A Beginner's History. William H. Mace
steep roofs with gable ends that were like series of steps. On the front of each house large iron numerals told the year in which it was built. On the roof were curious weathervanes.
About the fireplace the family gathered in the evening. The burgher would tell jovial stories to the children as he smoked his long pipe. The good wife, resting from her day's work, found some needlework to busy her fingers.
The Dutch wives were famous housekeepers and prided themselves on their spotless homes. They scoured and scrubbed from morning to night. But they also knew how to make doughnuts and crullers and to cook good dishes that made their husbands round and good-natured and their children rosy and plump.
The Dutch liked merrymaking
The Dutch liked merrymaking and good times far better than did their Puritan neighbors. The big brass knocker on the door—shaped generally like the head of some animal—was kept busy in the afternoon by people coming to drink tea or coffee. A great copper kettle, hung in the fireplace, furnished enough to drink for every one, and sweet cookies were always on hand. They celebrated many holidays. At Christmas we still look for old Santa Claus, whom the Dutch first brought to this country.
In Holland the burghers had been good farmers and shrewd merchants. When they came to this country they continued to make their living chiefly in these two ways. On Long Island and along the Hudson River were fine farms with well-kept fields and large gardens. The merchants mostly lived at New Amsterdam, which soon became a busy seaport. Here many sailing vessels lay at anchor and exchanged their cargoes for the products of the Dutch farms and of the Indian trade. From the small beginnings made by these Dutch merchants has grown the largest city of the western world.
WILLIAM PENN, THE QUAKER, WHO FOUNDED THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE
55. William Penn. One day Thomas Loe, a Quaker preacher, ventured into the old university town of Oxford. He talked with the students and explained to them the beliefs of the Quakers. He declared that all men were equal, and he refused to recognize rank or title. He taught men to live and worship in simplicity.
William Penn converted
A few students believed his teachings and resolved to become members of the hated sect of Quakers. Among them was William Penn, the son of a great naval officer, Admiral Penn. What a buzzing there was in that old college town when the news spread that William Penn, the fine scholar, the skilled oarsman, the all-round athlete, had become a Quaker!
Why Penn was expelled from college
Some of his comrades would not believe it. But when they saw him put off the cap and gown of his college, which some of the greatest men in English history had worn with pride, and put on the plain garb of the Quakers, they gave up! The college officers were also convinced when Penn and other Quakers tore off the gowns of fellow students. The authorities promptly expelled these young and over-enthusiastic Friends.
What Penn's family and friends thought
What more disgraceful thing could happen to the family of Admiral Penn? To have a son expelled from Oxford was bad enough, but to have him become a Quaker was a disgrace not to be borne—so thought his family. The stern old admiral promptly drove him from home. But William resolutely refused to give up his Quaker views, and the admiral decided to try the plan of sending him to Paris, where life was as un-Quaker-like as it could be.
William Penn himself looked little like a Quaker. He was then eighteen years old, fine looking, with large eyes and long, dark, curly hair reaching to his shoulders.
Penn in Paris
Young Penn, however, did not entirely waste his time in the gay life of Paris. He attended school and traveled in Italy. At the end of two years he came back.
Returns more of a Quaker than ever
It was not long before the admiral again saw Quaker signs in his son and hastened him off to Ireland to cure him entirely. But who should be preaching in Ireland but Thomas Loe. William went to hear his old preacher, and this time became a Quaker forever. No suffering was great enough to cause him ever to waver again, although fines were heaped on him and at four different times he was thrown into foul jails to be the companion of criminals.
WILLIAM PENN
At the age of 22, from a painting in the rooms of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, presented by his grandson, Granville Penn of Stoke Poges
Penn refuses to lift his hat
Penn's family now felt the disgrace very keenly, but his father promised to forgive him if he would take off his hat to the king, to the king's brother, and to his father. One day, the story goes, King Charles, the merry monarch, met William Penn and others. All hats were promptly removed except the king's and Penn's. Presently the king, too, removed his hat. Whereupon, Penn said: "Friend Charles, why dost thou remove thy hat?" The king replied: "Because, wherever I am, it is customary for but one to remain covered."
Penn's father would not permit such conduct toward his royal friends. He therefore drove his son from his home a second time.
THE MEETING BETWEEN WILLIAM PENN AND KING CHARLES
William Penn makes a noble choice
But Penn's mother finally made peace between the father and the son before the admiral died. William Penn, then but twenty-six years old, came into possession of a fortune. Once more he stood "where the roads parted." He could now be a great man and play the part of a fine English gentleman who would always be welcome at court, or he could remain a Quaker.
Turns to America
We do not know that he even thought of forsaking his Quaker comrades. On the contrary, he resolved to devote his fortune and his life to giving them relief. Like Winthrop for the Puritans and Baltimore for the Catholics, Penn thought of America for his persecuted Friends. With other Quaker leaders, he became an owner of West Jersey, part of New Jersey.
A WEATHER VANE
Set above their mill by Penn and two partners in 1699, to show which way the wind might blow
The king pays an old debt
Penn's Woods
56. The Founding of Pennsylvania. King Charles II owed Penn's father about eighty thousand dollars. William Penn asked him to pay it in American land. Charles was only too glad to grant this request of the son of his old sea captain. The land he gave to Penn is the present great state of Pennsylvania. Penn wanted the colony called Sylvania, meaning woodland, but the king declared it should be called Pennsylvania in memory of Admiral Penn.
By means of letters and pamphlets Penn sent word to the Quakers throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. He told them of Quaker homes across the sea, where jails would not trouble them.
There was great rejoicing among them over Penn's "Holy Experiment," as his plan was called.
A QUAKER
Penn invited all persecuted people
Penn even visited