your right."" It will never be well with us," said the recorder, till something like the Spanish inquisition be in England." A verdict of" not guilty" was pronounced, and the impartial recorder fined the unfortunate jurymen forty marks a-piece for their independence, and sent Penn back to prison for contempt of court. The fines, however, were paid by his father, who, then on his death-bed, said, "Son William, if you and your friends keep to your plain way of preaching and living, you will make an end of the priests." Many were the remonstrances which he received for "associating with such simple people," but his reply was, "I prefer the honestly simple to the ingeniously wicked." It was on his release from a lonely imprisonment in Newgate, that he travelled into Holland and Germany, and married a woman, whose sweetness of temper and firmness of spirit was eminently calculated to give him happiness; "she chose him before many suitors, and blessed him with a deep and upright love." We will not dwell upon the many noble efforts of this great man to ensure the liberty of his fellow friends. His hopes were entirely frustrated in parliament; and he turned his attention to the establishment of a free government in the new world. His exertions, coupled with those of Barclay, had been very extensive in "evangelizing" the continent; his visits were received by the simple people with enthusiasm. Penn was eminently distinguished for his sweetness of disposition, and that perfect absence of selfishness in all his actions. He gave himself up to the consciousness of the inner light; but the great powers of his mind prevented any want of harmony in his thoughts and actions. Believing that God dwelt in every man's conscience, and that his light shone in every soul, he built, to use his own words, a free colony for all mankind." Such were a few of the qualities of "the Quaker King," as he was designated on his arrival on the banks of the Delaware, when about to commence "the holy experiment." How different was his entrance into the new world from that of Cortez and Pizarro! His first grand treaty, beneath a large elm tree at Shakamaxon, was made with the men of the Algonquin race; and he pronounced the same message of peace and love which George Fox had professed before Cromwell, and irresistibly won their confidence.

"We meet," said he, "on the broad pathway of good faith and goodwill; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be openness and love. I will not call you children, for parents sometimes chide their children too severely; nor brothers only, for brothers differ. The friendship between me and you I will not compare to a chain, for that the rains might rust, or the falling tree might break. We are

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the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts; we are all one flesh and blood."-vol. ii. pp. 383, 384.

The warriors long after would count over their shells on a clean piece of bark, and recall to their memory and that of their children this covenant of peace and friendship, which was confirmed neither by signatures nor seals, but was graven on the hearts of men under the bright blue sky, and was not to be forgotten.

The City of Philadelphia, laid out in February, 1683, on a site not surpassed," rapidly increased, and before two years had elapsed, the place contained more than six hundred houses, and education was making advances through the schoolmaster and printing press, and had thus made greater progress in that short space of time, than New York had done in half a century. William Penn having organized the government, and accomplished his mission, returned to England, where he answered all the eager inquiries after the colony, by declaring that "things went on sweetly with friends in Pennsylvania, that they increased finally in outward things and in wisdom." His farewell to his people was most touching, breathing a spirit of love and earnest affec

tion.

"My love and my life are to you and with you, and no water can quench it, nor distance bring it to an end. I have been with you, cared over you, and served you with unfeigned love, and you are beloved of me, and dear to me beyond utterance. I bless you in the name and power of the Lord; and may God bless you with his righteousness, peace and plenty, all the land over." "And thou, Philadelphia, the virgin settlement of this province, my soul prays to God for thee, that thou mayest stand in the day of trial, and that thy children may be blessed. Dear friends, my love salutes you all."-vol. ii. p. 395.

The latter portion of the second volume is occupied with the account of the consolidation of the northern colonies by James the Second; and the narration of the wars of the five nations against the French forms an interesting portion of it. In 1688 the twelve states contained upwards of 200,000 inhabitants, and these were chiefly descended from the Germanic race. Few were of "the high folk of Normandie," but were from the Saxons or "low men.' The revolution of 1688 greatly tended to the increase of English liberty. The abdication of James the Second, and the election of a king by the popular party, was a triumph over the old prejudices of the aristocracy. The supremacy of parliament was established, and it was a singular instance of a revolution being effected without bloodshed-so much so, that the standing armies were disbanded, and William's Dutch guards were dismissed. As the revolutionists respected the proprieta

ries of Carolina, the insurrectionary government very soon ceased. The people declared that they would be governed by the "powers granted by the charter; and thus the legislation of Shaftesbury and Locke perished. "Palatines, landgraves, and caciques, 'the nobility' of the Carolina statute book, were doomed to pass away."

The revolution gave to Virginia a guarantee for her liberties, a just administration of law, but in other respects her form of government was but little changed. Francis Nicholson was the first person in the reign of King William who entered the "ancient dominion" as lieutenant governor, and his powers enabled him to hold almost as many seals of office as are vested in the whole cabinet of our own country, for he was lieutenant general and admiral, lord treasurer and chancellor, the chief judge in all the courts, president of the council, and lastly bishop or ordinary. Fortunately for the good people of Virginia, his power was checked to a certain extent by the council and general assembly. One of the chief safeguards to the liberty in Virginia, was the individual freedom of mind which characterized every landholder. Tobacco at that period was the only currency, taxes were paid in it, and remittances made to Europe in the same article, and ships were obliged to lie whole months waiting for the cargo, which was collected from the different plantations. For three quarters of a century, Virginia had enjoyed uninterrupted prosperity and peace, and although there were occasional outbursts of party spirit, yet the colony bore a character in England for being in perfect peace and tranquillity, and in obedience to the royal authority. We shall next notice the curious account Mr. Bancroft gives of the supposed witchcraft practised in Massachussetts.

The statute book asserted the existence of witchcraft by establishing the punishment of death on the conviction of an offender. The superstition was carried to a curious extent, and was fomented to a great degree by the vanity of Cotton Mather, who "wishing to confute the Sadducees" of his times, made various experiments upon the power of demons, as to whether they could know the thoughts of others, and the inference he drew was that "all devils are not alike sagacious.' "Witchcraft," shouted Cotton Mather from the pulpit, "is the most nefandous high treason against the Majesty on high," and accordingly he printed a discourse with a narrative of the case of the daughter of John Goodwin, who was bewitched, and to his great delight declared that no devils had the power of entering his study, and that God would protect him from any blows which might be inflicted upon

him by unclean spirits. Many of our readers must remember the curious accounts of the supposed cases of witchcraft- practised at Salem, which originated first of all in the persons of the daughter and niece of Samuel Parris the minister. Cotton Mather eagerly pursued the unfortunate victims of suspicion, and although examinations and commitments became very general, but few confessions were made, although it was hinted that the confession of the crime was the only mode to obtain pardon. Thus the gallows was set up "not for those who professed themselves witches, but for those who rebuked the delusion." Dreadful were the crimes committed by these "witch hunters," and not only were numbers of people led to the gallows, but others endured more horrible deaths; and we have one instance of a man, Giles Cory, an octogenarian, being pressed to death for refusing to plead, but the influence of Cotton Mather, notwithstanding his narrative of the wonders of the invisible world," began to decline. The last case was that of Sarah Darton, an old woman of eighty years of age, who had enjoyed the reputation of being a witch for the last twenty years. The trial came on in Charlestown, and although there were more charges brought against her than had been adduced against any other person in Salem, yet the public, tired of their prejudices, gave her a verdict of acquittal, and the indignation of the people drove Parris from the place. Cotton Mather still tried to persuade others as well as himself of his sincerity, but the errors of superstition were exploded..

The commercial rivalry between France and England is next introduced to our notice. Prior even to the days of Colbert, the former had become jealous of the colonial interests of the latter; at the same period when Queen Elizabeth had granted a charter to the East India company, France under Richelieu strove for the commerce of Asia. Again, when England took possession of Barbadoes aud Nevis, and the whole of Jamaica, France held possession of the half of St. Christopher, Martinique, Guadaloupe, and other small islets. The national antipathy was fostered in every manner, and under Colbert and Leiquelay she made such rapid progress in her naval power and in manufactures, and brought forward so great a competition, that England and France were looked upon as natural enemies, independent of other causes. Religious zeal was strongly instrumental in forwarding the commercial ambition of France; and in their earliest efforts to colonize America, Le Caron, Viel, and Sagard, priests of the Franciscan order, made their way as missionaries to the neutral Huron tribe, that dwelt by the Niagara. The establishment of "the Society

of Jesus" by Loyola, was contemporary with the Reformation, and its zealous missionaries, enduring every toil with an enthusiasm that enkindled with danger, raised the standard of faith in all parts of the world. Mr. Bancroft gives us a very interesting narrative of the labours of these men in Canada, who are connected with the origin of every town in French America," not a cape was turned, nor a river entered, but a Jesuit led the way." Brebeuf and Daniel, and the "gentler Lallemand," were amongst the first who encountered the horrors of the wilderness. Their journey by the Ottowa river was one of constant fatigue. Continually encountering waterfalls, where they were obliged to carry their canoe on their shoulders, and often dragging it by hand over shallows and rapids and the sharpest stones, they slowly advanced with their bruised and mangled feet; yet not in any degree fainting by the way, but with the breviary hung around the neck, and their courage supported by their undying faith, they resolutely advanced from Quebec to the heart of the Huron wilderness. It was to the north-west of Lake Toronto, near the shore of Lake Iroquois, that they erected the first chapel," the cradle of His church which dwelt at Bethlehem in a cottage ;" and here did they begin to chaunt the matins and vespers, and to consecrate the sacred bread by solemn mass before multitudes of the Huron warriors, who gazed with awe and admiration upon their rites. The hunter listened to the tale of our Saviour's death, and soon a feeling was raised in his breast to mingle his prayers with the holy fathers. Not very long after, two Christian villages, St. Louis and St. Ignatius, rose up in the Huron forest. The life of the missionary was calm and uniform.

"The earliest hours, from four to eight, were absorbed in private prayer; the day was given to schools, visits, instructions in the catechism and a service for proselytes. Sometimes, after the manner of St. Francis Xavier, Brebeuf would walk through the village and its environs, ringing a little bell, and inviting the Huron braves and councillors to a conference. There, under the shady forest, the most solemn mysteries of the Catholic faith were subjected to discussion. It was by such means that the sentiment of piety was unfolded in the breast of the great warrior of Ahasistari; nature had planted in his mind the seeds of religious faith. 'Before you came to this country,' he would say, 'when I have incurred the greatest perils and have alone escaped, I have said to myself, 'Some powerful spirit has the guardianship over my days; and he professed his belief in Jesus, as the good genius and protector whom he had before unconsciously adored. After the trials of his sincerity, he was baptised, and enlisting a troop of converts, savages like himself, 'Let us strive,' he exclaimed, to make the whole world embrace the faith in Jesus.'"-Vol. 3, p. 125.