CHAPTER XII.
THE FOUNDING OF PENNSYLVANIA.
BY FREDERICK D. STONE,
Librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
THE founding of Pennsylvania was one of the immediate results of Penn’s connection with West Jersey; but the causes which led to the settlement of both colonies can be clearly traced to the rise of the religious denomination of which he was a distinguished member. This occurred in one of the most exciting periods of English history. The Long Parliament was in session. Events were directly leading to the execution of the King. All vestiges of the Church of Rome had been well-nigh swept away in a country in which that Church had once held undisputed sway, and its successor was faring but little better with the armies of the Commonwealth. The conflict between Presbyterians and Churchmen,—in the efforts of the former to change the Established Church, and of the latter to maintain their position,—was scarcely more bitter in spirit than the temper with which the Independents denounced all connection between Church and State. Other dissenting congregations at the same time availed themselves of a season of unprecedented religious liberty to express their views, and religious discussions became the daily talk of the people.
It was under these circumstances that the ministry of George Fox began. Born in the year 1624, a native of Leicestershire, he was from his youth noted for “a gravity and stayedness of mind and spirit not usual in children.” As he approached manhood, he became troubled about the condition of his soul, and passed through an experience similar to that which tried his contemporary, John Bunyan, when he imagined that he had sinned against the Holy Ghost. His friends had advised him to marry or to join the army; but his immediate recourse was rather to spiritual counsel. He naturally sought this from the clergymen of the Established Church, in which he had been bred; but they failed to satisfy his mind.
