USA > Pennsylvania > Chronicles of Pennsylvania from the English revolution to the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1688-1748, Vol. I > Part 34
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Yet, as will be shown on a later page, a handle for Penn's enemies was to be given by one very near to him, viz: his eldest surviving son, who came with Evans, and whose debts had driven him across the water, leaving wife and children at home to await fu- ture plans. He speedily, in connection with Logan, hired for a city residence "Clark's great house" near the S. W. corner of Third and Chestnut. Mompesson soon joined them, and so did Evans, after boarding first
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with Al Paxton, and afterwards with John Finney. For information on business, but not guidance in mode of life, Evans and Penn Jr. looked to Logan. Hav- ing as Judge jurisdiction as far north as New Hamp- shire, and being in turn very soon superseded as to Pennsylvania and West Jersey by a new commission reappointing Quary, Mompesson was usually away. He and William Penn Jr. and Bewley, the Collector, were invited to become members of the Council. Mom- pesson qualified on February 7, and the younger Penn on the 8th, but Bewley declined, because the position might be thought by some to conflict with his position in the Customs. Logan appears to have qualified a second time, immediately after the qualifying of the Proprietary's son, to whom was given precedence at the board over all others. In the course of ten days after Evans's arrival, William Rodeney, William Trent, Richard Hill, and Jasper Yeates became mem- bers, and in May, George Roche, and in October, Joseph Pidgeon.
Evans had come ignorant of there being a split in the Assembly, and, when he found it necessary to summon a legislature, he determined, if possible, to effect a reunion. He sent writs to the Lower Counties for the election of four members each, but when the twenty-six already chosen by Pennsylvania proper ap- peared, they insisted that they were already a separate House. The representatives of the Territories, among whom were Rodeney, Brinckloe, and Hill, thereupon announced their consent to accept the Charter, if its provision were complied with that there be only four representatives from each of the six counties. The representatives from Pennsylvania replied that they were unable to recede from what they had done, in- cluding the increase of their number. So it was settled there should be a separate House for the Territories,
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its members to be chosen by new writs, and to meet in New Castle.
When the Assembly of the Province convened, Evans asked for a salary for himself, and the raising of the £350 fixed by the late King for the building of fortifica- tions in the province of New York. The House, in a very courteous message, expressed anxiety as to the allow- ance of the laws by the Crown, and referred to the former excuse as to the £350. In a reply, which again urged the relief of the Proprietary by the assumption of the acting Governor's support, and even asked for making good Penn's promise of allowance to Hamilton, Evans angered the members by arguing the insuffi- ciency of the excuse for not voting money to the Queen.
More serious than Evans's wounding of the Assem- blymen's sensibilities in contradicting their mind, was that Penn's commission to Evans had reserved the final assent to all laws. This instance of depriving the Deputy of the power to represent the principal had to be brought to the scrutiny of so acute and so ill dis- posed a lawyer as Lloyd, and nearly caused the Assem- bly to declare the commission void. The heir-apparent's most important political act while in America was joining with the other Councillors, Mompesson among them, in deciding, in response to the Assembly's ques- tion, that the clause was void, but did not invalidate the rest of the commission, and that the bills which the Lieutenant-Governor passed into laws, and to which the great seal was affixed, could not be annulled by the Proprietary without the vote of the Assembly. This declaration was made on 3rd month 23, 1704. Logan, while saying that it was clearly right, explained to Penn that the Councillors would not have made it, had they not seen that the Assembly would do nothing with- out it.
After the Assembly had voted an address to the Queen congratulating her upon her accession, the ob-
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liviousness of the members to their representing any but one religious denomination was shown in entitling another address to her, which they unanimously adopted, "The humble address of the People called Quakers convened in Assembly at Philadelphia." By the prayer with which this Address closed, we see that the Assemblymen, and presumably most of their Quaker constituents, were willing to make affirmation "in the presence of Almighty God." The Address said that, at the time of the grant to Penn, the tract called Pennsylvania was little cultivated, and the few inhabi- tants were Dutch, Fins, and Swedes, "whose manner of living was of small advantage to the Crown of Eng- land;" that, in hopes of enjoying the liberties granted, a considerable colony of Quakers with some of other persuasions came over, and made great improvements, and others differing from them in religious matters had become sharers of the government, which was carried on by the obligation of a solemn attestation under the local laws, without oaths, the taking or administering of which was against the religious persuasion of the Quakers, still the most considerable inhabitants for number and estates; that some of the Quakers who might be serviceable in courts of judicature were ex- cluded by the effect of the royal order in Council of Jany. 21, 1702, requiring the administration of oaths to those willing to take them; that those who wished to introduce oaths had often declared their willingness to take the said solemn affirmation wherever the life of a subject was not in question : therefore those addressing the Queen prayed her to grant that the affirmation pre- scribed by Act of Parliament to be taken by Quakers might be allowed to all persons and on all occasions instead of an oath. The Assembly drafted a.provincial law to this effect, to be adopted when the Queen showed herself favorable. Evans, on the other hand, issued
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a proclamation declaring the judicial proceedings null and void when carried on without oath.
Penn's financial circumstances were by this time distracting. He had paid, but not promptly, some of the interest on the Ford account accruing since April 1, 1697. Ford, however, had seen by the time of Penn's second arrival in America that there would be a default in paying the redemption money on April 1, 1700, and had determined to stand upon the rights which the face of the papers executed between Penn and himself gave him. "Not having the fear of God before his eyes," as many men and many women have not when making their wills, although such action, if unrecalled, will be the parting act of their lives, Philip Ford made a will dated Jany. 21, 1699, speaking of his having pur- chased Pennsylvania and Delaware, and giving said land to trustees to sell. He made a proviso that, if in Ford's lifetime or within six months after his death, William Penn paid £11134 8s. 3d., and all arrears still due on April 1 following the date of the will, and all other debts due, the trustees should convey the land to Penn : but this proviso, Ford declared to be a voluntary kindness to Penn, and not the result of any obligation. By April 1, 1700, Penn had not by redeeming prevented such a will from becoming operative, and, on April 1, 1701, the lease had expired with the rent about paid up. Ford died on Jany. 8, 1701 (O. S. ? ). His widow and children, beneficiaries of his will, had an account stated with Penn, by which he owed on April 1, 1702, £591 8s. 10d. over and above the principal represented by the redemption price. Although he continued to pay at short intervals small amounts, it was impossible for him to pay the principal.
There was, to be sure, a large amount of indebted- ness due apparently from Americans for land, Logan holding bonds in 1705 for about 2000l., but the realiza- tion of such must await the debtors' pleasure and abil-
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ity. Penn appears to have brought home to England no ready money but what was soon called for, nor did he find any considerable balance awaiting him there. Much lobbying against the bill to abolish proprietary government had been done by William Jr. It was an age of fees instead of salaries, and consequently of perquisites, extortion, and corruption. The elder Penn rather complained that the young agent, in his zeal, had promised too much. Apart from anything like bribery of statesmen, the mere attendance upon them involved outlay. The cost of the Proprietary's sojourn in London after return from America, and other ex- penses to fight the aforesaid bill, to promote the allow- ance of the laws, and to attend to other affairs of the colony, were said by him to have been over £3000 by July, 1704. Besides there was the money to be paid to . make up the income of Lætitia's dowry, and to sup- plement for William Jr.'s wants the estate of Worming- hurst, which, moreover, being absorbed by William Jr., had ceased to be profitable to the family at large. William Jr. was living at his father's expense during the stay in Pennsylvania. The Proprietary was cha- grined when he found that he was to maintain two houses, that at Pennsbury, and the Clark house, which the heir-apparent, instead of boarding when not at Pennsbury, hired for a city residence for himself and the Secretary. Little money was coming from Penn- sylvania, where the cost of administration took so much of the ordinary receipts. The tax imposed for the Proprietary's benefit was withheld by many; the im- post in its second year became inconsiderable, because the previous drought in Barbados lessened the amount of rum coming thence to Pennsylvania to one third as much as had been coming; the subscriptions to the Susquehanna venture to a great extent failed to be paid, and what payments were made were in wheat and flour; partly because of the war, sales of land were pretty
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much at an end; and quit rents were usually in arrears. When there was any balance to be put into William Penn's hands, such was the scarcity in the colony of cash, and of bills of exchange on England, that, practi- cally, the only way of forwarding the amount was to invest in a cargo, and ship the same at the risk of bad market, storm, and capture. A number of vessels trad- ing from Pennsylvania were taken.
Penn's principal source of revenue had once been his estate in Ireland. He wrote, 12, 24, 1702, that that country had "hardly any money: England severe to her, no trade but hither and at England's mercy for prices, saving butter and meat to Flanders and the West Indies, that we must go and eat out half our rents, or we cannot enjoy them;" and he mentioned that the exchange from Ireland to England was twenty-six per cent.
In these difficulties, as he found that his Governor- ship was not likely to be taken forcibly from him by Parliament, he thought of making a sale of it to the Crown. While waiting an opportunity for this, or as an alternative, he devised an arrangement for his re- turn to Pennsylvania, asking, in a letter of 2mo. 1, 1703, for "the town"-probably the well-to-do citizens of Philadelphia-to build for him on one of his City lots or his liberty land "a pretty box like Ed. Ship- pen's," or to purchase Griffith Owen's, Thomas Fair- man's, Daniel Pegg's, or any such house, Pennsbury house being too small to hold the entire family includ- ing William Penn Jr's; and, in addition to this present, costing, Penn supposed, 500l. to 600l., he wished an allowance, perhaps by tax, of 500l. a year. There was no response to this.
Penn wrote on May 11, 1703, to the Board of Trade, that, seeing the bent extremely strong to bring all proprietary governments directly under the Crown, he was willing, if there could be a just regard for his and
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his people's security in their civil rights according to the laws and constitution of the country, to resign the government, saving some few privileges, upon a rea- sonable pecuniary satisfaction to him. The Commis- sioners wishing to know his terms, he sent word in the following month: the Lower Counties-he meant the soil therof-were to be duly patented to him, all rights as lord of the soil of the Province to remain, he and his heirs to have the right to present at each vacancy two names, from which the Crown should choose the Governor, also £30,000 to be paid to Penn with a royalty -presumably perpetual-of {d. per pound of tobacco and per l. of what sums the people paid the Governor! This was, of course, "an asking price." Yet it must be remembered that in 1700 he declared that the colony had then cost him in the clear £24,000, and, a year after this offer, he wrote to Logan that Pennsylvania had cost him above £30,000 more than he had gotten out of it. Penn desired also that he and his heirs should have some honorary distinction, in recognition of his being the Founder, such as first Councillor or Chief Justice : but upon this he did not insist, being ready to content himself with the rights of landlord. Neither did he long hold out for the £30,000, but on or before Feb. 9, 1703-4, wrote to the Lord High Treasurer that he was willing to accept £20,000 for the Governorship.
Harassed by the fault finding of Quary and Moore, Penn offered to the Commissioners for Trade, about the time Evans was arriving in Pennsylvania, either to sell out, or to have the "turbulent Churchmen" bought out, probably meaning to pay Quary, Moore, and others to move away. Some of the Commisioners, perhaps because of the Queen's kind feeling for Penn, expressed a wish that the latter alternative could take place; whereupon Penn desired them to promote it, and assured them that he could find four persons able and willing to provide for it. Who were the three besides
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Shippen, or the two besides Shippen and himself? The aforesaid solution of trouble was not effected. While Lowther had been made Attorney-General of the Prov- ince, Moore had, on Bewley's death, obtained from Quary, Surveyor-General of the Customs, the good post of Collector of the Port of Philadelphia, and kept it during the rest of his life. At times hesitating, and at times asking the advice of Logan and others, and generally encouraged by Logan on condition that Quaker rights could be protected, Penn kept alive the project of turning into cash the political authority which had cost him so much.
Not only were Penn's friends who were intrusted with his authority in the Province and Territories par- ticularly bound, in taking care of his interests, so to act as to avoid giving to Parliament any provocation to confiscate his viceroyalty; but, imbued with devotion to him, and seeing his necessities, they undertook, in opposition to the scheme of representative government, the policy of nursing and strengthening every limb of his prerogative, so that the selling value of this piece of property-the powers, revenues, and patronage be- ing recognized as property-should be great when he treated with the Crown.
CHAPTER XIV. THE ANTI-PROPRIETARY PARTY.
Feelings of various elements of the population -The City magistrates-The Assembly contends with Evans-A Remonstrance ordered to be sent to the Proprietary-The Militia-William Penn Jr. in a row with the City watchmen-Is indicted in Mayor's Court, and leaves the colony-Lloyd writes the Remonstrance and a letter to eminent English Quakers-The Assembly of 1704-A "great fray," in which Evans receives a beating- The Assemblymen's attitude as to Lloyd's Re- monstrance-Biles's disrespectful words about Evans-The Ganawese and Shawnees-Some of the former move to Tulpehocken-The Fords bring suit in Chancery, and claim possession of Pennsylvania and Territories-Proprietary's friends carry election of 1705-Legislation-Re- ligious qualification for officers and religious affirmation adopted-Law as to intercourse with Indians-Revenue Act-Change as to Sheriff and Coroner-Assemblymen to be chosen by plurality vote-Unpleasant circumstances of the old Quaker families.
Preceding chapters have mentioned Swedish suspi- cion, David Lloyd's resentment, Keithian opposition, Custom House officers' interests, and Anglican rivalry, as well as some purchasers' real or supposed, greater or less, suffering in property, such as prompted the struggle with Penn at the close of his second visit. It has also been shown that the Quaker settlers of the general type were democratic, querulous, and self-im- portant, and, with a certain amount of gratitude to
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Penn and amenableness to his personal influence, looked upon themselves as partners with him in the great colonial venture. They had left home, and subdued the wilderness, in order to enjoy privileges. A war ending in 1697 and one lasting from 1702 to 1713 took away, either by capture at sea, or scarcity and high price of European articles, or cessation of immigration, much of the money profit of their labor. It is not sur- prising that persons so situated grudged every shilling for which Penn asked.
The inconvenience of proprietary governments to the empire at large has been mentioned in the chapter on England. To the inhabitants of the locality subjected, such a government might become intolerable. Liberty had flourished in Pennsylvania, because of the enlight- ened ideas of the Proprietary who founded the colony : but was it fair that those who were maintaining by great hardship civilization in remote regions, and were still bound by their duties to the King, should have a second lord and master? Particularly when, after the first Proprietary must pass away, his successor, com- ing by birth or purchase, would be neither the King's nor the People's choice?
The opponents of Penn other than the Crown officials with some Churchmen, were not desirous of abolishing his viceroyalty, the basis of the colony's independent and improved jurisprudence; nor was the experience of those colonies of which the Governors were selected by the Crown, in the high salaries and military exac- tions and ecclesiastical arbitrariness, encouraging for a change. In fact, that Penn was inclined to allow such a change was looked upon as a betrayal. All that his opponents and the majority of the freemen wanted was to cut down expenses, and to minimize his power and more particularly the power of his Deputies.
The City Corporation very soon fell into the hands of those inimical to Penn, Lloyd becoming Recorder
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in place of Story, and, after Shippen's two terms as Mayor, that office being held by Anthony Morris, Griffith Jones, and Joseph Willcox successively. After the Queen's order, the fact that Lloyd and nearly all of the Aldermen were Quakers, made the Mayor's Court and those Aldermen acting as magistrates the only judiciary representing the religious society opposed to oaths. Thus the favor of many Assemblies was en- listed.
The first Assembly with which Evans came in contact endeavored, by proposing certain laws, to have the City Corporation strengthened, to state the powers of the House, and to confirm property. At the same time, it was unanimously voted to raise 1000l., and to send 1001. thereof to agents to be selected, rather in place of Penn, for attending the Attorney-General or Solicitor-Gen- eral and Board of Trade to obtain the Queen's appro- bation of the laws: but disputes with the Lieutenant- Governor, recess, and adjournment prevented the per- fecting of a bill for raising money, it being the determi- nation of the People's representatives to grant nothing unless satisfaction were received. They were, at the same time, great sticklers for respect to be shown to the House, and some remarks of Councillor Guest in public and private ridiculing it, and speaking of pro- posed laws as absurd, unreasonable, and monstrous, caused a vote that he should be rebuked; non-compli- ance with which, by the Lieutenant-Governor, may have added to the ill feeling. Evans and his Councillors deemed preposterous the powers given in the bill re- lating to the City Corporation, and as not sufficiently careful of the Proprietary's interests the bill for con- firming property. These bills were in fact smothered in Council rather than fought. The great contention arose from the bill for the confirmation of the Charter of Privileges, or Frame of Government. This bill de- clared the Governor unable to prorogue or dissolve the
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Assembly. Such power, Evans and his advisers did not consider to have been relinquished by the Proprietary, and therefore did not think the Lieutenant-Governor had any right to bind the Proprietary to forego, al- though the Assembly offered to limit the length of the sessions, except when the Governor consented. One of several amendments proposed by Evans gave the Coun- cil a part in legislation : this was rejected, one of the unanimous resolves of the Assembly on 6mo. 10 being that it would be inconsistent with King Charles's patent and the Charter of 1701, except when the government (the Lieutenant-Governorship) were vested in the Council, which the House was willing should happen on the death of a Lieutenant-Governor, unless there should be some other provision by the Governor-in- Chief. The Assemblymen decided to adjourn, and so to leave the subject to their successors, and asked the Lieutenant-Governor to think over the bills meanwhile. Accordingly, an order was made that the Speaker, who seems to have been regarded as something like the Clerk of a Quaker Meeting, should have the minutes for the year prepared, and take the advice of Biles, Willcox, Morris, Norris, Wood, Jones, and Richardson or as many of them or others of the body as could be conveniently consulted, about the minutes being pub- lished. Thus the phraseology of the minutes was left to be perfected later by Lloyd, whose consulting others was practically optional. It was ordered on 6mo. 25 that a representation to the Proprietary be prepared by the Speaker, Norris, and Willcox, and be brought into the House the next day, they to deal plainly with the Proprietary concerning the privileges and immuni- ties which he promised to the People, and how incon- sistent and repugnant thereto was his commission to the present Deputy, as well as former orders and pro- ceedings, how the People were wronged and deprived of those privileges, how they were injured in their
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properties, and what inconveniences had happened from the Proprietary's not passing the bill for regu- lating fees proposed to him in 1701. Willcox reported on the 26th that the committee of three had made little progress, and could not finish; but Lloyd, as he avows (see Penn and Logan Correspondence, Vol. II, p. 407), had written nine articles to be embodied, and, the House resolving that the subject matter be forthwith drawn up, these were proposed, and, although, so near adjournment, some of the members were not paying attention, the articles were read, somewhat amended, and agreed to without one vote in the negative, and the representation was ordered to be drawn according to those heads, and to be perused by the members who were to peruse the minutes. Some time afterwards, certain members, who may be called fickle or weak- kneed, frightened at the turn resulting from their ac- tion or complaisance, said that they had not heard the articles, and had had confidence that the committee would be very respectful to the Proprietary-in what member except Norris could they have had such confi- dence ?- and that the whole House would hear and vote upon the Remonstrance before it were sent-but when could that be, the immediate aljournment being final? There can be very little doubt that the interlineation by Lloyd himself, who had control of the minutes, to the effect that the Representation be signed by the Speaker, and sent to the Proprietary by the first oppor- tunity, expressed what was ordered.
Certain proceedings of Evans and some of his Coun- cillors gave the City Corporation some grievances. The militia had increased in Philadelphia to three com- panies, under Captains Lowther, George Roche, and John Finney, and on 4mo. 13, 1704, gave a military funeral to the old naval veteran, former Lieutenant- Governor Markham. To encourage enlisting, a procla- mation was issued by the Governor relieving all who
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were on the muster rolls from the duties of watch and ward, which the City authorities enforced upon all the citizens. Guest, Samuel Finney, Roche, and Pidgeon, put into the County Court in order to administer oaths, claimed a concurrent jurisdiction with the Mayor's Court in licensing drinking places; and it was only after approval of the County Court was obtained that the Governor issued any license. A third source of complaint was the protection given to a tavern keeper, after conviction in the Mayor's Court for a misde- meanor, the charge apparently having resulted largely from the conduct of William Penn Jr.
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