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MEMOIRS 
 
 HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 BEING A REPUBLICATION. 
 
 EDITED BY ' 
 
 EDWARD ARMSTRONG, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCSETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY McCARTY AND DAVIS, 
 
 No. 171 High Street. 
 
 1826. i^; ' 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 HISTOKICAL SOCIKTY OF I'EXXSYLVANIA. 
 18G4. 
 
3L9 
 
 
 9y tranafeT 
 
 OCT 82 1915 
 
ADVEETISEMENT 
 
 TO THE 
 
 FIRST EDITION. 
 
 f ^' 
 
 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. 
 Kemote and recent periods will, therefore, sometimes be 
 found in immediate contact or anachronous succession : 
 the transactions 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 Societv founds its hopes of permanence and useful- 
 ness. 
 
 With the second half- volume an index to the whole 
 will be given. 
 
 Philadelphia, December, 1825. 
 
 > 
 
EDITOEIAL 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 repubUcation 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. 
 
 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 delaj'ed by causes 
 beyond control. The volume will be issued as soon as 
 practicable. 
 
 PiiiLADELinnA, July 20, 18G4. 
 
 ( vii ) 
 
THE 
 
 HISTOEICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA.* 
 
 The want of a Historical Society of Pennsylvania has 
 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 (ix) 
 
X SKETCH OF 
 
 a vast forest became, in comparison, an object of but 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 Eoberts 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 Rawle, 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 18th 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 Eawle, 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 Society, have been greatty 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 
 
Xii SKETCHOF 
 
 views of interesting localities, hang on its walls; the 
 number of valuable relics in its possession is augmented, 
 and is still growing; funds preserved for a building, for 
 publication, for bmding 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 jreceived 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. xiii 
 
 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 
 privilege 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. 
 
HISTOUICAL SOCIETY OF PEMSYLYANIA. 
 
 OFFICERS FOR 1864. 
 
 PRESIDENT, 
 
 JOSEPH R. INGERSOLL. 
 
 VICE PRESIDENTS, 
 
 JOSHUA FRANCIS FISHER, 
 GEORGE CHAMBERS, 
 
 OF 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, 
 
 KEY. 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. 
 
 ArI". IV. — 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. V. — The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct and have 
 charge of the correspondence of the Society. 
 
 (XY) 
 
XVI CONSTITUTION. 
 
 Art. YI. — The Recording Secretary shall keep full and correct 
 minutes of the proceedings of the Society, and shall have them 
 transcribed into a book of record. He 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. YIII. — 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 
 officers 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 memberis 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 
 
XVUl 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 Committee, 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. IY. — 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. VI. — 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. VIII. — 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. 
 
 Y. Donations and other additions announced : 
 
 a. To the Library. 
 
 b. Other donations or additions. 
 
 YI. Reports and communications on historical and literary sub- 
 jects. 
 YII. Obituary notices of members read, and announcements of 
 
 the decease of members made and acted on. 
 YIII. Balloting for candidates for membership. 
 
 IX. Reports on business from officers and committees. 
 X. Deferred business. 
 XI. New business. 
 
 XIL Minutes of the meeting read and submitted for correction. 
 XIII. The Society adjourned by the presiding officer. 
 
CONSTITUTION 
 
 HISTOEICAL SOCIETY OP 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 prosperous 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 liapp}^, we, 
 whose names are 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 tldrd class, of persons residing in any 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 materially 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 V. — 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 pro230se 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 published in Philadelphia. The elec- 
 
1Q 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 with 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. 
 
OFFICEES 
 
 HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 ^William Rawle, Fh^esident. 
 
 *Roberts Vaux, Vice-President 
 
 *Thomas Duncan, do. 
 
 *John Bannister Gibson {Carlisle), do. 
 
 * James Ross [Pltt>shurg) , do. 
 
 * Joseph Hopkinson, Corresj^onding Secretary. 
 *Thomas M'Kean Pettit, Recording do. 
 *William Mason Walmsley, Treasurer. 
 
 Gerard Ralston, Ourator. 
 
 'J 
 
 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 Ingersoll, 
 
 ^Stephen Duncan, *Edward Bettle, 
 *Daniel B. Smith, George Wn. Smith. 
 
 Samuel Jackson, 
 
 * Dead, 1864. 
 
 (17) 
 
18 OFFICERS OF THE 
 
 STANDING COMMITTEES. 
 
 1. On the national origin, early difificulties, and do- 
 mestic habits of the fii'st settlers. 
 
 *Joseph P. Norris, *Jacob S. Wahi, 
 
 ^Nicholas ColUn, *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, WilUam Maule, 
 
 Elwood Walter, *John Poulson. 
 
 Charles Lukens, 
 
 3. On biographical notices , of persons distinguished 
 among us in ancient and modern times. 
 
 *William Rawle, *Wilham Smith, 
 
 ^Roberts Vaux, George W. Toland, 
 
 *Joseph Sansom, Samuel Morton, 
 
 *Clements S. Miller, Thomas Evans. 
 
 4. On the Aborigines of Pennsylvania, 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. WilUams, *WilUam H. Keating. 
 
 5. On the principles to which the rapid population of 
 Pennsylvania may be ascribed. 
 
 *Charles J. Ingersoll, *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. Ingersoll, ^William S. Warder. 
 *Clement C. Biddle, 
 
 7. On the Juridical History of Pennsylvania. 
 
 *WilHam Tilghman, *John Purdon, 
 
 *Thomas Duncan, *Thomas Bradford, Jr., 
 
 *Jo^eph Reed, *Edward D. Ingraham, 
 
 *William Rawle, Jr., David Paul Brown. 
 
20 OFFICERSOFTHE 
 
 8. On the Literary History of Pennsylvania. 
 
 *Joseph Hopkinson, *Thomas I. Wharton, 
 
 *Robert Walsh, Jr., *Edward 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. 
 
II I S T R I C A L S C I E T Y. 21 
 
 HONORARY MEMBERS. 
 
 '^Jolin 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, Wasliington. 
 
 *Antliony Morris, do. 
 
 *Edward Livingston, New Orleans. 
 
 CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. 
 
 =^-Jolni Andrew Sliulze, Governor of Pennsylvania. 
 *Molton C. Rogers, Secretary of the Commonwealth. 
 *Jolin Bannister Gibson, Carlisle. 
 *James Ross, Pittsburg. 
 
 William Wilkins, do. 
 *Rieliard Biddle, do. 
 
 T. B. Dallas, do. 
 
 David Scott, Wilkesharre. 
 *Redmond Conyngliam, Luzerne County. 
 ^Walter Franklin, Lancaster. 
 *Williani Darlington, West Chester. 
 
 Parker Campbell, Washington, Pa. 
 *Thomas B. M'Elwee, Bedford. 
 
22 HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Francis W. Rawle, Clearfield County. 
 
 John Young, Greenshurg. 
 *James Duulop, CJiamhershurg. 
 
 Joseph J. Lewis, Cheste7' County. 
 *David C. Claypoole, BiicJcs County 
 
 Erskine Hazard, Mauch Chunk. 
 
Washing-tor:, o. .C".- 
 1896 
 
 CIRCULAR. 
 
 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 CIRCULAR. 
 
 common, it may be said a patriotic, interest in contri- 
 buting to the general purpose, by 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 ; 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 may 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 
 
CIRCULAR. 
 
 SO 
 
 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 
 IIoPKiNSOx, Corresponding Secretary, or Gerard Ralston, 
 Curator of the Society, 
 
 By order. 
 
 Joseph Hopkinsox, 
 
 Secreiarij. 
 
 WILLIAM 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, 
 
 ^cretary. 
 
 (27) 
 
-■1 
 
AN 
 
 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 DELIVERED ON THE 
 
 5th of Noyember, 1825, 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 BY WILLIAM RAAVLE, Esq., 
 
 PKESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 (29) 
 

 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 The intention to form this Society was unknown to 
 me, till your partiality led 3'ou to request me to under- 
 take the office of President ;* and, however unqualified, 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 
 among us. 
 
 * William Rawle was born in Philadelphia, 28th of April, 1Y59. 
 About 1718, he commenced the study of the law in New York, under 
 Mr. Kemp, where he remained until June, 1T81) 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 
 1182, he proceeded to France, in which country he remained until 
 November; and, in January, 1783, returned to his native city, and 
 resumed his Jegal 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 puqDose 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 liimdred and forty years have elapsed 
 since the peaceful companions of WilUa^n Penn landed 
 on the shores of the Delaware.'^ 
 
 Race," of which, on the death of Doctor Wistar, he was, m 1818, 
 elected President. In 1805, he was chosen a member of the Agricul- 
 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 Bar, before whom, on 
 different occasions, he delivered two addresses, which have also 
 been published. His "View of the Constitution of the United 
 State. " which appeared in 1825, was received with much favor, 
 and adopted as a text-book in several of our literary institutions. 
 In the same year, Mr. Rawle took an active part m the establish- 
 a^ent of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and its Memoirs 
 contain valuable contributions from his pen. In 1830, Mr. Rawle 
 was associated with Messrs. T. I. Wharton and Joel Jones, as Cona- 
 niissioners "to revise, collate, and digest all such public act. 
 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 of great value to his colleagues. He died on the 12th 
 of April 1836. In the language of Mr. Wharton, to whose interest- 
 in^ Memoir, printed in the fourth volume of the Society's Iransac- 
 tions we are indebted for the above facts, "Mr. Rawle was an 
 accomplished jurist, a good scholar, and a person of great taste and 
 great general acquirements. His reading in early hfe had been 
 extensive; and he brought to bis professional studies a discrim- 
 inating and healthv 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 centurv. His professional business for the twenty years 
 between about 1793 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 
 
 "Ts^TEdit^^^te " I," in the Appendix, at the end of volume. 
 
INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 33 
 
 Except their friend and guide, they numbered no 
 distinguished character among tlicm ; 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 English- 
 men, and with this particular description of Englishmen. 
 
 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 gi"eat 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 v/ith 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 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 Several years before the date of William Penn's charter, 
 the society of Friends had begun to settle in New Jersey. 
 They had fixed themselves at Salem and at Barliiigton, 
 and the vessels which brought out additions to their 
 numbers had occasionally stopped at Neio Castle, and at 
 Shaclcamaxon, now Kensington. Many Swedish settle- 
 ments between these points, including Chester and 
 Tinicum, had already proved the tractable disposition 
 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, will therefore 
 find httle 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 WiUiam 
 
 any of bis devotional writings or speculative opinions. Hereafter, 
 possibly, they may see tbe light. I will only add, that by birth a 
 member of the Society of Friends, Mr. Rawle 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 
 
 Penii, ill tlie 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 w^oods were to be prostrated, cabins to 
 be erected, the earth to be opened, and its slow returns 
 received, before subsistence was obtained. They relied 
 on the smiles of a 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 follows, that when we see a 
 nation rolhng tumultuously down the torrent of time, 
 invading, overwhehning, and destroying whatever falls 
 in its way, we are led to inquire whether its origin was 
 not a mihtary 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 foim- 
 dations of society may at first be laid, we cannot always 
 depend on their permanence. New motives, unexpected 
 exigencies sometimes arise, changing or totally 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 still — if we wish to imderstand 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 Coesar ! 
 
 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 the 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. 
 
 Illiterate 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, 
 and 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 Conmiittee 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, 1841.— 
 Editor. 
 
INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 39 
 
 acknowledgments. Six years have intervened, and 
 nothing further has appeared, nor has a full catalogue 
 of their library or their cabinet been communicated to 
 the public. Yet it is not to be understood that this 
 institution is intentionally locked up from general use, 
 nor that the paucity 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 feeling 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 
 drawn as our cotemporaries may receive with satis- 
 faction and posterity with advantage. 
 
 * This Society has long ceased to exist. — Editor. 
 
40 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 To promote these leading views, I took the liberty to 
 suggest, and you have been pleased to adopt the idea, 
 that certain permanent committees should be 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 Indian, 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 otliers to precede him, little remained 
 for liim to appropriate 5 but the accounts received of the 
 easy access and natural fertility of this spot, encouraged 
 him to make the attempt, and, in 162G, 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 conciliation. 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 infant colony 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
 The settlements of New England and of Virginia 
 proper were of a homogeneous character. They were 
 all Englishmen. 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 Sweedland, 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 them 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 the early 
 settlers," Avhich the public is not already possessed of, 
 will prove highly interesting, not only to their descend- 
 ants, but to those who 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 utihty will not be confined 
 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, l^ciy, 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 dehght- 
 ful to understand the manners of different nations. In 
 
44 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 some degree the same pleasure may be felt and the same 
 advantage drawn frorii contemplating the difference 
 among individuals of whom nations are composed. 
 There is generally, in personal singularity, much to 
 avoid and condemn, but w^e 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 systems — taxation, direct or indirect, must have 
 been simple. 
 
 The supposed or real necessity of issuing the first 
 paper money, its ejQfects uj)on the people, the mode of 
 redeeming it, the objects to which revenues in any shape 
 were ajDplied, will be delineated. But larger views may 
 be united wath 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 impulse 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 
 unfeeling 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 facility of obtaining subsistence ? To 
 this we are hkewise 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 
 httle that they can call their own, even this Httle 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 
 
46 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 soil or security of propertj^j it will call for the most 
 deliberate and profound 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 pubUc 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 with it, to the extensive cultiva- 
 tion of the whole face of the country j from the first 
 rough manufacture of domestic implements to the fabri- 
 cation of almost every article of necessity or luxury j 
 from the humble traffic 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 down 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 hberal 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 different 
 times and in different places. Localities, national em- 
 
48 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 ployment, and other circumstances diversify the appli- 
 cation of principles ; but the philosophic mind is gratified 
 in tracing through the incumbrances of fonns and modes 
 of positive enactment, the great rudiments of moral 
 obh^ation and universal law. Our first acts of legislation 
 are to be expounded by the pohtical 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 mstitu- 
 tions, necessarily resulting from the removal to a new 
 country; from the intermixture of men of a different 
 ori-in; from the predominance of peaceful rehgious 
 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 jurispru- 
 dence, and enable future Grotiuses and Montesquieus to 
 correct some of the few errors into which they have 
 
 occasionally fallen. 
 
 " The hterary history of Pennsylvania" is consigned to 
 another committee, and let no one smile at the mention 
 of the hterary 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 poHte learning; 
 and that the press (for a printing press was established 
 here as early as 1686) was probably occupied entirely 
 with pubhc 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.f 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 
 Jiourishing existence. It contributes to remove an erroneous opinion 
 entertained by some, that the Society of Friends is generally ni^posed 
 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 Gross No Crotwr?," com- 
 posed by William Penn, while immured in the Toiver, will find a 
 2irofusion 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. 22T, he quotes Hen-era, 
 4 
 
50 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 produced the same result. In respect to these parts of 
 the great continent at that time, history is httle 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 unknown. 
 
 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 Hennepin) 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 William 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 certain 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 light- 
 ened by the wisdom of civilized conquerors, some- 
 times rendered heavy and oppressive by uncultivated 
 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 fehcity 
 of those whom it subdues. Thus Egypt preserved, under 
 
52 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 the domination of the Romans, a secondary, but still a 
 valuable station in the world of letters. Its rude Ara- 
 bian conquerors, inflamed by bigotry 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 Copts 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 j 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 ? 
 
 Heckewelder 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 Allegewis, 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. 
 
64 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 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 contain 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 ^re 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 enjoj'ments 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 Hfe among 
 the entire tribes in their own country. These efforts, 
 
INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 55 
 
 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 Frieiida 
 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 coiidition, 
 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 
 
56 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 inconsistent with the State reguhitions, but as near to 
 them as possible ; and individuals were accordingly 
 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 within 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; 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 Lidian 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 sublime doctrines 
 
INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 57 
 
 which could not be immediately comprehended; and it 
 has been pursued to the happiest effects by this benevo- 
 lent society, 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. f 
 
 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 1811, are 
 understood to have adopted the same course. 
 
 t See the message of the President, March 30, 1824, and the 
 report of the Secretary of War, attached to the subsequent message 
 of January 17, 1825. 
 
58 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 of liberty, and her novel and sublime 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 which 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 iujury to justify a war. 
 The natives of this continent were utterly ignorant even 
 of the existence of such a place as Europe, till we poured 
 upon them our adventurers, our refinements, and our 
 vices. 
 
 There was, therefore, no pretence for depriving them 
 
INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 59 
 
 of tlieir 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 they did not till the ground, nor live in 
 condensed bodies ; but, depending on the chase, roamed 
 loosely and at large, over the vast tracts which they 
 ignorantly supposed were tlieir o^vn. 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 Avas 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. 
 
60 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 4. Nations are moral entities, knowing no superior coer- 
 cive power, but bound, for their own interests, faithfully and 
 uniformly 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 
 unlawful 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 unlawful in an individual is no less guilty than 
 the individual would be. 
 
 6. 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 which have lain waste and unin- 
 habited for ages. They are considered as belonging to 
 the nation, and cannot be enclosed without a legislative 
 
INAUGURAL 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 flict, 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 they had a right in the meantime to enter on such 
 lands and appropriate 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 dmninium vacuum 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 effect has 
 
62 INAUGURAL 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 the 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 principle 
 has produced all the knowledge, science, and prosperity 
 now in existence. It oj^erates 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 hy 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 of 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 employment 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 j)ossession would be 
 ever unstable and transient. The people of England and 
 
64 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 France are probably the best fanners in Europe : in their 
 hands, a given quantity of land will maintain a greater 
 number 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 princij)le is established as a rule 
 for the conduct of nations, must it not also extend to 
 private hfe 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 gromids to subsist one 
 hundred persons. Was it ever conceived that he had 
 a right to destroy the palings 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 replied, " We do not know the 
 intentions of the Supreme Father in this particular, but it 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 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 civilized 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 
 
66 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 province, " acquiring thereby," says the respectable Bel- 
 knap, " a more valuable right, in a 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."f 
 
 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 under duress." 
 
 A conveyance from one of the Indians is, indeed, given 
 by the Historical Society of Massachusetts.J It is from a 
 
 * Belknap's History of New Hampshire, Vol, 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. 2T2. 
 
 f See Hazard, Vol. I., p. 263. 
 
 J Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. IV , 
 New Scries, p. 2G6. 
 
INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. G7 
 
 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 Williams 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. Williams was 
 compelled to leave the colony on account of this and 
 other errors of ojyinion. 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 
 years 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 j^art 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 oj^pressors 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. 6^ 
 
 In 1662, Connecticut was erected by the Chcarter 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 General 
 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 deliver 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 list of those who acknowledged 
 and fairly acquired the Indian rights. 
 
 Within the province 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, Vol. I., p. 42t. The date is 20th of 9th 
 month, 1637, 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 of the river Delaware, 
 but to what distance we are not now informed. 
 
 In New Jersey, this amicable course was steadily pur- 
 sued. In 1669, 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 WilHam 
 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 au 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 1G38. An examination of the 
 Letter from Jerome Ilawley, Treasurer of Virginia, to Mr. Secretary 
 Windebanke, and of the Protest of Kicft, Director-General of New 
 Netherlands, will, we think, fix the date of arrival in April 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, Vol. Ill, 20.— Editor. 
 
INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 71 
 
 " When the Governor shall, God willing, arrive in New 
 Sweden, he must carefully observe that the limits 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 Henlopei), upwards on the west side of 
 Godin's Bay* and upwards on the Great South River{" to 
 Mingoes Creek,{ 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 Stockhohn.|| 
 
 * Delaware Bay. 
 
 ■\ 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.— 
 Editor. 
 
72 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 The Swedes erected several forts, not to defend them- 
 selves against the Indians, but against the Dutch. A 
 petty warfiire 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 AVilliam Penn, by the two grants ^vhich 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 the 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 woodlands; for I proposed, when the Secretary, a 
 Welshman, refused to have it called New Wales, Sylvania, and they 
 added Poin 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 Kobert Turner, 5th 1st mo., 1G81 ; Hazard's Annals, 500; 
 and Register of Pennsylvania, I., 297, and Post. p. 209. — Editor. 
 
INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 7B 
 
 strictly pursued, was commenced, under his instructions, 
 by Markliam, his lieutenant-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 all 
 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 afflicted some of her 
 neighbors. In 1756, when Kittaning was destroyed by 
 
 * This is the date of his arrival at the Capes. On the 21th, 0. S., 
 he arrived before New Castle ; landed there on the 28th, and took 
 formal possession of the tei-ritory. 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, however, 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 Stitlie, 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 furtlior search. The upper couiitrj, we know, has 
 been ac(piired altogether by purchases made in the most 
 unexceptionable form." 
 
 In respect to the two Carolinas, their early history 
 presents a fluctuating view of alternate fair dealing and 
 cruel outrage. 
 
 I collect generally from Chalmers/'' that the emigrants 
 from the northern settlements to Carolina 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 war 
 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 J and, in 1750, another was made to the same 
 effect. 
 
 An anecdote in relation to Lawson, surveyor-general 
 of North Carolina, seems to confirm the fact 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, condenuied 
 and executed. His fellow traveller, a Swiss Baron, who 
 had a large settlement of his countrymen at or near New 
 Berne, w^as liberated. We may, therefore, suppose that 
 
 * P. 516. But there is no doubt that some part of the lands on 
 the coast were claimed as acquisitions by conquest. Although Wil- 
 liamson says, generally, that the settlers there purchased of the 
 natives. 
 
76 INAUGURAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 the domains of the latter were within some ceded 
 territory.* 
 
 When the sjoirited and philanthropic 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 satisfactory 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 Ave proceeded, and under 
 whom the right on which our property depends is 
 derived. 
 
 The Kevolution 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 prmciple, is not to be 
 found in the acts of the General Government. 
 
 Of this rule of proceeding very honorable evidence 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 Laweon had published 
 in London, in 1709, an account of a voj-age 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 the fruits of his 
 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 by 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 smihng prospect of 
 cultivated fields, substantial dwellings, and prosperous 
 industry, under a government regularly organized, and 
 laws wisely made and actively enforced. Yet even these 
 are now trembling for their o^vn security. Of the em- 
 ployment of actual force the}^ are not ajoprehensive, 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 dislike of the old inhabitants. The latter 
 had indeed previously m^de a cession to our General 
 Government, which it was hoped would secure a peace- 
 
 * Keating's account of Long's Second Expedition, Vol. 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 coUision 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 happiness of civilized life, I cannot believe 
 that the United States Government will continue the 
 lukewarm system of policy in her relations with the 
 Indians, as has been hitherto adopted, to effect the j)ur- 
 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, Cherokees, and Osages, for the 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 conipHance 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 hostihties ? 
 
 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 Holston,-\ 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 Chero- 
 kees and the Commissioners of the United States, communicated to 
 Congress by the President, March 30th, 1824. 
 
 I This treaty was made July 2d, 1101. 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. Kemove 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 impossibility of a further flight will be the 
 only Hmit of our miserable pilgrimages.* 
 
 K this is no exaggerated picture, it becomes a matter 
 of grave consideration to ascertain the course which ouglit 
 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, 
 suj)phed 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 civilization? 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 reconciUng them to each other ; and five 
 powerful, and once exasperated tribes, will remember 
 with gratitude the philanthropic exertions of Governor 
 Clarke, and look with dehght 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. 8S 
 
 the spot liave 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 literary 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 felicities, 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 simphcity 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 will seldom exhaust. 
 
 In conclusion, I have only to express an ardent hope, 
 that this Society will not, hke too many others, be 
 marked only by vivacity of mception, 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." 
 
I 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LOCALITY OF THE GREAT TREATY 
 
 BETWEEN * 
 
 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 AND THE 
 
 INDIAN NATIVES, 
 
 IN 1682. 
 
 Read hefore the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 
 September IWi, 1825. 
 
 BY KOBEETS VAUX. 
 
 (87) 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 ON THH 
 
 LOCALITY OP PENN'S TREATY.* 
 
 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 jDacific founder and the 
 Indian natives, in 10 82. That comjDact was not more 
 distinguished for its justice and generosity than for the 
 fidelity 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 Mi\ 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 THE 
 
 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 knownii, 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." (Vol. YL, 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 TENN'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 polished 
 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 foil 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 Elm 
 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 ojDinion 
 that Kensington was the scene of the memorable negotia- 
 tion ; and, as the only mark by which the locality was 
 designated is removed, it is probable that the lapse of 
 time, with other concurrent circumstances, may hereafter 
 render the foct 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 MEMOIRONTHE 
 
 that the treaty took place at Upland or Chester, the 
 interesting theatre where the " Great Law'' 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 estabhsh 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 with 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 Upland 
 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 % military 
 posts! 
 
 I 
 
LOCALITY OF PENN'S TREATY. 93 
 
 The following letters, whilst they go to confirm the 
 opinion that Chester was not the treaty ground, also 
 su^^port 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 Feiend: 
 
 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 who 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 MEMOIRONTHE 
 
 comfort as well as to the well-being of every individual, 
 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 was 
 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 
 Eobert Wade's, during his first visit. The dwelHng 
 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 " Wel- 
 come " is said to have been moored. — Editor. 
 
LOCALITY OF PENK's TREATY. 95 
 
 wlio (I have heard) were enjoined 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 William 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 locality. 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 have been objects previous 
 to many inquiries about them. 
 
 K a monument is to be erected, Philadelphia is, un- 
 doubtedly, the proper place. 
 
 Your respectful servant 
 and friend, 
 
 NICHOL. COLLIN. 
 Egberts Vaux, Esq. 
 
 II 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 understood 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 Palmer 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- 
 1 1 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 inform 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, Kichard Peters, having been 
 during, I beheve, 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 affairs 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. 
 
 William 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 
 will see, in the same book, in Vol. II.,* that he gives a 
 
 * Penn's Works, in 2 Yols., printed in 1726. 
 7 
 
98 MEMOIR ON THE 
 
 minute account to his friends in England, of the Indians 
 in 1683; 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 wheat 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 establish 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 
 known 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 Tallcs 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 Wilham Penn chose to hold this 
 
LOCALITY OF PENN'S TREATY. 99 
 
 treaty beyond the reach, of any jealousy about the 
 neighborhood of fortified places, and within the lines 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 view 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 Penti, 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 policy and justice practised by him. 
 At Fort Stanwix, fifty-seven years ago, I was present 
 when the Delawares and Shatcanese 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 called 
 ^Haldng off 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 affection ; and added, that he was 
 pleased with my being "^one of the young jieojile of tlie 
 ccmntry of the much rejected and highly esteemed Onas" 
 which means a quill or ^en. 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 
 Moccanns (whereof I had a pair presented to me), mixed 
 with porcupine's quills, in beautifully ornamented work- 
 manship. If 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 was 
 denominated, not a whole bird, but merely a quill. My 
 moccasins 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. My 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. 101 
 
 bust of "William Penn, made from the Elm Tree, with a 
 scroll superscribed ^^ PemUs Exemplary Treaty,'' constantly 
 before their eyes. It would be as monitory on this part 
 of their duty, as the portrait of WasJiingfon is exciting in 
 all others. The remaining aborigines of our country are 
 doomed, sooner or later, to the like extinction their 
 departed predecessors have experienced. If, in any 
 instance, they seem to be stationary, — begin to establish 
 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 
 JeiDhsh origin. And, if they are of the Israelitish 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 IsJitnaelites, 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, 
 
 RICHAKD PETERS. 
 PvOBERTS 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 (earher 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 Pem'is 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 Penn. After dilating on the 
 worth and virtues of that good man, and particularly as 
 
 * Benjamin Lay came to Pennsylvania in 1T31, 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 
 
 tliey applied to his treatment of the natives, he would 
 call on the boys ; point to the JElm 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, 
 
 KICHARD 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, " Tlie Proprietary being now returned from Mary- 
 land to Coaquannock,^ the place so called by the Indians, 
 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 roNCEAU. 
 
104 MEMOIR ON THE 
 
 for this change of the place 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 Ukeness 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 IGlt. 
 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. Johyr Kinsey, one of the Commis- 
 sioners sent to organize the affairs of West New Jersey, died at 
 Shackamaxon, in IGYY, 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 elglity-tliree 
 years, having been one liundred and fifty-five years old at 
 the time of the treaty. A large piece of it was sent by 
 our venerable townsman, Samuel Cdates, 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 
 the original inhabitants of my native cmmtry, hy the first 
 settlers, and hy their descendants, and to which I well re- 
 rnemher, ahout the year 1755, luhen a hoy, often resorting 
 
106 MEMOIR, ETC. 
 
 with my school-fellows [the spot heing the favorite otie for 
 assembling in tlw Jiours of leisure'], was in some danger 
 during the American War of 1775, when the British pos- 
 sessed tlie country, from parties sent out in search of icood 
 for firing; hut the late General JSimcoe, who had the conv- 
 mand of the district ivhere it grew, from a regard for the 
 clmracter of William Penn, and the interest which he tooh 
 in tlw history connected with the Tree, ordered a gua7'd of 
 Bntish soldiers to protect it from the axe. This circum- 
 stance the General 7xlated 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 plain and sub- 
 stantial Obelisk of Granite, near where the tree formerly 
 stood at Kensington, with appropiate inscriptions. 
 
NOTES 
 
 PROVINCIAL LITERATUEE 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS I. WHARTOK 
 Read at a Meeting of the Coimcil, September 21st, 1825. 
 
 (107) 
 
I 
 
NOTES 
 
 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 expurgatorius. However truly this may have been 
 said of some of the early teachers of that sect, certainly 
 the colonial history of Pennsylvania affords no materials 
 for the support of the theory. It is believed 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 standing 
 at their doors, — when they estabhshed schools and a 
 printing press, to teach and to be enlightened : literally 
 inter silvas qnerere verum. Within four years from the 
 time that our ancestors landed in the wilderness, a print- 
 
 (109) 
 
110 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 ing press was at work in Philadelphia, sowing broadcast 
 the seeds of knowledge and morality : and only a feAv 
 months after the arrival of William Penn, public educa- 
 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 to^vn (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 shilhngs a quarter ; to write, 
 six shillings," &c. ; " boarding a scholar, to wit, diet, lodg- 
 ing, washing, and schooling, ten pounds for the whole 
 year ;"* little more than what 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 deepty 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 welfare 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, 
 which cannot be effected in any manner so Avell as by 
 erecting public schools for the purpose aforesaid," &c. 
 
 * Proud's History of Pennsylvania, Vol. I., p. 345. 
 
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 hbels upon the government. God keep us 
 from both."f 
 
 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 Descrijjfio 
 Pennsylvanioi, 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 : 
 
 * Yol. I., p. 344. t Chalmers, Vol. II, p 328. 
 
112 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 " Hie in grmuasiis linguge docentur et artes 
 Ingenuse multis doctor et ipse fui. 
 Una schola hie alias etiam supereminet omnes, 
 Romano et Graeco quae docet ore loqui." 
 
 Makin, also, according to Proud,* vn'ote an ^'Encomium 
 Pennsylvanice^^ another Latin poem, in 1728, "svliicli, with 
 the Descriptio Pennsylvanice, was fomid 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 .-]- 
 
 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 earher than her sister colonies in 
 
 * Vol. II., p. 360. 
 
 "j" It appears there were earlier attempts at Poetry, at least in 
 English. Mr. Horatio Gates Jones, in his Essay on the "Bitlenhouse 
 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 Relation of what Things are Known, Enjoyed, and like to be 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 four 
 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 printing press at 
 Kensington, in the neighborhood of the Treaty Tree. 
 His earhest publication 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 Keach, the first 
 Pastor of the Pennepek or Lower Dublin Baptist Church. Judge 
 Holme subsequently settled in Salem, N. 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, 
 fi'om internal evidence and my knowledge of early Baptist history, I 
 have satisfied myself that it was written in 1696. It is styled 'A True 
 Eelaiion of the Flourii^Mng State of Pennsylvania ;'' and was never 
 published, so far as I know, until 184T, when it appeared in the 
 "Bulletin of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania." (Yol. I., No. 
 13^ p. t2.)— Editor. 
 
114 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 "J.7^ Almanac far tlie year of the Christian account 1687, 
 ^particularly respecting the Meridian and Latitude of Bur- 
 lington,, hut may indifferently serve all 'plaxxs adjacent. By 
 Daniel Leeds, Student in Agriculture. Printed and sold hy 
 William Bradford, near Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, Pro 
 Anno, 1687." 
 
 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 aioay, 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 William 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 born 
 May 20, 1660 (O. S.), may be found in an "Address by Mr John 
 William Wallace, delivered at the Celebration, by the New York 
 
OF PENNSYLVANIA. 115 
 
 Religious 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 1G91, 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 rehgion 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 malefactors, 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 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 to draw the sword, even though it be the sword of justice. 
 In a word, he was, to use the language of the present 
 days, — an ultra. In 1689, previous to his quarrel with 
 the leaders of the " Friends," this active pamphleteer 
 appears to have published a tract against the New Eng- 
 land churches, which is said by Thomas, in his History 
 of Printing,* to have been the first hook printed in Penn- 
 sylvania. In 1690, 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 heterodox, tenets 
 (at least so they were called by the elders), and, as they 
 alleged, by his turbulent and overbearing spirit j 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 says,f that the printers of these " virulent pieces," 
 "WilUam 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 
 
 * Yol. II., p. 9, 10. A copy of it is in the possession of Thomas, 
 t Vol. I., p. 3t2. 
 
OF PENNSYLVANIA. 117 
 
 hand, it appears, from a pamphlet pubUshed 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 believe 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, &e. 
 
 • % See Note A. 
 
118 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 of purpose, he might have made a serious inroad on the 
 principal Society. He appears, however, to have left the 
 pro\T.nce soon after the proceedings against him; and 
 httle 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 httle short of what he had exhibited in 
 defence of the primitive tenets of George Fox, vehemently 
 assailed the oj)inions 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 
 pubhshed 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 Library, and 
 is worth preservation, as displaying 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 with Independents, Anabaptists, 
 Unitarians, Quakers, and Catholics, each in their turn, 
 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 literary works of Pennsylvanians, published 
 in Pennsylvania, yet it seems not entirely irrelative to 
 the subject to revive the recollection of books relating to 
 the province, though published elsewhere. In 1698, was 
 printed in London, an amusing little volume, entitled 
 
 "J^7^ Historical and Geogi-aii^liical Account of the Province 
 and Country of Pennsylvania, and of West New Jersey, in 
 Ame7'ica, &c. With a Map of both Countries. By Gahriel 
 Thomas, who resided tliere ahout 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 ccndeur de rose, and if his 
 book had general circulation in England, it must have 
 
 * This work was, some years ago, reprinted. — Editor. 
 
120 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 tended to produce 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 each." He 
 tells us of " Frankford Kiver, 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 with 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 noose, 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 heard of." 
 
 The most favorable consequences ensued (according to 
 
 * It was covered, says Watson, with tiles. — Editor. 
 
OF PENNSYLVANIA. 121 
 
 our wortliy author) from these happy iniptials. " The 
 children born here," he says, ^' are generally well favored 
 and beautiful : I never knew any one come into 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, tarts, 
 pies, 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 {i. e. the learning and the pies), for which we 
 owe the highest gratitude to Providence." The book is, 
 however, valuable for the illustration it affords of our 
 early annals. Among the trades of Philadelphia, of 
 which a considerable list is given, and which, he says, 
 
122 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 have all constant and profitable employment, I find 
 " printers and bookbinders/' and several others which one 
 would suppose were quite prematurely introduced. Bar- 
 ton, in his Memoirs of Rittenhouse,* speaks of the 
 establishment of a paper mill at Germantown,-|- about the 
 year 1700, by William Rittenhouse and his son Nicholas, 
 ancestors of the philosopher; but the making of paper 
 here was still earlier, since, in 1697, Thomas says, "All 
 sorts of very good paper are made in the Germantown." 
 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 : 
 
 " GocVs 2^^^otecti?ig Pi-ovidence mans surest Jielj) and 
 defence in times of tJw greatest difficulty and most immi- 
 nent danger. Evidenced in the remarhahle deliverance of 
 divers persons frmn the devouring waves of tlie sea, amongst 
 which they suffered shipwreck; and also from tlie mc/re 
 
 * Page 83, note 5. 
 
 f The Paper Mill to which reference is made by Barton, was the 
 first established in America, and as early as 1690, not in German- 
 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 RittenJiouse Pajjer Mill,^' 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 uumentioned by any writer. — Editok. 
 
OF PENNSYLVANIA. 123 
 
 cruelly devouring Jaws of tJie iQiJmman Cannihals of 
 Florida. Faitlifidly related hy one of the persons con- 
 cerned therein, Jonathan Dichenson. Printed in Philadel- 
 phia, hy Reinier Janson, 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 thej^ 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 hfe and religious services of 
 Eobert Barrow, one of the passengers, " a fiiithful servant 
 of the Lord," as the author (himself a zealous " Friend ") 
 styles him. From this, it appears, that he was a native 
 
124 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 of one of the northern counties of England, was early in 
 life convinced of the truth of the Quaker doctrines ; and, 
 in 1694, "the spirit of God requiring him to come over 
 into these parts to preach the Gospel," he obeyed the call, 
 though with 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 do^vn 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 hved 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 
 edifjdng frame of mind he continued until his death, 
 which took place on the 4th of February, 1697. 
 
 Of Jonathan Dickinson, the author, little 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 town, 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 
 
 tmction and extensive property. Our worthy ancestors 
 seem to have been equally heedless of the maxims of pohti- 
 cal economy in respect to the division of labor, and of the 
 well-established truths of political 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 mijoer-Sidded that of 
 Master in Clmncery. Not long afterwards, he figures as 
 a member of Council, and as a Commissioner to treat 
 with the Indians at Conestoga. He was withal, to use 
 the words of that " honest chronicler," Rohert Proud, " A 
 merchant of considerable fortune, and possessed a large 
 estate in Philadelphia. He bore a general good char- 
 acter, was universally mucb beloved, and died m the year 
 1722." 
 
 The appearance of the book argues great deficiency in 
 typographical 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 
 teneivs for Bradford, at that time in exile at New York. 
 A second edition was printed in 1735, by a more cele- 
 brated tjrpographer, Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 The year 1719 deserves particular remembrance in the 
 annals of Pennsylvania, as that in which the first news- 
 
 * History of Printing, Yol. II. 
 
126 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 paper was printed 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 "American Weekly 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 tJie 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 jyen 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 you with bindings," &c. What new ideas 
 of Walnut Street does not this hint about a hridge give 
 
OF PENNSYLVANIA. 127 
 
 US ; and liow plenty must deer have been in those times 
 when all persom are invited to have their skins dressed 
 by Matthew Cowley; and then what a familiar and 
 village sort of acquaintance with everybody, 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 delivered of a second 
 newspaper, to which the modest title was given of " Tlie 
 Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences, and Pemv- 
 sylvania Gazetted In his inimitable autobiography, 
 Franklin has immortalized Keimer, the eccentric pub- 
 lisher of this journal, whose vanity and selfishness, whose 
 wild notions upon religion and morals, and whose turn 
 for poetry and gluttony are so happily and graphically 
 delineated. FrankUn, from whom Keimer had stolen the 
 idea of a second newspajDer, attacked it in a series of 
 papers published in Bradford's journal, and called the 
 Busy Body.* The " Uidversal Instructor" soon fell into 
 decay, and then into Franklin's hands, by whom it was 
 very skilfully and successfully managed, both for his own 
 profit and for the interest and edification of the public. 
 
 * 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 Tranklin 
 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 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 An editorial notice in one of Franklin's papers proves, in 
 rather a ludicrous way, how badly Philadelphia was sup- 
 plied at the time (1736) with printing presses. What 
 was called outer form was printed reversely or upside 
 do-^vn to the inner form, and the following apology is 
 offered : " The printer hopes the irregular pubhcation of 
 this paper mil be excused a few times by his town 
 readers, in consideration of his being at Burlington with 
 the press, laboring for the pubhc good to make money 
 more plentiful." 
 
 It is not generally known that this venerable journal 
 survived mitil within a year or two of the present time, 
 under the name of " J'/i^ Pennsylvania Gazetted The third 
 newspaper published in Pennsylvania was " The Pennsyl- 
 vania Jourjial and Weekly Advertizer^' 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 were 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 published 
 in 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 published in 
 Philadelphia. 
 
OF PENNSYLVANIA. 129 
 
 There are few persons on record to whose individual 
 genius and exertions a community has owed so much as 
 to Dr. FrankUn. If William 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 hfe and actions are too well known to 
 require that any elaborate notice of them should be given 
 here. Referring 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 literary 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, httle 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 republics, of one of 
 which he was placed at the head ; and not merely dis- 
 tinguished as a politician, but covered with literary 
 
130 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 honors and distinctions from every country in Christen- 
 dom by which genius and pubHc 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 metropohs, dis- 
 tinguished for the wisdom and hberality 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 Frankhn visited 
 him, he was composing an elegy, hterally of his own 
 coinpoeition, 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. If 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 provincial poets, Watscyii, Osborne, and 
 Ralph, whom he describes as " all lovers of reading," and 
 with whom he says he " had many pleasant walks on the 
 banks of the Schuylkill, where they read to one another, and 
 
OF PENNSYLVANIA. l'3l 
 
 conferred on what they had read." Of the first two little 
 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 ! thy very Gazetteers give o'er, 
 Even Ralph repents, and Henley writes no more." . 
 
 And in Book III., he is brought out more into rehef : 
 
 " Silence, ye wolves ! while Ralph to Cynthia howls, 
 And makes night hideous — answer him ye owls !" 
 
 Pope's annotator tells 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 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 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 Chiswick, 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 
 pubhcly 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, morahty, 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 small 
 degree to foster that hterary taste and philosophical 
 spirit which have been the honorable distinction of this 
 city. They met every Friday evening,-j- and each mem- 
 ber paid a penny a night to recompense the landlord for 
 fire and light. 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. 
 
1 
 
 I 
 
 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 written 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 : — 
 
 "Previous qiiestion to he answered at every 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 knoAvledge ? 
 
 2. What new story have you lately heard agreeable for 
 telling in conversation ? 
 
 3. Hath any citizen in your knowledge failed in busi- 
 ness latety, 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 j of passion ; or 
 of any other vice or folly ? 
 
134 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 8. What happy efifects of temperance ; of prudence ; 
 of moderation ; 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 have 
 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 cliaracter 
 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 ? 
 
 Atisicer. 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 PROVINCIAL 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 Brient- 
 nall, who has been already mentioned; NicJiolcts /Scull, 
 afterwards Surveyor-General, who, says FranMin, "loved 
 books and sometimes made verses ;" William Parson, bred 
 a shoemaker, who studied mathematics with a view to 
 astrology, which he afterwards ridiculed; William Cole- 
 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 was, 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 Pi'incipia, 
 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 
 angusta 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 prevaiUng 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 in 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 j)leasure to me to see him rewarded." That 
 reward, however, never came. He was suffered to go 
 down to the grave in poverty and distress. Ilis 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, Franklin 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 establishment 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 
 
 In the Provincial Annals of Pennsylvania, few names 
 appear with 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 the name of Logan, as obscure as 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 published, at Leyden, his valuable treatise, 
 in Latin, entitled, ^^ Experimenta et meletemata de Plan,- 
 tarum generatione" which was republished in London, in 
 1747, with a version on the opposite page, by Dr. Fother- 
 gill.f He printed at Leyden, at the same time, another 
 learned treatise, entitled : 
 
 * A Brief Memoii* of Logan was published by Wilson Armi- 
 stead, London, 1851. — Editor. 
 
 f 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 hav^e enabled him 
 to give the world ample satisfaction on this intricate subject, had he 
 
OF PENNSYLVANIA. 139 
 
 " Canonum pro inveniendis refractionum turn simplicimn 
 turn in lentihus duplicium focis, demonstrationes goemetricce. 
 Autore Jacobo Logan, Judice Su^emo et Pi'oeside F^'cmindcB 
 
 Pennsyhanicnds, in America^ 
 
 In 1734, he translated Cicero's tract De Senectute, 
 which, ten years afterwards, was printed by Franklin, 
 in a style which, in correctness and the distinctness of 
 the tj'pes, far exceeds some of our modern productions. 
 The translation is faithful, and at the same time easy, 
 and the learned 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), luit 
 principally for the entertainment of a neighbor, then in 
 his grand climacteric; and the notes were draA\T.i up 
 solely on that neighbor's accomit, who was not so well 
 acquainted as himself with the Roman 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 moraUst and beautiful writer. Such subtle disquisi- 
 
 been permitted to prosecute his inquiries. But his country called 
 him to more important aflFairs, and Icept him constantly engaged in 
 employments more immediately beneficial to society. 
 
140 
 
 FXOTiyCIAL L:TE2ATr2Z 
 
 'tifjn zi:d I'S'^ ^T^b^^latk^- r—ch -r^ri^tj of kL-OTrl-c-d^^ and 
 
 r '-'-^ ,' 
 
 and a masla' of the latin, Greek, Fr^aica. and It&li^ji 
 langoagM. He died on di^Er Slst c^ Oetober. IToL ag^ 
 aef niaity 'B cr eiL. learing to the people c^ Peim5vh^r.!.% ^ 
 noUe momimeait c^ h» mmnfieCTce, in the Logaman 
 librazj, wbidi be had been fifty Tear* in ooilectin^ and 
 tiie Ti^ne c^whidbi ^ Vncmn to all men of leaming.'f' 
 
 Sndi waa *^the obft^, 'f tl^ - " ^ ',f I/^an." 
 
 Coat^Dopoiaii -: 
 ihe habit c: 
 
 Frankhn, and in 
 
 nith them, was Jcmr 
 
 ' yhikieopher. of 
 
 riz^ At 
 
 \aarmA fhewl ¥ziimaB&, who 
 
 It^^ TOtoUJAS <crf J:_3 
 
 Am 
 
F I' K N N S Y L V A N 1 A. 111 
 
 wliom Liiiiui'iis siiid, lli:it lie '\v;iH llic ^Tcntcst. UMldnil 
 ])()tanlst in the world, was horn iiciir l);ir])y, in wIimI vvms 
 tlicii Chester (younfy, id Hie ^ciir 1701. His lir.'md- 
 father, of the same name with hinisclC, came IVom Derhy- 
 nliire, in England, in 1G82. Very early in life hi.s rnling 
 ])a,ssi()n, the love of n.'itiirc and Ikt productions, broken 
 out, and he manifested that eagerness and (capacity for 
 learning which characteri/ed all his after life, lie waa 
 tlie first American who foiuidcd a l)ota,nic giirdcn ; niid 
 his reputation hecame so extensive tlnit lu; con-cspondcd 
 with most of the distinguished forciL-n piiiiosoplicrs, was 
 mad(; a fellow of sevfsral of the sc^iciilific, sociclics of 
 Europe, and fniiilly appointed American 'Jjot.'inist to 
 George TTT. Lik(! Fr,'i,rd<liri, he wjis very ing(!nious a.s a 
 nieclijiiilo. The house in which he resided wns huilt hy 
 himself; the stone was quarried, and the tinilx-r prepared 
 by his own hands; and, on its compl'-tion, he dc(|ic,;it,ed 
 it by the following distich, which lie engraved in (roni : 
 
 "To Oor] alono: the ;\lrnlj?hty Lord: 
 The ifoly On'! by inc nfjrjrod.'' 
 
 Joi/N JJartham, 1770. 
 
 This learned and accomplished man w;i,h horn :md 
 educated n Qunker, ;ind is s:iid U> have been uxxli-M. :ind 
 gentle in manners, of amisihk; disposition :ui<l lihcnil 
 mind. IJe died in September, 1777. Jlis son, William 
 
 tiori was follow';*] by Mr. William ff. Dillifijrliarri'a "Tril.iiff! to tlio 
 Mf;rnory of Peter ColliriHon, with Home fiotiw of J)r. r)arlirig1.ofi'H 
 Mornorial.H of Joliri liartrarn and llurnphroy Marwhall." IMiilafhil- 
 phia, 1851, pp. '.'jl.—Khnoii. 
 
142 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 Bartram, inherited his father's tastes and talents. In 
 1773, he undertook a long and arduous journey, as he 
 says, " at the request of Dr. Fothergill, of London, to 
 search the Floridas, and the western parts of Carolina 
 and Georgia, for the discovery of rare and useful produc- 
 tions of nature, chiefly in the vegetable 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 Hberal 
 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 173G, 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 Lidies. Li 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, w^as born in 1G77, in Essex 
 
 * Roberts Yaux, Esq. 
 
I • 
 
 144 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 County, England; 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 ^ratis. His enthusiasm on this subject was exces- 
 sive, and often very annoying to other* j 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 pubhc 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 
 science 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 hmits 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 
 Rittenhouse. To the principle of liberty, he was invari- 
 10 
 
146 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 ably attached j his philanthropy was universal, and ren- 
 dered him 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 rehgious 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 x*ro 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 poHcy 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, pubhshed 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. Ramsay 
 says, that in this work, " he may be said to have sown 
 the seeds of the Revolution." The celebrated petition to 
 
148 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 tlie 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 15th of February, 1808, at an advanced age. His 
 political writings were collected and pubhshed 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 sketchmg out the Hterature 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 pubUcations 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 the Kegs; The Essay on Wliiteicashing, 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 published in 
 three volumes. Francis Hopkinson was born in Phila- 
 
OF PENNSYLVANIA. 149 
 
 delphica, in 1737, and died in his native city, on the 9th 
 of May, 1791. 
 
 In the year 17G0, the Eev. Andrew Burnabt, Vicar 
 oV Greenwich, in England, travelled through the (then) 
 colonies, and, in the course of his journey, visited Phila- 
 delphia. On his return, he published an account of his 
 tour, in a small quarto volume, w^hich is among the 
 Frankhn Pamphlets, at the Athenaeum. He speaks thus 
 of Philadelj^hia : " 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 jDractical 
 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- 
 towm." 
 
 In 1774, was pubUshed in Philadelphia, a small work, 
 
150 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 entitled " Observations on a variety of subjects, Literary, 
 Moral, and Religious, in a Series of Original Letters, 
 written by a gentlemen of foreign extraction, who resided 
 some time in Philadelphia." 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, Li 
 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 accomplishments 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, ill point of knowledge, with these several 
 authors (page 30)." "Many excellent productions, in the 
 literary way, have been published here. That spirit 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 Evans. 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 Sampscm. 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 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 was published by subscription, was entitled "Ejjistolce 
 Familiares, et Alia Qucedam Miscellanea'^ For the most 
 part, these pieces are written with considerable purity 
 and elegance ; 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 Maecenas 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 Governeur Emerson, M.D. Philadelphia, 1843, pp. 22. — 
 Editoe. 
 
OF PENNSYLVANIA. 153 
 
 His father dying when he was very young, and leaving 
 little property, the son received only a pl(ii]i English 
 education, but displayed in his early years that talent for 
 and attachment to poetry which was the dehght and dis- 
 tinction of his short after-life. He is said also to have 
 possessed a fine ear for music and a strong inclination 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 expedition 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, 17G3, 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 Rev. Nathaniel Evans, Minister of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church, and Missionary to Gloucester County, 
 
154 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 New Jersey, published a volume of poems in 1770, most 
 of which may be read now with pleasure. K not remark- 
 able for energy or originality, the vivida vis animi, they 
 are smooth and poHshed, and indicate the possession of a 
 refined taste and livel}^ 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, hoAvever, 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. Immediately after this, he repaired 
 to England, where 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, hke 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 Phihidelphi;i. This was 
 "TAe General Magazine and Ilidorlcal Chronicle" printed 
 and edited by Dr. Frankhn, 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 pubUshed 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 w^ere 
 published. 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" 
 w^as 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 Revolution, and I believe 
 attained a high rank in the Pennsylvania Line. In 1771, 
 was published " The Royal Spiritmil Magazine or Christ- 
 ians Grand Treasury " a few numbers on\y appeared. 
 In 1775, Robert Aitken printed " TJie Pennsylvania Magor 
 zine or American Monthly Museuin" Thomas Paine was 
 editor, and one of the principal writers for this journal. 
 Many of the articles bear the impress of his powerful 
 
156 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 writing ; and the journal is on other accounts one of the 
 best which appeared before the Revolution. 
 
 The activity of the Press of Philadelphia before 
 the Revolution, and the general diffusion of a hterary 
 taste, is proved by the large 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 hbrary, 
 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 PhiladeljDhia. 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 pub- 
 lisher 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 selUng 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- 
 mentahsts." Announcing Blackstone's Commentaries and 
 other books to be pubhshed by subscription, he invites the 
 public in these words : ''Inteiitional encouragers, who wish 
 for a participation of this sentimental hanquet, 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 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 had been placed on the soil of the colony, the venerable 
 and illustrious founder issued a manifesto, containing the 
 soundest doctrines of political philosophy, and the most 
 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 propagated 
 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 17G8-9, the 
 Assembly appropriated one hundred pounds 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. HO, note 70. 
 
160 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE 
 
 observe the transit of Venus ; 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. Eittenhouse 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 abilities 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 ' Neio 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 1692, 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 KeitK's Mock Imprisonment. Now to 
 prove the notorious falsehood of this, I need go no further 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. ICl 
 
 about our differences in principles of religion, in the year 1091 and 
 1C)92, 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 Apjyeal,^ &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 Ilackomb. 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, wiiich 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 tho 
 world of it, as therel)y thinking to have some great matter against 
 me. For he chargeth it upon these two above-mentioned persons, 
 William Bradford and John Mackomb, 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 ne.xt session ; but it happened that the jailor ivas gone 
 ahroad, arid 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 
 
 PROVINCIAL LITERATURE. 
 
 komh were guilty of deceit or not, is not material to the present case 
 of John Whiting, his vile slander, as if I had been the person, or one 
 of the persons who had writ that paper from the porch or entry of the 
 prison. This is a sufficient proof that what John Whiting has thus 
 printed against me was not fi'om the infallible spirit, and that he is, 
 therefore, by George Fox^s sentence, a deceiver." (Page 40, &c.) 
 
A 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 THE CONTEOYERSY 
 
 WILLIAM PENN AND LOUD BALTIMOEE, 
 
 RESPECTING THE BOUNDARIES OF PENNSYLVANIA AND MARYLAND. 
 
 JAMES DUI^LOP, ESQ., 
 
 MEMBER OF THE SENATE OF PENNSYLVANIA FROM FRANKLIN COUNTY. 
 
 Read at a Meethirj of tlie Council, Naveiriber 10th, 1825. 
 
 (163) 
 
I 
 
A MEMOm, ETC/ 
 
 The disputes which occurred in times almost forgotten, 
 between the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania and Maryland, 
 respecting the boundaries of their pro\dnces, 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.f 
 
 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 
 Note II., 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, Yol. II., p. 475. 
 
 (165) 
 
IGG WILLIA-AIPENN 
 
 savages and soil of tlie New World, arose from tlicir 
 entire ignorance of the country. The' thirst for gold, tlie 
 spirit of adventure, and zeal of religious enthusiasm, all 
 demanded, clamorously, a participation 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 II. B. Latrobe, of Maryland, before the 
 Historical Society of Pennsylvania, November 8th, 1854. Press 
 of the Society, Philadelphia, 1855. 
 
 Mason and Dixon's Line : a History, — including an Outline of the 
 Boundary Controversy between Pennsylvania and Virginia. By 
 James Yeech. Pittsburg, 1851, pp. 58. — Editor. 
 
AND LORD BALTIMORE. 167 
 
 nated as invariably to create confusion, and embroil tlie 
 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 LewistoAvn, 
 in the State of Delaware ; and in the year follomng, the 
 Swedes had pushed their fortifications above Wilmington, 
 
 * It has already been stated, in a note at page 70, 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 1G30, 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 Vries, in compliment 
 to his father, a resident of Hoorn, a town in the Xetherlands, which 
 was subsequently corrupted into Hoarkill. 
 
 The unfortunate Dutch colonists who arrived under Dc Tries, in 
 1G30, 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. 
 
168 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 and as high up as Chester. The Swedes, says the same 
 author (1 Pr., 205), had a Meeting House at Wicocoa, 
 now mthin the suburbs of Philadelphia ; and the Friends 
 one at Upland or Chester, another at Shackamaxon or 
 about where Kensington now stands, and a third at the 
 lower Falls of the Delaware (Id., 160, 161), 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 w^ere 
 built or better accommodation prepared for them. J3ut 
 there is no doubt that the country, 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 province that lie 
 upon or near the bay, 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 English 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 
 
 Pciiii's Charter; but that they had long exercised domin- 
 ion over the country west of the Ijay 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 1GG4, 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 Robert Carr, to subdue 
 their possessions on the eastern shore ; and after the con- 
 quest, which was easily effected, governed the country as 
 an appendage to his province of New York, by his lieuten- 
 ants, till 1682, when he released his interest to William 
 Penn. There is no evidence of actual settlements made 
 within the limits 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 1G75, to Edmund Andros, Governor and 
 Lieutenant 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 PENN 
 
 creek next the cold spring, somewhat above Matinicuni* 
 Island, about eight or nine miles below the Falls, as far 
 above the said Falls as the other is below them, or fmih- 
 est that way, as may be agreed upon, to some remarkable 
 place, for the more certain bounds; as also, all the islands 
 in the river 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 heldnd 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 sword. 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- 
 
 * Now called Burlington Island, lying between Burlington and 
 Bristol. — Upland Record, in note, p. 141, — Memoirs of Historical 
 Society, Vol. VII. — Editor. 
 
AND LORD BALTIMORE. 171 
 
 tended to call Crescentia, but which was designated Ijy liis 
 majesty, when the Charter was presented to him, Terra 
 Maria, in honor of his Queen, Hemietta 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 religion 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 luiherto anculti- 
 vafed in the parts of America, and partJij 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 Gliersonese lying 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 tlie south unto that 
 part of the hay of Delaware on the north which lieth 
 under the fortieth degree of north latitude, from the equi- 
 noctial, wlujre Neio England is terminated: and all the 
 tract of that land within the metes under-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 claims under tliis grant as extensively as tliey did, 
 and which its terms seemed so strongly to justify ; but 
 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 1681, 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 line 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 1)}^ the beginning of the three 
 and fortieth degree of north hititude, and on tlie south bj 
 a circle to be drawn at twelve miles' distance from New- 
 castle nortJiicard and westward unto the heginning of tlie 
 fortieth degree of north latitude, and thence by a straight 
 line westward 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 tlie 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 nortlncard 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 country, I have no 
 doubt, led them to believe that the thirty-ninth degree of 
 north latitude lay twelve miles nortli 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 tliat 
 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 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 government of New York ; as the procuring his title to 
 that country would enlarge his seaboard, which his saga- 
 cious eye perceived was wanted, prevent any future inteiv 
 ference mth 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, certaiuly were ; 
 and as we must believe, in spite of the angry conclusions 
 of the Historical Review (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 
 w^estern side of the Bay of Delaware, as far south as 
 " WJioarkill, 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 fam5us cause 
 in Chancery, in England, between the Penns 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 Plale, 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 1G82, involved in 
 extreme difficulties respecting the conflicting claims, of 
 Charles, Lord Baltimore, the son of Cecclius, the original 
 patentee of Marjdand, 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 plausibility, 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 '^'liactenas inculta" 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 
 effected before 1632,* the king had no right to transfer the 
 territory of other nations, and which did not appertain to 
 the Crown of England. That such settlements had been 
 
 * See note at page IGT. — Editor. 
 
176 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 effected at that early period seems incontrovertible, and 
 that Lord Baltimore was aware of their existance is ad- 
 mitted by Kilty, in his Landholder's Assistant (p. 165), 
 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 Henlopen 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 ^^partly inhabited," in 
 the preamble to the Charter, was inserted purjDosely to 
 embrace any settlements within its limits . 
 
 But it was afterwards alleged against the validity of 
 his lordshi]3's Charter, that his majesty was deceived in 
 the representations made to him of the country 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 Crowm ; and amounted, during the terrors of the 
 Star Chamber, to saying that royal donors might revoke 
 their Charters whenever it suited their policy or conveni- 
 ence. This imputation upon the vahdity of Lord Balti- 
 
AND LORD BALTIMORE. 177 
 
 mere's Patent was stated in the bill (said to have been 
 penned by Mr. Murray, afterwards Lord Mansfield, — Bcrz- 
 man's 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 16G4, 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 
 English government and the States generally were at 
 peace, and in \dolation 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 j 
 
 12 
 
178 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 and after their reduction, wlaicli was easily effected, exer- 
 cised sovereignty over them as an appendage to his gov- 
 ernment of New York, till 1682, 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 hmits 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 
 
 conimissions issued to America in that cause, as appears 
 by the rough drafts of it taken for the Penns by Mr. 
 Hamilton, and on file in the office of the Secretary 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 ojjinion of the Attorney and 
 Solicitor-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 PEKN 
 
 had been run, and that if any attempt had been made for 
 that purj^ose, 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 dowai as what 
 was then called Cape Henlopen ; an important subject of 
 controversy was 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 was 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 aiiy arrangement and 
 with mutual recriminations and dissatisfaction. And 
 they each wrote to the Lords of Plantations, excusing 
 themselves and blaming the other. In 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, ofiering 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 j^ear, 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 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 upon disputed proprietary boundaries, and to enlarge or 
 restrict their limits, is fully recognized in the several 
 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, Kichard Penn, and Thomas 
 Penn (who had become, by the Will of their father, 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 LOKD 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 Cornelius) 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 New^castle, drawn Avitli the radius of twelve 
 English statute miles, wdiether such line should take a 
 due north course or not ; that, after the said northAvardly 
 line should touch the Newcastle semicircle, it should be 
 run further northward, until it reached the same latitude 
 as fifteen English statute miles due soutli 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, wdien occasion and the improve- 
 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 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 land and Pennsylvania; that within two months, seven 
 Commissioners should be appointed by each of the con- 
 tracting parties, any three or more of 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, facing their respective possessions ; and that, 
 in case a quorum of the Commissioner of either party 
 failed to attend, that the defaulting 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 
 efiect 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 Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex; and explains 
 why the point which is noticed on the maps, 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 
 
 I 
 
AND LORD BALTIMORE. 185 
 
 the anxiety and vexation sufTeretl, and tlie Immense 
 expense incurred by both parties in ascertaining the 
 limits of their respective grants. In the agreement of 
 1732, each party fancied the}^ had made important con- 
 cessions and sacrifices for the sake of peace. That Lord 
 Baltimore really thought so, there can be httle doubt; for 
 he seems by his Charter, if it was valid at all, to have a 
 very plausible pretension, not onl}' 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 jierhaps np 
 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. AVilliam 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 PENN 
 
 to have been currently suspected, as he says himself, of 
 being a Jesuit. He 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 Ca?sar the things that are 
 Caesar's, — a doctrine so sweet and soothing to the royal 
 ears of the house of Stewart. After the revolution, 
 though AVilliam Penn was in disgrace at court, in the 
 reign of King William, on account of his constancj^ to his 
 unfortunate benefactor, yet Lord Baltimore was no less 
 so, as being a Roman Catholic, and on account 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 tliem to recede from pretensions which they had 
 persisted in with sufficient pertinacity and violence, and 
 which were aljandoned suljsoquently with much rehict- 
 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 wdiich 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 thrown 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 
 New^castle, to run the lines as agreed upon, though the 
 minutes of their transactions seems to have been volum- 
 inous (Provincial Records, 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 WILLIAM 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 informed, when they 
 w^ere peremjDtorily 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 half 
 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 penalt}^ forfeited ; and when that point was 
 waived, they insisted that the semicircle around New- 
 castle should be drawn with a pervpJiery, and not a radius 
 of twelve miles, thus shutting their eyes 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 town (which it seems, even in 
 those early days, covered a considerable extent of 
 ground), and refused to consider the true situation of 
 Cape Henlopen to be where 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 j^etition to his majesty, praying 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, probablj^ 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 prayer w^as 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 ; wdiicli, from the 
 death of John Penn, and the necessity of adding other 
 parties, and the unconscionable delay incident to proceed- 
 ings in that Court, w^as 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 
 w^as rescinded, and the claimants again appeared person- 
 all}^, and being heard by the Council, the consideration 
 of the subject was adjourned upon an intimation of the 
 
190 WILLIAM PENN" 
 
 probability of an amicable arrangement. This was hap- 
 pily efTected. It was agreed, between the high contract- 
 ing parties, " that all the vacant land not now possessed 
 by 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 temporary 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 
 Record, Vol. K., p. 61)." The order was accordingly pro- 
 mulgated by proclamation in the prgvinces, and Commis- 
 sioners were, the following year, appointed to run the 
 " temporary line :" 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. 101 
 
 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 Ilarrisburg, 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 known 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 bj' 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 Commissioners should be appointed 
 within three months after the decree, who should com- 
 mence their 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 Henlo23en 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 loth 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 a('Cf)nnt 
 suspend their operations. Having run the semicircle 
 agreeably to the Lord Chancellor's decree Avitli a radius 
 of twelve English statute miles by horizontal admeasure- 
 ment, and marked it on the ground, they commenced tlieir 
 operations 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 Cornehus, and the point at Fenwick's 
 Island, that of Henlopen, 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 1672 for 1627, the latter 
 being, as ah-eady mentioned, an erroneous date. See note pp. 70, 
 167. 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 Tries had previously called " Swanondael,'' 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, " Mordarc Kylon, la 
 Riviere des Assassins." It is curious that the stream which enii>ties 
 into the Bay near Jones Creek, should now be called "^lurder 
 Creek." — Editor. 
 13 
 
194 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 nary circumstances, would not have produced. " This 
 cape," says Proud [1 Hist. Penn., Ill], "is frequently 
 confounded with Cape Henlopen, the interior or False 
 Cape at Fenwick's Island, being written in the same 
 manner and sometimes Henlopen. 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 interior to the exterior cape. It is probable that the 
 Swedes might have called the interior Cape Inlopen, and 
 the exterior Henlopen, and that when the Dutch en- 
 croached upon their neighbors in those parts, they gave 
 the name of Cornelius 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 living 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 5" and Lord Ilardwick, in de- 
 livering his judgment already alluded to, said (1 Ves., 
 452), "that it was clear by 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 "modern 
 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, 1148, 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, 1755, 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, 
 A^ol. I., p. 73, is of the opinion it was called Hinlopen after "Hindlo- 
 pen, one of the towns in Friesland ;" 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. 34, which sets forth 
 
196 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 As the Lord Chancellor had decided that Cape Hen- 
 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 "wdth those of Pennsylvania, they finally 
 
 The first mention of it, so far as Ave 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, Yol. I.,) it is named Hinlopen. 
 De Yries, the celebrated navigator, under date of 1632, calls it Jlin- 
 loopen. (De Yries' Journal, translated by Mr. H. C. Murphy, p. 44.) 
 He 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 cotem- 
 porary records. A still further explanation, and which we offer, 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 " Hinloop." 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 
 OfBce of that Province (being proved, additionally, by two witnesses in the 
 cause, viz., Thomas Nixon and William Vandespiegel, 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. 107 
 
 fixed a stone at one hundred and thirty-nine perches from 
 the cape at Fenwick's Island, "near four mulberry trees," 
 sculjDtured 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 Ilenlopen (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 Henlopcn. 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 p]nlopen or Henlopen. (Hexham's " English and 
 Nether. Dutch Dictiouarie," 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 ncaring Bridesburg. — Editor. 
 
 Since the above was wn-itten, the testimony of James Logan, to be 
 found in the " Breviat," Penn versus Baltimore, p. 97, has, for the first 
 time, met our eye, and w^hich 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 " Inloopen^^ 
 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. — 
 Editou. 
 
198 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 hundred and forty-eiglit and a half perches, when the 
 fruitful inventions of the Maryland comniissioners, 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 hue, 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 tliis agreement it was covenanted, that the semi- 
 circle as already rmi should be 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 
 he 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 English 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 mil^ 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 17G0, between Thomas 
 Penn, Eichard Penn, and Frederick, Lord Baltimore, are 
 well known to our courts of justice, and have been 
 admitted in evidence without ^:>?'oo/, 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. Eoss, (1 Binn., 399,) who had some connexions 
 with the Penns as their agent. They are not to be fomid 
 
200 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 amongst the public documents of the commonwealth, but 
 there was a copy 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 
 disputes, 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 appointed 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 Maryland 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 Mason 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 manascript folio of 
 
AND 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— "ItGS, November 15. Arrived in Philadelphia." The last 
 is — "1168. Delivered to the Ecv. Richard Peters, Plans of the 
 above mentioned Lines." 
 
 The entry of each day, with some exceptions, is signed : 
 
 "Chas. M.vson," 
 "Jeue. Dixon." 
 
 On August 2*7, 1164, 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 1171; and Mason in Philadelphia, Oct. 
 25, 1186. The following account of Mason was published November 
 11, 1186, in the Philadelphia Independent Gazefeer: 
 
 " 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. Jerc- 
 
202 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 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 1760, 
 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 Ijoundary 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 world 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 166, 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 
 
 liaiii Peiin, tlic 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 dillicultics of his position. He certainly had 
 bad advisers. His knowledge of the history of the country upon tho 
 Delawax'e 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 Audross 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 
 Pcnns skilfully availed themselves of their advantage. Tho 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-Dircctor or Governor 
 under him. The whole territory then became a dependency of New 
 Amsterdam. 
 
 In 1664, Charles 11. 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 l)y 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 hid 
 
204 WILLIAM TENN, ETC. 
 
 Royal Highness' Government," «&;c., directed them to "yield due 
 obedience to ye s** Letters Patent." 
 
 With respect to the question of territorial occupation and settle- 
 ment, many grants were made by the Dutch Governors, and those 
 of the Duke of York, particularly by Andross : for, from the Breviat, 
 we find that, between the years 16Y4 and 1676, one hundred and 
 eight grants, comprising at least foi'ty-four thousand acres, were 
 made by him in the name of the Duke, and principally within the 
 three lower counties; but, in view of Lord Baltimore's statement, 
 the facts are still more remarkable, that even before Penn was born a 
 church was here established, forts built, justice administered, trade 
 maintained, and the soil to some extent under successful cultivation. 
 — Editor. 
 
 b 
 
ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 DOCUMENTS 
 
 EELATING TO THE 
 
 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED. 
 
 (205) 
 
I. ORIGINAL LETTERS, ETC. 
 
 [The following letters are now first published from tlie 
 originals, in the handwriting of the illustrious Founder. 
 The first three were addressed by him to an ancestor of 
 the President of this Society, and were found among the 
 papers of that ancestor. The earliest in date is interest- 
 ing, as it exhibits the modesty of William Pcnn in his 
 opposition to the name proposed to be bestowed on the 
 province, and in his ascribing the appellation entirely to 
 the merits of his father, without arrogating an^^thing to 
 himself. The second is no less creditable to the writer, 
 since it shows the liberal principles of government wliich 
 he entertained from the outset, but which, on account of 
 the well-known sentiments of Charles II. and the Duke 
 of York, he deemed unfit for the atmosphere of a despotic 
 and profligate court. "For the matters of liberty and 
 privilege," says this upright lawgiver, "I purpose that 
 wliich is extraordinary, and to leave myself and succes- 
 sors no power of doing mischief; that the icill of one man 
 may not hinder the good of an ichole country: but to pub- 
 lish those things now and here, as matters stfind, would 
 
 (207) 
 
208 ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 not be wise," &c. In the third letter an important and 
 hitherto unnoticed fact is mentioned, viz., his refusal of a 
 gum, — considerable at that time, and which to most per- 
 sons would have appeared of sufficient amount, — for a 
 certain number of shares in the province, with the exclu- 
 sive privilege to the company of the Indian trade ; and 
 if we are to understand by his expessions in the latter 
 part of his letter, that his refusal of the offer was dictated 
 by a desire to establish in Pennsylvania a model of free 
 government, and honorable dealing with the Indians, 
 *' that an example and standard may be set up to the 
 nations," we may see in it new evidence of his claims to 
 the most profound gratitude and respect. 
 
 The remaining letters are of much later date, and shed 
 light upon an obscure part of his history. The latest in 
 the series is valuable from the circumstances of its having 
 been, probably, the last letter written by him to America, 
 since it appears, from his memoirs, that in the month of 
 May, 1712, he was attacked by an apoplectic fit, and 
 shortly afterwards by a second, which disabled him from 
 correspondence.] 
 
 I 
 
 1. To EoBERT Turner. 
 
 ■ 6th of 1st mo., 1681. 
 Dear Friend: 
 
 My true love in the Lord salutes thee, and dear friends 
 that love the Lord's precious truth in those parts. Thine 
 I have, and for my business here, know that after many 
 
AND DOCUMENTS. 200 
 
 waitings, watchings, solicitings, and disputes in Council, 
 this day my country was confirmed to me under the Great 
 Seal of England, with large powers and privileges, by the 
 name of PenmUvania, a name the king would have given 
 it in honor of my father. I chose Neio Wales, being as 
 this, a pretty hilly country, but Penn being Welsh for a 
 head, as Penmanmoire in Wales, and Penrith in Cumljer- 
 land, and Penn in Buckinghamshire, the highest land in 
 England, called this Pennsilvania, which is tlie high or 
 head woodlands ; for I proposed, when the Secretar}-, — a 
 Welshman, — refused to have it called New Wales, Syl- 
 vania, and they added Penn 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-secretarys to 
 vary the name, for I feared least 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. Thou mayst communicate my graunt to friends, 
 and expect shortly my proposals : 'tis a clear and just 
 thing, and my God, that has given it me through many 
 difficultys, will, I believe, bless and make it the seed of a 
 nation. I shall have a tender care to the government, 
 that it will be well laid at first : no more now, but dear 
 love in the truth. 
 
 Thy true friend, 
 
 W. PENN. 
 
 14 
 
210 ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 2. To THE SAME AND OTHERS. 
 
 West7ni7ister, 12th of 2d mo., 1681. 
 
 Dear R. Turner, Ant. Sharp, and R. Roberts : 
 
 My love salutes you in the abiding truth of our God, 
 that is precious in all lands ; the Lord God of righteous- 
 ness keep us in it, and then shall we be the dayly wittnesses 
 of the comforts and refreshments that come from it, to his 
 praise, that is the fountain of all good. Having pubUshed 
 a paper with relation to my province in America (at least 
 what I thought it adviseable to publish), I here inclose 
 one, that you may know and inform others of it. I have 
 been these thirteen years the servant of truth and 
 Friends ; and for my testimony sake lost much, not only 
 the greatness and preferments of this world, but £16,000 
 of my estate, that had I not been what I am I had long 
 agoe obtained ; but I murmur not ; the Lord is good to 
 me, and the interest his truth has given me with his 
 people may more than repaire it : For many are drawn 
 forth to be concerned with me, and perhaps this way of 
 satisfaction has more of the hand of God in it than a 
 downright payment : this I can say, that I had an open- 
 ing of joy, as to these parts, in the year 1661, at Oxford, 
 twenty years since ; and as my understanding and inclin- 
 ations have been much directed to observe and reprove 
 mischiefs in governments, so it is now put in my power 
 to settle one. For the matters of liberty and privilege, I 
 purpose that which is extraordinary, and to leave myself 
 
AND DOCUMENTS. 211 
 
 and successors no power of doeing mischief; that the will 
 of one man may not hinder the good of an whole country; 
 but to publish those things now and here, as matters 
 stand, would not be Avise, and I was advised to reserve 
 that till I came there. Your ancient love to me, makes 
 me believe you will have a brotherly eye to my honest 
 concern ; and what truth makes you free to do you will, 
 and more I expect not : 'tis a clear, unintangled, and, I 
 may say, honourable bottom, no more ; but let Friends 
 know it, as you are free. With my dear love in that 
 which no waters can quench, nor time make wax old, nor 
 distance wear out. 
 
 Your friend brother, 
 
 WM. PENN. 
 
 The inclosed was first read to Traders, Planters, and 
 Shipmasters, that know those parts, and finally to the 
 most eminent of Friends hereaway, and so comes forth. 
 I have foreborne paint and allurement, and writt truth. 
 
 W. P. 
 
 There are several inhabitants on the place already able 
 to yield accommodation to such as at first go ; and care is 
 taken already for to look out a convenient tract of land 
 for a first settlement. 
 
 Directed — " For Kobert Turner, 
 
 At his house in Dublin." 
 
 Endorsed — " Wilham Penn, his advise about his coun- 
 try Pennsylvania — came with the printed Booke — 
 
 " And how he is persuaded of it — and his inchnation 
 thereto longe past." 
 
212 ORIGINAL LETTERS. 
 
 3. To Robert Turner. 
 
 25^/i ^th mo., 1681. 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 My endeared love in the truth of God, that is sweet 
 and patient, long suffering, and believes and hopes to the 
 end, salutes thee and thy family, with faithful friends in 
 those parts. Thy remembrance by severall notes, through 
 the hands of J. Hall, I tenderly received ; and though I 
 ordered P. Ford to answear thy said letters, and send the 
 things by thee desired, and writt and sent maps and 
 accounts too, by Friend Thomas Lurting, I thought good 
 to send thee a few lines. I have lately been in the west 
 of England, and had a prosperous journey in the Lord's 
 service. At my returne found thyne to me. The most 
 materiall is about the quit-rent, &c. : Phihp will be large 
 to thee upon it. I am contented to sell it to a Beaver 
 Skin, which is about a crown value, at ten years purchase. 
 I did refuse a great temptation last second day, which was 
 six thousand pounds, and pay the Indians for six shares, 
 and make the purchasers a company, to have wholly to 
 itself the Indian trade from south to north, between the 
 Susqualmnagh and Delaware rivers, paying me two and a 
 half per cent, acknowledgment or rent : but as the Lord 
 gave it me over all and great opposition, and that I never 
 had my mind so exercised to the Lord about my outward 
 substance, I would not abuse his love, nor act unworthy 
 of his providence, and so defile what came to me clean. 
 No, lett the Lord guide me by his wisdom, and preserve 
 
AND DOCUMENTS. 213 
 
 me to honor his name, and serve his truth and people, 
 
 that an example and standard may be set up to the 
 
 nations : there may be room there though none here. So 
 
 dr. Eobert take no notice of this. Thomas Lurting may 
 
 guess the man : he knows him and spoke of him to me 
 
 the last man upon the staires-head when he left me. No 
 
 more at present, but that I am in the love of the Lord, 
 
 Thy true friend, 
 
 WM. PENN. 
 Directed — " For Robert Turner, 
 
 Merchant in Dublin in Ireland." 
 
 Endorsed — "Wm. Penn adviseth that books or printed 
 proposals, with maps, is sent by Thomas Lurttin ; aljout 
 Pensilvania ; and that the quit-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. 
 
 London, 21 th od 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 ways 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 keej)S thy packet for my own 
 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 hke 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. 
 
 I 
 
AND DOCUMENTS. 215 
 
 sioners for trade, &c., sent me a letter about Rivell, Leeds, 
 &c., if fit for their Council, and at New York, Avliich I 
 have answered to-day, I hope, to their content. 'Tis late, 
 so I shall close, with dr. love to S. Carpenter, C. Pewsey, 
 Gr. Owen, Ed. Hill, T. Story, R. Ellis, &c., wlio am 
 
 Thy real ffrd, 
 
 WM. PENN. 
 
 Col. Rooth since my last has paid me twenty pounds. 
 
 5. To THE Same. 
 
 Redlnrj, 27 fh 12th mo., 1708-9. 
 Loving Friend: 
 
 Though I have writt many ways, and I tliink most 
 
 ampl}^ 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 ^dth 
 
 me, is a little clowdy, and would tell me wdiat 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-uiion-Tyne, sick, 
 
 his chest in disorder still, but is positive that one sort of 
 
 the papers thou hast every individual of them. Ill 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. Uiiliapi)y for me 
 
 has that falling out been between you. But end it the 
 
216 ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 best it may be. He writes of coming over, but let him 
 be honourable there, or he may repent it here. He is a 
 Silliton if he stir and does not pursue may last offer and 
 advice by Col. Gookin. I heare Ld. Lovelace is well 
 arrived, I 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 well, 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 I have recovered the province from the vilest 
 of the earthjf and that danger over. 
 
 4. That I have sent the school charter. 
 
 5. That Ld. Baltimore laying hold of his province's 
 address for settUng 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, 
 •j- Probably the Fords. 
 
AND DOCUMENTS. • 217 
 
 plaiiied to Ld. President Soinmers and Ld. Simdcrland, 
 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 council. '•' * * * :•: * 
 
 * * ■':■ :!: * :i: :;: * :;: :\: ^ 
 
 [The rest of this letter is unfortunately missing.] 
 
 6. To Samuel Carpenter and others. 
 
 Ruscomb Berks, 24 btli mo., 1712. 
 
 Deare and worthy friends: 
 
 Haveing so faire an opertunity, and having heard from 
 you by the Bearer, John French, I chuse, hj 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 your 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 
 tlio 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 affaire 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 will 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, notwithstanding the politick opinion 
 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 3^ou 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 hfe, that I may 
 see Pennsylvania once more, before I die, and that I am 
 
 your ffaithful Loving 
 friend, 
 
 WM. PENN. 
 
 I 
 I 
 
AND DOCUMENTS. 219 
 
 Superscription. 
 
 For my Do. fTricncls, 
 
 S. Carpenter, Ed. Shippen, Riccl. Hill, J. Norris, C. 
 Peusy, S. Preston, T. Story, Gr. Owen, &c., at Philadel- 
 phia in Pennsylvania. 
 
 Pr. J. ffrench. 
 
 II. THE WILL OF WILLIAM PENN WITH THE CODICILS, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH THE OPINION OF COUNSEL THEREON. 
 
 [These papers, with the subjoined letters of Wiliaiii Pcnn, 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 relating thereunto, I give and devise to the 
 most honorable the Earl of Oxford, and Earl Mortimer, 
 and to Will., 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 applied 
 in such manner as I shall hereinafter direct. 
 
220 ORIGINAL LETTERS. 
 
 I give and devise to my dear wife, Hannah Penn, and 
 her father, Thomas Callowhill, and to my good friends, 
 Margaret Lowther 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 
 Aiibry, 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 tLe equal benefit 
 of her and her cliildren. 
 
 In testimony whereof I have set my hand and seal, to 
 this my ^Yl[\, which I declare to be my last will, revoking 
 all others formerly made by me 
 
 «»«»*• 
 
 WM. PENN. ! SEAL. ! 
 
 Signed, sealed, and published by the testator, \\ lUiam 
 Penn, in the presence of us who set oiu' names as wit- 
 nesses thereof in the presence of the said testator after 
 the interlineation of the words above, vizt. {icJiom I make 
 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. 
 
 WM. PENN. 
 
 Witnesses present, Elizabeth Penn, Thomas Pyle, 
 Thomas Penn, Elizabeth Anderson, Mary Chandler, 
 Jonah Dee, Mary Dee. 
 
 Postscript in my oa^ti 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, vizt., Pennsylvania, &c., 
 three hundred pounds a year for her natural hfe, and for 
 
909 
 
 ORIGINAL LZTIISS 
 
 her care and charge over mv chfldren. m their education 
 of which she kuows niv 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 generationj which the Lord preserve 
 and prosper. Amen. 
 
 [Here follows the Probate made 3d November. 171S.] 
 
 * The foUoTving is copied by me from an original will of Penn, in the 
 possession of the family of the late Mr. William Logan Fisher, of 
 Gennantown. 
 
 I: is i L '.-graph, and consists of seven folio pages, each of which is 
 - - foot by the testator. 
 
 ^ \^ tte wiE to which Logan refers in tie aorrnipany- 
 
 ing 1 -ich was made as Penn was abc'Ui to sail for Eng- 
 
 land, never, as it proved, to retum. 
 
 ESXBACT or A LZTXKR FROM JAVR> LOGA>' XC HA>-N"aH FEXX. 
 
 Dated "FhUadelphia, 11th, 3J mo., 1T3L 
 "HoxoRED Mistress:"' 
 
 *• The Proprietor in a will left me at his departirre 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 daim as given to her when 
 she went to England, but how rightfully I know not. These things 
 yoa 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. Gibfe' Estate, of Xew Castle Co." 
 
 [will op WELLIAil PK2!rS.] 
 
 ••JTe.r _" r, 30^ Sdr, 1701 
 
 "Because it is appointed for e. and yt their days 
 
 are in the hand of ye Almighty their Creator, I tiink z" upon this 
 present voyage to make my last will and testamen:, which is as 
 foilowsw 
 
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 L;etitia, 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, ffor my estate in America, it is also incumbered, 
 but not with the tenth part of the true vallue 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, Lcetitia 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 Xew Jersey, 
 to my sayd son John and his heirs forever, with all rents, Proffits, 
 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 River, 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, with 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 exprest, and upon ye same ac- 
 knowledgemt, 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 
 Mends, 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 sufi"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 difference 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 suffer- 
 ings of ye people called Quakers, in England, for English and Irish 
 concerns ; and in America, to ye ffrds 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 
 
 * Penn, it will be perceived, spells this title indifferently, with a y and an i.— 
 Ebitoe. 
 
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 
 name 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 has 
 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 grateful! 
 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. Asiieton, 
 James Logan. 
 
 The interlineations were my writeing, they are twelve in number, 
 the pages 1********** 
 (The rest of the sentence is lost). — Editor. 
 15 
 
226 ORIGINAL LETTERS. 
 
 reignty of the said country. To hold to the said William 
 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 William 
 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.] 
 
 I 
 
 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 wliich he was at 
 that time making with the Crown, whereby he was to 
 have a considerable simi of money for the government ; 
 and the testator seems hkewise 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. 
 
 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., 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 heir 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. 
 
 Questioiis. — 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 WilUam 
 Penn, the testator's heir at law, I conceive the said trust 
 
 f 
 
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 
 public manner make kno"\vn 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 beheve 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 
 
 cMefly at first settled by Quakers, I would not have tliem 
 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 
 Enghshmen. 
 
 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 jou. 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 ofhces 
 with their neighbors ; and discountenance all Anti-Trini- 
 tarians and Libertines. 
 
 Protect in their possessions such Strangers as are settled 
 amongst us j 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. PENN. 
 
 [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. 
 
 London, ^Ofh 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 noAV 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 dupUcate 
 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 quitrrents 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, communibus 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 
 
 tlian 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 have 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 offence to those now in play. 
 Great men lay no stress on such httle 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 dispatch 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 
 limbs one side, nor I believe 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 setthng 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 afiairs. 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 lauds is 
 
236 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. 
 William Penn can have no just pretensions to anything 
 there but what had been actually settled upon him by his 
 father, and certainly they must beUeve 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 to^wn, 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 believes the Will has not 
 sufficiently 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 he 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 
 effectually 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 office 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 affection 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 Httle 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 de]Darting, 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. 
 
 thing wherein I could be serviceable to yourself you may 
 always freely command. 
 
 Sir, Your assured Friend 
 and very Hble 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 
 
 07 THB 
 
 HISTOEICAL SOCIETY 
 
 ov 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 (239) 
 
MEMOIES, ETC. 
 
 PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE VALEDICTORY ADDRESS OF PRESI- 
 DENT WASHINGTON. 
 
 At a meeting of "TAe 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. Ingersoll, 
 were appointed the committee. 
 
 From the Minutes. 
 
 T. M. Pettit, Recording Secretary. 
 
 16 (241) 
 
242 PRESIDENT Washington's 
 
 Eeport of the Committee. 
 
 The comniittee 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 Xew 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 mistahe which 
 has accompanied this question. The whole address 
 appears to have been copied by General Hamilton, whose 
 affectionate 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 agency 
 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. RAWLE, 
 BENJ'N R. MORGAN, 
 C. J. INGERSOLL. 
 
 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 of another, has extended to the Historical Society 
 of Pennsylvania, which has appointed us to make enquiries 
 on the subject. 
 
 We take the hberty of applying, among others, to you, 
 sir, and request you to favor us with any information in 
 your possession not improper for pubhcation. 
 We are, &c. 
 (Signed), W. RAWLE, 
 
 BENJAMIN K. MORGAN, 
 CHARLES J. INGERSOLL. 
 
 Philada, Feb. 10, 1826. 
 
 A copy of the above was addressed to Judge Washington, Judge 
 Peters, Chief Justice Marshall, John Jay, Esq., and Rurus 
 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. 
 
 WasJd7igfon, Feb. 23, 1826. 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 In answer to your letter, requesting such information 
 on the subject of the Valedictory Address which was 
 published 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. 
 
 Wasliington, Feb. 22d, 1826. 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 I have been honored with your letter of the 15th inst., 
 
 enquiring w^hether 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, 2lst 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 T^ASHINGTON'S 
 
 been taken by so many in the question, whether 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 appointed 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 
 pubhcation." 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 29 th of March, 
 1811, write a letter to that gentleman, containing certain 
 remarks and facts connected with that question. 
 
 I therefore take the hberty 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 
 
 whole, and not merely of parts of the letter. 
 
 I have the honor to be, gentlemen. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN JAY. 
 W. Eawle, -v 
 
 Benjamin R. Morgan, I Esquires, 
 C. J. Ingersoll, J 
 
 Committee of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
 
VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 247 
 
 Behnoiit, Feb. 19, 1826. 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 I tlioiiglit 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 immediately 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 
 liim. 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 having the fascinating name of Wash- 
 ington taken from the creed of every friend to his 
 country. 
 
 Yours, most afiectionately, 
 
 EICHARD PETERS. 
 W. Kawle, Esq. 
 
 Bedford, West-Chester County, N. York, 
 
 U 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 24th 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, 
 hovrever, forbear adding my assurances of the constant 
 esteem, regard and attachment, with which I am, 
 Dear sir, 
 
 Your affectionate friend, 
 
 JOHN JAY. 
 
 The Hon. Kichard Peters, Esq. 
 
VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 249 
 
 (COPY.) 
 
 Bedford, March 29th, 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 t\iQ 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 his handwriting ; and 
 that a certain gentleman had also a copy of it, in the 
 same 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 ^dolated it. Whether he did 
 or did not, is a question which naturally directs our a1> 
 tention to whatever affords presumptive evidence respect- 
 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 
 in\dtes 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 real, 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 dishke 
 and depreciate the superiority of its cotemporaries, that 
 when these facts come to be generally known (and gene- 
 rally known they will be), many, with 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, will 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 abilitj^ to conceive and express every 
 idea in that address. A careful perusal of that history 
 will convince them that the principles of policy 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 "^dsdom 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 civilized 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 ? If 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 PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S 
 
 national 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 public 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 envious 
 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 individuals 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 rccpiired no common 
 degree of policy or virtue ; and with universal admirar 
 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 agenc}^ of human means. 
 
 When, at a subsequent and alarming period, the nation 
 found that their afiairs 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 jDolitical 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, especially in times of alarm and 
 calamit}". 
 
 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 sufiicient 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 with- 
 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 peo23le, 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 
 
YALEDICTORT 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, ct 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 : 
 
 " Verbaque provisum rem non invita sequentur." 
 
 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 b}^ its fruit ; let us in 
 
256 PRESIDENT Washington's 
 
 like manner judge of his pen by its performances. Few 
 men wlio had so little leisure have written so much. His 
 public 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 
 so 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 b}^ afiectionate friends and impartial 
 judges, but also by envious and mahgnant enemies. It 
 was an address which, according as it should or should 
 not correspond with his exalted character and fame, would 
 either justifj^ 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 ultimatel}' 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 advise 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 w^ords 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 "Xyn my secrecy. Sir, I have 
 inserted in it a paragraph that will give the public 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.'" 
 
 K it be possible to find a man among those whom he 
 esteemed capable of ofiering 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 
 endowments, 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 da}- 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. Some amendments were made during the inter- 
 view, but none of much importance. 
 
 Although this business had not been hastily dispatched, 
 yet aware of the consequence of such a paper, I suggested 
 
260 PRESIDENT T^ASHINGTON'S 
 
 the giving it a further critical examination ; but 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 liead 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 tlieir 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 
 
 The 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 imj)roper 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 3'ou will think proper for publication in 
 the next volume of the memoirs of the society, tending 
 
VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 263 
 
 to show that, m 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. 
 
 Neio York, Mmj im, 1826. 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 I liave 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 
 3'^our impressions, from all the information that yon have 
 been able to collect, are to the contrary, and that you 
 should think it improper to make a report which will 
 probably be pubHshed, 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 PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S 
 
 possession of most of Lis papers, and requesting me to 
 commmiicate any facts I may think proper for publication 
 in the next volume of the memoirs of the society, tending 
 to show that in my opinion 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. Kufus 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 Valedictory Ad- 
 dress of President Washington in 1196. 
 
VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 2G5 
 
 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, signifying 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 past contemplated 
 retiring from public 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 Avliich 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 wdtli the people, especially as I viewed 
 this selection as indicating his approbation of the 2)rin- 
 ciples and manner in which the work was conducted. 
 He silently assented, and asked when the pubHcation 
 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 
 
266 PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S 
 
 would call on me with a copy of the Address on the next 
 (Friday) morning, and I withdrew. 
 
 After the -proof slieet had been compared with the copy, 
 and corrected by myself, I carried another proof, and then 
 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 17th, 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 \7ith0ut hesitation identify 
 it. The manuscript copy consists of thirty-two pages of 
 quarto letter paper, sewed together as a book, and with 
 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 
 
V A L E D I C T O K Y A D D K F. S S. 207 
 
 whole, from first to last, ^vltli all its miinerous corrections, 
 was the work of the same hand; and I can confid(Mitly 
 affirm, that no other pen ever touched the manuscript, 
 now in my'possession, than that of the great and good 
 man whose signature it hears. 
 
 D. C. CLAYPOOLE. 
 PJuladeljphia, February 22(7, 1826. 
 
 To the foregoing statement of Mr. Cla3q)oole (whose 
 fair and honorable character is well established among 
 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 tgxt 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. RAWLE. 
 
 Feb. 22cZ, 1826. 
 
268 VINDICATION OF 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE REV. MR. HECKEWELDER'S* 
 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NATIONS. 
 
 BY WILLIAM RAWLE. 
 
 [^Bead at a Meeting of the Council, on the Ibthday 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 beheved 
 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 j and under their 
 
 * A Life of John Heckewelder, by the Rev. Edward Rondthaler, 
 edited by B. H. Coates, M.D., was published in ISiT. — Editor. 
 
nECKE WELDERS HISTORY. 2C9 
 
 direction, lie 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 niircmitted 
 endeavor to convert them to Christianity. 
 
 He was well known in Pliiladelphia, mIiIcIi, after his 
 age and infirmities, comljined with other circumstances, 
 compelled him to relinqnish the mission, he occasionally 
 visited. With Doctor Wistar, who was also of German 
 extraction, he was particularly intimate; hut 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 taciturnit}^, 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 part\', 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 OF 
 
 character. He impressed us with the behef 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 such 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 wliom 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 public on the ground of their own strength of 
 mind, soundness of judgment, and jDurity of taste. Under- 
 taking to instruct the w^orld 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 aj)proved. 
 
 The encomiastic strains employed by these gentlemen 
 on the work in question, were not beyond 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, 
 
ueckewkldkk's uistouy. 271 
 
 not merely to entertain the reader, but to lay open, in 
 the most authentic and satisfact(yi'i/ manner, the eharaeter 
 and condition of this people. There is no oflur vork 
 extant, in which this design has been so cxtcnsicdij 
 adopted, or in which the object is no fid!// accouipVished " 
 
 With these testimonials, the work of Pleckewelder 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 182G, of a work so 
 highly extolled in 1819, would be productive of little 
 other injury than that Avhicli the authors of the Eeview 
 would sustain by the diminution of their own authority 
 from the exhibition of their own inconsistency ; but nud- 
 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 b}- 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 living, and Mith 
 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 
 
 In tlie North Arnerican Review 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. Hecke 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 Ke viewers 
 refer, without explanation or apology, to their own lauda- 
 tory notices in 1819. 
 
 Hecke welder 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; yet, 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 
 
iieckewelder's niSTORT. 273 
 
 all our confidence in tlie early French Avriters, ^vllo wrote 
 under favorable circumstances for observation." 
 
 This is but a part of the remarks which arc made in 
 the usual positive manner of Reviewers, exercising their 
 supposed unlimited sovereignty over wliat 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 imp(jsed 
 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 knowledge of their char- 
 acter. Mr. Iieckewelder's long residence among them is 
 distinctly noticed, and of course he had the power of 
 obtaming a more perfect knowledge of them than couM 
 
 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 J and the Reviewers seem particularly 
 injudicious in proceeding to mention the name of La 
 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 Heckewelder. 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 miderstand 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 appellation of the 
 Delawares. Mr. Heckewelder has erred in writing Lenni 
 Lenapi: it should be Lennee Lenaup^, 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 spelhng these two words, Mr. Heckewelder 
 
HECKE welder's DISTORT. 
 
 Zl'J 
 
 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 b}^ Mr. Heckewelder corresponds ^vith the 
 lofty notions entertained by the savage of the source 
 from which he sprmig. Lenni, he tells us, signifies 7nan, 
 and lenapi means original ; but the Reviewers inform us 
 that the more general and proper sense of "lennee" is 
 male, although in a restricted sense, it may signify man, 
 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 
 man. 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 Reviewers deny his inference, but, 
 with an air of myster}-, observe that a " full consideration 
 of the subject might lead to important conclusions." Mr. 
 Pleckewelder speaks with modesty and reserve, and it 
 would be difficult to adopt any other reason for tliis 
 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. 
 
276 ' VINDICATION OF 
 
 to apply the epithet "Father," to the President of the 
 United States, as they formerly did to the King of Great 
 Britain; 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 
 Allege wi 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-known 
 ferocity of savage tribes, which still unhappily continues 
 to rage among them. 
 
 5. In the trifling discussion on the etymology 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. Hecke wel- 
 der was instructed by his Delaware friends. 
 
 6. The ancient fortifications are attributed by Hecke- 
 
HECK EWE LDEk's HISTORY. 277 
 
 welder to the Allegcwi. The Reviewers say no, — tl j 
 forefiithers of the present Indians erected themj and they 
 gravely quote Dr. Clark to show that there were fortifica- 
 tions in Greece. AVe will venture to remark, that neither 
 Heckewelder nor the Reviewers could kiiDw 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 difRculty, 
 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 aj^prehensions 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 
 alienating 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. Loskiel ; and lie also appears 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. Much severity is employed on the relation given by 
 Heckewelder of a conversation between Colonel Crawford, 
 a prisoner about to be executed, and Wingenund, 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 Wingemmd and others. 
 
heckewelder's history. 279 
 
 If he flilsified 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 everything related 
 by our author, the Eeviewers find fault with another part 
 of this conversation. " Had you attended," says Wi7ig6- 
 nund, " to the Indian principle, that good and evil cannot 
 dwell together in the same heart," &c. This principle is 
 declared by the Eeviewers 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 Hecke welder 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, 
 thro-vvn 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 Eeviewers. It is the enumer- 
 ation of articles which a successful hunt w^ould have 
 enabled the Indian to procure for his wife ; and, although 
 
280 VINDICATION OF 
 
 they do not constitute the 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 
 Reviewers are equally unsuccessful, if they mean to im- 
 pugn the veracity of Heckewelder. They contradict the 
 account given of Tar-lii, 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. 
 
 In 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 
 inchnation 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; 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 tlieir pursuits. On the present occasion, it will only 
 be observed that, in 1819, the Reviewers applauded "the 
 ingenious and usefid labors" of Heckewelder in these in- 
 vestigations ; and, in 182G, he is styled "negligent and 
 inaccurate." On this sulyect, 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 j but the 
 observations of this pious and worthy 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 little, 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 profomid 
 reflection, not always successful; theories that are con- 
 tradicted or abandoned almost as soon as they are formed, 
 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 feehngs 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 Reviewers add that their hves 
 and property are protected. By what means, unless by 
 some power of government, can this protection be system- 
 atically afforded? Their "pohtical relations" among 
 themselves, and with other tribes, are said to be duly 
 preserved. How can they be preserved unless by means 
 of laws, 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 lioj^e and fear, "upon which all 
 other 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 account 
 
 * In page 63 of the Review, we are told that the Indians have 
 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 occar 
 sion justifies. The merit of the North American Review is 
 fully admitted. It generally contains much valuable in- 
 
284 YINDICATION, ETC. 
 
 formation and sound remark : it supports our literary- 
 reputation abroad, and largely contributes to the dissem- 
 ination of 2Dolite learning at home ; but, in the present 
 article, the Reviewers seem to have forgotten their o^\ti 
 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. 
 
r 
 
 AN 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OP THE 
 
 FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWNSHIPS 
 
 OF 
 
 BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBUEY, 
 
 IN 
 
 BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 WITH REMARKS ON 
 
 THE ADVANCE OF IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURE, ETC. 
 
 THE STATE OF MANNERS IN SOCIETY AT DIFFERENT PERIODS ; INTERSPERSED 
 
 WITH NAMES OF THE FIRST SETTLERS, REMARKABLE 
 
 OCCURRENCES, ANECDOTES, ETC. 
 
 THE •VTHOLE INTENDED A3 A CHARACTERISTIC COMPARISON OF ONE ERA 
 
 WITH ANOTHER, AND TO PRESERVE SOME KNOWLEDGE OP 
 
 OUR FOREFATHERS, IN THEIR PROGRESS IN SETTLING 
 
 ANp IMPROVING A WILDERNESS COUNTRY. 
 
 BY Dr. JOHN WATSON. 
 
 MDCCCIV. 
 
 Communicated by 3Ir. Isaac Comly, of Byherry, Bucks County, 
 at a Meeting of the Council, on the \Wi of April, 1826. 
 
 (285) 
 
FIRST SETTLEMENT 
 
 BUCKITs^GHAM AND SOLEBUllY 
 
 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 Peiin. The name was first 
 given to the towTiship 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 
 
 * Jobu Cutler, with his brother, Edmund Cutler, and Isabella, his 
 wife, arrived in the Ship " Rebecka, of Liverpoole," the 31st of 8th 
 
 (287) 
 
288 watson's account of 
 
 is taken, has noted that four perches in breadth were left 
 between the opposite surveys, for a j)ubhc street or road, 
 being on the northeast of the township of Buckingham, 
 and on the southwest of the township of Solebur}'-. It 
 apjDcars 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 13 blacks. 
 Solebury, 166 dwelling-houses, 150 outr-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- 
 
 month, 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, «fec., &c.— " Eng- 
 land's Gazeteer," London, lt51.— Editor. 
 
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 sand}^, 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 nearl}'- northeast, in- 
 clining to the east, three miles, to near Buckingham Une. 
 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. Bo^\Tnan'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 confirmed 
 by examining the ends of the hills. 
 
 The broken hills near the river, in the upper end of 
 Solebury, 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 iu 
 
BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 291 
 
 Solebiiry, 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 foil, 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 into 
 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 
 eight or nine miles to the southwest, there are large 
 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, the extensive 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. B^^^e's tract, and m 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 falhng of the water, if there be a free vent for 
 its discharge. 
 
 Isaac Pillars' spring discharges a lively stream, but in 
 dry sununers 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 sinks. 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 eight feet in about half a mile. The whole channel 
 
BUCKINGHAM AND SOLE BURY. 293 
 
 is full of rocks, and the water roars aloud in passing 
 tlirougli. 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. Frobably 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 ff owing 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 watson's account of 
 
 them had first settled at the Falls, but soon after removed 
 back, as it was then called, into the woods. As they 
 came away in the reigns of Charles, James, WilUam, 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 sufiered 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 
 
 son.ll 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 owing 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 kno^vn, 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 
 
296 watson's account of 
 
 make it fill well ; and the chief danger was apprehended 
 from the patient 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. Eum and a dinner or supper were 
 provided on these occasions j 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 vivacity 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 sincere 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 w^ith exercise in 
 summer, and the fevers and agues which seized many in 
 the autumn, confirmed them in this oj)inion; 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." 
 
298 watson's account of 
 
 A concern arose among Friends on the subject, and a 
 stop was put to this evil practice in a short time. I call 
 it evil, because it produced effects that were hurtful in a 
 high degree to individuals, and also to society in general. 
 
 An act of Assembly was passed, prohibiting the giving 
 of spirits at vendues ; and though the law was not much 
 regarded for many years, and the practice 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 lively 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 sjDorts, 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, 
 
BUCKING II A 31 AND SOLEBURY. 299 
 
 wlien unwell or fretful, Avas dosed with spirit and water 
 stewed with spiceiy. 
 
 Thus it was that manners and customs were not jet 
 reduced from the rude and unpolished practices of antiquity 
 to the proper standard of use and propriety. 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-Iked in the full sense of the term ; and this 
 was far from being Hmited 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 was drunk in proportion to the hurry of 
 business, and long intervals of rest employed in merry 
 and sometimes angry conversation. 
 
300 watson's account of 
 
 The imposing authority of necessity obliged the first 
 settlers and their successors to wear a strong and coarse 
 kind of dress ; enduring buckskin was used for breeches 
 and sometimes for jackets ; oznabrigs, made of hemp tow 
 at Is. 4:d. per yard, was much 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 tlie laboring people until 
 1750. 
 
 Yet a few, even in early times, somewhat to imitate 
 the trim of their ancestors, laid out as much to huy 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 — cufis vastly large up to 
 the elbows, open below, and of a round form. The hat 
 of a beau was a good broad-brimmed beaver, with double 
 loops, drawn nearly close behind, and half raised on each 
 side. The women in full mode Avore stiff whalebone staj'S, 
 worth eight or ten dollars. The silk gown much plaited 
 in the back ; the sleeves nearly tAvice 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 fixrther than a 
 bath bonnet with a cape. 
 
 Something like this was the fashion of gay people, of 
 
BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 301 
 
 whom there Avere 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 adliering 
 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 tlie 
 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 16S-, and the greater part were located 
 before 1703. It is now not easy to ascertain who made 
 the first improvement j but most probably, from circum- 
 
302 TTATSOX'S ACCOUNT OF 
 
 stances, it was Thomas and John Bye ; and George Pott- 
 nall/=' Edward, Henry, and Roger Hartle}', Doctor Streper, 
 and William Cooper, came early ; Eichard Burgess, John 
 Scarbroiigh, grandfather of the preacher of that name, 
 and Henry Paxon,-j- were also early settlers. John and 
 Richard Lundy,J John Large, and James Lenox, and 
 William Lace}-, 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 "uife, and children, Eeuben, 
 Elizabeth, Sarah, Rachel, and Abigail, arrived in the Ship " Friends' 
 Adventure," 2Sth, Tth mo., 1682. They were from Lojlock, 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 Tth, 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 " Henry 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 1th 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 " Xeshaminey Creek." Begidry of Arrivals. — Editor. 
 
 X Richard Lundy, of Axminster, Devonshire, England, son of 
 Sylvester Lundy, of same town, originally came to Boston, N. E., 
 6th mo., 1676; thence to Penn.sylvania, 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, aq^l 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 house 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 burying-ground, with privilege 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 Wrightstown 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 watson'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 friend, with intention to bring over his wife 
 and family ; having suffered much, by persecution for his religion, in 
 England, being a Quaker, but he never returned. His wife, who 
 
BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 305 
 
 Eastburn, Joshua Ely, Benjamin Fell, Enoch Pearson, 
 Edmund Kinsey, Abigail Paxson, Elizabeth Fell, Phebe 
 Ely, formerly Phebe Smith, Jane Bradficld, Ann Schol- 
 field, were all ministers, and all of them at the same time 
 members of Buckingham Meeting, except Jacob Ilolcomb 
 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 country, 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 be kind to the 
 poor Indians, for the favors he had received from Ihem: which his 
 son faithfully observed and complied with, and is said to have been 
 a worthy man and a good character." Proud, Vol I., p. 222, 223. — 
 Editor. 
 
 20 
 
306 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, aU further supply had to be 
 brought from the FaUs 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-miU on the great spring 
 stream in Solebury. This must have been a great hard- 
 sliip^_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. 
 
 In 1690, there were many settlements of Indians in 
 
 * William and John Croasdale were the sons of Thomas and 
 Agnes Croasdale. Thomas died in 1684, and Agnes in 1686.- 
 Eegidry of Arrivals.— EmroB.. 
 
BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURT. 307 
 
 these townships, — one on the lowland near the river, on 
 George Pownall's 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 difference between the families of the white 
 man and the Indian, in many respects, w^as 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 Buckmgham. 
 
 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 orphan, 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 
 Eobert 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 Eobert 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 SOLEBURY. 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 
 families have sprung from him as an original ancestor. 
 
 My great-grandfather, Thomas Watson, followed malt- 
 ing in England ; l^ut 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 opportunity of acquiring medical knowledge, took 
 his fiither's place as the only doctor for twenty 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 17G0. 
 
310 watson's account of 
 
 Thomas Watson, eldest son of Thomas "Watson, died 
 before his father ; leaving several children, who all died 
 young, excejDt John and Sarah. John AVatson 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 application, 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 
 Wilham 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 
 iiihabitant (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 Bebecca 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 AVilson's cliilclren have 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 gTandfather, 
 Richard 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 3-9. to 4-5. ; rye, one shilling less ; 
 Indian corn and buckwheat, 2^. ; middlings, fine, Is. and 
 8-5. ; coarse, 45. ^d. ; bran, Is. ; salt, 4s. ; beef, 2d. ; bacon, 
 4cZ. ; pork was about 2d. 
 
 Improved land was sold generally by the acre, at the 
 price of twenty bushels of wheat. Thus, wheat, 2-5. 6r?., 
 land, 2J. 10s. ; wheat, 3^., land, 3?. ; wheat, 3s. 6f7., land, 
 3Z. 10s. ; wheat, 5s., land, hi. ; wheat, 7s. 6r7., land, 77. 
 10s. ; wheat, 10s., 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 well 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 watson's account of 
 
 and no doubt they slept as sound on chaff beds on the 
 floor in the loft as they could have done with all the 
 finery th^t the inventions of later days hav€ 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 apples 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 breakfast. 
 
 I 
 
BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURY. 313 
 
 The new stone meeting-liouse 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 hauling 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 Avere 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 httle seed of any kind of foreign grass 
 was sown, as the plough was seldom used to j^repare for 
 meadow ; and red and white clover were onl}^ 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 winter 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 da^^s, 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 was twenty shillings a 
 year, and the master boarded with the employers. 
 
 Indian 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 effectually 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, which kept 
 the soil in better heart ; but, on the whole, wheat crops 
 were on the decUne, growing poorly in the fiill, 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 hquors, 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 
 
316 watson's account of 
 
 Coryell's Ferries (which was owing probably to the dispo- 
 sition and manners of the inhabitants), and but one dis- 
 tillery a short time. 
 
 The preceding account will ap23ly 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, wheat 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 were 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 tlie 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 impercej)ti]3le 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 cheap and often on credit. 
 
 The subject of old and new fashion bore a considerable 
 dispute, at least how far the new should be introduced. 
 Some showed by their practice that they were for going 
 as far as they could, some stopped 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. 
 Nevertlieless, 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, intelhgent, 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 account of our community. The 
 
 i 
 
BUCKINGHAM AND SOLEBURT. 319 
 
 Committee earnestly hope tliat 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 Avords sliell 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, 
 crumbling 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 1^92, 
 upon the annexation of the Loganian Liljrarj^ 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 $1022.75 per annum. — Editor. 
 
BRIEF ACCOUNT 
 
 DISCOVERY OE ANTHllACITE 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 ANTHRACITE 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 the 31st 
 of August, 1166, and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from 
 the University of Pennsylvania, in 1*787. 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 man, 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, Vol. III., p. 105.) — Editor. 
 
 (323) 
 
324 AN ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 meeting of their Council, and as it has been thought 
 worthy of preservation, the writer of the following 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 im23erfect 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 AllentoAvn, 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 English, made us 
 ultimately comprehend that we were not much ahove a 
 mile distant from Philip Ginter's mill, and, as there was 
 hut one road hefore 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 
 considerabl}' 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 known hy the name of the Landing, but 
 since dignified with the more classical appellation of Lau- 
 sanne. We were kindly furnished by our host ^vith 
 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 
 M^ith our hospitable landlord, we started on the journey 
 of the day, preceded by Philip, 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 much the appearance of the commencement of rude 
 wells, into one of which our guide descended with great 
 ease, and threw up some pieces of coal for our examina- 
 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 towards evening over the Mauch GhunJc 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 forsal-en of human 
 beings. As he trod slowly over the ground, his foot 
 stumbled , against something which, by the stroke, was 
 driven before him ; observing it to be hiach — 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. ?>27 
 
 coaV^ of wliicli lie had lieard. 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 alive 
 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. 
 
 Hillegas, Cist, Weiss, and some others, immediately 
 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 INhnrntain, 
 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 the 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 hicisted, 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 peacb 
 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 J 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 
 utiUty, that it would ultimately become the general fuel 
 
 of this as well as some other cities. 
 
 T. C. J. 
 Philada., April IWi, 1826. 
 
 The following shows the quantity of coal sent from 
 Mauch-Chunk to Philadelphia by water in the years 
 specified, viz. 
 
 In 1820 16,000 bushels. 
 
 1821 32,000 do 
 
 1822 
 1823 
 1824 
 1825 
 
 80,000 
 
 do 
 
 230,000 
 
 do 
 
 500,000 
 
 do 
 
 516,236 
 
 do 
 
DISCOVERY OF ANTHRACITE COAL. 
 
 329 
 
 In half the season, np to August 10th, 182G, there 
 descended to Phihulelphia 20,2G0 tons, eijual to 507,280 
 bushels, which is a greater amount by GljO-i-l bushels 
 than descended in the icliole of the }-ear 1825. 
 
 During the lastjear, 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 
 reffion from 1820 to 18G3. 
 
 YEAR. 
 
 1 
 
 TONS. 
 
 TEAR. 
 
 TONS. 
 
 1820 
 
 3C5 
 
 1842 
 
 272,546 
 
 1821 
 
 1,073 1 
 
 1843 
 
 267,793 
 
 1822 
 
 2,240 1 
 
 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 
 
 40,906 
 
 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 thi'ce anthracite coal fields amounted in 
 1863 to 9,420,135 tons. (See PoKsville Miners Journal, of January 
 23, 1864.) The following additional particulars concerning the develop- 
 ment of the coal region of the Lehigh, and which are derived from 
 
330 AN ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 a Memoir of Josiah White by Mr. S. W. Roberts, may be found not 
 uninteresting. 
 
 "Experiments with anthracite coal had been made at the wire- 
 mill at the Falls, owned by Josiah White, Joseph Gillingham, and 
 Erskine Hazard ; and when the Schuylkill Navigation 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 would 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. 
 
 "Yery liberal legislation was obtained, giving the control of the 
 Lehigh River to Josiah White, Erskine Hazard, and G. ¥. A. Hauto, 
 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, naving 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 
 serious 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 
 make 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 Lehigh 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 
 
DISCOVERY OF ANTnRACITE COAL. ?>?A 
 
 about 30,000 toiiR per annum, wliich wuh: tlicn oonsidcrod to bo a 
 large trade. The cousumption of lumljor in buildinjij coal ark.s wa.s 
 very large, and numerous saw-mills wore built to furnish it. The 
 coal was hauled in wagons from the Summit Mines, then worked as 
 an open quarry, to Maut-h Chunk, nearly nine miles, on a turnpike 
 road, built with a descending grade. Tlie anthracite coal trade of 
 Pennsylvania, thus started by Josiah White and his partner, Erskine 
 Ilazard, in 1820, Avhen 305 tons were sent to market, has grown to 
 the immense aggregate of 7,700,000 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 Navigation Company, 
 and the rights of Messrs. White and Ilazard were transferred by them 
 to the new coii)oration for a large amount of its stock, they continuing 
 to be its acting managers and engineers. In the spring of 1827, 
 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 sec it. 
 
 "In 1827, after the railroad was made, the construction of the 
 Lehigh Canal and ascending navigation Avas 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 l)ed 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 Hues. The canal from 
 Mauch Chunk to Easton, forty-six miles, was opened in 1820." 
 
 In a paper written by Mr. Erskine Ilazard, 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 
 
 PAPEES IN THE OFFICE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 
 AT nAraUSBURG, 
 
 AND FROM OTHER DOCUMENTS. 
 
 TRAXSCRIBED 
 
 BY REDMOND COXYXGHAM, ESQ. 
 
 OP CARUSLE, 
 AND COMMUNICATED BY HIM TO THE SOCIETY. 
 
 Bead at a Meeting of the Council, March 15, 1826. 
 
 (888) 
 
SOME EXTUACTS, ETC. 
 
 NOTES OF SOME PRINCIPAL OR CURIOUS EVENTS. 
 
 1682. William Penn visited Sliackamaxon, held fre- 
 quent conferences with the Indians, and here kiid the 
 foundation of that regard and friendship which they ever 
 afterwards evinced. It was by his residence in Shacka- 
 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, keejDcr of the workhouse in 
 the city of Philadelphia, 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) 
 
336 contngham's historical notes. 
 
 Delaware, on account of its size and depth, 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 dw^elling-houses, forty-one stables, and 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 Wyoming should be allotted to them for a residence, 
 which it should not be lawful for them ever to sell, or for 
 the proprietaries to buy. It w^as intended that King 
 Teedyuscung and his Indians should hold and enjoy the 
 lands during their lives, and their posterity after them. 
 Houses w^ere put up for them by order of government. 
 
 17G0, 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. 
 
conyngham's historical notes. 337 
 
 1768. Tn 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, 
 
 "SHAWANA BEN." 
 
 From the Big Island, to Capt. Patterson, at Juniata. 
 
 17G7. 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 and memory strong. 
 
 Died in Pennsylvania, aged 85, John Key. "William 
 
 22 
 
338 conyngham's historical notes. 
 
 Penn gave him a lot of ground in compliment of liis 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 
 imfriendly 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 Clioir-house of the Single Sisters." There are 
 Choir-houses for widows and widowers. 
 
 Marriages in the congregation of the United Brethren 
 are made b}^ 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 approbation, the wedding is 
 performed. 
 
 At the baptism of children, both the witnesses and the 
 minister bless the infant with laying on of hands. 
 
 The pedil avium, or washing of feet, is used by some, 
 agreeably to the command of Christ, " Ye also ought to 
 w-ash 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, economy, 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 contngham'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, ln^ 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 you — 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 Uttle 
 spot on which we might rest." 
 
 /Shmvana 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 Valley 
 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 conyngham's historical notes. 
 
 Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagoes, Cayugas, Senecas, Tusca- 
 roroes, Nanticokes, Conoys, Tuteloes, Chugants, Dela- 
 wares, Unamines, Munseys, Mohicons, Wappingers. 
 
 Teedyuscimg. — "I called, — the Indians have come. 
 Speak, and they will hear, — sit and talk. I will sit, 
 hear, and see." 
 
 Tokaaio, 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." 
 
 Niclias 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." | 
 
 Tagashata. — " We know not who made him our king." 
 
 Assarandonguas. — " No such thing was ever said in our 
 wigwam 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." 
 
 Governai^ 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 hand — I sit hke 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." 
 
 Governor Denny. — " 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. 
 
 Ta{jqshata 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 Shamoldng — 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 historical 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. 
 
 Tehewgweahten, 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 — Hhat 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. 
 
" Brotliers, 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 sharjDcn 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 acti^'e 
 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 
 
346 contngham's historical notes. 
 
 your eyes — let tliem shine — throw not the tomahawk — 
 raise not the knife — let the whites cut the string of 
 friendship — hut until they cut it we will hold it fast — we 
 rejoice the Council Fire has not gone out — hrother, we 
 desire to keep the hatchet buried — Ave desire peace — I 
 have had my talk — give me tobacco, I will sit and 
 smoke." 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS 
 
 THE MEDICAL HISTORY 
 
 PENNSYLYANIA. 
 
 BY CASPAK MORRIS, M.D. 
 
 Bead before the Medical Committee, bth Month, 22(Z, 1826. 
 
 (347) 
 
CONTRIBUTIONS, ETC. 
 
 Although it is with feelings of diffidence I have 
 ventured this evening to address yoii, 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 suljjects 
 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 ci\'ilized society, to plunge into the dangers and 
 difficulties attendant on an attempt to people the wildur- 
 
 (349) 
 
350 morris's contributions 
 
 ness, and bring the forest under cultivation : and though, 
 from peculiar circumstances attending the settlement of 
 this colony, Pennsylvania seems to have enjoyed the 
 skill 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 present acceptation of the term they were "regular practi- 
 tioners," we are not able to say. 
 
 Vice-Director Alrichs, writing on the 25th of May, 1C57, from 
 Fort New Amstel (now New Castle), to the " Commissioners of the 
 Colonic on the Delaware," says, "Mr. Jan Costing, the surgeon, 
 hath given in this annexed memorandum of necessary medicines, 
 
TO MEDICAL HISTORY. 351 
 
 very severe; and that the Swedes, and a eolony from 
 New Haven, who had settled among them, suflered very 
 mueh 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 tliis 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, 1G55, the whole continent was again 
 
 which, he says, will not amount to much. Ho requests that they 
 will be sent out l)y the earliest opportunity."* 
 
 In again writing to the same authorities, on the 10th of October, 
 1658, f he states, " William Van Ilasenberg, 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 sufieriug from other troubles 
 through the proti'acted 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. 
 I Idem, 55. 
 
352 morris's contributions 
 
 visited by the 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, who 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 they verbally produce for their own profit, cannot be 
 accepted." 
 
 In a return for monies paid for the " Colonie," we find that between 
 the 18th of November, 1659, and the 3d of November, 1662, William 
 Yan Ilasenberg, Surgeon in the Colonie, 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 Yan Rasenberg as having been 
 sick. The latter was living in 1G62, 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 Schu34kill. 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 luxury. Gene- 
 rally speaking, the colonists must have enjoyed good 
 health, as we find Wjame 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 deatlis as at one time amounting to six or 
 
 23 
 
354 morris's contributions 
 
 eight daily.* The mahgnant 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 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 UISTORY. 355 
 
 EdAvard 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 travelUng 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 William 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 Royal, 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 Philosopher's Stone, and its neces- 
 sary accompaniment, the Elixir Yitse. The result need 
 not at this day be told; but among the simple inhabitants 
 of Philadelphia he was regarded as one passing wise ; 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 imiiression 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, Avho 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 possessed, 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 Vitse, a compound, styled " Golden Drops," as 
 indicative of their value, to this day celebrated in some 
 sections of the countrj'^ ; 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 afflicted. In short, it is only cause of 
 wonder that the court of death has not, ere this, been de- 
 
TO MEDICAL UISTORY. 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. 
 Kearsley 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 boy, 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. He 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 paralj'sis, 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 acquired great reputation. He was associated with 
 
 i 
 
TO MEDICAL HISTORY. 359 
 
 Dr. Zachary 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 review, and who eminently de- 
 serves the gratitude of all those who take pride in the 
 scientific character of our city. 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 urbanitj' of his manner^;, 
 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. Eamsay. 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 desire 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 irrehgious — 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, impljdng 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 HISTORT. 361 
 
 we Hnd Kearsley, Zachary, Cadwalladcr, 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 Jefferson, then a hid, 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 year intervening between December, 1729 and 
 '30, there were interred in the city two hundred and 
 twenty-seven persons of various sects. An account of the 
 number of births during the same period would be an 
 interesting document. 
 
 In February, March, and April, 1727, there appears 
 from the bills of mortality to have been an unusual 
 number of deaths, though I have not been able to find 
 any reference to the prevalent disorder; and in 1732 the 
 whole country again suffered from ej)idemic catarrh ; in 
 1736-7 the city was afflicted by the occurrence of ulcer- 
 ated sore throat. 
 
 Some time in the 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. This gave offence to the governor and 
 council, who confirmed the former ajDpointment of Graeme, 
 and forbade Zachary to act. 
 
 * Watson's MSS. f Ibid. 
 
362 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. Bond 
 says was yellow fever, but supposes it to have been intro- 
 duced by a sickly ship-load of convicts from the Dublin 
 jail. Previous to this it had been the practice to dis- 
 tribute sick emigrants among the inhabitants, at whose 
 houses they received that attention their forlorn situation 
 demanded. In this way, jail or ship fever was frequently 
 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 visited 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, rimning 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 muddy 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 pomids 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. 3G3 
 
 directions they were much resorted to, both by conva- 
 lescents and those who wished to escape the " bleacliing 
 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 them 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 comjDetent to the task step forward, shall form 
 the subject of a future communication from the author of 
 the preceding. 
 
 i 
 
 11 
 
 I 
 
NOTICES 
 
 OF 
 
 NEGRO SLAVERY, 
 
 CONNECTED WITH 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 BY EDWARD BETTLE. 
 
 Bead before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Sth 7no., 
 Vh, 1826. 
 
 (865) 
 
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 ajDplication 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. 
 
 (307) 
 
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 Penns34vania 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 true 
 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 SLAVERY 3G9 
 
 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 system of graduated 
 and mitigated punishments which has since received the 
 sanction of the wisest and best of his successors. 
 
 Sound judgment, comprehensive and enlarged policy, 
 unbroken faith, and unsullied probity, formed in her early 
 days the prominent characteristics of Pennsylvanian 
 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 da}- 
 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, 
 displa;ying such vivifying Ught and knowledge, we might 
 
 24 
 
370 settle's notices of 
 
 rightfully expect to see a cordial 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 
 every 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 country whose Constitution is founded upon the prin- 
 ciple that liberty and the pursuit of happiness are un- 
 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 SLAVERY. 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 objects of traffic. 
 How can ive, 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 view of the subject, we think it 
 may be asserted boldlj^, and without fear of contradiction, 
 that the worst slavery, the most total prostration of the 
 rights of man, and the most entire degradation of i\iQ 
 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 Redeemer. 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 head; they labored in common with his 
 own offspring, they tended his flocks with his own sons 
 and daughters, they were protected by special ordinances 
 of the Jewish law, and at the expiration of fifty years, 
 there was a manumission of all slaves, 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 heari>sicken- 
 ing certainty of the American slave, that the oppression 
 under which he suffers mil 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, 57, 64, &c.— Editor. 
 
NEGRO SLAVERY. 373 
 
 riglitful 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 spnpathy 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 w^ith 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 new and uncontaminated soils, for tlie 
 total deprivation of the, negroes hy law of literary, moral, 
 and religious inMruction, and that the State governments 
 are bound to take some prospective measures, however 
 slow in effect and remote in final execufio7i, to clear our land 
 from so foul a stam 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 may 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 with slavery new portions of 
 our territories, and a steady adherence to their former 
 cruel and degrading policy, 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 infamy of being the first who brought the mis- 
 erable sons of Africa as slaves from their native soil 
 
NEGRO SLAVERY. 375 
 
 attaches itself to the Portuguese, Avho, as early as 1481, 
 built a castle on the Gold coast, and from thence ravaged 
 the country, and carried off the inhabitants to Portugal, 
 where tliej^ were sold into bondage.* In 1503 slaves were 
 first taken from the Portuguese 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 Y. of Portugal: this 
 first originated the slave trade in 1442. Commences in West Indies, 
 1511 ; in Virginia, 1620 ; first efl"ort 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, Avas con- 
 ducted by an able minister — formed the period of the greatest 
 improvement ii^ 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 wisdom 
 and vigor ; and in the interval it was enacted,* among other legis- 
 lative reforms, that no man should thenceforward be bought or sold." 
 Miller's Philosophy of History, vol. ii., 355, Bohn's edition.— Editoe. 
 
 * " 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."— i'(//7>;i(/., p. 109. 
 
376 settle's notices of 
 
 Spain by permission of King Ferdinand V. After his 
 death, the proposal was made to the Regent of Spain, 
 Cardinal Ximenes, 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. "I" 
 
 * 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. — Ansicers of Senor , of Havana, to Questioiis addressed 
 
 by R. R. Madden, 31. D., London, 1840. But Bancroft (vol. i., p. 
 169) says that it was not Las Casas who first 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. — Quintana, vol. iii., p. 467, as cite(i by Madden. 
 
 •j" " 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 hved 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 Avorld this noble declaration : •' That not only 
 the Christian religion, but nature herself cried out against 
 a state of slavery." In the year 15G2, in the reign of 
 Ehzabeth, 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 
 bis 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. * * * lu 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 posterity. 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 by a Slave in the 
 Island of Cuba, and to which are prefixed two pieces descriptive of 
 Cuban slavery and the slave traffic, by R. R. Madden, M. D., London, 
 1840, pp. 152, 1.55. — Editor. 
 
 * "In isn 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 foTTii 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, wliom he sold to the Spaniards in His- 
 paniola ; and, although censured bj 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 with re- 
 luctance, and only when soothed by the delusive pretext 
 of converting the Africans to Christianity. In 1645 a 
 law was passed by the General Assembly of Massachusetts, 
 prohibiting 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 ojDponents of slavery, 
 is the founder of the Society of Friends, George Fox. 
 This pious Christian visited Barbadoes in 1671, 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 remarkable 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 year as the date of this Act. It was part 
 of the hundred laws, called the Body of Liberties (Winthrop's Jour- 
 nal, 23T), established by the General Court of Massachusetts, in 
 1G41.— See Holmes' Annals, I., 317, 335. Edition of 1805, and the 
 authorities cited. — Editor. 
 
N E G R S L A V E R Y. 3 < 
 
 there advised such of his bretliren as held slaves to teach 
 them the principles of religion, treat them mildly, and 
 after certain years of labor set them free.* 
 
 Contemporary with George Fox was WiUnim Edmund- 
 son, who was a worthy minister of this society, and who 
 also was a fellow traveller with Fox in Barbadoes.-|* 
 Being brought before the Governor, on the charge of 
 teaching the negroes Christianity, and thi'icln' causing 
 them to rebel and destroy their owners, he made an 
 ansAver 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 Avitli 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 eood thincr 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 Researches among the 
 early Printers and Publishers of Friends' Books," Vol. XVII. — 
 Editor. 
 
 f Edmundson twice visited Barbadoes, once in IGTl, and once ia 
 1675. It was during his second visit that the events referred to ia 
 the text occurred. — Gough's History, III., 61. Eduiundson's Jour- 
 nal, p. 85, Edit, of 1774.— Editor. 
 
 t "The earliest instances of such inconsistent persecution was in 
 the Island of Barbadoes, in the year 1676, and to the honor of that 
 truly amiable sect of Christians, the Quakers, their charity and 
 liberality furnished the first opportunity for it by tln-ir singular and 
 probably then unprecedented attempt to impart their own n-h'gion to 
 the negroes."— Stephens' Slavery of West Indies, I., 234.— Editor. 
 
380 settle's notices of 
 
 and Christ Jesus, and to believe in him who died for 
 them and all men, and that this would keep them from 
 rebelUng and cutting any person's throat ; but 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 common 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 which God 
 restrained, and restraining them in meat and clothing."* 
 
 In 1673, Richard Baxter, and, in 1680, Morgan God- 
 wyn, both clergymen, wrote forcibly against slavery .-]- 
 
 From 1680 to 1688, it does not appear that any pubhc 
 opposition to slavery was made; and, as the last-men- 
 tioned year was an important era in the history of Penn- 
 sylvania, as connected with 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 1^82, and prior to 1187 had 
 resident ministers in Antigua, St. Christopher, Barbadoes," &c. 
 (Stephens^ Slavery of West Indies, I., 23Y.) 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 Godwyn also published a supplement to his "Negroes' and 
 Indians' Advocate," in the following year. — Editob, 
 
NEGRO SLAVERY. 381 
 
 scarcity of laborers. The number imported, or tlio 
 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 examj^le, 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 year 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 resohiuL'- dcfini- 
 
 * " 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 
 
 tively on any measure, time should be allowed for 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 paying 
 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 was 
 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 
 right 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 own 
 
 * See note on page 412, at the end of thjis article. — EmTOR, 
 
NEGRO SLAVERY. 383 
 
 liberty, they were willing to extend its blessings uni- 
 versall3^ 
 
 In 1G9G, 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, briug them to 
 meeting, and have meetings with them in then- families, 
 and restrain them from loose and lewd living, as much as 
 m them lies, and from rambling abroad on first days." In 
 this year also, George Keith and his friends, who had 
 seceded from the Quakers, published 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 impro^dng 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.— Editok. 
 
38-i settle's notices of 
 
 meeting of Philadelphia, 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 whereof, 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 famihes, 
 and be present with them at the said meetings as frequent 
 as may be." 
 
 These resolutions having been adopted without diffi- 
 culty by his own 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 hberty 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. 
 
 \ 
 
 his Life of Penn, to various reasons, viz. : the hostlHty 
 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 
 contacted 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 con^dction 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 Wilham 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 imjportatioji of negroes and Indians into 
 tJie 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 evidence 
 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 experience as a serious evil, we find, in 
 1712, that, undismayed by the repeal of tlic iioii-Iiiiporta- 
 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 Penns3dvania ; on consideration, the House 
 
 * "William Southeby 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 XXVIII. Vol. 
 of "The Friend," pp. 293, 301, 309.— 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, different 
 laws were passed, laying duties on negroes ; these, with 
 a bill of 1725-6, 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 1761. The hostihty of the English 
 government to any supposed encroachment on the trade 
 of the country, even in human flesh, appears to have been 
 sufiicient to prevent any further attempts to abolish this 
 cruel trafiic. 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 101. 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 should 
 marry a negro with a white person under penalty of 
 lOOZ., 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 are those of 
 1705, mo-ll, 1712, 1715, 1717-18, 1720, 1722, 1725-G, 1720, 1761, 
 1768, and 1773, — which last was made perpetual. 
 
 The Acts of date subsequent to 1705, arc 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 1711 ; that 
 to which he alludes, but regrets he has not seen, was the one of 
 1712, 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 settle's notices of 
 
 slaveholdiiig than those in Pennsylvania; that in this 
 matter of so general importance, a miion of opinions and 
 practice might be obtained; and further 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 kindly 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 j 
 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 endeaA^or to prevail on the queen to sanc- 
 tion such further anti-slavery laws as the Legislature of 
 Pennsylvania might adopt. They further stated that 
 they did not know of any Friend who 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 slaveholding colonies. 
 In 1715 and 16 and 19, advice was issued by the Yearly 
 Meeting of Pennsylvania, strongly urging that Friends 
 should not only decline 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 1'726 to 1761 inclusive, see 
 
NEGRO SLAVERY. 391 
 
 The next laborer in behalf of the negroes whom we 
 shall have occasion to notice, is Ralph Sandifoid. He 
 was descended from a respectable family in Barljadoes, 
 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 tlie con- 
 dition of the black population. He rejected many advan- 
 tageous propositions of pecuniary advancement, as they 
 came from those who had acquired their property hy 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 owm 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, aud the 
 work as every w^ay worthy of him. In the words of 
 Clarkson, " it was excellent as a composition. Tlio lan- 
 guage was correct. The style manly and energetic, aud 
 
 "Extracts from the Minutes and Advices," &c., printed l)y James 
 Phillips, in 1783; and an Epistle, in 1763. — Annual Epiatlcs from 
 the Yearly Meeting in London, p. 273. Baltimore, 1806. 
 
 In this year, 171S, appeared "An Address to the Elders of the 
 Church," by William Burling, strongly condemnatory of slavehold 
 ing. " The same year," says Benjamin Lay, " I was convinced of 
 the same 'hellish practice,' " — Editou. 
 
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 would 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 1730-35-36 and 37 the Yearly Meeting of Phila- 
 delphia was informed by some of its subordinate branches, 
 that though the importation of negroes had been aban- 
 doned by members of the Society, yet that some still per- 
 sisted in bujdng 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 oifence. 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 were constantly decreasing. 
 
 We shall next notice that early, honest, but over-zealous 
 
 * See the interesting memoirs of Sandiford and Lay, by Roberts 
 Vaux. 
 
NEGRO SLAVERY. 898 
 
 opponent of the bondage of men, Benjamin Lay.* lie 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 hkewise 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 wdth the same zeal and hcense 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. Nathan Kite. These 
 embrace the lives of William Burling, Ralph Sandifurd, and Benjamin 
 Lay; in which last two some errors into which their fornior biographer 
 has inadvertently fallen will be found corrected. — Editor. 
 
394: bettle's notices of 
 
 pression, though liable to the objections 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 buying slaves, and urging some cogent 
 arguments to show the anti-christian nature of the traffic, 
 and the awful responsibility 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 as 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 still 
 further towards a complete eradication of slavery from 
 
K E G K SLAV K K Y. 395 
 
 amongst its memlx'is. 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 Avliom they received the liberty which 
 they so freely enjoyed, by extending this blessing to all 
 their fellow-creatures; and John Woolnian and others 
 were appointed a committee to visit such Friends as held 
 slaves, and endeavor to prevail on them to reliiKjuish the 
 practice. This committee, it appears from the minutes 
 of the Yearly Meeting, continued to prosecute their work 
 of benevolence during the years 1758-59-GO and Gl — 
 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 bejran to bo acquainted with 
 the operations of divine love." — Woolman's Journal. — Editor, 
 
396 settle'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 emploj^er 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 witli 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 ajDpears 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." 
 
N E G R S L A V E R Y. 397 
 
 In 1753, he published the first part of his "Consideror 
 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 religion. 
 
 In 1756, he made a religious visit to Long Island, and 
 was much engaged with members of his o^vn 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 support, 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 impolicy 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 own 
 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 
 Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia, in 1758, one of a com- 
 mittee of that body for discouraging slavcholding amongst 
 
 * "Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes, Tvccom- 
 mendecl to the Professors of Christianity of every Denomiuatiou."— 
 First printed in 1153-4.— Editor. 
 
398 bettle's notices of 
 
 its members f- and as he 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 famiUes in Pennsyl- 
 vania and New Jersey. In 1762, he published 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 Sykes were his 
 fellow visitors to those Finends who had slaves, in 1758. John 
 Churchman and Samuel Eastburn, in 1159. — Editor. 
 
 •f On this visit, he was accompanied by his "beloved friend," 
 Samuel Eastburn. — Editor. 
 
 J 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 be given away." His reasons are 
 characteristic. — See his Journal, p. 136. Edition of 1775. — Editok. 
 
 § 1768. Journal, p. 188.— Editor. 
 
NEGRO SLAVERY. 399 
 
 1772, he embarked for England, and whilst there, en- 
 deavored to indnce 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 hved and labored with the most well-directed assi- 
 diuty 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 bom in France, of respectable parents of the 
 Protestant profession, in the year 1713, who, at the revo- 
 cation of the Edict of Nantz, removed M'ith 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 Woolman 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 
 yield 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' 
 Pubhc 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 Hterary tuition, and his pecuhar 
 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 sjmipathy 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 17C6, 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 
 ^lucc—Darlington^s Mem. of John Barlravi, pp. 41, 54.— Editor. 
 26 
 
402 settle's notices op 
 
 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 wdth 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 whom he addressed at different times were the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Fothergill, Granville Sharp, 
 the Abbe Raynal, John Wesley, George Whitfield, the 
 
 * London, 1*112. 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 diHgence and 
 the extent and variety of his engagements than by 
 quoting the words of his intelligent 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 Bcnezet," 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. He seemed to have been born and to 
 have Hved 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 with 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 
 Bedeemer, 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, " If 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 sho^vn, we trust, that our forefiithers 
 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 1770, 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 w^as 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, 1778, George Bryan, the Vice President, 
 in his message called the attention of the Assembly to the subject, 
 and said, " the late Assembly was furnished icith 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 benevolence 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, 1119, we find that President Reed 
 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 a plan 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 be 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 interested 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 1190 there were . . . 3,131 slaves. 
 
 1800 
 
 (I 
 
 <( 
 
 
 1,106 
 
 1810 
 
 <c 
 
 tt 
 
 
 195 
 
 1820 
 
 (< 
 
 n 
 
 
 211 
 
 1830 
 
 (( 
 
 u 
 
 
 386 
 
 * Idem, 173; Penna. Archives, vii. 79; Journal of House of Rep., 307, 364. 
 ■j- 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 eommittec was appointed by the Senate — of which our 
 late venerable member, Mr. Samuel Breck, was chairman — " to in- 
 vestigate the cause of increase, and report by 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 exhiljit 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, 1780, 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 bo 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, migiit wish to grant 
 
 * Hazard's Register, vol. xi. 158. 
 
408 NOTES. 
 
 manumission to their slaves, and from investigation they were of the 
 opinion that 67, instead of 386, constituted the number of slaves 
 existing in 1830. 
 
 We have remarked that George Bryan was the author of the Act 
 of 1180, 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 
 Preamble 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. Yol. 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 with the distressed, his unafi'ected 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 tho 
 world, you will find him eminently qualified for the faithful and 
 honorable discharge of the various public otlices which ho liiled, 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 Congres.s 
 which met at New York, in 1705, for the purpose of petitioning and 
 remon.strating 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 Yice-President of the Supreme Executive Council of 
 this Commonwealth ; and, by the unfortunate death of the late 
 President Wharton, in May, 1778, 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 pressing 
 hurry of business, the rage and clamors of party, and the tumult of 
 war and invasion, in despite of innumerable prejudices, he ])lanned 
 and executed the 'Act for the Gradual Abolition of S/aivn/,' — 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, literary, and 
 charitable employments : in some of which he was almost rdntiimully 
 
 * The Pennsylvania Gazette of February 2, 1791, contains a copy of the same 
 notice. 
 
410 
 
 NOTES, 
 
 engaged,— 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 was x)ossihly too disinterested— his own 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 2nh of January, 1791, aged sixty years; 
 that he 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 1765, and as a citizen, he was conspicuous in opposition to the 
 Stamp and other Acts of British tyranny. He was 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 2:)enJ^ 
 
 The italics are our own. Against this emphatic testimony, no word 
 of dissent, so far as we know, was 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 we 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 which 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 sufiBcicnt 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 fnjm 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 beeometh 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 elfectual legal 
 relief could be obtained. Weaned by a long course of experience 
 from those narrow prejudices and partialities Ave 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, among some of 
 the papers belonging to the Society of Friends in Philadelphia, this 
 valuable and long sought document. He immediately caused it to 
 be printed in xvii. vol. of the "Friend," p. 125, and remarks: 
 
 " The testimony of the Friends at Germantown against slavery,* 
 sent up to the Yearly Meeting of 1G88, has, within the last few 
 days, been discovered. These Friends were Germans, and mostly 
 from Cresheim, a town not far from Worms in the Palatinate. They 
 had suffered persecution in their own country, and seem to have had 
 a very correct appreciation of the rights of others. * * * Coming 
 from a country where 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 Kricshierri's bowers of vine, 
 And the blae 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." 
 
 WhiUiefs Poems, 108, Edition of Mussey & Co., Boston, 1845. 
 
NOTES. 413 
 
 this manner? viz., to bo 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. Now 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 negcrs 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 we 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 in others, separating wives from their husbands and 
 giving them to others ; and some sell the children of these poor 
 creatures to other men. Ah 1 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 thi3 
 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 stubborn 
 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 j" 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 Moreis." 
 
NOTES. 415 
 
 The Act of n05 was entitled, "An Act to prevent the importation 
 of Indian slaves." 
 
 " If, after the 25 March, 1106, 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 bo 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, 17U. 
 
 "An Impost Act, laying a duty on negroes, wine, rum, and other 
 spirits, cider, and vessels," passed 28th, 12th month, 1710. 
 
 Imposed for the space of three years, from and after the 10th day 
 of March, It 10, 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 1712. 
 
 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 ; " aU 
 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 cx'ported 
 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 sheriCF or constable [who are thereby required 
 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 with 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. — Editoe. 
 
NOTICES 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 07 
 
 ROBERT PROUD. 
 
 ACTUOR OF " TUE UISTORY OF PENNSVLYAXIA." 
 
 CHARLES WEST THOMSOX. 
 
 Read hefore the Council, August IWi, 1826. 
 
 ( 117 ) 
 
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 political 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 narrar 
 lives remain only in the recollection of those few of their 
 cotemporaries whom age has spared ; 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, nuich to be re- 
 gretted, that many interesting facts and incidents relating 
 to the outset of our poUtical 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 coinmit- 
 
 (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 abilities 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 future 
 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 j)ath 
 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 Pennsylvauia who has ever honored her with a 
 Histor}', or attempted to give lier a name among the 
 nations. To the contemphition of some prominent in- 
 cidents of his retired hfe, we propose devoting a few 
 pages. 
 
 He was born, 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 felicit}-, 
 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 influence 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 young 
 mind on its departure from home, ajDpears to have at- 
 tended him in the prospect as well as the accomphshment 
 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 
 service of ministerial duty. 
 
 This David Hall was a member of the same society, 
 and also a preacher in it f 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 
 
 iug 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, repute 
 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 w^as 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 
 ^ear 1750, being then about twenty-one years of age, 
 taking with him a recommendation from !iis afiectionate 
 preceptor. After some time, by the influence of his kind 
 friend and relative, the illustrious Dr. John Fothergill, 
 who, unHke 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 Frond's eulogy,) he obtained an agree- 
 able temporary situation in the famihes of Sylvanus and 
 
424 Thomson's notices 
 
 Timothy Bevan.* These gentlemen had an establish- 
 ment 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 
 
 * Sylvanus Bevan was originally from Wales, and was early in 
 life introduced to William Penn, 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 queea 
 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 Loudon, 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 #bjection 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 bead. The queen and princesses were so much pleased 
 with the wit of the remark, that the next day they made her a 
 visit. 
 
F R B E K T r li U D. -1 25 
 
 Opportunity, however, in his intervals of h-isure, of culti- 
 vating his own improvement in literature and science, in 
 the hope that, at some future period, it mi^iiht 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 U) be 
 a paramount consideration ; and sometimes, as has before 
 been hinted, occasioned the neglect of his own inunediate 
 interests. He was now placed in a situation wliere 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 own 
 sake; the anwr Jittrarum 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 intinuitely 
 affect our happiness. A man of genius, illy pro\ ideil in 
 this respect, must, generally speaking, either select his 
 associates from among those who are beneath his le\ el in 
 intellect or else experience much difficulty, as Proud (hd, 
 in order to act in proper character and jnaintain the 
 
426 Thomson's notices 
 
 standing his education would seem to demand. This, 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 of 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, Eobert 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 fav^r 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 pursuit for several 
 years, with a success fully adequate to his expectations. 
 His views of the practice of physic were noble and ex- 
 alted j 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 K B E R T 1' K O U D . 427 
 
 pation, and urged him to pursue it ^vit^l increased 
 assiduity. 
 
 But there is a species of professional disgust, (I know 
 not what else to term it,) Avliich sometimes seizes upon 
 men of the strongest mind and most vigorous intellect, 
 and throws, by its paralyzing intlucnce, a pervading spell 
 over the whole of their future life. Our admiivd cuuu- 
 tryman, the late Charles Brockden Bro\m, was an inter- 
 esting instance of this singular malady. Few men, per- 
 haps, have had a fairer opportunity of rising to envialjlc 
 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 
 time the race was promising. But ere the goal was foirly 
 out of view, this malum mcujni 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 vices) 
 which occasioned the greatest emolument to the profess i(jn 
 of medicine ;" 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 difficult to account. He gives no reason for it liimself 
 in the memorandum to which we have referred, excepting 
 
428 Thomson'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. He 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 awaj^, — and his wash was 
 never accomplished. The first person wdth 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 ro3^al 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 suffer a similar discomfiture, but not with the person or in the 
 manner generally reported. 
 
OF ROr, EKT PROUD. 429 
 
 Greenleaf,^= at whose house, however, lie remained but a 
 few months. He changed the phice of liis abode fre- 
 quentlj^ during the first twenty years of liis residence in 
 Phikidelphia and its neighborhood. During that time, lie 
 resided, at three different intervals, with his worthy 
 friend, Anthonj^ Benezet; 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 Avere accustomed to resort 
 to his humble dwelling.-j* Finally, however, in the 
 autumn of 1779, he went to reside with Samuel Clark, 
 ill 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 life 
 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 jears 
 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 may be as well to ol)scrvc, 
 that he staid previously, for a day or two, at the house of his friend, 
 Mordecai Yarnall, who was the companion of his voyap:o. 
 
 •f Proud used to compare Benezet's house to a ship's cabin, it 
 being below the level of the ground, with descending stops to the 
 door. This antiquated building stood in Chestnut Street Ix'low 
 Fourth, nearly opposite our present Post-office, and was removed, la 
 the year 1818, to make room for a more modern edifice. A sketch 
 of it has been preserved by Roberts Yau.x, Esq. 
 
430 Thomson's notices 
 
 which was appropriated to instruction in the classics ; 
 and in this school, about the year 1761, Proud took his 
 station as teacher of the Greek and Latin languages. He 
 continued in this situation until the commencement of 
 the Revolutionary War, when he rehnquished 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 royahst : 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 his adoption; and, 
 although his ideas of prudence induced much taciturnity 
 on the subject, yet he has occasionally expressed himself 
 in rather unkindly terms towards this country, 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, Avhich every 
 true patriot should feel for his native land, — that so long 
 as the colonies remained under the government of the 
 
OF ROBERT PROUD. 431 
 
 mother country, lie 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 aflections. 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, 
 EngUshman 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 nati\ity to the land of his 
 adoption, and in that trjing 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 little singular, that, under this full tide of 
 political excitement against the colonies, the subject of 
 our notice should have projected and, in a few jears, 
 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 comi)etitor. 
 It is exactly that stately old-flishioned 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 Greek, and had also a considerable knowledge 
 of French and Hebrew. With the Latin he was so 
 familiar, 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 TROUD. 488 
 
 and lie 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 Avith much satisfaction of Proud's 
 conduct towards him on leaving school. He entered with 
 perfect freedom into familiar 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 puliUcation. It had been principally written for some 
 time, but the circumstances of the revolution prevented 
 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 dignifate. 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, Ijut 
 
 28 
 
434 Thomson's notices 
 
 employed most of his 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 uniformity, 
 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." 
 
 Kobert Proud was in person tall, his nose was of the 
 Roman order, and " overhung with most impending brows." 
 I remember having 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 imagination. I beheve Proud 
 
OF ROBERT PROUD. 435 
 
 was one of the last of tlio old school — I iiuaii tliosc 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. 
 
 Eequiescat in pace ! No proud mausoleum lifts its 
 head to celebrate his praises ; his nameless grave owns nc» 
 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 sanctifv 
 the memory of Domine Proud.* 
 
 * Some Poems by Robert Proud may be found in the Appendix, 
 Note IV. — Edit OB. 
 
ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 WILLIAM PENN. 
 
 (437) 
 
■f-'u 
 
 .& 
 
 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 foimd among the papers of the late estimable 
 Doctar 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 tbis freedom 
 than be wanting of gratitude to my benefactor, I dcter- 
 
 (439) 
 
440 ORIGINAL LETTERS . 
 
 mined to render my most humble thanks 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 na\agable river, the least as broad as the 
 Thames at Woolw3'ch, the other above a milej 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 
 eaxafrax, Cyprus, cedar, black walnut, chestnut, oak black, 
 white, red, Spanish and swamp the most durable ; divers 
 wild fruits, as plum, peach, and grape, the sorts divers. 
 
OF -W I L L I A M r E N N . 441 
 
 Mineral of copper and iron in divers places. T 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 eroAvn, and so iinpro\ ing and hopclul 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 king's service ; and we think we may reasonaljly 
 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 oflerings 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 aflectionate 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, thankfull friend, 
 and servant to my power, 
 
 \VM. PENN. 
 
 Philadelphia, the 24th, 5th mo., July, ICSS. 
 
 To THE Lord Keeper North. 
 
442 ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 2. To THE Earl of Eochester. 
 
 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 o^vn kind. This, my noble Lord, is much of my 
 case and this trouble ; and to whom can I goe with 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 j the lower parts of this river and bay 
 haveiug never been askt for of the Dutch for six and 
 twenty years, much less reduced; if a title [V] by neglect 
 in an improv'd comitry, 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 River to the falls, was never 
 demanded of the Swedes nor Dutch neither, since they 
 reduced it ; which is now about thirty years from when 
 the crowm of England took it in the 1GG4 as I take 
 it; and has been since held jure belh ac pacis. This is 
 not all ; he never run his line, these fifty 3- cars 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 agamst 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 dotli 
 not want it; he hath two hundred miles (for two degrees) 
 upon both sides of the bravest bay in the world, Chesea- 
 
444 ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 peack, while I have 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 mil 
 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 sujQfer 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. 446 
 
 fatal a stroake to come upon my honest interest, nay, his 
 own (and that of no small moment to Ne\s' York, for it 
 is the garrison's grainery), as to let that Lord go awiiy 
 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 wilHng 
 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 gfve 
 the king of the quaker's unftictious 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 nmch 
 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. 
 
446 ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 If I may pray, please to give my most humble duty to 
 the King and Duke. 
 
 For the Earle of Eochester. 
 
 3. To the Marquis of Hallifax. 
 
 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 obheged 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 suppose we may be 500 farmers 
 strong. I settle them in \dllages, dividing five thousand 
 acres among ten, fifteen, or twenty families, as their 
 ability 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 r E x\ N. 447 
 
 an incredible number of vines, tliat tho' savage and so not 
 so excellent, beside that much wood and shade sower 
 them, they yield a pleasant grape, and I liave drunk a 
 good clarett, though small and greenish, of Capt. Kappe's 
 vintage of the savage grape. The only interruption I 
 meet with is from the unkindness of my neighl)our 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, l3ut as impatient of 
 the decision of our joynt soveraign, would anticijDate that 
 by indirect waies of his own, who to say true, by tlie 
 course of his affaires, yields him as little regard as ever 
 he can ; he taketh himself to 1)0 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 ; liowever, 
 soveraignty was reserved I was sure, and, if the king w;is 
 not appealable from Maryland, he was not soveraign of 
 
448 ORIGINAL LETTERS 
 
 Maryland, but the lord Baltimore. This softeud [him ?] 
 
 a httle 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 ha\ang 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 unquestion'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 with 
 
 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 saharies 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 rememberd and recommended to the king by my 
 noble friend, the marquis of Hallifax. I am not to be 
 blamed for this liberty, when it shall be consider'd how 
 great a place his witt, honour, and abihties 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 evill 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 affect, cordial 
 friend to serve thee, 
 
 Philadelphia, the %th of the 12</i month, 1683. 
 To THE Marquis of Hallifax. 
 
 29 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF 
 
 SIU WILLIAM KEITH, 
 
 THE FORMER GOVERNORS 
 
 THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLYAJNTA. 
 
 A MEMBER OP THE BIOGRAPHICAL COMMITTEE. 
 
 (451 
 
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 or 
 
 SIU WILLIAM KEITH 
 
 At this distance of time little infomiation can be had 
 in respect to a man who died upAvards of seventy years 
 ago, and has left no descendants or connexions in the 
 country. 
 
 While he lived, he was an active and important 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 birtli or of 
 his extraction. He certainly was a man of education, 
 and, perhaps, from some circumstances, we miglit ho 
 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 aflfections 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; uhicli the l;itt«.r 
 accepted, although at the same time in a .studied and 
 ambiguous message to the Assemljly he intimated some 
 doubts — and he must have felt dissatisfaction at the 
 widow's having transmitted the cojiy 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 approved of his vigil- 
 ance in respect to some Indians; they assented to liis 
 establishing a Court of Chancery, in which he presided ; 
 and the oaly dissatisfaction that his public conduct for a 
 long time excited, seems to have been his preR'rence 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 ProuiTs 
 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, ])ut be considered as an 
 act of rehgious Uberty. Why he, who had beft)re tliat 
 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 Iiave shown his 
 disregard of a religious pecuharity to which the Friends 
 were well known to be sincerely attached, it is diHicult to 
 conceive. It must for a time have- diniinisln-d that popu- 
 larity which with so much pains he had ahvadj" ac(|uiivd ; 
 
456 A BIOGRAPHICAL 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 Historical 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 Buries 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 hnens 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 Slli WILLIAM KEITH. 407 
 
 8ome schemes for consolidating tlic Provincial Covoni- 
 ments, and enlarging and systeniati/ing the power of the 
 Crown; one of which is (probahly witli a view to an 
 appointment in his own favor), tliat judges shall he sent 
 out from England witli a jurisdiction over the whole 
 country, and to be independent of the Provincial Legis- 
 latures. 
 
 This advice, although well calculated to increase and 
 prolong the royal authorit}-, was not attendeil to, or 
 perhaps was found impracticahle. 
 
 Disappointed in this quarter, he made an effort to su^)- 
 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 tliis 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, w itli an 
 old female attendant as companion, refusing all connnuni- 
 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- 
 alities ^vhich sometimes occur, even in populous cities 
 where help is most at hand. In the year 178G, itwas 
 ! consumed by fire, and four persons perished in the 
 
 •flames. 
 j Sir William Keith seems to have been a selfish and an 
 
 artful man, whose true character was perhaps not known 
 
458 A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH, ETC. 
 
 to William Penn at the time of his being appointed. His 
 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 Hfe 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 WilUam 
 Keith was not the least querulous and unhaj^py. 
 
NOTES. 459 
 
 SIR wiLLTA^r Kr.TTiT. PR. nr.T.^rr:. axt> mt^s. ferousson. 
 
 Sir William Keith, whose gruiulfather was created a haroiiet of 
 Nova Seotia in lOdo, " was of the family of rowhiirn in the north of 
 Scotland," and came to America in May, 1T17, with his wife Ann, 
 who, at the time of her marriaire, was the widow of Kohert I>iffK8. 
 By this marriage Sir William had no issue, although by a former ho 
 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 1740, and Ilobert, 
 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. Grajme-, known as " Gra-me 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 descrijition will convey 
 an idea of its character: " The ancient house is still standing CI 85.^) 
 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 wainsootted 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 
 wall of the house the remains of an ivy arc 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 
 
460 NOTES. 
 
 north of the Mohawk Eiver." Grteme Park is perhaps the onlv 
 exception to this statement, and was built a number of years previous 
 to Johnson Hall. 
 
 Sir William, after many vicissitudes, died on the 18th of November, 
 1T49, in the Old Bailey, London (Gentleman's Magazine, lt49, p. 
 524), and Lady Keith July 31, 1140, aged sixty-five, and was buried 
 in Christ Church-yard, Second street. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Graeme, who came to America with Keith, " was born 
 at the family seat at Balgowan, in Perthshire, Scotland, October 20, 
 1688," and was married in Christ Church, Philadelphia, November 
 12, 1T19, 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. Grasme was a person "of excellent education and agi'eeable 
 manners," and, in the words of Dr. Rush, " for nearly half a century 
 maintained the front rank in his profession." In 1126 he was 
 appointed by his wife's stepfather, Governor Keith, a member of the 
 Council; on the 8th of April, 1131, a Judge of the Supreme Court 
 of the province, a position which he retained until 1150; from 1151 
 to 1153 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, 1112, he sud- 
 denly died, aged eighty-four years. 
 
 Dr. Graeme had eleven children, the most celebrated of whom was 
 Elizabeth, born February 3, 1139, and who, April 21, 1112, 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 Graeme 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 mnrriod life with h< r husband. The literary 
 abilities of Mrs. Ferf]^u.s.son were considerable. She also wrote very 
 graceful poetry. Possessing an excellent mind, cultivated l)y careful 
 and extensive reading and study, also very ren)arkal)le powers of 
 conversation, with much amiability of character, Mrs. Fergusson wa.s 
 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 Grneme Park. 
 
 Mrs. Fergusson died without issue 23d of February, 1801, aged 
 sixty-two years. 
 
 Jane Gramme, 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 1771 of the Medical Department 
 of the College of Philadelphia. The late Samuel F. Smith, for sumo 
 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 OF THE AMERTC.\N VOLUNTEERS WHO 
 FELL IN THE ENGAGEMENT AT LEXINGTON ON THE 19tH OF APRIL, 
 
 1775. 
 
 Let joy be dumb, let mirth's pny carol cease, 
 See plaintive sorrow come bcdcw'd with tears; 
 
 With mournful steps retires the cherub peace, 
 And horrid war witii 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 youihs 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 rage. 
 
 And dyes with Brilith blood the Briluh spear. 
 
462 NOTES. 
 
 Where'er the barb'rous story shall be told, 
 
 The British cheek shall glow with conscious flame. 
 
 This deed in bloody characters enroll'd, 
 Shall stain the lustre of their former 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. 
 
 Tour 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 
 How 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 unnuinber'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." 
 
 SALVIA. 
 
 PniLADELrHiA, 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 Graeme 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 l)e found in 
 a "Narrative" written in 1*12(5, 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. 
 
MEMBERS OE THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 NEWLY ELECTED. 
 
 CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS. 
 
 George Fox, Jacob R. Smith, 
 
 Bicliard Penn Smith,* Paul Beck, Jr.,* 
 
 Richard C. Wood,* Levett Harris,* 
 
 Dr. George B. Wood, James C. Fisher,* 
 
 Turner Camac,* Thomas Hughes. 
 
 CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. 
 
 John N. Conyngham, Luzerne County. 
 Joseph W. Rowland, Montgomery County.^ 
 Frederick Smith, Berhs County.^ 
 Charles B. Penrose, Cumberland County.^ 
 Isaac A. Chapman, Luzerne County.^' 
 Thomas Wistar, Jr., Montyomery County.'^' 
 George Taylor, PottsviUe, Pd.* 
 James Cox, Bucks County:-' 
 Samuel Wagner, YorJc Comity.^' 
 William H. Dillingham, Chester County.^ 
 Alexander Thompson, Bedford County.'^ 
 
 30 ( 465 ) 
 
466 MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY, ETC. 
 
 HONORARY MEMBERS. 
 
 General La Fayette, La Grange {France):^ 
 The Marquis de M'arbois, France.^ 
 Chevalier Botta, Italy* 
 Charles Smith, Baltimore.* 
 Charles Wilkes, New Yorh* 
 The Rev. Jedediah Morse, New Haven. {Conn.)* 
 Daniel Lyman, Providence [Rlwde Island).* 
 Richard Stockton, Princeton [Neio Jersey).* 
 Thomas Hors field, M.D., London.* 
 
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 an 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 Office 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 By berry," 2d vol. of Memoirs of the Historical 
 Society of Pennsylvania. 
 
 John Barbee (1) and Elizabeth (2) his wife, eldest daughter of 
 John Songhurst, of Shijjley, county of Sussex, England (See his will, 
 made on board " Welcome," f 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. Book, A, p. 27, Philadelphia.) 
 
 (407) 
 
468 APPENDIX. 
 
 William Bradford (3) (See Dixon's Life of Penn, p. 208), of 
 Leicester, England, the earliest printer of the province. Engaging 
 zealously in the Keithean controversy, " he took the side of the 
 minority, and becoming unpopular on that account, in 1693 removed 
 to New York, where, on 16th October, 1125, he established the 
 * New York Gazette,' the first newspaper published in that city, and 
 after an active and useful life, died in 1152, aged eighty-nine." (2 
 Thomas' Hist. Printing, pp. 1, 286, and Mr. Wharton's Notes on the 
 Provincial Literature of Pennsylvania. Mem. of Hist. Society.) 
 [Since the compilation of this list some doubt has been expressed as 
 to his having sailed with Penn. We are induced to agree with Mr. 
 Wallace ill his address, already noticed, and are still unchanged in 
 opinion, from the facts presented, that Bradford came with Penn.] 
 
 William Buckman, (4) Mary, (5) his wife, and children, Sarah (6) 
 and Mary, (7) of the parish of Billinghurst, Sussex. (Registry of 
 Arrivals.) 
 
 John Carver (8) and Mary (9) his wife, of Hertfordshire (see 
 Comly's History of Byberry, in 2d vol. of Memoirs of Historical 
 Society, p. 181), suffered in 1681 in the persecution of the Quakers in 
 England (1 Besse, p. 196); a first purchaser; died in 1114. 
 
 Benjamin Chambers (10) (mentioned in its probate as having 
 with John Songhurst written the will of William Wade), of Roches- 
 ter, Kent (see " Friends' certificates from England," recorded at Phila- 
 delphia*), was sheriff, in 1683, of the city and county of Philadel- 
 phia, and his name frequently appears as a participant in public affairs. 
 (1 Col. Records, pp. 30, 51, 301, &c.) 
 
 Thomas Croasdale, (11) and "Agnes (12) his wife, and six 
 children," (13-18) of Yorkshire. (Certificate, dated 4 month, June, 
 1682, of Settle Monthly Meeting, Yorkshire; Comly's Byberry, 2 
 Memoirs Historical Society, p. 182, in note.) On the authority of 
 Mr. Robert Wain, Mr. Comly states that those whose names were 
 embraced in that certificate came in the "Welcome.". 
 
 Ellen Cowgill (19) and "family." (Certificate from Settle 
 Monthly Meeting.) 
 
 John Fisher, (20) Margaret (21) his wife, and son John. (22) 
 (On authority of papers in possession of Mr. Thomas Gilpin, of 
 Philadelphia.) 
 
 Thomas Fitzwater (23) and sons, Thomas (24) and George, (25) 
 of Hamworth, Middlesex. His wife Mary, (26) and children, Josiah 
 
 * We are indebted for a copy of these to Mr. James S. Lippincott. 
 
■ ■ APPENDIX. - 469 
 
 (27) and Maiy, (28) died on the passage. (See Registry of Arrivals.) 
 Settled in county of Bucks, and was a member of Assembly from that 
 count}' in 1683; active in public life, a valuable citizen, and eminent 
 member in his society. Died Gth October, 1699. (1 Proud, p. 422.) 
 
 Thomas Gillett. (29) (Witness to will of John Barber.) 
 
 Bartholomew Green. (30) (Registry of Arrivals, Hist. Soc.) 
 
 N.VTHANiEL Harrison. (31) (Idem.) 
 
 CuTHBERT IIayhurst, (32) " his wife (33) and family." (Certifi- 
 cate from Settle Meeting.) SufFevcd in 1661 and 1668 on account of 
 his religious principles. (1 Besse, 571 ; 2 do. 102.) A first purchaser. 
 Born at Easington, in Bolland, Yorkshire ; died in Bucks, 5th March, 
 1682-3, aged fifty. (Collection of Memorials, p. 1.) 
 
 Thomas Heriott, (34) of Ilurst-Pier-Point, Sussex. (See Nun- 
 cupative will declared on board "Welcome," 19th September, 1682, 
 Book A, p. 4.) Suffered in England on account of his religious prin- 
 ciples. (1 Besse, 721.) A first purchaser. 
 
 John Hey. (35) (Registry of Arrivals.) 
 
 Richard Ingelo. (36) (Witness to the will of Isaac Ingram.) Was 
 clerk of Prov. Council in 1685. (1 Col. Rec. 81.) 
 
 Isaac Ingram, (37) of Gatton, Surry. (See will made 26th Sep- 
 tember, 1682, on board "Welcome," Book A, p. 11.) Suffered on 
 account of his religious principles. (1 Besse, 699.) 
 
 Thomas Jones. (38) (Registry of Arrivals, Hist. Soc.) 
 
 Giles Knight, (39) Mary (40) his wife, and son Joseph, (41) of 
 Gloucestershire. Settled in Bucks, and died November, 1726, in his 
 sevent3^-fourth year, and his wife in 1732, in her seventy-seventh 
 year. (Comly's Byberry, 179.) 
 
 William Lushington. (42) (Witness to the will of William 
 Wade.) 
 
 Jeane Matthews. (43) (Registry of Arrivals, Hist. Soc.) 
 
 Hannah Mogdridge. (44) (Registry of Arrivals.) 
 
 Joshua Morris. (45) (Witness to will of Thomas Heriott.) 
 
 David Ogden. (46) (Witness to will of Thomas Heriott.) Pro- 
 bably from London. (See Records of Friends' certificates.) 
 
 Evan Oliver, (47) with Jean (48) his wife, and children, David, 
 (49) Elizabeth, (50) John, (51) Hannah, (52) Mary, (53) Evan, (54) 
 and Seaborn, (55) of Radnorshire, Whales. The last, " a daughter 
 born at sea, October 24, 1682, almost within sight of the capes of 
 Delaware." (MS. Record in possession of Mr. Merrit Canby.) 
 
 Pearson. (56) Stated by Clarkson, vol. i. p. 259, to have 
 
 accompanied Penn, and that name of Upland was changed at his 
 
470 APPENDIX. 
 
 request to that of Chester, from which city he came. We have not 
 ascertained his first name, thoup^h we find a Thomas Pearson returned 
 as a member of Assembly from county of New Castle, 16th October, 
 1700. (1 Col. Rec. 590.) But as this Thomas was probably the 
 same who had an interest in "West Jersey, and who was from 
 Bonwicke, Yorkshire (1 Proud, 14.3, in note), it was more likely 
 " Robert," of Cheshire, a Friend, and mentioned in 1 Besse, 105. 
 An Edward Peirson resided at Darby, and previously to 1698 re- 
 moved to Bucks. 
 
 Dennis Rochford, (5Y) of Emstorfey, county of Wexford, Ireland, 
 and wife Mary, (58) daughter of John Heriott, of Hurst-Pier-Point; 
 daughters Grace (59) and Mary (60) died at sea. (Registry of Arrivals, 
 Hist. Soc.) 
 
 John Rowland (61) and Priscilla (62) his wife, of Billinghurst, 
 Sussex. (Registry of Arrivals.) A first purchaser. 
 
 TnoMAS Rowland, (63) also of Billinghurst, Sussex. (Registry 
 of Arrivals.) A first purchaser; died November, 1Y08. 
 
 John Sharples, (64) of Ratherton, county Chester, Jane (65) his 
 wife, and children, Phebe, (66) John, (67) James, (68) Caleb, (69) 
 Jane, (70) and Joseph ; (71) Thomas (72) died at sea. Papers in pos- 
 session of Mr. Benjamin Ferris, of Wilmington. A first purchaser; 
 settled near Chester. 
 
 William Smith. (73) (Registry of Arrivals, Hist. Soc.) 
 
 John Songhurst (74) (see probate to will of William Wade), from 
 Ghillington, Sussex (see list of first purchasers), and Whiting says 
 of Coneyhurst, Sussex, but more likely of Hitchingfield, Sussex, and 
 who suffered for his religious views. (1 Besse, 715, 719.) A warm 
 friend of the Proprietary ; a member of first Assembly held at Phila- 
 delphia, and of subsequent Assemblies. (1 Votes, 7, 34, 46,) A 
 writer in defence of the Quakers, and eminent minister in his Society. 
 (Whiting's Catalogue, 160.) Died, 1688. (1 Proud, 237.) 
 
 John Stackhouse (75) and Margery (76) his wife, of Yorkshire. 
 (Certificate of Settle Meeting.) 
 
 George Thompson. (77) (Witness to wills of Heriott, Barber, 
 Ingram, and Wade.) 
 
 Richard Townsend, (78) wife Anne, (79) and son, James, (80) 
 " born on Welcome," in Delaware River. (Abingdon Records.) "A 
 person of an approved character." (1 Proud, 228.) Of London. 
 (List of first purchasers.) An eminent minister in his Society, and 
 died in May, 1737. (Collec. Mem. 102.) 
 
APPENDIX. 471 
 
 Hannah, (81) daughter of Richard Townsend. (Registry of 
 Arrivals, Hist. Soc.) 
 
 William Wade, (82) of parish of Hankton, Sussex. (See will 
 made 20th September, 1682, on "Welcome," A, p. 13.) 
 
 Thomas Walmesly, (83^ Elizabeth (84) his wife, and sons, Thomas 
 (85) and Henry, (86) a daughter, (St) and three other children, (88-90) 
 of YorJcshire. (Certificate of Settle Meeting.) Died, November, 1652, 
 aged forty. (Comly's Byberry, 182. J 
 
 Nicholas Waln, (91) wife, (92), and three children, (93-95) of 
 Yorkshire. (Certificate of Settle Meeting.) A member from Bucks 
 of first Assembly held at Philadelphia, and of subsequent Assemblies ; 
 prominent in early history of province ; a first purchaser ; died, August, 
 1744. 
 
 Joseph Woodroofe. (96) (Witness to will of John Barber.) 
 
 Thomas Wrightsworth (91) " and wife," (98) of Yorkshire. (Cer- 
 tificate from Settle Meeting.) 
 
 Thomas Wynne, (99) " Chirurgeon," of Caerwys, Flintshire, North 
 Wales. (Witness to will of Thomas Heriott.) Speaker of the first 
 two Assemblies held at Philadelphia; afterwards a member in 168*7 
 and 1688. A magistrate for county Sussex. Wrote several tracts 
 in defence of his Society (Whiting's Cat. 206), and was, says Proud 
 (vol. i. p. 23Y), "a person of note and character." Chestnut street, 
 in Philadelphia, was originally named after him. Died, March, 
 1691-2. 
 
 Note II. (Page 165.) 
 JAMES DUNLOP. 
 
 James Dunlop was born at Chambersburg, in this State, in the 
 year 1795, and was the son of Andrew Dunlop, a prominent member 
 of the bar of that place, a man of superior talents, and who had 
 married Sarah Bella Chambers, the daughter of James Chambers. 
 
 "About the year 1726 four brothers of Scottish descent, residents 
 of the county of Antrim, Ireland, allured by the bright prospects of 
 fortune in the New World, forsook the comforts of a pleasant home 
 and the familiar scenery of the picturesque Lough Neagh, and wended 
 their way to the distant province of Pennsylvania."* These brothers 
 
 * Chambersburg in the colony and the Revolution, by Lewis H. Garrard. Pub- 
 lished by the Historical Society, 185G. 
 
472 APPENDIX. 
 
 established themselves in the valley of the Conococheague, and Ben- 
 jamin became the founder of Chambersburg. James, the son of 
 Benjamin, by the first marriage of the latter, was the grandfather of 
 the subject of our notice, and a colonel at the battle of Brandywine. 
 
 Mr. Dunlop entered Dickinson College, and after his graduation, 
 in 1812, pursued the study of the law with his father, and was 
 admitted to the bar of Chambersburg. Judge Grier, of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, and to whom we are mainly indebted 
 for our facts, was his roommate and classmate, and the late Rev. 
 John Knox, D. D., of the Dutch Reformed Church in New York city, 
 and the late Calvin Blythe were fellow students. Mr. Dunlop at 
 college is represented to have been " a wit, with a vein of satire, yet 
 always amiable, and his standing as a scholar was on a level with 
 the best." 
 
 After his admission to the bar he practiced with success, but dis- 
 contented with the slow gains of a country practice, was induced to 
 favor schemes with a view to the more rapid accumulation of wealth. 
 Before the removal by Jackson of the deposits from the United States 
 Bank, he was an active adherent of the Democratic party, but after 
 that event he joined the opposition. Entering, and as it proved, 
 rather injudiciously, into the manufacture of edge tools, at a meet- 
 ing of protective tariff manufacturers in New York, he made a 
 speech, in which he styled himself a blacksmith, and excited much 
 astonishment that one of that calling should exhibit so much know- 
 ledge and ability. 
 
 Mr. Dunlop was elected to the State Senate, and was a member of 
 that body at the time he prepared his paper on the boundary question. 
 He was afterwards twice elected to the lower House. In 1838 a 
 member of the Convention to reform the Constitution of the State, 
 he distinguished himself for the learning and ability displayed in 
 debate. Removing to Pittsburg, he obtained a fair practice, and was 
 much dreaded by the junior members of the bar, who were unfamiliar 
 with the rules of pleading, for his wit and astuteness, but yet never 
 ventured to unjustly and unnecessarily wound. In 1855 he came to 
 Philadelphia to reside. 
 
 From an obituary in a Pittsburg journal of April 26, 1856, Mr. 
 Dunlop is described as " a lawyer who had but few superiors. A 
 close student and an able thinker, he soon raised himself to the first 
 position at the bar, and continued to hold it until called away from 
 the more active duties of his profession by other pursuits. He was 
 the compiler of the well-known Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania 
 
APPENDIX. 473 
 
 which bears his name, and also of a Digest of the Laws of the United 
 States." 
 
 When on a visit to his friend, Mr. Charles F. Mayer, of the Balti- 
 more bai", Mr. Dunlop was attacked by paralysis, and died in that 
 city on the 9th of April, 1850. 
 
 "We are not aware that any specimen of Mr. Punlop's peculiar 
 humor exists, except that which may be found in a pamphlet bearing 
 the curious title of " Forensic Tour in the United States, by the Hon. 
 John Philip Refalo, Sergeant at Law, of Grey's Inn, London. In a 
 series of letters to his friend in Liverpool." The series is one letter 
 of sixteen pages — where, in a vein of humorous exaggeration, he 
 attempts to hit off some of the personal peculiarities of the members 
 of the Supreme Bench of that day, and which we believe have entirely 
 disappeared in the more modern and decorous manners of their 
 learned successors. He particularly " lampoons a celebrated and 
 eccentric opinion of the late Chief Justice Gibson." 
 
 " On entering the court-house, I was surprised to find the judges 
 sitting in their ordinary dress, and consequently wanting in that 
 grave taciturnity which is thrown around an English bench by the 
 judicial costume. I soon discovered that they were, upon the whole, 
 an odd set of fish, each one being distinguished by some peculiar 
 singularity. 
 
 " One of them was couched as low as he could get on his chair, and 
 had his legs twisted around each other several times like a couple of 
 Demerara grape vines or the strands of a rope, and was picking his 
 teeth with his pen ; another had thrown his feet over the bench, and 
 was leaning back and gouging the kernels out of what they call shell- 
 barks ; pne of the others was cutting a stick and whistling Yankee 
 
 " But what struck me most particularly as a novelty was the 
 manner in which the bench or raised platform, on which their honors 
 were located, was arranged. Each judge was separated from his 
 fellow by a close partition of two inch plank, reaching above their 
 heads, and extending so near the front as merely to leave room to 
 pass. Upon inquiring of my friend, the counsellor, the meaning of 
 this strange subdivision like the stalls of a stable, he informed me it 
 was done in pursuance of a law of the legislature. He said that it 
 was found by the experience of late years, that whilst the judges 
 were allowed an unrestricted intercommunion of opinion, they in- 
 dulged their loquacity to such a degree on the bench that little or no 
 
474 APPENDIX. 
 
 business could be transacted, and that, instead of listening to the 
 arguments of counsel, they generally discussed the cause themselves. 
 This propensity to judicial colloquium had grown so inveterate, that 
 whenever a cause was broached the court found themselves unable 
 to preserve their taciturnity ; the sight of a brief recalled their old 
 vocations, and stimulated their tongues somewhat in the way a bottle 
 operates upon the fancies of a drunkard, or a pack of cards upon a 
 gamester who had sworn off. There seeming to be no other cure 
 for it, the bar had unanimously petitioned the Legislature to restrain 
 the judges from the discussion of causes on the bench, and a law was 
 accordingly passed, requiring the sheriffs of the several counties to 
 divide the bench into stalls, separated by close partitions of two inch 
 plank, and so constructed as to prevent entirely the intimation of 
 opinion to each other. The judges kicked very much at the law at 
 first, and refused to go into the stalls, alleging that it was an uncon- 
 stitutional interference on the part of the Legislature with the 
 judiciary, but it not being a clear case, they finally submitted. And 
 to be up with the bar for their interference, they ordered little curtains 
 to be hung in front of their compartments, and if they find a lawyer 
 talking nonsense, which is not unusual, or wide of the point, or out 
 of the record, they draw their little screens before them and retire 
 from the debate. For they had laid it down, after solemn argument 
 amongst themselves, that no one but a judge had a right to travel out 
 of the record. Whenever an advocate, therefore, finds all the curtains 
 across the judicial divisions, and the countenances of their honors 
 consequently withdrawn, he takes it for granted that they are dead 
 against him, or that he is sailing away from his cause, and that he 
 must alter his course or proceed without an audience. The judges, 
 in extenuation of this seeming want of decorum, insist that, though 
 the advocate may have a right to argue his cause, they can hear as 
 well behind their curtains as if they were drawn aside, and that, if 
 they are bound to listen to the speech, there is no constitutional in- 
 junction on them to look at the speaker. The counsellor, however, 
 further added, that the stall regulation, as it was called, had not 
 answered the purpose, and that a new petition was in circulation, 
 praying the Legislature to remove the partitions entirely, it having 
 been found, by experience, that the evil w^as rather aggTavated than 
 lessened by the experiment. For the judges, not being able to talk 
 to each other, made up for the restraint by taking it out with the 
 bar; and it sometimes happened that every one of them would be 
 asking questions, suggesting doubts, and putting cases to the advo- 
 
APPENDIX. 475 
 
 catc at once ; and the poor lawyer arguing the cause often felt like 
 Dr. Last in the play, subjected to more perplexing queries than he 
 could manage to answer. 
 
 " Shortly after we had entered the court room, the judges wero 
 handed little manuscripts, which the Bay counsellor kindly informed 
 me were what the lawyers call paper books ; an appellation which, 
 he remarked, not seeming to understand its origin, he thought curious 
 enough, seeing that all books are made of paper. 
 
 " One of the laAvyers had just risen to open his cause, but as soon as 
 he got fairly on his feet, the judges, to a man, instantly abandoned 
 their paper books, and began to pour in their questions on him. One 
 of them asked him the name of the defendant, another the name of 
 the plaintiff, a third the cause of action, a fourth, who were the bail 
 in error, and a fifth, why he had not brought trover instead of re- 
 plevin. When the lawyer replied to the first query, and gave the 
 name of the defendant, the judge who had asked for the name of the 
 plaintiff, thinking that the answer was directed to him, said that there 
 must be some mistake, for on his paper book the name given him was 
 that of the defendant. The lawyer, however, set him right by in- 
 forming him that his reply was directed to his honor in the adjoining 
 stall. When he began, in answer to the judge who wished to know 
 why he had preferred trover to replevin, to state his reasons for 
 adopting the former action, they all cried out, uno flatu, for him to 
 proceed with his argument, and not waste the time of the court with 
 matters de hors the record. The lawyer looked flat, begged pardon, 
 and alleging in excuse, that he had been asked the c^uestion by one 
 of their honors, began to state the first point of his argument. But 
 he had scarcely got fairly under way, until one of the judges told 
 him he need not argue that point, because he was against him ; and 
 he added, that there was no use in any one trying to beat him out 
 of an opinion he had taken up of his own accord ; that he had too 
 good an opinion of his own judgment to change his views upon any 
 subject excepting politics. The lawyer begged leave very respect- 
 fully to remind his honor, that perhaps the rest of the bench might 
 take a different view of the matter. Then, sir, replied he, there will 
 be the less reason for urging your point, because they will in that 
 case be in yoiir favor. At the same time, another judge, inspired by 
 the dilemma, cried out quacunque via data, he was wasting his 
 breath, when he might want it to cool his mush. The lawyer looked 
 posed, but recovered himself pretty well, on one of the judges burst- 
 ing out Avith the maxim, nullum mcdicamentum est idem omnibus ; 
 
476 APPENDIX. 
 
 that the law was always changing, as any one might sec b}^ reading 
 Sergeant and Rawle's Reports; that they could not be always de- 
 ciding at one session the same way they did at another, and con- 
 cluded by saying, that perhaps the counsel might as well go on, as 
 they could listen to him or not, just as they pleased. But as this 
 proposition did not seem to be heartily concurred in by the majority 
 of their honors, the lawj'er forthwith left his cause altogether to 
 follow up the suggestion of the judge, and began to clear away the 
 ground by arguing that they ought to hear him, first, because those 
 judges who seemed so decidedly favorable during the discussion of 
 the cause would probably give their opinions against him when they 
 came to decide ; and he cited many cases from the Pennsylvania 
 Reports to maintain his assertion, and moreover appealed to several 
 old gray headed shreds of the garment of Lord Coke who were sitting 
 at the counsel table, who affirmed that it was the uniform practice. 
 Secondly, that the judge who was now against him might also 
 change his mind, for that in the case of Whacum v. Whacum, in the 
 220th volume of the notes to the Digest of the Statutes, the point 
 had been decided directly the reverse of his first impression. The 
 judge to this insinuation replied, that he did not care whether it had 
 been decided one way or the other; that he was what he called one 
 of your quator pedibus judges. He did not mean to have it under- 
 stood thereby that he was as obstinate as a mule, but that in his 
 view of the doctrine of quator pedibus, a case could only be said to 
 run upon all fours when it had three others to support it, and that, 
 consequently, he looked upon one decision in favor of any particular 
 point as of no sort of consequence. 
 
 " The lawyer, however, was pertinaciously proceeding to show the 
 similarity of the cases, and that the court had in the one just cited 
 expressed themselves directly the reverse of the opinion now thrown 
 out ; but one of the judges stopped him and said, that though tuta 
 via was tutissima, the viaticum was not always explicit, and that ex 
 consequent! they sometimes missed their way. He proceeded to say, 
 that if they did wabble about a little, it was not owing to design ; 
 that it was impossible to be always deciding ad unguem ; that there 
 was a heap of law, and that it was now tangled up in this State, 
 at least, pretty much like a mountain colt's tail full of Spanish 
 needles. 
 
 " The lawyer by this time found it necessary to refer to his brief 
 to find out whereabouts he was exactly in his argument. And by 
 the time he was ready to proceed again, he found the judges were 
 
APPENDIX. 477 
 
 all engaged in a manner that indicated a decided hostility to a patient 
 attention to his discourse ; one was reading a new novel ; another 
 was writing an opinion in the last cause which had been argued ; a 
 third leaned back on his chair and was nodding asleep ; a fourth was 
 by turns drawing pictures and working with a musical seal ; and the 
 fifth called to the crier to bring him some hot water and his razors, 
 and he would shave himself. The lawyer by this time was foaming 
 with vexation and anger; he said this kind of conduct was insuffer- 
 able, and asseverated that he'll be damned if he would not speak in 
 spite of their teeth, and swore that the constitution guaranteed to 
 his client the right to be heard ; that he would insist upon his privi- 
 leges, and that his client should not be bamboozled at any such rate. 
 No sort of regard appeai'ed to be paid to this tirade, except that the 
 judge who was shaving himself laid down the brush with which he 
 had just lathered his face, and pulling off his gold .spectacles, told 
 him with the most provoking mildness that nobody was hindering 
 him from speaking, that he could perceive. The judge who had 
 quoted the cjuacunque via data maxim said, that if the counsel had a 
 right to talk just as he pleased, the judges had the concurrent privi- 
 lege of listening to just as much of it as they liked. The judge who 
 was diverting himself with the musical seal remarked very seriously, 
 that he did not understand such language to the court, and that he 
 would like to know if the gentleman w^ould explain himself, and 
 inform the bench distinctly to which constitution he alluded, as it 
 made a deal of difference with him. He did not hold himself 
 bound, he said, to support the ^tate constitution with anything but 
 a club. He proceeded to sa}^ that there was a great difference in 
 constitutions, as any doctor could tell you; that though he admitted 
 that every judge was sworn to support the constitution of Pennsyl- 
 vania, as well as that of the United States, he thought it was not 
 intended that they should both be supported in the same manner ; 
 that as it was not specified in what way the support was to be ex- 
 tended, every judge, of course, had a right to choose his own course; 
 that, for his part, he was very clear that the constitution of the 
 United States was to be upheld by a judge in his official character, 
 but that the State constitution was to be sustained by an ojoen 
 rebellion, and a declaration of ivar against the statute. He said he 
 might be thought singular in this opinion, but he did not care if all 
 the judges, statesmen, and civilians of the country thought differ- 
 ently ; he was determined to keep, as an Irishman might say, in a 
 gang by himself. He then proceeded to say, that according to his 
 
478 APPENDIX. 
 
 views of " disfribufive justice, ^^ as applicable to this particular, when 
 a judge met with an Act of the Legislature infringing upon the con- 
 stitutional rights of the citizen, he should first carefully inquire if it 
 infringed the provisions of the constitution of the United States, and 
 if it did so clearly as to admit of no debate, he was bound to pro- 
 nounce against the law ; but, on the other hand, if the enactment 
 contravened only the injunction of the State constitutions, he should 
 delay his opinion ; not, as he wished distinctly to be understood, to 
 abate the matter altogether, but rather to put in a sort of sine die 
 plea, until the constitutionality of the Act could be settled by the 
 sword. He compared the duty of a judge, in such a case, to that of 
 the court under the English law, when an infant is sued concerning 
 lands which come to him by descent, and age is granted on parol 
 demurrer, and judgment is given quod loquiter remaneat quosque the 
 infant comes of age ; that in case he were confronted by a question 
 of State constitutionality, he would grant the demurrer, and enter 
 judgment quod loquiter remaneat quosque, the people should arrange 
 themselves into two parties, one to be called the statutory party, and 
 the other the anti-statutory party ; and then quosque further until 
 the two parties should fight it out and settle the point by military 
 conflict; that as soon as the constitution demurred, and the plea of 
 sine die quosque bellum should be entered, he would adjourn the 
 court instanter, and excite the people to get their rifles without delay. 
 This conceit, he said, was one of his own concoction, and he prided 
 himself no little on its originality. He thought its conception dis- 
 played a reach of imagination beyond the ordinary range of thought, 
 and, if generally adopted, would preserve a smooth and steady move- 
 ment in the wheels of government. One of the judges doubtingly 
 inquired with whom the fight was to be waged, when he had his 
 material in readiness. He replied, that he would have every man 
 who dared to question the unconstitutionality of the statute con- 
 victed by an independent court martial, and shot or shaved according 
 to the bitterness of their opinions. He was, moreover, of opinion, 
 that the judges should not themselves resist the law directly with 
 "pike and gun," but by means of remedial process; that each judge 
 should immediately on the entry of the plea of sine die and judgment 
 loquiter remaneat quosque bellum, ut supra, and the adjournment of 
 the court consequent thereon, procure their saddlebags full of writs 
 of habeas corpus, mandamus, homine replegiando, de sccuritate pacis, 
 ne unjuste vexus, moderata, misericordia, &c., and erect batteries 
 upon suitable positions, and by keeping up a heavy fire of wadding 
 
APPENDIX. 479 
 
 upon the enemy, effectually co-operate with the anti-statutory bel- 
 ligerents. But, he added, he sincerely hoped the Legislature would 
 appoint a mode of settling those cuifing contrarieties by a trial by 
 combat something like the old mode of decision by battle, by which 
 the judges should be empowered to select suitable persons to be 
 brought into the field before the justices of the court at the rising of 
 the sun, bare-headcsd and bare-legged from the knees downwards, and 
 bare in the arms to the elbows, armed with batons an ell long, and 
 four cornered targets, and take an oath before they engage that they 
 have neither ate, nor drunk, nor done anything else by which the 
 statute may be exalted, or the constitution of Pennsylvania depressed, 
 and proceed forthwith to discuss the question with their weapons 
 until the stars should appear. He thought that the State constitution 
 should, in no case, be permitted to counterplead the wager of battle ; 
 and that that of the United States, like the citizens of London, should 
 be privileged from trial by combat, and entitled to have its rights 
 decided by the judges in court. 
 
 " But, said one of the judges, suppose the statutory combatants hold 
 out till after starlight, or mayhap be victorious, what is to be done 
 then, brother ? He said it would be time enough to give an opinion 
 on so important a point when the case occurred ; that he had no 
 desire to volunteer an opinion on constitutional questions any more 
 than other judges ; that such a question, as Horace expresses it, 
 " habet foenum in cornu," and that he felt in such cases the advice to 
 Tityrus in the Bucolics. 
 
 Tityre, et inter agendum 
 
 Occursare capro, cornu fecit ille, caveto. 
 
 "Another member of the bench suggested the difficulty of procuring 
 combatants to enter the lists upon a dry abstract constitutional ques- 
 tion, but his doubts were relieved by some one intimating, as amicus 
 curiae, the facility of engaging at any time a couple of members of 
 Congress to settle the dispute, if the court should be empowered to 
 change the weapons to rifles, dirks, muskets, cutlasses, boarding-pikes, 
 or pistols, as might best suit the combatants' corporeal power or 
 deficiency, and the acrimony of their personal grudge. 
 
 " The lawyer, who began to think he was making but poor progress 
 in the argument of his cause in listening to an ofScial discussion so 
 foreign to its merits, asserted his right to a share in the colloquy by 
 remarking, that he did not presume tantas componere lites, but 
 begged leave to suggest that, in his opinion, the shortest and safest 
 
480 APPENDIX. 
 
 way to support the constitution would be for the judges to settle the 
 question themselves, and if the people took so much interest in the 
 matter as to get at loggerheads amongst themselves, and fall to kill- 
 ing one another, like the army of Oreb and Zeeb, in the book of 
 Judges, it is probable they would take an equal interest in supporting 
 the decision ; that if there must be fighting about such questions, he 
 thought it had better take place after the decision had been made. 
 He inclined to the opinion, that the delivery of the decree of the 
 court would save the necessity of combat. And waxing wai'mer, like 
 Corporal Trim in his oration in the kitchen, he urged that he had too 
 good an opinion of the people of Pennsylvania, to suppose they would 
 sanction the Legislature in transgressions of the constitution, or that 
 they would not support the judiciary in resisting their vagaries; that 
 the people did not believe the Legislature had any more right to 
 infringe the constitution than a Female African Dorcas Society, or 
 any other of the n\ost diminutive and unassuming bits of corporations 
 in the country, and that any judge Avho should in a proper case 
 declare so would receive their decided approbation. He thought it 
 would be a sorry day for any legislative body, who, after outraging 
 the constitution of their country and their oaths, should sacrifice a 
 judge for the generous discharge of his duty in protecting the citizen 
 from illegal oppression. For his part, he did not believe there ever 
 would be congregated a legislative body so regardless of the rights 
 of the people, the sanctity of the constitution, and their own cha- 
 racters, as to entertain such views, much less to practice them. Here 
 one of the court remarked, that it was dangerous ground to tread 
 upon, but that he felt no diffidence in declaring, that if an Act of 
 Assembly should be so outrageous as to alter the style of legal pro- 
 cess, and forbid "the commonwealth of Pennsylvania" at the head 
 of a writ, or the phrase, " against the peace and dignity of the com- 
 monwealth of Pennsylvania" at the tail of an indictment, he would 
 hold the Act clearly repugnant to the 12th section of the 5th article, 
 and ergo void ; but if it merely took away one man's possessions and 
 gave them to another, or ordered a fellow to be hung under the 
 second article of war, without judge or jury, he would feel somewhat 
 in a dubitante predicament. It would then, he thought, rather pre- 
 sent one of your " pike and gun " cases, and justify an immediate 
 declaration of war. Declaration of war ! retorted the lawyer, who 
 now finding he had little chance of arguing his cause, and feeling the 
 awkwardness of standing with his hands in his pockets — d(>claration 
 of war against whom, sir? Why, against the Legislature, sir, 
 
ArrENDix. 481 
 
 rejoined the judge. But, sir, rebutted the advocate, suppose they 
 have adjourned and mingled with the mass of the people from whom 
 they have been but for a few months selected, or suppose several 
 years have elapsed since the law has been enacted, and there is not 
 a single member who voted for it in the body then in session — quoere 
 de hoc, said the orator, with the most triumphant assurance. And, 
 continued he, his boldness increasing with his progress, if the judiciary 
 will not assume some responsibility in asserting their own powers 
 and independence, they may rest assured that no one else will. 
 
 " This remark produced the expression of the most decided disap- 
 probation from the bench, and they all again, uno flatu, ordered him 
 to progress in the argument of the cause, and that they could not 
 waste the time due to the public in these excursive fancies. The 
 advocate having no desire, as the Bay lawyer expressed it, to 'quarrel 
 with his bread and butter,' began to hunt his brief for the place 
 where his argument had been broken off, but not finding it with 
 facility, and the time of dinner approaching, the judges ordered the 
 crier to adjourn the court till three o'clock. One of the gentlemen 
 asked the counsellor, as he was going out, if he intended to resume 
 the argument of his cause in the afternoon ; he replied he did not 
 know, but he intended to try." 
 
 Note III. (Page 36T.) 
 EDWARD BETTLE. 
 
 We are under obligations for the following notice of Edward Bettle 
 to one who knew and loved him well. 
 
 "Edward Bettle was born in 1803, and was the eldest son of the 
 late Samuel Bettle, merchant of this city. His father was an eminent 
 minister in the Society of Friends, of which Society Edward was a 
 pious and consistent member. His mother was remarkable for her 
 piety and excellence of character, and to the careful training received 
 at their hands is doubtless mainly due the fixed and virtuous principles 
 of their son, 
 
 "His early education was principally received in the classical and 
 
 mathematical schools established under the charter of William Penn, 
 
 and here were laid the foundation of those attainments for which he 
 
 was so remarkable. The ease with which he acquired knowledge 
 
 31 
 
482 APPENDIX. 
 
 was surprising, for the acquisition was a matter of no labor. Latin 
 was with him a spoken language, and he belonged to a Society for 
 conversation in that language, and where a fine was imposed for 
 every word spoken other than in that tongue. He was a Hebrew 
 as well as Greek scholar, and his reading of the New Testament, 
 which was devout and frequent, was almost confined to the original. 
 In the acquirement of modern languages he had great aptness. Well 
 versed in chemistry, in the sciences, and in general literature, his 
 conversation was most instructive from the scope, variety, and depth 
 of his attainments. He was a deep student of political economy, and 
 so profound and practical were his views that the late John Quincy 
 Adams requested several conferences with him on the subject of 
 political economy and the tariff, to which Mr. Bettle had given 
 laborious study. 
 
 " In the family and social circle, however, his mind and heart found 
 their fullest development. Guileless and open-hearted, it was there 
 that in the relations of son, brother, husband, friend, and citizen, he 
 displayed in due proportions that highest character, the Christian 
 gentleman. Whilst bold and candid in asserting his own views, such 
 was the suavity and kindness of his manner and of his heart that he 
 even won upon his opponents in argument, and if not convinced they 
 were not displeased. Without the slightest pedantry, affectation, or 
 self-esteem, he conversed with great ability, yet with an ease and 
 naturalness that exhibited a delightful unconsciousness of his own 
 gifts and powers, and spoke right out the result of his convictions, 
 but with real tenderness for the feelings of others. Such were his 
 powers of adaptation and sympathy, such the variety and exactness 
 of his knowledge, that those with whom he conversed deemed him a 
 special proficient in their own particular study or pursuit. 
 
 " The readiness with which he imbibed knowledge, the love of 
 truth for its own sake, have been spoken of, and his easy and uncon- 
 scious manner of imparting it reminds one of some lines used in 
 describing the character of the late Rev. Dr. J. Addison Alexander, 
 of Princeton, New Jersey. 
 
 ' His was a mind rich fraught with classic lore, 
 Not heap'd up idly like a miser's store, 
 But with an elegant profusion spent, 
 To make whateyer he utter'd excellent; 
 His learning govern'd by the gentlest laws. 
 You felt the eifect, but could not trace the cause; 
 As some fair strenm its course in silence takes, 
 Hid by the verdure that itself creates.' 
 
APPENDIX. 483 
 
 " He took a lively interest in the concerns of his own religious 
 Society, in the welfare of the aborigines, in the slave, in the cause 
 of education, having l)een one of the original promoters of Haverforcl 
 College ; various benevolent organizations also claimed his attention, 
 and he -was at one time Secretary of the Institution for the Deaf and 
 Dumb. 
 
 "He was married on the 1st of December, 1825, to Ann Eliza 
 Edwards — daughter of Griffith Edwards, for many years a merchant 
 in the city of Philadel})hia — 'who was a woman of rare mental 
 endowments and accomplishments. Her piety, tenderness, grace, and 
 thorough congeniality of tastes and dispositions beautified and adorned 
 their short-lived marriage connection. Early in May, 1821, soon after 
 the birth of their first and only child, a son, he was called to follow 
 his wife to the grave.' 
 
 " Towards the latter part of his life, his devotion to religion increased, 
 his mind seemed impressed with the conviction of impending change, 
 and he unceasingly engaged in the work of preparation, so that his 
 last sickness found him little to do. Once during the course of it he 
 was permitted to experience a deep trial of his faith. ' What,' said 
 he, 'if I, who have ahvays loved the society of good men, should 
 come short and be suffered to spend an eternity with evil spirits.' 
 But this cloud passed over, and he was able to exclaim, in the 
 triumphing love of Jesus : ' Xot for works of righteousness that we 
 have done, but according to His mercy He saveth us.' He died the 
 10th day of 10th month, 1832." 
 
 The following letter from the Rev. Charles W. Thomson, an early 
 and intimate friend of Mr. Bottle, was written in kind compliance 
 with a request to communicate the writer's recollections of the 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 "York, Ba., June 3, 1864. 
 "My Dear Sir: 
 
 " I returned only yesterday from my visit to Pittsburg, where I 
 had the pleasure of receiving your second communication. I am 
 afraid your expectations are raised beyond any ability I possess to 
 gratify them, in regard to my friend, Edward Bettle. I wish I could 
 give you interesting material towards a biographical sketch ; but as 
 I remarked to you in a former letter, Mr. Bottle's course was so 
 unpretending and so generally devoid of pi'ominent incident, that 
 there seems to be little in connection with it that would attract the 
 public attention. 
 
484 APPENDIX. 
 
 'Along the cool, scquester'd vale of life, 
 He kept the noiseless tenor of his way.' 
 
 " Communing frankly with his intimate friends, beloved by his 
 family and those among whom he quietly moved, but participating 
 little with the great outside world, cither in its rapid pleasures or its 
 distracting cares. His circle was the charmed one of home and 
 friends, and with them was his great delight. I have now lying 
 before me on my study table, and an object of almost daily reference, 
 a quarto copy of Cruden's Concordance, in which his name is in- 
 scribed by his own hand conjointly with my own. It was a gift from 
 him in our earlier days, long before I expected to enter my present 
 profession, in which I find it invaluable. Reminded by this and 
 other recollections, I have him vividly before my mind in his personal 
 appearance, his manners, and his general deportment, but still I 
 cannot recall any incidents of note in our intercourse or in his history, 
 as far as my knowledge extended (and our friendship was quite an 
 intimate one), which seem to claim place in the pages of a biography. 
 I am not aware that I have any memoranda to which I can refer for 
 the date of Mr. Bottle's birth, but I think he was my junior by a 
 very few years. He received a liberal education, though he did not 
 pass through a collegiate course, and from a fondness for books he 
 acquired decidedly literary habits and predilections. He formed a 
 youthful attachment to a young lady of congenial pursuits and dis- 
 positions (whom you will find alluded to in the letters sent herewith), 
 which after several years was consummated in marriage, and proved 
 a very happy connection. But although blessed with abundant 
 means for rendering life prosperous and comfortable, it was not long 
 continued ; his wife died in a very few years, and he soon followed, 
 leaving only one child, a son. 
 
 " My most prominent recollections of Edward Bettle are in con- 
 nection with a little coterie of choice spirits, who were accustomed to 
 meet almost nightly at the residence of a lady, a mutual friend, 
 whose literary propensities and sprightly mind constituted our great 
 attraction. There we discussed various matters, literary and social, 
 with all the decorous freedom that belonged to a refined and well- 
 understood friendship, and our talk was frequently interspersed and 
 seasoned wnth sallies of wit and humor, which, amidst our more 
 sober examinations of books, characters, and principles, served to 
 enliven and give variety to these occasions, so that, passing 'from 
 grave to gay, from lively to severe,' we found pleasure, and it is to 
 be hoped sometimes profit, from these conversations. My friend 
 
APTENDIX. 485 
 
 Edward seemed to enjoj these gatherings with considerable zest, 
 although, from certain causes, he was not as often present as some 
 others of the set. While he entered with spirit into the more sober 
 discussions, he also found pleasure in the more lively parts of the 
 conversation; for although the bent of his character was serious, and 
 he loved to entertain the more important questions of duty and 
 obligation, he had at the same time a ready perception of the ludi- 
 crous, and took evident delight at proper times in a little harmless 
 pleasantry. His feelings and desires were those of a Christian, and 
 he owned the cheerful spirit which a Christian ought to possess. I 
 can well remember the quiet hilarity with which his face would beam 
 when any bright thought touched his fancy, or any good saying 
 chimed in with his sense of the ridiculous or the amusing. At such 
 times his countenance had a peculiar expression, indicative of high 
 intellectual gratification. His marriage took him away very much 
 from the meetings of our little circle, but I still frequently encoun- 
 tered him in his own home and elsewhere, and always found him 
 the same kind, pleasant, and interesting friend. 
 
 " Mr. Bettle's talents were of a high order ; he inherited consider- 
 able intellectual capabilities from both his parents, and during his 
 short but useful life did much credit to himself and his generation, 
 although it pleased Providence to take him away early, and thus to 
 foreclose his abundant promise of future usefulness in the world. I 
 look back upon the days long past, and remember him as one of the 
 friends of my youth, gone before me to the 'better land.' He has 
 left behind him a character of high integrity, great simplicity, and 
 straightforwardness of purpose. His memory will long be kept 
 green in the hearts of those that loved him, and in the society where 
 he was best known and estimated, we may say of him in the true 
 words of the sacred bard : 
 
 ' The sweet remembrance of the just 
 Shall flourish when he sleeps in dust.' 
 
 Or we may apply to his case that other expressive language of an 
 apocryphal writer : ' Though the righteous be prevented with death, 
 yet shall he be in rest, for honorable age is not that which standeth 
 in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years; but 
 wisdom is the gray hair unto man, and an unspotted life is old age.' 
 
 "I have thrown these few remarks together in great haste, both 
 on your account and my own. as I have little time to bestow on it, 
 and your press is in a hurry. I hope they may afford you some little 
 
486 APPENDIX. 
 
 help in weaving out the web of your narrative. I wish I could have 
 given you more incident. If I had had more time and leisure, per- 
 haps I might have accomplished a little more, but this seems to be 
 the best I could do under the circumstances. 
 
 "Hastily, but very truly yours, 
 
 " C. W. Thomson. 
 "Edward Armstrong, Esq." 
 
 Mr. Thomas Evans thus writes to the Editor in reply to a request : 
 "My deceased friend, Edward Bettle, was a man of remarkably 
 strong, clear mind, well cultivated, both by literary and scientific 
 studies, of sound discriminating judgment, and of high moral and 
 religious principles. He was successfully pursuing a career of use- 
 fulness and benevolence, each year developing more fully the ample 
 resources of his rich and well stored miud, and his remarkable facility 
 for employing them and promoting the good of othei's, when it pleased 
 an all-wise Providence to call him away from the sphere of his dis- 
 interested and valuable labors in the prime of life, and in the full 
 vigor of his large intellectual endowments." 
 
 Note IV. (Page 435.) 
 ROBERT PROUD. 
 
 For the following poems by Robert Proud, we are indebted to our 
 friend, his biographer, the Rev. Chnrlps West Thomson, of York, 
 Pennsylvania. From the tone of the first it will be perceived that, 
 at the period of its composition, the writer sympathized with his 
 native, rather than his adopted, country. 
 
 VOX NATUR.E, AN ELEGY. 
 
 "Nescio qua natiile solum dulceJiue cunetos 
 Ducit, et imniemores not siiiit esse sui." 
 
 Natale solum loquitur. 
 
 Distant from thy counti-y far, 
 On the banks of Dehiware, 
 
 Thou dost mourn ; 
 Compass'd round by rebel foes, 
 Worn with grief, and press'd by woes, 
 
 return! 
 
APPENDIX. 487 
 
 Tlicc, tliy nnfivc soil agnin 
 Welcomes from beyond the main ; 
 
 Come and see, 
 Once again before thy death, 
 What thy native country hath 
 
 Good for thee. 
 
 Long, too long in troubles tost, 
 From thy friends and kindred lost, 
 
 Far from home ; 
 To relieve thy griefs and woes, 
 All thy sorrows to compose, 
 
 Ilither come. 
 
 In the confines of these bowers 
 Pass thy yet remaining hours ; 
 
 Thou shalt have 
 Here, at last, upon this shore, 
 Where no ill shall reach thee more, 
 
 A peaceful grave. 
 
 Peace and plenty yet awhile 
 Thou may'st have upon this isle, 
 
 If iliau flee 
 From the idol of the crowd. 
 And where noise and strife are loud. 
 
 Seldom be. 
 
 If thy intimates be few 
 
 (A few chosen friends will do). 
 
 Thou with these. 
 Far from rage, revenge, and strife, 
 May'st enjoy that bliss of life 
 
 Which Mill please. 
 
 Long enough, and oh ! too long 
 Troubles thou hast been among; 
 
 From the bad, 
 Of the wages which are due 
 Only to a rebel crew. 
 
 Thou hast had ! 
 
 All thy friends are changed or gone, 
 Thou art valued now by none ; 
 
 Robb'd of all 
 By the infernal powers assign'd, 
 There to punish human kind ! 
 
 Thee I call. 
 
488 APPENDIX. 
 
 What hast thou to do with those 
 Who embrace rebellion's cause? 
 
 Come away, 
 There to live is death to thee, 
 Worse than their's thy lot shall be, 
 
 If thou stay. 
 
 From the faithful and the true, 
 Separation, why dost thou 
 
 Longer try ? 
 Here on earth, while power is given, 
 In an order nearer Heaven, 
 
 Live and die. 
 
 Eesponsum. 
 
 How can I revisit thee, 
 And my native country see ? 
 Now forgotten and unknown. 
 Now respected there by none! 
 
 How can I, 
 After absence many years, 
 Now repeat my former cares, 
 And myself again expose 
 To new trials and fresh woes. 
 
 Ere I die ! 
 
 Now my life is almost done. 
 Yet awhile, and I am gone ; 
 A few moments, and no more 
 I am on this mortal shore. 
 
 From a grave 
 What advantage can I find. 
 What true solace to the mind, 
 Whether on "the land or sea, 
 Wheresoe'er my lot may be. 
 
 Can I have ? 
 
 Yet each faithful mind must grieve 
 With the infernal race to live ; 
 And among the virtuous, I 
 Would not only live but die ; 
 
 For what man, 
 Tho' of everything bereft, 
 Tho' no earthly solace left, 
 Here with rebel powers would dwell. 
 And not shun the state of hell, 
 ■ While he can ! 
 
APPENDIX. 489 
 
 Hence eternal reason's voice 
 I will follow in my choice ; 
 For, as happiness alone 
 By obedience first was known, 
 
 But. was lost 
 By rebellion, so no more 
 Shall be known, upon this shore, 
 That true glory, peace, and joy, 
 Which did former days employ, 
 
 On this coast. 
 
 Philadelphia, Christmas Day, 1782. 
 
 A PLAINTIVE ESSAY, 
 
 ATTEMPTED BY R. P. IN 6 MO., 1781, AFTER SEVERAL TEARS OP GREAT DISTRESS, DE- 
 JECTION, AND TROUBLE OF MIND. 
 
 Thou universal Cause, unseen. 
 
 Of everything that's right. 
 Oh ! Thou, whose ways have ever been 
 
 Most lovely in my sight ; 
 
 As in the days which I have spent, 
 
 Shall I no longer be 
 As I was, when, M-here'er I went. 
 
 Thy presence went with me ! 
 
 When thro' this life, as thro' a night 
 
 Of mingled joy and woe, 
 Safe by Thy light, for by Thy light 
 
 I did with pleasure go ; 
 
 When high and low, when old and young. 
 
 Were glad my friends to be ; 
 When all degrees and every tongue 
 
 Paid deference to me ; 
 
 From Thee, I knew, I did receive 
 
 The favors of mankind. 
 To Thee, 'twas all I could, I gave 
 
 True gratitude of mind. 
 
 But oh ! why now this grievous fall. 
 
 Why am I left forlorn ? 
 Why am I thus deprived of all. 
 
 Why was I ever born ? 
 
490 APPENDIX. 
 
 Without, of everj'tliing bereft, 
 Of all the world calls dear ; 
 
 Within, no consolation left, 
 No tokens of Thy care ! 
 
 Oh ! had Thy light and life not shone 
 And quicken'd human kind, 
 
 Darkness and death had not been known, 
 Nor felt within the mind! 
 
 The meanest bred, the vilest born. 
 
 Insult and scoff me now ; 
 They who have known me long, with scorn 
 
 Say, spiteful, "Who art thou?" 
 
 What hath his love of learning done, 
 What good for him, they cry ; 
 
 The thing he most depended on 
 Is nothing but a lie ! 
 
 Oh ! Thou, who knowest all, dost know, 
 E'en from my early youth, 
 
 I always have preferr'd, till now, 
 Thy wisdom, way, aud truth; 
 
 My early thoughts, my constant cares, 
 
 Devoted were to Thee ; 
 Oh! why, in my declining years. 
 
 Hast Thou forsaken me ! 
 
 Why now should I this evil know. 
 
 And yet no reason find? 
 A burden to myself to grow, 
 
 A burden to mankind ! 
 
 Despised of all, and trod upon. 
 
 Why should I live to be. 
 When those I most depended on 
 
 Have all forsaken me? 
 
 Secluded and impell'd, as when 
 
 To death the dying are. 
 From all the cheerful ways of men. 
 
 To perish in despair. 
 
 Far distant, in a foreign land. 
 
 No kind assistance nigh. 
 To Thee I make, to Thee alone. 
 
 My solitary cry ! 
 
 ! 
 
APTENDIX. 491 
 
 Wlicrc death and darkness, understood, 
 
 Possess the human mind, 
 Rebellion, wrath, revenge, and blood, 
 
 The actions of mankind ! 
 
 Permit not these too long to reign, 
 
 And over me aspire ; 
 Oh ! suffer not the worst of men 
 
 To trample me as mire ! 
 
 My much distress'd mind o'crspread, 
 
 And bring to life again ; 
 Which long has been among the dead, 
 
 Among the mental slain! 
 
 Let not my life, my painful days. 
 
 Devoted long to Thee, 
 Thus perish, and to virtue's ways * 
 
 Such great dishonor be! 
 
 Let not Thy saving Providence 
 
 (In every trial past 
 Which I have known my sure defence) 
 
 Abandon me at last. 
 
 Let me not be at last a prey 
 
 To the infernal power ; 
 My mind enliven by Thy ray 
 
 In every needful hour. 
 
 As Thou hast been my morning light, 
 
 My evening glory be ; 
 My tinal days, with most delight, 
 
 Let me rejoice to see; 
 
 Let me rejoice, whene'er I go 
 
 Among the silent dead. 
 Thy love. Thy life, with me to know, 
 
 Thy glory on my head. 
 
 In reference to his own particular situation in life, and also to the 
 state of man in general, he has sometimes applied the following 
 lines: 
 
 Optima quoeque dies miseris mortalibus cevi, 
 Prima fugit suberunt morbi tristisque senectus, 
 Et labor et durse rapit inclementia mortis. 
 
492 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Our early days are best but quickly gone, 
 Disease with pain and sorrow soon come on, 
 Labor and care soon introduce decay, 
 And deatli resistless hastens all away. 
 
 And has also observed he could with propriety apply to himself 
 the answer of tfie patriarch Jacob to Pharoah, King of Egypt : " Few 
 and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not 
 attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days 
 of their pilgrimage." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Advertisement to tlie First Edition, V 
 
 Editorial Note, .... vii 
 
 Sketch of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, . . . ix 
 Constitution of the Society, (1864,) ...... xv 
 
 do. do. do. (old,) 13 
 
 Officers and St-anding Committees, ...... 17 
 
 Honorary and Corresponding Members, . . . • • 21 
 Circular, ........... 23 
 
 An Inaugural Discourse, delivered on the 5th of November, 1825, 
 before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. By William Rawle, 
 Esq., President of the Society, ....... 29 
 
 A Memoir on the Locality of the Great Treaty between "William Penn 
 
 and the Indian natives in 1682. By Egberts Vaux, . . 87 
 Notes on the Provincial Literature of Pennsylvania. By Thomas I. 
 
 Wharton, Esq., 107 
 
 A Memoir on the Controversy between William Penn and Lord Bal- 
 timore, respecting the boundaries of Pennsylvania and Maryland. 
 By James Dunlop, Esq., member of the Senate of Pennsylvania. 163 
 Original Letters of William Penn, with his Will and Codicil, and 
 papers relaiing to them, ........ 205 
 
 Papers relative to the Valedictory Address of President Washington, 239 
 A Vindication of the Rev. Mr. Heckewelder's History of the Indian 
 
 Nations. By William Rawle, Esq., 268 
 
 An Account of the First Settlement of the Townships of Bucking- 
 ham and Solebury, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with Remarks 
 on the State of Manners, Remarkable Occurrences, &c. By Dr. 
 
 John Watson, 1804, 285 
 
 (493) 
 
494 
 
 C ONTENTS. 
 
 Pago 
 A Brief Account of the Discovery of Anthracite Coal on the Lehigh. 
 
 By Thomas D. James, M. D., 321 
 
 Some Extracts from Papers in the Office of the Secretary of the Com- 
 monwealth at Harrishurgh, and from other Documents. Transcribed 
 by Redmond Conyngham, Esq., of Carlisle, .... 333 
 
 Contributions to the Medical History of Pennsylvania. By Caspar 
 Morris, M. D 347 
 
 Notices of Negro Slavery, as connected with Pennsylvania. By Ed- 
 ward Bettle, 365 
 
 Notices of the Life and Character of Eobert Proud, Author of " The 
 History of Pennsylvania." By Charles West Thomson, . 417 
 
 Original Letters of William Penn, 437 
 
 A Biographical Sketch of Sir William Keith, one of the former Grov- 
 ernors of the Province of Pennsylvania. By a Member of the 
 Biographical Committee, 451 
 
 Members of the Society newly elected, 465 
 
 Appendix, 467 
 
 
LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL NOTES BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 Pago 
 
 Bioo-rapliical Sketcli of William Rawle, ^1 
 
 Origin of the name of Cape Henlopen, ■^•^^ 
 
 Extract from the original Book of Mason and Dixon's Field Notes, 200 
 
 Copy of an original Will of William Penn, 222 
 
 Coal tonnage of the Lehigh Region, 
 
 History of^the xVct of 1780, for the Gradual Abolishment of Slavery 
 
 . -D 1 • ... 405 
 m Pennsylvania, 
 
 Biographical Sketch of George Bryan, author of the Act of 1780, 408 
 Notices of the early Acts of Assembly on the subject of Slaves, . 
 Notices of Sir William Keith, Doctor Grreme, Mrs. Elizabeth F^- 
 gusson, &c. ...••••'•■ 
 List of Pilgrims of the " Welcome," (Appendix,) ... 467 
 Biographical Sketch of James Dunlop, " . • • .471 
 a » Edward Bettle, " • • • • ^81 
 
 Poems by Robert Proud, ..."•••• 
 
 415 
 
 459 
 
 (495) 
 
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