[Footnote: The Quakers, avoiding unmeaning forms, aim to lead purely spiritual lives. Their usual worship is conducted in solemn silence, each soul for itself. They take no oath, make no compliments, remove not the hat to king or ruler, and "thee" and "thou" both friend and foe. Every day is to them a holy day, and the Sabbath simply a day of rest. We can readily see how this must have scandalized the Puritans. William Penn became a Quaker while in college at Oxford. Refusing to wear the customary student's surplice, he with others violently assaulted some fellow-students and stripped them of their robes. For this he was expelled. His father would not allow him to return home. Afterward relenting, he sent him to Paris, Cork, and other cities, to soften his Quaker peculiarities. After several unhappy quarrels, his father proposed to overlook all else if he would only consent to doff his hat to the king, the Duke of York, and himself. Penn still refusing, he was again turned out of doors. He was several times imprisoned for his religious extremes. On the death of his father, to whom he had once more been reconciled, he became heir to quite a fortune. He took the territory which forms Pennsylvania in payment of a debt of 16,000 pounds due his father from the crown.]
This tract Penn named Sylvania, but the king insisted upon calling it Pennsylvania
[Footenote: Penn offered the secretary who drew up the charter twenty guineas to leave off the prefix "Penn" This request being denied, the king was appealed to, who commanded the tract to be called Pennsylvania] (Penn's woods) in honor of William Penn's father.
The Duke of York added to this grant the present State of Delaware, which soon came to be termed the "Three lower counties on the Delaware." Penn wished to form a refuge for his Quaker brethren, who were bitterly persecuted in England. He at once sent over large numbers, as many as two thousand in a single year. The next year he came himself, and was received by the settlers with the greatest cordiality and respect.
PHILADELPHIA FOUNDED.—The year following (1683) Penn purchased land of the Swedes and laid out a city which he named Philadelphia, signifying brotherly love. It was in the midst of the forest, and the startled deer bounded past the settler who came to survey his new home. Yet within a year it contained one hundred houses; in two years numbered over two thousand inhabitants; and in three years gained more than New York had in half a century.
THE GREAT LAW was a code agreed upon by the legislative body which Penn called from among the settlers soon after his arrival. It made faith in Christ a necessary qualification for voting and office-holding; but also provided that no one believing in "Almighty God" should be molested in his religious views. The Quakers, having been persecuted themselves, did not celebrate their liberty by persecuting others. Penn, himself, surrendered the most of his power to the people. His highest ambition seemed to be to advance their interests. He often declared that if he knew anything more that could make them happier, he would freely grant it.
PENN'S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS possesses a romantic interest. He met them under a large elm tree near Philadelphia.
[Footnote: "We meet," said Penn, "on the broad pathway of good faith and good will; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be openness and love. The friendship between you and me I will not compare to a chain; for that the rains might rust or the falling tree might break. We are the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts; we are all one flesh and blood.">[
The savages were touched by his gentle words and kindly bearing. "We will live in love with William Penn and his children," said they, "as long as the sun and moon shall shine."
[Footnote: This tree was carefully preserved until 1810, when it was blown down. A monument now marks the spot.]