―216―American Review.
Art. XII.
The History of Pennsylvania, in North-
America, from the Original Insti-
tution and Settlement of that Pro-
vince, &c. in 1681, till after the
Year 1742; with an Introduction,
respecting the Life of William
Penn, and the Society of Quakers;
with the Rise of the Neighbouring
Colonies, &c. &c. &c. By Ro-
bert Proud. 2vols.8vo. pp. 1028.
Philadelphia. Z. Poulson, jun.
1798.
THE value of this book lies not
in the elegance of its style,
the profoundness of its reflections,
or the accuracy of its method.
Facts, in great minuteness and
abundance, are collected. They
are either extracted, without varia-
tion, from the original records and
memorials, or, if the writer clothes
them in his own language, they ap-
pear in a simple, prolix, and inar-
tificial dress. They are the uncouth
narratives of an old man, un-
instructed in the arts of selection,
arrangement and expression, who
always prefers the task of reciting
the deeds and papers which he has
gleaned from public offices and pri-
vate libraries, to the more arduous
province of stating their contents
in his own words.
We are not to look, in this work,
for any traces of the genuine histo-
rian. The author has taken the
path of the humble, honest, and in-
dustrious compiler. If his merit
were measured by the labour which
so large a compilation has cost him,
it would not be accounted inconsi-
derable. If it were estimated by
the usefulness of his collection to
the student of American colonial
history, and, above all, to the wri-
ter who shall be desirous of confer-
ring on this theme form and order,
dignity and eloquence, it must be
admitted to be great.
The materials of the history of
Pennsylvania were to be collected
from its laws, charters, patents,
treaties, records of legislation, of-
ficial and judicial proceedings, pri-
vate letters, journals and gazettes.
The present work is little more
than a series of transcripts, arranged
in chronological order, and occa-
sionally connected by a few re-
marks, from the foundation of the
province to the year 1742. There
is no reason to doubt the genuine-
ness of the records whence these
transcripts are made; and there is
as little reason to question the fide-
lity of the transcriber. They are
here exhibited with great typogra-
phical correctness and beauty, and
form a very copious and valuable
catalogue.
Pennsylvania, like some other of
the American States, owed its birth
not to the restless and avaricious
spirit of adventurers, but to the
system of ecclesiastical tyranny
which prevailed in Europe. The
Quakers, conducted by William
Penn, whose birth and fortune
qualified him to be the leader of
his sect, erected an equitable go-
vernment on the banks of Dela-
ware, and invited to this safe asy-
lum not only their own persecuted
brethren, but the indigent and ho-
nest of all nations.
Mr. Proud has introduced his
work with copious extracts from
the principal authors of his sect,
exhibiting the system of the Qua-
kers, and the opinions and chief
events of the life of William Penn.
The relation between the origin,
early institutions, and even the pre-
sent state of Pennsylvania, and the
―217―
Quaker discipline, will, perhaps,
apologize for these extracts. The
writer may likewise be forgiven for
some bias to that religious order,
of which he is a member; for deep
veneration to so eminent a man as
Penn; and for that modesty which
prompts him to prefer the language
and ideas of others to his own.
The subsequent portions of the
work are of a more interesting and
general nature.
The merit of this author, and
the utility of his collection, are en-
hanced by its being the first publi-
cation of this kind. Without his
assistance, therefore, future labour-
ers in this field would have been con-
demned to the drudgery of ransack-
ing libraries, and poring over rolls, a
task difficult in proportion to the re-
moteness of the period to the re-
cords of which our searches relate.
To bring together the stones and
rafters that are to constitute the
building is little more than manual
labour. The intelligence that guides
us to the holes and corners where
the crude materials are deposited,
and enables us to drag them together
into one heap, is not great. Mr.
Proud has, indeed, done more than
this. He has distinguished and cul-
led out those blocks and beams that
were useful to his purpose, and not
only collected them together, but
placed them in the order in which
they will be successively required
by the builder.
To model and build is the pro-
vince of genius and philosophy;
but let them not, in the ardour of
invention and the pride of elo-
quence, hold the industrious col-
lector in derision, or deny to his
perseverance and his zeal the praise
which they may justly claim. Let
them remember that the artist can-
not work without materials, and en-
tertain becoming gratitude to him
who, by supplying them with stone
and mortar, saves them from the
toil of years, and permits them to
pursue, unmolested and at freedom,
the deductions of their reason, or
the suggestions of their fancy.