delayed, are so generally known, that I need not now make Mention of them. The Assembly, at my Request, furnished me with Thirty-two Petitions preferred against you, several of which containing Complaints of a mere private Nature, I do not think they properly lie before me, and have therefore referred the Parties, who conceive themselves injured, to seek Redress in the Courts of Law, in the ordinary Course of Justice. . . . As to those which regard your Conduct as a Magistrate, I have spent two Days with Patience and Attention in hearing every Thing that could be alledged against you in support of them. I am very sensible of the Difficulties and Hardships you must necessarily have been under, in producing Witnesses to defend yourself against Charges of this Nature, especially when I consider that several of the Transactions complained of are of many Years standing. It is, however, a great Pleasure to me, to find that you have been able to surmount all these Difficulties, and to acquit yourself of every Matter charged against you in the Execution of your Office, which you have fully done to my Satisfaction; and I think myself obliged, in Justice to your injured Character, in this public Manner to declare, That the Petitions appear to me to be entirely groundless; That you have acted in your Office with great Care, Uprightness, and Fidelity; and are so far from deserving Censure and Disgrace, that, in many Instances, you merit the Thanks of every good Man, and Lover of Justice.

So far things were going well. But the work of the Assembly was not yet undone. Nothing but the King in Council could undo that. Dr. Smith was now going to England.

CHAPTER XIV.

SAILS FOR ENGLAND-ARRIVAL IN LONDON ON NEW YEAR'S DAY, 1759-RECOMMENDATION OF DR. SMITH BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY AND OTHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD FOR A DOCTOR'S DEGREE-RECEIVES THE DEGREE OF D. D. FROM OXFORD AND ALSO FROM ABERDEEN-PETITION TO THE CROWN OFFICERS ABOUT HIS APPEAL TO THE KING-HAPPY CONCLUSION TO HIS APPEAL-HE COMES HOME-THE ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA ADDRESSED BY GOVERNOR HAMILTON IN AN AGREEABLE COMMUNICATION.

DR. SMITH sailed for England about the beginning of December, 1758. He arrived in London on the 1st day of January in the new year. The Provost Stillé gives the following account of his arrival:

He brought with him something of the prestige of a political martyr, and he had also gained a reputation as a writer which had extended beyond the limits of the Province. It was just at this period that the elder Pitt was planning a campaign to drive the French from North America, and thus complete in this country that destruction of French power, which his ally, Frederick the Great, had begun in Germany. It was the era of preparation for the conquest of Quebec, the cession of Canada, and the final overthrow of the French on this Continent. The Minister had infused into all classes his own bitter hostility to France, and something of his inflexible purpose to humble her by sea and on land. In such a state of public feeling it may well be supposed that a man who was looked upon as having undergone persecution and imprisonment (whatever might be the pretext alleged for it); because in the hour of danger he had urged, with unflinching boldness, the duty of defending a distant portion of the empire against a French invasion, would be received, wherever he went in England, with sympathy, if not with enthusiasm.

Thomas Penn, one of the Proprietaries, had been his warm personal friend ever since he had come into the Province, and he was by far the largest contributor to the funds of the College. He was at that time engaged before the Privy Council in one of his many quarrels with the Assembly of the Province, and he zealously aided Dr. Smith in bringing his business (which was, in truth, only one of the branches of the same controversy) to a speedy and favorable conclusion. But the principal service which he rendered him was placing him in communication with men of rank and fortune, who were at that time interested in the affairs

of the colonies, eager for information, and well-disposed to aid in developing their resources.

Another means of bringing him into relation at that time with persons of position and influence in England, was his connection with a Society. for promoting the establishment of schools among the German settlers on the frontiers of this Province. This Society, formed several years before, was composed of prominent noblemen and gentlemen both in England and in Scotland, who were impressed with a fear lest the Germans should be led astray from the British interest by French and Popish emissaries, and had collected a considerable fund, both for the establishment of schools where their children might be taught the English language, and for the supply of true Protestant ministers among them.

But the favorable reception of Dr. Smith in England at that time was due not merely to the interest he excited as a political martyr, and to his efforts to make our German settlers good subjects and sound Protestants, but also in no small measure to his literary reputation. Provincial literature, at that time, it may be unnecessary to say, had not attracted much attention at home. It appears, however, that certain of Dr. Smith's writings had passed the ordeal of the dispensers of literary fame in those days,* and that their judgment was not unfavorable. An edition of his sermons had been published in London, in 1759, and a second edition was called for in 1763—a fact significant in itself of their literary value, for a volume of Sermons is not at any time very attractive reading, and in the middle of the last century, in England, sermons by a provincial author must have forced their way into notice by the weight of their own merit alone. The "Critical Review" speaks of one of these sermons (a funeral sermon) as containing strokes equal to any in the Oraisons Funèbres of Bossuet!" It goes on to say:

Our judgment of this author, on the whole, is that what he says seems to come from the heart, and consequently cannot fail of affecting all who are not as void of pity as of public spirit.

The judgment of the "Monthly Review" was not less favorable, even if more discriminating:

The principal design of these discourses is to show the value of the blessings arising from the enjoyment of the Protestant religion and civil liberty. They are written in an excellent spirit, and in a sprightly and animated manner; the language is clear and forcible, the sentiments generally just and often striking.

The Doctor found numerous of the dignified English clergy ready to pay him honor. One of the most gratifying evidences of their disposition was given him in a recommendation dated the 12th of March, 1759, to the University of Oxford, from the Arch

The Monthly and The Critical Reviews.

bishop of Canterbury, and the Bishops of Durham, Salisbury, St. Asaph, Gloucester and Oxford, to confer upon him the Doctorship of Divinity. The recommendation shows what evidences of merit and service were required in 1759 at Oxford, for an honor which now, in this our country, is disgracefully scattered round the land.

TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.*

The underwritten Representation in behalf of William Smith, Cl., M. A., of the University of Aberdeen, and now Provost of the College of Philadelphia, in America,

Humbly sheweth,

That the said William Smith was regularly bred at the University aforesaid, and left the same in March, 1747, having resided the full Term of Years there required.

That in the year 1750 he was sent to London (on a Scheme soon afterwards laid aside), to solicit the Parliament for a better Establishment of the Parochial Schools in Scotland, and was particularly recommended to the then Archbishop of Canterbury.

That after this he accompanied some young Gentlemen to America, and resided upwards of two years at New York, having carried with him Letters of Recommendation from the said Arch-Bishop to LieutenantGovernor Delancey of that place, who had been his Grace's pupil at Cambridge.

That in 1753, he visited the City of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, and was invited to take Care of a laudable Seminary of Learning, just founded there; to which he consented, on Condition of being allowed time to enter into holy Orders.

That towards the End of the year he did accordingly return to England, and was regularly admitted into the holy Orders of Deacon and Priest, by the Lord Bishop of London; having brought back ample Certificates of his good Behaviour in America, as well to the aforesaid Arch-Bishop, as to several other Bishops and Dignitaries of our Church; and particularly to his Grace the present Arch-Bishop, then in the See of Oxford.

That in May, 1754, he returned to Philadelphia, and with the Assistance of the Other Persons concern'd, immediately applied himself to regulate the Seminary under his Care, agreeably to the Circumstances of the Province; and having modelled it into the form of a College, with an Academy subordinate thereto, and obtain'd a Charter of Incorporation, he was appointed Provost of the same, which Office he has discharg'd ever since (cing near the space of five Years), and given several Public Specimens of his Abilities and diligence therein.

* Printed from original pamphlet in possession of Dr. J. II. Brinton.

That he has had the Pleasure to see the Seminary rising and flourishing under him, even beyond Expectation; so that it now contains near 300 Students and Scholars, from different parts of America (whose circumstances would not permit of an Education in their motherCountry). And besides himself as Provost, there is also a Vice-Provost (who is a Doctor of Divinity from Glasgow), with three Professors in the Sciences, and five Tutors or Assistants; with a Power of conferring the usual Degrees in Arts, &c., as appears more fully from the printed account of the Institution.

That the said William Smith is also a Trustee for the Free Schools, lately erected, among the vast Body of his Majesty's German Subjects on the Frontiers of Pennsylvania, and Colonies adjacent, by an honourable Society in London; in order to instruct the Children of the said Germans, in the English Tongue and Principles of Protestantism, and defeat the wicked Designs of the French and Papish Emissaries that swarm among them; to which pious Work his sacred Majesty has been a generous and constant Benefactor.

That in Consequence of this Trust, the said William Smith has, besides the Youth of the College, upwards of 700 Children continually under his care, in different parts of the Country; that he visits them frequently in their several schools, pays the Master's salaries, and superintends the Execution of the whole Design.

That he has, to his best Abilities, employed the Influence which he derives from these important Trusts, in order to promote Religion, Learning and good Government in those valuable parts of his Majesty's Dominions, and particularly to advance the pious Designs of the venerable Society for propagating the Gospel; having kept a constant Correspondence with many of the Members, bred up several young Men, who now make a Figure in their Service, and several more are coming forward under him, who (being of less confined circumstances) propose to finish their Education in the most liberal manner at the English Universities.

That during all the late Disturbances in America, he has shown himself a most faithful subject to his Majesty's just Government, taking every Opportunity to excite the People to the Defence of their inestimable Possessions, and to discourage that pernicious Doctrine too prevalent there, viz.: "That it is unlawful for Christian men to wear Weapons and serve in the Wars," A Doctrine which has occasion'd the spilling much innocent Blood in Pennsylvania, enabled the French to establish themselves on the Ohio, within its Borders, and was the main source of that War whose Flames involve all Europe.

That, in particular, when the unhappy General Braddock was defeated and slain; when the French and their savages broke in upon our Frontiers, carrying Death and Desolation along with them, and the whole Province was in Danger of being lost to the Crown of Great Britain,