the first Stranger of Philadelphia that did me the Honour of a Visit, and to his merry Company I owe the passing of many a dull Hour, that probably might have lain heavy upon the Hands of a Man under my Circumstances, depriv'd of Fortune, in a strange Country, having no Friends, in whose Power it was to assist me, nearer than England ; for Mr. Jones was too much involv'd in his own troublesome Affairs at Bermuda, to expect any thing from him. But the Generosity of the Philadelphians is rooted in their Natures ; for it is the greatest Crime among them not to show the utmost Civility to Strangers : And if I were oblig'd to live out of my native Country, I should not be long puzzled in finding a Place of Retirement, which should be Philadelphia. There the oppress'd in Fortune or Principles may find a happy Asylum, and drop quietly to their Graves without Fear or Want.
The Voyage, Shipwrack, and Miraculous Escape of Richard Castelman, Gent. (appended to The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Robert Boyle, London, 1726), 363-369 passim.
29. The Settlement of the Palatine Germans in New York (1709-1720)
BY JOHN CONRAD WYSER AND OTHER PALATINES
Wyser (or Weiser) was a German, a leader of his countrymen. The Palatines came from the "Pfalz," in the middle Rhine valley, and were forced to emigrate by the miseries of the wars of Louis XIV of France. — Bibliography : Channing and Hart, Guide, § 105. — For a previous account of German immigration, see Contemporaries, I, No. 163.
THE Case of the Palatines, and others Germans, in the Province of New York in America sheweth.
That, In the year 1709. The Palatines, & other Germans, being invited to come into England about Four Thousand of them were sent into New York in America, of whom about 1700. Died on Board, or at their landing in that Province, by unavoidable sickness
Not true vide contract.That before they went on Board, they were promised, those remaining alive should have forty acres of Land, & Five pounds sterling pr Head, besides Cloths, Tools, Utensils & other contract necessaries, to Husbandry to be given at their arrival in America