B>lo3/ to - h MEMOIRS HISTORICAL SOCIETY PENNSYLVANIA, VOL. I. BEING A REPUBLICATION. EDITED BY EDWARD ARMSTRONG, MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP PENNSTLVANU. PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY McCARTY AND DAVIS, No. 171 High Stkebt. 1826. PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., FOR THE mSTOKICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 1864. ADVERTISEMENT FIRST EDITION. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania commences the publication of its transactions with the present number, and with the expectation of being able to issue a work of equal size every six months. From the miscellaneous nature of the subjects, it is obvious that an adherence to chronological order would not be easy. The Society does not undertake to compose a history; its desire is to collect materials for history. Eemote and recent periods will, therefore, sometimes be found in immediate contact or anachronous succession : the transactious of the seventeenth century may follow those of the nineteenth. But, although historical order is impossible, the want of it, it is hoped, will not impair the interest which such collections usually excite ; and the variety of the facts may compensate for the irregularity of the arrangement. (V) Vi ADVERTISEMENT. The Circular Letter already extensively communicated is included in the present publication ; and it is requested that every reader will consider it addressed to himself. On a general compliance with the wishes expressed in it, the Society founds its hopes of permanence and useful- ness. With the second half-volume an index to the ^vhole will be given. Philadelphia, December, 1825. EDITORIAL NOTE. A LIMITED edition of the first volume of the Memoirs, which appeared in 1826, having been printed, and copies now being very scarce, the trustees hope that the accom- panying republication of it will be acceptable to the sub- scribers. Notes have been added where it was thought by the editor desirable to illustrate the text. The trustees, in the course of the year, propose to print an additional volume, containing the autobiography and correspondence of Mr. Peter S. Du Ponceau, the late Presi- dent of the Society; to which a brief memoir will be pre- fixed. m In connection with this intimation they desire to say that they will feel obliged for copies of any letters of Mr. Du Ponceau, with which those possessing the originals may be disposed to favor them. The publication of the History of the Town of Beth- lehem, and which the trustees believed they would before this have been able to present, has been delayed by causes beyond control. The volume will be issued as soon as practicable. Philadel1>hia, July 20, 1864. (vii) THE HISTOEICAL SOCIETY OF PENIN^SYLYANIA.* The want of a Historical Society of Pennsylvania haa been felt for generations. Although, however, various thoughtful and patriotic individuals have taken means to preserve records of the Colony and State, a sufficient com- bination was not formed to achieve this purpose in an effectual manner till December 2, 1824 ; which point, therefore, dates as the origin of the present association. At an earlier period, and during the colonial condition of the settlement, extensive records were kept by more than one religious body, and a constant intercourse with England kept Pennsylvania as much before the public mind as it may have been thought to deserve ; while, at an after moment, the writings of Voltaire and other imaginative authors may, perhaps, have made the infant combination so noted as to do away with any urgency for a history so obscure and remote. The Revolutionary war involved interests on a larger scale, and was connected by many with theoretical views of the rights and destinies of the human race at large ; and the quiet settlement in * This sketch was prepared by Dr. Coates, and is reprinted from a pamphlet recently published by the Society. 1 (i^) X S K E T C II F a vast forest became, in compaiison, an object of Ijut little attention. When the war was over, and men had time to breathe from the involvement of great interests and from desperate struggles, calmer minds soon recollected the necessity of more adequate means for the preservation of records. Then it was found that impediment arose from the divergency of views and habits. Impressions remaining from military and political struggles, and existing differ- ences of religious opinions and feelings, were hard to reconcile in a common labor until the period we have mentioned. The names of the members present at the inauguration meeting were Roberts Vaux, Stephen Duncan, Thomas I. Wharton, William Rawle, Jr., Dr. Benjamin H. Coates, Dr. Caspar Wistar, and George Washington Smith. It was well understood that the late eminent William Eawle, Jr., and John F. Watson, though personally absent, were to be considered as present, and they are therefore in the category of foundation members. Several other gentlemen gave their attendance at the preliminary conferences, and, it is believed, at some of the regular meetings, the minutes of which are not preserved. At the first annual election, held February 28, 1825, the Society, which had hitherto appointed Roberts Vaux as Chairman, filled the place of President with the late William Rawle, Sr. ; and the Vice Presidents were Roberts Vaux and Thomas Duncan, the Corresponding Secretary, Daniel B. Smith, and the Record- ing Secretary, G. Washington Smith. On the ISth of May, the Council, under the constitution, held its first THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. XI meeting. In this body, besides the names already given, we find those of Dr. Thomas C. James, "William Rawle, Jr., Thomas H. White, Dr. Samuel Jackson (Professor), William Mason Walmsley, and Gerard Ralston. On the 3d of October, 1825, ten committees were appointed, containing many names, to report, with delibe- ration, on as many subdivisions into which an examination of the historical records of Pennsylvania were supposed to be naturally divided. Some of these committees re- ported ; but a larger number omitted to do so, although the inquiries thus set on foot gave rise to some subsequent papers. In December, 1825, the publication of the Memoirs was commenced. Most of these were newly compiled essays, with some orations, all intended to introduce the respective subjects ; but the volumes included a few original docu- ments. They were continued till 1840, in four volumes. In 1845-1848, a volume was issued under the title of " Bulletin ;" and, after the formation of the Publication Fund, the Memoirs were resumed, with an enlarged page and in a finer style, by fifth, sixth, and seventh volumes, as far as 1860. Of later years, with the growth of Philadelphia, and by the exertions of active and influential members, the magnitude, and, it is to be hoped, the usefulness of the Historical Societ}^, have been greatly increased. Citizens at large have taken more interest in its advancement ; its library at length amounts to 7000 volumes ; and a hand- some collection of portraits of Governors of the State and of other distinguished individuals, with several landscape Xll SKETCH OF views of intercHting localities, hang on its walls; the number of vahiablc relics in its possession is augmented, and is still growing; funds preserved for a ])uilding, for publication, for binding the books, etc., now in total amount exceed nineteen thousand dollars; and very liberal contributions in books, and, in one instance, of relics that cannot be replaced, has been received from the Govern- ments of the United States, of Pennsylvania, and of Great Britain, as well as from foreign and American Societies, and from the family of William Penn. Valuable and important legacies are promised for the future. Still, it is necessary for truth and for the objects of the Society to say that there is, and for a long coming period can be, no provision for the increase and completion of its library, other than in the liberality of its friends; and the Society, therefore, is yet in need of such donations as may be worthy of preservation, and may correspond with the views of persons who value and wish to promote these inquiries. In some departments of American history the collection is as yet very incomplete, and the Executive Committee have it at present in view to take measures for extending it, so that the student may find, in these points, all the references needed for his researches. For the erection of a fire-proof hall, too, a "Building Fund" has been commenced, for which twenty-five hundred dollars have been collected, and it is hoped that the obvious need for such a protection may induce the liberal to aid in the undertaking. ^ The Publication Fund was commenced in 1854, and now amounts to upwards of seventeen thousand dollars, THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. xiil held in trust by John Jordan, Jr., Oswald Thompson, and William Strong. A payment of twenty dollars obtains the right to receive, during life, a copy of each publication. For libraries this pri^olege continues twenty years. There have been published since its foundation : In 1856, The History of Braddock's Expedition. In 1858, Contributions to American History. In 1860, Record of Upland, and Denny's Military Journal. There is in preparation for publication : The History of the Town of Bethlehem, and of the Moravian Settlements in Northeastern Pennsyl- vania, from original sources, in large octavo, handsomely illustrated- IlISTOllICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLYAINIA. OFFICERS FOR 1864. PRESIDENT, JOSEPH 11. INGERSOLL. VICE PRESIDENTS, JOSHUA FRANCIS FISHER, GEORGE CHAMBERS, OP Chambersburg, BENJAMIN H. COATES, JOHN WILLIAM WALLACE. treasurer, CHARLES M. MORRIS. RECORDING SECRETARY, SAMUEL L. SMEDLEY. CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, HORATIO G. JONES. LIBRARIAN, SAMUEL L. TAYLOR. LIBRARY COMMITTEE, JOHN JORDAN, Jr, JOHN A. McAllister, RICHARD L. NICHOLSON. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE, WILLIAM DUANE, REY. DANIEL WASHBURN, JAMES R. SNOWDEN. FINANCE COMMITTEE, JOSEPH CARSON, AUBREY H. SMITH, EDMUND A. SOUDER. (xiv) CONSTITUTION. Article I — This Association shall be called "The Historical Society of Pennsylvania," — and its object shall be the elucidation of the history of this State, though other branches of history shall not be excluded. Art. II. — The Society shall be composed of such persons as have been, or may be, elected, from time to time, according to its laws and regulations. Art. III. — The officers of the Society shall be annually chosen, by a majority of ballots, at the stated meeting in February, and shall consist of a President, four Vice Presidents, a Corresponding Secre- tary, a Recording Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Librarian. The candidates for all offices shall be nominated at the stated meeting in January, and no new candidates shall be nominated at the stated meeting in February, except by unanimous consent. Art. TV. — It shall be the duty of the President, or in his absence, of a Vice President, to preside at the meetings of the Society, to preserve order, regulate debates, to state motions and questions, and to announce the decisions thereupon. If neither the President nor any of the Vice Presidents be present at a meeting, the Society may choose a member to act as President at that meeting. Art. Y. — The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct and have charge of the correspondence of the Society. (XV) Xvi CONSTITUTION. Art. VI. — The Recording Secretary shall keep full and correct minutes of the proceedings of the Society, and shall have thera transcribed into a book of record. lie shall give due notice of any special meeting that may be called, and shall notify all members of their election. Art. VII. — The Treasurer shall have charge of the moneys and other funds belonging to the Society. He shall collect the contri- butions of the members and other income of the Society, and shall pay such claims against the Society as shall have been duly examined and ordered to be paid. He shall annually present, at the stated meeting in January, a statement of his receipts and expenditures during the preceding year, with a full report on the financial condition of the Society. Art. VIII. — The Librarian shall have charge of the books, manu- scripts, and other property in the rooms of the Society, and shall arrange and preserve the same in proper and convenient order. He shall keep an arranged catalogue of the books and manuscripts, and, where these have been presented, shall append the names of the donors. His compensation shall be fixed by the Executive Com- mittee, and the details of his duties shall be prescribed by the Com- mittee on the Library. At the stated meeting in January he shall annually present a report to the Society, embracing an account of his administration of the library, and of its condition during the preceding year. Art. IX. — There shall be the following Standing Committees, each to be composed of three members of the Society, viz.: 1st, Com- mittee on the Library ; 2d, Committee on Publications ; 3d, Com- mittee on Finance. The members thereof shall serve for the term of three years ; one of each Committee shall be elected annually at the stated meeting of the Society in February. Those elected in 1862 shall draw lots for their respective terms of one, two, and three years. The members of these Committees, together with the other oflEicers of the Society, shall form an Executive Committee, of which CONSTITUTION. XVU five shall constitute a quorum, which shall meet at the hall on the fourth Monday of every month. Members of the Society have the right to attend the meetings of every Committee, to introduce motions, and to speak thereon, and to vote at any election for mem- bers of the Society. In order that the meetings of the Society shall be free for the reading of papers or for discussions on historical and literary subjects, the business of the Society shall be transacted by the Executive Committee, any member of which, however, shall have the right to call for the ayes and nays on any question to be entered on the minutes, and to bring the same, by appeal, before the Society ; in which case the list of ayes and nays, together with the notice of the appeal, shall form a part of the record, and be laid before the next meeting of the Society. Art. X. — Vacancies which may occur in any of the above-named offices shall be filled by an election at the next stated meeting after such vacancy shall have been announced to the Society. Art. XI. — The Society shall hold stated meetings on the second Monday evening of every month. Special meetings may be called by the President or one of the Vice Presidents, by giving at least three days' notice thereof in not less than two of the daily news- papers published in the city of Philadelphia. The members present at any meeting shall constitute a quorum. Art. XII. — No alteration shall be made in this Constitution unless the proposed amendments shall have been drawn up in writing, and read to the Society at three successive monthly stated meetings. Nor shall any such amendment be considered as adopted unless sanctioned by the votes of three-fourths of the members present at the meeting when the question shall be taken upon its adoption. LAWS. Article I. — The election of members shall be by ballot, at any stated meeting of the Society or of the Executive Committee. Those members shall be deemed qualified voters at the meetings and elections XVlll CONSTITUTION. who have paid their dues to the Society. A member may at any meeting nominate, in writing, a candidate for membership, and if the said candidate shall receive a majority of the votes cast, he shall be deemed duly elected. On request of three members, the balloting on any candidate shall be postponed to the next stated meeting. A viva voce vote on the election of a member may be taken, if so ordered. The balloting being gone through, the boxes shall be opened, and the result of the poll declared by the presiding officer. The written nominations of the members elected shall be preserved by the Secretary for future reference. Art. II. — Such members as reside within the city of Philadelphia shall pay an annual contribution of three dollars. The payment of twenty dollars at one time, by a member, shall constitute him a mem- ber for life, with an exemption from all future annual payments. Any member liable to an annual contribution, who shall neglect or refuse to pay the same for the term of two years, may, by the action of the Executive ComAittee, have his rights as a member suspended, and in case the said arrears are not paid when the third annual contri- bution shall have become due, the membership of such defaulting member may then be forfeited, and his name stricken from the roll. Art. III. — On the Society being informed of the death of a mem- ber, the fact shall be entered on the records, and a member may be appointed to prepare an obituary notice of the deceased. The obit- uary notices of members shall be read to the Society, and they shall be bound together whenever they are sufficiently numerous to form a volume. Art. IV. — The Committee of Finance shall have the general super- intendence of the financial concerns of the Society ; they shall audit and certify all bills for payment by the Treasurer ; they shall always have access to his books, accounts, and vouchers, and shall examine and audit his annual report, as well as those of the Trustees of the special funds of the Society. They shall consult with the Treasurer, and authorize and direct the investment of surplus funds. CONSTITUTION. XIX Art. V. — The Committee of Publication shall superintend the printing and distribution of such publications as may be ordered to be made by the Trustees of the Publication Fund. They shall have power to call on the Librarian for his assistance in the performance of their duties. Art. YI. — The Committee on the Library shall confer with and direct the Librarian in the general care and management of the library, and shall control the disbursement of such appropriations as may be made by the Society for its increase and maintenance, as well as in the disposition and arrangement of the books, maps, documents, and paintings belonging to the Society. Art. VII. — All special Committees shall be chosen on nomi- nations made by members present, unless the Society shall otherwise direct. The member first named of any committee shall be the chairman. Art. YIII. — A majority of any committee shall be a quorum. Special committees shall report at the meeting next after that at which they were appointed, unless otherwise ordered by the Society. All reports shall be in writing, and signed by the members agreeing thereto. Art, IX. — The Librarian shall attend at the library at such hours as the Executive Committee shall, from time to time, direct ; and the rooms shall be opened on every Monday evening, between the hours of 8 and 10, except during June, July, and August. Art. X. — No alteration or amendment of the laws and regulations of the Society shall be made or considered, unless the same shall have been duly proposed and fairly drawn up in writing at one stated meeting of the Society, and laid over for consideration and enactment at the next stated meeting ; nor shall any such alteration, amendment, or regulation be considered as passed or binding upon the members, unless the same be sanctioned by the vote of three-fourths of the number of qualified members then present. XX CONSTITUTION. Art. XI. — The laws and regulations contained in the foregoing articles shall be in force from and after the time of their adoption by the Society, and thereafter all other laws and regulations heretofore made by the Society, and not contained in its Constitution, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed. ORDER OF BUSINESS. I. The chair taken by the presiding officer. II. New members presented, and visitors from other Societies introduced. III. Records read of last meeting, and of any subsequent special meeting. IV. Correspondence read. V. Donations and other additions announced: a. To the Library. h. Other donations or additions. VI. Reports and communications on historical and literary sub- jects. VII. Obituary notices of members read, and announcements of the decease of members made and acted on. VIII. Balloting for candidates for membership. IX. Reports on business from officers and committees. X. Deferred business. XI. New business. XII. Minutes of the meeting read and submitted for correction. XIII. The Society adjourned by the presiding officer. CONSTITUTION HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. PREAMBLE. To collect and preserve the evidences of its own history from the earliest date, is both the duty and interest of every political society, whether its progress has been j)rosperous or disastrous ; and to ascertain and develop the natural resources of a State, to investigate its climate, soil, progress of population, and other statis- tical points, are objects equally worthy of attention, and which demand and deserve the united efforts of all who are desirous to honor the character and advance the pros- perity of their commonwealth. Impressed with these considerations, desirous of repair- ing as far as possible the injuries which the early history of Pennsylvania has sustained by reason of the inatten- tion of our predecessors, and believing that there is much to interest and something to instruct in the transactions of those days, when an honest, virtuous, and pious people, relinquishing their early possessions and enjoyments, laid, (13) 14 CONSTITUTION. in a wild and uncultivated country, the foundations of a State, now eminently great, successful, and happy, we, whose names arc hereunto subjoined, have united our- selves into a Society, for the purpose of elucidating the civil, literary, and natural history of Pennsylvania, and have adopted for our government the following CONSTITUTION/^ Article I. — This Association shall be denominated " The Historical Society of Pennsylvania." Article II. — The object of the Society shall be the elucidation of the natural, civil, and Uterary history of this State. Article III. — The Society shall be composed of — 1st. Contributing members. — 2d. Corresponding members. — 3d. Honorary members. The first class shall consist of persons residing in the city of Philadelphia, or the State of Pennsylvania, within ten miles of the city. The second class, of persons residing in any other part of Pennsylvania. The tJiird class, of persons residmg in anj^ part of America or elsewhere, and females may be admitted into it. No person shall be eligible in the first or second class, unless he be a native of Pennsylvania, or shall have been domiciliated there for the space of ten years. Article IV. — The officers of the society, who shall be * This Constitution has been materiallj altered since the date of its adoption. — Editor. CONSTITUTION. 15 annually chosen, shall be a President, four Vice-Presi- dents, two of whom shall be inhabitants of the city or county of Philadelphia, a Treasurer, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording Secretary, and a Curator. Article Y. — There shall also be annually elected a Council, to consist of thirteen members, besides the above named officers, who shall be ex officio members of the Council. Seven members shall constitute a quorum. It shall be the duty of the Council to receive donations made to the Society, and to take suitable care of the books, and other property, to superintend the correspon- dence of the Society, to digest and prepare business, and to execute such other duties, as may from time to time be committed to them by the Society. They shall have power to make rules for their own government in their meetings. They shall meet at least once a month, and may adjourn to shorter periods. At every quarterly meeting of the Society, they shall make a report of the acquisitions and transactions of the preceding quarter. At the meetings of the Council, the contributing members shall be at liberty to attend, and may propose any matters for consideration, but shall not be entitled to vote. The Council may be specially convened at any time by the President, or one of the Vice-Presidents. Article VI. — The Society shall meet quarterly, to wit, on the first Monday of February, May, August, and November ; but the President, or, in his absence, either of the Vice-Presidents, may call a special meeting, on giving three days' notice thereof, in at least two of the daily newspapers pubhshed in Philadelphia. The elec- 16 CONSTITUTION. tion of Officers, and of the Council, shall take place at the quarterly meeting in February, and shall be decided by a majority of ballots. The Society may adjourn from time to time. An annual discourse shall be delivered by one of the members, who shall be appointed for that purpose by the Council; and dissertations, connected Avith the general objects of the Society, may be read by any of the members, at any of its meetings. When the annual dis- course is delivered, strangers may be admitted. The Society may, from time to time, appoint special com- mittees, for the purpose of investigating particular sub- jects, who shall report to the Council, which latter shall select such parts thereof as they may deem expedient to lay before the Society. Article VII. — The Council shall have power to elect contributing, corresponding, and honorary members of the Society ; but all such elections shall be by ballot, and three negative votes shall prevent the election of any candidate. Article VIII. — This Constitution may be amended at any quarterly meeting of the Society, provided that a notice of the intended amendment shall have been given, and entered on the journals of the Society at a preceding quarterly meeting. OEFICEES HISTORICAL SOCIETY. *William Rawle, President. *Roberts Vaux, Vice-President. *Thoinas Duncan, do. *John Bannister Gibson {Carlisle), do. * James Ross [Piiisburg), do. * Joseph Hopkinson, Corresponding Secretary. *Thomas M'Kean Pettit, Recording do. *William Mason Walmsley, Treasurer. Gerard Ralston, Curator. Members who, with the above Officers, constitute the Council. *Thomas C. James, ^William Rawle, Jr., * Joseph Reed, Benjamin H. Coates, *Thomas H. White, ^Joseph Parker Norris, *Thomas I. Wharton, ^Charles Jared IngersoU, ^Stephen Duncan, *Edward Bettle, *Daniel B. Smith, George Wn. Smith. Samuel Jackson, * Dead, 1864. 2 (17) 18 OFFICERS OF THE STANDING COxMMITTEES. 1. On the national origin, early difficulties, and do- mestic habits of the first settlers. *Joseph P. Norris, *Jacob S. Wahi, ^Nicholas Collin, *Thomas H. White, '^Roberts Vaux, Charles Yarnall, Daniel B. Smith, Reynell Coates, *Zaccheus Collins, *John Singer, *Thomas F. Gordon, *John F. Watson. 2. On the biography of the founder of Pennsylvania, his family, and the early settlers. ^Roberts Vaux, *Edward Penington, *Samuel R. Wood, Elhs Yarnall, *Algernon S. Logan, WilKam Maule, Elwood Walter, *John Poulson. Charles Lukens, 3. On biographical notices of persons distinguished among us in ancient and modern times. *William Rawle, ^William Smith, ^Roberts Vaux, George W. Toland, *Joseph Sansom, Samuel Morton, ^Clements S. Miller, Thomas Evans. 4. On the Aborigines of Pennsjdvania, their numbers, HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 19 names of their tribes, intercourse with Europeans, their language, habits, characters, and wars. *Peter S. Duponceau, James J. Barclay, Benjamin H. Coates, Charles W. Thompson, *Thomas M. Pettit, Isaac Norris, *Joseph Roberts, T. Pennant Barton, Henry J. Williams, *Wilham H. Keating. 5. On the principles to which the rapid population of Pennsylvania may be ascribed. *Charles J. IngersoU, *James N. Barker, George M. Dallas, George Randolph, Thomas A. Budd, *James C. Biddle. *WiUiam B. Davidson, 6. On the revenues, expenses, and general polity of the provincial government. *John Sergeant, *Samuel B. Morris, *Benjamin R. Morgan, William M. Meredith, Joseph R. IngersoU, *Wilham S. Warder. *Clement C. Biddle, 7. On the Juridical History of Pennsylvania. *William Tilghman, *John Purdon, *Thomas Duncan, ''^Thomas Bradford, Jr., *Joseph Reed, *Edward D. Ingraham, *William Rawle, Jr., David Paul Brown. 20 F r 1 C E K S F THE 8. On the Literury History of Pcimsylvaiiia. *Joseph Ilopkinson, '==Thomas I. Wharton, ^Robert Walsh, Jr., *Ed\vard Bettle, George W. Smith, John M. Read, Gerard Ralston, *John Vaughan. 9. On the Medical History of Pennsylvania. *Thomas C. James, Caspar Wistar, Samuel Jackson, Caspar Morris, J. Rhea Barton, *Isaac Snowden. Benjamin Ellis, 10. On the progress and present state of Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce, in Pennsylvania. *Nicholas Biddle, C. M. Pennock, *Stephen Duncan, ^Reuben Haines, *William M. Walmsley, Charles A. Poulson, *Thomas Biddle, George Stewardson, *John Hare Powell, ^^Roberts Vaux, *Samuel Wetherill, *Samuel Breck. niSTORICALSOCIETY. 21 HONORARY MEMBERS. *John Penn, England. *Granville Penn, do. *Richard Penn, do. ^Robert Barclay, do. '•'Thomas Clarkson, do. *David Baillie Warden, Paris. *Henry Clay, Secretary of State, Washington. *Richard Rush, Secretary of Treasury, Washington. ^Anthony Morris, do. ^Edward Livingston, New Orleans. CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. *John Andrew Shulze, Governor of Pennsylcania. *Molton C. Rogers, Secretary of the Commonwealth. '•'John Bannister Gibson, Carlisle. '••'James Ross, Pittsburg. William Wilkins, do. '^Richard Biddle, do. T. B. Dallas, do. David Scott, Wilkesharre. '^'Redmond Conyngham, Luzerne County. '^'Walter Franklin, Lancaster. '^William Darlington, West Chester. Parker Campbell, Washington, Pa. *Thomas B. M'Elwee, Bedford. 22 UISTOIUCAL SOCIETY. Francis W. Rawle, Clearfield County. John Young, Greenshurg. *James Dunlop, Chamhershurg. Joseph J. Lewis, Chester County. *David C. Claypoole, BucJcs Comity Erskine Hazard, Mauch Chunk. CIRCULAE. Philadelphia, June 21, 1825. Sir : — A number of persons, feeling an interest in the collection and preservation of whatever may conduce to the knowledge of the History of Pennsylvania, have formed a Society under the title of "The Historical Society of Pennsylvania." Their objects are to trace all the circumstances of its early settlement — its successful progress and its present state; — to collect all the documents and written or printed evidence, and all the traditionary information that may still be attainable ; and, after having thus acquired possession of sufficient materials, it will be the office of one or more committees to select what may be deemed generally interesting and instructive, to method- ize and arrange it, and to lay it in a proper form before the public. It is obvious that the more copious these collections are, the greater will be the means of a judicious and satisfactory selection, and it is therefore the ardent hope of the Society, that persons in possession of documents of the nature described in the following list, will feel a (23) 24 C I R C U L A R. common, it muy be said a })atri<)tic, interest in contri- buting to tlie general pui-pose, ])y favoring the .Society, either as donations or loans, with any works of the following description, viz. : Original letters, books, journals or narratives of the early settlers of Pennsylvania, or of any distinguished persons among us in later times. Narratives relative to the Indians j wars or treaties with them ; and the general intercourse between them and Europeans, or among the Indians themselves. Vocabularies or other indications of their language. Accounts of missionaries, public messengers, and travellers among them. Any facts or reasoning that mny throw light on the doubtful question of the origin of the North American Indians. Copies of records, and proceedings of any public bodies, of a political, religious, literary, or other character, that have at any time existed among us. Accounts of universities, colleges, academies, and schools, their origin and progress. Topographical descriptions of cities, towns, boroughs, counties, or townships. Accounts of the population, births, longevity, deaths, endemial or local diseases — facts relative to climate, meteorological remarks, general employment or peculiar customs of each district. Biographical notices of any eminent persons, or of any persons in respect to whom remarkable events may have happened. As it is the intention of the Society to form an ample CIRCULAE. ~0 library and cabinet, it will gratefully receive all dona- tions of books, pamphlets, or manuscripts, on any subject or of any date; medals, coins, or any other article deriving value from historical or biographical affinities : Indian idols, ornaments, arms, or utensils, etc. The name of the donor will be noted in the library or the cabinet, and in the journals. Be pleased to address your communications to Joseph HoPKiNSON, Corresponding Secretary, or Gerard Ealston, Curator of the Societv, By order, Joseph Hopkinson, Secretary. AVILLIAM RAWLE, President. At a meeting of " The Historical Society of Penn- sylvania," held at Philadelphia, on the 7th day of November, 1825, it was Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be presented to the President, for his learned and instructive discourse, pronounced on the 5th instant ; and that he be requested to furnish a copy for publication. From the Minutes. T. M. Pettit, Secretary. (27) AN INAUGURAL DISCOURSE, DELIVERED ON THE 5th of November, 1825, BEFORE THE HISTOllICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA, BY WILLIAM EAWLE, Esq., PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY. (29) INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. Gentlemen : The intention to form this Society was unknoAvn to me, till your partiahty led you to request me to under- take the office of President f and, however unquahfied, I have not hesitated to accept it. I have been led to this conclusion partly from the respect I felt for those who honored me by the selection, and partly because I have long wished to see an institution of this sort established amono; us. * William Rawle was born in Philadelphia, 28th of April, 1T59, About 1118, he commenced the study of the law in Xew York, under Mr. Kemp, where he remained until June, 1181, when he embarked for England ; and, in August of that year, entered himself a student in the Middle Temple. Having left England in the beginning of 1782, he proceeded to France, in which country he remained until November; and, in Jannary, 1783, returned to his native city, and resumed his legal studies; was admitted to the Bar on the 15th of September, 1783. He was elected, in October, 1789, a member of Assembly for Philadelphia; and, in 1791, received at the hands of Washington, the appointment of Attorney of the United States for the District of Pennsylvania, which he resigned in May, 1800. In 1792, he became a member of the Society "for the purpose of pro- moting the Abolition of Slavery, for the relief of Free Negroes unlaw- fully held in bondage, and for improving the condition of the African (31) 32 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. Upwards of one hundred and forty years have ehipsed smce the peaceful companions of William Ptnn lauded on the shores of the Delaware*' E.ace," of which, on the death of Doctor Wistar, he was, in 1818, elected President. In 1805, he was chosen a member of the Apricul- tural Society, before which he delivered an address, which was pub- lished. In 1822, on the death of Mr. Jared Ingersoll, he was made Chancellor of the Associated Members of the IJar, before whom, on different occasions, he delivered two addresses, which have also been published. His " View of the Constitution of the United States," which appeared in 182,5, was received with much favor, and adopted as a text-book in several of our literary institutions. In the same year, Mr. Kawle took an active part in the establish- ment of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and its Memoirs contain valuable contributions from his pen. In 1830, Mr. Rawle was associated with INfcssrs. T. I. Wharton and Joel Jones, as Com- missioners "to revise, collate, and digest all such public acts and statutes of the Civil Code of this State, and all such British statutes in force in this State as are general and permanent in their nature," and to report alterations and improvements re- quired therein, in which capacity his learning and enlarged expe- rience proved ^f great value to his colleagues. He died on the 12th of April, 183G. In the language of Mr. Wharton, to whose interest- ing Memoir, printed in the fourth volume of the Society's Transac- tions, we are indebted for the above facts, " Mr. Ilawle was an accomplished jurist, a good scholar, and a person of great taste and great general acquirements. His reading in early life had been extensive ; and he brought to his professional studies a discrim- inating and healthy mind, which enabled him to make the best use of what he read. His learning was not confined to the jurisprudence of England and America, but extended much deeper into that of the ancient and modern laws of the continent of Europe than was usual in the last century. His professional business for the twenty years between about 1193 and 1813 was very great, and his income large. His name appears on most of the important causes of that period, and his arguments always commanded the attention and respect of the Court. His address to a jury was complete in diction, always free * See Editor's note " I," in the Appendix, at the end of volume. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 33 Except their friend and guide, they numbered no distinguished character among them ; they were annoyed by no candidate for superior rank, no emblazoned warrior, or lofty member of a proud aristocracy : they were humble men of moderate fortunes — most of them adherents to a sect of recent origin whose motto was meekness and benevolence. Their departure from their native lands was unre- strained and almost unnoticed. In quietness they embarked, and in quietness they landed. Here they encountered no embittered foe ; they met no herds of indignant natives thronging to resist them, for the natives were already partially acquainted with EngHsh- men, and with this particular description of Enghshmen. from unnecessary ornament, but earnest and impressive. I have already said that his deportment was conciliatory to his adversaries, and I believe that it may be said with truth that he never made an enemy at the Bar. " His classical knowledge was more extensive and accurate than that of most men in this country, not scholars by profession. He read a great deal, and to a late period of his life, in the Roman authors. Many of his editions belonged to his grandfather, William Rawle. With the Greek writers he was not so familiar, though he made the Greek Testament a frequent study. He was fond of poetry ; and, at one period of his life, wrote a great deal of it and very agreeably. I have mentioned in another place that he drew and painted well. I have seen sketches of his that would do credit to artists of reputation." Mr. Wharton adds, that "he was a sincere believer in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion." * * * "In the latest years of his life, it occupied a large portion of his thoughts. As the shadows of evening gathered around him, he seemed desirous to close the shutters upon all mere human specula- tion ; and enlightened and warmed by the faith of the Gospel, to commune with his own heart, and prepare himself for the great event that was drawing nigh. This is not the time for the publication of- 3 34 I N A U G U R A I> DISCOURSE. Several years before the daio of William Penn's charter, the society of Friends had begun to settle in New Jersey. They had fixed themselves at Salem and at Barluigton, and the vessels which l^roiight out additions to their numbers had occasionally stopped at New Castle, and at SJiackamaxon, now Kensington. Many Swedish settle- ments between these points, including Chester and Tinicum, had already proved the tractable dispositi(jn of the natives, and all was harmony and peace between them. The admirer of pomp and worldly rank, the lover of lofty deeds in arms, the ardent inquirer after stupendous adventure and miraculous preservations, wdll therefore find little gratification in tracing the simple progress of our early history. It is a plain and humble tale. The first colonists were invited in Europe by William any of his devotional writings or speculative opinions. Hereafter, possibly, tbey may see the light. I will only add, that by birth a member of the Society of Friends, Mr. Kawle never ceased to enter- tain the highest respect for that excellent body, and generally attended their place of worship when his health permitted, although he differed from them in some points of opinion respecting language and attire. Mr. Rawle's religion, as I have intimated, was not abstract or inanimate speculation. It governed and influenced his whole life. It controlled and tempered him during many years of prosperity, and sustained and comforted him in later days of distress and misfortune." Mr. Rawle, more than perhaps any of his predecessors at the Philadelphia Bar, thoroughly united the learning of the law with scholarly accomplishments ; and those who desire further knowledge of the incidents of his life, are referred to the eloquent and affection- ate tribute of his pupil, Mr. David Paul Brown, in the first volume of " The Forum," and to the " Memoir'' by the late Mr. Wharton, and the letter of Mr. Du Ponceau accompanying it. — Editor. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 35 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 labor, not to acquire wealth by the prodigality 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 reHed on the smiles of a gracious Providence, but they knew that His aid is only granted to those who exert all their own faculties to help themselves. It may perhaps be fastidiously asked, what interest can be found in the narrative of husbandmen or manu- facturers, whose days were spent in unvaried labor and whose nights were disturbed by no external alarms ; who prosecuted, in peaceful and obscure succession, the same alternations of toil and rest that are practised by men of similar occupations over all the earth ? Why does the peasant of Pennsylvania, in her early days, deserve a higher place in history than the peasant of England or of France? To this we answer, that to our predecessors, these mere laborers of our soil, we look for the elements of that success which almost uniformly has accompanied our pro- gress, and on the same principles the relation may also be of value to others. The character of a nation, although not always fixed by the character of those with whom it originates, often retains a tincture from it that affects its subsequent 36 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. course. And hence it IbllowH, that when we see a nation rolling tuniultuously down the torrent of time, invading, overwhelming, and destroying whatever falls in its way, we are led to inquire whether its origin was not a military association. When we perceive another steadily pursuing a course of peace and concord both at home and abroad, we are induced to suppose that it arose from the voluntary or casual union of men who cultivated the earth with honest labor or in other occupations confined themselves to useful industry, uninterrupted by the calculations of ambition or the incentives to violence and injustice. If we are sometimes disappointed in such inquiries, it is from the want of this elementary evidence. It is true, that however carefully and wisely the foun- dations of society may at first be laid, we cannot always depend on their permanence. New motives, unexpected exigencies sometimes arise, changing or totall}^ subverting all original principles. The Arabian Shepherd becomes a warrior. The Teutonic Chiefs sink into peaceful farmers of the land which they have subdued. Yet stiU — if we wish to understand the nature of man, to become acquainted with ourselves — it is our duty, and in the prosecution of that duty, we shall find it a dehght, to ascend to the rudiments of social existence ; to ehcit theory from facts, and not to imagine facts for the pur- pose of supporting theories ; and thus, if possible, to discover by what means order, peace, and happiness have been, or hereafter may be rendered most permanent and secure. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 37 How little of this has been done in respect to the nations of the other three continents ! How interesting, how instructive it would be to learn the early institutions and original habits of the Egyp- tians, the parents of European science and civilization : of Etruria, believed to have made such advances in moral and political refinement before the overwhelming power of Rome began ; or of Britain, for ages before the wanton invasion of Caesar ! There is a power invisible and often irresistible which, while it sweeps away the grandeur of nations and the toils of men, involves in its destruction the full evidence of their former existence, and leaves us but th^ imperfect consciousness of the loss. To counteract this power as far as possible, to collect all the materials that have not yet entirely disappeared, to preserve all the abundance which the events of every day supply, and to hand them down in authentic form to posterity, is at present felt to be a duty. Ilhterate nations, depending on oral tradition, soon become ignorant of their own history. How loose and obscure is all that can be gathered from the natives of this country, in respect to their times of old. Both in Europe, and here, recourse is had to poetic fiction, down to the time when history received the aid of letters. But we have the advantage of letters and of the press, ^nd we ought to avail ourselves of these inestimable mechanic ]powers lest we incur the reproaches of pos- 38 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. terity — centuries hence — when, according to the uncer- tain course of human events, we may be regarded either as an example to be followed, or a beacon to be shunned. In Pennsylvania, I know not of any association ex- pressly formed for these purposes, prior to the institution of the Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, in the year 1815. This committee has succeeded in obtaining a valuable collection of historical memorials, including many manu- scripts relating not only to this State, but to other parts of the United States ; for, in their formation, they were charged to extend their inquiries to the whole continent and to the islands of America, although the leading objects were the history, geography, and statistics of Pennsylvania. In 1819, they enriched the world with a publication of Heckewelder's* " Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations who once inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States." In praise of this luminous, impartial, and minute relation, drawn from a personal intercourse of many years, too much cannot be said. The author was well known to many of us : he was disinterested, unassuming, and pious, and the fullest confidence may be placed in all that he relates from his own observations. If this Committee should do no more than it has done in publishing this work, it would still be entitled to our * A Life of John Heckewelder, by the Rev. Edward Rondthaler,- edited by B. H. Coates, M.D., was published in Philadelphia, 1847. — Editor. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 39 acknowledgments. Six years have intervened, and nothing further has aj)peared, nor has a full catalogue of their library or their cabinet been communicated to the public. Yet it is not to be understood that thLs institution is intentionally locked up from general use, nor that the pauci-ty of its communications evinces either jealousy or apathy in its members. The radical defect is, that it consists only of those who are themselves members of the Philosophical Society, and no one can be associated in the Committee who is not a member of the Society. Fewer interests are therefore combined, and the public looks on them with indifference. The Society* to Commemorate the Landing of William Penn is expressly confined to the subject designated by its title ; and while I trust that the patriotic and highly honorable feehng which led to its formation will long continue, I cannot conceive that it is sufficiently compre- hensive for the purposes we have in view. The members of an historical society ought to be numerous, perhaps unlimited. All who feel a strong interest in its general views ought to be admissible, and every inhabitant of our State ought to feel that interest. All should be excited to throw into one receptacle what- ever they possess of original or instructive matter — not to be locked up till it moulders into oblivion — but to be subject to the immediate process of careful investigation, till, by comparison and selection, such results may be drawTi as our cotemporaries may receive with satis- faction and posterity with advantage. * This Society has long ceased to exist. — Editor. 4.0 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. To promote these leading views, I took the hberty to suggest, and you have l)ecn pleased to adopt the idea, that certain permanent committees should Ijc appointed, by some one of which most of our objects will probably be embraced, and to one or more of which every member should be attached, though not confined. " The national origin, early difficulties, and domestic habits of the first settlers," seemed at once to strike the mind, and were assigned to the first of these committees. It is impossible to contemplate without emotion, the original introduction of the man of Europe to the native of America. Color, habiliments, language, arts, and customs, all how unlike ! The Lidian, ignorant of the existence of such a country as Europe, gazing with astonishment at a new species of beings, whose views in visiting him he cannot comprehend. The European, doubting of the reception he shall meet wdth, and uncertain whether conciliation or intimidation will be his best resource. I speak now of the first discoveries, — of the Spaniards to the south, the English, the Dutch, and the French to the north. But these strong contrasts do not altogether apply to Pennsylvania. Between the English colonies of Virginia and New England, it was conceived by the Swedes that there lay a tract of valuable country to which no European power had a claim; and desirous of sharing in the harvest of colonization, always allur- ing to European sovereigns, and in those days enthusi- astically pursued by most of them, Gustavus Adolphus could not remain inactive. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 41 Having suffered others to precede him, little remained for him to appropriate ; but the accounts received of the easy access and natural fertility of this spot, encouraged him to make the attempt, and, in 1626, his royal sanction was given, by proclamation at Stockholm, to the com- mencement of a colony under the usual pretences : 1st. That the Christian religion would thereby be planted among the heathens. 2d. That his majesty would, by these means, enlarge his dominions, enrich the treasury, and lessen the public duties.* With these new adventurers, the principle adopted seems to have been that of conciUation. I shall have occasion again to advert to it. The peculiar part of the present subject is the variety of national origin which characterized the infmt colony of Pennsylvania. The settlements of New England and of Virginia 'projyer were of a homogeneous character. They were all Ertglishmen. New York and East New Jersey con- tained a mixture. The Dutch, originally settled there, remained, under their ultimate conqueror Nichols, con- firmed in their private property, but submitting in all * See Holme's History of New Sweeclland, printed at Stockholm, in 1602, reprinted by the New York Historical Society. Vol. 2, p. 345. This work was translated by Mr. Du Ponceau, and published in 1834, as a part of the third volume of the Memoirs of the Society, but is not of much authority. It is to be regretted that the learned translator did not afford us an English version of our Swedish historian Acrelius, which has been much desired by the historical' student. — Editor. 42 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. tilings to the new government imposed on tliem by the authority of the Duke of York. On the western shore of the Delaware, commencing at Cape Henlopen and extending to the Falls, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles, there was found a mingled assemblage of Swedes, Dutch, and a few English, whose history, though narrow, is deserving of notice. By these precessions the " early difficulties" of Penn's colonists were doubtless diminished, yet there still re- mained much to encounter, particularly by those who arrived at an ill-chosen time of the year. And the habits, the domestic habits, pure, simple, and industrious, attributable in respect to some to the meek and peaceable religion they possessed, in respect to others in part to this example, and in part to surrounding cir- cumstances, merit and doubtless will receive a full inves- tigation and an accurate portraiture. In pursuing these inquiries the mind will insensibly be led from facts to persons, and all the " biographical notices of the founder and his family, and of th^ early settlers," which the public is not already possessed of, will prove highly interesting, not only to their descend- ants, but to those Avho delight in tracing through all its recesses the history of man. 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 existence, 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 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 43 hung on him as their judge, their legislator, and their guide. Their distant friends, their native homes, their early affections and enjoyments, renounced and aban- doned forever, were replaced and compensated, and heightened in all their value, not by land or buildings, but by the presence and the overshadowing and undis- criminating sympathy and paternal care of William Penn. The committee expressly appointed for this purpose will give and receive assistance from liberal and frequent communications with that first mentioned and with the following. Biographical curiosity and utility will not be conjBned to the first age of Pennsylvania. There are men who have revealed great superiorities of intellect, and have made noble advances in science, who have conceived and promoted systems of public benefit, or have added to the stock of elegant literature ; many such men succeeded to the first class of settlers. Many such have not long been removed from us. We owe it to ourselves for present excitement and imitation — we owe it to posterity — to collect, before it is too late, whatever was great and eminent, whatever was singularly virtuous and wise among those of old, or those whose graves may still be marked by the freshness of the sod, or the unextin- guished lamentations of their friends. Nay, this com- mittee will perform a legitimate office in recording whatever is remarkable on the score of mere singularity. The irregularities of the human mind form a part of its genuine history. It is profitable to study and delight- ful to understand the manners of different nations. In 44 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. some degree the same pleasure may ])e felt and the same advantage drawn from contemplating the difference among individuals of whom nations are composed. There is generally, in personal singularity, much to avoid and condemn, but we may occasionally find some- thing to excuse, and even sometimes to approve. A fourth committee is charged with a view of the "revenues, expenses, and general polity of the govern- ment of Pennsylvania," and from its labors is expected a mass of historical information that may furnish useful assistance to present and future statesmen. While the public expense was small — while property rested on a few simple elements, before the increase of commerce and the consequent introduction of artificial intricate sj^stems — taxation, direct or indirect, must have been simple. The supposed or real necessity of issuing the first paper money, its effects upon the people, the mode of redeeming it, the objects to which revenues in any shape were applied, will be delineated. But larger views may be united with these inquiries. The " general polity" of Provincial Pennsylvania will gradually come before us. We shall trace, step by step, its own internal peace and order and happiness in the outset; its abhorrence of all violence and vice. We shall inquire whether, when misrule or discord in any shape appeared, they were to be ascribed to ourselves or to some visible external imjDulse or some extraneous principle covertly introduced among us. And this committee will no doubt fearlessly and faith- fully furnish us with all that can enable us to decide, in INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 45 what instances and from what causes there have been any material aberrations from the original principles and primary systems of a sage whose merits and whose fame, in every branch of civil government, have been celebrated over the world, and should ever remain deeply engraven on our hearts. Connected in a degree with this committee, but pursu- ing some diversity in the objects of investigation, is the inquiry into " the principles to which the rapid popula- tion of Pennsylvania may be ascribed." It is a general opinion that a severe oppressive govern- ment impedes the natural tendency of mankind to in- crease. Yet, this opinion has been shaken by the late exposure of the state of population in Ireland. Rudely as that unfortunate country is treated by its jealous and unfeehng masters in England, we are assured that the human race has nearly quadrupled itself, in the last hundred years. Some other principle must therefore be sought. Is it the facihty of obtaining subsistence ? To this we are likewise referred by many as the true cause of a liberal population. Yet here again the example weakens, if it does not refute the position. Is it the consciousness of the security of individual property? Alas, while the unhappy peasantry of Ireland have so little that they can call their own, even this little is rendered uncertain, by the occasional and irregular inroads of fiscal or ecclesiastical rapacity. The subject thus devolved on the committee will, therefore, be found not entirely to depend on the general polity of our government, not entirely on the fertility of 4G INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. soil or security of property; it will cull [or the iriost deliberate and jjrofoujid investigation, it will lead to the most laborious and acute discriminations ; and conducted, as no doubt they will be, the labors of this committee will contribute to enlarge the stock of public information and enlighten the universal family of man. Another not much less diffusive ground will be taken by the committee "on the progress and present state of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce in Penn- sylvania." From the opening of the virgin soil to receive the aboriginal grain by the early settler, now for the first time become acquainted wdth it, to the extensive cultivar tion of the whole face of the country ; from the first rough manufacture of domestic implements to the fabri- cation of almost every article of necessity or luxury; from the humble trafiic of one plantation with another to the expanded commerce of the world, — how interesting, how instructive it will be to view the gradual and profit- able progress. There will be rests and stops in the history, on which it may be convenient to dwell for a time. Thus we may consider the manufacturing and commer- cial history of our province do^vn to the Peace of 1763. A second stage would be down to the commencement of the war of the Revolution, and from that period to the present day. Statistical tables at these or some other periods, which the committee may on consideration prefer, will be acceptable adjuncts to their reports. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 47 The progress of those liberal and judicious plans of internal improvement in which so many excellent citizens are now zealously engaged, may also form proper subjects of historical report. If we do not, as a body, participate in their labors, we may, at last, have the pleasure to record them. Two other committees, whose functions are sufficiently indicated by their titles, will greatly contribute to the promotion of useful knowledge on points which interest us all. " The medical history of Pennsylvania" will naturally lead the inquirers into a view of the pharmacy and chi- rurgery of the natives ; with those will be connected the early medical practice of the colonists. The necessary relation of pharmaceutics to climate and situation — the discoveries and improvements of physi- cians — the history of local or endemial diseases — the successive opinions that have been entertained as to their causes and their treatment — these and many other subjects will render the reports of this committee highly valuable to us all. " The juridical history of Pennsylvania" seems at first view more confined; and if we consider law merely in the light of positive and local obhgation, the impression would be just. But as a general science, proceeding from a divine source and intended to be adapted to the nature of man, the earliest regulations of even the rudest nations, deserve attention, because they show the con- ception of the general system entertained at difierent times and in different places. Localities, national em- 48 INAUGUKAL D I S C U II S E. ploymcnt, and other circuiiistaiiccH diversif)' the appli- cation of principles ; but the philosophic mind is gratified in tracing through the incumbrances of forms and modes of positive enactment, the great rudiments of moral obligation and universal law. Our first acts of legislation are to be expounded by the political situation of the pro\dnce — by the subordination to the parent country, and the veneration naturally felt for its institutions ; by the strong, bold counteractions of some of those institu- tions, necessarily resulting from the removal to a new country; from the intermixture of men of a different origin ; from the predominance of peaceful religious principles, and similar considerations — all of which will suggest to the committee that the benefit of its accurate researches will not be confined to one profession nor to Pennsylvania. They will enter into the history of general jurispi-u- dence, and enable future Grotiuses and Montesquieus to correct some of the few errors into which they have occasionally fallen. " The literary history of Pennsylvania" is consigned to another committee, and let no one smile at the mention of the literary history of Pennsylvania. It is true, that in the outset the obligation of attending to the first necessities of hfe cannot be supposed to have left much leisure for the decorations of polite learning ; and that the press (for a printing press was established here as early as 1686) was probably occupied entirely with public proceedings, matters of mere business, or the INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 49 polemical pamphlets ensuing from Keith's controversy with the Friends. But William Penn was himself a man of letters, and he had those about him who also possessed learning and delighted in books.* A most important branch of disquisition still remains, which has also been assigned to a special committee. It is that which relates to the aboriginal inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and incidentally of all this vast country. The true condition of the northern part of America, before the discoveries of Columbus, cannot now be ascer- tained. In the islands, he found an improved, an agri- cultural, and a numerous people. Hispaniola alone was computed to contain a million of inhabitants.-|- When Cortez boldly and unjustly penetrated into the heart of the Mexican Empire, he discovered an organized power, pursuing in tranquillity and peace the arts of civihzed life; and the subsequent invasion of Peru by Pizarro * An account of our early institutions for the instruction of youth, may also be expected from this committee. Of these, the first com- menced under a liberal charter from William Penn, and is still in Jlourishing existence. It contributes to remove an erroneous opinion entertained by some, that the Society of Friends is generally opposed to much human learning. Their Barclay, their Logan, their Story, are the proofs to the contrary. Whoever reads the book so highly and justly prized by them, entitled " No Cross No Grown,''^ com- posed by William Penn, while immured in the Tower, will find a profusion of ancient learning. And the only general history of Pennsylvania that has yet been attempted, was by a man of great erudition, a member of this Society, and the principal teacher in the institution above mentioned. f Robertson, Vol. I, p. 221, he quotes Herrera. 4 50 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. produced the same result. In respect to these parts of the great continent at that time, hist(jry is little at a loss. Only some obscure and remote tribes, scarcely recognized by the general government of the country, and in many cases beyond the reach of their power, remained unvisited and unkno\vTi. But of North America we have less certain knowledge. The first settlers, comparatively few, exploring less the interior of the country than its harbors and its streams, were acquainted only with the inhabitants in the vicinity of their own settlements. A knowledge of those remote from the coast was slowly and gradually obtained. The English power does not appear to have set on foot any expedition for mere inland discovery. A Spaniard {De Soto) and two Frenchmen {De La Salle and Hennejyin) were the only persons who in early times carried on expeditions through the interior, chiefly for purposes of discovery as well of its topography as of the character, numbers, and manners of its native inhabitants. It is unaccountable that no such measure was under- taken by the active and enlightened WilHam Penn. If such inquiries had been made, if intelligent persons had explored the whole country from North to South, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi, we should probably be possessed of certam and valuable information in respect to the " names, the numbers, the habits, and the history" of many nations which have now wholly disappeared from the chart of human existence. It is not, however, supposed that a much greater INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 51 degree of what we term civilization would, at that time, have been discovered among them. Whatever were their advances in moral improvement and the arts of life, at or before the times when those mounds and structures took place of which we are unable to discover the causes or the agents, it is possible that their inquiries would not have yielded full satisfaction. Yet those travellers would have been considerably nearer to the times of their con- struction ; and if, notwithstanding their efforts to be in- formed, doubt and obscurity still continued, it would have afforded further proof that the original settlement of this country, from whencesoever it proceeded, was of most remote antiquity. The fate of nations is not always the same. They do not, perhaps they cannot, consistently with the character of man, always continue at the same point. Knowledge and improvement advance slowly — the condition of society becomes more happy as they advance. When the point of extreme refinement is attained, the enervation of luxury generally invites foreign invasion. A yoke is imposed, sometimes hght- ened by the wisdom of civilized conquerors, some- times rendered heavy and oppressive by imcultivated barbarians. In either case the subjugated nation with its independence loses its ardor for a continuance and enjoyment of those arts and sciences which it had pre- \dously attained. In the latter case particularly, bar- barism, when it triumphs, delights to overthrow and eradicate whatever has formed the ornament and felicity of those whom it subdues. Thus Egypt preserved, under 52 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. the domiiijitioii oi' the Roiiiiiiis, a secondary, but still a valuable station in the Avorld of letters. Its rude Ara- bian conquerors, inflamed Ijy Ijigotry and blinded by their own ignorance, overwhelmed and destroyed the remnants of their ancient civilization, and reduced them almost instantaneously to a barbarism beyond their own. There Is scarcely a set of people now to be found more ignorant and degraded than the Fellahs and the CojjIs of Egypt. The total subversion of knowledge and improvement is perhaps always the effect of external force. Nations do not spontaneously relapse into rudeness and ignorance. During the long and absolute domination of the Romans in Britain, their literary cultivation and polished habits may have been partially communicated to the natives ; of this however we can speak with no certainty, but we are fully apprised that on the final departure of the Romans, the Britons soon became, perhaps, as un- informed and unimproved as they were before, and certainly more timid, helpless, and inert. Learning soon decayed, or was confined to their priesthood; and the ardor of a national spirit, the only source of national excellence, was wholly extinguished. If, from any cause, there is reason to suppose that science and the arts were once more highly cultivated in this country ; that civiUzation and improvement once existed in a greater degree than the first Europeans found them, we must attribute their decline to some external cause of the nature before described. Are those whom we found in possession the rude INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 53 victors and final extirpators of a former population more enlightened and refined? Or has there been a temporary* occupation of the land by a superior and improved nation which has afterwards migrated further south, and left the original inhabitants, as the Romans left the Britons, to their ancient unaltered habits ? Heclcewelder reports the Indian traditions that all this part of the country was conquered by the Lenapi, a nation from the west — whom we found in possession, and to whom we gave the name of Delawares. It is said to have been previously inhabited by the AUegewis, whom the Lenapis, on what is stated to be a just cause of war, utterly subdued and expelled. But what was the origin of the Lenapi ? The present condition of these ancient lords of the soil merits our close attention. If, in the fifteenth century, a map had been published of this part of our great conti- nent, and a color had been adopted to designate the inhabitants, we should have seen the whole surface of the same. By degrees, as European colonies were planted and extended, slender lines marked by various appropriated hues, would have been visible on the coast, gradually widening westward, till the indigenous tint became almost extinct. Of the many hundred thousands who then held this country as their own, how few, how scattered, and in some cases how miserable are their descendants. Let us for a moment place the map before us, and contemplate the slender number that yet remain eastward of the Mississippi. 54 INAUGURAL D 1 S C U K S E. A report made by the Secretary of War, during the present year, founded on careful inquiry, reduces them to about 80,000. It would occupy too much time to give you the details. It is sufficient to observe that their numbers are the smallest in the most ancient State. Virginia is reported to contiiin but forty-seven. In Pennsylvania, though one of the youngest of the original colonies, I know of none, except the remains of Cornplanter's family, for whose use a tract of land was secured by an Act of the Legislature, in 1791. They follow agriculture, and occasionally take their products to Pittsburg. In some of our States they are kindly treated, and protected by the government. To prevent? the artifices of men who might avail them- selves of their ignorance, they have consented to be legally incapacitated from aliening their lands on any consideration and to any persons ; and, to promote their civilization and improvement, great pains are taken in many places to educate their children, and to instruct the whole of them in agriculture and the common arts and manufactures. Many pious and benevolent Christians have relin- quished the enjoyments of civilized life and devoted themselves to the endeavor to improve the inhabitants of these isolated communities. There seems to have been more encouragement for such attempts than has been afforded to the generous missionaries who have heretofore encountered the hardships of savage Ufe among the entire tribes in their own country. These efforts, INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 56 after much counteraction from the priests and jugglers of the natives, have sometimes indeed been attended with partial success ; but, in the frequent revolutions produced by war among themselves, the encroachments of the whites, cessions and emigrations, the traces of improve- ment disappear, and the disheartened laborers have re- tired from the field with the feelings of the husbandman who sees his harvest destroyed by the violence of a tempest. In the smaller settlements thus patronized and secured, the success, though limited in extent, may be hoped to be permanent. On this occasion I cannot avoid adverting to the exemplary course pursued by the Society of Fiienda acting under the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia. The once numerous tribe of the Senecas with some of the Onondagoes, formerly component parts of the great Iroquois Confederacy, now reduced to about six hundred and fifty persons, are seated on a small tract of land on the Alleghany River. It lies in the State of New York, and was reserved and promised to be secured to them forever by that State. About thirty years ago, the settlement attracted the attention of this religious society. It was proposed to improve at least their moral condition, to suppress their fondness for the chase, and their habits of intemperance and idleness, and thus gradually to open their minds to the reception of the pure religion of the gospel. For this purpose it was conceived, that occa- sional visits and exhortations would prove inadequate. It was determined to do more, to set them examples by the delegation of prudent and industrious persons who would settle, not among them, for that would have been 5G I N A U (', i: li A I. I) I S G U R S K. iucoiisLstent with tlic State regulations, but as near to theiii as possible ; and individuals were aceordingly selected who devoted themselves to a task of" which a sense of duty may be conceived to constitute the principal pleasure. Land was purchased, buildings erected, and men and women Friends fixed themselves upon it. Agriculture and some of the mechanic arts are practised and success- fully imitated by the natives. The women Friends have instructed the female Indians in such of the domestic arts as come wdthin their sphere. A school is kept, and " pains are taken to impress the great duties of morahty, and to lead on to that state of mind which delights in communion with, and in the approbation of their Creator, the Great Spirit j but the peculiar doctrines of Chris- tianity have not yet generally been pressed further than to give lessons of reading in the Old and New Testa- ments." By these modes of proceeding the kindest affections of the natives have been conciliated; even the turbulent Red Jacket, the chief who so lately complained to the New York Legislature of the intrusion of Christian mission- aries, has expressed his approbation of the conduct of these Friends; and the settlement at Cattaraugus, an- other Indian reserve, at the distance of thirty miles, have strenuously urged the Society to open a school among them also. Here we see the spirit of Penn. His system seems to have been to soften and enlarge the Indian heart, before attempting to press upon it those subhme doctrmes INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 57 which could not be immediately comprehended ; and it has been pursued to the happiest effects by this benevo- lent societ}^, in their quiet unassuming manner, without calling on the public for assistance or applause,''' Among some of the southern Indians, the same bene- volent efforts have been pursued on a large scale, at the expense of the United States.^ From these pleasing contemplations we turn with regret to those different opinions which seem to prevail among some of our fellow citizens : opinions which are likely, unless they shall be overpowered by mild, good sense and calm reflection, to produce consequences inju- rious both to our peace and reputation. It would be rash to assert, that, in the comparative estimate of the original and the now predominant popu- lation of America, society has not been a gainer by the vast ascendency of the latter. It would be the folly of enthusiasm to conceive that if this part of our great continent still remained in the exclusive possession of its ancient inhabitants without an alteration of their ancient manners, the general interests of man would be promoted. No, the great and glorious spectacle exhibited by the formation of the United States into one body, by her attainments in science, her self-defence in war, her rational principles * The missionaries among the Choctaws, established in 1817, are understood to have adopted the same course. t See the message of the President, March 30, 182-4, and the report of the Secretary of War, attached to the subsequent message of January 17, 1825. ()S INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. of liberty, and her novel and suljlime .system of govern- ment, would have been unknown to the world, but for the discovery and settlement of North America. The permanent basis of every government must, how- ever, be the principle of justice. Have we then justly acquired a right to the soil on which we tread — on which we have erected our edifices, established our political systems, and proclaimed our- selves to the world, a free, a sovereign, and an enlight- ened people ? The inquiry, in itself, is highly interesting ; and, as it leads to an examination of our ancient history, is, for this Society, not improper. A right to the soil depends on the mode by which possession was acquired. It is only by military conquest or voluntary cession, that the rights of the original occu- pants are divested. But if the conquest is made by invaders without right, the title is as illegitimate as the war by Avhich it is acquired. Such acquisitions, founded only on superior force, are destitute of moral sanction, and do not extinguish the original rights of the prior occupants. The Europeans could claim no right by conquest, for they had received no previous injury to justify a war. The natives of this continent were utterly ignorant even of the existence of such a place as EurojDe, till we poured upon them our adventurers, our refinements, and our vices. There was, therefore, no pretence for depriving them INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 59 of their land, except the feeble one that, although in their actual sovereign possession, their modes of making use of the soil were such as gave them no title to it. That is, that thej did not till the ground, nor hve in condensed bodies ; but, depending on the chase, roamed loosely and at large, over the vast tracts which they ignorantly supposed were their own. For we may dis- miss, with a sigh at human perversity, the still less founded allegation, that the extension of the Christian religion would justify the seizure of the property, and the destruction of the persons of the natives. Let us then bestow a short consideration on the other supposed justification of European right to divest Ameri- can proprietors. A few principles will be concisely laid down : 1. Property is another word for dominion. The right to hold, to regulate, to dispose of lands, or any other subject. 2. We read in holy writ, that God gave to Adam dominion over the earth. Dominion thus became a quality incident to rational existence, — it was given to man alone, and it was given without qualification or restraint. 3. If we can discover no restriction in the first dona- tion, where else are we to look for it ? If we do not find it in the outset imposed as a condition upon man, that he shall raise his own subsistence by the cultivation of the soil or the domestication of animals, we can find no power elsewhere to impose such a condition. GO INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 4. Nations are moral entities, knowing no superior coer- cive power, but })ound, for their own interests, faitlifully and imifonuly to adhere to the principles of virtue and justice. The advantages derived from mere power continue only as long as the power continues. The advantages of pursuing a course of virtue and justice are certain and permanent. What would be unlawful in an individual would be unlaw^ful in a nation, and the latter is not exempted from its obligation by not being subjected to that coercive power which restrains or punishes the individual. We may, therefore, consider it as an axiom, that one nation depriving another of its property by a mode which would be unlaw^ful in an individual is no less guilty than the individual would be. 5. A nation has no right to seize lands within the known limits of another nation, under the pretence that there are no individual occupants on it. Such lands are the property of the nation within whose boundaries they lie ; and it has the sole right to grant them to others, or to make use of them in such way as its government may think proper. Internal causes may induce the government to retain them in its own hands for a time, to dispose of them in succession to its own citizens, or to exclude all per- sons from cultivating them. In England there are large bodies of land w^hich have lain waste and unin- habited for ages. They are considered as belonging to the nation, and cannot be enclosed without a legislative INAUGUKAL DISCOURSE. 61 act. And with us, when the Indian titles to particular bodies of land has been fairly acquired, the lands become, in point of fact, vacant, till the government disposes of them to purchasers. Our European neighbors, the British in Canada, or the Spaniards to the south, never had the fatuity to conceive that the}^ had a right in the meantime to enter on such lands and aj)propriate them to themselves. A case may however be supposed, but history does not, to my memory, furnish such an instance, of the total extirpation of a nation by disease, when all its lands would return to the bosom of nature, open to the right of the next occupants. There was indeed a pretence of this sort set up by one of our first colonies. A mortal disease had swept away so many of the original inhabit- ants, that the Plymouth Colony, considering it as they declared, almost a Providential preparation for their settlement, conceived that they had no more to do than to take possession of the vacancy. The maxim that dominium vacuivm ceditur occupanti, was strenuously enforced, but it soon produced sangui- nary evidence that the case supposed had not happened, and that the nation whose lands they seized was not annihilated. Speculative writers, and some of great eminence, have hazarded opinions on the other branch of this subject; that is, the connection of the right to the soil with the mode in which it is employed, which in themselves would be of httle moment, because their practical efiect has G2 I N A U G U 11 A L DISCOURSE. been but partial, were it not that late political move- ments among ourselves seem to have revived them with a formidable aspect. The argument is, that to promote the increase of popu- lation is a great principle which ought to govern all man- kind. And some even assert that it is a divine command that the earth shall be so occupied and employed, that it will produce and support the greatest number of human beings. The dedication of large territory to the mere purposes of hunting is suggested to be a scheme of direct hostihty to the performance of this duty. Applied to the arts of agriculture, or the mere pasturage of domestic animals, a much greater number of individuals can be raised and maintained on the same space of ground ; and therefore, a nation devoted to the chase ought, when required, to surrender its possessions to those who propose to raise grain or feed domestic animals. Such is the sophistry which has been applied to the title of tlie Aborigines, and it surely requires little labor to refute it. 1. To subsist upon the product of the chase is forbid- den by no revealed law — not a passage can be adduced from holy writ which prohibits it. 2. A body of men, constituting an independent nation, may appropriate to itself a territory not belonging to others, and make any lawful use of it, without being responsible to others for such use. It may exclusively pursue commerce, manufactures, agriculture, or hunting. If the mode of employment is not the best adapted to its INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 63 own benefit, it will substitute another; but the nation itself must, on such subjects, be the only judge. No other nation has the right to require it to abandon one employment and assume another, and still less to divest it of its territory, in order that it may itself employ it in a better manner. If the dependence on the chase retards the increase of population, it is an evil which in time will produce its own redress. The natural tendency of the human mind is to pursue its own improvement and attain the greatest possible share of happiness. This impulsive princij)le has produced all the knowledge, science, and prosperity now in existence. It operates more slowly or more rapidly according to surrounding circumstances. A severe cHmate and a forbidding soil may long delay it. A genial sky, a fertile territory, unimpeded by foreign causes, will insensibly lead to meliorations of the mind, to the sweetness of domestic attractions, and to employ- ments less erratic and more productive than hunting. A nation has the legal right to retain the means of such voluntary changes in its own hands. It ought not to be deprived tif the chance of future, though perhaps very distant civilization, by its own procurement. Whatever weight there may be in the preference of one mode of emj)loyment to another, it is an abuse to apply it to the subversion of national rights. If such rights are to be prostrated, and those who make the best use of the land by the most skilful refinements of art are entitled to possess it, the right of possession would be ever unstable and transient. The people of England and 64 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. Franco are probaljly tlie Ijcst farmers in Europe : in their hands, a given quantity of land will maintain a greater numher of people than it would under the management of an equal number of Spaniards or Hungarians. Will it be pretended that the French or the English have, there- fore, a right to seize the less productive fields of Spain or Hungary ? Nay, if this principle is established as a rule for the conduct of nations, nmst it not also extend to private life and individual property? Would not the skilful and industrious farmer be entitled to drive away one who was less acquainted with the art of agriculture or who neglected it altogether? The man of wealth throws a large portion of his country estate into pleasure grounds, — the anxious farmer in his neighborhood could produce enough on the same grounds to subsist one hundred persons. Was it ever conceived that he had a right to destroy the pahngs of the park and plough up the lawn of his luxurious neighbor ? As we bring the subject home by familiar example, we see its absurdity; and the Indians themselves have adopted the same reasoning. When the Commissioners of the United States, at the instance of the State of Georgia, were urging the Chero- kees to sell the remainder of their lands, they observed to this intelligent nation, that " the Great Father of the Universe must have given the earth equally for the inheritance of his white and red children." The three chiefs who conducted the correspondence on the other side, modestly rejDlied, " We do not know the intentions of the Supreme Father in this particular, but it INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 65 is evident that this principle has never been observed or respected by nations or by individuals. If your assertion be a correct idea of his intention, why do the laws of enlightened and civiUzed nations allow a man to mono- polize more land than he can cultivate."* It is the honor of our country, that its practice hereto- fore has generally, though not without exceptions, been in accordance with the existence of the Indian rights, notwithstanding the manner in which they make use of the soil. In taking a short view of the course pursued in the different provinces, it will be perceived that William Penn did not first set the example of these acts of strict justice, although he closely conformed to the best examples of others. In Europe, he has frequently been applauded for having led the way ; but he, himself, never claimed this credit, and his other merits are sufficiently great to bear the destitution of this. It is one of the offices of history, and will be one of the leading objects of the present Insti- tution, to combine fidelity of narration with industry of research. Our Pennsylvania pride may be affected by the confession, but it would not be honest to retain in our plume a single feather that is not our own. Beginning with the northern colony of New Hamp- shire (for Maine was only a part of Massachusetts), I find that so early as 1629, they purchased of the natives what appears to have been considered the entire area of the * See the President's Message of March 30, 1824, with the docu- ments appended, p. 25, 21. 5 6G INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. province, " acquiring thereby," says the respectable Bel- knap, " a more valuable right, in q, moral view, than any European prince could give."* Of Massachusetts, I find it difficult to speak. Two years after this transaction in New Hampshire, "the Governor and Deputy of the New England Committee for a Plantation in Massachusetts Bay," wrote out from Eng- land to the colony in the following terms : " If any of the Salvages pretend a right of inheritance to all or any part of the lands granted in our patent, we pray you to endeavor to purchase off their title, that we may avoid the least scruple of intrusion."-]* It is reasonable to suppose, that if this course had not been previously pursued, it would then have been adopted ; but, from the following passage in Hutchinson, one of their historians, it does not appear that such pur- chases, if made, were in all instances fairly conducted. Hutchinson, when speaking of the famous King Philip, who gave these colonists so much trouble, says, "Although his father had at one time or other conveyed to the Eng- lish all that they were possessed of, yet Philip had sense enough to distinguish between a free, voluntary covenant, and one made imder duress." A conveyance from one of the Indians is, indeed, given by the Historical Society of Massachusetts.^ It is from a * Belknap's History of New Hampshire, Yol. I., p. 12. See also p. 10 and 128. The deed itself is set forth at full length in Hazard's Historical Collections, Yol. I., p. 272. t See Hazard, Yol. I., p. 263. "l Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Yol. lY , New Series, p. 266. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 67 person of the name of Philip, and without a date, for what seems to be a small tract of land. And from the curious account which we have of the dispute between the cele- brated Roger Williams and the Plymouth Colony, it would appear, that the practice of purchasing was but partially exercised. When he remonstrated against the injustice of depriving the Indians of their lands without a reasonable compensation, they answered, as I have before observed, " That God having shortly before their arrival, swept away many thousands of the natives, they had a right to occupy the vacant territory;" to which they added, " That if the natives complained of any straits put on them, we gave satisfaction in some payment or other to their content." They also assumed the unten- able ground, that an agricultural nation had a right to possess itself of territory employed merely for the purpose of hunting ; and when WilUams inquired by what right, upon this principle, noblemen and men of great landed property, in England, could justifiably set hunting- grounds apart for their own use, their feeble reply was, that in other respects those noblemen and gentlemen rendered great services to the community. WilHams was compelled to leave the colony on account of this and other errors of opinion. He retired with some adherents to Narraganset Bay, where he commenced a settlement called Providence, and, with laudable consistency and before he broke ground, made a full purchase of the Indians, who were the now extinguished tribe of the Narragansets, then a powerful nation. This was in 1644. 68 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. In Connecticut, it appears that a similar course was in most cases pursued. Before the colony was definitively separated from the Plymouth and Massachusetts Govern- ment, a tribe of Indians on the river Connecticut invited the latter to form a settlement among them, in order that they might be protected against the warlike Pequots. In 1632, this request was complied with ; and about two 3^ears afterwards, the Pequots, in a treaty with Lord Say and Sele, surrendered a portion of their territory to him. The Pequots were a highminded race : the only nation which, in that part of the world, had refused to pay tribute to the Imperial Mohawks. They knew and valued their rights ; they foresaw the ruin that impended on their national existence by the introduction of a superior class of beings, armed with destructive weapons, and eager to use them. The praises due to patriotism and courage; the admiration we bestow upon ancient nations, who hazarded everything in defence of their rights, their liberties, and their soil, should not be with- held from the Pequots. Like the Carthaginians, they have no historians of their own. We take their history, and our impressions of their character, from the pens of their enemies, their oppressors and ultimate destroyers. If we find them soon afterwards engaged in a severe and bloody war with the English, we are not thence to infer that the Pequots were the aggressors. In 1635, a small English settlement was made at Windsor, independent of the acquisition of Lord Say and Sele. The Indians were considered by them as the only rightful proprietors, and the land was purchased from them. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 69 In 1662, Connecticut was erected by the Charter of Charles II. into a separate province. John Mason, agent for the colony, is said to have purchased, of the Indians, all lands within their bounds which had not been pre- viously purchased by particular towns ; and he publicly surrendered them to the colony in presence of the Greneral Assembly. But in this purchase the remaining territory of the Pequots was probably not included ; for, before this time, the General Court of Massachusetts had asserted their title by conquest, in a declaration beginning as follows : " Whereas it has pleased the Lord, in his great mercy, to dehver into our hands our enemies, the Pequots and their allies, and thereby the lands and places they pos- sessed are, by just right of conquest, fallen to us and our friends and associates on the Connecticut River," &c.* Independent of this exception, if, in point of fact, it is an exception, it is gratifying to perceive that Connecti- cut is to be added to the Hst of those who acknowledged and fairly acquired the Indian rights. Within the provmce of New Netherlands, afterwards New York, the Dutch unquestionably purchased where- ever they formed settlements; and after the final con- quest by Nichols, the same policy was cautiously pursued by him and his successors. The purchases of the Dutch extended, as their claims also extended, beyond the present limits of New York. In 1632, they purchased * Hazard's Collections, Yol. L, p. 42Y. The date is 20th of 9th month, 1G3Y, a remarkable adoption of the peculiar style of a people against whom much severity was about that time practised. 70 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. of the natives lands on both sides oi" the river Delaware, but to what distance we are not now infonued. In New Jersey, this amicable course was steadily pur- sued. In 1GG9, Sir George Carteret is stated to have purchased the Indian rights; but they could not have been all their rights, for new comers were required by the government, either to purchase of the Indians them- selves, or, if the lands were already purchased, to pay their proportions. The practice of separate purchases was, however, soon found to be productive of mischief, and was forbidden by act of Assembly. We have now arrived at Pennsylvania, where we shall find the way already prepared, in this respect, for William Penn. The Swedes, who had superseded the Dutch in the occupancy of the western bank of the Delaware, had, in 1637,* purchased from the natives a tract of land, to which the instructions given by Christina, the daughter and suc- cessor of Gustavus, to Governor Printz, who came out with the second colony, in 1642, refer in the following terms : * This is an error of date, into which several writers have fallen. At the time the Discourse was prepared, the existence of many valuable documents relating to the history of the New Netherlands was not known on this side of the Atlantic. These have since been obtained through the agency of Mr. Brod- head, and published by the liberality of the State of New York. The Swedes arrived in the spring of 1638. An examination of the Letter from Jerome Hawley, Treasurer of "Virginia, to Mr. Secretary Windebanke, and of the Protest of Kieft, Director-General of New Netherlands, will, we think, fix the date of arrival in Api'il of that year. See Ferris' Original Settlements on the Delaware, p. 32, &c. ; Hazard's Annals of Penn, 42, 44, 48 ; Documentary History of New York, edited by Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, Yol. III., 20.— Editor. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 71 " When the Governor shall, God wilhng, arrive in New Sweden, he must carefully observe that the hmits of the country which our subjects possess by virtue of the con- tract made with the savage inhabitants as legitimate owners of it, according to the deeds, extend to the sea- shore at Cape Henlopen, upwards on the west side of Godin's Bay* and upwards on the Great South Riverf to Mingoes Creek,J where the Fortress Christina is erected and from thence further along the river to a place called by the wild inhabitants Sankikans,§ where the bound- aries are to be found." It is stipulated in the contract that Her Majesty's subjects may occupy as much of the country as they shall choose. The original deed is deposited in the National Archives at Stockholm. 1 1 * Delaware Bay. ■j" This name was given to the Delaware River by the Dutch. It appears that the Indians called it Mackerish Kitton. I Christina Creek, so named in honor of the Queen of Sweden. The fort stood near the present site of Wilmington, Del — Editor. § Now the Falls of Trenton. II I have this information from my venerable friend Dr. Collin. See also a curious little book entitled " History of New Sweedland,"* reprinted by the New York Historical Society, in which it is stated, that a copy of this deed was read by the Swedes to the Indians, at Tinicum, in the year 1654. Their different emotions are described as the names of those who signed the deeds were pronounced, rejoic- ing when they heard the names of persons still living, hanging down their heads in sorrow when they were no more. * The same work referred to, in a former note, as having been written by Cam- panius, translated by Mr. Du Ponceau and published by the Society. This touching allusion may be found on page 78, of Mr. Du Ponceau's Translation.— Editok. 72 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. The Swedes erected several forts, not to defend them- selves against the Indians, l)ut against the Dutch. A petty warfare took place between the two nations ; and the last capture by Stuyvesant, that of Fort Christina, completed the subjugation of the Swedes. The Dutch rights expired with the conquest of New York ; and WiUiam Penn, by the two grants which he received, first from Charles II. and secondly from the Duke of York, became proprietor of what was termed the three lower counties, which now constitute the State of Delaware, and of that great and valuable territory to which, against his own inclination, the name of Penn- sylvania was given.* Before his arrival, the policy which he afterwards so * Although perhaps not meant, yet the impression left by the language of the text is that Penn objected to the name, because given in honor of himself. He did object, but it was for another reason. * * * " This day my country was confirmed to me under the Great Seal of England, with large powers and privileges, by the name of Pennsylvania, a name t^.ie King would give it in honor of my father. I choose New Wales, being as this, a pretty hilly country, but Penn being Welsh for a head, as Penmanmoire in Wales, and Penrith in Cumberland, and Penn in Buckinghamshire, the highest land in England, called this Pennsilvania, which is the high or head ivoodlands ; for I proposed, when the Secretary, a Welshman, refused to have it called New Wales, Sylvayiia, and they added renn to it, and, though I much opposed it, and went to the King to have it struck out and altered, he said 'twas 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 lookt 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." * * * * — Penn to Robert Turner, 5th ]st mo., 1681 ; Hazard's Annals, 500; and Register of Pennsylvania, I., 29t, and Post. p. 209. — Editor. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 73 strictly pursued, was commenced, under his instructions, by Markliam, his heutenani>governor, with the assistance of Commissioners appointed by Penn ; and a small addi- tional purchase was made, or a release of some rights to which the Swedes had not perhaps fully attended, was obtained. This was in July, 1682. The personal arrival of the wise and benevolent founder was preceded by a letter to the native inhabit- ants, expressing, in plain and affectionate language, the terms on which he desired " to live with them," and in- forming them that he had sent Commissioners "to treat with them about land and a firm league of peace." Shortly after he landed, which was on the 24th of October, 1682,* we find him commencing this amicable exchange of goods acceptable to the Indians for land, which they were will- ing to cede. The first deed is dated June 23d, 1683 ; and, with aU the subsequent conveyances as well to the descendants of William Penn as to the State after the Declaration of Independence, may be seen in Mr. Charles Smith's valuable edition of the laws, to which reference is easy. Let me here remark that by the faithful observance of this honest policy, Pennsylvania has been exempted from those domestic wars which have afilicted some of her neighbors. In 1756, when Kittaning was destroyed by * This is the date of his arrival at the Capes. On the 2Vth, 0. S., he arrived before New Castle ; landed there on the 28th, and took formal possession of the territory. On the next day, he arrived at Upland, now Chester. — Editor. 74 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. Colonel Armstrong, and during the Revolution, when part of our State again became the theatre of war, the Indians were seduced and employed by foreign nations.* Fifty years before the date of our Charter, the adven- turers under Calvert, after a view of several parts of the country within the chartered limits of Maryland, fixed on a place called Yaoeomoco, of which they made a free and fair purchase from the natives, and where, under the name of St. Mary's, they established the seat of govern- ment. The same course was afterwards regularly pur- sued, except during a short interval commencing in the year 1642, when the Indians, incited and misled by some of Lord Baltimore's enemies, commenced a war, on the conclusion of which, how^ever, measures so moderate and prudent were adopted, that the most perfect satisfaction on the part of the natives universally prevailed. Of the course pursued by Virginia, I should be at a loss, without the information of Mr. Jefferson, to give any certain account. Captain Smith's own narrative, and the histories of Beverley and Stithe, afford little satisfaction in this respect. In the " Notes upon Virginia," Mr. Jefferson's language is as follows : " That the lands were taken from the natives by conquest, is not so general a truth as is sup- posed. I find in our histories and records repeated proofs of purchase, which cover a considerable part of the lower country, and many more would doubtless be found * See Kilty's Landholder's Assistant, printed at Baltimore, in 1808. Mr. Kilty was register of the Land Office for the Eastern Shore, and his book contains much useful information. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 75 on further search. The upper country, we know, has been acquired altogether by purchases made in the most miexceptionable form." In respect to the two Carohnas, their early history presents a fluctuating view of alternate fair deahng and cruel outrage. I collect generally from Chalmers,* that the emigrants from the northern settlements to Carohna made pur- chases of the Indians, and their example was probably followed by those who migrated from Europe. Hewitt, who, in 1779, published a history of these provinces, describes the early settlers as involved in constant ^var with the natives. Yet he vaguely alludes to private purchases from them. The first treaty made by the government, denoting any measure of this sort, was in 1721; and, in 1750, another was made to the same eflect. An anecdote in relation to Lawson, surveyor-general of North Carolina, seems to confirm the fiict of some acquisitions having been fairly made. Having ventured himself among a tribe at a distance from the coast, he was seized and formally put to trial on a charge of having surveyed lands beyond their cessions, condenmed and executed. His fellow traveller, a Swiss Baron, who had a large settlement of his countrymen at or near New Berne, was liberated. We may, therefore, suppose that * P. 516. But there is no doubt that some part of the lands ou the coast were claimed as acquisitions hj conquest. Although Wil- liamson says, generally", that the settlers there purchased of the uativ'es. 7G I N A U G U 11 A L DISCOURSE. the domains of the hitter were within some ceded territory.'^' When the spirited and phihanthropic Oglethorpe led a colony to Georgia, he began by purchasing of the Indians. But the tranquillity of his settlements was much dis- turbed by the Spaniards ; and I am in want of materials to give a satisfiictory account of their further procedures in respect to the acquisition of Indian rights. Thus, generally, was an Indian title recognized by the early colonists from whom we proceeded, and under whom the right on wdiich our property depends is derived. The Revolution took place : provinces became States, and each State was admitted to be commensurate in boundary with the province. The United States suc- ceeded to the rights of the British Crown. Whatever the latter was entitled to, and had not granted away, became the property of the United States. The lands not yet ceded by the Indians, now became the subjects of amicable purchase, either by the particular State or by the United States ; and from the era of our Independence, the pretence of acquisition in any other mode or of right on any other principle, is not to be found in the acts of the General Government. Of this rule of proceeding very honorable e\adence is afforded in the treaty of 1814, made by General Jackson with a part of the Creek Nation. Although these deluded * Williamson, p. 192, and app. 285. This Lawson had published in London, in lt09, an account of a voyage to Carolina, in which he speaks of the Indians with asperity and contempt. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 77 men were wholly defeated, and their country entirely in our possession, so that, by the laws of war, the right by conquest was complete, yet the United States, instead of expelling them from their homes, entered into a fair treaty with them, accepted a cession of part of their land, and guaranteed to them the integrity of all the remainder. It is not particularly connected with the subject, before us, yet it is not improper to add, that the vanquished being reduced to extreme want, the United States, with a noble humanity, engaged to provide for them the neces- saries of life till the crops of corn became competent to furnish the Nation a supply. Can a similar instance be found in the annals of Europe? Yet still, although their political rights are thus recog- nized, the moral condition of those of the natives who are near to our settlements is generally unhappy. The regular advance of the whites, the gradual diminution of their territory by sales which they feel the necessity of making; the conviction that this corrosive process is in its nature irresistible, produces among the remnants of those tribes which are still addicted to ancient habits, dejection and despair. The gentlemen who accompanied Major Long in his Second Expedition, observe, " That formerly the Indian was sparing in killing game, but at present he considers himself a stranger in the land of his fathers, — his pro- perty daily exposed to the encroachments of the white man, — and therefore, he hunts down indiscriminately every animal *he meets, doubting whether he will be 78 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. permitted in the ensuing year to reap tlie fruits of hig foresight during the present."'*' But it is melancholy to reflect, that relief from these apprehensions is not certainly attained by the Indians adopting other modes of employment, but Ijy their becoming civilized and Christians. One of the southern nations, to which I have already alluded, has relinquished its ancient appetite for war and dependence on the chase ; has industriously applied it- self to the regular labors of agriculture and the cultiva- tion of the arts. Its youth are educated in the Christian religion, and its country exhibits one smiling prospect of cultivated fields, substantial dwelhngs, and prosperous industry, under a government regularly organized, and laws wisely made and actively enforced. Yet even these are now trembling for their own security. Of the em- ployment of actual force they are not apprehensive, but they continue to be constantly and earnestly solicited by the United States, at the instance of a State which I have already mentioned, to exchange these lands for others that shall be assigned to them beyond the Mississippi. Some portions of these people, seven or eight years ago, assented to our request, and removed to a barbarous neighborhood, where they have had to experience all the primeval difficulties of savage life, increased by the jealousy and disUke of the old inhabitants. The latter had indeed pre"vaously made a cession to our General Government, which it was hoped would secure a peace- * Keating's account of Long's Second Expedition, Yol. I., p. 232. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 79 able reception for the emigrants ; but the fierce habits of the Osages and Arkansas, the reduced dimensions of their territories, and the frequent colhsion of their hunters, have produced effects that were not fore- seen.* To the ill result of this first experiment the Cherokees now frequently appeal ; and while they humbly and fer- vently solicit to be permitted to remain in peace and quietness, to enjoy the advantages they derive from their own internal improvements, they inquire why the United States will still urge them to abandon the blessings which, at their suggestion, were sought for and ac- quired. " When the Indians themselves (said a Cherokee chief in 1822, in a letter which has been printed verhatim, from his own MS.) seem to manifest a thirst to reach after the blessings and hapjDiness of civilized life, I cannot believe that the United States Government will continue the lukewarm system of pohcy in her relations with the Indians, as has been hitherto adopted, to effect the pur- pose ; of removing nation after nation of them from the lands of their fathers into the remote wilderness, where their encroachments on the hunting grounds of other tribes has been attended with the unhappy consequences of quarrels, wars, and bloodshed. Has not this been the result of the removal of part of our own nation to the Arkansas ? Yes, the uplifted tomahawk is now wielding, and the scalping knife is unsheathed between the Arkan- * See President's Message, March 30th, 1824, p. 57. 80 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. sas, Clicrokces, and Osagcs, for tlie horrid destruction of each other.'"^' These anxious and unhappy men might ask us another question. What security shall we have, they might say, if, in compliance with your entreaties, we surrender the remnant of our lands, and remove to a rude country and a bad neighborhood ? What security shall we have that if we do not relapse into our ancient barbarism, but continue as we now are, industrious and successful agriculturists, you will not again invade us with your urgent entreaties to cede to you all that we may have a second time re- claimed from nature and improved by art, and to plunge into more distant wildernesses, to suffer more distressing privations, and to encounter more destructive hostilities ? To such an inquiry it would be in vain to answer that the United States will solemnly guarantee to them the perpetual and undisturbed possession of the new terri- tories they are sent to enjoy. Alas ! they would reply, here, holding up the treaty of Solstojiyf here is the solemn guarantee of the land we are now seated on, — the solemn assurance that we and our children may consider it as our own forever. On this faith we have struck our ploughs into the ground, and erected houses like your own in our fields. We have copied your manners, have educated our children, and many of us have adopted your * See the letter at length, at page 399 of Dr. Morse's Report to the Secretary of War. See also the negotiations between the Chcro- kees and the Commissioners of the United States, communicated to Congress by the President, March 30th, 1824. f This treaty was made July 2d, 1*191. See also the treaty of Telico, October 2d, 1798. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 81 religion. There seems to be no bounds to the expansion of your population. Remove us beyond the Mississippi, in a few years you will surround us ; drive us beyond the mountains to the great western ocean, you will follow us there, and the impossibihty of a further flight will be the only limit of our miserable pilgrimages.* If this is no exaggerated picture, it becomes a matter of grave consideration to ascertain the course which ought to be pursued by us. We may consider the Cherokees, for of them alone I speak at present, as an independent nation found by us in possession of the soil on which they are now seated. We have seen them relinquish the ancient wild habits of the chase, and adopt the usages of civilized men ; we have led them to the change ; we have taught them the arts, supphed them with the materials, and exhorted them to the essay. Towards us, they are peaceable and friendly ; to all foreign nations, they are inaccessible : we have, therefore, nothing to fear from them. Why should we deny to them the full benefit of the unchecked tide of civihzation? Why, with boundaries distinctly marked and solemnly guaranteed, should not the white population be content to occupy what the Indians have already given up ? The little spot retained by the Cherokees is all they * The Creeks, in 1824, observed, that encroachments are making on their lands ; and what assurances (they ask) have we that similar ones will not be made on us hereafter, if we accept your offer and remove beyond the Mississippi? See Report of Secretary of War, February 5th, 1825. 6 82 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. desire; and when they send their ambassadors to our government, imploring us to leave them in possession of their own, when we compare the humility of their entreaties with the justice of their claim, we cannot but wish, for the honor of our country, that they may not be heard in vain. It is impossible to conceive that the United States will be less happy or much less powerful if this small fragment is suffered to remain with its rightful owners. Against such procedures may be set in striking con- trast, another and very recent instance of the dignified and benevolent course of the United States, when left to act on their own impulse. Instead of fomenting and encouraging, among the nations of the Northwest, those internal wars which would accelerate their mutual de- struction, we have undertaken and succeeded in the arduous task of reconciling them to each other ; and five powerful, and once exasperated tribes, will remember with gratitude the philanthropic exertions of Governor Clarke, and look with delight on the grave of their war hatchet, the Prairie des chiens. Gentlemen : I have thus briefly submitted to you some general views of the objects of our Association. It is possible that it may hereafter be found expedient to enlarge the classes of particular inquiry. The manner in which America was originally peopled, may perhaps ever remain a mystery. It has exercised the talents of more persons in Europe than in this country, although one might suppose that we who are on INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 83 the spot have better means of information and stronger motives for inquiry. It does not fall within the designated functions of the committee last mentioned. Another committee might be appointed to collect facts not generally known in relation to our conflicts with Great Britain. Time has swept, and daily sweeps away many of the actors, and the memory of many of their acts ; but much might still be collected to increase the materials of history. We have assigned to different committees the medical, the juridical, and the hterary history of Pennsylvania. One of the beautiful features of our Constitution has always been the equality of religious opinions. Its theo- logical history would evince whether this has been an illusive theory, or whether it has been carried into prac- tical and beneficial effect. ■ And if a comprehensive and judicious view was exhibited of its features and results, it might afford a salutary lesson to those foreign powers that still, in a greater or less degree, uphold and enforce the right of man to interfere between the creature and the great Creator. This Association is not confined to one sex. Those to whom society is in every respect so much indebted, — who confer on hfe its finest feUcities, and who soften and allay the bitterness of adversity ; whose attainments in science are only less frequent because they are habituated to con- tent themselves within the sphere of domestic duties, but who have so often shown that occasion alone is wanting for advances to the highest rank of mental improvement. — they are not excluded. 84 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. On this side of the Atlantic, we have fewer evidences of female literature than in Europe. But there can be no pretence for supposing an inferiority of intellect. We must, therefore, account for it from a difference of manners. The simplicity of early colonization has not yet been wholly worn out. The wife, the daughter, or the sister, have still been contemplated, like the Lares of ancient mythology, as only the guardians and the orna- ments of a sacred home. But without abridging these endearing characters, the wife, the daughter, and the sister, may be admitted and encouraged to cultivate many branches of literature ; to partake in the highest employ- ments of mind, and often to assist and sometimes to lead in the pursuit and progress of the most exalted science. In relation to the subjects embraced by this Association, the co-operation of the female sex seems particularly desir- able. Generally superior to man in closeness of attention and retentiveness of memory, many of them are living records, — sources of knowledge which inquiry mil seldom exhaust. In conclusion, I have only to express an ardent hope, that this Society will not, like too many others, be marked only by vivacity of inception, apathy of progress, and prematureness of decay. In the variety of its objects, something may be found to interest every one. The treasury of literature is grateful for the widow's mite. Let all contribute what they can, and they will contribute what they ought. Let no opportunity be lost for throwing into the common stock, not only what may be collected of times that are past, but whatever may be of interest in relation to time that is present. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 85 ADDITIONAL NOTES. • Note, page 49. Neither William Penn nor Robert Barclay were educated at Seminaries established by the Society. They both became converts at mature age. Barclay, with paternal concurrence. Penn, greatly to the displeasure of his father. The observations in the text are, therefore, to be understood as applying to the reception which works of this character meet among the Friends, and not to the sources whence the literary knowledge was derived. Note, page 56. The lines between quotation marks are from a com- munication made to me by one of the members of the Committee. Note, page 69. My respectable friend Judge Lyman, of Povidence, who happened to be present at the delivery of this Discourse, has favored me with the following note, which shows that before the banishment of Roger Williams, some of the inhabitants of Plymouth Colony had, like himself, sound impressions of the Indian rights. The island afterwards called " Rhode Island was purchased of the Indian Chief Miantonomo, in the year 1639-40, by a number of gen- tlemen from Boston of great respectability. They divided it among themselves, and formed their first settlement on the Northern part. After a few years, they removed and settled at Newport, which has been the capital of the State ever since." MEMOIE ON THE LOCALITY or THE GREAT TREATY BETWEEN WILLIAM PENN AND THE INDIAN NATIVES, IN 1682. Read hefore tJie Historical Society of Pennsylvania^ September 19th, 1825. BY ROBERTS VAUX. (87) M E M I E ON IHB LOCALITY OF PENN'S TEEATY.* No transaction connected with the settlement of Penn- sylvania, has higher claims upon the respect of those who are interested in her early annals, than the first treaty which was concluded between the pacific founder and the Indian natives, in 1682. That compact was not more distinguished for its justice and generosity than for the fidehty with which it was observed by the contracting parties and their descendants, for upwards of half a century after its ratification. * No topic connected with the History of Pennsylvania has been more thoroughly investigated than that which forms the subject of this paper. But the Society, believing that neither the question of the Site, nor the nature of the Treaty, had been settled beyond con- troversy, appointed Mr. Peter S. Du Ponceau and Mr. J. Francis Fisher to report upon a communication from Mr. John F. Watson, entitled " The Indian Treaty for the Lands now the Site of Phila- delphia and the adjacent country." These gentlemen, after great care and research, prepared a History of the Treaty, which is to be found in the third volume of the Memoirs. The examination did not, however, rest here, but the subject was (89) 90 MEMOIR ON TUE The negotiation itself, in all its features, has no parallel in history. A few defenceless men holding council in the midst of the wilderness, with chiefs and warriors and assembled tribes of aborigines, whose numbers and dis- positions could not have been known, was surely a novel experiment. Yet such was the purity of their character, again discussed in the Address of Mr. Granville John Penn, and the Reply of Mr. H, D. Gilpin, on the occasion of the presentation by the former " of (to quote his words) the Belt of Wampum which was given to the Founder of Pennsylvania by the Indian Chiefs, after his arrival in this country, confirmatory of the friendly relations which were then permanently established between them." (Yol. VI., of Memoirs.) The question of the Site of the Treaty still remain* a matter of tradition ; no positive proof has been afforded, and perhaps can never be presented. Some have expressed surprise that a fact so interesting should 'not have been established by the recorded testimony of Penn or of his cotemporaries. Tradition, as we remarked, has fixed the very spot of the occurrence. That it took place under the great Elm, is the accepted conclusion ; although, it is to be presumed, there were trees upon the spot even more ancient than this, which was sup- posed to have been one hundred and fifty-five years old in 1682. Only positive proof to the contrary would at this day dislodge the general belief. But if it was under this particular tree that the Treaty was made, and not under a grove, which perhaps stood around it, why is the circumstance not recorded somewhere ? that the history of a tree so celebrated should have been traditional, when that of many, no more famous, is established by abundant recorded testimony? Nor can we understand why the Indians, in their numerous subsequent conferences, and with which our annals are filled, — a race so strong in their feelings of association, in their fondness for designating places and streams the most insig- nificant, so apt to draw their illustrations from material objects, — should not, in speaking of their great father, Penn, and his great Treaty with them, have pointed to this Tree as the living embodi- ment and proof of an event on which they so much loved to dwell. — Editor. LOCALITY OF PENN's TREATY. 91 and the magnanimous quality of their aims, that the naturally untamed and misgiving tempers of the sons of the forest were checked and meliorated in the presence of Penn and his companions ; and the negotiations were conducted, on the part of the natives, in a spirit of candor and gentleness, which might be advantageously followed in the diplomatic discussions of more pohshed nations. This primitive act, on the part of the lawgiver of Pennsylvania, has received the warmest applause of the wise and good, and the poet and the painter have employed their genius in celebrating it in the charms of verse, and by the graphic and glowing illustrations of the pencil. The precise spot where this deed of concord was sealed cannot fail to be an object of deep interest to the present and for all succeeding generations. Tradition tells us, that the treaty of 1682 was held at Shacka- maxon, under the wide-spread branches of the great Ehn Tree which grew near the margin of the Delaware, and which was prostrated during a storm, in the year 1810. Some doubts, however, have been recently suggested, which are calculated to unsettle the long-received opinion that Kensington was the scene of the memorable negotia- tion ; and, as the only mark by which the locaUty was designated is removed, it is probable that the lapse of time, with other concurrent circumstances, may hereafter render the fact equivocal, and perhaps cast over it the veil of oblivion, should the evidence which remains pass away uncollected and unrecorded. Those who have speculated upon this matter allege, 92 MEMOIRONTIIE that the treaty took place at Upland or Chester, the interesting theatre where the " Great Lai')" was given, and where the first Assembly of the representatives of the freemen of Pennsylvania convened soon after the arrival of the founder, in 1682, I have sought in vain for proof to sustain this position ; and if testimony were wanting to estabUsh the place of the treaty to have been at Shackamaxon, the probabilities are all against Upland. The Swedes had been in possession of the country upon the Delaware, and many settlements were formed, from the bay to some distance northwardly of Tinicum Island, several years before the grant of Charles II. to "William Penn ; and although those worthy people gene- rally maintained a good understanding wdth the natives, they nevertheless deemed it proper to adopt warlike modes of defence against any surprise or descent upon their habitations. Block-houses and other means of resistance were, therefore, established at various points on the territory occupied by the Swedes, and Upland was within the fortified Hmits. For the convenience of the European inhabitants who were to become the subjects of his government, and whom Penn found on the soil when he arrived, was no doubt the reason why Uplaiid was adopted as the temporary capital of the province; but no one who is familiar with the character and pur- poses of the benevolent ruler, will suspect his discernment or question the consistency of his pacific principles, by supposing that he would have asked the natives to treat with him at a place which was protected hy military jposts! LOCALITY OF PENN's TREATY. 93 The following letters, whilst they go to confirm the opinion that Chester was not the treaty ground, also support the tradition concerning its having been at Shackamaxon. They are likewise highly interesting and valuable, on account of the historical information which is incidentally communicated by their venerable authors. My Respected Friend: After asking thy excuse for so long delaying to answer thy letter of the 5th inst., and which was partly occa- sioned by my desire to furnish thee from the papers in our possession, with some evidence that the original treaty was held at Shackamaxon, under the shade of the venerated Elm, which I have no doubt was really the case, notwithstanding that I have not been able to find the casual mention of the circumstance in our papers, for it would probably have only been casual, James Logan not attending the Proprietor until his second voyage hither. The family of Penn in England could, I should suppose, furnish proof of the place where this transaction, so honorable to their illustrious ancestor, was held, to- gether with many other particulars highly gratifying to those w^ho delight to look back upon the infancy of our State, — ^for I have no doubt but that they possess a very great mass of information on every subject connected with the establishment of the colony. I never could account for the propensity of some to unsettle every received opinion, either on subjects which, though speculative, are of the highest importance to the 94 MEMOIR ON THE comfort us well as to the well-being of every iiidhidual, and to society ; or on those minor topics, which, like the present instance, have afforded so much innocent satis- faction in consecrating, as it were, a local spot, sacred to the recollection of the dignity of moral virtue. But, in the present instance, I believe they have nothing on which to found their opinion, that the first treaty w^as held at Chester. My honored mother was born near to that town, and passed the first part of her life there ; was well acquainted with its oldest inhabitants, some of whom had been contemporaries of William Penn, and, I may add, was well qualified, from her inquiring mind and excellent memory, to have known such a tradition, had it existed, which she would have treasured up and often mentioned, with that of the proprietor's residence at Robert Wade's, during his first visit. The dwelUng which was thus honored was called " Essex House," and stood on the other side of Chester Creek.* Its very ruins have long disappeared, and only two or three pine trees mark the spot ; and I have formerly seen a ball and vane which had belonged to the old building and had been preserved by some of the descendants of Robert Wade, * Mr. John M. Broomall, of Chester, became the owner of the premises on which stood the " Essex House," and has erected, on a portion of the site, a dwelling. In the progress of the work he dis- covered that the old well attached to the mansion had been filled up. He restored it, and the water from it is now used. The Historical Society, in 1852, celebrating, at Chester, the 169th Anniversary of the Landing of Penn at that place, visited this interesting spot in a body, and planted a tree where once grew that to which the " TTel- come " is said to have been moored. — Editor. LOCALITY OF PENN's TREATY. 95 wlio (I have heard) were enjomed by the will of some of the family to do so, in a hope of the mansion's being rebuilt, when they were to be again replaced on its turret. I hope, my kind friend, thee will excuse the irrelative- ness of the above to the question respecting the scene of the treaty, which had it been at Upland (now Chester), I think there is no doubt but it would have furnished an article in the Swedish records. We were once in posses- sion of a book of the records of the courts held under their government prior to the arrival of Wilham Penn, which (if I remember aright) my dear Dr. Logan gave into the hands of the late Samuel White, Esq., of Dela- ware, to place in the archives of that State. I am, with great respect, thy affectionate friend, D. LOGAN. Stenton, 29th 5th mo., 1825. Roberts Vaux, Esq. Philadelphia, 19th May, 1825. Dear Sir: The Swedish writings mention the treaty of Penn with the Indians, and their great respect for him ; but nothing as to the locahty. Circumstances make it highly pro- bable that it was held at (now) Philadelphia, as being pretty far into the country, and, by its site, destined for a capital. The first Assembly being held at Chester is not an argument for its having been there, because 96 MEMOIR ON THE Indian concerns could not heave been objects pre\dou3 to many inquiries about them. If a monument is to be erected, Philadelphia is, un- doubtedly, the proper place. Your respectful servant and friend, NICIIOL. COLLIN. Egberts Vaux, Esq. Belmont, September 6th, 1825. My Dear Sir: At your request, but with much diffidence as to the subject you mentioned, to wit, the place of holding the first grand treaty with the Indians by "William Penn, I can only say, that from early youth to this day, I have always miderstood and beheve that the treaty in 1682 was held at Shackamaxon, now Kensington. When a boy, I have resorted to the great Elm Tree, opposite the house in which President Pahner resided, in olden times ; and have always confided in the then uncontradicted tradition, that under that tree the treaty was held. THe place had been an Indian village, but one less in import- ance than a settlement opposite thereto, at now Cooper's Point, in New Jersey, where a very large village or town had been. Indian graves, arrows, stone axes, orna- mental trinkets, cooking vessels, and every indication of Indian residence, were found on both sides of the Dela- ware ; but on the eastern side, in the greatest plenty. I never heard at that time of day, nor since, that the fact LOCALITY OF PENN's TREATY. 97 was disputed, until you now infonn me that doubts exist on the subject. I can only relate my early impressions, which were those of my cotemporaries. I had the most authentic opportunities of knowing Indian history, and the trans- actions between the proprietaries of Pennsylvania with the Indians, my uncle, Richard Peters, having been during, I beUeve, thirty-five or forty years, the Secretary of the province and the confidential agent of the proprie- taries. I was much acquainted with his official duties, and had access to the office papers. He had the chief concern in the Indian Department; and I have no doubt but that I could have put any question relative to treaties or other Indian afiairs at rest, in my early life. But now I can only recall past impressions ; and those, as to the point in question, have uniformly been as I have stated. WiUiam Penn was one of uncommon forecast and prudence in temporal concerns. You will see in his Biography, page 121, Vol. I., that he had the precaution in the 8th month, 1681 (in the fall of which year he arrived in the Delaware), to write from London a most friendly and impressive letter to the Indians, calculated to prepare the way for his arrival among them in his province. No doubt, and I think I remember the early impression I had, that he pursued such cautionary measures on his first coming into Pennsylvania. You wiU see, in the same book, in Vol. 11.,=^ that he gives a * Penn's Works, in 2 Vols., printed in 1126. 7 98 MEMOIRONTIIE minute account to his friends in England, of the Indians in 1G83 ; and says, that he had made himself master of their language, so as not to need an interpreter. This shows a familiar and frequent intercourse with them. I was pleased, in the same letter, to see that our wise pre- decessors used oxen and not horses in their ploughs. I wish the present race of farmers were equally and gene- rally as wise and economical. The crops were then more abundant than in our days. From one bushel of barley sown, they reaped forty, often fifty, and sometimes sixty. Three pecks of w^heat sowed an acre. All this is, to the point in hand, but in favorite interlude. He gives also an account of the native grapes, which he eulogizes, and announces his intention to estabHsh a vineyard. Peaches were in great plenty among the natives, and very good. He gives an account of the Dutch and Swedish settlers, between whom there was much jealousy. It is well kno'vvn that both of these settlers established forts for their defence against the natives, and probably to over- awe each other. The Dutch deemed the Swedes and Finns intruders. The first inhabited the lands on the bay ; and the Swedes " the freshes of the river Delaware," as high as Wicacoa, within half a mile of Philadelphia. It appears that the seat of his government was first at Upland or Chester, where several of his letters are dated. Now I have always understood that Talks with the Indians, preparatory to a final arrangement by a con- clusive treaty, were held at Upland or Chester. But it is almost indisputably probable, if general tradition did not confirm the fact, that WiUiam Penn chose to hold this LOCALITY OF PENN's TKEATY. 99 treaty beyond the reacli of any jealousy about the neighborhood of fortified places, ^nd within the hues of his province, far from such places, and at a spot which had been an Indian settlement, familiar to and esteemed by the natives; and where neither Swedes nor Dutch could be supposed to have influence, for with them the Indians had bickerings. This ^dew of the subject gives the strongest confirmation to the tradition of the treaty being held at Kensington; and the Tree so much hal- lowed, afforded its shade to the parties in that important transaction. The prudent and necessary conferences or talks, preparatory to the treaty, if any vestiges of them now remain, may have given the idea that the treaty was held at Upland. The name and character of William Penn, denominated by the Indians Onas, was held in veneration through a long period, by those who had opportunities of knowing the integrity of his dealings and intercourse, especially by the /Six Nations, who considered themselves the masters of all the nations and tribes with whom he had dealings in his time, and his successors thereafter who adhered to the pohcy and justice practised by him. At Fort Stamoix, fifty-seven years ago, I was present when the Delawares and Slmwanese were released by the Iroquois or Six Nations (originally five) from the subor- dination in which they had been held from the time of their having been conquered. The ceremony was caUed "talcing of the petticoat" and was a curious spectacle. When I was adopted into the family of a Tuscarora chief, at the time of the treaty of Fort Stanwix, he made to me 100 MEMOIR ON THE a speech, in the style used on such occasions, in which he assured me of his a^ection ; and added, that he was pleased with my being "o/ie of tlie yrmng jyeaple of tlie country of tlie vMrnli resrpected and highly esteemed Onas" which means a quill or pen. He gave to me one of his names — Tegochtias. He had been a celebrated warrior, and had distinguished himself on expeditions, toilsome and dangerous, against the Southern Indians. The feathers and desicated or preserved birds, called by the Indians Tegochtias, i. e., Paroquets, were brought home by the war parties, as Trophies. The feathers decorated the Moccasi7is (whereof I had a pair presented to me), mixed with porcupine's quills, in beautifully ornamented work- manship. K there be anything in my Indian name of Paroquet, ludicrous in our estimation, I shall not be ashamed of it, when the great and good Penn yvas denominated, not a whole bird, but merely a quill. My moccasiiis cost me an expensive return, in a present the ceremony required; but I considered the singular honor conferred on me, richly deserving remuneration ; though, in fact, I was more diverted than proud in the enjoyment of the amusing and curious scene, and had no doubt but that this expected remuneration was an ingredient in the motive leading to my adoption. 2Iy nation is reduced, as is all that confederacy, to a mere squad, if not entirely annihilated; though at that time it (the confederacy) could bring three thousand warriors into the field. One race of men seems destined to extinguish another ; and, if so, the whites have amply fulfilled their destiny. I wish, however, that the present treaty-makers had the LOCALITY OF PENN'S TREATY. lOl bust of "William Penn, made from tlie Elm Tree, with a scroll superscribed "Penn's Exemjplary Treaty,'' constantly before tbeir eyes. It would be as monitory on this part of their duty, as the portrait of Washington is exciting in all others. The remaining aborigines of our country are doomed, sooner or later, to the hke extinction their departed predecessors have experienced. If, in any instance, they seem to be stationary, — begin to estabhsh farms, and exercise civilized occupations, — they must be removed (to accommodate an intruding white population) to the wilderness, and recover their former habits. But I see William Penn adopts the idea that they are of Jewish origin. And, if they are of the Israehtish descent, it is in the decrees of Providence that, like all other Jews, they must be homeless wanderers, dispersed throughout all the regions of the earth. Even now, in our day, a portion of these copper-colored Ishmaslites, if so they he, are to be compelled to wander far away, and leave their cultivated homes, to satisfy the sordid cupidity of specu- lating land jobbers. But if their fate be, in the im- mutable decrees of heaven so determined, unworthy executioners often consummate judgments. Very sincerely yours, EICHARD PETERS. Egberts Vaux, Esq. 102 MEMOIR ON THE Belmont, November 3d, 1825. My Dear Sir: I met my old friend David H. Conyngham, a day or two ago. He fell into conversation on olden times, and, among other reminiscences, the Elm Tree at Kensington was discussed. Both of us remembered our boyish amuse- ments, and among them, our bathing at the three stores, and on a sandy beach near the famous Elm. It stood then majestically on a high and clean bank, with a fine area around it ; but, in a later period, the bank has been washed away. His recollections and mine (earlier than his by a few years) go back between sixty and seventy years. No person then disputed the fact, that this Elm was the tree under which Penns Treaty was held. But Mr. Conyngham remembers, distinctly, the frequent visit- ations of Benjamin Lay,^' to the scene of our sports. He was, as you know, eccentric and singular ; but not deficient in understanding and chronicling all remark- able events. He must have known some of the con- temporaries of William Pen?!. After dilating on the worth and virtues of that good man, and particularly as * Benjamin Lay came to Pennsylvania in 1731, at the age of fifty-four years, less than fifty years after Penn's Treaty in 1682, and was, no doubt, personally acquainted with individuals who knew the fact of the locality of that transaction. Lay's benevolent character and pursuits were such as to render the tree, and the interesting event connected with it, peculiarly gratifying to him ; and as it was his constant practice to cultivate and cherish, in the minds of young persons, a love of truth, of justice, and of good will to men, by familiar and forcible illustrations, I place great confidence in the accuracy of his knowledge in this respect. — R. Y. LOCALITY OF PENN'S TREATY. 103 they applied to his treatment of the natives, he would call on the boys ; point to the Elm Tree; and enjoin on them to bear in mind, and tell it to their children, that under that tree Penns Treaty was held ; and they should respect it accordingly. Yours very sincerely, RICHARD PETERS. Roberts Vaux, Esq. It only remains for me to exhibit, what I consider to be satisfactory proof for confirming the generally ad- mitted tradition, that Shackamaxon was the scene of the distinguished transaction under notice. In Proud's History of Pennsylvania, Vol. I., p. 211, it is said, " TJw Proprietary being now returned from Mary- land to Goaquanrwckj^ the j^lace so called by the Lidians, where Philadelphia now stands, began to purchase lands of the natives, whom he treated with great justice and kindness. At page 212, of the same author and volume, we also read, — "It was at this time (1682), when William Penn first entered personally into that lasting friendship with the Indians which ever after continued between them." Clarkson, the biographer of Penn, at page 264, Vol. I., Philadelphia edition, gives some account of the treaty of 1682, and says, — "It appears, that though the parties were to assemble at Coaquannock, the treaty was made a little higher up, at Shackamaxon." The probable cause * "The Grove of the tall Pine Trees."— Du Ponceau. 101 MEMOIR ON THE for this change of the phice of meeting with the Indians, was their own convenience, as well as that of the pro- prietor and those who attended him, as a settlement had been long before made at Shackamaxon, by the natives, and by some Europeans,''' three or four years before the arrival of Penn in the province. The question may, how- ever, be put at rest by the following facts : — Our cele- brated countryman, the late Benjamin West, executed, in 1775, an historical picture of the Treaty of 1682, which he inscribed to the Proprietors of Pennsylvania. The original painting is in the possession of John Penn, Esq.f One of the five dignified individuals, who were present with the proprietor at that treaty, was the Grand- father of West, and the painter has given a likeness of his ancestor, in the imposing group of Patriarchs. I hold * They were from West New Jersey, to which province many of the Society of Friends emigrated from Great Britain in IGH. William Penn was one of the proprietors, and Robert Barclay, the apologist, was Governor of that colony. Meetings for religious worship and for conducting the affairs of the Society of Friends in that vicinity, were held at the house of Thomas Fairland, at Shacka- maxon, in 1681. William Penn was the chief instrument in settling West New Jersey, and the form of government originally prepared for it was the product of his highly-gifted mind. The instructions given to the eight Commissioners sent to lay the foundation of the settlement, expressly direct the purchase of lands from the Indians, so that this great principle of justice was avowed by Penn several years before his treaty of 1682. That Shackamaxon was an ancient Indian town, and early known to this description of European emigrants, who ascended the Dela- ware, is, I think, well established. John Kinsey, one of the Commis- sioners sent to organize the affairs of West New Jersey, died at Shackamaxon, in 1677, soon after his landing. f It was purchased by Mr. Joseph Harrison, Jr., and is now owned by that gentleman. — Editor. LOCALITY OF PENN'S TREATY. 105 this circumstance to be of great authority, because West had an opportunity of being intimately acquainted with all the particulars of the treaty, and it will not be ques- tioned that he intended to perpetuate a faithful narrative upon his canvas. After the tree was uprooted by the storm in 1810, the trunk measured twenty-four feet in circumference, and its age was ascertained to be two hundred and eighty-tJiree years, having been one liimdred and fifty-Jive years old at the time of the treaty. A large piece of it was sent by our venerable townsman, Samuel Coates, to John Penn of Stoke Park, in England, which he so highly valued as to cause it to be placed on a pedestal in one of the apart- ments of his mansion, with the following inscription engraved on a brazen tablet : " A remnant of the great Elm, under which the Treaty was held between William Penn and the Indians, soon after his landing in America, A.D, 1682, and which grew at Kensington, near Philadelphia, till the autumn of the year 1810, when it fell during a storm; was presented to his grandson, John Penn, Esq. Mr. West, who has intro- duced this Tree into his celebrated picture representing the Treaty, has mentioned a peculiar mark of respect shown to it, in more recent times, in the following words : " ^ This Tree, which was held in the highest veneration hy tlie original inhalntants of my native coimtry, hy tlie first settlers, and hy tlieir descendants, and to which I well re- memher, about tlie year 176b, wlien a hoy, often resorting lOG MEMOIR, ETC. with my scliOol-feHoiDs [Jho .s^xd ha'uKj the favorite one for assemhliiKj in the hours of leisure^, V)a8 in some danger durimj the American War of 1775, when the British j)OS- sessed the country, frcmi parties sent out in search of wood for firing ; hut the late General Simcoe, who had the com- mand of tlm district wltjere it grew, from a regard for the clmracter of William Penn, and tJie interest which he tooh in the history connected with tJie Tree, ordered a guard of British soldiers to 'protect it from the axe. This circum- stance tlie General related to me in answer to my inquiries concerning it, after his return to England! " If the Society concurs in opinion with me, that the evidence produced is satisfactory, I would suggest that measures be put in train for erecting a j^lain and sub- stantial Ohelish of Granite, near where the tree formerly stood at Kensington, with appropiate inscriptions. NOTES PROVINCIAL LITERATURE OF PENNSYLVANIA. BY THOMAS I. WHARTOK Bead at a Meeting of the Chwicil, Septemher 21st, 1825. (107) NOTES ON THE PROVINCIAL LITERATURE OF PENNSYLVANIA. The first settlers of Pennsylvania were, chiefly, members of a religious society which has been sup- posed to decry and undervalue human learning, and to place literature as well as painting and music on its index expurgatariiis. However truly this may have been said of some of the early teachers of that sect, certainly the colonif^l history of Pennsylvania affords no materials for the support of the theory. It is beheved that no one of the States of this Union can exhibit so early, so con- tinued, and so successful a cultivation of letters as Penn- sylvania. Hardly had the emigrants sheltered them- selves in their huts, — the forest trees were still standino; at their doors, — when they established schools and a printing press, to teach and to be enlightened : literally inter silvers qaerere verum. Within four years from the time that our ancestors landed in the wilderness, a prints (109) 110 I'KOVINCIAL LITEIiATURE iiig jircss was at work in Phihidelpliia, sowing broadcast the scuds oi' knowledge and morality : and only a few months after the ari*ival of WilHam Penn, pubUc educor tion was attainable at a small expense. It appears, from the Journals of the Provincial Council, that in December, 1683, Enoch Flower undertook to teach school "in the town (as it was then called) of Philadelphia." His charges, a record of which is still preserved, indicate the simplicity of the period. " To learn to read English, four shillings a quarter -, to write, six shillings," &c. ; " boarding a scholar, to wit, diet, lodg- ing, w^ashing, and schooling, ten pounds for the whole year )"^' little more than w^hat is now paid for a single quarter's " schooling" alone, in some of our institutions. ^ Six years afterwards, a public school, or as it would now be called a seminary or college, was founded by the Society of Friends, in this city. The preamble of the Charter granted in 1701, proves how deeply the true principles of morals and philosophy were anchored in the minds of the founders and rulers of Pennsylvania. "Whereas," it recites, "the prosperity and w^elfare of any people depend in a great measure upon the good education of their youth, &c., and qualifying them to serve their country and themselves, by breeding them in reading, writing, and learning of languages, and useful arts, and sciences, suitable to their sex, age, and degree, w4iich cannot be effected in any manner so well as by erecting puhllc schools for the purpose aforesaid," &c. * Proud's History of Pennsylvania, Vol. I., p. 3i5. OF PENNSYLVANIA. Ill Proud,* says . that the poor were taught gratis in this institution. It is curious and instructive to compare the doctrines of this instrument with those which had been promulgated thirty years before, and were at that time acted upon, in a neighboring province. " I thank God," said the Governor of Virginia, " We have not free schools nor printing ; and I hope we shall not have these hun- dred years. For learning has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into the world; and printing has divulged them libels upon the government. God keep us from both."-|- The first preceptor in the Friend's Public School was George Keith, afterwards sufficiently famous. His income from this office seems to be considerable for the times. He was allowed a salary of £50 per annum, with a house for his family, a school-house, and the profits of the school besides for one year. For two years more his school was to be made worth £120 per annum. One year, however, appears to have been quite enough for the restless spirit of George Keith. He was succeeded at the expiration of that time by Thomas Makin, who was at one period Clerk to the Provincial Assembly, and whose Besci^i^^tio PennsylvanicB, written in 1729, in Latin hexameters, was probably the first attempt to describe the institutions and scenery of the province in the lofty language of Rome. The verse is uncouth enough, and if the following notice of the Friend's School be not a sufficient specimen, the rest may be found in Proud's History : * Vol. I., p. 344. f Chalmers, Vol. II., p 328. 112 PROVINCIAL LITKIi ATUKE " Hie in gymuasiis lingua) docentur et art§8 IngcuuiTc multis doctor ct ipse fui. Una scbola hie alias ctiam suporeminet omnes, Romano ct Graeco quae doeet ore loqui." Makin, also, according to Proud/^- wrote an ^^ Encomium Binnsijlvaniw" another Latin poem, in 1728, which, with the Descriptio Penmylvcmice, was found among the papers of James Logan, in MS., many years after his death. These poems are probably still among the Logan Papers, and if so, they may, perhaps, be procured for the collec- tion of our Society .f Printing (which the Governor of Virginia likewise had deprecated with so much holy horror) was introduced into Pennsylvania so early as 1686. It is worthy of remark and remembrance, that this province was, com- paratively speaking, far earlier than her sister colonies in * Vol. II., p. 360. f It appears there were earlier attempts at Poetry, at least in English. Mr. Horatio Gates Jones, in his Essay on the " Bittenhouse Paper Mill,''^ and to which we shall more particularly refer, says : " The first writer who has referred to paper-making in America, is Richard Frame, — one of the early settlers of Pennsylvania, — who wrote a Poem, entitled 'A short Description of Pennsylvania ; or, * A Relalion of xchat Things are Known, Enjoyed, and like to he Dis- covered in said Province.' It was printed at Philadelphia, in 1692, by William Bradford." "In 1696, another Philadelphia writer, — the Honorable John Holme (more frequently called Judge Holmes), who was one of the Magistrates of the city, and sat upon the Bench when William Bradford was tried for publishing George Keith's pamphlet, — also wrote a Poem, longer, and possessing much more merit than Frame's. Judge Holme refers to the Paper Mill as then in existence. I may here add that Judge Holme came to Philadelphia, from England, in OF PENNSYLVANIA. 113 the use of the press, and consequently in the general dis- semination of literature. I have already stated that a printing press was in operation in Philadelphia only/owr years after the landing of Wilham Penn. In Massachu- setts, where learning and the arts have been cultivated with great success, printing was not introduced until eighteen years after its settlement. In New York, not until seventy-three years after the settlement ; and in the other colonies, not for a much longer period. The first printer who settled in Pennsylvania was Wilham Bradford, a native of Leicester, in England, and a member of the Society of Friends, who emigrated in 1682 or '3, and landed on the spot where Philadelphia was soon afterwards laid out, before a house was built. It is believed that he set up his first jDrinting press at Kensington, in the neighborhood of the Treaty Tree. His earhest pubhcation was an Almanac, of which, as it is the most ancient book printed in Pennsylvania, the title page may be worth copying : 1686, and was one of the constituent members of the Philadelphia Baptist Church. He married the widow of the Honorable Nicholas More, who was the first Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and whose daughter became the wife of the Reverend Elias Kcach, the first Pastor of the Pennepek or Lower Dublin Baptist Church. Judge Holme subsequently settled in Salem, X. J. ; was one of the Judges of Salem Court; and died there about the year 1701, leaving numer- ous descendants. The Poem of Judge Holme bears no date ; but. from internal evidence and my knowledge of early Baptist history, I have satisfied myself that it was -vVritten in 169G. It is styled 'A True Relation of the Flourishing State of Pennsylvania ;^ and was never published, so far as I know, until 184Y, when it appeared in the "Bulletin of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania." (Yol. I., '^o. 13, p. 72.)— Editor. 8 114 rUOVINClAL LITKRATURE ^^An Almamtcfor the year of lite Christian account 1687, particvlarJ?/ rettpecting the Meridian and Latitude of Bur- luujfo/i, Ixil nxtij indifferently serve all places adjarxnt. By Daniel Leeds, Student in Ayricidture. Printed and sold hy William Bradford, near Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, Pro Anno, 1G87." Of this first Pennsylvania author, Daniel Leeds, I find little on record. He appears to have espoused the prin- ciples and partaken of the fate of his publisher, Bradford ; and he left the province a few years afterwards, carrying with him no very amicable feelings towards the Society of Friends, as the following title page may testify : " A Trumpet sounded out of the Wilderness of America, which may serve as a Warning to the Government and People of England, to beware of Quakerism; wherein is shown how in Pennsylvania and there away, where they have the Government in their own hands, they hire and encourage men to fight; and how they persecute, fine and imprison, and take away goods for conscience sake. By Daniel Leeds. Printed by WiUiam Bradford, at the Bible, in New York, 1699." Bradford's residence in Philadelphia was short. He engaged zealously in the Keithian Controversy ; unfortu- nately for him, took the side of the minority, became obnoxious, and removed to New York in 1693, where he died in 1752, at the advanced age of ninety-four.* * An account of Bradford, who died May 23d, 1752, aged eighty- nine years (not ninety-four, as stated in the text), having been bom May 20, 1600 (0. S.), may be found in an "Address by Mr John "William Wallace, delivered at the Celebration, by the Xew York OF PENNSYLVANIA. 115 Keligious controversy gave the first impulse to Litera- ture in Pennsylvania. It is a fit subject for a patriotic pride, that a drop of blood has never been shed in this State in a religious quarrel ; but it is nevertheless true that the usual quantity of paper and ink has been con- sumed on this fruitful subject ; and, from the dissensions of 1691, down to the Catholic Controversy of 1823, pretty much the same sort of temper has been exhibited. The disorder broke out in the very infancy of our history. George Keith, who has already been spoken of as head master in the Friends' Public School, had no sooner been installed in the office of mending the grammar of the boys, than he set about correcting the religion of their parents. He maintained with great earnestness, that the " Friends," now that they had reached the elevation of power, and got into the administration of affairs, were, like most political aspirants, disposed to turn their backs upon the ladder by which they had mounted, and had adopted many of the practices against which they had so vehemently declaimed ; and he was for recalling them to what he did or affected to consider the true and ancient doctrine. He accused the principal functionaries of the Society of spiritual lukewarmness, and denounced the magistrates (at that time principally " Friends") for exe- cuting the judgments of the law upon malefixctors, holding it to be inconsistent with the genuine faith for a believer Historical Society, of the 200th Anniversary of Bradford's Birth- day." Printed by J. Munsell, Albany. Mr. Wallace has collected and skilfully arranged all that, perhaps, at this day, can be ascer- tained about this enterprising man. — Editor. 116 rUOVINClAL LITERATURE to draw the sword, even though it be the sword of justice. In !i word, lie was, U) use the language of the present days, — an ulfni. Tn 1G89, previous to his quarrel ^v^th the leaders of the "Friends," this active pamphleteer appears to have published a tract against the New Eng- land churches, which is said by Thoma^s, in his History of Printing,''' to have been the first hooJc printed in Penn- sylvania. In 1G90, he entered the lists with Cotton Mather, and published two more pamphlets in vindica- tion of the Quakers. The next year saw the commence- ment of the internal controversy. Keith, who was a public preacher, had given offence by his Iwterodox tenets (at least so they were called by the elders), and, as they alleged, by his turbulent and overbearing spirit ; and he was accordingly disowned, and denied the privilege of speaking in the meetings of worship. Thus debarred from giving vent to his opinions, through the accustomed channel, he sought that universal refuge, the press, from which soon appeared several pamphlets, reflecting in no gentle tone upon his adversaries. A prosecution ensued, of which the issue is somewhat differently narrated. Proud sa}' s,f that the printers of these " virulent pieces," William Bradford and John M'Comb, were arrested by warrant from five magistrates, and, upon their refusal to give security for their appearance to answer for the pub- lication, were "nominally" only (he says) committed, never being in confinement, and were soon discharged, without having been brought to trial. On the other * Vol. II., p. 9, 10. A copy of it is in the possession of Thomas, t Vol. I., p. 372. OF PENNSYLVANIA. 117 hand, it appears, from a pamphlet published at the time, and from which Thomas* has given copious though not altogether satisfactory extracts, that they were actually tried, after having been a considerable time in confine- ment.f The jury, it seems, were discharged, having been unable to agree, notwithstanding a pretty decided charge from the court, who, if we may beheve'the author of the pamphlet, treated the prisoners with great harshness. They were not tried again owing to a singular circum- stance. It seems that the principal evidence against Bradford was his own set of types ; the frame containing which, duly composed for printing the seditious pamphlet, was brought into court, a very potent though dumb wit- ness against him. When the jury retired, they took this frame out with them, and not being acquainted with read- ing backwards, reading forward being a considerable affair in early times, one of them attempted to place it in a per- pendicular and more convenient situation, and, in so doing, the types fell from the frame, and so vanished the testi- mony for the prosecution. Bradford, after being released from confinement, went to New York, where, as has been already mentioned, he died. Keith's subsequent history is curious and amusing. He drew off with him, at first, a large number of " Friends," some of them of considerable account in the Society, and persons of rank and property. They called themselves " Christian Quakers ;" and if their leader had possessed a decent command of temper and consistency * History of Printing, Vol. II., p. 13, &c. % See Note A. 118 PKOVINCIAL LITERATURE of purpose, 111! luiglit have made a .serious inroad on the principal Society. He appears, however, to have left the province soon after the ^proceedings against him; and little more was heard of him until the year 1702, when he reappeared upon the boards in the new character of a minister of the Church of England, and .missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. In this capa- city, he maintained the doctrines of his new faith with a zeal and fervor little short of what he had exhibited in defence of the primitive tenets of George Fox, vehemently assailed the opinions of the " Friends" on the subject of baptism and the communion, and stoutly maintained the divine right to tithes, and the necessity and excellence of an hierarchy. On his return home to England, he published the result of his travels as missionary, which extended from New Hampshire to North Carolina. The book (a small quarto volume) is entitled " A Journal of Travels from New Hampshire to Caratuck, on the conti- nent of North America; by George Keith, A.M., late Missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts, and now Rector of Edburton, in Sussex." London, 1706. It is in the City Librarj-, and is worth preservation, as disj)laying the character of the man, and something of the manner of the times. He appears to have been in earnest in his new calling, riding from one end of the continent to the other in quest of antagonists, arguing ^vith Independents, Anabaptists, Unitarians, Quakers, and Catholics, each in their tm-n, and giving no quarter to either, loving nothing so much as the hot water of theology, and laboring to prove the OF PENNSYLVANIA. 119 sincerity of his conversion, by the breadth of his tenets. Unfortunately for his love of notoriety and distinction, he met with no further persecution ; and the ex ultra or " Christian Quaker," now " Rector of Edburton, in Sus- sex," was suffered to return to England without moles- tation, either from Cotton Mather or Pennsylvania justices. Although it is the object of these sketches to notice only the Kterary works of Pennsylvanians, j)ubUshed in Pennsylvania, yet it seems not entirely irrelative to the subject to revive the recollection of books relating to the province, though pubhshed elsewhere. In 1698, was printed in London, an amusing little volume, entitled "An Sisforical and Geographical Accotmt of the JF^^ovince and (Jountrjj of Pennsylvania, and of West New Jersey, in America, &c. With a Map of both Coimtnes. By Gabriel Tliomas, wlio resided tliere about fifteen years." * The author informs us that he came over to the pro- vince in the first ship bound from England here, since it received the name of Pennsylvania, which was in 1681, and " saw the first cellar where it was digging for the use of our Governor, William Penn." His descriptions are certainly very flattering to the existing state of the colony. He paints everything couleiir de rose, and if his book had general circulation in England, it must have * This work was, some years ago, reprinted. — Editor. 120 rnoVINClAL I. ITKRAXUIiE tended to pnxluce an extensive emigration to the Utopian colony. "Philadelphia," he says, "contains above two thousand houses, all inhabited, and most of them stately, and of brick, generally three stories high, after the mode in London, and as many several families in eacli." He tells us of " Frankford River, near which Arthur Cook "hath a most stately brick house ;" of " Neshaminy River, where Judge Growdon hath a very noble and fine house, very pleasantly situated, and likewise a famous orchard, wherein are contained above one. thousand apple trees;" of " Governor Penn's great and stately pile, which he has called Pennsbury House, covered wdtli tilestone" (I sup- pose slate*) ; of " Robert Turner's great and famous house," in, the city ; and of " Edward Shippey (probably Shippen), who lives near the capital city, and has an orchard and gardens adjoining to his great house, that equalizes, if not exceeds, any I have ever seen." If we are to believe these passages, the young colony had attained no mean height in luxury. Of the women of our native State, he says, " They are usually married before they are twenty years of age ; and when once in that rwose, are for the most part a little uneasy, and make their husbands so too, till they procure them a maid servant to bear the burden of the work, as also in some measure to wait on them too." And afterwards, he says, "Jealousy among men is very rare, and barrenness among women hardly to be heai'd of." The most favorable consequences ensued (according to * It was covered, says Watson, with tiles. — Editor. OF PENNSYLVANIA. 121 our worthy author) from these happy nuptials. "The children born here," he says, " are generally well favored and beautiful : I never knew any one come mto the world with the least blemish on any part of the body, being in the general observed to be better natured, milder, and more tender hearted than those born in England." What are called the liberal professions, I am sorry to say, found little favor in the eyes of honest Gabriel : " Of lawyers and physicians, I shall say nothing, because the country is very peaceable and healthy ; long may it con- tinue so, and never have occasion for the tongue of the one or the pen of the other, both equally destructive to men's estate and lives ; besides, forsooth, they, hangman- like, have a license to murder and make mischief." Nor does literature seem to rank high in his estimation ; for all that the book contains on the subject is comprised in two lines : " In the said city," saith Gabriel, " are several good schools of learning for youth, in order to the attain- ment of arts and sciences, as also reading, writing, &c." And then in the very same sentence, and in the same breath, he continues, as if they were about the same value, " Here is to be had, on any day in the week, taiis^ jpies, cakes, (&c" " We have also several cook shops, both roasting and boiling." And finally concludes the compre- hensive sentence with the pious ejaculation, "Happy blessings (^. e. the learning and the pies), for which we owe the highest gratitude to Providence." The book is, however, valuable for the illustration it afibrds of our early annals. Among the trades of Philadelphia, of which a considerable list is given, and which, he says, 122 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE lijive uU constiiiil jiiid profitable employment, I fmd " printers and bookbinders," and several others which one would su])])ose were quite prematurely introduced. Bar- ton, in bis Memoirs of Rittenhouse,"^' speaks of the establishment of a j^aper mill at Germantown,-|- about the year 1700, by WilUam Rittenhouse and his son Nicholas, ancestors of the philosopher j but the making of paper here was still earlier, since, in 1697, Thomas says, "All sorts of very good jDaper are made in the German town." In another place, he says, " Two miles from the metrop- olis are purging mineral waters as good as Epsom." The first literary work (upon any other than a religious subject) that the press of Philadelphia produced, was pub- lished in 1699, with the following quaint title : " God's protecting Providence man's surest Iwlp and defence in times of the greatest difficulty and mast immi- nent danger. Evidenced in the remarhahle deliverance of divers jpersons from the devouring waves of the sea, amongst which they suffered shipwrech; and also from the inore * Page 83, note 5. f The Paper Mill to wbich reference is made by Barton, was the first established in America, and as early as 1690, not in Gennan- town but in Roxborough Township, near the Germantown line, now " Rittenhouse Town," by William Rittenhouse, William Bradford, Thomas Tresse, Robert Turner, and others. We are indebted for these facts to an Essay, by Mr. Horatio Gates Jones, entitled " His- torical Sketch of the Rittenhouse Paper MiU,''^ recently read before our Historical Society, and which, we regret to say, has not as yet been published ; for in it will be found many interesting facts which have hitherto been unmentioned by any writer. — Editor. OF PENNSYLVANIA. 123 cruelly devouring jaws of the inJmman Cannihals of Florida. Faithfidly related hy one of the persons conr cerned tlierein, Jonathan Dickenson. Printed in Philadel- phia, hy Reinier Jansc/n, 1699." A copy of this curious volume, now become very rare, is in the City Library, but unfortunately a few of the last pages are wanting. I have read it with a good deal of pleasure. It is a simple and unadorned, but very inter- esting and touching narrative of the adventures of a number of persons, the passengers and crew of a vessel which, on a voyage from Jamaica to Philadelphia, were, in September, 1696, wrecked on the coast of Florida; where they fell into the power of the savages, were cruelly treated by them, and suffered from hunger, cold, and ill-usage, almost unto death. By the kindness of the Spanish Governor of St. Augustine, they were rescued from the Indians and carried to that place, where they were received with the most delicate hospi- tality, and, having been clothed and abundantly provided for, were sent to Carolina, whence they reached Philadel- phia, in February, 1697. The passengers in this unfor- tunate vessel were twenty-two in number, besides the author, his wife and child, only six months old, whose sufferings during their captivity are told in a very affect^ ing manner. A considerable portion of the preface is devoted to an account of the life and religious services of Robert Barrow, one of the passengers, " a fiithful servant of the Lord," as the author (himself a zealous "Friend") styles him. From this, it appears, that he was a native 124 rUOVlNCIAL I-ITERATURK of one of the iiortliern counties of England, was early in life convinced of the truth of the Quaker doctrines; and, in 1G94, " the spirit of God requiring him to come over into these parts to preach the Gospel," he obeyed the call, though Avitli some reluctance; visited Philadelphia in the course of his travels, and, having staid here a year or two, went to the West Indies ; and while on his return, met with the calamities detailed in the book, and which broke down his constitution. He survived, however, until the arrival of the vessel at Philadelphia, though he was in so weak a state with illness that they were obliged to carry him on a hammock to " Samuel Carpenter's house," and he lived only five days afterwards. He appears to have entered keenly into the religious controversies of the times, for his biographer relates, that one of his first questions on landing, though extremely ill, was, " What was becoming of George Keith's people." On receiving the intelligence of their total defeat, he manifested a very lively joy, and testified stoutly against the National Church, the stipendiary clergy, and. the militia. In this edifying frame of mind he continued until his death, which took place on the 4th of February, 1697. Of Jonathan Dickinson, the author, Httle is learned from his book further than what he tells us in his preface. In reply to a doubt which he thinks may be suggested of the authenticity of the narrative, he declares that " the writer is a man well known in this towTi, of good credit and repute, on whose fidelity and veracity those who have any knowledge of him will readily rely, without suspecting fallacy." He Hved to acquire considerable dis- OF PENNSYLVANIA. 125 tiuction and extensive property. Our worthy ancestors seem to have been equally heedless of the maxmis of politi- cal economy in respect to the division of labor, and of the well-estabhshed truths of pohtical philosophy in regard to the separation of the legislative and judicial branches of the government ; for, in 1781, we find Mr. Dickinson holding, at the same time, the office of Chief Justice of the province and Speaker of the Assembly, to which, in the next year, he seems to have siqoer-added that of Master in Cliancery. Not long afterwards, he figures as a member of Council, and as a Commissioner to treat Tvith the Indians at Conestoga. He was withal, to use the words of that " honest chronicler," Robert P)'oud, '* A merchant of considerable fortune, and possessed a large estate in Philadelphia. He bore a general good char- acter, was universally much beloved, and died in the year 1722." The appearance of the book argues great deficiency in typograpliical skill and materials. It is wretchedly exe- cuted, and disfigured by constant blunders. The printer, who, by his name, seems to have been one of the Swedish settlers, is supposed by Thomas,* to have acted as locum tenens for Bradford, at that time in exile at New York. A second edition was printed in 1735, by a more cele- brated tj^ographer, Benjamin Fkanklin. The year 1719 deserves particular remembrance in the annals of Pennsylvania, as that in which the first news- * History of Printing, Yol. II. 1 20 ]' K () V I N C I A L L I T K K A T U R E paper wii.s prink'il in the State. These potent engines exercise so vast an influence for good or evil over men's minds and actions in the present age, that a particuLar history of their rise and progress would be no idle or unprofitable task, though out of place here. The first number of the "Americcm Weeldy Mercury" as it was called, appeared on the 22d of December, 1719, on a half sheet of the quarto size, and purported to be printed " by Andrew Bradford, at the Second Street," and to be sold by him and by John Copson, in Market Street. The price was ten shillings per annum, and this was quite as much as it deserved. Extracts from foreign journals generally about six months old, and two or three badly printed advertisements, formed the substance of the journal. The office of the editor was a sinecure, — at least his pen seems to have been seldom employed ; and little information can be derived from the journal con- cerning the existing condition of Philadelphia. Occasion- ally a bill of mortality tells us that one adult and one child died during a certain week, and even that is beyond the usual number ; for some weeks appear to have passed without a single death. From the following advertise- ment, which appears in No. 17, something of the customs and state of things at the period may be gathered, ^- These are to give notice that Matthew Cowley, a skinner by trade, is removed from Chestnut Street to dwell in Walnut Street, near the Bridg, where all per- sons may have their buck and doe skins drest," &c. " He also can furnish yoic with bindings," &c. What new ideas of Walnut Street does not this hint about a bridge give OF PENNSYLVANIA. 127 US ; and how plenty must deer have been in those times when all 'persorvs are invited to have their skins dressed by Matthew Cowley; and then what a famiUar and village sort of acquaintance with everj^body, does not the transition at the end from the third to the second person plural imply. "He also can furnish you with bindings," &c. Nine years after the appearance of the American Mercury, the Philadelphia press was dehvered of a second newspaper, to which the modest title was given of " The Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences, and Penn- sylvania Gazette." In his inimitable autobiography, Franklin has immortalized Keimer, the eccentric pub- lisher of this journal, whose vanity and selfishness, whose wild notions upon rehgion and morals, and whose turn for poetry and gluttony are so happily and graphically delineated. Franklin, from whom Keimer had stolen the idea of a second newspaper, attacked it in a series of papers published in Bradford's journal, and called the Busy Body.* The " Universal Instructor" soon fell into decay, and then into Frankhn's hands, by whom it was very skilfully and successfully managed, both for his own profit and for the interest and edification of the pubhc. * A manuscript note in the file of the American Mercury preserved in the City Library, says, that Franklin wrote the first five numbers and part of the eighth of this series. The rest were written by J. B., probably Joseph Breintnall, a member of the Junto, whom Franklin describes as a "good-natured, friendly, middle-aged man, a great lover of poetry, reading all he could meet with, and writing some that was tolerable. Yery ingenious in making little nicknackeries, and of sensible conversation." 128 I'ltOVINClAL LITERATURE An editorial notice in one of Franklin's papers proves, in rather a ludicrous way, how badly Philadelphia was sup- phed at the time (1736) with printing presses. What was called ovfer form was printed reversely or upside domi to the iiuier form, and the following apology is ofTei-ed : " The printer hopes the irregular publication of this paper will be excused a few times by his town readers, in consideration of his being at Burlington with the press, laboring for the public good to make money more plentiful." It is not generally known that this venerable journal survived until within a year or two of the present time, under the name of " TM Pennsylvania Ga7xtte.'' The third newspaper published in Pennsylvania was " Tlie PennsyJ- vania Journal and Weekly Advertize?-,' the first number of which appeared on the 2d of December, 1742; and several other journals shortly afterwards arose with various suc- cess. In 1760, five newspapers w^ere pubhshed in the State, all weekly ; three of them printed in the city, one in German town, and one in Lancaster. In 1810, the number had increased to sixty-six, of which thirteen were pubhshed in Philadelphia; and, in 1824, an official return to the Postmaster-General stated the number at one hundred and ten, of which eighteen were pubhshed m Philadelphia, eleven of them daily. A prodigious in- crease, which argues that the appetite for this food has increased in full proportion with the population. It is, perhaps, worth adding that the first daily newspaper that appeared on the continent of America was pubhshed in Philadelphia. OF PENNSYLVANIA. 129 There are few persons on record to whose individual genius and exertions a conununity has owed so much as to Dr. Frankhn. If WiUiam Penn was the political founder of the province, Franklin may be denominated the architect of its literature, — the gifted author of many of its best institutions, and the father of some of the finest features of our character. It is seldom, however, that Providence has vouchsafed such a length of years to such an intellect, and still more seldom that such events occur as those which developed the powers and capacities of Franklin's mind. The name of this illustrious man is closely connected with the literary history of Pennsyl- vania; but his life and actions are too well known to require that any elaborate notice of them should be given here. Keferring therefore to his own invaluable memoirs for the events of his personal and political history, I shall content myself with a short sketch of the principal features of his Hterary career. The year 1723, was that in which Franklin first set his foot in Philadelphia. As he landed on Market Street wharf and walked up that street, an obscure and almost penniless boy devouring a roll of bread and ignorant where he could find a lodging for the night, little could he or any one who then saw him, anticipate that later advent when, sixty years after- wards, he landed upon the same wharf amid the acclama- tions of thousands of spectators on his return from an embassy, in which he had dictated to his former king the terms of peace for the confederated repubUcs, of one of which he was placed at the head ; and not merely dis- tinguished as a politician, but covered with literary 130 riioviNCiAL lttp:ratuke honors and di.stinctioiiH from every country in cliristen- dom by which genius and public virtue were held in estimation. And yet the change was scarcely greater for Franklin than for Philadelphia. The petty provincial village with its scattered houses dotted over the bank of the Delaware, had become a magnificent metropolis, dis- tinguished for the wisdom and liberality of its institutions, and as the seat of a general and republican government, which, at the former period, could scarcely have entered into his dreams. At the time of Franklin's arrival in Philadelphia, there were two printing offices in operation. Keimer, the pro- prietor of one of them had, however, but one press and a few worn out types, with which, when Franklin visited him, he was composing an elegy, literally of his own composition, for it had never gone through the usual pro- cess in this manufacture — of pen and ink — but flowed at once from his brain to the press. The subject of these typographical stanzas was Aquila Rose, an apprentice in the office, whose surname naturally suggested to the mind of Keimer some touching figures. K we may judge from some specimens of his poetry which Thomas has pre- served in his History of Printing, the province lost little by Keimer's emigration to Bermuda, which took place shortly afterwards. Soon after his arrival, Franklin formed an acquaintance with three other pro\dncial poets, Watson, Osborne, and HaJpJi, whom he describes as " all lovers of reading," and with whom he says he " had many pleasant walks on the banks of the SchuylkiU, where they read to one another, and OF PENNSYLVANIA. 131 conferred on what they had read." Of the first two httle is known. Ralph was destined to considerable notoriety. He accompanied Franklin to England in 1725, where he began his literary career as a party-writer, and had the misfortune to become obnoxious to Pope, who has in- flicted upon him a severe token of remembrance. He is twice mentioned in the Dunciad. In Book I., the poet exclaims : " And see ! thj very Gazetteers give o'er, Even Ralph repents, and Henley writes no more." And in Book III., he is brought out more into relief : " Silence, ye wolves ! while Ralph to Cynthia howls, And makes night hideous — answer him ye owls !" Pope's annotator teUs us that Ralph brought this upon himself, by the publication of an abusive piece upon Dr. Swift, Gay, and Pope. He was not noticed in the first editions of the Dunciad. He published a poem called ^^ Night,'' to which these lines allude, and vindicated his neglect of dramatic rules by the authority of Shakespeare. " He ended at last," says the ^annotator, " in the common sink of all such writers, a pohtical newspaper, and received a small pittance for pay." It may be doubted, however, whether his hterary character deserves all the obloquy that is thrown upon it by Pope and his commentator. It must be remembered that he took a side in politics oppo- site to Pope. His political pamphlets were highly ap- plauded at the time, and his chief work, " The History 132 PRO VI NCI AL LITE U ATI; RE of England during the reigns of William, Anne, and George I.," in two volumes folio, received no mean praise from Charles Fox, who calls him " an historian of great acuteness as well as diligence, but who falls sometimes into the common error of judging too much by the event."* His last publication was entitled " The Case of Authors stated with regard to Booksellers, the Stage, and the Public," which is said to contain " much good sense and lively satire." Mr. Ralph died at Chis^vack, in the year 1762. In 1727, Franklin instituted a club for mutual improve- ment, which was named the Junto, and which continued nearly forty years, without its nature and objects being publicly known, though " the chief measures of Pennsyl- vania," it is said, "received their first formation here." The Junto is described by its distinguished founder as "the best school of philosophy, morality, and politics, that then existed in the province." And it appears to have exerted a powerful influence on the fortunes of some of its members, and probably contributed in no ^lall degree to foster that literary taste and philosophical spirit which have been the honorable distinction of this city. They met every Friday evening,^ and each mem- ber paid a penny a night to recompense the landlord for fire and hght. Economy was one of their characteristic virtues. Terrapins and whisky punch were unknown to * Hist. Jas. 2, p. 126. f Their place of meeting, in their early days, was in Market Street below Third, at the sign of the Indian King. OF PENNSYLVANIA. 133 their frugal and temperate deliberations. A copy of the set of rules formed in the time of Dr. Franklin, and pro- bably wiitten by him, is still in existence. They are twenty-four in number, and exhibit in so strong a light the importance, while they display the machinery of the institution, that I am induced to transcribe them : — '■^ Pi^evicnm question to he answered at eoery meeting. Have you read over these queries this morning, in order to consider what you might have to offer the Junto touching any one of them, viz. : 1. Have you met with anything in the author you last read remarkable or suitable to be communicated to the Junto, particularly in history, morality, poetry, physic, travels, mechanic arts, or other parts of knowledge ? 2. What new story have you lately heard agreeable for teUing in conversation ? 3. Hath any citizen in your knowledge failed in busi- ness lately, and what have you heard of the cause ? 4. Have you lately heard of any citizens thriving well, and by what means ? 5. Have you lately heard how any present rich man here or elsewhere got his estate ? 6. Do you know of any fellow-citizen who has lately done a worthy action, deserving praise or imitation ; or who has committed an error proper for us to be warned against and avoid ? 7. What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately observed or heard ; of imprudence ; of passion ; or of any other vice or folly ? 134 r K U V I N C 1 A L LITERATURE 8. Wliiii luippy eflccts of tciiiijcrauce ; of prudence; of moderution ; or any other virtue ? 9. Have you or any of your acquaintances been sick or wounded ? if so, what remedies were used, and what were their effects ? 10. Who do you know that are shortly going voyages or journeys, if one should have occasion to send by them? 11. Do you think of anything at present in which the Junto may be serviceable to mankind, to their country, to their friends, or to themselves ? 12. Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since last meeting, that you have heard of; and what kave you heard or observed of his character or merits; and whether, think you, it is in the power of the Junto to oblige him, or to encourage him as he deserves ? 13. Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom it lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage ? 14. Have you lately observed any defect in, the laws of your country, of which it would be proper to move the Legislature for an amendment ? or do you know of any beneficial law that is wanting ? 15. Have you lately observed any encroachment on the just liberties of the people ? 16. Hath anybody attacked your reputation lately ? and what can the Junto do towards securing it ? 17. Is there any man whose friendship you want, and which the Junto or any of them can procure for you? OF PENNSYLVANIA. 135 18. Have you lately heard any member's character attacked ? and how have you defended it ? 19. Hath any man injured you, from whom it is in the power of the Junto to procure redress ? 20. In what manner can the Junto, or any of them, assist you in any of your honorable designs ? 21. Have you any weighty affair on hand, in which you think the advice of the Junto may be of service ? 22. What benefits have you lately received from any man not present ? 23. Is there any difficulty in matters of opinion of justice and injustice, which you would gladly have dis- cussed at that time ? 24. Do you see any things amiss in the present customs or -proceedings of the Junto, which might be amended ?" Besides the preceding questions, the following Articles of Faith, as they may be called, were proposed to each new member, who was required to lay his hand on his breast as he answered them : — " 1. Have you any particular disrespect to any member present ? Answer. I have not. 2. Do you sincerely declare that you love mankind in general, of what profession or rehgion soever ? Answer, I do. 3. Do you think any person ought to be harmed in his body, name, or goods, for mere speculative opinions, or his external way of worship ? Answer. No. 136 niOVINClAL LITERATURE 4. Do you love truth for truth's sake? and will you endeavor impartially to find and receive it yourself, and communicate it to others ? Answer. Yes." Among the earliest members of the Junto were BrienU nall, who has been already mentioned; Nicliolcts Scull, afterwards Surveyor-General, who, says Franldin, "loved books and sometimes made verses ;" William Parson, bred a shoemaker, who studied mathematics with a view to astrology, which he afterwards ridiculed; William Cble- man, afterwards one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, upon whom Franklin bestows this lofty praise, " He had the coolest, clearest head, the best heart, and the exactest morals of almost any man I ever met with ;" and Thomas Godfrey, the author of the quadrant, of which noble in- vention he has been meanly plundered. Godfrey w^as, in humble life, a glazier by trade, but great and self-taught in mathematics, in which, according to Dr. Franklin, he was so much absorbed, that he neglected his business. It is recorded of him, that he taught himself the Latin language, in order to be able to read Newton s Piincipia, which he mastered at an early age : an undertaking of no easy kind, even under the most prosperous circum- stances. Godfrey, however, was depressed by the res angiista domi; and, for the honor of inventing the quad- rant, contended with heavy odds against an Englishman of some distinction, backed by all the self-love of that nation, and by the then prevailing opinion in Europe, that no good could come out of our Nazareth. His death. OF PENNSYLVANIA. 137 which took place at an early age, left his family iii narrow circumstances. James Logan speaks of him thus, in one of his letters : " Thomas Godfrey has a fine genius for the mathematics ; and it would,^ for the sake of his birth- place, which is the same as that of my own children, be a great pleasure to me to see him rewarded." That reward, however, never came. He was suffered to go down to the grave in poverty and distress. His remains lie without any memorial, in a neglected field ; and that which should have immortalized his name is bestowed upon a foreigner and an impostor. In 1730, FrankUn proposed to the club to bring their books together, so as to form a common stock for the general convenience. Thus, the first joint library was formed in Philadelphia. The next year, he set on foot proposals for a pubhc library : procured fifty subscribers, at forty shillings, and ten shillings a year for fifty years. This was the foundation of the Library Company, which has been so long a subject of just pride to our city, and which has operated so beneficially upon her literature and moral character. In 1743, Franklin suggested the establif- iit of a college for the education of young men in the higher branches of knowledge, from which the Academy, now the University of Pennsylvania, originated ; and the next year he was one of the chief agents in organizing the Philosophical Society. The history of the rise and pro- gress of these institutions is so well known that it is quite unnecessary to enter upon it in this place. 138 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 111 the Provincial Annals of Pennsylvania, few names appear willi more just distinction than that of James Logan;'= who was successively Secretary of the Province, and Clerk of the Council, Commissioner of Property, Chief Justice, President of the Council, and, what was far better, a most learned, honorable, and liberal man. It is with his literary character alone that I have at present any concern; and, although the Quarterly Reviewers, with characteristic effrontery, have sneered at him as " a man of tlw name of Logan, as obscure a-s God- frey himself^' yet certainly, as a man of science and letters, he has had few superiors out of the province. He arrived in Pennsylvania in the year 1699, and was then in the twenty-fifth year of his age. It was not, however, until the year 1730, that he became generally known for his proficiency in science. He communicated to the Royal Society several valuable papers, three of which are to be found in one volume of their transactions (the 38th). In 1739, he pubHshed, at Leyden, his valuable treatise, in Latin, entitled, " Expeiimenta et meletemata de Plaiv- tarum generatione" which was repubhshed in London, in 1747, with a version on the opposite page, by Dr. Fother- gill.-j- He printed at Lej^den, at the same time, another learned treatise, entitled : * A Brief Memoir of Logan was published by Wilson Aruii- stead, London, 1851. — Editor. •|- The translator made the following remarks in the preface : " Our author's addess in choosing and conducting experiments and his capa- city for the abstrusest researches, would doubtless have enabled him to give the world ample satisfaction on this intricate subject, had he OF PENNSYLVANIA. 139 '^ Canonum pro inveniendis refractionuifn turn simplicvwm turn in lentibus duplicium focis, demonstrationes goemetricce. Aufore Jacoho Logan, Judice Sujpremo et Prceside Pi-omndcB Pennsylva7iiensis, in America." In 1734, he translated Cicero's tract De Senectute, which, ten years afterwards, was printed by Franklin, in a stj'le which, in correctness and the distinctness of the types, far exceeds some of our modern productions. The translation is faithful, and at the same time easy, and the le^'ned author enriched it with very entertain- ing notes, explanatory of the persons and things treated of in the text. In the preface, which was written by Dr. Franklin, we are told that " this version was made ten years since, by the honorable and learned Mr. Logan, of this city; undertaken partly for his own amusement (being then in his sixtieth year, which is said to be nearly the age of the author when he wrote it), but principally for the entertainment of a neighbor, then in his grand climacteric; and the notes were draT^Ti up solely on that neighbor's account, who was not so well acquainted as himself with the Eoman history and Ian guage." His charges as Chief Justice were reprinted abroad, and are said to be "of singular excellence. He appears in them not only as a watchful guardian of the domestic weal, and as a sagacious director, but as a pro- found morahst and beautiful writer. Such subtle disquisi- been permitted to prosecute his inquiries. But his country called him to more important affairs, and kept him constantly engaged in employments more immediately beneficial to society. 140 TROyiNClAL LITERATURE tioii and lofty speculation, sucli variety of knowledge and richness of diction, are seldom found in compositions of any kind."'" lie was well versed both in ancient and modern learning, acquainted with the oriental tongues, and a master of the Latin, Greek, French, and ItaHan languages. lie died on the 31st of October, 1751, aged seventy-seven, leaving to the people of Pennsylvania a noble monument of his munificence, in the Loganian Library, which he had been fifty years in collecting, and the value of which is well known to all men of learning.f Such was " the obscure man of the name of Logan." Contemporaneous with Logan and Franklin, and in the habit of constant intercourse with them, was John Bartram.J This celebrated self-taught philosopher, of * Walsh's Appeal, p. 275, 4n. f The following extract from his Will shows the importance of the collection : " In my library, which I have left to the city of Philadel- phia, for the advancement and facilitating of classical learning, are above one hundred volumes of authors, in folio, all in Greek, with mostly their versions. All the Roman classics, without exception. All the Greek mathematicians, viz., Archimedes, Euclid, Ptolemy, both his Geography and Almagest, which I had in Greek (with Theon's Commentary, in folio, above seven hundred pages), from my learned friend Fabricius, who published fourteen volumes of his Bibliothcque Grecque, in quarto, in which, after he had finished his account of Ptolemy, on my inquiring of him at Hamburg, how I should find it, having long sought for it in vain in England, he sent it to me out of his own library, telling me it was so scarce that neither prayers or price could purchase it. Besides, there are many of the most valuable Latin authors, and a great number of modern mathematicians, with all the three editions of Newton, Dr. Watts, Halley, &c." X In 1849, Dr. William Darlington published "Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall, — Philadelphia," — which publica- OF PENNSYLVANIA. 141 whom Linnjeus said, that he was the greatest natural botanist in the world, was born near Darby, in what was then Chester County, in the year 1701. His grand- father, of the same name with himself, came from Derby- shire, in England, in 1682. Very early in life his ruling passion, the love of nature and her productions, broke out, and he manifested that eagerness and capacity for learning which characterized all his after life. He was the first American who founded a botanic garden; and his reputation became so extensive that he corresponded with most of the distinguished foreign philosophers, was made a fellow of several of the scientific societies of Europe, and finally appointed American Botanist to George III. Like Frankhn, he was very ingenious as a mechanic. The house in which he resided was built by himself; the stone was quarried, and the timber prepared by his o^ai hands ; and, on its completion, he dedicated it by the following distich, which he engraved in front : " To God alone : the Almighty Lord : The Holy One by me adored.'' John Bartram, 1770. This learned and accomplished man was born and educated a Quaker, and is said to have been modest and gentle in manners, of amiable disposition and hberal mind. He died in September, 1777. His son, William tion was followed by Mr. WilRam H. Dillingham's " Tribute to the Memory of Peter Collinson, with some notice of Dr. Darlington's Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall." Philadel- phia, 1851, pp. 3T. — Editor. 142 I'KOVINCIAL LITERATURE Bartram, inlicritcd his father's tastes and talents. In 1773, he undertook a long and arduous journey, as lie says, "at the request of Dr. Fothergill, of Ixjndon, to search the Floridas, and the western parts of Carohna and Georgia, for the discovery of rare and useful produc- tions of nature, chiefly in the vegetahle kingdom." His travels, which were published in a thick volume, in 1791, are fruitful of information and interest for botanists, con- tain many valuable facts on the subject of the Indians, and are not without amusement for readers in general. They prove also that the author possessed, together with his father's taste and talents, his laudable zeal in the pursuit of knowledge, and his excellent and liberal feehngs. The subject of Slavery and the Slave Trade agitated the public mind of Pennsylvania very early in its colonial life, and sent men to the press with a long succession of pamphlets. Before the end of the seventeenth century, George Keith published an essay against the traffic in slaves, the first remonstrance that this country gave birth to. Dr. Franklin says, in a letter dated November 4th, 1789, " I find, by an old pamphlet in my possession, that George Keith, near an hundred years ago, wrote a paper against the practice of slaveholding, said to be "given forth by the appointment of the meeting held by him at Philip James's house, in the city of Philadelphia, about the year 1693," &c. "And about the year 1728 or 1729 (Franklin continues), I myself printed a book for Ralph Sandiford, another of your friends of this city, against OF PENNSYLVANIA. 143 keeping negroes in slavery, two editions of which he dis- tributed gratis. And about the year 1736, I printed an- other book on the same subject, for Benjamin Lay, who also professed being one of your friends," &c. The lives of Sandiford and Lay, and of Anthony Benezet, another distinguished laborer in the same cause, have been written by a gentleman* in no wise inferior to either of them in singleness of heart and devotion to the public good, and whose philanthropy is rendered more useful to his fellow-citizens as well as honorable to himself by sub- jection to the discipline of a better regulated common sense than seems always to have governed the laborers in this vineyard. The tone and temper in which these memoirs are written, and their literary execution, gives us reason to regret that their excellent author has not continued his labors, and furnished us with biographies of some more Pennsylvanians. Sandiford, Lay, and Benezet, were the principal ante-revolutionary writers on the subject of slavery. The first was a native of Liverpool, in England, and came to Philadelphia while a youth. His early years were passed as a seaman, in which capacity he visited the West Indies. In 1729, he published the work to which Franklin alludes, and which, in the fashion of the day, he entitled " The Mystery of Iniquity, or a Brief Examination of the Practice of the Times." He died in 1733, at Lower Dublin, in the county of Philadelphia. Benjamin Lay, who went a step beyond him in enthusiasm, was born in 1677, in Es§ex * Roberts Vaax, Esq. 144 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE County, England j like Sandiford, was a .sailor in the early part of his life, and came to Philadelphia at the age of fifty-four, where he soon began to testify with an equal degree of zeal against eating meat and holding slaves. In 1737, he published the first pamphlet against slavery, which was followed by many others, all circu- lated gratis. His enthusiasm on this subject was exces- sive, and often very annoying to others; but his anti- carnivorous system came near proving fatal to himself: for, attempting to fast in imitation of the Saviour, he was reduced almost to the gates of death. The good sense of his friends saved him, and he lived to the patriarchal age of eighty-two. The life of Anthony Benezet was more diversified by incidents, and is better known than those of his predecessors in the same cause, to which he devoted almost his entire life and his utmost abilities, with sur- prising constancy and zeal. Born in France, in 1713, he came to Philadelphia at the age of eighteen ; where, after passing several years as a teacher in the public schools, he became impressed with the subject of African slavery. In 1762, he published his "Account of that part of Africa inhabited by the Negroes." Many other works, on this and religious topics, were successfully put forth by him, which all bore the stamp of his mind, strength, simplicity, and order. He attained an enviable height in the estimation of his fellow-citizens, and died in 1784, aged seventy-one. The year 1732 gave birth to David Rittenhouse, a man who is deservedly ranked among those benefactors OF PENNSYLVANIA. 145 and ornaments of this country by whom her character is elevated and distinguished. He was born at German- town, in the county of Philadelphia, and was the son of a respectable farmer. His fondness for mathematical science was displayed at the early age of fourteen, and while he was literally at the plough, the handles of which were covered with his calculations ; and, at the age of seventeen, without foreign assistance, he constructed a complete clock. Astronomy next became the subject of his inquiries, and, procuring a few books, he soon made a wonderful progress. In 1768, he completed his first orrery, on which occasion Mr, Jefferson observed, that " as an artist he had exhibited as great proofs of mechanic genius as the world had ever produced." The next year, in company with several others, a committee of the American Philosophical Society, appointed for the purpose, he observed the transit of Venus. His report on this subject, not only gave satisfaction to the friends of sconce in this country, but obtained the applause of foreign astronomers. In 1775, he delivered the annual oration before the Philosophical Society, in which he exhibited both his attachment to, and profound know- ledge of, the science of astronomy and the soundness of his principles as a patriot. The subsequent part of his life is well known, and falls without the limits of this sketch. He died in June, 1796, having tasted a full measure of the public honor and respect. " On the whole," says a foreign writer, "as a philosopher and man of science, America has not produced any one superior to David Eittenhouse. To the principle of liberty, he was invari- 10 146 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE ably iittiiclicd; his philuiitliropy was universal, and ren- dered liim a friend to the whole human race, without distinction of country, color, or complexion. In private life, amiable and unassuming; in public, a constant and firm asserter of the rights of man."* In the year 1734-5, another religious controversy pro- duced another litter of pamphlets. It seems that the Rev. Mr. Hemphill, Pastor of one of the Presbyterian Meetings, had preached divers popular sermons, incul- cating the duty of good works ; but which, on being tried by the test of orthodoxy, were found wanting. Accord- ingly, he was suspended from his clerical functions by a Commissioner of the Synod, but continued nevertheless to preach in public. In July, 1735, "he preached twice to a very numerous congregation, at the house where the Assembly used to meet." Several essays pro and con were published. Dr. Franklin himself entered the list in favor of Mr. Hemphill, with two pamphlets, besides a very ingenious article in the form of a dialogue, between two members of the Presbyterian Church, which appeared in the Gazette of April, 1735. Mr. Hemphill, though a taking preacher, was an indifferent writer ; and, after a little while, it was discovered that the eloquent sermons which he preached were not really his own performances, * Most of the facts here stated are taken from the Life of Ritten- house by William Barton, of Lancaster : a work which, although ex- hibiting perhaps too ostentatious a display of learning, is yet pleasingly written, and contains many valuable facts illustrative of the political and literary history of Pennsylvania. OF PENNSYLVANIA. 147 but borrowed literally from other divines. Upon which discovery he took his departure in quest of better fortune, and probably in search of critics with shorter memories than those of Philadelphia. Political pamphlets and essays abounded in the years 1764 and 1765. The great question of the expediency of changing the form of government from a proprietary to a regal one, was one of the first discussed. Then came the subject of the Indian massacre in Lancaster County, and the question of the policy of the government towards this race. And lastly, the right to call upon the citizens to bear arms ; and, as involved in this, the doctrine of the lawfulness of war, and the expediency of the system of government pursued by the Quakers, were vigorously contested. The principal writers were Dr. Franklin, Joseph Galloway, John Dickinson, and Dr. Smith. Franklin opposed the proprietary interest, and in conse- quence thereof, at the election in 1764, lost his seat in the House, which he had held for fourteen years. The interest which the contest excited, is proved by the number of pamphlets published on these questions. No fewer than thirteen, published in one year (1764), remain in the collection of the American Philosophical Society. The imposition of the Stamp Act produced, as may be supposed, great activity in the press. The chief writer was John Dickinson, who acquired great distinction at this period, and of whose Farmer's Letters, Dr. Eamsay says, that in this work, " he may be said to have sown the seeds of the Revolution." The celebrated petition to 148 PRO VI NCI A L LITER ATUUE the King, and other memorials adopted by Congress, attest the sharpness of his pen and the vigor of his mind; and he was no less distinguished for his miscellaneous knowledge and cultivated taste. He died at Wilmington, on the 15tli of February, 1808, at an advanced age. His political writings were collected and published in 2 Vols. 8vo., in 1810. The name of Francis Hopkinson is more identified with the revolutionary, than with the provincial history of the State ; but, in sketching out the Uterature of the province, he must not be omitted. A poet, a wit, a patriot, a chemist, a mathematician, and a Judge of the Admiralty : his character was composed of a happy union of qualities and endowments, commonly supposed to be discordant; and, with the humor of Swift and Rabe- lais, he was always on the side of virtue and social order. His pubhcations were chiefly of a fugitive nature, and originally appeared in the magazines and newspapers. They are admirable in their way, and he is equally great in exposing the formalities and pedantry of science, and in ridiculing the absurd pretensions of his country's oppressors. Of these productions, the most celebrated are The Salt Box, a specimen of collegiate examination ; The Battle of tlie Kegs; The Essay on Whitewashing, and The New Roof, an excellent piece in favor of the Consti- tution of 1788. His works, including his judicial decis- ions, were, after his death, collected and pubhshed in three volumes. Francis Hopkinson was bom in Phila- OF PENNSYLVANIA. 149 delphia, in 1737, and died in his native city, on tlie 9th of May, 1791. In the year 1760, the Rev. Andrew Burnaby, Vicar of Greenwich, in England, travelled through the (then) colonies, and, in the course of his journey, visited Philor delphia. On his return, he pubhshed an account of his tour, in a small quarto volume, which is among the FrankUn Pamphlets, at the Athenaaum. He speaks thus of Philadelphia : " Arts and sciences are yet in their infancy. There are some few who have discovered a taste for music and painting ; and philosophy seems not only to have made a considerable progress already, but to be daily gaining ground. The Library Society is an ex- cellent institution for propagating a taste for literature, and the College well calculated to form and cultivate it. This last institution is erected on an admirable plan, and is by far the best school for learning throughout America. It has been chiefly raised by contribution, and its present fund is about £10,000, Pennsylvania money. An account of it may be seen in Dr. Smith's (the President's) dis- courses. The Quakers also have an Academy for instructing their youth in classical learning and practical mathematics : there are three teachers, and about seventy boys in it. Besides these, there are several schools in the province for the Dutch and other foreign children ; and a considerable one is going to be erected at German- town." In 1774, was pubhshed in Philadelphia, a small work, 150 rUOVINClAL LITKKATURE entitled " Observutioiis on a variety of .subjects, Literary, Moral, and Keligious, in a Series of Original Letters, written by a gentlemen of foreign extraction, who resided some time in Pliiladelphia." The author was the Rev. Mr, Duche, an Episcopal clergyman, who is said by Graydon to have been "a weak and vain, but probably not a bad man." He engaged in the early part of the revolutionary conflict : was a Whig at first, but when the British entered Philadelphia, changed sides, and wrote an insolent and presumptuous letter to General Washington, in which he advises him to renounce what he was pleased to style, "a degenerate cause." He also published a volume of Sermons. The signature to his series of letters is the affected name of Tamoc Caspipina, two words formed by the first letters of his clerical title, — The Assistant Minister Of Christ Church And St. Peter's, La Philadelphia, In North America. The Hterary merit of these letters is very small. The observations are ex- tremely trite and common-place, and they are brought up in support of the most obvious principles of religion and morals. The author gives us few particulars of the state of things in Philadelphia. He bears testimony, however, to the love of letters, which has at all times prevailed among us. " You would be astonished (he says, in one letter, p. 11) at the general taste for books which prevails among all orders and ranks of people in this city. The Librarian (of the City Library) assured me, that for one person of distinction and fortune, there were twenty tradesmen that frequented this Library." And in a sub- sequent letter: "Literary accompUshments here meet OF PENNSYLVANIA. 151 with deserved applause. Such is the prevailing taste for books of every kind, that almost every man is a reader ; and, by pronouncing sentences right or wrong, upon the various publications that come in his way, puts himself upon a level, in point of knowledge, with these several authors (page 30)." "Many excellent productions, in the literary way, have been published here. That sj)irit of freedom which I have already mentioned, has given birth even to orators and poets, many of whose performances I have heard and read with the highest satisfaction." Pennsylvania has produced her full share of Poets. Besides those I have already mentioned, must be recorded the names of Beveridge, Godfrey, and JEvans. In the year 1765, was published a volume (the first of the kind printed in Philadelphia) of Latin poems. The author, John Beveridge, was, at the time. Professor of Languages in the College and Academy of Philadelphia, to which station he was appointed in 1758. He was a native of Scotland, and originally taught a school in Edinburgh. Of this learned person, an amusing account is given by Graydon, in his entertaining memoirs of his own life. He appears to have possessed an accurate and profound acquaintance with the ancient languages, but out of these his acquirements were limited; and, in knowledge of human nature, he seems to have been about on a par with Dominie Sampson. The management of a school of seventy or eighty boys was entirely beyond his powers, although he was nominally assisted in the business of teaching by two others. His collection of poems, which 152 I'liO VI NCI A I, LITEUATUKE was published l)y subsciiption, was entitled " Ejn^tola; FamUlarcs, ct Alia Qiioudam MisceUanea." For the most part, these pieces are written with considerable purity and elegance J but even in Europe, where a greater number of competent readers of Latin poetry exists, they would probably have shared the fate they have met with here, and " Yielded to the wand of dull oblivion." In an ingenious poetical address to John Penn, the Professor of Latin more than hints that a conveyance to him, in fee simple, of some few of the many thousand acres possessed by the Penn Family, would not be an un- suitable reward for the immortality bestowed upon him by the poet ; and reminds him, that without the aid of Virgil and Homer, the fame of Ajax and Meecenas would have travelled but a little way out of their own doors. Notwithstanding these sagacious suggestions, poor Bever- idge continued to ply the birch ; and never, it is believed, attained that independence he so pathetically and poeti- cally coveted. Of Thomas Godfrey,* the poet and son of the ingenious inventor of the quadrant, a brief memoir has been left by his friend Evans. He was born in Philadelphia, in 1736. * In 1843, a monument was erected to the memory of Thomas Godfrey, at Laurel Hill, and its completion commemorated in an Address by Govcrneur Emerson, M.D. Philadelphia, 1843, pp. 22. — Editor. OF PENNSYLVANIA. 153 His father djdng when he was very young, and leaving little property, the son received only a plain English education, but displayed in his early years that talent for and attachment to poetry which was the delight and dis- tinction of his short after-life. He is said also to have possessed a fine ear for music and a strong inchnation to painting, to which art he was desirous of being bred, but his friends ordered otherwise. He was apprenticed to a watchmaker, but devoted all his leisure hours to poetry ; and tired of his mechanical employments, he obtained a lieutenant's commission in the Pennsylvania forces, raised in 1758, for the exj)edition against Fort Du Quesne, in which station he continued until the campaign was over, when the provincial troops were disbanded. The suc- ceeding spring, he accepted the offer of an agency in North Carohna, where he remained three years. On the death of his employer, he returned to Philadelphia, where he obtained the station of a supercargo in a small vessel to New Providence. Here he remained several months ; and then sailed again for North Carolina, where, in a few weeks after his arrival, he died of a bilious malignant fever. His death took place in August, 1763, in the twenty-seventh year of age. His poems are highly praised by his biographer, who extols in glowing language the sweetness of his disposition, the warmth of his heart, and the strength of his friendship. The Kev. Nathaniel Evans, Minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and Missionary to Gloucester County, 154 I'KoviNciAL liti-:katuke New Jersey, publislied a volume of poems in 1770, most of which may be reiul now with pleasure. If not remark- able lor energy or originality, the vivida m^ animi, they are smooth and polished, and indicate the possession of a refined taste and lively imagination. From a short memoir of him, which I have seen, it appears that he was born in Philadelphia, in 1742, and received his edu- cation at the Academy then newly instituted. After spending six years in this institution, his friends with- drew him and placed him in a counting-house. He devoted his time, however, to the muses ; and, after the expiration of his apprenticeship, returned to college, where he applied himself so assiduously to the study of philosophy and literature, that by a special vote of the Trustees, on recommendation of the Faculty, he received the degree of M.A., although he had not taken the pre- vious degree of B.A. Immediate^ after this, he repaired to England, wdiere he was admitted into holy orders by Dr. Terrick, Bishop of London, who is said to have ex- pressed great satisfaction with his essays on theological subjects. He returned to Philadelphia in December, 1765, and immediately entered upon the duties of a mission at Gloucester, in New Jersey, to which he had been appointed. He lived only long enough to show his fitness, both moral and mental, for the holy office he had undertaken ; and closed his blameless life on the 29th of October, 1767, dying, like his friend Godfrey, who pre- ceded him only four years, at a very early age. OF PENNSYLVANIA. 155 The first Literary Journal ever published in any part of the United States appeared in Philadelphia. This was "T7ie Geiueral Magazine and Historical Chronicle^' printed and edited bj Dr. Franklin, of which the first number appeared on the 1st of January, 1741. It was continued for about a year. A copy of it is in the City Library. It is chiefly occupied with the proceedings of the English Parliament and public documents, but contains, neverthe- less, some original matter, not without interest at the present day. Another journal was pubhshed in the same year, by Bradford, entitled " The American Magazine^' but it existed only two months. In 1757, Bradford revived it, but with similar success, for only three numbers were pubhshed. In 1769, a small periodical work of little worth, entitled the '-'•Penny Post^' was published by Ben- jamin Mecom. His design was to print it weekly, but it was, in fact, published at irregular periods. Another journal, under the name of " The American Magazine^' was published in 1769, by Lewis Nichola. It ended with the year. Nichola was born in France, and educated in Ireland. He was the author of a military treatise, written at the commencement of the Kevolution, and I believe attained a high rank in the Pennsylvania Line. In 1771, was published " The Royal Spiritual Magazine or Christ- ians Grand Treasury " a few numbers only appeared. In 1775, Robert Aitken printed ^^ The Pennsyhania Maga^ zine or American Monthly Masemnr Thomas Paine was editor, and one of the principal writers for this journal. Many of the articles bear the impress of his powerful 1 5G PROVINCIAL L I T E K A T U R E writing J and the jounial i.s on otlicr accounts one of the best which appeared before the Revolution. The activity of the Press of Philadelphia before the RevoUition, and the general diffusion of a Hterary taste, is proved by the Uirge number of literary produc- tions of the period yet extant. It is not possible now, perhaps, to ascertain the exact number that were pub- lished ; but it may surprise many to learn, that there are in the City Library no fewer than four hundred and fifty- nine works printed in Philadelphia before the Revolution. Of these, four hundred and twenty-five are original books and pamphlets, and thirty-four reprints of foreign books and pamphlets. Many were, doubtless, printed which were never purchased for the library, and some that were in the library have been lost or destroyed. Perhaps one- third might safely be added to the number in the Ubrary, which would give upwards of six hundred for the number of works printed in the province. In the year 1766, Robert Bell, who did a good deal for literature in his way, came to Philadelphia. He was a Scotsman by birth, but had lived several years in Dublin, as a bookseller, in which capacity he was some time the partner of George Alexander Stevens, so well known for his humor and facetiousness. Bell first estab- lished himself as a book auctioneer, and afterwards as a bookseller. In 1772, he undertook a stupendous enter- prise for the time, the reprinting of Blackstone's Com- OF PENNSYLVANIA. 157 mentaries, in four volumes, octavo, with a supplement in a fifth volume. A liberal subscription, however, rewarded his exertions, and he shortly afterwards published a second edition of Blackstone in quarto, and editions of Robertson's Charles the Fifth, and of Ferguson's Essay on Civil Society, besides minor works. He was also pul> Usher of the original edition of Paine's celebrated pam- phlet Common Sense. It is said that Paine was at one time in Bell's employ, as a clerk. After the war broke out. Bell, finding his regular business as a bookseller in- terrupted, resumed that of selling at auction, and travelled from New Hampshire to Virginia with books for sale. In the course of one of these expeditions, he died at Rich- mond, in Virginia, in September, 1784. In business, he was perfectly fair and upright, and is said to have been a very pleasant companion. He had a vein of eccentricity, however, in his composition, which appeared sometimes in his advertisements. Those for sales at auction were commonly headed : " Jewels and diamonds to be sold or sacrificed by Robert Bell, humble provedore to the senti- mentalists." Announcing Blackstone's Commentaries and other books to be pubhshed by subscription, he invites the pubHc in these words : ^'^Intentional encouragers, who wish for a participation of this sentimental banquet, are requested to send their names to Robert Bell," &c. Literature and Science received ample encourage- ment, both by words and deeds, from the Provincial Government of Pennsylvania. Before one English foot 158 PUOVINCIAL LITERATURE liad ])C'cii placed on the soil of the colony, the venerable and illustrious founder issued a manifesto, containing the soundest doctrines of political philosophy, and the mo8t convincing reasons in support of them. The following passages deserve to be constantly borne in mind in every district in this country : — "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, gov- ernments rather depend upon men than men upon gov- ernments. 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 ever so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn. That, therefore, which makes a good constitution must keep it, viz., men of wis- dom and virtue, — qualities that, because they descend not with worldly inheritances, must be carefully j^ropagated by a virtuous education of youth, — for which after ages will owe more to the care and prudence of founders, and the successive magistracy, than to their parents for their private patrimonies." The 12th Article of the Frame of Government provides in express terms, " That the Governor and Provincial Council shall erect and order public schools, and encour- age and reward the authors of useful sciences and laud- able inventions in the province." Among the Committees into which the Provincial Council was to be divided, was " a Committee of Manners, Education, and Arts, that all OF PENNSYLVANIA. 159 wicked and scandalous living may be prevented, and that youth may be successfully trained up in virtue, and useful knowledge, and arts." Such were the sentiments enter- tained at the outset of the government, and the provisions for enforcing them. The same principles appear to have been cherished at every stage of the colonial history, of which one example has already been given in the extract from the Charter of the Friends' School. The Penn Family seem to have been uniformly disposed to encour- age learning and science, and contributed liberally from their private funds for the purpose. Thomas Penn, who died in 1775, the last surviving child of the founder, and who is said to have been " the worthiest of his children, and the one who most nearly resembled him in abilities and virtues,"* was fond of literary pursuits. His dona- tions to the College of Philadelphia alone, amounted to about twelve thousand dollars in money, besides the grant of one half of a manor in Bucks County, containing up- wards of three thousand acres. He also founded and endowed a public library in Lancaster, which, in compli- ment to his wife, was called " The Juliana Library." Nor was the Assembly of the province at any time backward in affording countenance and support to letters and science. Two instances of their liberality deserve particular mention. In the session of 1768-9, the Assembly aj)propriated one hundred j)ounds sterling to the purchase of a reflecting telescope, with a micrometer, for the purpose of enabling the Philosophical Society to * Barton's Life of Rittenhouse, p. 119, note 10. ICO riiO VINCI AL LITERATURE observe tlie transit of Veiiu.s ; and shortly afterwards, at the same session, gave an additional sum of one hundred pounds, to defray the expense of erecting observatories. In 1771, they granted to Dr. Rittenhouse the sum of three hundred pounds, by a resolution which expressed that it was given "as a testimony of the high sense which the House entertains of his mathematical genius and mechanical abiUties in constructing his orrery." NOTE A, Some light is thrown upon the subject by the following extract from Keith's Journal of his subsequent travels, of which mention is made in another part of this memoir : " I happened in America, while I was there travelling, to see a book lately printed, called ' Neiv England Judged,^ having a printed appendix to it by John Whiting, Quaker, who has set up of late for a great author among them, and who is extremely ignorant as well as confident to utter falsehoods and abusive slanders. In his appen- dix, he utters a notorious falsehood upon me, as if at Philadelphia, about the year 1C)02, I had fained myself a prisoner; and to make this fiction to be believed, I had gone to the porch of the prison, the prison door being shut against me, and from the porch of the prison had writ and dated a paper of complaint against the Quakers for my imprisonment ; and to make his reader take the greater notice of it, he has caused the following words to be printed on the margin in great black letters: George Keith^s Mock Imprisonment. Now to prove the notorious falsehood of this, I need go no farther than a book of one of his brethren, viz., Samuel Jennings, printed at London, 1694, called by him 'The State of the Case,'' &c., wherein, though he has uttered many falsehoods concerning the state of the case OF PENNSYLVANIA. 161 about our differences in principles of religion, in the year 1691 and 1692, whereof I had largely detected him in my printed reply to his book : yet he saith true in what he did report in his book concerning two persons whom the Quakers had put in prison, — the one for print- ing a sheet of mine, I called 'An Appeal,^ &c., and the other for selling one or two of them when printed. The name of the printer is William Bradford; the name of the other is John Mackomh. Now, concerning them, the said Quaker, Samuel Jennings, reports that they signed a paper from the prison, when they signed it in the entry, common to the prison and the next house.* Thus, he gives the true matter of fact, and tells truly who signed that paper in the entry or porch, which were those two above-named persons, but men- tions not me as being concerned in signing that paper, either in the entry or porch, or anywhere else. And to be sure, if I had been one of the persons who had signed that paper, he would have told the world of it, as thereby thinking to have some great matter against me. For he chargeth it upon these two above-mentioned persons, William Bradford and John Mackomh, that it was deceit in them to sign a paper from the prison, when they were not in the prison, but in the porch or entry of it, as he saith. In my answer to him, I have showed it was no deceit, nor had anything blameworthy. The case was this. They were prisoners by a warrant from some Quaker Justices, for the fact above mentioned, and had been detained in prison for some time, and were ordered to be kept in prison until the next Court, unless they gave security by bonds to answer at the next Court. After some time, the jailor, by favor, let them go home, but still they were prisoners, not being released by any judicatory ; and the Quaker Justices delaying to bring them to a trial, they went to the prison to write, and sign their petition from the prison to have their trial at the next session ; but it happened that the jailor was gone abroad, and had the key of the prison with him, so that they could not get in. Now, I see no deceit or insincerity in this, more than in the common practice of many Quakers, who have printed records of their suffering imprisonment (for not paying tithes) some years, and yet they often had liberty to go home, by favor of the jailors, to my certain knowledge. But whether William Bradford and John Mac- * It seems from this, that there was but one entry, in those days, for the prison and the adjoining house I 11 162 r H V I N C I A L LITERATURE. komb were pfuilty of deceit or not, is not material to the present case of John Whilinrj, his vile slander, as if I had been the person, or one of the persons who had writ tlint paper from the porch or entry of the prison. This is a sulTicicnt proof that what John Whiting has thus printed against mo was not from the infallible spirit, and that he is, therefore, by George Fox^s sentence, a deceiver." (Page 40, &c.) A MEMOIR THE CONTROVERSY WILLIAM PENN AND LORD BALTIMORE, RESPECTING THE BOUNDARIES OF PENNSYLVANIA AND MARYLAND. JAMES DUNLOP, ESQ., MEMBER OF THE SENATE OF PENNSYLVANIA FROM FRANKLIN COUNTY. Read at a Meeting of the Council, Kovemher lOfh, 1825. (163) A MEMOIE, ETC/ The disputes which occurred in times almost forgotten, between the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania and Maryland, respecting the boundaries of their provinces, afford a sub- ject of curious, if not useful speculation. Their rise, pro- gress, and termination, form not only an amusing portion of the history of the early transactions of our country, but are important, as intimately connected with the land titles of that part of the State which lies within the limits of the disputed territory.-|- The clashing of the many grants made with such lavish profusion by the sovereigns of Europe, of the * A short Memoir of the author of this Essay will be found in I^otelL, at the end of volume. — Editor. f Since this Paper appeared, much light has been thrown upon the subject of the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Mary- land, in the following publications : "Minutes of the Proceedings before the Hon. John Sergeant, of Philadelphia, in the matter of the Pea Patch Island. Referred to him as sole Arbitrator." United States Senate (Executive) Docu- ment, No. 21, 30th Congress, 1848. Report of Col. J. D. Graham, of Corps of Topographical Engineers. Pennsylvania Senate Journal, 1850, Vol. II., p. -475. (165) IGG WILLIAM TENN savages and suil of the New World, arose from their entire ignorance of the country. The thirst for gold, the spirit of adventure, and zeal of religious enthusiasm, all demanded, clamorously, a particixmtion in the wealth, in- dependence, or retirement, which were fondly anticipated to flow from the mighty discoveries of Cabot and Ves- pucci. By virtue of the fancied right of priority of dis- covery, the Crown of England not only claimed but exercised the power of parcelling the extensive coasts and territories of North America amongst her favorite countries or troublesome subjects. Whether this assumed authority was better founded than that which flowed from Papal supremacy to the sovereigns of Spain and Portugal, or the vacillating tenure of the thinly-scattered and savage aborigines, it is now more curious than useful to inquire. For, how- ever well founded the title derived from such sources might originally have been considered, time, possession, and power have given them a stability which nothing can endanger but the weakness and corruption of the holders. From an ignorance of the geography of the dark and boundless wilderness which was so generously divided, the limits of the numerous grants were so vaguely desig- The History of Mason and Dixon's Line, contained in an Address, delivered by John H. B. Latrobe, of Maryland, before the Ilistorical Society of Pennsylvania, November Sth, 1854. Press of the Society, Philadelphia, 1855. Mason and Dixon's Line : a History, — including an Outline of the Boundary Controversy between Pennsylvania and Tirginia. By James Teech. Pittsburg, 185Y, pp. 58. — Editor. AND LORD BALTIMORE. 167 nated as invariably to create confusion, and embroil the claimants in difficulties and resentments, which required the labor and patience of years to settle and allay. In the year 1681, when the Charter was granted to William Penn, the distinguished Founder of Pennsyl- vania, by Charles II., King of England, almost the "whole country included in its limits was an uncultivated wild ; and to what extent the country was settled at the date of the Charter, it would, perhaps, be difficult, and, from the means of information within the reach of the author, impossible to ascertain with satisfactory certainty. As early as 1627,* the Swedes and Fins had formed estab- lishments within the Capes of Delaware; and, in 1630, Proud (1 Hist. Penn., pp. 115, 116) says, that the Dutch, or, as Bozman (Hist. Maryland, p. 245) thinks, the Swedes had built a fort at a place now called Lewistown, in the State of Delaware ; and in the year following, the Swedes had pushed their fortifications above Wilmington, * It has already been stated, in a note at page TO, that this date is incorrect, for the Swedes did not arrive until 1638. Bozman was led into the error by Proud, whom he quotes ; and although the latter is right in asserting that the Dutch, in 1630, built a fort at " Lewis- town," the former is wrong in supposing that it was the Swedes who did so. The region was called by the Dutch Swanendael, also Hoornkill, a designation probably given by De Yries, in compliment to his father, a resident of Iloorn, a town in the Netherlands, which was subsequently corrupted into Hoarkill. The unfortunate Dutch colonists who arrived under De Yries, in 1630, and were the first Europeans that attempted to establish them- selves on the western side of the Delaware, did not long survive : for, after the departure of that navigator, a misunderstanding having arisen between them and the Indians, the latter treacherously mur- dered the entire colony, consisting of thirty-two souls — Editor. 1C8 WILMAM I'ENN and as Iiigli up as Chester. The Swedes, says the same author (1 Pr., 205), had a Meeting House at Wicocoa, now within the suburbs of Philadelphia ; and the Friends one at Uphind or Chester, another at Shackamaxon or about where Kensington now stands, and a third at the lower Falls of the Delaware (Id., 160, IGl), meaning, I presume, the Falls at Trenton, as there are no Falls below that place. Proud says, that there was not a single house built on the site of Philadelphia when it was laid out by the Proprietary and his Surveyor, Thomas Holme, in 1682 ; and that on his arrival, the first house building by George Guest, " on this spot of ground," was unfinished ; and that at that time, many of the early settlers and adventurers had their holes or caves for their residence in the high bank of the Delaware, before any houses were built or better accommodation prepared for them. But there is no doubt that the comitry, in 1681, was partially settled along the bank of the river, as high as the Falls (1 Pr., 160, 161), near to where Philadelphia now stands, as Penn himself, in a letter to the Society of Freetraders, in August, 1683 (1 Proud, 260, 261), says, that "the Dutch mostly inhabit those parts of the pro-\ance that lie upon or near the ba}^, and the Swedes the freshes of the river Delaware ;" and Proud says (1 Hist. Penn., 233), that the site of the city itself was claimed by some Swedes, with whom Penn exchanged other lands at a small distance for it. It is impossible to say to what extent the Enrjlish had made settlements within the limits of what is now the State of Pennsylvania, as early as the date of William AND LORD BALTIMORE. 169 Penn's Charter ; but that they had long exercised domin- ion over the country west of the bay and river Delaware, abundantly appears from the records of the proprietary government of New York (certified copies of which are on record in the office of the Secretary of the Common- wealth at Harrisburg). Charles II. had granted to his brother, the Duke of York, in 1664, an immense territory in America, embracing the Dutch settlements at New York, and extending southward to the eastern shore of the bay and river Delaware ; and the Duke, in the same year, issued a commission to Sir Eobert Carr, to subdue their possessions on the eastern shore ; and after the con- quest, which was easily effected, governed the country as an appemlage to his province of New York, by his heuten- ants, till 1682, when he released his interest to William Penn. There is no evidence of actual settlements made within the Hmits of Pennsylvania, amongst the records alluded to, but of a continued and anxious care over the country on the west side of the bay and river Delaware, by the Governors of the Duke, residing at New York; and amongst the same documents, is an Indian deed, of as early date as 1675, to Edmund Andros, Governor and Lieuf&nant of the Duke, for land lying at least twenty miles above Philadelphia. This deed is, perhaps, the earhest made by the aborigines to the English, of lands on the western shore of the Delaware, and exhibits a curious but not uncommon uncertainty of boundary, that strongly displays the ignorance of the whites of the topo- graphy of the country. It describes the land as " lying on the west side of Delaware River, beginning at a certain 170 WILLIAM TENN creek next the cold spring, somewhat above Matinicum* Island, about eight or nine miles below the Falls, as far above the said Falls as the other is below them, or furth- est that way, as may be agreed upon, to some remarkable place, for the more certain bounds; as also, all the islands in the ri^-cr Delaware within the fore-mentioned limits, both below and above the Falls, excepting only one island, commonly known by the name of Peter Alrick's Island, together with all the creeks, &c., &c., to the said tract of land belonging along the river and heliind into the woods" &c. The consideration, amongst the detail of ammunition, clothing, &c., exhibits the amusing predilec- tion of the grave Sachems for fifty looking-glasses and one hundred jewsharps. It also contains covenants of seizin and quiet enjoyment, breaches of which, I presume, could only be effectually tried by the sw^ord. This tract of country was selected probably for the peculiar excellence of its soil, and patents were granted for it by Andros to Enghsh settlers before the country bore the name of Pennsylvania (1 Proud, 217). The lands below at that time remained in the tenure of the Indians, as a commis- sion was three years afterwards issued by Andros to Cant- well and Hannum, to purchase from the savages the land as yet unpurchased from the Indians, "below the late purchase at the Falls, on the western shore of Delaware River." The Charter of Maryland, which its proprietor had in- * Xow called Burlington Island, lying between Bui'lington and Bristol. — Upland Record, in note, p. 141, — Memoirs of Historical Society, Vol. YII. — Editor. AND LORD BALTIMORE. 171 tended to call Crescentia, but which was designated by his majesty, when the Charter was presented to him, Terra Maria, in honor of his Queen, Henrietta Maria, was granted by Charles I., in 1632, to Cecilius Calvert, Baron of Balti- more, his " well-beloved and trusty servant." This grant, reciting the pious and laudable zeal of the Baron of Balti- more for extending the Christian rehgion and the terri- tories of the empire, and his desire to transport, by his own industry and expense, a numerous colony to a certain region hereafter described, in a country hitlierto unculti- vated in the parts of America, and jjartly occupied by savages having no knowledge of the Divine Being, trans- ferred unto him, his heirs and assigns, all that part of the peninsula or Chersonese Ijang in the parts of America between the ocean on the east and the Bay of Chesa- ' peake on the west, divided from the residue thereof by a right line drawn from the promontory or headland called Watkins' Point, situate upon the bay aforesaid, near the river Wighes, on the west, unto the main ocean on the east, and between that boundary on the south unto that part of the hay of Delaware on the north which heth wnder tJie fortietli degree of north latitude, from the equi- noctial, loliere New England is terminated: and all the tract of that land within the metes mider-written (that is to say), passing from the said bay called Delaware Bay, in a right line, by the degree aforesaid, unto the true meridian of the first fountain of the Potomac, thence verging towards- the south unto the southern bank of said river, and following the same, &c. The Lords Baltimore may well be excused for pressing 172 WILLIAM PENN their clniiiis uikUt this grant as extensively as they did, and which its terms seemed so strongly to justify; hut there were two hidden sources of uncertainty lurking under the language of their Charter, which cost the Proprietaries of Maryland many years of vexation and expense. In 1G81, King Charles II. granted to William Penn the Charter for the province of Pennsylvania. This venerable document, which is in the office of the Secre- tary of the Commonwealth, is written upon large rolls of strong parchment, in the old English handwriting, with each Hne underscored with lines of red ink, that give it a curious appearance. The borders are gorgeously fur- belowed with heraldic devices, and the top of the first * page exhibits a finely-executed half-length portrait of his majesty, in good preservation. Though not quite a cen- tury and a half old, it may justly be designated a valuable piece of American antiquity. The Charter designates the province of Pennsylvania as " That tract of country or part of land in America, with the islands as therein con- tained, as the same is bounded on the east by Delaware River, from twelve miles distance northward of Newcastle town, unto the forty-third degree of north latitude, if the said river doth extend so far northward, but if the said river shall not extend so far northward, then by the said river so far as it doth extend ; and from the head of the said river, the eastern bounds are to be determined by a meridian line, to be drawn from the head of the said river to the said forty-third degree. The said land to extend westward five degrees of longitude, to be com- AND LORD BALTIMORE. 173 pleted from the said eastern bounds ; and the said lands to be bounded on the north by the beginning of the three and fortieth degree of north latitude, and on the south by a circle to be drawn at twelve miles' distance from New- castle northward and westward unto the heginning of tlie fortieth degree of north latitude, and thence by a straight line westw^ard to the limits of the longitude above men- tioned," Penn, it is said, (Proud's Hist. Pa., 188, 2 ed., 208, n.), claimed under this Charter unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of north latitude, which would be where the thirty-ninth degree terminated. But as I have seen no evidence of such preposterous claim from Penn him- self, and as it involves the manifest absurdity of a radius of twelve miles from Newcastle northward intersecting a degree of latitude lying so much further south, it is pro- bable it was never seriously urged. The ignorance of the King's Council of the geography of the countrj^, I have no doubt, led them to believe that the thirty-ninth degree of north latitude lay twelve miles north of Newcastle, as they were probably guided in their description by the chart of the celebrated Captain John Smith ; but as it did not in fact, and the bounds were fixed by the twelve mile radius northward of Newcastle, there was no pretension to ex- tend it further south than the twelve miles north of that place. It was highly important to the proprietor of Pennsyl- vania to extinguish the claims of the Duke of York, who claimed and exercised jurisdiction upon the western shore of the bay and river Delaware, as an appendage to his 174 w I L L I A :\r r e n N government of New York; as tlie procuring liis title to that country would enlarge his seaboard, which ]n"s sagar cious eye perceived was wanted, prevent any future inter- ference with his province itself, and afford an extensive outlet to the produce of his planters. [Penn's Letter to the Lords of the Plantations, 1 Proud's Hist., 270-7.] Opposite as the religious and political opinions of William Penn and James, Duke of York, certainly were ; and as we must believe, in spite of the angry conclusions of the Historical KevicAv (p. 18), drawn from the ridicu- lous stories of the times, the former always was a par- ticular favorite of the latter. Penn, therefore, through his influence with the Duke, obtained from him in the year succeeding the date of his Charter, in consideration of his regard for the memory and many faithful services of Admiral Penn, a deed of release of all the claim of his royal highness to the country within the limits of Penn- sylvania, and a grant of his claim to the country on the western side of the Bay of Delaware^ as far south as " Whoarkill^ otherwise called Cape Hinlopen," including the town of Newcastle and a district of twelve miles around it, and what were afterwards called by Penn the counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex. This tract of country was long afterwards known by the name of the territories of Pennsylvania, and the then lower counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, and now constitutes the State of Delaware. It appears, from the manuscript sketch of the notes of Mr. Hamilton, of the testimony taken under the commissions issued in the famous cause in Chancery, in England, between the Penus and Lord AND LORD BALTIMORE. 175 Baltimore (and now in the Land Office at Harrisburg), that these counties, in more ancient time, were called New Amstel, New Hale, and Whoarkill. Sussex main- tained the name of Whoarkill until after the surrender of the country to William Penn. The Proprietary of Pennsylvania found himself imme- diately on his arrival in America, in 1682, involved in extreme difficulties respecting the conflicting claims, of Charles, Lord Baltimore, the son of Cecelius, the original patentee of Maryland, not only as respected the western shore of the Bay of Delaware, but also as to the southern limits of his province of Pennsylvania. The latter claimed with much plausibihty, according to the terms of his grant, not only the whole " Chersonese or peninsula, between the Bay of Chesapeake and Dela- ware," but all the lands lying " under the fortieth degree of north latitude;" as respected the peninsula, it was objected that, as his grant only contemplated the transfer of lands which were ^^hactencw incidfa," it could not in- clude the western shore of Delaware, which had been settled several years before its date by the Swedes and Dutch. If this obstacle to the literal construction of his Charter could have been surmounted, Lord Baltimore had a clear right to the whole peninsula ; but it is apparent, if the settlements of the Swedes and Dutch had been effiscted before 1632,* the king had no right to transfer the territory of other nations, and which did not ajjpertain to the Crown of England. That such settlements had been * See note at page 167. — Editor. 17G WILLIAM PENN eflcctcd at tliat early period .seems incontrovertible, and that Lord Baltimore was aware of tiieir existance is ad- mitted by Ktlfjj, in his Landholder's Assistant (p. 1G5), as he had been in Virginia shortly before the date of his Charter. And, indeed, Governor Stuyvesant, in a mani- festo he transmitted to Lord Baltimore, respecting the claim of the Dutch to the shores of Delaware Bay, asserts their having had a settlement at Cape Ilenlopen as early as before the planting of Virginia, but that it had been destroyed by the Indians. Yet it seems very unlikely that the King's Council could have been entirely ignorant of those settlements or of Clayborne's, on Kent Island, in the Bay of Chesapeake, and it is probable that the phrase '■^])artly inhabited," in the preamble to the Charter, was inserted purposely to embrace any settlements within its limits. But it was afterwards alleged against the validity of his lordship's Charter, that his majesty was deceived in the representations made to him of the countr}^ being wholly uncultivated, and that therefore the Charter was void, at least so far as respected the cultivated parts. The law of England holding, with courteous deference to royal grantors, that if the king was deceived in the grant, or granted a greater estate than he had himself, the grant was wholly invalid (1 Co., 144 ; Com. Dig. Grant, 8 G. ; 1 Ves., 452). This doctrine always operated beneficially for the Crow^n ; and amounted, during the terrors of the Star Chamber, to saving that royal donors might revoke their Charters whenever it suited their pohcy or conveni- ence. This imputation upon the validity of Lord Balti- AND LORD BALTIMORE. 177 more's Patent was stated in the bill (said to have been penned by Mr. Murray, afterwards Lord Mansfield, — Bozr mans Maryland) filed in Chancery, in England, by the Penns v. Lord Baltimore, the trial of which is reported in 1 Ves., 450. The grant, however, was void, or might be construed to pass all the right of the Crown, such as it was, to the settled parts of the country, just as his majesty might be pleased to decree; and as they were afterwards reduced by the British arms, they might have been considered as inuring to the use of the patentee. The grant of Maryland was at least as valid as that made in 1664, by King Charles 11. to his brother James, Duke of York, of the Dutch settlements, called by them the New Netherlands, embracing in part what is now the States of New York and New Jersey, at a time when the Enghsh government and the States generally were at peace, and in violation of Oliver Cromwell's treaty of 1653, which guaranteed to the Dutch the full enjoyment of their possessions in America. It is true, that at that time the two governments were not on very good terms, and were growling at each other no little, but there was no open rupture to justify the proceeding or add validity to the grant, as war did not break out till several months afterwards. [6 Hume's Hist. Eng., 283.] The Duke of York conquered not only the Dutch settle- ments within the limits of his grant, which was bounded westward by the bay and river Delaware, but in the same year commissioned Sir Robert Carr to subdue their pos- sessions on the eastern shore of the same bay and river ; 12 178 W I T. L I A ^r r E N N and aflcr (lieir reduction, wliicli was easily effected, exer- cised sovereignty over them as an appendage to his gov- ernment of New York, till 1G82, when he transferred his claim to the western shore and Bay of Delaware to William Penn. Lord Baltimore's claim to the land lying under the fortieth degree of north latitude, agreeably to the lan- guage of his Charter, was urged with equal plausibility and as little success. He insisted, with much apparent reasonableness, that the words "which lieth under the fortieth degree of north latitude," in his Charter, meant certainly a northward extension of his boundary beyond the termination of the thirty-ninth, and that he was entitled, by the plain and express words of his Patent, to extend his limits to the forty-first degree of north latitude, and embrace the whole fortieth degree. But the weakness of his claim to the country north of the thirty- ninth degree will be manifest, when we reflect that his Charter limits his northern boundary expressly to the " Bay of Delaware," and that consequently he could not, without going beyond a designated natural monument of his boundaries, extend his northern line beyond the point where the bay terminates, and that the limits of the Patent must be construed with reference to the informa- tion of the country before the Council, when it was granted. That information, it would seem, consisted entirely of the historical account and chart of that part of the New World, by the celebrated Captain John Smith, as is alleged in the Bill of Chancery already men- tioned, and supported by the testimony taken under the AND LORD BALTIMORE, 179 coininissions issued to America in that cause, as appears bj the rough drafts of it taken for the Penns by Mr. Hamilton, and on file in the office of the Secretar}^ of the Land Office of Pennsylvania. James Logan deposed " that Captain Smith's History of Virginia was the best, as it was the first book published by any Englishman of that country ; and that his map of the Chesapeake Bay, so called at that time, and the parts adjacent, was the most correct account of the first discoveries of a new country he had ever seen ; and that he neither knew or believed any other account, or drafts, or maps of that country, were published before 1632," the date of Lord Baltimore's Charter; and testimony of a similar import was taken from other witnesses well acquainted with that part of the country. As these charts, it appears, fixed the fortieth degree of north latitude at the head of the Bay of Delaware, and, if the Charter was to be construed with reference to the intelligence before the Council, at the time it issued, as was the opinion of the Attorney and Sohcitor-Generals, Ryder, Yorke, Willes, and Weary, the northern limits should be restricted to those natural boundaries by which they were designated, and not as the latter remarks, " by an imaginary point of the heavens," although subsequent and more accurate obser- vations might have ascertained that latitude to lie much further north than the head of the bay. Lord Baltimore alleged that the fortieth degree of north latitude had been ascertained, and part of the line run in 1681, in pursuance of a letter of the king; but the Proprietary of Pennsylvania denied that any such line 180* WILLIAM I'KNN lijid been run, imd (liiit ifjiiiy iitteinpt liad been made for that purpose, it was done without his knowledge or con- sent by Lord Baltimore's agents (1 Proud, 277), and in violation of his Charter. The claims of Maryland were asserted with continued acrimony, violence, and occa- sional bloodshed, and as pertinaciously resisted, until they were finally terminated and abandoned in 1760, by the mutual agreement of the parties. As the Duke of York claimed, by right of conquest, the settlements on the western shores of the Bay of Delaware, and had, by his deed of 1682, transferred to William Penn his title to that country, embracing the town of Newcastle and twelve miles around it (as a reasonable portion of land attached to it), and as far down as what was then called Cape Henlopen ; an important subject of controversy w^as the true situation of that cape, and the ascertainment of the southern and western bound- aries of the country along the bay, as transferred by the Duke's deed. Though Charles, Lord Baltimore, as I have heard, was a man of the fashionable world, and deeply devoted to its pleasures, yet he w^as by no means inactive in the pro- tection of his interest and in the prosecution of his claims. After two personal interviews in America, the Proprie- taries separated without coming to any arrangement and with mutual recriminations and dissatisfaction. And they each wrote to the Lords of Plantations, excusing themselves and blaming the other. Li 1683, Lord Balti- more petitioned the king to make Penn no fresh or con- firmatory grant, and urged the plausibiHty of his own AND LORD BALTIMORE. 181 claims (1 Proud's Hist., 293) ; and, in the same year, issued a proclamation, offering lands at lower rates than usual within the disputed territory (Vid. 265, N.), for the purpose of inducing settlers to take out their titles under his government. The issuing of those proclamations he afterwards very uncandidly denied to Penn's agent, until his memory was refreshed by their production, and then refused to recall them, alleging (1 Proud's Hist., 272) that they proclaimed only the ancient prices. In the same year, he commissioned Colonel Talbot to demand of William Penn all the lands lying south of the forty-first degree of north latitude (1 Proud, 374) ; and his agents shortly after made several attempts, by force, to reduce to submission to his authority the planters who lived in the disputed borders under Pennsylvania titles, and kept the country in continual alarm. At length, in 1685, one important step was taken towards the decision of the conflicting claims of Mary- land and Pennsylvania, by a decree of King James' Council, which ordered, " that for avoiding further differ- ences, the tract of land lying between the Bay of Dela- ware and the eastern sea, on the one side, and the Chesa- peake Bay on the other, he divided into equal parts, by a line from the latitude of Cape Henlopen, to the fortieth degree of north latitude, the southern boundary of Penn- sylvania by Charter ; and that the one-half thereof, lying towards the Bay of Delaware and the eastern sea, be adjudged to belong to his majesty, and the other half to Lord Baltimore, as comprised in his Charter." (1 Proud, 293, N.) The power of the King's Council to decide 182 W I L L I A M r E N N upon diisputed proprietary boundaricH, and to enlarge or restrict their limits, is fully rew)gnized in the neveral opinions of the eminent Council already alluded to, unless when the parties had entered into agreement to settle their disputes themselves. This decree of King James, which evidently exhibits a partiality towards the claims of Penn, in decreeing the eastern half of the peninsula to his majesty, with whom Lord Baltimore could not presume, and indeed had declined to dispute, instead of to the Proprietary him- self, by no means removed the difficulties which hung over this tedious, expensive, and vexatious litigation. For, as we will hereafter see, there existed as much un- certainty with respect to the true situation of Cape Hen- lopen, and the ascertainment of the middle of the Penin- sula, as any points in contest. However, after continued altercation between the Pro- prietaries and their respective settlers, which was inter- rupted and perhaps protracted by the death of William Penn, in 1718, and the death of the first Charles, Lord Baltimore, who escaped from his worldly troubles in 1714, his grandson of the same name, and great grandson of Cecelius, the original patentee, entered into articles of agreement with John Penn, Eichard Penn, and Thomas Penn (who had become, by the Will of their fjither, sole Proprietaries of his American possessions), on the 10th of May, 1732, which I suppose they fancied would settle their respective boundaries to their mutual satisfaction. By this celebrated agreement, amongst other things not so important to the object of this essay, it was AND LORD BALTIMORE. 183 mutually covenanted and agreed, that the chart annexed to the agreement, which embraced the country in dispute and the adjacent parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, was a correct impression of the charts sent over to the contracting parties ; that they would regulate their negotiations by it ; that a semicircle should be drawn at twelve English statute miles around Newcastle, agreeably to the deed of the Duke of York to William Penn, in 1682 ; that an east and west line should be drawn, begin- ing at Cape Henlopen (which was admitted to be below Cape CorneUus) and running westward to the exact middle of the Peninsula ; that from the exact middle of the Peninsula, between the two bays of Chesapeake and Delaware, and the end of the line intersecting it in the latitude of Cape Henlopen, a line should be run north- ward, so as to form a tangent with the periphery of the semicircle at Newcastle, drawn with the radius of twelve English statute miles, whether such line should take a due north course or not ; that, after the said northwardly line should touch the Newcastle semicircle, it should be run further northward, until it reached the same latitude as fifteen English statute miles due south of the most southern part of the city of Philadelphia ; that from the northern point of such line a due west line should be run, at least for the present, across the Susquehanna River and twenty-five miles beyond it, and to the western limits of Pennsylvania, when occasion and the imj^rove- ments of the country should require ; that that part of the due west line not actually run, though imaginary, should be considered to be the true boundary of Mary- 184 W I I. L I A M 1' K N N land and rciiii.sjlvaiiia j tliat within two niuntlis, soven Commisaioners should be appointed ])y each of the con- tracting parties, any three or more oi' whom should be a quorum, to run and mark the said boundaries; that the Commissioners should commence their operations as early as October and finish in December of the same year, with all fairness and despatch ; that the route should be well marked by trees and other natural objects, and designated by stone pillars, sculptured with the arms of the contract- ing parties, lacing their respective possessions ; and that, in case a quorum of the Commissioner of either party failed to attend, that the defaultilig party should forfeit to the other the sum of five thousand pounds. This important document, though drawn with all im- aginable skill and precision, from heads furnished by the high contracting parties themselves (1 Ves., 451), and seemingly so free of ambiguity, yet was afterwards the subject of much htigation and cavil, both in England and America. But as it was finally carried into complete effect in all its parts, it affords information highly inter- esting. It accounts for the boundaries of what is now the State of Delaware, then called the three lower counties of Ne\vcastle, Kent, and Sussex; and explains why the point which is noticed on the majDS, was pro- duced between the semicircle around Newcastle and the line running through the Peninsula and past the place of contact with it, to within fifteen miles south of the lati- tude of Philadelphia. The developement of the negotiations between Lord Baltimore and the Proprietary of Pennsylvania shows AND LORD BALTIMORE. 185 the anxiety and vexation suffered, and the immense expense incurred by both parties in ascertaining the limits of their respective grants. In the agreement of 1732, each party fancied they had made important con- cessions and sacrifices for the sake of peace. That Lord Baltimore really thought so, there can be little doubt; for he seems by his Charter, if it was valid at all, to have a very plausible pretension, not only to all the uncultivated lands covered by the fortieth degree, but even to the cul- tivated shores of the Bay of Delaware. Taking from him however the settled country in that quarter at the date of his grant in 1632, and which reached perhaps up nearly to Philadelphia, and leaving the settlements a reasonable portion of back country, he might well sup- pose himself entitled fairly to extend his northern limits to the beginning of the forty-first degree of north latitude, instead of stopping fifteen miles below that city. This would have given him a strip of land now forming a very valuable portion of Pennsylvania, constituting a great part of what is now the counties of Philadelphia, Chester, Lancaster, York, Adams, Franklin, Bedford, Somerset, Fayette, and Greene. The Penns evidently were gainers by the agreement, and made no concession of territory. They certainly had the advantage of the Maryland Pro- prietaries in coolness and circumspection, and the dis- putes, however tedious, expensive, and irksome to them, must have been equally so to him. William Penn pos- sessed, during his whole life, the advantage of Lord Baltimore, in his favor at court. He was upon the most intimate footing with King James, so much so, indeed, as 186 WILLIAM I'ENN to have Ix'on currently Huspocted, as he .says liiinsolf, of being a Jesuit, lie had, as well as his father, Admiral Penn, not only rendered important personal services to that Prince, but inculcated the doctrine of passive obedi- ence, and of rendering unto Caesar the things that are Ca3sar's, — a doctrine so sweet and soothing to the royal ears of the house of Stewart. After the revolution, though William Penn was in disgrace at court, in the reign of King William, on account of his constancy to his unfortunate benefoctor, yet Lord Baltimore w^as no less so, as being a Roman Catholic, and on a,ccount of some delay in proclaiming in his province the accession of the Protestant dynasty, and was strongly threatened with deprivation of Charter by scire facias. The claims of Penn, during James' reign, were somewhat the cause of the Crown ; and, in King William's time, they were actually so, as the Crown had then resumed the govern- ment of Pennsylvania and its territories. And in the reign of Queen Anne, as the British Government were in treaty with the Proprietary of Pennsylvania, for the entire purchase of his rights to his provinces, for the sum of twelve thousand pounds, and had actually paid him one thousand pounds upon the strength of the negotia- tion, the Lord Baltimore must have felt the pressure of his situation and the obvious advantage of his opponents, and despaired of ever seeing his pretensions finally suc- cessful. All these untoward circumstances must have influenced the minds of the Lords Baltimore during the progress of the transaction, previous to the agreement of 1732, and AND LORD BALTIMORE. 187 induced them to recede from pretensions which they had .persisted in with sufficient pertinacity and violence, and which were abandoned subsequently wdth much reluct- ance, and many captious objections. So far in the progress of those important negotiations, the Lords Baltimore may not be blameable to a great degree, but the transactions w^liich transpired subse- quently, and the many frivolous and captious objections, and unreasonable constructions attempted to be put upon their contract of 1732, by their agents, showed more a disposition to oppose and protract than to promote the adjustment of their disputes agreeably to that instrument. Lord Baltimore, it is true, by his counsel, in the argument of the cause in Chancery, in England, which arose out of the agreement, disavowed their conduct, but, at the same time, urged the invalidity of the agreement, on the ground of impositions on the part of the Penns and his own igno- rance of the nature of his rights. Every obstacle seems to have been throw^n in the way of carrying the agreement between the parties into oper- ation, by Lord Baltimore and his agents, who manifested an anxious desire to evade its provisions. The public records at Harrisburg furnish no detail of what transpired between the Commissioners who met at Newcastle, to run the lines as agreed upon, though the minutes of their transactions seems to have been volum- inous (Provincial Eecords, Vol. K., p. 354) ; and what will be here stated of them, is taken from the articles of agreement entered into between Frederick, Lord Balti- more, and Thomas and Richard Penn, in 17G0. 188 AVILLIAM PENN There are great deficiencies in the early public records of the Provincial Government. When the Revolutionary War broke out, they were in the hands of their Secretary, Joseph Shippen, who, I have been mformed, when they were peremptorily demanded by the Commonwealth, made a very reluctant and mutilated return, embracing only the books of the provincial records, and excluding all the loose documents of his office. The Commissioners made little or no progress in effect- ing the object of their appointment, and were under the necessity of dispersing without coming to any definite arrangements. Lord Baltimore's Commissioners behaving, as Lord Hardwick afterwards remarked (1 Ves., 455), with great chicanery through their whole negotiations. One of the Commissioners of the Penns arriving hall* an hour or so later than the period designated, the Mary- land Commissioners at first objected to the proceeding, alleging that the contract was broken, and the five thous- and pounds penalty forfeited ; and when that point was waived, they insisted that the semicircle around New- castle should be draw^n with a peripliery, and not a radius of twelve miles, thus shutting their ej'es to the very words and manifest intention of what the Lord Chan- cellor declared to be the plainest part of the agreement. They made further difficulties about the centre of the semicircle around the to^vn (w^hich it seems, even in those early days, covered a considerable extent of ground), and refused to consider the true situation of Cape Ilenlopen to be Avhere the Proprietaries themselves had fixed it. AND LORD BALTIMORE. 189 And Lord Baltimore, the year following, 1734, (Kilty's Landholder, p. 171,) in direct violation of his contract, presented a petition to his majesty, prajing for a confir- mation of his Charter, as made to his great-grandfather, Cecelius, the original patentee ; but I believe it was not acted upon, probably on the ground that as the bound- aries had been settled by the parties themselves in their articles of agreement, the Council had no authority to interfere, as their jurisdiction was confined to original un- settled conflicting chartered grants of colonial territory ; and the consideration of his pra3'er was postponed, to give the parties an opportunity of trying the validity or abandonment of their articles of agreement of 1732, by a judicial tribunal. In 1735, John, Richard, and Thomas Penn filed a Bill in Chancery against Lord Baltimore, praying for a decree of specific performance of the articles ; which, from the death of John Penn, and the necessity of adding other parties, and the unconscionable delay incident to proceed- ings in that Court, was not finally pronounced for sixteen years. In the meantime, the quiet of the provinces continuing to be interrupted, and riots and disturbances occurring from the violence of Maryland pretensions, both parties applied, in 1737, to the King's Council, for some order which should lessen or allay these ferments. A decree was made, but not having been carried into operation was rescinded, and the claimants again appeared person- ally, and being heard by the Council, the consideration of the subject was adjourned upon an intimation of the 190 W I LL I A M TK N N proI)aI»ili(y of jin iiinir;il)l(' arrangement. Tliiw wuh liap- pily eflected. It was agreed, between tlie liigli contract- ing parties, "that all the vacant land not now possessed hy or under either of them, on the east side of Susque- hanna River down as far as fifteen miles and a quarter south of the latitude of the most southern part of the city of Philadelphia ; and on the west side of Susquehanna, as far south as fourteen miles and three-quarters south of the latitude of the most southern part of the city of Philadel- phia, should be subject to the temporary and provisional jurisdiction of Pennsylvania ; and that to all vacant land not possessed by or under either, on both sides of the Susquehanna, south of the said temporary limits, should be subject to the jurisdiction of Maryland, until the boundaries should be finally settled ; and that the provis- ionary and temj)orary limits, as thus established, should continue until the boundaries were finally settled, but to be without prejudice to either party." And when this convention was reported to the Council, his majesty was pleased to order " That the Proprietaries of the respective provinces of Maryland and Pennsylvania do cause the said agreement to be carried into execution (Provincial Eccord, Vol. K., p. 61)." The order was according!}' pro- mulgated by proclamation in the provinces, and Commis- sioners were, the following year, appointed to run the " temporary Hne :" Richard Peters and Lawrence Grow- den on the part of Pennsylvania, and Colonel Levin Gale and Samuel Chamberlaine on that of Maryland. These Commissioners commenced their active operations in the spring of 1739; and, after proceeding as far as the eastern AND LORD BALTIMORE. 191 bank of the Susquehanna, were interrupted by the depart- ure of Colonel Gale, on account of death and sickness in his family, and the declaration of Mr. Chamberlaine that he had no authority to continue operations without the attendance of his colleague. The Pennsylvania Commis- sioners, deeming their power to proceed confined to a united operation with those of Maryland, received further instructions to proceed alone from Governor Thomas. They accordingly did so, and run the line westward of the Susquehanna, " to the most western of the Kittoch- tinny Hills," which now forms the western boundary of the county of Franklin. There is in the office of the Surveyor-General, at Harrisburg, a copy of their minutes, and a beautiful manuscript colored map of their route. The course run by these Commissioners formed the famous " temporary line," so well kno^vn to the lawyers and settlers on the southern boundary of our Common- wealth, and in some measure allayed the turmoil of the provinces. The cause in Chancery, between the Penns and Lord Baltimore, was not decided until 1750. On the hearing;. Lord Baltimore's counsel contended that it could not be carried into effect, on account of its vagueness and uncer- tainty, and that the contract had been abandoned by the neglect of the Commissioners of Pennsylvania to meet at the time appointed, and that the five thousand pounds penalty was forfeited. The Lord Chancellor, however, overcame all the objec- tions urged in the argument, which occupied five days, and decreed a performance of the articles of agreement. 192 WILLIAM PENN He directed that new ConniiiKsioners nliould Ije appointed within three months after the decree, who .should com- mence (heir operations in November following (1 Ves. 453). He further ordered that the centre of the semi- circle should be fixed as near the centre of the town of Newcastle as may be ; that it should be described with a radius of twelve English statute miles, " so that no part of the town should be further than that distance from the periphery, and that Cape Ilenlopen should be taken to be situated as it was laid down in the chart accompanying the articles of agreement." The commissioners were appointed agreeably to the decree, and met at New Castle on the 15th November, 1750. They fixed upon the court house of New Castle as the centre for drawing the semicircle, but the captious chicanery of Lord Baltimore's commissioners conjured up a new and unexpected difficulty by insisting that the radii of the semicircle should be measured superficially without allowing for the inequalities of the ground, re- gardless of the absurd consequences resulting from such modes of measurement in creating inequality in the radii, and the consequent impossibility of describing anything deserving the name of a semicircle. But, as the objection was persisted in, the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania were again under the necessity of a further application to chancery, under the reservations in the former decree, and obtained in 1751 a decision in favor of horizontal measurement. The commissioners again proceeding in their task, Charles, Lord Baltimore died, but as the peace and happi- AND LORD BALTIMORE. 193 ness of the two provinces depended on the settlement of these protracted disputes, they did not on that account suspend their operations. Having run the semicircle agreeably to the Lord Chancellor's decree with a radius of twelve Enghsh statute miles by horizontal admeasure- ment, and marked it on the ground, they commenced their ojDerations at Cape Ilenlopen. Fixing the southern boundary of the three lower coun- ties (now the State of Delaware), at Fen wick's Island, requires explanation, as the chart of the Proprietaries, accompanying their agreement of 1732, gives to the cape opposite Cape May, at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, the name of Cape Cornelius, and the point at Fenwick's Island, that of Ilenlopen, and the maps of the present day transpose that order. The Swedes on their first arrival in 1672,* landed at the interior cape, afterwards called Inlopen, and named it Paradise Point from its pleasant appearance [Bozman's History of Maryland, p. 244] ; a fatiguing voyage giving, I presume, a liveliness to their feelings which the view of a sandy bluff, under ordi- * This is a transposition by the printer of 1612 for 162T, the latter being, as already mentioned, an erroneous date. See note pp. 70, 16t. The Swedes, although there is no proof of it, may have landed here in 1638, on their way to Christina. If they did, they remained but a few days. That they, however, designated as " Paradise Point," that which De Yries had previously called " Swanendael," is shown by Lindstrom, M.S. map of 1655, where it is named " Paradis udden le Cap de Paradis ;" and the present Lewes Creek, the scene of the murder of De Vries' unfortunate colony, " Mordare Kylen, la Riviere des Assassins." It is curious that the stream which empties into the Bay near Jones Creek, should now be called "Murder Creek." — Editor, 13 194 WILLIAM r E N N nary circumstances, would not have produced. " This cape," says Proud [1 Hist. Penn., Ill], "is frequently confounded with Cape Ilenlopen, the interior or False Cape at Fenwick's Island, being written in the same manner and sometimes Ilenlopen. It was formerly called Cape Cornelius, and afterwards by William Penn, Cape James." Bozman [Hist. Maryland, 244] concludes that the confounding of the appellations arose from the addition of the aspirate, which, in the Swedish language, when prefixed to the word Inlopen, altered the sense of it from the mterior to the exterior cape. It is probable that the Swedes might have called the interior Cape Inlopen, and the extericrr Henlopen, and that when the Dutch en- croached upon their neighbors in those parts, they gave the name of CorneUus to the interior cape, leaving the former to its original appellation of Hinlopen. For it appears from Hamilton (MSS. notes of the testimony taken under the commissions issued to America in the chancery cause between the Proprietaries), that in early times "the cape on Fenwick's Island was called Hen- lopen," and that " South Cape, twenty "miles below the mouth of Delaware Bay, was called Cape Hinlopen." One witness said that " False Cape was formerly called Hin- lopen in his father's time, who was a pilot li^ing fifteen miles below the mouth of Delaware Bay," and another, that he "had seen Dutch and English maps in which there were two capes laid down (published in 1672) to the south of the entrance into the Delaware Bay, and that the southernmost was called Cape Hinlopen, and the most northwardly, lying at the south side of the entrance, AND LORD BALTIMORE. 195 was called Cape Cornelius ;" and Lord Hardwick, in de- livering his judgment already alluded to, said (1 Ves., 452), "that it was clear hy the proof that the true situ- ation of Cape Henlopen was as laid down in the place accompanying the agreement, and not where Cape Cor- nelius is {i. e. then), as the defendant (Lord Baltimore) contended, which would leave out a great part of what was intended to be included in the grant," meaning that of the Duke of York to Wilham Penn. How the names of Henlopen and Cornelius became transposed as they are on the maps of the present day, I leave to those who are better acquainted with "modem antiquities ;" but that they have changed positions since 1732 is not susceptible of contradiction.* * The establishment of the true position of Cape Henlopen was a most important matter for the Penns, and they succeeded in show- ing, contrary to the allegation of Lord Baltimore, and from the testi- mony of the early maps, that the present Henlopen was formerly " Cornelius," and the true Henlopen, at the period of Penn's grant, was about fifteen or twenty miles more southwardly. The earliest instance of transposition, so far as we know, may be found in the Chart accompanying the "English Pilot," London, 1748, in which old Henlopen is not indicated. The plate, however, bears evidence of a date much earlier than the letter press. In Huske's Map, Lon- don, 1155, in the Harvard Library, and which we have examined, the lower cape is called " False Cape," and the upper Henlopen. Several, explanations have been given of the origin of the name. Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, in his valuable History of the New Netherlands, Vol. L, p. 13, is of the opinion it was called Hinlopen after "Hindlo- pen, one of the towns in Fricsland ;" we do not, however, find it so spelt* in any of the numerous maps we have examined, although it is to be found in every variety of orthography. * Mr. Hazard (Annals, 23) spells it "Hindlop," quoting the Grant to Godyn, from the Albany Records; but we imagine the Breviat, p. 3-1, which sets forth 19G WILLIAM PKNN As tlie Lord Chancellor liud decided that Cape Ileii- lopen should be taken to be where Cape Henlopen had been agreed to be nineteen years before, the ingenuity of the commissioners of Maryland could devise no further objections in that particular; and proceeding to operations in conjunction with those of Pennsylvania, they finally The first mention of it, so far as we have seen, is in the Indian Grant, made in 1629, to Samuel Godyn, where it is called " Hin- loop;^' and upon the earliest map where it occurs, that entitled " Carta Particolare della Nuoua Belgia h parte della Nuoua Anglia," and which Dr. O'Callaghan is of the belief was engraved in 1631, (Documentary History of New York, Vol. I.,) it is named Hinlopen. De Tries, the celebrated navigator, under date of 1632, calls it Hin- loopen. (De Vries' Journal, translated by Mr. H. C. Murphy, p. 44.) lie also fixes its latitude at 38° 20,' which very nearly corresponds with the modern reckoning, and does not with the present cape, which, by the Coast Survey, is 38° 55' 48." Another explanation, as stated by Mr. Hazard (Annals of Penna., 5), is, that " some say it was from lima Hinlop." We have, how- ever, been unable to discover any person of this name in any cotcm- porary records. A still further explanation, and which we oflFer, may be from the fact, that it was a local appellation derived from the natural character of the cape. The answer of Lord Baltimore (Bre- viat, p. 20, item 210) asserts that it was from the Dutch word Hin- lopen, which he says signifies "going in." The object of this attempt is obvious, — it was to show that such a derivation would apply in the sense of entering or going in, to the upper cape only which projects into the Bay and whose northern side affords a shelter as the navigator sails towards Lewes, the first point on leav- ing the ocean where safety can best be sought and where the Break- the same grant, is the more correct. It is there spelt " ITinloop." The Exhibit of the grant is set forth in Breviat, in the following words : "An Exemplification or Inspeximus, under His Majesty's Great Seal of the Province of New York, of the following Record, remaining in the Secretary's Office of that Province (being proved, addition^illy, by two witnesses in the cause, viz., Thomas Nixon and William Yandespiegel, to contain a true copy and also a, true translation of a Book of Dutch Patents, in the following words.") [Here follows the confirmation of Godyn's Grant.] AND LORD BALTIMORE. 197 fixed a stone at one hundred and thirty-nine perches from the cape at Fenwick's Island, " near four mulberry trees," sculptured with the arms of Baltimore on the south, and those of Penn on the north, and proceeded to run the line across the peninsula, "and ascertain the exact middle" as a point from whence to run the northwardly line to form a tangent with the semicircle at New Castle. They then run the line between the two bays in the lati- tude of Cape Henlopen (as agreed upon), until they reached the waters of Slaughter's Creek (not now laid down in the maps), a distance of sixty miles and two water is now built, while the construction put upon the word as so translated would not apply to the lower or true Henlopen. Unfortu- nately, however, for Lord Baltimore's claim, the word in the Dutch appropriate to express to go, is "gaen,^^ or going — "gaende," while the word "loopen" signifies to run, and "een loopinge^' "a running or a coursing" cape or shore, which very naturally may have been changed to Enlopen or Henlopen. (Hexham's " English and Nether. Dutch Dictionarie," Amsterdam, 1647.) This explanation precisely describes the character of the ancient Henlopen or False Cape, presenting, on approach, a running, vanishing, or receding point, similar to that which " Point No Point" exhibits on the Dela- ware, upon nearing Bridesburg. — Editor. Since the above was written, the testimony of James Logan, to be found in the " Breviat," Penn versus Baltimore, p. 91, has, for the first time, met our eye, and which confirms the correctness of the origin of the name as we have endeavored to prove it. Logan cites Wm. Sewall's Dutch and English Dictionary, Amsterdam, 1708, to show that the word " Loopen^^ means "to run away," while " Inlooj^ten" means "to run in, to flow, or stream into," — and he thinks the latter title was, " in process of time, transferred to the more northerly and real cape and entrance in the Bay of Delaware, as more properly suiting the same." This conjecture, it appears to us, reconciles every difficulty, and shows how the transposition naturally occurred. — - Editor. 198 WILLIAM I'ENN liuiidrcd and forty-c'i^lit mid a half perches, when the fruitful inventions of the Maryland commissioners, alleging that, as they had reached the waters running into the Chesapeake Bay, they had run across the peninsula, agree- ably to the spirit of the articles of agreement, and in- sisted upon stopping. The line, however, was continued till they passed through Taylor's and part of James's Islands, a distance of sixty-nine miles and two hundred and ninety-eight and a half perches, from bay to bay. But as the commissioners of Lord Baltimore refused to proceed to ascertain the middle of the peninsula, unless their computation was adopted, it became necessary for the Penns to file a supplemental bill in chancery against Frederick, Lord Baltimore, to force him to adopt the line of sixty-nine miles and two hundred and ninety-eight and a half perches as the distance across the peninsula, from bay to bay, and ascertain its exact middle, from whence the northwardly line should be run so as to form a tangent with the New Castle semicircle, and past it to the latitude of fifteen Fnglish statute miles south of the most southern part of Philadelphia. Whilst this bill was pending, Frederick, Lord Balti- more, tired of the litigation and expense of the disputes, which he did not probably understand, as he was then young, and perhaps finding himself driven from every possible chance of further cavil, finally entered into articles of agreement with Thomas Penn and Richard Penn in 1760, which at length efiectually closed their protracted and vexatious altercations. AND LORD BALTIMORE. 199 By this agreement it was covenanted, that the semi- circle as ah-eady run should he adopted ; that the distance across the peninsula, in the latitude of Cape Henlopen, should be taken to have been rightfully run at sixty-nine miles and two hundred and ninety-eight and a half perches from the stone pillar east of " the mulberry tree, at Fenwick's Island," and marked with the arms of the contracting parties ; that the middle of such line should be ascertained, and a stone pillar should be fixed at that point ; that from such point a northwardly line should be run, whether the same should be due north or not, so as to form a tangent with the semicircle at New Castle, drawn with a radius of twelve Enghsh statute horizontal miles, from the court house in that place, and past the said point of contact further north till it reached the latitude of fifteen miles south of the most southern part of Philadelphia; that the supplemental bill filed should be confessed; that all claim should be released to the territory within those limits then to be ascertained ; and that the Penns should appoint commissioners to run the lines as yet unfinished. These articles of agreement of 1760, between Thomas Penn, Eichard Penn, and Frederick, Lord Baltimore, are well known to our courts of justice, and have been admitted in evidence without proof, as a state paper, with which they are presumed to be conversant. They were enrolled in chancery in England, in pursuance of a decree of that court, found amongst the papers some years ago of Dr. Ross, (1 Binn., 399,) who had some connexions with the Penns as their agent. They are not to be found 200 WILLIAM PENN amongst ilic public documents ol' the commonwealth, but there was a co])y of them taken by the secretary of that office, from the original, brought there by Samuel Riddle, Esq., who was a connexion of Dr. Ross's family, under^an express written stipulation, that they should be redelivered to him after they were copied, as private property. It is to be lamented that the original was not filed, for though it has been admitted in our courts as evidence in cases of disjDutcs, under conflicting Maryland and Pennsylvania land titles, yet if they should unfortunately be lost, the courts, I presume, would not admit the copy which was taken in a large unwieldy book, and much less the copy of a copy, unless an act of Assembly should be passed giving such copy, or copy of the copy, the character of legal evidence. Jeremiah Dixon and Charles Mason were ajDpointed to run the unfinished lines in 1761, and extended the western line between the two provinces to the distance of two hundred and thirty miles, and marked for one hundred and thirty miles by stone pillars, thus putting a final termination to disputed territory between Marj-land and Pennsylvania. This line was afterwards designated " Mason and Dixon's line," to distinguish it from " the temporary line," run in 1739, as already related. I have never been able to see the chart or minutes of these latter surveys, as they are not amongst the public records of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.* * One of the original books of the field-notes of ^[ason and Dixon is in the possession of Mr. Ferdinand J. Dreer, of this city, which he has kindly permitted us to inspect. It is a manuscript folio of AXD LORD BALTIMORE. 201 These disputes and negotiations of the Proprietaries of Maryland and Pennsylvania are curious and interesting, as a portion of the early history of the State, and neces- two hundred and twenty-six pages, and the first entry is under date — "1*763, Xovember 15. Arrived in Philadelphia." The last is — " 1768. Delivered to the Eev. Richard Peters, Plans of the above mentioned Lines." The entry of each day, with some exceptions, is signed: " Chas. Mason," "Jere. Dixon." On August 21, 1764, they speak of the manner in which they made their observations : " The foregoing observations were made with the Transit Instru- ment, in the following manner : Before we left off in the evening a mark was placed at the distance of one-half or three-quarters of a mile in the line, northward. Then, after the equal altitudes were observed, the instrument was adjusted as when we gave off. A candle being placed in the centre of the mark, the middle wire in the telescope was brought to bisect the light of the candle (the line of collomation being just, and the Level proving the horizontal position of the axis). Then, the telescope being elevated to the star, the time (per watch) of the star's passing the middle (with which the line was run) wire was taken. The watch with which these obser- vations were made, had only a minute hand, therefore the seconds must not be expected as from a good time-piece, nor does the nature of the problem require it, as the star made use of (in the tail of Urs. Minor) was, at the time of observation, nearly passing the tangent of its circle round the Pole, consequently its apparent motion very slow." Dixon died in England, in 1777 ; and Mason in Philadelphia, Oct. 25, 1786. The following account of Mason was published November 11, 1786, in the Philadelphia Indejjendei^t Gazeteer: " On Wednesday, the 25th of October, died in this city, Mr. Charles Mason, lately from England, and author of the most accurate set of Lunar and Solar Tables that has ever been exhibited to the public. He was formerly employed, in conjunction with Mr. Jero- 202 WILLIAM r E N N sary and important to a proper knowledge of the land titles within the disputed territory, the covenants respect- ing which, in the famous agreements of 1732 and 1700, it is foreign to this sketch to exhibit or explain. The whole history of these transactions shows conclusively the fairness and candor, the moderation and firmness of Wil- miah Dixon, to run the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, -which they executed with great skill and accuracy. Since his return to England, he has been principally employed in correcting and improving the Lunar Tables of the celebrated Professor Mayer, and has succeeded so far as to present to the Board of Longitude, in London, the best and most exact set of Lunar Tables that were ever constructed, for which they gave him, in the year 1780, seven hun- dred and fifty pounds sterling. But, as he had spent the most of his time since he left Philadelphia in this laborious work and had a numerous family to maintain, most of the money was anticipated before he received it, and he has now left in this city a widow with eight small children, without anything to support them but the charity of well-disposed persons and the notice of that State to which his former labors were so beneficial. His success in his former improvement of the Lunar Tables, and his perfect acquaintance with that abstruse and laborious business, had engaged him to begin another and still more accurate correction of them, but dying before he could finish the same, he left his manuscripts and papers to the Rev. Dr. Ewing, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, request- ing him, with the earnestness and zeal of an astronomer, to under- take the laborious task, and exhibit to the w^orld an American set of Lunar and Solar Tables, which would be still more accurate than anything yet published in Europe. His former acquaintance with the Provost, as an astronomer and mathematician, induced him to leave his valuable manuscripts to him, in hopes that some way may be devised of making them useful to the world." Mr. Latrobe, in his Address before our Historical Society, already mentioned at page 106, speaks very fully of Mason and Dixon. His Paper forms a very valuable addition to our knowledge on the subject of this celebrated survey. — Editor. AND LORD BALTIMORE. 203 liam Penii, the illustrious and irreproachable founder of Pennsylvania, and the justice of the claims of his posterity, and rescues his name from the imputation of injustice.* * The failure of Lord Baltimore to establish his claim was, perhaps, in no small measure owing to the manner in which he attempted to meet the difficulties of his position. He certainly had bad advisers. His knowledge of the history of the country upon the Delaware never justified declarations to the effect — "that the Swedes and Dutch did not successively possess and enjoy, for many years after the date of the grant to Lord Baltimore, their ancient settle- ment on the Delaware ; that they had no such settlement there, being but a few of them there, and those but itinerant traders, and if settled and inhabited, the parts so settled and inhabited were very small. * * * * That the three lower counties (now the State of Delaware) were never held by the Dutch, as belonging to New Amsterdam, nor were they since 1663 in the quiet possession of the Duke of York, nor a dependency of the province of New York. And further that Governor Andross never received possession of the lower counties from the Dutch, nor exercised any act of government or ownership within said territory or any part thereof." All of these statements are positively opposed to history, and the Penns skilfully availed themselves of their advantage. The Swedes were in possession of the river when Stuyvesant, the Dutch Gov- ernor at New Amsterdam, proceeded to the Delaware, conquered the territory from them, and appointed a Yice-Director or Governor under him. The whole territory then became a dependency of New Amsterdam. In 1664, Charles II. granted to his brother, the Duke of York, a very considerable region in America, and which included that claimed by the Dutch. This was followed, in the same year, by an expedition under Colonel Nicholls, who seized all the Dutch posses- sions, and New Amsterdam became New York. The Delaware was in due course reduced by the English, and governed under the Duke's Laws, as they were called, and by magistrates appointed by the successive Governors who were commissioned by the Duke. In 1681, a letter was addressed to the magistrates upon the Dela- ware, by Anthony Brockholtz, Commander at New York, which, after reciting the grant to Penn, and thanking them for "their good services, &c., done during ye time they remained under bis 204 WILLIAM r E N N, ETC. Roynl ITighncss' Government," rent may be taken off at ten years purchase, paying yearly in a beaver skin, &c., also that he was offered six thousand pounds for six shares." " Thomas Lurtin says Samuel Groom spoke to Wm. Penn for the land, at the request of Thurston in Mary- land." 4. To James Logan. Landwi, 21th M mo., 1708. Loving Friend, I shall have two opertunitys more, so only tell thee that Isaac Norris has two letters for thee. This is to cover some papers to thee to be used as occasion requires ; two of them, being two wg^ys of stating my case against 214 ORIGINAL LETTERS the Fords ; one an order of Council, though the originall must be there, directing the way of divideing the two provinces in King James's time, he striveing, I hope in vaine, to alter it. The last my case (or the Duke's rather) against Lord Baltimore, that will direct plainly how to understand my case and title. I had a letter from the Governor, the first in about a yeare ; one from G. Owen, and one from T. Fairman, with one to P. Ford, open in mine. So far not amiss. But not one yet from thee. T. Gray inclosed them from Sheels by New Castle (where he lyes sick) to his uncle, Charles Wright, my old ac- quaintance; perhaps he keeps thy packet for my o^\ti hand from his. Remember the mines which the governor makes yet a secret, even to thee and all the world, but himself and Michell: pray penetrate that matter, and lett us see the oare in as large a quantity as thou canst. This comes to thee by E. Jackson, and I hope an honest man, that may tell thee more. The Fords* insist upon eight, now friends are come up to seven thousand pounds ; 'tis like to be, I hope, compromised. We are all well through the Lord's mercy, and salute thee ; friends here to-night from Bristol, P. Moore, &c. Be penetrating and brisk, and tell friends of Jersey, that the Lords Commis- * These were the executors of one Ford, his steward, who by acts of "fraud and treachery," (to use the words of James Logan) in- volved him in great pecuniary troubles, which clouded the latter years of his life. " He trusted (says Oldmixon, in his account of the British Empire) an ungrateful agent too much with the management of the Province ; and when he expected to have been thousands of pounds the better for it, found himself thousands of pounds in debt," &c. AND DOCUMENTS. 215 sioners for trade, &c., sent me a letter about Rivell, Leeds, &c., if fit for their Council, and at New York, which I have answered to-day, I hope, to their content. 'Tis late, so I shall close, with dr. love to S. Carpenter, C. Pewsej, Gr. Owen, Ed. Hill, T. Story, R. ElHs, &c., who am Thy real ffrd, WM. PENN. Col. Rooth since my last has paid me twenty pounds. 5. To THE Same. Reding, 21th 12th mo., 1708-9. Loving Friend: Though I have writt many ways, and I think most amply, and especially by Col. Gookin and Thomas Potts, yet haveing received thine of 7ber last, which is the last, I thought fit to let thee know that Michel has been with me, is a little clowdy, and would tell me what is good out of our province, and dubious of the valine of what is within it, as yet; but promises faire. T. Grey as yet cannot make himself master of the papers thou hast twice writt about, comeing by N. Castle-upon-Tj^ne, sick, his chest in disorder still, but is positive that one sort of the papers thou hast every individual of them. I'll mind him of it again. But Col. Evans and his company of Indians, both T. G. and Michell declare can make 100 pounds, if not 2 or 3 pr. diem neat. Unhapj^y for me has that falHng out been between you. But end it the 216 ORIGINAL LETTERS best it may be. lie writes of eoining over, but let him be honourable there, or he may repent it here. He is a Silliton ir he stir and does not pursue may last offer and advice by Col. Gookin. I heare Ld. Lovelace is well arrived, 1 hope so is your Governor* too : make the most of him to friends and service. He had hints enough to follow theirs and thine, and was let into every secret of your affairs that occurred to me at his going. Give him measures of persons and things. He writes w^ell, is a good mathematician, and I have desired him to keep a diary for his security, or at least prudent discharge. Now these five things thou hast to balance against the turbulent and ungrateful : 1. That I keep my government. 2. I have sent a new lieutenant or deputy. •3. That 1 have recovered the province from the vilest of the earth,f and that danger over. 4. That 1 have sent the school charter. 5. That Ld. Baltimore laying hold of his province's address for settling our boundaries, petitioned the Queen, in order to it, to dismiss or repeale the order of Council in her father's time, and only run the line and leave the Lower Countys to him as his by his grant, which he got referred to the Lords for trade, &c. I appeared to them, told them they could not be proper judges, or shake a definitive order or sentence of King and Council, com- * Charles Gookin, Esq., appointed Governor by William Penn, a few months previously, f Probably the Fords. AND DOCUMENTS. 217 plained to Ld. President Sominers and Ld. Sunderland, Secretary of State : They agreed with me, excused the inadvertency of the reference and concurred with me to petition the Queen, which I have done, setting forth the case, and the long quiet possession upon that determina- tion, and praying to have so ill a precedent to American settlements prevented, and his petition dismissed ; and so it was in high comicil. * * * * * * *********** [The rest of this letter is unfortunately missing.] 6. To Samuel Carpenter and others. Ruscomb Berks, 24 5^A mo., 1712. Deare and worthy friends : Haveing so faire an opertunity, and having heard from you by the Bearer, John French, I chuse, by him, to salute you and yours, and all unnamed friends that you think worthy: for my heart loves such and heartily salutes them and theirs, and prays for your preservation in the Lord's everlasting truth to the end of time ; and the way of it is, to take the Lord along with you in all ^-our enter- prises to give you right sight, true counsil, and a just temper or moderation in all things, you knowing right well the Lord our God is neer at hand. Now know, that tho I have not actually sold my Governmt. to our truly Good Queen, yet her able Ld. treasurer and I have agreed 218 ORIGINAL LETTERS it; and that alTaire of the Prizes, the Bearer came hither abt. is part of ye Queen's payment, viz., her one-third ; and the other comes very opertunely, that belongs to me, which I hope J. Logan Avill take care of, in the utmost farthing, and remit it to me first, to whom, I suppose, orders will goe by this opertunity from ye treasury to yt effect. But I have' taken effectuall care, yt all ye Laws and priviledges I have graunted to you, shall be observed by the Queen's Governors, &c. : and that we who are friends shall be in a more particular manner regarded and treated by ye Queen. So that you will not, I hope and believe, have a less interest in the govermt., being humble and discreet in our conduct, and you will finde all the charters and Proprietary Govermts. annexed to the Crown by act of Parliament next winter; and per- haps Col. Quarry, if not J. Moore, may happen to be otherwise employed, notAvithstanding the politick 02;)inion of one of my officers in that Governmt. that is still for gaining them which I almost think impossible. But be that as it will, I purpose to see you if God give me life this fall, but I grow ould and iufirme, yet would Gladly see you once more before I dye, and my young sons and daughter also, settled upon good Tracts of Land, for them and theirs' after them, to clear and settle upon, as Jacob's sons did. I close when I tell you that I desire fervent prayers to the Lord for continuing my life, that I may see Pennsylvania once more, before I die, and that I am your ffaithful Loving friend, WM. PENN. AND DOCUMENTS. 219 Superscription. For my De. firiends, S. Carpenter, Ed. Shippen, Ricd. Hill, J. Norris, C. Peusj, S. Preston, T. Story, Gr. Owen, &c., at Philadel- phia in Pennsylvania. Pr. J. ffi?ench. II. THE WILL OF WILLIAM PENN WITH THE CODICILS, TOGETHER WITH THE OPINION OP COUNSEL THEREON. [These papers, with the subjoined letters of Wiliam Penn, Junr., and of Simon Clement to James Logan, are printed from an old MS. in the possession of T. I. Wharton, Esq., said to be " taken from a copy belonging to the Assembly."] I, William Penn, Esquire, so called. Chief Proprietary and Governor of the province of Pennsylvania, and the territories thereunto belonging, being of sound mind and understanding, for which I bless God, do make and ordain this my last will and testament. My eldest son being well provided for by a settlement of his mother's, and my father's estate, I give and dispose of the rest of my estate in manner following. The government of the province of Pennsylvania and territories thereunto belonging, and all powers relatmg thereunto, I give and devise to the most honorable the Earl of Oxford, and Earl Mortimer, and to AVill., Earl Pawlet, so called, and their heirs, upon trust to dispose thereof to the Queen or any other person to the best advantage and profit they can, to be apphed in such manner as I shall hereinafter direct. 220 ORIGINAL LETTERS. I give and devi.se to iny dear wife, Hannah Penn, and her father, Thomas Callowhill, and to my good friends, Margaret Lowtlier my dear sister, and to Gilbert Heath- cott, Physition, Samuel Waldenfield, John Field, Henry Goldney, all living in England, and to my friends, Samuel Carpenter, Richard Hill, Isaac Norris, Samuel Preston, and James Logan, living in or near Pennsylvania, and their heirs, all my lands, tenements, and hereditaments whatsoever, rents and other profits situate, lying and being in Pennsylvania, and the territories thereunto be- longing or elsewhere in America, upon trust that they shall sell and dispose of so much thereof as shall be sufficient to pay all my just debts, and from and after payment thereof, shall convey unto each of the three children of my son William Penn, Gulielma Maria, Springet, and William respectively, and to their respective heirs, ten thousand acres of land in some proper and bene- ficial places to be set out by my trustees aforesaid. All the rest of my lands and hereditaments, whatso- ever situate lying and being in America, I will that my trustees shall convey to and amongst my children, which I have by my present wife, in such proportions, and for such estates as my said wife shall think fit. But before such conveyances shall be made to my said children, I will that my said trustees shall convey to my daughter Auhry, whom I omitted to name before, ten thousand acres of my said lands in such places as my said trustees shall think fit. All my personal estate in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and arrears of rent due there, I give to my said dear wife AND DOCUMENTS. 221 (whom I make my sole executrix), for the equal benefit of her and her children. In testimony whereof I have set my hand and seal, to this my will, which I declare to be my last will, revoking all others formerly made by me WM. PENN. * SEAL. I z- * * * « * Signed, sealed, and published by the testator, William Penn, in the presence of us who set our names as wit- nesses thereof in the presence of the said testator after the interlineation of the words above, vizt. {wliom Imcike my sole Executrix), Robert West, Sarah West, Susanna Reading, Thomas Pyle, Robert Lomax. This will I made when ill of a fever at London, with a clear understanding of what I did then. But because of some unworthy expressions belying God's goodness to me as if I knew not what I did, I do now, that I am recovered through God's goodness, hereby declare it is my last will and testament, at Ruscomb in Berkshire this 27th of the 3d mo. called May, 1712. AVM. PENN. Witnesses present, Elizabeth Penn, Thomas Pyle, Thomas Penn, Elizabeth Anderson, Mary Chandler, Jonah Dee, Mary Dee. Postscript in my own hand — As a further testimony of my love to my dear wife, I of my own mind give unto her out of the rents of America, ^dzt., Pennsylvania, &c., three hundred pounds a year for her natural life, and for 222 ORIGINAL LETTERS her care and charge over my children, in their education of Avhich she knows my mind, as also that I desire they may settle at least in good part in America, where I leave them so good an interest to be for their inheritance from generation to generation, which the Lord preserve and prosper. Amen. WM. PENN.* [Here follows the Probate made 3d November, 1718.] * The following is copied by me from an original will of Penn, in the possession of the family of the late Mr. William Logan Fisher, of Germantown. It is a holograph, and consists of seven folio pages, each of which is signed at the foot by the testator. This is probably the will to which Logan refers in the accompany- ing letter, and which was made as Penn was about to sail for Eng- land, never, as it proved, to return. EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM JAMES LOGAN TO HANNAH PENN. Dated ''Philadelphia, llth, 3d mo., 1721. "Honored Mistress:" " The Proprietor in a will left me at his departure hence gave all his negroes their freedom ; but this 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 are 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, besides, two old negroes quite worn, that remained of three that I recovered near eighteen years ago of E. Gibbs' Estate, of New Castle Co." [will of WILLIAM PENN,] ''Newcastle on Delaware, BOth 8br, 1701 *' Because it is appointed for all men once to dye, and yt their days are in the hand of ye Almighty their Creator, I think fitt upon this present voyage to make my last will and testament, which is as follows. AND DOCUMENTS. 223 The Case of William Penn, Esq. King Charles the 2d, by his Letters Patent, dated 1680, grants to William Penn, Esq., his heirs and assigns, a Since my estate, both in England and Ireland, are either entailed or incumbred, my will is, that wh'^'' is saleable, be sould for payment of my just Debts, and all my household stuff, plate, and linen, not given or disposed of to my children by their relations, and if there should be any overplus, that it goe equally between my son William and daughter Lastitia, as to my estate in Europe, be it Land, houses, or moveables, except my gold chain and meddall, w''' I give to my son William ; and except such estate as I had with or since I married this wife, flfor my estate in America, it is also incumbered, but not with the tenth part of the true valine thereof — I mean of the Province of Pennsylvania and counties annexed — when that incumbrance is discharged, I give my son William all my sayd Province and Territorys, to him and his Heirs forever as Proprietary and Govern. But out of or rather in the sayd soyle thereof, I give to my daughter, Lastitia Penn, one hundred thousand acres, seaventy of w''' out of or rather the sayd Province, and ten thousand acres out of or rather in each of the Lower Countys of the territorys. I also give to my son John one hundred and fifty thousand acres, of w"'' one hundred thousand in the Province, and fifty thousand acres in the Lower Countys ; and I also bequeath to him my tenth or Proprietary ship of Salem tenth or County, in West New Jersey, to my sayd son John and his heirs forever, with all rents, ProflSts, and Interests therein. I also will that the Childe my De : wife, Hannah Penn, now goes with, shall have one hundred thousand acres if a boy, a seaventy thousand if a Girle, in the Province aforesd ; all which Land so given shall lye between Susquehanagh River and Delaware Puver, and to be taken up within twelve months after my death. If my encum- brances can be discharged in yt time, or so soon as they are ; but so as that the sayd Lands be not above = 80 = miles above a due west line, to be drawn from Philadelphia to Susquehanah River, and to be layd out in ye way of townships, and to pay to my son William one silver shilling for every township of five thousand acres when taken up forever, in lieu of all demands and services, hereby requiring 224 ORIGINAL LETTERS tract of land in America, ^vitli all the islands therein con- tained, &c., as the same is therein described, whom he my sayd son William to erect all or any part of ye aforesayd Lands into manners, with due powers over their own Tennants, according to my sayd children's respective agreements with them, when they or any for them require the same. I also give to my De: Wife five thousand acres of land as a token of my love, to be taken up as before exprcst, and upon ye same ac- knowlcdgcmt, and within ye sayd limits, in my Province of Pennsil- vania,* to her and her heirs and assigns forever ; and so I under- stand in my other afore-mentioned graunts to my children, viz., that I give to them and their heirs and assignes forever. I also leave my De : Sister and her children some token of my love, such as my wife shall think fit in memoriall of me. Also to her father and mother the like. I give to my Servts, John and Mary Sach * * (the rest of this name is unintelligible), three hundred acres between them ; to James Logan one thousand acres, and my blacks their freedom, as under my hand already ; and to ould Sam 100 acres, to be his children's after he and wife are dead, forever, on common rent of one bushel of wheat yearly, forever, — for the performance of which I desire my loveing friends, Edward Shippen, Saml. Carpenter, Edward Penington, and James Logan, in America, or any three of them, and Benjamin Seal, Thomas Callowhill, Henry Goldney, Jos. Pike, in England, or any three of them, to see this my last will observed, and that I have right done me about my incumbrances, that my family sufl'er not by oppressive demands, but get me and myn righted in law and Equity. And I do hereby charge all my children, as their loveing dying father's last command and desire, that they never goe to law, but if any difi'erence should arise, w"" I would hope will not, that they be con- cluded by ye Judgment of frds, to be chosen by the meeting of suS"er- ings of ye people called Quakers, in England, for English and Irish concerns ; and in America, to ye firds of the quarterly meeting at Philadelphia, in Pennsilvania, for a finall decision. I do further ordain by this will, that what estate I here give to either or any of my children be never alienated from my family, for * Tcnn, it will be perceived, spells this title indifferently, with a y and an i.- Editob. AND DOCUMENTS. 225 creates and constitutes true and absolute Proprietaries of the said county and premises, saving to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, their allegiance, and also the sove- want of heirs of their own body ; but that debt being payd, they may owe the rest to be inherited by ye next of blood of my Body and discent, and for want thereof, to my De : Sister and her Blood, in such manner as she shall appoint. And now, if ever I have done a wrong to any, I desire their for- giveness ; and for all ye good offices I have ever done, I give God, yt Enabled me, the honour and thanks ; and for all my enemies, and their Evil reflections and reports and endeavours to mine me in nam6 and estate, I do say, ye Lord forgive them and amend them ; for I have ever, from a child, loved the best things and people, and have had a heart, I bless the name of Allmighty God, to do good, without gain, yea sometimes for Evill and to consume my own, to serve others, w'*" has been my greatest burden and my infirmity: having a mind not only just but kinde, even to a fault, for it ha3 made me sometimes hardly so just by means of debts thereby con- tracted, as my integrity would have made me. And now, for all my good friends, that have loved and helped me, do so still, in my poor children, w*"" you can, and God Allmighty be to you and yours an ample reward. You have my hearty and gratefull acknowledgements and commemoration, who never lived to myselfe from my very youth, but to 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 hande and seal, the day and year above written. WM. PENN." Sealed and Delivered in ye presence of RiCHD. Halliwell, Jos. Wood, Rob. Asheton, James Logan. The interlineations were my writeing, they are twelve in number, the pages "y********** (The rest of the sentence is lost). — Editor. 15 226 ORIGINAL LETTERS. reigiity of the said country. To hold to the said WilHara Penn, his heirs and assigns, to the only use and behoof of him and them forever. To be holden of his Majesty, his heirs and successors, Kings of England, as of their Castle of Windsor, in free and common Soccage by Fealty only, and not in Capite, or in Knights service ; yielding and paying two Beaver Skins yearly, and the fifth part of all Gold and Silver Ore, clear of all charges. Erects the said country into a province or seignority, by the name of Pensilvania. With power to the said WilUam Penn and his heirs, and to his and their deputies and lieutenants, for the good government of the said countrys, to ordain laws, &c., &c., by and with the advice of the Assembly, &c., &c. (reciting other powers.) The said William Penn died about July, 1718, leaving his last will and testament, attested by six witnesses, viz. : [Here follows a true copy of the will and codicil.] Questions. 1. Is the Devise of the Government of Pensilvania to the two trustee Earls good ; and if good, to whom doth the benefit of the trust belong. 2. Is the Devise of the Lands, &c., in Pensilvania, to Hannah Penn and the other Trustees good. The devise of the government, &c., of Pensilvania, made by the testator, Mr. Penn, to the Earl of Oxford and Earl AND DOCUMENTS. 227 Powlet, seems to be to compleat a treaty which he was at that time making with the Crown, whereby he was to have a considerable sum of money for the government ; and the testator seems likewise to make a particular dis- position of that money by his will, but it is plain he made none. The occasion of which may be, that the will was made in a hurry, and in the time of a desperate illness, as appears by the codicil. I am, therefore, of opinion, that the two Earls are trustees only for the heir at law, upon whom the government would devolve in case there had been no will. But as to the lands devised to the widow and her co-trustees in case the will be well proved, I take it to be a good devise, unless these lands or some quit-rents out of them be inseparably annexed to the government ; and then such annexed lands or quit- rents will go with the government. JO. HUNGERFORD. 31 Jan., 1718. Qvestions. 1. Is the devise of the Government of Pensilvania to the two trustee Earls good ; and if good, to whom doth the benefit of the trust belong. 2. Is the devise of the Lands, &c., to Hannah Penn and other trustees good, I conceive the devise of the Government to the trustees and their heirs to be good, and the same to be in trust for 228 ORIGINAL LETTERS the lieir of the devisee, and that the devise of the lands to Hannah Penn and the other trustees is also good. FRA. ANNESLEY. 29 Jan., 1718. Questions. — Same as above. Upon perusing a copy of the Letters Patent, I am of opinion, that the Government thereby granted to Wm. Penn and his heirs, doth consist in the privileges and jurisdictions to them also thereby granted. 2. That the said government, privileges and juris- dictions, are thereby inseparably annexed to the real and predial propriety of the said province and seignoritie. 3. And wherefore, as to the will, I take it that the devise of the Government is void ; the testator plainly intending thereby to sever it from the dominion of the land. 4. That for the same reason the devise of the land in Pensilvania to Hannah and the other trustees is also void ; the plain intent being to ahen the propriety dis- tinct and apart from the Government, which agrees not, as I think, with the law and such Seignories. 5. If the devise of the Government shall be deemed good, yet the same being in trust to be disposed of for the best advantage, to be apply'd as the testator should after- wards by the will direct, and there being no such direction in the will, nor any express devise or bequest to Wilham Penn, the testator's heir at law, I conceive the said trust AND DOCUMENTS. 229 descends to him, and that he ought to have the advantage thereof. G. SAVAGE. 2ith Sept., 1718. III. INSTRUCTIONS FROM WILLIAM PENN, JR., TO GOVERNOR KEITH. Instructions to William Keith, Esq., Lieutenant Governor and Com- mander in Chief of the Province of Pensilvania and counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware. You are upon receiving these instructions immediately to call together the Council, and with them in the most pubhc manner make known my accession to the govern- ment of the said province and counties, and assure the country of my great affection to them, and hearty wishes for their welfare, and that I shall always look upon their interest as my own. And I believe on this occasion it will be proper to read the late King Charles the- Second's Letters patent to my late father, and their proprietor, and his heirs, pubhckly to the people. However, this I leave wholly to your's and the Council's prudence to do therein as may be thought most convenient, and for the honor of the Government. I think it would be well done if the present members of Council be continued, for I would not have more alter- ations made in Government upon my accessions thereto than what are absolutely necessary. K you can procure a militia to be settled by law, slip not the occasion of doing it. But as that country was 230 ORIGINAL LETTERS chiefly at first settled hy Quakers, I would not have them oppressed on any account. Protect the people under your care in all their Rights, Privileges, and Liberties my father granted them by charter or otherwise, or that they ought to enjoy as Englishmen. Observe the law for liberty of conscience, which I take to be a fundamental one in Pensilvania; and was one great encouragement for the Quakers to transport them- selves thither, and to make it what it now is, for which they merit the favor of my family, as well as on many other accounts, and shall always have it when in my power ; and this I desire you will let that people know. But as I profess myself to be a member of the Church of England, therefore I recommend it to you to be careful of her interest, and that you encourage and protect the clergy, and employ where you can deserving members of that communion ; for I think they ought to have at least an equal share in the administration and public offices with their neighbors ; and discountenance all Anti-Trini- tarians and Libertines. Protect in their possessions such Strangers as are settled amongst us ; for the public faith is concerned in it. Let the law be your guide in all cases ; and protect the officers of the Customs in the discharge of their duty, and use the advice of the Council in all cases of importance. Given under my hand and seal the fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1718. WM. PEXN. [Here follows the Commission to Governor Keith.] AND DOCUMENTS. 231 lY. LETTERS FROM SIMON" CLEMENTS (uncle to the widow op WILLIAM PENN) TO JAMES LOGAN. Lcytidon, SQth December, 1718. Sir, Coming into the City this morning, my cousin Goldney tells me a Ship is just parting for New York, and that I should lose the opportunity of writing by her if I did not do it immediately. I would not, therefore, omit this occasion of letting you know that your letters with the copy of the act of ParHament came safe to my hands about a week since, but having sent them to my niece for her perusal, I am not now able to answer them in so par- ticular a manner as I ought, and therefore must defer it till the next occasion. In the meantime I am very glad to find that you had so prudently provided for the suc- cession of the government of the province before the late Governor's decease, as that the country can receive no prejudice for want of renewing the present Governor's commission, which has been delayed principally by reason of Mr. Penn's at first obstructing the proving his father's Will in the Prerogative Court, which, however, he has since consented to and 'tis done, and I have a duplicate of it ready, which I choose rather to send you by some ship that goes directly for your place than by this con- veyance. We are now also upon proving the will in Chancery, but there are some disputes yet subsisting between the 232 ORIGINAL LETTERS young gentleman and his mother-in-law, which they have mutually promised shall be settled by an amicable bill in Chancery, and until some few points are agreed between them which are in agitation, he delays giving his answer to the bill we have brought for proving the will, but as I have said before, there is no appearance but that all their differences will be adjusted in a friendly manner; and my niece will take the best advice she can for putting the management of the propriety into such a method, as that the trustees may act with ease and safety ; and soon as conveniently, may be we shall endeavor to get the governor's commission renewed in due form. I desired you in my first letter to transmit as exact an account as you could of the quit-rents and other revenues of the proprietary, and of what debts remain unpaid, &c., of which you have not been pleased to take any notice in your answer. Wherefore I must renew my request to you on that head, it being highly necessary at the time that those matters should be well understood. But above all, I must pray you to let me have by the first oppor- tunity such an account of what the profits accruing to the governors (besides the gifts of the assembly) do amount to, comrnunibus annis, as I may vouch and stand by, if there be occasion when I come to treat with the Ministers upon making good the contract for sale of the government, which I hope we may bring them to at long run. I am truly glad to find that your governor manages so much to the satisfaction of the people, and that that scandalous letter I hinted to you merited no more credit AND DOCUMENTS. 233 than we gave it. I have no more to add at present, but that I am truly your assured friend and humble servant. SIMON CLEMENTS. Per the Samuel ; Samuel Holmes, Master for New York. } The Same to the Same. London, March 6, 1718-19. Sir, The foregoing is a copy of what I writ you by way of New York, and I am now reviewing your two letters of the 1st and 4th of 9ber, that I may be more particular in my answer thereto than I could at that time, for want of having them by me. I am sorry to observe that the affairs of the lower counties lie in so unsettled a posture, for which I see no remedy, but to wait with patience 'till we can find a favorable opportunity to move the Ministers to take some effectual resolutions for the adjusting all those depend- encies. In order to which, I iiave long since formed a scheme, which I hope may prove acceptable to them ; but their time and thoughts have been, and still continue to be, so much taken up in the many incidents that have happened in the publick affairs, that it would be in vain to make any application to them in these matters till they are more at leisure to hearken to them. In the meantime we have the satisfaction to see that they show no disposition to gratify the Scotch pretentions which 234 ORIGINAL LETTERS have been suspended this long time, and they have not been able with all their interest to get the Attorney General's report read in Council, though they have had it above a year and a half. I am glad to hear that your governor had come to some good understanding, at least for the present with Col. Hart, for quieting the contests touching the limits of Maryland. I was told that the young Lord Baltimore had determined to let that matter rest till he comes of age, and then I hope to find means to accommodate it with him, by the interposition of some friends to both sides; and the solid arguments for the support of my niece's interests, which you sent over some time since, and which I have read with a great deal of satisfaction, will abundantly instruct her friends in all that may be requisite for the management of that affair. I have very little acquaintance with Col. Gookin, and know as little of his conversation and pretentions. But whatsoever his inclinations may be, I believe neither you nor we have anything to apprehend from what he can do. You fear, I perceive, that the proprietors choice of trustees may prove to the prejudice of his family, but you know that at least, at that time, they were the fittest that could be thought on; and though they are since grown a little out of fashion, the using their names on this occasion can give no ofience to those now in play. Great men lay no stress on such little things. I prepared a draught of a commission for those Lords to confirm your governor, by the authority devolved upon them, which I left several weeks since with Lord Oxford, to peruse and communicate to Lord Powlet, but I can't yet AND DOCUMENTS. 235 get him to dispatcli it. And you know we cannot be as pressing on men of their degree as we might on those of our own rank, but I shall continue my solicitation in it as I can find opportunity. In the meantime I am glad that your, own happy pre- caution has prevented the inconveniences that might have arisen from such delays which we were not able to remedy. The proprietor's will may indeed be said to have been made in haste as you guess : but it was dictated by his friend, Mr. "West, though the blunders committed therein could not have been expected from a man of his accuracy. The truth is that he himself had laboured under a paralitick affection, from which he never recovered the use of his hmbs one side, nor I beheve at that time the strength of his capacity, though it were afterwards perfectly restored, and continued to the time of his death about six months since. But for the settling all things right my niece is, as I told you in my last, proceeding to get the Will proved in Chancery, and then she will be empowered to fix such trustees, as may effectually act in her affairs. In the mean it is happy that the trustees of the mortgage are sufficiently authorized to manage all that is requisite there; and though I am pleased to see that you have made some handsome remittances towards the lessening that debt, yet I can't think so well of the retaining the one-half of the money received for the lands sold Mr. Dickinson, touching which I writ you in my first letter, though you have not been pleased to say anything of it in your answer. I hope, however, the persons concerned will consider that all the power they have to sell lands is 23G ORIGINAL LETTERS from the mortgagees, and that 'tis to them they must be accountable for the produce, who alone, but nobody else, can discharge them. 'Tis plain also that the present Mr. AVilHam Penn can have no just pretensions to anything there but what had been actually settled upon him by his father, and certainly they must believe that those lands were not, or else they would never have presumed to sell them. I should, therefore, think that they would find themselves obliged to remit the remaining part of the money to the mortgagees, and leave it to us to dispute any pretensions thereon (for which I am yet well satisfied there can be no ground) that may be made here and which can in no wise affect them. My niece and her son-in-law met several times whilst they were both in town, and mutually declared them- selves desirous to cultivate the former friendship in the family, and to submit all their differences to be decided by a decree in the Court of Chancery, to be obtained with as little expense and contest as possible, and I believe they will take that way at last, though the young gentle- man seems fickle and unconstant, and has been ready to fly out once or twice since, and is gone again to France without putting in his answer to the bill for proving the Will, which must, therefore, be at a stand till his return, which he pretends shall be in this or the next month. His agents talk as if he beheves the AVill has not sufiiciently conveyed the power of government from him, and that he will send over a governor. But I should think either he has more discretion than to offer it in AND DOCUMENTS. 237 earnest, or that lie would not find anybody fool enough to go on such an errand ; at least I am confident that your governor will never yield up his authentick authority to any person who should come up with a sham one. You need not doubt but that the lower counties are as efiectually devised as the upper, for if the word ''Terri- tories" should not be thought sufficient to define, the addition "or elsewhere in America," cannot fail to com- prehend them, which you will find to be the words of the Will, the ofiice copy or probate whereof Mr. Page sends you over to keep by you. I am glad to hear that the governor's good conduct has gained so much upon the afiection of your people, which was what I expected from that observation which I had the opportunity to make of his prudence and temper in that little of his conversation which I had the honour to have (which I think was but twice) ; and having now written to you all that present occurs to me in relation to my niece's affairs, I think it would be needless for me to give him the trouble of a letter only with the bare (though true) compliment that his good management will always engage me to employ my best services for his interest. Your letters will always be very acceptable to me, and though the distance I live at hinders me from knowing the times when ships are departing, and therefore you may find me not to be as punctual a correspondent, yet I shall take the liberty to write you sometimes as matters may offer for my nieces's service ; and if there be any- 238 ORIGINAL LETTERS. tiling wherein I could be serviceable to yourself you may always freely command. Sir, Your assured Friend and very Ilble Servant, S. CLEMENT. Mr. Page has given me the Probate of the Will ; so it comes inclosed herewith. [Here follows a copy of the Probate of the Will.] MEMOIRS OF TEI HISTOEICAL SOCIETY ov PENNSYLVANIA. (239) MEMOIES, ETC. PAPEES KELATIVE TO THE VALEDICTORY ADDRESS OF PRESI- DENT WASHINGTON. At a meeting of "7^/ie Historical Society of Pennsylvania^^ held this 6th day of February, 1826, A communication was read by the President upon the subject of the Valedictory Address of President "Wash- ington — Whereupon, Resolved, That the communication of the President be referred to a committee, with instructions to make such further enquiries as they may deem expedient and find practicable. And the President, and Mr. Morgan and Mr. IngersoU, were appointed the committee. From the Minutes. T. M. Pettit, Recording Secretary. 16 (241) 242 PRESIDENT WASUINGTON'S Report of the Committee. The committee charged to make such enquiries as they might deem expedient and find practicable in relation to the Valedictory Address of President Washington, beg leave to report — That in the execution of this duty they have felt all the interest which the subject has excited among so many of our fellow-citizens. Although the merits of this illus- trious man would be very httle impaired by the discovery that he had made use of the hand of another to reduce his own thoughts and reflections to writing, yet when the effort appears to be to ascribe to some other the merit of these thoughts and the sense of the utility of their pub- lication, and thus to render George Washington a mere secondary character, a warmth of feehng among those who loved and revered him has been unavoidably excited, and may be reasonably excused. The committee have troubled Mr. Jay, Chief Justice Marshall, Judge Peters, and Judge Washington, with enquiries. The answers which have been kindly returned, with permission to make them public, must remove all doubts on the subject. The facts stated in Mr. Jay's The original manuscript of the " Farewell Address " was upon Mr. Claypoole's death sold at auction, in Philadelphia, by his representa- tives, and purchased by Mr. James Lenox, of New York, who printed an edition of a limited number of copies for private distribution, following the text as hitherto published, but noting from the manu- script the alterations and corrections of the illustrious author. — Editor. VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 243 letter to Judge Peters well account for the mistake which has accompanied this question. The whole address appears to have been copied by General Hamilton, whose aiFectionate attachment to the President prevented him from thinking any trouble on his account too great ; and this copy having, we know not how, returned to his pos- session, was probably the cause of the opinion that he was the original author. His unexpected and lamented death prevents that personal denial of his asserted agenc}^ which we should undoubtedly have received if the report had been circulated during his lifetime. The national loss sustained in regard to both is sufficiently heavy. It requires not to be rendered more distressing by attempts to convict one of intellectual deficiency, and the other of confidence betrayed. The certificate from Mr. Claypoole, with the short con- firmatory note of the President of this Society, will not, it is conceived, be improper additions to the publication of the foregoing letters. W. EAWLE, BENJ'N E. MOEGAN, C. J. INGEESOLL. Letter from the Committee. Sir, The interest which has lately been taken by so many in the question whether the Valedictory Address of the venerable Washington was his own composition or the 244 PRESIDENT Washington's work ol" another, has extended to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, which has appointed us to make enquiries on the subject. We take the liberty of applying, among others, to you, sir, and request you to favor us with any information in your possession not improper for publication. We are, &c. (Signed), W. RAWLE, BENJAMIN R. MORGAN, CHARLES J. INGERSOLL. PUlada, Feb. 10, 1826. A copy of the above was addressed to Judge Washington, Judge Peters, Chief Justice Marshall, John Jay, Esq., and Rufus King, Esq. The following answers have been received. The indisposition of Mr. King has probably been the cause of no answer being returned by him. Washington, Feb. 23, 1826. Gentlemen, In answer to your letter, requesting such information on the subject of the Valedictory Address which was pubhshed in 1796, with the signature of George Wash- ington, as it may be in my power to give, I beg leave to state that the papers bequeathed to me, so far as I have examined them, afford no ground whatever for attributing the composition of that paper to any other than the person whose signature it bears. I have heard that a claim to the authorship of it, by another person, has been VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 245 asserted, but I am unacquainted with the precise ground upon which it is founded. I am, very respectfully, gentlemen, Your most obedient servant, BUSH. WASHINGTON. Washington, Feb. 22d, 1826. Gentlemen, I have been honored with your letter of the 15 th inst., enquiring whether I have any materials to furnish, or testimony to afford, respecting the Valedictory Address of General Washington, or the doubts which have been raised on the subject of its authorship. I have no information on the claims which have been made for others to the composition of this address, nor do I know anything, except from public report, which is not in the correspondence that was placed in my hands. I have seen nothing there to induce a suspicion that it was written by any other than its avowed author. With great respect, I am, gentlemen, your obedient, J. MARSHALL. Bedford, 21st Feb., 1826. Gentlemen, I received on the 18th of this month the letter which you were pleased to address to me on the 10th inst. That letter suggests, that " the interest which has lately 246 PRESIDENT Washington's been taken by so many in the question, wlietlier the Valedictory Address of the venerable Washington was his own composition, or the work of another, has ex- tended to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, which has apjDointed you a committee to make enquiries on the subject." You therefore request that I will favor you " with any information in my possession, not improper for publication." To this request propriety requires from me a candid and explicit answer. The first intelligence I had, relative to the question to which you allude, was in the year 1811. In the course of my familiar correspondence with my worthy and ex- cellent friend. Judge Peters, I did on the 29th of March, 1811, write a letter to that gentleman, containing certain remarks and facts connected with that question. I therefore take the liberty to refer you to Judge Peters, who will readily communicate to you the contents of that letter. Permit me to add, that should any copies be taken, it is my desire that they may be copies of the tchole, and not merely of parts of the letter. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, Your most obedient servant, JOHN JAY. "W. Rawle, ^ Benjamin E. Morgan, I Esquires, C. J. Ingersoll, J Committee of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 247 Belmont, Feb. 19, 1826. Mt Dear Sir, I thought it most prudent to avoid encountering the bad weather to-day, and have ordered the Court to be adjourned to Friday by the Marshal. I will innnediately write to my friend Jay, and inform him of your request in relation to his letters respecting General Washington's Farewell Address. I cannot deliver his letters to any one without his permission. It is a strange pursuit in Hamilton's family, thus to give trouble to everybody who regards the fame of either the General or Col. H. himself. If he had written the Address, it is perfidy to betray the confidence reposed in him. But as he did not, it is wrong in his family to assert his having done it. In either case his descendants would gain no reputation ; but our nation would suffer a serious injury, by ha^dng the fascinating name of Wash- ington taken from the creed of every friend to his country. Yours, most affectionately, RICHARD PETERS. W. Rawle, Esq. Bedford, West-Chester County, N. York, M March, 1826. My Good Friend, I had the pleasure of receiving, on Saturday last, your letter of the 21st of February. It gratified me to learn 248 PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S from it, that you was in excellent health, and I hope that a kind Providence will continue to promote your pros- perity. The communications which had occurred between you and the committee of the Historical Society of Pennsyl- vania were interesting. In a letter from them of the 10th ult. they expressed a desire to obtain from me any information in my possession, not improper for publica- tion. I answered it on the 24th, and referred to the contents of my letter to you of the 24 th of March, 1811. Should any copies be taken, I hope they will be taken in the whole, and not of only parts of that letter. As to publication, you and those gentlemen can, with more facility than I can, consider and conclude on that head. I regret leaving so much blank paper in this letter, but so it is — from early in the summer to this time, my long-continued sickness and debility have become so in- creased that writing soon produces weariness. I cannot, however, forbear adding my assurances of the constant esteem, regard and attachment, with which I am, Dear sir, Your affectionate friend, JOHN JAY. The Hon. Richard Peters, Esq. VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 249 (COPY.) Bedford, March 2dth, 1811. Dear Sir: I have received your letter of the 14th ult., and also the book on Plaister of Paris, which you was so obliging as to send me, and for which accept my thanks. Your letter conveyed to me the first and only informa- tion I have received that a copy of President Washing- ton's Valedictory Address had been found among the papers of General Hamilton, and in 7iis handwriting ; and that a certain gentleman had also a copy of it, in the sa772e handwriting. This intelligence is unpleasant and unexpected. Had the address been one of those official papers which, in the course of affairs, the Secretary of the proper department might have prepared, and the President have signed, these facts would have been unimportant; but it was a personal act, of choice, not of official duty, and it was so connected with other obvious considerations as that he only could with propriety write it. In my opinion, Presi- dent Washington must have been sensible of this pro- priety, and therefore strong evidence would be necessary to make me believe that he \'iolated it. Whether he did or did not, is a question which naturally directs our at- tention to whatever affords jDresumptive evidence respects ing it, and leads the mind into a long train of correspond- ent reflections. I will give you a summary of those which have occurred to me ; not because I think them 250 PRESIDENT Washington's necessary to settle the point in question, for the sequel will show that they are not, but because the occasion invites me to take the pleasure of reviewing and bearing testimony to the merits of our departed friend. Is it to be presumed from these facts that General Hamilton was the redly and the President only the reputed author of that address ? Although they countenance such a presumption, yet I think its foundation will be found too slight and shallow to resist that strong and full stream of counter-evidence which flows from the conduct and character of that great man : a character not blown up into transient splendor by the breath of adulation, but which, being composed of his great and memorable deeds, stands, and will forever stand, a glorious monument of human excellence. So prone, however, is " poor human nature" to disUke and depreciate the superiority of its cotemporaries, that when these facts come to be generally known (and gene- rally known they will be), many, T^dth affected regret and hesitation, will infer and hint that Washington had less greatness of talent and less greatness of mind than his friends and admirers ascribed to him. Nor will the number of those be few, who, from personal or party inducements, will artfully encourage and diligently en- deavor to give currency to such imputations. On the other hand, there are men of candor and judgment (and time will increase their number), who, aiming only at truth, mil cheerfully trace and follow its footsteps, and, on finding, gladly embrace it. Urged by this laudable motive, they will attentively examine the history of his VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 251 life ; and in it tliey will meet with such numerous proofs of his knowledge and experience of men and things in gene- ral, and of our national affairs in particular, as to silence all doubts of his ability to conceive and express every idea in that address. A careful perusal of that history will convince them that the principles of pohcy which it recommends as rules for the conduct of others, are pre- cisely those by which he regulated his own. There have been in the world but two systems or schools of policy, — the one founded on the great prin- ciples of wisdom and rectitude, the other on cunning and its various artifices. To the first of these belonged Wash- ington, and all the other worthies of every country who ascended to the Temple of Honor through the Temple of Virtue. The doctrines, maxims, and precepts of this school have been explained and inculcated by the ablest writers, ancient and modern. In all civihzed countries, they are known, though often neglected; and in free States, have always been publicly commended and taught : they crossed the Atlantic with our forefathers, and, in our days particularly, have not only engaged the time and attention of students, but have been constantly and eloquently displayed by able men in our Senates and Assemblies. What reason can there be to suppose that Washington did not understand those subjects ? K it be asked what these subjects comprehend or relate to, the answer is this, — they relate to the nature and duties of man, to his propensities and passions, his virtues and vices, his habits and prejudices, his real and relative wants 'and enjoyments, his capacities for social and 252 1' RESIDENT WASUINGTON'S natioiical happiness, and the means by which, according to time, place, and other existing circumstances, it is in a greater or less degree to be procured, preserved, and in- creased. From a profound investigation of these subjects, enlightened by experience, result all that knowledge and those maxims and precepts of sound policy which enable legislators and rulers to manage and govern pu]:)lic affairs ■wisely and justly. By what other means than the practical use of this knowledge, could Washington have been able to lead and govern an army hastily collected from various parts, and who brought with them to the field all the license and all the habits which they had indulged at home ? Could he, by the force of orders and proclamations, have constrained them to render to him that obedience, confidence, and warm attachment which he soon acquired, and which, throughout all vicissitudes and distresses, continued con- stant and undiminished to the last? By what other means could he have been able to frustrate the designs of dark cabals, and the unceasing intrigues of en\dous competitors, and the arts of the opposing enemy? By what other means could he have been able in so masterly a manner to meet and manage all those perplexing em- barrassments which the revolutionary substitution of a new government, — which the want of that power in Congress which they had not, and of that promptitude which no deliberative body can have, — which the frequent destitution and constant uncertainty of essen- tial supplies, — which the incompetency of indi^'iduals on whom much depended, the perfidy of others, and the mis- VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 253 management of many, could not fail to engender? We know, and history will inform posterity, that, from the first of his military career, he had to meet and encounter and surmount a rapid succession of formidable difficulties, even down to the time when his country was enabled, by the success of their arms, to obtain the honorable peace which terminated the war. His high and appointed course being then finished, he disdained the intimations of lawless ambition to prolong it. He disbanded the army under circumstances which required no common degree of policy or virtue; and with universal admira- tion and plaudits, descended joyfully and serenely into the shades of retirement. They who ascribe all this to the guidance and protection of Providence do well, but let them recollect that Providence seldom interposes in human affairs, but through the agency of human means. When, at a subsequent and alarming period, the nation found that their affairs had gone into confusion, and that clouds portending danger and distress were rising over them in every quarter, they instituted under his auspices a more efficient government, and unanimously committed the administration of it to him. Would they have done this without the highest confidence in his political talents and wisdom? Certainly not, — no novice in navigation was ever unanimously called upon to take the helm or command of a ship on the point of running aground among the breakers. This universal confidence would have proved a universal mistake, had it not been justified by the event. The unanimous opinion entertained and declared by a whole people in favor of any fellow citizen 254 PRESIDENT Washington's is rarely erroneous, espeeiully in times of alann and calamity. To delineate the course, and enumerate the measures which he took to arrive at success, would be to write a volume. The firmness and policy with which he over- came the obstacles placed in his way by the derangement of national affairs, by the devices of domestic demagogues and of foreign agents, as well as by the deleterious influences of the French Revolution, need not be par- ticularized. Our records, and histories, and memories, render it unnecessary. It is sufficient to say, and it can be said with truth, that his administration raised the nation out of confusion into order, out of degradation and distress into reputation and prosperity : it found us ^vith- ering ; it left us flourishing. Is it to be believed that, after having thus led the nation out of a bewildered state, and guided them for many years from one degree of prosperity to another, he was not qualified, on retiring, to advise them how to pro- ceed and go on ? And what but this is the object and the burthen of his Valedictory Address ? He was per- suaded that, as the national welfare had been recovered and established, so it could only be preserved and prolonged by a continued and steady adherence to those principles of sound policy and impartial justice which had invari- ably directed his administration. Although the knowledge of them had been spread and scattered among the people, here a little, and there a little, yet being desirous to mark even the last day of his public life by some act of public utility, he addressed and VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 255 presented them to his fellow-citizens in points of light so clear and strong as to make deep impressions on the public mind. These last parental admonitions of this Father of his Country were gratefully received and uni- versally admired ; but the experience of ages informs us, that it is less difficult to give good advice than to prevail on men to follow it. Such, and so obvious is the force of the preceding con- siderations, as to render doubts of the President's ability to give the advice contained in the address too absurd to have many serious advocates. But it would not surprise me, if certain classical gentlemen, associating the facts you mention with the style and fashion of the address, should intimate that his ability to compose it substan- tially in his mind does not prove that he was also capable of communicating his advice in a paper so well written. Let these gentlemen recollect the classical maxim which they learned at school : " Scribendi recte, sapere est, et principium, et fons." They may also be referred to another classical maxim, which teaches us that they who well understand their subject will be at no loss for words : "Yerbaque provisuui rem non invita sequcntur." But his ability to write well need not be proved by the application of maxims, it is established by facts. We are told to judge of a tree by its fruit ; let us in 256 PRESIDENT Washington's like manner judge of liis pen by its performances. Few men who had so little leisure have written so much. His jpnhlic letters alone are voluminous, and public opinion has done justice to their merits. Many of them have been published, and they who read them will be con- vinced that at the period of the address he had not to learn how to write well. But it may be remarked that the address is more highly finished than the letters, and 80 it ought to be. That address was to be presented to the whole nation, and on no common occasion ; it was in- tended for the present and future generations ; it was to be read in this country and in foreign countries ; and to be criticized not only by affectionate friends and impartial judges, but also by envious and malignant enemies. It was an address which, according as it should or should not correspond with his exalted character and fame, would either justify or impeach the prevailing opinion of his talents or wisdom. Who, therefore, can wonder that he should bestow more thought, and time, and pains, on that address than on a letter ? Although in the habit of depending ultimately on his own judgment, yet no man was more solicitous to obtain and collect light on every question and measure on which he had to decide. He knew that authors, like parents, are not among the first to discover imperfections in their offspring, and that consideration would naturally induce him to imitate the example of those ancient and modem writers (among whom were statesmen, generals, and even men of consular and royal dignity), who submitted their compositions to the judgment of their friends before they VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 257 put the last hand to them. Those friends would make notes of whatever defects they observed in the draft, and of the correspondent amendments which they deemed proper. If they found that the arrangement would be improved, they would ad%dse certain transpositions; if the connection between any of the relative parts was obscure, they would make it more apparent; if a con- clusion had better be left to implication than expressed, they would strike it out, and so vice versa, if an additional remark or allusion would give force or light to a senti- ment or proposition, they would propose it; where a sentence was too long, they would divide it ; they would correct redundancies, change words less apt for words more apt, &c. &c. &c. To correct a composition in this way is to do a friendly office, but to prepare a new one, and offer it to the author as a substitute for his own, would deserve a different appellation. Among those to whose judgment and candor President Washington would commit such an interesting and deli- cate task, where is the man to be found who would have had the hardihood to say to him in substance, though in terms ever so nice and courtly : " Sir, I have examined and considered your draft of an address — it will not do, it is really good for nothing, but, sir, I have taken the trouble to write a proper one for you, and I now make you a present of it. I advise you to adopt it, and to pass it on the world as your own ; the cheat will never be dis- covered, for you may depend on my secrecy. Sir, I have inserted in it a paragraph that will give the pubhc a good 17 258 PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S opinion of your modesty. I will read it to you j it is in these words : " ' In the discharge of this trust I will only say, that I have with good intentions contributed towards the organ- ization and administration of the government, the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself.'" If it be possible to find a man among those whom he esteemed capable of offering to him such a present, it is impossible to believe that President Washington was the man to whom such a present would have been acceptable. They who knew President Washington and his various endo\vments, qualifications and virtues, know that (aggre- gately considered) they formed a tout ensemble which has rarely been equalled, and perhaps never excelled. Thus much for presumptive evidence, I will now turn your attention to some that is direct. The history (if it may be so called) of the address is not unknown to me ; but as I came to the knowledge of it under implied confidence, I doubted, when I first re- ceived your letter, whether I ought to disclose it. On more mature reflection I became convinced that if Presi- dent Washington were now alive, and informed of the facts in question, he would not only authorize, but also desire me to reduce it to writing ; that when necessary it might be used to invalidate the imputations to which those facts give color. VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 259 This consideration terminated my doubts. I do not think that a disclosure is necessary at this moment, but I fear such a moment will arrive. Whether I shall then be alive, or in capacity to give testimony is so uncertain, that in order to avoid the risque of either, I shall now reduce it to writing, and commit it to your care and dis- cretion, " De bene esse," as the lawyers say. Some time before the address appeared, Colonel (after- wards General) Hamilton informed me that he had re- ceived a letter from President Washington, and with it the draft of a Farewell Address, which the President had prepared, and on which he requested our opinion. He then proposed that we should fix on a day for an inter- view at my house on the subject. A day was accordingly appointed, and on that day Col. Hamilton attended. He observed to me in words to this effect, that after having read and examined the draft, it appeared to him to be susceptible of improvement. That he thought the easiest and best way was to leave the draft untouched, and in its fair state ; and to write the whole over with such amend- ments, alterations, and corrections as he thought were advisable, and that he had done so ; he then proposed to read it, and to make it the subject of our consideration. This being agreed to, he read it, and we proceeded deliberately to discuss and consider it, paragraph by paragraph, until the whole met with our mutual appro- bation. Somfe amendments were made during the inter- view, but none of much importance. Althaugh this business had not been hastily dispatched, yet aware of the consequence of such a paper, I suggested 2G0 PRESIDENT WASHINGTON S the giving it a further critical examination ; hut he declined it, saying he was pressed for time, and was anxious to return the draft to the President without delay. It afterwards occurred to me that a certain proposition was expressed in terms too general and unqualified; and I hinted it in a letter to the President. As the business took the course above mentioned, a recurrence to the draft was unnecessary, and it was not read. There was this advantage in the course pursued; the President's draft remained (as delicacy required) fair and not obscured by interlineations, &c. By comparing it with the paper sent with it, he would immediately observe the particular emendations and corrections that were proposed, and would find them standing in their intended places. Hence he was enabled to review, and to decide on the whole matter, with much greater clearness and facility than if he had received them in separate and detached notes, and with detailed references to the pages and lines, where they were advised to be introduced. With great esteem and regard, I am, dear sir, Your obedient servant, JOHN JAY. The Honorable Richard Peters, Esq. VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 261 EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM JUDGE PETERS TO MR. RAWLE. Belmont, Feb. 2Qth, 1826. "At the head of my obituary list stands our venerated and beloved chief, who was always particularly communi- cative with me. I am certain that, in conversations, I have heard from his own lips, most, if not all, the lead- ing sentiments expressed in the Farewell Address ; though I do not recollect any special discussion on the subject. I did understand at the time that he had submitted his draft to some friends, but had not the exact information which Mr. Jay developes. In my official capacity, during the revolution, I have received many letters from the General, written by members of his family and signed by him. But these were all about the routine business of the department. Whenever there was anything of special confidence, he wrote the whole. With Col. Hamilton I have often conversed on the flying stories of the day, as to the great assistance he received from his family in composition of letters, papers, &c. Col. H. always scouted the idea of their doing more than taking off the laborious drudgery of current business, and always gave the General the merit of being the unassisted writer of im- portant compositions and correspondence." 262 PRESIDENT Washington's Tho committee subsequently addressed the following letter to Nicholas Fish, Esq., of New York. Sir, Having been appointed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania a committee to collect and report to them such evidence as may be attainable in respect to the original author of the Valedictory Address of President Washington in 1796, we have made several enquiries on the subject. We now take the liberty of addressing you as the sur- viving executor of General Hamilton, and probably in possession of most of his papers. It has been supposed by some, that the address was originally composed by General Hamilton. Our impressions from all the inform- ation that we have been able to collect are to the con- trary. It appears to us that the original draught was the sole work of the President, but submitted by him to his friends, Mr. Jay and General Hamilton, for revision. But in justice to the friends of General Hamilton (and we beg you to consider us as having the highest respect for his memory), we should think it improper to make a report which will probably be published without a pre- vious enquiry in that quarter, where, if erroneous im- pressions have been received, by us, they are most likely to be corrected. We therefore beg the favor of you, sir, to communicate any facts which you will think proper for publication in the next volume of the memoirs of the society, tending YALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 263 to show that, in your opinion, this address was not the original composition of the President, but of some other, and what person. We are, &c., W. RAWLE, BENJ. R. MORGAN, C. J. INGERSOLL. To Nicholas Fish, Esq. ANSWER. New Yo7'k, May 16th, 1826. Gentlemen, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th ultimo, on the subject of General Wash- ington's Valedictory Address, and at the same time to offer you an apology for having so long delayed answer- ing it. You say it has been supposed by some that the address was originally composed by General Hamilton, but that jour impressions, from all the information that you have been able to collect, are to the contrary, and that you should think it improj)er to make a report which will probably be published, without a previous enquiry in that quarter, where, if erroneous impressions have been re- ceived by you, they are most likely to be corrected ; that you therefore address me, as the surviving executor of General Hamilton, supposing it probable that I am in 264 Pli ESI DENT WASHINGTON'S possession of most of his p.'ipors, and requesting nie to communicate any facts I may think proper for pubhcation in the next volume of the memoirs of the society, tending to show that in my oj^inion this was not the original com- position of President Washington, but of some other, and what person. None of General Hamilton's papers are in my pos- session, but some of his papers relating to the subject of your enquiry are supposed by the General's family to be in the hands of the Hon. Rufus King, our Minister to London, against whom a suit in chancery was instituted previous to his departure on his mission, for the recovery of them ; to which suit I am pro forma a party. As to my personal knowledge on this subject, I freely avow that I am not possessed of any fact tending to show that the original draft of Washington's Valedictory Address was written by any other person than himself. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, With great consideration. Your obedient servant, NICHOLAS FISH. To W. Rawle, ^ Benjamin R. Morgan, > Esquires, C. J. Ingersoll, J Committee appointed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to collect and report to them such evidence as may be attainable in respect to the original author of the Yaledictory Ad- dress of President "Washington in 1Y96. VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 265 Having been requested by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to give an account of the circumstances attending the first publication of the Valedictory Address of the late President Washington to the people of the United States, I will now state them, as accurately as my memory enables me. A few days before the appearance of this memorable document in print, I received a message from the Presi- dent, by his private secretary, signifjdng his desire to see me. I waited on him at the appointed time, and found him sitting alone in the drawing-room. He received me kindly ; and, after I had paid my respects to him, desired me to take a seat near him, — then, addressing himself to me, said, that he had for some time j)ast contemplated retiring from pubUc life, and had at length concluded to do so at the end of the (then) present term : that he had some thoughts and reflections on the occasion, which he deemed proper to communicate to the people of the United States, in the form of an Address, and which he wished to appear in the Daily Advertiser, of which I was editor. He paused, and I took the opportunity of thanking him for having preferred that paper as the channel of his communication with the people, especially as I viewed this selection as indicating his approbation of the prin- ciples and manner in which the work was conducted. He silently assented, and asked when the publication could be made. I answered, that the time should be made perfectly convenient to himself, and the following Monday was fixed on : he then told me that his secretary 200 PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S Avoiild call oil iiic witli .'i copy of tlie Address on the next (Friday) morninf^, and I "witlidrcw. Aflor tlio jn-oof shrrf lind been compared with the copy, and corrected by myself, I carried anotlier py-oq/, and tlien a revise, to be examined by the President, who made but few alterations from the original, except in the punctua- tion, in which he was very minute. The publication of the Address, dated " United States, September ITtli, 1796," being completed on the 19th, I waited on the President with the original ; and, in pre- senting it to him, expressed my regret at parting with it, and how much I should be gratified by being permitted to retain it : upon which, in an obliging manner, he handed it back to me, saying that if I wished for it, I might keep it ; and I then took my leave of him. Any person acquainted with the handwriting of Presi- dent Washington, would, on seeing this specimen, at once recognize it. And, as I had formerly been honored by written communications from him on public business, I may say that his handwriting was familiar to me ; and I think I could at any time and without hesitation identify it. The manuscript copy consists of thirty-two pages of quarto letter paper, sewed together as a book, and ^dth many alterations ; as, in some places, whole paragraphs are erased and others substituted, in others many lines struck out, in others sentences and words erased, and others interlined in their stead. The tenth, eleventh, and sixteenth pages are almost entirely expunged, saving only a few lines ; and one-half of the thirty-first page is also effaced. A critical examination will show that the VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 267 whole, from first to last, with all its numerous corrections, was the work of the same hand; and I can confidently affirm, that no other pen ever touched the manuscript, now in my possession, than that of the great and good man whose signature it bears. D. C. CLAYPOOLE. PliiladelpMa, Fehrmiry 22d, 1826. To the foregoing statement of Mr. ClajqDoole (whose fair and honorable character is well established anions us), I think it not improper to add, that I have carefully examined the manuscript from beginning to end ; and being well acquainted with the handwriting of this eminent personage, I am entirely satisfied that there is not a word in the text written by any other than himself I had a doubt only as to the date, which did not, as it appeared to me, exactly correspond with the rest, but on further examination, I am induced to think that it is all in the same writing; in which opinion, Mr. Claypoole fully coincides. At all events, I am perfectly satisfied that it is not in the handwriting of General Hamilton, with which I am also well acquainted. The date may have possibly been by the private Secretary of the President. W. EAWLE. Feh. 22d, 1826. \ 2G8 VINDICATION OF A VINDICATION OF TJIE REV. MR. HECKEWELDER'S* HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NATIONS. BY WILLIAM RAWLE. l^Read at a Meeting of the Council, on the 15th day of February, 1826.] "When a literary work has been in possession of public confidence for years ; when the author is known to have been a man of probity incapable of wilful deception ; when he is known to have had the best means of information concerning the facts he relates, and when these facts are of a character not too abstruse or profound for the com- pass of his mind, it is natural for those who have believed and rehed on his narration, to feel an interest in sup- porting the reputation of the author against unexpected and unfounded attacks. In the year 1819, under the auspices of the Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philosophical Society, appeared a work entitled ''An Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations who once inhabited Pennsylvania and the neighboring States, by the Rev. John Heckewelder, of Bethlehem." Mr. Heckewelder was of German descent. He was a faithful and zealous member of the Moravian Brother- hood at Bethlehem, in this State ; and under their * A Life of John Heckewelder, by the Rev. Edward Rondthaler, edited by B. H. Coates, M.D., was published iu 1S41. — Editor. heckewelder's history, 269 direction, he exposed himself for the greatest part of his life to the hardships and the perils of a residence among the Lenapi or Delaware Indians, in an unremitted endeavor to convert them to Christianity. lie was well known in Philadelphia, which, after his age and infirmities, combined with other circumstances, compelled him to relinquish the mission, he occasionally visited. With Doctor Wistar, who was also of German extraction, he was particularly intimate; but he was known to almost all the men of letters in our city, and respected by them all. In his demeanor, he was modest and unassuming. From his long residence among the Indians, he seemed to have imbibed something of their manners : courteous and easy in his intercourse with every one, a stranger to all affectation and artificial cere- mony, somewhat inclined to taciturnity, or at least never obtruding himself on the notice of others, or seeking to lead the conversation, those who personally knew him were the more inclined to give credit to his book ; and those who read his book before they personally knew him, found that the man corresponded with the character of which the book gave them the idea. The work was received with general approbation. It was evidently written to support no party, to explain no peculiar system, to promote no personal views : he had formed the narrative for his own private amusement or use, and his consent to appear as an author, both of this and of a subsequent publication, was not given without reluctance. He presented to us some new views of the Indian 270 VINDICATION OP character. He impressed us with the belief that these people "were still more acute, more politic, and, in some respects, more refined, than had been generally under- stood. But the whole account of them was conveyed in a manner so plain and unaffected, with sucli evident candor and apparent accuracy, that conviction generally if not universally followed perusal. To enumerate all those persons on whom this impression was made would be tedious. It would not, perhaps, be deemed fair to mention names, however respectable, from whom only colloquial testimony has been received; but when we find in print such authorities as Wistar, Duponceau, and Dr. Jarvis, of New York, all of one sentiment in regard to it, we may justly consider him as proudly supported. To these we add the North American Review, the anony- mous authors of which, as those of all similar works, stand before the pubhc on the ground of their o"s^ti strength of mind, soundness of judgment, and purity of taste. Under- taking to instruct the world as to the reception which it ought to afford to the labors of others, they are, as they ought to be, cautious in bestowing commendation, and a work highly extolled must be understood to have been thoroughly examined and fully approved. The encomiastic strains emploj-ed by these gentlemen on the work in question, were not bej'ond its merits, but they were certainly warm. After giving an analysis and various extracts, the Reviewers proceeded as follows : " The work abounds in facts and anecdotes calculated, heckewelder's history. 271 not merely to entertain the reader, but to lay open, in the most authentic and satisfactory manner, the character and condition of this people. There is no other worlz extant, in which this design has been so extensively adapted, or in which the object is so fully accomplished ^ With these testimonials, the work of Heckewelder has glided down the historical current of time without any impeachment of its merits, till its author has been re- moved to a world from which he can wield no weapon of defence against sublunary criticism. Were he still living, he would read with surprise the altered language of the same literary dictators, the same guides and directors of our taste and judgment, our appro- bation or rejection. The unqualified condemnation, in 1826, of a work so highly extolled in 1819, would be productive of httle other injury than that which the authors of the Review would sustain by the diminution of their own authority from the exhibition of their own inconsistency ; but mul- titudes will read the Review of the present year to whom that of 1819 is, and perhaps ever will be, unknown. The American public will, perhaps, be considered by them as the credulous subjects of gross imposition, and perhaps the name of John Heckewelder be ranged with that of John D. Hunter. It will not, therefore, be improper in one who knew and esteemed Mr. Heckewelder when Uving, and with unabated confidence still highly values his work, to take a short view of the late attempt to strip him of his fame. 272 VINDICATION OF 111 the North, American Ilcviciv for January last is a long and labored article, under the general head of " Indians of North America," and the two works, the titles of which are, in the usual manner, prefixed, are Hunter's book, pub- lished here about two years ago, and a recent composition of a Mr. Halkett, in London. On the latter, very little attention is bestowed : Hunter's imposition is exposed, as it seems to deserve. But Mr. Ilecke welder's work, although the reader is not led, from the title of the article, to expect it will be noticed at all, forms the chief subject of much positive contradiction and much severe animadversion, although, at the same time, the Keviewers refer, without explanation or apology, to their own lauda- tory notices in 1819. Heckewelder is now represented as a man of "moderate intellect, and still more moderate attainments." We are told that his knowledge of the Indian character was wholly derived from the Delawares ; that their legendary stories were received by him in perfect good faith, and " recorded with all the gravity of history." "His naivete^'' is said to be "truly amusing; j-et, with much valuable information, no work that has appeared for half a century, has produced more erroneous impres- sions on this subject. He looks back to a sort of golden age of the Delawares. It may have been so, but there is not the slightest reason to believe it. "Many of his assertions and conclusions are utterly irreconcilable with the most authentic accounts and with well-known circumstances. His history, if true, would unhinge all our knowledge on these subjects, and destroy heckewelder's history. 273 all our confidence in the early French writers, who wrote under favorable circumstances for observation." This is but a part of the remarks which are made in the usual positive manner of Eeviewers, exercising their supposed unlimited sovereignty over what we sometimes affect to call the republic of letters. It is obvious that if this is the genuine character of Mr. Heckewelder's work, we have been greatly imposed on ; and if all our knowledge is " unhinged" by his faulty productions, the world cannot be too soon informed of its error. But general assertions will not always produce conviction, — and we naturally expect that specific examples, supported by reasonable proof, shall be ad- duced, before we withdraw our reliance on a work which has so long been received as credible and authentic. It is indeed the more necessary when the opponent himself falls into a looseness of expression which is no- where exceeded by him whom he condemns, and when he weakens or destroys his own argument by the illustra- tion with which he endeavors to support it. Thus, in the last paragraph quoted, the Reviewers at first general- ize, then connect their observation with a particular case, and afterwards show that this illustration of it is of no value. We had previously been told, in the same article, that an actual residence among the Indians was the only means of obtaining a competent knoAvledge of their char- acter. Mr. Heckewelder's long residence among them is distinctly noticed, and of course he had the power of obtaining a more perfect knowledge of them than could 18 274 VINDICATION OF be acquired by casual travellers. If their accounts differ from his, there is therefore no reason for giving the pre- ference to them; and the Reviewers seem particularly injudicious in proceeding to mention the name of Xa Hontan, whom, at the same time, they described as un- worthy of credit, and of course as rendering it no loss to us if his " fables" should be superseded by the plain nar- rative of Ileckewelder. In another place, they condemn the early and principal French writers in a mass, except- ing only Charlevoix. We are told that they were " credu- lous men, who possessed neither enlarged views nor sound judgment." The Reviewers proceed to consider some of the most "prominent errors" of our venerable author; and they deserve our thanks for enabling us thus to examine those imputations which, while wrapped up in general terms, it would not be in our power to understand or refute. In the consideration of them, the order in which they are presented will, as much as possible, be adhered to, although their relative importance might require a differ- ent arrangement. In the first place, an objection is raised against the orthography ; and in the next place, against the translation of the ancient national ajDpellatiou of the Delawares. Mr. Heckewelder has erred in writing Lenni Lena-pi: it should be Lennee Lenaupe, accentuating the last sylable with a strong expiration of the breath, which has no exact representative in the Enghsh alphabet. If this latter is the case, it is not very reasonable to con- demn a man for not doing what is impossible. In respect to the mode of spelling these two words, Mr. Heckewelder heckeweldek's history. 275 has much authority on his side ; but the variation is too minute to form a proper subject of reprehension. The translation of these words is more interesting. That given by Mr. Heckewelder corresponds with the lofty notions entertained by the savage of the source from which he sprung. Lenni, he tells us, signifies man, and lenajyi means original; but the Keviewers inform us that the more general and proper sense of "lennee" is male, although in a restricted sense, it may signify ma7i, and that "lenaupe" means common, — so that, according to them, these words, when used together, import common male; according to Mr. Heckewelder, they signify original mxin. On which side the inaccuracy lies, would probably soon be decided by the Delawares themselves, and the subject merits no further notice.* 3. An objection is next made to Mr. Heckewelder's relation, that the Delawares bore, in respect to other tribes, the designation of grandfathers, supporting in some degree their claim to an ancient and extensive superiority. The Eeviewers deny his inference, but, with an air of mystery, observe that a " full consideration of the subject might lead to important conclusions." Mr. Heckewelder speaks with modesty and reserve, and it would be difficult to adopt any other reason for this figurative language than that which he assigns. We are all acquainted with the constant practice of the Indians * The confusion of ideas on this subject imputed to Mr. Hecke- welder, in a note at p. 68, cannot be perceived by the writer of this article on examining the passages referred to, but it would require too much time to go through them. 27G VINDICATION OF to apply the epithet "Father," to the President of the United States, as they formerly did to the King of Great Britain j always indicating political superiority by a do- mestic phrase; and the application of a higher cognate term among themselves, in those early days to which it is traced, may reasonably be supposed to have signified a still higher political relation. The fact itself does not seem to be contradicted by the Reviewers. 4. The account of the ancient Lenapi conquering the Allegewi is, in the next place, objected to ; but, whether true or false, Heckewelder, who expressly relates it as a tradition of the Lenapi, is not responsible. And a general remark may here be introduced, that the author who pro- fesses to give an account of the history of a nation among whom he has resided, would perform his task imperfectly if he disregarded their own traditions. The ancient his- tory of every part of Europe depends on such traditions, the probable truth of which is sometimes supported by circumstances that are subsequently authenticated. In the Lenapian history of the total extirpation of the Alle- gewi, we see nothing inconsistent with the well-knoTVTi ferocity of savage tribes, which still unhappily continues to rage among them. 5. In the trifling discussion on the etjinology of the word Mississippi, the Reviewers may be right ; and if the Chippewas were really the godfathers of that majestic stream, the conjunction of the terms mesee great, and seepee river, is more natural than that in which Mr. Heckewel- der was instructed by his Delaware friends. 6. The ancient fortifications are attributed by Hecke- heckewelder's history. 277 welder to tlie AUegewi. The Reviewers say no, — the forefathers of the present Indians erected them ; and they gravely quote Dr. Clark to show that there were fortifica- tions in Greece. We will venture to remark, that neither Heckewelder nor the Reviewers could know anything about the matter, and one had as good a right to speculate as the other. 7. The " puerile" history of the former power of the Delawares, and the manner in which the sceptre departed from them, is severely ridiculed. Now it is an Indian tradition, and as such it is given by Heckewelder, that the Iroquois, with the assistance of the Dutch, by a great refinement in policy, and with considerable difficulty, persuaded the Delawares to "put on the petticoat and become women ;" that is, to lay aside the practice of arms, and, confining themselves to the arts of peace, become the arbiters of the surrounding tribes. To this, it is said, the Iroquois were induced by a fear of the numbers and power of the Delawares; and, while they thus neutral- ized this formidable nation, the Iroquois were not only free from apprehensions for their own safety, but were left at liberty to pursue their military expeditions against other powers. The Iroquois, on the contrary, contended that they reduced the Delawares to this condition by force of arms ; and one thing only is certain, that until a very late period, the Iroquois asserted certain rights over the Delawares, even so far as to restrain them from aUenating their lands. Their insolent abuse of this supe- riority was strongly manifested at the treaty of Philadel- phia, in 1742. But Heckewelder is supported in his 278 VINDICATION OF account by the Rev. Mr. Loskielj and lie also appearn to have conversed with some of the Iroquois on the subject. If the tradition of the Delawares is correct, it is certainly an extraordinary instance of a nation's voluntarily part- ing with the means of self-defence for the purpose of becoming mediators and arbiters between the other nations. But the loss of military power would have been compensated, as they represented, by their own increase and internal happiness, had it not been for the constant encroachments of the white people. It is now of little consequence. The melancholy and degraded remnants of both the Iroquois and the Delawares, with- out power or permanence, by referring to the memory of the past, only embitter the present, and vainly seek in traditions a consolation for the absence of almost every substantial happiness. 8. INIuch severity is employed on the relation given by Heckewelder of a conversation between Colonel Crawford, a prisoner about to be executed, and Wingenundy a chief of the Delawares, whom Crawford had sent for, in hopes of obtaining mercy through his intercession. No white man, say the Reviewers, could have been present at this conversation ; and therefore the inference is, that it was merely a creature of Heckewelder's imagination : indeed, they say expressly that it is " wholly apocryphal." Now, if the book were quoted with the least degree of candor, the reader would perceive that Mr. Heckewelder does not pretend to have been present on the occasion, but informs us that the particulars of this conversation were communicated to him by Wingenund and others. heckewelder's history. 279 « If he falsified the relation he received, no terms of repro- bation would be too strong ; but a gratuitous imputation of so much depravity cannot be approved. In the disposition to cavil at almost everjrthing related by our author, the Reviewers find fault with another part of this conversation. " Had you attended," says Wmge- nund, " to the Indian principle, that good and evil cannot dwell together in the same heart," &c. This principle is declared by the Reviewers to be new to them. " It would be difficult," they say, " to find it either speculatively or practically in any other place than the Delaware school of ethics." They ought to have recollected that the question is not whether the philosophy was sound, but whether the information given to Heckewelder was truly reported by him. It seems an indirect attempt to diminish his weight of character, and it does not merit approbation. 9. In the same disposition to condemn, insinuations of at least a want of precision are, in a subsequent passage, thrown out against this worthy man, to support which a part of a sentence is quoted. That an Indian should say, " I am a sort of a chief," is supposed to be impossible ; but the residue of the sentence is omitted, in which the Indian observes, that he is neither a great chief nor a very small one. That there are gradations of power and distinction among them, is well known. 10. Another remark of the same Indian is quoted with the same skepticism by the Reviewers. It is the enumer- ation of articles which a successful hunt would have enabled the Indian to procure for his wife ; and, although 280 VINDICATION OF tliey do not constitute tlic common food of those people, we may reasonably suppose that in the vicinity of mis- sionary settlements such articles were known and accept- able to the females.* In their concluding objection, the Keviewers are equally unsuccessful, if they mean to im- pugn the veracity of Heckewelder. They contradict the account given of Tar-M, or the Crane, murdering an Indian of the name of Leatherlips : but Heckewelder does not relate the fact as of his own knowledge; he transcribes a letter by which the account was conveyed to him. Li respect to the philological talents of Mr. Heckewel- der, it is not intended at present to enter into any discus- sion. The writer of these remarks has never felt an inclination to study evanescent forms, or to keep alive a variety of languages, which, from every motive of national and beneficent policy, he would wish to see absorbed in one general tongue. The tribe whose peculiar and extraordinary dialect rivets the attention of the philologist, moulders into nothing before he becomes master of its language j and the vocabulary laboriously collected, and the grammar scientifically de- rived from it, in a few years remain the only certain evidence of its former existence. Yet the study is in itself one of high interest to those who delight to trace the powers and operations of the mind, and it is not in- tended to detract in the smallest degree from the ardor * In Mr. Schoolcraft's journal of his travels, it appears that he and Governor Cass partook of a breakfast at an Indian wigwam, among the articles composing which were bread and tea. heckewelder's history. 281 of their pursuits. On the present occasion, it will only be observed that, in 1819, the Reviewers applauded " the ingenious and useful labors" of Heckewelder in these in- vestigations ; and, in 1826, he is styled "negligent and inaccurate." On this subject, Mr. Schoolcraft, whose work is mentioned with approbation by the Reviewers, may also be referred to. His words are, " The inquiries into the Indian languages, under the directions of Mr. Heckewelder, evince more severity of research than had before his time been bestowed upon the subject ; but the observations of this pious and wor+hy missionary have only opened the door of inquiry." These remarks have, perhaps, been sufficiently ex- tended for the mere purposes of vindication. If it has been shown, that in many instances Heckewelder has been unfairly quoted and unjustly condemned, we are entitled to ask for further evidence of his errors, before we assent to the total rejection of his book from the catalogue of our standard authorities. But it is not unreasonable to inquire, whether those who have spared another so httle, have entitled them- selves, by their own consistency and precision, to the exercise of an office so high and so severe. Whoever reads the whole of this part of the Review, cannot fail to perceive in it a constant attempt at original and profoimd reiection, not always successful; theories that are con- tradicted or abandoned almost as soon as they are fonned, and modes of ratiocination which frequently refute them- selves. We are assured by the Reviewers, that we are about as ignorant of the moral character and feeUngs of 282 VINDICATION OF the Indians, as when Jacques Cartier first ascended the St. Lawrence. The confession is commendable, if it were correct ; but he who undertakes to assert that the mass of information of which we are possessed is not to be de- pended on, ought to satisfy us that he has acquired that exact and superior knowledge which can alone enable him thus to pronounce upon the imperfections of ours. It is positively asserted that the Indians "have no government;" but this is explained by saying that they have none whose operation is felt either in rewards or punishments, and yet the Keviewers add that their lives and property are protected. By what means, unless by some power of government, can this protection be system- atically afforded? Their "political relations" among themselves, and with other tribes, are said to be duly preserved. How can they be preserved unless by means of law^s, not the less obligatory because not reduced to writing.* The submission of an Indian who has been guilty of murder to the retributive stroke of a relation of the de- ceased is, by an interrogative mode of reasoning, referred to some unknown principle, equally efficacious with the two great motives of hope and fear, "upon which all otlier governments have heretofore rested." Without pausing to consider the meaning of the word "other," which no accurate writer would make use of, unless the Indians also had a government, we may distinctly accoimt * In page 63 of the Review, we are told that the Indians lave laws regulating marriage. It would be strange if they had laws on no other subject. heckewelder's history. 283 for the course pursued on such occasions by referring to the ancient history of European nations, where similar procedures were established as the regular course of penal law. They prevailed in Greece, in the time of Homer ; in Germany, when Tacitus wrote his annals ; in England, Wales, and Ireland; and although now generally abol- ished, it is well known that in England they still con- tinue, in certain cases, under some legal restrictions. The Indian, therefore, who submits to this mode of vindictive punishment, submits to the laws of his country ; and if he neither " flees nor resists," it is because both would be alike disgraceful and una- vailing. But these retaliative criticisms need not to be further pursued, although perhaps some addition to them might fairly be made. The detection of errors in reasoning, or inaccuracies in diction, on the part of the Reviewers, will not redeem the faults of Mr. Heckewelder ; yet it is not unpardonable to have shown that those who are so liberal of censure, are not, themselves, free from imperfec- tion. The authority of a sentence is somewhat impaired, when we perceive that the judge partakes of the same delinquency. The author of these strictures, seeing no reason to alter the opinions of Mr. Heckewelder's merits, which he avowed in the Inaugural Address, has felt it a duty to endeavor to support them ; but he hopes that he will not be thought to have evinced more asperity than the occa- sion justifies. The merit of the North Ameiican Review is fully admitted. It generally contains much valuable in- 284 VINDICATION, ETC. formation and sound remark : it supports our literary reputation abroad, and largely contributes to the dissem- ination of polite learning at home ; but, in the present article, the Reviewers seem to have forgotten their own habits, and it may also be said, their own established character. The rumor by which it is attributed to a person in office under the United States, may not be unfounded ; but, on rumor only, his name could not be introduced without impropriety ; and no other course is open to general readers, than to consider the publication as an adoption, by the editors, of all which the article contains. AN ACCOUNT OP THE FIRST SETTLE^IENT OP THE TOWNSHIPS OP BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBUEY, BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, WITH EEMARKS ON THE ADVANCE OF IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURE, ETC. THE STATE OF MANNERS IK SOCIETY AT DIFFERENT PERIODS ; INTERSPERSED WITH NAMES OF THE FIRST SETTLERS, REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES, ANECDOTES, ETC. THE "WHOLE INTENDED AS A CHARACTERISTIC COMPARISON OF ONE ERA WITH ANOTHER, AND TO PRESERVE SOME KNOWLEDGE OF OUR FOREFATHERS, IN THEIR PROGRESS IN SETTLING AND IMPROVING A WILDERNESS COUNTRY. BY Dr. JOHN WATSOX. MDOOCIV. Communicated by Mr. Isaac Gomly, of Byherry, Bucks County, at a Meeting of the Council, on the \Wi of April, 1826. (285) i FIRST SETTLEMENT BUCKITs^GHAM AND SOLEBURY. The township of Buckingham, situate near the centre of the County of Bucks, is the largest township in the county, containing 18,488 acres. Solebury lies between Buckingham and the river Dela- ware, and contains 14,073 acres. The whole of the two townships in early time was called Buckingham, being a favorite name with our first worthy proprietor, William Penn. The name was first given to the township and borough now called Bristol, but transferred here perhaps about the year , before Cutler's resurvey ; by which it appears, that the two townships were divided by a northwest line from the lower corner of Thomas and John Bye's tract, extending to the upper corner of Randal Blackshire's tract. John Cutler,* in the draught from which the preceding * John Cutler, with his brother, Edmund Cutler, and Isabella, his wife, arrived in the Ship " Rebecka, of Liverpoole," the 31st of 8th (287) 288 WAT son's account of is taken, has noted that four perches in breadth were left between the opposite surveys, for a pubhc street or road, being on the northeast of the township of Buckingham, and on the southwest of the township of Solebury. It appears probable that it was designed that every pur- chaser should have the advantage of a road on one side of his survey ; and therefore they were laid out answer- ing to each other, about three hundred and twenty perches in width on each side of the township line, and one range further in Solebury. It appears, by an enumeration of the inhabitants taken in 1787, that Buckingham contained 173 dwelling-houses, 188 out-houses, 1173 white inhabitants, and 18 blacks. Solebury, 166 dwelling-houses, 150 out-houses, 928 white inhabitants, and no blacks. In the township of Buckingham, a fine stream of water, arising from numerous small springs in the gritland above York Road ; and some larger supplies, from the limestone land below, unites its several branches, and, running through the southwest end of Wrightstown, falls into the Neshamony. The Indian name of this stream was Lahas- mouth, 1685. They were from "Slateburn in Bowland, Yorkshire," England. John does not appear to have been married at the time of his arrival. The children of Edmund were Elizabeth, born the 14th, .3d mo., 1680,— Thomas, 16th, 9th mo., 1681,— William, 16th, 10th mo., 1682. (Bucks County Registry of Arrivals, Doylestown.) Slaitburn or Slandburn (York W. R.), not far from Barnesley, anciently belonged to the Lacies, Es. of Lincoln, &c., &c. — " Eng- land's Gazeteer," London, 1T51.— Editoe. BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 289 kekee or Lahaskeek. The white people called it Ran- dall's Run ; and a south branch, Roberts' Run. Two rocky ridges of the same Indian name run parallel to each other, and about eighty perches apart, on the southwest side of the creek. Between these hills and the stream, there is a piece of fine land, of a soil black, light, and sandy, which probably was once an Indian settle- ment. In 1769, a white-oak tree was cut on this land, in which there were several large marks of an axe ; which showed by the years' growths, that it had been done near fifty years before the grant of the province to William Penn. I have seen the form of a hawk or eagle cut in the bark of a white-oak by the Indians not far distant. The stone on these hills is a kind of hard sandy flint, and a bed of limestone deep underneath. The same ridge rises again about eighty perches on the southeast of the creek, and extends nearly northeast, in- clining to the east, three miles, to near Buckingham' line. This hill is much higher than the others ; the stone and soil the same, and the Indian name the same. After a small interval of about eighty perches, broken and irregu- lar hills continue to the river, winding in their direction rather more eastwardly, and of an entirely different kind of stone, being a hard ochre or bluish rock, inclining to a round form, but very unshapely for building. On the southeast side of these hills rise those fine springs of water that form the source of Pidcock's Creek. James Letch, who formerly travelled on foot to Long Island, traced this chain of broken hills throughout his 19 290 WATSON 'S ACCOUNT OF journey; and it is remarkable that they form the first rocky ridge from the seashore. A certain Doctor Bowman, being of a contemplative turn of mind, in the early settlement, used to frequent the fine round top of one of these hills near the river ; and, at his request, he was buried there. It is since been called Bowman's Hill. Many others have been buried at the same place. Bowman's Hill is directly opposite to another on the Jersey shore called Belmount, of the same height, form, and direction; and they appear to have been separated by the river Delaware. This appears evident at a distant observation, and is fully confinned by examining the ends of the hills. The broken hills near the river, in the upper end of Solebur}'-, are cut into deep winding hollows by streams of water. In these banks, and around in the neighbor- hood, are great abundance of good building stone, split- ting and dressing well, of a finer or coarser grained grit, and of different colors. Some are a mixture of coarse sand and pebbles. All these kinds of stone, on a some- what sandy soil, are common in the upper part of both townships. In the hills near Howell's Ferry, and thence in a south- westerly direction, through Solebury and part of Bucking- ham, rocks are found, very suitable for rough millstones and other uses of that kind. A narrow vein of limestone begins in Buckingham, back of the Lahaskekee Hill, and runs parallel with it, and probably under it, to the north- east end of Buckingham line, and then becomes wider in BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 291 Solebury, and divides, interspersed with other soils, to the river. In the lower part of Buckingham, the soil is a loam, blue clay, or shell on a shell bottom, pretty level and wet. Solebury is generally hilly, with a great variety of different soils and stones, well supplied for the most part with springs of good water, except on a piece of barrens, where there are no springs nor running water. This land, with proper management of late years, has pro- duced good crops of grain and grass. A very large spring rises in Solebury, called by the natives Aquetong, and by the white people Ingham's, or the Great Spring. The water flows out in a cove or hollow; the stone on the southeast being a solid red- shell, while those on the northwest are limestone. It is remarkably clear and cold in summer, and seldom freezes in winter. The quantity is supposed sufficient, with eighteen or twenty feet fall, to turn two grist-mills almost uniformly throughout the year ; and there are five good sites for mill-works on the stream to where it falls mto the Delaware, at Newhope or Coryell's Ferry, a distance of about three miles. It is employed, at the present time, for one paper-mill, one fulling-mill, two merchant-mills, four saw-mills, and an oil-mill. There has been an inquiry concerning the source from which so great a quantity of water is so regularly sup- plied. Perhaps the most probable conjecture is, that throughout all or most part of the limestone vein, for eis-ht or nine miles to the southwest, there are larcie cavities formed by the decaying of the stones ; and these, in some places, having openings which admit fresh and 292 watson's account of moist air, tlic ox tensive cold stone surface acting like a vast still, is continually dropping and running down the sides, and affording a fresh supply of water. To this may be added the water collected in ponds and limestone sinks, which are numerous. The water may be collected in several subterraneous reservoirs or ponds, and, pouring down from the higher into the lower, and being confined by a vein of red-shell or some other kind of hard stone or earth, may at length flow out in one place. To confirm this opinion, it is remarked that the water in four or five wells on T. Bye's tract, and in a sink near them, is on an exact level, and that they rise and fall together. But some difficulty arises to account for this rising and falling of the water, if there be a free vent for its discharge. Isaac Pillars' spring discharges a lively stream, but in dry summers falls several feet, and when there are but a few gallons in the bottom, it cannot be emptied by lading out, which shows that it is supplied by a large body of water under ground. Large's pond, on the York Road, appears to have been one of these limestone smks. The area is about half an acre. The water never rises above a certain height, and falls in a dry summer ten or twelve feet, but is never quite dry. A little below Coryell's Ferry, now called Newhope, the Delaware is confined between two hills. This place is called the Narrows, and the river is said to fall seven or eidit feet in about half a mile. The whole channel BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 293 is full of rocks, and the water roars aloud in passing through. From hence up to Faxon's Island, there is in many places a sudden rise, ten or twelve feet high, called the Boother Bank. This has doubtless, at some time, been the bank of the river ; but if, at some distant period, the water of the river Delaware flowed over the top of Bow- man's Hill (which is probable), this small alteration in its course must have happened long since, perhaps at the time of some great fresh. It is also supposed that the Delaware once flowed over the top of the Blue Mountain, and that there was a great lake on the north side of it; that the fall of a great southerly storm of rain, at the breaking up of winter, and melting of a deep snow, has so raised the waters that the obstruction of the water gap at the mountain was sud- denly borne away, causing a vast rise of the waters below and producing proportionable effects. Probably the ob- struction at Solebury and other places above were then worn down and carried away. It is certain that large pieces of limestone and other stone are now found along the shore, that have been washed down a great^distance. Different kinds of stone, by continual rolling and wear- ing, have become smooth and round, and are called boothers. The continual washing away of the earth by the fall of rains and flowing of streams, has caused the winding hollows and general inequalities that now appear, at least this broken roughness must be now much greater than it was two thousand years back. The first settlers generally came from England, and were of the middle rank, and chiefly Friends : many of 294 WAT son's account of them had first settled at the Falls, hut soon after removed back, as it was then called, into the woods. As they came away in the reigns of Charles, James, William, and Ann, they brought with them not only the industry, frugality, and strict domestic discipline of their education, but also a portion of those high-toned political impressions that then prevailed in England. Friends had suffered much under the Stuarts; and though promised much by the Oliverians and a republican equality, they experienced but little relief from either. They therefore equally disliked the Presbyterians and the pretender ; and were loyally attached to the Protestant succession in the house of Hanover. Being particularly pleased with the charter of privileges formed by their great patron, William Penn, they natu- rally esteemed it a kind of religious duty, vigilantly to guard against anything that might tend to a violation of so valuable an acquisition, which at once secured civil and religious hberty. The principles of government having been warmly discussed for some time back in the mother country, the subject had become familiar to com- mon capacities ; and politics were frequently a topic of fireside conversation, in which the newly installed free- men felt themselves deeply interested. From this remote cause, perhaps, has originated, in part, the zealous energy of party spirit at the present time. Many of the early settlers of Buckingham and Solebury had been educated in what may, with some pro- priety, be termed good style; and though not great scholars, yet were great men. The exercise of their per- BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 295 sonal and mental abilities were excited into a high flow of energy by the bold enterprise of settling a new coun- try, under so many novel circumstances, of such import- ance to themselves and their posterity. The women were generally good housekeepers ; or at least, their industry and frugality made proper amends for whatever might be deficient, in respect to such improvements and refine- ments as were not so well suited to their circumstances of mediocrity and equality. At that early period, when our forefathers were build- ing log houses, barns, and sheds for stables, and clearing new land, and fencing it chiefly with poles or brush, it has been said that a hearty, sincere good will for each other generally prevailed among them. They all stood occasionally in need of the help of their neighbors, who were often situated at some distance through the woods. Chronic ailments were not so frequent as at present ; which was, perhaps, in part omng to the wholesome diet ; brisk exercise, hvely manners, and cheerful and unrefined state of the mind. But acute disorders, such as fevers, in various degrees — those called "long fevers, dumb agues, fever-and-agues," — sore throats, and pleurisies were then much more common than now. The natural small- pox was peculiarly distressing — was mostly severe, and often mortal — and nothing strange that it should be so. The nature of the disorder being but little known, it was very improperly treated by the nurses, to whose care the management was chiefly committed. A hot room, plenty of bedclothes, hot teas, and milk punch, or hot tiff" were pronounced most proper to bring the eruption out, and to 290 Watson's account of make it fill well ; and the ehiel' danger was apprehended from the j^atient taking cold by fresh air or cold drink. This mode of ill-directed kindness produced scenes of afflicting distress ; nearly whole families being ill at once. Good friends and neighbors, both men and women, col- lected, affording their assistance by turns, often for several weeks. Rum was esteemed absolutely necessary for the sick, and nearly as much so for the attendants. A dram, either raw, sweetened, or with wormwood or rue juice, and chewing, but more commonly smoking tobacco, were used as antidotes against infections or offensive smells. A dram or the pipe amused the vacant time, and was supposed to be useful. As money was scarce, and laborers few, and business often to be done that required many hands, friends and neighbors were commonly invited to raisings of houses and barns, grubbing, chopping, and rolling logs, that required to be done in haste to get in the crop in season. Rum and a dinner or supper were provided on these occasions ; and much competition ex- cited in the exercise of bodily strength and dexterity, both at work and athletic diversions. Reciprocal assistance being much wanted was freely afforded and gratefully received, and notwithstanding the rude and unpolished state of mind and manners that may be expected to have prevailed in the first settlers in a wilderness country, and in a much more marked degree in those who succeeded after them, yet from their mutual wants and dependencies, the social and active ^dvacity of simple nature, and perhaps more than all these, from their hearty and honest zeal in a rehgious bias of the BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 297 mind, a kind and unaffected friendship formed a principal feature of their general character. Their equality of circumstances, similarity of views and pursuits, and union in religious and civil principles, and the acquisition of new acquaintances far from their former connexions, all tended to unite them in habits of sociability, and to form impressions of smcere regard. When false impressions, or indeed ignorance, have once so far gained ground as to influence general habits and customs on an erroneous principle, it requires much labor, and a long time to wear them out. This appears evident in. the use that is made of spirituous liquors and tobacco. It is probable the first settlers used these articles to ward off infection ; and spirits principally to prevent the bad effects of drinking water, to which they had not been accustomed in Europe. They imagined the air and water of this hot climate to be unwholesome. The immediate bad effect of cold water, when heated with exercise in summer, and the fevers and agues which seized many in the autumn, confirmed them in this opinion; and not having conveniences to make beer that would keep in hot weather, they at once adopted the practice of the laboring people in the West Indies, and drank rum. This being countenanced by general opinion, and brought into general practice as far as their limited ability would admit, bottles of rum were handed about at vendues, and mixed and stewed spirits were repeatedly given to those who attended funerals — " So fast the growth of what is surely wrong." 208 watson's ac'count of A concern arose among Friends on the subject, and a stop was pnt to tliis evil practice in a short time. I call it evil, because it produced effects that were hnrtnil in a high degree to individuals, and also to society in general. An act of Assembly was passed, prohiljiting the giving of spirits at vendues ; and though the law was not much regarded for many years, and the j)ractice continued, yet this mischievous and dishonest practice is almost wholly disused. In early times weddings were held as festivals ; probably in imitation of such a practice in England. Relations, friends, and neighbors were generally in- vited, sometimes to the amount of one or two hundred ; a good dinner was provided, and a hvely spirit of plain friendship, but rather rude manners, prevailed in the company. They frequently met again next day, and being mostly young people, and from under restraint, practised social plays and sports, in which they often went to an extreme of folly; but in those times such opportunities of pro- moting social acquaintance might be in some degree proper, though otherwise wrong. At births many good women were collected ; wine or cordial waters were esteemed suitable to the occasion for the guests : but besides these, rum, either buttered or made into hot tiff, was believed to be essentially neces- sary for the lying-in woman. The tender infant must be straightly rolled round the waist with a linen swathe, and loaded with clothes until he could scarcely breathe ; and. BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 299 when unwell or fretful, was dosed with spirit and water stewed with spicery. Thus it was that manners and customs were not yet reduced from the rude and unpolished practices of antiquity to the proper standard of use and jDropriety. A consider- able degree of roughness and rusticity of mind and man- ners prevailed, and for some time increased in the gener- ations that succeeded the first settlers. For this I shall call to view several reasons; first, the loose order of schools; the severe whippings and ferulings, which did not at all mend the matter ; the small stock of learning obtained; but more than all, the free use of rum at vendues, at frolics, and in hay-time and harvest. On all these occasions, quarrels and fist fights frequently hap- pened ; and in the lower class of people a high degree of ignorance and want of respect due to themselves or others prevailed ; so that much might be seen and heard that was low-lived in the full sense of the term ; and this was far from being limited to persons of small property only. When wheat and rye grew thick and tall on new land, and all was to be cut with sickles, many men and some women became dexterous in the use of them, and victory was contended for in many a violent trial ; sometimes by two or three only, and sometimes by the whole company for forty or fifty perches. About the year 1744, twenty acres of wheat were cut and shocked in half a day in Solebury. Rum w\as drunk in proportion to the hurry of business, and long intervals of rest employed in merry and sometimes angry conversation. 300 WAT son's account of The imposing uuthorily of necessity ol^ligcd tlie first settlers and their successors to wear a strong and coarse kind of dress ; enduring buckskin was used for breeches and sometinjes for jackets ; oznabrigs, made of hemp tow at Is. 4(1. per yard, was mucli used for boys' shirts; some- times flax, and flax and tow were used for that purpose, and coarse tow for trowsers; a wool hat, strong shoes, and brass buckles, two linsey jackets, and a leather apron, made out the winter apparel. This kind of dress continued to be common for the laboring people until 1750. Yet a few, even in early times, somewhat to imitate the trim of their ancestors, laid out as much to buy one suit of fine clothes as would have purchased two hundred acres of pretty good land. The cut of a fine coat (now antiquated) may be worthy of description. Three or four large plaits in the skirts — wadding almost like a coverlet to keep them smooth — cuffs vastly large up to the elbows, open below, and of a round form. The hat of a beau was a good broad-brinuned beaver, with double loops, drawn nearly close behind, and half raised on each side. The women in full mode wore stiff" whalebone stays, worth eight or ten dollars. The silk gown much plaited in the back ; the sleeves nearly twice as large as the arm, and reaching rather more than half way from the shoulder to the elbow — the interval covered with a fine holland sleeve, nicely plaited, locket buttons, and long-armed gloves. Invention had then reached no fiirther than a bath bonnet with a cape. Something like this was the fashion of gay people, of BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 301 whom there were a few, though not many in early times, in Buckingham and Solebury. But the whole, or some- thing like it, was often put on for wedding suits, with the addition of the bride being dressed in a long black hood without a bonnet. There was one of these solemn sym- bols of matrimony made of near two yards of rich black Paduasoy, that was lent to be worn on those occasions, and continued sometimes in use, down to my remem- brance. Several of these odd fashions were retained, because old, and gradually gave way to those that were new. The straw plat, called the bee-hive bonnet, and the blue or green apron, were long worn by old women. Notwithstanding the antique and rough dresses and unimproved habits and manners that obtained among the early settlers, yet an honest candid intention, a frank sin- cerity, and a good degree of zeal and energy in adhering to religious and civil principles and duties, generally pre- vailed among the more substantial part of them. The careful housewifery and strict domestic discipline of many honorable mothers, has had an influential effect down to the present time : so that whatever there may have been or that now remains as valuable traits of character, in the inhabitants of these parts of the country, is chiefly owing to the virtues of the first settlers, especially in those families (which are many) who remain to the present time. The first surveys in what was then called Buckingham were as early as 16 8- and the greater part were located before 1703. It is now not easy to ascertain who made the first improvement ; but most probably, from circum- 302 WAT son's ACCOUNT OF stances, it was Thomas and John Bye ; and George Pow- nall;'= Edward, Henry, and Roger Hartley, Doctor Streper, and William Cooper, came early ; Richard Burgess, John Scarbrough, grandfather of the preacher of that name, and Henry Paxon,f were also early settlers. John and Richard Lundy,J John Large, and James Lenox, and William Lacey, John Worstell, Jacob Holcomb, Joseph Linton, Joseph Fell, Matthew Hughes, Hugh Ely, and perhaps Richard Norton, came from Long Island about 1705. * George Pownall, with Eleanor, his wife, and children, Reuben, Elizabeth, Sarah, Rachel, and Abigail, arrived in the Ship " Friends' Adventure," 28th, tth mo., 1682. They were from Loylock, in the County of Chester, England. — Bucks County Registry of Arrivals. The same records registers the birth of a son of George and Eleanor .Pownall, 11th of 9th mo., 1682, and the death of George Pownall previously, on the 30th of 8th mo., 1682. There may be an error in the Registry, and 9th month may have been intended for 1th, and the record refer to the same individual ; or the George named in the text may have been the person whose birth is recorded, and the record of death that of his father, who arrived in 1682.— Editor. f " Hcnr)' Paxon, of " Bycot House, in the Parish of Stow," " in the County of Oxford," England, aged about twenty-seven years, came in the Ship ' The Samuel, of London,' and arrived middle of 7th mo., 1682 ;" his wife, brother Thomas, and son Henry, died at sea; his daughter Elizabeth, born about 5th of 9th mo., 1675, survived. He appears, on 13th of 6th mo., to have married Margery Plumley, of " Xcshaminey Creek." Registry of Arrivals. — Editor. I Richard Lundy, of Axminster, Devonshire, England, son of Sylvester Lundy, of same town, originally came to Boston, X. E., 6th mo., 1676; thence to Pennsylvania, 19th of 3d mo., 1682. He married, 24th of 6th mo., 1684, Elizabeth, daughter of William Ben- net, of Longford, Co. Middlesex, England, who arrived 8th mo., 1683. He is styled of " Glasenbery, Co. Bucks," Pennsylvania. — Registry of Arrivals. — Editor BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 303 The first adventurers were chiefly members of the Falls Meeting; and are said to have frequently attended it, and often on foot. In the year 1700, leave was granted by the Quarterly Meeting to hold a meeting for worship at Buckingham, which was first at the house of William Cooper (now John Gillingham's) . They soon after removed to the hoase of James Steiper (now Benja- min Williams') ; and in that time, and for some time after, some of those who died in the new settlement were buried on his land, I believe near the line in the old orchard, — others were taken to the Falls or Middletown. In a short time, they removed again, and held a meeting at Nathaniel Bye's, where his grandson, Thomas Bye, now lives. Doctor James Streiper then made a deed in trust to several Friends for ten acres of land to build a meeting- house on, and for a bur3dng-ground, with pri\dlege of roads five several ways or directions through his tract to go to it ; and on a clear grassy spot, on the west side of a path or road that went winding up the hill, they built a log meeting-house, near the lower side of the present graveyard. As their numbers increased rapidly, in the year 1710 they were united with Wrights town in holding a monthly meeting at that place; and at some time, when their log house was found to be too small, they built a frame house, a little further up. Before joining with Wrightstown (a period perhaps, with some of them, of twenty years), they are said to have been diligent in attending meetings for discipline, though at so great a distance. 304 WAT son's account of It is probable that about the time of building the first house, a graveyard was fenced in near by; this place might be preferred, because clear of timber and grassy, but it was wet in winter and very unsuitable. About 1720, Wrightstown and Buckingham were joined, to hold a monthly meeting alternately at each place; and perhaps about that time an addition of a stone house was made to the upper end of the frame building, to accommodate the women to hold their meet- ings of business. This arrangement continued until 1731, when a pretty large stone house was built, a little higher up the hill, and a stone addition at the upper end, one story high, for the women. Many Friends were then desirous of building on the spot where the meeting-house now stands, particularly Thomas Canby, Jun. He pur- chased a piece of land for the purpose of building at least on a somewhat better place than the old spot, to which the prejudices of some strongly attached them. In this house, in 1732, Friends of Buckingham first held a separate monthly meeting, and perhaps quarterly and general meetings. Friends at Buckingham Meeting, about that period, were greatly favored with a lively flow of Gospel ministry. Jacob Holcomb, John Scarbrough,* Samuel * "John Scarborough, of London, coachsmith, arrived in 1682, with his son John, then a youth, and settled in Middletown, Bucks County, among the first in those parts, where he remained about two years, and then embarked for his native country, having placed his son under the care of a Mend, with intention to bring over his wife and family ; having suifered much, by persecution for his religion, in England, being a Quaker, but he never returned. His wife, who BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 305 Eastbum, Joshua Ely, Benjamin Fell, Enoch Pearson, Edmund Kinsey, Abigail Paxson, Ehzabeth Fell, Phebe Ely, formerly Phebe Smith, Jane Bradfield, Ann Schol- field, were all ministers, and all of them at the same time members of Buckingham Meeting, except Jacob Holcomb and Abigail Paxson, who were deceased before my memory: all the rest I can well remember, about 1750 and 1751. John Scarbrough was frequent and generally large in his testimonies; as was also Isaac Child, who appeared at Plumstead when quite a young man. Nathan Preston and Thomas Vickers were ministers belonging to that meeting. In the space of time from the first improvement until 1730, perhaps a period of more than forty years, many circumstances and occurrences may be worthy of remark, and especially the difficulty of beginning in the woods. Building a house or cabin, and clearing or fencing a field to raise some grain, were the first concerns; procuring fodder for their small stocks was next to be attended to : for this purpose they cut grass in plains or swamps, often at several miles from home, stacked it up on the spot, and hauled it home in the winter. One of the first dwelling-houses yet remains in Abra- was not a Quaker, being unwilling to leave her native countrv, and persecution beginning to cease, he afterwards gave his possessions in Pennsylvania to his son, whom he had left in the province with a strict charge, when it should be in his power, to bo kind to the poor Indians, for the favors he had received from them : which his son faithfully observed and complied with, and is said to have been a worthy man and a good character." Proud, Yol. I., p. 222, 223.- — Editor. 20 30G watson's account of ham Paxson's yard on the tract called William Croas- dale's,* now Henry Paxson's. It is made of stone, and is dug into the earth, where there is a moderate descent, about twenty feet by ten or twelve. At the end fronting the southeast was a door leading into the dwelling-room for the whole family, where there was a sort of chimney ; and a door at the other end, also level with the ground, led into the loft, which must have been the lodging- room. Until a sufficient quantity of grain was raised for them- selves and the new-comers, all further supply had to be brought from the Falls or Middletown; and, until 1707, all the grain had to be taken there or to Morris Gwin's, on Pennepack below the Billet, to be ground. In that year, Robert Heath built a grist-mill on the great spring stream in Solebury. This must have been a great hard- s}iip^ — to go so far to mill for more than seventeen years, and chiefly on horseback. It was some time that they had to go the same distance with their plough-irons and other smithwork. Horses were seldom shod ; and blocks to pound hominy were a useful invention borrowed from the natives. After all their care and industry to provide for the winter, they must have struggled with many difficulties and suffered much hardship in passing over that tedious and rigorous season, when the snow was generally deep, and the winds piercing cold. Li 1690, there were many settlements of Indians in * William and John Croasdalc were the sons of Thomas and Agnes Croasdale. Thomas died in 1684, and Agnes in 1686. — Rcgidry of Arrivals. — Editor. BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURT. 307 these townships, — one on the lowland near the river, on George Po^\aiairs tract, which remained for some time after he settled there, — one on James Streiper's tract, near Conkey Hole, — one on land since Samuel Harold's, — one on Joseph Fell's tract, — and one at the great spring, &c. Tradition reports that they were kind neighbors, sup- plying the white people with meat, and sometimes with beans and other vegetables, which they did in perfect charity, bringing presents to their houses, and refusing pay. Their children were sociable and fond of play. A harmony arose out of their mutual intercourse and de- pendence. Native simplicity reigned in its greatest extent. The dijBference between the families of the white man and the Indian, in many respects, was not great, — when to live was the utmost hope, and to enjoy a bare sufficiency the greatest luxury. About 1704, several new settlers arrived; among whom was my great-grandfather, Thomas Watson. His certifi- cate is from Pardsey Cragg, in Cumberland, G. B., dated 23d, 7th mo., 1701. His wife was Eleanor Pearson, of Probank, in Yorkshire, and their two sons, Thomas and John. He first settled at a place then called Money Hill, near Bristol; -and settled finally, about 1703 or 1704, on Rosill's four hundred acres, in Buckingham. About the same, came Joseph Fell, Linton, Mat- thew Hughes, John Hill, Ephraim Fenton, Isaac Pen- nington, and Pickering. Thomas Canby, for several reasons, appears to deserve especial notice. His mother's brother, Samuel Baker, was 308 watson's account of one of the early adventurers; and soon after, return' ng to England, brought his nephew, Thomas Canby, then a lad, over with him. Being an orplian, his uncle became his guardian. He was bound by indenture to serve with him; in which they took the advice of the Quarterly Meeting. After he was free, he married and settled near Robert Fletcher's, in Abington. His first wife died, and he married a second wife. By these wives he had four sons and eleven daughters. The sons were Thomas, Ben- jamin, Oliver, and Joseph, who died in his minority. Several of the daughters married as follows : Sarah, to John Hill; Esther, to Stapler, after- wards to John White ; Phebe, to Robert Smith, afterwards to Hugh Ely; Elizabeth, to Thomas Lacey; Mary, to Joseph Hamton; Rebecca, to Samuel Wilson; Jane, to Thomas Paxson ; Martha, to James Gillingham, afterwards to Joseph Duer; Lydia, to John Johnson. Ann and Rachel died single. Thomas Canby removed and settled on a part of Lundy's tract in Buckingham, on which he built a stone house one story high, with a hip roof, now belonging to Joshua Anderson. This he sold to Samuel Blaker, and purchased Scarbrough's tract in Solebury, where his two sons, Thomas and Benjamin, built houses, having pur- chased of their father. This now belongs to Matthias Hutchinson and John Scarbrough. Thomas himself removed to Heath's mill, which he purchased in company with Anthony Morris of Philadel- phia. Here he married a third wife, and for some time carried on business at the mill. His son, OHver Canby, BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURT. 309 having that land and stream where the Brandywine mills are now erected, the old man removed there also; but returned back, and died at Solebury in the year 1742. He was a hvely, active man, of plain, sound under- standing, a good constitution, and qualified to carry on business with spirit. He maintained a strict discipline in his family; and it is remarkable, that nearly all his children were happily matched, and that many reputable famihes have sprung from him as an original ancestor. My great-grandfather, Thomas Watson, followed malt- ing in England ; but from original curiosity in his mind, he became acquainted with several of the books which were then in request in surgery, physic, and chemistry, and settling here, where no practitioner resided for many miles, he by degrees became in high esteem as a doctor. It is reported that he was very successful in setting broken bones, and curing scald heads, old ulcers, and dis- orders in general. He was the original inventor of the spicy anodyne called Watson's black drops, which is an excellent medicine. After his decease, which I suppose was in 1731 or 1732, his son, John Watson, with much better opportimity of acquiring medical knowledge, took his father's place as the only doctor for t^v^enty miles in every direction. He was much improved by an intimate acquaintance with Doctors Bond, Jones, Kearsley, Owen, and others, during sixteen years of his attendance as a member of Assembly at Philadelphia. He was possessed of an uncommonly sociable disposition and strong powers of mind; he pursued a rational method, and was very successful in his practice. He died in 1760. 310 watson's account of Tlioinus Watson, eldest son of Thomas Watson, died before his father ; leaving several children, who all died young, except John and Sarah. John Watson was sent to school, and procured a greater stock of learning than was common in those times. He became the deputy sur- veyor in this county, and by the force of a suitable docility of mind and quickness of perception, rather than from constant applicatiouy. he acquired among learned men the character of a great scholar. At the time of his decease, which was in 1761, he was employed in company with Purdie and Dixon in running the line between Penn- sylvania and Maryland. Being seized with the influenza, and having taken cold while in a fever, and in extremely hot weather he rode upwards of sixty miles in a day to William Blackfan's, where he died. Henry Paxson, not the same who is marked as a first purchaser also, but perhaps'his brother's son, was an early inhabitant (in 1729 or sooner). He had a large family of children, two sons, and eight daughters, who married to the following persons, to wit — Thomas Hartley, Matthew Beans, Henry Koberts, D. Doan, Joseph Duer, Timothy Beans, Jonas Preston, Thomas Paxson. His sons were Henry and Thomas. Samuel Wilson married Kebecca Canby ; they had four- teen children, one died young ; six sons and seven daugh- ters. The daughters married as follows : Joseph Eastburn, Jonathan Fell, Hugh Ely, Joseph Fell, Robert Kirkbride, Joshua Morris. These examples show what a great number of the present inhabitants have arisen from a few original stocks. BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 311 Samuel Wilson's children liave all been married, and are all living, except Thomas. While the land was fresh and new, it produced good crops of wheat and rye; from fifteen to twenty-five or thirty bushels per acre. It appears in an old account book of my grandfather, Eichard Mitchel's, who had a grist-mill and store in Wright's town, from 1724 to 1735, that his charges are as follows : wheat, from 3-5. to 4.s. ; rye, one shilling less ; Indian corn and buckwheat, 25. ; middlings, fine, 75. and 85. ; coarse, 4-5. 6cZ. ; bran, l-s. ; salt, 45. ; beef, 2c?. ; bacon, 4f?. ; pork was about 2d. Improved land was sold generally by the acre, at the price of twenty bushels of wheat. Thus, wheat, 2s. 6c?., land, 11. 10s. ; wheat, 35., land, 3Z. ; wheat, 35. 6cZ., land, 3Z. IO5. ; wheat, 55., land, 5Z. ; wheat, 75. 6f7., land, 7?. IO5. ; wheat, IO5., land, 10?. When provender could be procured to keep stock through the winter, milk, butter, and cheese became plenty for domestic use. Swine were easily raised and fattened. Deer, turkeys, and other small game, made a plentiful supply of excellent provision in their season. Eoast venison and stew-pies were luxurious dishes, which the hunter and his family en- joyed in their log cabins with a high degree of pleasure. Having generally passed over the era of necessity that attended the first settlement about 1730, and for some time before, they mostly enjoyed a pretty good Hving, were weU fed, clothed, and lodged ; and though all was in the coarse way, yet their fare was wholesome and nourishing, their clothes fine enough for laboring people. 312 WAT son's account of and no doubt they slept as sound on cliafT beds on the 'floor in the loft us tliey could have done with all the finery that the inventions of later days havo introduced. The domestic management that fell to the share of the women was generally well ordered. As soon as wool and flax were raised, they manufactured good linen of dif- ferent kinds and degrees of fineness, drugget, hnsey, worsted, &c., sufficient to clothe themselves and families ; were very industrious and frugal, and contented to live on what their present means afforded, and were generally well qualified to make the most proper use of what they had. Notwithstanding the engagements at home, and the difficulty of travelling in those early times, yet visits of friendship were frequent, not only to relations, but others. On these occasions, cider, metheglin or small beer, toast of light biscuit made of fine wheat flour, and milk, butter, cheese, custards, pies, made an afternoon's repast. Choco- late was sometimes used, and, in lack of other materials, the toast was sometimes made with rum and water. For common living, milk and bread and pie made the break- fast, the milk being boiled, and sometimes thickened in winter ; good pork or bacon, with plenty of sauce, a wheat flour pudding or dumplings, with butter and molasses, for dinner ; and mush or hominy, with milk and butter and honey, for supper. Pies of green or dried ajDples were the universal standard of good eating, especially with children. When milk, was scarce, small-beer thickened with wheat flour and an egg, or cider in that way, made an agreeable brealifast. BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 313 The new stone meeting-house being built about 1731, several stone dwelling-houses were built about that time and soon after; as Joseph Fell's, Thomas Canby's, John Watson'S;, Joseph Large's, and Henry Paxson's. Several frame houses were also built, enclosed with nice shaved clapboard, plastered inside. One of these yet remains standing on Thomas Watson's land, now John Lewis's. The boards for floors and partitions were all sawed by hand, and the hauhng done with carts and sleds, as there were not many, if any, wagons at that early period. Wheat was the principal article for making money. Butter, cheese, poultry, and such articles were taken to market on horseback. There were but few stores in the neighborhood, and those kept but few articles. Most of the original tracts were settled and improved before 1720; and, in 1730, the lands up the Neshamony and in Plumstead were settled ; and in New Britain by Welsh generally. Large fields were cleared and pretty well fenced; low and swampy land was cleared out for meadow ; and but little seed of any kind of foreign grass was sown, as the plough was seldom used to prepare for meadow; and red and white clover were only propagated by manure after they were first somehow scattered about on the new settlement. From 1730 to 1750, as the people were industrious, the land fresh and fertile, and seasons favorable, their labors were blessed with a plentiful increase : so that many plain dwelling-houses and good barns were built, convenient articles of household furniture were added by degrees; and by the means of productive labor, 314 WATSON S ACCOUNT OF moderate riches increased insensibly. The -wnnter of 1740-41 was very severe. The snow was deep, and lay from the latter end of December to the fourth of March ; and in the period above mentioned, there was generally more snow, and that lay longer on the ground through the winters than of latter years. Easterly storms of pretty heavy rain, lasting mostly two or three days, were also much more frequent. Northern lights, I believe, are not so common of late years as formerly ; but of this I am not certain. Houses for keeping school in were very few, and those poor, dark, log buildings ; the masters generally very un- suitable persons for the purpose ; and but little learning obtained at school. Schooling w^as twenty shillings a year, and tbe master boarded with the employers. Lidian corn, not being an article of trade, was not attempted to be raised in large quantities before 1750, nor until some years after. It was dressed by ploughing and harrowing between the rows, the hills all moulded nicely with the hoe when the corn was small, and, after ploughing, hilled up again with the hoe. For wheat? open fallows were preferred, which were generally ploughed three times during the summer; but in this way, unless corn and buckwheat had preceded, the blue grass, not being killed, became injurious to the crop. Hence, what was called double cropping became common : which is sowing oats on the corn-stalk and buckwheat ground, and then sowing wheat in the fall. This prac- tice eflfectually killed the grass and impoverished the land, large fields being sown and but small portions BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 315 manured. Liming answered a good purpose, wliicli kept the soil in better heart ; but, on the whole, wheat crops were on the decline, growing poorly in the fall, being eaten by lice or small flies ; and, in wet land, being frozen out by the winter. Mildew and rust sometimes destroyed it near the harvest. On all these accounts, spring grain was more cultivated ; and as horses, cattle, and pork, bore a better price, served in part to make up the deficiency. But the land generally suffered by a bad method of farming. Before this time, no cross occurrence happened materi- ally to disturb the general tranquillity ; every thing, both public and private, went on in an even and regular routine ; moderate wishes were fully supplied ; neces- saries and conveniences were gradually increased; but luxuries of any kind, except spirituous liquors, were rarely thought of, or introduced, either of apparel, house- hold furniture, or living. Farm carts were had by the best farmers. Thomas Canby, Richard Norton, Joseph Large, Thomas Gilbert, and perhaps a few more, had wagons before 1745; and a few two-horse wagons, from then to 1750, were introduced; and some who went to market had light tongue-carts for the purpose. These were a poor make-shift, easily overset, the wild team sometimes ran away, and the gears often broke. John Wells, Esq., was the only person who ever had a riding- chair. He and Matthew Hughes were the only justices of the peace, except Thomas Canby, who held a commis- sion for a short time ; and there were no taverns in the two townships, except on the Delaware, at Howell's and 31G WAT son's account of Coryell's Ferries (wliieli was owing probably to the dispo- sition and manners of the inhabitants), and but one dis- tillery a short time. The preceding account will apply with general pro- priety to the state of things until 1754, when a war began between England and France, concerning lands on the west and northwest of Pennsylvania. Colonel Wash- ington was defeated and taken prisoner on Wills's Creek ; and, in the ensuing summer General Braddock was de- feated and killed in that country. When the Indians attacked the frontiers of this province, four or five hun- dred thousand pounds were granted in a few years for the king's use ; money was also sent in from England to pur- chase provisions, and in general the war introduced a more plentiful supply of cash. Trade and improvements were proportionably advanced ; the price of all kinds of produce was increased, wdieat was from six shillings to a dollar a bushel, and a land tax was raised to sink the debt ; yet the burden was not sensibly felt, as there was such an increasing ability to bear it. As the quantity of cash increased during the war, so also there was a much larger importation of foreign goods. Bohea tea and coffee became more used, which were not often to be found in any farmer's house before 1750. Tea, in particular, spread and prevailed almost uni- versally. Half silks and calico were common for women's wearing; various modes of silk bonnets, silk and fine linen neckhandkerchiefs, in short, every article of women's clothing Avere foreign manufacture. The men wore jackets and breeches of Bengal, nankeen, fustian, BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 317 black everlasting, cotton velvet, as the fashion of the season determined the point, which changed almost every year. Household furniture was added to, both in quan- tity and kind ; and hence began the marked distinction between rich and poor, or rather between new-fashioned and old-fashioned, which has continued increasing ever since. The first beginning was by imperceptible degrees ; I believe tea and calico were the chief initiating articles. Tea was a convenient treat on an afternoon's visit, easily gotten ready at any time; and calico a light agreeable dress that would bear washing. On the whole, present calculation, on the first cast, decided against homespun of almost every kind, and in favor of foreign manu- factures, which were to be had in the city or country stores so cheaj) and often on credit. The subject of old and new fashion bore a considerable dispute, at least how far the new should be- intrgduced. Some showed by their practice that they were for going as far as they could, some stopjDcd half way, and a few, trying to hold out as long as they could, were not to be won upon by any means more likely to prevail than by the women, who had a strong aversion to appearing singular; so that at the present time, and for these twenty years past, there are but few men and fewer women left as perfect patterns of the genuine old-fashioned sort of people. The author of the preceding relic died recently, in Bucks county, at an advanced age. He was, as may be 318 watson's account of easily inferred from the text, one entirely unaccustomed to literary composition and of a defective education. Nevertheless, the amount of matter Which the piece con- tains, calculated to interest either the local antiquary or the student who delights in surveying that process by which a vigorous, intelligent, and industrious population is formed, constituting the strength of such a country as America, has led the Committee of Publication to con- clude on its insertion, in all the naif sincerity of the original. John Watson — for he was not, as may readily be sup- posed, a medical graduate — was a man of unquestioned moral character. His pretensions to the Esculapian art were of that species which are elicited by necessity in a new and remote country. He spent much of his time in doing good ; living upon his farm, and by no means con- fining his attention to the practice of medicine. His honest and well-earned reputation, as an upright citizen and a healer of differences, will long dwell in the memories of the substantial landholders of the district he describes. The Historical Society have long had it in view to collect monographic descriptions of the different counties and other important districts of our State. Besides the local interest, which, in a land where the whole population are lords, and where every plantation has been the scene of a recent and romantic adventure, must always exist to a powerful degree, such collections furnish abundant food to the philosophical politician, and a copious fund of materials to the future writer who shall prepare a his- torical and geographical accomit of our community. The BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 319 Committee earnestly hope that the example set by the publication of the foregoing will draw forth from many minds equally active with that of its author, but better furnished with the qualifications of a writer, those con- tributions which are desired. ^^^ The words sJiell and red-sliell, presumed to be a cor- ruption of the old mineralogical term shale, are familiarly used in the neighborhood to express a species of clay-slate, crumbHng into small parallelopipeds. The remarkable spring mentioned at page 291, rises in about the centre of a tract of land, containing six hundred and twelve acres, granted by the heirs of James Logan, for a Public Library. In 1192, upon the annexation of the Loganian Library to the Library Com- pany of Philadelphia, the property became vested in the latter insti- tution, upon the same trusts. These lands were leased for $155.55 per annum, and the lease expiring in 1861, it was renewed for one hundred and twenty-one years, at $1022.15 per annum. — Editor. BRIEF ACCOUNT DISCOYEEY OP ANTHRACITE COAL LEHIGH. BY THOMAS C. JAMES, M.D. Read at a Meeting of the Council, on the IWi of April, 1826. 21 ( 321 ) AN ACCOUNT DISCOVERY OF ANTHEACITE COAL, As the brief Account of the Discovery of the Anthra- cite Coal on the summit of the Mauch Chunk Mountain seemed to engage the attention of some of the members of the Historical Society, on one of the evenings of the The author of this sketch was born in Philadelphia, on ihe 31st of August, 1*166, and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, in 1781. In the winter of 1790, he went to Edinburgh, where he further pursued his studies, under Dr. Hunter ; and, after visiting England and Ireland, returned to Phila- delphia in the year 1793, about the period of the breaking out of the yellow fever-, during all its ravages many were the recipients of his kindness and skill. In 1811, he was elected to the Chair of Obstetrics, in the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, which he resigned in 1834. Dr. James had strong literary and poetic tastes, and for some years was the Editor of a Medical Journal. Highly regarded by his medical associates for his professional learning and skill, and by all for his many estimable qualities as a citizen and a raan, he died on the 5th of January, 1835, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. We are indebted for these facts to a Biographical Sketch by the late Mr. Tyson. (Society's Memoirs, Yol. III., p. 105.) — Editor, (3-3) 324 AN ACCOUNT OF THE meeting of their Council, and as it lias been thought worthy of preservation, the writer of tlie fcjllowing little narrative feels no objection to commit it, notwithstanding its imperfections, to paper, although the circumstances detailed occurred at such a distance of time as must plead an excuse for imperfect recollection. It was some time in the autumn of 1804 that the writer and a friend* started on an excursion to visit some small tracts of land that were joint property on the river Lehigh, in Northampton County. We went by the way of Allentown, and, after having crossed the Blue Moun- tain, found ourselves in the evening unexpectedly bewil- dered in a secluded part of the Mahoning Valley, at a distance, as we feared, from any habitation ; as the road became more narrow, and showed fewer marks of having been used, winding among scrubby timber and under- wood. Being pretty well convinced that we had missed our way, but, as is usual with those who are wrong, un- willing to retrace our steps, we nevertheless checked our horses about sunsetting, to consider what might be the most eligible course. At this precise period, we happily saw emerging from the wood, no airy sprite, but, what was much more to our purpose, a good substantial German-looking woman, leading a cow laden with a bag of meal by a rope halter. Considering this as a probable indication of being in the neighborhood of a mill, we ventured to address our inquiries to the dame, who, in a language curiously compounded of what might be called * Anthony Morris, Esq. DISCOVERY OF ANTHRACITE COAL. 325 high and low Dutch, with a spice of Enghsh, made us ultimately comprehend that we were not much above a mile distant from Philip Ginter's mill, and, as there was but one road before us, we could not readily miss our way. "We accordingly proceeded, and soon reached the desired spot, where we met with a hospitable reception, but received the uncomfortable intelligence that we were considerably out of our intended course, and should be obliged to traverse a mountainous district, seldom trodden by the traveller's foot, to reach our destined port on the Lehigh, then kno\\Ti by the name of the Landing, but since dignified with the more classical appellation of Lau- sanne. We were kindly furnished by our host with lodgings in the mill, which was kept going all night; and as the structure was not of the most firm and compact character, we might almost literally be said to have been rocked to sleep. However, after having been refreshed with a night's rest, such as it was, and taking breakfast with our hospitable landlord, we started on the journey of the day, preceded by Pldlip, with his axe on his shoulder, an implement necessary to remove the obstruct- ing saplings that might impede the passage of our horses, if not of ourselves ; and these we were under the neces- sity of dismounting and leading through the bushes and briars of the grown-up pathway, if pathway had ever really existed. In the course of our pilgrimage we reached the summit of the Mauch-Chunk Mountain, the present site of the mine or rather quarry of Anthracite Coal ; at that time there were only to be seen three or four small pits, which 326 AN ACCOUNT OF THE had niucli tlic appearance of the commencement of rude wells, into one of wliicli our guide descended with great ease, and threw up some pieces of coal for our examiner tion; after which, whilst we lingered on the spot, con- templating the wildness of the scene, honest Philip amused us with the following narrative of the original discovery of this most valuable of minerals, now prom- ising, from its general diffusion, so much of wealth and comfort to a great portion of Pennsylvania. He said, when he first took up his residence in that district of country, he built for himself a rough cabin in the forest, and supported his family by the proceeds of his rifle, being literally a hunter of the backwoods. The game he shot, including bear and deer, he carried to the nearest store, and exchanged for the other necessaries of life. But, at the particular time to which he then alluded, he was without a supply of food for his family, and after being out all day with his gun in quest of it, he was returning toAvards evening over the Maucli Chunh Moun- tain, entirely unsuccessful and dispirited, having shot nothing ; a drizzling rain beginning to fall, and the dusky night approaching, he bent his course homeward, con- sidering himself as one of the most forsalien of human beings. As he trod slowly over the gromid, his foot stumbled against something which, b}^ the stroke, was driven before him ; observing it to be hJciQlc — to distinguish which there was just light enough remaining — he took it up, and as he had often listened to the traditions of the country of the existence of coal in the vicinity, it occurred to him that this perhaps might be a portion of that "stone- DISCOVERY OF ANTHRACITE COAL. 327 coal " of which he had heard. He accordingly carefully took it with him to his cabin, and the next day carried it to Colonel Jacob Weiss, residing at what was then known by the name of Fort Allen. The colonel, who was ahve to the subject, brought the specimen immediately with him to Philadelphia, and submitted it to the inspection of John Nicholson and Michael Hillegas, Esqs., and Charles Cist, an intelligent printer, who ascertained its nature and qualifications, and' authorized the colonel to satisfy Ginter for his discovery, upon his pointing out the precise spot where he found the coal. This was done by acceding to Ginter's proposal of getting through the forms of the patent^office the title for a small tract of land which he supposed had never been taken up, comprising a mill- seat, on which he afterwards built the mill which afforded us the lodging of the preceding night, and which he after- wards was unhappily deprived of by the claim of a prior survey.t Hillegas, Cist, "Weiss, and some others, immediate!}^ after (about the beginning of the year 1792) formed themselves into what was called the " Lehigh Coal Mine Company," but without a charter of incorporation, and took up about eight or ten thousand acres of, till then, unlocated land, including the Mauch Chunk Mountain, but probably never worked the mine. It remained in this neglected state, being only used by the blacksmiths and people in the immediate vicinity, until somewhere about the year 1806, when William Turnbull, Esq., had an ark constructed at Lausanne, which brought down two or three hundred bushels. This 328 AN ACCOUNT OF THE was sold to tlic manager of the water-works for the use of the Centre-Square steam-engine. It was there tried as an experiment, but ultimately rejected as unmanageable, and its character for the time being blasted, the further attempts at introducing it to public notice, in this way, seemed suspended. During the last war, J. Cist (the son of the printer), Charles Miner, and J. A. Chapman, tempted by the high price of bituminous coal, made an attempt to work the mine, and probably would have succeeded, had not the peace reduced the price of the article too low for competition. The operations and success of the present Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company must be well known to the Society; the writer will therefore close this communi- cation by stating, that he commenced burning the An- thracite Coal in the winter of 1804, and has continued its use ever since, believing, from his own experience of its utiHty, that it would ultimately become the geneftil fuel of this as well as some other cities. T. C. J Philada., April Uth, 1826. The following shows the quantity of coal sent from Mauch-Chunk to Philadelphia by water in the years specified, viz. 16,000 bushels. 32,000 do In 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 80,000 230,000 500,000 516,236 do do do do DISCOVERY OF ANTHRACITE COAL. !29 In half the season, up to August 10th, 1826, there descended to Philadelphia 20,260 tons, equal to 567,280 bushels, which is a greater amount by 51,011 bushels than descended in the wlwle of the year 1825. During the last year, 750,000 bushels have been actually sold by the company, as the writer is informed by the secretary of the company. Note. — The subjoined table shows the tonnage of the Lehigh coal region from 1820 to 1863. YEAR. TONS. TEAR. TONS. 1820 365 1842 272,546 1821 1,073 1843 267,793 1822 2,240 1844 377,002 1823 5,823 1845 429,453 1824 9,541 1846 517,116 1825 28,393 1847 633,507 1826 31,280 1848 670,321 1827 32,074 1849 781,656 1828 30,232 1850 690,456 1829 25,110 1851 964,224 1830 41,750 1852 1,072,136 1831 40,966 1853 1,054,309 1832 70,000 1854 1,207,186 1833 123,000 1855 1,275,050 1834 106,244 1856 1,186,230 1835 131,250 1857 900,314 1836 148,211 1858 909,000 1837 223,902 1859 1,050,659 1838 213,615 1860 1,009,032 1839 221,025 1861 994,705 1840 225,318 1862 396,227 1841 143,037 1863 699,558 The total tonnage from the three anthracite coal fields amounted in 1863 to 9,420,135 tons. (See PotUviUe Miners Journal, of January 23, 1864.) The following additional particulars concerning the develop- ment of the coal region of the Lehigh, and which arc derived from 330 AN ACCOUNT OF THE a Mi'innir of Josiali "Wliito by ^Ir. S. W. KolK-rts, may bo found not uniiiterestinf^. " Experiments witli anthracite coal had been made at the wire- mill at the Falls, owned by Josiah AVhite, Joseph Gillingham, and Erskino Hazard; and when the Schuylkill Navij^ation Company was chartered, in 1815, Josiah White took a lively interest in the enter- prise ; but not being able to agree in opinion with the gentlemen who had the control of the company, he told them that he would have no more to do with it, and Avould go and set up a rival improvement upon the Lehigh. They ridiculed the idea, and thought that he was much more likely to ruin himself than to build up a rival to them. "Ycry liberal legislation was obtained, giving the control of the Lehigh River to Josiah White, Erskine Hazard, and G. F. A. Ilauto, with the powers of an internal improvement company. The first and second of the partners had long been associates and intimate friends. * * * A large body of wild lands, containing an immense amount of anthracite coal, having been purchased in the neighborhood of Mauch Chunk, operations were commenced in 1818 to improve the river and to start the Lehigh coal trade. It was found to be a much more serioiis and expensive undertaking than had been anticipated. The Lehigh is a large stream, having a great deal of fall, and a very rocky bottom. The channels were crooked and intricate, and the fall was so great that when the river was low there was no naviga- tion whatever. Messrs. White and Hazard were their own engineers. They waded in the stream ; they sounded the channels ; they took the levels of the rapids ; they directed the blasting of the rocks, the building of the wing dams, and the removal of the bars. But something more was needed to make a good descending naviga- tion, and this was effected by means of a system of flushing, called " artificial freshets." * * * The coal was then brought down the rivers Lehigh and Delaware to Philadelphia, in arks roughly built of white pine plank and boards, which lumber was sold after the coal was unloaded. These arks were nearly square, and several of them were fastened together in a line by means of iron hinges, so as to maJce a long flexible boat, which would float safely in rough water, and was steered by a long oar at each end. " By means of this descending navigation the LeWgh coal trade was started in 1820, two years in advance of that on the Schuylkill navigation ; and the coal continued to be carried in arks until after the Lehigh Canal was constructed and ready for use. The practical limit of the capacity of the descending navigation was found to be DISCOVERT OF ANTHRACITE COAL. 331 about 30,000 tons per annum, which was then considered to be a large trade. The consumption of lumber in building coal arks was very large, and numerous saw-mills were built to furnish it. The coal was hauled in wagons from the Summit Mines, then worked as an open quarry, to Mauch Chunk, nearly nine miles, on a turnpike road, built with a descending grade. The anthracite coal trade of Pennsylvania, thus started by Josiah White and his partner, Erskine Hazard, in 1820, when 365 tons were sent to market, has grown to the immense aggregate of 7,^00,000 tons in 1859, and it has conferred incalculable benefits upon the commonwealth. "As a large capital was required for extended operations, a charter was obtained in 1822 for the Lehigh Coal and T^avigation Company, and the rights of Messrs. White and Hazard were transferred by them to the new corporation for a large amount of its stock, they continuing to be its acting managers and engineers. In the spring of 182t, they laid a railroad, nine miles long, from the mines to Mauch Chunk, mostly on the bed of the old turnpike ; which was the first railroad in Pennsylvania, and the first in the United States, except a much shorter road from a granite quarry in Massachusetts. On the Mauch Chunk Railroad the loaded coal cars ran down to the river by gravity, and were hauled back when empty by mules. This pioneer railroad was considered to be a great curiosity, and attracted crowds of visitors to see it. "In 182T, after the railroad was made, the construction of the Lehigh Canal and ascending navigation was vigorously undertaken, under the supervision of Canvass White, who was a scientific civil engineer, and had been in charge of the construction of the eastern division of the Erie Canal of New York. Josiah White had much to do with the planning of the new works ; and he especially insisted on the locks being large, the canals wide and deep, and the bed of the river being used in many places for the boat channel. Thus the Lehigh Company was saved the enormous cost of a general enlarge- ment of its works, which has had to be encountered by so many other companies to meet the competition of rival lines. The canal from Mauch Chunk to Easton, forty-six miles, was opened in 1829." In a paper written by Mr. Erskine Hazard, entitled a History of the Introduction of Anthracite Coal, vol. ii., p. 155, of Memoirs of Society, some interesting facts are stated. — Editor. SOME EXTRACTS FROM PAPERS IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH. AT HARRISBURG, AND FROM OTHER DOCUMENTS. TRANSCRIBED BY REDMOND CONYNGHAM, ESQ. OP OARUSLE, AND COMMUNICATED BY HIM TO THE SOCIETY. Read at a Meeting of the Council, March 15, 1826. (333) SOME EXTEACTS, ETC. NOTES OF SOME PRINCIPAL OR CURIOUS EVENTS. 1682. William Penn visited Sliackamaxon, held fre- quent conferences with the Indians, and here laid the foundation of that regard and friendship which they ever afterwards evinced. It was by his residence in Sliacka- maxon (now Kensington), that he was enabled from actual observation to describe the Indian character. (See letter dated August 16th, 1683.) William Penn held his most important interview with the Indian chiefs under the shade of the great elm, on the 14th of October, 1682. 1746. Abraham Shalley, keep, r of the workhouse in the city of Philadel])hia, was paid by the government for dieting a Spanish friar sixty-three days. Many of the emigrants from England were induced to take their proportions of British purchasers on the west side of Schuylkill, thinking that the Schuylkill front would be found on experience the most safe and conve- nient; but the traders afterwards ascertained that the (335) S-^G 00 NTN Guam's historical notes. Delaware, on account of its size and dcptli, held forth much stronger inducements for settlement, and they, therefore, applied for an abatement in the price of their lands. 1749. It is remarkable that in this year there was but one house in Reading, and in 1752 it contained one hun- dred and thirty dwelling-houses, forty-one stables, anr], one hundred and six families, consisting of three hundred and seventy-eight persons. The rapid improvement of this town was owing to its eligible site on the Schuylkill as a place of trade. 1755. The settlement at Great Cove, in the county of Cumberland, destroyed by the Indians. 1757. William West authorized to establish a post be- tween Carlisle and Philadelphia once a week if practicable. 1757. Teedyuscung, on behalf of his Indian tribe, agreed with the Governor, as by the treaty at Easton, that AVyoming should be allotted to them for a residence, which it should not be lawful for them ever to sell, or for the proprietaries to bu}^ It was intended that King Teedyuscung and his Indians should hold and enjoy the lands during their lives, and their posterity after them. Houses were put up for them by order of government. 1760. March 17th. Snow fell four feet in depth. 1761. Garrison at Fort Allen discharged by order of the Governor. 1765. Episcopalians at Reading apply for a lottery to build a church. 1767. Presbyterians commence building a meeting- house in Lancaster ; they apply for a lottery to finish it. contngham's historical notes. 337 1768. In January, Frederick Stump and John Iron- cutter murdered ten of the friendly Indians near Fort Augusta. The following is a letter from the Indian chief: — "Loving Brother, " I am glad to hear from you — I understand you are very much grieved, that tears run from your eyes — with my blanket I wipe away those tears — if your heart be not at ease I will make it tranquil — now shall I sit down again and smoke my pipe — I hold one end of the chain of friendship — if my brother let go the other end I will let my end fall, but not until then — four of my blood have been murdered — let Stump die — your people are good — Stump only possesses the evil spirit — let then the people on Juniata remain at peace — danger is not abroad — the Red Men are at rest. " Your loving brother, " SHA WANA BEN." From the Big Island, to Capt. Patterson, at Juniata. 1767, Instances of Longevity. This year died Edward Norris, in Virginia, aged 103. He was seventy years pilot within the Capes. In Maryland, Francis Ange, aged 134 years. He re^ membered the death of Charles the First ; at the age of 130 was in perfect health; and at the time of his death his faculties were perfect ana memory strong. Died in Pennsylvania, aged 85, John Key. William 22 338 conynguam's historical notes. Penn gave him a lot of ground in compliment of his being the first born in the city of Philadelphia. This year was also remarkable for the mortality among horses, which prevailed throughout the British provinces. Bethlehem and Nazareth. In the year 1744, the Rev. George Whitfield, on his return to Pennsylvania from Savannah, was desirous of forming a settlement of free blacks in the interior of Pennsylvania, and he accordingly purchased two tracts of land, each containing four thousand acres ; but after having made the purchase, finding the white population mifriendly to his views, he disposed of the land to the United Brethren, who, in the year 1743, held worship in a stable erected by Whitfield, and from that circum- stance called the place Bethlehem. This tract is about one quarter of a mile wide on each side of the clear white waters of the Leehai. On the other tract they built a town called Nazareth, nine miles distant. The European settlers were in those days few and thinly scattered around them. Singular Rules Observed by the Moravians. The adult unmarried men, and boys upwards of twelve years of age, in the settlement of the United Brethren live mostly together in a house called " The Choir-house of the Single Brethren." Thus also the adult unmarried women, and girls upwards of twelve years of age, inhabit CONYNGHAMS HISTORICAL NOTES. 339 "The Choir-house of the Single Sisters." There are Choir-houses for widows and widowers. Marriages in the congregation of the United Brethren are made by general agreement, with the advice and approbation of the elders of the congregation. When- ever a Brother wishes to marry, he in the first instance signifies his intention to the elders. If they have no objection, his proposal is submitted to the Lot. If the question proves affirmative, and the sister proposed and her parents all give their aj^probation, the wedding is performed. At the baptism of children, both the witnesses and the minister bless the infant with laying on of hands. The pedilavium, or w^ashing of feet, is used by some, agreeably to the command of Christ, " Ye also ought to wash one another's feet." The most singular custom is the assembling of the con- gregation in their respective burying-grounds on Easter morning at sunrise, when the Litany is performed. The school at Bethlehem is for girls ; that at Nazareth for boys. The United Brethren are remarkable for their honest simplicity of manners, industry, economj^, and neatness in their habitations ; kind and affectionate to each other, living as brothers and sisters. They are considered a great acquisition to the province. *^* I have taken the above from documents in my possession. 340 conyngham's historical notes. INDIAN SPEECHES, ETC. 1. To Sir William Keith. 1724. Indian Chief. — " Father, when Onas landed, we formed perpetual friendship — he gave us land on the Brandy wine — we cannot take away our corn — the white men have sat down amongst it — they haVe stopt up the river — we are poor — we fish — we hunt — when the men hunt, the women and children take their bows and arrows and kill the fish in the shallow stream — the water is dark and deep — Father, we ask you to tell the white men to pull away the dams, that the water may flow — that the fish may swim." 2. Conoquiescon's Speech, in 1770. " "We delight not in war — we love peace — our people have been robbed and murdered, and no reparation — we receive wrong, and no reparation — if the aged warrior is silent the young will speak — revenge cannot be still — hurt those who hurt us — you told us we should fish and hunt in peace — open our eyes that we may see those good things." 3. A Cayuga Chief — 1771. " When in the wigwam, we think of 3'ou — we Know the road we have travelled and the path we have walked together — it is the road of love — it is the path of friend- contngham's historical notes. 341 ship — we have come in safety — we see the old Council Fire which was kindled by our fathers — it burns bright and clear — clear your eyes that you may see us — open your mouths — whiten your hearts — unfasten your ears — hearken — the first fire burned clear and bright — another fire has been kindled — but both are gone out and the path to our brothers was difficult to find — our fathers held the chain of friendship — evil men have tried to break it, but we hold it fast — we looked at "Wyoming — we saw white men from the rising of the sun — what do they do there ? — we did not give them the land — who are we ? — we are Shawanese, Delawares, Mohicans, Nantikokes, and Conoys — ^we gave the land to Onas — Onas gave us a Httle spot on which we might rest." STiaicana Ben spoke as follows : " We were told when we were tired of our land we might leave it ; we are tired, we wish to sell it. We are tired of the Big Island. Our tomahawks and our muskets are dark, — make them brighter. Some of us ' are old, — give them horses. Brothers, let us now go back in peace, as we have had our talk." Note. — The Cayuga warrior alludes to the settlement of the Yalley of Wyoming by people from New England. *;,.* The foregoing were copied from original manuscripts in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. 4. Council at Easton. 1759. October 11th. The Indian Chiefs and Governor Bernard and Governor Denny in Council. 342 CON YNG ham's historical notes. Moliawks, Oncidas, Oiiondagocs, Cajugas, Senecas, TuBca- roroes, Nanticokes, Coiioys, Tuteloes, Chugants, Delar wares, Unainines, Munseys, Mohicons, Wappingers. Teedyuscung. — "I called, — the Indians have come. Speak, and they will hear, — sit and talk. I will sit, hear, and see." Tohaaio, Chief of the Cayugas. — " I speak for the Cayu- gas, Oneidas, Tuscaroroes, Tuteloes, Nanticokes, and Conoys. A road has been opened for us to this Council Fire. Blood has been spilt upon that road, — by this belt I wipe away that blood. I take the tomahawk from off your heads." Nichas then spoke. — " Teedyuscung has said he is our chief, — we know him not. K he be our king, who made him so ? have you done it ? Say yes or no." j TagasJiata. — " We know not who made him our king." Assarandongucts. — " No such thing was ever said in our wigAvam that Teedyuscung was our king." Henry King. — "I speak for the Oneidas, Cayugas, Tuscaroras, Nanticokes, and Conoys. We say boldly he is not our king." Governor Denny. — " You say that Teedyuscung said he was your king, — he met us in the Council Fire at this place last year, — we considered him your representative, not your king, — he said he was not your king, — he called the Six Nations his uncles." Governor Bernard. — " I do not know that Teedyuscung is a greater man than any of your chiefs." Teedyuscung now spoke. — '' You placed us at Shamokin contngham's historical notes. 343 and Wyoming — ^you have sold that land — I sit like a bird upon a bough — I look around and know not where I may take my rest — let me come down and make that land my own that I may have a home forever." Gacernoi' Benny. — " We will settle matters." Nichas spoke. — " Settle matters — those things are in the dark — place them in the light — the proprietaries have our deeds, show them to us and we will know our marks." Governor Bernard then said he had something to say. Tagashata said, " One Governor at a time — we will not hear both speak." A deed being produced — Nichas again spoke. — "This deed we remember — we sold the land — the land was our own — all things are right." A member of the Pennsylvania Council then observed — " Teedyuscung asks us to make you owners of the lands at Wiomink and Shamoking — we have no power to sell those lands — your request shall be laid before the pro- prietary." Teedyuscung replied, " Onas will grant our request — ^we trust in him — we know him — he loves justice — we are satisfied." *;^.* The above is taken from a rough draught in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. 344 conyngham's uistorical notes. 5. "Warriors of Oneida to the Chief Warrior op Arahoctea, 1777. Sucknagearat, White Skin, and Ojestatara, Grass- hopper : — " Good news — great news — the EngUsh warriors who were to have made a wide road through the woods have fallen into a deer trap — this is war — those who hold up their heads like the pine of the wood are soonest laid low by the storm — it is true — it is right — we rejoice, it makes glad our hearts." 6. Warrior of Onondago to the Chief Warrior op Arahoctea. Telle wgwe ah ten, chief warrior of Onondago : — " Your voice has come upon our ears — your belt has brought the good news — we rejoice in your success — the English were strong but now weak — ^we rejoice — we knew they would fall — he held up his head above our warriors — he treated our brothers with contempt — he told us what he would do — he laughed at our brothers as little men. " He sent his warrior to Fort Schuyler — they held up their heads too high — too high — 'that they would trample all down before them, and at first sight of them the fort would vanish.' These high heads now lay low — pride is punished — ^it is right. contngham's historical notes. 345 " Brothers, we have sent your belt of good news to the Cayugas and Senecas — it flies on feet and on horse — it spreads far — it will reach Niagara — brothers, we have done, we wish you success." These foregoing were made to General Gates, on hear- ing of the capture of General Burgoyne. 7. Speech of Kiashuta, the Mingo Chief, at Fort Pitt, July Qth, 1776. ^^Brothers — I went to the great Council at Niagara — I was stopt at Cannywagoe — the General sent to the Red Men not to come ' till he should come from Detroit' — eight hundred warriors were with me at Cannywagoe — news came to our ears the Council Fire had gone out, but we went to Niagara — I opened my mouth — I had come far — I was weary — he told me — he could not sit — he could not talk. — Brother — We will not let the English through our hunting-grounds — should they attempt it — we raise the tomahawk — ^we sharpen our knives — I command the west side of the Ohio — no white man shall cross our hunting-grounds — if any mischief be done — lay not the blame on the old wild cat of the forest — but on the active fawn — blame not the aged warrior who is still, but the young who is like a kitten." Kiaschuta then turned to Captain Pipe, a Delaware Chief— "Be strong — be firm — be on your feet — darken not o 1 G C N Y N rni A M ' S HISTORICAL NOTES. your eyes — lot iliom sliine — tlirow not tlie tomahawk — raise not the knife — let the whites cut the string of friendship — but until they cut it we will hold it fust — we rejoice the Council Fire has not gone out — brother, we desire to keep the hatchet buried — we desire peace — I have had my talk — give me tobacco, I will sit and smoke." CONTRIBUTIONS THE MEDICAL HISTORY PENNSYLVANIA. BY CASPAR MORRIS, M.D. Bead before the Medical Committee, 5th Month, 22d, 1826. (347> CONTRIBUTIONS, ETC. Although it is with feelings of diffidence I have ventured this evening to address you, I shall not attempt to apologize, since it is done in the hope to form a start- ing point, and encourage others, better qualified than my- self, to come forward, rather than from any expectation of being able to contribute materially either to your instruction or amusement. From the many subjects demanding investigation, which have been allotted to us by the Society, I have selected one which is involved in much obscurity, and have collected such facts in con- nection with it as circumstances have placed in my power. Considerable difficulty must, necessarily, attend any attempt to elucidate the early Medical History of this country ; as but few physicians capable of transmitting to posterity an account of the diseases they were obliged to encounter and the means found most effectual to their relief, would be willing to forego the comforts and advan- tages of civilized society, to plunge into the dangers and difficulties attendant on an attempt to people the wilder- (349) 350 morris's contributions ness, and l)ring the forest under cultivation : and though, from peculiar circumstances attending the settlement of this colony, Pennsylvania seems to have enjoyed the gkill of several accomplished and well-educated physi- cians, I am not able to trace a single paragraph, now extant, in which they have attempted to detail either theory or practice, prior to the year 1740. It is true that the same rage for book-making did not then exist as at present, and no periodical journal offered its pages for short essays, such as men engaged in extensive practice can find time to compose : and most probably could we have access to private letters written to their friends at home, we might there find much information. For the facts contained in the following essay, I am indebted to traditionary report and notes made in desultory reading. From a letter kindly loaned me by my friend, Dr. James, received by him from John F. Watson, of Germantown, I have derived some hints with which he shall be credited as they are mentioned. Prior to the arrival of William Penn, in 1682, even tradition is pretty much silent; and I am not aware of there having been any regular practitioners of medicine among the Swedes.* Noah Webster, in his book on Pestilence, mentions that the winter of 1641 was * Among the Dutch on the Delaware, the names of two " practi- tioners of medicine" are mentioned in the early records ; but whether in our prcpcnt acceptation of the term they were "regular practi- tioners," we are not able to say. Vice-Director Alrichs, writing on the 25th of May, 1657, from Fort New Amstcl (now New Castle), to the " Commissioners of the Colonic on the Delaware," says, "Mr. Jan Costing, the surgeon, bath given in this annexed memorandum of necessary medicines, TO MEDICAL HISTORY. 351 very severe; and that the Swedes, and a colony from New Haven, who had settled among them, suffered very much in the following summer, but does not say what was the disease. In 1647, they again suffered from the influenza, which passed from the northern to the southern extremity of this continent, and is the first epidemic of the kind mentioned in our history. " Such as bled, or used cooling drinks, died ; such as used cordials, or more strengthening things, recovered for the most part." In the month of June, 1655, the whole continent was again which, he says, will not amount to much. lie requests that they will be sent out by the earliest opportunity."* In again writing to the same authorities, on the 10th of October, 1658,"}" he states, " William Van Rasenberg, who came over as Surgeon, puts forth sundry claims against the people whom he attended on the passage, inasmuch as his wages did not run at the time and on the voyage, and he used his own provisions. There were on board the ship considerable sickness, accidents, and hard- ships, in consequence of a tedious voyage. One hundred souls required at least a hogshead or two of French wine and one of brandy, and a tub of prunes had also to be furnished for refreshment and comfort to those sick of scurvy and suffering from other troubles through the protracted voyage ; for, from want thereof, the people became so low that death followed, which is a pretty serious matter. Here, on shore, I see clearly that the poor, weak, sick, or indigent, sometimes, have need necessarily of this and that to support them, which one cannot easily or will not refuse : though it be sometimes but a spoonful, frequently repeated it amounts to more than is sup- posed. The barber also speaks of a house which Master Jan occu- pied being too small for him ; he hath a wife, servant, and child or children also. If he hire, as he says, at the expense of the city, he shall be obliged to show a paper to that effect. People's words, * Documentary History of New York. Edited by E. B. O'Callaghan, M.D. Vol. II., p. 16. f Idem, 55. 352 morris's contributions vifslted ])y tlic epidemic catarrh, which was followed by other fatal diseases. " In the year 1668," says Webster, "appeared a comet with a stupendous coma; this was attended by an excessively hot summer, and malignant diseases in America." With William Penn there emigrated two Welsh gentle- men, Thomas Wynne and Griffith Owen, wdio appear to have been regularly educated to the profession ; and Wynne is said to have practiced in London. They were both members of the Society of Friends, and were much respected by their fellow emigrants : as we find them repeatedly noticed in the history of the times, and Wynne held the office of Speaker of the first Assembly of the freemen of the province. Some doubt exists as to whether they both located themselves in the city ; and I or what tliej verbally produce for their own profit, cannot be accepted." In a return for monies paid for the " Colonic," we find that between the 18th of November, 1659, and the 3d of November, 1662, William Van Rasenberg, Surgeon in the Colonic, was the recipient of twelve hundred and thirty-eight florins, as salary; and Evert Pietersen, styled " Comforter of the Sick," &c., of fourteen hundred florins ; and Arent Pietersen, who bore the same title, of one hundred and fifty florins.* In 1658, Alrichs writes, " Our actual situation, which is certainly very distressing, by an ardent prevailing fever, and other diseases, by which the large majority of the inhabitants are oppressed and broken down, besides that our " barber" (surgeon) died, and another well acquainted with his profession, is very sick."t Probably Costing is referred to as having died, and Van Rasenberg as having been sick. The latter was living in 1662, while the former, in 1660, is styled " late surgeon." — Editor. * Id. 179. t Hazard's Annals, 247. TO MEDICAL HISTORY. 353 am inclined to believe that Wynne accompanied his countrymen, who, allured by the resemblance which the tract of country now forming the townships of Merion and Haverford bore to their native hills, generally settled west of the Schuylkill. Though neither of them has left any account of his practice, we may be allowed the infer- ence, that with the exception of the occasional epidemics to be noticed, surgical, rather than medical skill, was had in requisition. Of one thing we are sure, that among the hardy sons of England's yeomanry, who had thus aban- doned the comforts of home for conscience sake, they met with few diseases the result of idleness or luxurj^ Gene- rally speaking, the colonists must have enjoyed good health, as we find Wynne taking an active part in politics, and Owen travelling in the neighboring colonies. The winter of 1697-8, seems to have been one of unusual severity, and the whole of the colonies again suffered from influenza ; which, to the north, put on the form (since so well known) of pneumonia typhoides. In the month of August, 1699, only seventeen years after the arrival of the proprietor and his first colonists, we find the city devastated by a malignant disease, which was productive of distressing mortality. It is noticed in the Journals of Thomas Chalkly and Thomas Story, Ministers of the Society of Friends. The latter was then on a religious visit to this colony, and soon after received the office of Master of the Eolls. He does not enter into any detail as regards the symptoms, but notices the number of deaths as at one time amounting to six or' 23 354 morris's contributions eight daily/'' The malignant nature of the disease may- be judged of from the fact that friends from the country were advised to come as little as possible into the city, though the time for holding the semi-annual meeting occurred during its prevalence : and it is noticed by the pious narrator, as an evidence of the superintending care of Providence, that during the session of the meeting, which continued several days, " the plague was stayed." By Isaac Norris, then a merchant in Philadelphia, it is noticed in his correspondence as the " Barbadoes Distem- per ;" though he says nothing of its being imported ;. and the only symptoms he mentions are vomiting and voiding of blood. The summer had been the hottest ever known, men having died suddenly from the heat, in the harvest field. The disease commenced in the beginning of August, and abated about the 22d of October, in which time two hundred and twenty persons had died. Dr. Wynne had been dead some years, and the practitioners during its prevalence must have been his son-in-law. Dr. * Story, in his Journal, records the event in the following striking language : "In this distemper had died six, seven, and sometimes eight a day, for several weeks, there being few houses, if any, free of the sickness. Great was the majesty and hand of the Lord ! Great was the fear that fell on all flesh I I saw no lofty or airy countenances, nor, heard any vain jesting to move men to laughter, nor witty re- partee to move men to mirth, nor extravagant feasting to excite the lusts and desires of the flesh above measure. But every face gathered paleness, and many hearts were humbled, and countenances fallen and sunk, as such that waited every moment to be summoned to the bar and numbered to the grave." (Janney's Life of Penn, Ed. of 1852, p. 404.)— Editor. TO MEDICAL HISTORY. 355 Edward Jones, who accompanied him in his emigration, and Dr. Griffith Owen, and perhaps his son, who com- menced practice about this time. Dr. Owen the elder lived till the year 1717: during the latter years of his life he seems to have relinquished the toils of practice to his son, and to have sought his pleasure in making short excursions with travelhng ministers, who notice him in their journals with great respect. Connected, perhaps, as much with the present as any other branch of investigation, permit me here to notice a fact which has not, heretofore, claimed attention. Among the gentlemen accompanying Wilham Penn on his first visit to this country was one of French extraction, who, proud to have descended from the family of the recluse of Port Koyal, and to bear his honored name, had devoted his time and fortune to the study of the abstruse sciences, among others alchemy and astrology. Soon after his arrival, having provided himself with the requisite appar- atus, he commenced the vain pursuit after that which has deluded so many, the Pliilosopher's Stone, and its neces- sary accompaniment, the Elixir Vitae. The result need not at this day be told; but among the simple inhabitants of Philadelphia he was regarded as one passing wise j and his secluded habits, joined to the verification of some trifling predictions he ventured to make from reading the aspects of the stars, induced the supposition, with some, that he had made the dire compact: and such was the strength of this impression that his house was regarded as the haunt of unquiet spirits, which reputation it bore till within a few months, when it was destroyed to make 356 morris's contributions room for more profitable tenants. His children kept an apothecary's store, in which they vended many articles the produce of their father's laboratory. About fifty years ago, an old man, who recollected the gentleman referred to, narrated to one of his descendants the forego- ing circumstances ; and, descanting largely on his benevo- lence, remarked, " Ah ! but he could well afford to be generous ; for, what was money to him who could turn lead into gold ?" Upon being asked how he knew him to possess the power, he replied, " Surely he should know, since he had not only seen, but j^ossessed, the gold so obtained." Here, however, as elsewhere, the time be- stowed on this vain pursuit seems not to have been thrown away ; for, in addition to the amusement it afforded to one placed above the necessity of manual labor, and the benefit derived from the useful products of his alembics, which, as before stated, were sold to the inhabitants, one of his sons, profiting by the knowledge derived from his father and his books, produced, if not the Elixir Vitae, a compound, styled " Golden Drops," as indicative of their value, to this day celebrated in some sections of the country ; and which, if we may credit one- third the stories told of it, has performed cures little short of miraculous ; and be the compound what it may, for it is still a nostrum in the possession of one of his descend- ants, is effectual to the relief of most diseases with which any members of the family, who have sufficient faith in its virtues, may be afilicted. In short, it is only cause of wonder that the court of death has not, ere this, been de- TO MEDICAL HISTORY. 357 populated, by the annihilation of some of his chief agents in the work of destruction. About the time of the death of Dr. Owen, in 1717, the medical faculty was reinforced by the arrival of Drs. I^earsley and Graeme, who, with the son of Dr. Owen and Dr. Jones, son-in-law of Wynne, aided by some two or three empirics (who amassed considerable fortunes), formed, I believe, the sole defence of the city and its neighborhood against the inroads of disease. Wearisome enough were the duties of these gentlemen, — the settle- ments wide scattered, the roads newly made, and the means of conveyance poor. Dr. Graeme seems to have possessed a large property. The house in which he is said to have resided must have been one of " the spacious and splendid mansions" mentioned by some of our older chroniclers. He occasionally retired to Graeme Park, a handsome seat in Bucks County.* Dr. Kearsley soon acquired the entire confidence of his fellow-citizens. During his life, he was active in procuring the erection of Christ's Church, one of the most venerable ornaments of our city ; and, at his death, in the year 1732, he founded and endowed the hospital for poor widows attached to the church. He left a nephew, also a physician, who became obnoxious to the resentment of the Whig Party, at the commencement of the Revolution, and was subjected to the cruel punish- ment of tarring and feathering, then occasionally resorted * For some notice of Doctor Graeme, see note at page 459.— Editor, 358 morris's contributions to; which so affected him as to cause insanity, which continued till his death. Early in the eighteenth century, there emigrated from England to Boston, a gentleman of the name of Zachary, who shortly after died, leaving an only child, Lloyd Zachary, then quite a hoy, to the care of his uncle who resided in Philadelphia, to which place he was removed, and where he acquired that education which enabled him not only to shine an ornament to his profession, but also to sustain a character unsullied by reproach. Upon the completion of his classical education, he was placed under the direction of Dr. Kearsley ; and, after acquiring all the medical information he could impart, sailed for Europe in the year 1723, where he spent three years, and returned to practice among his friends in Philadelphia. Pie was much beloved, and the interest he took in the hospital, of which he was first physician, is sufficiently indicative of his philanthropy. To it, whilst he was able, he devoted his time and talents, and at his death left it a handsome legacy in money and books, thus contributing to the establishment of one of the many noble charities for which our city is famed. For some years before his death he was afflicted with a paralysis, which carried him to an early grave much lamented. Cotemporary with these was the elder Shippen, who was born and received his entire education in this city, where he practiced during a long series of years. Nor must we pass in silence Dr. Thomas Bond, who, about the year 1734, emigrated from Maryland, fixed his residence in Philadelphia, where he soon acquked great reputation. He was associated with TO MEDICAL HISTORY. 359 Dr. Zacliary in the care of the hospital, and delivering clinical lectures to the few students of medicine which the city contained at the time of its establishment. There still remains to be mentioned a gentleman who practiced at the time now under re\dew, and who eminently de- serves the gratitude of all those who take pride in the scientific character of our cit}'. I allude to Dr. Thomas Cadwallader, the grandson of Wynne. Not satisfied with the information to be gained at home from the instruction of Dr. Jones, he spent some years in Europe, where he matured the knowledge previously acquired, and fitted himself for the distinguished rank he afterward held in the city and its vicinity. The urbanity of his manners, and his uncommon presence of mind, gained him many friends, and form the subject of many anecdotes still current among the descendants of the Welsh families in which he practiced. In the year 1740, he published an essay on the iliac passion, in which he recommends the use of mild cathartics and opiates, in preference to the drastic articles then generally employed. Unfortunately this, which is the first book on a medical subject printed in America, is now out of print, at least so far that I have been unable to procure a copy ; and I am indebted for the knowledge that it ever existed to an oration de- livered before the Charleston Medical Society, by the late Dr. Ramsay. But his claims to our respect do not rest here. Having, as before noticed, resorted to the Euro- pean schools for the perfection of that education com- menced under the auspices of Dr. Jones, he learned the inestimable importance of anatomical knowledge ; and 360 morris's contributions superior to that petty jealousy and de.sire to excel his fellow practitioners, which has too often cast a blot on the fair escutcheon of medicine, he resolved to impart the knowledge of the human structure to such of them as had not enjoyed the same opportunity with himself To this end, he took a house, which, from the location given to it by tradition, must have belonged to that distinguished patron of science, James Logan, in which he gave lessons in practical anatomy. Among others who availed them- selves of this opportunity was the elder Shippen, and it is most probable that he here acquired those ideas of the importance of the study, which induced him to press upon his son the propriety of making himself master of the science, in order to the establishment of those lectures he afterward so ably delivered. The city seems occasionally to have suffered from the prevalence of natural small-pox, and consequently some means for arresting its ravages early claimed attention ; and, in 1731, inoculation was fairly introduced, after having struggled against the fears and prejudices of the people during nine years. Many attempts were made during this time to overcome the opposition, but ineffect- ually. Newspaper essays, and even sermons, were pub- lished, denouncing the practice as irreligious — evidencing a distrust of the care of Providence. J. F. Watson, in his MSS., quotes the sermon of a gentleman of the name of Maskelyne, in which he calls it " an unjustifiable art, and an infliction of an evil, implying a distrust of God's overruling care, to procure a possible future good." About the year 1730, it seems, however, to have triumphed, and TO MEDICAL HISTORY. 361 we find Kearsley, Zachary, Cadwallader, Sliippen, and Bond engaged in the practice. J. Growden, Esq./'' was the first patient of note who gave it his countenance, by submitting to have the virus inserted into his own system ; and the first visit paid by the ex-president Jefierson, then a lad, to our city, was in order" to receive the variolous infection, and he lodged in a small cabin on the bank of the Schuylkill, while labor- ing under the disease. f In the 3^ear intervening between December, 1729 and '30, theie were interred in the city two hundred and twenty-seven persons of various sects. An account of the number oi births during the same period would be an interesting document. In February, March, and April, 1727, there appears from the bi'ls of mortality to have been an unusual number of deaths, though I have not been able to find any reference t^ the prevalent disorder; and in 1732 the whole country again suffered from epidemic catarrh ; in 1736-7 the city was afflicted by the occurrence of ulcer- ated sore throat. Some time in th^ year 1740, Dr. Graeme was appointed, by the governor, physician to the port, and was required to attend the crews of unhealthy vessels. In the follow- ing year Dr. Zachary was appointed to the same station by the Assembly. TUs gave offence to the governor and council, who confirmed the former appointment of Graeme, and forbade Zachary to act. * Watson's MSS. f Ibid. 3G2 morris's contributions The winter of 1740-41 was very severe, and the suc- ceeding summer the city was visited by a disorder which Noah Webster calls the American plague, and Dr. Boni says was yellow fever, but supposes it to have been intro- duced by a sickly ship-load of convicts from the Dullin jail. Previous to this it had been the practice to dis- tribute sick emigrants among the inhabitants, at vhose houses they received that attention their forlorn situation demanded. In this way, jail or ship fever was frecpently communicated to the families with which they were quar- tered (or it was so thought at the time), and about this time a " Peste house "was erected on League Island.* In 1747 Webster says the city again was visi^.ed by the " Bilious Plague," preceded by influenza, which very fre- quently prevailed over the whole continent. The citizens frequently suffered from bilious remittent fevers, particularly while the dock remained open. This was a creek, running from near the centre of the city plot to the Delaware, following the course of Dock street ; and was navigable at high tide so far as Chestnut and Fourth streets. At low water, however, its maddy bed was left exposed to the sun, and emitted a most noxious effluvium ; and Dr. Bond asserts that fewer ounces of bark were taken after its closure than pounds before. As a pre- ventive and cure for miasmatic diseases and their sequelae. Dr. Bond lauds highly the mild chalybeate waters which abound in the neighborhood of the city; and by his * Watson MSS. [This is a mistake ; it was erected on Province, afterwards called Slate Island, at the mouth of the Schuykill. — Editor.] TO MEDICAL HISTORY. 363 directions they were much resorted to, both by conva- lescents and those who wished to escape the " bleaching ague." Many facetious stories are told of the impositions that were practised upon those who, too unwell to walk to the springs out of the city, were directed to particular wells as possessing equal virtues. These springs seem early to have claimed attention, and were thought by the first settlers to equal the most celebrated spas of Europe. So early as the year 1722, the one now known as the Yellow Spring, in the Great Valley, was discovered, and much resorted to. There was one in the neighborhood of the Wind-gap in the Blue Mountain, which on the early maps of the State was called the Healing Spring, and marked by the representation of a number of tents pitched round it. There was another, situate near Bris- tol ; and in the Watson MSS. one is noticed, situate near where the Globe Mill now stands, which received the patronage of AVilliam Penn, who caused accommodations for visitors to be erected, and hoped to see a village collect round it, which in anticipation he named Bath.'^ Having thus sketched a few rough notices of such facts as have come to my knowledge in reference to the Medical * These were probably the waters to which Penn alludes in his letter to the Free Society of Traders, 16th 6th mo., 1683. " 3. The waters are generally good ; for the rivers and brooks have mostly gravel and stony bottoms, and in numbers hardly credible. We have also mineral waters, which operate in the same manner, with those of Barnet and North Hall, not two miles from Philadel- phia." Those who may feel curious on the subject of the mineral springs in Pennsylvania, we refer to "Watson's Annals, I., 489, Ibid, II., 463. — Editor. 364 morris's contributions, etc. History of the Province, prior to the year 1750, I now submit tliem to your consideration, in the hope, as before stated, to elicit further information. Our subsequent his- tory may be more easily determined, and should not some one more competent to the task step forward, shall form the subject of a future communication from the author of the preceding. NOTICES OF NEGRO SLAVERY, 'as CONNECTED WITH PENNSYLVANIA. BY EDWARD BETTLE. Bead before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 8th mo., Vh, 1826. (365) NOTICES, ETC/ "We trust we shall not indulge hopes too sanguine, if we should now anticipate, that by the united labors of our Society, Pennsylvania will receive that illustration of her annals, character, and resources, which has so long been due to a State whose history in many important features is unique, and whose moral conduct exhibits lessons the most instructive, and examples the most encouraging, of active practical benevolence, and the posi- tive application of the principles of Christianity to the administration of human affairs. When we look at the history of Pennsylvania, as ex- hibited in the various important advances made by her citizens towards meliorating the condition of the oppressed and injured of the human race, and the relief of the miseries which crime has brought upon our species, our recollections are far more exalted and enduring than if we could boast our descent from the most illustrious * For a short biographical notice of Mr. Bettle, see Appendix, Note III. (367) 368 settle's notices of warriors and heroes whose names have been emblazoned on the historic page. A century and a half have now nearly elapsed since the great sage and lawgiver of Pennsylvania landed on her shores, and gave the first impulse to that spirit of Christian philanthropy which has ever since continued, amid the wars and miseries of the old world, to shed its light and diffuse its warmth from the sanctuary of our native soil ; and it is not the mere vaunt of egotism or the idle declamation of a contracted mind to assert, that from the humble and unpretending efforts of this youth- ful member of the commonwealth of nations have arisen many of those plans of benevolence which are now adopted and zealously prosecuted by the most enlightened philan- thropists of all countries. The axiom, that the object of all good government is the freedom, order, and happiness of the governed, is now considered so self-evident and undeniable, that we may hardly be able sufficiently to appreciate the great merit of William Penn in proclaiming the sound and compre- hensive doctrines contained in his charter, bill of rights, and great law, at a period when the most profound states- men held and promulgated far different ideas of the triie and proper constitution of government. In contemplating the character of Penn and his noble views and plans of melioration, we perceive for the first time an attempt to found a government upon the basis of practical Christianity, desiring no other end than the welfare of those who might live under its happy influence ; we find a man the personal friend and acquaintance of a NEGRO SLAYERT 3C9 despotic prince, and under a charter obtained from him founding a government recognizing the equal rights of all its citizens, educated in times of religious intolerance and persecution, and himself a severe sufferer for conscience sake, when invested with power, granting to such as differed from him in sentiment, nay, even to his oppressors, perfect freedom of religious opinion and practice. We find him who was educated in a country where a sanguinary code of laws made the awful doom of death the indiscriminate punishment for the petty thief and the dehberate murderer, and at a time too when such a change was certain to be pronounced a visionary innova- tion, advocating and adopting that sj'^stem of graduated and mitigated punishments which has since received the sanction of the wisest and best of his successors. Sound judgment, comprehensive and enlarged pohcy, unbroken faith, and unsullied probit}^, formed in her early days the prominent characteristics of Pennsjdvanian government; and, much as they may have been aber- rated from, by many of her succeeding rulers, the influence of this early example has been powerfully operative upon her character and actions from that day to the present. It is, however, beside our object at this time to expatiate upon the conduct of Penn and his coadjutors, in the prosecution of the ennobling designs to which we have alluded; our view is simply to show that from a government and people recognizing such principles and doctrines, and, in the midst of darkness and ignorance, displaying such vivifjdng Hght and knowledge, we might 24 370 settle's notices of riglitfully expect to see a cordi.al and active support of all measures calculated to relieve the miseries of mankind. Under this view of the character of the founders of our State, we might with safety anticipate that humane sym- pathy, that powerful and impressive precept, and that prompt and active exertion in relation to the oppressed sons of Africa, which it is the object of the present sketch briefly to delineate ; and we propose now to consider the exertions of Pennsylvanians previously to the year 1770, and to make her subsequent history, from that time to the present, the subject of another memoir. It is not necessary in this State to urge arguments to show the total hostility of slavery to Christianity, reason, and the unalienable rights of mankind ; but it behooves ever}'^ Pennsylvanian to speak forth his honest abhor- rence boldly, and his manly indignation loudly, into those ears which are professedly open, but it is feared virtually and practically shut, to the appeals for liberty, right, and justice, of a large portion of the inhabitants of a comitry whose Constitution is founded upon the prin- ciple that liberty and the pursuit of happiness are mi- alienable rights which we receive from God, and of which no earthly power can ever rightfully dispossess us : and we trust it will be shown that, as Pennsylvania early stood forth as an advocate of this deeply-injured class of humanity, so will she now, from the known opinions of her citizens, from her local situation, and from her moral influence in our confederacy, be compelled to take a decided and prominent attitude, and to proclaim and sup- NEGRO SLAYERT. 371 port the sacred rights of man, regardless of the ridicule of the unprincipled, or the mercenary calculations of those with whom human flesh and sinews, and tobacco, cotton, and sugar, are equally legitimate oljjects of traffic. How can im^ as citizens of the United States, remain silent, unconcerned spectators of an American slave-trade within our borders, in our capital city, the boasted centre of free government, — a traffic, the wretched objects of which are bred for sale as regularly as horses and cattle, and whose treatment whilst on their way to market and when in the field of labor is scarcely upon a par with our beasts of burden. This is no highly wrought picture of gone-by days, but the hourly experience and practice of the present time. Upon a comprehensive \dew of the subject, we think it may be asserted boldly, and without fear of contradiction, that the worst slavery, the most total prostration of the rights of man, and the most entire degradation of the image of God, are exhibited in the bondage of the negroes. This is the slavery which is not only practiced and tolerated, on the plea that it is an entailed and un- avoidable evil, but is absolutely defended in the House of Representatives of the freemen of the United States, as being consistent with Holy Scripture, and with the mild religion of our Eedeemer. Negro slavery has been com- pared to the bondage of the Hebrews and Romans ; but there is no parallel, scarcely a remote analogy between them. The slavery of the Hebrews was as the submis- sion of sons to their fathers ; the slaves formed part of one common household, of which the patriarch was the 372 bettle's notices op kind paternal licad ; ili(;y labored in common with his own ofispring, they tended liis flocks wdth his own sons and daugliters, they were protected by special ordinances of the Jewish law, and at the expiration of fifty years, there was a manumission of all sla\'cs, and every one was entitled to land and money from their masters : and, in addition to this, there was that most important of all differences, viz., that Hebrew slavery was not hereditary. Even this mild kind of bondage extended no further than to those who were actually purchased by the master; their offspring were free, and instead of the heart-sicken- ing certainty of the American slave, that the oppression under which he suffers will be perpetuated, j)erhaps in an aggravated form, to his. latest posterity, the Jewish bonds- man saw in prospective for his offspring liberty, and per- haps honor and happiness. Among the Romans, if a slave exhibited talents and became distinguished for his mental powers, he generally obtained his freedom; and many of the most illustrious poets, statesmen, and warriors of Rome were freedmen.* To compare then the kind and paternal government of the Hebrew slave, his certain prospect of obtaining an honorable freedom, or the hope of the Roman servant, who felt within his breast the energies and ambition of a powerful mind, to that dull, heartless, and oppressive reality, which sits like an incubus upon the breast of an American slave, that never to him shall the light of freedom dawn, or the present abjectness of his condition be changed for his * See Stephens' Slavery of British West India Colonies, Yol. I., pp. 43, 44, 51, 64, &c.— Editor. NEGRO SLAVERY. 373 rightful station among the inhabitants of the earth ; to compare the two prospects together, is to contrast the occasional overcast of bright day with the impenetrable gloom of starless midnight, or to equal the whispers of hope to the sullen silence of despair. To hear such argu- ments as these proceeding from the source whence they have emanated, is a bad omen ; it looks like a deliberate design not to meliorate, and finally by degrees to abolish the evil, but rather, in the face of former professions, to perpetuate forever this open and palpable infringement of the very unction and spirit of our free institutions. We affect great sjmipathy for enslaved Spain, we profess much commiseration for degraded Italy; nay, we even reprobate the Holy Alliance, for not undertaking a crusade in favor of the quondam land of science and of song, and are almost ready ourselves to assist in driving the barbarians from her soil : but what avails this pro- fession ? Do not all our vaunts of republicanism and free government amount to sheer mockery and insult to the name of religion, justice, and liberty, so long as a large number of the States of our confederacy continue the American slavery and slave-trade. We are well aware that this is a subject of a momentous nature, fraught with difficulty and embarrassment, and eminently deserving calm, dispassionate, and mature con- sideration ; and we would be very far from recommending, nay, even desiring, the immediate abolition of slavery — in proportion to the magnitude of the evil will be the tardiness and difficulty of its eradication — but we do insist that no excuse whatever can be made for the hreed- 374 bettle's notices of ing system, for the American slave trade, and for the ex- tension of slavery to neio and uncoQitaminated soih, for the total deprivatian of tlie negroes by law of literary, moral, and religious instruction, and that the State governments are bound to take some prospective measures, however slow in effect and remote in final executicn^, to clear our land from so foul a stain on the national character. We frequently hear from those engaged in slavery strong expressions of abhorrence of the practice, and great desires for the abolition of the evil. It is believed that in many instances these professions are true and sincere, and we rejoice in the existence of such feelings ; but we think we th^j be allowed to question their general verity, when we see, even in those States where there is least excuse for the permanent continuance of the evil, an anxious desire to defile w^ith slavery new j)ortions of our territories, and a steady adherence to their former cruel and degrading pohcy, without one solitary prospec- tive glance at melioration, or one act which has the most remote bearing upon its abolition, but rather an increasing disposition to quench inquiry and discussion upon the subject. We shall not, however, at present, say more on these points, but proceed to our narrative. In order to give a clear idea of the relative period at which slavery was first opposed in Pennsylvania, it may perhaps be proper to take a cursory review of the origin of the African slave trade, and of the opposition it encoun- tered up to the year 1688. The infam}^ of being the first who brought the mis- erable sons of Africa as slaves from their native soil NEGRO SLAYER Y. 375 attaches itself to the Portuguese, who, as early as 1481, built a castle on the Gold coast, and from thence ravaged the country, and carried ojBf the inhabitants to Portugal, where they were sold into bondage.* In 1503 slaves were first taken from the Portusruese settlements in Africa to the Spanish possessions in America ; and from that time to 1511, large numbers were exported to the colonies of * " Guinea supplied black slaves to the Moors of Africa, to redeem 'their countrymen made prisoners by Alfonso V. of Portugal : this first originated the slave trade in 1442. Commences in West Indies, ISlt ; in Virginia, 1620 ; first effort for its abolition made by Gran- ville Sharpe, 1772; petition of the London Common Council against it, Feb. 1, 1788; resolution of the Commons to take it into consider- ation in the next session, May 9, 1788; motion of Wilberforce against it lost, March 17, 1791; its gradual abolition voted, April 26, 1792; motion of Wilberforce negatived, April 3, 1798; Canning's attempt to prohibit it in Trinidad fails. May 27, 1802 ; the act for its abolition receives the royal assent, March 25, 1807." — Bosse^s Index of Dates, Bohn's Library, Articles, "Guinea," and "Slave Trade." "To the honor of Denmark be it spoken, the slave trade was abolished by her five years before England performed that act of tardy justice to humanity." — Twelve Months' Resid. in W. Indies, by R. R. Madden, M. D., vol. ii., 128. "At length, in the year 1279, Magnus became King of Sweden, and the eleven years of his reign, with thirteen of that of his son — during which the government, on account of his minority, was con- ducted by an able minister — formed the period of the greatest improvement in its earlier history. * * * His son Birger being but eleven years old when he succeeded to the throne, the government was administered by a regent, during thirteen years, with Avisdoni and vigor; and in the interval it was enacted,* among other legis- lative reforms, that no man should thenceforward be bought or sold." Mille7-'s Philosophy of History, vol. ii., 355, Bohn's edition. — Editor. * " The influence of Christianity in producing this ordinance appears from the reason assigned in the law, that it was not just that one Christian should sell another, since Jesus Christ had purchased all with his blood." — Fuffend., p. 109. 37G settle' S NOTICES OF Spain by pcriiiission of King Ferdinand V. After his death, the proposal was made to the Regent of Spain, Cardinal Ximencs, by Las Casas,* Bishop of Chiapa, to establish a regular commerce in African slaves, under the plausible and well-intentioned, but fallacious pretext of substituting their labor in the colonies for that of the native Indians, who were rapidly becoming exterminated by the severity of their labor and the cruel treatment of their Spanish masters. To the immortal honor of Car- dinal Ximenes, he rejected the proposition on the ground of the iniquity of slavery itself in the abstract, and also the great injustice of making slaves of one nation for the liberation of another. The Cardinal appears, therefore, to have been the first avowed opponent of this traffic in men.f * It is said that Las Casas' proposal was first acted on in Cuba in 1523-4, at which time three hundred negroes were introduced from Spain. — Ansivers of Senor , of Havana, to Questions addressed by R. R. Madden, 31. D., London, 1840. But Bancroft (vol. i., p. 169) says that it was not Las Casas who fi'st suggested the plan of transporting African slaves to Hispaniola. There is no doubt, how- ever, that such a proposal was made by him. See the documents brought to light by Quintana. The proof is so full, from his own writings and other authentic documents not difficult of access, that it would be quite out of place, and would take too much space, even to refer to them here.— ^-Quintaiia, vol. iii., p. 467, as cited by Madden. •{■ " It is in vain to deny that Las Casas committed this most lamentable error (his suggestion in favor of the importation of African slaves into Cuba), as many have asserted, and amongst others, the Abbe Gregoire. Quintana has produced the original documents in which this suggestion is made by Las Casas ; but they who claim Las Casas for an advocate of the slave trade are little aware that he himself, heartily repenting of his proposal, condemns it in his own history (lib. iii., chap. 101), and in his own words: 'Because they (the negroes) had the same rights as the Indians.' NEGRO SLAVERY. 377 After the death of this prelate, the emperor, Charles V., in 1517, encouraged the slave trade, and granted letters patent for carrying it on ; "''' but he lived to see his error and most nobly renounced it, for he ordered and had executed a complete manumission of all African slaves in his American dominions. About this time Pope Leo X. gave to the world this noble declaration : " That not only the Christian religion, but nature herself cried out against a state of slavery." In the year 1562, in the reign of* Elizabeth, the English first stained their hands with the negro traffic : Captain, afterwards Sir J. Hawkins, made a descent on the African coast, and carried away a number " When the Episcopal dignity was conferred on him, on reaching his see, the first use he made of his pastoral power was to deny the sacraments to all those who held slaves and refused to give them up, and those who bought and sold them. * * * In the latest pro- duction from the pen of Las Casas he confesses the grievous fault he had fallen into, and begs for the forgiveness of God in the most con- trite terms, for the misfortunes he had brought on the poor people of Africa by the inadvertence of his counsel, and this confession (says his historian) of his error, so full of candor and contrition, should disarm the rigor of philosophy, and hold his benevolent disposition absolved before postezity. Let him, whose philanthropy is without fault, and whose nature is superior to error, cast the first stone at the memory of the venerable Las Casas." — Poems hy a Slave in the Island of Cuba, and to which are prefixed two pieces descriptive of Cuban slavery and the slave traffic, by K. R. Madden, M. D., London, 1840, pp. 152, 155.— Editor. * "In 1511 Charles granted a patent to one of his Flemish favor- ites, containing an exclusive right of importing four thousand negroes into America. The favorite sold his patent to some Genoese mer- chants for 25,000 ducats, and they were the first who brought into a regular form that commerce for slaves between Africa and America, which has since been carried on to such an amazing extent." — Robertson, I. p. 321. — Editor. 378 bettle's notices of of the natives, whom lie sold to the Spaniards in Ilis- paniola ; and, although censured by the queen, it appears that he still continued to prosecute the trade.* The French commenced this business about the same time, although Louis XIII. gave the royal sanction Avith re- luctance, and only when soothed by the delusive pretext of converting the Africans to Christianity. In 1G45 a law was passed by the General Assembly of Massachusetts, |)rohibiting the buying and selling of slaves, except those taken in lawful war or reduced to servitude for their crimes by a judicial sentence; and these were to have the same privileges as were allowed to Hebrew slaves by the law of Moses.f In 1713 the Legislature of Massa- chusetts imposed a heavy duty on every negro imported into the State. The next in order amongst those worthy and enlight- ened men, who were the very early opponents of slavery, is the founder of the Society of Friends, George Fox. This pious Christian visited Barbadoes in IGTl, and whilst * See Holmes' Annals, I., p. 101, where he refers to Hakluyt, I., pp. 521, 522, for an account of this voyage. Hawkins says Stow (Chron. 807, quoted by Holmes) died in 1595, " as it was supposed of melancholy." — Editor. ■f In this year a I'emarkable instance of justice to a negro, in exe- cution of this law, occurred in Massachusetts. He had been fraudu- lently taken and brought from Guinea, was demanded of the pur- chaser by the Government, and the Court " resolved to send him back without delay." Perhaps this circumstance has led our author into the error of fixing this 3^ear as the date of this Act. It was part of the hundred laws, called the Body of Liberties (Winthrop's Jour- nal, 237), established by the General Court of ^Massachusetts, in 1641. — See Holmes' Annals, I., 317, 335. Edition of 1805, and the authorities cited. — Editor. NEGRO SLAVERY. 379 there advised such of his brethren as held slaves to teach them the principles of reUgion, treat them mildly, and after certain years of labor set them free.* Contemporary with George Fox was William Ednmind- son, who was a worthy minister of this society, and who also was a fellow traveller with Fox in Barbadoes.f Being brought before the Governor, on the charge of teaching the negroes Christianity, and thereby causing them to rebel and destroy their owners, he made an answer which we quote entire, — as it strongly shows that the same kind of clamor against giving negroes instruc- tion which at present exists upon the same plea, that it would be inconsistent with the safety of their masters, has existed from the very beginning; and the answer which this worthy man gave to the slaveholders of that day is admirably adapted to those of the present time.J In reply to the charge recited above, he says, " That it was a good thing to bring them to the knowledge of God * Further particulars respecting George Fox's advice concerning slaves, will be found in a series of papers prepared for the " Friend," by Mr. Nathan Kite, entitled " Antiquarian llesearches among the early Printers and Publishers of Friends' Books," Vol. XYII. — Editor. f Edmundson twice visited Barbadoes, once in 1671, and once in 1615. It was during his second visit that the events referred to in the text occurred. — Gough's History, III., 61. Edmundson's Jour- nal, p. 85, Edit, of 1114.— Editor. 1 " The earliest instances of such inconsistent persecution was in the Island of Barbadoes, in the year 1616, and to the honor of that truly amiable sect of Christians, the Quakers, their charity and liberality furnished the first opportunity for it by their singular and probably then unprecedented attempt to impart their own religion to the negroes." — Stephens' Slavery of West Indies, I., 234. — Editor. 380 bettle's notices of and Christ Jesus, and to believe in him who died fcjr them and all men, and that this would keep them from rebelling and cutting any person's throat; Ijut if they -did rebel and cut their throats, as the Governor insinuated they would, it would be their own doing in keeping them in ignorance and under oppression, in giving them liberty to be conunon with women like brutes, and on the other hand in starving them for want of meat and clothes con- venient; thus giving them liberty in that wdiich God restrained, and restraining them in meat and clothing."* In 1G73, Richard Baxter, and, in 1G80, Morgan God- wyn, both clergymen, wrote forcibly against slavery.^ From 1680 to 1688, it does not appear that any public opposition to slavery was made; and, as the last-men- tioned year was an important era in the history of Penn- sylvania, as connected Avith this subject, we shall now proceed to embody the comparatively scanty and imper- fect materials which we have been able to collect. Soon after the first settlement of Pennsylvania, a few slaves were introduced from the West Indies ; and the practice was in some degree tolerated by Friends, as well as the other early settlers of the province, on the pretence of a * After the Quakers, " The Moravians, that humble and zealous sect of Christians, next entered on this desolate field. They sent missions to the Antilles so early as 1732, and prior to 1T87 had resident ministers in Antigua, St. Christopher, Barbadoes," &c. (Stephens^ Slavejy of West Indies, I., 237.) He quotes a planter as follows : " Since the Moravians have been established at St. Croix the treatment of the negroes has been more humane. The masters are very glad to have them go to the Moravians." — Editor. f Godw^ni also published a supplement to his " Negroes' and Indians' Advocate," in the following year. — Editor. NEGRO SLAYERT. 381 scarcity of laborers. The number imported, or the precise manner in which they were introduced, we have not been able to learn ; the evil, however, soon became so obvious and increasing, as to excite the attention of the Society of Friends ; and we may here remark that in the succeeding pages we shall often have occasion to notice the labors of this body of Christians. To the influence of their precept and example, to their moral weight in the community, and the untiring zeal and activity with which they prosecuted this work of bene- volence, are mainly to be attributed the abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania. About the year 1682, a number of persons of this society emigrated from Krieshiem, in Germany, and settled themselves in Pennsylvania ; and to this body of humble, unpretending, and almost unnoticed philan- thropists belongs the honor of having been the first asso- ciation who ever remonstrated against negro slavery. In the 3^ear 1688, they presented a paper to the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia, then held at Burlington, as appears by a minute of that meeting, protesting against the buying^ selling, and holding men in slavery, as incon- sistent with the Christian religion.* The Yearly Meeting then determined that, as the subject had reference to the members of the society at large, before resolving defini- * " A paper being here presented by some German Friends con- cerning the lawfulness and unlawfulness of buying and keeping negroes ; it was adjudged not to be so proper for this meeting to give a positive judgment in the case, it having so general a relation to many other parts, and therefore at present they forbear it." Extract from the Minutes. 382 bettle's notices of lively on any measure, time should be allowed f(jr its mature consideration. We have used many endeavors to obtain a copy of this highly interesting document; but are sorry to believe that neither the original nor the copy is in existence * We cannot, however, pass from this paper without pa}'ing a small tribute of admiration and gratitude to these early and dignified friends of human freedom and happiness. With the information now so generally diffused in regard to the total hostility of slavery to religion and the rights of man, we cannot perhaps fully appreciate the enlightened views and clear discernment, which enabled these humble individuals to proclaim doctrines and prin- ciples so much in advance of the received opinions of the age ; for at that time, as has been before remarked, negro slavery was a far less appalling and extended evil than at present. Even by many philanthropists it w^as esteemed rather a blessing than a curse, and was encour- aged on the plausible pretence of meliorating the con- dition of the Africans themselves, by imbuing them with Christianity, and dispelling their mental darkness and gloom ; and, by the comparative mildness of their treat- ment, some countenance was given to these delusive opinions. In the midst then of mitigating circumstances, did these worthy men, taking the abstract principles of rioht and wrong for their guide, and possessing a manly sense of the rights of their fellow creatures, proclaim to the world that, while they emigrated to enjoy their OAvn * See note on page 412, at the end of this article. — Editor. NEGRO SLAVERY. 383 liberty, they were willing to extend its blessings uni- versally. In 1696, several papers from the subordinate meetings having been read, the Yearly Meeting, after deliberation, issued this advice, — " That Friends be careful not to encourage the bringing in of any more negroes ; and that such as have negroes be careful of them, bring them to meeting, and have meetings with them in their families, and restrain them from loose and lewd living, as much as in them lies, and from rambling abroad on first days." In this year also, George Keith and his friends, who had seceded from the Quakers, pubhshed a paper on the subject, containing some very sound and cogent argu- ments. They asserted that the negroes were men, the common objects, with the rest of mankind, of redeeming love ; that they had been taken by violence from their native land, and were unjustly detained in bondage ; and finally, that the whole institution of slavery was con- trary to the religion of Christ, the rights of man, and sound reason and policy. The next efforts in favor of the negroes were made by the founder of our State.* A mind so liberal, expansive, and benevolent as his could not be indifferent to a subject of this highly interesting character; and, from the first introduction of slaves into Pennsylvania, he appears to have been desirous of improving their condition. Accord- ingly, in 1700, he introduced the subject to the monthly * For an interesting review of Penn's opinions upon slavery and the growth of his convictions upon the subject, see Dixon's Life, pp. 301, 302; Phila. Ed., 1851.— Editor. 384 bettle's notices of meeting of Pliiljidelphia, and the following minute was made by that body, viz. : — " 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 especially for the good of their souls, and that they might, as frequent as may be, come to meetings on First Days ; upon consider- ation w^hereof, this meeting concludes to appoint a meet- ing 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." These resolutions having been adopted without diffi- culty by his ow^n immediate friends, he proceeded in his work of benevolence, and endeavored to secure a proper treatment of slaves among all descriptions of persons by a legislative act. As a preliminary to further measures he was anxious to improve their moral condition, and by degrees to fit them for liberty and happiness ; and accord- ingly introduced into the Assembly a bill " for regulating negroes in their morals and marriages," and also a bill " for the regulation of their trials and punishments." To the great astonishment and chagrin of the worthy governor, the first of these bills was negatived, and his humane intentions for the present defeated.* This unexpected result is attributed by Clarkson, in * " His latest action in the colonial legislature was in behalf of the poor negroes." — Dixon's Life of Penn, p. 330. — Editor. NEGRO SLAVERY. 385 his Life of Penn, to various reasons, viz. : the hostility which then prevailed in the Assembly to all projects emanating from the executive — the jealousies which existed between the province and territories — the influx of emigrants of a lower tone of moral feeling than the first settlers of the colony, and the diminution of Quaker influence in the Assembly; the executive council, com- posed wholly of members of this society, having concurred with Penn in proposing the bill. The same causes appear to have been in operation for several years after ; and we accordingly find a degree of severity and rigor in the legislative enactments of 1705, entirely at variance with the humane policy of Penn and with the benevolent laws of a very few years later date. The law of 1705 was entitled " an act for the trial and punishment of negroes." The act provided that negroes convicted of heinous crimes, such as murder, manslaughter, burglary, rape, &c., should be tried by three justices of the peace and six freeholders of the vicinage ; that the punishment of death should be awarded to such offences ; that any negro convicted of carrying arms without his master's consent, should, on conviction before a magis- trate, receive twenty-one lashes; and finally, that not more than four negroes should meet together without their master's permission, on the penalty of receiving any number not exceeding thirty-nine lashes, on conviction before one justice of the peace. This law was intended as a substitute for William Penn's act of 1700, for the " trial and punishment of negroes." In this same year a 25 386 bettle's notices of law was passed to prevent the importation of Indian slaves, under penalty of forfeiture to the governor; and also a bill laying a duty on all negroes imported into the province. In 1710 a law of similar character was en- acted. In 1711 the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia, on a representation from the Quarterly Meeting of Chester, that the buying and encouraging the importation of negroes was still practised by some members of the society, again repeated and enforced the observance of the advice issued in 1696, and further directed all mer- chants and factors to write to their correspondents and discourage their sending any more negroes. This year also is memorable in the annals of Pennsyl- vania, on account of the passage of a bill entitled, "An act to prevent the importation of negroes and Indians into tlie province" "We have not been able to obtain a sight of this highly important and interesting document. It is doubtful in- deed whether a copy of it is in existence, as it was repealed in England, directly after its passage, by an order of council. The loss of such a law is the more to be regretted, as it evinces a striking alteration of temper and feeling in the Legislature since the enactments of 1705, a change which can only be attributed to the exertions of the friends of freedom, and the influence of more enlightened public opinion ; and as a further e\ddence that the minds of many of the citizens of Pennsylvania were alive to this interesting subject, and anxious to prevent the further growth and increase of what they NEGRO SLAVERY. 387 began already to exj^erience as a serious evil, we find, in 1712, that, undismayed by the repeal of the non-importa- tion law of the preceding year by the court of England, a petition, " signed by many hands," praying for a duty to discourage the further importation of negroes, was pre- sented to the Assembly, and after mature consideration, a bill laying the then enormous duty of twenty pounds per head was passed, which well-intentioned and effective law shared the same fate in the English council as the act of 1711. We may here take occasion to observe, that all the designs of the early legislators of Pennsylvania to improve the condition of her citizens, and to substitute, for the oppressive policy^ of the old world, a more free, humane, and happy condition of things in the new, were rendered void through the repeal, by English orders of council, of all such laws as had these noble and excellent designs in view. This circumstance will account for the little subsequent notice taken of the subject by the Legis- lature of our State, with the exception of a few laws, which we shall soon mention, from this period up to 1770. Our intervening history will be principally con- fined to the exertions of the Society of Friends and of private individuals. In 1712, a petition was presented to the Assembly by William Southeby,* praying for the total abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania; on consideration, the House * William Southebj had been a resident of Maryland, and a Roman Catholic. In 1696, he wrote papers against slavery. A sketch of his life, by Mr. Nathan Kite, will be found in XXYIII. Yol. of "The Friend," pp. 293, 301, 809.— Editor. 388 bettle's notices of decided that the prayer of the petitioner could not be granted. In the years 1715-17-21-26 and 29, diflerent laws were passed, laying duties on negroes ; these, with a bill of 1725-G, entitled an act for the better regulating of negroes in the province, are all the notices of the sub- ject that we have been enabled to find on the votes of the Assembly up to 17G1. The hostility of the English government to any supposed encroachment on the trade of the country, even in human flesh, appears to have been sufficient to prevent any further attempts to abolish this cruel traffic. Though the law of 1725-6, for the better regulating the negroes, contained some harsh provisions, it provided that the existing duty on negroes should be increased to 10?. per head; the third section obliged a master, on manumitting his slave, to give security that he should not become chargeable to the county ; the fifth section enacted that no minister or magistrate shoidd marry a negro with a white person under penalty of 1001. , and that no negro be more than ten miles" from home, without written permission from his master. In 1761, we find the last effort made to check the importation of slaves previous to 1770. In this year, remonstrances were presented to the Assembly from a large number of the inhabitants of Philadelphia, repre- senting the mischievous effects of the slave-trade, and praying for such an increase of the duty on negroes as might effectually check further importation. After much debate in the House, and altercation with the Governor, a bill increasing the impost was passed. In 1768, this NEGRO SLAVERY. 389 bill, having expired by its limitation, was re-enacted. Thus much for the acts of Assembly.* To return to an earlier period. In the year 1712, the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia addressed an epistle to the Yearly Meeting of Friends in London, stating that for a number of years they had been seriously concerned on account of the importation and trade in slaves, and of the detention of them and their posterity "in bondage without any limitation or time of redemption from that condition;" that the meeting, by its advice, had en- deavored, and in some degree succeeded in discouraging the traffic ; yet, that as " settlements increased so other traders flocked in among them over whom they had no Gospel authority," and that the number of negroes was thereby greatly increased in the province ; they desired that the London Yearly Meeting would consult with Friends in the other colonies who were more engaged in * The following is a list of all the Acts, prior to the Revolution, and is somewhat fuller than that in the text. They arc those of 1Y05, ino-11, 1712, 1115, nn-18, 1120, 1722, 1125-6, 1129, nei, 1168, and 1113, — which last was made perpetual. The Acts of date subsequent to 1105, are but modifications of the one of that year ; for, when through the bigoted policy of the mother country, a repeal took place, another, so soon as expediency allowed, was passed by the Assembly. The objection on the part of the superior authorities was not because of the spirit of some of the provisions of the Acts, which might have been better, but sprang from a determination to force upon the Province an institution to which it was averse. Our author mistakes in supposing a law was passed in 1111 ; that to which he alludes, but regrets he has not seen, was the one of 1112, of the main feature of which he seems to have been aware. A fuller reference to these enactments will be found in a note, at p. 415. — Editor. 390 bettle's notices of slaveliolding than those in Pennsylvaniti ; that in this matter of so general importance, a union of oi)inious and practice might be obtained; and furtlier desiring the advice and counsel of English Friends in the case. These requests were acceded to, as appears by the epistle from Pennsylvania to London, in 1714; which states, that they^iindly received the advice of English Friends upon the subject, and were one in opinion with them, " that the multiplying of negroes might be of dangerous conse- quence," and that, therefore, a law was obtained in Penn- sylvania, imposing a duty of 20?. a head upon all imported, but the queen had been pleased to disannul it ; that they heartily wished that some means could be dis- covered of stopping the further importation, and desired the influence of the society in England with the govern- ment there, to endeavor to prevail on the queen to sanc- tion such further anti-slavery laws as the Legislature of Pennsylvania might ado^^t. They furtlier stated that they did not know of any Friend w^ho was concerned in importing negroes from Africa, and concluded by desiring the Yearly Meeting of London to continue its advice and assistance to Friends in the other slaveliolding colonies. Tn 1715 and 16 and 19, advice was issued by the Yearly Meeting of Pennsylvania, strongly urging that Friends should not only dechne importing, but also purchasing, when imported, any slaves; and that those who had them in possession, should treat them with "humanity and a Christian spirit," and endeavor to instruct them in morality and the principles of religion.* * For the several protests of the English Friends, against the importation and holding of slaves, from 1T2G to 1T61 inclusive, see NEGRO SLAVERY. 891 The next laborer in behalf of the negroes whom we shall have occasion to notice, is Ealph Sandiford. He was descended from a respectable family in Barbadoes, and was educated as a member of the Episcopal Church, by a pious tutor, probably in Great Britain. On emigrat- ing to Pennsylvania, he joined the Society of Friends, and soon began to direct his attention towards the con- dition of the black population. He rejected many advan- tageous propositions of pecuniary advancement, as they came from those who had acquired their j)roperty by the oppression of their slaves, and appears to have been very earnest and constant in his endeavors to prevail both on the members of his own religious society, as well as his friends generally, entirely to relinquish the practice of slaveholding. In 1729, he appeared as a pubUc advocate of the blacks, by publishing a work, entitled " The Mystery of Iniquity, in a Brief Examination of the Practice of the Times," which he circulated at his own expense wherever he deemed it might be useful. We have never read the essay, but the author is represented to be a man of talents and unquestioned probity, and the work as every way worthy of him. In the words of Clarkson, " it was excellent as a composition. The lan- guage was correct. The style manly and energetic, and " Extracts from the Minutes and Advices," &c., printed bj James Phillips, in 1Y83 ; and an Epistle, in 1763. — Annual Epistles from the Yearly Meeting in London, p. 213. Baltimore, 1806. In this year, 1718, appeared "An Address to the Elders of the Church," by William Burling, strongly condemnatory of slavchold ing. " The same year," says Benjamin Lay, " I was convinced of the same 'hellish practice.'" — Editor. 392 bettle's notices of it abounded with facts, sentiments, and quotations, which, while they showed the virtue and talents of the author, rendered it a valuable appeal in behalf of the African cause." For some expressions in reference to his breth- ren, which he supposes woidd be considered severe, he apologizes, by saying that they were wrung from him by his intense feeling of the magnitude of the oppression, with which he was sometimes so impressed that " he felt as if the rod had been upon his own back."* In 1730-35-3G and 37 the Yearly Meeting of Philor delphia was informed by some of its subordinate branches, that though the imputation of negroes had been aban- doned by members of the Society, yet that some still per- sisted in buying them when imported : the meeting, there- fore, in these respective years, issued advice enforcing the minutes made upon the subject on former occasions, and strongly recommending to the Monthly Meetings (who are the executive departments of the Society) to be diligent in cautioning and admonishing such of their members as might give cause of offence. In 1737 the Quarterly Meetings were directed to furnish in their reports at the next Annual Meeting a succinct statement of the actual practice of their members in this respect. In 1738, in answer to this requisition, and also in the years 1739 to 1743, it appeared that the members who continued to purchase slaves w^ere constantly decreasing. We shall next notice that early, honest, but over-zealous * See the interesting memoirs of Sandiford and Lay, by Roberts Yaux. NEGRO SLAVERY. 393 opponent of the bondage of men, Benjamin Lay.* He was an Englishman by birth, brought up as a seaman, and after pursuing that occupation for several years, settled in Barbadoes; but the wretchedness and misery which he there witnessed, and the heart-rending scenes of cruelty and oppression, of which he was a daily observer, so affected his sensitive mind as to induce him, a few years afterwards, to quit the Island and emigrate to Pennsyl- vania. Here he likewise found the evil he so much shunned and abhorred, but in a far different and much mitigated form. He regarded slavery, however much disguised and quahfied, still as a "bitter draught," and reprobated the practice with the same zeal and license of language which he had used in attacking West India bondage; and from his eccentricity of manner and too great warmth of expression, he is thought to have been less useful and influential than he otherwise might have become ; yet he was a man of a strong and active mind, of great integrity and uprightness of heart, and one who no doubt acted from what he conceived to be the dictates of his conscience ; hence we can most justly forgive his intemperate words and actions, and regard him as an early, honest, and active friend of oppressed humanity. In 1737 he published his treatise "on slave-keeping," a work evincing talents and considerable force of ex- * In the xxix. vol. of " The Friend " will be found sketches entitled Early Anti-Slavery Advocates, prepared by Mr. Xathan Kite. These embrace the lives of William Burling, Ralph Sandiford, and Benjamin Lay ; in which last two some errors into which their former biographer has inadvertently fallen will be found corrected. — Editoe. 394 bettle's notices of pression, tliougli liable to the oLjections to which we have above adverted. This essay he distributed gratuitously, and was particularly anxious to have it introduced into schools, in order to awaken the sympathies of those who were about entering into active life. He also solicited and obtained interviews upon the subject of slavery with the governors of several of the States; and, in short, to the time of his death, which occurred in 1760, in his 80th year, he was constant and untiring in his labors. In 1754 the Yearly Meeting of Pennsylvania printed and circulated a letter of advice to its members, remind- ing them of its often expressed and well known will upon the subject of bu3'ing slaves, and urging some cogent arguments to show the anti-christian nature of the traffic, and the awful responsibilit}^ that those masters were under who neglected to guard the morals of their slaves, and to imbue their minds with religion and virtue. It may be found at length in Clarkson's History of the Slave Trade. In 1755, finding that, in opposition to the reiterated advice of the body, some of its members continued to persist in buying negroes, the Yearly Meeting made a rule of discipline directing that such persons crs adhered to the practice, after suitable admonition by their Monthly Meetings, should be disowned from the religious com- munion of the Society. Having thus prevented the further increase of slaves by purchase, the Society was desirous of advancing stiU further towards a complete eradication of slavery from NEGRO SLAVERY. 395 amongst its members. Accordingly, in 1758, it was unani- mously agreed that Friends should be advised to manumit their slaves, and show their sense of gratitude to the Divine Being, from whom they received the liberty which they so freely enjoyed, by extending this blessing to all their fellow-creatures; and John Woolman and others were appointed a committee to visit such Friends as held slaves, and endeavor to prevail on them to relinquish the practice. This committee, it apjpears from the minutes of the Yearly Meeting, continued to prosecute their work of benevolence during the 3'ears 1758-59-60 and 61 — and from their reports, these Christian endeavors were crowned with much success, many being induced to cleanse their hands from the stain of slave-keeping. The Yearly Meeting constantly continued its attention to this subject to the year 1776, when it was enacted that all Friends who refused to manumit their slaves should be disowned by the Society. A more particular account of this noble act we reserve for our succeeding essay on this subject. We are next called upon to notice one of the most pious and indefatigable laborers in the cause of freedom and human happiness whom the Society of Friends ever produced, viz., John Woolman. This excellent man was born in the State of New Jersey, in the year 1720, and at a very early age was distinguished for his attachment to religion ;* which so increased and strengthened in after- * " Before I was seven years old, I began to be acquainted with the operations of divine love." — Woolman^s Journal. — Editor. 39G bettle's notices of life, that we think it may be safely asserted that, for self- denial, purity of manners and conversation, firm, con- sistent and persevering prosecution of duty, and zealous and enlightened benevolence, he has rarely been equalled, and perhaps never excelled. He appears very early in life to have had his mind engaged in reflection upon the subject of slavery. Soon after he attained the age of twenty-one years, being hired as an accountant, he was directed by his employer to write a bill of sale for a negro, which, in obedience to his instructions, he did, though, as he himself says, not with- out great uneasiness of mind, and that he afterwards found it to be his duty to inform his master and the pur- chaser of the slave that " he believed slavekeeping to be a practice inconsistent with the Christian religion ;" and, on a subsequent application by another individual to pre- pare an instrument of writing of a similar kind, he entirely refused, alleging the foregoing conviction as his excuse. In 1746, he travelled as a minister of the Society of Friends, through the provinces of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, where it appears that his mind was again engaged and his feelings excited, and that he took occasion during the journey to communicate his convic- tions on this deeply-interesting subject to many of the inhabitants. He says, he "saw in these southern pro- vinces so many vices and corruptions increased by this trade and this way of hfe [viz., the whites living idly and luxuriously on the labor of the blacks], that it appeared to him as a gloom over the land." NEGRO SLAVERY. 397 In 1753, he published the first part of his "Considerar tions on Keeping Negroes/'* in which he insists on the rights of the negroes as children of the same Heavenly Parent with their masters, and that slavery is repugnant to the Christian rehgion. In 1756, he made a religious visit to Long Island, and was much engaged with members of his own society to prevail on them to release their slaves. Hitherto he had only acted as circumstances casually came in his way, but now he appeared in the character which he continued until his death to sujDport, of an active and untiring laborer in this righteous cause. In the year 1757, in company with his brother, he engaged in an arduous journey through the southern colonies, in order to convince persons, principally of his own society, of the wickedness and impohcy of slavery. He sought opportunities of friendly conference with indi- viduals, and urged his arguments with calmness and modesty, and, at the same time, with dignity and firm- ness ; and also in the meetings for discipline of his o^vn society, he was indefatigable in pressing the subject, and had the satisfaction of finding that by some he was kindly received, and of perceiving a disposition in others to adopt his views. We have before noticed that he was appointed by the Yeai^ly Meeting of Philadelphia, in 1758, one of a com- mittee of that body for discouraging slaveholding amongst * " Some Considerations on the Keeping of Kcgrocs, Recom- mended to the Professors of Christianity of every Denomination."— First printed in 1153-4. — Editor. 398 settle' S NOTICES OF its members ;■••= and as lie had been very instrumental in producing this appointment, so he was also indefatigable in discharging the duties it required ; and, in this year and the subsequent one, he made several journeys into various parts of Pennsylvania for the promotion of this object. In the year 1760, he travelled into Rhode Island, on a similar errand, and also visited the Island of Nan- tucket.f In 1761, he visited some families in Pennsyl- vania and New Jersey. In 1762, he pubUshed a second part of his " Considerations on Slavekeeping." This essay is written with considerable ability and force of expression, and is well worthy of perusal at the present day. He urges the rights of the slaves to their freedom in common with the rest of mankind ; shows the debasing and demoralizing effect which the institution of slavery in any country produces on both masters and ser- vants, and the fallacy of comparing negro slavery to the condition of the Jewish bondsmen ; and concludes by reciting some testimony to illustrate the abominable char- acter of the African slave-trade.J In 1767,§ this apostle of freedom travelled again in Maryland, and again urged his enlightened opinions. In * Daniel Stanton, John Scarborough, and John Sjkes were his fellow visitors to those Friend's who had slaves, in 1T58. John Churchman and Samuel Eastburn, in 1759. — Editor. f On this visit, he was accompanied by his "beloved friend," Samuel Eastburn. — Editor. I This pamphlet he published at his own expense, although his friends "offered to get a number printed to be. paid for out of the Yearly Meeting stock, and to bo given away." His reasons are characteristic. — See his Journal, p. 136. Edition of 1775. — Editor. § 1768. Journal, p. 188. — Editor. NEGRO SLAVERY. 399 1772, he embarked for England, and whilst there, en- deavored to induce the society of which he was a member to interfere with the government of England on behalf of the oppressed Africans. The time, however, had arrived when this faithful laborer was to be released from his arduous service, and to receive in the mansions of eternal rest the reward of his works. He died in the city of York, England, of the small-pox, in 1772, aged fifty-two years.* Contemporary with Woolman was that pious and ex- cellent friend of the human race, Anthony Benezet, — a man who combined, in an eminent degree, shining virtues, excellent talents, and indefatigable industry; who lived and labored with the most well-directed assi- duity for the good of all mankind, and who died regretted by those, and they were not few in number, who had seen and known and admired his long career of useful practical benevolence. He was born in France, of respectable parents of the Protestant profession, in the year 1713, who, at the revo- cation of the Edict of Nantz, removed with their infant son into Holland, and shortly after into England. An- thony here received a liberal education, and served an apprenticeship in an eminent mercantile house in London. Having joined himself in membership with the Society of Friends, in 1731 he emigrated to Philadelphia, which was from that time the permanent place of his residence. In 1736, he married, and turned his attention to establishing * " Get the writing of John Woohiian by heart ; and love the early Quakers." — Charles Lamb. — Essays of Elia. — Editor. 400 bettle's notices of himself in business. With respect to this subject, his mind appears to have been much unsettled ; not, as is generally the case, anxious to resolve on the profession which might jdeld the greatest pecuniary emolument, but much more concerned how he might devote his time and talents to the service of his Creator and the advancement of the happiness of his fellow creatures. At the age of twenty- six, he believed it to be his duty to assume the arduous engagement of an instructor of youth. After teaching a short time in the Academy at German town, in 1742 he accepted of the office of English tutor in the " Friends' Public Schools in Philadelphia," in which situation he continued for twelve years, much to the satisfaction of his employers. In 1755, he opened a school on his own account for the instruction of females ; and, by the excel- lence of his moral and literary tuition, and his peculiar fitness for this interesting duty, it long continued to be one of the best patronized and most highly useful semi- naries of Philadelphia. About the year 1750, according to the account of his highly respected biographer,* his attention appears to have been first engaged upon that important subject which afterwards engrossed so large a portion of his time and talents. His feeUngs having become deeply inter- ested on account of the oppressed and degraded condition of the blacks, the first essays which he made were of that practical kind so highly characteristic of the man. Being impressed with the importance of meliorating, in the first * Roberts Vaux. NEGRO SLAVERY. 401 place, their mental condition, he imposed on himself, in addition to the laborious duties of his own school, the task of giving in the evenings gratuitous instruction to the negroes of Philadelphia ; and he had the great satis- faction to discover, by the improvement of his pupils in literature, as well as their moral advancement, that the hitherto long asserted idea of their mental inferiority to the rest of mankind was fallacious and illusory.* Having excited in the minds of his fellow-citizens an increased interest and sympathy for this oppressed people, he proceeded to make more public the results of his reflections and experience. His first writings consisted of small pieces in the almanacs and newspapers of the day, which medium he selected as best adapted to engage all classes of people in favor of his benevolent designs. In 1762 he published "An account of that part of Africa inhabited by the Negroes." In 1767, "A Caution and Warning to Great Britain and her colonies on the calami- tous state of the enslaved Negroes." This work was examined and approved by the Society of Friends in Pennsylvania, as appears by the minutes of meetings of the representatives of that body, held in 1766, at whose expense a large number of copies were printed and sent to England for distribution. 3d. "An Historical Account of Guinea, its situation, produce, and the general dis- position of its inhabitants ; with an inquiry into the rise * The same enlightened views were held by John Bartram, who has done so much honor to Philadelphia in other ways. As one of the earliest anti-slavery champions he deserves mention in this place. — Darlington's Mem. of John Barti^am, pp. 41, 54, — Editor, 26 402 bettle's notices of and progress of the slave trade, its nature and calamitous effects."* This book is remarkable for having given to the vene- rable Thomas Clarkson some of the first definite informa- tion with regard to facts, which enabled him practically to commence his long career of activity and usefulness ; and we cannot do better than to give Clarkson's character of the work in his own words : " This pamphlet contained a clear and distinct develop- ment of the subject from the best authorities. It con- tained also the sentiments of many enlightened men upon it; and it became instrumental, beyond any other book ever before published, in disseminating a proper know- ledge and detestation of this trade." With such limited pecuniary means as the occupation of school-keeping afforded, Benezet distributed large num- bers of these valuable and instructive books; he sent copies of the Historical Account of Guinea to some of the most eminent men in Europe, accompanied with a circular letter, written in a simple and unadorned, yet forcible and convincing manner ; in addition to this, all the time he could command from his regular occupations was employed in an extensive correspondence with such per- sons as he thought might be interested in promoting the cause to which he was so unceasingly devoted. Amongst those wdiom he addressed at different times were the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Fothergill, Granville Sharp, the Abbe Raynal, John Wesley, George Whitfield, the * London, 1772. 8vo. — Editor. NEGRO SLAVERY. 403 Countess of Huntingdon, and Charlotte, Queen of England. He also made an appeal in behalf of the negroes to the Queens of France and Portugal. We cannot, perhaps, better illustrate his diligence and the extent and variety of his engagements than by quoting the words of his intelhgent biographer. He remarks : "It was characteristic if one day he were seen sur- rounded by the sable children of Africa, imparting advice and deriving information from them concerning the cruel- ties they had suffered, and the next engaged in composing essays on the subject; addressing letters to friends and strangers, from whom he hoped some aid could be obtained ; or, with an innocent boldness worthy of his office, spread- ing the cause of the poor negro, in the language of warn- ing and persuasion, before statesmen and sovereigns." These great, and in a degree, effective exertions, were sedulously continued during the whole course of his long life ; the two last years of which were devoted to the tuition of negroes, in a free school founded and,endowed by the Society of Friends. A review of the extent and variety of his efforts, the personal exertions which he used, the constancy as well as zeal with which he pursued the investigation and exposure of every branch of the subject, we think entitles us to adopt the short but full eulogium which Clarkson pronounces respecting him. "Anthony Benezet," says he, " may be considered as one of the most zealous, vigilant, and active advocates, which the cause of the oppressed 404 bettle's notices of Africans ever had. lie seemed to have been bom and to have lived for the promotion of it; and, therefore, he never omitted any the least opportunity of serving it." His active mind also embraced many other objects of benevolence. He was deeply impressed with the anti- Christian tendency of war, and its hostility to the happi- ness of mankind, and wrote several able tracts on the subject; and also corresponded thereupon wdth many distinguished characters. His private charities were numerous and unostentatious. Li short, it appears to have been the primary concern of his life to imitate, according to his ability, the example of our Holy Kedeemer, in constant acts of benevolence and good will to mankind. With all these good works there was connected one remarkable trait of his character which beautified and adorned all his other excellencies, and that was his great humility. Shortly before his death he uttered these ex- pressions : " I am dying, and feel ashamed to meet the face of my Maker, I have done so little in his cause." He also desired an intimate friend to prevent, if possible, any posthumous memorial of him ; and added, " K they will not obey this wish, desire them to say, 'Anthony Benezet was a poor creature, and through divine favor was enabled to know it.' " This distinguished philanthropist died in 1784, in the seventy-first year of his age, after bequeathing the little fortune he had accumulated by industry and economy to the overseers of Friends' Public Schools, that it might be appropriated to the education of the blacks. NEGRO SLAVERY. 405 We have now closed our notice of the efforts of Penn- sylvania in behalf of the negroes, antecedent to the year 1770; and have shown, we trust, that our forefathers were active and ardent laborers in the righteous cause of human freedom and happiness. We propose, in a future essay, to exhibit the further history of our State, as con- nected with this subject, up to the present time. The lamented writer reserved for another Memoir the history, sub- sequent to 1Y70, of slavery in Pennsylvania. We do not propose to complete the task, yet believe our duty will not have been fulfilled without some further reference to the subject. The good seed sown by the honest German Friends in 1688 did not perish, for what great truth ever has? The abolition of slavery continued to be agitated without, however, any immediate results. What a peaceful policy could not effect was at last accomplished by the Revolution;* so then, as now, political convulsion hastened the development of events, that otherwise might have been a score of years in ripening. Thus is history ever repeating itself On the 9th of November, 1718, George Bryan, the Yice President, in his message called the attention of the Assembly to the subject, and said, " the late Assembly was furnished with the heads of a bill for manumitting infant negroes, born of slaves, by which the gradual abolition of servitude for life would be obtained in an easy mode. It is not proposed that the present slaves, most of whom are scarcely competent of freedom, should be meddled with, but all importations must be forbid, if the idea be adopted. This or some better scheme would tend to abrogate slavery, the opprobrium of America, from among us ; and no period seems more happy for the attempt than the present, as the number of such unhappy characters, ever few in Pennsylvania, has been much reduced by the practices and plunder of our late invaders. In divesting the State of slaves you will equally serve the cause of humanity and policy, and offer to God one of the most proper and best returns of gratitude for his great deliver- ance of us and our posterity from thraldom : you will also set your * Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, by his grandson, William B. Reed, vol. ii., p. 173. 406 NOTES. character for justice and benevoleuce in the true point of view to all Europe, who are astonished to see a people eager for liberty holding negroes in bondage." Again, on the 5th of February, 1719, we find that President P».eed called the attention of the Assembly to the subject, and on the 9th of September in the same year, in a message to the House he said: "We would also again bring into your view apian for the gradual abolition of slavery, so disgraceful to any people, and more especially to those who have been contending in the great cause of liberty themselves, and upon whom Providence has bestowed such eminent marks of its favor and protection. We think we are loudly called on to evince our gratitude, in making our fellow men joint heirs with us of the same inestimable blessings, under such restrictions and regu- lations as will not injure the community, and will imperceptibly enable them to relish and improve the station to which they will be advanced. Honored will that State be, in the annals of history, which shall first abolish this violation of the rights of mankind, and the memories of those will bo held in grateful and everlasting remem# brance, who shall pass the law to restore and establish the rights of human nature in Pennsylvania. We feel ourselves so intei'ested on this point, as to go beyond what may be deemed, by some, the proper line of our duty, and acquaint you that we have reduced this plan to the form of a law, which, if acceptable, we shall in a few days com- municate to you."* The auspicious day at length arrived. The work of the friends of human liberty in Pennsylvania was at last completed, and on the 1st of March, 1180, an act was passed for the gradual abolition of slavery. The preamble of the Act, one of the noblest compositions on record, and the act itself, were from the pen of George Bryan. Slavery from this began gradually to disappear, as will be seen from an official document of the Department of State, at Wash- ington.! In IT 90 there were 1800 " " 1810 " " 1820 " " 1830 " " 3,137 slaves. 1,106 " 195 " 211 " 386 " * Idem, 173; Penna. Archives, vii. 79; Journal of House of Rep., 307, 364. f Hazard's Register, vol. xvi. 120. NOTES. 407 That this population, after having, from 1Y90 to 1820, steadily diminished, should, between the latter period and 1830, have in- creased, arrested the attention of our Legislature, and at the session of 1833 a committee was appointed bj the Senate — of which our late venerable member, Mr. Samuel Breck, was chairman — "to in- vestigate the cause of increase, and report bj bill or otherwise."* The committee remark, " that so large an addition to a class of our population, which we had every reason to believe was nearly ex- tinguished, has excited considerable attention, even beyond the limits of our commonwealth, and has become in some degree a reproach to the State. Our neighbors in New York and citizens of other States have asked, through the medium of the public prints, how it happens that, while slavery has almost ceased to exist in the States north and east of us, the land of Penn, which took the lead in emancipation, and contains so many citizens of distinguished philanthropy, so many associations formed expressly for the promotion of abolition, so many friends of the African race, always on the watch to detect abuses, and ever eager to aid in correcting them, should exhibit an increase of slaves?" By the law of 1780 it was in effect enacted, that the children of all negroes and mulattoes, held to servitude, born within the State after the 1st of March, 1T80, should be held to service until the age of twenty-one, and no longer ; and one of the causes of the increase the committee found arose from a misconstruction of the Act in some of the counties of the State, by which the grandchild of a registered slave was held to the same term of service as the mother, whom the law had pronounced free at twenty-eight, an error which was cor- rected in 1826 by the Supreme Court. Another cause, as stated by the committee, was that "negroes of all ages are brought in con- siderable numbers into the southwestern counties, bordering on Vir- ginia, and emancipated on condition of serving a certain number of years, seldom exceeding seven, unless they happen to be mere children. About half the usual price of a slave is paid for this limited assignment ; at the expiration of which the individual obtains entire freedom, both for himself and such of his children as may be born in Pennsylvania." The committee were therefore not disposed to recommend any measure that might disturb the usage, as such a course would shut the door of philanthropic Pennsylvania to those who, from motives of humanity and interest, might wish to grant * Hazard's Register, toI. xi. 158. 408 NOTES. manumission to thoir slaves, and from investigation they were of the opinion tiiat 61, instead of 3Sfi, constituted the number of slaves existing in 1830. We have remarked that George Bryan was the author of the Act of 1T80, abolishing slavery in Pennsylvania. It has, however, been stated that it was the current report at the Bar, at the beginning of the present century, and at the close of the last, that the late William Lewis was its draughtsman. To us, it seems that no one can read Mr. Bryan's Message to the Assembly, already quoted, and the Preaml)le to the Act, without being struck with a similarity in sentiment and style. His feelings had long been deeply concerned for the welfare of these poor creatures ; and, as the first who officially suggested abolition, common opinion, if expressed at all upon the occasion, would, as a matter of course, have pointed to him as the proper person to draught the bill, nor are the terms and character of its clauses such as that any one, thoroughly skilled in legislation and familiar with the subject, might not as readily have drawn as Mr. Bryan. The Preamble required higher powers, and as to his abilities for the whole task, if any doubt exists, Mr. Bryan appears to have pos- sessed them in an eminent degree. He is described, in an "Extract" from a Funeral Discourse upon his death, preached January 30th, 1191, by the Rev. Dr. Ewing, Provost of the University of Pennsyl- vania, and to be found in the IX. Vol. of Carey's American Museum, p. 81, of the same year, " As formed by nature for a close application to study, animated with an ardent thirst for knowledge, and blessed with a memory surprisingly tenacious, and the uncommon attendant, a clear, penetrating, and decisive judgment ; his mind was the store- house of extensive information on a great variety of subjects. Thus endowed and qualified, he was able, on most occasions, to avail him- self of the labors and acquisitions, the researches and decisions of the most distinguished luminaries that had finished their course and set before him. You could, therefore, with confidence, generally depend upon his judgment as the last result of laborious investigation and mature decision. " And if you add to these natural and acquired endowments, the moral virtues and dispositions of his heart, his benevolence and sympathy wfth the distressed, his unaffected humility and easiness of access upon all occasions, his readiness to forgive, and his godlike superiority to the injuries of a misjudging world (in imitation of his divine Master, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again), his inflexible integrity in the administration of justice, together with his NOTES. 409 exalted contempt of both the frowns and the blandishments of the world, you will find him eminently qualified for the faithful and honorable discharge of the various public offices which he filled, with dignity and reputation, even in the worst of times, and in the midst of a torrent of unmerited obloquy and opposition. Such an assem- blage of unusual qualifications and virtues as adorned the character of our departed friend but seldom unite in a single man." Mr. Bryan is not mentioned in the " Extract " from Dr. Ewing's Discourse as the author of the Act, but in a note, probably appended by Mr. Carey, and which contains an obituary account, from Dun- lap's American Advertiser, his life and character are thus portrayed :* "Previously to the Revolution, he was a representative in the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, and delegate in the Congress which met at New York, in 1765, for the purpose of petitioning and remonstrating against the Stamp Act and other arbitrary measures of the British Parliament. "" In the contest, he took an early, decisive, and active part with this country. When, by the Declaration of Independence, it became necessary to erect governments upon the authority of the people, he was appointed Vice-President of the Supreme Executive Council of this Commonwealth ; and, by the unfortunate death of the late President Wharton, in May, HIS, he was placed at the head of the government of Pennsylvania, during the summer and autumn of that turbulent and eventful year. His office having expired by the limi- tation of the Constitution, in the autumn of 1779, he was elected a member of the Legislature. In this station, amidst the jircssing hurry of business, the rage and clamors of party, and the tumult of war and invasion, in despite of innumerable prejudices, he planned and executed the 'Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery,'' a monument which, instead of mouldering like the proud structures of brass and marble, bids fair to flourish in increasing strength. " He was afterwards appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, in which office he continued till his death ; and during his exercise of it, he was, in 1784, elected one of the Council of Censors, under the late Constitution, of which body he was (to say the least) one of the principal and leading characters. * * * * Besides the offices which have been enumerated, he filled a variety of public, literar}-, and charitable employments : in some of which he was almost continually * The Pennsylvania Gazette of February 2, 1791, contains a copy of the same notice. 410 NOTES. engaf^ctl, — and in all of which he was highly active and useful. * * ♦ The firmness of his resolution was invincible, and the mildness of his temper never changed. His knowledge was very extensive; the strength of his memory verified what has been thought incredible or fabulous, when related of others. His judgment was correct, his modesty extreme, his benevolence unbounded, and his piety un- affected and exemplary. * * * If he failed in any duty, it was that he ivas possibly too disinterested, — his oion interest was almost the only thing he ever forgot." In the Arch Street Presbyterian Burying-ground, the inscription upon his tomb records (and his memory deserves a more fitting memorial) that he "died 2Yth of January, 1191, aged sixty years; that be was among the earliest and most active and uniform friends of the rights of man before the Revolutionary War. As a member of the Assemby of Pennsylvania and of the Congress at New York, in IT 65, and as a citizen, he was conspicuous in opposition to the Stamp and other Acts of British tyranny. He Avas equally an oppo- nent of Domestic Slavery. The emancipation of people of color engaged the feelings of his heart and the energies of his mind, and the Act of Abolition, which laid the foundation of their liberation, issued from his pen.'''' The itq,lics are our own. Against this emphatic testimony, no word of dissent, so far as we know, w^as ever raised. And it is not to be believed that his right to authorship, asserted with the know- ledge of his associates in his philanthropic work — at the very period of his death — in the public prints, and also upon his tomb, would have remained uncontradicted had it been unfounded. The Preamble, in which the claims to human liberty are so grandly and convincingly set forth, is not readily accessible ; and we trust w^e shall be excused for here presenting it : " When we contemplate our abhorrence of that condition to which the arms and tyranny of Great Britain were exerted to reduce us, when we look back on the variety of dangers to w^hich we have been exposed, and how miraculously our wants in many instances have been supplied and our deliverances wrought, when even hope and human fortitude have become unequal to the conflict, we are unavoid- ably led to a serious and grateful sense of the manifold blessings which we have undeservedly received from the hand of that Being from whom every good and perfect gift cometh. Impressed with these ideas, we conceive that it is our duty, and we rejoice that it is NOTES. 411 in our power, to extend a portion of that freedom to others which hath been extended to us, and release from that state of thraldom, to which we ourselves were tyrannically doomed, and from which we have now every prospect of being delivered. It is not for us to in- quire why, in the creation of mankind, the inhabitants of the several parts of the earth were distinguished by a difference in feature or complexion. It is sufficient to know that all are the work of an Almighty hand. We find, in the distribution of the human species, that the most fertile as well as the most barren parts of the earth are inhabited by men of complexion different from ours and from each other ; from whence we may reasonably as well as religiously infer, that He who placed them in their various situations, hath extended equally his care and protection to all, and that it becometh not us to counteract his mercies. We esteem it a peculiar blessing granted to us that we are enabled this day to add one more step to universal civilization, by removing, as much as possible, the sorrows of those who have lived on under cruel bondage, and upon which, by the assumed authority of the Kings of Great Britain, no effectual legal relief could be obtained. Weaned by a long course of experience from those narrow prejudices and partialities we had imbibed, we find our hearts enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards men of all conditions and nations ; and we conceive ourselves at this par- ticular period extraordinarily called upon, by the blessings which we have received, to manifest the sincerity of our profession, and to give a substantial proof of our gratitude, " And whereas the condition of those persons who have heretofore been denominated Negro and Mulatto Slaves, has been attended with circumstances which not only deprived them of the common blessings that they were by nature entited to, but has cast them into the deepest afflictions by an unnatural separation and sale of husband and wife from each other and from their children, an injury the great- ness of which can only be conceived by supposing that we were in the same unhappy case. In justice, therefore, to persons so un- happily circumstances, and who, having no prospect before them whereon they may rest their sorrows and their hopes, have no reasonable inducement to render their services to society, which they otherwise might; and also in grateful commemoration of our own happy deliverance from that state of unconditional submission to which we were doomed by the tyranny of Britain. "Be it enacted, &c."* — Editor. * I. Dallas' Laws, 838. 412 NOTES. In 1844 Mr. Nathan Kite accidentally discovered, amon^ some of the papers belonging to the Society of Friends in Philadelphia, this valual)lc and long sought docuinont. lie immediately caused it to be printed in xvii. vol. of the "Friend," p. 125, and remarks: " The testimony of the Friends at Germantown againist slavery,* sent up to the Yearly Meeting of 1688, has, within the last few days, been discovered. These Friends were Germans, and mostly from Crcsheim, a town not far from Worms in the Palatinate. They bad suffered persecution in their own country, and seem to have had a very correct appreciation of the rights of others. * * * Coming from a country Avhere oppression on account of color was unknown, and where buying, selling, and holding in bondage human beings, who had been legally convicted of no crime, was regarded as an act of cruelty and injustice, to be looked for from the hands of none but a Turk or barbarian, the members of this little community were shocked to see that negro slavery had taken root, and was increasing around them. * * * It is certainly a strong document, and whilst it bears evidence that the writers had an incompetent knowledge of the English language, it plainly demonstrates that they were well acquainted with the inalienable rights of man and with the spirit of the gospel. We publish it as it is in the original, and doubt not that our readers will find sufficient clearness in the argu- ment, notwithstanding some confusion in the use of prepositions." "THIS IS TO THE MONTHLY MEETING HELD AT RICHARD WORRELL'S : " These are the reasons why we are against the traffic of men- body, as followeth. Is there any that would be done or handled at * The poet Whittier celebrates the praises of these lovers of liberty for all in the following lines : "Lay's modest soul, and Benezet the mild, Steadfast in faith, yet gentle as a child ; Meek-hearted Woolman and that brother band, The sorrowing exiles from their ' Father Land.' Leaving their homes in Krieshiem's bowers of vine, And the bine beauty of their glorious Rhine, To seek, amidst our solemn depths of wood. Freedom for man and holy peace with God ; Who first of all their testimonial gave Against the oppressor for the outcast slave." Whittier's Poems, 168, Edition of Mussey & Co., Boston, 1845. NOTES. 413 this manner? viz., to be sold or made a slave for all the time of his life ? How fearful and faint-hearted are many on sea, when they see a strange vessel, — being afraid it should be a Turk, and they should be taken, and sold for slaves into Turkey. Xow what is this better done than Turks do ? Yea, rather is it worse for them, which say they are Christians; for we hear that the most part of such negers are brought hither against their will and consent, and that many of them are stolen. Now, though they are black, we cannot conceive there is more liberty to have them slaves, as [than] it is to have other white ones. There is a saying, that w^e shall do to all men like as we will be done ourselves ; making no difference of what generation, descent or color they are. And those who steal or robb men, and those who buy or purchase them, are they not all alike ? Here is liberty of conscience, which is right and reasonable ; here ought to be likewise liberty of the body, except of evil-doers, which is another case. But to bring men hither, or to rob and sell them against their "will, we stand against. In Europe there are many oppressed for conscience sake ; and here there are those oppressed which are of a black colour. And we who know that men must not commit adultery, — some do commit adultery m others, separating wives from their husbands and giving them to others ; and some sell the children of these poor creatures to other men. Ah ! do consider well this thing, you who do it, if you would be done at this manner ? and if it is done according to Christianity ? You surpass Holland and Germany in this thing. This makes an ill report in all those countries of Europe, where they hear of [it], that the Quakers do here handel men as they handel there the cattle. And for that reason some have no mind or Inclination to come hither. And who shall maintain thia your cause, or plead for it ? Truly we cannot do so, except you shall inform us better hereof, viz., that Christians have liberty to practise these things. Pray, what thing in the world can be done worse towards us, than if men should rob or steal us away, and sell us for slaves to strange countries; separating husbands from their wives and children. Being now this is not done in the manner we would be done at [by], therefore we contradict, and are against this traffic of men-body. And we who profess that it is not lawful to steal, must, likewise, avoid to purchase such things as are stolen, but rather help to stop this robbing and stealing if possible. And such men ought to be delivered out of the hands of the robbers, and set free as in Europe.* Then is Pennsylvania to have a good report, * " Alluding probably to the abolition of the old feudal system." 414 NOTES. instead it hath now a bad one for this sake in other countries. Especially whereas the Europeans are desirous to know in what manner the Quakers do rule in their province : — and most of them do look upon us with an envious eye. But if this is done well, what shall we say is done evil ? " If once these slaves (which they say are so wicked and stuhbom men) should join themselves, — fight for their freedom, — and handel their masters and mistresses as they did handel them before ; will these masters and mistresses take the sword at hand and war against these poor slaves, like, we are able to believe, some will not refuse to do ? or have these negers not as much right to fight for their freedom, as you have to keep them slaves? " Now consider well this thing, if it is good or bad ? And in case you find it to be good to handel these blacks at that manner, we desire and require you hereby lovingly, that you may inform us here- in, which at this time never was done, viz., that Christians have such a liberty to do so. To the end we shall [may] be satisfied in this point, and satisfy likewise our good friends and acquaintances in our native country, to whom it is a terror or fearful thing, that men should be handelled so in Pennsylvania. "This is from our meeting at Germantown, held y° 18 of the 2 month, 1688, to be delivered to the Monthly Meeting at Richard Worrell's. Garret henderich derick up de graeff Francis daniell Pastorius Abraham jr. Den graef, "At our Monthly Meeting at Dublin, y° 30 — 2 mo., 1688, we having inspected y" matter above mentioned, and considered of it, we find it so weighty that we think it not expedient for us to meddle with it here, but do rather commit it to y" consideration of y* Quarterly Meeting; y'' tenor of it being nearly related to y* Truth. " On behalf of y' Monthly Meeting, "Signed, P, Jo. Hart. " This, above mentioned, was read in our Quarterly Meeting, at Philadelphia, the 4 of y' 4th mo., '88, and was from thence recom- mended to the Yearly Meeting, and the above said Derick, and the other two mentioned therein, to present the same to y° above said meeting, it being a thing of too great a weight for this meeting to determine. " Signed by order of y" meeting, Anthony Morris." NOTES. 415 The Act of 1*705 was entitled, "An Act to prevent the importation of Indian slaves," " If, after the 25 March, 1Y06, any person shall import or cause to be imported any Indian slaves or servants whatsoever, from any province or colony in America into this province, by land or water," * * * they " shall be forfeited to the governor, and shall be either set at liberty, or otherwise disposed of as the governor and council shall see cause." The Act made an exception in favor of " menial servants in the family of the importer," &c., &c. — Bradford Laws, Philadelphia, 1714. "An Impost Act, laying a duty on negroes, wine, rum, and other spirits, cider, and vessels," passed 28th, 12th month, ITIO. Imposed for the space of three years, from and after the 10th day of March, 1*110, a duty of forty shillings per head on every negro imported, excepting such as belonged to persons residing in the province and importing for their own service, and in case of failure to pay such duties under certain limitations, such negroes so landed, if taken, " shall be forfeited and seized, and after due proof," sold "for the utmost the same will fetch." "An Act to prevent the importation of negroes and Indians into the province," passed in 1*712. The first section imposed a payment of twenty pounds per head upon every negro or Indian brought into the province. Section 2. Masters of vessels, &c., bringing them were required to make a return of their number and to whom they belonged ; " all such negroes and Indians " (in whose case any of the provisions were violated) " shall be seized and sold by the said officer for the time being (hereinafter named), and the monies arising thereby shall be paid to the provincial treasurer for the uses hereinafter directed." Duties paid upon any negro or Indian imported, but to be exi^orted within twenty days, were to be returned; all such were to be " actually and bona fide forthwith shipt off or sent out of the pro- vince, so as never to return again, without complying anew with the direction of this Act, otherwise all such negroes and Indians shall be liable to the same penalties and seizures as tho' the same had never before been entered." 3. Samuel Holt appointed " to put Act in execution, and shall by virtue hereof have full power to make strict enquiry into the premises, and upon information or other probable cause of suspicion, without any further or other warrant, may [upon the parties' refusal], with 416 NOTES. the assistance of the sheriff or constable [who are thereby rcqufred to be acting therein], break open any house or place suspected, and seize or cause to be seized all such negroes or Indians as shall be found concealed or otherwise, whose owners or possessors have not complied with the Act according to the true intent and meaning thereof; and thereupon to dispose of such as shall be so seized, by a public vendue, for the most they will yield, and when reasonable charges are deducted shall pay the produce or price thereof, and all other sums arising by this Act (retaining one shilling for every pound for his trouble therein), into the provincial treasurer's hands," &c. 4. Said Holt to keep a distinct and fair book of account, &c. This section further provides that any person prosecuted for anything done in pursuance of Act may plead the general issue, and give the Act and special matter in evidence. The duty of twenty pounds was not to be exacted in the case of those Indians or negroes belonging to persons in the province, and sent out of it " on their masters' business with intent to return again." " Runaway negroes or Indians " were subject to reclamation within twenty days after the arrival of their owners in the province, but were to be sold after the expiration of twelve months in case no owner appeared. " Gentlemen and strangers travelling in the province " were allowed to retain their negro or Indian slaves for a time not exceeding six months. — Brad- ford Laws. These Acts seemed to have had their origin in policy rather than in justice. If the importation could be prevented, it was well ; if not, the punishment fell upon the slave, but indirectly upon those who attempted to violate the law. Had all who were brought in been declared free, and those who brought them punished, a course would have been pursued more in accordance Avith humanity and right. Such, however, was the harsh treatment of the mother coun- try that even these Acts were repealed, and the subsequent modifi- cations of her views upon slavery and the amelioration of her very cruel criminal code were due to the humane example of some of those States which as colonies or provinces she had governed. — Editor. NOTICES THE LIFE AND CHARACTER ROBERT PROUD, AUTHOR OF " THE HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA." CHARLES WEST THOMSON. Read hefore the Council, August IQth, 1826. (417) NOTICES, ETC. There are few subjects connected with the history of our country, on which so much remissness has been observed, as in collecting and arranging authentic narra- tives of the lives of those venerable men who have gone before us, filling with the most effective zeal and industry the station of literary and pohtical pioneers ; and, in a greater or less degree, giving " to the body of their age its form and pressure." The details of many of these narra- tives remain only in the recollection of those few of their cotemporaries whom age has spared j and the unceasing tide of time, as it sweeps over these even now faint tradi- tions, is daily effacing the impression, until at last, unless transferred to a record of greater perpetuity, it shall become utterly illegible. It is, indeed, much to be re- gretted, that many interesting facts and incidents relating to the outset of our political career, are thus becoming lost to the world, for want of some suitable hand to give them a form of durability. Sincerely is it to be wished that some of those, who have now quit the stage of action, had employed a portion of their leisure in commit- (419) 420 Thomson's notices ting to paper those interesting and important matters which they had seen and known, and which have now gone down with them to the grave ; and still more is it now to be desired, that the small remnant that remains, will not suffer a similar oblivion to cover the knowledge which they possess. Impressed with these views, I have been at some pains to collect materials for the following sketch, which, though slender and in many respects unsatisfactory, will not, I trust, prove wholly uninteresting. Engaged in an arduous and time-engrossing occupation, I have been obliged to throw them together as intervals of leisure might offer, which I fear will make their arrangement appear exceedingly desultory. Such as they are, how- ever, I offer them to the service of the society, trusting to superior abihties for their improvement and cor- rection. Most of those great and admirable men who belonged to the patriarchal age of our country are now no more, and too many of them have gone to their rest "un- honored and unsung." Unambitious of fame or futui'e renown, it is true of many of them that they passed much of their hves in retirement and seclusion. In the native simplicity of their characters, they pursued the quiet path of unaspiring duty ; and while they walked humbly before God, and dealt justly with their fellow-men, they asked not the idle breath of praise to give them a celebrity, which they knew at best could be but vain and evanes- cent. Among this unassuming class, perhaps, one of the most obscure and retiring was Robert Proud, the only OF ROBERT PROUD. 421 citizen of Pennsylvania who has ever honored her with a History, or attempted to give her a name among the nations. To the contemplation of some prominent in- cidents of his retired life, we propose devoting a few pages. He was horn, according to a memorandum of his early life which he has left, on the 10th day of May, 1728. His parents, William and Ann Proud, were at the time residing in Yorkshire, England, at a farm-house called Low Foxton, which was so named to distinguish it from the adjoining farm of High Foxton, and which has long since been entirely demolished. It was situated about a mile distant from a small market-town called Yarm, on the river Tees, which forms part of the boundary line between the counties of Yorkshire and Durham. From his early years, he appears to have been studiously dis- posed, or as he himself expresses it, " I had a sense of what is good and excellent, and of the contrary; and have ever been, according to that sense, very desirous of the best things ; and therefore early, in my young years, had a strong inclination for learning, virtue, and true wisdom, or improvement of mind and mental felicity, before or in preference to all mere worldly or inferior con- siderations ; which I afterwards rejected on that account, when I was courted by them, and had it in my power to have appeared in a much superior character and station in the world, than I am since known to be in." The first step which he took in the path of learning was at the neighboring village of Crathorn, where he went to school to acquire the rudiments of knowledge, to 422 Thomson's notices a person of the name of Baxter. This circumstance, as far as we are informed, presented in itself nothing remarkable ; but it is interesting, as being the outset of that career which afterwards stamped his character, and produced so powerful an mfluence over his fortunes. When Robert was about five or six years of age, the family removed from Foxton to a farm fifteen or twenty miles distant, near the village of Thirsk, called Wood End, which had long been the seat and residence of the Talbots. Here he continued to reside until he was nearly grown up, when, induced by his desire for improvement, he obtained permission to leave his paternal mansion, and took up his abode under the roof of one David Hall, at Skipton, in a distant part of the same county of York- shire. Some depression of spirits, very natural to a yomig mind on its departure from home, appears to have at- tended him in the prospect as well as the accompUshment of this journey; on which he was accompanied by his cousin, Robert Proud, who afterwards became a preacher in the Society of Friends, and visited America on a ser^dce of ministerial duty. This David Hall was a member of the same society, and also a preacher in it j* and kept a boarding-school, in which he taught the Latin and Greek languages, and some other branches of learning. The subject of our present notice had no previous knowledge of him, except- * He "was likewise a writer of some esteem in the society, and, after his death, some of his productions were reprinted, and pub- lished in a small octavo volume, with a sketch of his life written by himself. OF ROBERT PROUD. 423 ing by name and character ; but he was a man, it seems, of some literary reputation; and, as Proud says in his memorandum, " esteemed one of the most learned, reput- able, and most worthy persons then in that part of Eng- land." The preceptor and the pupil appear, however, to have been well pleased with each other; and a firm friendship was cemented between them, which continued unremitted until the death of Hall, till which time they maintained a correspondence in the Latin tongue. Robert remained in the house of his esteemed tutor, at Skipton, about four years, with great satisfaction and improvement. It was not his original intention to devote himself particularly to the languages, but merely to ad- vance himself in some parts of mathematics, and enjoy the improving conversation of his instructor. By his per- suasion, however, he applied himself to Latin and Greek, and soon made considerable proficiency. But another change was now to be made, still more trying than the former, to a young and inexperienced mind. To London, that "resort and mart of all the earth," was the next remove, which he effected in the year 1750, being then about twenty-one years of age, taking with him a recommendation from his affectionate preceptor. After some time, by the influence of his kind friend and. relative, the illustrious Dr. John Fothergill, who, unlike some high professors of the present day, " was a great friend of learning, and a zealous promoter of true mental improvement, and a lover of all useful science," (such is Proud's eulogy,) he obtained an agree- able temporary situation in the famihes of Sylvanus and 424 Thomson's notices Timothy Bcvan.* These gentlemen had an establiah- meut in London ; but their country-seat, at Hackney, about two miles distant from the city, was generally the place of Robert's residence. In this retirement he first assumed the office of a preceptor, occupying a consider- able part of his time in the tuition of the two young Bevans, sons of the last-named gentleman. He took the * Sylvauus Bcvan was originally from "Wales, and was early in life introduced to William Pcnn, who afterwards became his intimate acquaintance, friend, and patron. He had two wives, the first of whom was a daughter of Daniel Quare, watchmaker to King William III., and the second a daughter of Dr. Heathcott, who served the same monarch in the capacity of physician. A curious anecdote is related in reference to his marriage with the latter. The parties being all members of the Society of Friends, and the father of the bride holding so exalted a station, it was feared too much attention and display would be excited, if the marriage were solemnized at the regular meeting for worship ; accordingly, the day before was speci- ally appointed for that purpose, in the hope that it would not be generally known. Notwithstanding this precaution, however, as mostly happens on such occasions, the secret soon transpired, and a splendid assembly was collected to witness the nuptials. The queen and princesses were present, and it was said that the king himself attended incog. There lived a few miles from town an old lady of the name of Alice Hays, a good honest woman, and moreover a preacher in the Society of Friends, who, under an idea of religious duty, went that morning to London, and attended the above- mentioned meeting. George Whitehead, well known as a preacher in the same society, attempted some observations appropriate to the occasion, endeavoring to elucidate the trite maxim, that the man is the head of the woman. When he had concluded, Alice Hays rose and remarked, that some objection might be offered to what had been said, for it was asserted in Scripture that a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, and that it was well known that the crown is above the head. The queen and princesses were so much pleased with the wit of the remark, that the next day they made her a visit. OF ROBERT PROUD. 425 opportmiitj, however, in his intervals of leisure, of culti- vating his own improvement in literature and science, in the hope that, at some future period, it might redound to his own advantage, or at least enable him to become a useful member of society. Amid all the ardor of study which he evinced, the desire to render his attainments subservient to the good of his fellow beings seemed to be a paramount consideration ; and sometimes, as has before been hinted, occasioned the neglect of his own immediate interests. He was now placed in a situation where he could indulge this propensity; and his views were still intensely directed, as though he had prophetically fore- seen his coming labors in the land of his adoption, not only to his " own future advantage, but also to that of others." He pursued knowledge, at this time, for its owix sake J the amor literarum with which he was infected was a sublime hallucination, and taught him to look on pecu- niary aggrandizement as mean and contemptible, or, in his own language, "as the most despicable of worldly objects." But he had occasion to regret in after life, with a feeling of blight and disappointment which usually attends such minds, his inattention to the good things of this world, and was obliged to acknowledge, that though "honor and fame from no condition rise," yet the circumstances in which we are placed in society do more or less intimately affect our happiness. A man of genius, illy provided in this res23ect, must, generally speaking, either select his associates from among those who are beneath his level in intellect or else experience much difficulty, as Proud did, in order to act in proper character and maintain the 426 Thomson's notices standing liis education would seem to demand. Tliis, to a sensitive mind, would be equally trying on either side ; and it will easily be conceived how deeply such a one must feel the deprivations of fortune, even though not subjected to " any immediate want or extraordinary necessity." Narrow circumstances, he also discovered, were no small impediment to entering into the married state, a situation which, in his early years, he seems to have ardently desired, as conducing materially to the felicity of the human mind. But, like Moses on Mount Pisgah, he only perceived the excellency ^f the promised land, but was never permitted to obtain the possession. From the preceding remarks it will be inferred, that, during his residence in London, Robert Proud was intro- duced into a very different rank of society, and moved in a much higher sphere, than that to which he had before been accustomed. It was his good fortune, which he acknowledges as a favor from the Divine hand, to receive from those with whom he then associated the most re- spectful notice and attention. From the intimacy which he thus enjoyed with Dr. Fothergill and other celebrated members of the medical profession, he was induced to apply himself to the study of that science ; and, having ample opportunity of obtaining the best information on subjects relating to it, he continued the pm'suit for several years, with a success fully adequate to his expectations. His views of the practice of physic were noble and ex- alted; and the same desire to labor for the benefit of mankind, which had stimulated him to exertion in his former employments, followed him into his present occu- OF ROBERT PROUD. 427 pation, and urged him to pursue it with increased assiduity. But there is a species of professional disgust, (I know not what else to term it,) which sometimes seizes upon men of the strongest mind and most vigorous intellect, and throws, by its paralyzing influence, a pervading spell over the whole of their future life. Our admired coun- tryman, the late Charles Brockden Brown, was an inter- esting instance of this singular malady. Few men, per- haps, have had a fairer o|)portunity of rising to enviable reputation at the bar than he ; and fewer still have pos- sessed abilities so adequate to enable them to ascend the steep of fame with ease and rapidity. To his elegant, powerful, and comprehensive mind, the law opened a field of active enterprise and tempting emolument, and for a tune the race was promising. But ere the goal was fairly out of view, this malum, magni animi laid its withering grasp upon his energies, and he retired in disgust from the ranks of legal competition. A similar fate awaited the subject of our narrative. With the fairest prospect of success before him, he became dissatisfied with his situation. It exposed him, he remarks, " to a very glaring view of the chief causes of those diseases (not to say idces) which occasioned the greatest emolument to the profession of medicine j" and, upon this ground (the solidity of which we leave to others to determine), his aversion to it became so insuperable, that he at once abandoned the pursuit, and with it his country. For this last singular step we find it difBcult to account. He gives no reason for it himself in the memorandum to which we have referred, excepting 428 tkomson's notices some vague idea that it was taken "on account of that satisfaction of mind which much acquaintance, popularity, and fame, or the hurry of much employment, crowds and large cities seldom afford." It is not a little remarkable, that so important an action of his life should have a cause assigned for it so very unsatisfactory.* On the third day of January, 1759, Robert Proud landed at Lewistown, in the State of Delaware, and three days after arrived in Philadelphia. lie left behind him, in England, three brothers and two sisters, of whom little is known. His parents, it appears, were yet Hving at the time of his emigration, and, while they remained, it is said, he at one period thought of returning to his native land ; but they, in the course of nature, were removed, — the auspicious season passed away, — and his wish was never accomplished. The first person with whom he took up his residence, after his arrival, was one Isaac * There is a tradition abroad respecting his emigration from England, which it may not, perhaps, be amiss to mention, although, as far as we can learn, there is little warrant for its authenticity. He seldom or never spoke on the subject, and has, consequently, left the matter open to conjecture. It is said that he had formed an attach- ment to a young lady of great beauty, to whom, if I am not mistaken, he was under engagement of marriage, which, being broken off by the interference of royal gallantry, produced a disappointment, which is spoken of as the cause of his voluntary exile. This, however, it will be remembered, is merely tradition. Another individual was well known at one time as having incurred a disappointment of the nature alluded to, and having had some acquaintance with Proud, it is supposed by the friends of the latter that the circumstance has thus been incorrectly imputed to him. There seems, nevertheless, to be some slight ground for the belief, that our historian did at one period sutfer a similar discomfiture, but not with the person or in the manner generally reported. OF ROBERT PROUD. 429 Greenleaf,* at whose house, however, he remained but a few months. He changed the place of his abode fre- quently during the first twenty years of his residence in Philadelphia and its neighborhood. During that time, he resided, at three different intervals, with his worthy friend, Anthony Behezet; and he frequently spoke, with great satisfaction, of the many pleasant hours he had spent in the company of that estimable man, and those other venerable characters who were accustomed to resort to his humble dwelling.f Finallj^, however, in the autumn of 1779, he went to reside -with Samuel Clark, in whose family he continued, without intermission, during the remainder of his life, a lapse of more than thirty years. From the period of his arrival in America, his hfe assumed a monotonous aspect, very unfavorable to bio- graphical interest. Eetired in his habits, he pursued "the noiseless tenor of his way;" and seldom coming before the public eye, the memory of many of his days has gone down with him to the grave. Many years previous, a public school or seminary had been estab- lished by the Society of Friends, one department of * Merely for the sake of correctness, it maj be as well to observe, that he staid previous]}*, for a day or two, at the house of his friend, Mordecai Yarnall, who was the companion of his voyage. f Proud used to compare Benezet's house to a ship's cabin, it being below the level of the ground, with descending steps to the door. This antiquated building stood in Chestnut Street below Fourth, nearly opposite our present Pos1>ofiBce, and was removed, in the year 1818, to make room for a more modern edifice. A sketch of it has been preserved by Roberts Vaux, Esq. 430 Thomson's notices which was appropriated to instruction in the classics ; and in this school, about the year 17G1, Proud took his station as teacher of the Greek and Latin languages. lie continued in this situation until the commencement of the Revolutionary War, when he relinquished the precep- torship, and engaged in an unfortunate mercantile con- cern with his youngest brother, John Proud, who was then a resident in this country. Robert was then an ardent royalist : he could not for a moment entertain an idea unfavorable to the success of the king's cause, and made his calculations in business accordingly. The result proved adverse to his expectations and his hopes, — the colonies became independent, and his commercial affairs went to ruin. His brother returned to England, and Robert, at the close of the war, again resumed the school. The total discomfiture of the royal cause, to which his affections were so closely wedded, and the consequent failure of his own private fortunes, seemed to have soured his feelings towards ' the land of Jbis adoption ; and, although his ideas of prudence induced much tacitm-nity on the subject, yet he has occasionally expressed himself in rather unkindly terms towards this countrj^, in some of the papers which he has left behind him. With regard, however, to his sentiments on this topic, it must be re- membered, by way of extenuation, that he had left his own country under pecuhar circumstances, with all those powerful attachments, not to say prejudices, which every true patriot should feel for his native land, — that so lou"- as the colonies remained under the government of the OF ROBERT PROUD. 431 motlier country, he seemed, in some measure, to retain a hold upon his birth-place, — that the dismemberment of the colonies broke this tie, and totally severed him from the home of his affections. The ardent spirit of the times, moreover, must be taken into consideration; the treasonable character which the contest was thought by many to present, must also be remembered ; and combin- ing these with those fierce and unfriendly passions which a civil war invariably awakens, we must forgive Proud, Enghshman as he was by birth, and fretted as he had been by early disappointment and later misfortune, if he did prefer the land of his nativity to the land of his adoption, and in that trying and, in its results, glorious struggle, gave his full and undivided heart and feelings to the furtherance of the Tory interests. It is not a Httle singular, that, under this full tide of political excitement against the colonies, the subject of our notice should have projected and, in a few years, absolutely accomplished, a History of Pennsylvania, — the only history of our State which has ever been attempted,* and which is rendered more valuable on that account than from any intrinsic merit it possesses. I do not say that it is valuable on that account only ; for, as a succinct collection of historical facts, it undoubtedly deserves the most respectful attention ; but its style is too dry, and its diction too inelegant, ever to render it a classical work, or to enable it to stand before a more graceful competitor. It is exactly that stately old-fashioned article that its * We are happy to hope that Mr. Gordon's forthcoming history will not allow this to be said much longer. 432 Thomson's notices author himself was; only wanting the capacity which he possessed, by gentleness of tone or kindness of manner, to make itself agreeable. He deserves, however, all reason- able credit for his performance, — for it was a work of no small labor to collect the materials for such a book. He who has never undertaken so arduous a task knows little of the persevering patience it requires to get together into a congregated mass, to sort, select, and arrange those " scattered fragments of broken" facts, which are the body and the essence of such a composition. The difficulty of discovering those who have the desired information, and the still more insurmountable difficulty of inducing them to communicate it, are enough to discourage any man, unless he be endowed with more than common equa- nimity, from making so wearisome an attempt. In this view, Proud's volumes deserve our sincere commendation. He has acted in the arduous character of a pioneer, — he has gone before, and gathered up the segregated materials; and to the future historian he will at least serve as a landmark, by which he may in some measure direct his course. I have said that, after his failure, Robert resumed the duties of a teacher. This was his element, and perhaps the sphere of his most extensive usefulness. He took great delight in the languages, was well acquainted with Latin and Gr^ek, and had also a considerable knowledge of French and Hebrew. With the Latin he was so famiUar, that he thought he could understand a subject better in that language than in his own. Under such competent government, the school necessarily flourished, OF ROBERT PROUD, 433 and he had the satisfaction of sending forth from it many, who have since attained a high standing in society, and become ornaments to the circles in which they have moved. His manners as a teacher were mild, command- ing, and affectionate. I once heard a gentleman, who had been his pupil, speak with much satisfaction of Proud's conduct towards him on leaving school. He entered with perfect freedom into famihar conversation, enquired with the most paternal anxiety respecting his prospects in life, with the greatest kindness offered him some appropriate advice, and parted with him as a father parts with a son. It produced on the mind of this individual, though he was at that time but a boy, an impression of the deepest respect. The venerable tutor relinquished his school about the year 1791, and employed himself in preparing his History for publication. It had been principally written for some time, but the circumstances of the revolution j)revented' its appearance, and it was not till the year 1797-8 that it was finally ushered into the world. As might have been anticipated, it was unsuccessful ; and thus not only were several years of assiduous labor lost, and the fond expectations of authorship overthrown, but considerable pecuniary expenditures, necessarily incurred, remained without the hope of reimbursement. Thus disappointed in his literary views, he resigned the pen, as an author, and sat himself down in otium cum dignitate. Having now survived the greater part of his most intimate friends, he seldom went abroad, as he had formerly been accus- tomed occasionally to do, for the purpose of visiting, but 28 434 Thomson's notices employed most of lii.s time at home in reading and writing ; sometimes in composition of his own, and some- times in translating short moral sentences from various Latin authors, which he continued to do without the aid of glasses, even to the advanced age of eighty years. Many of his essays were poetical, but, of the number he has left, few rise above mediocrity. He appears at a certain period of his hfe, a little prior to the one just noticed, to have been the victim of frequent fits of de- jection; and, at some of these seasons, he gave words to his distress in very moving numbers. Those of later date, however, appear more calm and confiding, and his closing days were passed in tranquillity and peace. He continued to live on thus, in great seclusion and miiformity, for many years, until a naturally strong constitution, which had generally insured him a good state of health, began to give way before the inevitable attacks of age ; -when, after languishing for eleven days, on the evening of the seventh of July, 1813, and in the eighty-sixth year of his age, he quietly sank into the rest of eternity, "hke a shock of corn fully ripe." Robert Proud was in person tall, his nose was of the Eoman order, and " overhung with most impending brows." I remember ha"STiig seen him when I was quite a small boy ; his appearance was striking, and could not readily be altogether forgotten. I have not been able to recall the expression of his countenance ; but I well remember the imposing effect which the curled, gray wig, the half- cocked, patriarchal-looking hat, and the long, ivory-headed cane, had on my boyish imagmation. I beheve Proud OF ROBERT PROUD. 435 was one of the last of the old school — I mean those who adhered faithfully to the dignified dress of our ancestors. One by one they have dropped away, and with them has departed almost every trace of the olden time. The character of this venerable relic of honest worth may be summed up in a few words : I give nearly the language of one who knew him well. He was a zealous advocate for useful learning, a man of regular habits and great temperance, and in his manners the model of a gentleman. Requiescat in pace ! No proud mausoleum lifts its head to celebrate his praises ; his nameless grave owns no memorial but the green sod with which Nature has adorned it ; but many an one is yet living, who, in the grateful recollection of his worth and virtues, can sanctify the memory of Domine Proud.* * Some Poems by Eobert Proud may be found in the Appendix, Note TV. — Editor. ORIGINAL LETTERS WILLIAM PENN. (437) ORIGINAL LETTERS, ETC. The following three letters have been selected from several which are manifestly in the handwriting of William Penn, and were probably the rough draughts made by him, and subsequently copied. They were found among the papers of the late estimable Doctor John Syng Dorsey, who, it is supposed, derived them from his grandfather, Edmund Physick, formerly an officer under the Proprietary government. Mrs. Dorsey has kindly given permission to make the publication. It may not be improper to observe that the Earl of Rochester, to whom one of the letters is addressed, was not the witty and profli- gate nobleman who once possessed that title. That unhappy young man, worn out by his vices, expired in 1680. 1. To THE Lord Keeper North. My Noble Friend, It hath been sometimes a question with me whether writing or silence would be more excusable, for it is an unhappiness 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 benefactor, I deter- (439) 440 ORIGINAL LETTERS mined to render my most humble tlianks for the many favors 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 sale 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 platt is 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 Woolwych, the other above a mile; about eighty houses are built, and I suppose above three hun- dred farms settled as contiguously as may be. We have had since last summer about sixty sail of great and smal shipping, which we esteem a good beginning : a fair we have had, and weekly markett, to which the ancient lowly inhabitants come to sell their produce to their profit and our accommodation. I have also bought lands of the natives, treated them largely, and settled a firm and advantageous correspondency with them ; who are a care- less, merry people, yet in property strict with us, though as kind as among themselves; in counsel 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, and dexterous ; 'tis as admirable to me as it may look incredible on that side of the water. The weather often changeth with notice and is constant almost in its inconstancy. Our trees are Baxafrax, Cyprus, cedar, black wahiut, chestnut, oak black, white, red, Spanish and swamp the most durable ; divers wild fruits, as plum, peach, and grape, the sorts divei's. OF T7ILLIAM PENN. 441 Mineral of copper and iron in divers places. I have only to add, that it would please the Lord North to smile favorably upon us, a plantation so well regulated for the benefit of the crown, and so improving and hopeful by the industry of the people, that since stewards used to follow such enterprises in ancient times at least encour- agement and countenance might be yielded us, whose aims shall in everything be bounded with a just regard to the kmg's service ; and we think we may reasonably hope, that, England being the markett 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 con- gratulation of the honor the king hath joyn'd to thy great merit, and my sincere and most affectionate wishes for thy prosperity ; being one of those many whom thy good- ness hath obliged to own and approve, as really I am, Thy very sensible, thankfuU friend, and servant to my power, WM. PENN. Philadelphia, the 24th, 5th mo., July, 1683. To THE Lord Keeper North. 442 ORIGINAL LETTERS 2. To THE Earl of Rochester. Philadelphia, 2d, 12 mo., Feby., 1683. My Noble Friend, It cannot be strainge to a Lord of so much experience, that in nature all creatures seek succor against might ; the young from their old and the feeble from the strong, and that the same nature, by reciprocal instinct, inspires the old to protect their young, and the strong the weak of their own kind. This, my noble Lord, is much of my case and this trouble ; and to whom can I goe Avith more reason and hope than to him that hath, with so much honor and truth and a perpetual success, been the kind and constant patron of my just cause ! Lett this there- fore, noble Lord, meet with thy usual favor ; which will add to the many bonds I am under, as affection and grati- tude to thy just interest and service. My last to the Duke brought with it a copy of a demand made by the Proprietor of Maryland, with my answear to it, another of which I have presumed to inclose, and pray that somebody may be commanded to read it at thy riseing or undressing, as being too long for a time of business, and yet the matter would not admit of more contraction. I dare humbly hope that the king's right, that of his royall highness, and what their grace and favor have made mine, against the pretentions of that Lord, will appear in my answear with a more than ordi- nary force and evidence. To which I pray leave briefly to add, first, that the land in question was never de- OF WILLIAM PENN. 443 manded by him of those in possession, till by silence and omission forfitted ; the lower parts of this river and bay haveing never been askt for of the Dutch for six and twenty years, much less reduced ; if a title [?] by neglect in an improv'd country, here more, where the wildness of the soyle rendereth it not above the sixtieth part to that which is labor'd and improved. The upper part of this river, from Christina Biver to the falls, w^as never demanded of the Swedes nor Dutch neither, since they reduced it ; which is now about thirty years from when the crown of England took it in the 1664 as I take it; and has been since held jure belli ac pacis. This is not all ; he never run his line, these fifty years that he hath had his graunt — a default never to be plac'd to the accompt of the possessor, nor yet to the crown, for grant- ing it to another ; non-improvement and neglect of fixing bounds makeing the loss just on his side, were his pre- tensions otherwise right ; for as there is no transgression where no law is, so where there are no bounds sett, nor possessor found, nor any claimant appears, there cannot (with submission) be any title against the planter. Nay, it is the practice of all these parts of America, and was the express condition in all the Duke's patents to the free men, planters of his colony, they settling and improving the premises. In the next place, what he seeks never was, as well as it is not, in his possession, consequently never cost him anything to improve, nor has he lost any income by its being mine. To this I add that he doth not want it ; he hath two hundred miles (for two degrees) upon both sides of the bravest bay in the w^orld, Chesear 441 ORIGINAL LETTERS pcack, while I heave but one side of an inferior one, and none at all, it seems, if he could have his will, to the ruin of (perhaps) the most prosperous beginings in America. I have but two creeks that ships of two hun- dred tun can enter out of the river for harborage ; he has fourty (and to spare) that ships of five hundred tun can enter and ride in. And tho' this argument ought not to prevaile against absolute right, yet, in a case circum- stanced as this of mine is, I hope that prudence and pro- portion, together with my arguments of contrary right, will more then even the scale. With God I leave it, and my noble friends ; but, if I am herein disappointed, it will be a ruinous voyage to me, having spent, in my prepera- tions, transport, and maintenance of the quality of Governor, aye, and the government too, with the append- ant charges, a vast sum more then ever I received ; and I hope and believe the King and Duke, by favor of my noble friend, will never suffer me to fall short of the most important part of the grant and country, and which that Lord hath no right to, want of, nor loss by. And now, my noble friend, give me leave to valine myselfe to the Duke by so acceptable a proxy as the Lord of Rochester in his affairs of New York; he must indeed remember the humble advice I gave him, when in his closett he askt me my opinion of his selling of New York, what I writt to him from hence in that affair, and the zeal and respect I have shown in his service herein, and that not without success (tho' any one will think I did not play the cuning man in it) ; and I cannot suffer myself to believe that a prince of his generous and steady temper will permit so OF WILLIAM PENN. 445 fatal a stroake to come upon my honest interest, nay, his own (and that of no small moment to New York, for it is the garrison's grainery), as to let that Lord go away with the only river and bay I have any interest in, who, besides that he has no right to them, needs them not, never had them and so looses nothing by the want of them, I humbly conceive is neither more able nor willing to serve the Duke there or here. I have done ; only please to remember what I told the king at Windsor, who gratiously permitted me to render him my thanks and take my leave of him, to witt, that if ever any unhappy occasion came to try the truth of the assurance I gave the king of the quaker's unfactious and peaceable princi- ples towards him and his government, my life and estate on't they would not derogate from my character ; that if I could lye to any I would not choose to do it to him, whose goodness had not only obliged me, but also putt me more within his power to be even with me. This, it seems, is but too soon confirmed by the madness and folly of some evil and restless men. God defend these king- doms from blood and misery, and send us peace in our dayes; which I humbly wish my noble friend to think upon in behalf of my peaceable friends, lest men, even disinterested, that look on, should say with too much truth that in England, in times of dainger, there is no odds in being innocent. I shall add no more but my best wishes, and that I am with much zeal and affection, my noble friend, thy most oblieged and faithful friend, WM. PENN. 44G ORIGINAL LETTERS If I may pray, please to give my most humble duty to the King and Duke. For the Earle of Rochester. 3. To the Marquis of Halltfax. My noble Friend, It is an unhappiness small folks are exposed to, that the discharge of their duty is an increase of their debt. I am one of those who am oblieged to this acknowledge- ment, and yet the freedom of making it, needs an apology : but I take comfort in this, that I have to do with a very merciful creditor, one that is as easy to forgive as ready to oblige; which is all the defence I shall make for myself in the liberty I take. I hope my agent hath presented thee with my last and the respects I bear so honourable a friend. I did in that give some account of our condition here, which (thanks be to God) mends upon us. Our capital town is advanced to about 150 very tolerable houses for wooden ones ; they are chiefly on both the navigable rivers that bound the ends or sides of the town. The farmers have got their winter corn in the ground. I sujDpose we may be 500 farmers strong. I settle them in villages, dividing five thousand acres among ten, fifteen, or twenty families, as their alDility is to plant it. Germans, Dutch, and French are concern'd in our prosperity with their own ; for here are come three parties (one of each) as spyes to the multi- tude, they say, behinde, that on their report will also embarque -with us. The Germans are fallen upon flax and hemp, the French on vineyards. Here grow wilde OF WILLIAM PENN. 447 an incredible number of vines, that tho' savage and so not so excellent, beside that much wood and shade sower them, they yield a pleasant grape, and I have drunk a good clarett, though small and greenish, of Capt. Rappe's vintage of the savage ^rape. The only interruption I meet with is from the unkindness of my neighbour pro- prietor, the Lord Baltimore, who not only refuseth com- pliance to the king's commands, and the grant he and the duke have gratiously made me, but as impatient of the decision of our joynt soveraign, would anticipate that by indirect waies of his own, who to say true, by the course of his affaires, yields him as little regard as ever he can ; he taketh himself to be a prince, that, even to his fellow subject and brother proprietor, can of right determine differences by force, and we have been threatned with troops of horse (which are fine things to the wood) to reduce those parts in my possession to his power and greatness, aye though king and duke had them quietly before, and so were pleased to deliver them to me. And till I had preached another doctrine to him, as that the king was lord chief justice and high sheriff of America, that he finally must judge, eject, and give pos- session, he refused to go with me to king and counsell : saying he had nothing to do with king and counsell, but would take his right where he could get it. He also told me, my patent had a proviso and exception of appeals, but his had not. I told him, that omission was not a priviledge but a prejudice in my opinion ; however, soveraignty was reserved I was sure, and, if the king was not appealable from Maryland, he was not soveraign of 448 ORIGINAL LETTERS Maryland, but the lord Baltimore. Thi» softend [him ?] a little to his duty, and now he pretends to referr, as do I, with an intire submission. My case I send as an answer to his demand; to which I only pray leave to add, that he never was in possession, and he consequently looseth nothing by the want of it, that he ever had. Further, he never claim'd it, not of the Dutch for 26 years after his graunt, nor of the Swedes for seven and forty years, the one having the upper part of the river, the other, to wit the Dutch, the lower and all the bay : which in an improved county is a forfeiture by omission and neglect ; more it must be in a wild place, where the land is not the sixtieth part to the labour. To this I add, he never run his line, nor fixt his bounds ; and with submission, where there are no boundaries, possessors, nor claymant, but long unqucstion'd possession on another side, there can be no title pleadable against the planter ; the maxim of the civil law holding good in this case, — Quae nullius sunt in bonis dantur occupanti. But this is not all; he needs it not; I do; without it I have nothing, and without it, he hath fourty brave harbours, having 200 miles for 2 degrees of the bravest bay in the world, Cheasapeak, and that, on both sides, replenisht -wdth many stately rivers and coves for the biggest ships. I have two that ships of two hundred tons perhaps may enter out of the river; in the bay, none but for small craft; and where right is, to be sure prudence and proportion will more than even the scale. I must (without vanity I can) say, I have lead the greatest colony into America that ever any man did upon a private credit, and the OF WILLIAM PENN. 449 most prosperous beginnings that ever were in it, are to be found among us ; and, if this lord (who may remember that his country was cutt out of Virginia, to the great abatement of the interest of that province, and this not for debt or salaries due, but as meer grace) shall carry away this poor ewe lamb too, my voyage will be a ruin- ous one to me and my partners, which God defend. And, my honourable friend, I shall only pray that my case may be remember'd and recommended to the king by my noble friend, the marquis of HalHfax. I am not to be blamed for this liberty, when it shall be consider'd how great a place his witt, honour, and abilities have with the king, and how much, and with what success, he hath acted the friend to my poor concerns. I hope the inno- cency of our friends at this juncture hath not dishonoured the lord of Hallifax former favours to them ; as I take confidence to believe, that the innocency of men shall pro- tect them in England with their superiours in e\dll times, else the odds would be httle in being such. I say no more, but pray God to reward all thy favours to them and me, and to give me leave to value myself upon the character of My Noble Friend. Thy very afiect. cordial friend to serve thee, Philadelphia, the 2th of the 12th month, 1683. To THE Marquis of Hallifax. 29 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP SIR WILLIAM KEITH, ONE OF THE FORMER GOYERNORS THE PROVmCE OF PENIsTSYLVAJjOA. A MEMBER OF THE BIOGRAPHICAL COMMITTEE. (461) A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF SIK WILLIAM KEITH. At this distance of time little information can be had in respect to a man who died upwards of seventy years ago, and has left no descendants or connexions in the country. While he lived, he was an active and imjportant organ of the provincial government, and may be conceived to have been a person of considerable mental powers. Where he was found, and why he was selected by William Penn to administer the executive government, is not now in our power to ascertain. His surname would indicate that Scotland was the place of his birth or of his extraction. He certainly was a man of education, and, perhaps, from some circumstances, we might be authorized to conjecture that he was of the profession of the law. In 1717 he succeeded Gookin, who had not been very popular, and the difference of his manners soon rendered (453) 454 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH him a favorite of the people. His first address to the Assembly was calculated to win their affections at the expense of his own dignity. "We cannot at this time thoroughly comprehend some parts of the services which he alleges that he has already rendered. Why he should have undertaken to present to the " Prince Regent" the address of the Assembly to the king, and why it should have been an " expensive application," we know not. He next claims a credit with the people of this pro- vince, on the score of his having diligently, and at a con- siderable charge, obtained the commission of governor. We can hardly suppose that William Penn exposed the office to sale. These are some of the mysteries which frequently accompany transactions of remote times, when no cotem- porary pains are taken to prepare evidence. On the death of William Penn, which shortly after- wards ensued. Sir William Keith appears to have been inclined to promote the interests of the elder branch ; although the will of the illustrious proprietor strongly indicated that he considered the elder branches fully provided for by the Irish estate which devolved on them, and that the entire interest he held in the province of Pennsylvania should appertain to his children by Hannah Callowhill. William Penn, the eldest son by the first wife, con- ceiving himself entitled to the government, whoever might be proprietor of the soil, soon sent out a commission to OF SIR WILLIAM KEITH. 455 Keith, appointing him deputy governor ; which the latter accepted, although at the same time in a studied and ambiguous message to the Assembly he intimated some doubts — and he must have felt dissatisfaction at the widow's having transmitted the copy of the will to James Logan, without any communication to him. In the mean time a perfect harmony between himself and the Assembly continued ; they ajDproved of his vigil- ance in respect to some Indians; they assented to his establishing a Court of Chancery, in which he presided ; and the only dissatisfaction that his public conduct for a long time excited, seems to have been his preference of the dignity of this court to the conscientious scruples of the Friends. John Kinsey, a lawyer of considerable eminence, who was afterwards Chief Justice of the pro- vince, refused, from religious scruples, to uncover his head in the court, and an officer was directed to take off his hat. The Quarterly Meeting presented a very respectful address to the governor (which may be seen in Pi'oucVs History), and an order of court was thereon made, de- claring that keeping the head covered should not be con- strued into a contempt of court, but be considered as an act of religious Hberty. Why he, who had before that time claimed so much credit for the pains he had taken to procure the sanction of parliament to the admission of an affirmation in lieu of an oath, should have shown his disregard of a religious peculiarity to which the Friends were well known to be sincerely attached, it is difficult to conceive. It must for a time have diminished that popu- larity which with so much pains he had already acquired ; 456 A BIOGRAPUICAL SKETCH and he could not plead ignorance of their pertinacious adherence to a practice for which, in the opinion of the Society, there is the greatest authority. I notice this particular as indicating the character of the man, without intending to enter into the history of his public administration. This history may be partly collected from the plain and impartial narrative of Proud, and partly from the panegyric of the Hktorical Review, printed in London, in 1749, and by many attributed to Dr. Franklin. Both agree that when his commission as Governor was suspended by the appointment of Patrick Gordon in 1726, he obtained a seat in the House of Assembly, as a representative from Bucks County, and that he took all the means in his power " to divide the province, embarrass the Governor, and distress the pro- prietaries." He afterwards went to England, and soon afterwards addressed to the king a representation on the state of the colonies in North America, which has been inserted at length in BiirJcs History of Virginia (printed at Peters- burg, in 1805). It is in some respects a very valuable document, as it embraces an account of the produce, com- merce, and consumption of this country in 1728, more distinct and perhaps more accurate than can be found elsewhere. He represents that the colonies then took off one-sixth of the woollens of Great Britain, more than double that value of their linens and calicoes, a consider- able quantity of East India goods, great quantities of English silks, &c., and he describes their naval commerce as very great and constantly increasing. He proposes OF SIE WILLIAM KEITH. 457 some schemes for consolidating the Provincial Govern- ments, and enlarging and systematizing the power of the Crown; one of which is (probably with a "view to an appointment in his own favor), that judges shall be sent out from England with a jurisdiction over the whole countrj^, and to be independent of the Provincial Legis- latures. This advice, although well calculated to increase and prolong the royal authority, was not attended to, or perhaps was found impracticable. Disappointed in this quarter, he made an effort to sup- port himself as an author; and, in the year 1738, he published a history of the colony of Virginia, proposing to proceed with histories of the other colonies ; but it is pro- bable that this work, although not ill written, was not very successful, for he proceeded no further in his design. He died, it is said, in great poverty, in London, about 1749. His widow. Lady Keith, survived him several years. She lived immured in a small wooden house, in Third Street between Market and Arch Streets, with an old female attendant as companion, refusing all communi- cation with society, and reduced to great difficulties for subsistence. The house itself, long after her decease, was rendered memorable by one of those melancholy casu- ahties which sometimes occur, even in populous cities where help is most at hand. In the year 1786, it was consumed by fire, and four persons perished in the flames. Sir William Keith seems to have been a selfish and an artful man, whose true character was perhaps not known 458 A BIOGRAnilC AL SKETCH, ETC. to William Penn at the time of his being appointed. Ilia first ostensible attachment was to the popular interest in opposition to that of his employer, the proprietary ; and his evident object was to enrich himself, not to contribute to the relief of the family at home. His next public step was to promote the interest of the elder branch instead of the younger. In this, he discovered little penetration ; he offended those who he might easily discover had the power to injure him, and courted the favor of those who had no permanent benefits to bestow. The remnant of his life was embittered by the con- sciousness of disappointed ambition and the pressure of hopeless poverty. He saw the younger branch, which he had opposed, rising rapidly in wealth and consequence, and the province, under the temperate administration of Gordon, peaceable, prosperous, and contented. In the work I have last mentioned it is said that the " ghosts of departed governors" were to be frequently seen wandering about the vast metropolis of the British Empire ; and among these, perhaps, that of Sir Wilham Keith was not the least querulous and unhappy. NOTES. 459 SIR WILLIAM KEITH, DR. GR^ME, AND MRS. FERGUSSON. Sir William Keith, whose grandfather was created a baronet of Nova Scotia in 1663, " was of the family of Powburn in the north of Scotland," and came to America in May, 1*717, with his wife Ann, who, at the time of her marriage, was the widow of Robert Diggs. By this marriage Sir William had no issue, although by a former he had certainly two, if not more, children. Alexander Henry Keith, who is described in a deed and in a mortgage upon record as his " eldest surviving son," and of " New Castle on Delaware," appears to have died before 1749, and Robert, who at that date is mentioned as his only son and the inheritor of the title, was a lieutenant-colonel in' the Prussian service. In 1718 Sir William purchased what was afterwards, when it became the pro- perty of Dr. Graeme, known as " Graeme Park" — a tract of 1200 acres in Horsham Township, and formerly in Philadelphia, but now in Montgomery County, about eighteen miles northwest of the city, where he erected a spacious house. The following description will convey an idea of its character: " The ancient house is still standing (185.5) in good preservation, although at present unoccupied, and is built of the brown sandstone of the neighborhood. On measurement I found it sixty feet in front and twenty -five in depth. Each story is divided into three rooms ; the drawing-room, which occupies the north end of the building, is twenty-one feet square and fourteen feet high. Its walls are elegantly wainscotted to the ceiling, and the fire-place and mantel are composed of clouded marble brought from England. In the fire-place of the second-story room on the south end is an iron plate with the date 1728. The rooms to the very roof are all hand- somely finished with mouldings on the ceilings. The stairs and banisters are extremely substantial, and built of oak. On the front w^all of the house the remains of an ivy are seen. On the wall of the south end is a vigorous young trumpet flower (bignonia) growing, said to be a shoot of one which grew there in Mrs. Fergusson's time, and to the writer was an object of interest. In the rear is a fish pond, supplied by a spring of excellent water near by. The house as well as fish pond were built by Governor Keith between the years 1722 and 1728 ; everything else about the premises is modern." Lossiug, in his recent biographical work entitled " Our Country- men," says, " The only baronial hall yet in existence in the United States is that of Sir William Johnson, at Johnstown, a few miles 4G0 NOTES. novlli of the Mohawk Kivcr." Or.'Pmc Park is perhaps the only exception to this statement, and was ])uilt a number of years previous to Johnson Hall. Sir William, after many vicissitudes, died on the 18th of November, 1749, in the Old Bailey, London (Gentleman's Magazine, 1749, p. 524), and Lady Keith July 31, 1740, aged sixty-five, and was buried in Christ Church-yard, Second street. Dr. Thomas Gramie, who came to America with Keith, "was bom at the family seat at Balgowan, in Perthshire, Scotland, October 20, 1688," and was married in Christ Church, Philadelphia, November 12, 1719, to Ann Diggs, a lady of considerable mental endowments and great worth of character, who was the only child of Lady Keith by her former husband, Robert Diggs, already mentioned.* Dr. Gra3me was a person " of excellent education and agreeable manners," and, in the words of Dr. Rush, " for nearly half a century maintained the front rank in his profession." In 1726 he was appointed by his wife's stepfather. Governor Keith, a member of the Council; on the 8th of April, 1731, a Judge of the Supreme Court of the province, a position which he retained until 1750; from 1751 to 1753 he was physician and surgeon to the Pennsylvania Hospital, and, besides other offices, held for many years that of Collector of the Port of Philadelphia. His city residence was on the north side of Chestnut, below Seventh street, on the site afterwards occupied by the Arcade, then a very rural spot. During a portion of the year he lived at the " Park," the seat of elegant hospitality, and to which the attractive influence of his accomplished daughter lent an additional charm, and it was here that, on the 14th of September, 1772, he sud- denly died, aged eighty-four years. Dr. Graeme had eleven children, the most celebrated of whom was Elizabeth, born February 3, 1739, and who, April 21, 1772, became the wife of Henry Hugh Fergusson, a native of Scotland, and who was related to the celebrated Adam Fergusson. The Revolution separated them, and it was Mrs. Fergusson's lot to spend but two * Francis Hopkinson, while on a visit to Grieme Park, in 1765, composed an elegy to the memory of this lady. These are the concluding lines : "Oh! may I strive her footsteps to pursue. And keep the Christian's glorious prize in view; Like her defy the stormy waves of life, And with heroic zeal maintain the strife; Like her find comfort in the arms of death, And in a peaceful calm resign my breath." NOTES. 461 and a half years of her married life with her husband. The literary abilities of Mrs. Fergusson were considerable. She also wrote very graceful poetry. Possessing an excellent mind, cultivated by careful and extensive reading and study, also very remarkable powers of conversation, with much amiability of character, Mrs. Fergusson was greatly esteemed and her society much sought. During the Revolutionary war she evinced friendship for her coun- try, and by Washington was held in much regard, who more than once was hospitably entertained at GriEme Park. Mrs. Fergusson died without issue 23d of February, 1801, aged sixty-two years. Jane Grasme, a sister of Mrs. Fergusson, became the wife of Mr. James Young, and had three children. Ann, the eldest child, married William Smith, M. D., a graduate in 1171 of the Medical Department of the College of Philadelphia. The late Samuel F. Smith, for some years President of the Philadelphia Bank, was a son by this marriage, and Mrs. Ann Young Smith inherited the literary talent of the family, and also wrote verse with facility and grace. The following lines are from her pen. AN ELEGY TO THE MEMORY OP THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS WHO TELL IN THE ENGAGEMENT AT LEXINGTON ON THE 19tH OF APRIL, 1115. Let joy be dumb, let mirth's gay carol cease, See plaintive sorrow come bedew'd with tears; With mournful steps retires the cherub peace, And horrid war with all his train appears. He comes, and crimson slaughter marks his way. Stern famine follows in his vengeful tread ; Before him pleasure, hope, and love decay, And meek-eyed mercy hangs the drooping head. Fled like a dream are those delightful hours, When here with innocence and peace we roved, Secure and happy in our native bowers, Blest in the presence of the youths we loved. The blow is struck, which thro' each future age Shall call from pity's eye the frequent tear ; Which gives the brother to the brother's rngc. And dyes with British blood the British spear. 4G2 NOTES. Whevo'cr Mio bnrirroiiH story nball be told, Tlie BritiMh chuck hIkiU glow with conscious flame. This deed in bloody clnirficterH cnroU'd, Shall stain the lustre of their forn)er name. But you, ye brave defenders of our cause, The first in this dire contest call'd to bleed, Your names hereafter crown'd with fresh applause Each manly breast with joy-mixt woe shall read. Your memories, dear to every free-born mind, Shall need no monument your fame to raise; Forever in our grateful hearts enshrined. And blest by your united country's praise. But oh ! permit the muse with grief sincere The widow's heartfelt anguish to bemoan, To join the sister's and the orphan's tear, Whom this sad day from all they loved has torn. Blest be this humble strain, if it imparts The dawn of peace to but one pensive breast; If it can hush one sigh that rends your hearts, Or lull your sorrow to a short liv'd rest. But vain the hope, too well the bosom knows IIow faint is glory's voice to nature's calls ; How weak the balm the laurel wreath bestows, To heal our breast when love or friendship falls. Yet think they in their country's cause expired, While guardian angels watch'd their parting sighs, Their dying breasts with constancy inspired. And bade them welcome to their native skies. Our future state is wrapt in darkest gloom. And threat'ning clouds, from which their souls are freed, Ere the big tempest bursts they press the tomb. Not doom'd to see their much loved country bleed. Oh! let such thoughts as these assuage your grief, And stop the tear of sorrow as it flows. Till time's all-powerful hand shall yield relief, And shed a kind oblivion o'er your woes. But oh ! thou Being infinitely just. Whose boundless eye with mercy looks on all, On Thee alone thy humble people trust. On Thee alone for their deliverance call. NOTES. 463 Long did Thy hand unnumber'd blessings shower, And crown our land with liberty and peace ; Extend, Lord, again Thy saving power, And bid the horrors of invasion cease. But if Thy awful wisdom has decreed That we severer evils yet shall know, By thy Almighty justice doom'd to bleed. And deeper drink the bitter draughts of woe. Oh, grant us. Heaven, that constancy of mind. Which over adverse fortune rises still. Unshaken faith, calm fortitude, resign'd, And full submission to Thy holy will. To Thee, eternal parent, we resign Our bleeding cause, and in Thy wisdom rest; With grateful hearts we bless Thy power divine, And own resign'd, "whatever is, is best." Sylvia. Philadelphia, May 2, 1775. The particulars of this sketch are derived from the materials kindly placed at our disposal by Mr. J. B. Lippincott, which were gathered by the late Mr. Henry C. Wetmore in view of the publication of a work principally relating to Grteme Park, and those associated with its history and with that of the Revolution. The appearance of the volume, we regret to say, was arrested by the death of its lamented author. Some account of the political character of Keith may be found in a "Narrative" written in 1126, and edited by Mr. Joshua Francis Fisher ; in which the conduct of Sir William during his government of the province is very severely dealt with. — Memoirs of Historical Society, vol. ii. part 2. — Editor. MEMBEES OE THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWLY ELECTED. CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS. George Fox, Jacob R. Smith, Richard Peun Smith,* Paul Beck, Jr.,* Richard C. Wood,* Levett Harris,* Dr. George B. Wood, James C. Fisher,* Turner Camac,* Thomas Hughes. CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. John N. Conjiigham, Luzerne County. Joseph W. Rowland, Montgomery County.^ Frederick Smith, Berhs County f'^ Charles B. Penrose, Cumberland County.^ Isaac A. Chapman, Luzerne County.^ Thomas Wistar, Jr., Montgomery Cou7ity.* George Taylor, PottsviUe, Pa* James Cox, Buclcs County.* Samuel Wagner, Yorh County.* Wilham H. Dillingham, Chester County.* Alexander Thompson, Bedford County.* 30 (465) 4GG MEMBEIIS OF THE SOCIETY, ETC. HONORARY MEMBERS. General La Fayette, La Grange [France)* The Marquis de Marbois, Francej^ Chevalier Botta, Italy :^ Charles Smith, Baltimore.* Charles Wilkes, New York* The Rev. Jedediah Morse, New Haven. [Conn.)* Daniel Lyman, Providence {Rliode Island).* Richard Stockton, Princeton (New Jersey) .* Thomas Horsfield, M.D., Lyndon* APPENDIX. Note I. (Page 32.) LIST OF THE PILGRIMS OF THE "WELCOME." It is to be regretted that there is no record of the names of those who accompanied Penn. We are not aware even of afi attempt to collect the scattered information on the subject; but from sources hitherto unexplored we have been able to present a very nearly com- plete list of the pilgrims of the "Welcome," and whose names should not be permitted to die. Of the one hundred who are said to have sailed, although the number was probably greater, our catalogue embraces ninety-seven, and since the " families " of Ellen Cowgill and Cuthbert Hayhurst are mentioned as having embarked with Penn, we think we are justified in pronouncing the roll almost perfect. The principal sources of proof in preparing the subjoined list were found in the wills of Barber, Heriott, Ingram, and Wade, in the Register's Ofl&ce at Philadelphia, which were made on board the " Welcome," and all of whom probably died on the voyage ; in a "MS. Registry of Arrivals," in the Recorder's Office at Doylestown ; " MS. Registry of Arrivals," Archives of Historical Society ; * and in " Comly's History of Byberry," 2d vol. of Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. John Barber (1) and Elizabeth (2) his wife, eldest daughter of John Songhurst, of Shij)ley, county of Sussex, England (See his will, made on board "Welcome,"! September 20, 1682, Will Book, A. p. 10), was " a first purchaser." * Imperfect and extending over but a few years. f Robert Greenaway, the master of the "Welcome," died 14th April, 1686. (Adm. Eook, A, p. 27, Philadelphia.) (4G7) 4G8 APPENDIX. William Brapford (3) (Sm Dixon's T.ifc of IN-iin, p. 20^j, of Leicester, England, the earliest printer of the province. Engaging zealously in the Keithcan controvers}^ " he took the side of the minority, and becoming iini)