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Gottlieb Mittelberger, Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750, trans. Carl Theo Eben

(Philadelphia, John Jos McVey, 1898).

I have carefully inquired into the condition of the country; and what I describe here, I have partly

experienced myself, and partly heard from trustworthy people who were familiar with the circumstances. I might

possibly be able to relate a great deal more, if I had thought that I should ever publish something about

Pennsylvania. For I always considered myself far too weak for such an undertaking. But the fatalities which I

suffered on my journey to and fro (for in the country itself I fared well, because I immediately found good support

and could get along well), and the evil tricks of the newlanders, which they intended to play me and my family, as I

shall relate hereafter, have awakened the first impulse in me not to keep concealed what I knew. But the most

important occasion for publishing this little book was the wretched and grievous condition of those who travel from

Germany to this new land, and the outrageous and merciless proceeding of the Dutch man-dealers and their man-

stealing emissaries; I mean the so-called newlanders, for they steal, as it were, German people under all manner of

false pretenses, and deliver them into the hands of the great Dutch traffickers in human souls. These derive a large,

and the newlanders a smaller profit from this traffic. This, I say, is the main cause why I publish this book. I had to

bind myself even by a vow to do so. For before I left Pennsylvania, when it became known that I was about to return

to Würtemberg, many Würembergers, Durlachers and Palatines, of whom there are a great number there who repent

and regret it while they live that they left their native country, implored me with tears and uplifted hands, and even

in the name of God, to make this misery and sorrow known in Germany, so that not only the common people, but

even princes and lords, might learn how they fared, to prevent other innocent souls from leaving their fatherland,

persuaded thereto by the newlanders, and from being sold into a like slavery. And so I vowed to the great God, and

promised those people, to reveal to the people of Germany the pure truth about it, to the best of my knowledge and

ability. I hope, therefore, that my beloved countrymen and all Germany will care no less to obtain accurate

information as to how far it is to Pennsylvania, how long it takes to get there; what the journey costs, and besides,

what hardships and dangers one has to pass through; what takes place when the people arrive well or ill in the

country; how they are sold and dispersed; and finally, the nature and condition of the whole land. I relate both what

is good and what is evil, and I hope, therefore, to be considered impartial and truthful by an honor-loving world.

When all this will have been read, I do not doubt that those who may still desire to go there, will remain in

their fatherland, and carefully avoid this long and tedious journey and the fatalities connected with it; as such a

journey involves with most a loss of their property, liberty and peace; with not a few even a loss of life, and I may

well say, of the salvation of their souls.

From Würtemberg or Durlach to Holland and the open sea we count about 200 hours; from there across the

sea to Old England as far as Kaupp, [Cowes] where the ships generally cast anchor before they start on the great sea-

voyage, 150 hours; from there, till England is entirely lost sight of, above 100 hours; and then across the great

ocean, that is from land to land, 1200 hours according to the statements of mariners; at length from the first land in

Pennsylvania to Philadelphia over 40 hours, Which makes together a journey of 1700 hours or 1700 French miles.

This journey lasts from the beginning of May to the end of October, fully half a year, amid such hardships

as no one is able to describe adequately with their misery.

The cause is because the Rhine-boats from Heilbronn to Holland have to pass by 36 custom-houses, at all

of which the ships are examined, which is done when it suits the convenience of the custom-house officials. In the

meantime the ships with the people are detained long, so that the passengers have to spend much money. The trip

down the Rhine alone lasts therefore 4, 5 and even 6 weeks.

When the ships with the people come to Holland, they are detained there likewise 5 or 6 weeks. Because

things are very dear there, the poor people have to spend nearly all they have during that time. Not to mention many

sad accidents which occur here; having seen with my own eyes how a man, as he was about to board the ship near

Rotterdam, lost two children at once by drowning.

Both in Rotterdam and in Amsterdam the people are packed densely, like herrings so to say, in the large

sea-vessels. One person receives a place of scarcely 2 feet width and 6 feet length in the bedstead, while many a ship

carries four to six hundred souls; not to mention the innumerable implements, tools, provisions, water-barrels and

other things which likewise occupy much space.

On account of contrary winds it takes the ships sometimes 2, 3 and 4 weeks to make the trip from Holland

to Kaupp [Cowes] in England. But when the wind is good, they get there in 8 days or even sooner. Everything is

examined there and the custom-duties paid, whence it comes that the ships ride there 8, lo to 14 days and even

longer at anchor, till they have taken in their full cargoes. During that time every one is compelled to spend his last

remaining money and to consume his little stock of provisions which had been reserved for the sea; so that most

passengers, finding themselves on the ocean where they would be in greater need of them, must greatly suffer from

hunger and want. Many suffer want already on the water between Holland and Old England.

When the ships have for the last time weighed their anchors near the city of Kaupp [Cowes] in Old

England, the real misery begins with the long voyage. For from there the ships, unless they have good wind, must

often sail 8, 9, 10 to 12 weeks before they reach Philadelphia. But even with the best wind the voyage lasts 7 weeks.

But during the voyage there is on board these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many

kinds of sea-sickness, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth-rot, and the like, all

of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die

miserably.

Add to this want of provisions, hunger, thirst, frost, heat, dampness, anxiety, want, afflictions and

lamentations, together with other trouble, as c.v. the lice abound so frightfully, especially on sick people, that they can

be scraped off the body. The misery reaches the climax when a gale rages for 2 or 3 nights and days, so that every one

believes that the ship will go to the bottom with all human beings on board. In such a visitation the people cry and

pray most piteously.

When in such a gale the sea rages and surges, so that the waves rise often like high mountains one above the

other, and often tumble over the ship, so that one fears to go down with the ship; when the ship is constantly tossed

from side to side by the storm and waves, so that no one can either walk, or sit, or lie, and the closely packed people

in the berths are thereby tumbled over each other, both the sick and the well—it will be readily understood that many

of these people, none of whom had been prepared for hardships, suffer so terribly from them that they do not survive

it.

I myself had to pass through a severe illness at sea, and I best know how I felt at the time. These poor people

often long for consolation, and I often entertained and comforted them with singing, praying and exhorting; and

whenever it was possible and the winds and waves permitted it, I kept daily prayer-meetings with them on deck.

Besides, I baptized five children in distress, because we had no ordained minister on board. I also held divine service

every Sunday by reading sermons to the people; and when the dead were sunk in the water, I commended them and

our souls to the mercy of God.

Among the healthy, impatience sometimes grows so great and cruel that one curses the other, or himself and

the day of his birth, and sometimes come near killing each other. Misery and malice join each other, so that they cheat

and rob one another. One always reproaches the other with having persuaded him to undertake the journey. Frequently

children cry out against their parents, husbands against their wives and wives against their husbands, brothers and

sisters, friends and acquaintances against each other. But most against the soul-traffickers.

Many sigh and cry: “Oh, that I were at home again, and if I had to lie in my pig-sty !“ Or they say: “O God,

if I only had a piece of good bread, or a good fresh drop of water.” Many people whimper, sigh and cry piteously for

their homes; most of them get home-sick. Many hundred people necessarily die and perish in such misery, and must

be cast into the sea, which drives their relatives, or those who persuaded them to undertake the journey, to such despair

that it is almost impossible to pacify and console them. In a word, the sighing and crying and lamenting on board the

ship continues night and day, so as to cause the hearts even of the most hardened to bleed when they hear it.

No one can have an idea of the sufferings which women in confinement have to bear with their innocent

children on board these ships. Few of this class escape with their lives; many a mother is cast into the water with her

child as soon as she is dead. One day, just as we had a heavy gale, a woman in our ship, who was to give birth and

could not give birth under the circumstances, was pushed through a loop-hole [port-hole] in the ship and dropped into

the sea, because she was far in the rear of the ship and could not be brought forward.

Children from 1 to 7 years rarely survive the voyage; and many a time parents are compelled to see their

children miserably suffer and die from hunger, thirst and sickness, and then to see them cast into the water. I witnessed

such misery in no less than 32 children in our ship, all of whom were thrown into the sea. The parents grieve all the

more since their children find no resting-place in the earth, but are devoured by the monsters of the sea. It is a notable

fact that children, who have not yet had the measles or small-pocks, generally get them on board the ship, and mostly

die of them.

Often a father is separated by death from his wife and children, or mothers from their little children, or even

both parents from their children; and sometimes whole families die in quick succession; so that often many dead

persons lie in the berths beside the living Ones, especially when contagious diseases have broken out on board the

ship.

Many other accidents happen on board these ships, especially by falling, whereby people are often made

cripples and can never be set right again. Some have also fallen into the ocean.

That most of the people get sick is not surprising, because, in addition to all other trials and hardships, warm

food is served only three times a week, the rations being very poor and very little. Such meals can hardly be eaten, on

account of being so unclean. The water which is served out on the ships is often very black, thick and full of worms,

so that one cannot drink it without loathing, even with the greatest thirst. O surely, one would often give much money

at sea for a piece of good bread, or a drink of good water, not to say a drink of good wine, if it were only to be had. I

myself experienced that sufficiently, I am sorry to say. Toward the end we were compelled to eat the ship’s biscuit

which had been spoiled long ago; though in a whole biscuit there was scarcely a piece the size of a dollar that had not

been full of red worms and spiders’ nests. Great hunger and thirst force us to eat and drink everything; but many a one

does so at the risk of his life. The sea-water cannot be drunk, because it is salt and bitter as gall. If this were not so,

such a voyage could be made with less expense and without so many hardships.

At length, when, after a long and tedious voyage, the ships come in sight of land, so that the promontories

can be seen, which the people were so eager and anxious to see, all creep from below on deck to see the land from

afar, and they weep for joy, and pray and sing, thanking and praising God. The sight of the land makes the people on

board the ship, especially the sick and the half dead, alive again, so that their hearts leap within them; they shout and

rejoice, and are content to bear their misery in patience, in the hope that they may soon reach the land in safety. But

alas!

When the ships have landed at Philadelphia after their long voyage, no one is permitted to leave them except

those who pay for their passage or can give good security; the others, who cannot pay, must remain on board the ships

till they are purchased, and are released from the ships by their purchasers. The sick always fare the worst, for the

healthy are naturally preferred and purchased first; and so the sick and wretched must often remain on board in front

of the city for 2 or 3 weeks, and frequently die, whereas many a one, if he could pay his debt and were permitted to

leave the ship immediately, might recover and remain alive.

Before I describe how this traffic in human flesh is conducted, I must mention how much the journey to

Philadelphia or Pennsylvania costs.

A person over 10 years pays for the passage from Rotterdam to Philadelphia 10 pounds, or 60 florins.

Children from 5 to 10 years pay half price, 5 pounds or 30 florins. All children under 5 years are free. For these prices

the pas are conveyed to Philadelphia, and, as long as they are at sea, provided with food, though with very poor, as

has been shown above.

But this is only the sea-passage; the other costs on land, from home to Rotterdam, including the passage on

the Rhine, are at least 40 forms, no matter how economically one may live. No account is here taken of extraordinary

contingencies. I may safely assert that, with the greatest economy, many passengers have spent 200 florins from home

to Philadelphia.

The sale of human beings in the market on board the ship is carried on thus: Every day Englishmen, Dutchmen

and High-German people come from the city of Philadelphia and other places, in part from a great distance, say 20,

30, or 40 hours away, and go on board the newly arrived ship that has brought and offers for sale passengers from

Europe, and select among the healthy persons such as they deem suitable for their business, and bargain with them

how long they will serve for their passage-money, which most of them are still in debt for. When they have come to

an agreement, it happens that adult persons bind themselves in writing to serve 3, 4, 5 or 6 years for the amount due

by them, according to their age and strength. But very young people, from 10 to 15 years, must serve till they are 21

years old.

Many parents must sell and trade away their children like so many head of cattle; for if their children take

the debt upon themselves, the parents can leave the ship free and unrestrained; but as the parents often do not know

where and to what people their children are going, it often happens that such parents and children, after leaving the

ship, do not see each other again for many years, perhaps no more in all their lives.

When people arrive who cannot make themselves free, but have children under 5 years, the parents cannot

free themselves by them; for such children must be given to somebody without compensation to be brought up, and

they must serve for their bringing up till they are 21 years old. Children from 5 to 10 years, who pay half price for

their passage, viz. 30 florins, must likewise serve for it till they are 21 years of age; they cannot, therefore, redeem

their parents by taking the debt of the latter upon themselves. But children above 10 years can take part of their parents’

debt upon themselves.

A woman must stand for her husband if he arrives sick, and in like manner a man for his sick wife, and take

the debt upon herself or himself, and thus serve 5 to 6 years not alone for his or her own debt, but also for that of the

sick husband or wife. But if both are sick, such persons are sent from the ship to the sick-house [hospital] but not until

it appears probable that they will find no purchasers. As soon as they are well again they must serve for their passage,

or pay if they have means.

It often happens that whole families, husband, wife, and children, are separated by being sold to different

purchasers, especially when they have not paid any part of their passage money.

When a husband or wife has died at sea, when the ship has made more than half of her trip, the survivor must

pay or serve not only for himself or herself, but also for the deceased.

When both parents have died over half-way at sea, their children, especially when they are young and have

nothing to pawn or to pay, must stand for their own and their parents’ passage, and serve till they are 21 years old.

When one has served his or her term, he or she is entitled to a new suit of clothes at parting and if it has been so

stipulated, a man gets in addition a horse, a woman, a cow.

When a serf has an opportunity to marry in this country, he or she must pay for each year which he or she

would have yet to serve, 5 to 6 pounds. But many a one who has thus purchased and paid for his bride, has subsequently

repented his bargain, so that he would gladly have returned his exorbitantly dear ware, and lost the money besides.

If some one in this country runs away from his master, who has treated him harshly, he cannot get far. Good

provision has been made for such cases, so that a runaway is soon recovered. He who detains or returns a deserter

receives a good reward.

If such a runaway has been away from his master one day, he must serve for it as a punishment a week, for

a week a month, and for a month half a year. But if the master will not keep the runaway after he has got him back,

he may sell him for so many years as he would have to serve him yet.

Work and labor in this new and wild land are very hard and manifold, and many a one who came there in his

old age must work very hard to his end for his bread. I will not speak of young people. Work mostly consists in cutting

wood, felling oak-trees, rooting out, or as they say there, clearing large tracts of forest. Such forests, being cleared,

are then laid out for fields and meadows. From the best hewn wood, fences are made around the new fields; for there

all meadows, orchards and fruit-fields, are surrounded and fenced in with planks made of thickly-split wood, laid one

above the other, as in zigzag lines, and within such enclosures, horses, cattle, and sheep, are permitted to graze. Our

Europeans, who are purchased, must always work hard, for new fields are constantly laid out; and so they learn that

stumps of oak-trees are in America certainly as hard as in Germany. In this hot land they fully experience in their own

persons what God has imposed on man for his sin and disobedience; for in Genesis we read the words: In the sweat

of thy brow shalt thou eat bread. Who therefore wishes to earn his bread in a Christian and honest way, and cannot

earn it in his fatherland otherwise than by the work of his hands, let him do so in his own country, and not in America;

for he will not fare better in America. However hard he may be compelled to work in his fatherland, he will surely

find it quite as hard, if not harder, in the new country. Besides, there is not only the long and arduous journey lasting

half a year, during which he has to suffer, more than with the hardest work; he has also spent about 200 florins which

no one will refund to him. If he has so much money, it will slip out of his hands; if he has it not, he must work his debt

off as a slave and poor serf. Therefore let every one stay in his own country and support himself and his family

honestly. Besides I say that those who suffer themselves to be persuaded and enticed away by the man-thieves, are

very foolish if they believe that roasted pigeons will fly into their mouths in America or Pennsylvania without their

working for them.

How miserably and wretchedly so many thousand German families have fared, 1) since they lost all their

cash means in consequence of the long and tedious journey; 2) because many of them died miserably and were thrown

into the water; 3) because, on account of their great poverty, most of these families after reaching the land are separated

from each other and sold far away from each other, the young and the old. And the saddest of all this is that parents

must generally give away their minor children without receiving a compensation for them; inasmuch as such children

never see or meet their fathers, mothers, brothers or sisters again, and as many of them are not raised in any Christian

faith by the people to whom they are given.

. . . . But that so many people emigrate to America, and particularly to Pennsylvania, is due to the deceptions

and persuasions practised by the so-called newlanders.

These men-thieves inveigle people of every rank and profession, among them many soldiers, scholars, artists,

and mechanics. They rob the princes and lords of their subjects and take them to Rotterdam or Amsterdam to be sold

there. They receive there from their merchants for every person of 10 years and over 3 florins or a ducat; whereas the

merchants get in Philadelphia, 60, 70, or 80 florins for such a person, in proportion as said person has incurred more

or less debts during the voyage. When such a newlander has collected a “transport,” and if it does not suit him to

accompany them to America, he stays behind, passes the winter in Holland or elsewhere; in the spring he obtains again

money in advance for emigrants to his merchants, goes to Germany again, pretending that he had come from

Pennsylvania with the intention of purchasing all sorts of merchandise which he was going to take there.

Frequently these newlanders say that they had received power-of-attorney from some countrymen or from

the authorities of Pennsylvania to obtain legacies or inheritances for these countrymen; and that they would avail

themselves of this good and sure opportunity to take their friends, brothers or sisters, or even their parents with them;

and it was often happened that such old people followed them, trusting to the persuasion of these newlanders that they

would be better provided for.

Such old people they seek to get away with them in order to entice other people to follow them. Thus they

have seduced many away who said that if such and such relatives of theirs went to America, they would risk it too.

These men-thieves resort to various tricks, never forgetting to display their money before the poor people, but which

is nothing else, but a bait from Holland and accursed blood money.

When these men-thieves persuade persons of rank, such as nobles, learned or skilled people, who cannot pay

their passage and cannot give security, these are treated just like ordinary poor people, and must remain on board the

ship till some one comes and buys them from the captain. And when they are released at last from the ship, they must

serve their lords and masters, by whom they have been bought, like common day-laborers. Their rank, skill and

learning avails them nothing, for here none but laborers and mechanics are wanted. But the worst is that such people,

who are not accustomed to work, are treated to blows and cuffs, like cattle, till they have learned the hard work. Many

a one, on finding himself thus shamefully deceived by the newlanders, has shortened his own life, or has given way

to despair, so that he could not be helped, or has run away, only to fare worse afterwards than before.

It often happens that the merchants in Holland make a secret contract with their captains and the newlanders,

to the effect that the latter must take the ships with their human freight to another place in America, and not to

Pennsylvaina where these people want to go, if they think they can elsewhere find a better market for them. Many a

one who has a good friend or acquaintance, or a relative in Pennsylvania, to whose helping care he has trusted, finds

himself thus grievously disappointed in consequence of such infamous deception, being separated from friends whom

he will never see again wither in this or in that country. Thus emigrants are compelled in Holland to submit to the

wind and to the captain’s will, because they cannot know at sea where the ship is steered to. But all this is the fault of

the newlanders and of some unscrupulous dealers in human flesh in Holland.

Many people who go to Philadelphia entrust their money, which they have brought with them from home, to

these newlanders. But these thieves often remain in Holland with the money, or sail from there with another ship to

another English colony, so that the poor defrauded people, when they reach the country, have no other choice but to

serve or to sell their children, if they have any, only to get away from the ship. . . .

It is impossible, however, to discuss all these circumstances; besides I am sure that the newlanders and men-

thieves, on coming to Germany, never reveal the truth about these wretched voyages full of dangers and hardships….

DESCRIPTION OF THE LAND PENNSYLVANIA.

Pennsylvania is one of the English settlements or colonies in North America. It borders on the sea, and is just

in the centre between the other English plantation lands. Far above it, in the north, are Nova Scotia, New England,

New York, and New Jersey; below it, in the south, Maryland, Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia. From the city of London

to the point where we lose Old England out of sight we count 325 English miles; then, from land to land, that is from

the last land in Old England to the first land in Pennsylvania 3600 such miles, from there to Philadelphia 125 miles,

which makes together 4050 English miles, or 1350 German or rather Swabian hours. 3 English miles make a Swabian

hour, but 25 such hours make a degree, just as the French land miles. When the ships come near this land, they sail

from the ocean into the great river. This is a large bay formed by the Delaware River, or rather, it is the Delaware

River itself which is very broad here. On the way to Philadelphia one sees on both sides a large flat land with woods

here and there. The passage from the sea, and the entrance into the great river is in a northwesterly direction. The

Delaware River separates below at the entrance, the two colonies, Pennsylvania and Maryland, from each other,

Maryland to the left, Pennsylvania to the right. While on the river, we can see much high mountain land, especially

the Blue Mountains, and on the left hand the tall and exceedingly beautiful cedar trees. At the entrance from the sea

the river is so broad that we can scarcely see the land on either side. It grows gradually narrower, and at Philadelphia

the Delaware is about half an hour wide. Here the river has twice every 24 hours ebb and flow from the sea. This city

lies, as above stated, 125 English miles or 40 hours journey from the open sea, higher up in the land, hard by said river

into which most of the rivers of this colony empty; the other waters flow into the other great main river of

Pennsylvania, which is called Susquehanna, and empties into the Chesapeake Bay. In Philadelphia we can see the

open sea through a field-glass.

Said city is the capital of Pennsylvania where all the commerce is carried on. It is already very large, regularly

and handsomely built, and laid out with broad streets and many cross-alleys. All the houses are built of stone or brick

up to the fourth story, and roofed with shingles of cedar wood. It takes almost a day to walk around the town ; about

300 new houses are built every year. It is thought that in time it will be one of the largest cities in the world. The

principal language and the law of the land is English. It has no walls nor ramparts, these being deemed unnecessary.

On two sides the city has navigable waters, toward morning the above mentioned Delaware, and toward midnight the

Schuylkill River, both of which join below the city. Many large and small merchant-vessels are built there near the

water. The trade of the city and country to other countries and colonies increases perceptibly from year to year; it

consists in fruit, flour, corn, tobacco, honey, skins, various kinds of costly furs, flax, and particularly a great deal of

flax-seed or linseed, also fine cut lumber, horses, and all kinds of tame and wild animals. In return the incoming

vessels bring all sorts of goods, such as Spanish, Portuguese and German wines, the best of which cost a rix-dollar,

the most inferior a florin per quart. Also spices, sugar, tea, coffee, rice, rum, which is a brandy distilled from sugar,

molasses, fine china vessels, Dutch and English cloths, leather, linen, stuffs, silks, damask, velvet, etc. There is actually

everything to be had in Pennsylvania that may be obtained in Europe, because so many merchantmen land here every

year. Ships are coming from Holland, Old and New England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Maryland, New York,

Carolina, and from the West and East Indies. By "West Indies" the people of Pennsylvania mean the Spanish and

Portuguese America, and also the American Islands, whether they belong to the English or to other nations.

In Philadelphia there is a new and splendid court or town house, which is very high and has four doors and

four entrances. It is 100 feet long or and 100 feet wide, stands free, and has tall English plate [glass] windows. In this

town there are already eight churches, three English, three German, one Swedish, and one Quaker church. In the last

named one can often hear and see a woman preach in English, but no singing is heard in this class [sect], because they

don't believe in singing. After the sermon is over, he who has objections against the sermon steps forth and explains

his opinion; and then one can often hear two persons disputing before the whole assemblage, which lasts sometimes

longer than the sermon.

A gymnasium [college] has also been established in the city, where several languages are taught ; for in this

city and country people from every part of the world can be seen, especially Europeans, of whom one could count

more than a hundred thousand. The Germans are most numerous among the inhabitants of Pennsylvania. Many of

these Germans study diverse languages in said gymnasium.

In the court house of Philadelphia, four principal courts are annually held, and public judgment is passed in

all occurring cases. Young and old may enter the court-room on such court-days and hear what is tried and transacted,

and which often gives rise to a terrible laughter among the audience.

I will quote here but one example out of many. One day the following case was tried in the court: An

unmarried woman, who had suffered herself to be got with child, and who wanted the man who was responsible for

her condition to marry her, stated that he had forced her to the act. Both parties being summoned and heard, the

defendant in the case would neither hear nor answer, but looked rigidly and immovably at the gentlemen Assimle

[gentlemen of the Assembly, i.e., judges], no matter what they said and asked, he having been instructed to act thus

by his lawyer. After they had tried it with him long enough, and when he was to go to prison, which was shouted aloud

into his ear, he suddenly recovered his hearing. He excused himself, asked pardon, and said that when he forced the

woman she screamed so terribly that he lost his hearing. But the woman started up and said: O, you godless rogue,

how can you say so? I did not speak a word at that time. Which he admitted, and said that was true, he only wanted

this confession from her. And why did she not cry? There had been people enough sleeping in the house that night.

Whereupon she replied, if she had thought that she would get with child this time she would surely have cried for

help. This called forth loud laughter among the young and old, and the defendant was acquitted of the charge against

him.

I will here quote another story which did not turn out so favorably for the man implicated in it. A purchased

woman servant in an English house became pregnant by her master's purchased man servant. Being no longer able to

conceal her condition, she reported it to her master, who was a Justice, which means as much as a judge or alderman.

The master who was very angry over this lapse, said at last, from compassion with her: She would do herself a great

wrong if she charged that loose bird with being the father of her child; for in the first place his time of serving would

not expire before a long time yet, and then he did not call a farthing his own, and besides she knew herself that he was

a spendthrift and would never be able to support her and her child. But if she would follow him he would give her

better advice, so that she and her child would be provided for in the future. The afflicted woman was very anxious to

know it, and promised her master to follow his advice, entreating him to tell her wherein it consisted. Her master then

warned her earnestly not to betray him, and told her to go to another Justice, because he as her master might be

considered too partial in this case, and charge another unmarried man, whose name and good circumstances were well

known to her, with being the father of her child; but she must stand to it [stick to it or, swear to it]. This advice pleased

the woman quite well; but on further consideration she went to another Justice, revealed her condition to him and

stated that her master himself was the father of her child, and that she could stand to it, although her master would not

confess it; being a widower, he could and should keep her now. The Justice then administered the oath to her according

to the English law; this is done by kissing the Bible. As soon as this was done he sent a constable for her master, this

is customary in the land, and subjected him to a hearing. But as he would not confess, he had to go to prison and stay

there so long till he promised in writing either to marry his pregnant servant woman or to pay her 200 pounds, which

is 1200 florins in German money. Under such circumstances he chose to marry his servant woman, rather than give

her 1200 florins. He himself acknowledged this as right and just, because he had advised her to charge an innocent

man with being the father of her child. He was married to her on the spot. Such and similar cases happen frequently

in that country, mainly because the women enjoy such great liberties and privileges.

Coming to speak of Pennsylvania again, that colony possesses great liberties above all other English colonies,

inasmuch as all religious sects are tolerated there. We find there Lutherans, Reformed, Catholics, Quakers, Mennonists

or Anabaptists, Herrnhuters or Moravian Brethen, Pietists, Seventh Day Baptists, Dunkers, Presbyterians, Newborn,

Freemasons, Separatists, Freethinkers, Jews, Mohammedans, Pagans, Negroes and Indians. The Evangelicals and

Reformed, however, are in the majority. But there are many hundred unbaptized souls there that do not even wish to

be baptized. Many pray neither in the morning nor in the evening, neither before nor after meals. No devotional book,

not to speak of a Bible, will be found with such people. In one house and one family, 4, 5, and even 6 sects, may be

found.

Liberty in Pennsylvania extends so far that every one is free from all molestation and taxation on his property,

business, house and estates. On a hundred acres of land a tax of no more than an English shilling is paid annually,

which is called ground-rent or quit-rent; a shilling is about 18 kreuzers of German money. A peculiarity, however, is

that unmarried men and women pay from 2 to 5 shillings annually, according to their income, because they have no

one but themselves to provide for. In Philadelphia this money is applied to the purchase of the lights which burn every

night in the streets of the city.

This country was granted by the King of England to a distinguished Quaker named Penn, from whom the

land of Pennsylvania takes its name. Even now there are some young Lords Von Penn who, however, do not reside in

the country, but in London, in Old England. A. D. 1 754, a young Lord Von Penn was in the country. He renewed and

confirmed all the former liberties with his signature, and made many presents to the Indians or savages.

No trade or profession in Pennsylvania is bound by guilds; every one may carry on whatever business he will

or can, and if any one could or would carry on ten trades; no one would have a right to prevent him; and if, for instance,

a lad as an apprentice, or through his own unaided exertions, learns his art or trade in six months, he can pass for a

master, and may marry whenever he chooses. It is a surprising fact that young people who were born in this new land,

are very clever, docile and skilful; for many a one looks at a work of skill or art only a few times, and imitates it

immediately, while in Germany many a one has to learn for years to do the same thing perfectly. But here many a one

is able to produce the most artful things in a short time. When the young folks have gone to school for six months,

they are generally able to read anything.

The land of Pennsylvania is a healthy land; it has for the most part good soil, good air and water, many high

mountains, and also much flat land; it is very rich in wood; where it is not inhabited a pure forest in which many small

and large waters flow. The land is also very fertile, and all sorts of grain grow well. It is quite populous, too, inhabited

far and wide, and several new towns have been founded here and there, as Philadelphia, Germantown, Lancaster,

Rittengstaun [Reading], Bethlehem, and New-Frankfurt [Frankford]. There are also many churches built in the

country; but many people have to go a journey of 2, 3, 4, 5 to 10 hours to get to church; but all people, men and

women, ride to church on horseback, though they had only half an hour to walk, which is customary also at funerals

and weddings. Sometimes one can count at such country weddings and funerals 300, 400, and even 500 persons on

horseback. It may be readily imagined that on such occasions, as also at the holy communion, no one appears in black

clothes, crapes, or cloaks. I will give a somewhat more detailed account of the funeral customs. When some one has

died, especially in the country, where on account of the intervening plantations and forests people live far from one

another, the time appointed for the funeral is always indicated only to the 4 nearest neighbors; each of these in his turn

notifies his own nearest neighbor. In this manner such an invitation to a funeral is made known more than fifty English

miles around in 24 hours. If it is possible, one or more persons from each house appear on horseback at the appointed

time to attend the funeral. While the people are coming in, good cake cut into pieces is handed around on a large tin

platter to those present; each person receives then in a goblet, a hot West India Rum punch, into which lemon, sugar

and juniper berries are put, which give it a delicious taste. After this, hot and sweetened cider is served. This custom

at the funeral assemblies in America is just the same as that at the wedding gatherings in Europe. When the people

have nearly all assembled, and the time for the burial has come, the dead body is carried to the general burial-place,

or where that is too far away, the deceased is buried in his own field. The assembled people ride all in silence behind

the coffin, and sometimes one can count from 100 to 500 persons on horseback. The coffins are all made of fine walnut

wood and stained brown with a shining varnish. Well-to-do people have four finely-wrought brass handles attached

to the coffin, by which the latter is held and carried to the grave. If the deceased person was a young man, the body is

carried to the grave by four maidens, while that of a deceased maiden is carried by four unmarried men.

It is no unusual thing in this country to hear a totally unlearned man preaching in the open field, for the

sectarians say and believe that the scholars of the present day are no longer apostles, and that they are only making a

trade of their learning. Nevertheless, there are many excellent preachers in Pennsylvania who, by the grace of God

and by their indefatigable toil, have converted many souls to the Christian faith; I myself have witnessed how our

evangelical ministers have baptized and confirmed many adult persons, both white and black. Such an act is always

attended by a large concourse of people. But I am sorry to say that there are also quite unworthy preachers who give

offence to many people, and who furnish the sectarians with arguments, to the great annoyance of our ministers. I will

quote here an example of such an objectionable preacher. One by the name of Alexander, of Oley township, said in a

meeting of young farmers, with whom he had been drinking and carousing, that he would preach so that all his hearers

who stood in front of him would weep, but those that stood behind him must all laugh. To this effect he bet a

considerable sum with said young farmers. On the appointed day he appeared at a church-meeting, took his stand in

the middle of the people, and began to hold a touching and pathetic sermon. Seeing that his hearers were moved to

tears, he put his hands behind him, drew his coat-tails asunder, exhibiting a pair of badly-torn breeches through which

his bare posterior, which he scratched with one hand, shone forth, so that those who stood behind him could not help

roaring with laughter. Thus he had won his wager. This disgusting affair was published in the English and German

newspapers of Philadelphia. The sectarians said often to those of our own faith that such men were the false prophets

that went about in sheep's clothing, but were in fact rapacious wolves. But this is a source of great annoyance and

vexation to all righteous teachers and good pastors.

There are at present many good English, Swedish, Dutch and German preachers of the Lutheran and the

Reformed churches in Pennsylvania, of whom the following are very well known to me. Among the English, the three

brothers TENNENT and Mr. DATT. Three Swedish ministers who are very closely associated with our preachers and

hold yearly conferences with them. But the German Evangelical Lutheran preachers are: Mr. MÜHLENBERG, senior,

in Providence township and New Hanover. Mr. BRUNHOLZ, in Philadelphia. Mr. HANDSCHUH, in Germantown,

Mr. Kurz, in Tulpehocken. Mr. Wagner, in Readingstoun (Reading). Mr. HEINZELMANN, in Philadelphia.

Mr. SCHULZ, Mr. WEYGAND, Mr. SCHRENK, Mr. SCHÄRTEL, in the Blue Mountains. Mr. HARTWICH, in

New York. Mr. GÖRAK, in Lancaster. Reformed ministers are; Mr. SCHLATTER, Mr. STEINER, Mr. SIEBELE,

Mr. WEISS, Mr. MICHAEL, Mr. STREITTER, and Mr. LAIDIG, without mentioning the Dutch and others whose

names are not known to me.

The preachers in Pennsylvania receive no salaries or tithes, except what they annually get from their church

members, which varies very much; for many a father of a family gives according to his means and of his own free will

2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 florins a year, but many others give very little. For baptizing children, for funeral sermons and marriage

ceremonies they generally receive a dollar. The preachers have no free dwellings or other beneficia. But they receive

many presents from their parishioners. The same is true of the schoolmasters. But since 1754 England and Holland

give annually a large sum of money for the general benefit of the many poor in Pennsylvania, and for the support of

6 Reformed English churches and as many Reformed English free schools. Nevertheless, many hundred children

cannot attend these schools, on account of their great distance and the many forests. Many planters lead, therefore, a

very wild and heathenish life; for as it is with the schools, so it is also with the churches in the rural districts, because

churches and school-houses are usually built around at such places only, where most neighbors and church members

live.*

The preachers throughout Pennsylvania have no power to punish any one, or to compel any one to go to

church; nor has any one a right to dictate to the other, because they are not supported by any Consistorio. Most

preachers are hired by the year like the cowherds in Germany; and if one does not preach to their liing, he must expect

to be served with a notice that his services will no longer be required. It is, therefore, very difficult to be a conscientious

* In an English publication, which treats of the condition of the immigrants who have settled in Pennsylvania, Virginia,

Maryland, etc., the following is reported among other things: From the most trustworthy accounts which we have of these provinces,

it appears that the number of immigrants there has increased exceedingly within the last few years. They consist for the most part

of Palatines, Franconians, and Swiss. In the Colony of Pennsylvania alone there are over 100,000; of these about 20,000 belong to

the Reformed, nearly as many to the Lutheran, and about 1700 to the Roman Catholic religion. The rest consists of Anabaptists,

Moravians, Brethren of Zion, Rondorfers, and other Separatists. As among the latter almost every one is his own teacher, it may

be said of them that they have their tenets (if the inanities of these people may be called so) better by heart than many of the other

denominations; for although not a few pious and illumined Christians may be found among the latter, by far the majority live in

the deepest ignorance, which must be ascribed to the want of sufficient preachers and schoolmasters, the inhabitants lacking the

means for their support. The author of this publication closes with the wish that the nation of Great Britain might duly consider the

condition of their brethren, both in a spiritual and worldly aspect, and do for them what is necessary to have in them a constant

bulwark in America against all their enemies.

preacher, especially as they have to hear and suffer much from so many hostile and often wicked sects. The most

exemplary preachers are often reviled, insulted and scoffed at like the Jews, by the young and old, especially in the

country I would, therefore, rather perform the meanest herdsman's duties in Germany than be a preacher in

Pennsylvania. Such unheard-of rudeness and wickedness spring from the excessive liberties of the land, and from the

blind zeal of the many sects. To many a one's soul and body, liberty in Pennsylvania is more hurtful than useful. There

is a saying in that country: Pennsylvania is the heaven of the farmers, the paradise of the mechanics, and the hell of

the officials and preachers.

The Governor in my time, had his residence in Philadelphia, his name was Hamilton. Every 6 years a new

Governor is elected by the King and Parliament of England, and sent there to govern in the name of the King; but the

land and most of the revenues belong to a Quaker by the name of Penn, hence also the city of Philadelphia and the

land are densely peopled by Quakers.

Provisions are cheap in Pennsylvania, but everything that is manufactured and brought into the country is

three or four times as dear as in Germany. Wood, salt and sugar, excepted. Otherwise we can purchase in Germany as

much with one florin as here with 4 or 5 florins. Nevertheless, the people live well, especially on all sorts of grain,

which thrives very well, because the soil is wild and fat. They grow chiefly rye, wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat, corn,

flax, hemp, fruit, cabbage and turnips. They also have good cattle, fast horses, and many bees. The sheep, which are

larger than the German ones, have generally two lambs a year. Hogs and poultry, especially turkeys, are raised by

almost everybody. In this country the chickens are not put in houses by night, nor are they looked after; but they sit

summer and winter upon the trees near the houses; every evening many a tree is so full of chickens that the boughs

bend beneath them. The poultry is in no danger from beasts of prey, because every plantation owner has a big dog, if

not more, at large around his house.

Even in the humblest and poorest houses in this country there is no meal without meat, and no one eats the

bread without butter or cheese, although the bread is as good as with us. It is very annoying, however, that nothing

but salt meat is eaten in summer, and rarely fresh meat in winter. On account of the extensive stock-raising, meat is

very cheap; one can buy the best beef for 3 kreuzers a pound, pork and mutton for 2 kreuzers and 3 hellers. Besides,

one can buy at the market of Philadelphia many kinds of meat, venison, poultry, fish and birds, as one chooses, for

very little money. I don't think that there is any country in which more meat is eaten and consumed than in

Pennsylvania. The English know little or nothing of soup eating; bread and butter and cheese are always their dessert,

and because sugar, tea and coffee, are very cheap, they drink coffee and the like 2 or 3 times daily. The common sugar

costs 10 kr. a pound, the best 15 kr. Coffee is of the same price; rice costs 3 kr. a pound. Vegetables of every description

are raised in abundance. A bushel of salt can be bought for 15 kr., and timber and wood for fuel every one has for

nothing. Market is held twice a week in Philadelphia; it always attracts a great concourse of people. The ordinary meat

stalls which are over 100 feet long, hang on both sides full of all kinds of meat, which is always bought up and

consumed by the numerous population, not to mention the many fish, game, all sorts of poultry, and especially the

marvelously large lobsters, whose claws are each as large as a man's hand.

Turtles I often saw of a size that it took a man to carry one. A hen costs 6 kreuzers, and eggs are sometimes

to be had 20 for a hatzen (4 kr.). A turkey is worth 24 to 30 kr. A bushel of rye, 2 shillings, or 36 kr. A bushel of good

wheat, 3 shillings or 54 kr. Fruit sells well; it is mostly taken across the sea to other countries. But all other goods cost

twice or three times as much as in Germany, because they have to be taken all the way there; therefore, what can be

bought for a florin in Germany, costs 4 or 5 fl. in Pennsylvania and the neighboring countries. Domestic linen, which

costs from 15 to 18 kreuzers in Germany, brings 40 kr. or even a florin in these English colonies. A pair of man's

shoes costs 2 to 3 florins, and even more ; a pair of stockings quite as much.

Of beverages there are many kinds in Pennsylvania and the other English colonies; in the first place, delicious

and healthy water; secondly, they make a mixture of milk and three parts water; thirdly, good apple cider; fourthly,

small beer; fifthly, delicious English strong, sweet beer; sixthly, punch, which consists of three parts water and one

part West India rum (when no rum is to be had, brandy is taken, but rum is much pleasanter), mixed with sugar and

lemon juice; seventhly, sinkere [sangaree], which is still more delicious to drink; this is made of two parts water and

one part Spanish wine with sugar and nutmeg; and eighthly, German and Spanish wines, to be had plentifully at all

taverns; of the latter, a quart costs a rix-dollar. Mixed drinks are all drunk from china vessels, which are called poole

[bowls], and are formed like a soup-dish.

All trades and professions have good earnings; beggars are nowhere to be seen, for each county or township

cares and provides for its poor. In the country the people live so far from one another that many a one has to walk

fifteen minutes or half an hour to get to his nearest neighbor. The reason is because many a farmer has 50 or 100 and

even 200 – 400 acres of land, laid out in orchards, meadows, fields and woods. Such a one has usually 10, 15 or 20

acres in orchards alone, from which a great deal of cider and brandy is made.

Peach and cherry trees many a farmer plants in whole avenues from one plantation to the other, and they

yield an abundant crop. One sort of peaches are inside and outside red, as large as a lemon, but round and smooth, and

they are ripe about St, Bartholomew's day. Again there are some waxen yellow, red streaked, and green as grass. There

is also a sort called clingstones; they are sweet when they are ripe; they are often preserved before they are quite ripe,

like cucumbers. Pears there are but few, and damsons none, because they will not thrive and are often spoiled by the

mildew.

Every farmer pastures his cattle, horses and sheep on his own farm, or lets them run about in the bushes, and

brings them home in the evening and morning to have the cows milked, and then lets them run at large again all night

till morning; so that the animals find their own food and need not be fed daily as in Germany. No cattle are stabled

during the summer, except when a cow is to calve; but frequently one seeks and finds the old and the young together

in the forest, or a cow comes unexpectedly home with her calf. Throughout the whole province no shepherd or cowherd

is needed, because all cattle and sheep are kept in fenced fields or let run at large in the fields, where they find plenty

of food and moreover spoil much in many places.

In the rural districts of Pennsylvania the newborn children are not brought to church to receive the holy

baptism till they are a fortnight, several weeks, three or six months, and sometimes a whole year old; so that such large

and wild children often kick at the preacher or baptist, thus giving rise to laughter. Many Pennsylvanian mothers are

in the habit of suckling their unruly babies in church, even during the holy baptism. Many parents act as sponsors for

their own children, because they have no faith or confidence in other people in this important point; for which they

are not to be blamed, for many a one will not say what he believes. Others, although baptized themselves, will not

permit their children to be baptized. When questioned about it they answer they can see no difference between the

baptized and the unbaptized young people; that no one keeps his baptismal vows, and that it is not necessary, therefore,

to pay the minister a dollar for it. In my school in Pennsylvania I had many adult persons of either sex who, in answer

to my question if they had been baptized, said: No, what's the use of it? Whereupon I endeavored to shake their

unbelief by quoting Nicodemus' conversation with Jesus, and thus I brought many young people to a recognition of

the necessity of the holy baptism, so that they became quite anxious and desired to be baptized. Some were also eager

to learn the principal points of the whole Evangelical Christian doctrine, which many parents would not permit, saying

that they did not send their children to school to learn a faith, but to learn to read and write as much as was necessary.

. . . .

Of the savages, or Indians, who hold intercourse with the English, there is a great multitude; they live even

beyond the Ohio, and the Hudson River on which Albany lies; therefore on both sides to the right and left of

Pennsylvania. These two waters, which are very large, are about 100 hours' journey from Philadelphia. These savages

live in the bush in huts, away from said waters, and so far inland that no one is able to find the end of the habitations

of these savages. The farther we oret into the country, the more savages we see. They support themselves in various

ways; some shoot game, others dig roots, some raise tobacco and Indian corn or maize, which they eat raw or boiled;

besides, they deal also in all sorts of hides, in beaver-skins and costly furs.

The savages that are on the borders of the Europeans are frequently seen; some of them understand a little

English. I myself have several times seen whole families; once I had occasion, at the request of Captain Von Diemer,

to play the organ to a savage family, when they became very gay and manifested their surprise and joy by signs and

genuflections. These Indians, who walk about amid other people, wear instead of clothes, blankets, such as are usually

used as covers for the horses; these they have hanging uncut and unsewed about their bare bodies. They wear no

coverings on their heads or on their feet. The form of their bodies does not differ from ours, except that they look dark

yellow, which, however, is not their natural color, for they besmear and stain themselves thus; but at their birth they

are born as white as we are. Both men and women have long, smooth hair on their heads; the men do not tolerate

beards; and when in their youth, the hairs begin to grow, they pull them out immediately; they have, therefore, smooth

faces like the women. On account of the lacking beard and the sameness in dressing, it is not easy to distinguish the

men from the women. When these savages wish to be good-looking, they paint their cheeks and foreheads red, hang

their ears with strings of false beads of an ell's length. They wear neither shirts, nor breeches, nor coats beneath their

blankets. In their wilderness where they live the young and old go about naked in the summer time. Every autumn

they come in large crowds to the city of Philadelphia, bringing with them all sorts of little baskets which they make

quite neatly and beautifully, many skins and costly furs. Besides these things they trade off to the Governor, when

they are assembled, a tract of land of more than a thousand acres, which is yet all forest. In the name of the country

and the city they are annually presented with many things, such as blankets, guns, rum or brandy and the like; on

which occasion they make merry with their own strange Indian songs, especially when they are drunk. No one

understands their language; some of them who come much in contact with the English, can speak a little English.

There are very strong, tall and courageous people among them. In their language they though and thee everybody,

even the Governor, and they can run as fast as the deer. When you speak to them of the true and everlasting God, the

Creator of heaven and earth, they do not understand it, but answer simply: They believe that there are two men, a good

one and a bad one; that the good one had made everything good, and the bad one had made everything bad; that it was

not necessary, therefore, to pray to the good one, as he was doing no one any harm; but the bad one should be prayed

to that he might do no one any harm. Of a resurrection of the dead, a salvation, heaven or hell, they know and

understand nothing. They bury their dead where they die. I have often been told by truthful people that very old

savages that can hardly move any longer, or break down on the way, are simply killed and buried. But if a savage kills

another, unless it be in war or on account of old age, whether the murdered was one of our or one of their own people,

the murderer must surely die. They take him first to their Indian King to be tried, and thence to the place where the

murder was committed, slay him suddenly, bury him on the spot, and cover his grave with much wood and stones. On

the other hand, they must likewise be given satisfaction in similar cases, otherwise they would treat an innocent person

of our people in like manner.

When the savages come to the city of Philadelphia and see the handsome and magnificent buildings there,

they wonder and laugh at the Europeans for expending so much toil and cost on houses. They say that it is quite

unnecessary, as one can live without such houses. Still more they wonder at the garments of the Europeans and their

costly finery; they will even spit out when they see it.

When a savage couple are betrothed, the man gives his affianced bride a piece of a deer's leg into her hand,

whereby he gives to understand that he will nourish his future wife with meat; his affianced, on the other hand, gives

him an ear of corn, in token that she will provide her future husband and children with bread. Thus they care for each

other, and remain together until death parts them.

Old savages have often been questioned about their descent and origin, and they have answered that all they

knew or could say was this; that their great-grandparents had lived in these same wildernesses, and that it was not

right that the Europeans came and took their lands away from them. For this reason they must move farther and farther

back in the wilderness to find game for their food.

The weapon with which these savages shoot is a round bow, in the front centre of which they place a sharp

and pointed stone of a finger's length; in the rear it is rather more than an inch wide, and on both sides as sharp as a

knife; they aim accurately with it, and when they have wounded a deer which will not fall they run after it till they get

it, for they can run faster than a horse. In witness of this I have brought such a stone home with me wherewith the

Indians, or savages, have shot game. This was their only shooting weapon before they obtained guns from the

Europeans.

. . . .

When two persons have a quarrel or lawsuit in this country, and if they cannot settle it themselves, they must

first appear before a Justice, who is as much as a judge. When the plaintiff and his witnesses prefer a charge, the

Justice asks if they can swear to it. When the question is answered in the affirmative, the Justice takes the Bible into

his hand and admonishes the parties once more very sharply. When this is done, one must take the Bible out of the

Justice's hand and kiss it three times. The Justice says: Now it is done. He sits down again and binds the defendant

over for the next court, and sends him immediately by the constable, that is the court officer, to the prison in

Philadelphia, where he must stay till the next court is held, which is sometimes almost a quarter of a year. But if the

defendant will not go to prison, he must usually bind himself in the sum of from loo to 600 florins to appear and

surrender himself at the next court at Philadelphia. But if he cannot do that, he must look about for some good friend

to bind himself for him. If he does not appear at the appointed time, the deposited money, or property to the same

amount, is irredeemably forfeited. When a case comes for the first time before the court, it costs already 5 pounds,

that is 30 florins; if it is not disposed of, but postponed to the second court, it costs as much again, and yet the case is

not always disposed of then; but the gentlemen of the court choose, when it has been called up often enough, three

impartial men who are to dispose of it. This is done in the following manner: When the three selected men meet at the

appointed time with the plaintiff and the defendant, two of the referees are told for which party each had been chosen

and sworn by the court; but the third man, being the arbitrator, must decide when the two cannot agree. But before the

case itself is taken up, an English bill of complaint is made out by the three men in the presence of an English clerk,

even if German people are concerned in the case, for a German document is of no validity before the authorities. Both

the plaintiff and the defendant must sign this document and promise that both parties will abide by that which the three

men will do, conclude and decide in the matter. Then the case is taken up to be adjudged in favor of the one or the

other party.

If any one contracts debts, and does not or cannot pay them at the appointed time, the best that he has is taken

away from him; but if he has nothing, or not enough, he must go immediately to prison and remain there till some one

vouches for him, or till he is sold. This is done whether he has children or not. But if he wishes to be released and has

children, such a one is frequently compelled to sell a child. If such a debtor owes only 5 pounds, or 30 florins, he must

serve for it a year or longer, and so in proportion to his debt; but if a child of 8, 10 or 12 years of age is given for it,

said child must serve until he or she is 21 years old.

If a man in Pennsylvania is betrothed to a woman, and does not care to be married by an ordained preacher,

he may be married by any Justice, wherever he will, without having the banns published, on payment of 6 florins. It

is a very common custom among the newly married, when the priest has blessed them, to kiss each other in presence

of the whole church assemblage, or wherever the marriage ceremony takes place. Again, when a couple have been

published from the pulpit, even if this has been done for the second or third time, they are still at liberty to give each

other up without the least cost. Even when such a couple have come to the church with their wedding guests, nay,

when they already stand before the altar, and one party repents the engagement, he or she may yet walk away. This

has frequently been done; but it occurs oftener that a bride leaves her bridegroom together with the wedding guests in

the church, which causes a cruel laughter among said wedding guests; these may then freely partake of the meal that

has been prepared.

If a couple in this province want to marry each other, and the parents and relatives on one or both sides will

not permit it, especially when a woman will not renounce her lover, they ride off and away together on one horse. And

because women have greater privileges than men, the man must sit on the horse behind his beloved. In this position

they ride to a Justice, and say they had stolen each other, and request him to marry them for their money. When this

is done, no one, neither parents nor friends, can afterward separate them.

If any one has lost a wife or husband in Germany, and if such loss was not caused by the death of either of

them, he or she can find such lost treasure, if the same be still alive, in America, for Pennsylvania is the gathering

place of all runaways and good-for-nothings. Many women and men are there who have deserted their spouses and

their children, and have married again, but in doing so have generally made a worse bargain than before.

If a man gets a woman with child, and he marries her, either before or after her confinement, he has expiated

his guilt and is not punished by the authorities. But if he will not marry the woman whom he got with child, and she

sues him, he must either marry her, or give her a sum of money. But there is no penalty on fornication.

. . . .

On the whole, crimes are punished severely, especially larceny. If any one steals only a handkerchief, a pair

of stockings or shoes, or a shirt, or the like things of little value, and suit is brought against him, he is tied to a post in

the public market, stripped to the waist, and so terribly lashed with a switch, or a horse- or dog-whip, to which knots

are sometimes attached, that patches of skin and flesh hang down from his body. But if such a culprit should

subsequently steal again, and were it only an object worth 20 florins, or a horse, short work is made with him. They

place him in a cart, drive him beneath the gallows, throw a rope round his neck, hang him up, drive the cart away

beneath him, and let him dangle; sometimes the culprit suffers long and dies miserably. For in this country it does not

matter who plays the hangman; for 5 pounds or 30 florins any one will do it. During the time while I was there such

an execution took place, when an unskilled hangman had to hang a thief, which took him so long that some

distinguished gentlemen, who were present, grew impatient and called out to him to know why he was fooling around

so long with him. But the hangman was quick-witted and answered boldly: If you, gentlemen, can hang a man better

than I can, just come on. The consequence was that the gentlemen were laughed at by the people.

. . . .

In Pennsylvania and the other English colonies there are innumerable negroes, or blacks, who have to serve

all their lives as slaves. From 200 to 350 florins are paid for a strong and industrious half-grown negro. Many are

given in marriage by their masters in order to raise young blackamoors by them, who are sold in their turn. These

blacks are likewise married in the English fashion.

According to their color the inhabitants of Pennsylvania may be divided into 4 classes. There are, 1. Whites,

i.e. Europeans who have immigrated, and natives begotten by European fathers and mothers; 2. Negroes, i.e. blacks

brought over as slaves from Africa; 3. MULATERS or MALATERS [mulattoes], i.e. such as are begotten by a white

father and a black mother, or by a black father and a white mother; these are neither white nor black, but yellowish;

4. Dark-brown, these are the savages or Indians, the old inhabitants of the country.

. . . .

In Pennsylvania the following custom prevails among all people, high and low, in the city and in the country.

When any one enters a house, or meets another, he first presses the hand of the father and mother of the family; then

he salutes in the same manner with his hand all other persons, as many as there may be, and it happens sometimes that

he will find a whole room full. Such salutation and hand-shaking is customary with strangers as well as among the

most intimate friends, and the mode of addressing each other is among the English as well as the Germans: "How are

you, good friend?" And the answer is: "So middling." This pleasant custom springs in part from the many English

Quakers in Philadelphia, and in part from the Indians themselves, who were the first among whom this custom

prevailed. To speak the truth, one seldom hears or sees a quarrel among them. Even strangers trust each other more

than acquaintances in Europe. People are far more sincere and generous than in Germany; therefore our Americans

live more quietly and peacefully together than the Europeans; and all this is the result of the liberty which they enjoy

and which makes them all equal. . . .