The war came to an end in 1713, and no other requisition was made for about thirty years.

The Question of Oaths. Another difficulty which Gookin had to face was that connected with the use of legal oaths. The Quakers, as has been seen, objected to oaths and were strenuous in their opposition. In 1711 the Assembly passed an act making an affirmation legal in all cases where a person had conscientious scruples against taking an oath. In this case the individual was to declare that his evidence was, "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Gookin signed this act, but when it reached England the government vetoed it. The Assembly then reënacted the bill.

But in 1715 the English law regarding oaths was extended to all the colonies for five years. This act required that all evidence in legal cases should be confirmed by oath, and admitted no affirmations whatever. According to the provisions of the act no person objecting to an oath could give any evidence in a court of justice, sit on a jury, or hold any civil office. A man might see his goods stolen before his eyes and yet because he would not swear to it he had no remedy.1

Governor Gookin held that this law applied to Pennsylvania, and though he was remonstrated with and the peculiar conditions of Pennsylvania urged upon him, he would not yield. The Quakers held that as their principles were well known at the time of granting the charter it was bad faith to try to enforce such a law. Moreover, as most of the judges,

could not be active therein,” they felt it their “bounden duty to pay tribute and yield due obedience to the powers God had set over them as far as their religious persuasions can admit." The use to which the Queen might put the money was her part, not theirs.

1 “And this notwithstanding he said that he was ready to suffer all the penalties for perjury if his declaration or affirmation was found to be false or in any way consciously untrue.”

magistrates, and civil officers were Quakers it would be impossible to administer justice and keep order. The judges hesitated to perform their duties under Gookin's interpretation, and so for about two years the colony existed almost without a government.1

Penn Plans to sell Pennsylvania to the Crown.-Penn had suffered so much from his financial and political difficulties that he had decided to sell to the crown his rights in Pennsylvania, reserving only his private property and the lands that he owned. The negotiations began as early as 1700. There were many difficulties, because Penn was unwilling that any action of his should injure the freedom or personal rights possessed by the colonists, especially those dear to the Quakers. It was Penn's stipulation that "the people called Quakers be continued as capable and eligible to any civil employment" which caused the negotiations to be prolonged until 1712. The terms were agreed upon, and £12,000

1 As this condition of affairs could not go on indefinitely, the Assembly and council unanimously petitioned the proprietary for the removal of Gookin.

fixed as the price. Penn had already received an advance payment of £1000 when a stroke of paralysis rendered him incapable of transacting business, and the sale fell through, to the benefit of his family,' and to the great advantage of Pennsylvania, which in this way escaped becoming a crown colony.

Death of Penn, 1718.- Penn lived six years longer, with weakened mind and body, but not unhappily, for all his troubles were forgotten, and he retained the religious serenity which had been so characteristic of him. He died in 1718 and was buried by the side of his first wife in the little Quaker graveyard of Jordans, where a simple stone marks the resting place of the great man. Notwithstanding the aspersions of his enemies and the false charges of historians, his fame has increased, and Penn holds a higher place than ever in the regard of mankind.2

The English and Irish estates of William Penn went to William Penn, Jr., with provision for his sister Letitia. The American estates were left to William Penn's widow, Hannah Penn, and her children, who were all minors. William Penn, Jr., tried to gain possession of the American estates, but the courts sustained the will. So Hannah Penn as executrix administered affairs, and she proved herself far more capable in business matters than her husband.

1 After the American Revolution had begun Penn's heirs received more than ten times as much for the extinguishment of their rights and claims.

2 The charges of Macaulay have been amply disproved by Paget, Forster, Dixon, Janney, and others. They have been somewhat modified in the later editions of the History but in essentials they still stand without comment both in text and index.

CHAPTER VIII

EARLY PENNSYLVANIA UNDER PENN'S SUCCESSORS

The German Immigrants. Before continuing the political history of the colony it will be well to review the character and condition of the inhabitants. Mention has already been made of the coming of Pastorius and the early colonists who settled Germantown. About 1717 another great tide of German immigrants began to arrive from the neighborhood of the Rhine. The route taken by these early immigrants was down the Rhine to Rotterdam, thence to some English port,1 and then direct to the Delaware.

These people came from the borders of Switzerland, the Rhine country, and from Baden, Saxony, Hanover, and other countries. They were all Protestants, and many were Mennonites, who held many views in common with the Quakers. It was the freedom for religious belief and practice which attracted these people. They are often called Palatines because the first settlers were from the Palatinate, one of the states of southern Germany. Some of them were poor. "The men wore long red caps on their heads. The women had neither bonnets, hats, nor caps, but merely a string passing around the head to keep the hair from the face. Their clothing was homespun and woven very plain and coarse and cut upon fashions of their own." So many came that the council took steps to discover the character of the immi

1 This was a necessity, for by the Navigation Acts then in force, all vessels trading with the colonies were compelled to clear from an English port.

grants and to require them to take oaths or affirmations of being well affected to his Majesty." As these immigrants could not legally hold land, spoke no language but German, and were ignorant of colonial customs, it was natural that there should be concern regarding the influence they might have upon the colony. Fortunately the vast majority were sober, industrious, peaceable farmers, only bent on bettering their condition. The immigration continued, and by 1725 there were fifty thousand Germans in Pennsylvania. The first who came settled around Germantown. Those coming later settled in communities of their own in the Lehigh and Schuylkill valleys and in Bucks, Berks, Montgomery, Chester, and Lancaster counties. They kept their own language, dress, and customs, and so it happens that in this twentieth century there are large tracts of country where a dialect of German, known as Pennsylvania Dutch," is still spoken. By 1750 it is estimated that the Germans formed one third of the population of Pennsylvania, at that time about 275,000 people.

The Germans have formed a valuable part of the population, for while their conservatism has sometimes been excessive, their industry, honesty, and other sterling qualities have been of great worth.

These German immigrants belonged to different Protestant denominations. The Lutherans and the Reformed were the most numerous; there were also the Mennonites, who settled for the most part in Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, and Montgomery counties; the Tunkers or Dunkards, who settled at Ephrata in Lancaster County, and whose printing press became famous; the Moravians, who settled Nazareth and Bethlehem, and, under the leadership of Count Zinzendorf, became great missionaries and educators, and the small