Page:Scribner's Monthly, Volume 12 (May–October 1876).djvu/8

2 "The Great Spirit "—such were William Penn's own words—"who made you and us, who rules the heaven and the earth, and who knows the innermost thoughts of man, knows that I and my friends have a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with you, and to serve you to the utmost of our power. Our object is not to do injury, but to do good. We are here met on the broad pathway of good faith and good- will, so that no advantage may be taken on either side, but all shall be openness, brotherhood, and love. I would not compare the friendship now sought to a chain, since the rain might rust it, or a tree fall and break it; but the Indians shall be esteemed by us as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man's body was to be divided in two parts, and, as such, the ground should be occupied as common to both people."

"PENN'S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS" BY BENJAMIN WEST.

According to some authorities, he presented them a copy of the compact, telling them to preserve it carefully for three generations, that their children might see and know what then passed in council as if he remained himself with them to repeat it, but that the fourth generation would forget both him and it, and he desired this league of friendship to be preserved "between our children and our children's children while the creeks and rivers run, and while the sun, moon, and stars endure." While we accord due honor to Roger Williams and to Lord Baltimore, we seek in vain for any specific grant in the fundamental laws of Rhode Island or Maryland for such a concession as that made by William Penn, and rendered effective by this very Treaty, not sworn to, and never broken:

"Every inhabitant, artificer, or other resident in the said Province that pays scot and lot to the Government shall be deemed and accounted a Freeman of the said Province," —and "Article XXXV. That ALL persons living in this Province who confess and acknowledge the one Almighty and Eternal God to be the Creator, Upholder, and Ruler of the world, and that hold themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in civil society, shall in no ways be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion or practice in matters of faith and worship; nor shall they be compelled at any time to frequent or maintain any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever." Such were the words, prepared in April preceding, and inscribed upon the cornerstone of the Commonwealth laid by William