THE · PLIMPTON · PRESS
[W · D · O]
NORWOOD · MASS · U · S · A
Translator’s Preface
The life of William Penn is one which cannot be too closely studied by American youth, and the German author of this little volume has told its story in most attractive style. Not one of the early settlers of the United States had loftier purpose in view, more exalted ambition, or nobler character. The brotherhood of man was his guiding principle, and in seeking to carry out his purpose he displayed resolute courage, inflexible honesty, and the highest, noblest, and most beautiful traits of character. He encountered numerous obstacles in his great mission—imprisonment and persecution at home, slanders and calumnies of his enemies, intrigues of those who were envious of his success, domestic sorrows, and at last, and most deplorable of all, the ingratitude of the colonists as the settlement grew, and in some cases their enmity. It is a shining example of his lofty character and fair dealing that the Indians, who were always jealous of white men and suspicious of their designs, remained his stanch friends to the end, for he never broke faith with them. His closing days were sad ones, and he died in comparative seclusion, but his name will always be preserved by that of the great commonwealth which bears it and his principles by the name of the metropolis which signifies them. This world would be a better one if there were more William Penns in it.
G. P. U.
Chicago, July, 1911
Contents
Chapter Page I [William Penn’s Father—Childhood of Penn—Expulsion from Oxford for his Religious Views—Travels on the Continent] 11 II [The Plague and its Results—Penn as a Soldier—His Religious Struggle—Becomes a Quaker—Imprisonment for Attending Meetings—Death of his Father] 24 III [Penn’s Third Imprisonment—His Happy Marriage—Fresh Persecutions—Visits to Germany—Quaker Emigration] 36 IV [The Popish Plot—Settlement of Virginia—The Royal Cession to Penn—Christening of Pennsylvania—Outlines of Penn’s Constitution] 48 V [Description of Penn’s Domain—Negotiations with the Indians by Penn’s Agent—Death of Penn’s Mother—Final Instructions to his Family—Departure of the “Welcome”] 60 VI [Penn’s Arrival—The Founding of Philadelphia—First General Assembly—Building of the “Blue Anchor”—The First School and Printing Press] 72 VII [The Indian Conference—Signing of the Treaty—Penn Returns to England to Defend his Rights against Lord Baltimore—Accession of James the Second—His Dethronement and Accession of William the Third] 84 VIII [Penn Tried for Treason and Acquitted—Withdrawal of Penn’s Charter—Death of his Wife and Son—Second Marriage—Journey to America—Penn’s Home—Attempts to Correct Abuses—Returns to England and Encounters Fresh Dangers—Penn in the Debtors’ Prison—Ingratitude of the Colonists] 96 IX [Death of his Dissolute Son William—Penn’s Last Illness and Mental Decline—His Death and Will] 109 [Appendix] 113
Illustrations
Page [William Penn]Frontispiece [The Duel]22 [Penn and the Indians]82 [The Conference]84