the country lying within a circle of twelve miles about it, and by the other he conveyed all the land on Delaware Bay, from twelve miles south of New Castle to Cape Henlopen. These Territories, which now form the State of Delaware, were to be held "in free and common socage; " and he was to pay to the Duke, for the first, the yearly rent of five shillings; and for the second, "one rose at the feast of St. Michael the Archangel," yearly, if demanded, together with a "moiety of all the rents and profits thereof."

Having made his arrangements for a passage to Pennsylvania in the ship Welcome, Greenway, master, Penn addressed a touching and instructive letter to his wife and children, and embarked at Deal, in company with about one hundred passengers, mostly Friends, from Sussex, where his house at Worminghurst was seated.

During the passage the small-pox made its appearance with great virulence, and occasioned much distress. One of the passengers writing of the voyage, says: "The good conversation of William Penn was very advantageous to all the company. His singular care was manifested in contributing to the necessities of many who were sick of the small-pox then on board, of which about thirty died." They came within the Capes on the 24th of October, 1682, and arrived before the town of New Castle on the 27th of the same month.

Penn was joyfully welcomed by the inhabitants, whom he called together at the Court-House, where he explained to them the nature of the government he came to establish, and received from the magistrates written pledges of fidelity and obedience.

On his arrival at Upland, he changed its name to Chester, and tradition relates that he proceeded thence with some of his friends, in an open boat, up the river Delaware. After passing four miles above the mouth of the Schuylkill, they came to a place called Coaquannock, where there was a high bold shore, covered with lofty pines. Here the site of the infant city of Philadelphia had been established, and the Proprietary was welcomed by the old inhabitants, Swedes and

Dutch, with some of the Friends who had gone before him, and anxiously awaited his arrival.

After viewing the site chosen for the city, giving such directions for building as he thought expedient, and attending some meetings of Friends, Penn went to New York, "to pay his duty to the Duke of York by visiting his province."

He returned from this journey towards the end of November, and there is reason to believe that it was at this time that he held the treaty of amity with the Indians, which has been so widely celebrated as the "Great Treaty," under the elm-tree at Kensington,- a transaction which has been illustrated by the pencil of West, and has received the highest praise from historians. It appears that there were at least three Indian tribes present: the Lenni Lenape, living near the banks of the Delaware; the Mingoes, a tribe sprung from the Iroquois, and settled at Conestoga; and the Shawanees, a southern tribe that had removed to the Susquehanna.

It is believed that Governor Penn was accompanied, as usual, by some members of his Council, as well as his secretary and surveyor. Tradition relates that a number of prominent Friends were present, among whom was an ancestor of Benjamin West, whose portrait is introduced by the artist into his celebrated painting of the treaty-scene. We must not take our idea of Penn's appearance from West's picture, in which he is represented as a corpulent old man; for at that time he was in the prime of life, being only thirty-eight years of age, strong and active, graceful in person, and pleasing in manners.

Under the wide-branching elm, the Indian tribes were assembled, all unarmed; for no warlike weapon was allowed to mar the scene. In front were the chiefs, with their counsellors and aged men on either hand. Behind them, in the form of a half-moon, sat the young men and some of the aged matrons; while beyond, and disposed in still widening circles, were seen the youth of both sexes. Among the assembled chiefs, there was one who held a conspicuous rank, — the Great Sachem, Taminend, one of Nature's noblemen, revered for his wisdom and beloved for his goodness.

When Penn and his associates approach the council-fire, Taminend puts on his chaplet, surmounted by a small horn, the emblem of kingly power, and then, through an interpreter, he announces to the Proprietary that the nations are ready to hear him.

Being thus called upon, he begins his speech: "The Great Spirit," he says, "who made me and you, who rules the heavens and the earth, and who knows the innermost thoughts of men, knows that I and my friends have a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with you, and to serve you to the utmost of our power. It is not our custom to use hostile weapons against our fellow-creatures, for which reason we have come unarmed. Our object is not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good.

"We are met on the broad pathway of good faith and good will, so that no advantage is to be taken on either side, but all to be openness, brotherhood, and love." Here the Governor unrolls a parchment, containing stipulations for trade and promises of friendship, which, by means of an interpreter, he explains to them, article by article; and placing it on the ground, he observes that the ground shall be common to both people. He then proceeds: "I will not do as the Marylanders did, that is, call you children or brothers only; for parents are apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers sometimes will differ; neither will I compare the friendship between us to a chain, for the rain may rust it, or a tree may fall and break it; but I will consider you as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts."

This speech being listened to by the Indians in perfect silence and with much gravity, they take some time to deliberate, and then the king orders one of his chiefs to speak to William Penn.

The Indian orator advances, and, in the king's name, salutes him; then taking him by the hand, he makes a speech, pledging kindness and good neighborhood, and that the Indians and English must live in love as long as the sun and moon shall endure.

This treaty contained no contract for land; its pre-eminent importance consists in this,-it was the first time that William Penn had met the Indian chiefs in council, to make with them the firm league of friendship which was never violated, and gave rise to a kindly intercourse between the Friends and the aborigines, which continues to this day. It was like laying the corner-stone of a great edifice, whose enduring strength and beautiful proportions have called forth the admiration of succeeding ages. The whole conduct of Penn towards the Indians was founded in justice and love; he not only paid them for their lands, but employed every means in his power to promote their happiness and moral improvement.

The Indians, on their part, treated the colonists in the most hospitable manner, supplying them frequently with venison, beans, and maize, and refusing compensation. For Penn they felt, and often expressed the utmost confidence and esteem. So great was the reverence inspired by his virtues, that his name was embalmed in their affections, and handed down to successive generations. Heckewelder, in his history of the Indian nations, speaks of the care they took, by means of strings or belts of wampum, to preserve the memory of their treaties, and especially those they made with William Penn. He says: "They frequently assembled together in the woods, in some shady spot, as nearly as possible similar to those where they used to meet their brother Miquon (Penn), and there lay all his words and speeches, with those of his descendants, on a blanket or clean piece of bark, and with great satisfaction go successively over the whole. This practice, which I have repeatedly witnessed, continued until the year 1780, when disturbances which took place put an end to it, probably forever."

The name of Onas was given to William Penn by the Iroquois, whom the Proprietary, and generally the English Colonial Governments, supported in their claim of superiority over the other Indian tribes. It seems that the Delawares adopted the name, at least in their public speeches; but among themselves they called him in their own language

Miquon. Both these words signify a quill or pen. It is certain that no other man ever attained so great an influence over their minds; and the affectionate intercourse between them and the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, which continued as long as the principles of the first colonists preserved their ascendency, is the most beautiful exemplification afforded by history that the peaceable doctrines of Christ are adapted to promote the security and happiness of man.

On the 4th of December, 1682, a General Assembly met at Chester, composed of representatives from the province of Pennsylvania and the three Lower Counties called the Territories. At this session was passed the "Great Law," or code of laws, consisting of sixty-nine sections, which long formed the basis of jurisprudence in Pennsylvania. It embraces most of the laws agreed upon in England, and some others afterwards suggested. Among the latter is a clause, attributed to the Proprietary, requiring the estates of intestates to go to the wife and children; which, by abrogating the English law of primogeniture, was instrumental in promoting that general equality of condition and division of property deemed so essential in a republican government.

The first section of this code has been much admired, and is here subjoined, viz.:

66

Almighty God being only Lord of conscience, Father of lights and spirits, and the author as well as the object of all Divine knowledge, faith, and worship; who only can enlighten the mind and persuade and convince the understanding of people in due reverence to his sovereignty over the souls of mankind; It is enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no person now, or at any time hereafter, living in this province, who shall confess and acknowledge one Almighty God to be the Creator, upholder and ruler of the world, and that professeth him or herself obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly under the civil government, shall in any wise be molested or prejudiced for his or her conscientious persuasion or practice; nor shall he or she at any time be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious worship-place or ministry whatever, contrary to his or her mind, but shall freely and fully enjoy his or her Christian liberty in that respect without