the people, mostly Swedes, had built a little church somewhat farther
down the stream. The entire land between the Delaware and Schuylkill
rivers, and for a mile north and south, was owned by three brothers,
Swedes, named Swen. Penn bought this tract from them, and at once
proceeded to lay out his new city. When he bought the whole province
from the crown he desired to call it New-Wales, because it was so
hilly, but the king insisted on calling it Penn’s Sylvania, in memory
of the admiral, William’s father. But when the new city came to be
named, Penn having no one to dispute his wish, called it by that word,
of whose meaning we think so little, Philadelphia――brotherly love. Two
months after this he met the Indians, it is said, under a great elm
tree in the upper part of the city, in what we now call Kensington,
and concluded that treaty which has been said to be the only treaty
that was ever made without an oath, and that was never broken. Shortly
after this Penn proceeded to lay out the city, and, as a distinguished
English author has said, he must have taken the ancient Babylon for his
model, for this was the first modern city that was laid out with the
streets crossing each other at right angles.
The charter which Penn received from Charles the Second, King of
England (the original of which is in the capital at Harrisburg, on
three large sheets of parchment), makes him proprietary and governor,
also holding his authority under the crown. He at once therefore set
about making a code of laws as special statutes, which with the common
law of England should be the laws of the province. One of these special
laws was this: “Every one, rich or poor, was to learn a useful trade or
occupation; the poor to live on it: the rich to resort to it if they
should become poor.” And I do not know what better law he could have
enacted.
When the news of Penn’s arrival and cordial reception reached England
and the continent of Europe, the effect was to arouse a spirit of
emigration. Although Penn’s first thought and purpose was to found
a colony, where he and others who held the religious views of the
Society of Friends might worship without hindrance (which liberty
was denied them in England), the people from other countries in
Europe came here in great numbers for other purposes. The population
therefore multiplied rapidly, and the people were generally such as had
determined to brave the privations of a new country, to make themselves
a home where life could be lived under better conditions than in the
old countries, under the harsh government of tyrannical kings. This
emigration was stimulated also by the very liberal terms which the
governor offered to new-comers; for to actual settlers he offered the
land at about ten dollars for a hundred acres, subject, however, to
a quit-rent of a quarter of a dollar an acre per annum forever; and
this may be the origin of that ground-rent instrument which is almost
peculiar to Pennsylvania, and which is such a favorite investment for
our rich men.
After a stay of two years Penn returned to England, where he had left
his wife and children; the care of the government having been left with
a council, of which Thomas Lloyd was president, who kept the great seal.
Not long after his return to England the king, Charles the Second,
died, and having no son he was succeeded by his brother, James Duke of
York, as James the Second. Although Penn was on the most cordial terms
with the new king, as he had been with Charles, this did not secure him
from the repeated annoyances and persecutions of those who detested his
religion. So severe was the treatment to which he was subjected, and
such was his personal danger from unprincipled men, that he escaped to
France. But not being able nor willing to bear this exile, he returned
to England, was tried for his offence against the law of the church and
was acquitted. After this he came to America again, intending to spend
the rest of his life here, but he remained only two years.
The rest of his life was spent in England, but it was a life broken by
persecutions and trials at law and other annoyances, the expenses of
which, added to the losses by the unfaithfulness of his stewards, were
so great as seriously to involve him in financial embarrassments; and
he was even compelled to mortgage his great estate in Pennsylvania to
relieve himself; but the interest annually payable on such encumbrance
was so heavy that he felt the necessity of relieving himself of the
property entirely, and he offered to sell it to the crown. While the
matter was under consideration, his health began to decline; however,
the terms were agreed upon, but while the papers were in the course of
preparation he died peacefully at Rushcombe, in Buckinghamshire, July
30, 1718, and was buried five days after in the burial ground belonging
to Jordan’s meeting house.
Such is the briefest outline of the life of the founder of this
commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and of this city of Philadelphia.
Let us see now what there was in this life which we may find it
interesting to recall and dwell upon; what there was in it which may be
useful for us to consider in its application to ourselves.
William Penn was born in the city of London on the 14th of October,
1644, in the parish of St. Catharine’s, near the Tower. His father
was an admiral and his grandfather was a captain in the English navy.
Then, as now, it was the custom of English families of good condition
to send their boys away from home to school. This boy, an only son, was
therefore sent to school near the town of Wanstead, in Essex, called
Chigwell. Here he remained until he was thirteen years old, with no
incident particularly worthy of notice, except that he was, at the age
of twelve, brought under deep religious impressions, which, however,
like many other boys, he soon threw aside. He seems to have been apt to
learn, and was fond of the childish sports belonging to his age. For
two years after leaving school, he was under private instruction at
home, until he was fifteen years old, when he entered the University
of Oxford. Here he devoted himself most diligently to his studies
and became a successful student. But this did not prevent him from
entering most heartily into the sports which were common to young
men of his quality. He was very fond of boating, fishing, shooting,
and other pleasures, and he was extremely handsome; but he avoided
dissipation of all kinds, thus proving that the keenest enjoyment of
healthful sports is quite consistent with a pure life. If the college
students of this day would believe and act upon this principle, it
would be better for them and better for the world.
With this hearty enjoyment of sports, and this diligent application to
study, he had a very tender sympathy and love for domestic animals.
Towards those that were the most helpless, he evinced a kindliness that
was almost womanly.
But he had a strong will, and it was impossible to turn him aside
from a course of duty, when he was satisfied that it was real duty.
During his school and college life there were many seasons of religious
interest in his experience, and he was at last brought (under the
preaching of a member of the Society of Friends named Thomas Loe) to
declare himself a member of that society. He therefore refused to
attend the services of the Church of England. The custom of wearing
surplices by Oxford students, which had been abolished in Cromwell’s
time, had been restored by Charles; but Penn, when he came out as a
religious man, threw off his surplice and refused to wear it. This
act was bad enough in the eyes of the authorities; but his zeal went
further than this, and, in common with some others of the same way of
thinking, he so far forgot himself as to attack other students and tear
off their surplices. This very grave offence could not be overlooked,
and, admiral’s son though he was, he was expelled from the University
of Oxford. This was a great blow to his father, who was building
the fondest hopes on the advancement of his son at college and his
career as a courtier. No persuasion, however, could induce the son to
reconsider his conduct, and his father at last flogged him and drove
him from the house. Some time after this, through the intercession of
the mother, the young man was brought back to his home; and his father,
in the hope that a change of scene and circumstances would work a
change in the lad’s feelings, sent him to Paris, and to travel on the
continent.
While in Paris he studied the French language, and read some books in
theology, and went as far as Turin, in Italy, from whence, however, he
was recalled to take charge of a part of his father’s affairs. He then
studied law for a year, which no doubt was of some help to him in the
founding of his commonwealth. Then his father sent him to take care of
his estates in Ireland, at that time under the vice-royalty of the Duke
of Ormond. He entered the army here, and did good service too; and was,
apparently, so much pleased with his new life that he suffered the only
portrait of him that was ever painted, to be taken when he was wearing
armor and in uniform. This picture, or a copy of it, may now be seen at
the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in Spruce street, above Eighth.
About this time he came again under the influence of the preacher Loe,
and was recalled by his father, who remonstrated with him on his new
mode of life, but with no success whatever. He would not give up his
new religion. His father tried to compromise the matter with him, and
he even went so far as to propose to his son, that if he would remove
his hat in the presence of the king and the Duke of York and his
father, as his superiors, their differences might be healed; but the
son, believing that the removal of his hat would be dishonorable to
God, absolutely refused.
His life for some time after this was stormy enough. He came out boldly
and in defiance of law as a preacher of the Society of Friends; and was
repeatedly imprisoned, sometimes in the Tower of London and sometimes
in the loathsome prison of Newgate, from which places he was released
by the intercession of the Duke of York and his father and other
friends.
Those were very rough times, not likely, let us hope, to be repeated.
Society was very corrupt at the highest sources, and religion was more
violent and aggressive in its measures then than now. The world has
grown wiser and better――there is more toleration, more of the Spirit
of the Master now than then, and in our favored land every soul can
worship God as he may choose to do.
William Penn was a _statesman_. He founded this great commonwealth of
Pennsylvania. He established a code of laws that were in advance of
his time. He stipulated that the law of primogeniture, that law which
gives the lands of the father to the _oldest_ son, with little or no
provision for younger sons, that law which is the corner-stone of the
crown of England, should have no place in this new commonwealth. The
property of a parent dying without a will should be _equally divided
among his children_. Penn was a statesman in the broadest sense of the
term. His laws were for the greatest good of the greatest number. He
treated the Indians as if they were human beings, and not as if they
were brute beasts. Indeed, he never treated the brutes as the Indians
have been treated even in our day by harsh and unscrupulous agents of
the government. Whether he was exactly just in his dealings with Lord
Baltimore, the settler of Maryland, I do not know. Perhaps he was not.
We know this misunderstanding gave him great trouble, and was indeed
the prime cause of his return to England.
Penn was a _rich man_. The inheritance left him by his father was
handsome, and he could have lived most comfortably upon it. But when
he received from the crown the charter which made him the owner of
Pennsylvania, he was the largest landholder, except sovereigns, known
in history. He did not use his wealth for personal indulgence, or for
luxurious living for himself or his family. He believed that he held
his property as a trustee, and that he had no right to waste it. He
might have lived the life of an ordinary English nobleman (for it is
said his father was offered a peerage), but such a life had no charms
for him.
Penn was a _conscientious man_. I mean by this that he followed his
inner convictions, without regard to consequences. What he wanted to
know was, whether a given thing was _right_ and according to his way
of determining what the right was; and he did it if it were a duty,
without flinching. No personal inconvenience, no consideration for the
views or wishes of other people, was allowed to stand in the way of his
duty, as he understood it. It was the custom of that time for gentlemen
to wear swords, as some gentlemen now carry canes, and with no purpose
except as an ornament or part of the dress. Some time after he joined
the Society of Friends, and while still wearing his sword, he said to
his friend George Fox, “Is it consistent with our principles and our
testimonies against war for me to wear my sword?” When Fox replied,
“Wear thy sword as usual, so long as thy conscience will permit it.”
This friendly rebuke led him to lay aside his sword never to resume it.
William Penn was a _religious man_. He was called by the Holy Spirit
at the early age of twelve years, as I have already said. He resisted
that call and many others, until under faithful preaching he could
resist no longer, when he yielded himself to the divine call and became
an open professor of the principles of the Society of Friends. This
was a very different thing, so far as personal comfort was concerned,
from professing religion in the ordinary forms; for this was to join
a hated sect, and bear all the contempt and persecution that belonged
to a profession of religion in the early days of Christianity, when
men, women and children perilled their lives in the service of the
great Master. But Penn cared not for the cost; he was ready to go to
prison, and to death if necessary, for his opinions. He _did_ go to
prison over and over again, and bore right manfully all that was put
upon him. He was not idle, however, in the prison. He preached to
his fellow-prisoners; he wrote pamphlets; he did everything in his
power to make known to others the good tidings of salvation that had
come to him. He wrote a great many letters, and they were all full
of the spirit of religion. He wrote treatises on religious truth,
that might have been written by a systematic theologian; but among
the most practical things he wrote was the address to his children,
that it would be well if all people would read, and which, with a few
exceptions, is as appropriate for the people of to-day as it was for
those who lived two hundred years ago.
If Penn had not been a religious man, his life had not been worth
recording. He would have lived the life that was lived by almost all
men of his class at that time, a life of unrestrained worldliness and
luxury. The Almighty, who had great purposes in store for the New
World, to be wrought out by the instrumentality of man, could have
chosen another man, but he chose Penn.
Such is the story of the life of a man who was one of the world’s
heroes. His name will never die. There is a large literature on the
subject of his life, some of which you will find in your own library,
if you choose to look further into it. This is all that I feel it
proper to say to you to-day about it.
Boys, it is a great thing to have been born in Pennsylvania, as all
of you were. And this could hardly be said of any other congregation
in this city to-day. This is a great commonwealth. As to its size, it
is (leaving out Wales) nearly as large as the whole of England. As to
great rivers and mountains and mines and metals, as to forests and
fields, we are far in advance of anything of the kind in England. No
valleys on earth are more beautiful or more productive than the valleys
of our own Pennsylvania.
It is a great thing, boys, to have been born in the city of
Philadelphia, as most of you were. It was founded by a great and good
man. There are, in the civilized world, but three cities that are
larger than ours. There is no city, except London, that has so many
dwelling-houses, and there is none anywhere in all the world where the
poor man who works for his living can live so happily and so well.
In this State, in this city, your lot is cast. You will soon many of
you take your place among the citizens, and have your share in choosing
the men who make and execute the laws. Some of you _will be_ the men
who make and execute the laws. William Penn founded this commonwealth,
not only to provide a peaceable home for the persecuted members of his
own society, but to afford an asylum for the good and oppressed of
every nation; and he founded an empire where the pure and peaceable
principles of Christianity might be carried out in practice. When you
come to take your part in the duties of public life, see to it that you
forget not his wise and noble purpose.
OUR CONSTITUTION.
October, 1887.
I am about to do what I have never done――what has probably never been
done by any other person in this chapel. I propose to give you a
political speech, but not a partisan speech; indeed, I hardly think you
will be able to guess, from anything I say, to which of the two great
political parties I belong.
I do not go to the Bible for a text――though there are many passages in
the holy Scriptures which would answer my purpose very well――but I take
for my text the following passage from the will of Mr. Girard:
“AND ESPECIALLY I DESIRE THAT BY EVERY PROPER MEANS, A PURE ATTACHMENT
TO OUR REPUBLICAN INSTITUTIONS, AND TO THE SACRED RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE
AS GUARANTEED BY OUR HAPPY CONSTITUTIONS, SHALL BE FORMED AND FOSTERED
IN THE MINDS OF THE SCHOLARS.”
A few weeks ago our city was filled to overflowing with strangers.
They came from all parts of the land, and some from distant parts of
the world. Our railways and steamboats were crowded to their utmost
capacity. Our streets were thronged; our hotels and many private
dwellings were full. It was said that there were half a million of
strangers here. The President of the United States, the members
of the Cabinet, many members of the national Senate and House of
Representatives, the general of the army and many other generals, the
highest navy officers, judges of the Supreme Court of the United States
and of the State courts, the governors of most of the States――each
with his staff――soldiers and sailors of the United States, and many
regiments of State troops (the Girard College cadets among them)――a
military and naval display of twenty-five thousand men――representatives
of foreign states, an exhibition of the industrial and mechanic arts,
in a procession miles in extent, such as was never seen in all the
world before; receptions and banquets, public and private; a general
suspension of most kinds of business――all this occurred in the streets
of our city, only a few weeks ago. What did it mean?
It was the One Hundredth Anniversary of the adoption of the
Constitution of the United States, and it was considered to be an
event of such importance that it was well worth while to pause in our
daily work; to give holiday to our schools; to still the busy hum
of industry; to stop the wheels of commerce; to close our places of
business.
One hundred years ago the Constitution of the United States of America
was adopted in this city.
What had been our government before this time? Up to July, 1776, there
had been thirteen colonies, all under the government of Great Britain.
In the lapse of time, the people of these colonies, owing allegiance to
the king of England, and subjected to certain taxes which they had no
voice in considering and imposing, because they had no representation
in the Parliament which laid the taxes, became discontented and
rebellious, and in a convention which sat in our own city of
Philadelphia, on the 4th of July, 1776, they united in a DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE of Great Britain, and announced the thirteen colonies as
Free, Sovereign and Independent States.
This, however, was only a DECLARATION; and it took seven long years of
exhausting and terrible war (which would have been longer still but for
the timely aid of the French nation) to secure that independence and
have it acknowledged by the governments of Europe.
Before the DECLARATION, each of the colonies had a State government and
a written constitution for the regulation of its internal affairs. Now
these colonies had become States, with the necessity upon them (not at
first admitted by all) of a general compact or agreement, by which the
States, while maintaining their independence in many things, should
become a confederated or general government.
More than a year passed before the Constitution, which the Convention
agreed upon, was adopted by a sufficient number of the States to make
it binding on all the thirteen; and I am glad to know and to say that
my own little State of Delaware was the first to adopt it.
Now, WHAT IS THE CONSTITUTION? How does it differ from the _laws_ which
the Congress enacts every winter in Washington?
First, let me speak of other nations. There are two kinds of government
in the world――monarchical and republican. And there are two kinds of
monarchies――absolute and limited. An absolute monarch, whether he be
called emperor or king, rules by his personal will――HIS WILL IS THE
LAW. One of the most perfect illustrations of absolute or personal
government is seen on board any ship, where the will of the chief
officer, whether admiral or captain, or whatever his rank, is, and must
be, the law. From his orders, his decisions, there is no appeal until
the ship reaches the shore, when he himself comes under the law. This
is a very ancient form of government, now known in very few countries
calling themselves civilized.
The other kind of monarchy is limited by a constitution, _un_written,
as in Great Britain, or _written_, as in some other nations of Europe.
In these countries the sovereigns are under a constitution; in some
instances with hardly as much power as our President. They are not a
law unto themselves, but are under the common law.
The other kind of government is republican, democratic or representative.
It is, as was happily said on the field of Gettysburg, long after the
battle, by President Lincoln, “a government _of_ the people, _by_ the
people, _for_ the people.” These few plain words are well worth
remembering――“of,” “by,” “for” the people. These are the traits which
distinguish our government from all kinds of monarchies, whether
absolute or limited, hereditary or elective.
After the war between Germany and France, in 1870, the German kingdoms
of Prussia, Hanover, Saxony, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, with certain small
principalities, each with its hereditary sovereign, were consolidated
or confederated as the German empire, and the king of Prussia, the
present Frederick William, was crowned emperor of Germany.
France, however, after that war, having had enough of kings and
emperors, adopted the republican form of government. So that now there
are three republics in Europe, viz.: France, Switzerland, and a little
territory on the east coast of Italy, San Marino.
So that almost all of Europe, all of Asia, and all of Africa (except
Liberia), and the islands of Australia, and the northern part of North
America (except Alaska), are under the government of monarchs; while
the three countries of Europe already mentioned, and our own country,
and Mexico, and the Central American States, and all South America
except Brazil (and some small parts of the coast of South America under
British rule), are republics.[B]
[B] One of our most distinguished citizens said some years ago that he
believed the tendency of things was towards the English language, the
Christian religion, and republican government for the human race.
Now let us come back to our own government and see what is, and whether
it is better than any form of monarchy; and if so, why.
What is the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES? The first clause in it
is the best answer I can give: