Marcus Benjamin

“ This city was then the great scientific centre of Europe, and its collections were the richest and most celebrated on the continent. Men who were eminent as specialists were attracted to the capital, and formed part of the brilliant circle under the leadership of the distinguished Humboldt. Cuvier, the great French naturalist, received the young Agassiz with enthusiasm. The valuable treasures of the Paris museum were at his service, and the material collected for years by Cuvier for his work on fishes was freely transferred to the young naturalist. ”

“ His first studies at home were directed by his mother, who was a woman of high endowments and rare culture. At the age of ten years he and his younger brother were sent to the gymnasium at Biel, in the neighboring canton of Bern; here he acquired the ancient and modern languages, which later became so valuable to him in his biological investigations. Very early in life Agassiz showed a fondness for natural science, and in his boyhood days he began collecting specimens. His leisure time at the gymnasium was similarly occupied, and his first collection of fishes dates from this period. ”

“ Penn then devoted himself to his duties as governor, and made treaties with other Indian tribes, and as long as any of the aborigines remained in Pennsylvania or its neighborhood their traditions bore testimony to the justice and benevolence of “Mignon,” as the Delawares called him, or of “Onas,” as he was styled by the Iroquois. He then visited New York and New Jersey, and after the meeting of the general assembly of the province at Newcastle in May, 1684, he intrusted the government to a council, and in August sailed for England, leaving a prosperous colony of 7,000 persons. ”

“ Asking time for the consideration of this proposition, Penn retired to his room, and, after an hour of prayer and meditation, returned to his father with the declaration that such a course would be impossible. He persisted in his determination; the admiral at last gave way, and Penn became completely identified with the Quakers in dress and conduct as well as belief. This difference with his father was not so serious on the present occasion as when he was sent down from Oxford in 1661, when it is said that the admiral turned him out of doors, relenting, however, shortly after. ”

“ Much valuable scientific information was accumulated, new facts concerning the glacial phenomena of South America were obtained, careful observations of the temperature of the water and deep-sea soundings were regularly made, and great collections of fishes, reptiles, mollusks, and other specimens of natural history were gathered, a large portion of which were added to his museum in Cambridge. ”

“ The estate of Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland, which had descended from Admiral Penn, and certain other property, being deemed a handsome provision for him, all but 40,000 acres of the American estate were left to the founder's children by his second wife after payment of his debts, the powers of government being devised to the Earl of Oxford and Earl Powlett to sell; but the heir-at-law contested this, and issued a fresh commission to the lieutenant-governor, in which he declared himself a member of the Church of England. ”

“ In succeeding years he traversed the entire country, lecturing in all the larger cities and accumulating vast collections of specimens, which constituted the foundation of the natural history museum in Cambridge. ”

“ Organizations for emigration were established in England and on the continent, and negotiations were entered into with Penn for the sale of lands. In 1681 he sent out Capt. William Markham with instructions to take possession of the province, to search out a convenient spot of ground on which to erect a governor's mansion, and to cultivate a friendly feeling with the Indians. In September, 1683, he himself set out from London on the “Welcome,” and he reached Newcastle on the Delaware late in October, taking formal possession of the territory on the day after his arrival. ”

“ To manage the estate he came to the colony in 1732 with power of attorney from John and Richard, and on his arrival took a seat in the council. He remained until August, 1741. Subsequently there was a long struggle between the proprietaries and the assembly of Pennsylvania, chiefly as to the taxation of the Penn estates. In 1764 the assembly petitioned the king to assume the government, but the crown let the powers remain with the proprietaries. ”

“ He continued his education in the college at Lausanne in 1823, and in 1824 began the study of medicine in Zurich, in accordance with the earnest wishes of his parents. Thence he went to Heidelberg, where he devoted his principal attention to anatomy under the famous Tiedemann, and in 1827 to Munich, where he came under the influence of Schelling, Oken, Martius, Döllinger, Wagler, Zuccarini, Fuchs, and von Kobell. Döllinger, especially, at whose house he occupied a room, recognized the high talent of his pupil, and fostered his long-cherished plan of devoting himself exclusively to zoölogy. ”

“ In addition, the British government created an annuity of £4,000, which has only recently been commuted. John Penn's branch of the family was entitled to a fourth of these sums, and the estates in Philadelphia and elsewhere were considerable; so that he was enabled to live comfortably the rest of his life at “Lansdowne,” or at his city residence. He was buried ander the floor of Christ church, Philadelphia, but his remains were afterward removed to England.—A grandson of the founder, son of Richard, was Richard, lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania, b. in England in 1735 ”

“ In March, 1696, he married Hannah Callowhill, of Bristol, a Quaker lady, with whom he had long been acquainted. Meanwhile, in August 1694, an order in council was made restoring him to his government. He then sent out William Markham as his deputy; but, since 1684, ever planning a return to America, on 9 Sept., 1699 with his wife and daughter Letitia he sailed on the “Canterbury” for Pennsylvania. ”

“ He left the colony after Braddock's defeat, but seven years afterward returned as lieutenant-governor, arriving on 30 Oct., 1763. The first year of his term witnessed a state of affairs that threatened the existence of civil government. The assembly, controlled by the Quakers, failed to satisfy the Scotch-Irish on the frontier, who saw large sums of money lavished in presents to Indians while they lay destitute from an Indian war. ”

“ He returned to the Society of Friends on marrying Christiana, daughter of Alexander Forbes, a merchant in London, on 7 Dec., 1732. After her death he married Ann Vaux, 13 Dec., 1736, by whom he had an only son, who died without issue, whereupon Christiana Gulielma, wife of Peter Gaskell and daughter of William and Christiana Penn, became the heiress at common law of the founder.—William the founder's eldest son by his second wife, John, called “the American,” b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 29 Feb., 1700 ”

“ Difficulties that had existed prior to his arrival regarding the government of the province now disappeared, and peace and order soon prevailed throughout the colony. He gave his attention to various reforms, and especially to the amelioration of the condition of the Indians and negroes. ”

“ Macaulay has accused him of acting as an agent of the rapacious maids of honor of the royal court to extort money for pardon from the relatives of some young girls at Taunton who were implicated in Monmouth's rebellion, and also accused him of an attempt to persuade Dr. ”