Of all his ancestors, our little Fritz, when he grew big, admired this
one--a man made like himself in many points. He seems really to have loved
and honored this one. In the year 1750 there had been a new Cathedral got
finished at Berlin; the ancestral bones had to be shifted over from the
vaults of the old one--the burying-place ever since Joachim II, that
Joachim who drew his sword on Alba. King Friedrich, with some attendants,
witnessed the operation, January, 1750. When the Great Kurfuerst's coffin
came, he bade them open it; gazed in silence on the features for some time,
which were perfectly recognizable; laid his hand on the hand long dead, and
said, "_Messieurs, celui ci a fait de grandes choses_!" ("This one did a
grand work").
%WILLIAM PENN RECEIVES THE GRANT OF PENNSYLVANIA%
FOUNDING OF PHILADELPHIA
A.D. 1681
GEORGE E. ELLIS
Although European settlers had occupied portions of the present State of
Pennsylvania for fifty years before William Penn arrived in that territory,
the real foundation of the great commonwealth named after him is justly
dated from his time.
Penn was an English "Friend," or Quaker, and was descended from a long line
of sailors. He was born in London in 1644, his father being Admiral
Sir William Penn of the English navy. The son was educated at Oxford
University, and became a preacher of the Society of Friends. This calling
brought him into collision with the authorities. He was several times
arrested, and for a while was imprisoned in the Tower for "urging the cause
of freedom with importunity."
Through the influence of his family and the growing weight of his own
character, he escaped the heavier penalties inflicted upon some of his
coreligionists, and, by the shrewdness and tact which he united with
spiritual fervor, he rapidly advanced in public position.
In 1675 Penn became part proprietor of West New Jersey, where a colony of
English Friends was settled. Five years later, through his influence at
court and the aid of wealthy persons, he was enabled to purchase a large
tract in East New Jersey, where he designed to establish a similar colony
on a larger plan. But this project was soon superseded by a much greater
one, of which the execution is here related.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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