Summary of points maintained by certain Quaker leaders
From the material next presented it is shown that: (1) Penn recommended both practical and higher education, (2) useful arts and sciences are recommended to be taught in public schools, (3) the classics were introduced as a part of the curriculum in the Penn Charter School, and also in other schools established by the society, (4) Barclay explains that the society holds a classical education not absolutely necessary for a minister, though it is useful, (5) the learning of languages is recommended by the London Yearly Meeting, (6) education is advocated by Benezet as a religious and social duty; the education of the poor and unfortunate classes and races is urged; a higher education for schoolmasters is recommended, (7) Woolman urges the education of Negroes and Indians as a social duty; the responsibility is placed on the individual, (8) Crouch states that Hebrew, Greek, and Latin are recognized as useful and are not opposed when taught for that purpose, (9) Budd, one of the early Quakers in Pennsylvania, introduced a very comprehensive and Utopian scheme for (a) industrial education and (b) higher education, proposing to organize it under the control of the General Assembly, and (10) indications are that progress, within the teaching body in Friends’ institutions, is quite comparable with that of other institutions, though there is no attempt to produce conclusive evidence either to that effect or the contrary.
CHAPTER IV
EDUCATION IN PHILADELPHIA[124]
On ye 27th day of October, 1682, arrived before ye Towne of New Castle from England, William Penn, Esqe., whoo produced twoo deeds of feofment for this Towne and twelve myles about itt, and also for ye twoo lower counties, ye Whoorekills and St. Jones’s—wherefore ye said William Penn received possession of ye Towne ye 28th of October, 1682.[125]
The date of Penn’s coming disputed
It is probable that Penn reached Philadelphia in the latter days of October or the early part of November,[126] though no student of Philadelphia history has yet been able to settle the question of the day absolutely. Tradition says he came up the river in an open boat and landed at the landing on Dock Street near the new tavern, the Blue Anchor, which had just been erected by George Guest, a Quaker.[127] The formal ceremony of transferring the territory which had been arranged between Penn and the Duke of York before leaving England,[128] was accomplished with the Duke’s commissioners, Moll and Herman,[129] and the official debut of Pennsylvania in colonial society was no longer a hope but a reality.
Education provided for in first Frame of Government
The foundation of the colony’s educational institutions had, however, not been delayed till the formalities of “making” a colony were over. Education received early consideration in the Frame of Government which was drawn up from England by Penn and agreed to on April 25, 1682, before he prepared to depart for Pennsylvania.[130] In that document it is clearly set forth that education was the function of the civil authority, though the intentions of the author were not realized fully for more than a hundred and fifty years.[131] The same idea is present in each of the three Frames of Government which were drawn up; the first, April 25, 1682;[132] the second, April 2, 1683;[133] and the third, November 7, 1696,[134] under Governor Markham. The instrument drawn on April 2, 1683, contained in part the following stipulations, which bear the impression of the Quaker ideal of education.
The provisions