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PENNSYLVANIA PROVINCE AND STATE

A HISTORY
FROM 1609 TO 1790

BY
ALBERT S. BOLLES, PH. D., LL. D.
Lecturer in the University of Pennsylvania and Haverford College

? ?

JOHN WANAMAKER
PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK
1899

COFVniCHT, 1899,
BY
ALBERT S. BOLLES.

i- i:i>^ .;:-^j^-:.^-.-.:i'U^^ :-.3i;- '\^£..\}i^- -.,

CONTENTS.
PAOB
CHAPTER X.
CONDUCT OE THE INDIANS DURING THE REVOLUTION. I
CHAPTER XI.
THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL AND THE GEN
ERAL ASSEMBLY. 28
Section I.
THE PRESIDENCIES OF -WHARTON, BRYAN AND REED . 28
Section II.
reed's PRESIDENCY CONTINUED  53
Section III.
THE presidencies of MOORE AND DICKINSON . . 76
Section IV.
THE presidencies of franklin AND MIFFLIN . . 98

119

CHAPTER xn.
IMMIGRATION.
. CHAPTER XIII.

LAND AND LABOR. 139
(iii)

IV

CONTENTS.

Section I.
THE PURCHASE OF LAND  I39
Section II.
CULTIVATION OF THE LAND  1 55

CHAPTER XV.
MANUFACTURES.

CHAPTER XVII.
HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION.

190

CHAPTER XIV.
TRADE.
Section I.
TRADE BEFORE THE REVOLUTION  I90
Section II.
TRADE DURING AND AFTER THE REVOLUTION , . 200

236

CHAPTER XVI.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 260

276

CHAPTER XVIII.
CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 289
CHAPTER XIX.
SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 301

CONTENTS. V
PAOB
Section I.
SOCIAL INTERCOURSE, FAMILY LIVING AND ENTER
TAINMENTS . .  301
Section II.
DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS  317
Section III.
THE revolutionary PERIOD  334
CHAPTER XX.
RELIGION. 353
Section I.
THE PROVINCIAL PERIOD  353
Section II.
THE provincial PERIOD CONTINUED .... 370
Section III.
THE CHURCH IN THE REVOLUTION ... . 393
CHAPTER XXI.
education and literature. 425
CHAPTER XXII.
science and INVENTION. 460
CHAPTER XXIII.
ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS. 471

HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CHAPTER X.

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS DURING THE REVOLUTION.
As the French formed an alliance with the Indians
during the war of 1755, so no-w did the British form au
alliance with those -whom twenty years before they
sought to destroy. If the white settlers had brutalized
and degraded them -with rum, cheated them in trade,
robbed them of their lands, and coarsely showed their
mastery on every occasion, more than once did they
pay a heavy penalty for their selfishness, shortsighted
ness and rascality. The American colonists feared the
union of the Indians with the British, for they knew
the nature of Indian warfare. An Indian was not a
brave, open fighter, but a co-wardly, mean one. Though
hiding himself for days and -weeks, and almost perish
ing with cold or hunger, to secure the chance of shoot
ing his foe undiscovered, he was averse to forming into
ranks and engaging in battle. Possessing a strong
spirit of revenge, every white man knew that the
Indian would prove relentless and untiring in compass
ing his destruction. It was now too late to win his
good-will, for his spirit of revenge was at white heat.
His hour to lay low his despoiler had come.
Yet during the first year of the war, the Indians were
(I)

2 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
not especially active. On the frontier some disturb
ances were experienced, but they were not very serious.
By 1779, however, the situation had become exceed
ingly grave. The -work of the British agents began to
tell, and the Indians were strongly inclined to plunge
into the conflict. They began to concentrate their
forces in the Valley of the Wyoming, where existed a
flourishing settlement, parted by many miles from the
other portions of the Province. The settlers were from
Connecticut. That colony had laid claim, by virtue
of its original grant, to a considerable portion of Penn
sylvania, and in 1753 a deed conveying a large tract to
the Susquehanna Company had been executed at Al
bany by eighteen Indian chiefs, representing the Six
Nations. The Susquehanna Company numbered eight
hundred original proprietors. At that time the Gov
ernor of Pennsylvania had not acquired any title to the
territory from the Indians. One of the two chiefs of
the Mohawks, Peter Hendrick, an eloquent sachem
and warrior of great note, who was in the proprietary
interest, refused to sign the deed, and afterwards sought
to have it set aside. The proprietary -was more active
than ever to procure a transfer of the land covered by
this conveyance, and in 1768 this result was accom
plished. By this treaty the proprietary acquired from
the Six Nations the land they had previously sold to the
Susquehanna Company.
The first white people to invade this beautiful valley
were Count Zinzendorf and a minister named Mack and
his wife, who went to Wyoming -where the Shawanese
lived, for the purpose of Christianizing them. Alarmed
by the arrival of the strangers, who pitched their tents
on the banks of the river below the town, a council of

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. 3,
chiefs assembled, at which Zinzendorf's proposition -was
considered. To these unlettered children of the wilder
ness, his mission seemed too improbable. Had he, in
truth, braved the dangers of the ocean for the sole pur
pose of instructing them concerning the way of becom
ing happy after death, and without expecting any com
pensation for his trouble? Knowing of the desire of
the white people to purchase Indian lands, they con
cluded that Zinzendorf's real object was to procure
these for his own use, or to search for hidden treasures,
or to examine the country with the hope of future con
quest. They therefore resolved to assassinate him. Zin
zendorf was alone in his tent, seated on a bundle of dry
weeds, which formed his bed, engaged in writing. A
curtain, formed of a blanket, guarded the entrance to his
tent. It was night, and as the air of September was
cool, he built a small fire. Outside, all was quiet except
the gentle, ceaseless murmur of the river at the rapids.
Stealthily the Indians approached the door of the teut.
Removing the curtain, they saw the venerable man too
deeply engaged in his thoughts either to notice their
approach, or the crawling of a huge rattlesnake that had
been aroused by the heat of the fire and -was slowly
drawing nearer to it. Beholding this sight the Indians
shrunk from taking his life, and quitting the place,
hastily returned to the town, and informed their com
panions that the Great Spirit protected the white man,
for they had found him with no door to his tent, and
had seen a large rattlesnake cra-wling harmlessly near
his feet. Soon after, Conrad Weiser appeared, well
known among the Indians, and Zinzendorf's life was
safe. Permission was then given to him to begin his
peaceful ministrations.

4 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
The white people who followed these gentle mi.'^sion-
aries were of a different type. Far happier would both
Indians and settlers have been, had the same paciic
relations continued. The presence of the newcomers
from Connecticut was hardly less welcome to the
Indians than to the authorities of Pennsylvania.
The place where these missionaries carried on their
work was called Wyalusing. David Zeisberger -was
the leader. Under his wise direction industry was es
tablished ; lands -were cleared and fenced ; grain was
planted and reaped ; cattle and horses were raised ;
schools were opened for the education of Indian chil
dren. A bell, probably the first ever heard in Pennsyl
vania north of the Kittatinny Mountains, called the
Indians to worship. Its tone, borne far distant by the
breeze, must have come to the strange Indian roaming
in the forest like a spirit's voice, though in truth it
was the death-knell to his race. For three years the
settlement flourished, and then the long-gathering
storm burst. The Iroquois invaded the valley, and
though Zinzendorf and the other Moravians were
spared, the settlers and Indians were attacked, the
Indian huts were burned, and Teedyuscung, the proud
chief of the Delawares, miserably perished. The set
tlers who were not killed fled to the mountains. Desti
tute of food and clothing, they traversed the wil
derness and finally reached their former homes. Such
was the end of the first attempt to settle the valley by
people from Connecticut.
In 1769 a ,'=econd colony set forth. This time more
progress was made in retaining possession. The same
year a war broke out, not with the Indians, but with a
force of Pennsvlvanians who were determined that the

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. r
Connecticut settlers should not remain in the Province.
Their fort was captured, the leader, Colonel Durkee and
others were taken prisoners and sent to jail, and a
second time the Yankees were expelled.
For a short period only did they keep out of the
valley. Governor Penn applied to General Gage for
aid. The British commander regarded the controversy
as one between the settlers concerning property, in
which it would be highly improper for the king's
troops to interfere. Failing to secure his aid, Gov
ernor Penn issued a proclamation forbidding any person
from making a settlement there unless by authority of
the proprietaries or their lessees. A force was raised
and placed under the command of Captain Ogden, with
orders to repair to the valley and dispossess the
Yankees. They inarched under the auspices of John
Van Campen, a magistrate, whose zeal had led him to
take an active part in the controversy. One may
wonder why an adequate force was not raised to expel
the Connecticut people, and utterly destroy their hope
of retaining the valley, for the Province could have
easily crushed all the power of the Susquehanna Com
pany. Doubtless the weak movements of the governor
were the result of his unpopularity. The larger part of
the valley had been surveyed and appropriated by the
proprietaries, consequently the people sympathized
strongly with the Wyoming settlers.
Captain Ogden, with his company, started by way of
the Dehigh Water Gap and Fort Allen. Dike an old
warrior, he marched with celerity and secrecy. On the
2 ist of September, he encamped at the head- waters of
Solomon's Creek. The next morning the valley was
before his gaze. All was quiet ; the settlers were in

6 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
their fields. Dividing' his force of oue hundred and
forty men into detachments of ten, he directed them to
descend secretly and seize those who were at work.
The plan was perfectly executed ; many were captured,
the remainder fled to Fort Durkee. During the night,
another portion, who were selected to carry tidings of
their disaster to the friendly settlement and solicit their
aid, were taken prisoners. After a short but severe
struggle the fort was captured, the leaders were sent to
Philadelphia, the others were escorted to jail at Easton.
For the third time the settlers were rudely driven out of
the valley.
Yet the end had not come. Though sufiering oft
through her unconscious beauty, they were again drawn
back by the valley ; they could not keep away. Two
years had passed and Peter Kachlein was Sheriff" of
Northampton county. Once more Pennsylvania sought
to gain possession of the valley. Captain Amos Ogden
was again chosen leader of a military expedition.
Among those who accompanied him was his brother
Nathan. So active were the efforts on the part of the
proprietary that, within a month from the expulsion of
the Pennamites and in the depth of winter, a force of
more than one hundred men was above Fort Durkee.
Like a prudent officer, Ogden flrst sought to provide
shelter and defence for his men. A fort, called Fort
Wyoming, was begun sixty rods above Fort Durkee,
and, within three or four days, was fit for habitation.
Sheriff Kachlein then proceeded to Fort Durkee declar
ing his name and character, and demanding the sur
render of all persons within, in the name of Pennsyl
vania. Captain Stewart stood on the battlements pre
pared to answer the summons. He replied that he had

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. 7
taken possession in the name and behalf of the colony
of Connecticut, in whose jurisdiction they were, and in
that name and by that authority he would defend it.
Sheriff Kachlein withdrew, and work was continued
on the new defence. Having completed his prepara
tions, on the 20th of January Captain Ogden marched
forth to capture Fort Durkee. Stewart and his men
were ready. More daring leaders never met. A per
emptory demand for surrender was as peremptorily
refused. Ogden opened fire, which was promptly re
turned. At the first volley several of Ogden's men
fell, and among them, his brother Nathan, mortally
wounded. The flght did not last long. The besieging
party withdrew. During the night Captain Stewart,
taking with him twenty or thirty trusted followers,
abandoned Fort Durkee, leaving, perhaps, as many
more persons to the vengeance of the enemy. In the
morning his retreat was known to Captain Ogden, who
took possession of the fort and sent the garrison to jail
at Easton.
Captain Ogden now endeavored to render Fort Wy
oming impregnable, so that the Yankees tould not
effectually assail it. Vain were his plan and hope, for
early in April Captain Zebulon Butler, with Captain
Stewart as an assistant, accompanied by one hundred
and fifty armed men, laid vigorous siege to Fort Wyo
ming. Butler's descent had been made so secretly that
Captain Ogden had not the slightest notice of his ap
proach ; aud the fort was so completely invested that no
messenger could be sent to the proprietary. The fort
was completely cut off" and the only cannon, a four-
pounder, which had been carefully hid by the Yankees,
-was put in position ; but skillful gunners were lacking,

8 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
and it was not effective. Another was invented. A
large pepperage log was fashioned, bored and hooped
from breech to muzzle with stout bands of iron, painted
black with a red mouth, and mounted on a wagon. It
looked formidable ; in truth, it was quite as harmless as
the bogus guns of the great fortress at Pekin. The
first discharge excited admiration and hope. The
second time the gun was charged more heavily, the
cannon split, and one of the iron bands was thrown
across the river. So closely invested was the fort, that
not a man ventured for food, fuel or water without a
volley from the enemy. Soon the garrison felt the
pressure of actual want. During the darkness of the
night sufficient water was brought from the river to last
through the day, and Ogden determined to hold out to
the last. But his stock of provisions was not large
and surrender seemed inevitable. Something must be
done. After midnight on the i2th of July, the Yankee
sentinels saw a suspicious object floating on the river.
They fired a volley, but it produced uo apparent effect,
the thing still floated gently with the current. The
firing wdls discontinued and the wonder increased.
Captain Ogden had tied his clothes in a bundle, and
fastened his hat to the top. To this he tied one end of
a string, and the other to his arm. Noiselessly going
into the water, he swam ou his back so deeply that only
his lips were out of water. The movement required ex
traordinary skill and self-possession. He floated down,
drawing after him the bundle. As he had expected,
this drew the flre of his foes. When beyond danger he
dressed himself in his drenched clothing, perforated
with bullets, and on the third day was in the city, hav
ing traveled one hundred and twenty miles through an
inhospitable wilderness.

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. q
Men and provisions were hurried forward to the scene
of action. Sentinels were stationed in proper places to
watch the movements of Captain Dick, who, with pack-
horses laden with ammunition and provisions, was
coming to the rescue. An ambush was laid for the
newcomers. Knowing that the provisions were the most
important, if the escort could be driven within the fort,
where they would assist in eating up the scanty rem
nant left, and if the new supplies could be cut off", the
end would be gained without bloodshed. When Dick
with his party had nearly reached the fort, a volley had
the desired effect. Dick and Ogden, with about twenty
men, rushed for the fort, while their pack-horses with
the provisions, that were in the rear, were captured.
This was a sad, yet ludicrous ending of the attempt to
secure new supplies. Some money was raised from the
treasury, to enlist new recruits; in the meantime the
siege was pushed with greater vigor than ever. Once
more blood began to flow ; Ogden was wounded.
Finally, on the 14th of August, the fort surrendered.
Thus the Susquehanna Company was again iu posses
sion of the valley, and the people proceeded with
celerity to increase their settlements aud consolidate
their power. The war had lasted nearly three years.
In 1775, when the clouds of the Revolution began to
form, and all energies ought to have united to repel the
common foe, another effort was made to conquer the
valley. Hitherto, all efforts by the Pro'/ince had been
of a civil character, as the sheriffs were the chief
officers, supported by the military. This time au effort
-was made by Colonel Plunket with a much larger
force. He had seven hundred armed men, with the
high sheriff of Northumberland as the civil leader.

IO HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Several boats from Wyoming, trading with the settle
ments below, were seized on passing Fort Augusta, the
modern Sunbury, aud their cargoes confiscated. Early
in December, Plunket started on his expedition. On
the 20th, he arrived at the mouth of Nescopeck Creek.
Congress had attempted to quiet the dispute, but their
legislation was of uo avail. Plunkett was determined
to conquer. On the 23d his force arrived at the lower
end of the valley, and Colonel Butler had mustered
three hundred men and boys for its defence. As there
were not guns enough to arm all, several were armed
with scythes fastened on handles projecting straight as
possible, a formidable weapon in the hands of a soldier
close to his enemy. These weapons were called " the
end of time." Colonel Butler dispatched Major Garrett,
his second in command, to visit Plunket with a flag of
truce and to ascertain the meaning of his movements.
He answered that he came as an attendant on Sheriff"
Cooke, who was authorized to arrest several persons at
Wyoming for violating the laws of Pennsylvania. Gar
rett reported that the enemy outnumbered the Yankees
more than two to one. "The conflict will be a sharp
one, boys," said Butler ; "I, for one, am ready to die if
need be for my country." A breastwork had been
formed, consisting of a rampart of logs, to defend the
valley. Plunket determined to attack in front, and
while doing so a detachment, which was sent up the
mountain, was to descend and turn the right flank of
Butler's force. Forseeing this danger, Butler had
guarded against it, and the flanking army was repelled.
Finding Butler's position too strong to be carried by
storm, ou Christmas day Plunket withdrew. Thus
ended the last attempt to conquer the valley by force.

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. n
On the opening of the Revolution, the settlers were
ready to contend against Great Britain. Early in the
conflict efforts had been made to gain the good will of
the Indians, for their hostility was greatly dreaded.
Their treachery and revenge were measureless, owing to
their long list of genuine grievances. Commissioners
were sent to them, meetings were held, many words
spoken, but the savage heart was steeled by sixty years'
of shameless disregard of his rights, his weaknesses and
his wishes. The council at Onondaga made bold pro
fessions of peace ; but these were to lull the frontiers
into security. The Indians skulked through the woods,
and hid themselves in unexpected places, to enjoy the
delicious treat of shooting a man without warning.
Their vengeance was so deep and deadly that no treaty
and no profession was worth anything. All their flne
words were simply decoys for continuing their old game
of warfare. They hung around the frontiers, and when
ever a man or small party wandered away for a short
distance, too often he fell a victim to his relentless foe.
At last, the State felt that the time had come to act.
The Indians grew bolder, and seemed determined
on more severe action against the frontier settle
ments. The Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, com
manded by Colonel Brodhead, was sent to Fort Pitt,
and the Fourth was sent up the Susquehanna to Fort
Augusta to reinforce those who were trying to protect
themselves. The Indians became more active; they
drove the men under cover of the fort, killing three and
wounding several more. They burned many houses,
killed cattle and drove off the horses. Another party
of Indians killed seven of the militia who were stationed
near Muncy Hill and took two or three prisoners. The

1 2 HIi, TOR Y OF PENN.^ YL VANIA .
same day the Indians flred at thirteen others who went
to hunt their horses four or five miles from Fort Muncy,
and all were taken or killed except one man. In this
manner was the frontier harassed by the savage enemy.
President Reed besought Washington for aid ; in reply
he was informed that the continental force was too weak
to permit the sending of any troops to the frontier, and
that the Province ought to take care of itself A long
correspondence followed ; the Indians grew bolder ;
finally they determined to invade the Valley of Wyom
ing. This was in 1778. At that time the valley had
recovered from its conflicts with the authorities of
Pennsylvania. Both had appealed to Congress, and
both expected that in due time Congress would settle
the question. In the meantime two companies of sol
diers had been organized for home defence. No sooner
was this done, than they were "ordered to join General
Washington with all possible expedition." General
Washington's army was extremely weak ; but the
frontier was left in a helpless condition. Those who
planned the invasion into the Wyoming Valley well
understood the situation. The year opened in peace ;
the valley was cold, aud covered with snow. Smoke
curled upward from a hundred cottages. The barns sur
rounded by stacks of wheat were proof of abundance.
Cattle and sheep shared in the plenty of those fertile
plains. The watch-dog barked fiercely as the sled,
drawn by a span of horses with jingling bells and a load
of merry girls and young men, passed swiftly along.
The wives and widows of those who had gone to war or
fallen in'the strife were not forgotten. Coflee was not
much known in those days, but the exhilarating tea
graced the table on which were smoking buckwheat

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. 13
cakes, luscious honeycomb, venison steak, well-preserved
shad, boiled chickens, well-fatted roasted pigs, and
delicious turkeys. Some of the soldiers had returned
from the attack at Millstone in New Jersey, aud enter
tained the villagers with vivid accounts of their victory.
Burgoyne, too, had surrendered during the summer;
and while this was a cause for great rejoicing, it was
subdued by fears that the Indians, released from service
in the northeast, would turn their dreaded arms on the
southern and western frontiers.
Early in the spring Congress learned of a meditated
attack on Wyoming; rumor succeeded rumor that the
British aud Indians were preparing an expedition to
destroy the settlement. As the position was defenceless
aud the enemy was exasperated, nothing was more
probable. Wyoming was an important barrier between
the savages aud the German settlements below the
mountains, aud if that were destroyed, the enemy conld
easily make incursions into Northampton and Berks,
strike a blow, aud then retreat into the impenetrable
mountain forests. Prudence therefore warned the
settlers to prepare for the defence of their homes. The
two companies iu Washington's army earnestly pleaded
to return. Notwithstanding the danger, they were not
released. In March, Congress resolved that a company
of foot soldiers be raised in the town of Westmoreland
for the defence of the town and the settlement of the
frontiers, to serve one year from the time of their enlist
ing. As the men were to be drawn from that vicinity,
the defence was not strengthened by a single man.
Besides, so many had enlisted, and were in the army,
how could others be spared from the fields?
In May, parties cutting off all communication with

14 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the upper country hovered around the settlements
twenty miles distant or more. Preparations were made
for the invasion, but no families were attacked, and no
houses were burned. Shots were exchanged rarely, as
the enemy rather kept aloof than courted battle. Then
two Indians, former residents of Wyoming, came down
with their squaws on a visit, and professed warm friend
ship. The settlers, suspecting they were spies, care
fully watched them. An old companion of one of
them, with more than Indian cunning, gave his visitor
sufficient drink to unloosen his tongue, whereupon he
avowed that the Indians were preparing to destroy
the settlement.
The people in the outer settlements fled to the forts,
and the wives of the soldiers sent messengers, calling
on them by every tender tie to come home. Still Con
gress aud Conficcticut, with more than the obstinacy of
Pharaoh, would not let the companies go. On hearing
this last message from their loved ones, the men became
desperate; every commissioned officer except two re
signed, and more than twenty-five of the men, with or
without leave, left the ranks and hastened to the
valley. The enemy concentrated at Newtown and Tioga. The
forts were filled with womeu and children. There was
only one cannon, a four pounder, which was in Wilkes-
Barre Fort. The indispensable labors of the field were
performed by armed men. It was certain that the at
tack would be made, but the time was unknown. The
enemy could descend the river when it was slightly
swollen, at the speed of five miles an hour, aud there
fore could be in the valley within a day after leaving
their camp. As there always was a rise of water in

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. je
June, the settlers supposed that during " the June fresh"
they would embark.
The Senecas were the chief nation engaged in the ex
pedition, with detachments from the Mohawks and
other tribes. While they were concentrating at Tioga,
a delegation of Seneca chiefs, daring to presume on the
kindness and inefficiency of Congress, went to Phila
delphia to amuse the members and put them off their
guard by negotiating a new treaty. By such deceitful
conduct t"hey hoped to lull Congress into the belief that
there was no danger, and therefore no need of sending
troops to the frontier, nor did they leave the city until
the fatal blow had been struck.
The enemy numbered four huudred British provin
cials, consisting of Colonel John Butler's Rangers and a
detachment of Sir John Johnson's Royal Greens ; the
rest were Tories from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
New York, with six or seven hundred Indians.
Descending the Susquehanna from Tioga, they landed
below the mouth of Bowman's Creek, twenty miles
above the valley. Securing their boats, they marched
across the peninsula formed by the river, and arrived on
the Western Mountain during the evening near the end
of June. Colonel Zebulon Butler assumed the command
of the settlers. His little army consisted of four com
panies, none of them having more than fifty men. Two
forts had already surrendered, and unless something
were done, each man would fly to the protection of his
own family. Nothing was to be gained by waiting
for the coming of reinforcements. As the settlers
approached the enemy, they perceived that the fort at
Wintermoot's, located in a notch in the mountain, was
iu flames. Here were two plains ; the upper aud lower.

l6 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
divided by a bank fifteen or twenty feet high. After
forming his plan of attack on the upper plain. Colonel
Butler made a brief address to the soldiers: "Men,
yonder is the enemy. We have come out to fight, not
only for liberty, but for life itself, and what is dearer, to
preserve our homes from conflagration, and our women
aud children from the tomahawk. Stand firm the first
shot, and the Indians will give way. Every man to his
duty." The enemy were commanded by Colonel John
Butler, who, divested of feathers and finery, appeared ou
the ground with a handkerchief tied around his head.
A flanking party of Indian marksmen were concealed
among logs and bushes under the bank. At four in the
afternoon the battle began. Colonel Zebulon Butler or
dered his men to flre, and at each discharge to advance
a step. As the men advanced, the British line gave way;
but the Indian flanking party, from their hiding places,
did effective work. Within half au hour the superiority
of the enemy's force was developed. The Indians had
completely outflanked the left, and the wing was thrown
into confusion. An order was given that one of the
companies should wheel back so as to form an angle
with the main line, and thus present its front, instead
of flank to the enemy To perform such an evolution
under a hot fire is a difficult feat, and as soon as the
attempt was made, the savages rushed forward with
horrid yells. Some had mistaken the order to fall back
for oue to retreat, and that fatal word ran along the
line. Utter confusion now prevailed on the left. Col
onel Zebulon Butler threw himself between the fires
of the opposing ranks, and rode up and down the line
in the most reckless exposure. "Don't leave me, my
children," he said, "and the victory is ours;" but it

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. 17
was too late. Still, the men on the left held their
ground, though resistance was hopeless. The enemy
were too numerous ; every captain had fallen. The
men had fought bravely, but were overpowered by a
force three-fold their own.
After the battle followed the massacre. A portion of
the Indian flanking party pushed forward in the rear of
the line to cut off" retreat to the fort, and then pressed
the retreating army towards the river. The bank of
the river by the fort was lined by anxious wives and
mothers. A few swam over and escaped. Others were
too closely pressed and were killed in the river. Many
were lured to the shore by the promise of quarter, and
then butchered. Oue hundred and sixty were killed,
one hundred and forty escaped. Captain Bidlack was
thrown alive ou burning logs, held down with pitch
forks, and tortured until he expired. Prisoners taken
with the solemn promise of quarter were gathered
together and placed in circles. Sixteen or eighteen
were arranged around one large stone, since known as
the Bloody Rock. Surrounded by a body of Indians,
Queen Esther assumed the office of executioner, and
with the tomahawk she passed around the circle, dash
ing out the brains, or sinking the tomahawk into the
head of the prisoner. A number had fallen, and her
rage increased. Seeing that there was no hope, four of
them, with a sudden spring, shook off the Indians who
held them, and fled for the thicket. Rifles cracked,
Indians yelled, and tomahawks flew, but they escaped.
The bodies of fourteen were found around the rock
where they had fallen, scalped and mangled, and nine
more were found in a circle not far off
2

l8 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
The next day, ou the 3d of July, Captain Franklin
arrived at. Forty Fort with a company of thirty-flve,
which gave steadiness to the broken remnant. It was
determined to concentrate all at the fort, the largest in
the valley, and defend themselves to the last extremity.
A messenger soon returned and reported that this was
impracticable, for fugitives were flying in every direc
tion to the wilderness. Consternation and horror
reigned. The only hope of safety seemed to be in
flight. The way toward Wind Gap aud Stroudsburg
was crowded. Soon they began to suffer from fatigue
and hunger. Many perished on the way, and the story
of the retreat of these fugitives is one of the saddest in
all history.
Early in the morning after the battle. Colonel John
Butler sent a detachment across the river to Pittston,
and Captain Blanchard surrendered on terms of fair
capitulation. In the afternoon Forty Fort was sur
rendered. As there was a quantity of whiskey in the
fort. Colonel John Butler desired that it might be de
stroyed, for he feared the consequences if the Indians
should become intoxicated. It was emptied into the
river. The gates of the fort were thrown open, and what
arms could be found, including those of Franklin's men
who had retreated, were piled up in the centre. At the
appointed time the victors approached with colors fly
ing and music playing. A column of white men four
abreast were on the left ; on the right were the savages
in four files. The whites were headed by Colonel
Butler, and the ludians by Queen Esther. Immedi
ately on entering the fort the Tories seized the arms.
An order from Colonel Butler to replace them was fol-

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. iq
lowed by an address to the Indians, " See a present the
Yankees have made you," and they took possession of
them. In a few hours after the surrender of the fort, the
Indians began to plunder. Colonel Butler gave per
emptory orders to the chief to stop ; after another inef
fectual effort Colonel Butler said, "I can do nothing
with them." Every hour they grew bolder and more
insolent. Finding his commands disregarded, and his
authority set at naught. Colonel Butler withdrew from
the plains. Perhaps his retreat was hastened by fear of
an attack, but the stronger probability is that he sought
to restrain the savages as much as possible from their
bloody work by leaving the valley.
This bold partisan leader was in strange company,
for he had descended from the family of the Duke of
Ormond. With a rough visage, fat and below the
middle stature, yet active, he was an agreeable rather
than a forbidding man. Nervous, he spoke quickly, re
peating his words when he was excited. Of all the
leaders, white or Indian, from whom the Americans
suffered in revolutionary or pre-revolutiouary times, "the
great Duke of Ormond's" descendant was the most
atrocious. And yet he could have demanded severer
terms. The settlement was wholly at his mercy. He
withdrew his own men without taking auy plunder.
Nor could he have checked the savages. His great and
unpardonable crime was iu arming and taking com
mand of blood-thirsty and unprincipled savages, who
he knew, in the event of success, could not be re
strained. Yet if his conduct has been so bitterly con
demned by every historian, what must be said of the
strange forgetfulness of Congress and of the Governor of

20 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Pennsylvania, in leaving the valley a prey to such an
invader? ¦
Notwithstanding the awfulness of the scene, the de
parture of the Indians from the valley was as ludicrous
as it was melancholy. Mounted astride on horses,
squaws brought up the rear, with belts of scalps
stretched on small hoops around their waists for girdles,
and each wearing four, five, six or more dresses of
chintz or silk, one over the other; having ou their
heads three, four or five bonnets, oue within the other,
with the wrong side in front. In this style and fashion
they departed from the scene of their awful work.
One of the persons taken captive was a little girl,
whose brothers survived the dreadful day. They often
wondered concerning her fate. Every now and then
tidings floated eastward of a captive girl who had beeii
carried into the far regions of the West, and was still
alive. Year after year they were continually looking
and hoping. At last, in their old age, she was dis
covered to be with Indians in the far-off Illinois
country. They went and inquired for her. Her finger
had been injured during childhood, and when at
seventy-five years of age she was asked to show her
hands to them, they knew from the singular injury that
they had found their long-lost sister. They invited her
to return, but knowing only an Indian's life, and hav
ing always been kindly treated, she desired to spend
her last days with her captors.
At last, it was determined to take active and efficient
measures to protect the frontiers. Colonel Hartley,
with the New Eleventh Regiment, as the body was
called, was directed to go to Sunbury, and from that
point endeavor to protect, as far as possible, the people
from Indian slaughter and plunder.

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. 21
The frontier was very long, from Wyoming to
Allegheny, for a small body of two hundred men to
defend. Never was a regiment more actively engaged.
In his report to Congress he says : " We waded or swam
the River Dycoming upwards of twenty times. The
difficulties in crossing the Alps, or going up the Ken
nebec, could not have been greater than those our men
experienced for the time." In lonely woods and groves
were found the haunts and lurking-places of the savage
murderers who had desolated the frontier. Colonel
Hartley " saw the huts where they had dressed and
dried the scalps of the helpless women and children
who had fallen into their hands." Ou several occasions
the Indians were attacked ; some were killed, others
were taken prisoners ; Tioga was burned, and also
Queen Esther's palace. If he had had five hundred
regular troops, and one hundred and fifty more light
ones, with a piece or two of artillery, he could have
destroyed Chemung, which was the " receptacle of all
villanous Indians and Tories from the different tribes
aud states. From this place they made their excursions
against the frontier of New York and Pennsylvania,
and committed those horrid murders and desecrations
with which the people had become so familiar."
The Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment had been organ
ized to defend the western frontier, and was to garrison
the posts of Presque Isle, Le Boeuf and Kittanning.
Seven companies were raised in Westmoreland, and one
in Bedford. No sooner was the Regiment raised than it
was ordered to join General Washington. On the 5th
of March, 1777, the Regiment was ordered to Fort Pitt,
and by direction of General Mcintosh, Colonel Brodhead,
the commander, made a detour up the West Branch of

22 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the Susquehanna to attack the savages who were ravag
ing Wyoming and the West Branch Valley. He en
tered Penn's Valley, one of the loveliest in the State,
where two of his soldiers who had participated in
the campaign against Burgoyne were killed by the
Indians in sight of Potter's Fort. Soon afterwards,
relieved by Colonel Hartley's Regiment, he went to
Fort Pitt. At a later period the Regiment did valiant
service in attacking aud defeating the Indians in that
section of the State. The soldiers went down the Ohio
to the mouth of the Beaver, and there built Fort Mc
intosh, and the following year Fort Lawrence at the
mouth of the Muskingum.
Meantime, in the East it was determined to chastise
the Indians. To that end a large force was collected
under the command of Geueral Sullivan, which was to
march into the heart of the Indian country, and, if pos
sible, attack them and destroy their villages. For
centuries they had lived at the head-waters of the
Susquehanna, the Delaware and the Mohawk, on the
delightful borders of the smaller lakes. The great
head, where the council-fire was held, was at Onondaga.
By the end of July the force was organized aud ready to
march. One hundred and twenty boats had been
equipped for the expedition. The army consisted of
three brigades. The first, commanded by Geueral Poor,
consisted of New England troops; the second was a New
Jersey brigade, under the command of General Maxwell ;
and the third was General Hand's. In this brigade were
the Pennsylvania regiments of Colonel Richard Butler,
Colonel Hartley, Colonel Hubley and the German Bat
talion. Besides these regiments was Colonel Procter's
Artillery, a detachment from Morgan's Rifle Corps,

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. 23
commanded by Major Parr, which included a number
of expert riflemen from Wyoming; Captain Spalding's
Westmoreland Independent Company, Captain Schott's
Company of Riflemen, and a company of Wyoming
militia, the whole force numbering thirty-five hundred
men. The army assembled at Wyoming and marched
up the east side of the river. On the first night the
army encamped at the junction of the Susquehanna
and Lackawanna ; on the 9th at Queen Esther's
Plains or Sheshequin, and on the nth the soldiers
reached Tioga Point, after wading the Susquehanna to
their armpits, carrying their cartridge-boxes aloft on
their bayonets. Here they encamped.
General James Clinton, who had wintered on the
Mohawk, advanced to Otsego Lake, the head of the
Susquehanna, and built two hundred batteaux, and dam
ming up the outlet, prepared an artificial rise on which
he was borne downward one hundred miles. On the
22d of August his troops were welcomed by a salute of
artillery from those of General Sullivan. Among them
were the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment and a detach
ment from Morgan's Rifles that had been sent to
Schoharie to chastise the Indians soon after the battle
of Monmouth.
At Tioga Point a strong stockade was erected, where
all the stores not absolutely needed were placed. Two
or three cannon were mounted, arrangements were
made for the sick, and then the army passed beyond the
river mountains, aud reached an open country. The
only stand made by the Indians was at Newtown,
eighteen miles from Tioga Point, on the Tioga or
Chemung River. Colonel Johu Butler, his sou, the
two Johnsons, besides others, commanded the British

24 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Tories. Brant was at the head of the Indian warriors
of the Six Nations. On the north side of the
river there was a bend, forming almost a right angle ;
here the enemy had a breastwork nearly half a mile
long, and was prepared for the decisive battle. Their
right and rear were guarded by the stream ; only their
left was exposed, and to protect this, bodies of sharp
shooters were stationed on the neighboring hills. To
mask their works, pine shrubs had been cut and stuck
up in front as though they were growing. Major Parr
having discovered the Indian line of defence, General
Sullivan gave orders to General Poor to scale the hills
on his right, and then to fall on the left flank and rear
of the enemy. Procter with, his artillery, took up a
position to render his work eff"ective, while Parr, with
his rifle corps, was soon engaged. The enemy stood their
ground witli determined resolution until the decisive
movements of Poor cleared the hills and uncovered their
flank, when they immediately fled. The true Indian
character appeared. Cunning and patient, impetuous
and terrible in attack, overbearing and cruel in victory,
so when they are defeated and broken-spirited they are
cowards, and no power can rally them. No serious
attempt was afterwards made to check the advance of
the army.
¦ There was no delay. The army was in the Indian
country, and hundred of flelds teeming with corn, beans
and other vegetables were laid waste. Great orchards
abounded, and near the town, between the Seneca
and Cayuga Lakes, were flfteen hundred peach-trees
heavily laden with fruit. All were cut down. Deeply
were the Indians made to drink of the cup they
had so often forced to the lips of the frontier settlers.

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. gc
Though the soldiers were active, the number of Indian
towns and quantity of produce to be destroyed were so
great that they were fully employed a month in accom
plishing their work. Nearly 160,000 bushels of corn
were destroyed, besides towns and villages. The farthest
point of advance was Genesee Castle, at the large flats
on the river bearing that name.
Having destroyed all the huts and crops, the army
withdrew from the country. Meanwhile Colonel Brod
head had laid waste the country along the Allegheny,
inhabited by Mingo, Muncy and Seueca Indians.
With six or seven hundred men he advanced two hun
dred miles up the river, destroying villages and corn
fields. Unable to resist his army, after one skirm
ish they abandoned their villages, and sought safety in
the woods.
Sullivan returned with his troops to Standing Stone
Bottom. On the 5th of October the whole army, in
cluding the New York Brigade, except those in charge
of the pack-horses, embarked on board the boats, and
floated down the Susquehanna, cheered by songs and
music. It was hoped that the Indians would go further
westward. Though they ceased to terrorize over the
inhabitants of the frontier, yet their annoyances con
tinued until the end.
After the closing of the war, the contest between the
dwellers in the Wyoming Valley and the authorities of
Pennsylvania was wisely submitted to arbitration. The
Supreme Executive Council prayed Congress to appoint
commissioners " to constitute a court for hearing and
determining the matter in question, agreeably to the
9th article of the Confederation." Five men were ap
pointed to meet at Trenton in November, 1782, and

26 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
they were in session forty-one judicial days. On the
30th of December they pronounced the following judg
ment: "We are unanimously of opinion that the State
of Connecticut has no right to the lands in controversy.
We are also unanimously of opinion that the jurisdic
tion and preemption of all the territory lying within the
charter boundary of Pennsylvania, and now claimed by
the State of Connecticut, do of right belong to the
State of Pennsylvania." Thus ended the long contro
versy for the lovely Valley of the Wyoming.
Of the frontier it may be truly said that it was a
seven years' battle-ground with the Indians during the
Revolution. The remains of burnt houses, abandoned
fields overgrown with weeds, fences broken down, men,
women and children slain, silence aud desolation in
many a place of once joyful industry — these were the
depressing mementos of Indian warfare. Though the
records of the incessant encounters with the Indians are
scanty, enough exist to show that, besides the military
organizations already described, many companies of
rangers were formed to protect families living in forts
and toilers in the fields.
Nor did the Pennsylvania soldiers circumscribe their
Indian fighting to the State. An expedition was organ
ized in Virginia to destroy the Indian villages on the
Sandusky River, President Reed listened with favor to
the enterprise, though its ultimate object was to extend
the western boundary of Virginia. General Clarke, a
Virginian, was chosen commander of the expedition,
though many of the soldiers who accompanied him
lived on the disputed borderland of Virginia and Penn
sylvania. About one hundred volunteers from West
moreland, under the command of Colonel Lochry, also-

CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS. 27
enlisted. They started for Fort Henry (now Wheeling),
where they expected to join the forces of General
Clarke ; but he had arrived first aud, after waiting
several days, continued westward. Lochry followed,
but the Indians, discovering the smallness of his force,
attacked him, killed forty-two and took sixty-four
prisoners. Clarke, weakened by desertions, by Lochry's
overthrow, and by the non-arrival of reinforcements
from Kentucky, abandoned the enterprise.
The spirit of invasion, once aroused, could not be
easily quelled. In an evil hour it was determined to
destroy the Moravian towns on the Muskingum River.
The real or pretended reason for destroying them was
the shelter they afforded to hostile Indians. Most of
the soldiers who took part in this unhallowed work
were from Washington county, with Colonel David
Williamson for a commander. Not content with
destroying them, the next year the Sandusky enterprise
was renewed under the leadership of Colonel William
Crawford of Westmoreland County. With him were
four hundred and eighty men, enlisted from western
Pennsylvania, chiefly from Washington County. On
Sandusky Plains he met his foe, was defeated and com
pelled to retreat. On the second day. Colonel Crawford,
Dr. Knight and seven others were captured. Knight
escaped, but Crawford's fate was dreadful, for he -was
roasted at a stake. Rarely has Nemesis so swiftly and
terribly avenged a great wrong, as she did the destruc
tion of Gnadenhiitten.'
* "For a full account of these expeditions, see Crumrine's Wash
ington County, Ch. VII. and VIII ; Albert's County of Westmore
land, Ch. XXV ; Butterfield's Expedition against Sandusky ; Rosen
thal's Journal of a Volunteer Expedition to Sandusky ; Pa. Archives,
Vol. 14, 2d Series, p. 68l.

CHAPTER XL
THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL AND THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
Section I.
The Presidencies of Wharton, Bryan and Reed.
1777-1781.
The war of the Revolution was simply one step,
the most palpable and daring, in a revolution begun
long before and still in hopeful progress. A venerable
order, resting on personal authority, had passed away,
and once more the representative institutions of Greece
and Rome, for many centuries sunk out of sight, ap
peared above the subsiding waves. Their form was in
deed greatly changed, but their essential principle was
the same. Again could the people choose their own
rulers. Thus acting, as possessors of supreme political
power, they chose Thomas Wharton, Jr., on February
14, 1777, the first President of the Supreme Executive
Council. On the 5th of March he was inaugurated
with imposing ceremonies, by the style of " His Excel
lency, Thomas Wharton, Jr., Esq., President of the Su
preme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, Captain-General and Commander-in-
Chief in and over the same." From an early hour the
people began to assemble at the court-house. On all
the highways in the surrounding country might be seen
farmers driving toward the city to behold the novel
(28)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 29
scene. Converging to the same place, with what good-
natured impatience did they wait for some sign of the
great event they had come to witness. The first pres
ident, would he also be the last ? This question was
doubtless addressed by more than one bystander to an
other. At length, the hour for the simple, yet impress
ive ceremony arrived. The first to appear was the high
sheriff", at whose bidding the confusing hum ceased.
The president and speaker of the Assembly then
came forward. The next actor was the clerk of the
House, who declared the election of the President and
Vice-President by the General Assembly and Supreme
Executive Council. The announcement was followed
with a heavy roar from thirteen cannon and the depart
ure of the people for the city tavern, where an enter
tainment was provided by order of the Assembly. To
this the members of the Congress, then iu the city, and
the general officers of the continental army were in
vited. Seventeen toasts were drunk, and there was
more cannon-firing and bell-ringing. In this manner
was inaugurated the first chief magistrate under the
new constitution.
Wharton had long shown his interest in the revolu
tionary movement. He had served as a member of the
committee of correspondence, and of the committee of
safety ; also in the provincial convention of deputies
that framed the constitution. When the council of
safety superseded the committee of safety, by the order
of the provincial convention, Wharton was chosen
president of the council. Untiring in the public service,
by his many well-performed labors he had proved his
fitness to direct the destinies of the infant State. The
way before him was difficult, and a less hopeful spirit

30 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
would have shrunk from the heavy task. Politically,
he was a Moderate Constitutionalist. Though partici
pating in the making of the constitution, he was not
classed as a radical; to his opponents, therefore, he was
more acceptable than a man of stronger type. In a
letter to St. Clair soon after the adoption of the consti
tution, he said : "There are many faults which I hope
one day to see removed ; but it is true that if the gov
ernment should at this time be overset, it would be
attended with the worst consequences, not only to this
State, but to the whole continent in the opposition we
are making to Great Britain. If a better frame of gov
ernment could be adopted, such a one as would please a
much greater majority than the present oue, I should be
very happy in seeing it brought about." This letter
reveals his character, his willingness to serve the State,
to preserve harmony among all, and to strengthen the
cause he loved so well.
Perhaps a stronger war spirit prevailed during Whar
ton's administration than at a later period, yet the diffi
culties were great, caused by the hopeless division of
parties. Naturally, those who had been retired were
unwilling to support their political enemies. Even
though desiring their country's independence, their dis
like for their victors was too great for them to render
more than a half-hearted service. Though Pennsyl
vania was the richest in means for carrying on the war
of all the states, it was benumbed by political discord.
The long existing spirit of personal antagonism -was
not hushed, even in the presence of the enemy. In
truth, to quarrel among themselves seemed to be their
natural mood. Thus divided, the prospect of succeed
ing grew darker, but Wharton's hope did not fail and
he sought to infuse in others his own sanguine spirit.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. ,i
One of the most important departments of the new
government to set up was the. judicial ; yet this was not
done until four months after the adoption of the consti
tution. No courts had been held for more than a year,
and many persons were living in prison awaiting their
trial. In January, 1777, the Assembly declared that the
various courts should be "held and kept" at the same
times and places as before. All the officers of the old
government were set aside except the trustees of the
loan-office, and others were appointed by the President
and council. All actions that had been pending were
continued, and bonds given by the provincial officers
were declared to be valid. The provincial laws were
still in full force and also "the common law and such
of the statute laws of England " as did not pertain to
royal allegiance and proprietary authority, treason or
the direction of any legal process. A new seal was
ordered for the supreme court "having the arms of the
State engraven thereon, with other devices," prepared
by the direction of the supreme court justices. Joseph
Reed, whose fame as a lawyer had been briefly eclipsed
by his military career, was appointed chiefjustlce. He
felt, however, "an insuperable difficulty to enter into an
engagement of the most solemn nature, leading to the
support and confirmation of au entire system of govern
ment which " he could not wholly approve. So Thomas
McKean was appointed, with William A. Atlee and John
Evans, Jr., as associates. For more than thirty years
McKean was a commanding figure in public affairs.
He remained the chief judicial officer until chosen as
the chief executive. The legal system was completed
by appointing Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, Attorney-
General.

32 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
As treason rankly flourished in the State, a law v/as
enacted for punishing traitors. All persons residing iu
the State, or voluntarily entering it, were required to
pay allegiance. Treason was then deflned. Any resi
dent within the State who should take a commission
from the king of Great Britain, or levy war against the
State, or furnish arms or ammunition, or carry on a
traitorous correspondence, or form a conspiracy for be
traying the State, or should convey intelligence to its
enemies, was a traitor. If adjudged guilty of the
crime, he was to suffer death, and his estate was to be
forfeited. The evidence of two witnesses was required
to convict a person of this offence. This law, enacted
in 1777, was followed the next year by another for the
attainder of several traitors. If they did not surrender
themselves before the 20th of April, they were declared
to be convicted, aud attainted of high treason, and their
property was to be forfeited to the State. Among them
were John Allen, formerly a member of the committee
of inspection and observation for the City and Liberties
of Philadelphia ; William Allen, a lieutenant-colonel of
one of the regiments; Jacob Duch6, late Chaplain of
Congress, and Joseph Galloway, one of the most promi
nent men of his time, and who, at an early day, had
shown his loyalty to Great Britain.
The oath of allegiance required the taker to renounce
his allegiance to George IIL, and to affirm his allegi
ance to the State of Pennsylvania as a free and inde
pendent State. As there was danger of spreading the
seeds of discord and disaffection through travelers
whose principles were not known, and through refu
gees who were flying from the resentment of their fel
low-citizens in other states, every person who travelled

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. ,,
outside llis own county or city without a certiflcate that
he had subscribed the oath, might be suspected as a
spy, and holding principles inimical to the United
States. The law provided for taking him before a
justice, who was to tender him the oath or affirmation;
and if he refused to take it, he was to be committed to
the common gaol, and remain there without bail or
mainprise until he complied. Thus liberty of move
ment was greatly narrowed in those perilous days.
Such a restriction had been common enough in other
countries and periods. Indeed, during the earlier colo
nial days, there was a restriction on going from one
colony to another. From time to time the bonds of
allegiance were strengthened as experience showed the
necessity of toning up more strongly, if possible, the
spirit of the people.
Within a year the Assembly dealt still more severely
with those who refused to take the oath or affirmation.
They were denied redress in the courts of law. They
could not act as a guardian, executor or administrator,
nor receive any legacy or deed of gift, nor make a will.
They were compelled to pay double taxes. Notwith
standing the severity of these disabilities, they were only
the prelude to a more sweeping disability which forbade
many classes of persons, trustees, professors, teachers,
ministers, lawyers, doctors, and druggists from practic
ing their offices and employments. The State had
started out on a stormy sea, and if Jonahs on board were
not willing to confess their Toryism or disaff"ection and
repent, the conductors of the ship were determined
they should have such a miserable existence as to lead
them either to repentance or to exile.
While it is easy for us to indulge in calm reflections
3

34 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
on this extraordinary legislation, how did the indi
viduals for whom it was intended feel? Only a few
months before, they and their law-making enemies were
serving the same government and holding the same
political principles. What had they since done to draw
on themselves such a destructive legislative fire ? In
stead of joining the revolutionists in their daring ven
ture, they were simply loyal still. Doubtless many a
legislator reluctantly voted for these harsh measures,
for he could not help knowing that Allen, Galloway
and the rest of their kind were faithfully abiding by
their old principles, and were as honest in following
them as were those who had plunged into the thick
darkness of the revolution. More than this, every one
knew that a severe penalty would be visited ou the
revolutionists if not succeeding. Thus the loyalists
were between two fated seas — if they adhered to their
principles they would be accounted traitors by the new
government ; if they bent before the storm, they would
be as surely punished for their recreancy by the old.
On the other hand, the revolutionists realized their peril.
To suffer their opponents to live among them was to
pull down the house they were with so much difficulty
trying to raise. With them it was a choice between
destroying the hopes, principles and freedom of their
opponents, who were living in their midst, or of suffer
ing a fatal eclipse to their own daring plans, with the
loss of their property and perhaps of their lives. With
such an alternative, they were nerved to enact this
series of terrific laws, — the most Draconian in the
history of American legislation.
Besides a new oath of allegiance, changes were need
ful in electing members of the Assembly. The first

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. oc
law enacted by the State endowed the speaker of the
Assembly with authority to send for absent members.
If two-thirds of the members for each county did not
meet within the time prescribed, those who did meet
were authorized to hold elections to fill the places of the
absentees. The next year the Assembly forbade every
sheriff", coroner, inspector or judge of any election before
the closing of the poll from unfolding or opening " the
whole or part of the scroll of paper containing the
names of the persons voted for and delivered in by any
of the electors, or to look over or read the names thereon
written." Nor could any person having land in two
districts or counties vote in more than one of them, not
withstanding "any. law or custom to the contrary."
Inspectors of election were to be chosen on Saturday
preceding the annual election, who were to choose
judges to attend and assist the inspector in preventing
"fraud and deceit" at the election. The judges were
to open elections between ten o'clock in the morning
and two o'clock in the afternoon, and were authorized
to administer to every person presenting his ticket,
whose right to vote was suspected, an oath.^
Every elector, also, when presenting his ticket, was
required to present a certificate showing that he had
taken the oath of allegiance. As a very large number,
perhaps nearly half, who had the right to vote by observ
ing this requirement, were unwilling to follow it until
* " That he is twenty-one years of age, and a freeman of the county
of  , that he has resided in this State for the space of one
whole year, and paid public taxes during the time (or he is the son of
a freeholder in the State who payeth taxes), and that he has not
¦voted already, nor will vote at this election in any other district of
the said county, or in any of the other counties of this State."

36 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the close of the revolutionary struggle, they disfran
chised themselves. Had they qualified and exercised
their rightful power, the State would have been guided
by those holding views similar to their own. Through
their inaction only did their opponents for several years
have their way.
When the election was over the judges counted the
votes, and within twelve days made a return to the
President or Vice-President of the Supreme Executive
Council, and "to the house bf representatives at their
next meeting. " The judges and inspectors were fined
for neglect of duty, though prosecutions were limited
to three months from the time of off"ending.
While making these regulations to preserve and
strengthen the power of the State, the Assembly, in
1778, endowed the Continental Congress with authority
to sue in the court of common pleas for any debt in the
name of the United States. They were created a body
politic and corporate within the State for that purpose.
Whenever this authority was exercised the court was to
appoint three to five auditors to liquidate the account,
and report the amount due to the court, whicli could
proceed as in other cases.
To wage war, money was needed ; and the first plan
for supplying the treasury was to issue bills of credit
With these the people were familiar, for paper-money
had been used in the Province for years. The first con
tinental issue was in 1775, and though the Continental
Congress was a weak, trembling body, the bills were
taken by the people. Some loans were negotiated at
home and abroad, but the aggregate amount was not
large. Not daring to make demands on the states. Con
gress recommended payment, and fixed for the states the

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. yj
quotas, which they were expected to raise by taxation.
Had they done so. Congress would have had ample
means for carrying on the war ; unhappily, the states
complied only in a languid manner. This gave rise to
a fresh series of difficulties ; for as soon as some of the
states learned that their neighbors were not complying
with the recommendation, they too relaxed their pay
ments. In the end, the system of taxation, which in
principle was correct, and ought to have been rigidly
enforced, was almost disregarded.
Weak as was the financial plan of Congress, from its
lack of power and the unwillingness of the states to
grant more, the lack of a financial system in every
State was less excusable. The states had authority
which many of them could have put forth without
danger of a counter-revolution. One of the reasons for
not maturing an adequate policy was the belief that the
war would be brief and that large funds would not be
needed. Another reason for not adopting a clear and
strong policy, especially in Pennsylvania, was fear ; for
those who were half-hearted, or opposed to the contest
on religious or political grounds, were very numerous
and influential. The war party, therefore, from neces
sity, adopted no plan requiring heavy contributions.
Following in the wake of Congress, the State resorted
to paper-money as the principal means for maintaining
war. Pennsylvania had been more successful than any
other Province in issuing this kind of money, and had
the people been united in revolutionary action, they
could have hopefully resorted to this expedient. In
stead of union there was division, and those in control
knowing this started on the paper-money experiment
with great caution, but grew bolder with every venture
and the never-ceasing pressure of necessity.

38 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
The first Pennsylvania war issue was for a small
amount. In June,' 1775, there was an application to the
Assembly for an issue of bills of credit to pay the as-
sociators and other war expenses. The Assembly, ques
tioning its powers, refused to authorize their issue.
The committee of safety, less fearful of consequences,
emitted, on the 20th of July, the sum of _;;^35,ooo. The
bills were known as resolve-money. In September'
another small issue of ;^22,ooo was authorized, and in
Novembers a much larger one of ;^8o,ooo, and the
following April ¦? _;^85,ooo more.
In March, 5 1777, the Assembly emitted ^^200,000 for
the support of the army. This was the first issue by
"the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." The bills
were a legal tender. Congress requested the states to
call in their notes issued prior to the 19th of April,
1775, as they had fallen into the hands of persons un
friendly to the new government. One object for doing
this was to diminish the amount in circulation, and
give the bills issued by Congress more room. On the
23d of March, 1776, the Legislature complied with the
request. Such notes were not a legal tender after the
ist of June, but until then they were received at the
treasury in payment of taxes, and in exchange for
newer notes. A longer time, until the first of August,
was given to non-residents. By subsequent legislation
the issue of October 25th, 1775, for the amount of
;^22,ooo, was included within the law. Previously, the
Pennsylvania Assembly had declared the issue of Con
gress to be a legal tender, and had imposed penalties on
those who refused to receive, or who counterfeited them.
One of the earliest consequences of continuing their
'23d. '30th. »i8th. '6th. '20th.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. ^g
issue, was a direct clash with the money issued by the
Continental Congress. Both issues were like driftwood
caught and held by opposing tides. The credit of the
State money was the highest, yet no one could fail to
see the increasing danger of sinking the value of both
kinds by issuing more.
As the Friends were unwilling to take paper-money,
some of them were proclaimed enemies to their country
and shut out from trade with the people. They
avowed that they had conscientious scruples against
taking the money, because it was issued for the support
of the war. On the other hand they could not deny that
they had freely taken bills of credit formerly issued by
the Province for the same purpose. Some of the Tories
also refused to take the bills ; even John Dickinson was
among the distrusted number. In 1777 he wrote to his
brother Philemon, "Receive no more continental
money on your bonds or mortgages ; the British troops
having conquered the Jerseys and your being in camp
are sufficient reasons : be sure you remember this ; it
will be better for you. ' '
Indeed, at no time was the credit of paper-money,
either State or continental, strong. Light of wing, its
flight was low and short. At the close of 1776, Reed
wrote to Washington, "Something must be attempted
to revive our expiring credit, give our cause some de
gree of reputation and prevent a total depreciation of
the continental money, which is coming on very fast."
This was at the close of the first disastrous campaign,
after Washington had lost the battles of Long Island
and Fort Washington.
The evil effects of issuing this money were great.
First of all, creditors suff"ered unjustly by the deprecia-

40 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
tion. Many who had been living on the income from
their mortgages and the like, were ruined. Many a
bitter tale was told of the suff"erings endured by widows,
wards and others who were obliged to receive worthless
paper-money in payment of money obligations due to
them. One of them thus wrote to the editor of the
Packet : "If something is not done to prevent trustees
and guardians from taking advantage of the times, in
defrauding helpless widows and orphans, great numbers
who have lived in opulence before, the death of their
husbands and parents, and had what was thought a
competency left them after their death, will be reduced
to a state of indigence. ' ' She then tells the story of
her own misfortunes. Her father had died six years
previously, leaving her "a pretty fortune in ready cash,
which he placed in the hands of a neighbor, whom he
tnisted would administer strict justice towards" her.
When she became of age, he insisted on paying her in
the depreciated money of the day, although the real
estate he had purchased with the money received was
worth "ten times the price it cost." Yet not every
debtor paid his debts in paper-money. Charles Biddle
says : " There were a great many who would not do
this, but paid their debts honestly in specie." It is a
relief to the dark picture of the times to look on men
whose moral sight was not blinded by legal jugglery.
Another consequence was the opening of the flood
gates of speculation. Persons were tempted to buy and
sell because the prices of things changed so rapidly.
Hitherto the colonies had known but little of specula
tion, now it became rampant. The speculator was
everywhere. Noah Webster wrote, "The flrst visible
effect of an augmentation of the medium and the con-

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 41
sequent fluctuation of value was a host of jockeys who
followed a species of itinerant commerce." They lived
on the ignorance and honesty of the people. He esti
mated the number at not less than twenty thousand who
left their honest callings and applied themselves to the
"knavish traffic."
Another consequence, and still more serious, was the
disaff"ection of the soldiers. The disappointment was a
double one ; their payment was long delayed, and then
in almost worthless money. Such treatment was a full
blown swindle. They keenly felt the imposition, be
came disheartened, and mutinied.
Another evil consequence was the drying up of busi
ness. The ;^eople dared not attempt to buy and sell
with such a fluctuating money. Profits turned to ashes.
Counterfeiting, too, became common. Much ingenuity
had been displayed in preparing the designs, yet the
bills were easily counterfeited. The British were active
in counterfeiting them, hoping to destroy their value
and thereby weaken the war resources of the country.
When, through the operation of this and other causes,
the money finally sank out of sight, everybody was
better off" than before. Depreciation had been a con
tinual tax. After the disappearing of the currency all
rejoiced, and the national indebtedness had shrunk to
small figures.
From the varying confidence of the people in paper-
money, sprang many undertakings and changes in busi
ness. A person living in Baltimore, who believed in
the redemption of the Pennsylvania money, wrote to a
Philadelphian, and after saying that he had been told
that the money could be purchased in Philadelphia at a
large discount, and that any kind of goods could be sold

42 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
at a much higher price for it than for specie, or the
common exchange in the old continental money, re
quested him to sell everything he had for that kind of
money, " rather giving a little time for payment to good
hands than to avoid making the sale while the credit of
the money remains low." The Philadelphia merchants
also suff"ered from the greater confidence of their Balti
more competitors. By readily taking the paper-money
of Pennsylvania, "all the trade of York and Cumber
land counties" was drawn to Baltimore.' So the trade
of the one city was depressed and the other quickened
by the presence of a circulating medium whose popu
larity did not depend on its own enduring qualities,
recognized by all, but on the varying belief of the
people concerning its ultimate destiny.
Such were some of the consequences of attempting to
circulate an irredeemable paper-money. Distrusted like
a sharper from the start, it was reluctantly taken and
nursed for a considerable period. It brought no smile
to the receiver, but cast one backward at him on its
departure. Soon after the signing of the French treaty, Wharton
died at Lancaster, having devoted to the last all his
energies to the service of the State. He was buried
with civil and military honors in the Evangelical Trinity
Church of Lancaster. A true patriot, he had served the
cause of the Revolution with unflagging zeal. The
State had no servant more devoted and efficient, and his
death deepened the shadow over all.
During his administration most of the sessions of the
Assembly had been held at Lancaster. That body had
perforce been migratory, a wandering ark, in which the
^ Gazette, Nov. 8, 1780.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 43
liberties of the people were not too safely housed. The
Assembly began its work at Philadelphia, but adjourned
to Lancaster just before the coming of the British.'
After their departure the Assembly returned to the city.°
A wanderer truly on the lonely and uncertain road of
the Revolution ; not so much from lack of intelligent
and resolute membership, as from a divided, half
hearted, irresolute constituency. The more we learn of
those times, the more luminous grows the fact that
independence was the wish and devoted act of the
smaller number in almost every State, and not of the
many. After the death of Wharton, Bryan, the Vice-Presi
dent, presided over the council until the election of
Reed in October, 1778. He was an immigrant from
Ireland, a real politician, and had taken a prominent
part in forming the constitution of 1776. Bryan was an
ardent opponent of slavery, and strongly urged the free
ing of the slaves. In a message to the Assembly he
said : "No period seems more happy for the attempt than
the present, as the number of such unhappy characters,
ever few in Pennsylvania, has been much reduced by
the practices and plunder of our late invaders." Dur
ing Reed's presidency, he strongly urged their manu
mission. Bryan was then a member of the Legislature.
He introduced a bill setting forth in touching terms the
influences of slavery and providing that no child born
in the State, of slave parents, should remain in that
condition after the age of twenty-eight years. All
slaves were to be immediately registered, otherwise they
were to be deemed free. Slaves could be tried like
other persons, and if capitally punished, the master was
'September 18, 1777. *June 25, 1778.

44 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA .
to be paid from the public treasury. On the second
reading of the bill it passed by a vote of forty to eigh
teen, and on the ist of March, 1780, by thirty-four to
eighteen. Thus, as soon as some of the roots of this
great evil were cut, it began to wither, and in a few
years had perished. At every period the plant had
seemed an alien, unsuited to the soil.
Bryan's successor was Joseph Reed, one of the most
brilliant leaders of the Revolution. Besides his emi
nent legal talents, he had displayed his patriotism and
courage on the fleld of war, and was highly esteemed by
Washington. In October, 1778, the friends of the con
stitution elected a majority of the members of the
Assembly and Council, and in December Reed was
elected president of the latter body by a unanimous
vote. In writing to General Greene a month before
this event, concerning the political sentiments of parties
he said, " There is a considerable majority of real Whigs
in the house, a number of new converts to the inde
pendence of America, and a few real inveterate but con
cealed Tories. The council, who are also the represent
atives of the people, are Whigs to a man ; the only
disadvantage the Whigs have is the want of speakers."
Elated by success, he was depressed by misfortune ; and
his correspondence, voluminous and admirable in form,
is indelibly stamped with his variable moods. He
remained at the head of the State during three trying
years, the midnight of the Revolution. More radical
than Wharton, his administration was an unceasing
storm. His strong opinions, untempered by tact, stirred
the animosities of opposing parties. Had a president
been as loyal to the cause with a stronger disposition to
win the favor of the disappointed Whigs, perhaps he

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. .c
might have conciliated them and won their support.
Yet the doubt will ever remain whether half-hearted
Whigs, disloyalists and others opposed by principle to
war, could have been converted and aroused to revolu
tionary action by any leader, however tactful or magnetic.
After proclaiming him president, in the usual manner,
the Council, Assembly and other invited guests dined at
the city tavern. The bill for the entertainment was
paid by the State and is something more than a
curiosity. The parenthetical words among the items
(for this is an exact copy of the original) are like strong
rays of light thrown on the two hundred and seventy
participants. To General Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania, To Gifford Doi,i.y, Dr.
ist Dec. 1778. I,. S. D.
To provide for a dinner for 270 gents  500 o o
522 bottles of Madeira wine at 45 s. .  1229 o o
116 large bowls punch at 60 s  348 o o
9 large bowls toddy at 30 s  13 10 o
6 large bowls sangaree at 60 s  • 18 00
24 bottles port -wine at 30 s  36 00
2 tubs of grog for artillery soldiers  36 00
I gallon spirits for bell-ringers  6 00
96 wine glasses (broke) at 7 s. 6 d  36 00
29 jelly glasses (broke) at 7 s. 6 d  10 17 6
9 glass dessert plates (broke) at 15 s  6 15 o
II China plates (broke) at 20 s  11 00
2 China dishes (broke) at 67 s. 6 d  10 26
5 decanters (broke) at 30 s  7 10 o
I large inkstand (broke)  6 00
14 pounds spermicetta candles at 30 s  21 00
;^2295 15 o
This wine and toddy dinner, considering the poverty
of the State treasury, the long over-due bills, the hungry,

46 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
unpaid soldiery, is significant proof of the kind of
ardent, consuming patriotism that animated the par
takers. Possibly their nerves had been severely strained
by the many trying scenes of the Revolution and needed
relaxation ; if so, their success in relaxing them, judging
from their record as glass-and-china breakers, must have
satisfied even the most despondent of their number.
No oue in this calmer day will believe that they knew
anything about the horrors of the Revolution while
seated or unseated around that table; but doubtless
these were both seen and felt with tenfold intensity the
next morning.
As the campaign for the year was over. General
Washington visited Philadelphia. His wife, on whom
was bestowed every attention, was already there. In
honor of her presence a city-ball -was given at the City
Tavern, which was attended by the Minister of France
and President Reed. " As the only public evidence of
grace in that infatuated tribe," said the Packet, "not a
Tory advocate, nor quondam Whig, interfered on this
joyous occasion." General Washington did not reach
the city until evening, five days afterward, too late for
any display in honor of his arrival.
Leaving this scene, let us turn to Reed's course
toward Arnold. Realizing Arnold's unfitness to govern
Philadelphia, Reed tried to open the eyes of Congress,
and to require of him a reckoning. As Congress was
unwilling to do anything. Reed could ouly complain,
for Arnold was beyond his reach. Had he possessed
authority to deal with him, the proceedings would have
been short. Months passed before Congress awoke to
the necessity of recognizing his fearful abuse of
authority. In the end that body atoned to Reed for

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 47
neglect in not heeding his words, and Arnold was court-
martialed and found guilty.
While attempting to remove Arnold from Philadel
phia, Reed was not less active in reorganizing the
militia system. Like many other things, this work
ought to have been done in the early days of the Revol
ution, but was neglected amid the chaos of the time.
The resources of the State were very considerable if
they could be called forth. Lists were now to be pre
pared by officers appointed for that purpose of all white
men between the ages of eighteen and fifty-three who
were fit for military duty. In Philadelphia there was to
be a battalion of artillery, and a corps of light horse was
to be formed in the counties. An almoner was to be
appointed for each district to take care of the families
of poor militiamen when they were in service. Muster
days were fixed and fines were prescribed for non-
attendance. The fines of commissioned officers were
equal to the price of three days' labor; of non-com
missioned officers and privates, one-half as much.^
When in service, privates were to be paid a sum equal
to one day's labor ; when refusing to serve, they were
daily liable to pay as much as they would receive if
serving, besides a tax of fifteen shillings on a hundred
pounds of property ; substitutes, however, could be sent.
The fines collected from this source were considerable.
and would have been much greater had the law been
vigorously enforced. Pensions were promised the
wounded in battle, and such support to the families of
men killed as the courts deemed proper.
While the Council and Assembly were thus trying to
* The average price of common labor was to be ascertained and
fixed by the representatives of the Assembly.

48 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
render the military service more eff"ective, the southern
boundary of the State was completed. Twenty-three
miles had been left unsurveyed by Mason and Dixon in
1767. From the beginning Lord Baltimore had disputed
with Penn the boundary between Maryland and Penn
sylvania. Baltimore claimed all the land extending east
ward from latitude 40°, lying between the Chesapeake
and Delaware bays. A portion of this, now comprising
the State of Delaware, was claimed by Penn, and had
been purchased by him from the Duke of York. When
his cousin Markham was sent over to the Province, he
was instructed to settle the boundary line with Lord Bal
timore between Pennsylvania and Maryland. The king
had granted to Lord Baltimore a province lying under
the fortieth degree of latitude, extending from the Dela
ware Bay westward. In the king's grant to Penn, the
southern boundary was to begin at the fortieth degree
of north latitude from a circle drawn twelve miles
distant from New Castle. Markham met Lord Balti
more at Upland. On ascertaining the location of the
fortieth parallel, both parties were surprised, for it was
considerably north of Upland, in truth, ran through the
present city of Philadelphia. It was impossible, there
fore, for a boundary line to comply with the description
of either grant, for Lord Baltimore's northern line was
to adjoin Delaware Bay at the fortieth parallel, while
Penn's southern line was to intersect a circle of twelve
miles radius, drawn around New Castle. Lord Balti
more claimed ownership to the fortieth degree, regard
less of Delaware Bay as a fixed point in his boundary.
As Markham had no authority to grant any concession,
nothing was done until 1732. One of the consequences
was that persons along the border between the two

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. ^g
provinces were iu doubt concerning their allegiance,
while others, taking advantage of the uncertain boundary
line, committed the grossest outrages. In 1730 Colonel
Thomas Cresap went to Blue Rock Ferry, west of the
Susquehanna, and for many years was the leader of
forays iuto Pennsylvania, and the right arm of Lord
Baltimore and of Governor Ogle. He was a licensed
ferryman and surveyor and captain of the militia. He
built a fort and drew around himself a band of border
ruffians. To counteract their encroachments, the pro
prietaries gave a license to settle in York County, even
before purchasing the land from the Indians. Many of
the German Palatines settled here, and Cresap induced
them to attorn, or declare their allegiance to Lord
Baltimore. Some complied, but on the discovery of
Cresap's trick, resumed their first allegiance. This
angered Cresap; he came with an armed force, drove
them off", and gave the land to others. They were
denominated Reunites, or "Quaking cowards," and
retaliated by calling their assailants " hominy gentry."
All kinds of outrages were perpetrated. The deadly
rifle was leveled on man and beast. Finally Cresap was
arrested on the charge of murder, but subsequently
liberated. This deadly strife finally led in 1732 to fixing a line
between the two provinces. It was agreed between the
respective proprietaries that a semicircle should be
drawn at twelve English statute miles around New
Castle, following the grant in the deed of the Duke of
York to William Penn. Then the east and west line
was to be drawn at Cape Henlopen, and run westward
to the exact middle of the peninsula. From that point
a line was to be run northward to the western side of
4

50

HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.

the periphery of the semicircle above described, to the
latitude fifteen miles south of the southern boundary of
Philadelphia. From that point the line was to extend
westward to the western limit of Pennsylvania.
Many difficulties arose, raised chiefly by the Maryland
proprietary, against determining these lines. He was
loth to concede any portion of the peninsula to Pennsyl
vania. Finally the dispute reached the English Court
of Chancery while Hardwicke was Lord Chancellor.
Years passed in litigation. In the meantime the tem
porary line had been respected, and border feuds ceased.
The court fixed the east and west line at fifteen and a
quarter miles south of the latitude of Philadelphia, east
of the Susquehanna, and fourteen and three-quarter
miles south of the same latitude, west of the river.
The king's order that these lines should be run and
marked, was carried out.
Finally on the 4th of July, 1760, a new compact or
agreement was made, essentially a revival of the com
promise of 1732, and a confirmation of that agreement.'
By it a joint commission was created to determine and
mark the line. The work was now begun. Commis
sioners on the part of each province met at New Castle
^ Among its new provisions were stipulations that the Penns should
confirm the titles of Lord Baltimore's grantees to lands east of the
Susquehanna, south of the agreed line, 13 miles south of the latitude
of the southern limit of Philadelphia, but that west of the river such
confirmation should extend only to lands within a quarter of a mile
north of that line. On the other hand Lord Baltimore was to confirm
Penn's grant west of the Susquehanna and south of the line indefi
nitely, but west of that river only to the extent of a quarter of a mile
south of the agreed line. The reader must remember that the
temporary line had an offset of half a mile northward at the Susque
hanna.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. ^^
in Noveinber, 1750. Under Lord Hardwicke's decree,
the peninsula line from Henlopen to the Chesapeake
had been run. Three years were diligently devoted to
finding the western line of Delaware. The proprietaries
grew weary of this slow progress, and finally they em
ployed Mason and Dixon to complete the line. They
were astronomers of rising celebrity in London. Fur
nished with proper instructions and instruments, they
sailed for Philadelphia, aud immediately began their
work. A small army accompanied them to cut down
trees and clear a way through the wilderness. There
were chain-bearers, rod-men, axe-men, commissaries,
cooks, baggage-carriers, aud numerous servants and
laborers. In 1764 they were at the corner of the three
dominions of Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania,
and in June they begau to run the western line. By the
27th of October they had come to the North Mountain,
ninety-five miles from the Susquehanna, the end of the
temporary line of 1732. Early in 1766 they resumed
their work. By the 4th of June they were on the top
of Little Allegheny mountain. They had now carried
the line one hundred and sixty miles from the begin
ning. The Indians were growing restive and threaten
ing. Though the army was without banners, the
nightly gazing at stars through gun-like instruments,
and the daily felling of trees across their hunting
paths, raised in their untutored minds suspicions.
They forbade any further advance. The Six Nations,
whose council fires blazed on the Onondaga and
Mohawk, in western New York, were the lords of the
soil. The line could not be extended without gaining
their consent. At a cost of tnore than ;^500 the gov
ernors of Pennsylvania and Maryland procured, under

52 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the agency of Sir William Johnson, a grand convocation
of the tribes of that confederacy. The application was
successful, and early in June, 1767, an escort of fourteen
warriors, with an interpreter aud a chief, deputed by
the Iroquois council, met the surveyors at the summit
of the Great Allegheny to escort them into the Valley
of the Ohio.
The survey of the line was now pushed with vigor.
Soon the western limit of Maryland was reached, " The
meridian of the first fountain of the Potomac." They
passed ou, resolved to reach the western limit of Penn's
five degrees of longitude from the Delaware, in obe
dience to their instructions. On the 24th of August
they crossed Braddock's road. The escort became rest
less. The Mohawk chief and his nephew returned.
The Shawanese and Delawares, tenants of the hunting
ground, began to show marked signs of discontent. On
the 27th of September the surveyors were on the
Monongahela, two hundred and thirty-three miles from
the Delaware. Twenty-six of the laborers had deserted,
and only fifteen axe-men were left. Undaunted, the
surveyors coolly sent back to Fort Cumberland for aid,
and continued their work. At length they reached the
Warrior branch of the old Catawba. Here was a path at
the second crossing of Dunkard Creek, west of Mount
Morris, in Greene County. The Indian escort declared
that they had been instructed by their chiefs in council
not to permit the line to be run west of that war-path.
The command was peremptory, and Mason and Dixon
were obliged to return with their work unfinished.
They were within twenty-four miles of the goal.'
' For a fuller account and exact length of the line, etc., see Veech's
History of Mason and Dixon's Line and Graham's Report.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. r.
After a delay of fifteen years the work of completing
the line was resumed. For this purpose a commission
was appointed by the governors of Pennsylvania and
Virginia. The Pennsylvania commissioners were
George Bryan, David Rittenhouse and John Ewing.
They met at Baltimore in the summer of 1779. Bryan
wrote to President Reed that the Virginia commissioners
off"ered to divide exactly the 40th degree, which he was
desirous of accepting. Rittenhouse was not averse to
Bryan's idea. He suggested that perhaps "we would
be as well off"" with Mason and Dixon's line continued.
This agreement was finally reached and ratified by the
Assembly the following year.
Section II.
Reed's Presidency Continued. 1778-1781.
It was much easier to negotiate with Maryland and
define the boundary line than to sustain the value of
paper-money and to regulate prices. There are some
things that the State cannot do, and the creation of
value is one of them. It can change the name, quantity
and quality of things, but their value silently defies its
power. It can call a half-e^gle gold piece an eagle, but
its worth is no greater than it was before. The action
of the people has always been omnipotent in creating,
lessening and increasing the values of things, and this
omnipotence will endure as long as the people them
selves. The government cannot act otherwise than as
a person, association or corporation in affecting values,
except that its demand or supply, in other words its
uses, may be greater than those of any person or other
body. Nevertheless, the State had attempted to regu
late the value of money and merchandise. All the

54 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
colonies had had experience in regulating by law the
prices of various goods and services. In those days
the people had more faith in the power of the law than
they have now ; perhaps they had more reverence for it.
In December, "^^, an act was passed fixing the prices of
many things. Wheat was to be sold at ten shillings
per bushel ; flour at twenty-seven shillings per hundred.
The prices of butter, oats, leather, bar-iron and sole
leather were fixed ; cloth and servants' wages were to
be one half higher than in '74; all goods brought from
other states were not to be sold at an advance of more
than twenty-five per cent, on the sellers' cost, besides
the expense of carriage. The prices of inn-keepers
were regulated, and the court of quarter sessions had
authority to revise the rates. Whoever exceeded them
was liable to prosecution.
No man knew better than Reed the futility of this
expedient, yet he never shrank from executing the law.
As salt was very scarce, the Executive Council tried to
supply the people, at reasonable prices. Through the
exertions of that body, all the owners of salt in Phila
delphia agreed in August (1779) to distribute it among
the people in the city and country. The city sheriff", to
whom it was given up, employed watchmen to guard
the precious article and to prevent tumult in the dis
tribution. The Assembly resolved that payment for all
the salt in the city, not needed for immediate use,
should be made at the ratio of a hundred pounds of
flour for a bushel and a half of salt, a barrel of flour of
two hundred pounds for five bushels. Its exchange on
these terms was to be made by the agents of the State.
The seizure of all salt on hand or to arrive was not long
afterward ordered at the rate of £2P per bushel. Com-

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. ^.
missioners were appointed "to make inquiry into the
quantity of salt in the city and liberties, above the
allowance of a common family, admitting possessors to
retain oue peck for every poll in each family above
seven years of age, the residue to be considered as
public property, and paid for accordingly." They had
also power to take any salt that might be brought into
the State. Soon afterward they took one thousand
bushels, the cargo of the Mermaid. The captain was
given ;^30 per bushel, as the law prescribed. To
encourage him to bring more, he was permitted to take
away flour, beef, bread, notwithstanding the embargo.
The captain then attempted to deceive the commis
sioners by delivering only half his cargo, an unlucky
venture, for he was discovered, his permission was
revoked, and his vessel, with the salt still on board, was
seized. To increase the supply the State established
salt works near Tom's River. Large sums were ex
pended, but the results were so disappointing that the
works were finally sold for ^^15,000.
Those employed to prevent engrossing and forestall
ing were not successful in their repulsive labors. In
November, a committee appointed by Congress reported
that the dangerous practice of engrossing had increased
so rapidly that every friend to his country could not
but wish to see some remedy for an evil which threat
ened the existence of the several states, and also of
the individual. The committee suggested that the Leg
islature should fix prices and enact laws to compel
dealers to part with their goods at the prices thus
fixed.. In a subsequent letter the committee declared
that persons in office under the Continental Congress
had used the monej's entrusted to them in engrossing

56 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
articles. A committee of the Assembly also inquired
into the conduct of those who were engrossing flour aud
other necessaries.
At a later period the scarcity of food was general, and
a strong feeling set in against those who were forestall
ing and engrossing. The Supreme Executive Council
issued a proclamation against such practices, charging
civil officers to make search for persons suspected of
such off"ences and ordering their vigorous prosecution.
The foundation of the trouble was the depreciation of
the money, which rendered contracts uncertain and led
to such relief as the people could themselves adopt.
Persons who held goods were unwilling to dispose of
them for a currency of an uncertain value. Indeed the
only certainty it possessed was, its early complete disap
pearance. The regulation of prices was a hard thing for some
tradesmen. The weavers, curriers and tanners were
the first to complain. They held a meeting and as
sailed the schedule of prices fixed by the committee as
unfair and without a proper consideration of its effects.
They represented that the advances did not bear evenly
on all, some receiving much more benefit than others.
For example, a shoemaker received £2) ^o shillings
profit on a pair of shoes beyond the actual cost of
material. As the journeyman's wages absorbed the
latter, the employer had nothing; yet the shoemaker,
though receiving this advance, was compelled to pay
more than double for almost every article of food or
clothing, and consequently was worse off" than before.
To this complaint the newspapers replied that four-
fifths of the workmen were disaff"ected to the American
cause, and had skulked into town under the wings of

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. ry
the British army while iu possession of the city. The
complaints of the tradesmen received a powerful support
from a long and able memorial presented by the mer
chants of Philadelphia. They were loyal men, and
clearly showed that the limitation of prices was in prin
ciple unjust, because it invaded the laws of property by
compelling a person to accept less in exchange for his
goods than he could otherwise get, and therefore acted
as a tax only on one portion of the community. The
merchants concluded their memorial by stating what
ought to be done to protect the currency — the removal
of every regulation on commerce, and the purchase of
wheat-flour and other things at places nearer the army.
The rates for money borrowed by the State they con
tended ought to be flxed, thereby giving a sufficient in
ducement to lenders to accommodate the public with
out other emissions of paper-money. Oue of the most
important recommendations related to taxation. They
declared that the true method was to levy taxes of one,
two or three pence on the pound monthly, on the actual
values of estates, estimated by the price of such articles
native or foreign as might be taken for the standard.
These measures they declared would immediately arrest
the depreciation, restore money to its former value
without distressing the people, and lead every man to
lower the price of his commodities, without setting
arbitrary rules for his neighbors, or inducing them to
lower theirs simply by refraining from the purchase of
such things as were too dear. "If regulations were
necessary," said the committee, "let them be laid on
the necessaries of life, not on its luxuries. It can never
he justifiable to pledge one man to part with his
property to gratify the appetite of another. What good

58 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
reason can be given for laying a ruinous tax on the in
dustrious merchants that drunkenness, the most mis
chievous aud poisonous vice, might be reudered cheap;
yet such is the efi'ect of a limitation on the price of
rum." Not every one however was of the same mind. A
writer in the Packet thus wrote: "The regulation of
prices is absolutely necessary. We have all been wrong
in our notions of getting rich. It is true we have got
enough money. I have more money than ever I had,
but I am poorer than ever I was. I had money enough
sometime ago to buy a hogshead of sugar. I sold it
again and got a great deal more money for it than it
cost me, yet what I sold it for when I sent it to market
would buy but a tierce. I sold that tierce for a great
deal of profit, yet the whole of what I sold it for would
afterward buy but a barrel. I have now more money
than ever I had, yet I am not so rich as when I had
less." The papers teemed with articles against the
extortioners and forestallers, monopolizers and engros
sers, and they were urged to sell at ordinary prices and
not to hold their goods. All of these pleas fell on
hardened ears.
The State having failed to regulate prices, some
of the citizens agreed to take colonial paper-currency
issued before the Declaration of Independence, and
sanctioned by the king, in lieu of gold and silver.
This arrangement did not succeed, as prices in colonial
paper were double those in hard money. So the foul
stream of depreciation continued to flow and corrupt
everybody in its course. Persons refused to sell their
goods, trade dried up at the roots, creditors were ruined,
and every day the evils grew worse. Every oue en-

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 5^
deavored to part with it as soon as possible without
regard to its legal value. It was a live coal in the hands
of the holder ; it burned every possessor. The destruc
tion of business, aud the geueral distress could not be
cured by statute ; with as much reason might a person
hope to be cured by swallowing a prescription. Every
thing possible had been done to preserve the prices
established by law ; every measure had failed.
Finally repudiation began to be rumored and whis
pered, and Washington even did not look with disfavoi
on this method of banishing the currency. In one of his
letters to Reed, he said: "The sponge which you say
some gentlemen have talked of using, unless there can
be a discrimination and proper saving clauses provided,
would be unjust and impolitic in the extreme. Perhaps
I do not understand what they mean by using the
sponge. If it be to sink the money in the hands of the
holders of it aud at their loss it cannot in my opinion be
justified upon auy principle of common policy, common
sense or common honesty. But how far a man, for in
stance, who has possessed himself of twenty paper dollars
by means of one, or the value of one, in specie has a just
claim upon the public for more than one of the latter in
redemption, aud in that ratio according to the period of
depreciation, I leave to those who are better acquainted
with the subject and have more leisure than I have to
discuss. To me a measure of this kind appears sub
stantial justice to the public and to each individual."
The end was indeed not far off, though no one sup
posed it was so near. On the 20th of March, 1870,
Congress authorized the states to revise the laws
making the continental bills a tender aud to amend
them as might be deemed proper. The next day the

6o HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Pennsylvania Assembly proposed to suspend the opera
tion of the law making continental currency equal to
gold and silver in the payment of debts. This was lost
by a vote of twenty-seven to twenty-seven, the speaker
giving the casting vote against the measure. Two days
afterward it was proposed in the Assembly that no
tender of continental bills should be available for the
discharge of debts arising on contracts and mortgages
made before January ist, 1777, unless at specified rates.
The measure was defeated. On the 8,th of March, 1780,
an act was passed establishing the rates that were to be
paid public officers for different services, which were to
be determined by the price of a bushel of wheat weigh
ing sixty pounds. By the same standard the values of
fines, penalties and forfeitures under former laws were to
be determined. The pay of the members of the Assem
bly was regulated in the same manner.
The suspension of the tender laws could not be long
delayed. On the 24th of May, 1780, the preparation of
such a bill was ordered; this passed two weeks later. It
suspended the tender law for three months. On the
22d of September the suspension was continued until
the next session, and on December 22d, indefinitely.
These measures brought only temporary relief; the
needs of the State were urgent ; supplies for the troops
could not be disregarded. Taxes flowed into the
treasury slowly ; the unwillingness of the disaffected to
pay them caused serious delays. On the 29th of May,
therefore, the Assembly authorized the borrowing of
;^2oo,ooo, pledging the faith of the State for its repay
ment after ten years. James Searle, a delegate to
Congress, was appointed agent to negotiate the loan.
He went to France and Holland where he labored in
vain for two years to borrow money.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 6l
In 1780 the depreciation of the paper-money had
become so great that the Assembly founded a scale of
depreciation in settling with the soldiers. This was in
December. The following April the Assembly declared
that "whereas the good people of the State labor under
many inconveniences for want of some rule whereby to
settle and adjust the payment of debts and contests
entered into and made between January ist, 1777, aud
March ist, 1781, it seems just and reasonable that some
rule should be by law established for liquidating and
adjusting the same so as to do justice as well to the
debtors as creditors." So the Assembly established a
"scale of depreciation," by which the amount of all
debts and contracts was to be reduced to their true value
in specie at the time of making them. The value of
paper compared with silver and gold was thus fixed at
the times meutioned.
With all this bitter experience the people had not yet
had quite enough of paper money. So on the 25th of
March (1781) the State emitted ;^ioo,ooo more " for sup
plying the good people of Pennsylvania with a medium
of commerce and exchange of commodities of a stable
and solid nature," and also "to find efficacious and
certain means of procuring and providing an immediate
supply of provisions and other articles for the support
of the army." The Assembly put underneath these
notes some lands lying within the city, and Province
Island belonging to the State, hence this issue was
called island-money. On the 6th of April (1781)
_;^500,ooo more were issued. One fifth of the amount
was to be redeemed annually. The amount at first
recommended by the committee of ways and means to
the Assembly was ;^200,ooo, but was increased to

62 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
£yxi,Qoo. Robert Morris and seventeen others pro
tested against this legislation. If any person refused to
receive the bills in payment of any debt, bargain or
contract he was debarred from bringing a suit for recov-
ing the same. By another provision if auy person
refused to take the bills in payment of anything sold at
a less price than would be paid in specie, he could be
tried and fined, one half of the forfeiture going to the
prosecutor aud the other half to the use of the poor.
To this measure there was great opposition and an un
answerable protest was published to the act.
A proclamation was made by the Supreme Executive
Council on the nth of May, reciting the law, authoriz
ing the issue of these bills of credit, stating that one-
third of the money had been issued and taken by the
State troops, that goods had been sold for them to the
public commissioners, and that great excitement would
attend any depreciation. The Council recommended all
citizens to take the paper aud promised that no more
would be issued until the meeting of the Assembly.
The principal businesss men of the city met and re
solved that they would take the new and old paper-
money at the rates prevailing on the ist of May ; thus
leaving every one free to do as he pleased. The friends
of the government also held a meeting and resolved
with great unanimity to support the recommendation of
the Council. Its promise that no more issues of the
paper-money should be authorized was kept, and, when
the Assembly met, many reasons were strongly urged for
taking eff"ective action to provide for its redemption.
The lots in the city formerly belonging to the proprietary,
and Province Island, which had been confiscated, were
ordered to be sold and the proceeds applied to redeem

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. g,
the bills. The provision for ascertaining fines, penal
ties and salaries by the wheat standard of valuation
was repealed, and gold and silver coins were made the
standard. Thus fed even by a slight shower, the droop
ing plant of paper-money began to revive, so responsive
is it to every succor. Indeed, the island-money rose to
par, and a large profit was made in buying the bills at a
discount and holding them uutil they were paid. As it
could be" bought soon after it was issued, at the rate ot
eight for one specie dollar, the speculation was a most
fortunate one.
If the war was to continue, funds must come from
some source ; and ultimately, if not in the beginning,
by taxing the people. They must have realized at the
outset of the contest that they could not win independ
ence without paying for it. They did not suppose the
war would last long, yet even a short war costs some
thing. Had independence been won within a year,
paper-money at some value would have remained cur
rent. The most hopeful were not irrational in sup
posing that paper-money would float for such a brief
period. Independence secured, a system of taxation
could have been easily adopted and enforced. But
this was not easy while the hearts of many were
weak and others were cold and disaffected, yet if no
money could come from other sources, supplies must be
drawn unwillingly by force ; and this was the most un
popular, the most wasteful, and least defensible method
of all. In 1780, the time had come for adopting more
severe methods. Says Reed: "There are certain
periods of our revolutionary history which have mon
opolized all the sympathies of posterity. If the cam
paigns of '76 and '78 were times to try men's souls, the

64 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
winters of 1780 and 1781 were times to try their
tempers and power of endurance. The energies of the
nation were exhausted, the enthusiasm of rebellion had
subsided, the currency had reached its lowest point of
depreciation, the army was unpaid, unfed and unclothed,
and according to ordinary and reasonable calculation
every chance of rescue and success was gone."
Washington wrote to President Reed near the close
of 1780 : " The situation of the army with respect to
supplies is beyond description, alarming. It has been five
or six weeks past on half-allowance, and we have not
more than three days' bread at a third allowance on hand
nor anywhere within reach. When this is exhausted we
must depend on the precarious gleanings of the neigh
boring country. Our magazines are absolutely empty
everywhere and our commissaries entirely destitute of
money or credit to replenish them. We have never ex
perienced a like extremity at any period of the war."
Greene, who then commanded in the South, wrote in
a similarly despondent tone. Only one other resource
was left, to take whatever could be found, and accord
ingly seizures, for which certificates were issued, began.
Orders -were issued for wagons and other means of trans
portation ; in short, for whatever the army desired.
President Reed was invested with authority to declare
martial law. Though executing his authority fairly and
impartially, from all quarters came bitter complaints.
At last the women of Philadelphia came to the
relief of the soldiers and supplied them with cloth
ing and other things. Money also was given, not
paper, but gold. There were nearly eleven hundred
city contributors and nearly six hundred more in the
liberties or surrounding portions. All ranks of society

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 55
united, from the colored woman with her seven shill
ings and six pence to the Marchioness de Lafayette,
who contributed one hundred guineas in specie, and the
Countess de Luzerne, who gave six hundred dollars in
continental paper, worth one hundred and fifty in specie.
Nor was voluntary relief confined solely to them. Large
quantities of flour and other necessaries for the army
were sent by persons living in the interior counties.
Meagre as were the means for waging war, they were
too often squandered without punishment or reproof
If the resources of the country that could be commanded
were small, surely they ought to have been used in the
most prudent manner. Precisely the opposite course
was too often pursued. Doubtless the wastefulness and
inefficiency seen everywhere led many to withhold their
means, which would have been forthcoming had more
economy in the use of supplies prevailed. President
Reed's letters are full of these exposures. In one of
them addressed to General Washington in May 1779, he
says: "We had yesterday a return of forage drawn,"
by Pulaski's regiment at Lancaster, "by which it
appears that in the time they have been there they have
drawn 7,050 bushels of grain and 230 tons of hay ; no
state or country can support such expense. These cir
cumstances have a very unhappy eff"ect, and the con
tinuance of staff'-officers whose management is so notori-
Qus, discourages the people in their exertions for real
and actual service."
In the way of another illustration of inefficient
administration, ;^46,ooo were sent by an officer named
Bingham to some soldiers to whom it was due. He
kept it, acknowledged the fact and was court martialed.
The inquiry, though readily granted by General St.
5

66 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Clair, was reluctantly attended, abruptly dissolved, nor
was any report made. Again was the court convened,
and the officer's rascality was proved; "but," adds
President Reed, " we do not know what is become of it,
the officers being dispersed without auy satisfaction
given to us." Many a page inight be fllled with a
description of incompetent, wasteful aud corrupt use of
the public resources in those trying days.
Early in 1781 paper-money drew its last breath.
President Reed vividly described its death aud the im
mediate consequences to Mr. Searle, who was trying to
negotiate a loan for the State in Europe. "The paper-
money has at length found its ne plus ultra; a total
loss of confidence and credit, arising from a variety of
causes, gave it an honorable, and, what you will per
haps think more extraordinary, a peaceful exit about
three months ago." Immediately, gold and silver ap
peared. President Reed was right in saying that the history
ofthe world afforded "no instance of such a transition."
All commodities of every kind were exchanged for gold
and silver, paper-money itself in turn becoming mer
chandise. The change was eff"ected by the people
themselves gradually, by depreciating paper-money
until the exchange rose to two hundred and fifty and
three hundred for one. In form, the transition was
wrought by a declaration of the Supreme Executive
Council that it should be received in public payment at
a ratio of one hundred and seventy-five for one. At
once, as by the art of a magician, all dealings in paper
ceased. Necessity forced out gold and silver, a fortu
nate trade sprung up with Havana for flour, all trade
restrictions were taken off, and Mexican dollars rapidly

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 67
flowed into the country. In a few days specie became
the universal medium. Every one was surprised at the
change. The enemies of independence, both without
aiid within, who had prophesied disorder and tumult
whenever paper-money should die, hung their heads in
despair. Through great suffering, the people had found their
way back to the safe shore of honest money, but the in
debtedness of the State was growing and taking on a
very uncertain, vague form. In 1778 three auditors
were appointed, William Moore, who succeeded Reed as
president, Joseph Dean and David Rittenhouse, to
liquidate and settle the accounts of the committee and
council of safety. There were many defaulters, and in
1780 a more elaborate statute was passed, in which it
was declared that many persons to whom advances of
money had been made, "regardless ofthe public welfare
as well as of their own credit and character," still ne
glected and refused to settle their accounts. One of the
screws applied to them was to squeeze out any credit
due to them if they did not appear within three months
after receiving a notice from the auditors of their
liability. Their indebtedness to the State was to con
tinue, but its indebtedness to them would perish.
While the State was thus struggling to adjust its ac
counts and to compel debtors to pay, it was trying to
meet, as best it could, the hard-earned claims of the
patient, ill-treated soldiery. In 1778 Congress had de
clared that officers and privates should receive half-pay
for seven- years after the close of the war; the State two
years later continued the reward for life, and also to
their widows as long as they remained in widowhood.
Lands granted to officers aud soldiers were to be free

68 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
from taxation, and rations were to be issued at prices
specified in the law. Before the close of the year
auditors were appointed by the Executive Council, who
were directed by the Legislature to settle "the deprecia
tion of the pay accounts of all the officers and private
men ofthe Pennsylvania Line," and to give certificates
for the sum due in specie. To prevent any one from
counterfeiting them, they could not be transferred;
and the State promised to receive them in payment for
unlocated lands. In 1783 the Assembly appropriated
two tracts of land for which these certificates were to
be taken. One of them lay between the Allegheny
River and the western boundary of the State, and the
other on the Ohio on both sides of Beaver Creek.
They were called donation lands, and officers and
privates were to apply for them within two years from
the end of the war. '
The income of the State prior to the Revolution never
annually exceeded ;^40,ooo, including the excise and
interest on provincial loans. One of the gravest difficul
ties in collecting the taxes was the lack of competent tax-
gatherers. The compensation was inadequate to draw
men into such an unpleasant service. Another difficulty
grew out of the acceptance of produce in payment.
The controversies over its value were endless. The
only valuation satisfactory to the tax-payer was the
highest, and for whatever grain he chose to deliver,
whether that kind was wanted by the State or not.
Another difficulty were the certificates given by the
quarter-master and commissary in the country for grain,
cattle, wagons and other things taken for the use ofthe
' See a Report of the Department of Internal Affairs for 1893 for a
description of these lands, and Vol. 3, Pa. Archives, 3d series, p. 575.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. gg
army. The receivers regarded these forced contri
butions as equivalent to taxes. The amount which had
been issued at the time that Reed, Bayard and Ritten
house made their report, in March, 1781, on the causes
why the people did not pay their taxes, was estimated
at not less than $14,000,000.' The frequent change of
excise officers was another reason given for not regard
ing the law. " Removals by new assemblies," remarked
the commissioners, "introducing new officers who by
the time they are acquainted with their duty and dis
posed to do it, are changed and give place to successors
equally uninformed, and who, knowing how uncertain
their appointments are, rather study to please their
neighbors than serve the public by an attentive dis
charge of their duty."
Some prosecutions of delinquents were attempted,
though not often. In November, 1780, some persons in
Tulpehocken and Bethel townships, in Berks County,
who had entered into an association to withhold the
payment of their taxes and resist the collectors were
indicted. They pleaded guilty, and with many proofs
of repentance and sorrow begged the mercy of the
court. Each was fined £'ipo, which, with the costs,
was about five times the amount of his tax. As most
of them had borne arms in the struggle for independ
ence, and had been misled " by the secret machinations
'A "copy" of this report is in the possession of the New York
Historical Society. The original is not at Harrisburg, though the
reason for its absence is not unknown. The amount of certificates
held by the people in the following counties was given by the com
missioners :
Bucks  300,000

Northampton . . 900,000
Berks  1,200,000
Lancaster .... 3,000,000

York  105,000
Cumberland . . . 2,925,000
Chester  600,000

70 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA .
of some designing persons," the court was lenient in its
judgment on the offenders.
At nearly the same time Congress called on the states
to contribute, in prescribed proportions, toward the sup
port of the government. For this purpose another dose
of paper-inoney was recommended with a slight varia
tion. The notes were to bear interest and be redeem
able in six years ; and the payment of the principal was
guaranteed by the United States. Pennsylvania emitted
$250,000 which bore the name of "the dollar money."
In May an act had been passed to receive the old con
tinental money at the rate of one dollar in specie for
forty of the continental ones.
The true method of getting money for carrying on
the State government was by taxation and loans. The
Assembly ordered the collection of more than $35,000,000
of taxes between the years 1776 and 1781, but only a
small portion was ever collected. Besides the taxes
thus levied and paid for State purposes. Congress in
1777 recommended the states to raise for the general
service by taxation $5,000,000. The quota for Pennsyl
vania was $620,000. This amount was authorized by a
law passed in March, 1778. This was to be levied on
all real and personal estate, and the amount was appor
tioned among the several counties. Every "single
freeman " older than twenty-one was required to pay an
additional tax of three pounds. At a later period more
elaborate regulations were passed for taxing single men.
The tax was made a variable one from three to fifteen
pounds, and security might be demanded of them for its
payment. This tax, with some variations, remained on
the statute-book several years. In October, '79, a
monthly continental tax was imposed that was to con-

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. ji
tiuue for eight months, to raise $15,000,000. By sub
sequent legislation Congress called on the States to
continue this support to the general cause until
April, 1 78 1. To redeem the new bills of credit
issued by Congress in 1780' and advised by the states,
Pennsylvania passed a law iu 1780 for raising $93,640
annually for six years to redeem the bills for which the
State was responsible. The State continued to authorize
the raising of its quotas, though it failed like the other
states in fully honoring the continental requisitions.
The first tax payable in specie was levied in June,"
1784. The amount to be raised was ;^20o,ooo. Tax
payers were required to pay in gold or silver money " at
the rate of three pounds for one-half johnnes of
Portugal, weighing nine pennyweights, and seven
shillings and six pence for one Spanish milled dollar,
weighing seventeen pennyweights and six grains, and
so in proportion for all other gold and silver money."
Had a system of taxation been adopted and enforced,
1 considerable sum doubtless' could have been collected,
enough at least to have established a genuine credit
serving as a basis for loans by individuals in the State
and abroad. Unfortunately, the system of taxation
broke down at the very beginning, aff"ecting not only
the value of the paper-money, but also the credit of the
State. More strenuous measures ought to have been
taken to preserve and enforce this power. The Su
preme Executive Council in January, 1780, declared
that they had been zealous in enacting tax laws and
had "executed them with energy and expedition."
" For this end," says the Council, "we have especially
called upon all officers throughout the State, elected to
• March i8th. " 21st.

72 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
this most necessary duty, requiring their utmost exer
tion, and we trust every good man and lover of his
country will yield a cheerful compliance and assist
ance." The behavior of many persons in the State and
County of Philadelphia was evasive. The Friends, as
well as others, declined to give any information con
cerning their property, though liable to fourfold taxes
if it were concealed. The commissioners were puzzled.
The Friends had houses, land, cattle, which they did
not conceal, but refused to declare what was their own.
Nicholas Wain, a Quaker lawyer, declared in a written
opinion that concealment was the return of only a part,
and that the law did not apply to those who made no
return whatever- Attorney-General Sergeant gave a
more rational opinion, declaring that a person who gave
no return at all was liable to fourfold taxes as a punish
ment, and that the Legislature never intended to punish
a partial concealment and suff"er a total concealment to
go unpunished.
In one of President Reed's letters to Washington, he
says: " Our difficulties lie with the rich and not with
the poor. .... In my opinion we have miscalculated
the abilities of the country, and entirely the disposition
of the people to bear taxes in the necessary extent.
The country not immediately the seat of either army is
richer than when the war began, but the long disuse of
taxes and their natural unpalatableness have embarrassed
the business exceedingly, and Tories, grumbling Whigs
and party have all thrown in their aid to increase the
discontent." In 1780, Reed wrote to Mr. Henry of
Lancaster: "I beg to know, my good friend, why your
county cannot pay her share of taxes proportionably
with other counties? Has she suff"ered by the enemy?

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 7,
Did she not, at the last regulation of property, appear so
considerable as to have almost double the number of
representatives of most of the other counties? The
truth is there is not a week that some people from your
county are purchasing gold and silver in the city and
hoarding up as too sacred to be touched for taxes."
Perhaps more power would not have been unresist
ingly borne, for the bitterness between parties did not
diminish with the progress of the war. The elections
were annually held, but many could not vote because
they refused to take the oath of allegiance. Their
tongues were loose, however, and they were neither soft
nor slow. The election of members for the county of
Philadelphia to the Assembly in October, '81, was con
tested on the ground of military interference. It was
asserted that when the militia were serving at New
town, in Bucks County, a private meeting was held by
the officers of the Philadelphia battalions, who agreed
to support the ticket, and to compel the privates to vote
in the same manner. The soldiers were marched to the
polls in battalions, received the tickets that had been
prepared for them, and could not leave their places to
consult with their fellow-citizens. Those who refused
to vote were threatened with a flogging. Those who
voted in compliance with the wishes of their officers
received a furlough. General Lacey was denounced as
the chief conspirator. He denied these charges, and
said that forty officers requested him to send the troops
in a body to the election, that he could not discharge
them to go to the election, and consequently they were
kept under command. Another reason for doing so was
to prevent misconduct or plundering. Nothing was
said to them about voting, and he was not accountable

74 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
for what they did at the polls. The aff"air flred the
Assembly into a white heat. Geueral Lacey desired to
be represented by counsel, but his request was negatived
on the very close vote of twenty-nine to twenty-seven.
The Philadelphia delegates voted against the privilege.
This led the minority to protest against the indecency
of their conduct, and the Philadelphia delegates were ex
cluded from further participation in the proceedings.
Many witnesses were examined. It was asserted that
Colonel Bitting told his men, when they were marching
on their way to the election, that they must vote a
designated ticket and that all who did not were Tories.
At Germantown, and some other places, militia officers
acted as inspectors of election. A ticket was voted for
one set of candidates called " the camp ticket." One
citizen was prevented from speaking to his son and
sons-in-law who were serving as soldiers. The ticket
of a soldier was torn up by Colonel Bitting because he
was opposed to the name of the candidate. The hear
ing was prolonged, and in April, the following year,
the Assembly resolved by a vote of thirty-two to eigh
teen that the charges were not sustained.
At the same time the election of John Bayard was
contested on the ground of fraud. The Executive
Council took part in the controversy, and finally the
assistance of the supreme court was besought to solve
some of the difficulties. These events deeply stirred the
people. Many an exciting election had been held,
quarrels had been frequent, but without any deep design
to intimidate voters or allure them by direct rewards.
These, however, were unusual times ; party excitement
ran high, and the war party realized the danger to the
cause of the Revolution if their ascendency in the
Assembly was lost.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 75
Having served three years as a member of thc
Council, Reed could serve no longer. Though not
wholly approving the constitution, he had been un
wearied in the public service. During the three years
of his presidency he was, says his biographer, "in every
sense the master spirit of his party and the State gov
ernment." The Executive Council was more than an
executive body. Many important legislative measures
sprang from this source. All the messages to the
Assembly, addresses to the people, and official corres
pondence with Washington were the work of President
Reed. From the beginning of his first to the end of
his last term of office, the attacks of his political
enemies were incessant. His action in declaring and
enforcing martial law aroused the bitter enmity of
many. If, in many ways, he failed to execute the laws
and keep alive a strong revolutionary spirit, no other
man could have done more. Vainly he essayed to
improve the public service ; his efforts yielded little
more than ruin to his health; and he died in 1785, four
years after the close of his stormy political career, only
forty-four years old, a martyr to overwork in the cause
he loved and served with so much zeal.
Such a strong and impetuous nature could not help
arousing a host of enemies. Nor has death, which
smites down the jealousy of every competitor in the
wild race for place and glory, and often obliterates so
many of the harsh deeds of life, done as much for Reed
as for many an one less deserving. As his enemies
were singularly active in attacking him during his life
time, so have others been hardly less persistent in con
tinuing their attacks. Thus opinion concerning Reed's
character, though more than a century has passed since

70 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
nis death, is still divided. With every wish to do justice
to him and his contemporaries, the most faithful student
of history is still troubled in measuring his motives, the
depth of his patriotism, and the efficiency of his admin
istration. Section III.
The Presidencies of Moore and Dickinson.
1781-1785.
His successor, William Moore, belonging to the same
political party, felt the full force of the opposition
aroused by Reed's drastic methods to secure supplies for
the army. Yet as the taxes did not yield revenue
enough, the same harsh policy was continued. Moore
had been Vice-President ofthe Council, had long served
as an auditor for liquidating the accounts of the govern
ment, and when the Pennsylvania Line revolted near the
end of 1780, started a subscription loan of ;^20,ooo in
specie to meet the exigency. Ouly ;^i,400 were sub
scribed, yet Moore's burning zeal for the cause was
again shown, as it had been on many occasions.
Were the taxes a heavier burden than could be
borne? A writer of that day asserted that artful men
had endeavored to spread such an opinion, and weak
men were induced to believe it. The taxes were un
equal, but "as to the amount," says the same writer, "it
is but trifling compared with the taxes we have actually
paid." Some persons did indeed pretend- that a tax of
specific articles of produce was preferable to a tax pay
able iu money, because the farmers could always find
-wheat and beef to pay it. Experience had clearly
proved the groundlessness of the assertion. It was
made in ignorance, or perhaps was the imagination of
British emissaries.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 77
During Moore's administration the Executive Coun
cil and the Assembly battled for the exercise of author
ity. The scenes so familiar in proprietary days be-
tween the executive and Assembly were renewed. The
Council complained that the Assembly's policy tended
to destroy the authority of the Council. The burning
point of controversy was over the payment of the
salaries of the judges of the supreme court. Their
compensation was fixed before their appointment, yet
the Assembly reduced it and by so doing violated the
contract between the State and the judges. Drafts
were drawn on the treasury without the action of the
Council and contrary to the constitution, which de
clared that the Council had the right "to draw upon
the treasury for such sums as should be appropriated by
the House." The Assembly authorized the commission
ers of the River Delaware to draw on the treasury.
Regarding this act as unprecedented, the Council re
monstrated with the Assembly. That body resolved
that it did not know "of any system, steadily pursued"
that tended "to annihilate the powers and usefulness of
the executive part of the government" and that the
charges "were improper, groundless and injurious."
The vote, however, on its passage, was almost evenly
divided. In August the Assembly was specially convened to
raise funds for maintaining the government. A more
pleasing subject was the terms of a treaty between the
United States and Great Britain. The Assembly, in
1778, had resolved that the man or men who should
presume to make a separate or partial convention with
the King of Great Britain, or his commissioners, ought
to be considered as enemies by the United States, that,

78 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
as a preliminary, the fleets and armies of the British
crowii ought to be withdrawn from America, or the in
dependence of the states be acknowledged. The con
dition of aff'airs had since changed, and the probability
of peace required that some action should be taken.
The Council, therefore, in May, 1782, re-affirmed the
spirit of the resolution of '78, and added that any propo
sition that might be made by Great Britian tending to
violate the treaty existing between the United States
and France, ought to be treated "with every mark of
indignity and contempt." At the same time the Coun
cil declared that if Great Britain continued to persist
much longer in her course, she would destroy "all title
to the esteem, faith and confidence of the United States,
and render treaties of amity and commerce between the
Americans and English absolutely and altogether im
practicable." This action of the Council was considered
by the Assembly at the special session. A resolution
was introduced against peace with England without the
consent of France, against reunion with Great Britain
on any terms, aud against a revival of the rights of the
proprietary family. The last proposition had been re
jected by an Assembly committee. The news of its
action reached the public ear and quickly kindled a
blaze of opposition. With such a display of sentiment
the Assembly speedily passed the resolution.
Though every thinking person now believed that
the cause of the Revolution would probably succeed,
the public spirit was as surely decaying. One of the
thoughtful observers of a somewhat earlier time re
marked that " the busy multitude are engaged in
accumulating what they fondly call riches, by fore
stalling, extortioning and imposing upon each other.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. yg
Can it be denied that the community at large act as
though they had agreed to plunder the State between
them, each exerting himself to get the greatest share of
the booty? Here government sits as indiff"erent spec
tators, while quartermasters and commissioners, the
unjust trader, the farmer and mechanic, are contending
for the prey, and they who get the greatest booty are
daily wallo-wing in dissipation, venality and luxury, at a
time wherein thousands are groaning under the weight
of intolerable distress."
That the State was suff"ering from some dangerous
disorder also appeared from the unequal division of
property. Thousands of the most honest and respect
able citizens of America who had acquired their wealth
by hard industry or through inheritance now saw many
" whose fathers they would have disdained to have set
with the dogs of their flock, raised to immense wealth."
Does not "shoddydom" always flourish in war-time?
So the "haughty, supercilious and luxurious spend
thrift" emerged into view, shocking the quiet, well-bred
citizen by his coarse and careless ways.
Another symptom of the general decay was " the
undermining of that confidence which the community
ought to place in the august assembly of their repre
sentatives. " But another observer in Moore's time
presents a less despairing view: "Many people," he
says, "were allowed to take part in the war by the
prospect of a maintenance which it afforded them.
Many at this time appeared as Whigs, who were
actuated by no other motive than avarice, or desire of
bettering their fortunes. Hundreds who were poor, or
in debt, have retired or been driven from the service of
the public with ample fortunes acquired by imposing

8o HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Upon the credulity of their fellow-citizens, by extra
ordinary pretensions to zeal in the public cause. At
present, the distant tmd moderate rewards for public
services afford a strong presumption that those men who
serve their country either in a civil or military capacity,
are actuated by the purest patriotism."
One indication of the downward trend of public spirit
was the bestowal, to some extent, of the public offices
on the highest competitor. During Moore's adminis
tration there were several candidates for the office of
collector of excise for the County of Philadelphia, and
it was rumored that one of them would give one- third
of the income if appointed. The legal income was
barely more than ;^75. But there were emoluments,
especially the granting of permits for liquors entered.
There were also seizures. The income of the office,
therefore, depended mainly on the activity and adroit
ness of the collector. " Some men," said a writer who
evidently understood the situation, " might possibly lay
up money out of this collectorship besides providing for
a family, whilst others would starve in it and collect
very little for the State."
" The idea of selling places in a free State " aff"orded,
so the writer thought, "but a wretched presage of
public virtue. It was inconsistent with stern republican
principles that offices should be so openly asked for."
The writer contended that the best check On wrong
doing was to appoint men of integrity, who would
secure the public far better than bonds, oaths or the
severest laws to punish extortion or peculation. "As for
public prosecutions," he asserted that there had been
"sufficient samples of their insufficiency to punish
frauds in public trust."

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 8 1
Most of the officers at that time were paid by fees
established thirty years before.' The advance in the
price of everything since that period had greatly
reduced their purchasing power. A salary of ;^ioo per
annum in 1750 would not purchase half as much in
1782. The wages of members of the Assembly had
been trebled from five shillings to fifteen. Yet sheriff's
and others who depended ou fees were recompensed as
before. The permanent offices in the State were now
mostly filled by Whigs who had accepted them in the
dark days when many, who were now eager to fill them,
"stood aloof, and took care not to render their peace
with our tyrant enemy too difficult."
While Moore was President, important action was
taken to settle the public accounts. The office of
comptroller-general was established, aud his duties were
set forth. It was continued for eight years without
many changes. In the meantime the authority of the
comptroller was extended to the issuing of certificates
for balances due to officers, privates and citizens, and an
appeal to the supreme court was allowed from his
settlements. He was also clothed both with executive
and judicial authority to settle accounts and collect
money due to the State. For the first time an annual
abstract of accounts was to be prepared for the use of
the Council and Assembly. He was to judge of prices
and charges whenever they had been ascertained and
fixed by persons duly authorized to fix them, and to
• At a later period the fee system led to gross violations of the law.
The prothonotaries especially were severely accused. In Vl^estmore-
land County a writer asserted that the best public officers were
"very exorbitant and unwarrantable." John Irwin in Packet, Jan.
29, 1789- 6

83 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
require all debtors to pay except the collectors of public
taxes and county treasurers, " and to keep fair, distinct
and clear accounts of all the revenues and expenditures
of the Commonwealth of every kind and nature."
John Nicholson was appointed " comptroller-general for
the time being," and in 1785 the comptroller's term of
office was fixed at seven years. After long delay the
State began to untangle the knotty skein of its accounts.
Several attempts had been previously made, but without
effect. The legislators of those days wrote failure in
advance between the lines of much of their work, yet
did not cease to make laws, though with less hope than
ever of their eff"ective execution.
At last, as a consequence of the seizure measures, the
anti-war party, in the October election of 1782,
triumphed, and John Dickinson was chosen by the
Assembly President of the Executive Council. Another
member of the Supreme Executive Council elected at
the same time was Charles Biddle who was then living
in Reading. He had two powerful German compet
itors. The Germans, so Biddle said, were generally a
very honest, industrious people; and if treated with kind
ness and aided in any way, were very grateful. If they
found any of their neighbors proud and haughty, they
would do anything to injure them. Among the Ger
mans who aided Biddle was Henry Wertz, who had
served as a sailor during one of Biddle's voyages.
When he was about to sail in the Charming Nancy,
Wertz came to the wharf and inquired if there were
oranges where he was going. Biddle told him, " Yes,
plenty.' ' ' ' Will you take me ? " " Yes, jump on board. ' '
So he went, but Captain Biddle soon learned that
Wertz had left his father's wagon and horses in town

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 83
and gone off" without his knowledge. Surely a bad be
ginning for the boy, and still worse for the horses. On
election day Wertz went to the court-house, where the
election was held, declared that he knew Captain
Biddle, that he had "been to sea mid him, and fought
mid him many times." Biddle says that during the
voyage when "this honest fellow" was with him "we
had not a gun on board." Notwithstanding the popu
larity of his rivals, Biddle had more votes than both of
them. Dickinson's opponent was General Potter, an ardent
and very efficient officer since the beginning of the
war.' Dickinson received forty-one votes. Potter twenty-
two. James Ewing was elected vice-president, receiv
ing thirty-nine votes and General Potter thirty-four.
The contest had been exceedingly bitter. Never had
such fierce and frequent attacks been made by either
party on the other. Many names and reputations
were drawn into the contest. Still worse, these fires,
now raging so fiercely, did not die down with the
triumph of the Whigs. Dickinson was attacked by
"Valerius." The principal accusations against him
were his opposition to the Declaration of Independence,
to the constitution of the State, to his withdrawal from
'A writer in the Packet remarked : " Pity it is that the progress
should be marked by the political declension of the patriot general
(Mifpi,in) and the elevation of the fugitive colonel (Dickinson),
but such is the instability of human nature, such the ups and down
of human life, such the folly and ingratitude of man that we
frequently find him abandoning the faithful comrade of misfortune,
who in the hour of adversity braved danger and dared death, for the
frivolous friend of good-fortune who under similar circumstances
withheld from the common cause even his wishes and prayers."
October 31, 1782.

84 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the American cause aud linking himself with Tories,
to the desertion of his battalion in 1776 and his attempt
to discredit the paper-money. To these accusations
Dickinson replied. His opposition to the Declaration
of Independence sprung from the belief that "the issue
was uncertain and the time premature. The Declaration
was calculated to injure the confederacy with foreign
powers." He also admitted his opposition to the con
stitution, but "he had a right to do so, because he
thought it an imperfect instrument." Yet he had
accepted office under it, which was deemed an incon
sistency. He did not think so, " because it was now
the law of the land, and it was his duty as a good
citizen to submit to it and support it as long as it was
in force." His military service required a fuller
explanation. He was commander of the associators at
Amboy in 1776, the senior colonel of the First Phila
delphia Battalion, and remained there until the soldiers
were discharged. He regarded himself as having been
degraded by the election of Roberdeau and Ewing as
brigadiers. Yet he continued in the service. The elec
tion of Roberdeau and Ewing having been confirmed,
he resigned his commission as colonel and resolved to
serve as a volunteer. For this he contended that he
ought not to be censured any more than other officers
who had withdrawn from service in consequence of
disputes concerning rank. The last charge of attempt
ing to impair the credit of paper-money, founded on
a letter to his brother, was denied. Dickinson hardly
acquitted himself fully of these charges, though he did
mitigate their force. The last, however, still stands
against him. "Pale-faced Joe," is supposed to have
delivered the cruel blow. He had many scores to pay

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 85
oflf, the dogs had long been barking and biting at his
heels, and the time had flnally come when, relieved of
the cares of his office, he could turn on his malignant
pursuers. The most savage onslaught was between himself and
General Cadwalader. The latter accused Reed of de
spairing, toward the close of 1776, of the American
cause, and of showing a strong inclination to go over to
the enemy. Reed's countercharge against Cadwalader
was of coquetting with the Tories after the battle of
Monmouth. The conflict first began under pseudony
mous articles in the newspapers, and ended with elaborate
pamphlets to which the writers signed their names.
Both pamphlets were highly charged with venom, nor
was it an uncommon thing for writers in those days to
pour their personal charges into newspapers and pam
phlets hot from their over-heated imagination. So
there is nothing especially noteworthy about the
manner in which Reed and Cadwalader locked horns,
except their eminent standing among men. Neither
pamphlet was a clap of thunder from a clear sky start
ling the people by its unexpectedness, but simply
another clap from a sky that had long been darkened by
the fierce war of political factions and by personal
speech-and-pen encounters.
Indeed, Dickinson's anonymous opponent was simply
pursuing the method of personal warfare of the time.
Perhaps it was more prevalent and bitter in Pennsyl
vania than in other states; such was the opinion of an
observer who asserted in the Packet that there was not
a town upon the continent, hardly one in the world, in
which anonymous warfare was conducted with such
virulence as in Philadelphia. "A diff"erence of

86 HISTORY OI PENNSYLVANIA.
opinion upon the most speculative subject creates per
sonal animosity, and it would seem that in the imagina
tion of some men to traduce a character and to confute
an argument are the same thing : thus, if one writer
states a proposition in politics, he may be answered by
calling him an apostate ; if another details the principles
of commerce, he may be confuted by a charge of
Toryism ; a treatise upon language may be stripped of
its merit by terming its author an incendiary ; and
nothing more is requisite to controvert a theological
essay, than to assert that the priest is a drunkard. ' '
A much happier theme for daily talk than these dis
graceful quarrels was the announcement of the treaty
of peace. Though long expected, many hindrances
had blocked the path of the negotiators. At last, that
dear word, peace, could be pronounced. Moving in
darkness, as even the most far-sighted still move, the
beginning of a wonderful day had come. If the great
shore of life is ever3'where strewn with -wrecks, thrown
up by human miscalculation, many a ship has made a
brilliant voyage by daring, through ignorance, to take
risks known and avoided by the wise. The American
Revolution was one of these daring ventures that never
would have been undertaken had the leaders possessed
a rational comprehension of the dangers ; and still less
inclined would the people have been, had they possessed
equal knowledge, to follow them. Henceforth, we
were to mark the Day of Independence as the beginning
of our political institutions, as the Greeks of old marked
the battle of Marathon.
Independence I what did that mean? A victory
truly, the immediate effects of which revolutionist and
opponent were alike to share — this all could under-

THE GENERAL ASSEMBL Y. 87
stand. Released from allegiance to Great Britain,
henceforth they were to be their own masters. Would
their material, political and moral development be ad
vanced by the change? Their success might well in
spire them with the hope of overcoming every future
obstacle. Did they at once peer into the coming cen
turies and begin to plan a great republic? Nothing of
the kind. Blindly they had plunged into the Revolu
tion ; blindly and pressed by necessity they must long
remain in the wilderness of political experiment. If
the victors of that day supposed they had gained the shin
ing mountain-top, how great would be their disappoint
ment were they still alive and able to see all the dark
and depressing valleys through which the people have
since wandered. Six years afterward, amid political
chaos, a nation was to arise, and in a century grow
strong and great, not through prearranged human wis
dom, but through the working of a power which, from
the beginning of history, is seen in the retrospect, if not
in the present, using men and nations for ends far
greater than their own.
On the return of peace the first step was to exchange
prisoners. During the war many had been taken by
both armies. Early in the contest the British minister
had instructed General Howe to eff"ect an exchange of
prisoners without using the king's name in any negotia
tion for that purpose. By this arrangement an officer
was exchanged for another of equal rank, a soldier for a
soldier, a sailor for a sailor. Many stories were told
concerning the severity of treatment received by
American prisoners. A considerable number of Penn
sylvanians were taken during the fighting on Long
Island ; a much larger number on the surrender of Fort

88 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Washington. One of the prisoners taken after the
capture of the fort was Captain Graydon, who wrote a
graphic account of his military life. Immediately on
his surrender, he was put with other prisoners under the
care of a sergeant who remarked: "Young men, ye
should never fight against your king." Soon a British
officer, apparently of high rank, rode up, exclaiming,
"What! taking prisoners?" Graydou's back was
toward him when he spoke, but immediately turning he
took off" his hat, saying, " Sir, I put myself under your
protection." "No man," says Graydon, "was ever
more effectually rebuked. His manner was instantly
softened ; he met my salutation with an inclination of
his body, and after a civil question or two, as if to make
amends for his sanguinary mandate, he rode off" towards
the fort."
Graydon had a cartouch box marked in gilded letters
G. R. This on the body of a rebel so enraged one of
the soldiers that, in his attempt to unbuckle it, he
nearly jerked off" Graydon's legs. Soon a Hessian ap
proached. " The wretch came near enough to elbow
us ; and half unsheathing his sword, with a counte
nance that bespoke a most vehement desire to use it upon
us, he grinned out in broken English, ' Eh, you rebel,
you dam rebel. '" Rebel, with the epithet damned before
it, was the mildest term applied to the prisoners. " We
were twenty times told, sometimes with a taunting
affectation of concern, that we should, every man of us,
be hanged."
The prisoners taken by the Americans were treated
very differently. The first large catch were the
Hessians at Trenton. Many were sent into Berks
County, where huts were built for them in which they

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 89
lived until the end of the war. Thirty-four of them
were hired from the government by an ironmaster in
Berks County to cut a channel for water through a bed
of limestone, for which he paid the government ;^i,020.
Some of them were quartered in a Moravian church
near Lebanon. Others were sent into Virginia. The
prisoners taken on the surrender of Burgoyne were sent
to Lancaster. They were kindly treated, had enough
to eat and were kept in healthy quarters.
The Americans did not fare so well. At times their
sufferings were dreadful. In November, 1782, the
Pennsylvanians on board the Jersey prison-ship at New
York made known their terrible condition to the
Executive Council. They were in want of clothing,
blankets and food. Flour and potatoes were sent to
them by a flag of truce, and Ezekiel Robins was
appointed agent at New York to distribute the supplies.
He wrote to the Council: "The prison-ships are
perfect slaughter houses. Since the commencement of
this year near three hundred men are on the dead list.
They bury sometimes from six to eight a day. It is
impossible for auy, unless a spectator, to form an idea
of their distressed and horrid situation." From time to
time some were released, but the full story of their treat
ment by their captors would form oue of the darkest
chapters in the history of the revolutionary war. One of
the flrst acts after making peace was to open the prison
doors. Indeed, the soldiers belonging to Burgoyne's
army were on their way home before the issuing of the
proclamation of peace. They had already reached Phil
adelphia and were staying in the Walnut Street jail.
Geueral Clark came to the city and arranged for their
release, and immediately they started on their flnal
jnarch to New York.

go HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
With peace assured, the hopes of those who had
suffered from the test oath revived over the prospect of
its modification or repeal. In 1784 a resolution was
offered declaring that the happy time had come to
heal the divisions among the people, and that har
mony could not exist so long as any portion of them
were deprived of rights enjoyed by others, and that the
test laws ought to be revised and adapted to the new
conditions. This resolution was debated, but failed.
Then another was off"ered for removing the disabilities
of those who had reached eighteen since the passing of
the test laws. Next the non-jurors followed with a pe
tition for securing the rights of citizenship. Not only
did these fail, but the screws were turned down still
more tightly on all who had not taken the oath of al
legiance. They were declared incapable of holding
office until they subscribed to the oath of December,
1778. The Assembly went too far. The time had truly come
for lessening the rigors of war-time instead of extend
ing them. The party in control well knew that such
an extension of the suffirage would weaken its powen
Naturally enough it wished to maintain its ascendency.
The sweets of power are never more highly prized than
by those who first exercise them. It required no little
self-abnegation to raise up the fallen, well knowing
that, as soon as they were squarely on their feet, they
would not be slow to show their strength. Finally,
another effort was made to modify the test laws and on
this trial the vote was equally divided. The speaker
gave his vote in the affirmative and thus the bill
passed. But the minority were not willing to submit.
Accordingly nineteen arose amid great confusion and

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. gj
left the Assembly. That body, now without a quo
rum, could not formally adjourn and the session sud
denly ended. The seceders published an address de
claring that the bill had been passed contrary to the
rules and the usual formalities. Those who had refused
to participate in the trials and suff'erings for achieving
independence, so they maintained, ought not to be per
mitted to participate in the benefits of the Revolution.
If they were admitted to citizenship "the elections
might be carried in the favor of men who execrated the
alliance between the United States and his most Chris
tian majesty, and who still cherished a hope of reunion
with Great Britain."
At the next session of the Assembly (1785) General
Wayne led the movement to revise the hated laws.
The hero of Stony Point could not storm a political
assembly. A committee to whom the matter was re
ferred reported in harsh terms against changing the
law. ' ' Can such men expect to enjoy all the privileges
and advantages arising from a glorious revolution
equally -with those heroes, patriots and virtuous persons
who (next to God) procured them at every hazard of life
and fortune, not only without their assistance, but
against their efforts, or at least their inclinations?
Yes ! They say they expect it, and that they have a
right to expect it by the constitution. It cannot be
supposed that any society would, without great caution,
receive persons as members whose wishes and en
deavors have been to destroy it."
So severely did the test laws operate in some places
that the number of freemen who could vote and hold
office were not enough to administer the local govern
ment. In the towuship of Byberry, in Bucks County,

g2 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
there were at this period only three persons legally
qualified to vote and administer its affairs. The aid of
persons living elsewhere was needful to keep the simple
machinery of the township in operation.
The following year there was another eff"ort to repeal
the test laws, but the time for doing this was not yet.
In 1787, however, the laws were modified, and two years
afterward public opinion had fully ripened iu favor of
their repeal. Accordingly, all laws requiring any oath
or affirmation of allegiance from the inhabitants of the
State were repealed, and those disfranchised by former
laws were restored to citizenship. Only foreigners were
obliged to take an oath of allegiance on assuming the
privileges of citizens. Another gulf between loyalists
and Americans was closed forever.
If the Assembly was slow in acting justly towards
those who were affected by the test laws, the courts of
justice, since their reorganization, had held frequent
sessions and had followed legal methods and customs.
The common law of England, imported in the early
days pf the Province, had not been melted down in the
furnace of the Revolution, and was still applied by the
judges. Nor did any one question that the rules thus
branded with an English mark, were far safer guides
than could have been found by a fresh appeal to the
judicial conscience. Indeed, there was less imperfec
tion in the law than in the administration of it. The
chief justice possessed an imperious temper, and though
striving to maintain the dignity of his office, this was
not always easy. He had not been serving long before
a bitter episode sprung up between himself and General
Thompson. The general had been taken prisoner dur
ing the ill-fated invasion of Canada, and, after a four

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. g,
months' imprisonment, had been paroled. He then
went to Pennsylvania, where for nearly three years he
chafed over his inactivity. He thought that Congress
had wronged him in passing over him when making
exchanges and selecting others of less worth. Mc
Kean, who was also a member of Congress, was
especially blamed for neglecting him. McKean com
plained to Congress of Thompson's harsh words, an
investigation was ordered, and Thompson was declared
guilty. But the general was not yet subdued. He
published a card in which he accused McKean of
acting "like a liar, a rascal and a coward," and de
clared his wish to end the quarrel in the form of a
duel. The chief justice replied in temperate words,
saying that he could not set the precedent of obliging a
member or a magistrate to subject himself to a duel
with every person against whose opinion he gives his
vote or judgment. General Thompson's eff"ort to pro
voke a duel was generally condemned.
McKean was next attacked for official pluralism.
Besides acting as chief justice, he was a delegate from
the State of Delaware in Congress and President of that
body, and by virtue of this position. President of the
United States. Whether the same individual ought to
hold more than one office was not a new question. It
was easy enough for McKean to give numerous
examples of double-office holding, and these were a
satisfactory defence for his own course. The question,
however, still remained in the arena of discussion until
the general principle was finally and firmly settled that
an individual, except under very unusual conditions,
could not simultaneously hold more than one public
office. This settlement of the question has never been

g4 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
disturbed, and is no doubt laid as permanently as any
political settlement can be.
A much more serious affair blazed up over the prose
cution of Colonel Proctor. When off'ering his vote in
the October election of 1781, he was asked by the
inspector to show his certificate of having taken the test
oath. As he had long served in the army, he regarded
the request as an insult, and, unable to restrain his
temper, he assaulted the inspector. For this he was
prosecuted and tried before the chiefjustlce. Admitting
the act, he declared that he had "chastised him accord
ing to his deserts." The chief justice stopped him,
warmly saying: "You gentlemen of the army hold
your heads too high, but I will teach you how to behave.
I will bring you down ; we shall be overrun else." The
way to bring him down, so the chief justice thought,
was to fine him ;^8o. For doing this he was severely
censured by Oswald in his Gazetteer. The chiefjustlce
sent for Oswald, who appeared in court and received a
severe castigation. Neither McKean or any other judge
of his time sought the flattery or feared the condemna
tion of the newspapers. "I was charged," so he after
ward stated in the Gazetteer, " with a libel on Congress,
a libel on the Council, a libel on the President, a libel
on pale-faced Joe, a libel on the Court and Grand Jury,
a libel on poor Bailey,' and after being grossly insulted
in language unbecoming to the most servile hostler, was
taken into custody by the sheriff" and bound over to
answer in the sum of ^^750.' '
For this publication Oswald was again arrested and
brought before McKean and Bryan. The chief justice
demanded the name of the author of an article that had
' Editor of Freeman's Journal.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. gr
appeared in Oswald's paper entitled "A Friend to the
Army," in which McKean was charged as " a speculator
in distressed soldiers' certificates." He was ordered to
give bail for ;^iooo, but when the first bill of indict
ment was presented to the grand jury it was returned
with au "ignoramus," and the second bill was treated
in like manner. The chiefjustlce was now more angry
than ever. He accused the grand jury of partisanship
and of submitting to the evil wiles of Proctor. But
they were quite as resolute as the chief justice, and
knew their rights. For awhile the court room was rent
with contending voices. Sixteen of the grand jury
afterward published an appeal to the public in which
they set forth in respectful words their defence.
Yet in these harsh scenes the chief justice was not
usually lacking either in dignity, gravity or delibera
tion, or in the indispensable virtue of justice. In truth,
he was both just and kindly. But he lived in stern and
troubled times, when harsh words were often spoken
and rude measures applied. Moreover, the test oath had
disfranchised so many that there was less respect for the
officials than there would have been had they truly
represented all the people.
In 1785' a very important law was enacted regu
lating elections. The Republicans claimed that the
polling places were so placed that members of their
party were obliged to travel long distances in order
to vote. But there was a far more serious difficulty
with the old law. Persons living in one county could
vote in another. Nor was the attendance of " the elec
tions at Lancaster or Reading unusual for any consider
able number of inhabitants of Chester or Bucks." A
• September 19th.

g6 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
writer who defended the old system remarked that "it
was ouly between the City and County of Philadelphia
that the inhabitant connected by inseparable views and
interests exercised indiscriminately the privilege of vot
ing in either. Nor can the most zealous candidate for
the reformation of elections ascertain an evil that arose
from it." The writer contended that the restraint of
this right was illegal, that though one voted in a
particular place he was acting for the general good.
The counties were not separate independent republics.
The Assembly restricted voting to the precinct or town
ship wherein electors lived, and thus another long-
continued practice was overthrown.
During Dickinson's administration the desire sprung
up to remove the capital from its ancient seat. The
steeple of the state-house had been repaired a year or so
before. The wooden part had been taken down, and
on top of the brick work was erected a low hip-roof,
graced with a short slender spire and weathercock.
During Franklin's presidency the question was again
agitated. Mr. Findley of Westmoreland introduced a
resolution for removing the capital to Harrisburg. At
that time Manasseh Cutler, while on his way to the
Ohio, stopped there and described the town as "beauti
ful," and containing about a hundred houses. Many of
them were brick houses recently built in the Philadel
phia style. The town was plentifully supplied with
taverns, having "handsome signs." About half of the
people were English. When Cutler first saw them they
were going to meeting. They met in private houses, as
they had no churches. They were well dressed, "some
gay." Findley urged in favor of its removal that a
more central location ought to be adopted. The diffi-

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. ^y
culty of travel was of course much slower and far more
expensive in those days, and therefore the argument
was more forceful than it would be now. The bill pro
vided for the appointment of commissioners to erect a
state-house there on ground belonging to the State.
The resolution passed without much debate by a vote
of thirty-three to twenty-nine. It was reconsidered and
tab-led, and action thereon was not renewed until the
following year.
Harrisburg indeed was new, and geographically cen
tral. Whether John Harris had any vision of this kind
floating before him when he projected the town, is not
certainly known. Four years previously a committee
had been appointed by the Assembly to consider the
improvement of the ways of communication westward.
Even before the Revolution the sleepless merchants
of Philadelphia had thought of the possibilities of
increasing their western trade. The diversion to Bal
timore had been closely watched, and a check had
been proposed in the form of an artiflcial water-way
from the Susquehanna to Philadelphia. A plan to im
prove the navigation of the Schuylkill to Reading,
build roads from that place to the Susquehanna, and
found a town on the east side of the river, was now re
vived. To do this would " be attended with capital ad
vantages to the trade of Philadelphia, as every inhabi
tant of such town or towns would in some degree be a
factor for the Philadelphia market."
While the committee was conducting its investiga
tion, John Harris appeared on the scene. He lived at a
ferry bearing his name. He off'ered to lay ont a town
of two hundred lots, four to the acre, convey a lot for a
court-house and jail, and give four acres to the State for
7

g8 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA .
State purposes, and add to the gift if more land should
be desired. The gift was accepted, and thus the State
became the owner of the land on which stands the
capitol. Section IV.
The Presidencies of Franklin and Mifflin.
1785-1790.
Dickinson could serve no longer, for three years were
the constitutional limit, and the venerable Franklin
succeeded the author of the Farmer's Letters. A great
man was succeeded by a still greater, yet how far apart
had they traveled I Franklin, long before, feeling the
popular breeze, had trimmed his sail and been borne by
it hopefully onward. Dickinson had hesitated, and,
notwithstanding his high attainments and motives, had
pursued a slower, less effective course. A scholar and a
thinker, profoundly believing in legal methods, he was
not born for revolution. Everj' element in his nature
warred against innovation. Yet let us not forget that
he was the chief officer of a battalion during the
darkest days of the war, and had it failed he would have
met the same doom as Franklin and the other leaders.
Nor let us forget that after his ill-treatment and retire
ment as a military commander, he re-enlisted and par
ticipated in the battle of Brandywiue.
During Franklin's administration a subject of trans
cendent interest was the adoption of the federal consti
tution. On the completion of the instrument it was
reported to the Assembly by the delegates from Penn
sylvania. A motion was then made to call a constitu
tional convention to deliberate on the adoption of the
constitution. The Assembly was in favor of such

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. gg
action , but, to prevent it, sixteen members withdrew.
The body was left without a quorum. Nothing less
than a harsh expedient would prevail. The lodgings
of two of the seceders were entered, and they were
carried off" to tJie House. Both were frightened, but, as
soon as one of them recovered his senses sufficiently to
speak, he declared his wish to withdraw. It was, how
ever, his duty to attend, and if absent he was punish
able with a five-shilling fine. This sum he tendered to
the clerk, but he was not the proper officer to receive
it. He then attempted to withdraw. There were loud
cries from the galleries aud from the House, " Stop
him! stop him!" He then insisted on his right to
leave, but professed his willingness to submit to the
decision of the House. There was a long debate, though
the stream of talk flowed only one way. The Assembly
decided that both he and the other kidnapped member
must remain. With the numbers thus increased, there
was a quorum ; the resolution in favor of calling the
convention was passed, and the scene of interest was
now transferred to the election of delegates to the con
vention. The period of controversy -was short, for the
election was to come off" in ten days. Both parties
girded themselves for the contest.
Two weeks after the election the members of the
convention were required to meet. Frederick Augustus
Muhlenberg was chosen president of the body. After
deliberating three weeks, on the i2th of December, the
constitution was adopted by a vote of forty-six to
t-wenty-three. On the following day the members of
the Supreme Executive Council, and the officers of the
State and city went iu procession from the state-house
to the old court-house where the ratification ofthe con-

IOO HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
stitution was proclaimed. Twelve cannon were fired
and bells were rung. The rejoicing closed with a
dinner at Epple's Tavern, at which the members of Con
gress were also present. The great importance of
Pennsylvania's assent to the new constitution was
felt by all. To have failed would have jeopardized the
instrument, or perhaps have caused its defeat, for other
States, protected by the shadow of Pennsylvania, would
have followed the same course. Imperative as was the
need of forming a stronger bond of union, if ever a real
central national life was to grow, when the time came to
act every State almost shrank. Everywhere was chaos,
lack of power, lack of trade, lack of a general life. With
the more thoughtful these considerations were supreme.
But those who saw less clearly, or feared that their
individual importance would shrink under a stronger
government, still held back. Pennsylvania had at last
acted, but the first step to secure a constitutional con
vention was desperate work, nor would the election in
favor of ratification have been carried had not the same
hardy, resolute, hopeful spirits remained in the fight.
With the adoption of a federal constitution there was
a revival of the hope of a permanent American union.
In every state, however, were many matters requiring
legislative and executive attention. The existing State
constitution was not the only evil from which Pennsyl
vania was suffering. Its financial system was very de
fective ; its creditors were complaining. The act passed
in 1780 for establishing a system of accounting, under
which John Nicholson was serving as comptroller-gen
eral, was broadened, conferring more authority in set
tling the accounts of soldiers. He was authorized to
ascertain the amount due in specie, and to issue certifi-

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. joi
cates bearing six per cent, interest for the amount.
They were made transferrable like promissory notes.
In 1785 appeals were allowed from the settlements of
the comptroller-general to the supreme court, and
questions of fact were to be determined by a jury as in
ordinary cases. The controller was also authorized to
revise his own settlements, if this was desired, within a
year from the discovery of any error. They formed
liens like judgments on the land of debtors. Disputes
might also be referred to auditors.
The same year a more complete plan was adopted for
ascertaining the indebtedness of the State, and a much
larger revenue was provided for paying it. Provision
was also made for paying the Penns for their land.
The next step was to provide for discharging the
indebtedness to the United States. A part of this
debt consisted of foreign loans; another, of money
loaned by individuals, aud of contracts which they had
executed. The states were responsible for this in
debtedness. The estimated amount of interest due on
Pennsylvania's portion of the debt was £i2^,^2)^. This
sum was to be paid annually to a continental officer.
But the Assembly did not leave him free to use
the money ; for it was to be applied in payment of the
interest due on certificates issued by Congress to the
citizens of the State, or to the soldiers of Pennsylvania
engaged in the continental service. Having thus pro
vided for discharging its indebtedness to the Penns and
to the general government, the Assembly provided for
paying first the annual interest which should accrue on
debts due to its own citizens, and then arrearages of
interest whenever the reserve fund in the treasury ex
ceeded ;^i5,ooo. The following year the Assembly

I02 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
provided that certificates, issued by Congress to persons
in the State, might be exchanged for State certificates.
These were called new-loan certificates, and were the
foundation of the funded debt of the State. By another
law, passed the same year, the Assembly discontinued its
annual payment to Congress of ;^i 23,932, and promised
to pay in lieu of it two requisitions amounting to $1, 150,-
775, the principal and interest in discharge of its obliga
tions to the general government. The following year,
by another law, persons living in New Jersey and Dela
ware who, at the time of lending to the general govern
ment, were citizens of Pennsylvania, were permitted to
exchange their continental for new-loan certificates, like
the persons still residing in Pennsylvania. On the
adoption of the federal constitution, the Assembly dis
continued the payment of interest on the new-loan cer
tificates beyond the original period of four years, expect
ing that the Federal Congress would speedily adjust
these obligations, as they had been incurred for the
common defence.'
The Republicans led in the march for improving the
public credit, though the Constitutionalists also took
steps in the same direction. In truth, the sentiment for
and against such action did not run very closely along
party lines.
The funding law was not everywhere approved. Its
authors were accused of speculating on the purchase
aud sale of certificates, and of a determination to
destroy all opposition to the plan. The act immediately
enhanced the value of the public obligations, and thus
"created one of the greatest fields of speculation ever
known in Pennsylvania."
' These were to be ascertained by the controller-general.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 103
The Assembly had defenders who flew to the rescue
of the reputation of that body. The charge was
declared to be "false and scandalous." Nearly all the
members of the House who supported the funding plan
were "plain country gentlemen," without means "to
game in certiflcates." On the contrary, many of them,
by raising the prices of certificates, counteracted the
moderate advantages which they might have derived
from paying them into the land-office for the arrears due
on their lands, or for new surveys. Public virtue pre
vailed over private profit. Indeed a writer maintained
that "posterity, conscious of their disinterested patriotism
on this occasion, will be lavish in the praise of the men
who in 1778 laid anew the foundations of public credit,
and who did justice, as far as circumstances permitted,
to the long-neglected sufferers that in the crisis of diffi
culty had confideuce in their country's gratitude and
honor." Yet the various forms of State indebtedness, depre
ciated certificates, funded and unfunded, issues of bills
of credit whose value had not wholly vanished, were
bought and sold. There were constant dealings in
them. Among others were certificates issued by the
land-office,' Pennsylvania state-shilling money, conti
nental state-dollar money, continental money, loan-
office certificates which were issued for money loaned
and supplies furnished or seized, new-loan certificates,
certificates funded and unfunded, militia pay certificates,
facilities or interests issued by the Congress, Pierce's
final settlements, and lastly Norris's certificates.
Speculation in them became common, and excited the
ire of some people who proposed to punish the specu-
^ These did not represent money.

1 04 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
lators by making their names odious through exposure.
Stories were told of speculators who would lay in wait
for distressed certificate holders, buy them at a low
price, and afterwards exchange them for land at nearly
their full value. The complaint, however, had little
merit, for, as a defender remarked, " it is plain to
demonstration that purchasers or speculators, if that is
a more proper term, are the only persons who have pre
served to us what little credit we have left. I have not
a doubt that the day is fast approaching when they will
be thought and called the best friends we at present
have." In truth, as he clearly showed, the larger the
number of persons owning the public debt, the greater
was their interest in preserving the existence and honor
of the State.
One of the most insidious objections to funding was
that the speculators ought to receive only the price they
paid, while the diff"erence between that and the face
value of the obligations ought to be paid, either to the
original holder, or saved by the State. This objection
was urged with great force during the discussion of the
measure in the first Congress for funding the continental
debt. The taxes, after the adoption of the funding system,
were lighter than some imagined they would be, and
therefore the system was more favorably received. It
was feared that the people west of the mountains
especially would not be willing to bear their share of
the burden. In truth, they paid their taxes with more
punctuality than those in the older counties.'
' The people of York County who complained of heavy taxes, led the
controller-general to explain why they were so large for their county.
.\t the same time he presented a good account of the public debt.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. jqs
While the Assembly was trying to restore the shat
tered credit of the State, the courts were performing
their important, though more quiet duties. Slowly are
we learning how much more important is the part
played in a nation's life by the people than by the few
who dazzle by their noisy policy. History is just begin
ning to do its greater work in trying to record the aspir
ations and conduct of the multitude, instead of con
tinuing to describe exclusively the aspirations and con
duct of the few who happen by chance or right to rule
the larger number. The jurisprudence of every State
is of the highest importance, revealing at once the
advance or decline in the moral character of the people.
Among the earlier of the great acts after the war-
storm had cleared away was a restoration of the milder
features of the criminal law, one of the glories of the
provincial jurisprudence. Chief Justice McKean was
the leading spirit in abolishing its severity. The con
stitution had provided that the punishments in some
cases should be made less sanguinary "and in general
more proportionate to the crimes," and that hard labor
should be adopted as a punishment for crimes that were
not capital. The spirit breathing in this humane con
stitutional provision was imparted to the new penal
law, the last great law enacted under the first constitu
tion. If the legislators during those fourteen event
ful years had from necessity put many a statute on the
book that defied the ordinary principles of public
economy, no one will question the far-seeing wisdom of
this return to the more humane penal legislation in
force in the days of the elder Penn. The adoption of
hard labor as a punishment was an experiment. In
executing it. Chief Justice McKean requested the street

1 06 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
commissioners to employ condemned criminals at hard
labor on the streets. They were generally called "the
wheelbarrow-men," who worked under the eye of their
keepers. They were dressed in a peculiar way so that
their detection was easy. Their clothing consisted of a
parti-colored roundabout and trousers. The jacket of
one convict might be half red and half green, another
black and white or blue and yellow. The sleeves of
the roundabout were of different colors and likewise the
trousers. If danger was feared from a convict, one end
of a chain ten or twelve feet long was fastened to his
ankle and the other end to a heavy iron ball. When
employed in the street he would work within the length
of his chain, and after completing his task, move to an
other spot. Some of the prisoners would throw down
their balls in a way to injure persons who were passing
along the street. The experiment was watched with
much interest. One of the worst difficulties was the
accessibility of the criminals to their friends, who often
gave them liquor. Many of them were thieves, and
were able to ply their unhallowed work. Finally the
experiment was abandoned.
One of the gravest objections to the system, so many
thought, was the discretionary power given to the
judges to punish criminals. The common law, which
was a part of the people's ancient inheritance, they did
not favor. A writer in the Packet wrote that as one of
the judges had passed the bill, "no wonder that the
chorus of the song should be — at the discretion of the
court. I wish," he adds, " they would get the judge of
the admiralty to set these pleasant words — it would
delight their honors much, if they have any ears for
music — but I am told they have none." This surely

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 107
was a breezy way of treating the judiciary, whose
sincere desire to serve the public none could question.
It was a time for thinking and saying sharp words ; no
individuals, whatever their station, were spared, for the
flames of controversy, shooting up higher and more
fiercely than ever during the Revolution, could not for
many years die down. It had become a part of the very
life of the people to watch each other, and to contend
in harsh ways ; and the newspaper furnished a ready
vehicle for every one to hold converse with the public,
from the most harmless contributor to the coarsest
libeller. It was the fate of the chief justice to suffer more per
haps in this regard than any contemporary, nor were the
attacks upon him without provocation. Again his old
enemy Oswald stirred up the judicial waters. As the
result of an article published in his newspaper, a suit was
brought against him for libel by Andrew Brown. In
the course of the proceedings Oswald heaped more
remarks on Brown, and finally fell into an antagonistic
position with his own counsel, which led Lewis, the
lawyer for Brown, to ask the court why Oswald should
not be attached for contempt. The chief justice,
assisted by Atlee and Rush, ordered the defendant's
arrest, and he was brought before the tribunal to purge
himself of contempt and to answer such questions as
might be put to him. He refused to answer those that
might criminate him and insisted on his right to a trial
by jury. The bench was inexorable. " He shall be
¦ imprisoned," exclaimed the chief justice, "until his
stomach is brought to. I will see whether he will bend
to the law, or whether the law will bend to him."
Oswald, however, was made of stern stuff" and still

Io8 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
refused to bend. So he was fined, the chief justice
addressing him in these tender and dignified words :
"As your course has been mean and pitiful and we
have inquired and found your circumstances are very
small, though your crime be very great," and then pro
ceeded with the sentence. The Supreme Executive
Council, realizing the injustice of the court, at once
remitted the fine without any application by Oswald or
by his friends.
At the next session of the Assembly Oswald com
plained of these justices and demanded their impeach
ment. Party cries were immediately raised and behiud
them was found secure shelter. Oswald was indeed,
violent, untamed and untamable, vexing many who
came in contact with him ; but when due allowance is
made for his temper and his tongue, the fact still
remains that the court was imperious and excessive in
its punishments.
Were these eruptions the cause of the movement to
reduce the compensation of the judges? Chief Justice
Allen, who served just before the Revolution, had a
salary of ;^400 a year besides fees and perquisites. At
the same time he was a member of the council, held
the office of registrar-general to probate wills and grant
letters of administration, with power also to appoint a
deputy in each county. The emoluments of his judicial
office were more than _;^i,200 a year. The senior judge
was clerk of the peace, a younger judge was speaker of
the Assembly, each of them having an annual salary of
;^200 besides fees and perquisites, while they were not
precluded from holding any other office civil or military.
" The Assembly of that day off"ered to fix the salary of
the chief justice at_;^i,ooo provided the governor would

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 109
give him a commission during good behavior." Chief
Justice McKean was given that salary, but he was for
bidden to hold any other office, civil or military, or to
take any fees and perquisites. The attempt to lessen
the compensation of the judges by reducing either
their salaries or travelling expenses was denounced as a
breach of contract. It was declared to be an attempt
to win favor with the people and gain seats in the next
Assembly. It failed, aud the cause of justice triumphed
though the measure had been recommended by a com
mittee of the Assembly. Oue reason for the reduction
was the political dislike of the Tories, then controlling
the Assembly, for the judges, especially Judge Bryan,
who during the time of the most prominent political
off"enders, was the chief executive officer.
At this time a spirit of association arose and spread
so rapidly that it attracted the attention of a writer who
thought he descried danger in the movement. Many
of the combinations were for political purposes. Their
rise seemed to indicate a weakness in framing, or in
executing the laws. Some associations undertook to
regulate public professions; others to control public
officers. Indeed, the only persons who were thought
incapable of managing the public business were those
to whom it had been entrusted. The societies for
theoretical investigation and for dispensing charity were
considered harmless or commendable, but was there
not danger of oppression " where interested individuals
may parcel out the stations, honors and consequently
the emoluments of a profession? And is it not con
trary to the genius of freedom that any man, at pleas
ure, may inquisitorially scrutinize the family arrange
ments of another? That mischievous confusion which

T IO HISTOR Y OF PENNSYLVANIA.
politicians deprecate, arising from a mixture of the great
offices of government, must be inconceivably increased
by the least attempt of the people to take into their
own hands the execution of the laws, or to intrude upon
the legislative province by partial combinations and
private compacts."
Twelve years had passed since the adoption of the
State constitution. The election was approaching of
members of the Supreme Executive Council who were
to choose the sixth and last president under the first
constitution. There was no lack of candidates, speech-
making, or printed election addresses. Some of these
productions are curious reading. Remembering the
heated temper of the times, one might expect to find
strong statements and fierce denunciation of opponents.
Ou the contrary, such attacks were usually reserved for
other occasions. The writer of an election address
tried to commend himself by the sobriety of his lan
guage and by his knowledge of the principles of govern
ment. Sometimes his rhetoric was luxuriant, as in
the following election address issued during the October
election in 1786. "The original stock [of liberty] that
furnished the goodly plant is now decaying or decayed
in all the eastern world; but the tender slip taken
from the parent tree flourishes in this western hemi
sphere; let your vigilance serve as a cherubim with a
flaming sword to protect every avenue through which it
may be attacked. May more than death, may eternal
infamy pursue the wretch that with sacrilegious hand,
attempts to lop off" one of the branches ! It is planted
in a luxuriant soil, you have besides watered it with
your blood, and with a little care and culture it will
shoot up with such redoubled strength that the hills

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. m
will be covered with the shadow of it, and its boughs be
like unto the goodly cedar, and may you and your pos
terity repose securely under its friendly and hospitable
shade." The election of 1788 was held just after the adoption
of the federal constitution: not only recent events, but
fears of the future policy of the State, strongly stirred
both parties. They were divided into frieuds and op
ponents of the constitution. Whenever an important
issue was pending both parties besought the aid of the
German. A thoughtful Teuton remarked that for
twenty years whenever all was quiet and uo public
schemes on foot in which the votes, influence aud con
tributions of the Germans could be of any service they
were "ignorant Germans;" but as soon as their num
bers could be of use in promoting the political man
euvers of man or party, the newspapers were filled with
"the respectable body of Germans" "the honest and
enlightened Germans," etc. "And these good souls,"
said he, "are much more anxious about our rights,
interests and advancement than we are ourselves."
The present contest between the federalists and anti-
federalists once more brought the Germans to the front,
and the newspapers were fllled "with flatteries too
absurd," says our German critic, "to be digested by
any but fools." He was persuaded that those pretend
ing so deep a concern for the privileges of Germans
really thought them incapable of judging for them
selves, or of taking care of their own interests, being only
for tools. They were told they must have a separate
ticket and be represented in the federal government.
But the German observer was not to be hoodwinked.
"For my part," he said, "I can scarcely imagine a

1 1 2 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
case wherein the interests of the Geruians can come
into competition with those of the other citizens of
Pennsylvania. Distinctions of this kind may be carried
to any extent, and there seeins to be just as much reason
that the tall citizens should be jealous of the short, and
that a fat ticket be in opposition to a lean oue, or that
each should insist upon his proportional share of repre
sentation in the great federal assembly." Wise words!
How different would have been the history of the State
had they always been heeded !
Ou the 8th of November, 1788, Miffiin succeeded
Franklin as President of the Executive Council. He
was one of the most attractive orators of the day ; jolly
and popular, especially with the boys. He had served
throughout the cause of the Revolution ; — Pennsylvania
had not a more ardent patriot.
One of the last remnants of war legislation was a
kind of poll-tax that was unpopular with many because
the poor paid as much as the rich. Still worse, if a
writer's complaint be true, the laborers and mechanics
were obliged to turn out, on a militia day, while the
wealthy escaped this duty, and also the fine for not
complying. The men were obliged "to go through a
farcical tour of militia duty, and to exhibit a scene suf
ficiently ludicrous to burlesque forever the use of arms
in Pennsylvania." Considerable sums might have been
collected under this law had it been effectively en
forced; but its administration was partial, and it was in
truth as unpopular as any on the statute-book. Under
a form of government based upon equal rights for all,
the favoring of classes or individuals because of wealth,
standing or influence will always enrage those who
suffer.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 113
Meanwhile, with the passing of the Revolution the
wave of population was fast rolling westward. The
County of Westmoreland was formed west of the Sus
quehanna, and that of Washington in the extreme
southwestern corner of the State. The workmen's axe
constantly broke the stillness of the receding forest, and
new hope aroused their latent energies. But busy as
they were in their hard conquest of nature, a severer
and longer struggle was before them to mould their
political institutions, federal. State and local, to their
needs. The federal constitution had been adopted by
the State, but its enemies were by no means ready to
yield submission. This antagonism was strong and gen
eral, and the frieuds ofthe measure could not yet confi
dently predict that it was safe from destruction. Oppo
sition to the State constitution, which had long been
growing, was soon to culminate in a thorough revi
sion. The making and execution of the laws was not
satisfactory ; and party spirit still ran very high. Yet
had not that cheerful old sage, Franklin, said not long
before that, "by the collision of diff"erent sentiments
sparks of wealth are struck out, and political light is ob
tained !" All the diff"ereut factions which divided the
people aimed at the public good. The people however
were suffering more from other plagues than from a
questionable political constitution. A blight was begin
ning to pass over their commercial and industrial pros
perity. This condition was rendered worse in some parts
of the State by the bad administration of the laws. Says
a dweller in Westmoreland County : "It appears almost
impossible to live in this country at present and escape
the various snares of the law even if our conduct is gov
erned by the most unerring rectitude aud watchful
8

114 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
care. The poverty of the people which disables them
from paying the numerous debts they owe to each
other, and the precarious tenure by which a great deal
of landed property is unfortunately held, will un
doubtedly prove dangerous sources of controversy, in
which it is too probable that almost every description
of man will find himself unhappily involved." This is
not a pleasing report, yet it is amply sustained by
common experience.
Let us then turn away to a more pleasing scene.
The end of the struggle against Great Britain was the
beginning of the struggle to free the slave. A strong
blow had been struck in 1780. The Pennsylvania
Society for the Abolition of Slavery, formed in 1775 and
composed of Friends, was doing eff"ective work in the
cause of freedom. At this time some Americans who
had been seized by the Algerines, were held in bond
age. A committee was appointed to collect informa
tion concerning their capture, aud to devise means of
relief It reported that vessels had been fitted out at
Philadelphia "provided with handcuff's and military
implements, in order to stir up the princes of Africa to
wage war against each other and for the encouragement
aud support of an unrighteous war in human flesh."
The Society also asserted that the law of 1780 for
the gradual abolition of slavery in the Commonwealth
was evaded by persons who sent their slaves to the
West India Islands and sold them. Some of the
negroes who left the State were deceived by the repre
sentatives of their masters. "Violence was used to cap
tivate others." The act was declared to be defective,
because it did not prohibit the owner of slaves from
separating wives from husbands, parents from children

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. uc
and selling them to individuals living in distant parts
or foreign countries, nor did the act prescribe any
punishment for stealing slaves, or provide for the
keeping of negroes who would become free when
they were twenty-eight years old. A new bill, there
fore, was prepared, containing more eff"ective means
for securing the freedom of the slaves. Those
brought into the State by its citizens were to be im
mediately free as well as those who came here with the
citizens of other States who intended to live in Penn
sylvania. With the passing of the Supreme Executive Council,
Franklin also died full of years and honors. For more
than half a century he had been one of the foremost
figures in Pennsylvania politics, and since his electrical
discovery his name had been familiar to the civilized
world. His devotion to the cause of independence was
sincere and deep, and from the outset he had been an
arch-leader in the movement. He was distinguished in
the political field, not so much for brilliancy of action,
as for the union of rare sense, richness of resource,
unwearied energy, hopefulness and courage. He al
ways found a way through the thicket ; his name was
the synonym of success. Projectors of new enterprises
came to believe that if they could but enlist Franklin,
their success was assured. Yet unlike Penn, he had no
great ideals with which to inspire succeeding genera
tions. He was a man essentially of the present, a most
useful, kindly citizen, and in warmest sympathy with
every movement for the upbuilding of man. Since
1736 he had employed for the public the most effective
combination of powers ever possessed by an American,
nor has his like since appeared.

1 1 6 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Of all the opponents of Penn, Franklin inflicted on
him the heaviest blows. The reputation of both is
now in the keeping of posterity ; which will endure the
longer and be painted in the fairer colors ? If time is
widening the world's knowledge of Franklin's ability
to pluck success from every venture, it is also lighting
up more brightly the loftier aims and sacrifices of Penn,
and the truth and worth of his political principles.
Each has a secure place in the small galaxy of actually
great men : the one as the true interpreter of the half-
formed wishes and ideas of his day and as the successful
guide to a secure haven ; the other as the philosophic
statesman who, with faith in God and hope in man,
laid those moral and political foundations on which
alone the sound and steady growth of the people is
assured.

PART II.
SPECIAL CHAPTERS.

CHAPTER XIL
immigration.
Pennsylvania was settled chiefly by the English,
Scotch-Irish, Welsh and Germans, and the Lower Coun
ties by the Dutch and Swedes. For a long time the
Swedes maintained their importance, and many a family
still living in the Commonwealth boasts of its descent
from that source. At all times the Dutch were less
numerous. Trading was the chief pursuit of the more
substantial members ; and as the ability of the Indians
to furnish furs and skins lessened with their diminish
ing number, the profits of the Dutch traders declined
and they disappeared. Probably many of them weut to
New Amsterdam, which was a more congenial home;
while others in turn left there and settled along the
Upper Delaware. Another portion of the Dutch who
had been engaged in light trades, tailoring and the like,
previously to emigrating to America, remained, though
they never took kindly to the cultivation of the soil.
The Swedes were of a higher order ; they improved the
laud, built homes, school-houses and churches. Though
some friction existed between them and the Dutch,
especially after the Dutch conquest, and their con
querors seriously thought of dispossessing them, the
Swedes overcame all fears of a rising by their peaceable
conduct, and were permitted to remain.
Among the Friends who came to Pennsylvania were
persons of every degree of mental and moral cultiva-

1 20 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
tion. They were industrious, of excellent character,
and prospered exceedingly. By reason of their number
and belief, they formed for many years the controlling
element in the Province and Assembly. The first
Welsh settlers comprised seventeen families, and
spent eleven weeks on the sea. Their long voyage
"was not for want of art to control winds." They
were joined by others, and ere long the number in
creased to fifty families. They settled on a barony,-
which was broken by running a division between Phila
delphia aud Chester counties, parting the Welsh settle
ments of Radnor and Haverford from those of Merion.
This caused no little dissatisfaction among them and a
pathetic appeal was made by Griffith Owen that the
descendants of the ancient Britons might be allowed to
have their bounds and limits by themselves, wherein all
causes, quarrels, crimes and disputes might be tried and
wholly determined by officers, magistrates and juries of
their own. The appeal was not heeded and the tract
was thrown open for settlement to others of a different
race. The Welsh Friends were educated people. The
minutes of their meetings, their memorial respecting
Thomas Lloyd and other literary remains, clearly prove
the existence of literary culture among them. For
twenty-five years the only physicians of Philadelphia
and vicinity were Welshmen. Dr. Thomas Wynne,
and Edward Jones, the leading physicians of the time,
were of the Celtic race.
Of the many continental people who were borne west
ward to Pennsylvania, the Germans were the most num
erous. They started early. Penn visited many places
on the Rhine and through him and other sources the Ger-

IMMIGRA TION. 1 2 1
mans learned of his intentions and off"ers to settlers. The
spirit of unrest began to hover over the Rhine and its
tributaries, and though expatriation is a severe ordeal,
especially to a wilderness, nevertheless they continued
to come in increasing numbers. Many influences co
operated in this wonderful transformation scene, the
despotism of princes, differences between the smaller
states, religious persecutions, military conscriptions.
The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which
cost France seven hundred thousand of her best citi
zens, brought much suff"ering on the French partisans
of Germany. Huguenots fled in great numbers to the
shelter offered by the Lutheran Palatinate Elector, whose
kindness drew on him the vengeance of Madame de
Maintenon, the greatest as well as the most bigoted
-woman of France, who gave orders through her hus
band that the Palatinate should be utterly destroyed.
Forthwith Louis XIV. sent one hundred thousand
soldiers to do the work. The devastations of General
Turenne and the French finally aroused the con
demnation of the world. Hardly had the war ended by
the treaty of Nimeguen, before Louis laid claim to
several German territories and for four years more,
through his army, he continued the work of destruction.
The treaty of 1684 ended the conflict, but two years
afterward William III", of England formed the League
of Augsburg against the French, aud in 1686 Louis's
army for the third time desolated with fire and sword
the Palatinate- and other portions of Germany. Even to
this day the line of march is marked by crumbling
walls, ruined battlements, blown-up towers. No
wonder that under such a terrific dispensation the Ger
mans deserted fatherland. A few landed in Massa-

122 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
chusetts Bay, some went to New York, but the great
tide of emigration set toward the valleys of Pennsyl
vania. Until 1682 the arrival of emigrants in this
country had been neither frequent nor regular. In
1683 Francis Daniel Pastorius arrived at Philadelphia
with German emigrants and settled at Germantown.
Arents Calcien erected the first three-story house and
Penn was present at the raising-dinner. Within a few
years the settlement numbered more than one thousand
Germans, most of whom had come from the vicinity of
Worms in Westphalia. They had not been here long
before they heard of the dreadful ravages of the French
who had laid waste their entire country, and burnt every
hamlet, market-place and churcli in the Duchy of Cleves,
By the beginning of the next century the wave of
emigration was rolling very high. Within the next
twenty-five years over fifty thousand had come. A few
miles from Coblentz on the Rhine is the beautiful town
of Neuwied, with a population of ten thousand, con
sisting of Romanists, Lutherans, Moravian brethren.
Baptists and Jews who now live in harmony, for their
religious disputes are ended, never, may we hopefully
believe, to be renewed. Frederick Wied founded the
town in 1653 on the site of the village of Langendorf,,
which was entirely destroyed in the Thirty Years' War.
Here, in 1705, arrived a number of Lutherans who had
fled from persecution. The count welcomed and pro
tected without distinction of religion all comers. After
remaining there for some time they went down the
river to Holland, and sailed for New York. Driven by
a storm within the Capes of the Dela-ware, they changed
their plan and landed at Philadelphia, and most of thenL
settled in Morris County, New Jersey.

IMMIGRATION. 123
Other German e:nigrants went to England believing
that the English Government would send them to New
York, the Carolinas or Pennsylvania. Of Pennsylvania
they knew more than of any other Province, as it had
been attractively described by Pastorius, the founder
of Germanopolis (Germantown), in German circulars.
Among the exiles were many from Heidelberg. They
fled because of their unwillingness to change their
religion in accordance with the wish of the head of the
government. The Elector, Frederick IL, was a Luth
eran, Frederick III., a Calvinist, Ludovic V., a Luth
eran, while his son and successor returned to Calvinism.
He was succeeded by a Roman Catholic prince who cru
elly oppressed the Protestants. Whoever has seen the
beautiful town of Heidelberg hidden in dense foliage
and occupying a narrow bit of land between the lofty
Konigsstuhl and the restless Neckar, forcing its foamy
way through a narrow gorge to the broader Rhine, will
remember on the mountain side, clinging to the very
edge of the precipice, the most magniflcent ruin iu
central Europe. For three hundred years it grew from a
castle to a palace and was the stronghold of generations
of electors. Then came the French, who terribly
battered, though not entirely destroyed this royal
abode. Again they came, burnt the place to the
ground, reduced the castle, and blew up its ancient
tower. One-half of the mighty structure fell into the
moat below where it still lies, an impressive monument
of the cruelty of Louis XIV. Again was Heidelberg
rebuilt in 1693 only to be overwhelmed by his armies.
Not long after the elector induced the inhabitants to
rebuild the town, promising them liberty of conscience
and thirty years' exemption from taxes. After his con-

124 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
version to the Roman Catholic faith, he disregarded his
promise, and began anew the work of persecution.
From that time onward the waves of emigration rolled
in ever-increasing volume to our shores.
One of these great waves, bearing thirteen thousand
or more, reached England during the reign of Queen
Aune. Some of them were sent to the Falls of the
Rappahannock, thence spreading into the adjoining
counties and also into North Carolina ; but the larger
number was sent to New York. At one time a fleet of
ten ships sailed having on board between three and four
thousand Germans. They intended to form a colony in
New York and to engage in raising and manufacturing
for exportation, tar and turpentine. Before embarking
they agreed to labor for a sufficient time to discharge
the cost of their transportation and settlement, and
after the expiration of the period, were each to receive
fortv acres of laud exempt for seven years from taxa
tion. A large tract of land was "acquired for them
in Ulster County. Badly treated by the government
inspector and director, many wandered away and sought
new homes. Finally in the spring of 1712-1713, seven
hundred deserted the Hudson and settled- in the fertile
valleys of Schoharie County. But they did not under
stand the principles of land-tenure, and discovering,
after ten years of litigation, that the titles to much of
the land were invalid, one- half of them for the third
time moved southward, and, floating down the Susque
hanna for three hundred miles, flnally found a home
under the friendly government of Pennsylvania.
These emigrants felt that they had been wronged by
the authorities of New York. A writer who has
eloquently described the German emigration to America

IMMIGRA TION. j g c
says, " That whether they were right or not it is at this
late day difficult to determine, but there is no doubt
that the existence of such a feeling resulted in after
years to the great advantage of Pennsylvania." Peter
Kalm, who travelled in America in 1748, says that the
Germans were not satisfied with the treatment they re
ceived in New York and advised their relations and
friends that, if they ever intended to come to America,
not to go to New York where the government had shown
itself so iniquitous. Kalm adds : " This abode had such
influence with the Germans who afterward went in
great numbers to North America that they constantly
avoided New York and always went to Pennsylvania.
It sometimes happened that they were forced to go on
board such ships as were bound for New York, but they
scarce got on shore when they hastened to Pennsylvania
in spite of all the inhabitants of New York."
Another class of German emigrants requires a passing
description, the Mennonites. Persecuted while living
under the shadows ofthe Alps in the cantons of Zurich,
Bern and Schaflfhausen, they went in the year 1672 to
Alsace on the Rhine, where they lived for a generation,
and then emigrated to Pennsylvania. For several years
they remained at Germantown. Having some means
they bought in 1712 a large tract of land in the Pequea
Valley, now forming a part of Lancaster County. Girt
around by the gloomy, silent forest, whose solitude was
uncheered by the murmurs of the honey bee, or the
twitterings of the swallow, they felled trees, built
houses and improved the land. On every side were
Indians, yet they lived without fear. In belief, they
were in full accord with the Friends, especially in the
doctrine of non-resistance. This German-Swiss settle-

126 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ment in the Eden of Pennsylvania, formed the nucleus
or centre of a rapidly increasing Swiss, French and
German population.
In 1734 some Lutherans from Salsburg, a seat of
upper Austria arrived iu Georgia. They, too, had been
the victims of bloody persecution. With them were
their pastors and school-masters. Receiving accessions
from time to time, in 1745 they numbered several hun
dred families. They were Moravians. All went well
in their new home until the opening of the Spanish
war, but as their religious faith forbade them from
taking up arms, almost every one started then for Penn
sylvania and settled at Bethlehem.
During the first period of twenty years, from 1682 to
1702, not more than two hundred German families
arrived, most of whom went to Germantown. Many
of them were from Cleves, a duchy in Westphalia.
During the next twenty-five years a much larger
number left their native country. They settled in
Bucks, Berks, Montgomery, Lancaster and York coun
ties. Thus before the Revolution they had spread over
a very considerable portion of the Province. But in
Berks and Lancaster counties was the heart of the Ger
man population.
Many of the early settlers, especially the Germans,
preserved the usages of their native land ; their conver
sation was in German; their children were not edu
cated in any other tongue. Their books, newspapers,
deeds and other legal instruments were in German.
The French made a German settlement in the Illinois
country, and Franklin declared that they might in time
come to a good understanding with ours. Indeed, in
the first war with the French, the Germans showed a

IMMIGRA TION. xzy
disposition that seemed to bode no good, for when the
English, except the Friends, were alarmed by the
danger arising from the defenceless state of the country,
and entered unanimously into an association and raised,
armed aud disciplined ten thousand men, the Germans,
except a very few in proportion to their number, re
fused to join, declaring one to another aud even print
ing the statement, that by remaining quiet, the French,
if taking the country, would not molest thein. At the
same time they abused the Philadelphians and repre
sented the probable hazard and expense of defending
the Province as a greater inconvenience than any that
might be expected from a change of government.
At first, therefore, the Germans were not patriotic.
Simply regarding their own interests in a narrow way,
so long as they were permitted to till their laud one
master was quite as good for them as another. Let us
not judge them too harshly if they could not suddenly
transplant their affections and loyalty to their new
home. Loyalty and patriotism are not the growth of a
day, but the outcome of a reciprocal service rendered by
the individual and the state. As soon as the Germans
came here they plunged into the woods, and by hard
labor prepared the land for cultivation. And though
living more freely now than they had ever lived before,
working without hindrance, they could not readily com
prehend its worth. If, therefore, they clung loosely to
their new allegiance, the bond doubtless around others
would have been no tighter under similar conditions.
As the years passed aud they acquired better homes and
far richer fields than they had ever possessed before,
their loyalty for their adopted country grew vigorously,
and on the battlefields of the Revolution yielded a large
measure of sacrifice.

1 28 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Besides the English, Welsh, Dutch, Swedes and Ger
mans were the Scotch-Irish. They were called Scotch-
Irish because they were descendents of Scots who had
been persuaded to reside in the North of Ireland, and
had contributed much to its improvement. They were
brave, hardy and hot-headed. They loathed the pope
as sincerely as they venerated Calvin and Knox. They
were not particularly fond of the Friends and disliked
the Indians. The emigrants from these two countries
Ireland and Scotland approached so closely in national
character; their sentiments and principles were so con
genial ; their sufferings were of such a common nature —
that they were identified as one people.
Three causes impelled the Irish of Ulster to desert
their country : religious bigotry, commercial jealousy
and the oppression of landlords. The Protestant set
tlers in Ireland were of the same metal as those who
had sailed in the Mayflower. They fell under the
same stigma, and suffered for their non-conformity.
This was a stain for -which nothing could atone.
Though their persecution was continued, their Pres
byterian loyalty did not cool. Says Froude, "Vexed
with suits in the ecclesiastical courts, forbidden to edu
cate their children in their own faith, treated as danger
ous to the state, which but for them would have had no
existence, and deprived of their civil rights, the most
earnest of them at length abandoned the unthankful
service." To live as freemen, and to profess openly
the creed of the reformation, they must seek another
country where the long arm of policy could not reach
them. Another cause of emigration was the repressive
measures adopted by the English government towards

IMMIGRA TION. 1 39
commerce and agriculture. In the beginning, encour
agement was given, especially in the growing of flax;
but the linen trade of Ireland increased so rapidly that
England feared the result, repented of her policy and
introduced indirect, yet eff"ectual means to break down
the Irish trade iu favor of her own people across the
channel. Fearing Irish competition in agriculture,
checks were put on their productions to prevent
English land from sinking in value. Her salt, meat
and butter were laid under an embargo when England
went to war, that the English fleets and armies might
be victualed cheaply at the expense of Irish farmers.
By such a policy the people were remanded to poverty
and their opposition to the government inflamed.
Those who could, resolved to seek a home wherein
they might be free from such unnatural and unjust
discriminations. By the arbitrary treatment of their landlords, they
were embittered and led to emigrate. When the six
counties of Ireland were escheated to the crown, and a
portion of the land placed iu charge of Scotch colonists,
agriculture was in a low state. Great changes im
mediately followed the introduction of a more frugal
and industrious class of fanners. The landlords raised
their rents all they possibly could, regardless of what
the tenants had done to make their land valuable. As
soon as leases expired, others were invited to lease the
lands. This was an invitation to bid for the improve
ments. Roman Catholics were ready to bid more than
their value, and to promise anything in order to recover
possession of the soil. By such a policy the landlords
expelled their Protestant tenantry, yet were sustained
in their action by the House of Commons. No wonder
9

I30

HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.

that they hastened to leave a country in which they
fared so poorly. " In two years," says Froude, " which
followed the Antrim evictions, thirty thousand Protest
ants left Ulster for a land where there was no robbery,
and where those who sowed the seed could reap the
harvest. The South and West were caught by the same
movement, and ships could not be found to carry the
crowds who were eager to go."
The tide of emigration was checked for a short time
after the enactment of the toleration law in 1718, but
within ten years was resumed. Archbishop Boulter
sent a "melancholy account" to the English Secretary
of State of the emigration movement. In 1728 more
thau four thousand left for the West Indies, and the
archbishop says, " The whole North is in a ferment at
present ; the people every day engaging one another to
go. The humor has spread like a contagious distemper,
and the people will hardly hear anybody that tries to
cure them of their madness. The worst is that it
affects only Protestants, and runs chiefly in the North."
The next year the archbishop wrote in a private letter
that the humor of going to America still continued.
At that time there were seven ships at Belfast which
were to take nearly oue thousand passengers.
Their flrst settlements were in Bucks County, chiefly
in the part organized in 1729 into the County of Lan
caster. Settlements were made on Octoraro Creek, at
Pequea, Donegal and Paxtang. Others settled in the
County of Chester, and afterwards in York County.
Still later they weut into the beautiful Kittatinny
Valley, thus named from the mountain range forming
its western boundary, and signifying endless mountains.
Bounded on either side by mountain ranges and posses-

IMMIGRATION. 1,1
sing a fertile soil, clear running streams, a variety of
forest timber, luxuriant vegetation and a healthful
climate, this lovely valley furnished a most tempting
asylum for these enterprising settlers. Their numbers
increased rapidly and in 1750, nine-tenths of the popu
lation were natives of North Ireland or Scotland.
At first there was some difficulty in getting a good
title to the land, for it was claimed by Maryland, and the
Indian title had not been purchased. The proprietaries,
desirous of securing it against invaders from Maryland,
gave authority to the Scotch-Irish to take possession by
virtue of licenses in writing. This was the beginning
of their title. A similar method had been adopted
with the first settlers near York. , By so doing, inroads
by the authority of Maryland were checked. In 1736
the proprietaries succeeded in negotiating with the
Indians for these lands. After acquiring the Indian
title, they ignored the rights of Maryland and opened
a land-office for the sale of lands west of the Susque
hanna on the usual terms. The settlers now rapidly
came into the valley.
One of the foremost of the Scotch-Irish race who
came to the Province was Logan. Afterwards, when
he had risen to the post of provincial secretary, and the
stream of Scotch-Irish to America had grown large, he
was desirous of restraining future emigrants, fearing
they might gain control of the Province. They were
active in politics, and tried to elect, if possible, mem
bers of the Assembly who were not altogether favorable
to the proprietary wishes and power. Possessing a
strong spirit of independence, they were bent on exer
cising it as far as the law would permit, and at some of
the early elections there were warm scenes, signs feared
by the thoughtful of still more serious conflicts.

132 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
The Germans, by uniting, some from principle, and
others from interest, with the Friends, widened the
gap between them and the Scotch-Irish. Nor was this
ever closed so long as the Friends were the leaders in
the Assembly. Had the Scotch-Irish and Germans
united, they could easily have shaped the course of
legislation. Whether it would have been better, or the
Assembly more peaceful, are questions not readily
answered. Violently agitated as the legislative waters
often were, there is no reason for supposing that the
Scotch-Irish, if permitted to throw stones, would not
have shown their skill. Whatever the truth may be,
they were in a hopeless minority, and powerless to
direct the legislative current until after the retirement
of the Friends in 1756.
Another bond of union between many of the Germans
and the Friends was a similarity of religious belief
They were Friends before coming to the Province.
Penn, in his journeys on the Continent had met them,
and had held meetings among them. Thus nnited in
religious sentiments, it was natural that they should
sustain the same political policy, especially in preserv
ing peace.
An incident occurred in York County that widened
the breach between the Scotch-Irish and the Germans.
A Marylander named Cresap, with about fifty kindred
spirits, made a raid on the German settlers in the
Southern part of that county. They off'ered the Scotch-
Irish, as their share of the booty, if they would assist
in driving the Germans away, the improvements they
had made. Unluckily for the Scotch-Irish they did
assist, and failed, but were not soon forgotten."
^ See p. 49.

IMMIGRATION. j^.
Not content with their beautiful valley, some of the
Scotch-Irish went into Shearman's Valley. This was in
1750 before the organization of Cumberland County,
Immediately all who were west of the Kittatinny
or Tuscarora Mountains, were requested to retire.
Although numbering ouly sixty-two, their presence
aroused among the Indians a feeling of general dis
content. The movement was impolitic and the gov
ernment acted with prudence in requiring them to
abandon their advanced positions. Their dwellings
were burned, and they left their forest-homes and
retreated over the mountains into Cumberland Valley.
Doubtless most of the Scotch-Irish settlers who were
cultivating and improving their farms in other parts of
the Province, knew nothing of these movements, and
were in no sense responsible for them. A defender of
the Scotch-Irish says that even the inhabitants of Kitta
tinny Valley, which was the nearest settlement of
civilization, were in no respect responsible for their acts
or character. They were parted from them by ranges
of lofty mountains, and in place of encouraging their
Scotch-Irish friends or acquaintances to make settle-
menfs where they would be exposed to Indian hostility,
as well as contravene the law, would have directed
them to their own attractive valley, where fertile,
vacant land was abundant, and where an increase in
number and strength by accessions of peaceful and in
dustrious freemen was greatly desired.
Notwithstanding their enterprise and bold character,
the slower, ever-plodditig Germans overtook them, and
in the end gained possession of many of their fields.
Preferring cleared lands to the work of clearing, the
Germans were so thrifty that they gained the means to

134 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
buy lands of clearers who, in turn, were compelled to
plunge into the wilderness and renew the hard, original
task of clearing. In this manner the Scotch-Irish
pushed farther westward, while the Germans followed
and completed the transformation of the forest to land
for easy tillage.
Several explanations have been given of the migrat
ing propensity of the Scotch-Irish. Full of energy, yet
their energies were more diverse. They were men of
aff"airs and of the world. They did not stick so closely
to the barnyard and the field. Besides, they had a
greater liking for frontier life ; its excitements and con
quests. They rejoiced in clearing land and building
houses, aud carrying forward the work of civilization.
The Germans were content to work in a different way.
Nor did the Scotch-Irish take kindly to paying quit
rents. Regarding these as a burden, they thought that
there was a better chance of escaping from their pay
ment by living on the frontier, or in the wilderness,
than by living in the more thickly populated sections.
These reasons, with their love of independence, led
them to face toward the wilderness and found new
homes and villages.
Penn did not regard all who came as possessing the
same political relations. The Dutch and Swedes re
quired naturalization to transform them into citizens of
his new Commonwealth. By this legislation they,, as
well as the Finns, were endowed with every provincial
right. At the same time the Assembly resolved that no
others should be naturalized without the governor's
consent. Though the privy council made no objection
to this exercise of power, an act passed in 1700 for
naturalizing all foreigners who had come into the Pro-

IMMIGRATION. 13^
vince was repealed by the privy council, the attorney-
general declaring that as the proprietary did not have
the power to do this by his grant, it was not right "that
he should give it to himself by an act of the As
sembly." In 1708 the Assembly, " probably, " says Dr.
Stilld, "on some hint that the difficulty about natural
izing foreigners really arose from a fear lest they might
be Roman Catholics, passed an act naturalizing by name
the most prominent Germans who had settled at Ger
mantown, giving as a reason therefor that these people
were Protestants. In the years i729-'30-'34 and '37
similar special acts of naturalization were passed, and
the same reasons were given for enacting them." So
while they were invited by Penn, Pastorius and other
leaders to emigrate to the Province, they were not
Endowed with their political rights without hesitation.
In 1 72 1 many Palatines who had long resided here
applied for naturalization. For three years the consid
eration of their petition was delayed, and when the
privilege to them was granted it contained the proviso
that individually they should obtain from a justice of
the peace a certificate stating the value of their property
and the nature of their religious faith. They -were not
satisfied with this condition, and a year afterward the
Assembly sent to the governor a bill containing the
offered terms. He instantly returned it, declaring that
in a country where English liberty and law prevailed a
scrutiny into the private conversation and faith of the
citizens and particularly into their estates was unjust
and a dangerous precedent. The Assembly yielded to
the force of his reasons, though a considerable period
passed before their jealousy sufficiently cooled to confer
on these Palatines the full privileges of citizenship.

] 36 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Though the action of the Assembly checked the inflow
of foreigners, the result was not regarded with displeas
ure. Indeed, to check emigration a law was passed in
1729, imposing a duty on all aliens who should come
into the Province. In 1742, two years after Parliament
had authorized the naturalization of Protestants in
the colonies, the Assembly passed a general act for
naturalizing foreigners who had lived seven years in
Pennsylvania and were willing to take the tests aud sub
scribe to the declaration previously required. This re
mained iu force until 1778, and excluded foreign born
Roman Catholics, Jews and Socinians. In that year
the estates held by aliens were validated.
At times so many foreign emigrants came that the
officials were alarmed. Logan was desirous that Parlia
ment should put forth its strong repressive hand "for
fear the colony would in time be lost to the crown."
In one of his letters he wrote: "The numbers from
Germany at this rate will soon produce a German
colony here, and perhaps such a case as Britain received
from Saxony in the fifth century." This, doubtless,
was one of the reasons for maintaining so rigidly the
qualifications of an elector. So long as these were pre
served and naturalization was restricted, notwithstand
ing their number — perhaps in 1750 one-half or more of
the entire population — there was no danger of German
political ascendency.^
'Franklin wrote to Peter CoUinson, May 9, 1753: "Not being
used to liberty, they know not how to make a modest use of it.
They are under no restraint from ecclesiastical government ; they
behave, however, submissively enough at present to the civil govern
ment, which I wish they may continue to do, for I remember when
Iliey modestly declined intermeddling with our elections, but now
tVey come in droves and carry all before them, except in one or two
counties."

IMMIGRATION. 137
As early as 1682 the Provincial Council took steps to
prevent the importation of vagabonds and felons, the
dregs of the British population who were cast by Great
Britain on her colonies without the least regard for
their feelings. From this moral pestilence the people
shrank with horror. The evil was then only prospec
tive, but to guard effectively against it in 1722 a law
was passed which, though not prohibitory in terms, was
intended to operate in that manner. A master, mer
chant or other importer was required to pay a duty of
five pounds on every convicted felon and to give a
fifty pound bond for his good behavior for one year.
To render these provisions effectual the owner or master
was bound to render on oath or affirmation within
twenty-four hours after the arrival of his vessel, an ac
count to the collector of all the names of servants and
passengers.' The stream of colonization therefore was composed of
many branches, nor was any one of them powerful
enough to determine permanently the course of the
current. When the Scotch-Irish appeared on the scene
and their qualities were fully sounded, the Friends dis
covered a menace to their political ascendency. Yet
Penn never designed Pennsylvania exclusively for the
Friends ; he graciously bade all to come and worship at
the forest-altar of civil and religious liberty. His invi
tation is conclusive proof of his intention. But there
were Friends who, believing that the Province was
founded exclusively for members of their faith, did not
regard with pleasure the prospect of ever possessing less
authority. The first-comers, long the leaders in wealth
'3 Stat, at Large, Chap. 248, p. 264. Concerning the importation
of negroes, see lb.. Chap. 218, p. 117 aad Chap. 250, p. 275.

1 38 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
and influence, they preferred to live under their own
dominion rather than under that of the Scotch-Irish or
Germans, or any other foreign combination. Happily
for them they succeeded in enlisting the Germans, and
thus enforced, were able to control the destinies of the
Province until 1756. Like the waves of the ocean
which continue to roll long after the subsiding of the
storm, their power was felt for many a year after their
leadership had passed away.

CHAPTER XIII.
LAND AND LABOR.
Section I.
The Purchase of Land.
Penn owned 47,000,000 acres. He was the largest
land owner in the world. Of this vast domain the
Indians had never cultivated more than a small portion;
the remainder was a vast hunting-ground. Yet the
animals, the chief source of Indian subsistence, were
of little value compared with the perpetual riches that
might be drawn from the earth by diligent and intelli
gent toil.
To accomplish this result, Penn adopted a plan for
drawing thrifty settlers from the old world. As he was
the sole proprietor, he could dispose of his lands on any
terms he pleased. No one could purchase an acre from
the Indians, for this was strictly forbidden. In impos
ing this prohibition Penn was doubtless impelled by
two reasons, the preservation of peace with the Indians
and self-interest. Had the .settlers been permitted to
ignore him and make terms with them, the most dis-
astrou's consequences would have probably followed, the
breaking of the Indian chain of friendship and the de
struction of his own fortunes. The history of trading
with them, so redolent of fraud, affords a solid basis for
this prediction.
Possessing a perfect title to the land, so far as a royal
(139)

I40 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
grant could be perfect, Penn was not less desirous of
purchasing a title from the Indians. Though never
questioning their title, those who complain of the
bargains struck on some occasions with them might
profitably inqure, what title had they to the soil ? how
long had they owned it? and how had they acquired it?'
And if Penn and his followers could make a better use
of it, were they not justified in taking possession? It is
enough to state these questions, for the most subtile
writers of our time have spun answers. Morally, title
acquired by inight is no title at all, nor will subsequent
transfers of such a title whiten it. After the battle of
Hastings, William divided English land among his fol
lowers, because he had the power ; but no transfer since
that day can convey a better right than those had to
whom William gave the land as a reward. One can
rightfully sell the work of his hands ; but in attempt-
' " On what is the Indian title founded ? Having had a foot first on
the continent ? Then one Indian might claim the whole, spend his
winter in the Torrid Zone, his summer in one or other of the Frigid,
and spring and fall in the Temperate. That would be unreasonable.
Will two Indians have this right? There must be more than that.
Two tribes ? It would be too much to take up the whole continent
with two tribes. How many must there be to give the right ? Just as
many as there are. If there was one less, would they have the
right? Yes. Two less? Yes. How many might there be less, and
the right exist? I cannot tell — nor any one else. There must be
some fixed principles on which all right depends. Under the great
law of nature it is a right to as much as is necessary for our sub
sistence. By pasturage or hunting ? No : bj' agriculture. Because
in this way of life most can subsist at the same time. But men by
the municipal laws of society hold more than an equal quantity.
What has this to do with the great out-wheel of natural law, which
gives the earth to man in common ? The municipal law binds as
citizens ; the law of nations as societies ; but the law of nature as
men." H. H. Breckenridge, in Gazette Publications, p. 102.

LAND AND LABOR. ^.^
ing to transfer what was never thus acquired the moral
difficulties are clearly seen.
During Penn's lifetime ouly a small quantity along
the Delaware had been purchased of the Indians. It
was not enough to endanger their means of subsistence.
From time to time a new claimant appeared, and to
satisfy him something more was given and a deed was
taken from him. As many of the boundaries were
indefinite, a large purchase was made in 1718 along the
Delaware, covering all previous acquisitions. Several
other large tracts were bought in 1736, '49, '54, '68 and
'84, including all the land within the State, except the
Erie triangle, which was not purchased uutil 1792.
All of the large sales, except the first, were made
reluctantly bythe Indians, but the "walking-purchase"
(1737) and that of 1754 were the most iniquitous. It
is difficult to ascertain the truth concerning the
walking-purchase even after careful study of all the
known facts. Allen, a friend of the Penns, and a Tory
during the Revolution, 6wned land iu many places, and
was the greatest land speculator of his time. He pur
chased ten thousand acres at the Forks of the Delaware,
a section of the country belonging to the Minisinks,
and to which they still held the title. Had Allen been
content to buy the land, and retain it until the proprie
taries should have confirmed the transaction, the pur
chase would have been proper ; bnt as he began to sell
soon after acquiring the land, in a short time he had
parted with a large portion. As the purchasers bought
intending to taking possession, they expected, of course,
that Allen would fulfil his agreement by making
delivery. How were the Indians to be dispossessed? A method

142 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
was adopted as ingenious as it was wicked. A claim
was made that, many years before, the Indians had sold
to Penn a tract of land extending as far from the
Delaware as a raan could walk in a day and a half at a
right angle from that point to the river. Another ver
sion is that a purchase had been made extending as
far as a man could go, and at the end of the third day
the line was to extend at a right angle to the river.
After walking a day and a half the walker stopped, and
a second walk, the one in controversy, was undertaken
to complete the first.
The lines of many of the early purchases were equally
indefinite. In one of the deeds the land was to run
backward from a creek "two days' journey with a
horse, up into the country as far as the said river doth
extend." In another deed the land was to extend
"north-easterly, back into the woods, to make two
full days' journey as far as a man can go;" in another
conveyance the laud was between two creeks "extending
backwards as far as a man could ride in two days with
a horse." These terms prove that the use of man and
horse for measuring purposes was common, and cer
tainly they could be more conveniently employed than
the chain and compass.
A deed was produced for Allen's use, but it was an
apocryphal instrument and has since disappeared. It
seems to have served its purpose of beguiling the tawny
children of the Delaware, whose literary accomplish
ments were slight, and knowledge of forgeries was abso
lutely blank.
A way was prepared in advance, and an expert was
selected. At six o'clock on the morning of the ap
pointed day the walk began. The Indians are very

LAND AND LABOR. 143
rapid walkers, nevertheless on this occasion the white
man was too much for them. The Indians lagged and
the white people were good enough to mount them on
horses, and suffer them to ride. The walker, stimu
lated by the prospect of a rich reward, was untiring.
The party stopped fifteen minutes for lunch and the
walk was continued. The Indians began to compre
hend the performance, and one of them remarked in de
scribing it: "No sit down to smoke — no shoot a
squirrel; but lun, lun, lun, lun all day long." At a
quarter past six all stopped for the night and slept on
the field. The next morning rain fell, but at eight
o'clock the walk was resumed and continued for six
hours. They had gone so far that by extending a line
at a right angle from their route, the enclosed section
would include the land conveyed to Allen, and thus he
and his grantors, the proprietaries, were relieved of their
embarrassment. The walker receiving his damning
leward, which was soon followed by his death, from
excessive fatigue. But the end was not yet.
The Indians felt that they had been robbed, as did all
the people in the Province. The occupants were un
willing to move, and then another scheme was adopted
to get them out of the country. For a long period the
Iroquois had held the Minisinks in bondage as women,
a most humiliating condition. So they were sum
moned to come and remove the Delawares, who, not
withstanding their loss of spirit, still had a sense of
wrong as keen as in the days of their greatness. The
Iroquois appeared, and Canassatego, their spokesman,
thus addressed the despairing Delawares: "How came you
to take upon you to sell lands at ail ? We conquered you;
we made women of you. For this land, you claim you

144 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
have been furnished with clothes, meat and drink, and
now you want it again, like children as you are. We
charge you to remove instantly; we don't give you
liberty to think about it. You are women. Take the
advice of a wise man, aud remove instantly."
Sorrowfully was the message received, for from this
judgment there was no appeal. The Minisinks decided
to go to the Wyoming Valley, and, realizing that they
would never return, burnt their huts to signify their final
departure. Thus the original denizen of the Delaware
was driven forth from his hunting-ground to occupy
new possessions ; yet even these he was not to retain
long, for the pilgrimage had now begun which was to
end only with his destruction.
The message of the Iroquois was effective, the land
was cleared, and the theft complete. The Friends espec
ially felt that the Indians had been outraged, and were
determined to clear themselves of all complicity in the
transaction. They insisted on a thorough investigation
of their dealings with the Indians. The Penns did not
favor such a proceeding, and instead of aiding in the
worthy work, prepared a report without the know
ledge of the Friends, in which the character of those
whom they assailed was unjustly aspersed. The report
was addressed to Governor Denny, but was intended
especially for the English eye, to screen the conduct of
the proprietaries from the grave charges made against
them by the Indians, and also to soften the blow which
the authors were preparing to administer. The report
was prepared by Thomas Penn's instructions, and was
transmitted to him for his defence before the king and
the board of trade. Such is the story of this disgrace
ful walkiue-nurchase, one of the most villainous trans
actions in the provincial history of Pennsylvania.

LAND AND LABOR. 145
The purchase of 1754 was much larger than any that
had previously been made. The Indians in their sim
plicity agreed to sell another part of the Province, but
were quite ignorant of the nature of compass and chain,
and when the survey was completed were surprised to
learn that the purchase included so much. They com
plained that no hunting-grounds remained to them;
and to make their humiliation still worse, the purchase
had been made ofthe Iroquois, who claimed ownership.
The wiser and more thoughtful settlers urged the con
veyance of a portion to the Indians, fearing the conse
quences if this was not done; but their words fell un
heeded. The proprietaries had a deed, and this was
quite enough ; the methods used were of no importance.
They did not fear the vindictiveness of the ludians, for
they were safe in their snug homes; if the wrong was
avenged, only those on the frontiers would suffer. Of
all the short-sighted acts of the government this was
the least excusable, for the seizure -was made just on the
eve of war between the French and English, when the
good will of the red men was most strongly desired.
The Indians promptly became allies of the French, aud
eagerly engaged in the fray. Ere long blazing homes
and horrible massacres perpetrated on the frontiers,
were the heavy price paid for the greed of the proprie
taries. At last, to quiet the Indians, a portion of the
land was relinquished. Justice was too tardy ; had this
been done in the beginning, the neutrality or assistance
of the Indians would have beeu secured, and the blood
and fire averted that devastated the region from the
southern border to the River Lehigh.
There was land enough for all, as not more than
thirty or forty thousand Indians then lived in the Pro-
10

146 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
vince. Had the whites been less greedy in purchasing
furs, the incentive of the Indians to kill animals would
not have been so strong, their hunting-grounds would
not have been so quickly despoiled, and smaller areas
would have furnished them with abundant game. Un
happily the opposite policy was adopted, and within
a century from the coming of Penn, almost every acre
had been taken from the original owners.
Penn sold nearly 300,000 acres of his land to persons in
England who had never seen it. They were called "the
first purchasers." Itwas sold in parcels varying from
three hundred to ten thousand acres, and the price paid
was forty shillings sterling for one hundred acres, and
one shilling quit-rent. The quit-rent was a perpetual
annual payment. The purchasers had the right to
select any land within the Province. They did not im
mediately choose their sites, for the Province was so
vast that they probably supposed there was no need of
haste ; in truth some of them never claimed their lands.
Those who did were protected by the Divesting Act of
1779, whereby the State took possession of all the land
then belonging to the proprietaries. The purchasers
were divided into three classes ; the names included in
two of them were filed in the land-office, but the -
names of the third class were not ; and their claims
were questioned by the proprietary officers before the
Revolution. By the conditions of the first or original grant Penn
agreed that soon after the arrival of the immigrants " a
large town" should be laid out at a convenient place on
the Delaware ; and every purchaser in addition to his
purchase was to receive a section of town-land. The
proportion "in the first great town or city" was to be

LAND AND LABOR. lAy
ten acres for every five hundred purchased " if the place
will allow it." Penn selected a place for the city,
covering two square miles. This was the original size
of Philadelphia. The city was divided into lots of
diff"erent sizes, and a large tract adjoining was surveyed
aud called the Liberties. The Schuylkill divided this
bordering territory into two parts ; and the lots beyond
were of less value than those in the city. On the city
plan two large lots of twenty thousand acres each were
set aside for two purchasers, and other lots of ten thou
sand, five thousand, one thousand aud five hundred acres
and less, were apportioned among the smaller buyers.
By Penn's scheme persons could rent land, as well as
purchase it ; but nearly every settler desired to be an
absolute owner. "Though very few of them," says
Judge Huston, " were above the condition of tenants, if
not tenants at will at home, the general wish was to
become the absolute owner of some soil in the new
country. Although lands were offered to those who
would settle on them at a rent, it is surprising how very
few entered upon lauds as renters."
Penn purposed dividing the Province into townships
of five thousand or ten thousand acres, aud for a long
period his conveyances or warrants indicated this pur
pose. Desirous of attracting the greatest possible num
ber of persons, he did not favor sales of large tracts.
A few exceptions were made to this policy, one of
them in favor of a society called the Free Traders, who
had extensive plans for colonizing and improving the
land. They were influential men of considerable
means, and on them were founded strong hopes for a
prosperous settlement, but the society never flourished.
A large tract of forty thousand acres was sold in 1684 to

148 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the Welsh, who were not numerous enough to occupy
the whole, though they applied for it to the commis
sioners of property. The com missioners insisted that
interest must be paid on the purchase-money for the
whole, and quit-rents from the date of granting war
rants. Unwilling to comply with these terms, the un
settled portion was left open to other purchasers, which
caused no little grumbling among the Welsh. Their
demand was unreasonable, for the commissioners could
not reserve any portion for which settlers were unwill
ing to pay.
An attempt was made to sell another .section by
lottery. As the proprietary was in need of money,
they tried to stimulate settlement by the sale of 100,000
acres, the purchasers to have the privilege of selecting
any unsold land in the Province, except the manor
lands, those already surveyed, or actually settled or im
proved. The price was to be ;^i5 10 for one hundred
acres, and seven thousand seven hundred and flfty
tickets were to be issued. The largest prize was for
twenty-eight thousand acres, the others were for eigh
teen thousand, fifteen thousand, twelve thousand five
hundred, two for ten thousand, and two for three thou
sand acres. The lottery never filled, and the offers
were withdrawn. Nevertheless as some tickets were
sold, their holders acquired titles to lands, that were
surveyed and kept apart from others. Sometimes spec
ulators made large purchases for the purpose of selling
at higher rates. Penn, though opposed to this practice,
was powerless to prevent it, for it was difficult to watch
people three thousand miles away.
The mode of selling may be briefly described. There
was an office composed of a secretary, surveyor-general,

LAND AND LABOR. j^g
auditor-general and receiver-general, who held their
offices at the seat of government. Deputy-surveyors
were appointed by the proprietary or commissioners of
property, and afterwards by the surveyor-general.
These commissioners were appointed by Penn from
among his intimate friends in the Province. They had
authority to purchase lands and to sell them. The
usual practice was for the buyer to make an application,
a warrant was issued by the proprietary or by his com
missioners to the receiver-general, who was to make a
survey for the warrantee, on the terms described
therein. The warrant was then taken to the surveyor-
general, who gave a copy with an order to the deputy-
surveyor of the proper county, directing him to make
the survey. The application, as well as the warrant,
indicated the situation of the land desired. After the
deputy-surveyor had completed his measurements, he
reported to the office of the surveyor-general, who
issued a patent to the purchaser for his land. He was
expected to pay the surveyor-general for it before the
warrant was issued ; but this was never done ; and large
losses were incurred by reason of the failure to pay for
lands or even to pay the annual quit-rents. In 1740
there were two hundred and sixty thousand acres for
which patents had been granted, but on which no pay
ments had been made, while other land, held by settle
ment without grant, amounted to nearly four hundred
thousand acres. The sums due on these, without inter
est, were declared to be ^^104,850. The proprietaries
sought in every manner to effect the collection of quit-
rents and purchase money, but in many cases they were
unsuccessful. Afterward another method of granting land was

1 50 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
adopted. This was called the application system. De
sirous of increasing purchases, the proprietaries in 1765
introduced a new system. Settlers were not asked to
pay in the beginning. An applicant applied to the sec
retary of the land-office, who instead of granting a war
rant, entered the purchaser's name on the back, the
date of his application, and the description and location
of his land. No request could be made by any person
for more than three hundred acres without a special
order. At the close of each day the secretary sent to
the surveyor-general copies of all the applications, regu
larly numbered in the order received. The surveyor-
general then sent transcripts to his deputy with the
dates of entry, together with an order to survey the
land. The survey was completed within six months,
and after the report was returned, the applicant paid
the receiver-general on terms then established, five
pounds for one hundred acres with interest from the
date of the application, and one penny sterling per acre
quit-rent. When this was done, a warrant was directed
to the surveyor-general for his acceptance of the survey,
which was then returned to the secretary's office and a
patent was issued. This system was simple and lenient.
It gave the lands to the buyers as soon as the survey
was completed, before requiring payment of any part of
the purchase-money, and without the ordinary expenses
of the office. One reason for adopting this method was
the conduct of the speculators, who, having purchased
large quanties of land, were selling at a profit. An
noyed by the competition, the proprietaries made still
more favorable terms to stimulate the sale of their own
lands. The purchasers did not long enjoy the system of quit-

LAND AND LABOR. i^i
rents. They had come to breathe the free air of the
Americaii wilderness, and resented thechoking process
of paying a perpetual obligation. Penn once proposed
to sell their quit-rents, but his proposition was declined.
Afterward, when the tenants were desirous of purchas
ing, he answered, ' ' I must depend upon my rents for a
supply, and therefore must not easily part with them,
and many years have elapsed since I made you that
offer that was not accepted." As the essence of the
quit-rent system was feudalism, the reader may ask how
this ardent lover of liberty came to adopt such a mode
of selling his lands. Oue would imagine that Penn was
still living in the twilight of the Middle Ages. In all of
the deeds the purchasers were described as holding their
lands from him "in comon socage." This venerable
phrase was a survival of the Norman conquest, when
lands were held in two ways. In every instance the
king was regarded as the paramount lord or owner, and
the lands were granted to his followers on condition that
one of two kinds of service should be rendered — knight
service or socage service. Those who held lands by
knight service were obliged to serve the ruler forty
days in a year, and to furnish pecuniary aid whenever it
was needed. Furthermore, the lord could dispose of
his infant ward in marriage, who, if refusing to obey,
forfeited whatever might be arbitrarily assessed as the
value of the match. If a tenant or holder sold his
land, he was obliged to pay a fine for the privilege, and
if he died without leaving an heir competent to perform
service, or was convicted of treason or felony, the land
escheated to the feudal lord. This tenure or service
was so severe that every one preferred tenure by socage,
which meant that the land was held by a fixed service.

1 52 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
which was not military or within the power of the lord
to vary at his pleasure. In Penn's agreements with his
tenants a service of some kind was expected, but their
republican spirit was galled by this condition, and they
tried to escape from it at an early day. His relationship
to the people, in his own mind, was essentially patriar
chal, and he desired its continuance because he felt
sure that if they were left unrestrained their progress
would be slower thau under his mild aud enlightened
rule. The income derived from these sales by the founder
was not enough to pay his expenses, and his affairs fell
into a bad way. To relieve himself Penn mortgaged
his Province, and the persons to whom the conveyance
was made had power to sell. Three years afterward, in
1711, the commissioners of property were given author
ity to grant lauds and receive moneys. The incum
brance was not removed at the time of Penn's death,
but the sale of lands contiuued. Warrants were
granted and patents issued, though not in precisely the
same manner as before. It has beeu asserted that the
office was closed from the death of William Penn till
the arrival of his son Thomas. This statement is
hardly correct, for warrants were issued for lands ou the
east side ofthe Schuylkill during the entire period.
At a later date titles were acquired by settlement.
This was the father of many difficulties, and was not at
first regarded with favor. The title arose by the settler's
entering on vacant lands without any office-right, and
without applying to the proprietary or his officers.
From feeble beginnings this method of acquisition grew
to be an acknowledged right, and was recognized by
the board of property, the Legislature and the courts of

LAND AND LABOR. 1^3
justice. A distinction was made between mere settle
ment and a permanent improvement. If a man plunged
into the wilderness, made a clearing and then aban
doned it, he acquired no title; but if he remained on the
land, improving it, he was regarded as a settler and after
a time his rights became secure.
Delinquents were -threatened with the loss of their
lands, though this menace was rarely executed. Settle
ments were vacated in a few cases, because of the
unwillingness ofthe occupants to pay for them. When
ever they were thus formally vacated by a warrant, the
lands became the property of others to whom they were
given ; in some rare cases the authorities ventured to
take them away from those who had no right or title.
Many claims acquired either by settlement or by
warrants were sold. These rights were considered
personal property aud their transfer caused no little
difficulty and litigation. Until the enactment of the
divesting law, the business of the land-office was never
conducted with much system. The proprietary desired
to encourage settlers for the purpose of selling his land
and obtaining a revenue. A policy of lenient treatment
was adopted, for if he dealt harshly with purchasers dis
satisfaction was sure to follow. Irregularities were
overlooked, and the system was remolded to fit more
perfectly the ever-changing conditions of the people.
From time to time the Assembly enacted laws relat
ing to quit-rents and other similar subjects, thinking
that the acquiescence of the proprietary's deputy would
suffice to enforce the acts. Nearly all of these laws
were disapproved by the privy council, not on constitu
tional grounds, but for reasons advanced by the pro
prietary.

154 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Evidently this system of proprietary pwnership could
not always last. Long before the Revolution, the
question was often asked, what could be done toward
putting an end to it. At the time the divesting act
was passed the proprietaries were two grandsons of
William Penn, the founder — John, the son of Richard, and
also governor, and John, the son of -Thomas. In Febru
ary, 1778, President Reed in his message to the Assembly
referred to the nature and extent of the late proprietaries'
claims, and the consistency of these with the interests
and happiness of the people. He declared that it was
worthy of the Assembly's most serious attention to
reconcile the rights of society with those of individual
justice and equity. The pending rights of many indi
viduals and the common interests of all did not admit
of longer delay, though war with its calamities and con
fusion had for a time hidden the matter from the notice
of the government. The House gave notice to John
Penn, who was then living in Pennsylvania, and a time
was set to hear his objections. For five days the case
was argued before the Assembly. A series of questions
was propounded to Chief Justice McKean by order of
the House, concerning the authority of the crown to
give the charter, the nature of the grant, the extent of
concessions to the first purchasers, the right to reserve
quit-rents, their proper appropriation and the efi'ect of a
change of government on the rights of the proprietaries.
The chiefjustlce did not shrink from answering, though
he knew that his opinion would not please the assembly
men. He declared the authority of the crown to be
unquestionable, that the grant to Penn and his right to
the quit-rents was absolute, and he denied that the
object of reserving these payments was to support the

LAND AND LABOR. irc
government. He agreed with the popular party on one
point only, the right of preemption, which he con
sidered was vested in the new government. The
opinion ofthe Assembly's committee did not harmonize
with that of the chief justice. Both reports were
ordered to be printed and soon after the Assembly
adjourned. At the next session the new Legislature
immediately resumed consideration of the subject.
The bill was improved and referred for examination to
the chief justice and the attorney-general, and was
finally passed by a vote of forty to seven. The minority
entered a short protest, aud on the same day Mr. Penn
addressed the Assembly in a brief and decorous remon
strance which, at his request, was printed in the journal.
The law divested the proprietaries of their lands and
quit-rents, but carefully protected the manors aud what
ever could be distinguished as private property, grant
ing a compensation of ;^i 30,000, which was paid with
interest within eight years after the close of the war.
Besides this sum the Penn family received an additional
remuneration in the form of an annuity from the
British government of _^4,ooo. Thus they had the rare
fortune of receiving compensation for their wrongs on
both sides. The annuity is still paid to the descendants
of the founder of Pennsylvania. Section II.
Cultivation of the Land.
Penn, knowing the need of preserving a portion of the
forest, wisely guarded in his charter against its destruc
tion. A fifth part was to be kept in its original condi
tion ; but later generations, disregarding this wise
restriction and neglecting to guard against fires, have

156 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
suflfered all to disappear, save a few small patches of
oak, ash and hemlock. They are now paying a heavy
penalty for this in deluges of water followed by long
periods of drought that plague the land. Ou the re
maining four-fifths the settlers could labor in their own
way, and the story of their conquest of the wilderness
possesses a peculiar interest.
The Indians cultivated only small plots of laud, for
they were not farmers. Squaws performed the work in
a primitive manner. Patches of land were cleared
along the streams and flats by girdling and burning
down the trees. Then the ground was scratched with
sticks, and seeds were sown — corn, beans, squashes,
pumpkins and melons. The beans sown by them, it is
said, were procured from the Europeans. Peas were
sown before any foreigners came into the country.
Sharp stones were used as hoes. Their land was kept
clear by burning, but in some places where the scrub
oak grew, fire would tfot ordinarily kill the growth.
Within a year after the settlement of the Province,
between twenty and thirty ships arrived with passen
gers, the numbers increasing so rapidly that the land
along the Delaware was soon taken from Chester to
the Falls of Trenton. The valleys were first chosen
because the land in them was more productive, as it
was mainly the rich deposit of many ages, and yielded
large crops of corn, wheat and other products. The
Friends who came first were very provident and cau
tious, and had provided themselves, as they believed,
-with enough food and clothing to suffice until new
supplies were forthcoming. They also brought house
hold furniture, utensils, implements and tools used in
many trades and occupations. In the order of settle-

LAND AND LABOR. jry
ment the English Quakers and others from Wales came
first, followed by the Scotch-Irish and the Germans.
Two or three years passed before the earth begau to
display its riches, and during this time the people
suffered. Many of the adventurers were not young or
fitted to endure hardships. Some, too, had lived well in
their native country, enjoying ease and plenty, and were
ill prepared for the privations of the wilderness.
Their first labor, after arriving, was to land their
goods. Their lodgings were in the woods, a tree some
times was chosen for shelter. Then caves were in
habited, and afterwards huts were occupied until the
completion of better houses. Those who went farther
into the wilderness lived in their wagons. All this was
a novel experience. They had no knowledge of the
proper method of improving the land, and every
thing had to be learned by experience. Proud says that
the great difference between the open cultivated coun
tries among the near kinsmen that many of the settlers
had left behind, and the wild wooded desert which they
had now to encounter among savages, must have
created in the colonists startliug ideas, and made strange
impressions on their minds. Yet the soil was fertile,
the air was clear, streams of water were plentiful, there
was an abundance of wood for fuel and buildings, and
all went to their tasks with a strong heart. In selecting
sites for their houses, the settlers did not forget the
importance of a water supply. The dusky sons of the
wilderness were the neighbors who gazed on these
strange toilers, whose methods of activity were so unlike
their own.
The first comers had cleared enough land by the suc
ceeding spring to plant Indian corn, and in a year or

1 58 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
two to grow wheat and other grain. Many stories are
told of their trials before they could raise a sufficient
supply for their wants. At times, the air was darkened
by the flocks of wild pigeons, which, flying low, were
knocked down, then cooked and eaten. Those not im
mediately needed were salted and kept for further use.
The story is told of a deer that came so close to a
woman as she was journeying, that she secured him by
putting a strap around his horns. The animals did not
know what kind of creatures had come among them,
but as soon as they found out many disappeared in the
recesses of the forest.
In selecting land the Germans always preferred that
which contained a large quantity of meadow. They
also cleared the land; though not in the same manner
as the other settlers . They did not girdle or belt the
trees and leave them to perish, but cut them down and
burned them. Underwood and bushes were grubbed
up, and a field was thus made as fit for cultivation the
second year after clearing as it might otherwise have
beeu with twenty years of different treatment. The
laud could then be plowed, harrowed and reaped.
The expense of repairing a plow, which was likely to
be broken in a partly cleared field, was greater than
the cost of removing the undergrowth in the beginning.
The Scotch-Irish and other settlers were not as thorough
in clearing the ground. The trees were mortally
wounded by girdling them ; in a short time the smaller
branches decayed and fell, exposing unsightly skeletons
which were ere long transformed by fire and weather
into huge ghostly forms. The underwood was grubbed
up, piled in heaps and burned. There were no matches
to light them in those days. Punk and flint stone were

LAND AND LABOR. icg
commonly used to ignite wood, or else live coals were
brought from the flre in the house. Much of the
timber was split into rails and used for making a worm
fence around the newly cleared field.
To protect the lands, they were fenced in different
ways. One way of fencing was by palisades, formed of
sticks driven iuto the ground close together. Another
was by rails, eight or ten feet long, laid on top of each
other at a sufficient angle to remain secure. They were
called worm fences because they were so crooked.
The tools used for cultivating the land were of the
simplest description. Each German fainily usually
brought a large iron-bound chest filled with homespun
and some of the more important household utensils.
They were also supplied with a wooden plow, a scythe,
a hoe and a sickle. The old-fashioned wooden plow,
shared often by several farmers, was drawn by a heavy
draught-horse or by a pair of oxen. The crops were
planted or sown by hand, and covered by hoeing or
brushing. Seeds in great variety were sown ; wheat
and rye in the autumn, and reaped the following June or
soon after ; barley and oats in April, and garnered
towards the end of July. Corn was a native of America
and easily cultivated. Buckwheat, cotton, rice, spelter,
millet, lucerne, sainfoin, flax, melons and rape were also
raised. There was a long struggle to grow hemp, but
finally its culture was abandoned. Peas were cultivated
at an early day, every Swedish farmer having a little
field of them. Beets and radishes flourished, the latter
growing, it is said, to seven inches in diameter. The
convolvulus or batata, called the Bermudain potato in
the Province, was raised, says Kalm, by the common
people, and 'by the gentry, without distinction, some

l6o HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
putting them in hillocks prepared for that purpose,
others planting them in flat beds. The sweet potato,
called the Maryland potato, also thrived. Pumpkins
were raised, their round yellow bellies glistening in the
sun and remaining, in that day as in ours, the last
golden decoration of the fields. Wheat fields were pre
pared in the English manner, with no ditches ; but
there were numerous furrows draining the water, four
or five feet apart.
In cultivating the land, no fertilizer was used, and of
course after a few years the soil became less productive.
When Kalm, an eminent Swedish professor, was journey
ing through the Province in 1748, he remarked that a
grain field that had yielded the same kind of corn for
three years produced nothing after that unless it was
fallowed for several years or fertilized. In the interval
plants and brush overspread it, while a new piece of
ground was used, or a piece that had beeu lying fallow.
Every house had a garden, and an orchard was
planted as soon as possible after a clearing had been
made. Apple, peach, pear and cherry trees were
planted, and grew luxuriantly. Kalm relates that once
when he and a companion were passing an orchard, his
friend leaped over the hedge and gathered some apples.
The Swede expected that some serious result would
follow from such a bold theft ; but those working in
the orchard did not even look at him. The people were
more generous with their fruits than in other countries
where the soil was less fruitful. In the environs of
Chester were many gardens full of apple-trees, sinking
under the burden of fruit.
After the sowing, planting and tending, came the joy
ful period of harvest. This was the most gladsome

LAND AND LABOR. ^dx
season of the year. Neighboring families assisted each
other, men and women working in the field. Trades
men and town people dropped their vocations and
joined in the reaping. One "through" was reaped,
the "grips" were bound on the return, and a keg of
ardent spirits was tapped at the end of each round.
Exciting scenes attended the harvesting of corn. Days
were appointed for husking-bees, at which both old and
young assembled to enjoy the sport. There were re
freshments of cider, cider-royal, metheglin and luscious
red and yellow apples. The golden corn flew thick and
fast, and as evening approached the pile swelled higher
and higher until the work was flnished. Happy the
swain who found a red ear, for he was permitted to
take therefor a kiss from the maiden of his choice.
These festivals were in Indian summer, when a dreamy
haze enveloped the landscape, and the woods were
clothed in gorgeous colors. The clear blue sky, the
rich meadows and deep groves, the tinkling bells of the
cattle, the unregarded music of the brooks, all told of
beauty and peace.
The Germans, perhaps, were less given to the enjoy
ments of agriculture than the Scotch-Irish and other
settlers, yet in their own way they enjoyed existence
and were as contented and prosperous as any people in
the Province. In superstitions, perhaps, they led the
rest. In planting and pruning, in sowing and reaping,
they were influenced by the age and appearance of the
moon, yet they were not the exclusive possessors of
this supernal assistant. Absurd incantations were held
to be infallible remedies for many diseases, nor was
a belief in witches yet banished from the popular
faith. Over the low door of the German's cottage one
II

l62 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
would be sure to find the fateful horse-shoe. The Ger
man who suspected that his fireplace was a resort for
witches expelled them by burning alive therein a
young dog or two. If dogs were the innocent victims
of the delusion, human beings escaped punishment, — a
great gain to society surely compared with their fate in
some other colonies. If the black cats, those old com
panions of sorcery, did not fare so badly as the puppies,
they did not entirely escape ; but earless and tailless,
they wandered through the neighborhood, mutely testi-^
fying to the use of their blood in the treatment of ery
sipelas. Kalm says that the cattle slowly degenerated. All
the cows, horses, sheep and hogs in England were
larger than those first imported from there of the same
breed. The first generations grew smaller ; the third
aud fourth were of the same size as those common in
the Province. The climate, soil and food produced the
change. The English did not bring many to this
country, but the Swedes imported a large stock, or
bought of the Dutch who were in the Lower Counties.
The Germans fed their cattle well ; consequently their
horses -were better able to work. German horses were
known in every part of the Province, while their cows
yielded a larger quantity of milk. The beasts were
kept as warm as possible in the winter, and thus much
hay and grain were saved. There were many cows
and oxen in New Jersey which had become so wild by
keeping them in the fields that no enclosure was strong
enough to hold them.
Kalm gives a long list of animals that were tamed by
the settlers. Among these he mentions the American
deer, which soon yielded to the arts of the white man

LAND AND LABOR. 163
and were sometimes used for hunting or for decoying
wild deer. Beavers also were so domesticated that they
went fishing, and brought their catch to their masters.
They were as tame as dogs, and followed their owners
everywhere. If he went into a boat, the beaver went
with him, jumping into the water, and after awhile
bringing up a fish. The opossum was trained to follow
persons like a dog. The raccoou ran about the streets
like a domestic animal, and was an incorrigible thief.
He would creep into a poultry yard and in a single
night kill the whole stock. It was necessary to hide
sugar and other sweet things, otherwise he would get
iuto chests or boxes, eat the sugar and lick the treacle.
Women tired of this pet and finally discarded his
society. Among tained animals were the gray or flying
squirrels, that became so gentle as to sit on the shoulders
of boys and to follow them everywhere. Wild geese
lost their shyness, and partridges would- run around all
day with the poultry and go with them to their feeding
places when called. Some winters there were enormous
flocks of pigeons, which became so tame that they would
fly out and return again. Though the truth of some of
these statements may be questioned, there is abundant
proof that many of the animals of that day were easily
brought under the dominion of the new lords of the
land. To prevent the swine from jumping over the low
enclosures, a triangular wooden yoke was put around
their necks. To the horses was fastened a tooth or
hook, stopping the animal just when he lifted his fore
feet to leap over a fence. Other devices were also used
to keep them within bounds. Bells were indispensable
to indicate the whereabouts of cattle that roamed in the

1 64 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
woods. If a bell was broken or lost, it was not easy to
find the animal to which it had beeu attached. Dodd
ridge tells of a drove of horses intended for a Baltimore
market, ou whose necks bells were hung at the time of
starting on the journey. At a lodging-place in the
mountain two bells belonging to the drove were stolen
during the night by the landlord and his hired man.
The drover had not gone far in the morning before he
missed the bells, and a man was sent back to recover
them. The landlord and his servant were found reap
ing in the field. They were accused of the theft, but
denied it. By a custom of the time the torture of
"sweating" was applied to them. They were sus
pended by their arms, which were pinioned behind their
backs. This brought a confession ; the bells were forth
coming and hung around the culprits' necks. Thus
attired they were driven on foot until they overtook the
drove, which had gone nine miles. A halt was called,
a jury selected to try them, and they were condemned to
receive from each drover a fixed number of lashes.
When the time came for the owner of one of the
stolen bells to use his hickory, he said to the thief,
"You infernal scoundrel, I will work your jacket
nineteen to the dozen ! Only think what a rascally
figure I should make in the streets of Baltimore with
out a bell on my horse ! " And he meant what he said,
for he thought bells were needed everywhere, even in
the streets of a city, never having seen horses without
them. Of the forest trees that were utilized, the red maple
was most in demand. From its wood were made plates,
spinning-wheels, rolls and legs for chairs and beds.
Worsted and linen were dyed with its bark, which gave

LAND AND LABOR. igc
the fabrics a dark blue color. From it a good black
ink was also made. At that time the settlers did not
utilize the sweet juice of the maple, though in Cauada
both treacle and sugar were made of it. A curled
variety was used for utensils, and in all kinds of joiner's
work, but the most valuable furniture was of curled
black walnut, which was exceedingly scarce.
Of all the settlers the Germans were the most indus
trious. They worked early aud late, women also toil
ing in the field. Aided by her daughter, the good
housewife tended the grape-vine, cultivated the garden,
and trained the honeysuckles about the cottage. A loom
was in every family, and the women in the winter spun
flax and wove linen, linsey and woolen cloths. The
linen was bleached by spreading it on the lawn during
the warm weather. One of the industries carried on
among the farmers was that of distilling liquor from
wheat and other cereals. At first, rye was used, and
afterward corn was found to be valuable for the same
purpose. Drink was common among the agricultural
classes at harvest time, and was regarded as a necessity.
The whiskey of those days was pure. The Friends
drank as well as others; but if one of them indulged too
freely he was put out of meeting. Many a case is
recorded of members who were "brought before meet
ing" for imbibing ardent spirits too freely. If public
acknowledgment was made, the offenders were generally
excused. Wine-making was also quite general, the women
pressing it from the fruits. White and red currants,
raspberries and cherries were often used for this pur
pose, as were strawberries and blackberries, which grew
abundantly in the fields. In Maryland a wine was

106 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
made from wild grapes. Brandy was distilled from
peaches and apples.
By the middle of the eighteenth century the Germans
formed a considerable part of the farming population.
Brissot, a French traveler, remarks that they were re
garded as the most honest, industrious and economical
of the farmers. They never contracted debts, and of all
the people were the least addicted to the use of rum and
other ardent spirits. Their families were large, and it
was common to see twelve or fourteen children in one
household. Brissot also remarks that the principal
cause of migration to the remote parts of the Province
was the hope of escaping taxes, though the land-tax
was very light, not exceeding a penny to the pound on
an assessment much below the real valuation.
The same Frenchman describes the early progress in
cultivating the land, as related to him by a farmer
whom he met during his travels. Doubtless his account
is correct, but it applies only to a small class who lived
during the closing years of the provincial period. The
first planter or farmer was usually a man who had lost
his fortune and his credit in the eastern part of the
State. He went westward in the month of April. His
first task was to build a little cabin for himself and
family, the sides aud roof of which were of rough
hewn wood, and the floor of earth. It was lighted by a
door and sometimes by a little window covered with
oiled paper. An adjoining hut gave shelter to a cow,
and. a pair of miserable horses. When the work of
building was completed the farmer attacked the forest,
and the trees were cut two or three feet from their
roots. The ground was then plowed and planted with
Indian corn that often yielded in October a harvest of

LAND AND LABOR. 167
forty to fifty bushels to the acre. As early as September
it was ready to be eaten and furnished an agreeable
food. In winter time the planter sustained himself and
family by hunting and fishing, while the cow and horses
fed on wild grass. During the first year he suff"ered
much from cold and hunger, and living near the savages,
he copied their example by solacing himself with liquor.
Thus rolled away the first two or three years of his ex
istence. As the neighboring population increased his
troubles began. The cattle which had run at large, he
was now compelled to keep within his little farm.
Formerly he could obtain much wild game, now it had
fled from the country. Increasing society brought laws,
taxes and regulations, and nothing was so hateful as
these shackles. Unwilling to sacrifice even a single
right for the benefit of the government, he abandoned
his new home and retreated still farther into the" wilder
ness. So potent were the charms of independence that
many men cleared consecutively four farms in different
parts of the Province. Brissot remarked that the
preaching of the gospel always drove away men of this
class, but this was not surprising when one considered
how much the Bible precepts were opposed to their
manner of living.
The labor of the flrst planter gave some value to the
farm that was now occupied by a man of the second
class. The new tenant began by adding to his cabin.
A saw-mill in the neighboring settlement furnished him
with boards, and his house was now covered with
shingles, and raised to two stories in height. He pre
pared a small meadow and planted an orchard of two or
three hundred apple trees. He enlarged his stable and
built a spacious barn which he covered with rye straw.

l68 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Instead of planting only Indian corn, he cultivated
wheat and rye. Of the latter he made whiskey. Never
theless this planter did not manage well. His fields
were badly plowed and never enriched, and they pro
duced but small crops. His cattle broke through the
fences and destroyed the crops. His horses were ill-fed
and feeble, and in the spring they often died of hunger.
His house and farm showed signs of neglect ; the glass
of his wiudows was replaced with old hats and rags.
He was fond of company ; he drank too much, and
passed his time in political disputes. He contracted
debts and after a few years was forced to sell his home
stead to a planter of the third and last class.
The newcomer was usually a man of property. His
first task was to convert into meadow all his land that
could be flowed with water. He then built a barn of
stone to protect his cattle from cold, for they ate less
when they were kept warm. To spare the consumption
of fuel he used improved stoves, and saved the labor of
cutting and carting much wood. Besides corn, wheat
and rye, he cultivated oats and buckwheat. Near his
house was a garden in which cabbages, potatoes, turnips
and other vegetables were raised ; and he built a dairy
house near the spring which furnished him with water.
He improved the size and quality of his orchard.
His sons worked by his side, and his wife and daughters
quit their wheels and looms to labor in the harvest.
Finally he built a house, generally of stone, which was
well furnished. His horses and oxen proved by their
strength and good appearance that they were well fed.
The ordinary drinks of his family were beer, cider and
wine. As he grew rich, perceiving the value of legal
protection, he paid his taxes punctually, and contrib-

LAND AND LABOR. 169
-uted to the support of schools and churches. Two-
thirds of the families of Pennsylvania belonged to this
third class, and to them the Province owed its reputa
tion and importance. If they were less cunning, they
possessed more republican virtues than their southern
neighbors, whose land was cultivated by slaves. In
this description the Germans must be excepted, for they
were thrifty from the beginning. Many bought farms
that had been rescued from the forest, but they rarely
sold thein.
This chapter would be incomplete without describing
the frontier fort, so essential to the security of the
settlers, especially after their estrangement from the
Indians. The fortiflcatious consisted of cabins, block
houses and stockades. Partitions of logs separated the
cabins from each other. The outside walls were ten or
twelve feet high, and the slope of the roof turned in
ward. The floors were usually of earth. The block
houses were built at the angles of the fort and stood two
feet beyond the stockades and the outer walls of the
cabins. The upper stories were eighteen inches larger
on every side than the under one, with an aperture at
the beginning of the second story for firing downward,
to prevent the enemy from getting under the walls. A
large folding gate, made of thick slabs, and nearest a
spring, closed the fort. The cabins, stockades and
blockhouse walls were pierced with holes at proper
heights and distances, and the outside was completely
bullet-proof A community would have felt uncomfort
able without one of these places of retreat in times of
danger, when the Indian was lurking around for the
white man's blood.
These unwelcome visitors were expected in the

1 70 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
summer or autumn, and at such times the families in
exposed positions were compelled to leave their farms
and remove with their furniture to the fort. Parties of
armed men would cultivate each plantation in turn,
with scouts at a distance to warn of impending danger.
Taught by their wily antagonist, they took every pre
caution. When signs of invasion were detected, the
women and children were quickly brought within
shelter, the cattle aud furniture placed in safety, and a
few of the more adventurous men set to watch the pro
gress of the enemy. Let the panic of his coming once
spread, and immediately plantations and settlements
were abandoned, and the inland towns crowded with
anxious, careworn refugees, leaving their old homes and
crops to the torch of the invader. When the danger
had passed, the settler returned once more to his home
if it had been spared, and lingering over the fire during
the long winter evenings, listened to the wild wailing
of the northern winds that piled the deep snowdrifts
against the wooden walls. Perchance the fierce howl
ing of a distant wolf would lead his thoughts to his ox
stalls, and he would go forth, floundering through the
snow in the darkness, to assure himself of the safety of
his herd.
So rapidly had the land in the eastern section been
taken up and cleared, that, by the closing year of pro
prietary rule, the country had a settled appearance.
The ghostly black and white skeletons were gone, the
lands were fenced, and in many directions divided by
highways. A traveler journeying over the roads during
the spring, after the French and Indian wars, would
have beheld as thriving a scene as any in the world.
The sun's renewed strength, loosening the earth from

LAND AND LABOR. ^yj
the frosty grip of winter, is followed by that annual
display of nature's alchemy which will never cease to
be a marvel. A burial-place for seeds, ere loug the
earth shows signs of life and is covered with tiny
shoots. The grains spring up soonest, and in a brief
time their stalks rustle in the breeze. As summer
advances, their changing color from green to yellow be
tokens the completion of nature's process. Each
perishing seed manifolds itself, every new one as per
fect as the old. Then the green corn plants, shooting
rapidly upward, become the dominating feature of the
scene, while potatoes, peas, beans, squashes and other
lowly forms of vegetation overspread many a field.
Silently but cheerfully the farmer goes forth to his
daily task, content to use his hoe, his sickle and his
scythe, thankful for the harvest won by his honest toil,
and unvexed by the crushing competition of modern
days, that compels the husbandman either to use every
labor-saving device, in order to extract the largest
possible product from the groaning earth, or to abandon
his fields to those more hopeful or more desperate than
himself. Section III.
Slaves, Apprentices and Redemptioners.
In the early provincial times all men were workers
and almost every one was independent. Yet not many
months passed before two classes arose; those who
owned land, or engaged in commerce or exchange, and
those who as helpers received a fixed stipend. The
second class naturally fell into a fourfold division,
slaves, apprentices, redemptioners aud ordinary labor
ers. The slaves were brought from the West Indies and

172 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
other places, and some of them objected from the first
to their bondage. The opposition was very strong at
the time that the Tuscarora Indians in North Carolina
were attached by the whites and driven from their
ancient possessions. Some of them were sold into
slavery and taken to Pennsylvania as bondmen. The
remnant of the tribe migrated to the central portion of
the State, to the land which had been given them by
the Iroquois. The other Indians were greatly moved
when they heard of the misfortune to their race, nor
was their fear quieted until the Legislature forbade the
purchase and employment of Indians as slaves. Noth
ing could have been more impolitic than to deprive
the Indians of their liberty, for the antagonism of the
red man living in the Province was already burning
fiercely without adding fresh fuel. Everywhere was
abundant cause for discontent without adding such
highly inflammable material.
The Dutch and English were engaged in the African
slave trade before the arrival of William Penn. The
police regulations concerning these servants were
severe. If found abroad without a pass they were im
prisoned to await recovery by their owners, and if not
claimed they were sold at public auction to defray ex
penses. Yet negro slavery was always of a mild type
in Pennsylvania. Just before the Revolution, Hector
St. John wrote: "In Penusylvania they enjoy as much
liberty as their masters do, are as well fed "and as well
clad, and in sickness are tenderly taken care of If liv
ing under the same roof they are in effect a part of the
family, they are companions of their labors, and are
treated as such; they do not work more thau ourselves,
and think themselves happier than many of the lower

LAND AND LABOR. 173
classes of whites." Penn provided for the freeing of his
slaves at his death, and in his will he bequeathed to
"Old Sam," "one hundred acres of laud," to be the
property of his children, after the death of himself and
his wife.'
Another kind of laborer was the apprentice. In the
olden time he began to learn his trade in boyhood, and
was bound to his employer by an agreement called an
indenture. He was usually taken into his employer's
family, and surrounded by healthful influences. After
the close of his term he often continued as a journey
man in his master's service for many years, perhaps for
his lifetime. 'He took an interest in his employer's work
and prosperity, and in return secured regularity of em
ployment. As a return for his skill and fldelity, his
master was bound to care for him in sickness and to
retain him in dull as well as in prosperous times. This
system was growing healthfully when Penn and his fol
lowers arrived in the Province. The first important reg
ulation of apprentices was enacted in 1770. Whereas
great mischief and losses had been sustained by masters
and mistresses for want of some law to regulate the con
duct and behavior of apprentices and to prevent their
absence from their master's service without leave, and
to punish them for disorderly or immoral behavior, and
to make the covenants mutually obligatory, it was
enacted that every apprentice should be bound for the
time mentioned in the indenture, to his master, occupa
tion or service, with the consent of his parents, guar-
¦ Friends' servants were not buried in the same inclosure with their
masters, as the prejudice against them was too strong. By direction
of the Middletown Monthly Meeting of Bucks County, a lot was
fenced off for burying negroes.

174 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA .
dians or friends, or with the consent of the overseers of
the poor and the approbation of two justices. If a
master abused or ill-treated his apprentice, or did not
discharge his duty to him, then the law provided re
dress. If an apprentice absconded, the law also pro
vided for the master means to recover him. The next
year another law was enacted prescribing a more effec
tive mode for apprentices to obtain justice from their
masters at the expiration of their term of service. The
system continued until the rise of the factory, which
sounded the death-knell by radically changing the con
ditions of employment.
Another class of servants, which has filled a larger
place in history by reason of their suff'erings, were the
redemptioners. There were several kinds: those who
had fallen into that condition in consequence of mis
fortune, and emigrants who paid for their passage from
Europe by agreement with the shipmaster that they
were to be sold for a number of years after their arrival
in payment for their transportation. The name was
also given to the debtor without means who was sold
for a fixed time to cancel his obligation ; and to the
criminal who, unable to pay his fine, was sold for as
long a period as was necessary to make up the amount.
The directors of the poor were empowered by law to
bind men and women from the poorhouse for a term
not exceeding three years, to pay the expenses of their
keeping, and many were often sold in Philadelphia
publicly. They were offered to purchasers by ordinary
advertisement in the newspapers. Many of the inden
tured servants were called redemptioners, because they
redeemed their liberty by service to the master to whom
they were apprenticed. They were farm laborers, mil-

LAND AND LABOR. lyc
lers, butchers, weavers, blacksmiths, brickmakers, car
penters, joiners, hatters, tailors, shoemakers, saddlers,
tanners and even barber-surgeons.
The custom of selling criminals who were unable to
pay their fines arose from the poor jail facilities of the
country, and the unwillingness of the early settlers to
pay jail expenses. On one occasion a man in Lancaster
county stole ^^14 7. He received twenty-one lashes,
and was then sold for ^16 to a farmer for a term of six
years. The records of many counties contain instances
of freemen who were sold as a punishment for their
off'ences. This was indeed slavery, but it was mitigated
by the fact that a man was not to be sold for his life
time, but only for a comparatively short period. Im
prisonment for debt was common in England, in Penn
sylvania and in other colonies. By a law passed in 1705,
if a debtor had no estate he was compelled to make satis
faction by a period of service, not exceeding seven years,
if he were single and under the age of fifty-three ; or five
years, if he were married and under the age of forty-six.
The labor of redemptioners was usually sold at prices
varying from £2 to £4., while free labor ranged at that
time from ;^io to ;^20 a year. The difference in these
values was caused by the purchaser's obligation to feed
and clothe those who were bound to him, and the labor
of the bondman was less efficient than that of the free.
These servants were constantly running away and were
therefore a loss to their owners. The colonial papers
were filled with advertisements of rewards for the
capture and return of fugitives. A master could chas
tise them, and sometimes he ill-treated them. Some of
the runaways enlisted as soldiers and became dis
tinguished in the early wars.

176 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Vessels bearing the Irish, Scotch, Welsh and English
came from Dublin, Belfast and other Irish seaports.
Germans from the south of fatherland sailed from
Rotterdam and other Dutch ports. Au advertiseineut
like the following often appeared in the Philadelphia
papers: "Just arrived in the ship Sallie, from Amster
dam, a number of German men, women and children,
redemptioners. Their times will be disposed of on
reasonable terms by the captain on board. ' '
The sufferings of the German redemptioners have been
described by Mittelberger. The first part of their
journey was undertaken on the Rhine boats from Heil-
bronn to Holland. Thirty-six custom towns were
passed, at each of whicli the boats and their passengers
were detained and examined and the emigrants in con
sequence were compelled to spend money. The
passage on the Rhine consumed from four to six weeks.
In Holland they were detained quite as long, and were
compelled to spend more money. When the ship
finally reached England at the City of Cowes, anchor
was raised for the long voyage, and then the misery
actually began. When their suff'erings could be no
longer quietly endured, the spirit of discontent broke
forth. The passengers called down curses on others or
on themselves, and on the day they were born. With
the fierce raging of hunger one blamed another for
undertaking the voyage; oftentimes children reproached
their parents, husbands blamed their wives, and broth
ers and sisters, friends aud acquaintances, threatened
vengeance against each other, and most of all against
the man-stealers. At last after a wearisome voyage,'
they wept for joy, aud shouted with gladness at the
sight of the green earth. But alas! when the ship

LAND AND LABOR. ^^yy
arrived at Philadelphia, no one could leave her unless he
had money to pay for his passage. Those who had not
the means remained on board until they were released
from the ship by their purchasers. Mittelberger de
scribes the mode of selling them : " Every day Eng
lishmen, Highlanders and high Germans secured from
the healthy persons those whom they desired, and bar
gained with them concerning the length of time they
were willing to serve in payment of their passage,
whicli they usually owed in full. Three, four, or five
years must be served to pay for their passage, many of
them if quite young, from ten to fifteen years were per
haps required to serve until they were twenty-one years
old. Many parents traded and sold their own children
like cattle, by which means only the parents, not the
children, assumed the payment of the passage. Many
were released from the ship, and it often happened that
parents did not see their children for many years after
their departure from the ship, or perhaps never again ;
often it happened that the entire family, husband, wife
and children were separated, because they were pur
chased by diff'erent persons. Such were some of the in
justices of this terrible system, which had such an
enduring life in the Province."
The steady stream of emigration led sea-captains to
abuse their privileges. The carrying of passengers was
more profitable than freight traffic. Travelers were
often huddled together, and as they sailed southward
into a warmer climate, thousands became sick and died.
In one year no less than two thousand were buried at
sea and in Philadelphia. Of all the barbarous sea-
captains, John Steadman attained the most notoriety.
He bought a license from a magistrate of Rotterdam
12

1 78 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
which stated that no captain or merchant should carry
passengers so long as Steadman had not two thousand
on his own vessel. By this license the avaricious
captain enjoyed a monopoly of the traffic. An ordinary
passenger was carried for seven pistoles and a half.
Many were redemptioners, and when they reached
Philadelphia, were forced to pay whatever thfeir masters
demanded. More than one of them had paid for his
passage before leaving, but, as Steadman had not
credited him with the money, another sum was exacted
on reaching this country. The thousands who died on
the way increased Steadman' s profits, for by a contract
the living were bound to pay for the passage of the
dead. Often after a man had paid his own fare, he was
sold for that of some one else. Baggage was left behind
to be carried in freight vessels, and when this reached
Philadelphia chests and trunks were frequently broken
open and nearly all the contents stolen.
By this miserable trade flourished a class of importers
or brokers who had agencies in Philadelphia and in
European cities. Other dealers called newlanders or
soul-drivers went to Switzerland and Germany and, by
describing America as a land flowing with milk and
honey, tempted the people to emigrate. They were
then sold in Philadelphia and the surrounding country.
In Rotterdam some of the wealthiest citizens were
engaged in this infernal business. A great jealousy
sprang up in this trade between Amsterdam and Rotter
dam. Runners were engaged to watch the arrival of
emigrants and to ply their arts of persuasion. For
each redemptiouer the runners obtained a fee. All the
routes to the sea-coast were watched and dealers even
carried on house-to-house solicitation through Germany.

LAND AND LABOR. 175
The evil was so great that a law was enacted by the
Assembly for the relief of the victims, but it was never
executed. An old sea-captain was appointed overseer
of one of Steadman's vessels to look after passengers,
but he was bribed to conceal the truth of their condi
tion, though sometimes the emigrants had scarcely
twelve inches of space between them, and often no
bread or water. After his death, the Assembly elected
an overseer named Trotter, but he permitted the vessels
to slip through without enforcing the law. The people
of Philadelphia and Germantown then asked the Assem
bly to appoint as overseer Thomas Lay, an English
merchant living in Philadelphia, who every one be
lieved was impervious to bribery. The petitions of the
people were disregarded, nor did the redemptioners
obtain relief until 1764, when a German society in
Philadelphia was organized for their protection.
These despised workers were important members of
the Province. The Assembly was very slow in taking
action to improve their condition. The members re
garded with disfavor the presence of so many redemp
tioners and thought that any improvement in their con
dition would only swell their number more rapidly.
The workingmen were well paid. One of the laws
proposed by Penn prescribed the rates to be paid for
labor. This was discussed more fully than any other
measure during the first session of the Assembly. That
body resolved itself iuto a grand committee, aud in
dulged in a general debate. The principal points were,
whether artificers should work at a general rate, or
specified rates for each one, or whether all should be
free to make terms. The diff'erences were so great and
vital that the question was suspended until the next

l8o HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
session. Happily nothing more was attempted. While
the colonial legislatures generally regarded themselves
quite competent to establish prices for nearly every
thing, and did indeed fix the rates of wages on many
occasions, the Pennsylvania Assembly was an exception,
leaving all to make such agreements as they pleased.
Gabriel Thomas, who wrote his little book on the
Province, in 1698, after a residence of fifteen years, gave
many interesting facts concerning the employment and
rewards of this class. The first mentioned was the
wages of a blacksmith, who, he says, with a negro man
employed by him, received fifty shillings in one day for
working up one hundred pounds of iron. House and
ship carpenters, brick layers and masons usually re
ceived between five and six shillings, shoemakers and
journeymen two shillings per pair for men and women's
shoes ; dealers twelve shillings per week and their
board ; the reward of sawyers was between six and
seven shillings, and ten shillings for cutting pine
boards ; the wages of weavers was ten and twelve pence
per yard for weaving cloth a little more than one-half a
yard in width; wool-combers received twelve pence per
pound for combing wool, and potters sixteen cents for
an earthen pot that might be bought in England for four
cents; tanners bought their hides for three and one-half
pence per pound green, and sold their leather for twelve
pence per pound, while curriers received three shillings
and four pence per hide for dressing it; butchers five
shillings a day and their board, and silver-smiths one-
half crown and three shillings an ounce for working
their silver; plasterers received eighteen shillings per
yard for plastering, and last-makers sixteen shillings per
dozen for their lasts, and heel-makers two shillings per

LAND AND LABOR. i8i
dozen for their heels. Such were the wages received
by some of the mechanics and other working men in
the Province ; a long additional list is mentioned, whose
gains and wages Thomas says are in the same propor
tion. Laboring men received between fourteen and
fifteen pence an hour, and their meat, " drink, washing,
lodging;" and their total wages was generally between
eighteen pence and one-half crown, and their board in
harvest, or they usually had between three and four
shillings a day and their board. The wages of maid
servants were between six and ten pounds per annum
with very good accommodations, "and the women who
get their livelihood by their own industry, their labor is
very dear, for I can buy in London a cheese-cake for
two pence, bigger than theirs at that price, when at the
same time the milk is as cheap as we can get in
London, aud their flour cheaper by one-half."
Corn and meat, food and raiment, were much cheaper
than in England, and farmers could afford to pay large
wages to their working men, because their land was
so cheap and productive, and their outlay so small.
Nor was there any alternative, for if these stipends were
refused, servants would quickly set up for themselves.
Wages changed with the price of other things, but
throughout the provincial period the laborer fared well,
and if he did not thrive the fault was his own, unless he
was afflicted with ill health or some other misfortune.
Depressions did indeed visit the country, but they were
less frequent than now; and land could be purchased on
reasonable terms. Crowds of unemployed were rarely
if ever seen ; they are one of the depressing sights of
our more modern, and as we boast, higher civilization.
The principal offence of servants was the abandon-

l82 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ment of their masters, and the Assembly vainly endeav
ored, by means of penalties and other terrors, to restrain
them from running away. Occasionally a servant fell
from virtue, and Mittelberger tells of one who, unable
to conceal her condition longer, informed her master,
and also that another servant of his had been the guilty
participant. He was very angry, and told her that she
would do a great wrong if she charged such "a loose
bird" with the deed; but, if she would heed him, he
would give her some good advice. Assuring him of
her obedient disposition, he told her to go to a justice
and charge an unmarried man of means, whom she
knew, with the offence. The servant went off", but, in
stead of going to the justice as directed, she went to
another and charged her master. As he would not con
fess, he was condemned to prison until he would either
give her ;^200 or marry her. Was ever such a bad
dilemma more unexpected? He married his servant,
acknowledging that his fate was a just punishment for
advising her to charge an innocent man with the
offence. Thus justice in the strangest of ways again
triumphed.
Section IV.
Farming During and After the Revolution.
The Revolution was a severe but not mortal blow to
the cultivation of the soil. The earth once subdued is
easily restored from the ravages of war. Houses may
be burned, trees cut down, growing crops laid waste,
but by industry all can soon be restored. The earth for
a few seasons may look scarred from the loss of trees,
but these soon begin to grow, and thus in a few years
the worst ravages to the' earth are covered and repaired.

LAND AND LABOR. 183
But not all the devastations wrought by war are so
easily mended. The currents of trade may be turned
and never return. And this was one of the conse
quences of the American Revolution. The markets for
agricultural productions were to a considerable degree
cut off, especially the English islands of the West
Indies. The European demand too for products fell off",
and farmers soon began to suff'er.
While the war continued their prosperity varied in
diff'erent parts of the State. In the East they were sub
jected to more frequent inroads from the armies.
While the British were in Philadelphia they bought a
large portion of their supplies, and the farmers did not
suff'er much from their devastations. They fared still
worse from seizure by order of the commanders of
the American army. Certificates were in all cases
given, but a promise to pay of this nature was a very
unsatisfactory return. These certificates were funded
and ultimately paid, but after the system of seizure was
once begun, farmers feared the application of it to them
selves and lessened their production. Still, it cannot
be shown that their losses by the Revolution were, in
the aggregate, very great. The farmers in Lancaster
County especially, and still farther removed from the
seat of war, suflfered far less ; indeed they flourished and
often brought their produce to Philadelphia and took
their pay, not in the paper-money then current, but in
specie which had no wings and would not fly away.
This was safeh- put away because its owners knew that
whatever else might perish this would survive the revo
lutionary storm.
The farmers formed then, as they ever have, by far
the largest class of toilers. Said Franklin in 1786, " For

1 84 ' HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
one artisan or merchant, I suppose we have at least one
hundred farmers, by far the greatest part cultivators of
their own land.'" They had borne their share in the
Revolution, their blood had reddened every battle-field.
Many of them were expert in the use of the rifle, for
they had served in wars against the Indians, or iu the
chase. After the war was over a large number rushed
into mercantile pursuits. The people, "drunk," said an
observer, "with the idea of gain, seem to think that the
whole community can live by bu) ing and selling Euro
pean gewgaws. ' ' °
With the renewal of trade, after peace was made with
Great Britain, farmers fell into the way of purchasing
more largely than they had done before, and of supply
ing themselves less with home-made productions. The
increased expenditure for these purposes, with a lessen
ing demand for their own products and a diminished
price for them, soon led them into a slough of despond
ency that was as unexpected and novel to them as it
was distressing. The newspapers of the day for several
years after 1783 are articulate with their complaints.
Yet all writers did not look on their condition in the
same manner. One of them declared that times were
as easy with men who did their duty as they ever were;
but those who wandered experienced trouble. He as
serted that the complaint of hard times in the State
was imaginary, "and as for cash, there was enough in
circulation for a medium." Those who complained
loudest of a scarcity had nothing with which to pur
chase money. At every period those who complain
most of a lack of banking facilities and of money do
not seem to understand that, if they have anything to
' Gazette, May 17, 1786. 'i American Museum, 461.

LAND AND LABOR. 185
sell desired by others, money can be surely obtained
in return. Generally desert places are debtor places,
and money will never stay long in them until they
cease to be deserts. Pennsylvania after the close of
the Revolution was a forceful illustration of this truth.
Much of the specie had gone to England to pay debts,
yet the farmer who was not in debt with something
saleable on hand could always get money.
Indolence and extravagance in dress were the causes
from which all the bitter evils flowed. Of late, the
farmers had been vying with the merchants in dress.
They had neglected to make their own wearing apparel
because it was not so handsome as the foreign ; though
more durable and cheaper. Was a writer making out
a case from straw? Listen to his plain unvarnished
tale. "The other day," he says, "I went to see some
farmers who owed me a trifle. I found them in the field
at work ; one was clad in a velvet vest and breeches,
and fine worsted stockings, the other in a sattinet vest
and breeches, stockings like his companion, and a fine
hoUand shirt with a ruffie at the bosom. I asked them
for the money they owed me and was told ' Money is
exceedingly scarce, the times are very hard, and it is an
impossible thing to get money.' I off'ered to take stock
or almost any other article, but they had nothing to pay
me except land, and that they could not spare. The
extravagance of people to decorate their bodies is the
origin of their poverty ; aud the hardness of the times
arises from a foolish pride." '
Did he not tell the truth? We need not delay with
his moralizings. He unfolds another idea however that
is worthy of notice. In a free and independent state,
• I American Museum, 461

1 86 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
he remarked, the idea of equality breathed through the
whole, every individual felt ambitious to rival his
neighbor. Among all the idea of inferiority, as in pur
suing a mean employment or occupation for a liveli
hood, mortified the feelings and soured the minds of
those who felt their inferiority, and so they strove to be
equal with the rich in dress, if in nothing else. So
"the farmer in the field was found clad in as delicate a
garment as the merchant behind his counter." Such
was the diagnosis of the farmer's distress by one who
looked on him with a friendly regard and understood
his situation.
Farmers also suflfered in another way. Nemesis never
fails to avenge herself, and one of the inevitable con
sequences of issuing paper-money, passing tender and
ex post facto laws, regulating prices by law and pro
viding plentiful ways for debtors to cheat their creditors,
was the destruction of public and private credit. The
sources of private loans dried up or disappeared, farmers
could no longer borrow money. In 1786 there were
three times as many tenants in the old counties of
the State as before the war, because they could not bor
row money on interest to pay for land. Perhaps they
had not participated in laying low public and private
credit, and might have been worthy of confidence ; but
this is one of the inevitable and saddening consequences
of any great movement of the kind, the innocent. suff'er
for the guilty.
Toward the close of the period we are now consider
ing, the condition of the farmer had much improved.
He had learned his lesson, and had mended his ways.
The medicine was not liked and it never ought to be,
for if it were, individuals would be still more inclined to

LAND AND LABOR. 187
go astray. Though mother earth had not yielded so
abundantly as in other days, prices advanced, and laud
with the increase in population rose in value. Those
who worked for wages were well paid, and Franklin
was probably right in saying that "in no part of the
world were the laboring poor so generally well fed, well
clothed, well lodged and well paid as in America. ' '
The workingman was free to labor as he would ; no
law in Pennsylvania had ever regulated the rates of
wages. There had been some restraint on his freedom
in traveling, but this applied to all classes, in all
states, the survival of ancient conditions. But in 1786 a
law was enacted in New Jersey regulating the practice
of physic and surgery which started an interesting dis
cussion concerning the right of a state to restrict or
regulate employment. On the one hand, it was con
tended that if mechanics were regulated the public
would be better served, especially in the quality of
workmanship ; that the tendency of such a law would
be to establish a standard of prices, while "men of
property ' ' would be more inclined to educate their sons
to useful callings than at present.
On the other hand it was contended that in a country
where the common trades were well understood and the
workmen generally distributed as in New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, the government ought not to abridge their
natural rights. If one were to set up as a shoemaker,
without competent knowledge of the art of cutting and
stitching leather, he would soon be obliged to quit the
business, whether he had served his trade or not. " Com
petition," so he argued, " is the true and only regulator
of artisans in places where the arts have made any
progress." The keeping out of interlopers and

l88 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
foreigners was not deemed a sound reason, nor that of
putting the sons of "men of property" to trades, for
such action would neither improve the quality of manu
factures, nor reduce the prices of them, but would lessen
the number of artists.
To the other argument for the prohibition proposed,
it was answered, that beyond all peradventure the bind
ing out of young persons to trade was very proper, and
in "the case of ordinary geniuses, very necessary."
But was it necessary to establish this regulation? Not at
all. Notwithstanding the natural right of every person
to follow any business for which he was apt had been
hitherto uninterrupted, yet apprentices had been suffi
cient to supply artisans with hands. "But suppose the
parent to mistake his child's natural turn, and the
apprentice to turn out a bungler, unable to get his
bread by the trade he was put to, or suppose the
occupation from unforeseen occurrences fall out of use,
and there be nothing to do, shall not this person be
allowed to exert himself as his natural talent directs, or
as circumstances admit?" To give a monopoly to any
persons whatever would invade a natural right, restrain
the effects of genius and industry and damage the com
munity. How then could such a law be justified ?
The writer then inquires, ' ' Suppose it was established
by law, that no man should set up, exercise or use any
trade to which he had not previously served a regular
apprenticeship and that this regulation were enforced
and freely executed, how would it affect many of our
important manufactures? If no one who had not been
regularly bred to the making and refining of iron
could carry on or be a partner in the business, how few
iron works would be supported ; the real artists seldom

LAND AND LABOR. 189
possessing the capital necessary to such expensive
undertakings. Furthermore, how could sugar baking,
distilling aud brewing be conducted on extended plans
— the only way of deriving profit and counteracting the
importation of foreign manufactures." So the writer
concluded that " if foreigners and interlopers were for
bidden to meddle, the introduction of new arts would
be almost impossible."
The writer truly sounded a high note for freedom of
contract, which, to a large degree, has been preserved.
There have indeed been some restrictions under the
guise of regulation, yet the right has been jealously
guarded by all classes, for if it were ever invaded the
wisest prophet could not foretell who would suff'er most

CHAPTER XIV.
TRADE.
Section I.
Trade Before the Revolution.
Having described in another chapter the kinds of
money in circulation, let us inquire how the people
transacted business and what prosperity followed their
undertakings. In the beginning, as money was very
scarce, exchanges were chiefly effected by the ancient
method of barter. Later, money in somewhat larger
quantity sluggishly moved in the ways of trade ; but as
the risks and other difficulties of exchange were great,
a margin of one hundred per cent, profit was often
added, and not unfrequently more.
The most profitable source of trade was the Indians.
From the beginning the white man realized his
enormous advantages in trading with the simple
children, of the wilderness. The articles purchased by
white traders were bear skins, the furs of beavers, foxes,
etc., for which they exchanged usually liquor, blankets,
various kinds of trinkets and wampum, the Indian
money. Of this there were two kiuds, the red and
white, which were strung like beads. They were used
for decorations as well as gifts, and their kings wore
wampum crowns.'
The Indians preferred this money to silver coin,
* One string of the red was worth as much as two white ones.
(190)

TRADE. IQI
because they could not be so easily deceived by it.
They could not calculate the values of the pieces of
silver, whicli varied greatly in value. To the untutored
Indian the white man's money was a mystery, and he
soon learned that it was an instrument of jugglery from
which he usually suffered by taking it.
The Indian traders were divided into two classes ;
those who furnished supplies, and those who bought
them. The first class lived usually in the frontier towns
like Lancaster, and some of them transacted a large
business. The other class went among the Indians,
setting out usually at the beginning of May, and
remaining with them three or four months. Some of
these traders were members of a large company, having
extensive connections and venturing far into the
Mississippi Valley. They usually possessed great enter
prise, and ran many risks in their journeyings. Some
times their goods were stolen from them ; now and
then a trader paid the penalty for his rashness with his
life. As a class they were among the hardest in the
Province. Without principle, they regarded civiliza
tion, law and order as their foes ; religion and morality
were especially. hateful ; and the Indians rightly looked
on them as their enemies. In trading, they first off'ered
him a draught of fire-water, and then, having intoxi
cated him, were ready for business. The reader can
readily comprehend who won the advantage in trading
under such conditions.
; Happily not all who traded with the Indians took
advantage of their ignorance, or their propensity for
Strong drinks. Heckewelder relates an incident of an
Indian from the Susquehanna country who went to
Bethlehem with his son to dispose of his peltry, lie

192 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
was accosted by a trader from a neighboring town who
thus addressed him: "Well, Thomas, I really believe
you have turned Moravian." " What makes you think
so?" answered the Indian. "Because," replied the
other, "you used to come to us to sell your skins and
peltry and now you trade -with the Moravians."
"Now," rejoined the Indian, "I understand you well
and know what you mean to say. Now hear me, my
friend. When I come to this place with my skins and
peltry to trade, the people are kind, they give me plenty
of good victuals to eat and pay ine money or whatever
I want, and nobody says a word to me about drinking
rum, neither do I ask for it. When I come to your
place with my peltry, all call, ' Come Thomas, here is
rum, drink heartily, drink, it will not hurt you.' All
this is done for the purpose of cheating me. When you
have obtained from me all you want, you call me a
drunken dog and kick me out of the room." Had all
who traded with the Indians been like the Moravians,
we should have been spared a dark chapter in our
provincial history.
During the administration of the Duke of York,
laws were passed to protect the Indian against the
avarice and rascality of Indian traders ; afterwards
other restrictions were invented and applied. One of
these restrictions related to the quantity of ardent
spirits that could be sold to Indians, another to private
trade, but no plan availed. Finally the British Govern
ment elaborated a plan and put it into operation, but
this too the remorseless trader soon broke down ;
indeed, the regulation of Indian trade was a complete
failure. The government doubtless was honestly desir
ous of protecting them ; it was one of those evils which

TRADE. 193
the government, with all its power, was quite unable to
destroy or lessen ; and the Indian traders were practi
cally unhindered in their work. Of all whom they
hated, the missionaries, who had the most extensive
knowledge ef their rascalities, were hated worst.
The innocent and unoff"ending whites were made to
pay dearly for the wrongs inflicted on the Indians by
these conscienceless traders. The two gravest charges,
over-topping all others in the long indictment, are
wrongful trading for furs and other commodities, and
the so-called purchase of their lands. Those engaged
in these things were only a small number of all the
people in the Province ; the younger Penns, and Allen,
the land speculator, were responsible for the land swin
dles, and a small body of traders for the ordinary ones.
In the early days exchanges were chiefly among the
people in the Province and adjoining colonies. As the
people increased in number, trade slowly spread,
especially into England and the West Indies. Its
progress was not uniform, and within twenty years after
founding the Province it was darkened by the cloud of
hard times. The crops failed in the summer of 1705,
and wheat was worth ouly four shillings, or fifty-three
cents per bushel, while goods of all kinds were dear and
money was scarce. Penn wished to make bonds assign
able and current as money, and to establish a land-bank.
Probably his scheme of a land-bank sprung from
Chamberlain's idea, that had been current in Great
Britain a few years before. It had been planted iu New
England and had borne fruit, though not of a desirable
kind. To bonds were given an assignable quality,
which they still retain. Budd, one of the earliest
of the Pennsylvania writers, had great faith in the
13

194 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
plan ; he wished to go a step further and have all bills
and bonds registered and made assignable, thereby con
verting them into bills of exchange. He also proposed
that lands and houses should be valued, and that these
particulars should also be registered. "We having
thus fitted ourselves," he says, "with a public register
of all our lands and houses, whereby it is made ready
money at all times, and a law being passed for the pay
ment of all such large interest for moneys and land,
and the security being so undeniably good, a bank will
in time arise, and such a bank as will be for the benefit
and advantage of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and trade
universally." Business revived, but just before the introduction
of paper-money, the agricultural products of the Prov
ince had become abundant and farmers were again dis
couraged, and many laborers were unemployed. The
true remedy was to increase home consumption and
exports. The Assembly essayed to cure the evils by
legislation. The use of molasses, sugar, honey and
other substances, except grain and hops, was forbidden
in the manufacture of beer, and distillers were
encouraged to supply the consumption of ardent spirits
made from domestic materials. Improvements in the
manufacture of flour also claimed the attention of the
Assembly and the people. Inspection laws were
adopted, establishing the character of flour and of all
salted provisions shipped to foreign markets, aud the
regulations were effective. Standards were adopted, and
these products soon acquired a real value, because so
much care was taken to insure a good quality. But
this one-sided legislation was sure to react on the
Province. To cut oflf exports from other countries with

TRADE. IQc
which we were trading, and to supply them with our
own, was to furnish cargoes in one direction only to
American vessels, and therefore to enhance the price of
outward freights aud the cost of the commodities to
purchasers. Again, such a policy was sure to lead the
West Indies, with which we were trading, to go else
where if possible, in search of persons who would take
their products in exchange for the goods desired.
At a later period there was commercial embarrass
ment arising from au inadequate market for superfluous
produce. Payments were delayed ; litigation increased ;
and above all things there was a deficiency in the
circulating mediuni. It was clearly seen that direct
trade with England was disadvantageous to the
Province. Colonial produce was not needed there, and
colonial manufactures were prohibited. On the other
hand, all the specie obtained from other sources was
needed to pay English debts, consequently there was an
incessant drain, and an increasing debility arising from
this commerce. Many remedies were proposed. One
of the most curious was an attempt to prevent the
hiring out of slaves who, working at reduced prices,
prevented the employment of freemen. The manu
facture of beer and distilled spirits received further
encouragement from the Assembly, and produce was
made a legal tender in payment of debts. The rate of
interest was reduced from eight to six per cent. Legal
proceedings for the collection of debts was stayed, and
the value of coin was raised twenty-five per cent. This
measure produced some relief, as the debtor discharged
his debts more easily ; but as a measure for preventing
the export of gold and silver, it was a complete failure,
for English goods rose in value with the coin on all new
contracts.

ig6 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
In 1736, fourteen years after adopting paper-money,
six thousand tons of shipping were employed, and two
thousand more had been built for sale. Pennsylvania
sent to the West Indies great quantities of flour, butter,
meat, timber, planks aud other lumber; to Spain and
Portugal wheat, coru, flour; and frequently the ships, as
well as their cargoes, were sold, and the proceeds sent
home. To Ireland was sent a great deal of linseed, be
sides many ships; to England various kinds of wood,
especially black walnut and oak planks for ships, iron,
hides and tar. Ships also were in the category of
things sold to England. At that time West India goods
were also sent there from the Province.
In return, a great variety of imports was received.
Those from England amounted in 1722 to ;^i6,ooo, and
in 1736 to ;^58,690. They consisted in part of English
manufactures, fine and coarse cloth, linen, ironware and
other wrought metals and East India goods. From the
Dutch island of Cura^oa alone, four to six thousand
pistoles were received for provisions and liquors. There
was a brisk trade with Guiana, the French port of His-
paniola, and the other French sugar islands, from
which molasses aud specie were received. From Ja
maica specie alone usually came, because such a high
price was demanded for its rum and molasses. The
Province also traded extensively with Madeira, the
Azores and Canaries, and ports in the Mediterranean.
"All the money," remarks Kalm, "which is got in these
several countries, must immediately be sent to England
in payment of the goods which is got from thence, and
yet these sums are not sufficient to pay all the debts."
After a while trade began to feel the keen breath of
competition. Other places, smaller than Philadelphia,

TRADE. lay
suffered from its superiority as a trading-place. New
Castle was one of the first places to complain. Even
the people of the Lower Counties, instead of stopping
and trading at New Castle, continued up the river to
the newer and more thriving city. This was exasper
ating to the merchants of New Castle; and to lessen
this competition was one of the reasons for separating
the lower from the upper counties. Says Logan in one
of his letters to Penn, "That there might be no connec
tion between this and the Lower Counties, whose inhab
itants have always chosen rather to bring their goods
and trade quite to Philadelphia, than to stop or have
anything to do with New Castle, which with the inhab
itants of the place, and their disorderly way of living
among the people, has been the cause of that place not
being much more considerable than it was thirty years
ago, notwithstanding the fact that there are three times
the number of people in the country about it than there
were at the time Philadelphia was the first city. To
make this town flourish, therefore, was the business to
which nothing seemed more conducive than the entire
separation of these counties from the Province"
Neither separation from Pennsylvania nor auy other
legal regulation could turn the current of trade. Legis
lation may indeed do something to kill or to stimulate
trade, but no fact of history is more familiar than this,
that most expedients of this nature prove failures ; nor
did the citizens of New Castle revive their decaying and
fading trade by separating themselves from Pennsyl
vania. At a later day Philadelphia's turn came ; and mer
chants began to complain of the rivalry of Baltimore.
The trade along the Susquehanna naturally flowed into

1^8 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the lower port. What advantages were to be gained in
going to Philadelphia sufficient to overcome the addi
tional transit ? In those days transportation under the
most favorable conditions was expensive, and the car
riage of goods around the peninsula and up the bay to
Philadelphia was a costly charge. To overcome Balti
more's advantage, it was proposed to build a canal from
the Susquehanna to the Schuylkill, and to improve "the
navigation of all rivers so far as they led towards our
capital city." This was just before the Revolution;
and many were desirous of building a canal through
the heart of the country. The contest with Great
Britain soon overshadowed every other, and business
rivalry was forgotten.
The early merchants were very different from the
modern in giving credit. People were more honest,
more conscientious in fulfilling their agreements. The
importers, who gave long credit on their sales to the re
tailers, purchased on long credits in England. Fre
quently they were for a year or still longer period. As
individuals had confidence in each other, they were not
importuned boldly and fiercely to pay. A different rule
also prevailed in giving notice to indorsers. Before the
founding of the Bank of North America, "promissory
notes were few," and there was uo fixed time for notify
ing indorsers; and two or three months often passed be
fore the notice was given.' Everyone is familiar with
the rigid modern rules that are observed.
No country though is so prosperous that some persons
will not be wrecked from time to time on the uncertain
shores of trade and commerce. To provide a mode of
' See the remarks of the court in Bank of North America vs. Pettit,
4 Dallas, 117.

TRADE. igg
settling the aff'airs of such unlucky adventurers is an im
portant duty for every state. The first insolvent law
in fennsylvania was enacted in 1705. It was based on
stern justice, and is a colder piece of legislation of its
kind than can be found in any modern statute-book.
No person could be imprisoned for a debt or fined for
a longer period than the second day of the session of
the court succeeding his committal unless he had con
cealed his property. And if this was not sufficient to
pay his debts, he was compelled to remain in prison,
should the creditor require him to do so, for a term of
years prescribed by law.' But if the creditor refused such
satisfaction for his debt, the prisoner was discharged.
The severity of the law worked its own repeal, and
twenty-five years later another act was passed, which is
the foundation of the present system. By this if the
debtor surrendered his property for the use of his credit
ors, he was discharged from imprisonment. If the
creditor did not believe his statement concerning his
affairs, he might be remanded to prison, and on pay
ment of a fixed sum to the prisoner, his imprisonment
might be continued at the pleasure of the creditor.
The law having been abused by many small creditors
there was a return to the older one, so far as obtaining
satisfaction by servitude whenever debts of an insolvent
did not exceed ;^20.
If the law dealt more severely with a debtor than
modern insolvent laws, the sympathy of his friends over
his misfortunes was deeper and more general than the
sympathy shown in later times. Failures were less
frequent iu proportion to the number engaged in busi
ness, because men were more honest aud did not eni-
' For term of iniprisoment see p. 175.

200 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
bark in business without some means of their own.
Consequently when oue was obliged to succumb, every
man who met his neighbor made known his feeling of
chagrin, and when meeting the debtor himself expressed
genuine sympathy over his misfortune.
Section II.
Trade During and After the Revolution.
We need food, clothing and other things to live and
be happy, and if these can be had more easily and
economically through exchange than by direct effort,
trade will go on regardless of war aud -weather. Yet
trade movements are not regular like the trade winds,
but as capricious as human desire and not more easily
foretold. That war with England should lessen trade was
inevitable. Nevertheless, au illicit trade sprung up
which swelled to very considerable proportions. On
the roll of illicit traders was a man named Rumford, of
Wilmington, Delaware, who was discovered one night
putting flour on a pilot boat near Brandywine Creek.
Previously suspected of the same off"ence, he now stoutly
defended his conduct, declaring that he was shipping
the flour on account of the consul-general of France at
Philadelphia to the French fleet. He showed a letter
of authority that was repudiated by the consul-general,
and the flour was sent by the committee of Wilmington
to the committee of Philadelphia. Afterward a con
siderable quantity was found in his possession, pur
chased at prices higher than those flxed by law. Again
he showed a letter from the French consul-general,
Holker, in which Robert Morris' name was mentioned
as Holker' s agent, who was authorized to employ Rum-

TRADE. 20I
ford. The Wilmington committee, doubting Rumford,
seized the flour, and notified Holker and Morris. Rum
ford succeeded in showing that he was acting for them,
aud did not suffer.
Not all escaped so easily. In 1780 a partnership
sprang up between individuals residing in Philadelphia,
New Jersey and New York for transporting lumber to
New York, that was to be sold or exchanged for British
goods. The vessels loaded at Philadelphia and cleared
for Boston or some other Eastern port. As soon as they
had passed the Capes and were beyond sight of land
they steered for New York. If overhauled by British
cruisers, they showed passes given by the British
admiral and were permitted to go on their way. If
overhauled by American privateers, they showed the
proper papers and were no longer restrained. When
the vessels arrived at New York the lumber was taken
to the king's lumber-yard, and the vessels were sold or
remaiued there until they found a favorable chance to
slip out of port. In many a case the captain and crews
-were charged as American prisoners and exchanged as
though they had been captured. Thus these inglorious
traders, besides fattening on the miseries of their
country, perpetrated a still more disgraceful swindle in
pretending to have been taken prisoners and permitting
themselves to be traded off for others who had been
captured by the costly methods of war. Not content
with practicing these iniquities, they brought counter
feit bills into the State, so long as paper-moiiey formed
the chief money sinew of the war, believing, as did
many others, that if this could be destroyed, the
Revolution would collapse.
The sea was not the only avenue for these hardened.

202 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
illicit traders. Wagons were made with false bottoms
and sides, having a capacity to carry several hundred
pounds of goods. Many articles were packed in water
tight kegs, which were enclosed in barrels containing
cider. Laws were passed to prevent these practices,
but the meshes were too large to catch these wary
traders. Specie was often paid for the goods imported,
and the withdrawal of so much from the circulating
medium "justly alarmed," so President Moore remarked
in a message to the Assembly in the summer of 1782,
"every good citizen with apprehension of the most
fatal consequences if that destructive trade is not im
mediately and effectively restrained."
There was another mode of getting British goods
into the State, as novel as it was eflfective The British
authorities were permitted to send necessaries to British
prisoners, and, under cover of this authority, large
quantities of goods were sent for sale. After the
capitulation of Yorktown, the British prisoners at Lan
caster " received fifty wagons loaded with European
goods of every kind." A store was opened for their
sale and they were "hawked about all over the county
and its neighborhood by the soldiers, their wives or
strumpets." An indignant observer remarked that " the
goods were never intended for the soldiery, but that the
capitulation of Yorktown is to serve the most impudent
and perfidious smuggling which can be conceived."
The chance for profits was so great that privateering
became a very general and most fascinating pursuit.
The greater the risk of capture, the larger the gains if
not captured, and consequently there was never a time
when ill fortune was strong enough to deter the most
dasing. The increasing list of the captured, instead of

TRADE. 203
cooling the zeal of those who escaped, heightened it by
enriching the prospect with larger profits. The waters.
in every direction were vexed by these bold adventureis.
Capital and men were always ready to embark in these
exciting enterprises. From the beginning to the close
of the war the ocean was alive with them. They were
truly the terror of the seas. The captains were usually
brave and resourceful; and in an irregular way was
cultivated a spirit for naval warfare that has uever died
away. One of the most spirited of these encounters was near
Delaware Bay, in the closing years of the war. These
waters were much infested by small boats, one of which
was known as the Trimmer. Its draught was so light
that it could retreat into shoal waters, where it was safe
from pursuing privateers and cruisers. There were
British privateers also cruising around the bay, and
merchantmen bound to and from Philadelphia were
constantly captured. Among others was the General
Monk which, in her earlier days, had flown the opposite
flag and was known as the General Washington. She
was especially successful in cruising around the bay and
annoying and capturing American coasting vessels.
Finally a number of the citizens of Philadelphia deter
mined to fit out a vessel to capture, if possible, this
bold marauder. The money was contributed partly by
private individuals and partly by the bank of North
America. A vessel was purchased and named after the
terrible living antagonist of the British arms in India,
Hyder Aii. Joshua Barney was selected for com
mander, and with a crew of one hundred and sixteen
volunteers and a battery of sixteen six-pounders she
sailed down the bay.

204 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Barney's instructions were to convoy a fleet of mer
chantmen to the Capes, but no farther, as the intention
of the owners was simply to protect the waters of the
bay chiefly from the " refugee boats," as they were
called, that had so long plied their inglorious, though
too successful business. The convoy had gone down
the bay and was waiting for a fair wind to sail away.
While lying there two .ships and a brig were discovered
comiug toward them. Barney immediately signaled to
the convoy to get under weigh and return. The Charm
ing Sally obeyed orders and put on all sail. Unfor
tunately she ran aground, and one of the enemy's
vessels came up, fired into her, wounding two men,
and she struck her colors. The General Greene, an
American privateer, was the next to suffer. She ran
ashore aud was captured, leaving the Hyder Aii alone
to protect the convoy. Even a strong man might have
looked darkly on the prospect, but Barney's courage
was of no common kind.
Barney kept in the rear of the vessels and eagerly
watched the movements of the enemy. It soon became
evident that his plan was to send one of the ships
ahead and cut oflf his convoy and then attack the
Hyder Aii with the other ship and brig and thus secure
all. The brig first came along, gave him a broadside
and passed on. The guns of Barney's ship sounded no
reply, for the other ship was rapidly approaching and
Barney was reserving his fire for her. When she had
come within pistol-shot, the Hyder Aii delivered a well-
directed broadside. The enemy was now ranging
alongside of him, and Barney saw the advantage of
securing, if possible, a raking position. By skillful
maneuvering Barney succeeded in entangling the fore-

TRADE. 205
rigging of his ship with that of the enemy in such a
manner as to give him the desired position, of which he
at once availed himself Twenty broadsides were fired
in twenty minutes, and so well directed were they that
hardly a shot missed. Entering the starboard bow they
went through the ship, grape, canister and round-shot,
and were so eflfective that in half an hour the British
ship had had enough and struck. The other frigate
was now rapidly coming up, but, to Barney's great joy,
withdrew and thus his victory was won.
What was the name of the captured ship? No other
than the General Monk, mounting twenty nine-pounders
and carrying one hundred and thirty-six men. During
the action, Barney, in order to watch the fight more
closely, stood on the binnacle during the entire action,
exposed to the musketry fire of th.e enemy. One ball
passed through his hat, grazing the crown of his head,
another tore oflf part of the skirt of his coat. While
his own men were picking oflf the enemy one of them
called out to Captain Barney, " Captain, do you see that
fellow with the white hat ;" and firing as he spoke the
poor fellow sprang at least three feet from the deck and
fell dead. "Captain," said the Bucks County rifleman,
"that's the third fellow I've made hop." While Barney
was standing ou the binnacle, he saw one of his officers
with an axe in his hand, in the act of raising it to
cleave the head of one of his own men who had
deserted his gun and skulked behind the mainmast. At
this instant a round shot struck the binnacle and
Barney fell on deck. The officer, supposing he was
wounded, dropped the axe to attend to his commander.
Soon discovering that Barney was unhurt, he again
picked up the axe to execute his dreadful purpose, when

2o6 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
he saw his victim fighting as fearlessly as any other of
that gallant crew.
There was oue peculiarity in the armament of the
General Monk that ought not to be omitted. Six of
the guns were of a Chinese pattern, made of wood.
For what purpose these show guns had been mounted
is not known, nor after the most diligent inquiry have
we been able to learn whether any one had ever been
terrified by them.
After the British left Philadelphia, the State fleet was
again fltted out for service, and the Lord Drummond was
soon afterward captured by one of the galleys. Ignor
ant of the departure of the British, the master steered
into the bay and became an easy prey. Privateers'
commissions were issued to the sloops Le Girard and
Addison, and powder and cannon were loaned to them.
A large number of letters of marque were issued, but for
awhile there were no important captures.
The most famous capture was made by Captain
Houston in the brig Convention. It was the sloop
Active — a prize that started a long controversy between
the State and the United States concerning their re
spective rights to deal with captured property. The
Active had sailed from Jamaica for New York having on
board Gideon Olmsted, a Connecticut fisherman, and
three other Americans who, much against their will,
were compelled to assist in navigating the vessel. She
had on board a cargo of arms and supplies for the
British army, which was then in possession of New
York. Olmsted and his three companions determined
to seize the vessel, though thrice outnumbered. They
rose on the master and crew, confined them to the
cabin and steered for Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey.

TRADE. 207
The British captain had no thought of submitting
tamely and a desperate fight followed. The British
melted pewter spoons into bullets, forced up the
hatches, and attempted to clear the deck. Olmsted
was wounded, but succeeded in turning a gun heavily
loaded down the companion way, and this for a time had
a quieting effect on those below. Then one of the
number proposed to blow up with gun-powder the
quarter-deck. Finally the British captain cut a hole
through the stern and fastened the rudder and it could
be no longer used. Confinement and starvation at last
brought the prisoners to submission and the rudder was
released. As Olmsted and his gallant three were
nearing land, overjoyed with their capture, the armed
brig Convention, that had been fitted out by the State
of Pennsylvania, commanded by Captain Houston, took
possesion ofthe Active, carried her to Philadelphia, and
claimed the vessel as a prize. As another privateer, Le
Girard, was near the scene, it also claimed a share of
the prize. Olmsted resisted, claiming that his conquest
was complete before the Convention appeared. In due
time legal proceedings were begun, and the case was
tried by a judge and jury who awarded three- fourths of
the prize money to the Convention and Le Girard, and
the other fourth to the daring Olmsted and his three
associates. Judge Ross did not conceal his admiration
for their conduct and his disappointment in the action
of the jury, yet felt obliged to acquiesce in the verdict.
Olm.sted and his party would not submit, and appealed
to Congress. Security was required and he applied to
Arnold, who was also from Connecticut. Seeing a
chance for gain, he and Stephen Collin purchased, for a
small sum, an interest in the aff'air. The capture was

2o8 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
made in September, 1778, and ere long the case received
the attention of Congress. It was referred to a standing
committee on appeals, consisting of four eminent men,
one of whom was Oliver Elhsworth, afterward Chief-
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Judge Ross's judgment was reversed, the marshal ofthe
State was directed to sell the sloop and cargo and pay
over the entire fund less the costs to Olmsted aud his
three associates. A just decision surely, yet the State
was not inclined to submit. The Assembly had op
posed Penn and his successors; many of the people had
opposed independence ; and now the State opposed Con
gress. The jurisdiction of the United States was denied
and a controversy was begun, extending far beyond the
boundary of the present work.
A court of admiralty had been established in 1780 to
try prize causes, that was to exist for seven years and
be governed by the laws of nations and the acts of Con
gress. Francis Hopkinson, the former Admiralty Judge,
was appointed to preside over the court. He had not
been long on the bench before articles of impeach
ment were presented against him to the Supreme Exec
utive Council. The first charge consisted of an oflfer to
appoint Blair McClenachan prize agent "if he would
make him a present of a suit of clothes ; and this con
dition not being complied with, other persons were ap
pointed in his stead." The third charge was the tak
ing of illegal fees. He was tried before the Council,
the Assembly acting by a committee and the attorney-
general, and unanimously acquitted.
Such were some of the difficulties in carrying on
foreign commerce. The way of the sea was indeed
perilous ; yet those who were lucky enough to escape

TRADE. 209
amassed such large profits that these ventures were
continued throughout the Revolution. On both sides
were many captures, and both the English and Ameri
can admiralty courts were busy adjudicating prize
causes. If the enemy's ships, even though carrying wooden
guns, fettered trade on the high seas, other causes
interfered almost as seriously with trade on land. Of
these, the use of paper-money overtopped all others.
It was a kind of viper on which every one looked with
disgust. No one touched it without harm ; no art
could remove its poison. Of course, specie was driven
out of sight, though not out of the country. On the
contrary, the French and English sent over large
quantities to pay the troops and purchase supplies.
With the disappearing of paper-money aud the restora
tion of a specie standard, hard money, as by magic,
immediately began to appear. At no former period had
there ever been such a large quantity, or so great a
variety. Besides all the Spanish coius that had flowed
iu from the West Indies and British coins from Great
Britain, many French coins had come in with the
French armies. The return of gold and silver to trade,
after their long banishment, was like the return of the
sun to the earth after a long, cheerless winter.
But coin was not to be seen here and gladly taken
long. As soon as peace was declared foreign goods
were imported in large quantities and specie was sent
abroad to pay for them. To tempt purchasers to buy
still more largely, liberal credits were given. Exports
also continued, though they were not as large as before
the war. Yet considerable quantities of tobacco, flax
seed, cattle, beef, pork, fish, coru, flour, rice, naval stores
14

2 ID HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
and iron were still sent to the European markets. In
return there came from the West Indies chiefly sugar,
rum, molasses, cotton, coffee, pimento, and some silver,
and from Europe clothing, iron-inongery, teas, spices,
drugs, fruits and wines. Of these Great Britain could
furnish the whole, except wines, oil and the preserved
fruits of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean.
She had had a monopoly of American imports, with few
exceptions, besides the merchandise brought into the
country by industrious smugglers. Many of the manu
factures of Great Britain were better and cheaper than
those of other countries, especially all kinds of iron and
textile products. During the war the sale of European
manufactures had been conflned chiefly to the large
towns ; the country people had bought and consumed
but little ; yet notwithstanding all the guards against
the introduction of British goods, enough had crept in
clandestinely, together with the goods sold that had
been taken by capture, to keep the habits and preju
dices of those who preferred them alive.
The reader may imagine that after the French
alliance the American people turned their eyes at once
toward France for fashions and goods. Though eager
for French assistance against Great Britain, they did
not take to French fashions and French goods with the
same alacrity. Nor ar6 the reasons for the slow progress
of French taste and manufactures without interest,
especially at the present time, when weare trying 'to
supply other countries with our manufactures. As an
intelligent observer of the day remarked : " The
French manufacturers were wholly uninformed of the
habits, taste and style of dress in use among us, and
therefore knew not how to adapt their goods to these

TRADE. 2X1
circumstances ; but reasoning as our conventions did in
framing constitutions of government, rather from what
they conceived they ought to be than what they were,
they sent us ordinary fabrics, dressed and finished in a
style far below our ideas and unsuited to our taste."
The risk and expense of getting these goods were as
great as those for getting better ones, and consequently
the price to consumers was nearly as great. Again, the
factors in France were strangers in that country and did
not understand the best modes of purchasing goods
from the manufactories, and as they were often required
to get them quickly for shipment by some vessel that
was sailing to America, the time was too short "to make
a proper choice and. draw them from the proper places.
Knowing, moreover, that the demand here was so great
that almost anything they should send would find a
ready market, they took such goods as they could get
with the least trouble, paying less regard to their fitness
than they ought to have done." The factors also
"added to the prices of such goods as they got from
the manufacturers, so as to raise them to an equality
with the selling prices at Nantes and L'Orient." Con
sequently importations from France almost ceased as
soon as commerce was resumed with Great Britain.
Sentimental regard for France did not in the least affect
the devotee of fashion, or the general consumer of
foreign wares and products. He knew what he liked,
and the price and quality were the matters that
interested him more than the nationality of the pro
ducer. At first, the times were lively with importers, as the
demand for their goods was great, and there was a
goodly quantity of specie obtainable to pay for them.

212 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
But the demand was soon satisfied, and as the supply
did not diminish, they were sent to the auction-room
for sale. This mode of selling goods had been practiced
before the Revolution, especially by strangers. They
often sent cargoes here and sold them in this manner
for cash, and then bought other goods to carry home.
Many cargoes especially came from Ireland, and flax
seed and other articles of produce were purchased for
shipment. Some persons contended that strangers
bearing no part of the burden of the State ought not to
be encouraged to sell their goods here; but as the State
imposed a duty ou the goods sold at auction which
equaled, if not exceeded any man's share of taxes, there
was no foundation for the contention. "It certainly
is," remarks a citizen of the day, "an advantage to this
State to vend the manufactures of Europe as cheap as
possible, because by so doing we pay for them a less
value, and that in part by the produce of our lands."
While the war was in progress and when goods were
scarce it was thought that they " contributed to depre
ciate the money and to raise the prices of the necessary
and essential articles requisite to the convenience of the
citizen and support of the army," and consequently
their sale by this method was strictly confined to a city
auctioneer. This was regarded as an invasion of pri
vate right and justified only by the stern necessities of
war. After the war, therefore, the restrictions were re
moved, though the business for several years was
hedged within narrow bounds. It was held in the
Strong grip of a few persons, who had no intention of
opening their hands for others to see their profits and
grasp a part of their business. Auctions were held very

TRADE. 213
much as they were before the war, though by a smaller
number. The goods imported that could not be sold in
other ways were put into the auction-rooms. Very
soon the retail merchants began to complain. The im
porters accused them of first filling them up with goods
and then, through the auction-houses, of supplying their
customers and thus cutting oflf their sales. "By which
means," says a disheartened observer, "the cash which
was brought from the country and intended to pay the
citizen for goods sold months, perhaps years ago, has
been laid out at vendue for fresh goods, sent there by
the agents, and the native merchants been thereby un
justly kept out of their money and their stock on hand
remained still within shelves — while men who occa
sioned this scene of difficulty are now completing the
distress by suing, getting judgment and selling our real
estate at a time when the circulating money had almost
all flown to Britain, where the lordly purchasers of our
lands will shortly follow, aud we at length shall be re
duced to that debased situation which the worthies who
ruled America in 1775 pledged themselves to the world
they would never submit to be hewers of wood and
drawers of water to Great Britain."
Unhappily this picture of affairs was quite true. The
imprudence of European and American merchants in
giving extensive credits, the numerous speculations of
uninformed adventurers in trade, yielded their inevit
able fruits of disappointment and suffering. The farmer
had been tempted by the same allurement to buy things
he did not need, and others less thrifty than himself
followed in the same thoughtless way.
The distress was intensified in another direction.
With the restoration of peace an ardent commercial

214 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
spirit appeared throughout the Union. "Every man
was tempted to throw his money into foreign commerce.
The desire of gain and fear of tender laws conspired to
produce this conduct. Trade was overdone and badly
conducted. The most judicious merchants made un
profitable voyages by resuming branches of business
which had raised the fortunes of themselves and their
fathers in former times." All alike were shipwrecked
by the adverse gales that now swept over the country.
Only few escaped. Merchant and farmer alike were
caught and borne toward the unfriendly shore.
Credit which had been unbounded a few years before
disappeared. A writer in the Packet toward the end of
1786, says: "The commerce with America seems now
to be almost entirely given up in London, for uo mer
chant in his senses will give credit to the amount of
;^io to above one house in twenty on the continent.
One house in the city received bills to be paid in twelve
months to discharge one shilling on the pound, and
another a most curious promissory note for one shilling
and nine pence ou the pound for ;^25o payable seven
teen months after the decease of the American Trader's
Mother." Perhaps credit was dead, but the persistent
joker was not.
Having cut off their credits, creditors began to turn the
remorseless screws. When a creditor has stopped sell
ing, he no longer regards his purchaser with the same
friendly interest as he did before. The day for fine
words is over. He regards himself somewhat in the
light of an injured man, a victim ; no matter what he
may have done to tempt a weaker man to buy. Credit
ors therefore resorted to the law. Every one knows
there is not much sentiment in legal proceedings. Debts

TRADE. 215
were sued, judgments obtained, and lands were taken to
satisfy creditors. So much was thrown on the market
that prices soon became depressed. A writer in the
Packet thus relieved himself: "It has been a matter
of astonishment to the inhabitants of not only the city
of Philadelphia, but the State at large, that so numerous,
respectable and wealthy a part of the community as the
dry-goods merchants are known to be, should have so
long tamely submitted without a struggle to see their
landed estates daily wrested from them and sold at pub
lic sale, by the tyranny of the British agents now
amongst us, especially at such times as the present,
when it is universally known and acknowledged that
landed property will not at forced sales bring more than
one-third of its real value, and notwithstanding it is so
low there are no purchasers even at its reduced price,
except the very agents who have pushed its owners to
extremity in order to become the purchasers."
Nor was this cry confined to a set of discontented
traders who wished to defraud British merchants. It
was the cry also of the sober trader whose only fault
had been au error of judgment in importing too many
goods aud selling them to shop-keepers and ' farmers
who, in consequence of the low price of produce aud of
the inability of the government to pay its indebted
ness, were unable to pay for their purchases.
Notwithstanding the pall that had fallen on the
industry and hopes of the country, the evidences of
luxury were present iu many places. A writer of the
time could not help noticing that "the cry of scarcity
and poverty" increased with "the appearance of ex
pense and luxury." This was especially true of the
people in Philadelphia. The costliness of the furniture.

2 1 6 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA .
the profusion of the table, the elegance of equipage and
the refinement of dress were evidences of affiuence and
prosperity, while the tenor of conversation, the accumu
lation of debts, and the unpunctuality of payments
indicated real want and actual insolvency. The build
ing or improving of houses might be seen on almost
every street and the rapid extensions of the city west
ward, while "hundreds of houses" were untenanted
and " crowds were daily retiring to the distant districts
of the continent." Such was the condition of things
after a few short years of free commerce and political
independence. The desire to over-trade, to purchase ;
without adequate means, together with a decaying
market for exports and lower prices, enveloped the State |
and country in industrial and commercial depression
without a parallel. A mournful introduction surely to
the golden prosperity and happiness that were to follow
political independence If political dependence was
depressing, the people had suddenly learned that there
was something far worse, industrial and commercial de
pendence, the loss of credit, the inability to buy and
sell, and the hopeless mental and moral dejection that
inevitably attends unrequited toil.
Yet not all fell out by the way from a lack of hope or
ability to continue ; if we can trust the chronicles of
those days, already had debtors learned the art of getting
rich by failing. A debtor acquired property, and to
save appearances contracted large debts to his family,
revived old continental transactions, and gave generous
bonds for the payment of the immense sums which his
sons aud daughters or parents and kinsmen had lent
him in the days of his prosperity. Then followed "the
swearing part of the comedy." If he had given all his

TRADE. 217
property away, he could safely swear that he had none,
and that his inventory was just. The oath in many
cases was regarded simply as a form of law, "whatever
it might have been in the days of our superstitious
ancestors, or whatever it might have been iu the days of
the old pagan Romans who were weak enough to
cultivate a reverence for an oath as the surest pledge of
civil obedience and of military discipline." In due
time the insolvent was ripe for his discharge, and to that
end he notified the public through the newspaper of the
time and place of his deliverance. He then received
from the venerable hand of justice the pardon of his
past follies, deliverance from the hands of his enemies
aud an open entrance into the bright prospects of
enjoying the property whicli he was expected to receive
from the generosity of his friends. " If these directions
are carefully attended to," says a somewhat caustic
critic of the period, "and a little more time and
experience added to the salutary practice, one may
shortly expect to see every man able to conduct this
business for himself, and whenever he finds it con-
-venient, to rid himself at once of all his debts as well as
the other obligations of law and gospel."
With debtors everywhere unable or unwilling to pay
their debts, what a strange overturn was this for the
hitherto prosperous people of Pennsylvania ! What
should be done to prevent creditors from dealing too
harshly with their debtors? was a question everywhere
asked. American merchants feared that with the cessa
tion of war they would sufifer from the collection of
debts due to British creditors ; and on the first announce
ment of the preliminary treaty with Great Britain the
sub-executive council had addressed the delegates in

2 1 8 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Congress on the subject. Though not wishing to
repudiate their debts, the merchants desired the inser
tion of an article in the treaty giving a reasonable time
for the payment of their debts to British creditors.
And the treaty provided that ' ' creditors on either side
should meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery
of the full value in sterling money of all bona fide debts
heretofore contracted."
There was no little discussion over the conduct of
creditors in pressing so severely for payment, and many
plans were suggested to ease the road for debtors.
Most of these were impracticable schemes, which the
good sense and honesty of the people saw clearly
enough must not be adopted. It would not do to stop
the hands of justice, for this would still more disorgan
ize society. The courts must not be closed to protect
debtors, for if they were, all bad men might take
advantage of the situation to rob and burn, and render
life insecure and still more wretched. One of the
thoughts with many was the perfecting of some scheme
whereby debtors could get au extension of time for pay
ing their indebtedness without an accumulation of
excessive interest. For a long time prior to the Revolu
tion, goods had been bought in England on a year's
credit without charging interest ; but it had been
proved in trials for the recovery of unpaid debts of this
character in the courts of Pennsylvania that a higher
price had been charged, so that the merchant had not
reaped as much advantage from his long credit as he
perhaps imagined. Besides, if the American importer
could not pay at the expiration of the period of credit,
an interest account was started, which was compounded
until the debt was discharged. Thus the merchant,,

TRADE. 219
often added interest to the price of his goods, and man
ipulated the debt in such a manner at the end of the
year, if it was not paid, as to inflate it in a few years
enormously. Another remedy, aiming not so much to the relief of
present debtors, as to prevent an increase in their
number, was the taxation of imports. "This was," in
the opinion of a newspaper writer, "perhaps the best
means that can be adopted to check the superfluous use
of foreign productions, as it operates at once as a
restraint on the introduction of such articles, and as
a bounty ou genius in producing the like articles among
ourselves, or others to supply their places." Moreover,
so he continued, it was one of the best sources of
revenue that could be devised, because it was productive
and easily collected, "every consumer paying, as it
were insensibly, a portion of it." The writer did not
see the other side that was soon to be urged by more
than one of the revolutionary fathers, that this was the
very worst form of tax that could be laid, because the
people, not feeling it, would be led into wastefulness.
To lead, therefore, to watchfulness in public expendi
tures, direct taxation was long favored for the reason
that the people, feeling as much as possible the weight
of them, would be on the side of public economy,
which implied economical and more efficient govern
ment. And yet we have learned from experience that
no theory of taxation when tested has proved a greater
failure. Another reason urged by the writer iu favor of tax
ing imports was, the tax would be laid ' ' chiefly on those
who could best afford it." Since the decay of the feudal
systems, direct taxation had been found insufficient to

aao HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
supply the needs of the best governments. Money
supplied the place of personal services aud, therefore,
more was wanted, much more than direct taxation
yielded, especially in a free republic, composed of so
few people in propOrtio-n to the extent of the country.
Such was the writer's remedy for the discontented times
in which he lived. He had thrown an idea into the
great sea of discussion which in due time was to
permeate and color our national history.
The principal remedy was of a different nature, more
paper-money. This was not the first time it had been
prescribed for the relief of debtors, nor would it be the
last. Seeing how easily the debtors in the revolutionary
time had relieved themselves by issuing paper-money,
what was more natural than for the people, throwing
principle aside, to turn to this remedy? Get some
more rags and make a bountiful supply of paper, and
set the printing press in operation, and the sick patient
would immediately rise from his bed and rejoice in his
deliverance. The newspapers of the day teemed with
articles advocating this panacea. Every reader must
indeed have sympathy with the numerous debtors of
that day, for their sudden indebtedness was a new
experience, the result it is true, of their folly, but none
the less heavy and impatiently borne. Doubtless many
a one had learned the lesson and had determined, if he
could succeed in throwing oflf the chain, never to wear
another. The Bank of North America, which had done so
much for the country, for individual borrowers and for
all classes of citizens, debtors now regarded as their
great enemy. It had been established in 1781 chiefly
through the influence of Robert Morris, who was then

TRADE. 221
superintendent of flnance. The original capital was
$400,000, payable in gold and silver. Its affairs were
managed by twelve directors and its stock was transfer
able. It had had a unique life, living under a double
charter. Congress granting one in 1781 and Pennsyl
vania another the following year. The states were
recommended to pass laws forbidding the establishment
of another bank durmg the war, and to receive its notes,
which were payable on demand in gold and silver, in
payment of taxes, duties aud debts due the United
States. When the bank began business, the amount of specie
in its vaults did not exceed forty thousand dollars, and
the fear of an early exhaustion was so great that persons
were employed during the earlier and more critical days
of its existence to follow those who demanded specie
and urge them to return it in order to preserve the
precious foundation. Notwithstanding every effort to
make the issues of the bank safe, they circulated in the
beginning from ten to fifteen per cent, below par in the
Eastern states. Had not Morris taken immediate
measures to create a demand for them, and prevented
further issues from going to those states, their value for
a time would have been totally lost. Once gone, their
value could not have been easily restored after the
recent costly experience of the people in circulating
paper-money. Morris succeeded in checking the de
pression, the issues of the bank soon rose to par and
were thus kept without much difficult}'.
On many occasions the bank relieved the pressing
needs of the government. Considering its poor credit,
the bank ventured a long way, much further than many
individuals professing strong patriotism and possessing

222 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ample means. The bank discounted bills drawn on the
superintendent of finance, whereby he obtained the
means to supply the army with clothes and provisions.
By the ist of July, 1783, these discounts had amounted
to |86o,ooo. ' ' Without the establishment of the bank,' '
said Morris, "the business of the department of finance
could not have been performed. From the aids given
by this institution the United States were able to keep
up an army consisting of a larger number of men than
they had had in the field before, or than they could
have maintained without these aids. The army was in
every point on a much more respectable footing than
formerly, and they kept the enemy at bay."
' The bank did not limit its public assistance to the
United States. The State, unable to pay the officers
of the army, had given certificates of indebtedness and,
to pay the interest on them, had mortgaged the revenue
of the excise. But as the revenue was not collected,
the officers suflfered, and the bank, learning of their con
dition, advanced the money to them, taking the security
given to them by the State to secure itself On other
occasions, the bank loaned money to the State, on one
occasion the sum of $80,000 to pay its quota due to the
United States. The indebtedness of the United States
to the bank grew so large that the directors became
uneasy. Morris therefore sold #200,000 of the govern
ment stock, and paid the bank $300,000 of its indebt
edness. Indeed, it continued to be a varying debtor,
often for a larger sum, until 1784.
If many who were invited in the beginning to sub
scribe to the stock declined, they were eager to share in
the profits as soon as these were known to be large. As
the shareholders were not especially desirous of parting

TRADE. 223
with any of their stock, it was proposed to found another
bank, to be called the Bank of Pennsylvania. Sub
scriptions were taken and an application was made to
the Assembly (1784) for a charter. As the bank was a
monopoly, many favored the new institution. "Two
shops to go to," was the phrase of the day. The air
was full of the controversy. The feeling ran high.
The old bank asked to be heard before a committee
charged with the matter in opposition to the new
charter. No attention was paid to the request. The
committee reported in favor of granting the applica
tion, and matters looked dark for the Bank of North
America. Its owners dreaded a division of the business.
Hitherto they had had the field, aud could act in a very
different manner than would be practicable in the
presence of a sleepless rival. At last an eflfective
quietus was adopted. The projectors of the new enter
prise were permitted to become shareholders on favor
able terms in the other, and the new scheme suddenly
disappeared. Darker days were coming. The people were deter
mined to have more money. A debtor of course always
needs money. If he wishes to have more, his rational
course is to produce something that others desire ; and
then he will have money enough, if he produces
enough.' But he is apt to try some easier way. He is
' Another writer as clearly saw that more paper-money was no
remedy. " At this gloomy period, when poverty seems to have
spread her veil over the State and idleness as pillars to support it, the
people who have had struggles with work and have been overcome,
see no other way to live but to have an emission of paper currency,
which they seem to think would dispel the gloomy clouds and bring
on a sunshine of ease and plenty. Those people who have any of
the productions of the earth to sell can command money, those who

224 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
always trying to invent some way either of borrowing
it, or of making his produce, whatever it may be,
yield a larger amount. The bank's supply he deemed
totally inadequate There was no doubt a scarcity of
money after the vanishing of paper-money and the
swift return to Europe of specie to pay for unusual im
portations. The multitude of State debts were taken
as money, ' besides the notes of the bank. These were
readily taken, and, as other forms of paper-money dis
appeared, filled to a very considerable extent the va
cancy. The amount steadily expanded. This was not
deemed enough, and recourse was had once more to
State issues secured by real estate. In other words, the
early plan of a State loan office was revived. Yet the
aid thus furnished had not been very great. A writer
who professed to be a friend of the loan-office in all
states where there were new lands to settle, and on
which private loans could not be made until their value
was determined by cultivation and increased by build
ings and other improvements, maintained that now
such an office could only be supported by specie, and
this he contended could be easily procured from a
variety of sources if the springs of industry and con
fidence in government were opened by the annihilation
of paper-money. The loan-office formerly supplied only
a few hundred thousand pounds to new settlers and
farmers. Individuals were the principal lenders.
are so poor that they have nothing to dispose of cannot command
any, therefore they wish for a paper emission. If a paper emission
should be granted it would doubtless be of service ; it would discover
the depravity and imperfection of human nature and serve as strong
evidence to convince mankind of the inconsistency and folly of
human transactions." Packet, June 13, 1786.
'A very considerable business in them was done by speculators.

TRADE. 225
Nearly ;^2,ooo,ooo were supposed to have been loaned
in Pennsylvania on bond and mortgage in 1774. This
was the most important spring that invigorated every
field of production and exchange. The loan-office was
" only a drop in the bucket compared with the ocean of
private credit." The writer Contended that by up
holding a loan-office the people grasped a drop and lost
an ocean. Nor could a paper loan-office and private
credit exist together. A loan-office, if lending gold and
silver instead of paper could not fulfil all the demands
of commerce, agriculture and manufactures. Private
loans were of " ten times more consequence than a loan-
office, as they brought ten times more money iuto
circulation. ' '
The writer had another fear arising from a State loan-
office. The times had changed. When this institution
was first established there were not many people in the
State, who were "seldom deficient iu their engage
ments. ' ' The case now was very diflferent. What laws
could be made under our feeble constitution to compel
the early and punctual payment of the interest or prin
cipal of money lent to borrowers three hundred miles
away from the seat of government ?
"It was truly diverting," he continued, "to hear
some men wish that we had not a silver dollar or guinea
in our country, in order to favor the credit and circula
tion of our paper-money." These men put him in
mind of a story of a man who contended that a saw-dust
pudding was better thau a fiour pudding, because it lay
longer in the stomach and thereby nourished the system
for a longer period. He maintained the doubtful propo
sition that in proportion as paper-money acquired the
credit and value of specie, it was expelled from the
15

226 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
country; but there was another and less questionable
consequence of issuing paper-money, the creation of a
larger foreign debt in proportion to the quantity issued,
thereby entailing poverty, dependence and slavery on
the country.
The great services of the bank to the public and to
individuals were ignored in the determination of the
people to put an end to its existence and to establish a
new supply of paper-money. Before the Revolution
the part credit had played in building ships
and houses was forgotten. By the same potent agency
manufactures had been established and carried on;
farms purchased and improved. But by enacting a
post-tender law private credit had been destroyed, and
the lending of money on bond and mortgage had ceased.
The revival of this credit was the result largely of the
action of the Bank of North America in lending to
individuals, thus repairing the injury wrought to
them by others, and by the State. "Honses and ships
were built and improvements in manufactures of all
kinds were carried ou by money borrowed from the
bank." The bank was charged with not favoring State issues;
in truth, of depreciating them. Of course these were
hostile to its own. Yet this charge was not just, for the
bank had received State issues on deposit, and in
March, 1786, had over ;^ioo,ooo, nearly the whole of
those outstanding except the bills reserved for the oper
ations of the land-office. There was no bank then in
New Jersey, and yet the paper-money of the State
passed at a discount of twenty per cent. " It is no un
common thing," said a defender ofthe bank, "for a de
luded people to trace their misfortunes to false causes.

TRADE. 237
A poor man who fell from his horse while riding from
Edinburgh to Leith aud broke his leg, cursed the
authors of the union of England and Scotland as the
cause of it, while the bad weather during the reign of
George II. was ascribed by the mobs of London to Lord
Bute." Quite as irrational were the deductions that
the people were suflfering from the action of the bank.
This, however, was not the chief cause of its un
popularity and fall. Tempted by the profits on the
use of its credit, and by the popular demand for more
money, the bank kept pushing its notes into circulation.
At length the quantity was so large that the people
began to distrust the bank and to present them for
redemption. This movement alarmed the directors,
and loans were refused right and left. The notes
received from debtors were cancelled, and thus the
policy of note expansion was quickly changed to that
of note contraction. Debtors who were unable to get
accommodations could not pay their creditors, and
bankruptcy — a far worse thing in those days than in
ours — followed.
The people felt keenly toward an institution that had
treated them so kindly one day and so coldly the next.
Its conduct was in no wise reprehensible from its own
point of view, for prudence declared that if its circula
tion was excessive it ought to be retired. Furthermore,
the action of the people in demanding specie for the
notes was the clearest proof, a loud warning, that too
inany were in circulation. If the people were afraid of
them, certainly it was not just to accuse the bank
of inconsiderate action in declining to issue more. But
no applicant to a bank for money has a higher opinion
of it for denying his application, though he may think

228 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
otherv/ise of its action in denying another. So now dis
appointed applicants were enraged and eager for revenge.
Their feeling was strengthened by opposition to
corporate power in general, and the Bank of North
America in particular. It must be remembered that
this was the early day of corporations, when they were
monopolies in the strict sense, and were regarded with
disfavor. This feeling was doubtless intensified by thc
throttling of the projected Bank of Pennsylvania. The
people believed that a second bank would open the door
of competition, and lower the rates for money. It
might have led to excessive issues and thus wrought a
serious evil. Unmoved by any fear, the people did not
regard with equanimity the quiet burial of the scheme.
They magnified the power of the bank for doing evil.
A committee of the Assembly said: "We have nothing
in our free and equal government capable of balancing
the influence which this bank must create, and we see
nothing which in the course of a few years can prevent
the directors of the bank from governing Pennsylvania.
Already we have felt its influence indirectly interfering
in the measures of the Legislature. Already the House
of Assembly, the representatives of the people, have
been threatened that the credit of our paper currency
will be blasted by the bank ; and if this growing evil
continues, we fear the time is not very distant when the
bank will be able to dictate to the legislature what laws
to pass and what to forbear."
This attack on the bank intensified the general
suffering. "In no period of the late war," said the
Pennsylvania Gazette, "did the citizens of Philadelphia
experience so much distress as they have felt since the
last session of the Assembly. The attack upon the

.-^

TRADE. 229
bank, by stopping the circulation of cash, has involved
thousands in difficulties. Several mechanical businesses
have been suspended; and the tradesmen, who have
large sums of money due to them, suffer from the want
of market money. The wealthy merchants, whose cash
formerly circulated at six per cent, from the banks, now
treasure it up in their iron chests, where it will not see
the light of the sun perhaps for years, or, if it comes
forth, it will circulate only for their own benefit. The
moneyed man (with his last hope blasted in the credit
of his country) is remitting his specie to Europe to be
secured by laws which encourage industry and protect
property. These distresses will soon spread themselves
among the farmers. The low price of wheat and the
weight of old and new taxes will probably produce such
scenes of misery as were never known or felt before in
Pennsylvania. It is computed that the loss to the
farmers from the reduced price of wheat will amount to
;^200,ooo in the course of the present year, and that
from the same cause which has reduced the price of
wheat, there will be five ships and one hundred houses
less built this year than were built last year." '
Yet the charter was repealed, though less than four
years old. Had the bank withdrawn its circulation
entirely and stopped all discounts, the public would
have suflfered far more. Happily, the interest of the
bank and that of the public were in harmony, though
the public did not realize it. The bank still had a
charter from the United States, but the worth of it was
1 Our wharves look on a week day as they used to look on Sundays.
Only a few houses are building and still fewer contracted for, and not
a ship on the stocks the property of our merchants." Gazette, March
29, 1786.

230 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
questionable. To strengthen its position, the bank
obtained a charter from the State of Delaware, and
seriously contemplated removing to Wilmington, or
perhaps establishing there a brauch. But it went on its
old way, though not to sleep, and at once set out to pro
cure a new charter from the Assembly. For two sessions
the battle was hot and prolonged. The newspapers
teemed with articles for and against granting the charter.
Its repeal somewhat cooled its opponents; and like
many an opponent before and since that time, the
thinking they should have done before making war on
the bank was done afterward. Its great services to the
State and to individuals were reviewed by numerous
writers ; and as a large part of the sufferings of the
people were more and more clearly traced to their sense
less action in smiting down their best and strongest
friend, the current of opinion set strongly in favor of its
restoration. Another charter was granted (1786), and
since that day no attempt has ever been made to destroy
the bank, and it still fiourishes, living a vigorous life
and doing its proper work, assisting trade and industry.
As might be expected of a body so far astray as
to repeal the charter of the bank, seeking to destroy
it when most needed, the Assembly authorized the
issue of p^i 50,000 of paper-money. The cogent argu
ments of Pelatiah Webster, — still interesting to the
reader because they glow with the .sure touch of genius
— fell on unheeding ears. ;^ioo,ooo' were "to be paid
into the hands of the continental loan-offices in this
State," for "the payment of the interest due on the
debts of this State," the bills were to be received for all
purposes as equal to gold and silver money for the sums
'March l5, 1785. 2 Dallas's Laws, 256, 294.

TRADE. 2X1
mentioned in them ; and ;^20,ooo were to be cancelled
annually after their return to the treasury. The remain
ing ;^50,ooo were to be paid to loan-office commissioners
and loaned by them to borrowers in Philadelphia and
the diff'erent counties, in amounts varying from ;^8,ooo
to the people ofthe City and County of Philadelphia to
£x{L2P to the people of the County of Fayette. The
loans were not to be for a longer period than eight
years, nor for less than ;^25 or more than ;^ioo in
amount. The borrowers were to secure the State by
giving mortgages on their land with a margin as
large as the loan itself Borrowers could pay oflf their
loans before the time specified, and the money could be
re-loaned. Thus the old venture of lending the State's
credit to individuals, which had been undertaken sixty
years before, and by the Roman emperor Tiberius
seventeen centuries earlier, was to be renewed. Un
happily the character, ability or circumstances of debtors
had changed since the provincial venture, for their obli
gations were to be less faithfully fulfilled.
The specie still in circulation was of foreign origin,
except some of the cents which had been coined by
authority of New York, Connecticut and Vermont.
Pennsylvania had coined none, though there had been
some discussion concerning the expediency of establish
ing a State mint. The State coins were "in general
well made and of good copper." But advantage was
quickly taken of the State coinage to manufacture and
put into circulation counterfeit ones, which soou found
their way into Pennsylvania. At once they were refused
recognition by the trading part of the community,
though perhaps one-half ofthe copper coins in the State
for twenty or thirty years before the close of the period

2 32 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
we are now describing, had been manufactured at
Birmingham, England. They had stealthily crept into
circulation and maintained their place, notwithstanding
their illegitimate origin, until the issue of others of
the same ignoble character, produced in our own coun
try. The people then concluded it was quite time to
disown such base servants, and they speedily ceased to
circulate. Another untoward eflfect on trade at this period was its
diversion to Baltimore. The merchants had scented
this trail before the Revolution, and it was somewhat
stimulated during the war by the peculiar operations of
paper money.' The trade drawn toward Baltimore was
principally from York and Cumberland counties, lying
near the border and the Susquehanna. Says " Common
Sense" in the Packet early in 1787: "The commerce
and traffic of the back county members and the parts
they represent goes to Baltimore. As their imports
were derived from this source, their exports went there.
They come here to legislate and go there to trade."
Indeed, Baltimore had joined with the destroyers of the
bank to protect and promote its trade interests. " Were
this not the case," so one wrote at the time, "there
would be no opposition about a bank, but what arises
from the narrow motives of party spirit. ' '
With so many failures, the legislation for releasing
insolvent debtors had become of the greatest interest
both to the debtor and creditor classes. By the consti
tution of 1776 the debtor, unless there was a strong pre
sumption of fraud, could not be continued in prison
after delivering up all his estate for the use of his
creditors. Nothing had since been done to relieve
' See p. 41.

TRADE. 233
insolvent debtors except to revise the laws previously
enacted. The members of the convention who framed
the constitution doubtless remembered the frequent
practice of passing expost facto laws in favor of par
ticular persons, and therefore they adopted the constitu
tional provision above mentioned. Indeed, a general
bankruptcy law was imperatively needed, for among
the fifteen cases which were the subjects of special
legislative regard during the ten years preceding 1774
there were some very improper characters. Among
these was the case of Johu Kinott, " the chief shop
keeper" in Philadelphia, who, notwithstanding his
"scandalous frauds," sought the interposition of the
Legislature, which was granted. " The truth was," as
a thoughtful newspaper correspondent remarked, "the
cases of individuals are highly improper to be canvassed
by large bodies of men ; it is scarcely possible that they
can avoid the fascination of undue influence. Besides,
what perhaps any flve of a large assembly would
scarcely take upon themselves, it is too often easy to
lead the larger number into, as the blame of wrong
doing is supposed to be lightened in proportion as it is
diffused. What a corruption of justice would ensue if
the House of Assembly for the time being exercised the
privilege of pardoning ? This executive authority is
not only with propriety, but of necessity, lodged with
the President and Council."
Truly there was need of a general bankruptcy law,
yet it was not to be enacted for many years. Already
the danger of special legislation was beginning to be
understood, and the need of enacting general laws for
application to all cases of the same character as a means
of escape. Special legislation for the relief of the debt-

234 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ors alarmed creditors, for it endangered their legal
rights. However kindly its purpose to the debtor, such
legislation was an overthrow of private arrangements.
"What," says a critic of the day, "will strangers,
merchants in Europe, and elsewhere beyond seas, think
of these retrospective doings? Will they not aflfect and
injure our national and individual credit abroad?"
Well might he fear the consequences.
Toward the close of the period we are considering, the
need of establishing more general regulations for busi.-
ness led to an expression of the reasons for establishing
a chamber of commerce in Philadelphia. Hitherto the
merchants had irregularly met in coflfee-houses. It was
asserted that "many merchants were undermined by
the deep and recently laid plots of their neighbors, who
enticed away correspondents by offering them lower
terms, to the prejudice of trade in general. ' ' Further
more, it was asserted that the rates at which business
ought to be done should be established by common con
sent, and when once fixed ought to be maintained ; and
their violation be regarded as improper and disgraceful.
The conducting of business on such principles, it was
believed, would promote "a spirit of equity" and "a
more generous policy." This was a reversal of the
policy of independent action which had hitherto guided
the merchants of the city, but perhaps the time had
come for diminishing the friction of competition and for
acting in greater harmony. The two principles have
long been contending for mastery in the worlds of pro
duction and exchange, and neither principle is nearer a
decisive victory than it was centuries ago. At this
moment the spirit of commercial union -was rising, but
it was not permanent; for the restless spirit of indi-

TRADE. 235
vidual supremacy will forever keep the leaders in every
great pursuit in a path by themselves, free from the re
striction which union imposes for the common benefit,
unless perchance they become powerful enough to com
bine and devour all who are in the same field of
competition. So far, however, as trade was restricted by inspection
laws, there was no escape, and these from time to time
were increased. An inspector was appointed to inspect
before their exportation pot and pearl ashes ; another,
staves and headings; and another, shingles. The
modern tendency is to provide penalties against adulter
ation, and leave every buyer to make his own inspection.
In that earlier day, the State had greater faith in its
direct intervention than it has now. The duty has be
come too complex and extended to be well performed
by any State, however wisely and eff'ectively governed.
Socialism has had a set-back, in some directions at least,
since those early law-makers prepared their panaceas
for inspecting and registering human conduct.

CHAPTER XV.
MANUFACTURES.
The first mill erected in the Province was for grind
ing grain. It is true the Dutch had their wind-mills,
built perhaps by the power of habit, just as beavers in
zoological gardens continue their ancient, though use
less occupation of dam-building. John Printz, gov
ernor of New Sweden, built a grain-mill in 1643 ^t
Cobb's Creek, a tributary of Darby Creek, not far from
Tinicum. As the people fell into the bad way of
distilling too much grain, it was ordered in 1676 that no
grain fit to grind and bolt should be used for distilla
tion. The first grist-mill was built in Germantown by
Richard Townsend, who came over with William Penn,
and was afterwards known as Roberts's Mill. Penn
himself engaged in the milling buisness, but his venture
was not successful.
Grist-mills were essentially the same in plan and struc
ture, picturesque objects, among the willows and alders.
The oldest were built of logs with flaring gables and
peaked cock-loft, from which dangled a rope like a hang
man's for raising grain. On one side hung the ponder
ous wheel, dark and green with slimy moss, which rolled
slowly around ; or, when silent in winter, glistened
with frozen pendants. How often has the sight of one
of these old mills waked the lyre of the poet, or formed
the subject of some painter's art? And what curious
places were they, with their quivering floors and cob-
(236)

MANUFACTURES. 237
web-covered ceilings, inhabited by the solitary miller,
whitened with meal-dust. As the machinery was made
of wood, the sound of the grinding was low, giving a
new meaning to that beautiful description of eastern
life in sacred story before the coming of evil days. A
few of these ancient mills with their wooden machinery
have survived and still give forth a soft, cheery sound,
so soothing to the ear, rasped by the harsh clangor
of iron and steel ; truly typical of the older, slower
and more quiet times compared with our restless, noisy
civilization. In the earlier mills the bolting of flour
was often done in another place, by persons engaged in
the bakery business. At a later period the mills were
built in a more substantial manner, of stone, with bolt
ing mills, and were capable of grinding two thousand
bushels or more of wheat yearly.
At an early day, the machinery for grinding was
greatly improved by Oliver Evans, of Delaware. By
his genius a complete revolution was wrought iu the
manufacture of flour. His invention was opposed at
first by the millers on the Brandywine, indeed, several
months passed before they were willing to test it.
Finally, a Friend made the following proposition :
" Oliver, we have had a meeting, and agreed that if thee
would furnish all the materials, and thy own boarding,
and come thyself and set up the machinery in one of
our mills, thee may come and try, and if it answers a
valuable purpose, we will pay thy bill, but if it does not
answer, thee must take it all out again and leave the
mill just as thee found it, at thy own expense." Sure
of success, Oliver accepted the terms, his invention was
tested, and its great merits were acknowledged.
Notwithstanding their utility, no millstones turned

238 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
for a considerable period in the immediate neighborhood
of some settlements. Thus the people in York County
were obliged for several years to cross the Susquehanna
with their grain, and make a long journey to reach a
mill.' Before many years, the exportation of flour began,
especially to the West Indies, and the milling business
proved to be very profitable. The exportation of fiour
was regulated by the Assembly, that body prescribing
the size of the casks, the quantity to be put in them,
their storage, and the kind of punishment to be admin
istered to those who should mix any improper, unwhole
some ingredient in flour. Millers, bolters and bakers
were required to provide brand-marks, and wagons for
conveying flour were to be covered. The counterfeiting
of brand-marks was punishable ; and inspectors were
specially appointed to execute the law.
Next to the grain-mill, the saw-mill was of the highest
importance. These were needed to prepare timber for
erecting buildings. At first, hand-sawyers were em
ployed, ' and in Bucks County no saw-mills existed
before 1730. In 1760, the assessors for the County of
Philadelphia reported forty saw-mills. Oak, hickory,
walnut and other lumber was sawed near the city, or
rafted down the Delaware. In early days lumber con
veyed from Middletown down the Susquehanna, and
down other streams, was always abundant in the Phila
delphia market. Saw-mills speedily multiplied along
'Gibson's York Co., p. 20.
* They received for their labor for sawing pine boards, 7 shillings
per 100. The price for the same labor in 1705 was 10 shillings, which
would indicate an increased demand for lumber. Boards were then
10 shillings per 100 ; shingles 10 shillings per 1000 ; timber 6 shill
ings per ton, and wheat 4 shillings a bushel.

MANUFACTURES. 239
the rivers in the interior where timber abounded, and
many of them were owned by the industrious German.
Large quantities of staves, heading and shingles, planks
aud boards were exported.
Flour and saw-mills were twins in this flourishing
Province. The trees were large and abundant, enough
seemingly for all ages, yet hardly an original monarch of
the forest is now alive. The State has suflfered greatly
in consequence of ruthless forest butchery, regardless of
Penn's far-seeing provision for retaining a fifth of the
forest lands. Had not coal been discovered at an early
day, the State would have been stripped still more
closely of its woody mantle.
A portion of the corn and other produce of the land
was consumed in the manufacture of beer. The brew
ing business was begun early, and regulated by law.
By one of Penn's first laws every person who became
drunk was required to pay five shillings, or work five
days in the house of correction at hard labor, and to
live on bread and water only. For a second offence the
penalty was doubled. For health-drinking a fine of
five shillings for every offence was imposed. The price
of strong beer aud ale was fixed at twopence, and beer
made of molasses, at a penny a quart. In those days
beer was a very common drink; the tavern license had
fixed the prices of food and lodgings, and prescribed
that a meal should not cost more than seven and a half
pence, consisting of "beef or pork, or such like pro
duce ofthe country and small beer." At the session in
1684 the Assembly increased the price of beer to three
pence per Winchester quart. Laws also relating to
adulteration were passed, and imposed a fine on those
who were guilty of adulterating rum, brandy and other
spirits by the admixture of water and other liquors.

240 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Brewing gained a firm place in Pennsylvania, but
somewhat declined in consequence of the importation
of rum, and the domestic distilling of grain. Ardent
spirits became so cheap that tlie desire for alcoholic
beverages increased. The beverage then sold under
the name of beer had nothing in common with malt
liquors, as neither malt nor hops was consumed.
Beer was simply fermented molasses, honey or sugar.
Governor Gordon, in his address to the Assembly in
1713, deplored the decline of the brewing industry.
When the Province was young, it excelled all others in
the quality of its beer ; as a consequence of the decline
in brewing, the cultivation of hops was neglected. To
encourage the industry, the Assembly, in 1713, imposed
a duty of threepence per pound on imported hops,
except those imported from Delaware aud the Jerseys.
The encouragement thus given to brewing was oflfset
the same year by imposing a tapster's excise on malt
liquors to the amount of one penny per gallon, which
was discontinued iu 1718.
In 1722 further action was taken, and the use of
rum was discouraged by adding a penny on every
gallon of imported molasses. Another motive for doing
so was to substitute malt liquors for the molasses beer.
To this end the Assembly passed an act " for encourag
ing the making of good beer, and for the consumption
of grain." After setting forth that the use of molasses
and other saccharine substances in brewing had hin
dered the consuming of malt, and thereby discouraged
the raising of barley, a penalty was imposed on any
brewer or retailer of beer who used molasses, coarse
sugar or honey. The law-makers separated the sale of
beer from the liquor traffic by empowering justices of

MANUFACTURES. 241
the peace to grant separate licenses to exporters, and to
ale houses, on the condition that no wine, brandy, rum
or other distilled liquors, mixed or unmixed, should be
sold in such places.
The collection of an excise on liquors sold under
twenty-five gallons, imposed by the law of 1720, was
attended with great difficulty. In rural places this was
quite impossible. In grain producing districts, the sur
plus grain was largely converted into spirits, and sold or
bartered for other things. To collect the excise would
have required a costly revenue service. So generally
was the law violated, that in 1733 further legislation
was enacted to prevent an evasion of the law.
In 1724, not many years after the erection of iron
furnaces, an attempt was made to regulate the liquor
traffic in the neighborhood of these places. The sale
of ardent spirits to iron workers had proved " very pre
judicial and injurious " to employers as well as to their
men. The sale of it, therefore, was forbidden within
two miles of any furnace without a license or permit
recommended by the majority of the owners. This re
striction did not apply to ale houses licensed under the
act for encouraging brewing. At a later period the sale
of strong liquors was prohibited within two miles of
any muster-field or drill-ground.
The superabundance of grain, and cheapness of rum,
led to much intemperance, which culminated in the
Rush Temperance movement. As every farmer dis
tilled spirits for his own use and also for his workmen,
who were often paid in whiskey instead of money, the
drinking habit rapidly spread. With the general man
ufacture and use of ardent spirits, the brewery industry
made no progress. When Acrelius wrote, he remarked
16

242 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
concerning the beer, that it was "brown, thick and
unpalatable, and only used by the common people."
This remark was not true at a later period, for good
beer was brewed in many places, while the liquors of
the native growth and produce of the country between
1760 and '70, so Proud remarks, were "mean, scarce and
inferior." "This seems to arise," he adds, "at least in
part, by getting rum and spirits at such exceeding low
rates from the West Indies, which has rendered malt
liquor, though more wholesome and profitable for the
country, less used than formerly,"
Penn was desirous that the grape should be culti
vated and made into wine. The Province abounded in
wild grapes, the vines climbing near the borders of
clearings or by "low voiced brooks that wandered
drowsily." The Huguenots, who were vine dressers,
and still living in fresh memory of the vine-clad hills
of the Rhine, cultivated the fertile bottoms and sunny
slopes of the hills raising the purple grape of their an
cestral home. Penn cultivated the grape, and em
ployed a Frenchman, skilled in the art of vine dressing.
He had less faith in adopting the foreign plant than in
improving the native one. In one of his letters, with
the wisdom shown on so many other occasions, he wrote:
"It seemed most reasonable to believe that not only the
thing groweth best where it naturally grows ; but will
hardly be equalled by any species of the same kind that
doth not naturally grow there, but to solve the doubt I
intend, if God give me life, to try both, and hope the
consequences will be as good wine as any of the Euro
pean countries." Penn was right, for no foreign vine
could supplant the indigenous one. French, German
and other cultivators failed in cultivating the European
plant.

MANUFACTURES. ' 243
The ship-building induslry was closely allied to that
of preparing boards and planks and other materials
from timber, and before the Province was many years
old vessels were built. Fine oak abounded, some of
the timbers were fifty or sixty feet long, very straight,
and well grained. Among the vessels mentioned in
r722 were a pink, Orgalie, and a great fiyboat of four
hundred tons, that crossed the Atlantic. Many vessels
were built for sale. Among the early marine produc
tions were rafts, built for the purpose of carrying
timber, and were taken apart on arriving at their des
tination. The last of this class was constructed at
Kensington a few years before the Revolution. The
Baron Renfrew, built at an earlier period, exceeded
5,000 tons, or double the measurement of an ordinary
seventy-four, and made a safe passage into the Downs.
The reflecting quadrant, invented by Thomas God
frey, though bearing the name of Hadley, was first
used by vessels that went to the West Indies. Frank
lin, ever active and inventive, improved the models of
sailing ships, and called attention to the advantages
in vessels of water-tight compartments, which within a
few years have been adopted as an essential feature
of safety. This improvement was suggested by his
study of Chinese vessels which had such compartments.
An eminent naval architect of those days, Joshua
Humphreys, furnished drafts and models for the six
frigates that formed the beginning of the American
navy. As a ship carver and sculptor, William Rush
was pre-eminent. At that time great attention was
paid to marine decorations. The figure-heads executed
by him excited admiration even abroad, and he re
ceived orders from England. Some of them repre-

244 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
sented Indians, and were graceful and spirited designs.
The figurehead of an Indian trader in Indian costume,
on the ship William Penn, excited much curiosity in
London, and was often sketched.
There were ship-carpenters, carvers, block-makers,
turners, rope- walks, and rope-makers in Philadelphia ;
indeed, all the diflferent parts and apparel of a ship
could be made and fitted. The iron needful was also
manufactured in the Province. Its presence was early
known, and Penn's charter provided for the reservation
of all minerals to the proprietary. Traces of gold were
found in the time of Governor Printz, and silver, cop
per, iron and lead, besides several kinds of precious
stones were afterward discovered. Penn describes the
discovery of a mineral of copper and iron in divers
places, while Thomas, whose account of the Province is
often flattering, states that in 1698 iron-stone had been
found, exceeding in purity that of England. Sir Wil
liam Keith during his administration erected iron
works. Indeed, prior to 1730 several furnaces or forges
had been put in operation. The first iron works in
Lancaster County were probably built in 1726, and the
firm of Grubbs was established two years afterward.
The Cornwall cold blast furnace in Lebanon County
was built by Peter Grubb in 1742. A few miles west
of the Cornwall ore bank a large charcoal blast furnace
was erected in 1745, and eleven years afterward Eliza
beth furnace, near Litiz, was built. It was managed by
one of the proprietors, Henry William Stiegel, a
German baron of wealth, skill and enterprise. At the
village of Manheim, in Lancaster County, he erected
large glass and iron furnaces. Here he built a castle or
tower, and mounted it with cannon, which were fired on

MANUFACTURES. 245
his visit to the country, as a signal for his friends to
assemble, and for his workmen to quit the smoke and
labors of the furnace, and wait on his guests with music
and other accompaniments. During the revolutionary
war he was cut oflf from his European resources and
failed. Some of the first stoves cast in this country
were made by Stiegel. Parts of them may still be
found in Lancaster and Lebanon counties.
The first rolling and slitting mill was built in Thorn
bury Township, Chester County, in 1 746, and remained
in operation four years. At the end of that time Par
liament required a particular account of the works.
This was the only one of the kind returned by the
sheriff under oath, in obedience to the proclamation of
Governor Hamilton, and in conformity with the act of
Parliament requiring certificates of all rolling and slit
ting mills, plating forges, and steel furnaces erected in
the colonies previous to June of that year. The sheriff"
of Philadelphia County returned one plating forge, with
a tilt hammer, located in Byberry Township. It was
the only one in the Province, and had not been in use
for twelve months. In the same county were two steel
furnaces. In Bucks County a furnace and forges were
erected during the first half of the i8th century. The
iron was transported in a kind of fiat boat or barge,
known as the Durham boat. Pig iron was thus con
veyed from the Forks of the Delaware to Philadelphia
for twenty shillings, fivepence per ton. In York and
Cumberland counties furnaces and forges were erected
for smelting ores, at the base of the South mountain
before the Revolution. Spring forge in York County
was built in 1790. In the same year the Pine Grove
blast charcoal furnace was built on Mountain Creek,
and is still in operation.

246 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
During the revolutionary war the development of the
iron manufacture had progressed far enough to furnish
cannon and guns. A blacksmith of Cumberland
County made some curiously wrought iron cannon.
One of them fell into the possession of the British at
the battle of the Brandywine, and was sent to London,
and is still preserved in the Tower as a monument of
his ingenuity and patriotism. It was made of wrought
iron staves, hooped like a barrel, with bands of the
same material. Instead of one layer of staves, there
were four layers, firmly bound together. A still rarer
piece of field artillery was invented by the Indians in
1777, consisting of a hollow maple log, plugged at one
end with a block of wood, and bound with iron chains.
It was heavily charged with powder, and filled with bits
of stone, and slugs of iron, and levelled at the gate of
a frontier fort. As soon as the match was applied,
it burst into fragments to the great disappointment of
the Indian artillerists. Early in the Revolution,
Benjamin Loxley proposed to cast for Congress brass
motors, howitzers, cannon and shells. Daniel Joy, who
tested them, proposed the construction of fire-rafts for
the defence of the Delaware. Congress exempted from
military duty all persons who were employed in casting
shot, and manufacturing military stores. Cannon were
cast at a number of furnaces during the Revolution,
especially at the Reading and Warwick furnaces, and
small arms were made at Philadelphia, Lancaster,
Lebanon and other places. The insecurity of the
frontier settlements, especially during the French and
Indian war and afterward, rendered fire-arms essential
to every household, and consequently the demand was
constant for rifies and other eflfective weapons. Their

MANUFACTURES. 247
manufacture received a great impulse during the
Revolution. The exportation of fire-arms, gun-powder
and other military stores from Great Britain was pro
hibited in 1774, and Congress recommended their
manufacture in each state. Governor Penn declared in
his examination before the House of Lords in 1775 that
the casting of cannon had been carried to a great per
fection, and that excellent small arms were also made.
Their workmanship and finish were universally
admired. Rifles were made in many places, equal in
quality to those imported.
During the Revolution the committee of safety estab
lished a gun-lock manufactory, and commissioners were
appointed to erect, and conduct it, and contract for the
manufacture of arms. The factory was erected in
Philadelphia and removed to Hummelstown, afterward
to French Creek. The price paid to gunsmiths for good
barrels delivered at the lock manufactory was fixed in
November, 1776, at twenty-four shillings apiece. The
price of a musket with a bayonet and steel ramrod was
eighty-five shillings, but the price was soon raised five
to ten shillings more as materials became scarce, and
workmen were unwilling to quit the manufacture of
rifles for which there was a great demand.'
From the metallic let us turn to the textile manu
factures. During the Swedish supremacy, Governor
Printz was instructed to encourage the raising of sheep
for the purpose of exporting wool to Sweden, and to ex
periment in raising silk. The writer of a letter to a
Swedish official in 1693, after ten years of proprietary
' Money was also advanced to Lawrence Byrne to enable him to
erect an air furnace and mills for file cutting in connection with the
gunlock factory.

248 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
rule, rejoices over the happy condition of the people,
for they were exporters of bread, grain, flour and oil,
and their wives and daughters were employed in spin
ning wool and flax and weaving. Among the first
branches of industry encouraged by Penn was the manu
facture of linen and woolen cloth. To promote and
encourage trade and to furnish a ready market for
domestic products, especially woolen and linen, fairs
were established. The first fair held in Philadelphia
was in 1686, and in consequence of the scarcity of
money only ^10 worth of products were sold. In
Penn's charter to the city, two markets were to be held
weekly, and two fairs annually. These occasions were
much prized for exhibiting and selling all kinds of
domestic goods, and stimulated the development of
domestic manufactures.
The Germans who came to Pennsylvania were early
noted for their linen and hosiery. To quicken theit
exertions in producing cloth, Penn off'ered for the first
piece a premium. In September 1686, the petition of
Abraham Opdengrafe was read in the council claiming
the premium off'ered by the governor. A variety of
linen and woolen stuflfs was manufactured during the
first twenty years, such as druggets, serges and
cambletts, which improved in quality. The price for
spinning worsted or linen in 1688 was usually two shil
lings a pound, and for knitting coarse yarn stockings,
half a crown a pair. The price for wearing linen of
half a yard in width was ten or twelve pence per yard.
Wool combers or carders received twelve pence per
pound, and the pay of journeyman tailors was twelve
pence per week and "their diet." The German linen
was declared to be "such as no person of quality need
be ashamed to wear."

MANUFACTURES. 249
In those days linen served nearly all the purposes for
which cotton is now used ; consequently much attention
was given to the cultivation of flax and hemp. The
linens were of a coarse texture. The kerseys, linsey-
woolsey, serges and druggets were of wool variously
combined with flax or tow, and formed the outer cloth
ing of many persons during the colder seasons; hempen
cloth, and linen of diflferent degrees of fineness formed
the principal wearing apparel at other times. The
inner garments and the bed and table linen of nearly all
classes were largely supplied by household industry.
The material was grown on farms ; the breaking and
heckling of the flax was done by men ; while the card
ing, spinning, weaving, bleaching and dyeing were per
formed by the wives and daughters of the farmers.
The cultivation of hemp and flax was general among
the Germans and Scotch-Irish, and an import duty was
early laid on hemp and flax products. Flaxseed was
an important export from Pennsylvania to Ireland and
Scotland. In 1730 the Assembly passed an act for con
tinuing the aid bestowed on those who raised hemp,
and imposed penalties on persons manufacturing un
merchantable hemp into cordage.
At length clouds gathered over the prosperity of the
people. During the French and Indian war their
progress in manufacturing and accumulating wealth
was disclosed, and the jealousy and fear of English man
ufacturers were aroused. To raise money for reimburs
ing Great Britain and to check the growth of colonial
manufactures. Parliament imposed a scheme of taxation.
The colonies responded by passing non-importation acts
and depending still more on home skill and industry
for supplying the needs of the people. Societies were

250 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
formed for the promotion of arts, agriculture and
economy, and premiums were offered to stimulate the
production of goods of finer quality. The non-importa
tion resolution and retrenchment in the use of foreign
merchandise alarmed British producers. Further in
quiry was made into the efforts of the people of the
Province to stimulate their production. Ships in the
colonial trade now went fiom Great Britain only partly
laden, and many were withdrawn. Thousands of
weavers and workmen iu manufacturing and com
mercial towns were unable to find employment and
emigrated to America. English merchants engaged in
colonial trade were imperiled, and feared the solvency
of their American debtors. The pecuniary interests
of these classes led Parliament to abandon most of the
taxes, leaving enough to preserve the principle on
which they were based, Townsend bluntly announcing
at the same time the intention of the ministry to adhere
to its policy. So the American people knew that the
withdrawal of the duties on imports was merely a tem
porary expedient.
Not content with establishing a policy to drown the
spirit of American enterprise, the exportation of
machinery was prohibited. In 1719 the transporting
of artificers was made punishable by fine and imprison
ment. Thirty years afterward, the sale of tools and
utensils used in woolen manufacturing was prohibited,
though not in British colonies. In 1774 however Par
liament raised a barrier against the exportation of tex
tile machinery to any country. Whoever packed or
put on board auy machine, engine or tool, used in the
manufacture of woolen, cotton, linen or silk, forfeited
not only the thing itself, but ;^200 in money, and was

MANUFACTURES. 251
liable to imprisonment for a year. The statute was
rigidly enforced. In 1784 a German was fined ;^500
for seducing operatives to Germany, and iu 1786 a set
of complete brass models of Arkwright's machinery fur
spinning and carding, made and packed in England for
shipment to Philadelphia, was seized.
Perhaps the first joint stock company to manufacture
cotton goods in America was organized in Pennsylvania
in 1775. The company was to continue for three
years, possess a capital divided into ten pound shares,
and manufacture cottons, woolens and linens. The
first general meeting was held at Carpenters' Hall. Dr.
Rush was elected president, and made an appropriate
speech showing the necessity aud advantages of estab
lishing such manufactures. The advantages were not
only in saving money, but in employing individuals to
establish a new basis . of wealth in introducing foreign
manufactures; in excluding vice and luxury of which
foreign goods were declared to be the vehicle; and in
forming an additional barrier to tyranny. All kinds of
machinery and implements were extremely scarce, by
reason of the interruption of trade between Great Brit
ain and the colonies. These difficulties only stimulated
still more production at home. In 1777, Oliver Evans,
then a young man engaged making card-teeth by hand,
invented a machine for manufacturing them at the rate
of 1,500 per minute. He devised a plan for pricking
the leather, and for cutting, bending and setting the
teeth, but abandoned it because he had failed to secure
a due share ofthe benefits of a previous invention.
Notwithstanding all the improvements in making
textile goods, clothing for the army during the Revolu
tion was scarce and dear. The labor of suppljing an

252 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
army of several thousand men was very diflferent from
that of providing for the wants of one's household.
Clothing could not be purchased abroad for lack of
money ; indeed, this was one of the most serious diffi
culties in getting clothing at home. Congress repeat
edly appealed to the people for supplies of wool and
other materials for the manufacture of cloth. In 1775
that body resolved that clothing be provided for the
continental army, and payment be made by stopping
every month a portion of the soldiers' pay. The man
who brought into camp a good, new blanket, was al
lowed $2, with the liberty of taking it away at the end
of the campaign. The several assemblies, conventions
and committees of safety were recommended to do their
utmost to promote the culture of hemp, flax, cotton
and wool. In 1776 each colony was asked to furnish to
every soldier it sent a suit of clothes, of which the
waistcoat and breeches might be of deer leather, a
blanket, felt hat, two shirts, two pairs of hose, and two
pairs of shoes, for which Congress promised to pay.
Notwithstanding orders had been issued in the begin
ning of the year to import quantities of woolens and
other cloths from Europe, Philadelphia was twice asked
to furnish blankets, which could not be purchased
in the stores, and even to sell awnings for tents, of
which the army had only a very few. The sufferings
of the soldiers during the -winter were extreme. A
large portion of their clothing was linen. The lack
of woolen goods was apparent in the contributions for
the army. The commissioners in France were directed,
at the beginning ofthe next year, to make purchases of
clothing and blankets, and each state was assessed for
their cost. In September the Supreme Executive

MANUFACTURES. 253
Council of Pennsylvania was advised to take any lin
ens, blankets or other woolens found in the stores, and
give certificates of their value.
In consequence of the rise in the price of wool aud
labor, the cloth manufacturer of Philadelphia was
unable to fulfill his contract with the government. At
the time of making his contract wool was sold at seven
shillings, sixpence a pound. Soon the spinners and
weavers doubled their wages, and the supply of wool
became extremely scarce. Carding, spinning and shear
ing, etc., were manual operatious; and forty or fifty
cents was the usual price for fulling and dressing a yard
of cloth.
The suflferings of the American army at Valley Forge
in the winter of 1778, badly sheltered, and still worse
fed, were greatly enhanced by the deficiency of clothing
among the officers as well as men. Clothing was after
wards bought in Holland, and sent to America. To
provide clothing for the soldiers not a few of the women
were active. On one occasion Lafayette was invited to
a ball, and the invitation was accepted. Instead of
joining in the amusement.s, as might be expected of a
young, lively Frenchman, he addressed the ladies:
" You are very handsome ; you dress very prettily ;
your ball is very fine ; but my soldiers have no shirts."
The appeal was eflfective ; the ball ceased ; the ladies
ran home and went to work, and in a short time shirts
were prepared for the defenders of their country.
Closely related to the textile industry is that of felt-
making. In 1704 the felt-makers of Pennsylvania peti
tioned the Assembly to prohibit the exportation of
beaver and other furs. A bill was passed but evaded ;
and hats were exported to other colonies, and not infrc

254

HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.

quently to foreign countries. Felts, which were the
ordinary wear of the people, were made in large
quantities, and much of the business was done in the
interior towns, where wool was cheap, and the manu
facturer was less exposed to official examination than at
the seaports.
Another industry of great importance was that of
printing. The first printing-press set up in Philadel
phia was by William Bradford in 1685, and one of his
earliest publications was an almanac, by "Daniel Leeds,
a student in agriculture. ' ' He had printed another two
years before, prepared by Samuel Atkins, in which a
reference was made to Lord Penn that enraged the
council. Soon George Keith engaged in a religious
controversy, and the pamphlets fiew back and forth like
weavers' shuttles, printed by Bradford, who sided with
the hardened and industrious apostate. Bradford re
moved to New York ; but persons of the same name
soon followed. Jansen was the immediate successor of
Bradford, and was succeeded in 1712 by Bradford's eldest
son, Jansen published the first literary work on a non-
religious subject ever published in Pennsylvania. It
was a work of travel by Jonathan Dickinson, entitled
"God's protecting Providence," and was "a touching
narrative of the author's deliverance," with others
from shipwreck on the coast of Florida. The typo
graphy was described as "wretchedly executed, and
disfigured by constant blunders." The Bradfords were
a somewhat numerous progeny, and for over one hun
dred years supplied Philadelphia with printers. In
1732 Bradford was the public printer, as well as post
master. The first newspapers printed in Philadelphia
and New York were started by this enterprising family.

MANUFACTURES. 255
In 1723 when Benjamin Franklin, the greatest of Amer
ican typographers, came to Philadelphia, the Bradfords
were the only printers in the two cities, though Keimer
was about to start a second press in Philadelphia.
Franklin constructed the first copperplate printing-press
used in America. The first daily paper in America was
the Pennsylvania Packet, which was begun in Philadel
phia in November, 1771, as a weekly by John Dunlap,
and converted into a daily in 1784 under the direction
of D. C. Claypoole
During the provincial period the printers often com
bined with their business of printing that of book-bind-
binding and book-selling, like Caxton and other early
printers. Some of them sold groceries or fancy articles ;
others were extensive dealers in merchandise and im
ported books. Some, who began as book-sellers or pub
lishers, with the accumulation of more means estab
lished printing-presses, and finally devoted their atten
tion exclusively to printing. The books imported in
the early days were not costly or rare, but chiefly
practical and useful, and adapted to a young country
whose inhabitants were eager for things that could be
immediately acquired. Books of law, medicine, history
and some practical branches of science and general
knowledge were the staple of colonial book-stores. In
1773 there were thirty-eight book-sellers in Philadel
phia, two at Germantown, and two at Lancaster.
To print, it was needful to have paper, and paper-
mills were established at an early day. One was built
in Roxborough by the immediate ancestors of the phil
osopher, Rittenhouse. The fainily had emigrated from
Arnheim and for several generations had manufactured
paper on the Rhine. The mill was destroyed by a

256 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
freshet, and William Penn asked the people to render
assistance in rebuilding the structure. Perhaps the
next one was erected by Thomas Wilcox on Chester
Creek, in Delaware County. Writing and printing
paper and clothier's pasteboard were manufactured there,
and also much of the paper used by Franklin. Here
also was made bank-note paper, used for printing the
continental paper currency. Another paper-mill was
built by the German settlers at Ephrata, and, after part
ing company with Saur, a printing-press. During the
scarcity of paper in the revolutionary war, a few days
before the battle of Brandywine, messengers were sent
to this mill for a supply of cartridges. The mill hap
pened to have none, but the fraternity, who held their
property in common, generously put at the disposal of
their country several two-horse loads of Fox's Book of
Martyrs, printed long before and remaining unbound.
Equipped with this fiery ammunition, the soldiers
plunged into the bloody fight.'
Before the Revolution paper-mills had multiplied in
the Province; and six were in operation in the County
of Philadelphia. Eighteen of them, as Franklin told
Brissot, had been established through his efforts. This
optimistic Frenchman also remarks, after visiting
Boston and New York, that there was no town on the
continent so much engaged in printing as Philadelphia.
Ever ready to encourage domestic industry, Franklin
was especially interested in the progress of printing,
and the allied arts. His metrical pleasantry on the sub
ject of poetry is familiar to all ; but his description of
the process " to be observed in making large sheets of
' Nearly five hundred of the wounded were sent to the village of
Ephrata after the battle and two hundred who died were buried there.

MANUFACTURES. 257
paper in the choicest manner with one smooth surface"
is less known.
The manufacture of glass, undertaken as already
stated, in 1762 by Henry William Stiegel, was exceed
ingly scarce during the War of Independence. The
disuse of English glass had become compulsory, and it
was quite impracticable to obtain it from other
countries. Lord Sheffield, who wrote in the year of the
peace, remarks on the existence of glass works iu
Pennsylvania, but asserted that not any quantity of
glass was made in America except for bottles. A
window glass manufactory had been established in New
Jersey. One other industry requires mention, that of tanning.
The Swedes were well supplied by the Swedish West
India Company with neat cattle from their native
country, and made their own leather shoes, and the
Dutch probably had tanneries. Like the Indians, these
early settlers wore dressed skins. The women too
wore jerkins and petticoats of the same material, and
their beds even, except the sheets, were composed of
the spoils of the chase. The Indians had a mode
of dressing leather, whereby it became very soft, and
the early colonists in the beginning made good use of
Indian leather. The skins were often embroidered and
painted in various styles, and the wearer presented a
grotesque appearance. Leather stockings or overalls
were charged in the accounts of William Penn at twenty-
two shillings, and painted skins at twelve shillings.
In 1704 the shoemakers, saddlers and others petitioned
for a law against the transportation of deer skins dressed
in the hair. In 172 1 the Legislature passed an elaborate
act relating to the tanning and currying of leather, and
17

258 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
regulating cordwainers and other artificers of leather.
At first interior towns were chiefly supplied with shoes
and leather from Philadelphia, but tanneries soon arose
in most of the older settlements. In Lancaster, the
manufacture of leather became an important business.
In York County, for a considerable period, there was
neither a shoemaker nor tanner. Shoes were bought in
Philadelphia and mended by itinerant cobblers who went
from house to house. Usually the tanning industry did
not tarry long behind the settlement of a town. It was
a necessary feature of every village, and especially as
long as communication between them was slow and im
perfect. Leather then was even more important than it
is now, because it was used so extensively for garments.
Pennsylvania soon developed in this direction as well
as in others, and took the lead in supplying New York
and the southern colonies with shoes and leather.
Tanned leather was among the exports of Philadelphia
in 1 73 1. The manufacture of leather and other kinds
of dressed or half dressed skins for clothing was a dis
tinct branch of the leather business in the principal
cities and large towns. Dog skin for jackets, vests,
breeches, etc., formed a part of a tailor's stock. In
Bradford's Mercury, Nathan Cowley, a skinner of
Philadelphia, announces his arrival "to dwell in Walnut
Street where the great number of persons may have
their buck and doe skins drest after the best manner,
and at reasonable rates." The buttons were made of
various materials; leather, glass, brass, tin and pewter.
The Indians also furnished large quantities of prepared
skius of wild animals. One of the most noted hunters
was Logan, the Mingo chief, who lived in Mifflin
County. He hunted the wild deer on the mountains

MANUFACTURES. 259
and sold the skins, dressed by his own hands, to the
white people. In their raw and prepared state they
were an important article of commerce, and their prices
were regularly quoted like other merchandise.

CHAPTER XVL
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Local government developed with the increase of
population, though the Dutch and Swedes were not
pectionally divided until after the English conquest
(1664). Then a code of law was adopted containing
something of the spirit of New England local legisla
tion. The country was divided into towns and parishes.
Over each town was a governing body consisting of a
constable and eight overseers, four of whom were
elected annually by the plurality of freeholders, while
a constable was chosen in the same manner from the
retiring overseers. When the constable was not present
and the exigency demanded immediate action, any
overseer could act as constable by carrying with him
the staff of office — a stafif six feet long with the king's
arms inscribed thereon.
The constable and overseers possessed both judicial
and legislative authority. They held the town court
and conld try an action for debt and trespass, not invol
ving more than five pounds, or, if exceeding that
amount, could submit it to arbitration. They had large
authority in conducting internal aflPairs ; they could
plant and build, sell and convey lots, assess taxes and
do many things of a prudential nature, making for
peace and good government. The constable, with the
consent of five overseers, could ordain needful constitu
tions, not of a criminal nature, or having a penalty not
(260)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 261
exceeding twenty shillings, subject to the approval of
the court of sessions or assizes. Besides all this
authority the constable performed fiscal and police
functions, and was the leading officer of the local
government. The parish also had a distinct organization. At the
head were a constable and overseers, who chose yearly
from their body two church wardens. The overseers
had charge of the levies and assessments for building
and repairing churches, providing for the poor, main
taining the minister, and in general for conducting the
affairs of the parish. The church wardens also had
prescribed duties, which consisted chiefly in making
presentments to the court of sessions of violations of
the law, swearing, profaneness, Sabbath-breaking,
drunkenness, fornication, adultery, and other abomin
able sins. The minister's office was prescribed with
great particularity. Besides other duties, he was to
attend to the cure of souls, to preach every Sunday,
pray for the King, Queen, Duke of York and royal
family, to administer the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper in the parish church and in the houses of sick
persons. Not until 1676 were many changes introduced by the
Duke of York in the law or government established by
the Dutch magistrates. In that year the Duke's laws,
which had been prepared by the colony of New York,
were, with the chief exception of the constable's
courts, put in force by Governor Andros. Arbitration
was recommended by the constable and overseers as a
substitute for the trial of small causes ; and courts
similar to the sessions held in the ridings of Yorkshire
were established. These tribunals were, in truth.

262 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
county courts, and the districts or places where they
were held are styled counties in the original court
records. The records of one of these primitive tribunals, that
of Upland, have been preserved. The county court pos
sessed reraarkable functions, combining executive,
judicial and legislative power. Grants of land were
made by it subject to the approval of the governor and
council ; conveyances of real estate were acknowledged
in open session and afterward were recorded ; letters of
administration were granted ; ways and bridges built ;
tobacco inspectors appointed ; and taxes levied. Besides
these functions many others were performed, from
directing the construction of a mill on the Schuylkill to
the building of fences. Church aflfairs also came under
its jurisdiction. The judical procedure was doubtless
crude, and attorneys were not allowed.
After Penn's purchase local government developed
more rapidly. Six counties were created with authority
to build and repair highways and bridges, and for this
purpose overseers could summon the inhabitants to
"come in and work" and impose a penalty on them
of twenty shillings if they refused. The county also
had authority to appoint viewers of pipe staves made
for transportation ; viewers of bread in market towns ;
appraisers of property taken in payment of debts;
public packers for inspecting meat for export ; viewers
of fences; and beadles to execute the law against cattle
running at large.
The more important expenditures of a county were to
support the poor, build and repair prisons, pay the
salaries of members of the Assembly and of the judges.
These charges were paid through the medium of a tax,

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 263
which by "The Great Law " of 1682 could be continued
only one year. The next year the Assembly provided
that a tax should be laid one-half on lands and one-half
on polls ; and non-resident landholders were to pay one-
half more than residents. Even at that early day the
Assembly regarded non-residents with less favor than
others. The legislative authority, instead of looking
on land and other forms of tangible wealth as exclusive
subjects of taxation, fastened its eye on persons, and
ever since has discriminated unfavorably against the
weakest and least able to resist its power. The levy in
each county was made up in open court by the magis
trates. Ten years afterward, the levy consisted of one penny
in the pound clear value on land and other realty, and a
poll-tax of six shillings on all free men who had been
out of servitude for six months if not worth one hundred
pounds or otherwise rated by the act ; but persons who
had many children and were indigent or in debt, and
did not own thirty pounds of personal and real estate,
were exempted. The members of the Assembly, or
any two of them from each county, with three of the
justices or other substantial freeholders, constituted a
board of assessment.
Warrants were issued by a justice of the peace to con
stables, directing them to bring before the assessors lists
of taxable persons and estates; when the assessment
was complete, collectors were appointed by the assess
ors, and all moneys collected by them were paid into
the hands of the treasurer designated by the governor.
The tax of 1696 was assessed in a similar way, by
members of the Assembly aud four justices or free
holders and was collected by the sheriff or other per-

264 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
sons appointed by the assessors. Three years afterward
the constitution of the board of assessors was changed.
It then consisted of three or more justices in each
county assisted by four or more substantial freeholders.
In 1693, when Fletcher was governor, a tax of one
penny per pound on real and personal estate was laid
for one year, for the support of the general government ;
and three years later a similar tax was laid for that
purpose. In 1725 there was another elaborate enactment. At
the annual elections for assemblymen, coroners and
sheriffs, three commissioners and six assessors were to
be chosen ; the commissioners were to perform the
functions previously discharged by the court of sessions ;
the assessors and commissioners were to hold a joint
meeting, annually, to calculate the public debts and
charges. Directions were to be issued by the commis
sioners directed to the constables of the several town
ships, commanding them to bring lists of all polls and
property subject to taxation to the assessors, who were
to flx the rate ; the assessors were to divide the county
into districts, and to appoint a collector for each one of
them. Aggrieved persons could apply to the commis
sioners as a board of equalization ; the commissioners
also were authorized to fine either the treasurer or the
assessors for the neglect of their duty ; while they in
turn were accountable to the court of sessions ; and all
fines were to be "added to the stock of the respective
counties." Eight years afterward the system was still
further developed by providing that commissioners
should not serve more than three years at one time, and
their accounts as well as those of the treasurer and
assessors were to be submitted annually to the justices

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 365
and grand jury. The grand jury's commissioners and
assessors with the concurrence of the justices were to be
the sole judges for building bridges, and also to let all
contracts for the construction and repair of such works.
This system thus developed continued without much
change until 1779, when two assistant assessors for each
township were appointed by the board composed, as
before, of three commissioners and six assessors. At
the same time a county assessor with two assistants was
to make the assessment for each district, instead of the
whole board acting for the county. In 1724 the office
of clerk of the commissioners, the prototype of the
modern county clerk, had been created.
The county organization of Pennsylvania during the
provincial period was without a parallel. In no other
colony was county government so clearly and fully
developed. The departure from the town or township,
the unit of government in New England, for the larger
organization of the county, was radical and fraught
with important consequences. Other states, that were
organized afterward, instead of adopting the town as the
unit of government, which had operated so successfully
in New England, and is still so efficient in that part of
the Union, adopted the Pennsylvania system of county
government. One of the important functions performed by the
local government was the care of the poor. The only
provision in the Duke of York's laws related to dis
tracted persons, who might be both very chargeable
and very troublesome, and so would prove too great a
hurden for one town alone to bear. Each town there
fore in the riding where such person happened to be
was to contribute towards the expense of maintaining

266 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA .
him. By Penn's "Great Law" of 1782 any county
where a person fell into decay and poverty and was not
able to maintain himself and children, or died leaving
orphans, was obliged to take care of him until the next
county court, when further provision was to be made
for his future comfortable subsistence. In 1705 an act
was passed for the erection of prisons and workhouses
in every county, for felons, thieves, vagrants, and loose
and idle persons.' Iu 1770 an elaborate act was passed
relating to the relief of the poor. By this the adminis
trative area for the exercise of the poor-law function
was the township or town, which corresponded with the
English parish, and in truth this act was largely
founded on English legislation, enacted during the
reigns of Elizabeth and Charles II. Thus the English
poor-law system was transferred to Pennsylvania. By
this system the overseers of the poor were appointed by
the magistrates and, with their consent, were to assess
and levy the necessary taxes on the clear yearly value
of all the real and personal estate within the district,
and as frequently within the year as might be neces
sary. The funds were to be employed in providing
proper places and houses, and a convenient stock of
hemp, flax, thread and other wares and stuflfs for setting
to work such poor persons as applied for relief and were
capable of working; also in relieving the poor, old,
blind and others who were not able to work and also
poor children who were bound out as apprentices. The
overseers could establish poor-houses and deny relief to
any person who refused to be maintained in them. The
' In 1718 an act was passed for erecting workhouses in the respect
ive counties ; there was further legislation for Lancaster as well as
other counties in 1763, and at later periods.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 267
poor-rate or tax was compulsory, and a defaulter might
be imprisoned. The order of relief and the poor-box
were established as checks on the overseers. The over
seers of Philadelphia were required to account to the
magistrates who acted as auditors, but in townships
regularly elected auditors were introduced, who were
chosen by the freeholders "by tickets in writing." To
serve as an overseer was made a compulsory duty and
no compensation was allowed.'
Besides the townships and counties for building and
maintaining highways and caring for the poor, borough
governments were established, of which Germantown
was the first. By its charter of 1689 six members were
chosen committee-men, who with the bailiflf and bur
gesses, were the general court of the corporation of
Germantown. Once a year the court met and elected
officers taken from the membership of the corporation.
Thus the borough began its political career by limiting
the right of full citizenship to a select few. One of the
provisions declared that the " yeomen by the name of
bailiff, burgesses aud commonalty and their successors
were at all times thereafter to be able and capable in
law, with joint stock to trade, and that the same or any
part thereof to have, take, purchase, possess, and enjoy
manors, messuages and lands, tenements and rents of
the yearly value of _^i500 per annum."
Having a court of their own, the citizens thought
that they ought to be independent of the court of Phila
delphia County. They lived to themselves, settled
their own quarrels, their court ordered the overseers of
ways to make roads, and the county was not regarded
' See Report of Poor Law Commission, 1890.

268 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
as essential to their happiness or welfare. Once a year
the people met for the purpose of having the ordinances
read aloud to them. A writer who has described the
history of this borough, thus apostrophises : "Oh ye
modern legislators! Think how few must have been
the statutes, and how plain the language in which they
were written, in that happy community."
Only with difficulty did the corporation maintain its
existence, and in one of his letters to Penn, Pa.storius
expressed his fear of not getting men enough to serve
in the general court for "conscience sake," and hoped
to find a remedy in the expected arrival of some emi
grants. It was said that " they would do nothing but
work and pray, and their mild consciences made them
opposed to the swearing of oaths and would not suffer
them to use harsh weapons against thieves and tres
passers." Finally, in 1707, as not enough persons were
willing to serve, the elections were not held, and the
charter was forfeited. Thus ended the first borough of
Pennsylvania. Several others were created during the provincial
period. The borough of Chester was established in
1701 ; that of Bristol in 1720 ; of Lancaster in 1742, of
Carlisle in 1782 and of Reading the next year. In
1720, when Sir William Keith was governor^ the
settlers of Bristol petitioned for a borough charter.
It defined the boundaries of the town, described the
streets, regulated their width, and required that they
should be kept free. Two burgesses, one high con
stable, and such other officers as were necessary to
keep the peace of the borough, were to be elected. The
burgess first chosen was styled the chief burgess or
chief magistrate, and the other the second burgess.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 269
The officers were to be fined not exceeding _^io for a
burgess, and five for a constable, if they refused to serve.
A fruitful subject of legislation was the encroach
ment of buildings on the streets, another was the stray
ing of animals. The usual ordinances against fire were
proclaimed. Between Bristol and Burlington was a
ferry which required much legislative attention. The
council leased the ferry and fixed the rate of tolls.
When the time came for paying the rent, the ferryman
usually represented that his tolls were too light to pay
all, and the council was merciful enough to release him
with paying half. The tax rate was fixed by the
council. In 1733 the tax levied was twopence per
pound on all assets, and six shillings a head on all
single men. In 1745 the limit of taxation was increased
to threepence per pound. The wants of the settlers
were fewer than those of the present generation, and
the old town pump was a sufficient fire apparatus.
Two important privileges were granted to Bristol and
the other boroughs — markets and fairs. At first, when
stores were few, they served a useful purpose in facili
tating trade, just as they did for many centuries in
Europe, and do still in eastern Russia. But they
were not needed to stimulate the growth of civic life in
Pennsylvania, as they were, so Henry the Fowler
thought, among the forest-loving Germans. The
markets were held in Bristol on every Thursday and the
fairs for two days twice a year. Many things were
bought and sold, including general merchandise and
live stock. They were attended by all classes some to
make purchases, others for a frolic ; horse-racing, drink
ing, gambling and stealing, were the prevailing amuse
ments and customs. On the last day of the fair masters

270 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
permitted their slaves to attend, who regarded the day
as a grand jubilee. The carousing and worldliness
troubled the worthy leaders of the borough, and conse
quently, in 1773, they resolved that the fair was no
longer needed because stores were so numerous ; and
that the debauchery, idleness and drunkenness conse
quent on the meeting of the lowest class of people were
real evils, and called for redress. They had no
authority to abolish them, as they were granted by
charter, and though urging the Legislature to do this for
them, that body did not comply until 1796. As other
boroughs had quite the same experience with their fairs,
they were abandoned generally. Toward the close of
the century, agricultural and mechanical fairs rose as
survivors and substitutes.
From the government of boroughs let us turn to the
government of Philadelphia. Prior to 1701 what kind
of government existed there is not clearly known.
Those who have devoted careful study to the inquiry
think that "there must have been some local authority
exercised prior to 1701," though the traces of it " are
vague and shadowy." In that year Penn granted a
charter closely resembling that of many a city of
Europe, which was dearly prized as the birthright of
their liberties. Nor is the reason for thus cherishing
them obscure, for they were concessions often bought
from the king by paying a heavy price. One of his
ways of getting means to wage war was by the granting
of municipal privileges. Thus during the Middle Ages
civil freedom grew most rapidly in the cities. It
was purchased with the wealth gained in trade, and is
one of the noblest uses to which it was ever dedicated.
Many a charter has been wrested from a king by taking

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 27 1
advantage of his needs and of relieving him on condi
tion of granting larger privileges to the relievers.
Penn's charter was a gift, and the government thereby
established was to be administered by a small number
of persons. The corporation was of a kind termed
"close," consisting of a mayor, recorder, eight alder
men and twelve common councilmen. They did not
act in a representative capacity ; were not elected by the
people. Penn selected the first names and put them in
the charter, who thenceforth filled all vacancies. The
mayor, who was one of the eight aldermen, was
elected annually by the other aldermen and common
councilmen ; and all, including the recorder, held their
offices for life. Their number could be increased, but
the mode of selecting thera could not be changed.
As there was not much opposition to this form of
government, it endured until the Revolution. There
was some friction, some inefficiency, and often a lack of
revenue. The Revolution, like a bolt of lightning,
shivered every corporation into ruins. The Legislature
hastened to authorize all constables, overseers of the
poor, supervisors of the highways and the wardens and
street commissioners to continue to exercise their func
tions, and not long afterward a mode of electing justices
of the peace was established. The courts, as we have
seen, were still open. The occupation of the city by
the British suddenly put an end even to the exercise of
these imperfect powers. On the re-occupation of the
city by the Americans it was governed for a long period
by the military, to which all submitted, notwithstanding
the harshness of such rule, because there seemed to be
no other kind of government to put in its place. Such
a government could not last. In 1783 a petition largely

272 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
signed by the citizens of Philadelphia was presented to
the Legislature and referred to the city members. A
bill was prepared, and though the condition of the city
government was weak and nerveless, closely border
ing on anarchy, final action was delayed. Strangely
enough, there were those who thought "it was worth
while to consider seriously" whether the bill, if passed,
would "contribute to the advantage or injury of the
people. ' ' One of the political skeptics of the times ad
mitted that when incorporated towns exempted, as they
did for centuries in Europe, a number of people frora
the anarchy and slavery of vassalage, promoting arts and
industry, reviving liberty, and supporting "the interests
of human nature," they served a wise purpose " But,
in a land of freedom, where every-^ man is entitled to the
blessings of liberty, to select a particular number of
people from the rest of the community, and form them
into a distinct society, will be found to have quite a
diflferent eflfect ; " consequently, so the writer continued,
"in modern times, the people in those countries in
Europe which are most free desert the corporate towns
for the same reason that they flocked into them when
they were first erected."
The writer then seeks to show that a charter would
abridge the liberties of the people and therefore was not
desirable. Another difficulty perplexed his mind. "One
of the powers with which the corporation is proposed to
be vested is that of making by-laws. These by-laws
will impose an additional duty of obedience on the
citizens. We must obey the laws of the State and the
laws of the corporation. We shall be the subjects of two
Legislatures." Already the Assembly had passed more
laws than were well understood or easily remembered.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 273
"We shall then be in the wretched situation of serving
two masters without knowing whom to obey."
The truth was, so another writer of the time asserted,
" these persons intend by the designed incorporation to
establish an aristocratic influence within the city, which
may operate over the State Having failed in their
open attack on our democratic constitution, whicli they
detest, because it holds out equal liberty to all, they
now watch for and lay hold of every opportunity to
undermine the fair fabric." Continuing in the same
strain, "they hoped to fix the inhabitants of Phila
delphia with their consent iu the thraldom of being
governed by a distinct legislature, needlessly invested
with the dangerous authority of binding their fellow
citizens by ordinances."
Looking across a century, these objections sound
strangely in our ears. Greatly needed as was a gov
ernment of some kind, many were afraid almost of the
shadow of authority. The Continental Congress,
denouncing its exercise by Great Britain, was afraid to
exercise authority itself, and more than once the
Revolution seemed to be dying when fresh life could
have been easily supplied. The people believed in
liberty, and liberty meant not much governing, save in
regulative directions, and few laws. To endow men
with authority to exercise civic power was to narrow the
circle of personal freedom, besides incurring the danger
of narrowing the circle still more through wanton
action. Slowly did the idea- develop that liberty might
not be in the least endangered by stronger institutions
and laws. To-day the people are centralizing power in
order to gain public responsibility and efficiency and to
serve the well being of all.
18

274 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
After a lengthy debate, the Assembly passed the
charter, under which the city for a long period lived.
Henceforth its growth was to be very unlike that of the
earlier period; though time was to reveal new diffi
culties and require more changes. Such is the history
of every attempt at institution-making ; for the present
generation, however wise, pure and unselfish, can only
prepare an imperfect way and for a short distance into
the labyrinth of the future.
At this period there was a movement to incorporate
boroughs in Reading, York and Carlisle, but oppon
ents appeared who questioned whether these com
munities were not assaulting popular government by
creating a species of rival republic in the State. " In
the provinces," said one of them, " which form the con
federation of the Low Dutch, every large town, from the
ancient times of the dukes of Burgundy, communities
of this nature still subsist which are possessed of such
privileges as constitute them distinct republics within
the state, a circumstance very unfavorable to unity and
dispatch in the national councils." If these things were
so, he contended, why should the inhabitants of Phila
delphia, or of any of the county towns in the State
seek after any new plans of police, or other changes?
After describing the mode of governing Philadelphia,
he could discover no use for incorporating the city.
On the contrary, he feared that by forming and marshal
ing the citizens into a body politic, "apparently in
formidable array," the country people would become
jealous, as they were apt to be of the town people;
while the city people might be "nothing the better for
their terrific form." Trenton had yielded up its
franchise, the inhabitants having learned from experi-

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 275
ence that it was more vexatious than helpful. His
objections and fears fell on hardened ears, for the
boroughs were established ; and were continued for
Reading and York until they expanded into cities.

CHAPTER XVII.
HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION.
When the first settlers came to Pennsylvania, the
rivers and Indian paths were the only highways. The
Indians, says Proud, "seldom travelled so regularly as
to be traced or followed by footsteps, except perhaps
from one of their towns to another." In hunting they
were like ships at sea, going and leaving no track. Yet
there was an Indian path across Pennnsylvania from
east to west, passing through the Juniata Valley, and
crossing the Allegheny Mountains at Kittanning Point.
War parties of Indians and white traders and settlers
used this route. It was not passable for wheeled
vehicles, but only for men and horses. This was the
leading route to the Ohio until 1753, when the Ohio
Company partly completed a road from Cumberland to
Fort Du-Quesne
The building of roads was not undertaken for several
years, though a statute was passed in 1699 describing
the mode of laying them out. At first these were short,
extending from the landing-places to places not far
inland. When Braddock started in 1755 on his ill-fated
expedition, no road had been built over the mountains.
The army was preceded by a body of men who cut
down trees and made a rough road for horses and
wagons, which were procured through the eflforts of
Pranklin. For each wagon with four good horses and
a driver, fifteen shillings per day were paid; for two
(276)

HIGH IVA YS AND TRANSPOR TA TION. 277
horses with a pack-saddle, or other saddle and furniture,
two shillings, and for each horse without a saddle,
eighteen pence. For wagons and horses lost or de
stroyed their owners were to be fairly compensated.
The losses amounted to nearly _;^20,ooo, from which
Franklin was relieved by General Shirley, who ap
pointed commissioners to examine the claims, and after
ward ordered their payment.
Before Penn's time, when the southern counties were
under the dominion of the Duke of York, regulations
had been adopted for making roads, the deputy-gov
ernor and council directing the work. In Penn's land
grants, as an addition of five per cent, was added for
roads, it was not needful when laying them out to make
any compensation to the owners. As the land in
creased in value by settling the country, the value of
the land taken was often, though not always, assessed
in opening roads. When the turnpike was built from
Lancaster to Philadelphia in 1733, it was decided that
if the Legislature did not think fit to give compensation
to the owners, this need not be done, as it could be
taken for public use in accordance with Penn's original
grant. In 1700 the Assembly declared that roads should be
laid out by direction of the governor and council. The
roads were to be fifty feet wide, and six men -were to be
appointed by the county court to lay them out. Over
seers, similarly appointed and serving seven years, were
endowed with authority to compel the inhabitants to
niake repairs. Roads were thus built and repaired until
1772, when an elaborate statute was passed. Free
holders were to meet and choose surveyors of highways,
who were authorized to lay a tax, not exceeding nine-

278 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
pence on the pound, for opening and repairing high
ways within their respective townships. The law pre
scribed for repairing roads laid out on the division line
between townships, the appointment of supervisors, the
time of service, the mode of collecting taxes and their
deduction by tenants from their rents. If a tenant had
taken land on a lease for a year or more, and paid the
taxes imposed, or his property had been detained for
them, he could deduct the amount from his rent. But
landlords were permitted to make any contract with
their tenants they pleased concerning the payment of
the tax. Finally the electors were to choose four free
holders to settle the supervisor's accounts.
In the early days there were many ferries, because
the people could hardly afford to build bridges. The
Assembly fixed the rates and legislated concerning their
maintenance. Sometimes the proprietary claimed an
interest in them, gave licenses, and converted them
into monopolies. Thus a ferry was established on the
Lehigh at Bethlehem in 1756, for which an annual
rent of five shillings was paid. The person to whom
it was granted was given the exclusive right for the
period of seven years, paying therefor "five English
silver shillings or value thereof in coin current, accord
ing as the exchange shall be," between the Province
and London. Such a proprietary right does not har
monize with legislative action regulating ferries, giving
the proceeds to the adjoining townships, or to the ferry
men who were willing to conduct them.
At a later period regulations were established for
building bridges. In some places the law provided for
the building of a bridge by two or more townships,
and dividing the income between them. But if any

HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION. 279
individual was willing to embark in the enterprise, the
law provided that he might take all of the receipts.
In some cases, he was permitted to occupy land near the
ferry, at a reasonable rent, determined by the township
in which it was located.
The Province authorized loans for bridge purposes,
and divided them between townships and counties.
One of the laws provided that this should be done by
the order of the county court, and if the creek bounded
or limited two counties, the expense of the bridge
should be borne equally by them. The governor and
his council were to make agreements for their construc
tion, and to superintend the work.
Among the earliest highways was one from Philadel
phia to New York, extending along the eastern side of
the Delaware. In the beginning it was a horse-way.
The turnpike from Philadelphia to Morrisville, opposite
Trenton, through Bristol, followed essentially the same
route. It was opened in 1677 and called the king's path.
There were not many roads in fair condition before the
close of the eighteenth century, the trees and stumps
remaining to impede and annoy. A road from Phila
delphia to Chester, called the queen's road, was estab
lished in 1706. The old York road was located in 1711,
and a branch to Doylestown and Easton was laid out
eleven years later. In 1733 a road was surveyed from
Lancaster to Philadelphia, and three years later was ex
tended to Harris's Ferry. An important early road to
the Susquehanna passed through Strasburg, eight miles
from Lancaster, and was called the Strasburg road. In
1735 a road was laid out from Harris's Ferry, through
Cumberland County, towards the Potomac.
Wagons, even among farmers, were slowly introduced.

28o HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
At first sleds were used, both in winter and in summer.
The best farmers had carts on their farms by the middle
of the eighteenth century. In the earliest wagons
little or no iron was used, and the wheels generally were
of solid wood, cut with a saw from the end of a log.
The strength of two horses was required to draw them,
as the rocks and stumps remained, and the streams were
not bridged. The farmers were better furnished with
wagons at an earlier date in the southern counties than
those iu the northern. The Germans had a large,
strong wagon, the ship of inland commerce, covered
with linen cloth, an essential of the German family.
By this wagon, drawn, by four or five Conestoga horses,
they conveyed to market, over the roughest roads, two
or three thousand pounds of produce. After the coun
try became more settled, in September and October,
fifty to one hundred of these wagons might be seen
daily on the Lancaster aud Reading roads, going to
Philadelphia. The roads were gradually improved, and within a
century after the landing of Penn, when Chastellux
visited the country, he remarked on the excellence of
the roads around Philadelphia. The one from Bristol
to that city was wide and handsome, passing through
several towns or villages. One could not go five hun
dred paces without seeing beautiful houses.
Pleasure carriages were the last vehicles to appear.
Penn had one and also a "kalash." Even in 1761 only
eighteen chariots were enumerated in a general list
supposed to be complete, and in 1772 there were only
eighty-four ; but near the close of the century they in
creased rapidly. In 1728 Thomas Skelton had in
Chestnut Street a four-wheel chaise for hire. For four

HIGHWA YS AND TRANSPOR TA TION. 381
persons to Germantown he charged twelve shillings six
pence ; to Frankford, ten shillings, and to Gray's Ferry,
seven shillings sixpence to ten shillings. In 1746 a
cooper in Dock Street advertised two chairs and some
saddle horses in the following manner :
" Two handsome chairs
With very good gears
With horses or without.
To carry friends about.
Likewise saddle horses if gentlemen please.
To carry them handsomely, much at their ease ;
Is to be hired by Abraham Carpenter, cooper.
Well known as a very good cask-hooper."
Family livery stables and horses were not known ;
and those who desired horses to drive procured them of
others who kept them for business purposes. Merchants
hired the horses of their draymen ; a man who kept
two or three horses for porterage usually had a plain
chair for such occasions.
When the pioneers first crossed the Allegheny Moun
tains, and made their homes on the tributaries of the
Ohio, the chief means of communication were by
canoe on the streams, and by horseback through the
forest. The only guides for the traveler were trees
blazed or notched. Long after the Braddock expedition,
the pack-horse system was the only method of transpor
tation to the East over the AUeghenies. Braddock's
trail was the favorite route, but some deflections were
made by way of Bedford and Fort Ligonier, which was
the military road to Fort Pitt. Household furniture
was carried on pack-horses furnished with pack-saddles.
Doddridge in his Notes, one of the most valuable works
on frontier life, describes the mode of using pack-

282 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
horses. Every family collected what peltry and fur
could be obtained throughout the year to send over the
mountains for barter. In the autumn, after seeding
time, the families united and started on their journey.
A master driver was selected, who was assisted by one
or more young men. The horses were fitted with pack-
saddles, to which was fastened a pad of hobbles, made
of hickory withes ; a bell and collar ornamented their
necks. Their food was carried in bags and some of
these were left in diflferent places to be eaten -on the
return of the caravan. Large wallets were filled with
bread, jerk, boiled ham and cheese for the travelers.
At night, after feeding, the horses were put into a
pasture, or turned into the woods and hobbled, and the
bells were "opened." Long files of pack-horses might
be seen laden with poultry, pork, butter, fiax and even
live calves and sheep. During their journey they were
fastened together, the head of a horse to the tail of the
horse in front. Sometimes these trains numbered more
than one hundred. Iron and salt were the most
essential articles purchased in the East. Two bushels
of salt, weighing one hundred and sixty-eight pounds,
were the common load for a horse. At a later period
grain was converted into whiskey and carried in kegs
placed on each side of a horse Grain was not trans
portable in its original form, but was when converted
into this more concentrated and valuable product.
At an earlier day this had been the ordinary mode of
transportation in Eastern Pennsylvania. At first, for
several years wheat was the only marketable product;
then butter, poultry, fresh meat and other things were
taken. At a later period tongue-carts drawn by two
horses came intp use, which in turn were supplanted by

HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION. 283
tire-wagons. When this change happened, the womeu,
who hitherto had usually conducted the marketing,
retired in favor of the men. Doubtless many a woman
regretted her inability to continue her visits to the city
and look on fresh scenes, to meet friends and learn
news to relate to others on her return.
After the introduction of stage lines, pack-horse
drivers grew very jealous of their competitors. Each
tried to make life uncomfortable and wretched for the
other. One of the wicked devices of a stage driver was
to go so near the edge of the road as to compel the
unlucky passing pack-horse driver to jump off" the
bank, or be run over. And for many years this state of
warfare between the two classes continued.
Notwithstanding the poor roads, a postal service was
established in 1683 between Philadelphia, New Castle,
Chester and other settlements, the rates of postage vary
ing from five to ninepence Notice of the times of
arrival aud departure of the mail was posted on the
meeting-house door and other public places. Ten years
later, in 1693, a geueral post-office was organized by
Andrew Hamilton, in Philadelphia, from which letters
and packets were sent into all the colonies. He was
authorized to receive postage on all letters conveyed by
post. On foreign letters from Europe, the West Indies
or anywhere beyond the seas, twopence were received on
each single letter. If packets were not demanded
within forty-eight hours, and the postmaster sent them
to the houses of the persons to whom they were
directed, a penny more was added. On all foreign
letters bound outward, delivered into the post-office,
twopence were received on each letter or packet. The
rates for letters between New York aud Philadelphia

284 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
were fourpence-halfpenny ; between that city and Con
necticut, nine pence, Rhode Island twelve pence, Boston
fifteen pence, and to places beyond nineteen pence. Be
tween Philadelphia, Lewes, Maryland and Virginia the
postage was nine pence, and to any place within eighty
miles of Philadelphia, fourpence-halfpenny. Public
letters were received and sent without charge, and the
post passed over all ferries within the Province without
paying toll.
In 1700 John Hamilton of New York devised a post-
office system for which he obtained a patent, and after
ward sold it to the crown. For several years Benjamin
Franklin was postmaster-general, and he introduced
several improvements. The mails were carried on
horse-back between Boston, New York, Philadelphia
and Baltimore. The time from Boston to Baltimore
was reckoned by weeks.
In 1756 John Butler established a stage line frora
Philadelphia to New York, by way of Perth Amboy and
Trenton, which went over the route in three days. In
1765 a second line of stages was placed on this route,
and the fare was reduced two cents per mile. The
stages were covered Jersey wagons without springs. In
the same year a weekly line was established between
Philadelphia and Baltimore, and soon after, a third line
of stages with spring seats, was established between
Philadelphia and New York, which made the journey
in two days in summer, and three in the winter. The
fare was twenty shillings. Letters for Chester and
Bucks counties were delivered at the post-office in
Philadelphia. In July, 1742, a weekly post and express between
Philadelphia and Bethlehem was organized by the

HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION. 285
Moravians. Four postillions were appointed. There
were two agents in Bethlehem and two in Philadelphia,
and one iu Faulkner's swamp, now in Montgomery
County. In 1777 a bi-weekly post route was opened between
Wyoming and Hartford in Connecticut ; Prince Bryant
was engaged as post-rider for nine months; and the
expenses of the route were paid by private subscription.
During the Pennamite war letters and communications
were sent by private messengers. On one occasion the
wife of Lieutenant Jamison left Wyoming for Easton
where her father with twenty other Connecticut settlers
were confined in jail. The letters were carefully folded
and concealed iri her hair, which, in those days, was
formed into a roll on the top of the head. On the way,
at night, she was discovered near Bear Creek and
arrested by Colonel Patterson, the Pennamite com
mander. Happily the letters were not found by the
suspicious Pennamite, and she was permitted to con
tinue, reaching Easton safely, and delivering the letters
to her father and other prisoners.
The inhabitants used the rivers for highways, and
this was one of the reasons for settling along their
banks. In 1771 the Assembly declared the Susquehanna
river a public highway. Portions of the laud along the
river had been cultivated for many years, and the in
habitants needed some convenient avenue for their grain
and other products. They proposed to expend a con
siderable sum of money to improve its navigation, and
the Assembly appropriated an additional sum, and
appointed commissioners to superintend the work. The
gravel bars were cleared away ; trees and stumps were
removed ; a channel was opened and tow paths were

286 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
made along the rapids. In a few months the river was
navigable from Wrightsville to Wyoming, and after
ward from the Chesapeake to the New York line.
For a loug time the canoe was a popular craft. It
was hewn out of a single trunk, and could carry
several tons. One of them, a leviathan of its kind,
carried one hundred and forty bushels of wheat. On
one occasion canoes were used in a very original
manner. Some persons arrived on the eastern bank of
the Susquehanna, who desired to cross with their
horses. Finding no other kind of craft, they fastened
two canoes together, and putting the hinder feet of their
horses in one and their fore feet in the other, started for
the other .shore, where they safely .landed.
The first advance in the means of transportation on
the Delaware was a boat, "The Durham," built at a
town of that name on the river, a few miles below
Easton. The construction of these boats began in
1750. They were sixty feet long, eight feet wide, two
feet deep, and when laden with fifteen tons drew twenty
inches of water. The stem and bow were sharp and
decked ; a running-board extended the whole length on
either side. The boat carried a mast with two sails and
was manned by a crew of five men. One remained at
the stern with a long oar for steering, and two on each
side with setting poles for pushing them forward. The
Schuylkill boats were of the same construction, but
larger, and were often manned by more persons.'
' "The boats seldom come down but with freshes, especially from
the Minnesinks. The freight thence to Philadelphia is 8 d a bushel
for wheat, and 3 s a barrel for flour. From the Forks and other places
below, 20 s a ton for pig iron, 7 d a bushel for wheat, 2 s 6 d a barrel
for flour." Pownall's Topographical Description of the Middle
British Colonies, p. 35.

HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION. 287
The rivers were valuable as fisheries. They abounded
in shad and other kinds of fish ; large quantities were
annually caught. Excellent oysters were found in the
Delaware near its mouth and in the bay. To facilitate
fishing, fish-dams were erected in the rivers, but these
impeded navigation. Oue of the early boatmen of the
Schuylkill, with a canoe-load of wheat, started down the
river, and striking a fish-dam, nearly lost his senses
and cargo. Another would have lost his wheat had
he not leaped iuto the river and prevented his cauoe
from swinging around against the current. Another
whose name is preserved to us, Jonas Jones, had the
same watery experience. Proceeding on his journey,
in his wet clothes, they were frozen stiff on his
back, by means whereof, he quaintly remarked, he
underwent a great deal of misery. No one will ques
tion the truth of Jonas's sensations. These obstruc
tions multiplied. They were generally placed where
they were most detrimental to navigation, below the
mouths of creeks, and where islands and shallow waters
aided in their construction. Boatmen, enraged by the
presence of these dams, often broke through them and
wantonly destroyed them, and also the weirs, baskets
and other apparatus for decoying fish. Nay, the fisher
men charged them at times with stealing the proceeds
of their labor. For many a }'ear, the excitement along
the beautiful valley of the Schuylkill between the fish
ermen aud the boatmen was intense. Many a contest
was waged far more serious than that of words. The
Assembly again and again tried to quiet their troubles.
Then the fishermen below quarreled with those above;
those who lived near the inouth were accused of getting
too many, and of not permitting any to go up-stream.

288 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Again the Assembly attempted to regulate times and
quantities. Then those above had a very exhaustive
way of fishing. Setting their nets so that nothing
could go below, they would begin a considerable dis
tance up stream and with brooms, and other appropriate
apparatus, strike the water and startle the fish south
ward. In due time all were netted. Thus between the
fishermen and the boatmen, and between the fisher
men themselves, the Schuylkill river society for years
was lively, if not happy. The same complaints and
events occurred on the Lehigh, Susquehanna and other
rivers. Sometimes fleets of canoes would be formed for
the purpose of destroying all fish dams, weirs, and baskets
in the Schuylkill. On such occasions the fishermen
would unite to protect their property. If any one were
unlucky enough to get fast with his canoe, or venture
too near the shore, the fishermen would bring their
artillery to bear on him in the form of a shower of
stones. They were very hard, harder than heads, so the
heads rather than the stones yielded and called on the
magistrates for assistance. As these officials had no
jurisdiction over the stones along the river, the fisher
men, thus amply supplied with free ammunition, could
hardly be prevented, especially in the presence of
curious, if not admiring spectators, from displaying
their skill in throwing them ; consequently at times, the
navigation of the Schuylkill, next to fighting the
Indians, was the most wretched business of the period.

CHAPTER XVIII.
CLIMATE AND HEALTH.
The climate of Pennsylvania has greatly changed
since the coming of the first settlers. Every traveler
of the early time who visited the country was impressed
with its beauty and fine climate. When the enthusi
astic Brissot came, he remarked that in dry weather the
air had a peculiar elasticity which rendered heat or cold
less insupportable than they were in places more humid.
The air never became heavy and fatiguing except when
the rains were not followed by the beneficent north
west winds. During the three weeks he was in the
Province, in August and Septeraber, he experienced uo
languor of body, nor depression of spirits, though the
heat was very great. Prodigal in wealth of forest and
stream, nature did not deal less kindly in endowing
Pennsylvania with a mild, equable climate, under which
both man and beast flourished.
Ere long a change was felt. By destroying the
forests, the fields were bathed in sunlight and the waters
of the streams were drawn to the clouds. The change
was marked by many thoughtful persons, and was
ascribed by all to the same cause. " Many creeks," says
Brissot, " and even rivers have disappeared by degrees,
and this is to be expected iu a country where forests
give place to cultivated fields." The Swedish scientist,
Kalm, during his travels made a similar observation :
"The mills, which sixty years ago were built on
19 (289)

290 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA .
rivers, and at that time had a sufficient supply of water
almost all the year long, have at present so little that
they cannot be used but after a heavy rain, or when the
snow melts in spring. This decrease of water, in part,
arises from the great quantity of land which is now cul
tivated, and from the extirpation of great forests for that
purpose." Great droughts followed, one of which was
experienced in 1782. This was so severe that the
Indian corn did not mature, the meadows failed, and
the soil became so inflammable that in some places it
caught fire, aud the surface was burned. In contrast
with the excessively dry weather of some seasons, a
vast quantity of water fell in others, injuring the crops.
Happily the country was so large that a general scarcity
was never known, either by reason of the drought, or of
excessive rain. The usual annual quantity of rain was
thirty-five inches.
If the people suflfered from drought and excessive
rain as a consequence of disrobing the country of its
natural water protection, in some respects the health of
the people was improved by these changes. One of the
most common causes of early suffering was malaria ; in
the Lower Counties especiall)-, the people suflfered
terribly from this malady. Its visitations are by no
means extinct, but are very light compared with its
visitations in the earlier provincial days. Au old settler
remarked to Brissot that the visages of the people were
less pale than they were thirty or forty years before, and
that both " centennaries " and " septuagenaries " had
increased. The Province, in the earliest times, was visited occa
sionally by an earthquake, and the one that shook
Philadelphia on the arrival of John Penn in 1763 was

CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 291
the precursor of the political one that shook the
country on his departure in July, 1776. In 1732
another earthquake visited Pennsylvania, New England
and Canada. Five years later, when the well known
prince from Mount Lebanon, Sheik Sidi, was traveling
here, another performance of the same kind came oflf,
but no record is left describing his impressions of the
event. The snow, also, was a more frequent and abundant
visitor. At times it was so deep in the villages that all
including women were immediately set to work to clear
the way between the houses. With the destruction of
the forest, the snow fell in smaller quantities. The
winter of 1740-1 was long remembered as the "winter
of deep snow." It lay on the ground four or five feet
deep, from Christmas to the beginning of March ; and
horses could safely walk on its firm crust. Those who
had cut down trees were surprised in the spring to see
the stumps standing six and seven feet high.
If the . winters were no longer, they were often
severer than they are now, the Delaware freezing over
many miles below Philadelphia. The summers too
were cooler, with monthly visitations of frost some years,
and a longer duration of vegetable and plant life.
Such, in brief, was the climate during the provincial
period of our history. Oue of the persons met by
Brissot was a profound believer in the theory that the
activity of the inhabitants could be measured by the
rapidity of its rivers and the variations of its atmos
phere. He could perceive dullness and indecision of
the Virginians in the slow movement of the Potomac,
while the rapid currents of the rivers of the north were
in harmony with the activity of the people of New

292 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
England. Furthermore, he believed that the health of
the persons was largely dependent on variations of the
air, and activity in bodily movements. The Friends
lived the longest, the Moravians next, and the Presby
terians were the third on the list. Many diseases and
deaths were ascribed to sudden variations in the
atmosphere. Doctor Rush gave as examples, the hard
winter of 1780, the hot summer of 1782, and the rainy
summer of 1788.
The most common disease was phthisis. It was
unknown to the original inhabitants of the country,
and consequently was the result of European habits of
life transported to the Province. It was more common
in the town than in the country. The physicians
attributed this disease to diflferent causes ; to the exces
sive use of hot drinks like tea and coflfee, to excessive
sleeping and the use of feather beds, to e'xcessive meat
eating and to the excessive use of spiritous liquors.
Women, especially Quaker women, were more frequently
victims than men because they did not take enough
exercise. Brissot said this was doubtless due to their
gravity and immobile habits formed iu early life, pre
served for hours in their silent meetings. To other
women besides the Friends, attacked in the same
manner, different causes were ascribed ; excessive danc
ing, the drinking of too much cold water, the eating of
unripe fruits, the drinking of boiling tea, insufficient
clothing in winter and lack of attention to sudden
changes of weather. The Friends were more reasonable
in all these regards ; among them, however, was the
fatal neglect of exercise. Brissot remarks : " To pre
serve good health, a family should have the gaiety of a
woman of fashion, with the prudence and caution of
a Quaker."

CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 293
Another common disease in those days was sore
throat, which when putrid was mortal. It was gen
erally caused by excessive heat, cold drinks and careless
dressing. Influenza was a common disease ; likewise
fever and ague ; not limiting its ravages to marshy
places and the sea coast, it often invaded healthy
regions. It was combated by Peruvian bark ; but the
most successful remedy was a journey into the moun
tains or Northern states. From its assaults negroes
were free. Their exemption was attributed to the
custom they preserved of keeping fires always in their
cabins, even in the hottest season. They regarded ex
cessive heat as a guarantee of health, and even a
negress, when laboring in the field under a burning sun,
would expose her infant to its power, rather than lay it
under the cooling shade of a tree. Other maladies
were pleurisy and pneumonia, while the small-pox was
a constant and much dreaded visitor. The yellow
fever, a terrible scourge, came at a later period.'
A frequent cause of suflfering was from the bites of
rattlesnakes. To cure these, a variety of remedies was
known and applied. Sometimes a portion of the snake,
if caught, was laid on the wound to draw out the
poison. Many of the remedies applied were eflfective.
Doddridge, who studied the subject carefully, says that
if a person were bitten where the blood-vessels were
neither numerous nor large, the bite soon healed under
any kind of treatment. Horses were frequently killed
'"The first epidemic which prevailed in this county was in the
year 1763 ; it was a nervous fever and very mortal ; it was more
general along the Juniata river, but it also extended widely over the
interior of the country." Bank's Letter, Collections of Hist. Society,
p. 66.

294 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
by them, as they were generally bitten around the nose,
which contained numerous blood-vessels. For the con
trary reason, hogs were rarely killed. The animal gen
erally took immediate revenge for the injury by tearing
the serpent to pieces and devouring it.
Many diseases were ascribed, especially in the central
and western part of the country, to the power of
witches. On children more frequently they inflicted
strange and incurable diseases, especially on the internal
organs, dropsy of the brain, rickets and the like. The
witches destroyed cattle by shooting them with hair
balls and other inscrutable weapons. They often did
still worse things, transforming men into horses, and
after bridling- them, riding them at full speed over hill
and dale. Wizards also abounded possessing similar
mischievous powers. Happily, instead of using thera
for bad purpases, they were used to counteract the evil
influences of the witches. Doddridge says that he
knew of several witch-masters, as they were called, who
made a public profession of curing diseases inflicted by
the influence of witches.
An act relating to conjuration, witchcraft and dealing
with evil spirits was passed during the reign of James I.
This was applied soon after the arrival of Penn in 1683.
The persons tried before Penn and his council were not
the only cases of witchcraft. In Northampton and
other counties persons were arrested, charged with
witchcraft and imprisoned, but on none was passed the
death penalty. A woman in Wyoming Valley was ac
cused of bewitching the cattle, several of which had
died in spite of the efforts of Titus, au old negro witch
doctor. For several days Titus used the ordinary
remedy, a gun barrel filled with a peculiar liquid, but

CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 295
no eflfect was produced on the witch. Finally a fine ox
was taken sick, and then a new remedy was applied to
break the spell. The sexton of the church took the
church key, approached the ox, and putting it in the
animal's mouth turned the key around three times, re
peating some spell-breaking words known only to hira
self". The power of the witch was destroyed, and the
ox recovered. A woman near Tunkhannock frequently
bewitched a hunter's gun. The remedy was as peculiar
as the difficulty. A bullet was fired from an unbe-
witched gun into the body of a tree. As soon as the
bullet was covered by the growth of the wood, the
witch was seized by severe pains from which she found
no relief until she removed the spell from the gun. In
another village a woman bewitched the cows and hogs.
The cows twisted their tails on their backs, threw up
the earth with their feet, bellowed and ran their hind
legs up the trunks of trees. The pigs squealed night
and day ; frothed at the month ; rolled over ; turned
somersets, and indulged in various other performances
that would have pleased even our modern circus attend
ant. The owner and his wife were terribly scared.
Fortunately, a celebrated German witch-doctor arrived
on the scene, who applied an eflfective antidote. We,
who laugh at these follies may with profit, perhaps, in
dulge in a little thinking concerning .ourselves. The
day of witchcraft has passed, but what shall be said of
those who cannot pass a graveyard by night without
trembling aud fearing the dread presence of a spook or
ghost? And what shall be said of those who betake
themselves to mesmeric doctors, clairvoyants aud spir
itualists? The number is legion who still believe
in unnatural processes of some kind or other, cover-

296 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ing up their superstitions by long names and smooth
sentences. Witchcraft, as believed in Pennsylvania, was mild
and harmless ; the wizards were effective in undoing
the work of witchcraft ; and the people suflfered much
less than they did in some of the colonies from this
diabolical agency.
From the diseases of people let us turn to their physi
cians. The practice of the Welsh was essentially
English, as they were educated at the school of Edin
burgh. They generally had an apothecary store, thus
combining the practice with the sale of medicine. This
was done partly in obedience to the wishes of those who
ordered medicine, that their physician should prepare it.
At a later period apothecaries appeared from whom the
physicians purchased their drugs. As long as they
continued to furnish medicines they sometimes made
"an advanced charge" on them to include attendance.
This was done to make up for the patient's deficiency
in fees, and was deemed proper. Indeed, says the emi
nent Doctor John Morgan, "a most extensive practice
otherwise would be insufficient to support a family in a
becoming manner." The paying of a physician for at
tendance, and of an apothecary for his medicines, was
regarded as "the most eligible" mode of practice, both
to patients and practitioners; yet it could not be denied
that the practice of rating medicines at such a price
as to include the charge for medicines and attendance
was liable to gross impositions by ignorant medicasters,
too many of whom swarmed in every city.
Beside these practitioners, was another class who
practiced especially in the country, and had never ac
quired a regular medical education. One of these is

CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 297
well described by his great grandson. Dr. John Watson.
He had read several books relating to surgery, physic
and chemistry, and having settled in Buckingham,
where no doctor lived, grew into public esteem as a
practitioner in the healing art. He was very successful
in setting broken bones, curing scalded heads, ulcers
and disorders in general. He also invented a spicy
anodyne, called Watson's Black Drops, pronounced by
his great grandson to be "au excellent medicine."
Douglass, who wrote a valuable Summary of the
American Colonies, was a physician, and described the
medical practice in all of them. He declared that
in the plantations, a practitioner bold, rash, impu
dent, a liar, basely born and educated, had the ad
vantage of an honest, cautious, modest gentleman.
The practice was so perniciously bad, that except
in surgery and some very acute cases, it was better
to let nature, under a proper regime, take her course,
than to trust to the honesty and sagacity of a doctor.
American practitioners were so rash and officious that
the saying in the Apocrypha might with propriety be
applied to them: "He that siuneth before his Maker,
let him fall into the hands of the physician." Fre
quently there was more danger from the physician than
from the distemper.
Practitioners were given to quackery, and the use of
quackish medicines was encouraged. Apothecary shops
were waiuscoated or papered with advertisements re
commending quack medicines. Doctor Douglass re
marks that in the most trifling cases medical practice
was of a routine nature. He once asked a noted practi
tioner what was the general method of practice, and
was told that it was very uniform. Bleeding, vomiting.

agS HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
blistering, purging and an anodyne if the illness con
tinued ; then there was repetendi., and finally murder-
andi. Blood-letting and anodynes were the principle
remedies of the doctors in that day.'
Far away from the larger places not even the uncul
tivated country doctor practiced medicine, and people
were obliged to depend on themselves. Consequently
they paid more attention to remedies than they do now
adays. There were remedies for every kind of disease;
and whenever serious sickness occurred, usually the
neighbors were very kind in aiding the affiicted family,
revealing the nobler side of human nature. Many of the
remedies, if effective in curing the sick, certarnly would
have made well persons sick if they had beeu taken.
For example, the croup, then called the bold hives, was
a common disease among children, and often fatal.
The remedy consisted of the juice of roasted onions or
garlic, given in large doses. Wallink was also a
favorite remedy with raany of the old women. For
fevers, as though the affiicted were not hot enough, they
were put through a severe course of sweating. To pro
duce this state, a strong decoction of Virginia snake-
root in large doses was given. For purgation, white
walnut bark was used, peeled downward ; for a vomit,
the same kind of bark, peeled upward. Rum was a
favorite remedy. A dram, either raw, sweetened with
wormwood or rye juice, was used as an antidote against
infectious or offensive smells. Besides rum, tobacco
was a popular remedy. The early settlers used these
things to ward oflf infection, especially to prevent the
bad effects of drinking water. They imagined air and
water to be unwholesome. The immediate bad eflfect
' Douglass wrote in the middle of the i8th century.

CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 299
of drinking cold water, and the autumn fevers and
agues, confirmed this opinion and so the practice of the
laboring people of the West Indies -was adopted, that of
drinking rum.
The quackery that has survived the longest, pow
wowing, was derived from the Indians. Even amid
modern enlightenment and civilization, no small num
ber still resort, with undiminished hope, to the pow-
wower for relief. He is regarded as more successful
in dealing with some diseases than others ; and erysip
elas and scrofula seem to be his specialties. Charms
and incantations were also used for the cure of many
diseases. For the mentally dethroned the government in its
early years sought to provide. In 1751 the Pennsyl
vania Hospital was founded for the care of persons
"distempered in mind, and deprived of their rational
faculties," as well as the relief of the sick and injured.
In treating lunatics a radical .departure was made ; the
restoration of their reason was attempted, instead of
confining them, as had formerly been done, like male
factors. In 1709 the Association of Friends had sought
to establish a public hospital in the city, but forty years
passed before their humane conception crystallized into
an institution that is an honor to the city, to the State,
and to the country.
In establishing this noble enterprise, Franklin was
among the most zealous and eflfective. He labored
especially to secure Legislative assistance, but there
was strong opposition, and the right to appropriate
money for this purpose was questioned. Franklin suc
ceeded in getting an appropriation of ;,f 2,000 on con
dition that a similar sum was raised by the people.

300 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Franklin says that "this condition carried the bill
through ; for the raembers who had opposed the grant,
and now conceived they might have the credit of being
charitable without the expense, agreed to its passage,
and then, in soliciting subscriptions among the people,
we urged the conditional promise of the law as an addi
tional motive to give, since every man's donation would
be doubled ; thus the clause worked both ways. The
subscription accordingly soon exceeded the requisite
sum, and we claimed and received the public gift, which
enabled us to carry the design into execution." '
Notwithstanding all the diseases from which the
people suflfered, they lived to a good old age. This was
doubtless due to their vigorous constitution, abundance
of exercise, and freedom from care and anxiety com
pared with the condition of raany under the stress of
modern civilization.
'Franklin adds: "I do not remember any of my political
manoeuvers, the success of which gave me at the time more pleasure,
or wherein, after thinking of it, I more easily excused myself for
having made some use of cunning."

CHAPTER XIX.
SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS.
Section I.
Social Intercourse, Family Living and Entertainments.
The society of Pennsylvania was much more com
plex than elsewhere in America. This was the natural
consequence of a merabership so varied in nationality
and religious belief The newcomers had a hearty,
sincere good will for each other, and realized the need
of mutual assistance. Though not buffeted by the
fierce corapetition for wealth, place and power, a note
in our tiraes so often cruel and discordant; and
assured, if industrious, of a comfortable aud honest
livelihood, they were, nevertheless, sorely tried by new
and strange conditions, which tended to promote and
strengthen a common life. This was rendered still
stronger by equality of circumstance, similarity of pur
suits and aims, and unity in civic action. Lastlj-, the
remembrance of their old homes, and of those still left
in thera grew more tender with advancing years, unit
ing all more closely with the subduing "power of a
common suffering.
On the frontier a common life was even more strongly
felt. Without fine words for each other, they divided
their rough fare with a neighbor or a stranger and
would have felt hurt by an offer of payment. After the
enmity of the Indian had risen strongly against them,
C30O

302 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the ever-increasing presence of this deadly peril formed
a strong bond of unity. For greater protection they
built forts and often lived in them in common, and
toiled together in the fields. Thus inured to danger by
its constant presence, their life was somewhat like that
of the generous and sacrificing soldier who, notwith
standing his own perils, does not forget the needs and
sufferings of his comrades.
To an observing traveler of that early tirae, the
scarcity of women in the Province would surely have
started some reflection. Many married before twenty
years of age, and elderly spinsters were unknown.
The children generally were well favored and beautiful.
On his arrival, Penn remarked that in all the houses of
the Dutch and Swedes he saw lusty and fine looking
children. In the beginning, the Indians were kindly disposed
toward the newcomers, and gave abundant proofs of a
desire to live in peace with them. On many occasions
they supplied the white people with meat, with beans
and other vegetables, besides bringing other gifts to
their houses aud refusing anything in return. The
Indian children were sociable and fond of play. In
some respects the difference between the two races was
not great at that early period, "when to live was the
utmost hope, and to enjoy a bare sufficiency the greatest
luxury." When Philadelphia had grown into a goodly town,
the Indians came every autuinn to the city in bodies of
fifty or more, men, women and children. They
encamped at different places on their way, occupying
much of the time in making and selling baskets, mats
and splint brooms. After the middle of the eighteenth

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 303
century, most of them came from beyond the Blue
Mountains, between the Susquehanna and Delaware
rivers, and often brought furs for sale.
From the beginning, the houses of the settlers were
much superior to those of the Indians. In divers
localities these houses differed greatly ; the country
house from that in Philadelphia ; the house of the
frontiersman from that of the farmer in the more
thickly settled parts of the Province. In a frontier
home a block or two served for stools, a broad slab of
timber for a table, and a rude framework for a couch.
In the one chamber slept all the family, men, women
and children, married and single, young and old. This
room constituted kitchen, dining-room and parlor.
Doddridge, who lived on the frontier most of his life,
says that for several years after the settlement of the
country, the furniture for the table consisted of a few
pewter dishes, plates and spoons, with wooden bowls and
trenchers. If noggins were scarce, gourds and hardshell
squashes supplied the deficiency. Iron pots, knives aud
forks were brought from east of the mountains.
At a later period a farmer's kitchen presented a
different aspect. Within the ample fire-place a kettle
was suspended from a crane over a wood-fire resting
on andirons, and close by were shovel, tongs and bellows.
On the shelf of the mantel above were a coffee-mill,
candlestick, glasses and stone pitcher for cider. In one
corner was a large cupboard containing tiers of pewter
plates and brown earthenware. Frora a peg in the
wall a tin horn was suspended ; beneath it stood a high-
backed, splint- bottomed chair. From a heavy joist in the
ceiling hung bunches of red peppers and ears of Indian
corn, culled for seed. A spinning wheel and flax stood

304 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
on one side of the room, and close by was a bench table
or settee. Above it was suspended a mahogany looking-
glass with a huge ornamented top, several of Poor
Richard's Almanacs, and a hat- and coat from nails in
the, wall. In one corner was a splint hickory broom,
and a basket of apples ; while on the window-sill pots
containing plants were proofs that neither cares nor
ceaseless tasks had quenched the good house-wife's love
of the beauti "ul.
The houses had huge fire-places, and as wood was
plentiful, a fire in the winter was kept burning brightly.
Iuto these huge fire-places, to save the labor of cutting
and splitting, were put "back-logs" of a size sufficient
to last for several days. These gave forth not only
warmth, but light enough for ordinary purposes, and
perhaps quickened the imaginations of those who sat
around during the long winter evenings, for one mode
of entertainment was to narrate astonishing stories con
cerning witches and Indian ghosts. Many a glen and
forest was supposed to be haunted, especially at the
dreary hour of midnight. Adventures of the chase
were described, the skill displayed at marksmanship, or
feats of persons in wrestling, or throwing the tomahawk.
On these occasions they ate shellbarks and apples, and
"moistened their clay " freely with cider, cider-royal and
metheglin. The best wood for fuel was hickory; white and black
oak were regarded as next iu quality. In 1746 Kalm
remarks that the woods around Philadelphia would
lead one to believe that fuel must be cheap. It was not
so, because the great forest near the town belonged to
some individuals who, believing that wood would be
come scarce, sold only to joiners, coach-makers and

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 305
other craftsmen, willing to pay a high price. Those
who sold wood in the market were peasants, living at a
great distance from the town. Every one complained
about the increase of price, which was ascribed to the
rapid growth of the town, and to consuming wood in
making brick. The farmers, too, had consumed enor
mous quantities ; and so had persons engaged in smelt
ing iron. Indeed a large portion of the forest had been
cut by the middle of the eighteenth century. Kalm
prophesied that Philadelphia would be obliged to pay a
high price for wood. Like many another prophecy it
failed, because he did not know of the vast stores of fuel
hidden in the earth.
The settlers discovered a wax or tallow on a shrub
called the candleberry or bayberry, frora which they
made candles. The berries grew abundantly on the
female shrub and looked as though fiour had been
strewn on them. They were gathered late in autumn,
and when put into a kettle of boiling water, the fat
fioated to the top and was skimmed off It soon hard
ened and looked like common tallow or wax, but pos
sessed a dirty, green color. By re-melting and boiling,
it acquired a transparent green color, aud was worth
twice the price of ordinary tallow because the candles
neither melted so easily, nor smoked, and when put out
yielded an agreeable odor. For many years the Swedes
had collected this tallow and made caudles of it.
In Philadelphia the houses improved more rapidly
than elsewhere. In winter, company was often received
in the sitting-room, which usually was also the dining-
room, and sometimes a sleeping-room. There was a
high backed settee revealing a bed when the top was
turned down. The furniture was of the simplest kind :
20

3o6 nisroR y of pennsyl vania.
settees with stiff high backs, one or two large tables of
pine or maple, a high, deep chest of drawers containing
the wearing apparel of the family, a corner cupboard
for plate and china and a looking-glass adorning the
wall. The floor was sanded, the walls whitewashed, the
fireplace ornamented with a wide mantel and windows
contained small panes set in a lead frame.
The wealthier class had damask-covered couches in
stead of settees, oak or mahogany furniture. They
used china cups and saucers. Delft ware from Holland,
and massive silver bowls, waiters and tankards. Those
of less means used pewter plates and dishes, while not a
few ate from wooden trenchers. Lamps were hardly
known ; but candles in brass candlesticks furnished
light. Not until the middle of the eighteenth century were
carpets introduced. At first, they covered the centre
of the floor in front of the chairs and tables ;
their extension over the whole floor is a modern prac
tice. Many stories are told of persons who, at first,
were afraid to walk on them, and went around the sides
of the room on tiptoe to avoid soiling them. Wall
paper was not introduced uutil nearly the close of the
century,' Plain indeed were the furnishings in the first houses,
but they were in harmony with the plain food eaten.
On the frontier, hog and hominy was the most common
dish. Johnny-cake and pone were the only forms of
' Perhaps the most vivid idea that can be presented of the interior
of a well-furnished house, is from a letter written by Mrs. Benjamin
Franklin to her husband in 1765, after their new house in Franklin
Court had been completed. This letter is not in any of the collections
of Franklin's letters, but may be found in Westcott's newspaper his-
torj- of Philadelphia, Chap, ccxviii.

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 307
bread for breakfast and dinner. At supper, milk and
mush was the standard dish. When milk was scarce,
hominy supplied its place, and mush was frequently
eaten with sweetened water, molasses, bear's oil or
gravy from fried meat. In the beginning the settlers
in the older parts of the Province fared rather poorly
for food, but after a few years meat, grain and all
kinds of vegetables were abundant. Milk, bread and
pie formed the staple of the breakfast ; in winter the
milk was sometimes boiled and thickened before using.
The dinner consisted of good pork or bacon with plenty
of sauce, and wheat flour pudding or dumplings with
butter and molasses, and the supper of mush or hominy
with milk and butter and honey. Pies of green or
dried apples were liked, especially by the children.
When milk was scarce, small beer or cider, thickened
with flour and egg made "an agreeable breakfast."
Ill many families doughnuts were too great a rarity to
be eaten on any day other than Christmas.
The German farmers lived quite as frugally. They
sold their most profitable grain, wheat, and ate the less
profitable, rye and Indian coru. "The profit to the
farmer, from this single article of economy," says an
enthusiastic writer, "is equal, in the course of a life
time, to the price of a farm for one of his children."
They ate sparingly of boiled animal food, and used
large quantities of vegetables, aud especially sauerkraut.
Milk and cheese were largely used. Few consumed
distilled spirits ; their drinks were cider, beer, wine and
water. As corn in various forms was one of the chief articles
of food, its conversion into meal was an important but
difficult task in the early days, before the erection of

3o8 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
water-mills. The hominy-block and hand-mills were
used in most houses. The first was a large block of
wood three feet loug, with a hole burned in one end,
wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, so that by
the action of the pestle on the bottom the corn was
thrown up on the sides toward the top, and fell down
into the centre. By this movement the whole mass of
grain was subjected quite equally to the strokes of the
pestle. A sweep was sometimes used to lessen the toil of
pounding corn into meal. This was a pole made of
springy, elastic wood, thirty feet or more in length.
The butt was placed under the side of the house or a
large stump, and the pole, supported by two forks, was
placed one-third of its length from the butt, elevating the
small end fifteen feet from the ground. To this was at
tached a sapling five or six inches in diameter, and
eight or ten feet in length. The lower end was shaped
so as to form a pestle. A pin of wood was put through it
at a proper height, so that two persons could work at
the sweep. This simple machine was very effective.
Sometimes it was used in making gun-powder. When
the corn was too soft to be beaten, it was grated in a
half-circular piece of tin, perforated with a punch from
the concave side, and nailed by its edges to a block of
wood.' If the people had good appetites for eating, so had
they for drinking. Everywhere springs gushed forth
'The hand-mill was better than the mortar and grater. It was
made of two circular stones placed in a hoop. A staff was inserted in
a hole in the top of the runner, or upper stone, and this upper end
through a hole in a board fastened to a joist above, so that two per
sons could be employed in turning the mill. The corn was put by
hand into the opening in the runner.

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 309
and ran their sparkling courses, undefiled with coal
dust, dye-stuffs, or any other refuse of modern industry.
But the settlers did not content themselves simply with
drinking water. Garden herbs, like sage and thyme
were used, aud more especially dittany or mountain
mint. Rye also furnished an agreeable drink. Tea
and coffee did not come into use until nearly the middle
of the eighteenth century in Philadelphia, and still later
in the country. Its introduction was slow, and was
limited to those in good circumstances, or used ouly on
Sundays. The use of spirits was very common, indeed, too
common. Doubtless the modes of employment con
tributed to a larger consumption of ardent spirits. At
public sales, bottles were handed round, and the prac
tice became so prevalent that the Assembly prohibited
the use of spirits on these occasions. In Philadelphia
drinking became so frequent that the Friends discoun
tenanced its use. Drunkenness was attacked and de
fended in verse.
An eminent citizen of the time, writing to his son,
who afterward became chief justice, declared it was too
common a thing for young men to sit at table two or
three hours tippling wine and punch, aud when "so
stupid they do not know what to do with themselves,
they go either to the tavern, or to one of their houses
and drink away till the clock strikes twelve, and then,
being quite devils and quite ^beasts, they stagger away
home to snore and groan by the side of their innocent
young wives, who deserve ten thousand better things at
their hands ; and all this after the poor young things
have been moping at home and bemoaning themselves
of their h^rd fate, and crying out a hundred times in an

3 IO HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
evening ' Well, if this be the pleasure of matrimony,
would to Heaven that we had remained under our
parents' roof" On wedding occasions and other
feasts, the drinking was excessive.
At burials the practice was common to feast and
drink in a very immoderate manner, a custom which
had prevailed in England. When a person of high
rank died, the body was kept for .several days lying in
state, and during this period visitors must be enter
tained. The necessity of doing this grew into a custom
at every funeral. The English practice of burying by
torchlight never becarae general in Philadelphia, but
was occasionally followed. In 1748 "burial biscuit"
were advertised for sale by a city baker, showing that
the custom of funeral feasting still continued.
In the early days of the Province, love-makings and
marriages were quite as important events in society as
now. Among the Friends, courtship was a very solemn
business. The heart-stricken man before declaring his
love to the object of his sweet trouble raust first speak
to her parents If permission were granted, then he
strove by his grave demeanor and solid conversation to
make a favorable impression on the object of his affec
tions. He could not, like other young men, whisper
his vows during a moonlight ramble, or resort to any of
the thousand ways so often inspired by love. The only
pleasures permitted to them were those of eating, drink
ing and going to meeting. Such a thing as going
away unattended by a chaperone was unknown ; they
must be in the presence of witnesses, yet they seemed
to succeed quite as well as others.
As the Friends had no ministers, marriage with them
was a contract between the individuals simply witnessed

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 311
by several persons. Sometimes it was held in the
meeting-house ; at others, in the home of either the
bride or the groom ; but it was a very simple affair, unat
tended with any of the accompaniments of modern
marriage. In general, marriages were ordered by affix
ing to the court-house and meeting-house doors the
intention of the parties, and after the act had been
solemnized a record of it was preserved. True love
laughs at shackles and bolts, and Watson, in his
Annals, tells the story of an elopement in 1707 of
Colonel Coxe with Sarah Eckley, a wealthy Quakeress.
The runaway couple ran into the Jersey woods in the
night and met the chaplain of Lord Cornbury, the Gov
ernor of New Jersey, who, oddly enough, prevailed on
them to be married, and there preformed the ceremony
by firelight.
In these days when with some women great titles are
everything and character nothing, let us stop to note
the first courtship and marriage perhaps of a provincial
girl to a "baronet." For raany years Lawrence
Bathurst was the teacher of a school in Philadelphia
County. He made the acquaintance of a girl who lived
with Mrs. Roberts, whose grandson, a United States
Senator, has preserved for us the tale. Though illiterate
she knew how to get ink, red ink too, to use in com
municating with her lover. She punctured her arm
and stained a piece of paper with some highly original
hierogylphics, which were sent to Bathurst by Mrs.
Roberts' son, who was one of Bathurst's pupils. He
gave Master Roberts a written answer, but as the girl
could not read, at her request he read the letter to her.
A glass frame was fitted up in the house on one side of
the kitchen fire-place, and here young Roberts often sat

312 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
as though he was conning his lesson. The frame was
so arranged that he could elude his mother's " vigilant
eye," while the girl, without attracting attention, could
tell him things to write for the eye and heart of her
noble lover. Roberts doubtless enjoyed the fun, though
he was hardly five years old. His father finally found
out what he was doing, and asked him about the
contents of the letters. The youngster replied that
there was a good deal of love in them. The girl
won "the young baronet," though they did not
always live together. Roberts, the grandson and
United States Senator, saw Mrs. Bathurst "in ad
vanced years," but "could not judge," so he quaintly
said, "by the stubble what might have been her early
merit. ' '
But who was Bathurst? He was, says Senator
Roberts, "the son of a dissolute father who had dis
sipated his property and left him in charge of his
uncle," Allen, the first Lord Bathurst. He sent him to
the Westminster School in London, where he fell a
prey to some persons who were then bringing servants
to the colonies. By them "our baronet" was kid
napped and stripped of his quality ensigns and sold for
a term of years. Roberts adds that "through his sub
sequent metamorphoses you could still trace something
of his early associations." After many years his uncle
found out where he was and invited him to return.
Having learned of his marriage, his uncle asked him if
he had married " a woman of fortune," and he replied,
"My lord, where is my fortune?" Not content in
England, he returned to Pennsylvania, where, for many
years, he amused companies with his never-ending fund
of stories, and at the age of eighty died at the home of

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 313
his youngest son, " to whom he left his empty title
with its armorial bearing, a bloody hand."'
In early times weddings were festivals. Relatives
and friends were invited, a good dinner was provided,
and a lively spirit of friendship prevailed. The next
day many of the young people again met, and with less
restraint, indulged in social plays and sports. Many of
these entertainments were very expensive ; the company
dined, but still remained for tea aud for supper. For
two days punch flowed in abundance. The gentlemen
met the groom on the flrst floor, and ascended to the
second, where they saw the bride. Every one in
those days had the right to kiss her, and not
infrequently she submitted to more than a hundred such
attentions during a day. Even the Friends yielded to
this part of the performance. For two days they
called and took punch, and each time kissed the
bride. Then the married pair had large tea parties at
their home that were attended nightly by the grooms
men and bridesmaids. Besides thus eating and drink
ing at home, punch, cakes and meats were sent out
generally in the neighborhood, even to those who were
not visitors in the family. At length wedding enter
tainments were regarded with dread, both by those who
paid the bills, and by the bride. Originating in a spirit
of hospitality, the occasion degenerated into a fearful
abuse. The Friends were the first to counsel modera
tion. Weddings on the frontier were of a very different
character. The whole neighborhood was always in
terested in an affair of that kind, for it was a huge
frolic. Indeed, it was almost the only one not accom-
* MS. Autobiography of Senator Roberts.

314 HTSTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
panied with the labor of reaping, log-rolling, building a
cabin or planning a campaign. The bridegroom
appeared dressed in moccasins, leather breeches, leg
gings and a linsey hunting-shirt. The bride wore
linsey petticoats and a linsey gown, coarse shoes, stock
ings and buckskin gloves. If there were any buckles,
rings, buttons or ruffles, they were the relics of old times
that had descended to the present possessors. A caval
cade was formed for the purpose of marching to the
place of ceremony in double file, through narrow paths
which perhaps were rendered worse by the ill-will of
neighbors who had felled trees or tied grape-vines
across the way. Sometimes an ambuscade was formed
by the wayside, and an unexpected discharge of guns
covered the party with smoke. Imagine the scene which
followed, the sudden spring of the horses and the
shrieks of the girls! At this period of provincial
life, another ceremony often took place before the
party reached the house of the bride. When within a
mile of their destination two young men would run for
the bottle. The worse the path, the more logs, brush
and deep hollows, the better. The start was announced
by an Indian yell, and logs, brush and hollows were
speedily passed by the rival ponies. The first to reach
the door was presented with the prize, which he took
back in triumph to the company. The bottle was first
given to the groom and his attendants, and then to each
pair in succession, to the end of the line. The marriage
ceremony was followed by a dinner, during which the
greatest hilarity always prevailed. Then followed danc
ing that generally lasted until the next morning. If
any of the company through weariness attempted to
conceal themselves for sleep, they were sought out,

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 31c
paraded on the fioor, and the fiddler was ordered to play
"Hang On Till To-Morrow Morning."
About nine or ten o'clock a deputation of the young
ladies stole away the bride and put her to bed; gen
erally, they had to ascend a ladder instead of stairs lead
ing from the dining and ball-room to the loft. This
done, a deputation of young men in like manner stole
away the groom and placed him by the side of his bride.
The dance continued, and if seats were scarce, every
young man not engaged in the dance was obliged to
offer his lap as a seat for one of the girls, which was
always accepted. In the midst of this hilarity the bride
and groom were not forgotten. "Black Betty," the
name for the bottle, was sent up the ladder, and not in
frequently was accompanied with bread, beef, pork and
cabbage enough for at least half a dozen hungry men.
The couple were compelled to eat and drink whatever
was offered to them.
Inexpressibly coarse and shocking as all this is to
modern ears, the mode of celebrating the event fitted
into the social arrangements and ideas existing among
the dwellers on the frontier. Yet criticise thera as one
may, iu the sterling qualities of life, in purity and
honesty of character, there is not the slightest evidence
whereon to found an unfavorable judgment compared
with those living in the longer settled parts of the
Province. In many parts of Pennsylvania, a cabin was often
built for a newly married couple by their neighbors. A
piece of land was selected, and a day appointed for be
ginning the work. One party felled the trees and cut
them at proper lengths ; another hauled aud arranged
them, while another selected proper trees for making

3i6 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
clapboards for the roof Other men were employed in
getting puncheons for the floor of the cabin, which was
done by splitting trees about eighteen inches in
diameter, and hewing the faces with a broadaxe Ma
terials were mostly prepared on the first day, and some
times a foundation was laid in the evening. The next
day the neighbors assembled for the raising. Four
corner raen were selected, who notched and placed the
logs. The rest of the company supplied them with the
timbers. Meanwhile the boards and puncheons were
collected for the floor and roof, so that when the cabin
was a few rounds high, the process of laying the floor
began. The door was made in one side by cutting an
opening about three feet wide, secured by upright
pieces of timber three inches thick, through which
holes were bored into the ends of the logs to pin them
fast. A large opening was made at the end for the log
chimney which had a back and jambs of stone. In
the meantime the masons worked, filling up all cracks ;
and also putting in the back and jambs of the chimney.
When finished the ceremony of housewarming occurred
before the young couple took possession. This was a
whole night's dance at which the relatives of the bride
aud groom, and neighbors were present. On the fol
lowing day the young couple took possession of their
cabin. To what extent the practice of "bundling" was a
feature of courtship in those days is imperfectly known.
An old one in the British Isles and in Holland, it
was adopted araong the early New Englanders to pre
vent the ill consequences of sitting in cold and cheerless
rooms. It was not an all-the-year-round custom, but
confined solely to the winter season. About 1756, says

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 317
Stiles, Boston, Salem, Newport and New York resolved
to be more polite than their ancestors, and forbade the
custom. In Pennsylvania perhaps it was never so gen
eral, owing to the milder climate, but was longer con
tinued. Another phase of this practice sprung from necessity.
Before inns became common and when a house con
sisted of a single room, the traveler was often obliged
to sleep with one or more bed-fellows. Numerous
experiences have been recorded of travelers who were
thus obliged to lodge in the same room and bed with
others. In many cases all the proprieties that the
situation permitted were observed ; in other cases there
were great departures frora them.
Section II.
Dress and Amusements.
The clothing of the early settlers was more durable
than handsome. In the beginning the reign of fashion
was unknown. The early dress of the people of the
city was simple and made of strong, coarse material,
cloth and deerskin for the men, and linsey and worsted
for the women for everyday use. The best clothing
was carefully preserved in a huge chest of drawers.
At that time there was little difference between the
dress of the Friends and of other people. At a later
day the Friends adopted sober colors to resent the
extravagances of fashion.
Amost every woman was a spinner and weaver. At
a later period women wove carpets for their houses, and
were as proud of their fabrics as any manufacturer is of
his productions. The women of one neighborhood or
township vied with those of another in spinning, weav-.

3i8 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ing and dyeing cloth. One hundred knots were some
times spun by a woman ; even as many as one hundred
and thirty-five knots in twelve hours have been re
corded. The principal fabric was a warm, durable
cloth, called linsey, composed of a warp of flax and a
filling of wool.
Every family tanned its own leather. The tan-vat
was a large trough sunk in the ground. Each spring a
quantity of bark was obtained, with which the leather
was stained and pounded on a block of wood with an axe
or mallet. Ashes were used for removing the hair.
The operation of currying was performed by a drawing
knife, with its edges turned after the manner of a curry-
ing-knife. The leather was blackened by a preparation
made of soot and hog's lard.
Almost every family had its own tailor and shoe
maker. Those unable to make shoes, could make shoe-
packs. Like moccasins these were a single piece of
leather, except the tongue piece on the top of the foot.
To the shoepack a sole was sometimes added. The
women did the tailor work.
With the increase of wealth, fashions in dress began
to appear, first in the city and then in the country.
Leather clothing was very common for many years, and
moccasins held their supremacy on the frontier for a
period after the Revolution. During the French and
Indian war, large quanties of foreign goods were im
ported ; ' ' half silks ' ' and calicoes were common, also
silk bonnets, silk and fine linen handkerchiefs; indeed,
almost every article of woman's attire was of foreign
manufacture. The men wore jackets and breeches of
Bengal, nankeen, fustian, black everlasting and cotton
velvet

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 319
At this period too the distinction between the richer
and poorer classes began to emerge. Household furni
ture was imported, and the new fashioned and old fash
ioned people were daily seen. The first beginnings
were imperceptible, and tea and calico were perhaps the
initiatory articles. Tea was easily brewed and made a
convenient treat on an afternoon's visit, and calico was
a light simple dress that would bear washing. Home
spun could not compete with foreign manufactures,
that could be purchased in the city or country stores at
low figures, and often on credit.
Notwithstanding the rise of class distinctions, cordial
relations contined to exist between all. This was as
true of people in the city as in the country. An ancient
writer says, " for many years there subsisted a common
concord and benevolent disposition among the people
of all denominations, each delighting to be recipro
cally helpful and kind in acts of friendship for one
another." Ere long the distinction between the dress of a
gentleman and that of other classes became clearly
marked. To check undue assumption by tradesmen in
the city the term members of the Leather Apron Club
was invented and applied to them. While at work, or
when going abroad on week-days, carpenters, masons,
coopers and blacksmiths always wore a leather apron,
covering their vest. Buckskin breeches, check shirts,
and a red flannel jacket were the common garb of most
workingmen, and men aud boys from the country were
seen always in leather breeches and aprons. Felt hats,
coarse leather shoes with brass buckles and wooden
heels, and coarse yarn stockings completed their dress.
In those days tailors, shoemakers aud hatters waited on

320 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
their customers to take their measures, and afterwards
called to fit the partly finished garments.
After the reign of fashion began, some went to
extremes, some were moderate, but only a few men
and women were seen representing the old-fashioned
kind of people. Watson describes a young lady who
purchased in Philadelphia, in 1765, a pair of black
velvet wedding-shoes, the style of the time, and putting
them on in her chamber, was unable to descend the
stairway because the cork heels were so high. The
seller was wholly to blame for this unhappy predica
ment. He ought to have instructed her, when selling
them, that the approved method was to descend the
stairs backwards, for though not an especially graceful
movement, it was free from peril.
Wigs were worn by many until the return of Brad
dock's defeated army. The soldiers returned to Phila
delphia with only their natural hair, although they
went forth all bewigged and powdered like those left in
the city. The natural mode was well adapted to
military life, and the change, though arising from
necessity, was immediately adopted by the citizens.
The king of England, too, at that time discarded his
wig, and his example was rapidly followed by the Eng
lish people, to the ruin of wig makers. Penn attended
carefully to his wigs, and he purchased several during
his short stay here. They were made of horse hair.
When wigs were universally worn, grey wigs were
powdered, and for that purpose were frequently sent in
a wooden box to the barber to be dressed on his block
head. Brown wigs were exempt frora the white dis
guise. At first they were as much worn by genteel
Friends as by other people. In 1719 Jonathan Dick-

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 321
inson, a Friend, in writing to London for liis clothes,
says: "I want for myself and my three sous, each a
wig, light good bobs." The perukes of that time were
thus described : "Tyes, bobs, majors, spencers, foxtails
for men, and twists and curls or tates for women. ' '
The abolition of wigs was followed by a change in
the mode of dressing the hair. Among women espec
ially, it was prepared in a wonderful manner. At first,
curling was very common. Not infrequently a four
hours' torture was required to produce properly crisped
curls. Wishing to be inimitably captivating, and un
certain of securing the services of an expert at the time
desired, some performed the operatiou the day before
and then slept all night in a sitting posture to prevent
the disarrangement of their frizzles and curls. Of
course, not all put themselves in this category. Curl
ing was succeeded by the creation of some foundation
head-work consisting of rollers, over which the hair
was combed back from the forehead. These, again,
were superseded by cushions and artificial curl-work
that could be dressed on the barber's block like a wig,
leaving the lady, in the meantime, free to pursue other
pleasures. The hair was dressed by plaiting it, by
cuing and clubbing, aud by wearing it in a black silk
sack or bag adorned with a large black rose. With the
cues belonged frizzled side locks and toupees of the
natural hair, or a long tie and splice. Such was the
geueral passion for the longest possible whip of hair,
that sailors and boatmen. tied theirs iu eelskin to aid its
growth. Many styles of hats were worn, but the most stylish for
men were gold-laced cocked hats. Fur hats of natural
beaver were also worn. Whenever an apprentice re-
21

322 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ceived his freedom, he was given a real beaver hat. A
common hat, called a felt, was made of wool. Rorem
hats used soon after the Revolution, consisted of fur
fastened on wool felts. The fashion of those worn by
women was still more varied. The skimmer hat, made
of a fabric which shone like silver tinsel, possessed a
very small flat crown and big brim. Another hat, not
unlike this in shape, was made of horsehair, woven in
flowers and called the horsehair bonnet. The musk-
melon bonnets had numerous whalebone stiffeners in
front of the crown an inch apart in parallel lines, and
presented ridges to the eye between the bones. The
"calash bonnet" was always of green silk. It was
worn abroad, covering the head, but in a room was
pushed back like the springs of a calash or gig top.
To keep it up over the head, it was drawn up by a cord,
always held in the hand of the wearer. The wagon-
bonnet was of black silk, and was used exclusively by
the Friends. It was supposed to look not unlike the
top of a Jersey wagon, and had a curtain of silk covering
the shoulders. The "straw beehive" bonnet was worn
generally by old people.
The coats worn in the beginning were very simple,
consisting of a shirt or series of shirts as the weather
required. In the summer-time the early settler wore a
.'¦hirt of linsey-woolsey or of similar material, and if not
-\varin enough, he added another and another, and so on
through the winter until sufficiently clad to withstand
the stiffest boreas. It thus served as a combination of
shirt, undershirt, coat and overcoat. With the accumu
lation of wealth and introduction of fashions the style
of coat as well as of other garments changed. The coat
of the beau had three or four plaits in the skirt, with

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 323
wadding almost like a coverlet, to keep them smooth ;
and large capes to the elbows, open below, and inclined
down, aud loaded -with lead. The capes were thin and
low, to expose the close plaited neck-stock of fine linen
cambric, and the large silver stock-buckle on the back
of the neck. To his shirts were hand-ruffles, with
sleeves finely plaited; his breeches were close-fitting,
with silver, stone or paste gem buckles; his shoes or
pumps were ornamented with silver buckles of various
sizes and patterns. The poorer classes wore sheep and
buckskin breeches that fitted closely to the limbs. Gold
and silver sleeve buttons set with stones and paste of
various colors adorned the wrists of the shirts of all
classes. Lace ruffles extending over the hand were a
mark of indispensable gentility. The coat and breeches
were generally of the same material, broadcloth for
winter, and silk camlet for suramer. Cotton fabrics
were not then in use, or known ; and hose were of
thread or silk for summer use, and of fine worsted for
winter. Coats of red cloth were considerably worn
even by boys, and plush breeches and plush vests of
various colors were in common use. Everlasting, a
worsted fabric, was very common for breeches, and
sometimes for a vest. The vest had great pocket flaps,
and the breeches were very short, for suspenders were
unknown. It was the test of a well formed man that
he could by his natural form readily keep his breeches
above his hips, and his stockings, without garters,
above the calves of his legs. There was nothiug like a
snrtout, but men had greatcoats of blue cloth and
brown camlet cloaks with a green lining. During the
time of the American war, many of the American
officers introduced the fashion of wearing Dutch
blankets for greatcoats.

324 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
¦The "small clothes " of sailors were immense white
petticoat breeches wide open at the knees, and not ex
tending further. Working men in the country wore
the same kind of breeches, made so full that they were
turned around when the seat was worn out. Among
sailors and the common people big silver brooches were
worn in the bosom, aud long quartered shoes with big
buckles in the extreme front.
In the summer season men often wore calico morning
gowns throughout the day, even in the streets. A
damask banyan was almost the same thing with another
name. Laboring men wore ticklenburg linen for shirts
and stripped ticklen breeches. They wore gray duroy
coats in winter, and men and boys always wore leather
breeches. In the olden time men used to carry muffetees in
winter. It was a little woolen muff of various colors,
large enough to admit both hands, and long enough to
protect the wrists, for men wore short sleeves to their
coats to display their fine linen and plaited shirt sleeves
with their gold buttons and lace ruffies. The sleeve
cuffs were very wide, and leads were put in them to
raake them hang down.
The shoe underwent many changes from the moccasin
worn by the first settler to the elegant and dainty shoe
worn within a century afterward. Before the Revolu
tion no hired man or woman wore shoes of calfskin, but
used coarse neat leather. The shoes were square toed
and often "double channelled;" then the fashion
changed to peaked shoes, and ever since it has varied
from the one kind to the other. Calfskin shoes had a
wide rand of sheepskin stitched into the top edge of the
sole, whicli was kept white as a dress shoe as long as

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 325
possible Ladies' shoes were made mostly of white or
russet rands stitched very fine on the rand with white
waxed thread. The heels were wood, gold, crosscut,
common and cork, followed by the plug and wedge or
spring heel. Sole leather was all worked with the fiesh
side out. In the earlier time the materials of the uppers
were common wool and cloth, or coarse curried leather ;
afterwards cashmere, everlasting, shalloon, russet and
similar stuffs were used. Some were of satin and
damask ; others of satin lasting and Florentine.
In the surrounding counties the dress was somewhat
different. The first settlers, and those succeeding thera
wore a strong coarse kind of dress, with buckskin for
breeches, and sometimes for jackets; while osenbrig
made of hemp-tow was much used for boys' shirts.' A
wool hat, strong shoes with brass buckles, two linsey
jackets and a leather apron formed an ordinary stock
of winter apparel. This kind of dress was common
among the laboring people until 1750 and even later.
On the frontier one of the forms of dress commonly
worn was the hunting-shirt. This was a kind of loose
frock, reaching half way down the thighs, having large
sleeves, opening in front, and lapping over a foot or
more when belted. To this was a large cape, sometimes
handsomely fringed with a ravelled piece of cloth of a
contrasting color. The bosom of the dress served as a
wallet to hold bread, cakes, jerk, tow or other things
needful for the hunter or warrior. The belt was tied
behind and served several purposes besides that of hold
ing the dress together. In cold weather the mittens and
sometimes the bullet-bag occupied the front part. To
* Sometimes flax and flax and tow were used for that purpose, and
coarse tow for trousers.

326 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the right side was suspended the tomahawk, and to the
left the scalping-knife in its leather sheath. The hunt
ing-shirt was usually made of linsey, sometimes of coarse
linen, and a few of dressed deerskin. A pair of drawers
or breeches and leggins covered the thighs and legs,
and for the feet, moccasins of dressed deerskin were
better than shoes. Flaps were left on each side to reach
some distance up the legs. They were nicely adapted
to the ankles and lower part of the leg by thongs of
deerskin, so that no dust, gravel or snow could get
within. In cold weather the moccasins were stuffed
with deer's hair or dry leaves, to keep the feet warm ;
to wear them iu wet weather was a decent way of going
barefoot, because of the spongy texture of the leather.
In consequence largely of defective covering of the
feet, hunters and warriors were often afflicted with
rheumatism. Leaving the more plainly dressed people of the
country for those in the city, a description may be given
of the beau as he appeared in 1772. On his head was a
vast quantity of hair standing on end, "giving him the
appearance" says an old chronicler, "of being fright
ened." His hair was loaded with powder and pomatum,
"all little enough too to keep any degree of light or
heat in the few brains scattered about the cavities of the
soft skull it covered." The rest of his dress consisted
chiefly of French silk, gold lace, fringe, silk stockings,
a hat and feather, and sometimes a cockade. He wore
a diamond ring, carried a snuffbox and a scented hand
kerchief, and managed a cane. His employment was to
present his snuff box, wield his cane, show his white
teeth in a perpetual grin, "to say soft things in every
sense of the word " to ladies, and to follow them every
where like their shadow.

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 327
A picture of a fashionable couple walking in the
streets of Philadelphia at an earlier period is given by
Watson. The lady tripped lightly on her dainty feet,
cased in satin slippers. She wore a flowered silk petti
coat, so enlarged by hoops that it required great skill to
get through an ordinary -sized doorway. Her too tightly
laced stomacher was richly ornamented with gold braid;
the sleeves were short and edged with wide point lace,
which fell in graceful folds near the wrist. At this
time her hair was no longer propped up by wires and
cushions, but dropped in curls on her neck. Cherry
color was then the prevailing fashion of the light silk
hood that protected her head. The parasol was not yet
known, but the fan was in use. The gentleman by
her side was quite unable to offer her the support of his
arm because the great size of her skirts as well as his
own prevented, for his square-cut coat of lavender silk
was stiffened out at the sides with wire and buckram.
It opened in such a manner as to show the long flapped
waistcoat with wide pockets for carrying the snuff-box
and the bonbonniere. The sleeves were short, with
rounded cuffs, and his hands were covered with gold-
fringed gloves. Around his neck was a point lace.
cravat, and over his tight wig he wore a cocked hat
trimmed with gold lace. His feet were enclosed in
square-toed shoes with small silver buckles. His
partridge- silk stockings reached above his knees, where
they met his light blue silk breeches. Thus attired,
this pair of walking balloons started on their tour
through the streets. At a short distance behind walked
the gentleman's valet aud the lady's maid. He wore a
black hat, brown colored coat, a striped waistcoat with
brass buttons, leather breeches, worsted stockings and

328 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
stout shoes with brass buckles. The maid's dress was
of huckaback, made short. The skirts were not so
ample as those of her mistress, yet were somewhat
puffed out, in humble imitation of her high and mighty
superior. Her costume was somewhat set off by a
white apron, a silk neckerchief and a net cape. This
quartette must have presented a striking appearance in
the plain city of Philadelphia, which still bore many of
the marks of a town in the wilderness.
Perhaps not far away was a tradesman with his wife.
His coat was of stout gray cloth, trimmed with black,
while his gray waistcoat half concealed his serviceable
leather breeches. Worsted stockings and leather shoes
protected his feet. His wife -wore a chintz dress made
up in fashionable style, with the indispensable hoops of
the day. A checked apron extended over her stomacher
and concealed the bright petticoat.
Among the Friends the plainest women wore silk
aprons of green, blue and other colors. In the middle
of the eighteenth century the gay wore white ones.
In time the white aprons disappeared from the gentry,
and then the Friends discarded colored ones and sub
stituted white The old ladies among the Friends who
wore white aprons covered their heads with large,
white, almost crownless beaver hats, confined by silk
cords tied under the chin. Eight dollars would buy
one, and it lasted a lifetime.
Women often went abroad and to church wearing
checked aprons. Hired women wore short gowns and
petticoats of domestic fabric, and thus could be instantly
recognized wherever seen.
Fans were used before the Revolution, and some
costly ones were made of ivory and pictured paper.

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 339
Amd-ng elderly gentlemen, gold-headed canes were a
mark of distinction. They were used in the churches
and other public places to support the chin; in truth,
this was only done to show them. The pride thus dis-
plaj-ed was of the same kind as that shown by the
owners of gold snuff-boxes who freely proffered their con
tents to others. Silas Deane had one given to him, set
in diamonds, that, he was very proud of displaying.
Many of the younger men wore short swords. Children
and working women often wore beads made of Job's
tears, — the berry of a shrub, — believing they prevented
diseases. In 1771 umbrellas were introduced as a defence
from the sun. Some of the journals of the day ridiculed
their use as an effeminacy, but physicians advised the
people to carry them. One of the citizens, after amass
ing a great fortune in the West Indies, appeared abroad,
attended by a mulatto boy bearing his umbrella ; but
his exaraple was not followed.
The men of former days never wore Mohammedan
whiskers. Watson remarks that perhaps men of leisure
could be endured who wore them, but not business
men, and that during business hours especially they
ought to be " unbobbed and uncorseted." Intellectual
men were rarely found in this array unless possessed of
some obliquity of imagination and taste.
Amusements in the early days were somewhat rough,
though hardly rougher than some of the sports of our
most advanced civilization. "Among people in the city
shooting, fishing aud sailing parties were frequent," says
Watson, "while respectable citizens much indulged in
glutton clubs, fishing houses and country practice." All
classes were sociable until the conflict with Great
Britain sent every man to his own ways. The discord

330 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
created by that event was never fully allayed ; but all
changed rapidly their manners, thoughts and associa
tions. For a long time the amusements of the young
people of the city were of the simplest kind. To
those already mentioned may be added riding, swim
ming and fishing. While "going to meeting" should
not be classed as an amusement, it surely was a pious
recreation for the young Quakers. The annual meeting
in 1716 advised the Friends to keep aloof "from plays,
games, lotteries, music and dancing." In 1722 there
was an exhibition "of the Czar of Muscovia's country
seat, with its gardens, walks, fountains, fish ponds
and fish that swim." Two years afterward the first
rope-dancer astonished the town with a performance on
Society Hill,
One of the most interesting recreations was known
as the porch amusement. After the middle of the
eighteenth century the houses were usually built with a
front porch, where it became customary for the ladies
of the family to sit in pleasant weather at the close of
the day. Neighbors called, while beaux with swords,
silk ties and stockings, powdered wigs, and square-cut
coats, lifted while passing their three-cornered hats to
the fair ones.
Numerous small shows were given from time to time
in the city. " The lion, king of beasts," was advertised
for exhibition in 1727. Ten years later a curious cat
came to town, having one head, eight legs and two
tails. Then came a mechanical contrivance of moving
figures, representing Joseph's dream. In 1744 "a beau
tiful creature, but surprising fearless, called a leopard"
was exhibited in Market Street, and the same year "a
strange and surprising creature called a mouse, about

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 331
the bigness of a horse. It has a face like a mouse, ears
like an ass, neck and back of a camel, hind parts like a
horse, tail like a rabbit, and feet like a heifer." In
1740 the camel was exhibited ; two years later there
was a magic lantern exhibition, and in 1745 a camera
obscura. In 1738 Theobald Hackett, dancing master, opened a
dancing school, advertising to teach "all sorts of fash
ionable English and French dances, after the newest
and politest manner practiced in London, Dublin and
Paris; and to give all young ladies, gentlemen and
children the most graceful carriage in dancing, and
genteel behavior in company, that can possibly be given
by any dancing- master whatever." A dancing assem
bly was formed in the city, and an association for
musical purposes ; they also gave parties and balls.
In 1761 John Walsh advertised that he taught " dancing
in all its parts, after the most elegant tastes, together
with the masquerade and Spanish fandango."
The country folk Indulged in athletic games; wrest
ling, running or shooting at a mark were the sports
wherein each strove for honorable fame. Boys were
taught to throw the tomahawk, and to imitate the
cries of the creatures of the forest with a fidelity that
would deceive the most practiced ear. Ruder sports,
however, were not infrequently practiced, and quarrels
and fist-fighting were common among the lower classes
of people. Often these grew out of a free use of rum at
sales, frolics, and in hay-time and harvest. Duels were
rarely fought.
From an early day a great variety of amusements was
practiced at the fairs held both in the city and in small
places. In the early days of the Province, when the

332 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
people had fewer opportunities for meeting together,
these occasions were of far more consequence than now.
The theatre grew slowly; Henry Hallam, called the
"father of the American stage," was the projector of a
company of poor players who came to the new world, and
appeared in Philadelphia in 1754. Though the leading
city iu America, Hallam encountered a strong opposi
tion. The Friends were hostile and influential, and the
Presbyterians had, if possible, still greater horror of
"profane stage-plays." If the Germans were not op
posed, at least they were indifferent to the theatre.
Besides, Philadelphia was proud of its scientific and lit
erary pre-eminence. The lectures of Professor Kinnersly
on electricity and his practical experiments were re
garded as more instructive and entertaining than an
exhibition of stage-plays by a company of strolling
players. Notwithstanding this unfavorable atmosphere,
the first American play, "The Prince of Parthia," was
produced in 1759 by Thomas Godfrey of Philadelphia.
Seven years afterward the Southwark Theatre was
built, and was used for dramatic representations until
the beginning of the present century. The first perma
nent structure of the kind built in America, it was ill
contrived both without aud within. It was built of
brick and painted a bright red, and the stage was
lighted with oil lamps. It was not opened without op
position. A remonstrance was presented to the Assem
bly, and a committee prepared an address to the gov
ernor that was unfavorably received. Governor Penn
answered that he would consider the remonstrance and
act agreeably to his judgment "without regard to per
sons or parties." As he did not interfere with the
players, the remonstrance was in truth disregarded.

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMEN7S. 333
After the colonies had fairly started on their wondrous
career they were a fresh and interesting field for
travelers. The English and French were the most
frequent, and many wrote letters, journals and books
describing the manners, customs, dress and lives of the
people. Like modern books of travel, some were
hastily prepared, colored with prejudice, and showing
inappreciation aud ignorance of colonial life and its
conditions. Other accounts were careful pieces of work.
Among these are the travels of a Swedish professor,
Kalm, who visited the province in 1748, and who left a
valuable accouut, especially of the land, its cultivation,
and of all matters possessing more especially a scientific
interest. Chastellux was a Frenchman unable to per
ceive the good things in colonial life. Another French
man, Brissot, who came at the close of the Revolution,
wrote a very different work, in which he upbraids his
countryman more than once for his superficial and
prejudiced account of things. Brissot met the best
people of Pennsylvania, and through them obtained
correct ideas concerning their lives, manners and pros
perity. With the Friends especially he was pleased.
Simplicity, candor and good faith characterized their
lives as well as their discourse. They were not affected,
but were sincere ; they were not polished^ but were
humane They had not that wit, that sparkling wit,
without which a man was nothing in France, and
with which he was everything ; but they had good
sense, sound judgment, an upright heart, and an oblig-
jng temper of mind. " If I wished to live in society, it
would be with the Quakers; if I wished to amuse
myself, it would be with my countrymen. And their
womeu, you ask, what are they? They are what they

334 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
should be ; faithful to their husbands, tender to their
children, vigilant and economical in their households,
aud simple in their ornaments. Their principal char
acteristic is that they are not eager to please all the
world." Of criticism and caricaturing of men and things
there was no lack. To " crack the satiric thong " on
the offenders of the day was much in vogue during the
closing years of the Province. One was cracked by a
teacher in the Academy named Dove, who dared to
"wash the Blackmoor white," meaning Judge Moor.
Another denounced the Friends for promoting Indian
ravages in the time of their association for preserving
peace. Judge Peters, who had been Dove's pupil,
described him as "a sarcastical and ill-tempered dog-
gerelizer, who was but ironically Dove, for his temper
was that of a hawk, and his pen the beak of a falcon
pouncing on innocent prey."
Section III.
The Revolutionary Period.
During the Revolution, society passed through many
changes, but English fashions, which had been so long
followed, still retained their magical power. Near the
close of the struggle, the French had become so highly
esteemed and were so numerous in the country, that
French fashions began to supplant the English. Besides,
the French fashions were more graceful, and ardent
devotees suffered less physically from adopting them.
With the change in fashions one of the first things to
go was the three-cornered hat. By 1778 it was replaced
with the gold-laced hat, which in turn gave way to the
round hat that first appeared in England during the

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 335
Revolution. Within eleven years it had pushed the old
cocked hat entirely out of fashion.
Then the square-cut coat and low flapped waistcoat
passed through a transformation. Cloth of various
colors replaced the richly embroidered silk, satin and
velvet. The stiffening was taken out of the skirts and
the waists were shortened. All this was in the direction
of a plainer and cheaper garb.
The knee breeches were gradually replaced by
trowsers. During the Revolution General Lee indulged
in a furious correspondence over a charge attributed to
Miss Franks that he "wore green breeches patched with
leather." He assured her that he wore " actually legiti
mate sherryvallies, such as his Majesty the King of
Poland wears," who had made more fashions "than
all the knights of the Mischianza put together, notwith
standing their beauties." This doughty warrior, who
was so much more interested in his breeches than in
fighting the enemy, proposed to fortify his word by
sending them to her. When Lee learned that Miss
Franks had never had the slightest interest in the
color of his breeches, his fury calmed down and in due
time he made an elaborate apology. Lee is not the first
man who has worked himself up into an hysterical
mood over some fancied remark of a man or woman,
and the breeches episode is a good proof of Lee's greater
interest in little things than in the grave matters of
war. The reader may wonder how such a fop ever
secured a position iu the army, and especially such a
responsible one, but let us not forget that wire-pulling
and politics abounded in the Revolution, as they have
in every subsequent war, notwithstanding the gravity
of the occasion.

336 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
At the beginning of the Revolution the hair was pow
dered and tied in a long queue, and shoes were fastened
with silver buckles. The queues and buckles disap
peared by the close of the century, but in 1782 a farmer
complains bitterly of the fashions still raging. He says
that his eldest son having spent some weeks in the city
has come home "a mere baboon," a choice name .surely
to apply to a beloved son. His hair is besprinkled with
powder, as white " as that of an old man eighty years of
age;" a pair of ruffles reaches from his waistbands to
the extremity of his nails ; a strip of gold lace encircles
his hat, while a huge stock is worn around his neck
containing "muslin enough to be his winding-sheet."
To complete his dress, "a long piece of cold iron, called
a sword, dangles by his side." Doubtless the reader will
readily excuse the old farmer for thinking that his
son's dress was not well adapted to working in the field
or milking cows ; aud the farmer's surprise may indeed
be excused. What a change from the primitive leather-
breeches days !
Amid the conquests of fashion the Friends had re
mained loyal to their principles concerning dress. A
French traveler in 1788 who perhaps was iuclined to
paint everything in too favorable colors, thus describes
the Quaker dress : " a round hat, generally white, cloth
coat, cotton or woolen stockings, no powder on the hair,
which is cut short. He carries in his pocket a little
comb, and on entering a house, if his hair is disordered,
he combs it before the first mirror that is seen. "
Perhaps the French Revolution effected greater
changes in the dress of women than in the dress of men.
One of the most marked was in hair-dressing. As we
have seen, in the earlier seventies the hair was displayed

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 337
in toupee and curls. Then it began to rise iu various
forms by means of flowers, feathers aud artificial hair,
pads, rolls and other appliances, until the distance from
a woman's brow to the top of her head-dress was nearly
three feet. This sky-towering feat was not ac
complished at a single venture, but by gradual as
cents. The needful skill was slowly acquired, and
the mind was insensibly accustomed to the display.
Nor need the reader be reminded that this arrangement
was intended for the drawing-room and fair weather,
and not for a gale of wind or a rain-storm. Under the
influence of French fashion the huge pile was reversed,
the height was lessened and the expansion was lateral.
The hairy mountain was still visible, the form only
was changed. An east and west view was deemed
more graceful than a perpendicular one ; fashion is so
peculiar! Timothy Pickering wrote to his wife: "I
mention to you the enormous head-dresses of the ladies
here. The more I see the more I am displeased with
them. 'Tis surprising how they fix such loads of
trumpery on their polls ; and not less so that they are
by any one deemed ornamental. The Whig ladies
seem as fond of them as others. I am told by a French
gentleman they are in true French taste, only that they
want a few French feathers. The married ladies, how
ever, are not all infected." A hardened critic in 1779
thus writes of them: "Ladies are accused of robbing
their breasts of gauze, cambric and muslin for the use
of their heads, with quilts or supernumerary upper petti
coats for cushions, pomatum, powder and essence above;
their heads tower to the extremity of the fashion; be
low, a single petticoat leaves them as lank as rats."
The change to French fashions was a change in the
22

338 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
direction of more comfort as well as grace. Satins and
silks, high-peaked stays aud stomachers, loug waists and
hoops gradually disappeared. The hoop was rarely
seen after 1790. "Light, soft and flowing materials"
were used for dresses. In Oswald's Gazetteer of 1795
the turban, "shot dress" and ruffled sleeves are men
tioned when describing the fashions in polite assem
blies. " The satin waist with trails of mull loose and
jaconnette, gauze, crape and light stopper" were still
worn. The dressing of the hair was still a matter of
profound moment. "There's the hair up, the hair
down, the frieze and the frizzles, the straight and
the curled." Of slippers there was an extensive assort
ment. " There's the Spanish leather, the Danish kid,
the tamboured and plain slipper, and Roman sandals
with English flat heels, and perch sky-scraper heels."
The Quaker womeu, like the Quaker men, still
adhered to their ancient style. Says the French traveler
previously quoted : " The Quaker matrons wear the
gravest colors, little black bonnets and their hair simply
turned back. The young women curl their hair with
great care and anxiety, which costs them as much time
as the most exquisite toilet. " Brissot continues, "They
wear little hats, covered with silk or satin. They are
remarkable for their choice of the finest linens, muslins
and silks. Elegant fans fly between their fingers.
Oriental luxury itself," he concludes, "would not dis
dain the linen they wear."
As the people's dress changed, so did their manner of
living, especially after the inflow of so many foreigners.
A distinguished Frenchman arrived iu the summer of
1782, Prince De Broglie, who was taken by M. De la
Luzerne to tea at the home of Robert Morris. Her home,

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 339
SO he says in a description he has left, was small but well
ordered and neat, the tables were of superb, well-polished
mahogany, and the clocks and andirons of polished
brass. He does not forget to note the appearance of Mrs.
Morris who was "good-looking and very gray." All
was " charming " to the Frenchman. " I took some of
the excellent tea, and would have taken more, I think,
if the ambassador had not kindly warned me at the
twelfth cup, that I must put my spoon across my cup
when I wished to bring this warm-water question to an
end." Luzerne told hiin that to refuse a cup of tea
when offered was almost as bad as for the master of a
house to offer another after putting the spoon in the
position above mentioned.
The Marquis De Chastellux has described a dinner
given to him in the American manner while he was here
in 1780. It consisted of two courses, " one comprehend
ing the entrees, the roast meat, and the side-dishes ; the
other, the sweet pastry and confectionery." Then the
cloth was taken off and apples, nuts and chestnuts were
served. After this the healths were drank; next fol
lowed coffee, which was a signal to rise from the table.
The marquis added some weighty remarks on the
healths or toasts. They served to prolong the conversa
tion, which was always more animated at the end of the
repast. "They oblige you to commit no excess,
wherein they greatly differ from the German healths,
and those we still give in our garrisons and provinces. ' '
But the marquis thought it was "an absurd and truly
barbarous practice the first time you drink, and at the
beginning of dinner, to call out successively to each in
dividual to let him know you drink his health. The
actor might be ready to die with thirst while he was

340 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
obliged to inquire the names and catch the eyes of those
around the table, however large the number." But a
still harder custom remains to be described. The most
civil were not content with this general call. So
partial calls were made every time they drank, " four or
five persons at a time." Another custom completed the
despair "of poor foreigners." These general and partial
attacks terminated in downright duels. They called to
each other " Sir, will you permit me to drink a glass
with you." Acceptance was followed by the passing of
the bottle, " and you must look your enemy in the face,"
for the marquis said he could give no other name to the
man who exercised such an empire over him. " You
wait till he likewise has poured out his wine and taken
his glass. You then drink mournfully with him, as a
recruit imitates the corporal in his exercise."
At a somewhat later period foreigners complained of
the coldness and lack of hospitality of Philadelphians.
Says one of them, "Among the uppermost circles in
Philadelphia pride, haughtiness and ostentation are
conspicuous ; and it seems as if nothing could make
them happier than that an order of nobility should be
established, by whicli they might be exalted above their
fellow-citizens as much as they are in their own con
ceit. They are reserved as if they were suspicious of
some designs against them, which chilled to the very
heart those who came to visit them. It was no unusual
thing to see a large party of twenty or thirty assembled
and seated round a room with no other amusement than
conversation." Still, he added, they were not strangers
to music, cards or dancing. "Their knowledge of
music, indeed, is at a very low ebb; but in dancing,
which seems to be their favorite amusement, they cer
tainly excel."

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 341
Another foreigner was still more severe. "Luxury,"
he says, "always turns upon objects of variety, never to
the production of the fine arts. Their sense of the
beautiful might be compared to the mathematician, who
after listening to the reading of one of Corneille's trage
dies, exclaimed, 'What does that prove?' They were
fond of going to the theatre, but to see and to eat.
Between the two acts they went to a neighboring
tavern to take regular meals, and even during their pre
sentation, to be fashionable it was necessary to eat
something." The observations of a Frenchman at this period ought
not to have been unkindly, yet the impressions left by
the Duke de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt are quite in
harmony with those already given. After describing
the inhospitality of the people to strangers, he remarks
that the mercantile idea of necessity confined the
man whom it influenced and gave him no time or taste
for the pleasures of society. "What is justly called
society does not exist in this city. The vanity of
wealth is common enough." The rich man lived to
show strangers his splendid furniture, his fine English
glass and exquisite china. But when a stranger had
once viewed the parade in a ceremonious dinner, he was
dismissed for some other new coiner who had not yet
seen the magnificence of the house, nor tasted the old
Madeira. A new face was always more welcome than an
old one, and the entertainer had little to say to either.
"The real state of society in Philadelphia is included
in invitations to great dinners, and tea, to all who
arrive from Europe — English, French, inhabitants of
every country, men of every class and of every kind
of character — ^philosophers, priests, literati, princes.

342 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
dentists, wits and idiots. The next day the idolized
stranger is not known in the street, except that he be
wealthy, especially in money, when indeed the polite
ness of the citizens of Philadelphia continues to exist
as long as the stranger can purchase estates, and even
beyond that term — for the homage paid to wealth is a'
worship in which all sects unite. ' '
The noble Frenchman relieves his picture somewhat
by his fine words concerning the women. Everywhere
they possessed the highest degree of virtue. " They have
more sweetness and more goodness, at least as much
courage, but more sensibility than the men." Good
wives and mothers they were; their husbands and
children and household affairs engaged their entire'
attention. The young women too enjoyed a liberty
whicli in France " would seem disorderly " in going
alone and walking with young men, enjoying in short
the liberty of a French married woman, nor was it ever
abused. Thus from a primitive simple condition,
society had grown to be complex and highly stratified,
and wealth had already wrought wonders in building up
a social supremacy. Yet we must guard against errors
in foreign judgments, as they were generally founded on
narrow premises. Most of these visitors were here
only a short period ; they dined with a few, talked with
others ; but it is easy to go wrong on interiors unless
one sees them, and they never saw many. Nor is the
judgment true that money-worship, as .we now under
stand the term, had already been set up, nor had the
city become inhospitable. Long famed for its hospi
tality, its sincerity and good cheer, we are loth to
believe that its character had so soon and so radically
changed.

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 343
The flooding of the country with imports after the
close of the war led to an era of extravagance that
brought no little suffering in its train. "An honest
fanner" has left an artless picture of the insidious way
in which luxury crept into his household. For these
many years it has lain in the dusty Packet gallery,
unnoticed, apparently, by any seeker after knowledge
of that time. He begins by saying that all the country
was afflicted as well as himself, all too were telling their
grievances, but not how their troubles came on them.
It was common for people to throw the blame of their
misdeeds on others, or at least to excuse their own con
duct. As he was "an honest man," he could not in
conscience say that any one had brought his trouble on
him but himself "Hard times, no money, says every
one. A short story of myself will show you how it
came hard times, aud no money — with me, at the age
of sixty-five, who have lived well these forty years. My
parents were poor, and they put me at twelve years of
age to a farmer, with whom I lived till I was twenty-
one ; my master fitted me off with two stout suits of
homespun, four pair of stockings, four woolen shirts,
and two pair of shoes — this was my whole fortune at my
setting out in the world, and I thought it a good one at
twenty-two. I married me a wife, and a very working
young woman she was ; we took a farm of forty acres
on rent ; by industry we gained ahead fast. I paid my
rent punctually and laid by money. In ten years I was
able to buy me a farm of sixty acres, on which I
became my own tenant. I then in a manner grew rich
and soon added another sixty acres, with which I was
content. My estate increased beyond all account. I
bought several lots of out-land for my children, which

344

HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.

amounted to seven when I was forty-five years . old.
About this time I married my oldest daughter to a
clever lad to whom I gave one hundred acres of my out-
laud. This daughter had beeu a working dutiful girl,
and I fitted her out well, and to her mind, for I told her
to take of the best of my wool and flax, to spin herself
gowns, coats, stockings and shifts ; nay, I suffered her
to buy some cotton and make into sheets, as I was
determined to do well by her. At this time my farm
gave my whole family a good living on the produce of
it, and left me one year with one hundred aud flfty
silver dollars, for I never laid out (besides my
taxes), more than ten dollars a year which was for
salt, nails and the like. Nothing to wear, eat or
drink was purchased, as my farm provided all.
' ' With this saving I put money to interest, bought
cattle, fatted and sold them, and made great proflt, iu
two years, after my second daughter was courted. My
wife says. Come, father, you are now rich, you know
Molly had nothing but what she spun, and no other
clothing has ever come into our home for any of us.
Sarah must be fitted out a little, she ought to fare as
well as neighbor N — 's Betty — I must have some money
and go to town. Well, wife, it shall be as you think
best : I never was stingy, but it seems to me that what
we spin at home will do. However, wife goes down in
a few days, aud returns with a calico gown, a calamanco
petticoat, a set of stone tea-cups, half a dozen pewter
tea-spoons, and a tea-kettle, things that were never seen
in my home before ; they cost but little, I did not feel
it, and I confess I was pleased to see them. Sarah was
as well fitted out as any girl in the township. In three
years raore my third daughter had a spark, and wed-

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 345
ding being concluded upon, wife comes again for the
purse, but when she returned, what did I see ! a silken
gown, silk for a cloak, looking-glass, china tea-gear,
and a hundred other things with the empty purse, but
this was not the worst of it. Some time before the
niarriage of this last daughter and ever since, this
charge increased in my family; besides all sort of house
hold furniture unknown to us before, clothing of every
sort is bought, and the wheel goes only for the purpose
of exchanging our substantial cloths, of flax and wool,
for gauze, ribbons, silk, tea, sugar, etc. My butter,
which used to go to market and brought money, is now
expended on the tea-table ; my time of breakfast, which
used to take ten minutes in eating milk, or pottage
made of it, now takes my whole family an hour at tea
or coffee; my lambs, which used also to bring cash, are
now eaten at home, or if sent to market, are brought
back in things of uo use, so that, instead of laying up
oue hundred and fifty dollars every year, I find now all
my loose money is gone, my best debts called in and
expended, and, being straitened, I can't carry on my
farm to good advantage and it costs me to live (though
less in family and all able to work) fifty or sixty dollars
a year more than all my farm brings me. Now this
has gone on a good many years and has brought hard
times into my family, and if I can't reform it ruin must
follow, and my land must go. I am not alone; thirty in
our township have gone hand in hand with me and
they all say — hard times,"
The old farmer then says to the editor: "I don't
know how you live; may be you are more frugal now
than we are, as all of ns used to be." But he declares
that he is still master of his home and that he is

346 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
determined to mend his ways. He will live as he did
twenty years before, when he laid up one hundred and
fifty dollars a year. "No one thing to eat, drink or
wear shall come iuto my home which is not raised ou
my farm, or in the township, or in the country, except
salt, and iron work for repairing my buildings and
tools — no tea, sugar, coffee or rum. The tea shall be
sold. I shall then live and die with a good conscience ;
my taxes, which appear now intolerable, will then be
easy ; my younger children and my grandchildren will
see a good example before them, and I shall feel happy
in seeing a reform of abuse which has been growing on
rae more than twenty years." '
We have given this lengthy picture because it brings
us so near those days. It is not an isolated one, for he
says that thirty farmers in his own township were
suffering like himself and from the same causes.
Indeed, the evidence is abundant that for a few-^ears
after the Revolution all classes seem to have abandoned
their old habits of frugality and supplying their wants
by their own exertions, and as the farmers were by far
the most numerous class their complainings were more
frequently heard. Their situation was worsened by the
falling off of exports, and a shrinkage in prices. Of
course, this finally led to a return to more economical
ways of living. The old farmer was right, and clearly
saw that to recover he must spend less and save more ;
and he and thousands of others by their resolute course
rescued themselves.
The taxes bore with unusual heaviness while the
depression lasted ; everywhere murmurings were heard
over their weight, for they diminished the living fund
' Packet, Oct. 6, 1786.

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 347
and increased suffering. Though this weight would not
have been felt aud noticed in prosperous times, they
now seemed to many a serious blight on their prosperity
and contentment.
Another consequence of luxury was soon observable,
yielding pleasure to neither sex, the growth of bsch-
elorhood. The difficulty was not one simply of support ;
something more was wanted, style in living. "Wed
lock, in short," said oue, was "perverted from all its
good old purposes to a mere scheme of splendor and
parade." "All our matches nowadays," he asserts, " are
calculated upon a luxury beyond what was enjoyed be
fore. It is thought uugenteel not to be able to make a
wife appear in public with some kind of taste and pomp,
and therefore it is thought more convenient to avoid
matrimony."' This ebbing of the matrimonial tide
was much greater in the city than in the country, but
everywhere sprang from the same causes. The desire
for more expensive dress and other luxuries competed
with the pleasures of married life, and the balance fell
more and more on the former side. Luxury, therefore,
was a usurper, as viewed by men, into the domain of
matrimonial felicity, though the statement would not
be complete without adding that the desire of womeu
"to appear," as a writer expresses the idea, "in greater
lustre in the world," also deterred the men from marry
ing. The same causes produced the same results on
both sides ; in other words, the old trite question was
faced by them that has been faced by most of the gen
erations of men. If you cannot have everything, what
will you have? The situation had greatly changed since
' The writer adds : "It is incredible how many matches have been
put by for the want of a coach, or an elegant tea-room."

348 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the earlier day, before luxuries had become so nuraer
ous and inviting; for in that day the opposing scale of
marriage was much lighter, and consequently marriages
were far more numerous.
The desire for luxuries, finer living, was closely allied
with the desire "for a town and genteel life." A
writer who did not mince his words remarked that men
would choke before they succeeded in the way they were
then seeking for these things. Indolence and brilliant
dress he reiterated were the constituent parts of a
gentleman. So many had successfully attempted to get
into this mode of life that poverty began to disturb the
peace of all. Yet was he not right in saying that a new
country can support only a small number of its inhabi
tants in mercantile and learned professions? Neverthe
less, the profession of the law was greatly overcrowded;
one quarter of the number of attorneys could easily have
transacted all the business. And yet young men were
crowding into the profession "as though the whole
community would live by practising law." In truth,
there were "not much more than two cases each court
to a lawyer in a county." In the medical profession
the physicians were almost as numerous as the patients,
yet almost every practitioner had two or three pupils
studying with him " and all complaining that it is such
healthy times they cannot get a living by their
business. ' ' '
The forming and hardening of classes wrought many
changes in society and industry. It is said that in
India a person who is not a member of a caste would be
absolutely helpless, shut out of all society. To be a
member of a caste is an essential part of existence In
* Packet, June 13, 1786.

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 349
the early provincial days either the caste system or any
stratification akin to classes was unknown ; all were
helpful to each other, for all were on nearly the same
plane of dependence and material condition. But it
was inevitable that differences should appear — differ
ences in mental and moral temperament, iu taste aud
education, in physical surroundings derived from un
equal prosperity. The possessor of fine taste aud educa
tion could find no more pleasure in the society of a boor
in that day than he can in ours. The possessor of a fine
moral sense sought to escape from the society of a
coarse vicious man as eagerly as a trout darts away from
any impurity in a stream.
In 1788 a writer divided the social strata then exist
ing into the cream, the new milk, the skim milk and
the canaille ; and asserts that in private parties and in
public meetings the distinctions were accurately pre
served. The cream curdled into a small group ; the
new milk floated between the wish to coalesce with the
cream and to escape from the skim milk; while the skim
milk in a fluent kind of independence laughed at the
anxiety of the new milk and grew sour on the
arrogance of the cream. Hence, he asserted that
the concerts and assemblies had lost their charm, "for
the superiority established on the one hand and the
mortifications felt on the other seem to have produced
this resolution ; that never again shall the ears of cream
and new milk listen to the same melody, or their feet
caper. Notwithstanding these variances," he adds,
"each class imitates its immediate superior, and from
the conduct of one you may easily conceive the conduct
of all."
The theatre had been under the ban ever since 1774,

350 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
when Congress declared that the members would dis
courage every kind of extravagance and dissipation,
especially horse-racing, all kinds of gaming, cock-fight
ing, exhibitions of shows, entertainments, and all other
diversions and amusements. The Americau theatre in
South Street was closed and silent until the British took
possession in 1777. After the retaking of the city the
Southwark theatre remained open for a time, when Con
gress resolved that any person holding an office under the
United States who should promote or encourage the at
tendance at such places should be deemed unworthy of
office and be dismissed. Aud this resolution was soon
after fortified by the sanction of the State.
Notwithstanding this prohibition, performances of
various kinds were given, and at the same time the war
for opening the theatres was begun. One plan was to
open and tax them. The newspapers ranged them
selves on both sides; the Friends presented a memorial
to the Executive council in opposition. In this it was
remarked that " the nature and tendency of these exhibi
tions, unhappily introducing a variety of intemperance,
dissoluteness and debauchery, must necessarily affect
every pious, judicious mind with real concern, and
excite a tender compassion toward unwary youth, whose
minds, becoming vitiated by a taste of delusive pleasures,
grow indisposed to the regular, laudable and virtuous
satisfaction of domestic aud social life, and are often
gradually drawn into infidelity and corrupt principles,
ofwhich experience has given abundant proof in those
places where such ensnaring amusements are allowed
and encouraged." The Friends concluded by calling
on the Council " to put an entire stop to the undertak
ing, however plausibly disguised to elude the penalties
ofthe law."

SOCIETY, DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 351
Neither State nor Council was yet ready to throw
open the doors of the theatre. In the meantime plays
were performed in disguise. Thus one ofthe advertise
ments consisted of "lectures — being a mixed entertain
ment of representation and harmony." It was to con
sist of three parts. The first part was "a serious inves
tigation of Shakespeare's morality, illustrated by his
most striking characters, faithfully applied to the task of
mingling profit with amusement." The second part
was "a practical introduction to a display of characters,
comic and satiric, in which those light follies and
foibles that escape more serious animadversion will
be exposed to the lash of ridicule, and a scene of inno
cent mirth be opened to the heart without sacrificing
sense to laughter or decency to wit." The third part
was a "dissertation on the passions, showing the different
complexions they assume" The advertisement was a
very thin cover of a play, and it was evident that the
spirit of the law was utterly disregarded. Yet it re
mained on the statute-book, and every }'ear an attempt
was made to repeal it. Finally in 1789, an act was
passed authorizing the president of the Executive
Council and the chiefjustlce and president of the court
of common pleas, or either of them, to license theatrical
entertainments for three years, while unauthorized ex
hibitions were to be fined ;^200. Thus, after long per
sisting, theatrical managers prevailed in gaining the
right to present their plays withont violating the law.
The Assembly Committee of 1787 did indeed report in
favor of a total repeal of the inhibition, for "they had
been led to contemplate the stage as the great mark of
genius, and, as such, a natural and necessary concomi
tant of our independence We have cast off a foreign

352 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
yoke or government; but shall we still be dependent
for those productions which do most honor to human
nature until we can afford due encouragement aud pro
tection to every species of our own literature?"
But two years more must pass before a majority of the
Assembly are ready or bold enough to vitalize this
opinion.

CHAPTER XX.
RELIGION.
Section I.
The Provincial Period.
To the thoughtful of every age religion has been a
question of transcendent import, and nothing of its
gravity was lost by the speech and conduct of William
Penn. From early manhood his liberty to worship God
in the manner revealed by the highest light he knew
had been restrained by the cold and unfeeling arm of
civil power. Twice imprisoned for his religious belief,
constantly seeking, and often successfully, to secure
freedom for others who had been proscribed or
imprisoned for a similar cause, by much experience
Penn had learned the worth of religious liberty. At
last, acquiring an empire of his own, he planted therein
his dearly cherished principles, which, quickened by a
more genial sun than had ever warmed them before,
sprang up and joyfully grew. The first law enacted by
Penn established liberty of conscience, whereby man
could think and worship as freely as the waters of the
Delaware ran to the sea. So this broad-minded, far-
seeing founder established freedom of religious thought
and belief on a basis broad as the heavens ; broad enough
for men of all nations and climes.
No wonder that the people of the old world, having
suffered long from public oppression, by sword, by
23 (353)

354 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
pillage aud by fire, eagerly embraced Penn's invitation
to join him in building such a State. No wonder, too,
that they came in ever-increasing numbers ; for having
giveu his life to resist civil and religious tyranny, he
had a wider European repfltation than any other man
who had come to America.
That the leading object with many of the early
settlers was to enjoy their religious rights no one will
dispute. "Our business in this newland," wrote one
soon after coming, " is not so much to build houses and
establish factories and promote trade and manufactures
that we may enrich ourselves, as to erect temples of
holiness and righteousness which God may delight in ;
to lay such lasting frames aud foundations of temper
ance and virtue as may support the superstructures of
our future happiness."
For many years the Friends were the religious leaders
in the Province. Outnumbering all others, and led by
Penn, a mighty impetus was given to the Quaker
movement. Besides the English, many Welsh and
Germans who had adopted the same belief hastened to
join the migration to America. Of the Scotch-Irish,
Germans and Huguenots drawn to Pennsylvania by the
powerful attractions offered by Penn, we have spoken
elsewhere. Most of the earlier settlers were religious, chiefly
Friends, Presbyterians, German Reformed and Luth
erans. As Penn's gracious shade was sufficient to cover
all, there was, also, a large and interesting assortment
of unique beliefs ; no other Province sheltering so great
a variety. Hither came all religious oddities who, for
the first time, were free to fly in an undisturbed atmos
phere their religious kites. This modern pantheon

RELIGION. 3^^
erected by a Friend, drew for a generation a more varied
concourse of religious worshippers than any other place
in the world.
Penn's legislation indicated clearly his profound
religious belief Some of his laws savored strongly of
restricting action, though not accompanied by severe
penalties like the blue laws of New England. They
forbade profane swearing, lying, drunkenness, bull-
baiting, cock-fighting, theatrical exhibitions, card play
ing and the like. On the first day of the week all were'
to abstain from daily labor that " they might better dis
pose themselves to worship God according to their
understandings." Litigation was prevented by the
appointment of arbitrators, and controversies between
Friends were adjusted by their monthly meetings.
Well might the freemen exclaim, after enacting these
laws, "This is the best day we have ever seen ;" and
another said, "We may worship God according to the
dictates of a Divine principle, free frora the mouldy
error of tradition. Here we may thrive in peace and
retirement in the lap of unadulterated nature ; here we
may improve an unsound course of life on the virgin
Elysian shore."
One of the marked characteristics of Penn's legisla
tion was his regard for the Indians. Genuine believers
in peace, the Friends brought no weapons of war to
Araerica. If tradition be believed, the Indians assem
bled fully armed under the Shackamaxon tree, while
the Friends had neither gun nor sword. Yet into the
presence of that motley throng which might easily have
overwhelmed thera, the Friends came without the
slightest fear. Seeing them unarmed the Indians threw
down their tomahawks, bows and arrows. Never be-

356 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
fore had the Indians beheld such a scene. No wonder
they were impressed by Penn as they had never been
by the Dutch and Swedes whom they had seen witl-
their guns during fifty years or more
The constitution framed by Penn harmonized with
the views of the Friends ; and in council and Assembly
they shared fully in serving the State. Indeed, for a
long time the civil offices were filled mostly by them.
So long as Penn stayed in the Province the proceedings
ofthe council, over which he presided, were opened not
with prayer, but iu solemn silence after the manner of
the Friends.
The test of citizenship and for holding office provided
that no person confessing an Almighty God to be the
creator, upholder aud ruler of the world, and desiring
to live peaceably under civil government, should be
molested or prejudiced for his persuasion and practice,
nor should be obliged at any time to frequent or main
tain religious worship, but should freely enjoy his
liberty. By another law all officers of the Province, as
well as electors, were required to profess faith in Jesus
Christ. These laws were active for more than ten
years, no one either in the Province or in England
complaining of their operation. During Fletcher's rule,
he summoned a General Assembly who.se members, be
fore assuming their duties, were required to take the
oath of allegiance prescribed by the act of Parliament,
and to subscribe to the test of disbelief in the chief
peculiarities of the Roman Catholic faith. This was
the first attempt to introduce into the Province a special
religious test as a qualification for office. After Penn
regained his Province the same requirements were ap
plied to all public officers before fulfilling their duties,

RELIGION. 357
and were incorporated into the third charter adopted in
1696. An eminent writer on Pennsylvania history says
it is hard to understand how such a test could have
been interposed under Penn's direct authority. Though
the test in form was very elaborate, its essential
characteristics were rejection of the cardinal tenets of
Roman Catholicism, and a belief in the divinity of
Christ and the inspiration of the Scriptures. This test
not conflicting with the belief of the religious persons
in the Province, except a small number of Roman
Catholics, why should any one have objected strenu
ously who was willing to submit to the test imposed by
the first charter?
As the Friends in the beginning comprised nearly
the entire population for a long time their meetings
were the only religious assemblies. Within two months
after the landing of Penn, a monthly and quarterly
meeting were established ; and three months after the
founding of Philadelphia no less than nine weekly
meetings beside three monthly meetings were held in
the Province. Within two years after its settlement
eight hundred persons were in regular attendance on
first aud week days at the meetings in Philadelphia.
Two years later the number of meetings had increased
to twenty, and in 1700 the yearly meeting represented
at least forty separate assemblies. This increase arose
not simply from immigration; many were drawn to the
Friends by religious conviction. Of these the Welsh
were the most numerous.
It was not long, however, before the serenity of the
Quaker fold was invaded by a fierce controversy lasting
several years. For fifteen years the unity of the
Friends had been coraplete. The society had moved

358 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
along as serenely as on a summer sea ; but toward the
close of 1691, the stillness was broken by the apostasy
of George Keith. Of unusual literary attainments, he
came to Philadelphia in 1689 and was appointed to the
head mastership of the charity school recently founded
in that city. Formerly a rigid Presbyterian, he had
changed to the Quaker faith, but finding fault with the
discipline, sought to correct it and prepared an essay on
the subject that was presented for approval to a meeting
of ministers. Unwilling to sanction the paper, they
referred it to the yearly meeting. With this body the
paper fared no better, and some one proposed to submit
it to the yearly meeting of London. To this tribunal
Keith objected, preferring to abandon its publication.
Becoming captious and self-willed, Keith's -wrath in
creased to a flame. He was then accused of unsound
ness of doctrine, especially " concerning the efficacy
and universality of divine grace." The lines were now
fairly drawn between Keith and his opponents. The
dissension grew; other improprieties followed. The
conduct of the meetings was arraigned, their active
members denounced, and charges of unsoundness were
preferred against the society. At a quarterly meeting
Keith roundly accused them of meeting together "to
cloak heresies aud deceit," declaring "there were more
damnable heresies and doctrines of devils among the
Quakers than among any profession of Protestants."
Some Friends visited him to obtain a retraction. He
did not listen to their counsels, and told them plainly
that he " trampled upon the judgment of the meeting
as dirt under his feet." All hope of reconciliation
vanished, and the society issued a declaration of dis
unity with him for seeking not only by ui|ijust charges

RELIGION. 3CQ
to render Friends contemptible in the eyes of the world,
but also to divide aud scatter them. Keith therefore
was disowned. He determined to appeal to the yearly
meeting. He had numerous friends, and the quarrel
did not easily die. Neutralized passages from the writ
ings pf the Friends were taken to prove the charges of
unsoundness in doctrine, and to mislead the unwary.
Nor was his course entirely unsuccessful ; many joined
his party, and the schism widened. Separate meetings
were held at Philadelphia, Neshaminy and other places.
Families were divided ; husbands and wives, professedly
of the same faith, worshiped no longer in the same
house. Says a historian of the Friends: "Scarcely in
the history of the society has there been a more lament
able exhibition of the devastating effects of a dividing
spirit than was manifested on this occasion." Though
he did not bring his appeal before the authorized body
of Friends, Keith continued his plotting. As his con
duct was condemned generally by the society in Amer
ica, his power gradually declined ; and he tried to restore
his influence by obtaining a favorable judgment frora
the yearly meeting at London. At last his strongest
adherents began to waver in their allegiance. Thus
deserted, he renounced the views of the Friends, joined
the Episcopal ministry and returned to America as a
missionary "to gather Quakers from Quakerism to the
mother Church." While playing the missionary role
he frequently sought to allure the Friends into the
arena of public disputation. After two years he re
turned to England boasting of the success of his mis
sion in the new world, especially in proselyting
Quakers. Though his attempt failed, his tongue did
not, and he continued his attacks after his influence had
entirely ceased.

360 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
With the practice of thrift came prosperity, and
acquiring means to aid others, the Friends were not
remiss in deeds of charity. In 1692 money was raised
to redeem their brethren held in captivity in the
Barbary States; and in 1697 ^^^^y ^^'^^ £^'^ ^"'^ ^^^
relief of their suffering fellow members in the eastern
part of New England.
From time to time they were visited by ministers
from England, attracted by their success and peculiar
situation. Two of the most distinguished were Thomas
Story and Roger Gill. Penn and Story were warm
friends. During Story's visit much sickness occurred
in the Province ; within a short period two hundred and
thirty persons had succumbed to the ravages of the
yellow fever. Few if any houses escaped its attacks.
Learning of the sufferings of those in Pennsylvania
Gill returned from New England to minister consola
tion. The Episcopalians were the first to contest the field
with the Friends. The state church in England, it
became the policy of the British ministry to establish,
if possible, its pre-eminence in America. The royal
charter endowed the Bishop of London with power to
appoint a chaplain for any congregation, of not less
than twenty persons, who desired a minister. In 1693
the Episcopal church acquired ascendency in New
York, aud the assembly passed an act " for settling and
maintaining a ministry." In 1700 the Roman Catholic
province of Maryland also passed au act " for the service
of Almightj' God and the establishment of religion
according to the Church of England." Four years later
a similar position was gained in Carolina. Before this
time Christ Church had been established in Phila-

RELIGION. 361
delphia. The officiating priest, undaunted alike by his
isolation, or by numerous Friends, petitioned the crown
to provide for an income for him from the customs on
tobacco. No means were left untried to overthrow the
religious liberty of the Province. In 1737 the clergy
of Maryland, now enjoying ecclesiastical authority,
attempted to extend their power over Pennsylvania.
They prayed the king " that a regular clergy be encour
aged under royal protection, to reside not only on the
borders, but also in the whole Province of Pennsyl
vania." The attempt received no eucouragement from
the king.
The most active spirit in trying to establish a state
church in Pennsylvania was Colonel Quarry, a judge
of the court of admiralty for New York and Pennsyl
vania. An enemy of every form of democratic govern
ment, he constantly sent false reports of the condition
of the Province to the board of trade, and in various
ways tried to uproot the authority of the proprietary.
Not content with seeing the Anglican church on the
same plane as the meetings of the Friends, he tried
to secure sectarian domination. Liberty of conscience
had attracted men of every shade of religious opinion,
and one consequence for years was the absence of all
heart-burnings for ecclesiastical supremacy. Not until
the advent of Quarry, prompted by the Episcopalians
in England, and inspired by the renegade Keith, was
anything ever heard in the Province of ecclesiastical
control. Again and again this imaginary Samson
attempted to pull down the pillars of the proprietary
temple. One of his brilliant deeds was obtaining an
order for the enforcement of oaths on all not conscienti
ously opposed to them. This excluded Friends from

362 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
acting as magistrates, as they were unwilling to ask
others to do what they themselves believed to be wrong.
Again he sought to overthrow Penn as well as the
Friends in the Province, by exaggerating the evil con
sequences of attempting to live without either engaging
in war or making war preparations. Indeed, he exerted
every effort to secure the repeal of Penn's charter, per
sistently urging the futility of successful government
by the principle of non-resistance. He was, in truth,
so villainous that Penn finally denounced him in the
harshest terms, and his representations to the govern
ment were labelled "swish-swash bounces." Never
ceasing to exasperate the Friends, he continued his
opposition to the proprietary authority until removed.
In 1718 Penn died. What shall be said concerning
his "Holy Experiraent " at the time of his death? The
population was not less than forty thousand. Of these,
one-fourth lived in the city and half of them were
Friends. Besides the Episcopalians, the other leading
religious bodies were Presbyterians, Lutherans and
German Reformed. The first day of the week was
religiously observed ; there were no theatres or dancing
schools ; no pawnbrokers, beggars or lotteries ; no
soldiers ; no martial spirit. During Penn's lifetime a
duel never disgraced the Province ; horse racing and
brutal sports were unknown. The instrument of public
authority was the constable's staff, and "never," says
Clarkson, "was a government maintained with less
internal disturbances, or more decorum." Who shall
say that to a considerable degree the Province had not
fulfilled Penn's expectations? There was some cursing
and drunkenness, cheating of the Indians, dissatisfac
tion in the Assembly, and contentions among religious

RELIGION. 363
sects ; yet the general tone of society was sound.
Doubtless the absence of great individual wealth, the
necessity of working iu order to live, and the common
spirit of mutual dependence contributed iu no slight
degree to make men thoughtful, humble and religious.
Not long after Penn's death the moral and religious
decadence began.
Twenty years after establishing the government, the
Presbyterians began to arrive in large numbers. Nearly
six thousand Scotch-Irish came before 1729; and more
than twice that number arrived annually for several
years afterward. At first, some English and Welsh dis
senters aud French Protestants with a few Baptists as
sembled for religions worship in a storehouse in the city,
to whom Mr. Watts, a Baptist minister, ministered.
Not pleased with their relations, the Presbyterians called
a minister from Boston, Jedediah Andrews, who came
to Philadelphia in 1698. Soon after his arrival, dissen
sions between the Baptists and Presbyterians rose, and
the Baptists withdrew, leaving the others in possession
of the store-house. Here they continued to worship
until 1704, when they moved to a new meeting-house
on Market Street. The next year a Presbytery was
formed in the city, and eleven years later their number
had increased enough to form a synod, comprising the
presbyteries of Philadelphia, New Castle, Snow Hill, and
Long Island. After the formation of the synod, the body
continued to receive additions, aud by 1732 there were
fifteen or sixteen Presbyterian churches in Pennsylvania.
Large numbers of the Scotch-Irish journeyed west
ward towards the frontier. In their inarch toward the
Susquehanna they met the Germans, but their ways
were too diverse for harmonious living. The proprie-

364 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
tary therefore urged these energetic settlers to move
along southern and western lines instead of mingling
with the Germans then in Lancaster County and further
north. There was land enough for all, and accordingly
they went into York and Cumberland counties. Thus
parting in the early days, they have never formed a
common stream of civic and religious life. Their
business relations have indeed been constant, but -with
out corresponding social intercourse, while their reli
gious relations have been still more distinct.
The ministers who came with the Scotch-Irish were
scholars; among these were Makemie, Alison, Blair, the
Tennents, and others who stamped themselves on the
men and institutions of their time. Besides founding
common schools they organized and conducted classical
academies. Thus the Province soon had a considerable
number of higher institutions of learning, the offspring
of these learned and good men.
The Germans were more numerous than the Scotch-
Irish, and more diverse in their beliefs. Many Luther
ans came- to escape political oppression. In their new
homes they found no German ministers nor school
masters ; and they were not drawn toward English
teachers and preachers. The few ministers accompany
ing the large number of emigrants in 17 10 gradually
went elsewhere, while those who remained exerted very
slight influence. Thousands of educated German Luth
erans now scattered in the Province never entered a
church or cared for one. "Many," says an eminent
writer, " were so utterly indifferent to all religion that it
became proverbial to say that they belonged to the
Pennsylvania church." ' ' Reichel.

RELIGION. 363
The German Reformed were as numerous as the
Lutherans, and perhaps came here at an earlier date.
The greater number were from the Palatinate, and
settled in Montgomery County, in Germantown aud in
other places. The oldest German Reformed congrega
tion is supposed to be that at Goshenhoppen, organized
in 1717. Another congregation built a church at Ger
mantown in 1733. In a few years there were thousands
of German Reformed immigrants in Pennsylvania for
whose spiritual welfare no one cared. Without
churches, without schools, without ministers, they grew
up in ignorance and vice.
The Mennonites were fewer in number than the
Lutherans or German Reformed. Their most pro
nounced peculiarities were disbelief in infant baptism,
refusal to take a judicial oath and to bear arm's. They
were not poor settlers, and therefore were able to make
a judicious selection of land. Economy, industry,
frugality, and simplicity of dress, and in their meeting
houses, were their chief characteristics.
The Tunkers or German Baptists also refused to take
an oath or to bear arms, aud believed in baptism by
immersion. The most active spirit was Peter Becker
who, in 1723, was chosen official baptizer of the church
of Germantown. They increased in numbers but
retained the simplicity of their forefathers, wearing long
beards, and disregarding education.
From this sect sprung the Siebentager or German
Seventh Day Baptists. They lived at Ephrata. Some
of their wooden buildings with their little windows and
narrow walls still stand. These voluntary exiles in
order to enjoy greater mental and moral independence, —
Protestant friars, among whom were men of letters, —

366 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
lived simple and severe lives, not unlike the order
founded by St. Francis of Assisi. Father Friedsam the
founder possessed great natural ability and a lively
imagination. In his wanderings through Germany he
adopted the views of the Pietists, and resolved, in 1720,
to emigrate to Pennsylvania and dedicate his life to
God in contemplative solitude. Having learned the
weaver's trade with the Tunkers, he removed to Cones
toga and settled near Mill Creek. Becker visited this
neighborhood and met their baptizer, Friedsara, who
soon afterward became a minister of the new Tunker
congregation. Ere long he discovered that the Tunkers
were wrong in their observance of a day for Sunday,
and that the seventh was established and sanctified by
the Lord. Heeding his discovery, his congregation set
apart the seventh day for public worship. They
worked on Sundays though they were often fined for
their diligence. Men and women flocked from all sides;
even married women left their families to lead a more
holy life, which influenced them to write a tract against
matriraony, entitled, "The Penitentiary Carnal Man."
In 1732 Friedsam went secretly to a cell on the banks
of the Cocalico, previously occupied by a hermit. Dis
covering his retreat, some adherents followed, settling
around him in solitary cottages and imitating his mode
of life. He won over a German Reformed minister,
who proved a very valuable associate. Some Lutherans
were also led away, and among thera was Conrad
Weiser, the famous Indian interpreter. As the number
of hermits increased, a conventicle and a monastic
society were established. Kedar, the first convent for
sisters, was built in 1735, and three years later Zion was
built for the brethren. They adopted the habit of the

RELIGION. 367
Capuchins or White Friars, consisting of a shirt,
trousers and vest with a long white woolen gown or
cowl in winter, and one of linen for the summer. For
the sisters the dress was slightly changed, petticoats
for trousers, and a cowl of a somewhat different form.
Monastic names were given to all who entered the
cloister. Though the community was a republic in
form, all possessing equality aud freedom, yet Father
Friedsam held very despotic sway. One of the most re
markable men of this society was Israel Eckerling, or ,
Brother Onesimus. He became friar of the brethren's
convent in 1740, and supported by Father Friedsam, his
word became the supreme law. Assisted by his own
brothers, he sought to acquire sole control of the
property of the brotherhood, and by extending its busi
ness, to increase the power and influence of the cloister.
A grist mill, oil mill, woolen mill, and paper mill were
erected, and still larger buildings were added. Sharon,
a new sisters' house, was erected, and in 1746 a new
brothers' house called Bethel was flnished. This was
three stories in height and contained eight large rooms.
To each of these belonged six or eight small dormi
tories, scarcely large enough to contain a closet, an hour
glass, and a sleeping bench with a block of wood for
a pillow. The passages leading to the cells, and
through the different parts of both convents, were barely
wide enough to admit a person. The wiudows con
tained only four panes of glass, and the outer walls
were shingled. Before beginning its erection a dispute
rose concerning the length of the house, some desiring
66 feet, others 99, and others 100. Happily one of the
number had a dream that solved the difficult)'. He
dreamed that the circle meant God, and the stroke man.

368 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
If 66 was selected God was placed below and man
above ; if loo, then man stood before God; hence 99 wag
preferable, because God stood above and man below.
This dream settled the contention, and 99 was adopted.
For a long period the hour of religious worship was
midnight, and the meeting was often prolonged until
daybreak, every one then going to work. At other
times uo meetings were held, "that all might have time
to bring into practice what they had been taught."
Especially among the sisters much time was devoted to
music and ornamental writing. Father Friedsam was
a poet and musical composer, though of a very peculiar
order. For fifty years this society flourished, exerting
no small influence among the people around Ephrata.
An eminent writer says " this fact shows only too
plainly how low must have been the state of religious
and Christian life among the Germans of Pennsyl
vania." The Schwenkfelders were of the smaller German
sects. At uo time did they display much religious
activity, either in the missionary field or in polemical
controversy. Thankfully enjoying the religious free
dom of Pennsylvania, they lived quiet and peaceful
lives, following high standards of living. A Silesian
noble, Kaspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig, Counsellor to the
Duke of Liegnitz, was the founder. He was a contem
porary of Luther, of liberal education, and active in the
service of his country. Differing from Luther, and still
more widely from the Roman Catholic Church, and per
secuted by both, many ofthe Schwenkfelders desired to
leave their country. Some sought shelter in Saxony,
while others were protected by Count Zinzendorf
Endeavoring to procure for them free transportation to

RELIGION. 369
Georgia, he succeeded only in acquiring a grant of land.
In 1734 one hundred and eighty left Berthelsdorf, led
by George Wies aud soon followed by Spangenberg.
Changing their plan, they went to Philadelphia and
settled principally on the Skippack and Perkiomen.
Not the least remarkable of the many sects were the
Separatists, whose only fixed principle was to oppose all
other religious associations and societies. Some not
only refused to join any Christian denomination, but
impelled by sectarian fanaticism, avoided all human
society, and lived as hermits, exposed to constant
dangers from the Indians. Others pretended to be
recipients of a special divine revelation, and called
themselves the inspired. Another brauch professed per
fection, maintaining that those who received the new
birth sinned no more, consequently whatever they did
was right and good. This branch called "The New
Born," was founded by a Palatinate named Matthias
Bauman, and flourished but for a short time in Oley town
ship in Berks county. Another "Spiritual Society,"
consisting largely of unmarried men of liberal educa
tion, was founded by John Kelpius, an Austrian, who
caine to Philadelphia in 1694. Forty persons joined him
and settled on the Ridge, then a complete wilderness.
They called their society, " The Woman in the Wilder
ness." Ten years afterwards Conrad Matthai, a noble
Swiss, joined them, and also Christopher Witt, a famous
doctor and magician.
Of the Pietists described, what shall be said? More
than one hundred associations existed within a radius
of fifty miles from Philadelphia. In lonely retreats
they spent lives of silence and contemplation like the
monks of the middle ages, forming a strong contrast to
24

370 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the bustling, energetic settlers around them. What
strange influences had led these truly religious people to
seek the far-off wilderness and there indulge in musings
so foreign to their time? A few years though were
enough to bring these to an end. How different and
painful might their existence have proved, had Penn
attempted, as was so often done by others having the
power, to constrain all into conformity with his own
belief By letting thera alone the world in due time
learned that theirs was no perennial fountain, but a
shallow spring soon to run dry.
Section IL
The Provincial Period {continued').
The history of the Moravians is unlike that of many
of the sects already described. John Huss, the fore
runner of this society, was one of the noblest characters
of all time. Persecuted in the old world, the Moravians
sought an asylum in the new. Count Zinzendorf
obtained a grant of land in Georgia, and in 1735 a
settlement was begun. Under the leadership of Bishop
Nitschmann a church was organized the following year.
Ere long war between England and Spain interfered
with the work, and the Moravians, refusing to bear
arms, emigrated to Philadelphia with George White-
field, the famous preacher. They bought a domain of
Eve thousand acres at the Forks of the Delaware, and
began to build a large school house for negro children.
The land was purchased by Whitefield, but a question of
doctrine caused a rupture, and they were ordered to
leave. Happily at this time Bishop Nitschmann
returned from Europe and purchased Bethlehem, an

RELIGION. 371
extensive tract on the Lehigh River ten miles south of
Whitefield's land, and the colony again began work.
Afterward, Whitefield's land was also purchased, and
called the Barony of Nazareth. Nominally, it belonged
to the Countess von Zinzendorf On this tract several
settlements were organized. The expenses of emigra
tion remaining unpaid, the brethren united in a semi-
communistic association, Bethlehem forming the centre.
It was a communism not of goods, but of labor. Each
settler was free to choose or reject the plan, while
retaining exclusive control of his own property. Parti
cipants gave time and work, receiving in return the
necessaries and comforts of life. This system was
called Economy and was admirably adapted to their
peculiar wants. It continued for twenty years, and
sufficed to defray the expenses of ordinary emigration,
to furnish the colony with daily support, and to main
tain a mission among the Indians, besides an extensive
itinerary among the white settlers in various parts of the
country. In 1762 the Economy at Bethlehem and
Nazareth was discontinued on the final departure of
Bishop Spangenberg to Europe, who had administered
the affairs of the Moravians with great wisdom. For
the next eighty years the other peculiarities of the
settlements were rigidly maintained at these places,
and also at Litiz, a third colony, established iu Lan
caster County.
In this early period one of the most interesting under
takings by the Moravians was an attempt by Count
Zinzendorf to unite the German religious denomina
tions of the Province in " the Church of God in the
Spirit." Circulars were sent, inviting members of all
denominations to attend a meeting at Germantown, not

372 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
for the purpose of disputing, but of agreeing, if
possible, in the most important matters of faith, and in
promoting mutual love and forbearance. The first
synod was held in January, 1742. The most prominent
sects present were the Lutherans, German Reformed,
Mennonites, Tunkers, Schwenkfelders, Siebentagers,
Separatists, Hermits and Moravians. When the Sie
bentagers received the circular "a council of war was
held in the camp," aud it was resolved that a brother
in Zion, and some fathers should attend the synod.
Curiously enough, these synodic meetings had the
effect of increasing the religious warfare rather than
of allaying it, for the members, instead of confining
themselves to outward forms and ceremonies, burned
their way into the very heart of Christianity itself
Resolutions were unanimously adopted, presenting a
common belief in some of the cardinal truths of
Christianity, aud the conference ended in peace. Never
theless, the waters were destined to remain not long
untroubled. Prior Onesimus, the Tunker representa
tive, treated by Zinzendorf with great consideration,
desired that the next sj'uod should be held at Ephrata,
but was strenuously opposed by Father Friedsam. It
was, therefore, held in Faulkner's Swamp, truly a
fitting place for a body of men in such hopeless con
fusion concerning their beliefs. Seven synods were
held ; one by one the different denominations withdrew,
until finally only the Moravians were left. So ended
the first attempt in the Province to establish Christian
unity. It has been said that the result might have been
different had more consideration been given to discus
sion, and to the working of the leaven of the spirit of
unity ampng the representatives and their sects. At

RELIGION. 373
the fifth synod, held in Germantown, it was declared
that "Pennsylvania is a complete Babel. The first
thing to be accomplished is to liberate its sighing
prisoners, which cannot be done according to the
common rule. Apostolic powers are required." Some
thing more than common rules were indeed required to
bring concord from such confusion; even "apostolic
powers" might have proved ineffective. Yet this
result was accomplished in a large measure by a slower
agency. In less than half a century most of those who
had differed radically disappeared, leaving to succeeding
generations the older and broader currents of religious
faith, untroubled by the vagaries of the "Rosicrucians,"
"The Hermits on the Wissahickon" or "The Woman
in the Wilderness."
The Moravians were a missionary church. From the
beginning they sought to Christianize the Indians, nor
were their efforts unavailing. Believers in peace, like
the Friends, and making their professions good by daily
practice, they gained the confidence of the Indians by
treating them with inflexible honesty, and thus pre
pared the way for religious teachings. Among the
Moravian missionaries was David Zeisberger, whose in
telligent and unselfish devotion to this fated race has
been beautifully described by De Schweinitz. He
wandered among the fierce Iroquois, and in the far
west, everywhere kindly treated, for he was a messenger
of good will and peace. At times, it is true, the integ
rity of his mission was suspected, and he was regarded
merely as a courier to persuade them into parting with
their lands. No saintlier spirit ever roamed through
the American forests. If his missionary work did not
blaze with the fiery zeal of the Jesuits among the

374 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Hurons, and if his life was less tragic than theirs, no
one can doubt that within him glowed the strongest de
sire for their moral elevation.
He and his fellow workers were confronted with diffi
culties far more serious than perils in the wilderness,
though these have led many a less resolute spirit to
falter and retire. The Indians were indignant over
their ill-treatment by the invading race. Their early
figurative expression for their homes, " night lodgings,"
had become literal, for they saw clearly themselves re
garded with contempt, and their rights disregarded.
The government endeavored to protect them from the
rapacity of white traders, but every regulation proved
unavailing. "These traders formed a class of their own; bold,
courageous, with a sagacity almost equal to that of the
Indian, but unscrupulous and dishonest, of degraded
morals, intent upon their own advantage, and indiffer
ent to the rights of the natives." But far the greatest
enemy of the Indians was intemperance, and for its in
troduction and awful work the whites were responsible.
Though not describing the efforts of these mission
aries to convert the children of the wilderness to the
Christian faith, we must linger over their first expedi
tion to the country of the Cayugas. The party con
sisted of Cammerhoff, bishop of the Moravians, Zeis
berger, and a chief of the Cayugas, his wife and two
children. Zeisberger proposed to ascend the Susque
hanna as far as the present boundary of New York.
The baggage was put on board, the indispensable rifle
and powder horn, the hatchet, flint and steel. Waving
a last farewell to his friends on the bank, Zeisberger
seized the paddle, and using it with the expertness of

RELIGION. 373
an Indian, the canoe glided swiftly toward the famed
country of the Iroquois.
De Schweinitz tells the story of their strange adven
tures. In the evening of the first day their canoes were
fastened to the shore, and a walnut bark hut built, in
which they kindled a fire. On the one side, wrapped
in their blankets, lay the missionaries ; on the other,
the Indians. Similar shelters were erected every night.
Near the northern boundary of the present County of
Wyoming, a village was reached in which lived some
Christian Indians. Here the party stopped a day to
visit these " Brown Sheep," as the Indian converts were
called. " The winding course of the river after leaving
this village, led them through a primeval wilderness.
Wooded hills stretched from the Susquehanna to the
spurs of the AUeghenies, with the young foliage of
early suramer clothing them in a mantle of soft green,
variegated by the flowers of the tulip trees and the
blossoms of gorgeous forest shrubs. Sweeping around
bluffs, the stream in many places burst iuto wild rapids,
through which it was almost impossible to paddle a canoe.
Ducks rose at their approach from the coves between
the hills, or the startled deer bounded back into the
thicket. Above their heads clouds of wild pigeons
passed on their swift way, while basking upon rocks in
the sun, or coiled with head erect, they saw occasion
ally, and one day in extraordinary numbers, that terror
of the Americau wilderness, the mottled rattlesnake."
Through such scenes they traveled for nearly ten
days, shooting game for food, conversing with the
Indians, and listening at night to the chief's tales of
the heroism of his ancestors. Finally the southern
boundary of Lake Cayuga was reached, and advancing

376 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
along its eastern shore, they came to the spot which
their guide approached with proud steps and glowing
eyes. The trees all around were full of figures and
curious symbols carved on the bark, telling of battles
won, aud other deeds of war. Every civilized nation
has sought to record its chronicles in pillars of stone ;
the Indian, less advanced, used the forest trees to pre
serve his fame. In this forest metropolis the Moravians
were kindly treated, and lived iu the lodge of a sachem.
After some days they continued their journey to the
country of the Senecas, a beautiful valley, blooming
like a garden. Thus far their eyes had everywhere
fallen on beauty, and kindness had been lavished on
them ; but now their joy vanished. They had reached a
village of drunken Indians, all shouting, laughing and
dancing in wild confusion. Zeisberger and Cammer
hoff immediately realized their critical situation. They
were invited to take part in the feast. To offend might
prove instant death ; while to join in the revelry was
contrary to their principles. The Indians pressed
around with threatening looks, and insisted that Zeis
berger should at least drink their health. Seeing no
way of escape, he barely lifted the proffered cup to his
lips, and then the Indians let him go. Rejoining the
bishop, they prepared for rest ; but there was none.
The savages burst into their lodge shouting and sing
ing, showing marks of fierce anger. Before completing
their journey, they suffered still more severely from the
drunkenness of the Indians in other places. Yet they
escaped all perils, and though Cammerhoff was much
exhausted, they reached Bethlehem in safety, having
traveled more than sixteen hundred miles on horseback,-
afoot, and in their canoe.

RELIGION. 377
For many years the Moravians continued their work
with varying success. Intemperance and wars between
the Indians and the whites were the chief hindrances.
Again and again were their labors almost ready to
blossom, when war suddenly cut down the plant so
faithfully cultivated.
Perhaps the Moravians would have found a more
congenial soil among the Germans, for after a few
years they were in sore need of . religious teachers.
There were more than enough mystics, but the fol
lowers of Luther and Zwingli cannot be blamed for
declining to partake of such nebulous food. As their
governments at home had established churches and
schools, these immigrants did not understand why the
Province should not care for their spiritual and educa
tional interests. In many places, what little religious
light once burned, had flickered and expired. Very
different were the lives of the neighboring Swedish
Lutherans, who for a long period had had their regular
pastors. Yet the Swedish Lutheran ministers confined
their work within the narrow bounds of their own sect,
while some sadly impaired their spiritual teachings,
for immediately after the Sunday service they repaired
to the nearest tavern and spent the remainder ofthe day
in drinking and frolicking with their parishioners.
The religious condition of the Germans was imper
iled by the rapid influx of so many without their
pastors or religious teachers Still worse, some
preachers were frauds, resorting to the pulpit to earn a
living. Among these rogues was one Carl Rudolph,
"Priuce of Wurtemberg, " probably an army deserter.
Posing as a minister, he conducted an expedition from
Georgia through the seaport provinces, cheating, steal-

378 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ing and foraging on German settlers. In each locality
displaying abundant proof of his dissolute manners, he
yet found persons whom he could inveigle by his per
suasive arts. Others dared to act as pastors, baptizing
children and marrying people without ecclesiastical
authority ; of these may be mentioned parson Frey-
moutli, who lived beyond the Blue Mountains. Finally
in 1742 Muhlenberg came. Too long had the Ger
mans of the old world neglected their children in
the new. Lutheran churches then existed at Phila
delphia, Lancaster, Germantown, New Hanover and
The Trappe. No Lutheran pastor had ministered
regularly to any of them, though Count Zinzendorf
was preaching to the Lutherans in Philadelphia and
was not inclined tb withdraw. There was a formal
meeting between these two eminent worthies of the
Christian faith, which Muhlenberg has vividly described.
Having gained possession of the church he began his
ministry. Perhaps in its early days the Lutheran churcli had a
greater variety of preachers than at any other period.
One of the truly good men who unwittingly plunged
his church into a sea of trouble was Handschuch, pastor
of the church at Lancaster. At the beginning of his
ministry he lived as a bachelor in quiet retirement.
Then he took a house and employed as a servant the
daughter of one of his deacons. No one found fault
with this, but the trouble began soon after he told her
that it seemed to him God's will that he should marry
her, a revelation to which she readily yielded. Nothing
could be said against her except that she had formerly
kept a cake-stand in a public market at Lancaster.
Handschuch's people were greatly incensed ; and strongly

-[flem/J Mciccr cAai&yJvrb

RELIGION. 37Q
objected to calling her Fran Pastorin. Outsiders indulged
in a liberal quantity of frivolous remarks, but Hand
schuch did not change his mind. His congregation be
came divided. On the wedding-day he and his bride went
to the church ; not one ofthe displeased party was present.
The hilarity so common on such occasions was chilled
by the social ice that had so suddenly thickened around
the pastor. Handschuch and his bride, unable to endure
the arctic temperature surrounding them, bade farewell
to Lancaster.
During Muhlenberg's long and efficient ministry, he
justly earned the title of the Patriarch of Lutheranism in
America. He was unwearied iu activity, and almost
faultless in tactful dealing with those around him. His
benign face bespoke a kindly and charitable heart, yet
no one understood better than he, the need of sharp dis
tinctions between right and wrong ; between liberty
based on the solid foundation of order and license
issuing from irresponsible, unthinking conduct. " The
Pennsylvania religion," meaning no religion, with many
was the most popular ; and there was much around when
Muhlenberg came. The lines of religious living had
greatly loosened, varying from the plain teaching of the
Friends to the rankest skepticism. Muhlenberg clearly
saw that the church must be re-established on stricter
lines ; otherwise its pure and healing waters would be
absorbed in the quicksands of unbelief For this reason
he was disinclined to mingle with other denominations.
Free from jealousy, recognizing truth wherever found,
within the pale of any church, he yet believed that all
could work more efficiently within well-defined lines
than by scattering their energies over a broader surface.
When, therefore, it was proposed to establish German

380 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
schools in the Province, Muhlenberg clearly saw the
danger attending the experiment. He believed in edu
cation, and opposed Saur's low policy of preserving as
far as pcssible the peculiarities of the German character.
He saw the objections the Germans would raise to the
system ; and that the fruits would probably be very
different from those which the authors desired to
garner. So, too, he did not favor establishing union
churches of two or more denominations. He knew
these experiments often led to the most bitter quarrels,
therefore he preferred that each denomination, while
looking kindly on others, should remain separate, feel
ing sure that, by preserving the distinctions, there would
be greater purity of life, greater activity in work, more
harmony and more efficiency. Above all, he perceived
that Christian discipline would be better observed than
by trampling down these lines and distinctions. To
impair them would open the way but too clearly for the
abolition and destruction of all religious thought and
activity. Although the fires of religion burned freely through
out the Province, yet everywhere was seen a decline in
spiritual fervor. Persons removed from their pastors,
and without the vivifying influence from mutual help
and example, drifted from their religious moorings. The
decline was not conflned to any one sect, but pervaded
all. A cooling wave, everywhere snuffing out or dead
ening the religious light, blew over the entire American
coast, including New England. Possibly this was a
reaction from the moral and religious energy displayed
during the early days of provincial life. At all events
it came in full force, and was everywhere noted by the
most thoughtful. Even in England the same decay of

RELIGION. 381
religious faith was deplored by the most spiritual
teachers. After Puritanism had spent itself in England
there was a reaction, severe and prolonged, and all
cla.sses relapsed into greater worldliness apparently than
ever. What were the causes of this decline is a question
worthy of profound study. Unquestionably prosperity in
several ways blighted religious life. When the produc
tion of wheat became excessive the surplus was distilled
into whiskey, which to many proved a curse. A large
quantity was exported, yet the drinking habit at home
increased, resulting in moral deterioration. At marriage
celebrations grave irregularities occurred, and even
funerals were often conducted in a scandalous and
offensive manner. Drunkenness became common, and
raany of the newcoraers were sensual to a high degree.
In 1754 Muhlenberg declared that Pennsylvania had
become surfeited with people of all kinds. "It teems
with a wicked, frivolous rabble and vagabonds of
preachers and students, and the devil is raging and
carrying on his slanders and calamities against the poor
Halleuses. "
Nor was the decline in religious thought less marked.
Here and there a person inight be seen ou the lonely
hights of theological speculation, but he did not loug
attract the interest of those around him. The differ
ences among the Pietists did not proceed from the
centre, consequently they kindled no fierce conflicts for
supremacy. Their beliefs were hardly more than specu
lative opinions, not convictions for which they were
willing to sacrifice all.
Many ministers in those days received a very inade
quate remuneration. Those of the Episcopal church

382 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA. '
were paid partly by the Church of England; while
Muhlenberg, for a while, was paid by the church at
Halle. Some parishioners objected to an annual salary.
They regarded this as an effort to put on them a per
petual tax, and they would not be thus entangled.
This fact shows how cold Lutheranism must then have
been; yet the people were kind to Muhlenberg, and
while they did not give much raoney, supplied him
with a great variety of food. In his diary he says
that one man brought him a sausage ; another, a piece
of meat ; a third, a chicken ; a fourth, a loaf of bread; a
fifth, some pigeons ; a sixth, a rabbit. Others brought
eggs, tea, sugar, honey, apples, partridges and the like.
At funerals, marriages and infant christenings the
pastor usually received a thaler, and many gifts came
from their catechumens. Hired by the year, like a
herdsman in Germany, when he did not preach as his
flock desired, he was dismissed. For this reason, says
Mittelberger, "I would rather perform the meanest
herd service in Europe than be a minister in Pennsyl
vania. Such unheard-of coarseness and wickedness are
the result of excessive liberality in the land, and the
blind zeal of the sects. To many in Pennsylvania, the
freedom they enjoy is more harm than good, both in
body and in soul. There is a saying that Pennsylvania
is 'the farmer's heaven, the mechanic's paradise, and
the official's and minister's pandemonium.' " The Pres
byterians paid their clergy iu a more regular manner.
Thongh in the early days the people were hardly in a
condition to reward their ministers very liberally, they
divided with thera fairly the fruits of their labor. If
pastors fared scantily, they fared at least as well as
those araong whom they labored so faithfully.

RELIGION. 383
For a long time religious associations were without
any authority to own land or burial grounds. In 1730
this right was conferred by law. Before soliciting as
sistance from outsiders to build a church, permission
from the governor to do this was needful. No person
could beg without a license from the same source. In
1766 the Lutheran church of Philadelphia desired
liberty from the governor "softly to feel the benevolent
and affectionate pulse of our munificent patriots, and to
try the sociable and mutual charity of our fellow citi
zens." The Roman Catholics of Northampton County,
in the following year, also petitioned for liberty to "ask
assistance from charitable aud piously disposed people."
They humbly entreated a license for this purpose,
whereby they might have the peaceable enjoyment of
their religion prescribed by law, aud reap the benefit of
the privileges granted by the governor's benevolent
ancestors.' In 1 741 a strong religious breeze blew over the waters.
It came from the preaching of Whitefield. He drew
followers from all denominations, preached in all
churches, and exercised a tremendous influence Even
the journalists were so awed that they did not venture
to correct the misstatements of his friends without an
apology for interference. Like most reformers, he
turned the force of his artillery against the pleasures
and amusements of society. Whether or not people
then were in a different mood from now, is a curious
psychological question. His preaching produced a
wonderful effect. As the churches were too small for
those who wished to hear, meetings were held in the
open fields, from ten thousand to fifteen thousand often
'4 Pa. Archives 252-279.

384 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
attending a service. In giving an account of his
preaching at Nottingham he says: "I believe there
were nearly twelve thousand hearers. I had not spoken
long when I perceived numbers melting; as I preached,.
the power increased ; and at last, both in the morning
and afternoon, thousands cried out so that they almost
drowned my voice. Some fainted, and when they
gained a little strength, heard and fainted again.
Others cried out almost as though in the sharpest
agonies of death." One of the most eminent leaders
of the Presbyterian church. Dr. Hodge, has remarked
there must have been an extraordinary influence on the
minds of the people to produce such vast assemblies and
such striking effects from Whitefield's preaching.
Much was rational in the experience of the persons
thus violently agitated ; much also of the outward
effect was the result of mere natural excitement, pro
duced by powerful impressions on excited imaginations
by the preacher's fervent eloquence, and diffused
through the crowd by the mysterious influence of
sympathy. Whitefield's preaching was so marvelous that the
highest dignitaries in church and state attended. The
English historian Hume said it was worth while to go
twenty miles to hear him, and repeated this closing
passage from one of his discourses : ' ' The attendant
angel is just about to leave the threshold and ascend to
Heaven, and shall he ascend and not bear with him the
news of one sinner among all this multitude reclaimed?"
Then stamping with his foot, he lifted up his hands and
eyes toward heaven, his eyes filled with tears, and cried
out, "Stop, Gabriel, stop ere you enter the sacred
portals, aud carry with you the news of one sinner con-

RELIGION. 385
verted to God !" Then, says Hume, he described the
Saviour's love in the simplest language, and the assembly
was melted into tears. Sometimes at the close of a
sermon he personated a judge about to pronounce
sentence. With tearful eyes and faltering speech,
caused by his profound emotion, he would say, "I am
now going to put on my condemning cap. Sinner, I
must do it; I must pronounce sentence upon you," and
in a treraendous strain of eloquence, describing the
eternal punishraent of the wicked, he would close,
repeating the words of Christ: "Depart from me, ye
cursed," etc. The difference between his preaching and
that of the day may be illustrated by the reply of a
ship-builder, "Why, every Sunday that I go to my
parish church I can build a ship from stem to stern
under the sermon ; but were it to save my soul, under
Mr. Whitefield I could not lay a single plank,"
Whitefield was followed by the two Tennents, Gilbert
and William, brothers, who possessed great learning and
eloquence and were powerful religious forces. Their
father believed in an educated ministry, and established
a "log college" in Bucks County to train Presby
terian ministers. Gilbert's views, however, were not
shared by all his brethren, and the gap continued to
widen until his denomination was rent in twain. In a
famous sermon preached at Nottingham, Gilbert
Tennent described the ministers of that generation " as
low-learned Pharisees ; plastered hypocrites, having the
forra of godliness, but destitute of its power." "Various
efforts were raade to unite the two bodies, and after
seventeen years of difference — caused not by diversity
of opinion concerning doctrine, discipline or church
governraent, but by alienation springing from the
25

386 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA
different views of the Whitefield revival and the educa
tion of ministers — the breach was healed.'
During this period the controversy occurred between
the First Presbyterian church of Philadelphia, where
Franklin attended, and its pastor, Hemphill, who was
accused of preaching erroneous doctrines. It was the
first case of pronounced heresy that had broken out
within the Presbyterian fold. There was an examina
tion with searching eyes into his sermons. Suddenly a
new discovery was made; instead of preaching his own,
he had been plagiarizing. Many of his attendants
had listened with surprised delight to his smooth
periods and graceful figures, contrasting strangely with
his conversation and addresses. He was speedily re
tired, and thus ended a controversy which in the begin
ning threatened to result in a genuine old-fashioned
"roasting" of Hemphill. Doubtless the ending was a
great disappointment to the firemen, who thus lost an
opportunity to display their zeal for orthodo.xy.
The Friends had experienced their full measure of
controversy iu dealing with the apostasy of George
Keith the century before. Thereafter their solemn,
silent life was undisturbed by any knight-errant of re
ligious disputation. If unmoved by the teaching of a
consecrated educated ministry, they were at least spared
the ills springing from a ministry intent on personal
advancement rather than on higher aims. If during
the long period of religious torpor their light was some
what eclipsed, in two directions at least it shone clearly
amid the increasing worldliness. At an early day the
Friends declared opposition to the slave system. Some
' Nevin's Churches of the Valley No. i and Appendix.

RELIGION. 387
of the German Friends, the simple-minded vine-dressers
and corn-growers from the Palatinate, revolted at the
traffic in human beings. As early as 1688 they pre
sented an address to the yearly meetiug, making known
their views, but this meeting hesitated to pronounce an
opinion. The members said this matter was "of too
great weight for them to determine," and for several
years the opinion of the Friends concerning the subject,
was one of agitation and questioning. In 1700, during
Penn's second visit to America, the subject was again
considered at a monthly meeting in Philadelphia. His
mind, he said, had long been engaged " for the benefit
and welfare of the negroes," and he pressed his brethren
to discharge fully their duty, regarding more especially
the mental and religious improvement of the slaves.
Once a mouth it was determined to hold a meeting for
worship, especially for the negro race. In 1710 the
passage of an act, prohibiting the importation of
negroes under any condition, gave great satisfaction to
Penn. Thus the anti-slavery feeling was making pro
gress in Pennsylvania, while in England the current of
public sentiment was setting strongly the other way.
This act was indignantly repealed by the privy
council ; but the Assembly, undaunted by the repulse,
two years afterwards imposed a duty of ;^20 on each
slave imported. This act met a fate similar to the
other. During the same year a petition was presented
to the Assembly for the total abolition of slavery iu
Pennsylvania. The subject had now become a burning
one among the Friends, and at their monthly and
yearly meetings it was constantly discussed, and resolu
tions adopted discouraging the importation and sale of
slaves. Ralph Sanderford wrote a work on the

388 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
"Mystery of Iniquity" in which he declared that the
holding of negroes in slavery was inconsistent with the
rights of man, and contrary to the precepts of the
Author of Christianity. He was followed by two
powerful writers in moving public opinion, John
Woolman and Anthony Benezet. In 1754 Woolman
published his "Constitution" on the keeping of
negroes, while Benezet was untiring in his efforts for
aiding the oppressed slaves. In 1755 the yearly meet
ing expressed its "sense and judgment," that those con
cerned in importing or buying slaves ought "speed
ily " to be reported to their monthly meeting. Three
years afterward it was declared that any who imported,
bought, sold or held slaves, should not be allowed to
take part in the affairs of the church. A considerable
number released their slaves, and by 1774 the yearly
meeting of Pennsylvania was free from the business of
human traffic. During the last year of the War of Inde
pendence, the yearly meeting of Pennsylvania addressed
Congress on the iniquity of the slave trade, and con
tinued to wage vigorous war against the system until it
was destroyed.'
The Friends strongly opposed also the rising tide of
fashion and amusement ; at no time was their position
or practice doubtful. They did not fear to rebuke in
strong terms those who departed from their ancient
simplicity. The Episcopal church like the others had crossed
troubled waters ; flourishing in the beginning, afterward
it nearly perished. At the end of the flrst decade the
clergy had removed to "Virginia or Maryland, or died ;
the churches were closed, and the parishes had disap-
'2 Bowden, 176.

RELIGION. 38Q
peared. Happily in the midst of this general depression,
Christ Church grew steadily in numbers and power ;
supported by the Church of England. Twelve clergy
men of the Church of England sent by "The Society
for the Promulgation of the Gospel," were allowed
;^50 annually, besides what they received from sub
scription and surplus fees. Some were itinerary mis
sionaries, acting under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of
London, and traveled from place to place laboring
faithfully to keep the church alive.
Of all the branches of the Christian church, the
Roman Catholic was the only one that encountered
opposition, nor was this very serious. Doubtless the
first Roman Catholic settlers were attended by a priest,
for in 1686, three years after the founding of Philadel
phia, Penn mentions an old priest among the inhabi
tants. Early in the eighteenth century, in a letter
addressed to James Logan, the writer complained that
the government suffered " public mass in a scandalous
manner," and in a subsequent letter the same charge
was repeated. Indeed, a chapel was established in the
city as early as 1686, and a second one was built in
1736. Watson says that it was built " for a papal
chapel, and the people opposed its being so used in so
public a place." Another had been built a few years
before, not far from the city, on the road to Nicetown,
This was probably attached to a private house, and
built by the owner, perhaps for the protection of
worshipers. In 1730, Father Greaton, a Jesuit, was sent from Mary
land to Philadelphia, though De Courcy, says he began in
a humble chapel at the corner of Front and Walnut
streets in 1703. Aided by the liberality of his hostess.

390 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
he bought a lot on Fourth Street, and erected the little
chapel of St. Joseph's. The authorities were opposed to
this, and Governor Gordon informed the council of its
erection, and the public celebration of the mass.
"Father Greaton," says Archbishop Carroll, "laid the
foundation of that now flourishing congregation. He
lived there until about 1750, having long before suc
ceeded in building the old chapel still contiguous to the
presbytery of that town, and in assembling a numerous
congregation which, at flrst, consisted of not more than
ten or twelve persons." The archbishop saw this
venerable man at the head of his flock in 1748.
The Jesuits extended their labors to the country sur
rounding Philadelphia. Father Schneider, a native of
Bavaria, in 1741 founded the mission of Goshenhoppen,
forty-five miles from Philadelphia, where he lived in
poverty for more than twenty years. Four years after
ward he built a church, and once a month went to
Philadelphia to hear the confessions of Germans. So
respected was he, among even the Protestant Germans,
that the Mennonites and Hernhutters aided in the build
ing of his church. About the same time Father
Wapler, Schneider's companion, founded the mission
of Couewago ; and later others established missions at
various places.
The Methodists did not appear in Pennsylvania until
1767. In Wolfe's victorious army on the plains of Abra
ham was Captain Thomas Webb, oue of the founders of
Methodism in Pennsylvania. Returning with his regi
ment to England, he became converted under Wesley's
ministry, and was ordered to duty in America. The
scarred veteran appeared in the pulpit in full uniform
and excited much attention. The first place of meeting

RELIGION. 3gi
was a sail-loft in the city. In this upper room the first
Methodist class-meeting was established, and here he
continued his active ministrations until the arrival of
Boardman and Pillmore in 1769. Soon afterward a
society was formed. The first church owned by the
Methodists was called St. George's, purchased for;^650.
Begun by a German Reformed congregation, it was sold
by an act of Assembly in 1769 in payment of its debts.
Boardman and Pillmore were reinforced by Francis
Asbury and Richard Wright in 1771 ; and Wesley
arrived at Philadelphia in October of the same year.
At this time there were only ten Methodist preachers in
America. Bethel, the first rural church, was built in
Montgomery County in 1770. During the Revolution
it afforded shelter to the wounded and dying soldiers of
the continental army, carried there from the battle-field
of Germantown. In all the eastern and southern
counties Methodism was introduced between the years
1769 and 1773. The first conference of Methodist
preachers convened in July of the latter year, and con
ferences were held twice annually afterward.
In tracing the course of religious life during the pro
vincial period, it is quite impossible, after the most
painstaking inquiry, to discover and describe all the
causes of its rise, variations and decline. Religion is
such an inner, mysterious thing that by no investiga
tion, however patient and prolonged, can its contents
be wholly revealed and understood. That Penn desired
above all else the religious advancement of the settlers
in his Province is evident from every act of his life re
lating to them. Pennsylvania was indeed to be a free
land, and a "holy" one. Of his failure to accomplish
this noble end, beside the causes already described,
were others possessing the deepest significance.

392 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
Though Penn's government at the outset was highly
charged with moral and religious principles, the way
was thrown wide open for any one to enter and enjoy
his political paradise. To keep the religious stream
pure, not too many seekers of unsympathetic views
could be safely admitted. Penn, clearly seeing the
danger, sought to prevent this consequence by provid
ing a system of compulsory education, and by extending
to the farthest limits laws repressing vice. Unhappily,
those not endowed with his spirit, were soon numerous
enough to overthrow his educational system, and to dis
regard his legalized moral injunctions against drunken
ness, harlotry and kindred vices. Even many of the
better classs coming without their ministers departed
from their religious ways, and ere long were adrift on
the broad current of irreligion and ignorance. The
general deterioration was now rapid, and the better
inclined waited long and wearily to see an effective
check applied.
Had Penn lived here, his influence would have been
incalculable in preserving and raising the tone of the
people. As proprietary and ruler, with an unselfish
character commanding general respect and reverence,
his presence and influence would have been a mighty
virtue-making power. This is clearly shown by the
effect of his eloquent letter to Governor Evans describ
ing the people's ingratitude. It is a sad reminder of
what might have been accomplished could he have
spent his days at close hand in shaping the destiny of
the Province. Unfortunately, he could not remain,
and frora his deputies, whatever may have been their
political fitness, went forth no moral, health-giving
influences. They were regarded as the representatives

RELIGION. 353
of interests inimical to those of the settlers, and Evans
especially was a distinguished sinner, whose conduct
shocked all good men. By completing the conquest
of the wilderness in the eastern part of the Province,
and thus assuring themselves of earning a com
fortable livelihood, was aroused the spirit for money-
making. With but little religious or secular in
struction concerning the uses to be made of wealth,
this spirit grew rapidly and dominated legislation,
deadened respect for Penn and for law, and checked the
growth of public spirit. It is true that a few
preached and wrote, but some even of these were un
worthy or inefficient. Never was a more delusive
or destructive doctrine preached than this, that a
country can easily and quickly assimilate all forms of
a grosser or less advanced life, without impairing
its own higher life. Doubtless this can be done to
some extent, but the undeniable consequence of
excessive immigration has been the weakening of the
better elements by the admixture. The plane of society
has been formed, not on a high elevation, but away
down in the valley. For a brief season, the seeds
planted by the earlier colonists sprang up and grew iu
a beautiful way, but failed to mature through lack of
husbandmen possessing the same ideals and purposes.
Section III.
The Church in the Revolution.
The war wrought radical changes in many an in
dividual and in every organized form of religion. The
church reeled to and fro as though shaken by an earth
quake. If some religious denominations sustained the
shock better than others, all suffered Many of the

394 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
churches were closed, and the people, left without their
spiritual directors, strayed away. "The civil character
of the war," remarks a religious historian, "especially
in the Southern states, gave it a peculiar ferocity, and
produced a licentiousness of which there is scarcely a
parallel at the present day. Municipal laws could not be
enforced ; civil government was frustrated, and society
was well-nigh resolved into its original elements." '
A moral force may be regarded in two ways, as pro
gressive aud resistive ; in either direction it is difficult
to measure its effectiveness. Many of its effects cannot
be clearly segregated and put on record. Secrecy in its
operations is often a most important element ; to pro
claim its work is to mar its worth. Carlyle says that
the highest goodness "is silent or soft-voiced," even
those who are helped may never know whence the
strengthening breeze came. Goodness in all ages has
been known only to a f6w ; the record has been kept
within the sanctuary of the soul. The great world
without has gone rolling on quite unconscious of the
silent, disinterested activities which, in myriad ways,
have been raising and restoring mankind to moral
health and happiness.
The resisting power, the effect of which in any case
is the difference between what a man is and would have
been, if no moral forces had existed, is still more diffi
cult to measure. If they were withdrawn, how far
would he recede? In other words, how strong are such
dykes to restrain evil from making headway? Though
still far behind, what moral progress has man made,
this is one test ; how much more laggard would he have
been had these dykes not existed, this is another.
» Gillett.

RELIGION. 303
The second test is strikingly illustrated in the tiraes
we are about to describe. The moral forces put forth
from the beginning were now to be greatly weakened or
wholly withdrawn, and we shall learn from their
departure how great had been their power, both in
assisting the moral advance, and in preventing the
decline that would have set in without their presence
and action.
The first effect to be noted was dissension in the
churches. Some members were in favor of war, others
were opposed, and this antagonism inevitably expressed
itself in open divisions. Individuals might have their
social and business differences without affecting the
general currents of religious life ; but on such a great
question it was impossible for persons to differ strongly
without lessening their regard for each other. A divid
ing stream had suddenly appeared ; not some gentle
murmuring brooklet easily crossed, but a chasm
continuing to deepen and widen as the war-clouds
deluged the distracted country. To keep alive a
church organization there must be officers, aud the
selection of these became increasingly difficult. We
shall soon see how great was the difficulty in con
ducting the affiairs of the college of Philadelphia.
While the anti-war party was ascendent the institu
tion was regarded as a kind of hot-bed of treason. The
tension could not last long ; one faction or the other
was sure to take the open field and fight for supremac}-.
The churches, too, were cleft, and how could they flour
ish so long as they were sundered? Religious life
weakened and perished.
Other causes, outside the churches, accelerated the
movement. The issue of paper-money and the attend-

396 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ant speculation in it loosened the moral fibres of society.
The payment of debts in a heavily depreciated money,
and the delaying of payments in order to sell goods at
higher prices, and thus receive a larger nominal sum
that was effective for debt-paying, were strange perver
sions of the comraon rule of honesty. The morals of
the people rapidly hardened by such experiences. Self
ishness grew more rankly than ever before. The news
papers of the period were filled with the evidences of
decaying morality.
The keener political atraosphere had the sarae
effect. Kindly feeling chilled, the disappointed felt
hard towards their opponents. The managers of the
State were a body of firm men who gave law to a
large number who were cowed and discontented.
But they did not submit serenely to political servitude.
Full of anger, they impatiently waited a favorable oppor
tunity for an outbreak. These corrupting streams all
flowed in one direction — a freshet carrying away much
that was noblest and best.
When men were thus crazed by fiery strife ; ruled by
a government strangely despotic and lax by turns;
drifting along in midnight darkness, unable to plan for
the future, how could religion flourish? How could
any one having a rightful conception of Christianity as
a moral, heaven-born power, in the presence of the
tragic scenes of war, bless what he saw in the name of
religion ? How could he thank a loving Father for all
the slaughter, suffering and woe that filled the land?
No wonder the churches were smitten and fell to decay ;
it would be a wonder indeed had they not suffered by
the shock.
Turning from the general survey to that of the differ-

RELIGION. 2)97
ent branches of religious faith, the Friends were placed
in the most trying situation of all. By adhering to the
principle of peace, many were put in the uncomfortable
category of suspected enemies of their country. Not a
few of them did maintain their loyalty to Great Britain;
and if the causes for rebelling seemed to them insuffi
cient, why should they not have been permitted to hold
their opinion? It is true that the Province was finally
drawn over in legal form, though by questionable
methods, to the other side, and was kept by a body of
resolute men from returning. Yet every intelligent
man knew when the change was effected that it had
been accomplished against the wishes of many, as had
that of nearly every other colony.
The peace principles of the Friends, therefore, com
bined with their loyalty, placed them from the start
under the ban of suspicion. Their unwillingness to
take the paper-money because this was an agency of
war deepened the enmity towards thera. Then, too,
the vigor of the friends of Revolution was all the
greater because they were so few cora pared with the
entire population. It was necessary to make up by
desperate work for their lack in numbers. Had the
Friends been a small and uninfluential body, their
attitude would have been more. easily borne. Itwas
needful to crush them to succeed ; if not wholly, at least
to deprive them of all political influence.
The Friends beheld the gathering clouds with no
little disquietude. At a meeting of their representa
tives for Pennsylvania and New Jersey in January, 1775,
an address was issued declaring that by repeated public
advices and private admonitions the utmost endeavor
had been used to dissuade the members of the society

398 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
"from joining with the public resolutions promoted
and entered iuto by some of the people " which had
increased the contention. "The divine principle of
grace and truth which we profess," so the address con
tinued, "leads all obedient to it to discountenance every
measure tending to excite disaffection to the king as
supreme magistrate, or to the legal authority of his
governraent." Thus believing, they disapproved of
many of the recent political writings because their
spirit and temper were " not only contrary to the nature
aud precepts of the gospel, but destructive of the peace
and harmony of civil society."
"From our past experience of the clemency of the
king aud his royal ancestors, we have grounds to hope
and believe that decent and respectful addresses from
those who are vested with legal authority, representing
the prevailing dissatisfactions and the cause of them,
would avail towards obtaining relief, ascertaining and
establishing the just rights of the people, and restoring
the public tranquillity ; and we deeply lament that con
trary modes of proceeding have been pursued which
have involved the colonies in confusion, appear likely to
produce violence and bloodshed, and threaten the
subversion of the constitutional' government, and of
that liberty of conscience for the enjoyment of which
our ancestors were induced to encounter the manifold
dangers and difficulties of crossing the seas, and of
settling in the wilderness."
Such was the position taken by the Friends in the
contest then looming up so darkly before them. In
November, 1775, an address by the Friends was presented
by a deputation of ten persons to the Assembly. After
setting forth the cry for an appeal to arms, and their

RELIGION. 300
principles of peace, an appeal is raade to that pro
vision in the charter whereby Friends shall not be
obliged " to do or suffer any act or thing contrary to
their religious persuasion." The address concludes
with the desire that "the most conciliatory measures"
may be pursued, " and that all such may be avoided as
are likely to widen or perpetuate the breach with the
parent state or tend to introduce persecution and suffer
ings among them." Others of similar import were
issued from time to time, and from the position thus
taken in the beginning they never wavered, except a
small number, throughout the war.
As these could not be dissuaded by the believers in
peace, they formed themselves into a society and were
known as Free Quakers. Perhaps they were still better
known as "Hickory Quakers," or "Fighting Quakers."
They were never a numerous body, but several dis
tinguished themselves iu the Revolution. Mifflin, the
first governor, was one of them. They were disowned,
and thus the sundering was complete. The Friends,
however, did not hesitate to restore the repentant. Nor
was the number small. One of these, who had joined
the associators, was entreated to desist, aud acknowledg
ing his error, was at once restored. Drafted not long
afterward into the military service, and unwilling for
religious or other reasons to go, he paid his fine.
His father and brethren dealt with him, while he de
fended his course. They told him that he ought
neither to have paid his fine nor gone to war, but
to prison; indeed, "to rot there," if need be, before
either paying or going. So he was disowned. Thus
the Friends were unsparing in dealing with their mem
bers, though as each meeting acted independently not
all meted out the same degree of strictness or severity.

400 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
The attitude of John Dickinson was peculiar. Op
posed to Revolution, when at last it came hejoined in the
movement, took command of a battalion and went to
the froflt. Displeased over what he believed was unjust
treatment, he resigned, but ere long proved his patriot
ism by joining a company as a private, and as such
participated in the battle of Brandywine. A Friend
and man who neither wrote nor spoke unless he had
something important to say, of all the members of that
immortal body, the Continental Congress, who dared
defy the power of Great Britain aud professed so much
patriotism, Dickinson and McKean were of the six'
who ever enlisted and fought. The rest were content
to talk. Dickinson put his patriotism to the grim test
of going into the field and facing the guus and bayo
nets of the enemy. Nor is the silence with which his
conduct was regarded by his religious society hardly
less remarkable than his own, for the most diligent
study of its records fails to discover that he was dis
owned or reproved.
The Friends suffered through distraints for railitary
purposes. Of course, all suffered in this way, though
very likely those known or suspected of having no
syrapathy with the Araericau cause suffered the most.
When, for example, a demand was made of the people
in Philadelphia for blankets, they were taken without
distinction of persons, and the Friends were obliged to
pass a winter without them. In the early days of the
war, lead was a precious article, and the houses of
Friends were stripped just as quickly as others. When
some of them opened their shops on a day appointed
'The other four were: George Taylor, James Smith, James Wilson
and George Ross.

RELIGION. 401
for a fast, their houses were attacked by a rabble
Some were committed to prison for declining to engage
in military service; others were fined for not accepting
public office.
Whatever one may think of their belief, he must
admire their religious loyalty and placid courage. Their
conduct re-lights the great story of persecution for
truth's sake in earlier days. The world always admires
unselfish devotion to whatever cause. During 1777,
frora the members of one meeting alone, goods to the
value of nearly ;^i 2,000 were taken because of their
refusal to enrol in the militia. Many no doubt were
loyalists, and with thera their religious belief accorded
with their political allegiance. Their opponents, know
ing this, swept all together without distinction. So the
entire number, save in exceptional cases, were suspected
of disloyalty, if not openly charged with disaffection to
the new order of things. Hard truly was their lot, for
at all times the condition of the revolters, until near the
close of the struggle, was raost desperate, preventing
thera frora showing any raercy toward those differing
from themselves ; as perhaps they would have done had
their own resources been larger and their prospects less
dubious. In the summer of 1777 the revolutionary sky grew
blacker than ever. The British army was preparing to
invade Pennsylvania and every one felt that Washing
ton could not long resist its advance The revolu
tionists were greatly excited ; they felt that, if they
could do nothing else, they could at least imprison some
of those who would welcome the coming of the dreaded
invader. The report spread that some of the Friends
were to be arrested. At last. Congress directed this to be
26

402 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
done, and the Supreme Executive Council iramediately
proceeded to execute the order. No specific charges
were made against the persons arrested, and they sent
a written remonstrance to the Council against its action.
"Having a just sense of the inestimable value of reli
gious and civil liberty, we claim as freemen," they said,
" our undoubted right to be heard before we are con
fined in the manner directed by the order ; and we have
the more urgent cause for insisting on this our right,
as several of our fellow-citizens have been for some days
and are now confined by your order and no opportunity
is offered them to be heard ; and we have been informed
that it is your purpose to send them into a distant
part of the country, even beyond the limit of the juris
diction you claim, where we would have no opportunity
of clearing ourselves of the charge or suspicions enter
tained against us." Other remonstrances followed, but
the council was unmoved in its purpose to send the
prisoners into exile unless they would sign a test of
their loyalty. As they had once refused to do this, so
again did they refuse.
At the time of arresting the Friends, Rev. Thomas
Coombe, then officiating in oue of the Episcopal
churches in the city and who displayed much feeling for
the crown, was also arrested. The vestry of the united
churches petitioned the Executive Council for his
release, because he had been arrested without know
ing his accusers or having an opportunity to make his
defence. This the petitioner deemed an infringement
of religious and civil liberty. The council coldly dis
regarded the request. Another application by Colonel
Cadwalader and Rev. William White was received with
a different spirit. They requested that he be permitted

RELIGION. 403
to go to "Virginia and thence to the island of St.
Eustatia. He lingered here, and in truth, never went
away. Carriages were procured for the journey of the exiled
Friends and the procession was fonned, guarded by
soldiers. A large crowd gathered around to see this
strange spectacle. Many of the on-lookers were deeply
moved as they bade adieu to their old friends, snatched
from them, not because they believed and acted differ
ently from thousands of others, but as a warning to
those spared to do otherwise, if they wished to escape
a similar fate. Day after day the carriages' rolled
slowly westward. A slumbrous, golden haze filled the
air, the leaves no longer stirred, for nature was begin
ning to work in thera her wonderous transforraation of
color before they fell and perished. But nature had no
charms for these heavy-hearted exiles. For twenty
days their carriages rolled monotonously toward the
AUeghenies. When they reached Winchester, a remote
settlement of "Virginia, three hundred miles frora Phila
delphia, they at last stopped to exchange their moving
prisons for others, stationary, though quite as cheerless,
among a strange people without any sympathy for either
their principles or for their sufferings.
Not content with these arrests, Congress seized the
papers and minutes of meetings, and searched for evi
dence against others. Nothing was found implicating
the members in any way with the eneray.
The exiles, not feeling secure in their frontier horae,
again addressed Congress on the injustice of their ban
ishment without a hearing. They also sent an address
to the governor and Council of "Virginia, asking "that
protection to which the claims of hospitality and the

404 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
comraon right of mankind" entitled them in a country
where they were strangers.
The opinion soon began to spread and strengthen
that they were exiled without just reason, a view shared
by some of the raore considerate raembers of the Exec
utive Council and of Congress. "As things have
turned out," wrote the Secretary of the Executive
Council, "the original arrest was thought by many not to
have answered any good purpose, and detaining them in
confinement not serviceable to the public cause." Con
gress appointed a committee to confer with some
Friends who had presented the memorial of the exiles
to that body. During the interview, the committee
avowed "that they had no other accusation against
them than the several epistles of advice which had been
published." The coramlttee, therefore, recoraraended
Congress either to hear the prisoners in their defence,
or to discharge them from custody. Early in the fol
lowing year Congress voted to discharge them on taking
an affirmation of allegiance to Pennsylvania as a free
and independent State. This they could not do.
Many, unable to comprehend the spirit and nature of
the time, will regard their stubbornness as unreasonable
and justifying Congress in prolonging their banishment.
Suppose a Unionist during the Civil War had refused
to take an oath of allegiance to the Southern Confeder
acy, would the Unionists of the North have regarded
his act as unreasonable stubbornness ? Would they not
have considered his loyalty as worthy of all praise?
The Friends regarded the British government as the
true government ; all only a few months before had ac
knowledged their allegiance to it, and probably more
than a majority still regarded it in the same manner.

RELIGION. 403
Were not the Friends, from their point of view, justi
fied in continuing their allegiance?
Yet events that would effect their release were grow
ing. They were obliged to live at their own expense.
They boarded with the inhabitants exposed to hard
ships to which they were strangers. Two were taken
ill and died ; others sickened. When the news of these
things reached Lancaster, where Congress was sitting,
it was resolved to release the prisoners; aud after an
imprisonment of more than seven months they were set
free. As the Revolution advanced, the condition of the
Friends did not improve. Fines and imprisonments for
refusing to bear arms were rigorously enforced ; for
refusing to become collectors of taxes, an office thrust
on them with much frequency, heavy exactions were
demanded. Remonstrances to the Executive Council
received but little attention. Heavy distraints were
raade, to which they could only subrait.
Then came another reverse. By increasing the
severity of the test oaths the Assembly shut out from
teaching in the schools all persons unwilling to comply
with them. This closed the schools of the Friends,
and again they remonstrated. This was referred to a
committee of the Assembly who required the Friends
" to communicate the letters and testimonies which
their meetings had published during the last seven
years containing their opinions ou religion and religious
subjects." To this a reply was sent stating that the
object of their meetings was a religious one, which
"had not been perverted to the purpose of political dis
quisitions, or any thing prejudicial to the public safety.
Our Friends have always considered government to be

4o6 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
a divine ordinance, instituted for the suppression of
vice aud immorality, the promotion of virtue, and the
protection of the innocent from oppression and tyranny.
It is also our firm belief that conscience ought not to be
subject to the control of men, or the injunctions of
human law ; and every attempt to restrain or enforce it,
is an invasion of the prerogative of the Supreme Lord
and Lawgiver." After giving their reasons for oppos
ing war, they remarked that " as our Christian principle
leads into a life of sobriety and peace, so it restrains us
from taking an active part in the present contest, or
joining with any measures which tend to create or
promote disturbance or commotions in the government
under which we are placed ; and many of our brethren,
from a conviction that war is so opposite to the nature
and spirit of the Gospel, apprehend it their duty to
refrain in any degree from voluntarily contributing to
its support. Some for considerable number of years
past on former occasions have not actively complied
with the payment of taxes raised for military service
and duties, from conscientious motives, have now
avoided circulating the currency which hath been
emitted for the immediate purpose of carrying on war;
although on these accounts they have been, and still
are, subjected to great inconvenience, loans and suffer
ings." None of these defences moved those who were hold
ing in their hands the trembling fortunes of the State.
Notwithstanding the principles of the Friends, their
horror of war, their aversion to force of any kind,
advantage was taken of their submissive attitude to de
spoil them of their goods, nor did they escape loss when
within the protection and grasp of the invader. Some

RELIGION. 407
of them were carried off by the .Indians. Among these
captives were Benjamin Gilbert and his family. They
were living at the time near Mauch Chunk, in the
Lehigh "Valley.
During the five years he had lived there he had built,
besides a log-dwelling-house and barns, a saw and grist
mill; for the forest supply of timber was abundant, and
Mahoning Creek ran its strong full course unchecked
by ice or drought. In the vicinity others had settled, so
that the mill-stones whizzed cheerily all the year round,
and the sharp, grating mill-saw kept daily company.
In an evil hour this scene of peace, contentment and
prosperous toil was rudely broken by the stealthy,
savage intruder. Gilbert and his entire family of
eleven were seized. Half a mile away lived Benjarain
Peart, who also was taken with his wife and little child,
then nine months old. Having bound their prisoners,
the Indians plundered and burned their dwellings. The
captives now started on their unknown journey over the
hills of Mauch Chunk, catching glimpses for awhile of
their blazing dwellings. For two months they tra
versed the rugged region of Northern Pennsylvania, and
through the swamps and rivers of the Genesee country.
Often from fatigue and hunger they were ready to faint
by the way, but their ferocious captors by the threat of
immediate death nerved them onward. Gilbert's health
at last began to break, and the Indians painted hira
black as a prelude to the death he should suffer, but
through his wife's intercession he was spared. After a
fearful journey of fifty-four days the prisoners entered a
town not far from Fort Niagara; but their sufferings
were not yet over. Stones were thrown at them by the
Indian women and children, and not satisfied with inflict-

4o8 HIS TOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ing these cruelties, they were afterward beaten with
stones, and we wonder how they survived. Then a new
turn was given to their sufferings. They were sepa
rated, some given over for adoption into the Indian
tribe, some hired out by their Indian owners to white
families,, while others were sent as prisoners of war
down the St. Lawrence to Montreal. One finally es
caped, and through him the people of Pennsylvania
learned what had become of the captives. Finally all
except Gilbert, who had .sunk under his sufferings, were
collected at Montreal, after a captivity of nearly two
years and a half, and released.
At last, with the cessation of hostilities in 1782, the
heavy clouds broke ; the sufferings of the Friends less
ened. With the return of peace they did not hesitate
to transfer their allegiance to the "powers" that were
now fully and forraally established. Most of their
number had remained loyal to Quaker principles, at the
cost of heavy suffering. If, however, they had pre
served their religious principles, their political influence
had been overthrown. Those in control had no kindly
feeling toward the Friends, even after wholly and
heartily yielding to the new order, but continued to
treat them with studied coldness and disdain.
The work of rebuilding their faith and influence was
now to begin, but so terribly shattered were they by the
Revolution that they shrank from attempting to exert
any political influence and confined themselves to a
narrower sphere. Yet their religious life was still burn
ing, in some cases dimmed by the terrible blasts which
had smitten it, though in a larger number purified,
brightened, and giving forth fresh evidence of its divine
and enduring power.

RELIGION. ^og
The fate of the Episcopal Church will next be con
sidered. Many of the members were loyalists, while the
clergy were still more steadfast in their adherence to
the British crown. The clergy were indeed united by a
double bond, both secular and spiritual. At their ordi
nation, they had sworn perpetual allegiance to the king.
"They could not have left the obligation of the ordina
tion oath off their consciences even if they had wished,
and they did not wish." Until the appeal was raade to
arms, they were ready to join in addresses to the king
for an adjustment of differences, but with few excep
tions they never swerved from their allegiance.
Besides, many of them had not lived long in the
colonies, and were largely supported by the English
Church. It is not strange, therefore, when they reached
the parting of the ways, that they should have turned
toward the government and church to which they were
bound by the ties of moral obligation and pecuniary
support. The laymen were under no such close relationship,
yet many of them seem to have been strongly imbued
with the same spirit, though some of the most com
manding figures of the Revolution belonged to that com
munion, — Washington and Patrick Henry, Gouverneur
Morris, Livingston, Jay, Madison and other great
names. Consequently during the war many of the
churches were closed, literally wrecked, and the mera
bers were scattered far and wide. The lover of his
church beheld everywhere a scene of spiritual desolation.
There were in Philadelphia two characters in the
church who are invested with a permanent interest.
White and Duche. The one, regarding his oath more
broadly than his fellows, as meaning that he must

4IO HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
remain faithful to the actual, justifiable state, threw in
his fortunes with the new-born, struggling republic;
the other, regarding his oath of allegiance to the king
as binding under every circumstance, still clung to his
old raaster, George III. Were ever two fellow-workers
more unlike in their mental processes and moral
courses? White was always serious; his thinking
was never a mere quest of discovery, hut for the
purpose of reaching some important conviction, which,
once reached, was steadfastly maintained. Duch^
swam in shallow waters, sported with many fancies, and
ere long suffered the natural consequences frora indulg
ing in such waywardness.
White continued at his post and prayed for the king
in the duly appointed raanner until the Sunday before
the Fourth of July, 1776. Soon afterward, when he
went to the court-house to take the oath of allegiance, a
gentleraan standing there intimated to him by a gesture
the danger of the step. After taking it he said to his
friend, "I perceived by your gesture that you thought
I was exposing my neck to great danger by the step
which- 1 have taken ; but I have not taken it without
full deliberation. I know ray danger, and that it is the
greater on account of my being a clergyman of the
Church of England ; but I trust in Providence. The
cause is a just one, and I am persuaded will be pro
tected." White's position, zeal and beautiful character ren
dered him so conspicuous that he was chosen chaplain of
Congress — a body for which, if we believe its most
trustworthy secretary, there was much need of praying.
He was elected at a time when the British were advanc
ing on Philadelphia and Congress was fleeing to York-

RELIGION. 411
town. "Nothing could have led me to accept the
appointment," so he himself said, "but the determina
tion to be consistent in my principles and in the part
taken." He continued to serve until the British left
Philadelphia, and then returned to the city to restore
the wreck of his church. He was the only representa
tive of it, and he was, to use his own words, "in a try
ing situation." The chief difficulty was the hot spirit
of the Whigs and Tories. " With the latter, the danger
was the absenting themselves frora the churches in the
devotion of which the new allegiance was acknowl
edged." The prejudice gradually wore away, and in a
few months he was elected Duchy's successor.
In the beginning of the struggle Duchd had dis
tinguished himself for his patriotic sentiments, and his
"first prayer" for Congress in Carpenters' Hall was so
eloquent that whether it ascended to Heaven or not, it
certainly did spread far and wide throughout the
country. This was followed by stirring discourses in
the same strain. He also was elected a chaplain to
Congress and held that position at the time of the
Detlaration of Independence. His language in these
prayers beseeching mercy " on these our American
states who have fled to Thee frora the rod of the
oppressor," had no doubtful sound. When the British
army began its advance on Philadelphia he resigned his
chaplaincy. Nor did he longer use any oppressor's
rod. When the British army entered the city he still
remained at the head of Christ Church, and the follow
ing Sunday prayed for the king as heartily as in former
days. Nevertheless, arrested by order of Sir William
Howe, he remained in prison one night — time enough
to think still more about that oppressor's rod. Duch6

41 2 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
announced that he had undergone a political conver
sion; furthermore, he succeeded in convincing Howe
that he could reduce Washington's bellicose condition
if given an opportunity. This, however, was to be done
not with eloquent prayers and sermons, but by an en
tirely human, characteristic, Duchd effort. He was
set to the task and advised Washington "to abandon
a wretched cause;" — advice that made not the
slightest impression. As the Bishop of London had
disapproved of Duche's former course of supporting
the cause of the Revolution, he determined to visit the
bishop and explain his conduct, for he had much to
explain. Soon after his departure he was proclaimed a
traitor and his estate was confiscated. Arriving in
London, he sought the bishop. For hira the interview
must have been hardly more cheerful than his endeavor
to convert Washington from his rebellious ways. The
bishop did not look kindly on him ; with all his
ingenuity, he did not strengthen his position. He had
gone too far, and had committed a deed that might be
pardoned, but could not be forgotten. In his earlier
career he had plunged into the mysticism of Jacob
Boehme and William Law, and after his chilling inter
view with the bishop he fed for a season on the specu
lations of Swedenborg. No wonder, with his floppy
political tendencies, combined with still stronger spirit
ual aberrations, that he was looked on askance, as a
kind of moral and political vagrant, to be kept at a safe
distauce. Yet in passing judgment on his course the
unusual structure of his mental organism ought to be
remembered. For, assuming him to be honest in his
political and religious wanderings, he ought to be re
garded less as a triraraer, than as a kind of mental and

RELIGION. 413
religious nomad, voluntarily preferring the free, yet
uncertain, sandy paths of the desert to firm, healthy
ground. After the restoration of peace, White at once began
to gather the fragments of the church, preparatory
to its reconstruction. For this momentous under
taking what plan should be adopted? Three ideas
were in the minds of men. " The "Virginia and Mary
land idea was to save the former endowments of
the church, and to rescue and hold these an organiza
tion must be created which could have a standing before
the law in the new governraent." The New England
idea was to re-establish the church in its primitive com
pleteness of doctrine and discipline and apostolic order.
The idea of the Middle colonies was to organize a
national church, "to be "to all its members what the
federal government then in process of construction
would be to its citizens."
The federal idea was Dr. White's. He was now, at
the close of the war, thirty-five years old ; and by educa
tion aud unflinching devotion to the cause of the
Revolution was one of the most influential men of the
day. Several informal conferences were held at his
request, aud in September, 1785, on St. Michael's Day,
a constitutional convention was held at Philadelphia
big with the fate of the Episcopal Church. There
were delegates from New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl
vania, Delaware, Maryland, "Virginia and South Caro
lina. Massachusetts sent a letter, while Connecticut,
adhering firmly to the ecclesiastical idea, alone declined.
The convention proceeded at once to form a constitu
tion. It preceded the federal constitution, and was its
bright anticipation. The organization was to be

414 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
national, and the states component units; its gov
erning body was to be composed of two orders, clergy
and laity ; each state retaining sovereign authority arid
conducting its own affairs. The constitution also pro
vided for a triennial convention, of which bishops were
to be ex-officio members ; for the qualifications of the
priesthood ; and for a liturgy, based upon the English
prayer-book modified to meet the surrounding condi
tions. These changes were in several directions ; some
were changes in doctrine, some of a political character,
others in form merely, while still others allowed greater
liberty to the minister in selecting scriptures for public
service. Before electing bishops the convention wisely pre
pared an address to the archbishops and bishops of
England. In this were set forth the condition of the
Episcopal churches, the benefits received from the mother
church, aud an appeal for the consecration as bishops of
such persons as the American Episcopal church might
send. The English bishops did not give an unquali
fied answer. Some strange stories, they said, had been
wafted over the sea concerning the doings of the Phila
delphia convention. They had heard that the creeds
of the church had been discarded, the prayer-book de
stroyed, and a constitution adopted granting so much
power to laymen that it was possible for them to pass
judgment on the bishops. They conld consecrate no
bishops until these difficulties were removed.
As soou as the reply was received another convention
was called, to meet at Wilmington in October, 1786. A
reply was prepared showing that the bishops had misap
prehended the position of the laity, that the Nicene and
Apostle's creeds had not been changed, and that the

RELIGION. 413
English prayer-book was to remain the standard until
replaced by a national convention with unquestioned
power. Meanwhile three persons had been chosen bishops,
Dr. Provoost by the state of New York, Dr. White by
Pennsylvania and Dr. Griffith by "Virginia. Dr. Smith,
who had figured so prominently in education, politics
and religion in Pensylvania, and afterward in Maryland,
had been chosen by that state three years before. The
convention elected the first three, but passed over Dr.
Smith because his career had been stormy and often
criticised. He was a fiery man and had many enemies ;
besides distinguishing himself even in a winebibbing
age by his bibulous exploits. Surely, considering the
habits of the times, he must have drunk long and hard
to have disqualified himself on that ground.
As Dr. Griffith could not himself incur the expense of
the journey to London, and the church in "Virginia was
too poor to send him, he did not go. So the number
was reduced to two, White aud Provoost, who were
consecrated at the archiepiscopal palace at Canterbury.
The eyes of Duchd flashed on the scene, not through
any kind regard for him by the bishop, but by White's
intercession. What regrets stormed into the mind of
Duch^ when he saw his former American fellow-worker
standing there in the unblemished beauty of consistent,
Christian manhood, as sincere and patriotic in serving
the state as he was sincere and devoted to the re-build-
iiie of his church ! What a contrast to his own incon-
sistent career, in which he had been true to nothing and
had wrecked all !
Thus the Episcopal Church, torn and bleeding, yet
carrying within her the principle of perpetual life, rose

4 1 6 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
frora the battle-field of the Revolution, healed her
wounds and put on the new and fitting garraent of
"The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United
States." Thongh completely severing their church
politically from the Church of England little did these
church founders imagine they were enshrining a prin
ciple soon to from the foundation of the national con
stitution. Still less did they foresee that they were
building their ark so well that in it their church would
float safely and securely down amid all subsequent
storms, as it has done, to our day.
How very unlike the history of the Friends and
Episcopalians is that of the Presbyterians ! This was
the militant church, the one that believed in revolution,
that the Lord was "aman of war," and had fighting
parsons and array chaplains. Like the other religious
sects, however, "the influence ofthe war upon the con
dition and prospects of the Presbyterian church
throughout the country was most disastrous. Its mem
bers were almost all decided patriots, and its ministers,
almost to a man, were accounted arch-rebels. Their
well known views and sympathies made them especially
obnoxious to the enemy, and to be known as a Presby
terian was to incur all the odium of a Whig."
The ministers were unceasing in preaching resistance
and revolution. They had not the slightest doubt that
the Lord was on their side, and thus believing, they
displayed splendid faith and zeal. One of their number
was John Craighead, pastor of the Rocky Spring
Church, of whom it has been said that "he fought and
preached alternately." At the beginning of the strife
he joiued a company of associators raised from the
members of his church, joined Washington's army and

RELIGION. 417
fought at Trenton and Princeton. His friends. Dr.
Cooper, of Middle Spring Church, and Dr. King, of
West Conecocheague entered the ranks as volunteers to
arouse the patriotism of others. During one of the
dark days, when many around Chestnut Level had
been drafted, James Latta, the pastor of a church at
that place, took his blanket and knapsack and went
with the new recruits to the field. Another clergyman,
an idol of the soldiers, was Sarauel Eakin, of Penn's
Neck. Indeed, there was scarcely a Presbyterian min
ister, save those who were too old to fight, that did not
take part in the War of the Revolution.
With them was a strange mingling of earthly and
spiritual weapons. Joseph Patterson had just knelt to
pray inside a shed when a board in a line with his head
was shivered by a bullet from a rifle. Another, Stephen
B. Balch, while preaching, was protected from the
annoyance of royalists by soldiers under General Wil
liams. The ministers on the frontier were obliged to
go armed. Thaddeus Dod exchanged his church on the
Monongahela for a fort. Samuel Doak, of the Holston
settlements, hearing the sound of the enemy while
preaching a sermon, paused, seized his rifle that stood
by his side, and led his hearers out in pursuit of the
foe' "To the Presbyterian clergy the enemy felt an
especial antipathy. They were accounted the ring
leaders of rebellion. For them there was often not so
much safety in their own dwellings as in the camp.
When their people were scattered, or if it was no longer
safe to reside among them, the only alternative was to
flee or join the array, and this alternative was often pre-
» GiUet, 191.
27

41 8 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
sented. Not unfrequently the duty of the chaplain or
the pastor exposed him to dangers as great as those
which the common soldier was called to meet. There
was risk of person, sometimes capture, aud sometimes
loss of life."
With so many ministers actively participating in the
struggle, with so vigilant a search for them and their
churches by the enemy, and with the destruction of no
small number, the flock became demoralized and
scattered. Says Gillet, the best church historian of
this period : "In these circumstances it is not surpris
ing that the course of the Presbyterian Church should
be retrograde rather than on the advance The camp,
with all the safeguards that could be thrown around it,
and with all the counteracting influence which the
chaplains could exert, was a school of immorality, pro
fanity and vice. Religious institutions were paralyzed
in their influence, even where they were still sustained.
Sabbath desecration prevailed to an alarming extent."
Thus, at the close of the war, religion was on every
side in a dying state. Everywhere the churches had
been swept by the besom of destruction. In the church
of Newtown only five members were left ; and scores
of others were in the same gasping condition. The
regular ordinances had been discontinued, and the
young men who at other times would have been pre
paring for the ministry, were in the army or engaged
in secular pursuits. The meetings of the synods were
disheartening ; the attendance was small, and little
was attempted and still less accomplished. After the
closing of the war, the churches began to revive.
Attendance on them increased, and the signs of a new
aud enduring springtime began to appear. The winter

RELIGION. 4ig
of desolation was over, though a long tirae was to pass
before all the demoralizing effects of war were to fade
away. The cause of the Revolution having won, a change
was required in the confession relating to civil govern
ment. The idea now began to grow of forming a gen
eral synod or assembly. In short, the work of perfecting
the organization was taken up and long engaged the
thoughts of the leaders of the church.
The revolutionary hurricane had spared no religious
denomination; for all of them this period was like a
doleful raidnight adventure. The Lutheran patriarch
Muhlenberg had two sons, Peter and Frederick. At the
opening of the war Peter was serving both Lutheran
and Episcopal churches in "Virginia. Fired with excite
ment, he gave notice to his congregation of his farewell
sermon, and a great audience assembled. At the con
clusion he exclaimed, "There is a time of war and a
time of peace, and now the time to fight has come,"
and, throwing off his clerical robe, he stood be?ore the
people in the uniform of a colonel. The next day he
took the field. In like manner the other abandoned his
pulpit and became a distinguished participant in the
Revolution. The former appears in the stern glory of a
warrior at Brandywine, where with his brigade he
checked the advance of the victors, administering the
most severe punishment they received on that hard-
fought field.
The historian of the Lutheran church. Dr. Wolff,
after remarking on the length of the war, says : " Surely
the agitations and immoralities of this long period, the
neglect of the ordinances and the virtual suspension of
spiritual activity in many communities, attended often

420 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
by the unhappy division of sentiment regarding the
war, which separated families and broke up many pros
perous congregations, would sufficiently account for a
state of profound spiritual apathy, worldliness and dis
order from which it seemed for years after the conclusion
of peace impossible to rouse the churches."
The ministers in the Baptist, German Reformed,
Lutheran and other denominations divided, and so did
their congregations. This increased the general dis
cord. Thus, Rev. John H. Weikel, who had charge of
a church at Whitpane, usually called Boehm's church,
preached from the text : " Better is a poor and wise
child than an old and foolish king who will be no more
admonished." He himself was full of the war spirit
and was often seen practising with firearms. Not all
of his congregation, however, were like-minded, and the
sermon roused thera to a white heat. Time widened,
instead of narrowing the division. In the end, having
torn by his strong utterances, his congregation into
shreds, he was obliged to retire. The same thing
happened in many other places.
At the opening of the Revolution Rev. Robert
Molyneux, a Jesuit, was in charge of St. Joseph's
Church, assisted by Rev. Ferdinand Farmer Steinmyer,
who had charge of the Gerraan Catholics. During the
Revolution the quiet policy which had been previously
pursued was continued. There had been so much
opposition to the Roman Catholics, that, as we have
seen, they had moved in a very cautious manner.
After the alliance with France, however, as many of the
French who came over were members of that church,
its ministrations became more conspicuous. Either
through sympathy or policy Congress and the people

RELIGION. 421
ceased their opposition to that venerable organization,
and to the religion professed by "our good ally, the
king of France."
A year after declaring independence. Congress at
tended a funeral service in the Roraan Catholic church,
that of Monsieur Du Coudray, a French engineer officer
who had been drowned while crossing the Schuylkill.
On the 4th of July, 1779, Congress, the President, and
the Council of State, civil and military, and many
ladies and other gentlemen, attended service on the in
vitation of the French minister. A Te Deum was per
formed, and Abbe Bandole, the chaplain of the French
minister, delivered an address. A still more note
worthy service was held there three years afterward on
the birth of the Dauphin of France, the son of Louis
XVI. Congress and the Supreme Executive Council
and many other officials and citizens were present. At
a later period, in 1787, when the constitutional conven
tion was in session, Washington with many other mem
bers attended a service When the church had grown
to full stature the restraints imposed by the British
government were no longer binding, aud the American
people had no disposition to hinder its free course. No
longer were its members among the politically pro
scribed, henceforth they could live inside the walls.
When Washington was elected President, the Roman
Catholics presented an eloquent address, signed by
three bishops, Charles Carroll and others of the laity,
expressing their confidence in him and the happy re
sults that might be expected from his administration.
The loyalty, heartiness and hopefulness of the address
indicated their satisfaction with the principles and re
sults of the Revolution.

42 2 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
The Methodists, like the Episcopalians, were under a
hea-vy shadow during the Revolution. The chief
preachers in America in 1775 were Englishmen. Their
great leader, John Wesley, issued " A Calm Address to
the Colonies" in London in 1775, in which he argued
in favor of the divine right of kings and of imperial tax
ation of the colonies. This address reached America
about the time Lexington was fought, and among his
followers was a weighty document. During the first
year of the Revolution, Wesley wrote to the Methodist
preachers in America "to be peacemakers, to be loving
and tender to all, and to addict yourselves to no party.
In spite of all solicitations, of rough or smooth words,
say not one word against one or the other side." At
that time there were five Methodist ministers in the
country, but they did not adhere to this cautious policy.
One of them, Rodda, joined a military company of
Tories raised by Clowe, who had formerly been a Meth
odist minister. They tried to fight their way to the
British lines, but were dispersed, their leaders arrested,
and Clowe was executed. Rodda escaped, reached a
vessel belonging to the British fleet and went to England.
Another, Asbury, tried to keep himself within the
spirit of Wesley's advice. After spending some months
in Philadelphia in 1776, he was compelled to withdraw
to a more secluded place, preaching occasionally.
Rankin joined the British army after their entry into
Philadelphia, and subsequently went to England.
Still another, Shadford, whose movements were im
peded by his doubtful course, also returned to his old
home Left without any directors, the Methodist
church soon became a melancholy wreck. In truth, of
all the sects, its destruction was perhaps the most
complete.

RELIGION. 423
With the passing of the scourge of war, the sad task
of rebuilding was resumed. The work was slow, for
the air was filled with bitterness, disappointment and
grief over the loss of wealth, prospects and dearest ones.
The decay of honesty, the poisonous growth of specula
tion, the loose regard for obligations by individuals
and the state, retarded the growth of a religious spirit
and the restoration of the church. A strong flood-tide
of skepticism had also set in, which had come from
France. Infatuated with French political ideas, many
were enchanted with the atheistic notions then prevail
ing among the French people. Revelation was thrown
aside as unworthy of acceptance, and a moral obligation
was regarded as a lighter thing than a cobweb. " The
clergy were a laughing-stock or objects of disgust."
Besides, the sudden growth of political independence
strongly tended to independence in religious thought
"The spirit of independence was abroad, and along
with the renunciation of the old forms of govemraent
were ready to cast off the old form of faith, to repudiate
a strict spiritual authority as well as an oppressive
rule. With freedom of religion made a part of the
organic law of the land, raen advocated the broadest
toleration, the utmost liberty of thought within the pale
of the churches. Orthodoxy was unfashionable, beads
and confessions were abhorred, and freely denounced in
sermons. It was even claimed that they were outworn
and were generally laid aside. Reason was made the
arbiter of faith. Rationalistic methods and contrivances
were applied to all phases of Christian revelation and
life. The church nurtured the spirit of doubt until she
became verily the bulwark of unbelief Instead of
staying the tide of infidelity and its concomitant dis-

424 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
sipation and materialism, she contributed to swell its
volume. It is not without significance that along with
the dark picture given of the low morality of the
people, it is generally claimed that of the clergy was
not much higher. Laxity of moral and religious senti
ment among all classes was the feature of the age."
Years therefore must pass, a new generation grow
up, before the poison of political hatred could disappear,
the ruin of fortunes aud families be repaired, the awful
memories of the war forgotten, and society warmed into
a more kindly feeling aud mutual confidence Such a
change, so needful to the growth of the fair, consuraate
flower of Christianit}', carae slowly, almost as imper
ceptibly as the flrst lengthening of v>rinter days, yet
it came at last ; though no one can ever reckon the
years that must still be added before the church will
reach the splendid height to which it would have risen
had it not been overtaken by the revolutionary gale.

CHAPTER XXI.
EDUCATION AND LITERATURE.
Of all who came to America none displayed such far-
seeing wisdom concerning education as Penn. By his
" frarae of governraent " the governor and the pro
vincial council were to " erect and order all public
schools," and to encourage laudable invention and pur
suit of the useful sciences. A committee of manners,
education and arts was appointed to prevent want and
scandalous living and to train the youth in useful
knowledge. One of the laws provided that all the
statutes of the Province should, from time to time, be
published in book form and regularly taught to the
children. Penn believed that if the laws were needful
the people ought to know them, and what better
method could be adopted than to teach them in the
schools ? The people would thus become better citi
zens. By the revised constitution adopted the next
year, the provincial council,- with the governor, was to
have the management of public affairs, including the
education of youth and the regulation of manners.
In a communication to one of his friends Penn
remarked that the youth must be secured in order to
endear the government to the people. This was to be
done by mending the way of education "with all con
venient speed and diligence." Penn was also an advo
cate of industrial education ; in truth, he was the
founder of the system. Among the laws prepared in
(425)

426 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
England was one requiring children of the age of twelve
years to be taught some useful trade, to the end that
none might be idle, that the poor might work to live,
and that the rich, if they became poor, might not
want. Force was to be applied if needed to cariy this
law into effect ; and if parents, guardians or overseers
neglected to obey, they were to be fined _;^5 for the
offence. Such were the ideas of Penn, embodied in
the legislation of the Province.
The Friends were not slow to secure an institution of
learning in Philadelphia. Penn instructed Thoraas
Lloyd, president of the council, to establish a public
grammar school, which he promised to incorporate and
to which a charter was granted in 1697. The William
Penn Charter School, as it was called, has kept in the
front rank of educational institutions to the present
time; but though it waxed strong, the education of
children was not generally regarded with favor, and
when the fourth charter was framed not a word was
said on the subject. One cannot help inquiring what
had happened to make such a radical change. The
system of public education had completely broken
down. The last constitution was a concession or cora
proraise Penn was a wise statesman and well under
stood how to temper his opinions to the needs of the
time. He abandoned a number of his ideas, not be
cause they were unsound, but because the soil was not
ready to receive them. Nearly two hundred years were
to pass before his compulsory school law, adopted in
1683, could be permanently placed on the statute-book.
Within twenty years after his landing, the population
had become very mixed. Swedes, Germans, Dutch,
Welsh and Scotch-Irish were in the Province, and it

EDUCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 427
was not easy to establish a systera of instruction for so
varied a body. The need of good schools was never
more imperative, especially as many of the settlers had
a very imperfect knowledge of the English language.
Had education been compulsory, English would have
become the familiar tongue within a generation. By
the breaking down of the school systera in its infancy,
racial differences were preserved and foreign languages
retained their vitality. Thus the uniting of all elements
to form a strong, healthful common life, so indispensable
to progress, was long delayed. This was one of the
most obvious consequences of departing frora Penn's
systera of education.
At a later day another institution was founded in
Philadelphia from which grew the University of Penn
sylvania. A plan for an academy was drawn by
Franklin in 1743, but the project was laid aside for a
time in consequence of the war between Great Britain
and France. Six years afterward it was renewed, and
Franklin wrote a pamphlet entitled, " Proposals Relating
to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania," in which
were set forth the objects of the institution. A sum of
money was raised by the citizens, and application was
made to the common councils of the city for more.
This body promised to give ;^200 in cash, ^^50 per
annum for five years and ^^50 additional for the right to
send annually to the academy a scholar from the public
school. In 1753 a charter was granted to the " Trustees
ofthe Academy and Charitable School of the Province
of Pennsylvania." By a second act of incorporation,
two years later, the institution became a college with
the right to confer degrees. Three departments were
created, known as the college, the academy and the

428 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA
charity school. The first provost was Doctor William
Smith. His views on education may be read even at
this day with interest and profit. It is impossible. Dr.
Stilld has remarked, to read his plan which was to be
pursued by the college under such novel and peculiar
circumstances, without being struck by the sagacity,
judgment and far-reaching- views of its author. It has
formed the basis of our present Araericau college
system. The curriculum was to embrace Greek and
Latin, mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry,
hydrostatics, pneumatics, optics, astronomy, ethics,
history, and national and civil law. These studies were
to cover three years. •: Doctor Smith's plan did not exist
merely in his imagination or on paper, but was put
into effect during his administration. Nor were the
results unsatisfactory. The college quickly attained
a great reputation and students came from all quarters.
The active and restless provost differed with the
Friends concerning the lawfulness of war, and deplored
the defenceless condition of the Province. He was
truly a member of the church militant, for araong his
works are no less than eight sermons, the object of
which was to emphasize the Christian soldier's duty
and to uphold the lawfulness and dignity of his calling.
Nor did the provost fear the name of "political par
son,'' but claimed the right of "pulpit liberty" in
treating of civil and religious affairs. So conspicuous
were his efforts to rouse a war-like spirit that he was
requested by General Forbes, at the opening of the
campaign in 1758, to urge the colonies to adopt active
measures for their defence. Unhappily, when the
clouds of the Revolution gathered, he maintained, with
the other Episcopal clergy, his loyalty to the crown ;

ED UCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 429
and this was the parting of the ways. Many of his old
friends deserted him, among them Franklin. Long
had this great lover of the public good been Smith's
efficient helper, though the estrangement had already
begun when Smith showed a disposition to take the
side of the proprietaries in opposition to that of the
Assembly. The breach was widened by an imprudent
letter which Doctor Smith wrote to the University of
Oxford, protesting against a proposal to confer upon
Franklin the degree of Doctor of Laws.
For a long time the school and the church were
closely related. In 1694 a small congregation of Epis
copalians gathered in Philadelphia and immediately
organized a parish shook Their example was soon
followed by other Episcopal churches. The Swedes
al.so maintained schools of their own. They employed
as instructors clergymen of their nation who taught the
children in their mother-tongue But these schools were
never well attended or regarded with much favor, and
in 1759 Acrelius complained that the churches suffered
for want of a better system of school keeping.
The Friends were more careful in these matters, and
none of their children, as Proud says, were without a
competence of plain aud useful learning. By the disci
pline of the society every Quaker child was required to
have the keys of knowledge in his hands. But their
belief in church schools was precisely the reverse of that
held by the other sects. They had never supported a
paid minister or missionary. One of their cardinal
tenets was that the inner life should guide into the way
of all truth, and that education drawn from books was
not needful for religious instruction. Fox was strongly
opposed to any other teaching than that which pro-

430 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
ceeded from the heart, and from the same source must
come the only kind of serraon of which he would ap
prove. As the Friends were also opposed to litigation,
lawyers were omitted from their list of professional
men. As theology and law were thus outside their
sphere of education, medicine was the only special field
left to them for higher study.
The Presbyterians had a very different conception of
education. Their profound belief in an educated minis
try led to the thorough education of their children as
far as means would permit. They were far more active
in establishing schools than were the other religious
denominations. Their ministers were scholarly raen
who believed in higher education, especially that ofthe
ministry. For this the broadest and deepest founda
tions were to be laid. In many places where churches
were organized, schools also were established, some of
them attaining great reputation. One of the most cele
brated of these was in Bucks County, and known as
Tennent's Log College. Its founder was a native of
Ireland, a graduate of Trinity College, an accomplished
scholar "to whom Latin was as familiar as his mother-
tongue." When received by the synod as a member he
delivered an impressive Latin oration before that body.
His motive for founding the school was to provide an
educated ministry, which he saw must be furnished on
this side of the Atlantic. To this work he devoted the
remainder of his life. "He had," says one, "the rare
gift of attracting to hira youth of wealth and genius,
imbuing them with his healthful spirit, and sending
them forth sound in faith, blameless in life, burning
with zeal, and unsurpassed as instructive, impressive
aud successful preachers." Besides this school may be

EDUCATION AND LITERATURE. 431
mentioned Alison's school at New London, and that
founded by Doctor Blair at Fagg's Manor.
The Germans were opposed to educational institutions
under the control of either church or state. They
regarded them as political and ecclesiastical agencies
that should be feared. Many of the Germans who
came first had a Bible, a prayer book and hymnal, and
a catechism or confession, and were accompanied by
their clergyman or schoolmaster. But they did not
keep pace with the Presbyterians, or even with the
Friends, in educating their children. One explanation
of this is that they were widely separated on farms.
Their unity was also impaired by their division into
many religious sects. Besides this their language
isolated them, shutting them in from the social, political
and business life of the Province. Yet if they had not
been so deeply engrossed in felling trees and cultivating
farms, they would have realized, the need of unlocking
the English language, of educating themselves and
their children, of thus becoming better equipped to play
a prominent and effective part in the work of building
a state. They seemed content, however, to stay in
the background, leaving the work of advancement to
others. Nevertheless, they did something in the way
of educating their children. The more thoughtful
among the Lutherans and among the followers of the
German Reformed church realized that the schools were
too few and the schoolmasters but poorly qualified, that
there was a lack of interest in education, and that if no
change occurred there would be no religious teachers
to take the place of the older men when they should
pass away. Longingly they turned their eyes to the
fatherland for help.

432 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA .
In response to an appeal Doctor Muhlenberg carae,
and Schlatter, by whose labors the scattered congrega
tions of the Lutheran and Reformed churches were
reorganized. Church schools were founded and for a
long time they were the chief educational agencies.
They varied in quality, but none of them carried in
struction far. Not a single institution of worth or
celebrity was founded, such as the WiUiara Penn
Charter School of the Friends, or the dozen or more
schools established by the Presbyterians during the
same period.
Notwithstanding the lack of schools among the
Germans, one educator lived among them whose beauty
of life and success as a teacher have given him a unique
place in the history of education. Christopher Dock
was a Mennonite and the author of numerous songs
which found their way into the hymnals of his church.
He was called "the pious schoolmaster," for sweetness
and purity filled his soul. It is related that two men,
who were discussing his gentleness of disposition,
decided to test it by reviling hira in bitter and profane
terms, but Dock only replied, "Friend, may the Lord
have mercy on thee." He believed that he was
divinely called to be a schoolmaster, and though he
abandoned his vocation after several years to live on a
farm, he afterwards returned to his old pursuit. His
countrymen at Gerraantown desired to get a description
of Dock's method of keeping school, that their teachers
might profit by his great gift. To do this required no
little diplomacy, for Dock was a modest man, unwilling
to do anything that would redound to his own praise.
At the urgent request of Saur, the Germantown printer,
a friend of Dock's presented to him a series of questions

EDUCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 433
on the subject. The reluctant teacher was persuaded
to reply on the condition that his answers should not be
printed during his lifetime. The request was heeded
and nineteen years passed before they were given to the
world. They appeared in 1770 and form the earliest
essay on school teaching published in America. The
questions relate to the reception of children into his
school, how they were assembled, how they were taught
to spell and to write letters, the training of the A. B. C.
scholars, " how to teach figures and cyphering," and the
all important subject of discipline and punishment.
One of the queries was, " How do you teach the
children to live that they both love and fear you ? "
To the answers were added one huudred rules of con
duct for children at home, in school, in the street, at
meeting or church. The final precept was, ' ' Let what
you see of good and decent in other Chistian people
serve as an example for yourself If there be any
virtue and if there be any praise, think on these
things." Happy would have been the condition of the
Germans had there been more teachers with his tact
and sagacity and possessing his sweet and winning
ways. Franklin and others wished to establish schools 'for
the Germans, who had come into the Province in vast
numbers and .who were painfully in need of education.
As the German population by the middle of the
eighteenth century comprised nearly half the entire
number, it was feared that if the increase should be as
rapid in the future, German would become the official
language and that the government would pass into their
hands. They were so nuraerous and the opportunities to
acquire a knowledge of English so uncertain that much
28

434 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
inconvenience was experienced in the administration of
the government. Interpreters were constantly needed in
the courts, and they inight soon be required in the
Assembly itself to tell half of the legislators what the
other half said. It was proposed to teach both English
aud German in the schools, and religious instruction
was also to be included. To this end contributions were
successfully solicited from the Society of Friends and
from individuals for the propagation of the Gospel.
Schlatter was given a general oversight of these
schools, but opposition to them soon rose, especially
from Saur, who was influential among the Germans.
He was closely allied to the Friends in their anti-war
principles and was totally opposed to a church clergy.
His intellectual horizon was contracted, and he insisted
that the condition of the Germans was not so bad as it
had been reported, and that the motive for founding
these schools was a political one, intended to acquire a
more complete control of the Germans. In this opposi
tion the Frieuds passively concurred, believing that the
aim of the movement was to alienate the Germans,
especially those who believed in non-resistance, and
thus to -weaken their political power and wrench the
governiiient from them. Doctor Muhlenberg, who was
consulted, feared that the Germans would regard such
an enterprise as a reproach to them. This opinion
was fostered by the protests of Saur through his paper,
whicli was read by the Germans all over Pennsylvania
and the neighboring colonies. To counteract this
influence Franklin at great expense set up another
German press. But Saur held the vantage-ground and
continued to turn the Germans against their clergy and
against every one who endeavored to lead them into

EDUCATION AND LITERATURE. 433
orderly ways in church or state affairs. His conduct is
an illustration of the havoc that can be wrought by a
powerful influence turned in a wrong direction. Had
Saur supported the movement it would have gained
strength and the Germans probably would have encour
aged the plan. But he appealed to their fears and preju
dices, and, though the schools were established, they
were destined to an early death. Schlatter continued
in charge until the middle of 1757, when he was suc
ceeded by Doctor Smith. From that time the systera
languished. The Germans lacked confidence in the
trustees, who disagreed among themselves. In addition
to this, the growing coldness between Great Britain
and the Province and the disturbance caused by war on
the frontiers led to the closing ofthe schools in 1763.
The Moravians were always believers in education.
From the founding of their church by John Huss
education has gone parallel with their religious de
velopment. In this country wherever the Moravians
went the organization of a congregation was soon
followed by that of a school. The zeal of the Bohemian
reformer for higher education, so conspicuous in his ad
ministration of the University of Prague, descended
to his followers. Their first school in Pennsylvania
was opened in 1742 by Zinzendorf, whose daughter,
the Countess Benigna, was one of the teachers. This
was on the model of the Brothers' School in Germany.
Afterwards a boarding-school was opened at Nazareth,
and the first building intended especially for a school-
house was erected at Bethlehem in 1745.
The number of church-schools was inadequate, and
many children lived at too great a distance from them.
There were large sections of thickly-settled country

436 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
without a church, persons often traveling five or ten
miles oh horseback or in wagons to the nearest meeting.
This difficulty caused another class of schools to spring
up in small communities, and before long the neighbor
hood schools outnumbered all other kinds. In propor
tion to the population the new institutions were fewest
in the oldest-settled parts of the State, for many of the
people moved west into the Cumberland "Valley, and
along the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers. These
neighborhood schools were at first crudely organized and
narrow in their course of instruction. They were
inferior to the church-schools, for these had generally
been supervised by clergymen who themselves taught
or who engaged the best teachers they could find.
For a hundred and fifty years after the coming of
Penn the policy of the people was to educate the chil
dren of the poor without charge, but to require compen
sation from those who were able to pay. There were
few known departures from this policy in either the
church or the neighborhood schools. Thousands of
these institutions were established by the voluntary
efforts of pioneer settlers. Sometimes an enterprising
man, having children to educate, would call on his
neighbors to co-operate with him in forming a school,
A meeting of those interested would be called and a
committee appointed to select a suitable building, ascer
tain the number of children who would attend, fix the
tuition fee and employ a teacher. Women sometimes
took part in the meetings. When money was needed
it was raised by voluntary subscriptions. Now and
then a public-minded citizen would take the matter
into his own hands without waiting for the co-operation
of his neighbors. "In other cases," says Wickersham,

ED UCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 437
"the moving spirit was one of the numerous peripa
tetic schoolmasters who wandered about from settle
ment to settlement seeking employment,"
The provincial school-house was generally a rough
log cabin, and the spaces between the logs were filled
with chips of wood plastered with raortar. The floors
were of earth and sometimes of timber, through which
snakes often crawled. Nearly one side of the house
was occupied by the chimney, and there were several
windows, with small panes of glass. The furniture
consisted of four-legged benches made of logs split
in two and hewn to a proper thickness, and stools and
tables of the same material and workmanship. The
desks were placed against the wall, facing outward, and
seats without backs were in the middle of the room for
the smaller scholars.
The primary schools had generally a distinct relig
ious side. The lowest primers were quite as much
church-books as school-books, for they contained hymns,
prayers, creeds and catechisms, as well as the alphabet
and elementary lessons. The first regular branch of
instruction was reading, for this was preparatory to
learning the catechism aud taking part in religious
exercises. When writing was first introduced it was
confined wholly to boys, as the acquirement was deemed
unnecessary for girls. So dee|5 rooted was this pre
judice that some men have entertained it almost to the
present day. Paper was costly and birch bark was
often used as a substitute. Ink was made of nut-galls
bruised, to which were added a proper proportion of
water and some rusty nails. Sometimes an ink boy
was appointed who carried the fluid in a bottle or a
horn to each writer as he needed it, but the custom was

438 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
for each pupil to have his own supply. Pens were
made of goose quills, and much of the master's time
was employed in cutting and mending them. Arith
metic was taught, but without aid of books. The
"sums" were dictated by the raaster and worked out
on paper, for blackboards were unknown and slates and
pencils did not come into use until after the Revolution.
" Ciphering books " were afterward brought into use.
Geography and grammar were not taught until after the
adoption ofthe common school systera.
George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends,
was the author of a primer or spelling-book, which was
re-published at Philadelphia in 1701. As may be ex
pected, this contained a perpetual calendar and a cate
chism explaining the doctrines of the Friends. An
thony Benezet, a teacher in Philadelphia, also compiled
a primer, to which was added a short essay on English
grammar. All through these books moral lessons were
interspersed. The spelling-book most in favor was prepared by
Thomas Dilworth, an English schoolmaster. The
first edition, printed at Philadelphia, appeared in 1757,
and twenty-one years later the ninety-eighth edition
was published. The lessons in spelling alternated
with those for reading, and there were also quaintly
illustrated fables and forras of prayers for children.
In spelling, the terrainations "tion" and "sion" were
pronounced in two syllables. The Philadelphia edi
tions contained a small elementary grammar, but in the
Lancaster edition this was omitted until, so the pub
lisher stated, "when peace and commerce shall again
smile upon us, and when, in spite of Britain and a
certain evil one surnamed Beelzebub, we shall have

ED UCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 430
paper and books of every kind in abundance, and
science shall once more shoot up and fiourish in the
country." Of other books it could hardly be expected that a
• people engaged in so fierce a struggle with nature would
soon acquire the graces cf literary accotriplishraent. It
is true that some of the noblest poetry of the world was
sung by nations in their early days. These, however,
are exceptional creations. Literature has had a slow
and painful growth, the result of unwearying study and
meditation : that the early settlers did not at once turn
a graceful sentence or produce a finished poem, is not
surprising. The first production was an almanac edited in 1685
by Samuel Atkins, " student in matheraatics and astro
logy." It contained "both the English and foreign
account, the raotions of the planets through the signs,
with the luminaries, conjunctions, aspects, eclipses;
the rising, southing and setting of the moon, with
the time when she passeth by, or is with the raost
eminent fixed stars." Proper attention was also given
to the movements of the sun, the action of the tides,
with chronologies and many notes, rules and tables, all
having special reference to the region in and around
Pennsylvania. The almanacs of that day were more
than mere calendars, weather forecastings and accounts
of astronomical occurrences. They contained poems,
sage remarks and a variety of inforraation. Franklin's
Poor Richard's Almanac made him famous, and other
writers were perhaps tempted to imitate hira. At all
events these books rapidly multiplied between the time
of this publication and 1783, but none approached that
of the inimitable Franklin.

440 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
No fiction deserving the name appeared until the
time of Charles Brockden Brown, who wrote toward
the close of the eighteenth century. Imagination could
not flourish under the heavy skies of early provincial
life, though some of its highest flights have, in excep
tional cases, been taken under desperate conditions.
The soil was too rugged for even one little flower of
poetry, but during the second generation the settlers,
somewhat relieved from toil, begau to cultivate buds of
verse After the almanacs, the newspapers received
poetical contributions. Rhyming prospered and hardly
a week passed without some rhythmical production.
The earliest of these printed was "A Pharaphrastical
Exposition on a letter from a gentleman in Philadelphia
to his friend in Boston concerning a certain person who
compared himself to Mordecai."
Aquila Rose has been named as the first poet of repu
tation in Pennsylvania. He was a workman in Brad
ford's printing office and, at the time of his death, clerk
to the Assembly. Franklin said of hira : " He was an
ingenious young man, and of an excellent character,
highly estimated in the town, and also a very tolerable
poet. ' ' ,
More remarkable, perhaps, was Samuel Keimer.
Instead of going through the laborious process of writ
ing like the ordinary poet, he was so inspired, certainly
on one occasion, that his verses congealed into cold
type as they flowed from his muse. In one of his pub
lications he promised ' ' to present to the world for its
entertainment an account of his sufferings under the
care ofthe white negro," but as he soon quitted Penn
sylvania this production was never forthcoming. If
Keimer may be believed, he was well educated ; but

EDUCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 441
Jacob Taylor, one of the almanac-makers, ridicules his
charlatanism in the following terms: "Thy constant
care and labor is to be thought a finished philosopher
and universal scholar, never forgetting to talk Greek
and Hebrew and oriental tongues as if they were as
natural to thee as hooting to an owl." Keimer wore
his beard long because Moses had somewhere said,
"Thou shalt not mar the corners of thy beard." He
tried to persuade Franklin to suffer his beard to grow in
like manner. This his friend consented to do on the
condition that the poet ab.stain from aniraal food.
Franklin says he used to amuse himself by shaming
Keimer, who was naturally a glutton. The poet prom
ised to make the trial if Franklin would do likewise,
and the arrangement was continued for three months.
Franklin maintained his cheerfulness easily enough,
but "poor Keimer suffered terribly" and at last broke
down. He invited his friend to dine with him on roast
pig, which, however, was ready a little too soon, and,
nnable to resist the temptation, Keimer devoured it
before his guest arrived.
One poet's work has survived the wreck of time.
Godfrey's tragedy. The Prince of Parthia, is a story of
considerable merit. The scene is laid in Ctesiphon,
and the characters are an old man, a good king, a false
queen and two sons, one noble and the other wicked.
In his arrangement of the scenes Godfrey displayed a
clear idea of the law of contrast, which was quite
unknown to the colonial poets. He was evidently
familiar with Shakespeare, and the fifth scene reminds
one strongly of Hamlet He was also a musician and
fond of painting. Apprenticed to a watchmaker, he
devoted all his leisure hours to writing. He found

442

HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.

patrons among the literary people of the Province, and
sorae of his sraaller poems, published in the American
Magazine, were well received. One of his critics
remarked that, as a dramatic composition, " The Prince
of Parthia ' ' is defective in plot as well as faulty in style,
but that it is, nevertheless, "amost wonderful produc
tion." His desire to have it performed by a company
of Philadelphia players before they left the city led to
its presentation in an unflnished state, and nothing was
ever done subsequently toward its improvement
Nathaniel Evans issued a volurae of poems, the intro
duction to which was a witty eulogy of himself written
by Laura. This was a pseudonym of Miss Elizabeth
Graeme, to whom one of the poems was dedicated. She
was a grandaughter of Sir WiUiara Keith and a woman
of unusual gifts. Her friendship influenced the verse of
Evans, and perhaps his life ; and not the least interest
ing parts of his book are the addresses and replies of
these congenial friends. Miss Graeme received an ad
mirable education, and at her father's house she was
surrounded by refined and literary people. In both
Pennsylvania and England she won the admiration of
the accomplished scholars and wits of the age. She
wrote on every occasion and on almost every subject ;
but, though her journal, letters and other corapositions
were admired for their spirit and elegance, they have
not survived the test of time.
The first to make a profession of poetry was John
Dommett. He was fond of writing salutatory and
panegyric odes addressed to the governor aud to other
noted men of Pennsylvania. His verses have been
declared to be among "the worst produced in the
Province," but, if his poetry was poor in quality, it cer-

ED UCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 443
tainly was not lacking in ambitious aim. He died at
Whitemarsh in 1729, and, after his death, a eulogy ap
peared in the Mercury praising his wit and good humor
and the fecundity of his muse. In an epitaph his char
acter was thus described :
" Wealthy whilst rum he had was John, yet poor ;
The cause worth but little, rich, the cause craved no more ;
Him England, birth ; heaven, wit ; this Province gave
Food, Indian's drink, rhymes pent, Whitemarsh and grave."
Nearly the entire product of this long period was free
from the starap of true poetry, and only now and then
a line appeared indicating genius. The people were
too intent on making money and cultivating the land to
indulge in poetic fancies.
In this hasty survey at least a reference should be
made to the writers of hymns. The Seventh Day Bap-
'•ists, or Dunkers, published a large and important col-
..ectioii of religious songs, some of which were written
by the founder of the sect, Conrad Beissel, some by
Christiana Hoehu, and others by various members of the
Kphrata Comraunity, as their society was called. These
associates were strange persons, often highly educated,
who chose to dwell apart from the world. Their book
was the first printed in America in German type. A
compositor who was setting up one of the hymns asked
Saur whether he thought more than one Christ had
appeared. To the printer's mind it seemed that Beissel
referred to himself when writing of the Messiah. Saur
wrote to the monk, inquiring whether there was any
reason for such an idea, and Beissel told him that he
was a fool. This impious and not very flattering lan
guage displeased the editor, and there ensued a war of

444 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
pen and type. Among other things Saur declared that
Beissel's name contained the number 666, which is or
the beast ofthe Apocalypse, and that the monk had re
ceived something from each of the planets, " from Mars
his strength, from "Venus his influence over women, and
from Mercury his comedian tricks." As the contest
continued, the Dunkers procured a printing-press of
their own, and from it there poured a flood of literature,
both prose and poetry, relating to music, history and
theology. The books containing music for the hymns
were beautifully written and illustrated with full-page
decorations of birds and flowers. They were, perhaps,
the last specimens of the Middle Age art of illuminat
ing manuscript. It was fltting for this strange society
to end in the new world an occupation which for cen
turies had employed thousands of monks in the old.
Turning from poetry to prose it may be divided into
four kinds : religious, which was developed the earliest;
political, which followed in Lloyd's time and related
chiefly to the relations of the people to the proprietary ;
war literature, springing out of the French and Indian
War ; and lastly, the literature of the Revolution. The
Friends, despite their pacific principles, were entangled
in many religious disputes, nor were they slow to defend
their cause. One of the most prolific writers of un
friendly ideas was George Keith, himself a Friend. He
was the head-master of the public schools, nor had he
been long engaged in mending the boys' grammar and
pens before he undertook to mend the religion of their
parents. The Friends having climbed into power, he
maintained that they should throw away their ladder,
and disregard raany of the practices which were peculiar
to their faith. He accused some of the leaders of luke-

EDUCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 443
warmness, and denounced the magistrates. In short,
he was an advanced liberal. Pamphlet after pamphlet
appeared from his ready pen, each growing warmer in
tone, until finally a prosecution was started against his
printers, Bradford and McCorab. They were arrested
and brought to trial. The principal evidence against
Bradford was his own set of types, and the frarae con
taining thera, a potent, though silent witness, was
brought into court. The jury when retiring took this
frame with them, and, in their endeavor to place it
where they could easily read, upset the types, and thus
destroyed the testimony for the prosecution.
After a time began the publication of sermons, the
first of which by Daniel Burgess was printed in 1725.
Gilbert and William Tennent, Presbyterians of eloquence
and scholarship, not content with preaching, published
a number of sermons during their devoted ministry, and
ased the wider influence of the press to scatter their
strong and timely words. No preachers of the time
treated vital truths more fearlessly or with a sincerer
heart. Many publications of a political nature also appeared.
For fifty years they were not important, but with the
expansion of the Province serious questions arose. The
Farmer's Letters, by John Dickinson, had an enormous
circulation throughout the colonies, and contributed
not a little toward promoting the cause of the Revolu
tion. Other pamphlets also appeared thick and fast
relating to the policy of Great Britain.
There appeared in Philadelphia in 1758, printed by
James Chattin, a book entitled " A Fragment of the
Chronicles of Nathan Ben Saddi, a Rabbi of the Jews.
Lately discovered in the ruins of Herculaneura, and

446 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
translated frora the original into the Italian Language
by the command of the King of the Two Sicilies, and
now first published in English. Constantinople.
Printed in the year of the "Vulgar 2S,X3., 5707."
It is a very clever satire upon the incarceration by
order of the Pennsylvania Assembly of William Moore,
of Moore Hall, and Dr. William Smith, for having pub
lished a political paper, and is perhaps the earliest serious
effort of the kind in American literature. Among the
characters depicted under uames more or less obscure
are William Moore, Dr. Smith, Benjamin Franklin,
Isaac Norris, William Masters and Isaac Wayne
Franklin, who was then clerk of the House, appears as
"Adonis the Scribe" and is made to say: "If any raan
call me rascal in one ear I turn the other and bid him
say on." Norris, the speaker, is prevented frora carrying
into effect the schemes of Franklin in consequence of a
dream in which he sees a strange tree a little space out of
the city, "strong and straight and tall," with two trunks
but no leaves nor fruit. Then the chariot containing
Adonis the Scribe and Masterol of the Suburbs halted
and rested under this tree. "And after some time the
chariot moved again, but behold 1 my Lord, the Judge,
and Adonis the Scribe and Masterol of the Suburbs went
not with it but staid behind, for their heads caught hold
of the tree and they were taken up between heaven and
earth, even as Absalom was taken up in the boughs of
the oak, in the wood of Ephraim, save that they were
not taken up by the hair."
Passing to legal literature, it was extremely rare.
Doubtless this was in part a consequence of the Friends'
dislike for litigation. There were a few pamphlets
relating to trials, but hardly anything else appeared

EDUCATION AND LITERATURE. 447
worth raentioning, save the Magna Charta, to which an
introduction was written by William Penn.
Of economic works perhaps the most important was
by Francis Rawle, entitled, " Ways and means for the
inhabitants of Delaware to become rich, wherein the
several growths and products of these countries were
demonstrated to be a sufficient fund for a flourishing
trade." It was published in 1725, and was the first
pamphlet of its kind in America. It was warmly
approved by Governor Keith, who remarked favorably
upon it in au address to the Assembly. The author,
after tracing the decay of trade to its source, described
ways and means of redress. He urged that a balance
of trade was necessary to restore the Province to its
forraer flourishing condition, and that trade, manufac
tures and navigation should be encouraged. The value
of products was to be raised by flnding new markets,
and to this end the fanner must grow everything of
which the Province was capable.
A subject that produced some of the best writing of
the provincial period was slavery. The two leaders
of that time who will be longest remembered in the
crusade against this traffic, and who set the current
most strongly in the right direction, were Anthony
Benezet and Johu Woolman. Benezet was a French
man whom a bigoted king drove from France. He fled
to England, there becoming a Friend, and then went to
America in 1731, where he established himself iu com
merce at Philadelphia. Five years afterwards he
accepted a position in the academy, and from that time
all his hours were consecrated to public instruction,
relief of the poor, and defence of the unhappy negroes.
He had a school for children of this race, in whom he

448 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
took a deep interest. Besides learning to read and
write, the girls were taught spinning and needlework,
and were grounded in the principles of religion. A
French traveler declares that it was a nursery of good
servants and virtuous housekeepers.
Benezet possessed a universal philanthropy. He
regarded as his brothers men of every country and
color, and his example was a helpful influence in
determining the Friends to emancipate their slaves.
Johu Woolman was a fit companion for such a man. A
missionary at the age of twenty-two, he traveled much,
always on foot and without money or food. Striv
ing to imitate the apostles, he was enabled to be useful
to the poor, especially the blacks. He so abhorred
slavery that he would taste no food produced by slave
labor. His journal is a classic of its kind, containing
the record of one of the whitest souls that ever lived.
Another who should be mentioned is Benjamin Long.
He was reared in Africa and afterwards became a
planter in the Barbadoes. Abandoning his plantation
because of the horrors of slavery, he went to Philadel
phia, where he became a Friend, aud during the
remainder of his life he was ceaseless in preaching and
writing on the abolition of slavery. His principal
treatise appeared in 1737. Animated iu speech, impas
sioned when speaking on slavery, he lived and wrought
for fourscore years, seeking to remove the shackles
from the slave. If his language was exaggerated,
certainly his life was without stain, and his zeal for
huraanity boundless.
Toward the end of the provincial period a historian
appeared among the Friends. Proud was born in Eng
land, not far from the city of York. In 1758 he sailed

ED UCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 449
for Philadelphia, and soon after his arrival took charge
of the public Latin school of the Friends. From that
time until 1780, he was engaged partly in trade with his
brother, and partly, to use his own words, during " the
distraction of the country, at the particular request of
some Friends, in compiling aud writing the history of
Pennsylvania." He indulged in a little poetry of a
serious order; but the work whicli has kept his name
alive is his history of the Province frora the beginning
to 1755. It is written in a quaint style, and is both
trustworthy and valuable. Nearly a fourth of the first
volume is devoted to an exposition of the principles
of Friends, followed by a description of Pennsylvania,
the coming of Penn, and a general account of the
principal events during the golden period of Quaker
ascendency. A number of documents form the basis
of the narrative. The last chapter is devoted to a
general survey of the condition of the Province, an
unusual feature in such works at that time.
Of Pennsylvania authors James Logan was perhaps
the raost accomplished scholar. He was well versed in
ancient and modern learning, and was a master of
Latin, Greek, French and Italian. Like Cicero, he
sought to fortify his mind by cultivating the best feel
ings of old age, and to that end made an elegant trans
lation of the Senectute. This was undertaken in his
sixtieth year for his own amusement, and is his best
known production. It was printed by Benjamin Frank
lin. The Province was not a stranger to newspaper and
magazine literature. The first newspaper was the
American Weekly Mercury, and it appeared in 1719.
The price was ten shillings per annum. Extracts six
29

450 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
months old from foreign papers, and two or three badly
printed advertisements, formed the substance of the
Mercury. One number told of an adult and a child
who died during the week ; even that was unusual, foi;
some weeks passed without a single death. Nine years
afterward a second paper appeared, published by the
eccentric Keimer. It was called The Universal In
structor in all arts and sciences, and Pennsylvania
Gazette. The German Magazine and Historical Chron
icler, printed and edited by Franklin, followed in Jan
uary, 1741. It contained some original matter, but was
filled chiefly with public documents and the proceed
ings of Parliament. The American Magazine, pub
lished in the same year, survived only two months.
Others were launched from time to time, but were
never successful.
Among the literary men of the time Franklin occu
pies the foremost place, aud his Autobiography is one
of the few books possessing vitality. It is just as fresh
and popular to-day as it was when it first appeared,
while no other work of provincial authorship is familiar
to the people and few are known even to scholars. It
is, indeed, the one book which, like Robinson Crusoe,
is read by each succeeding generation with undimin
ished delight, and has been republished in the United
States fifty-one times. Compared with other biogra
phies, it is oue of the best, and is imperishable. Of
this work an eminent scholar, Tyler, who has de
voted many years to the study of American literature,
has said : " At the close of our colonial epoch, Ben
jamin F'ranklin, then fifty-nine years of age, was the
most illustrious of Americans, and one of the most
illustrious of men ; and his renown rested on permanent

EDUCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 431
and benign achievements of the intellect He was, at
that time, on the verge of old age ; his splendid career
as a scientific discoverer and as a citizen seemed round
ing to its full ; yet there then lay outstretched before
him — though he knew it not — still another career of just
twenty-five years, in which his political services to his
country and to mankind were to bring him more glory
than he had gained from all he had done before ; and
in which he was to write one book — the story of his
own life — that is still the most famous production in
American literature, that has an imperishable charm for
all classes of mankind, that has passed into nearly all
the literary languages of the globe, and that is ' one
of the half-dozen most widely popular books ever
printed.' "
If literature keenly felt the shock of the Revolution,
so did educational institutions. At the outbreak. Dr.
William Smith was still president of the college at
Philadelphia, " a kind of pet of the proprietary family."
He was disliked because of his unwillingness to support
popular measures, but on all other political or polemic
questions he was active, ardent and eloquent. The
holder of extreme opinions, he was fond of controversy.
Though the professors of the college represented various
denominations, nearly all the trustees were Episcopal
ians, and their church was out of favor because of its
open sympathy with the royal cause. The opponents
of the suspected political party did not fail to see that
vacancies, occurring by the fiight and attainder of sev
eral members, were not filled until popular resentment
was aroused by neglect. The absentees were regarded,
not as guilty deserters, but as accidentally and innocently

452 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
prevented from executing their trusts, and their suc
cessors were invariably of the same party. For a long
time this conduct was endured, but in 1779 an act was
passed transferring the corporate powers of the college
to a new institution called the University of Pennsylva
nia. This was organized on a catholic basis and con
tinued until 1784, when the former act was repealed.
In 1791 the two institutions were again united as a
university. Twelve trustees were selected from each
body and a Presbyterian clergyman was made the pre
siding officer. A large portion of the funds was con
tributed by an archbishop of the Church of England
and by a dissenting minister. "On President Reed,"
says his biographer, " the friends of the old college
bestowed the largest share of obloquy. Dr. Smith was
his personal and political enemy, and a habitual con
tributor to the party press. That the president con
curred with the majority of the Assembly is unques
tionable ; but, that any other motive actuated him than
a fair conviction that the interests of the community
would be promoted by a change in the college adminis
tration, no one pretended."
If political liberty was to exist, the education of the
people, especially those who were to vote and to make
the laws, was an indispensable condition. At the out
break of the Revolution only a small nuraber could
read, write and calculate ordinary problems, " and many
remaiued wholly illiterate." In Philadelphia were the
college and Friends' public school; there was also an
academy at Germant-own, and perhaps half a dozen
private classical schools existed in the older counties.
The constitution provided for the establishing of one or
more schools in each county the salaries to be paid by

ED UCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 433
the public, so that children might be instructed at little
cost. The law intended also to encourage " all learning
in one or more universities," but not much was accom
plished in this direction. The University of Pennsyl
vania attracted the attention of the Assembly, more on
account of its political sentiments than of its work.
Applications for grants of public land to support free
schools were made to the Assembly by the new German
Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia,
by the public school at Germantown, aud the college
and academy. The Assembly, however, declined to
make the grants because the quantity of laud belong
ing to the State was insufficient. Yet the need of
public schools was uever greater. Population had
flowed into the State with wonderful rapidity until the
Revolution; then the war, while it was in progress,
claimed all the energies of the public and education had
suffered ; but the time had now corae for taking up the
threads of order and progress, and starting on a fresh
attempt to weave the fair fabric of civilization.
The Herald recommended the opening of free schools
and the levying of a tax for their support. ' ' This was
the first essay in favor of education at public expense."
It suggested that reading, writing, arithmetic and Ger
man should be taught, and that the children of each
religious denomination should be separately instructed
in the forms and principles of their respective churches.
Where the school-master was not to be found educa
tional methods were somewhat crude, as may be seen
from the following question and answer, given by the
same person, for the enlightenment of those engaged in
assessing property in a Township in Juniata County.
The questioner asks : " How do you multyply the

454 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
parts of any Nomber insted of the hul ?" To which he
thus makes answer: "When the niultyer is such a
Nomber that aney Tow figers being multiplyed together
will make the said multyplyer, it is shorter to multy
the Given Nomber by one of these figers, and that
Product by the other, as 5 times 7 is 35. You must
hove the Multy Ply Casion table by hart." Let every
one note, when reading this brilliant attempt to explain
the mysteries of the multiplication table, that he did not
forget his opportunity to insist mildly on civil service
reform. "Verily, a knowledge of the multiplication
table would seem to be a necessary and modest outfit
for an assessor. This probably is an extreme example.
It is not surprising, however, when we remember that
from early time people had been flowing into the State
in large numbersi With their different languages and
national peculiarities, the problem of education was one
of the most difficult which they had to confront.
Many of the latest comers passed on toward the frontier,
and while they were amply endowed with energy they
were lacking in culture. In such a mixed population
schools were tardily planted and had the slowest
growth. The Revolution was not favorable to the development
of literature. No works of note were produced during
this time. It generated but one order of ideas and
though the painting was monochromatic, yet the single
color was so skillfully used under the powerful stimulus
of the time that many vivid effects were produced. But
a literature, viewed purely as such, did not flourish.
For the wings of imagination to spread, a different
atraosphere is required from that which surrounded the
writers of that day. We can scarcely turn to a poera or

EDUCA TION AND Li I ERA TURE. 433
an essay, much less a book of this period which may be
regarded simply as a piece of literature. The thoughts
of men were turned to public affairs^ and the letters,
essays and even the sermons that have escaped destruc
tion are all heavily charged with political ideas. The
most noteworthy productions are " The Farmer's Let
ters" by Dickinson, and Hopkinsbn's "Battle of the
Kegs." Hopkinson was a musician, a profound lawyer,
a humorist and satirist of the first water, and he had
besides some knowledge of painting. Doggerel though
it maybe, no one can deny that "The Battle of the
Kegs" is amusing. The subject of the poem is an
attempt to destroy Howe's fleet The production cir
culated everywhere, was read by all arid thoroughly
enjoyed, and has easily kept its place in the literature
of the period. It did indeed start a ripple which even
yet has not entirely subsided.
"The Farmer's Letters" were prepared with a high
purpose by a scholar, and had a wide and profound in
fluence Dickinson was born in Maryland. He studied
law in Philadelphia and afterward at the Middle
Temple, London, that venerable school of legal learn
ing, into which even now we can suddenly turn from
the roar of the mighty city and be at peace, under the
spell of great names that stimulate the rightly-trained
mind to higher and serener ranges of reflection.
Among those who were studying there at that time
were Thuriow, Kenyon and Cowper, three men who
have left enduring marks on English jurisprudence
Educated amid such associations, Dickinson's love for
law and order was as natural as for the air he breathed.
He loved his country, aud was willing to go as far as
anyone in personal sacrifice. He sought to accomplish

456 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the great end all desired, but in an orderly way, because
he believed this to be the most expedient. Harsh
criticism has been hurled at Dickinson from that day to
this, but time, which does so much to correct wrong
verdicts, is reversing that against Dickinson. Tyler is
the latest scholar to review "The Farmer's Letters"
and his study of the literature of this period is free
from prejudice. " To him," says this great student of
American literature, "who now reads that John Dick
inson, having opposed in Congress the Revolution for
American Independence, immediately thereafter, left
that body in order to lead a brigade of American troops
against the British, it will probably seem either that he
had somewhat too suddenly repented of his opposition
to Independence, or else that he was guilty of conduct
inconsistent with his principles. Neither inference
would be correct. In truth, his conduct throughout
that particular emergency was in perfect accord with all
his political teachings, which involved, especially, these
two principles : first, that it was the ancient and manly
method of loyal Englishmen, in cases of extreme
danger, to make demand for political rights with arms
in their hands, and even embodied in military array
against the king's troops ; and secondly, that every
citizen, having said and done his best to secure the pre
valence of his own view, was bound to submit himself
to the decision ofthe community to which he belonged,
and help to carry it out." '
Two books must not be passed over without notice,
Henry's Journal and Graydon's Memoirs. The former
is a thrilling military narrative and has been already
described, the other is sparkling in style and interesting
'2 Lit. Hist, of the Rev., 27.

EDUCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 437
in matter, an age-defying book because it possesses botb.
qualities to a very unusual degree.
The newspaper press had grown to considerable im
portance, and was replete with a peculiar kind of inter
est. Though the modern sensationalism was unknown,
the newspapers were highly spiced with letters and
articles coming from various sources. Many of the
contributors were intelligent and observing men of the
day, and their articles teem with important facts and
reasonings, and often with brilliant reflections. A pe
culiarity of those publications was the freedom with
which individuals aired their quarrels, difficulties and
sorrows. Everything appeared from a disquisition on
the constitution to an elaborate account of the writer's
domestic unhappiness.
The newspapers were the source to which many
turned for light. The editor was the adviser of the
community, or at least his advice was often sought
On every kind of question he was expected to have a
ready, if not an infallible answer. Many of the inquir
ies were from married men who were over-heated and
were trying to cool off. One may not commend their
method, yet still admire the ingenuous artlessness of
their confessions.
One of these afflicted souls was Bobby Bohea, whose
inquiry addressed to the Packet is a fair example of thc
inquiries that appeared for many years in the Gazette,
Mercury and other papers. The writer was married
and admitted that his wife was sober and industrious,
kept his linen in excellent repair, aud prepared his
meals with perfect regularity. She also kept his house
"always remarkable clean," and strictly performed her
duty toward her children. "She is," he declared, " in

458 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
every other respect the most disagreeable woman liv
ing." If the maid happened to break a teacup the
house was in a commotion for three or four days so that
neither he nor any of the children dared open their
mouths to this "immaculate woman." We are not sur
prised to learn that with such an unusual lack of
serenity in his household, he had a baker's dozen of ser
vants in the course of a year. "The last maid we had,"
he continued, "she turned away because she was so
careless that she fell down stairs aud hurt herself; this
was deemed an unpardonable crime. Not long after
ward she discharged another for wearing white stock
ings, imagining, "so Bobby said," they were too allur
ing for me to look at. Another because she turned her
toes inward and she was afraid the children would copy
her manner of walking. She sent away a very flne girl
because she wore a wire cap, but most of them turn
themselves away because they say she is such a cunsed
vixen that they would rather live with the very devil
than with her." Wrought up with the recital of his
woes, he sorrowfully adds: "My misfortune is that it
is not in my power to turn myself away, or believe me,
sir, I would not give a moment's warning, for she uses
me, if possible, worse than her maids; and when I ex
postulate with her, upon her conduct, she tells me I am
the happiest man in the world. ' You are blessed with
a wife that does not spend her time and money in run
ning about the town shopping, a sober frugal woman, a
woman of more economy thau any in the neighborhood,
infinitely too good for you. ' She then perhaps abuses
me for half an hour without intermission, and I am
obliged to suffer in silence for should I presume to reply
the contest would last the whole day. I wish. Sir, you

ED UCA TION AND LITERA TURE. 45Q
would inform me what are the necessary steps to be
taken with such a woman, for I should be much happier
with one who is idle and a drunkard than with such a
sober, industrious woman as my wife."
If the modern newspaper aims to present life, public
and private, in its fulness, its method is radically differ
ent from that of its humbler progenitor. With it, this
presentation was an accident, the work of others, and
not its own. It was simply a stage on which others
appeared, either masked or openly, before the public.
Bobby Bohea when narrating the story of his domestic
affliction had not a thought that he was acting as an
annalist of his tiraes for the instruction and commisera
tion of later ages.

CHAPTER XXII.
SCIENCE AND INVENTION.
Closely related to education and literature are the
kindred matters of science and invention. To Franklin
his discoveries and inventions brought world-wide
fame. In a paper read before the American Philosophi
cal Society in 1749, his first great result was made
known to the world. In this two brief suggestions
were given, the power of points to draw electricity and
the sirailarity of electricity and lightning, following the
description of a splendid experiment in conducting
away the electricity of an artificial thunder storm by
means of a lightning rod. "If these things are so,"
continued Franklin, "may not the knowledge of this
power of points be of use to mankind in preserving
houses, churches and shops from a stroke of lightning
by directing us to fix on the highest part of those edi
fices upright rods of iron, made sharp as a needle, and
gilt, to prevent rusting, and from the foot of those rods
a wire down the outside of the building into the ground.
Would not these rods probably draw the electrical fire
silently out of the cloud before it came nigh enough to
strike, and thereby secure us from that most sudden
and terrible mischief." Three years afterward, in the
spring of 1752, during a June thunder-storm, the im
mortal kite was flown. Who does not know the story
of his kite, made of a large silk handkerchief, and
fastened to the top of a perpendicular stick with a piece
(460)

SCIENCE AND INVENTION. 461
of sharpened iron wire. Stealing away on the approach
of the storm, not far from his house, perhaps near the
corner of Race and Eighth streets, there was au old
cow-shed. Wishing to avoid the ridicule of possible
failure, he told no one of the experiment he was about
to try, except his son, who however, was not the small
boy usually represented in the pictures, but a lad of
twenty-two, and one of the beaus of the city. The kite
was raised in time for the comiug gust, and at the end
of the hempen string was fastened a common key. In
the shed was placed a Leyden bottle to collect from the
clouds, if they contained it, the electric ether. Under
this shed stood the father and son; had any one seen
them, he would probably have regarded them as a
couple of lunatics, for what could have seemed more ab
surd to the ordinary passer-by than the spectacle of two
persons flying a kite in a rain-storm. At last, a thunder
cloud appeared to pass directly over the kite, yet no sign
of electricity appeared, and Franklin's hopes began to
fade. Suddenly Franklin observed the fibres of the
hempen string to rise as the hair on a boy's head rises
who is standing on an insulating stool, or sitting,
though only for an instant, on a hornet's nest With
eager trembling hand he applied his knuckle to the
key and drew from it a spark, and another, and an
other, as many as he chose. The Leyden jar was
charo-ed and both received the most thrilling shock
ever experienced by man ; a shock that might have
been figuratively styled electric, if it had not really
been of that character. The kite was drawn down, the
apparatus packed, and the philanthopist went horae
exulting. Ships from the old world brought the news
that the experiment suggested in his paper, of erecting

462 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
an iron rod on an eminence, had been successfully tried
in France, and that his name had become one of the
most famous in Europe.
Franklin's active genius was not exhausted by draw
ing lightning from the clouds. He invented several
machines that were very useful, in short, he was always
thinking and experimenting. One of his useful plans
was the organizing of the American Philosophical
Society in 1744. Its object was to unite all scientists,
philosophers and inventors in America and Europe. A
bold scheme indeed, yet stamped with the marks of its
author in its practical details. At the outset its success
was not great, for the circle of men who took an interest
in science in the early days was limited. At an earlier
period Franklin had forraed the Junto, or Leather Apron
Society, a kind of debating club of young men, and
this formed the basis of its more ambitious successor.
The society was to investigate botany, medicine, min
eralogy and mining, chemistry, mechanics, arts, trades,
manufactures, geography, topography and agriculture.
A comprehensive scheme, besides whicli it was to give
" its attention to all philosophical experiments that let
light into the nature of things, and tend to increase
the power of man over matter, and multiply the con
veniences or pleasures of life." Among its members
were literary men, statesmen and artists, scientists and
inventors. At these meetings were read papers on
government, history, education, philanthropy, politics,
religion, worship and common sense. Within twenty-
five years the society had drawn within its circle per
sons living in different colonies, in the West Indies, in
Germany and Denmark, France and Great Britain.
Between 1750 and 1767 other societies blossomed whose

SCIENCE AND INVENTION. 463
aims and pursuits were essentially identical, — the pro
motion of useful knowledge. This division in the ranks
of science, perhaps, was based on adherence or opposition
to the Penn family. But they evinced a disposition to
unite, and in 1769 were incorporated into one society
under the title of "American Philosophical Society for
promoting useful knowledge." Of this Franklin was
elected president and continued in office until his death
in 1790. When Brissot was in Philadelphia in 1788, he
exclaimed of Franklin : ' ' Thanks be to God, he still
exists! This great man, for so many years the precep
tor of the Americans, who so gloriously contributed to
their independence. Death had threatened his days,
but our fears are dissipated, and his health is restored."
Two years later he recorded: "Franklin has enjoyed
this year the blessing of death, for which he waited so
long a time."
Another noted scientist in his day was David Ritten
house Beginning life in an obscure way and under
adverse circumstances, in the fullness of time his intel
lect matured and the glory of his inventions shone
across the Atlantic. Both he and Franklin were drawn
into the arena of politics, lived in the same city, and
were ardent patriots. Rittenhouse was a Mennonite,
and early in life displayed his fondness for mathe^natics.
So engrossed had he become in the study of optics dur
ing the French and Indian war that he wrote, should
the enemy invade his neighborhood, he would probably
be slain while making a telescope, as was Archimedes
while tracing geometrical figures on the sand. At
seventeen he made a wooden clock, and afterward one
of metal. Having developed his ability in this direc
tion, though without any instruction, he got from his

464 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
reluctant father money enough to buy the necessary
tools to start a shop by the roadside for making clocks
and mathematical instruments. To his trade, he gave
his days ; and to study, his nights. He solved the most
abstruse mathematical and astronomical problems.
"What a mind," exclaimed Dr. Benjamin Rush in a
burst of enthusiastic admiration. Without literary
friends or society, and with but two or three books, he
became, before he reached his four and twentieth year,
the rival of two of the greatest mathematicians of
Europe, Newton and Leibnitz. His clocks became
celebrated for their accuracy, and his local reputation as
an astronomer was established. Dr. William Smith,
the Provost of the University, was drawn toward hira,
as well as other scientific men in the Province. Ritten
house took a part in determining the line separating
Maryland from Pennsylvania, especially in drawing the
circular boundary twelve miles from the town of New
Castle. He laid out the circle, and made a number of
intricate calculations. The astronomers. Mason aud
Dixon, who ran the line between the two states in 1768,
accepted Rittenhouse's circle without change. The
most famous piece of mechanism was an orrery that
was intended to represent by machinery the planetary
system. Similar attempts had been raade previously ;
none were able to indicate the astronomical phenomena
at any particular time One of these inventors was
Rowley, for whose machine George I. gave one
thousand guineas. Rittenhouse determined to make an
instrument that would be of practical value to the
student and professor of astronomy. In 1770 he com
pleted his celebrated machine. Around a brass sun
revolved ivory or brass planets in elliptical orbits, prop-

SCIENCE AND INVENTION. 465
erly inclined towards each other, and with velocities
varying as they approached their aphelion or perihelion,
Jupiter and his satellites, Saturn with his rings, the
moon aud her phases, aud the exact time, quantity and
duration of her eclipses, the eclipses of the sun, and
their appearances at any particular place on the earth,
were all accurately displayed in miniature. The genius
showu by this piece of mechanism aroused great en
thusiasm. Philosophers, statesmen and poets all united
to praise the inventor. Thus Barlow wrote:
" See the sage Rittenhouse with ardent eye,
Lift the long tube and reach the starry sky.
He marks what laws the eccentric wanderers bind,
Copies creation in his forming mind.
And bids beneath his hand in semblance rise.
With mimic orbs, the labors ofthe skies."
Princeton College and the University of Pennsyl
vania contended for the possession of this mechanism,
Princeton won, but a duplicate was made for the Uni
versity, and wondering crowds went to see the machine.
The Legislature of Pennsylvania viewed it in a body,
and then passed a resolution giving Rittenhouse ;^300,
as a testimonial of their high sense of his mathematical
genius and mechanical abilities, besides agreeing to
give him ;^400 more for a larger instrument
Another scientist whose fame also crossed the At
lantic was John Bartram, a botanist. Like Ritten
house he had no opportunity to acquire a fine educa
tion ; yet by his own diligence, atoned as far as possible
for the lack of instruction given by others. He prob
ably discovered more plants than any of his contempo
raries in America, and was perhaps the first to conceive
the idea of having a botanic garden, for receiving
30

466 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
and keeping the plants of the country, as well as
exotics. He traveled extensively among the fiercest
Indian tribes, inspired by the zeal for his refining and
beautiful study. He had an extensive correspondence
with Liniiseus, Gronovius, Dillenius, Fothergill, Miller,
Sir Hans Sloane, and the most eminent naturalists in
Europe, and was elected a member of the royal societies
of London and Stockholm, and a professor of botany in
the University of Pennsylvania. Presented with a gold
medal by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he also re
ceived the appointment of American Botanist to the
King of England. Linnaeus declared him to be the
greatest botanist in the world.
Early in life his ruling passion appeared in a love for
nature aud her productions. The house in which he
resided, was built by himself, quarrying the stone and
preparing the timber by his own hands. On its com
pletion he engraved the following lines over the front
door: To God alone, the Almighty God,
The Holy One, by me adored. John Bartram, 1770.
One of his longest journeys was undertaken at the
request of Dr. Fothergill, of London, to the Floridas
and the western part of Carolina and Georgia to dis
cover rare and useful plants. He wrote a large volume
containing the results, besides other scientific matters,
and valuable facts relating to Indians. Most of the for
eigners who visited Pennsylvania, after he had risen
above the ordinary heights of men, paid their respects to
the distinguished botanist, for he was always ready to
pour out abundant stores of information. None went
away without pleasure in conversing with him. One

SCIENCE AND INVENTION. 467
of these travelers was Peter Kalm, sent by the Swedish
government, who remarks: "We owe to him the
knowledge of many curious plants which he first found,
and whicli were never known before. He has shown
great judgment, aud an attention which lets nothing
escape unnoticed " ; yet Kalm blamed him for his
negligence, because he did not record his observations.
Another eminent person was Godfrey, the inventor
of the quadrant to which Hadley's name has been
given. Like Rittenhouse, optics and astronomy were
his favorite studies. Davis's quadrant, then in use,
was a very defective instrument, for, in order to make
an observation, the weather must be mild, the sea com
paratively smooth, the sky clear, and the sun not too
high. By Godfrey's invention the mariner required to
see only two objects, the sun and horizon, which once
brought into the field of his instrument, and their dis
tances apart measured, he found his exact latitude in
the pathless ocean, even amid the most terrible storm.
Having perfected his improvement, James Logan
secured for him a skillful person to try it at sea. As
the experiments proved successful, Logan wrote to his
friends in England, especially to Sir Hans Sloane, to
secure for hira the reward offered by the royal society.
In the raeantime Hadley's invention had been made
known to the world, who had probably obtained a de
scription of Godfrey's instrument through Captain
Wright, who carried it to Jamaica, where, unsuspicious
of piracy, he showed and explained it to several Eng
lishmen, among whora was Hadley's nephew.
As Hadley had obtained a patent, complete justice
could not be done to Godfrey. The royal society, re
garding his ingenuity worthy of reward, either sub-

468 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
scribed for him as individuals or gave to him ;^200
from its funds. This highly useful instrument wrought
a revolution in navigation. If Godfrey's mathematical
genius was not fully recognized, perhaps his son the
poet has shared a kindlier fate. Time alone can deter
mine whether the utilitarian discovery of the one will
survive the poetical outburst of the other.
Another invention that must not be overlooked, was
by Thomas Masters, to whom the first American
patent was granted. The invention for cleaning and
curing Indian corn was discovered by Sybilla his wife.
Penn had built a grist mill in the city on the old York
Road ; it did not flourish, and was a costly experiment.
In one of Logan's letters he writes : " Our mill proves
the unhappiest thing in the country that ever man, I
think, was engaged in. If ill luck can attend any
place more than another, it may claim a charter for it.
I wish it were sold." The mill was run nearly six
years longer, and probably Penn would have still
clung to his ownership except for Mrs. Masters' inven
tion. Her husband had come from Bermuda, and was
one of the wealthiest of the early Philadelphians. His
wife patented and sold "Tuscarora rice," a prepara
tion from Indian coru somewhat resembling hominy,
which she strongly recommended as a food peculiarly
adapted to sickly persons. Having procured a patent,
her husband set up a water-mill to prepare this product
for the market Afterward Penn sold his mill to these
lucky discoverers.
Another important invention pertained to the steam
engine. In 1778 Thomas Paine had bent his thoughts
to the subject of the application of steam. Fitch and
Fulton were both experimenting, but William Henry

SCIENCE AND INVENTION. 469
of Lancaster was before them. When Fitch visited
Henry in 1785 he told his guest that he himself had
thought of steam navigation in 1766, and had men
tioned the subject to Andrew Ellicott, and afterward to
Thomas Paine Henry tried a steamboat on the Con
estoga in 1763 ; James Watt did not perfect the steam
engine until six years afterward ; while John Fitch did
not try his experimental steamboat on the Delaware
until 1786. In 1 77 1 Henry invented the screw auger, a
very valuable invention, that was generally adopted in
England, and on the. continent. His son, in describing
it, says : "The day of the first trials of the screw auger
on poplar, oak and hickory logs is still fully in my
memory. These trials in the most part succeeded in
the soft, but the temper of the auger in some instances
failed in the hard wood. Reiterated experiment enabled
the inventor to give a due temper, so as to bore the
auger deep into the ends of well seasoned hickory
logs. ' '
In this galaxy of scientists and inventors, Logan
should not be omitted. He read a number of scientific
papers before the American Philosophical Society, in
which his love of science was clearly shown. He ex
perimented with the seeds of plants, and in one of his
papers, "Concerning the impregnation of the seeds of
plants," his experiments and observations illustrating
the Linnsean doctrine of the sexes of plants are given.
Logan also experimented on maize, and his results were
published in Latin at Leyden and London. He also in
vestigated " into the crooked and angular appearance of
the strokes or darts of the lightning in thunder
storms." Another paper contained " some facts concern
ing the sun and moon when near the horizon, appear-

470 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA .
ing larger than when near the zenith." Logan was
deeply interested in Godfrey's work.
With the advance in scientific knowledge in other
directions, medical science did not lag behind. The
first medical school in the country was established here
in 1765, as a department ofthe College of Philadelphia.
Such a school had long been in the mind of Dr.
Williani Shippen. First associated with him in giving
instruction were Drs. John Morgan, Adam Kuhn and
Benjamin Rush, while a course of clinical lectures was
delivered by Dr. Thomas Bond in the Pennsylvania
Hospital. During the hurricane of the Revolution in
struction was suspended, but in 1783 was resumed,
Shippen filling his former chair. Rush succeeding
Morgan in the chair of practice, while Dr. Wistar was
appointed to the chair of chemistry and institutes of
medicine and Dr. Griffitts to that of materia medica
and pharmacy. The professorship of botany and natural
history was also created, and for this position Dr.
Barton was chosen. All displayed a rare fitness for
their work; but the glory of the achievements of Rush,
Barton and Wistar passed beyond the knowledge of their
professional brethren, and has longer survived their time.
Besides the works and men mentioned, who walked
in the paths of science, a very considerable' class in
dulged in scientific reading, speculations and experi
ments. An agricultural society was formed prior to
the Revolution that held regular meetings, at which
papers were read of varying interest and value. It was
in the atmosphere to cultivate scientific studies, for they
harmonized perfectly with the temper and aims of the
people. At that time Philadelphia was the foremost
city in Araerica in literary pursuits and culture.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS.
From a cave in a bank by the Delaware, or from the
shade of a pine tree to a stately mansion, denotes an
enormous advance in personal prosperity and comfort,
A log cabin was the first advance, then a floor was
added, afterward a window, a door, improvements were
made in the chimney, then the interior was plastered,
afterward other changes, until the evolution of a com
fortable dwelling. Then signs of taste began to
appear ; and style aud effect were studied as well as
comfort. This was more marked in the city than in
the country. Brick and stone were used as substitutes
for wood, houses were of greater length and width, and
two stories instead of one. When Kalm visited New
York in 1740, he remarked that the walls of the houses
were whitewashed and their interiors were often covered
with drawings and pictures in small frames. Hangings
of rich cloth were imported from Holland or from
India, and were occasionally seen in the houses of
wealthy merchants in the principal cities.
On the frontier, far removed from the Delaware, im
provements in house-building were slower. Settlers
assisted each other iu doing the heaviest work, in fell
ing treeS; and in preparing and putting them in their
places. Ovens were built away from houses and with
out a roof.
One of the more noteworthy structures in Philadel-
(47O

472 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
phia during the provincial period was Penn's cottage.
It was located in the centre of a plot of ground and
was two stories high with garret room. The doorway
was in the centre, with a bracketed porch-roof above
On either side were rooms having a single front window
while the second story had three windows in front
Probably some of the original forest trees were retained.
After his house at Pennsbury • was built, he preferred to
live there.
Of the old churches that of the Swedes is worthy of
notice Twelve years after the first party of Swedes
arrived on the Delaware, a clergyman came, named
Torkillus, aud subsequently Campanius, who wrote a
history of New Sweden. The church was established
at Tinnicum in 1646 ; the service was Lutheran. The
Indians came to hear the preacher, and wondered why
he had .so much to say, and stood alone, and why the
others kept silent. They thought a conspiracy was
brewing. Another of the Swedish preachers was Fabri
cius, the first minister of the cliurch at Wiccaco. This
was a block-house erected for defence against the
Indians, as well as the devil, and situated near the
Delaware River, in the present district of Southwark.
The court at New Castle in 1675 directed the levying
of a tax to pay for the church. In that day, church
and state were closely related. Afterward a glebe was
bought for the Wiccaco church in Passyuuk. The glebe
house was burned dowu in 1717, but immediately re
built. Then sprang up an agitation concerning a
better place of meeting than a blockhouse ; but where
should the new church be located? Some of the
Swedes lived on the west side of the Schuylkill ; otheK
'The cost was £t,ooo.

ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS. 473
along the Delaware. The residents of Wiccaco, Moya-
mensing and Kensington desired its erection near the
site of the old block church. Finally the controversy
was settled by lot. On a piece of paper was written the
word, "Wiccaco," on another, the word "Passyuuk."
These were folded, shaken in a hat, and emptied on the
ground. The first one opened bore the name Wiccaco.
All opposition ceased, a hymn of praise was sung, and
the controversy ended. The foundations of the church
were stone, the walls of brick. The exterior was sixty
feet in length, thirty in breadth and twenty in height
The building when finished cost about 20,000 Swedish
dollars, and was dedicated on the 2nd of July, 1700.
At that time it was the handsomest church in the
Province, and was called Gloria Dei. The porches on
the north and south sides were built two years afterward
to support the walls. A bell was procured, and a cupola
was erected on the west tower.
For the first five years in the history of the city the
Friends and Swedish Lutherans were the only religious
sects. The Baptists established a church at Pennypack
in 1687, and the Presbyterians formed a small congrega
tion in 1692. At what time the Church of England
was organized is not exactly known, nor the location of
its church, Christ church did not acquire ownership
of the lot on Second Street uutil 1695, nor do we know
whether the original church was of wood or of brick.
Enlarged in 1700 and in 1720, the vestry of the latter
year resolved to make a further enlargement, with
a steeple or tower adjoining the west end. The,
addition was nearly finished in September, 1730. It
was then resolved to remove the eastern end of the
building, and erect a more permanent part An organ

474 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
was imported from Loudon in 1728 that was used
thirty-eight years, and replaced in 1766. In 1753-4 the
tower and steeple were completed, and a chime of bells
was imported from London. The captain who brought
them over, without charge, specified that they should
be muffled and rung at his funeral, a contract that was
more than executed, for the bells were rung on the
death of his wife and on every arrival of his vessel.
Over the eastern window of the wall on Second Street
at the time of the Revolution was a profile bust of
George II., with a crown above, carved in wood.
There they remained until 1796, when they were taken
down and thrown into the street.
One other church may be raentioned, that of the
Lutherans, on Race Street. Begun in 1743, five years
were needful from lack of funds to complete the edifice.
During the interval, aud even when half-finished, it was
used for service. Boards were nailed across the win
dows, though not close enough to keep out the drifting
snows of winter. The congregation formed their
auditorium by placing loose boards on logs, which were
their pews. Their was no stove to keep the interior
warm, and for five years, iu winter and summer, the
church was used by the congregation. In winter the
desk and Bible were sometimes covered up with drift
ing snow, which the minister was compelled to wipe
off before he could read. The building was seventy _
feet long, forty-five feet wide, and thirty-six feet high,
with a steeple, improperly built, that was, in conse
quence, taken down. Two porches were erected on the
north and south sides, near the end of the building,
giving to the church a cruciform shape. In 1751 the
church furniture was corapleted by putting an organ,

ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS. 475
one of the largest and finest instruments in America, in
the gallery. For one hundred and thirty years the
church was used without internal alterations, except the
addition of stoves, introduced toward the end of the
century, after religious people concluded, not with
out much debate and doubt, that it was not sinful to
worship the Lord in a building comfortably warmed.
The pulpit was a small queer-shaped tub with a sound
ing board above. The pews were square and roomy,
with backs high enough to hide children and small per
sons from the congregation. The galleries were sup
ported by low pillars, and the entire church had a
strange appearance to other church worshipers.
Forty-seven years passed between the founding of the
city and the erection of a state-house Meanwhile the
Assembly had met in private houses, school-rooms and
the Friends' meeting-house. On the completion of the
county court-house in 1709, the Assembly and supreme
court met there. In 1729 the Assembly appropriated
;^2,ooo for the building of a state-house, and the
speaker, Andrew Hamilton, and Thomas Lawrence
and John Kearsley, members of the Assembly, were
appointed trustees to construct the building. Andrew
Hamilton prepared the plan, which was examined by
several members and approved by the Asserably. He
then desired to be relieved, but, notwithstanding his
request, the Assembly appointed him, with Lawrence
and Kearsley, to superintend the building of the struc
ture. It was first occupied by the Assembly in 1735,
several years before its completion. In 1743 the west
room was ordered to be finished as soon as possible, and
in November of that year a plan for finishing the court
room and the piazzas between the main building and

476 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
the offices was adopted. The building was probably
finished in 1744. As the original building had no
steeple, in 1750 the Assembly ordered that a building
be erected on the south side of the state-house, to con
tain a staircase with a suitable place for hanging a bell.
When the work was well advanced an effort was made
to get a good bell, around which it was directed that
the following words should be cast : " By order of the
Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania, for the
State-House in the City of Philadelphia 1752," and
underneath, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land,
to all the inhabitants thereof" The bell proved defect
ive, for it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper.
The founders made a new mould, broke up the bell,
altered the proportion of metals, and recast it. It was
raised in the steeple early in June, 1753. The original
English bell cost ;^i98. It was recast by a firm of
Philadelphia brass founders, for a little more than ;^6o.
The first Continental Congress of 1774 met in Car
penters' Hall. The Carpenters' Company, for whose
use the hall had been erected, was established in 1724,
and thirty years afterward they united with another
company. The object of the association was the im
provement of the members in the trade, "to obtain
instruction in the science of architecture, and to assist
such of the members as should be in need of support,
and of the widows and minor children of such mem
bers." Composed of master carpenters only, for nearly
forty years its meetings had beeu held in different
places appointed by the members. In 1768 the use of a
lot of ground was purchased for an annual ground rent
of 176 milled pieces-of-eight, fine silver. Subsequently
the company sold the eastern portion of the ground on

ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS. ^yy
Chestnut Street, leaving an entrance to the back part
of the lot on which the hall was built. The money was
raised by a loan, the building was begun in January,
1770, and though unfinished was occupied the next
year. Indeed, it was not completed until 1792. One
of the first tenants was the Philadelphia Library Com
pany in 1773. During the revolutionary period im
portant conferences were held here, and afterward the
sessions of the Contiuental Congress.
Leaving the city, let us glance a moment at Stenton,
where Logan spent many years of his life. One entered
by a hall, opposite to which was a magnificent double
stair-case; right and left were loft>- doors, covered with
fine, old fashioned woodwork. In some of the rooms
wainsicoting was carried to the ceiling above the chimney
place, which, in all the apartments, was a vast opening,
set around with blue and white sculptured tiles of the
most grotesque devices. There were cupboards, besides
arched niches over the mantle-pieces, show-cases foi
rare china and magnificent old silver. Half of the
front of the house in the second story was taken up
with one large, finely lighted room, the library of the
book-loving master of the place. The house was sur
rounded with ample grounds adorned with fine old
trees. A splendid avenue of hemlocks led up to the
house. The Wingohocking meandered through the
grounds, glistening in many places in the sun. The
house was of brick, two stories high, with a pent roof,
and attic. Of all the men of his day, except perhaps
Dr. Sraith, Logan was the most scholarly and culti
vated. Not far off was the house of Judge Chew. Though
a Friend, he had no scruples concerning the propriety

478 HISTORY OF PENNSYL VANIA.
of lawful war. In a charge to the grand jury of New
Castle in 1741 he enforced strongly the duties of
defence. The charge was published in the " Broad
side " and printed in the Philadelphia journals. A
local bard, full of patriotism, was thus inspired:
" Immortal Chew has set our papers right.
He made it plain they might resist a fight."
His country-house at Germantown was a fine stone
mansion, two stories high, with a central doorway and
wide entrance hall, and an attic lighted by dormer
windows. On the roof gables and pediments were orna
mented urns, so common in the style of building of that
day. A .separate house for the kitchen was in the rear,
and connected with the main building by a corridor.
These, with the laundry, formed a quadrangle. To this
place was given the name of Cliveden. During the
battle of Germantown, in 1776, this house was the chief
place of defence to the British army, and prevented the
defeat of the British arms. Little did the occupant sup
pose that his house would ever prove a fortress to the
enemy. Travelers who journeyed through Pennsylvania in
the middle of the eighteenth century, often remarked
concerning the large number of comfortable houses that
everywhere dotted the landscape. Perhaps the German
farmer took more pride in his barn than in his house ;
in the preservation of his cattle, than of himself, or his
wife and children. Certainly, the contrast was very
striking between their diminutive houses and enormous
barns, and the houses and barns of settlers of other
nationalities. The traveler could easily determine a
German communitv bv these infallible marks of their

ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS. 479
thrift and taste Generally, the first dwelling-house of
the Germans was small, and built of logs, and lasted
during the lifetime of the first settler, showing "that
the son should always begin his improvements where
his father left off" by building a convenient stone
house. Turning from the architecture of the Province to its
art, what could be expected of a people in their day of
struggle with the forces of nature to acquire a liveli
hood? Yet after clearing the wilderness, planting,
reaping and gathering a store for the future, building
towns and cities, emerged a taste for the painter's art.
It was first evoked to preserve the faces of the admired
and loved from the blight of time. Of those who
handled the brush, one name rose far above the others,
a solitary star. As the greatest general of antiquity
sprung from the most uuwarlike of nations, so the
greatest painter of the provincial times was a member
of the Society of Frieuds, which regarded the painter's
art with disfavor. Benjamin West was a Friend. In
his early boyhood his fondness for the brush asserted
its mysterious supremacy. At nine years old he
painted; and sixty-seven years afterward he pronounced
some of his boyhood works superior to those of maturer
years. The sight of some engravings was a revelation
to him, and the gift of a paint-box was an inspiration.
After going to sleep he awoke more than once during
the night, and anxiously put out his hand to the box
which he had placed by his bedside, fearing that his
riches were only a dream. Rising at the break of day,
he carried his colors and paper to the garret and
began to work. Here he passed hours in a world of his
own, neglecting school and everything else to continue

480 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
his secret occupation. His mother found the truant,
but she was so astonished and delighted with his work
that instead of rebuking him, she took him in her arms
and kissed him. One of the efforts of his early years
was the death of Socrates, painted for a gunsmith at the
age of sixteen. The Frieuds, learning of his strong
taste for painting, were troubled and called a meetiug
of the society to consider the matter. One of them,
John Williamson, as wise as he was good, remarked;
" It is true that our tenets deny the utility of that art to
mankind ; but God has bestowed on this youth a genius
for the art, and can we believe that Omniscience be
stows His gifts but for great purposes? What God has
given, who shall dare to throw away? Let us not esti
mate Almighty wisdom by our notions ; let us not pre
sume to arraign His judgment by our ignorance; but in
the evident propensity of the young man, be assured
that we see au impulse of the Divine nature for some
high and beneficient end." This view prevailed, and
West was permitted to follow the impulse of his taste,
though charged to redeem the art, of painting from
ignoble applications. His conduct in volunteering as a
recruit in the French War was not to their liking, but
his martial ardor was short-lived; aud at eighteen he
was established in Philadelphia as a portrait painter,
receiving "five guineas a head."
Through the liberality of some merchants of Phila
delphia and New York, West visited Italy. He painted
the portrait of Lord Granham, and that nobleraan's
introduction facilitated his visit to England, where he
arrived in 1763. His picture of Queen Philippa gained
hira the favor of George III., who commissioned him to
paint the pi-tuie of Regulus. His Death of Wolfe

ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS. 481
created an era in English art, for he abandoned classic
costume. When it was exhibited at the Royal
Academy, the multitude at once acknowledged its ex
cellence, but the lovers of old art complained of the
barbarism of boots, buttons and blunderbusses, aud
cried out for naked warriors with bows, bucklers and
battering rams. While he was painting the picture
Reynolds, the great portrait painter of the time, with
the Archbishop of York, called on West to remonstrate
against such a bold innovation. West replied with that
characteristic good sense which marked his conduct
through life: "The event to be commemorated hap
pened in the year 1758, in the region of the world
unknown to Greeks and Romans. The same rule
which gives law to the historian should rule the
painter." West's departure was radical. Reynolds soon
admitted : " I foresee that this picture will not only
become one of the most popular, but will occasion a
revolution in art."
Work, wealth and honors speedily followed. Readily
did people pay a thousand guineas for a painting. He
succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as president of the
Royal Academy, and enjoyed the best society. One of
his best works is the ' ' Battle of La Hogue. ' ' West was
pains-taking in the study of situations and characters.
His successful experiments to discover how a candle's
rays were reflected in an old pitcher, his visit to Spit
head to study the effect of smoke in a naval combat
before executing the " Battle of La Hogue," are proofs
of the care he used to apply the facts of nature to his
art. Time, however, is the only correct test of a
painter's merit. At the time of his death many of his
pictures were in the national collection, admired
31

482 HISTOR Y OF PENNSYL VANIA.
by thousands. Before many years had passed their lack
of merit was seen, and one by one they were taken
out and given to the galleries of the British colonies,
until not a single picture of him whose name once filled
the whole artist world, remains. A short-lived fame,
yet happily it outlived himself; and thus he died amid
his honors, never doubting perhaps that his greatness
for all time was secure.
West had one pupil, Charles Willson Peale, who has
won a secure place as a portrait painter, partly by the
merit of his works and partly by the illustrious charac
ter of many of his subjects. Born in Maryland, he
came to Philadelphia in the year of Independence,
when he was thirty-five years old. The possessor of
unusual inventiveness and skill, he was by turns a
saddler, silversmith, watchmaker and carver. He served
as a soldier, commanding a company at the battles of
Trenton and Germantown ; was interested in politics,
serving as a member of the Pennsylvania convention of
1776. But painting was his chief delight, and he
studied first under Copley in Boston and afterwards
under West in London. He painted the first portrait
of Washington as a "Virginia colonel in 1772; and many
portraits of the most distinguished people of his time.
So well known and appreciated was Peale that his ser
vices were in constant demand, and his name is one of
the most familiar in American art

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.

governors of new NETHERLANDS AND OF THE
DUTCH ON THE DELAWARE.

Capt. Cornells Jacobsen Mey,
Adrian Jorissen Tienpont,

> Vice-Directors  1614— 1623

William Van Hulst, Vice-Direc
tor  .... 1623 — 1624
Peter Minuit, Director-General, . . . 1624 — 1632
Giles Osset, Commissary, (killed
by the Indians,)  1630— 1632
Wouter Van Twiller, Director-Gen
eral,  April — , 1633 — Mar. 28, 1638
Arent Corssen, Vice-Director, . . 1633 — 1635
Jan Jansen Van Ilpendam, Com
missary,  . . 1635 — 1638
Sir William Keift, Director-General, Mar. 28, 1638 — May 27, 1647
Jan Jansen Van Ilpendam, Vice-
Director, .  1638 — Oct. 12, 1645
Andreas Hudde, Vice-Director, Oct. 12, 1648 — Aug. 15, 1648
Alexander Beyer, acting Commis
sary,  Aug. IS, 1648 — 1649
Peter Stuyvesant, Director-General, . May 17, 1647 — May 31, 1654
Gerrit Bricker, Commissary, . . 1649 — 1654
Captured by the Swedes, May 21, 1654.

GOVERNORS OP NEW SWEDEN AND OF THE SWEDES
ON THE DELAWARE.

Peter Minuit, Governor,  April 28, 1638— Jan. 30, 1640
Jost van Bogardt, acting Governor, Jan. 30, 1640— Oct. 15, 1640
Peter Hollander, Governor, . . Oct. 15, 1640 — Feb. 15, 1643
(483)

484 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.
John Printz, Governor,  Feb. 15, 1643 — Nov. i, 1653
Hendrick Huygen, Commissary, 1646 —
John Papegoga, acting Governor, . . Nov. — , 1653— May 27, 1654
John Claudius Rising, Governor, . . May 27, 1654 — Sept. I, 1655
Captured by the Dutch, September i, 1655.

DOMINION OF THE DUTCH.
Peter Stuyvesant, Director-General, . Sept. 1,1655 — Oct. 1,1664
John Paul Jacquet, Vice-Director, Nov. 29, 1655 — Dec. 19, 1656
Capt. Derick Schmidt, Commis
sary  Oct. — , 1655— Nov. 29, 1655
Andreas Hudde, Commissary, . . 1655 — 1659
Cornells Van Ruyven, Commis
sary  . . Sept. 23, 1659—
The Colony divided into that of the City and Company, 1656.
Coi,ONY OF THE City :
Jacob Alricks  Dec. 19, 1656— Dec. 30, 1659
Alexander D'Hinojossa  Dec. 30, 1659 — I^^c. 32, 1663
C01.ONY OF The Company :
John Paul Jacquet  Jan. — , 1657 — Oct. 28, 1658
William Beekman, Vice-Governor, Oct. 28, 1658 -Dec. 22, 1663
Colonies of the City and Company united, Dec. 22, 1663.
Alexander D'Hinojossa, Vice-Direc
tor,  Dec. 22, 1663 — Oct, I, 1664
Captured by the English, 1664.

DOMINION OF THE DUKE OF YORK.

Col. Richard Nicolls, Governor, . Sept. 3, 1664— May — , 1667
Sir Robert Carr, Deputy Gover
nor, .... .... Oct. I, 1664 — Nov. 3, 1667
Col. Francis Lovelace, Governor, . . May — , 1667— July 30, 1673
Capt. John Carr, Deputy Gover
nor,  1668— July 30, 1673
Re-captured by the Dutch, July 30, 1673.

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 485
DOMINION OF THE DUTCH.

Anthony Colve, Governor General, . Aug. 12, 1673 — Nov. 10, 1674
Peter Alricks, Deputy Governor, Sept. 19, 1673 — Nov. 10, 1674
Re-taken by the English, Nov. 10, 1674.

DOMINION OF THE ENGLISH.
Sir Edmund Andros, Governor, . . . Nov. 10, 1674— Jan. 16, 1681
Capt. Matthias Nicolls, Deputy
Governor,  Nov. 10, 1674 — 1675
Capt. Edmond Cantwell, Deputy
Governor, . .... 1675 — 1676
Capt. John Collier, Deputy Gov
ernor  1676 — 1677
Capt. Christopher Billop, Deputy
Governor  1677 — 1680
Capt. Anthony Brockholls, Governor, Jan. 16, 1681— June 21, 1681
Colonial Government ceases by virtue of the Provincial Charter of
March 14, 1681.

GOVERNORS OF THE PROVINCE.

WiLUAM PFNN, Proprietary, . . 1681 — 1693
William Markham, Deputy Gov
ernor,  April 20, 1681— Oct. — , 1682
William Penn, Proprietary and
Governor  Oct. 27, 1682 — Sept. 18, 1684
The Council (Thomas Lloyd,
President,)  Sept. 18, 1684— Feb. 9, 1688
I. Thomas Lloyd, ¦]
2. Robert Turner,
3. Arthur Cook,
4. John Simcock,
5. John Eckley,
Capt. John Blackwell, Deputy
Governor  Dec. 18, 1688— Jan. 2, 1690

Five Commis- "
sioners ap
pointed by
Wm. Penn.

Feb. 9, 1688— Dec. 18, 1688

486 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.
The Council, (Thomas Lloyd,
President,)  Jan. 2, 1690 — Mar. — , 1691
Thomas Lloyd, Deputy Gov- '

ernor of Province, 
William Markham, Deputy
Governor of Lower Counties, ,

¦ Mar. — , 1691 — April 26, 1693

Crown of England,  1693 — Nov. 24, 1694
Benjamin Fletcher, Governor of
New York, Governor, .... April 26, 1693 — Mar. 26, 1695
William Markham, Lieutenant
Governor,  April 26, 1693 — Mar. 26, 1695

WlliWAM Penn, Proprietary, . Nov. 24, 1694— July 30, 1718
William Markham, Lieutenant
Governor,  March 26, 1694 — Sept. 3, 1698
Samuel Carpenter, I ._ ^. -. ^ o .. ^ o
^ , „ , )¦ Deputies, Nov. 24, 1694 — Sept. 3, 169S
John Goodson, i
William Markham, Lieutenant
Governor  Sept. 3, 1698 — Dec. 21, 1699
William Penn, Proprietary and
Governor  Dec. 21, 1699 — Oct. 27, 1701
Andrew Hamilton, Deputy Gov
ernor,  ... Oct. 27, 1 701 — April 20, 1703
The Council (Edward Shippen,
President,)  April 20, 1703 — Feb. 3, 1704
John Evans, Deputy Governor, . Feb. 3, 1704— Feb. i, 1709
Charles Gookin, Deputy Gov
ernor,  Feb. I, 1709 — May 31-, 1717
Sir William Keith, Deputy Gov
ernor,  May 31, 1717— July 30, 1718

John Penn, Richard Penn, and
Thomas Penn, Proprietaries, . . . 1718 — 1746
Sir William Keith, Deputy Gov
ernor  July 30, 1718— June 22, 1726
Patrick Gordon, Deputy Gov
ernor,  June 22, 1726— Aug. 4, 1736
The Council, (James Logan, Pres
ident,)  Aug. 4, 1736— June i, 1738

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.

487

George Thomas, Deputy Gov
ernor,  June I, 1738— May — , 1746
Richard Penn and Thomas Penn,
Proprietaries,  1746 — 1771
George Thomas, Deputy Gov
ernor,  May — , 1746 — May 29, 1747
The Council, (Anthony Palmer,
President,)  May 29, 1747 — Nov. 23, 1748
James Hamilton, Deputy Gov
ernor, ...  Nov. 23, 1748 — Oct. 3, 1754
Robert Hunter Morris, Deputy
Governor  Oct. 3, 1754— Aug. 25, 1756
William Denny, Deputy Gov
ernor  Aug. 25, 1756— Nov. 17, 1759
James Hamilton, Deputy Gov
ernor,  Nov. 17, 1759 — Oct. 31, 1763
John Penn, (son of Richard
Penn,) Deputy Governor, . . Oct. 31,1763 — May 4, 17711
Thomas Penn and John Penn, (son
of Richard,) Proprietaries, .... 1771 — 1776
The Council, (James Hamilton,
President,)  May 4, 1771 — Oct. 16, 1771
Richard Penn, (son of Richard
Penn,) Lieutenant Governor, . Oct. 16, 1771— July 19, 1773
The Council, (James Hamilton,
President,)  July 19, 1773— Aug. 30, 1773
John Penn, Governor  Aug. 30, 1773— Sept. 28, 1776
August 30, 1773, John Penn, who was confirmed Lieutenant Governor
by the King, June 30, was awarded the title of Governor by the
Provincial Council.

PRESIDENTS OF TH'E SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
Thomas Wharton, Jr  "... Mar. 5, 1777— May 23, 1778
George Bryan, V. P., acting President,
after Wharton's decease,  May 23, 1778— Dec. i, 1778
Joseph Reed,  Dec. i, 1778— Oct. 8, 1781

488 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX.
William Moore,  Nov. 14, 1781— Oct. 8, 1782
John Dickinson  Nov. 7, 1782— Oct. 18, 1785
Benjamin Franklin,  Oct. 18, 1785 -Oct. 14, 1788
Thomas MifBin,  Nov. 5, 1788 — Dec. 20 1790
Vice-Presidents.
George Bryan (resigned)  March 5, 1777— Oct. 11, 1779
Matthew Smith (resigned)  Oct. 11, 1779— Nov. 15, 1779
Vifilliam Moore,  Nov. 15, 1779— Nov. 14, 1781
James Potter,  Nov. 15, 1781— Nov. 7, 1782
James Ewing  Nov. 7, 1782— Nov. 6, 1784
James Irvine (resigned),  Nov. 6, 1784— Oct. 10, 1785
Charles Biddle, . ;  Oct. to, 1785— Oct. 31,1787
Peter Muhlenberg (resigned), .... Oct. 31, 1787 — Oct. 14, 1788
David Redick,  Oct. 14, 1788— Nov. 5, 1788
George Ross,  Nov. 5 1788— Dec. 21, 1790

WILLIAM PENN'S CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN.

BY HIS FIRST WIFE, GUI,IEI,MA MARIA SPRINGETT.
Born. Died.
Gulielma Maria  Jan. 23, 1672-3 — March 17, 1672
William . .  Feb. 28, 1673-4 — May 15, 1674
Mary Margaret (twin) . . . Feb. 28, 1673-4 — Feb. 24, 1674-5
Springett  Jan. 25, 1675 — April 10, 1696
Letitia  March 6, 1678 — April — , 1746
William, Jr  March 14, 1680 — June 23, 1720
Gulielma Maria  Nov. 17, 1685 — Nov. 20, 1689

BY HIS SECOND WIFE, HANNAH CAI.I,OWHIl,I,.
Born. Died.
John  Jan. 29, 1699-1700— Oct. 25, 1746
Thomas  March 9, 1701-2 — March 21, 1775
Hannah Margarita  July 30, 1703 —Feb. 5, 1707-8
Margaret  Nov. 7, 1704 — Feb. — , 1750-1
Richard  Jan. 17, 1705-6 —Feb. 4, 1771
Dennis  Feb. 26, 1706-7 —Jan. 6, 1722-3
Hannah  Sep. 5, 1708 —Jan. 24, 1708-9

CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 489
WILLIAM PENN'S GRANDCHILDREN.

CHILDREN OF HIS SON WII,I,IAM. Bom.
Gulielma MEiria  Nov. 10, 1699
Springett  Feb. 10, 1700-1
William Penn, 3d  March 21, 1703
CHILDREN OF HIS SON THOMAS, WHO MARRIED LADY
JULIANA FERMOR. Bom.
William  June 21, 1752
Juliana  May 19, 1753
Thomas  July 17. i754
William  July 22, 1756
Louisa Hannah (twin)  July 22, 1756
John  Feb. 23, 1760
Granville  Dec. 9, 1761
Sophia Margaretta  Dec. 25 (? 21), 1764
CHILDREN OF HIS DAUGHTER MARGARET, WHO WAS MARRIED TO
THOMAS FREAME.
Thomas. Margaret.CHILDREN OF HIS SON RICHARD, WHO MARRIED HANNAH LARDNER.
John, born July 14, 1729, Governor from 1763-1771, and from 1773-1776.
Hanuah.Richard, Governor from 1771-1773.
William.

INDEX..

The references in every paragraph are to the first volume, unless
the heavy-faced figure 2 is used. When this occurs, all subsequent
references in that paragraph are to the second volume. A few
references in a ( ) are to a different volume from those on either side
of them. Allen, William, Lieutenant-Col
onel, 2, 32
Allen, Chief Justice, his salary, 2,
108; his land speculations, 2,
141-144
Allen, Fort, 2, 5
AUigewi, conquest of, 13
Alricks, Jacob, governor of the
Colony of the City, 58, 59; diffi
culties, 61; colony does not pros
per, 6i; fall-fever, 61; death of
his wife, 61; desertions from the
colony, 61; his unpopularity,
62; death, 62
Alricks, Peter. 5iff Duke of York.
Altona, former name of Fort Chris
tina, 60; seat of the government
of the Colony of the Company,
60
Alva, Duke of, his rule in Ant
werp, 35
America, once supposed to be a
narrow land, 31; object of early
voyages to, 32
Amherst, 351
Amsterdam, and the Dutch West
India Company, 58; strengthens
its colony, 59; its offers to colo
nists, 59; tries to sell its colony
to the West India Company, 62;

Abercrombie, General, 351
Abercrombie, Lieutenant-Colonel,
536
Adams, Samuel, on taxation, 415;
impatient about the action of
Pa., 430
Act. 5^1? Affirmations.
Active, capture of, 2, 206-208
Acrelius, on beer, '2, 241
Aetna, fire vessel, attacks the Roe
buck, 438
Affirmations, swept away, 257;
judges refuse to sit, 257; justice
is suspended, 257; how the right
to affirm was gained, 257, 258
Agents for the Province. See
Paris and Franklin.
Aix-la-Chapelle, peace made at,
292; neither party is satisfied,
292, 293
Albany, deed given by Indian
chiefs at, 2, 2
Alison's school, 2, 431
Allegheny River, description of, 7
AUeghenies, form the western
boundary, 4; crossing of, by the
Indians, 13
Allen, John, member of committee
of inspection, 2, 32

(49O

492

INDEX.

sends unfit colonists, 63; buys
out the West India Company's
interest, 63. See Dutch West
India Company.
Amsterdam Chamber, 37
Amyrault, of Saumur, instructs
Penn, 86
Andastes, description of, 14; where
they settled, 15
Andrews, Jedediah, 2, 363
Andros, Major Edmund, orders a
book of laws to be made, 74;
based on what, 75; requires new
deeds to lands, 75; rents, 75.
See Duke of York.
Anne, Queen, her proclamation on
coinage, 245; death of, 210
Appalachian chain of mountains,
description, 7, 8; separates what
waters, 8; nature of the struc
ture, 8, 9; fossils in, 9; age of, 9
Apprentice, how he learned his
trade, 2, 173; regulation of, 173;
174. See Labor.
Arbitration, 180; 2, 261, 355
Archer, 563
Architecture, advance in, 2, 472;
houses on the frontier, 472;.
Penn's house in Philadelphia,
472, 473; at Pennsbury, (1, 166);
churches, 473-476; old Swedes
church, 473, 474; Baptist church,
474; Church of England, 474;
Lutheran church,- 475; state-
house, 475-477; Carpenters'
Hall, 477; Stenton, 478; Judge
Chew's house, 478, 479; German
country houses and barns, 479
Arlington, Secretary of State, Penn
waits on, 92
Armand's Legion, 472
Armstrong, John, an Indian trader,
is murdered, 279
Armstrong, Colonel John, his In
dian expedition, 342; is chosen

brigadier, 515; at Brandywine,
524; at Germantown, 527
Army, revolutionary, pay of, 436;
soldiers raised, 436; enlistments,
436, 437; associators drill, 440,
469; demands of, 446; flying-
camp formed, 447-450; bounties,
449; complaints of associators,
452; formation of a battalion,
469 and note; minute men, 470;
number enrolled, 470; regiments
of the line formed, 471; uni
forms, 473; terms of enlistment,
474; difficulty in getting military
supplies, 475; powder, 476; lead,
476; demands on Philadelphia
for ammunition, 477; Ticonder
oga taken, 479; invasion of Can
ada, 479; battle of Long Island,
494-507; capture of Fort Wash
ington, 505-507; fighting at
White Plains, 506; Washing
ton's retreat through New Jer
sey, 507; battle of Trenton, 509-
512; battle of Princeton, 512-
513; militia reorganized, 515;
Washington's plan of opera
tions, 516; Howe's attack on
Philadelphia, 508, 516-518; battle
of Brandywiue, 517-524; Phila
delphia taken, 526; battle of
Germantown, 526-529; cause of
failure, 529; defence of the Dela
ware, 529-530; Howe in Phila
delphia, 531-537; battle of the
Kegs, 533; Howe's attempt to
attack Washington, 535; Valley
Forge, 537-545; why did Howp
not attack him, 542; sufferings
of soldiers, 542-545; taxation,
544; Howe attempts to attack
Lafayette, 545-547; Howe eva
cuates Philadelphia, 547-548;
American army in possession,
548; battle of Monmouth, 554-

INDEX.

493

557; military movements after
ward, 557-559; Stony Point, 559;
dwindling ofthe army, 564, 565;
revolt of Pa. Line, 565-569; Gen
eral Greene sent South, 569;
Yorktown, 570-575; soldiers fur-
loughed, 578; how paid, 578;
number of, during the war, 579
Arnold, General, his fight on Lake
Champlain, 493; in Philadel
phia, 548-552. See Canada.
Arran, Lord, a friend of William
Penn, 87
Art, 480-483
Asbury, Francis, 2, 391, 422
Assembly, original number, 106,
131; increased to thirty-six, 297;
time of assembling, 298; mem
bers often served many terms,
298; election of speaker, 299;
waiting on the governor, 299; he
sent his messages, 299; mode of
voting, 299; decided disputed
election, 299; absent members,
300; fines, 300; pay, 300; their
dress, 300; debate between
friendsand enemies of independ
ence, 453; election of members
of, 45?; unwilling to adopt ex
treme measures, 453-454; defeat
of Whig party, 454; what Whigs
aud Tories wanted, 455; appoints
delegates to Continental Con
gress, 458; resolves to arm, 433;
Philadelphia applies for an ap
propriation for defence, 433 ; end
of old Assembly, 465; appoints
delegates to the Continental
Congress, 422; the governor did
not control its proceedings, 423;
delegates report, 427; delegates
appointed to next Continental
Congress, 427; action of, 432-
435; election of members under
the new Constitution, 466; it

meets, 467; convenes at Lancas
ter, 533; its measures, 533; legis
lation, 2, 32, 33; election of
members to, 34; authorizes
United States to sue in the State
courts, 36; issues paper money,
36; continues its sessions at
Lancaster, 42, 43; law for abol
ishing slavery, 43, 44; Moore's
conflict with, 77; treaty with
Great Britain, 77, 86; repeal of
test oath, 90-93; election law of
1785, 95; removal of capital, 96;
passing of resolution for calling
a convention to adopt the federal
constitution, 98, 99; convention
meets, 99; constitution ratified,
99, 100; system of accounting
adopted, 100; indebtedness of
the state, loi; funding law, loi;
approved, 102; speculation in
the public debt, 102-104. See
Penn, Evans, Keith and other
governors, and Supreme -Execu
tive Council, Wharton, Reed,
and other presidents.
Association, spread of spirit of, 2,
109
Atlee, chosen colonel, 445, 446; at
Morristown, 494; at Long Island,
496-502
Atlee, William A., appointed Jus
tice, 2, 31
Atkins, his almanac, 2, 439
Augsburg Confession permitted in
the Swedish colony, 48
Aughwick Creek, 342, 365
Augusta, Fort, 312, 341, 364; 2,
10, II B
Back Log Mountain, description
of, 6
Bailey, Dr. Thomas, fellow of
Magdalen College, 224, 225

494

INDEX.

Balch, Stephen B., 2, 417
Baltimore, use of paper money to
draw trade to, 2, 41
Baltimore, Lord, watches Penn's
enterprise, 137; Penn visits him,
129; on the boundary dispute, 2,
48. See Penn.
Baltimore, Lady, attends a Quaker
meeting, 169
Bandole, Abbe, 2, 421
Bancroft, on illicit trade, 401
Bank of Pennsylvania, 2, 223
Bank of North America, how estab
lished, 220; its specie, 221; its
aid to borrowers, 220, 221; con
tributes to fit out a privateer, 2,
203; relieves the government,
221, 222; and the state, 222; its
shareholders, 221; attempt to
start another bank, 222, 223; its
supply of notes deemed inade
quate, 223, 224; its services ig
nored, 226; charges against, 226;
sudden contraction, 227; corpor
ations unpopular, 228; effect of
the attack, 228; charter repealed,
22^; its course afterward, 229,
230
Barbary States, 2, 360
Barentsen, his voyages, 32
Barclay, on hat-lifting, 89
Barneveld, his opposition to the
formation of the West India
Company, 36
Barney, exploit, 2, 203-205
Barony of Nazareth, 181
Barton, Dr., 470
Bartram, John, 465-467; his trav
els, 465, 467; Peter Kalm's re
marks on, 467
Bathurst, Lawrence, his courtship
and marriage, 2, 311
Battles. See respective names of.
Bayard, John, 2, 74
Beaujen, M. de, commands French

and Indians against Braddock,
319
Beaver, King, 311
Becker, Peter, 2, 365
Beeker, John, 551
Beekman, succeeds Jacquet, 63;
complains to Stuyvesant of
D'Hinojossa, 63. See Manufac
tures.
Beer, manufacture of, 2, 194, 195,
239-242; sale of English, during
the Revolution, 210. See Man
ufactures.
Beissel's poetry, 2, 443
Benezet, Anthony, 2, 388; on
slavery, 447, 448
Berkeley, Lord, grant of New Jer
sey to, by James I., 105; agrees
to sell, 105
Berks County, creation of, in 1752,
2, 126
Biddle, Charles, 2, 82; his election
as member of the Supreine Ex
ecutive Council, 82
Biddle, Edward, a delegate to the
Colonial Congress, 422
Bidlack, Captain, 2, 17
Bienville, Celorin de, 291
Bigamy, regulation of, 165
Bigot, M., 294
Billop, Christopher, succeeds Col
lier, 75
Bills of credit, amount issued, 397
Bingham, court-martialed, 2, 65
Bird Grip, 43
Bishop, Braddock's body-servant,
given to Washington, 325
Bitting, Colonel, 2, 74
Blair's school, 2, 431
Blackwell, John, appointed dep
uty, 152; who he was, 152; his
instructions, 152, 154; arrests the
Speaker, 152; members oppose
Blackwell, 152; also the council,
153; is recalled, 154. See Penn.

INDEX.

495

Blanchard, Captain, i8.
Block, Adrien, sails for Sandy
Hook, 34; forms another com
pany, 34, 35
Blommaert, sends an agent to
purchase land, 39; forms a com
pany, 39
Bloody Rock, 2, 17
Blue Anchor tavern, the first built,
136
Boardman, 2, 391
Bohea, Bobby, 2, 457
Bogardt, Jost van, governor of
West India Company, 48
Bombay Hook, 67
Bond, Dr. Thomas, 2, 470
Book-selling, 2, 255
Boston, fate of tea-ship to, 419;
port bill, 421
Bouquet, Colonel Henry. See
Denny.
Boulter, Archbishop, on Scotch-
Irish emigration, 2, 130
Boundaries of Province, i; the
French claim, 166
Bowman's Creek, 2, 15
Boynton, 4 tax assessor, 362
Bradford, William, 2, 254
Bradford, on the criminal law of
Pa., 255, 256
Braddock, Major-General. See
Governor Morris.
Braddock's Expedition. .S?^ Gov
ernor Morris, Franklin.
Brandenburg, Elector of, his treat
ment of Penn, 107
Brandywine, how it flows, 4;
Keith settles difficulties with
Indians on, 239; battle of, 517-
524
Brant, at the head of Six Nations,
2,24
Brest, French fleet assembles in
harbor of, 306
Breton, Cape, restored, 29a

Brissot, his remarks on immigra
tion, 2, 166; on farming, 166-
169; on German farmers, 166.
See Society.
Bristol Factor, a vessel carrying
first colonists, 113
Brodhead, Colonel, is sent to Port
Pitt, 2, II; goes up the Sus
quehanna, 21, 22; lays waiste
the country along the Alle
gheny, 25
Broglie, Prince de, 2, 338
Bryan, George, elected Vice-Presi
dent, 467; he succeeds Wharton
as acting President of thq Su
preme Executive Council, 2, 43,
44; an Irishman, 43; opposed
to slavery, 43; as boundary com
missioner, 53
Bryant, Prince, 2, 285
Buckingham, Duke of, Penn waits
on, 91. See Penn.
Bucks County, creation of, in 1682,
123
Budd, on creating a land bank, 2,
193
Bullet, Captain, at the battle of
Grant's Hill, 352
Burd, Major, 496
Burgess, his sermons, 2, 445
Burton, at Braddock's defeat, 321
Butler, Colonel John, 2, 15, 18;
a descendant of the Duke of
Ormond, 19; commanded the
British Tories against Sullivan,
23
Butler, John, establishes a stage
line, 2, 284
Butler, Colonel Richard, at Mon
mouth, 555; at Stony Point, 559;
on the revolt of Pa. Line, 567;
at Yorktown, 570, 573; in the
South, 570-576; in Sullivan's
expedition, 2, 22
Butler, Zebulon, 2, 7, 15

INDEX.

496
Byllinge, Edward, sells New Jer
sey to Penn, 106
Byrne, Lawrence, 2, 247 note.
C
Cadwalader, Captain John, drills
associators, 469; at Fort Wash
ington, 506; at Trenton, 510,
512; is promoted, 514, 515; at
Monmouth, 554; his attack on
Dickinson, 2, 85, 86
Calcien, Arents, 2, 122
Calendar, is reformed, 300; mean
ing of old and new style, 300,
301
Camden, battle of, 575
Cammerhoff, 2, 374-377
Campanius, 2, 473. See Holm.
Campen, John van; 2, .5
Canada, invasion of, 479; Quebec
act of 1774, 479; Arnold's march
through Maine, 480; attack on
Quehec, 489; reinforcements
sent, 490; Arnold asks to be
relieved, 491; battle of Three
Rivers, 492; retreat, 492-494
Canal from Susquehanna to the
Schuylkill proposed, 2, 198.
See Trade.
Canning, on colonial taxation, 402
Canon, James, 463
Cantwell, Edward, takes posses
sion of the fort at New Castle, 74
Carbery, signs an order for Penn's
arrest, 93
Carlisle, Abraham, 552
Carrickfergus, William Penn's
conduct at the riot of, 87
Carroll, Archbishop, 2, 390
Carpenters' Hall, 424; 2, 476
Carteret, Sir George, grant to, by
James I.. 105
Casimir, Fort, is built, 51, 52;
taken by the Swedes, 52; sup
plied with men, 56; is taken by
the Dutch, 56; is decaying,, 61

Casimir, John, Palatine of the
Rhine, his marriage, 42
Catawba Indians, 310
Cayugas, 16
Celorin-de-Bienville, 291
Centurion, Braddock's ship, 305
Chalfont, home of Gulielma
Springett, 105
Chamberlain, land-bank scheme,
2,193
Chambers, James, chosen colonel,
471; at the battle of Long Island,
501
Chapman, John, how the Indians
cared for his family, 139
Chapman, Major, 314
Charles II. See Duke of York.
Chartier, Peter,a French spy,seeks
the Shawanese in the war with
the Six Nations, 280
Chartrand, General, 552
Chester, Assembly meets at, 127
Chester County, created in 1682,
123; authority of justices, 177
Chester Valley, description of, 4
Cherokees, 310
Cheyney, 521
ChigweU. See Penn.
Christ Church, in the Revolution,
2, 411. See Penn.
Christina, Queen, 44; her offer of
friendship, 54
Christina, Fort, built, 51; captured
by the Dutch, 56; a dividing line
between what companies, 58;
name changed to Altona, 60
Church, Major, 566
Churches. See Architecture.
City tavern, ball at, to Mrs. Wash
ington, 2, 46
City Troop, at Princeton, 512, 513
Clair, Sir John St., 314, 316, 318.
See General Arthur St. Clair.
Clarendon, Lord, on wearing a
hat, 89

INDEX.

497

Clark, General, in command of
English prisoners, 2, 89
Clark, Gen. Rogers, commander
of westem expedition, 2, 26
Claypoole, James, appointed a
commissioner, 151
Claypoole, D. C, 2, 255
Climate, change in, 2, 289; dimu-
nition of the streams, 289;
drought, 290; earthquakes, 290;
snow, 291; winters, 291; who
lived the longest, 292; diseases,
phthisis, 292; sore throat, 293;
influenza, 293; fever and ague,
293; pleurisy and pneumonia,
293; small-pox, 293; yellow
fever, 293; rattle-snake bites,
293; nervous fevers, 293 note;
witches and witchcraft, 294-296;
physicians, 296; country doctors,
296; quackery, 297-299; home
practice, 298; remedies, 298;
powowing (1, 17, 18), 299; found
ing of Pennsylvania Hospital,
299; longevity, 300
Clinton, General Jarfles, 2, 23
Clothing, skins used for, 2, 257
Clowe, 2, 422
Colden, Governor, 406
Coldstream Guards, 304, 323
Coleman, Henry, chief follower of
Long Finne, 71
Collier, John, 74; superseded, 75
Colonial agents, Grenville con
venes them, 403
Colony of the City. See Dutch
West India Company.
Colony of the Company. 5!?^
Dutch West India Company.
Colve. See Duke of York.
Coombs, Thomas, arrest of, 2, 402;
action in behalf of, by White
and Cadwalader, 402
Commissioners, names of, to gov
ern the Province, 151 note
32

Committee of correspondence
formed, 422; recommends the
appointment of deputies to a
general conference, 422; its
action is revolutionary, 422;
duties of, 429; enforce non
importation agreement, 430;
superseded by the committee of
safety, 434
Committee of safety, Franklin
president, 434; conduct criti
cised, 439; work of comraittee
of inspection, 441-445; applies
for authority to raise men, 445;
has Declaration of Independ
ence read, 459
Committee of inspection, takes
down the King's arms, 459. See
Committee of safety.
Concord, fight at, 431
Conestoga, Shekellimy stationed
there, 17. See James Hamilton.
Conference, provincial, how held,
422; recommends a Colonial
Congress, 422; issues an address,
422; provincial conference, 428;
decides to hold an election, 456;
its action concerning independ
ence, 456 ; its courage, 457. See
Constitutional Convention.
Confiscation. See Supreme Ex
ecutive Council.
Congress. See Continental Con
gress.
Conn, arrest of, 441
Connecticut. See Wyoming Val
ley.
Connecticut River, emigrants
taken to, 37
Constitutional convention, move
ment for, grows, 458; Franklin
chosen president, 460; descrip
tion of him, 460; power it as
sumed, 450, 451, 461; nature of
the new constitution, 462; op-

498

INDEX.

position to it, 462-465. See Pro
vincial conference, Assembly.
Continental Congress, called, 421,
422; assembles, 424; its action,
424; recommends another, 426;
assembles again, 435; Washing
ton elected commander-in-chief,
435; recommends raising com
panies, 436; fixes pay of soldiers,
436; establishes a continental
marine, 439, 440; recommends
states to adopt new constitutions,
455
Contrecceur, French commander
at Fort Du-Quesne, 319
Convention, State war vessel, 440
Conway, General, at Germantown,
527, 528
Cooper, Dr., 2, 417
Coral reefs, iu middle Pennsylva
nia, 9
Cork, Penn holds a meeting in
the prison-yard, 97. See Penn.
Cornbury, Lord, reprimands
Evans, 193
CornwaUis, General, at Brandy
wine, 521. See Military move
ments.
Corporations, hostility to, 2, 228
Corps of Ottendorff, 472, 473
Council of safety, organized, 461;
supersedes committee of safety,
459; closes schools in Phila.,
509; its end, 533
Counties, creation of, 297; divided
into election districts, 298. See
Lower Counties.
Courts. See Penn, Evans, Keith,
Supreme Executive Council.
Courtship and marriage among
Indians, 19, 20. See Society.
Craig, Colonel, 573. 576
Craighead, John, 2, 416
Crawford, Colonel William, 2, 27
Cresop, Colonel ThomaS, 2, 49;

his raid into York County, 2,
132
Criminal law, overthrown,' 255;
Bradford's remarks on, 255; laws
disallowed, 256; re-enacted, 256;
non-execution of criminal laws
while affirmation act did not
exist, 257; during Keith's time
trials were resumed, 257; system
of criminal law then sacrificed
to secure an affirmation law,
257, 258; new system was severe,
258; when repealed, 259. See
Evans, Penn, McKean.
CromweU, death of, 82; conse
quences, 82. See Penn.
Cromwell, Richard, 82
Culpepper, Lord, Penn's letter to,
130
Cumberland Valley, description
of, 6
Cumberland, Fort, 2, 52
Cumberland County, creation of,
in 1750, 2, 130
Cunningham, Provost - Marshal,
501
Cunningham, Robert, 483
Cutler, Manasseh, 2, 96
D
D'Hinojossa, succeeds Alricks, 62;
difficulties, 62, 63; succeeds no
better, 63
Dartmouth, Lord, blames Gov.
Penn, 418
De Chastellux, Marquis, 2, 339
De Courcy, 2, 389
De La Rochefocault - Liancourt,
Duke, opinion of the people, 2,
341; ofthe women, 342
De Ligneris, Captain, at Fort Du
Quesne, 320; at Grant's HiU,
354, 355
De Schweinitz, describes Zeisber-
ger's labors, 2, 373-377

INDEX.

499

De Vries, Captain, appointed man
ager of patroons, 39; fate of
ships sent by, 39; settlement of
Zwaaneudal, 40; returns to Hol
land, 40; learns of destruction
of the colony, 40; returns to,
40; engages in whale-fishing and
trading, 41; goes to Virginia for
food, 41; treatment by the gov
ernor, 41; colony did not pros
per, 41; is sold to the West
India Company, 41
De Vitri, commands French and
Indians, 354.
Deal county, creation of, 1682, 123
Defoe, Daniel, on American col
onies, 401
Deiskau, Baron, French com
mander in America, 306
Delaware, discovery of, 33; de
fence of, during the Revolution,
437. 438
Delaware, Lord, I, 41
Delaware River, beauty of, 3 note;
grazing lands along, 10
Delaware Indians, description of,
15; policy toward, 165, 281; at
Kittanning, 311; conflict with,
339. 344; peace with, 371; land
sale by, 357
Delaware Indians, description of,
15; 2, 143
Delaware, State war vessel, 440
Delaware Water Gap, how formed, 2
Delftshaven, warehouse of the
West India Company, 137
Dement, William, 507
Denny, William, succeeds Morris,
350; how received, 350; his in
structions, 351; Loudoun re
called, 351; appointment of
General Forbes, 351; his force,
352; Bouquet's march, 352;
battle of Ligonier, 352, 353; Bou
quet advances, 353, 354; im

portance of victory, 354; flight
of the French, 354; Indians
desire peace, 357; Easton con
vention, 356; quarrel between
Assembly and Moore, 357-359;
taxation of the proprietary es
tate, 359-364; Denny's quarrel
with the tax assessors, 361;
signs bills for pay, 363; are dis
allowed, 363
Deputy-governors, their salaries,
231
Descartes, Ren€, 78; instructs
Princess Elizabeth, 106
Dick, Captain, 2, 9
Dickinson, John, his birth and
education, 388; contends for
retaining proprietary govern
ment, 388; the Farmer's letters,
411, 415; on taxation, 415; on
the tea question, 420, 421; as
colonel prepares to march to
New York, 446; opposed to the
new state constitution, 463; is
elected president, 2, 82; charges
against, 83; his answer, 84;
Cadwalader's attack, 85; treaty
of peace, 86; exchange of prison
ers, 87, 89; treatment of the
Hessians, 88; repeal of the test
oath, 90; Assembly unwilling to
do it, 90; election law of 17S5, 95
Dickinson, Jonathan, wrote about
the failure of justice, 196
Dinwiddie, Governor, 310
Doak, Samuel, 2, 417
Dock, Christopher, 2, 432, 433
Dod, Thaddeus, 2, 417
Doddridge on song-birds, 10
Domett, John, his poetry, 2, 442
Donaldson, John, at Princeton, 513
Donop, Count, 512
Donegal. See Paxtang boys.
Douglass, on medical practice in
the colonies, 2, 297, 298

500

INDEX.

Drake, Sir Francis, his exploits, 36
Du Coudray, M., 2, 421
Duane, James, 425
Duch^, Jacob, 2, 32, 409, 411, 415
Duke. See York, Buckingham,
etc.
Dumas, Captain, at Fort Du
Quesne, 320
Dunbar's Camp, 318, 324, 326
Dunlap, John, 2, 255
Dunkers, they establish a printing
plant, 2, 444. See Seventh Day
Baptists.
Du-Quesne, Marquis de, early life,
294
Du-Quesne. See Thomas and later
governors.
Durkee, Fort, 2, 6
Durkee, Colonel, 2, 5
Dutch, their naming of the Schuyl-
kiU, 4
Dutch East India Company, its
powers, 32
Dutch West India Company,
creation of, 35, 36; difficulties in
forming, 36; patent granted, 36;
its stock, 36; terms of patent, 37;
trade the chief object, 37; divi
dends, 37, 38; plan of coloniza
tion, 37; site for a settlement,
37; neglects to colonize, 38; en
gages in piracy, 38; larger grants
to settlers, 38; patroons, 38; buys
Godyii and Blommaert's com
pany, 41; withdrawal of Ussel-
ing, 42; Dutch at Fort Nassau
learn of arrival of Swedes, 45;
ask Minuit for his license, 45;
so does the director-general at
Manhattan, 45; build a fort be
low the Swedish colony, 51;
Derick Schmidt governs New
Sweden, 57; succeeded by Jac
quet, 57; his instructions, 57;
Dutch sought to remove Swedes,

57; new Swedish colonists, 57;
Dutch unwilling to have them
land, 57, 58; are landed at Mar
cus Hook, 58; company did not
prosper, 58; sells a part to Col
ony of the City, 58; Alricks ap
pointed governor, 58; Jacquet's
transfer, 60
Duties. See Taxation.

Eakin, Samuel, 2, 417
Earle's Royal Regiment, 206
East India Company. See Tea.
Easton convention, 356
Eckley, John, 151
Eckerling, Israel, 2, 367
Education, Penn's ideas on, 2,425;
to be compulsory, 426; public
grammar school established, 426;
William Penn Charter School,
426; early breakdown of the
system, 426; causes of, 426;
academy established, 427; Uni
versity of Pennsylvania, 427,
428; Dr. Smith's views on, 428;
his sermons on war, 428; breach
between him and Franklin, 429;
Episcopal Church parish school,
429; Friends' views of educa
tion, 429; Fox on, 429; Swedes
had schools, 429; Presbyterians,
430; German schools, 431; efforts
of Muhlenberg, 432, 434; of
Schlatter, 432, 434; Christopher
Bock, 432; Franklin on, 433;
Saur, 434; Moravians, 435; Zin
zendorf on, 435; inadequacy of
church schools, 435; neighbor
hood schools, 436; education of
poor children, 436; voluntary
action, 436; provincial school-
house, 437; school books, 437;
pens, ink and paper, 437; Fox's
spelling education book, 438;

INDEX.

501

Dilworth's spelling-book, 438:
Atkins' almanac, 439; fiction,
440; poetry, 440-444; poetry of
Dunkers, '443; they establish 3
printing press, 444; four kinds
of prose literature described,
444; George Keith as a writer,
444; sermons, 445; John Dick
inson's Farmer's Letters, 445,
455, 456; Ben Saddis satire, 445,
446; legal literature, 446; eco
nomic works, 447; works on
slavery, 447, 448; Proud's his
tory, 448; Logan as a scholar,
449; magazine literature, 449;
Franklin's autobiography, 450;
effect of the Revolution on edu
cation, 451-454; University of
Pennsylvania during the Revo
lution, 451, 452; public schools,
452, 453, 454; public taxation
for support of the schools, 453;
effect of the Revolution on
literature, 454; Hopkinson's
Battle of the Keys, 455; Henry's
Journal, 456; Graydon's Me
moirs, 456; newspaper press,
457-459-
Elder, Colonel, 368
Elections, held annually, 297;
qualificationsof voters, 297; day
of, 298; preparations for, 298;
where held, 298; how conducted,
298; hallots, 298; election of
1788, 2, no, nature of political
addresses, no. See Evans, As
sembly.
Elector of Brandenburg, his treat
ment of Penn, 107
Elizabeth, Princess, Penn visits'
her, 106; her birth, 106; her
father and his reign, 106; in
structed by Ren6 Descartes,
106; her home, 107; her uncle
tries to marry her off, 107

Ellsworth, Oliver, 2, 208
Elsingborg, Fort, 56
Embargo, proposed by Lord Lou
doun, 340
Endeavor, ship in which Penn
returns, 143
English, Swedes feared their com
ing, 52; so did Dutch, 64; their
claim, 65; settlers from New
Haven Colony, 65; Dutch de
termine to expel them, 65; Eng
lish persist in their claims, 66;
New Englanders sail for the
Delaware, 66; stop at New
Amsterdam, 66; Stuyvesant puts
them in prison, 66, 67; claim to
the Delaware, 67; English do
appear, 67; Sir Robert Carr
sent to the Delaware, 68; New
Amstel surrenders, 68; conse
quences, 68, 69; English power
consolidated, 69; Swedes wel
come new masters, 69; their
strange transformation, 70
Engrossers, their conduct, 444
Erigas, or Eries, description of, 15
Enos, Lieutenant-Colonel, 487
Esther, Queen, 2, 17, 18
Evans, John, succeeds Hamilton,
187; who he was, 187; fails to
unite Upper and Lower Counties,
187; dispute over Assembly's
power to adjourn, 187; receives
letters from Penn about As
sembly's conduct, 188; sends it
to the Assembly, 189; Assem
bly's reply, 189; Evans' conduct
toward the Assembly, 190, 191;
sues a member, 190; the court
decides against him, 190; pro
hibition of sale of Indian slaves,
191; duty on negroes. 191; war
begun between French and
Spaniards, 191 ; Evans urges the
Assembly to enact a militia law,

502 igr; provision for the governor's
support, 191; tries to scare the
Quakers, 191; panic among the
ships, 192; Evans' attempt to
tax imports, 192; pirates come
again, 193; Evans tries to de
stroy them, 193, 194; Assembly's
action, 193; Evans' conduct with
Penn's son, 194, 195; reorgani
zation of the courts, conflict
with the Assembly, 195-198; the
people suffer from lack of, 196-
198; impeachment of Logan,
199; election of members ofthe
Assembly, 200; licenses to inn
keepers, 200; Penn displeased
with granting so many, 200;
their regulation, 200, 201; Penn's
instructions on the subject, 201
note; regulation ofthe suffrage,
201; qualifications, 2or, 202;
disinclination to vote, 202;
change of election day.
Evans, John, Jr., appointed jus
tice, 2, 31
Evans, Nathaniel, a poet, 2. 442
Evans, Oliver, 2, 237
Evertsen, conquers on the Dela
ware, 73
Ewing, James, chosen general,
449; at Trenton, 512
Ewing, John, 2, 53
Expenditures. See James Hamil
ton. F
Fabricius, fate of, 333. 473
Fairs, 2, 248, 269, 270; abolished,
270; amusements at, 331
Falkenstein, Countess Von, Penn
meets her, 107
Fall-fever, ravages of, 61
Farmer, Anthony, 223
Fast day, kept at opening of Swed
ish war, 550; and at the starting
of Braddock's expedition, 314

INDEX.

Febiger, Colonel, at Stony Point,
560-563
Fellowship, Admiral Penn's first
ship, 81
Fenwicke, John, trustee for Ed
ward Byllinge, 106
Ferries, 2, 269, 278
First purchasers. See Land.
First Pennsylvania Regiment,
battles fought by, 577
First election under the constitu
tion of 1776, 466
Fishbourne, loan-commissioner,
theft of, 265
Fisher, Colonel, 508
Fishery. See Transportation.
Five Nations, history of, 16; con
ference with, 238. See Six Na
tions.
Fletcher, Governor, government
surrendered to him, 156; requires
members of Assembly to take
oaths, 156; and upper and lower
counties to meet together, 156;
calls for men to resist France,
156; his conflicts with the As
sembly, 156-159
Fleury, Colonel, 563
Flower, Enoch, opens a school,
137
Forbes, General, 351. See Denny.
Ford, Philip, his rascalities. See
Penn.
Forest, density of early, 10; kinds
of trees, 10
Forestallers, their conduct, 444
Forrest, Captain, at Princeton, 512
Fort of Kinsale. See Penn.
Forty Fort, 2, 18
Fox, George, 362; on education,
2, 429; his spelling-book, 438;
Bishop Wescott on, 149. See
Penn.
Francis, an eminent lawyer, 388
Franklin, his early years, 272; first

INDEX.

503

appearance in public life, 272;
how Keith deludes him, 272,
273; issues Poor Richard, 273; a
peacemaker, 2S6; is chosen col
onel, 286; erects a battery, 287;
how he deals with the Quaker
members of a fire company, 287;
his attacks ou Penn, 220 (2, 116);
his remarks on Assembly's treat
ment of Keith, 253; his plan of a
colonial union, 297; his advice
to Hamilton, 302; procures
horses for Braddock, 309; sup
plies officers, 313; in charge of
northwestern frontier, 335; op
posed to the proprietaries, 350;
appointed provincial agent, 360;
his work as, 360-364; is sent
again, 405; is examined by the
privy council, 419; quiets the
Paxtang boys, 370; advocates
Revolution, 388-394; his system
for taxing the colonies, 402; is
appointed a delegate to the Con
tinental Congress, 427; is presi-
• dent of committee of safety, 434;
his opinion ofthe Germans, 136
note; as a printer, 2, 255; his
almanac, 439; his autobiogra
phy, 450; his scientific discov
eries, 463; organizes American
Philosophical Society, 462; aids
in founding Pennsylvania Hos
pital, 299; is elected president,
98; his action on the adoption
of the federal constitution, 98-
100; on funding the state debt,
101-102; speculation in it, 102-
104; improvement of the crim
inal law, 105; on progress ofthe
times, 113; his death, 115. See
Science.
Franklin, Captain, 2, 18
Frederick V. , his reign, 1 06; restor
ation of his domains, 107

Fredhaven, Penn attends a meet
ing at, 169
Free Traders' Society, Penn writes
to, describing the Indians and
country, 139
French Creek, fort built at, 249,
295
French govemment, its territorial
policy in America, 293 ; built
forts, 294
Freymouth, Parson, 2, 378
Friedsam, Father, 2, 366
Frogs, their number, ii, note.
Frontenac, Count, had incited the
Indians, 156
Frontier fort, described, 2, 169;
life within, 169, 170
Froude, on Scotch-Irish emigra
tion, 2, 128

Gage, with Braddock, 316 ; regi-
ment.= in New York under, 407 ;
Gov. Penn applies to him for
aid, 2, 5
Galisoniere, De-La-, Marquis, gov-
nor-general of Canada, 291
Galloway Joseph, as a tax asses
sor, 362 • contends for changing
proprietary government, 389 ; a
delegate to the Colonial Con
gress, 422 ; his plan of union,
424 ; withdraws as a delegate to
the Continental Congress, 427 ;
is superintendent-general to pre
serve the peace, 531 ; number of
loyalists, 532 ; his estate is con
fiscated, 2, 32
Gambling in British army, 547
Gascoyne, Colonel, 573
Garrett, Major, 2, 10
George I., succeeds Queen Anne,
211 ; displaces Keith, 229
George II., death of, 374
George III., succeeds, 374, 375

504

INDEX.

German Baptists, 433
German Battalion, 2, 22
German Catholic Church at Ger
mantown, 2, 453
Germ ans. See Immigration , Land,
Society.
Germantown, government of, 2,
267, 268
Gibbons, Lieutenant, at Stony
Point, 561-563
Gilbert, Benjamin, carried off by
the Indians, 2, 407
Gillet, effect of the Revolutionary
war on the church, 2, 418
Gill, Rodgers, 2, 360
Gist's Plantation, 324
Gloria Dei, 2, 473, 474
Gnadenhutten, 331, 332
Godfrey, Thomas, the author, 2,
232, 441
Godfrey, Thomas, inventor of the
quadrant, 2, 243, 467
Godyn sends an agent to purchase
land, 39; forms a company, 39
Golden Shark, 54
Gookin, Charles, succeeds Evans,
206; who he was, 206; his in
structions, 207; Assembly peti
tions for a redress of grievances,
206; governor insists that Pro
vince must prepare for war, 207;
conduct of the Assembly, 207;
its dislike of Logan, 208; Assem
bly impeaches him, 208; he goes
to London, 208; Penn writes to
the Assembly intimating his in
tention to sell the Province, 207,
208; Assembly now attends to
business, 209; its appropriations
for war, 209; masters of enlisted
servants to be paid, 209; har
mony between Gookin and the
Assembly, 210; regrets to hear of
the sale of the Province, 211;
his allowance, 211; becomes

peevish and insolent, 211; his
interpretation of the affirmation
act is displeasing, 212; his reason
disappears, 212; assails the char
acter of Norris and Logan, 212;
is recalled, 213; growth of legis
lative power, 213; privy council
checks the Assembly, 213; dis
approves of its bills, 213, 214;
Penn appears before it, 214
Gordon, Patrick, succeeds Keith,
259; he had been a soldier, 259;
his commission, 260; appoint
ment of agent for the Province,
261; issue of more paper-money,
262; effects of former issue, 262;
income to the Province from,
264; governor assents, 264; re
newal of issues, 264; theft from
the loan-office, 265; Gordon's
success as a governor, 266; his
death, 266
Gordon's opinion of Logan, 185
Grant, Major, fight near Ligonier,
352
Grant, Lieutenant-colonel, 499
Grant, Colonel, at Mud Island, 530
Grant, General, 546
Grasshoppers, 11 note
Graydon, Captain, enlists, 469;
on the exchange of prisoners, 2,
87 88; as an author, 456
Great Christopher, 55
Great Cove, settlement of, is de
stroyed, 331
Great Crossing Fort, 331
Great Meadows, Washington re
treats to, 296; capitulates, 296
Greaton, Father, 2, 389, 390
Greene, General, and defence of
Fort Washington, 506; at Bran
dywine, 519, 521, 522; at Ger
mantown, 527, 528; at Mon
mouth, 554; is sent south, 569,
575-588

INDEX.

505

Greens, a military company, 469
Greer, Mrs., 486
Grenville, proposes the stamp act,
394; favors the navigation acts,
399, 400, 403; his plan to tax the
colonies, 403
Grey, General, death of, 529
Griffin, 43
Griffith, Dr., 2, 415
Grouchy, Marshal, lived at North
umberland, 5
Growden, Joseph, arraigned, 153
Grubb, Peter, 2, 244
Guest, John, provincial chief jus
tice, i5i H
Half-Moon, name of Hudson's
ship, 33
Halifax, Lord, Penu writes to him
about his enterprise, 136; suc
ceeds Duke of Newcastle, 303;
town of, founded, 293
Halket, Sir Peter, 322
Hamilton, Alexander, 554
Hamilton, Andrew, an eminent
lawyer, 292; causes of prosperity
of Pa., 381; on appropriations,
385
Hamilton, Andrew, appointed
governor, 184; crown confirms
the appointment, 186; why it
was delayed, 186; difficulties in
governing Lower Counties, 186;
creation of militia, 187; death,
187
Hamilton, Andrew, organizes the
post-office, 2, 283
Hamilton, James, is appointed
deputy governor, 292; Washing
ton's expedition against the
French, 294-296; creation of
counties, 297; calendar re
formed, 300; again appointed
and succeeds Denny, 364; war

with Pontiac, 364-367; Colonel
Bouquet's expedition, 365; battle
near Turtle Creek, 366; massacre
of Conestoga Indians, 367; re
moval of Moravian Indians to
Phila., 369 ; Franklin makes
peace, 370; Indians return, 371;
Bouquet at head of a western
expedition, 371 ; peace made
with Indians, 372; Indians give
up their captives, 372; Bouquet
returns to Philadelphia, 373 ;
Moravian Indians remove to
the Susquehanna, 373 ; then to
Friedeushutten, 374; death of
George II., George III. pro
claimed king, 375; death of Con
rad Weiser, 375 ; expenses of
Province, 376-378; cost of the
French and Indian war, 378 ;
taxation, 378-380; excise tax,
379; liquors, 379; exports, 379;
poll-tax, 380.
Hamilton, John, of New York,de-
vises a post-office system, 2, 284
Hampden, 79
Hampton, Colonel, 576
Hancock, John, 435
Hand, Edward, chosen colonel,
436, 471; at Morristown, 494;
at battle of Long Island, 501,
504 ; at Princeton, 512 ; pro
moted, 514 ; at Brandywine,
524 ; in Sullivan's expedition,
2, 22
Handschuch, 2, 378
Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor, 2,
5°, 51
Hartley, Thomas, chosen colonel,
472 ; on the frontier, 2, 20-22 ;
in Sullivan's expedition, 22
Harris, John, his town, 2, 96, 97
Harris, Captain David, at Prince
ton, 513
Haslett, Colonel, 496

5o6

INDEX.

Harsnett, Samuel, founds a school
where Penn went, 8i
Haussegger, Nicholas, chosen
colonel, 472 ; covers retreat
through New Jersey, 508 ; at
Princeton, 514
Hazelwood, Commander, 529
Hazen, Moses, chosen colonel, 473
Health. See Climate.
Heckewelder, explanation of In
dians' fondness for liquor, 18 ;
their efforts to please their
wives, 23 ; were revengeful, 25 ;
honesty of, 27 ; on trading with
Indians, 2, 191
Heemskirk, his voyages, 32
Hemphill, 2, 386
Henchman, Bishop, would not
proceed against Penn, 93, 94
Hendrick, Peter, an Indian chief,
2, 2
Hendricks, Captain William, 481
Hendrickson, Captain, his explo
rations, 34
Henlopen, cape of, named after
what, 34
Henry, Fort, 2, 27
Henry, John Joseph, his journal,
482 ; his steamboat, 469
Hermans, Ephraim, 74
Herwerden, home of Princess
Elizabeth, 107
Hessians, who they were, 511 ; at
the battle of Long Island, 500,
501 ; at Trenton, 511 ; treatment
of, as prisoners, 2, 88
Highways. See Transportation.
Hoddesden, where Penn's wife
dies, 148
Hodge, Dr., on Whitefield's
preaching, 2, 384
Hollander, Peter, succeeds Minuit,
48. See Swedish West India
Company.
Holm, John Campanius, accom

panies Printz, 50 ; writes a jour
nal, 50
Hopkinson, Francis, judge in the
case of the Active, 2, 208
Hough, Dr., who he was, 223 ;
meets Penn, 225
Houston, Captain, captures the
Active, 2, 206-208
Howell, Sir Thomas, Recorder of
London, presides over the trial
of Penn and Mead, 98
Howe, General, at battle of Long
Island, 495-502 ; attack on
Phila., 508. See hxmy.
Hubley, Adam, is chosen lieuten
ant-colonel, 472
Hudson, his early voyages, 32 ;
when he left the Texel, 32 ; his
vo3'age, 33 ; discovery of Hud
son's Bay, 33 ; mutiny of his
crew, 33
Huguenots. See Immigration.
Hughes, John, agent to enforce the
stamp act, 407 ; his conduct, 407
Humphreys, Charles, a delegate
to the Colonial Congress, 422
Humphreys, Joshua, 2, 243
Humphries, James, 532
Hume, on Whitefield's preaching,
2,38s
Hunt, Isaac, 441-443
Husband, duties of an Indian, 21 ;
his efforts to please his wife,
22 ; and when sick, 23 ; liked to
see his wife well clothed, 23 ;
did not quarrel with her, 23 ;
his conduct when offended, 23,
24
Huston, Judge, on land tenancy
in Pa., 2, 147
Hutchinson, Gov. of Mass., 419

Immigration, the Dutch, 2, I19;
Swedes, 119; Friends, 119, 120;

INDEX.

507

Welsh and where they settled,
120 ; were educated, 120 ; Ger
mans, 120, 122, 124; Huguenots,
121; German emigration to New
York, 124; they come to Pa.,
124 ; Mennonites, 125 ; Moravi
ans, 126; Germans preserve their
usages, etc., 126; their patriot
ism, 127; Scotch-Irish, 128;
causes for emigrating, 128-130;
where they settled, 130; their
title to the land, 131; union of
the Germans with tbe Friends
politically, 132, 137, 138; in reli
gion, 132; break between the
Scotch-Irish and the Germans,
132; Scotch-Iri.sh in Cumberland
Valley, 133 ; Germans follow,
133; migratory propensity of
Scotch-Irish; 134; naturalization,
134; difficulties, 134, 135; alarm
on rapid increase of immigrants,
136 ; importation of vagabonds
and felons, 137; Penn intended
the Province for all, 137.
Indians, their early home, 13, 16 ;
where they were most numer
ous, 16; early controversies with,
17; early purchase of lands, 17;
when forbidden, 17; their si
lence, 10; their noiseless means
of killing animals, 10; were re
vengeful, 25; amusements, 25;
concealed their resentments, 26;
their suffering from scanty food,
26; honesty of, 27; their disre
gard for wealth, 27; government,
28; their memories and records,
28; degeneracy of, 29; redress of
their wrongs by the Duke of
York, 17; courtship and marri
age among, 19, 20; duration of,
21; duties of husband, 21; of
wife, 22; not hard, 22; ownership
among, 23; regard for the aged.

24; French alliance with during
the Revolution, 2, i; disturban
ces, 2; the frontier a battle
ground, 26; Sandusky expedi
tion, 26; destruction of Gnaden
hutten, 27. See Wyoming Val
ley, Trade, Liquors.
Inn-keepers. See Evans, Manu
factures.
Instructions to governors. See
Blackwell and other governors.
Iroquois, submission of other
tribes to, 14; their hunting-
ground, 15; their superiority, 16;
their principal council-fire, 16;
government, 16; control of other
tribes, 16
Irvine, Colonel, 471 ; is captured,
492 ; promoted, 515 ; at Stony
Point, 559, 564
Inventions. See Science.

Jacobs, Captain, 311, 342, 343
Jacobson, Marcus. See Long
Finne.
Jacquet, John Paul, a native of
Nuremberg, appointed Dutch
governor on the Delaware, 57,
60,2.484. 5f^ Dutch West India
Compauy
Jack, Captain, his exploits, 312
Jails, 181
Jansen, 2, 254
Jasper, Sarah, Admiral Penn's
wife, 80
Jay, John, supports Galloway's
plan, 425
John and Sarah, vessel carrying
first colonists, 113
Johnson, Sir John, 2, 15
Johnsou, Sir William, attends
Easton Convention, 356; matters
referred to, 357; his action on
the boundary line, 2, 51, 52

5o8
Johnston, Colonel at Stony Point.
559-563
Johnston, Lieutenant-Colonel, 490
Joncair^, General, visits the Ohio
country, 294
Jones, Sir William, revises Penn's
charter, in
Jordans, where Penn is buried,
217
Judges, salaries of, 2, 108
Judiciary. See Thomas Wharton.
Juniata Valley, description of, 6
Juniatas, description of, 15.
K
Kachlein, Lieutenant- Colonel, at
Morristown, 494; at battle of
Long Island, 496, 499
Kachlein, Peter, 2, 6
Kearsley, John, 443
Keimer, as a poet, 2, 440; as a
magazine publisher, 450; as a
printer, 255
Keith, George, master of a public
school, 137; his controversy
with the Friends, 2, 357-359; as
a religious writer, 444
Keith, director-general at Man
hattan, 45; protested against the
English going to the Delaw^e.
65
Keith, Sir William, succeeds"
Gookin, 216; who he was, 229,
230; a Jacobite, 230; his policy,
230; met assembly of Lower
Counties, 231; goes to Philadel
phia, 232; his address, 232; As
sembly's gift to him, 232; his
commission, 233; prosperity of
the Province, 233; principal
matters of legislation, 236; at
tendance of members, 236, 237;
little interest of the people in
politics, 235-237; his dislike of
the council, 237; quarrels with

INDEX.

the council, 237, 238; his treat
ment of the Indians, 238; visits
them at Conestoga, 238; settles
a difficulty with Indians on the
Brandywine, 239; trial of crim
inals, 239; conviction and re
fusal of appeal, 239; use of
affirmations, 240; is endowed
with chancery powers, 240, 241;
former history of, 240, 241; how
long they were executed, 241;
blending of equitable with legal
principles, 241; militia law en
acted, 242; need of, 242; con
duct of the French, 242, 243;
creation of paper-money, 243-
251; need of, 243; how taxes
had been paid, 244; amount and
kind of coin in circulation, 244;
regulation of its value, 245;
variation between its legahand
its market value, 246; first issue
of paper-money in Mass. and
in South Carolina, 247 ; both
issues circulated in Pa., 248; not
money enough, 248; Logan and
Norris object to issuing it, 248;
Keith answers objections, 249;
amount issued, 249; plan of
issuing, 249, 250; loan office,
249; land and plate as security
for loans, 249; mode of redeem
ing, 250; amount increased, 250;
counterfeiting, 250; Keith's at
tack on Logan, 251; trustees
write to Keith, 251; Keith re
plies, 252; sends his letter to the
Assembly, 252; David Lloyd
replies to Logan, 252; Assembly
feebly sustains him, 253; Frank
lin's remark on their conduct,
253, 254; Keith's copper mine
transaction, 254; his iron works,
244; is elected a member of the
Assembly, 254, 255; seeks to

INDEX.

509

wrest the Province, 254; system
of criminal law overthrown,
255-258; new legislation on the
subject, 258; how long it con
tinued, 258; proposes to levy a
stamp duty, 402
Kelpius, 2, 369
Kensington, Penn goes there to
live, 145.
Key of Calmar, 43.
Kidd, Captain, the frigate, 178
KiUan, William, 388
King Solomon, 55
Kingsesing, fort built at, 51
Kinsale, Fort of. See Penn.
Kittanning, expedition against,
342
Kittatinny Mountains, 2, 4
Kittochtinny Valley, 6
Knight, Dr., burning of, 2, 27
Knox, Lieutenant, at Stony Point,
561-563
Knyphausen, General, at Brandy
wine, 519
Konigsmarke. See Long Finnfe.
Kuhn, Dr. Adam, 2, 470

Labeydoyere, Colonel, 552
Lacey, General, 536; action of, at
election in 1781, 2, 73, 74
Lackawaxen River, 3
Ladislas, King of Poland, Charles
II. tries to marry his niece to,
107
Lafayette, General, at German-
town, 554; Howe's attack on,
near Philadelphia, 545, 546; at
Monmouth, 554; commands in
Virginia, 570; his appeal to wo
men for clothing for his sol
diers, 2, 253
Lafayette, Marchioness de, 2, 65
Lancaster County, creation of, in
1829, 297

Lancaster, conference of agents
and Indians there in 1744, 279
Land, area of the Province, 2, 139;
none could be bought of the
Indians, 139; title to, 139-141 ;
not much bought of the Indians
while Penn lived, 141; purchase
of, 1718, 141; walking-purchase,
141-144, the purchase of 1754,
145-155, other large purchases,
141 ; sales to first purchasers, 146;
how classified, 146; city land,
146, 147; lands rented, 147;
townships, 147; sale to Free
Traders Society, 147; sale to
the Welsh, 147, 148; sale by lot
tery, 148; mode of selling, 148,
149; application system of sale,
150; quit-rents, 150, 151; Penn's
income from sales, 152; he mort
gages the Province, 152; sales
after Penn's death, 152; title by
settlement, 152 ; delinquents,
153; sale of claims acquired by
warrant or settlement, 153; land
laws disapproved by privy coun
cU, 153 ; divesting act, 154, 155;
compensation paid, 155; Penn's
reservation for forest, 155; In
dian cultivation, 156; land first
chosen, 156; clearing, 157; plant
ing corn, 157; land selected by
the Germans, 158; Scotch-Irish
as land-clearers, 158; fencing,
159; tools, 159; seeds, 159; plant
ing, 159, 160; gardens, 160; har
vest, 160; husking-bees, 161; su
perstitions, 161; cattle, 162; an
imals tamed, 162; swine, 163;
horses,i63; use of bells on cattle
and horses, 163, 164; uses made
of trees, brush, etc., 164; juice of
the maple, 165; industry of Ger
mans, 165; women as tailors, 165;
drinks, 165; whiskey, 165; wine-

5IO

INDEX.

making, 165; cultivation of the
grape, 242; Germans are a large
part of farming population, 166;
aspect of partly cleared country,
170; effects of the Revolution
on farming, 182-184; farmers
bought more than before, 184;
rushed into mercantile pursuits,
184 ; became extravagant, 185;
their private credit was de
stroyed, 186; their later con
dition, 186 See Trade.
Land-bank, 2, 193
Latta, James, 2, 417
Lay, Thomas, 2, 179
Le Gerard, 2, 207
Lee, General Charles, 435; after
crossing the Hudson, 506; at
Monmouth, 554-5S7; on Wayne's
victory at Stony Point, 564; is
furious about his breeches, 2,
335
Lee, General Henry, 564; at Green
Spring, 571, 572
Legislature. See Assembly.
Lehigh River, 3
Lehigh Valley, description, of, 3;
Indians living in, 14
Lenapi, where they met the
Mengwe, 13; branches of, 13
Lesley, 9
Lewis, Major, at the battle of
Grant's Hill, 352
Lexington, battle of, 431
License, to solicit charity, 2, 383.
See Evans, Manufactures.
Liquor, sale of, to Indians forbid
den, 17, 19, note; their fondness
for it, 18; use of it by white men
in Indian trading, 18; effects of
on Indians, 18, 19; Dutch regu
lations concerning sale to In
dians, 57. See Society, 309, 310.
Liquor drinking. See Beer,
Evans, Manufactures.

Literature. See Education.
Little Meadows, 315
Lloyd, David, is arrested, 152; his
opposition to the government,
163; acts in an admiralty case,
178; prepares an address for the
Assembly, 187; Penn resolves to
prosecute him, 189; his popu
larity, 195; Logan's opinion of
him, 195, 196; replies to Logan;
his retirement and death, 272
Lloyd, Thomas, is made president
of the provincial council, 143;
recommends the appointment
of a single deputy, 152; is
charged with high crimes, 153;
is appointed president of another
commission, 154; is continued
at the head after the restoration,
159; he governed during Flet
cher's absence, 159; his death,
159
Loan-office, how it had been man
aged, 396. See Keith, Trade.
Local government, division of
country into towns and parishes,
2, 260,261; constables, 260; over
seers, 260, 261, 267; churches,
clergy, 261; arbitration, 261;
county courts, 261; creation
of counties, 261; expenditures
of, 262, 263; county tax of 1696,
263; state tax of 1693, 264;
officers of counties, 264; how
chosen, 264; development of
county organization, 265; care
of the poor, 265-267; boroughs,
267; Germantown, 267; other
boroughs, 268; charter of Bristol,
268; ferries, 269; markets, 269;
fairs, 269; Philadelphia, 270-
275; incorporation of Reading,
York and Carlisle, 274.
Lochry, Colonel, 2, 27
Locke, John, at Oxford, 84; Penn's

INDEX.

511

relations with, 84; Penn pro
cures his release, 145; his plan
of govemment, 84
Locusts, II
Loe, Thomas, Penn first hears him
at Oxford, 84; again in Ireland,
88; in company with him, 91.
See Penn.
Logan, James, attains a high posi
tion, 184; entrusted with Penn's
business, 184, 185; writes to Penn
aboutLloyd, 188; the courts, 196;
people's regard for Penn, 168;
effect of disallowing affirma
tions, 196; Assembly tries to im
peach him, 199; objects to issu
ing paper-money, 248; governs
the Province, 267; changes in,
during sixty years, 267; last
change in the constitution, 268;
antagonism of the people to the
Proprietary, 268; as a scholar, 2,
449; aud scientific experimenter,
469; is alarmed over immigra
tion, 131, 136; his death, and es
timate of, 1, 301, 302. See As
sembly, Evans, Keith, and other
governors.
Logan, an Indian chief, 2, 258
Long, Benjamin, on slavery, 2, 448
Long Finnfi heads an insurrection,
70, 71; arrest and trial, 71, 72
Loskiel, his designation of Shikel-
limy, 17
Lottery, 287; for land, 2, 148
Louisbourg, siege of, 279, 280; fort
is given up, 292
Louis XIV., Penu is presented to,
8S
Loudoun, Lord, proposes an em
bargo, 340
Lower Counties, government by
deputy unpopular, 155; Lloyd
presides over commission, i,S5;
Markham lieutenant-governor.

155; Penn fears consequences of
separation, 155; and that the
government will be taken away,
155; Fletcherrequires Upper and
Lower Counties to meet togeth
er, 156; Assembly meets at New
Castle, 164; difficulty in govern
ing Lower Counties, 164; their
jealousy, 164; division of expen
ditures, 164; how laws must be
enacted to affect them, 164, 165;
permitted to dissolve the union,
171; difficulty in governing, 186;
separation, 186, 187; Evans fails
to unite them, 187; Keith meets
Assembly of, 231; Morris goes to,
303. See Assembly, Penn.
Loxley, Benjamin, 2, 246
Lutz, Lieutenant-Colonel, at Mor
ristown, 494
Luxury, 2, 215. See Trade, Soci
ety.
Luzerne, Countess de, 2, 65
Lyttleton, Fort, 341
M
Macaulay's attacks on Penn, 222
Mack, 331, 332; in the Wyoming
VaUey, 2, 2
Mackey, Aeneas, chosen colonel,
472
Magdalen College, defense of Penn
against Macaulay's attacks, 222-
226
Magaw, Colonel, 471; at battle of
Long Island, 503, 504; at Fort
Washington, 505-507
Mahanoy, destruction of, 331
Mann, Abraham, is unseated, 127,
128
Manufactures, first grain mill, 2,
236; improvements iu milling,
237; regulation of exports, 238;
saw-mills, 238, 239; brewing,
194, 195, 239, 242; penalty for

513

INDEX.

drunkenness, 239; health-drink
ing, 239; tavern licenses, 239;
{See Evans) price of beer, 239;
ardent spirits, 240; duty on
hops, 240; duty on rum, 240;
excise, 241; regulation of sales
of liquors, 241; Rush temper
ance movement, 241, 242; culti
vation of the grape, 242; ship
building, 243, 244; invention of
the quadrant, 243; iron manu
factured, 244-247; first rolling
mill, 245; Pine Grove furnace,
245; cannon making, 246, 247;
gun-locks, 247; muskets, 247;
textiles, 247; fairs, 248; prices of
cloths, 248; German linen and
hosiery, 248; linen used for cot
ton, 249; flax, 249; duty on hemp
and flax products, 249; British
taxation of American manufac
tures, 249, 250; non-importation
agreement, 249; British exporta
tion of machinery prohibited,
250; first cotton joint stock com
pany, 251; supply of clothing to
revolutionary soldiers, 251-253;
clothing bought in Holland,
253; felt-making, 253; printing,
254; book-selling, 255; paper
mills, 255-257; tanning, 257-
259; skins used for clothing,
257. See Society.
Manyunk, Fort, 51
Maps, most important, of Pa., i
note.
Marcus Hook, landing of the
Swedes, 58
Markham, on the boundary dis
pute with Lord Baltimore, 2,
48; governs after Lloyd's death,
159. See Penn, Fletcher.
Marriages, bills relating to, dis
allowed, 215; among Indians,
19, 20; duration of, 21

Married women, when first per
mitted to make contracts, 259.
See Society.
Marshall, Christopher, on elec
tions, 452
Mary of Modena, Queen of James
II. , as a pardon broker, 222
Mason, Captain, appointed to lead
the English to the Delaware,
67
Mason and Dixon, survey the
southern boundary, 2, 48-53
Mastricht, Doctor, of Duysburg,
Penn meets him, 107
Master's invention for cleaning
corn, 2, 468
Mathews, Colonel George, at
Germantown, 528
Mattison, Margaret, trial of, 177
Matlack, Timothy, 463
Matlack, Colonel, at Trenton, 511
Mauch Chunk, conical mountain
at, 3
Maxwell, Colonel, at Brandywine,
519; in Sullivan's expedition,
2, 22
Mead, Captain. See Penn.
Meadow Mountain, 316
Members of the Assembly, their
re-election, 462. &e.Assembly.
Mengwe, where they met the
Lenapi, 13; tribes that were sup
posed to be of this origin, 14
Mennonites, 393, 433. See Immi
gration, Religion.
Meredith, Samuel, chosen briga
dier, 515
Mey, Cornelius, sails for Sandy
Hook, 34; discovers and names
the capes of Delaware Bay, 34;
forms another company, 34, 35
McClenachan, Blair, 551; 2, 208
McDougal, General, at German-
town, 527
Mcintosh, General, 2, 21.

INDEX.

513

McKean, Thomas, his action on
the constitutional convention,
463; president of the provincial
conference, 456; appointed chief
justice, 2, 31; quarrel with Gen
eral Thompson, 92; and with
Colonel Procter, 94; attacked
for official pluralism, 93; im
proves the criminal law, 105
Mifflin, Samuel, 461; appointed
general and at the battle of
Long Island, 503, 504; replaced
as quartermaster-general by
General Greene, 558; a delegate
to the Colonial Congress, 422;
elected president of the Execu
tive Council, 2, 112; his popular
ity, 112
Miles, Colonel, at Morristown,
494; at Long Island, 496, 502
Milford Haven. See Penn.
Militia. See Evans, Keith, and
other governors, Supreme Ex
ecutive Council.
Milton, John, 78, 217
Mingo, 2, 25
Minisink, country of, 2; meaning
of, 2. See Minsi.
Minisinks, 2, 141, 143, 144
Minsi, description of, 13
Minuit, Peter, first director of the
Swedish colony, 44
Mischianza, 545, 550
Mittelberger, on ministers in Pa.,
2, 382; on the sufferings of the
redemptioners, 2, 176
Mohawks, 2, 16
Mohocks, river of, 2
Moland, John, 388
Molesworth, John, 553, note
Molyneux, Robert, 2, 420
Mompesson, Roger, 179
Monkton, Colonel, 556
Monmouth, battle of, 554
Monmouth, Duke of, 222
33

Monongahela River, description
of, 7
Montague, appointed commis
sioner of the fleet, 83
Montgomery, General, 489, 491
Montour, an Indian chief, 339
Montressor's account of the battle
of Brandywine, 524
Moor, John, Advocate of the Ad
miralty court, 161
Moore, Nicholas, chosen speaker,
127, 137; chairman of the Free
Traders' Society, 117; impeach
ment of, 149 ; appointed a com
missioner, 151
Moore, William, appointed auditor,
2, 67 ; succeeds Reed as Presi
dent, 76; taxes, 76; conflict with
the Assemby, 77 ; treaty with
Great Britain, 77, 78; condition
of the pnblic spirit, 78-81; be
stowal of offices on the highest
competitor, 80; sale of offices,
81 ; settlement of public ac
counts, 81
Moore, Judge William, quarrel be
tween him and the Assembly, 357
Moravian missionaries, 14. See
Zeisberger
Moravians, saw Indians on their
way to Wyoming Valley, 14; at
tacked by Indians, 322, 335; pre
pare for defence, 335; settle ia
Pa., 2, 126; establish a fort and
express, 284. See Religion.
Morgan's rifle corps, 478, 480 ; at
Brandywine, 524 ; with Sulli
van's expedition, 2, 22, 23
Morgan, Dr. John, 2, 296, 470.
Morris, Captain Samuel, at Prince
ton, 513
Morris, James, member of a fire
company and opposed to war,
287; how Franklin dealt with
him, 287

514

INDEX.

Morris, Robert, 551
Morris, Robert H., governor, suc
ceeds Hamilton, 302 ; goes to
the Lower Counties, 303; what
troops were sent to America,
304; General Braddock sent, 304;
his plan, 304; war preparations,
305; Braddock sails, 305; French
preparations, 305; the fleet de
scribed and sails, 306; Fort Du
Quesne the objective point, 305;
described, 305; Braddock's pre
parations, 307; making of road,
307, 308; starting of the army,
308; lack of subsistence, 309;
Indian soldiers for Braddock,
310; conduct of Indians, 311;
they join the French, 311; the
army starts, 312; at Will's Creek,
312; number, 312, 313; ill sup
plied with provisions,3i3; Lower
Counties sent oxen, 314; day of
prayer, 314; army starts from
Will's Creek, 314; route, 314,
315, 316, 317; French plan of
defence, 319, 320; French recon
noitre, 320; the battle, 321-323;
Braddock wounded, 323; retreat,
323-325; his death, 325; number
killed and wounded, 325; con
duct ofthe Pennsylvania wagon
ers, 326; conduct of Indians
after the battle, 327-329; Brad
dock's bones, 329; troops start
for Philadelphia, 329, 330 ;
French troops sent to northern
posts, 330; Indians desert the
French, 330; consequences of
leaving the frontier exposed,
330; Indian depredations, 331-
335; Province prepares for de
fence, 334; petition sent to privy
council of Assembly's conduct,
335; is condemmed, 335-337;
action of Scotch-Irish, 335; mi-

' litia law demanded, 335, 336;
Friends retire from control, 337;
they still treat with the Indians,
338; favor peace with them,
338; policy adopted, 338-340;
quartering of troops, 340; bil
leted on individuals, 340; new
militia bill, 341; opposition to
it, 341; bounties offered for sol
diers, 341; where stationed, 341;
hostility of western Indians,
342, 344; Morris's disputes with
the Assembly, 344; his instruc
tions, 345; taxes, 345, 349; pres
ents to Indians, 346-349; As
sembly and proprietaries, 345,
346; conduct with the Indians,
346; rents, 348; division of ex
penses between the Province
and proprietaries, 345-349; war
contributions of proprietaries,
349; estimate of Morris, 350
Mortimer, Earl of, a trustee under
Penn's will, 227
Moulder, Captain, at Princeton,
512
MoutonDuvernet, General, 552
Moylan's dragoons, 576
Mulheim, a city visited hy Penn,
107, 108
Muhlenberg, Frederick. 2, 419;
on education, 432. See Religion.
Muhlenberg, General, at the battle
of Brandywine, 518, 522
Muhlenberg, F. A., president of
the constitutional convention,
2.99
Muhlenberg, Peter, as a soldier,
419
Muncy, 2, 12, 25
Muncy Hill, 2, 11
Murfree, Major, at Stony Point,
561
Musgrave, Lieutenant-Colonel, at
Germantown, 528, 529

INDEX.

515

N

Naaman, an Indian spokesman, 54
Nanticoke, entrance to Wyoming
VaUey, 5
Nanticokes, description of, 14;
revered their dead, 14
Nassau, Fort, built, 37, 41, 45;
Dutch in, learn of the coming of
the Swedes, 45
Naturalization, regulation of,
166. See Immigration.
Navigation acts, 399, 400. See
Grenville.
Navy, Gardens. See Penn.
Necessity, Fort, 296.
Needham, Captain Robert, acts
as a military commander, 69
Nelson's Independent Company,
490
New Amstel, volunteers enrolled
for the war with Swedes, 55; the
chief Dutch town, 59; its growth,
59, 60; regulation of prices in, 60;
frauds in trade, 61; decay of,
61; disputes with Altona, 62, 63;
surrenders to the English, 68
New Amsterdam, Walloons taken
to, 37; Swedes think of going to,
47; French privateer is hired by,
for the Swedish war, 55; New
Haven settlers stop there, 65
New constitution, 462
New Sweden. See Swedish West
India Company.
Newcastle, Duke of, his ineffi
ciency, 303
New Castle County, creation of, in
1682, 123
New Castle, Penn lands at, 121
Newton, Isaac, 78
Ney, Marshal, 552
Nitschmann, Bishop, 2, 370
Nicholson, John, appointed comp
troller-general, 2,82; his author
ity is enlarged, 2, 100

Nicolls, Col. Richard, captures
the Dutch possessions in Amer
ica, 67, 68
Nitschmann, Susanna, 333
Nittany Valley, thickness of lime
stone in, 9
Non-associators, their fine, 461.
See Army.
Non-importation agreement, how
enforced, 2, 427, 430; forestall
ing, 428; effect of, on manufac
turing, 2, 250
North, Lord, on taxing tea, 416;
his conciliatory proposition, 423
North. Lord Chief Justice, revises
Penn's charter, in
Northampton County, creation of,
in 1752, 297
Northumberland, Marshal Grou
chy lived there, 5
O
Oath. 5^^ Affirmation.
Ogden, Captain, 2, 5-9.
Ogle, Governor, 2, 49
Ohio River, how formed, 7
"Old Sam," 2, 173
Old Swedes church, 2, 473, 474
Olmstead, Gideon, captures the
Active, 2, 206-208
Oneidas, l5
Onesimus, Brother, 2, 367
Onondaga, principal council fire
of the Iroquois, 16
Onondagas, are attacked without
cause, 278; visited by peace
makers, 339
Opdengrafe, Abraham, 2, 248
Orme, Captain, 323
Ormond, Duke of, 2, 19; Penn
waits on, 87; signs an order for
Penn's arrest, 93
Osset, an Indian chief, 40
Osset, Giles, succeeds De Vries,
40; his intercourse with tlie
Indians, 40

5i6 INDEX.
Oswald, editor of the Gazetteer,
quarrels with McKean, 2, 94; is
again arrested, 94; tried for
libel, 107; demands impeach
ment of the judges, 108
Owen is put out of Oxford, 84
Oxford, Earl of, a trustee under
Penn's will, 227
Oysters, 12

Paine, Thomas, on the use of
steam, 2, 469
Pallissy, 9
Palmer, Anthony, President ofthe
Council, 292 ; governs after
Thomas's departure, 292
Papegoja, John, succeeds Printz,
52; defies Fort Casimir, 58
Paper-money, depression from
need of, 397. See Keith and other
governors. Supreme Executive
Council.
Paris, F. J., appointed resident
agent for the Province, 261;
what he did, 261; petition sent
him of Assembly's conduct, 335
Parker, Dr., Bishop of Oxford,
223, 224, 226
Parliament, its plan for taxing the
colonies, 402; its right to tax,
402; response of colonies, 402;
opposition of Pa., 405; stamp
act in, 406; new duties on tea,
glass, etc., 410; met by non
importation agreement, 411;
effect of, on importation, 412; on
British merchants, 412; Parlia
ment divided on colonial tax
ation, 413; regards colonists as
rebels, 430; Pennsylvania active
in opposition to new duties, 413;
so is Massachusetts, 413; change
of non-importation agreement,

compared, 414; prohibits the
export of machinery, 2, 250
Parr, Major, 2, 23, 24
Parry, Lieutenant-Colonel, death
of, 498
Parsons, General, 496, 499
Party walls, first act relating to,
259
Passayunk, Indians advise Swedes
to settle there, 54
Pastorius, organizes a company,
117 ; and purchases land, 117 ;
settles at Germantown, 2, 122 ;
publishes a circular about the
country, 123
Patroons, rights granted to, 38,
39, note; they sell out, 41. See
De Vries.
Patterson, Rev. Joseph, 2, 417
Patterson, Colonel, the Pennamite
commander, 2, 285
Patton, John, chosen colonel, 472
Pawlet, Earl of, trustee under
Penn's will, 227
Paxtang boys, 367-371
Peale, Charles Willson, 2, 483
Pean, Madam, 294
Pemberton, Israel, 340
Penn, William.
Early years to his first visit, A.
First visit io Pennsylvnia,^B.
Subsequent life in England, C.
Second visit, D.
His life afte-rwards, E.
A. Penn, William, his birth, 77
note; condition of society in
England, 77; on the Continent,
77; condition of religion, 78;
George Fox, 78; his religious
education, 79; his teaching. 80;
Penn's life at Cork, 82; Crom
weU's death, 82; goes to Oxford,
83; condition of the University,
83, 84; progress in study, 84;

INDEX.

517

conduct at the University, 84; is
expelled, 84; grief of his father,
85; remedies that are tried, 85
sent to France, 85; life there, 85
admiral sends for William, 86
admiral a Great Captain Com
mander, 86; wins a victory, 87
William Penn still retains his
Quaker faith, 87; is sent to
Shangarry Castle, 87; his con
duct at a riot, 87; his portrait,
87; goes to Kinsale, 87; returns
to London to his sister's mar
riage, 88; Penn is arrested, 88;
recalled to London, 88; his
views on wearing a hat, 89; his
mother's love for him, 90; ban
ished from the Navy Gardens,
90; returns to the Navy Gar
dens, 90; asks Fox about wear
ing his sword, 90, 91; lays it
aside, 91; Penn's first book,
Truth Exalted, 91; his cour
ageous course, 91; waits on the
Duke of Buckingham, 91; writes
The Guide Mistaken, 92; is
arrested, 92; for what, 92;
writes The Sandy Foundation
Shaken, 92; Penn's conduct in
prison, 93, 94; Admiral Penn
intercedes for his son, 94; Penn
writes No Cross, No Crown, 95;
the admiral is requested not to
come to navy board, 95; re
signs his seat and retires from
the Navy Gardens, 94, 95; he
writes to Lord Arlington to re
lease his son, 96; Charles' action
in releasing Penn, 96 ; his inter
view with StilUngfleet, 96, 97 ;
Penn writes Innocence with her
Open Face, 97; is released, 97;
goes to Shangarry Castle, 97;
holds a meeting in the prison
yard at Cork, 97; goes to Dublin

to see the Duke of Ormond, 97;
is arrested with Captain Mead
in London, 97; his trial, 98-
104; writes the Great Case of
Liberty of Conscience, 104; goes
to Holland, 104; migration to
America, 104; Penn's courtship
and marriage, 104, 105; efforts
to secure the release of people,
105; revives his plan to found a
colony in America, 105; his first
venture in New Jersey, 105;
George Fox seeks to found one,
105; Penn visits the Continent,
106, 107; returns to England,
108; thinks more about found
ing a colony, 109; takes Penn
sylvania for a debt, no; name,
no; payment of beaver skins,
in; boundaries, no, 1 1 1 ; reasons
for huying Lower Counties, in;
deed from the Duke of York,
III; Penn's charter, in; Penn
sends Markham to take posses
sion, III; reads Penn's letter to
the people, 112; Penn solicited
to grant monopolies, 113 note;
colonists and commissioners
sail, 113; protection offered col
onists by the Swedes, 113; their
shelter, 113; number of persons
in the Province, 113; Penn's in
structions to his commissioners,
113; laying out of Philsdelphia,
114; instructions relating to In
dians, 114; his frame of govem
ment and great law, 31, 114-
116; who were to legislate, 116;
danger of entrusting people with
power, 117; reasons for revision,
IT 6; eagerness of people to
come, 117; Free Traders' Society
formed, 117; Penn prepares to
go, 119; the Welcome, 119; in
structions for his wife, 119; his

5^8

INDEX.

thoughts about government,
120; his voyage, 120.
B. Penn's arrival, 121; takes pos
session and makes a speech,
122; leaves for Upland, 122;
writs are issued for an election,
123; organization of the provin
cial council, 123; Penn goes up.
the river, 123; to the site of the
capital, 123; plan of it, 123,
124; purchase of land of Indians,
14, 123, 124; gift to George Fox,
125; and to the Duke of York,
125; sale of land, 125; intercourse
with the Indians, 125; treaty
with, 126; his journey to New
York, 127; meeting of the
Assembly, 127; mode of con
ducting it, 127; laws passed,
128; visits Lord Baltimore, 129;
his correspondence, 129; elec
tion of members of the Assem
bly in 1683, 131; change made
in number, 131; it is criticised,
131; Assembly's authority to
legislate, 131; extension of leg
islative power, 132; tenure of
office, 133; abolition of grand
committees, 133; changes read
and adopted, 133, 134; incon
siderate legislation, 134; taxa
tion, 134; growth of Philadel
phia, 135; charter to, (2, 271;)
immigrants, 135; first tavern,
136; what it was, 136; wharves,
136; Penn's feeling about his
enterprise, 136; a school estab
lished, 137; first meeting of
Assembly under the new frame,
137; contest for speakership,
137; Lord Baltimore watches
Penn, 138; his offers to immi
grants, 138; increase of popula
tion, 138; Penn buys more land,
138; makes a journey into the

interior, 139; describes the
Indians, 139; their language,
140; customs and manners, 140;
their feeling for the dead, 141;
persecution of his friends in
England, 142; decides to return,
142; advice to the Indians, 142;
number of people in Pennsylva
nia, 143; advice to Friends,
143; Thomas Lloyd made presi
dent of the provincial council,
143; Markham, secretary, 143;
returns in the Endeavor, 143.
C. Penn sees the king and Duke
of York, 144; death of Charles
II., 144; James II. releases
Friends, 145; Penn goes to Ken
sington to live, 14s; release of
Locke, 145; his success in get
ting others released, 145; sees
William, Prince of Orange, 146;
his travels in the Low Countries,
146; warns James II. of his
course, 146; James flees, 147;
Penn's subsequent course, 147;
death of Penn's wife, 148; mar
ries again, 14S; George Fox
dies, 148; his career, 148, 149;
hastens his departure to Pa.,
149; neglect of Assembly to send
laws to Penn, 150; increasing
friction, 150; executive power
transferred to commissioners,
151; decline to act, 151; others
are appointed, 151; ill feeling in
the Assembly, 151; legislates
with closed doors, 152; govern
ing by commission a failure,
152; John Blackwell is appointed
governor, 152; another commis
sion is appointed, 154; Penn's
instructions, 154 ; governing
by deputy fails in the Lower
Counties, 155; reasons for tak
ing away Penn's Province, 156;

INDEX.

519

both parties seek support of In
dians, 156; Fletcher and the
Assembly concerning war, 156,
157; Penn reproves the Pro
vince, 157; the Province is re
stored, 158; Markham governs
after Lloyd's death, 159; coup
ling of bills, 159; another con
stitution is desired, 159; dealing
with pirates, 160, 161.
D. Penn's second visit to the Prov
ince, 160; opposition of Church
party to Friends, 161; Quarry's
opposition to Penn, 161; Penn
convenes the Assembly, 161 ; its
organization, 162; the new char
ter, 162, 163; opposition to
David Lloyd, 163; Assembly
meets at New Castle, 164; Penn's
treatment of the Indians, 165;
holds a conference with colonial
governors, 165; Pennsbury de
scribed, 166; his house, 166; fur
nishings, 166, 167; his table,
167; how the family traveled,
168; horses, 16S; the colt Tam
erlane, 168; dress and habits,
168; Penn's influence, 168; his
interest in religion, 169; wishes
to use bonds as money, (2, 193;)
is obliged to return, 169; an at
tempt is made to steal his Prov
ince, 169; convenes the Assem
bly, 169; its treatment of him,
169, 170; change in the nature
ofthe council, 171; selection of
judges, 171; county courts, 171;
their authority, 171; jury system
established, 172; how selected,
176; criminal jurisdiction, 172;
county taxes levied, 172; what
fines were imposed, 173; their
equity powers, 173; authority of
justices of the peace, 174; ap
peals, 174; forms of procedure,

174; what witnesses were re
quired, 175; arguments of coun
sel, 175; how judgment was
rendered and paid, 175; author
ity of the provincial council to
try cases, 176, 181; trial of Pick
ering, 176; of Margaret Matti
son, 177; of Robert Roman, 177;
admiralty courts, 177; Penn dis
likes Quarry, 179 ; orphans'
courts, 179; peacemakers, 180;
cases before them, 180; manor
ial courts, 181; no jails at first,
181; whipping, 182; persons sold
for fines, 1S2; discords between
Penn and the Province, 182-184;
Friends respected his wishes,
183; selection of a deputy, 184;
Andrew Hamilton, 184; Penn
promises to send his son, 184;
he sells land to raise money to
return, 185; the Assembly would
grant nothing, 185; departure,
185; he leaves Philadelphia the
last time, 186.
E. Parliament tries to get his
Province, 186; crown confirms
Hamilton's appointment, 186;
unfitness of Friends to govern,
186; resolves to prosecute David
Lloyd, 189; sends his son Will
iam over, 194; his pecuniary
distress, 202; Ford's rascalities,
203; Penn is arrested, 204; Lo
gan tells him what the people
think, 204; they neglect Penn,
205; writes to Assembly inti
mating his intention to sell the
Province, 207, 208; the feeling
towards him cools off, 210; right
to veto legislation is denied, 210;
licenses, fines and forfeitures
claimed, 210; Penn is nearing
the end, 216; is struck with
paralysis, 217; his death, 217;

520

INDEX.

where he is buried, 217; esti
mate of him, 217-222; success
of his experiment, 219; Frank-
liu's accusations, 220; Macau
lay's, 222-226; Penn's children
and will, 226; meaning of, is
settled by the chancery court,
227, 228; during its settlement
Mrs. Penn directed affairs, 227;
Penn's biographers, 228 note;
his children and grandchildren,
227, 228; 2, 488, 489. See Land,
Religion.
Penn, Sir Admiral, his dying words
to William, 76; his victories, 80;
his wife, 80; his first ship, 81; is
sent to Straits of Gibraltar, 81;
where his family lived, 81; put
in command of an expedition by
Cromwell, 81; corresponds with
Charles II. , 81, 82; is put in the
Tower, 81; terms of release, 8r,
82; welcomes the king, 83; is
appointed a commissioner of the
navy, 83; made captain of Fort
of Kinsale, 83; appointed Ad
miral of Ireland, 83; is to be
raised to the peerage, 85. See
WiUiam Penn, A.
Penn, Hannah, her marriage, 184;
directs the Province after Penn's
death, 227; favors appointment
of Keith, 231, 232; accuses him
of neglect, 251; her death, 260.
See Penn, Keith.
Penn, John, one of the proprie
taries, his death, 292
Penn, John, grandson ofthe foun
der, succeeds Hamilton, 381;
Assembly had power to adjourn,
382; but not dissolve, 382; effect
of proprietary instruction, 383-
385; Assembly's right to make
appropriations, 385-387; con
venes Assembly, 386; taxation.

387, 388; conflict and debate to
change from proprietary to royal
government, 388-394; cost of
governing the Province, 395;
how the provincial accounts
were kept, 395; loan-office, man
agement of, 396; military ex
penditures, 396; taxes, 397; on
taxing the proprietary estates,
397; amount of bills of credit
issued, 397; depreciation of
paper-money, 397; scarcity of,
398. See Assembly.
Penn, Letitia, 217
Penn, Richard, governor, 398
Penn, Springett, son of WilUam
and grandson of the founder,
death of, 260
Penn, Thomas, visits the Province,
265; his reception, 265; offers to
postpone his claim on the rev
enue, 277; sends cannon, 349
Penn, William, the younger, is
sent to the Province, 194; his
conduct while there, 194; sends
commission to Keith, 233; sends
commission to Logan to act as
Secretary, 233; offers to serve as
agent of Province, 233
Penne, George, the real pardon
broker, 223
Pennsylvania, its length and
breadth, i; square miles in, i;
acres, i; most important maps
of, I Bote; description of, I-I2
" Pennsylvania Religion," 379
Pepperell, 280
Pepys, what he thought of Sir Ad
miral Penn's wife, 80; on wear
ing a hat, 89
Pequea, description of Indians in,
15; their migrations, 15
Peters, Secretary, 388
Philadelphia, its early govern
ment, 2, 270; Penn's charter.

INDEX.

521

271; election of mayor, 271;
effect of the Revolution on, 271;
opposition to another charter,
271-275
Philadelphia County, creation of,
in 1682, 123
Philadelphia Light Horse Troop,
551
Phcenixville, mountain at, 4
Pickering, trial of, 176
Pillmore, 2, 39
Pinckney,Colonel, at Brandywine,
522
Pirates, See Evans, Kidd, Penn.
Piracy, West India Company en
gages in, 38
Pitt, prime minister, 351
Plate, as security for loans, 249
Plunket, Colonel, 9, 10
Plymouth pilgrims, 37
Poll tax, 2, 112
PoUy, tea-ship to Philadelphia, 416
Pontiac. See James Hamilton.
Poor, General, 2, 22, 24
Popaxtunk, river of, 2
Population at different times, 143,
2, 113
Postal system, establishing of, 166.
See Andrew Hamilton.
Potter. General, at Princeton, 513;
chosen brigadier-general, 515;
at Brandywine. 524 ; at German-
town, 527; opposes .Howe, 536;
a candidate for president, 2, 83;
bitterness at the election, 83
Pow-wowing forbidden, 18. See
Climate.
Presents, to Indians. See Robert
H. Morris.
Printz, John, succeeds Hollander,
48; his weight and drinking
capacity, 50; his daughter inter
ested in Long Finne, 71; he
builds a grain mill, 2, 236. See
Swedish West India Company.

Privateering, 2, 2oi; assembly will
do nothing to prevent, 282
Privy council, whose opinion it
foUowed, 214; Penn appeared
before it, 214; petitions were
sent to disapprove bills, 214;
it swept away early criminal
laws, 214; many laws disap
proved were re-enacted, 214,
216; how it restricted free action,
214: what bills fell, 215; bills
relating to marriages, 215; re
ligious societies, 215; coins,
coinage, imports and slaves,
215, 2i6; percentage disallowed,
216.
Procter, Captain and Colonel,
fights the Roebuck, 438; at
Brandywine, 519; quarrels with
McKean, 2, 94; is in Sullivan's
expedition, 22, 24
Proud on Lloyd, 164; as a histor
ian, 2, 448
Provincial council. &^ Governor,
Penn.
Provost, Dr., 2, 415
Pulaski, Count, 514
Pulpit Rocks, description of, 6
Puritans, wore hats, 89; Penn goes
to a play on the, 85; in Oxford,
84
Putnam, a floating battery, 440

Quaker blues, 469; a military com
pany, 469
Quarry, Colonel, his opposition to
Penn, 161; judge of the Admir
alty court, 178; Penn's anger at
Quarry, 179; supports Episco
pacy, 2, 361. See Penn.

Rahl, Colonel, 512
Ralle, Father, 484

522

INDEX.

Randolph, Peyton 424
Rankin, 2, 422
Rapel, Commodore, 313
Redemptioners, kinds of, 2, 174;
sale of criminals for aperiod, 175;
price of their labor, 175; author
ity of their master, 175; whence
they came, 176; sufferings at
sea, 176; how they were abused,
177; newlanders, 178; soul-
drivers, 178
Reed, Joseph, on the tea question,
420; president of provincial con
ference, 428; chosen military sec
retary, 435; at the battle of Long
Island, 495, 503; promoted, 514;
conduct toward revolted sol
diers, 568; declines the office of
chiefjustlce, 2, 31; his opinions
on political parties, 44; elected
president, 44; dinner to him, 45;
his course with Amold, 46, 47;
reorganizes the militia, 47; how
privates were paid, 47; fines, 47;
completes survey of southern
boundary, 48-53; tries to sustain
the value of paper-money, 53-63 ;
regulation of prices, 53; futility
of, 53-55; of salt, 54; effect of
regulating, 56; trying to pre
serve value by agreement, 58;
repudiation, 59; Congress au
thorizes the states to suspend
legal tender laws, 59; suspension
of, 60; taxes, 60, 63; scale of de
preciation established, 61; more
issues, 61; opposition to, 61-63
condition of the army, 64
women come to its relief, 64:
resources squandered, 65; end
of paper-money, 66; on the
transition from paper-money to
specie, 66; indebtedness of the
State, 67; auditors appointed,
67; payment of soldiers, 67; land

given to them, 67; income of the
State, 68; difficulty in collecting
taxes, 68; amount collected, 70,
71, 72; prosecution of delin
quents, 69; more paper-money
issued, 70; elections, 73; fraud
in, 74; great difficulties during
his term, 75; his enemies, 75;
on the divesting act, 154; seeks
aid from Washington to defend
Wyoming Valley, 12; his rela
tions with the University, 452.
See Army, Supreme Executive
Council, Assembly.
Religion, the object of the early
settlers, 2, 354; most of them
were religious, 354; Penn's moral
legislation, 355; his treatment
of the Indians, 355; his consti
tution, 356; test of citizenship,
356; Roman Catholics, 356, 357;
Friends' meetings, 357; contro
versy with George Keith, 357;
charity of Friends, 360; Episco
palians, 360; religious condition
of Pennsylvania at the time of
Penn's death, 362; Presbyte
rians, 363 ; a presby tery formed,
363; Scotch-Irish, 363; their min
isters, 364; Baptists, 363; Luth
erans, 364, 377; German Re
formed, 365; Mennonites, 365;
Tunkers, 365; German Baptists,
365; Seventh-Day Baptists, 365—
368; Conrad Weiser won over,
366; Schwenkfelders, 368; Sep
aratists, 369, Pietists, 369; Mora
vians, 370-377; purchase land,
371, 372; their system, 371; were
missionaries, 373-377; Muhlen
berg, 377, 378; his work, 379;
"The Pennsylvania Religion,"
379; decline in, 380; causes of,
381; decline in religious specu
lation, 381; ministerial remun-

INDEX.

523

eration, 381; how Episcopal
ministers were paid, 381, 388;
burial grounds, 383; churches
could not solicit assistance with
out license, 383; Whitefield's
preaching, 383-385; the Ten
nents, 385; heresy, 386; opposi
tion of Friends to slavery, 386;
to fashions, 388; growth of Christ
Church, 388-390; Roman Cath
olic Church. 389; in Northamp
ton county, 389; Methodists,
390, 391 ; progress of religion in
Penn's time, 391-393; effect of
the Revolution on, 393: tests of
power of, 394, 395; dissension
of churches, 395; effect of using
paper-money, speculation, etc.,
395; condition of Friends during
the Revolution, 396-408; " Fight
ing Quakers," 399; attitude of
John Dickinson, 400; sufferings
of Friends, 400-405; their arrest,
401-405; their taxes, 405; effect
of test oaths, 405; Episcopal
Church during the Revolution,
409-416; is re-established, 413-
416; Presbyterians during the
Revolution, 416-419; change in
the confession required by the
war, 419; Lutherans during the
Revolution, 419, 420; Baptist
Church during the Revolution,
420; and the German Reformed,
420; Roman Catholic Church,
420, 421; Methodists, 422; re
construction, growth of skepti
cism, 423; effect of political in
dependence on, 423
Religious societies, names of, in
Penn's day, 78. See Religion.
Restless, the ship, 34
Revere, Paul, 412
Reynolds, succeeds Owen at Ox
ford, 84

Rhoads, Samuel, a delegate to
Colonial Congress, 422
Rich, ChanceUor. See Penn.
Richardson, Samuel, shut out of
the Council, 153
Rickmansworth, Penn's life there
after his marriage, 105
Rising, John. See Swedish West
India Company.
Rittenhouse, David, 2, 53; ap
pointed auditor, 67; as a scien
tist, 463-465; his orrery, 464. See
Science.
Rivers as highways. See Trans
portation.
Roberdeau, Daniel, chosen briga
dier-general, 449
Roberts, John, 552
Roberts's mill, 2, 236
Robins, Ezekiel, 2, 89
Robinson, Sir John, Keeper ofthe
Tower, holds Penn without an
order, 92; requests one, 92; it is
issued, 93
Robinson, Patrick, Assembly is
displeased with, 149
Robinson, Sir Thomas, letter from
reproving the Province, 303
Rochester, Earl of, has Penn re
stored to liberty, 147
Rodda, 2, 422
Roebuck, fight with, 438, 439
Roman, Robert, trial of, 177
Rose, Aquila, a poet, 2, 440
Ross, Judge, 2, 207, 208
Ross, George, a delegate to the
Colonial Congress, 422
Royal Charles, Sir Admiral Penn's
ship, 87
Royal Greens, 2, 15
Rudolph, Carl, 2, 377
Ruggles, Timothy, at the Colonial
Congress, 406
"Rum-carriers," applied by In
dians to white traders, 18

524

INDEX.

Rumford, 2, 200, 201
Rush temperance movement, 2,
241, 242
Rush, Dr. Benjamin, 2, 470; on
Rittenhouse, 464
Rush, WUliam, 2, 243

Sabbath, drinking on, among the
early Dutch, 57
Salem, Evans goes to, 193; erection
of a trading-house there by
the English, 65
Sally, a naval ship, 439
Salt Lick Creek, 317
Sanderford, Ralph, 2, 387, 388
Sandusky expedition, 2, 26
Sandwich, Lord, signs an order
for Penn's arrest, 93
Sasquehannocks, description of,
14; their contentment, 165
Saumur, Penn goes to, 86
Saur on education, 2, 434, 435
Saxe, Marshal, 306
Scammell, his blunder at Long
Island, 504
Scarroyady, 311, 339, 340
Schlatter, 2, 432
Schmidt, Derick. See West India
Company.
Schneider, Father, 2, 390
Schott, Captain, 2, 23
Schuyler, General, 435; appoints
Wayne commander at Ticonde
roga, 493 >
Schuylkill, Printz erects a fort on,
51; improvement of, (2, 97);
English trading-house on, 65;
meaning of the name, 4, fish
ing in, 2, 287, 288
Schwenkfeld, 2, 368
Science, Franklin's discoveries in,
460-463; his kite, 460; organiza
tion of the American Philo
sophical Society, 462; the Junto,

or Leather Apron Society, 462;
David Rittenhouse, 463; Dr.
Rush on Rittenhouse, 464; Bar
tram, 465; Godfrey's invention
of the quadrant, 467; Master's
corn patent, 468; Paine's steam
invention, 469; Henry's steam
boat, 469; progress in medicine,
470; founding of the medical
department of the college of
Philadelphia, 470
Searle, James, 2, 60, 66
Senecas, 16; 2, 15, 25
Sergeant, J. D., appointed at
torney-general, 2, 31
Servants, their principal offence,
2, 182
Shadford, 2, 222
Shackamaxon, meeting of Penn
with the Indians at, 125
Shamokin, Shikellimy stationed
there, 17; Weiser goes to, to
mediate, 279
Shangarry Castle, William Penn
sent there, 87, 97
Shawanese, description of, 14; are
unfriendly to the English, 280;
join the French, 280; at Kit
taning, 511; war against, 338-
340; treaty with, 243; at peace
with, 344, 371
Shee, Colonel, at the battle of
Long Island, 503, 504
Sheffield, Lord, 2, 257
Shells, deposit of, 9
Sheshequin, 2, 23
Shikellimy, high ledge of, 5; who
the chief was, 17
Shingas, 311, 342
Shippen, Edward, President of
the provincial council, 187
Shippen, Dr. William, 2, 470
Shirley, fort, 365
Shirley, Governor, 309
Shoem, Samuel, 531

INDEX.

<525

Sidney, Henry, has Penn restored
to liberty, 147
Simcoe's regiment, 555
Simpson, first Pennsylvania sol
dier killed iu the Revolution,
478
Six Nations, gift to, 277, 280;
council of, 310; influence of,
338; other Indians join them,
339, 357; forbid the southern
boundary to be run, 51-53. See
Five Nations, Iroquois.
Slaves, were brought from the
West Indies, 2, 171; Indians sold
as, 172; forbidden, 172; Dutch
and English engage in the slave
trade, 172; Penn freed his slaves,
173; burial of Friends' servants,
173 note; opposition of Friends
to, 386; action of the Society of
Friends on, 114; hiring out of,
forbidden, 195. See Redemp
tioners.
Slocum, Frances, 2, 20
SmaUwood, Colonel, at the battle
of Long Island, 496; on the
Schuylkill, 525
Smith, Adam, on the relation of
American Colonies to Great
Britain, 425 note.
Smith, James, a captive at Fort
Du Quesne, 327
Smith, Captain Matthew, 481
Smith, Colonel, of York county,
463
Smith, Dr. William , on education,
2, 428, 435; on war, 428; his con
duct during the Revolution,
451, 452; assists Judge Moore, 1,
357, 358
Smuggling, 403, 414, 417; during
the Revolution, 2, 200
Society, complexity of, 2, 301; on
the frontier, 301; scarcity of
women, 302; married early, 302;

disposition of Indians, 302; In
dian children, 302 ; Indians came
to Phila. in bodies, 302; homes
of settlers, 303; a farmer's
kitchen, 303; fire-places, 304;
entertainments on winter even
ings, 304; fuel, 304; candles, 305;
Philadelphia houses, 305; furni
ture, 305, 306 and note; carpets,
306; food, 306; how German
farmers lived, 307; corn as food,
307; how ground, 307, 308;
drinks, 308; herbs, 309; rye, 309;
tea and coffee, 309; spirits, 309,
310; at burials, 310; love-making
and marriage, 310; among
Friends, 310; a "baronet's"
marriage, 311; weddings, 313;
on the frontier, 313-315^ cabin-
building, 315; "bundling," 316;
clothing of early settlers, 317;
women as spinners and weavers,
317; leather tanning, 318; shoe-
making, 318; fashions appear,
318, 319; class distinctions, 319;
dress of a gentleman, 319;
Leather Apron Club, 319; dress
of a young lady, 320; wigs, 320;
modes of dressing the hair, 321,
336; changes in, 336; hats, 321,
322, 334; coats, 322, 335; knee
breeches, 335; sailor clothing,
324; workingmen, 324; use of
calico, 324; muffetees, 324; shoes,
324; country dress, 325; dress on
the frontier, 325; description of
a beau, 326; dress of a fashion
able couple on the street, 327;
and of tradesman and wife, 328;
dress of Quaker women, 328,
338; aprons, 328; fans, 328;
whiskers, 329; amusements, 329;
the porch amusement, 330;
shows, 330; dancing, 331; ath
letic games, 331; amusement at

52&

INDEX.

fairs, 331; the theatre, 332; ob
servations of travellers on, 333;
criticism on, 334; dress of Quaker
men, 336; introduction of French
fashions, 337; change in manner
of living, 338; tea drinking, 338,
339; dinner giveu to a French
man, 339; hospitality of Phila.
criticised, 340-342; luxury, 343;
how farmers suffered, 343; a
farmer's account of his suffer! ngs,
343-346; increase of bachelors,
347; greater desire for a genteel
life, 348; growth of classes, 348,
349; division of social strata,
349; theatre, 349; plays given,
350; licensed, 351. See Religion.
Solitude in early Pa., lo
Song-birds, not in the early Prov
ince, 10 note.
Spalding, Captain, 2, 23
Spangenberg, Bishop, 333
Spencer, Robert, William Penn
makes his acquaintance, 85;
they travel together, 86
Springett, Gulielma, Penn mar
ried to, 104, 105
St. Clair, Colonel, 492; in Canada,
492; at West Point, 565; attends
a court-martial, 2, 65. SeePi.xmy.
St. John, Hector, on slavery in
Pa., 2, 172
Stamp act opposition to, in Par
liament, 406; in America, 406;
in Colonial Congress, 406; its
enforcement, 407; law goes into
effect, 408; legal proceedings
are suspended, 408; repealed,
408, 409
State church, set up by the Dutch,
74
Steadman, John, his dreadful
treatment of redemptioners, 2,
177, 179
Stedman, Captain, 497, 498

Stiegel, Baron, 2, 244, 257
Steinmyer, Father, 2, 420
Steuben, General, at Valley Forge,
537; driUs the soldiers, 537-539;
appointed inspector-general, 539,
541; at Monmouth, 556
Steward, Major, 563
Stewart's Crossing, 317
Stewart, Captain, of Va., 323
Stewart, Captain, of Wyoming
Valley, 2, 6
Stewart, Colonel Walter, goes
with Pennsylvania soldiers after
theit revolt, 567; in the South,
570, 576; at Yorktown, 570
StilUngfleet, Canon, Penn's inter
views with, 96
Stills, Doctor, on changing the
proprietary govemment, 394;
on Wayne's victory at Stony
Point, 563; on Colonial Congress,
407; on the Farmer's Letters,
411; on the first general con
ference, 423; on the constitution
of 1776, 463
StiUman, Major, 574
Stirling, Lord, at the battle of
Long Island, 496, 497; covers
the retreat through New Jersey,
508; at Brandywine, 519
Story, Thomas, 2, 360
Stony Point. See Wayne.
Stuyvesant, Peter. See Swedish
West India Company.
Sugar act, 403; effect of, 403, 404,
405; enforcement of, 409
Sullivan, General, in Canada, 492;
at the battle of Long Island,
496; at Brandywine, 519, 521;
his expedition against the In
dians, 2, 22-26; his force de
scribed, 22, 23; the route taken,
23; the attack, 24; destruction
of the Indian orchards and huts,
24, 25; return of troops, 25

INDEX.

527

Summers, Lord, has Penn restored
to liberty, 147
Sumter, General, 576
Sunderland, Secretary of State,
Penn negotiates with him for
Pennsylvania, no; supports the
proprietary, 231
Supreme Executive Council, how
chosen, 462; how organized,
533; estates confiscated by, 533;
Wharton the first president, 2,
28; his administration, 28-43;
Bryan succeeds Wharton, 43, 44;
he is succeeded by Reed, 44-76;
Moore's administration, 76-82;
Dickinson's administration, 82-
98; Franklin's administration,
98-112; Mifflin's administration,
112-116. See Amold, 549; Reed
and other presidents, 116
Susquehanna Company, 2, 2
Susquehanna River. See Susque
hanna Valley, 6
Susquehanna Valley, description
of, 4-6; drainage of, 4; branches
of, 6; entry of, by the Indians, 13
Sussex county, creation of, in 1682,
123
Sutherland, Lord, supports a can
didate for governor of Lower
Counties, 231
Svenson, Swedish brothers, 123;
sell the land on which Phila
delphia is built, 123
Swatara River, 4
Swedish West India Company,
formation of, 42; its powers, 42;
first vessels to go to America,
43; their voyage, 43; Peter Min
uit, director of the colony, 44;
who he was, 44; land seen, 44;
intercourse with the Indians,
44; Dutch learn of their coming,
45; purchase of land, 45; who
had the best title, 46; indefinite

boundary, 47; Minuit starts for
Sweden, 47; colonists arrive
from Holland, 47, 48; their
charter, 48; religion in, 48;
education, 48; Minuit succeeded
by Peter Hollander, 48; and he
by Printz, 48; his instructions,
49; builds a residence, 50; Cam-
panius's remarks on the colony,
50; Swedish criminals there, 50,
51; Printz erects a fort on the
Schuylkill, 51; and at Kingses
ing, 51; Dutch enmity increases,
51; Swedish ships return, 31;
are compelled to enter a Dutch
port, 51; duties are demanded,
51; Dutch build Fort Casimir
below Swedish colony, 5 1 ; Printz
returns, 52; Papegoja succeeds
him, 52; John Rising appointed
commissary, 53; Peter Lind-
strom goes to New Sweden, 52;
Fort Casimir taken by the
Swedes, 52; name changed to
Fort Trinity, 53; Stuyvesant de
mands its surrender, S3; Dutch
transfer allegiance to Swedes,
54; Rising's intercourse with
the Indians, 54; Dutch retaliate,
54; Stuyvesant's treatment of
Golden Shark, 55; prepares for
war with Swedes, 55; expedi
tion, how composed, 55; Forts
Casimir and Christina taken,
56; Rising left the country, 57;
Swedes remain loyal to the
Dutch, 64
Sydney, Algernon, Penn meets
him, 86, 108; his sufferings, 107,
108; death of, 142
Sydney, Lady Dorothy, William
Penn -makes her acquaintance,
85
Sydney, Henry, Penn meets him,
107

528

INDEX.

Table rock, description of, 7
Taiminent, 126
Tallapoosas, 278
Taunton, order sent there to im
prison rebellious girls, 223
Taxation of imports, forbidden by
Parliament, 401; plan for taxing
colonies, 402
Taxation. See Imports, Excise,
Sugar, Tea, Supreme Executive
Council, Assembly.
Taylor, Abraham, chosen colonel
in place of Franklin, 286
Tea, duty on 410; amount of tax,
414; attempt to send tea, 416;
opposition to the law, 417; ships
sail, 417; Polly fails to land her
tea, 417, 418; fate of Boston tea
ship, 419; meeting relating to,
420, 421
Teedyuscung, 356, 357
Tennent, Gilbert, 2, 385; printed
sermons, 445
Tennent, William, 2, 385; the Log
College, 430
Texel, Hudson sails from the, 32;
emigrants for Pa. froui, 37
Thayer, Mayor, at Fort Mifflin, 530
Thickety Run, 318
Thom, William, takes possession
ofthe fort at New Castle, 74
Thomas, Gabriel, on the Province,
wages, etc., 2, 180, 181
Thomas, General, 491
Thomas, George, succeeds Logan,
273; a planter, 273; stormy
times, 274; quarrel between
Great Britain and Spain, 274;
unwillingness of the Province
to act, 274, 275; cause of the
war, 275; governor seeks to
rouse a war spirit, 276; sends
his instructions to the Assembly,
276; companies raised, 277; ser

vants accepted, 277; action of
Assembly on enlistment of, 277;
appropriations, 277; attack on
peaceful Indians, 278; alarm
caused by it, 279; French set
tlements to be attacked, 279;
appropriations by the Assembly,
280; expedition successful, 280;
Indians realize their importance,
281; governor demands Assem
bly to appropriate money, 281;
four companies are raised, 281;
troops kept at Albany, 281; are
paid by the crown, 281; the As
sembly will do nothing to pre
vent privateering, 282; violence
at elections, 284, 285; Germans
participate, 285; Assembly in
vestigates the riot, 285; Assem
bly and governor cease to quar
rel, 285; he approves bills, 286;
is paid his salary, 286, Franklin
is the peacemaker, 286; more
paper-money issued, 288 ; amount
to be reduced, 290; proprietaries
object, 288, 289; Webbe's plan
to prevent an over-issue, 289;
report on the operation of paper-
money, 290, 291; French en
croachments, 291
Thompson, William, chosen col
onel, 436; joins Washington's
army, 478; marches to Canada,
480; made general, 490, 492
Thomson, Charles, at Easton con
vention, 356; on stamp act, 406;
on tea, 420; is chosen secretary
of Continental Congress, 424
Tinicum, Printz builds a house
there, 50
Torkillus, 2, 473
Tower, Sir Admiral Penn is put
in, 81, 82. See Penn.
Towiibhend, Charles, on colonial
revenue, 410

INDEX.

529

Townsend, Richard, 2, 236
Townships, Penn proposed to di
vide the land into, 2, 147
Trade, with the Indians, 2, 190;
wampum, 190; Indian traders,
191; how carried on, 191; Duke
of York protects Indians in
trading, 192; so does the British
government, 192; trade with
the West Indies, 193; inspection
laws, 194, 235; commercial em
barrassment, 195; reduction of
interest rate, 195; circulating
medium deficient, 195; increase
in shipping, 196; exports, 196,
238; after the Revolution, 209;
imports, 196; nfter the Revolu
tion, 210; competition, 196;
Lower Counties complain, 197;
Baltimore diverts trade along
the Susquehanna, 197, 232;
canal proposed to prevent it,
198; early credit to merchants,
198; notes and notice to en
dorsers, 198; insolvent laws,
198, 199, 232-234; sympathy
with debtors, 199; effect of Rev
olutionary war on trade, 200;
smuggling, 200-202; privateer
ing. 201; profits in it, 202;
Barney's exploit, 203-205; re
appearing of specie, 209; French
and English coin, 209; it disap
pears, 209; trade with France,
210; importations paid in specie,
211; auctioms, 212, 213; specu
lation, 213: over-trading, 213,
214; private credit declines, 214;
action of creditors towards debt
ors, 214, 217, 218; fail to make
money, 216; sale of land, 215;
luxury, 215; taxation of im
ports, 219, 220; more paper-
money desired, 220; Bank of
North America, 220-230; loan-

office plan revived, 224; its
raerits considered, 224-226 ;
more paper-money issued, 230,
231; loan-office established, 231;
mortgages, 231; coinage, 231;
chamber of commerce estab
lished, 234; coffee-houses as
trading places, 234
Traders, their use of liquor to
cheat Indians, 18
Transportation, early highways,
276; road to Fort Du Quesne,
276; road from Philadelphia to
Lancaster, 277; to New York,
279; how roads were laid out,
277-278; to Harris's ferry, 279;
Philadelphia to Chester, 279;
old York road, 279; Strasburg
road, 279; ferries, 278, bridges,
278, 279; improvement in roads,
280; wagons, 279; pleasure car
riages, 280; tongue-carts, 282;
pack-horse system, 281, 282;
stage lines, 283, 284; postal ser
vice, 283-285; rates of postage,
283, 284; rivers as highways,
285; canoes, 281, 286; Durham
boats, 286; rivers as fisheries,
287, 288
Travel, freedom to, restricted, 2,
32
Treaties, at Aix-la-Chapelle, 292;
at Utrecht, 210; with Great Brit
ain. 2, 86
Trenchard, Sir John, has Penn re
stored to liberty, 147
Trumbull, on the Connecticut pur
chase on the Delaware, 65 ; he
describes the Pennsylvania sol
diers, 493
Turtle Creek, 318, 319; Forbes
reaches, 354; Colonel Bouquet
at, 366
Turner, Robert, 151
Tuscaroras, description of, 15

530

INDEX.

Tuscarora Indians, sold as slaves,
2, 172
Tyler, M. C, on Galloway's plan
of union with Great Britain,
425; on Franklin, 2, 450 ; on
Dickinson, 456 U
Unalachtigo Indians, description
of, 14
Unami, description of, 13
United States, authority given to
sue, 2, 36
University of Oxford. See Penn.
University of Pennsylvania. See
Education.
Unrest, the ship, 34
Usselinx, William, creates the
West India Company, 35, 36;
his adventures, 35; difficulties
informing it, 36; patent granted,
36; taking of stock, 36; terms
of patent, 37; trade the chief
object, 37; withdrawal of, from
the West India Company, 42;
he forms the Swedish West
India Company, 42
Utrecht, treaty of, 210
V
Varnum, General, on the Dela
ware, 531
Von Falkenstein, Countess, Penn
meets her, 107
Voters, qualifications of, 297; under
the constitution of 1776, 462;
illegal voting, 298; mode of vot
ing, 298; when required to make
oath, 299. See Assembly.
Vries. See De Vries. W
Waldenses, wish to go to the Del-
ware, 59
Walloons, emigration of, 37

Wain, Nicholas, on taxation, 2,
72
Wanstead, life of Penn at, 81;
house closed, 82; Penn family
again at, 96
Wapeler, Father, 2, 390
Ward, Ensign, 296
Ward, John, 435
Ware, Sir Thomas, declines to act
as pardon broker, 223
Warrior Ridge, description of, 6
Washington, Major, sent to
French Creek, 294; describes
French progress, 295; first ex
pedition against the French,
295; his instructions, 296; his
retreat, 296; remarks on Brad
dock's army, 319; conduct in
battle with Braddock, 326. See
Continental Congress, Army.
Wayne, 471; goes to Canada, 490;
at Ticonderoga, 493; at Brandy
wine, 519, 523; at Paoli, 525; at
Monmouth, 554; at Stony Point,
559-563; at Haverstraw, 565; his
conduct toward the revolted
soldiers, 566-568; at Yorktown,
570; is detached from Greene,
576; at Sharon Springs, 577;
how rewarded by Georgia, 577;
favors the repeal of the test
oath, 2, 91
Webb, Captain Thomas, 2, 390
Webbe's plan to prevent over-issue
of paper money, 289, 290
Webster, Noah, on paper-money,
2, 40
Wedderburne, attacks Franklin,
419
Weedon, General, at Brandywine,
518, 522
Wied, Count, 122
Weikel, John H., 2, 16, 420
Weiser, Conrad, is requested to
mediate, 279, 281, 340; in

INDEX.

Wyoming Valley, 2, 3; death
of, 1, 375
Welcome, Penn's vessel to Amer
ica, 119
Welsh barony, 181
Wescott, Bishop, on Fox, 149
Wesley, John, 2, 422
West India Trade, 404. See Trade,
Keith.
West, Benjamin, 480-483; his suc
cess, 482; his Death of Wolfe
marks an era in art, 482; his
Battle of the Hague, 482
West New Jersey, new constitu
tion given to, 106; prosperity of,
106
Westphalia, restoration of Fred
erick's domain by treaty of, 107
Whales, 12 note.
Wharton, Thomas, elected presi
dent, 467, 2, 28; inauguration,
28; his fitness, 29; war spirit
then existing, 30; creation of
judicial department, 31; punish
ment of traitors, 32; evidence
required to convict, 32; oath of
allegiance, 32-34; elections. 34;
certificate required, 35; counting
of votes, 36; on the issue of paper-
money, 36, 37; amount of first
issue, 38; bills were a legal
tender, 38; when they ceased to
be, 38; Friends refused to receive
it, 39; depreciates, 39; effects of
issuing, 39-42; death of, 42
White, Bishop, 2, 402, 409-416
Whitehall, Penn taken to, by his
father, 86
Whitehead, George, Penn in com
pany with, 91
Whitefield, George, with the
Moravians, 2, 370, 383
Wies, George, 2, 369
Will's Creek, Washington at, 296
Wilcox, Joseph, assists in prepar-

531 187.

ing Assembly address.
See Logan.
Wilcox, Thomas, 2, 256
Wilkinson, General, on the battle
of Princeton, 513
Wilkes-Barre, fort, 2, 14
Williamson, Colonel David, 27
Williamson, John, 2, 481
Williamstadt, 195
Wilmot, John, at Oxford, 84
Wilson, James, 551
Winicaco, death of, 14
Wintermoot's fort, 2, 15
Wistar, Dr., 470
Witchcraft. See Climate.
Wolfe, 351
Wolff, Dr., ou the effect of the
Revolutionary War on the
Church, 2, 419
Wolves, description of Indians
thus named, 13
"Women," terra of derision used
by Indians, 13 and note.
Woolman, John, 2, 388; ou slavery,
447, 448
Wooster, General, 491
Workingmen, were well paid, 2,
179, 187; his freedom, 187-189
Wren, Christopher, at Oxford, 84
Wright, Richard, 2, 391
Wright, Judge, governor removes
him, 283, 284
Wright, Sir James, 578
Wyalusiug, 2, 4
Wyoming, fort, 2, 6, 7
Wyoming VaUey, description of,
5; ruins in, 5; by whom settled,
2, 2; Shawanees lived in, 2; a
second colony to, 4; Penn ap
plies to General Gage for aid to
expel settlers, 5; Ogden's attack,
5-7; Stewart's defence, 7;
Ogden captures Fort Wyoming,
7, 8; Ogden's defence, 7, 8;
Ogden again attacks, 9; fort sur-

532

INDEX.

renders, 9; condition of valley in
1776, n; Indians determine to
invade, 12, 13; they concentrate
at Newtown and Tioga, 2, 14;
the attack, 15-19; departure of
Indians, 20; title to, submitted
to arbitration, 25

Youghiogheny, 308, 314, 317
Young, Dr., 463
York, Duke of, effect of transfer
of Lower Counties to, 17; pur
chasing of land from Indians
forbidden, 17; how grants were
made, 17; redress of wrongs to
Indians, 17; purchase from, by
Penn, 31, 311; land granted to,
by Charles II., 67; NicoUs ap
pointed Duke of York's deputy,
69; seat of government, 69; oath
of allegiance, 69; Dutch magis
trates retained in office, 69; ap
peals to governor of New York,
69, 70; new ordinances, 72; diffi
culties with Indians, 73; new

laws, 73; again passes to Dutch,
73; Colve presides over the uew
government, 74; Peter Alricks
pays his respects to him, 74;
state church is set up, 74; Dutch
rule soon ends, 74; Edmund An
dros is governor, 74; former mag
istrates continued in office, 74;
except Alricks, 74; Penn gives
land to, 125; Penn visits him, 144
York County, creation of in 1749,
297
Yorktown. See Revolutionary
army.

Zeisberger, David, his missionary
work, 2, 373-377; at Gnaden
hutten, 331-334
Zinzendorf, Count, 376; on educa
tion, 2, 435; attempts to unite
the sects, 371; in the Wyoming
Valley, 2-4. See Moravians,
Religion.
Zwaaneudal, settlement of, 40;
fate of, 40

ERRATUM.
Vol. I, third line from top of page 123, read Philadelphia for Dela-