154          THE DUTCH  AND QUAKER COLONIES
on the St. Lawrence, and the steadfast friend of Corlear, the power on the Hudson, whether Dutch or English. By the same token it was bound to befriend Onas. For the next seventy years, if any misguided Lenape had undertaken to ply the tomahawk among Penn's people, Corlear had but to say the word, and the waters of the Susquehanna would soon swarm with canoes of befeathered Senecas and Cayu-gas, eager for the harvest of Lenape scalps. Under these circumstances a ruffianly policy, like that of Kieft in New Netherland, might have goaded the Delawares to hostilities; but nothing short of that could have done it. Practically Penn's colony occupied an exceptionally safe position until its westward growth brought it within reach of the Algonquin tribes on the Ohio. These facts in nowise diminish the credit due to the Quaker policy, but they help us to a rational view of the Indian situation.
Penn had much reason to feel contented with the success of his noble experiment. Within three years from its found-Penn's ing Philadelphia had 2500 inhabitants, while in the England whole province there were more than 8000, — a 1684 growth as great as that of New Netherland in its first half century. Having made such an auspicious beginning, Penn heard news from England which made him think it desirable to return thither. He heard of Quaker meetings broken up by soldiers, and the worshippers sent to jail. His presence was needed. He sailed in August, 1684, and arrived at his home in Sussex early in October. He expected soon to return to America, but fifteen years were to elapse and strange vicissitudes to be encountered before he was able to do so.