vexed and distracted with the presence of more rulers than any one province could accommodate.

At last self-interest solved the problem. The proprietors came to see that a peaceable possession of the soil of the Jerseys was worth more than the uncertain honors of government. A proposition was accordingly made that all the claimants should surrender their rights of civil jurisdiction to the English Crown, retaining only the ownership of the soil. The measure was successfully carried out; and in April of 1702, all proprietary claims being waived in favor of the sovereign, the territory between the Hudson and the Delaware became a royal province.

New Jersey was now attached to the government of Lord Cornbury of New York. The union of the two colonies, however, extended only to the office of chief magistrate; each province retained its own legislative assembly and a distinct territorial organization. This method of government continued for thirty-six years, and was then terminated by the action of the people. In 1728 the representatives of New Jersey sent a petition to George II., praying for a separation of the two colonies; but the application was at first refused. Ten years later the petition was renewed, and through the influence of Lewis Morris brought to a successful issue. New Jersey was made independent, and Morris himself received a commission as first royal governor of the separated province.

The people of New Jersey were but little disturbed by the successive Indian wars. The native tribes on this part of the American coast were weak and timid. Had it not been for the cruelties of Kieft and the wrongs of other governors of New York, the peace of the middle colonies would never have been broken. The province of New Jersey is specially interesting as being the point where the civilization of New England met and blended with the civilization of the South. Here the institutions, manners and laws of the Pilgrims were first modified by contact with the less rigid habits and opinions of the people who came with Gosnold and Smith. The dividing line between East and West Jersey is also the dividing line between the austere Puritans of Massachusetts and the chivalrous cavaliers of Virginia. Happily, along this dividing line the men of peace, the followers of Penn and Barclay, came and dwelt as if to subdue ill-will and make a UNION possible.

CHAPTER XXV.

PENNSYLVANIA.

THE Quakers were greatly encouraged with the success of their col

onies in West New Jersey. The prospect of establishing on the banks of the Delaware a free State, founded on the principle of universal brotherhood, kindled a new enthusiasm in the mind of William Penn. For more than a quarter of a century the Friends had been buffeted with shameful persecutions. Imprisonment, exile and proscription had been their constant portion, but had not sufficed to abate their zeal or to quench their hopes of the future. The lofty purpose and philanthropic spirit of Penn urged him to find for his afflicted people an asylum of rest. In June of 1680 he went boldly to King Charles, and petitioned for a grant of territory and the privilege of founding a Quaker commonwealth in the New World.

The petition was seconded by powerful friends in Parliament. Lords North and Halifax and the earl of Sunderland favored the proposition, and the duke of York remembered a pledge of assistance which he had given to Penn's father. On the 5th of March, 1681, a charter was granted; the great seal of England, with the signature of Charles II., was affixed; and William Penn became the proprietor of PENNSYLVANIA. The vast domain embraced under the new patent was bounded on the east by the river Delaware, extended north and south over three degrees of latitude, and westward through five degrees of longitude. Only the three counties comprising the present State of Delaware were reserved for the duke of York.

In consideration of this grant, Penn relinquished a claim of sixteen thousand pounds sterling which the British government owed to his father's estate. He declared that his objects were to found a free com-monwealth without respect to the color, race or religion of the inhabitants; to subdue the natives with no other weapons than love and justice; to establish a refuge for the people of his own faith; and to enlarge the borders of the British empire. One of the first acts of the great proprietor was to address a letter to the Swedes who might be included within

1652

the limits of his province, telling them to be of good cheer, to keep their homes, make their own laws and fear no oppression.

Within a month from the date of his charter, Penn published to the English nation a glowing account of his new country beyond the Delaware, praising the beauty of the scenery and salubrity of the climate, promising freedom of conscience and equal rights, and inviting emigration. There was an immediate and hearty response. In the course of the summer three shiploads of Quaker emigrants left England for the land of promise. William Markham, agent of the proprietor, came as leader of the company and deputy-governor of the province. He was instructed by Penn to rule in accordance with law, to deal justly with all men, and especially to make a league of friendship with the Indians. In October of the same year the anxious proprietor sent a letter directly to the natives of the territory, assuring them of his honest purposes and brotherly affection.

The next care of Penn was to draw up a frame of government for his province. Herein was his great temptation. He had almost exhausted his father's estate in aiding the persecuted Quakers. A stated revenue would be very necessary in conducting his administration. His proprietary rights under the charter were so ample that he might easily reserve for himself large prerogatives and great emoluments in the government. He had before him the option of being a consistent, honest Quaker or a politic, wealthy governor. He chose like a man; right triumphed over riches. The constitution which he framed was liberal almost to a fault; and the people were allowed to adopt or reject it as they might deem proper.

In the mean time, the duke of York had been induced to surrender his claim to the three reserved counties on the Delaware. The whole country on the western bank of the bay and river, from the open ocean below Cape Henlopen to the forty-third degree of north latitude, was now under the dominion of Penn. The summer of 1682 was spent in further preparation. The proprietor wrote a touching letter of farewell to the Friends in England; gathered a large company of emigrants; embarked for America; and on the 27th of October landed at New Castle, where the people were waiting to receive him.

WILLIAM PENN, the founder of Philadelphia, was born on the 14th of October, 1644. He was the oldest son of Vice-Admiral Sir William Penn of the British navy. At the age of twelve he was sent to the University of Oxford, where he distinguished himself as a student until he was expelled on account of his religious opinions. Afterward he traveled on the Continent; was again a student at Saumur; returned to

study law at London; went to Ireland; became a soldier; heard the preaching of Loe and was converted to the Quaker faith. His disappointed and angry father drove him out of doors, but he was not to be

turned from his

course.

He publicly proclaimed the doctrines of the Friends; was arrested and imprisoned for nine months in the Tower of London. Being released, he repeated the offence, and lay for half a year in a dungeon at Newgate. A second time liberated, but despairing of toleration for his people in England, he cast his

WILLIAM PENN.

gaze across the Atlantic. West Jersey was purchased; but the boundary was narrow, and the great-souled proprietor sought a grander and more beautiful domain. His petition was heard with favor and the charter of Pennsylvania granted by King Charles. Colonists came teeming; and now the Quaker king himself, without pomp or parade, without the discharge of cannon or vainglorious ceremony, was come to New Castle to found a government on the basis of fraternity and peace. It was fitting that he should call the new republic a holy experiment.

As soon as the landing was effected, Penn delivered an affectionate and cheerful address to the crowd of Swedes, Dutch and English who came to greet him. His former pledges of a liberal and just government were publicly renewed, and the people were exhorted to sobriety and honesty. From New Castle the governor ascended the Delaware to Chester; passed the site of Philadelphia; visited the settlements of West New Jersey; and thence traversed East Jersey to Long Island and New York. After spending some time at the capital of his friend, the duke of York,

and speaking words of cheer to the Quakers about Brooklyn, he returned to his own province and began his duties as chief magistrate.

Markham, the deputy-governor, had been instructed to establish fraternal relations with the Indians. Before Penn's arrival treaties had been made, lands purchased, and pledges of friendship given between the Friends and the Red men. Now a great conference was appointed with the Snative chiefs. All the sachems of the Lenni Lenapes and other neighboring tribes were invited to assemble. The council was held on the banks of the Delaware under the open sky. Penn, accompanied by a few unarmed friends, clad in the simple garb of the Quakers, came to the appointed spot and took his station under a venerable elm, now leafless; for it was winter. The chieftains, also unarmed, sat, after the manner of their race, in a semicircle on the ground. It was not Penn's object to purchase lands, to provide for the interests of trade or to make a formal treaty, but rather to assure the untutored children of the woods of his honest purposes and brotherly affection. Standing before them with grave demeanor and speaking by an interpreter, he said: "MY FRIENDS: We have met on the broad pathway of good faith. We are all one flesh and blood. Being brethren, no advantage shall be taken on either side. When disputes arise, we will settle them in council. Between us there shall be nothing but openness and love." The chiefs replied: "While the rivers run and the sun shines we will live in peace with the children of William Penn."

No record was made of the treaty, for none was needed. Its terms were written, not on decaying parchment, but on the living hearts of men. No deed of violence or injustice ever marred the sacred covenant. The Indians vied with the Quakers in keeping unbroken the pledge of perpetual peace. For more than seventy years during which the province remained under the control of the Friends, not a single war-whoop was heard within the borders of Pennsylvania. The Quaker hat and coat proved to be a better defence for the wearer than coat-of-mail and musket.

On the 4th of December, 1682, a general convention was held at Chester. The object was to complete the territorial legislation—a work which occupied three days. At the conclusion of the session, Penn delivered an address to the assembly, and then hastened to the Chesapeake to confer with Lord Baltimore about the boundaries of their respective provinces. After a month's absence he returned to Chester and busied himself with drawing a map of his proposed capital. The beautiful neck of land between the Schuylkill and the Delaware was selected and purchased of the Swedes. In February of 1683 the native chestnuts, wal