Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

London and Nicholas Lucas of Hertford, two of the said creditors, to carry his intention into effect. To this, but not till after much consideration, he assented; and thus, though he was in no way concerned in the affairs of Byllinge, he came into the situation described.

His new office requiring exertion, and this immediately, he was all at once overwhelmed in business. The first thing he did, in conjunction with the trustees, was to agree with Sir George Carteret upon a division of the province. They allotted to the latter the eastern part of it, which by this time was tolerably well peopled; and the western, in which no settlements had been yet made, they took in behalf of Byllinge to themselves. From this time the former took the name of East, and the latter that of West New Jersey, according to this their relative situation to each other.

This division having been made, they then subdivided their own portion into a hundred lots. Ten of these they gave to Fenwick as a repayment for time, trouble, and money advanced by him to Lord Berkeley, and the remaining ninety they reserved

for

for sale, for the benefit of the creditors of

Byllinge.

The next step was to form a Constitution, for those who in consequence of purchase were to settle in the new land. This task, the most difficult, fell almost exclusively upon William Penn. He therefore drew up what he called Concessions, or terms of grant and agreement, which were to be mutually signed. The great outline of these may be comprehended in few words. The people were to meet annually to choose one honest man for each proprietary who had signed the Concessions. They, who were so chosen, were to sit in assembly.They were there to make, alter, and repeal laws.They were there also to choose a Governor, or Commissioner, with twelve assistants, who were to execute these laws, but only during their pleasure. Every man was to be capable both of choosing and being chosen.

-No man was to be arrested, imprisoned, or condemned in his estate or liberty, but by twelve men of the neighbourhood.- -No man was to be imprisoned for debt; but his estate was to satisfy his creditors as far as it would go, and then he was to be set at liber

ty

ty to work again for himself and family.No man was to be interrupted or molested on account of the exercise of his religion.-Such was the simple outline of the Concessions, "by an adherence to which he hoped that he had laid a foundation for those in after ages to understand their liberty both as men and Christians, and by an adherence to which they could never be brought into bondage but by their own consent.'

Having made these and other arrangements, he and his colleagues gave notice of the same in a public letter, which they signed, and circulated through the kingdom. Through the medium of this, they particularly invited those who were of their own religious society to become the new settlers. They cautioned these, however, against leaving their country out of any idle curiosity, or rambling disposition, or improper motive, or to the violation of the feelings of their kindred, or of their religious unity as Friends. To this caution they annexed "A Description of West New Jersey," of its climate, soil, and produce, in order that none might be deceived, or have occasion afterwards to repent of their undertaking.

Thus

1

Thus was William Penn employed during a part of the present year. Thus, by becoming a trustee for Byllinge, he was unexpectedly thrown into a situation which brought before him the great question of Settlements in the then newly discovered world, which enabled him to gain considerable knowledge with respect to the formation of these, and which therefore by degrees qualified him for that station which he filled afterwards as the founder of Pennsylvania, with so much credit to himself, with so much honour to his country, and to the admiration of succeeding ages.

CHAP

[merged small][ocr errors]

A. 1677-continues his management of West New Jersey-appoints Commissioners to go there-sells a portion of the land-sends off three vessels-undertakes a religious visit to Holland and Germany-writes to the King of Poland from Amsterdam—his kind reception and employment at the Court at Herwerdenoccurrences at Krisheim-Duysburg-Mulheim-Harlingen-Wonderwick-and other places-writes at Frankfort "A Letter to the Churches of Jesus through-. out the World"-and at Rotterdam "A Call or Summons to Christendom," and other tracts-disputes with Galenus Abrams-returns to England-holds a dispute with William Rogers at Bristol.

In the early part of 1677 William Penn continued to be employed on behalf of Byllinge. It appears that he had then left his house at Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, and that he had established himself at Worminghurst in Sussex. Here then, in the calm retreat of the country, he took thought for his new colony. The more he considered his situation as a principal manager of it, the more he became interested in it. It was his duty to take care of the individual for whom he acted; but it was a more pleasing consideration that, in attending to his interests, he

had

« ZurückWeiter »