arrival, when made under the Treaty Tree in 1682, to wit;Proud's History, vol. 1, p. 212 says, "it was at this time (1682) when he first entered personally into that lasting friendship (not land purchase,) with the Indians, which ever afterwards continued between them; and for the space of more than seventy years, (say till the time of Braddock and the French war,) was never interrupted." "A firm peace (not a treaty for land) was, therefore, now reciprocally concluded between William Penn and the Indians; and both parties mutually promised to live together as brethren, (as one of the articles said, as members of "one body,") this was solemnly ratified by the usual token of a chain of friendship and covenant never to be broken so long as the sun and moon endure." In the same vol. 1, p. 215, in stating the case of the Indian Treaty at Albany in 1722, Governor Keith, then present, is made to say to the Indians, "that he desired that this visit and the Covenant chain, which is hereby brightened, may be recorded in everlasting remembrance, and to last as long as the mountains and rivers, and while the sun and moon (former words) endure," and this he especially said, as "the repetition of the former treaties which they made with William Penn." I conclude, therefore, that although the original of "the League and chain of friendship," made at "the conference at the Treaty Tree in 1682, is not now to be found, (unless at Stoke Pogis-the Penn residence in England,) we have the "nine articles" aforesaid, being all of "the main heads" of that memorable and venerable Treaty Tree instrument.

I have endeavoured to repress the expression of the feelings I cannot but feel in the contemplation of the premises, that such lands as we now possess, should have been bestowed for such very inconsiderable reward! I feel it as a stain upon our escutcheon of honour, that while

"They, to greet the pale faced stranger
Stretch'd an unsuspecting hand,"

we should have been so unmindful of our own duties, as to overlook the recompense due

Entrapp'd by Treaties, driven forth to range
The distant west in misery and revenge!"

The only abatement I know, is to say that Penn in fact deemed the land his own by grant from the Crown even before he came among them; as his letter to the Indians from London sets forth, on the 18 of 8 mo., 1681, saying, even to themselves openly, that his king hath given him a great Province, (i. e. their lands!) which he, however, "desires to enjoy with their love and consent."

"Then redmen took the law of love

As from a brother's hand,

And they blessed him while he founded
This City of our love."

And now, in memory of the Tree which has been the cause of the present chapter, we here add a poetic effusion, as well to glorify the Tree, as to perpetuate the poetic talent of a valued and deceased chizen-namely, Judge Peters-to wit:

PENN'S TREATY-ELM.

BY JUDGE PETERS.

Let each take a relic from that hallowed tree,

Which, like Penn, whom it shaded, immortal should be.
As the pride of our forests, let Elms be renown'd,
For the justly priz'd virtues with which they abound.

CHORUS.

All hail to thee, highly favoured tree,
Adorning our land, the home of the free!

Most worthy was he

Who first honour'd thee,

And thou, like him, immortal shalt be.

Whilst the natives our forests in freedom shall roam,
Thy remembrance they'll cherish, thro' ages to come.
Tho' sorrows their bosoms should oft overwhelm,
With delight they'll reflect on good Onas's Elm.
All hail, &c.

For that Patron of Justice and Peace there display'd,
His most welcome good tidings, beneath its fair shade,
And furnish'd examples to all future times,

That Justice and Peace may inhabit all climes.

All hail, &c.

The Oak may be fam'd for its uses in war,
Or wafting wealth's idols to regions afar;
But the Elm bears no part in such objects as these,
Its employment is solely in fabrics of peace.

All hail, &c.

When Daphne, 'tis fabled, eluded Apollo,
And he found it in vain her footsteps to follow;
He fix'd the coy nymph-to avenge a love quarrel-
In th' evergreen form of the bright shining Laurel.
All hail, &c.

But her chaplets bedeck the grim warrior's helm,
Who'd more worthily shine in the shade of the Elm;
And there cause all wars and their horrors to cease,
And, like Penn, spread the blessings of safety and peace.
All hail, &c.

Of Avon the Bard and his Mulberry tree,
In song have long lived with the votaries of glee.
His fame of his tree has prolong'd the renown;
Our tree, with Penn's fame, will to ages go down.
All hail, &c.

Let the Bard be encircled with laurels e'er green,
As the chief in the choir whereof Fancy's the Queen

VOL. I. T

13

Yet truth and just laws all fictions o'erwhelm ;
And these Penn secur'd in the shade of the Elm.
All hail, &c.

Let our Poets still sigh for Bay wreaths, without scars,
And the Laurel hide wounds of the champions in wars:
But the branch of the Olive its office should cease,
And the branches of Elm be the emblems of Peace.
All hail, &c.

The Olive abounds where stern despots bear rule,
And their slaves pluck its products in Poverty's school;
But the Elm delights most in the mountains and dells,
Where Man is ne'er shackled, and Liberty dwells.

All hail, &c.

Tho' time has devoted our tree to decay,

The sage lessons it witness'd survive to our day.

May our trustworthy statesmen, when call'd to the helm,
Ne'er forget the wise Treaty held under our Elm,
All hail, &c.

THE SWEDES' CHURCH,

AND

HOUSE OF SVEN SENER.

"The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep!"

THE Swedes of the hamlet at Wiccaco, at the present Swedes' Church in Southwark, having been the primitive occupants, near the present site of Philadelphia, (before the location of our city was de termined,) will make it interesting to glean such facts as we can concerning that place and people. There they once saw the region of our present city scenes

"One still

And solemn desert in primeval garb !"

Mr. Kalm, the Swedish traveller, when here in 1748, saw Nils Gustafson, an old Swede, then 91 years of age, who told him he well remembered to have seen a great forest on the spot where Philadelphia now stands; that he himself had brought a great deal of timber to Philadelphia at the time it was built. Mr. Kalm also met with an old Indian, who had often killed stags on the spot where Philadelphia now stands!

It appears from manuscripts and records that the southern part of our city, including present Swedes' Church, Navy Yard, &c., was

originally possessed by the Swedish family of Sven, the chief of which was Sven Schute,-a title equivalent to the Commandant; in which capacity he once held Nieu Amstel under charge from Risingh. As the Schute of Korsholm fort, standing in the domain of Passaiung, he probably had its site some where in the sub-district of Wiccaco, an Indian name, traditionally said to imply pleasant place-a name highly indicative of what Swedes' Church place originally was. We take for granted that the village and churcn would, as a matter of course, get as near the block-house fort as circumstances would admit.

The lands of the Sven family we however know from actual title, which I have seen to this effect, to wit: "I, Francis Lovelace, Esq., one of the gentlemen of his Majesty's Honourable Privy Council, and Governor General under his Royal Highness, James, Duke of York and Albany, to all to whom these presents may come, &c. Whereas, there was a Patent or Ground brief granted by the Dutch Governor at Delaware to Swen Gonderson, Swen Swenson,† Oele Swenson, and Andrew Swenson, for a certain piece of ground lying up above in the river, beginning at Moyamensing kill, and so stretching upwards in breadth 400 rods, [about 1 mile wide] and in length into the woods 600 rods, [nearly 2 miles] in all about 800 acres, dated 5th of May, 1664, KNOW YE, &c., that I have ratified the same, they paying an annual quit rent of eight bushels of winter wheat to his Majesty." This pateat was found recorded at Upland, the 31st of August, 1741.

The Moyamensing kill above mentioned was probably the same creek now called Hay creek, above Gloucester Point, and the 600 rods, or 2 miles of length, probably extended along the river.

We know that Penn deemed their lines so far within the bounds of his plan of Philadelphia and Southwark, that he actually extinguished their title by giving them lands on the Schuylkill, above Lemon hill, &c.

The Rev'd. Dr. Collin has ascertained from the Swedish MS. records in his possession, that the first Swedes' Church at Wiccaco was built on the present site in 1677, five years before Penn's colony It was of logs, and had loop-holes in lieu of window lights, which might serve for fire-arms in case of need. The congregation also was accustomed to bring fire-arms with them to prevent surprise, but ostensibly to use for any wild game which might present in their way in coming from various places.

In 1700, the present brick church was erected, and it was then deemed a great edifice, and so generally spoken of; for certainly nothing was then equal to it, as a public building, in the city. An elderly gentleman informs me that he had cause to know that the

So old Mr. Marsh told me he had heard from the oldest settlers there.

This Swen Swenson appears to have been in the first jury named at Chester, called by Governor Markham.

arrival, when made under the Treaty Tree in 1682, to wit;Proud's History, vol. 1, p. 212 says, "it was at this time (1682) when he first entered personally into that lasting friendship (not land purchase,) with the Indians, which ever afterwards continued between them; and for the space of more than seventy years, (say till the time of Braddock and the French war,) was never interrupted." "A firm peace (not a treaty for land) was, therefore, now reciprocally concluded between William Penn and the Indians; and both parties mutually promised to live together as brethren, (as one of the articles said, as members of "one body,") this was solemnly ratified by the usual token of a chain of friendship and covenant never to be broken so long as the sun and moon endure.” In the same vol. 1, p. 215, in stating the case of the Indian Treaty at Albany in 1722, Governor Keith, then present, is made to say to the Indians, "that he desired that this visit and the Covenant chain, which is hereby brightened, may be recorded in everlasting remembrance, and to last as long as the mountains and rivers, and while the sun and moon (former words) endure," and this he especially said, as "the repetition of the former treaties which they made with William Penn." I conclude, therefore, that although the original of "the League and chain of friendship," made at "the conference at the Treaty Tree in 1682, is not now to be found, (unless at Stoke Pogis-the Penn residence in England,) we have the "nine articles" aforesaid, being all of "the main heads" of that memorable and venerable Treaty Tree instrument.

I have endeavoured to repress the expression of the feelings I cannot but feel in the contemplation of the premises, that such lands as we now possess, should have been bestowed for such very inconsiderable reward! I feel it as a stain upon our escutcheon of honour, that while

we should have been so unmindful of our own duties, as to overlook the recompense due

Entrapp'd by Treaties, driven forth to range
The distant west in misery and revenge!"

The only abatement I know, is to say that Penn in fact deemed the land his own by grant from the Crown even before he came among thein; as his letter to the Indians from London sets forth, on the 18 of 8 mo., 1681, saying, even to themselves openly, that his king hath given him a great Province, (i. e. their lands!) which he, however, "desires to enjoy with their love and consent."

"Then redmen took the law of love

As from a brother's hand,

And they blessed him while he founded
This City of our love."