The first presentation to the king of Sweden, by William Usselinx,
touching the planting of a colony on the west bank of the Delaware,
looked to the establishment of a trading company with unlimited
trading privileges; and the argument for it was the great source of
revenue it would be to the kingdom. But when Gustavus Adolphus entered
into the subject and gave his royal favor to it, quite other motives
and considerations came in to determine his course. As the history
records, and quite aside from the prospect of establishing his power
in these parts of the world, "the king, whose zeal for the honor of
God was not less ardent than for the welfare of his subjects, _availed
himself of this opportunity to extend the doctrines of Christ among
the heathen_,"[39] and to this end granted letters patent, in which it
was further provided that a free state should be formed, guaranteeing
all personal rights of property, honor, and religion, and forming an
asylum and place of security for the persecuted people of all nations.
And when these gracious intentions of the king were revived after his
death, the same ideas and provisions were carefully maintained,
specially stipulating (1) for every human respect toward the
Indians--to wit, that the governors of the colony should deal justly
with them as the rightful lords of the land, and exert themselves at
every opportunity "that the same wild people may be instructed in the
truths and worship of the Christian religion, and in other ways
brought to civilization and good government, and in this manner
properly guided;" (2) "above all things to consider and see to it that
divine service be duly maintained and zealously performed according to
the unaltered Augsburg Confession;" and (3) to protect those of a
different confession in the free exercise of their own forms.[40]
It is plain, therefore, that the spirit of religion, the spirit of
evangelical missions, the spirit of Christian charity, and the spirit
of devotion to the protection of religious liberty and freedom of
conscience were the dominating motives on the part of those who
founded the first permanent settlement on the territory of
Pennsylvania.