SIR WILLIAM KEITH, Deputy Governor, May, 1717, to July, 1726.-Gookin was succeeded by Sir William Keith, of the north of Scotland, and before his appointment as Governor, had held the office of surveyor of customs for the southern Provinces, at a salary of five hundred pounds. He had occasionally visited Philadelphia, and was familiar with the political opinions prevailing in the Province. He had formed the acquaintance and secured the confidence of Logan, and other of the leading citizens, and had previously done the Proprietor signal service in London. He arrived in the Province in May, 1717, and was received with much pomp and ceremony. It being harvest time, out of kind consideration for the interests of the country members, he delayed calling the Assembly until it was over, the 19th of August. In his inaugural address he assigned this as the reason of the delay. The Assembly in their reply acknowledged this courtesy, but took immediate occasion to ask a further favor in these words: "As the Governor was pleased to defer calling us, for the sake of harvest, so we crave leave to observe to him, that seed-time being just at hand, it will be a great inconveniency to many of the members to stay long at this season." The disposition manifested in this, his first official act, was characteristic of his entire administration, and was in striking contrast with that of several of his predecessors. Evans and Gookin had made themselves especially odious to the people by their interminable quarrels, and the office of Governor had come to be regarded as necessarily in antagonism to their interests. Keith, by his affable deportment and thoughtful deference to their wishes, and by espousing the cause of the people on several occasions in opposition to that of the Proprietor, completely disarmed them of hostility to the office, and made them his earnest advocates. For his good will he was rewarded with ample salaries, for want of which his predecessors had often languished.

CHAPTER V.

HANNAH PENN, EXECUTRIX FOR PROPRIETORS, 1718-27.

IR WILLIAM KEITH, Deputy Governor, July, 1718, to July, 1726.-On the 30th of July, 1718, William Penn died, at the age of seventy-four. Six years before he had been prostrated by disease and never after recovered his physical vitality, though his mind was for the most part active. By his will, which he executed in 1712, he gave to his son William, the only surviving son by his first marriage, all his estates in England, amounting to twelve hundred pounds annually. To his wife Hannah, whom he made his sole executrix, for the equal benefit of herself and her five children, all his personal estate in Pennsylvania and elsewhere was devised, after paying all debts, and apportioning ten thousand acres of land in the Province to each of the three children of his son William, and to his daughter Letitia by the first marriage.

Upon the death of Penn, Keith was in doubt about his right to longer execute the duties of his office. He accordingly laid the matter before his Council and the Assembly, by both of which it was determined, that the Act of June 11th, 1711, for the further securing the administration of the Government, provided that the incumbent should hold his office until his successor was appointed. William Penn, Jr., renewed the commission of Keith, and gave him a letter of instructions, as from the actual proprietor; but believing that by the terms of the will, the son William was not heir to the Province, Keith referred the subject to the Lords of Trade and Plantations, and the then Lord-Regent, by whom his continuance in office was confirmed. This action of Keith

gave offence to the Penn family, they believing that the proprietary rights were fully inherited. Soon afterwards the son William issued a commission to Logan as Secretary of the Province.

Doubts existing as to the force of the Proprietor's devise, a suit in chancery was instituted to determine it, which remained for several years undecided. In March, 1720, William Penn, Jr., died, and before a decision of the case was had, his son Springett died also. In the meantime, Hannah Penn, the sole executrix, assumed the management of colonial affairs, executing this difficult task with rare tact and business capacity. "She became," says Watson, "in effect our governor, ruling us by her deputies, or lieutenant governors, during all the term of her children's minority." The case was finally decided in 1727, to the effect that upon the death of William Penn, Jr., and his son Springett, the proprietary rights devolved upon John, Thomas, and Richard Penn, the surviving sons of William Penn, Sen., by the second marriage, Dennis the fourth son having in the meantime died; and that the Proprietor's agreement to sell the Province to the Crown for twelve thousand pounds, made in 1712, and on which one thousand pounds had been paid at the confirmation of the sale, was void.

Though general prosperity prevailed in the Province, and abundant crops rewarded the hand of the diligent, there was little money in circulation, so that citizens found it almost impossible to pay for their lands, or even the taxes thereon, the prices of produce, on account of its great abundance, being next to nothing. To remedy this evil, inspectors of flour, fish, and other products were appointed, who, by the careful and discriminating discharge of their duties, caused the Pennsylvania brands of these articles to become well established and popular, and to command the first prices and ready sale in the West Indies, whither most of the surplus produce was exported. An emission of paper money, hedged about with suitable securities and safeguards, was provided for, which served to stimulate industry and greatly in

crease the general prosperity. Through the insinuating and skilful management of the Governor, the Assembly was induced to pass two Acts against which it had previously manifested the most unyielding hostility: one to provide for the establishment of a court of equity, with himself as Chancellor, and another for the formation of militia organizations.

During the early part of Keith's administration, a difficulty had arisen between the Indians upon the Susquehanna, and upon the Shenandoah, respecting the limits of their huntinggrounds. Hostilities between them seemed imminent. To settle these difficulties amicably was earnestly sought by the Governor. He accordingly visited the Governor of Virginia, and interested him in restraining the Indians living south of the Potomac from crossing to the north of that stream in pursuit of their game. He then invited the chiefs of the Five Nations to meet him in conference at Conestoga, a place about seventy miles west of Philadelphia, whither he went on the 6th of July, 1721, attended by a numerous cavalcade. Representatives of the Five Nations, with their chief men, were present. With many tokens of solemnity and sincere friendship, certified by the laying down of belts of wampum and bundles of skins and furs, the native orator excused the irregularities of their young men, which he attributed to the use of strong spirits, that takes away their sense of memory, of which they knew nothing before the arrival of the white man among them, and he concludes by saying, “That a chain may contract rust with lying, and become weaker; wherefore, he desires it may now be so well cleaned, as to remain brighter and stronger than ever it was before. [Presents another parcel of skins.] That, as in the firmament all clouds and darkness are removed from the place of the sun, so they desire that all misunderstandings may be fully done away." The Governor made answer to these short but graceful sentences, abounding in the native eloquence with which the speeches of these men of the forest were ever characterized, by a long and elaborate address, in which he answered the chief points made by the Indian; but so completely loaded

down were his sentences with verbiage, that it is doubtful if the native counsellors understood or remembered much that he said. At the close he presented them with a coronation medal of the king in gold, and two days after a quantity of gay coats, powder, lead, biscuit, pipes and tobacco, which were doubtless better comprehended and appreciated than his speech, and the conference broke up with every evidence of satisfaction and pacific intention. The Governor, upon his return, was met at the passage of the Schuylkill by the city fathers, and over two hundred of the principal citizens, who conducted him through the streets after the manner of a hero returning from conquest.

Not long after this, an Indian was killed near Conestoga in a drunken quarrel with two brothers named Cartlidge. The murder was aggravated by acts of cruelty. Keith took prompt measures for the apprehension of the murderers, sent messengers to the chiefs of the Five Nations to assure them of his disapproval of the wicked deed, and finally himself made a journey to Albany, accompanied by Hill, Norris, and Hamilton of his Council, whither he had been invited by the Indians for a conference of the Governors of all the Colonies, when, after considering the subject of the murder, the grand sachem made this noble and magnanimous answer: "The great king of the Five Nations is sorry for the death of the Indian that was killed, for he was of his own flesh and blood; he believes the Governor is also sorry; but now that it is done there is no help for it, and he desires that Cartlidge [the murderer] may not be put to death, nor that he should be spared for a time and afterwards executed; one life is enough to be lost; there should not two die. The king's heart is good to the Governor and all the English."

In all his official acts, Keith stood on the side of the people as represented by the Assembly, in opposition to the Council and the Secretary, who were considered as representing the Proprietor. It had long been the custom for the Governor to discuss bills which had been passed by the Assembly, section by section, and approve or reject them by the major