n what I am, I
had long ago obtained." It is doubtful, however, if the king would have
ever paid a penny. It is certain that when William offered to exchange
the money for a district in America, Charles agreed to the bargain with
great joy.

The territory thus bestowed was "all that tract or part of land in
America, bounded on the east by the Delaware River, from twelve miles
northward of New Castle town unto the three and fortieth degree of
northern latitude. The said land to extend westward five degrees in
longitude, to be computed from the said eastern bounds, and the said
lands to be bounded on the north by the beginning of the three and
fortieth degree of northern latitude and on the south by a circle drawn
at twelve miles distance from New Castle, northward and westward, unto
the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude, and then by
a straight line westward to the limits of longitude above mentioned."

This was a country almost as large as England. No such extensive domain
had ever been given to a subject by an English sovereign: but none had
ever been paid for by a sum of money so substantial.

On the 4th of March, 1681, the charter received the signature of Charles
the Second. On the 21st of August, 1682, the Duke of York signed a deed
whereby he released the tract of land called Pennsylvania to William
Penn and his heirs forever. About the same time, by a like deed, the
duke conveyed to Penn the district which is now called Delaware. Penn
agreed, on his part, as a feudal subject, to render yearly to the king
two skins of beaver, and a fifth part of all the gold and silver found
in the ground; and to the duke "one rose at the feast of St. Michael the
Archangel."

This association of sentiment and religion with a transaction in real
estate is a fitting symbol of the spirit in which the Pennsylvania
colony was undertaken. Penn received the land as a sacred trust. It was
regarded by him not as a personal estate, but as a religious possession
to be held for the good of humanity, for the advancement of the cause of
freedom, for the furtherance of the kingdom of heaven. He wrote at the
time to a friend that he had obtained it in the name of God, that thus
he may "serve his truth and people, and that an example may be set up to
the nations." He believed that there was room there "for such an holy
experiment."

VI

THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA: PENN'S FIRST VISIT TO THE PROVINCE

That Pen