"William inherited very large possessions, part of which consisted of crown debts, due to the vice-admiral for sums he had advanced for the sea-service. No moneys were at that time less secure than those owing from the king. Penn was obliged to go, more than once, and "thee" and "thou" Charles and his ministers, to recover the debt; and at last, instead of specie, the government invested him with the right and sovereignty of a province of America, to the south of Maryland. Thus was a Quaker raised to sovereign power. He set sail for his new dominions with two ships filled with Quakers, who followed his fortune. The country was then named by them Pennsylvania, from William Penn; and he founded Philadelphia, which is now a very flourishing city. His first care was to make an alliance with his American neighbors; and this is the only treaty between those people and the Christians that was not ratified by an oath, and that was never infringed. The new sovereign also enacted several wise and wholesome laws for his colony, which have remained invariably the same to this day. The chief is, to ill-treat no person on account of religion, and to consider as brethren all those who believe in one God. He had no sooner settled his government than several American merchants came and peopled this colony. The natives of the country, instead of flying into the woods, cultivated by degrees a friendship with the peaceable Quakers. They loved these new strangers as much as they disliked the other Christians, who had conquered and ravaged America. In a little time these savages, as they are called, delighted with their new neighbors, flocked in crowds to Penn, to offer themselves as his vassals. It was an uncommon thing to behold a sovereign "thee'd" and "thou'd" by his subjects, and addressed by them with their hats on; and no less singular for a government to be without one priest in it; a people without arms, either for offence or preservation; a body of citizens without any distinctions but those of public employments; and for neighbors to live together free from envy or jealousy. In a word, William Penn might, with reason, boast of having brought down upon earth the Golden Age, which in all probability, never had any real existence but in his dominions."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
William Penn
1644 – 1718
englischer Quäker und Gründer von Pennsylvania
63 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by William Penn →
Related Quotes
"BECAUSE no People can be truly happy, though under the greatest Enjoyment of Civil Liberties, if abridged of the Free…"
"You are now fixed at the mercy of no governor that comes to make his fortune great; you shall be governed by laws of …"
"As I well: I wish they had told me so before, since the expecting of a release put a stop to some business; thou mays…"
"There is one great God and power that has made the world and all things therein, to whom you and I and all people owe…"
"They have a Right to censure, that have a Heart to help: The rest is Cruelty, not Justice."
"Children had rather be making of Tools and Instruments of Play; Shaping, Drawing, Framing, and Building, &c. than get…"
"There is nothing of which we are apt to be so lavish as of Time, and about which we ought to be more solicitous; sinc…"
"It is admirable to consider how many Millions of People come into, and go out of the World, Ignorant of themselves, a…"
"It were Happy if we studied Nature more in natural Things; and acted according to Nature; whose rules are few, plain …"
"Liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedience without liberty is slavery."