mother as executrix and guardian. William Penn, Jr., made a short-lived attempt to break the will, and, as proprietor, sent instructions to Keith to cherish the Church of England and maintain a militia. The government, as distinct from the land, was left to three lords in trust, to complete the sale to the crown. A suit was instituted to ascertain ownership, and in the mean time but little attention was paid to the eldest son, who died about two years after his father, his son Springett outliving him but a little time. Mrs. Penn practically directed affairs, and the suit confirmed her in the place.

In the mean time she was greatly aided by the politic conduct of Keith. Under him affairs were moving on in the province with a smoothness and facility hitherto unknown. Both governor and assembly were anxious to do the right thing. He announced his intentions of taking his directions only from the old proprietary's instructions, and as it turned out, this proved the right thing to do.

Industrial conditions were also favorable. The agricultural production was superabundant. To increase the foreign demand, laws were passed appointing inspectors to certify to the quality of the flour and salted meats, and these soon gained a reputation which made the export trade a feature of great importance. To increase the home consumption, the use of foreign foods, like sugar and molasses, was discouraged, and these laws in time helped to work out the desired results.

The government expenses were kept low. Keith was allowed nine hundred and fifty pounds, and the tavern and other licenses, which doubled his income. Collectors of customs were paid commissions on their receipts, and the judges, except the chief justice who was paid a salary, were rewarded by fees. Then there were presents to Indians, the payment for London influence and other small matters, so that the total annual expense of the provincial government under Keith was about fifteen hundred pounds, and this was paid by a tax on real and personal property, duties on spirits, flax, hops, and negroes, and the interest on loans.

By dexterous flattery the governor induced the assembly to establish equity courts, the judges to be appointed by himself, and a militia. He assured them that no military requirements would be made and no conscience violated. He was strong enough to avert the danger of an act inquiring into the property and religious qualifications of the German immigrants as a condition of citizenship, and with great skill he warded off trouble with the Indians when one of their number was killed under aggravated circumstances by the whites, their chief finally requesting that the offender should not be put to death, "one life is enough to be lost, there should not two die."

The crowning effort of Keith, which restored commercial as well as political prosperity to the colony, was the issue of paper money. There was a great deficiency in the medium of exchange. England refused to admit provincial manufactures, and the purchases from the mother country were many and varied. Everything must be paid for in gold and silver. The provinces all felt the drain of money, and resorted to divers expedients to remedy the loss. In Pennsylvania produce was made a legal tender, and the rate of interest was reduced from eight to six per cent., but the evil continued. Several of the colonies had issued paper money, and the immediate effects being agreeable, had continued the process so far as to produce a great depreciation. There is not much wonder, therefore, that when the governor proposed the measure, Norris, Logan, and other conservative men strongly objected. Yet we must now judge him to have been right, for so judiciously and cautiously were the issues made that the new money maintained its equality with gold. The process devised in Keith's time, first adopted in 1723, and to which the colonists became warmly attached, was as follows: The first issue was fixed at fifteen thousand pounds, and bills were in size from one to twenty shillings. Any owner of plate or unencumbered real estate could procure these bills, pledging his property and paying five per cent. per annum. The loan on plate could be for one year only, on real estate for eight years.

The amount loaned to one person could not be less than twelve or more than one hundred pounds, unless part of the loan remained untaken. One-eighth of the principal of the loans on the real estate was to be repaid annually. The money thus paid in was to be applied to the purchase of other bills, which were then to be "sunk" or destroyed. Careful provision was made against counterfeiting, and the bills thus became a circulating medium, and a legal tender at par for the payment of all debts.

The act proved so useful that a year later an additional issue of thirty thousand pounds was decreed, to run twelve and a half years, with one important modification. The bills, when paid in, were to be reissued on new loans, thus preserving the volume of the paper currency.

The process was continued till the Revolution, and finally became a favorite plan of the popular party. The proprietors always opposed it, fearing depreciation and disaster. It is much to the credit of the assembly that it studied the problem carefully, determined judicially the limits of safety, and for fifty years maintained the system without fear of any repudiation, and to the manifest benefit of the province in the peculiar position in which it was placed.

While Keith was vastly popular with the assembly and the people, the council was suspicious and distrustful. He joined heartily in the contention of the party of David Lloyd that the latter body had no place in legislation. It was not mentioned in the charter which gave the governor and freemen the sole power to enact laws. It was only mentioned incidentally in the constitution of 1701, and Keith contended that he might do as he pleased in signing laws without regard to its advice. Constitutionally he was right, but he was the servant of the proprietaries, who could remove him at will, and who had directed him to do nothing without advice. He, however, flattered himself that his popular strength would enable him to defy his employers. He removed Logan from his positions as secretary of the province and member of the council, on the plea that a certain minute was not respectful to himself.

The ex-secretary immediately sailed to England, and had the satisfaction of returning with letters from Mrs. Penn, restoring him to his positions and reprehending the governor. She censured him for appointing new councillors without the consent of those already existing, and, while admitting that they did not legally have a part in government, considered their advice and aid necessary in transacting his important duties. Logan was unqualifiedly endorsed, and a strong hint was conveyed to Keith that it might be necessary to change governors if he were not more obedient.

Keith appears to have believed that the failure to remove him resulted from the tangled condition of proprietary affairs in England, and his own successful administration. Consequently he concluded to take the assembly into his confidence, and conveyed to it Mrs. Penn's letter of instructions and his own reply. Logan therefore thought it necessary to vindicate the proprietary family and himself by a long explanation; the war horse, David Lloyd, from his place as chief justice, could not see his old adversary in the field without issuing an address in favor of the champion of popular rights, arguing that a deputy had all the powers of the principal, and could not be restricted by instructions, all of which papers were placed upon the minutes of the assembly. The house responded to the arguments of its old leader, agreed to support the governor, and voted him one thousand pounds.

Matters were evidently going too far, and Mrs. Penn quietly removed the governor. It is a proof of the devotion of the people to the proprietary family that they acquiesced so quietly and deserted their champion. He strove to raise a popular clamor, and had himself elected to the assembly, but his power was gone. His administration had been successful beyond all before him, he had defended the things about which Quakers cared the most,-liberty of conscience and popular power,—but we can hardly acquit him of unfaithfulness to his employers and the habits of a demagogue. He left the country suddenly in 1728 to avoid creditors, after an attempt to make trouble for his successor, and died in prison in London.

CHAPTER VII.

1726-1736.

Gordon's Good Administration-More Paper Money-Andrew Hamilton's Letter-Death of Hannah Penn-Her Sons.

THE saying of Carlyle, "Happy the nation whose annals are blank in history books," may be applied to the administration of Keith's successor, Patrick Gordon. He was an old man of eighty-two years when he began his governorship, yet he successfully managed the affairs of the province for ten years. He had been a soldier of Queen Anne's army, and said in his first message to the assembly that he had imbibed simplicity and directness and an absence of "refined politics" from camp life. Though he was subject to some suspicion, after Keith's discharge, for fear of his too great devotion to proprietary interests, his justice, good sense, and dignity soon gained him confidence, and he fortunately welded popular and proprietary interests into harmonious relations. He was the best of the lieutenantgovernors. He used his council as the proprietaries expected, but never seriously thwarted the assembly. While his instructions encouraged him to oppose paper money issues, he frankly confessed that his observations since he reached the province had made him favorable to them if carefully guarded; that they, by stimulating industry, were doing as much for England as for her colony. Ship-building was now becoming a profitable industry, and many a handsome and well-laden boat found sale for itself and cargo at the end of its first voyage. The iron manufactures were increasing, and this had some effect in diminishing the drain of gold; he did not think that authorities in England when they knew all the conditions would seriously oppose a moderate issue.