necticut, was assigned by Charles II, to his brother the Duke of York. The same year New Jersey was granted, by him, to Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret, and was settled by Swedes and Danes.

Having thus alluded to the early settlement of the neighboring colonies, we will briefly notice the early settlement and history of Pennsylvania.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made by the Hollanders, to settle on the banks of the Delaware, but they were frustrated by Indian hostilities, always treacherous, and sometimes bloody, The Swedes were then excited by the success of the Dutch West India company, in trading with the Indians, and a company of like character was established, under the auspices of Gustavus Adolphus. In the following reign, under the liberal patronage of Chancellor Oxenstein, two vessels with Swedish colonists arrived in the Delaware, in the year 1698. They settled near Cape Henlopen, but made surveys upon the west bank of the Delaware so far as Trenton. They were reinforced from time to time, until the Swedish colonists became numerous, and by their conduct to the Indians, every thing bid fair for the permanent establishment of that people. But colonists arrived from Holland, and for some years, the banks of the Delaware were held by these people in common. The Dutch had acquired the political ascendant, but the Swedes gave character and prosperity to the colony.

The English in 1664, conquered the whole country occupied by the Dutch, and compelled it to submit to English power. This led to a war between England and Holland, which ended in a treaty, ceding the entire possessions of the Dutch in North America, to the English. This possession was never disturbed, except for a very short period.

The title to the state of New Jersey, passed through the Duke of York, to whom it had been granted by the King, to Lord Berkley and Sir Geo. Carteret. It was subsequently assigned in trust for creditors, and William Penn became one of the trustees. His acceptance and acting in the trust, enabled him to acquire a knowledge of the country on both sides of the Delaware. The first Legislative Assembly was held in 1681.

name.

This noble old Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was founded by William Penn, son of a distinguished Baronet and Admiral of the same As a trustee of the state of N. Jersey, just alluded to, where he had been actively engaged in colonizing, he obtained a knowledge of the country, and sufficient prescience to perceive its future greatness. His ambition was to found a Commonwealth on the principle of religious

sect.

toleration. Though born and bred among the aristocracy of England, this excellent man joined the Quakers, then a persecuted and obscure But persecution could not shake his faith, or subdue his zeal. As a preacher, he was several times imprisoned, but he plead his own cause at trial with such eloquence and boldness, as to procure his acquittal from an English jury, in the face of a penalty for contempt. To relieve himself and the jury, he afterwards paid an unjust fine, but the trial was to him a lesson of wisdom.

To relieve his new friends, the persecuted Quakers, from trials at home, and to secure for them an asylum where their morals, and purity of faith might be exercised unmolested, became with him a favorite object. Though it is not probable he aimed at a higher work, he suc ceeded in laying the foundation of a State whose greatness and prosperity is destined to render his name undying.

Sir William Penn, the father, during the reign of Charles, had become a creditor of the government to the amount of sixteen thousand pounds. This sum could not be liquidated in cash. The old admiral foresaw this state of his affairs, and being a favorite with the King, and the Duke of York, on his death had obtained assurances of protection to his son.These promises were in part redeemed.

In 1681, Penn obtained his grant from Charles for a discharge of the sixteen thousand pounds due his father, with a charter, bearing date of March 4th, in that year. Soon afterwards he obtained from the Duke of York, who claimed most of the continent by grants from his brother Charles, a conveyance of the country which now forms the State of Delaware, and the town of Newcastle. The King himself gave name to his grant, and it is said against the wishes of Penn, called it Pennsylvania. It was at that time a beautiful forest country. Mr. Penn prefered the name of New Wales.

The charter awarded with the design of the King. The grants were liberal. The annual rents were ten beaver skins, with one-fifth of all the gold and silver. The proprietor was empowered to enact laws, with the assent of the province, and in but few particulars was he short of sovereign. In all cases of dispute, the charter was to be construed most favorably to the proprietor. The extent of the province was three degrees of latitude in breadth, by five degrees of longitude in length. This grant was made known by the King's proclamation, and Penn himself published an account of his province. An arrangement was soon made between Penn and numerous adventurers. They were to

pay forty shillings per one hundred acres, and an annual rent of one shilling forever.

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The first settlers under Penn arrived at Chester, Dec. 11th, 1681.The river had then just closed, and they were obliged to winter there. In August, 1682, this eminent man himself embarked in the ship Welcome, with about two thousand emigrants, and arrived in October.

The first colonists were chiefly of his own sect, temperate, industrious and economical Quakers, and they conducted themselves with great prudence. They laid the foundation of the magnificent city of Philadelphia, at the confluence of the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. Besides his own people, Penn was aided in the first settlement by Welsh traders, Germans, and other English. Their success exceeded that of any other colony; and one year after his arrival Penn estimated the number of the colonists at 4,000 souls. The Welsh settled west of the Schuylkill, and the Germans founded Germantown.

But this colony had to submit to numerous privations and hardships, incident to the settlement of a new country; such as can scarcely be realized by their future descendants, of the present city of brotherlylove.

The distinguishing characteristic of the conduct of Penn, and a principal cause of the success and prosperity of his colony, was his treatment of the aborigines. He set the example, and instructed all his agents to treat them with justice and humanity, and on christian principles. He acted as though he felt that they were children of the same common father, with souls impressed with His love, and that they might be influenced by kindness and love. The fruit of this was amity and peace, instead of conflict and bloodshed.

Having established his constitution of government, elaborate, and filled with all the wisest principles known at that time, though with some defects, a first Legislative Assembly was convened at Chester, at that time called Upland. Among the first laws passed was one founded in wisdom and before the age. It declared "that none acknowledging one God and living peaceably in society, should be molested for his opinions, nor be compelled to frequent or maintain any ministry whatever." Nicholas Moore was the Speaker. This session of the Legislature lasted three days, and three laws were enacted. 1. An act for the union of the province and territories. 2. An act of naturalization. 3. The great law, of which the above is an abstract. It also contained a system of morals, and laws in relation to property and de

In the early history of the State, Penn was mnch annoyed by a controversy with the heirs of Lord Baltimore, the proprietor of Maryland. Their claims conflicted, and war was threatened. They eventually entered into an agreement of settlement, which was finally in 1750, specifically enforced by a decree in chancery, under Lord Chancellor Hardwicke.

The first great treaty with the Indians was held at Shorbanaxon, now Kensington. The sachems and warriors there, met Penn under the shade of a celebrated elm tree; since as famous as the charter oak at Hartford. Penn was plainly dressed, without troops, arms or insignia of power, except he was distinguised by a blue sash. He was followed by a train of peaceful Quakers, holding in his hands a parchment containing the treaty of amity and purchase.

This council and treaty was one of the most remarkable ever known, and the character of Penn is not illustrated by any act so brilliant. It was just and adhered to, and the prosperity of the commonwealth was not afterwards for many years disturbed by Indian hostilities.

No other opportunity being likely to offer, we will conclude briefly the introductory history of William Penn. He suffered continual persecution in England, and encountered great difficulties with his colony. His private fortune was injured by advances he made in conducting his affairs, and at length he was harrassed and imprisoned by his creditors. He died in the city of London in 1718, leaving an inheritance to his children, which would ultimately have been of immense value, but of which they were mostly deprived by the American revolution. They then compromised for a sum of ready money. He left a character which will be known in history to the latest times, and more desirable than that of any conquerer who has ever spilt the blood of his fellow man. It was that of a christian, embracing all the good attributes of christian character.

Having thus very briefly adverted to the discovery and early settlement of Pennsylvania, and some of the neighboring States, we must allude to the settlements of the French, with whom the history of Western Pennsylvania is still more intimately connected.

The city of Qubec was founded by Samuel Champlain, in 1608; and the extension of settlements by the English in Virginia and Maryland, were nearly simultaneous with the French in Canada and along the western lakes. For about a century the "great west," as it is called, was explored, and in many places settled by the French, before any other people had crossed the Alleghenies, "except a few traders, especially

from Carolina, who had ventured among the Indians, and, becoming wild like the men with whom they trafficked, had established their homes among the Cherokees, the Muskhogees, and the Chickasaws. The abodes of civilized man reached scarcely one hundred and fifty miles from the Atlantic."

Two French missionaries, after a council had been held with the natives, and formally announced to them of their intentions, entered upon an enterprize of discovery. Marquette and Toilet, the missionaries, accompanied by assistants, and two Algonquins, as guides, on the 10th of June, 1673, set out for the discovery of the Mississippi river, which they entered July 15th, 1763, decended that river to the Arkansas, a distance of 990 miles, and then returned to Canada by way of the Illinois. This adventure opened an extensive field of speculation. M. De La Salle, commander of Fort Frontinac, on Lake Ontario, built a small vessel, (the Griffin,) embarked with a company, which, at first, consisted of Father Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan Friar, and thirty-four men, passed up lake Erie, lakes St. Clair and Huron, coursing along Michigan, disembarked near where fort Chicago now stands. He left this in December 1679. M. De La Salle, and his followers, descended the Illinois river, and in January 1680, halted at an Indian village on its banks, about 150 miles from the Mississippi. The Iroquois had extended their destructive ravages to this country, where they had obtained 800 prisoners at one time, and carried them into slavery; and this circumstance induced the Illinois Indians, to treat their new visitors with great hospitality. Here the French, for their better security, built a fort, named Crevecœur, i. e. "Broken Heart." As soon as they were secure in winter quarters, M. De La Salle, selected three men, returned over land to Canada for additional supplies and adventurers.

When M. De La Salle started for Canada, Father Hennepin, at La Salle's directions, prosecuted the enterprise. In his excursions, he ascended, according to his own account, the Mississippi to the falls of St. Anthony, where he, and two men that accompanied him, were made prisoners, robbed of their property, and taken to some Indian villages, situated on one of the upper branches of that river. They were soon liberated, and returned to Canada by way of Ouisconsing. Father Hennepin went immediately to France, where he published a splendid account of the vast country he had discovered, which he named LOUISIANA, in honor of Louis XIV. Though Hennepin claims to be the first discoverer of the Mississippi, it is, however, beyond dispute, that this honor