| 714 | PENN | PENN |
were entered into with Penn for the sale of lands.
In 1681 he sent out Capt. William Markham with
instructions to take possession of the province, to
search out a convenient spot of ground on which
to erect a governor's mansion, and to cultivate a
friendly feeling with the Indians. In September,
1683, he himself set out from London on the
“Welcome,” and he reached Newcastle on the Delaware
late in October, taking formal possession of the
territory on the day after his arrival. His first
care was the division of his land into counties,
the survey of its resources and extent, and the
definition of its boundaries. He selected, but not
without some dissension, as a site for his capital
the neck of land that lies at the junction of Delaware
and Schuylkill rivers, which he purchased
from the Swedes, and to which he gave the name
of Philadelphia. Penn's landing was made at Dock
creek, where the “Blue Anchor” tavern was built,
beyond which the first ten houses, known as
“Budd's Long Row,” were erected. This place at
once grew with wonderful rapidity, and within a
year a hundred houses had been built. Meanwhile,
probably in June, 1683, his famous treaty with the
Indians was made. On the banks of the Delaware,
at Shackamaxon (afterward Kensington, and now
a part of the city), stood a great elm, where in
earlier times the Indians had assembled on
important occasions, and the name of the place signified,
in the Indian language, the “locality of
kings.” Here representatives of the Delawares,
Mingoes, and other Susquehanna tribes made with
the Quakers a treaty of peace and friendship
which, according to
Voltaire, “was never
sworn to and never
broken.” The influence
of Penn was so
great among the
Indians that to be a
follower of his was at all
times a passport to
their protection and
hospitality. George
Bancroft says that
“while every other
colony in the New
World was visited in
turn by the horrors
of Indian warfare, no
drop of Quaker blood was ever shed by a red man
in Pennsylvania.” Penn then devoted himself to
his duties as governor, and made treaties with other
Indian tribes, and as long as any of the aborigines
remained in Pennsylvania or its neighborhood
their traditions bore testimony to the justice and
benevolence of “Mignon,” as the Delawares called
him, or of “Onas,” as he was styled by the
Iroquois. He then visited New York and New Jersey,
and after the meeting of the general assembly of
the province at Newcastle in May, 1684, he
intrusted the government to a council, and in
August sailed for England, leaving a prosperous
colony of 7,000 persons. In his farewell he
writes: “And thou, Philadelphia, the virgin
settlement of this province, named before thou wast
born, what love, what care, what service, and what
travail hath there been to bring thee forth and
preserve thee from such as would abuse and defile
thee! My soul prays to God for thee, that thou
mayest stand in the day of trial, that thy children
may be blessed of the Lord, and thy people saved
by his power.” On his return to England he first
sought to have the boundary-line between Maryland
and Pennsylvania properly adjusted, but
Charles II. was then very near his end, and definite
action could not be procured. Penn's patron and
the friend of his father, the Duke of York,
succeeded to the throne as James II., on 6 Feb., 1685,
and soon after his accession set at liberty about
1,200 Quakers that had been imprisoned for their
religious opinions. The boundary question was a
fruitful cause of disputes with the Baltimores of
Maryland, and was not finally settled until Mason
and Dixon's line was run in 1767 and confirmed
in 1769. Penn took up his residence at Kensington,
and thereafter, until the king went into exile,
he was at court almost daily. His chief object
was to persuade the king to introduce into parliament
a general act that should permit perfect
freedom of opinion in every part of his dominions.
His influence with James was well known, and
every man with a real grievance found in him
a counsellor and friend. Through his efforts a
pardon was granted to John Locke, who was then
residing at the Hague; but Locke refused to accept
it, claiming that he had done no wrong. Penn's
success with the king being reported, it naturally
made enemies for him, and it was circulated that
he had matriculated at a Jesuit seminary, had
taken holy orders in Rome, and officiated regularly
at mass in the private chapel at Whitehall. Among
other attacks on his character are those that were
revived by Lord Macaulay in his “History of
England.” Macaulay has accused him of acting as an
agent of the rapacious maids of honor of the royal
court to extort money for pardon from the
relatives of some young girls at Taunton who were
implicated in Monmouth's rebellion, and also accused
him of an attempt to persuade Dr. John Hough,
president of Magdalen college, Oxford, to accede
to the wishes of King James in a matter where
compliance would have involved a violation of his
official oath by holding out to him the bait of a
bishopric. Neither of these charges can be
sustained by any direct evidence, and, moreover,
abundant material exists tending to prove their
falsity. (See the preface to Hepworth Dixon's
“William Penn, an Historical Biography founded
on Family and State Papers,” London, 1856).
Penn was sent by James to visit William of Orange, whom he endeavored to convert to his views of universal toleration, and, after visiting in Holland, he travelled through Rhineland, where he circulated reports of the success of his colony. In April, 1687, the king issued a proclamation declaring liberty of conscience to all, and removing tests and penalties, which was largely the result of Penn's influence. Penn was the only one of the court circle that remained in London after his flight, and he was called before the lords of council, who, finding nothing against him, save that he was a friend of James, required of him bonds for his appearance on the first day of the following term, when he was declared free of every charge that had been made against him. Subsequently a letter from the exiled James, requesting him to come to France, was intercepted, and he was again brought before the council in presence of King William. After a long examination, in which Penn declared his friendship for James though he did not approve of the latter's policy, and said he could not prevent the exile from writing to him, he was discharged. He was arrested twice or thrice after this, on the charge of being implicated in various plots, but secured discharge for lack of evidence. In 1692 he was deprived of his government, and his province was annexed to the colony of New York. On 23 Feb., 1694, his wife died, and he bore testimony to her virtuous life
