USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Germantown > The settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and the beginning of German emigration to North America > Part 13
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In this community formulas of belief shall have no con- trol. All things wherein the kingdom of God does not exist shall, when they are not in conflict with Scripture or reason, be permitted, such as the outerly form of baptism, the Lord's Supper and such ceremonies, since there is more danger in neglecting these things than in carrying
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The Settlement of Germantown.
them into effect. There shall, and let this be compared with his letters to Cromwell, be built a great gathering place, a hall, in the form of an amphitheatre, with seats arranged one above the other like steps, not alone for the service of the community, but for all sensible men in com- mon. In the hall shall the Holy Scriptures be read and thereafter shall each have the freedom to express briefly his opinion. In this manner differences of sentiment will be prevented, since there will be entire freedom of speech. The community shall strive to keep constantly in view the idea of bringing the good folks out of all sects into com- bination and union, so as to be together a strong guard against perversity and sin.
The direction of the association shall be in the hands of a Governor, who must be at least forty years of age. He shall be chosen by the people. Next to him three men shall be named also by the people, who shall have the management and care of the money of the community. All the office holders must resign each year. Neverthe- less the community shall have the power again to select them. Among these shall be chosen the overseers or directors, men and women, of the different parts or di- visions of the community. The propriety of making changes by turns shall be taken into thought in such a way that a certain rank shall be given to age, and always care shall be taken that those older in service can instruct the new beginners. It is well to be understood that this as- sociation so founded is to be obedient to the government of the country where it is established. It shall pay the taxes and lovingly support the laws of the land in all things which are not contrary to the command of God.
There follow now some rules about the method of deal- ing with those who shall wish to leave the community. In
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Plockhoy's Plans.
the first place each one who shall wish to say farewell shall receive back not only what he brought with him, but his share in the gains, whatever they are, up to the time of his departure. He shall be required to make known to the community in time his intention to depart, so that the directorship can see that the sum taken by him can be provided for. A sum of twelve hundred gulden shall be set apart for this purpose. With respect to large sums, the community reserves to itself the privilege of completing the payment after the lapse of a year's time, provided a fourth part of the debt be actually paid. If a young man or a maiden leaves the community in order to get married, he or she shall receive that part of the accumulated gains made during the time of his or her life there. If no gain has been made within this time, the community will give them something. If it should unluckily turn out that the com- munity should at some time be dissolved, then, after all the creditors have been paid, shall the land and the money which, with free will, have been given for the building up of the association, come to the poor people who have brought nothing into the community, unless there are poor relations of those who have given, out of love, capital to the association. These shall then have equal parts with the others. These are now the principal rules. In such an organization will, according to the opinion of the pro- jector, the association present a beautiful and peaceful sight. Each of the people is received into a restful self- working community, where all is in an entire equipoise. All work for all, each finds satisfaction of his wants. Here no more shall be heard, with the eye turned upon the children who have been born, the sighing wish that he had never married, that he had never been born. There shall be no more oppression of the work people by
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The Settlement of Germantown.
patrons. In the outside world the contractors oppress the workmen, and these pinch, out of hard work, a small re- ward, while in this circle the profits of the contractors overflow and drip down to the benefit and refreshment of the work people. A feeling of calmness penetrates the union. Men shall live there without care or trouble. Losses shall be borne by all together. Safely can men advise the wanderers and ship-wrecked upon the world's sea of [life to turn to the community ; there can they again take heart, again raise up their heads. Honorable trades- men and shopkeepers who are unable to support the struggle of a hard life or the wrestling with oppression may turn to this place of retreat. Brave people who, through sickness or want of work, fall into poverty can here find quiet, for here they are brought into and become parts of a vast organization. Each who works has now the assurance that he has, as the purchaser of his product, the whole association. Is the worker sick? The others work for him. He need have no anxiety for his old days, and is free from the perplexing feeling that he, after twenty or thirty years of almost intolerable work, has no prospect of any return. All extremes are absent from the association. No one is poor and no one is excessively rich. The eagerness to hunt for shadows, the uncertainty between the hope of receiving gain and the fear of mak- ing losses, are entirely absent. Moreover, is he assured that the children whom he leaves after him can here lead a · quiet industrial life without care. After hazards and great risks, or substance or income, he does not reach. Still is he easy in conscience. The end finds him in peace. This equipoise of life shall also appear good to the woman who now, whether she is young and wishes to be married, or whether she is a widow and must take care of herself,
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Plockhoy's Plans.
depends too much upon outerly circumstances, upon the kingdom of this world, upon circumstances or fortune. First in such an association can she find security and steadfastness of life. Nevertheless, give heed to it, says Plockhoy, that this place where each, through his work, can spend a secure life, be not compared to a hospital, an old man's or woman's house where the people already aged come with their stripes, their oppositions, their deeply rooted ills, after their bodies have been lamed or stiffened from hard labor, and their spirits have been destroyed through bad habits. For the most part the people grovel away in the hard earth or sink into such a depth of igno- rance that no glimmer of reason can again enlighten them.
Those who now wish to come into this association please to think, concludes our writer, that only such people shall be received who are brave, intelligent and unpartisan. All others begin to work in the association for hire and can first live in their own houses until they are prepared to come into the full union. In conclusion the writer gave the information that it was first his intention to found such an association in London, then in Bristol and afterwards in Ireland, where much land could be bought for little money, and much wood for building houses and ships and for the preparation of other essentials.
To this plan, which appeared in print in 1659, were added an invitation in English to unite with the association thus described, and a scheme " showing the excess of Christian love and the folly of those who have not considered for what end the Lord of Heaven and Earth has created them " with the quotation from Matthew, 12th Chapter, 50th verse : " For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother." It was a clear demonstration that such a union of men
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The Settlement of Germantown.
meant something since God himself joined them together. Such a society was possible in this association arranged by Peter Cornelius Plockhoy of Zierik Zee. Through such established communal life should the earthly desire for riches or idle honor be restrained. Unity of life should be considered. Real equality could be established. All the childish attention given to mere forms could be thrown aside. Such a peaceful association had been in the early times of Christianity a living truth. But the anti-Christ had known how to destroy the beautiful unity. Since had the Roman Catholic church added abuse upon abuse. Institutions such as that of the lazy monks had stolen in to produce corruption, so that the reformation had again re- stored the ancient truth. Now again must it be awakened in order to break the remaining strength of Satan, the enemy of mankind. We must be Christians not only in name but in fact. Therefore must men unite as true brothers and thus proceed with this scheme.
The whole was concluded with a short letter wherein the people were invited to give their money in order to raise the capital necessary to start the movement. This want was only to be the bridge, since the association, so it was expressly assured, can later stand through its own strength, according to the testimony of credible persons who gave the information that many hundred people, in Zebenbergen121 in Hungary and in the land of the Palatinate, beginning in a small way had not only lived an agreeable life together, but had accumulated means which had enabled them to do good to others not in the association.
Such is a full summary of the social and communistic plan of Plockhoy, as it appeared in the year 1659. In it can be found all the thoughts which, written by Bellers in 1696, gave him note among economists. Presented to
191 These people were Saxons, living in Siebenbürgen (Transylvania).
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Plockhoy on the South River.
Englishmen in the time of Charles II., when the pleasures and revelries of the Court gave the cue to life, and the needs of the poor had little chance of being heard, it seemed to produce no effect beyond the aspirations and philanthropic outpourings of the prospectus. It was men- tioned in Sir Frederic Morton Eden's large quarto work upon "The state of the poor," published in London in 1797. It was stolen by Abraham van Akkeren, who pub- lished it under his own name and with a different title, without reference to Plockhoy, in Amsterdam in 1688. And this was apparently all. And yet in Girard College in Philadelphia to-day may be found the large hall, ar- ranged like an amphitheatre, with rising seats where the Scriptures are read and all the formulas of sect are rigidly excluded as outlined by Plockhoy. In the large apart- ment houses springing up in all the modern cities may be found that economy of household labor he suggested. In his views with respect to practical Christianity, the eco- nomical utilization of labor, the separation of church and state, the education of the young, including the teaching of trades, and the practical insight which led him to permit the retention of hallowed but unessential ceremonies, he was far ahead of his age and presented much that is ad- mirable. England afforded him no opportunity and he went to Amsterdam. And, behold, the way opened up to him ! The seed which would not germinate in the old and worn-out lands of Europe might produce abundant har- vests when sown in the virgin soil of the new world be- yond the sea. Distance and danger and difficulty did not daunt the brave spirit of Plockhoy. The Dutch were then the owners of the New Netherlands, which included the North River, now the Hudson, and the South River, now the Delaware. A site upon the Delaware became the
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The Settlement of Germantown.
Kort en klaer ontwerp, bienenDe tot Een onderling Accoort, OM
Den arbepd / onrua en moepe- lickbept/ban Alderley-hand-meter-y lupDen re berlichren. DOOR,
Een onderlingeCompagnie ofte
Volck-planting(onder de protectie vande H: Mo: Heeren Staten Generael der vereenigde Neder-lan· den;en byfonder onder het gunftig gefag van de Achtbare Magiftraten der Stad Amitelte. dam) aen de Zuyt-revier in Nieu-ne- der-land op te rechten; Beftaende io
Land. bouwers, Zee-varende Perfonen, Alderbande noodige Ambachts-luyden, en Meefters van goede konften en wetenschappen.
Steunende op De booz-rechten ban "bare Achts baerheben (als hier na volgt) tot bien epnde verlcent."
t'Samen geftelt
Door Pieter Cornelifz. Plockhoy van Zierck- zee, voor bem felven en andere, Lief. bebbers van Nieu-neder-land.
t'Amterdam gedruckt by Otto Barentfz. Smient, Anno 166.
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The Valley of the Swans.
chosen field where his schemes for the benefit of humanity, so long thought out, were to be put in operation. The place selected was the mouth of the Hoorn Kill, where is now the town of Lewes, in the State of Delaware. The beautiful name of Swanendael, "The Valley of the Swans," has a ring of promise, could we but forget that the swan is the bird which sings once and then dies. There was another omen. In 1630 Gilles Osset had taken a little colony of thirty-three persons to the same place, all of whom had been murdered by the Indians, and their bones were scattered along the shore.
In 1662 Plockhoy published at Amsterdam a Dutch quarto volume called "Kort en Klaer Ontwerp," or, in English, " Short and clear plan, serving as a mutual con- tract to lighten the labor and anxiety and trouble of all kinds of handicrafts' men by the establishment of a Com- munity or Colony on the South River in the New Nether- lands, comprising agriculturists, seafaring men, all kinds of necessary tradespeople and masters of good arts and sciences, under the protection of their High Mightinesses, the Lords States-General of the United Netherlands and particularly under the favorable auspices of the Honorable Magistrates of the City of Amsterdam, depending upon the privileges of their Honors as hereinafter set forth, granted for the purpose. Brought together by Peter Cor- nelius Plockhoy of Zierck Zee for himself and other lovers of New Netherlands." The only copy of this book in any of the States along the Delaware is in my library. It is believed that another work " Kort Verhael van Nieu Ned- erlants " which appeared a few months later without a name, was written by the same author, but the evidence is not clear. The scheme which he arranged for his settle- ment in America was as follows:
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The Settlement of Germantown.
Since men with their families living alone or scattered through the land, because they are by themselves alone and because of poverty, sickness, death, or other misfor- tune, are able to secure little success or advancement, have we, lovers of humanity, in order to better our own and our neighbors' welfare, undertaken, under the protection of their High Mightinesses the States-General of the United Netherlands and especially under that of the Honorable Magistrates of the city of Amsterdam, to establish a mutual company or society upon the South River in New Nether- lands, consisting of a peaceful united and select folk who, by aiding each other in the cultivation of the land, fisheries, trades and other useful occupations, hope to better the condition of many oppressed people who live here in great trouble. In accordance with the mutual agreement, in order that the aforesaid society may be governed in good order, we have prepared the following regulations :
First : In order that a numerous mutual company wherein each may have his goods and dwelling apart shall be under one common direction, but without being subject to the control of any individual, each shall have the free- dom to use his judgment in the improvement of the estab- lished conditions by adding thereto, either by the common consent or by the votes of two-thirds of the association, thus expressly excluding such persons as wish obstinately to accomplish ends according to their own opinions.
In order to open the door for all kinds of reasonable and unpartisan men, there will be needed here first : cultivators of the soil ; second, seafaring men ; third, all kinds of use- ful tradespeople, and fourth masters of good arts and sci- ences, who all with a voluntary unanimity shall work for the common good and benefit like members of one family. The profits from farming, fish catching, mining or any
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Settlement at the Hoorn Kill.
other labor shall be divided not according to the number of families, but according to the number of individuals in such families, sick or well, who are over twenty years of age, all unmarried persons, both women and men who are not at service, receiving as much as those married; but the married who are under twenty years of age, shall be- gin to receive their profits from the year of their marriage. Only the men who belong to the society shall have the privilege over the women that the undivided lands shall be divided among them according to lot, when their moneys are brought to the magistrate. Those who are under twenty years of age shall like all the others, whether they can be of service or not, be supplied with necessaries out of the common goods. Those in our society who are ac- customed to farming or other labor shall, when all is brought into good order, work every day except the Sab- bath, six hours for the common profit, or supply others in their place. The remaining hours shall be their own for their own profit, refreshment of the body, or other useful pursuits. To which end not only married men, but also all unmarried men above twenty years of age may select out of the common grounds a piece of land for a private plantation whereon to plant or cultivate, as it may seem to them good. The seafaring persons and others whose labor cannot be accommodated to any fixed hours, in order in the overtime to secure their profit from planting or oth- erwise and to be on an equality with the tradesmen and farmers so far as possible, shall receive, instead of a pri- vate plantation, some other profit from the society.
So as to keep everything in good order, every year those who are thirty years old or over shall choose, by a majority of votes, the names being written on folded pieces of paper, one man for director over the whole society, who,
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The Settlement of Germantown.
having ruled for one year, shall give up his office and go back to the common work. But no person shall be nom- inated in the election who has been in the office the year before, or is not fit for the same, or not inclined to perform the duties of the office, so that no man may be selected contrary to his sense and inclination. The office, how- ever, will not be burdensome in itself, since the rulers or directors do not have to make any rules or laws, but only to see that the regulations made or found good by the whole people are observed. So doing shall no man rule according to his own will or pleasure, except in little things for which no special order can be made. Still as he makes no more profit by ruling than the others do by working through the same time, why would he not rather work in quiet for the common profit six hours a day in ac- cordance with our rule than to busy himself with the con- tinually distracting cares of the many affairs of govern- ment?
Beside the director over the whole society, there shall be chosen two of the most suitable men to keep the books, one of whom shall give the order in writing, upon which the other delivers the money, wares or merchandise to the person whom the written order describes, placing the reck- oning of the same in the book, in order to make good the reckoning of him who has given the order. These book- keepers may also be used for the purpose of writing letters, journals and other matters which concern the so- ciety. No man alone, even the most important of the whole society, shall be in control of the common funds, but the three highest in the government, namely the chosen director of the whole society, and the two book-keepers aforesaid, shall at all times have the keys of the three dif- ferent locks so that neither one or two in the absence of
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Settlement at the Hoorn Kill.
the third can open the cash. At the end of each year shall all the accounts of the society be brought into bal- ance, and all with the knowledge of the society be well balanced, and the books with two of the keys belonging to the common cash be put in the hands of the two above- named bookkeepers and the great book with a key be given to the newly chosen director for protection.
No man shall be permitted to take away cargoes of merchandise from here or elsewhere in order to carry on a private business until he has paid the money ad- vanced by the magistrates of the city of Amsterdam. Also shall each one be permitted to carry on business with those goods and wares which he, through his art, trade or land cultivation, has made his private property through his overtime. And in case that any person, whether a mem- ber or no member of our society, desires to pay in money, wares or merchandise in order therewith to make a profit, he shall receive a reasonable interest or the half of the profit upon his capital, wherein he is much more secure, having the common property of the society as security, than if he ventured his merchandise with a private person. In order to avoid, as much as possible, the risks of loss we shall not trust the society's money, wares or merchan- dise to any one to be exported or traded with in the coun- try, unless he has capital or a wife and children, where- with he is, as it were, anchored in the society.
The women, if their husbands die first, shall, with their children, be taken care of out of the common fund, and each person in such a family who is above twenty years of age shall, together with the mother, be paid a share of the profit which appears yearly, after the payment of the common needs. Only the profit, in order to make the common fund safe, shall be retained until the moneys
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The Settlement of Germantown.
needed for the Lords shall be secured. The children or persons under age shall every day work for half a day and go to school for half a day except upon the Sabbath, and, besides learning a suitable trade, shall be taught to read, write and cipher according to their age and ability, so that they may be freed from bondage and may not fall into idleness and folly.
Among all the trades and occupations the most suitable workmen shall be chosen for masters and foremen who, as well as the other people of our company, shall work six hours a day for the common good, or be busy placing in the book all that is received or paid out for the society.
The name of servant or servant-maid has no place among us, where each, head for head, watches over his share of the profits. Still if strangers, whether full grown or persons under age, not of our society, will work for another for daily hire or otherwise, and are received by one person or another or in one family or another as ser- vant or servant maids, and work six hours a day for the community, and the overtime for their masters and mis- tresses privately, doing during the six hours the necessary things like others of the society, and giving the remaining work and service for the profit of their masters and mis- tresses, they shall receive so much money or the worth of it as is paid here or there in the country.
In matters of religion in order to arrange all well; shall each have freedom of conscience, to which and in order that no one give any offence by formulas established by men, in a common meeting house on each Sabbath day or on Sunday and holidays shall the Holy Scriptures, which all Christians recognize for truth, be read, and psalms and hymns sung. Should the number of persons so increase with lapse of time that each kind of people belonging to
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Common School.
one sect should want its own meeting house and choose to support its own preachers, it may be done. This is a matter with which the society has nothing at all to do.122
The children and youths shall be taught in our common school, so that everywhere equality be regarded, no human formulas of religion, but only the Holy Scriptures, natural sciences and similar instruction enabling them to rightly use their reason and not by the inculcation of pri- vate opinions to destroy it. This must be observed that no foundation of sect or partisanship be laid in their hearts. If any one wishes to have his children taught in a private school or by a private teacher, such person may freely be guided by his own conscience, the more so that it does not in the least concern the society.
Any man who for conscientious reasons is unable to bear arms, in order to be free from service and watch, shall pay yearly a certain tax or contribution to that part of the society which protects him in case it is desired. This work, since we believe only in defensive war, is to provide officers, and maintain order when occasion demands it, and also the daily exercise of drill, the securing of ammu- nition, and whatever is necessary in this respect.
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