of his speech, upon that occasion, certainly is of the great province in question, was imme not the least respectable of his performances. diately struck with the opportunity it afforded, It required no ordinary magnanimity for any both for a beneficent arrangement of the inte one, in the very height of the frenzy of the rests of its inhabitants, and for providing a Popish plot, boldly to tell the House of Com- pleasant and desirable retreat for such of hie mons, "that it was unlawful to inflict punish- own communion as might be willing to leave ment upon Catholics themselves, on account their native land in pursuit of religious liberty, of a conscientious dissent." This, however, The original charter had vested the proprietor, William Penn did, with the firmness of a true under certain limitations, with the power of philosopher; but, at the same time, with so legislation; and one of the first works of Wilmuch of the meekness and humility of a liam Penn was to draw up a sort of constituQuaker, that he was heard without offence or tion for the land vested in Billynge-the carinterruption and having thus put in his pro-dinal foundation of which was, that no man test against the general principle of intolerance, he proceeded to plead his own cause, and that of his brethren, with admirable force and temper as follows:

should be troubled, molested, or subjected to any disability, on account of his religion. He then superintended the embarkation of two or three ship-loads of Quakers, who set off for "I was bred a Protestant, and that strictly too. this land of promise; and continued, from I lost nothing by time or study. For years, read. time to time, both to hear so much of their ing, travel, and observation, made the religion of prosperity, and to feel how much a larger promy education the religion of my judgment. My prietor might have it in his power to promote alteration hath brought none to that belief; and and extend it, that he at length conceived the though the posture I am in may seem odd or strange idea of acquiring to himself a much larger to you, yet I am conscientious; and, till you know me better, I hope your charity will call it rather my district, and founding a settlement upon a still unhappiness than my crime. I do tell you again, more liberal and comprehensive plan. The and here solemnly declare, in the presence of the means of doing this were providentially placed Almighty God, and before you all, that the profes-in his hands, by the circumstance of his father sion I now make, and the Society I now adhere to, having a claim upon the dissolute and needy have been so far from altering that Protestant judg ment I had, that I am not conscious to myself of government of the day, for no less than having receded from an iota of any one principle 16,000l.,-in lieu of which W. Penn proposed maintained by those first Protestants and Reformers that the district, since called Pennsylvania, of Germany, and our own martyrs at home, against should be made over to him, with such ample the see of Rome: And therefore it is, we think it powers of administration, as made him little hard, that though we deny in common with you less than absolute sovereign of the country. those doctrines of Rome so zealously protested The right of legislation was left entirely to against, (from whence the name of Protestants.) yet that we should be so unhappy as to suffer, and him, and such councils as he might appoint; that with extreme severity, by laws made only with no other limitation, than that his laws against the maintainers of those doctrines which we should be liable to be rescinded by the Privy do so deny. We choose no suffering; for God Council of England, within six months after knows what we have already suffered, and how they were reported to it. This memorable many sufficient and trading families are reduced to great poverty by it. We think ourselves an useful charter was signed on the 4th of March, 1681. people. We are sure we are a peaceable people; He originally intended, that the country should yet, if we must still suffer, let us not suffer as have been called New Wales; but the UnderPopish Recusants, but as Protestant Dissenters." Secretary of State, being a Welshman, thought, pp. 220, 221. it seems, that this was using too much liberty with the ancient principality, and objected to it! He then suggested Sylvania; but the king himself insisted upon adding Penn to it,

About the same period we find him closely leagued with no less a person than Algernon Sydney, and busily employed in canvassing for him in the burgh of Guildford. But the most important of his occupations at this time were those which connected him with that region which was destined to be the scene of his greatest and most memorable exertions. An accidental circumstance had a few years before engaged him in some inquiries with regard to the state of that district in North America, since called New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. A great part of this territory had been granted by the Crown to the family of Lord Berkeley, who had recently sold a large part of it to a Quaker of the name of Billynge; and this person having fallen into pecuniary embarrassments, prevailed upon William Penn to accept of a conveyance of this property, and to undertake the management of it, as trustee for his creditors. The conscientious trustee applied himself to the discharge of this duty with his habitual scrupulousness and activity; and having speedily made himself acquairted with the condition and capabilities

and after some struggles of modesty, it was found necessary to submit to his gracious desires.

He now proceeded to encourage settlers of all sorts,-but especially such sectaries as were impatient of the restraints and persecutions to which they were subjected in England; and published certain conditions and regulations, "the first fundamental of which," as he expresses it, was, "That every person should enjoy the free profession of his faith, and exercise of worship towards God, in such a way as he shall in his conscience believe is most acceptable; and should be protected in this liberty by the authority of the civil magistrate." With regard to the native inhabitants, he positively enacted, that "whoever should hurt, wrong, or offend any Indian, should incur the same penalty as if he had offended in like manner against his fellow planter;" and that the plantes should not be their own judges in case of any difference with the I::

dear mother."

After a great number of other affectionate counsels, he turns particularly to his elder boys.

Let

standing; qualhies not usual among women of her tion, and solemnly to pledge his faith, and worldly condition and quality. Therefore honour to ratify and confirm the treaty, in sight both and obey her, my dear children, as your mother, of the Indians and Planters. For this pur and your father's love and delight; nay, love her too, for she loved your father with a deep and pose a grand convocation of the tribes had upright love, choosing him before all her many been appointed near the spot where Philadelsuitors: and though she be of a delicate constitu- phia now stands; and it was agreed that he tion and noble spirit, yet she descended to the ut- and the presiding Sachems should meet and most tenderness and care for you, performing the exchange faith, under the spreading branches painfullest acts of service to you in your infancy, of a prodigious elm-tree that grew on the bank as a mother and a nurse too. I charge you, before the Lord, honour and obey, love and cherish your of the river. On the day appointed, accordingly, an innumerable multitude of the Indians assembled in that neighbourhood; and were seen, with their dark visages and brand ished arms, moving, in vast swarms, in the depth of the woods which then overshadowed the whole of that now cultivated region. On the other hand, William Penn, with a moderate attendance of Friends, advanced to meet them. He came of course unarmed-in his usual plain dress-without banners, or mace, or guards, or carriages; and only distinguished from his companions by wearing a blue sash of silk network (which it seems is still preserved by Mr. Kett of Seething-hall, near Norwich), and by having in his hand a roll of parchment, on which was engrossed the confirmation of the treaty of purchase and amity. As soon as he drew near the spot where the Sachems were assembled, the whole multitude of Indians threw down their weapons, and seated themselves on the ground in groups, each under his own chieftain; and the presiding chief intimated to William Penn, that the nations were ready to hear him. Mr. Clarkson regrets, and we cordially join in the sentiment, that there is no written, contem.porary account of the particulars attending this interesting and truly novel transaction. He assures us, however, that they are still in a great measure preserved in oral tradition, and that both what we have just stated, and what follows, may be relied on as perfectly accu rate. The sequel we give in his own words.

"And as for you, who are likely to be concerned in the government of Pennsylvania, I do charge you before the Lord God and his holy angels, that you be lowly, diligent, and tender; fearing God, loving the people, and hating covetousness. justice have its impartial course, and the law free passage. Though to your loss, protect no man against it; for you are not above the law, but the law above you. Live therefore the lives yourselves you would have the people live, and then shall you have right and boldness to punish the transgressor. Keep upon the square, for God sees you: therefore do your duty, and be sure you see with your own eyes, and hear with your own ears. Entertain no lurchers; cherish no informers for gain or revenge; use no tricks; fly to no devices to support or cover injustice; but let your hearts be upright before the Lord, trusting in him above the contrivances of men,

and none shall be able to hurt or supplant you."

We should like to see any private letter of instructions from a sovereign to his heir-apparent, that will bear a comparison with the injunctions of this honest Sectary. He concludes as follows:

"Finally, my children, love one another with a true endeared love, and your dear relations on both sides, and take care to preserve tender affection in your children to each other, often marrying within themselves, so as it be without the bounds forbidden in God's law, that so they may not, like the forget ting unnatural world, grow out of kindred, and as cold as strangers; but, as becomes a truly natural and Christian stock, you and yours after you, may live in the pure and fervent love of God towards one another, as becoming brethren in the spiritual and natural relation.

So farewell to my thrice dearly beloved wife and children!

Yours, as God pleaseth, in that which no waters can quench, no time forget, nor distance wear away, but remains for ever,

"WILLIAM PENN."

"Worminghurst, fourth of
sixth month, 1682."
Immediately after writing this letter, he
embarked, and arrived safely in the Dela-
ware with all his companions. The country
assigned to him by the royal charter was yet
full of its original inhabitants; and the prin-
ciples of William Penn did not allow him
to look upon that gift as a warrant to dis-
possess the first proprietors of the land. He
had accordingly appointed his commissioners,
the preceding year, to treat with them for
the fair purchase of a part of their lands, and
for their joint possession of the remainder;
and the terms of the settlement being now
nearly agreed upon, he proceeded, very soon
after his arrival, to conclude the transac-

Having been thus called upon, he began. The Great Spirit, he said, who made him and them, who ruled the Heaven and the Earth, and who knew the innermost thoughts of man, knew that he and his friends had a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with them, and to serve them to the utmost of their power. It was not their custom to use hostile weapons against their fellow-creatures, for which reason they had come unarmed. Their object was not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good. They were then met on the broad pathway of good faith and good will, so that no advantage was to be taken on either side, but all was to be openness, brotherhood, and love. After these and other words, he unrolled the parchment, and by means of the same interpreter conveyed to them, article by article, the conditions of the Purchase, and the Words of the Compact then made for their eternal Union. Among other things, they were not to be molested in theit ated, for it was to be common to them and the lawful pursuits, even in the territory they had alienEnglish. They were to have the same liberty to do all things therein relating to the improvement of their grounds, and providing sustenance for their families, which the English had. If any disputes should arise between the two, they should be settled by twelve persons, half of whom should be English, and half Indians. He then paid them for the land; and made them many presents besides, from the merchandize which had been spread before

them. Having done this, he laid the roll of parch-added, for the en.ouragement of industry ment on the ground, observing again, that the and mutua. usefulness and esteem. There ground should be common to both people. He is something very agreeable in the content, Then added, that he would not do as the Marylanders did, that is, call them Children or Brothers only; for often parents were apt to chastise their children too severely, and Brothers sometimes would differ: neither would he compare the Friendship between him and them to a Chain, for the rain might sometimes rust it, or a tree might fall and break it; but he should consider them 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. He then took up the parchment, and presented it to the Sachem, who wore the horn in his chaplet, and desired him and the other Sachems to preserve it carefully for three generations; that their children might know what had passed between them, just as if he had remained himself with them to repeat it."-pp. 341–343.

William Penn now held an assembly, in which fifty-nine important laws were passed in the course of three days. The most remarkable were those which limited the number of capital crimes to two-murder and "That in that quarter of the year which included high treason and which provided for the part of the winter and part of the spring, the mem reformation, as well as the punishment of bers of it were to rise at seven in the morning, in offenders, by making the prisons places of the next at six, in the next at five, and in the last compulsive industry, sobriety, and instruc- at six again. Nine o'clock was the hour for breakfast, twelve for dinner, seven for supper, and ten tion. It was likewise enacted, that all chil- to retire to bed. The whole family were to assem dren, of whatever rank, should be instructed ble every morning for worship. They were to be in some art or trade. The fees of law pro-called together at eleven again, that each might ceedings were fixed, and inscribed on public tables; and the amount of fines to be levied for offences also limited by legislative authority Many admirable regulations were

Dr of unavoidable engagement. The servants were to be called up after supper to render to their master and mistress an account of what they had done in the day, and to receive instructions for the next; and were particularly exhorted to avoid lewd dis courses and troublesome noises."

We shall not stop to examine what dregs of ambition, or what hankerings after worldly prosperity, may have mixed themselves with

the pious and philanthropic principles that were undoubtedly his chief guides in forming that great settlement which still bears his name, and profits by his example. Human virtue does not challenge, nor admit of such a scrutiny! And it should be sufficient for the glory of William Penn, that he stands upon record as the most humane, the most moderate, and the most pacific of all rulers.

(May, 1828.)

A Selection from the Public and Private Correspondence of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood: interspersed with Memoirs of his Life. By G. L. NEWNHAM COLLINGWOOD, Esq. F. R. S. 2 vols. 8vo. Ridgway. London: 1828.

We do not know when we have met with so delightful a book as this, or one with which we are so well pleased with ourselves for being delighted. Its attraction consists almost entirely in its moral beauty; and it has the rare merit of filling us with the deepest admiration for heroism, without suborning our judgments into any approbation of the vices and weaknesses with which poor mortal heroism is so often accompanied. In this respect, it is not only more safe, but more agreeable reading than the Memoirs of Nelson; where the lights and shadows are often too painfully contrasted, and the bane and the antidote exhibited in proportions that cannot but be hazardous for the ardent and aspiring spirits on which they are both most calculated to operate.

of a still higher rectitude. Inferior, perhaps, to Nelson, in original genius and energy, and in that noble self-confidence in great emergencies which these qualities usually inspire, he was fully his equal in seamanship and the art of command; as well as in that devotedness to his country and his profession, and that utter fearlessness and gallantry of soul which exults and rejoices in scenes of tremendous peril, which have almost ceased to be remarkable in the character of a British sailor. On the other hand, we think it will scarcely be disputed, that he was superior to that great commander in general information and accomplishment, and in those thoughtful habits, and that steadiness and propriety of personal deportment, which are their natural fruit. His greatest admirers, however, can It is a mere illusion of national vanity ask no higher praise for him than that he stood which prompts us to claim Lord Collingwood on the same lofty level with Nelson, as to that as a character peculiarly English? Certainly generous and cordial appreciation of merit in we must admit, that we have few English- his brother officers, by which, even more, permen left who resemble him; and even that haps, than by any of his other qualities, that our prevailing notions and habits make it great man was distinguished. It does one's likely that we shall have still fewer hereafter. heart good, indeed, to turn from the petty Yet we do not know where such a character cabals, the paltry jealousies, the splendid decould have been formed but in England;-tractions, the irritable vanities, which infest and feel quite satisfied, that it is there only almost every other walk of public life, and that it can be properly valued or understood. meet one, indeed, at every turn in all scenes The combination of the loftiest daring with of competition, and among men otherwise the most watchful humanity, and of the no- eminent and honourable,-to the brother-like blest ambition with the greatest disdain of frankness and open-hearted simplicity, even personal advantages, and the most generous of the official communications between Nelson sympathy with rival merit, though rare enough and Collingwood; and to the father-like into draw forth at all times the loud applause terest with which they both concurred in fosof mankind, have not been without example, tering the glory, and cheering on the fortunes in any race that boasts of illustrious ances of their younger associates. In their noble tors. But, for the union of those high quali- thirst for distinction, there seems to be absoties with unpretending and almost homely lutely no alloy of selfishness; and scarcely simplicity, sweet temper, undeviating recti- even a feeling of rivalry. If the opportunity tade, and all the purity and sanctity of do- of doing a splendid thing has not come to mestic affection and humble content-we can them, it has come to some one who deserved look, we think, only to England,- -or to the it as well, and perhaps needed it more. It fabulous legends of uncorrupted and unin- will come to them another day-and then the structed Rome. All these graces, however, heroes of this will repay their hearty congra and more than these, were united in Lord tulations. There is something inexpressibly Collingwood: For he had a cultivated and beautiful and attractive in this spirit of mageven elegant mind, a taste for all simple en- nanimous fairness; and if we could only be joyments, and a rectitude of understanding-lieve it to be general in the navy, we should which seemed in him to be but the emanation gladly recant all our heretical doubts as to the