The Life, Studies, and Works of Benjamin West, Esq. | Page 5

motive to
themselves, for indulging in the exercise of those blameless principles,
which had been so obnoxious to the arrogant spirit of the Old World.
The associates of the Wests and the Pearsons, considered the patriarchs
of Pennsylvania as having been driven from England, because their
endeavours to regulate their conduct by the example of Jesus Christ,
mortified the temporal pretensions of those who satisfied themselves
with attempting to repeat his doctrines; and they thought that the
asylum in America was chosen, to facilitate the enjoyment of that
affectionate intercourse which their tenets enjoined, free from the

military predilections and political jealousies of Europe. The effect of
this opinion tended to produce a state of society more peaceful and
pleasing than the World had ever before exhibited. When the American
Poets shall in future times celebrate the golden age of their country,
they will draw their descriptions from the authentic history of
Pennsylvania in the reign of King George the Second.
From the first emigration in 1681, the colony had continued to thrive
with a rapidity unknown to the other European Settlements. It was
blessed in the maxims upon which it had been founded, and richly
exhibited the fruits of their beneficent operation. At the birth of
Benjamin West it had obtained great wealth, and the population was
increasing much more vigorously than the ordinary reproduction of the
human species in any other part of the world. In the houses of the
principal families, the patricians of the country, unlimited hospitality
formed a part of their regular economy. It was the custom among those
who resided near the highways, after supper and the last religious
exercise of the evening, to make a large fire in the hall, and to set out a
table with refreshments for such travellers as might have occasion to
pass during the night; and when the families assembled in the morning
they seldom found that their tables had been unvisited. This was
particularly the case at Springfield. Poverty was never heard of in the
land. The disposition to common charity having no objects, was
blended with the domestic affections, and rendered the ties of
friendship and kindred stronger and dearer. Acts of liberality were
frequently performed to an extent that would have beggared the
munificence of the Old World. With all these delightful indications of a
better order of things, society in Pennsylvania retained, at this time,
many of those respectable prejudices which gave a venerable grace to
manners, and are regarded by the practical philosopher as little inferior
in dignity to the virtues. William Penn was proud of his distinguished
parentage, and many of his friends traced their lineage to the antient
and noble families of England. In their descendants the pride of
ancestry was so tempered with the meekness of their religious tenets,
that it lent a kind of patriarchal dignity to their benevolence.
In beautiful contrast to the systematic morality of the new inhabitants,

was the simplicity of the Indians, who mingled safe and harmless
among the Friends. In the annual visits which they were in the practice
of paying to the Plantations, they raised their huts in the fields and
orchards without asking leave, nor were they ever molested. Voltaire
has observed, that the treaty which was concluded between the Indians
and William Penn was the first public contract which connected the
inhabitants of the Old and New World together, and, though not ratified
by oaths, and without invoking the Trinity, is still the only treaty that
has never been broken. It may be further said, that Pennsylvania is the
first country which has not been subdued by the sword, for the
inhabitants were conquered by the force of Christian benevolence.
When the great founder of the State marked out the site of Philadelphia
in the woods, he allotted a piece of ground for a public library. It was
his opinion, that although the labour of clearing the country would long
employ the settlers, hours of relaxation would still be requisite; and,
with his usual sagacity, he judged that the reading of books was more
conducive to good morals and to the formation of just sentiments, than
any other species of amusement. The different counties afterwards
instituted libraries, which the townships have also imitated: where the
population was insufficient to establish a large collection of books, the
neighbouring families formed themselves into societies for procuring
the popular publications. But in these arrangements for cultivating the
powers of the understanding, no provision was made, during the reign
of George the Second, for improving the faculties of taste. The works
of which the libraries then consisted, treated of useful and practical
subjects. It was the policy of the Quakers to make mankind wiser and
better; and they thought that, as the passions are the springs of