From our youth upwards we have entertained a deep feeling of
affection for the respectable fraternity of the Quakers. Our love,
probably, had its date and origin from very early contemplation
of a print, which represented an elderly pot-bellied individual,
with a broad-brimmed hat and drab terminations, in the act of
concluding a treaty with several squatting Indians, only redeemed
from a state of nature by a slight garniture of scalps and wampum.
Underneath was engraved a legend which our grand-aunt besought
us to treasure in our memory as a sublime moral lesson. It ran
thus:--THE BLOODLESS TRIUMPH, OR PENN'S TREATY WITH THE CHIEFS; and
we were told that the fact thereby commemorated was one of the most
honourable achievements to be found in the pages of general history.
With infantine facility we believed in the words of the matron. No
blood or rapine--no human carcasses or smoking wigwams, deformed
the march of the Quaker conqueror. Beneath a mighty tree, in the
great Indian wilderness, was the patriarchal council held; and
the fee-simple of a territory, a good deal larger than an average
kingdom, surrendered, with all its pendicles of lake, prairie, and
hunting-ground, to the knowing philanthropist, in exchange for some
bales of broad-cloth, a little cutlery, a liberal allowance of
beads, and a very great quantity, indeed, of adulterated rum and
tobacco. Never, we believe, since Esau sold his birth-right, was a
tract of country acquired upon terms so cheap and easy. Some faint
idea of this kind appears to have struck us at the time; for, in
answer to some question touching the nature of the goods supposed
to be contained in several bales and casks which were prominently
represented in the picture, our relative hastily remarked, that she
did not care for the nature of the bargain--the principle was the
great consideration. And so it is. William Penn unquestionably acted
both wisely and well: he brought his merchandise to a first-rate
market, and left a valuable legacy of acuteness to his children
and faithful followers. Our grand-aunt--rest her soul!--died in
the full belief of ultimate Pennsylvanian solvency. She could not
persuade herself, that the representatives of the man who had
acquired a principality at the expense of a ship-load of rubbish,
would prove in any way untrue to their bonds; and by her last will
and testament, whereof we are the sole executor, she promoted us to
the agreeable rank of a creditor on the Pennsylvanian government. If
any gentleman is desirous to be placed in a similar position, with
a right to the new stock which has been recently issued in lieu of
a monetary dividend, he may hear of an excellent investment by an
early application to our brokers. We also are most firm believers in
the fact of American credit, and we shall not change our opinion--at
least until we effect the sale.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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