USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Chester > Historical sketch of Chester, on Delaware > Part 23
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JOHN M. BROOMALL, of Media, Pa., opened the meeting with a brief address, in which he eulogized William Penn as a sound practi- cal statesman and a representative Friend. He spoke of the event
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we commemorate as one of the highest interest, being the only in- stance in which the principles of Christianity, as taught in the Ser- mon on the Mount, were ever applied to the founding of a State or Nation. Those principles were then put forth upon their trial as rules of human conduct. If they filed, Christianity is a failure; but they did not fail A State was founded among a barbarous people, in which the sword was expressly and openly repudiated, and kindness, forbearance and love, made the corner-stones of the structure in its stead. For seventy years, and as long as those principles were acted upon, the State enjoyed profound peace, without armies, forts or arsenals. It is to the credit of both races, that for forty years no blood on either side was shed by the hand of the other, and it is to the credit of the ruder race that the first violation of the sanctity of life across the line of the races, was committed by a white man. Penn's colony without the sword enjoyed a tran- quility far beyond that of any other colony with it. In the face of this success of the first and only experiment, it will not do to call Christianity a failure in the founding of a State. In fact the law of kindness has succeeded wherever it has been tried; the inebriate, the lunatic, the 'imbecile, the waifs and strays of humanity, all yield to its power. It is well known that vengeance and cruelty are failures in the suppression of crime; courts and prisons are schools for criminals and will remain so until we learn to treat the criminal as a brother and minister to his "mind diseased," in the spirit of kindness. Society is largely responsible for his condition, and it owes itself, as well as him, the duty of taking care of him for his good and its safety.
He spoke of war in strong and earnest language. It is the sub- mission of the cause of quarrel to the arbitrary will of the stronger party. There is no legal limit to the power of the conqueror ; by the laws of war, prisoners may be enslaved and sold, or killed and eaten at the pleasure of the victor, and no law of war is violated. The business of war is to burn, to ravage, to destroy, to kill; and the fact that the customs of modern belligerents are less bad than this, is proof that the world is outgrowing some of its wickedness, and is approaching, though still a great way off, the standard set up by the Divine Master. He spoke of national arbitrament as a means of
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avoiding war, and gave instances of its adoption and success. In- dividual disputes were once settled by the sword: now nearly all of them are settled by submission to the judgment of disinterested men. If nations would practice the rule they enforce on their subjects and citizens, would set the example instead of prescribing the law they refuse to obey themselves, armies would soon be classed among the things that were, the sword would "be beaten into a ploughshare and the spear into a pruning hook."
The following letter and poem from John G. Whittier were then read by ELLA HOOD, of West Chester:
OAK KNOLL, DANVERS, MASS., roth mo., 7th, 1882. To SARAH B. FLITCRAFT, Chester, Pa.
My Dear Friend - It is well that Friends should commemorate the landing of the Founder of Pennsylvania, and the great apostle of their faith, on the pleasant shores of Chester two centuries ago. The event so picturesque in its surroundings and cir- cumstances, so important in its results and influence, is a subject worthy of the poet's pen or the painter's pencil. I should be glad if it were possible for me to put into fit- ting metrical form the thoughts and emotions which it awakens. But the burden of years begins to rest heavily upon me and I shrink from the effort of handling such a theme. In spite of the endeavor of a historian more regardful of the display of his rhetoric and sarcasm than of historical accuracy and justice, the memory of William Penn is secure in its grand outlines. He stands, and will forever stand. with the sages, statesmen and philanthropists, of whom the world of their day was not worthy. He lived and thought centuries in advance of his contemporaries; and, slowly but surely. the generations since have been approaching the moral and political standard which he set up on the shores of the Delaware.
Looking over some old papers recently. I found some verses written by me when a boy of sixteen -nearly sixty years ago. Of course the circumstances under which they were penned, alone entitle them to notice, but I venture to send them, as the only response to thy request which I can make.
I am truly thy friend,
JOHN G. WHITTIER.
WILLIAM PENN.
The tyrant on his gilded throne, The warrior in his battle dress, The holier triumph ne'er have known Of justice an I of righteousness.
Founder of Pennsylvania! Thou Didst feel it, when thy words of peace Smoothed the stern chieftain's swarthy brow, And bade the dreadful war-dance cease.
On Schuylkill's bank, no fortress frowned, The peaceful cot alone was there: No beacon tires the hilltops crowned, No death shot swept the Delaware.
In manners meek, in precepts mild, Thou and thy friends serenely taught The savage huntsman, fierce and wild, To raise to Heaven his erring thought.
How all unlike the bloody band That unrelenting Cortez led To princely Montezuma's land, And ruin 'round bis pathway shed.
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With hearts that knew not how to spare, Disdaining milder means to try, The crimson sword alone was there, The Indian's choice to yield or die!
But thou, meek Pennsylvanian sire, Unarmed, alone, from terror free,. Taught by the heathen couneil fire The lessons of Christianity.
Founder of Pennsylvania's State! Not on the blood-wet rolls of fame, But with the wise, the good, the great, The world shall place thy sainted name!
SARAH L. OBERHOLTZER, of Cambria, Pa., then read the following original poem:
A BI-CENTENNIAL POEM.
The broad and placid Delaware glides on its outward way To meet the vessels that anon come sailing up the Bay.
Two hundred years ago, the same, its silvery ripples met The good ship "Welcome" and the Friends whose footsteps halo yet
Their landing place. The Autumn wood, though nearer then and dense, Waved with its banners, bright as now, salute of deference.
Calm Nature's pulse beats ever on the same measure true;
'Tis only we who come and go, meet, love and bid adieu.
Favored are we, whose ancestors paused here with William Penn, To see the soft October light fall on the place as when They from the vessel reached the shore and thanked the living Lord That He unto the friends of peace such haven did accord.
I see them now, through fancy's mist, upon the river's breast Lower their sails, and near the land with relief manifest.
The mute thanksgiving of their souls I seem almost to feel As land is reached and on the sward they press possession's seal.
It was then Chester, christened fair, assumed her English name At Penn's desire, when Pearson said he from that city came;
And peace, transplanted, grew apace; philanthropy bloomed free; Unfolding and expanding fast within the Colony.
The Friends in Pennsylvania, had right of thought and speech. No poison bars their spirits tried, but conscience wrought for each.
They founded homes with altars wide wherein the inward light Burned as love's incense, and illumed privation's darkest night; They founded temples plain of prayer, where words were sometimes given To lead the pilgrims meeting there closer to Christ and Heaven;
They blessed the state which blessed again the stranger in its turn; They pushed the forest from the shore and bade the corn sojourn. Early, 'neath Shackamaxon's elm of shadows soft and brown Good William Penn the fragrant piece of olive branch laid down. The Indian Chiefs inhaled its breath and each with smiling face, Acknowledged friendship's covenant for the Algonquin race.
The treaty, perfect in its bonds and wise in every clause, Was more effectually kept than any modern laws.
The Algonquins loved William Penn and all his Colony; Their better natures he unlocked with his great kindness key. For love is best and peace is safe, whate'er we wish to gain, And balm is better cure for ill, forevermore than pain.
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His "Golden Rule " they understood, through intellectual night. And kept the friendly promises close as a sacred right.
Penn planned the city of his love, a "country towne and greene," Where the glad Schuylkill waters with the Delaware's convene.
He left the garden plots, the squares, which rest our eyes to-day As we walk down the pavements red of Philadelphia.
Dear City ! she, with pageantry and pardonable pride, Now celebrates her Patron's care through a vast human tide.
The plain, the wise, the Christian man would scarcely know his own If he could see his fair green towns their limits long outgrown;
His broad 'Sylvania's forests wide hemmed in by well tilled fields To playtime patches, which no gainc from the late sportsman shields;
His land abloom with villages; his rivers glad and rills Low voiced, their merriment all gone to quench the thirst of mills; His people sown, as by the wind, about the broad domain, Not always marked by cut of coat yet of religion plain;
His mountains broken in their height, tunneled for ore or trade; And, far beneath the surface line, the thud of miners' spade.
The coal, the iron, the oil and more, earth's jewels hidden then, Are burnished now and beautiful with light and warmth to men.
Could the great Founder of our State, whose memory we revere, Have foreseen these developments the day he landed here?
His thanks to kindly Providence, that sailing perils o'er, He and his fellow pilgrims were safe upon the shore.
Had been e'en greater than they were, albeit they were great, For in the Union Arch I ween there is no richer State.
And we, whose fathers came with Penn, take voice for them to-day, Feeling their thoughts within us live though they have passed away;
That thanks we give and prayers we breathe are supplement to their's, Although two hundred years have slept safe in their silent lairs.
The years must sleep as Winters come, and so it seems with men, We lose them in the snows of time to meet in Heaven again.
Our gratitude for blessings great we thread on passing air Dear Lord of hosts ! dear Lord of love, our thanks are every where !
We feel Thy watchfulness and care, Thy mercy when we err,
Thy omnipresence, the rewards Thou doth administer.
Our ancestors were safe with Thee upon the ocean wide Before the stcamships plowed the main or wrestled with the tide.
Our love for Thee, our pride in them, we blend together here And thank Thee we were spared to see this Bi-Centennial year.
O ! may our State grow worthier still of vast and full increase, 'Till, all wrong thrown aside, she wears the rose of righteous peace !
SAMUEL J. LEVICK, of Philadelphia, then addressed the audi- ence as follows:
Friends and Citizens of Chester:
It is very meet that here in this Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends, should be commemorated the ceremonies attend- ant upon the arrival of William Penn and his friends in North Ame- rica, for it is reasonable to suppose that here they first met, pub- licly, together to worship Almighty God and reverently to acknowl- edge thanks to Him, for their safe arrival in the "Land of Promise"
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and their escape from the pestilence that "walketh in darkness," and the dangers of storm and tempest.
It is well for us to have these occasions. They are not new in the world's history. The Israelites commemorated by Holy Feasts their Passover and their exodus from the "Land of Bondage." And shall not we, the descendants of an equally worthy race, have our holy days and feasts commemorative of the Lord's doings for us; especi- ally in moving our Fathers to come to this goodly land, and bequeath- ing it to us, for an inheritance-especially as it marks an important era in the world's history, the planting of a colony on the shores of the New World, second in point of time, and that only a few years subsequent to the first settlement at Burlington, N J., in the year 1676-wherein were established principles and forms of government, which were new and untried, not only of a civil, but of a religious character, and which in their several particulars are acknowledged, and under which, not only the two millions of people who reside in our own State, but the fifty millions that inhabit the United States of North America, live in the peaceful enjoyment of, and now have the opportunity of enjoying Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness, with none to make them afraid.
These sturdy pioneers and men of peace with that eminent philanthropic lawgiver and Christian minister at their head, having failed to obtain in their native land a hearing and recognition of the principles that they believed themselves called to present to the world, and having suffered numerous persecutions and cruelties im- posed on them and looking to the benefits of cheir posterity, in the inspiration that pressed itself upon them, were willing to leave their homes-many of them reared in affluence-and friends, and all that was dear by ties of kindred, to begin life anew on the shores of the New World, even though inhabited by the wild Indians of the forest, and there to establish a government, subdue the wilder- ness and to present the religion of their Lord and Master in such a form and under such surroundings as was denied to them in the land of their Fathers.
Before alluding to the landing of William Penn and his friends on the shores of the Delaware, it may not be uninteresting to men- tion some of the early events connected with the discovery and set- tlements along the shores of this historic river. In doing so I must needs present much that has been collated from the writings of the past.
The supposed discoverer of the Delaware was Lord De La Warr, from whom the name is derived. This right of discovery, however, was resisted by the Dutch, who called it the "South" river, and made early settlements on its shores. At the same time the Swedes, (as far back as 1651,) made settlements also, and for many years ex- ercised their authority along its banks, as well as the Schuylkill, having erected forts and carried on quite an extensive trade with
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the Indians. The Governor was named Printz, who erected a fort on Tinicuin Island, near the mouth of the Schuylkill and we are told that "Printz Hall," on Tinicum Island was, at that time, the "Cap- itol" of this noble principality. Beside the fort, New Gottenberg, on that island, and another not far off Elsingborg, at the mouth of Salem creek, and still another, Fort Christiana, were the strong- holds, whereby the Swedish Governor overawed the natives of the country and kept out intruders.
The Dutch, however, never forgot their claims by right of prior discovery to the "South" river, and the beautiful region watered by its many affluents. "Hudde," from his fort a mile below Gloucester Point, could watch the growth and progress of the Swedes, and ob- ject to their occupation of territory belonging to them.
The rivalry and jealousy between the Dutch anl Swedes for pos- session of this fruitful country, was only held within bounds by fear of the English, and it was agreed between Stuyvesant, the Dutch Governor, on the Hudson, and Printz, the Swedish Governor, on the Delaware, that they should not engage in hostilities, but act as friends and allies. This condition of things did not last long, for a short time after a Swedish Ship of War, sailed up the Delaware and demanded the surrender of the Dutch fort. The Commander said : "What can I do'? There is no powder."
Again, the Dutch hearing of what had! taken place, the Governor- Stuyvesant-sent a fleet of seven vessels from New Amsterdam, (now New York) with six or seven hundred men, who attacked the Swe- dish fort at Christiana, at the mouth of the Brandywine. A siege was commenced which lasted twelve days. But little fighting was done. Only a few shots were exchanged, the time being occupied in mak- ing negotiations-(much to their creait). The Dutch prevailed. Articles of capitulation were signed, all in the interest of the Dutch. "This was the end of Swedish rule in America." Many of the Swedes remained along the banks of the Delaware and did much to develop, by their industry and thrift, the best resources of that fertile region. The new possessors, the Dutch, made vigorous efforts to colonize the country. and several expeditions were made, but were prevented by loss of ships, sickness, etc., and thus their sanguine anticipations of planting colonies on the South river were never fulfilled It would appear that this fertile region was to be the home of Englishimen, and a colony was to be planted to present such thoughts and views of government, as would in their development, lay the foundation for rearing the grandest, most humane and enlightened system of government, that is known in the world's history.
We now turn to the events which are directly connected with the subject of my address, the landing of William Penn.
The causes that led to the planting of this Colony grew out of one of the most interesting periods of English history. The effort of Charles I. to make secure the Crown, by an assumption of power
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which not even the pri le of Henry VIII. hil chai nel, had en lel in failure. Englandl was comparatively at peace, but violence an I strife, contention and sedition marked this peculiar epoch. Religious fa- naticism was one of the features of this period. The struggles of the Cavaliers and the Roundheads, aroused feelings which were personal and bitter. "Families were divided among themselves, and every man was in arms against his neighbor."
Thus this struggling, surging tide of thought on religious subjects, went on tor years. The Englishman of that day, [1650] free from political tyranny from within, would not brook even the sem- blance of interference in religious matters from without. But in the fierce controversies of Englishmen with each other, liberty of con- science meant to the zealous theologian of that day, when all men claimed to be theologians, only, the rights of all other men, to yield their own opinions and agree with him.
"It was soon observed that the sincere bigotry of the Roman Catho- lics and the proud intolerance of the English Churchmen, had only given place to a fervent, but narrow piety, which like them, would brook no opposition, mistook differences of opinion for hostility, and watched all other creeds with a jealous and unchristian eye. Forgetful of the truth that all cannot think alike : mixing essentials with non-essentials in blind confusion, and armed with the cant and loose learning of the day, men went forth to controversy as the Knights errant of an earlier and more chivalric, but not more zea- lous age, went forth to battle Each sect became a political party and every party a political sect. Each, in its turn, according to its power, persecuted the other, and all united to persecute the Quakers."
It was in this age and stage of English history that William Penn was born and educated, for he was an educated man, his position and his father's wealth gave him the opportunity of storing his mind with knowledge, such as the schools of that day afforded. It is scarcely necessary for nie to occupy your time in dwelling on the ancestry of William Penn, as historians have placed it on record. But I would remark that he was the son of Admiral Sir William Penn, a distinguished naval officer of Great Britain. A family that had preserved an honorable station and record for fourteen genera- tions His son, of whom we are speaking, was born October 14, 1644, of a pious and high minded mother. It was to her early training and thoughtful religious care, that Penn owed that element of character which marked his after life.
It would appear from the records that it was near the thirty-eighth anniversary of his birth, that Penn first landed on our shores, in the very meridian of his life, with a heart and mind cultivated, chastened and fitted to perform the great work of building a Com- monwealth and be the Law Giver, not only of his own colony, but in his wisdom, framing a code of laws founded on such enlarged views of justice, equity and truth, that they became the source from
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whence were taken, nearly a century afterwards, the leading princi- ples that have become the foundation on which this Nation has built her temple of Liberty, Equality and Justice.
Penn inherited from his father a claim against the Crown for arrears of pay and for various loans to the Admiralty, amounting in 1681 to £16,000 sterling. Penn proposed to the Government to liquidate this debt by a grant of land to him in America. This was strongly opposed by the Privy Council, but the Duke of York favored the petition, and Penn, who was skilled in the methods of Courts, carefully waited, still pressing his claim, till the King, de- sirous of ridding himself of so great a debt, with an empty treasury, thought favorably of transferring unto him lands in the western wilderness in liquidation of the debt. The Lords' Committee on Colonies and the Board of Trade, were quite contemptuous over the idea of establishing over Indians and amidst foreign rivals, a sect of non-resistants. Penn ultimately prevailed and a charter, with specifications and boundaries, was signed March 4, 1681. In con- sideration of two beaver skins annually and a fifth part of all the gold and silver that might be mined, a territory of forty thousand square miles was awarded to him by the King, who gave the name of Pennsylvania to the new grant, in honor of Sir William Penn. "Penn desired it should be called New Wales, as his family origi- nated in that country, and used every effort to have it changed, but the King was inexorable and said, "I am God-father to the territory and will bestow a name."
Shortly after Penn secured his title from the King, he made deeds to many of his friends and those desiring to emigrate to the new colony, and some of them arrived as early as 1681. Three vessels came over in that year. It had always been his object to live in his Province and manage his affairs. When the ship in which he was to embark was nearly ready, he requested an audience with the King. Said King Charles, "It will not be long before I hear that you have gone into the savages' war kettle. What is to prevent it ?" "Their own inward light," said Penn. "Moreover, as I intend equi- tably to buy their lands, I shall not be molested." "Buy their lands ! Why ? Is not the whole land mine ?" "No, Your Majesty. We have no right to their land; they are the original occupants of the soil." "What ! have I not the right of discovery ?" "Well just suppose that a canoe full of savages should by some accident dis- cover Great Britain, would you vacate or sell ?" The King was as- tonished at the retort and no less at the policy which soon bore such durable fruit.
After his visit to the King, and a day passed with his family in devout exercises and domestic converse, on September 1st, 1682, he set sail in the ship "Welcome," with a hundred passengers, nearly all of whom were Friends from his own county, Sussex. After an unpropitious voyage, they landed on the banks of the Del-
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aware, just Two Hundred years ago. The Dutch and Swedes gave the heartiest welcome to the new Governor. His first act was to naturalize all these inhabitants of the Province. They were duly summoned to the Court House, and he addressed them on the true nature and functions of government. The first session lasted four days. He adopted the rule among the speakers (perhaps it would be well if some legislatures would adopt the same) that none speak but once before the question is put, nor after but once. Penn pre- sided. No four days were ever more harmoniously spent in laying the foundations of society.
Having thus secured proprietary jurisdiction he issued a liberal advertisement of the inducements for emigration :
"He declared among other things that he wished to establish a just and righteous government in his Province, that others might take example by it. That there was not room enough in England for such a holy experiment. Government is a part of religion it- self. A thing sacred in its institution and end. Any government is free to the people under it, whatever be the frame where the law rules and the people are a party to those laws." Governments depend upon men, not men upon governments.
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