CATHOLIC AND QUAKER 
123 
land, by the confession of good judges here; for Mr. 
Pen brought some of them with him to England.” 
That the fruits at Pennsbury were exceptional may 
well be believed, for Penn took infinite pains to secure 
the finest. In a letter to Col. Henry Sidney he says, 
“I writt from sea a begging letter for a few fruit trees 
of the Lord Sunderland’s gardener’s raising out of his 
rare collection, that by giving them a better climat, 
we may share with you the pleasure of excellent fruit, 
the success of which I hear nothing.” 
The city which Penn planned so carefully was laid 
out immediately upon his arrival in 1682, and by the 
end of the next year there were at least a hundred 
houses built, “both ordinary and good.” Three thou¬ 
sand persons came to take up their residence under his 
gracious rule, that first year, and it continued to make 
“answerable progress.” The least of the houses or 
home plots had room for a house garden and a small 
orchard, and many were places of considerable size. 
Pastorious says that, “Our first lot in the city has 100 
feet front and is 400 feet deep,” and goes on to explain 
how lots this size, with streets between, may have two 
houses built upon them. He records that, “On Octo¬ 
ber 24, 1685, Francis Daniel Pastorius, with the good 
will of the governor, laid out another new city.” This 
was Germantown, planned for the Germans, who were 
present in large numbers, with more coming. He 
