that he might watch over them himself; but the giant task awaiting him beyond the sea claimed all his mind and strength and he feared the care of a family at such a time might defeat the whole purpose of his journey, to say nothing of his dread of exposing them to the dangers and uncertainties of a life of which he had heard more than enough from those who had already experienced it. But Penn had firm faith in God and in the righteousness of a cause which aimed not at personal gain but the bodily and spiritual welfare of thousands, and which if it succeeded must result in the creation of a veritable earthly Paradise. He therefore did all that lay in his power to further it and left the issue in the hands of Providence.
Before leaving he made a sort of testament containing his parting instruction’s to his dear ones, to be kept ever before their eyes. In this he laid particular stress on the proper education of his children, who, if all went well, would one day be called to govern the State of Pennsylvania, and charged his wife to live as economically as possible in other respects, but to spare nothing to this end. The two sons, Springett and William, were to be thoroughly grounded in all branches of knowledge necessary to their future position, especially in agriculture, shipbuilding, surveying, and navigation. The only daughter, Letty or Letitia, was to receive also a suitable training in all domestic affairs. Above all, they were to be taught piety and the fear of God and to strive with all their strength to attain these virtues. “Let your hearts be righteous before the Lord and put your trust in Him,” he concluded; “then no one will have power to harm or injure you.”
Autumn was already approaching before theWelcome, which was to carry Penn across the ocean, was ready to set sail. It was a fine vessel of three hundred tons and larger than most ships crossing the Atlantic in those days, but even its capacity was taxed to the utmost, for more than a hundred colonists, mostly of the wealthier class, were eager to make the voyage with the owner of the new province, and each had to carry sufficient provisions to last possibly for twelve or fourteen weeks. Even then many who had been accustomed to a life of ease and luxury were forced to content themselves with scanty rations lest the supply give out. The quantity of luggage of all sorts required by so many persons was also no small matter, although no one was allowed to carry any material for house fittings, such as doors or windows, but Penn himself, who also took with him a horse. The hold of the ship was full and even the deck lined with chests and boxes when at last, on the first of September, 1682, theWelcomewas ready to start on her journey. As soon as Penn had come on board after parting with his family, the anchor was lifted and the good ship sailed away from Deal, followed by the prayers and benedictions of thousands.
It was already late in the season and a dangerous, trying winter voyage was before them, should the passage prove a long one. The winds were fair, however, and all promised well, when the alarming discovery was made that an unmarked and unwelcome guest was on board; namely, the smallpox, one of the worst diseases that could have broken out, since on a crowded vessel it was impossible to prevent infection by isolating the patients. At first the epidemic seemed so mild it was not thought necessary to turn back, but it gradually grew more and more malignant and raged to such an extent that for three weeks deaths were of daily occurrence and more than half of the ship’s company were swept away. There was no physician of any kind on board, but Penn labored heroically to relieve the sufferers, placing all his supplies at their disposal, watching by their bedsides, and endeavoring to banish by the word of God the deadly fear that accompanies contagious diseases. But it was of no avail. Day after day death continued to claim its toll. After the horrors of such an experience, it may be imagined with what joy and rapture the first sight of the shores of America was hailed by those who had survived that terrible nine weeks’ voyage.