USA > Pennsylvania > Lives of the governors of Pennsylvania : with the incidental history of the state, from 1609 to 1873 > Part 6
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In the same year, he was committed a second time to New- gate prison for preaching at a Friends' meeting. During the six months that he was immured in that loathsome abode of misery and crime, he employed much of his time in writing on religious subjects. One of the most important of his tracts then produced is entitled, "The Great Cause of Liberty of Conscience once more briefly Debated and Defended by the Authority of Reason, Scripture, and Antiquity."
In 1672, being in the 28th year of his age, he married Gulielma Maria Springett, daughter of Sir William Springett, formerly of Darling, in Sussex, who was killed in the Civil War at the siege of Bamber. She was beautiful in person, and was esteemed a woman of extraordinary merit and great sweetness of temper. Penn considered it " a match of Provi- dence's making," and says, "She loved me with a deep and
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upright love, choosing me before all her many suitors." Soon after their marriage they went to live at Rickmansworth, in IIertfordshire.
In the year 1676 Penn was engaged, with others, in fram- ing a constitution for the colony of West New Jersey. The province of New Jersey was divided by a deed of partition, signed by Sir George Carteret on the one part, to whom was conveyed the eastern section bordering on the Atlantic, and by Edward Byllinge, William Penn, Gawen Lourie, and Nicholas Lucas, Trustees, on the other part, to whom was assigned the western section bordering on the Delaware. The Trustees, of whom Penn appears to have been the lead- ing spirit, wrote to the colonists concerning the Constitution in these words : "Here we lay a foundation for after ages to understand their liberty as men and Christians, that they may not be brought in bondage but by their own consent; for we put the power in the people, that is to say, they to meet and choose one honest man for each propriety who hath sub- scribed the concessions [or Constitution]; all these men to meet in an assembly, there to make and repeal laws, to choose a gov- ernor or a commissioner, and twelve assistants, to execute the laws during pleasure; so every man is capable to choose or be chosen. No man to be arrested, condemned, imprisoned, or molested in his estate or liberty but by twelve men of the neighborhood; no man to lie in prison for debt, but that his estate satisfy as far as it will go, and be set at liberty to work; no person to be called in question or molested for his con- science, or for worshipping according to his conscience." *
Under the management of Penn and his associates, the colony of West New Jersey was prosperous. Colonists, mostly Friends, arrived in considerable numbers, and the Indians, being kindly and justly dealt with, proved to be excellent neighbors.
In the same province, ten years before, the statutes of Carteret and Berkeley required each colonist to provide himself with a good musket, powder, and balls; but now the
* Smith's Hist. of N. J., p. 81.
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Friends came among their red brethren armed only with the weapons of the Christian's warfare,-integrity, benevolence, and truth ; they met them without fear or suspicion, trusting in that universal principle of light and life which visits all minds, and would, if not resisted, bind the whole human family in one harmonious fraternity.
The experience gained by Penn in framing the government of New Jersey, and the information he acquired concerning the adjacent territories, prepared him for that great enter- prise of founding a colony on the western bank of the Dela- ware, which proved to be the crowning achievement of his useful and eventful life. He inherited from his father a claim on the British Government for money advanced and services rendered, to the amount of sixteen thousand pounds; and in the year 1680, petitioned Charles II. to grant him, in lieu of this sum, a tract of country in America, lying north of Mary- land, " bounded on the cast by the Delaware river, on the west limited as Maryland, and northward to extend as far as plantable."
The object of this enterprise was to provide a peaceful home for the persecuted members of his own Society, and an asylum for the oppressed of every nation ; where the pure and peaccable principles of Christianity might be carried out in practice.
After many delays, he had the gratification to learn that his patent was prepared for the royal signature, which was af- fixed to it under date of the 4th of March, 1681, the name of Pennsylvania being chosen by the King.
Within a month from the date of the charter, the King issued a declaration, stating the grant that had been made to Penn, and requiring all persons settled in the Province to yield obedience to him as absolute proprietor and governor.
About the same time, Penn addressed a letter to the in- habitants of the Province, in which he says: " These are to let you know that it hath pleased God, in his providence, to cast you within my lot and care. It is a business that, though I never undertook before, yet God hath given me an under-
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standing of my duty and an honest mind to do it uprightly. I hope you will not be troubled at your change and the King's choice, for you are now fixed at the mercy of no gov- ernor that comes to make his fortune great. You shall be governed by laws of your own making, and live a free, and, if you will, a sober and industrious people. I shall not usurp the right of any or oppress his person. God has furnished me with a better resolution, and given me his grace to keep it."
This letter, with the King's declaration, was taken to the Province by Sir William Markham, a cousin of the Proprie- tary, who was commissioned to act as Deputy Governor. Cap tain Markham arrived at New York on the 21st of June, where he obtained an order from the Lieutenant-Governor of that Province for the surrender of the territory embraced in the charter of Pennsylvania, which had previously been under his jurisdiction.
Having taken these measures to secure his title to the Prov- ince, Penn drew up a description of it from the best infor- mation he then possessed, and issued proposals for its coloni- zation. The conditions on which land might be taken up were as follows : Those who wish to buy shares in the Prov- ince can have 5000 acres for £100, and to pay annually one shilling quit-rent for each hundred acres, the quit-rent not to begin till 1684. Those who only rent are to pay one penny per acre, not to exceed 200 acres. Persons who take over servants are to be allowed' 50 acres per head, and 50 acres to every servant when his time is expired.
The conditions agreed upon between the Proprietary and some of the principal purchasers who were to be engaged with him in the enterprise, evinced an carnest desire that justice should be done to the Indians. From the King, Penn had purchased " the right of undisturbed colonizing," but he looked upon the Indians as the rightful owners of the soil, except that portion of it which they had voluntarily relin- quished by treaty.
The conditions or " concessions" are dated the 11th of
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July, 1681, and consist of twenty articles. The first ten re- late to the survey of a city, "In the most convenient place upon the river for health and navigation, the apportionment of city lots to country purchasers, the laying out of roads, and the working of mines. In the remaining articles, regulations are established for dealing with the natives. Goods sold to them or exchanged for furs, were to be exhibited in open market, in order that imposition might be prevented, or frauds detected ; no colonist was allowed to affront or wrong an Indian, without incurring the same penalty as if committed against his fellow-planter; all differences between Indians and colonists were to be settled by a jury of twelve men, six of whom should be Indians ; and the natives were to have all the privileges of planting their grounds and providing for their families enjoyed by the colonists."
Penn was at this time offered very advantageous terms for a monopoly of the Indian trade in his Province, but he declined the proposition, from a belief that such a transfer would be a dereliction of his duty to God. Writing to a friend, he says: "I would not abuse ITis love, nor act unworthy of Ilis provi- dence, and so defile what came to me clean."
In the Spring of 1682, Penn was actively engaged in pre- parations for his voyage to America, and in drafting a frame of government for his infant colony. The admirable consti- tution and code of laws prepared in England, with the view of being submitted to the colonists of Pennsylvania, is sup- posed to have originated with the Proprietary ; but there were among the Friends concerned with him in the enterprise several persons of enlarged minds and liberal ideas, who per- formed an important, though subordinate, part in that great work.
The frame of government agreed upon in England is dated the 25th of April, 1682. It was published the following month, accompanied by a preface explanatory of the general principles of government. It was afterwards modified in form, but its distinctive features are still found in the Consti- tution of Pennsylvania, and have exercised a salutary influence
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on the legislation of other States, as well as in the formation of the Federal Union. The great principle of religious liberty had before been proclaimed in Rhode Island and in Maryland ; it was reserved for Penn only to give it a clearer expression and a wider field of action. The privilege allowed to every man, of worshipping God according to the dictates of his own conscience, is not placed on the ground of humane toleration, but established as an inherent right.
In his penal code, the founder of Pennsylvania was far in advance of his age. IIe looked upon reformation as the great end of retributive justice, and, in pursuance of this idea, ex- empted from the death-penalty about two hundred offences which were capitally punished by the English law. He wisely observed, " They weakly err who think there is no other use of government than correction, which is the coarsest part of it." To provide the means of a good education for every child, and to see that all are taught some useful trade or pro- fession, would do more to promote peace and happiness than all the machinery of courts and prisons.
There was one defect in the Constitution of Pennsylvania, which was beyond the power of Penn to avoid or remedy. HIe held the Province as a fief from the Crown; he was a feudal sovereign, acting as the executive of a democracy; and these two elements were found incompatible. His sweetness of temper and weight of character enabled him, while in the Province, to maintain the balance of power; but in his ab- sence, no deputy could be found to supply his place ; and to this cause may be attributed many of the dissensions that afterwards arose. When we take into view that his Constitu- tion was then unparalleled for its excellence, and that he ever showed a willingness to alter it in accordance with the wants and capacities of the people, we shall find no other legislator in ancient or modern times, who so richly merits the gratitude of posterity.
Penn, after much negotiation, obtained from the Duke of York two deeds of feoffment, dated the 24th of August, 1682, by one of which he conveyed the town of New Castle and 6
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the country lying within a circle of twelve miles about it, and by the other he conveyed all the land on Delaware Bay, from twelve miles south of New Castle to Cape Henlopen. These Territories, which now form the State of Delaware, were to be held "in free and common socage; " and he was to pay to the Duke, for the first, the yearly rent of five shil- lings; and for the second, " one rose at the feast of St. Michael the Archangel," yearly, if demanded, together with a "moiety of all the rents and profits thereof."
Having made his arrangements for a passage to Pennsylva- nia in the ship Welcome, Greenway, master, Penn addressed a touching and instructive letter to his wife and children, and embarked at Deal, in company with about one hundred pas- sengers, mostly Friends, from Sussex, where his house at Worminghurst was seated.
During the passage the small-pox made its appearance with great virulence, and occasioned much distress. One of the passengers writing of the voyage, says : " The good conver- sation of William Penn was very advantageous to all the com- pany. ITis singular care was manifested in contributing to the necessities of many who were sick of the small-pox then on board, of which about thirty died." They came within the Capes on the 24th of October, 1682, and arrived before the town of New Castle on the 27th of the same month.
Penn was joyfully welcomed by the inhabitants, whom he called together at the Court-House, where he explained to them the nature of the government he came to establish, and received from the magistrates written pledges of fidelity and obedience.
On his arrival at Upland, he changed its name to Chester, and tradition relates that he proceeded thence with some of his friends, in an open boat, up the river Delaware. After passing four miles above the mouth of the Schuylkill, they came to a place called Coaquannock, where there was a high bold shore, covered with lofty pines. Here the site of the infant city of Philadelphia had been established, and the Pro- prietary was welcomed by the old inhabitants, Swedes and
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Dutch, with some of the Friends who had gone before him, and anxiously awaited his arrival.
After viewing the site chosen for the city, giving such di- rections for building as he thought expedient, and attending some meetings of Friends, Penn went to New York, "to pay his duty to the Duke of York by visiting his province."
IIe returned from this journey towards the end of No- vember, and there is reason to believe that it was at this time that he held the treaty of amity with the Indians, which has been so widely celebrated as the " Great Treaty," under the elm-tree at Kensington,- a transaction which has been illus- trated by the pencil of West, and has received the highest praise from historians. It appears that there were at least three Indian tribes present: the Lenni Lenape, living near the banks of the Delaware; the Mingoes, a tribe sprung from the Iroquois, and settled at Conestoga; and the Shawanees, a southern tribe that had removed to the Susquehanna.
It is believed that Governor Penn was accompanied, as usual, by some members of his Council, as well as his secre- tary and surveyor. Tradition relates that a number of prom- inent Friends were present, among whom was an ancestor of Benjamin West, whose portrait is introduced by the artist into his celebrated painting of the treaty-scene. We must not take our idea of Penn's appearance from West's picture, in which he is represented as a corpulent old man ; for at that time he was in the prime of life, being only thirty-eight years of age, strong and active, graceful in person, and pleas- ing in manners.
Under the wide-branching elm, the Indian tribes were as- sembled, all unarmed; for no warlike weapon was allowed to mar the scene. In front were the chiefs, with their counsel- lors and aged men on either hand. Behind them, in the form of a half-moon, sat the young men and some of the aged ma- trons; while beyond, and disposed in still widening circles, were seen the youth of both sexes. Among the assembled chiefs, there was one who held a conspicuous rank, - the Great Sachem, Taminend, one of Nature's noblemen, revered for his wisdom and beloved for his goodness.
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When Penn and his associates approach the council-fire, Taminend puts on his chaplet, surmounted by a small horn, the emblem of kingly power, and then, through an inter- preter, he announces to the Proprietary that the nations are ready to hear him.
Being thus called upon, he begins his speech : "The Great Spirit," he says, " who made me and you, who rules the heavens and the earth, and who knows the innermost thoughts of men, knows that I and my friends have a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with you, and to serve you to the utmost of our power. It is not our custom to use hostile weapons against our fellow-creatures, for which reason we have come unarmed. Our object is not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good.
" We are met on the broad pathway of good faith and good will, so that no advantage is to be taken on either side, bit all to be openness, brotherhood, and love." IIere the Gov- ernor unrolls a parchment, containing stipulations for trade and promises of friendship, which, by means of an interpreter, he explains to them, article by article ; and placing it on the ground, he observes that the ground shall be common to both people. IIe then proceeds : " I will not do as the Maryland- ers did, that is, call you children or brothers only ; for parents are apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers some- times will differ; neither will I compare the friendship be- tween us to a chain, for the rain may rust it, or a tree may fall and break it; but I will consider you as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts."
This speech being listened to by the Indians in perfect silence and with much gravity, they take some time to delib- erate, and then the king orders one of his chiefs to speak to William Penn.
The Indian orator advances, and, in the king's name, salutes him; then taking him by the hand, he makes a speech, pledg- ing kindness and good neighborhood, and that the Indians and English must live in love as long as the sun and moon shall endure.
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This treaty contained no contract for land ; its pre-eminent importance consists in this,-it was the first time that William Penn had met the Indian chiefs in council, to make with them the firm league of friendship which was never violated, and gave rise to a kindly intercourse between the Friends and the aborigines, which continues to this day. It was like laying the corner-stone of a great edifice, whose enduring strength and beautiful proportions have called forth the admiration of suc- ceeding ages. The whole conduct of Penn towards the In- dians was founded in justice and love ; he not only paid them for their lands, but employed every means in his power to promote their happiness and moral improvement.
The Indians, on their part, treated the colonists in the most hospitable manner, supplying them frequently with venison, beans, and maize, and refusing compensation. For Penn they felt, and often expressed the utmost confidence and esteem. So great was the reverence inspired by his virtues, that his name was embalmed in their affections, and handed down to successive generations. IIeckewelder, in his history of the Indian nations, speaks of the care they took, by means of strings or belts of wampum, to preserve the memory of their treaties, and especially those they made with William Penn. IIe says : "They frequently assembled together in the woods, in some shady spot, as nearly as possible similar to those where they used to meet their brother Miquon (Penn), and there lay all his words and speeches, with those of his descendants, on a blanket or clean piece of bark, and with great satisfaction go successively over the whole. This prac- tice, which I have repeatedly witnessed, continued until the year 1780, when disturbances which took place put an end to it, probably forever."
The name of Onas was given to William Penn by the Iro- quois, whom the Proprietary, and generally the English Colo- nial Governments, supported in their claim of superiority over the other Indian tribes. It seems that the Delawares adopted the name, at least in their public speeches; but among themselves they called him in their own language --
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Miquon. Both these words signify a quill or pen. it is cer- tain that no other man ever attained so great an influence over their minds ; and the affectionate intercourse between them and the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, which continued as long as the principles of the first colonists preserved their ascen- dency, is the most beautiful exemplification afforded by his- tory that the peaceable doctrines of Christ are adapted to promote the security and happiness of man.
On the 4th of December, 1682, a General Assembly met at Chester, composed of representatives from the province of Pennsylvania and the three Lower Counties called the Terri- tories. At this session was passed the " Great Law," or code of laws, consisting of sixty-nine sections, which long formed the basis of jurisprudence in Pennsylvania. It embraces most of the laws agreed upon in England, and some others after- wards suggested. Among the latter is a clause, attributed to the Proprietary, requiring the estates of intestates to go to the wife and children; which, by abrogating the English law of primogeniture, was instrumental in promoting that general equality of condition and division of property deemed so essential in a republican government.
The first section of this code has been much admired, and is here subjoined, viz .:
" Almighty God being only Lord of conscience, Father of lights and spirits, and the author as well as the object of all Di- vine knowledge, faith, and worship; who only can enlighten the mind and persuade and convince the understanding of people in due reverence to his sovereignty over the souls of mankind; It is enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no person now, or at any time hereafter, living in this province, who shall confess and acknowledge one Almighty God to be the Creator, upholder and ruler of the world, and that pro- fesseth him or herself obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly under the civil government, shall in any wise be molested or prejudiced for his or her conscientious persuasion or practice; nor shall he or she at any time be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious worship-place or ministry whatever, contrary to his or her mind, but shall freely and fully enjoy his or her Christian liberty in that respect without
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uny interruption or reflection ; and if any person shall abuse or deride any other for his or her different persuasion and practice in matters of religion, such shall be looked upon as a disturber of the peace, and be punished accordingly.
"But to the end that looseness, irreligion, and atheism may not creep in, under pretence of conscience, in this province :
" Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that ac- cording to the good example of the primitive Christians, and for the case of the creation, every first-day of the week, called the Lord's Day, people shall abstain from their common toil, and labor, that whether masters, parents, children, or servants, they may the better dispose themselves to read the Scrip- tures of truth at home, or to frequent such meetings of religious worship abroad as may best suit their respective persuasions."
After a session of four days, the Assembly adjourned, affording an example of unanimity and dispatch seldom equalled.
In the spring of 1683 Penn met the Provincial Council at Philadelphia, and the Assembly two days afterwards. The number of councillors and representatives required by the charter being found larger than necessary, a joint committee of the two Houses was appointed to draft a new charter ; which being done, it was read in Council, the members of the Assembly being present; and after some debate, it was agreed to, and signed by the Governor, to whom the old charter was returned, with " the hearty thanks of the whole House." The second charter embraced the same principles as the first, and much of it was in the same language. The number of delegates from each county was reduced to three for the Council and six for the Assembly, with the privi- lege of each IIouse being enlarged with the increase of in- habitants.
By one of the acts passed at this time, provision was made for the appointment, at every County court, of three peace- makers, in the nature of common arbitrators, to hear and de- termine all differences between individuals.
In grateful acknowledgment of the Governor's services,
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and in consideration of his expense in establishing the colony, the Assembly granted him an impost upon certain imports and exports; but he, with a generosity which he had after- wards cause to repent, declined to accept it.
There are on record two deeds for lands purchased of the Indians in the year 1683. The first, signed by kings Tam- inend and Metamequan, conveys their land near Neshaminy Creek and thence to Pennypack. The other is for lands lying between the Schuylkill and Chester rivers.
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