History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 60

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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The first essays in the matter of literary production we observe, from what has been said in the foregoing, were made on the subject of religious discussion. Onr provincial literature, in its inception, was thus, to a degree, like that of the classical states in their infancy, which opened with hymns in houor of the gods. Counting themselves in Pennsylvania, as in New England, exiles for the sake of religion, their written thoughts might be expected to be upon that for the sake of which they had betaken themselves away from their native places. George Keith, rest-

1 In volume i. (page 368) are given in a note the proceedings of the Yearly Meeting in Burlington in 1692, In "Their Testimony and Decin- ration against George Keith," and an appended "joining with onr brethren in their Testimony against that spirit of railing, lying, slan- dering, and falsely accusing which hath risen and acted notoriously In George Keith and his adherents," ete .; also of the Yearly Meeting In London, in the Third month, 1694, in which it was unanimously de- clared " that the said George Keith was gone from the blessed unity of the peaceable spirit of our Lord Jeste Christ, and hath thereby eepa- rated himself from the holy fellowship of the Church of Christ; and that while he is in an unreconciled and uncharitable state he ought not tu preach or pray in any of Friends' Meetings, nor be owned or received as one of us until," etc. The historian then proceeds thue: "He thenceforward became a public and hitter enemy, as far as in him ley, against the Quakers in general, preaching and writing agoinat them with all imagroable virulency, in which he appeared afterward to be employed by their adversaries for that purpose ; for, having joined with the Episcopal Clergy in England, and served there for some time as a Vicar, ordained by the Bishop of London, ho afterward returned to America, where, as a Clergyman in orders, he officiated in his new func- tion for about twelve months, and having there given the Quakers all the trouble in his power, he returned again to England by way of Fir- ginia. In this visit, it is said, he was generally slighted, both by those who had been his adherente and others; and that hie conduct was so glaringly inconsistent with his former pretensions, and his behavior toward the Quakers so manifestly arising from a malignant disposition of mind and disappointed malice, notwithstanding all the superior abil- Itica which he possessed and made nee of, he was universally despieed by sober and thinking people of all socletles."

Gratifying as it was to toll these thlags, there was probably a more serene enjoyment In that which follows:

" After his return to England he was fixed inn benefice in Sussex, and continued to write against his former Friends as a bitter enemy, but, as far as appears, with a sinklug reputation. At last, on his death-bed, from a well-authenticated account, it is asserted he thue expressed bim- self: ' I wish I had died when I was a Quaker; for then I am sure it would have been well with my soul.'"

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less, pugnacious, though perhaps sincere, or believing himself to be so, had already waged a fierce warfare against Cotton Mather and the New England Puri- tans. His first tract in this contest is said to have been the first book published in Pennsylvania. Such a spirit was not at home among the peaceful Quakers, and when they excluded him from their meeting the torrent of resentment he poured upon them, and the sight of the followers that he had subtracted from them, were more than they could endure, and they proceeded, with such results as we have seen. Their spiritual triumph was complete when the Yearly Meeting in London indorsed their "Testimony," and they doubtless felt a sense of relief when Keith went over bodily to the Church of England. Perhaps they enjoyed the sweet sense of full forgiveness when they heard how, upon his death-bed, he had sighed and wished that he had died while in their pious, peaceful fold.

Edward Penington, in 1695, wrote "The Discoverer Discovered," "Rabshakeh Rebuked, and his Rail- ing Accusations Refuted," and a "Reply to Thomas Crisp," and in 1696 "Some Brief Observations upon George Keith's Earnest Expostulation," and a "Modest Detection of George Keith's (Miscalled) Vindication of his Earnest Expostulation." John Penington, M.D., of the same family (descendants of Isaac Penington, a noted English Quaker), who per- ished in his devoted services to the victims of the yellow fever, in 1793, was a contributor to the Colum- bian Magazine, published in 1790,-"Chemical and Economical Essays to Illustrate the Connection be- tween Chemistry and the Arts," and "Inaugural Dis- sertation on the Phenomena, Causes, and Effects of Fermentation."

Germantown, it appears from the work of Gabriel Thomas, a Londoner, who visited Pennsylvania, sail- ing with the first ship that came there in 1681,1 had the honor of manufacturing the first paper in the province, there being, according to him, as early as 1697, "all sorts of very good paper in the German town." By this time the press may be said to have been fairly settled. Its representative in the suc- cession to William Bradford was one Reynier Jansen, who, in 1699, printed the first book that the province had produced upon subjects other than that relating to religion.

Jonathan Dickinson, an English Quaker, had beeu residing in the island of Jamaica. In 1796 he emi- grated with his family to Philadelphia. During the voyage the ship in which he sailed was wrecked on the coast of Florida, and the passengers, falling among savages, suffered divers misfortunes until res- cued by the Spanish Governor of St. Augustine. In the fullness of his gratitude the traveler, upon

reaching Philadelphia, wrote and had published an account of these perils and sufferings. The title of the book reads thus: "God's protecting Provi- dence man's surest help and defense in times of the greatest difficulty and most imminent danger; evi- denced in the remarkable deliverance of divers per- sons from the devouring waves of the sea, among which they suffered shipwreck; and also from the more cruelly devouring jaws of the Cannibals of Florida. Faithfully related by one of the persons concerned herein, Jonathan Dickinson." The author was anxious that his book should receive the credit to which he believed it entitled; yet he was not without apprehension that readers outside of his community might suspect exaggeration of the hair- breadth escapes and other wonderful things therein related. So he says of himself,-"The writer is a man well known in this town, of good credit and re- pute, on whose fidelity and veracity those who have any knowledge of him will readily relie, without suspecting fallacy." This not very immodest self- laudation proved to have been well deserved, as the longer he continued to live the more he was honored, being made one of the Governor's Council, and chosen from among his colleagues master in chancery, and in time made chief justice of the province. His book has been said by some who have read it to be an un- usually interesting and pathetic narrative. The pref- ace, among other things, tells of one Robert Barrow, an English Quaker, who, having obeyed the spirit that required him to leave his home and native coun- try for missionary labors, had been for a year or two in Philadelphia, and for as long a time in the West Indies, and lately a fellow-passenger with the author and a sharer in his sufferings. These had entirely broken down his constitution, and he survived. the reaching of Philadelphia only four or five days. He was of the old sect of Quakers, without a drop of adulteration of the heresies of George Keith. They took him on a stretcher to "Samuel Carpenter's house," and one of his first questions was as to what had become of "George Keith's people." On hear- ing how they had been discomfited and utterly routed he rejoiced intensely at heart, and remained in this frame to the last. A copy of this work is now in the Philadelphia Library.

It is noteworthy that in that society books, alman- acs, and pamphlets were anterior by several years to newspapers. This fact appears strange now when the newspaper is so quick to follow the march of popu- lation, and can flourish, or seem to flourish, when that population is sparse, and with little means be- sides what are necessary to pressing domestic wants to pay the printer. Yet the latter will "go West" along with other bold adventurers, for he counts on the knowledge that there will be enough to keep from starving the man who goes to give notoriety to them, individual and corporate. It was not until 1719 that the first newspaper was

1 An Historical and Geographical Account of the Province and Coun- try of Penusilvadie, and of West New Jersey, in America, etc., With a Map of both Countries. By Gabriel Thomas, who resided there about fifteen years. London, 1698.

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printed in Philadelphia. But it is safe to say that this delay was due, more than any other cause, to the treatment received by the first printer, treat- ment that sent him an exile into another province. Yet the name of Bradford must be further connected with Philadelphia literature. At the time of his exile William had a son, then six years old, Andrew, who, when he grew up, returned to his native city, and conducted the business begun by his father. It is probable that the latter, after his removal to New York, had kept an interest in Philadelphia. From 1712 to 1723, Andrew was the only printer in the city. That was doubtless a proud day, that 22d day of December, 1719, when on a half-sheet of the quarto size appeared the American Weekly Mercury, printed by Andrew Bradford, in the Second Street, to be sold by himself and John Copson, on Market Street, at the price of ten shillings a year. It was indeed a slender beginning. The paper contained little that appertained to existing conditions in Phil- adelphia, beyond an occasional advertisement of a shopkeeper or a rare notice of a death. It was made np mostly of extracts from English journals, and these not always well selected. One of the early advertise- ments is of one Matthew Cowley, running thus: " These are to give notice that Matthew Cowley, a skinner by trade, is removed from Chestnut Street to dwell in Walnut Street, near the Bridge, where all persons may have their buck and doe skins drest, and He can also furnish you with bindings," etc.

Andrew Bradford did not seem to have inherited a very large part of the courage of his father. Pos- sibly when he returned to his native place it had been understood between his father and himself that he should learn from the experience of the first trial to keep himself out of danger of giving such offense to the powers that were as to be subjected to similar experience on his own part. At all events his be- havior was sufficiently subdued on an occasion in 1725 when he appeared before the Council. The following is an extract from the minutes of that body :

"At a Council at Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 1725, the board being informed that Andrew Bradford, the printer, attended, according to order, he was called in and examined concerning a late pamphlet entitled 'Some Remedies proposed for restoring the Sunk Credit of the Province of Pennsylvania.' Where- upon he declared that he knew nothing of the print- ing or the publishing the said pamphlet ; and being reprimanded by the Governor1 for publishing a cer- tain paragraph in his newspaper, called the Weekly American Mercury, of the 2d of January last, he said it was inserted by his journeymen who composed the said paper without his knowledge, and that he was very sorry for it, and for which he humbly submitted him- self, and asked pardon of the Governor and the board.

Whereupon the Governor told him that he must not for the future presnme to publish anything relating to or concerning the affairs of this government, or the government of any of his Majesty's colonies, withont the permission of the Governor or secretary of this province for the time being. And then he was dismissed."

We see from this that the press was yet far from being free, when its representative, upon the sum- mons of Governor and Council, must appear before them and get his reprehension and admonition. This want of entire freedom was doubtless the canse of the poverty of publications even of a purely literary character. When a publisher had to scan closely what was offered, so as to avoid offending the powers that were, and be subjected to the loss as well of his " tools" (as these were styled in the case of William Bradford's type) as of his own personal liberty, native ambition must be slow in getting the encour- agement needed for its development. Yet, besides the Latin verses of Makin, the school-master, there had been, before the establishment of the Mercury, a few essays, in a small and somewhat secret way, to pay honor to the muse of poetry. The very earliest production of this kind that is known is from an anthor who, whatever may have been his opinions of his poctical talents, had worldly wisdom enough to keep himself incognito, as did his publisher, though we must suspect the latter to have been none other than William Bradford. The poem appeared in 1693, the year after the great case of the latter was tried. It was entitled " A Paraphrastical Exposition on a Letter from a Gentleman in Philadelphia to his Friend in Boston, concerning a certain Person who compared Himself with Mordecai." One reason for suspecting Bradford as the printer is that the poem is an attack upon Samuel Jennings. This per- son ("Sam Jennings," the defendant styled him at the trial) was one of the justices who presided at that famous trial. We might suspect Keith to have been the author if the poem had been better, for Keith was a man of talent and culture. It doubtless came from one of the seceding sect of Christian Quakers, as the leader named his followers. Later, in 1707, another poet was made known to fame through the publication of the disputes between James Logan and the Assembly. He rejoiced in the name of William Rakestraw. All we know of this poet was gotten from the published proceedings of his trial as told in Logan's defense against the charges of the Assembly, and the only reference is to what are called his " several scurrillons libels and rhymes against the proprietor and his secretary." In what way the rhymster obeyed the order "to make satisfaction" we have not found.

Yet another poet lived (we could not say he flour- ished) before the birth of the American Mercury. This was David French. There was a Col. John French who hore a conspicuous part in the early times of the

I Governor Kelth.

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lower counties, afterwards become the State of Dela- ware, and it has been supposed that he was the father of the poet, though there is no evidence of this fact, except that it was known that he came from the same region. He was evidently a person of classical edu- cation, and gifted with considerable poetic talent. Nothing has been ascertained positively of him, ex- cept the fact that he was acting at the time of his death, in 1742, as prothonotary of the court at New Castle, and was buried in the yard at Chester Church. For the preservation of his poetical effusions the world is indebted to Mr. Parke, one of the officers of the army in the war of the Revolution, who speaks of the author as "the learned and facetious David French, Esq., late of Delaware Counties." Mr. Parke himself was a gentleman somewhat facetions iu his turn of mind, as will appear from reading what he said on their rescue by himself from destruction : "They had been consigned to oblivion, through the obliterating medium of rats and moths, under the sequestered canopy of an antiquated trunk." By whom the discovery was made Mr. Parke does not say. Probably he himself was the enterprising searcher and rescuer of the best of our very earliest poetical literature. These verses are poetical trans- Jations of some of the odes of Anacreon and two of Ovid's elegies. Some of them are decidedly fine, and evince unmistakably that their author was a man of high culture, who had studied poetry much and practiced its composition not a little.

But a poet must have a medium for the expression of his ideas. This came not until 1719, when the younger Bradford returned to his native place and set up the American Mercury. The new printer will learn from his father's experience not to meddle with matters appertaining to the government in this or any other of his Majesty's colonies.1 Not long after- ward another printing-press was started by one Samuel Keimer, who was one of the sect of fanatics called Camisards, or French Prophets, among the Cévennes Mountains of France, who were persecuted in the reign of Louis XIV. Keimer had written a

1 Benjamin Franklin, in his autobiography, makes a mistake, that is corrected by Sparks, regarding the rank, as to date, of the American Mercury, putting his brother's New England Courant " in the place be- longing to another, second in the colonies." " This," says Sparks, " was written from recollection, sod it is not surprising that, after the lapse of fifty years, the author's memory should have failed him in regard to a fact of small importance. The New England Courant was the fourth newspaper that appeared in America. The first nuoiber of the Boston News Letter was published April 24, 1704. This was the first newspaper published in America. The Boston Gazette commenced Dec. 21, 1719 ; the American Weekly Mercury, at Philadelphia, Dec. 22, 1719 ; the New England Courant, Aug. 21, 1721. Dr. Franklin's error of memory prob- ably originated in the circumstance of his brother having been the prioter of the Boston Gazette when it was first published. This was the second paper published io America." It appears from this that the Americon Weekly Mercury was the third, and only one day behind the second. Yet Philadelphia was far ahead of Boston in this matter, taking into consideration the date of the settlement of each. It was more than ninety years from the settlement of Boston to the establish- ment of the Courant, and only forty from the founding of Philadelphia to the Mercury. A longer time had elapsed in the case of New York.

book entitled " A Brand Plucked from the Burning," published in London in 1718. At this time he had diverged considerably from the religious faith prac- ticed among the Cévennes. Franklin, who made his acquaintance when he reached Philadelphia, being then a lad of seventeen, says of him, " At this time he did not profess any particular religion, but some- thing of all on occasion ; was very ignorant of the world, and had, as I afterwards found, a good deal of the knave in his composition."

It is amusing to read the account that Franklin gives of his first acquaintance with these first printers Bradford and Keimer. Of the elder Bradford the phi- losopher certainly had not the high opinion which later writers have held concerning the man whom they style the " Father of the Freedom of the Press." The epithet "crafty old sophister" seems to us, however, not to have been wholly deserved, at least as appears from the account of the facts that led to its application. Frank- lin having applied to Andrew Bradford for work, William, now resident in New York, but happening to be in Philadelphia at that time, undertook to try to get for the lad employment with Keimer, as An- drew had no place for him. The two went together to Keimer's shop. Keimer, not knowing William Brad- ford, and supposing him to be a resident of the town, spoke boastingly of his prospects, as if he expected soon to get the greater part of the business in his line. The old gentleman, who was yet interested in the Philadelphia house, not telling who he was, " drew him on, by artful questions and starting little doubts, to explain all his views, what interest he relied on, and in what manner he intended to proceed. I," says Franklin, " who stood by and heard all, saw immedi- ately that one of them was a crafty old sophister and the other a mere novice."

The printer, on Franklin's first engagement with him, was engaged in the pious duty of celebrating in verse the name and character of a deceased poet and friend. We regret that not more have been preserved of the poems of Aquila Rose, who died in 1723, at the age of twenty-eight. This was just before the coming of Franklin. He was clerk to the Assembly, and was employed in the printing-office of Andrew Bradford at the time of his death. He was spoken of as a young man of excellent character and promise, and his early death was universally regretted. Some years after his death, his son Joseph, who was an ap- prentice of Franklin, collected as many of his pieces as he could find and printed them in a pamphlet, along with those that had been written to his memory. The advertisement of the son appeals in a somewhat touching manner to those persons who may have borrowed without returning some of his father's works. He says, " The good reception the poetical manu- script writings of my deceased father, Aquila Rose, have met with in this province from men of wit and taste, with a desire of some of these to see them printed, induced me to collect what I could. But

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many of his best pieces were lent out after his decease by my mother to persons who have forgot to return them, and perhaps the publishing these few will put them in mind of sending them to me." Rose was, as Franklin said, "a pretty poet," and had he lived would have attained some fame. The following are the last three stanzas from his piece styled

"TO HIS COMPANION AT SEA.

"Secure, should earth in ruins lie, Should seasand skiee in raga combine, Unmovd, all dangers we'll defy, And feast our souls with generous wine.

" For should a fear each sense possess Of chilly death and endless fate, Our sorrow ne'ar can make it less, But wine alone can dissipate.

"Then fill the glass, nay, fill a bowl, And fill it up with sparkling wine ; It shall the strungeat grief control, And make soft wit with pleasure join."

Keimer, when Franklin first met him, had on hand a job that was beset with difficulties of a kind more peculiar than we have ever heard of as befalling a poet. Anxious to do justice to the memory of his friend in verses that were to live, the difficulty was not in making the verses, but in introducing them decently to immortality through the medium of the press. His printing-stock consisted of "an old shattered press and one small worn-out font of English." The poet needed neither pen, nor ink, nor paper, nor time, nor reflection. He is the only poet that ever lived, perhaps, who composed his poetry in the types, as Franklin says, "directly out of his head." Hasting though he was to immortalize his friend, it was some days before his new employé's services could be availed, and his elegy could be printed. "Keimer made verses too, but very indifferently." This was the judgment of the employé, and we must admit that the period occupied in the composition was quite enough for a poem that contains the following as a specimen :

" Beloved he was by most, his very nama Doth with deep silence his great worth proclaim, As if kind Heaven had secrets to disclose By royal terms of Eagle and a Rose ; The arms most near akin to England's crown Each royal emblem this sweet truth does own As lively noble images affords, One's queen of flowers, the other king of birds."

The French prophet must continue to move in his eccentric course in obedience to a rather insane love of notoriety. One of his first movements after getting to Philadelphia was made in a temporary concern for the negroes. As this appears to have been the first attempt in the line of giving education to that race, we insert the advertisement of the project. It was put forth on Feb. 5, 1722:

"Take nutice, There is Intely arrived in this city u person who freely offers his service, to teach his poor brethren, the mak negroes, to rend the Holy Scriptures, etc., in a very uncommon, expeditious, and delightful manner, without any manner of expense t their respective masters or mulstresses. All serious persons, whether Roman Catholics, Episcopalins,

Presbyterians, Independents, Water-Baptista, or people called Quakers, who are truly concerned for their salvation, may advise with tha said person at hia lodgings,-at the dwelling-house of John Read, carpentar, in Hight Street, at Philadelphia, every morning till eight of the clock, except on the SEVENTH DAY."

The philanthropist thought it worth while to signify that he was a poet also, and so he closed the advertisement as follows :

" The great JEHOVAH from above, Whose Christian Name is LIGHT and LOVE, In all his Works will take delight, And wash poor HAGAR'S BLACK MOOR white.

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 60

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992