In Holland the burghers had been good farmers and shrewd merchants. When they came to this country they continued to make their living chiefly in these two ways. On Long Island and along the Hudson River were fine farms with well-kept fields and large gardens. The merchants mostly lived at New Amsterdam, which soon became a busy seaport. Here many sailing vessels lay at anchor and exchanged their cargoes for the products of the Dutch farms and of the Indian trade. From the small beginnings made by these Dutch merchants has grown the largest city of the western world.
WILLIAM PENN, THE QUAKER, WHO FOUNDED THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE
55. William Penn. One day Thomas Loe, a Quaker preacher, ventured into the old university town of Oxford. He talked with the students and explained to them the beliefs of the Quakers. He declared that all men were equal, and he refused to recognize rank or title. He taught men to live and worship in simplicity.
William Penn converted
A few students believed his teachings and resolved to become members of the hated sect of Quakers. Among them was William Penn, the son of a great naval officer, Admiral Penn. What a buzzing there was in that old college town when the news spread that William Penn, the fine scholar, the skilled oarsman, the all-round athlete, had become a Quaker!
Why Penn was expelled from college
Some of his comrades would not believe it. But when they saw him put off the cap and gown of his college, which some of the greatest men in English history had worn with pride, and put on the plain garb of the Quakers, they gave up! The college officers were also convinced when Penn and other Quakers tore off the gowns of fellow students. The authorities promptly expelled these young and over-enthusiastic Friends.
What Penn's family and friends thought
What more disgraceful thing could happen to the family of Admiral Penn? To have a son expelled from Oxford was bad enough, but to have him become a Quaker was a disgrace not to be borne—so thought his family. The stern old admiral promptly drove him from home. But William resolutely refused to give up his Quaker views, and the admiral decided to try the plan of sending him to Paris, where life was as un-Quaker-like as it could be.