While the whites preserved in written records the memory of such covenants,
the Indians had their methods for perpetuating in safe channels their
own relations. They cherished in grateful regard, they repeated to their
children and to the whites, the terms of the Great Treaty. The Delawares
called William Penn _Miquon_, in their own language, though they seem to
have adopted the name given him by the Iroquois, _Onas_; both which terms
signify a quill or pen. Benjamin West's picture of the treaty is too
imaginative for a historical piece. He makes Penn of a figure and aspect
which would become twice the years that had passed over his head. The
elm-tree was spared in the war of the American Revolution, when there
was distress for firewood, the British officer, Simcoe, having placed a
sentinel beneath it for protection. It was prostrated by the wind on the
night of Saturday, March 3, 1810. It was of gigantic size, and the circles
around its heart indicated an age of nearly three centuries. A piece of
it was sent to the Penn mansion at Stoke Poges, in England, where it is
properly commemorated. A marble monument, with suitable inscriptions, was
"placed by the Penn Society, A.D. 1827, to mark the site of the Great Elm
Tree." Long may it stand!
Penn then made a visit to his manor of Pennsbury, up the Delaware. Under
Markham's care, the grounds had been arranged, and a stately edifice of
brick was in process of completion. The place had many natural beauties,
and is said to have been arranged and decorated in consistency both with
the office and the simple manners of the proprietor. There was a hall
of audience for Indian embassies within, and luxurious gardens without.
Hospitality had here a wide range, and Penn evidently designed it for a
permanent abode.
With the help of his surveyor, Thomas Holme, he laid out the plan of his
now beautiful city, and gave it its name of Christian signification, that
brotherly love might pervade its dwellings. He purchased the land, where
the city stands, of the Swedes who already occupied it, and who purchased
it of the Indians, though it would seem that a subsequent purchase was made
of the natives of the same site with adjacent territory some time afterward
by Thomas Holme, acting as president of the council, while Penn was in
England. The Schuylkill and the Delaware rivers gave to the site eminent
attractions. The plan was very simple, the streets running north and south
being designated by numbers, those running east and west by the names of
trees. Provision was made for large squares to be left open, and for common
water privileges. The building was commenced at once, and was carried on
with great zeal and continued success.
%LAST TURKISH INVASION OF EUROPE%
SOBIESKI SAVES VIENNA
A.D. 1683
SUTHERLAND MENZIES
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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