governor and assembly in levying illegal taxes upon the colony. This was a bold step, for until now no newspaper had dared to criticise the action of the government. Cosby, the governor of New York, resolving to make an example of the offender, arrested Zenger on the charge of libel, and caused his paper to be publicly burned. Zenger employed two lawyers to defend him, and these increased the anger of the government by denying the competency of the court, inasmuch as the appointment of the chief justice, Delancy, had been made by Cosby without the consent of the council, and was therefore illegal. The court at once struck their names from its list of attorneys, and this arbitrary action so intimidated the remaining members of the bar that Zenger found it impossible to procure counsel.

In this helpless condition he was put on trial, and the court had actually begun its proceedings when a stranger, a venerable and noblelooking man, entered the room and took his seat at the bar. He announced his name to the court, and stated that he had come to act as counsel for the prisoner. A murmur of admiration greeted the announcement of his name. He was Andrew Hamilton, speaker of the assembly of Pennsylvania, the famous "Quaker lawyer" of Philadelphia. In the trial which ensued, Hamilton offered to prove the truth of the alleged libel, but was not allowed to do so; the chief justice quoting English precedents in support of his decision. Hamilton then made an eloquent appeal to the jury, declaring that they of their own knowledge knew the statements of Zenger's paper to be true, and urged them to maintain the great principles of the freedom of the press and liberty of speech throughout the colonies, which principles, and not John Peter Zenger, he solemnly declared were on trial before them. In spite of the unfavorable charge of the judge, the jury brought in a unanimous verdict of acquittal, which was announced amid the cheers of the people. Thus while the freedom of the press was still in doubt in England, and thirtyseven years before the famous trial for libel of the publisher of the Letters Junius established it in the mother country, the people of New York declared themselves its guardians, and struck down the effort of the royal power to impose shackles upon their most vigilant defender.

In 1702 the proprietaries of New Jersey surrendered their rights of jurisdiction to the crown, and Queen Anne united the two Jerseys in one province, and placed it under the governor of New York. It was given a separate assembly, but this concession of partial independence of its neighbor did not suit the province, and after many protests it was given its own governor in the person of Lewis Morris, in 1708. During the rest of the colonial period it remained a royal province.

CHAPTER XVII.

COLONIZATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

The Quakers—Their Origin and Doctrines-William Penn-Becomes a Quaker-Is Persecuted for his Religious Opinions-Becomes Interested in American ColonizationPurchases West Jersey from the Proprietor-Conceives the Idea of Founding a Free State in America-Purchases Pennsylvania from Charles II.-Conditions of his Charter -Sends out a Colony-Arrival of Penn in America-Philadelphia Founded-Penn's Treaty with the Indians-Religious Toleration Guaranteed-Penn's Relations with his Colonists-Rapid Growth of Pennsylvania in Population and Prosperity-William Penn and James II.-Renewal of Penn's Troubles-William III. Declares Pennsylvania a Royal Province-Penn is Vindicated and Restored to his Proprietary RightsHis Return to Pennsylvania-Character of the Settlers of the Province-Penn Goes Back to England-Efforts to deprive him of his Possessions-His Death.

NE of the most remarkable results of the English Reformation was the rise and growth of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, as they came to be called. Discarding what seemed to them superfluous and unnecessary forms in religion, they confined themselves to a simpler and more primitive expression of their faith. Believing that the only evil a Christian should resist is the evil of his own heart, they opposed no resistance to persecution or to ill-treatment from their fellow-men; and as servants of the Prince of Peace were unchangeably opposed to war and bloodshed. They held the doctrine of the Trinity; that we obtain salvation by the atoning blood of Christ; that man was created a free and responsible agent, that he forfeited his right to the blessings of the Creator by his fall, and will owe his restoration to his lost estate to the mercy of God and the blood of Christ; that the Holy Scriptures are the work of inspiration, and a good rule of life and faith. With them the test of Christianity was not a man's standing in the church, but the answer of a good conscience; the sense of true inward communion between the soul of the individual and God. They conducted their worship in silence, and regarded all their members as sent by God to preach His gospel; therefore, any one, even women, was free to speak in their meetings the message which came to him from the Holy Spirit. They denied that the right to preach was restricted to any particular class, and refused to acknowledge the authority of the regular clergy. Oaths were regarded as unlawful for Christian men, and temper

anee and the utmost simplicity in all things were enjoined upon their people. They refused to recognize the social distinctions which prevailed in the world, though they admitted the power of the magistrates to enforce the laws, and regarded all men as equals. Their dress was simple, and in proportion to the means of the wearer, and their lives were blameless. They admitted the right of all men to worship God in their own way, and thus extended to all others the perfect toleration they claimed for themselves.

The founder of this sect was the good George Fox, the son of a weaver of Leicestershire, and "by his mother descended from the stock of the martyrs." He began to teach his doctrines about the middle of the seventeenth century, and at first his converts were people of the humbler classes of England. He was met with a determined opposition from both the established church and the Presbyterians, and was imprisoned, set in the stocks, cruelly beaten, and otherwise persecuted, and driven from place to place. Yet he persevered, and his doctrines began to

spread. Distressed by the persecutions to which his followers were subjected, he visited America after the restoration of Charles II., in the hope of finding there a place of refuge for his people, but could find none. Puritan New England was hostile to his doc

trines, and the power of the Church of England was strong enough in the southern colonies to defeat his object.

Among Fox's converts were a few from the higher classes of English society. One of these was destined to be, next to its founder, the greatest benefactor of his faith, and one of the choice instruments of the Almighty in the settlement and Christianization of America. This was William Penn. He was the son and heir of Admiral Sir William Penn, one of the most distinguished naval commanders of England. The admiral desired for his son the advantages which his high position would readily secure to him, but the young man at an early day, happening to converse with a simple-minded Quaker, became so deeply impressed with his principles that he adopted them as his own. This greatly annoyed the father, but supposing that it was a mere boyish notion which his son would outgrow, William was sent to study at the University of Oxford, and after leaving that institution was made to travel through Europe to improve his mind and to remove his tendency to Quakerism.

William returned to England, after an absence of two years, greatly

improved in mind, but still true to his religious convictions. In 1666, while travelling in Ireland, Penn met his old friend Thomas Loe, and heard him speak of the glorious triumph of the faith of a Christian over the adversities of the world. His enthusiasm was once more awakened to such an extent that he from that moment began to seek to draw others into the communion which had given him so much happiness. His course gave offence to the authorities, and he was imprisoned. addressed a remonstrance to the viceroy of Ireland, in which he declared: Religion is my crime and my innocence; it makes me a prisoner to malice, but my own freeman."

He

Being liberated, he went back home, but only to meet with mockery and persecution. He was ridiculed by his companions of his own rank in life, and it was a common jest in society, says Pepys, that "William Penn was a Quaker again, or some very melancholy thing." His father, disappointed and indignant at the failure of his hopes, turned him out of his house without a penny; but his mother, truer to her nature, supplied him with sufficient funds to relieve his most pressing wants.

Penn now began to defend his doctrines through the press, and thus brought them into greater prominence. This soon made him the victim of the ecclesiastical authorities, and the Bishop of London threatened him with imprisonment for life if he did not recant his doctrines. He answered firmly: "Then my prison shall be my grave." He was committed to the Tower on a charge of heresy, and kept in close confinement. Charles II., naturally kind-hearted, was touched by his firmness, and sent the learned Stillingfleet, himself a man of humanity, to reason with him. "The Tower," said Penn, "is to me the worst argument in the world." At the end of a year his father's friend, the Duke of York, procured his release, for the consistency of the young man had won back for him the affection and sympathy of the stern old admiral.

Every effort was now made to draw William Penn away from his faith. A high rank in the royal navy, the favor of the king, and many other inducements were held out to him; but he refused them all, and remained true to his principles. In less than a year after his release from the Tower he was arrested for having spoken at a Quaker meeting. He protested his right to do this, and declared that no power on earth should prevent him from worshipping the God who made him. He was placed on trial for his offence, and boldly demanded to know on what law the indictment against him was founded. "On the common law," replied the recorder. "Where is that law?" asked Penn. "The law which is not in being, far from being common, is no law at all." He conducted his own defence, and as he was pleading earnestly for his