Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
On His Departure from America
By William Penn (1644–1718)T
My love and my life is to you, and with you, and no water can quench it, nor distance wear it out, or bring it to an end. I have been with you, cared over you, and served you with unfeigned love; and you are beloved of me, and near to me beyond utterance. I bless you in the name and power of the Lord, and may God bless you with his righteousness, peace, and plenty all the land over! O that you would eye him in all, through all, and above all the labor of your hands, and let it be your first care how you may glorify him in your undertakings; for to a blessed end are you brought hither; and if you see and keep but in the sense of that providence, your coming, staying, and improving will be sanctified; but if any forget him, and call not upon his name in truth, He will pour out his plagues upon them, and they shall know who it is judgeth the children of men.
O, you are now come to a quiet land! And now that liberty and authority are with you and in your hands, let the government be upon His shoulders in all your spirits, that you may rule for him under whom the princes of this world will one day esteem it their honor to govern and serve in their places. I cannot but say, when these things come mightily upon my mind, as the Apostle said of old, “What manner of persons ought we to be in all godly conversation!” Truly the name and honor of the Lord are deeply concerned in you as to the discharge of yourselves in your present station, many eyes being upon you; and remember that, as we have been belied about disowning the true religion, so, of all government, to behold us exemplary and Christian in the use of it will not only stop our enemies, but minister conviction to many on that account prejudiced. O that you may see and know that service, and do it for the Lord in this your day!
And thou, Philadelphia, the virgin settlement of this province, named before thou wert born, what love, what care, what service, and what travail hast here been to bring thee forth and preserve thee from such as would abuse and defile thee!
O that thou mayest be kept from the evil that would overwhelm thee; that, faithful to the God of thy mercies, in the life of righteousness, thou mayest be preserved to the end! My soul prays to God for thee, that thou mayest stand in the day of trial, that thy children may be blessed of the Lord, and thy people saved by his power. My love to thee has been great, and the remembrance of thee affects my heart and mine aye.—The God of eternal strength keep and preserve thee to his glory and thy peace!
So, dear friends, my love again salutes you all, wishing that grace, mercy and peace, with all temporal blessings, may abound richly amongst you! so says, so prays your friend and lover in the truth,