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THE PAPERS OF WILLIAM PENN
Volume Three • 1685—1700
THE PAPERS OF
WILLIAM PENN Volume Three • 1685—1700
EDITORS
Marianne S. Wokeck • Joy Wiltenburg Alison Duncan Hirsch • Craig W. Horle GENERAL EDITORS Richard S. Dunn - Mary Maples Dunn UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS 1986
Copyright © 1986 by the University of Pennsylvania Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (Revised for vol. 3) Penn, William, 1644—1718 The Papers of William Penn. Includes biographical references and indexes. CONTENTS: v.i. 1644-1679. — v. 2. 1680-1684. — v. 3. 1685—1700.—v. 5. William Penns published writings 1660—1726 i. Penn, William, 1644—1718. 2. Pennsylvania — History—Colonial period, ca. 1600—1775 — Sources. 3. Society of Friends — History — / 7th century — Sources. 4. Society of Friends — History — / 8th century — Sources. 5. Society of Friends — Biography. 6. Pioneers — Pennsylvania — Correspondence. I. Dunn, Mary Maples. II. Dunn, Richard S. III. Title. ¥152.2.PJ956 1986 974.8'02'0924 [B] 80-54052 ISBN 0-8122-7800-3 (v. i) ISBN 0-8122-7852-6 (v. 2) ISBN 0-8122-8029-6 (v. 3) ISBN 0-8122-8019-9 (v. 5) Designed by Adrianne Onderdonk Dudden Maps by Quentin Fiore and Bernard Gollotti
To
CAROLINE ROBBINS and to the memory of ALBERT COOK MYERS HANNAH BENNER ROACH and FREDERICK B. TOLLES
Preparation and publication of this volume was made possible by a major grant from the Program for Editions The National Endowment for the Humanities an independent federal agency
and by generous supporting grants from The American Philosophical Society The Atlantic Richfield Foundation The Barra Foundation Bryn Mawr College Haverford College The Historical Foundation of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania The McLean Contributionship The National Historical Publications and Records Commission The J. Howard Pew Freedom Trust The Philadelphia Center for Early American Studies The Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Adolph G. Rosengarten, Jr. Smith College The University of Pennsylvania Stephanie G. Wolf The Yarway Foundation
ADVISORY BOARD Whitfield J. Bell, Jr., The American Philosophical Society Edwin B. Bronner, Haverford College Edward C. Carter, II, The Papers of Benjamin Henry Latrobe J. William Frost, Swarthmore College Christopher J. Holdsworth, The Journal of the Friends' Historical Society Peter J. Parker, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania Caroline Robbins, Bryn Mawr College
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The editors are deeply grateful to the following for permitting us to publish documents from their collections: the Amherst College Library; the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia; the Bedford Record Office, Bedford, England; the Berkshire Record Office, Reading, England; the Bodleian Library, Oxford University; the British Library, London; the Duke of Buccleugh, Kettering, England; the Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, Pennsylvania; the Darlington Memorial Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the Friends House Library, Dublin, Ireland; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; the Huntington Library, San Marino, California; the House of Lords Record Office, London; David Karpeles, Santa Barbara, California; the Law Library, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, Philadelphia; the County of Leicester Record Office, Leicester, England; the Library Company of Philadelphia; the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; the Library of the Religious Society of Friends, London; the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore; the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston; the Division of Archives and Manuscripts and the Division of Land Records, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg; the Public Record Office, London; the Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh; the Staffordshire Record Office, Stafford, England; George Vaux, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania; the Westminster Archives, Archbishop House, Westminster, England. Four institutions, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the University of Pennsylvania—all participants in the Philadelphia Center for Early American Studies — are the sponsors of this edition. The editors are deeply appreciative of this cooperative institutional support. We are also very grateful to the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission for their continuing support, and to the American Philosophical Society, the Atlantic Richfield Foundation, the Barra Foundation, the Historical Foundation of Pennsylvania, the McLean Contributionship, the vii
J. Howard Pew Freedom Trust, the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Adolph G. Rosengarten, Jr., Smith College, Stephanie G. Wolf, and the Yarway Foundation for their generous grants. The editors wish to thank Peter J. Parker, director of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Linda Stanley, manuscripts and archives curator, David Fraser, librarian, and the other members of the Society staff, for providing the editors with attractive working space and congenial company, free access to the Society's manuscript and book collections, and expert help whenever needed. The editors have also received indispensable assistance from John Van Home and his staff at the Library Company of Philadelphia; J. William Frost and the staff of the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College; Edwin B. Bronner and the staff of the Quaker Collection at Haverford College; James Tanis at the Canaday Library of Bryn Mawr College; and the staff of the Van Pelt Library at the University of Pennsylvania. Farther afield we have been courteously received by Roland M. Baumann and Harry Parker at the Pennsylvania State Archives. In London, we were helped by the staffs of the Public Record Office, the British Library, and the Library of the Religious Society of Friends. A special word of thanks is due to Richard A. Ryerson, formerly associate editor of the Papers of William Penn, for his contribution in initiating work on Volume Three. In partnership with Marianne S. Wokeck, Ryerson selected most of the documents and began the annotation for this volume. After Ryerson resigned from our staff to become editor-in-chief of the Adams Papers, we reconstituted our staff: Joy Wiltenburg, Alison Duncan Hirsch, and Craig W. Horle joined Wokeck as co-editors of Volume Three. We also wish to thank Dee Andrews, Elizabeth Fisher, Christopher Looby, Michael Meranze, and Mary Schweitzer for their work on a number of documents in this volume; all were fellows of the Philadelphia Center for Early American Studies. Sister Irma Corcoran's index to the microfilm edition of The Papers of William Penn continues to be very useful to us. Members of our Advisory Board have been extremely helpful whenever called upon. Dale Holman, Sandra Necchi, and Jane Tannenbaum assisted with word processing. Patricia Wells did the index, and Deborah Stuart did the copyediting. Adrianne Onderdonk Dudden designed the book, Bernard Golotti did the maps, and Scott M. Wilds did the coding for the typesetting. Barton L. Craig at the Winchell Company and Arthur Evans, Ingalill Hjelm, Alison Anderson, and Carl Gross at the University of Pennsylvania Press have worked closely with us to produce this complex volume. Finally, we wish in particular to thank Kathy Fuller of the National Endowment viii
for the Humanities for her advice and help. Without the active and continuing support of the federal agency she represents, this volume could never have been produced.
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS • Vii ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS • xix INTRODUCTION • 3 EDITORIAL METHOD • 7 ABBREVIATIONS AND SHORT TITLES • 1 1 A WILLIAM PENN CHRONOLOGY, 1685–1700 . 18
THE ABSENTEE PROPRIETOR, 1685 - 23 1. To James II, 7 February 1685 • 27 2. To Stephen Crisp, 28 February 1685 • 28 3. To Thomas Lloyd, 16 March 1685 • 31 4. To James Harrison, 18 March 1685 • 38 5. To the Commissioners of Propriety, 18 May 1685 • 41 6. To Thomas Lloyd and others, c. 18 May–August 1685 . 43 7. To James Harrison, 19 May 1685 • 55 8. Petition from the Free Society of Traders, 15 June 1685 • 58 9. Petition to James II, c. 18 August 1685 • 59 10. Report of the Lords of Trade, 2 September 1685 • 61 11. From Robert Barclay, 12 September 1685 • 62 12. From Lady Frances Berkeley, 13 October 1685 • 64 13. To James Harrison, 25 October 1685 • 65 14. Order in Privy Council, 13 November 1685 • 68
A CHAMPION OF ENGLISH TOLERATION, 1686-1687 • 71 15. To Sir William Trumbull, 17 January 1686 • 75 16. From Dr. John Tillotson, 26 January 1686 • 77 17. To Dr. John Tillotson, 29 January 1686 • 79 18. From Lady Martha Rodes, 5 March 1686 • 81 19. Pardon by James II, 9 March 1686 • 83 20. To Thomas Lloyd, 21 April 1686 • 84
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21. To the Provincial Council, 24 April 1686 • 88 22. To James Harrison, 24 April 1686 • 89 23. To the Provincial Council, c. June 1686 . 93 24. The Earl of Sunderland to Sir Robert Sawyer, 6 June 1686 • 97 25. From Henry Sidney, 13 August 1686 • 97 26. From William Markham, 22 August 1686 • 99 27. From William Sewel, 30 August 1686 • 114 28. To Thomas Lloyd, 21 September 1686 • 116 29. To James Harrison, 23 September 1686 • 122 30. From James Harrison, Arthur Cook, and John Simcock, 3 October 1686 • 124 31. To Sir Daniel Fleming, 6 November 1686 . 126 32. To Thomas Lloyd, 17 November 1686 • 128 33. From Thomas Holme, 25 November 1686 • 130 34. Proclamation about caves in Philadelphia, 24 January 1687 • 134 35. To James Harrison, 28 January 1687 • 134 36. To the Commissioners of Propriety, 1 February 1687 • 142 37. To the Commissioners of State, 1 February 1687 • 144 38. To the Duke of Buckingham, 16 February 1687 • 146 39. From Henry Furnis, 8 May 1687 • 149
CAMPAIGNING FOR THE KING, 1687-1688
•
151
40. To James II, 24 May 1687 • 154 41. From Thomas Holme, 24 May 1687 • 157 42. To James Harrison, 8 September 1687 ' 162 43. From Henry Sidney, 17 September 1687 • 164 44. From William Sewel, 24 September 1687 • 164 45. To the Commissioners of State, 21 December 1687 • 168 46. To the Commissioners of State, 27 December 1687 • 169 47. From Thomas Mariett, c. 1688 • 172 48. To Richard Jobson [?], 19 January 1688 • 175 49. From Thomas Holme, 24 March 1688 - 177 50. To Thomas Lloyd, 28 March 1688 • 183 51. From William Markham, 2 May 1688 • 185 52. Commission to Governor John Blackwell, 12 July 1688 • 194 53. From William Markham, 21, 26 July 1688 • 195 54. From English inhabitants of Ireland, September 1688 • 205 55. To the Commissioners of State, 18 September 1688 • 208 56. To Lord Dartmouth, 23 October 1688 • 210 57. From the Bishop of Ely, 24 October 1688 • 213
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A YEAR OF DISASTER, 1689
215
.
58. From John Blackwell, 25 January 1689 • 218 59. To the Earl of Shrewsbury, 7 March 1689 • 235 60. From John Simcock and other Provincial Councilors, 9 April 1689 • 236 61. To the Commissioners of Propriety, 14 April 1689 • 240 62. From John Blackwell, 1 May 1689 . 243 63. From Phineas Pemberton and others, c. April–May 1689 . 247 64. The Earl of Nottingham to William Sharpe, 22 June 1689 • 251 65. To the Marquis of Halifax, 28 June 1689 • 252 66. To the Provincial Council, 12 August 1689 • 252 67. Commission to the Provincial Council, 25 September 1689 • 254 68. To John Blackwell, 25 September 1689 • 255 69. Instructions to John Blackwell, 25 September 1689 • 259 70. To Robert Turner, 4 October 1689 • 262 71. To Hugh Roberts, 6 December 1689 • 265 72. Epistle to the Quakers, [late 1689?] • 267
LYING LOW, 1690-1691 • 273 73. From George Fox, 5 January 1690 • 276 74. To the Earl of Arran, 10 April 1690 • 277 75. From John Blackwell, 15 May 1690 • 279 76. From Robert Turner, 24 May 1690 • 282 77. To the Earl of Nottingham, 31 July 1690 • 283 78. To the Provincial Council, 15 September 1690 • 284 79. To the Provincial Council, 11, 17 November 1690 • 285 80. To the Commissioners of Propriety, 4 December 1690 • 290 81. To Friends in Ireland, 8 January 1691 • 291 82. Viscount Sidney to William III, 27 February 1691 . 293 83. From the Council of the Lower Counties, 6 April 1691 • 295 84. From the Provincial Council, 11 April 1691 . 302 85. From Joseph Growden, 28 April 1691 • 306 86. From the Welsh Tract settlers, 15 May 1691 • 313 87. From the Provincial Council and Assembly, 18 May 1691 • 316 88. From Robert Turner, 23 May 1691 • 319 89. To Thomas Lloyd, 14 June 1691 • 326 90. To the Provincial Council, 11 September 1691 . 328 91. To Archbishop Tillotson, 31 October 1691 • 3 92. From Viscount Sidney, 7 November [1691?] • 332
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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FRAGMENTS, c. 1689-1693 • 333 93. Account of my life since convincement, [before 1691?] • 336 94. A history of my life from 1684, [c. 1691-1692?] • 341 FRUITS OF SOLITUDE, 1692-1694 • 345 95. From the Provincial Council, 6 April 1692 • 349 96. To a Weighty Friend in England, 29 June 1692 • 350 97. To the Earl of Rochester, [c. 1692] • 351 98. To the Earl of Nottingham, 21 November 1692 • 353 99. To Robert Turner, 29 November 1692 • 354 100. To Governor Fletcher, 5 December 1692 • 358 101. From Hugh Roberts, [c. early 1693] • 359 102. Draft of Some Fruits of Solitude, [c. 1693] . .64 103. To the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, 4 February 1693 * 374 104. To the Deposed Members of the Provincial Council, 15 September 1693 • 376 105. To Sir John Rodes, October 1693 • 377 106. To Friends in Pennsylvania, 11 December 1693 * ^82 107. From Thomas Lloyd, 21 December 1693 • 385 108. From Thomas Lloyd's Supporters, 18 January 1694 • 385 109. To Robert Turner, 27 February 1694 • 388 110. To Thomas Lloyd's Supporters, 24 April 1694 • 389
NEW BEGINNINGS, 1694-1696 • 391 111. Breviate of petition to Queen Mary and the Privy Council, [c. 4 July 1694] • 395 112. Report of the Lords of Trade, 1, 3 August 1694 . 397 113. From Robert Turner, 17 September 1694 . 402 114. From the Earl of Arran, 13 November 1694 . 404 115. To the Provincial Council, 24 November 1694 . 405 116. To the Magistrates of Gloucester, 3 January 1695 • 406 117. To Robert Turner and Thomas Holme, 20 June 1695 . 408 118. To Hannah Callowhill, Sr., 28 June 1695 ' 4 1 1 119. To Hannah Callowhill, 10 September 1695 . 413 120. To the Duke of Shrewsbury, 5 October 1695 • 414 121. From the Duke of Shrewsbury, 6 October 1695 . 415 122. To Arthur Cook and others, 5 November 1695 . 415 123. From the Earl of Monmouth, 16 November 1695 • 418 124. Thomas Janney to Phineas Pemberton, 17 November 1695 • 419
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125. To Aaron Atkinson, 22 November 1695 . 420 126. To John Gratton, 12 December 1695 . 422 127. Laetitia Penn to Hannah Callowhill, 12 December 1695 . 424 128. To Hannah Callowhill, 28 January 1696 . 425 129. To Hannah Callowhill, 5 February 1696 . 427 130. To Hannah Callowhill, 9 February 1696 • 431 131. Marriage Certificate, 15 March 1696 · 435
NEW CHALLENGES,
1696-1697
•
439
132. Two Petitions to William III, [c. 1695-1696] • 443 133. To the Meeting for Sufferings, 7 May 1696 • 450 134. From William Markham, 25 June 1696 • 451 135. From the Earl of Arran, 4 September 1696 • 455 136. Draft of the Frame of Government of 1696, 7 November 1696 . 456 137. From Samuel Carpenter, 17, 18 November 1696 . 466 138. From the Earl of Monmouth, [c. November-December 1696] • 469 139. To Robert Turner, 25 December 1696 . 471 140. To John Winthrop, 27 December 1696 • 473 141. From John Winthrop, [c. January 1697] . 474 142. To Sir William Trumbull, 4 January 1697 . 475 143. Lease from Thomas Dongan, 12 January 1697 . 477 144. From Lord Bellomont, [c. February 1697] • 481 145. Draft of A Breife and Plaine Scheam, [c. 8 February 1697] . 482 146. Memorial to the Board of Trade, 12 February 1697 . 483 147. To the House of Lords, 1 March 1697 . 485 148. From William Markham, 1 March 1697 . 490 149. Proposal for the Advancement of Trade in America, [c. 4 March 1697] . 492
TROUBLE IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1697-1698 • 495 150. Remonstrance of Philadelphia Inhabitants, 12 March 1697 . 499 151. From Anthony Morris and others, 22 March 1697 . 502 152. From Robert Turner and others, 9 April 1697 . 507 153. From Robert Turner, 15 April 1697 . 510 154. From William Markham, 24 April 1697 . 512 155. From the Provincial Council and Assembly, 25 May 1697 . 514 156. To William Markham and the Council, 5 September 1697 . 517 157. To William Popple, 15 October 1697 . 519 158. To Edward Randolph, 16 October 1697 . 520
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159. From the Swedish inhabitants, 30 October 1697 . 521 160. From Francis Jones, 13 November 1697 • 524 161. To Francis Nicholson, 22 November 1697 . 527 162. To Samuel Carpenter and others, 1 December 1697 . 530 163. From Robert Turner, 9 December 1697 • 532 164. Petition for a Free Public School, 10 February 1698 • 535 165. To the Board of Trade, 14 February 1698 • 538 166. To Hugh Roberts, 17 February 1698 . 539 167. To the Czar of Muscovy, 18 April 1698 3. 540 168. To the Commissioners of Propriety, 2 May 1698 • 542 169. To the Earl of Arran, 7 May 1698 • 543 170. To the Earl of Arran, 14 May 1698 • 545 171. From the Earl of Bellomont, 21 June 1698 . 546 172. To the Lords Justices of Ireland, 1 July 1698 . 548 173. From Samuel Carpenter and others, 4 July 1698 • 552 174. From the Marquis of Normanby, 17 July 1698 . 555 175. From the Bishop of Cork and Ross, 26 August 1698 . 556 176. To Samuel Carpenter and others, 9 November 1698 . 557 177. From Samuel Carpenter, 19 November 1698 . 558 178. To the Board of Trade, 19 December 1698 . 561
RETURN TO PENNSYLVANIA, 1699-1700 • 563 179. To Robert Harley, 30 January 1699 . 568 180. To Robert Turner, 16 February 1699 • 569 181. Robert Quary to the Board of Trade, 18 May 1699 . 570 182. Power of attorney to Philip Ford, 23 August 1699 • 575 183. From the Board of Trade, 12 September 1699 • 576 184. To Francis Nicholson, 12 December 1699 • 578 185. To Nathaniel Blakiston, 13, 23 December 1699 • 579 186. From Robert Turner and others, 5 January 1700 . 580 187. To Wessels Alricks, 8 January 1700 . 582 188. To the Earl of Bellomont, 30 January 1700 . 583 189. From the General Assembly, 9 February 1700 • 584 190. To the Board of Trade, 27 February 1700 . 587 191. Speech to the Provincial Council, 1 April 1700 . 590 192. To the Board of Trade, 28 April 1700 . 592 193. From Connoodaghtoh and Meealloua, 1 May 1700 . 599 194. To Matthew Birch, 2 June 1700 . 602 195. To the Earl of Bellomont, 4 July 1700 . 603 196. To the Duke of Hamilton, 5 July 1700 . 605 197. To James Logan, 23 July 1700 . 608
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198. Hannah Penn to James Logan, [post 25 July 1700] . 610 199. From Thomas Fairman, 7 August 1700 . 611 200. To James Logan, 7 August 1700 . 613 201. To William Clark and William Rodney, 21 August 1700 • 615 202. To James Logan, 4 September 1700 • 616 203. Hannah Penn to James Logan, [c. September 1700] . 617 204. To the Board of Trade, [c. October 1700] . 618 205. To Baron Somers, 22 October 1700 • 620 206. To Robert Assheton, 1 November 1700 . 623 207. To Charlwood Lawton, 10 December 1700 . 624 208. To Charlwood Lawton, 21 December 1700 . 629 209. To the Earl of Bellomont, 30 December 1700 • 636
APPENDIX • 641 210. A Map of the Improved Part of the Province of Pennsilvania in America, 1687 • 643 211. Calendar of Legal Transactions between William Penn and Philip Ford, 1685-1699 • 656 212. [?] to Monsieur de Gassis, 29 December 1690 • 663 213. Expenditures Toward the Revocation of Governor Fletcher's Commission, 1694-1695 • 666 214. The Subscribers to a Susquehanna Settlement, 1696 . 671 215. The Blackwell Rent Roll, 1689–1690 . 679 CALENDAR OF MICROFILMED WP DOCUMENTS 1685–1700 . 738
CALENDAR OF DOCUMENTS NOT FILMED 1685–1700 . 756
INDEX ' 759
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ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
Drawing of William Penn in Middle Age, by Francis Place, Historical Society of Pennsylvania • Frontispiece William Penn's England • 147 The Delaware Valley, 1685 — 1700 • 301 William Penn's London '484 William Penn's Philadelphia • 588 A Map of the Improved Part of the Province of Pennsilvania in America, by Thomas Holme, 1687, Historical Society of Pennsylvania • 644—49 William Penn's letter of 8 December 1689 to the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania [see p. 253], Historical Society of Pennsylvania • Endpapers
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THE PAPERS OF WILLIAM PENN
Volume Three • 1685—1700
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INTRODUCTION
This is the third volume in a select edition of The Papers of William Penn, designed to present the most interesting and representative correspondence, religious and political papers, journals, and business records of WP — as he will be referred to henceforth. The overall plan of the work is described in the introduction to our first volume. Volume One, spanning the first thirty-five years of WP's life, from 1644 to 1679, documents his activities as a young Quaker activist. Volume Two, covering the years 1680 to 1684, documents the founding of Pennsylvania. The present volume covers a much longer period than Volume Two, from 1685 to 1700. WP spent most of this time in England. He reached the height of his influence at court under James II, was forced into hiding and temporarily lost the government of Pennsylvania under William and Mary, and finally returned to America in 1699 to find a colony much changed during his fifteen-year absence. The years 1685 to 1700 were turbulent for WP, holding both much promise and deep disappointment. In the public sphere WP played three major roles: as proprietor of Pennsylvania he defended his colony against the territorial claims of the neighboring Lord Baltimore and the English government's effort to tighten its control over the proprietary colonies in America; as a prominent Quaker he lobbied indefatigably for religious toleration; and as a loyal supporter of James II he was charged with treason after James's fall and was an object of suspicion to William and Mary. Just as he regained his liberty, WP experienced tragedy in the personal realm with the death of his wife, Gulielma, and his eldest son, Springett. WP was deeply grieved by these losses but found new hope and vitality in 1696 in his marriage to Hannah Callowhill, who accompanied him on his second trip to Pennsylvania, where their only "American" child, John, was born in 1700. For a chronology of WP's actions and related events from 1685 to 1700, see pp. 18-21. The documents in this third volume are ar-
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ranged in eleven sections designed to trace the principal phases of WP's life from his return to England until his second visit to America. Within each section, headnotes introduce groups of documents or individual documents and supply a running commentary upon WP's activities. The many hundreds of persons and places mentioned in these documents are identified (whenever possible) in the footnotes; these identifications may be located easily by the boldface page references in the index. The maps illustrating this volume are likewise designed to aid the reader in locating many places mentioned in the text. The appendix contains WP's most important business records for the period, including a list of subscribers for his projected settlement on the Susquehanna River and a composite rent roll of colonists in the Delaware Valley. A proportionately smaller number of WP's manuscripts survive for the sixteen years covered in Volume Three than for the five years chronicled in Volume Two. The microfilm edition of The Papers of William Penn, issued by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP in 1975, contains 311 documents for the years 1644-79, 512 documents for the years 1680—84, and 794 documents for the years 1685—1700 (see the list on pp. 738—55, below). We have added to our master file another 51 documents dating from these sixteen years (see the list on pp. 756—58, below). In preparing the present volume, we have selected 215 documents for publication. Only 116 of them have previously been published, and these are scattered in dozens of books and journals, most of them printed long ago, often in extracts, with inaccurate texts and lacking annotation. Ours is the first systematic compilation of documents concerning WP's activities as courtier, lobbyist for religious toleration in England and Pennsylvania, and absen tee proprietary governor. More than half of the documents printed in Volume Three are held by the HSP. The others come from the twenty-six depositories or private owners listed in the Acknowledgments. As in Volumes One and Two, most of WP's family correspondence in the late i68os and throughout the 16905 has been lost or destroyed. The chief exception is his correspondence with Hannah Callowhill during their engagement in 1695 and 1696 (see docs. 118, 119, 126, 128—30). No travel journals equivalent to docs. 35, 70, and 119 in Volume One survive for this period, although WP did write two autobiographical fragments (docs. 93 and 94). Some evidence of WP's financial affairs survives in a variety of accounts (see docs. 211, 213—15). Other business records for the period are too lengthy or fragmentary for inclusion in this edition (see Micro. 4:964; 6:447, 494; 8:119, 128, 591; 9:810). Most of the documents printed in Volume Three are political in Introduction • 4
character. But here, too, much is missing. WP seems to have destroyed documents that might incriminate him as an advocate and supporter of James II, thereby obscuring the record of his activities during the years of James's reign and especially during the time of WP's forced retirement from public life after the Glorious Revolution until late in 1693. From 1694, when Pennsylvania's governorship was restored to WP, until 1699, when he left for his second visit to America, little official correspondence survives. The extant records primarily reflect his efforts to defend his colony against accusations of mismanagement and disrespect for England's laws and officials. When he arrived in Pennsylvania in December 1699, his secretary, James Logan, began to keep a letterbook and the documentary record improves. However, the inner life of the governor remains—as in earlier periods of great activity and critical importance—a mystery. Despite these gaps, the documentation in The Papers of William Penn for the years 1685 to 1700 is of vital importance to anyone interested in either WP's ardent advocacy of religious toleration or his efforts to guide his rapidly growing colony. Throughout these years he was torn between commitments to England and Pennsylvania. He had come back to England in 1684 because he felt that only his personal appearance before the Lords of Trade could defend his province against Lord Baltimore's territorial claim, but his plan for a speedy return to America changed dramatically with James II's accession to the throne in 1685. Religious toleration for dissenters in England and the preservation of his chartered privileges in Pennsylvania, topics of vital interest to WP, seemed to depend on his lobbying at Whitehall. But his close association with the Catholic king exacted a heavy price. WP lost touch with the Pennsylvania colonists, who deviated more and more from his vision of a "holy experiment." In England, his association with a tyrannical regime damaged his credibility both before and after the Glorious Revolution. Only in the later 16905 did he begin to recoup his former stature as a respected and well-connected proprietor and lobbyist. Volume Three contains considerably more information on developments in Pennsylvania from 1685 to 1700 than on WP's career in England. At first, in his attempt to govern from afar, the proprietor relied on the prominent Quakers who had immigrated by 1684 (see docs. 3—7, 13). But between 1685 and 1688 he received many reports reflecting dissatisfaction and dissension in Pennsylvania (docs. 26, 30, 33, 39, 41, 49, 51, 53), and he was unable to control the divergent interests of his colonists by proclamation and exhortation (docs. 20-21, 23, 28, 32, 34, 36—37, 45, 46, 55). Therefore, in 1688 he decided to appoint John Blackwell, a non-Quaker from New England, as governor (doc. 52). Blackwell's administration was enormously unpopular Introduction
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in Pennsylvania, and WP removed him in 1689 (docs. 58, 60, 62-63, 68—69). Meanwhile, in the wake of the Glorious Revolution, WP himself was forced into hiding in England under suspicion of Jacobite plotting. During the time of his involuntary retirement from public life (1689-94), he found time to compose some of his most interesting autobiographical and meditative writings (docs. 93, 94, 102), but he was barred from taking an active role in directing his colony. The administration of Pennsylvania reverted to Thomas Lloyd and his supporters, who were challenged by George Keith, behind whom other discontented colonists rallied. By 1692 Pennsylvanians were deeply divided (docs. 76, 83—88), and outsiders saw the Keithian schism as an indication of total disorder in the colony. The crown, persuaded by those reports, commissioned Governor Fletcher of New York to administer Pennsylvania. Fletcher, like Blackwell, deliberately affronted the old Quaker elite, and, again like Blackwell, he found the colony difficult to govern. Although WP regained the governorship of Pennsylvania in 1694 (docs. 111, 112, 115), he was forced by the death of his wife and eldest son and by his precarious financial situation to postpone returning to America. The proceeds from Pennsylvania quitrents fell far short of his expectations, and the colonists were unwilling to provide him with a guaranteed income. His marriage to Hannah Callowhill in 1696 (doc. 131) brought him a sizable dower, provided that he continue to reside in England. But when the newly formed Board of Trade complained about Pennsylvania's defiance of the navigation laws, and when the colonists drafted a new frame of government in 1696 (doc. 136), WP found it increasingly difficult to remain an absentee proprietor. In 1696—97, in an effort to maintain his proprietary rights, he focused his attention intensely on colonial affairs, presenting his views to the Board of Trade and House of Lords (docs. 145—47, 149, 165, 178). Crown officials, however, judged that only WP's presence in Pennsylvania could guarantee the colonists' compliance with the laws of England. At last, in 1699, he decided to return to Pennsylvania. This second visit of 1699 to 1701 was markedly less successful than his first of 1682 to 1684. WP hoped for a speedy reform of the government and a speedy improvement in his finances — neither of which he could achieve. He was unprepared for the changes he found in the colony, in particular the deep-rooted factionalism and independence of the colonists, who refused to accept any longer the 1683 Frame of Government. Increasingly disillusioned and embittered, he was finding that during his prolonged absence his visionary "holy experiment" had crumbled. WP must now decide whether to remain for the rest of his life in Pennsylvania to restore that vision or to return to England and once again become a mere absentee landlord. Introduction
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EDITORIAL METHOD
In this edition we pursue a literal, rather than a modernized, method of textual reproduction. Our reasons for doing so are discussed in PWP, 1:15-16. We aim to print a completely faithful transcript of each original text, including blemishes and errors. When the original text has been lost, we aim to print a completely faithful transcript of the best surviving copy. In this way we try to preserve the form and style of WP's seventeenth-century papers and to introduce no further changes into his modernized papers. In general, our editorial interpolations [enclosed in square brackets] within the text are minimal. On the other hand, we provide considerable annotation. In the footnotes we clarify textual passages and identify persons and places. In both headnotes and footnotes we comment on the chief substantive issues raised in the documents. In this way we try to make each text fully intelligible to the reader. Some editors prefer to let the texts speak for themselves, but we believe that many of WP's documents are difficult to understand or appreciate without considerable editorial assistance. Our editorial rules may be summarized as follows: 1. Each document selected for publication in The Papers of William Penn is printed in full. The only exception to this rule occurs in the appendix, where we have calendared the documents relating to WP's dealings with Philip Ford (doc. 211), and where we have combined several rent rolls of the Pennsylvania and Lower Counties (doc. 215). 2. Each document is numbered, for convenient cross-reference, and is supplied with a short title. 3. The format of each document (including the salutation and complimentary closure in letters) is rendered as in the original or copy, with the following exceptions: Endorsements are treated like dockets and entered into the provenance note (see below). If a document is undated, an initial date line is supplied [within square brackets]. If a document is dated at the close but not at the top, an initial
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date line is supplied [within square brackets], and the closing date line is retained. 4. The dating of documents poses a further editorial problem. In WP's lifetime, the English employed the Julian, or Old Style, calendar, which was ten days (eleven after 18 February 1700) behind the Gregorian, or New Style, calendar used by most continental Europeans— and adopted in England and the English colonies in 1752. Seventeenth-century England began the new year officially on 25 March, but since i January also had currency as New Year's Day, some writers double-dated for the period i January to 24 March. In addition, the Quakers employed their own nomenclature. They numbered the months, counting March the first month and February the twelfth. They also numbered the days of the week, with Sunday the first day and Saturday the seventh. In this edition, when a document is dated in Quaker form, a "heathen" translation of the month is supplied [within square brackets]. When a document written between i January and 24 March is dated according to the previous year, a "modern" translation of the year is supplied [within square brackets]. Otherwise, the Old Style calendar is retained. For example, the date of WP's marriage to Hannah Callowhill, 5 March 1695/6, is rendered as 5 March 1696 and is not changed to 15 March, the Gregorian, or New Style, date for the wedding. 5. The text of each document is rendered as follows: a. Spelling is retained as written. Misspelled words are not marked with an editorial [sic]. If the sense of a word is obscured through misspelling, its meaning is clarified in a footnote. b. Capitalization is retained as written. In seventeenth-century manuscripts, the capitalization of such letters as "c," "k," "p," "s," and "w" is often a matter of judgment, and we cannot claim that our reading is definitive. Whenever it is clear to us that the initial letter in a sentence has not been capitalized, it is left lowercase. c. Punctuations and paragraphing are retained as written. When a sentence is not closed with a period, we have inserted an extra space. d. Words or phrases inserted into the text are placed {within braces}. e. Words or phrases deleted from the text are crossed through. f. Slips of the pen are retained as written and are not marked by [sic]. g. Contractions, abbreviations, superscript letters, and ampersands are retained as written, except raised brevigraphs for "-or," "-ur," "-our," "er," or "-re," which have been lowered and written out.
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When a contraction is marked by a tilde, it is also expanded. h. The thorn is rendered as "th," and superscript contractions attached to the thorn are brought down to the line and expanded, as in "the," "them," or "that." Our justification for this procedure is that we no longer have a thorn, and modern readers mistake it for "y." Likewise, since modern readers do not recognize that "u" and "v" as well as "i" and "j" were used interchangeably in the seventeenth century, we have rendered "u" as "v" or "v" as "u," and "i" as "j" or "j" as "i," whenever appropriate. i. The £ sign in superscript is rendered as "1." j. The tailed "p" is expanded into "per," "pro," or "pre," as indicated by the rest of the word. k. The long "s" is presented as a short "s." The double "ff" is presented as a capital "F." 1. Words underlined in manuscript are italicized. m. Blanks in a manuscript, torn sections, missing words, and illegible words are rendered as [blank], [torn], [missing word], [illegible word], or [illegible deletion]. If a missing word can be supplied, it is inserted [within square brackets]. If the supplied word is conjectural, it is followed by a question mark. 6. Immediately following each document, a provenance note supplies the following information: a. An indication of the nature of the document, such as ALS or Copy. See the list of Abbreviations and Short Titles, pp. 11—17, for the explanation of these abbreviations. b. A reference to the source of the document, such as the manuscript collection where the original is located or the book where the best surviving transcript is located. See the list of Abbreviations and Short Titles, pp. 11-17, for the symbols used to identify the chief depositories and printed sources. c. A reference to the HSP microfilm edition of The Papers of William Penn (1975), indicating on which reel and frame the document in question can be found. For example, Micro. 6:337 means that the document begins on the 337th frame of the 6th microfilm reel. See the Calendar of Microfilmed WP Documents, 1685—1700, on pp. 738—55. Documents not included in the microfilm edition are listed on pp. 756-58. d. The docket and address, if any. Comments on the physical condition of the document are added here, whenever appropriate. In preparing the text and editorial apparatus for the printer, we have used a Wang Office Information System 115—2. Each document selected for the volume was keyed onto a magnetic disk, compared
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twice with the original manuscript (or best surviving transcript), and corrected as necessary. Footnote numbers, editorial interpolations, provenance notes, headnotes, document titles, and footnotes were also entered into the word processor. We also used the word processor to index the volume. When the text was in finished form, we inserted a series of codes designed to command a computer-driven typesetter to produce different sizes and fonts of type for headings, text, and notes; to lead the lines of type; and to position the text on each page. From our encoded diskettes, the Winchell Company of Philadelphia then processed the text through its Penta computer and produced galleys and page proofs in Baskerville type on its Linotron 202 typesetter. Thanks to these technical procedures, we have been able to produce this complex volume with relative speed.
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ABBREVIATIONS AND SHORT TITLES
ACM Albert Cook Myers Historical Collection, Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, Pa.
Acts of Privy Council W. L. Grant and James Munro, eds., Acts of the Privy Council of England: Colonial Series, 6 vols. (1908—12; reprint, Nendeln, Liechtenstein, 1966). AD
Autograph document, not signed. ADf
Autograph draft. ADfS Autograph draft, signed. ADS
Autograph document, signed. AL
Autograph letter, not signed. ALS
Autograph letter, signed. Alumni Cantabrigienses John Venn and J. A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses, pt. i, From the Earliest Times to 1751, 4 vols. (Cambridge, 1922—27). Alumni Oxonienses Joseph Foster, Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1500-1714, vol. i, Early Series (Oxford, 1891). Andrews, Colonial Period Charles M. Andrews, The Colonial Period of American History, 4 vols. (New Haven, 1934-38). APS
American Philosophical Society. Ashley, James II Maurice Ashley, James II (London, 1977). Baronetage G. E. C. [George Edward Cokayne], Complete Baronetage, 5 vols. (Exeter, 1900—1909).
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Baxter, William III Stephen B. Baxter, William III and the Defense of European Liberty, 16501702 (New York, 1966). Besse Joseph Besse, A Collection of the Sufferings (London, 1753).
of the People Called Quakers
BFHA Bulletin of Friends' Historical Association.
BL British Library, London. Black's Law Dictionary Henry Campbell Black et al., eds., Black's Law Dictionary (St. Paul, 1979). Blackstone William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, 4 vols., 8th ed. (Oxford, 1778). Braithwaite, Beginnings William C. Braithwaite, The Beginnings of Quakerism (London, 1912). Braithwaite, Second Period William C. Braithwaite, The Second Period of Quakerism, zd ed., ed. Henry J. Cadbury (Cambridge, 1961). Burke's Landed Gentry Bernard Burke, ed., A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland for 1852 (London, 1852). Burke's Peerage Bernard Burke, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, 2 vols., gGth ed. (London, 1938). Burnet [Gilbert Burnet], Bishop Burnet's History of His Own Time (London, 1857). Charter and Laws Staughton George et al., eds., Charter to William Penn and Laws of the Province of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, 1879). Copy Contemporary copy. Courts of Bucks County J. E. B. Buckenham, ed., Records of the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1684-1700 (Meadville, Pa., !943)CSPC W. Noel Sainsbury et al., eds., Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies, multivolume series in progress (London, 1860—). CSPD Mary Anne Everett Green et al., eds., Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1603-1704, 85 vols. (London, 1857—1972).
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CTB William A. Shaw et al., Calendar of Treasury Books, 1660-1718, 32 vols. (London, 1904-1962). D
Document in the hand of a clerk, not signed by the author. DAB Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, 20 vols. with index and supplements (New York, 1928—38). Df
Draft in the hand of a clerk, not signed by the author. DfS
Draft in the hand of a clerk, signed by the author. DNB Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, eds., Dictionary of National Biography, 63 vols. with supplements (New York and London, 1885-1900). DQB Dictionary of Quaker Biography, typescript, Quaker Collection, Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.
Douglas, Bible Dictionary J. D. Douglas, ed., The New Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, 1979). Drinker, Hannah Penn Sophie Hutchinson Drinker, Hannah Penn and the Proprietorship of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1958). DS
Document in the hand of a clerk, signed by the author. Early American Indian Documents Donald H. Kent, ed., Early American Indian Documents: Treaties and Laws, 1607-1789 (Washington, D.C., 1979). FLL
Library of the Religious Society of Friends, London. Fox
Norman Penney, ed., The Journal of George Fox, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1911). Fox, Short Journal Norman Penney, ed., The Short Journal and Itinerary Journals of George Fox (Cambridge, 1925). Futhey and Cope J. Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1881). GSP
Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania Collections, housed at HSP. Hazard, Annals Samuel Hazard, Annals of Pennsylvania, from the Discovery of the Delaware (Philadelphia, 1850).
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Hinshaw William Wade Hinshaw, Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, 6 vols. (Ann Arbor, 1936—50). HMC Historical Manuscripts Commission.
Holme, Map Thomas Holme, A Map of the Improved Part of the Province of Pennsilvania in America (London, 1687). See pp. 644-49, below. Hotten John Camden Hotten, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality . . . Who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700 (New York, 1930HSP Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Janney Samuel M. Janney, The Life of William Penn (Philadelphia, 1852). Jenkins Howard M. Jenkins, The Family of William Penn, Founder of Pennsylvania, Ancestry and Descendants (Philadelphia, 1899). JFHS The Journal of the Friends' Historical Society. Jordan Wilfred Jordan, ed., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, 16 vols. (1911; reprint, Baltimore, 1978). Kenyon, Sunderland J. P. Kenyon, Robert Spencer: Earl of Sunderland, 1641-1702 (London,
1958)-
Laymon, Commentary on the Bible Charles M. Laymon, The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible (Nashville, 1971). LBC
Letterbook copy. Lewis, "Courts of Pennsylvania" Lawrence Lewis, Jr., "The Courts of Pennsylvania in the Seventeenth Century," PMHB, 5:141 -190. LS
Letter in the hand of a clerk, signed by the author. Luttrell Narcissus Luttrell, A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs, 6 vols. (1857; reprint, Wilmington, Del., 1974). MBE Minute book entry.
McCusker, Money and Exchange John J. McCusker, Money and Exchange in Europe and America, 1600—1775: A Handbook (Chapel Hill, N. C., 1978).
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Md. Archives William Hand Browne et al., eds., Archives of Maryland, multivolume series in progress (Baltimore, 1883—). Micro. The Papers of William Penn, HSP, 14 reels and guide (microfilm, 1975). References are to reel and frame. Minutes of the Provincial Council Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1852). Mortimer, i Russell Mortimer, ed., Minute Book of the Men's Meeting of the Society of Friends in Bristol, 1667-1686 (Bristol, 1971). Mortimer, 2 Russell Mortimer, ed., Minute Book of the Men's Meeting of the Society of Friends in Bristol, 1686-1704 (Bristol, 1977). Myers, Immigration Albert Cook Myers, Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania (1902; reprint, Baltimore, 1969). Nash, Quakers and Politics Gary B. Nash, Quakers and Politics: Pennsylvania, 1681—1726 (Princeton, 1968). New York Col Docs. E. B. O'Callaghan and Berthold Fernow, eds., Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, 15 vols. (Albany, 1856-87). NJA William A. Whitehead et al., eds., Archives of the State of New Jersey, ist ser., 42 vols. (Newark, 1880-1949). OED The Oxford English Dictionary, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1971). Oxford Classical Dictionary N. G. L. Hammond and H. H. Scullard, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2d ed. (Oxford, 1970). Oxford Companion to Law David M. Walker, The Oxford Companion to Law (Oxford, 1980). PA
Pennsylvania Archives (Philadelphia and Harrisburg, 1852—). Passengers and Ships Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr., ed., Passengers and Ships Prior to 1684 (Baltimore, 1970). Peare Catherine Owens Peare, William Penn (Philadelphia, 1956). Peerage G. E. C. [George Edward Cokayne], ed., The Complete Peerage, 13 vols., 2d ed., ed. Vicary Gibbs et al. (London, 1910-59).
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Perry, Historical Collections William S. Perry, Historical Collections Relating to the American Colonial Church (1871; reprint, New York, 1969). PGM Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. PMHB Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Pomfret, East New Jersey John E. Pomfret, The Province of East New Jersey, 1609-1702 (Princeton, 1962). Pomfret, West New Jersey John E. Pomfret, The Province of West New Jersey, 1609—7702 (Princeton, 1956). PRO
Public Record Office, London. Proceedings and Debates Leo F. Stock, ed., Proceedings and Debates of the British Parliament Respecting North America (Washington, D.C., 1924—30), vols. 1—3.
PWP, i Mary Maples Dunn and Richard S. Dunn, eds., The Papers of William Penn, vol. i (Philadelphia, 1981). PWP,
2
Richard S. Dunn and Mary Maples Dunn, eds., The Papers of William Penn, vol. 2 (Philadelphia, 1982).
PWP, vol. 5 Edwin B. Bronner and David Eraser, The Papers of William Penn, vol. 5, William Penns Published Writings, 1660-1726: An Interpretive Bibliography (Philadelphia, 1986). Raimo, Governors John W. Raimo, Biographical Directory of American Colonial and Revolutionary Governors, 1607-1789 (Westport, Conn., 1980). Roach, "Blackwell Rent Roll" Hannah Benner Roach, "The Blackwell Rent Roll, 1689," PGM, 23:68-94. Roach, "Directory" Hannah Benner Roach, "Philadelphia Business Directory, 1690," PGM, 23:95-129. Root, Relations of Pennsylvania Winfred T. Root, The Relations of Pennsylvania with the British Government, 1696—1765 (New York, 1912). Scharf, Delaware J. Thomas Scharf, History of Delaware, 1609-1888, 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1888). Scharf and Westcott J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, 3 vols. (Philadelphia, 1884).
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Shepherd William Robert Shepherd, History of Proprietary Government in Pennsylvania (New York, 1896). Smith Joseph Smith, A Descriptive Catalogue of Friends' Books, 2 vols. and supplement (London, 1867 and 1893). Soderlund, William Penn Jean R. Soderlund, ed., William Penn and the Founding of Pennsylvania: A Documentary History (Philadelphia, 1983). Statutes James T. Mitchell and Henry Flanders, comps., The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, 1682-1701, 2 vols. (Harrisburg, 1896-1915). Statutes at Large The Statutes at Large from Magna Carta to 1806, 46 vols. (Cambridge, 1762-1807). Steele, Colonial Policy I. K. Steele, Politics of Colonial Policy: The Board of Trade in Colonial Administration, 1696—1720 (Oxford, 1968).
Transcript Modern (post-i7i8) copy. Trigger, North American Indians Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant, vol. 15: Northeast, ed. Bruce G. Trigger (Washington, D.C., 1978).
VCH W. Page et al., The Victoria History of the Counties of England (London, 1900—). Votes and Proceedings Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia., 1752), vol. i. Watson, Annals John F. Watson, Annals of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania, in the Olden Time, 3 vols., rev. ed., ed. Willis P. Hazard (Philadelphia, 1905). Wing Donald Wing, ed., Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America and of English Books Printed in Other Countries, 1641-1700, 3 vols. (New York, 1951). WMQ The William and Mary Quarterly.
Works [Joseph Besse, ed.], A Collection of the Works of William Penn, 2 vols. (London, 1726).
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A WILLIAM PENN CHRONOLOGY, i6#5—1700
1685
1686
1687
1688
1689
7 February. Congratulates James II on his accession to the throne. 10 June. Adds Pennsbury and two other proprietary manors to his mortgage of 300,000 acres to Philip Ford. August-October. Lobbies king and lords of trade for settlement of dispute with Lord Baltimore over the Lower Counties. November. Lords of trade decide Delaware boundary dispute in WP's favor. Publication of A Perswasive to Moderation. 9 March. Granted special pardon by James II from legal proceedings against Quakers. June-August. Travels to the Netherlands and Germany publicly to visit Friends, secretly to meet with William of Orange on behalf of James II. Fall. Tours north and west England to promote Pennsylvania and to mediate disputes among Friends. April. Mortgages Pennsylvania to Philip Ford. April. Declaration of Indulgence issued by James II. May. Presents Quakers' address of gratitude to king. June. Publishes Good Advice to the Church of England. August-September. Accompanies James II on progress through west of England. Winter 1687-88. Joins in James IFs campaign for a tolerationist Parliament. 12 July. Appoints John Blackwell deputy governor of Pennsylvania. November-December. William of Orange lands at Torbay; James II flees to France. December. Arrested and posts bail. 27 February. Warrant issued against WP for suspicion of treason. May. Blackwell clashes with Pennsylvania Assembly. 73 May. Discharged by Privy Council. 22, 26 June. Second warrant issued; arrested on suspicion of treason.
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1690
c. July. Released on bail. 25 September. Replaces Blackwell with commissions to Provincial Council. 27 September. In custody in London. 25 October. Released on bail. 2 November. William and Mary's accession proclaimed in Pennsylvania. 28 November. Discharged by King's Bench. i January. Provincial Council becomes new deputy governor, with Thomas Lloyd as president. 14 July. Proclaimed against for suspicion of high treason. i August. Surrenders; imprisoned for a month. 30 August-3 September. Conveys Pennsylvania and the Lower Counties to Philip Ford. Fall. Publishes Some Proposals for a Second Settlement in the Province of Pennsylvania.
1691
1692
1693
1694
28 November. Discharged by order of the court of King's Bench. 13 January. Death in London of George Fox. WP attends funeral although pursued again by the authorities. 5 February. Proclaimed against for high treason. c. 25 February. Meets secretly with Henry Sidney to plead his case with William III. April. Lower Counties' councilors withdraw from Provincial Council in protest as Thomas Lloyd is elected deputy governor. 7 November. Told that William III considers him to be "one of his greatest enemies." September. Confronted with deep factionalism in Pennsylvania heightened by the Keithian schism. October-November. Benjamin Fletcher appointed governor of Pennsylvania by the crown. WP urges colonists to challenge his authority. Throughout the year. Devotes much time to meditative composition, such as the Fruits of Solitude.
February. Asks people of Pennsylvania to make him an interest-free loan of £10,000. December. Succeeds in regaining his personal freedom. 23 February. Death of Gulielma Penn. May-June. London Yearly Meeting censures George Keith for spreading erroneous opinions. 4 July. Petitions the queen for return of his colony. 9 August. Order in Council revokes Fletcher's commission and restores Pennsylvania to WP. c. ii September. Death of Thomas Lloyd. Winter. Embarks on extended tour of Quaker meetings in western England.
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WP's Preface to George Fox's Journal arouses animosity among Friends. Published separately as Rise and Progress of the . . . Quakers. 1695
February. Disputes with George Keith at Ratcliff meeting in London. May. George Keith disowned by London Yearly Meeting. September. Pennsylvania Assembly refuses to meet New York's defense request. Divisive political struggle over the Frame of Government. ii, 25 November. WP and Hannah Callowhill announce to Bristol Men's Monthly Meeting their intention to marry. Winter. Tours Quaker meetings in Western England. Encounters difficulty with authorities in Gloucester.
1696
5 March. Marries Hannah Callowhill. March. Passage of a new Navigation Act. 10 April. Eldest son, Springett, dies at Lewes, Sus. 20 April. English Affirmation Act becomes law. May. Establishment of the Board of Trade. 7 May. Counsels Meeting for Sufferings to show outward unity on affirmation question. October. Board of Trade actively considers establishment of vice-admiralty courts in the colonies. November. New Frame of Government passed in Pennsylvania without WP's knowledge. Assembly agrees to provide money for defense of New York. 16 November. Appears before the Board of Trade with other colonial agents to protest against proposed vice-admiralty courts.
1697
12—13 January. Purchases Susquehanna Valley from Thomas Dongan for £100. c. 8 February. Presents draft of A Breife and Plaine Scheam to the Board of Trade. 12 February. Presents memorial to the Board of Trade opposing Pennsylvania's military quota for the defense of New York. March. Answers Edward Randolph's charges of illegal trade and piracy in Pennsylvania, and presents counterproposal for advancement of trade in America to select committee of House of Lords. 10 March. Disputed election in Philadelphia indicates growing antagonism between Quakers and non-Quakers in Pennsylvania. i December. Expresses concern over new Frame and possible loss of Pennsylvania charter. Indicates his intention of leaving for America by 10 April 1698.
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1698
10 February. Petition from Philadelphia Monthly Meeting for a free chartered public school. 14 February. Writes to Board of Trade opposing proprietors' giving security for their deputies. 2 April. Rents Pennsylvania from Philip Ford for three years at £630 per annum. 18 April. Writes to Peter the Great at Deptford explaining Quaker principles. 6 May. Arrives at Dublin to visit Quaker meetings and his estates. 14 May. Gospel-Truths held and briefly Declared, by WP and others, published at Dublin. Begins pamphlet controversy with the bishop of Cork and Ross. i July. Dispenses advice to Lords Justices on potential economic improvements for Ireland. 79 August. Leaves Cork. Arrives at Minehead two days later. 9 November. Estimates his losses in Ireland at £9700. 9 December. Presents memorial to Board of Trade defending actions of Pennsylvania in relation to the Navigation Act and illegal trade.
1699
T
1700
$ May. Robert Quary provides Board of Trade with lengthy critique of Pennsylvania's illegal trade practices. August. Prepares for departure for America. Gives Philip Ford power of attorney to act on his behalf. 37 August. Board of Trade annuls Pennsylvania's Act for Preventing Frauds, previously vetoed by WP. 3 September. Sails for America from the Isle of Wight. 12 September. Told by Board of Trade to remove David Lloyd as attorney general of Pennsylvania. 3 December. Arrives in Pennsylvania. c. 13 December. Imprisons Robert Bradenham, physician to Captain Kidd. 28 January. Birth of John Penn, WP's only child born in America. May-June. Unable to achieve consensus in the General Assembly about revisions of existing laws and constitution. June. Agrees to govern Pennsylvania by the charter and royal patent from Charles II until a new constitution promulgated. Summer. Retreats to Pennsbury. 22 September-^. October. Meets with earl of Bellomont and Francis Nicholson in New York for discussion of intercolonial matters of mutual concern to the governors. 14 October-2j November. Attends General Assembly session at New Castle; representatives revise existing laws of Pennsylvania.
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THE ABSENTEE PROPRIETOR 1685
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In January 1685 WP was forty years old and at the peak of his career. He was the most conspicuous member of the Society of Friends, the author of some sixty books, pamphlets, and broadsides in support of Quakerism, and a tireless campaigner against the English government's policy of Quaker persecution. Although the sect he belonged to was despised by most highly placed Englishmen, WP had proved to be a remarkably effective lobbyist at the hostile Stuart court: he had entree to Charles II, was patronized by the king's Catholic brother, the duke of York, and could claim support from a good many ministers and bureaucrats at Whitehall. WP was also the most successful English colonizer of his generation; having obtained a royal charter for Pennsylvania in 1681, he had created a distinctive plan for his new society and had drawn thousands of settlers to the Delaware Valley from Britain, Europe, and the other American colonies. WP had spent nearly two years himself in Pennsylvania and had returned to England in October 1684 in order to appeal to the royal government against Lord Baltimore, the proprietor of neighboring Maryland. WP and Baltimore could not agree on the boundary line between their colonies; WP had claimed jurisdiction in 1681 over the upper Chesapeake Bay and the mouth of the Susquehanna River, and Baltimore had countered in 1683 by trying to annex the three Lower Counties (the present state of Delaware). WP came home expecting to obtain a quick settlement with Baltimore so that he could return to America, bringing with him his wife and children. But he had to delay his appeal to the king because the evidence he had gathered for his case against Baltimore had accidentally been left behind in Pennsylvania. And by the time his agents sent over the missing evidence in the summer of 1685, WP had decided to postpone his return because his presence was needed more in England than in America. The pivotal event of 1685 for WP was the death of Charles II and the accession of James II on 6 February (doc. i). The new king had long been WP's principal benefactor at court, so WP knew that 25
his chances of a favorable ruling in the Maryland boundary dispute were much improved. And WP saw a chance to use his influence with James II in other, more fundamental, ways. It has long puzzled historians that WP, a notable champion of religious toleration and of participatory government, had a client-patron relationship with James II, the most bigoted and autocratic of Stuart kings. The documents printed in this volume shed disappointingly little light on WP's behindthe-scenes role at James II's court, because almost all of WP's political papers for 1685—1688 have disappeared. But it is clear that the two men, both victims of harassment by the established Anglican church, had need of each other on the vexed question of religious policy. WP had long advocated a broad-based policy of toleration for English dissenters and Catholics. In 1685 the contrast between Quaker liberty in Pennsylvania and Quaker persecution in England seems to have struck WP very forcibly; he himself had been arrested in November 1684 and fined £20 for preaching at a Friends' meeting in Westminster. James II, for his part, was determined to reinstate Catholicism and subvert Anglicanism as far as possible. The king was no friend to the dissenting sects and he only really wanted toleration for Catholics, but he saw that the support of dissenters such as WP would be very useful in his campaign against the Church of England. In 1685 WP published several tracts advocating toleration; in one of these, A Perswasive to Moderation, he appealed directly to James II and closed with the exclamation: "Vivat Rex." But WP was not entirely devoted to the new king. His correspondence shows that he was quite fearful of James's arbitrary and capricious style of government. In doc. 6, WP warily discusses Monmouth's rebellion against James of June 1685 and the king's brutal suppression of the rebels. In a letter of 2 October to Thomas Lloyd, he wrote: "About 300 hanged in divers towns in the west, about 1000 to be transported, I begg'd 20 of the King." (Micro. 5:286.) WP urged the Pennsylvania Quakers to demonstrate their loyalty to the new king, especially since James II was centralizing his American colonial administration and was challenging most of the proprietary and corporate governments. The Massachusetts and Bermuda charters had already been surrendered in 1684, New York became a royal colony in 1685, an 93' 112. US38. George Forman, a merchant, moved from Passyunk on the east bank of the Schuylkill River to Marcus Hook, Chester Co., in 1686. PWP, 2:344^ 39. WP misdated this part of his letter, since he gives the date of his writing in the text as Saturday, 18 July 1685. 40. Capt. Anton Buys, "the Brandenburger," had been recruited to command Monmouth's artillery. CSPD, 1685, p. 260; W. MacDonald Wigfield, The Monmouth Rebellion (Totowa, N J., 1980), pp. 28, 78. 41. Commissions to officers in the levy raised to meet Monmouth's Rebellion. 42. Wednesday, 15 July 1685, 43. William, Lord Russell (1639-1683), was a leader among the Whigs who sought to prevent James, duke of York, from inheriting the throne. Russell was charged with complicity in the Rye House Plot against the Stuart monarchy and beheaded on 21 July 1683. PWP, 2.'426n. 44. Richard Goodenough, a London lawyer and under-sheriff, was outlawed after the Rye House Plot, fled to the Netherlands, and became Monmouth's "secretary of state." He escaped execution in 1685 by turning informer. Wigfield, The Monmouth Rebellion, p. 28; DNB. 45. Robert Ferguson (d. 1714), a Presbyterian preacher and pamphleteer, was among the outlawed Whig exiles in the Netherlands when he became chaplain to Monmouth's army. When the rebellion failed, he slipped back to the Netherlands. Wigfield, The Monmouth Rebellion, p. 30; DNB. 46. John Snashold (d. 1682), a First Purchaser from Chiltington, Sus., died on the ship Welcome. Neither his will nor the administration have been found, and Tucker's wife and the old maid who lived with John Day, a London carpenter and First Purchaser, cannot be identified. PWP, 2:653; Passenger and Ships, p. 58. 47. William Wade, a First Purchaser from Sussex and passenger on the Welcome, died on his way to Pennsylvania. PWP, 2:656; Passengers and Ships, pp. 8, 10; PMHB, 29:317-18. 48. Benjamin Chambers ^.1715), a Quaker turner from Kent and First Purchaser of 1000 acres, arrived in 1682, succeeded Nicholas More as president of the Free Society of Traders, and served as high sheriff in 1686 and water bailiff in 1690. PWP, 2:375n; Passengers and Ships, p. 57; Roach, "Directory," p. 101; PA, 2d ser., 19:11, i3 ? i?' 1949. The Free Society of Traders. 50. WP recommended John Wildford (Wilford) in another letter to Thomas Lloyd (i July 1685). Micro. 5:191. 51. John Saxby arrived on 6 Aug. 1685 on the ship Charles with his wife and five August 1685
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children. In another letter of recommendation (7 Aug. 1685) WP directed the provincial councilors to find employment for Saxby and his son John, "an excellent scribe." Passengers and Ships, pp. 165-66; Hinshaw, 2:417; Minutes of the Provincial Council, p. 186; Micro. 5:251. 52. Samuel Jennings and Thomas Budd were returning from a lengthy stay in England. See doc. 3, n. 24. 53. Wednesday, 15 July 1685. 54. Thomas, second Lord Culpeper (1635-1689), had been governor-general of Virginia from 1678 to 1683. PWP, 2:350-5in; Stephen Saunders Webb, The GovernorsGeneral: The English Army and the Definition of Empire, 1569-1681 (Chapel Hill, 1979), pp. 373, 510; also doc. 12. 55. The address (see provenance note) is inserted here. 56. The depositions are those of Aaron Dirksen Horn, Peter Lowrenson, and Catolina Trico. Micro. 5:100, 130, 153; PWP, 2:6o3n. 57. Another part of WP's letter is missing here. 58. James Harrison. 59. On 13 May 1685, Mayor Gabriel Minville and the aldermen of the city of New York had pleaded with James IFs secretary, Sir John Werden, to initiate steps that would stop the decline of development, trade, and revenues in New York. Pomfret, East New Jersey, p. 256; NJA, 1:491-92. 60. On 15 July 1685 the Lords of Trade recommended that the attorney general enter writs of quo warranto against the proprietors of East and West New Jersey and the Lower Counties. Pomfret, East New Jersey, p. 256. 61. In 1684 New York merchants had received permission from the English government to ship Virginia tobacco to England through their port without paying the standard export tax of one penny per pound. PWP, 2:470^ 62. Ireland's provision trade of beef and butter to the West Indies. 63. Not found. 64. WP is advising Lloyd that vessels built in Scotland, France, or the Netherlands but registered in England should not be seized for condemnation in Pennsylvania courts, but sent to England for trial. 65. Joshua Cart (d. 1705), a saddler of Bristol who owned land between Springfield and Moreland Manors (see doc. 210), had lent WP a few hundred pounds before he and his first wife, Jane, immigrated to Pennsylvania. When WP could not repay the loan out of revenues due to him, Cart sued him for the money plus interest when he returned to England in 1687. Mortimer, 2:237; Hinshaw, 2:482; docs. 28, n. 12; 50, n. 7; 53; Micro. 5:593, 786, 982. 66. Thomas Holme. 67. The battle of Sedgemoor; see n. 30, above. 68. The Quakers did not support Monmouth in his rebellion. In particular, the loyalty to James II of Friends imprisoned for their beliefs in Ilchester, Som., was described and publicized by John Whiting, Persecution Exposed (London, 1715), Smith, 2:920-21. 69. See above, n. 51. 70. Christopher Taylor (d. 1686), a Quaker preacher and schoolmaster, was a First Purchaser of 5000 acres in Pennsylvania, where he first settled at Bristol, Bucks Co., and later on Tinicum Island. He was elected to the first Provincial Council in 1683 and served as WP's register general. PWP, 2:i3on. 71. See n. 5, above. 72. Gilbert Mace was a London investor in the Free Society of Traders. The other potential immigrant may have been either James Marlow of Reading, Berks., or his son John, whom WP characterizes in a later letter to James Logan (7 Mar. 1712) as an "ould friend of mine." See doc. 8; Digests of Quaker Records, London and Middx., GSP; Micro. 14:373. 73. Griffith Jones and James Claypoole. Jones (d. 1712), a leading Quaker and a member of the Free Society of Traders, bought 5000 acres in Pennsylvania, where he became a prominent merchant, tavern owner, and civic leader (provincial councilor, 1688; mayor, 1704). He later became a leading Keithian and an opponent of proprietary interests. PWP, 2:i96n. 74. Stamford, Delamere, and Gerard were prominent Whigs imprisoned in con-
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nection with the Rye House Plot and charged with complicity in Monmouth's Rebellion. Thomas Grey (1654-1720), second earl of Stamford, was pardoned in 1689 and eventually served as president of the Board of Trade (1699-1702; 1707-11). Henry Booth (1652-1694), second baron of Delamere and later first earl of Warrington, was acquitted in 1685 and took up arms for the prince of Orange in 1688. Charles, first Baron Gerard of Brandon and earl of Macclesfield (d. 1694), fled to the continent in 1685 and commanded William of Orange's bodyguard in 1688. DNB. 75. The Rye House Plot. 76. Newgate prison in London. 77. Abraham Holme (d. 1685), an Anabaptist major in Monck's army, was executed in 1685. DNB78. WP means "actions." 79. Taunton and Bridgwater, two towns southwest of Bristol, gave Monmouth a rapturous welcome, for which they suffered severe penalties. 80. This enclosure has not been found. 81. Quaker. 82. Henri Turenne (1611-1675), vicomte de la Tour d'Auvergne, was one of the great commanders of the Thirty Years War and marshall of France under Louis XIV. 83. The equivalent of about £80 sterling. 84. Marialuisa of Orleans was the first wife of the Spanish king, Charles II (16651700). 85. Leopold I (1640-1705), the German emperor and king of Hungary and Bohemia, continued to fight the Turks who had besieged Vienna in 1683. 86. Thomas Ellis (d. 1688), a Quaker minister from Wales, settled at Haverford in 1683 and became register general of Pennsylvania in 1687. PWP, 2:615. 87. Philip Theodore Lehnmann. 88. Sarah Hersent of Warminghurst, Sus., a former servant of the Penns and a non-emigrant First Purchaser. Samuel Hersent (d. 1688), another former Penn servant, was a Quaker tradesman from London, who owned land near Pennsbury and was sheriff of Phila. Co. on 28 July 1685. PWP, i:i3in; 2:645, 6o9n; doc. 210. 89. An investor in Pennsylvania real estate had to apply for a warrant to have the land laid out, surveyed, and deeded before any land could be taken up for settlement. WP's agents required that First Purchasers who claimed city and liberty lots in addition to country tracts take out three warrants; WP was trying to simplify this costly and cumbersome procedure. PWP, 2:571-72, 576n-77n; Mary Maples Dunn and Richard S. Dunn, "The Founding, 1681-1701," Philadelphia: A joo-Year History, ed. Russel F. Weigley (New York, 1982), pp. 16-18. 90. The rate for land in the liberties was set at two shillings per acre. Five shillings per acre—the quitrent WP set for one acre of a city lot was five shillings—was therefore too much by more than half. PWP, 2:358-59, 571-72, 576-77^ 91. See docs. 9 and 10.
TO JAMES
7 HARRISON
[19 May 1685] Dear J Harrison. My dear love salutes thee & thy wife & the famely, with thy son & daughter, & all Frds as free in thos parts, desireing your preservation every way. & that the lord would bless to you, your honest care & Industry. Dr: James. I like all the account thou sentest me; but that about selling the farm below, because it lay neer my mannor & gave an access to the Creek, besides it is most extrordinary land, & so soon as our
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difference1 is ended, it will treble; but thou didst for the best, & knew better then I the need of doeing it. I hope they goe on with the housen & Gardens. & pray lett them finish that wch is built as fast as they can. I would have steps at the water side, & out of one court into another layd, also at the door, the partition between the best parler & the great Room the servants used to eat in, should be wainscoated up; -Sc {even wth the chimnys at least} double {leav'd} doors, one next one 8c t'other next to ther room, wch makes a kind of dark closet between {& no matter for wainscoat}. The doors had best be large between the other parlor & the withdrawing room. I hope Ralph has layd out the Garden next the house, & that the court be taken in that is on the timber side.2 I have no prospect yet of returning, but as soon as I can, for I should rejoyce to see your faces once again. I bless the Lord I am well wth my famely. my dr: wife in town, who3 love is to thee & thy wife, & the famely4 tho mostly unknown. Cap1 East charges you all wth letting the ship lye 3 or 4 Months by the wall to his & my detrem1 & that he drew a protest agst you for it. that he had made a proffitable voyage in that time if you had resolved. I cannot tell how to contradict him.5 I would have the Barge in a close dry dock, to save her; else the sun above & water below will spoyle her. I am sorry my forty or fifty pound charge of the sloop is flung away upon oystershells,6 I hope it will not be so spoyled. If the cattle of Colonel Loyd are not brought home, desolve the bargain,7 because I will supply you wth beef from Irland. I hope the beef came well, tho late, by way of Barbadoes. Wm Meads Anger Is not much heeded by any. I have been plain wth G.F. about that & also the abuse of Ch. Tayler.8 but all is flatt. They are mute of a long time now. lett J. Gray9 be spoak to for a leaps for my three mares, bay & two white. I hope you gett enclosures for pasture wr you can. I must needs say, thy letter gave me good content. I desireth to be frequent in thy intellegence. I shall per J. Richardson, credit thee for the 2O1 thou desiredst wth young Bland.10 If Ralph this fall, could gett twenty young populars, about 18 inches round, beheaded, to twenty foot, to plant in a walk below the steps to the water It were not amiss, perhaps to 15 foot long for a Round head, may do as well, plant them in the 8mo is well. My love to J & P. Rowland. I accepted his bill, tho he gave RE 11 a full discharge for his wifes concern. Sam. Jinings is now with me & so is Bror J.R 12 their dr. love is to thee: myn dearly to Frds on both sides the water, the Lord be w th them, pray take ben: waler to our famely If willing, when his time is out wth W. Biddle. his father has ten times desired me. tho I again & again to
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him, his sisters & A. whithead13 declared he was not used so hardly as reported, & that it was not true that they made him work as a serv1 in the 6mo or before his time expires, pray be carefull the spouts wrong not the foundation, a kitchen, washouse brew house & stable will be wanted, but I Know how to shift. Thes are the things that at present come to my minde. I rely upon thy care & fidelity in my business there. I am a man of providence, tost to & froe, but the Lord is with me, & that is my strength & Joy. R. o Barrow14 was with me today, is gone ho homeward, his love to Frds. as to truth, things are not so fresh as I have known it. a dark & odd time; yet some tenderness to Frds in the powrs more then to all other professors. I desire thee to speak to Tho: Holmes15 to lay out John Bellers land in Right of R. Marsh forth with in the great vally on the back of the Schoolkil about 16 or 18 miles from Philadelphia.16 I have sent some news papers And books, by wch thou willt pe[r]ceive w1 is stirring. so dear James, in the ancient true & never dying love, I remain Thy Cordiall Frd 9 3mo 85. 9 3mo 85. ALS. Penn Papers, Domestic and Miscellaneous Letters, HSP. (Micro. 5:163.) Addressed: For James Harri[son] | at Pennsberry in | Pennsilvani[a]. Docketed: ig th 3mo 851. WP's boundary dispute with Baltimore was being argued before the Lords of Trade (Committee of the Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations); see doc. 14. 2. See doc. 4, n. 9. 3. WP means "whose." 4. Members of the Pennsbury household. WP's wife Gulielma had never met most of the servants and slaves at Pennsbury. 5. Capt. Benjamin East was the master of a ship of which WP owned 7/s and East Vs. This vessel, which arrived in Philadelphia shortly after WP had sailed for England, made a loss on that voyage, and WP's commissioners of estate and revenue ordered the ship laid up to avoid further losses. PWP, 2:599, Goon, 611-12, 6i4n. 6. WP did not want his sloop beached and allowed to rot. Micro. 5:338. 7. WP had apparently agreed to purchase cattle from Col. Philemon Lloyd (16471685), a prominent merchant-planter of Wye, Talbot Co., Md. PWP, 2:384^ doc. 22, text at n. 29. 8. William Mead (1628-1713), a leading London Quaker merchant, had been WP's fellow defendant in the Penn-Mead trial of 1670 but later opposed WP on many issues. George Fox (1624-1691), the most prominent early Friend, was Mead's fatherin-law. Fox had known Christopher Taylor for over 30 years. PWP, 2:g2n, i3on; Braithwaite, Second Period, pp. 207-8; doc. 6, n. 70. 9. See doc. 3, n. 11. 10. Peter Bland or possibly his relative "N. Bland." Peter Bland was a First Purchaser whose 500 acres in Phila. Co. were patented in 1684 (PWP, 2:638). 11. Philip Ford. 12. John Penington (1655-1710), half-brother of Gulielma Penn, was a Quaker publicist who became a vocal opponent of George Keith in the 16905. PWP, i:i32n. 13. Ann Downer Whitehead (1624-1686), the first wife of George Whitehead
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(doc. 93), was one of the earliest and most important Quaker preachers in London. PWP, 2:6oyn. 14. Possibly Robert Barrow; see doc. 4, n. 21. 15. Thomas Holme (c. 1624-1695), WP's surveyor general for Pennsylvania, represented Phila. Co. in the Provincial Council 1683-85 and acquired large tracts of land in the colony. Holme is best known for his plan of Philadelphia, A Portraiture of the City of Philadelphia (London, 1683), and for his map of the province, A Mapp of the Improved Part of Pennsylvania in America (London, 1687). PWP, 2:i27n, 515; below, doc. 210. 16. John Sellers (c. 1654-1725), a prominent Quaker philanthropist and a friend of WP, wrote numerous addresses to Friends and published schemes on employment and education of the poor, on improvement of prison conditions, and on elimination of war (DNB). Bellers was not a First Purchaser, but he evidently obtained the rights to some or all of Richard Marsh's 10,000 acres in Pennsylvania, 2000 acres of which were surveyed in Phila. Co. in 1684 (PWP, 2:638; Mortimer, 1:209). WP's description of this land points to Valley Forge, but Holme's map of 1687 does not show a tract there in either Marsh's or Bellers's name. See doc. 210.
8 PETITION FROM THE FREE SOCIETY OF TRADERS [15 June 1685] To our Worthy and welbeloved Freind William Penn Governer and Princepall subscriber In the sociatys stoke in the Province of Pensilvania Greeting: Dear Freind wee the undernamed with many others being subscribers in the Sociatie of Trade in Pensilvania from A sincere love to thee and a«d the good Improvement of that Province as well as from A great Incoridgment of Increas in Trade sugjested to us by the first undertakers) Many of us have put into the Stock very large According to what we have (in hopes by the help of Devine providence and Carefull Mannagement of the undertakers, who we thought would have had Regard to the gennerall good of the whole before their owne privat Interest) we should receive good satisfaction in our yearly Account as Promist of the Increase or decrease of our Stoke whereby we Might be Inabled to dispose therof according as occation shal require but to this time we have had no Account but what some have got by their pertickuler inquiree which thing greatly dissatisfies us and makes us to doupt whether their be a Right Correspondence and Mutuall agrement amongst those Intrusted as wee Wish if their be not we feare the Concequence will be very ingerous to many of us: therfore we Make this our adress and humbl request to thee desireing thou wilt be pleased to take Further inspection into the affairs of the Compani for our sakes: yet we beleive and are sencible thou hast been ready At all times as occation haith requird to promote its Interest but be pleased to Consider many of the subscribers are but ordnary Tradesman to whome A litle is a great deall and some of them have many Children yet spared hard out of their Labor to put fiftie pounds in Stok for the good of their Children who are growing up hoping The Absentee Proprietor
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(as said in the Books of Articles of Trade) that it would be a good portion and, Inheritance Clear and growing fre from the Mischeif of Frauds and fals secureties suported by the Concurrent strenght and great Care of A prudent Body a kind of perpetuall Trustees the Freind of the wido and orphant) 1 these and many suchlike Fair Expressions att the begining were no small Motive to the great Adventure many have Run in this afair which if it should Miscary by the ignorant neglect or self interest which we fear prevails two Much upon the Undertakers may prove the Ruin of many which a timely and prudent care may hapely prevent: thus knowing dear Freind thy readines not onely to promote but also to support servisable arts2 and Projections and also knowing our inabiletie to help our selves in this Mater Imboldned us to aply our selves to thee in hops by thy asistance to have A better Account hereafter whereby we shall be the more obleiged to return the acknowledgment of that great Love and esteem we have long had for thee who are thy reall Freinds and herty welwishers London the 15th of the 4th Month Cald June 1685 Jn° Knight John Stringfellow, George Knight Richard Colkbill Jn° Jones Samuell Bathurst Richard Hawkes Jo John hallifeild John West Thomas Croutch John Stokes Moses West Thomas Scott Samuell Hallifield Edward Brooke3 Thomas Scott Samuell Hallifield Edward Brooke3 Thomas Scott Samuell Hallifield Edward Brooke3 Thomas Anderson Gilbert Mace Thomas Pemble DS. Penn Papers, Petitions, 1681-1764, HSP. (Micro. 5:183.) Docketed: Friends Address to Goverr Penn concerning the | Society Company. | 15. 4™ 85. 1. The petitioners quote from the preface to The Articles. Settlement and Offices at the Free Society of Traders in Pennsylvania (London, 1682), printed in PMHB, 5:40. 2. Crafts, professions. OED. 3. All but one of these signers (Moses West) appear on the Society's subscription role of 26 Apr. 1682, printed in PMHB, 11:175-80. All apparently lived in or near London, and all subscribed either £25 or £50, with the exception of Brooke, who was an original incorporator with a £100 share.
9 PETITION TO JAMES II
When WP finally received from Pennsylvania the evidence he had gathered in 1684 for his case against Lord Baltimore, he petitioned the king in August 1685 (doc. 9) to order a hearing of his case before the Lords of Trade. The line of argument WP presented to the committee in his effort to secure title to the Lower Counties (doc. 10) was that Delaware had never been part of Baltimore's patent because June 1685
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it had been inhabited by Swedish and Dutch settlers before the Maryland charter was granted. The Lords of Trade decided in WP's favor. In November 1685 (doc. 14) they ruled the east-west boundary between Maryland and Delaware should run down the center of the Delmarva peninsula, which cleared the way for settling contested patents and surveys in the Lower Counties and for collecting rents and land sales. [c. 18 August 1685] To the Kings Majesty The Petition of Will: Penn, with all humility
sheweth That his Petitioner has long waited, to his great detriment, the dicision of the matter in difference between the Lord Baltimore 8c himselfe, under the Kings name & graceous protection, about the bounds of the Lands which he received from the King when Duke; And tho he has been refer'd to the issue of the Quo-warranto1 upon the Lord Baltimores Patent, yet since this {stay}2 is of the greatest prejudice to his Majestys Province and a Ruine to his Petr & his famely, as he is ready to evince, and that it is about a Title of Land & not of Powr, & so not the question the Quo-warranto goes upon, for that dispute would remain, tho the Kings Suite about Powr, were issued, His Petr most humbly prays his case may be recommended to the Lords of Plantations, & a short day3 sett to hear & determine the business, & his Petr shall ever heartely Pray Wm Penn ALS. CO 1/50/34, PRO. (Micro. 5:259.) Docketed: Petition of Mr Pen | Reed f rom the | Earl of Midlelton4 | 18 August: 1685 | Read the same day. 1. A writ inquiring by what warrant a party claimed to exercise a particular right. Charles II and James II used this writ in the i68os to challenge the chartered privileges of proprietary and corporate colonies in America. Legal proceedings against Baltimore's government began shortly after James IFs accession to the throne (see doc. 2, n. 10); a writ against Pennsylvania was ordered in July 1685. Oxford Companion to Law; Michael G. Hall, Edward Randolph and the American Colonies, i6fj6-irjoj (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1960), p. 90; Philip S. Haffenden, "The Crown and the Colonial Charters, 16751688," WMg, 3d ser., 15:307, 311, 454; docs. 15, n. 7; 24, n. 2. 2. The delay in settling the boundary dispute between Maryland and Pennsylvania would make the collection of both taxes and rents very difficult and would hinder the development of the region between the Delaware and Chesapeake bays. 3. A short time. OED. 4. Charles Middleton (1640?-1719), second earl of Middleton and titular earl of Monmouth, became James II's secretary of state on 25 Aug. 1685. A faithful supporter of James II, he became the chief adviser of the exiled king in the early 16908. DNB.
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10 REPORT OF THE LORDS OF TRADE [2 September 1685] At the Committee of Trade & Plantations In the Council Chamber at Whitehall Tuesday the 2d of September 1685. Present Lord Preeesident Earl of Craven Lord Privy Seal Earl of Middleton Earl of Bridgewater Lord Visco1 Faucomnberg1 The Lord Baltemore and William Penn Esqr attending this day, according to Order, upon the difference between them, concerning Boundarys of Land and Title of Soil, in America; And Mr Penn having produced divers proofs,2 to make out, that the Country of Delaware was inhabited, by the Swedes and Dutch, before the date of the Lord Baltemore's Patent, It is thought fit that Copies bee given to the Lord Baltimore of the said Evidences and proofs, that his Lordship may bee prepared to make his further defence before the goth of this Instant September, on which day their Lordships resolve to take this matter again into Consideration. Copy. Pennsylvania Miscellaneous Papers, Penn vs. Baltimore, 1658-1734, HSP. (Micro. 5:269.) Endorsed: Plantation Office Febry 12, 1754 | I do Certify that the foregoing | is a True Copy of a minute of | contain'd in the Journal of the Committee for Trade | and Plantations Thos: Hill Secretary. 1. George Savile (1633-1695), marquis of Halifax and lord president of the Privy Council, had been one of Charles II's major advisers but was dismissed by James II when he refused to approve the repeal of the Test and Habeas Corpus Acts in Oct. 1685. Henry Hyde (1638-1709), second earl of Clarendon and brother-in-law of the king, was appointed lord privy seal in place of Halifax immediately on the accession of James II and was named lord lieutenant of Ireland in Sept. 1685. J onn Edgewater (1622-1686), second earl of Bridgewater, had served on the Privy Council since 1679. William Craven (1606-1697), earl of Craven, one of the proprietors of Carolina, had been a privy councilor since 1681. Thomas Belasyse (1627-1700), Earl Fauconberg, a former Cromwellian, had been appointed to the Privy Council by Charles II; Fauconberg was one of the noblemen who invited the prince of Orange to England in 1688. DNB. 2. WP presented to the Lords of Trade affidavits from residents of the Lower Counties stating that the Dutch had settled in Delaware before the Maryland charter was granted, which meant that this region was excluded from Baltimore's proprietorship. PWP, 2:381-83; doc. 6.
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11
FROM ROBERT BARCLAY Ury1 London the 12 of the 7th Mo: [September] 1685 Dear W P Yesternight I2 had thine writt at the disire of the other proprietors3 and have by this post direct ane answere to them Inclosed to W P4 least thou might have hapned to be out of the way, It came neer me that I was forced to goe out of towne without having more time with thee,5 for there were several things as to thy letter and mine which I had a great desire to have discoursed further with thee concerning being confident I could have convinced thee of some mistaike especialy as to that matter of gratitude, which graited most upon me, But I am resolved for my part that Love shall cover all, untill Providence give a further opportunity of seeing thee, I have ever since I came home been resolving to writt to thee, but was for some time untill the ship sailed which is about 2 weeks agoe, so hurried that I had not time for any other businesse, and since I was oblidged to look after my smal concerns, which now for 8 months I have been a sort of stranger to, and yet are such as I must not neglect, being the subsistance of so numerous a family & 6 children depends upon it, My faithers6 age and Infirmity which recurrs with apparent simptoms of death every winter, and my wiffs 7 weaknesse and feeblnesse to which my abscence throw her affection mightily contributs with the other circumstances of my affaires are such as renders my comeing to London at present impracticable, unlesse I were so unwise as to venter that my all here, to hazard the saving of somewhat there, I referr thee to my letter to the proprietors for what I have further to say as to that, But I am wholy against the project of selling to the Crowne, which appears to me Impracticable to many of the most industrious purchaisers who have hazarded there stocks there, The only medium to me is to yeald to the Lds opinion of having a neerer dependance upon the crowne, by some charter in the nature of some of the corporations in England and lett the K & his councel model & restrict the govement as to its circulation as they please providing wee be Independant from any other8 Thou knows best what is proper for thee to doe as to securing thy owne or enlarging it by the accession of Wesjersy, (as I hear they have petitioned it should be)9 and I shall be glad how successfull thou prove, But I am of the mind that thy surrendring of thy share in Ejersy in order to that (In caise thou doe so) is no good policy but raither to stave of any anexation from N york at all, that that topick may never taik place, othewayes the same unjust appetit will recurr again and Ejersy will not satiat it, and as its like the same reasone of there not advancing in there trade may hold after they have devored
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Ejersy aftd so it may be suggested and prevail when thou may not be so neer, or perhapps not so well [staked?] to fence it of, so that a joint defence now seems to me saifest for all, The goeing away of the post will not suffer me to enlarge, I hope thou will not only not be unjust to thy partners in Ejersy but so farr as thou may without thy owne prejudice save thy owne Interest there & thers by some overtures that may prevail, for my part I shall readily doe what I can see my way in and leave the issue to the lord, with whom I travel for ane inheritance that outward councels cannot take from me and therin rest satisfied in his will and that {which} desire to be felt by all his children who use this world as though they enjoyed it not, having a life in what the world sees not In this I salute thee and desire to be manifest to thee being still in the unchangeable truth. Thy affectionat frind & brother R Barclay ALS. Port. 25/79, FLL. (Micro. 5:271.) Addressed: To | Philp Ford | at the hood & Scarf In | bow Lane | cheapside | London. To W Penn | 5d. Docketed: R Barkley 12:
7mo I 85-
1. Urie was Barclay's estate, south of Aberdeen, Scotland. PWP, 2:g6n. 2. Robert Barclay (1648-1690), the leading Scottish Quaker and chief Quaker theologian of his day, was a close friend of WP. Barclay had been governor in absentia of East New Jersey since 1682, which put him in considerable conflict with WP's plans for the advancement of Pennsylvania. Like WP, he had influence with James II, which he used to alleviate the situation of persecuted dissenters in the British Isles, and which he was now trying to use to save East New Jersey from annexation to New York. PWP, 2:25n, 90-92, 104-5, 115"17' 12 3~ 2 4' 132"345 D. Elton Trueblood, Robert Barclay (London, 1968), pp. 99-107, 111-12, 115-18, 120-28. 3. This letter has not been found. The 24 proprietors of East New Jersey were mostly Quakers from London and environs, but investors from Scotland, Ireland, and the colonies were also included. Pomfret, East New Jersey, pp. 130, 132. 4. William Penn. Barclay's letter to WP was sent as an enclosure to Philip Ford. 5. Barclay had been in London on 26 May 1685 when he arranged a conference with James II at at which George Whitehead presented the case of the Quakers. Trueblood, Robert Barclay, p. 120. 6. David Barclay (1610-1686), the leading Quaker in the area around Aberdeen since 1666, died the following year at Urie. Ibid., pp. 23-25; DNB. 7. Christian Barclay (1647-1724), the daughter of Gilbert and Margaret Mollison, had married Robert in 1670; she bore him nine children. Trueblood, Robert Barclay, pp. 118-19; DNB. 8. In Aug. 1684 the proprietors of East New Jersey informed Gov. Dongan that they would not yield to the proposal that East Jersey should again be brought under the government of New York, and that they had received assurance from the duke of York that none of the proprietary rights would be disturbed. In July 1685, however, when James II learned that the trade — and revenues — of New York had diminished by one-third since the Jerseys and the Delaware basin had been separated from his colony, he brought quo warranto proceedings against the proprietors of East New Jersey (see doc. 6). No further action was immediately taken, but in Apr. 1688 Barclay and the other proprietors surrendered their rights of government to the crown. Pomfret, East New Jersey, pp. 253-62. 9. This petition has not been found.
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12 FROM LADY FRANCES
BERKELEY
Canterkrie the 13th of 8br [October] 1685 Sir The noyse & hurrie I 1 wasse perpetuallie in for the 2 dayes I stayed in London affter I recev'd the favor of your Booke,2 made it impossiblle for me {to} Read or so much as to returne my thankes for it; but beeing stopt here to attend the winde,3 though I am still accompanied (with my Ladie Culpeper & my Brother whome nature & Gratitude ties me not to leave) I have stollne time to read & consequentlie to be convins't reason, truth Christianitie, & Charitie, are one4 your side, but alias (I speak with indignation & regrett)5 these are weapn's to weak (though in an Angells hands without he brought fier & Brimstone) for intrest is become a greater Godesse & more universallie worshipt then the Diana off the Ephessaians,6 & all you have sayd (wch is virrie deplorablle) will onelie serve to condemn the deaffe Adders when Mercie & truth shall meet with powcr[?] courage[?] to tread7 all opprcsscrs under their feet. Captn Arnold8 came by here & sayes y u are resolvd to Carrie My Cosen9 & all your familie in his ship to Pensillvania which I am verie glad of & shoulld have beene more soe if our ship and yours had gone together the sea some times giveing oppertunities (in Calmes) of a conversation10 wch I cannot promise my selfe I shall be so happie to receave the beniffite of though our neighbourhood makes it as possiblle as ks dessierablle to Sir your most humblle servant Cosn & reall Frend F Berkeley ALS. Penn-Forbes Collection, HSR (Micro. 5:257.) Addressed: These | For the Honrblle | W m Penne Esqr | at Kinsington. Addressed further: Not at Kinsington | Trie per Winter. Docketed: Lady Barkley | 13 of Feb 85. 1. Frances Culpeper (b. 1634), daughter of Thomas Culpeper (1602?-1652?), a Northern Neck proprietor who immigrated to Virginia in 1649, was married three times: first, to Samuel Stephens (c. 1629-1670), governor of Albemarle Co., North Carolina; second, to Sir William Berkeley (d. 1677), governor of Virginia; and third, to Philip Ludwell (b. c. 1640), a second cousin of Berkeley who would serve as governor of North and South Carolina in the early 16908. Fairfax Harrison, "The Proprietors of the Northern Neck," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, frontispiece to Apr. 1925; Henry J. Berkley, "The Berkeley-Berkley Family and Their Kindred in the Colonization of Virginia and Maryland," WMQ, 2d ser., 3:188-89; Jesse Dimmick, "Green Spring," WMQ 2d ser., 9:129; Stephen Saunders Webb, The Governors-General: The English Army and the Definition of Empire, 1569-1681 (Chapel Hill, 1979), pp. 117, 3492. Probably WP's recently published A Perswasive to Moderation to Church-Dissenters, in Prudence and Conscience: Humbly Submitted to the King and His Great Council. PWP, vol. 5, item 72. 3. While awaiting her ship's departure for Virginia, Lady Frances was staying in Canterbury, Kent, equidistant (about 14 miles) from Dover and Deal and about 20 miles from Leeds Castle, the family seat of Thomas Lord Culpeper (see doc. 6, n. 54),
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her second cousin. She was accompanied by her cousin's wife, Lady Margaret von Hesse Culpeper (1635-1710), and her brother, Alexander Culpeper (1629-1694), a Northern Neck proprietor in Virginia. PWP, 2:350-51; Harrison, "Proprietors of the Northern Neck," frontispiece to Apr. 1925; Berkley, "Berkeley-Berkley Family," p. 197; Webb, Governors-General, pp. 104, 111, 115, 117. 4. Lady Frances means "on." 5. Both Lady Frances's second husband, Sir William Berkeley, and her cousin, Thomas Lord Culpeper, had shown intolerance toward Quakers during their terms as governors of Virginia and the Isle of Wight, respectively. DNB; Webb, GovernorsGeneral, p. 104. 6. Diana is the Latin name of the goddess Artemis of Greek mythology whose temple at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the world. 7. Lady Berkeley altered this word, but her correction is illegible. 8. Capt. Thomas Arnold, master of the ship Jeffries of London, had made the transatlantic voyage to Pennsylvania in 1682 and 1683. Late in 1685, after WP abandoned his plan to return to America with his family, Capt. Arnold proceeded with the voyage and arrived in Philadelphia on 20 Mar. 1686 with 15 passengers. PWP, 2:304^ Passengers and Ships, pp. 60, 67, 102, 116, 122, 124, 161. 9 Lady Frances' kinship to WP's wife was very remote. Gulielma Springett Penn's paternal great-grandmother, in a second marriage, had a son, who was the maternal grandfather of Thomas Lord Culpeper. PWP, 2135in. 10. People crossing the Atlantic on separate ships in a convoy—a common practice during the seventeenth century—were able to visit each other during calms.
TO JAMES
13 HARRISON
London: 25th 8mo [October] 1685 Dr: James Harrison. With the remembrance of my dear love in our Lord Jesus X1 to thee & thy wife & children, & thos that love the truth with sincerety, in my famely, & thereaways, as well on the other side as ours.1 (to whom I wish abundant Grace, mercy & peace in god Be our heavenly father) Know that I & myn are pretty well, they in the country I at London, & that things are Generally well w th frds, only some quarters visitted wth great suffering upon so1 per mo. & % of reall estates, we2 are trying to do wl we can to releive them. There is dayly Inquisition for thos concerned in the late Plotts.3 some dye denying, as Alderman Cornish, others confessing, but Justefying, some repenting. Cornish dyed last 6th day in cheapside for being at the meeting the Ld. Russel dyed for, but deny'd it most vehemently to the Last.4 A woman, one Gaunt of wappen, of dr. Mores acquaintance, was burned the same day at tyburn, 5 for the high Treason of hideing one of Monmouths Army, & the man sav'd came in agst her. she dyed composedly & fearless, Interpretting the cause of her death gods cause. Many more to be tryed, great & small —. It is a day to be wise. I Long to be with you. but the eternall God do as he please. O be you watchfull, fear & sanctefy the Lord in your hearts. In france, not a meeting of Protestants left, they force all by not suffering them to sleep to conform, they use drums or fling water on October 1685 •
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the drowzy, till they submitt or run mad, they pray to be kill'd, but the K. has order'd his dragoons; that are his Inquisitors & converters, to do any thing but kill & Ravish, such as fly & are caught, are executed or sent to the Gallys to row. thus they use all qualitys from dukes & dutchesses to the meanest of that way.6 many, & much wealth, will visitt your parts, be wise, weighty, kind & strict agst loosness; beleive me it is an extreordinary day, such as has not been since generations agoe. read this to weighty Frds & Magistrates in privat, & Gird up your Loyns & serve the Lord in this Juncture, no matter in wl part they settle in our country, lett not temporall interest sway:7 on my land or theirs that have bought of me, no matter; the publick will gett in a while by their establishing Next, know that I have sent a Gardiner by this ship or he soon follows, w th all requisits. a man of recommended great skill, lett him have w* help he can, not less then 2 or 3 at any time, he will cast things into a good posture, he has his passage paid, go1 at 3 years, end, 60 acres of land, & a month in a year to himselfe, not hindring my business; & he is to train up two, a man & boy in the Art, It were better they were blacks, for then a man has them always while they live8 there comes a Dutchman a Joyner & carpenter that is to work 150 days as I take it, & pay me 5! or 71 that cuntry mony {there} for 71 Sterl.9 la'ent him by me here, lett him, wainscoat, and make tables & stands for some of the Rooms, but cheifly help on w th our out houses, because we shall bring much furniture. I have not heard a word from thee a long time, wl cattle are come from maryland w1 is done in the house or grounds, if the Carpenter be come by Dymond 10 &c: I writt that B. Waller is to rest wth W. Riddle still, the far prest me, forgetting his engagem 111 nor have I heard how the things came from barbados. I desire thee be perticuler herein. the Bark that came thence is cast away on the Coast of Irland in a storme, or through negligence rather, & a femal serv1 of myn drowned, I suppose Jude.12 one more lost, the rest saved, but all the letters lost. I desire a good pair of staires at the landing & an handsom walk to the house of Gravil, or paved w th pitt stone, smooth stone. I suppose Jude.12 one more lost, the rest saved, but all the letters lost. After 3 full hearings before the Lords of the committ of Trade & Plantations. wth the Lord Baltimor, he was cast,13 & the lands in dispute adjudged to be none of his Right,14 & not within the bounds of his Patent. Pray lett my 2 white & my bay mares & my white Gelding silas15 had & my ball nag16 be looked well after, lett silas rather have another, then spoyle him. I would have Nicholas save as many Roots of flowrs next spring by transplanting them out of the woods as he can — have a care to ketch the water of the spouts or carry it well off from the house, when thos
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two men are at work no matter for more, unless John be there, whatever wood you want for fire that you must cutt, lett it be out of the walks Is. Tayler17 lay'd out, begining wth thos before the hous, or behind it rather, I mean the wooden side, for the hubandry18 wl land to break up, whether towards the point, or the great Bridge N. or towards the Falls,19 I leave to thee, but seeing so much clear land is in heart,20 'twere better use that then toyle to clear ground. I add no more but my dr: love to you all & that I am Thy reall Frd Wm Penn Salute me to J. Sim.21 & famely Harry Maddox has made a sad sputter in Cheshire.22 he is an ill man. I wonder J. Sim. forgetts me, not one remembrance, much less from a lettr from him or C.S. my dr: wifes love is to thee & Frds. she is neer her time.23 G.W. T. Rob.24 salute thee. be kinde to And. Doze25 & his wife. I hope yet to reap — farewell. ALS. Penn Papers, Domestic and Miscellaneous Letters, HSP. (Micro. 5:310.) Addressed: For James Harrison | at the Goverrs Plantation | at Pennsberry | in Pennsilvania. Docketed: From the Cover. In another hand: 25 8mo 85. 1. On the Jersey and Pennsylvania sides of the Delaware River. 2. The regional Quarterly Meetings of Friends in England reported regularly to the London Yearly Meeting the degree and extent of persecution Quakers suffered for their beliefs. PWP, 2:5611. 3. The Popish Plot, Rye House Plot, and Monmouth Rebellion. 4. Henry Cornish, one of the two sheriffs of London at the time of the exclusion crisis, was accused of complicity in the Rye House Plot. He was tried and convicted of high treason and within a week was executed in Cheapside, one of the most frequented thoroughfares in London, on 23 Oct. 1685. Luttrell, 1:49, 52, 56, 359, 360, 361, 593; Burnet, p. 417; Peter Cunningham, Handbook for London (London, 1849), 1:184. 5. Elizabeth Gaunt of Wapping, on the River Thames a little below the Tower, was an Anabaptist who had sheltered James Burton after the Rye House Plot. In the aftermath of Monmouth's Rebellion Burton bought his pardon by denouncing her. Luttrell, 1:360-61; Burnet, p. 416; Cunningham, Handbook for London, 2:851, 868. 6. In Oct. 1685 Louis XIV's persecution of Huguenots in France culminated in the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the royal protection granted to Protestants in the Edict of Nantes of 1598. 7. WP was afraid that the Pennsylvania Quakers might not welcome Huguenot refugees into his colony. 8. There are several indications that WP was a slaveholder in 1685. On 11 July 1685 he instructed Harrison: "If the Black, that is the fisher, be there [at Pennsbury] still, let Jos. cart have him at a full price" (Micro. 5:210). This suggests that WP had acquired an Afro-American fisherman during his 1682-84 stay in Pennsylvania, installed him at Pennsbury, and was now ready to sell him. On 27 Nov. 1685 WP told Harrison to send his sloop to Barbados, and that one or both of the blacks he had received from Capt. Allen should be crew members. On 4 Dec. 1685 WP reported again to Harrison: "The Blacks of Capt. Allen, I have as good as bought, so part not with them without my order" (Micro. 5:338, 344). 9. In 1684 the average exchange rate was £125 Pennsylvania currency per £100 Sterling. McCusker, Money and Exchange, p. 183. 10. The carpenter apparently died at sea; see doc. 26, text at n. 20. For Capt. Dymond, see doc. 4, n. 24. 11. Indenture. See doc. 6. 12. In the shipwreck of the vessel Jude all persons on board were saved except WP's servant and the captain. Micro. 5:344.
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13. Defeated. OED. 14. See docs. 10, 14. 15. Silas Crispin (c. 1655-1711), a First Purchaser from Ireland, who immigrated in 1681. PWP, 2:i27n. 16. A white-faced horse. OED. 17. Israel Taylor (c. 1660-1725), son of Christopher Taylor, owned land near Newtown in Bucks Co., Pa., which he served as deputy surveyor in 1686 and as sheriff in 1693. PMHB, 3:331; docs. 26, 49. 18. WP means "husbandry." 19. The Falls of the Delaware. 20. In good condition. OED. 21. John Simcock. 22. Henry Maddock (c. 1642-1706), a First Purchaser from Hoomhall and Eaton, Ches., immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1682, where he represented Chester Co. in the General Assembly of 1684. He returned to Cheshire in 1685, bringing an unfavorable account of Pennsylvania. PWP, 2:646, 648; PMHB, 3:333; Digests of Quaker Records, Ches., GSP. 23. WP's wife Gulielma was pregnant with their last child, Gulielma Maria, who was born 17 Nov. 1685 and died four years later on 20 Nov. 1689. PMHB, 74:110. 24. George Whitehead (c. 1636-1723), a prominent London Quaker, was a close friend and ally of WP in the long struggle to secure religious toleration in England. Thomas Robertson (d. 1695), of Grayrigge and Kendal, Westm., was ministering in London at this time. PWP, i:7in, 337n; 2:349^, Fox, Short Journal, pp. 119, 122, 12^,
3 i8.
25. Andrew Doz, a Huguenot exile who came to Pennsylvania in 1682, tended WP's vineyard in the manor of Springettsbury on the east bank of the Schuylkill. PWP, 2:458n; docs. 28, 35.
14 ORDER IN PRIVY COUNCIL At the Court at Whitehall the 13th day of Novr 1685 Present The Kings most Excell1 Majesty. His Roy11 Highss Prince George of Denmark Lord Arch Bp of Cant Lord Chancellor Lord Treasurer Lord Privy Seale Duke of Ormond Lord Visco1 Fauconberge Duke of Beaufort Lord Visco1 Preston Duke of Queensbury Lord Visco1 Melfort Lord Chamberlain Earl of Huntingdon Earl of Bridgwater Earl of Peterborogh Mr Chancellor of the Earl of Sunderland The Absentee Proprietor • 68
Earl of Earl of Earl of Earl of Earl of Earl of
Craven Berkeley Nottingham Plymouth Morray Middleton
Duke of Beaufort Lord Visco1 Preston Duke of Beaufort Lord Visco1 Duke of Beaufort Lord Visco1
Lord Bishop of London Lord Dartmouth Lord Godolphin
Duke of Beaufort Lord Visco1
Exchequer1
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The Absentee Proprietor • 68 Comtee for Trade & Forreign Plantations being this day read at the Board. The Lords of the Comtee for Trade & plantations haveing pursuant to his late Majestys Order in Councill of the jist of May i68^2 Examined the Matters in difference between the Lord Baltemore & Wm Penn Esqr in behalf of his present Majesty Concerning a Tract of Land in America Commonly Called Delaware, Their Lordships find that the Land intended to be granted by the Lord Baltemore's Patent was only Land uncultivated & inhabited by Savages And that this Tract of Land now in dispute was inhabited & planted by Christians at & before the date of the Lord Baltemores Patent, as it hath been ever Since to this time, & Continued as a Distinct Colony from that of Maryland, So that their Lordships humbly Offer their Opinion, that for Avoiding Further Differences, the Tract of Land lying between the River & the Eastern Sea3 on the one Side & Cheaseapeake Bay on the other be divided into Equall parts, by a Line from the Latitude of Cape Hinlopen, to the 4Otn Degree of Northern Latitude & that one half thereof lying towards the Bay of Delaware & the Eastern Sea, be Adjudged to belong to his Majesty, And that the other half remain to the Lord Baltemore as Comprized within his Charter4 Council Chamber 7th of Novr 1685 HIS MAJESTY well Approving of the sd Report, It was thereupon Ordered by his Majesty in Co11 that the sd Lands be Forthwith Divided Accordingly whereof the sd Lord Baltemore & Wm Penn Esqr together with their respective Officers & all others whom it may Concern are to take Notice & give due & ready Obedience thereunto A true Copy Robert Hales
Copy. Pennsylvania Miscellaneous Papers, Penn vs. Baltimore, 1658-1734, HSP. (Micro. 5:335.) i. The seven councilors identified by their office only were William Sancroft (1617-1693), archbishop of Canterbury; George Jeffreys (1648-1689), lord chancellor; Laurence Hyde (1641-1711), lord treasurer; Henry Hyde (1638-1709), lord privy seal; Henry Bennet (1618-1685), lord chamberlain; Henry Compton (1632-1714), bishop of London; and John Ernie (d. 1686), chancellor of the exchequer. WP had previously dealt with the Hyde brothers and with the two bishops. Of the remaining councilors not previously identified in this volume, he had prior dealings with James Butler (16101688), duke of Ormond; Henry Somerset (1629-1700), duke of Beaufort; John Drummond (1649-1714), Viscount Melfort; George Legge (1648-1691), Lord Dartmouth; and Sidney Godolphin (1645-1712); and he would have future dealings with Daniel Finch (1647-1730), duke of Nottingham, and Richard Graham (1648-1695), Viscount Preston.
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2. On this date the Privy Council had referred to the Lords of Trade a petition from Baltimore's agent contesting the duke of York's (and WP's) title to Delaware. PWP, 2:538^ CSPC, 1681-1685, p. 436. 3. The Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. 4. This ruling was a major victory for WP. The three Lower Counties were now adjudged to be under royal control, but James II had already ceded them to WP. The Council's ruling denned Delaware's western and southern boundaries with Maryland; Cape Henlopen was defined as a point on the coastline 25 miles south of the entrance to Delaware Bay (the promontory now called Cape Henlopen was then called Cape Cornelis). PWP, 2:306, 3o8n, 381-84, 405-10, 431-37, tf\-1§, 494-5°°> 5°9-lo> 5 l8 -23> 534-39' 543-45' 54?-49> 624-30.
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A CHAMPION OF ENGLISH TOLERATION
1686-1687
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From January 1686 to April 1687 the political climate in England changed dramatically as James II shifted away from the Anglican Tory gentry toward the dissenters in order to gain support for his religious program of toleration for Roman Catholics. WP capitalized on the king's policy to gain benefits for Friends, but as his influence as a courtier grew, his prolonged absence from America put considerable strain on his relationship with the Pennsylvanian colonists. The documents in this section reflect WP's interests both as a champion for toleration and as an absentee governor trying to maintain and exercise his proprietary rights. Early in 1686 the English government sought closer ties with France, in preference to an alliance with the Dutch, at the very time when Louis XIV's persecution of Protestants in France was renewing English fears of Roman Catholicism. The increasing number of Catholics appointed as army officers and as public officials fueled the Anglican campaign against Catholicism, and WP was among those close to the Catholic monarch who were suspected of sharing James's religious belief (docs. 16 and 17). WP meanwhile successfully used his friendship with James II to intercede on behalf of Friends and others. The king granted a special pardon to WP on 9 March 1686 (doc. 19) before suspending legal proceedings against all Quakers on 15 March 1686. In the fall of 1686 WP toured the north and west of England, preaching to large crowds in Manchester and other towns, promoting his colony, and mediating disputes among Friends — who were now generally able to meet freely. In October WP was pressing local officials to protect Quakers against common informers (doc. 31), and by the beginning of 1687 the persecution of nonconformists had greatly eased. Most of WP's political correspondence for this period has disappeared; hence his role in James's plan to have the Test Acts and penal laws repealed remains obscure. For example, it is unclear just what WP was doing when he visited the continent in the summer months of 1686, although he clearly conferred with William of Or-
73
ange and Henry Sidney (doc. 25) about James's intentions to grant general religious liberty. In the fall of 1686 James resolved to summon a new Parliament that would enact his religious policy. He could achieve this goal only by using his dispensing and suspending powers, to remove all those in the court, army, and administration on whom he could not rely. "Disaffected" justices of the peace were dismissed — two-thirds of them replaced by Catholics — and former members of both houses were questioned about their views on repeal of the penal laws and Test Acts. In March 1687 James declared that he would grant a general liberty of conscience, and on 4 April 1687 he issued his first Declaration of Indulgence—said to be drafted in large part by WP. This declaration suspended the execution of the penal laws and ordered that the oaths and tests were not to be tendered to those admitted to office, and that all those so admitted were to be granted dispensation. But while WP's influence at court was at its height and his confidence in the importance of his work in England on behalf of toleration was strong, his colony of Pennsylvania was drifting into disaffection and disorder. Reports from the Delaware revealed how fragile the peace was between the upper and lower counties, Quakers and nonQuakers, the Welsh and the English, and the Council and the Assembly. WP realized that this factionalism threatened the success of his holy experiment, that the ineffectiveness of his deputies in managing his lands cost him badly needed revenues, that irregularities in the government of the colony could cost him his charter, and that a bad reputation would diminish Pennsylvania's attraction for potential settlers on whom the province depended for further growth. As if these problems were not enough, the long and slow routes of communication compounded many of the difficulties between WP and his colonists. Over the course of fifteen months, WP's letters to Pennsylvania changed in content, style, and tenor. Early in 1686 WP's instructions to Thomas Lloyd (doc. 20), to the Provincial Council (docs. 21 and 23), and to his steward at Pennsbury (doc. 22) show that he was still actively trying to keep close contact with the administration of Pennsylvania from long distance. He appointed David Lloyd as attorney general of Pennsylvania to safeguard his proprietary interests and repeatedly urged the colonists to observe the navigation laws and to follow his suggestions about the review process of laws passed in the province. WP's attention to these matters—even though his councilors often failed to heed his advice — paid off when Pennsylvania was the only colony excepted from quo warranto proceedings initiated against all other proprietary charters (doc. 24). WP was less successful in averting the damage to Pennsylvania's reputation caused by reports A Champion of English Toleration
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about the ill effects of land speculation, the exclusiveness of Friends holding public office, and complaints about the Free Society of Traders. And he could not persuade the colonists to share the cost of Pennsylvania's government, or to pay his proprietary quitrents. When WP delayed his return to America again in the fall of 1686, his communications took on a note of urgency and bitterness. Dropping the formulaic introductions and endings customary among Quakers, WP offered two explanations for his prolonged absence from Pennsylvania: first, his work in England on behalf of Friends and toleration was building a reputation that insured Pennsylvania continued growth; and second, he could not afford to return with his family until he secured satisfactory political support in the colony and a reliable income from his rents. He probably was also unsure whether his wife Gulielma was willing or able to accompany him. WP's disillusionment with the public officials in Pennsylvania prompted him to change the style of communication with his appointed deputies: instead of letters he sent proclamations, and he ordered his deputies more peremptorily than before to keep the peace, follow his instructions, and secure his proprietory rights (doc. 36). In an effort to strengthen executive authority in the colony, WP conferred enlarged powers on his five commissioners of state—Thomas Lloyd, Nicholas More, James Claypoole, Robert Turner, and John Eckley (doc. 37)—but ironically this had the effect of granting WP's deputies more independence from the proprietor than before. (Edwin B. Bronner, William Penn's "Holy Experiment" [New York, 1962], pp. 89-103; Mary Maples Dunn, William Penn: Politics and Conscience [Princeton, N. J., 1967], pp. 116-23; John Miller, James II [Hove, Eng., 1977], pp. 148-65; Nash, Quakers and Politics, pp. 101-7; Granville Penn, ed., " A Memoir of Part of the Life of William Penn' by Charlewood Lawton," Memoirs of the HSP, 3:213-31.)
15 TO SIR WILLIAM TRUMBULL whitposts at charing cross1 17^ j
Worthy Friend By this time, the ceremony of the business is over, and a friend may ask sr. w. Trumbald2 of his wellfaire; how french aire agrees with his Criticall health, and french Politicks with his much better understanding? for us here, we labour still at somthing, but take time; no resolution of moment seems to be taken: our courses look moderate, as the issue of the Lords, Brandon & Delamere, and young hambden3
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shows: yet the Parl. is prorogu'd, perhaps to have an other subject to meet upon, more safe & as gratefull, which sr. W T. is to send us out of france:4 For since a Parl. so chosen, is so temper'd, a just forraign occasion, may be the most larky5 divertion in the world and the name of Orange, so belov'd of this People, will mo[re] easely dispose their Represts to cl[ose] with the K6 in any honorable attempt. They talk of Quo warrantos against the universitys,7 which the Ks Coun[sn] have signed, & agst four Bishop[s] L. Y. E. & they say Cant.8 but they gave it as their opinion, it could not be, they lying only agst Body politicks, but I give little Cred[it] to the story, to be sure the fi[rst] & second decline in their inter[est] at C.9 & grow elsewhere as fast which is the fate of all men in like circumstances, the sole wittness, Saxon,10 agst the Ld Delamere, is to whipt & pilored for his perjury, and hang'd for his treason. [ou]r two great Frds, that are so well [tjogether, & at whose tables I was so favorably spoak of, much adoe, keep their ground; at whos instance, it is said, the P. was prod n there was some flattness on the powr of the Ld with [t]he Blew Riband, & our Friend12 that dined with us by Acton,13 but they have recovered it, and {are} thought mighty firm. I am almost of the minde they will carry it, tho in the setting of the Parl. they suceeded not. The Earl of [TJirconel14 is here, who, with the Lords of [tha]t way, fortefys the other interest at present.15 [EJverybody speaks well of sr wm Trunball here, so that there is little room left for friends; but I hope he will be so Just on all occasions, as to beleive, that amongst the many Friends he has, there is none more devoted as well as engaged to love & serve him then his truely affectionate &, faithfull Friend Wm Penn at length for this time pray give affect. & Respectfull salutes to Lady Trumball.16 be Kinde Sr T. w. sonn ALS. Trumbull Miscellaneous Correspondence, A.R.I. Hill, Esq., and the Devonshire Settled Estate, Berkshire Record Office, Reading. (Micro. 5:365.) 1. Probably an inn at Charing Cross, the junction of the Strand, Whitehall, and Cockspur-Street in London. Peter Cunningham, Handbook for London (London, 1849), 1:177. 2. Sir William Trumbull (1639-1716), a lawyer, knighted in 1684, was dispatched in Nov. 1685 as envoy to France upon the recommendation of Laurence Hyde, Lord Rochester (see n. 12, below). As a zealous opponent of Roman Catholicism he tried to alleviate the condition of the English and Scottish Protestants caught up in the persecution in France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. This did not commend him to either the French or the English court, and in Aug. 1686 he was recalled. John Miller, James II: A Study in Kingship (Hove, Sus., 1977), pp. 145, 173; Ruth Clark, Sir William Trumbull in Paris, 1685-1686 (Cambridge, 1938). 3. The Lords Brandon and Delamere and John Hampden, ardent opponents of Charles II and James II, had supported Monmouth's Rebellion. Brandon fled abroad while Delamere was acquitted of high treason by a committee of lords in 1685. John Hampden, the younger (1656?-1696), a member of Parliament who had been implicated in the Rye House Plot, was also tried for high treason after Monmouth's Rebellion. Sentenced to death, he begged for his life, paid a £6000 bribe, and obtained a pardon and liberty. DNB. 4. In Nov. 1685, when the debates in both houses revealed a deep current of
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opposition, James II prorogued Parliament. Since Louis XIV of France had revoked the Edict of Nantes in Oct. 1685, WP — like many Englishmen — seemed convinced that this had a bearing on the intentions of James II. G. N. Clark, The Later Stuarts, 1660-1714 (1934; reprint, Oxford, 1949), p. 116. 5. Frolicsome. OED. 6. James II. The king negotiated with envoys of his Protestant daughter, Mary, the heir to the throne, and her husband, Prince William of Orange, about the repeal of the penal laws and Test Acts but was unable to gain any concessions. 7. A writ of quo warranto, demanding to know by what right or warrant a person or corporation exercised its chartered power, was a legal procedure intended to revoke existing authority (see docs. 9, n. i; 24, n. 2). Both Charles II and James II served writs of quo warranto on municipal corporations and parliamentary boroughs in order to dismiss officeholders and electors hostile to the crown. James II did not serve writs against Oxford or Cambridge, but in the fall of 1687 he did attempt to establish a Catholic college at Oxford by appointing Samuel Parker, the bishop of Oxford, whom he believed to be a crypto-Catholic, as president of Magdalen College against established legal procedures and the will of the college fellows. J. R. Bloxam, Magdalen College and King James II (Oxford, 1886). 8. The first of these bishops was Henry Compton (1632-1713), bishop of London, a fierce anti-Catholic, who was stripped of his Privy Council position in 1685. The second was John Dolben (1625-1686), bishop of York. The third was Francis Turner (1638?-1700), bishop of Ely. The fourth was William Sancroft (1617-1693), archbishop of Canterbury, who refused to read James's Declaration of Indulgence and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. PWP, 2:35^ DNB. 9. Court. 10. In the treason trial of Lord Delamere (see n. 3, above) Thomas Saxon was the only witness who swore to the correspondence of Delamere and Monmouth, but his testimony contained so many contradictions that he was afterward convicted of perjury. DNB. 11. On 10 Jan. 1686 James II prorogued Parliament the second time. 12. WP is referring to the changes that occurred in the constellation of power at court during the winter months of 1685-86. Lord Rochester, Trumbull's patron, was awarded the garter in June 1685 but began to lose ground against the earl of Sunderland, who strengthened his position as he became lord president of the Council and allied himself with the ascending Catholic faction (see n. 15, below). Kenyon, Sunderland, pp. 124-27; W. A. Shaw, Knights of England (London, 1906), 1:38. 13. A borough in Middlesex, England. 14. Richard Talbot (1630-1691), an Irish Catholic, was one of James II's most conspicuous supporters. James II created him earl of Tyrconnell and gave him command of the army in Ireland. After a brief stay in England in 1685-86 Tyrconnell . returned to Dublin with a commission as lord general. DNB. 15. The Catholic faction included, in addition to Tyrconnell, Roger Palmer (16341705), earl of Castlemaine; Henry Jermyn (1636-1708), baron of Dover; Henry Arundell (i6o6?-i694), Baron Arundell of Wardour; the Jesuit Edward Petre (1631-1699); and John Leyborn (1620-1702), the vicar apostolic for England. Clark, The Later Stuarts, pp. 116-19; DNB. 16. Lady Katherine Trumbull (d. 1704), daughter of Sir Charles Cotterell, married Sir William in 1670. Their marriage was childless. DNB.
16 FROM DR. JOHN TILLOTSON During the winter of 1685-86 the Anglican clergy expressed their fear for the survival of Protestantism under James II and engaged in a campaign of preaching against Catholicism and the pope. In this polemically charged climate, WP wrote to Dr. John Tillotson, a highly respected preacher, on 22 January 1686 to inquire whether he was January 1686
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the source of the rumor that WP was a Roman Catholic and Jesuit (Micro. 5:369). In his reply (doc. 16) Tillotson gave the reasons for his suspicion about WP's religious affiliation, but he accepted WP's assurance (doc. 17) of his unchanged commitment to Quaker beliefs. When WP reopened his complaint on 27 April 1686 (Micro. 5:438), Tillotson replied promptly (29 April 1686) and gladly that he was convinced that the charge of Roman Catholicism against WP was unfounded (Micro. 5:439). Jan, 26 i685[/6] Honoured SIR, The Demand of your Letter1 is very Just and Reasonable, and the Manner of it very kind, therefore in Answer to it, be pleased to take the following Account. The last Time you did me the Favour to see me at my house, I 2 did, according to the Freedom I always use, where I profess any Friendship, acquaint you with something I had heard of a Correspondence you held with some at Rome, and particularly with some of the Jesuits there.3 At which you seemed a little surprized, and after some General Discourse about it, you said, You would call on me some other Time, and speak farther of it: Since that Time I never saw you, but by Accident and in Passage, where I thought, you always declined me, particularly at Sir William Jone's4 Chamber, which was the last Time, I think, I saw you; upon which Occasion I took Notice to him, of your Strangeness to me, and told him what I thought might be the Reason of it, and that I was sorry for it, because I had a particular Esteem of your Parts and Temper. The same, I beleive, I have said to some others, but to whom I do not so particularly remember. Since your going to Pennsylvania, I never thought more of it, till lately being in some Company, One of them press'd me to declare, Whether I had not heard something of you, which had satisfied me that you were a Papist? — I answered, No, by no Means. I told him what I had heard, and what I said to you, and of the Strangeness that ensued upon it; but that this never went farther with me, than to make me suspect there was more in that Report which I had heard, then I was at first willing to believe; and that if any made more of it, I should look upon them as very injurious both to Mr. Penn and my self. That is the Truth of the Matter, and whenever you will please to satisfy me that my Suspicion of the Truth of that Report I had heard was Groundless, I will heartily beg your Pardon for it. I do fully concur with you in the Abhorrence of the Two Principles you mention, and in your Approbation of that excellent Saying of Mr. Hooker's,5 for which I shall ever highly esteem him. I have endeavoured to make it one of the Governing Principles of my Life, never to abate any Thing of Humanity or Charity, to any Man for his Difference from me in Opinion, and particularly to those of your Perswasion, as several of them have had
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Experience. I have been ready upon all Occasions to do all Offices of Kindness, being truly sorry to see them so hardly used; and tho' I thought them Mistaken, yet in the Main I believed them to be very Honest: I thank you for your Letter, and have a just Esteem of the Christian Temper of it, and rest, Your Faithful Friend, Jo. Tillotson. Printed transcript. Works, 1:127. (Micro. 5:370.) 1. WP to John Tillotson, 22 Jan. 1686. Micro, 5:369. 2. John Tillotson (1630-1694) was an influential Anglican preacher and chaplain to Charles II in the late i66os even though the king disliked his polemical sermons against the church of Rome. After James II's accession, Tillotson was one of the clergy who preached against Catholicism—a development that created tension between James II and the Anglicans and resulted in rumors of quo warrantos against bishoprics. In 1691 Tillotson was appointed archbishop of Canterbury by William and Mary. John Miller, James II: A Study in Kingship (Hove, Sus., 1977), pp. 136, 154; Luttrell, 1:368; DNB. 3. No such correspondence has been found. Rumors about WP's adherence to Roman Catholicism were, however, circulated repeatedly. PWP, 1:511, 534, 545, 55051; 2:443-45. 4. Sir William Jones (1631-1682), former solicitor and attorney general, had been WP's agent in negotiating for the Pennsylvania charter in 1681. This was probably when Tillotson saw WP, before he went to Pennsylvania for two years, from Sept. 1682 to Oct. 1684. PWP, 2:58, 62-63. 5. Richard Hooker was the principal Anglican theologian and author of The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. WP quoted Hooker in his letter of 22 Jan. 1686 (see n. i, above): "The Time will come, when a few Words spoken with Meekness, and Humility and Love, shall be more acceptable than Volumes of Controversies; which commonly destroy Charity, the very best Part of the True Religion."
17 TO DR. JOHN TILLOTSON [29 January 1686] Worthy Friend, HAving a much less Opinion of my own Memory, than of Dr. Tillotson's Truth, I will allow the Fact, though not the Jealousy:1 For besides that I can't look strange where I am well us'd; I have ever treated the Name of Dr. Tillotson with another Regard: I might be Grave, and full of my own Business; I was also then disappointed by the Doctors; but my Nature is not harsh, my Education less, and my Principle least of all. 'Twas the Opinion I have had of the Doctor's Moderation, Simplicity, and Integrety, rather than His Parts, or Post, that always made me set a Value upon His Friendship, of which, perhaps, I am better Judge, leaving the latter to Men of deeper Talents. I blame him nothing, but leave it to his better Thoughts, if, in my Affair, His Jealousy was not too nimble for his Charity. If he can believe me, I
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should hardly prevail with my self to endure the same Thought of Dr. Tillotson on the like Occasion, and less to speak of it. For the Roman Correspondence I will freely come to Confession: I have not only no such Thing with any Jesuit at Rome, (tho' Protestants may have without Offence) but I hold none with any Jesuit, Priest, or Regular in the World of that Communion. And that the Doctor may see what a Novice I am in that Business, / know not One any where. And yet, when all this is said, I am a Catholick, tho' not a Roman. I have Bowels2 for Mankind, and dare not deny others what I crave for my self, I mean, Liberty for the Exercise of my Religion; thinking Faith, Piety, and Providence a better Security than Force and that if TRUTH cannot prevail with her own Weapons, all others will fail her. Now, though I am not obliged to this Defence, and that it can be no Temporizing now to make it, yet that Dr. Tillotson may see how much I value his Good Opinion, and dare own the Truth and my self at all Turns, let him be Confident, I am no Roman Catholick, but a Christian, whose Creed is the Scripture, of the Truth of which I hold a Nobler Evidence, than the Best Church Authority in the World; and yet I refuse not to believe the Porter,3 tho' I can't leave the Sense to his Discretion; and when I should, if he offends against those plain Methods of Understanding God hath made us to know Things by, and which are inseparable from us, I must beg his Pardon; as I do the Doctor's for this Length, upon the Assurance he has given me of his doing the like upon better Information; which that he may fully have, I recommend him to my Address to Protestants, from pag. 133. to the End, and to the four first Chapters of my No Cross, No Crown;4 to say nothing of Our most inceremonious and unworldly Way of Worship, and their Pompous Cult; where at this Time I shall leave the Business, with all due and Sensible Acknowledgments to thy Friendly Temper, and Assurance of the Sincere Wishes arid Respects of Thy Affectionate Real Friend, W. Penn. Chariug-Cross,5 the sgth of the nth Month, 1686. Printed Transcript. Works, 1:127. (Micro. 5:371.)
OED.
1. Apprehension of evil. OED. 2. Heart, compassion. OED. 3. WP characterizes Tillotson here as the "keeper" of the Church of England.
4. In the section referred to here of An Address to Protestants upon the Present Conjuncture (1679), WP discussed what he construed as the fundamental errors in religious practice, especially the propagation of faith by force, or prosecution. In the first four chapters of No Cross, No Crown . . . in Defence of the poor despised Quakers, against the Practices and objections of ther Adversaries (London, 1682), his most popular tract, WP denned what he meant by the Cross of Christ and described the ways in which so-called Christians failed to bear the cross. PWP, vol. 5, items 48, 65. 5. Charing Cross.
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18 FROM LADY MARTHA RODES Balbrough1 March the 5 16851/6]
My Honoured friend This Comes to let thee know I2 have received thy kind & endearing Letter wch did Mightely revive my spirits to be assured of so worthy A friend & Every way so accomplished with power Goodness & abilities to doe me good. I was very sensable it was the Lds doings to raise me up such A friend to him I give thanks & praise for this mercy of thy willingness to assist & help me in my troubles & I trust God almighty will requit thy Labour of Love to me I was exceeding glad to hear the good news of the Grant of libertie from thee King to friends all over the Kingdome of Ingland3 wch is an unexpected kindness from the king to his poor subjects for my part I thought it would never be brought to pass, but thy prudent management of this great affair hes perfected it Therefore next to God almighty the praise & thankes is dew to thee & thou art worthy of it, I Canot express my thanks to thee as to my own perticuler but I shall ever remember thy Loving kindness with A gratfull acknowledgm* & that is all that is to be gott of A poor widdow this I can truly say thou made the widdows hart to sing for joy wn I read thy kind lines & found so much Love & pity to me & such A harty desire to serve me the Ld be praised for all his mercyes to me my servant S Barker4 red A letter from Rowland Vaughan5 this week & he saith that the late order by the King in Generall on the behalf off friends that Cannot tend to put any stop to the Informers6 proceedings agts them, so my humble request to thee is to take this affair Into Consideration about my servants to put A stop to the spight of their adversaries for they are very bitter & Implacable & would ruin both them & me if it lie in their power but I have great hopes that God will deliver both them & me from their Crueltie & Malice now he has raised me up such A powerfull friend with thee King of heaven & also with the King on earth wch hes encouraged me & Comforted me Mightely since I was assured of thy willingness to assist me, Therefore I Leave it to thy Judicious Consideration wl to doe & how to proceed in silenceing their Mescheifous designs, for I think it will not be wisdom to let it Come to A triall at the assize7 as Rowland makes account it Certainly will so I hope you Can Contrive to put an End to their develish designs I remember you was pleased to say 2 words would have done it wn you had the opertunity of being in private with the King so I hope wn ^{th}ou lights of such an other opertunity thou wilt speak Effectually for my business {of} & my poor servants, as to the Charges thou may be at In feoing off8 the Kings officers & serv-
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ants I shall willingly repay again this adversary that we have to deal with with all is worse then the Informer Be more spightfull then I ever knew or I believe in thy time thou never k{n}ew the like of such A devilish spirit he raises all the lies he can possable Invent against me & be spatters me to great persons as Lds & Dukes & does wl ever he can to take away my Good name but his lieing toung will be but for A Moment his rottenness will appear at Last & his unjust dealing will Come down upon his own pate at last, I am satisfied I gave him no Cause to deal so unworthyly with me onely this I was not able to give so many thousand pounds as he gredily desired with my daughter but I hope God has reserved her for better fortain for he deceived me with his fair toung, thy kind Letter hes drawn me so near to thee that I Could be very free & bold with thee as with my own brother & I have A longing desire of seeing thy face because of I have seen of thy works wch pleases me wonderous well no Cross no Crown I have perused & does admire it very much the title is very suitable to my Condition for I have been under great troubles a long while but God hes been very bountifull to me In supporting of me that I have born them with great Cheerfullness & he hes made me willing to submitt & given me Patience Calmly to bear all the ill ussage I have red from unreasonable men for I have had to doe with Abundance of unruely People being my husband died in Abundance of debt brought me into A great deal of slavery because their was not to pay them all at once for I was forced to tresspass upon their Patience wch made them Angry & rail on me & S Barker & his wife because they was my Cheif servants & Indeed they have been very faithfull servants or Els I Could not have over Come them dificults I have & Therefore I have great reason to stand for them in their troubles for their spight is agts me in persecuting them it is to doe me A Mischife & so they have for I have loss1 every {way} my business being neglected for I have great husb^andre & Coal delves9 to look after & all was neglected in his absence wn he & his wife was in prison wch was some 3 mounths so I have suffered very much by These wicked men but I hope the Ld will deliver me in his blessed time, I am willing to wait his good time I fear I have tired thee with this tedious relation of my troubles but thy Comfortable letter hes brought me into such acquaintance & nearness that I am Mightely encouraged to make my addressjes} & supplications to thee thee righteous Judg to Aveng me of my Enimies, so desiring thy prayers for me & mine with my Dr Love to thee & gratefull acknowledgm1 of thy favours to her whom thou hast deeply obliged to be In sinceritie & truth thine to serve thee M Rodes their is A report hear in These parts of thy Coming into this Country if so I beg the favour of A line to let me know for I doe porpose God willing to meet thee to pay my personall respects & thankes for thy
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very great kindness to me in wishing so much good to me & mine I know thou hast an universal principal of doing good to all but I have found perticuler demonstration to me in my distress for wch my soul doth bless the Ld & pray for thee & thine in the best manner that I know according to thee knowledg God hath revealed himself to me I desire to be thankfull both to God & to thee my kind Be Dr friend in the truth my soul wishes all health & happiness to thee ALS. Penn-Forbes Collection, HSR (Micro. 5:384.) Addressed: This | For William Penn | Esqr at his Lodgings | Present. Docketed: The Lady Rodes | March the 5th 1685. 1. Barlborough in Derbyshire. 2. Lady Martha Rodes (d. 1713) was the daughter of William Thornton, Esq., of Grantham, Lines., and the widow of Sir Francis Rodes (d. 1675), third baronet of Barlborough, by whom she had three children: John, Frances, and Ann. Lady Martha was not a Quaker herself but sympathetic to Friends; she first wrote to WP on 5 Feb. 1686 (Micro. 5:372) asking him to help her in gaining the release of her imprisoned bailiff, Samuel Barker, and his wife. As she explained to WP, her servants — both Quakers — were suffering for their belief as a result of the vindictiveness of a disappointed suitor of her daughter. According to Lady Martha, this suitor was determined to ruin her and chose a most effective way for his vengeance by prosecuting her steward, on whom she was totally dependent for the management of her estate. Mrs. Godfrey Locker Lampson, ed., A Quaker Post-Bag (London, 1910), pp. xii, 16, 43. 3. In Mar. 1686 James II freed WP and his family and servants from all legal proceedings against them (9 Mar. 1686; doc. 19), and then ordered all Quakers to be discharged from prison and all fines and other procedures against them to be stopped (15 Mar. 1686). CSPD, 1686, pp. 62, 71; Braithwaite, Second Period, p. 125. 4. See n. 2, above. 5. Rowland Vaughan was an attorney employed by Friends, whom WP apparently consulted in the case of the imprisonment of Lady Martha's servants. Fox, Short Journal, p. 3ion. 6. Persons who prosecute for a penalty payable by an offender (in this case, a Quaker) for some contravention of the law. Oxford Companion to Law. See headnote to doc. 31. 7. Periodic sessions of the High Court held by commissioned judges on circuit. Oxford Companion to Law. 8. Paying the required fees. OED. 9. Mines, pits. OED.
19 PARDON BY JAMES II [9 March 1686] Whereas the late King Our most deare Brother deceased had signifyed his intentions to his Atturney Generall for the pardoning such of his Subjects, who had been sufferers in the late times of Usurpation and Rebellion for their loyalty, or whose Parents or nearest Relations had been then sufferers, or since served Our said Brother, or who had themselves testifyed their loyalty and affection to the Government, and were prosecuted indicted or convicted for not taking or refusing to take the Oaths of allegiance & Supremacy or one of them, or had been prosecuted indicted or convicted for not taking or refusMarch 1686 • 83
ing to take the Oaths of allegiance and Supremacy or one of them or had been prosecuted upon the Prerogative Writ called the Long Writ of the Exchequer for the penalty of twenty pounds per Mensem or upon Outlawries or Writs de Excommunicato capiendo, or other Processe1 for the causes aforesaid or for not coming to Church, or not receiving the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, or by reason of their Conviction for recusancy or exercise of their Religion, or who were otherwise prosecuted as Recusants or imprisoned for any the causes aforesaid and for the doing thereof in diverse Counties Our said late Brother had given Order: Now in pursuance of those gracious intentions of Our said most deare Brother and in consideration of the late eminent Services of Sr Wm Penn2 under Our Command in the Service of Our said Brother, and of the Loyalty and good affection of his Son William Penn Esqr towards Us. Our Will & Pleasure is, that the said William Penn his Family and Servants shall not in any Sort be prosecuted or molested for any the causes abovementioned. Wherefore We command and Direct ^ou and every of you in your respective Places to forbeare all prosecution against the said Wm Penn his Family and Servants, and that you cause all Processe and Proceedings whatsoever already commenced or issued or to be commenced or issued against the said William Penn his Family and Servants or any of them for any the Causes aforesaid, to be wholy suspended, discharged, and stayed untill Our Royall Will and Pleasure shall be further knowne and signifyed unto you. For which Sec Whitehall the gth day of March 1685/6. By his Majties command Sunderland P. Warrant Book Copy. SP 44/336, PRO. (Micro. 5:392.) Addressed: To all Archbishops & Bishops | and to their Chancellors, Com | missaries and others exercising | Ecclesiasticall Jurisdiction, and | to Our Judges and Justices of | Assizes & Goale delivery and | Justices of Peace and to all other | officers & Persons whom it may concerne. Docketed: Mr. Wm | Penns Discharge. 1. Civil magistrates had recourse to a variety of legal processes against dissenters. Quakers were prosecuted as recusants for not attending Anglican church service (an offense that carried a £20 fine per month), as outlaws when they refused to appear in court, or as excommunicants whose punishment was imprisonment. Oxford Companion to Law; PWP, 1:536^ 549-50. 2. WP's Father, Sir William Penn (1621-1670), had served with James II, then the duke of York, in the Second Dutch War. PWP, i:3on.
20 TO THOMAS LLOYD London 2i st 2mo [April i6]86
Dr. Friend T. Lloyd. I hope this will finde thee & thyn well every way, which I heartely desire in the lord. A Champion of English Toleration
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thyn from N. york of Novembr last1 is come to my hand. Since the Lord has cast thy lott else where,2 I am glad thou affordest the Province thy presence sometimes, tho it is greivous to me to think I should be disapointed, but if it be for thy good, I desire to be contented, that which is most upon my minde at this time, is as follows. I desire that some course may be taken about the Advance made upon mony, especially englesh, in our Province; some being of opinion, that it makes an exception agst my governm1 to the grande's3 h[er]e. I wish that law dropped.4 pray weigh that wth some of the discreetest persons in that place. I would have great care taken to prevent thos Present from takeing up land for markett, not to settle, wch will mightely disapoint newcommers that have Great estates to carry on the improvem1 of the Country. Sr. Mathias vincent Major Tompson & doctr Cox,5 men of vast estates, have engaged for 18000 Acres, & are sending 60 fam[ily]s by the next, most french venerons,6 fitt for our Country: be curio[u]s to please their people, for they have brought many professors to be concernd. I beseech thee to endeavour peace & sobriety, & pray almighty god that it would please to bring me safely to you, that a blessing we may be to each other, while days are given us in this world, pray lett the western bounds be fixt with the Natives; I hope the goods left at N. york were used to good Advance in the indian purchasses;7 T.H.8 writt they wanted wampum. I am sure all the wampum I had at N. york, I left untoucht in my Closett, I entreat thee to enquire of thes things, for I have not one word about thes matters from J. Har.9 nor Tho. Holmes. I entreat thee also to lett me know the perticuler estate of the Province & my own improvemts at Pennsberry; I hope thou wilt not miss to urge the supply promessed me by the merchant[s].10 I shall hardly be so yeilding [agjain; out of sight, out of minde too much. I have wri[tt] about T. Rud. bitter Invective agst me, Immagining that I have been his back frd 11 to the Proprs12 which poorer man, he wanted not, for they were possest agst him long before, 8c tho I could not deny the truth, yet I often mitigated things, be sure to press Gr Dongan13 to d[o] me right, as to T.R.s loos suggestions in this be Speedy & dextrous. It will be no news to thee to tell thee thy Bror is Charls is married to the little body that so long lodged with him. M. Lawrence.14 I writt an allay, but he fell sharp upon preferring pelf before sweet & loveing yoakfellows; so I left off. I suppose he intends over; John15 was mightily agst it. thy nephew ch:16 is gone for holland, whither I intend, for news, here is little, the K. of France relapst;17 if he dyes, great alterations in Europe. Sr. Ed. Andrews18 named Govr for New-England, the duke of Albemarle19 for Jamaica, Sr. Phil Howard20 dead. Prance has renounced all he has said about sr. Ed-Bury Godfrys death.21 The Perswasive,22 has many Friends & e[ne]mys, 'tis now April 1686
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abroad, & much pres[t] [a]fter. some things altered of wl it [w]as when thos were sent over, that are in America.23 I hope to be w th you by the 8th month the Lord blessing us. Salute me to all the Magistrates & people as opertunity serves, & to Frds & brethren in the Truth. This is for thy privat information; yet show the needfull part to such as it may concern, give my respects to G. Dongan, SectY Spragg Collr Sancton, my salutes to my Friends J. Graham, J. west, Cap1 Palmer, Js. Swinton,24 8c the Dutch I know. I wish all yr prosperity as myn own. I am Thy Cordiall Friend Wm Penn G. F. A. P. G. W.25 &c. have their love to thee, thyn | & Frds. ALS. Penn Papers, Domestic and Miscellaneous Letters, HSP. (Micro. 5:416.) Docketed: 2:MO 1686. 1. This letter has not been found. 2. New York. Thomas Lloyd had married Patience Story (d. c. 1724) of New York during the winter 1684-85, not returning to Philadelphia until the Council meeting of 7 Apr. 1685. Although intending to live in Philadelphia, Lloyd's new wife did not find it agreeable, and by Nov. 1685 Lloyd had apparently decided to move to New York; he came to Philadelphia for about half the Council meetings in 1685-86. PWP, 2:6oin, 610; Micro. 5:325; Nash, Quakers and Politics, pp. 101-2. 3. Grandees or persons of eminence. OED. In this instance, WP is concerned about those powerful members of the English government who were looking for any excuse to deprive him of his proprietorship. 4. WP was concerned about the increase (advance) in Pennsylvania in the value of foreign coinage propounded in chap. 122 of the 1683 laws, and in particular the increase in the value of the English shilling from i2p to i5p. On 24 Apr. and early in June 1686 (docs. 21, 23) WP again requested the Provincial Council to drop this law, but it took no action. 5. Sir Mathias Vincent (d. 1687), Maj. Robert Thompson of Newington Green, Middx., and Dr. Daniel Coxe (1640-1730) of London. The most significant of these land speculators was Coxe, who was involved at various times in projects from New England to the Gulf of Mexico. He was titular governor of West New Jersey, 1687-92, and in June 1686 with other English notables almost succeeded in purchasing 100,000 acres from WP near Lake Erie for the purpose of monopolizing the fur trade (Micro. 5:460). WP actually deeded more than 18,000 acres to these men; on 20 Apr. 1686 he granted by separate deeds 10,000 acres to Coxe, 10,000 acres to Thompson, and 10,116 acres to Joseph Pike to be held by him in Vincent's name. The plot, on the west bank of the Schuylkill, corresponds to modern East and West Vincent townships, Chester Co. The sudden death of Vincent, a misunderstanding between Thompson and WP, and Coxe's disillusionment with the project led to the sale of these lands in 1691 to the West Jersey Society. Albright G. Zimmerman, "Daniel Coxe and The New Mediterranean Sea Company," PMHB, 76:86-96; PHMB, 7:317-18; 34:75; 53:330-31; 75:14144580:158. 6. Vignerons, or vintners. 7. Thomas Holme concluded two treaties with the Indians in July and Oct. 1685. The first treaty included lands stretching from Chester Creek to Pennypack Creek and then northwesterly "as far as a man can go in Two Daves." When finally measured in 1688 this reached the Susquehanna River (Early American Indian Documents, pp. 53, 77). Apparently WP's agents delayed paying the Indians as required by these treaties. See docs. 26, 41, 49, and 51. 8. Thomas Holme. 9. James Harrison. 10. The Philadelphia merchants, alarmed by the excise duty on liquor passed by
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the Council in 1684, had pledged to raise a £500 subscription in lieu of the proposed duty but had actually paid WP very little. See PWP, 2:411, 558-59, 611. 11. False friend. OED. 12. Thomas Rudyard (d. 1692), WP's former legal adviser, had been removed as deputy governor of East New Jersey by the proprietors of that colony. In 1684 he had unsuccessfully solicited WP for the office of master of the rolls in Pennsylvania and had then organized a protest movement against WP's land distribution policy in Philadelphia. He moved to Barbados in Nov. 1685. PWP, 2134in, 569-78. 13. Thomas Dongan, governor of New York, was purported to rely heavily on Rudyard for advice and counsel. PWP, 2:470. 14. Charles Lloyd (1637-1698), of Dolobran, Mont., elder brother of Thomas, married on 2 Feb. 1686 Ann Lawrence (d. 1708), of Lea, Herts., probably the same woman with whom he had been imprisoned at Welshpool in 1662 for refusing to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. His first wife, Elizabeth Lort (1633-1685), had been from a prominent Welsh family. This may have prompted WP to chastize Lloyd for now marrying beneath him, a comment that led to Lloyd's sharp retort. See doc. 5; Rachel J. Lowe, Farm and its Inhabitants ([London], 1883), pp. 9-12. 15. John Lloyd (b. 1638), brother of Thomas and Charles. 16. Charles Lloyd (1662-1747), son of Charles (1637-1698). 17. Louis XIV's health deteriorated very badly in 1686, due to development of an anal fistula combined with gout and periodic attacks of fever. The fistula was removed and he lived until 1715. John B. Wolf, Louis XIV (New York, 1968), pp. 335, 35!-52. 18. Sir Edmund Andros (1637-1714), governor of New York 1674-81, was commissioned as royal governor of the newly established Dominion of New England in June 1686. DNB; Raimo, Governors, pp. 241-42. 19. Christopher Monck (1653-1688), second duke of Albemarle, was appointed governor-general of Jamaica on 31 May 1686 but did not go to the island until the summer of 1687. He died there in Sept. 1688 from jaundice. CSPC, 1685-1688, pp. 199, 390-91; Stephen Saunders Webb, The Governors-General: The English Army and the Definition of Empire, 1569-1681 (Chapel Hill, 1979), p. 480; Richard S. Dunn, Sugar and Slaves (Chapel Hill, 1972), p. 161. 20. Sir Philip Howard (d. 1685) was appointed governor-general of Jamaica in Dec. 1684, succeeding the late Sir Thomas Lynch, but never went to the island. CSPC, 1681-1685, pp. 751-52; 1685-1688, p. 122; Webb, The Governors-General, p. 480. 21. The murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey (1621-1678), justice of the peace for Westminster, had ignited the "Popish Plot" crisis of 1678, which drove the duke of York (now James II) into exile. Miles Prance, a Roman Catholic silversmith, had confessed to complicity in the murder, implicating three other Catholics, two of whom were subsequently executed. On 15 June 1686 Prance pleaded guilty to perjury. He was fined and forced to stand in the pillory and be whipped from Newgate to Tyburn. DNB. 22. A Perswasive to Moderation (Wing P 1337A) by WP, the first edition of which was printed in London in 1685 by Andrew Sowle, was a call for toleration of Protestant dissenters and Catholics, along with continued maintenance of the Church of England. Mary Maples Dunn, William Penn: Politics and Conscience (Princeton, 1967), pp. 136-38; PWP, vol. 5, item 72. 23. It is difficult to know precisely which editions WP is referring to. It appears that in 1686 two issues of a second edition and a third edition were printed. See PWP, vol. 5, items 726-0. 24. John Spragge and Lucas Santen were both members of the New York Council 1683-86. Gov. Dongan appointed Spragge secretary and Santen collector in 1683; both men counseled Dongan to annex neighboring colonies, including Pennsylvania, to better provide for New York's defense (Patricia U. Bonomi, A Factious People [New York, 1971], p. 312; Robert C. Ritchie, The Duke's Province [Chapel Hill, 1977], pp. 18081, 186, 190, 274n). James Graham, John West, Capt. John Palmer, and Isaac Swinton (d. 1687) were also New Yorkers. 25. George Fox, Alexander Parker, and George Whitehead. Parker (1628-1689), a prominent ministering Friend, had moved from the north to George Yard, in London, after his marriage in 1669. He frequently traveled with George Fox. PWP, 1:135; 2:3O3n; Fox, 1:427.
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21 TO THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL r
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London 24th 2 m [April i6]86
D Friends With My Love to you in Sincerity & Truth desiring your Prosperity every Way I thought Good to Recommend the Bearer2 to you for Some Employment either as Clerk of the Peace in Some Eminent Place or Attorney Generall for the Whole; he is Modest and Understanding & is Recommended well, and I have had Tryall of him Now for the Affairs of the Province. 1 Desire You to have an Eye to Suppress Debauchery the Bain of All Country's, & keep Peace wl you Can, Allaying fiery Spirits till I Come, bearing & forbearing one Another, for Many Eyes are upon You of all Sorts, I Beseech God the Father of All good & Perfect Blessed Gifts to Bless you & guide you. 2 I am told we Ventured too farr for Security of our Patent to Make a Law to Alter the Standard of English Coyn as from i2 d to i5d 3 in this I Cared Not if that Law were Dropt and Lett Custom Prevale as at N York etc. 3 Pray let No Spoyle be Made of Land or Lotts in the City but leave Accomodation to After Purchasers4 Whose Hearts, Hands, & Purses are pressing towards You I do Assure You the 4 The Bearer David Lloyd has a Warrant for 18000 {Acres} of Land on the Skulkill About four Miles Above the Island I Suppose the Place lies, Pray let it be laid out as favourably as Justice will Admitt, the Owners are Sr Mathias Vincent, Major Tompson & Dr Coxe5 that Advance two thousand Pounds presen[t] intend Buildings beside {of} brick in City & Country; Familys are Coming over on their Account at Least two if Not three Ship Loads.6 they goe on with a Pottery presently wch will help to keep the Money & fetch Money of the Neibours 5 Pray See that Wrong be Not Done by Cutting other Mens Trees in the City, there has been an Unruly Spoyle. 6 I Utterly Deny that I Ever told Ch. Ascombe I Should Keep Cheshire as a Distinct Thing From Thos Holmes7 but Charged him to be humble & an Under that Officer as the Rest did or we must fall out & Since I Perceive he is Refractory I Do Order you in My Name to Complain to Councill and if it Appear he Continues So, that he be Discharged & that Thos Holmes have Right of him; Such Disorderly Doings Must Not be Endured, that is Positively my Mind. I Press with All my Power to be with you, the Lord Make my Passage with my Family's Easy to us tis what I Desire Above Worldly Riches to be with you again. Which with My True Love to you & the People Ends this from Your Real Friend Wm Penn A Champion of English Toleration
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I am Glad the Indian Purchases are made,8 but I fear Regard was Not had to wl I had payd as Earnest for the Purchase both at the Head of Christina & up the Schylkill Cap1 Lock9 knows I Paid them both an Earnest. Sicotichan Be His Company in the Councill House & Kalup & Keklapon Come in my Gate to fetch theirs from the Assembly at N. Castle, for News I Leave You to the Bearer Vale. I have thought fit to give the Bearer a Commission for Attory Gen11 for a Certainty to Accept or Change as he pleases & you See fitt. WP Copy. TS 12/65, PRO. (Not filmed.) Docketed: A Copy M™ Grace Loyd's | Affadavit or Testimony | and Mr Penn's Letter. 1. The provincial councilors in 1686 were: Thomas Lloyd (president), Peter Alricks, John Cann, William Clark, Arthur Cook, William Darvall, William Frampton, Edward Green, Francis Harrison, Thomas Janney, Nicholas Newlin, Phineas Pemberton, John Rhoads, John Simcock, William Southerby, Robert Turner, Lucas Watson, William Markham (secretary). 2. David Lloyd (1656-1731) of Manafon, Wales, received his legal training under Sir George Jeffreys and began working for WP in 1683, drawing up deeds, warrants, and other conveyances to First Purchasers of Pennsylvania land. Lloyd, who converted to Quakerism by 1692, had a distinguished career, even though he turned against WP in the late 16905 and became a leader of the anti-proprietary faction. He was first attorney general of Pennsylvania; clerk of the Phila. Co. Court, the Provincial Court, and the Assembly (1689); a member of the Assembly and repeatedly its speaker; a provincial councilor; and finally chief justice of the province (1718). Lewis, "Courts of Pennsylvania," pp. 187-90; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:188; Roy N. Lokken, David Lloyd: Colonial Lawmaker (Seattle, 1959), pp. 3-8, 48; David Lloyd Notebook, HSP. 3. See doc. 20, n. 4. 4. "After Purchasers" as compared to First Purchasers. WP wanted to make sure that new investors in the colony could buy city lots. 5. See doc. 20, n. 5. 6. WP was too optimistic. Only a few families settled on the land deeded to Vincent and his partners. PMHB, 53:330-31. 7. Charles Ashcom (d. 1727) was deputy surveyor for Chester Co. In 1687 he and Thomas Holme, the surveyor general, quarreled over the accuracy of his surveys in the Welsh Tract and the payments due to Ashcom for them. PWP, 2:387^ PHMB, 24:182; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:151, 155, 163, 191, 193; see docs. 33; 41, n. 8; 48; 86. 8. WP's agents made two Indian purchases on 30 July and 2 Oct. 1685 from sachems who owned land in the backcountry west of the Delaware River that had not been granted to WP in 1682-84. In these grants of 1685 there is no mention of the down payment WP refers to, naming Capt. Lasse Cock his witness. Apparently WP made these payments in two places: to Sicotickon and his group in the house where the Provincial Council sat in Philadelphia, and to Kailops and Kekelappan at the gate of the house where he stayed when the Assembly met at New Castle in May 1684. PWP, 2:268n; 491 (map); Early American Indian Documents, pp. 76-79; docs. 3, 5, 20, n. 7. 9. A copyist's mistake for Cock; see PWP, 2:242-43, 263-64.
22 TO JAMES HARRISON London 24th 2mo [April] 1686
Dr. J. Harrison my love is dearly remembred to thee in the truth, that neither sea nor land can deminush & to thy honest wife & children, with dear friends April 1686
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that away; the Lord be wth you, & us here in this dark day & give us our lott among you. Amen. I have not heard from thee since the 21 of the 7mo last.1 I hope all is well. Tho. Holmes, T. Loyd & R. Turner have writt since. In my last2 by a ship from plymouth I writt mostly about a relation of myn3 haveing an house built next Ar. Cooks,4 upward, to be done by the great,5 well scituated for a knab,6 water & shade. The bearer,7 if he live to come there, has order to be perticuler in things, but thou must have an eye to see things done, for tis for a person I have a more then ordinary regard to, & would recommend my selfe by the care thou & my folks has therein. Tho this I would have thee keep to thy selfe. In building this house by the great, one of my carpenters I send may work [torn] allowed, & so the less paid, the demensions will be but 24 square or 26 by 22, the modell I enclose,8 the chimnys to come into one tunnel, over head there may be three rooms, because of the entry being brought in, that is one larger & two smaller. It is to stand endways, & the roof hipt.9 the windows of the middle floor, sasht. lett the door be three foot & half broad & 8 high at entrance at least, the rest within, 2 foot 10 inches & 7 foot high as myn above are. lett it be with three steps in to the house, thirty six pounds went in silver peices of 8t from Plymouth {by Francis Rawle}10 consigned to thee & R. Turr. for this service there goes, by order to Ned Haswell,11 {to buy} 341 in goods, wch comes to seaventy pounds, that will I hope do, with the advance for such a little box as it is now ordered to be. our folks12 in a day or two will clear a foundation, & digg a celler; & clear a court yard & platt13 for a garden vafttwo Acres will be enough {for that}, lett the building goe on wth Speed, see the bricks be good & morter strong, & binde them to finish it by the ioth day of the 8th mo at farthest, sooner by a month if can be. pray be industreous in it, for the party will be over in the fall at latest, no matter for being very neer the River, a quarter of a mile {or 12 score} back, if by a brook will be as well, to the hous belongs three hundred Acres, but from {neer} the place where the house stands, it comes {down} but ten pole14 broad to the River; it is to ley next above Ar. Cooks; who will be a kind hearted neighbour, my dr. love to him & his, I take kindly the supply he gave thee, {his} bill is payd, as also thy bill to N. Bland,15 & tho thy Friend did disapoint thee in t'other; I told him, I would answear it rather then disapoint thee. Dr. James, keep all in order, goe on to improve grounds for grass & corn, & now I send thee more servts for building, lett there be good out housen for servts kitchen, washous, brewhouse, stable &c. Henry {bennet} is but so so, best keep him under thy eye or, if unruly, sell him for his time, Rob1 Ripsy, J. Bradberry & Thomas Russell are pretty fellows,16 the middlemost a rare Joyner, he will make sash windows, & I would have my middle floor sasht, if thou could sell the {or use else where the} windows that are {in}, for they are the best abundance. I hope the gardner17 is come & that he falls well to it. by A Champion of English Toleration
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the next ship after this, expect a large nett, & some powder & shott & duffalls18 & nailes & mill stones. I here inclose the indenture of the gardner & Henry bennet; the others Robert [torn] to enclose them. Ned Haswell I ordered to send thee, the bill of lading for the 341 of goods, be it more or less. now there is an honest poor frds son, his name William Smyth,19 a sober & industreous lad, tho he look heavy, he is bound to me & so is Hen. bennit, but both are for the same person the hous is for; & if thou canst gett an honest famely of but a man & wife & one son or such as that, [illegible deletion] to live at half encrease of corn & cattle (they {first} kept out of it) upon that farme where the hous is to {be} built, but perhaps this is too soon; wherefore the carpenter & this wm smyth may diet at wm woods20 on Bror Lowthers21 land; & wm smyth may minde grubing & clearing wth one more of my servts while the little hous is building, for that was his work here, widdow smyth desires her son may be carefully lookt after & she hopes to come over wth me. I have order'd thee for my famely 25 Barrels of beef some hundred weights of butter, & candles from Irland, also 30* in peices of 8l for my comeing over, cheer up the people, I press what I can; but the great undertakers that crowd on me & to raise mony to gett away, hinders me yet, but my heart is with you & my soul & love is after you the Lord keep us here in this dark day. be wise, close, respectfull to suprs. The K. has discharg'd all Frds by a generall pardon & is courteous to us tho as to the church of eng, things seem pinching, severall R cath. gett much into places in Army, navy & the court, my Perswasive22 works much among all sorts, & is divers spoak of. I have been thrice taken at meetings but gott off I bless the Lord.23 my dear wife & children well, she a nurse.24 Frds generall, well, & things quiet, an open mass of a german Prince, held in London, a rout about it, 'tis feared the Ks Regim1 will be quartered there & so become a garrison.25 This may be communicated, but discreetly, the K. of France like to dye again, great cruelty there, to the Protest, many comeing to you. I shall send over by the next ship a plowman or two & a brick maker & layer & a dary made. I remember no more, only pray finish the great house within & wl cant be done with brick of my out houses, do with wood slight, that may be done after, & see we have a good Kitchen garden. The Lord god of might & everlasting strength be with you & cover & save you & bless that poor land wth piety & peace & plenty, amen. I am in the unalterable truth & love of it Thy endeared Friend & Bror Wm Penn R. Had.26 much our Frd now. salute me to J. Sim, C. Tayler, A. Cook, T. Janny, thy son & daughter w.y.27 poor T. fittswater, J. Goodson,28
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J. Claypool & Elin, & my famely. I have not heard one word of the cattle of Coll. Loyd, or what is become of them or how many29 Rich. collet30 a Frd here will want four cows, three sows & an hors or two, with fifty Bushels of corn half Ind. & the other Eng. that I must furnish his assigne, & do thou do it at market rate, for I have the vallue here, press the Merchants about the supply, no more but dr. love. vale. WR be kinde to the Bearer David Lloyd a civill & Ingeneous Person. The carpenters have all disapointed me,31 so must do as thou canst. WP. ALS. Penn Papers, Domestic and Miscellaneous Letters, HSP. (Micro. 5:430.) Docketed: 24 2mo 86. 1. Letter not found. 2. In an undated latter to James Harrison, Robert Turner, and Thomas Holme (Micro. 5:402), WP sent £40 "for a lady in England, that intends over suddainly wth her famely, & many considerable people are like to follow." This woman had bought 500 acres, of which 300 were to be next to Arthur Cook's and near Pennsbury. 3. WP's relative may have been Mary Lady Newcomen, whose stepfather, Richard Rooth, was related to WP's father. She was the wife of Sir Richard Newcomen, who became sixth baronet of Mosstown, Co. Longford, Ireland, in 1689, and the youngest daughter of Arthur Chichester, second earl of Donegal, and Jane Itchingham, who married Rooth after the earl's death in 1678. The person mentioned here did not come at this time, for in Feb. 1687 WP told Harrison to stop building the house. But Lady Newcomen did arrive in Pennsylvania in 1702, under the pseudonym of Mary Phillips to escape detection by her husband, who was, in WP's words, "an ill Choice." Baronetage, 1:255; William Playfair, British Baronetage (London, 1811), 4:259; PWP, i:i37n; PWP, vol. 4; Micro. 5:669, 10:463; docs. 29, text at n. 14; 35, n. 32. 4. Arthur Cook (d. 1699), a provincial councilor, owned 5000 acres in Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester Counties and lived on his property below Pennsbury on the Delaware River. PWP, 2:53in, 659. 5. WP probably means the "Great Swamp" west of Pennsbury. 6. Nab, an elevated piece of land. OED. 7. David Lloyd. See doc. 21, n. 2. 8. No drawing has been found. 9. Hipped, or sloped. OED. 10. Francis Rawle (c. 1663-1727), a Quaker from Plymouth, immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1686. He soon became a justice of the peace and later a member of the antiproprietary party in the Assembly. He married Robert Turner's daughter Martha in 1689. PMHB, 3:119-20. 11. Edward Haistwell (c. 1658-1709), a London merchant and a Quaker lobbyist at Parliament. Fox, Short Journal, p. 327; Steele, Colonial Policy, p. 73. 12. WP's servants at Pennsbury, whom he also referred to as his family. 13. A small piece of land. OED. 14. 165 feet. 15. See doc. 7, n. 10. 16. Henry Bennett (b. 1668) was probably the son of Henry Bennett, Sr., of Steyning, Sus., who died in 1670. He witnessed two wills in Philadelphia in the early 17005. Thomas Russel (b. 1667) was probably the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Russel of Worplesdon, Sus. Robert Ripsy and J. Bradberry have not been identified. Perhaps one of them was WP's servant who died on the way to Pennsylvania aboard the Amity. Digests of Quaker Records, Sus., GSP; Phila. Will Bk. C, #220; Bk. D, #356; doc. 26. 17. James Reid (d. 1691) was the son of Alexander and Elizabeth Reid (or Reed), Scottish Quakers living in Ireland. He sailed to Pennsylvania in 1685 with a cargo of several hundred saplings, seeds, and gardening equipment bought by WP for Pennsbury. WP received several complaints about his rudeness to visitors and his inability to
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get along with other servants but kept him on until 1689 because he was an "artist" at his trade. In 1691 he drowned at sea on the return voyage from a plant-buying trip to Jamaica. ACM, vol. 64; Micro, 5:349. 18. Duffel, or coarse woolen cloth. OED. 19. William Smith came with WP's servants on the Amity. He is probably the same William Smith, identified as the proprietor's servant, who sold his piece of "servants' land" to Caleb Pusey in 1714. Doc. 29, text at n. 13; PA, 2d ser., 19:586; PWP, 2:653. 20. William Wood (d. Nov. 1685), a Quaker merchant from Nottinghamshire, came to Pennsylvania in 1683 and was appointed a judge of the Provincial Court in 1684. Wood held several parcels of land, all in Chester and Philadelphia Counties, west of the Schuylkill; he must have been renting part of the Lowther land in northern Phila. Co. PWP, 2:6o5n; doc. 210. 21. Anthony Lowther (c. 1640-1693) married WP's sister Margaret in 1667. The property referred to here was probably Lowther Manor, granted by WP to Anthony and Margaret's younger children, Margaret, John, and Anthony, Jr. PWP, i:47n; doc. 210. 22. See doc. 20, n. 22. 23. Only one actual arrest record has been found. WP was convicted 26 Jan. 1685 for attending a conventicle in London 7 Dec. 1694. He was fined 58 for his own offense as well as £9 155 on account of the unidentified preacher at the meeting. John Cordy Jeaffreson, ed., Middlesex County Records (London, 1892), 4:265-66. 24. Gulielma was nursing her five-month-old daughter, Gulielma Maria, born at Worminghurst, 17 Nov. 1685. PMHB, 74:110. 25. On 18 Apr. 1686 the mayor of London sent in the militia to quell a riot following services at a new Catholic chapel in Lime Street, Cheapside. James II summoned the mayor and threatened to send in royal forces, then mustering outside the city, if order could not be maintained. Luttrell, 1:373, 375; Ashley, James II, p. 200. 26. Robert Haydock, or Haddock (1660-1737), a Quaker merchant from Coppull, Lanes., was the brother of two Quaker ministers, Roger and John. Convinced as a schoolboy, he first came into the ministry at this time. Fox, 2:494; Digests of Quaker Records, Lanes., GSP; DQB. 27. William Yardley. 28. Thomas Fitzwater (d. 1699) and John Goodson (d. 1727) were prominent Philadelphia Quakers. PWP, 2:373^ 53in, 534n. 29. See doc. 7, n. 7. 30. Richard Collett, who emigrated to Pennsylvania by 1687, was the son of Richard Collet of Binton-on-the Hill, Glos. Before taking up residence in Byberry Township, Phila. Co., he lived in London and was a servant to William Mead. Albert Cook Myers, Narratives of Early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey, and Delaware, 1630-1707 (New York, 1912), p. 286n; Phila. Will Bk. D, #90; Digests of Quaker Records, London and Middx., GSP; PWP, 2:640. 31. WP had arranged for three carpenters to go to Pennsylvania; they all changed their minds. See doc. 4, n. 5.
23 TO THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL [c. June 1686] Friends1 I greet you all with unfeined love, desiring your prosperity every way, as myn own. That which occasions this to you, is the continuall care that possesses my heart for your wise, just & dilligent administration of the Govern^ that is in your hands; for I well know, the success of that Province is sufficiently watcht by friends & foes; & it much depends upon thos in June 1686
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powr; for I never heard of a Country undone nor made without them, where a Magistracy is a terror to the evill doer & a praise to him that does well, all must goe well, since god, by whom Kings raign & Princes decree Justice, is engaged to preserve such a Country; and so great a Coward is vice, that it can not long look vertue in the face, when it shines through the actions of Governours. Do not therefore I beseech you debase your Noble calling by a low, mean & partial behavour: neither lett any privat concerns defraud the publick of your care & pains to serve it; for besides that thos neglects are of wors consequence, there is a singular sort of recompence that will follow the publick Spirited. To do this well, sloth in any should not be drawn into example, but a just emulation ought to possess your brests: since that is to lay up a more lasting store to your posterity, both in the sight of god & your Just followers. And I cannot but say, that If ever god bring me safely among you, as the Lewd & disorderly among the multitude, and the careless among thos in Govermt will finde a due resentment in me of their unworthiness, so assuredly, the virtuous, and dilligent, shall reap the fruit of what favour & preferrm* I am capable to conferr upon them. Friends, this absence of myn, is your tryall: lett it not be a slight thing to you, it affects me at heart: Many eyes are upon you, & and any miscarriage is aggrevated to a Mountain; and 'tis not a faith without works that will remove it. Privat offences are made the publicks, where the Publick does not punish them, and where they are duely rewarded, the dishonour is prevented, & malice has nothing to work upon, for it is not the Reproach of a Goverm1 that any privat perticular person under it or in it, transgrese^th, but that he is not corrected, this I recommend to you with much zeal & concernment of spirit, that the report of yr Justice may come with that of the offence. God Almighty preserve you all. Next, It is your interest as well as reputation, to keep seek peace and ensue it. Keep down all contentions that may arise as much as you can, for next sobriety, peace recommends any Goverm1 for the one is not more virtuous, then the other is wise. Remember that your station obliges you to be the lights & Salt of the Province; to direct & season thos that are under you, by your good example. Tis not wealth or trade, that makes a goverment great, the noblest examples of Goverm1 that time has deliver'd down to us, had little of either, they are preferr'd to our Immitation for their sobriety, Peace, temperance, labour and equal administration, this I am Sure you may have in Poor Pennsilvania if you will; the climat is as fitt for it as any other in the world, & I know tis expected at our hands; and lett me tell you, that it was the most Noble & prevaleing motive I had to take my lott in that solitary part of the world, where there was room & opertunity for thos excellent methods of life & Goverment. O that god would please to inspire you with zeal & resolution to endeavour so blessed & honorable a work; else what can be expected, but the faults & Judgements
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that attend {& ruine} other places; which would make my heart sad, and alianate my Love from that place of the whole earth, that is best beloved by me, & I long the most to be at, & where I pray & hope, my god will graceously please to bring me in his time. In the next session of your Gen11 Assembly, pray vew your laws well, & see w* are needless or inconvenient, especially that about advanceing the rate of mony, in which we do but (hazardously) cheat our selves I fear.2 Next, I would have you take care that no offence be given to the Kings officers, but that you treat them with respect, & rather suffer our selves, then defraude him of his dues; for what is his, it is with me matter of Conscience that he should have it. I speak as to his customs, & that regular way of trade the laws of England have provided for that purpose. I do recommend to you a law for stateing factors accompts, whereby employers here may see the Govermts care in their right;3 want of that witholds some thousands of pounds from the province; they are willing to allow out of the gain, at least 10 per cent, for examination, to the Commissioners for that purpose provided. The Society4 is a great Reproach to the Province, & in nothing more, then not sending an account of the debtrs & Credrs which I stayed {there} so long & satt so often for, & saw effected. That it self was mislayd or lost or designedly Kept back, after all that pains; so that my own credit, that I saw it, & the totall of debt Gooo1 odd hundred & the Cred1 gooo1 odd hundred pounds, was all they had to rest upon; & certainly to merchands & traders, that trust not themselves, but their books, had little reason to give me that respect, pray, call the President or cheif officer before you, on my complaint, order him to transmitt a faithfull account.5 I writt to them to transmitt the Governi1 of it hether; wch would serve the Province, content the present rich members here, & encourage others to come in. for fresh stock can only save it, with fresh & other methods. I long since writt you word of my Success agst. the Lord Baltimor but the cheif letter, I suppose, may be lost in Conway,6 who playd the villain & carried the people to Bermudas, & there left, or sent them to a wors place. Not Cap1 Conway of Mar that comes to Maryland, but an Irish man, that to drown'd his name, that I beleive was o coner, called himselfe by that name. I hear he is gone a privateering. I shall last of all mention to you, that which seems most to concern my selfe, & but touch upon this[?] it neither, first, that no care is yet taken to supply me according to the Marchants engagem1, insomuch, that one there,7 that left mony in my hands here, could not gett twenty pounds to answear his occasions among you, wch was very odd; the River did more much {more} before I came into it. Secondly, that nothing is done towards a future establishing8 Go verm1 must be; for want of it, complants come by eve every winde; this cannot be if the Persons concerned are not supported in the admin-
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istration of it; they will run to their famelys & farms, so that have as little of Govern^ as can be desired, with any safety to the publick, but mens expences must be born & their time Consider'd, for I can do no more then I have done for you of that kinde. And now I have said all this, I have only to wish you to live well with your neighbours, especially about servants that run away.9 that you shutt up the caves of Philadelphia,10 to prevent clandestine loosness, and stirr up the Magistrates to minde Sobriety there & every where; that by a conscientious discharge of your duty to god and man, you may provoak others to do the like in their inferior stations; for since people are less under notice & so more left to themselves in the wilderness of America, then in thes more planted & crowded parts of the world, so they have more need to watch over themselves & become a law to themselves, that the great god, by whom we live, move & have our being, may not be provoked to desert us, but by a virtuous regard of his blessed & eternall law in our hearts, we may engage his powr & goodness in our preservation & success, that happy days we may live & good deaths we may dye, & finde a better A world, when we shall leave this & be here no more, so prays, & would hope Your truly loveing Friend Wm Penn ALS. Dreer Collection, HSR (Micro. 5:447.) Docketed: The Goverrs Lettre | to The Councill | 1686. Further docketed in a different hand: upon divers Affairs of Moment. 1. For the members of the Provincial Council in 1686, see doc. 21, n. i. 2. The next Assembly met from 10-12 May 1687 in Philadelphia and reviewed some of the laws, but not the one regulating the rate of money advanced. Votes and Proceedings, 1:40-42; doc. 20, n. 4. 3. In Dec. 1682 the Pennsylvania Assembly passed a law requiring all factors or correspondents in the colony who wronged their employers in England to make satisfaction. The colonists did not take WP's advice to amend this law until 1693 when, under Gov. Fletcher, procedures for the recovery of debts of factors or merchants were prescribed in more detail. Charter and Laws, pp. 102, 120, 238-39. 4. The Free Society of Traders; see docs. 6 and 8. 5. The Council, on receiving WP's letter in Sept. 1686, summoned Benjamin Chambers, president of the Free Society of Traders, and read this section to him. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:190. 6. On 21 Oct. 1685 WP had informed the Provincial Council of the Lords of Trade's favorable ruling in the Delaware boundary dispute (Micro. 5:308). This letter was sent via Capt. Richard Conoway, who dropped his passengers and cargo in Bermuda instead of Pennsylvania. WP's letter and Conoway's disgruntled passengers eventually reached Pennsylvania by 28 Apr. 1686 (Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:175). 7. Joshua Cart. For the Philadelphia merchants' failure to pay WP £500 by voluntary subscription, see doc. 20, n. 10. 8. So far WP had borne almost all the expenses of Pennsylvania's government. Despite his protests, the Provincial Council and Assembly made no provision for new taxes in 1686-87. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:206; Votes and Proceedings, 1:40-42. 9. The General Assembly of 1685 had decreed that anyone who apprehended a runaway servant should be rewarded with 20 shillings. Charter and Laws, p. 177. 10. For WP's continued concern about the use of the caves on the Delaware river front as drinking houses, see docs. 26, n. 36; 34; 39; 53, n. 13; Micro. 5:244, 692.
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24 THE EARL OF SUNDERLAND TO SIR ROBERT SAWYER Windsor June 6th 1686
Mr Atturney Generall1 Sr His Majty having by Order in Councill directed you to bring Writs of Quo Warranto2 against the Proprietors of Pensilvania, Carolina, & the Bahama Islands &c in America, his Majty commands me to acquaint you that he has thought fit for some particular considerations to suspend the Proceedings against the Proprietor of Pensilvania, and accordingly would have you forbeare to do any thing further in that matter till further Order from him, his intention being neverthelesse you should continue to proceed against the the rest.3 S^ I am Your most humble Servant Sunderland P. Copy. Entry Book, SP 44/56, PRO. (Micro. 5:457.)
1. Sir Robert Sawyer (1633-1692), lawyer and parliamentarian, was attorney general from Feb. 1681 to Dec. 1687. DNB. 2. Legal action to annul apparently usurped powers of authority. In 1684, in a move to bring the private and proprietary colonies under royal control, the crown had obtained judgments by writ of quo warranto against the Bermuda and Massachusetts charters. In 1685 the crown had initiated quo warranto proceedings against the governments of Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, East New Jersey, West New Jersey, and Delaware. Now, on 30 May 1686, the crown was taking parallel action against the remaining proprietary colonies in America: Pennsylvania, Carolina, and the Bahamas. Acts of Privy Council, 2:92; Philip S. Haffenden, "The Crown and the Colonial Charters, 1675-1688," WMQ 3d sen, 15:304-7, 453-57. See also docs. 9, n. i; 15, n. 7. 3. James II incorporated Connecticut, Rhode Island, East New Jersey, and West New Jersey into the royal Dominion of New England in 1687-88 but took no further steps against any of the proprietary colonies south of the Delaware River. Haffenden, "Crown and Charters," pp. 456-64.
25 FROM HENRY
SIDNEY
Shortly after London Yearly Meeting, held on 24-25 May 1686, WP undertook a journey to the Netherlands and Germany, ostensibly to proselytize and visit with continental Quakers, but unbeknownst to Friends he was also intending to visit William of Orange at The Hague as the personal envoy of James II. The king was hoping that WP could convince William to support repeal of the English penal laws and Test Acts. Precisely what powers were given to WP is unknown, but it is believed that he was authorized to promise indemnity to those Presbyterian exiles at William's court who had not engaged in treason. June 1686
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It was also rumored that he carried overtures to William from Catholic peers anxious to regain access to offices in England. Traveling to Holland by way of Calais, Dunkirk, and Flanders, rather than by the normal route through Brill, WP was able surreptitiously to stop at The Hague. Yet despite two or three lengthy meetings between WP and William, the latter remained cool to any toleration not legally sanctioned by Parliament and continued firmly to oppose repeal of the Test Acts, believing they had the support of the majority of Englishmen and were, in any event, essential safeguards of Protestant freedoms. William also pointedly reminded WP of the recent action of Louis XIV, another Catholic monarch, in revoking the Edict of Nantes. Upon leaving The Hague, WP went to Amsterdam Yearly Meeting before traveling to Utrecht and into Germany. He returned to Amsterdam about mid-July. Henry Sydney probably renewed contact with him at this time, having last seen WP at The Hague. WP probably met with Sydney about 20 August, just before he returned to England. He arrived in London at the end of August 1686. Earl of Buchan, Essays on the Lives and Writings of Fletcher of Saltoun and the Poet Thomson (London, 1792), pp. 29-32^ Thomas Clarkson, Memoirs of the Private and Public Life of William Penn (Dover, 1827), * : 17^"79' William Hepworth Dixon, William Penn: An Historical Biography (Philadelphia, 1851), pp. 245-47; Burnet, p. 441; Joseph E. Illick, William Penn the Politician (Ithaca, 1965), pp. 85-97; Pemberton Papers, 2:3, 21-22, HSP; Roger Haydock, Works (London, 1700), pp. 208-9. Dieren1 Aug. the 13^ [i6]86 It was but yesterday that I received yours of the 52 from Amsterdam, where it hath stay'd I can not immagine, I hope this will not be so long going to you; I am very glad that you are so kind as to have a mind to see, I desire it extreamly for severall reasons, and so does our Freind3 here; I thinke it will be as little trouble to you to come to Arnham, 4 as to Amersfort 5 and it will be a great deale more convenient to me, therefore I should be glad our meeting may be there, and any time that you will appoint I shall approve of, and be sure not to faile, so that I know it a day before, you must find out some other way of writing to me that it may not be so long in its passage I thinke it will be best to send it first to the Hague, and then I shall be sure to have it in two days, I will say nothing more till I see you, but that I am unaterably Yours H: Sydney6 ALS. Penn-Forbes Collection, HSP. (Micro.5:472.) Docketed: Sidney Aug. 13. 86 | Ld Romney. i. A town in the northern Netherlands, about nine miles northeast of Arnhem. A Champion of English Toleration • 98
2. This letter has not been found. 3. Probably William of Orange. Sidney, in a later letter to Penn, uses the same phraseology when obviously referring to William. See doc. 43. 4. Arnhem, or Arnheim, a city on the Rhine in north Gelderland, about 50 miles southeast of Amsterdam. 5. Amersfort, or Amersfoort, a town in the northern Netherlands, about midway between Arnhem and Amsterdam. 6. Henry Sidney (1641-1704), later Lord Romney, a dissolute rake but skilled intriguer, managed to retain the confidence of James II despite close ties with the English opposition and strong friendship with William of Orange. He was sent in 1686 as an envoy to The Hague and became deeply involved in the negotiations leading to William's takeover of the English throne. WP and Sidney had known each other since the i66os, but their motives for this meeting are unclear. Sidney may have been acting on behalf of William, while WP may have hoped to use Sidney's influence to persuade William to accede to repeal of the English Test Acts (see doc. 43). Later, in 1691, WP would use Sidney to mediate with William, this time to clear himself from the charge of Jacobitism (see doc. 92). Sidney was to hold numerous offices under William but lost all of his appointments with the accession of Anne. PWP, 2i3on; DNB; Kenyon, Sunder land, p. 150.
26 FROM WILLIAM MARKHAM Philadelphia Augt 22 th 1686 Sr
My Last was by Symson1 of the 14th July last2 the wch I Feared would hardly come to hand he being a great Consort of Conways, therefore I intend here to Resite what was materiall sent by him, and beginn with the proceedings of the Last Generall Assembly, The promulgated bills3 I sent before by Richd Ingelo The tenth of May the Presidt4 Came hether from New York the Councill and Assembly satt with Their adjornments untill the i8th wich was the Last day in wch time they had severall Conferences between the whole Councill and the Assembly, wholy mannaged by Presid1 Lloyd & John White.5 I Feare it will prove an 111 president tho the argument was well mannaged by Presid1 Lloyd their Subject was the privilidg of the people, a Dangerous thing to Dispute in the Face of such a Congregation, occasioned by the Assemblys sending a kill {note} to the Councill and is thus verbatill. The Assembly Desires these three Amendments in the bill N° i 6 (viz) after the word Except these words be added, Such Laws as have been by former Laws Repealed and that such Laws Shall be Continued with the Variations as by Succeeding Laws have been Varied.7 Secondly that the Late Laws Relateing to the Killing Kow Calves &c and the Law relateing to pipe staves be no longer Continued,8 thirdly the Laws to Continue till twenty days after the riseing of the next Generall Assembly and no longer9 This bill N° i was the bill for Confirming the Former Laws: their Second desire in their note was only to gaine their poynt, to gett a Law made Voyd without promulgation,10 the Last if gained would August 1686
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have destroyed all the Laws, For had not the next Generall Assembly passed a Law for the Continuance of the Former Laws, They had all of them been Voyd twenty days after, but I think in that they {would} have sought their owne Ruine, and Left an Example For a Proprietary to doe the Like when too uneasie to him; at the Last day of Sitting the Councill began to think what to doe to preserve the Goverment in its present State, the Presid1 Drew up a Declaration wch was Recorded & I have here Inclosed; Read the i th Minute of Councill. begining with the Councill, seriously weighing Sec11 The Assembly Came downe to the Councill where after a tedious Dispute it was Concluded By The Generall Assembly that all things Should Remaine in the same Condition they were at that present and so the assembly broak up. The Councill ordered that this Following {Inclosed} notice should be taken upon Record. Read the 2d Minute, 12 here I End this Relation, but Doe observe that if such Disputes be allowed it will hazard the overthrow of the Goverm1, For what ever privilidg you once grant you must never think to Recall with out being Reflected on and Coutftp{n}ted a great oppressor The next is to give an ace1 of Majr Dyer13 he hath Resided here Ever since the 5th of May; he hath a Commiss For Collecter of this Province and teritorys Dated in May 83 which I never saw till some Dispute arose between him and I about the Lower Counties Since wch we have had a Kinde Correspondency together so that he Enters and Clears all the shipp For the Governm1 at New Castle where he Lives and I Doe his Business For the King at Philadelphia, I Believe he will be a very servisable man to the Govern^, being one of Excellent Method in his Business and well acquainted with all parts of America, but Cannot Forbear that saterricall way of writeing. On the 21 of June Came hether one Mr Mein14 who is by Commission Survey1" Generall of all his Majts Customes in America, brought up Chessapeake Bay and Landed at Bohemia15 by Capt. Allin. he went to New York for the Seasoning time16 Is Expected back about 3 weeks hence. I hear he is much Respected by Goverr Dungan. The New Yorkers are of opinion that Majr Dyers writeing home against their Goverr was the Cheiff means of his being putt out of that Imployment before he had Finished his Circute17 The 23 of June arrived here the Desire of Plimouth Cap1 Cock18 Command1" his passengers all well one borne at sea, he Loaded hence For Barbados and about the Midle of July sayled From New Castle The 11 of July the Delaware that was Capt Taylors shipp19 of Bristoll arrived at Philadelphia. Loaded hence for Barbados Know not whether she be gon From New Castle yett but was Ready to saile two days since The 14th of July arrived at Philadelphia the Ammaty, Rd Dymond Comdr had buried 4 or 5 of his passengers one was a serv1 ship't by Philip Ford a Carpenter, the 28th of July he sayled hence For New
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England and so Intended For Barbados, I went on board him before he Came to Anchor he Immediately began upon the Goverrs unkindness in not spareing him the swamp nigh his Land20 and was Resolved never to Settle in these parts, but before he want a way he was so pleased with the Country that he was Fully bent to bring his Wife and Live here The 22d of July I Being at New Castle The master of the Shield of Stockdon21 Desired I would pylote him up to Philadelphia he had Rod at New Castle about a week and had putt severall of his passengers on shoar that had a mind to settle thereabouts, the next day wee Arrived at Philadelphia; Wm Frampton22 hyred her and is almost Loaded For Barbados Daniell Toase Hyred a Sloope to Carry his goods to MaryLand The 26th of June Dyed Christopher Taylor the Coppy of his will I have here sent you, on the 5th of July the Councill satt to Dispose of his place23 and to appoynt some to Look after his Estate in the absence of the Executors,24 as to his place the Coppy of the Commission will Informe how disposed off25 as to his Estate the Commissrs mention the Commission For Registry hath secured what they Cann and will take Care to preserve it untill an Executor shall arrive,26 all admires that Ralph Frettwell should be made an Executor that owed him so much money by wch he is in Law Discharged of the Debt. When the Councill satt For the Setling of the Registry, James Claypoole putt in his Petition For the same the Coppy is herewith sent, Butt I had spoak to Severall of the Councill before they Satt and Likewise moved it at the board that the Goverr Might have the Disposeing of the place himselfe as his proper right, and not to Dispose of it to any tho pro tempore least they should lay the Goverr under a necessity of Disobligeing. Either some person he might have promised, or Dispossesing the person they should putt in, but by what I Could perceive this was not the Reason that James Claypoole had it not but (with Submission Sr) James Claypoole being the Person27 I had an other End in my proposition wch was this I haveing sett on Foot the Subscribsion28 about the Revenue and tho I used all the Intrest and Skill I had to perfect it, urging many times the great Charge and Vast Expence you have been and Dayly are at, and seing so little Regard taken of it, thought that if you would take to yorselfe the proffitts might be made of the Imployments in yor Goverment as by Law they are Established they will be some Ease to you Especially in Finding yor pocket with Ready mony a thing often wanted in the Country Therefore I projected to my selfe that if yor Secretarys Office was like the Custome house in London where all the severall offices Relateing thereunto are Kep't as Controller, Collector, Sercher, Waighter and many more in Severall apartments of that house, so all the offices in yor Goverm1 might be Kept within Your owne and you
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then have the over sight of all and the proffitts to yorselfe, yor Secretary with a Sufficient number of Clarks wch might be all yor owne Servts to mannage it, I am Sure it would give great Satisfaction to the people that they Can have their business don at one place whereas they are to goe From office to office, and that several! times before they Cann have their business don or Finde them within that should doe it; This Sr I shall Leave to your owne Consideration. I sent by Simson an acco1 of what warr ts has been granted since the Date of my Commission, but since have thought it had been more proper For the Surveyr Generall29 to have sent wl quantitys of Land he hath Laine out for perhaps not halfe the warrts granted might not be Executed, great quantities of Land hath been taken up in New Castle County, if my Cousen does not make use of his Time I question not but his Deputy30 will For he has surveyd all the heat of this Summer; The Time of our provinciall Court Draws neare the 2d of the next month is the time appoynted For the Councill to sitt about the appoynting Judges,31 but this brings into my minde a lettr you was pleased to send by yor Attorney Generall32 wherein you order that he should have the place of Clark of that Court, when I was made Secretary I Looked upon the place to belong to me it being Formerly in the Councill and the Fees Established by LawX upon The Secretary are the Fees of that Court and accordingly in the Last Court I sat personally acted as Clark, I Can justly say I have not gott by the Provinciall Secretarys place five pounds, since I have been in it, tho I have made Ex officio, two terrable winter Jornys at my owne Cost the one to Joneses For the tryall of Curtis33 the other to the Falls For the tryall of David Davis,34 Except what I gott the Last Provinciall Court, and not one Farthing of that gott {paid} either but hope I shall, by giveing one halfe to gett the other for it is not like the County Courts that trusts their Neighbours, but the Farthest part of the Goverment must be trusted that will never pay you with out Fetching & it is better to part with one halfe then Fetch the whole, so that the Dubble Fees are not so good as Single ones, so that {&} tho the place be Small yett it adds, being unwilling to baulke my Lahore tho small profitt Comes by it, but if they take it From me I will give up the Secretarys place with it Knowing a man had as good sitt still and gett nothing as work and gett nothing; Unless it be by yor possitive ordr wch I shall Readily Submitt to in all things. Yor Lettr to the Councill of the 24th 2d month Last was on the 5th Ins1 Read at the board there was Present Presid* Lloyd, Jon Symcock Edwd Wm Clark. Edwd Green. Wm Southersby.35 & my selfe I Know no other notice taken of it then Presid1 Lloyd said he would Answer it to the Goverr, Caves were Mentioned in this as well as other^ Letters you have sent,36 but after they are Read there is no more notice taken of then Just by your door one Keeps so many hoggs in a Cave that they have undermined your pailes and Destroyd the Grass plott. and Deboachery is growne to that hight in Philadel-
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phia it will in Short time want a Comparrison and all because they are divided amongst themselves For you would admire to heare what Clashing there is amongst the Magestrates Even upon the Bench Here I Begg leave to Relate a passage the Last County Court at Philadelphia wch was the 3d Ins1 Doctr More37 Sues the Socyety upon two bonds, one was the Socyeties alone38 the other there was bound Benj Chambers39 as I take it, but however severall of the Socyety were bound severally From the Socyety for the payment of the money when these Causes was trying Presid1 Lloyd had a Great Arme Chear sett in Court. I was then in Court sitting upon a Little bench by the Clark wch I usually did to learn his methods, when I saw the Chear wondred who it was For, untill I saw the Presid Com in and sitt in it, while presid1 More was pleading, Presid1 Lloyd spoak somthing I supposed that Concerned the Cause: I Desire said Doctr More that no man may Speak but what has leave of the Court, I may Speak said Presid1 Lloyd they that make the Court may speak in the Court; I Deny said Dr More that any man here makes this Court, A Little time after Presidt Lloyd spoake againe. Doctr more againe Desired that none but what had leave of the Court should speak, I wonder at thee Doctr more said Presid1 Lloyd I take notice of thy Incivility. I tell thee I may speak here or in any Court of this Goverment, as I am the Cheiff Justice in it by being Keeper of the Seal.40 I never saw that power yett said Doctr More, but if you are said he then pray sitt upon the Bench that I may Know where to Direct my Speach. in Fine Doctr More Cast the Socyety in both Causes,41 they appeale to the Provinciall Court, both the Appeals was granted, but the Court would admitt of Griffeth Jones who Benj Chambers brought For Security to be security but to one of the appeals, he being ingaged for one of his owne Just before in Court,42 so that For want of Security Benj Chamber8 Could Enter but one Appeale before the Court Broak up At this time the Presid* was not {there}, the Court had Adjornd and the Presid1 Came not to the next Sitting, but in a private Roome at Hootons43 where he Could here and see what was don in it there he satt, The next day Presid1 Lloyd getts as many of the Councill Together as he Could sends Benj Chambers to bid I should not be out of the way for the Councill was goeing to sitt when they satt they Expected Benj Chambers's' Petition but he had writt none, but took Penn Ink and paper from me and writt it at the table, it not being don according to the Presidts mind he Caused it to be altered and gave Directions how,44 The Petition I have a Coppy of and a Coppy of the Sureties45 had signed on the back of it as also the Coppy of the Minute Entred upon it,46 the wch Minute Benj Chambers in the same manner you see it and Carries it to the Justices, as an ordr of Councill,47 this sett them all together in Confusion that when Doc1 More Came to have his Exicution Signed, one said said he Could not nor
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dare not Disobey the ordr of Councill. others said it was only a Coppy of the Minute of Councill and some that Knew not what a minute was, took it For a Strange thing and thought it Safest to Keep their hands From Signing, the Presid1 never stayed the Brunt for before this saw light a way went he to new York haveing Staied with us about 3 weeks, but I must needs say it was to Dispose of the goods he wife48 had sent hether in a Sloope: Doctr More has gott Wm Salways49 hand to the Execution and Intends to serve it his fourteen day wch he promised not to Exicute it in being Expired and no proposition made according to promise, so that I Fear the Consequence of such actions.50 For both More and Lloyd have parties and as they disagree so dos their Friends. Sr Pray don't think what I have writt Concerning Presid1 Lloyd and Doctr More is Either in prejudice or Favour of Either of them for were not yor goverment Concerned I Could sport at such actions, nor have I Deviated one tittle From the truth as an Eye and Eare witness to the whole, For my Designe in laying it before you is to lett you Know whats likely to be if you stay much Longer; or one to govern that Could doe it with out passion Favour or affection, For when James Claypoole Came to aske my advice about that he Called the ordr of Councill and Doctr Mores Execution against the Socyety he was so mad as to say they would give the Constables warrts to oppose the Sheriff in Executing or Serving his Execution, but I passified him and showed him the Danger of but such a thought in this Condition will any people be that are without a head, I shall instance no more things of this nature but assure you there are Many; I have Inclosed sent you three Lettrs of M r Grays51 and intend to Explaine them as well as I Cann, by the Coppy of his Petition you will see that he Desires the Commissrs52 would grant him the overpluss53 of Dunk Williamses54 land he pretending that that very place where he has made his Improvements upon and more going Forward with was the overpluss Land {of yt land} wch he had bought of Joseph Growdon,55 and Doubting Joseph Growdon's tytle there to was desirous of makeing a sure one before he proceeded any Farther or Laid out any more money haveing as he said stop'd the people's proceeding that was building A him a Barne untill he was Certaine. he built on his owne Land The Commissrs Understanding that he had made great Improvements upon it, granted him the over pluss supposeing all the over pluss of Dunk Williamses and Francis Walkers56 Land to be all within the thousand acres Solde {to} him by J Growdon and he proffering such a price was Resolved to Lett him have the Goverrs tytle to it a warrant he had For a Resurvey and the over pluss to be granted him at the Rate he Requested at Joseph Growdon Came to towne the next day and understanding what had been don {in} it pet[it]ions the Commissrs to Revoke the said Warrt till he had a hearing about it before the Commissioners, he assureing them that there was very Little of Dunk Williams & Francis Walkers Land in it a warr1 was
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made to Countermand the Former and sent to Thomas Fairman57 who had the warr1 to Execute Thomas Faireman gives back the warr* to Gray advises him what to doe in it, so Gray gott Israeli Taylor to Execute it tho not Directed to him and Found 500 acres overpluss and all with out the thousand acres he bought of Joseph Growdon this occasiond the First Lettr to the Commiss*^ James Claypoole and soon Followed by an other Directed to the Commissrs R T & J C.58 the First I was desired to answer, but J Growdon haveing it to send I understand he never sent it, an other of his Lettrs I have sent you a Coppy off Directed to Cap1 Holme, that was occasioned, by Charles Pickerin's Finding a Mine and bringin some of the minnerall to towne to try it maid good Copper, (I sent by Simson some of the minnerall and some of the Copper it made) Rob1 Hall59 of Bucks County hearing of it Endevoured by all the means he Could to Finde out the Land and take it up, he Came to me would have me make him warrts to take up severall peoples Land that he named were purchasers and some to take up uppon Rent I told him if he would bring me an order From the Comrs I would make them he Came no more to me, but went to Gray who had then warrts by him to Execute and to share with him shows him the Land, First haveing by some means wheedled the Indians to Discover the place to him Gray takes Thomas Fairman with him who Lays this Land out For him tho it was thirty Twenty Miles From any Inhabitants60 and many miles From any land that was laid out and not near the County he used to survey For, Cap1 Holme would not admitt of this Irregular Survey, First because it was on that side of the Scoolkill he was not to Survey on61 and Secondly it was not Contiguous to Land Laid out,62 but Cap1 Holme haveing great quantities of Land to Lay out takes his Deputy and Laies out Land Contiguous one to the other untill he Comes to this tract of Land, and then Lays out 4000 acres For Charles Pickering (takeing in the 1000 acres Faireman had Surveyd For Gray) by vertue of four warrts one was for 1000 an other for 500 of the [illegible word] 17*** before my time in Right of Rakestraw63 whose 2500 acres he purchased an other for a thousand wch made ^ up Rakestraws 2500 acres all granted before my time, and an other warrt he had granted lately for 1500 acres which was in Right of Bowman64 who had sold his whole purchase to one Samuell Richardson a Bricklayer of Jamaca65 of whom Pickerin bought 1500 acres, this 4000 acres are Laid out in one tract and a Returne made of it to my Office and a Pattent Drawn, I am at a Non plus what to doe with it part with it I will not unless upon good grounds as to yor selfe, what Cap1 Holme has don as to yor Intrest I Know not, but both him and Pickerin tells me they have sent acco1 of it home to you. both Gray and Pickerin are Building Gray a very little Thing Pickerin a very good house within the length of yor graden66 one of the other, what he mentions of me in his Lettr to my Knowledg I never had such a thought nor any way Concerned my
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selfe wth their Difference, when I had Read the Lettr and Cap1 Holme was come to me For it againe told me Gray was in towne, then said I pray lett us goe speak with him I Could by no means perswade him to goe with me but as wee were taulking together, Gray looks out of the window at an ordinary67 in the towne (wch is Arther Cooks brick house68 Kept by Thomas Hollyman69), and beckned us to come up, I Desired Cap1 Holme to goe w th me but could not prevaile. I went up to him my selfe he Civily Saluted me when I Came into the {room} there was wth him his Insepperable Compannions Jon Songhurst & Benj Whitehead,70 I Replyed M r Gray I am Sorry I had not met you before I had Read the Letter {you} he sent to Cap1 Holme wherein he You abused me that in stead of meting him You with Friendshipp, I must Demand satisfaction of te» You. he was Exceedingly Dash'd much more passed wch to Repeat wo{u}ld seem ostentatious but were Reconsiled before wee parted. Cap1 Holme was then in the House sent For me From Grays Company I took my leave of Mr Gray and his Company went to Cap1 Holme he Carried me into a little private Room to Inquire of me what passed between Gray and I I told him what Ever passed wee had now don and advised him to goe make the Same End with him that I had don, in the mean time in Came Mr Gray, now said I Cap1 Holme you have as Faire an opertunity as I had, if you have wronged Mr Gray make him satisfaction, if he has you make him make yett it, M r Gray Began with him pritty sharply. I have seen Cap1 Holme shake his beard Cane and stroak his beard sometimes in anger but now he was soe sheepish that For shame I left them, Sr This accot1 have given of Gray is to open to you his humour to you and show you what he would doe if in his power, I hope Sr you will make an Inquirie what he is and what that woman is he Calls his Wife and is Ready to ly In, 71 people taulks of it here strangly & I have been privately Informed that she is a Coachmans Wife in london (she may be so For her Breading) and here Sr I wiU End this Relation of Gray. Least by any mistake or Disaffected people a Rumer Should Come to England of a Family in Pennsilvania Destroyed by the Indians, I think it Convenient to give a true Relation of what occasion'd such a Report in this towne and Generally Creditted for one day. on the 31 of July last Zachariah Whitpaine Came betimes in the morning to Towne and gave out that Nicholas Skull72 with all his Famyly was Kil'd that night by the Indians, I went to Zachariah to Know the Certaintyty of it, who Ralated to me thus, that there was a Cantico73 nere his house, that he himselfe had been among the Indians the Day before at their Cantico. that after he had been in Bed wch he guest might be about Eleven in the night, Nicholas Sculls boy74 Came Running to his house Crying his mastr and mistrs75 and all the rest in the House were Kill and Swoare Many oaths that he saw his master Killed (they are Irish that Can't speak with out Swareing and Cursing) and that the Indians
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were Coming with Firebrands to sett Zachariah['s] House on Fyre, skulls is a bout 3/4 of a mile From Zachariah['s]:76 Zachariah looked out and as he said saw them Coming with Fyrebrands (I believe they were Fire Flys) he left his house Immediatly and Came to Towne the Presidt was then in Towne who lent Zachariah his horse to goe back and bring the Certainty of it, For the Indians {were} then Frequent {among us} and at that time many in Towne therfore Could not Imagine it was Designed. Zachariah with some others went, but that Evening Came to Towne on[e] that Lay with Zachariah at his house and that Zachariah had left in bed when he ran a way (he is one of Capt Holme's Dep Surveyrs) I sent to speak with him, he told me the boy did Come From Skulls in that mannor; that Zachariah Whitpaine and Rose and Called up his servts, but he lay still in Bed, he heard the Indians make a noyse, about break of day he rose he Could Finde nobody about the house he hollowed and then out of the Bushes that is about the Runn near the house the overseer and his Wife77 Came, he went afterwards to Skulls house he Found them all well but Skull had used to sell them Rum, & he denyed to sell them any More, so that in the night they broak into his house through the Windoor and he opposeing them they had a Cuff or two and pulled one the other by the hair, but the Indians overCuming gott From him by Force some Rum. this Skull was told off, the day before by some Indian8 that there was a Knot had Combined to gett into his house and take away his Rum. the surveyr went back to Zachariah8 house acquainted the servts of it to put away their Fear, took his horse and Came to Towne but mist Zachariah on the Road, that night Late Zachariah Came to Towne againe againc or the next morning Early, who gave acco1 to the {same} Effect There was an other Cantico to be in Few days nigh the same place, the Councill gave Cap1 Holme an order & that he with Cap1 Cock78 Zachariah Whitpaine and who Else Capt Holme should think Fitt, should Inquire in this Misdemeaner as well on our part as the Indians that the offenders might be brought to punishment according to Law.79 Cap1 Holme went to Zachariah8 House but Cap1 Cock was sis Sick Could not goe, the Indians putt off their Cantico and Removed it up to Swanpeses80 new Plantation wch is about 35 miles From Philadelphia From Zachariah['s] house Cap1 Holme sent me Lettr desired I would Come to him and Bring with me an Interpreter I went Carried with me Mons Cock & Swan Swanson81 wee went up to S{w}anpeses plantation but Found none of The Indians there that belonged to those Indians that did the Fact, but there we mett all the Sackemaccas82 that belongs to the Land unbought above the Falls and other parts of Bucks County, they had thretned to Kill Israeli Taylor if he surveyed any more Land before it be bought, wee appoynted a Day of meeting them at the Falls to purchase the Land of them, tomorrow is the Day83 therefore must Close this Lettr tonight, and
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if the Vessell be not gon before my Returne will give an acco1 of our proceedings their, time will not permitt my writeing this over therefore Can have no Coppy but to the Indians, on our Returne homewards wee mett the Indians {concerned} about Skulls business, apoynted a day to meet in Philadelphia about it84 on the day appoynted some Indians Came to Towne acquainted, that their King was Sick and Could not Come since wch nothing has been don, This tedious Relation is to prevent Falls Reports being Credited. I have Inclosed the Coppy of a Lettr From Majr {Dyer} to me and part of an other.85 a Relation of John White as it stands on the Reccord of Councill, by wch you may se the Insolency of the Marylanders &c.86 In yor Lettr to Presid1 Lloyd you were pleased to speak about money87 directing him to advise with some about it, he thought the danger of Calling an Assembly was worse then the Continuance of the Coyne to pass as it now dos. But I observeing Majr Dyer's receiving the Kings Custome For Tobacco the penny per lb88 at a New England penny89 spoake to him about it long before your letter came, told him that our Laws did not destroy the Laws of England nor the Kings Intrest, and therefore I thought That an English penny was the Kings the due, Majr Dyer made answer that whatsoever the Goverment90 had made should be a penny that he would take and no more,91 this has often been in my minde since, and this I told to presid1 Lloyd but For Reason aforesaid the Assembly must not be Called I Doubt not Sr but {you} will be well advised in this Case it seems to me very materiall. Considering; Virginia MaryLand and the Lower Counties are the only places that makes tobacco and in both the First Virginia and maryland an English Shilling is but 12 pence. Sr Your people are much afraid they shall not se you here this Year wch very much dissatisfies^ them; I begg leave to Remember you, that if yet* you should not be here before Presid1 Lloyd's time is out of being one of the Councill, that you will be pleased to Renew k and grant him a Commission more possitive, that he might sitt as PresicU, For Many of the Councill are of opinion, that when he goes out of the Councill, he Ceases to be presid1, tho I Know he thinks otherwise, Christopher Taylor & he had great Disputes of that Kinde. but I hope your presents will putt a Stop to any Further Dispute, if not I humbly Conceive a new Commission would be very necessary92 Sr time now Calls me to Conclude tho I have not at present any Materiall thing more to Informe you off. I Desire you will be pleased to present my Humble service to my Cousen & Cousens of yor Family a«d and the Like to my Cousen Lowther93, and Begg you will Excuse me to them for not writeing. I Forgott to Joyne my Wifes94 humble service with mine wch she desires may be accepted I am Sr
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Sr I must Renew My Request, that if you Can Conveniently order me some servts that are Fitt to goe on a plantation you will be pleased to doe it ALS. Cliveden Manuscripts, Chew Family Papers, HSR (Micro. 5:474.) Docketed: Aug. 22. 86. WM. Docketed in another hand: Indian purchase to be next day. This letter has been printed and edited by Gary B. Nash, "The First Decade in Pennsylvania: Letters of William Markham and Thomas Holme to William Penn," PMHB, 90:31936. 1. Symson has not been identified. In Apr. 1686 the Provincial Council considered seizing his ship because Symson worked for the same owner as Richard Conoway, or O'Connor, another shipmaster who had defrauded a party of Pennsylvania immigrants. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:175. See also doc. 23, n. 6. 2. This letter has not been found. 3. These were bills drawn up by the Provincial Council and posted for public inspection twenty days before the meeting of the General Assembly, which had the power to pass or reject, but not to amend them. On 2 Apr. 1686 the Council had promulgated four bills to be approved or rejected by the Assembly when it met on 10 May. As explained below, none of these bills were ratified by the Assembly. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:171-73. 4. Thomas Lloyd, president of the Provincial Council, who was residing in New York. 5. John White was speaker of the Assembly. 6. This was the bill for confirming former laws which was, in effect, a pro forma measure that each Assembly since 1684 had enacted prior to considering the package of new laws posted by the Provincial Council. Charter and Laws, pp. 166-67, 1 75~7^7. This proposed change permitted the Assembly to interpret which of the former laws were still in force and thereby to encroach upon the Council's legislative authority. See Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:171, 179-80. 8. By demanding the repeal of these two laws passed in 1683, the Assembly was challenging the power of the Council, which had the sole right to initiate legislation. 9. This proposal would have forced the Council to agree with the Assembly on a legislative package every session. The Council, unless it was willing to see all laws lapse, would have to accept Assembly amendments to new and old legislation alike. 10. The Assembly was so determined to effect this change that it offered to drop the third amendment if Council agreed to the second amendment. Not surprisingly, the Council refused (see below). Votes and Proceedings, 1:39. 11. This minute warned the Assembly that refusal to pass the bill for confirmation would force the Council into refusing to present any further bills for Assembly action. Instead it would allow all the laws presently in force to stand. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:183. 12. In this minute the Council stated that the proposed amendments "would in our judgments be Insecure & Inconsistent with ye allowed methods in such a Case, and ye present frame of Govrnmt, and lead to ye Introducing an unsafe and hetherto unpractised way in procedure upon Repeales" (Minutes of the Provincial Council, i: 184). 13. Maj. William Dyer, or Dyre (d. 1688), a son of the Quaker martyr Mary Dyer, after a turbulent tenure as receiver general of New York, served as the surveyor general of customs for the plantations, 1682-85. When he was dismissed from this office in Jan. 1685, he took up another customs post for which he had been commissioned since 1683: the collector in East New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Dyer's tactlessness and zeal in carrying out his duties stirred opposition in both colonies. He was imprisoned in East New Jersey, and in Pennsylvania the Provincial Council refused to allow him to take his seat in Apr. 1687, although elected for Sussex Co., because he "had not Dischared [sic] the Office of ye King's Collr of his Customs within this Governmt with faithfulness and a good Report." Pomfret, East New Jersey, pp. 258-59; Andrews, Colonial Period, 4:129^ igS-ggn; CSPC, 1681-1685, pp. 304, 555, 684-86; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:197-98; Micro. 5:738. See also n. 91, below. 14. Patrick Mein, son of a royalist, had held a customs post in Ireland prior to his appointment as surveyor general in Nov. 1685. He was William Dyer's successor in this post and held it for over a decade. Andrews, Colonial Period, 4:199 & n.
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15. Bohemia Manor, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, in Cecil Co., near the head of the Chesapeake Bay. PWP, i:4i5n 16. To get habituated to the unfamiliar American climate. OED. 17. Dyer had been removed as surveyor general in Jan. 1685. 18. The Desire, of Plymouth, Devon., was commanded by Capt. James Cock. Passengers and Ships, p. 166. 19. In 1686 John Moore, not Thomas Taylor, was master of the Delaware. See Early Letters from Bristol and Philadelphia, HSP. 20. This was probably the "Great Swamp" near Pennsbury. 21. The Shield, of Stockton, Dur., was commanded by Daniel Toes, or Towes. PWP, 2:6oin, 6i4n; Passengers and Ships, pp. 143, 169, 171. 22. William Frampton (d. 1686), formerly a New York merchant, owned a brewery and a bakery in Philadelphia and was a justice of the peace and member of the Provincial Council. PWP, 2:32in. 23. Register general. 24. The executors were WP and Ralph Fretwell, neither of whom was in Pennsylvania. Minutes of the Provincial Council, i: 186. 25. The Provincial Council on 5 July 1686 ordered Robert Turner, William Frampton, and William Southeby, or any one of them, to take charge of the office of register general. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:185. 26. On 5 July 1686 the Council appointed John Goodson, Thomas Hooten, and Thomas Fitzwater to administer Taylor's estate; Hooten, however, became the sole administrator. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:185-87, 191. 27. Claypoole was not well liked by many of the Council members. However, in a letter of 25 Sept. 1686, WP recommended to the Council that Claypoole be given the position. Privately, at the same time, WP asked James Harrison to arrange with Claypoole for one-third or one-half of the profits of the office to go to Harrison for WP's use (Micro. 5:536, 542). 28. See doc. 20, n. 10. 29. Thomas Holme. 30. Either Thomas Fairman or Charles Ashcom; probably the former. 31. The General Assembly in May 1685 had authorized the Provincial Council to appoint three judges to preside at provincial courts in Philadelphia every Sept. and Apr. Charter and Laws, pp. 177-78. 32. David Lloyd. WP's letter to the Provincial Council, brought by Lloyd, was dated 24 Apr. 1686. See doc. 21. 33. John Curtis, a J.P. of Kent Co., had been accused in Sept. 1685 of speaking treasonable words but was acquitted by a grand jury in St. Jones. The Provincial Council, however, required that Curtis give recognizance for good behavior and in 1687 barred him from a Council seat. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:158, 164, 196. 34. David Davies (d. 1686), a surgeon and first deputy recorder of Bucks County, had been accused of killing his servant, whereupon the Provincial Council on i Dec. 1685 approved a special commission to try him. He was the son of Richard Davies, a prominent First Purchaser: hence the concern of WP and Thomas Lloyd about the case (see doc. 28). PWP, 2:565^ Terry A. McNealy, A History of Bucks County Pennsylvania (Fallsington, Pa., 1970), p. 47; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:164; PMHB, 9:223; 90:325^. 35. William Clarke (d. 1705), a prominent Quaker attorney of Sussex Co., was a justice, member of the Assembly, and provincial councilor. Edward Green, or Greene, a planter and merchant in New Castle Co., sat as justice of the county court from 1684 to 1689. William Southerby, or Southeby (d. 1722), a tallow-chandler, was a prominent Quaker landowner and politician, who moved from Maryland to Kent Co. and Philadelphia in 1684. He was a J.P, a member of the Assembly and the Provincial Council, and an aggressive critic of slavery. PWP, 2:313^ PMHB, 90:326^ Governor's Register, State of Delaware (Wilmington, 1926), 1:4; Kenneth L. Carroll, "William Southeby, Early Quaker Antislavery Writer," PMHB, 89:416-27; Hinshaw, 2:422; Roach, "Directory," p. 119; Phila. Monthly Meeting Records, GSP. 36. See doc. 23, n. 10. 37. Nicholas More was former president of the Free Society of Traders. 38. This bond, dated 3 Mar. 1685, was for £203 2S 6d, with a penal sum of double this amount for nonpayment, and represented the value in Pennsylvania money of More's original stock investment. The bond is now at the HSP (AM 2086).
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39- Benjamin Chambers, president of the Free Society of Traders, had bound himself on 14 Nov. 1684 to pay Nicholas More £123 155 with double penal value, which represented the residue of his salary. Provincial Council, Etting Papers, p. 9, HSP; Philadelphia Court Record 1685-1686, HSP. 40. Lloyd's interpretation of his judicial prerogative as holder of the great seal was questionable. Pennsylvania had no provision for a chief justice of the county courts. In England the chancellor, as keeper of the great seal, presided over the court of chancery, an equity jurisdiction, whose closest counterpart in Pennsylvania was probably the Provincial Court. See Lewis, "Courts of Pennsylvania," p. 156. 41. More was awarded £555 for the two bonds, plus court costs. Philadelphia Court Record. 42. According to Patrick Robinson's minutes, the court accepted Griffith Jones as security in the sum of £494 for the appeal in the trial involving More's salary. However, when Chambers attempted to use him again for the second appeal, the court turned him down since he was already bound for the first appeal. In fact, as Markham indicates, Jones already had an appeal of his own before that court and this probably caused their refusal. Philadelphia Court Record. 43. Thomas Hooten, or Hooton (d. 1689), a Quaker chandler and cordwainer, had a house on Front St. between Walnut and Chestnut adjacent to that of Samuel Carpenter where this session probably took place. PWP, 2:543^ PMHB, 90:327^, PGM, 23:112 & n.; Phila. Will Bk. A, #60. 44. It appears that Lloyd was anxious to assist Chambers against More. The petition mentions possible errors in accounts and "other unreasonable demands" in the original cause which might void the judgment, and it requests that therefore an appeal be granted. Miscellaneous Papers, Philadelphia County, 1:11, HSP. 45. The Provincial Council reversed the action of the county court, allowing Griffith Jones along with Benjamin Chambers to act as sureties, making themselves liable for payment to More of the penal value of the contested bond if the Society's appeal to the Provincial Council failed. The bond posted, therefore, was less than the double value of the jury's award which the law normally demanded. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:189; Philadelphia Court Record. 46. The minute essentially noted that the appeal had been granted by the president and Council. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:189. 47. Chambers was endeavoring to have the justices of the county court record the appeal, which in effect would prevent the execution until such time as the appeal was tried. Gratz Collection, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, box 12, case 2, HSP. 48. Patience Story Lloyd. 49. William Salloway (d. 1695), a Quaker justice of the county court, was a First Purchaser, owner of a woolen mill at Frankford Creek, holder of numerous judicial posts, and member of both the Assembly (1687, 1690, 1692) and Provincial Council (1693-94). PMHB, i8:42in, 54:121-22; Phila. Will Bk. A, #121. 50. More was unable to execute the judgment, for on 18 Aug. 1686 James Claypoole and William Warner, two justices of the county court, issued a supercedeas to the high sheriff until such time as the appeal was determined. Penn Papers, Philadelphia Land Grants, fol. 9, HSP; Gratz Collection, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. 51. John Gray alias Tatham. The letters have not been found. 52. The commissioners of propriety: Robert Turner, James Claypoole, and Thomas Lloyd. 53. Overplus was the amount of land which upon resurvey was discovered to be greater than that stipulated in the original warrant. The Pennsylvania surveyors frequently laid out oversized tracts, and when such a tract was resurveyed and overplus was found, this land reverted to WP. But the purchaser had the option of buying such overplus land from WP. Lawrence Lewis, Jr., An Essay on Original Land Titles in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1880), pp. 73-74; Shepherd, p. 35. 54. Duncan Williams, or Williamson (d. c. 1700), a Scotsman, was one of the earliest settlers in Bensalem. In 1677 ne was granted 100 acres on Neshaminy Creek, and in 1695 he bought 100 acres adjoining his former tract. Dunk's Ferry is named after him. William W. H. Davis, History of Bucks County Pennsylvania, 2d ed. (New York, 1876), 1:11 & n., 12; William Buck, History of Bucks County, pp. 35, 66, 68, HSP. 55. Joseph Growden (d. 1730), First Purchaser from Cornwall, owned (with his father) 10,000 acres on Neshaminy Creek in present-day Bensalem township, and was
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instrumental in settling Bucks Co. He served numerous years on the Provincial Council and the Assembly (as speaker) and was a J.P. and chief justice of the Provincial Court (Davis, History of Bucks, 1:54, 106-7; Buck, History of Bucks, p. 35). Growden disputed Gray's right to this overplus land, and although WP granted it to Gray, the issue dragged on for years, with Growden refusing to surrender the property. Micro. 5:873, 951; Courts of Bucks County, pp. 402-14; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 2:179; PMHB, 33:26on. 56. Francis Walker held 225 acres on the west bank of Neshaminy Creek, as well as land at Tacony and Passyunk. PMHB, 2:333-34. 57. Thomas Fairman (d. 1714), deputy surveyor of Phila. Co., had surveyed the site of Philadelphia, laid out WP's manors in 1683, and was a prominent member of Oxford (later Abingdon) Monthly Meeting. It is estimated that he undertook 254 surveys from 1682 to 1713, including many in present-day Montgomery Co., east of the Schuylkill. PWP, 2:337; PMHB, 90:330^ BFHA, 22:117-18; L. Paul Dilg, "The Man Who Set Our Boundaries," Old York Road Historical Society Bulletin, 37:11-13. 58. Robert Turner and James Claypoole. 59. Robert Hall (d. 1688), of Westminster, Middx., came to Middletown in Bucks Co. in 1682, took up 500 acres on Neshaminy Creek, and served in the Assembly in 1683 and 1687-88. From 1685 until his death he was the first coroner of Bucks Co. PMHB, 7:68, 11:313-14. 60. The copper mine was situated on the west side of the Schuylkill, north of the Welsh tract, in present-day Chester Co. Doc. 210. 61. Thomas Fairman apparently spent the greater part of the years 1682-86 surveying in present-day Montgomery Co., east of the Schuylkill. See n. 57, above. 62. New tracts were to be surveyed contiguous to those previously surveyed. See also doc. 36, n. 7. 63. William Rakestraw (d. 1719), a Quaker from Oxfordshire and a First Purchaser of 2500 acres, was apparently tricked by Thomas Holme into giving up his claim for £10 less than he had paid for it. He became a Philadelphia rope maker, brickmaker, and maltster. He later became involved in serious disputes with James Logan, Thomas Story, and WP and was ultimately disowned. PMHB, 53:15, 80:198, 201; 98:53-57; Phila. Will Bk. D, #144; Micro. 10:197; PA, 2d sen, 19:27-28, 37, 61. 64. William Bowman, glazier of Surrey, Eng., a First Purchaser of 5000 acres, did not come to Pennsylvania. His son, Thomas, sold the rights in 1686 to Samuel Richardson and returned to England in 1687. PWP, 2:336^ 65. Samuel Richardson (d. 1719), substantial landowner, merchant, and rentier in Philadelphia, was the first alderman of the city and a member of the court of common pleas, the Assembly, and the Provincial Council. With the exception of Samuel Carpenter, he was the richest man in the city and owned (by right of his purchase from Thomas Bowman) all the land on the north side of Market Street from Front to Second St. PGM, 23:101; PMHB, 8:105, 15:339, 18:504, 19:89, 33:371-73, 35:42. 66. Markham probably means "garden." 67. Tavern. OED. 68. Arthur Cook's house was situated at the corner of Second and High Sts., close by that of William Markham. PMHB, 80:207. 69. Thomas Hollyman (d. 1695), a Quaker, was active in Phila. Monthly Meeting. No record of his keeping an ordinary has been found. See Phila. Monthly Meeting, Abstracts of Minutes, 1682-1707, GSP. 70. Benjamin Whitehead (d. 1698), a non-Quaker, had come to Pennsylvania in 1683 and held land in Philadelphia and Bucks Counties. PWP, 2:6i5n. 71. About to have a child. Elizabeth Tatham (d. 1700) was to bear four children, but she died in childbirth with her fourth. Despite Markham's remark about her breeding, she had a reputation for living with elegance and style. PHMB, 83:255^ 265, 269. 72. Nicholas Scull (d. 1703), planter and surveyor, emigrated from County Cork, Ireland, in 1685 and probably settled on Jasper Farmer's large tract in present-day Whitemarsh, although by 1692 he owned 400 acres at Springfield. His son Nicholas (1687-1761) would become the noted cartographer and surveyor general of Pennsylvania. PMHB, 8:101, 14:378, 44:164; Passengers and Ships, p. 165; Phila. Will Bk. B, #167; G. D. Scull, Genealogical Notes Relating to the Family of Scull (privately printed, 1876), pp. 13, 15-19, HSP. 73. An Indian religious ritual involving a community dance. Francis Jennings,
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The Invasion of America (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1975), p. 49. 74. Scull brought six male servants to Pennsylvania. Passengers and Ships, p. 165. 75. Mary Scull, later Foster, was probably the former Mary Cantwell, the only female servant that Nicholas Scull had brought with him from Ireland. Ibid., p. 165. 76. Jasper Farmer's tract, where Scull apparently resided, was contiguous with that of Richard Whitpain, father of Zachariah. The latter probably maintained a home there. See doc. 210. 77. The overseer was John Scull, probably related to Nicholas. His wife may have been Alice Farmer, sister of Jasper. In July 1685 the Indians had complained to the Provincial Council that Farmer's servants were getting them drunk and then sleeping with their wives. Scull and the servants appeared before the Council, but the Indians, who were said to be drunk again, did not appear. Phila. Will Bk. A, #20; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:147-49. 78. Capt. Lasse Cock. 79. This order was given on 2 Aug. 1686. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:18788. 80. Swanpisse was a Lenape sachem who had joined in selling land to WP in 168283 and had now moved westward. PWP, 2:267^ PMHB, 90:334^ 81. Mouns Cock (b. c. 1654) was a Swedish landowner active in the Indian trade. Swan Swanson (c. 1630-1696) was a leader in the Swedish community of Wicaco (Southwark). PWP, 2:338^ PMHB, 90:334^ 82. Sachemakers, or sachems, were leaders or "kings" of Indian bands or tribes. 83. Markham, with Thomas Holme and other Pennsylvania leaders, met with the Indian sachems from 23 to 28 Aug. 1686. An eighteenth-century copy of the purchase indicates that the Indians were to be given substantial quantities of goods in return for surrendering land on the upper Delaware River westward to the Neshaminy Creek and then northward "as far, as a Man can go, in one Day & an half." This document was signed by three sachems and witnessed by Lasse Cock, Phineas Pemberton, Charles Pickering, Mouns Cock, William Yardley, John Saxby, and Joseph Wood (Penn Papers, Indian Affairs, 4:21, 26, HSP). It appears that the supplies were slow in arriving and that the drawing of the boundary lines was delayed. See docs. 41, 49, and 51. This treaty, the original of which has not been found, was later made the pretext for the infamous "Walking Purchase" of 1737. See Ray Thompson, The Walking Purchase Hoax 0/7737 (Fort Washington, Pa., 1973), pp. 35, 67; Early American Indian Documents, i :8o, 413-14. 84. Markham had met the Indians on 10 Aug. and had scheduled the meeting in Philadelphia for Monday, 16 Aug. Penn Papers, Indian Affairs, 4:26. 85. These letters have not been found. 86. John White informed the Provincial Council on 5 Aug. 1686 that the Marylanders had reinforced their fort at Christina, had refused to allow him either to cut or take away his hay, and had treated him abusively. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:188-89. 87. See doc. 20, n. 4. 88. Known as the "plantation duty," this tax was to be collected from captains of vessels arriving from English ports who picked up enumerated commodities, such as tobacco, from the colonies, but who had failed to post bond in England guaranteeing their direct return to that country. This tax was designed to discourage captains from taking the goods to Europe. Andrews, Colonial Period, 4:118-19. 89. An English penny was worth 1.25 New England pennies in 1686. McCusker, Money and Exchange, pp. 132, 139. 90. The Pennsylvania government; in 1686 the Pennsylvania rate of exchange was the same as in New England. 91. This is a surprising response from Dyer, who had previously been rather ruthless in enforcing the Navigation Acts (see n. 13, above). The duty was supposed to be paid in silver or its equivalent at sterling values (Andrews, Colonial Period, p. 120). This may be the reason for Markham's cautioning WP (below) that it could be dangerous to allow the Lower Counties, alone of tobacco growing areas, to calculate payment of the duty in inflated Pennsylvania currency. 92. Lloyd's three-year term on the Council, having begun in 1684, was about to end. Markham, aware thai Lloyd was often in New York when the Council was meeting, appears to be advising WP to make Lloyd a virtual deputy governor. In Feb. 1687 WP authorized a new commission of five, with any three a quorum, to head the Council.
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Lloyd was included in the list. However, it appears that the Council ignored this until 1688, allowing Lloyd to remain as president until that time. Charter and Laws, p. 494; doc. 37; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:212. 93. Anthony Lowther, husband of WP's sister, Margaret. 94. Joanna Markham.
27 FROM WILLIAM
SEWEL
One of WP's most faithful correspondents in the late i68os was William Sewel of Amsterdam, who translated six of WP's tracts into Dutch and wrote to him frequently in Latin to discuss his problems of translation and publication. Twenty of Sewel's letters survive from the years 1686-96, of which two are published in this volume as docs. 27 and 44. Sewel was by no means the only continental writer to translate WP's books. More than twenty of WP's tracts were translated during his lifetime, into Dutch, German, French, Danish, Welsh, or Latin. Most of this translation was done in the i68os, when WP's blend of religious idealism and political activism was most conspicuous and his colony in America was new and alluring. Sewel translated three important works by WP in 1686-87: A Further Account of the Province of Pennsylvania; No Cross, No Crown; and Good Advice to the Church of England. In doc. 27 he comments on the problems he is having in translating No Cross, No Crown. A year later, in doc. 44, he discusses the disappointing Dutch sale of this work, which does not discourage him from trying again with Good Advice to the Church of England. [30 August 1686] Guiljelmo Penn S. P. Dolore simul & gaudio, vir Amicissime, affectus sum ex reditu vestro:1 illo, quod contra propositum reverti necesse habueritis; hoc, quodrediistis, ut audio, incolumes; nam id mihi non levi molestia expedivit, quippe qui valde vobis metuerim propter coelum ex sereno nubilum factum. & Luctantes ventos, tempestatesque sonoras, quae circa vestrum discessum, circumagente se vento, cooriebantur. Caeterum ut scriberam ad te, praecipue in causa est versio libri tui de Cruce,2 quae sicut incepta jam est, ita eandem annuente divino Numine, quam celeriter potero, ad finem perducam; nee suscepti operis me poenitebit, modo recte id factum fuerit: de quo licet nihil ambigo, difficultatem tamen quandam in rhytmis aliquot vertendis praevideo: Siquidem Angli plerumque satis infeliciter versati sunt in poematibus Latinis proprio suo idiomate rhytmice reddendis, nimisque longe (parce libertati) a genuino verborum sensu recedere videntur: Non dico quod ingenium illis desit; sed nolunt, ut credo, earn diligentiam in tale
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opus impendere, quam a Nostratibus in eodem prospere adhibitam fuisse non raro vidi; nam certe penuriam vernaculi sermonis obtendere nequeunt. Quid igitur mihi suades faciendum cum istis qui exstant pag. 295, 296, 306, 324, 325, 326?3 Non erit quidem mihi difficile eos denuo in Belgicum carmen convertere; sed vereor ne duplex istius generis translatio nimis multo ab Autographo deflectat. De isto autem Epigrammate pag. 393 ex Martiali citato,4 dabo operam ut in proprio Authore id (si possim) investigem, & turn nihil erit molestiae. Si quid ergo consilii habes, ut illud expedias amice rogo. In praesentia, fateor, id nondum opus est, quia mensis unus & alter praeterierit antequam eo pervenerim;5 sed quoniam Te hue terrarum iterum delatum inaudiveram, non potui non calamo te compellare, quia hoc qualecunque officium tibi haud ingratum fore, ipse significare voluisti. Vale, Amice charissime, & filium, fratremque meo nomine salvere jubeas. Guiljelmus Sevelius6 tuus. 7 Amstelodami ix Septembris Anni mdclxxxvi. [30 August 1686] Many Greetings to William Penn I felt at once sorrow and joy, dearest friend, at your return: 1 sorrow because you had to return as you had not intended to do; joy because you returned safely, as I have heard. This news relieved me of no slight concern, since I had grave fears for you because of the sky, which suddenly changed from clear to cloudy, and the "wrestling winds and resounding storms" which, through the swirling motion of the winds, arose about the time of your departure. But my primary reason for writing to you is the translation of your book on the Cross,2 which has already been started and which, if it be God's will, I shall complete as quickly as possible. I shall not regret undertaking the task provided that it be properly done. Although I have no uncertainty on that score, I do foresee a certain difficulty in translating some rhythms; for the English have generally been quite unsuccessful in rendering Latin poetry rhythmically in their own idiom, and they seem (forgive my frankness) to depart too much from the true sense of the words. I do not mean that they are lacking in aptitude; but they are unwilling, I believe, to expend on such a task the same care that I have often seen successfully applied to it by our countrymen. Surely they cannot plead as an excuse the poverty of their native tongue. What do you suggest that I should do about those verses on pages 295, 296, 306, 324, 325, 326?3 It will not be difficult for me to translate them again into Dutch; but I am afraid that a double translation of this kind will be too far removed from the original. As for the epigram from Martial4 quoted on p. 393, I shall make an effort to track it down in the original author if I can, in which case it will be no problem. If you have any advice, please pass
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it along. At the present time I do not yet need it, I admit, because I shall not reach that point for another month or two.5 Since I had heard, however, that you had returned to these shores, I could not refrain from addressing you in writing because you yourself indicated to me that the performance of this modest task would be pleasing to you. Farewell, my dearest friend, and greetings to your son and brother in my name. Your William Sewer5 7 Amsterdam 9 September of the year 1686 ALS. William Sewel Letters, box ¥2, FLL. (Micro. 5:505.) The editors wish to thank Professor Myral Uhlfelder, of Bryn Mawr College, for translating this document. 1. WP had visited Holland and Germany in the summer of 1686. See doc. 25. 2. No Cross, No Crown by WP, first published in 1669 (Wing Pi327). It is apparent from Sewel's remarks in this letter that he is using the expanded edition (Wing Pi330), printed by Benjamin Clark in 1682. See PWP, vol. 5, item 65C. 3. The verses in question, drawn from several classical sources, are included in WP's chap. 19 on testimonies of numerous renowned pagans "against the Excesses of the Age, in Favour of the Self-Denial, Temperance and Piety" (p. 258). 4. Martial, or Marcus Valerius Martialis (A.D. c. 4o-c. 104), Roman poet, wrote twelve Epigrammaton libri, which are often used as a model for modern epigrammatists (Oxford Classical Dictionary, pp. 394, 652). The epigram referred to by Sewel begins: "Would you be free? Tis your chief wish, you say," and ends: "The Persian King's a Slave, compar'd with thee," and appears on pp. 393-94, in a translation by Abraham Cowley. See Cowley's "Several discourses by way of essays, in verse and prose," in his Works, 7th ed. (London, 1681; Wing C6655), p. 114. 5. Sewel's translation was completed by the end of Dec. 1686 and was published in Amsterdam by Jacob Claus under the title Zonder Kruys Geen Kroon. See Micro. 5:586, 616, 628; Smith, 2:301; PWP, vol. 5, item 65E. 6. William Sewel (1653-1720) was born in Amsterdam to Mennonite parents who soon thereafter joined Friends. His mother, Judith Zinspenning (d. 1664), was very active in the small Dutch Quaker community. Sewel developed a strong interest in languages and literature, gained a working knowledge of seven languages, and made a livelihood at selling translations to Amsterdam's booksellers. In all, he wrote ten books, edited one, and translated twenty-seven, seven of which were by Friends. He is best known for his Large Dictionary, English and Dutch (Amsterdam, 1691; Wing 82825), and for his History of the Rise, Increase and Progress of . . . Quakers (Amsterdam, 1717; ist English ed., London, 1722). In 1681 he married Jacomina Boekenoogen (1661-1703), a Friend, and had four children. William Hull, Willem Sewel of Amsterdam 1653-1720 (Swarthmore, Pa., 1933). 7. Sewel is probably reckoning by the Gregorian calendar, which would date this letter 30 Aug. 1686 O.S.
28 TO THOMAS LLOYD [21 September 1686] Dear Friend T. Lloyd The Salutation of my love is to thee, in the truth & thyn, with thos that fear god in sincerity & love the prosperity of his heavenly way more then their unquiet & pervers mindes & wills. Dr: Thomas, I A Champion of English Toleration
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have divers letters from thee at my arrivall from Holland & Germany, of the third, fourth & fifth months.1 I am glad thy affaires at N.Y. & the affections of thy friend P.2 allow thee any time for that poor Province. I hope Patience will, for my sake, & wch is more, for the truths, give thee up sometimes; for thy ingenuous, sober and expedienting frame of Spirit must be of good service there; & tho I own thou hast little inducement, yet if I am able to reward such Labour of love, I shall do it to thee or thyn. now I perceive, that my absence is extreamly uneasy to the Province, but Dr: thomas know, that it is more so to me; for next the life of me & myn, of all earthly things, 'tis that I pray with my whole soul to god, my father, that he would please to putt an end to {bring me among them,} and so, thou mayst averr to all; for as my wife & children were to me when there, so are you to me, now I am here, worthy or unworthy, for I hear how things Stand, I regard it not; I have faith to beleive much of that will vanish when I come, that rise since I was there. In new & mixt Colonys, disorders will be, tho at all time[s] they are wounding; & if our neighbours, that time {or neglect} hasVe given leisure to observe us in our disorders & infirmitys, vallue themselves or undervallue us thereupon time, & the good Providence of god may disapoint them by an extrordinary Improvement & reforme. use thy endeavours to satisfy our folks in my unpleasant stay, how can they think I can budge from hence till I hear that Bait, owns the authority I came {to} for the settling yor dispute. Just when I was prepareing to goe hence, comes packet upon Packet of the abuses of his people, both as to surveys & the fort.3 should I hurry theither & as soon back? by no means; I aime at Americanizeing my famely, & come prepared accordingly; therefore lett them be so wise as to be patient, that I may not leave the thing unfixt, I come on purpose to obtaine. besides, I would have them consider, that my being here, has not only advanced the reputation of the Province, & gained many great Persons into our Interest, but prevented a storm as to us, that is falling upon other Colonys,4 & secured my point in a great measure w th the K. who is very perticulerly Kinde to me & Friends there should be Satisfied in it, for I have been an instrumt to open the Prison dores for our Brethren all over the nation,5 & am now upon national expedients to prevent impendant miserys that threaten thes nations:6 at least, doing my indeavours, that can not omitt to have influences upon America too. this I beseech thee to read from house to house to the sober & discreet, friend or other. The Lord bless you wth his Spirit of wisdome & of a sound minde, wch Keeps Solid, tender, quiet and virtuous. Now I have one thing more to Communicate, that is of great moment to us all to be done, wth Speed, with care, with wisdome. our laws, with the Laws of other Provinces are like to be called before the Comm" of Lords for Plantations, and because I know the franchises & constitution of them, exceed w* is els where, and intended to be elsewhere;
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to the end we may use the advantages the Pening of my charter give us (& by Sr wm Jones,7 was intended to me & the Colony) with what Success we are able, Know, that if once in five years, ours are presented to the said Committee, or the King rather, it is as much as we are obliged to.8 my Councel therefore advises, that the very next session after the receipt of this, a Bill be prepared to vacat all the Laws as they now stand, & prepare another with such abrogations, alterations & additions of laws as shall palliate the thing, that shall be read next to the other, so that the distance will be but the time of reading one & the other, and by this, the Laws {will} have been but probationary, & {will} take a new alteration, from experience, & thus have a speedy resurrection, a thing we have already done in the Province, & in the wisest of ancient Govermts was observed, now if any object the Fundamentals, I answear they only are to be feared here, & the danger of this method, is none at all, they terminateing but a moment before they live again, & it is done for their sakes not mine, for the less free they are, the more free I am; but as I ever desired the best of laws for them, so I would advise the ways, most easely in a disorder'd time, to preserve them to them & theirs, this must be insinuated to the wiser only, & to thos that are exceptions,9 deal with them apart in my name; lett them see their interest & my good intention; and such as are captious, & that desire to make a fair show in the flesh, lett them Know how much they are in my powr not I in theirs; and the less, for being here, in such a raign, where powr is more then a little preferr'd.10 and for their Ingratitude, that so basely cosoned my generosity about the customs,11 I cannot putt it up, but desire & order thee as In my name to summon them & warn them to bring in the mony they agreed to pay, or Else that the provinciall councell by the AttnY Generall of the Province, proceed agst them in a cours of Justice, for the members of the Councell are wittnesses agst them. Insteed of supplying me here (haveing publickly engaged to bear the charge of this expedition) to refuse a man so much as 2Ol there that left some hundreds here in my hands, 'tis true, he saught it, & that is my excuse, I mean to leave it here, & have it there, or I had been justly ashamed.12 nay J. Harrison persues me w th bills for famely matters, tho my whole quitrents are now due, the vallue of 500! per An. at least, & can't gett a Penny, what Goverr would come on such terms. God is my wittness, I lye not, I am above Six thousand pounds out of pocket, more then ever I saw, by the Province, & throw in {to boot} my paines, care & hazard of my life, & leaving of my dr. famely to serve them. I desire thee, on receipt hereof, to summon a few of the most discreet & reputable together, & impart so farr of thes things as may be convenient, especially to R. Turner, Cosen Markham, T. Holmes, J. Sim.13 J. Blunston, {J. Clayp.14 J. eccle15 Tho ellis} especially as to my not comeing & the [illegible deletion] of the supply; for that of the laws, to as few as thou wilt at first, the Great fault is, that thos who are
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there, loose their authority, one way or other in the Spirits of the people & then they can do little with their outward powr. Show Such parcells of this letter as may be requisit. If I can, I shall write a publick letter16 too by this ship, for Gr dongan, & the Sasqehanagh:17 I shall watch my time to gain the K. in it; that also, helps to stop me; likewise that of the head of the bay; and if possible, an accomodation amicable wth Ld. Bait, by means of his Ro. Ca. Lds & Priests I shall endeavour.18 Gray is a Benedictine monck of Sl. James's, left them & his vow, is married there, the congregation has Spoak to the K about him, & to me.19 Keep this to thy selfe, & give him the inclosed, lett him Know only that I was much desired to send it carefully; if he Speaks to thee of it, or should talk of moveing, lett him Know this, & that I Shall do him wl good offices he can expect of me in reason. A great many dutch & Germans come next year; the french goe much to Carolina; Indirect means have been used for it, that I shall endeavour to prevent; but a Cirtificat from the french there, especially the minister that went in conway20 would do much, pray lett Andrew doze, my french man at Schoolkill know, I have writt to him at large & hear nothing of him, I would Know w* he does wth the vineyard, if it produces or noe. for news, I referr thee to the cap1. & the dutch Barron if he goes, that speaks englesh. I am personally well yet wth our Grandees.21 meetings open, large & sweet, I was last fourth day at Gr. ch. street, first day following at the Bull & devonshire house,22 all full & precious meetings, yet, over Urope, clowds hang.23 I shall not forgett thee to Ld. Powess24 & A. newport who has layd down his place in the Custom house.25 there are great changes of hands in Irland {the Farmers need not repent};26 a Parliament expected to Sitt in november here.27 I add no more, but my dear love to thee & thyn in the everlasting truth (unless something occurr I yet see not) & rest more then I can tell thee Thy cordiall Frd Wm Penn London 2i t h 7mo 86 I forgott to tell thee thy Nephew C. LI.28 was in holland wth me, is a pretty youth, I left him there, thy Bro. ch. is with his wife in Heref.29 & intends to live there. what ever thou doest, trye in my name to break that Knott & soften them that bustle in Gener11 Assemblys. the noize comes here to E. Bill.30 who makes his market wth it, tho his is a very sorry one. S. Jennings packet is miscarried. {I beleive on designe of some.} Salute me to Friends on both Sides; thos thou thinkest best deserve it; but I wish well to all. I commend thy care in that business of D. Davis, J: Curtis, the poor schoolmasters children,31 & Majr Dyer. Capt. Markham has been serviceable therein also, wch I am glad of, & shall remember.
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I forgott one thing, pray putt a stop to that Irregular way of disposeing of land in the Lower Countys; there will come a day of Judgement about Surveys when I return; for I fear great wrong to me in that regard, tell tho: Holmes we want a map to that degree that I am ashamed here;32 bid him send wl he has by the first; he promest it two years since {& I upon his word:} all cry out, where is yr map, w* no map of the settlements! I entreat thee leave him not before this be done, tis of mighty moment. I intend if god in his providence permitt, to sett forth in the first or begining of the second month, vale Wm Penn London 2ist 7mo 86 two Arguments ought to prevale wth them in secreet for that of the laws & some supply that may & ought to be discreetly & closely intimated, one, that If I refuse to confirm your laws made since, all the laws fall, that are continued by them, that is the first; secondly, that all their lands are forfited that have not register'd them, & that will be supply enough to me & myn without more; besides the vexation of resurveys. I write to thee only thes things, but would have Cosen Markham, J. Harrison, T.H.33 J. claypole, G. Jones, J. Simcock, Sec: Informed as thou seest meet, pray press Govr Dongan who is leaveing you & the Lord granard34 comeing in his Roome, to do that Just & Generous act before he leaves America, that he may make over that they have given him, to me, & I shall be gratefull to him; who have served him here, & he will be a great man; but under great expence. farewell. Thy true Frd Wm Penn the 22 th 7br 86 ALS. Penn Papers, HSP. (Micro. 5:511.) Printed and edited by Frederick Tolles, "William Penn on Public and Private Affairs, 1686," PMHB, 80:236-47. Endorsed in the hand of David Lloyd: 2i t h : 7m : 1686 To: T:L11 W™ P: letter to Tho. Lloyd 1686 | Where he promises to reward his Services | He makes the Service to those Nations the occasion | or Excuse of his stay | He orders a Bill to be prepared to abrogate all | the Laws & prepare a new bill &c | He orders to prosecute the Subscribers about the | Customs &c | He intimates that the advantage {of forfeiture} he may take for deeds j not being recorded & the vexation of Rcsurvcy Should be Supply enough to him & his | besides the vexacion of Resurvey. 1. These letters have not been found. WP returned from his trip to Holland and Germany late in Aug. 1686. See doc. 25. 2. Patience Story Lloyd, whom Thomas Lloyd married in the winter of 1684-85. See doc. 20. 3. Although the Lords of Trade in Nov. 1685 had decided the Maryland-Pennsylvania boundary dispute in WP's favor, Baltimore's agents were continuing to survey and parcel out lands in the Lower Counties. In addition, the Marylanders were reinforcing the fort built by Capt. George Talbot in 1684 near Christiana Bridge, about five miles west of New Castle. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:188-89; John A. Munroe, Colonial Delaware (Millwood, N.Y., 1978), p. go. 4. See doc. 24. 5. WP was instrumental in securing the pardon of 15 Mar. 1686 leading to the release of the majority of imprisoned Friends. See CSPD, 1686-8 j, p. 71. 6. Among the "national expedients" which WP had undertaken was his recent trip to The Hague to see William of Orange. See doc. 25.
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7. Sir William Jones, WP's counsel in 1681. 8. The charter of Pennsylvania, in a clause inserted by Sir William Jones, stipulated that a transcript or duplicate of all the laws was to be transmitted within five years to the Privy Council, who would then have only six months to annul any law inconsistent with either the royal prerogative or WP's allegiance to the lawful government of England. PWP, 2:67-68. 9. Disposed to make objections. OED. 10. The Provincial Council considered these instructions of WP in its meeting of 2 Apr. 1687 and resolved unanimously to disregard WP's advice and to allow the present body of laws to remain in force without annulment and re-enactment. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:198-99. 11. See doc. 20, n. 10. 12. It appears that Joshua Cart, prior to coming to Pennsylvania, had given WP several hundred pounds, intending to reimburse himself with the money owed to WP in the colony. The merchants' refusal to pay him embarrassed WP and caused Cart to demand reimbursement and damages. See doc. 6, n. 65; Micro. 5:786. 13. John Simcock. 14. James Claypoole. 15. John Eckley (d. 1690), a Welsh merchant, had land in Radnor township and operated a yard goods shop in Philadelphia. PWP, 2:6i5n. 16. WP did send a public letter to the president and Council on 25 Sept. 1686. See Micro, 5:536. 17. In 1683-84 Gov. Thomas Dongan of New York had blocked WP's attempt to buy land on the upper Susquehanna River in an effort to establish trading settlements there. See PWP, 2:466-68; doc. 3, n. 17. 18. WP never did reach an accommodation with Lord Baltimore on the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania at the head of Chesapeake Bay. This dispute was not settled until 1769 with the ratification of the Mason-Dixon line. Shepherd, pp. 117-
46.
19. See doc. 3, n. 11. 20. The Carolinians were encouraging French vintners to settle in their colony rather than Pennsylvania. To counter this, WP hoped to get a testimonial from Charles de la Noe, a Huguenot minister and viniculturist, who had recently embarked for Pennsylvania in Capt. Richard Conoway's ship. De la Noe settled at Springettsbury, where he shortly died. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:275-76; doc. 23; Watson, Annals, 2:437; see also doc. 35, n. 39. 21. The leading members of James II's government. 22. Gracechurch Street, the Bull and Mouth, and Devonshire House were the three leading London Quaker meetinghouses. 23. The arbitrary foreign policy of Louis XIV in combination with his revocation of the Edict of Nantes and developments in Germany were leading Europe toward full-scale war. John B. Wolf, Louis XIV (New York, 1968), chaps. 26-28. 24. William Herbert (1617-1696), earl of Powis, was a moderate Catholic who had often assisted Friends who were suffering persecution. DNB. 25. Andrew Newport (1623-1699), an M.P. 1661-78 and 1685, from Shropshire, had actually been appointed commissioner of the customs nearly two years before, in Dec. 1684. DNB;CTB, 7:290, 1464. 26. In 1686 James II, assisted by the earl of Tyrconnell, had drastically catholicized the Irish army, judiciary, and Privy Council. WP's comment about the farmers indicates his belief that, contrary to rumor, the Acts of Settlement and Explanation were not to be altered. J. G. Simms, Jacobite Ireland 1685-91 (London, 1969), pp. 2426. 27. In fact Parliament was again prorogued in Oct. 1686, and after further prorogations was dissolved in July 1687. 28. Charles Lloyd (1662-1747). 29. Charles Lloyd (1637-1698) had recently married Ann Lawrence, of Lea, Herts. See doc. 20, n. 14. 30. Edward Byllynge (c. 1623-1687), chief proprietor and governor of West New Jersey, was apparently citing the fractiousness of the Pennsylvania legislature as an incentive to new investors to purchase land in his province. PWP, 2:24n. 31. The poor schoolmaster was Christopher Taylor who had died on 26 June 1686. See doc. 26, text at n. 23.
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32. Thomas Holme's map of the province was finally published in 1687. See docs. 33,41, 210. 33. Thomas Holme. 34. Sir Arthur Forbes (1623-1696), first earl of Granard, had been recently removed by James II as commander of the army in Ireland. Dongan, in fact, was not replaced until Aug. 1688, when New York was incorporated into the Dominion of New England under the governorship of Sir Edmund Andros. DNB; Raimo, Governors, p. 244. 29
TO JAMES
HARRISON Lond. 23th 7mo [September i6]86
Dr: J: Harrison my dear love in the truth that remains forever a blessing to them that love it to the end, dearly salutes thee & thyn & the Lords famely there away, & others that are of a sober mind. I have five letters from thee1 & severall bills, that I found at my arrivall from Holland, for my comeing, what wth the delays we have had at Councel, where the new england businesse, & Jamaica, has layn thes three years, & but now ended,2 & what with the fresh packets one after an other from yr side, that Bait, complys not with the Ks. order, I cannot come this fall; for to leave that unfinisht I came for, & so to return by his obstinacy when wife & famely is there,3 will not be adviseable; wherefore I think to see an end of that before I goe. besides, that the Country think not upon my supply, & I resolve never to act the Goverr & Keep an other famely & capacity upon my privat estate. If my table, cellar & stable may be provided for, with a barge & yatch or sloop for the service of Governour & Govern^ I may try to gett hence; for In the sight of God I can say, I am five thousand pounds & more behind hand more then ever I received or saw, for land in that Province, and to be so baffl'd by the Marchants, is discourageing & not to be putt up.4 now, I desire thee to draw no more upon me for one penny. 200 pounds come in east, as much by Jos. Massy, some by farmers ship I suppose,5 & now more meat, & other things from Irland & there is above five hundred a year in quitrents & a smaller famely & a good farm for corn & stock, so that I beseech thee not to draw any more. I have answeard the linnen draper for forty pounds for thy use, thy Frd refuseing. things are so short with me, & my expence so great, that I can send thee little more of any thing, but wl I think to bring. I have been perticuler to T. Loyd, much writeing, after a great travil being irksom, & I desire thee to read his letter from me,6 wch shows my minde at large. for Coll. Loyds wife,7 I know not w1 to say, but may touch not more wth her. I should have been glad of a perticuler account of the improvements, in the feilds, house & Gardens, but thou hast omitted it. pray lett C. Taylers place be reserved, & the mony of it to my use, & [some] person honest [n]ot inferior appointed to officiate,8 & to be
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pay'd so much as is reasonable for his pains; for If I cannot be supplied I resolve to turne over a new leaf. there is nothing my soul breaths more for in this world next my dear famelys life, then that I may see poor Pennsilvania again, & my wife is give up;9 but I cannot force my way hence, & see nothing done on that side inviteing. 'tis not that I will not come, what ever they do there, but not the sooner to be sure. I referr thee to the Passengers for news, the K. Kinde to me,10 & Frds, & meetings open again. I have had a blessed service in Holland & Germany & many encline wth me. tell James Reed, I cannot send by this ship, but per next;11 & if he do his part, he shall want no reward nor love from me. The Lord be with you & bless Here comes a good husbandman & brickmaker both, a serv1 & a strong wife, more with me as thou desirest. my dr. wife is well & children, & salute thee & thy honest wife, give my dr. love to T. J. w. y. and P. P. & wives.12 the young man william smyth, may worke at my plantation, his employm1 is husbandry, he went wth R. Dymond.13 finish that little house if begun, if not, lett it alone till Spring.14 be sure build wthin the compass of the goods sent by Ed. Haswell, J. Clap, former servt15 & thirty odd pounds in silver brought thee on that score by plymouth frds. I add no more, but that I am Thy reall Frd In the truth Wm Penn W. Fallowfield16 enclines & R. Haddock,17 he was in Holland with me. farewell. ALS. Penn Papers, Domestic and Miscellaneous Letters, HSP. (Micro. 5:530.) Addressed: For James Harrison | at Pennsberry | in | Pennsilvania | wth speed. Docketed: 23 7mo 86. 1. Not found. 2. In May 1686 James II and his Privy Council completed arrangements for putting Jamaica and New England under tighter royal control. The Massachusetts charter had been revoked in 1684 because of the colony's flagrant violation of the Navigation Acts, but the Dominion of New England was not established until 1686, when Sir Edmund Andros was appointed royal governor. At the same time, the duke of Albemarle was made governor of Jamaica, where he ruled as autocratically as Andros ruled New England. CSPC, 1685-88, pp. 193, 199; Richard S. Dunn, "Imperial Pressures on Massachusetts and Jamaica, 1675-1700," in Alison G. Olson and Richard M. Brown, eds., Anglo-American Political Relations, 1675-7775 (New Brunswick, N.J., 1970), PP- 52-753. WP did not want to bring his wife and children to Pennsylvania until he was sure that he would not have to return to England to defend his colony against Baltimore's claims again. He did not want to expose his family to the dangers of ocean travel more than once, nor did he want to be separated from them again. 4. See doc. 20, n. 10. 5. For Capt. East's voyage, see doc. 7, n. 5. Joseph Massey, captain of the Greyhound, arrived in Philadelphia by June 1685, when he was accused of cheating the merchants who shipped goods with him. Maj. Jaspar Farmer (c. 1623-1685) had sailed on the Bristol Merchant, which also carried barrels of beef shipped by WP for his Pennsbury staff. Jaspar and his family intended to take up their lands in Phila. Co., but he and his son, Jaspar, Jr., died on the voyage. Minutes of the Provincial Council, pp.
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42-435 PWP, i: i38n; Passengers and Ships, p. 165; PGM, 21: 89-90; Micro. 5:593; Thomas Lloyd to [James Harrison?], Etting Collection, Governors' Papers, vol. i, HSR 6. Doc. 28. 7. Henrietta Neale Bennett Lloyd (1647-1697), a Maryland Catholic, had married Philemon Lloyd about 1669. After her husband's death in June 1685, she and her father-in-law pressed WP to pay them for the cattle they claimed had been delivered. See doc. 7, n. 7. Maryland Historical Magazine, 1174-75, 7:423; Oswald Tilghman, History of Talbot County, Maryland (Baltimore, 1915), 1:146-50; Micro. 5:593. 8. Christopher Taylor, WP's register general, died in the summer of 1686. WP soon changed his mind about not filling the position and told Harrison to give the office to James Claypoole, who was approved by the Council in Nov. 1686. Docs. 26, text at n. 23; 35, text at n. 17; Micro. 5:542, 593; PA, 1:185, 195. 9. Gulielma had finally consented to go to Pennsylvania, despite her weak health and her concern for the children. For a different interpretation, see Peare, p. 299. 10. A few months later, WP wrote to Harrison again about his relationship with James II: "the Lord has given me a great entrance Sc Interest w th the K. tho not as much as it is said." Micro. 5:669. 11. In Nov. 1686 WP wrote Harrison that Ford would send the "trees, seeds, sciences Sec: which James my gardener bought" for Pennsbury. Micro. 5:600; see also Micro. 5:442, 542, 593. 12. Thomas and Margery Heath Janney, William and Jane Heath Yardley, and Phineas and Phoebe Harrison Pemberton. 13. Richard Dymond's ship, the Amity, arrived in Philadelphia in July 1686, carrying at least one other servant for Pennsbury: Catherine Gilcore came at WP's expense but without indenture papers and was bound for five years. Samuel Pennypacker, Pennsylvania Colonial Cases (Philadelphia, 1892), p. 115. 14. See docs. 22, nn. 2, 3; 35, n. 32. 15. Edward Haistwell served James Claypoole from about 1678 to 1685, first as secretary and then as Claypoole's London agent. Marion Balderston, ed., James Claypoole's Letter Book: London and Philadelphia, 1681-1684 (San Marino, Calif., 1967), pp. 7-8. 16. William Fallowfield (d. 1718) was probably the nephew of Lancelot Fallowfield of Great Strickland, Westm., a prominent Quaker and First Purchaser. None of the Fallowfield family immigrated to Pennsylvania. PWP, 2:642; Digests of Quaker Records, Westm., GSP. 17. Roger Haydock (1644-1696), a Quaker minister of Coppull, Lanes., was imprisoned 1684-86. After his release, he attended the Amsterdam Yearly Meeting, where he met WP. Fox, 2:494; [Roger Haydock], Collection of the Christian Writings . . . (London, 1700), p. 209; doc. 25, headnote.
30 FROM JAMES HARRISON, ARTHUR COOK, AND JOHN SIMCOCK philladelfea the 3*1 of 8th mo: [October] 1686 William Perm And welbeloved friend, & Governor After my Love in him who is the sam ycstcr this day that he was yesterday, & so will be forever unto thee, & thine remembred, by these thou may know that the provincshall Court began the 24 of Last mo: & ended yesterday in which tim many troublesom suts from the Low1 Courts boath in Law & equatye was heard, & determined by Arthur Cook Jon Simkock, & my selfe, the sossiaty was sued for severall hundreds of poonds in the County Co[u]rt {quarter sessions}, Sc was Cast by N: Moore,1 and Ben Chambers president {of the Sossiaty} ftrt did a« Apeall from that Court to A Champion of English Toleration
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the provinshall Court, & he with others gave bonds of 17 poonds2 to prossecut the sd apeall with Efect which hee did. Altho with much deffickulty, att the begining of the Court N: Moore attended but benjamin was not ready, Moore seeing the Exactnes of the Judges we think disspaired of his Cause, it being in Equaty, & cam no more, the Action {after aday or 2} was Called Ben: Apeard; so did not Moor: it was put by for a {considerable} tim, Called {then} again still none apeard for him the Court asked if there weare non to apeare for him, I asked patrick Robison3 if he had no order, he sd no we asked if there wer any that wold gitt Moore word, {& tell him} the strt {Action} was Called, & we wold not proseed untill they Cam back, & he with them or his answer which was that he had not beene well, & the goote had taken him in his feete Then the Apeallant desired that thire Action might be Called, & so [it?] was then patrick Apeard for More with alarge papr of instructions, & sd he wold plead only as he was instructed Moores mind: & not his, but after som timj: Simcock being a mcmb* of the sossiaty went of the bench pattrick said A: Cooke he had nothing agt &c. J. harrison was an Honnest Judicous man &c. But sd hee, he is stuard to Govrnor penn, & hath the managm1 of his estate, & that G: penn had money in the stock so James was a party & not to sit as Judg of that cause, so requiered me of the bench, but {1} did not goe off, then he the sd patt: Robison Denied the Jurisdition of the Court, & sd that all that wee had don in either Law or Equaty was unjust, 4 & much more to the sam effect, & insensed the people in Court agl us, so we bad him withdraw, which he did, the next day we sent for him againe, he cam {with the officer} Satt him downe we told him that was not his place, then he stod up, & satt down in a chaire,5 sd he wold sitt there, he also sd he cam not in obedience to our [wjarrant, but on other acco:t6 we told him he had denied the Kings [aujtharaty by which we satt there, & thee in whose nam we satt, which we were resolved to deffend to our powre, & desired all majistrats to take notice of any that spoak sleighingly of the power or that disturbed the or broak the peace, & Lett them be punnished according to Law, so we have fined Robison loo1, & Commited to {custedie} untill he pay it. The Couinsell satt yesterday ordred Ed: Greene marchant & William: Sotherbey to goe to patt: Robison Ladd {to requer him to delivr} the Reccords & books up who said he wold on seckond day, except, such as Consarned hes fees not {yett} reed his fees for & those he wold in three months after,7 either Pattrick or I must vaile our Bonnitts.8 he also sd in Couert that they wold have Judges for us beyond the watter,9 & was glad that we weare Rich men & I can truly say I am sorry he is no Richer, boath for his owne, & the Govermts bcnnifit {sack}, Thou may receive by other hands more fuller & plainr accou1:10 But Judg Cooke, Judg Simcock Laid it on me to give thee an acco1: of this matter & I must tell thee that most people are satisfied with us
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in the Execution of our office & doeing of our duties even those that oure Judgm ts went ag1,11 and we have peace with God wherein Rests; thy friend & servant; for mysclfc & Arthur Cooke John Simcock and James Harrison Draft. Etting Papers, HSR (Micro. 5:553.) Docketed in a modern hand: Arthur Cooke | John Simcock | James Harrison | Philadelphia | 8 mo 3. 1686 | to | William Penn. 26.
1. For the lawsuits of Nicholas More against the Free Society of Traders, see doc.
2. Perhaps Harrison misstated this figure; Chambers's appeal, involving the subscription money owed by the Free Society to More, required the posting of a bond of £406. See doc. 26, n. 45. 3. Patrick Robinson was himself already in trouble for his actions in this case. At the original trial in the Phila. Co. Court, he had struck Benjamin Chambers. He apologized for this but became entangled in another imbroglio at the next county court session early in Sept., and was fined 405. Micro. 5:559. 4. Robinson had grounds for objecting to Harrison's sitting on this case, but when he objected against the equity jurisdiction of the court, Harrison quite properly countered that "the said matter came legally before them." Gratz Collection, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, box 2, case 12, HSP; Micro. 5:559; Lewis, "Courts of Pennsylvania," p. 156. 5. Robinson at first squatted down in front of William Markham who, taking the minutes of the trial, was seated at a table in front of the judges. Having been duly chastised for this, Robinson next moved into an "elbow chaire with a cushing" that had been set out for Pres. Thomas Lloyd. Micro. 5:559. 6. Apparently he told the court that he came voluntarily to know what they had to say to him. Micro. 5:559. 7. The Provincial Council, on i Oct. 1686, dismissed Robinson as clerk of the county court of Philadelphia and gave that post to David Lloyd. It appears that Robinson willingly turned over all the papers he held in relation to that post, requesting only a copy of his commission to justify past actions, and access to the papers when drawing out accounts for his debts. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:192-93; Micro. 5:559. 8. Yield or give way. OED. 9. In accordance with the charter, Robinson had the right to appeal from the decisions of the Provincial Court to the Privy Council in England. Lewis, "Courts of Pennsylvania," p. 166. 10. William Markham wrote to WP on 5 Oct. 1686 in greater detail about the events concerning Patrick Robinson (Micro. 5:559). 11. Nicholas More was probably not among those satisfied, for the Provincial Court overturned the county court's decision in the above appeal, citing its belief that More had not lived up to the terms of the bond (see AM 2086, HSP), and that his original subscription had been devalued by the reduced worth of the Free Society's stock. It therefore ruled that More should receive only half the amount claimed and that WP should determine what would happen with the moiety. In Nov. 1701 WP finally decided that the moiety should remain with the Free Society. Gratz Collection, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; Micro. 9:867.
31 TO SIR DANIEL
FLEMING
Despite the proclamation by James II of 15 March 1686 which had freed hundreds of Quakers from prison, Friends continued to suffer A Champion of English Toleration
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persecution. Although often caused by zealous Anglican clergymen, many prosecutions resulted from the activities of "common" informers who preyed on nonconformist meetings hoping to obtain the onethird portion of fines promised by the Conventicle Act of 1670. Friends would endeavor to counter the informers, many of whom were of questionable integrity and reputation, by encouraging the crown to dissuade local law enforcement officials from accepting the testimony of such people. The limitation of this approach, however, was the right allowed to informers to prosecute justices of the peace who failed to enforce the law and who, if found guilty, were to forfeit £100, onethird of which was to go to the informer. The crown itself was relatively powerless; although it could return its own portion of the fine, it had no control over the informer's portion. This being so, from October 1686 to January 1687 the Meeting for Sufferings put pressure on local officials in those counties where the informers against Quakers were particularly active. As a leading spokesman for the Meeting, WP urged the earl of Rochester to write to Sir Daniel Fleming, the deputy lieutenant in Westmorland (doc. 31), and to Lord Morley, lord lieutenant in Lancashire, to stop, if possible, the depredations of informers, while other Friends, possibly with assistance from WP, obtained letters from Lord President Sunderland to Lord Morley, to the earl of Huntingdon in Leicestershire, and to the duke of Newcastle in Nottinghamshire. This approach produced only occasional success, and it became clear that direct action by the crown in suspending legislation was needed. James II took this step in 1687; see doc. 40. See also Minutes of the Meeting for Sufferings, 5:221, 248, 254-55, 264, 275, 287, 294, 297-99, 305, 309, 319-20, 328, 33031, 337-38, 344, FLL; Book of Cases, 1:168-69, FLL; HMC, Twelfth Report, Appendix, pt. vii, "The MSS of S.H. Le Fleming of Rydal Hall" (London, 1890), pp. 201, 251. [6 November 1686] Honored Friend1 Comeing late last night to town, I could not so easely informe the Ministers of the present disturbance of of our friends in westmerld.2 but in a case further gone, at Salisbury, the Ld treasurr3 gave me his lettr,4 not only to stop further proceedings, but to restore the goods taken from them on the act agst Conventicles;5 and I dare venture to say, that the King is avers to such troublesom work, and that thos Justices that discourage it are more gratefull to him then thos that foment it. I say this to prevent any warrant for seizure,6 till the next, when I doubt not a more engageing assurance then is in my powr to give; & I Know not if It may not goe this very post.7 excuse this
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freedom, & place it to the account of thy Kindeness to stay till some account come from London (for so my Frd informed me) and please to beleive that I am with much respect Thy reall Friend Wm Penn London 6th gbr 86. ALS. Dreer Collection, HSR (Micro. 5:598.) Addressed: For Sr: Daniell | Flemming in | Westmerland. Endorsed: From M r Pen, Nov. 6. 86. 1. Daniel Fleming (1633-1701), of Rydal, Westm., and Coniston, Lanes., was a prominent landowner in the northwestern counties, a staunch Anglican, a J.P., and deputy lieutenant in Westmorland. PWP, i:26gn. 2. Several Friends in Westmorland had been prosecuted by informers for meeting, one of whom, Thomas Middleton, was perjured against, not having attended. The convicting J.P. was Fleming. Meeting for Sufferings, 5:275, 299. 3. Laurence Hyde, earl of Rochester, held the post of lord treasurer from Nov. 1679 to Jan. 1687. PWP, 2:57n; CSPD, 1686-87, P- 3344. At Salisbury, Wilts., the action of three informers against a newly established monthly meeting had led to distraints on Friends attending. Meeting for Sufferings asked WP to endeavor to gain some relief for them, which he did by means of a letter from Rochester sent about 22 Oct. 1686. Meeting for Sufferings, 5:221, 254, 259, 264. 5. The Conventicle Act of 1670 (22 Car. II, cap. i) called for distraint of goods held by nonconformists who attended illegal meetings. PWP, 2:56^ 6. Seizure of goods as prescribed in the Conventicle Act. 7. Lord Rochester, in a letter dated 6 Nov. 1686 (same date as doc. 31), told Fleming that the king did not wish "those poor people" to be troubled on account of "their being Quakers only," and that Fleming was to show them what kindness he could. Fleming on 19 Nov. responded that he had, at the Quakers' request, adjourned the case for a fortnight to give time for an appeal to London (HMC, "MSS of S.H. Le Fleming," pp. 201, 251). Friends in Westmorland, however, remained upset at Fleming's handling of the case. Meeting for Sufferings, 5:299.
32 TO THOMAS LLOYD Worminghurst, 17th gmo [November] 1686.
Dear Tho: Lloyd Thyn1 by way of new york is with me, & first I am extreamly sorry to hear that Pennsilvania is so litigious, & brutish. The report reaches this place with that disgrace, that we have lost I am told, 15000 persons this fall, many of them men of great estates that are gone & goeing for Carolina.2 o that some one person would in the zeal of a true Phinias3 & the meekness of a Christian spirit together, stand up for our good beginnings, & bring a savour of righteousness over that ill savour. I cared not what I gave such an one, if it were an loo1 or more out of myn owne pocket, I would & will do it, if he be to be found, for the neglect such a care of the publick, might draw on his own affaires, but I hope to be ready in the Spring, my selfe, and I think, with powr & resolution to do the Just thing, lett it fall on whom it wil[l]. o thomas. I cannot express to thee the greif that is upon me for
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it. but my privat affaires as well as my publick ones, will not lett me budge hence yet; tho I desire it with so much zeal, & for that reas[on] count my self a Prisoner here. I waite for answear of that about the laws;4 for that of the mony,5 I am better satisfied, tho Quo warranto's at every turn have formerly threatned. I hope some of thos that once feared I had to much powr will now see I have not enough, & that excess of powr does not the mischeif that Licentiousness does to a state, for tho the one oppresses the pocket, the other turns all to confusion; order & peace with poverty is certainly better. It almost tempts me to deliver up to the K.6 & lett a mercinary Goverr have the tameing of them, o where is fear of god & common decency, pray do what thou canst to appease or punish such persons, and if in office, out with them, forthwith; If J. White & P. Robson be of them displac[e] them Immediately.7 Thorn: think not {hard of it] because of charge in comeing, being 6? goeing, I will be accountable for that, if thou please but to do that friendly part. Lett T. Hoi. J. Har. J. Clap. R. Tur. J. Good. J. Sim8 see this & who else thou pleasest. if you have any love to me, and desire to see me and myn with you, o prevent thes things that you may not add to my exercises. If a few such weighty men mett apart & waited on god for his minde & wisdom & in the sense & authority of that, you appeared for the honour of god the reputation of the Governour & credit & prosperity of the Country, to check such Persons, calljing} them before you as my Frds; men of Credit with me; & sett your united shoulder to it, methinks it may be better. To the Lord I leave you, saluteing you all in endless love, being & remaining, Your true & loveing friend Wm Penn Salut me to thy dr. wife,9 tell her she must remember her name in my business, also to thy children, give my love to the Goverr 10 &c. turn over, P.S. For Bait. & Sasquehanagh,11 I have not ended, being otherwise stopt too & waite my time, but doubt not being upon good terms, lett none be brittle about my not being there yet, I come with all the speed I can; tho I must say, twere better all were in another order first; for thes disorders strike them back I have had some regard to in staying; which is a sad disappoi[nt]ment to me & the country. The east Jersey Proprs believe thy repor[t] about my letter to thee I am not with them once in two months, they meet weekly, they are very angry with G Lowry.12 salute me to frds thereaway, old Lewis13 & wife; also to capt Berry,14 I have sent his letters as directed, press him about land for me in East Jersy;15 I shall fall heavy on G.L. if I live, for denying him in my wrong till all be taken up that is desirable. Speak to G.L. thy self about it, for what he has done will be overturned (I perceive) by them here, & he served vale myn salute thee.
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ALS. Darlington Memorial Library, University of Pittsburgh. (Micro. 5:603.) 1. Not found. 2. WP is here referring to Huguenot emigres; see doc. 28, n. 20. 3. Phinehas, an Israelite priest, was instrumental under Joshua in settling a dispute with the Transjordanian tribes who had built an immense altar on the western side of the Jordan. Douglas, Bible Dictionary, p. 992; Laymon, Commentary on the Bible, P- !334. For WP's plan to reform the laws of the province, see doc. 28. 5. For WP's concern over the enhanced value of English money in Pennsylvania, which was a threat to his charter, see doc. 20. 6. James II. Despite WP's threat, he did not seriously attempt to surrender his charter to the crown until 1703. Joseph E. Illick, William Penn the Politician (Ithaca, 1965), pp. 217-19. 7. John White, of New Castle, retained his position as speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly until 1688. Patrick Robinson was dismissed as clerk of the provincial circuit courts and of the county court of Philadelphia in Oct. 1686, although he was appointed deputy register general several months later. PWP, 2:375^ 486n; doc. 30; Votes and Proceedings, i: 3 4 - 3 5. 8. Thomas Holme, James Harrison, James Claypoole, Robert Turner, John Goodson, and John Simcock. 9. Patience Story Lloyd. 10. Gov. Thomas Dongan of New York, where Lloyd resided. 11. See doc. 28, nn. 17, 18. 12. Gawen Lawrie, deputy governor of East New Jersey 1683-86, was removed from office by the proprietors in Sept. 1686. Pomfret, East New Jersey, pp. 222, 224-26. 13. Probably Col. Lewis Morris (d. 1691), owner of a large estate and iron works at Tinton, Monmouth Co., N.J. PWP, 2134in. 14. Capt. John Berry (d. 1715), of Bergen Co., was a prominent East New Jersey landowner and councilor, and an opponent of Dep. Gov. Lawrie. Pomfret, East New Jersey, pp. 213-15; PWP, 2:341-42^ 15. Berry in 1686 was WP's agent in East New Jersey and also his proxy, although never attending, on the recently established Board of Proprietors. Lawrie was alarmed by WP's attempts to purchase disputed land in East New Jersey and bitterly complained to the proprietors that WP was criticizing him behind his back. WP did not take up the Jersey lands due to him until 1692. Pomfret, East New Jersey, pp. 209, 221, 245; PWP, 2.'493-94n-
33 FROM THOMAS r
HOLME
Wellspring1 25th gmo [November i6]86
My dear Gov I hope there's no need of expressions by paper to manifest my senceer love & due respects to thee, & therfore shall pretermit any thing of that kinde, & let my constant conscionable care for thy interest & concernes, since thou first employed me here, wittness for me, & what ever slip I may be faulty in, yet I have been & shall be true and faithfull to thee. My last per John King2 gave thee acc° of occurences then, onely as to state affaires, I leave it to to them concerned, for I medle not with Courts & Councils, having had my share there, yet the pub: peace of the Province I have regard too, tho in that I have recd some affront, as hereafter thou may know. A Champion of English Toleration
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I gave thee acc° of my transactions with the Bucks Indians about the purchase there, it was long & chargeable, but could not be avoyded, I wrote to P. F.3 to send the things for them agl next spring, being then to pay them off, & till all is paid, we can have no lines run; nor have we a penny {raised} on pub: acc° towards defray of any pub: concernes,4 & they of W. Jersey are raising some loo1 & we here cannot raise any, tho these here 10 times more able but less willing, nay the 500! in lieu of the Rum Act not a penny paid, {nor a way ordered by the Council to raise it.} I have reasoned with severall, how can they think a Govern^ can be supported without charge, none was, is, or can be; & how can the Govr hold out at this rate, to spend his estate & ruin his family to maintain a Gormt which the peopl hath so great a share in & benifit by, & that he had better let the K. appoint a Govr, & he onely act here as proprietour wch will be ease to body & purse, & then doubtless such a Govr from the K. will finde wayes to maintain him & the Goverm1, &c but this was not, is not well rescented, & no marvil whilst one of the Generall Assembly had the confidence or rather impudence publiquely to say amongst them, he would or could give Vi his estate, that the Govr had not so much power as he hath, & this by a Q; not one of the Lower Counties {men}. But truely, dear Govr, unless thou canst excercise more authority by the power of thy present Patent, or obtain more by a new one, as its said, all patents are called in & new ones granted,5 if so thou may remedy thy selfe now, & not be beholding to thy peopl thus, & yet not please them neither, and unless thou hast more power, this Goverm1 will not thrive as it might, this is a secret, & yet I am no member of Council or Assembly, & so can more freely open my minde to thee, neither am I alone in this. There are grudges in some, that none are put in places of power but friends, & tis not profession qualifies men for places & powers, effects shew it too much, also that the Ch:6 or meetings should make Edicts, or judg of men for places, and if the bonds & limitts of Ch: & state be not ascertained & each kept in their proper stations, historyes tell us, the confusions & sad events, verbum sat sapienti,7 there is more in my minde then I can now express. The want of veneration to Magistracy, & Courts kept in due order, & respect to them, is not the least cause of reproachs among us, & many disorders and confusions ensue, all fellowes in a Ch: way, makes not so in civil Go verm1, & truely as things are here, makes me think some times, these peopl are not worthy of such a Govr & Govermt, nor fitted to rule themselfes, or be ruled by a friend thats a Govr, but this is private, & I hope thou wilt lock it up in thy bosome. Last week we buryed the old widdow Farmer8 in Philad: after a tedious sickness, & death of her 3 youngest children & many of her servts, she conceited9 the plantation was unhealthy, Dr More is left overseer of her will, the young widdow Farmer10 lives in town, hath built a brick house but minded to returne for Ireland. November 1686 • 131
There seemes some need of another County or two in this Province, the Lower Countyes outvote this Prov:,11 & tis not safe, but whether thou wilt have any thing done in it till thou come, thou knowest best; if, then, the bounds of these 3 Counties may reach to Perkomia, & so a line run thence to Delaware, & the other way towards Brandivine, if thou wilt let thy Mannor of Perkomia12 be in a new County, I know not but the making of new Counties, & new Townes may give encouragem1 to setle back. I think to have a line run from Philad: due west to Susquehanah, as being (doubtless) not below the 4oth degree,13 & then we can the more securely setle back; Andr: Robeson14 tells me, he intends by his way of observation, to try where it is on Delaware, he thinks it may be between Philad. & Upland,15 when done thou wilt have acc°. I hope thou wilt not trust the fair words of C. Dungan about the Sinakes, let him pretend what he will, he will hinder all he can thy purchaseing Susquehanah, & therfore best to be sure, & obtain of the K. a positive command, to C.D.16 to assist thee in that affair, & then he dare not act agl thee; This is now of the greatest consequence to thee of any thing relateing to Lands here. Ja: Atkinson17 was here yesterday, & came from the Lower Countyes where he findes cold entertainmt in receiveing thy rents, & no wonder when W. Clark at the last Court at Lewes, instead of countenanceing thy Colectour publickly said, that the Govr did not expect the full rents, or the rents for their full quantities; And the last year a distress was rescued from Ja: Atkinson taken for thy rent; & was indicted, & yet quitted. Our peopl of this pro: are very backward to pay their rents. I cannot get a Mapp of this Pro:18 yet, for C.A.19 will neither give me his draughts & regular returnes, nor acc° of the survey money, out dares all authority; The great controversy between the Welsh & others in Chester County,20 hangs still, it hath been above a year depending before Council & Comrs, but like other things, nothing done. I have complained to the Pres. & Council but to no purpose. I hear C.A. intends to go away shortly out of these parts, & sell all, & then thou wilt loose considirably, for I have thy word for what is due to me. I write mostly by guess & not by sight, my sight goes away apace; I am as I write Thy true & faithfull frd Tho Holme ALS. Cliveden Manuscripts, Chew Family Papers, HSR (Micro. 5:609.) Addressed: For the Proprietary & | Governr of Pennsilvania | &c These | per a friend Tho. Phillips. | T. H. Docketed: Tho: Holme | the 25: 9 Mo1 86 | some mention of the | Bucks Indians that the purchase was | made. This letter has been edited by Gary B. Nash, "The First Decade in Pennsylvania: Letters of William Markham and Thomas Holme to William Penn, " PMHB, 90:348-92.
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1. Well-Spring was Thomas Holme's plantation in Dublin township, Phila. Co. PWP, 2:i27n; doc. 210. 2. John King (d. 1698) of Moyamensing, Phila. Co., was a sea captain who sailed between Philadelphia and England in the late i68os. By 1692 he was the master and owner of the Friends' Adventure. The letter to which Thomas Holme refers may be the one of 12 Nov. 1685, his account of an Indian purchase (Micro. 5:334), which survives only as a fragment. See doc. 21, n. 8. 3. Philip Ford. See also doc. 51, nn. 34-35. 4. See doc. 23, nn. 7, 8. 5. See doc. 24, n. 2. 6. Church, meaning here "Church of England." 7. A word is sufficient to a wise man. 8. Mary Batsford Farmer, the widow of Maj. Jasper Farmer, Sr., a First Purchaser of 5000 acres who died en route to Pennsylvania. Her estate was known as the "Whitemarsh tract." 9. Conceived. OED. 10. Katherine Batsford Farmer, daughter-in-law of Mary, had married Jasper Farmer, Jr., who died about the same time as his father in 1682. The young widow Farmer married Christopher Billopp by 1690. Lewis D. Cook, "Farmar of Ardavaleine, County Tipperary, Ireland, and of Whitmarsh, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania," PGM, 21:89-110; PWP, 2:484-85^ 11. The need to insure Quaker dominance was resolved in 1701 when the Lower Counties separated from Pennsylvania to form the colony of Delaware. 12. Holme is suggesting that the western boundary line for Phila. Co. be Perkiomen Creek (Perquamink Creek in Holme's map of 1687), about 25 miles inland from Philadelphia. This Perkiomen line when extended northwest would mark the interior boundary of Bucks Co., and when extended southwest to intersect with Brandywine Creek would determine the western border of Chester Co. WP's proprietary Manor of Gilberts, west of Perkiomen Creek, would be part of a newly formed county. See doc. 210. 13. The Maryland-Pennsylvania boundary was supposed to be the 4oth-degree latitude. Both WP and Baltimore contested the location of this line, which actually (as Holme should have discovered by this date) runs slightly north of Philadelphia. PWP, 2:111-12. 14. Andrew Robeson, or Robinson (d. 1694), a Philadelphia merchant and landowner in Chester Co., became a provincial councilor in 1693 an PP- 75-76. 6. Good Advice to the Church of England had been published anonymously by WP in 1687. See PWP, vol. 5, item 82. 7. Abigael May Swart (c. 1642-1727) had taken over the printing business of her husband Steven Swart on his death in 1683. I. H. van Eeghen,DeAmsterdamseBoekhandel 1680-1725 (Amsterdam, 1967), 4:135-38. 8. Sewel's translation was published within the next few weeks by the widow Swart under the title Goede Raad aen de Kerke van Engeland (Amsterdam, 1687). On 11 Nov. Sewel told WP that he was sending him a copy (Micro. 5:855). See also PWP, vol. 5, item 82E; William I. Hull, Willem Sewel of Amsterdam (Swarthmore, Pa., 1933), pp. 81, 207. 9. Sewel quotes from the Satires of Horace, who was born in the Roman town of
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Venusia. Burton Stevenson, ed., The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims and Familiar Phrases (New York, 1948), p. 1331. 10. Galenus Abrahams (1622-1706), a physician and Mennonite preacher of Amsterdam, had been active among the Collegiants at the time of WP's 1677 visit, and the two had met several times. PWP, i:5o6n. 11. The first day of the month. Sewel is probably reckoning by the Gregorian calendar, which would date this letter 12 Sept. 1687 o.s.
45 TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF STATE [21 December 1687] Wm Penn P^Gr I heartily salute you, & wish you all, life, grace & peace in Christ Jesus Amen. I have wondred much since myn by Ed. Blackfan,1 that I relied so much upon, to be stricktly comply'd with, that I have not heard a word from you. If you have not enter'd upon yr Commission, that may be a reason for yr silence, but a reason why you would not, had been but proper & fitt for you to do, because my expectations have been great about it. But I hope, & desire to attribute it to some other cause, for it would be a greif to me, more then I can express at this time, if so visible a neglect or dissent from my sence & orderings should be found among men I personally have loved so well, and vallu'd above others. presumeing then, you have enter'd upon the Commission of five. I think fitt to lett you know that I expect by the first ships from your parts, or new york, or Maryland an exact transcript of the laws as they were Revew'd & enacted to Continue the last session,2 in which any new laws were made & the former continued. Leave the title for me to write here, only send me in {a loos} paper by it, the place & date of the last session. I say once more, the laws as they now stand, as if they had never been made before, & not an history of the laws, recounting the severall Places & assembly Genlls that have successively been since the begining of the Goverm1 as that I brought with me was drawn. Next, I would have you to draw up a short sort of Declaration, or Remonstrance3 to give the lye to thos vile & repeated slanders cast on the Province, or you rather & the rest of the Magistracy, whom they represent, i st as ambitious, seeking preheminence, 2]y as partiall, to offenders that profess truth, not the same punishm ts as to others, wittness J. Moons case.4 3^ Causes given to them for their profession sake agst Justice. 4^ Loosness not Stricktly punisht., 5lv an unwarranted prerogative to pardon where example requires execution for the sake of others. 6 quarrels among the Magistrates whereby the5 make them selves cheap to the people they should be awfull to. {7 the Scandale upon us all about the Society affaires}6 Campaigning for the King
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I say, these & the like things ought to be most solemnly consider'd by you & answeard as aforesaid. I have formerly writt to this effect. Friends, I am sorry, my Condition will not lett me allow you loo1 per an0 a peice, that you might follow the publick more saveingly & cherefully. And if the Country can do anything, I am willing you should have the one half of it among you to defray charges, but who shall defray myn, the Lord only knows. I shall say no more at present, till I hear from you, & how things are, only that as much as I am reported in favour here & as great as I am sayd to {I might} be if I would, nothing has weaken'd my love or desires towards poor Pensilvania, & there I pray to goe in gods time, & hope it is not far off. I Referr you to the Bearer for publick matters, & my family Concerns, to whom show the regards due to so great a Friend of the Province.7 I add no more, but to wish you all happiness & bid you heartily farewell. Given at Holland house8 this 21 of the iomo 1687. AL. Penn Papers, Domestic and Miscellaneous Letters, HSP (Micro. 5:878.) Docketed: iomo 1687. 1. WP's letter of 1 Feb. 1687 (doc. 37), delivered by Edward Blackfan, had announced his appointment of the five commissioners of state. The Provincial Council had not yet taken up this commission and did not do so until 9 Feb. 1688, when the commission was first read. Part of WP's letter by Blackfan was also apparently withheld by Thomas Lloyd when John Blackwell arrived to take over as deputy governor. See Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:212; doc. 58, n. 22. 2. The Assembly of 1687 had not dealt with the problems of reviewing and continuing Pennsylvania laws, though WP had previously urged the Council to attend to these matters. See docs. 23, text at n. 2; 28, text at nn. 8-9. 3. The Council apparently ignored this directive by WP. 4. John Moon, a Philadelphia Friend, had been tried in 1686 for seducing his maidservant and was disowned by the Quakers. Moon's trial produced complaints of biased behavior by such Quaker judges as James Claypoole, who allegedly bullied the jurors and later tried to postpone execution of a £20 fine against Moon on the grounds that discipline should be reserved for the Friends' meeting. PWP 2:6i5n; Samuel W. Pennypacker, Pennsylvania Colonial Cases (Philadelphia, 1892), pp. 89, 108; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:189. 5. They. 6. On the Free Society of Traders and its troubles, see docs. 8; 23, text at nn. 457. John Gray alias Tatham. 8. WP had taken lodgings in the Jacobean mansion of Holland House, in Kensington, while his wife and children remained at Warminghurst in Sussex. Peare, p. 289.
46 TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF STATE [27 December 1687] WM Penn Pr G^ I salute you all with unfeined love, & in christ Jesus, wish you health and happiness. — my last is by the same hand,1 this being sent to the December 1687
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downs2 after him, upon the receipt of Thomas Loyds & wm Markhams Letters.3 but I am heartily sorry that I had no letter from the Goverment. Indeed, I have hardly had one at all: and for privat letters, tho from publick Persons, I regard them but little, I mean, as to takeing of my publick measures by: for I finde su[ch] Contradiction as well as diversity, that [I] beleive I may say, I am one of the unhappiest Proprietarys with one of the best People. If this had not been Complained of in myn by Ed Blackfain,4 I should have been less moved at this visible incomplacency & neglect. Had the Goverment signed, I mean, thos that are the most eminent in authority by consent of the rest, [it] had given me some ease & satisfaction,] but as it is, tis Controversy, rather then Goverment, wch stands & lives & prosper[s] in unity, at least, of the Covering part, what ever be their affections, for men may agree in duty, that dislike one an others naturall tempers. I shall henceforth therefore expect lettrs from the Goverm1 recounting the affairs of it. that they may be authoratative to me, and as many privat ones of love & Friendship as you please {besides}, for that I also rejoyce in; and any perticuler advices that may inform me as to the publick, or remidy what may be amiss, or meliorate wl is in it selfe well, will also be very acceptable to me. Now I have said this, I Cannot but Condole the loss of some standards in the province[,] honest men & of good understandings in their kinde.5 The Lord avert his Judgemts & Constrain all by his visitations, to amend, be it in conversation, or be it in peace, con[c]ord & charity. They that live neer to god [w]ill live fare from themselves, & from the [s]ense they have of his neerness & Majesty have a low opinion of themselves, & out of that Low & humble frame of Spirit, it is that true charity grows, the most excellent way. [Ah]! what shall I say, there can be no union, no comfortable society without it. O that the people of my Province & parts annexed felt this gracious quality abounding in them, my work would soon be done, & [th]eir praise & my joy unspeakably abound [to] us. wherefore in the name & fear of God Lett all ould scores be forgotten as well as forgiven, shutt out the remembrance of them & preach this Doctrine to the People in my name, yea in the Kings name & his that is greater & above all, {viz,} God almighty[s] name. I am sorry that thomas Loyd, my esteemed Friend, covets a quietus,6 that is young, & active, $c Ingenious, for from such it is I expect help; & such will not sow I hope in vaine, but since tis his desire, I do hereby signefy his dismiss from the trouble he has born, (for some time of rest & ease at least)7 & do nominate to be commissionated in my name, under the Great seal, till further order, Sam11 Carpenter, who, I hope, will accept & industriously serve that station {else thomas ellis, who has an office that requires his attendance.} Haveing one in my eye that may see you shortly, as a man, richly qualified for that station.8 Rob1 Turner, of course, has the chaire for the first month after the receipt
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of this, and the rest alternatively, monthly if you finde that Convenient, as I beleive it will be most easy: else, lett the senr Comr have it always. I have only to recommend to you, the due execution of the divers good laws among you, Impartially, & diligently, not neglecting the orders from hence sent, especially for peace & concord. Goverment is not to make but to do Be dispatch business, in wcn few words & a quiet but brisk execution does best, wherefore consider well what is just or fitt, the one in law, the other in prudence (where you have room to use it) persue in all cases, & no matter what any say or object. I writt to you about my quitrents. I am forc'd to pay bills here to support my family there while I have 4 or 500! per An0 in quitrents there, you may remember the vote of Councel to pay my charges in this expedition.9 I Could draw a large bill upon the Pro. Cou11 in that regard; I am sure I need it, but have forbore: tho it is none of the endearingst Considerations, that I have not had the present of a Skin or a pound of tobacco since I came over; tho they are like to have most advantage by it & promest so much. pray prevent peoples withdrawing from us w1 you can. they cannot mend themselves, & they that goe will finde it so in a while; for I beleive, God has blest that poor place, & the reason of my stay here, & the service I am & have been of to the conscientious, shall be rewarded on my solitary Province. Remember me to the people, & lett them know, my hearts desire is towards them, & shall embrace the first opertunity to make my abode with them. once more lett me hear from you & have a Coppy of the laws as my other letter directs, & you shall soon hear from me to yr Content. And so I bid you heartily farewell. Given at Holland house this 27 th of the iomo 1687. ALS. Penn Letters and Ancient Documents, APS. (Micro. 5:884.) Addressed: WP. Pr& Gr | For my trusty & well | beloved Friends Tho: Loyd | Rob1 Turner James Clay| pole John Simcock and | John Eccly at Philadelphia {or any three of them}. Docketed: 2i:8: m 1687:. Letters torn from the original have been supplied in brackets from a copy by J. Francis Fisher in the Penn Papers, HSP.
Kent.
1. Doc. 45, also delivered by John Gray alias Tatham. 2. The Downs, a roadstead in the English Channel along the southeast coast of
3. These letters have not been found. 4. Doc. 37. 5. Christopher Taylor had died in 1686, Nicholas More and James Claypoole in 1687. WP may also have heard that James Harrison had died in Oct. 1687. 6. Discharge from office (OED). 7. Lloyd had apparently asked for this dismissal, but his request has not been found. Lloyd did not take advantage of this offer of a rest, for he continued his attendance at Council meetings until John Blackwell took over as governor on 18 Dec. 1688. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:213-29. 8. On 12 July 1688 WP was to commission John Blackwell as governor. See doc. 529. In 1684 the Provincial Council had agreed to pay for WP's journey to England so that he could pursue Pennsylvania's interests in its boundary dispute with Lord Baltimore. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:117-18.
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47 FROM THOMAS
MARIETT
In the fall of 1687 James II intensified his national campaign to elect a cooperative parliament. Having canvassed county justices and dismissed many who were unwilling to support repeal of the penal laws and Test Acts, the king moved on to the towns, where parliamentary elections often lay in the hands of small, closed corporations. In November he appointed a commission to regulate the corporations: to investigate their political composition, dismiss opponents of toleration, and replace them with new officials. Critics objected to this as tampering with the constitution and depriving Parliament of its rightful independence, arguments which the ousted J. P. Thomas Mariett addressed to WP in doc. 47. Mariett's letter shows that some of the king's political opponents could still see WP as disinterested and welldisposed despite his support for James; yet doc. 48 indicates WP's direct involvement in the manipulation of town governments, an involvement which men like Mariett would have seen as promoting tyranny. From WP's point of view, the end of freedom of conscience apparently justified these dubious political means. In 1679 WP had vigorously denounced interference in elections, but he seems to have come to see such intrusion as a standard if unsavory political tactic, one better employed in a good cause than a bad. When an agent of William of Orange asked WP about the manipulation of elections in January 1688, he answered that the coming Parliament would be chosen as fairly as the last one. See PWP, 1:511, 533? 546; Portland Manuscripts, Intelligence Out of England, 2129, Nottingham University Library; Mary Maples Dunn, William Penn: Politics and Conscience (Princeton, 1967), pp. 132-57. - [c. 1688] Sr
This comes from the hand of a Freind;1 {one} who tho retired in the greatest retirement imaginable in the Country; one who makes noe figure in the Goverment one whoc as {I and have} only the honor to make some Constables in my Courts.2 yet Mis {the} Constable of a Parish a man of greater power and authority {then I.} yet in this solitude {and narrow sphere} I cannot divert my thoughts from thinking of the sad and dreadfull condition of my Country whose Peace & happynesse none more hartyly wisheth or prayeth for then my selfe. The Polemick papers [illegible deletion] and those others which fly abroad, reach me two of which {viz} A Letter Sec and Good Advice to the Church of England &c3 are by all taken for granted to be yours and that you are consulted withall and are the great agent to get loose From those lawes which hang like meteors over the heads of the
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Papists and for which you say in your Letter they are not willing to come to a reconning {for} in another Kings raigne;4 now (Sr) to give {you} a true account what influence the Papers and agitations have and how conducive to the end may not be an ungratfull I am sure {tis} no unfreindly office in me have[?] You I am connot be Ignorant that it is very frequently said that you are a Papist & soe deeply engaged in that party as to be a Jesuit5 I have my selfe at Least a hundred times vindicated you as far as I could, well Remembring what you once told me in vindication of your selfe that you verily beleeved the Pope to be Antichrist, But that you are none of their Advocate, wch you say (Good Advice pa 8:) I am told I cant deny when they say you plead soe hard for them in few lines after6 But I will not trouble you with an account of all their reflections (severe enough) They say theres none better Knowes then you that {matters of} Indulgence in matters {cases} of Relligion is not Lay man's worke and that this is the effect of our splendid Embassy to Rome;7 nor thence easyly nor quickly gotten and this way in England fitted to our case and the Contrary in France8 both lead to the same end That the King is not master of himselfe nor his owne word in these cases you well Kno the plea of J: Hus and Jerom of Prague was overruled by the Councell of Constance;9 and how the Pope Complained of Charles 5th when he admitted colloquies to compose the difference in Relligion {and liberty till a Councell} that he put his cycle10 into another mans cornfield11 and what said the BP of Sl Mark in the Councell of Trent?12 that Layicks are most improperly calld the Church and that the Cannons determine that they have noe1 Authority to Command but necessity to obey and humbly to revere that doctrine of Faith which is given them by the Church without disputing or thinking further on it. And that the Kings word must signifye noe more then the Edict of Nantes when the Pope pleaseth. And the word Meere Relligion when the {the Pope} pleaseth will easily be construed exclusive of Hereticks and Heresy w^** with them is no Rclligion. For my ownc part I am not concerned in any thing you say against Persecution with which you Load [tax] the Church of England (tho I was never of any other Communion) But you acquit her Principles and only Charge her practice. That Principle I owne, To be no frind to Force in matters of Relligion; And for my Practice I can say, For my Loyalty few can give better Testimony of their Loyalty I was in Commission {of the peace} at least 20 yeares in 2 or 3 Countyes13 yet {never} did I Persecute any man for Relligion; Btrt {and} there is no^ sort of dissenter I have not at some time other saved from being torne to peeces, {And} as often as I had opportunity And there are severall Papists have {and} will acknowledg I have saved them from Utter ruine Yet have I beene carefull {so} to doe my duty that I never feared to Justifye my Actions. Yet was I for no other crime I Kno of nor for afty (To my Great ease and satisfaction) turnd out of all Commissions
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and have beene as ill us'd as any man can be that has that has not (yet) any paenall Law against him. And now Sr I think it no small advantage that you are in that Station: whoe are a man accessible & whoe have accesse to the King and seeme to take this for your Province to reconcile our disjointed nation. And certainly there is noe way btrt to heal us but by a Parlement Freely and Legally chosen. In Q: Maries time in many places of the Country men were chosen by Force and threates; in other places those employ'd by the Court did by violence hinder the Commons from coming to choose in many places false returnes were made; and that some were violently turned out of the house of Commons; soe twas concluded it was noe Parl1 and soe their Acts might be annulled.14 And a Parlem1 held at Coventry in the 38 of Henry the 6th upon evidence of such Practices was declared afterwards to be no Parlem1:15 Now we all expect Papist Sherriffs. If then these Sherriffs shall put that Obligation upon the Country to have faire and free Elections & those return'd whom the Commons shall elect not imposed upon those who call themselves the {by Lds and} Gentlemen and {who} appoint such to stand whom they shall nominate and cram them downe the throates of the Commons, & likewise leave the Corporations to themselves unimpos'd upon; I am well assured that those Electing and those Elected would think themselves restored to their Libertyes and oblidged to gratifye the King in all things they can {and their Acts will stand firme} And if the King should think fitt to take off that Embargo upon the Charter of London & the other Charters Corporations;16 these things would be very popular and would have a very good effect {I think much more then the Tolleration} I am not Ignorant of the temper of the People And have served in Parlem1 nor am I now without sollicitations to appeare. But I am cured of Ambition nor shall leave my retirement for any thing but for some Answereable service of my Country I am in great hopes you will not think this a Trouble; It comes (be assured) From a Loyall Subject of the Kings, a true Lover of his Country, and your Freind & servant. AL. Add. Ms. 34727, BL. (Micro. 5:892.) Addressed: To Wm Penn. This unsigned letter, found among the papers of Thomas Mariett, is attributed to Mariett by the archivists of the BL. 1. Thomas Mariett (1631-1691), a landowner and former J.P. in Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire, had been turned out of his commissions for his Whig politics during the Exclusion Crisis. Educated at the Inner Temple in 1647, Mariett had represented Warwickshire in Parliament in 1681, in addition to holding his local offices. Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1894-1899 (London, 1901), pp. 55, 64; VCH: Warwickshire (London, 1949), 5:210; Alumni Cantabrigienses; Basil Duke Henning, ed., The House of Commons 1660-1690 (London, 1983), 3:19. 2. Constables would have been appointed in the manorial courts of Mariett's manors of Alscot, Glos., and Whitchurch, War. 3. A Letter From a Gentleman in the Country, To his Friends in London, Upon the Subject of the Penal Laws and Tests (London, 1687) and Good Advice to the Church of England,
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Roman Catholick, and Protestant Dissenter (London, 1687) were both published anonymously, but are attributed to WR The latter appears in Works, 2:749-73. See PWP, vol. 5, items 78, 82. 4. A Letter From a Gentleman in the Country, p. 9; the pamphlet argued here that toleration should be granted to Catholics by law, as they might otherwise be driven to forcible resistance in case of an anti-Catholic reaction in the next reign. 5. On charges of Jesuitism leveled at WP, see also PWP, 2:442-45; docs. 16, 17. 6. In Good Advice, p. 8, WP stated: "I am none of their Advocate, I am no Papist, but I would be just and merciful too." He then declared that the arguments given by the Church of England were as hard to credit as the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. 7. James had re-established regular diplomatic relations between England and the Vatican and had appointed Roger Palmer, earl of Castlemaine (1634-1705), as ambassador. The conspicuous pomp and luxury of his embassy excited disgust among English Protestants. F. C. Turner, James II (New York, 1948), pp. 325-26; Thomas Babington Macaulay, History of England from the Accession of James II (New York, n.d.), 2:78-79, 243-45. 8. The revocation in 1685 °f tne Edict of Nantes, ending toleration for French Protestants. 9. John Huss (1369-1415), Bohemian reformer and critic of clerical abuses, and his friend and follower, Jerome of Prague (d. 1416), were both condemned and burned by the Council of Constance, despite Huss's safe-conduct from the Emperor Sigismund. 10. Sickle. 11. Emperor Charles V (reigned 1519-56) had aroused the ire of Pope Clement VII (1523-34) by allowing religious conferences outside the church's control and by suspending penalties against Lutheran heretics, pending the decision of a general church council. Mariett's description of this quarrel of 1532 is taken directly from Paolo Sarpi's History of the Council of Trent, trans. Nathanael Brent (London, 1676), p. 59. 12. Coriolano Martirano, bishop of San Marco in Calabria (1530-57), was a noted humanist and stylist. Mariett quotes his comments at the Council of Trent from Sarpi, History of the Council of Trent, p. 133. Hubert Jedin, A History of the Council of Trent, trans. Dom Ernest Graf (London, 1961), 2:24n. 13. Mariett had served as justice of the peace in Gloucestershire 1664-80, Warwickshire 1679, and Worcestershire 1660-81. Henning, House of Commons, 3:19. 14. Parliament's consent to Queen Mary's reconciliation with Rome, in 1554, was repudiated by the next Parliament at the accession of Elizabeth I. Actually, Queen Mary's government exerted no more violent pressure on elections than other English governments of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. See D. M. Loades, The Reign of Mary Tudor (New York, 1979), pp. 271-72. 15. The Coventry Parliament of 1459 was summoned by Henry VI in an effort to subdue his Yorkist enemies, but its acts were quickly annulled by the Parliament of 1460, which cited irregularities and undue royal pressure in the 1459 elections. History of Parliament (London, 1938), p. 267. 16. On James's purges of the corporations of London and other towns, see doc. 48; J. R. Jones, The Revolution of 1688 in England (New York, 1972), pp. 163-67.
48 TO RICHARD JOBSON [?] [19 January 1688] Huntington1 The Corporation of Huntington Consists of a Mayor, High Steward, 12 Aldermen Recorder & Townclerk His Majesty can remove any of these & appoint others in their Roomes January 1688
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Pres1 Magistrates Mayor High Steward
Aldermen
Recorder Town
Magistrates Propos'd 2
A B violent B A Moderate Continued B C violent C B violent E B moderate Continued F G violent name the whole twelve E H violent D E moderate Continued
Mayor High Steward
Aldermen
Recorder Town Clerk
E F a Dissenter BA E G a Dissenter G E moderate E B Roman Catholick Name the whole twelve H K a Dissenter BE
You are desird by the advice of some fit persons forthwith to send me in this form a distinct account of all the present Magistrates of this Corporation expressing their first Sc second names & respective Caracters; And likewise in another list in the same manner the first & second names of other fit persons, to supply the rooms of such as are {to be} removed, and are for taking away the Penal lawes for Conscience, & the Tests: in wch no regard is to be had to their perswasions or opinions in Religion. And if you are not Sure of Such Pitch on the most fit Sc likliest that will answer the End proposd. You are are likewise to send me the names of such as you think most fit persons to be Burgesses for the Parliament for this Corporation. And by what means & methods they are most likely to be Chosen. As likewise who you judge most fit t[o] be Knights of the Shire.3 Dear Friend with dear love to Thee thy wife & Friends in that which ever endures, I desire thee forthwith to return me an account according to this direction who fit to be out, who in Power, and who in the room of those that are fit to be turned out; for all the Qualifications are set down. This is expected from me, and by good advice let me know with all speed, for when a few Towns are done we may expect to hear of a Parliament to render our Ease legal, that our poor Posterity may be preserved from the Cruelty of wicked Persecutors. I am thy very real friend William Penn 19 11 mo 87/88 Direct to me at the white Posts at Charing Crosse. be speedy Sc Private Copy. Loan 29/240, fol. 128, BL. (Micro. 5:914.) Endorsed: This {excepting the spelling of some words} exactly agrees with the Original wch was communicated to me by Mr Bridgman of Huntington who was himselfe formerly a Quaker, it was directed to him or to his Father.4 J S5 | The letter beginning at Dear Friend was written by William Penns own hand. Docketed in another hand: Mr Pen | of the
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Corporation | of Huntington. This letter has generally been described as addressed to Robert Bridgman of Huntingdon, but it seems more likely to have been written to his father-in-law, Richard Jobson; see n. 4 below. 1. The town of Huntingdon, Hunts., about 60 miles north of London, was governed by a self-perpetuating corporation of aldermen and burgesses. This borough, which returned two members to Parliament, had yielded its charter for renewal by James II in 1686, a move which allowed the king the initial appointment of officers and reserved him the right to remove them. VCH: Huntingdonshire (London, 1932), 2:132-34; CSPD, 1686-1687, p. 46. See also J. H. Sacret, "The Restoration Government and Municipal Corporations," English Historical Review, 45:236. 2. The initials seem to be chosen at random, without reference to the actual officeholders at Huntingdon. For example, Sir Lionel Walden was mayor of the town, and the earl of Ailesbury was high steward. The designation "violent" was applied to Tories who were opposed to James's policies of toleration. CSPD, 16861687, p. 46. 3. At the next parliamentary election, the town of Huntingdon would send two burgesses and the county of Huntingdon would send two knights of the shire to the House of Commons. 4. Richard Jobson (d. 1709) was the likely recipient of WP's letter; he was a prominent Quaker sufferer of Huntingdonshire from the i66os and a brother-inlaw of George Whitehead. In the 16908 his daughter Hester married Robert Bridgman, another Huntingdonshire Quaker; the Bridgmans shifted their allegiance in 1699 first to the Keithian Friends and then to the Church of England. In 1700 Bridgman complained to George Keith that the orthodox Quakers "used a deal of Craft and Industry" to promote their policies among members of Parliament, and that they sent circular letters "to Corporations in K. James's time to discriminate the disposition of Mayor and Aldermen, touching the repeal of Penal Laws and Tests." Doc. 48, which Bridgman presumably obtained from Jobson, is a prime example of such machinations. Braithwaite, Second Period, p. 492; Smith, 1:317-18, 2:909; Digests of Quaker Records, Hunts. GSP; Besse, 1:261-68; George Keith, An Account of the Quakers Politicks (London, 1700). 5. "J. S.," who here identifies WP as writer of this letter, has not been identified. He may have been a correspondent of Robert Harley, earl of Oxford, who had an extensive network of political agents in English towns in the early 17005; this letter seems to have been preserved among Harley family papers. See HMC, 13th Report, App. II (1893), pp. v-vi, 52.
49 FROM THOMAS HOLME r
Wellspring 24th i mo [March i6]88
Dear Gov Yesterday I recd thine by way of Mary Land,1 but know not when writ for want of date., I hear the pay is come for the Indians to Capt Markham, but what or how much know not.2 As to matters of the Governm* I medle not those concerned I hope will give thee acc°. I onely keep my Commission of Provinciall Justice,3 which I keep to answer hues & Cryes Sec as being more known then others here, as also if occasion be about the peace of the Country; but am willing when thou please to surrender it up. As for what thou writes about peopl wanting to have their Lands layd out in 6mo time, is a fals information I must vindicate my selfe therein, this I affirme & that truely, that no man, after produceing a r wart4 f rom thee, or thy Com s, ever stayed an houre for want of an March 1688
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order or war1 from me to thee respective Depty Surveyors to execute the same, & if after that, they have neglected to pursue their own business, the fault is in them, & when any complaint have been made to me, I have been ready to rectify it, if it lay there, that is if the Surveyors neglected for I will not own any delay or neglect in mee; I know sometimes that peopl have long kept their warts, before shewed me, & also they have taken mine to the Surveyors, have kept them long, before they followed their matters, or sought the Surveyors to lay out their Lands, I also know that after they have had mine to the Surveyors, & spake with the Surveyors, that findeing they could not have Lands near enough or to their mindes,5 have ceased to medle more a long time, & after that, some have been faine to tak it where it could be had., I am abused in this as in some othr things, & if thou wilt do me justice herein, please to let me know the names of such as have been delayed, & the informers; this cannot proceed from the persons themselves concerned, for it is so false, & known to be so, that they cannot be the informers themselfes, but though this seemes to reflect on me, I know whom they wound thorough my sides, & the reflection is aimed at anothr more then me;6 As for the Mapp, it was done as well {as} it could be then, thou pressed so hard for it;7 & I am like to have litle for mee & Rob: Longshore,8 nothing but a few Mapps, which will not vend here. As for Lands at Neshemineh intended for thine & relations,9 didst thou but know what hard speeches I have met with from many about Lands, (thy selfe not escapeing their Lashes) thou couldst not blame mee, whilst one cryed out, must Lands be kept wast &c, & we now come in cannot have lands to setle upon, others that they bought Lands long ago, & now come to live on them, & cannot have them &c, I could say a great deal, but it would not please thee, no more then their cryes (without cause) agt me.10 I long since gave thee acc° about Pickrings lands,11 & he wrote to thee, the Lands were laid out, before I heard any thing from thee, neither is there so much in it, as it may seem, I have spoke with others that say th{e}y know such Mines or better, but will not discover it to any liveing, but to thy selfe. Thou art pleased to write, that thou hast no lands on the East side of Skulkill, which is a mistake, for besides the Manour of Springfield12 wch reaches (part of it as thou ordered it to the river) & though T. 'Fairman, hath dealt falsely with thee therein, & Major Farmr placed contrary to thy order by too much breadth on that river, & so left thy Manour but about 3oooa, instead of 5OOoa, yet I purpose to remedy that, & leave thy due, & yet Farmers have theirs also, had that been right done by T.F. there would have been a good space betwixt that & the Plymouth Township;13 but their building so high up by the river prevents it there, & makes that intcrvcl the less; then next above plymouth, is but a ioooa layd out to the two Chambers,14 & then
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begins {next} the B. Island,15 & that breadth Eastward takes in about 3oooa,16 next above that is a great Tract of Land betwixt that Be Perkomia where I inserted P Fords name, who had no Lands, of all his iooooa, but I know not yet the quantity of that Tract, whether 5. or 6oooa or more or less, & wrote to thee to let me know what quantity should be allowed him there, but had no answer, so that there may be about 5Oooa on the E. side of Skulkill there for one of thy children or relation, besides all the Lands on the W. side of Skulkill from against Farmers to Lowthers lands,17 onely the Sweeds, thinks to keep their lands there,18 which I warned them of, & told them thou sent me positive order to the Contrary, i.e., that no old seller should have any lands there, And as for Perkomia, it was thy order to have a Manour there,19 tis true the Lands are bad backward, for I have been there, but the 2 Rivers & large meadowes some on this side Perkomia which I intend to be part of the Manour, will supply the defect of the bad lands; I intend thee abo* 4 miles upon Skulkill for the front of the manour. I wish thou hads writ me, where thou put down T. Elwood20 & H. Springat,21 I have not yet seen John Grey; As for a Manour beyond Concord,22 I never heard of it, C. Ashcom laid out all the Lands there abouts, & I know of no order or war1 from thee for it, which made me write to thee long ago, that I wondred thou hadst not all this while ordered a Manour for thy selfe in Chester County, & that must be placed to thy own omission, though I purpose to have a Tract lookt out for thee that way as well as can be. I also purpose a Tract of ioooa above the Falls for thy dispose next adjacent to the great Meado[w] & about 4 miles fronting the River,23 for above that is rocky by the river for a great space, & within tha[t] Tract, G. Wheeler24 got Is. Taylor25 to place some warts which I forbade when I heard of it, & shall not allow him any returne for it, Tho. Hudsons Agent here will not take up the 5oooa, for K. Mildmay & Company,26 pretending the Lands not good., Thou hast mistaken granting away the meadow, which lyes above 10 miles from the Tho: Hudsons 5oooa 27 but I refuse to answer the Agent about what was screwed from thee about that meadow, till I send thee a full acc° of that thing. I formerly wrote to thee about S. Carpentr. & recomended him, as one I know a true friend to thy interest, it may do well to Commissionate him as one with C. Markham for he is more capable then the other 2.,28 & I must needs enforme thee, that [illegible deletion] few like him for thee & thy interest, & many may pretend much, but when thou comes, thou will finde otherwise. I wrote to thee 2. or 3. times about Susquehanah,29 how many offered to go & live there, & that the Governm1 of York impedes thy dealing with the Indians, & unless thou obtainest a positive Command from
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the King to that Governour actively to assist in it, thou wilt finde it difficult to get deale with the Indians concerned there, but I heard nothing from thee about it, & if that were bought, it might tend to thy advantage, for Lands being taken up so farr back here, peopl are not willing to go further; but if once Susqohanah were begun to inhabite, peopl would be more willing to setle back that way, in hopes to conjoyne. I write this most by guess, cannot read it, when writ, to mend words or letters, so must be excused. I wrote to thee to consult some Oculists for help for my sight, I have no sore eyes, fhe or deflution,30 When the Indians are paid there will be charge to get the respective lines forward & backward, nothing in the Treasurers hands, nor ever was, nor like to be as I wrote thee, nay now some say, its agt their conscience to pay countrey taxes,31 {then[?J nothing for thee, to be expected,}32 Thou art pleased to write, that my place is is the best in the Province, I think thou wouldst not be sorry if it was so, & if I say, that I have done as much as any other for the welfare of thy interest, I should not say amiss, but truely Govr, I gave thee acc°, how I was used by C. Ashcom, Be his example made the 2 Survyors of this & Bucks County T F. & I. T.33 do the like, who never paid me one penny to this day, they got all they could of the peopl, I sued I. T. & the Jury found by my Patent, that the Survy mony was due to me, but no more done yet;34 I also sumoned T F. but by the persuasion of friends left it to arbitracion35 & shall suffer much, & would be glad of any thing where its due; I wrote thee of his false survying,36 & desired a wart from thee to make a resurvey, any where in the province, where I was enformd the Surveys were false, which will put thee to no charge, but me to great trouble, yet willing to undergo much, rather then have thee injured, as being my duty, & though there be severall false surveys, yet in the end, it will tend to thy advantage, for the plus37 will yield much in many places, & need not be disposed of without thy order, so that the resurvey and setling peopl in their due quantities, & not takeing away in the plus, any of their improvemts will setle the«=re minds, who are now in fear hearing how wrong their lands are laid out, & their Patents false,. I also wrote to thee of the necessity of a Court, i.e, in the name or nature of an Excheqr,38 here or wth[?] power, wherby thee may be righted & order all things relateing to the proprietaryship for as the case now stands, thou canst not have quick remedy [illegible deletion] for or about thy interest & matters relateing to Lands Rents &c, nor I and others that hold our places mediatly from thee. I could say much in this, but leave it to thy consideration Be wisedom, & am so farr clear. I perceive I am not free from secret enemies39 who Indian like stand behinde a tree to shoot at one; what, worse dealt with then an heathen, back bite & false informe, & not speake to ones face; I am sure its far
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from a Christian spirit, or practise of friends, to back bite and skandall one, & never tell them of their faults; if any had seen me amiss, & told me of it, & I not answered expectation, I might have been dealt with according to the order of truth, & christs words; I cannot but acquaint thee, that I expect thou wilt me {be} so just & kinde {to} me, to let me know the informers, though I engage to thee not to disclose it to them, without thy consent, and let me not be thus murthered & wounded by pretended friends, that may speake faire to my face, for I am not conscious to deserve it at any ones hands: And seeing I meet with so bad quarter, & that thou art reflected on for me, I am the less willing to continue in such a Trust, whereby to cause thee to suffer in the least for my sake, & now do renew my former desire to thee, to let me know what thou wilt please to give me for my place, or give me leave to dispose of it, with thy approbation, for it it is not to be in such a place, which may cause thee to be reflected upon, that will make it unesy[?] to my selfe, especially till I know my accusers, I shall not follow their examples, to be an informer, els I might soon fill thy eares, with the infermities of others both in the like & othr things, but its below me as a man much more as a Christian; I forbear {any} more of it now I & mine in health, so is Silas40 & his, my deare love to thee & thy dear wife, Thy true & faithfull friend Tho. Holme ALS. Cliveden Manuscripts, Chew Family Papers, HSR (Micro. 5:967.) Addressed: To | The Proprietary f & Covernr of | Pennsilvania & | These present | per Ed: Blackphan. Docketed: Tho. Holmes | 24^ im 88 | ab* Location of several Lands on Schylkill | all above {between Farmer & Lowthcrs} Lowthers Maner Vacant | pay is come for the Indians, there will | be more charge in running the Lines. This letter has been edited by Gary B. Nash, "The First Decade of Pennsylvania: Letters of William Markham and Thomas Holme to William Penn," PMHB, 90:501-06. Our edition draws upon Nash's work. 1. This letter has not been found. 2. See doc. 51, nn. 34-35. 3. Holme had been serving as a justice of the peace for Phila. Co. since 1683, and probably earlier. This appears to have been his only judicial post. PWP, 2:374, 581. 4. Standard procedure for Pennsylvania land grants began with a warrant from WP authorizing the survey of a purchaser's tract. Holme as surveyor general then issued a warrant to one of his deputies, who executed the survey. 5. See n. 10, below. 6. Holme is suggesting that the complaints are really directed at WP for his land policy. 7. See doc. 41; Micro. 5:769. 8. Robert Longshore (d. 1695), deputy surveyor under Holme, was a landowner of Phila. Co. Phila. Admins. Bk. A, p. 208. 9. Holme's map shows no lands for WP and his family on Neshaminy Creek; see doc. 210. 10. WP's policies for Pennsylvania land distribution required that land must be laid out contiguous to existing settlements and that purchasers must settle their lands within three years, measures intended to limit land speculation and encourage effective settlement. At the same time, however, WP reserved 10 percent of the land for himself. These vacant proprietary tracts, together with WP's inconsistent application of his settlement rules, caused resentment among colonists. See Nash, Quakers and Politics, pp. 89-92; PWP, 2:98-99, 569-75.
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11. See docs. 26, text at n. 59; 41, text at n. 8. 12. On WP's manor of Springfield, north of Germantown, see PWP, 2:483-84^ doc. 210. 13. Plymouth township was laid out north of the Farmers' tract on the Schuylkill; see doc. 210. 14. Benjamin Chambers had bought this land together with John Chambers, another First Purchaser from Kent, Eng. PWP, 2:640. 15. Barbados Island. 16. This tract southeast of Perkiomen Creek was to become William Penn, Jr.'s manor of Williamstadt; see doc. 210. 17. The manor of Mount Joy; see ibid. 18. Lasse Cock and his children had settled part of this area. The dispute was settled in 1701, when WP confirmed their claim, contingent upon a resurvey and cash payment for any surplus lands. Doc. 41, text at n. 4; PA, 2d ser., 19:296. 19. The manor of Gilberts, between Perkiomen Creek and the Schuylkill River; see PWP, 2:484^, doc. 210. 20. Thomas Ellwood (1639-1713), a prominent Quaker gentleman of Bucks., Eng., was a First Purchaser and an intimate friend of the Peningtons, the family of Gulielma Maria Penn. He was assigned an interior tract near Perkiomen Creek. DNB; Maria Webb, The Penns and Peningtons of the Seventeenth Century (London, 1867); PWP, 2:642; doc. 210. 21. Herbert Springett (d. 1724), WP's lawyer in London and a cousin of Gulielma Penn, was a First Purchaser of 1500 acres. He was assigned a tract above Newtown, Bucks Co., on Neshaminy Creek. John Comber, comp., Sussex Genealogies: Lewes Centre (Cambridge, 1933), p. 282; PWP, 2:654; see also PWP, vol. 4; doc. 210. 22. Concord township, in present-day Delaware Co.; see doc. 210. 23. The manor of Highlands, along the Delaware. Holme probably meant to write 10,000 rather than 1000 acres. See ibid. 24. Gilbert Wheeler (d. 1703), originally a fruiterer of London, had emigrated with his family in 1679 to become a yeoman of Bucks Co. His land is shown along the Delaware on Holme's map (ibid.). Phila Will Bk. B, #ui;PMHB, 9:226. 25. Israel Taylor, a surveyor for Bucks Co. 26. See doc. 41, n. 22. 27. See ibid., n. 23. 28. WP's three commissioners of propriety were William Markham, Thomas Ellis, and John Goodson; by July 1688 Samuel Carpenter had been added to the commission. See docs. 36, n. i; 53, n. 14; PA, 2d ser., 19:22. 29. See docs. 33; 41, text at n. 21. 30. Defluction, a running at the eyes due to inflammation. OED. 31. On the colonists' unwillingness to supply the government with funds, see doc. 33, text at n. 4. 32. The passage within brackets is inserted in the margin. 33. Thomas Fairman and Israel Taylor. 34. Holme had sued Taylor for the survey money due him as surveyor general, and on 8 Dec. 1686 a quarter sessions jury for Bucks Co. found in Holme's favor, basing its judgment on a reading of Holme's commission (Micro. 3:475). Courts of Bucks County, pp. 67-70. 35. No record of this dispute appears in the minutes of the Phila. Monthly Meeting, of which Holme and Fairman were members. 36. See doc. 41. 37. On plus or overplus land, see doc. 26, n. 53. 38. The English court of exchequer had special jurisdiction over crown revenues. Holme is suggesting a prerogative court to bypass the regular system of jury trials for proprietary land matters. WP had tried in 1687 to establish the commissioners of propriety as such a court, but the commissioners, fearing resistance, had not attempted to execute these instructions. See Micro. 5:707; doc. 51, n. 8; Nash, Quakers and Politics, PP- 95-96. 39. WP had received complaints that Holme was drinking too much and taking bribes. See Micro. 5:005; doc. 6, text at n. 11. 40. Silas Crispin, the husband of Holme's daughter Esther.
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50 TO THOMAS LLOYD As docs. 45 and 46 suggest, WP was becoming increasingly uneasy about the conduct of affairs in Pennsylvania. The five commissioners of state, whom he had appointed in February 1687, did not take up their posts until February 1688, and it was becoming clear that the new governmental organization was no more responsive than the old. William Markham's lengthy reports on the state of provincial affairs (docs. 51 and 53) reflect acute political tensions: councilmen objected to what they saw as WP's arbitrary tampering with Pennsylvania's charter, and the Council and Assembly were in conflict over the latter's claim to devise and amend legislation. At the same time, quarrels over land policy—collection of quitrents, settlement of vacant lands, evacuation of Philadelphia's caves, and disputed grants — continued to disturb the colony's peace. Finding his previous efforts at control ineffective, WP decided to try entrusting his authority to a single deputy, and he first offered this post to Thomas Lloyd (doc. 50). When Lloyd declined, WP made the impulsive and extraordinary decision to appoint an outsider who was certain to affront the Pennsylvania Quakers: the New England Puritan John Blackwell (doc. 52). Blackwell had impressed WP by his reputation for financial acumen as well as for sagacity and firmness, but the proprietor effectively undercut his new governor by telling the commmissioners of state: "If he do not please you, he shall be lay'd aside" (doc. 55). See Nash, Quakers and Politics, pp. 89-126. [28 March 1688] Dear Tho. Loyd My endeared love in the Truth that never ends salutes thee & thyn, & all that Love god in thos parts, assuring thee & them, that no honour, Interest or pleasure in this part of the world shall be able to check my desires to live & dye among you, & tho to my grief, my stay is yet prolonged on privat & publick accounts, yet depend upon it, Pennsilvania is my worldly delight & end of all places on the earth. Now tho I have, to pleas thee, pre given thee a quietus from all publick business,1 my intention is to Constitute thee Dept Govr & two in the character of assistants, Either of whom & thy self to be able to do all as fully as I my self can do. only I waite thy Consent to the employm* of wch advise me per first.2 & in the interim pray Keep it to thy selfe. for poor J. clay, thy expression & his wifes, about my letter, has been exposed, as If I had Kill'd him,3 who only checkt, as I would do again his Invective lettr agst others, wth very gross reflections upon my selfe
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for suffering such officers, while they perhaps thought as hardly of him, tho they spoak softer, that is past, I never had a kinde owning of the place he was in, tho on X*pr Taylers death I writt he should have it, before his or any letter came to request it,4 wcn I took ill. thomas, by all that is reverent, tender & friendly I beseech thy care condiscention & help for that poor Province. I am here serveing God & Frds & the Nation, wch I hope god will reward to myn & you & when I have done expect me our Parliament I expect not till the 8mo next,5 & I hope the season following to be wth you. Tho. Heart6 Spoak to me about returns, wch I promest to mention, & leave it to you. I am greiv'd that Jos. Cart is return'd to recover his mony & high damages of me, for want of the Countrys doeing as they promest;7 but I will say no more, but the Lord be wth you & bless you. my soul wisheth it In X* I am in him Thy Frd & Bror Wm Penn London 28th i mo 88 ALS. Penn Papers, Domestic and Miscellaneous Letters, HSP (Micro. 5:982.) Docketed: 1688 To Tho. Lloyd. 1. In his letter of 27 Dec. 1687 (doc. 46), WP had relieved Lloyd of his governmental duties, apparently at the latter's request. 2. Lloyd evidently declined to undertake such a commission, and on 12 July WP appointed Blackwell. See docs. 52, 71. 3. WP had sharply criticized Claypoole's conduct and character in letters to Lloyd on i Feb. 1687 (Micro. 5:692) and to James Harrison on 28 Jan. 1687 (doc. 35); he accused Claypoole of greed, jealousy, meanness, and insolence. Claypoole died in Aug. 1687. Evidently Lloyd and Helen Claypoole complained to WP about his uncharitable remarks. Claypoole's "invective" letter may have been his petition to the Provincial Council of 20 Sept. 1686, in which he denounced Nicholas More and Patrick Robinson for their opposition to him in the provincial court. Pa. Misc. Papers, Penn and Baltimore 1653-1724, p. 22, HSP. 4. After the death of Christopher Taylor, WP had recommended Claypoole to fill his post as register general, an official who collected fees for proving wills and issuing letters of administration. Claypoole petitioned the Provincial Council for this lucrative office but was not commissioned until Nov. WP's complaint here suggests that Claypoole may have given him neither thanks nor monetary acknowledgment for the office. See Micro. 5:536, 5:542, 5:692; docs. 26, nn. 23, 27; 29, n. 8; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:185, 1955 Statutes, 2:139. 5. The Parliament for which WP and other agents of James II were working had been postponed repeatedly, as the difficulty of securing a tolerationist majority became clear. In Jan. 1688 WP had expected it to meet in May, but now he was hoping for Oct. Writs for elections were finally issued in Sept. for a Nov. Parliament, only to be recalled because of the imminent invasion by William of Orange. See Kenyon, Sunderland, p. 187; J. R. Jones, The Revolution of 1688 in England (New York, 1972), pp. 131-33. 6. Thomas Hart (c. 1629-1705), a Quaker merchant of Enfield, Middx., was one of the proprietors of East New Jersey. His dealings with Lloyd are not known. Fox, Short Journal, pp. 308, 318; Pomfret, East New Jersey, p. 249. 7. See doc. 6, n. 65; Micro. 5:786.
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57 FROM WILLIAM
MARKHAM [2 May 1688]
Sr
My Last was by Edwd Black1 the 24 of the Last month who went From Philadelphia the 26th Idem the Same day I went to your Plantation haveing sent two Carpenters to work about Shingling your house. Whilst I was there, Mr Plowman Came thether being on his jorney to New York to take the place Cap1 Santon had,2 he stopped me a day longer horses being Difficult to be gott, wch thorow MaryLand they pressed For him. The 2gth I Came From Arthur Cooks in Company with him & John Symcock, part of our Discourse upon the Road was about your Disposeing that overplus land to Mr Gray;3 you Know their tempers very well, both of them much Concern'd at it, and said they had writt to you about it, and by what I Could gether thought me a great Instrum1 in procureing it. Then they reflected upon your order of Disposeing of mens lands not seated according to Regulation,4 & John Symcock in his old Sinicall way told {me} I had as good lett it alone as put it in Execution, I was not willing to Come to Sharpes with them so joacqued it off. the nex day being the 30th March the Councill satt,5 an accot of their proceedings you shall have at Large, in the Morning Arth Cook, John Symcock Jon Bristow,6 Cap* Holme, James Atkinson, and my selfe were altogether in your house, where hapned a Discourse about Quitrents, James Atkinson said he had orders From the Commissrs to Receive none but in the Specie it ought to be paid in, and Challenged John Symcock for thretning to pull downe the paper From off the Cour house Door at Upland and burne it, the which he had sett up to Signifie the same to the people, John Symcock owned it and did Aver you Condicended to take Corne in liew, and pleaded with all that your Assent to that Law that makes the Country produce lawfull pay did oblige you to take the Same;7 I told him it was your positive orders to the Contrary, which Should be Followed by me, he then said wee must Sue For it, and he was Confident there was no Jury but would give it them; I hope said I you doe not think the Goverr would Submitt his Cause between him & people to the Judgment of the peopeile, but I Dared not say where you Appoynt such to be tryed, nor in the least hint upon your Instruction in that Case.8 First that as its but an Instruction they would Baffle it, Secondly if it were off Force it would be Envied, & lastly the Courage of my partners would hardly Assist me through it; all I Expected was From Samuell Carpenter, who shrinks up his shoulders and says they are hard things, and besides tells me that his man now going From him, he intends to Stick close to his ware house & Wharfe himselfe, but Rather then want his Assistance, I told him
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wee would sometimes Come to him. but to John Symcock he said that the people Intended nothing but Honesty with you, but you not so with them, and that you had Kidnapped them into the Country, I admired to see him in that humour Uppon the second Ins1 in the Forenoon Joseph Growdon Came into the Councill, the First time I had seen him Since M r Gray Came over, he looked bigg9 but avoyded looking towards me, at that time the Councill was Debateing about Dee'ar Skins & Rum, Some were For prohibiting the ^Exportation of one and Importation of the Other, and Some For laying a Tax A Custom upon Rum at Four shillings per gallon, I was For nither of these, as to the Skinns my Judgm1 was that Every tenth or any other part if they thought that too Little Should be as a Custome and the Goverr Should be obliged to sell them out at a Reasonable Rate, to those shall be thought, by those he shall appoynt to that purpose to judg were in want of them For Cloathing; For Rum I was nither For Prohibiting nor so heavie taxing it but that a Moderate Rate should be laid upon it, For it was all one to prohibite as to pay Four shillings per gallon Custome, Joseph Growdon was Smart10 For prohibiting Rum Alligeing that the Spiritt they Could make From Malt, wheat Rice or any other grane were more agreeable to mans body I Replyed that I thought Josep Growdon had spqak against Rum Concientiously, till he promoted other Liquoiiars as bad in its Roome, and Since it is likely that if Ever the Goverr have any thing For the Support of Governmt it must be From Merchantdise Imported wee ough1 not to prohibit them without proposeing some other means, and For Mr Growdons Asserting the vertue of the other Liquors {Spirritts} before Rum, he proved himselfe no well Learn'd Chimmist, this I perceived he took ill; but I had all along observed his opposeing tho not Directly the Raiseing money For Supply,11 and J G took occasion here to Raise a Dispute, wch I perceiveing had Diverted us From the matter in hand, I Reminded them of it againe, Then J G said they were to go First upon other things wch Should be for the Good of the Good of The Province, and then slightingly Lowaring his voyce did as much as Say perhaps they might Consider the other afterwards. I replyed the Goverr was much obliged to him but indeed he has been always postponed, and it has been Customary First to treat our selves; thus Ended the Forenoons work: where I observed that Arthur Cook stood For a moderate tax upon Rum as most profitable, and in my Judgment such a rate sett upon all Merchantdise would be best, and not one so great as to Intice the Stealing the Stealing or Cause much Charge {in} the Collecting, wch great Rates generally doe. Before the Councill satt againe I mett Mr Growdon, Spoak very Kindly to him offer'd him my Hand he scarse gave me his but at Length but at Length out it Came; I hear said he that the Goverr has given my land away to Gray, its most unworthyly don on him, and so run on; I told him he took large
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liberty with Goverrs, wch I thought was not usuall any where but here and that his quallity might have Commandjed} Respect, he Repeated it, and said he should not only say so. but write so: in the after noon the Councill satt againe as per the Minutes, Thomas Lloyd there, being Newly Come From New York; none agree better then he & I and am Resolved to Continue it if possible, therefore Sr if in giveing you a true Relation of transactions any word may have a show of Refeition12 upon him pray take no notice of it since I intend it not. This afternoon was Spent in Debate, two things they sett upon one was the order Entred Yesterday to send For the Sheriff of Sussex County,13 the other whether those Commissrs, Members of Councill, Could vote both as Members of Councill and Commissrs of State.14 the First Presidt Lloyd took up, praysed him15 more then ordinary and opposed all that spoak otherwise of him, and at last Smothed it with a Gratious seeming Complyance. The other he was at a Stand, as if his owne Judgment did acquiesce with theirs that thought it not Consistant, and indeed would have Reflected upon him selfe if otherwise, For when Presid1 of the Councill, and Councillor, he often urged them to Choose an other Member in his Roome, telling them they wanted a Member by it, For he in the Station he was in Represented the Goverr, so thought it not Consistant to Represent both. Samuell Richardson was much against the Commissioners Representing both saying to this purpose that the Intrest of the Goverr Be people were opposites. I answered that at Jamaco From whence he came it may be so and the Like at Barbados, Virginia, New York &c, where the Goverrs are Commissionated for Three Years, and Generally For the advance of their Fortune then Explained as well as I Could the Difference between Such a Government & this wee are under. I had almost Forgott to tell you a pritty Contrivance of Presid* Lloyds to please all as he Supposed, For he Found John Symcock & Arther Cook averse to their Laying downe their Councillshipp, and seing without them their Could not be a Quorum of Twelve, proposed to lend the Councill two of their Members that were Councillors to make up a Quorum in Councill, & Keep their owne Quorum beside,16 but the Councill adjorned without the Concluding of any thing, the next day wch was the 3d of the Month they began the Same Discourse againe, but John Can Speaking to it said he was now of an other opinion then he was Yesterday, For if the Goverr has been pleased to trust those the people before had Chosen to be their Representatives, they might Look upon it as a Reputation to them selves; Presid1 Lloyd Catched it, and Improved it to the quiett, if not the Satisfaction of all. Upon the Reading of the Petitions, wch were Generally through the Province to prohibitt Deerskinns going out, they being Monopolised, sent away, and Cloathing not to be had for the Inhabitants, they Fell in Dispute about Makeing of Laws, when was Dropt by what accident Know not, that in the Commissrs of Stats Commission was a Restric-
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tion therein,17 if it Came From a Commissioner it had been better Kept till the bills had been prepared and past tho they had mentioned the Restiction18 in them, this made them stand Stifly For their Charter, and poynt blank said it was a breach of it, I saw tre none of the Councill but what was in one minde in that, Arther Cook along wth them in Opinion, tho very Modest in his Expression (This is For want of the Commissrs Fully Concludeing of things Relateing to their Station amongst them selves before they Come to Councill that they might all Speak out of one Mouth, but I believe they will hereafter) I being a Member of Councill, and seeing none to back me said little to it, only told them that it was the same thing in other Governments in the absence of their Goverrs, and Instanced Maryland, wch tho they make Laws in their Goverrs absence, and shall take Force, yett they Stand or Fall as the He shall think Fitt upon First sight of them;19 John Can Replyed that it was a Different Case, there the assembly proposed, and here the Governour & Councill proposed. Presid1 Lloyd Replyed, I Know not what Instructions you have From the People For makeing of Laws wee have none From the Goverr. The Councill being Desirous that such Laws Should goe forward as were petioned20 For, Lett drop the Argument, and was pleased with the Appoyntment of a Committee, the 4th Aprill in the Forenoon the Committee brought in what they would have passed, & the whole day passed away in Debateing not above three of their propositions, and no Conclusion made of any. (wch you may see in the Minutes) {in the Evening Luke watson}21 presented himselfe to the Councill as a Member Chosen, but the Sheriffs Returne not being Come Could not take place, the next day John Hill,22 (who brought a Complaint up against their Sheriff) and Luke Watson sent For me out of Councill and Desired me to acquaint the Goverr & Councill that they intended homeward to Morrow Morning, unless they had any service For them. I acquainted Presid1 who had the Chair but he not being {willing} they Should Come in, Called me a Side, Looked over the Minutes of 1686 where william Clark had acquainted the Councill that Luke Watsons Broth in Laws servant had Swoaren Shee was with Child by Luke Watson, and that the said Brother in Law had swoaren the peace against him, to wch Information the Councill in 86 did then Agree that he Should be Dismissed untill he had Cleared him selfe of it by Law this he Desired I would Carry out to Show Luke Watson, and in the mean time hastned the Adjornment of the Councill, (tho indeed the Sunn was near sett) least John Hill Should Desire the order to the Sheriff upon the Complaint he brought up; the next Day Jon Hill Came into Councill without sending word, Least he should be putt off againe, and Desired an Answer to the Complaint, this Caused a long debate againe the Presid* Resolving to Maintaine and Justine the Sheriff Maugure23 all mens opinions or votes; seing them so Sharp one upon the other, and that before John Hill, /fal desired he might
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withdraw, then I Delivered my opinion, wch as near as I Could was a Moderation to theirs; whereupon they Concluded, that the warr1 that was made should not be sent, but that I should send him24 a Mollifieing letter, wch I Did and if he be wise & Civill, will answer the peoples Request^ as Much {soon} as the warr1, For, his appearance at the Generall Assembly was all they Desired. John Hill was no Sooner gon out of Towne but the Returne of Sussex County Came up in a Letter Directed to the Honorable Thomas Lloyd Deputy Goverr and Presid1 of the Councill of the Province of Pennsilvania and Territorys, at the Reading this Returne Presid* Lloyd Fell to Commending the Sheriff & the Contrary of John Hill, upon which Rob1 Turner made Some Reflections upon the Sheriff, the Presid1 takeing it up Caused a Sharper Dispute then Ever I yett saw between them; if you observe the Meeting of the Councill of the 6th Aprill in the fore noon25 you will see that Rob1 Turner was in the Cheir Pt Lloyd not Coming to towne soon enough they thought he intended not that Morning, but after they were satt he Came, but Rob1 Turner not Riseing to give him the Chair he went out againe and Soon after Rob1 Turner adjorned the Councill. I thought to have given you a dayty accot of their proceedings in Councill besides what the Minutes Can informe, but so Far impossible it is that I Could not For severall days Digest any thing don to make a Minute of it, Such a Confusion have wee been in, such tedious prolix Speaches have wee had; that I begged the Presid1 to appoynt the 17th Aprill to Meet to sett things to Rights Fitt For the Reccord of wch you may Expect by this the virginall26 or Coppy. Upon the 6th Aprill Mr Gray Came to Towne about his Land he purchased of you. I mean the overplus land of Dunk Williams & Walker, I Found by the Backwardness of my Bretheren the Presid1 & Judges27 had been tampering with them as they had Endevoured with me, and when I urged the Goverrs orders or Instructions to Samuell Carpenter he asked me if wee Must observe all or none, yes said I For wee Must not pick and Choose what is Easie & plesant to us and leave the rest For himselfe to doe. yett they pressed so hard upon me to give Joseph Growdon a hearing, before they passed the warr1 For the Returne of the warrt granted by the Former Commissioners28 that I Did; but J G had little to say but that he had an Equitable Right, and that Such rights the Proprietary had Confirmed by Charter, the next day he being in Councill Saw Mr Gray Come into the Yard to Speak with me, as I went into my office29 J Gjrowdon} Followed me, told me that he Expected wee would not Confirme that land to Mr Gray For if wee did he would Make a Nationall business of it and Impeach us For a breach of the Charter, and there upon read to me that part, wch he had written upon a peece of paper where you Confirme any mans Equitable Right to Land,30 but I Knew the occasion and Intent of that graunt. I only told him, that they had broaken the Charter all to peeces already and that this would not be the way to peece it againe,
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For if he Impeached us I was Resolved the Goverr Should Come in for his share. This day Mr Gray had an opportunity to Deliver his message From you to the Commissioners of State,31 they were pleased to Call me in, he did it very well and Presidt Lloyd as the Mouth of the Rest made a Reply to most of the Heads, as to that wherein he told them that the Goverr had not heard From his Governm1 one line Since he went to England, tho From them all he might have Single letters, and one says alls well, and an other Contradicts it So he Knew not wch to Credit, this said Mr Gray was not only taken as a disrespect, but it was of great Disservice to the Province, and then Explained how, the Presidt to this made Answer, that he had often writt to the Goverr, and in the Station he was here in, Cheiff in Authority, the acco1 he gave of things might well be Received as From the Government, if not in these very words to this very purpose he went on Much Further Magnifying himselfe; and indeed its very strange Sr I Speak not this out of any prejudice to Presid1 Lloyd tho I have little Reason to be very obligeing to him, but you will Finde his hand not to anything where any one Else Signes, or at Least since I have been Concerned as Secry; For when I have desired him to Signe a Pattent, he would Say that his hand was to be to nothing under the broad seal, but now thats altered, and the broad seal passes without any hand to it, as in the Commission For the State: upon the 12 aprill I writt a Commission of the peace For New Castle County presented it to him to Signe, he gave it to John Syrncock, John Desired he would Signe it First, he Replyed you may leave me Roome so perswaded J S Arther Cook Be Jon Eckly to Signe and haveing three hands to it the business was don wch when they perceived said they would not have Signed if they had thought he would have served them so, he replyed hos Ego versiculos Feci &c.32 and Englished it thus, tho I take the paines you Shall have the Honour: The Indians being lately payed by Goverr Cox's Agent33 sent downe to us before they sepperated to have what wee owed them wch I am sure all the Cargo you sent was not able to Discharge, I have Inclosed sent an acco1 what was due to them and what wee purchased here.34 the Blankitts and Gunns wee had of Zachary Whitpaine, wch must be paid in Money here or Bills of Exchange For England, wch amounts to thirty od pounds, and I see no Likelyhood of paying it here tho I shall not Draw till the Last Extremity Forces me. Cap1 Holme and Samuell Carpenter went up to pay them wch was don the 21 aprill. wee have an other payment to make to the Indians of Christina35 then Shall be out of the Indians Debts; I Could not be at the pay my selfe the Councill haveing so lately sat, and my promise to wayte on the Judges to Kent County For the Tryall of Roe and his Wife,36 upon the 24th Aprill I went with the Judges Arthur Cook, & John Symcock, the Attorny Generall37 and some others From Philadelphia, the 27th wee arrived in Dover River38 with the Letitia. by the way wee {had} more Discourse about Gray & Growdon I perceive it
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Sticks in their Stomacks Still, they Informe that J Growdons Father had writt to him that if he misliked being here or not treated according to Expectation he should sell all and Returne home For he had an Estate Sufficient to Maintaine him. I am sure this Letter could not be DOccasioned by the Disposall of the Land to Gray For thats but New, but great Fear there is of his going home as the Judges Report, I here send you a Coppy of the Promulgated bills I am of opinion none of them will pass, its Impossible to gitt anything by Custome on Merchantdise Imported or Exported unless you gitt the Same laws passed in west Jersey For they will Load & unload there as they please and wee loose the trade by it. if you and Goverr Cox Should agree about it pray remember that the Officers Commissionate by Either of you may seise in Either of your Provinces tho the Goods were Shipt or unshipt in the Province the Officer that seised was not off yett that Officer shall have the same priviledg as if he were but the tryall may be as you Can agree off otherwise there will be Such Contention as the Proffitt will not Ballance The 3Oth Aprill the Judges satt, the woman was Indicted for Murdering an Unknowne person, the Cheiff witnesses were her owne Children, a Girle between 14 & 15 years old two sonns of 9 & 8. the Youngest saw his mother Strike the Man and Kill him with an Ax, the man being in bed the other son was asleep at that time, but saw the Man lie dead on the Ground and both of them saw her take money out of his pockett tye a Rope about the Mans Middle, and dragg'd him by his owne horse Tayl to a branch that is mighty Mirey, the Girle was not then at home, but some soon after Came and had occasion to goe to the branch For water, and {where} seeing a Mans head above the Mudd took it For a turtle, putt her hand upon {it} and the Hair Stook in her Fingers, Shee was Frighted at it, left her payl and Ran to her Mother, acquainted her that there was a Mans head above the Mudd in the branch, She Charged her Daughter to say nothing of it For if Shee did, Shee Should not have her belssing,39 her Mother went with a Felling Ax in her hand Stayed Stayed about 2 or 3 hours, afterwards they heard no more of it, George Roe the Houseband who was Indicted as an Abettor was at that time at work at his Brother John Richardson, (For Roes Wife is Jon Richardsons owne Sister) and it was almost a weak after before he Came home, but then seing some blood upon the bed post asked the Youngest son how it Came there, the Child told him that his Mother had been Fighting with a Man and had Cutt his head with an Ax, this Roe Confessed upon his tryall, but the Child said he then told his Father, his Mother had Killed the Man, the Court asked Roe why he did not Inquire Further off it he said his Wife was a Furious Woman and he was affraide, he Confessed that as soon as he Came home he desired his wife to wash his Blew shirt and she Fetched him a Fine Shirt to Shift himselfe wth and an holland40 Capp to putt on and when he asked her where shee had
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them, she replyed what need you Care, but her pretence to the Court, was, a Man travelling that way had Corne For his horse and haveing no Money left them, but the Linnen was made a way with; I wish I Could send you a Coppy of the Tryall, For I am now in hast Cannot Enlarge the Judges Ready to be gon, the woman has Recd sentence of Death pronounced by Jon Symcock,,the Man is Brought in Not Guilty, in Manner and Forme but Fearing other Indictments, For Breaking prison twice &c Begged transportation wch was granted by the First Shipping to the West Indies. John King goes For England hence in 3 weaks time, Zachary Whitpajine} in Little more, by Either or both I shall not Faile to writ; My Humble service pray Sr to My Cousens and pardon Errours being writt in Hurry I Remaine Sr Your Very Humble and Obliged Serv1 Wm Markham Dover River in the Territorys of Pennsilvania May 2 d , 1688 I have sent Sr a Coppye7 of Goverr Dongans Letter to the Pt & Councill &c.41 P* Lloyd was was Forced to signe the answer For the others would not Sighne with out him tho he FaEndevoured to pef Evade it Far well Sr WM ALS. Cliveden Manuscripts, Chew Family Papers, HSR (Micro. 6:013.) Docketed: WM | Dover river May 2. 88. Further docketed: WM May 2. 88. | about paying the Indians 37M | for their Land Bucks Indians paid. This letter has been edited by Gary B. Nash, "The First Decade in Pennsylvania: Letters of William Markham and Thomas Holme to William Penn," PMHB, 90:506-16. Our edition draws upon Nash's work. 1. This letter, sent by Edward Blackfan, has not been found. 2. Matthew Plowman had been appointed collector of customs in New York to replace Lucas Santon, who was charged with mishandling of funds. Plowman was a Catholic and was driven out of office by the anti-Catholic leaders of Leisler's Rebellion in New York in 1689. Nash, "First Decade," p. 5o6n; New York Col. Docs., 3:500, 591, 716; CSPC, 1685-1688, pp. 265, 301. 3. On the dispute between John Gray and Joseph Growdon over the surplus land in a tract on Neshaminy Creek, see doc. 26, text at nn. 51-56. The episode caused much bitterness, with Growdon complaining in an angry letter to WP that Gray's encroachment deprived him of his access to the creek. Micro. 5:873, 951. 4. On 24 Jan. 1687 WP had issued a proclamation to require that each township of 5000 acres be settled by at least ten families. The commissioners of propriety were to inspect vacant lands and sell those that had not been properly settled. This order had been published in Pennsylvania on 26 July 1687. Micro. 5:641; PA, 2d ser., 19:8, 16; Nash, "First Decade," p. 5O7n; see also PWP, 2:98. 5. See Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:213. 6. John Bristow (d. 1694), a First Purchaser from Bristol, represented Chester
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Co. in the Provincial Council and served as a justice of the peace between 1687 and 1692. Chester Co. Will Bk. A, p. 283,; PA, 2d sen, 9:694; PWP, 2:639. 7. A Pennsylvania law passed in Oct. 1683 had declared various items of produce, including wheat, corn, and tobacco, to be legal tender at their market price. WP in 1684 had also authorized collection of quitrents in wheat, but he preferred payment in money because it was less expensive to collect. For WP's order requiring payment in silver see doc. 36. Nash, "First Decade," p. 5O7n; Charter and Laws, p. 162; Micro. 4:018. 8. In a letter of 8 Feb. 1687, WP had urged prompt execution of the proclamation for seating of lands, suggesting that if delinquent owners sought legal recourse the commissioners of propriety should sit as a court for land matters instead of submitting such issues to the regular courts. Micro. 5:707 (printed in PA, 2d ser., 19:11); see Nash, Quakers and Politics, p. 94. 9. Haughty or stiff. OED. 10. Eager. 11. On the issue of raising funds to support the government, see doc. 33. 12. Markham means "reflection." 13. Francis Cornwell (d. c. 1691), sheriff of Sussex Co., had failed to file a return for the Provincial Council elections, preventing member-elect Luke Watson (see nn. 21-22, below) from taking his seat. Watson had been removed from the Council in 1686, but he now had the support of a number of Sussex inhabitants, who complained against Cornwell for failing to return a duly elected representative. Leon de Valinger, Jr., comp., Calendar of Sussex County Delaware Probate Records 1680-1800 (Dover, Del., 1964), p. 13; C. H. B. Turner, comp., Some Records of Sussex County, Delaware (Philadelphia, 1909), p. 24. 14. See Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:212. 15. Francis Cornwell; see n. 13, above. 16. The commission of state required a quorum of three out of the five men appointed, while the Provincial Council needed 12 out of 18. 17. In appointing the commissioners of state WP had reserved his right to confirm or veto their actions. See doc. 37. 18. Restriction. 19. Maryland laws, once passed by the legislature and published by the local governor, took effect in the colony pending approval by the proprietor, Lord Baltimore. Andrews, Colonial Period, 2:337. 20. Petitioned. 21. Luke Watson, Sr. (d. 1705), a tobacco farmer of Lewes, Sussex Co., had served as a justice of the peace since 1678. In 1686 he had been a member of the Provincial Council, but had been excluded on account of a scandalous quarrel with his brotherin-law Henry Smith; Watson had allegedly seduced Smith's maidservant and threatened his life. Now Watson had been elected again, but was unable to sit until the sheriff filed a return. Even after the return arrived on 10 Apr., however, Watson was required to submit certification that he was cleared of this "infamous reputation." PWP, 2:313^ Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:176-80, 213, 222. 22. John Hill (d. 1708), a prominent landowner and justice of Sussex Co., had submitted to the Provincial Council on 31 Mar. a complaint from "the major part of the free-holders of Sussex County" against Sheriff Francis Cornwell for not returning Luke Watson, the member they had chosen. PWP, 2:517^ Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:213. 23. Despite. OED. 24. Francis Cornwell. 25. See Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:216. 26. Apparently a slip for "original." 27. Thomas Lloyd, Arthur Cook, and John Simcock. 28. That is, before they confirmed the warrant granted to Gray by the commissioners of 1686; see doc. 26, text at nn. 51-58. 29. Markham was using WP's Philadelphia residence, between Second and Third, High and Chestnut Sts. See PWP, 2:586^ 30. In the 1683 Frame of Government WP had confirmed settlers' possession of land to which they had either a legal or an equitable claim. WP, like Markham, argued against the application of this clause to Growdon's case. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:47; doc. 55, text at n. 5. 31. See doc. 45.
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32. Lloyd quoted from Virgil, "hos ego versiculos fed, tulit alter honores," meaning, "I wrote these verses, another got the credit of them." W. Francis H. King, ed., Classical and Foreign Quotations (New York, 1958). 33. Jacques LeTort (c. 1651-1696), a French Huguenot who had immigrated to America in 1686, was engaged in fur trading with the Indians on behalf of Gov. Daniel Cox of West New Jersey. See Evelyn A. Benson, "The Huguenot LeTorts," Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society, 65:92-105; PMHB, 76:91-95. 34. In Aug. 1686 Markham had helped negotiate a purchase of Delaware Indian lands between the upper Delaware River and Neshaminy Creek, for which the Indians were now demanding payment (see doc. 26, n. 83). For Markham's account of the goods paid to the Indians, see Micro. 6:004. 35. Markham was probably referring to the group of Delaware chiefs headed by Seketarius who in 1683 had sold to WP their lands between Christina River and Upland Creek. They had received partial payment at the time, with more to follow. C. A. Weslager, The Delaware Indians: A History (New Brunswick, N.J., 1972), p. 165; Early American Indian Documents, 1:72. 36. Judith Roe and her husband, George Roe, owner of 500 acres in Kent Co., were tried for the murder of a traveler named Hambleton, or Hamilton. Judith Roe was the sister of John Richardson (d. c. 1703), a prominent Kent Co. landowner and former provincial councilor. On 19 May 1688 Richardson filed a petition on his sister's behalf, pleading for a reprieve from the governor, a plea which WP denied. Nash, "First Decade," p. 497n; PWP, 2:52in; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:227; Micro. 6:106. 37. David Lloyd. 38. Probably St. James's Creek in Kent Co., on which the town of Dover was later built. 39. Blessing. 40. Linen cloth. 41. On Dongan's letter, see PMHB, 11:241-42; doc. 41, n. 21.
52 COMMISSION TO GOVERNOR JOHN BLACKWELL [12 July 1688] William Penn Proprietor & Governor of the Province of Pennsilvania and Counties annexed. To his trusty & Loving friend Capt John Blackwell,1 Sendeth Greeting. Reposing speciall confidence in thy ability & integrity, I have thought fit to Nominate and appoint thee, Governor of the Province of Pennsilvania & Countyes annexed, under me & my heirs: And, I Do hereby Nominate & appoint thee Governor therof: And do impower thee as amply & fully as my Commission to the Provinciall Councill, & that to the five Comrs of State did impower them:2 And I do hereby desire and require thee, till further Order, to follow the Instructions sent, from time to time, to the sayd Provinciall Councill & Comrs of State, in order to the good Governmt & well being of the said Province & Counties annexed. And as I do in no wise doubt of thy moderation, prudence, sobriety & care, in reference to the discharge of this trust towards the people hereby placed under thy comand; So, I do charge all persons, within the sayd Province & Counties annexed, to demean themselves towards thee, with that affection & respect that becomes the dignity of thy Station, as they shall answer the contrary at their perill. And this Campaigning for the King
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Commission shall stand in force for so long time as I shall see Requisite & convenient. Given at London this 12° day of the 5° month called July 1688. In the fowerth year of the Kings Reign, & the Eighth year of my Governing in America. Wm Penn. Copy. Penn Papers, Gov. Blackwell's Manuscripts, HSP. (Micro. 6:050.) This copy is in Blackwell's hand. 1. John Blackwell (1624-1701), Puritan veteran of Cromwell's army and administration, was the son of a London merchant. Having risen to a captaincy in the parliamentary army, he served as treasurer at war and was an active member of Parliament from 1656 to 1658. At the Restoration he was excluded from the indemnity extended to most Commonwealthmen; he forfeited most of his English and Irish estates and was banned from holding office. Thereafter he lived in Ireland and in 1684 moved to Boston, where he engaged in land speculation and became a justice of the peace. WP was impressed with his reputation for wisdom and gravity and hoped that he could quell the frictions that plagued Pennsylvania's government. See doc. 55; PMHB, 69:233-37; 74:457-72; 88:121-41. 2. SeePWP, 2:583; doc. 37.
53 FROM WILLIAM MARKHAM [21 July 1688] Sr My last was by the way of Maryland Dated from Dover River1 where I was with the Judges at the Tryall of Judith Roe For Murder, This Comes by Zachariah Whitpaines Ship Called the Pennsilvania Merch1. I was much affraid I Should not have been able to a sett penn to paper by This opportunity being taken Lame from my Left Shoulder to my Fingers Ends, wth Exceeding paine, but now I thank God pritty well abated. I hartily wish I Could by word of Mouth be with you some short time I am perswaded it would give you great satisfaction, but the hopes of your being here Shortly give me much Content. The First thing after our Coming from Kent County was Sitting of the Generall Assembly.2 The Minutes Y of the Councill I here send3 as I did the other From Dover River. Much Dissatisfaction there was in the assembly Jon White their Speaker, they Stood Stiff For their Supposed previliges, but were Knock'd Downe, Rather thentfy {gently} laid. Whether it was well or 111 mannaged shall leave that to. Wm Clark made the First Speach and Requested that Either the Members of Councill that had been Chosen For their County might be admitted or a warr1 for Chooseing others, for that the County lookd upon them selves much agreeved that they had not their Full number in Councill.4 Presid Lloyd told him he Should have an Answer very shortly. The first day The Assembly satt then {they} Came with their Speaker to the Councill, I Thought they Intended to a presented their Speaker, but being admitted, they nothing mentioned July 1688
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it but Fell into a Dispute of their priviliges. as the Conferrence was long so it was Sharpe to many of the Assemblys Dislikeing. They desired a Sight of the Comrs of states Commission that they may {might} see by what warr1 they Could pass Laws, and of the originall Charter, a true Coppy of the Laws and Lastly when they had have occasion to apply themselves to the Councill that it may be in a Convenient place that they might not be Crowded but sitt with their bretheren, For {they} Looked upon it as a great Indignity to Stand when they Came to the Councill, to all wch They were answered not to their well pleaseing particularly to that about the sight of the Commission for the Presid* not being willing they should see it or wl Ever Else it was, he told them that it was Sufficient the Councill were satisfied therewith & that they were not obliged to showe it any more saying the Inferiousest officer that was was not obliged to Show his Commission (Comparing Ba{y}lifs &c) Much More the Grand Magestratesd in fine after two hours discourse they parted, two two Dayes after the Presid1 brought with him the Commission, aftd by what means the assembly Came to the Councill whether by private advice I Know not but Come they did and the Commission was Read, but Wm Clark not being satisfied with that Commission wch was made here Desired a sight of the originall, that that Came signed From the the Goverr, but that was not to be seen the Presid* told him it was his Warr1 For the Makeing of the Commission, a Conferrence there was had in the Meeting house whether the Councill adjorned, and that was Sharp, Indeed what I had heard had passed in the Assembly (for they had by the speaker an Attest administred to them of secrecy)5 urged me to speak, so after they were sharply Reproved by the Presid1 For their touching upon many things not belonging to them to dee {meddle wth} I spoak, and in the Middle of my speach brought in the unusuall strangeness of or shiness of the Assembly to the Council wch were their Bretheren and Representaives of one body, only with {this} Differrence that wee may very well have the Elder^ Brothers place, But (said I) this witt {Can} be no wonder to those that Know what has passed privately in the Assembly, {for some not well affected} they have lett in a bugg bare amongst them that Frightens the Honnest't quiettest and peaceable Men From our Conversation and makes by giveing them an attest of secricy. what power the house of Commons in England have to administer an Oath I will appeale to the speaker him selfe who Knows that their Speaker Cannot doe it, nor none Else by but by a power that is derived From the King Either by Commission For the same or Ex officio I went on showing them how much they were abused &c. and when I had don I observed they looked one upon the other as who should say wch of us has Contrary to their oath made this Discovery and some of them asked me privately how I Came to Know {it}, I desired his {their} Excuse; The Prcsid* who had jerked severall of the quiett Honest party Declared they were much
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against their proceeding in that and did think it was what they ought not to doe. but others Justified their proceeding therein as Blunston, Maris,6 and some others but most of Chester County. The Presid1 who had teased them sufficiently before, had now a fresh subject and to it againe he went, that John White, Could not utter one word For Crying This Meeting gave satisffaction to Many, and Disobliged others. Now I must Note that this way of their proceeding with their Speaker and Clark putts them into a beleife they are the Cheiff Court of Reccord in their Province and I am sure is of 111 consequence and will be worse (if not timely preventy) if you have any hopes of your sonns succeeding you in the Government. I Know nither Charter nor Law Either gives {grants} them Speaker or Clark, Indeed in {the} Rates sett by Law For Assembly men it Mentions the Speaker to have the same allowance of as a Councillor7 and no other mention made of a Speaker. I Look upon the Councill and Assembly to be one Generall assembly and it were monstrous if it should be other wise as much as one body have two heads or any other monstrous thing in Nature. How this Crept In I very well Remember, at the First Assembly at Upland, before there was a Provinciall Councill Chosen,8 you gave them the liberty of a Speaker there was some Reason For that Indeed, but afterwards when the^ people had their Representatives {for the} m Councill and no of matter {of} State to {be} Don with etk out their Concent it was Either a Slipp or Omission or what shall I Call it? too Kind an Acquiescence in you to allow them to Sitt in the Nature of an Other house whereby they Concluded a Speaker and Clark belonged to them and in that I mean the first asscmb Generall Assembly they passed the Fee For the Speaker, This Sr I have {have} bold to hint not to instruct but Reminde you. I Could Inlarge here and itch to advise but shall Forbeare till I see you, For if any objection should be made I am too Far From you to Answer it. By The promulgated bills I sent you in my Last and the bills as they are passed and I here send you will see wl was Refused and wl passed wth what amendmts the Assembly Made thereon.9 pray observe how they have passed that Law For the Continuance of The Former Laws with their Limitation it is what they Aymed at 2 years since,10 I wish they had made the Fundamentalls11 Equall with them that they might have all Dropt {Expired} at once, what advantage the Assembly proposed to themselves in it I Cannot Immagine, but glad they were it passed I [illegible deletion] {its very well,} that you Reserved to your selfe the giveing life^ to the Laws or I should {have} objected against any their passing untill {they} the had passed the Supply, the wch bill I Drew up my selfe, and Considering that west Jersey was too near us, wordid it as well as I Could to prevent abuses {that from thence might arise}12 as for your Instructions, to your Comrs of property I have as much as lyes in me Followed them, but must Confess not so well as I Could
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wish or desired in that about Benj Chambers13 he Came at our sending for him, but Continued in his old obstonate humour all that was to be gott From (tho in many words[)] was that he lay not under that Circumstance as others Did he haveing bought the Front Lott befor his Bank proportionable to 2500 acres, however that {was no Consequence} sufficed not mc[?] that it should give hym a tytle to the bank, aftd. before I would seem to use any severyty Desired my Brother Comrs they all being within the pale of the Church he is a member off but my selfe14 that they would discourse him privately {and Endevour to perswade him to Comply} 4 about it wch Every one of them had{ve} don not once twice nor thrice but oft'ner, yett Could no ways work upon him, at an other of our Meetings I Desired he might be sent for, {when hee} aftd Came wee had only the same thing over againe, Condemned he was by all the Commissioners For his Obstinancy but none would admitt his prosecution, and when I urged it (perhapps too Farr), and asked how wee should answer the Proprietarys Expectation, if wee Followed not his Instructions, and told them that to be pevish and humoursome was to gett the Conquest & gaine their poynt Aimed at, whilst he that is obedient and Respectfull Shall {be} the only man that Suffers, fetrt and Further told them I was Resolved it should not lye at my Dore but would Cleare my selfe of it. it was then Replyed that {they} were under some other obligations that they Could not doe what I Desired should, For they must proceed on a Religious acco1. I told them I was sensable of that wch was the Reason I First begged they with out me would me should discourse him believeing he might have been wrought upon without severity, but Finding Samuell Carpenter obstinate to my propossalls I told them I had Don they Should heare me no more mention Benj Chambers. This passed on but I was advised that Samuell Carpenter had Reflected that I tretned[?] {them} to write to the Cover, and I know not what, of wch I Chalenged Samuell Carpenter before John Goodson with all {with all} the Calmeness and meakeness that possibly Could, and by my submission {overswayed his pevish humour &} gained his Favour againe. I was the more surprised because from him I Expected the greatest Assistance, but That thing Intrest is {the great stumbling block} it shatters mcns Manners Nay their very Constitutioft, upon wch subject and Revenge together I Could {Knowingly} write a larger Epistle then at {present} this time I have Either time or ability {Strength} to doe. as to your Quitrents I shall Draw them into a Method as soon as possible I have of Late had some papers witt From Cap1 Holme will much Forward me yett that of Chester County will be a blind business at last15 Then for the Collecting where some will not pay me and others not {able} in the speciee Required16 or obliged {to} I shall be there to seeke. For when I but mentioned the Goverrs pleasure about a Court of Exchequer17 to Pl Lloyd it was Rediculed, but said he when the Goverr pleases to Command the
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broad scale out off my hand I wtH Shall willing and Readyly Resigne it. I need «ot make a«y {no} Explaination upon this, but [illegible deletion] I presume to give my opinion {(viz)} that where any the honour and grcatcncss of the suprcamc Authority (the Common tcrmc) is invested in those that thinks the least power not Coming Immediately From them to be a speck or blcmmish to the {their} Lusturc of their or Authority {Conclude that the Flames of Ambition Envies that Spark that Comes not from its owne Fyre}. Therefore I say Sr that it were better where Ever you Confferr the Authority of the Governmt you would Joyne with it your property (unless they would Allow you such so much as Every lord of a Manner in England nay Every Common Landlord is Invested with all. {may Claime.)} by wch Means they Can have no pretence that such things was left undon when the power d of Doing them is with them {selves}. In the Like Nature is that of your Fines;18 I was the Last Month at a Court in the County of Bucks where I gott a List of the Fines; and Desired the Justices that they would appoynt the sheriff to Levie it. but being not well and the Attorny Generall19 «ot there I left the list with him and Desired he would informe or Instruct the Court about some Course to be taken For the Collecting of them The Sheriff which is Abraham Whorly20 I told that asoon as he the Fine was Laid by the Court upon any man the Sheriff Immediately became Debter to the Goverr For it, whereupon he desired to be Eased of his Imployment. as to your Strays21 I have without vanity taken as much Care and I think in as good a Method as any tould doe, but what shall I say when your Owne Attorny shall plead against you as you may see by the Inclosed petition of his owne hand wright writeing.22 and the old Rancor of Lewis not yett Rooted out, aftd I veryly believe Luke Watson had not been admitted unto {a member of} Councill had not he had that Complaint to make {as per the Inclosed papers}.23 Your Letters of the 28th of March by the way of New York24 Came hether the 2d Ins1, as to Joshua Cart,25 as no man Could be more troubled at it then my selfe so I Know None Else that Minded it, I write not this to Curry Favour, I had rather dye then doe it but its to Lay that abominable abuse at the Right Door, I am sure where it will Light they have little Deserved it at your hands Pennsbury is very well Shingled, and by the Judgment of the Carpenters that did it, the Roofe would not have Stood a Year longer, they had much to doe in bringing the Rafters with handscrews into their places againe and Furring out26 where they were bent, and now wee are about The Finishing the out houseing. I Can write you no News of no transactions of our Comrs of State thats Carried among them selves with privacy to my great Content; when Ever I meet them our Discourse are of Indifferent things, if they are Contented with their secretary, I am with my Master only Dissatisfied I Cannot doe him better service. Wm Stockdale27 who I presume you Know not but
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suppose have heard of him, he is a preacher a«d {a} very Honest Mann I take him to be. he lives upon the plantation you bought of the two brothers in the bout below Ma Chichister28 hath often solisited some times For one thing some times For an other about that plantation I Desired he would putt his proposalls in writing wch he did & I have here sent it. my answer to him was that you bought that plantation and paid Dear For it and never intended to sett it at a penny an acre^. but my Bretheren Inclining to him I Desired the Governours might mind might be Knowne in it First. I am putt to it hard some time to answer some sort of people they are so unreasonable in their Demands, and others Ready {to} oblige at an other mans Cost, and that out29 a pure Simple Honest Supposition, that you would not Refuse it your selfe Upon the 17th of May Benj Chambers sent me word that a Court of the socyeties30 were sitting. I had too short warning to gett any of my Brother Commission1"8 with me, so went alone; I acquainted them with what you were pleased to write to us, and Disputed with them the Convenienfcy of Transmitting the Governm1 to England, after some but I had only this short answer, That the Goverr was no more in that Business then Themselves, and that they saw that it was only the Goverr alone that Required it, That they were willing to part with the Governm1 if they in England would secure them their outs,31 otherwise they would keep it here. Cap1 Holme as some time taulked of going To England but thought he had not been {in} Ernest till now by whome this Comes. The 2Oth Ins1 wee had a meeting about some business before he left the Province, Thomas Fairman {moved} Dtsputcd {Urged} For his Brothers32 Returne of That Land upon Neshamanie Creek about 6 or 700 acres wch In the Map Cap1 Holme Marked to be in Dispute between him Tho Fairmand & Growdon. but The Capt Holme left this with us, that they two being in Contention For it, it was Left to the Goverr to Deside, therefore when the Mapps Comes wee might see who the Goverr has appoynted For it and if none wee might Dispose of it to whome wee think Fitt this Controvercy I Remember was a Long time since Controverted before the Late Comrs where Joseph Growdon alliged that it was the Goverrs order that his Land Should Runn on the back joyning to those that Fronted the River and Creek, but that Thomas Fairman in his Survey passed by That Corner Cutting it off with a Streight line, & when it was asked why he did so, Replyed he had good Reason wch was not to be Spoaken publickly. James Claypoole who was Curious to Know Secreits took Thomas Fairemand and Rob1 Turner into the next Room to Know it; I Followed. Thomas Fairman not being very Ready to Divulge James Claypoole was the more pressing tho Indeed Rob1 Turner told him if he had Received any private orders From the Goverr it were best to Keep it to himselfe but out it Came (viz) That Joseph Growdon being so Importunate with the Goverr to have his
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5000 acres of Land Laid out in that place in one tract the Goverr Spoak privately to Thomas Fairman that Since he was so Troublesome (or some what to that purpose) he should nipp him what he Could or keep him From the best places as much as he Could, however Thomas Fairman was Resolved The Goverr should have no benefitt by it, For he soon Laid it out For his Brother, and now he denys he Ever knew that was Vacant Land whe he Laid out the Land For Joseph Growdon. I intend nither of Them shall have a Confirmation of it without your Perticular Order tho both have built upon it. I have gott som printed papers to warne the People of the Towne and County of Philadelphia to bring in their quit rents, as this takes I think to proceed to the Rest, much adoe had I33 pass it with Samuell Carpenter For I had worded (or thou shallt be proceeded agt according to Law[)], I Carried the originall to Samuell Carpenter to sett his hand to it. why dost thou Intend to Doe so, yes said I, this will be hard said he, wee pro'd and Con'd it, but Signe it he would not untill I had Altered and put in the word "Expect"34 to be pr and what you may Expect by such proceedings Know not will leave to your Judgment, here is Lately Come From Barbados one Cap1 Water Man Waterman35 to settle upon the Plantation he bought wch was Walter Kings,36 I have not had much Converse with him but seems to be a very sober Discreet, Gent he is no Friend, I hear his Wife is. he has sent For his Family by Wm Salways shipp who sayles hence For Barbados within two or Three days. Rob1 Salford37 who was your servant, had granted him From the Former Commissiors Twelve acres of Land near Joseph Brownes38 For a Brick Yard, and had been sett up their some time, its now in a very good posture a house and all things Necessary upon {it} for Brick makeing; he dyed about a week Since. I intend to take possession of it For you and putt a tennant upon it if I Can gitt one, but if you Can Light of Brickmakers For servants it will be Your advantage to send some over Samuell Hersent was Buried yesterday Came from Pennsbury about 4 days before, (tho 111) to write to his Wife, your Family hath been most of Them ill this Hott season but pritty Well up againe, The two Carpenters I Hyred to Finish the out Housen are both Come to towne Sick, but pf recovouring againe. I will doe what possible to Finish it before Winter. There will Come by Thomas Holme the Draught of the Designed Dock.39 They are now at work upon it, and often with me to Confirme it to them according to their Request wch here with send a Coppy. I hope to ]6 Delay it till I Know your minde, For I am not Fully satisfied in mine that it will be advantage proposed as brought to that perfection they have proposed, you will finde a sq a peece of ground in that mapp writt upon "the Goverrs"40 I have prevented a«y The street of 30 feet should touching} with {it} that but Left wholy for what you think Convenient, and doe believe that spott at last will be the maine
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Dock. This is Thomas Budds Project for wch the Comrs have granted him a Lott in the swamp as you will upon the Rate specified in their Request Wm Hunny that Came over upon your Acco1 keepes a pedling Shopp in the Towne and Never minds his Contract with41 I have told him of it often, and he says that if in four Years time he Clears so many acres of Land whether Eight or Twelve I have forgott, he has then fulfild his obligation. I Did once see his part but never that belonging to you. Indeed they are very strange ones and that Land will Cost Dear Clearing, I have here sent some of {his} scribling to you. II believe him a great K — 42 Philadelphia July 21: 1688 Philad July 21 1688 Since the Foregoing writing of the above date, (not in my owne hand For wch I beg your Pardon, hardly then being able to Draw the Rough Draught Draft)43 The next day I went in my boat from Philadelphia For New Castle, upon Information I had that the Commissioners of State had writt to the Justices of That place to send them an acco1 Concerning my Lord Baltemors Fort,44 aftd I Fearmged they would not {in their Narrative} hitt the poynt in their Narrative {you Aime at}, and by the Coppy of what they sent the Deputy Goverr wch John White showed me, do's not doe it so well as I Concei't That {dos wch} I have drawne and here with send you. I intend{ed} a Petition from the Inhabitants wch should have Remonstrated their Case but I haved scarse time For what I have don For hasten I must to Pennsbury to sett Things to Rights there, but if Possible by Thomas Bond45 will send one By Wm Clark who is Lately (Just} Come {up} From Lewis am Informed of Norton Claypools46 Death, a Rumer of it I heard before. James Claypoole47 is putt{ing} in with the Deputy Governor For his place, I would have solicited For my Cousen James Bradshaw but Know not to who{me} nor when, to who{m} because I Know Presid1 LLoyd governs his Quorum, and I Formerly begg'd {of} him For the Sheriffs place of New Castle County For my Cousen, and profferred good security but he Refused it and putt in one with out {anye} the when {because} I Know nothing of their meetings nor action so Cannot time it; I never was Forward to Begg for my selfe nor had Courage to doe {it}, but Can be bold in the Case of a Friend Especially of a Relation, and think it hard to se him Starve in an office, it is From you alone Sr he Expects Reliefe For where you have Lodged {placed} your Power ther's little will to be friends {to} us, I pray God send I have never Occasion to Make use of them tho none are so {more} seemingly Frindly to me then they yett I thank God For the Eyes of {my} Understanding that Can see through their Mask. I Shall say {no}
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more in the Case of my Cousen Bradshaw but Leave it to your Consideration, here I am Forced to Finish {Close} this Pacquit in hast least it should be left behinde. Tho I Suppose {hope} Shall {have} an other {brought toe send} by the same hand For Zachariah Whitpaine and I being {am} now In great Differrence about our accots. I would Deduct his quitrents out of the Bills Drawne on you and he will not {take them so} that I Know not yett how to advise about it. I am Sr &c WM New Castle July 26 1688 ADfS. Cliveden Manuscripts Chew Family Papers, HSP, reported missing Dec. 1983. (Micro. 6:051.) Docketed: The Coppy of a Lettr sent to the Goverr, by j Cap1 Holme sealed | at New Castle the 26 July 1688.
48.
1. Doc. 51. 2. The Assembly met at Philadelphia on 10 May 1688. Votes and Proceedings, i :^2-
3. This enclosure has not been found. 4. Clark represented Sussex Co., for which an election return had not yet been filed. On the dispute between the Sussex sheriff and electors, see doc. 51, n. 13. 5. On 11 May 1688 the Assembly approved a pledge requiring members to keep Assembly debates secret. See Votes and Proceedings, 1:43. 6. George Maris (c. 1632-1705), a Quaker shoemaker from Inkborough, Worcs., and a First Purchaser of 1000 acres, served as a justice of the peace and member of the Assembly for Chester Co. in the i68os and 16905. Passengers and Ships, p. gon; PWP, 2:661; PA, 2d ser., 9:693-94, 700-701; Futhey and Cope, p. 649. 7. A law made by the 1683 Assembly set the allowance for councilmen and speaker at 35 6d per day, while assemblymen were to get 35. Charter and Laws, p. 147. 8. Pennsylvania's first Assembly was held at Chester (Upland) in Dec. 1682; the Provincial Council first met in Mar. 1683. 9. For the five laws passed by the 1688 Assembly, see Charter and Laws, pp. 17982. This was the first legislation agreed upon by Council and Assembly since 1685. 10. The law passed in 1688 continued earlier statutes in force, provided that these statutes were to stand until 20 days after the close of the next year's General Assembly session. The Assembly had pressed for such a clause in 1686, to replace the former provision that laws would continue in force until new ones were published, but had dropped it at the Council's objection that this was inconsistent with the Frame of Government. See doc. 26, nn. 7-12. 11. For the fundamental laws of Pennsylvania, see doc. 37, n. 5; Charter and Laws, p. 154. 12. For Markham's fears that New Jersey smuggling would affect customs income, see doc. 51, text at nn. 38-39. Markham's supply bill was not passed by the General Assembly. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:226. 13. Benjamin Chambers was refusing either to evacuate the cave he had built on the Delaware bank or to pay WP rent for it. Most of these caves had been ordered destroyed, but those worth more than £30, like Chambers's, were to be held upon rent; the builders were to repair the bank and to leave their caves on WP's order. PA, 2d ser., 19:10, 17, igjM^ro. 5:707. 14. Chambers was a Quaker, like Markham's fellow commissioners, Thomas Ellis, John Goodson, and Samuel Carpenter. See Micro. 5:637. 15. See Thomas Holme's complaints about the faulty surveying by Charles Ashcom in Chester Co., docs. 33, 41. 16. See docs. 51, n. 7; 36, n. 9. 17. See doc. 49, n. 38.
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18. WP as proprietor held the right to all fines, fees, and forfeitures. Shepherd,
P-77-
19. David Lloyd. 20. Abraham Wharley, a brother of WP's brother-in-law Daniel Wharley, served as sheriff of Bucks Co. from 1686 to 1689. PA, 2d ser., 9:760. 21. WP could claim stray animals found by proprietary rangers, who were appointed for each county. The board of propriety had issued detailed instructions to the rangers in Sept. 1687. PA, 2d ser., 19:20-21. 22. David Lloyd's petition has not been found. 23. Friction in Lewes, Sussex Co., had delayed the seating of the controversial councilman-elect Luke Watson; see doc. 51, n. 21. 24. See doc. 50; Micro. 5:986. 25. See doc. 28, n. 12. 26. Raising the surface (of the rafters) by nailing on laths. OED. 27. William Stockdale (d. 1693), a Quaker minister originally from Scotland, had been active in Ireland before immigrating to New Castle Co., probably in 1685. A justice of the peace, he became a member of the Provincial Council in 1689. Myers, Immigration, p. 267; PA, 2d ser., 9:643. 28. Stockdale's plantation, in WP's manor of Rocklands, had formerly belonged to two Swedes, Isaac Savoy (d. 1694) and David Bilderbeck (d. c. 1695), wno traded it to WP in exchange for land in West New Jersey. PA, 2d ser., 19:706; Calendar of New Jersey Wills, 1:37, 403. 29. The word "of" is omitted here. 30. The Free Society of Traders. English investors were pressing WP for removal of the society's government to England. See doc. 6, n. 14. 31. Amounts paid out, i.e., their investment in the Society. OED. 32. Robert Fairman, a Quaker of Hertfordshire who apparently did not emigrate. Extant editions of Holme's map show no Fairman land on Neshaminy Creek, though Growden held a large tract there. Doc. 210; Courts of Bucks County, p. 318. 33. The word "to" is omitted here. 34. Markham wrote: [Expect]. 35. Capt. Humphrey Waterman (d. c. 1695), formerly of Barbados, had purchased the plantation of Walter King on Dublin Creek in Phila. Co. His wife was apparently a Quaker, and their daughter was married at Phila. Monthly Meeting in 1702. Phila. Admins. Bk. A, p. 207; Hinshaw, 2:679; Hotten, p. 471. 36. Walter King, a First Purchaser from Somerset of 1000 acres, had arrived in Pennsylvania in 1683 and was active in the Free Society of Traders. PWP, 2:647; Passengers and Ships, p. 77. 37. Robert Salford (d. 1688), a brickmaker, came to Pennsylvania as a servant in 1683 and died a year after obtaining his freedom. Passengers and Ships, p. g8n. 38. Joseph Browne, a brickmaker and First Purchaser of 200 acres in Phila. Co., had arrived in Pennsylvania in 1683. PWP, 2:658; Passengers and Ships, p. 114. 39. Thomas Budd (d. 1698), a prominent Philadelphia Quaker merchant, was acquiring land on Dock Creek, together with a tract of swamp behind the Blue Anchor tavern, where he apparently planned an improved dock. PWP, 2:399-400^, Thomas Allen Glenn, "The Blue Anchor Tavern," PMHB, 20:431. 40. Markham wrote: [the Goverrs]. 41. The word "you" is omitted here; William Hunny has not been identified. 42. Knave. 43. Doc. 53 is the rough draft, or retained copy, of Markham's letter to WP. 44. In 1684 Baltimore had built a fort near Christiana Bridge in New Castle Co. to buttress his boundary claims against Pennsylvania. PWP, 2:543. 45. Thomas Bond (d. 1699), a Quaker of Middlesex, was master of the ship Trial. Phila. Admins. Bk. A, p. 284; ACM, vol. 121. 46. Norton Claypoole (d. 1688), of Lewes, younger brother of James Claypoole, Sr., served as clerk and recorder of the Sussex Co. court. PWP, 2:344^ 47. James Claypoole (b. 1664), son of James Claypoole, Sr., had immigrated with his father in 1683 and was to become clerk for New Castle Co. in the 16908. PWP, n 2 i: 373 "> PA, d ser., 9:664.
Campaigning for the King • 204
54 FROM ENGLISH INHABITANTS OF IRELAND The policies of James II had caused turmoil in Ireland, where the Catholic majority was trying to rise from its oppressed state. Appointment of the radical Catholic earl of Tyrconnell as effective head of both government and army had accelerated the induction of Catholics into the formerly Protestant preserves of army and magistracy. AngloIrish Protestants responded with alarm, especially since Tyrconnell opposed the 1662 Act of Settlement, which secured the Irish landholdings of the English. James II was still pledged to support the act, but many doubted the firmness of his resolution. Here an Anglo-Irish group appealed to WP, as an Irish landholder himself, to intercede with the king. WP, just as he insisted on James's good faith in seeking toleration for Catholics without damage to the Anglican church, had long maintained that the Anglo-Irish had no cause to fear for their property and security. See J. G. Simms, Jacobite Ireland, 1685-91 (London, 1969); doc. 28. Dublin the [blank] of Sepr 1688
Sr Publick fame wch seldome speakes best of good men, tell us the grace and favour, you have in the sight of our King and how redily you imploy it for his Majtie service, and his peoples good, and that wthout any private advantage to your selfe, wch being soe rarely scene, in this dangerous degenerate age, is the more to be commended, and [illegible deletion] admired, that god who has given you a fair temporall fortune, hath wth it given you a higher blessing in being contented wth it, neither has his blessing in being bin terminated wth temporalls, but has endued you w th intellectuall endowments, to make you yet further serviceable to God and the King, and those not narrowed w th private intrest of persons or parties, but as extensive, as Christian charity it selfe. We know that the English here are not onely bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh, but that you have a considerable concerne in the weal or woe, and must have a share in the misery, or prosperity of this Late happy, but now miserable country.1 But all these we know, are but argument^ 2 ad hominem, we may assend to the highest of elevation, to entitle ourselvs to your assistance in this day of our extreamity, from the very Authority of Gods worde it selfe, where you will finde an instance soe apt and apposite, to our case, as if it had binn writt for our imitation, as well as for our instruction; you will finde it in the booke of Hester, where a great Courtier, a much greater favorite wth his King, then w th his god, and more desirous to satisfie his pride and malice, rather then his Masters good and service, by
September 1688 • 205
fake and malicious suggestions prevailes wth his King, to give up a numerous wealthy and Innocent people into his hands,3 they well knowing what must naturally ensue, applyes to God by earnest prayer, then to the use of such means, as might most probably conduce, to their delivery, we Cannot apply our selvs in more apposite words to you Then Mordecai used to Queen Hester Chapr the 4th 13. 14 Ver: thinck not that thou shalt escape in the Kings house more then we, for if thou holdest thy peace at this time, then shall deliverance arrise to us from another place, but thou and thy fathers house shall be destroyed, neither can we finde more apt words, for you to address to the King in our behalfe, then those mencioned by Hester Chapr 7th 3d and 4th verse, Iff I have found favour in the sight of the King, and if y* it please the King, Let my life be given me, at my petition, and my people, at my request, [torn]4 we are sold to be destroyed, to be slaine, and to perish, had we binn sold for bond men and bond women, I had held my tongue, although the [illegible deletion] enimie could not countervaile the Kings advantage.5 That exagency wch is storied to make dumb Cressus his sonn to speake,6 is the motive at present wch invites us to writes, and as our condicion is the same, meanes and wordes wee use the same soe we yet hope, that by your help our deliverance may be the same, and who Knows, wether you are not advanced to your present assendancy for such a time as this, thinck of noe medium, extirpacion or preservacion, must fee soone be the effect of our present condicion, On the first discovery of this calamity even whilst our last english Govermetrtnour was with us,7 we often applyed to God in the words of our blessed saviour if possible this Cup might pass from us8 wch many yet alive among us had formerly experimented to be soe sharp and bitter9 and conciveing in it our duty, to our God King and country to make seasonable representations [torn] feares and dangers wth the reasons, to such as we [torn] thought had most power to help us, and being credibly informed, that God had raised up an cmim eminent Lord, Moses like to stand in the Gap,10 to keep of that deluge of Calamity, wch we saw breaking in upon this Country, we thought it our duty, knowing him to be {a} stdranger to persons and thinges heere, to strengthen his hands w th Tophycks11 drawne, from the Intrest, of King and Country as well as our owne preservation, wch we hope by his Lordships power and intrest might be made impregnible in our behalfe, Yet notwthstanding the weight of those reasons, and the unwearied and the succesfull endeavors of our then governour to serve his Majtie and the Generall contentm1 he gave to all the Jarring nationall intrest of this Kingdome, Justice being equally administred wthout respect of parson or party, trade and improvem1 encouraged, the Kings revennew hightned, his establishment well payd, his army well governed, and the Kingdome well satisfyed, much more then we saw in severall years, before Wee ware too apt to flatter our selves, wth the continuance of our rest, peace and prosperity under his wing, wch we found soe healing of all Campaigning for the King • 206
the breaches formerly made amongst us, Yet notwithstanding this prudent and upright demeanor of his and the weight of those reasons, given by us, and the improvem1 thereof made by the aforesaid Lord, We found the storme still to encrease, and the attempts of the Irish more succesfull for his remove, then all the aforesaid endeavours for his stay, and finding noe other successe, attending those endeavours, but what befell the enslaved Issralites in Egypt, (Vizt) the encrease of our bonds and burthens, 12 And we knowing the crown of England to be more concerned then we, in that dispute, And that both might not perish for want of Knowledge, We made two addresses to his Majtie himselfe,13 And that the Matter contained in both, might receive[?] noe prejudice, by the obscure Instruments of its convoy. In our first we prepared certaine Interrogatories, wch we have heere enclosed, and humbly besought his Majtie that the Earle of Clarendon, upon his allegiance might declare the truth of them, and could yet wish, he ware required by writing, to give answers to them wch probably might give his Majtie a Clearer and truer light into persons and thinges heere, then can be procured, by other meanes. To other mcancs this appeale to a person of greater circumstance of credit wth his Majtie then can be found among us. In our next Addresse we prepared estimates grounded on Records, or principles in themselvs self evident by all which we {only} endeavoured a true and impartiall representations of persons and thinges here, That his Majtie rightly Knowing the disese might be the better able to give the cure, and in that addresse we plainly and demonstratively told his Majtie that if the late Judiciall proceedings here,14 ware not received reveiwed if the Gapps to let in a deluge of arbutrary power on english propriety ware not speedily repaired, and thos[e] who made them, ware not severely punished, And if noe better security then Irish Judges, sherriffs and Juries can be found to preserve the english propriety, Ichabod15 may well be the charecter, of f forreighner the Master, or a second desolation, the portion of this unhapy Country, when yet againe becomes a habitation for wild Beasts, or worst creatures, under the shape and resemblance of humane features, we wish you had a sight of those papers, how ever we cannot belive, that you can be wth out the prospect of our reall feares and dangers wch being more fully represented in the enclosed answer, to an adventurers Letter,16 though some heere thought it as fitt to be made publick as the Idle Pamphlet it confutes Yet we being rather desireous to lye under any pressure then to doe any thinge which in this Juncture may incurr his Majtie displeasure, doe submitt this and the enclosed answer to be disposed as you in your better Judgment shall thinck fitt. Copy. Clarendon Mss. 89, fols. 175-76, Bodleian Library, Oxford. (Micro. 6:086.) Addressed: For William Pen Esq. Docketed: Dublin Sepr 1688 of the hardships they Sufferd. 1. On WP's Irish landholdings, see PWP, 1:570-75. 2. The deleted "s" is replaced with a tilde in the original.
September 1688 • 207
3- Esther 4 relates how the proud courtier Hainan obtained license from King Ahasuerus to kill and despoil the Jews, to gratify his malice against the Jew Mordecai. The Irish Haman referred to here was undoubtedly the Catholic Richard Talbot, earl of Tyrconnell, who had been appointed lord deputy of Ireland early in 1687. From the 16705 Talbot had been an outspoken advocate for the interests of Irish Catholics, lobbying against the Act of Settlement, which secured the landholdings of the English in Ireland. Ironically, WP was on very friendly terms with the Irish Haman at this date; on 16 June 1688 Tyrconnell wrote to WP: "I really esteeme and love [you], and . . . am with all my heart [your] true freind and humble servant." Micro. 6:044; DNB. 4. Esther 7:4 reads "for" here. 5. Esther 7:4 reads "damage" rather than "advantage." 6. Croesus, last king of Lydia (560-546 B.C.), had a dumb son who suddenly spoke when he saw a Persian soldier about to kill his father. Croesus was spared, and the son was able to speak thereafter. Herodotus, The Histories, trans. Aubrey de Selincourt, rev. A. R. Burn (Harmondsworth, Middx., 1972), p. 75. 7. Henry Hyde, second earl of Clarendon, had served as lord lieutenant of Ireland from 1685 to 1687. During his tenure in Ireland Clarendon never had James's full confidence. Tyrconnell was granted independent authority as commander-in-chief of the army, and admission of increasing numbers of Catholics into both military and civilian offices proceeded without regard to Clarendon's opinion. Tyrconnell and his associates were agitating both for Clarendon's removal and for repeal of the Act of Settlement, which they hoped to achieve by a manipulation of Irish parliamentary elections similar to the campaign James was mounting in England. DNB; Richard Bagwell, Ireland Under the Stuarts (London, 1916), 3:149-72. 8. Matt. 26:39. 9. A reference to the sufferings of the Anglo-Irish in the Irish rebellion of 1641. 10. To "stand in the gap" was to act as defender, as Moses had turned away God's wrath from the Israelites. OED; Exod. 32:9-14; Ezek. 22:30. The eminent lord may have been Clarendon's brother the earl of Rochester, lord treasurer 1685-86, with whom Clarendon maintained a detailed correspondence on Irish affairs. 11. Topics, that is, considerations or arguments. This paper has not been found. 12. Exod. 5:6-13. Pharaoh increased the tasks of the Israelites out of anger at Moses' demand for their freedom. 13. For the first of these letters to the king, see Micro. 6:040. The second has not been found. 14. Tyrconnell's remodeling of offices had created a Catholic majority on Ireland's major courts, and the Protestant English maintained that these bodies were biased against their interests. See J. G. Simms, Jacobite Ireland (London, 1969), p. 33; Micro. 6:040. 15. Ichabod, meaning "where is the glory," was the name Phineas's wife gave her child out of grief for the Philistines' capture of the ark of the covenant, i Sam. 4:21; Douglas, Bible Dictionary. ' 16. "A letter from an adventurer and agent in Ireland, showing the present state of that kingdome, with short remarques on a printed pamphlet, stiled the vindication of the present government . . . ," dated 14 Sept. 1688, is preserved in the Clarendon Papers, Bodleian Library. F. J. Routledge, ed., Calendar of the Clarendon State Papers Preserved in the Bodleian Library (Oxford, 1970), 5:683. For the pro-Tyrconnell pamphlet it referred to, A Vindication of the Present Government of Ireland (London, 1688), see Wing V524-
55 TO THE COMMISSIONERS
OF STATE
Windsor the i8th 7mo [September i6]88
Deare Friends I Salute you with that Love, with which I ever loved you; and in that truth, which is not given to change, and that has begotten in my heart,
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a reall concern for your wellfaire & happiness every way; and I hope your regard & affection is the same to me & the prosperity of my poor family, as in former times; for it would be {no} little Joy[?] {Sorrow} to me, to hear any thing of time or distance had weakned your zeal & love towards me and myn. I have been afraid least my long (and the Lord knows unwilling) stay, should be lookt upon as slighting of you, now I was not like to gett a fresh by you, & so might direct my designes to an home advantage, & leave you to Struggle with the roughness of a remote wilderness; but the Lord god almighty knows the sorrow, the expence, the hazard that attends my absence from you, & that my prayers are most fervently, with a bowed soul, often powred forth to him, that he would clear & help my way towards you, with whom I should rejoyce to live & dye. wherfore, dear Friends, leti not your heart faile, nor your love decay, but lett your care be, that that poor Province be not prejudiced any way, by my absence, all that is possible in you; & endeavour to sweaten all things, & with the meekness of Moses, the Patience of Jobe to be good examples to that people; / have considered your hard Task, &f the Rubs the worldly Spirit putts in your way, that dispises dignity s, & for your ease, have apointed one, that is not a Friend, but a grave sober wise man to be Goverr in my absence, he married old Generall Lamberts daughter,1 was treasurer to the common wealths army in England, Scotland & Irland, I suppose independent In Judgement; lett him see wt he can doe a while, I have order'd him to confer in private with you, &? square himself by your advice; but bear down with a visible authority vice £sf faction, that it may not look a partiality in Frds {or other then should be} to act as they have done; & If he do not please you, he shall be lay'd aside; for I do it not that I am displeased with your care, or service, quite the Contrary, If in any thing you have differed from my sense, It is I beleive, because you thought it best for the gen11 Service. I desire you to receive this Person with kindness & lett him se it. & use his not being a Friend, to Friends advantage. But you must know I have a rough people to deal w th about my quitrents, that yet cant pay a ten pound Bill, but draw, draw, draw still upon me, & it being his Talent to regulate & sett things in method, easy & Just, I have pitch'd upon him to advise therin. he has a mighty repute of all sorts of honest people where he has inhabited, which w th my own knowledge has made me venture upon him. I had your letter by E. Blackfan. I have in myn to Tho. Loyd2 communicated my minde about Jos. Growdens business, [illegible deletion] & other matters, but I will add, that the Assembly, as they call themselves, is not so, without Govr & P. councel, & that noe speaker, clark or book belong to them, that the people have their representatives in the Pro. councell to prepare, & the Assembly as it is called, has only the powr of I or no, yea or nay.3 If they turn debaters, or Judges, or complainers. you overthrow your charter quite, in the very root of the constitution of it. for that Is to usurp the P. councels part in the chafrter] 4 & to forfit the charter it
September 1688 • 209
self, here would be two assemblys, & two representatives, wher as they are {but} one, to two works, one prepares & proposes, the other assents or denys. the Negative voyce is by that in them, & that is not a debateing, mending, altering, but an accepting or rejecting powr. minde this I intreat you, that all fall not to pieces, for Jos. Growdens pleading equity about that land, the charter equi[ty is?]5 not concern'd ther, for {the notion of} estates in law & equity shows he is mistaken; has he an equity to more then is due? then where is my right that he has an equity to {wl is myn}. I am M r of my own, & that he must know, next, for w* Tho: Fairman says about Measuring his land & leaveing a piece by my order,6 I renounce It, I never gave him such an order, I love no unfair thing, and for large quantitys of lands, I am contented they should keep {keep them that} have them, if they will sell at a moderate rate to new comers, else, it closes up the Country from Planters, which hurts the whole, for news, I will send all by ed Blackfan. the writts issue out today.7 a Parl. setts in gk^mo the King promesses to exclude the R. catholicks from Parl. rather then not have the liberty of conscience by a law fears of war with Holland, the lord order all for his glory, who is worthy forever — I am Your reall & affecte Friend Wm Penn the Goverr is called Captain Blackwell he commanded in the begining of the wars the famous maiden troop.8 farewell, my dr love to your familys, Frds as if Named & the People. ALS. Dreer Collection, HSR (Micro. 6:100.) 1. John Blackwell, WP's new governor, had married Frances Lambert, second daughter of John Lambert (1619-1683), a leading general under Cromwell who played a prominent role in the government of the Protectorate and actively opposed the Restoration. DNB. 2. Neither of these letters has been found. 3. The Frame of Government of 1683 had assigned to the governor and Council the power of proposing laws, which the Assembly would ratify or deny (Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:43). On tne Assembly's resistance to this distribution of authority, see Nash, Quakers and Politics, pp. 111-14. 4. Torn. 5. Torn. On Growdon's affairs see docs. 26, text at nn. 51-56; 51, n. 3, text at nn. 28-30. 6. See doc. 53, text at n. 33. 7. James II's writs for parliamentary elections were cancelled during the last week of Sept. because of the impending invasion by William of Orange. J. R. Jones, The Revolution of 1688 in England (New York, 1972), p. 133. 8. Blackwell's father, John Blackwell, Sr., had commanded this troop.
56 TO LORD DARTMOUTH While affairs in Pennsylvania were chronically unstable, England was moving swiftly toward revolution. In June the trial of seven Anglican Campaigning for the King • 210
bishops for refusing to have the Declaration of Indulgence read in their churches had intensified Protestant opposition to James's policies. The birth on 10 July of a Catholic heir to the throne sealed the resolve of the king's enemies, who were already in correspondence with William of Orange. Responding to the secret invitation of a group of prominent English conspirators, William prepared to invade, and he landed with a Dutch army on 5 November. Doc. 56 shows both James and WP anticipating the invasion, and doc. 57 shows WP continuing to press the Church of England to stop persecuting Quakers. In late October or early November, WP published A Letter to Mr. Penn: with his Answer (London, 1688) to counter charges that he was himself a Catholic and even a Jesuit. In December, in the wake of William's invasion but before the king's flight, WP reissued under a new title his 1679 pamphlet, England's Great Interest in the Choice of this New Parliament, to urge the election of good Protestants to a free parliament. If this was an effort to distance himself from James and his pro-Catholic allies, its success was limited, for later that month WP found himself briefly under arrest on suspicion of treason, and he was to spend much of the next few years in hiding. See J. R. Jones, The Revolution of 1688 in England (New York, 1972); F. C. Turner, James II (New York, 1948); PWP, vol. 5. 23d 8**»bre [October i6]88
1
Noble Friend The Bearer has given me a faire occasion to salute thee, wch I do with all the Friendship and affection Imaginable, desireing god to direct & preserve thee with honour & Success, if it must come to Blood; which I heartily pray rt may not be. This Person was Colonell Streeters Son, he serv'd & was wounded at Tanger,2 a sober & brave young man. I need say no more to thee. lett will Penn3 Lieu1 of the Bristoll have thy favour, he is an honest true fellow as lives, he can obey, and is dilligent. Yesterday was a great presence at whithall,4 the King, Queen dowager,5 the Councel, the Judges, Ld. Mayor & alldermen, the Bishops & Lds about the town, of wch the Ar. Bp. of Cant.6 8c Bps of London Winchester & oxford,7 the Marq. of Hallifax8 & Ld Notingham 9 were some, appeared in the Councel chamber, where the Birth of the {Birth of the} Prince was clear'd by the Ladys of the Bedchamber, the women, midwife, nurses, phisitians & Lords present at his Birth, to the great content of the company; the Marquess of Hallifax kist the Kings hand.10 this fills all places at present, & so this letter, last night came an express from Rotterdam, with some difficulty, confirms their comeing, 11 & Speaks of additionall forces to the former, one Greenwood is apprehended for dealing w th the Ks officers of his army to revolt;12 also wicksteed for such practices; & words against the Ld. President, for haveing a correspondence corrispondence wth the Pr. of orange.13 October 1688
•
211
he is fled wth his messenger, excuse paper & character, thy Bro r14 is Just come, & I am leaveing the the town, but every where am Thy affectionate true Frd Wm Penn ALS. D(W) 1778/1 i 1458, Staffordshire Record Office. (Micro. 6:118.) Docketed: October the 23^ 1688 | Mr W™ Penn. 1. George Legge (1648-1691), Baron Dartmouth, a longtime adherent of James, had been appointed admiral of the English fleet in anticipation of the Dutch invasion. Dartmouth made no effective resistance to the Dutch advance, and in Dec. 1688 he refused to carry out James's orders to spirit the young prince of Wales out of the country. In 1691 he was arrested on suspicion of Jacobite plotting, and he died in prison that same year. DNB; PWP, 1:54811, 2:332^ 2. Col. John Streeter had commanded a regiment of foot in 1660, supporting Gen. Monck. His son, the bearer of this letter, had served in the expedition sent by Charles II to evacuate Tangier in 1683, under Dartmouth's command. Sir Charles Firth and Godfrey Davies, The Regimental History of Cromwell's Army (Oxford, 1940), 2:41 53. Probably William Penn, the son of WP's cousin, Ens. William Penn; see PWP, i: 47 n ' 4. For an account of this special council, held to authenticate the birth of the prince of Wales, see CSPD, 1687-1689, p. 327. James's critics had spread rumors that the Catholic heir was a fraud; at this meeting the king expressed his intention to meet the invading forces in person and to settle the succession beyond all question. 5. Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705), widow of Charles II and a staunch Catholic, continued her residence in England until 1692. She had witnessed the prince's birth and testified to his legitimacy. DNB. 6. William Sancroft (1617-1693), a consistent opponent of Puritanism, had been archbishop of Canterbury since 1677. In 1688 he headed the group of seven bishops who opposed James's order that his Declaration of Indulgence should be read in churches—a confrontation that led to their arrest and acquittal in a dramatic trial. On William's arrival in England, Sancroft favored a free parliament, but when William took the crown he withdrew his support and became a leader of the non-juring clergy. DNB. 7. Henry Compton (1632-1713), bishop of London, and Peter Mews (1619-1706), bishop of Winchester, were both strongly anti-Catholic. Compton had been suspended from his bishopric by James's ecclesiastical commission in 1686 and had joined in the secret letter inviting William of Orange's invasion. Mews (whom WP had called a "Poor Mushrom" in 1670) had aided the fellows of Magdalene College in their dispute with James, and (like Compton) was to support William and Mary after the Revolution. In sharp contrast, the third bishop, Timothy Hall (1637?-1690), was an obscure divine of Presbyterian leanings whom James had appointed bishop of Oxford as a reward for reading the Declaration of Indulgence. The canons of Christ Church refused to install him, and he was unable to collect the income of the post, though he retained the title until his death. DNB; PWP, 1:182. 8. Halifax had been dismissed from office by James in 1685; see doc. 10, n. i. His presence at court in the fall of 1688 reflected James's belated attempts at conciliation. DNB. See also PWP, 1:54811. 9. Daniel Finch (1647-1730), second earl of Nottingham, was the leading Tory member of the Privy Council, noted especially for his devotion to the established church. During the Revolution he favored a regency, but he served under William and Mary as secretary of state for war and was later to hold office under Anne and George I. DNB. 10. WP is here indicating that the king appointed Halifax to office, but no record of this appointment has been found. 11. The Dutch invasion under William. 12. On unrest and Williamite agitation in the army, see John Childs, The Army, James II, and the Glorious Revolution (New York, 1980), pp. 138-67. 13. An unfrocked priest named Hugh Wickstead had arrived from Holland and appeared before the king to accuse Sunderland, lord president of the council, of
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treasonable correspondence with William of Orange. James ordered Wickstead arrested for making such impudent charges, but he quickly escaped. Kenyon, Sunderland, p. 221; CSPD, 1687-1689, p. 326. 14. William Legge, younger brother of Lord Dartmouth, a lieutenant-colonel in the royal cavalry, was carrying letters between Lord Dartmouth and the court in Oct. 1688. English Army Lists, 2:5; HMC, i ith Report, app. pt. 5 (1887).
57 FROM THE BISHOP OF ELY Ely Octob. 24. [i6]88.
My honoured freind, As I 1 promised yr freinds so I performd & writt effectually to the Bishop of Norwich2 about the Buisness you recommended to me;3 & as the matter of fact was represented to you & me, it seemed a thing of great Compassion on the one Side & Oppression on the Other. But an houre agoe the Bishop's answer is brought me in these Words. "The Case (sayes he) is not truly Stated, for I know it per Totum, having heard the whole matter heere this Last Weeke4 from the Partys Concernd Viva Voce. "I had prevaild wth the Minister5 to moderate his demands to the satisfaction of the Complainant6 himselfe, But the Atturney's Bill being 211 hindred an Agreement; I prevaild wth the Atturney to abate 31, But that would not Satisfy the Quaker, & soe the Buisness broake off.7 "I told the Quakers (who were heere since) that the onely way to putt an end to this Buisness was to move the Cheife Baron8 either to Tax the Atturney's Bill,9 Or to gitt him to refer it to me,10 & then I would bring it to an Issue: And this is no New Thing; for I have had severall references of this Nature from the Judges & have now One before me from the Master of the Rolls,11 & Cheife Justice Herbert.12 Now, Sr you see yr way before you, & I chose rather to give you the Trouble of this Account than to Leave it possible for you to Thinke that I had either Neglected wl I passt my word to doe, or did but by halves what Appeard a Worke of Justice & of Charity: besides that I would Approve my selfe, Sr, your Obliged reall freind to Serve you. Fran: Ely. ALS. Penn-Forbes Collection, HSR (Micro. 6:120.) Addressed: For my honoured Freind | Mr William Pen | Leave these at the George Yard | at a Woollen-draper's house13 in Lombard-Street London. Endorsed: Send by Wm Martin | at the bull Inn 14 in | Bushopsgat on | Munday. Docketed: Bp of Ely | 88. i. Francis Turner (1638?-1700), bishop of Ely, had gained numerous preferments by favor of James, duke of York, before being translated to Ely in July 1684. He preached the sermon at James IFs coronation but was one of the seven bishops who petitioned against the Declaration of Indulgence. He refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary and was deprived in 1690. His close relationship with
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the exiled king led the government to proclaim him (along with WP) a Jacobite plotter in Feb. 1691 (Micro. 6:535), an(^ a^so ^e 358-59> 3 6l ' 6 2, 3 6 7> 3 8 °- 8l > 384-85» 388> 399' 4°84. Bellomont had earlier asked WP to seek the support of Sunderland and the earl of Monmouth. Micro. 7:323, 316. 5. The two peers on the Board of Trade were John Egerton (1646-1701), third earl of Bridgewater, president of the board; and Forde Grey (d. 1701), earl of Tankerville. Bridgewater, an early supporter of William of Orange, had been on the Privy Council since 1691 and had been one of the few regular attenders of the old Lords of Trade. Tankerville, who had participated in the Rye House Plot and in the duke of
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Monmouth's rebellion, took little interest in colonial policy and attended the Board of Trade irregularly. Steele, Colonial Policy, pp. 16-17, 19, 173-74; DNB.
145 DRAFT OF A BREIFE AND PLAINE SCREAM [c. 8 February 1697] How the English Collonies in the North Parts of America viz1. Boston,1 Conetticut, Road Island, New York, New Jerseys, Pensilvania, Maryland, Virginia and Carolina may be made more usefull to the Crowne, and one anothers Peace and safety with an Universall Concurrence i st . That the severall Collonies before mentioned, do meet once a year, and oftner if need be, dureing the Warr, and at least once in two yeares in times of Peace, by their Stated and Appointed Deputies, to Debate and Resolve of such Measures, as are most adviseable for their better understanding, and their Publick Tranquillity and Safety. 2dly. That in Order to it two persons, well Qualified, for Sence Sobriety and Substance, be appointed by each Province, as their Representatives or Deputies; which in the whole make the Congresse to Consist of Twenty persons. 3dlY. That the Kings Comr, for that purpose specially appointed, shall have the Chaire, and Preside in the said Congresse. 4thlY. That they shall meet as neer as Conveniently may be, to the most Centrall Colony for ease of the Deputies. 5thly. Since that may, in all Probability, be New Yorke, both because it is neer the Center of the Collonys, and for that it is a Fronteir, and in the Kings Nomination, the Governour of that Colony may therefore also be the Kings high Comr 2 during the Session, after the manner of Scotland.3 6thly. That their businesse shall be {to} hear and Adjust all matters of Complaint or difference Betweene Province and Province; as i st where Persons quit their own province and go to another, that they may avoid their Just debts, tho' able to Pay them. 2dly where Offenders fly Justice, or Justice cannot well be had upon such offenders in the Provinces that entertaine them, 4 3dly to prevent or cure Injuries in point of Commerce.5 4 tnl y To Consider of wayes and meanes to support the Union and safety of these Provinces against the Publick Enemies; In which Congress the Quota's of Men and Charges will be much easier, and more equally sett, then it is Possible for any Establishment made here to do:6 for the Provinces knowing their own Condition and one anothers, can debate that matter with more freedome and satisfaction, and better adjust and ballance their affaires in all respects for their Common safety.7 7 thl y. That in times of War the Kings high Comr shall be Gen11 or
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Cheife Comander of the severall Quota's upon service against the Common Enemy, as he shall be advised, for the good and benefitt of the whole. D. CO 323/2/102-3, PRO. (Micro. 7:340.) Docketed: Plantations General | M1 Penn's Scheme for | rendring the Northern Colo- | nies of America more | useful to the Crown of Engld | and one anothers peace & | safety &c Reed | Read the 8th Febry 1696/7. With minor editorial changes, WP's Scheam was printed without attribution in [Charles Davenant], Discourses on the Publick Revenues and on the Trade of England (London, 1698), pp. 259-61. The Scheam has been printed several times, for example in Albert Bushnell Hart and Edward Channing, eds., "Plans of Union, 1696-1780," American History Leaflets, Colonial and Constitutional, no. 14 (New York, 1894); and Frederick B. Tolles and E. Gordon Alderfer, The Witness of William Penn (New York, 1957), pp. 35-371. WP means Massachusetts, including New Hampshire, which the Bay Colony was trying to annex. CSPC, 1696-1697, p. 367. 2. The Board of Trade adopted this proposal of WP's, which was supported by arguments of the New York agents made the same day, 8 Feb., before the board. The board had originally planned that Gov. Bellomont's headquarters would be in Boston, where Andros had governed all the northern colonies as the Dominion of New England in the i68os. But in Sept. 1697 the king ordered Bellomont to go directly to New York. He arrived in Apr. 1698 and, with only one brief visit to Boston in 1700, remained there until his death in 1701. Ibid., pp. 352-53; Raimo", Governors, p. 136; New York Col. Docs., 4:292. 3. A royal commissioner presided over meetings of the Scottish Privy Council and Parliament. 4. Pennsylvania was often accused of harboring debtors, criminals, and deserters. In 1693, Gov. Fletcher of New York wrote that "more Families are dayly removing for Pensilvania and Conecticutt to be eased from the Taxes and detatchments." New York Col. Docs., 4:55. 5. On 9 Dec. 1696 WP had complained to the Board of Trade that Maryland had passed laws taxing English imports to Pennsylvania via Maryland and taxing Pennsylvania beer brought into Maryland. Micro. 7:288. 6. The Board of Trade members must have wondered why a Quaker proprietor would concern himself with military matters at all. WP reassured them that "his meaning in it was principally for adjusting the differences that might arise between any of those Colonies in Civil matters, not military." The board also asked WP how decisions were to be made in this assembly, and WP explained that it would be by plurality of votes. Journal of the Board of Trade, 1696-97, transcript at HSP, pp. 394-95. 7. This aspect of WP's plan had already been tried and had failed. In 1693, Gov. Fletcher called upon the governors of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New England, Maryland, and Rhode Island to send representatives to a meeting in New York for the purpose of agreeing on quotas. Only the first three sent delegates, who announced that they could not agree on quotas with so many absent, forcing Fletcher to recommend quotas himself. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:393; CSPC, 1693-1696, pp. 171-73; New York Col. Docs., 4:54-56.
146 MEMORIAL TO THE BOARD OF TRADE Febr 12 [i6]g6/7 Wheras the Quota's are all Dedicated to the Command & Preservation of New York, as a Frontiere to the rest of the Colonys by the Gen11 Letter I received from this Bord,1 It Seems, in my opinion necessary, that a Clause be added, in case there be no Danger from the enimy, February 1697
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then attending any of the Provinces, when their Quotas are Called for by New York.2 I also further represent the minority of Pennsylvania, & that it is rated in the establishment much above its Capacity in Proportion to other Provinces.3 For we are but 14 years old, & tho we have given large marks of our Industry and substance, being begun by men of estates, yet this ought not to be the rule of rateing, but the reason of Spareing us, because we have never seen the repeated returns, New York, Mary land & Virginia &c: have enjoyd; whos Antiquity is so much greater and so their Ability than ours. Else we pay not of our Gains, but in Proportion to our Greater & more expensive Improvements, which I dare say is very farr from the Intention of this honorable Bord. Wm Penn ALS. CO 5/1233, PRO. (Micro. 7:351.) Addressed: A Memoriall | about the Quota | of Pennsylvania | To the Lords of | Trade & Plantation. Docketed: Pensilvania | M r Penn's Objections agsl | the Quota | Recd the 12th Febry 1696/7. Further docketed: Entred Fol:52. 1. In a letter of 9 Feb. 1697 (Micro. 7:345), the Board of Trade had requested that the quota approved by Queen Mary in 1694 "be for the future punctually observed and executed" (see doc. 112, n. 8). The board also cautioned WP to enforce regulations against harboring pirates or fugitives from other colonies. Almost identical letters were sent to the agents for Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island; the Jersey proprietors were warned that its militia could be called up by New York; and the proprietors of Carolina and the Bahamas were warned about piracy. CSPC, 1696-1697, PP- 356-572. On 11 Feb. WP had attended the Board of Trade to protest the quota, claiming that Pennsylvania needed to provide for its own defense because of reports of a new Indian threat on the western frontier. The following day, he presented the letter of 25 June 1696 from William Markham as proof. Doc. 134; CSPC, 1696-1697, pp. 96-97, 355-56; Journal of the Board of Trade, 1696-1697, transcript at HSP, pp. 400-401, 403. 3. Pennsylvania's quota of 80 was smaller than that of any other colony except Rhode Island, but WP argued that it was "very much overrated, particularly in respect of Maryland," whose quota was 160. However, contemporary estimates were that Pennsylvania had half of Maryland's population in the 16905. Journal of the Board of Trade, 1696-1697, p. 401; Evarts B. Greene and Virginia D. Harrington, American Population Before the Federal Census of 1790 (New York, 1932), p. 3.
147 TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS A
[i March 1697] An Answer to E. Randals Paper relateing to pensilvania1 {1} I accknowledge Colonell Markham is my Deputy Governor, A Man without exception, or the Lords of the Privy Counsell would not have recommended him to the late Queen as they did, For her approMarch 1697
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bation, and which she as redealy complyd with.2 He was Deputy Governour to Colonell Fletcher Governour of New York, while my Province was under his care & therefore I conceive noe fault in mee to continue him. {2} That Patrick Robinson is a Scotch Man & Seretary is true, but that he is by the laws of England capable of being so, is as true, but he was not of my makeing and iff the King {think} it improper he shall be immediately removed by my next letters.3 {3} That David Lloyd is called a Quaker, & is the Attorny Generall is true, but that he is reputed an honest man & the Ablest Lawyer in that province, & a zealous Man for the Goverment, none that knows him will deny, he haveing often given such proof in cases wherein the interest of the Crown has been concerned.4 J4thly} For What Concerns his reflection upon Our Judges they are honest & Substantial Men, one of them being worth 50 times the estate of this reflector.5 {^thly} For the 2 Ships pretended to come From Scotland and Norway,6 I know nothing of them & therefore crave time to answer it. Though I beleive not one word of the Insinuation. {6thly} That the Governour Favours Pyrates,7 is both foule & false, call Samuell Groome8 & Jeremy Bass9 For they have the pass of the Governour of N. York to reside or travell through Our province who is the Kings Governour in that province. {Lastly} That Colonell Markham, desired the Collectors place10 can be noe fault to the King; that I know off, nor to himself iff profitable, but iff his poverty be an Objection, he shall be changed if the King pleases, but For that reason E. Randall ought not to be Surveyor of the Coustoms, who I have reason to beleive is not worth five hundred pound, if one. in the whole world.11 please to call Samuell Groom. Counsellor Wharton.12 Jeremy Bass both to Colonell Markhams diligence agst Pyrates & Edward Randalls greater Suffitiencys Wm Penn DS. House of Lords Record Office, London. (Micro. 7:393.) Docketed: i st Answear to E. | Randall. Further docketed: i March 1696 | Mr Pens Answer | to M r Randolph | touching the Bahaman Islands.13 The editors have moved marginal numbers at the beginning of each paragraph into the text and enclosed them in braces.
B
[i March 1697] An Answer To Edward Randall's paper: Which he gave to The Lords: as to the Lower Countyes {ist} The Lower Countys were granted to me in fee, upon advice of
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the best and ablest Counsell of England, with a designe of Goverment, as well as Soyle. On these terms I Solicited and received them, and without it would not have made my 2 years Expedition to America, the rest being very imperfect, if not impracticable without theire addition, and so it has been understood in K. Charles, K. James and This Kings Time.14 {2} It's true that what tobacco grows with us, is made there, but amounts not to, one year with another above 6 or 700 hogsheads, which is but loading For a Ship of ordinary Bulk.15 {3} Iff Tobacco bee carryed from Maryland to our Side, in fraud to the King, Edw. Randall ought to answer for that, for Suffring it, and if he can't, how can I? the Crime lyes on the side of Maryland, where he cheifly resides, and there it is, shuch practices should be stopt, and not that wee should suffer for their neglects.16 {4} When it is on our Side, there is a Naval Officer,17 of his own appointment, and has been long: Who ought to answer For it; For it were very hard that wee should be Security for Officers of his putting in. {5} There is not any place upon both the bays where their is soe little and soe ill Tobacco made as att, and near the Rivers of Bohemia & Opaquimany:18 besides the Water carriage is so much cheaper on Maryland side, & the conveyance safer for Such practises, that Edward Randall confesses that 27 Sail of Ships have transgrest from Maryland, which he calls a Kings Govern^ & is more immediately under his own inspection, For 9 Sail that went From Our parts,19 and iff true, I dare affirme did not carry more tobacco then two of those From Maryland. {6} As there is but one Way alledged by E. Randall that any fraud can be committed, viz. From Bohemia river to Opaquimany on our side: so lett it be considerd that those bulky hogsheads must be brought 8 or 10 Miles overland, in that only way, which, I never heard was attempted but once, and then discoverd. Nor can {there} be an advantage proposed in doeing of itt, since one half penny per pound is all they can promise themselves For these Following risques; first the Charge of land carriage, secondly the hazzard of being taken. 3dly the rarity and difficulty of freight on our side, being oftimes 6 months without shipping, fof fourthly that makes our Freight much dearer then From Maryland, which oftimes obliges us to send Our Growth to Virginia For the convenience of Shipping. Lastly wee have noe Convoys, which Fleets from Maryland & Virginia Seldome goe without. For Conclusion in Answer to his charge relateing to the lower Countys: Wee have made a law to prohibite the importation of Tobacco into our province upon the forfeiture of the Whole, unless it pay the penny per pound to the King,20 according to the acts of Navigation,
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which are carfully observed in that province, which is made what it is by the Estates & industry of a Sober, Honest people & not by any indirect ways as he basely Suggests. To wrhich city Please to call Samuell Groome. Rob1 Ruddle. Jeremiah Bass. Capt. Wild. Richard Hill.21 Wm Penn DS. House of Lords Record Office, London. (Micro. 7:388.) Docketed: 2d Answear to E. | Randall. Further docketed: i March 1696 | Pens Answer | M r Randolphs Pap. | relateing to Pensilvania. 1. On 20 Feb. 1697 Surveyor General Edward Randolph (1623-1703) presented to the House of Lords a paper describing all the proprietary and chartered colonies, naming their top officials and citing abuses of the Navigation Acts as a preface to his proposal that the crown assume the government of all the colonies. The Manuscripts of the House of Lords, 1695-1697 (London, 1903), pp. 440-44. 2. See doc. 112; Micro. 6:837, 884, 896. Randolph had noted in his statement of 20 Feb. 1697 that Markham's two Quaker assistants, Carpenter and Goodson, had "refused to act" (which was actually true only of Goodson). In an undated rejoinder to doc. 147, Randolph wrote: "Mr. Penn thought it not fit to entrust the civil affairs of his province to Mr. Markham (an infirm man) only, yet has the great confidence to recommend him to the Lords of the Council of Trade, as fit to be the sole Governor, to be approved of by his Majesty in all matters of trade and state, with the addition of being appointed Vice-Admiral also." Randolph continued to attack Markham, particularly after the deputy governor had him arrested in 1698, and WP was forced to remove his relative from office in 1699 (see doc. 1 ^3)- Manuscripts of House of Lords, 1695-1697, pp. 441-42,458; Michael G. Hall, Edward Randolph and the American Colonies, 1676-1703 (Chapel Hill, 1960), pp. 186-87. 3. Patrick Robinson had been appointed secretary to the Provincial Council in 1693, during Fletcher's administration, and remained in that office until his death in 1701. Randolph held that Robinson was ineligible for office because he was Scottish; he suspected Scottish colonists of conducting illegal trade with Scotland and accused Robinson of defending Scottish shipowners against the king's advocate. In 1698 the attorney general and solicitor general of England ruled that Scottish immigrants to the colonies were natural-born subjects and therefore eligible to hold office under the Navigation Act of 1696. Manuscripts of House of Lords, 1695-1697, p. 459; Hall, Edward Randolph, pp. 185-86. 4. In Feb. 1697 Randolph had reported that "David Floyd, a Quaker" was WP's attorney general. In Aug. 1696 he had told the Board of Trade that "David Koid . . . refused me, to put severall forfeited Plantation Bonds in Suite, saying he was Attorney GenU for the Province only." Manuscripts of House of Lords, 1695-1697, p. 442; Robert N. Toppan, ed., Edward Randolph: His Letters and Official Papers (1899; reprint ed., New York, 1967), 5:143; Roy N. Lokken, David Lloyd: Colonial Lawmaker (Seattle, 1959), p. 19; doc. 154. 5. Randolph had claimed that Pennsylvania's judges were "not legally qualified, nor can the officers of the Customs obtain justice for his Majesty." To support his accusation, he submitted the records of three trials in the Lower Counties. Manuscripts of House of Lords, 1695-1697, pp. 442, 459. The wealthy justice WP refers to here must have been Edward Shippen, who was supposed to be worth £10,000 sterling. Randolph S. Klein, Portrait of an Early American Family: The Shippens of Pennsylvania Across Five Generations (Philadelphia, 1975), pp. 18-22. 6. Randolph claimed that the brigantine William and Mary, also called the New Castle, had unloaded "a great quantity of Scotch goods" at Philadelphia in 1695. The ship was later seized in West Jersey by Capt. Meech, whose journal Randolph presented as evidence. Meech had also seized the Mill, which came "from Some port in Norway . . . loaden with Wine and European Goods, having no Cleering from any port in England." Members of the Pennsylvania Council and Assembly wrote WP that his government was not at fault in either incident, and WP submitted their letter to the Board of Trade in Nov. 1697. Toppan, Edward Randolph, 5:156-57; Board of Trade Papers, Proprieties, 1697-1698, transcript at HSP, pp. 499-502.
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7. Randolph wrote that Markham was "a favourer of the pirates which came from the Red Sea about three or four years ago." Toppan, Edward Randolph, p. 157; Manuscripts of House of Lords, 7695-1697, p. 442. 8. Samuel Groome (d. 1698) was a Quaker ship captain, based in London and active in transatlantic trade. PWP, 2:11 in; Digests of Quaker Records, London and Middx., GSR 9. Jeremiah Basse (d. 1725) had served as WP's agent in West Jersey and as agent for the West Jersey Society. After he was commissioned as deputy governor of East and West Jersey in July 1697, he was often in conflict with WP and the Quakers because of his militant support of the Church of England. Pomfret, West New Jersey, pp. 91, 174, 207-10; Raimo, Governors, pp. 210-11. See also doc. 162, n. 10; PWP, vol. 4. 10. Randolph had submitted a copy of a letter from Markham, asking Randolph for an appointment as customs collector in Pennsylvania because he had only a small salary as governor. Randolph was actually criticizing WP for not paying Markham enough, noting that underpaid officials "will be easily tempted to do and connive at unlawful things." Manuscripts of House of Lords, 1695-1697, p. 442; Toppan, Edward Randolph, p. 157. 11. Randolph had little family money; his primary source of income was his salary from government service, which in 1697 was raised to £365, the same as that of an admiral in the navy. Hall, Edward Randolph, pp. 1-4, 177. 12. Probably WP's attorney at this time. See doc. 157. 13. In Randolph's report of 20 Feb. 1697, he had begun his discussion of the proprietary colonies with the Bahamas. Manuscripts of House of Lords, 1695-1697, p. 44014. Randolph claimed that "Mr. Penn is the Proprietor of the soil only" in the Lower Counties. Manuscripts of House of Lords, 7695-1697, p. 441. WP's right to govern there had been confirmed most recently when his charter was restored in 1694. See doc. 112. 15. Randolph claimed that the Lower Counties were the only region on Delaware Bay where tobacco was grown. Because this area was adjacent to Maryland, he argued that it should be annexed to that colony to facilitate the enforcement and collection of customs. WP argued that since the Lower Counties and Pennsylvania were under the same proprietor, they should also be under the same customs jurisdiction. When Secretary of State Trumbull presented WP's argument to the king, his majesty thought it "appear'd but reasonable," and the Board of Trade was prevailed upon to grant WP's request. Board of Trade Papers, Plantations General, 1696-1697, transcript at HSP, fol. 44. 16. Gov. Nicholson of Maryland had accused Pennsylvania merchants of bringing "great quantities of tobacco" overland from Maryland and sailing directly for Scotland, in violation of the Navigation Act of 1696. Until the union with England in 1707, all goods shipped to Scotland had to pass through English customs first. Gary B. Nash, "Maryland's Economic War with Pennsylvania," Maryland Historical Magazine, 60:2323717. WP probably means William Clark, appointed customs collector of West New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware by Randolph in 1692. Toppan, Edward Randolph, 5:364; Hall, Edward Randolph, p. 140. 18. The Bohemia River, running into Chesapeake Bay, and Appoquinimink Creek, running into Delaware Bay, are at the northern end of what is now called the Delmarva Peninsula. Both were then in the Lower Counties, according to the boundary settlement of 1685; today, the Bohemia is within Maryland's borders. 19. Randolph asserted that between 1690 and 1695, nme ships had left Delaware bound for Scotland with tobacco. Manuscripts of House of Lords, 1695-1697, pp. 441, 464; Toppan, Edward Randolph, 5:139, 142-43. 20. In 1694 the Pennsylvania Assembly passed a law imposing heavy fines for bringing tobacco out of Maryland into Pennsylvania or the Lower Counties without first paying customs duties. Charter and Laws, p. 243; Nash, "Maryland's Economic War," p. 234. 21. Robert Ruddle and Richard Hill (1673-1729) were Quaker ship captains and merchants active in transatlantic trade. Ruddle lived in London; Hill was born in Maryland but moved to Philadelphia in 1700 when he married the widowed Hannah Delavall, the daughter of Thomas Lloyd. He had known and supported WP earlier and later became a provincial judge, member of the Council, and speaker of the
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Assembly. Digests of Quaker Records, London and Middx., Bristol and Som., GSP; PWP, 2:660; Mortimer, 1:214; PMHB, 4:197; 12:378-79. Capt. Wild has not been identified.
148 FROM WILLIAM MARKHAM [i March 1697] Sr
I have writ by all oportunitys from hence1 by the fleet going home from mariland & Virginia & know not that I have omitted anything meteriall of wl occurred, but since James Claypoles return from Virginia2 & the report he gives of Governour Nicholsons envie & malice to this Province, & of his preparing Certificates to frame a Complaint home, must inlarge upon him.3 I have not been wanting in my respects to him both personally Sc by writing, & in show he has returnd it as Indearing as possibly a man could doe. But wl fury has possest him now, I cannot Immagine, that he, all of a sudden, should run into such rage, w th out the least notice Given me or friendly advice To me; Its admirable, to be Carest, wth all the shows of familiarity & friendship, & on a sudden Change (wthout warning) to an inveterate ennemy, & hunt & seek after prejudict poeple (either so by their own ill natures or so by his insinuation) To gett affidavitts, & Certificates signed to fasten Calumny, but this is not the only Govermt He vents against, None upon the Continent Escapes him; but this he thinks he can best deal w th , & hopes to have it aded to His of maryland; he has along time endeavoured to grasp it, whether out of Avarice or enmity I leave others to Judg.4 These his late actions have cald to my minde his behaviour in this town, His imbracing me wth a Kiss, & on the road hence to Lewis, wch he road, to view this country,5 wth none but his man, would call in att poor poeples houses & inquire after miscariages in the Goverm1, & wl the poor ignorant poeple could say, he {putt} downd-^w*** k amongst his memorandums. Who can Escape complaints wn there are such Diligent informers. The minister that I mentioned in my letter, to the Bishop of London, who was dismist by his Congregation, told me that there were severall in this town in a Caball against me, & intended to make head.6 I asked if they were rich or poor, for if they be rich (sd I) fain would I have them begin, but if poor I should pitty them. He said they were some of the Chief, & their motive was my countenancing the Quakers as I did. he promised shortly to give me an account of their proceedings, & then I should know who they were. But that this making head agst me was by the Instigation of Governour Nicholson I no way Doubt by wl he sd to me (viz) if any should oppose or rise agst M r Penns Goverm1 it could not be Treason nor would the
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King be att the Charge of quelling of them for him, Intimating that rebellion was the way to bring this Goverm1 under the Kings Commission, & if he would say so much to me, wl would he say to those not concerned wth you, nor had any dependence upon you. I doe not think it a rash Conclusion in me (the premises considered, & other things dayly coming to my remembrance) that some have had promises or hopes of imploymts from him, whom, wth another sort that will never be satisfied wth any Govern^ (and severall such here are shrouded under the name of Quakers7 wch you cannot but have heard off) May soon rise to such a hight as to endanger the Govermt. Such must be narrowly lookt after & severely dealt wthall, wch they may be sure of whilest I am Concerned. The letter I inclosed from three persons att {new} Castle8 I answerd according to the Strictness of the Law, It being brought by M r Coots9 whose ship is in maryland, & wants 50 hogsheadds of tobaccos to fill her, & severall other ships there, are in the Same Condition & none there be to be Gott, here is some in this River that the owners want vent for, & its but 7 miles to Cart to Maryland, & tho I am confident it would be for his Majesties Interest to lett it pass, yett I dred being trickt having not seen any seen {either originall or copy of} any permit from Governor Nicholson, wn I doe I shall further Consider of it. Only before I end putt you in minde to discourse the commissioners of the Customs concerning transporting overland to maryland, Tobacco bond being given it shall Go thence to England,10 I am satisfied it will be for his Majesties interest I am Sir Yor Faithfull & obedient Servant Wm Markham Phila: March i»t 1696/7 Copy. CO 5/1257, PRO. (Micro. 7:398.) Docketed: Letter from | Goverr Markham To the Proprietary | March i»t 96/7. 1. Markham sent WP letters dated 13 Feb. and 22 Feb. 1697, explaining Pennsylvania's recent troubles with pirates and Maryland. In Nov. 1697 WP submitted copies of these letters and several others to the Board of Trade as evidence in Markham's defense. Doc. 154; Micro. 7:358, 374, 476; CSPC, 1697-1698, pp. 6, 43-52; Board of Trade Papers, Proprieties, 1697-1698, transcript at HSP, pp. 329-93; Journal of the Board of Trade, 1697-1698, transcript at HSP, pp. 332-47. 2. James Claypoole, Jr., then clerk for the Lower Counties, had spent the winter in Maryland and Virginia. He reported to Markham that there were "many affidav ts taken against this Govermt [Pennsylvania] wch to the best of my Knowledge are absolutely false." Board of Trade Papers, Proprieties, 1697-1698, p. 350. 3. On 27 Mar. 1697, Gov. Francis Nicholson of Maryland sent a lengthy letter and supporting documents to the Board of Trade complaining that Pennsylvania harbored pirates and deserters. CSPC, 1696-1697, pp. 418-28. 4. Like Randolph, Nicholson hoped to annex Delaware to Maryland. Pennsylvanians thought he was trying to do so by force when, in Oct. 1696, he sent Maryland soldiers into New Castle ostensibly to capture a pirate named John Day and his men, reputed to be deserters from royal ships. Gary Nash, "Governor Francis Nicholson and
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the New Castle Expedition of 1696," Delaware History, 11:229-39. See also docs. 154, n. 8; 161, n. 3. 5. Nicholson visited Pennsylvania in autumn 1695 in order, he wrote the Board of Trade, "to inform myself of their illegal trade, which I am very sensible is great." He found what he was looking for. On 18 Mar. 1696, he wrote: "Last fall I travelled through Pennsylvania and found there several places fit to manage illegal trade at, and the people generally inclined to make use of them whenever they can." CSPC, 16931696, pp. 510, 654. 6. Markham is referring here to the Anglicans in Philadelphia. See doc. 132A. His letter to the bishop of London has not been found, nor has the dismissed minister been identified. See Charles P. Keith, Chronicles of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1917), 1:334
' 7. Keithians, who were then holding their own meetings and had not yet dispersed into other denominations. 8. Three New Castle merchants—Richard Halliwell, John Donaldson (d. 1702), and Robert French (d. 1713) — wrote to Markham on 24 Feb. 1697, asking his permission to take tobacco from Delaware to ships loading in Maryland. Markham refused because it would be contrary to the Navigation Act and referred the men to WP. All three merchants were Scottish-born Anglicans who had served as provincial judges and members of the Council and Assembly for several years. Board of Trade Papers, Proprieties, 1697-1698, pp. 383-92; Micro. 7:380; New Castle Co. Will Bk. C, p. 8; G, pp. 416-17; George H. Gibson, ed., The Collected Essays of Richard S. Rodney on Early Delaware (Wilmington, 1975), pp. 70, 144-48. 9. James Coutts (d. after 1750) or his brother Hercules (d. 1707), Anglican merchants who emigrated from Scotland to New Castle Co. They were co-owners of at least one ship, the Constant Alice. Scharf, Delaware, 1:130-31; PMHB, 3:450; Board of Trade Papers, Proprieties, 1697-1698, p. 350. 10. Ships carrying tobacco were required to give a bond and pay a plantation duty at their port of clearance, guaranteeing that they would deliver their goods to England. Gov. Nicholson held that if a ship stopped at a second port of clearance, it should pay a second duty there. This was unfavorable to Pennsylvania merchants, who had to ship most of their exports through Maryland and Virginia. WP does not seem to have raised this issue with English authorities, and the double duty was not eliminated until 1703. Andrews, Colonial Period, 4:122-24.
149 PROPOSAL FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF TRADE IN AMERICA [c. 4 March 1697]* A proposall for the Advancm1 of Trade In America. The English Empire in America, takeing in all those latitudes of Europe wch furnishes us with forreigne commodityes that are either so necessary or agreeable to us. wee may as I humbly conceive raise them, iff due methods were taken for it in our own Colonys; as Pitch, Tarr[,] deales,2 Masts, hemp, flax, Iron, Potashes, silk, Wine, oyl, Fruit, gumms, druggs, copper &c. That such a designe is practicable, N. England and the neighbouring Colonys have given us a proof: For pitch, tarr deales, Masts, hemp, flax, may be plentifully raised on that Continent; and which, For ought I hear, fall not short in goodness of those wee have from the Baltick: about wch, proposals have severall times been made and doe I suppose, now lye before the Lords Com-
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misr for trade and plantations.3 Good Wine, has been made as far Northeast, as the Narragansett Country in4 Pensilvania: both Germans & French make wine yearly, white and red; but not in quantity for export. For Silk, Virginia gave a Suffitient proof in the time of Sr Wm Bartlett.5 K. Charles 2d wore of it. Oyle may be produced there, and both Doubtless in Carolina to perfection, that being yet more to the Southward as also all those fruits that come from the Streights.6 For Gumms & Druggs all the Colonys produce them in good quantitys, also potashes to be made upon the Continent. But to produce these commodityes in Fitting quantityes, three things are requisite: First hands, 2 dl Y time before duty be imposed 3dlY a better discipline in generall. Wee cannot have hands enough att reasonable rates without more encouragement to forreigners, wch the late Act of Parliament makes more difficult to gett then before: 7 for instead of advantaging ourselves by the labor of strangers in the plantations; it suffers none but English to goe thither, without leave under the privy seal; Which deserves consideration, since they have now but hands suffitient to raise the present produce of Tobacco & Sugar and to feed themselves & the Southern plantations: and they will not be diverted to other things, nor is it fitt they should. Iff there be peace that part of the army wch is disbanded will be well imployed in such commodityes. for those commoditys wee fetch from the Baltick: there are in & about N. England, those that understand their make, so that if they had some more hands they Would be easily and speedily raised; The French refugees, are most Skilfull, in Silk, Wine, fruit, and iff suffitiently encouraged, would with a Suitable number of hands answer that point. 2 dl Y The next thing is time, & that may be made an encouragem1 to Undertakers] iff the Goverm1 will take of wtl is made for 7 years att a certain price, & no Coustome or Duty payable for that time; & more duty laid upon the same Commodityes of Forreigne growth & manufacture. 3dly Discipline, wch is cheifly wanted & would most of all contribute to the advancement of the Collonys, and what I take to be an artifitiall vertue. For without Industry there can be noe improvem1, & where discipline is loose industry must fall, of wch wee have almost in all the Collonys but too plain proofe: for by the Study of private gain in Officers, & the too great indulgence of litientiousness in the people, very mean improvemts have been made in divers parts belonging to the Crown in America: Insomuch, that the common people live but from hand to mouth, are poor, Shaby and debaucht, ill examples to the natives, little comfort to themselves, and not half the benefitt they might be, to the Collonys & the Crowne; all wch may be helpt by a better discipline, that neither oppreses on the one hand nor indulges licentiousness on the other but encourages the people in Sobriety and Industry.
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For the prevention of frauds from the Tobacco Collonys to the King 6 Kingdome, it is humbly Offered, that all Masters of Ships should, not only in their ace1 of Loading give the number of their hogsheads; but also the severall marks those hoggsheads have, because cured & packt by severall planters, and consigned to divers hands, and consequently differently markt. also that there be 3 Contents, clearings, or Cocquets8 of each ship; one to come by the Ship itself, & the other two, to be sent to the Commissioners of the Coustoms by such conveyance as the Kings Officer shall think most safe together with a coppy of the certificate which he receved from Such Master, as given to the said Master by the Commissioners att his clearing out from England. Lastly that the Master be bound to the Goverment, as well as the Owners, to Forfeit 500! if faulty in navigateing to any ports but according to law. Conclusion for a better Correspondence & Commerce among the Kings provinces upon the Continent, And for the Goverm1 of the Northern tract of America, where the People are planted att great distance one from another. I Humbly offer that the King would be pleased to recommend to them their Annuall meeting by Deputys, who best knowing their own, and one anothers circumstances, they may adjust all matters in pursuance of such directions to a common benefitt.9 Copy. House of Lords Record Office, Main Papers. (Not filmed.) Docketed: 4 March 1696 | M r Pens Proposall | for advancement of Trade. Further docketed: 16967 Mar. 4. 1. On 4 Mar. 1697 this proposal was read before a House of Lords committee on the state of trade. See The Manuscripts of the House of Lords, 1695-1697 (London, 1903), pp. 470-72 (Micro. 7:405). 2. Boards of fir or pine. 3. The Board of Trade was considering several proposals for the production of naval stores in New England, and it had appointed a commission to visit America and report on the matter. Journal of the Board of Trade, 1696-1697, transcript at HSP, pp. 20-22, 30-32, 37, 88. 4. Presumably an error for "and." The "Narragansett Country," along Narragansett Bay in present-day Rhode Island, had attracted some French settlers who were producing Bordeaux-style wine. New York Col. Docs., 4:787-88. 5. WP means Sir William Berkeley (1606-1677), governor of Virginia 1642-52 and 1660-77, wno nad actively encouraged silk culture and in 1668 sent 300 pounds of Virginia silk to Charles II. Though the monarch approved, its production never became firmly established. Raimo, Governors, pp. 472-73; Lewis Cecil Gray, History of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860 (Washington, B.C., 1933), 1:184-85. 6. The Straits of Gibraltar, source of Mediterranean citrus fruits. On colonial attempts at the culture of citrus and olive trees, see Gray, History of Agriculture, pp. 191927. The Navigation Act of 1696 provided that lands in America were to be sold only to English nationals except by special permission from the Privy Council. 8. Cockets, certificates of the payment of duty issued by customs officials. OED. WP presented more detailed plans for preventing fraudulent shipping in another proposal to the Lords' committee on 11 Mar. (Micro. 7:406). 9. See doc. 145.
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TROUBLE IN PENNSYLVANIA 1697—1698
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The years 1697-98 saw a continuation of the predominant theme in WP's life — the need to protect his right to Pennsylvania, a right severely threatened by the behavior of the colonists. It must have been clear to WP that he needed to go to Pennsylvania, and on several occasions he wrote to Pennsylvania Friends of his intention to leave for America in the spring or summer of 1698. But instead he spent the summer of 1698 in Ireland, his first visit there since 1670 (see docs. 169, 170, 172, 175). Having failed to prevent the establishment of colonial viceadmiralty courts, WP continued to experience difficulties with the Board of Trade, which was influenced by hostile reports on Pennsylvania from Governor Francis Nicholson of Maryland, Edward Randolph, and the new vice-admiralty judge, Robert Quary. The board, anxious to promote England's trade with the colonies and upset at the apparent complicity of some colonial governors with pirates, demanded stern action against piracy and an end to what it perceived as a thriving, illegal colonial trade with Scotland, the Dutch colony Curagao, and Europe (see Root, Relations of Pennsylvania, pp. 6—8, 61—65). A particular object of the board's disapproval was Pennsylvania's aged, crippled governor, William Markham, whose daughter was married to a suspected pirate, and who was accused by Randolph of permitting illegal trade (see doc. 154). The board was also displeased with the passage by the Pennsylvania legislature of an Act for Preventing Frauds, which circumvented the vice-admiralty courts by providing for local jury trials of pirates and illegal traders. For this strategy Randolph blamed David Lloyd, the colony's attorney general, whom he perceived as an enemy to the English government (see doc. 154). As in the winter of 1696—97, WP once again appeared to be on the defensive. However, WP joined with other colonial governors and successfully resisted attempts to force them to post bond for the behavior of their deputy governors (see doc. 165). WP also confronted both Randolph and Nicholson, chastising the Maryland governor, in particular, 497
for blatant hypocrisy. He stoutly defended Markham, who he believed deserved a fair hearing before being condemned (see docs. 157, 158, 161, 178). At the same time, however, despite protestations of innocence from Markham, Samuel Carpenter, and the Pennsylvania legislature (docs. 154, 155), WP insisted that Pennsylvanians cooperate with the Board of Trade by repealing the clause which superseded vice-admiralty courts, ending any cooperation with pirates, halting all illegal trade, and paying the taxes necessary to assist in the defense of New York (docs. 156, 162, 178). Pennsylvania's resistance to the Board of Trade was not the only sign of trouble for WP from the colony. In March 1697 Lieutenant Governor Markham received a Remonstrance (doc. 150) signed by 116 critics of the Quaker government, including WP's staunchest ally in the colony, Robert Turner. In his letters to WP in 1697, Turner expressed his estrangement from the dominant Quaker faction. He complained because goods were distrained in 1697 from those who refused to pay the penny-per-pound tax for Governor Fletcher of New York, an unwelcome reminder for Turner of one form of persecution which the Quakers had undergone in England. In addition, he complained bitterly about the imposition in Philadelphia of a twopenny-per-pound tax, ostensibly for a new prison, and was also alarmed at the holding of offices by Markham and David Lloyd without commission, and at the increasing number of offices left vacant (see doc. 163). Internecine feuding between Quakers had, of course, characterized the early history of the colony; but the recent influx of nonQuakers into the colony shifted the focus of discontent. These new immigrants joined with numerous resident non-Quakers and Keithian Quakers in opposition to the political dominance of Friends. Now Robert Turner and Arthur Cook, another prominent Friend, were in the forefront of the opposition, supporting greater participation in politics by non-Quakers. The majority of the politically significant Quakers, however, sided with David Lloyd and Samuel Carpenter, who had led the drive in 1695—96 to enact the new Frame of Government (doc. 136). This effectively restricted power to those who had resided in the colony for two years and were reasonably wealthy, and it also gave the dominant legislative role to a smaller Assembly. Angry at this turn of events, Turner took a prominent role in organizing an alternative election in Philadelphia the first time the new Frame was put into effect. Those elected by this opposition included a number of non-Quakers, but Governor Markham rejected the results and the issue was joined, with WP, as always, called upon to arbitrate (see docs. 150, 151, 152, 153). Only WP's presence in the colony, Turner warned, could resolve these crises.
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150 REMONSTRANCE OF PHILADELPHIA INHABITANTS [12 March 1697] The Remonstrance of Divers of the peaceable & well affected Inhabitants of the County of Philadelphia in the Said province the 12th day of March 1696/7
Shewing That Whereas Divers of us Did Expose our persons Familes & Estates not only to the perills and hazerds of the Seas in our Transportacion, But to the Difficulties and hardships Incident to the Settlement of New Collines in these wilderness partes of the world Being principally Encouraged thereunto by the great Liberties Franchises and immunities promised us in Divers papers published to the world by Wm penn proprietor and Governor of the Said province of pennsilvania & Teritors Thereunto Belonging before our said Transportacion And which Said Liberties Franchises and Immunities after Divers of us through the great mercy of God Safely arived together with the Said Wm Penn in this wilderness Country, he the Said William penn proprietary and Governor Did for himself his heires & assigns under his hand and Broad Seale afterwards vizt upon the Second Day of the Second month in the 3oth l yeare of the Reigne of K[i]ng Charles the Second and 3d of his the said proprietarys Governm1 over the said province Sec and in the yeare 1683 with some alterations Confirm by Charter2 which was by the Representatives of the Said Inhabitants in provinciall Councell and assembly the same Day and yeare Thankfully Received with a promise that the sd Charter should bee by them Inviolably kept and Whereas amongst Divers other Immunities given to the Inhabitants of this governm* by the said Charter It is granted that the provinciall Councill for the said province and Teritors should Consist of Eighteen persons (viz1, three out of Each CountyQ] and that the assembly for the Same should Consist of 36 persons (viz1, six out of Each County[)] By whom together w th the Said Wm penn his heires a«d {or} assigns All Laws for the setling & well governing of the sd province &c should be made in a Generall assembly and which Members or Representatives for Councill [&] assembly were to be Chosen by the Freemen of the said province and Teritories Annually upon the [io]th [day of the first month and] accordingly for several [yearjes the methods of proceedings in governfm1] being pursuant to the Sd Charter the Inhabitants Sencibly felt [the] Benefitt & good Effects thereof, untill it pleased king Wm & Queen Mary to take the govrnm1 of the said province and Counties into their own hands & to Commissionate Benjamin Fletcher their Cap1 Generall & Governor in Cheife of the Same from the time of the publicacion of whose Commission3 the Charterall Councell & assembly then in being Ceased
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to bee in a Charterall way untill the said King and Queen were favourably pleased to Restore the said Wm Penn to the governm1 of this his sd province & teritories4 at which time (as we humbly Conceive) all the Rights Liberties Franchisees and Immunities Contained in the said Charter of Liberties Did of Right return to us & other the sd Inhabitants And particularly the Right of Electing members Annally to serve in provinciall Councell & assembly, And accordingly the freemen of this County Intending as near as might bee to pursue the Methods prescribed by the sd Charter in the Choice of [thejir Representatives Did assemble together in the Town of Philadelphia upon the ioth day of this Instant (March) And Did there Choose three persons to Serve in provinciall Councell and six persons to serve in assembly to assist the governor in a Charterall way of proseeding5 and Notwithstanding (we Conceive[)], Noe alteration Ch[an]ge or Deminucion can be made of the said Charter or any part or Clause thereof without the Consent of the said proprietary & Governor his heires or assigns and Six partes of seven of such an assembly and Councell as were Constituted thereby and that whatever shall be done by any per[s]on or persons Contrary thereunto shall be held of no force or Effect Yet some of us having understood that another method then that which is prescribed by the sd Charter in Respect of the governm1 hath of Late been Indeavoured to be introduced6 not only in Respect of the promulgacion & publishing of Bills to bee passed into Laws by the Governor & Counsill But also with Respect to the Number of Representatives to serve in Councill & assembly as well as other priviledges Contained therein Wee have therefore from a Just Resentment thereof & agr[ie]vance thereat thought meet by this Remonstrance not only to Lay open our said agrievances to the governor But with all Dutifull Respects & protestacions of our peaceable & Just Intention therein h[u]mbly to Request that our Liberties & priviledges Contained in the said Charter may not be violated Infringed or altered But that the governor will be favourably pleased together with the Representatives in Councell and assembly to Convene at the Respective times & proceed according To the Respective methods prescribed and appointed by the said Charter: And wee as is our bounden duty shall be Ready not only to Yeild all Due obedience but according to our Respective perswasions and abillities Readily Contribute to the Support and upholding the government soe Established & Render thankfull acknowlidgments to our Governor for his Justice and Favour in the premisses Singned by Us In Behalfe of our Selves and others the Inhabitants of this County7 Arthur Cooke Robert Turner Jonathan 0 Livezey James Parrock John Jones
Griffith Jones J°on Jennett Ross Reynold Richard Jennett J onn Bowyer
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Georg ® Fisher Francis Garvis John Redman Jun George Fitzwater Jeremiah Price James West Thomas ® Lauston Joseph Ashton Tho Fairman James Heaton Israel Taylor Jacob ® Evans Wm Preston Chris ® Clous John ® Kembill James Hawkins Jon ® Swanson Geerg Burson Thomas ® Madox William Lull Henry Hayward Richard Worell Neals ® Leakin Hanse (x) Leakin
John Gibbs Thomas Hall Thomas Harding John Williamson John White Even ® Jones Henry Furnis Henry ® Johnson Philip England Richard Whitfield John Worrell Joseph Pidgeon Fr. Jones Matethias ® Kenn Ereck ® Nilson Daniell Street Toby Leech Juner Griffith Miles George ® Eaton Allen Foster John ® Eaton Patrick ® Callee Rich: Seary Robert Row
Franc8 Rawle8 Jos: Willcox James Robinson Jeremiah ® Ozburn Robert Bonell Christopher Davison William Salsbery Edward Jarman Thomas Pryor Daniel Pegg John Fu{r}nis John Buzby Peter Prockter [Illegible] Joseph ® Hart Atlewell [?] ® Soillmorton Ereck ® Kenne Richard Tomlinson Edmond Orpwood John Hart Edward Buzby
Joshua Carpenter9 Samuel Holt Thomas Herris Jn° Herris Enoch Hobart William Sillverston William ® Snead Samuel Ellis Thomas Cotton Thomas Sisem Ralph Ward Richard ® Tayler Robert Wallis John Rowland John Harper ® Ju Wm ® Mulicke Harman Enock Miles Nilson Charles Harper Toby Leech Thomas Fitzwater
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Edmond Wells Philip Parker Andrew ® Bankson John (x) Buther Abraham ® Richards Joseph Fisher James Mcallster Robert Tate
Edward Eaton John Harper Sen Thomas Kitchin Thomas (x) Clarke Thomas Kimber Richard Wansell James Standfield Andrew (x) Leaken
ADS. Penn Letters and Ancient Documents, APS. (Not filmed.) Addressed: To William Markham Governor of the Province of Pennsilvania and | Counties annexed under William Penn absolute Proprietor and Chief Governor of the Same. This document is torn in several places; readings of missing letters or words are supplied from a copy of the Remonstrance in Society Miscellaneous Collection, HSR (Not filmed.) 1. A mistake for 36th. 2. The confirmation occurred in the Frame of Government of 2 Apr. 1683. See Charter and Laws, pp. 155-61. 3. Fletcher's commission was publicly read in Philadelphia on 26 Apr. 1693. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:364. 4. WP was restored as proprietor on 20 Aug. 1694. See Micro. 6:908. 5. In fact, this election was contrary to the new Frame of Government of 1696. See docs. 151, 152, 153. 6. See doc. 151. 7. The editors have not attempted to identify the signers of this Remonstrance, but an observation about them is in order. It appears that Arthur Cook, Griffith Jones, and Robert Turner were the only prominent Quaker political figures who signed this document. According to Gary Nash (Quakers and Politics, pp. 205-8), they and their fellow signers represented a growing opposition movement which included Anglicans and other disaffected non-Quakers, along with some Keithian Quakers, all of whom resented the Quaker domination of Pennsylvania government. See also docs. 152, 153, 155, 162. 8. Beginning of the third column of names. 9. Beginning of the fourth column of names.
151 FROM ANTHONY MORRIS AND OTHERS d
Philadelphia the 22 end i st mo [March] 1696/7
Dear Fr & Governor The Occasion of Our present Writeing is to Acquaint thee of Some furthur Excercise we have of Late Meett with we hope thou hast Already (or by this fleett may receive[)] Some ace1 of the Severall Councills and Assemblys that have been Called and held Since thy Restauration1 None of which Could find Anny way to putt the Charter2 into present practice without Dispencing w th or Ommitting Some Circumstantiall parts thereof in relation in time and Number for according to the Express words of the Charter the Councill is Yearly to Consist of three outt of Each County and Yett itt Expressly Saith that butt one Shall be Chosen Yearjly} for Ever3 and though itt was
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butt a Circumstance and might Easily Enough have been dispensed with in the minds of most they Could not See how that would Conclude those that are Dayly Seeking Occasion Against thy Governm1 and furthur Considering there was and is power from the King Invested in thee together with the free holders to make Laws the Last Assembly held in the Eight Month 1696 did with the Governor agree and proceed to Leguslation and an Act of Settlements was then agreed and Confirmed to be in force untill thy pleasure shall be Signified unto the Contrary 4 In which Act itt is Amongust Other Matters Ordained that the free holders shall Yearly Chuse 2 representatives for the Councill and 45 for the Assembly in Each County on the Usuall Charterall wDay6 Accordingly} the people mett and So farr as we Cann Understand all the Province and territoaries was Unanimously and Elected Accordingly Except Philadelphia So that which Occasions our present Excercise is this—The Old Disafected Persons Prompted on by R T: and G: J:7 did this Last Election attd Philadelphia Make Great disturbances amongust the people Under pretence of Standing up for the peoples Libertys and the Old Charter as they Termed itt and Although/when Some time before there was an Essay made and Endeavor Used to putt the Charter into practice again Some of the Cheif of these Verry Persons Argued Against itt yett nowe none more forward to raise Commotions and would Seem to Appear Amongidst people as the Only Stakes for itt8 and So without the Sherrifs Assistance which is Usuall in the Manageing they Chose 3 Councill Men and Six for the Asembly w th out Nameing how Long Each Councill mann should Serve9 haveing No regard to the Charterall Relation in there Choice Although their Cry was the Old CharteraH waye Old Charter and as Sone as they had Ended there Noise and Chosen their persons the Sheriff Stood up and putt the people upon Chusing According} to Law which those that were Nott of the faction did and In an Orderly Manner the Sherrif took there Names in Order to returne them to the Governor10 butt Soone after that party Appointed A Meeting att franckford and As we here Drew up a paper Signed by Manny hands 11 to present to the Governor12 by way of Complaint butt we find Nott that he Incourages them {in itt} in any Sort And Now they haveing Obtained a Small party and bred this disturbance Amongust Us We Do really Think that the End of Some of them is thus farr Awnsered that they may represent us Once more as A people (In the Proprietors Absence) falln into Confusion In Order to Outt the rule Over Us and in Order thereunto itt is Suspected that Collonel R. Q.13 is Now Comming over into England butt we hope and desire If Complaints att home are made we Shall have So mu{ch} Justice as to be heard as well as they One thing More wch Adds to Our trouble Is that our Antient frd A: Cook:14 (as wee think through Some Disgust he hath taken) hath att this time to the Greif of frds in General! to much
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Countenanced that Party and though Verry few fr ds (Nay we know Nott Owne That is Or hath beenn Concerned in Governm1 Either as Ligislators or Majestrats) that Joyned w th him in itt Yett his Appearing Strongjly} on there Side hath much Strengthened} the hands of frds adversaries Hee seems to be Dissatisfied because things are Acted in the administration of the Government without the Consent of those assistants Nominated by the15 by the reason for that we question nott butt Governor Markham hath Given thee and howsoever Otherwise he might be Unwilling to Act, wth A. Cook. Yett the reasons he alledges is for Some Is because of Some Deficiency in the Sd arthurs Commision Butt the assembly Considering itt was nott a time Espicially now as thing are to Differ nor reffuse Acting though Without there Assistance John Goodson having att first relinquisht and the Sufficiency of Arthurs Commission being att best butt Disputable and the Necessity of Doing Something in Awnser to the Late Queens Lre 16 and Collonel Fletchers frequenjt} Insisting upon itt Comming hard upon them and the {thy} Late Lre 17 in Order to itt being Considered by frd s As allso thee Great Need here was of Makeing Some Settelmt in the Governm1 did nott think itt Safe both in respecte to thee and the province to delay Anny Longer butt did Proceed as above Said and Now Governor we hope thou Cannot butt Yett more Evidently see the Great Need there is of thy Comming to us and that with all Speed and we think we may Safly Say that Justice to us as allso thy owne Intrest Should be a Sufficient Motive for itt Though Allso we hope we should then be Mutually Comforted and refresht one in Another in the Pretious truth. So Dear Governor we Intreat thee make no Delay butt hasten hasten to Us — Wee desire thou may be Sensible that the Circumstances and affairs of this place Nescessitates us To Call thus So with Dear and Unfeigned Love in our Lord Jesus Christ we Dearly Salute the and Subscribe our Names in behalf of our aftd Selves and Others Antho: Morris18 John Simcock David Loyd Sam1 Richardson John Lynam Edwd: Shippin John Kinsey J onn Blunston Richd Gove Nic: Wall David Brintnell Robrt Owen: Tho Wharton James Fox George Fox George Gray Caleb Pusey Isaac Norris W™ Huddsen W™ Carter19 2end Month [April] 25, 1697 Dr Governor Since the Above was Sent thee wee have Some Intelligence} of Certain Queries framed by J: Gray20 and Others of Jersy Side directed to the Lords of the Commite Sec to be resolved Whether the quakers in America ought to be furthur or Otherways Exempted from Trouble in Pennsylvania
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Swearing or be admitted for Wittneses or Inquests upon felonys and of Death furthur Than they In England are by the Late Act of Parlim t21 {and whether those Laws mad here22 for quallifiing fr ds to give Evidence and Serve upon} and Inquests in Criminall as well as Civill Matters are nott repugnant to that Act of Parlim1 and Other Laws of England with Some Other things about the Insecurity of the Countrys where fr ds are in Governmt because there principills will nott Admitt them to take up armes these things though they are hatcht on {the} /other Shoare yett they are Improved here and Levell'd Directly ags1 fr ds in all these pts of which we think itt our duty to give the Some Intimation that thou may Use all thy Intrest and Endeavors to prevent thine and Our Enemyes of there wi^cked Ends. We hope the Lords of the Commite will have A Just regard to these Countrys with respect to the Laws and Constitutions thereof for if all who Cannott Swear must be Excluded from being Wittneses or Serve upon Inquests in Criminall Causes Traytors and fellons will be Incouraged and those that are guilty of the Most hanious transgressions will Escape punishm1, because, there being Baptists as well as frds who are tender of an Oath we Conceive there will nott be Sufficient Numbers of Swearers to Supply the Benches and Barrs of Judicature no More then the feild with Martiall Men In these 2 provinces notwithstanding the Vain Prensurs23 of Some To the Contrary Govr therse things and what we above hinted as So Many Motives for us to Importune the to shew thy readyNess to Establish us in what rights and previledges thou Cann and More
96/7.
Copy. ACM. (Micro. 7:429.) Docketed: S. Carpenter Ed. Shiping &c: 22. i m
1. WP was restored as proprietor of Pennsylvania on 20 Aug. 1694. See doc. 112; Micro. 6:908. 2. The Frame of Government of 2 Apr. 1683. 3. The Frame of 1683 provided that one-third of the members of the Provincial Council should be chosen annually. Charter and Laws, p. 156. 4. The new Frame of Government, enacted in Nov. 1696. See doc. 136; Nash, Quakers and Politics, pp. 200-205; Charter and Laws, pp. 245-60. 5. Under the 1683 Frame each county chose three members for the Council and six members for the Assembly. On changes in numbers of representatives for Council and Assembly, see docs. 132, n. 11; 136, n. 10. 6. Elections took place annually on 10 Mar. 7. Robert Turner and Griffith Jones. 8. The authors of this letter are alluding to earlier efforts to revive the 1683 Frame of Government, and are implying that Robert Turner and some of those who joined with him in decrying the 1696 Frame of Government were hypocrites, merely looking for an excuse to provoke opposition to the dominant Quaker ruling faction led by David Lloyd. When, for example, members of the Provincial Council and Assembly had attempted in May 1693 to reactivate the 1683 Frame of Government, they were defeated on the strength of a negative recommendation by a Provincial Council committee, one of whose members was Robert Turner. Again in 1695 Gov. Markham had
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encouraged a return to that Frame, only to meet strong resistance. Now Turner was demanding that the 1696 Frame be repealed and that of 1683 be revived. See Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:370, 402-4, 410-23, 486-89. 9. Those elected were: Arthur Cook, Joshua Carpenter, and Samuel Carpenter to the Council; Robert Turner, Joseph Fisher, Joseph Willcox, Tobias Leach, Joseph Ashton, and Andrew Binckson to the Assembly. Contrary to what Morris et al. claim, the length of term for each councilman was designated in the return. See Penn Papers, Miscellaneous Manuscripts of William Penn, 6:23, HSP. 10. Those elected in accordance with the 1696 Frame were Samuel Carpenter and Edward Shippen to the Council; Samuel Richardson, James Fox, Robert Owen, and Nicholas Wain to the Assembly. The sheriff was John Claypoole. 11. For the "Remonstrance," dated 12 Mar. 1696/7, see doc. 150. 12. William Markham. 13. Col. Robert Quary (c. 1645-1714), staunch Anglican, had served as deputy, secretary, and acting governor of South Carolina, his tenure as governor in 1684 ending abruptly when he was accused of trading with pirates. At the end of Mar. 1697, having resided in Pennsylvania for several years, he went to England, apparently at the behest of Gov. Nicholson of Maryland. While in England he was commissioned as the judge of the recently established vice-admiralty court for Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Jersey, although his salary demands prevented him from formally accepting the post until the summer of 1698. Raimo, Governors, p. 417; CSPC, 1696-1697, pp. 432, 61718; 1697-169$, pp. 318-19; see also doc. 173. 14. Arthur Cook. 15. After being restored as proprietor, WP commissioned John Goodson and Samuel Carpenter as assistants to Dep. Gov. Markham (Micro. 6:922). Goodson, however, resigned in Oct. 1696, in order that Cook replace him, another commission from WP having been discovered naming Cook and Samuel Jennings as assistants. Markham claimed to have been unaware of this second commission. In any event, there is no indication that Cook actually assumed the post. Minutes of the Provincial Council, i :49O, 492, 498, 5°516. Queen Mary's letter to WP of 21 Aug. 1694 had called on his colony to provide 80 men for the defense and security of New York when demanded by Gov. Fletcher. For Pennsylvania's negative response in 1695, see doc. 122' n- 4- ^n Nov. 1696 the Assembly finally agreed to send Fletcher £300 to be raised by a one-year tax of a penny per pound levied on all real and personal estates. See doc. 137, nn. 4, 5; Charter and Laws, pp. 253-56. 17. See doc. 122. 18. Anthony Morris (1654-1721), a London-born Quaker brewer, moved to Burlington, N.J., early in 1683, but was settled permanently in Philadelphia by 1686, having built his house on Front St. and Morris Alley. He became extremely active in Philadelphia politics, serving as an alderman, justice of the peace, judge of common pleas and the supreme court, and provincial councilor. He also served many years in the General Assembly and in 1703 became mayor of Philadelphia. Deeply involved in the work of Phila. Monthly Meeting, he became an overseer of the Free School and spent the later years of his life traveling in the ministry. Robert C. Moon, The Morris Family of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1898), 1:32-113. 19. Twelve of the twenty signers of this letter have previously been identified. Of the others, John Lynam (d. 1698), wheelwright; John Kinsey (d. 1734), carpenter; Richard Gove (d. 1710), joiner; David Brientnall, or Brinknell (d. 1732), tailor; Thomas Wharton (1664-1718), tailor; George Fox (d. 1699), merchant; William Hudson, or Huddsen (1661-1742), tanner; and George Gray (d. 1718) were all Philadelphia Quakers. Nic: Wall is Nicholas Wain (c. 1650-1722), of Philadelphia. Phila. Will Bk. A, #166, 204; C , # i 8 i ; 0,^129; £,#282; G,#4'NJA, ist sen, 30:284-85; Quaker History, 55:68; PMHB, 75:400; PGM, 23:115-16; Norma Adams Price, From Meetinghouse to Statehouse, 1683-1783 (Wallingford, Pa., 1976), pp. 8-14; PWP, 2:532^ 20. John Gray alias Tatham. These queries have not been found. 21. 7 & 8 Wm. Ill, cap. 34 permitted an affirmation in place of an oath. See doc. 133, n. 2. 22. The 1696 Frame of Government permitted anyone to affirm when required "to give evidence, or take an oath, in any Case whatsoever." Charter and Laws, p. 247. 23. The copyist probably meant "pretences."
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152 FROM ROBERT TURNER AND OTHERS [9 April 1697] Honord and worthey Proprietor and Goverr Will™ Penn After the salutation of our Deare Loves to thy selfe and Wife wth thy famely In the blessed Truth Wee thought meet hereby to acquaint thee that as m the Relation we stand {in} Obliges us to all due Respects Obedience and fidelity w^k so we have nott been wanting on all Occations to give ample Testamonys thereof in oure severall Capasetyes and stations whether imediatly to thy selfe when p**{R}eserl{denc}t amongst us or any thou hast been pleased to Commissionate under thee in the just administration of Government. And that the ffrecipro{c}all Obligations Lying betwixt thee oure Governr, and oure selves may be Carefully Observed, is what we doe {most} Cordially desier And not Doubting of thy readyness to protect us in the free and undesturbed Possession of oure Rights and Privelidges, We have made bold to apply our selves {to thee} for Redress of some agre[ev]ances we at present lye under by the Innovations made on oure aintient approved Laws and Constitution Contrary to our Charter of Libertyes and Privelidges Granted us at the first settling the Country and Founding of the Govmt l and that in such fundamentall parts as we can no ways recede from Butt doe most tenderly resent as a greate injury & violence Acted upon that wch is Neare and Deare unto us Razeing the {oure} very Constitution as piticularly the promulgation of Bills to be Passed in to Laws, a Privilidge we could hardly sufficently vallew.2 But being unjustly deprived of the said provision by the Chang and Innovation made on the Goverment & not knowing what Laws were intended to be Enacted Concluding oure selves {likewise} secure from such attempts as have since been practised upon us by reason thy Assistant John Goodsonns Consent was Never made Nessesary to the said pretended alteration wthout wch, Especially, he on the Contrary Gatts{desir}eing his Protest against it to be Entred on Record,3 we could not suppose that an Act or pretended Law and that of the highest nature (Being to raise money on us & other the Kings Subjects here)4 would have been attempted or Endeavored Especially by an (uncharterall) Assembly, the Counsel! not being of the peoples Choyce and but 9 or Ten in Number 5 and the Assembly about Twenty for Province and Territories who mett upon the [blank] last being Chosen by {vertue of} the Deputy Governors Writt alittle before.6 And had we not been surprized as aforesaid and Consequently Deprived of that provision the Law has made for oure Information by meanes whereof oure selves and others might have made proper and Timely
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applycation in the premises. We justly hope the Consequences thereof and Inconveniancies which may follow would have been Carefully avoided Nor doe we mention this of promulgation as the only violated Fundamentall of or Charter since we looke upon the alteration of the Number of representatives as well {as} abridging freemen (not worth £50 Cleare Estate) of theire voates;7 to be fundamentalls likewise, Nor Need we be Large, or very particular in these things to thy selfe who hast allwayes been a profest friend to Liberty and property and an Enemy to Infringments & violaters thereof {as witness thy Booke Englands present [Interest]}8 Especially since we perceve that Notwithstanding they have presumed {already} before thy ratification of their Act, already to Collect a Tax9 from all such as through feare, threats, or for quietness sake have would paidy the same & granted out warrants of Distress against refusers. Yet this New pretended Moddle was thought to need thy assent to Give it sanction and is therefore (we judg) Come to thy hands before this {Coverd} with Many Plausible and faire Entreaties & perswaisions from Divers Improvidently ingaged in it, to Induce thee to Concurr thereto {wch} As yett we Doubt not would thou wilt easily see through, and in deed the Last 6 or 8 lines of the New pretended Frame10 it selfe Is, and we Judg will be, an antidote in thy Estimation sufficently to Expell the venom of all the rest, And does confound and destroy it selfe in oure opinion. However thy Consent which (we yet hope will not be Granted) Is thought Nessesary after the Act is putt in force wch should have preceded its being: and we can not for that reason [illegible deletion] owne it or Comply with it Neither are we alone herein, But a great Number of the same minde who will Never willingly sacrifise theire Rights and Liberties which God and Nature made the Laws of this Govermt hath bestowed upon them & altho the Method by the New frame required {meeting upon the anniversary} day {for Electing of members} according to Charter 11 which proved a Decoy to divers Inocent well meaning People who Concluded {from} thence as well as from divers speeches given out for that End that the Charter was not violated or Changed & that all things were now returning to the old form yet some being undeceived in this County appeared for theire old priveliges according to Charter theire being about 3A of the people that mett for it who Chose accordingly and two dayes after drew up a remonsterance to the Governor,12 modestly desiering theire Rights and that his proseedings might be Consistant with the Charter, Also they made a returne of theire representatives13 which was sent him by two members of Counsil the {other} third not being in Towne, who according to Charter wcnton the 31 of the last moth to Tendered theire Service {to the Governour} but were rejected.14 Inclosed are Coppyes of both the Remonsterance and Returne to the former of which answer was Given that the Counsill should see it, to the latter that they should be Called on when the assembly mett or to
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that purpose, but we Judg to no purpose at least so as is by us desired Who have therfore thought meet thus briefly to lay these things before thee least by oure silence thou mightest Ignoran(Jus}tly Conclud the people were Generally for this late alteration which assure thy selfe is not so and which we suppose thou wilt sudenly here of by a more Generall Intimation this being sent thee by an unexpected oppertunety which Could not well be done Till we had made a Tryall heare and almost Dispaired of success according to oure desiers, how Ever please to Note that altho the Sherriffs in otheir Countyes have proceed{ur}ed a Choyce for Number according to the late Moddele yet the Representatives Chosen, are Generally inclineable, or for the most {of as we are Informed} to proceed according to the Old Charter Unless where the same members are Chosen, who were the makers of the New. and Even some of them selves declaire for it: viz: the old. And indeed we mention not these things as aggravations agst any of thine and oure friends of the {said} Counsell and Assembly Called Quakers whom we have Charrity and respects for, Notwithstanding they were mistaken In this Action Which how it was occationed time will perhaps more Clearly manifest We thinke not to Give thee further Trouble att this time, But with due Respects to thy Self 2d Self & Family once more Remembred Shall take Leave & Remaine thy assured Loving & Faithfull Frds Philada the 9 2 mo 1697 Robert turner; Griffith Jones Franc5 Rawle Arthur Cooke Retained copy. Dreer Collection, HSR (Micro. 7:446.) Docketed: copie Sent wth F: Ra. Further docketed: A Coppy of | a Lettr sent | to Wm Penn | datted gd 2 mo 97. Third docket: Copie Sent pr F. Rawle. 1. Turner et al. are protesting the new Frame of Government of Nov. 1696, replacing that of 1683. See doc. 136. 2. By chap. 9 of the 1696 Frame of Government the power to initiate legislation was vested in the Assembly, whereas formerly it had resided in the Provincial Council. See Charter and Laws, p. 251. 3. Goodson's protest apparently took the form of his resignation as assistant to Gov. Markham. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:498. 4. In Nov. 1696 the Pennsylvania Assembly, in response to Gov. Fletcher of New York (see doc. 151, n. 16), agreed to send him £300 to be raised by a one-year tax of a penny per pound levied on all real and personal estates. Charter and Laws, pp. 253-56. 5. The Provincial Council, having been dismissed on 27 Sept. 1695, did not meet again for almost one year as Gov. Markham awaited instructions from WP on what form the constitution should take. Pressing matters of navigation and trade led Markham to appoint his own nine-member Provincial Council, which met periodically from 25 Sept. to 7 Nov. 1696. This circumvented the usual electoral process and also cut the normal size of the Council in half. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:495-97. 6. On 28 Sept. 1696 Gov. Markham ordered writs to be issued for elections to the Assembly; four members each from Philadelphia and New Castle were to be elected and three members each from the remaining four counties. Although this followed former Gov. Benjamin Fletcher's practice, it contravened the requirement laid down
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in the 1683 Frame of Government for six members from each county. The Assembly met from 26 Oct. to 7 Nov. 1696. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:497; Votes and Proceedings, 1:93-97; doc. X 3 2 ^' n - ll7. Chap. 2 of the 1696 Frame of Government restricted the electorate to freemen who had been residents for two years, were over 21, and possessed £50 per annum "clear estate." Charter and Laws, p. 247. 8. The bracketed word is smudged and illegible, but Turner et al. are clearly citing the title of WP's pamphlet England's Present Interest Discovered, first published in 1675. In this essay on religious toleration, WP asserted that the primary fundamental rights of Englishmen were those of property and personal liberty, which must not be denied or infringed upon for reasons of religion. See PWP, vol. 5, #39. 9. See n. 4, above. 10. This was a proviso enabling the inhabitants to claim and enjoy any of the rights, privileges, or immunities which WP had formerly granted to them or which belonged to them by virtue of any law, charter, or grants, "anything herein Contained to the Contrary notwithstanding." See doc. 136, text at n. 47. 11. The day on which the election for members of the Assembly and Provincial Council took place remained 10 Mar. 12. See doc. 150. 13. The return, which is in Penn Papers, Miscellaneous Manuscripts of William Penn, 6:23, HSP, contains a notation by William Markham remarking that those who signed the Remonstrance (see doc. 150) "were meer Rubbidg ye Ringleaders Excep[t]ed," while those elected to the Assembly were "men most Inviterate against the Lloyde{a}n party Except And: Bankson which was meerly Drawn in." See also doc. 151, n. 9. 14. Arthur Cook and Joshua Carpenter were the two prospective councilors who met with Markham. See doc. 155.
153 FROM ROBERT TURNER m
Philadelphia the 15 2mo [April] 1697
W Penn: my Friend whom I love {in the truth} & wish prosperity unto Every way I have by this Fleet wrott severall letters unto thee & by Reason of the Fleets longe delay more matter Cometh before mee Their fore doe [I] heare by signifye my selfe with other few of thy friends thought fitt to send thee Copies of the Remonstranjce} & Returne of members &c & a Joynt letter1 to Informe thee the present state of things & for thy Consideration & spedy ansr their to for the settlement of affairs heare & that wee may Freely Injoye our anctient {Rightes} liberties & Freedom of Charter Granted by thee, and thankfully by us Reed Sc to be Keept Invoyalably I cannot well pass by but advise thee great discontent heare for want of an Equall hand carried at the Elecetion: that is to say our Friends for this severall years in the province: I observe doe not put up or proposse Either dutch sweed Fene or any other person not of our perswation: Baptist Endpendant Presbitterian or church of England man (but what wee did force this Election)2 wch gives occation of mutteringe & discontent & workes against our good {& Quiet} alsoe on the other {sid the [Q]uiet} to much in practise taken notice of If complaint be not made to England3 an Equall hand is best and well if wee can Keep theire. & in a Christian Trouble in Pennsylvania
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Friendship, lett us not strive for all least wee losse all Thy advise {to us} at departinge hence was that an Equall hand in measure shoud be carried towards all the Inhabitants to Ingage & unight all Interests for that End. thou left the Govern^ in the hands of presede{n}t & Councill & sence the alteration never settled nor well Comissiones wantinge: Thomas Faireman seems to Expect the place of Servair Generall & saith if not that he will not Except of a deputation under him I thought it fitt to advise thee & that thou order that all servaies made sence the death of the servaior Generall4 be first called in: & all people that have Complaints about servies &c; before warrants anew are Granted, that the wronged may be first writtcd Righted: & settled on their owne for I am sattisfyed many wronges will be found done & crose lines through mens lands & I feare wronge Enters & alterations made in the servaior Generalls office: thee bookes lyeinge out as they doe I writt not this without some sence thy advise & order as occation seem to attest such as have had the serviars bookes Sec & office [in] Custody sence his death once more I advise thee: Incurridge the magistrates agat debauhry: that growinge debauchery: thats Rooted heare what province now Exceeds It Thy Frid Robert turner My Friend: W: P: I cannot but {advise thee} such an Enmity is gott in some agat Arthr Cooke upon this occation: that they heare & I sippose will to thee Represent as the Ring-leader in this matter of obstructinge Sec wch Indeed is noe such thinge It was in the minds of sume Friends be fore his {to them} was Knowne & when he came to the Election seeinge the manidgm1 of things & how carried soe Contrary to Charter: was with others sturred up to uppose it: and I must needs say for him with much soleness & moderation to his praise I acquanted thee in a former letter:5 that that letter I thinke the last {thou} sent: directed to A. Cooke Jo. Simcocke Rob1 Turner Sam11 Carpentr Phenuas Pemerton & david Lloyd6 I never saw & lattly doe understand by A. Cooke he never was shewed it. & wee doe understand theirin was thy Comamd or order to acct accordinge to Charter {likewise in this last Comission sent to our present governor}7 this is as formerly thou found fait with in T LLS 8 time not readinge that that should have ben read that perticuler Concerned thee Sec If thou in tends any ansr to what wee have sent or to mee: direct to Sarrah welch9 Inclosd for me may come saffe if directed to me may miscary great discontent amonge the people that have pd the latt taxe10 TR soe unwarantably layd TR Retained Copy. Society Miscellaneous Collection, HSR (Micro. 7:459.) Docketed: lettr 15 2mo 1697 | RT to wm P: adviseth | of the Remonstrance & | Returne w th a Joynt letter, sent pr | RT. GJ. F R & J.W.11 Further docketed: by Jo" Moore12 sent on | board the Comodore.13 Third docket: Copie.
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1. See docs. 150-52. 2. On 10 Mar. 1697 when the Philadelphia proponents of the old Frame of Government of 1683 held an alternative election for the Assembly and Provincial Council, they chose several non-Quakers. See doc. 151, n. 9; Nash, Quakers and Politics, p. 20711. 3. Turner's meaning here is obscure, but he seems to be arguing that the Pennsylvania government, when controlled completely by Quakers, will attract the unwelcome attention of the home authorities. 4. Thomas Holme had died in the spring of 1695; WP did not fill the office of surveyor general until 27 Apr. 1698 when he appointed Edward Penington. PMHB, 20:249; Micro. 7:672. 5. Not found. 6. Probably WP's letter of 5 Nov. 1695. See doc. 122. 7. William Markham. 8. Thomas Lloyd. 9. Sarah Welch (d. c. 1705), formerly of New Castle, was the widow of William Welch. PMHB, 15:192; 22:105; doc. 3, n. 24. 10. See doc. 152, n. 4. 11. Robert Turner, Griffith Jones, Francis Rawle, and Joseph Wilcox (see doc. 152). Actually, Arthur Cook rather than Wilcox was the fourth signatory. 12. John Moore (c. 1659-1732), an Anglican protege of Col. Robert Quary, was appointed by Gov. Francis Nicholson of Maryland in Sept. 1698 as advocate of the vice-admiralty court of Pennsylvania and West Jersey. DAB; PMHB, 5:187; CSPC, 16971698, pp. 394, 415; 1699, p. 248. 13. The Commodore was commanded by Capt. Charles Wager. CSPC, 1696-1697, p. 420; Micro. 7:358.
154 FROM WILLIAM MARKHAM [24 April 1697] Att this juncture I received yours of the y th of November last,1 by wch I understand wl a rattle Randolph2 has made in England, and thinks none fitt for Goverm1 that are indigent, Indigencie might be well apply'd to himselfe. I know none of the Kings Governours that come into America to learn {See} fashions, learn breeding, or the Language, Its the wrong Side {End} of the world for that. I must Confess I have been {a} Slave to this Province, many years, & never saw penny of their mony. I have indevoured wl In me lyes, & to my utmost power to hinder {prevent} false trading, either by Scoth or English. As to wl he Says, as to Da: Lloyds refusing to plead for the King,3 He knows himselfe that the Vessell he Seized here (how Justly I will not Say) David Lloyd pleaded his Information. 4 As to the Privateers, wn Governor Flecher was Governour Severall men Came both into New York & this place, wch went by the Name of Privateers,5 they might be Pirats for any thing I know to the Contrary. Governor {Flecher} fleecd them att New York, & So he did Severall here; not by any violence, but blind Signes wch made them make a purs of Gold to present him w th & one crew brought their ship into york & presented her to Governour Fletcher wch he Sold for Eight hundred Pounds.6 He Gave both the Seamen att New york & those that were
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here, protections under his hand, for wch his Cleark7 got something. Some of these men gave me a Small present, & one of them Dying left me fifty pounds, but that they were Pirats or that any information or Complaint Came ags1 them as Such, I Can Safely declare I never Saw nor heard, & some of those men att this time have houses of their own & families in this town. As To Cap1 Day8 I have writ at large about him9 so need say no more, my care was then to secure the River, & I speak it in the presence of God, I had nothing for it nor did it for hopes of reward. Day went home to Coracco10 there sold the Brigantine11 to one M r Stonehouse12 of English Parents, & he Sent her for Holland where I suppose by this time shee is. As no man Living is w th out a fault, so none can be more ready to own them then I mine. But whoever is to be judged by success as is too often done may be much Injured & wronged. The Assembly sits the tenth of the next month, wch you Shall hear from & I doubt not but to the Lords of the plantations & your Satisfaction, if you can Gett the favour of the Commissioners to Suspend their Judgmt upon any information untill that time. I wish any that had been acquainted wth Randolphs huffing & bouncing, had but seen him wn I Called him to an account for his Affronts here, they would have seen him truckle & as humble as any Spaniell Dogg, but no sooner gott out of the town but fell to abusing & reviling me after his base manner. Had I not been so lame att that time I would have been after him & made him have known wl wood my Cudgell was made of. I must Confess I am nettled att the Rascalls reports, therefore humbly begg your Pardon for wl is amiss & Remain Sir Your most obedient Philadelphia Servant Aprill. 24. 1697 Wm Markham Copy. CO 5/1257, PRO. (Micro. 7:472.) Superscribed: parts of Goverr Markhams letters to the Proprietary. The full text of this letter has not been found; this extract was supplied to the Board of Trade by WP, who presented copies of several Markham letters on 2 Nov. 1697. See doc. 148, n. i; Micro. 7:476. 1. Not found. 2. Edward Randolph, since becoming surveyor general of customs in Oct. 1691, had repeatedly complained to his superiors in England about illegal trade and piracy in the colonies. He was particularly concerned about the illicit tobacco trade with Scotland and the apparent complicity of several colonial governors, including William Markham, with the pirates. Michael Garibaldi Hall, Edward Randolph and the American Colonies, 1676-1703 (Chapel Hill, 1960), chap. 6; see also CSPC, 1696-7697, pp. 71-75; Manuscripts of the House of Lords, 1695-1697 (London, 1903), pp. 440-460. 3. See doc. 147, n. 4. 4. In Apr. 1695 Gov. Markham refused to grant a special court in Philadelphia to try the master of the Dolphin, a ship seized by Randolph. The trial was held instead at Chester and resulted in a verdict for the defendant with damages and costs. The master then successfully sued Randolph for damages. Markham here implies that Lloyd prosecuted the case for the king. See CSPC, 7696-1697, pp. 74-75; Roy N. Lokken, David Lloyd, Colonial Lawmaker (Seattle, 1959), p. 76.
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5. The men in question were John Hore, Richard Glover, William Mason, and Thomas Tew. Gov. Benjamin Fletcher apparently sold protection to these pirates for £100 per man besides "gratification" for William Nicolls, agent for New York. New York Col Docs., 4:306-10. 6. The ship was that of William Mason. Fletcher sold it to Col. Caleb Heathcote. Ibid. 7. Daniel Honan. 8. Capt. John Day, a suspected pirate, had been commissioned by Markham ostensibly to protect New Castle from a French privateer. Markham was severely criticized for this by Gov. Francis Nicholson of Maryland, who implied that he had received pecuniary gain from the transaction. See Micro. 7:358; CSPC, 1696-1697, pp. 420-21, 426-27, 597, 614; Md. Archives, 25:554-57, 559-60, 584. 9. See Micro. 7:358. 10. Curacao. 11. Thejosiah, which Day had purchased in South Carolina for use allegedly in pirating activities. See Micro. 7:358; Md. Archives, 25:556-57. 12. Possibly Francis Stonehouse, who on 16 June 1697 received a pass from the English government to travel to Holland. CSPD, 1697, p. 201.
755 FROM THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL AND ASSEMBLY r
Philadelphia the 25th 3™° [May] 1697
D Governor Wee Esteeme it our duty before wee part to acquaint {thee} that the Councill and assembly Met the ioth Instant according to the new frame of Goverm1 L Coppyes of wch was Sent thee wee hope is come to thy hands w th Severall Letters to wch {we} Referre thee, the {deputy} Governor2 after a Friendly & Aimiable Concurrence & agreem1 dismised the asembly yesterday wch has Fustrated the Expectacions of a Contrary party3 who used their Endavors to have put us into Confusion by pretending to be for the Charter4 in opposition to the Said Settlem1 made Last Sessions to continue untill thy Pleasure be known the opposition was Published {Publikely} made only In Philada County where by the Concurrence & asistance of Arthur Cook & being dtslncouraged by the discontents of John Goodson and a few others who had Ma[nifest]ed their dislike to former Proceedings & had Refused to p[ay th]eir Tax5 got a Considerable party of MaleContents & Chose Arthur Cook Joshua & Sam11 Carpenter for Representatives in Councill & Robert Turner Joseph Fisher Joseph Wilcox Joseph Ashton and Toby Leech {&} Andrew Banckson Representatives In Asembly The 2 first Named appeared before the Govr according to Charter as they Pretended who Gave them an answer Suitable to their occasions {actions}6 who Notwithstanding w th their Pretended Members of Asembly appeared againe when the Generall Asembly Mett but were also Discountenansed & Rejected because of the Inconsistancy of their Proceedings who had given occasion Enough to be treated otherwise but Considering wl thou writ to Richard Penn7 in order to Composure till theey arrivall, the Governr & asembly forbore any thing that might Seeme harsh in hopes that thy Pres-
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ence may Soone discourage them Wee are very Glad those thou hast received those Packets by Tho: Musgrave8 & by way of Barbadoes Sec. wch Gives us great hopes of Seeing thee Shortly thou having In Some Respect Expressed thy Approbation of Frds Proposalls and Expect by the next advise to heare of thy Preparations for Comeing Yesterday the Governor in Generall asembly ordered the Association9 to be Read and Proposed the Signing of it to those that are not Frds which was done accordingly by Some of them also he ordered a Paper to be Read that Frd» had Prepared {in Leiue thereof} which was afterward Signed by them a Coppy of which is here Inclosed10 The Frds of the asembly In Jarsey have also Signed a Paper of the Like Tendancy where they were as 40, to [illegible deletion] 4 & wth us as 24 to 711 Soe that Notwithstanding the Contrary Fractions have boasted of their Numbers and endavored to Render themselves the far greater part \vrcrc {where} not known It will {thereby} appr that of the People Fr^ as Representatives of the People Frds far Exceede them In Numbers 12 & Its apparent Enough here that Frds farr Exceed them in Improveing the Country and in bearing the Burden and Charges of the Governm1 w th out [Pro]fit or Reward which is Continually attended w th Such & Soe ma[ny oppositions {&} Difficulties of many kinds that if it were not for Tfruths] Sake & Thyne & our Posteritys Sake, wee Should Decline it, which wee desire thee Seriously to take into Consideration & hasten unto us, or Else thou may be asured, It will be Difficult to hold it and a Burden that Frds can hardly beare Besides For want of thy Presence the whole Country is very Insecure in their Propertyes wch is a great Loss to many who can Neither Safely buy nor Sell Lands, from whence arises greater Inconveniencys then can be well Expressed Wee have again Unanimously Confirmed the act of Settlem1 or Frame of Govern^ that was passed last year wch Gives Generall Satisfaction {of} wch wee desire thee to Consider of and not to be hasty to Expresse thy dislike, least thou Should thereby Gratifye thyne & our enymies Sc bring us into Confusion wch Some desire & use their Utmost Endeavr to Effect. Wee have writt much of this kind formerly,13 Therfore Shall not trouble thee further at present hopeing to See thee Shortly In the meane {time} wee Remaine Thy True Friends Edwd Shippen John Simcocke James Fox Sam: Carpenter Caleb pusey Jos: Growdon Phineas Pemberton John Blunston Dad Lloyd Robert Owen Richard Hough Bartholomew Coppock
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Postcript One thing has [one word torn] Sliped our Mentioning and that is Some thing in answer to thy [letter] wch Requirefs] our answer to Such Complaints as hath bin objected agr this goverm1 in England on account of prosecutions for the King protecting or Encouraging Privetrs &c.14 as to that matter [illegible deletion] wee must needs Say that wee know not of any faylure on our Side, but on the contrary there hath been Zealous prosecutions on the Kings account and condemnation had, and as to the Privetrs as Soon as Soon Information was made our Magistrates caused Such as were In this place (of them that the proclamation is ag1)15 to be apprehended and they now are In close Prison the examination of whom wee have herewth Sent thee16 how they will {be} further proceeded agt wee Cannot yet tell their crimes having bin committed Superaltum Mare17 where we are of opinion our provinc11 Courts have no jurisdiction and wee are also most of us of opinion that the Governr cannot Grant a Speciall Commission for their tryall18 w th out Incroaching [illegible deletion] on the Jurisdiction of the Court of Admiralty By this thou mayst perceive that wee Labour under a Burthen wch should necessaryly be Removed wee therefore desire thy Consideration and Care of this matter and Send thy Speedy answr concerning it tho wee are of this mind it will come to Late for the particulr case Supposing Govr Markham will take Some Course to try them, a {more} full and Authentick answer to thy Letter [illegible deletion] wee cannot now Give not being in Capacity at present to do it But hope wee may Speedily If not by thy Speedy Leaving England in order to thy Coming here prevented wch wee more hope and most Earnestly desire for thy good our Comfort the prosperity of this province. ALS. Christopher Fallen Scrap Book, HSR (Micro. 7:482.) Docketed: A Generall Letter | To Govr Penn 25: 3mth 1697. This letter is torn in several places. The editors have supplied missing letters and words from two variant copies: an unnlmed draft in the Etting Papers, HSP, and Samuel Carpenter to WP, 30 July 1697 (Micro. 7:521). 1. See doc. 151, text at n. 4. 2. William Markham. 3. The faction led by Robert Turner. See docs. 152, 153. 4. The 1683 Frame of Government. 5. For the penny-per-pound tax, see doc. 152, n. 4. 6. They were rejected as representatives of Phila. Co. See doc. 152. 7. Apparently a cousin of WP, who went from Pennsylvania to Barbados on 24 Apr. 1697. See Micro. 7:167; 11:409. 8. Thomas Musgrave, or Musgrove (d. 1699), clothier of Halifax, Yorks., and First Purchaser, having visited America, returned to England about May 1696, at which time he probably delivered letters from Pennsylvania. He died at sea on a return voyage to America. Pemberton Papers, 2:123-24, HSP; PWP, 2:662; PMHB, 33:374, 37-'33i; Phila. Will Bk. B, #47. 9. A declaration pledging loyalty to William III. In Feb. 1696 the English government uncovered a Jacobite plot to kill William III, whereupon Parliament passed 7 & 8 Will. Ill, cap. 27, "for the Better Security of His Majesty's Royal Person and Government." Sec. 3 of this act took the form of an "Association" wherein the signers promised to support and defend William against James II and, in the event of his
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untimely or violent death, to enact revenge and defend his successor. Andrew Browning, ed., English Historical Documents, 1660-1714 (London, 1953), pp. 74-76; Baxter, William III, pp. 336-37. 10. Entitled, "A Declaration of the People Called Quakers . . . w th Respect of Our Loyalty to the King and Fidelitty to his Governm1," it differed from the Association by omitting any implication of violence, because Friends could not "for Conscience Sake fight, Kill or Reveng[e]." It was signed by 8 members of the Provincial Council and 16 members of the Assembly. Pemberton Papers, 2:143, HSP; see also Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:526. 11. These figures refer to the numbers of Quakers in West Jersey and Pennsylvania who signed their declarations compared with the numbers of non-Quakers who signed the Association. 12. Pennsylvania Anglicans claimed they were equal in numbers with the Quakers but were grossly underrepresented (see doc. 132 A). Robert Turner, although a Quaker, had indicated his concern that Friends were not encouraging non-Quakers to hold office (see doc. 153). The argument advanced here against Turner and the Anglicans is rather disingenuous, since the Quakers chose to dominate all offices. 13. See doc. 151. 14. See doc. 154. 15. On 27 Aug. 1696 the Privy Council sent a circular letter to all the colonial governors calling for the apprehension of Capt. Henry Every (alias Bridgeman) and his crew. It appears that they had engaged in numerous acts of piracy, particularly in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean in 1693-94, had split up, and were believed to be in Ireland, England, and the colonies. CSPC, 1696-1697, pp. 259-62, 478, 613-15; CSPD, 1696, pp. 277-78, 330-31; Md. Archives, 23:132. 16. Four alleged members of Every's pirate crew were examined: Peter Glaus, or Clausson, related by marriage to Anthony Morris, a leading Philadelphia Quaker; Robert Clinton, or Chinton; Edmund Lascelles; and James Brown, son-in-law of Gov. Markham. All but Brown were imprisoned. The arrests resulted from the actions of Robert Snead, a Philadelphia justice of the peace, against the strong opposition of Gov. Markham, who claimed not to have seen the proclamation. Snead, in fact, was called before the Provincial Council on 21 May 1697 to explain his actions. CSPC, 1696-1697, p. 615; 1697-1698, pp. 184, 381-83; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:510; Md. Archives, 25:561-70, 577-80. 17. On the high seas. 18. Gov. Markham had previously refused to grant a special court in a case of illegal trading (see doc. 154, n. 4). The question of a court or trial became irrelevant when Clinton and Lassells escaped from jail under suspicious circumstances on the night of 16 June 1697, shortly after the proclamation against Every's pirates officially arrived from Maryland. Peter Glaus remained untried and at liberty in Philadelphia, having suffered some distraint of goods, but the Provincial Council denied his petition to be allowed to travel to Europe on business and to have his goods returned. CSPC, 1696-1697, p. 383; Md. Archives, 25:564-70, 579-80; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1: 53 1 >554-
156 TO WILLIAM MARKHAM AND THE COUNCIL London 5th 7m [September i6]g7
Friends The Accusations of one sort, & the reports of another that are come for England against your Govern^ not only tend to our ruine but our Disgrace. That you winik at a Scotch Trade, & a Dutch one too, receiveing european goods from the latter, as well as suffering yours, agst law & the Englesh Interest, to goe to the other, also that you do
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not only winik at but embrace pirats, ships & men.1 Thes are your Accusations, and one Francis Joness of Philadelphia has complained of it to Govr Nicolson,2 because It was not redrest in the Govern^. The Reports are, & a nameless letter is come to me besides from Philadelphia, to the Same purpose, that there is no place more overrun with wickedness, sins so very Scandalous, openly Committed in defiance of law & virtue, facts so foul, I am forbid my Common modesty to relate them I do therefore desire & charge you, the Govr & Council for the time being, to issue forth some act or acts of State, forth with to suppress, both forbidden Trade & piracy, & also the Growth of vice & loosness, Give great till some seveerer laws be made agst them. And I doe hereby Charge that no licences be graunted to any to Keep publick houses that do not give great security to Keep Civil houses, & are not Known to be of a sober Convirsation; & that the Courts of Justice in each County have the approbation I0T {not} licenseing of them, in order to prevent much of the occasion of such Lewdness & Idleness as are too often Seen in such places.3 And that you take care that Justice be Impartially done upon Transgressors, that the wrath & vengance of God fall not upon you, to Blast your so very Flowrishing begining. I hasten to you as fast as the Complaints here agst you, will give me leave, that make my presence {now} but too necessary. Lett neither base gain, nor a byast Affection, Byass or make you partiall in these Cases; But for my Sake, your own sakes, &, above all, for Gods sake, lett not the Poor Province longer suffer under such greivous & offensive Imputations, and you will oblige him, that loves you, prays for you, & prays to be with you, & is with true love Your reall Friend & aff. Proprietary Wm Penn ALS. Dreer Collection, Letters and Papers of William Penn, HSP. (Micro. 7:535.) Docketed: Wm Penn 5. 7ber ^97 | relating to clandestine Trade | Pirates &c. Endorsed: Proprys Letter 1697 | relating to an Inform11 of a Clandestine Trade | & great Looseness & Immorality practis'd in | the Province. 1. For these various accusations, see doc. 154. 2. Francis Jones, a seafaring merchant, had apparently lived in Philadelphia since c. 1692, where he became a prominent Anglican. His travels to London (see doc. 160) enabled him to transmit the concerns of Philadelphia Anglicans to the Board of Trade. For the three letters he wrote to Gov. Nicholson, of Maryland, see Md. Archives, 25:55458. See also Perry, Historical Collections, p. 6. 3. This letter was read at the Provincial Council meeting of 9 Feb. 1698 and was referred to a committee which made recommendations the following day. On 12 Feb. Markham and the Council issued a proclamation calling on the magistrates to enforce all the laws relating to navigation, trade, and piracy and to suppress and punish "all vice, disorders & Looss living." In addition the Council set about regulating the licensing of tavern, inn, and drinking-house keepers. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1152730.
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157 TO WILLIAM POPPLE 1
worminghurst 15: 8br [October i6]gy
Esteemed Friend I take very sensibly the Intimation given me, & am not a little troubled, that when I came from Bristoll on purpose upon this allarum, 3 months agoe, have been twice in town, & 7 weeks, or neer it, at one time, and made Severall visits to the office, to See if any thing needed me, the Lords, should now think it needfull that I waited upon them about the [illegible deletion] Clamour of the Govermts protecting Pirats.2 I commend their looking into every thing, but I hope they will not give them selves an unnecessary trouble. If Collonel Markham hath done ill, It will be fitt to turn him out, & I shall do it heartily; but I think to be judg'd ex parte, is not Justice. He should be heard, and therfore, I humbly offer that the Earle of Bellemont may have that in Charge from the Lords, to inspect this Noize, & see if he can make more of it, & upon his report to the Lords, so I shall act to their Satisfaction. Collonel Markham was not my Election but submission; for the Queen desired he might be my Deputy (as he was Govr Fletchers) while the warr lasted so that It cannot affect me. > The warr is now ended,3 my submission discharged,4 and Collonel Markham upon his good behavour. I have months agoe writt to him5 for a State of his case, plain & true, & well Authorised, by able & honest men upon the place, wch I expect, & when come to hand, the Lords shall have it.6 In the mean time, there are methods to prevent all this, & I hope the Lords are upon them, viz, Spy boats, commanded by such as will give security for their just acting in that Station, & so the King by {his} own officers will have that more Immediately in his own powr And Time, that Brings all things to light, will show truth from trick, & Service from Selfe, & loss & gain. I am unwiling to be now plainer, for wl I say, I am Sensible, is thought to come with a byass, but my life has been an other thing. To Conclude, I am goeing in the spring, If not sooner, if god permitt; and think, without vanity, I shall be able to recommend my selfe & the Province to the Lords of Trade & Plantation in a very Convinceing manner. I shall say nothing here of our enimys foolish, as well as malicious endeavours, & that all this smoak arises out of that pitt; But hope the Lords will weigh all with a Just Scale, & distinguish well between merrit & Envy. I shall waite upon them If they persist to desire it, since I have lost so much of my Season for Irland;7 in the mean time, one wharton8 has the papers, & is instructed to waite upon the Lords in this affaire, wch wth my hearty good wishes, is wl now offers, from Thy assured Friend Wm Penn
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ALS. CO 5/1257, PRO, (Micro. 7:553.) Addressed: For wm Popple Esqr Secretr to | the Councill of Trade & Plantations | at Whitehall. Docketed: Proprieties \ L're from M r Penn to the | SecrY about Compts agst his | Depty Govr in Pennsylvania | for Protecting Pyrats | Dated 15th Recd Read | i8th | Octor 1697 | Entred fol: 168. 1. William Popple (1638-1708), a former wine merchant, served as secretary of the Board of Trade from 1696 to 1707. He had lived and traded in Bordeaux from 1670 to 1688, converting to Catholicism after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His Protestant family had fled to England, and with WP's help Popple joined them in early 1688, at the same time resuming his conformity to Anglicanism. It is likely that WP, during his difficulties with the English government in the early 16905, was sheltered by Popple in London. Like WP, Popple was a staunch advocate of religious toleration. Caroline Robbins, "Absolute Liberty: The Life and Thought of William Popple, 16381708," WMQ 3d ser., 24:190-223. 2. Having heard that WP was in town, William Popple requested his presence before the Board of Trade on Monday, 11 Oct., to discuss complaints about pirates being harbored in Pennsylvania. In fact, WP was not in town, prompting this letter (CSPC, 1696-1697, p. 632). For more on this issue of pirates, see docs. 154, 155, 156. 3. King William's War had officially ended with the Treaty of Rijswijk in the summer of 1697. Baxter, William III, p. 357. 4. An essential prerequisite for the return of Pennsylvania's government to WP in Aug. 1694 had been his pledge that the Quaker leaders of that colony would provide money toward the war effort in New York, which they did in 1696. See doc. 151, n. 16. 5. Not found. 6. Markham had written WP on 24 Apr. (see doc. 154) and i May 1697 (Micro. 7:476), briefly justifying his actions, while Samuel Carpenter had written in July defending the government (Micro. 7:518, 521). However, it was not until May 1698 that Markham and the General Assembly responded in detail to the charges. Votes and Proceedings, 1:107; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:550-51,553-54; CSPC, 1697-1698, pp. 380-82. 7. Although anxious to visit his Irish estates, WP did not arrive in Ireland until May 1698. See doc. 169. 8. Unidentified.
158 TO EDWARD RANDOLPH Warminghurst 16. Oct. 1697. Edward Randolph, I shall not fail to oblige Colonel Markham to use his Authority to right the Interest of the Crown in all respects: and if thou expectest my Letter besides, thou shalt have it. But to be very plain, I doe expect an other {sort} kind of Correspondence; and that those which have been the Instruments of raising this Smoake agst my Province,1 will quench that Fire which feeds it: or I must fling away my Scabbard, and openly detect and impeach too: and I neither fear my Matter, nor my Interest to back it. For that a man and his Family and his Friends should be Smothered in a Dust malice has raised, and aggravated only to dispossess us2 (as I am able to prove) by the partys concernd in the plot; is scandalous to all that have truth more than trick. And I expect, if we are to live good Friends, that Thou wilt here, as well as there, doe thy utmost to lay these things, before thou
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goest:3 which, as it will shew a reality; will oblige one that dares be just to Friendship; and that on these Terms will shew him Self, thy assured Friend. William Pen. I intend to write again, before thou goest. Copy in the hand of Edward Randolph. Henry E. Huntington Library. (Micro. 7:557.) Addressed: To Edward Randolph Esqr at the Custom House London. Endorsed: The Original of this Copy I left in the hands of M r Henley4 | Commissioner of the Customs. | E: Randolph. Also Endorsed: True Copy | Fr: Nicholson.5 1. WP is no doubt referring to Francis Nicholson, Francis Jones, Robert Snead, and Robert Quary as well as Randolph. See docs. 154, 156, 160. 2. WP feared the potential loss of his charter. 3. Randolph had been in England since Sept. 1695. He set sail for America on 8 Nov. 1697. Michael Garibaldi Hall, Edward Randolph and the American Colonies, 16761703 (Chapel Hill, 1960), pp. 153, 177. 4. Robert Henley of Bristol was a commissioner of the customs from 1697 to 1703. Luttrell, 4:216; 5:3135. Gov. Francis Nicholson of Maryland.
159 FROM THE SWEDISH INHABITANTS WP must have been pleased with the following letter from the Swedes who resided in his colony. For years, the Swedes had been concerned over the need to have ordained ministers for their Lutheran bodies. Lars Lock, who had presided for decades over their church at Tinicum, had died in 1688, while Jacob Fabritius, who had led the church at Wicaco from 1677 to 1691, was forced to retire because he was blind and infirm. To fill the spiritual void, the Swedes relied on two lay readers—Andrew Binckson and Charles Springer. When the king of Sweden learned of their plight, he arranged for ministers and books to be sent to Pennsylvania. WP, who years earlier had petitioned the Swedish Ambassador at London for such ministers and books, now assisted in gaining permission of the English government for them to travel to America. For his efforts, WP received the following letter of thanks. [30 October 1697] Most Honourable Governeur William Penn, Esquire. Governeur over the province of Pensellvenia and the Territories thereunto belonging The Yoy that unto {us} Sweeds, in this case is done, that his Royal Majestic, King of SwedLand1 hath unto us Sweeds, graciously sent
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Ministers, & allsoe a greate Considerable deale & quantity of Excellent & good divine Books of Severall sorts, In our Own Nattive Speech & Linguo; which makes us Sweeds In Generall to take Occasion to come before the Honourable Govr with this our humble Letter, that wee with all humbleness duty & Respect may shew unto the Honle Govr that is for his Loveing Kindnesses done unto us in this case,2 which the more allsoe wee are in duty bound to doe, and moreover, of which great Kindness, wee have more at Large understood by our most Reverend Teachers and Ministers, and allsoe of his Royall Majestie the King of SwedLands Ambassadr Sr Charles LeyonCroons Letter,3 how Kindly the Honble Govr hath done for us his subjects by his Royall Majtie Our most gracious King of Engelland,4 soe that wee now doe enjoy that which wee in so many Years hath heartily Longed & wished for, and more over how by & for the Honble Govrs sake our Ministers had gained his Royall Majs our Most gracious Kings free pass, to come to us unmolested. And further more, when they were heare arrived, wee allsoe Rejoiced to see the Honbe Govrs Debetty Govr William Markham to Receive these our Mints so well and so Kinde as he did, in his favour & under his protection, The LORD grant that wee may allways for the future have so good & Loweing Govrs as wee now have, and allso shall our Real duty be as becomes true and obedient Subjects, to the Honble Govr and his debety in all manner of Respects and be dutyfull to the Goverment. which allsoe wee hope that the Honble Govr hath not heard or under stood any thing to the Contrary, and in cace if ill disposed and Mallicious people, out of ill will should raise any false stories and 111 deserved Reports upon us, so doe wee hope our Lives and Conversations shall shew otherwise, for wee Live peaceably both in Temporall & Spiritual!, and hopeing allsoe for the futture that wee may have so gracious a Govr as wee now have, and what our duty likewise is, shall be Shewed by us again in all manner of Respects so Long as wee shall Live, and soe wee ending this our most humble Letter, and our Reverend Ministers, they Remember their most humble Service to the Honorble Govr they not being unmindfull of the Kindnesses, wh: they have Received at the Honble Govrs hands, and wee together with Our Ministers, shall allways be bound to pray for the Hon: Govs prosperity, both in Spirituall & Earthly Things, Recommending the Hon: Govr under the Allmighty GODS protection The Honble Gov* Wellwishers, true Obedient & Loyall Subjects tell death us doe part. Dated in Pellsellvania in Dellaway River the 30 of Octobr 1697
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Fetter (x) Rambo sen: Lasse cock Anderss bengston Caspar fisck Fetter (x) Ramboe Jun r John Coks John Rambo Otto Ernest Kock Matteys hallston Anderss Langker Jesta Jestason John (x) Stille Zacharias Cock Manss (x) Cock piter Cook5
william slubey Hans Peterson Brewer ® Sinnike Jessper ® Wallraven Lucas (x) Stedham Hendrick (x) Iwarsson William (x) V": d^: Ver Peter peterson Fetter (x) Stallcop Fetter ® Mounsson Pawell ® Pettersson Matthias Skrika Erick Ericksno Michell ® Winam John Clemmetson Charles Springer6 [manu proprjia7
These our humble Letter wee doe intend to send three dubble, that is, if any change8 to misCarry that one of them may come to the Honourable Govs hands. ALS in the hand of Charles Springer. Cadwalader Collection, Thomas Cadwalader, HSR (Micro. 7:561.) Addressed: To the Most Honble | Govr Sr William | Penn Esquire Governeur | over the province of Pen | sellvenia and the Terri tories thereunto belonging. | In | Bristoll London | presentement. Endorsed by WP: The Sweeds lettr | to me of Thanks. Docketed in another hand: Pensilvania 30. Oct. 97. Further docketed: Swedes in | Pensilv. 1. Charles XI (1655-1697). In 1696, in response to a plea from the Swedes in Pennsylvania, he sent three ministers, Andrew Rudman, Eric Bjork, and Jonas Auren, with a substantial quantity of Swedish religious works. Jehu Curtis Clay, Annals of the Swedes on the Delaware, 4th ed. (Chicago, 1938), pp. 67-77; C. A. Weslager, "The Swedes' Letter to William Penn," PMHB, 83:90-92. 2. Since the Swedes in America were subject to the English crown and Sweden lacked diplomatic representation in America, the three ministers (see n. i, above) had been required to stop in London to obtain approval for their trip from William III and from WP, both of whom granted it. Weslager, "Swedes' Letter," pp. 91-92. 3. Sir Charles Leyoncrona, Swedish ambassador to England. His letter has not been found. 4. William III. 5. Peter Rambo, Sr., of Passyunk; Lasse Cock, of Passyunk; Andrew Binckson, or Bengtsson (1640-1705), of Moyamensing; Caspar Fish (1651-1708), of Cinnaminson; Peter Rambo, Jr. (1653-1729), of Dublin Creek; John Cock (1656-1717), of Crum Creek; John Rambo (1661-1741), of Gloucester Co.; Otto Ernest Cock (d. post 1709), of Kingsessing; Mathias Claesson Holstein (1642-1708), of Passyunk; Anders Peterson Longacre (1657-1718), of Kingsessing; Justa Justasson (1655-1721), of Kingsessing; John Stille (1646-1722), of Moyamensing; Zacharias Cock (1674-1744), of Kingsessing; Mans Cock, of Cinnaminson; and Peter Cock (1658-1708), of Passyunk, were all members of the Swedish Church at Wicaco. Information kindly supplied by Peter S. Craig. 6. William Slubey (c. 1663-1726) was of Penn's Neck. Hans Peterson (c. 1643post 1712); Broer, or Brewer Sinnekson (c. 1652-1708); Jesper, or Gisbert Walraven
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(c. 1657-1708); Lucas Stedham (c. 1659-1726); Hendrick Iversson, or Evertsson (c. i64O-c. 1710); William Van der Veer (1656-1718); Peter Peterson alias Smith (c. 1665c. 1735); Peter Stalcop (c. 1664-1710); Peter Mansson (c. 1668-1718); Paul Peterson (c. i67o-post 1709); Matthias Skrika (b. c. 1665); Erick Erickson (c. 1665-1716); Michael Winam; John Clementson; and Charles Springer (1658-1738) were of New Castle Co., and all were members of the Swedish Church at Crane Hook. Information kindly supplied by Peter S. Craig. 7. By his own hand. The letter was written by Charles Springer. 8. Meaning "chance."
160 FROM FRANCIS JONES Goodmans Fields.1 13th gor [November] 1697
Bond Sr I Received yours2 and must Confess I did write a letter to Govr Nicholson3 in a heat occasioned by my want of Sailors to man a shipp built in your province. Coll0 Markham haveing Commitionated one Day4 to Goe out a Privatiering (who Since was forced into Coracoa5 a Dutch Isleand where he sold his vessell) on board of whose vessell as fast as I shipped Seamen they entered themselves. And desireing Coll0 Markham to ordr it otherwise his answear was that Day was downe the Rivr out of his Reach & that they had not Force in the Province to Commande him I thereupon knowing there were sever11 Men of war in Virginia and Maryland in that heat writt Govr Nicholson not Supposeing that any farther use would be made of my letter for Notw th standing the heats that has hapned between Collonel Markham & mySelfe I must doe him that Justice to assure you that in my judgem1 there Can6 noe fitter person for the Kings interest and the Interest of the Province to Governe then himselfe. having lived und r his Government above five yeares all which time has been his Government has been to the Satisfaction of the Substantiall Inhabitants & traders in Gene11 of the Province Only wthin this year or 2 there have some turbelent and discontented people {from other Collonies come} to inhabite that have Pict occasiones to hold a Corespondencie w th Maryland (an absolute enemy to the Prosperity of Pensilvania) Perticulerly one Snead7 a Jamaica man of a hot Passionate temper unworthy of your Notice being of little or noe reputation being very indigent of money to Compass a Smale Plantation & a fellow that has little or noe Credit Given to his words. Next as to Averys8 Crew I was in Pensilvania when the Proclamation for Apprehending them Came at which time Coll 0 Markham imme{d}diatly issued out warrants to apprehend them and had all that were of that Compa in the Province Committed to the Comon Goale who by asistance of their friends after a Smale Confinement broak a hole in the prison and made their escape in the Night 9 (except one of
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them 10 that was Stopt and in Prison at my comeing from Pensilvania) immediatly whereupon hues & Cryes were issued out through the Province and Sent to the Nighbouring Collonyes for the Apprehending them w th a Promise of Coll0 Markhams giveing five Pounds to Secure each man Its not Strange if Maryland endeavours the Subverting yor Government since they Soe Publiqly show their disaffection to the Trade of the Place by laying an Imposition of 10 per O upon all Europian Commodities imported through their Country though a Pennard 11 thereof be not exposed to Sale in their Province Nor a Penny Benefit received from them. 12 When at the Same time all goods for the Provinces of Newyorke and Virginia goe free alsoe a Custome upon all wine, Beere & Rum &c:13 although they would want Beere, wine, rum[,] Suggar, and mellassoes, & their if Pensilvania did not Supply them, they haveing their cheife supply of that and their ships of bread and flower Constantly from Pensilvania haveing little or noe Wine Rum Sugr &c. of their own importing nor beere bread and floure of their owne Makeing. And as to runing Tobaccoe to Pensilvania at the head of the Bay from Maryland is a Gen11 mistake the Inhabitants of Pensilvania forbidding it by a Perticuler law of their making14 And to my knowledge instead of that there was thee Last year about 100 hogsheads Tobaccoe Transported over Land from Pensilvania to Maryland Partly by a Permit of Coll0 Niccholsons being tobaccoe to be transported that way for England. As to Coracoa Trade being incouraged by Coll0 Markham is an Error for its Contrary to the interest of the Merchts to bring any Dutch Goods thence to Pensilvania. Its true a trade is driven to Coracoa but wthout Prejudice of his Majties Customes. Provissiones being what's shipt from Pensilvania to Coracoa for which is given in Returne heavy ps 8/815 at 4s to 41/2 the which advanceth abo1 75 per O in Pensilvania the which money the Same vessell Generally Carry to the Sake Ponds16 and their Load home to Pensilvania w th Salte which w th the Advance the money yeilds affords more Proffit Considerably then Any Coracoa Commoditys w th the risque {of being} Seized can doe. And as to Scots Tradeing17 what might be acted before my time of five yeares Constant trading in the Place in the Province's infancy I know not. But Since my being in Pensilvania noe Such trade has been incouraged but quite Contrary there being Sufficient security taken for every vessell that loads thence. And not above one that ever I heard of that forfeited her bonds which was accordingly Prossecuted. There Cannot much Tobaccoe be transported thence because the Inhabitants incline and improve in the husbandry of tilling and Planting Corne. I beleive there is not much more then 1000 hogsheads made in the Province Annually & soe few of them shipt of that the
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Plantationes abroad that their Majties Customes must be very inconsiderable towards the defraying the Charge of three Officers I hear sent to the River Dellaware where if the Traders did incline to false and Irreguler meathods which is not worth their while thirty officers would be little enough to Prevent it, the length of the river and Conveniency to be found out in it being Such. Sr Your Country dayly improves wth Inhabitants & is Cultivated wth great industry much exceeding] the Nighbouring Provinces which Greats their envy and Malicious endeavors to hindr its prosperity by having the Goverm1 altered, which otherwise will if Incouraged w4H undoubtedly in little time be the flower of the whole Continent which that it may is the hearty Wishes of Sr Your moste humble Ser[vant] Fr. Jones PS. I Suppose the Occasion of Coll0 Markhams Graunting Day a Commission was our having 3 sloopes taken by the french of the Coast just before. ALS. CO 5/1257, PRO. (Micro. 7:589.) 1. Originally a farm belonging to the Minories, the abbey of the nuns of St. Clare, between Aldgate and the Tower, in London, since converted into numerous streets and lanes. Peter Cunningham, A Handbook for London, Past and Present (London, 1849), 1:344; 2:560. 2. Not found. 3. In fact, he wrote at least three letters to Nicholson complaining about the actions of Gov. Markham. See Md. Archives, 25:554-58. 4. Capt. John Day. See doc. 154; Micro. 7:358. 5. Curasao. 6. Jones omitted the word "be." 7. Capt. Robert Snead, an Anglican (see PMHB, 54:309), was a Philadelphia justice of the peace who had acted vigorously against some of the pirates despite strenuous opposition from William Markham and others. See doc. 155, n. 16. 8. Capt. Henry Every. See doc. 155, n. 15. 9. For another version of this "escape," see Md. Archives, 25:568. 10. Peter Claus. See doc. 155, n. 18. 11. Penneard, pennyworth. OED. 12. In Oct. 1695 Gov. Nicholson of Maryland had signed into law a 10 percent duty on all European goods sent through Maryland to Pennsylvania. This was renewed for three years in 1696. See Gary B. Nash, "Maryland's Economic War with Pennsylvania," Maryland Historical Magazine, 60:236, 238. 13. In Sept. 1694 the Maryland House of Burgesses imposed a heavy duty on beer and rum imported from Pennsylvania. WP, alarmed over this duty and that levied the following year on European goods (see n. 12, above), complained in Dec. 1696 to William Popple at the Board of Trade that those two laws should not be confirmed "till we are heard in our exceptions." See Nash, "Maryland's Economic War," p. 236; Micro. 7:288. 14. In 1694, anxious to assist the tobacco planters of the Lower Counties and hopeful of attracting specie rather than tobacco from Maryland debtors, Pennsylvania forbade the importing of tobacco from Maryland without payment of the king's duty, on pain of los fine for every cwt. over and above the penalty imposed by act of parliament. Nash, "Maryland's Economic War," pp. 234-35; Charter and Laws, p. 143. 15. Pieces of eight. Pennsylvania was enhancing the value of these coins vis-a-vis neighboring provinces in an effort to attract badly needed specie. See Nash, "Maryland's Economic War," p. 237.
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16. These were located at the narrow southeastern end of St. Christopher closest to the island of Nevis, both part of the Leeward Islands. While the French occupied both ends of St. Christopher, and the British occupied the middle, both shared the salt ponds. Richard S. Dunn, Sugar and Slaves (New York, 1972), p. 32. 17. See doc. 154, n. 2.
161 TO FRANCIS NICHOLSON Warminghurst 22. gber [November i6]g7
Colonel Nicholson, I am sorry that any man that values him self upon his Character, should somuch forget it, as to act an unneighbourly part, which is the softest term I cand find, to engage thy patieence to read and weigh this complaint of mine, agst. thee to thy self. When Thou left'st England, I well remember, thou wert pleased to desire to see me, and at that time offerd me friendly Offices. I took it, as became me, very civilly and kindly: After that, I feared no NightStabs, or secret Designs against me and my Interest, for I cant help believing any Gentleman, when he gives me so much ground for it It is true, Thou hast shewed Colonel Markharn an exterior Respect, for some time: but that makes him take this late Turn of Treatment so much the harder. For if he were as culpable, as he is represented;1 methinks he might first have been advised of such irregularitys; and if not speedily mended, thou must complain at home. But, in stead of this method, to carry smoothly there, & at the same time to encourage Edwrd Randolph to impeach him and the province here, two years successivly;2 and then first invade the province by Force, Drums beating, and Colours flying;3 & afterwards write against us; and all this, immediately after an appearance of a good Understanding; seems to me not very prudent; & to be sure, very unneighborly. A Letter of Complaint to Markharn with a warning, in case he were not more carefull, to complain at home, with an order to the Messenger, to take his receipt for the Letter, would have more effectually touched him, and have obliged his Care, or exposed him much more to censure, upon neglect. But this is not all. Governor Nicholson, when in my province,4 upon his return home, if not as he came, made it his business to spy holes in our Coat, and glean up our weaknesses (if any were) by asking and pumping at private Houses, how they were governed, what Trade, what ships frequented them: if they were injurd or oppress'd in any respect, as I am assured from them; which has not agood Face with it, in my opinion; nor can it tend to peace among the Kings Subjects & Colonys. But yet a more disingenuous thing I complain of, to wit, holding a Correspondence with people in my province, in order to expose the Government at home; which must end in the disgrace of
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it, if not in mine, and my suffering Familys Ruine. This is what I believe Colonel Nicholson would think very ill in me; if I should, or could provoke any of our Friends in maryLand, or any else to serve Thee so: Thou wouldst punish it severely. I know that Cpl Snead, Gr. Jones (lately of M. Land) & one Moord &c.5 have been thy Correspondents; at least are of a Cabal, to blow us up: And for them to doe this, and never send me one word of any real miscarriage, & what they would have redressed; is villanous in them, and in Governor Nicholson not well: being fitter for independant Soveraignties; than persons of the same Nation and Allegiance Truly these things trouble me. Had Colonel Nicholson sent me word of any miscarriage, or careless, if not corrupt practices of our faults; I would have taken the Informacion most friendly, and begged his oversight, as the greatest favour he could doe me. There are two ways of doing all things; a faire and a foul; a rough & a soft method. I could not have hurt Colonel Nicholsons Trust, to have Shewed us, the first time at least, his fairer and softer side. I omit thy particular heats against us, thy Imprecations upon poor Philadelphia, and that there shall be as many Bills set up there, as houses, in a while; because that may be the fruit of passion: yet out of the^ aboundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh; as saith our blessed Saviour.6 Nor will I take notice of faults in thy own Charge and Government; of which I have heard many, and foul enough, if time:7 for thats not my business: Nor have I once aggravated them to thy Disservice: but have oftener excused thy excesses, then served my self of them; and that for the sake of some good qualitys I have heard of Thee, by some that knew Thee, before thou knewest America. And therefore in my Complaint, with many more, about the lo1 per Cent8 calculated plainly to our prejudice (it being only executed upon us) Virginia and New York being allowed to escape that cruel Incumberance, and indeed oppression; and what is in its own Nature, an high misdemeanour agst Mother-Countrey-Engld) I worded it without the least personal Recfction.9 And in our Friends memorial to the lords of Trade and plantacions about the 40! of Tobacco per head,10 Thou art not so much as named. And I must doe them the Justice to say, they have not playd the Capt. Snead to Thee: but with great Regards to thy Reputacion; saying nothing that was ill, and several things that were to thy Advantage. And in my Reply to thy Answer to S. Carpenters &c. peticion,11 there is not one Insinuacion, but what strictly belongs to the business, and in Terms Short & decent, I hope. I say not this to bespeak any thing but Justice, and hearty goodNeighbourhood; if it may be: and if it can't be; we must shift for our selves. But because thy Friends, who have written to Thee, have assured me it will be better, and that we shall live with more regard to a friendly Commerce and Correspondence; I have writ this to let thee see it is in thy power, if thou pleasest, to have a better understand-
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ing, to our own satisfaction, the good of the provinces, and their happier Intercourse, and the Crowns true service. And if this meet w th a right Reception, and that I am not misunderstood, thou wilt allways find me Thy Kind Neighbour and real Friend True Copy Wm Penn Fr: Nicholson I thank God, I abhor all indirect Methods, as at conniving at forbidden Trade; or the abuse of the Crown in a lawfull one. And if any are faulty in my propriety; as I am innocent; so I am sure, I would not endure, but punish it to extremity, if among them. Tho here it self, so full of Officers, and checks, it happens too often. When Ed. Randolph arrives there, he will be able to say more upon that head, and the Regulacions that are fixed for prevention.12 In which I allso had my Share in proposing some of them, and agreeing to others; as the Lords well know; which I heartily wish may be observed. W. P. Copy in the hand of Edward Randolph. Huntington Library. (Micro. 7:597.) Addressed: For Colonel Nicolsori Governour of Marylanrlrm | True Copy | Fr: Nicholson. 1. For the charge that Markham was aiding piracy, see docs. 154, 155, 156. 2. See doc. 154, n. 2. 3. In Oct. 1696, in an effort to counter the activities of Capt. John Day (see doc. 154, n. 8), Gov. Nicholson ordered Capt. Josiah Daniel, commander of a customs patrol boat, to arrest Day and his crew. Daniel, neglecting to inform Gov. Markham, dispatched two lieutenants with 60 armed men who marched into New Castle taking prisoners along the way. Although Day and most of his officers were among those taken, they were soon released on production of a commission previously granted to Day by Markham (see Micro. 7:358). Gary B. Nash, "Governor Francis Nicholson and the New Castle Expedition of 1696," Delaware History, 11:233-39. 4. Nicholson traveled through Pennsylvania in the fall of 1695 to discover "illegal trade," which he felt certain was "great." His belief was apparently vindicated when he uncovered "several places fit to manage illegal trade at, and the people generally inclined to make use of them whenever they can" (CSPC, 1693-1696, pp. 510, 654). 5. Capt. Robert Snead, Francis Jones (not Griffith Jones: WP or Randolph erroneously wrote "Gr."), and John Moore. 6. Matt. 12:34. 7. Possibly WP's or Randolph's mistake for "true." 8. See doc. 160, n. 12. 9. "Reflection." 10. The Maryland Assembly in July 1696 passed an Act for the "Establishment of the Protestant Religion within this Province," part of which provided for a poll tax of 40 pounds of tobacco per annum to be used for the "Encouragem1 of faithfull and able Ministers labouring in the Work of the Gospell to come into this Province." The Quakers, resistant to any form of tithe, strongly opposed this measure. A copy of the "memorial" mentioned by WP is in the Manuscript Book of Cases, vol. i, FLL. The bill was vetoed by the crown in 1699. Md. Archives, 19:426-27; 25:82. 11. In 1696 Samuel Carpenter and five other Pennsylvania merchants petitioned Gov. Nicholson for goods consigned to them but detained "on Board certain vessels lately arrived in Some Bay or Bays belonging to ... Maryland." Since the goods had not been unloaded, they believed themselves exempt from the new 10 percent duty
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(see doc. 160, n. 12). Nicholson, on the advice of Maryland Attorney General George Plater and Solicitor General William Dent, ruled against the petitioners. Penn Papers, Boundaries Pennsylvania and Maryland, 1680-1768, 11:14, HSP; Penn Papers, Penn vs. Baltimore, 1606-1732, 1:28, HSP. For WP's reply to this rejection, see Micro. 7:580. 12. In the spring of 1697 the commissioners of the customs, lords of the treasury, and a committee of the House of Lords had been involved in drawing up instructions to the colonial governors for greater efficiency in enforcing the acts of trade and navigation. Edward Randolph and WP both actively attempted to influence the outcome of these deliberations. On 11 May 1697 the commissioners of the customs completed the draft, but precisely when the instructions were sent is unclear. Gov. Markham in 1699 was to lose his post, in part for failing to adhere to them. See The Manuscripts of the House of Lords, 1695-1697 (London, 1903), pp. 472-99; CSPC, 1696-1697, pp. 471-73, 480-82; 1697-1698, pp. 416-17, 419; 1699, pp. 61, 382-84, 418. See also doc. 183.
162 TO SAMUEL CARPENTER AND OTHERS 1
worminghurst i iom [December i6]g7
J.S. S.C. J.R A.M. D.L. Sec: Dear Friends The Salutation of my love is to you in the truth, that is tender, humble, kinde charitable, & leads to that moderation, wch is well pleasing to the Lord & all good men; In which I desire we may be found, & not in the wisdom of our own spirits, nor own wils, but that the elder may serve the younger, & then all will goe well, & it will be well with us forever. I am glad of the visitations you have lately had, & desire they may be rightly priz'd, wch only is by being rightly used, more & choice Instrum ts are comeing among you, perticularly Wm ellis2 & Aron Atkinson, also honest John Rhodes3 & 150 or 60 {frds with him} from Darbyshire. & more will follow. I pray god, while one reason of goeing for those parts, has been retirement, that it may appear it is so, & that the Hurrys & encambrances of an eager, compassing & working minde, may not choak the Good seed in any & make them barren to god. Dr. Friends, I remember you, & that in great love, excuseing all hard thoughts of any about me, & hardly one day passes me that my Soul is not powred out to the Lord for you, nor one Good meeting; and I hope I shall finde you a redeemed people, when my God & yr God shall bring us together, after this long and hard Captivity of myn from you, as I may call it in truth. Now know I have writt many Packets by way of N. york, M. Land & to Pennsylvania directly, & some via Brist. by all wch you will understand how matters are here. E. Randolph is gone,4 pretends faire, for som of his frds Sake here, I Spared him, & he promesses if we are not very tardy, he will live well towards you. a lettr from him that he finds the Goverm1 respectfull to the Kings dues, will Blurr & blott, & unsay, all he has Insinuated. The Piracy has pushd us hard, I putt in S. Car. &c: letter {to the
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Lords} in defence of Frds;5 but that carrys some reflection upon Go. Mar.6 for not Guarding the Goale. Truly the villany of that people has made the name of Eng. & Xtian Stinck in all the Eastern Coasts of the world, & therfore encourage them not. want their mony rather than palliat their sins, or have their Infamy, the matter yet hangs but I am in hopes, since Coll. Quary & Fr. Jones have invalidated R. Sneads informations & Invectives agst the Goverm1 & frds in perticular, as well as Gor Mark.7 the Lords will hardly represent it farther. wl the Parliament may Call for I know not. but nothing I hope shall hinder my seeing you in the Spring, if the Lord please, if you do not give occasion from thence. I hear nothing of the Remonstrance8 at Court, nor the Invective Petition of the church of Eng. men to have the Administration there9 so hope that is Stopt; but the Jersy people much Endeavour'd it as well as some on our side, But Govr Bass10 stopt it here, with whom it was intrusted, as did Collonel Quary for our Province. But the repeated Journys, charges & attendances, have been very troublesom to me, body & minde & purse. For the laws, I am sorry you did not pass thos that Gov. Fletch. did, de novo,11 that so they might be of our enacting, & not lett such an irregular Interruption, lye a President by Consent upon Record among us, this Stumbles me much. For the act of settlem1 or frame of the Cover mt 1 2 that {is a point that} by Charter is my own peculier prerogative, devolved thereby from the Crown upon me, to settle wf form or frame I will, so the laws to be past in it, be as neer as may be to those of Eng. &c: and If I offer it the {Lords} & they refuse to make it their act, as too remote from wl other Colonys are in their Constitution, it may awaken an objection upon us that we cannot so easily answear, but furnish our enimys wth a weapon to wound us. I shall do for the best, in short, as the Lord shall direct me & way is made. For the need to you, of my comeing to you, myn is as great & pressing, & tho I pawn my very plate, I will strive to sett out by the 10 day of the 2 mo.13 the Lord permiting, & desire you to dispose all to such a reception, as [will]14 make our meeting Comforta[ble to us] both, and that as to privat & [worldly] matters, church & State; for to [pass t]hrough wl I shall here; & hazard my [life & m]ost, if not all of my family, to [suffer w]ith anxiety & perhaps less kind[ness fro]m some, than the worst of Goverrs [receive] from a worse people, will be too [much f]or me to bear. The Lord preserve [me.] The peace15 puts an end to your [fears], & the Collectors appointed by [the Commr]s of the Custom, promess me [better t]hings. by all means keep a [strict correspondence wth them, for their [employment] being in the Ks case, goes farr. [I s]ay nothing of publick matters, [as others] do here. Frds GenUy well, & in [some hea]rts great openness, tho the world [persecutes], & discords hurt among the Profesfsors of Trjuth, that
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to me it seems as if our [sufferings] were not {to be yet} at an end. So Dear frds [in that love] that waters have not quencht, nor [length of {distance} [wor]ne out, I salute you, & all Gods [people th]ereaway, & remain the same as Your faithfull Frd Wm Penn ALS. ACM. (Micro. 7:608.) Addressed: For Samuell Carpenter Mer1 In | Philadelphia | In | Pennsylvania. The last page of this letter is mutilated; the editors have supplied conjectural readings of missing words and letters within square brackets. 1. John Simcock, Samuel Carpenter, James Fox, Anthony Morris, and David Lloyd. 2. William Ellis (1658-1709), linendraper of Airton, Yorks., was a prominent ministering Friend. Smith, 1:562; DQB. 3. John Rhodes, or Rhoads (c. 1639-1701), a Derbyshire Quaker cordwainer, who was prosecuted twice for attending conventicles, was authorized on 8 Nov. 1697 to receive £5 from Bristol Monthly Meeting to assist in transporting his family to Pennsylvania, where two of his sons already resided. He settled in Darby. Mortimer, 2:126; PMHB, 19:64; Besse, 2:141, 144; Chester Will Bk. B, #151. 4. Edward Randolph embarked for America from England on 8 Nov. 1697. 5. See Micro. 7:521. This letter was written and signed by Carpenter, but WP endorsed it: "on behalfe of the most eminent for estate & Imploymt in that Province." See also doc. 155, postscript. 6. Gov. William Markham. 7. For the letters by Francis Jones and Robert Quary defending Markham's actions, see doc. 160; Micro. 7:568. 8. See doc. 150. There is no indication that this remonstrance against the 1696 Frame of Government was sent to anyone other than William Markham. 9. See doc. 132A. 10. Dep. Gov. Jeremiah Basse (d. 1725) of East and West Jersey. 11. A dispute between Gov. Markham and leading Pennsylvania Quaker politicians had prevented any renewal of the laws passed by former Gov. Fletcher. See docs. I l 5 > *52, 15312. The Frame of Government of 1696. 13. 10 Apr. 1698. In fact, WP did not leave England until Sept. 1699. 14. From this point on, the left edge of WP's manuscript letter is torn away. Words supplied within square brackets are conjectural. 15. The Treaty of Rijswijk.
163 FROM ROBERT W
m
TURNER
Philada the gth xmo [December] 1697:
Penn. My loveing Friend: By letter Batted the 22 d of the gth month last.1 by way of mary land; I gave thee advise at large of affaires heare; and of a new tax of 2d pr £ Taxed by our Justices to leavie on the people by their new pretended law, being Contrary to charter & soe much upposed by the Inhabitants at leaving the former Tax on the same foote2 I gave thee account of; and the very appearance of this 2d pr £ Tax much disturbes the peaceable Inhabitants, & soe much the more that the former Tax is not yett leavied by full two Trouble in Pennsylvania
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hundred pounds3 The Inclosed memoriall {the 7 Instant} To the Justices & Grand Jury will at large Informe thee:4 alsoe the offeres Friendly proposells & Endevers for peace; and to carry on the thinge pretended, as thou maist see, I wish it take Effect; wee have alsoe offered to Collect freely & I to treasure it Freely: & give suffitent security & to pay Duble my tax Ratted I wish our offers may take Effect, or at least delay time untill wee heare from thee; wch thinge wee desired but could not have it granted; I can not well omitt but take Every uppertunity to Informe thee passages heare. & soe much the more because in thy last thou art pleased to blame me for my slakness in not writtinge unto thee as formerly things goe wronge heare: wickedness growes & Vice so much Raignes in the grocest manner to the sorrow and Reproach of gods people & Is a stumbling blocke in the way of many: who Expected better things heare Sec Incurridge the magistrates aga1 it; & that they give thee an account & cause their of; To many scandolos Tipling houses the sinkes of sinn It lyeth in thee to Reforme it.5 If Right men placed—bold & Courajous6 for the truth would soone make an alteration; & make this land a praise & the Inhabitants of good Report who now are become a scorne, Reproach & Mockery. Its woundered {at} by wise men what authority heare Intends To draw Upon them selves; us & our posterity: actinge as if noe account were to be given: [torn] [Cojnfustien & discontent heare for want of Commission[er]s: & serveiors: with other Remidies formerly hinted to thee at large:7 I Intreat thee for thy good, thy posteritys, & the peoples good: speedily settle things in Justice, & according to truth. Thy plaine & Cordiall Friend: R. Turner Copie I doe heare by Informe thee: that severall of {them} heare called Keatheans:8 gon into watter baptisme & {are} baptised, As Tho. Budd Richd Donworth & Thomas Martine:9 Preachers, & many of their followers, with many more of them favouritts to that way, plead much a liberty from one wolridg10 a preaching Friend, that baptised awoman Friend called [blank] Muglton 11 I would faine know the maner of that & whether he or shee after that don did preach up, plead for or hold forth {watter} baptissme or that ordinance, soe called, of breakeing bread & drinkeinge wine, as practised in the different sosieties and a Copie of a paper12 aleadged heare that Tho Budd gave {out} to Friends in london, his disartinge G K or to that purpose I Request Thy Friend RT. I like wise further advise thee the place determined for to sett the prison & Markitt house & court house on is thus — in the high street before thy daughters lott,13 the prison frontinge the second
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street about 10 foot in the high street, then 30 foot for a yard & then adjoyneing the markett house & Court house fasinge The front street towards delaware: slopinge the ground towards the River, To {the} makeinge the Easer cart way for carts & carridge to come from the slip; the houseing to be in the midle of the street 30 foot widd 8c 30od foot left on Either sid this I hope will much advantadge thy daughters lott their; if wee can gett it on; I hope thou wilt Incurridge it; wee Intend a brave & Convenient place & gett it Confirmed in time Convenient by an acte of a lawfull assemblie, being on the Kings high way; RT Thy advise & Countinance in this case might doe well Thy Friend RT Copie Philada the 9 x mo 1697 m W Penn. sence writtinge my Letter same date by discorsinge with an understandinge man heare about affaires, Sec I find cause to Informe thee that the Rejgester Generall Be Role office is carried on & manidged by persons unwaranted — david loyd officiating the office of [Register] Generals office without Comission, & that Sam11 Jann[ings] is the lawfull Register Generall by thy Commistion. yett the present Governor14 acts. I advise thee to Consider these things — that men acte by a warran[t] [torn] & authority [torn] that one man have not so many offices: — makes thee the lese Friends: & the more disrespected I alsoe doe acquant thee the present Governor heare: Infearme & much distempered: their fore good for thee: the prosperity & quite of the people: that some {other} person were nominated & Impowered by thee to acte in case he decease, were he a man helthy Else Expect much truble & Confustion amongst us; to much of wch allready thy Consideraton on these things desired by thy Friend: Robert turner I Intreat thee Remember the Instrement soe longe promissed for the discharge of my quitrent; 15 I could be glad thou would now please to order the earring on of the wharfe before thy house: & Incurridg that high street worke: Intended by us soe much to thy advantage RT Copie. Retained copy. Dreer Collection, Letters and Papers of William Penn, HSP. (Micro. 7:617.) Docketed by Robert Turner: lettr 9 xmo 1697: | RT: To Wm Penn: | advise of the 2d £ Tax | & a Coppie of our pro | possalls to the Justices & | sent him; with some | lines of advise as to | the offices of Rolles & | Register Generull: & | that he order the makeing | his wharfe: & Incurid | ge worke: &c. Endorsed by Robert Turner: John Moore sent| by wKay of Marriland, | Inclosed to Tho: Barkr.16 1. Not found, but it was enclosed with a letter from Turner to the London Quaker merchant Thomas Barker. See Stauffer Collection, 2:135, HSP. 2. In Sept. 1697 members of the grand jury of Phila. Quarter Sessions were asked by the justices to concur with a proposed tax of two pennies per pound on
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Philadelphia inhabitants, to be allocated for building a prison. This was in addition to a Pennsylvania tax levied by the Assembly in Oct. 1696 of one penny on every pound clear value of real and personal estates, to be used for public charges, including the building and repair of prisons (Charter and Laws, pp. 256-57). Six of the grand jurors formally dissented from the second tax, "being disatisfied for that we had no acco1 of what was to becom of the former tax," and fearful that this new tax was "Intended for other Uses then building a prison." Rawle Family Papers—Grand Jury, HSP. 3. Nor was this the only 1696 tax whose collection was in arrears. In June 1697 Turner had bitterly complained to WP about distraints levied from those who refused to pay a penny-per-pound tax for Gov. Fletcher of New York, and the subsequent passage by the Assembly of an Act for the "Speedie Collecting the Arrears of the Assessment Laid in 1696." See Micro. 7:490; Penn Papers, Pennsylvania Miscellaneous Papers, Penn & Baltimore, 1653-1724, fol. 44, HSP; Charter and Laws, p. 263. 4. This memorial, signed by Turner, Griffith Jones, Joseph Willcox, and eight other opposition leaders, complained about the "illegal" action of the justices who had rejected proposals that Turner mentions in this letter. It suggested that if the justices were sincere in desiring funds for building a prison, they adopt the suggestion of Anthony Morris for a voluntary subscription until they heard from WP. Rawle Family Papers — Grand Jury, HSP. 5. WP had already taken action. See doc. 156. 6. Courageous. 7. See, for example, doc. 153. 8. For the controversy involving George Keith, see doc. 101. 9. Thomas Budd, Richard Dungworth, and Thomas Martin. It appears that Martin was baptized on 28 June 1697 by Abel Noble, another former Quaker, and became a pastor of the Upper Providence Sabbatarian Baptist Church. After 1700 he and Thomas Budd became pastors of a splinter group which met at Newtown. It is probable that Dungworth was one of this group. See Charles H. Greene, Historical Sketch of "Keithian" Seventh-Day Baptists of Pennsylvania, box 2, #32, HSP. 10. Humphrey Wollrich, a Quaker minister and former Baptist, had baptized a woman in 1658, for which he had been only mildly rebuked by George Fox. Braithwaite, Second Period, pp. 392-93. 11. The woman was probably a follower of Lodowick Muggleton (1609-1698), the English religious radical who devoted much of his career to attacking the Quakers. 12. Not found. 13. Laetitia Penn's lot was on the south side of High St. between Front and Second Sts. 14. William Markham. 15. See doc. 88. 16. For the letter to Thomas Barker, a London Friend, see Micro. 7:616.
164 PETITION FOR A FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL The following petition demonstrates the concern of Pennsylvania Quakers for a system of primary education available to both rich and poor. The first English school in Pennsylvania, which operated from 1684 to 1689, had been under the auspices of a Quaker, Enoch Flower, appointed by WP to teach reading, writing, and casting of accounts. Flower was dependent on fees paid by the students. In the summer of 1689, Philadelphia Monthly and Quarterly Meetings agreed to organize a public grammar school, with George Keith as the first headmaster. WP promised the founders a charter at a future date (see Joseph Jackson, Encyclopedia of Philadelphia, 4 vols. [1931-33], 2:704),
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but apparently none had been issued by 1698. Philadelphia Monthly Meeting now petitioned for an incorporated free school, to be endowed by that Monthly Meeting rather than supported by fees. Unfortunately the timing of the petition was inauspicious, as Philadelphia Anglicans, mistrustful of the Quaker ruling faction, had been endeavoring to establish their own endowed school. Whereas the Quaker free school was to be endowed by Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, the Anglicans had been looking to the English government for assistance. Beginning in December 1695, the Privy Council on several occasions had approved a salary of £30 per year for a schoolmaster in Pennsylvania, but it had not yet been implemented (see PC 2/76, p. 240; 2/77, pp. 137, 267, PRO). The Anglicans regarded the establishment of a Quaker free school as a serious social and religious threat, both competing with the Anglican school and fostering "the growth of Quakerism and apostacy" (Perry, Historical Collections, 2:7, 11). Ironically, the enlightened policy of establishing a free public school in Philadelphia proved to be simply another in the accumulation of grievances by Anglicans and other opposition forces against Philadelphia Quakers. [10 February 1698] The humble peticion of Samuel Carpenter Edward Shippen Anthony Morris James Fox David Loyd & Wm Southby & John Jones. in the behalfe of themselves & the rest of the people called Quakers who are members of the Monthly Meeting holden & kept at the New Meeting house1 lately built upon a peice of ground fronting the high Street in Philadelphia aforesaid Obtained of the present Governour2 by the Said People. Sheweth That it hath been and is much desired by Many That a School be Set up and Upheld in this Town of Philadelphia where poor Children may be freely Maintained taught & educated in good Literature Untill they are fitt to be put {out} Apprentices or capable to be Masters or Ushers in the Said Schoole. And for as much as by the Laws & Constitucions of this Goverm1 It's provided and Enacted That the Governour and Council shall erect and order all publique Schooles And encourage & reward the Authors of Useful [illegible deletion] {Sciences} & Laudable Invencions in the Said province & Territorys. Therefore May it please the Governour and Council to Ordaine and Establish That at the Said Town of Philadelphia a publique Schoole may be founded where all Children & Servants Male and female whose parents guardians or Masters be willing to subject them to the Rules & orders of the Said Schoole Shal from time to time with the
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Approbacion of the Overseers thereof for the time being be received or Admited Taught & Instructed the Rich at Reasonable rates and the poor to be Maintained {& Schooled} for Nothing And To that End a meet and Convenient house or houses Buildings & Rooms May be erected for the keeping of the Said Schoole3 And for the Entertaintment & abode of the Such and So many Masters Ushers Mistresses And poor Children as by the Order & Direccion of the Said Monthly Meeting Shall be Limited and appointed from time to time And also that the Members of the aforesd Meeting for the time being May at their respective Monthly Meetings from time to time Make Choyce of and Admit Such & So Many persons as they Shall think fit to be Overseers Masters Ushers Mistresses & poor Children of the Said Schoole And the same persons or any of them to remove or displace as often as the Said Meeting Shall See Occasion. And {that} the Overseers and School aforesd May for ever hereafter Stand & be established & founded in Name & in Deed A Body politick and Corporate to have Continuance for ever By the Name of the Overseers Of the publique School founded in Philadelphia at the Request Costs and Charges of the people of God called Quakers. And that they the Said Overseers May have perpetuall Succession. And by that Name they and their Successors May for ever have hold 8c enjoy all the Lands Tenements & Chattells & receive and take all gifts and Legacies as Shall be given granted or devised for the use and Maintainance of the Said Schoole and poor Schollers without any further or other Lycence or Authority from this Government in that behalfe Saving unto the Cheife Proprietor his Quitrents out of the Said Lands And that the said Overseers by the Same Name Shall and May w th consent of the Said Meeting have power & Capacity to Demise and grant by writing under their hands and Common Seall Any of the Said Lands {&} Tenements and to take and purchase any other Lands tenements or hereditaments for the best {use &} Advantage of the Said Schoole. And to prescribe Such Rules & Ordinances for the good Order and goverment of the Same School & of the Masters Ushers {Mistresses} & poor Children Successively And for their and every of their Stipends and allowances As to the Members of the Said Monthly Meeting for the time being or the Major part of them Shall Seem Meet With power also to Sue and be Sued And to do perform and execute all and every other Lawfull act & thing good & profitable for the Said Schoole in as full & ample Manner as any other Body politique or Corporate More perfectly founded & incorporated, May Doe. AD. Penn Letters and Ancient Documents, APS. (Not filmed.) Addressed: To the Govr & Council of the province of Pennsilvania & Territorys thereof Sitting At Philadelp | hia the tenth Day of the Twelfth Month Anno Domini 1697/8. Endorsed: Samuell Carpenters | petition to | The Governor & Council | about Incorporating | a Schoole | 1698.
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1. Known as the "Great Meeting-house" and based on a design by Thomas Jacques, it was erected for Phila. Monthly Meeting in 1695 at the southwest corner of Second and High Sts. Jackson, Encyclopedia, 3:785. 2. William Markham. 3. Although Gov. Markham and the Provincial Council would approve this petition on 12 Feb. 1698, and WP would issue charters in 1701, 1708, and 1711, the new school did not have its own building until 1712. It met in the Bank Meeting House, Front St. near Arch, where previous Quaker schools had been conducted, until a new building was erected in 1712, "the first especially designed for school purposes in Pennsylvania" at Strawberry Alley and High St. behind the "Great Meeting-house." Minutes of the Provincial Council, i: 531-33; William Penn's Charters of ye Publick School founded by Charter in . . . Philadelphia (Philadelphia, n.d.); Jackson, Encyclopedia, 2:706. See also Micro. 9:703; 14:331.
165 TO THE BOARD OF TRADE [14 February 1698] Honored Friends That I might not be wanting of respect to you, nor of Justice to my selfe, I thought it not amiss to lett you Know, that I think it hard Proprietarys should give security for Deputys of the Kings approbation;1 Since to me it seems the same thing; For therefore we should be excused because the King approves or disapproves, our Nomination. If we may absolutly appoint, I think we could not well refuse to be security for their obedience to the Acts of Navigation. However, If it be thought fitt that security be given, {even} for such as the King approves of, I humbly offer & pray that no Deputy be approved of that will not give the King security for his upright discharge of his place [in] reference to Trade & the Kings Revenufe] since a Proprietary, that may be both absent & Innocent, may be ruin'd by the Carelesness or Corruption of a Deputy, & that the Security aimed at by the Lords in their Address to the {King} is equally vallucd {answeared by this}; which I hope will ab be favorably represented to the King, to whos commands all is submitted by Your respectfull 14 i2 m (febr) 97/8 Friend Wm Penn ALS. CO 5/1257, PRO. (Micro. 7:647.) Docketed: Proprieties | L're from Mr Penn to the Board | relating to the Security requi | red from Proprietors for their | respective Deputy Govrs in | the Plantations. | Dated *T^ \ Reed | Read | 14th Febry 1697/8 | Entred fol: 194. i. On 18 Mar. 1697 the House of Lords, in a petition to William III, claimed that abuses and frauds in the plantation trade were due in part to the connivance of the proprietary governors. They asked, therefore, that those proprietors be required to give security for the due execution of the acts of trade and navigation by their deputy governors. On 11 May the commissioners of customs incorporated this into their own recommendations (CSPC, 1696-1697, pp. 402, 482). Three days earlier, William Popple had written to WP requiring his compliance with this stipulation (ibid., p. 478). WP
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and the other proprietors resisted to such a degree, however, that the matter was dropped, although deputy governors upon their confirmation by the crown were required to give security. See Root, Relations of Pennsylvania, pp. 50-51.
166 TO HUGH ROBERTS 17 i2 m [February i6]g7/8
Dear Friend The salutation of my Dr love is to thee, & those that love god in those parts. I have thyn, 1 of whom I heard by R. Haddock2 & thy purpose of goeing with a large Company for America; I desire the Lord to favour your honest adventures. I hope no Complaints will reach the parliamt for it may hurt me in Perticular, & the American Colonys under Proprietarys in Generall. I desire thee to watch the mo[tions] of the discontented, & inf[orm] me of it to London, dire[ct] to H. Goldney3 in white har[t] Court neer Lumber Street4 in London for W.P. Now as for my return, & the reasons urged, I shall Say little, but this I will Say I am not in the Peoples debt, but they in myn every way, & that I hope to make them Sensible of this next summer when, If my many sorrows & Incumbrances hinder not, I hope to be, nor shall estate or wife5 hinder me. my motive is higher than gain, but I have not been well used, for I have not seen Sixpence from thence these 12 years, & lost [g]ooo pounds6 by the wars in Irland, of my rents, that should buy [m]e bread. [I a]m Glad of thy great & good Ser[vi]ce, & Shall be wiling to give [an]y reasonable graunt. but [tha]t manner of Gilberts7 is the neerest & greatest quantety I have so neer Philadelphia, & I admire the Commisrs of Property suffer the Sweeds or any to settle it. wl do they think I must do to lick my Self whole, if that little I have reserved, wch should be a tenth part every where, should be taken up from me. However, on wl terms is it that thou desiredstst me to part with it, is it on purchass or on rent; If on purchass, I expect a g[reat]er price, as also a larger ren[t] than i d per Acre {if on rent,} & to allow n[o] family above 200 or 300 Ac[res] at the most; of all wch let [me] hear from thee. I have been [ill] but am better; I have bled muc[h] I take well & loveingly thy disco[urse] with my wifes relations; but s[elf] & creaturely affection prevail[s] too much every where above du[ty] & a publick Spirit.8 So Dear friend I bid thee fare[w]ell in the Lord & [am] Thy true Frifend] Wm P[enn] wl thou canst do [to he]lp me forward by p[torn]ss [torn] loan to pay the [tornjve much I desire the [torn] myn Salute th[ee] ALS. Penn Letters and Ancient Documents, APS. (Micro. 7:651.) Addressed: North Wales | For Hugh Roberts | at Vrongoch9 neer | Bala in | Merionithshire.
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Docketed: A Letter from W P to H R. Both pages of this letter are torn along the edges; the editors have supplied conjectural words and letters within square brackets. 1. Not found. 2. Robert Haydock. 3. Henry Gouldney. 4. Lombard St. 5. Hannah Callowhill Penn was in poor health and had apparently suffered at least one miscarriage or stillbirth. See PMHB, 81:78-79. 6. On 9 Nov. 1698 WP complained that the Irish "troubles" had cost him £9706. See doc. 176. 7. The manor of Gilberts is today Upper Providence Township. See doc. 49, n. 191/WP, 2:484n. 8. WP was under pressure from the parents of Hannah Callowhill (see n. 5, above) to remain with her in Bristol despite his many urgent concerns. See doc 124. 9. Spelled "Fron Goch" by the Welsh.
167 TO THE CZAR OF MUSCOVY Despite his preoccupation with the affairs of Pennsylvania, WP never forgot that he was also an articulate spokesman for his religion. This is illustrated by the following letter written to Peter the Great, the exotic young Russian czar, who was visiting England early in 1698. Two of WP's Quaker colleagues, Gilbert Mollyson and Thomas Story, had gone to the czar's lodgings in London to explain the beliefs of Friends in hopes that Peter would extend his protection to any Quaker missionaries who might venture into Muscovy. They located an interpreter and were able to meet with Peter, who questioned them about their refusal to remove their hats and about the Quaker opposition to bearing arms. After explaining the Quaker attitude on those subjects, and denying Peter's assertion that Quakers were actually Jesuits, they presented him with two copies of the Latin edition of Robert Barclay's Apology. On the following Sunday, Peter and his entourage, dressed as English gentlemen, attended the Quaker meeting at Gracechurch Street before leaving for Deptford to study English shipbuilding techniques. When it was learned that Peter could not read Latin, WP, with other leading Friends, went to Peter's residence at Deptford and left him Quaker literature in High Dutch, a language in which he was well versed. Unfortunately, the czar did not grant them an audience at that time, nor when WP came again, prompting the following letter from WP explaining the rationale for the visits and elaborating upon Quaker doctrine. [18 April 1698] It was a profound Respect, & not a vain Curiosity, Great Czarr,1 which brought me twice to wait upon thee. My Desire {was &} is, that
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as God Almighty has distinguished thee above so many millions of thy fellow Creatures, So thou mayst Distinguish thy Self above them by an Extraordinary Zeall for Piety, & Charity, Wch are the two Legs Christian Religion Stands upon, & where they are wanting or defective, it must needs fall in the Streets, to the Scorn & triumph of the Heathens. May thy Example Shew thee to be as Good as great, that thou mayst Bear his image, by whom Kings Raigne, & Princes decree Justice; Which w th out Goodness, power itself can never do. Optimus was of old preferred to Maximus among Heathen {Princes}2 much more should it be Among Christian Emperours. If thou wouldst Rule well, thou must rule for God, & to do that thou must be ruled by him; who has given to Kings his Grace to Command themselves & their Subjects, & to their Poeple, the grace to obey God & their Kings. Know Great Czarr, & take it wth thee, as one part of the Collection of Knowledge thou art making in this unexampled travell, that tis in this Kingdome of England, that God has visited, & touched the hearts of a poeple, above 40 years ago by the Holy Light & Grace of his son, & Our Saviour Jesus Christ. By which their minds have been turned, from false worship & Evill Living, to worship God who is a Spirit in & by his own Spirit, & to be led by it in their Conversation, that they may bring forth the fruits of it among men, to his praise that has Called them They are an Inward & retired poeple, that dare not Conform themselves, to vain Inventions, & Fashions of the world, Either in Religion, or Civill Conversation; but live & act, as believing that God seeth them in all they do, & will Judg them according to wl they do. They teach that men must be holy, or they Cannot be happy, {that} they are {should be} few in words, peaceable in life, suffer wrongs, love Ennemys, deny themselves for Example Sake, without which faith is false worship, formality, & Religion Hipocricie; Yett {they are} an industruous Poeple in their Generation, & tho Agst Superfluity, yett lovers of Ingenuity. It was in their name five of us3 Came to salute thee, who wish thou mayst have an Eye to this divine Principle of light & life in your soul; A measure of wch is Given to {to thee &} all men to profitt w th That by it Piety, wisdome, & Charity may dwell w tn thee, & thou mayst be Qualified to serve the great {mighty} God, Suitable to the Great Oportunitys he has put into thy hands So prays a little man, but Thy Great Fr^ & Wellwisher Wm Penn i8th 2 mo 98. DfS. Cadwalader Collection, Thomas Cadwalader, HSR (Micro. 7:668.) Docketed by WP: a lettr to the | Zarr of Mos | covey by WP | 1698. The deletions, insertions, and date are in WP's hand. i. Peter I (1672-1725), the Great, son of Czar Alexis Romanov, became sole ruler of Russia in 1689. In the summer of 1697 he became the first Russian sovereign to
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travel abroad, visiting Prussia and Holland before arriving incognito in England in Jan. 1698, where he lodged at Deptford. He left England on 21 Apr. Luttrell, 4:23435, 258, 260, 263, 267, 321, 330, 372. 2. In other words, goodness and virtue (optimus) were more highly esteemed than might and power (maximus). 3. On 5 Apr. 1698 George Whitehead, Thomas Lower, John Vaughton, Francis Camfield, and WP had called on Peter at Deptford, but were told that he was indisposed. They left a paper for him (Micro. 7:654), as well as Quaker literature in High Dutch (see George Whitehead, The Christian Progress [London, 1725], pp. 671-72; Thomas Story, A Journal of the Life of Thomas Story [Newcastle upon Tyne, 1747], pp. 123-27). No information has been found relating to WP's other visit, mentioned in the beginning of this letter.
168 TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF PROPRIETY By 1698 WP owed his steward Philip Ford a debt of more than £12,000 for services mainly performed many years before, in the early i68os. Unbeknownst to the colonists, WP had appeased Ford in 1690 by granting him the proprietorship of Pennsylvania and the Lower Counties as collateral for this debt. Thereafter, while WP continued to function as proprietor, Ford held legal title to Pennsylvania (for full details on WP's contractual relation with Ford, see doc. 211). On 2 April 1697 Ford leased the colony back to WP for three years at a rent of £630 per annum, payable in equal installments on i April and i October each year. On 10 April Ford acknowledged receipt of £157 from WP, no doubt a half payment of the first installment (see doc. 2iiN—O; an exact half payment was £157 los). Given WP's dilatory manner of paying debts to Ford, he apparently did not attempt to pay the remaining £157 ios due in April nor the £315 due in October until early in 1698, when bills of exchange for those sums were drawn on Samuel Carpenter and other leading Pennsylvania Quakers. Much to WP's surprise, those bills were refused. Although he could not tell the colonists the purpose of the bills, he realized that his lease was in serious jeopardy, which prompted the following angry letter. 2: 3m: [May iGJgS:
Loveing Friends I am surprised to hear my Bills for three hundred & ood pds should be refused. 1 Is not my Right by Publick obligation, to Six hundred pounds, S. carpenter; J. Songhurst, Gr. Jones2 Sec: in Consideration of the law I relinquisht of Customs, my expences in comeing over, & prosecuting the dispute wth Lord Baltimore, wch held neer a year, all my expences in 2 years withstanding of ed. Randall,3 &c: at my great charge and last of all, notwithstanding my quitrents, of wch I have not Seen for 12 years, one Sixpence, I say, are not these Credit
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enough to give a Governour & Proprietor too, his Bills acceptance, or honour at least for three hundred & odd pds. but in my own Country to Suffer that disgrace upon me. I cannot but think it hard, & unworthy, & without example. These are therefore to desire you, forthwith to Call in my rents, & pay the sayd money 0318* — oos — ood 4 & one hundred & fifty seaven pounds ten shillings more, to the order of Phillip Ford, who has assisted me here, & that with all the Speed you can, I entreat you; It must be in eng. Sterling. I hope this summer to be with you, & shall gladly acknowledge your love & Care herein, so with my love, that changes not to you, I end Your reall Frd Wm Penn ALS. Colonial Collection, Ms. 2018, Maryland Historical Society. (Micro. 7:677.) Addressed: For my esteemed Friends My Comrs of Propriety in | Pennsilvania. Docketed: 2d 3d mo. 98 | from Wm Penn Received per | Edwa Pennington5 | (1698). 1. WP had learned from Philip Ford that his bills of exchange drawn on Samuel Carpenter, Samuel Jennings, and others had been protested (Micro. 7:672). Carpenter had warned WP in July 1697 that he had personally suffered great losses and could not pay his debts in England. Nor were the other colonists able to send WP any money (Micro. 7:518). 2. Samuel Carpenter, John Songhurst, and Griffith Jones. For this question of the subscription promised to WP back in 1684, see docs. 20, n. 10; 78, n. 7. 3. Edward Randolph. 4. A mistake for £315. See Micro. 7:672. 5. Edward Penington (1667-1702), son of Isaac and Mary Springett Penington, of Amersham, Bucks., was WP's brother-in-law. WP appointed him surveyor general of Pennsylvania in 1698; he married Sarah Jennings, daughter of the governor of West Jersey, in 1699, and died in the Philadelphia smallpox epidemic of 1702. DAB; Maria Webb, The Penns and Peningtons of the Seventeenth Century (London, 1867), p. 430; Micro. 10:180, 192.
169 TO THE EARL OF ARRAN WP spent the summer of 1698 in Ireland, his first visit there since 1670. His estates, in disarray since the Revolution, needed to be put in order, and he was also determined to clear himself from the charge of treason lodged against him in Ireland in 1691 by William Fuller (see docs. 169, 170). At the same time WP could provide spiritual support for Irish Friends (see Micro. 7:692, 753). The visit, begun early in May 1698, proved to be reasonably successful and included a vigorous pamphlet war with the bishop of Cork and Rosse (see doc. 175), as well as an opportunity to dispense lengthy advice to the Lords Justices on economic incentives for Ireland (doc. 172). The only sour note was an incident with several soldiers who accused WP and those with whom he traveled of being popish recusants, an unfortunate reminder of the period when Friends were under siege for their beliefs (Micro. 7:693, 696, 698). May 1698
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Dublin 7. 3™ (May) [i6]g8 I am at last in earnest got heither, where I should be extreamly glad to heare from the,1 for whom I have so long, & in all times had so perticular an esteem; but submitt that to his prudence & friendship, only one thing I must begg, & that with all possible dispatch, that thy selfe & Earl of Maclesfield2 would signify my being in england the {13 of the} month of febr 88/9, in such away, as maybe most effectuall, of which secretary Vernon3 can best direct, In order to vacate & quash the Indictm1 that has layn so Long, & that was so scandalously found agst me, or rather that Sr R. Hamilton 4 & I was interlined5 in, by one we know,6 in this Country, wch they are enough ashamed of. You can finde no Difficulty in this thing, for I was, the very day, I am sayd to be in Irland, with thee at white hall, & if {not} that night, the next, as I beleive, with Lord Macclesfield at the Jocky7 by chareing cross, & vane,8 I think, with us. nor have I been in this kingdom since 70, now above 27 years agoe. every post delayed there, delays me here, for wch I take the boldness to press a returne. I have been very kindly received by the Marquess of Winchester9 & by the earl of Galloway,10 to whom, our friends old letters found the same respect they would have done at a fresher date, pray let him know I am no changeling tokin, however; & that he has my best wishes, after all my hard thoughts for his surprize 11 upon his friends. Direct to one Strettle12 In this town, linen Draper, if thy love & business will allow me that favour: however, I cant but be while I live with much truth & respect & that in all Circumstances, Thy faithfull Friend Wm Penn pray let my respects be given at Gerrard house.13 ALS. GD 406/1/4138, Hamilton Archives, Scottish Record Office; printed with the approval of the Keeper of the Records of Scotland. (Not filmed.) Docketed: Will: Penn | 7 3d Month | May 98. The editors are grateful to Dr. Paul Hopkins for calling this document to our attention. 1. James Douglas, earl of Arran, became duke of Hamilton in this year. Evidence indicates this letter is to him, as Arran is known to have been with WP in Feb. 1689. Samuel Singer, ed., Clarendon Correspondence (London, 1828), 2:265-66. 2. Charles Gerard (1659?-1701), second baron of Brandon, Viscount Brandon, and second earl of Macclesfield, had a checkered life; he committed a murder, received a death sentence for treason (later commuted), and became involved in a sensational divorce trial before the House of Lords. DNB. 3. James Vernon (1646-1727), commissioner of prizes, parliamentarian, and private secretary to Charles Talbot, duke of Shrewsbury (secretary of state for the northern department), became secretary of state for the southern department and member of the Privy Council in Dec. 1697. DNB. 4. Probably Sir Robert Hamilton (1650-1701), a leader of the Scottish Covenanters, who had been included in the proclamation of 14 July 1690 against WP and others suspected of high treason. See Micro. 6:468. 5. Inserted.
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6. William Fuller was the main impetus behind the indictment laid against WP in Dublin early in 1691. Braithwaite, Second Period, p. 166. 7. The Jockey Tavern in Charing Cross. Middlesex & Hertfordshire Notes fcf Queries, 3 :1 978. Probably Christopher Vane (1653-1723), son of Sir Henry Vane, the regicide. He had been a privy councilor under James II and became Baron Barnard in 1699 under William III. DNB; Burke's Peerage (1861), p. 223. 9. Charles Paulet, marquis of Winchester, was one of the Lords Justices in Ireland in 1697-99. DNB. 10. Henri De Massue De Ruvigny (1648-1720), earl of Galway, had left France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes and distinguished himself in the military service of William III. From 1697 to 1701 he was one of the Lords Justices in Ireland. DNB. 11. Possibly a reference to the earl of Sunderland, father of Arran's first wife; Sunderland's appointment as lord chamberlain in April 1697 and his departure from office in Dec. had surprised many of his political friends as well as his enemies. Kenyon, Sunderland, pp. 290, 299-300. 12. Either Amos Strettell (b. 1658) or his brother Abel, both linendrapers in Dublin, and later landowners in Pennsylvania and West New Jersey. Mortimer, 2:262; Pemberton Papers, 1:121, HSP; Strettell Papers, box 2, HSR 13. Gerard House, built by Henry, prince of Wales, son of James I, was located in Gerard St., in Soho. The first earl of Macclesfield acquired this house, and at the date of this letter the second earl was probably occupying it. Ironically it later passed to Charles Lord Mohun, who killed Lord Arran in a duel in 1712. Peter Cunningham, A Handbook for London, Past and Present (London, 1849), J -'3355 DNB.
170 TO THE EARL OF ARRAN Dublin 14 3m (May) [i6]g8 If all be true I hear, I am to wish my friend Joy,1 & I am sure no body does it wth a better minde. It would be dull to dwell upon that subject, Since I have no way to express it I have not already used, & that I know I come in the Arrear of so many that have prevented me in a better manner; but that is all the finest of them can do, wch is not the least of my Satisfaction. I thank God I am well, & have gott as well off my ugly business,2 as was possible: with acceptance & respect, of most If not all present, Bench, Barr & Auditory, so that the trouble my other letter3 requested, may be waved, if not over, pray send for Lawton,4 Be pray him to watch the Prints, that if it should make up a part of the News, It may not be in words offensive. Twas necessary for my Safety, & posteritys, & the [illegible deletion] best way for my reputation, & the reproach lyes upon the Projecters of the trouble. I din'd with the Marqs of Winchester to day, & his lady, who expects every day to Cry out.5 The earl of Galloway mighty Civil, & truly they have an establishd reputation, either for doing no ill, or doing of Good. Dilligent, Conversable, & {very} even, in great measure, in their Conduct, former heats Considered. They use me with great freedom wch I call Kindness, & I beleive they desire to make no body uneasy in the Kingdom,6 tho the Country is at the apprehention of the Bill depending in the house of Lords in Eng.7 May 1698
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pray make me acceptable at Gerrard house, & tell the Lady Arran,8 that name has always been propitious to me. now let me say, I do with the most fervent & hearty wishes for both your happiness, here & forever and Hers and Thy faithfull & Afft Friend Wm Penn my Salutes to Ld. Maclesfield9 & Lady Gerrard.10 & forget me not to our Frd at Altrop.11 I hope for a line. vale, my son prays that his respects may have place here. I am just come from the Castle where the Ld Galloway Confirms the Report, as doe the letters if not Prints, of your Nuptialls. ALS. GD 406/1/4320, Hamilton Archives, Scottish Record Office; printed with the approval of the Keeper of the Records of Scotland. (Not filmed.) Addressed: Earle of Arran. Endorsed: Will Penn | 14 3d month | May 98. The editors are grateful to Dr. Paul Hopkins for calling our attention to this letter. 1. Arran had announced his intention to marry in July 1698 Elizabeth (c. 16821744), the only child of the late Digby Lord Gerard (1662-1684), of Bromley. She was less than half Arran's age. Peerage, 6:269. 2. William Fuller's accusation. See doc. 169. 3. Doc. 169. 4. Charlwood Lawton (1660-1721), of Egham, Sur., a nonpracticing lawyer who met WP in the summer of 1686, became his close friend and later his agent for Pennsylvania. Lawton's self-serving Memoir of Part of the Life of William Penn (see Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 3:213-31) implied that WP had an extraordinary influence with James II which he was anxious to use on Lawton's behalf. DNB. 5. To give birth. OED. Henrietta Crofts, Lady Winchester, bore only one known child, a son named Nassau Lord Paulet. DNB. 6. The marquis of Winchester and the earl of Galway were the Lords Justices of Ireland. 7. The Irish Woolen Bill, which would have prohibited the export of Irish wool abroad (see doc. 172), passed its third reading in the Commons on 21 Mar. 1698, but languished in the Lords until July 1698 when Parliament was dissolved. H. F. Kearney, "The Political Background to English Mercantilism, 1695-1700," Economic History Review, 2d ser., 11:490. 8. Elizabeth Gerard, Arran's fiancee. 9. Charles Gerard, second earl of Macclesfield. See doc. 169, n. 2. 10. Elizabeth, Lady Gerard (d. 1700), who was sister to Macclesfield and mother to Arran's fiancee. DNB. 11. Althorpe, Northants., was the seat of Robert Spencer, earl of Sunderland.
171 FROM THE EARL OF BELLOMONT N. york 2i t h June [i6]g8.
Sir
I writ To you by the Richmond frigat1 wch Carried Collonel Fletcher for England, and then gave you an account how Fletcher had reflected on you by saying you had forg'd a Letter wch you produced To the Councell of Trade, pretended To be writ by M r Delanoy2 of this Town. This was part of our first Conversation the Day I arriv'd Trouble in Pennsylvania
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here, and I never in my life had such a surfeit of flattery and Lyes as that first Conversation of his gave me for Two hours Together, upon your account I was very Civill To Collonel Basse,3 and brought him w th me in our man of war, but I must Tell you, I never was so sick of a man's Company since I was born as of his; his head was so full of the Governour, and his mind so puff'd up and exalted wth vanity, that he was Insupportable To every body, and all the admonitions I Could give him were thrown away; he affronted and gave the Lye To a Gentleman on board our Ship without any manner of provocation, and the Gentleman buffeted him, wch he Took very patiently, not daring To resent the strokes even by returning one again. In short as David in the psalms Couples vanity and Leasing Together,4 so Basse has both qualities in an eminent degree, and is as great a Lyar as Fletcher To the full, he is the most a Cormorant in eating and drinking that I ever knew and the greatest Lover of his belly; during all the voyage he never fail'd of Cramming so Large a breakfast of salt pork or beef of the Ship's provisions, and w th it so Large a dose of Bristol double beer Impregnated wth a good quantity of brandy sugar and spice that before I Could be out of my bed in a morning he would be so fluster'd in the face and his eyes staring, and he so mellow, that w th me he pass'd for drunk, this superabundant eating and drinking where he Could use no other exercise, so heated his brain that he had Two fitts of a phrenzy. and I Told him Twas his folly in eating and drinking more than he Could well digest, that occasion'd those delirous fitts; but he was not much reclaim'd by my advice, all this while did this man pretend To the greatest Sanctity of Life that Could be, and would feign have been preaching To us on ship board, but I Laugh'd at his folly, because the Impostor was very discernable through the thinn veil of Sainthood, the people in the Jarzies as I am Told do not willingly submit To his government, partly because of his meannesse, partly because of his not bringing wth him his Mts approbation as the act of parliament directs, and partly Too because of some Immoralities of Life they Tax him with, he gives out that you were the author of his promotion, knowing you To have a great reputation in the world, and therefore Intending himselfe an honour by being a Governour of your Choice, but if you will give me Leave to speak my free thoughts, he will do you no Credit, but the Contrary. I receiv'd about a moneth ago orders from the Lords of the Councell of Trade in very positive and strict Terms, requiring me To Justine and maintain the rights and priviledges of the port of N. york To the suppression of the pretended ones of Perth Amboy in E. Jarzy: 5 M r Popple will shew you without doubt the authorities, there is a Memorial from the Lords of the Councell of Trade To the Lords Justices of Engld bearing date the 27. of October 97.° and upon that there is his Mts Order in Councell dated the 25. of Nov r 97.7 directing and Commanding me To do what I have already said in relation To this port, whereupon I was advis'd by the Councell To Issue my proclaJune 1698
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mation wch Should publish his Mts pleasure; and that, for the Satisfaction of the Inhabitants of this Town and province. I send you one of my proclamations8 by M r Weaver9 an honest Ingenious young Gentleman, whom I have got To be made Agent for this province I desire you will receive from him an account of the ill state and Condition of this province, occasion'd by the Corrupt administration of Fletcher, and the vast Trouble I am put To: he will wait on you and acquaint you w th all the evidences I have Collected, and now send home agt Fletcher, I desire you will allow him your favour, and me the Title of Sir Your most obliged humble servant Bellomont Collonel Markham and I have exchang'd Two or three Letters To each other ALS. Penn-Forbes Collection, HSP. (Micro. 7:701.) Addressed: For the hon ble | William Penn Esqr | Proprietor and Governor of the | Province of Pensylvania att his House — in Bristoll. Docketed: Ld. Bellumont | 4™ 21. 98. 1. Bellomont wrote to WP on 24 May 1698, shortly after his arrival in New York, but only the cover of this letter (Micro. 7:687) has survived. The H.M.S. Richmond was commanded by Capt. John Evans. CSPC, i6cjj-i6c)8, pp. 229-31. 2. Peter De Lanoy (d. 1696), Dutch merchant, was a deputy collector for New York in 1681 and served in the rebel government of Jacob Leisler as councilor and mayor. He was acquitted of treason in 1691 (Robert C. Ritchie, The Duke's Province [Chapel Hill, 1977], pp. 162, 204-5, 283; Patricia U. Bonomi, A Factious People: Politics and Society in Colonial New York [New York, 1971], p. 76; Collections of the New York Historical Society, Abstracts of Wills, 1:100-101). De Lanoy's letter to WP, dated 13 June 1695 (Micro. 6:960), was presented by WP to the Board of Trade on 11 Dec. 1696 with the signature crossed out (Journal of the Board of Trade, 1696-1697, transcript at HSP, p. 276). 3. Col. Jeremiah Basse, deputy governor of East and West New Jersey. 4. Ps. 4:2: "how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing [lying]?" 5. See New York Col. Docs., 4:297-98. 6. See CSPC, 1697-1698, pp. 1-2. 7. See ibid., pp. 36-37. 8. See ibid., p. 242. 9. Thomas Weaver (d. 1708), a lawyer, supporter of Jacob Leisler, and sometimes king's counsel under Lord Bellomont, was later collector of New York 1700-1702. Collections of New York, Wills, 2:9; New York Colonial Commissions, 1680-1770 (New York, 1919), pp. 5, 32; New York Col. Docs., 4:327-28, 335.
772 TO THE LORDS JUSTICES OF IRELAND [i July 1698] My Noble friends1 I have taken a long time to give you my Sentiments upon the state & improvemtt of this Kingdome, particularly in refferenc to the woollen Trouble in Pennsylvania
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Manufactory which seemes to be of most importance & the rather because the people mostly concerned live in these parts and that this is the scash {seat} of that Manufactory I have converst w th such as feele, not only the publick, but theire particulars toucht in the frowns of the Parliam1 of England & upon all I have heard & thought in that affaire, I have this to offer to your consideracon viz That the duty imposed on Wooll exported to England may be turned from that to the Manufactory here,2 & so much more as may bring the woollen trade of both Kingdomes upon a ballance a broad: by which means, England has our wooll lower, and we cannot have the usuall bennefitt of the lowness of wooll in Ireland to undersell her abroad. To this I further offer that the Parliam1 of that Kingdome be moved to take off the prohibition of Fatt sheep being imported3 & then they will have all our Weathers & fatt Yewes4 combeing Wooll of this Kingdome, they will not leave us above six, to four here, to Manufacture, and that but course clothing, in comparison of theires, and the graizeiers here to have the advance which theire meat there will give, above what it yeilds here, will be glad to have Such a Markett. so that we get by the flesh & loose nothing by the Wooll, and England has it to worke, the point now in strife. At the same time great precautions should be taken to advance the linnen trade of this Kingdome,5 for feare of the worst: for this Emulation being Started, it gives a just apprehencion to this country to be upon theire gaurd in trade, and to have two strings to theire bow. It is most Certaine that England gets easily by Ireland, Every yeare under three heads, viz Exchange of rents spent in that Kingdome Superfluities, that our mony fetches from Ireland, England being our new exchaing for the pride & Gallantry of both Sexes; and lastly Nessesarys which are a great many that come yearly hither from England, & which this Kingdome cannot be w th out, as the East land trade, West india, East india, Grocery & Many other things that are the Staple of England, or its manufacture, as lead tinn, Pewter, tooles of all arts & almost husbandry. Those Gentlemen in my opinion Caught a Tartar,6 that fell upon the Irish trade; for they did not see to the length of theire owne proposition, since it is most demonstrable that England is the great Gainer insteed of being a great looser by Ireland: and should Ireland be spightfull & 111 Natured, England would quickly finde it soe which might appeare under two or three heads, first to tax every Mans Estate 1A that lives in England,7 Secondly in Wearing the growth of this Kingdome, or fetching theire finery from Holland Sec thirdly forbiding the Education of the youth of Ireland in England, lastly in shifting as to wl we may at large call requesits.8 I hope as the lords have left it to the King, his justice & particuler inclination to a Kingdome that is so much his, will Issue his
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biusness well; and it will be your lasting Honnour to have it well done under your Ministry I finde nothing {rent} Grate more upon the people, then the Quartering of the Souldiers,9 some pay 5 per some six per weeke to cleare theire houses, others that have but little roome & many Children make hard shift, and some are disorderly by being late out, and angry if not Waited for, & sometimes further. They waite to see the Barracks begun, but I must say I never saw a More Entire fidellity & likeing to Government then among all Sorts of people I have converst wth. I Now pray that a law may be made to make prevent destruction of young trees by makeing gads or withs,10 which the Irish doe in great aboundance, & While Suffered it is a temptation to them to cut by night English improvemts out of groves & hedgerowes, to the great detriment of the English & Encrease of timber in this Kingdome, allmost destitute, beleive me building must cease in these parts, or the people must fetch it from other countrys. a Mighty neglect in former administrations. Three goods, would follow Such a prohibition, first trees, an ornament & well as requisit in every country, next Theft, for that would be prevented when the occasion is removed, Lastly it would be a great complem1 upon England — because in lew thereof, the Irish would be forced to use her Iron & cordidge for theire plow & cart harness, which would be very considerable at the years end: and Such little things look like makeing steps towards her, and at this time of day Seasonable Enough. Elce Ireland will finde the way to the sound11 for ail timber for all uses by sea & land, & if they doe for timber they may for other things which they now fetch from England in such a law as this if it were penall for Such as have Coppices12 in this Kingdome, not to fence them from the browsings of Cattle to be Nurserys of Wood & timber, It would be of great Service to the End proposed. Also that every Hundredth acre in all farms were planted w th ash & oak w th in the compas of 7 yeares Ensuing the date of Such a law or to pay to the publick one hundred pounds. Ireland in 20 or 30 years would13 quite a nother thing. There is also an abhorrible Practice in tents some English as well as Irish in Burning of land which is arrable, has beene good sheep walks, may be limestone land, to be sure where there is noe heath & not Many furrses.14 It should be {the} part of some country Gentle15 to prepare & press such a bill to preserve Estates, for it exhausts the oyle & spirit of the land, & will never be so good in an age. If Mountaine Were allowed to be burn't, & where furses are course and short & the land over run, soe it be not limestone land Ground provided the occupant lays it downe after the 3d crop or 4th at farthest wth good dung or soyle, It may not doe amiss. It Nurses an Idleness (besides the Injustices to Landlords) like the Irish, for they only burne the land to Save themselves the trouble of English husbandry and to
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get good Crobs16 at the landlords ruine. I hope this will not be thought too Mean for your consideracions for the disease {growes} Epidemicall. — I think I have exceeded the bounds of a letter. Especially to great men, wherefore I shall referr the rest to another oppertunity, only beg your Mercy for those that had none for me the officers at Ross:17 for haveing humbled them, you will doe Well to imitate him that uses to forgive, which will add to your other great favours that Obleige me in the terms of Your most faithfull & Respectfull Friend Corke i. 5 mo (July) 98 Copy. Penn-Forbes Collection, HSR (Micro. 7:713.) Docketed by WP: Coppy of my lettr | to the Lords of Justices of Ireld i —5™° 98. Docketed in another hand: Lettr to Lds Justi ces. 1. The marquis of Winchester and the earl of Galway, the Lords Justices for Ireland. 2. Although wool exports to England were permitted, the duties "were . . . effectively prohibitive" (L. M. Cullen, Anglo-Irish Trade 1660-1800 [New York, 1968], p. 2n). WP's suggestion was similar to that of John Locke, of the Board of Trade, who had unsuccessfully called for a gradual imposition of duties "upon oil, teasels and the various utensils used in woollen manufacture, as well as a quasi-excise duty upon woollen stuffs while still on the loom." H. F. Kearney, "The Political Background to English Mercantilism, 1695-1700," Economic History Review, 2d ser., 11:489. 3. The English Parliament in 1664 had effectively prohibited the import of Irish sheep between i Aug. and 20 Dec. each year, forcing the Irish to market earlier than normal; consequently the sheep were lean. See Donald Woodward, "A Comparative Study of the Irish and Scottish Livestock Trades in the Seventeenth Century," in L. M. Cullen and T C. Smout, eds., Comparative Aspects of Scottish and Irish Economic and Social History, 1600-1000 (Edinburgh, [1977]), pp. 150-51. 4. Wethers are male sheep, especially castrated rams. Ewes are female sheep. 5. WP here reflects a development already under way, for in 1696 the English Parliament, less concerned with Irish competition in linen than in wool, and anxious to reduce English dependence on Baltic linen imports, removed the import duties on Irish plain linens. The Irish Parliament, in turn, passed a relatively ineffectual bill in Sept. 1697 encouraging the linen industry. Here again WP was echoing John Locke, who had put forth a number of suggestions along these lines. Statutes at Large; Cullen, Anglo-Irish Trade, pp. 2, 47; Kearney, "Political Background to Mercantilism," pp. 4888
9-
6. Made the mistake of tackling an irresolvable issue (OED). Here WP is referring to those in the English Parliament who were supporting the efforts to prohibit the export of Irish wool abroad. They were ultimately successful in 1699 with the passage of 10 & 11 Will. Ill, cap. 10 (See Cullen, Anglo-Irish Trade, pp. i-2n). For the political and economic context of this movement against the Irish wool trade, see Kearney, "Political Background to Mercantilism," pp. 489-91, 494-96. 7. WP is speaking about absentee English landlords, a perennial problem in Ireland. 8. Necessities. 9. James II had invaded Ireland in 1690, and for the next decade the English maintained a substantial military presence in the island. 10. Gads and withes were harnesses, bands, and ropes made from the twisted fibres of tough, flexible twigs or branches. OED. 11. The Baltic Sound, a major source for timber. 12. Small woods or thickets, planted for the purpose of periodic cutting. OED. 13. The copyist omitted the word "be." 14. Furzes are evergreen shrubs that grow abundantly on waste lands. OED.
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15. Gentleman. 16. Crops. 17. On the way to Waterford, WP and his companions had been stopped by troops and accused of being papists; their horses were seized by order of two English officers, Lt. Wallis and Cornet Montgomery. Although the horses were regained by writ of replevin (see doc. 178, n. 6), WP complained about the incident in letters to the Lords Justices and to Sir Henry Ingoldsby, with the result that the officers were placed under house arrest. Janney, pp. 395-96; Micro. 7:693, 696, 698.
173 FROM SAMUEL CARPENTER AND OTHERS rd
Philadelphia the 4th 5 th m [July] 1698
Hon Governor Colonel Quarey is lately arrived, And for All his pretencions of freindship, is now returned to his Center (we mean) to Seek occasions & espouse those that so doe And in his Absence Did Agl the Governm1 He takes no due Course to publish his Commission for being Judge of the Admiralty, though he has had Notice of sundry persons now in Duress upon [suspicion of piracy who not being brought to Condigne Punishm1 becomes a great Scandal to thy Governm1 which this Judge & his party seem not concerned to remove, else he would by this tyme have done his Duty in that respect: We partly understand he was forward enough to receive his Comission though not without a Salary; But since he came here, he or, it May be rather his Instigators stumbled upon a feigned Obstruccion And that is, a Clause in our Law past last Assembly (Intituled An Act for preventing Frauds & regulating Abuses in Trade within this Governm1)1 Whereby Endeavours were used to remove those Jealousies that our Enemys had raised by representing us to the world as a people whose Fortunes are [illegible deletion] chiefly [illegible deletion] advanced by Illegall Trade, And the best way that could be found for effecting that our purpose was to adapt or rather oblige the Goverm1 to put in Execucion the Severest Laws that were Made in England agt such Trade & Traders, Adding greater penaltys on the Transgressors Not because we concluded The Acts of Parliament wanted Force here without our Adopting, But that we Might in a More Compendious Manner recomend them to the View & Observance of those {that} cannott procure them Or when they have them cannot soe readily comprehend them haveing in the last Act made in the 7th & 8th of King Wm 2 but recitals of the bare Titles of the former Acts Which are diffused in great Volumes And canot be had in these parts, nor the {said} last Act Neither, there being but two or three as we know of in the Governm1 The Clause objected agt is in these words viz1 And Its further Enacted By the Authority aforesaid That when any Bill plaint or
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Informacion shalbe exhibited or Comenced agt any person in any Court of Admiralty to be held within this province or Territorys for or upon Breach or Non observance of any of the Acts of Trade & Navigacion in any Case whatsoever The Mean or Manner of Tryall shall be according to the Course of t[he] Comon Law & known practice of the Courts of Record within this Goverm1 by twelve lawfull men of the Neighbourhood to be summoned & returned by the Sheriff of the County where the Offence is committed: This he says is contrary to his Instruccions because it directs those Tryals to be by Jurys: Now If such an Objeccion should at this tyme of Day be made use of at home; We have this to say in Defence of our Law: That pursueant to the Kings Letters patents Impowering thee or thy DepT w th the Freemen of this province to make Laws Consonant but not repugnant to the Laws of England, The last generall Assembly haveing had special Regard to the abovesaid Act of Parliam1 compareing the 7th paragraph thereof with the n t h Did think convenient to expresse by the above recited Clause what they conceived was implyed in the aforesaid paragraphs The First of them giveing the Court of Admiralty {in the} plantacons Cognizance of those pleas that thentofore belonged to the Courts of Comon Law, forbidding Essoigns proteccions & wagers of Law,3 And laying the Onus probandi4 upon the Claimer or Owner: which terms & practices are v[er]y uncouth among Civilians And therefore vaine such provisions concerning {the} [illegible deletion] procedure of their Courts without Jurys. But the last, DRequireing That upon any law or statute concerning his Mate Duties Actions suits & Informacions that shall be brought commenced or entred in the said plantacions upon any Law or statute concerning his Mats Duties or ships or goods to be forfeited by reason of any unlawfull Importacions or Exportacions there shall not be any Jury but such only as are Natives of England or Ireland or are borne in his Mats said plantacions (then we hope we may have our Tryals by such Jurys as are qualifed by this Act)5 But to put it further out of Doubt how the Manner of Tryals in those Cases shall be The Act says That upon all such Accons suits & Informacions the Offences may be layd or alledged to be in any Colony province County precinct or Division of any of the said plantacons where such Offences are alledged to be comitted at the pleasure of the Officer or Informer: Which plainly directs the vesnue to be layd as in Transitory Accons at Comon law Therefore {were} our Consideracions Agreeable (as we Conceive) to the Intent of the said Act of parliam* hopcing we may be Countenanced in all our Modest provisions {in Just Observance} to [three deleted lines illegible] attempts to be made & have not to put
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the {to the Intent of the said Act of parliam1 hopeing we may be countenanced in all our Endeavours to prevent the Abuse of power and frustrate the Attempts that may be made to put the} Kings subjects upon trying their properties otherwise than by Judgm1 of their equals or by due Course & processe of Law Dear Govr thou sees the Exercises {Troubles} we goe through in th[y] absence [with?] those thou thinks thou hast [three words illegible] favourers of thy Govcrnm* Country prove generally the most troublesome This person we perceive is not the least Instance of that Nature Thou had Cautions enough of {concerning} him And however Albeit he seemed to be gained over to thy Interest thou may be sure It was when l {he saw he} could not prevaile to overturn thy Governmt And the pretence he {though he makes this} pretence Yet its plainc he [illegible deletions] designcs to make it his Article ag* tts For he now [illegible deletions] we suppose May be canott be Ignorant that his undcrtakcing the Judge of the Admiralty {And tho' he canot be ignorant} but that his being Agent for the {pensilvania} Company6 renders him in a grea[t] Measure if not altogether uncapable of being a Judge especially] to try Seisures of Ships & goods in that absolute [illegible] proposes, however to be sure he might in that station prove very {prejudicial to the Kings Interest and} Injurious to All traders here except his own Company {yet notwithstanding Such his Incapacity we see how ready he is to make our Law the obsnly Obstruccion to excuse him from executing his Commission} We {are} very sorry to hear of thy Indisposicion and much disappointed in thy not comeing over or takeing {Some effectual} Course to Appoint Comrs of property & surveyor General7 The Want of Which occasions great Dissatisfaccions And its feared will Intaile a trouble upon {thee and} this Country & a great discouragment to the Inhabitants & those that would settle among us Oh! the great Confusions that have been {&} is like to be through the occasion of Surveyors the remissnesse of the Surveyor General8 with respect to the old {Settlers} patents that were called in & resurveys granted upon their Lands & new patents granted to the overplus granted to others who are now like to be ousted of their [illegible deletion] possessions, The Sweads & old Renters haveing gotten their old patents againe or the Records of them & claimcing their Right to the by vertue whereof they claim their whole patent Rights And think not themselves at all precluded by thy resurveys thou haveing nothing from them as they Say that can debarr them of it, We earnestly Desire the Lord would make way for thy Comeing to us or put it in thy heart to settle these Matters for Trueth suffers & we suffer for want of it Df. Norris of Fairhill Collection, Family Letters, HSR (Micro. 7:722.) Docketed: Letter | S: Carpenter E Shippen & D L9 | To | The proprietor | 4th 5 th m 1698.
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1. See Charter and Laws, pp. 268-74. 2. The Navigation Act of 1696 (7 & 8 Will. Ill, cap. 22). 3. Essoigns, protections, and wagers of law were three methods by which defendants could either postpone or avoid a trial. See Black's Law Dictionary. 4. Burden of proof. 5. Within brackets in original. 6. In 1693 a group of 79 London merchants and traders formed the New Pennsylvania Company. A joint stock company, it was similar to the Free Society of Traders in that "it sought to control the English export trade to Pennsylvania and to harvest profits from speculation in land." Its stock, however, was not offered to settlers in Pennsylvania but was owned exclusively by English investors. Nash, Quakers and Politics, pp. 139-41. 7. See docs. 153, 163; Micro. 7:490. 8. Thomas Holme. 9. Samuel Carpenter, Edward Shippen, and David Lloyd.
174 FROM THE MARQUIS OF NORMANBY July 17 [1698] In assisting a freind, a man cannot be too forward; but especially when it is also in order to the public good. I hope therfore you will not think I need an excuse for desiring your help toward an Election of a Knight of the shire for Worcestershire, since M r William Walsh1 is put upon standing for it by all those of his own principle there, I mean such as are of a larger mind & more indulgent to all mankind, than to exlude any sect from an equality of libertyes & advantages. This opinion of his, has made him confident of my obtaining your favour with many upon this occasion, and if you are willing to write about it, you will duble the obligation by doing it the very next post after your receaving this, which I wish may come time enough, because their Election day is {this day being} wensday come three weeks.2 I am Sr Your humble Servant Normanby 3 r M William Pen ALS. Penn-Forbes Collection, HSP (Micro. 7:740.) Addressed: For Mr William Pen to be left for him wth the Post Master at | Dublin | who is desired to send it to him. Docketed: Marqs Norman | by 98 | July 17. 1. William Walsh (1663-1708), of Abberley, Worcs'., critic, poet, and parliamentarian, was a consistent supporter of the Protestant succession and of the Whig war policy. DNB. 2. Walsh was returned to Parliament at the election of 10 Aug. 1698 for Worcestershire. Ibid. 3. John Sheffield, later first duke of Buckingham and Normanby, an officeholder under James II, was a leader of the Tories under William and Mary. He refused to sign the Association in 1696 and would later oppose the Act of Settlement in 1701. Ibid.
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175 FROM THE BISHOP OF CORK AND ROSS Cork. Aug: 26. 1698. Sr
I account it an unhappy accident to me,1 that you miss'd me when you made your last kind visit. I was then attending my Duty at Rossecarbury. Had we then mett I should have been able to have presented you a proof from the Presse (as the Workmen call it) of the paper wch I now send you,2 & we would have debated the main points wherein we differ more at large. But you will remember, when you gave me your paper,3 at our first meeting, I told you, you must expect, if I took it, my Testimony upon it: wch I truly writt according to the date here printed. 4 But some in Dublin were of the mind one while, that it was not needfull to take notice of such Papers as that. Afterwards, when they better considered what I had writt, they changed their Opinion, & approved the Printing of my Reflexions & your Paper together. This made it come out so late. I had not seen your other bookes you sent me, when I writt the enclosed: I therefore confine myselfe therein onely to your first paper, takeing no notice, as then I could not, of those after pieces:5 but I thank you for them all. I see in these later, you come neerer us & the Truth. I pray god tm unite you to us, & all of us to him, in Holy Faith & Love by his good Spirit. I have been very sincere in my Animadversions on your paper. There is no bitternesse or harsh aggravations in them, but onely faithfull plain-dealing with you & your people;6 no otherwise, than I do in like cases with all men. Take all as Christianly as it is intended, & I hope you will be better acquainted with Sr
Your true freind &, in all Christian offices, your humble servant ECorke Rosse ALS. Penn-Forbes Collection, HSR (Micro. 7:746.) 1. Edward Wetenhall (1636-1713), bishop of Cork and Ross since 1679, was one of the seven Anglican bishops who remained in Ireland during the troubles that began in 1688, receiving much ill-usage at the hands of the partisans of James II. He was translated to Kilmore and Ardagh in 1699. As early as 1682 he had advocated concessions to dissenters and was prepared to go further than the English Toleration Act. DNB. 2. The Testimony of the Bishop of Cork As to a Paper Intituled, Gospel Truths. See Joseph Smith, Bibliotheca Anti-Quakeriana (London, 1873), P- 4493. Gospel-Truths held and briefly Declared by the People called Quakers, written by WP in conjunction with Thomas Story, Anthony Sharp, and George Rooke, was printed on 14 May 1698 at Dublin. See Smith, 2:317; PWP, vol. 5, item 110. 4. 2 July 1698. 5. Probably The Quaker a Christian by WP, John Everet, and Thomas Story; and
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Truth further cleared from Mistakes by WP, both of which were printed in Dublin in 1698. See Smith, 2:317; PWP, vol. 5, items 111, 112. 6. However conciliatory he felt in 1698, the bishop soon became nettled by WP. In 1699, when WP published A Defence of a Paper, Entituled, Gospel Truths, against the Exceptions of the Bishop of Cork's Testimony (PWP, vol. 5, item 113), Wetenhall replied with A Brief and Modest Reply to Mr. Penn's Tedious, Scurrilous and Unchristian Defence against the Bishop of Cork. See Smith, Anti-Quakeriana, p. 449.
176 TO SAMUEL CARPENTER AND OTHERS London 9. gm [November i6]g8 Dear Friends S. Car. E. Sh. T. Due. S. R. A. M.1 &c: I have but Just time, by this opertunity, to Salute you by this friend Thos Story,2 who, with his honest Companion,3 wasls drawn forth to visit you. He was {one of} myn in Irland, a sober discreet, & good man, of Considerable Abilitys, as well as of Integrety. He will be perticularl to you in wl else I might write, had I time, tho I hope for a further occasion by him, the winds being westerly, tho faire to fall down, & the master ready to call him.4 I came heither late last night, & hoped for a fuller opertunity. Only this, the secretary of the Councill of trade5 has sent me a letter6 from the lords about your new law for tryalls, 7 & some naval matters that they are much disturbed at. the Comrs of the Admiralty, & Customs also have duplicats of them, and I shall have all to qualify if I can do it. Dr. Frds I fear there are some that undermine you, designedly, or by being influenced by those that are enimys, to putt rubs & blocks in my way. my Irish Journy is over, where I am a looser 9706 pounds by the troubles. & my son in 6 weeks more will be married, 8 & the lord wiling, in six more I am prcparcing {in hopes} to be on bord of ship; and now intend to secure my passage, while in the Citty, & divers good frds with me. I shall add no more, haveing writt about Six weeks Since to Sam Carpenter,9 & hopeing for a fresh opertunity, but my Dr. love in the lord to you all, & that I am your Frd & Bror Wm Penn Jo vaughton. Jo Field, & John Butcher,10 Salute you & frds. ALS. Gratz Collection, HSR (Micro. 7:756.) Docketed: London 9 gth 98 | from W m Penn | to Samuel Carpenter | and others. 1. Samuel Carpenter, Edward Shippen, Thomas Duckett, Samuel Richardson, and Anthony Morris. 2. Thomas Story (1670?-1742), of Justice Town, Cumb., became a Quaker in 1691; he traveled extensively in the ministry, particularly in America. Mortimer, 2:262. See also A Journal of the Life of Thomas Story (Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1747). 3. Roger Gill (c. 1645-1699), a Baptist shoemaker, became a ministering Friend
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in the i68os. He died in Philadelphia during a smallpox epidemic. Journal of Thomas Story, pp. 150, 227; DQB. 4. On 10 Nov. 1698 Story and Gill left Deptford aboard the Providence, of London, commanded by William Cant, but contrary winds prevented them from sailing from the Downs until 30 Nov. Ibid., pp. 150-51. 5. William Popple. For WP's response to Popple's letter, see doc. 178. 6. Not found. 7. See doc. 173.8. William Penn, Jr., married Mary Jones, daughter of Charles and Martha Jones of Bristol, on 12 Jan. 1699. Mortimer, 2:256. 9. Not found. 10. John Butcher (1666-1721), a London Quaker, was actively involved with Meeting for Sufferings. John Field (c. 1647-1724) was a London Quaker schoolmaster, preacher, and writer. Fox, 2:486-87, 497; Fox, Short Journal, pp. 324-25; Braithwaite, Second Period, p. 527.
777 FROM SAMUEL CARPENTER Virginia near Patomeck River at the house of John harveyes1 the xgth gth mo [November] 1698 Dr Govr
I came hether In Compa w th Dear Richard hoskins2 & Elizabeth Webb,3 and Eliza the daughter of Tho: Loyd4 who I Suppose is like to bear her Compa to England, and they being likely to take shipp In the Lower parts of Virginia as Soone as She can be cleare Of this Province & North Carolina, they are hastning downwards in order therunto & Richard hoskins w th them & then {he} Intends to Returne homewards to his Family In Philadelphia & Richard Johns & I and 2 other Maryland Friends, Intend to Returne also the 2i s t Instant It being appointed If nothing hinder {then} to part Soe haveing this oppertunity by {this} our Dear & well Esteemed Friend Elizabeth Webb, was willing to give thee a few Lines Fearing that thou wilt hardly be Comeing to us before She arrive, haveing been Soe often dissapointed by one accident or other that hath prevented thee. Wee came from Philadelphia the i6 th past and left Friends & people well in health, things quiet and as well w th Friends in the Generall as I have knowne; Wee had a very large & good meeting at Burlington this year, there being our Dr Frds Wm Ellis Aaron Atkinson, Eliza Webb Mary Rogers,5 {& Eliza Gamble6 of Barbados} and many other publicke Frds from Severall parts,— The Lords power & presence was with them, wherby Friends were much Comforted and Rcfrcshc Encouraged & Established and the States of the People Reached Soe that wee have great Cause to Praise the Lord for his Renewed visitations of Love to us from time to time, which have been many. Dr Wm & Aaron went from thence towards New England & Edwa Shippin to bear them Company. Tho: Chalkely7 not returned from thence. Tho: Turner8 went for maryland & virTrouble in Pennsylvania
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ginia & Is Since Elmbarqued for London in one Mitchell,9 Mary Rogers Eliza Gamble & Geo: Gray10 gone for Barbados, — Theres a great Convincement in some parts of New England and Generally a Readinesse in many to hear Truth declared, and an Opennesse of heart to receive it both there and Other parts of america, Oh that wee might truely prize & Rightly Improve this day of visation,11 and as to Friends both in our Provinces & maryland I know by good Experience that the Lords Love hath been Large to us In sending his Faithfull Servants and Messengers among us aftd who have beene Instruments in his hand to helpe us forward In our Spirituall Journey, & to Raise that Love & Life In the hearts of many that C gives great Encouragemt to Serve the Lord {more} Faithfully & diligently, & I desef'veire that wee may persevere therein, to the End, that the Lord may not be provoked by our Backslideings & unfaithfullnesse to destroy us and Raise up another people in our places, and as to this our Dr Friend E: Webb, her Service for the Lord hath been great where She hath Travelled, he haveing been pleased to furnish her w th wisdome, holy zeale [illegible deletion], dilligence, & Patience in his worke Soe that the word of Live12 declared by her hath been made Effectuall and the [illegible deletion] heartes of People reached, & I w th many more have Cause to Blesse the Lord on her behalfe. wee Overtooke her near Choptanke, 13 and have had Severall good Meetings & oppertunitys together Soe that I can truely Say I am glad It was my Lott to be w th them the Presence of the Lord haveing beene wth us. I referr thee to her for a more perticul[e]r acc° of the Affaires of Truth & Condicion of Friends In America If thou sees [her] She is the wife of Richard Webb14 of Glocester and came in the Bristoll mercht wth Mary Rogers, In Compa w th Jn° Roads &c I received the Coppy of thine of 2d 3 m° under Covert from Ph: Ford directed to thy Commissioners of Property & sometime after that the originall15 per Edwa Pennington whom I met at Burlington yearly meeting. I was much troubled at the Contents upon the First Reading, knowing that I had none of thy Effects but have been a Creditor 15 years, and not answerable for the Publicke nor able tho willing to Serve thee In that way the Summs being Considerable & my losses & layings out of In thy Province great, but I shall now Leave it. only acquaint thee that Rob1 Turner Jn° Goodson & I pd thy bill of 156:10:- Sterling 2/s wherof John & I borrowed of Edwa Shippen at Intrest & are bound Joyntly & Severally for the Same, & Sam: Jenings accepted the Other to pay as Effects come in & pt pd — and If wee can find a way to Raise Money out of thy Rents to answer this Second draught shall doe it, but thy bill being due before I came from home were forced to Protest for want of Effects, & I desire thee not to take it unkindly, for Its not for want of Love & good will to serve thee in any thing wee can Besides I owe a great deal of money at Intrest & I believe I am Really worse in my Estate by 3000! then I
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was 3 years agoe haveing lately lost sooo1 by fire & damaged in my trade for want of Conveniency, and my wifes Brother 16 my partner lost as much If not more then he is worth, all which lyes heavy on me. Soe time being Short I Conclude w th Dear Love, hopeing yet to See thee Shortly Thy Reall Friend Sam: Carpenter Dr Richard hoskins & Richard Johns Remember their dear love to thee I had thine also by Rd Pcnn {Edward Pennington} directed to my selfe, and believeing that thou wilt be pleased wth it my dear wife & I were willing at present to accomodate him in our owne house though possibly he might be better Entertained Elsewhere, but he is well Contented & soe are wee w th him S.C. 98.
ALS. ACM. (Micro. 7:759.) Docketed: Sam11 Carpenter | 31 — nm° Sc 19—9mo |
1. Unidentified. 2. Richard Hoskins (d. c. 1701) was a Quaker merchant of Barbados, Philadelphia, and London. PMHB, 28:463-64. 3. Elizabeth Webb (d. 1726), of Gloucestershire, became a Friend at age 19. In Aug. 1697 she received a certificate from Tetbury Quarterly Meeting to travel in the ministry to America. After returning to England, she and her husband, Richard (see n. 14, below), immigrated to Philadelphia in 1700. They finally settled two years later in Birmingham township where Elizabeth helped to organize a meeting, although she continued to travel in the ministry. Bulletin of the Friends Historical Association, 19:70, 72; JFHS, n:i33-34. 4. Elizabeth Lloyd (1677-1704), fourth daughter of Thomas, embarked for England on 11 Mar. 1699 with Elizabeth Webb and Thomas Chalkley on the Elizabeth and Mary. In 1700 she married Daniel Zachery, a Boston merchant. The Journal of Thomas Chalkley (Philadelphia, 1749), p. 21; Charles Hare Hutchinson, ed., Genealogical Notes Relating to the Families of Lloyd, Pemberton, Hutchinson, Hudson and Parke (Philadelphia, 1898), p. 15. 5. Mary Wheeler Rogers (d. 1699), of Witney, Oxon., wife of Joseph Rogers, originally of East Markham, Notts., had arrived in Virginia from Bristol with Elizabeth Webb in the winter of 1697-98. After visiting Barbados, she embarked for Jamaica but died aboard ship from a "Malignant feavour." Mortimer, 2:137; Bulletin of the Friends Historical Association, 4:137-40. 6. Unidentified. 7. Thomas Chalkley (1675-1741), Quaker minister of Southwark, had arrived in Maryland in Apr. 1698 from England and had gone to New England. Immigrating to Philadelphia in 1701 with his wife, he continued to travel widely in England and the colonies, as recorded in his Journal. See especially pp. 13, 15-21. 8. Thomas Turner (d. 1714), of Coggeshall, a traveling ministering Friend, had come to America early in 1698 with Atkinson, Ellis, Thomas Chalkley, and others. Ibid., p. 11. 9. Unidentified. 10. George Gray frequently traveled to Barbados, having emigrated from there to Philadelphia in 1692. He died in Barbados early in 1718. See Norma Adams Price, From Meetinghouse to Statehouse, 1683-1783 (Wallingford, Pa., 1976), pp. 7-14. 11. Visitation. 12. Life. 13. The Choptank River, on the Maryland eastern shore. 14. Richard Webb (d. 1720) would settle with his wife (see n. 3, above) in 1702 on
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415 acres in Birmingham township. He became a provincial councilor, justice of the peace, and judge of Common Pleas. JFHS, 11:133-34; Chester Will Bk. A, #81. 15. See doc. 168. The copy has not been found. 16. Abraham Hardiman (d. 1702), originally of Haverford West, was the brother of Hannah Hardiman Carpenter. He died during a smallpox outbreak in Philadelphia. Edward Carpenter and Louis Henry Carpenter, Samuel Carpenter and His Descendants (Philadelphia, 1912), pp. 9-10.
178 TO THE BOARD OF TRADE [19 December 1698] A memoriall for the Lords Comrs of Trade & Plantations The Law1 objected to me the other day, I have given into the secretarys2 hands, together with my Deputys letters3 in his own hand, upon that Subject, which I hope, with the address of the Generall {Assembly}4 will mitegate his fault, If the lords upon a further Consideration of his defence, shall think it one. Next, I have however, upon the hints I had of a disagreable Clawse in that Law,5 returned them my Negative, tho the rest of it be very usefull & needfull for the kings Service. There is an other Slip to us of our Perswasion, in It, that no provision is made for thos that Cannot swear, other than in the laws of navigation, whereby we shut out our own folks, & confirme that greivance upon our Selves, in Coppying so close to the Laws of Navigation. The Law in it selfe is so darkly, & If I may say so, inconsistantly worded, that in section 10 of that law [illegible deletion] in the middle of it, Jurys are taken for Graunted to be the way of Justice in all cases relating to forbidden Trade, which, w th the Fundamentall Laws of England, stricktly coppyed by us into ours there, our Infancy & indifferent Skilfulness in points of law, I hope will prevale with the Lords to think them not so disobedient as mistaken Sc Ignorant. For the Replevin6 of a seizure, by one morrice,7 a maccannick8 Justice, the Dcp Goverr Markham defends him selfe, I think, to the full, in that matter, by {haveing} refusemgd to Graunt a Replevin himselfe, & by showing his resentm1 afterwards, in ordering the sherrif to superceed that action, & keep them for the kings service, as his lettr more fully expresses, wch I beg the Lords to have read before them. For Tradeing to Curroco,9 our peaple deny it, & if the Generall assemblys address have have Credit with the Lords, the Country must not be faulty theirin. And to abate the Credit of E. Randolphs Insinuations, I am ready to prove that his Charge before the Lords in Parliament10 was malicious, and that if he was not guilty of Perjury, he ventur'd hard to perjure another man, in proof of it, the very Custom hous books showing that the ships he pretended to have run tochScotland,11 enterd at the Port of London, or Ports of England, to w also I have two witnesses waiting without for that purpose
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What in reason & duty I owght to do, that I may maintaine a faire character with this bord, I am & shall be ready to performe from time to time. I must begg Leave to wish my attendance might not be long, sinc[e] the Settlem1 of my (only) son,12 waite[s] my return as farr as Bristoll. I am the Lords Respectfull Friend Decbr 19. 98. Wm Penn ALS. CO 5/1257, PRO. (Micro. 7:772.) Docketed: W. Penns Memori all to the Lords of | Trade & Plantati | ons. 1. Entitled, "An Act for Preventing Frauds & Regulating Abuses in Trade Within the Province of Pennsilvania & Counties Annexed," it was passed by the Pennsylvania Assembly in May 1698. See doc. 173. 2. William Popple, secretary of the Board of Trade, who had written to WP about the board's concern over this new Pennsylvania law. See doc. 176. 3. Not found. Markham had written to WP at least twice in 1697 justifying his actions in relation to pirates and abuses in trade. See doc. 157, n. 5. 4. On 30 May 1698 the General Assembly of Pennsylvania under the leadership of Joseph Growden had sent a lengthy address to William III defending the colony against allegations of illegal trade and piracy. A rough draft of this address can be found in the Norris Papers, Family Letters, 1:107-10, HSP. It did not, however, mention the recently passed Act for Preventing Frauds. See CSPC, 1697-1698, pp. 380-82. 5. The clause in question permitted trials by Pennsylvania juries rather than by the Court of Admiralty, where jury trials were not permitted. See doc. 173, 6. Replevin: the method by which the owner or possessor of goods which have been distrained can have those goods returned until a court decides on the legality of the distraint. Black's Law Dictionary. 7. Anthony Morris, a Philadelphia justice of the peace, had issued a replevin on behalf of John Adams for the return of his allegedly illegal goods distrained by Robert Webb, marshall of the Court of Admiralty. This took place the day after Gov. Markham had refused to grant a replevin for Adams on the grounds that he "wold not medle with any thing that Lay before the Court of admiralty." When Markham learned of Morris's action, he ordered Sheriff John Claypoole to take custody of the goods until the matter was properly adjudicated. Robert Webb, however, had complained to Robert Quary, who notified the Board of Trade, implicating Markham in the replevin. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:541-45. 8. "Mechanic," or unskilled in the law. 9. Curacao. See doc. 160. 10. A reference to Edward Randolph's testimony against Pennsylvania before a committee of the House of Lords in 1697. See doc. 147A. 11. See doc. 147, n. 6. 12. William Penn, Jr., was about to be married. See doc. 176, n. 8.
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RETURN TO PENNSYLVANIA 7699—7700
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In September 1699, at long last, WP set sail for Pennsylvania. Family considerations and financial pressures shaped the date and circumstances of his departure. He could not leave behind Hannah, his wife of three years, who was pregnant. William and Hannah Penn had to risk an ocean voyage before the baby was due or postpone the trip for yet another year. WP also had to provide for his two grown children. In January 1699 he married seventeen-year-old William, Jr., to Mary Jones, the daughter of a Bristol Quaker merchant, and installed the young couple at Warminghurst. Twenty-one-year-old Laetitia was still unmarried and accompanied her father to America. As WP prepared to leave, he felt none of the exhilaration of 1682. He told Joseph Pike, a Quaker merchant from Cork, that he was resigned to going but expected to hasten back as soon as he had settled matters in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, WP's surviving papers supply little information about his preparations for departure, but it is clear that he was badly pinched for money and was being hounded by his creditors. By May 1699 he had used most of his daughter-in-law's dowry of £2000 to pay off debts (Micro. 8:078). In July he promised his fatherin-law, Thomas Callowhill (from whom he had received a large marriage portion), that if he had any children by Hannah he would pay Callowhill £1500 to purchase land for them in England (Micro. 8:079). In August he leased 60,000 acres of Pennsylvania land to four London merchants (Micro. 8:089). Also in August he authorized Philip Ford (to whom he owed more than £12,000) to sell or lease additional land in America (doc. 182). Before leaving for Pennsylvania, WP sought to obtain protection for his colony and for English Quakerism in Parliament (docs. 179, 180). He attended the Board of Trade and pledged to comply with the Navigation Act of 1696 (docs. 181, 183). He also engaged an able and ambitious young Scotch-Irish Quaker, James Logan, as his secretary. Logan's job was to manage WP's American affairs very much as Philip Ford had managed his English affairs in the 16705 and i68os, 565
and Logan soon became the proprietor's right-hand man. On the eve of departure WP published A Farewell Sermon and An Epistle of Farewell. In late August he came to Southampton, where he boarded the Canterbury; he sailed from the Isle of Wight on 3 September. A lengthy crossing delayed his arrival in Philadelphia until 3 December 1699. The first months in America went quite well for WP. Following the Board of Trade's orders, he dismissed William Markham, David Lloyd, and Anthony Morris from office. He established working relations with the royal governors of Virginia, Maryland, and New York (docs. 184, 185, 188). In January 1700 his son John was born (doc. 188). In February a special session of the General Assembly, including representatives from all three Lower Counties, assured WP that it would cooperate in the revision of existing laws and then, heeding the governor's advice, passed two new laws against piracy and illegal trade (docs. 187, 189). The Assembly's speedy action enabled WP to boast about his accomplishments (docs. 190, 191), but his zeal filled many Pennsylvanians with apprehension and resentment. Accustomed to independence and divided into factions, the colonists tended to view WP more as a feudal overlord and financial oppressor than as a kindly governor and spiritual leader. WP was unprepared for the depth of factionalism in the colony. His frustration grew as he tried to satisfy all parties in order to salvage his vision of a holy experiment, strengthen the colony against threats to its proprietary status, and guarantee himself a reliable income. As WP reported to the Board of Trade, Pennsylvania's inhabitants were "Sowred" by the accusations against them and "cool" in their response to his proprietary claims (doc. 192). In particular, the ruling Quakers thought that WP's dismissal of David Lloyd and Anthony Morris was a poor reward for these men's loyal service. Lloyd, whom James Logan characterized as "extremely pertinacious" and "somewhat revengeful" (James Logan to William Penn, Jr., 25 December 1700, Penn Letters and Ancient Documents, APS), never forgave WP and became the leader of popular resistance to the proprietor and the crown. The merchants, Quaker and nonQuaker alike, were unhappy with WP's demand for strict adherence to the Navigation Acts and his support for the royal customs officials and the vice-admiralty court. Quakers complained about the oath required to register vessels engaged in overseas trade; the merchants in the Lower Counties bemoaned the penny-per-pound tax on tobacco. By the summer, with the pace in politics slow and the governor confined to Pennsbury by a bad leg, WP had to admit that his plans to reform Pennsylvania were not progressing well (doc. 196). In sharp contrast to his aggressive behavior in difficult situations during his
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first visit, WP retreated to his country estate in 1700 and in his disappointment even instructed his secretary to keep "all business from comeing neither" (22 August 1700; Micro. 8:524). He was especially irritated by criticism from royal officials and Anglicans, and he defended the Quakers' right to rule the colony, arguing that Anglicans and other minority groups had full toleration under his government (doc. 205). He also tried to combat the vice-admiralty and customs officials, who were reporting home that WP complied only superficially with the Board of Trade's instructions, by arguing that proprietary colonies freed the crown from the risks and expenses of developing new territories while remaining substantially under crown control (docs. 207, 208). WP also renewed his effort to draw the American colonies together to solve problems of mutual concern. In early October 1700 he arranged a meeting in New York with the governors of Massachusetts, Maryland, and Virginia, who submitted a joint proposal to the Board of Trade, but this proposal had little immediate effect on the administration of the colonies (docs. 202, 204). WP returned from the governors' conference to attend an extraordinary fall Assembly session in New Castle. He had called this meeting to press on with revision of the laws and charter, but primarily to push for a proprietary tax bill. His enormous debts made it imperative to get a dependable return from his investment (which WP estimated at more than £20,000) in Pennsylvania. The Assembly convened for six weeks and the sessions were often turbulent. Open conflict threatened between Pennsylvania and the Lower Counties, and the colonists expressed resentment about insecure land titles and WP's shifting land policies. Though WP succeeded in pushing through a revision of the laws and a supply bill for £2000, he made little progress toward a new charter. He was willing to change the constitution of 1683 and even prepared to accept the Assembly's claim of full-scale legislative power, but continued dissension between representatives of Pennsylvania and the Lower Counties stalled the new charter — an impasse which left Pennsylvania without a constitution from June 1700 until October 1701 (Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:613; Votes and Proceedings, 1:124—36, 140; Andrews, Colonial Period, 3:319). The colonists, who had grown accustomed to a large degree of independence during WP's long absence, showed no understanding of the proprietor's grave disappointment when he was confronted with their desire to abandon his visionary Frame of 1683. Eventually WP surrendered on this point and signed a new Charter of Privileges just before his departure for England — a topic taken up in the next volume.
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779 TO ROBERT HARLEY 1
Bristoll: 3oth nth mo [January i6]g8[/g]
Worthy Friend I was very Glad to hear my friend Archdales affair Ended so well, wcn I am sure was much owing to thy prudence, kindness & interest, Be must have been a great motive to his Sons Success;2 but thy trouble must not End here; I have two things more to recommend to thy favour; one relates to America in Case any thing should be Started, that should Concern the Plantations, & Especially those in Propriety;3 Pray be a friend to the Absent, &, w th out vanity, the meritorious, Since nothing nothing is desir'd beyond the Alter.4 Let us be treated like English men, & not loose our domestick advantages for Cultivating of wildernesses, so much to the Honnour & wealth of the Crown, wee Extreamly Suffered by the last act of 95 in divers Respects against the Plantations, at large, & particularly injurious to our people, to say nothing of the Blow that is given to Jurys, in favour to the Court of Admiralty.5 The next thing is, that if any persecuting temper should show it self in your house, wch I have some Cause to beleive will, at least, be attemted,6 Thou wouldst please to Remember the House that Liberty of Conscience is one of the Articles of the Originall Contract of this Revolution,7 & most Agreable wth that of the English Govern^ at Large; Otherwise wee must think our selves very ill used, to be tantalized w th liberty, & as soon as the Nation as well as our selves, begin to finde the benefit thereof, it should be invaded, & overthrown by the Envy of a few mercenary Clergy men, who are Combind to Influence the Gentry, wl they Can, to turn the Edge of Power Against us.8 I know thy double Influence in the House, to moderate one sort & to Excite tother to help us. I shall not Excuse this freedom because I think I have liberty to use it, & therefore I shall add no more but my hearty good wishes, wch will always attend thy worthy Endeavours for a publick good; Who am, w th much truth & Respect Thy Affectionate & Faithfull fr Robert W. Johannsen, "The Conflict Between the Three Lower Counties on the Delaware and the Province of Pennsylvania, 1682-1704," Delaware History, 5:115. 4. The election was held in New Castle on 20 Jan. 1700, but Wessels Alricks seems to have neglected to give proper notice to all residents of the county. In particular, the inhabitants of Brandywine Creek petitioned WP to void the return (see nn. 7 and 8, below) because they had received no announcements concerning the time and place of the election. Petition of the South and Northside of Brandywine to Governor and Council, 23 Jan. 1700, Penn Letters and Ancient Documents, APS; Votes and Proceedings, 1:112. 5. This belated election of New Castle Co. representatives for the General Assembly followed the method stipulated in Markham's Frame of Government of 1696, rather than the rule of three councilors and six assemblymen per county as stated in the Second Frame of Government of 1683. Doc. 136; Soderlund, William Penn, p. 267. 6. 25 Jan. 1700. 7. Richard Halliwell and Robert French were elected councilors; John Healy, Adam Peterson, William Guest, and William Howston assemblymen. Votes and Proceedings, 1:112. 8. Maj. John Donaldson, John Williams, James Claypoole, Robert Dyer, and George Hogg are the five principal freeholders on Wessels Alricks's election return of 29 Jan. 1700, which was submitted in the form of an indenture. Three Lower Counties, 1655-1805, Delaware Miscellaneous Papers, p. 73, HSP. 9. James Logan held the office of secretary of Pennsylvania.
188 TO THE EARL OF BELLOMONT Philadelphia 3Oth n mo 99/700 [January 1700]
Noble friend I had the favour of thine1 by this Post, whom I was not willing should return without this acknowledgement I heartily Condole thy hard treatment from the Gout; a Distemper easily provoked by this sharp {churlish} Climate, or season of the Year, but I hope the approaching Spring will moderate its Rigour, and ingage thee to look towards these parts2 I thank Almighty God we are all well, & my wife (with my self very sensible of the great Honour thou doest her) is safely laid of a Boy3 & both well for their time she was brought to bed the 28th Instant4 Our Assembly Generall now sitts to pass two Laws, one against Pirates & another against forbidden Trade, the best Improvement we are capable of making upon the former remedies.5 I return my humble thanks for the kind Assurances in thy Letter, & will never pretend any further or longer claim to them then I approve my self to my pretences and especially the Ld Bellomonts very faithful & affectionate frd WP The Countess6 has our respectful Salutes wth Ld Bellomont. per post LBC in James Logan's hand. William Penn Letter Book, 1699-1703, HSP. (Micro. 8:231.) Addressed: To the Ld Bellomont.
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1. Not found. 2. Bellomont was unable to visit Pennsylvania before his death on 5 Mar. 1701. 3. John Penn's birth certificate, dated 4 Feb. 1700, is in WP's hand: "These are to Certify whom it may concerne, that John Penn, Sonn of William Penn, Proprietary & Goverr of Pennsylvania & Territorys, was born of Hannah his wife, the 28th day of eleaventh month, Called January, in the year 1699, between the hours of 3 & 4 (in the afternoon;} wittness our hands who were present at the Birth of the Sayd John Penn [signed] Ann Parson midwife, Joanna Markham, Hannah DeLavall, Sarah Clement, Rebekah Shippen, Hannah Carpenter, Latitia Penn, Ann Harason, nurs" Micro. 8:247. 4. 28 Jan. 1700. 5. The General Assembly met in Philadelphia from 25 Jan. to 10 Feb. 1700. During this session it passed "An act for the preventing of frauds and regulating abuses in trade within the provinces of Pennsylvania & counties annexed," and a "Law for regulating traffic on seas." For the text of these acts, see Gail McKnight Beckman, comp., The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania in the Time of William Penn (New York, 1976), pp. 242-48; Votes and Proceedings, 1:112-17; Board of Trade Papers, Proprieties, 16991700, transcript at HSP. 6. Bellomont's wife was Catherine Nanfan, daughter and heiress of Bridges Nanfan of Bridgmorton, Worcs. DNB; Raimo, Governors, p. 135.
189 FROM THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY [9 February 1700] To William Penn Propietary & [Gov]ernr of the Province of Pensilvania & countys Anexed, The Humble Address of the Representative of [th]e Freemen in General Assembly met at Philadelphia the Ninth day of the 12th mo 1699/1700. Forasmuch as wee are not unsensible as well by the Lords Justices Letters1 as Otherwise of the Reiterated complaints and accusations against us at home In reference to our countenancing of Pyrats and Encourageing of Unlawful trade & Opposeing the establishment of the courts of Admiralty & [officers of the Kings customs.2 As the charges are high wee can do no lesse than take this Oppertunity to Offer Something in defence and Vindication of our Selves and the people whom wee Represent As to the pyrats wee have and Always had a just abho[rrence] of them and their practices & look upon them as Enimies to mankind and hope wee Shall upon all occa[si]ons Use our Utmost dilligence and endeavours to discountenance and Suppress them As to Forbidden Trade Wee hold it our duty as well as our I[nte]rest to use our great care and Utmost Endeavours to prevent the Same well knowing it to be not only Prejudicial [to the] Kings Revenues but {also} Injurious to Lawful Traders and wee do not find or Understand but that the Generality of the [Merchts and] Inhabitants of this Province & Territories are clear of that Imputacion and If the contrary can be made a[pp]ear wee desire the Guilty may be detected & punished
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And as to Obstructing the Officers of the Customs and Court of [Admiralty wee hope the Governm1 is Cleare of it but If any perticulars have been faulty In that Respect they [are] Answerable for the Same Wee therefore in behalf {of} our Selves and the Governm1 d[o deny] the Abovesd Charges and hope at Some time our Accusers may be put upon proof thereof, that [the] Innocent may not Stand charg'd wth the {Guilty} as Criminals In the View of our Superiors and the people & Governm1 Rendred as Offenders, who have According to the best of their Skill and Understanding made and published laws Ordinances & proclamations Against Pyrats & forbiden trade,3 and have been always Ready to Assist and Encourage the King[s Ofjficers to put the laws in Execution against Such Offenders notwithstanding what has been Suggested to the Cont[rar]y. And Since the late Act of Assembly for preventing Frauds and Regulating Abuses in Trade hath been [So] Misrendred as If it were levell'd Against the Court of Admiralty & to Obstruct the proceedings thereof wee can [Sincerely] Say there was no Such thing Intended by it. But If wee or Others that have been concern'd in this [GJovernm1 (being Unexpert In such Afairs) have in that or any Other thing been deficient It was either Inadver[ten]cy or want of Judgement, Therefore wee desire A Favourable Construction Upon our Proceedings wel knowing that our Intentions & Endeavours have been & are Sincere through all the difficultys under which many of us have laboured to this Day. Now Since thou wert pleased to call us together, wee have unanimously Concurred and Finished those bills thou Recomended to us for our Consideration.4 Wee Therefore take this Oppertunity to Request that they may be passed Into laws hopeing and Earnestly desireing that they together wth [the] Acts of trade & Navigation may prove Effectuall by A due Observance & Execution thereof by the Respective Magistrates, Officers and all Others concern'd within this Governm1. Wee Also desire thou would be pleased to Represent to the King5 that the Surveyor Generall of his Customes6 knowing that the Greatest part of the people of this Province cannot for Conscience take an Oath — Did Forbid the Collector here7 (upon the hazard of being suspended f[ro]m his Office) to Suffer any Quaker to Register] Vessels8 upon Attest or Solemn Affirmation as Is Allow'd In England and by Law and In Maryland & Other plantations where there is no Such Law,9 wch has proved Injurious to the kings Interest and Discourageing to trade within this Governing And wheras it has been also Represented that the Inhabitants of this Governm1 have Greatly Inriched themselves by Forbidden trade and the Spoiles of pyrats Wee may Appeal to thy Self and all that know us & Even to the Consciences of our Accusers themselves If that charge be not Utterly false. Our Industry is well known and by
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the blessing of God upon our honest En[de]avours and Labours which wee have Undergone in our First Settling & dureing thy [a]bsence [have] brought this new Settled Town and Country to what it Is So that wee are b[eco]me the Env[y] [torn] & of Some among our Selves who have10 Expended their Substance nor T[r]odd the Same w[ea]ry Step[s t]o Improve it as wee [have d]one Wee hope we Shall not Always lye under those wrong Imputations but that in time our Innocency will more appeare to those who know It but at a distance & by the Reports of those that are not well affected towards [us] Wee pray that wee may be Truely represented to the king & the Other our Superiors unto whom wee have been Misrendred, Together with our Sense of Duty, Loyalty and Affection to them — Q11 John Blunston, Speaker of the Assembly Q Isaac Norris thomas Sharp C J onn Swift Q Q Richard Hough Nehemiah Field C John Foster C Q John Worrilow J°hn Heally C Adam pietersen C Q John surket William Fisher C Henry Moleston C Q Enoch Yardley William Guest C William Pyles C Q Robert Carter John Bevan Q Wm Dyre C 12 Q Robert Pyle William Howston C Members of Councill Richard Halliwell C W™ Clark Q Wm Biles Q Edward Shippen Q Sam: Carpenter Q John Hill C Caleb Pusey Q ALS. CO 5/i26o/i8iii, PRO. (Micro. 8:250.) Endorsed in WP's hand: the Assemblys | Address to the | PropT & Chief G[ovr]. Docketed: Address of [the AssblY?] of Pennsyl- | vania to Mr Penn. Dated | the gth of Febry 1699/1700. | Referred to in M r Penn['s] Lre of the 27 th FebrY 1699/1700 | Recd 25 June | Read 26 July 1700. This document has been folded and torn. The editors have supplied missing letters and words from a copy of the address in the Board of Trade Papers, Proprieties, 16991701, transcript at HSP, p. 337. 1. See doc. 183; CSPC, 1699, pp. 328-29, 366, 380. 2. See, for example, Robert Quary's accusations against Pennsylvania in doc. 181; and further complaints in CSPC, 1699, pp. 83, 223, 247-49, 2 74~75> 468-70. 3. In 1698 Lt. Gov. Markham and the representatives of Pennsylvania and the Lower Counties had passed "An Act for Preventing Frauds & Regulating Abuses in Trade," which stipulated jury trial for violations of the Navigation Acts and thereby circumvented Robert Quary's admiralty court. Charter and Laws, pp. 268-74, 284-85, 574-754. The two new acts against piracy and illegal trade; see doc. 188, n. 5. 5. William III. WP included a copy of the Assembly's address in his report to the Board of Trade (doc. 190). CSPC, 1700, p. 86. 6. Edward Randolph. 7. John Bewley (d. 1704), an Anglican, was the customs collector in Philadelphia. Root, Relations of Pennsylvania, pp. 101, 242; PMHB, 3:21 in; 25:576; 36:307; Micro. 11:312. 8. Sees. 17 and 18 of the Navigation Act of 1696(7 & 8 Will. Ill, cap. 22) stipulated that no foreign ships were to trade between England and her colonies and that all
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English-built vessels belonging to the colonies had to be registered and proof made upon oath before the governor and officer of customs. Statutes at Large, 3:613. g. Since May 1696 Friends in England had been able to participate in many legal and judicial processes by affirming their testimony or word instead of taking the commonly prescribed oaths (7 & 8 Will. Ill, cap. 34). In the colonies, only Pennsylvania had passed laws that allowed Quakers to attest. Braithwaite, Second Period, pp. 155-56, 183-84; Charter and Laws, p. 247. 10. The clerk omitted "not." 11. The designations "Q" and "C" were added after the assemblymen signed this address. As a marginal note explains: "the Q are Quakers | the C are church." 12. Of the 20 assemblymen elected in 1699, 17 signed this address: Richard Hough, James Surket, Enoch Yardley, and John Swift for Bucks Co.; John Blunston, John Worrilow, Robert Carter, and Robert Pyle for Chester Co.; Nehemiah Field, William Fisher, William Pyles, and William Dyre for Sussex Co.; Thomas Sharp, John Foster, and Henry Moleston for Kent Co.; Isaac Norris and John Bevan for Phila. Co. The four newly elected members for New Castle Co. also signed: John Heally, William Guest, William Howston, and Adam Pietersen. Three assemblymen elected in 1699 did not sign: James Brown (Kent Co.) and Anthony Morris and John Fox (Phila. Co.). Votes and Proceedings, 1:108; doc. 187.
190 TO THE BOARD OF TRADE Philadelphia 27th 12 Moth [February i6]gg[/i7oo]
Noble Friends I could not well omitt this Opportunity, tho' I have very litle time allowed me from Boston, whence the Man of War is speedily to be dispatched with Kid1 and such of his Gang as are there, at Road Island, and Conetticot; referring the rest in N York, the Jerseys, Pensilvania and Maryland to another Passage wch the Ld Bellamont, to whose care I perceive the matter is left, will send by a Small Man of War now fitting at New York and wch will not be ready till the beginning of the Month called May, by wch I design to be particular.2 I leave to those who have been so elaborate & elegant in representing the Weaknesses and Faults of the Province of Pensilvania, to give you an account of mine since my Arrival:3 who, if they will do me Justice, will have less to say to my Disadvantage. I forbore resentment or tryals because the Earl of Bellumont is by the Rigour of the Winter & Gout at so great a distance.4 But as the Lieutenant Governour is of course laid aside5 so I have displaced the Offensive Justice,6 otherwise an active Officer, and called a generall Assembly to pass two Bills against the crying Sins of Piracy and Forbidden Trade,7 and so return home till the Spring, which is our Usual time of Sitting in these parts.8 I have sent them to Secretary Vernon9 from whom I had the Kings Commands about disposing of the Pirates and their Goods. By them and the Proclamation,10 You will perceive the Uprightness of our Intentions, as well as inexpert Clerkship, You will I hope accept the One and excuse the other. It is an Experiment of our Zeal, and their exact execution shall be an Instance of my care and Duty to the King and Crown of England. February ijoo
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WILLIAM PENN'S PHILADELPHIA
I gott not hither till December, which was a merciful Delay the Town of Philadelphia having this Fall been extreamly afflicted with Sickness and Mortality from Barbadoes,11 wch November pretty well purged by the North-westers which seldom fail here to reign in that Month. Here is a Surprizing Improvement in Town & Country, a Proof of the Power of Industry and Sobriety, the time considered, and Pity it is that any unkind Checks should discourage the Prosecution of it. The generall Assembly have address'd me in {their} Vindication from the Crimes they have been charged with, 12 and hope that such an addition to the Empire of the Crown shall not be misunderstood, when so well meant, and without Expences to or from the Crown. It will ly much in your Justice, Wisdom and Goodness to succour & protect us. I beseech it from you, and that if my representation shall fall under any Suspicion, you will take your Information from the Impartial, and such I hope my Neighbours are, I mean the Earl of Bellumont and Colonel Blackiston. If the Laws I left behind me with your Board have not pass'd the Kings Approbation, they may, if you please, stay till our whole Body of Laws be transmitted from our next general Assembly, after which we design to have them printed, for the Instruction of the People in this Government.13 In the mean time I hope you will be pleased to consider the great & destroying Difficulty we labour under: That where we are three to one in Number, and in Estate more superiour than that,14 to be very modest in our Computation, we may not want the Priviledge the Wisdom of the King and Parliament have thought fitt to grant our friends in England that are so small a part of the whole15 viz To register their Ships without an Oath, wch the late Act of the 7th & 8th of this King has abridged us in,16 to be sure by no design, in our Superiours, and I would charitably hope, but at worst a slip in those that promoted it to Parliament. In short it destroys Trade, & discourages Shipping, Several being now ready to launch & others to go to Sea, & are stopp'd by that Difficulty I beseech you lett the Inclosed17 be crowded into some Act or other or one better express'd to the Same effect, that we may no longer labour under the Severity of making Brick w th out Straw or starve. I will {give} you no longer Diversion from your weightier Affairs, nor indeed have time allowed me to descend into particulars, having had but 48 hours given me to write my Letters & gett a fair Coppy of the Laws to transmitt by this hasty Opportunity. I wish you all Happiness, and expect what should have come with me, which shall be comply'd with to the best of my Skill and Power, by Your Faithful and Respectful friend Wm Penn
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ALS. CO 5/1260/18, PRO. (Micro. 8:290.) Docketed: Pennsylvania. | Lre from Mr Penn to the Board, dated at Philadelphia | the 27 th FebT 1699/1700. | Recd 25th June | Read 26th July | 1700. 1. The Board of Trade had instructed the governors of the American colonies that Capt. William Kidd and his crew as well as other pirates captured in the colonies were to be transferred to England for trial. Doc. 185, n. 3; CSPC, 1699, pp. 418, 565-
e?.
2. See doc. 192. 3. Col. Quary and Gov. Nicholson, sharp critics of Pennsylvania's government, did in fact credit WP with effecting necessary change after his arrival in the province. CSPC, 1700, pp. 105-6, 490. 4. See doc. 188. 5. WP had received explicit instructions from the Board of Trade to dismiss William Markham as lieutenant governor. Doc. 183, n. 3. 6. Anthony Morris, the justice who had issued a replevin against goods seized by Quary. Doc. 178, n. 6; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:575-76. 7. See docs. 187, n. 2; 188, n. 5. WP included a copy of the two laws with his letter to the Board of Trade. 8. Election writs for the meeting of the next General Assembly in May were issued on 16 Feb. 1700. See Micro. 8:262, 266, 270. 9. WP had written to the secretary of state on 26 Feb. 1700. Micro. 8:277; also, in part, CSPC, ijoo, pp. 83-84. 10. WP's proclamation of 23 Dec. 1699 was enclosed with his letter to the Board of Trade; it demanded the diligent pursuit and apprehension of known or suspected pirates, threatened to punish those who in any way protected pirates and their goods, and offered a reward to those aiding in the capture of alleged pirates. CSPC, 1700, p. 86; Micro. 8:175. 11. See doc. 184, n. 4. 12. See doc. 189. 13. WP was far too optimistic. The Pennsylvania Assembly did not reach an agreement on the revision of the laws until Nov. 1700 and commissioned the laws to be printed only in 1713. CSPC, 1699, P- 33°5 PWP, vol. 4; John D. Gushing, ed., The Colony Laws of North America Series: The Earliest Printed Laws of Pennsylvania, 1681-1713 (Wilmington, 1978), p. viii. 14. WP means that Quaker merchants outnumber Anglican merchants by three to one and are far wealthier. Cf. doc. 111, n. 7. 15. The number of Quakers in seventeenth-century England is estimated at about one percent of the total population. 16. See doc. 189, nn. 8-9. 17. WP's draft of a clause that would allow Pennsylvania Quakers to register and clear their vessels in accordance with the Navigation Act of 1696 by attest or affirmation instead of taking the prescribed oath. Board of Trade Papers, Proprieties, 1699-1701, transcript at HSP, p. 331; Journal of the Board of Trade, 1700-1701, transcript at HSP, p. 126; CSPC, 1700, p. 87.
191 SPEECH TO THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL [i April 1700] Friends1 — Tho' this be a Colonie of 19 years standing & not inferior to anie of its age, yet wee have much to do to establish its constitution & Courts of Justice there are in it Some Laws obsolete others hurtfull, others imperfect that will need Improvement & it will be requisit to make some new ones, wee cannot go too slow to make nor too fast Return to Pennsylvania • 590
to execute them when made & that w* 2 diligence & discretion, a few well made & duly executed will better ansr the ends of government than a greater bulk unexecuted Yow, friends, are the peoples choice Be my Council,3 you'll see what Laws are fit to be Left outt & what to be made & yow not mee are to prepare Sc propose them I Say this the rather, becaus of a false notion some have gott that becaus you are my Council therfor yow are not the peoples representatives; The ablest men have always been chosen to be of the Council to prepare Laws & the assembly to consen[t] to them, wee are two bodies yet but One power, the one prepares the other consents4 Friends— If in the constitution by Charter5 there be anie thing that jarrs, alter itt, if yow want a Law for this or that, prepare itt, I advise you not to trifle wl government— I wish there wer no need of anie, but since Crimes prevail government is made necessarie by mans degeneration, Its not an end but a means, hee that thinks it an end aims att profitt to make a trade on't—Hee who thinks it to be a means understands the true end of goverment Friends—away wl all parties & Look on your selves & what is good for all as a bodie politick, first as under the king & Crown of England & next as under me, by Lettres patent from that Crown Att the Late election att Philadelphia I was grieved to hear some make itt a matter of religion6 no its humane & moral relating to trade, traffique & publick good Consisting in Virtue & Justice, where these are maintained there is government indeed Study peace & be att unitie, ey the good of all, & I desire to see mine no otherwise than in the publicks prosperitie The Last ass: wee made 2 Laws, the one against piracie, the other against forbidden trade7 I hear they have no satt easie on the backs of some; but I hope, wee having therin been careful! of England, wee shall have thanks for making them before wee had orders so to do and after so manie calumnies .& complaints wee have been Loaded with I hope these two Laws will in some degree wash us clean what concerns my self I also Leave wl yow to Consider — I have been now 19 years your Proprietor & Governour & have att my chairge maintained my deputie, therby I have much worsted my estate & hope it will be no wonder to any to hear me make this Lection8 of itt Some say, I come to gett monie & be gone, perhaps they that say so, wish it so I hope, I or mine shall be wl yow, while I or they Live. The disasters of my absence have been mine as well as yours, & as I'm used, shall make suteable returns I Have Latelie two packetts from Whitehall, an original & a duplicate,9 also one to my Cosen Markham 10 & two From Secretarie Vernon11 & am Commanded by the Lords Justices to make Laws against piracie & illegal trade,12 I'm glad wee have prevented their Commands in doing it before they came. Copy. Minutes of the Provincial Council, ACM. (Micro. 8:341.)
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1. WP was addressing the first full session of the newly elected Council, after the election returns had been read and the councilors had promised that they would be faithful to the king and crown of England and to WP according to Pennsylvania's charter granted by Charles II. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:595-96. 2. The clerk rendered "with" as "w1" throughout this document. 3. Except for the representatives from Kent Co. (Thomas Bedwell, Henry Moleston, and John Walker), all councilors were present to hear WP's speech: William Biles, Joseph Growden, and Richard Hough from Bucks Co.; Samuel Carpenter, Griffith Owen, and Edward Shippen from Phila. Co.; David Lloyd, Caleb Pusey, and John Simcock from Chester Co.; John Donaldson, Richard Halliwell, and Jasper Yeates from New Castle Co.; Thomas Fenwick, John Hill, and Samuel Preston from Sussex Co. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:595-96. 4. Here WP is reasserting the Council's exclusive legislative power according to the Frame of Government of 1683, and rejecting developments under Benjamin Fletcher and William Markham which allowed the Assembly to propose and change legislation. Ibid., pp. 269-70. 5. The Second Frame of Government of 1683. Soderlund, William Penn, pp. 265736. In the Philadelphia election of 1700, all of the councilors and assemblymen chosen were Quakers. 7. See doc. 188, n. 5. 8. Interpretation. OED. 9. Probably the letter of 4 Sept. 1699, mentioned in CSPC, 1699, P- 42°10. Not found. 11. Possibly the letters of 23 Nov. 1699 and i Feb. 1700 concerning pirates and their transfer to England for trial. CSPC, I'joo, pp. 53-54, 127; Journal of the Lords of Trade, 1699-1700, transcript at HSP, pp. 261, 355. 12. See doc 183, text at n. 6.
192 TO THE BOARD OF TRADE Philadelphia 28th 2 m [April] 1700
Noble Friends I have three Weeks agoe received yours by Captain Bond,1 by way of New York, and the Duplicate from Governour Blackiston; they were very long upon their way, being as old as September, but the Duplicate came first.2 The Lds Justices Commands, or yours by their Order, have been obeyed,3 as in my former Letter, of which that which accompanies this is a Copy.4 I have also displaced David Loyd from the Station of Attorney General, and that of Clerk of the Peace for this Town and County, and intend his Prosecution so soon as the Quarter Sessions come, and have given Colonel Quary Notice of it, to make good his Charge;5 but for whom the Business had been done long Since; for Several times I told him, I was ready to Shew my Duty to the King in that Affair. He told me, he had not yet received any Orders,6 and Supposed I had not, and if it dyed on that Side the Water, he had no disposition to continue it there Animosity here; Adding, he knew his Usefulness in this place,7 and that besides him there was only John Moore, Advocate of the Admiralty (his Antagonist) and that he was much needed and trusted in the Estates of the Return to Pennsylvania
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People of the Province, and that it might be very detrimental to the Inhabitants, as well as a present Obstruction of the Course of Courts, he being the alone man versed in the Law, that knew how to keep them regularly. This and the want of Instructions postponed his full disgrace. You may be Sensible how hard a Task is Sett me, in a Countrey under the Circumstances this is, and I am also. But tho' he denies the fact in part, and the Aggravation and Venom of it wholy,8 I have Shewn him my Resentment, I believe, equal to your Wish, and therefore not short of my Duty. I have sent the two Pirates to New-York, that were in our Goal with the Treasure, my Lieutenant Governour took, and his Affidavit that it was all. Robert Bradinham,9 Kids Doctor was of those two, the only Owner of the Treasure, Evans10 being poor, {has} but loo1 upon a Mortgage in all, and that has two or three Executions upon it for Meat Drink and Cloaths. I am apt to think also, he was cleared at the Old Baily, when Oldfield Sec were condemned, as being forced by Every11 off the Isle of May,12 out of a Merchant Man. The Account of what goes with Bradinham is inclosed, the Original I sent to the Earl of Bellomont, to whom I was ordered to send both the Pirates and their Treasure.13 Evans was never at Sea since, but to come hither for some Money he had left in this Province where he has several Relations. He produced a printed paper of his Clearance, no bill being found against him: But that being but a Sessions paper, and no other Authentick Voucher appearing, tho' Captain Harrison of this River Saies, he was present, my Lieutenant Governour thought fitt to clap him up. I gave him Money out of my own Pocket, to buy him some small Necessaries for his Voyage. There was also one William Stanton,14 that was taken wth Bradinham who made his Escape, and went home from New York in Captain Warry or Wake,15 leaving behind him about Go1 sterling, upon which divers Claims have been made. He was prosecuted to an Outlawry and the Money of course due to me. but I shall apply it to the great Charges of pursuing, Securing and transporting these Pirates to N York, no miles from hence. He was none either of Kids or Every's Crew, but pretended to have been a fair open Trader to Madagascar. John Eldridge16 and Zion Arnold17 were also taken by Colonel Quary in this Government, tho' sent by him to Burlington Goal. Their Treasure I think amounted to 4700 pieces of Eight, Bradinham's above 2000 as per Inclosed Account, beside other Silver and Gold;18 So that what Treasure or Effects goe with those 8 or 9 Pirates, came from this Government, and was here taken, wch I hope will not be understood in our disfavour. I have also Seized one James Brown, a Planter about four Years, that pretends only to have been a passenger in Every,19 & indeed So said two of Every's Crew, Chinckton and Lacy,20 as divers Magistrates
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did attest before me: But the Owners of the Ship, he went out in, being Bostoners, I have sent him to the Earl of Bellomont to be further examined, and to be disposed of, as his greater Power and better Judgement Shall direct: He has a Plantation, a Negro, a White, and a Small Stock, all not worth, debts being paid, 2OO1 if the half, as the Country Sales. There came lately to my Notice this Information, That when Captain Kidd was off our Capes, there went on board him o«e Geo: Thomson, Peter Lewis, Henry Stretcher, William Orr, & Diggory Tenny from the town of Lewis in Sussex21 the three first staid on board 24 hours, the two last but an hour, but both Companies brought Goods on Shoar, I hear to the Value of 300*, wch they concealed and Sold as they could dispose of them, Some are yet in their Custody: Thomson Lewis and Orr were under suspicion of being old Pirates, whose Camerades have long Sown themselves in Boston, Road Island, N York, Jersey, Pensilvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina, where their Captain one Reiner22 now lives, and Colonel Quarry tells me, he bought their Ship: They were 84 in Company, here are 5 of them in this Government, but 3 of them have followed a Life of Husbandry, turning Planters, the other have Trades. I knew not of this Action till this day 3 weeks,23 & dispatcht away the Sherif of this County24 with Orders to the Magistrates and Sherif of Sussex County, near one of the Capes, 150 miles from this place, to take again into Custody the Sd Thomson, Lewis, and Orr, as also Stretcher, having Seized Tenny here, (for Thomson Lewis and Orr were then upon Bail, having been apprehended by my Order 2 Months before, upon old Stories) They all affirm, they knew not it was Kidd, but Samuel Wood,25 who with 4 men came on the shoar to mend an Iron belonging to the Boom of the Sloop, pretending they were come from Antigua and bound up for Philadelphia with Sugar, Rum and Malasses, and that Sam: Wood was Master, one that had been Master of the Sloop formerly in this River. I have examined the men (all now in the Goal of this Town) they plead their Willingness to gett a penny, after being plundered (as was all the town) by a french Privateer, but a Year before,26 not knowing of any Proclamation against Kidd, and that they had the Goods of Sam: Wood and one Gillam,27 and that it was not purchase but Gift. But I find whatever they Sold, half should be theirs. They offer to deliver up the Goods they had, or Value, and give good Security to behave well, and to be forthcoming when the Kings Commands shall be known. It is true they are poor and married men, & have Children, but such men must not be endured to live near the Sea-Coasts nor trade, least they become Receptacles and Breakers for Younger Pirates. Our present Law will hardly reach them, looking only forward for Such as commerce with Pirates, our former that would have done it, being disliked at home, was repealed, and the General Assembly
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that made the last, would by no means look back, least honest People might be affected, Since many of those reputed Pirates had some Years agoe been permitted to live in this & other Provinces, on Condition, that they left them not without leave, and behaved well while they Staid. I wait the Kings Orders about them. I have them all under good Bonds of Real and Personal Estate to be accountable for their Estate and so Suffer them to live with their families, on their Plantations, till I receive further Directions about them. You cannot easily Imagine the Difficulties I ly under, what with the Kings Affairs, those of the Government, and my Proprietary ones. No Kings Governour, without Vanity, has had more Care and Vexation, tho' I receive nothing from the Crown to support me under it. The Money Sent from this Government is, as I conceive, and Lawyers tell me, a Royalty of my Grant, having all these forfeitures that belong to the King, in his more immediate Colonies. Nothing being reserved from me, Save Allegiance and Quit Rent, Appeals and Approbation of Laws As for the People here they are Sowred to See their Accusers believed, and think themselves both Innocent and meritorious, However 'tis I that pay the reckoning, for instead of a free & flowing regard to my long expensive Circumstances, both in beginning and in preserving this Colony and Government at the clear Expence of above 24 thousand pounds Sterling28 (for the truth of which I can take my Solemn Attest) besides the loss of time, hazards run, Interest employed, & fatigues endured 19 years, they are very cool in considering my Circumstances, thinking themselves injured in their Reputation, and unsafe in their Interests, believing the Common Law to be overruled by the Admiralty Office, and that the King is to give way to the Admiral, in that the Admiralty Swallows up half the Civil Government, by allowing no Corpus Comitatus,29 tho' planted 150 miles up the Bay and River, & that their Vessels are taken from their Wharfs and Keys, and their Properties judged away from them, without a Jury, & by those too that they Say have aggravated their Weakness into Guilt, and interpreted their Inadvertencies Design, and are accused without Distinction. That they came hither to have more and not less freedom than at home. These and the like Expressions are known to Colonel Quary, to be too often uttered, and I am but too Sensible of it, in my own Interest. But, that which most of all moves them in this regard is not only that the Admiralty observes no such thing as Corpus Comitatus, notwithstanding so many towns along the River, but will bring into their Courts (which they Say are 4 times more costly than those of the Common Law) every private Cause and Action that relates to any Vessel, be it Charter-Parties,30 Wages, Bread, Beer, Sails, Smith-Work, Carpenters Work done at the Key or in Dock &c tried there, further alledging that it is not thus in the Kings immediate Governments as New York, Maryland, Boston &c. Now I
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must own, I did hope that not any more intermedling with what regarded the Kings Affairs, as fraudulent Trade, Prizes, Crimes upon the High-Seas &c. our Civil Courts might, by Juries, decide all the rest as formerly, which they will have to be the Right of the English Subject at home, & therefore it should not be denied them here, in that more and not less Privileges seems the Reason of Such Grants for planting these Wildernesses. Pray help me to explain this head31 more satisfactorily, for I am often closely attack'd upon it. As for Piracy, I must needs Say, that if Jamaica had not been the Seminary, where Pirates have commenced Masters of Art, after having practised upon the Spaniard, and then launched for the Red & Arabian Sea, and at Madagascar32 have found a Yearly Supply of flowr, Bread, Ammunition & Arms from some of our Neighbouring Colonies, that has perhaps in 10 years time gott a Million by it, and then have returned these fellows upon us and our Coasts (to us unknown) we had never had a spott upon our Garment. And as we never traded with those suspicious places, so we have last general Assembly made a Law to forbid any Trade to Madagascar or Natal,33 under any pretence whatever, to prevent Jealousy. Both Bradinham and one Hickman,34 that are now to be embarqued, pretend to discover the Methods by which this Trade is carried on, and how to prevent it; if they deserve well of the King, to be sure, they will find the Advantage of it, for there is something more than hanging, that must cure this deadly poison, of wch I may in 20 dayes time humbly propose for the Kings Consideration by a Vessel from this town.35 I wrote you in my former,36 that I had Sent a Coppy of the Lawes to Secretary Vernon, but my Packet missing the Opportunity, I have recovered it, and send it herewith. Among other things, you will See, we have obliged the Kings Officers, to see the hhds37 of Tobacco weighed, just before Shipping, which before, by Instructions from Edward Randolph to the Collectors in this Government, were to pass at 350 and 4oolb by Content, whereas they were Seldom under 6 & 7oolb weight, and many 8 or goolb by wch the King the King was defrauded of neer half his Revenue, which would have cleared the Charge of the Officers, in this Bay and River, with some Overplus for Contingencies, whereas now I fear there is but a Spare and lean Account given into the Commissioners of the Customs, from this Place, of what has been received by that Gentleman, for many years past.38 The Act of Parliament39 implies, the Tobacco must be weighed, or how should the King come at his penny per pound? And if this Strictness should lessen the Trade of Tobacco for the West Indies and our Neighbourhood, the more goes for England, where the Revenue of the Crown is much more benefitted. I have been very warmly urged, and the Council too, divers times, by the Pirates for a Trial, alledging, that I had the Kings Commands
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to make such a Law, and that, in pursuance thereof, we past one, and yet the Subject has no Relief, but is denied the Benefit of it, and Sent for England upon a Letter from the Secretary of State40 tho' a Legal Provision be made in the case. I Send one of their Petitions or Addresses.41 My meaning by this is, to know the Kings Commands in case of a fresh Crew, whether they Shall be Sent home or tried here, fore7 we hear of 20 Sail up and down the W. Indies but not of force of Guns, but Men, yet one of them, they report, carries 24 Guns, a Brigantine of {about} 70 Tunn and 50 men, carried off a Vessel e£ belonging to Leverpool, of 300 Tun, but partly by Covin,42 There are 2 or 3 more Vessels taken about the Same time, loaden w th provisions, from one of them (I think the Leverpool Ship) they took what they wanted, cutt her Masts by the board, and turn'd her a drift, She is arrived however Safe in Virginia, her Intended Port For Nomination of a Deputy or Lieutenant Governour to be presented to the King for Approbation, I have writt to have one, of two in my Eye, named to you, in order to have the Kings Approbation.43 I must again remind you of the Burthen we groan under, for want of a Short Clause, that those called Quakers in the Plantations may Register their Vessels upon their Customary Attestation in other cases, as freely as if they took an Oath.44 I heartily begg your Favour in this Affair, as well for the Service of Trade in General, as for the Inhabitants of this Government. And Since you are the Kings Council of Trade and Plantations, Pardon me if I say, it seems to me, to be your peculiar Province, to represent and recommend it, for our relief. I think, I have Said enough for once, and many things as well as time (that will never compound with any body) oblige my Conclusion, but that must not be, without assuring you of my hearty Respects, as well as begging your favourable Constructions of my Proceedings, and upright Intentions, who am with just Regards Philadelphia 28d of Your very faithful friend the 2d Month 1700 Wm Penn I have been forced to another hand, my Secretarys,45 by reason my own lettr, I mean in my own hand was, by accident, not fitt to send. LS. CO 5/1260/43, PRO. (Micro. 8:394.) Endorsed in WP's hand: Council of Trade. Docketed: Pennsylvania \ Lre from M r Penn to the | Board, dated at Philadelp{h}ia | the 28th April 1700. | Recd 25th June | Read 26 July 1700. A shorter letter book version, including corrections and changes, is in the HSP. i. Possibly William Bond, a captain sailing for the Hudson Bay Company. CSPC, 1699, p. 150; Acts of Privy Council, 2:199. a. See doc. 183. 3. WP is referring to the enactment of two laws against piracy and illegal trade by the Pennsylvania Assembly. See docs. 187, n. 2; 188, n. 5. 4. See doc. 190. The Board of Trade dealt with WP's letters of 27 Feb. and 28 Apr. 1700 on 26 July 1700. CSPC, 1700, pp. 212, 430; Journal of the Board of Trade, 1700-1701, transcript at HSP, pp. 125-26.
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5. Quary pressed charges against Lloyd before the Council on 14 May 1700, and the Council suspended Lloyd from membership until his case was tried. However, Lloyd was never brought to trial. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:602-4; Root, Relations of Pennsylvania, p. 104; Roy N. Lokken, David Lloyd: Colonial Lawmaker (Seattle, 1959)'P-876. The Board of Trade did not respond to Col. Quary's letters until 19 Aug. 1700. CSPC, 1700, p. 487. 7. David Lloyd was the only trained lawyer in Pennsylvania other than John Moore. 8. In 1698, at the Phila. Co. Court of Quarter Sessions, Lloyd had ridiculed the portrait of William and Mary on a royal commission. CSPC, 1697-1698, p. 483; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:103; Lokken, David Lloyd, pp. 84-85. 9. Robert Bradenham was captured shortly before WP's arrival in Pennsylvania in 1699. He turned king's evidence against Capt. William Kidd. Doc. 185, n. 3; CSPC, 1700, pp. 83, 269, 277; Micro. 8:277. 10. David Evans of Lampeter, Wales, had sailed from Bristol to Maryland in 1698. After his arrival in Philadelphia he was arrested as a member of Henry Every's crew, even though he had been tried on this charge and acquitted at the Old Bailey in London in 1697. CSPC, 1700, pp. 269, 278. 11. Capt. Henry Every, a pirate. 12. The Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. 13. See CSPC, 1700, p. 279; 1699, p. 418. 14. Capt. William Stanton, a pirate captured in Pennsylvania, escaped from prison with nearly all of his treasure of 2300 gold pieces. C. H. Karakker, Piracy Was a Business (Rindge, N.H., 1953), pp. 90, 95, 117; John F. Jameson, ed., Privateering and Piracy (New York, 1923), p. 199. 15. Capt. Thomas Wake, a privateer and pirate, was one of the "Red Sea Men," who outfitted his ship in Rhode Island to sail to Madagascar. Jameson, Privateering and Piracy, pp. 167, 169, 184; CSPC, 1699, pp. 487, 545. 16. John Eldridge of Lynn in Norfolk became a privateer in Jamaica and went on to Madagascar, a base of operations for many pirates. He was captured on board the Nassau in New Castle in 1699. Held on bail by Gov. Basse of New Jersey, he was transferred to England for trial. Karakker, Piracy, pp. 84-90, 95; CSPC, 1700, pp. 169, 278, 338, 761-62. 17. Zion Arnold, who traded with pirates for their goods off St. Mary's, was captured together with John Eldridge and held on bail until his transfer to England for trial. Karakker, Piracy, pp. 83-84; CSPC, 1700, p. 169. 18. Col. Quary stated (5 June 1700) that he took from the captured pirates 41675/s pieces of eight, valued at £1041 158, plus £100 worth of other goods. In his deposition concerning Robert Bradenham's treasure (8 Apr. 1700), William Markham declared that the confiscated money amounted to about £510. CSPC, 1700, pp. 139, 301, 302; Board of Trade Papers, Proprieties, 1699-1701, transcript at HSP, p. 357. 19. James Brown had married William Markham's daughter and lived on the Delaware, allegedly protected by his father-in-law, the lieutenant governor, until he was seized by WP. CSPC, 1699, pp. 382-83. 20. Robert Clinton and Edmund Lascalles, two crew members of Capt. Henry Every, had been seized but managed to escape from prison. CSPC, 1699, p. 383. 21. Peter Lewis, Diggory Tenny, and George Thomson were farmers, while William Orr was a merchant and Henry Stretcher an innkeeper in Lewes, Sussex Co. Scharf, Delaware, 1:95, 101, 2:1206, 1216, 1222, 1227', Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:579; CSPC, 1700,$, 153. 22. Capt. Josiah Rayner, a Red Sea and Madagascar pirate, had been associated with Capt. Every. Jameson, Privateering and Piracy, pp. 181, 187; CSPC, 1700, p. 12. 23. 7 Apr. 1700.
24. Thomas Farmer.
25. Samuel Wood was master of the St. Antoine, a sloop which was sold to Capt. Kidd. Jameson, Privateering and Piracy, pp. 211, 245-47. 26. French pirates plundered Lewes on 27 Aug. 1698. CSPC, 1699, p. 17; Scharf, Delaware, 1:100, 2:1236; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:539-40. 27. Capt. James Gillam, allegedly a very successful pirate on the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, was captured by the earl of Bellomont in 1699 and jailed in Boston until his transfer to England (6 Mar. 1700) for trial. CSPC, 1699, pp. 551-56.
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28. It is unclear how WP arrived at this figure. At the time WP owed Philip Ford about £ 11,000 and was obliged to pay him an annual rent for the lease of the province (see doc. 211). On 6 Sept. 1701, in a letter to Lord Romney, WP claimed that the colony had cost him £20,000, and double that if interest was included. Edwin B. Bronner, William Penns "Holy Experiment" (New York, 1962), p. 231. 29. The body of a county, or the whole district (Black's Law Dictionary}. WP is complaining that the admiralty courts encroached upon Pennsylvania's territorial integrity by claiming jurisdiction over all civil actions taking place along the colony's rivers and creeks. Root, Relations of Pennsylvania, p. 97. 30. Contracts by which merchants hire ships for voyages. 31. Point. OED. 32. Island 240 miles off the coast of southern Africa in the Indian Ocean. 33. Port of Natal, renamed Durban in 1835, in South Africa. 34. Robert Hickman of Bromham, Wilts., was the only survivor of a ship stranded on Madagascar. He took passage to the American colonies in a pirate ship and surrendered himself to Gov. Basse, who freed him upon considerable security; this did not prevent his later imprisonment by Col. Hamilton. CSPC, 1700, pp. 278, 338. 35. No such proposal has been found. 36. See doc. 190. 37. Hogsheads. 38. WP's accusation may have contributed to Randolph's fall from favor with the Board of Trade. Michael Garibaldi Hall, Edward Randolph and the American Colonies, 1676-1703 (Chapel Hill, 1960), pp. 213-16. 39. The Plantation Duty Act of 1673 required either a bond for tobacco shipped directly to England or a tax of a penny per pound for tobacco first shipped to another colony. Hall, Randolph, p. 19. 40. See CSPC, 1699, p. 418; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:578. 41. This enclosure has not been found. The move to allow pirates captured in the colonies to be tried there rather than in England was gaining momentum at this time, and by the summer of 1700 the central administration changed its policy concerning the place of trial for pirates. Acts of Privy Council, 2:342-43; CSPC, 1700, p. 245. 42. Deceit. OED. 43. The Board of Trade instructed WP to name a deputy governor for the king's approbation (doc. 183). The letter of nomination mentioned here has not been found. 44. See doc. 190. 45. James Logan, WP's secretary, wrote this letter, but the dateline, endorsement, and postscript are in WP's own hand.
193 FROM CONNOODAGHTOH AND MEEALLOUA While seeking to pacify his critics in England, WP was also anxious to secure his economic interests in Pennsylvania. Relations with the Indians of the Susquehanna region were central to his plans for economic development, as he hoped both to establish a second settlement on the Susquehanna River and to secure the lucrative Susquehanna fur trade for Pennsylvania. But relations were not uniformly smooth. Doc. 193 expresses the resentment of the Susquehannocks and Shawnees who lived in present Lancaster County when white traders forcibly seized four "strange" Indians from them. It appears that the "strange" Indians were runaway servants from English masters in New York and the Lower Counties. Despite these problems, on 13 April ijoo
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September 1700 the Susquehannocks signed a deed that confirmed WP's earlier grant of Susquehanna from Gov. Thomas Dongan of New York, and the following April the Indians of the region joined with WP in a major treaty that secured land and trading rights as well as declarations of amity (Micro. 8:557; PWP, vol. 4). On WP's plans for Susquehanna, see the headnote to doc. 214; Francis Jennings, The Ambiguous Iroquois Empire (New York, 1984), p. 236. [i May 1700] To the Right Honourable William Penn proprietor and Governour of the province and Territories of pennsillvania The humble petition of Conadahto King of the Susquahana Indians1 and Meealloua King of the Savinno Indians2 In behalfe of them selves and there people humbly sheweth That last Fall Fouer strange Indians Came From the Northwards amongst them which did supose by there Clothing to have bene servants to summ Christians and the said Meealloua Comeing to discourse with them Found one woman with her son to be nearely related to the King of the Naked Indians3 and toke her home to his house and kindly Etertained her and her son Intending with the First opertunetie to Redeeme her From her maister, and Returne her and her Child safe to her Relations hopeing thereby to setle a lasting peace with the said Naked Indians which might have bene of great Importunace to the petionors as well {as} the Inhabitants of this government they being a powrefful Nation and hath often molested these petionors as well in there townes at susquahana as in there hunting quarters4 these petionors being the Fronteare Inhabitants of this Governmt Now so it is that last winter Silvester Garland5 {and Jonas Askine}6 Came to the petionors and produced a paper with a large Seale and pretendedttded it was a warrant From the goverr For to require them to deliver the said Indians 7 but Meealloua one of these petitioners not beleiveing the same to be true refused to deliver the said Indians neverthelesse the saide Garland and Askue aboute tenn dayes after Came againe along with James Reed8 and then produced another paper with a large seale and againe demanded the said Indians in the governours name and afirmed that the said Reed was the next man to the Governour to Confirme the same the said Reed putt of his wigg and said you may se by this I am a great man For that I have two heads neverthelesse one of the petionors Meealloua did not beleive them nor give «o Credit to there words: still beleiveing all what they said to be ttcs[?] Fallse pretences and all For the Luker of gaine and still refused to deliver up the said Indians For the {same} reasons whereupon the said Sillvester Reed and Askue threatned the said petitionors that they would Retorne and Come againe with 600 Men and Cutt of those petionors with all there Famelies For that they
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had refused to obey the Governors Order and the demand of him by Reed his second man in the Government which put your [?] {this} petionor 8 Meeahloua in sutch Feare that he delivered up to them the Indians that was with him. Conadahto King of the Susquahanno Indians Complaines that he and all his Men being abroad Silvester Garland Came to his Towne and demanded the two Indians that was in his Custodie and said they were his servants, but the women answering him they did not belive him and For that Cause would not deliver them the said Sillvester threatned that he would fetch Forty men and Carrie them all away and make servants of them all then Rideing a way in great Furie two of the Indian dogs Folowed him which dogs with pistolls he shott dead upon the place to the great terror of the women and aboute tenn dayes after retorned with James Reed and said that man was there maister which he the said Reed affirmed and said he had payd mutch money For them and laide downe severall matchcots9 which he said he would give them For takeing them up but the women not beleiveing them that the said Reed was there true maister refused to deliver them and Conveyed the woman out of the way were upon the said Garland laide hould on one of the Cheife of the women with violent hands and threatned to Carrie her a way and make her servant Except she Forthwith delivered the servant which being put in great Feare she was Forced to doe all though they had great Cause to beleive she did not belong to them a[ll] which deportment and threatnings hath putt these petitionors and there people in sutch Feare that Ever since they have bene wholy unsetled and not to this day maide aney preparation For planting there Corne but have Continued in a moveing posture in Feare of being Cutt of and that without aney Just Cause given by them but haveing bene Faithffully informed of the Governours love goodwill and Favour towards towards all the rest of the Inhabitants of this Government as well Indians as Christians have reason to hope to Findc[?] {receive} at least an Eaquall share of favour and protection under him as the rest of {our} brethering and with that Confidence prayes that it may please the Goverr to Accept of us as his true Friends and aford us {sutch} Releife and protection as true subjects and Faithfull Friends may reasonably Expect {from} so Honourable and vertueous a Governour as kis {thy} actions hath hitherto proClamed thee and there in shall For Ever Comand us thy true servants and Faithffull Friends Dated at Brandewine Conodahto (x) marke the i st of the 3d mo 1700 The marke (x) of Meealloua DS. Logan Papers, Indian Affairs, HSR (Micro. 8:427.) Docketed: Govermt | The Indians Petition | at N. Castle | Connedachto K of the Sasquehannah or Conestogo | Meealloway K of the Shawanese agst | Silvester Garld Jonas Arskin & J Read | May 1700.
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1. Connoodaghtoh (d. by 1704?) was sachem or king of the Susquehannocks who lived at Conestoga, east of the Susquehannah River in present-day Lancaster Co. Charles A. Hanna, The Wilderness Trail (New York, 1911), 1:77-78. 2. Meealloua (d. c. 1700) led a group of Shawnees who had settled near Pequea Creek on the land of the Conestoga Susquehannocks. Ibid., pp. 129-30. 3. The Miamis or Naked Indians lived near the southern end of Lake Michigan. The Shawnees who lived at Pequea had been driven by the Miamis from their settlements in the Ohio Valley. See doc. 134, n. 6; Hanna, Wilderness Trail, 1:134; Trigger, North American Indians, pp. 681, 688. 4. For examples of such incursions, see doc. 134. 5. Sylvester Garland (d. 1719), a merchant of New Castle, was called before the Provincial Council in 1701 for selling rum to the Shawnees. A Calendar of Delaware Wills: New Castle County, 1682-1800 (New York, 1911), p. 22; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 2:33, 45, 48. 6. Jonas Arskin (Askins, Askin, Erskin, or Askue) was a New Castle Co. landowner and Indian interpreter. Scharf, Delaware, pp. 612, 941; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:114, 2:469. 7. A document that appears to be such a warrant from WP, asking the Susquehannocks to deliver a woman and boy to "the bearer hereof Silvester" for return to their owners in New York, is printed in PA, ist ser., 12:280 (Micro. 14:675). 8. James Read (d. 1703) was a New Castle landowner. Phila. Admins. Bk. B, p. 11. 9. Indian cloaks.
194 TO MATTHEW 1
BIRCH
Philadelphia 2d 4th Month [June] 1700
M: Birch I received thy Short hand Letter of the 28th past,2 and am sorry that after so much care taken to make Masters of Vessels remember their Duty to your Port3 and Solemn Promises given by them before they are discharged here, any should be so rude or negligent as to pass you by unregarded. There is a short Bill now before the Assembly to make the Omission penal.4 Yet hadst thou a Boat as Collectors in other places have, and which thou canst not think I am obliged to find thee, thou might easily take a Course, having a Law on thy Side, and art like to have a Stronger, to make them more observant and bring the Refractary to reason. Thou canst not expect that any at Philadelphia 40 miles distant from you, can putt Laws in execution at N. Castle, without any care or Vigilance of Officers there, if so, there needed none in the place, especially Since no place in the River or Bay {yields a better {that} prospect that is at New-castle of Seeing 20 miles one Way and a dozen the other any Vessel coming either up or down} I must confess I thought the particular regard I have alwayes Shewn to the Kings Concerns Since my Arrival, as well as to his more immediate Officers, and their particular Interests, might have deserved better Returns than such testy Expressions as thou flings out in thy Letters, both to my Self and {of me to} the Members of Council. If thou canst not think Civility {mere Justice & Respect} due to me on
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that Score, I shall however expect more of it for the future to my Station, and am resolved to have it, though I should be at the pains of teaching it thcc my Self {& Conduct thou must not take it amiss if I think my Self obliged to better inform thee the Members of Council for N. Castle5 very well know how often since this session I have exp publickly express'd my resentment about the Law not being observed & charging them to remember that a Clause be brought in to lay a punishment on those that Shall dare to Offend before thy Letter [cam]e to hand and that the Provision might be sufficient & Satisfactory the members of that County were the chief of the Committee appointed about it. Pray lett not me be a sufferer for the Pique thou hast against the Collector here.6 I have nothing to doe wth your difference lett your Mrs 7 at home decide it what comes fairly before me I shall acquitt my self of with Honour & Justice to the best of my understanding w th out regard to fear or favour for those sordid passions shall never move the Proprietor & Governour of Pensilvania & thy frd W P} I understand thou talks of writing home, and making I know not what Complaints,8 I hope thou wilt.be cautious in that point least I should write too, which when I doc may prove loud enough to make thcc sensible of it, at a distance. If thou understands not this, it shall be explained to thcc next meeting, or when I am more at Leisure, Thy Well wishing Friend Copy in James Logan's hand. Records of the Proprietary Government, Miscellaneous Papers, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Harrisburg. (Micro. 8:489.) Endorsed: Copy. W Penn to M. Birch 1700. Docketed: Gov. to M. Birch | 4mo 1700. 1. Matthew Birch (d. 1700), the customs collector in New Castle, had repeatedly complained about how difficult it was for him to enforce the Navigation Acts and the laws against piracy. Root, Relations of Pennsylvania, pp. 99, 101; CSPC, 1699, p. 469. 2. Not found. 3. New Castle. 4. The Provincial Council read a bill (i June 1700), which was then passed by the Assembly, that obliged all vessels to stop at New Castle. Votes and Proceedings, 1:120, 122; Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:610-11; Statutes, 2:81-82. 5. John Donaldson, Richard Halliwell, and Jasper Yeates. 6. John Bewley. See doc. 189, n. 7. 7. The king's commissioners of customs in England. 8. Birch died late in Oct. 1700 without having complained about WP to his superiors in England.
195 TO THE EARL OF BELLOMONT Philadelphia 4 5mo [July] 1700 I blame my Self extreamly o hav omitted two posts paying my Respects, since the favour of receiving thy last packett.2 But I was ill at 1
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one Opportunity and the Post too expeditious for me at the other to catch the Boston Post at N York I have long seen the Device of cooling the 5 Nations3 to thy Ministry at N York, and take that to have the Same Spring w th the rest of the Remoras4 thou hast mett wth But I hope yet that they will See it to be their Interest to keep friendship wth their Neighbours and the fear of Warr as farr off as they can.5 If thy Indian Officers be true to thee, & that Seasonable presents be made them I should be under no apprehensions of Danger I expect 200 of our Western and Northern Indians wth me every 6 day, and shall endeavour Such an Understanding wth them as shall {may} disappoint the French this way & find out their Counsels, as far as may be on your Side. I am not w th out Some perplexity from the same Men and Measures that have been thine but I am not w th out hopes of Conquering them: A Governour had need have wisdom & patience, as well as Justice wch I pray for. — I hear by a Boat come up from Chester 20 miles below upon this River a London Ship is coming up, If I can Stop the Post till I hear her News will send them w tn this. In the main, things move but indifferently at home They talk of the Kings Preparation for Holland Instead of Scotland.7—For my own part without any Anxiety of our Great Mens Opinion of us here, I resolve to goe on w th the best of my Understanding, and be true to my Self as well as the publick, & leave all to the Providence of God; for a pudder8 has no more Sence than Quiet in it. More when we meet.9 We enjoy our Share of Health and are pleased wth the News of thine & Ladies,10 whom we heartily Salute w th due respect. I hope this will find thee at N York, at least upon the way to it (one of the reasons of my Silence being my doubtfulness of a Letter finding thee at Boston). I have had the Company of my Kinsman Parmiter11 Some Weeks whom I find thy Sincere Servant & far from unable, and I have that Opinion of the Honour & good Sence of the Earl of Bellomont that He will lett no-man of that Character decline in his Favour for their Sakes that therefore would lessen or prejudice him. Pardon this Freedom from one that will thankfully embrace a greater from the Lord Bellomont when He will honour him with it. Thy Health Sc the truest happiness are the hearty wish of Thy very faithful & respectful friend WP LBC in James Logan's hand. William Penn Letter Book, 1699-1703, HSR (Micro. 8:498.) 1. WP means "of having." 2. Not found. 3. The Iroquois Confederacy, or the Five Nations, consisted of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk Indians. 4. Obstacles, OED.
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5. In the summer of 1700 the Five Nations were negotiating a treaty with the Ottawas, allies of the French, that would secure hunting rights north of the Great Lakes for the Iroquois and safe passage to Albany for the Ottawas. The Five Nations also strove to make peace with the French, a move the English tried to obstruct for fear of losing their Indian allies when warring with France. Francis Jennings, The Ambiguous Iroquois Empire (New York, 1984), pp. 208-10; Thomas E. Norton, The Fur Trade in Colonial New York, 1686-1776 (Madison, Wis., 1974), pp. 18-23. 6. On 13 Sept. 1700 WP made a treaty with two sachems of the Susquehannock Indians, in which he obtained title to the Susquehanna River and all territory formerly belonging to the Susquehannocks. WP may have been negotiating this treaty in Aug. 1700. Early American Indian Documents, 1:99-100. 7. In the winter of 1699-1700 William III had tried to secure a legislative union with Scotland, but the failure of the Darien scheme (see doc. 196, n. 9) produced a burst of ill feeling in the northern kingdom, and the threat of a Scottish rebellion prevented the king from returning to the Continent until July 1700. Baxter, William HI* P- 3758. Pother, or commotion. OED. 9. The earl of Bellomont, Col. Nicholson, and WP met in early Oct. to discuss matters of mutual concern. See doc. 204. 10. Catherine Nanfan. 11. It is unclear whether WP is referring to "cousin" John Parmiter or to Paroculus Parmiter, both relatives whose line of kinship to the Pennsylvania proprietor has not been traced. John Parmiter, or Parmyter (d. 1719), was a merchant in New York. His son Paroculus had been an attorney in Bristol, where he in the early 16908 was convicted of felony but pardoned. In 1699 the earl of Bellomont appointed Paroculus naval officer and solicitor general in New York because of his legal skills, but found him to be "a most corrupt, ill man" by May 1700. In 1701 WP commissioned Paroculus Parmiter as naval officer and attorney general for Pennsylvania. CSPC, 1699, pp. 17, 280-81; CSPC, 1700, p. 119; Micro. 8:233.
196 TO THE DUKE OF HAMILTON Philadelphia 5th 5m Jul. 1700
My noble Friend I cannot let this ship goe from this port, without so small a Testimony of my respects, to one to whom I owe, & for whom I have so perticuler an obligation,1 that I should be glad to acknowledge in a much better manner; But it has long been my unhappiness, not my fault, that I have been made barren of better ways of expressing it: The rest is my perpetuall good wishes, that never failed me yet for thy best & lasting felicity, for tho thou hast many greater, I am confident thou hast not one truer friend in the world, if little men, without a fault, may use that free style to men of thy first ranck in the world. I have been Six months in this good Country, & finde, tho a good deal of kindness & respect, yet some faction & uneasiness, from the ambition of those that had no pretence to it, till the plenty & opulency of this place had raised it in them. I am labouring its content & settlement, both in Goverment & Property;2 & hope, if I live, to gain that point in a years time, my absence, if my enimys may be Credited, is not a less {loss} than 2Oooool3 in the affaires of my property, to say nothing of the Goverm1 & wl might have been gotten by a constant
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attendance upon the administration. I have long thought it Considerable, but finde the fact to exceed my Jealousy4 or imagination. Tho this should be a retired part of the world, I cannot come at retirement yet; but would quickly leave it, if I had not reason to hope for it after a while. Here {are} some Indigent officers,5 that often take the kings name in vaine [deleted letter] & some that of the Church; but I [illegible deletion] am apt to think that time will sett us all in a right Light, our poor peoples great industry & a Suitable Success, with their numbers & just proportion in Goverment, is {are} much of the true reason of the insinuations of our adversarys; for it is naturall for some sort of people to envy wt they cant enjoy, and are too Idle Be voluptious to Immitate. If our great men, who have the care of us,6 are so happy as to Consider well the Constitution of these parts of the world, & the interest of England in our encouragement, & are not lead by little Itinerant pickthanks,7 to undoe so glorious an empire, as the Colonys of America make to the Crown, one hundred years, will in all probability, render this the nobler dominion. But if unamerican understandings, foreign {domestick} notions, & misintelligence should prevaile; the noblest beginings in any part of the world, would in one quarter of the time, dwindle to nothing. I lament the misfortune of your essay,8 as much as any englishman ought, and I wish we could have found it to have been our Interest, as Brittans & Protestants, to have endured your endeavours better in this part of the world.9 I wish wth all my heart, your wisdom may exceed your passion for Trade, that so your resentment for being so quickly disapointed, may have no ill effects beween the two nations.10 Goverr Hamilton11 is my neighbour and very kinde, as well as ingenious, & does not degenerate from the respect his name ows to its Chief. We often remember our great friend, & wish he had leisure, suitable to his Inclination, to see his Interest in this part of the world. But that is one of the mischiefs of Greatness. Great ships are made for the Channell. [illegible deletion] Governour Wintrop, for so he is now,12 sent me a very Civil Congratulation The other day, & threatens me wth a visit, in company of some of his Council; at what time I shall not be wanting to trye my skill for thy service.13 But this experience I learn from the men of these parts, they will see a point to be mightily their Interest to be perswaded to it; and some times, even humer will preside there too. We were last fall unhealthy,14 but my long passage gave time for our northwesters to blow that away before we arrived. I was not here till the 3d of Decbr which made 13 weeks. & we have remained healthy, through gods mercy, to this time. My Wife has brought me a son,15 about a month after, & is a good nurse, my daughter,16 with both, are well, we have had thirty sale of ships from all parts, & more, Since my comeing, of wch, neer half wth passengers. Thy Countrimen are
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the most considerable merchants,17 & make considcrablc[?] {the greatest} returns this year for England; which Dr Birches Brother18 has made a fault at home, being one of our Collectors here. Coupling Non-jural Quakers with disaffected Scotchmen, as the reason why he has not done wonders here; that is, at New Castle, another port in this Coverm1: Tho he may as justly challenge19 Grantham steeple20 for it. I have past, however, two laws, one agst forbidden Trade, the other agst Pyrats,21 which I hope will give our superiors some Content, and I flatter my selfe to beleive, there is no mallice great enough yet among us, to Challenge my administration with any neglect of Duty upon those heads. I have exceeded the bounds of a letter of respect; but I knew not how to part quickly, with a kinde of Conversation, that in every manner, I have so much satisfaction in, and where the opertunitys are so seldom. However, I am confident in the generosity & good nature I have to do with, and therefore am not in paine for an apology; for my Judgemt failes me if any quality, or great applause, can lessen either of those advantages to such as have a Just esteem for thee. wherefore, my noble Friend, without any more Ceremony, give me leave to live in thy good opinion, & ever to daime the Title & priviledge of Thy very faithfull Be affec1 Frd to serve thee Wm Penn. my respectfull Salutes waites upon both Dutches's.22 and if this finde thee in Eng. forget me not to all my Friends. Ld. Bellomt is comeing from his Governi* of Boston to that of New York, where he is very unhappy; not without faults on both sides. ALS. GD 406/1/4691, Hamilton Archives, Scottish Record Office; printed with the approval of the Keeper of the Records of Scotland. (Not filmed.) The editors are grateful to Dr. Paul Hopkins, who brought this document to their attention. 1. See docs. 114, n. 3; 135; 169; 170. 2. The General Assembly had just met in May and June 1700; the members rejected the Frame of Government of 1683 but could not agree on a new constitution. WP announced that he would temporarily govern Pennsylvania guided by the letters patent from Charles II and the Act of Union. All laws passed and approved since 1682 were to remain in force until the next General Assembly; WP guaranteed to continue the property rights contained in the Second Frame. In return the Assembly granted the governor an income from duties on various imports — estimated by the legislators to bring £1000 annually, but only half that much by WP. Votes and Proceedings, 1:11922; Edwin B. Bronner, William Penn's "Holy Experiment" (New York, 1962), pp. 213-16, 232. 3. WP means £20,000. 4. Suspicion. OED: 5. Probably WP is referring here to Robert Quary and John Moore; Moore had accepted the post of advocate of the admiralty upon the expectation that the Board of Trade would pay him a salary. 6. The Board of Trade. 7. Sycophants. OED. 8. Endeavor. OED. 9. In 1695 Scotland had founded the Darien Company, which was to have a
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monopoly of Scottish commerce with Africa, America, and Asia; all goods imported into Scotland by the company, except tobacco and sugar, were to be duty free. Although the company was very popular with the Scots, its investment capital was insufficient to shield the enterprise against fierce competition from the English and Dutch East India Companies. In 1698 the company established its colony of Darien on the isthmus of Panama; the English considered this settlement an outpost of interlopers. In 1700 the colony was abandoned after only two years because it was badly mismanaged, lacked adequate support from investors and the crown, and was besieged by the Spaniards. William R. Scott, The Constitution and Finance of English, Scottish and Irish Joint Stock Companies to 1720 (Cambridge, 1910), 2:207-27; Thomas C. Barrow, Trade and Empire: The British Custom Service in Colonial America, 1660-1775 (Cambridge, Mass., 1967), pp. 48-49; Steele, Colonial Policy, pp. 37-38. 10. England and Scotland. 11. Andrew Hamilton, the deputy governor of New Jersey. 12. See doc. 140, n. i. 13. See doc. 140, n. 2. 14. See doc. 184, n. 4. 15. John Penn. See doc. 188, n. 3. 16. Laetitia Penn. 17. The prominence of Scottish merchants trading in the Jersies and Pennsylvania was a topic in many reports to the Board of Trade. See, for example, CSPC, 1699, p. 281. 18. Matthew Birch's brother has not been identified. 19. Accuse. OED. 20. A well-known English landmark, Grantham church in Lincolnshire has a 2Sofoot-high, crocketed spire. Findlay Muirhead, ed., The Blue Guides: England (London, 1920), p. 391. 21. See doc. 188, n. 5. 22. Anne, duchess of Hamilton (1636-1717), Arran's mother, and Elizabeth, his second wife. DNB; doc. 170, n. 8.
797 TO JAMES LOGAN When the General Assembly adjourned for the summer (8 June 1700), WP and his family moved to Pennsbury to spend the hot season at his country seat. Pennsbury Manor, about half a day's travel from Philadelphia, was not yet adequately furnished to accommodate any official guests overnight. WP depended on his secretary, James Logan, who stayed in the city, to conduct much of the governmental business, and Hannah Penn relied on Logan to supply her household with any desired workmen, provisions, and furnishings. During this time of retreat William and Hannah Penn were constantly in contact with Logan, sometimes writing more than once a day. Eighteen of their letters from the summer of 1700 have survived (twelve from WP and six from Hannah). These letters, four of which are printed in this volume (docs. 197, 198, 202, 203), show the wide range of services the Penns expected Logan to perform. The secretary was asked to prepare warrants (22 August 1700; Micro. 8:524), to draft a proclamation (3 September 1700; Micro. 8:537), to "send speedily [for a Return to Pennsylvania • 608
plumber] for the house suffers in great rains" (31 August 1700; Micro. 8:532) and to "send a pound or 2 of Chockalet if to be had" (2 August 1700; Hannah Penn to James Logan, Logan Papers, 1:14, HSP). Among the many detailed instructions and demands typical for the proprietor's relationship with his foremost servant, the Penns also show concern for Logan's personal welfare: "I hope you got all well home" (22 August 1700; Micro. 8:524); "we are concern'd to hear thou art not well would have thee take care of thyselfe" (2 August 1700); "I believe thou hast been sometimes too lonely mayst expect they will {fill} the house again, about 2d day" (c. October 1700; Hannah Penn to James Logan, Logan Papers, 1:24, 2 2 > HSP). Pennsbury 3d l [23 July] 1700
2
James I have thyn, with an other.3 I am concerned my leg is so little encourageing for a Journey, & John4 not here to help row. however, I purpose to be in town if I can, to morrow, if not able to be there, by 5 after noon, must submitt to providence, & desire 4 of the Councel the Collector5 & minnits & witnesses to come heither, wch they may do by my Barge wch I will Send to Burlington for them Whither they may come in a Bur: boat to morrow by 12 & be here by two. however, let John have the Coach ready, & horses to put in, that if I come I may helpt home. I accept of Ann P6 care & love. Salute me to the Comrs & councel & Frds. we are else well, & pleased in our retreat. I took sal mirable.7 today & yesterday, vale. WR half the 5 Gall, of rum ran out at Philadel. in the boat as they say. If I am not wth you to morrow by 11 or 5 let the Indians come heither, but send in the boat, whit bread, more rum, the Matchcoats. let the Councel adjourne to this place if I come not. here will be victualls. they may lye at Burlington. I writ {part of} this part upon the bed. ALS. Logan Papers, HSP. (Micro. 8:501.) Addressed in Hannah Penn's hand: For James Logan | Secretary of the Gouvourner | at | Philadelphia. Endorsed in WP's hand: give the inclosed8 to | Mary Lofty. Docketed in James Logan's hand: Govr to JL. 23d 5m° 1700. 1. Tuesday. 2. James Logan (1674-1751), an Irish-born Quaker, succeeded his father in 1693 as master of the Friar Meetinghouse school in Bristol. In 1699, after a brief attempt to enter the linen trade, he accompanied WP to Pennsylvania as his secretary. During WP's stay in the colony, Logan managed the governor's household in Philadelphia, sent supplies to Pennsbury, and organized land records for the collection of proprietary quitrents. When WP left for England in 1701, he appointed Logan clerk of the Council, secretary of the province, commissioner of propriety, and receiver general; he also left him in charge of Indian relations. Thereafter Logan was WP's chief American representative, eventually becoming the region's "most influential statesman, most distinguished scholar, and most respected citizen." Frederick B. To\\es, James Logan and the Culture of Provincial America, ed. Oscar Handlin (Boston, 1957), p. 6; PMHB, 5:130-33; 60:102-3. pwp> vo1- 43. Not found.
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4. John Sotcher (d. 1730), a member of Falls Meeting, was steward at Pennsbury until at least 1713. Hinshaw, 2:968, 1024; Records °f the Falls Monthly Meeting, GSP; PWP, vol. 4. 5. The Philadelphia collector of customs was John Bewley. 6. Ann Bax Parsons. 7. Sal mirabile was a sulphate of soda, which WP probably took as a diuretic. OED. 8. Not found.
198 HANNAH PENN TO JAMES LOGAN [post 23 July 1700] James Logan The Boesson1 brings Jack2 news that his wife Parthenia is sold to barbadoes wch makes hirim desire to return, but I am loath to Let him go because our washing aproache{e}s but I should be glad to have aright information, & how long twill be ere she goes; if there were time for it, and I were fully Satisfied of her honesty, I should be willing to have her up by the boat, to help about washing, but I am in a little doubt conserning her, having lost more {wearing} linnin, since in that town3 than in all the years of my life before I cannot charge her wth it but desire thoult send for betty Webb, & press her to give her inward thoughts about her & act accordingly, let her {E. We{b}b} look in the store room for a prcell of clean {white} Curtians & send them carfully. also a pr of pewter Candlesticks old fashion that came from hence to be mended, and a little more Oyle from Ann Parsons for my husbands Leg, it is in a fine way of doing well, pray give Ann my kind love I sholuld be very glad to see her here,4 to see her boy5 who thrives every day now, & we are all though mercy well, send up about 10 yds of frise, for servants, of that sort, that wants using most, & some 4 or 6 blue shirts if there. We wandt a doz of Madera wine wch thou may send for G. Emblin6 or some other to help draw it. as to the Oyle Jn° 7 spoke of, we had it the 4 but did not know of it not having opend the chest in w^ it was. The Glasses from R H8 came safely & acceptably to my hand. P England9 mi&took my husband about Lisences,10 he only spoke of an ill {red} hous near the Center. wch he was as unwilling to grant a Licence to as to her that lives in S. ^Atkins11 housed, for the same reason or worse, tho he thinks they should {not} be fined for wanting them because they had an expectation given of having them & are only refusd for faults since comitted. Our love to E. Singlton12 we are glad to hear he's got abroad. Our love to thee &: friends, thy frd H:P let Robert call at Cos Ashto[n]13 for things {she has of mine} & a paper or 2 of the smallest pins ALS. Logan Papers, HSP. (Not filmed.)
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1. Boatswain. OED. 2. Jack was one of WP's slaves at Pennsbury. 3. Philadelphia. 4. Pennsbury. 5. Ann Parsons was the midwife at John Penn's birth. Doc. 188, n. 3. 6. George Emlen, a Quaker from Shipton Mallet, Som., had immigrated to Philadelphia in 1682. Hinshaw, 2:515; PMHB, 57:91; Roach, "Blackwell Rent Roll," p. 79; Roach, "Directory," p. 127. 7. Probably John Sotcher. 8. Richard Hill. 9. Philip England (d. 1708), a Quaker from Dublin, immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1683. He operated an ordinary and ferry at the Schuylkill River but later moved to New Castle Co. Hinshaw, 2:516; Passengers and Ships, p. 83; PWP, 2:659. i o. The law required tavern keepers to obtain licenses from the governor. Charter and Laws, pp. 139, 172, 195. 11. Possibly Samuel Atkins, a glover, who in 1690 occupied a bank lot at the northeast corner of Front and Walnut Sts. and in 1693 lived at the southwest corner of Second and Chestnut Sts. 12. Edward Singleton. 13. Margaret, wife of Robert Assheton (doc. 206). PMHB, 53:296; 55:174.
199 FROM THOMAS
FAIRMAN 7th of the 6 mo: [August] 1700
Governour I could not well resent the granting the Reads on the Island1 so Generally I was content they might be servisable to my Naighbours, And that untill thee was better Satisfyed of my right theire, the Governour might grant them, yet so as my selfe should be first served. Although I staked out a peice for my selfe and another for Joseph Austell2 who thee had permitted, yet thy secretary3 giveing out Generall permitts without Limetation, Before I had gotten enough for two Cows, Severall fell uppon myne and Joseph Austells so that I could gitt but one loade more unless I would toyle in the Mudd more then the Reads are twice worth Besides also I mett wth 111 repulses on the Island through thy secretaries imprudent discourses to the people that Came for permitts Saying he Admired at Tho: Fairmans Confidence to assert any right theire &c: In thy absence I use to thinke I wanted not so much a Title to the place as the Proprietors Protection from the Rabble & Jersey men Joseph Cooper4 in particular told Daniel Pegg & others he would never aske Governour Penn leave to Cutt on any of the Islands For saies he the Proprietors in Burlington have lately asserted theire right to the Island5 and sent to them to Cutt See: D: Pegg can say more of the Matter & of the Jersey mens hecktering. I desier the Proprietor to Consider we have been out of oure money I thinke Now Twenty three years 600 Guilders6 besids a Matchcote every yeare7 This was a vallewable consideration and more then the Island was then worth, And also I haveing a August i joo
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particular order to Ephraim Harman8 From sir Edmund Androws and the Court of Uplands Grant and warrant 9 w th Rich: Nobles survey,10 What but a Confirmation was wanting: And how many scores of Sweads have any more for theire Plantations11 And last year sir Edmund Andros told me in these words viz: My life for it mr Penn will Confirm you the Island and it is his Intrist so to doe matters considred &c: And offerd to goe w th me from one End of the Citty12 {to the other} to serve me in it But the Proprietor was then in Bristoll & when in London I was my selfe att Hartford 13 at wch time sir Edmund went to Gurnsey 14 other wise my aime was to bring you together. I admier it comes so hardly, I haveing a right; tho perhaps No firm Title in Law yet being content to lay that aside that the Proprietor may have the Honour of Giving it me or to Grant it in right of my Purchase of 5000 acres from Tho: Harley,15 Pray Governour let me intreat thee to consider me as the First English settler here And how hardly I have brought up a Famely of Children First borne English What have I no merritts how have I been {as a drugg} to the Publick. And served an ungratefull master thy Surveyor Gen11 16 6 years for 80 pounds What incouragment have I to serve the Proprietor or Publick who Thankes me for what I doe wherfore with the wise I may say all is vanety What have I gained by my Contests wth thy Commisioners17 and Surveyor Gen11 in defence of thy Property but theire 111 will and my owne discomodety Nothing that can be Calld a Favoure hath ever been showed me by them. The Lands I have bought have not been bitts & scraps But whole Proprietyes viz: Stanley, Puryor, Rudyard & Harley18 And my disposing of it can not been calld stockjobing For who Except the Proprietor hath settled so many Plantations as I have, & Given Creditt to young beginours Extended Charety beyond my abillety to be Feard I am thy reale Friend & servant Tho: Fairman ALS. ACM. (Micro. 8:505.) Docketed: Tho: Fairman 6mo 1700. 1. Thomas Fairman is complaining that WP (or his secretary, James Logan) has encroached on his right to cut reeds on Petty's Island in the Delaware River. Fairman, through his wife Elizabeth Kinsey, had acquired the Indian title to this island opposite Kensington for the price of 600 guilders or about £54 sterling, with guaranteed hunting and fishing rights and a yearly ration of powder and rum to the Indians. Fairman entered this deed in the Rolls Office at Philadelpia on 9 Feb. 1699. Edwin B. Bronner, "Indian Deed for Petty's Island, 1678," PMHB, 89:111-14. 2. Joseph Austell (b.i672), a Quaker from Berkshire. PWP, vol. 4. 3. James Logan. 4. Fairman probably means James Cooper (b. c. 1661), a cordwainer from Stratford-on-Avon, War., who immigrated first to West New Jersey and was in Philadelphia by Oct. 1683. In 1686 and 1687 he acquired title to a lot at the northwest corner of Second and Mulberry Sts. PMHB, 31:165; PGM, 23:113. 5. The islands in the Delaware were not mentioned in the charters of West New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Consequently both WP and the Jersey proprietors tried to claim them. See doc. 88, n. 39.
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6. About £54 sterling. See n. i, above. 7. Annual payment of one matchcoat (Indian cloak) was not part of the deed that has survived. See n. i, above. 8. Ephraim Harman, or Herrman (1652-1689), was a magistrate of Upland and New Castle before WP received his charter. PWP, 2:284^ 9. From 1664 to 1681, when the European settlers in the Delaware Valley were under the government of New York, the jurisdiction of the court of Upland (now Chester, Pa.) extended north of Christiana Creek to the edge of European settlement. Edward Armstrong, ed., "Records of the Court at Upland, 1676-1681," Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 7:116-18; PWP, 2:85n, 87n. 10. Richard Noble, a Quaker who immigrated to West Jersey in 1675, was tne surveyor of the west side of the Delaware River for the duke of York's government in 1679. PWP, 2:268n. 11. Fairman charges here that the titles held by early Swedish settlers to their farms in the Delaware Valley were no more secure than his wife's title to Petty Island. 12. London. 13. Hertford, Herts. 14. An island in the English Channel. Andros lived here following his retirement from the governorship of Virginia in 1698 and became lieutenant governor of Guernsey in 1704. 15. Thomas Harley, a non-immigrant First Purchaser from Herefordshire. PWP, 2:644. 16. Thomas Holme. 17. WP's commissioners of propriety. 18. William Stanley, Thomas Rudyard, and Thomas Harley were all First Purchasers of 5000 acres. Fairman had bought land from these landholders and also from William Purry. PWP, 2:24n, 34in, 578, 644, 651, 652, 654; PGM, 23:71, 73, 88, 90, 97, 98; doc. 215.
200 TO JAMES LOGAN Pennsbury 7th 6m [August] 1700
James I have, & my wife, thyn, 1 & meeting them 5 miles from this place, returned. I only repent my return for w: Clarks sake, & partly that I mist T. Firman.2 the first I would see & authorize to receive my rents & Bills for wl cannot be had, for Kent & Sussex & T. Fir. for that I hear an Indian township called Touhicken rich land & much cleared by the Indians he has not surveyed to myn & Childrens tract, as I expected, wch joyns upon the back of my mannor of Highlands;3 & am sorry my Survr Gen114 did not inform me thereof, for wch Cause he shall never survey a foot more, but I will know where & wl by him or by his deputys. I feared a surprize, told him so & now finde it to my great dissatisfaction; But for the future shall prevent it. if it be not in thy warrants, put it in except lands already {or formerly} taken up, or an Indian township: the Indians have been wth me abl it. next, pray Speak for 3000 {or 4} of bricks. & tell J. Parsons5 I expect his 150 foot of bords 3 months soonerf?] & pay for them also a load, or 30 Bushels of lime, and let them be ready by 6th night if can, to be
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here by flatt6 7th night, or 2d day. & two of my folks shall come in the little boat to bring it up. {one of} the Boys of Ed. James7 has left him, the best, so the charge not so great, & he will work up his Stuff to night or tomorrow, & than I think to dismiss him. J. Red. son8 may come up, if the flat brings up brick & lime, 2d or 3d day at farthest. fail not to send a flitch of our Bacon, & chacolat {by all means if to be had} if to be had, & a cask of midling flowr from S. C.s or Is. Nors 9: & some coffe berrys V4lb some flat & deep earthen pans, for milk, & bakeing, wch Betty Webb can help thee to. & cask of Indian meale Search Lumbys goods10 search for an ordinary Side Saddle & pillion, & some course linnen for towels sh[eets?] &c: we are as well as the heat will let us, but my leg still out of order & swelld still about my ancle ancle. I shall be glad to see wm clarke, but for feare not, shall send by the boat an order or letter or Commiss,11 to that effect. I could be glad 20 bords more might be had to come with the flatt, if not so dry, 40 Green, rather than none. pray examin closely about those that fired upon the indians, that frighted them by Dan. Peg's,12 it is of moment to us, & if true, re roguishly designed, I doubt not. & shall be seveerly punished. [Sen]d six ounces of oyle of turpintine, unless dear, then 3. Cap1 Hans13 stays, we have adjusted the matter, encourage Helcoquean,14 & give him ten bits, to fetch down the indians, if they desire, else not, assure them of friendship, vale. WP. I had Govr Grays obliges letter.15 ALS. Logan Papers, HSR (Micro. 8:509.) 1. Not found. 2. Thomas Fairman. 3. This tract must have been near Tohickon Creek, which runs into the Delaware at Point Pleasant in Bucks Co. George P. Donehoo, A History of the Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, 1928). The creek later figured in boundary disputes between the Delaware Indians and the Pennsylvania government; see C. A. Weslager, The Delaware Indians (New Brunswick, N.J., 1972), pp. 178, 187. 4. Edward Penington; see doc. 168. 5. John Parsons (1656-1705), a Quaker carpenter of Philadelphia and First Purchaser from Somersetshire, held land on the Delaware River in Bucks Co. PWP, 2:650; Phila. Will Bk. C, #2; Digests of Quaker Records, Bristol and Som., GSR 6. Flat boat or barge. OED. 7. Edward James (d. c. 1714) was a bricklayer of Philadelphia whom WP had hired to build a room at Pennsbury. WP was dissatisfied with James's high prices and planned to replace him with the son of John Redman (n. 8, below). Phila. Will Bk. D,
#34b.
8. John Redman (d. 1714), a bricklayer of Philadelphia, had sons named John, Thomas, and Joseph. Phila. Will Bk. C, #283. 9. Samuel Carpenter and Isaac Norris. Norris (1671-1735), a wealthy Quaker merchant from Jamaica, settled in Philadelphia in 1693 and became a leading supporter of the proprietary government in both Assembly and Council. For his later relations with WP, see PWP, vol. 4. DAB.
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10. Capt. John Lumby's ship, the Providence, had been seized for lack of registry in 1699; see docs. 181, 207. WP as proprietor was entitled to one-third of the forfeited goods, though in a letter of 18 Oct. 1700 (Micro. 8:608) he assured the ship's owners that he desired no part of them. 11. Not found. 12. Daniel Pegg held land on the Delaware north of Philadelphia. 13. Capt. John Hans Steelman (b. c. 1655) of Maryland was trading with the Delaware Indians from a post at Lehigh on the Delaware River. Charles A. Hanna, The Wilderness Trail (New York, 1911), 1:39, 144. 14. Probably Hetcoquean (Hickoquean), a Delaware chief who lived on Christiana Creek. Ibid., 1:93; Early American Indian Documents, pp. 81-82, 89. 15. Ralph Grey (d. 1706), later Baron Grey of Werk, had been appointed governor of Barbados in 1696. He was the brother of the powerful earl of Tankerville, who sat on the Board of Trade and had been appointed one of the Lords Justices in June 1700. His letter to WP has not been found. For WP's letter to Grey of 16 May 1700, see Micro. 8:473. Luttrell, 4:217; George J. Armytage, ed., Obituary Prior to 1800 . . . compiled by Sir William Musgrave . . . , Harleian Society, 46:91.
201 TO WILLIAM CLARK AND WILLIAM RODNEY Pensbury 2i st 6mo [August] 1700
Esteemed Friends The Bearer hereof a Swiss Gentleman of Consideration1 designing to Settle in Some ptete{place} of this Province or Territories, and according as he finds them to encourage considerable numbers of his Countrymen to follow his Example, desires before he engages himself anywhere to view the Land in general but especially where 'tis not yet taken up, both in these upper and those lower Counties: In which he being wholly a Stranger, I must desire you or either of you, who are as well acquainted I suppose in the County of Kent as any, to be helpful to him to your utmost, in Shewing him both the Nature of the Soil of wch he Seems a Competent Judge, and particularly what Tracts you know of there untaken up yet, or that may be disposed of, informing him of all things that are likely in this point to fall in his way, by which you will much oblige Your very Loving Friend Wm Penn Transcript. ACM. (Micro. 8:521.) Docketed: Govr to Wm Clark & W m Rodeney sent by | Monsr de Charriere but not | delvd 21 6mo 1700. i. Probably Jean Jacques de Charriere, a nobleman of Cossonay near Lausanne in the Swiss Canton of Vaud, who apparently settled in Pennsylvania temporarily. It is not known how active he was as a colonizer for his countrymen, except that he was in contact with another Swiss gentleman, Francis Louis Michel, who in 1710 was actively involved in the founding of New Bern, a Swiss colony in Carolina. A. B. Faust and G. M. Brumbaugh, eds., Lists of Swiss Emigrants in the Eighteenth Century (1925; reprint Baltimore, 1976), 2:5; Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz (1924).
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202 TO JAMES LOGAN
Pennsberry, 4th 7ber [September] 1700
James The inclosed I have had a week, wl concerns a mandamus, 1 I have reason to hearken to; but least it should weaken my commission to Jo: Moor2 inform thy selfe of him if that may not be done by Gr. Jo.3 wch he prays a mandamus for, without interfering wth J. Ms Commission, loose no time herein, that I may not loos my mony or land; I confess I think if J. M. be there, 'tis his Province, by this Bearer thou mayst write to Cornelius Empson.4 we want rum here, haveing not a qtr of a pinte in the house, among so many workmen, best in bottles sealed down, or it may be drawn & mixt by a Burl.5 boat; except S. Hill,6 carefully carry it to Ann Jenings7 for us. 6 quarts. & if an Hogshead of lime could be reasonably brought by any boat that comes to the Mill at Brocks8 as Is. Nor.9 &c: or to Burl, we eat* could send for it, & that would close all for this year, of that nature we think, let Jos. Woods10 know that I hear Goverr Nicolson & Blakiston, intend in 10 days for Philadelphia, & that I would have him waite upon them, with a good Number of persons that he can summon, to \vaitc borders of the County, & conduct them to N. Castle & thence till he meets wth the sherriff of Chester County,11 to whom^ write to Conduct them to the Confines of his charge or County where J. Farmer12 shall attend them. Lett at least 20 persons be ordered For each party. & write to H. Hoi.13 to a little help the sherrif to manage things, the Magistrates of each place to give their Attendance, some to ride out some receive them at alighting. If needfull prepare a draught of an order or letter to each county & send it me forth with, as also to lodge them & immediat servts at their privat houses, the first faire day, I intend ttp {down}, vale. WP. ALS. Logan Papers, HSR (Micro. 8:539.) Docketed: WP | 4 7^ 1700. 1. A writ commanding performance of an official or public duty. OED. The enclosure mentioned has not been found. 2. John Moore was serving as both register general and attorney general, but no commissions to him from WP have been found before the date of this letter. See PA, 2d ser., 9:645; Scharf and Westcott, 2:1570. 3. Griffith Jones, a justice of Philadelphia. 4. Cornelius Empson (d. 1710), a Quaker landowner and J.P. of New Castle Co., served several times in the Assembly and was a justice of the Provincial Court 16981701. A Calendar of Delaware Wills: New Castle County, 1682-1800 (New York, 1910), p. 16; PA, 2d ser., 9:666, 670. 5. Burlington, N.J. 6. Seth Hill (d. c. 1709), a Quaker mariner of Burlington, transported goods for Pennsbury. Calendar of New Jersey Wills, 1:229. 7. Ann Jennings lived in Burlington, where goods for Pennsbury were often dropped.
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8. John Brock (d. c. 1704), a First Purchaser from Cheshire who emigrated in 1682, held land on the Delaware in Bucks Co. Phila. Admins. Bk. B, p. 31; PWP, 2:639. 9. Isaac Norris. 10. Joseph Wood was sheriff of New Castle Co. 11. Andrew Job (d. 1722) was a Quaker farmer and sheriff of Chester Co. Futhey and Cope, p. 615; Abstracts of Wills of Chester County, HSP, 1:43. 12. WP may have meant John Farmer (see doc. 134, n. 10), but was more probably referring to Thomas Farmer, sheriff of Phila. Co. (see Micro. 8:493). 13. Henry Hollingsworth, an Irish Quaker surveyor of New Castle Co., had emigrated in 1683 and served in the Assembly in 1695. Myers, Immigration, pp. 60, 127; PA, 2d ser., 9:671, 19:83, 221.
203 HANNAH PENN TO JAMES LOGAN [c. September lyoo]1
James my husband has been for some time, espesially the 2 days past, much Indispos'd w th a feavourish cold, his sweating last night somthing releifved him, but not so as to be capaple of going to town w th out great hasard of his health, wch has prevaild wth him to stay till to morrow w n , if better he indtends not to faile of being in town, wherefore he would have the councell adjourn from day to day till they see him. also would have thee tell thcc tell Tho: Story to read over the laws carefully and observe their shortnes or other defects, wth memorandums of direction, espesially those about courts of Justice. Marriage, law of Property, unreasonable Alienation of fines.2 Sec 8c what time thou can well spare he would have thee Imploy on the same Subject, for after the rising of this Assembly he deftermines to send the laws for England & desire T. S to show Judge Gest3 fhis draught {of a bill} for Regudating courts, also do thou by the first oppertunity send to R. Parmeter for his draught upon the same subject, (it may help.) and be sure to mind the buisness of the Maryld sloop. & speak to the councell or Magestrates about {to consider of} a place for the Generall assembly.4 the Governour understands Jos: Shippen5 gives in reallity but 71 10, {a ton} to N. Puckle,6 & hopes thou gives not more I desire thou will not faile to return that mony due to my father at least one halfe by first good oppertunity to Barbadoes or otherwise, at least one halfc. not else at presant from thy frd
3d day afternoon.
Hannah Penn
ALS. Logan Papers, HSP. (Not filmed.) Addressed: For James Logan | with Speed I at Philadelphia. Docketed: Mad™ Penn to JL. 1. This letter cannot be exactly dated, but Hannah Penn probably sent it in Sept. 1700 when WP was preparing for the next General Assembly meeting in Oct., which was to review the colony's laws. 2. Statutes, 2:21 23, 44, 83, 128-29, 134-35.
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3- John Guest (c. 1650-1707), an English lawyer, briefly served on the Supreme Court of New York in 1699, and was appointed by WP in 1701 as chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and a member of the Provincial Council. Paul M. Hamlin and Charles E. Baker, Supreme Court of Judicature of the Province of New York, 16911^04, Biographical Dictionary (New York, 1959), pp. 99-103; James G. Wilson and John Fiske, eds., Appletons Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 3:11. 4. The General Assembly met in New Castle, 14 Oct. to 27 Nov. 1700. 5. Joseph Shippen (1679-1741), one of the sons of Edward Shippen, was a Boston merchant with commercial ties to London, Barbados, Philadelphia, and New York. In 1704 he took up residency in Philadelphia. Randolph S. Klein, Portrait of an Early American Family: The Shippens of Pennsylvania Across Five Generations (Philadelphia, 1975), PP- 33-476. Nathaniel Puckle (d. 1706), a Quaker ship captain, sailed between Philadelphia and England as master of the ships Bristol Trader and Philadelphia. ACM, vol. 122; PWP, vol. 4.
204 TO THE BOARD OF TRADE The Heads Discoursed of at New York [c. October 1700*] We2 are humbly of Opinion for the more easy & certain Commerce of the Northern Colonies of America under the Crown of England, It would be convenient that there should be but one Standard for Coyn, and Money were of the Same Value and Denomination through all the Colonies; When Now a piece of Eight3 that goes in Boston for 6 shillings goes in NYork for 6s-gd In Jersey and in Pensilvania for 7s-8d In Maryland 4s-6 Virginia 5s and in Carolina [blank] 2dlY It would be much for the Dispatch of Trade and Business if a Mint for Small Silver to the Value of Six pence were allowed in the City of New York for prevention of Clipping and filing, as well as allaying wch is now too common. 3dly For the Increase of Returns to England it would be very Expedient that due Incouragement were given for the Importation of Timber from hence to England, by an Impost on foreign Timber, there being great Quantities and good for Shipping in these parts, especially for Masts 4thlY That there be great Care taken to have the Bounds Northward adjusted with the French Commissioners, or the Loss will be great and Irreparable: We take the South Side of the River & Lake of Canada4 to be our just and reasonable Boundaries, Soil and Trade with the Indians being much concerned therein ^thly For Prevention of Runaways, Rovers and fraudulent Debtors coming from one Province to another for Shelter, That it were recommended to all these Governments to make a Law with the Same Restrictions and Penalties in such cases, as if the whole were but one Government.
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5thiy Foreigners coming daily from divers Nations, especially Dutch Sweeds and French, 'tis humbly offered, That a general Law of Naturalization pass in England, that Such foreigners as come to Inhabit in any of the Kings Colonies, and are by Act of Assembly declared freemen in the Said Provinces shall Enjoy the Rights and Privileges of English Subjects except being Masters or Commanders of Vessels and Ships of Trade5 ythly That it were generally Signified to the respective Governments for Prevention of Vexatious and Litigious practices, That no Appeal for England Should be admitted under the real Value of three hundred pound6 gthly That not only Charges in apprehending of Pirates but a Proportion of the Prey may be Assigned to Such as shall take them, for the Incouragement of their Apprehension. It was also agreed on as a thing absolutely necessary That some effectual Method Should be taken for prevention of Bigamy and Clandestine Marriages in general too frequent in these Colonies And to these in my last7 I Added that of a General Post,8 Hearing of Appeals, and that the Woollen Act against transportation of Wool from one Colony to another9 may be made more practicable one way or effectual the other. All which is humbly Submitted to the Consideration of the Lords Commissioners for the Good of the Plantations. Wm Penn LS in the hand of James Logan. CO 5/1261, PRO. (Micro. 8:570.) Docketed: Pennsylvania. | Heads discoursed of at New Yorke between the E. of | Bellomont Co11 Nicholson & Mr Penn | for the advantages of their | respective Governmts | Refer'd to in M r | Penns Letter of the | 31 Decr 1700 | Recd | Read [24 th February 1700/1. 1. The exact date of the governors' conference at New York is not known. The meeting took place after the earl of Bellomont's conference with the Indians at Albany in Sept. and before the meeting of Pennsylvania's General Assembly in New Castle in mid-Oct. WP enclosed this document in his letter to the Board of Trade of 31 Dec. 1700. Micro. 8:755; CSPC, 1700, p. 773. 2. The earl of Bellomont, WP, and Francis Nicholson; Nathaniel Blakiston fell ill and could not attend the governors' conference. See doc. 205. 3. The Spanish piece of eight was the most common coin in the North American colonies, with a value of 45 7d sterling. 4. Probably the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. 5. Throughout most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the English Parliament generally opposed easy and open admission policies, preferring to grant naturalization by individual act. James H. Kettner, The Development of American Citizenship, 1608-18jo (Chapel Hill, 1978), pp. 69-70. 6. In his letter of 8 Dec. 1700 (Micro. 8:[i38]647a) to the Board of Trade, WP argued that procedures of appeals to England should not only be uniform for all colonies but should allow for the colonists' lack of legal sophistication. 7. WPs letter of 8 Dec. 1700 to the Board of Trade (ibid.). 8. WP suggested that the king designate two or three small postal vessels to carry private as well as public letters, especially in the seasons poorly served by merchantmen or naval vessels. Ibid. 9. 9 & 10 Will. Ill, cap. 10, sec. 19.
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205 TO BARON SOMERS d
Newcastle on Delaware1 8br [October] 22 d 1700
My Noble Fr 2 I cannot think I flatter my Self when I am willing to believe that Ld Sommers retains me in his good Opinion, Since I cannot accuse my Self of forfeiting it, and that his Constancy equals his other good qualities a Vertue that is not often in the possession of great men, and those who are so happy as to honour their titles more than they can honour them, will alwayes be great in Interest tho' they should not be so in Office. I must acknowledge my Silence looks like a disrespect, then this must be a Duty and should not want need an Apology. I have been too often a witness of the Burdens Ld Chancellor Sommers hath laboured under to encrease them, And as Sr Wm Petty3 used to Say, I can never write but when the wind blows, nor it may be then, so well as I ought to great men. I have without being Officious wrote to the Lds of Trade of the Affairs of this Province,4 whose it was to communicate them to the Ministry, and I shall be extreamly out of Countenance if my friends are disappointed by my Conduct I am sure I am by preferring the Kings business before my own for the close Law I made to prevent tfrajujde7 in Trade,5 has disobliged the lower Counties that make Tobacco,6 so that they oppose all Considerations that regard my Supply, and the upper Counties that consist mostly of our Friends for turning out one that is their only Lawyer by the Kings Command, and the most active Justice of the peace for ignorantly granting a Replevin of Goods Seized by the Marshal of the Admiralty 7 in the Infancy of that power here, no Court having ever been held before it, if the Commission were Sufficiently published, So that time and address must reprize me I shall forget I am writing a Letter of respect rather than business, and yet I pray leave to say, that without any allowance from the King, no not the Royalty I apprehend is my Due of my Piratical Goods, I am intently doing the Kings Business at my own Charges,8 and not one penny of Money from the People neither before a late law of Custom upon Rum & Wine9 that will not defray half my house keeping, while my Neighbour Governours that cannot give the Same Security in their Commands as a Proprietary have their two or three thousand pounds per annum, wch in no regard I do begrutch them. But after all if this won't please or that litle Necessitous people10 shall have it in their powr by a better part Credit to disparage {grace} our Administration, & disparage our Careful Conduct with the name of the Ch. or the Admiralty taken often in vain, we cannot but think our Selves unhappy Fain would a Few of those Interlopers in our State disaffect our
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Superiours and dismount their Masters & gett into the Saddle, the Coll. Quary {fatal} Consequence of Colonel Fletchers Superseding my Administration, for his unseasonable and Officious Zeal for the Ch. at my Cost began this disaffection between the People11 I hope Lord Sommers wth other great and just men will easily think that it was never intended that Pensilvania should be a Ch: Plantation, or that we that have made it one for the Accommodation of our own Circumstances can think our selves well used to have Church men putt upon us that came hither at all hazards to improve a wilderness upon the publick faith, of enjoying our Government as well as our Labours, short of wch nothing could have been a prevailing Motive for such an Enterprize the Soil being the Natives to give or Sell it as they pleas'd so it were tmto the Subjects of the Discoverers. We take leave therefore under the King and Crown of England to call it our Countrey where all people owning a God may live & those that Confess to Jesus Christ thejas} Saviour of the World may be employed, So that Churchmen not only have their Liberty but may & actually have a Share in the Government, in 3 of the 6 Counties not 3 of the 7 Justices being of another perswasion, I mean than of the Church, 12 at most not more and the Sherifs Clarks & Coroners all of the Same Sentiments T'other three mixt & in our Capital Town and County, where the Number & wealth of our People so much exceed other perswasions the Sherif Clark Subsherif, Att n Y General and two of seven of the Justices are not of our Society13 nor two of the 5 Judges but reputed Churchmen, forgot the Commissioner of my Customs14 who is an Hero for the Ch. So that in our Capital, I have only the Mr of the Rolls15 that is not a Ch: Man of all our Officers, and yet no less than outing of us and overturning the our Government is the Ambition & Sedition of some Violent Tempers the chief of which have neither house nor Land in the Province, and geat the Bread they gett in it by the Indulgence of those they would Injure & destroy. It is this Sort of People that raise a dust wch weak eyes cannot see well through, while they Skreen themselves with the awful and charming words of King and Church, but this wise men will slight when nothing Solid appears m of premeditated disrespect to either, But in short the humble & sober Churchman Layman or Priest shall be used by me with humanity & respect So such as are rude factious & troublesome must not hope to rebuke th protect themselves from the Rebukes of Law, by flying to the Venerable Names of Ch: K. &c to protect them I render among other favours my humble thanks for that of thy obliging Letter16 to the Earl of Bellomont whom lately I visited in Company of Governour Nicholson, my neighbour Blackiston falling ill by the way returned & Colonel Nicholson hardly gott to N York for extream weakness which holding most of the time we were to-
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gether rendred our Conferences not so effectual as was wish't & yet Several heads were agreed on as Serviceable both to be represented home and enacted here,17 The Session of our General Assembly drawing on, & consequently out of my Power to wait Colonel Nicholsons better State of health to compleat our beginnings & therefore left with the E of Bellomont the heads to be represented, whose incomparable Diligence & equal Integrity make him truly worthy of his Station, a better understanding between him and some English Dutch and French {of note} there seems all that is to be done or wish'd to perfect their happiness & his ease in his Administration, for which some endeavours were used how Susccesful I know not, Be dare not hope a great deal but they see and sometimes eat together more than ever was expected, and as the Distemper is Cronick so time & kitchin Physick18 must cure it. I have only now to beg thy excuse for so tedious a Letter & thy ancient Regards for our poor people in general threatned I hear by the restless Spirit of Geo: Keith & his black associates,19 and the Circumstances of thy obliged & most assured Friend WP. LBC in James Logan's hand. William Penn Letter Book, 1699-1703, HSR (Micro. 8:609.) Addressed: To the Ld Sommers. 1. The Pennsylvania General Assembly was meeting at New Castle in its second session of the year from 14 Oct. to 27 Nov. 1700. 2. John Baron Somers (1651-1716) of Evesham, Worcs., a lawyer, played an important role in the negotiations with the prince of Orange (1688) and the framing of the "Declaration of Rights." He was appointed solicitor general in 1689, attorney general in 1692, and lord keeper of the great seal in 1693, the same year he became speaker of the House of Lords. His advancement to lord high chancellor of England followed in 1697, but three years later he lost the favor of William III and retired from political office in the wake of the scandal connected with the pirate William Kidd in 1700. The following year he was impeached by the House of Commons but acquitted. Under Queen Anne, Somers was returned to public office and sworn president of the council in 1708. DNB; William L. Sachse, Lord Somers: A Political Portrait (Manchester, 1975)3. Sir William Petty (1623-1687), surveyor, political economist, and writer, had been a friend of WP. PWP, i :47n; 2:28on. 4. See docs. 190, 192; Micro. 8:372. 5. See doc. 190, text at n. 7. 6. The law passed in Feb. 1700 stipulated that hogsheads of tobacco were to be weighed in order to levy the crown's penny-per-pound duty. The tax had formerly been calculated by simply assuming that each hogshead contained 400 pounds, a far more lenient rule for tobacco producers. 7. For the instructions to dismiss David Lloyd and Justice Anthony Morris, see doc. 183. 8. WP, in complying with the king's instructions concerning the transfer of captured pirates and their treasures, surrendered the one-third share of these spoils, which he regarded as the proprietor's due. 9. Passed 8 June 1700. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:611-12; Votes and Proceedings, 1:121-22. 10. The Anglicans. 11. For Gov. Fletcher's pro-Anglican policy in Pennsylvania, see the headnote to doc. 95. 12. It is impossible to verify WP's claim that fewer than half of the local office-
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holders in the Lower Counties were Quakers, because too few of the commissions for those officials have survived. 13. In the three Pennsylvania counties, the religious persuasion of most local officeholders in 1700 cannot be determined. Robert Assheton, who seems to have been appointed attorney general in 1700 to replace David Lloyd, was an Anglican. 14. John Bewley, the customs collector in Philadelphia, was a vestryman of Christ Church. Fulham Palace Manuscripts, Pennsylvania, N. 139, transcript at Library of Congress. 15. Thomas Story. Minutes of the Provincial Council, 1:581. 16. Not found. 17. The meeting of the governors took place in early Oct. 1700. See doc. 204. 18. Home remedies. WP is referring to the friction between Bellomont and the merchant community of New York, some of whom had petitioned the Board of Trade in 1699 to complain of the governor's mismanagement. CSPC, ijoo, p. 71. 19. In 1700 George Keith began publishing under the patronage of the newly founded Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. In A Serious Call to Quakers . . . , he invited Quakers to join the Anglican church; in An Account of Quaker Politicks . . . , he attacked Quaker lobbying efforts in politics; in The Standard of the Quakers Examined . . . , he discussed Barclay's Apology; and in The Deism of WP and his Brethren . . . Laid Open, he accused WP of deism or paganism. Ethyn W. Kirby, George Keith (New York, 1942), pp. 115-17.
206 TO ROBERT ASSHETON 1
New Castle gbr [November] i st [1700]
R Asheton The {new} Minister Sent over /for serve at Philadelphia2 has been with me and appears $ a man Sober and of ari mild Disposition and that may prevailed wth to be easy if on I must therfore desire thee by {to use all} early Methods to make an Impress by thy Self and such others of your Church as are fore7 Peace and a Friendly Understanding to make Impressions on his mind for the best and by all reasonable means endeavour to dispose him to be easy an easiness of mind and good Inclinations to the Publick in general and the People {in general} he is {now} to live amongst Assuring him that while he behaves himself with Candour and Ingenuity he shall want no Goodwill from me nor Favour {kindness} that I can shew him and that he may depend on expect as much favour in all reasonable things as he could from any Governour of his own way. Thy care in this I hope I may depend on know having Assurance of thy good Inclinations to the peace of the Publick, and thy being {that thou art} Sensible that {one of} the greatest Advantages to be reaped from Religion is a quiet and easy mind wch the {as 'tis} inwardly enjoyed will shew it Self no less in all exteriour things As thou finds Occasion a Line from thee on this head would be acceptable to Him that is wth kind Love to thy self & family t Thy Faith Assured friend & affectionate kinsman WP
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Copy in the hand of James Logan. Society Collection, HSR (Micro. 8:624.) Docketed: Governour To R Assheton about | the Ch. of England Minister | NC. gbr i st 1700. 1. Robert Assheton, or Ashton (1669-1727), grandson of Admiral Penn's sister Rachel Penn Bradshaw, came to Pennsylvania about 1699. He served as town clerk (1701-09) and was appointed prothonotary of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1701 and councilor in 1711. George S. McCracken, The Welcome Claimants, Proved, Disproved and Doubtful (Baltimore, 1970), pp. 332-34; Scharf and Westcott, 2:1559. 2. Evan Evans (d. 1721) was sent by the bishop of London as a missionary to Philadelphia, where he served as rector of Christ Church and ministered to newly formed congregations in the Pennsylvania hinterland. Perry, Historical Collections, 2:33; PMHB, 27:281; 84:199, 2i2n.
207 TO CHARLWOOD LAWTON [10 December 1700] Dear Friend I writt about 14 dayes since1 in some haste & wish it get safe I inclosed a Letter to Ld Rumney and Lord Ch. Justice Holt and now ones to: Ld Sommers the Lords of the Admiralty and the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations2 thy careful Delivery of all wch I cannot doubt I have informed the Lds of Trade before whom it is only Cognisable that thou art my Agent for this Government3 I am sorry it is no more beneficial than it yet appears but it will be worth more than House rent and I hope the trouble will «ot {neither} be frequent nor extraordinary, I have had 5 letters from thee4 almost all at a time one a packet of the 5 mo (July) last, in some thou art kind, in others stormy, but I know thee so well, and in the main reasonable in thy Resentments that I will say no more of it only this, I knew there needed no Exactness till I got hither and the unspeakable Crowd of Business at parting made it then impracticable, and what I have mett with here is without Example and what a Diadem5 could not tempt to undergoe seven Years, faction in Government and almost indissolvible knots in Property. I sent my letters some of them I am sure open to Save me the fatigue of writing one thing twice over. The Purport of these Letters is to answer two from the Lds of Trade6 & one from the Lords of the Admiralty7 and to take notice of the Inhibitions that come from that High Court about Capt Lumby's Ship and Goods seized here condemned and goods apprized & disposed of by Colonel Quary the Judge and Moore the Advocate my third remaining in statu quo denying to accept of it as thinking it a barbarous case8 the Inclosed9 states it, all I desire is that I may not suffer by or for that wch I had rather have suffered than have done or been concerned in. I must desire thee to look out the Quakers Attorney wch John Edge10 in Hatten Garden or John Field can inform thee of in the Doctors Commons11 or any thou knowest, I believe Waller would doe it Muns brother12 for he ows it me to Vindicate me on these Inhibitions.
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Heads The Govmts uneasiness at the Admiralties Rigour formerly a fault here now the Admiralty at home treat it as an Error, If it was worth while at first to erect Courts of Admiralty in America it would be for the Kings service to have experienced Officers in it, for as these manage great Discouragement is given to trade 4 ships having gone to other ports that were bound hither by wch I have lost 50! & the Countrey loo1 by each & the passengers suffer greatly. Coll Qu sends home a Coppy of the Comn to the Water bailif13 disturbed by the Inhibitions, preys upon all becau[se] no salary but the Kings third, the Quakers made the pretence when a[ny] point is to be gained or covered as by his Lettre to me at NC 14 of wch a[re] inclosed Copies,15 they are Voracious, would have perswaded me not to h[ave] sent home Bradenhams boy,16 perswaded the Money was my Royalty under prize the Goods that if the Kings third be to be accounted fo[r] they may gain by it Instance the Guns sold by J Moore for abo[ve] 22s per C wn apprized but at 10 So they Served Lumby but if a Ch. man come in play he is favoured of this proof can be made by Depositions Salute me Ld Haversham17 & tell him the Admiralty is [no] Inheritance to him but the common Law is & hope he will not Countenance their Ignorance the Judge18 affirmed the Court had mo[re] power here than that in Engld they pursue the letter of their Comm[issions] the Advocate19 confess'd there was not one in America understood the common {Civ[il]| Law or Doctors Commons at what a pass then are proprietary Governments w[ho] unless they will run their heads against the wall are in danger of befing] quo warranto'd by the late Act against Piracy20 a weak thing what do[ne?] this Assembly about the Act of Piracy As for the Commission21 if I can make [a] Mayor and not an Officer under him tis odd & to have 300 miles of water & ye[t] no power to serve a Writt on it is to grant a Country w th out a way to it the C[on]trary has been practised ever since a Government till these Gentlemen22 had their Commissions & what is granted by the 7th & 8th of Wm the 3d 23 is allowed them, but they will have all the power even in Creeks not 20 foot over without considering what is infra Corpus Comi[tatus]24 & will have all Actions tryed by the Admiralty wr it is without a Jury but I hope I live 7 years to see those that give away mens estates w th out a Jury punisht tho' [not] so rigourously as Empson & Dudley25 & of Lumby's business26 two27 wr both Judge [and] advocate are parties for the thirds.28 I am too far off to make trips to Whitehal otherwise Westminster the parliament &c should have rung of it as well as the Exchange Tis a great Affront & Injustice that my Waters should be under another Vice Admiralty to talk of a Country & no waters a proprietary or palatine & no vice admiralty nor to be Ld of the Waters has a contradiction in it inculcate this to the Lds of Admiralty & Trade for I have sent over a Deputies name for Approbation29
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Hinder Randal30 our Enemy a knave &c from returning has plaid many pranks was prerogatives tool to Destroy N Englds Charter occasioned my disputes 5 years treated wth the Pirates for pardons. I send an original Lettre of his to W Clark31 wth whom he dispensed wthout an Oath tho' he made that a Charge against us Sr R. Southwel32 was his protector & wn I left Lond his great Enemy for his baseness R Harly has great power wth him who had a better man in his eye one Brinton Sr R S has Interest— Colonel Bass & Colonel Barkstead33 are Alsatians34 wooden Colonels litle witt &c ingrate to the last my great Enemies Bass & a Liar the same lett him not come hither, the popish friar35 his friend & his wife are dead both cunning & his friends See R. West36 on this Govr Hamilton friend against Bass37 Endeavour to keep up the hearts of the Jersey Proprietors not to give up the Government directs where to find them & whom. Use the Copy of the Commission of Water Bailif as occasion serves to the Admiralty &c & observe their Motions I have 3 things to beg {of thee}. i st to have the power of the Council Board & H of Lds concerning the nature of Cases of Law cognisable before them choose a good hand for it not full of practice w^k afterwds shew it to Mompesson38 or Sr Bar shoar39 2 dl Y the Nature & Custom of the Castle of Windsor. Give R West a guinea now & then I fear him in the surrender of the Jerseys, he has always profest friendship putt him in mind of it he advised me to stay & settle matters but Col Quary {&c} wth their artful Letters {helped by the} Bp {of} London40 & Governour Nicolson would not suffer it. of the Church is their Cry and to disturb us their Merit whose labours have made the place they misrepresent all we doe & would make us dissenters in our own Countrey, the Bp of London at the passing my Patent did what he could to gett savings for that Ch: but was opposed by the E of Radnor then President.41 Am civil & equal to them all putt them in all places of profit save one in this County.42 Admiralty Advo: {is} Att: General 3 of the other 5 Counties all theirs but this is not enough they must have all and what they do not attempt in state they do boldly in the pulpit depending on my principle for Impunity the present Minister43 brought over printed books & broad sheets in great quantities to be pasted up in their Houses is this submission to Government] this present man of himself pretty quiet therefore what he does is co[n]certed at home we are much Superiour to them in Number & Est[ates] 2 to i in number 4 to i in estates 20 to i first Adventurers G K's H[ypo]crisy first open'd the way for this Violent spirit44 This is our case p[ray] use all endeavours to gain upon the Bishp if he remember not our [en]counter before the K. in 7745 Sr R Southwell Ld Bradford & the Duke of L[eeds]46 being present an allay47 sure may be found Sorry the Letter to the Commissioners]48 was so long. — Have wrote to the Lords of Trade about [the] Pirates Goods49 mentions what is done in it the Goods
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confess'd to c[ome] near the Value these were Colonel Fletchers folks, a bill on Samuel Va[ux] & Cartwright50 We are all well Sec procure the Deputy wn ap[proved] to be Vice admiral. PS Several things here not to be shew'd Colonel Quary is come home confesses] he has wrote that he has now nothing to doe here since that Commission [is?] granted and is more dissatisfied with the order of Survey upon the s[loop] that sunk51 a miserable case In short he sayes we can do no thing of Search Arrest Attachment suppression of Riots &c on the Water before [our] Very doors. If I can will send thee a Copy of his Commission52 pray [labour] this point expect it with our Laws wcn come shortly Edw Singleton [is] gone to Barbados for England Respects to Ld Haversham {tell him} I doubt n[ot] his Generosity tooke what he said as he meant, it imports my fami[ly] having sunk 30,000* to make this Prov: & is hard if litle hungry f[olks] shall be credited Be gratified as often as they take the name of King C[hurch] &c in vain him I take to be no Enemy to a Dissenter under that N[otion] we have been maliciously treated in our own Country, I could detect [some] gross Abuses if needful for Quary offers to represent home wth me f[or] Explanation and Resolutions, but pray lett the Kings common Law C[ounsel] as well as civil agree the point Ld Ch. J. Holt & Sr J Cr may be of Use Boston Conetticut[?] See have none of this Colonel Waltrop53 lives amicably w[ith] the Civil power nothing there done in the Admiralty but kings business super Altam mare54 — Salutes to Ld Shaftsbury55 &&&ccc Archbp56 shall w[rite] to Copy in the hand of James Logan. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Harrisburg. (Micro. 8:662.) Addressed: To Esq. Lawson iober ioth 1700. Endorsed: Copy W Penn to Esq Lawton 1700. Docketed: wth Colonel Quarys lettre the Governours Answer Commission of Water | Bailif, State of the Case ship Providence Warrant of Survey on the sloo[p] | & E Randolphs lettre to Wm Clark. 1. Not found. 2. See doc. 205; Micro. 8:[ 13836473, 648. WP's letter to Lord Romney and Lord Chief Justice Sir John Holt (1642-1710) has not been found. 3. The Board of Trade had recognized Lawton as WP's agent for Pennsylvania even before WP's reminder to that effect in his letter of 8 Dec. 1700. Micro. 8:(138)6473; CSPC, ijoo, p. 444. 4. Not found. 5. Royal crown. OED. 6. Probably the letter prepared for the king's signature on i Feb. 1700 (CSPC, 1700, pp. 52-53) and the board's letter of 23 Aug. 1700 (Micro. 8:526). 7. Not found among WP's papers. 8. In May 1699 the Providence of Hull, commanded by Capt. John Lumby, was seized and condemned in the Philadelphia court of admiralty for lacking the registry required by the Navigation Acts. The ship's goods were ordered into the king's store. After more than a year the goods had rotted and Col. Quary ordered the ship to be appraised and sold. Lumby was interested in purchasing the vessel and asked for Quary's help in seeking release of the thirds of the ship's value to the king, the governor, and the prosecutor. Late in 1700 the Lords of Admiralty vacated the sentence, and WP
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and the Pennsylvania admiralty court officials feared that the ship's owners would sue them for the return of the vessel and her freight, plus damages. By this time the Providence had sunk at Philadelphia because of neglect. CSPC, 1699, pp. 236-37; 1700, pp. 650-51, 654, 724; Micro. 81(138)6473, 608; for Quary's version of the Lumby case, see The Manuscripts of the House of Lords, 1699-1702 (London, 1908), pp. 341-42. 9. This enclosure has not been found. 10. John Edge (c. 1634-1704), a member of Peel Monthly Meeting in London, assisted suffering Friends in a number of ways. Fox, Short Journal, p. 335. He lived at Hatton Garden in London, so called after Sir Christopher Hatton, lord chancellor in Elizabeth I's reign. Peter Cunningham, A Handbook for London, Past and Present (London, 1849), 1:372. 11. Site of the High Court of Admiralty, as well as four ecclesiastical courts, in London. Cunningham, Handbook for London, 1:263-65. 12. Edmund (or "Mun") Waller, a Quaker from Beaconsfield, Bucks., was the second son and heir to the poet Edmund Waller (1606-1687). He became an M.P. in 1698 and is said to have been convinced by WP's preface to Fox's Journal. His brother was Stephen Waller, a famous civil lawyer. Braithwaite, Second Period, p. 701; Mrs. Godrey Locker Lampson, ed., A Quaker Post-Bag (London, 1910), pp. 66, 138; Burke's Landed Gentry (1858), pp. 1271-72. 13. On 20 June 1700 WP commissioned Thomas Farmer, sheriff of Phila. Co., as water bailiff. Micro. 8:793. 14. New Castle, where WP stayed during the second session of the 1700 General Assembly. 15. Not found. 16. "One Negro Boy Named Dick about the age of 14" was part of Bradenham's confiscated treasure. Micro. 8:345. 17. John Thompson (1647-1710), Baron Haversham, was appointed a lord of the admiralty in June 1699 ^ ut resigned his post in 1701. DNB. 18. Col. Quary. 19. John Moore. 20. "An Act for the More Effectual Suppression of Piracy" (2 Will. Ill, cap. 7). 21. Thomas Farmer's commission as water bailiff. 22. The officers of the admiralty court. 23. The Navigation Act of 1696. 24. Under the whole county. 25. Sir Richard Empson (d. 1510) and Edmund Dudley (1462?-1510) were notorious for their extortionate collection of taxes and crown fines under Henry VII. Both were executed on a charge of constructive treason. DNB. 26. See n. 8, above. 27. Also. 28. The law provided that the proceeds from a forfeited ship be divided in three parts among the king, the governor, and the prosecutor or successful informer. 29. Not found. 30. Edward Randolph. For WP's dispute with him, see doc. 147. 31. Edward Randolph to William Clark, collector of customs in Pennsylvania, 5 Nov. 1692, about negotiating pardons for pirates. CSPC, 1700, p. 774. 32. Sir Robert Southwell (1635-1702), principal secretary of state for Ireland, 1690-1702, had also been commissioner for the customs 1689-97. After years of friendliness toward Randolph, Southwell had turned against the surveyor general. PWP, i:36n; Michael Garibaldi Hall, Edward Randolph and the American Colonies, 1676-1703 (Chapel Hill, 1960), p. 214. 33. Joshua Barkstead, a stepbrother of Jeremiah Basse, had immigrated to New Jersey in 1676 and settled as a merchant in Cohansey. He belonged to the anti-Quaker faction in West New Jersey and was appointed surveyor general of the province. Pomfret, West New Jersey, pp. 177, 187, 189, 195; Paul A. Stellhorn and Michael J. Birkner, eds., The Governors of New Jersey, 7664-1974 (Trenton, 1982), p. 33. 34. Debtors or criminals. OED. 35. Possibly John Tatham. 36. Robert West, one of the 12 proprietors who purchased East New Jersey at auction in 1682, was a lawyer at Middle Temple. Pomfret, West New Jersey, p. 130. 37. Andrew Hamilton and Jeremiah Basse were the representatives of opposing
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factions in New Jersey: the Quakers championed Hamilton; their opponents favored Basse. 38. Roger Mompesson, WP's counsel in England, had at the governor's request written a treatise on admiralty jurisdiction in the colonies in 1699, m which he argued in favor of the employment of common law juries in cases of illegal trading. Despite his views Mompesson was commissioned as judge of vice-admiralty in 1703 and served in New York. Charles M. Andrews, "Vice-Admiralty Courts in the Colonies," Records of the Vice-Admiralty Courts of Rhode Island, 1716-1752, ed. Dorothy S. Towle (Washington, D.C., 1936), pp. 67-68. 39. Sir Bartholomew Shore or Shower of Devon was deputy recorder of London when he was knighted in 1687. William A Shaw, ed., The Knights of England (London, 1906), 2:263; George W. Marshall, ed., Le Neve's Pedigrees of the Knights (London, 1873), p. 4. 40. Henry Compton. 41. John Robartes (1606-1685), first earl of Radnor, had been lord president of the Privy Council when WP obtained his charter for Pennsylvania. PWP, 2:35, 331, 53442. Phila. Co. 43. Evan Evans. 44. George Keith, having been a Quaker schismatic, was now an Anglican apostate. 45. No other record of this meeting has survived in WP's papers. 46. Francis Newport (1619-1708), Viscount Newport and earl of Bradford, had been privy councilor and treasurer of the household in 1677 and the king's lord treasurer at that time; Sir Thomas Osborne (1631-1712), duke of Leeds, had as earl of Danby been lord treasurer and Charles IFs chief minister in 1677. DNB. 47. Ally. 48. WP to the Commissioners of Customs (9 Dec. 1700). Micro. 8:648. 49. WP to the Board of Trade (8 Dec. 1700). Micro. 8:[i38]647a. 50. This bill of exchange was for £10. Doc. 208, text at n. 3. 51. The ship Providence. See n. 8, above. 52. Not found. 53. Probably an error for Gov. John Winthrop of Connecticut. 54. On the high seas. 55. Anthony Ashley Cooper (1671-1713), third earl of Shaftesbury and a proprietor of Carolina. He was a philosopher and a friend of Benjamin Furly. 56. Thomas Tenison (1636-1715), archbishop of Canterbury.
208 TO CHARLWOOD LAWTON Philadelphia 21 l iobr [December] 1700
Esteemed Friend I wrote in mine of this present Month2 as if I would Send a Bill of ten pounds on S Vaus3 payable to thee inclosed in Said Lettre, & fearing I have omitted it, I here inclose a Bill accordingly which pray accept till more comes. Since my last the present Minister of the Ch. of England4 has been with me, & Colonel Quary John Moore & 5 more of whom the Collector of the Kings Customs5 was one to complain of a Law made by us this last Assembly about Marriage6 to prevent the Impunities that Swarm over most of the American Colonies one man having 2, 3, 4 wives & tv^oo often, one woman two husbands the Parson according to the Canons of the Ch. saies he December 1700 • 629
may marry such as are 3 times publisht in his Congregation, and he has sworn Canonical Obedience, Colonel Quary made a laboured Speech for the Ch. reflected much upon the Law threatned to complain home if they were prosecuted for not complying with it. Now thou wilt have a taste of these poor Souls their Temper or Understanding all that Shocks them, (not the Canon as it will appear) is that they must be asked without Doors as well as within that is have a paper Signed by a Justice affxed upon the most publick place as Courthouse and Meeting house doors of the Party's Intentions Since all people do not goe to the Same place of Divine Worship and to prevent any more of our bound Servants the life of our Improvements and Livelyhoods from being married without our knowledge as Parson Portlock did two Servants belonging to two people that frequented not the Ch. of Eng. Worship Now since the Design of the Canon was to prevent Clandestine Marriages, what palpably Improves the Design cannot be against it, nor pinch the Parsons Conscience, and our Circumstances in this licentious Wilderness is our best guide to fitting Remedies, but they will not they Say exceed their Canon, & desire they may not be punished for breaking it. just as if it were against a Mans Conscience to ride with a double Girt because all are obliged to ride with a single One, or to suffer a Sieve to be made closer that no bran pass through it where Bran is to be Severed from the flower, just thus they make it matter of Conscience not to be believed upon their Solemn Word but upon Oath only because they are in an unswearing Colony, as if I should make it {a} matter of Conscience to be any mans Security or my own under double the-SWhat is required by the party to whom I give it these are some of our Maladies & whither Conscience or Faction be the just Ground of them lett reason determine Watch pray therefore by some of our friends if the Bp7 be accosted on this Account, tho' as yet I only hear they intend it I told them I expected what they desired in writing delivered at Council and they should have their Answer delivered so tood. Colonel Quary has wrote to the Ld* he owns to me of the Admiralty & sent a Copy of my Water bailifs Commission8 & thinks he has nothing to doe here now. Lumby's business9 has sorely vex'd him & will think that my Interest has gain'd these Inhibitions that have never wrote one word good or bad about it. He resents it so high from the Lords that he said to me Who would serve such folks to be used so by them but this shews the mans unacquaintance in things for they cannot deny them or he and his hungry Advocate10 should not have done it We hardly dare say our ears are not horns or our own else it had been my place to have had the K's third and the ship in my Custody, till apprized for the King11 But alas that is the Merchandize they make the overplus Sales to the unrated Goods as I wrote before I could have brought both Province & Territories upon their backs for his most false as well as flourisht Letters against the People and Govern-
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ment without Distinction while I was there in England12 but for quietness sake had a mind to compound matters and make steps to that party to the great disappointment and distast of my frds that made it a Country & had bore the brunt of thinkgs without Salaries for their pains & rather turn'd the point of my power upon them by turning out two of the ablest among them for a Justice and a Lawyer13 upon the Credit that their Enemies gott at Court against their Actions in a Case not very clear. Excuse all this 'tis our Crown of Spain14 and we are very full of our Selves the Same passions with less witt being as warmly at work here on our litle Affairs as they are upon greater in Europe wth good wishes for the happiness of thee and thine I am thy faithful frd WP Continued Since the writing of that wch goes before there is another thing of Importance come to my knowledge. Kids Doctor Bradinham that I sent over last Spring with what Treasure we could find of his had Gold {as} I knew well and wrote home of, but tho' I was more then once in quest about it could not reach it Notice of his Death being come One15 where he used to lodge and Diet when at Liberty in this Town fearing the Consequence of Concealment (tho' before Conviction they are taught by the Lawyers, at least some of them here, to think it no Crime) tels me that Bradenhams Gold was by him left in the hands of the Church of England Minister one Edward Portlock16 not only from an Observation made by several that he was full of Arabian Gold but from Portlocks Bond wch writt with his own hand he gave Bradinham to repay the Said Gold or Value, wch Bradenham Sealed up and left with Ch: Sober that tells me this with a Superscription for Mr James Watson to be left at the Welsh harp over against Somerset house (in the Strand) Lond wth order to send it after him for England. But Bradinham drawing upon Portlock from Boston17 when embarqued to pay Sober ten pounds he borrowed of Sober when here for his Viaticum,18 besides the 40 Lion Dollars19 I consented he should have out of his treasure) Sober fancied Portlock to be trusted with his Gold and opens this Letter not knowing but he might find some light there to clear up the matter, & there he finds parson Portlocks Bond in and under his own hand and known Seal, which yet he never tells Portlock of nor any one else till he returned from Barbados wch was a 4 months Voyage & at his Return Portlock was going for Maryland upon the hunt for a Living the Bp of London having sent one Evans (tell Peter) late of Wrexham to succeed Clayton20 that dyed in these parts Portlock Serving in the Interval so that our blackbird is fled with the Gold in his pocket 624 pieces each 135. this Money 50 per Cl worse than yours above 4OO1.21 Had Sober told me of it at his Departure I had secured him and the Gold too, but Sobers notion w th the Lawyers that there is no danger in concealing Goods or Treasure of Pirates till Conviction putt him by and may be for that
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he was Bradinhams Landlord, & Portlock his Minister & he himself one of the Vestry, I will not say, and unwilling we should have the Merit of the Action or triumph over their Ministry, for I think the man did not look so long before him & is better temper'd but this is certain that while he was preaching down such as would not fight with and pursue to Death Pirates He was actually possesst of Bradinhams Gold and had given his Bond to him to return it him or his upon Demand However it be Sober Discovers upon Dr Hall Physitian & Innkeeper 100 pieces of Gold left for him by Bradinham whether for old acquaintance having been joynt Doctors of the Royal Sovereign or for his Physick and Attendance on him when sick here the last most sickly fall I cannot tell but Hall claims it as his Gift, yet spoiled all again by giving Sober a Receipt to be accountable to Sober for it as also receiving them under disguise this the Affidavit and Copy of the Bond22 will better inform thee of and explain. I am now to tell thee that I hear from good hands that Randal23 and Bass the two Poles formerly are joyned together against Proprietary Governments & building themselves up a Merit by that to Some Station in these parts for their Bread, I am astonish'd how so foundred and Surfitted a Conscience as the first knave in text hand of all Sides can find yet that Credit, as arbitrary a Villain as lives the Ch. is his hobby or Stalk with which he prevails with one Sort of people against Dissenters and his immoral Principles of doing any body hurt for Gain recommends him to others that Subject Right or Property to Govmt or rather Governours Conveniency He was the tool to plague N England but I had thought it past his power to stand upon his leggs after his Practices against Colonel Fletcher24 on the one hand & Ld Bellomont, both sides roguing of him round, the Fellow is crafty and Industrious but as false and Villanous as possible I tost him in a Blanket before the Att n Y General and 5 times afterwards before the house of Lords25 I hope thou wilt beware of him Savage26 of the Custom house has that business under his power, can do as he will with him, He & Sr Robert Southwell has been his Root Sr R. I left inflamed against him calling him all to naught Savage loves a token & I should not begrutch him 20 pieces of 827 or if it were 5 guineas consult Edward Hastwell & litle Jacob for I need no unnecessary expences, & I would not starve my business, for Bass I have wrote his Character to thee as well as Randals, more a fool & as willing to be as much a knave In short putt off any blow that may be directed agst us in Parliament or elsewhere, all thou canst and give us time, at least a Session or two to be heard before condemned. They idly distinguish between Powers and Property thus they Say Bass in a letter to a member of Parlm1 last Sessions induces the vacating all charters Proprietary but by no means would touch Property, I shall lay down a few heads for thy fruitful Genius to graft upon and expatiate.
Return to Pennsylvania • 632
i st It was not Land but Government of Such as should live in that Land that was our chief Inducement to undertake such a Chargeable hazardous & toilsome Affair for as to Land it is the Natives, we buy it of them & could have had it of them without the Charge trouble & Interest requisite to gett a Grant. 2 dl y The Power is as much our Property as the Soil it is given to us and our posterity & without it the soil is as but as the Ring without the Stone that worth 2OS this worth loo1 a Country without Power is ridiculous one follows t'other thus Sr Wm Jones against Sr L Jenkins at Sr R S's house in old Spring Garden in 78 when the D of York referr'd the Jersey's case to them & upon Sr Wm Jones's Opinion then Att General cast for the Jerseys28 3dly That Powers are Inheritable all the Palatine29 Governments shew & Lds of Manners paramount30 & others & Serj1 Levins31 Couns. North 32 Sr T. Powys33 are of the Same Opinion. 4 thl y That it is a Violation of publick faith & a robbing us of the Sine qua non that without wch we had been happier at home & had never come 4000 miles to enjoy if our Government be taken from us ^thly Property here was Savage & to our Improvement not one shilling to sos if to 5OS, meer creation, we come hither because of Governing our selves & undergoe that Charge & Toil, and then we are to be told that they will not touch our properties no more alas dare they do in our Native Countriesy but we are come such a Voyage & many thousands of us have encountred the dangers of the Wilderness as well as of the Sea, have lost our dear Relations & buryed our Blood & Bones as well as Estates to turn it from a Desart to a pleasant Country by our Improvement, and now we shall have only the Merit of not losing our Propertys I say the Government it Self is not adequate to the greater hazards Toil and Charge that has made an Improved Property out of a Savage and Wilderness one for to that disproportion is the Proportion of our Merit above those at home, & therefore to enjoy no more Privileges is unfair, & we are sure to enjoy less if a Governour from the King should take place they are sure to fair with cold meat & awter34 But tis for the K's Interest to countenance Proprietary-Governments & that for these two unanswerable Reasons because both are Demonstrations. i st That it is the Interest of the Crown to encourage improving thof Colonies but not of Kings Governours but to squeeze them, while it is the Business of all Proprietary Governours to do so as of a farmer to dung his field to augment his profit & produce So that Proprietary Governours must be better Governours for the I& Revenue of the Crown than temporary and mercenary Governours can or will be that feel no Nature to the Countrey nor particular Interest in improving them to be sure will expend nothing towards it. My next reason is that those Governments are the best Security to the Crown against indirect practices for they that have most to lose are the best Security & such are Proprietary Governours in as much as they have their Countries December ijoo • 633
as well as Governments to make Satisfaction fe= {to} the Crown, & for the Same reason Such Governours are under greater Ties and Caution in their Conduct especially if their Deputies faults must be laid to them & the K have the approving of them too. Methinks that very power in the K & ty upon Proprieties by the 7 & 8th of this Kings Reign35 should stop all further thoughts about us Since that Seems to leave us litle to doe where the King has first the approving of our Deputies & directing them also from time to time approving is next & all but naming Dear friend pray press Be improve these thoughts crowded in a great hurry for I expected no opportunity & have but a short time given me to improve it If the Parl. take any Publick Notice print a sheet & improve thy own Interest and my Acquaintance R. Har. Sr E. S. Sr C. M. Sr J. Low. of the Adm'[deleted letter] son,36 perhaps my niece37 may help there. Salute Colonel Norton38 from me & Sr H Finch, Ld Spencer, Henly,39 thy frd Harcourt40 Set all hands to help us in that case get time if not the Victory I will only add my hearty & Affectionate Salutes & {good} Wishes to & for thee & thine from Thy Assured & faithful frd WP I hope to increase my next Bill wch will be next Spring we are come near it Salute me pray to my dear Sister Niece & husb d41 & all my frds of all sorts as occasion offers haste forbids me to write {met1}, we are well through the Mercy of God, vale, please to take care of the Letters that come Inclosed. Via N York w* a bill & C Sobers Affidavit & the Bond42 covering to the Lds of Trade Lds of Admiralty Secretary Vernon & Ld Sommers43 LBC in James Logan's hand. William Penn Letter Book, 1699-1703, HSR (Micro. 8:700.) Addressed: To Charlewood Lawton. 1. Probably a mistake for 31 Dec. 1700, which is the date of the letters preceding and following this one in WP's letterbook. 2. Doc. 207. 3. See doc. 207, text at n. 50. 4. Evan Evans. 5. John Bewley. 6. "An Act for the Preventing of Clandestine Marriages" was passed by the Assembly on 27 Nov. 1700. The law required the consent of parents or masters and stipulated procedures for posting banns and making out marriage certificates. Statutes, 2:21-23. 7. The bishop of London, Henry Compton. 8. See doc. 207, n. 13. 9. See doc. 207, n. 8. 10. John Moore. 11. See doc. 207, n. 8. 12. See doc. 189, n. 2. 13. Anthony Morris and David Lloyd. 14. WP alludes here to the precarious balance of power in Europe, as Louis XIV maneuvered to gain control of Spain after the death of the present king — the feeble and childless Charles II. In fact, Charles II had just died in Nov. 1700, and the quarrel over who should inherit his crown plunged France and England into the War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-13.
Return to Pennsylvania • 634
15. This was Dr. Charles Sober, a physician who was one of the founders and a warden (1701) of Christ Church. He owned a lot at Fourth and Chestnut Sts. and seems to have let rooms regularly. PMHB, 84:212-13; Roach, "Directory," p. 107; Perry, Historical Collections, p. 7; Charles P. Keith, Chronicles of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 191?)* !:33316. Edward Portlock, a former chaplain to the English forces in Flanders, had a church in Perth Amboy before coming to Philadelphia. He ministered at Christ Church after the death of Thomas Clayton (see n. 20, below) in 1699 an 00
Clayton, James [from Manlow, John] Clayton, Joshua Clayton, William, Jr. [Clement, Abraham] see Fisher, Margaret [Clifford, George] see Towes, Daniel Clifford, Thomas Clifton, Robert [from Avery, John] Clifton, Thomas Cloud, William Coates, Richard Cobourne, Thomas Cock, Eric Cock, John [see also Salloway, William] Cock, Lasse Cock, Mouns Cock, Otto Ernist Cock, Peter, Jr. Cock, Peter, Sr. Colbert, John and others Coleman, [Henry?] [see Ward, Ralph] Coles, Sabian Collett, George Colletl, Jeremy Collett, Jeremy and others Collett, John Collett, Richard Comby, Henry
Kent Ches. Phila.
200
100 OR
100
Kent Sus. Ches. Ches. Phila. Ches. Phila. Phila. Phila. Phila. Phila. Phila. Phila. Ches. Ches. Phila. Phila. Ches. Ches. Ches. Ches. Phila. [Bucks]
300
216
855, 82p 83s, 84P
1W
835, 82p 87s
100
650
250
835
O-2-O
OR OR
2OO
8is
2W
101
8is, 85p
1W
OR OR OR OR OR R
425
84s, 85p
4%w
P
175
300
400 140
700
800 1000
16
P P
500 P
250
0-2-0
NP
164
0-2-0
o-i-o
[0-1-9]
3W 4w 7w
855, 86p
[o-io-o]
P
26
0-0-2
P
20
OP
60
848
1 %W
3-6-8
0-5-0 [0-2-0]
2OO
500
49
8is 8is 8is 8is
1000
P
OP
83s
[o-io-o] 0-5-0
o-i-o
Name
0> CD ^
County
Ches. Cook, Arthur [see also Richardson, Francis] Cook, Richard Cooper, James [later Rou, Robert] Kent Cooper, James [from Curtis, John; see also Harding, John] [Cooper, Samuel] see Edmondson, John; Mills, John Ches. Cope, Oliver Ches. Coppock, Bartholomew Ches. Cordwell, Rebecca Cornel [Cornwell, John?] Sus. Cornwell, Francis Countess, John [Coursey, David] see Spencer, Charles Kent Courtney, John [from Williams, Thomas; see also Berry, William] Craven, James, Jr. [from Craven, James, Sr.] Crews, William Phila. Crispin, Silas Crispin, Silas [later Robinson, Patrick?; see also Frampton, William] [Cropper, John] see Fosset, widow; Gamble, Francis; Rawlins, John Ches. Crosby, Richard Phila. Crosby, Richard [later Holme, Thomas] Phila. Cross, Thomas, Sr.
Status
Acreage
Survey Date
Annual Rent
NP OP OP R
1500
300
100
101
Frontage in Feet 5° 3° 49 3°
Annual City Rent O-2-O
0-1-6 0-2-0
0-5-0
845, 8ip
[0-2-6] 0-4-0 0-1-6
250 400 150 R
City Status
86s, 85p
0-8-4
Lewes(2)
2W
47
0-2-6
OP OP R
132 102 62
0-5-0
OP
66
0-2-6
OP
46
0-2-6
OP
20
0-1-3
OP
491/2
O-l-O
R
845, 8ip
P
740
838
0-7-5
P
75° 16
87$, 87p
0-0-2
P
250
828, 84p
0-2-6
[0-7-6]
0-5-0
Ches.
150
Kent Ches. Kent Kent Kent Curtis, John [from Manlow, George; see also Cooper, James]
400 250 210
8 5 s,8ip
OR
416
8 is
4Vsw
OR
100
8is
iw
Croxen, Randall Culcup, John Cullen, George Curtilage, Edward Curtis, John
Oi
C£> Ox
Phila. Dalbo, Peter [see also Rambo, Peter] Phila. Dalbo, Wolla [Darby, Daniel] see Clark, William Kent DarvaH, William [see also Clark, William] Kent Darvall, William [from Alburton, John; and Munford, John] Kent Darvall, William [from Allen, William] Kent Darvall, William [from Bartiett, Jane] Kent Darvall, William [from Glover, John and Richard] Kent Darvall, William [from Hill, Thomas] Kent Darvall, William [from Murphey, Chartes] Kent DarvaH, William [from O'Neale, Bryan] Kent Darvall, William [from Pattrick, Roger] Sus. DarvaH, William [from Pyes, John]
OR OR
300 300
R
49
OP
49 1/2
0-2-0
875, 8ip 87s 875
12OO
835, 82p
1223
845, 8ip
500
835, 82p
380
845, 8op
1200
835, 8op
600
86s
6OO
835, 82p
400
83s, 83P
1500
86s, 8 ip
300
875, 84p
R
5C
4° Lewes(2)
2w
o>
O>
Acreage
Survey Date
Kent
500
855, 8ip
Kent
1000
86s, 8 ip
427
83s, 8 2 p
Kent
400
835, 8ip
Kent
400
86s, 8 ip
Name
County
Darvall, William [from Rodney, William] Darvall, William [from Selby, Thomas] Darvall, William [from Sharpe, John] Darvall, William [from Vickery, John] Darvall, William [from Williams, Alexander] David, Lewis David, Robert Davies, David Davis, John and Flower, Thomas [see also Edmondson, John] Davis, William [from Jones, Thomas] Davison, Christopher Day, John [Dempsey, Daniel] see Rodney, William Dennis, Thomas [Depree, Andrew] see Jacobs, Albert Dicks, Peter Dillwyn, William [from Joelson, Joel] Dillwyn, William Dilworth, James Dinning, John Dixon, John
Kent
Phila. Phila.
Phila.
Ches. Phila.
Status
OR
P
200
R
300
P
P
270
250
250
85s, 85P 85s
83s
848, 87p
Annual Rent
City Status
60 60
o-i-o o-i-o
OP
49
o-i-o
OP OP
49 46
0-2-0
R
40
0-5-0
R
5°
0-2-6
O-2-O
1-5-0
0-2-8V2
86s
O-2-O
0-2-6
R
400
Annual City Rent
OP OP
OP OP Sus.
Frontage in Feet
20 26 49 1/2
0-0-6 0-5-0
Dixon, William [see Edmondson, John] [Dorrington, William] see Edmondson, John [Dove, Francis] see Atkinson, James Draper, Alexander Sus. [see also Fretwell, Ralph] Driver, Jane Duckett, Thomas Phila. Duckett, Thomas Phila. [from Harris, John; see also Wood, Richard] Dungworth, Richard Phila. Dutton, John Ches.
0>
84P
0-5-0
200
100
8 is
1W
OR
218
86s, 86p
aVfew
858, 85p
o-6-o
1000
P
49
NP OP
91 49
R
49
OP
51
0-2-0
R
47
0-2-6
0-2-0
0-4-0 0-2-0
100
OR
Ches.
Jacobs, Albertus Jacobs, Albertus Sus. [from Depree, Andrew] Jacocks, Francis Phila. Jacques, Thomas Jacques, Thomas Phila. [from Vickris, Richard] James, Daniel Kent James, Daniel Kent (from Verhoofe, Cornelius, agent: Gronendik, Peter) James, David James, John James, Philip [see also Herriot, Thomas; and Wynn, Thomas] James, widow
P
NP
600 400
645
Lewes( i )
845, 82p
OR
100
P
200
845
600 600
855, 8yp 858, Sop
1W
1W
OP
60
O-l-O
OP NP R
4Q T:C7
O-2-O
R OP
40 49
O-2-O
6c
7°
4°
0-4-0
Name