In vince, ventured up the Delaware bay, and alarmed even the citizens of Philadelphia for their safety. Voluntary associations were formed of persons willing to bear arms; batteries were erected by voluntary contribution; and the assembly were compelled, by the remonstrances of the crown, the proprietaries, and the people, to join in measures for the public defence. 1745 they were even under the necessity of granting money to assist in maintaining the troops raised for the invasion of the French provinces. It is true, that, by the terms of the grant, the subsidy was to be expended in the purchase of "bread, beef, pork, flour, wheat or other grain," but Dr. Franklin assures us, that the words "other grain," were intended to authorize the application of part of the money to the purchase of gunpowder, and that Governor Thomas actually expended a part of it for this black grain, and was never accused of misapplying the fund. Finally, in 1756, the privy council of England, having been appealed to on the subject of a general militia law, declared their sentiments that "The legislature of Pennsylvania, as of every other country, was bound, by the original compact of government, to support such government and its subjects; that the measures intended by the assembly for that purpose were im proper, inadequate, and ineffectual; and that there was no cause to hope for other measures, whilst the majority of the assembly consisted of persons whose avowed principles were against military services; who, though not a sixth part of the inhabitants of the province, were, contrary to the principles, the policy, and the practice of the mother country, admitted to hold offices of trust and profit, and to sit in the assembly without their allegiance being secured by the sanction of an oath." Thus assailed by remonstrances from their constituents, and by censure from abroad, the Friends who continued in the assembly were placed in a trying situation. "The Quakers had been greatly exercised by their labours in the assembly. In declining to exert themselves to procure an election, they were willing to think they had done all that was necessary to avoid a situation incompatible with their principles, and they suffered themselves to be returned, especially by the Germans, who sought in their religious scruples a protection against taxes and military labours. But, whatever their consciences might dictate, they saw that men and money were absolutely necessary to resist the enemy, and were, for a season, content to vote for money bills, unequivocally intended to maintain the war, because the special object was not expressly designated, and to enact a militia law, permitting, but not compelling, the people to bear arms, though it was avowedly designed to render the military force of the country more effectual. But these things were not done without some wincing. The Quakers protested against the payment of war taxes, and some Friends, members of the house, entered their dissent on its journals against the money bills, and finally resigned their seats; some declined a re-election, while others still flattered themselves to reconcile their consciences with the measures of the assembly. But, when the opinions of the ministry, on the conduct of the Quakers, were communicated to the house, a portion of these deemed it prudent to retire; and writs were issued for filling the places of Mahlon Kirkbride, William Hoge, Peter Dicks, and Nathaniel Pennock."* Another thing which strikes us in the provincial history, is the * Gordon, p. 339. perpetual bickering between the proprietaries, or their governor, and the assemblies. Shakspeare says, that "the course of true love never did run smooth," and the remark might be made, with equal justice, of the history of republics. It is especially true of Pennsylvania. Disputes began, as we have already intimated, in the cradle. The first source of dissension was the proprietary estate and income. Penn expected a considerable revenue from his lands, but was soon and sadly disappointed. His quitrents were payable in very small sums, were with difficulty collected, and reluctantly paid. Silver and gold being scarce, and bank notes not even existing in imagination, the purchase money of the lands was slowly obtained. He and his successors reserved valuable tracts, under the name of manors, but they afforded no relief to their necessities. On the other hand, the assembly was disposed to exaggerate the landed income of the proprietaries, and, professing to believe that they derived a sufficient support from this source, they were backward in granting sup plies, from the public treasury, for the maintenance of the executive office. When it became necessary to impose taxes upon land, they conceived that they had a right to include the whole of the proprietary estate in the assessment; and this was the source of a dispute, which lasted through the whole of the provincial government. The proprietaries resisted stoutly this encroachment, as they termed it, upon their vested rights, the assembly as stoutly maintained their ground, and long were the speeches, and tedious the pamphlets, that were written upon the subject. A sort of compromise finally took place, not long before the revolution, in which the assembly carried their point, at the expense of some trifling concessions. Another subject of dissension arose from the peculiar situation of the proprietary government. On the return of William Penn to England, he appointed a lieutenant governor, by whom the executive power was administered, subject to his revision, and afterwards to that of the crown; and the instructions given by his successors to their deputy, forbade him expressly to give assent to certain species of laws, until their approbation was obtained. The assembly complained, and not without reason, that they were placed in a worse situation by this system, than if they were subjected, like most of the other colonies, to the immediate government of the crown, since they found three successive obstacles, to the passage of just and necessary laws: 1st, the negative of the governor; or, if he should approve, 2d, the dissent of the proprietaries; or, if that were removed, 3d, the veto of the king in council. The controversies flowing from these, and other sources, rose to a great height. We may judge of the tone and sentiments prevalent at one period, by the following passage from the "Historical Review," in which Dr. Franklin contrasts the government of the time with what it once was: "A father and his family, the latter, united by interest and affection, the former, to be revered for the wisdom of his institutions, and the indulgent use of his authority, was the form it was first presented in. Those who were only ambitious of repose, found it here; and as none returned with an evil report of the land, numbers followed, all partook of the leaven they found; the community still wore the same equal face; nobody aspired; nobody was oppressed; industry was sure of profit, knowledge of esteem, and virtue of veneration. "An assuming landlord, strongly disposed to convert free tenants into abject vassals, and to reap what he did not sow, countenanced and abetted by a few desperate and designing dependants on the one side; and on the other, all who have sense enough to know their rights, and spirit enough to defend them, combined as one man against the said landlord, and his encroachments in the form it has since assumed."* We are induced to quote another passage from the same work, from its appositeness to the present era. Every one must be struck with the applicability of the remarks to some of the exfunctionaries of the United States:— . "There is no man long or much conversant in this overgrown city, (London,) who hath not often found himself in company with the shades of departed governors, doomed to wander out the residue of their lives, full of the agonizing remembrance of their past eminence, and the severe sensation of present neglect. Sir William Keith on his return, was added to this unfortunate list; concerning whom the least that can be said, is that either none but men of fortune, should be appointed to serve in such dignified offices; or otherwise for the honour of government itself, such as are recalled without any notorious imputation on their conduct, should be preserved from that wretchedness and contempt which they have been but too frequently permitted to fall into, for want even of a proper subsistence."+ These provincial governors, indeed, do not appear to have been always selected for their moral or intellectual fitness. Mr. Gordon tells us, that Gookin, was appointed by the proprietary because, being a bachelor, it was supposed he would make a cheap governor. He was allowed only two hundred pounds a year without any fees or perquisites. In 1705, a representation was made by the assembly, to the proprietary, touching the abuses in the government, which is rather singularly worded, for a state paper. "We further entreat," says this worthy body, "that effectual care be taken for the suppressing of vice, which to our great trouble, we have to acquaint thee, is more rife and common among us, since the arrival of thy deputy and son, &c. .... and the roast is chiefly ruled, by such as are none of the most exemplary for virtuous conversation," &c. It is remarkable that Penn appointed no member of his sect to the office of lieutenant governor, aware, perhaps, of the difficulty he would experience in carrying on some of the operations of government; and his heirs, none of whom were Quakers, followed the precedent set them. Some of the deputies were military men; and most of them by their habits and disposition, the very antipodes of the honest and simple assemblymen. Little pains were taken to conciliate, on either side, and • Historical Review of the Province, &c. Introduction, p. xxxiv. sharp messages, and angry answers, diversified the columns of the provincial journals. With all this bickering, however, the province waxed strong in numbers and resources. As it has been somewhere else remarked, the agitation was only on the surface of the waves, while the great current of prosperity went rolling on with irresistible force. Population and commerce increased in an extraordinary ratio. Every year witnessed the substitution of agriculture and civilized life, for the gloom of the primitive forests. The number of vessels of trade, which departed from Philadelphia in 1723, was eighty-five, while in 1749, to 1752, they exceeded four hundred per annum. The imports from England, increased from £15,992 sterling, in 1723, to £191,833 in 1749, and the exports of wheat, and other grain, from £62,473, to £187,457. The population was found to have nearly doubled itself in twenty years, and, perhaps, to no community was ever before vouchsafed so ample an allotment of the blessings of domestic and social life. It was in view of this condition of the province, that Edmund Burke described it as, "a commonwealth which in the space of about seventy years, from the beginning of a few hundreds of refugees, and indigent men, has grown to be a numerous and flourishing people; a people, who from a perfect wilderness, have brought their territory to a great state of cultivation, and filled it with wealthy and populous towns; and who in the midst of a fierce and lawless race of men, have preserved themselves with unarmed hands, and passive principles, by the rules of moderation and justice, better than any other people has done by policy and arms." Perfect freedom of religious faith and practice, produced, as might be expected, a great variety of creeds, and some extravagancies, both of faith and life, which, however, for want of the aliment of persecution, were mostly shortlived. The principal denominations of Christians increased and multiplied with great rapidity, and built numerous places of worship, and supported their ministers without the help of tithes, or any assistance from the government. We find in Mr. Gordon's history a curious account of one of the sects which sprung up in the state, with which extract we shall close this article: "The dunkards, tunkers, or dumplers, are another species of German baptists, now almost extinct. Their religion was more mystical, and their practice more ascetic and fanatic, than of any other sect in the province. The word "tunker," from which their other names are derived, means a baptizer by immersion. With the Quakers and Menonists, they refuse to swear, or bear arms. They trace their origin to the baptism of John, and admit no other confession of faith than the New-Testament. They adopt the eucharist, which they administer at night, in imitation of our Saviour, washing, at the same time, one another's feet, agreeably to his example and command. They convene on the first day of the week for public worship; but those at Ephrata kept the Jewish sabbath. They wore their beards long, and dressed in plain and coarse garments, of an ancient fashion." "The property of the society consisted of about two hundred and fifty acres of land. Its labours and profits were in common. Marriage and sexual intercourse were forbidden to the members of the community; but such as were disposed to enter into matrimony were permitted to withdraw; taking with them their proportion of the common stock. The sexes dwelt apart. They lived on vegetables solely, and slept on wooden benches, with blocks of wood for pillows, and attended worship four times in the twenty-four hours. This life macerated their bodies, and rendered their complexions pale and bloodless. Their dress consisted of a shirt, trowsers, and waistcoat, with a long white gown and cowl, of wool in winter, and linen in summer. The dress of the women differed from that of the men in petticoats only: with the cowls of their gowns they covered their faces, when going into public. When walking, they all used a solemn steady pace, keeping straight forward, with their eyes fixed to the ground, not turning to give an answer when asked a question. On their occasional visits to their friends at Germantown, forty or fifty thus strangely accoutred, with sandals on their feet, were seen following each other in Indian file. On the death of Beissel, his authority devolved on one Millar, who, wanting the vigorous mind and influence of his predecessor, was unable to preserve the society from rapid decay. "All-engrossing as religious fanaticism usually is, and attractive as it some. times proves, by its singularities, nature and reason proved too strong for it in Pennsylvania; and the tunker sect has been almost extingushed in the unequal conflict. Ephrata still exists, but the peculiarities of its inhabitants are no more: they marry and are given in marriage; eat, drink, and dress, like their neighbours; but are still remarkable for the simplicity of their manners, and fervour of their devotion. Their religious principles are not precisely known: they denied the doctrine of original sin, and the eternity of punishment; and believed that the day of judgment would be a day of light and instruction, when the whole human race would be restored to happiness: contention with arms, or at law, they considered as inconsistent with Christianity. They had no set form of worship, but sang, at their devotions, hymns composed by the brethren, and were distinguished by skill in vocal music. A mystical union in love with God and Christ, they deemed the great object of their life, and the reward of their labours and sufferings, to attain which, self-denial, and withdrawal from the world, were essential. Baptism they adopted, not as an initiation to Christian fellowship, but as a rite, like that of purification in the Mosaic law, to be repeated as often as the believer was defiled by the world. Their sensual affections, driven from their natural channel, were poured forth on this mystical union with the Redeemer. By the unmarried of both sexes, he was considered as an object of more than spiritual love he was the bride of the one, and the bridegroom of the other: in their songs and hymns, as in those of the Moravians, he was sometimes addressed in the strong, and frequently not most delicate, language of passion. Some of their writers of spiritual songs possessed well-regulated minds, and a portion of poetic spirit. The mysticism of these, created an imaginary world, instead of that which they had abandoned, where they permitted their affections to roam unchecked. The figure or image dearest to passion, was enthroned in their hearts that was their God, their Lord, their Redeemer. But the effusions of others were a jargon of inconsistent connexions; turtle-doves and lambs in conjugal union; cultivated fields, on which were sown pearls, and wine, and music; burning hearts united in keeping silence, and singing at the same time songs of joy.' The whole number of tunkers in Pennsylvania, in 1770, was estimated at four hundred and nineteen families, consisting of two thousand and ninety-five persons. They had four meeting-houses in different parts of the province." P. 573, &c. : |