diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28394-8.txt | 2883 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28394-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 64542 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28394-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 197349 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28394-h/28394-h.htm | 3102 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28394-h/images/i006a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 86418 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28394-h/images/i006b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 26937 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28394-h/images/i007.jpg | bin | 0 -> 81663 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28394.txt | 2883 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28394.zip | bin | 0 -> 64512 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
12 files changed, 8884 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/28394-8.txt b/28394-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b8ea36a --- /dev/null +++ b/28394-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2883 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of William Penn, by George Hodges + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: William Penn + +Author: George Hodges + +Release Date: March 24, 2009 [EBook #28394] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM PENN *** + + + + +Produced by Carla Foust and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +Transcriber's note + + +Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Printer +errors have been changed and are listed at the end. + + + + +The Riverside Biographical Series + + ANDREW JACKSON, by W. G. BROWN + JAMES B. EADS, by LOUIS HOW + BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, by PAUL E. MORE + PETER COOPER, by R. W. RAYMOND + THOMAS JEFFERSON, by H. C. MERWIN + WILLIAM PENN, by GEORGE HODGES + GENERAL GRANT. (_In preparation_) + LEWIS AND CLARK, by WILLIAM R. LIGHTON. (_In preparation_) + +Each about 100 pages, 16mo, with photogravure portrait, 75 cents; +_School Edition_, 50 cents, _net_ + + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. + BOSTON AND NEW YORK + + + + +The Riverside Biographical Series + +NUMBER 6 + +WILLIAM PENN + +BY + +GEORGE HODGES + +[Illustration:] + + + + + WILLIAM PENN + + BY + + GEORGE HODGES + + [Illustration] + + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY + + Boston: 4 Park Street; New York: 11 East Seventeenth Street + Chicago: 378-388 Wabash Avenue + + The Riverside Press, Cambridge + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY GEORGE HODGES + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + + I. A PURITAN BOYHOOD: WANSTEAD CHURCH AND CHIGWELL SCHOOL 1 + + II. AT OXFORD: INFLUENCE OF THOMAS LOE 8 + + III. IN FRANCE AND IRELAND: THE WORLD AND THE OTHER WORLD 22 + + IV. PENN BECOMES A QUAKER: PERSECUTION AND CONTROVERSY 33 + + V. THE BEGINNING OF PENN'S POLITICAL LIFE: THE HOLY + EXPERIMENT 53 + + VI. THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA: PENN'S FIRST VISIT TO THE + PROVINCE 68 + + VII. AT THE COURT OF JAMES THE SECOND, AND "IN RETIREMENT" 93 + + VIII. PENN'S SECOND VISIT TO THE PROVINCE: CLOSING YEARS 113 + + + + +WILLIAM PENN + + + + +I + +A PURITAN BOYHOOD: WANSTEAD CHURCH AND CHIGWELL SCHOOL + + +The mother of William Penn came from Rotterdam, in Holland. She was the +daughter of John Jasper, a merchant of that city. The lively Mr. Pepys, +who met her in 1664, when William was twenty years of age, describes her +as a "fat, short, old Dutchwoman," and says that she was "mighty +homely." He records a tattling neighbor's gossip that she was not a good +housekeeper. He credits her, however, with having more wit and +discretion than her husband, and liked her better as his acquaintance +with her progressed. That she was of a cheerful disposition is evidenced +by many passages of Pepys's Diary. That is all we know about her. + +William's father was an ambitious, successful, and important person. He +was twenty-two years old, and already a captain in the navy, when he +married Margaret Jasper. The year after his marriage he was made +rear-admiral of Ireland; two years after that, admiral of the Straits; +in four years more, vice-admiral of England; and the next year, a +"general of the sea" in the Dutch war. This was in Cromwell's time, when +the naval strength of England was being mightily increased. A young man +of energy and ability, acquainted with the sea, was easily in the line +of promotion. + +The family was ancient and respectable. Penn's father, however, began +life with little money or education, and few social advantages. Lord +Clarendon observed of him that he "had a great mind to appear better +bred, and to speak like a gentleman," implying that he found some +difficulty in so doing. Clarendon said, also, that he "had many good +words which he used at adventure." + +The Penns lived on Tower Hill, in the Parish of St. Catherine's, in a +court adjoining London Wall. There they resided in "two chambers, one +above another," and fared frugally. There William was born on the 14th +of October, 1644. + +Marston Moor was fought in that year, and all England was taking sides +in the contention between the Parliament and the king. The navy was in +sympathy with the Parliament; and the young officer, though his personal +inclinations were towards the king, went with his associates. But in +1654 he appears to have lost faith in the Commonwealth. Cromwell sent an +expedition to seize the Spanish West Indies. He put Penn in charge of +the fleet, and made Venables general of the army. The two commanders, +without conference one with the other, sent secret word to Charles II., +then in exile on the Continent, and offered him their ships and +soldiers. This transaction, though it seemed for the moment to be of +none effect, resulted years afterward in the erection of the Colony of +Pennsylvania. Charles declined the offer; "he wished them to reserve +their affections for his Majesty till a more proper season to discover +them;" but he never forgot it. It was the beginning of a friendship +between the House of Stuart and the family of Penn, which William Penn +inherited. + +The expedition captured Jamaica, and made it a British colony; but in +its other undertakings it failed miserably; and the admiral, on his +return, was dismissed from the navy and committed to the Tower. + +About that same time, the admiral's young son, being then in the twelfth +year of his age, beheld a vision. His mother had removed with him to the +village of Wanstead, in Essex. Here, as he was alone in his chamber, "he +was suddenly surprised with an inward comfort, and, as he thought, an +external glory in his room, which gave rise to religious emotions, +during which he had the strongest conviction of the being of a God, and +that the soul of man was capable of enjoying communication with him. He +believed, also, that the seal of Divinity had been put upon him at this +moment, or that he had been awakened or called upon to a holy life." + +While William Penn the elder had been going from promotion to promotion, +sailing the high seas, and fighting battles with the enemies of England, +William Penn the younger had been living with all possible quietness in +the green country, saying his prayers in Wanstead Church, and learning +his lessons in Chigwell School. + +Wanstead Church was devotedly Puritan. The chief citizens had signed a +protest against any "Popish innovations," and had agreed to punish every +offender against "the true reformed Protestant religion." + +The founder of Chigwell School had prescribed in his deed of gift that +the master should be "a good Poet, of a sound religion, neither Papal +nor Puritan; of a good behaviour; of a sober and honest conversation; no +tippler nor haunter of alehouses, no puffer of tobacco; and, above all, +apt to teach and severe in his government." Here William studied Lilly's +Latin and Cleonard's Greek Grammar, together with "cyphering and +casting-up accounts," being a good scholar, we may guess, in the +classics, but encountering the master's "severe government" in his sums. +Chigwell was as Puritan a place as Wanstead. About the time of William's +going thither, the vicar had been ejected on petition from the +parishioners, who complained that he had an altar before which he bowed +and cringed, and which he had been known to kiss "twice in one day." + +It is plain that religion made up a large, interesting, and important +part of life in these villages in which William Penn was getting his +first impressions of the world. All about were great forests, whose +shadows invited him to seclusion and meditation. All the news was of +great battles, most of them fought in a religious cause, which even a +lad could appreciate, and towards which he would readily take an +attitude of stout partisanship. The boy was deeply affected by these +surroundings. "I was bred a Protestant," he said long afterwards, "and +that strictly, too." Trained as he was in Puritan habits of +introspection, he listened for the voice of God, and heard it. Thus the +tone of his life was set. There were moments in his youth when "the +world," as the phrase is, attracted him; there were times in his great +career when he seemed, and perhaps was, disobedient to this heavenly +vision; but, looking back from the end of his life to this beginning, +"as a tale that is told," it is seen to be lived throughout in the light +of the glory which shone in his room at Wanstead. William Penn from that +hour was a markedly religious man. Thereafter, nothing was so manifest +or eminent about him as his religion. + + + + +II + +AT OXFORD: INFLUENCE OF THOMAS LOE + + +On the 22d of April, 1661, we get another glimpse of William. + +Mr Pepys, having risen early on the morning of that day, and put on his +velvet coat, and made himself, as he says, as fine as he could, repaired +to Mr. Young's, the flag-maker, in Cornhill, to view the procession +wherein the king should ride through London. There he found "Sir W. Pen +and his son, with several others." "We had a good room to ourselves," he +says, "with wine and good cake, and saw the show very well." The streets +were new graveled, and the fronts of the houses hung with carpets, with +ladies looking out of all the windows; and "so glorious was the show +with gold and silver, that we were not able to look at it, our eyes at +last being so overcome." + +This was a glory very different from that which the lad had seen, five +or six years before, in his room. The world was here presenting its +attractions in competition with the "other world" of the earlier vision. +The contrast is a symbol of the contention between the two ideals, into +which William was immediately to enter. + +The king and the Duke of York had looked up as they passed the +flag-maker's, and had recognized the admiral. He had gone to Ireland, +upon his release from the Tower, and had there resided in retirement +upon an estate which his father had owned before him. Thence returning, +as the Restoration became more and more a probability, he had secured a +seat in Parliament, and had been a bearer of the welcome message which +had finally brought Charles from his exile in Holland to his throne in +England. For his part in this pleasant errand, he had been knighted and +made Commissioner of Admiralty and Governor of Kinsale. Thus his +ambitions were being happily attained. He had retrieved and improved his +fortunes, and had become an associate with persons of rank and a +favorite with royalty. + +He had immediately sent his son to Oxford. William had been entered as a +gentleman-commoner of Christ Church, at the beginning of the Michaelmas +term of 1660. It was clearly the paternal intention that the boy should +become a successful man of the world and courtier, like his father. + +Sir William, however, had not reflected that while he had been pursuing +his career of calculating ambition and seeking the pleasure of princes, +his son had been living amongst Puritans in a Puritan neighborhood. +Young Penn went up to Oxford to find all things in confusion. The +Puritans had been put out of their places, and the Churchmen were +entering in. It is likely that this, of itself, displeased the new +student, whose sympathies were with the dispossessed. The Churchmen, +moreover, brought their cavalier habits with them. In the reaction from +the severity which they had just escaped, they did many objectionable +things, not only for the pleasure of doing them, but for the added joy +of shocking their Puritan neighbors. They amused themselves freely on +the Lord's day; they patronized games and plays; and they tippled and +"puffed tobacco," and swore and swaggered in all the newest fashions. +William was the son of his father in appreciation of pleasant and +abundant living. But he was not of a disposition to enter into this +wanton and audacious merry-making,--a gentle, serious country lad, with +a Puritan conscience. + +Moreover, at this moment, in the face of any possible temptation, +William's sober tastes and devout resolutions were strengthened by +certain appealing sermons. Here it was at Oxford, the nursery of +enthusiasms and holy causes, that he received the impulse which +determined all his after life. He spent but a scant two years in +college; and the work of the lecture rooms must have suffered seriously +during that time from the contention and confusion of the changes then +in progress; so that academically the college could not have greatly +profited him. The profit came in the influence of Thomas Loe. Loe was a +Quaker. + +The origin of the name "Quaker" is uncertain. It is derived by some +from the fact that the early preachers of the sect trembled as they +spoke; others deduce it from the trembling which their speech compelled +in those who heard it. By either derivation, it indicates the earnest +spirit of that strange people who, in the seventeenth century, were +annoying and displeasing all their neighbors. + +George Fox, the first Quaker, was a cobbler; and the first Quaker dress +was the leather coat and breeches which he made for himself with his own +tools. Thereafter he was independent both of fashions and of tailors. +Cobbler though he was, and so slenderly educated that he did not express +himself grammatically, Fox was nevertheless a prophet, according to the +order of Amos, the herdman of Tekoa. He looked out into the England of +his day with the keenest eyes of any man of the times, and remarked upon +what he saw with the most honest and candid speech. A man of the plain +people, like most of the prophets and apostles, the offenses which +chiefly attracted his attention were such as the plain people naturally +see. + +Out of the windows of his cobbler's shop, Fox beheld with righteous +indignation the extravagant and insincere courtesies of the gentlefolk, +and heard their exaggerated phrases of compliment. In protest against +the unmeaning courtesies, he wore his hat in the presence of no matter +whom, taking it off only in time of prayer. In protest against the +unmeaning compliments, he addressed no man by any artificial title, +calling all his neighbors, without distinction of persons, by their +Christian names; and for the plural pronoun "you," the plural of dignity +and flattery, he substituted "thee" and "thou." + +The same literalness appeared in his selection of "Swear not at all" as +one of the cardinal commandments, and in his application of it to the +oaths of the court and of the state. The Sermon on the Mount has in all +ages been considered difficult to enact in common life, but it would +have been hard to find any sentence in it which in the days of Fox and +Penn, with their interpretation, would have brought upon a conscientious +person a heavier burden of inconvenience. Not only did it make the +Quakers guilty of contempt of court and thus initially at fault in all +legal business, but it exposed them to a natural suspicion of disloyalty +to the government. It was a time of political change, first the +Commonwealth, then Charles, then James, then William; and every change +signified the supremacy of a new idea in religion, Puritan, Anglican, +Roman Catholic, and Protestant. Every new ruler demanded a new oath of +allegiance; and as plots and conspiracies were multiplied, the oath was +required again and again; so that England was like an unruly school, +whose master is continually calling upon the pupils to declare whether +or no they are guilty of this or that offense. The Quakers were +forbidden by their doctrine of the oath to make answer in the form which +the state required. And they suffered for this scruple as men have +suffered for the maintenance of eternal principles. + +To the social eccentricity of the irremoveable hat and the singular +pronoun, and to the civil eccentricity of the refused oath, George Fox +and his disciples added a series of protests against the most venerable +customs of Christianity. They did away with all the forms and ceremonies +of Churchman and of Puritan alike. Not even baptism, not even the Lord's +Supper remained. Their service was a silent meeting, whose solemn +stillness was broken, if at all, by the voice of one who was sensibly +"moved" by the Spirit of God. They discarded all orders of the ministry. +They refused alike all creeds and all confessions. + +Not content with thus abandoning most that their contemporaries valued +among the institutions of religion, the Quakers made themselves +obtrusively obnoxious. They argued and exhorted, in season and out of +season; they printed endless pages of eager and violent controversy; +they went into churches and interrupted services and sermons. + +Amongst these various denials there were two positive assertions. One +was the doctrine of the return to primitive Christianity; the other was +the doctrine of the inward light. Let us get back, they said, to those +blessed centuries when the teaching of the Apostles was remembered, and +the fellowship of the Apostles was faithfully kept,--when Justin Martyr +and Irenĉus and Ignatius and the other holy fathers lived. And let us +listen to the inner voice; let us live in the illumination of the light +which lighteth every man, and attend to the counsels of that Holy Spirit +whose ministrations did not cease with the departure of the last +Apostle. God, they believed, spoke to them directly, and told them what +to do. + +George Fox, in 1656, had brought this teaching to Oxford; and among the +company of Quakers which had thus been gathered under the eaves of the +university, Thomas Loe had become a "public Friend," or, as would +commonly be said, a minister. When William Penn entered Christ Church +College, Loe was probably in the town jail. It is at least certain that +he was imprisoned there, with forty other Quakers, sometime in 1660. + +To Loe's preaching many of the students listened with attention. It is +easy to see how his doctrines would appeal to young manhood. The fact +that they were forbidden would attract some, and that the man who +preached thus had suffered for his faith would attract others. Their +emphasis upon entire sincerity and consistency in word and deed would +commend them to honest souls, while the exaltation of the inward light +would move then, as in all ages, the idealists, the poets, the +enthusiasts among them. William Penn knew what the inward light was. He +had seen it shining so that it filled all the room where he was sitting. +Accordingly, he not only went to hear Loe speak but was profoundly +impressed by what he heard. + +If Penn was naturally a religious person,--by inheritance, perhaps, from +his mother,--he was also naturally of a political mind, by inheritance +from his father. What Loe said touched both sides of this inheritance. +For the Quakers had already begun to dream of a colony across the sea. +The Churchmen had such a colony in Virginia; the Puritans had one in +Massachusetts; somewhere else in that untilled continent there must be a +place for those who in England could expect no peace from either +Puritan or Churchman. Not only had they planned to have sometime a +country of their own, but they had already located it. They had chosen +the lands which lay behind the Jerseys. While Loe was preaching and Penn +was listening, Fox was writing to Josiah Cole, a Quaker who was then in +America, asking him to confer with the chiefs of the Susquehanna +Indians. This plan Loe revealed to his student congregation. It appealed +to Penn. He had an instinctive appreciation of large ideas, and an +imagination and confidence which made him eager to undertake their +execution. It was in his blood. It was the spirit which had carried his +father from a lieutenancy in the navy to the position of an honored and +influential member of the court. "I had an opening of joy as to these +parts," he says, meaning Pennsylvania, "in 1661, at Oxford." + +This meeting with Loe was therefore a crisis in Penn's life. William +Penn will always be remembered as a leader among the early Quakers, and +as the founder of a commonwealth. He first became acquainted with the +Quakers, and first conceived the idea of founding at Oxford, or +assisting to found, a commonwealth, by the preaching of Thomas Loe. + +It is a curious fact that the spirit of protest will often pass by +serious offenses and fasten upon some apparently slight occasion which +has rather a symbolical than an actual importance. William Penn, so far +as we know, endured the disorders of anti-Puritan Oxford without +protest. He entered so far into the life of the place as to contribute, +with other students, to a series of Latin elegies upon the death of the +Duke of Gloucester; and he "delighted," Anthony Wood tells us, "in manly +sports at times of recreation." It is true that he may have written to +his father to take him away, for Mr. Pepys records in his journal, under +date of Jan. 25, 1662, "Sir W. Pen came to me, and did break a business +to me about removing his son from Oxford to Cambridge, to some private +college." But nothing came of it. William is said, indeed, to have +absented himself rather often from the college prayers, and to have +joined with other students whom the Quaker preaching had affected in +holding prayer-meetings in their own rooms. But all went fairly well +until an order was issued requiring the students, according to the +ancient custom, to wear surplices in chapel. Then the young Puritan +arose, and assisted in a ritual rebellion. He and his friends "fell upon +those students who appeared in surplices, and he and they together tore +them everywhere over their heads." Not content with thus seizing and +rending the obnoxious vestments, they proceeded further to thrust the +white gowns into the nearest cesspool, into whose depths they poked them +with long sticks. + +This incident ended William's course at college. It is doubtful whether +he was expelled or only suspended. He was dismissed, and never returned. +Eight years after, chancing to pass through Oxford, and learning that +Quaker students were still subjected to the rigors of academic +discipline, he wrote a letter to the vice-chancellor. It probably +expresses the sentiments with which as an undergraduate he had regarded +the university authorities: "Shall the multiplied oppressions which thou +continuest to heap upon innocent English people for their religion pass +unregarded by the Eternal God? Dost thou think to escape his fierce +wrath and dreadful vengeance for thy ungodly and illegal persecution of +his poor children? I tell thee, no. Better were it for thee thou hadst +never been born." And so on, in the controversial dialect of the time, +calling the vice-chancellor a "poor mushroom," and abusing him +generally. Elsewhere, in a retrospect which I shall presently quote at +length, he refers to his university experiences: "Of my persecution at +Oxford, and how the Lord sustained me in the midst of that hellish +darkness and debauchery; of my being banished the college." + + + + +III + +IN FRANCE AND IRELAND: THE WORLD AND THE OTHER WORLD + + +In his retrospect of his early life, Penn notes what immediately +followed his departure from the university: "The bitter usage I +underwent when I returned to my father,--whipping, beating, and turning +out of doors in 1662." + +The admiral was thoroughly angry. He was at best but imperfectly +acquainted with his son, of whom in his busy life he had seen but +little, and was therefore unprepared for such extraordinary conduct. He +was by no means a religious person. For the spiritual, or even the +ecclesiastical, aspects of the matter, he cared nothing. But he had, as +Clarendon perceived, a strong desire to be well thought of by those who +composed the good society of the day. He expected the members of his +family to deport themselves as befitted such society. And here was +William, whom he had carefully sent to a college where he would +naturally consort with the sons of titled families, taking up with a +religious movement which would bring him into the company of cobblers +and tinkers. It is said, indeed, that Robert Spencer, afterwards Earl of +Sunderland, helped William destroy the surplices. But this is denied; +and even if it were true, it would be plain, from Spencer's after +career, that he did it not for the principle, but for the fun of the +thing. William was in the most sober earnest. Accordingly, the admiral +turned his son out of doors. + +The boy came back, of course. Beating and turning out of doors were not +such serious events in the seventeenth century as they would be at +present. Most men said more, and in louder voices, and meant less. It +was but a brief quarrel, and father and son made it up as best they +could. It was plain, however, that something must be done. Whipping +would not avail. William's head was full of queer notions, upon which a +stick had no effect. His father bethought himself of the pleasant +diversions of France. The lad, he said, has lived in the country all his +days, and has had no acquaintance with the merry world; he shall go +abroad, that he may see life, and learn to behave like a gentleman; let +us see if this will not cure him of his pious follies. + +Accordingly, to France the young man went, and traveled in company with +certain persons of rank. He stayed more than a year, and enjoyed himself +greatly. He was at the age when all the world is new and interesting; +and being of attractive appearance and high spirits, with plenty of +money, the world gave him a cordial welcome. So far did he venture into +the customs of the country, that he had a fight one night in a Paris +street with somebody who crossed swords with him, and disarmed his +antagonist. He had a right, according to the rules, to kill him, but he +declined to do so. When he came home, he pleased his father much by his +graceful behavior and elegant attire. "This day," says Mr. Pepys in his +diary for August 26, 1664, "my wife tells me that Mr. Pen, Sir William's +son, is come back from France, and came to visit her. A most modish +person grown, she says, a fine gentleman." Pepys thinks that he is even +a bit too French in his manner and conversation. + +"I remember your honour very well," writes a correspondent years after, +"when you came newly out of France, and wore pantaloon breeches." + +This journey affected Penn all the rest of his life. It restrained him +from following the absurder singularities of his associates. George +Fox's leather suit he would have found impossible. He wore his hat in +the Quaker way, and said "thee" and "thou," but otherwise he appears to +have dressed and acted according to the conventions of polite society. +He did, indeed, become a Quaker; but there were always Quakers who +looked askance at him because he was so different from them, able to +speak French and acquainted with the manners of drawing-rooms. + +In two respects, however, his visit to France differed from that of some +of his companions in travel. There were places to which they went +without him; and there were places to which he went without them. He +kept himself from the grosser temptations of the country. "You have been +as bad as other folks," said Sir John Robinson when Penn was on trial +for preaching in the street. + +"When," cried Penn, "and where? I charge thee tell the company to my +face." + +"Abroad," said Robinson, "and at home, too." + +"I make this bold challenge," answered Penn, "to all men, women and +children upon earth, justly to accuse me with ever having seen me drunk, +heard me swear, utter a curse, or speak one obscene word (much less that +I ever made it my practice). I speak this to God's glory, that has ever +preserved me from the power of those pollutions, and that from a child +begot an hatred in me towards them." + +He went away alone for some months to the Protestant college of Saumur, +where he devoted himself to a study of that primitive Christianity in +which, as Loe had told him, was to be found the true ideal of the +Christian Church. Here he acquired an acquaintance with the writings of +the early Fathers, from whom he liked to quote. + +Thus he returned to England in 1664, attired in French pantaloon +breeches, and with little French affectations in his manner, but without +vices, and with a smattering of patristic learning. He was sent by his +father to study law at Lincoln's Inn. He was to be a courtier, and in +that position it would be both becoming and convenient to have some +knowledge of the law. Thus he settled down among the lawyers, and it +seemed for the moment as if his father had succeeded in his purpose. It +seemed as if the world had effectually obscured the other world. + +There are two letters, written about this time from William to his +father, which show a pleasant mixture of piety with a lively interest in +the life about him. He has been at sea for a few days with the admiral, +and returns with dispatches to the king. "I bless God," he writes, "my +heart does not in any way fail, but firmly believe that if God has +called you out to battle, he will cover your head in that smoky day." He +hastened on his errand, he says, to Whitehall, and arrived before the +king was up; but his Majesty, learning that there was news, "earnestly +skipping out of bed, came only in his gown and slippers; who, when he +saw me, said, 'Oh! is't you? How is Sir William?'" + +That was in May. Within a week the plague came. On the 7th of June, +1665, Mr. Pepys makes this ominous entry: "This day," he says, "much +against my will, I did in Drury Lane see two or three houses marked with +a red cross upon the doors, and 'Lord, have mercy,' written there; which +was a sad sight to me, being the first of the kind that, to my +remembrance, I ever saw." Day by day the pestilence increased, and +presently there was no more studying at Lincoln's Inn. Young Penn went +for safety into the clean country. There, among the green fields, in the +enforced leisure, with time to think, and the most sobering things to +think about, his old seriousness returned. The change was so marked that +his father, feeling that it were well to renew the pleasant friendship +with the world which had begun in France, sent him over to Ireland. + +At Dublin, the Duke of Ormond, the Lord Lieutenant, was keeping a merry +court. William entered heartily into its pleasures. He resided upon his +father's estates, at Shannagarry Castle. He so distinguished himself in +the suppression of a mutiny that Ormond offered him a commission in the +army, and William was disposed to accept it. He had his portrait +painted, clad in steel, with lace at his throat. His dark hair is parted +in the middle, and hangs in cavalier fashion over his shoulders. He +looks out of large, clear, questioning eyes; and his handsome face is +strong and serious. + +But the young cavalier went one day to Cork upon some business, and +there heard that Thomas Loe was in town, and that he was to preach. Penn +went to hear him, and again the spoken word was critical and decisive. +"There is a faith," said the preacher, "which overcomes the world, and +there is a faith which is overcome by the world." Such was the theme, +and it seemed to Penn as if every word were spoken out of heaven +straight to his own soul. In the long contention which had been going on +within him between the world and the other world, the world had been +getting the mastery. The attractions of a martial life had shone more +brightly than the light which had flamed about him in his boyhood. Then +Loe spoke, and thenceforth there was no more perplexity. Penn's choice +was definitely made. + +In his account of his travels in Holland and Germany, written some ten +years after this crisis, Penn recurs to it in an address from which I +have already quoted. He was speaking in Wiemart, at a meeting in the +mansion-house of the Somerdykes, and was illustrating his exhortations +from his own experience. He passed in rapid review the incidents of his +early life which we have recounted. "Here I began to let them know," he +says, "how and where the Lord first appeared unto me, which was about +the twelfth year of my age, in 1656; how at times, betwixt that and the +fifteenth, the Lord visited me, and the divine impressions he gave me of +himself." Then the banishment from Oxford, and his father's turning him +out of doors. "Of the Lord's dealings with me in France, and in the time +of the great plague in London, in fine, the deep sense he gave me of the +vanity of this world, of the deep irreligiousness of the religions of +it; then of my mournful and bitter cries to him that he would show me +his own way of life and salvation, and my resolution to follow him, +whatever reproaches or sufferings should attend me, and that with great +reverence and tenderness of spirit; how, after all this, the glory of +the world overtook me, and I was even ready to give myself up unto it, +seeing as yet no such thing as the 'primitive spirit and church' upon +earth, and being ready to faint concerning my 'hope of the restitution +of all things.' It was at this time that the Lord visited me with a +certain sound and testimony of his eternal word, through one of them the +world calls Quakers, namely, Thomas Loe." + +Struggling, as Penn was, against continual temptations to abandon his +high ideal, getting no help from his parents, who were displeased at +him, nor from the clergy, whose "invectiveness and cruelty" he +remembers, nor from his companions, who made themselves strange to him; +bearing meanwhile "that great cross of resisting and watching against +mine own inward vain affections and thoughts," the only voice of help +and strength was that of Thomas Loe. Seeking for the "primitive spirit +and church upon earth," he found it in the sect which Loe represented. +His mind was now resolved. He, too, would be a Quaker. + + + + +IV + +PENN BECOMES A QUAKER: PERSECUTION AND CONTROVERSY + + +William now began to attend Quaker meetings, though he was still dressed +in the gay fashions which he had learned in France. His sincerity was +soon tested. A proclamation made against Fifth Monarchy men was so +enforced as to affect Quakers. A meeting at which Penn was present was +broken in upon by constables, backed with soldiers, who "rudely and +arbitrarily" required every man's appearance before the mayor. Among +others, they "violently haled" Penn. From jail he wrote to the Earl of +Orrery, Lord President of Munster, making a stout protest. It was his +first public utterance. "Diversities of faith and conduct," he argued, +"contribute not to the disturbance of any place, where moral conformity +is barely requisite to preserve the peace." He reminded his lordship +that he himself had not long since "concluded no way so effectual to +improve or advantage this country as to dispense with freedom [i. e. to +act freely] in all things pertaining to conscience." + +Penn wrote so much during his long life that his selected works make +five large volumes. Many of these pages are devoted to the statement of +Quaker theology; some are occupied with descriptions of his colonial +possessions; some are given to counsels and conclusions drawn from +experience and dealing with human life in general; but there is one idea +which continually recurs,--sometimes made the subject of a thesis, +sometimes entering by the way,--and that is the popular right of liberty +of conscience. It was for this that he worked, and chiefly lived, most +of his life. Here it is set forth with all clearness in the first public +word which he wrote. + +William's letter opened the jail doors. It is likely, however, that the +signature was more influential than the epistle; for his Quaker +associates seem not to have come out with him. The fact which probably +weighed most with the Lord President was that Penn was the son of his +father the admiral, and the protégé of Ormond. His father called him +home. It was on the 3d of September that William was arrested; on the +29th of December, being the Lord's day, Mrs. Turner calls upon Mr. and +Mrs. Pepys for an evening of cheerful conversation, "and there, among +other talk, she tells me that Mr. William Pen, who has lately come over +from Ireland, is a Quaker again, or some very melancholy thing; that he +cares for no company, nor comes into any." + +Admiral Penn was sorely disappointed. Neither France nor Ireland had +availed to wean his son from his religious eccentricities. Into the +pleasant society where his father had hoped to see him shine, he +declined to enter. He said "thee" and "thou," and wore his hat. +Especially upon these points of manners, the young man and his father +held long discussions. The admiral insisted that William should refrain +from making himself socially ridiculous; though even here he was +willing to make a reasonable compromise. "You may 'thee' and 'thou' whom +you please," he said, "except the king, the Duke of York, and myself." +But the young convert declined to make any exceptions. + +Thereupon, for the second time, the admiral thrust his son out of the +house. The Quakers received him. He was thenceforth accounted among them +as a teacher, a leader: in their phrase, a "public Friend." This was in +1668, when he was twenty-four years old. + +The work of a Quaker minister, at that time, was made interesting and +difficult not only by the social and ecclesiastical prejudices against +which he must go, but by certain laws which limited free speech and free +action. The young preacher speedily made himself obnoxious to both these +kinds of laws. Of the three years which followed, he spent more than a +third of the time in prison, being once confined for saying, and twice +for doing, what the laws forbade. + +The religious world was filled with controversy. There were discussions +in the meeting-houses; and a constant stream of pamphlets came from the +press, part argument and part abuse. Even mild-mannered men called each +other names. The Quakers found it necessary to join in this rough +give-and-take, and Penn entered at once into this vigorous exercise. He +began a long series of like documents with a tract entitled "Truth +Exalted." The intent of it was to show that Roman Catholics, Churchmen, +and Puritans alike were all shamefully in error, wandering in the +blackness of darkness, given over to idle superstition, and being of a +character to correspond with their fond beliefs; meanwhile, the Quakers +were the only people then resident in Christendom whose creed was +absolutely true and their lives consistent with it. + +"Come," he says, "answer me first, you Papists, where did the Scriptures +enjoin baby-baptism, churching of women, marrying by priests, holy water +to frighten the devil? Come now, you that are called Protestants, and +first those who are called Episcopalians, where do the Scriptures own +such persecutors, false prophets, tithemongers, deniers of revelations, +opposers of perfection, men-pleasers, time-servers, unprofitable +teachers?" The Separatists are similarly cudgeled: they are "groveling +in beggarly elements, imitations, and shadows of heavenly things." + +Presently, a Presbyterian minister named Vincent attacked Quakerism. +Joseph Besse, Penn's earliest biographer, says that Vincent was +"transported with fiery zeal;" which, as he remarks in parenthesis, is +"a thing fertile of ill language." Penn challenged him to a public +debate; and, this not giving the Quaker champion an opportunity to say +all that was in his mind, he wrote a pamphlet, called "The Sandy +Foundation Shaken." The full title was much longer than this, in the +manner of the time, and announced the author's purpose to refute three +"generally believed and applauded doctrines: first, of one God, +subsisting in three distinct and separate persons; second, of the +impossibility of divine pardon without the making of a complete +satisfaction; and third, of the justification of impure persons by an +imputed righteousness." + +Penn's handling of the doctrine of the Trinity in this treatise gave +much offense. He had taken the position of his fellow-religionists, that +the learning of the schools was a hindrance to religion. He sought to +divest the great statements of the creed from the subtleties of mediĉval +philosophy. He purposed to return to the Scripture itself, back of all +councils and formulas. Asserting, accordingly, the being and unity of +Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, he so refused all the conventional phrases +of the theologians as to seem to them to reject the doctrine of the +Trinity itself. He did deny "the trinity of distinct and separate +persons in the unity of essence." If the word "person" has one meaning, +Penn was right; if it has another meaning, he was wrong. If a "person" +is an individual, then the assertion is that there are three Gods; but +if the word signifies a distinction in the divine nature, then the unity +of God remains. As so often happens in doctrinal contention, he and his +critics used the same words with different definitions. The consequence +was that the bishop of London had him put in prison. He was restrained +for seven months in the Tower. + +The English prison of the seventeenth century was a place of disease of +body and misery of mind. Penn was kept in close confinement, and the +bishop sent him word that he must either recant or die a prisoner. "I +told him," says Penn, "that the Tower was the worst argument in the +world to convince me; for whoever was in the wrong, those who used force +for religion could never be in the right." He declared that his prison +should be his grave before he would budge a jot. Thus six months passed. + +But the situation was intolerable. It is sometimes necessary to die for +a difference of opinion, but it is not advisable to do so for a simple +misunderstanding. Penn and the bishop were actually in accord. The young +author therefore wrote an explanation of his book, entitled "Innocency +with her Open Face." At the same time he addressed a letter to Lord +Arlington, principal secretary of state. In the letter he maintained +that he had "subverted no faith, obedience or good life," and he +insisted on the natural right of liberty of conscience: "To conceit," he +said, "that men must form their faith of things proper to another world +by the prescriptions of mortal men, or else they can have no right to +eat, drink, sleep, walk, trade, or be at liberty and live in this, to me +seems both ridiculous and dangerous." These writings gained him his +liberty. The Duke of York made intercession for him with the king. + +Penn had occupied himself while in prison with the composition of a +considerable work, called "No Cross, No Crown." It is partly +controversial, setting forth the reasons for the Quaker faith and +practice, and partly devotional, exalting self-sacrifice, and urging men +to simpler and more spiritual living. Thus the months of his +imprisonment had been of value both to him and to the religious movement +with which he had identified himself. The Quakers, when Penn joined +them, had no adequate literary expression of their thought. They were +most of them intensely earnest but uneducated persons, who spoke great +truths somewhat incoherently. Penn gave Quaker theology a systematic and +dignified statement. + +When he came out of the Tower, he went home to his father. The admiral +had now recovered from his first indignation. William was still, he +said, a cross to him, but he had made up his mind to endure it. Indeed, +the world into which he had desired his son to enter was not at that +moment treating the admiral well. He was suffering impeachment and the +gout at the same time. He saw that William's religion was giving him a +serenity in the midst of evil fortune which he himself did not possess. +He could appreciate his heroic spirit. He admired him in spite of +himself. + +William then spent nearly a year in Ireland, administering his father's +estates. When he returned, in 1670, he found his Quaker brethren in +greater trouble than before. In that perilous season of plots and +rumors of plots, when Protestants lived in dread of Roman Catholics, and +Churchmen knew not at what moment the Puritans might again repeat the +tragedies of the Commonwealth, neither church nor state dared to take +risks. The reigns of Mary and of Cromwell were so recent an experience, +the Papists and the Presbyterians were so many and so hostile, that it +seemed unsafe to permit the assembling of persons concerning whose +intentions there could be any doubt. Any company might undertake a +conspiracy. The result of this feeling on the part of both the civil and +the ecclesiastical authorities was a series of ordinances, reasonable +enough under the circumstances, and perhaps necessary, but which made +life hard for such stout and frank dissenters as the Quakers. At the +time of Penn's return from Ireland, it had been determined to enforce +the Conventicle Act, which prohibited all religious meetings except +those of the Church of England. There was, therefore, a general +arresting of these suspicious friends of Penn's. In the middle of the +summer Penn himself was arrested. + +The young preacher had gone to a meeting-house of the Quakers in +Gracechurch or Gracious Street, in London, and had found the door shut, +and a file of soldiers barring the way. The congregation thereupon held +a meeting in the street, keeping their customary silence until some one +should be moved to speak. It was not long before the spirit moved Penn. +He was immediately arrested, and William Mead, a linen draper, with him, +and the two were brought before the mayor. The charge was that they +"unlawfully and tumultuously did assemble and congregate themselves +together to the disturbance of the king's peace and to the great terror +and disturbance of many of his liege people and subjects." They were +committed as rioters and sent to await trial at the sign of the Black +Dog, in Newgate Market. + +At the trial Penn entered the court-room wearing his hat. A constable +promptly pulled it off, and was ordered by the judge to replace it in +order that he might fine the Quaker forty marks for keeping it on. Thus +the proceedings appropriately began. William tried in vain to learn the +terms of the law under which he was arrested, maintaining that he was +innocent of any illegal act. Finally, after an absurd and unjust +hearing, the jury, who appreciated the situation, brought in a verdict +of "guilty of speaking in Gracious Street." The judges refused to accept +the verdict, and kept the jury without food or drink for two days, +trying to make them say, "guilty of speaking in Gracious Street to an +unlawful assembly." At last the jury brought in a formal verdict of "not +guilty," which the court was compelled to accept. Thereupon the judges +fined every juryman forty marks for contempt of court; and Penn and the +jurors, refusing to pay their fines, were all imprisoned in Newgate. The +Court of Common Pleas presently reversed the judges' decision and +released the jury. Penn was also released, against his own protest, by +the payment of his fine by his father. + +The admiral was in his last sickness. He was weary, he said, of the +world. It had not proved, after all, to be a satisfactory world. He did +not grieve now that his son had renounced it. At the same time, he could +not help but feel that the friendship of the world was a valuable +possession; and he had therefore requested his patron, the Duke of York, +to be his son's friend. Both the duke and the king had promised their +good counsel and protection. Thus "with a gentle and even gale," as it +says on his tombstone, "in much peace, [he] arrived and anchored in his +last and best port, at Wanstead in the county of Essex, the 16th of +September, 1670, being then but forty-nine years and four months old." + +The admiral's death left his son with an annual income of about fifteen +hundred pounds. This wealth, however, made no stay in his Quaker zeal. +Before the year was ended, he was again in prison. + +Sir John Robinson, the lieutenant of the Tower, had been one of the +judges in the affair of Gracious Street. He had either taken a dislike +to Penn, or else was deeply impressed with the conviction that the young +Quaker was a peril to the state. Finding that there was to be a meeting +in Wheeler Street, at which William was expected, he sent soldiers and +had him arrested. They conveyed him to the Tower, where he was examined. +"I vow, Mr. Penn," said Sir John, "I am sorry for you; you are an +ingenious gentleman, all the world must allow you, and do allow you, +that; and you have a plentiful estate; why should you render yourself +unhappy by associating with such a simple people?" That was the +suspicious fact. Men in Robinson's position could not understand why +Penn should join his fortunes with those of people so different from +himself, poor, ignorant, and obscure, unless there were some hidden +motive. He must be either a political conspirator, or, as many said, a +Jesuit in disguise, which amounted to the same thing. "You do nothing," +said Sir John, "but stir up the people to sedition." He required him to +take an oath "that it is not lawful, upon any pretense whatsoever, to +take arms against the king, and that [he] would not endeavour any +alteration of government either in church or state." Penn would not +swear. He was therefore sentenced for six months to Newgate. "I wish you +wiser," said Robinson. "And I wish thee better," retorted Penn. "Send a +corporal," said the lieutenant, "with a file of musqueteers along with +him." "No, no," broke in Penn, "send thy lacquey; I know the way to +Newgate." + +William continued in prison during the entire period of his sentence, at +first in a room for which he paid the jailers, then, by his own choice, +with his fellow Quakers in the "common stinking jail." Even here, +however, he managed, as before, to write; and he must have had access to +books, for what he wrote could not have been composed without sight of +the authors from whom he quoted. The most important of his writings at +this time was "The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience once more briefly +Debated and Defended by the Authority of Reason, Scripture and +Antiquity." + +Being released from prison, Penn set out for the Continent, where he +traveled in Germany and Holland, holding meetings as opportunity +offered, and regaining such strength of body as he may have lost amidst +the rigors of confinement. + +In 1672, being now back in England, and having reached the age of +twenty-seven years, he married Gulielma Maria Springett, a young and +charming Quakeress. Guli Springett's father had died when she was but +twenty-three years old, after such valiant service on the Parliamentary +side in the civil war that he had been knighted by the Speaker of the +House of Commons. Her mother, thus bereft, had married Isaac Pennington, +a quiet country gentleman, in whose company, after some search for +satisfaction in religion, she had become a Quaker. Pennington's +Quakerism, together with the sufferings which it brought upon him, had +made him known to Penn. It was to him that Penn had written, three years +before, to describe the death of Thomas Loe. "Taking me by the hand," +said William, "he spoke thus: 'Dear heart, bear thy cross, stand +faithful for God, and bear thy testimony in thy day and generation; and +God will give thee an eternal crown of glory, that none shall ever take +from thee. There is not another way. Bear thy cross. Stand faithful for +God.'" + +It was in Pennington's house that Thomas Ellwood lived, as tutor to Guli +and the other children, to whom one day in 1655 had come his friend John +Milton, bringing a manuscript for him to read. "He asked me how I liked +it, and what I thought of it, which I modestly but freely told him; and +after some further discourse about it, I pleasantly said to him, Thou +hast said much here of _Paradise Lost_, but what hast thou to say about +Paradise found?" Whereupon the poet wrote his second epic. + +Ellwood has left a happy description of Guli Springett. "She was in all +respects," he says, "a very desirable woman,--whether regard was had to +her outward person, which wanted nothing to render her completely +comely; or as to the endowments of her mind, which were every way +extraordinary." And he speaks of her "innocent, open, free +conversation," and of the "abundant affability, courtesy, and sweetness +of her natural temper." Her portrait fits with this description, showing +a bright face in a small, dark hood, with a white kerchief over her +shoulders. Both her ancestry and her breeding would dispose her to +appreciate heroism, especially such as was shown in the cause of +religion. She found the hero of her dreams in William Penn. Thus at +Amersham, in the spring of 1672, the two stood up in some quiet company +of Friends, and with prayer and joining of hands were united in +marriage. + +"My dear wife," he wrote to her ten years later, as he set out for +America, "remember thou hast the love of my youth, and much the joy of +my life; the most beloved, as well as the most worthy of all earthly +comforts. God knows, and thou knowest it. I can say it was a match of +Providence's making." + +The Declaration of Indulgence, the king's suspension of the penalties +legally incurred by dissent, came conveniently at this time to give them +a honeymoon of peace and tranquillity. They took up their residence at +Rickmansworth, in Hertfordshire. In the autumn, William set out again +upon his missionary journeys, preaching in twenty-one towns in +twenty-one days. "The Lord sealed up our labors and travels," he wrote +in his journal, "according to the desire of my soul and spirit, with his +heavenly refreshments and sweet living power and word of life, unto the +reaching of all, and consolating our own hearts abundantly." + +So he returned with the blessings of peace, "which," as he said, "is a +reward beyond all earthly treasure." + + + + +V + +THE BEGINNING OF PENN'S POLITICAL LIFE: THE HOLY EXPERIMENT + + +In 1673, George Fox came back from his travels in America, and Penn and +his wife had great joy in welcoming him at Bristol. No sooner, however, +had Fox arrived than the Declaration of Indulgence was withdrawn. It had +met with much opposition: partly ecclesiastical, from those who saw in +it a scheme to reëstablish relations between Rome and England; and +partly political, from those who found but an ill precedent in a royal +decree which set aside parliamentary legislation. The religious liberty +which it gave was good, but the way in which that liberty was given was +bad. What was needed was not "indulgence," but common justice. So the +king recalled the Declaration, and Parliament being not yet ready to +enact its provisions into law, the prisons were again filled with +peaceable citizens whose offense was their religion. One of the first to +suffer was Fox, and in his behalf Penn went to court. He appealed to the +Duke of York. + +The incident is significant as the beginning of another phase of +William's life. Thus far, he had been a Quaker preacher. Though he was +unordained, being in a sect which made nothing of ordination, he was for +all practical purposes a minister of the gospel. He was the Rev. William +Penn. But now, when he opened the door of the duke's palace, he entered +into a new way of living, in which he continued during most of the +remainder of his life. He began to be a courtier; he went into politics. +He was still a Quaker, preaching sermons and writing books of +theological controversy; he gave up no religious conviction, and abated +nothing of the earnestness of his personal piety; but he had found, as +he believed, another and more effective way to serve God. He now began +to enter into that valuable but perilous heritage which had been left +him by his father, the friendship of royalty. + +Penn found the duke's antechamber filled with suitors. It seemed +impossible to get into the august presence. But Colonel Ashton, one of +the household, looked hard at Penn, and found in him an old companion, a +friend of the days when William was still partaking of the joys of +pleasant society. Ashton immediately got him an interview, and Penn +delivered his request for the release of Fox. The duke received him and +his petition cordially, professing himself opposed to persecution for +religion's sake, and promising to use his influence with the king. +"Then," says Penn, "when he had done upon this affair, he was pleased to +take a very particular notice of me, both for the relation my father had +had to his service in the navy, and the care he had promised to show in +my regard upon all occasions." He expressed surprise that William had +not been to see him before, and said that whenever he had any business +with him, he should have immediate entrance and attention. + +Fox was not set at liberty by reason of this interview. The king was +willing to pardon Fox, but Fox was not willing to be pardoned; having, +as he insisted, done no wrong. Penn, however, had learned that the royal +duke remembered the admiral's son. It was an important fact, and William +thereafter kept it well in mind. That it was a turning-point in his +affairs, appears in his reference to it in a letter which he wrote in +1688 to a friend who had reproached him for his attendance at court. "I +have made it," he says, "my province and business; I have followed and +pressed it; I took it for my calling and station, and have kept it above +these sixteen years." + +Penn went back to Rickmansworth, and for a time life went on as before. +We get a glimpse of it in the good and wholesome orders which he +established for the well-governing of his family. In winter, they were +to rise at seven; in summer at five. Breakfast was at nine, dinner at +twelve, supper at seven. Each meal was preceded by family prayers. At +the devotions before dinner, the Bible was read aloud, together with +chapters from the "Book of Martyrs," or the writings of Friends. After +supper, the servants appeared before the master and mistress, and gave +an account of their doings during the day, and got their orders for the +morrow. "They were to avoid loud discourse and troublesome noises; they +were not to absent themselves without leave; they were not to go to any +public house but upon business; and they were not to loiter, or enter +into unprofitable talk, while on an errand." + +With the canceling of the Indulgence, the persecution of the Quakers was +renewed. Their houses were entered, their furniture was seized, their +cattle were driven away, and themselves thrust into jail. When no +offense was clearly proved against them, the oath was tendered, and the +refusal to take it meant a serious imprisonment. + +Under these circumstances, Penn wrote a "Treatise on Oaths." He also +addressed the general public with "England's Present Interest +Considered," an argument against the attempt to compel uniformity of +belief. He petitioned the king and Parliament in "The Continued Cry of +the Oppressed." "William Brazier," he said, "shoemaker at Cambridge, was +fined by John Hunt, mayor, and John Spenser, vice-chancellor, twenty +pounds for holding a peaceable religious meeting in his own house. The +officer who distrained for this sum took his leather last, the seat he +worked upon, wearing clothes, bed, and bedding." "In Cheshire, Justice +Daniel of Danesbury took from Briggs and others the value of one hundred +and sixteen pounds, fifteen shillings and tenpence in coin, kine, and +horses. The latter he had the audacity to retain and work for his own +use," and so on, instance after instance. Penn's acquaintance at court +and his friendships with persons of position never made him an +aristocrat. He was fraternally interested in farmers and cobblers, and +cared for the plain people. Quakerism, as he held it, was indeed a +system of theology which he studiously taught, but it was also, and +quite as much, a social and intellectual democracy. What he mightily +liked about it was that abandonment of artificial distinctions, whereby +all Quakers addressed their neighbors by their Christian names, and that +refusal to be held by formulas of faith, whereby they were left free to +accept such beliefs, and such only, as appealed to their own reason. + +About this time he engaged in controversy with Mr. Richard Baxter. +Baxter is chiefly remembered as the author of "The Saints' Everlasting +Rest," but he was a most militant person, who rejoiced greatly in a +theological fight. Passing by Rickmansworth, and finding many Quakers +there,--to him a sad spectacle,--he sought to reclaim them, and thus +fell speedily into debate with Penn. The two argued from ten in the +morning until five in the afternoon, a great crowd listening all the +time with breathless interest. Neither could get the other to surrender; +but so much did William enjoy the exercise that he offered Baxter a room +in his house, that they might argue every day. + +In 1677, having now removed to an estate of his wife's at Worminghurst, +in Sussex, Penn, in company with Fox, Barclay, and other Quakers, made a +"religious voyage" into Holland and Germany, preaching the gospel. His +journal of these travels is printed in his works. "At Osnaburg," he +writes, "we had a little time with the man of the inn where we lay; and +left him several good books of Friends, in the High and Low Dutch +tongues, to read and dispose of." Then, in the next sentence, he +continues, "the next morning, being the fifth day of the week, we set +forward to Herwerden, and came thither at night. This is the city where +the Princess Elizabeth Palatine hath her court, whom, and the countess +in company with her, it was especially upon us to visit." Thus they +went, ministering to high and low alike, in their democratic Christian +way making no distinction between tavern-keepers and princesses. As they +talked with Elizabeth and her friend the countess, discoursing upon +heavenly themes, they were interrupted by the rattling of a coach, and +callers were announced. The countess "fetched a deep sigh, crying out, +'O the cumber and entanglements of this vain world! They hinder all +good.' Upon which," says William, "I replied, looking her steadfastly in +the face, 'O come thou out of them, then.'" This journey was of great +importance as affecting afterwards the population of Pennsylvania. Here +it was that Penn met various communities "of a separating and seeking +turn of mind," who found in him a kindred spirit. When he established +his colony, many of them came out and joined it, becoming the +"Pennsylvania Dutch." + +During these travels Penn wrote letters to the Prince Elector of +Heidelberg, to the Graf of Bruch and Falschenstein, to the King of +Poland, together with an epistle "To the Churches of Jesus throughout +the world." This was a kind of correspondence in which he delighted. +Like Wesley, after him, he had taken the world for his parish. He +considered himself a citizen of the planet, and took an episcopal and +pontifical interest in the affairs of men and nations. He combined in +an unusual way the qualities of the saint and the statesman. His mind +was at the same time religious and political. Accordingly, as he came to +have a better acquaintance with himself, he entered deliberately upon a +course of life in which these two elements of his character could have +free play. He applied himself to the task of making politics contribute +to the advancement of religion. Many men before him had been eminently +successful in making politics contribute to the advancement of the +church. Penn's purpose was deeper and better. + +He came near, at this time, to getting Parliament to assent to a +provision permitting Quakers to affirm, without oath; but the sudden +proroguing of that body prevented it. In the general election which +followed, he made speeches for Algernon Sidney, who was standing for a +place in Parliament. He wrote "England's Great Interest in the Choice of +a New Parliament," and "One Project for the Good of England." The +project was that Protestants should stop contending one with another +and unite against a common enemy. + +This was in 1679. The next year he took the decisive step. He entered +upon the fulfillment of that great plan, which had been in his mind +since his student days at Oxford, and with which he was occupied all the +rest of his life. He began to undertake the planting of a colony across +the sea. + +Penn had already had some experience in colonial affairs. With the +downfall of the Dutch dominion in the New World, England had come into +possession of two important rivers, the Hudson and the Delaware, and of +the countries which they drained. Of these estates, the Duke of York had +become owner of New Jersey. He, in turn, dividing it into two portions, +west and east, had sold West Jersey to Lord Berkeley, and East Jersey to +Sir George Carteret. Berkeley had sold West Jersey to a Quaker, John +Fenwick, in trust for another Quaker, Edward Byllinge. These Quakers, +disagreeing, had asked Penn to arbitrate between them. Byllinge had +fallen into bankruptcy, and his lands had been transferred to Penn as +receiver for the benefit of the creditors. Thus William had come into a +position of importance in the affairs of West Jersey. Presently, in +1679, East Jersey came also into the market, and Penn and eleven others +bought it at auction. These twelve took in other twelve, and the +twenty-four appointed a Quaker governor, Robert Barclay. + +Now, in 1680, having had his early interest in America thus renewed and +strengthened, Penn found that the king was in his debt to the amount of +sixteen thousand pounds. Part of this money had been loaned to the king +by William's father, the admiral; part of it was the admiral's unpaid +salary. Mr. Pepys has recorded in his diary how scandalously Charles +left his officers unpaid. The king, he says, could not walk in his own +house without meeting at every hand men whom he was ruining, while at +the same time he was spending money prodigally upon his pleasures. Pepys +himself fell into poverty in his old age, accounting the king to be in +debt to him in the sum of twenty-eight thousand pounds. + +Penn considered his account collectible. "I have been," he wrote, "these +thirteen years the servant of Truth and Friends, and for my testimony's +sake lost much,--not only the greatness and preferment of the world, but +sixteen thousand pounds of my estate which, had I not been what I am, I +had long ago obtained." It is doubtful, however, if the king would have +ever paid a penny. It is certain that when William offered to exchange +the money for a district in America, Charles agreed to the bargain with +great joy. + +The territory thus bestowed was "all that tract or part of land in +America, bounded on the east by the Delaware River, from twelve miles +northward of New Castle town unto the three and fortieth degree of +northern latitude. The said land to extend westward five degrees in +longitude, to be computed from the said eastern bounds, and the said +lands to be bounded on the north by the beginning of the three and +fortieth degree of northern latitude and on the south by a circle drawn +at twelve miles distance from New Castle, northward and westward, unto +the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude, and then by +a straight line westward to the limits of longitude above mentioned." + +This was a country almost as large as England. No such extensive domain +had ever been given to a subject by an English sovereign: but none had +ever been paid for by a sum of money so substantial. + +On the 4th of March, 1681, the charter received the signature of Charles +the Second. On the 21st of August, 1682, the Duke of York signed a deed +whereby he released the tract of land called Pennsylvania to William +Penn and his heirs forever. About the same time, by a like deed, the +duke conveyed to Penn the district which is now called Delaware. Penn +agreed, on his part, as a feudal subject, to render yearly to the king +two skins of beaver, and a fifth part of all the gold and silver found +in the ground; and to the duke "one rose at the feast of St. Michael the +Archangel." + +This association of sentiment and religion with a transaction in real +estate is a fitting symbol of the spirit in which the Pennsylvania +colony was undertaken. Penn received the land as a sacred trust. It was +regarded by him not as a personal estate, but as a religious possession +to be held for the good of humanity, for the advancement of the cause of +freedom, for the furtherance of the kingdom of heaven. He wrote at the +time to a friend that he had obtained it in the name of God, that thus +he may "serve his truth and people, and that an example may be set up to +the nations." He believed that there was room there "for such an holy +experiment." + + + + +VI + +THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA: PENN'S FIRST VISIT TO THE PROVINCE + + +That Penn undertook the "holy experiment" without expectation or desire +of profit appears not only in his conviction that he was thereby losing +sixteen thousand pounds, but in his refusal to make his new estates a +means of gain. "He is offered great things," says James Claypole in a +letter dated September, 1681, "£6000 for a monopoly in trade, which he +refused.... He designs to do things equally between all parties, and I +believe truly does aim more at justice and righteousness and spreading +of truth than at his own particular gain." "I would not abuse His love," +said Penn, "nor act unworthy of His providence, and so defile what came +to me clean. No, let the Lord guide me by His wisdom, and preserve me to +honour His name, and serve His truth and people, that an example and +standard may be set up to the nations." + +So far removed was he from all self-seeking, that he was even unwilling +to have the colony bear his name. "I chose New Wales," he says, +recounting the action of the king's council, "being, as this, a pretty +hilly country,--but Penn being Welsh for head, as Pennanmoire in Wales, +and Penrith in Cumberland, and Penn in Buckinghamshire, the highest land +in England--[the king] called this Pennsylvania, which is the high or +head woodlands; for I proposed, when the secretary, a Welshman, refused +to have it called New Wales, Sylvania, and they added Penn to it; and +though I much opposed it, and went to the king to have it struck out and +altered, he said it was past, and he would take it upon him; nor could +twenty guineas move the under-secretary to vary the name, for I feared +lest it should be looked on as a vanity in me, and not as a respect in +the king, as it truly was, to my father, whom he often mentions with +praise." + +The charter gave the land to Penn as the king's tenant. He had power to +make laws; though this power was to be exercised, except in emergencies, +"with the advice, assent, and approbation of the freemen of the +territory," and subject to the confirmation of the Privy Council. He was +to appoint judges and other officers. He had the right to assess custom +on goods laden and unladen, for his own benefit; though he was to take +care to do it "reasonably," and with the advice of the assembly of +freemen. He was, at the same time, to be free from any tax or custom of +the king, except by his own consent, or by the consent of his governor +or assembly, or by act of Parliament. He was not to maintain +correspondence with any king or power at war with England, nor to make +war against any king or power in amity with the same. If as many as +twenty of his colonists should ask a minister from the Bishop of London, +such minister was to be received without denial or molestation. + +The next important document to be prepared was the Constitution, or +Frame of Government, and to the task of composing it Penn gave a great +amount of time and care. It was preceded by two statements of +principles,--the Preface and the Great Fundamental. + +The Preface declared the political policy of the proprietor. +"Government," he said, "seems to me a part of religion itself, a thing +sacred in its institution and end." As for the debate between monarchy, +aristocracy, and democracy, "I choose," he said, "to solve the +controversy with this small distinction, and it belongs to all three: +any government is free to the people under it, whatever be the frame, +where the laws rule, and the people are a party to those laws." His +purpose, he says, is to establish "the great end of all government, +viz., to support power in reverence with the people, and to secure the +people from the abuse of power, that they may be free by their just +obedience, and the magistrates honourable for their just administration; +for liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedience without +liberty is slavery." + +In a private letter, written about the same time, Penn stated his +political position in several concrete sentences which interpret these +fine but rather vague pronouncements. "For the matters of liberty and +privilege," he wrote, "I propose that which is extraordinary, and to +leave myself and successors no power of doing mischief, that the will of +one man may not hinder the good of an whole country; but to publish +these things now and here, as matters stand, would not be wise." + +The Great Fundamental set forth the ecclesiastical policy of the +founder: "In reverence to God, the father of light and spirits, the +author as well as the object of all divine knowledge, faith and +workings, I do, for me and mine, declare and establish for the first +fundamental of the government of my province, that every person that +doth and shall reside there shall have and enjoy the free profession of +his or her faith and exercise of worship towards God, in such way and +manner as every such person shall in conscience believe is most +acceptable to God." + +These principles of civil and religious liberty constituted the "holy +experiment." They made the difference between Penn's colony and almost +every other government then existing. In their influence and +continuance, until at last they were incorporated in the Constitution of +the United States, they are the chief contribution of William Penn to +the progress of our institutions. + + "All Europe with amazement saw + The soul's high freedom trammeled by no law." + +The Constitution was drawn up in Articles to the number of twenty-four, +and these were followed by forty Laws. + +The Articles provided for a governor, to be appointed by the proprietor, +and for two legislative bodies, a provincial council and a general +assembly. The provincial council was to consist of seventy-two members. +Of these a third were elected for three years, a third for two, and a +third for one; so that by the end of the service of the first third, all +would have a three-year term, twenty-four going out and having their +places filled each year. The business of the council was to prepare +laws, to see that they were executed, and in general to provide for the +good conduct of affairs. The general assembly was to consist of two +hundred members, to be chosen annually. They had no right to originate +legislation, but were to pass upon all bills which had been enacted by +the council, accepting or rejecting them by a vote of yea or nay. + +The Laws enjoined that "all persons who confessed the one almighty and +eternal God to be the Creator, Upholder, and Ruler of the world, and who +held themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in +society, were in no ways to be molested for their religious persuasion +and practice, nor to be compelled at any time to frequent any religious +place or ministry whatever." All children of the age of twelve were to +be taught some useful trade. All pleadings, processes, and records in +the courts of law were to be as short as possible. The reformation of +the offender was to be considered as a great part of the purpose of +punishment. At a time when there were in England two hundred offenses +punishable by death, Penn reduced these capital crimes to two, murder +and treason. All prisons were to be made into workhouses. No oath was to +be required. Drinking healths, selling rum to Indians, cursing and +lying, fighting duels, playing cards, the pleasures of the theatre, were +all put under the ban together. + +Penn's provincial council suggested the Senate of the United States. As +originally established, however, the disproportion of power between the +upper and the lower house was so great as to cause much just +dissatisfaction. The council was in effect a body of seventy-two +governors; the assembly, which more directly represented the people, +could consider no laws save those sent down to them by the council. The +Constitution had to be changed. + +One of the good qualities of the Constitution was that it was possible +to change it. It provided for the process of amendment. That customary +article with which all constitutions now end appeared for the first time +in Penn's Frame of Government. Another good quality of the Constitution +was that it secured an abiding harmony between its fundamental +statements and all further legislation. "Penn was the first one to hit +upon the foundation or first step in the true principle, now the +universal law in the United States, that the unconstitutional law is +void." + +Whatever help Penn may have had in the framing of this legislation, from +Algernon Sidney and other political friends, it is plain that the best +part of it was his own, and that he wrote it not as a politician but as +a Quaker. It is an application of the Quaker principles of democracy and +of religious liberty to the conditions of a commonwealth. From beginning +to end it is the work of a man whose supreme interest was religion. It +is at the same time singularly free from the narrowness into which men +of this earnest mind have often fallen. Religion, as Penn considered it, +was not a matter of ordinances or rubrics. It was righteousness, and +fraternity, and liberty of conscience. + +In this spirit he wrote a letter to the Indian inhabitants of his +province. "The great God, who is the power and wisdom that made you and +me, incline your hearts to righteousness, love, and peace. This I send +to assure you of my love, and to desire you to love my friends; and when +the great God brings me among you, I intend to order all things in such +a manner that we may all live in love and peace, one with another, which +I hope the great God will incline both me and you to do. I seek nothing +but the honour of his name, and that we, who are his workmanship, may do +that which is well pleasing to him.... So I rest in the love of God that +made us." + +Now colonists began to seek this land of peace across the sea. A hundred +acres were promised for forty shillings, with a quit-rent of one +shilling annually to the proprietor forever. In clearing the ground, +care was to be taken to leave one acre of trees, for every five acres +cleared. All transactions with the Indians were to be held in the public +market, and all differences between the white man and the red were to be +settled by a jury of six planters and six Indians. Penn also counseled +prospective colonists to consider the great inconveniences which they +must of necessity endure, and hoped that those who went would have "the +permission if not the good liking of their near relations." + +There were already in the province some two thousand people, besides +Indians,--a peaceable and industrious folk, mostly Swedes and English. +They had six meeting-houses; the English settlers being Quakers. They +lived along the banks of the Delaware. In the autumn of 1681, the ship +Sarah and John brought the first of Penn's emigrants, and in December +the ship Bristol Factor added others. In 1682, Penn came himself. + +The journey at that time was both long and perilous. If it was +accomplished in two months, the voyage was considered prosperous. To the +ordinary dangers of the deep was added the terror of the smallpox. +Scarcely a ship crossed without this dread passenger. William, +accordingly, as one undertaking a desperate adventure, took a tender +leave of his family. He wrote a letter whose counsels might guide them +in case he never returned. "My dear wife and children," he said, "my +love, which neither sea, nor land, nor death itself can extinguish or +lessen towards you, most endearedly visits you with eternal embraces, +and will abide with you forever; and may the God of my life watch over +you, and bless you, and do you good in this world and forever." "Be +diligent," he advised his wife, "in meetings for worship and business, +... and let meetings be kept once a day in the family to wait upon the +Lord, ... and, my dearest, to make thy family matters easy to thee, +divide thy time and be regular; it is easy and sweet.... Cast up thy +income, and see what it daily amounts to, ... and I beseech thee to live +low and sparingly, till my debts are paid." As for the children, they +are to be bred up "in the love of virtue, and that holy plain way of it, +which we have lived in, that the world in no part of it get into my +family." They are to be carefully taught. "For their learning be +liberal, spare no cost." "Agriculture is especially in my eye; let my +children be husbandmen and housewives; it is industrious, healthy, +honest, and of good example." They are to honor and obey their mother, +to love not money nor the world, to be temperate in all things. If they +come presently to be concerned in the government of Pennsylvania, "I do +charge you," their father wrote, "before the Lord God and the holy +angels, that you be lovely, diligent and tender, fearing God, loving the +people, and hating covetousness. Let justice have its impartial course, +and the law free passage. Though to your loss, protect no man against +it; for you are not above the law, but the law above you. Live the lives +yourselves, you would have the people live." + +Unhappily, of Guli's children, seven in number, four died before their +mother, and one, the eldest son, Springett, shortly after. Springett +inherited the devout spirit of his parents; his father wrote an +affecting account of his pious death. Of the two remaining, William fell +into ways of dissipation, and Letitia married a man whom her father +disliked. Neither of them had any inheritance in Pennsylvania. + +Penn's ship, the Welcome, carried a hundred passengers, most of them +Quakers from his own neighborhood. A third part died of smallpox on the +way. On the 24th of October, he sighted land; on the 27th, he arrived +before Newcastle, in Delaware; on the 28th, he landed. Here he formally +received turf and twig, water and soil, in token of his ownership. On +the 29th, he entered Pennsylvania. Adding ten days to this date, to +bring it into accord with our present calendar, we have November 8 as +the day of his arrival in the province. The place was Upland, where +there was a settlement already; the name was that day changed to +Chester. + +Penn was greatly pleased with his new possessions. He wrote a +description of the country for the Free Society of Traders. The air, he +said, was sweet and clear, and the heavens serene. Trees, fruits, and +flowers grew in abundance: especially a "great, red grape," and a "white +kind of muskadel," out of which he hopes it may be possible to make +good wine. The ground was fertile. The Indians he found to be tall, +straight, and well built, walking "with a lofty chin." Their language +was "like the Hebrew," and he guessed that they were descended from the +ten lost tribes of Israel. Light of heart, they seemed to him, with +"strong affections, but soon spent; ... the most merry creatures that +live." Though they were "under a dark night in things relating to +religion," yet were they believers in God and immortality. + +"I bless the Lord," he wrote in a letter, "I am very well, and much +satisfied with my place and portion. O how sweet is the quiet of these +parts, freed from the anxious and troublesome solicitations, hurries, +and solicitations of woeful Europe!" + +In the midst of these fair regions, beside the "wedded rivers," the +Delaware and the Schuylkill, in the convenient neighborhood of quarries +of building stone, at a place which the Indians called Coaquannoc, he +established his capital city, calling it Philadelphia,--perhaps in +token of the spirit of brotherly love in which it was founded, perhaps +in remembrance of those seven cities of the Revelation wherein was that +primitive Christianity which he wished to reproduce. + +Here he had his rowers run his boat ashore at the mouth of Dock Creek, +which now runs under Dock Street, where several men were engaged in +building a house, which was afterwards called the Blue Anchor Tavern. +Penn brought a considerable company with him. In the minutes of a +Friends' meeting held on the 8th (18th) of November, 1682, at +Shackamaxon, now Kensington, it was recorded that, "at this time, +Governor Penn and a multitude of Friends arrived here, and erected a +city called Philadelphia, about half a mile from Shackamaxon." +Presently, the Indians appeared. They offered Penn of their hominy and +roasted acorns, and, after dinner, showed him how they could hop and +jump. He is said to have entered heartily into these exercises, and to +have jumped farther than any of them. + +The governor had already determined the plan of the city. There were to +be two large streets,--one fronting the Delaware on the east, the other +fronting the Schuylkill on the west; a third avenue, to be called High +Street (now Market), was to run from river to river, east and west; and +a fourth, called Broad Street, was to cross it at right angles, north +and south. Twenty streets were to lie parallel with Broad, and to be +named First Street, Second Street, and so on in order, in the plain +Quaker fashion which had thus entitled the days of the week and the +months of the year. Eight were to lie parallel with High, and to be +called after the trees of the forest,--Spruce, Chestnut, Pine. In the +midst of the city, at the crossing of High and Broad Streets, was to be +a square of ten acres, to contain the public offices; and in each +quarter of the city was to be a similar open space for walks. The +founder intended to allow no house to be built on the river banks, +keeping them open and beautiful. Could he have foreseen the future, he +would have made the streets wider. He had in mind, however, only a +country town. "Let every house be placed," he directed, "if the person +pleases, in the middle of its plot, as to the breadth way of it, that so +there may be ground on each side for gardens or orchards or fields, that +it may be a green country town, which will never be burnt and always +wholesome." + +Among those houses was his own, a modest structure made of brick, +standing "on Front Street south of the present Market Street," and still +preserved in Fairmont Park. He afterwards gave it to his daughter +Letitia, and it was called Letitia House, from her ownership. + +In the mean time, he was making his famous treaty with the Indians. Penn +recognized the Indians as the actual owners of the land. He bought it of +them as he needed it. The transfer of property thus made was a natural +occasion of mutual promises. As there were several such meetings between +the Quakers and the Indians, it is difficult to fix a date to mark the +fact. One meeting took place, it is said, under a spreading elm at +Shackamaxon. The commonly accepted date is the 23d of June, 1683. The +elm was blown down in 1810. There is a persistent tradition to the +effect that William was distinguished from his fellow Quakers in this +transaction by wearing a sky-blue sash of silk network. But of this, as +of most other details of ceremony in connection with the matter, we know +nothing. + +Penn gives a general description of his various conferences upon this +business. "Their order," he says, "is thus: the king sits in the middle +of a half-moon, and has his council, the old and wise, on each hand. +Behind them, or at a little distance, sit the younger fry in the same +figure." Then one speaks in their king's name, and Penn answers. "When +the purchase was agreed great promises passed between us of kindness and +good neighbourhood, and that the English and the Indians must live in +love as long as the sun gave light, ... at every sentence of which they +shouted, and said Amen, in their way." Some earnestness may have been +added to these assuring responses by the Indians' consciousness of the +fact that the advantages of the bargain were not all on one side. The +Pennsylvania tribes had been thoroughly conquered by the Five Nations. +There was little heart left in them. But their condition detracts +nothing from Penn's Christian brotherliness. + +In some such manner the great business was enacted. "This," said +Voltaire, "was the only treaty between these people and the Christians +that was not ratified by an oath, and that was never broken." That it +was never broken was the capital fact. Herein it differed from a +thousand other treaties made before or since. In the midst of the long +story of the misdealings of the white men with the red, which begins +with Cortez and Pizarro, and is still continued in the daily newspapers, +this justice and honesty of William Penn is a point of light. That Penn +treated the Indians as neighbors and brothers; that he paid them fairly +for every acre of their land; that the promises which he made were ever +after unfailingly kept is perhaps his best warrant of abiding fame. Like +his constitutional establishment of civil and religious liberty, it was +a direct result of his Quaker principles. It was a manifestation of that +righteousness which he was continually preaching and practicing. + +The kindness and courtly generosity which Penn showed in his bargains +with the Indians is happily illustrated in one of his purchases of land. +The land was to extend "as far back as a man could walk in three days." +William walked out a day and a half of it, taking several chiefs with +him, "leisurely, after the Indian manner, sitting down sometimes to +smoke their pipes, to eat biscuit and cheese, and drink a bottle of +wine." Thus they covered less than thirty miles. In 1733, the then +governor employed the fastest walker he could find, who in the second +day and a half marked eighty-six miles. + +The treaty gave the new colony a substantial advantage. The Lenni +Lenape, the Mingoes, the Shawnees accounted Penn's settlers as their +friends. The word went out among the tribes that what Penn said he +meant, and that what he promised he would fulfill faithfully. Thus the +planters were freed from the terror of the forest which haunted their +neighbors, north and south. They could found cities in the wilderness +and till their scattered farms without fear of tomahawk or firebrand. +Penn himself went twenty miles from Philadelphia, near the present +Bristol, to lay out his country place of Pennsbury. + +Ships were now arriving with sober and industrious emigrants; trees were +coming down, houses were going up. In July, 1683, Penn wrote to Henry +Sidney, in England, reminding him that he had promised to send some +fruit-trees, and describing the condition of the colony. "We have laid +out a town a mile long and two miles deep.... I think we have near about +eighty houses built, and about three hundred farms settled round the +town.... We have had fifty sail of ships and small vessels, since the +last summer, in our river, which shows a good beginning." "I am +mightily taken with this part of the world," he wrote to Lord Culpeper, +who had come to be governor of Virginia, "I like it so well, that a +plentiful estate, and a great acquaintance on the other side, have no +charms to remove; my family being once fixed with me, and if no other +thing occur, I am likely to be an adopted American." "Our heads are +dull," he added, "but our hearts are good and our hands strong." + +In the midst of this peace and prosperity, however, there was a serious +trouble. This was a dispute with Lord Baltimore over the dividing line +between Pennsylvania and Maryland. By the inaccuracy of surveyors, the +confusion of maps, and the indefiniteness of charters, Baltimore +believed himself entitled to a considerable part of the territory which +was claimed by Penn, including even Philadelphia. The two proprietors +had already discussed the question without settlement; indeed, it +remained a cause of contention for some seventy years. As finally +settled, in 1732, between the heirs of Penn and of Baltimore, a line +was established from Cape Henlopen west to a point half way between +Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay; thence north to twelve miles west of +Newcastle, and so on to fifteen miles south of Philadelphia; thence due +west. The surveyors were Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, and the line +was thus called Mason and Dixon's Line. This boundary afterwards parted +the free States from the slave States. South of it was "Dixie." + +Penn now learned that Lord Baltimore was on his way to England to lay +the question before the Privy Council. The situation demanded William's +presence. "I am following him as fast as I can," he wrote to the Duke of +York, praying "that a perfect stop be put to all his proceedings till I +come." He therefore took leave of his friends in the province, +commissioned the provincial council to act in his stead, and in August, +1684, having been two years in America, he embarked for home. + +On board the Endeavour, on the eve of sailing, he wrote a farewell +letter. "And thou, Philadelphia," he said, "the virgin settlement of +this province, named before thou wert born, what love, what care, what +service and what travail has there 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 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 thy power. My love to thee has been great, and the remembrance +of thee affects mine heart and mine eye. The God of eternal strength +keep and preserve thee to his glory and peace." + + + + +VII + +AT THE COURT OF JAMES THE SECOND, AND "IN RETIREMENT" + + +When Penn left the province in 1684, he expected to return speedily, but +he did not see that pleasant land again until 1699. The fifteen +intervening years were filled with contention, anxiety, misfortune, and +various distresses. + +In the winter of 1684-85, Charles II. died, and the Duke of York, his +brother, succeeded him as James II. And James was the patron and good +friend of William Penn. But the king was a Roman Catholic. One of his +first acts upon coming to the throne was to go publicly to mass. He was +privately resolved upon making the Roman Church supreme in England. Penn +was stoutly opposed to the king's religion. In his "Seasonable Caveat +against Popery," as well as in his other writings, he had expressed his +dislike with characteristic frankness. That he had himself been accused +of being a Jesuit had naturally impelled him to use the strongest +language to belie the accusation. Nevertheless, William Penn stood by +the king. He sought and kept the position of favorite and agent of the +court. He upheld, and so far as he could, assisted, the projects of a +reign which, had it continued, would probably have contradicted his most +cherished principles, abolished liberty of conscience, and made an end +of Quakers. + +This perplexing inconsistency, which is the only serious blot on Penn's +fair fame, appears to have been the result of two convictions. + +He was sure, in the first place, of the honesty of the king; he believed +in him with all his heart. James had been true to the trust reposed in +him by William's father. He had befriended William, taking him out of +prison, increasing his estates, granting his petitions. "Anybody," said +Penn, "that has the least pretense to good-nature, gratitude, or +generosity, must needs know how to interpret my access to the king." +With his advance to the crown James's graciousness had increased. He +kept great lords waiting without while he conversed at leisure with the +Quaker. He liked Penn, and Penn liked him. In spite of the disparities +in their age, rank, and creed, William Penn and James Stuart were fast +friends, united by the bond of genuine affection. + +It was characteristic of Penn to be blind to the faults of his friends. +He brought great troubles both upon himself and upon his colony by his +refusal to believe the reports which were made to him against the +character of men whom he had appointed to office: he was unwilling to +believe evil of any man. He fell into bankruptcy, and even into a +debtor's prison, by his blind, unquestioning confidence in the agent who +managed his business. His faith in James was of a piece with his whole +character. He appears to have been temperamentally incapable of +perceiving the unworthiness of anybody whom he liked. + +Together with this conviction as to the king's honesty, and bound up +with it, was a like belief in the wisdom of the king's plan. The king's +plan was to remove all disabilities arising from religion. He purposed +not only to put an end to the laws under which honest men were kept in +prison, but to abolish the "tests" which prevented a Roman Catholic from +holding office. And, without tarrying for the action of a cautious +Parliament, his intention was to do these things at once by a +declaration of the royal will. All this was approved by William Penn. + +That the laws which disturbed Protestant dissenters should be changed, +he argued at length in a pamphlet entitled "A Persuasion to Moderation." +Moderation, as he defined it, meant "liberty of conscience to church +dissenters;" a cause which, with all humility, he said, he had +undertaken to plead against the prejudices of the times. He maintained +that toleration was not only a right inherent in religion, but that it +was for the political and commercial good of the nation. Repression and +persecution, he said, drive men into conspiracies. The importing of +religious distinctions into the affairs of state deprives the country of +the services of some of its best men. His father, upon the occasion of +the first Dutch war, had submitted to the king a list of the ablest sea +officers in the kingdom. The striking of the names of nonconformists +from this list had "robbed the king at that time of ten men, whose +greater knowledge and valour, than any other ten of that fleet, had, in +their room, been able to have saved a battle, or perfected a victory." +As for a declaration of indulgence, Penn deemed it "the sovereign remedy +of the English constitution." + +That the "tests" should be removed, he urged on James's behalf upon +William of Orange, to whom he went in Holland on an informal commission +from the king. William, by his marriage with James's daughter, was heir +apparent to the throne of England, and his consent was necessary to any +serious change of national policy. He insisted on the tests. +Theoretically, Penn was right. The ideal state imposes no religious +tests; every good citizen, no matter what his private creed may be, is +eligible to any office. Practically, Penn was wrong, as William of +Orange plainly saw. That prince, as appeared afterwards, was as zealous +for religious freedom as was Penn himself; but it was plain to him that +as matters stood at that time in England, it was necessary to enforce +the tests in order to prevent the rise of an ecclesiastical party whose +supremacy would endanger all that Penn desired. Penn, with his stout +faith in the king, could not see it. There were times, indeed, when he +was perplexed and troubled. "The Lord keep us in this dark day!" he +wrote to his steward at Pennsbury. "Be wise, close, respectful to +superiors. The king has discharged all Friends by a general pardon, and +is courteous, though as to the Church of England, things seem pinching. +Several Roman Catholics got much into places in the army, navy, court." +Nevertheless, the king's plan, as he understood it, gave assurance of +liberty of conscience, and the end of persecution for opinion's sake; +and he supported the king. + +Under these conditions, misled by friendship, seeing, but not +perceiving, Penn persuaded himself that he could excellently serve God +and his neighbors by becoming a courtier. He took a house in London, +within easy distance of Whitehall, and visited the king daily. A great +many people therefore visited Penn daily; sometimes as many as two +hundred were waiting to confer with him. They desired that he would do +this or that for their good with the king. Most of them were Quakers; +many were in need of pardon, or were burdened by some oppression. + +For example, Sir Robert Stuart of Coltness had been in exile as a +Presbyterian, and on his return found his lands in the possession of the +Earl of Arran. He brought his case to Penn. Penn went to Arran. "What is +this, friend James, that I hear of thee?" he said. "Thou hast taken +possession of Coltness's castle. Thou knowest that it is not thine." +"That estate," Arran explained, "I paid a great price for. I received no +other reward for my expensive and troublesome embassy to France, except +this estate." "All very well, friend James," said Penn, "but of this +assure thyself, that if thou dost not give me this moment an order on +thy chamberlain for two hundred pounds to Coltness to carry him down to +his native country, and a hundred a year to subsist on till matters are +adjusted, I will make it as many thousands out of thy way with the +king." Arran complied immediately. + +Again, one day after dinner, as they were drinking a glass of wine +together, one of Penn's clients said, "I can tell you how you can +prolong my life." "I am no physician," answered William, "but prithee +tell me what thou meanest." The client replied that a good friend of +his, Jack Trenchard, was in exile, and "if you," he said, "could get him +leave to come home with safety and honour, the drinking now and then a +bottle with Jack Trenchard would make me so cheerful that it would +prolong my life." Penn smilingly promised to do what he could, and in a +month the two friends were drinking his good health. + +This was the kind of business which he transacted. He had found a way +to be of eminent service to his neighbors, and especially to his Quaker +brethren, and he made the most of the opportunity. There is no evidence +that he departed from the disinterested life which he had previously +lived. He attended the court of King James, as he had undertaken the +settlement of Pennsylvania, not for what he could get out of it, but for +the good he could do by means of it. What he did, he tells us, was upon +a "principle of charity." "I never accepted any commission," he says, +"but that of a free and common solicitor for sufferers of all sorts and +in all parties." Neither is there any instance of his asking anything to +increase his own estate or position. + +Indeed, he was losing money; for the expenses of life at court were +great. Worse still, he was losing his good name. His Quaker friends +found him hard to understand. It was true that he had cast in his lot +with them, and had suffered for their cause,--he was their great +theologian and preacher; but he seemed, nevertheless, to be still a +cavalier and a worldly person. They heard--though there was no truth in +the report--that he had set up a military company in Pennsylvania. They +saw with their own eyes that he lived in a style which must have seemed +to them altogether inconsistent with simplicity, and that he consorted +with courtiers. And they did not like it,--they said so frankly. + +As for enemies, the king's favorite had many, inevitably. The lords who +waited in the antechamber while Penn was closeted with James did not +look pleasantly at him when he came out. The stout Protestants, who +hated the king's ways, and suspected the king's designs, could not +easily think well of one who was so closely in his counsels. One of +Penn's friends told him what these people said of him: "Your post is too +considerable for a Papist of an ordinary form, and therefore you must be +a Jesuit; nay, to confirm that suggestion, it must be accompanied with +all the circumstances that may best give it an air of probability,--as +that you have been bred at St. Omer's in the Jesuit College; that you +have taken orders at Rome, and there obtained a dispensation to marry; +and that you have since then frequently officiated as a priest in the +celebration of the mass, at Whitehall, St. James's, and other places." +It seems absurd enough to us, but many intelligent persons, even +Archbishop Tillotson of Canterbury, believed it. The detail of St. Omer +came, probably, from a confusion of the name with Saumur. The other +suspicions grew out of Penn's place in the favor of the king. + +It seemed as if nothing could prejudice the king's matters in the eyes +of Penn. Monmouth's rebellion came, and the king's revenge followed. +Judge Jeffreys went on his bloody circuit. "About three hundred hanged," +Penn wrote, "in divers towns of the west; about one thousand to be +transported. I begged twenty of the king." It was all bad, and one +regrets to find Penn concerned in it. Still, his twenty probably fared +better than their neighbors. It is likely that he sent them to be +colonists in Pennsylvania. + +In the matter of the maids of Taunton, William seems clearly to have had +no part. A company of little schoolgirls, led by their teacher, had +marched in procession to celebrate the landing of Monmouth. For this +offense their parents were heavily fined, and the fines were given to +the queen's maids of honor. These ladies wrote to a "Mr. Penne" to get +him to collect them. Macaulay thought that this pardon-broker was +William Penn. It is flagrantly inconsistent with his character, and he +has been adequately vindicated by various writers. The agent in this +case was probably George Penne, a person in that business. + +Penn's course is not so clear in the matter of the presidency of +Magdalen College. One of the steps in James's plan to change the +religion of England was to get a foothold for teachers of his faith at +the universities. He intended to capture Oxford and Cambridge. He had so +far succeeded at Oxford as to get possession of Christ Church and +University College, and, the presidency of Magdalen falling vacant, he +ordered the fellows to elect a man of his own choice. The fellows +refused to obey the order,--thereupon Penn, who had at first taken their +part with the king, advised them to surrender. "Mr. Penn," said Dr. +Hough, representing the fellows, "in this I will be plain with you. We +have our statutes and oaths to justify us in all that we have done +hitherto; but, setting this aside, we have a religion to defend, and I +suppose yourself would think us knaves if we would tamely give it up. +The Papists have already gotten Christ Church and University; the +present struggle is for Magdalen; and in a short time they threaten they +will have the rest." + +To this Penn replied with vehemence: "That they shall never have, assure +yourselves; if once they proceed so far they will quickly find +themselves destitute of their present assistance. For my part, I have +always declared my opinion that the preferments of the Church should not +be put into any other hands but such as they are at present in; but I +hope you would not have the two universities such invincible bulwarks +for the Church of England, that none but they must be capable of giving +their children a learned education. I suppose two or three colleges will +content the Papists." Finally, the king's men broke down the doors, +turned out the professors and students, and gave the king his way. Penn +was thus the agent of tyranny; but he was an innocent agent. He made a +bad blunder; but he made it honestly and ignorantly. It was in accord +with his democratic ideas that the universities should be places of +instruction for all the people; he would have liked to see not only the +Roman Catholics, but all the great divisions of religion in England +represented there. And that fine idea misled him. To hold him guilty, +here or elsewhere, of malice or hypocrisy, is to misread his character. +He was simply mistaken,--mistaken in the king, mistaken in the +application of his own principles. + +Meanwhile, the nation at large was making no mistake. The people saw +James as he was, and detected his designs upon the liberties of +England. At last, in April, 1688, he issued a Declaration of Indulgence. +He added insult to injury by ordering that it should be read in every +church in the realm. The seven bishops who protested were sent to the +Tower. Then the end came with speed. William of Orange was invited into +England. The nation welcomed him with acclamations. James fled before +him into France, where he lived the remainder of an inglorious life. + +This was a hard change for William Penn, and he seems to have done +nothing to make it easier. There were courtiers who passed with +incredible swiftness from one allegiance to the other; he was not among +them. Others fled to France, but he stayed. He was arrested. In his +examination before the Privy Council he declared that he "had done +nothing but what he could answer for before God and all the princes in +the world; that he loved his country and the Protestant religion above +his life, and had never acted against either; that all he had ever aimed +at in his public endeavors was none other than what the king had +declared for [religious liberty]; that King James had always been his +friend, and his father's friend, and that in gratitude he himself was +the king's, and did ever, as much as in him lay, influence him to his +true interest." Penn was released. + +The new king began his reign with the Toleration Act, which Parliament +passed in 1688, and from which dates the establishment of actual and +abiding religious liberty in England. Thus Penn's great purpose was +accomplished by one with whom he was not in accord. Sometimes a +political party adopts the projects for which its opponents have long +labored, and carries them out even more vigorously than they had been +planned originally. The initial reformers are glad that their ideals +have been realized, but their zeal must be uncommonly impersonal if the +success brings them quite so much joy as it logically ought. It is not +likely that the Toleration Act filled the soul of William Penn with +great jubilation. Indeed, we know that he insisted to the end of his +life that James, if he had been let alone, would have done all that +William did, and more too, and better. + +The years which followed were full of trouble. Macaulay says that in +1689 Penn was plotting against the government; but the evidence does not +suffice to establish the fact. The Privy Council, in 1690, confronted +Penn with an intercepted letter to him from James, asking for help. But, +as Penn said, he could not hinder the king from writing to him. He +added, however, with characteristic boldness, that since he had loved +King James in his prosperity he should not hate him in his adversity. He +was again discharged. + +In that same year, however, James invaded Ireland, and the situation of +his friends in England was thereby made increasingly difficult. Penn was +arrested with others, and in prison awaited trial for several months. +The result was as before,--he was found in no offense. But before a +month had passed, he learned that another warrant was out against his +liberty. Officers went to take him at the funeral of George Fox, but +arrived too late. By this time he had concluded that the path of +prudence was that which led into a wise retirement. He hid himself for +the space of three years. He was publicly proclaimed a traitor, and was +deprived of the government of his colony. He was "hunted up and down," +he says, "and could never be allowed to live quietly in city or +country." + +Finally, the government were persuaded either that Penn was innocent, or +that no further danger was to be apprehended from him, and several +noblemen, interceding with the king, procured his pardon. They +represented his case, he says, as not only hard, but oppressive, there +being no evidence but what "impostors, or those that fled, or that have +since their pardon refused to verify (and asked me pardon for saying +what they did) alleged against me." The king announced that Penn was his +old acquaintance, and that he might follow his business as freely as +ever, and that for his part he had nothing to say to him. + +Thus again, and at last, the political accusations against William Penn +came to nothing. He had been in a hard position as the faithful friend +of a dethroned monarch in a day when conspiracies were being made on +every hand. That he should have been suspected of treason was +inevitable. That in his unconcealed affection for James and disapproval +of William he said imprudent things is likely enough. Prudence was not +one of his virtues. He was never calculatingly careful of his own +welfare. But that he was ever untrue to William, or did any act, or +consented to any, which could reasonably be called treacherous, is not +only quite unproved, but is out of accord with the true William Penn as +he is revealed in his writings and in all his life. The only fault which +has been clearly established against him is that of liking James better +than he liked William. He was a stanch friend to his friend; that is the +sum of his offending, wherein the only serious regret is that his friend +was not more worthy of his steadfast and unselfish friendship. "At no +time in his life," says Mr. Fiske, "does he seem more honest, brave, and +lovable, than during the years, so full of trouble for him, that +intervened between the accession of James and the accession of Anne." + + + + +VIII + +PENN'S SECOND VISIT TO THE PROVINCE: CLOSING YEARS + + +The thoughts with which Penn's mind was occupied during the years of +hiding appear in his book, "Some Fruits of Solitude." Robert Louis +Stevenson found a copy of it in a book-shop in San Francisco, and +carried it in his pocket many days, reading it in street-cars and +ferry-boats. He found it, he says, "in all places a peaceful and sweet +companion;" and he adds, "there is not a man living, no, nor recently +dead, that could put, with so lovely a spirit, so much honest, kind +wisdom into words." + +"The author blesseth God for his retirement," so the book begins, "and +kisses the gentle hand which led him into it; for though it should prove +barren to the world, it can never do so to him. He has now had some time +he can call his own; a property he was never so much master of before; +in which he has taken a view of himself and the world, and observed +wherein he hath hit and missed the mark. And he verily thinks, were he +to live his life over again, he could not only, with God's grace, serve +him, but his neighbor and himself, better than he hath done, and have +seven years of his life to spare." + +Government and Religion have the longest chapters in this volume of +reflections, as being the matters in which William was most interested. +"Happy that king," he says, "who is great by justice, and that people +who are free by obedience." "Where example keeps pace with authority, +power hardly fails to be obeyed, and magistrates to be honoured." "Let +the people think they govern, and they will be governed." "Religion is +the fear of God, and its demonstration good works; and faith is the root +of both." "To be like Christ, then, is to be a Christian." "Some folk +think they may scold, rail, hate, rob, and kill too: so it be but for +God's sake. But nothing in us, unlike him, can please him." So the book +goes, page after page, always serious and sensible, full of simplicity +and kindliness, cheerful and brotherly and unfailingly religious. It is +the work of one who is trying his best to live for his brethren and in +Christ's spirit. + +Another significant writing of this period is Penn's "Plan for the Peace +of Europe." The calamities of the war then in progress on the Continent +gave him arguments enough for the desirableness of peace. The means of +peace is justice, and the means of justice is government. It is plain to +all that a state wherein any private citizen might avenge himself upon +his neighbor would be a place of confusion and distress. "For this cause +they have sessions, terms, assizes, and parliaments, to overrule men's +passions and resentments, that they may not be judges in their own +cause, nor punishers of their own wrongs." Penn proposes that the same +relation between peace and justice which is enforced between citizen and +citizen be also enforced between nation and nation. "Now," he says, "if +the sovereign princes of Europe ... for love of peace and order [would] +agree to meet by their stated deputies in a general Diet, Estates or +Parliament and there establish rules of justice for sovereign princes to +observe one to another; and thus to meet yearly, or once in two or three +years at the farthest, or as they shall see cause, and to be stiled, The +Sovereign or Imperial Diet, Parliament or State of Europe: before which +Sovereign Assembly should be brought all differences depending between +one sovereign and another that cannot be made up by private embassies +before the sessions begin; and that if any of the sovereignties that +constitute these imperial states shall refuse to submit their claim or +pretensions to them, or to abide and perform the judgment thereof and +seek their remedy by arms, or delay their compliance beyond the time +prefixt in their resolutions, all the other sovereignties, united as one +strength, shall compel the submission and performance of the sentence, +with damages to the suffering party, and charges to the sovereignties +that obliged their submission; ... peace would be procured and +continued in Europe." The principle of international arbitration, the +Conference at the Hague, and all like meetings which shall be held +hereafter, are thus foreshadowed. + +These two productions of Penn's season of retirement--the "Fruits of +Solitude," and the "Plan for the Peace of Europe"--illustrate again the +two qualities which make him singularly eminent among the founders of +commonwealths. He was at once a philosopher and a statesman; he was +interested alike in religion and in politics. There have been many +politicians to whom religion has been of no concern. There have been +many religious persons in high positions who have been so shut in by +church walls that they have been incapable of a wider outlook; they have +accordingly been narrow, prejudiced, and often unpractical people; they +have been blind to the elemental social fact of difference; they have +hated the thought of toleration. Penn was almost alone among the good +men of our era of colonization in being at the same time a man of the +world and a man of the other world. + +Penn came out of his exile in 1693 burdened with misfortune. He had been +deprived of his government; he was sadly in debt; he had lost many of +his friends. His colonists in Pennsylvania declined to lend him money. +His brethren in England drew up a confession of wrong-doing for him to +sign: "If in any things during those late revolutions I have concerned +myself either by words or writings, in love, pity or good will to any in +distress [meaning the king] further than consisted with Truth's honor or +the Church's peace, I am sorry for it." But he would not sign. To these +troubles was added a greater grief in the death of his wife. "An +excellent wife and mother," he said of her, "an entire and constant +friend, of a more than common capacity, and greater modesty and +humility; yet most equal and undaunted in danger." A brave soul, no +doubt, as befitted her parentage, and of a devout and consecrated +spirit. + +But William was ever of a serene and cheerful disposition. Neither loss, +nor disappointment, nor bereavement could shut out the sun. His +religious faith strengthened him. "We must needs disorder ourselves," he +had written in his "Fruits of Solitude," "if we only look at our losses. +But if we consider how little we deserve what is left, our passions will +cool, and our murmurs will turn into thankfulness." "Though our +Saviour's passion is over, his compassion is not. That never fails his +humble, sincere disciples; in him they find more than all that they lose +in the world." + +During the six years which followed, this strong confidence was +justified. He regained his government and his good name. He also married +a second wife, Hannah Callowhill, a strong, sensible, and estimable +Quaker lady of some means, living in Bristol. + +The only satisfactory information as to the personal appearance of Penn +in mature life is that which is given by Sylvanus Bevan. Bevan was a +Quaker apothecary in London, who had a remarkable gift for carving +portraits in ivory. After Penn's death, he made such a portrait of him +from memory. The men who had known William liked it greatly. Lord +Cobham, to whom Bevan sent it, said, "It is William Penn himself." It +represents him in a curled wig, with full cheeks and a double chin--a +pleasant, masterful, and serious person. Clarkson says that in his +attire he was "very neat, though plain." Penn advised his children to +choose clothes "neither unshapely nor fantastical;" and he illustrated +to King James the difference between the Roman Catholic and the Quaker +religions by the difference between his hat and the king's. "The only +difference," he said, "lies in the ornaments that have been added to +thine." His dress was probably that which was common to gentlemen in his +day, but without extremes of color or adornment. For some time after +becoming a Quaker he wore his sword, having consulted Fox, who said, "I +advise thee to wear it as long as thou canst." Presently Fox, seeing him +without it, said, "William, where is thy sword?" To which Penn replied, +"I have taken thy advice: I wore it as long as I could." + +The sober cheerfulness of Penn's attire comported well with his +conversation. It is true that Bishop Burnet, who did not like him, says +that "he had a tedious, luscious way of talking, not apt to overcome a +man's reason, though it might tire his patience." But Dean Swift enjoyed +him, and testified that "he talked very agreeably and with great +spirit." The Friends of Reading Meeting even noted that he was +"facetious in conversation," and there is a tradition of a venerable +Friend who spoke of him "as having naturally an excess of levity of +spirit for a grave minister." A handsome, graceful, and even a merry +gentleman it was who married Hannah Callowhill. + +For a time he devoted himself again to the work of the ministry. He went +about, as in former days, preaching, sometimes in the market-hall, +sometimes in the fields. Once, in Ireland, the bishop sent an officer to +disperse the meeting, complaining that Penn had left him "nobody to +preach to but the mayor, church-wardens, a few of the constables, and +the bare walls." + +His heart, however, was in his province. The affairs of Pennsylvania +had been going badly. There had been a hot contention between the +council and the assembly, and another between the province and the +territory. The officials, too, whom Penn had appointed, had quarreled +among themselves. William complained that they were excessively +"governmentish;" meaning that they liked authority and that they took +details very seriously. The situation, however, was inevitably +difficult. In his relation to the king, the governor was a feudal +sovereign; in his relation to the people he was, by Penn's arrangement, +the executive of a democracy. Penn himself reconciled the two positions +by his own tact and unselfishness, as well as by a certain masterfulness +to which those about him instinctively and willingly yielded. He proved +the motto of his book-plate, _Dum Clavum Teneam_; all went well while he +with his own hands held the helm. But his deputies were not so +competent. The colony fell into two parties, the proprietary and the +popular, representing these two ideas. Then the governor whom the king +had appointed during Penn's retirement was a soldier, and his +un-Quakerlike notions as to the right conduct of a colony brought a new +element of confusion into affairs which were already sufficiently +confounded. + +At last, in 1699, it became possible for the founder to make another +visit to his province. He brought his family with him, evidently +intending to stay. Philadelphia was now a city of some seven hundred +houses, and had nearly seven thousand inhabitants. The people were at +that moment in deep depression, having just been visited with a plague +of yellow fever. The pestilence, however, had abated, and Penn was +received with sober rejoicings. He took up his residence in the +"slate-roof house," a modest mansion which stood on the corner of Second +Street and Norris Alley; it was pulled down in 1867. + +Now began a season of good government. The business of piracy had for +some time been merrily carried on by various enterprising persons, some +of whom lived very respectably in Philadelphia. William put a stop to +it. The importing of slaves from Africa was at that time considered by +most persons to be a good thing both for the planters and for the +slaves. Already, however, at the Pennsylvania yearly meeting of Friends +in 1688, some who came from Kriesheim, in Germany, had protested against +it, + + "Who first of all their testimonial gave + Against the oppressor, for the outcast slave." + +And, in consequence, though slaves were still imported, they were +humanely treated. Penn interested himself in the improvement of their +condition. He was also concerned in the progress of the prison reforms +which he had proposed in the original establishment of the colony. He +employed a watchman to cry the news, the weather, and the time of day in +the Philadelphia streets. Regarding the Constitution, about which there +had been so much contention, he addressed the council and the assembly +in terms of characteristic friendliness. "Friends," he said, "if in the +Constitution by charter there be anything that jars, alter it. If you +want a law for this or that, prepare it." He advised them, however, not +to trifle with government, and wished there were no need to have any +government at all. In general, he said, the fewer laws, the better. The +result was a new Constitution. It provided that the council should be +appointed by the governor, and that the assembly should have the right +to originate laws. It was more simple and workable than the previous +legislation, and lasted until the Revolution. + +Meanwhile, Penn was journeying about the country in his old way, +preaching. At Merion, a small boy of the family where he was +entertained, being much impressed with the great man's looks and speech, +peeped through the latchet-hole of his chamber door, and both saw and +heard him at his prayers. Near Haverford, a small girl, walking along +the country road, was overtaken by the governor, who took her up behind +him on his horse, and so carried her on her way, her bare feet dangling +by the horse's side. + +Clarkson, the chief of the biographers of Penn, who collected these and +other incidents, gives us a glimpse of him as he appeared at this time +at Quaker meetings. "He was of such humility that he used generally to +sit at the lowest end of the space allotted to ministers, always taking +care to place above himself poor ministers, and those who appeared to +him to be peculiarly gifted." He liked to encourage young men to speak. +When he himself spoke, it was in the simplest words, easy to be +understood, and with many homely illustrations. At the same time, on +state occasions, as the proprietor of Pennsylvania and representative of +the sovereign, he used some ceremony, marching through the Philadelphia +streets to the opening of the assembly with a mace-bearer before him, +and having an officer standing at his gate on audience days, with a long +staff tipped with silver. Acquainted with affairs, and with a knowledge +of the relations between government and human nature drawn from a wide +experience, he knew the distinction, at which some of his Quaker +brethren stumbled, between personal humility and the proper dignity of +official station. + +In the intervals left him by the demands of church and state, he busied +himself with the improvement of his place at Pennsbury. Here he had a +considerable house in the midst of pleasant gardens. He took great +pleasure in personal superintendence of the grounds and buildings, +planting vines and cutting vistas through the trees. "The country is to +be preferred," he wrote in "Fruits of Solitude." "The country is both +the philosopher's garden and library, in which he reads and contemplates +the power, wisdom, and goodness of God." "The knowledge and improvement +of it," he declared, is "man's oldest business and trade, and the best +he can be of." + +Within were silver plate and satin curtains, and embroidered chairs and +couches. The proprietor's bed was covered with a "quilt of white Holland +quilted in green silk by Letitia," his daughter. "Send up," he writes to +James Logan, at Philadelphia, "our great stewpan and cover, and little +soup dish, and two or three pounds of coffee if sold in town, and three +pounds of wicks ready for candles." Mrs. Penn asks Logan to provide +"candlesticks, and great candles, some green ones, and pewter and +earthen basins, mops, salts, looking-glass, a piece of dried beef, and a +firkin or two of good butter." + +Penn rode a large white horse, and had a coach, with a black man to +drive it, and a "rattling leathern conveniency," probably smaller, and a +sedan chair for Mrs. Penn. In the river lay the barge, of which William +was so fond that he wrote from England to charge that it be carefully +looked after. Somebody expressed surprise one day when Penn went out in +it against wind and tide. "I have been sailing all my life against wind +and tide," he said. + +Much of the work of the estate was done by slaves. The fact troubled the +proprietor's conscience. He laid it upon his own soul, as he did upon +the souls of his brethren in the colony, "to be very careful in +discharging a good conscience towards them in all respects, but more +especially for the good of their souls, that they might, as frequent as +may be, come to meeting on first-days." A special meeting was appointed +for slaves once a month, and their masters were expected to come with +them. Finally, Penn liberated all his slaves. In his will of 1701, "I +give," he says, "to my blacks their freedom, as is under my hand +already, and to old Sam 100 acres, to be his children's after he and his +wife are dead, forever." + +The Pennsbury house had a great hall in the midst, where the governor in +an oak armchair received his neighbors, the Indians. Here they came, in +paint and feathers,--"Connoondaghtoh, king of the Susquehannah Indians; +Wopaththa, king of the Shawanese; Weewinjough, chief of the Ganawese; +and Ahookassong, brother of the emperor of the five nations;" and many +other humbler braves. John Richardson, a Yorkshire Quaker, visited Penn +at Pennsbury and saw them. William gave them match-coats, he says, and +"some other things," including a reasonable supply of rum, which the +chiefs dispensed to the warriors severally in small portions: "So they +came quietly, and in a solid manner, and took their draws." He did not +smoke, a fact which the Indians must have noted as a curious +eccentricity. Then they made a small fire out of doors, and the men sat +about it in a ring, singing "a very melodious hymn," beating the ground +between the verses with short sticks, and, after a circling dance, +departed. Penn got on most happily with the Indians. The peaceful +Quakers went about unarmed and were never in danger. The only disorderly +folk thereabout were white men. + +In the midst of these rural joys, news came that a movement was on foot +to put an end to proprietary governments, thereby bringing all colonies +under the immediate control of the crown. Penn felt that it was +necessary for him to return to England to block this inconvenient +legislation. On the 28th of October, he assembled the citizens of +Philadelphia, and presented them with a charter for their city. In the +Friends' meeting, he said that he "looked over all infirmities and +outwards, and had an eye to the regions of the spirit, wherein was our +sweetest tie." Then, says Norris, "in true love he took his leave of +us." Thus, after two years wherein peace and quietness prevailed over +all misunderstanding and opposition, he set sail in 1701, and never saw +Pennsylvania again. + +His house at Pennsbury fell into ruins,--due in large part to the +leakage of a leaden reservoir on the roof,--and was taken down before +the Revolution. The furniture was gradually dispersed. For some years it +was "deemed a kind of pious stealth," among those who were most loyal to +the proprietor, to carry away something out of the house when they +chanced to visit its empty halls. One gentleman rejoiced in the +possession of the mantelpiece; another had a pair of Penn's plush +breeches. + +William Penn's four years of actual residence gave him all the +satisfaction which he ever got from his colonial possessions. All else +was worry, labor, and expense. The province was a sore financial burden. +As proprietor he was charged with the payment, in large part, of the +expenses of government. The returns from rents and sales were slow and +uncertain. The taxes on imports and exports, to which he had a charter +right, he had generously declined. When he asked the assembly, in +remembrance of that liberality, to send him money in his financial +straits, they were not minded to respond. Penn belonged to that high +fraternity of noble souls who do not know how to make bargains. His +impulses were generous to a fault, and he had an invincible confidence +that his neighbors would deal with him in the same spirit. The +consequence was that year by year the expenses grew, and there was but a +slender income. "O Pennsylvania," he cries, "what hast thou cost me? +Above thirty thousand pounds more than I ever got by it; two hazardous +and most fatiguing voyages, my straits and slavery here, and my child's +soul, almost." + +The last allusion is to Guli's son, William, whose dissipation Penn +always attributed to a lack of fatherly care during his first visit to +the province. Penn finally sent the boy to Pennsbury, hoping that the +quiet, the absence of temptation, and the wholesome joys of a country +life, might amend him. But William went from bad to worse, was arrested +in Philadelphia in a tavern brawl, was formally excommunicated by the +Quakers, and came home to England to give his father further pain. + +To the financial burdens of the province were added the difficulties of +government. Penn succeeded very well in keeping his colony,--he defended +his boundaries against Lord Baltimore, and he defeated those who would +have taken away his rule and given it to the king; but the governing of +the colony across three thousand miles of sea was another matter. The +moment he withdrew the restraining influence of his personal presence, +all manner of contentions came into the light of day. + +The question of the prudence of bearing arms was vigorously debated. +James Logan, secretary of the province, and Penn's ablest counselor, +urged the need of military defenses. Conservative Friends opposed it. + +Churchmen had been settling in the province. One of William's oldest +friends, George Keith, who had accompanied him on his religious mission +to Holland, had gone into the Episcopal ministry. Logan says, in a +letter to Penn, that "not suffering them to be superior" was accounted +by the churchmen as the equivalent of persecution. + +Colonel Quarry, a judge of the admiralty, appointed by the British +government to enforce the navigation laws in the colony, was responsible +to the Board of Trade in London, and independent of the governor and of +the assembly. He exercised his office of critic and censor to the +annoyance of Penn. + +To these various sources of trouble was added an unending strife between +the governor's deputy and the people. Penn's habit of looking always on +the best side made him a bad judge of men, and the deputies whom he sent +were few of them competent; some were not even respectable. Penn, with +his characteristic invincible blindness, took their part. + +Finally, the disputations, protests, and complaints, with direct attacks +upon Penn's interests, and even upon his character, got to such a pass +that he addressed a letter of expostulation to the people. "When it +pleased God to open a way for me to settle that colony," he wrote, "I +had reason to expect a solid comfort from the services done to many +hundreds of people.... But, alas! as to my part, instead of reaping the +like advantages, some of the greatest of my troubles have sprung from +thence. The many combats I have engaged in, the great pains and +incredible expense for your welfare and ease, to the decay of my former +estate ... with the undeserved opposition I have met with from thence, +sink into me with sorrow, that, if not supported by a superior hand, +might have overwhelmed me long ago. And I cannot but think it hard +measure, that, while it has proved a land of freedom and flourishing, it +should become to me, by whose means it was principally made a country, +the cause of grief, trouble, and poverty." + +So heavy was the financial burden, and so vexatious and disheartening +the bickering and ingratitude, that Penn thought seriously of selling +his governorship; and it was in the market for several years awaiting a +purchaser. Indeed, in 1712, he had so far perfected a bargain to +transfer his proprietary rights to the crown for £12,000, that nothing +remained to be done save the affixing of his signature. Before his name +was signed, he fell suddenly ill, and the transaction went no farther. + +In the midst of these many troubles, in themselves serious enough, there +came another. Penn's business manager for his estates in England and +Ireland was Philip Ford. For a long time, Ford's payments had been less +and less; Penn was continually complaining that he got so little from +his property. Still, Ford's accounts went without examination, and some +of his financial reports were not so much as opened. William had his +customary confidence in his agent's honesty. At last, when things got so +bad that something had to be done, it appeared by Ford's books that, +instead of Ford's being in debt to Penn, Penn was in debt to him for +more than ten thousand pounds. This was the result of long, ingenious, +and unmolested bookkeeping. And Penn had made himself liable by his +careless silence. Then Ford died, and his widow and children claimed +everything which stood in Penn's name. Penn, it appeared, had borrowed +money of Ford, and had given him a mortgage on his Pennsylvania estates +as security. When the loan was paid, the mortgage had not been returned. +Not only did Mrs. Ford retain it, but she sued Penn for three thousand +pounds rent, which was due, she said, from the property of which William +was once owner, but which he now held as tenant of the Fords. So far was +this iniquitous business pursued, that Penn was arrested as he was at a +religious meeting in Gracechurch Street, and was imprisoned for debt in +the Fleet, or its precincts. + +This was the turn in the tide. Everybody disapproved of treatment so +unjust and extortionate. William's friends raised money, and made a +compromise with the Fords, and got him free. In Pennsylvania, too, the +contentions were quieted by a good governor. And as the wars came to an +end, trade so increased that the province presently yielded a +substantial income. + +Penn retired to Ruscombe, in Berkshire, in the pleasant country. Here he +had his family about him. He was now a grandfather, his son William +having a son and a daughter. "So that now we are major, minor, and +minimus. I bless the Lord mine are pretty well,--Johnny lively; Tommy a +lovely, large child; and my grandson, Springett, a mere Saracen; his +sister, a beauty." Of his second marriage there were six children, four +of whom--John, Thomas, Margaret, and Richard--became proprietors of +Pennsylvania. Thomas had two sons, John and Granville; Richard had two, +John and Richard. When the proprietary government ended, in 1776, it was +in the hands of the heirs of William Penn. + +In 1711, Penn wrote a preface to John Banks's Journal, dictating it, as +his custom was, walking to and fro with his cane in his hand, thumping +the floor to mark the emphasis. "Now reader," he concludes, "before I +take leave of thee, let me advise thee to hold thy religion in the +spirit, whether thou prayest, praisest or ministerest to others, ... +which, that all God's people may do, is, and hath long been the earnest +desire and fervent supplication of theirs and thy faithful friend in the +Lord Jesus Christ, W. PENN." This is the last word of his writing which +remains. + +The next year he had a paralytic stroke, and another, and another. This +impaired his memory and his mind. Thus he continued for six years, as +happily as was possible under the circumstances. He went often to +meeting, where he frequently spoke, briefly, but with "sound and savory +expressions." He walked about his gardens, saw his friends, and +delighted in the company of his wife and children. Each year left him +weaker than the year before; but his days were filled with serenity. He +was surrounded with all the comforts which a generous income, an +affectionate family, the respect of his neighbors, and the approval of +God, could give him. + +"He that lives to live forever," he had written in his "Fruits of +Solitude," "never fears dying. Nor can the means be terrible to him, +that heartily believes the end. For though death be a dark passage, it +leads to immortality; and that is recompense enough for suffering of +it.... And this is the comfort of the good, that the grave cannot hold +them, and that they live as soon as they die." + +Into the fullness of this life he entered on the 30th of July, 1718, +being seventy-four years old. + + + + +The chief authorities for facts concerning William Penn are-- + + + 1. The Select Works of William Penn (London, 1726; 3d edition, + 1782; 5 vols). Whereof, The Trial of William Penn and William Mead + (vol i.), Travels in Holland and Germany (vol. iii.), and A General + Description of Pennsylvania (vol. iv.) contain autobiographical + matter. Some Fruits of Solitude and Penn's Advice to his Children + (vol. v.) are similarly valuable. + + 2. The Life of Penn prefixed to his Works, by Joseph Besse, a + Quaker contemporary (1726). + + 3. Memoirs of the Private and Public Life of William Penn, by + Thomas Clarkson (London, 1813). + + 4. The Pennsylvania Historical Society Memoirs (vols. i., ii., + iii.). Also the Correspondence between William Penn and James + Logan, edited for this Society, by Edward Armstrong. + + 5. The Penns and the Penningtons, by Maria Webb (London, 1867), + containing family letters. + + 6. Recent biographies of Penn: by William Hepworth Dixon (1851), by + Samuel M. Janney (1852), by John Stoughton (1882), by Sydney George + Fisher (1900). + + + + + The Riverside Press + _Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co._ + _Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's note + + +The following changes have been made to the text: + +In the TOC "58" changed to "53". + +Page 23: "seventeeenth" changed to "seventeenth". + +Page 42: "Quaker brethen" changed to "Quaker brethren". + +Page 49: "died when he" changed to "died when she". + +Page 57: "serious inprisonment" changed to "serious imprisonment". + +Page 62: "body prevented" changed to "body prevented it". + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of William Penn, by George Hodges + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM PENN *** + +***** This file should be named 28394-8.txt or 28394-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/9/28394/ + +Produced by Carla Foust and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/28394-8.zip b/28394-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9b27bcc --- /dev/null +++ b/28394-8.zip diff --git a/28394-h.zip b/28394-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bebb3a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/28394-h.zip diff --git a/28394-h/28394-h.htm b/28394-h/28394-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..87049e5 --- /dev/null +++ b/28394-h/28394-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3102 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of William Penn, by George Hodges. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +.fm1 {font-size: 200%; + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; +} + +.fm2 {font-size: 125%; + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; +} + +.fm3 {font-size: 100%; + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; +} + +.fm4 {font-size: 90%; + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table {margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 35em;} +td.tdl {text-align: left; padding-right: .5em;} +td.tdr {text-align: right; padding-left: .5em;} +td.tdc {text-align: center} +td.page {font-size: 90%;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.transnote { background-color: #ADD8E6; color: inherit; margin: 2em 10% 1em 10%; font-size: 80%; padding: 0.5em 1em 0.5em 1em;} +.transnote p { text-align: left;} +a.correction {text-decoration: none; border-bottom: thin dotted red; color: inherit; background-color: inherit;} +a.correction:hover {text-decoration: none;} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + +.bbox {border: solid 2px; + margin-left: 19%; + margin-right: 19%} + + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of William Penn, by George Hodges + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: William Penn + +Author: George Hodges + +Release Date: March 24, 2009 [EBook #28394] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM PENN *** + + + + +Produced by Carla Foust and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="transnote"> +<h3>Transcriber's note</h3> +<p>Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. +In the TOC "58" was changed to "53". Other printer +errors are indicated with +a <a class="correction" title="like this" href="#tnotes">mouse-hover</a> +and listed at the +<a href="#tnotes">end of this book</a>. +</p> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="bbox"> +<p class="fm2">The Riverside Biographical Series</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">ANDREW JACKSON, by <span class="smcap">W. G. Brown</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">JAMES B. EADS, by <span class="smcap">Louis How</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, by <span class="smcap">Paul E. More</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">PETER COOPER, by <span class="smcap">R. W. Raymond</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">THOMAS JEFFERSON, by <span class="smcap">H. C. Merwin</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">WILLIAM PENN, by <span class="smcap">George Hodges</span></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">GENERAL GRANT. (<i>In preparation</i>)</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">LEWIS AND CLARK, by <span class="smcap">William R. Lighton</span>. (<i>In preparation</i>)</span><br /> +</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Each about 100 pages, 16mo, with photogravure portrait,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">75 cents; <i>School Edition</i>, 50 cents, <i>net</i></span></p> + +<p class="center">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Boston and New York</span> +</p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="fm2">The Riverside Biographical Series</p> + +<p class="fm2">NUMBER 6</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<h1>WILLIAM PENN</h1> + +<p class="fm3">BY</p> + +<p class="fm2">GEORGE HODGES</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 327px;"> +<img src="images/i006a.jpg" width="327" height="404" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 227px;"> +<img src="images/i006b.jpg" width="227" height="86" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="fm1">WILLIAM PENN</p> + +<p class="fm3">BY</p> + +<p class="fm2">GEORGE HODGES</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 190px;"><br /> +<img src="images/i007.jpg" width="190" height="250" alt="" title="" /><br /> +</div> + +<p class="fm2">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY</p> + +<p class="fm4">Boston: 4 Park Street; New York: 11 East Seventeenth Street<br /> +Chicago: 378-388 Wabash Avenue</p> + +<p class="fm3">The Riverside Press, Cambridge</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="fm4"> +COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY GEORGE HODGES<br /> +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="CONTENTS"> + +<tr> +<td class="tdr">CHAP.</td> +<td class="tdl"> </td> +<td class="tdr">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">I.</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Puritan Boyhood: Wanstead Church and Chigwell School</span></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">II.</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">At Oxford: Influence of Thomas Loe</span></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">III.</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">In France and Ireland: The World and the Other World</span></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">IV.</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Penn becomes a Quaker: Persecution and Controversy</span></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">V.</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Beginning of Penn's Political Life: The Holy Experiment</span></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">VI.</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Settlement of Pennsylvania: Penn's First Visit to</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> </td> +<td class="tdl"> <span class="smcap">the Province</span></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">VII.</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">At the Court of James the Second, and "in Retirement"</span></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">VIII.</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Penn's Second Visit to the Province: Closing Years</span></td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<p class="fm2">WILLIAM PENN</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2> + +<h3>A PURITAN BOYHOOD: WANSTEAD CHURCH AND CHIGWELL SCHOOL</h3> + + +<p>The mother of William Penn came from Rotterdam, in Holland. She was the +daughter of John Jasper, a merchant of that city. The lively Mr. Pepys, +who met her in 1664, when William was twenty years of age, describes her +as a "fat, short, old Dutchwoman," and says that she was "mighty +homely." He records a tattling neighbor's gossip that she was not a good +housekeeper. He credits her, however, with having more wit and +discretion than her husband, and liked her better as his acquaintance +with her progressed. That she was of a cheerful disposition is evidenced +by many passages<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> of Pepys's Diary. That is all we know about her.</p> + +<p>William's father was an ambitious, successful, and important person. He +was twenty-two years old, and already a captain in the navy, when he +married Margaret Jasper. The year after his marriage he was made +rear-admiral of Ireland; two years after that, admiral of the Straits; +in four years more, vice-admiral of England; and the next year, a +"general of the sea" in the Dutch war. This was in Cromwell's time, when +the naval strength of England was being mightily increased. A young man +of energy and ability, acquainted with the sea, was easily in the line +of promotion.</p> + +<p>The family was ancient and respectable. Penn's father, however, began +life with little money or education, and few social advantages. Lord +Clarendon observed of him that he "had a great mind to appear better +bred, and to speak like a gentleman," implying that he found some +difficulty in so doing. Clarendon said, also, that he "had many good +words which he used at adventure."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>The Penns lived on Tower Hill, in the Parish of St. Catherine's, in a +court adjoining London Wall. There they resided in "two chambers, one +above another," and fared frugally. There William was born on the 14th +of October, 1644.</p> + +<p>Marston Moor was fought in that year, and all England was taking sides +in the contention between the Parliament and the king. The navy was in +sympathy with the Parliament; and the young officer, though his personal +inclinations were towards the king, went with his associates. But in +1654 he appears to have lost faith in the Commonwealth. Cromwell sent an +expedition to seize the Spanish West Indies. He put Penn in charge of +the fleet, and made Venables general of the army. The two commanders, +without conference one with the other, sent secret word to Charles II., +then in exile on the Continent, and offered him their ships and +soldiers. This transaction, though it seemed for the moment to be of +none effect, resulted years afterward in the erection of the Colony of +Pennsylvania.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> Charles declined the offer; "he wished them to reserve +their affections for his Majesty till a more proper season to discover +them;" but he never forgot it. It was the beginning of a friendship +between the House of Stuart and the family of Penn, which William Penn +inherited.</p> + +<p>The expedition captured Jamaica, and made it a British colony; but in +its other undertakings it failed miserably; and the admiral, on his +return, was dismissed from the navy and committed to the Tower.</p> + +<p>About that same time, the admiral's young son, being then in the twelfth +year of his age, beheld a vision. His mother had removed with him to the +village of Wanstead, in Essex. Here, as he was alone in his chamber, "he +was suddenly surprised with an inward comfort, and, as he thought, an +external glory in his room, which gave rise to religious emotions, +during which he had the strongest conviction of the being of a God, and +that the soul of man was capable of enjoying communication with him. He +believed, also, that the seal of Divinity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> had been put upon him at this +moment, or that he had been awakened or called upon to a holy life."</p> + +<p>While William Penn the elder had been going from promotion to promotion, +sailing the high seas, and fighting battles with the enemies of England, +William Penn the younger had been living with all possible quietness in +the green country, saying his prayers in Wanstead Church, and learning +his lessons in Chigwell School.</p> + +<p>Wanstead Church was devotedly Puritan. The chief citizens had signed a +protest against any "Popish innovations," and had agreed to punish every +offender against "the true reformed Protestant religion."</p> + +<p>The founder of Chigwell School had prescribed in his deed of gift that +the master should be "a good Poet, of a sound religion, neither Papal +nor Puritan; of a good behaviour; of a sober and honest conversation; no +tippler nor haunter of alehouses, no puffer of tobacco; and, above all, +apt to teach and severe in his government." Here William studied Lilly's +Latin and Cleonard's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> Greek Grammar, together with "cyphering and +casting-up accounts," being a good scholar, we may guess, in the +classics, but encountering the master's "severe government" in his sums. +Chigwell was as Puritan a place as Wanstead. About the time of William's +going thither, the vicar had been ejected on petition from the +parishioners, who complained that he had an altar before which he bowed +and cringed, and which he had been known to kiss "twice in one day."</p> + +<p>It is plain that religion made up a large, interesting, and important +part of life in these villages in which William Penn was getting his +first impressions of the world. All about were great forests, whose +shadows invited him to seclusion and meditation. All the news was of +great battles, most of them fought in a religious cause, which even a +lad could appreciate, and towards which he would readily take an +attitude of stout partisanship. The boy was deeply affected by these +surroundings. "I was bred a Protestant," he said long afterwards, "and +that strictly, too." Trained as he was in Puritan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> habits of +introspection, he listened for the voice of God, and heard it. Thus the +tone of his life was set. There were moments in his youth when "the +world," as the phrase is, attracted him; there were times in his great +career when he seemed, and perhaps was, disobedient to this heavenly +vision; but, looking back from the end of his life to this beginning, +"as a tale that is told," it is seen to be lived throughout in the light +of the glory which shone in his room at Wanstead. William Penn from that +hour was a markedly religious man. Thereafter, nothing was so manifest +or eminent about him as his religion.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2> + +<h3>AT OXFORD: INFLUENCE OF THOMAS LOE</h3> + + +<p>On the 22d of April, 1661, we get another glimpse of William.</p> + +<p>Mr Pepys, having risen early on the morning of that day, and put on his +velvet coat, and made himself, as he says, as fine as he could, repaired +to Mr. Young's, the flag-maker, in Cornhill, to view the procession +wherein the king should ride through London. There he found "Sir W. Pen +and his son, with several others." "We had a good room to ourselves," he +says, "with wine and good cake, and saw the show very well." The streets +were new graveled, and the fronts of the houses hung with carpets, with +ladies looking out of all the windows; and "so glorious was the show +with gold and silver, that we were not able to look at it, our eyes at +last being so overcome."</p> + +<p>This was a glory very different from that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> which the lad had seen, five +or six years before, in his room. The world was here presenting its +attractions in competition with the "other world" of the earlier vision. +The contrast is a symbol of the contention between the two ideals, into +which William was immediately to enter.</p> + +<p>The king and the Duke of York had looked up as they passed the +flag-maker's, and had recognized the admiral. He had gone to Ireland, +upon his release from the Tower, and had there resided in retirement +upon an estate which his father had owned before him. Thence returning, +as the Restoration became more and more a probability, he had secured a +seat in Parliament, and had been a bearer of the welcome message which +had finally brought Charles from his exile in Holland to his throne in +England. For his part in this pleasant errand, he had been knighted and +made Commissioner of Admiralty and Governor of Kinsale. Thus his +ambitions were being happily attained. He had retrieved and improved his +fortunes, and had become an associate with persons of rank and a +favorite with royalty.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>He had immediately sent his son to Oxford. William had been entered as a +gentleman-commoner of Christ Church, at the beginning of the Michaelmas +term of 1660. It was clearly the paternal intention that the boy should +become a successful man of the world and courtier, like his father.</p> + +<p>Sir William, however, had not reflected that while he had been pursuing +his career of calculating ambition and seeking the pleasure of princes, +his son had been living amongst Puritans in a Puritan neighborhood. +Young Penn went up to Oxford to find all things in confusion. The +Puritans had been put out of their places, and the Churchmen were +entering in. It is likely that this, of itself, displeased the new +student, whose sympathies were with the dispossessed. The Churchmen, +moreover, brought their cavalier habits with them. In the reaction from +the severity which they had just escaped, they did many objectionable +things, not only for the pleasure of doing them, but for the added joy +of shocking their Puritan neighbors. They amused themselves freely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> on +the Lord's day; they patronized games and plays; and they tippled and +"puffed tobacco," and swore and swaggered in all the newest fashions. +William was the son of his father in appreciation of pleasant and +abundant living. But he was not of a disposition to enter into this +wanton and audacious merry-making,—a gentle, serious country lad, with +a Puritan conscience.</p> + +<p>Moreover, at this moment, in the face of any possible temptation, +William's sober tastes and devout resolutions were strengthened by +certain appealing sermons. Here it was at Oxford, the nursery of +enthusiasms and holy causes, that he received the impulse which +determined all his after life. He spent but a scant two years in +college; and the work of the lecture rooms must have suffered seriously +during that time from the contention and confusion of the changes then +in progress; so that academically the college could not have greatly +profited him. The profit came in the influence of Thomas Loe. Loe was a +Quaker.</p> + +<p>The origin of the name "Quaker" is uncertain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> It is derived by some +from the fact that the early preachers of the sect trembled as they +spoke; others deduce it from the trembling which their speech compelled +in those who heard it. By either derivation, it indicates the earnest +spirit of that strange people who, in the seventeenth century, were +annoying and displeasing all their neighbors.</p> + +<p>George Fox, the first Quaker, was a cobbler; and the first Quaker dress +was the leather coat and breeches which he made for himself with his own +tools. Thereafter he was independent both of fashions and of tailors. +Cobbler though he was, and so slenderly educated that he did not express +himself grammatically, Fox was nevertheless a prophet, according to the +order of Amos, the herdman of Tekoa. He looked out into the England of +his day with the keenest eyes of any man of the times, and remarked upon +what he saw with the most honest and candid speech. A man of the plain +people, like most of the prophets and apostles, the offenses which +chiefly attracted his attention were such as the plain people naturally +see.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>Out of the windows of his cobbler's shop, Fox beheld with righteous +indignation the extravagant and insincere courtesies of the gentlefolk, +and heard their exaggerated phrases of compliment. In protest against +the unmeaning courtesies, he wore his hat in the presence of no matter +whom, taking it off only in time of prayer. In protest against the +unmeaning compliments, he addressed no man by any artificial title, +calling all his neighbors, without distinction of persons, by their +Christian names; and for the plural pronoun "you," the plural of dignity +and flattery, he substituted "thee" and "thou."</p> + +<p>The same literalness appeared in his selection of "Swear not at all" as +one of the cardinal commandments, and in his application of it to the +oaths of the court and of the state. The Sermon on the Mount has in all +ages been considered difficult to enact in common life, but it would +have been hard to find any sentence in it which in the days of Fox and +Penn, with their interpretation, would have brought upon a conscientious +person a heavier burden of inconvenience.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> Not only did it make the +Quakers guilty of contempt of court and thus initially at fault in all +legal business, but it exposed them to a natural suspicion of disloyalty +to the government. It was a time of political change, first the +Commonwealth, then Charles, then James, then William; and every change +signified the supremacy of a new idea in religion, Puritan, Anglican, +Roman Catholic, and Protestant. Every new ruler demanded a new oath of +allegiance; and as plots and conspiracies were multiplied, the oath was +required again and again; so that England was like an unruly school, +whose master is continually calling upon the pupils to declare whether +or no they are guilty of this or that offense. The Quakers were +forbidden by their doctrine of the oath to make answer in the form which +the state required. And they suffered for this scruple as men have +suffered for the maintenance of eternal principles.</p> + +<p>To the social eccentricity of the irremoveable hat and the singular +pronoun, and to the civil eccentricity of the refused oath, George Fox +and his disciples added a series of pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>tests against the most venerable +customs of Christianity. They did away with all the forms and ceremonies +of Churchman and of Puritan alike. Not even baptism, not even the Lord's +Supper remained. Their service was a silent meeting, whose solemn +stillness was broken, if at all, by the voice of one who was sensibly +"moved" by the Spirit of God. They discarded all orders of the ministry. +They refused alike all creeds and all confessions.</p> + +<p>Not content with thus abandoning most that their contemporaries valued +among the institutions of religion, the Quakers made themselves +obtrusively obnoxious. They argued and exhorted, in season and out of +season; they printed endless pages of eager and violent controversy; +they went into churches and interrupted services and sermons.</p> + +<p>Amongst these various denials there were two positive assertions. One +was the doctrine of the return to primitive Christianity; the other was +the doctrine of the inward light. Let us get back, they said, to those +blessed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> centuries when the teaching of the Apostles was remembered, and +the fellowship of the Apostles was faithfully kept,—when Justin Martyr +and Irenæus and Ignatius and the other holy fathers lived. And let us +listen to the inner voice; let us live in the illumination of the light +which lighteth every man, and attend to the counsels of that Holy Spirit +whose ministrations did not cease with the departure of the last +Apostle. God, they believed, spoke to them directly, and told them what +to do.</p> + +<p>George Fox, in 1656, had brought this teaching to Oxford; and among the +company of Quakers which had thus been gathered under the eaves of the +university, Thomas Loe had become a "public Friend," or, as would +commonly be said, a minister. When William Penn entered Christ Church +College, Loe was probably in the town jail. It is at least certain that +he was imprisoned there, with forty other Quakers, sometime in 1660.</p> + +<p>To Loe's preaching many of the students listened with attention. It is +easy to see how his doctrines would appeal to young manhood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> The fact +that they were forbidden would attract some, and that the man who +preached thus had suffered for his faith would attract others. Their +emphasis upon entire sincerity and consistency in word and deed would +commend them to honest souls, while the exaltation of the inward light +would move then, as in all ages, the idealists, the poets, the +enthusiasts among them. William Penn knew what the inward light was. He +had seen it shining so that it filled all the room where he was sitting. +Accordingly, he not only went to hear Loe speak but was profoundly +impressed by what he heard.</p> + +<p>If Penn was naturally a religious person,—by inheritance, perhaps, from +his mother,—he was also naturally of a political mind, by inheritance +from his father. What Loe said touched both sides of this inheritance. +For the Quakers had already begun to dream of a colony across the sea. +The Churchmen had such a colony in Virginia; the Puritans had one in +Massachusetts; somewhere else in that untilled continent there must be a +place for those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> who in England could expect no peace from either +Puritan or Churchman. Not only had they planned to have sometime a +country of their own, but they had already located it. They had chosen +the lands which lay behind the Jerseys. While Loe was preaching and Penn +was listening, Fox was writing to Josiah Cole, a Quaker who was then in +America, asking him to confer with the chiefs of the Susquehanna +Indians. This plan Loe revealed to his student congregation. It appealed +to Penn. He had an instinctive appreciation of large ideas, and an +imagination and confidence which made him eager to undertake their +execution. It was in his blood. It was the spirit which had carried his +father from a lieutenancy in the navy to the position of an honored and +influential member of the court. "I had an opening of joy as to these +parts," he says, meaning Pennsylvania, "in 1661, at Oxford."</p> + +<p>This meeting with Loe was therefore a crisis in Penn's life. William +Penn will always be remembered as a leader among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> the early Quakers, and +as the founder of a commonwealth. He first became acquainted with the +Quakers, and first conceived the idea of founding at Oxford, or +assisting to found, a commonwealth, by the preaching of Thomas Loe.</p> + +<p>It is a curious fact that the spirit of protest will often pass by +serious offenses and fasten upon some apparently slight occasion which +has rather a symbolical than an actual importance. William Penn, so far +as we know, endured the disorders of anti-Puritan Oxford without +protest. He entered so far into the life of the place as to contribute, +with other students, to a series of Latin elegies upon the death of the +Duke of Gloucester; and he "delighted," Anthony Wood tells us, "in manly +sports at times of recreation." It is true that he may have written to +his father to take him away, for Mr. Pepys records in his journal, under +date of Jan. 25, 1662, "Sir W. Pen came to me, and did break a business +to me about removing his son from Oxford to Cambridge, to some private +college." But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> nothing came of it. William is said, indeed, to have +absented himself rather often from the college prayers, and to have +joined with other students whom the Quaker preaching had affected in +holding prayer-meetings in their own rooms. But all went fairly well +until an order was issued requiring the students, according to the +ancient custom, to wear surplices in chapel. Then the young Puritan +arose, and assisted in a ritual rebellion. He and his friends "fell upon +those students who appeared in surplices, and he and they together tore +them everywhere over their heads." Not content with thus seizing and +rending the obnoxious vestments, they proceeded further to thrust the +white gowns into the nearest cesspool, into whose depths they poked them +with long sticks.</p> + +<p>This incident ended William's course at college. It is doubtful whether +he was expelled or only suspended. He was dismissed, and never returned. +Eight years after, chancing to pass through Oxford, and learning that +Quaker students were still subjected to the rigors of academic +discipline,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> he wrote a letter to the vice-chancellor. It probably +expresses the sentiments with which as an undergraduate he had regarded +the university authorities: "Shall the multiplied oppressions which thou +continuest to heap upon innocent English people for their religion pass +unregarded by the Eternal God? Dost thou think to escape his fierce +wrath and dreadful vengeance for thy ungodly and illegal persecution of +his poor children? I tell thee, no. Better were it for thee thou hadst +never been born." And so on, in the controversial dialect of the time, +calling the vice-chancellor a "poor mushroom," and abusing him +generally. Elsewhere, in a retrospect which I shall presently quote at +length, he refers to his university experiences: "Of my persecution at +Oxford, and how the Lord sustained me in the midst of that hellish +darkness and debauchery; of my being banished the college."</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2> + +<h3>IN FRANCE AND IRELAND: THE WORLD AND THE OTHER WORLD</h3> + + +<p>In his retrospect of his early life, Penn notes what immediately +followed his departure from the university: "The bitter usage I +underwent when I returned to my father,—whipping, beating, and turning +out of doors in 1662."</p> + +<p>The admiral was thoroughly angry. He was at best but imperfectly +acquainted with his son, of whom in his busy life he had seen but +little, and was therefore unprepared for such extraordinary conduct. He +was by no means a religious person. For the spiritual, or even the +ecclesiastical, aspects of the matter, he cared nothing. But he had, as +Clarendon perceived, a strong desire to be well thought of by those who +composed the good society of the day. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> expected the members of his +family to deport themselves as befitted such society. And here was +William, whom he had carefully sent to a college where he would +naturally consort with the sons of titled families, taking up with a +religious movement which would bring him into the company of cobblers +and tinkers. It is said, indeed, that Robert Spencer, afterwards Earl of +Sunderland, helped William destroy the surplices. But this is denied; +and even if it were true, it would be plain, from Spencer's after +career, that he did it not for the principle, but for the fun of the +thing. William was in the most sober earnest. Accordingly, the admiral +turned his son out of doors.</p> + +<p>The boy came back, of course. Beating and turning out of doors were not +such serious events in the +<a name="corr1" id="corr1"></a><a class="correction" href="#cn1" title="changed from 'seventeeeth'">seventeenth</a> +century as they would be at +present. Most men said more, and in louder voices, and meant less. It +was but a brief quarrel, and father and son made it up as best they +could. It was plain, however, that something must be done. Whipping +would not avail. William's head<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> was full of queer notions, upon which a +stick had no effect. His father bethought himself of the pleasant +diversions of France. The lad, he said, has lived in the country all his +days, and has had no acquaintance with the merry world; he shall go +abroad, that he may see life, and learn to behave like a gentleman; let +us see if this will not cure him of his pious follies.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, to France the young man went, and traveled in company with +certain persons of rank. He stayed more than a year, and enjoyed himself +greatly. He was at the age when all the world is new and interesting; +and being of attractive appearance and high spirits, with plenty of +money, the world gave him a cordial welcome. So far did he venture into +the customs of the country, that he had a fight one night in a Paris +street with somebody who crossed swords with him, and disarmed his +antagonist. He had a right, according to the rules, to kill him, but he +declined to do so. When he came home, he pleased his father much by his +graceful behavior and elegant attire.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> "This day," says Mr. Pepys in his +diary for August 26, 1664, "my wife tells me that Mr. Pen, Sir William's +son, is come back from France, and came to visit her. A most modish +person grown, she says, a fine gentleman." Pepys thinks that he is even +a bit too French in his manner and conversation.</p> + +<p>"I remember your honour very well," writes a correspondent years after, +"when you came newly out of France, and wore pantaloon breeches."</p> + +<p>This journey affected Penn all the rest of his life. It restrained him +from following the absurder singularities of his associates. George +Fox's leather suit he would have found impossible. He wore his hat in +the Quaker way, and said "thee" and "thou," but otherwise he appears to +have dressed and acted according to the conventions of polite society. +He did, indeed, become a Quaker; but there were always Quakers who +looked askance at him because he was so different from them, able to +speak French and acquainted with the manners of drawing-rooms.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>In two respects, however, his visit to France differed from that of some +of his companions in travel. There were places to which they went +without him; and there were places to which he went without them. He +kept himself from the grosser temptations of the country. "You have been +as bad as other folks," said Sir John Robinson when Penn was on trial +for preaching in the street.</p> + +<p>"When," cried Penn, "and where? I charge thee tell the company to my +face."</p> + +<p>"Abroad," said Robinson, "and at home, too."</p> + +<p>"I make this bold challenge," answered Penn, "to all men, women and +children upon earth, justly to accuse me with ever having seen me drunk, +heard me swear, utter a curse, or speak one obscene word (much less that +I ever made it my practice). I speak this to God's glory, that has ever +preserved me from the power of those pollutions, and that from a child +begot an hatred in me towards them."</p> + +<p>He went away alone for some months to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> the Protestant college of Saumur, +where he devoted himself to a study of that primitive Christianity in +which, as Loe had told him, was to be found the true ideal of the +Christian Church. Here he acquired an acquaintance with the writings of +the early Fathers, from whom he liked to quote.</p> + +<p>Thus he returned to England in 1664, attired in French pantaloon +breeches, and with little French affectations in his manner, but without +vices, and with a smattering of patristic learning. He was sent by his +father to study law at Lincoln's Inn. He was to be a courtier, and in +that position it would be both becoming and convenient to have some +knowledge of the law. Thus he settled down among the lawyers, and it +seemed for the moment as if his father had succeeded in his purpose. It +seemed as if the world had effectually obscured the other world.</p> + +<p>There are two letters, written about this time from William to his +father, which show a pleasant mixture of piety with a lively interest in +the life about him. He has been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> at sea for a few days with the admiral, +and returns with dispatches to the king. "I bless God," he writes, "my +heart does not in any way fail, but firmly believe that if God has +called you out to battle, he will cover your head in that smoky day." He +hastened on his errand, he says, to Whitehall, and arrived before the +king was up; but his Majesty, learning that there was news, "earnestly +skipping out of bed, came only in his gown and slippers; who, when he +saw me, said, 'Oh! is't you? How is Sir William?'"</p> + +<p>That was in May. Within a week the plague came. On the 7th of June, +1665, Mr. Pepys makes this ominous entry: "This day," he says, "much +against my will, I did in Drury Lane see two or three houses marked with +a red cross upon the doors, and 'Lord, have mercy,' written there; which +was a sad sight to me, being the first of the kind that, to my +remembrance, I ever saw." Day by day the pestilence increased, and +presently there was no more studying at Lincoln's Inn. Young Penn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> went +for safety into the clean country. There, among the green fields, in the +enforced leisure, with time to think, and the most sobering things to +think about, his old seriousness returned. The change was so marked that +his father, feeling that it were well to renew the pleasant friendship +with the world which had begun in France, sent him over to Ireland.</p> + +<p>At Dublin, the Duke of Ormond, the Lord Lieutenant, was keeping a merry +court. William entered heartily into its pleasures. He resided upon his +father's estates, at Shannagarry Castle. He so distinguished himself in +the suppression of a mutiny that Ormond offered him a commission in the +army, and William was disposed to accept it. He had his portrait +painted, clad in steel, with lace at his throat. His dark hair is parted +in the middle, and hangs in cavalier fashion over his shoulders. He +looks out of large, clear, questioning eyes; and his handsome face is +strong and serious.</p> + +<p>But the young cavalier went one day to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> Cork upon some business, and +there heard that Thomas Loe was in town, and that he was to preach. Penn +went to hear him, and again the spoken word was critical and decisive. +"There is a faith," said the preacher, "which overcomes the world, and +there is a faith which is overcome by the world." Such was the theme, +and it seemed to Penn as if every word were spoken out of heaven +straight to his own soul. In the long contention which had been going on +within him between the world and the other world, the world had been +getting the mastery. The attractions of a martial life had shone more +brightly than the light which had flamed about him in his boyhood. Then +Loe spoke, and thenceforth there was no more perplexity. Penn's choice +was definitely made.</p> + +<p>In his account of his travels in Holland and Germany, written some ten +years after this crisis, Penn recurs to it in an address from which I +have already quoted. He was speaking in Wiemart, at a meeting in the +mansion-house of the Somerdykes, and was illustrating his exhortations +from his own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> experience. He passed in rapid review the incidents of his +early life which we have recounted. "Here I began to let them know," he +says, "how and where the Lord first appeared unto me, which was about +the twelfth year of my age, in 1656; how at times, betwixt that and the +fifteenth, the Lord visited me, and the divine impressions he gave me of +himself." Then the banishment from Oxford, and his father's turning him +out of doors. "Of the Lord's dealings with me in France, and in the time +of the great plague in London, in fine, the deep sense he gave me of the +vanity of this world, of the deep irreligiousness of the religions of +it; then of my mournful and bitter cries to him that he would show me +his own way of life and salvation, and my resolution to follow him, +whatever reproaches or sufferings should attend me, and that with great +reverence and tenderness of spirit; how, after all this, the glory of +the world overtook me, and I was even ready to give myself up unto it, +seeing as yet no such thing as the 'primitive spirit and church' upon +earth, and being ready to faint<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> concerning my 'hope of the restitution +of all things.' It was at this time that the Lord visited me with a +certain sound and testimony of his eternal word, through one of them the +world calls Quakers, namely, Thomas Loe."</p> + +<p>Struggling, as Penn was, against continual temptations to abandon his +high ideal, getting no help from his parents, who were displeased at +him, nor from the clergy, whose "invectiveness and cruelty" he +remembers, nor from his companions, who made themselves strange to him; +bearing meanwhile "that great cross of resisting and watching against +mine own inward vain affections and thoughts," the only voice of help +and strength was that of Thomas Loe. Seeking for the "primitive spirit +and church upon earth," he found it in the sect which Loe represented. +His mind was now resolved. He, too, would be a Quaker.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2> + +<h3>PENN BECOMES A QUAKER: PERSECUTION AND CONTROVERSY</h3> + + +<p>William now began to attend Quaker meetings, though he was still dressed +in the gay fashions which he had learned in France. His sincerity was +soon tested. A proclamation made against Fifth Monarchy men was so +enforced as to affect Quakers. A meeting at which Penn was present was +broken in upon by constables, backed with soldiers, who "rudely and +arbitrarily" required every man's appearance before the mayor. Among +others, they "violently haled" Penn. From jail he wrote to the Earl of +Orrery, Lord President of Munster, making a stout protest. It was his +first public utterance. "Diversities of faith and conduct," he argued, +"contribute not to the disturbance of any place, where moral conformity +is barely requisite to preserve the peace." He reminded his lordship<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +that he himself had not long since "concluded no way so effectual to +improve or advantage this country as to dispense with freedom [i. e. to +act freely] in all things pertaining to conscience."</p> + +<p>Penn wrote so much during his long life that his selected works make +five large volumes. Many of these pages are devoted to the statement of +Quaker theology; some are occupied with descriptions of his colonial +possessions; some are given to counsels and conclusions drawn from +experience and dealing with human life in general; but there is one idea +which continually recurs,—sometimes made the subject of a thesis, +sometimes entering by the way,—and that is the popular right of liberty +of conscience. It was for this that he worked, and chiefly lived, most +of his life. Here it is set forth with all clearness in the first public +word which he wrote.</p> + +<p>William's letter opened the jail doors. It is likely, however, that the +signature was more influential than the epistle; for his Quaker +associates seem not to have come out with him. The fact which probably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +weighed most with the Lord President was that Penn was the son of his +father the admiral, and the protégé of Ormond. His father called him +home. It was on the 3d of September that William was arrested; on the +29th of December, being the Lord's day, Mrs. Turner calls upon Mr. and +Mrs. Pepys for an evening of cheerful conversation, "and there, among +other talk, she tells me that Mr. William Pen, who has lately come over +from Ireland, is a Quaker again, or some very melancholy thing; that he +cares for no company, nor comes into any."</p> + +<p>Admiral Penn was sorely disappointed. Neither France nor Ireland had +availed to wean his son from his religious eccentricities. Into the +pleasant society where his father had hoped to see him shine, he +declined to enter. He said "thee" and "thou," and wore his hat. +Especially upon these points of manners, the young man and his father +held long discussions. The admiral insisted that William should refrain +from making himself socially ridiculous; though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> even here he was +willing to make a reasonable compromise. "You may 'thee' and 'thou' whom +you please," he said, "except the king, the Duke of York, and myself." +But the young convert declined to make any exceptions.</p> + +<p>Thereupon, for the second time, the admiral thrust his son out of the +house. The Quakers received him. He was thenceforth accounted among them +as a teacher, a leader: in their phrase, a "public Friend." This was in +1668, when he was twenty-four years old.</p> + +<p>The work of a Quaker minister, at that time, was made interesting and +difficult not only by the social and ecclesiastical prejudices against +which he must go, but by certain laws which limited free speech and free +action. The young preacher speedily made himself obnoxious to both these +kinds of laws. Of the three years which followed, he spent more than a +third of the time in prison, being once confined for saying, and twice +for doing, what the laws forbade.</p> + +<p>The religious world was filled with con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>troversy. There were discussions +in the meeting-houses; and a constant stream of pamphlets came from the +press, part argument and part abuse. Even mild-mannered men called each +other names. The Quakers found it necessary to join in this rough +give-and-take, and Penn entered at once into this vigorous exercise. He +began a long series of like documents with a tract entitled "Truth +Exalted." The intent of it was to show that Roman Catholics, Churchmen, +and Puritans alike were all shamefully in error, wandering in the +blackness of darkness, given over to idle superstition, and being of a +character to correspond with their fond beliefs; meanwhile, the Quakers +were the only people then resident in Christendom whose creed was +absolutely true and their lives consistent with it.</p> + +<p>"Come," he says, "answer me first, you Papists, where did the Scriptures +enjoin baby-baptism, churching of women, marrying by priests, holy water +to frighten the devil? Come now, you that are called Protestants, and +first those who are called Epis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>copalians, where do the Scriptures own +such persecutors, false prophets, tithemongers, deniers of revelations, +opposers of perfection, men-pleasers, time-servers, unprofitable +teachers?" The Separatists are similarly cudgeled: they are "groveling +in beggarly elements, imitations, and shadows of heavenly things."</p> + +<p>Presently, a Presbyterian minister named Vincent attacked Quakerism. +Joseph Besse, Penn's earliest biographer, says that Vincent was +"transported with fiery zeal;" which, as he remarks in parenthesis, is +"a thing fertile of ill language." Penn challenged him to a public +debate; and, this not giving the Quaker champion an opportunity to say +all that was in his mind, he wrote a pamphlet, called "The Sandy +Foundation Shaken." The full title was much longer than this, in the +manner of the time, and announced the author's purpose to refute three +"generally believed and applauded doctrines: first, of one God, +subsisting in three distinct and separate persons; second, of the +impossibility of divine pardon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> without the making of a complete +satisfaction; and third, of the justification of impure persons by an +imputed righteousness."</p> + +<p>Penn's handling of the doctrine of the Trinity in this treatise gave +much offense. He had taken the position of his fellow-religionists, that +the learning of the schools was a hindrance to religion. He sought to +divest the great statements of the creed from the subtleties of mediæval +philosophy. He purposed to return to the Scripture itself, back of all +councils and formulas. Asserting, accordingly, the being and unity of +Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, he so refused all the conventional phrases +of the theologians as to seem to them to reject the doctrine of the +Trinity itself. He did deny "the trinity of distinct and separate +persons in the unity of essence." If the word "person" has one meaning, +Penn was right; if it has another meaning, he was wrong. If a "person" +is an individual, then the assertion is that there are three Gods; but +if the word signifies a distinction in the divine nature, then the unity +of God remains. As<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> so often happens in doctrinal contention, he and his +critics used the same words with different definitions. The consequence +was that the bishop of London had him put in prison. He was restrained +for seven months in the Tower.</p> + +<p>The English prison of the seventeenth century was a place of disease of +body and misery of mind. Penn was kept in close confinement, and the +bishop sent him word that he must either recant or die a prisoner. "I +told him," says Penn, "that the Tower was the worst argument in the +world to convince me; for whoever was in the wrong, those who used force +for religion could never be in the right." He declared that his prison +should be his grave before he would budge a jot. Thus six months passed.</p> + +<p>But the situation was intolerable. It is sometimes necessary to die for +a difference of opinion, but it is not advisable to do so for a simple +misunderstanding. Penn and the bishop were actually in accord. The young +author therefore wrote an explanation of his book, entitled "Innocency +with her Open<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> Face." At the same time he addressed a letter to Lord +Arlington, principal secretary of state. In the letter he maintained +that he had "subverted no faith, obedience or good life," and he +insisted on the natural right of liberty of conscience: "To conceit," he +said, "that men must form their faith of things proper to another world +by the prescriptions of mortal men, or else they can have no right to +eat, drink, sleep, walk, trade, or be at liberty and live in this, to me +seems both ridiculous and dangerous." These writings gained him his +liberty. The Duke of York made intercession for him with the king.</p> + +<p>Penn had occupied himself while in prison with the composition of a +considerable work, called "No Cross, No Crown." It is partly +controversial, setting forth the reasons for the Quaker faith and +practice, and partly devotional, exalting self-sacrifice, and urging men +to simpler and more spiritual living. Thus the months of his +imprisonment had been of value both to him and to the religious movement +with which he had identified himself. The Quakers, when Penn joined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +them, had no adequate literary expression of their thought. They were +most of them intensely earnest but uneducated persons, who spoke great +truths somewhat incoherently. Penn gave Quaker theology a systematic and +dignified statement.</p> + +<p>When he came out of the Tower, he went home to his father. The admiral +had now recovered from his first indignation. William was still, he +said, a cross to him, but he had made up his mind to endure it. Indeed, +the world into which he had desired his son to enter was not at that +moment treating the admiral well. He was suffering impeachment and the +gout at the same time. He saw that William's religion was giving him a +serenity in the midst of evil fortune which he himself did not possess. +He could appreciate his heroic spirit. He admired him in spite of +himself.</p> + +<p>William then spent nearly a year in Ireland, administering his father's +estates. When he returned, in 1670, he found his Quaker +<a name="corr2" id="corr2"></a><a class="correction" href="#cn2" title="changed from 'brethen'">brethren</a> +in +greater trouble than before. In that perilous season of plots and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +rumors of plots, when Protestants lived in dread of Roman Catholics, and +Churchmen knew not at what moment the Puritans might again repeat the +tragedies of the Commonwealth, neither church nor state dared to take +risks. The reigns of Mary and of Cromwell were so recent an experience, +the Papists and the Presbyterians were so many and so hostile, that it +seemed unsafe to permit the assembling of persons concerning whose +intentions there could be any doubt. Any company might undertake a +conspiracy. The result of this feeling on the part of both the civil and +the ecclesiastical authorities was a series of ordinances, reasonable +enough under the circumstances, and perhaps necessary, but which made +life hard for such stout and frank dissenters as the Quakers. At the +time of Penn's return from Ireland, it had been determined to enforce +the Conventicle Act, which prohibited all religious meetings except +those of the Church of England. There was, therefore, a general +arresting of these suspicious friends of Penn's. In the middle of the +summer Penn himself was arrested.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>The young preacher had gone to a meeting-house of the Quakers in +Gracechurch or Gracious Street, in London, and had found the door shut, +and a file of soldiers barring the way. The congregation thereupon held +a meeting in the street, keeping their customary silence until some one +should be moved to speak. It was not long before the spirit moved Penn. +He was immediately arrested, and William Mead, a linen draper, with him, +and the two were brought before the mayor. The charge was that they +"unlawfully and tumultuously did assemble and congregate themselves +together to the disturbance of the king's peace and to the great terror +and disturbance of many of his liege people and subjects." They were +committed as rioters and sent to await trial at the sign of the Black +Dog, in Newgate Market.</p> + +<p>At the trial Penn entered the court-room wearing his hat. A constable +promptly pulled it off, and was ordered by the judge to replace it in +order that he might fine the Quaker forty marks for keeping it on. Thus +the proceedings appropriately began. Wil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>liam tried in vain to learn the +terms of the law under which he was arrested, maintaining that he was +innocent of any illegal act. Finally, after an absurd and unjust +hearing, the jury, who appreciated the situation, brought in a verdict +of "guilty of speaking in Gracious Street." The judges refused to accept +the verdict, and kept the jury without food or drink for two days, +trying to make them say, "guilty of speaking in Gracious Street to an +unlawful assembly." At last the jury brought in a formal verdict of "not +guilty," which the court was compelled to accept. Thereupon the judges +fined every juryman forty marks for contempt of court; and Penn and the +jurors, refusing to pay their fines, were all imprisoned in Newgate. The +Court of Common Pleas presently reversed the judges' decision and +released the jury. Penn was also released, against his own protest, by +the payment of his fine by his father.</p> + +<p>The admiral was in his last sickness. He was weary, he said, of the +world. It had not proved, after all, to be a satisfactory world.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> He did +not grieve now that his son had renounced it. At the same time, he could +not help but feel that the friendship of the world was a valuable +possession; and he had therefore requested his patron, the Duke of York, +to be his son's friend. Both the duke and the king had promised their +good counsel and protection. Thus "with a gentle and even gale," as it +says on his tombstone, "in much peace, [he] arrived and anchored in his +last and best port, at Wanstead in the county of Essex, the 16th of +September, 1670, being then but forty-nine years and four months old."</p> + +<p>The admiral's death left his son with an annual income of about fifteen +hundred pounds. This wealth, however, made no stay in his Quaker zeal. +Before the year was ended, he was again in prison.</p> + +<p>Sir John Robinson, the lieutenant of the Tower, had been one of the +judges in the affair of Gracious Street. He had either taken a dislike +to Penn, or else was deeply impressed with the conviction that the young +Quaker was a peril to the state. Finding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> that there was to be a meeting +in Wheeler Street, at which William was expected, he sent soldiers and +had him arrested. They conveyed him to the Tower, where he was examined. +"I vow, Mr. Penn," said Sir John, "I am sorry for you; you are an +ingenious gentleman, all the world must allow you, and do allow you, +that; and you have a plentiful estate; why should you render yourself +unhappy by associating with such a simple people?" That was the +suspicious fact. Men in Robinson's position could not understand why +Penn should join his fortunes with those of people so different from +himself, poor, ignorant, and obscure, unless there were some hidden +motive. He must be either a political conspirator, or, as many said, a +Jesuit in disguise, which amounted to the same thing. "You do nothing," +said Sir John, "but stir up the people to sedition." He required him to +take an oath "that it is not lawful, upon any pretense whatsoever, to +take arms against the king, and that [he] would not endeavour any +alteration of government either in church<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> or state." Penn would not +swear. He was therefore sentenced for six months to Newgate. "I wish you +wiser," said Robinson. "And I wish thee better," retorted Penn. "Send a +corporal," said the lieutenant, "with a file of musqueteers along with +him." "No, no," broke in Penn, "send thy lacquey; I know the way to +Newgate."</p> + +<p>William continued in prison during the entire period of his sentence, at +first in a room for which he paid the jailers, then, by his own choice, +with his fellow Quakers in the "common stinking jail." Even here, +however, he managed, as before, to write; and he must have had access to +books, for what he wrote could not have been composed without sight of +the authors from whom he quoted. The most important of his writings at +this time was "The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience once more briefly +Debated and Defended by the Authority of Reason, Scripture and +Antiquity."</p> + +<p>Being released from prison, Penn set out for the Continent, where he +traveled in Germany and Holland, holding meetings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> as opportunity +offered, and regaining such strength of body as he may have lost amidst +the rigors of confinement.</p> + +<p>In 1672, being now back in England, and having reached the age of +twenty-seven years, he married Gulielma Maria Springett, a young and +charming Quakeress. Guli Springett's father had died when +<a name="corr3" id="corr3"></a><a class="correction" href="#cn3" title="changed from 'he'">she</a> was but +twenty-three years old, after such valiant service on the Parliamentary +side in the civil war that he had been knighted by the Speaker of the +House of Commons. Her mother, thus bereft, had married Isaac Pennington, +a quiet country gentleman, in whose company, after some search for +satisfaction in religion, she had become a Quaker. Pennington's +Quakerism, together with the sufferings which it brought upon him, had +made him known to Penn. It was to him that Penn had written, three years +before, to describe the death of Thomas Loe. "Taking me by the hand," +said William, "he spoke thus: 'Dear heart, bear thy cross, stand +faithful for God, and bear thy testimony in thy day and generation; and +God<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> will give thee an eternal crown of glory, that none shall ever take +from thee. There is not another way. Bear thy cross. Stand faithful for +God.'"</p> + +<p>It was in Pennington's house that Thomas Ellwood lived, as tutor to Guli +and the other children, to whom one day in 1655 had come his friend John +Milton, bringing a manuscript for him to read. "He asked me how I liked +it, and what I thought of it, which I modestly but freely told him; and +after some further discourse about it, I pleasantly said to him, Thou +hast said much here of <i>Paradise Lost</i>, but what hast thou to say about +Paradise found?" Whereupon the poet wrote his second epic.</p> + +<p>Ellwood has left a happy description of Guli Springett. "She was in all +respects," he says, "a very desirable woman,—whether regard was had to +her outward person, which wanted nothing to render her completely +comely; or as to the endowments of her mind, which were every way +extraordinary." And he speaks of her "innocent, open, free +conversation," and of the "abun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>dant affability, courtesy, and sweetness +of her natural temper." Her portrait fits with this description, showing +a bright face in a small, dark hood, with a white kerchief over her +shoulders. Both her ancestry and her breeding would dispose her to +appreciate heroism, especially such as was shown in the cause of +religion. She found the hero of her dreams in William Penn. Thus at +Amersham, in the spring of 1672, the two stood up in some quiet company +of Friends, and with prayer and joining of hands were united in +marriage.</p> + +<p>"My dear wife," he wrote to her ten years later, as he set out for +America, "remember thou hast the love of my youth, and much the joy of +my life; the most beloved, as well as the most worthy of all earthly +comforts. God knows, and thou knowest it. I can say it was a match of +Providence's making."</p> + +<p>The Declaration of Indulgence, the king's suspension of the penalties +legally incurred by dissent, came conveniently at this time to give them +a honeymoon of peace and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> tranquillity. They took up their residence at +Rickmansworth, in Hertfordshire. In the autumn, William set out again +upon his missionary journeys, preaching in twenty-one towns in +twenty-one days. "The Lord sealed up our labors and travels," he wrote +in his journal, "according to the desire of my soul and spirit, with his +heavenly refreshments and sweet living power and word of life, unto the +reaching of all, and consolating our own hearts abundantly."</p> + +<p>So he returned with the blessings of peace, "which," as he said, "is a +reward beyond all earthly treasure."</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2> + +<h3>THE BEGINNING OF PENN'S POLITICAL LIFE: THE HOLY EXPERIMENT</h3> + + +<p>In 1673, George Fox came back from his travels in America, and Penn and +his wife had great joy in welcoming him at Bristol. No sooner, however, +had Fox arrived than the Declaration of Indulgence was withdrawn. It had +met with much opposition: partly ecclesiastical, from those who saw in +it a scheme to reëstablish relations between Rome and England; and +partly political, from those who found but an ill precedent in a royal +decree which set aside parliamentary legislation. The religious liberty +which it gave was good, but the way in which that liberty was given was +bad. What was needed was not "indulgence," but common justice. So the +king recalled the Declaration, and Parliament<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> being not yet ready to +enact its provisions into law, the prisons were again filled with +peaceable citizens whose offense was their religion. One of the first to +suffer was Fox, and in his behalf Penn went to court. He appealed to the +Duke of York.</p> + +<p>The incident is significant as the beginning of another phase of +William's life. Thus far, he had been a Quaker preacher. Though he was +unordained, being in a sect which made nothing of ordination, he was for +all practical purposes a minister of the gospel. He was the Rev. William +Penn. But now, when he opened the door of the duke's palace, he entered +into a new way of living, in which he continued during most of the +remainder of his life. He began to be a courtier; he went into politics. +He was still a Quaker, preaching sermons and writing books of +theological controversy; he gave up no religious conviction, and abated +nothing of the earnestness of his personal piety; but he had found, as +he believed, another and more effective way to serve God. He now began +to enter into that valu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>able but perilous heritage which had been left +him by his father, the friendship of royalty.</p> + +<p>Penn found the duke's antechamber filled with suitors. It seemed +impossible to get into the august presence. But Colonel Ashton, one of +the household, looked hard at Penn, and found in him an old companion, a +friend of the days when William was still partaking of the joys of +pleasant society. Ashton immediately got him an interview, and Penn +delivered his request for the release of Fox. The duke received him and +his petition cordially, professing himself opposed to persecution for +religion's sake, and promising to use his influence with the king. +"Then," says Penn, "when he had done upon this affair, he was pleased to +take a very particular notice of me, both for the relation my father had +had to his service in the navy, and the care he had promised to show in +my regard upon all occasions." He expressed surprise that William had +not been to see him before, and said that whenever he had any business +with him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> he should have immediate entrance and attention.</p> + +<p>Fox was not set at liberty by reason of this interview. The king was +willing to pardon Fox, but Fox was not willing to be pardoned; having, +as he insisted, done no wrong. Penn, however, had learned that the royal +duke remembered the admiral's son. It was an important fact, and William +thereafter kept it well in mind. That it was a turning-point in his +affairs, appears in his reference to it in a letter which he wrote in +1688 to a friend who had reproached him for his attendance at court. "I +have made it," he says, "my province and business; I have followed and +pressed it; I took it for my calling and station, and have kept it above +these sixteen years."</p> + +<p>Penn went back to Rickmansworth, and for a time life went on as before. +We get a glimpse of it in the good and wholesome orders which he +established for the well-governing of his family. In winter, they were +to rise at seven; in summer at five. Breakfast was at nine, dinner at +twelve,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> supper at seven. Each meal was preceded by family prayers. At +the devotions before dinner, the Bible was read aloud, together with +chapters from the "Book of Martyrs," or the writings of Friends. After +supper, the servants appeared before the master and mistress, and gave +an account of their doings during the day, and got their orders for the +morrow. "They were to avoid loud discourse and troublesome noises; they +were not to absent themselves without leave; they were not to go to any +public house but upon business; and they were not to loiter, or enter +into unprofitable talk, while on an errand."</p> + +<p>With the canceling of the Indulgence, the persecution of the Quakers was +renewed. Their houses were entered, their furniture was seized, their +cattle were driven away, and themselves thrust into jail. When no +offense was clearly proved against them, the oath was tendered, and the +refusal to take it meant a serious +<a name="corr4" id="corr4"></a><a class="correction" href="#cn4" title="changed from 'inprisonment'">imprisonment</a>.</p> + +<p>Under these circumstances, Penn wrote a "Treatise on Oaths." He also +addressed the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> general public with "England's Present Interest +Considered," an argument against the attempt to compel uniformity of +belief. He petitioned the king and Parliament in "The Continued Cry of +the Oppressed." "William Brazier," he said, "shoemaker at Cambridge, was +fined by John Hunt, mayor, and John Spenser, vice-chancellor, twenty +pounds for holding a peaceable religious meeting in his own house. The +officer who distrained for this sum took his leather last, the seat he +worked upon, wearing clothes, bed, and bedding." "In Cheshire, Justice +Daniel of Danesbury took from Briggs and others the value of one hundred +and sixteen pounds, fifteen shillings and tenpence in coin, kine, and +horses. The latter he had the audacity to retain and work for his own +use," and so on, instance after instance. Penn's acquaintance at court +and his friendships with persons of position never made him an +aristocrat. He was fraternally interested in farmers and cobblers, and +cared for the plain people. Quakerism, as he held it, was indeed a +system of theology which he studi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>ously taught, but it was also, and +quite as much, a social and intellectual democracy. What he mightily +liked about it was that abandonment of artificial distinctions, whereby +all Quakers addressed their neighbors by their Christian names, and that +refusal to be held by formulas of faith, whereby they were left free to +accept such beliefs, and such only, as appealed to their own reason.</p> + +<p>About this time he engaged in controversy with Mr. Richard Baxter. +Baxter is chiefly remembered as the author of "The Saints' Everlasting +Rest," but he was a most militant person, who rejoiced greatly in a +theological fight. Passing by Rickmansworth, and finding many Quakers +there,—to him a sad spectacle,—he sought to reclaim them, and thus +fell speedily into debate with Penn. The two argued from ten in the +morning until five in the afternoon, a great crowd listening all the +time with breathless interest. Neither could get the other to surrender; +but so much did William enjoy the exercise that he offered Baxter a room +in his house, that they might argue every day.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>In 1677, having now removed to an estate of his wife's at Worminghurst, +in Sussex, Penn, in company with Fox, Barclay, and other Quakers, made a +"religious voyage" into Holland and Germany, preaching the gospel. His +journal of these travels is printed in his works. "At Osnaburg," he +writes, "we had a little time with the man of the inn where we lay; and +left him several good books of Friends, in the High and Low Dutch +tongues, to read and dispose of." Then, in the next sentence, he +continues, "the next morning, being the fifth day of the week, we set +forward to Herwerden, and came thither at night. This is the city where +the Princess Elizabeth Palatine hath her court, whom, and the countess +in company with her, it was especially upon us to visit." Thus they +went, ministering to high and low alike, in their democratic Christian +way making no distinction between tavern-keepers and princesses. As they +talked with Elizabeth and her friend the countess, discoursing upon +heavenly themes, they were interrupted by the rattling of a coach, and +callers were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> announced. The countess "fetched a deep sigh, crying out, +'O the cumber and entanglements of this vain world! They hinder all +good.' Upon which," says William, "I replied, looking her steadfastly in +the face, 'O come thou out of them, then.'" This journey was of great +importance as affecting afterwards the population of Pennsylvania. Here +it was that Penn met various communities "of a separating and seeking +turn of mind," who found in him a kindred spirit. When he established +his colony, many of them came out and joined it, becoming the +"Pennsylvania Dutch."</p> + +<p>During these travels Penn wrote letters to the Prince Elector of +Heidelberg, to the Graf of Bruch and Falschenstein, to the King of +Poland, together with an epistle "To the Churches of Jesus throughout +the world." This was a kind of correspondence in which he delighted. +Like Wesley, after him, he had taken the world for his parish. He +considered himself a citizen of the planet, and took an episcopal and +pontifical interest in the affairs of men and nations. He combined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> in +an unusual way the qualities of the saint and the statesman. His mind +was at the same time religious and political. Accordingly, as he came to +have a better acquaintance with himself, he entered deliberately upon a +course of life in which these two elements of his character could have +free play. He applied himself to the task of making politics contribute +to the advancement of religion. Many men before him had been eminently +successful in making politics contribute to the advancement of the +church. Penn's purpose was deeper and better.</p> + +<p>He came near, at this time, to getting Parliament to assent to a +provision permitting Quakers to affirm, without oath; but the sudden +proroguing of that body +<a name="corr5" id="corr5"></a><a class="correction" href="#cn5" title="changed from 'prevented'">prevented it</a>. In the general election which +followed, he made speeches for Algernon Sidney, who was standing for a +place in Parliament. He wrote "England's Great Interest in the Choice of +a New Parliament," and "One Project for the Good of England." The +project was that Protestants should stop contending<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> one with another +and unite against a common enemy.</p> + +<p>This was in 1679. The next year he took the decisive step. He entered +upon the fulfillment of that great plan, which had been in his mind +since his student days at Oxford, and with which he was occupied all the +rest of his life. He began to undertake the planting of a colony across +the sea.</p> + +<p>Penn had already had some experience in colonial affairs. With the +downfall of the Dutch dominion in the New World, England had come into +possession of two important rivers, the Hudson and the Delaware, and of +the countries which they drained. Of these estates, the Duke of York had +become owner of New Jersey. He, in turn, dividing it into two portions, +west and east, had sold West Jersey to Lord Berkeley, and East Jersey to +Sir George Carteret. Berkeley had sold West Jersey to a Quaker, John +Fenwick, in trust for another Quaker, Edward Byllinge. These Quakers, +disagreeing, had asked Penn to arbitrate between them. Byllinge had +fallen into bankruptcy, and his lands had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> transferred to Penn as +receiver for the benefit of the creditors. Thus William had come into a +position of importance in the affairs of West Jersey. Presently, in +1679, East Jersey came also into the market, and Penn and eleven others +bought it at auction. These twelve took in other twelve, and the +twenty-four appointed a Quaker governor, Robert Barclay.</p> + +<p>Now, in 1680, having had his early interest in America thus renewed and +strengthened, Penn found that the king was in his debt to the amount of +sixteen thousand pounds. Part of this money had been loaned to the king +by William's father, the admiral; part of it was the admiral's unpaid +salary. Mr. Pepys has recorded in his diary how scandalously Charles +left his officers unpaid. The king, he says, could not walk in his own +house without meeting at every hand men whom he was ruining, while at +the same time he was spending money prodigally upon his pleasures. Pepys +himself fell into poverty in his old age, accounting the king to be in +debt to him in the sum of twenty-eight thousand pounds.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>Penn considered his account collectible. "I have been," he wrote, "these +thirteen years the servant of Truth and Friends, and for my testimony's +sake lost much,—not only the greatness and preferment of the world, but +sixteen thousand pounds of my estate which, had I not been what I am, I +had long ago obtained." It is doubtful, however, if the king would have +ever paid a penny. It is certain that when William offered to exchange +the money for a district in America, Charles agreed to the bargain with +great joy.</p> + +<p>The territory thus bestowed was "all that tract or part of land in +America, bounded on the east by the Delaware River, from twelve miles +northward of New Castle town unto the three and fortieth degree of +northern latitude. The said land to extend westward five degrees in +longitude, to be computed from the said eastern bounds, and the said +lands to be bounded on the north by the beginning of the three and +fortieth degree of northern latitude and on the south by a circle drawn +at twelve miles distance from New Castle, northward and westward, unto +the beginning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> of the fortieth degree of northern latitude, and then by +a straight line westward to the limits of longitude above mentioned."</p> + +<p>This was a country almost as large as England. No such extensive domain +had ever been given to a subject by an English sovereign: but none had +ever been paid for by a sum of money so substantial.</p> + +<p>On the 4th of March, 1681, the charter received the signature of Charles +the Second. On the 21st of August, 1682, the Duke of York signed a deed +whereby he released the tract of land called Pennsylvania to William +Penn and his heirs forever. About the same time, by a like deed, the +duke conveyed to Penn the district which is now called Delaware. Penn +agreed, on his part, as a feudal subject, to render yearly to the king +two skins of beaver, and a fifth part of all the gold and silver found +in the ground; and to the duke "one rose at the feast of St. Michael the +Archangel."</p> + +<p>This association of sentiment and religion with a transaction in real +estate is a fitting symbol of the spirit in which the Pennsyl<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>vania +colony was undertaken. Penn received the land as a sacred trust. It was +regarded by him not as a personal estate, but as a religious possession +to be held for the good of humanity, for the advancement of the cause of +freedom, for the furtherance of the kingdom of heaven. He wrote at the +time to a friend that he had obtained it in the name of God, that thus +he may "serve his truth and people, and that an example may be set up to +the nations." He believed that there was room there "for such an holy +experiment."</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2> + +<h3>THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA: PENN'S FIRST VISIT TO THE PROVINCE</h3> + + +<p>That Penn undertook the "holy experiment" without expectation or desire +of profit appears not only in his conviction that he was thereby losing +sixteen thousand pounds, but in his refusal to make his new estates a +means of gain. "He is offered great things," says James Claypole in a +letter dated September, 1681, "£6000 for a monopoly in trade, which he +refused.... He designs to do things equally between all parties, and I +believe truly does aim more at justice and righteousness and spreading +of truth than at his own particular gain." "I would not abuse His love," +said Penn, "nor act unworthy of His providence, and so defile what came +to me clean. No, let the Lord guide me by His wisdom, and preserve me to +honour His name, and serve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> His truth and people, that an example and +standard may be set up to the nations."</p> + +<p>So far removed was he from all self-seeking, that he was even unwilling +to have the colony bear his name. "I chose New Wales," he says, +recounting the action of the king's council, "being, as this, a pretty +hilly country,—but Penn being Welsh for head, as Pennanmoire in Wales, +and Penrith in Cumberland, and Penn in Buckinghamshire, the highest land +in England—[the king] called this Pennsylvania, which is the high or +head woodlands; for I proposed, when the secretary, a Welshman, refused +to have it called New Wales, Sylvania, and they added Penn to it; and +though I much opposed it, and went to the king to have it struck out and +altered, he said it was past, and he would take it upon him; nor could +twenty guineas move the under-secretary to vary the name, for I feared +lest it should be looked on as a vanity in me, and not as a respect in +the king, as it truly was, to my father, whom he often mentions with +praise."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>The charter gave the land to Penn as the king's tenant. He had power to +make laws; though this power was to be exercised, except in emergencies, +"with the advice, assent, and approbation of the freemen of the +territory," and subject to the confirmation of the Privy Council. He was +to appoint judges and other officers. He had the right to assess custom +on goods laden and unladen, for his own benefit; though he was to take +care to do it "reasonably," and with the advice of the assembly of +freemen. He was, at the same time, to be free from any tax or custom of +the king, except by his own consent, or by the consent of his governor +or assembly, or by act of Parliament. He was not to maintain +correspondence with any king or power at war with England, nor to make +war against any king or power in amity with the same. If as many as +twenty of his colonists should ask a minister from the Bishop of London, +such minister was to be received without denial or molestation.</p> + +<p>The next important document to be prepared was the Constitution, or +Frame of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> Government, and to the task of composing it Penn gave a great +amount of time and care. It was preceded by two statements of +principles,—the Preface and the Great Fundamental.</p> + +<p>The Preface declared the political policy of the proprietor. +"Government," he said, "seems to me a part of religion itself, a thing +sacred in its institution and end." As for the debate between monarchy, +aristocracy, and democracy, "I choose," he said, "to solve the +controversy with this small distinction, and it belongs to all three: +any government is free to the people under it, whatever be the frame, +where the laws rule, and the people are a party to those laws." His +purpose, he says, is to establish "the great end of all government, +viz., to support power in reverence with the people, and to secure the +people from the abuse of power, that they may be free by their just +obedience, and the magistrates honourable for their just administration; +for liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedience without +liberty is slavery."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>In a private letter, written about the same time, Penn stated his +political position in several concrete sentences which interpret these +fine but rather vague pronouncements. "For the matters of liberty and +privilege," he wrote, "I propose that which is extraordinary, and to +leave myself and successors no power of doing mischief, that the will of +one man may not hinder the good of an whole country; but to publish +these things now and here, as matters stand, would not be wise."</p> + +<p>The Great Fundamental set forth the ecclesiastical policy of the +founder: "In reverence to God, the father of light and spirits, the +author as well as the object of all divine knowledge, faith and +workings, I do, for me and mine, declare and establish for the first +fundamental of the government of my province, that every person that +doth and shall reside there shall have and enjoy the free profession of +his or her faith and exercise of worship towards God, in such way and +manner as every such person shall in conscience believe is most +acceptable to God."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>These principles of civil and religious liberty constituted the "holy +experiment." They made the difference between Penn's colony and almost +every other government then existing. In their influence and +continuance, until at last they were incorporated in the Constitution of +the United States, they are the chief contribution of William Penn to +the progress of our institutions.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"All Europe with amazement saw<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The soul's high freedom trammeled by no law."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The Constitution was drawn up in Articles to the number of twenty-four, +and these were followed by forty Laws.</p> + +<p>The Articles provided for a governor, to be appointed by the proprietor, +and for two legislative bodies, a provincial council and a general +assembly. The provincial council was to consist of seventy-two members. +Of these a third were elected for three years, a third for two, and a +third for one; so that by the end of the service of the first third, all +would have a three-year term, twenty-four going out and having their +places filled each year. The business of the council was to pre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>pare +laws, to see that they were executed, and in general to provide for the +good conduct of affairs. The general assembly was to consist of two +hundred members, to be chosen annually. They had no right to originate +legislation, but were to pass upon all bills which had been enacted by +the council, accepting or rejecting them by a vote of yea or nay.</p> + +<p>The Laws enjoined that "all persons who confessed the one almighty and +eternal God to be the Creator, Upholder, and Ruler of the world, and who +held themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in +society, were in no ways to be molested for their religious persuasion +and practice, nor to be compelled at any time to frequent any religious +place or ministry whatever." All children of the age of twelve were to +be taught some useful trade. All pleadings, processes, and records in +the courts of law were to be as short as possible. The reformation of +the offender was to be considered as a great part of the purpose of +punishment. At a time when there were in England two hundred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> offenses +punishable by death, Penn reduced these capital crimes to two, murder +and treason. All prisons were to be made into workhouses. No oath was to +be required. Drinking healths, selling rum to Indians, cursing and +lying, fighting duels, playing cards, the pleasures of the theatre, were +all put under the ban together.</p> + +<p>Penn's provincial council suggested the Senate of the United States. As +originally established, however, the disproportion of power between the +upper and the lower house was so great as to cause much just +dissatisfaction. The council was in effect a body of seventy-two +governors; the assembly, which more directly represented the people, +could consider no laws save those sent down to them by the council. The +Constitution had to be changed.</p> + +<p>One of the good qualities of the Constitution was that it was possible +to change it. It provided for the process of amendment. That customary +article with which all constitutions now end appeared for the first time +in Penn's Frame of Government. Another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> good quality of the Constitution +was that it secured an abiding harmony between its fundamental +statements and all further legislation. "Penn was the first one to hit +upon the foundation or first step in the true principle, now the +universal law in the United States, that the unconstitutional law is +void."</p> + +<p>Whatever help Penn may have had in the framing of this legislation, from +Algernon Sidney and other political friends, it is plain that the best +part of it was his own, and that he wrote it not as a politician but as +a Quaker. It is an application of the Quaker principles of democracy and +of religious liberty to the conditions of a commonwealth. From beginning +to end it is the work of a man whose supreme interest was religion. It +is at the same time singularly free from the narrowness into which men +of this earnest mind have often fallen. Religion, as Penn considered it, +was not a matter of ordinances or rubrics. It was righteousness, and +fraternity, and liberty of conscience.</p> + +<p>In this spirit he wrote a letter to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> Indian inhabitants of his +province. "The great God, who is the power and wisdom that made you and +me, incline your hearts to righteousness, love, and peace. This I send +to assure you of my love, and to desire you to love my friends; and when +the great God brings me among you, I intend to order all things in such +a manner that we may all live in love and peace, one with another, which +I hope the great God will incline both me and you to do. I seek nothing +but the honour of his name, and that we, who are his workmanship, may do +that which is well pleasing to him.... So I rest in the love of God that +made us."</p> + +<p>Now colonists began to seek this land of peace across the sea. A hundred +acres were promised for forty shillings, with a quit-rent of one +shilling annually to the proprietor forever. In clearing the ground, +care was to be taken to leave one acre of trees, for every five acres +cleared. All transactions with the Indians were to be held in the public +market, and all differences between the white man and the red were to be +settled by a jury of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> six planters and six Indians. Penn also counseled +prospective colonists to consider the great inconveniences which they +must of necessity endure, and hoped that those who went would have "the +permission if not the good liking of their near relations."</p> + +<p>There were already in the province some two thousand people, besides +Indians,—a peaceable and industrious folk, mostly Swedes and English. +They had six meeting-houses; the English settlers being Quakers. They +lived along the banks of the Delaware. In the autumn of 1681, the ship +Sarah and John brought the first of Penn's emigrants, and in December +the ship Bristol Factor added others. In 1682, Penn came himself.</p> + +<p>The journey at that time was both long and perilous. If it was +accomplished in two months, the voyage was considered prosperous. To the +ordinary dangers of the deep was added the terror of the smallpox. +Scarcely a ship crossed without this dread passenger. William, +accordingly, as one undertaking a desperate adventure, took a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> tender +leave of his family. He wrote a letter whose counsels might guide them +in case he never returned. "My dear wife and children," he said, "my +love, which neither sea, nor land, nor death itself can extinguish or +lessen towards you, most endearedly visits you with eternal embraces, +and will abide with you forever; and may the God of my life watch over +you, and bless you, and do you good in this world and forever." "Be +diligent," he advised his wife, "in meetings for worship and business, +... and let meetings be kept once a day in the family to wait upon the +Lord, ... and, my dearest, to make thy family matters easy to thee, +divide thy time and be regular; it is easy and sweet.... Cast up thy +income, and see what it daily amounts to, ... and I beseech thee to live +low and sparingly, till my debts are paid." As for the children, they +are to be bred up "in the love of virtue, and that holy plain way of it, +which we have lived in, that the world in no part of it get into my +family." They are to be carefully taught. "For their learning be +liberal, spare no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> cost." "Agriculture is especially in my eye; let my +children be husbandmen and housewives; it is industrious, healthy, +honest, and of good example." They are to honor and obey their mother, +to love not money nor the world, to be temperate in all things. If they +come presently to be concerned in the government of Pennsylvania, "I do +charge you," their father wrote, "before the Lord God and the holy +angels, that you be lovely, diligent and tender, fearing God, loving the +people, and hating covetousness. Let justice have its impartial course, +and the law free passage. Though to your loss, protect no man against +it; for you are not above the law, but the law above you. Live the lives +yourselves, you would have the people live."</p> + +<p>Unhappily, of Guli's children, seven in number, four died before their +mother, and one, the eldest son, Springett, shortly after. Springett +inherited the devout spirit of his parents; his father wrote an +affecting account of his pious death. Of the two remaining, William fell +into ways of dissipa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>tion, and Letitia married a man whom her father +disliked. Neither of them had any inheritance in Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>Penn's ship, the Welcome, carried a hundred passengers, most of them +Quakers from his own neighborhood. A third part died of smallpox on the +way. On the 24th of October, he sighted land; on the 27th, he arrived +before Newcastle, in Delaware; on the 28th, he landed. Here he formally +received turf and twig, water and soil, in token of his ownership. On +the 29th, he entered Pennsylvania. Adding ten days to this date, to +bring it into accord with our present calendar, we have November 8 as +the day of his arrival in the province. The place was Upland, where +there was a settlement already; the name was that day changed to +Chester.</p> + +<p>Penn was greatly pleased with his new possessions. He wrote a +description of the country for the Free Society of Traders. The air, he +said, was sweet and clear, and the heavens serene. Trees, fruits, and +flowers grew in abundance: especially a "great, red grape," and a "white +kind of muskadel,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> out of which he hopes it may be possible to make +good wine. The ground was fertile. The Indians he found to be tall, +straight, and well built, walking "with a lofty chin." Their language +was "like the Hebrew," and he guessed that they were descended from the +ten lost tribes of Israel. Light of heart, they seemed to him, with +"strong affections, but soon spent; ... the most merry creatures that +live." Though they were "under a dark night in things relating to +religion," yet were they believers in God and immortality.</p> + +<p>"I bless the Lord," he wrote in a letter, "I am very well, and much +satisfied with my place and portion. O how sweet is the quiet of these +parts, freed from the anxious and troublesome solicitations, hurries, +and solicitations of woeful Europe!"</p> + +<p>In the midst of these fair regions, beside the "wedded rivers," the +Delaware and the Schuylkill, in the convenient neighborhood of quarries +of building stone, at a place which the Indians called Coaquannoc, he +established his capital city, calling it Phila<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>delphia,—perhaps in +token of the spirit of brotherly love in which it was founded, perhaps +in remembrance of those seven cities of the Revelation wherein was that +primitive Christianity which he wished to reproduce.</p> + +<p>Here he had his rowers run his boat ashore at the mouth of Dock Creek, +which now runs under Dock Street, where several men were engaged in +building a house, which was afterwards called the Blue Anchor Tavern. +Penn brought a considerable company with him. In the minutes of a +Friends' meeting held on the 8th (18th) of November, 1682, at +Shackamaxon, now Kensington, it was recorded that, "at this time, +Governor Penn and a multitude of Friends arrived here, and erected a +city called Philadelphia, about half a mile from Shackamaxon." +Presently, the Indians appeared. They offered Penn of their hominy and +roasted acorns, and, after dinner, showed him how they could hop and +jump. He is said to have entered heartily into these exercises, and to +have jumped farther than any of them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>The governor had already determined the plan of the city. There were to +be two large streets,—one fronting the Delaware on the east, the other +fronting the Schuylkill on the west; a third avenue, to be called High +Street (now Market), was to run from river to river, east and west; and +a fourth, called Broad Street, was to cross it at right angles, north +and south. Twenty streets were to lie parallel with Broad, and to be +named First Street, Second Street, and so on in order, in the plain +Quaker fashion which had thus entitled the days of the week and the +months of the year. Eight were to lie parallel with High, and to be +called after the trees of the forest,—Spruce, Chestnut, Pine. In the +midst of the city, at the crossing of High and Broad Streets, was to be +a square of ten acres, to contain the public offices; and in each +quarter of the city was to be a similar open space for walks. The +founder intended to allow no house to be built on the river banks, +keeping them open and beautiful. Could he have foreseen the future, he +would have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> made the streets wider. He had in mind, however, only a +country town. "Let every house be placed," he directed, "if the person +pleases, in the middle of its plot, as to the breadth way of it, that so +there may be ground on each side for gardens or orchards or fields, that +it may be a green country town, which will never be burnt and always +wholesome."</p> + +<p>Among those houses was his own, a modest structure made of brick, +standing "on Front Street south of the present Market Street," and still +preserved in Fairmont Park. He afterwards gave it to his daughter +Letitia, and it was called Letitia House, from her ownership.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, he was making his famous treaty with the Indians. Penn +recognized the Indians as the actual owners of the land. He bought it of +them as he needed it. The transfer of property thus made was a natural +occasion of mutual promises. As there were several such meetings between +the Quakers and the Indians, it is difficult to fix a date to mark the +fact.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> One meeting took place, it is said, under a spreading elm at +Shackamaxon. The commonly accepted date is the 23d of June, 1683. The +elm was blown down in 1810. There is a persistent tradition to the +effect that William was distinguished from his fellow Quakers in this +transaction by wearing a sky-blue sash of silk network. But of this, as +of most other details of ceremony in connection with the matter, we know +nothing.</p> + +<p>Penn gives a general description of his various conferences upon this +business. "Their order," he says, "is thus: the king sits in the middle +of a half-moon, and has his council, the old and wise, on each hand. +Behind them, or at a little distance, sit the younger fry in the same +figure." Then one speaks in their king's name, and Penn answers. "When +the purchase was agreed great promises passed between us of kindness and +good neighbourhood, and that the English and the Indians must live in +love as long as the sun gave light, ... at every sentence of which they +shouted, and said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> Amen, in their way." Some earnestness may have been +added to these assuring responses by the Indians' consciousness of the +fact that the advantages of the bargain were not all on one side. The +Pennsylvania tribes had been thoroughly conquered by the Five Nations. +There was little heart left in them. But their condition detracts +nothing from Penn's Christian brotherliness.</p> + +<p>In some such manner the great business was enacted. "This," said +Voltaire, "was the only treaty between these people and the Christians +that was not ratified by an oath, and that was never broken." That it +was never broken was the capital fact. Herein it differed from a +thousand other treaties made before or since. In the midst of the long +story of the misdealings of the white men with the red, which begins +with Cortez and Pizarro, and is still continued in the daily newspapers, +this justice and honesty of William Penn is a point of light. That Penn +treated the Indians as neighbors and brothers; that he paid them fairly +for every acre of their land; that the promises<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> which he made were ever +after unfailingly kept is perhaps his best warrant of abiding fame. Like +his constitutional establishment of civil and religious liberty, it was +a direct result of his Quaker principles. It was a manifestation of that +righteousness which he was continually preaching and practicing.</p> + +<p>The kindness and courtly generosity which Penn showed in his bargains +with the Indians is happily illustrated in one of his purchases of land. +The land was to extend "as far back as a man could walk in three days." +William walked out a day and a half of it, taking several chiefs with +him, "leisurely, after the Indian manner, sitting down sometimes to +smoke their pipes, to eat biscuit and cheese, and drink a bottle of +wine." Thus they covered less than thirty miles. In 1733, the then +governor employed the fastest walker he could find, who in the second +day and a half marked eighty-six miles.</p> + +<p>The treaty gave the new colony a substantial advantage. The Lenni +Lenape, the Mingoes, the Shawnees accounted Penn's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> settlers as their +friends. The word went out among the tribes that what Penn said he +meant, and that what he promised he would fulfill faithfully. Thus the +planters were freed from the terror of the forest which haunted their +neighbors, north and south. They could found cities in the wilderness +and till their scattered farms without fear of tomahawk or firebrand. +Penn himself went twenty miles from Philadelphia, near the present +Bristol, to lay out his country place of Pennsbury.</p> + +<p>Ships were now arriving with sober and industrious emigrants; trees were +coming down, houses were going up. In July, 1683, Penn wrote to Henry +Sidney, in England, reminding him that he had promised to send some +fruit-trees, and describing the condition of the colony. "We have laid +out a town a mile long and two miles deep.... I think we have near about +eighty houses built, and about three hundred farms settled round the +town.... We have had fifty sail of ships and small vessels, since the +last summer, in our river, which shows a good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> beginning." "I am +mightily taken with this part of the world," he wrote to Lord Culpeper, +who had come to be governor of Virginia, "I like it so well, that a +plentiful estate, and a great acquaintance on the other side, have no +charms to remove; my family being once fixed with me, and if no other +thing occur, I am likely to be an adopted American." "Our heads are +dull," he added, "but our hearts are good and our hands strong."</p> + +<p>In the midst of this peace and prosperity, however, there was a serious +trouble. This was a dispute with Lord Baltimore over the dividing line +between Pennsylvania and Maryland. By the inaccuracy of surveyors, the +confusion of maps, and the indefiniteness of charters, Baltimore +believed himself entitled to a considerable part of the territory which +was claimed by Penn, including even Philadelphia. The two proprietors +had already discussed the question without settlement; indeed, it +remained a cause of contention for some seventy years. As finally +settled, in 1732, between the heirs of Penn and of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> Baltimore, a line +was established from Cape Henlopen west to a point half way between +Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay; thence north to twelve miles west of +Newcastle, and so on to fifteen miles south of Philadelphia; thence due +west. The surveyors were Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, and the line +was thus called Mason and Dixon's Line. This boundary afterwards parted +the free States from the slave States. South of it was "Dixie."</p> + +<p>Penn now learned that Lord Baltimore was on his way to England to lay +the question before the Privy Council. The situation demanded William's +presence. "I am following him as fast as I can," he wrote to the Duke of +York, praying "that a perfect stop be put to all his proceedings till I +come." He therefore took leave of his friends in the province, +commissioned the provincial council to act in his stead, and in August, +1684, having been two years in America, he embarked for home.</p> + +<p>On board the Endeavour, on the eve of sailing, he wrote a farewell +letter. "And thou,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> Philadelphia," he said, "the virgin settlement of +this province, named before thou wert born, what love, what care, what +service and what travail has there 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 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 thy power. My love to thee has been great, and the remembrance +of thee affects mine heart and mine eye. The God of eternal strength +keep and preserve thee to his glory and peace."</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII</h2> + +<h3>AT THE COURT OF JAMES THE SECOND, AND "IN RETIREMENT"</h3> + + +<p>When Penn left the province in 1684, he expected to return speedily, but +he did not see that pleasant land again until 1699. The fifteen +intervening years were filled with contention, anxiety, misfortune, and +various distresses.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1684-85, Charles II. died, and the Duke of York, his +brother, succeeded him as James II. And James was the patron and good +friend of William Penn. But the king was a Roman Catholic. One of his +first acts upon coming to the throne was to go publicly to mass. He was +privately resolved upon making the Roman Church supreme in England. Penn +was stoutly opposed to the king's religion. In his "Seasonable Caveat +against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> Popery," as well as in his other writings, he had expressed his +dislike with characteristic frankness. That he had himself been accused +of being a Jesuit had naturally impelled him to use the strongest +language to belie the accusation. Nevertheless, William Penn stood by +the king. He sought and kept the position of favorite and agent of the +court. He upheld, and so far as he could, assisted, the projects of a +reign which, had it continued, would probably have contradicted his most +cherished principles, abolished liberty of conscience, and made an end +of Quakers.</p> + +<p>This perplexing inconsistency, which is the only serious blot on Penn's +fair fame, appears to have been the result of two convictions.</p> + +<p>He was sure, in the first place, of the honesty of the king; he believed +in him with all his heart. James had been true to the trust reposed in +him by William's father. He had befriended William, taking him out of +prison, increasing his estates, granting his petitions. "Anybody," said +Penn, "that has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> the least pretense to good-nature, gratitude, or +generosity, must needs know how to interpret my access to the king." +With his advance to the crown James's graciousness had increased. He +kept great lords waiting without while he conversed at leisure with the +Quaker. He liked Penn, and Penn liked him. In spite of the disparities +in their age, rank, and creed, William Penn and James Stuart were fast +friends, united by the bond of genuine affection.</p> + +<p>It was characteristic of Penn to be blind to the faults of his friends. +He brought great troubles both upon himself and upon his colony by his +refusal to believe the reports which were made to him against the +character of men whom he had appointed to office: he was unwilling to +believe evil of any man. He fell into bankruptcy, and even into a +debtor's prison, by his blind, unquestioning confidence in the agent who +managed his business. His faith in James was of a piece with his whole +character. He appears to have been temperamentally incapable of +perceiving the unworthiness of anybody whom he liked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>Together with this conviction as to the king's honesty, and bound up +with it, was a like belief in the wisdom of the king's plan. The king's +plan was to remove all disabilities arising from religion. He purposed +not only to put an end to the laws under which honest men were kept in +prison, but to abolish the "tests" which prevented a Roman Catholic from +holding office. And, without tarrying for the action of a cautious +Parliament, his intention was to do these things at once by a +declaration of the royal will. All this was approved by William Penn.</p> + +<p>That the laws which disturbed Protestant dissenters should be changed, +he argued at length in a pamphlet entitled "A Persuasion to Moderation." +Moderation, as he defined it, meant "liberty of conscience to church +dissenters;" a cause which, with all humility, he said, he had +undertaken to plead against the prejudices of the times. He maintained +that toleration was not only a right inherent in religion, but that it +was for the political and commercial good of the nation. Repres<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>sion and +persecution, he said, drive men into conspiracies. The importing of +religious distinctions into the affairs of state deprives the country of +the services of some of its best men. His father, upon the occasion of +the first Dutch war, had submitted to the king a list of the ablest sea +officers in the kingdom. The striking of the names of nonconformists +from this list had "robbed the king at that time of ten men, whose +greater knowledge and valour, than any other ten of that fleet, had, in +their room, been able to have saved a battle, or perfected a victory." +As for a declaration of indulgence, Penn deemed it "the sovereign remedy +of the English constitution."</p> + +<p>That the "tests" should be removed, he urged on James's behalf upon +William of Orange, to whom he went in Holland on an informal commission +from the king. William, by his marriage with James's daughter, was heir +apparent to the throne of England, and his consent was necessary to any +serious change of national policy. He insisted on the tests. +Theoretically, Penn was right.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> The ideal state imposes no religious +tests; every good citizen, no matter what his private creed may be, is +eligible to any office. Practically, Penn was wrong, as William of +Orange plainly saw. That prince, as appeared afterwards, was as zealous +for religious freedom as was Penn himself; but it was plain to him that +as matters stood at that time in England, it was necessary to enforce +the tests in order to prevent the rise of an ecclesiastical party whose +supremacy would endanger all that Penn desired. Penn, with his stout +faith in the king, could not see it. There were times, indeed, when he +was perplexed and troubled. "The Lord keep us in this dark day!" he +wrote to his steward at Pennsbury. "Be wise, close, respectful to +superiors. The king has discharged all Friends by a general pardon, and +is courteous, though as to the Church of England, things seem pinching. +Several Roman Catholics got much into places in the army, navy, court." +Nevertheless, the king's plan, as he understood it, gave assurance of +liberty of conscience, and the end of persecution for opinion's sake; +and he supported the king.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>Under these conditions, misled by friendship, seeing, but not +perceiving, Penn persuaded himself that he could excellently serve God +and his neighbors by becoming a courtier. He took a house in London, +within easy distance of Whitehall, and visited the king daily. A great +many people therefore visited Penn daily; sometimes as many as two +hundred were waiting to confer with him. They desired that he would do +this or that for their good with the king. Most of them were Quakers; +many were in need of pardon, or were burdened by some oppression.</p> + +<p>For example, Sir Robert Stuart of Coltness had been in exile as a +Presbyterian, and on his return found his lands in the possession of the +Earl of Arran. He brought his case to Penn. Penn went to Arran. "What is +this, friend James, that I hear of thee?" he said. "Thou hast taken +possession of Coltness's castle. Thou knowest that it is not thine." +"That estate," Arran explained, "I paid a great price for. I received no +other reward for my expensive and troublesome embassy to France, except +this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> estate." "All very well, friend James," said Penn, "but of this +assure thyself, that if thou dost not give me this moment an order on +thy chamberlain for two hundred pounds to Coltness to carry him down to +his native country, and a hundred a year to subsist on till matters are +adjusted, I will make it as many thousands out of thy way with the +king." Arran complied immediately.</p> + +<p>Again, one day after dinner, as they were drinking a glass of wine +together, one of Penn's clients said, "I can tell you how you can +prolong my life." "I am no physician," answered William, "but prithee +tell me what thou meanest." The client replied that a good friend of +his, Jack Trenchard, was in exile, and "if you," he said, "could get him +leave to come home with safety and honour, the drinking now and then a +bottle with Jack Trenchard would make me so cheerful that it would +prolong my life." Penn smilingly promised to do what he could, and in a +month the two friends were drinking his good health.</p> + +<p>This was the kind of business which he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> transacted. He had found a way +to be of eminent service to his neighbors, and especially to his Quaker +brethren, and he made the most of the opportunity. There is no evidence +that he departed from the disinterested life which he had previously +lived. He attended the court of King James, as he had undertaken the +settlement of Pennsylvania, not for what he could get out of it, but for +the good he could do by means of it. What he did, he tells us, was upon +a "principle of charity." "I never accepted any commission," he says, +"but that of a free and common solicitor for sufferers of all sorts and +in all parties." Neither is there any instance of his asking anything to +increase his own estate or position.</p> + +<p>Indeed, he was losing money; for the expenses of life at court were +great. Worse still, he was losing his good name. His Quaker friends +found him hard to understand. It was true that he had cast in his lot +with them, and had suffered for their cause,—he was their great +theologian and preacher; but he seemed, nevertheless, to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> still a +cavalier and a worldly person. They heard—though there was no truth in +the report—that he had set up a military company in Pennsylvania. They +saw with their own eyes that he lived in a style which must have seemed +to them altogether inconsistent with simplicity, and that he consorted +with courtiers. And they did not like it,—they said so frankly.</p> + +<p>As for enemies, the king's favorite had many, inevitably. The lords who +waited in the antechamber while Penn was closeted with James did not +look pleasantly at him when he came out. The stout Protestants, who +hated the king's ways, and suspected the king's designs, could not +easily think well of one who was so closely in his counsels. One of +Penn's friends told him what these people said of him: "Your post is too +considerable for a Papist of an ordinary form, and therefore you must be +a Jesuit; nay, to confirm that suggestion, it must be accompanied with +all the circumstances that may best give it an air of probability,—as +that you have been bred at St. Omer's in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> the Jesuit College; that you +have taken orders at Rome, and there obtained a dispensation to marry; +and that you have since then frequently officiated as a priest in the +celebration of the mass, at Whitehall, St. James's, and other places." +It seems absurd enough to us, but many intelligent persons, even +Archbishop Tillotson of Canterbury, believed it. The detail of St. Omer +came, probably, from a confusion of the name with Saumur. The other +suspicions grew out of Penn's place in the favor of the king.</p> + +<p>It seemed as if nothing could prejudice the king's matters in the eyes +of Penn. Monmouth's rebellion came, and the king's revenge followed. +Judge Jeffreys went on his bloody circuit. "About three hundred hanged," +Penn wrote, "in divers towns of the west; about one thousand to be +transported. I begged twenty of the king." It was all bad, and one +regrets to find Penn concerned in it. Still, his twenty probably fared +better than their neighbors. It is likely that he sent them to be +colonists in Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>In the matter of the maids of Taunton, William seems clearly to have had +no part. A company of little schoolgirls, led by their teacher, had +marched in procession to celebrate the landing of Monmouth. For this +offense their parents were heavily fined, and the fines were given to +the queen's maids of honor. These ladies wrote to a "Mr. Penne" to get +him to collect them. Macaulay thought that this pardon-broker was +William Penn. It is flagrantly inconsistent with his character, and he +has been adequately vindicated by various writers. The agent in this +case was probably George Penne, a person in that business.</p> + +<p>Penn's course is not so clear in the matter of the presidency of +Magdalen College. One of the steps in James's plan to change the +religion of England was to get a foothold for teachers of his faith at +the universities. He intended to capture Oxford and Cambridge. He had so +far succeeded at Oxford as to get possession of Christ Church and +University College, and, the presidency of Magdalen falling vacant, he +ordered the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> fellows to elect a man of his own choice. The fellows +refused to obey the order,—thereupon Penn, who had at first taken their +part with the king, advised them to surrender. "Mr. Penn," said Dr. +Hough, representing the fellows, "in this I will be plain with you. We +have our statutes and oaths to justify us in all that we have done +hitherto; but, setting this aside, we have a religion to defend, and I +suppose yourself would think us knaves if we would tamely give it up. +The Papists have already gotten Christ Church and University; the +present struggle is for Magdalen; and in a short time they threaten they +will have the rest."</p> + +<p>To this Penn replied with vehemence: "That they shall never have, assure +yourselves; if once they proceed so far they will quickly find +themselves destitute of their present assistance. For my part, I have +always declared my opinion that the preferments of the Church should not +be put into any other hands but such as they are at present in; but I +hope you would not have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> the two universities such invincible bulwarks +for the Church of England, that none but they must be capable of giving +their children a learned education. I suppose two or three colleges will +content the Papists." Finally, the king's men broke down the doors, +turned out the professors and students, and gave the king his way. Penn +was thus the agent of tyranny; but he was an innocent agent. He made a +bad blunder; but he made it honestly and ignorantly. It was in accord +with his democratic ideas that the universities should be places of +instruction for all the people; he would have liked to see not only the +Roman Catholics, but all the great divisions of religion in England +represented there. And that fine idea misled him. To hold him guilty, +here or elsewhere, of malice or hypocrisy, is to misread his character. +He was simply mistaken,—mistaken in the king, mistaken in the +application of his own principles.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the nation at large was making no mistake. The people saw +James as he was, and detected his designs upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> liberties of +England. At last, in April, 1688, he issued a Declaration of Indulgence. +He added insult to injury by ordering that it should be read in every +church in the realm. The seven bishops who protested were sent to the +Tower. Then the end came with speed. William of Orange was invited into +England. The nation welcomed him with acclamations. James fled before +him into France, where he lived the remainder of an inglorious life.</p> + +<p>This was a hard change for William Penn, and he seems to have done +nothing to make it easier. There were courtiers who passed with +incredible swiftness from one allegiance to the other; he was not among +them. Others fled to France, but he stayed. He was arrested. In his +examination before the Privy Council he declared that he "had done +nothing but what he could answer for before God and all the princes in +the world; that he loved his country and the Protestant religion above +his life, and had never acted against either; that all he had ever aimed +at in his public endeavors was none other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> than what the king had +declared for [religious liberty]; that King James had always been his +friend, and his father's friend, and that in gratitude he himself was +the king's, and did ever, as much as in him lay, influence him to his +true interest." Penn was released.</p> + +<p>The new king began his reign with the Toleration Act, which Parliament +passed in 1688, and from which dates the establishment of actual and +abiding religious liberty in England. Thus Penn's great purpose was +accomplished by one with whom he was not in accord. Sometimes a +political party adopts the projects for which its opponents have long +labored, and carries them out even more vigorously than they had been +planned originally. The initial reformers are glad that their ideals +have been realized, but their zeal must be uncommonly impersonal if the +success brings them quite so much joy as it logically ought. It is not +likely that the Toleration Act filled the soul of William Penn with +great jubilation. Indeed, we know that he insisted to the end of his +life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> that James, if he had been let alone, would have done all that +William did, and more too, and better.</p> + +<p>The years which followed were full of trouble. Macaulay says that in +1689 Penn was plotting against the government; but the evidence does not +suffice to establish the fact. The Privy Council, in 1690, confronted +Penn with an intercepted letter to him from James, asking for help. But, +as Penn said, he could not hinder the king from writing to him. He +added, however, with characteristic boldness, that since he had loved +King James in his prosperity he should not hate him in his adversity. He +was again discharged.</p> + +<p>In that same year, however, James invaded Ireland, and the situation of +his friends in England was thereby made increasingly difficult. Penn was +arrested with others, and in prison awaited trial for several months. +The result was as before,—he was found in no offense. But before a +month had passed, he learned that another warrant was out against his +liberty. Offi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>cers went to take him at the funeral of George Fox, but +arrived too late. By this time he had concluded that the path of +prudence was that which led into a wise retirement. He hid himself for +the space of three years. He was publicly proclaimed a traitor, and was +deprived of the government of his colony. He was "hunted up and down," +he says, "and could never be allowed to live quietly in city or +country."</p> + +<p>Finally, the government were persuaded either that Penn was innocent, or +that no further danger was to be apprehended from him, and several +noblemen, interceding with the king, procured his pardon. They +represented his case, he says, as not only hard, but oppressive, there +being no evidence but what "impostors, or those that fled, or that have +since their pardon refused to verify (and asked me pardon for saying +what they did) alleged against me." The king announced that Penn was his +old acquaintance, and that he might follow his business as freely as +ever, and that for his part he had nothing to say to him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>Thus again, and at last, the political accusations against William Penn +came to nothing. He had been in a hard position as the faithful friend +of a dethroned monarch in a day when conspiracies were being made on +every hand. That he should have been suspected of treason was +inevitable. That in his unconcealed affection for James and disapproval +of William he said imprudent things is likely enough. Prudence was not +one of his virtues. He was never calculatingly careful of his own +welfare. But that he was ever untrue to William, or did any act, or +consented to any, which could reasonably be called treacherous, is not +only quite unproved, but is out of accord with the true William Penn as +he is revealed in his writings and in all his life. The only fault which +has been clearly established against him is that of liking James better +than he liked William. He was a stanch friend to his friend; that is the +sum of his offending, wherein the only serious regret is that his friend +was not more worthy of his steadfast and unselfish friendship. "At no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +time in his life," says Mr. Fiske, "does he seem more honest, brave, and +lovable, than during the years, so full of trouble for him, that +intervened between the accession of James and the accession of Anne."</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2> + +<h3>PENN'S SECOND VISIT TO THE PROVINCE: CLOSING YEARS</h3> + + +<p>The thoughts with which Penn's mind was occupied during the years of +hiding appear in his book, "Some Fruits of Solitude." Robert Louis +Stevenson found a copy of it in a book-shop in San Francisco, and +carried it in his pocket many days, reading it in street-cars and +ferry-boats. He found it, he says, "in all places a peaceful and sweet +companion;" and he adds, "there is not a man living, no, nor recently +dead, that could put, with so lovely a spirit, so much honest, kind +wisdom into words."</p> + +<p>"The author blesseth God for his retirement," so the book begins, "and +kisses the gentle hand which led him into it; for though it should prove +barren to the world, it can never do so to him. He has now had some time +he can call his own; a property<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> he was never so much master of before; +in which he has taken a view of himself and the world, and observed +wherein he hath hit and missed the mark. And he verily thinks, were he +to live his life over again, he could not only, with God's grace, serve +him, but his neighbor and himself, better than he hath done, and have +seven years of his life to spare."</p> + +<p>Government and Religion have the longest chapters in this volume of +reflections, as being the matters in which William was most interested. +"Happy that king," he says, "who is great by justice, and that people +who are free by obedience." "Where example keeps pace with authority, +power hardly fails to be obeyed, and magistrates to be honoured." "Let +the people think they govern, and they will be governed." "Religion is +the fear of God, and its demonstration good works; and faith is the root +of both." "To be like Christ, then, is to be a Christian." "Some folk +think they may scold, rail, hate, rob, and kill too: so it be but for +God's sake. But nothing in us, unlike<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> him, can please him." So the book +goes, page after page, always serious and sensible, full of simplicity +and kindliness, cheerful and brotherly and unfailingly religious. It is +the work of one who is trying his best to live for his brethren and in +Christ's spirit.</p> + +<p>Another significant writing of this period is Penn's "Plan for the Peace +of Europe." The calamities of the war then in progress on the Continent +gave him arguments enough for the desirableness of peace. The means of +peace is justice, and the means of justice is government. It is plain to +all that a state wherein any private citizen might avenge himself upon +his neighbor would be a place of confusion and distress. "For this cause +they have sessions, terms, assizes, and parliaments, to overrule men's +passions and resentments, that they may not be judges in their own +cause, nor punishers of their own wrongs." Penn proposes that the same +relation between peace and justice which is enforced between citizen and +citizen be also enforced between nation and nation. "Now," he says, "if +the sovereign princes of Europe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> ... for love of peace and order [would] +agree to meet by their stated deputies in a general Diet, Estates or +Parliament and there establish rules of justice for sovereign princes to +observe one to another; and thus to meet yearly, or once in two or three +years at the farthest, or as they shall see cause, and to be stiled, The +Sovereign or Imperial Diet, Parliament or State of Europe: before which +Sovereign Assembly should be brought all differences depending between +one sovereign and another that cannot be made up by private embassies +before the sessions begin; and that if any of the sovereignties that +constitute these imperial states shall refuse to submit their claim or +pretensions to them, or to abide and perform the judgment thereof and +seek their remedy by arms, or delay their compliance beyond the time +prefixt in their resolutions, all the other sovereignties, united as one +strength, shall compel the submission and performance of the sentence, +with damages to the suffering party, and charges to the sovereignties +that obliged their submission; ... peace would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> procured and +continued in Europe." The principle of international arbitration, the +Conference at the Hague, and all like meetings which shall be held +hereafter, are thus foreshadowed.</p> + +<p>These two productions of Penn's season of retirement—the "Fruits of +Solitude," and the "Plan for the Peace of Europe"—illustrate again the +two qualities which make him singularly eminent among the founders of +commonwealths. He was at once a philosopher and a statesman; he was +interested alike in religion and in politics. There have been many +politicians to whom religion has been of no concern. There have been +many religious persons in high positions who have been so shut in by +church walls that they have been incapable of a wider outlook; they have +accordingly been narrow, prejudiced, and often unpractical people; they +have been blind to the elemental social fact of difference; they have +hated the thought of toleration. Penn was almost alone among the good +men of our era of colonization in being at the same time a man of the +world and a man of the other world.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>Penn came out of his exile in 1693 burdened with misfortune. He had been +deprived of his government; he was sadly in debt; he had lost many of +his friends. His colonists in Pennsylvania declined to lend him money. +His brethren in England drew up a confession of wrong-doing for him to +sign: "If in any things during those late revolutions I have concerned +myself either by words or writings, in love, pity or good will to any in +distress [meaning the king] further than consisted with Truth's honor or +the Church's peace, I am sorry for it." But he would not sign. To these +troubles was added a greater grief in the death of his wife. "An +excellent wife and mother," he said of her, "an entire and constant +friend, of a more than common capacity, and greater modesty and +humility; yet most equal and undaunted in danger." A brave soul, no +doubt, as befitted her parentage, and of a devout and consecrated +spirit.</p> + +<p>But William was ever of a serene and cheerful disposition. Neither loss, +nor disappointment, nor bereavement could shut<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> out the sun. His +religious faith strengthened him. "We must needs disorder ourselves," he +had written in his "Fruits of Solitude," "if we only look at our losses. +But if we consider how little we deserve what is left, our passions will +cool, and our murmurs will turn into thankfulness." "Though our +Saviour's passion is over, his compassion is not. That never fails his +humble, sincere disciples; in him they find more than all that they lose +in the world."</p> + +<p>During the six years which followed, this strong confidence was +justified. He regained his government and his good name. He also married +a second wife, Hannah Callowhill, a strong, sensible, and estimable +Quaker lady of some means, living in Bristol.</p> + +<p>The only satisfactory information as to the personal appearance of Penn +in mature life is that which is given by Sylvanus Bevan. Bevan was a +Quaker apothecary in London, who had a remarkable gift for carving +portraits in ivory. After Penn's death, he made such a portrait of him +from memory. The men who had known William liked it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> greatly. Lord +Cobham, to whom Bevan sent it, said, "It is William Penn himself." It +represents him in a curled wig, with full cheeks and a double chin—a +pleasant, masterful, and serious person. Clarkson says that in his +attire he was "very neat, though plain." Penn advised his children to +choose clothes "neither unshapely nor fantastical;" and he illustrated +to King James the difference between the Roman Catholic and the Quaker +religions by the difference between his hat and the king's. "The only +difference," he said, "lies in the ornaments that have been added to +thine." His dress was probably that which was common to gentlemen in his +day, but without extremes of color or adornment. For some time after +becoming a Quaker he wore his sword, having consulted Fox, who said, "I +advise thee to wear it as long as thou canst." Presently Fox, seeing him +without it, said, "William, where is thy sword?" To which Penn replied, +"I have taken thy advice: I wore it as long as I could."</p> + +<p>The sober cheerfulness of Penn's attire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> comported well with his +conversation. It is true that Bishop Burnet, who did not like him, says +that "he had a tedious, luscious way of talking, not apt to overcome a +man's reason, though it might tire his patience." But Dean Swift enjoyed +him, and testified that "he talked very agreeably and with great +spirit." The Friends of Reading Meeting even noted that he was +"facetious in conversation," and there is a tradition of a venerable +Friend who spoke of him "as having naturally an excess of levity of +spirit for a grave minister." A handsome, graceful, and even a merry +gentleman it was who married Hannah Callowhill.</p> + +<p>For a time he devoted himself again to the work of the ministry. He went +about, as in former days, preaching, sometimes in the market-hall, +sometimes in the fields. Once, in Ireland, the bishop sent an officer to +disperse the meeting, complaining that Penn had left him "nobody to +preach to but the mayor, church-wardens, a few of the constables, and +the bare walls."</p> + +<p>His heart, however, was in his province.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> The affairs of Pennsylvania +had been going badly. There had been a hot contention between the +council and the assembly, and another between the province and the +territory. The officials, too, whom Penn had appointed, had quarreled +among themselves. William complained that they were excessively +"governmentish;" meaning that they liked authority and that they took +details very seriously. The situation, however, was inevitably +difficult. In his relation to the king, the governor was a feudal +sovereign; in his relation to the people he was, by Penn's arrangement, +the executive of a democracy. Penn himself reconciled the two positions +by his own tact and unselfishness, as well as by a certain masterfulness +to which those about him instinctively and willingly yielded. He proved +the motto of his book-plate, <i>Dum Clavum Teneam</i>; all went well while he +with his own hands held the helm. But his deputies were not so +competent. The colony fell into two parties, the proprietary and the +popular, representing these two ideas. Then the governor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> whom the king +had appointed during Penn's retirement was a soldier, and his +un-Quakerlike notions as to the right conduct of a colony brought a new +element of confusion into affairs which were already sufficiently +confounded.</p> + +<p>At last, in 1699, it became possible for the founder to make another +visit to his province. He brought his family with him, evidently +intending to stay. Philadelphia was now a city of some seven hundred +houses, and had nearly seven thousand inhabitants. The people were at +that moment in deep depression, having just been visited with a plague +of yellow fever. The pestilence, however, had abated, and Penn was +received with sober rejoicings. He took up his residence in the +"slate-roof house," a modest mansion which stood on the corner of Second +Street and Norris Alley; it was pulled down in 1867.</p> + +<p>Now began a season of good government. The business of piracy had for +some time been merrily carried on by various enterprising persons, some +of whom lived very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> respectably in Philadelphia. William put a stop to +it. The importing of slaves from Africa was at that time considered by +most persons to be a good thing both for the planters and for the +slaves. Already, however, at the Pennsylvania yearly meeting of Friends +in 1688, some who came from Kriesheim, in Germany, had protested against +it,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Who first of all their testimonial gave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Against the oppressor, for the outcast slave."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And, in consequence, though slaves were still imported, they were +humanely treated. Penn interested himself in the improvement of their +condition. He was also concerned in the progress of the prison reforms +which he had proposed in the original establishment of the colony. He +employed a watchman to cry the news, the weather, and the time of day in +the Philadelphia streets. Regarding the Constitution, about which there +had been so much contention, he addressed the council and the assembly +in terms of characteristic friendliness. "Friends," he said, "if in the +Constitution by charter there be anything that jars, alter it. If you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +want a law for this or that, prepare it." He advised them, however, not +to trifle with government, and wished there were no need to have any +government at all. In general, he said, the fewer laws, the better. The +result was a new Constitution. It provided that the council should be +appointed by the governor, and that the assembly should have the right +to originate laws. It was more simple and workable than the previous +legislation, and lasted until the Revolution.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Penn was journeying about the country in his old way, +preaching. At Merion, a small boy of the family where he was +entertained, being much impressed with the great man's looks and speech, +peeped through the latchet-hole of his chamber door, and both saw and +heard him at his prayers. Near Haverford, a small girl, walking along +the country road, was overtaken by the governor, who took her up behind +him on his horse, and so carried her on her way, her bare feet dangling +by the horse's side.</p> + +<p>Clarkson, the chief of the biographers of Penn, who collected these and +other inci<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>dents, gives us a glimpse of him as he appeared at this time +at Quaker meetings. "He was of such humility that he used generally to +sit at the lowest end of the space allotted to ministers, always taking +care to place above himself poor ministers, and those who appeared to +him to be peculiarly gifted." He liked to encourage young men to speak. +When he himself spoke, it was in the simplest words, easy to be +understood, and with many homely illustrations. At the same time, on +state occasions, as the proprietor of Pennsylvania and representative of +the sovereign, he used some ceremony, marching through the Philadelphia +streets to the opening of the assembly with a mace-bearer before him, +and having an officer standing at his gate on audience days, with a long +staff tipped with silver. Acquainted with affairs, and with a knowledge +of the relations between government and human nature drawn from a wide +experience, he knew the distinction, at which some of his Quaker +brethren stumbled, between personal humility and the proper dignity of +official station.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>In the intervals left him by the demands of church and state, he busied +himself with the improvement of his place at Pennsbury. Here he had a +considerable house in the midst of pleasant gardens. He took great +pleasure in personal superintendence of the grounds and buildings, +planting vines and cutting vistas through the trees. "The country is to +be preferred," he wrote in "Fruits of Solitude." "The country is both +the philosopher's garden and library, in which he reads and contemplates +the power, wisdom, and goodness of God." "The knowledge and improvement +of it," he declared, is "man's oldest business and trade, and the best +he can be of."</p> + +<p>Within were silver plate and satin curtains, and embroidered chairs and +couches. The proprietor's bed was covered with a "quilt of white Holland +quilted in green silk by Letitia," his daughter. "Send up," he writes to +James Logan, at Philadelphia, "our great stewpan and cover, and little +soup dish, and two or three pounds of coffee if sold in town, and three +pounds of wicks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> ready for candles." Mrs. Penn asks Logan to provide +"candlesticks, and great candles, some green ones, and pewter and +earthen basins, mops, salts, looking-glass, a piece of dried beef, and a +firkin or two of good butter."</p> + +<p>Penn rode a large white horse, and had a coach, with a black man to +drive it, and a "rattling leathern conveniency," probably smaller, and a +sedan chair for Mrs. Penn. In the river lay the barge, of which William +was so fond that he wrote from England to charge that it be carefully +looked after. Somebody expressed surprise one day when Penn went out in +it against wind and tide. "I have been sailing all my life against wind +and tide," he said.</p> + +<p>Much of the work of the estate was done by slaves. The fact troubled the +proprietor's conscience. He laid it upon his own soul, as he did upon +the souls of his brethren in the colony, "to be very careful in +discharging a good conscience towards them in all respects, but more +especially for the good of their souls, that they might, as frequent as +may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> be, come to meeting on first-days." A special meeting was appointed +for slaves once a month, and their masters were expected to come with +them. Finally, Penn liberated all his slaves. In his will of 1701, "I +give," he says, "to my blacks their freedom, as is under my hand +already, and to old Sam 100 acres, to be his children's after he and his +wife are dead, forever."</p> + +<p>The Pennsbury house had a great hall in the midst, where the governor in +an oak armchair received his neighbors, the Indians. Here they came, in +paint and feathers,—"Connoondaghtoh, king of the Susquehannah Indians; +Wopaththa, king of the Shawanese; Weewinjough, chief of the Ganawese; +and Ahookassong, brother of the emperor of the five nations;" and many +other humbler braves. John Richardson, a Yorkshire Quaker, visited Penn +at Pennsbury and saw them. William gave them match-coats, he says, and +"some other things," including a reasonable supply of rum, which the +chiefs dispensed to the warriors severally in small portions: "So they +came quietly, and in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> solid manner, and took their draws." He did not +smoke, a fact which the Indians must have noted as a curious +eccentricity. Then they made a small fire out of doors, and the men sat +about it in a ring, singing "a very melodious hymn," beating the ground +between the verses with short sticks, and, after a circling dance, +departed. Penn got on most happily with the Indians. The peaceful +Quakers went about unarmed and were never in danger. The only disorderly +folk thereabout were white men.</p> + +<p>In the midst of these rural joys, news came that a movement was on foot +to put an end to proprietary governments, thereby bringing all colonies +under the immediate control of the crown. Penn felt that it was +necessary for him to return to England to block this inconvenient +legislation. On the 28th of October, he assembled the citizens of +Philadelphia, and presented them with a charter for their city. In the +Friends' meeting, he said that he "looked over all infirmities and +outwards, and had an eye to the regions of the spirit, wherein was our +sweetest tie."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> Then, says Norris, "in true love he took his leave of +us." Thus, after two years wherein peace and quietness prevailed over +all misunderstanding and opposition, he set sail in 1701, and never saw +Pennsylvania again.</p> + +<p>His house at Pennsbury fell into ruins,—due in large part to the +leakage of a leaden reservoir on the roof,—and was taken down before +the Revolution. The furniture was gradually dispersed. For some years it +was "deemed a kind of pious stealth," among those who were most loyal to +the proprietor, to carry away something out of the house when they +chanced to visit its empty halls. One gentleman rejoiced in the +possession of the mantelpiece; another had a pair of Penn's plush +breeches.</p> + +<p>William Penn's four years of actual residence gave him all the +satisfaction which he ever got from his colonial possessions. All else +was worry, labor, and expense. The province was a sore financial burden. +As proprietor he was charged with the payment, in large part, of the +expenses of government. The returns from rents and sales were slow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> and +uncertain. The taxes on imports and exports, to which he had a charter +right, he had generously declined. When he asked the assembly, in +remembrance of that liberality, to send him money in his financial +straits, they were not minded to respond. Penn belonged to that high +fraternity of noble souls who do not know how to make bargains. His +impulses were generous to a fault, and he had an invincible confidence +that his neighbors would deal with him in the same spirit. The +consequence was that year by year the expenses grew, and there was but a +slender income. "O Pennsylvania," he cries, "what hast thou cost me? +Above thirty thousand pounds more than I ever got by it; two hazardous +and most fatiguing voyages, my straits and slavery here, and my child's +soul, almost."</p> + +<p>The last allusion is to Guli's son, William, whose dissipation Penn +always attributed to a lack of fatherly care during his first visit to +the province. Penn finally sent the boy to Pennsbury, hoping that the +quiet, the absence of temptation, and the wholesome joys<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> of a country +life, might amend him. But William went from bad to worse, was arrested +in Philadelphia in a tavern brawl, was formally excommunicated by the +Quakers, and came home to England to give his father further pain.</p> + +<p>To the financial burdens of the province were added the difficulties of +government. Penn succeeded very well in keeping his colony,—he defended +his boundaries against Lord Baltimore, and he defeated those who would +have taken away his rule and given it to the king; but the governing of +the colony across three thousand miles of sea was another matter. The +moment he withdrew the restraining influence of his personal presence, +all manner of contentions came into the light of day.</p> + +<p>The question of the prudence of bearing arms was vigorously debated. +James Logan, secretary of the province, and Penn's ablest counselor, +urged the need of military defenses. Conservative Friends opposed it.</p> + +<p>Churchmen had been settling in the province. One of William's oldest +friends,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> George Keith, who had accompanied him on his religious mission +to Holland, had gone into the Episcopal ministry. Logan says, in a +letter to Penn, that "not suffering them to be superior" was accounted +by the churchmen as the equivalent of persecution.</p> + +<p>Colonel Quarry, a judge of the admiralty, appointed by the British +government to enforce the navigation laws in the colony, was responsible +to the Board of Trade in London, and independent of the governor and of +the assembly. He exercised his office of critic and censor to the +annoyance of Penn.</p> + +<p>To these various sources of trouble was added an unending strife between +the governor's deputy and the people. Penn's habit of looking always on +the best side made him a bad judge of men, and the deputies whom he sent +were few of them competent; some were not even respectable. Penn, with +his characteristic invincible blindness, took their part.</p> + +<p>Finally, the disputations, protests, and complaints, with direct attacks +upon Penn's interests, and even upon his character, got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> to such a pass +that he addressed a letter of expostulation to the people. "When it +pleased God to open a way for me to settle that colony," he wrote, "I +had reason to expect a solid comfort from the services done to many +hundreds of people.... But, alas! as to my part, instead of reaping the +like advantages, some of the greatest of my troubles have sprung from +thence. The many combats I have engaged in, the great pains and +incredible expense for your welfare and ease, to the decay of my former +estate ... with the undeserved opposition I have met with from thence, +sink into me with sorrow, that, if not supported by a superior hand, +might have overwhelmed me long ago. And I cannot but think it hard +measure, that, while it has proved a land of freedom and flourishing, it +should become to me, by whose means it was principally made a country, +the cause of grief, trouble, and poverty."</p> + +<p>So heavy was the financial burden, and so vexatious and disheartening +the bickering and ingratitude, that Penn thought seriously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> of selling +his governorship; and it was in the market for several years awaiting a +purchaser. Indeed, in 1712, he had so far perfected a bargain to +transfer his proprietary rights to the crown for £12,000, that nothing +remained to be done save the affixing of his signature. Before his name +was signed, he fell suddenly ill, and the transaction went no farther.</p> + +<p>In the midst of these many troubles, in themselves serious enough, there +came another. Penn's business manager for his estates in England and +Ireland was Philip Ford. For a long time, Ford's payments had been less +and less; Penn was continually complaining that he got so little from +his property. Still, Ford's accounts went without examination, and some +of his financial reports were not so much as opened. William had his +customary confidence in his agent's honesty. At last, when things got so +bad that something had to be done, it appeared by Ford's books that, +instead of Ford's being in debt to Penn, Penn was in debt to him for +more than ten thousand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> pounds. This was the result of long, ingenious, +and unmolested bookkeeping. And Penn had made himself liable by his +careless silence. Then Ford died, and his widow and children claimed +everything which stood in Penn's name. Penn, it appeared, had borrowed +money of Ford, and had given him a mortgage on his Pennsylvania estates +as security. When the loan was paid, the mortgage had not been returned. +Not only did Mrs. Ford retain it, but she sued Penn for three thousand +pounds rent, which was due, she said, from the property of which William +was once owner, but which he now held as tenant of the Fords. So far was +this iniquitous business pursued, that Penn was arrested as he was at a +religious meeting in Gracechurch Street, and was imprisoned for debt in +the Fleet, or its precincts.</p> + +<p>This was the turn in the tide. Everybody disapproved of treatment so +unjust and extortionate. William's friends raised money, and made a +compromise with the Fords, and got him free. In Pennsylvania, too, the +contentions were quieted by a good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> governor. And as the wars came to an +end, trade so increased that the province presently yielded a +substantial income.</p> + +<p>Penn retired to Ruscombe, in Berkshire, in the pleasant country. Here he +had his family about him. He was now a grandfather, his son William +having a son and a daughter. "So that now we are major, minor, and +minimus. I bless the Lord mine are pretty well,—Johnny lively; Tommy a +lovely, large child; and my grandson, Springett, a mere Saracen; his +sister, a beauty." Of his second marriage there were six children, four +of whom—John, Thomas, Margaret, and Richard—became proprietors of +Pennsylvania. Thomas had two sons, John and Granville; Richard had two, +John and Richard. When the proprietary government ended, in 1776, it was +in the hands of the heirs of William Penn.</p> + +<p>In 1711, Penn wrote a preface to John Banks's Journal, dictating it, as +his custom was, walking to and fro with his cane in his hand, thumping +the floor to mark the emphasis. "Now reader," he concludes, "be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>fore I +take leave of thee, let me advise thee to hold thy religion in the +spirit, whether thou prayest, praisest or ministerest to others, ... +which, that all God's people may do, is, and hath long been the earnest +desire and fervent supplication of theirs and thy faithful friend in the +Lord Jesus Christ, <span class="smcap">W. Penn</span>." This is the last word of his writing which +remains.</p> + +<p>The next year he had a paralytic stroke, and another, and another. This +impaired his memory and his mind. Thus he continued for six years, as +happily as was possible under the circumstances. He went often to +meeting, where he frequently spoke, briefly, but with "sound and savory +expressions." He walked about his gardens, saw his friends, and +delighted in the company of his wife and children. Each year left him +weaker than the year before; but his days were filled with serenity. He +was surrounded with all the comforts which a generous income, an +affectionate family, the respect of his neighbors, and the approval of +God, could give him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>"He that lives to live forever," he had written in his "Fruits of +Solitude," "never fears dying. Nor can the means be terrible to him, +that heartily believes the end. For though death be a dark passage, it +leads to immortality; and that is recompense enough for suffering of +it.... And this is the comfort of the good, that the grave cannot hold +them, and that they live as soon as they die."</p> + +<p>Into the fullness of this life he entered on the 30th of July, 1718, +being seventy-four years old.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> + + +<p>The chief authorities for facts concerning William Penn are—</p> + +<ol> +<li>The Select Works of William Penn (London, 1726; 3d edition, +1782; 5 vols). Whereof, The Trial of William Penn and William Mead +(vol i.), Travels in Holland and Germany (vol. iii.), and A General +Description of Pennsylvania (vol. iv.) contain autobiographical +matter. Some Fruits of Solitude and Penn's Advice to his Children +(vol. v.) are similarly valuable.</li> +<li> The Life of Penn prefixed to his Works, by Joseph Besse, a +Quaker contemporary (1726).</li> +<li>Memoirs of the Private and Public Life of William Penn, by +Thomas Clarkson (London, 1813).</li> +<li>The Pennsylvania Historical Society Memoirs (vols. i., ii., +iii.). Also the Correspondence between William Penn and James +Logan, edited for this Society, by Edward Armstrong.</li> +<li>The Penns and the Penningtons, by Maria Webb (London, 1867), +containing family letters.</li> +<li>Recent biographies of Penn: by William Hepworth Dixon (1851), by +Samuel M. Janney (1852), by John Stoughton (1882), by Sydney George +Fisher (1900).</li> +</ol> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="fm3">The Riverside Press</p> +<p class="fm4"><i>Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.</i></p> +<p class="fm4"><i>Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="transnote"> +<h3>Transcriber's note<a name="tnotes" id="tnotes"></a></h3> + +<p> +The following changes have been made to the text:</p> + +<p>Page 23: "seventeeenth" changed to +"<a name="cn1" id="cn1"></a><a href="#corr1">seventeenth</a>".</p> + +<p>Page 42: "Quaker brethen" changed to "Quaker +<a name="cn2" id="cn2"></a><a href="#corr2">brethren</a>".</p> + +<p>Page 49: "died when he" changed to "died when +<a name="cn3" id="cn3"></a><a href="#corr3">she</a>".</p> + +<p>Page 57: "serious inprisonment" changed to "serious +<a name="cn4" id="cn4"></a><a href="#corr4">imprisonment</a>".</p> + +<p>Page 62: "body prevented" changed to "body prevented +<a name="cn5" id="cn5"></a><a href="#corr5">it</a>".</p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of William Penn, by George Hodges + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM PENN *** + +***** This file should be named 28394-h.htm or 28394-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/9/28394/ + +Produced by Carla Foust and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/28394-h/images/i006a.jpg b/28394-h/images/i006a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd1b003 --- /dev/null +++ b/28394-h/images/i006a.jpg diff --git a/28394-h/images/i006b.jpg b/28394-h/images/i006b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6c4f58 --- /dev/null +++ b/28394-h/images/i006b.jpg diff --git a/28394-h/images/i007.jpg b/28394-h/images/i007.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..57be6de --- /dev/null +++ b/28394-h/images/i007.jpg diff --git a/28394.txt b/28394.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..50957c2 --- /dev/null +++ b/28394.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2883 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of William Penn, by George Hodges + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: William Penn + +Author: George Hodges + +Release Date: March 24, 2009 [EBook #28394] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM PENN *** + + + + +Produced by Carla Foust and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +Transcriber's note + + +Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Printer +errors have been changed and are listed at the end. + + + + +The Riverside Biographical Series + + ANDREW JACKSON, by W. G. BROWN + JAMES B. EADS, by LOUIS HOW + BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, by PAUL E. MORE + PETER COOPER, by R. W. RAYMOND + THOMAS JEFFERSON, by H. C. MERWIN + WILLIAM PENN, by GEORGE HODGES + GENERAL GRANT. (_In preparation_) + LEWIS AND CLARK, by WILLIAM R. LIGHTON. (_In preparation_) + +Each about 100 pages, 16mo, with photogravure portrait, 75 cents; +_School Edition_, 50 cents, _net_ + + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. + BOSTON AND NEW YORK + + + + +The Riverside Biographical Series + +NUMBER 6 + +WILLIAM PENN + +BY + +GEORGE HODGES + +[Illustration:] + + + + + WILLIAM PENN + + BY + + GEORGE HODGES + + [Illustration] + + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY + + Boston: 4 Park Street; New York: 11 East Seventeenth Street + Chicago: 378-388 Wabash Avenue + + The Riverside Press, Cambridge + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY GEORGE HODGES + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + + I. A PURITAN BOYHOOD: WANSTEAD CHURCH AND CHIGWELL SCHOOL 1 + + II. AT OXFORD: INFLUENCE OF THOMAS LOE 8 + + III. IN FRANCE AND IRELAND: THE WORLD AND THE OTHER WORLD 22 + + IV. PENN BECOMES A QUAKER: PERSECUTION AND CONTROVERSY 33 + + V. THE BEGINNING OF PENN'S POLITICAL LIFE: THE HOLY + EXPERIMENT 53 + + VI. THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA: PENN'S FIRST VISIT TO THE + PROVINCE 68 + + VII. AT THE COURT OF JAMES THE SECOND, AND "IN RETIREMENT" 93 + + VIII. PENN'S SECOND VISIT TO THE PROVINCE: CLOSING YEARS 113 + + + + +WILLIAM PENN + + + + +I + +A PURITAN BOYHOOD: WANSTEAD CHURCH AND CHIGWELL SCHOOL + + +The mother of William Penn came from Rotterdam, in Holland. She was the +daughter of John Jasper, a merchant of that city. The lively Mr. Pepys, +who met her in 1664, when William was twenty years of age, describes her +as a "fat, short, old Dutchwoman," and says that she was "mighty +homely." He records a tattling neighbor's gossip that she was not a good +housekeeper. He credits her, however, with having more wit and +discretion than her husband, and liked her better as his acquaintance +with her progressed. That she was of a cheerful disposition is evidenced +by many passages of Pepys's Diary. That is all we know about her. + +William's father was an ambitious, successful, and important person. He +was twenty-two years old, and already a captain in the navy, when he +married Margaret Jasper. The year after his marriage he was made +rear-admiral of Ireland; two years after that, admiral of the Straits; +in four years more, vice-admiral of England; and the next year, a +"general of the sea" in the Dutch war. This was in Cromwell's time, when +the naval strength of England was being mightily increased. A young man +of energy and ability, acquainted with the sea, was easily in the line +of promotion. + +The family was ancient and respectable. Penn's father, however, began +life with little money or education, and few social advantages. Lord +Clarendon observed of him that he "had a great mind to appear better +bred, and to speak like a gentleman," implying that he found some +difficulty in so doing. Clarendon said, also, that he "had many good +words which he used at adventure." + +The Penns lived on Tower Hill, in the Parish of St. Catherine's, in a +court adjoining London Wall. There they resided in "two chambers, one +above another," and fared frugally. There William was born on the 14th +of October, 1644. + +Marston Moor was fought in that year, and all England was taking sides +in the contention between the Parliament and the king. The navy was in +sympathy with the Parliament; and the young officer, though his personal +inclinations were towards the king, went with his associates. But in +1654 he appears to have lost faith in the Commonwealth. Cromwell sent an +expedition to seize the Spanish West Indies. He put Penn in charge of +the fleet, and made Venables general of the army. The two commanders, +without conference one with the other, sent secret word to Charles II., +then in exile on the Continent, and offered him their ships and +soldiers. This transaction, though it seemed for the moment to be of +none effect, resulted years afterward in the erection of the Colony of +Pennsylvania. Charles declined the offer; "he wished them to reserve +their affections for his Majesty till a more proper season to discover +them;" but he never forgot it. It was the beginning of a friendship +between the House of Stuart and the family of Penn, which William Penn +inherited. + +The expedition captured Jamaica, and made it a British colony; but in +its other undertakings it failed miserably; and the admiral, on his +return, was dismissed from the navy and committed to the Tower. + +About that same time, the admiral's young son, being then in the twelfth +year of his age, beheld a vision. His mother had removed with him to the +village of Wanstead, in Essex. Here, as he was alone in his chamber, "he +was suddenly surprised with an inward comfort, and, as he thought, an +external glory in his room, which gave rise to religious emotions, +during which he had the strongest conviction of the being of a God, and +that the soul of man was capable of enjoying communication with him. He +believed, also, that the seal of Divinity had been put upon him at this +moment, or that he had been awakened or called upon to a holy life." + +While William Penn the elder had been going from promotion to promotion, +sailing the high seas, and fighting battles with the enemies of England, +William Penn the younger had been living with all possible quietness in +the green country, saying his prayers in Wanstead Church, and learning +his lessons in Chigwell School. + +Wanstead Church was devotedly Puritan. The chief citizens had signed a +protest against any "Popish innovations," and had agreed to punish every +offender against "the true reformed Protestant religion." + +The founder of Chigwell School had prescribed in his deed of gift that +the master should be "a good Poet, of a sound religion, neither Papal +nor Puritan; of a good behaviour; of a sober and honest conversation; no +tippler nor haunter of alehouses, no puffer of tobacco; and, above all, +apt to teach and severe in his government." Here William studied Lilly's +Latin and Cleonard's Greek Grammar, together with "cyphering and +casting-up accounts," being a good scholar, we may guess, in the +classics, but encountering the master's "severe government" in his sums. +Chigwell was as Puritan a place as Wanstead. About the time of William's +going thither, the vicar had been ejected on petition from the +parishioners, who complained that he had an altar before which he bowed +and cringed, and which he had been known to kiss "twice in one day." + +It is plain that religion made up a large, interesting, and important +part of life in these villages in which William Penn was getting his +first impressions of the world. All about were great forests, whose +shadows invited him to seclusion and meditation. All the news was of +great battles, most of them fought in a religious cause, which even a +lad could appreciate, and towards which he would readily take an +attitude of stout partisanship. The boy was deeply affected by these +surroundings. "I was bred a Protestant," he said long afterwards, "and +that strictly, too." Trained as he was in Puritan habits of +introspection, he listened for the voice of God, and heard it. Thus the +tone of his life was set. There were moments in his youth when "the +world," as the phrase is, attracted him; there were times in his great +career when he seemed, and perhaps was, disobedient to this heavenly +vision; but, looking back from the end of his life to this beginning, +"as a tale that is told," it is seen to be lived throughout in the light +of the glory which shone in his room at Wanstead. William Penn from that +hour was a markedly religious man. Thereafter, nothing was so manifest +or eminent about him as his religion. + + + + +II + +AT OXFORD: INFLUENCE OF THOMAS LOE + + +On the 22d of April, 1661, we get another glimpse of William. + +Mr Pepys, having risen early on the morning of that day, and put on his +velvet coat, and made himself, as he says, as fine as he could, repaired +to Mr. Young's, the flag-maker, in Cornhill, to view the procession +wherein the king should ride through London. There he found "Sir W. Pen +and his son, with several others." "We had a good room to ourselves," he +says, "with wine and good cake, and saw the show very well." The streets +were new graveled, and the fronts of the houses hung with carpets, with +ladies looking out of all the windows; and "so glorious was the show +with gold and silver, that we were not able to look at it, our eyes at +last being so overcome." + +This was a glory very different from that which the lad had seen, five +or six years before, in his room. The world was here presenting its +attractions in competition with the "other world" of the earlier vision. +The contrast is a symbol of the contention between the two ideals, into +which William was immediately to enter. + +The king and the Duke of York had looked up as they passed the +flag-maker's, and had recognized the admiral. He had gone to Ireland, +upon his release from the Tower, and had there resided in retirement +upon an estate which his father had owned before him. Thence returning, +as the Restoration became more and more a probability, he had secured a +seat in Parliament, and had been a bearer of the welcome message which +had finally brought Charles from his exile in Holland to his throne in +England. For his part in this pleasant errand, he had been knighted and +made Commissioner of Admiralty and Governor of Kinsale. Thus his +ambitions were being happily attained. He had retrieved and improved his +fortunes, and had become an associate with persons of rank and a +favorite with royalty. + +He had immediately sent his son to Oxford. William had been entered as a +gentleman-commoner of Christ Church, at the beginning of the Michaelmas +term of 1660. It was clearly the paternal intention that the boy should +become a successful man of the world and courtier, like his father. + +Sir William, however, had not reflected that while he had been pursuing +his career of calculating ambition and seeking the pleasure of princes, +his son had been living amongst Puritans in a Puritan neighborhood. +Young Penn went up to Oxford to find all things in confusion. The +Puritans had been put out of their places, and the Churchmen were +entering in. It is likely that this, of itself, displeased the new +student, whose sympathies were with the dispossessed. The Churchmen, +moreover, brought their cavalier habits with them. In the reaction from +the severity which they had just escaped, they did many objectionable +things, not only for the pleasure of doing them, but for the added joy +of shocking their Puritan neighbors. They amused themselves freely on +the Lord's day; they patronized games and plays; and they tippled and +"puffed tobacco," and swore and swaggered in all the newest fashions. +William was the son of his father in appreciation of pleasant and +abundant living. But he was not of a disposition to enter into this +wanton and audacious merry-making,--a gentle, serious country lad, with +a Puritan conscience. + +Moreover, at this moment, in the face of any possible temptation, +William's sober tastes and devout resolutions were strengthened by +certain appealing sermons. Here it was at Oxford, the nursery of +enthusiasms and holy causes, that he received the impulse which +determined all his after life. He spent but a scant two years in +college; and the work of the lecture rooms must have suffered seriously +during that time from the contention and confusion of the changes then +in progress; so that academically the college could not have greatly +profited him. The profit came in the influence of Thomas Loe. Loe was a +Quaker. + +The origin of the name "Quaker" is uncertain. It is derived by some +from the fact that the early preachers of the sect trembled as they +spoke; others deduce it from the trembling which their speech compelled +in those who heard it. By either derivation, it indicates the earnest +spirit of that strange people who, in the seventeenth century, were +annoying and displeasing all their neighbors. + +George Fox, the first Quaker, was a cobbler; and the first Quaker dress +was the leather coat and breeches which he made for himself with his own +tools. Thereafter he was independent both of fashions and of tailors. +Cobbler though he was, and so slenderly educated that he did not express +himself grammatically, Fox was nevertheless a prophet, according to the +order of Amos, the herdman of Tekoa. He looked out into the England of +his day with the keenest eyes of any man of the times, and remarked upon +what he saw with the most honest and candid speech. A man of the plain +people, like most of the prophets and apostles, the offenses which +chiefly attracted his attention were such as the plain people naturally +see. + +Out of the windows of his cobbler's shop, Fox beheld with righteous +indignation the extravagant and insincere courtesies of the gentlefolk, +and heard their exaggerated phrases of compliment. In protest against +the unmeaning courtesies, he wore his hat in the presence of no matter +whom, taking it off only in time of prayer. In protest against the +unmeaning compliments, he addressed no man by any artificial title, +calling all his neighbors, without distinction of persons, by their +Christian names; and for the plural pronoun "you," the plural of dignity +and flattery, he substituted "thee" and "thou." + +The same literalness appeared in his selection of "Swear not at all" as +one of the cardinal commandments, and in his application of it to the +oaths of the court and of the state. The Sermon on the Mount has in all +ages been considered difficult to enact in common life, but it would +have been hard to find any sentence in it which in the days of Fox and +Penn, with their interpretation, would have brought upon a conscientious +person a heavier burden of inconvenience. Not only did it make the +Quakers guilty of contempt of court and thus initially at fault in all +legal business, but it exposed them to a natural suspicion of disloyalty +to the government. It was a time of political change, first the +Commonwealth, then Charles, then James, then William; and every change +signified the supremacy of a new idea in religion, Puritan, Anglican, +Roman Catholic, and Protestant. Every new ruler demanded a new oath of +allegiance; and as plots and conspiracies were multiplied, the oath was +required again and again; so that England was like an unruly school, +whose master is continually calling upon the pupils to declare whether +or no they are guilty of this or that offense. The Quakers were +forbidden by their doctrine of the oath to make answer in the form which +the state required. And they suffered for this scruple as men have +suffered for the maintenance of eternal principles. + +To the social eccentricity of the irremoveable hat and the singular +pronoun, and to the civil eccentricity of the refused oath, George Fox +and his disciples added a series of protests against the most venerable +customs of Christianity. They did away with all the forms and ceremonies +of Churchman and of Puritan alike. Not even baptism, not even the Lord's +Supper remained. Their service was a silent meeting, whose solemn +stillness was broken, if at all, by the voice of one who was sensibly +"moved" by the Spirit of God. They discarded all orders of the ministry. +They refused alike all creeds and all confessions. + +Not content with thus abandoning most that their contemporaries valued +among the institutions of religion, the Quakers made themselves +obtrusively obnoxious. They argued and exhorted, in season and out of +season; they printed endless pages of eager and violent controversy; +they went into churches and interrupted services and sermons. + +Amongst these various denials there were two positive assertions. One +was the doctrine of the return to primitive Christianity; the other was +the doctrine of the inward light. Let us get back, they said, to those +blessed centuries when the teaching of the Apostles was remembered, and +the fellowship of the Apostles was faithfully kept,--when Justin Martyr +and Irenaeus and Ignatius and the other holy fathers lived. And let us +listen to the inner voice; let us live in the illumination of the light +which lighteth every man, and attend to the counsels of that Holy Spirit +whose ministrations did not cease with the departure of the last +Apostle. God, they believed, spoke to them directly, and told them what +to do. + +George Fox, in 1656, had brought this teaching to Oxford; and among the +company of Quakers which had thus been gathered under the eaves of the +university, Thomas Loe had become a "public Friend," or, as would +commonly be said, a minister. When William Penn entered Christ Church +College, Loe was probably in the town jail. It is at least certain that +he was imprisoned there, with forty other Quakers, sometime in 1660. + +To Loe's preaching many of the students listened with attention. It is +easy to see how his doctrines would appeal to young manhood. The fact +that they were forbidden would attract some, and that the man who +preached thus had suffered for his faith would attract others. Their +emphasis upon entire sincerity and consistency in word and deed would +commend them to honest souls, while the exaltation of the inward light +would move then, as in all ages, the idealists, the poets, the +enthusiasts among them. William Penn knew what the inward light was. He +had seen it shining so that it filled all the room where he was sitting. +Accordingly, he not only went to hear Loe speak but was profoundly +impressed by what he heard. + +If Penn was naturally a religious person,--by inheritance, perhaps, from +his mother,--he was also naturally of a political mind, by inheritance +from his father. What Loe said touched both sides of this inheritance. +For the Quakers had already begun to dream of a colony across the sea. +The Churchmen had such a colony in Virginia; the Puritans had one in +Massachusetts; somewhere else in that untilled continent there must be a +place for those who in England could expect no peace from either +Puritan or Churchman. Not only had they planned to have sometime a +country of their own, but they had already located it. They had chosen +the lands which lay behind the Jerseys. While Loe was preaching and Penn +was listening, Fox was writing to Josiah Cole, a Quaker who was then in +America, asking him to confer with the chiefs of the Susquehanna +Indians. This plan Loe revealed to his student congregation. It appealed +to Penn. He had an instinctive appreciation of large ideas, and an +imagination and confidence which made him eager to undertake their +execution. It was in his blood. It was the spirit which had carried his +father from a lieutenancy in the navy to the position of an honored and +influential member of the court. "I had an opening of joy as to these +parts," he says, meaning Pennsylvania, "in 1661, at Oxford." + +This meeting with Loe was therefore a crisis in Penn's life. William +Penn will always be remembered as a leader among the early Quakers, and +as the founder of a commonwealth. He first became acquainted with the +Quakers, and first conceived the idea of founding at Oxford, or +assisting to found, a commonwealth, by the preaching of Thomas Loe. + +It is a curious fact that the spirit of protest will often pass by +serious offenses and fasten upon some apparently slight occasion which +has rather a symbolical than an actual importance. William Penn, so far +as we know, endured the disorders of anti-Puritan Oxford without +protest. He entered so far into the life of the place as to contribute, +with other students, to a series of Latin elegies upon the death of the +Duke of Gloucester; and he "delighted," Anthony Wood tells us, "in manly +sports at times of recreation." It is true that he may have written to +his father to take him away, for Mr. Pepys records in his journal, under +date of Jan. 25, 1662, "Sir W. Pen came to me, and did break a business +to me about removing his son from Oxford to Cambridge, to some private +college." But nothing came of it. William is said, indeed, to have +absented himself rather often from the college prayers, and to have +joined with other students whom the Quaker preaching had affected in +holding prayer-meetings in their own rooms. But all went fairly well +until an order was issued requiring the students, according to the +ancient custom, to wear surplices in chapel. Then the young Puritan +arose, and assisted in a ritual rebellion. He and his friends "fell upon +those students who appeared in surplices, and he and they together tore +them everywhere over their heads." Not content with thus seizing and +rending the obnoxious vestments, they proceeded further to thrust the +white gowns into the nearest cesspool, into whose depths they poked them +with long sticks. + +This incident ended William's course at college. It is doubtful whether +he was expelled or only suspended. He was dismissed, and never returned. +Eight years after, chancing to pass through Oxford, and learning that +Quaker students were still subjected to the rigors of academic +discipline, he wrote a letter to the vice-chancellor. It probably +expresses the sentiments with which as an undergraduate he had regarded +the university authorities: "Shall the multiplied oppressions which thou +continuest to heap upon innocent English people for their religion pass +unregarded by the Eternal God? Dost thou think to escape his fierce +wrath and dreadful vengeance for thy ungodly and illegal persecution of +his poor children? I tell thee, no. Better were it for thee thou hadst +never been born." And so on, in the controversial dialect of the time, +calling the vice-chancellor a "poor mushroom," and abusing him +generally. Elsewhere, in a retrospect which I shall presently quote at +length, he refers to his university experiences: "Of my persecution at +Oxford, and how the Lord sustained me in the midst of that hellish +darkness and debauchery; of my being banished the college." + + + + +III + +IN FRANCE AND IRELAND: THE WORLD AND THE OTHER WORLD + + +In his retrospect of his early life, Penn notes what immediately +followed his departure from the university: "The bitter usage I +underwent when I returned to my father,--whipping, beating, and turning +out of doors in 1662." + +The admiral was thoroughly angry. He was at best but imperfectly +acquainted with his son, of whom in his busy life he had seen but +little, and was therefore unprepared for such extraordinary conduct. He +was by no means a religious person. For the spiritual, or even the +ecclesiastical, aspects of the matter, he cared nothing. But he had, as +Clarendon perceived, a strong desire to be well thought of by those who +composed the good society of the day. He expected the members of his +family to deport themselves as befitted such society. And here was +William, whom he had carefully sent to a college where he would +naturally consort with the sons of titled families, taking up with a +religious movement which would bring him into the company of cobblers +and tinkers. It is said, indeed, that Robert Spencer, afterwards Earl of +Sunderland, helped William destroy the surplices. But this is denied; +and even if it were true, it would be plain, from Spencer's after +career, that he did it not for the principle, but for the fun of the +thing. William was in the most sober earnest. Accordingly, the admiral +turned his son out of doors. + +The boy came back, of course. Beating and turning out of doors were not +such serious events in the seventeenth century as they would be at +present. Most men said more, and in louder voices, and meant less. It +was but a brief quarrel, and father and son made it up as best they +could. It was plain, however, that something must be done. Whipping +would not avail. William's head was full of queer notions, upon which a +stick had no effect. His father bethought himself of the pleasant +diversions of France. The lad, he said, has lived in the country all his +days, and has had no acquaintance with the merry world; he shall go +abroad, that he may see life, and learn to behave like a gentleman; let +us see if this will not cure him of his pious follies. + +Accordingly, to France the young man went, and traveled in company with +certain persons of rank. He stayed more than a year, and enjoyed himself +greatly. He was at the age when all the world is new and interesting; +and being of attractive appearance and high spirits, with plenty of +money, the world gave him a cordial welcome. So far did he venture into +the customs of the country, that he had a fight one night in a Paris +street with somebody who crossed swords with him, and disarmed his +antagonist. He had a right, according to the rules, to kill him, but he +declined to do so. When he came home, he pleased his father much by his +graceful behavior and elegant attire. "This day," says Mr. Pepys in his +diary for August 26, 1664, "my wife tells me that Mr. Pen, Sir William's +son, is come back from France, and came to visit her. A most modish +person grown, she says, a fine gentleman." Pepys thinks that he is even +a bit too French in his manner and conversation. + +"I remember your honour very well," writes a correspondent years after, +"when you came newly out of France, and wore pantaloon breeches." + +This journey affected Penn all the rest of his life. It restrained him +from following the absurder singularities of his associates. George +Fox's leather suit he would have found impossible. He wore his hat in +the Quaker way, and said "thee" and "thou," but otherwise he appears to +have dressed and acted according to the conventions of polite society. +He did, indeed, become a Quaker; but there were always Quakers who +looked askance at him because he was so different from them, able to +speak French and acquainted with the manners of drawing-rooms. + +In two respects, however, his visit to France differed from that of some +of his companions in travel. There were places to which they went +without him; and there were places to which he went without them. He +kept himself from the grosser temptations of the country. "You have been +as bad as other folks," said Sir John Robinson when Penn was on trial +for preaching in the street. + +"When," cried Penn, "and where? I charge thee tell the company to my +face." + +"Abroad," said Robinson, "and at home, too." + +"I make this bold challenge," answered Penn, "to all men, women and +children upon earth, justly to accuse me with ever having seen me drunk, +heard me swear, utter a curse, or speak one obscene word (much less that +I ever made it my practice). I speak this to God's glory, that has ever +preserved me from the power of those pollutions, and that from a child +begot an hatred in me towards them." + +He went away alone for some months to the Protestant college of Saumur, +where he devoted himself to a study of that primitive Christianity in +which, as Loe had told him, was to be found the true ideal of the +Christian Church. Here he acquired an acquaintance with the writings of +the early Fathers, from whom he liked to quote. + +Thus he returned to England in 1664, attired in French pantaloon +breeches, and with little French affectations in his manner, but without +vices, and with a smattering of patristic learning. He was sent by his +father to study law at Lincoln's Inn. He was to be a courtier, and in +that position it would be both becoming and convenient to have some +knowledge of the law. Thus he settled down among the lawyers, and it +seemed for the moment as if his father had succeeded in his purpose. It +seemed as if the world had effectually obscured the other world. + +There are two letters, written about this time from William to his +father, which show a pleasant mixture of piety with a lively interest in +the life about him. He has been at sea for a few days with the admiral, +and returns with dispatches to the king. "I bless God," he writes, "my +heart does not in any way fail, but firmly believe that if God has +called you out to battle, he will cover your head in that smoky day." He +hastened on his errand, he says, to Whitehall, and arrived before the +king was up; but his Majesty, learning that there was news, "earnestly +skipping out of bed, came only in his gown and slippers; who, when he +saw me, said, 'Oh! is't you? How is Sir William?'" + +That was in May. Within a week the plague came. On the 7th of June, +1665, Mr. Pepys makes this ominous entry: "This day," he says, "much +against my will, I did in Drury Lane see two or three houses marked with +a red cross upon the doors, and 'Lord, have mercy,' written there; which +was a sad sight to me, being the first of the kind that, to my +remembrance, I ever saw." Day by day the pestilence increased, and +presently there was no more studying at Lincoln's Inn. Young Penn went +for safety into the clean country. There, among the green fields, in the +enforced leisure, with time to think, and the most sobering things to +think about, his old seriousness returned. The change was so marked that +his father, feeling that it were well to renew the pleasant friendship +with the world which had begun in France, sent him over to Ireland. + +At Dublin, the Duke of Ormond, the Lord Lieutenant, was keeping a merry +court. William entered heartily into its pleasures. He resided upon his +father's estates, at Shannagarry Castle. He so distinguished himself in +the suppression of a mutiny that Ormond offered him a commission in the +army, and William was disposed to accept it. He had his portrait +painted, clad in steel, with lace at his throat. His dark hair is parted +in the middle, and hangs in cavalier fashion over his shoulders. He +looks out of large, clear, questioning eyes; and his handsome face is +strong and serious. + +But the young cavalier went one day to Cork upon some business, and +there heard that Thomas Loe was in town, and that he was to preach. Penn +went to hear him, and again the spoken word was critical and decisive. +"There is a faith," said the preacher, "which overcomes the world, and +there is a faith which is overcome by the world." Such was the theme, +and it seemed to Penn as if every word were spoken out of heaven +straight to his own soul. In the long contention which had been going on +within him between the world and the other world, the world had been +getting the mastery. The attractions of a martial life had shone more +brightly than the light which had flamed about him in his boyhood. Then +Loe spoke, and thenceforth there was no more perplexity. Penn's choice +was definitely made. + +In his account of his travels in Holland and Germany, written some ten +years after this crisis, Penn recurs to it in an address from which I +have already quoted. He was speaking in Wiemart, at a meeting in the +mansion-house of the Somerdykes, and was illustrating his exhortations +from his own experience. He passed in rapid review the incidents of his +early life which we have recounted. "Here I began to let them know," he +says, "how and where the Lord first appeared unto me, which was about +the twelfth year of my age, in 1656; how at times, betwixt that and the +fifteenth, the Lord visited me, and the divine impressions he gave me of +himself." Then the banishment from Oxford, and his father's turning him +out of doors. "Of the Lord's dealings with me in France, and in the time +of the great plague in London, in fine, the deep sense he gave me of the +vanity of this world, of the deep irreligiousness of the religions of +it; then of my mournful and bitter cries to him that he would show me +his own way of life and salvation, and my resolution to follow him, +whatever reproaches or sufferings should attend me, and that with great +reverence and tenderness of spirit; how, after all this, the glory of +the world overtook me, and I was even ready to give myself up unto it, +seeing as yet no such thing as the 'primitive spirit and church' upon +earth, and being ready to faint concerning my 'hope of the restitution +of all things.' It was at this time that the Lord visited me with a +certain sound and testimony of his eternal word, through one of them the +world calls Quakers, namely, Thomas Loe." + +Struggling, as Penn was, against continual temptations to abandon his +high ideal, getting no help from his parents, who were displeased at +him, nor from the clergy, whose "invectiveness and cruelty" he +remembers, nor from his companions, who made themselves strange to him; +bearing meanwhile "that great cross of resisting and watching against +mine own inward vain affections and thoughts," the only voice of help +and strength was that of Thomas Loe. Seeking for the "primitive spirit +and church upon earth," he found it in the sect which Loe represented. +His mind was now resolved. He, too, would be a Quaker. + + + + +IV + +PENN BECOMES A QUAKER: PERSECUTION AND CONTROVERSY + + +William now began to attend Quaker meetings, though he was still dressed +in the gay fashions which he had learned in France. His sincerity was +soon tested. A proclamation made against Fifth Monarchy men was so +enforced as to affect Quakers. A meeting at which Penn was present was +broken in upon by constables, backed with soldiers, who "rudely and +arbitrarily" required every man's appearance before the mayor. Among +others, they "violently haled" Penn. From jail he wrote to the Earl of +Orrery, Lord President of Munster, making a stout protest. It was his +first public utterance. "Diversities of faith and conduct," he argued, +"contribute not to the disturbance of any place, where moral conformity +is barely requisite to preserve the peace." He reminded his lordship +that he himself had not long since "concluded no way so effectual to +improve or advantage this country as to dispense with freedom [i. e. to +act freely] in all things pertaining to conscience." + +Penn wrote so much during his long life that his selected works make +five large volumes. Many of these pages are devoted to the statement of +Quaker theology; some are occupied with descriptions of his colonial +possessions; some are given to counsels and conclusions drawn from +experience and dealing with human life in general; but there is one idea +which continually recurs,--sometimes made the subject of a thesis, +sometimes entering by the way,--and that is the popular right of liberty +of conscience. It was for this that he worked, and chiefly lived, most +of his life. Here it is set forth with all clearness in the first public +word which he wrote. + +William's letter opened the jail doors. It is likely, however, that the +signature was more influential than the epistle; for his Quaker +associates seem not to have come out with him. The fact which probably +weighed most with the Lord President was that Penn was the son of his +father the admiral, and the protege of Ormond. His father called him +home. It was on the 3d of September that William was arrested; on the +29th of December, being the Lord's day, Mrs. Turner calls upon Mr. and +Mrs. Pepys for an evening of cheerful conversation, "and there, among +other talk, she tells me that Mr. William Pen, who has lately come over +from Ireland, is a Quaker again, or some very melancholy thing; that he +cares for no company, nor comes into any." + +Admiral Penn was sorely disappointed. Neither France nor Ireland had +availed to wean his son from his religious eccentricities. Into the +pleasant society where his father had hoped to see him shine, he +declined to enter. He said "thee" and "thou," and wore his hat. +Especially upon these points of manners, the young man and his father +held long discussions. The admiral insisted that William should refrain +from making himself socially ridiculous; though even here he was +willing to make a reasonable compromise. "You may 'thee' and 'thou' whom +you please," he said, "except the king, the Duke of York, and myself." +But the young convert declined to make any exceptions. + +Thereupon, for the second time, the admiral thrust his son out of the +house. The Quakers received him. He was thenceforth accounted among them +as a teacher, a leader: in their phrase, a "public Friend." This was in +1668, when he was twenty-four years old. + +The work of a Quaker minister, at that time, was made interesting and +difficult not only by the social and ecclesiastical prejudices against +which he must go, but by certain laws which limited free speech and free +action. The young preacher speedily made himself obnoxious to both these +kinds of laws. Of the three years which followed, he spent more than a +third of the time in prison, being once confined for saying, and twice +for doing, what the laws forbade. + +The religious world was filled with controversy. There were discussions +in the meeting-houses; and a constant stream of pamphlets came from the +press, part argument and part abuse. Even mild-mannered men called each +other names. The Quakers found it necessary to join in this rough +give-and-take, and Penn entered at once into this vigorous exercise. He +began a long series of like documents with a tract entitled "Truth +Exalted." The intent of it was to show that Roman Catholics, Churchmen, +and Puritans alike were all shamefully in error, wandering in the +blackness of darkness, given over to idle superstition, and being of a +character to correspond with their fond beliefs; meanwhile, the Quakers +were the only people then resident in Christendom whose creed was +absolutely true and their lives consistent with it. + +"Come," he says, "answer me first, you Papists, where did the Scriptures +enjoin baby-baptism, churching of women, marrying by priests, holy water +to frighten the devil? Come now, you that are called Protestants, and +first those who are called Episcopalians, where do the Scriptures own +such persecutors, false prophets, tithemongers, deniers of revelations, +opposers of perfection, men-pleasers, time-servers, unprofitable +teachers?" The Separatists are similarly cudgeled: they are "groveling +in beggarly elements, imitations, and shadows of heavenly things." + +Presently, a Presbyterian minister named Vincent attacked Quakerism. +Joseph Besse, Penn's earliest biographer, says that Vincent was +"transported with fiery zeal;" which, as he remarks in parenthesis, is +"a thing fertile of ill language." Penn challenged him to a public +debate; and, this not giving the Quaker champion an opportunity to say +all that was in his mind, he wrote a pamphlet, called "The Sandy +Foundation Shaken." The full title was much longer than this, in the +manner of the time, and announced the author's purpose to refute three +"generally believed and applauded doctrines: first, of one God, +subsisting in three distinct and separate persons; second, of the +impossibility of divine pardon without the making of a complete +satisfaction; and third, of the justification of impure persons by an +imputed righteousness." + +Penn's handling of the doctrine of the Trinity in this treatise gave +much offense. He had taken the position of his fellow-religionists, that +the learning of the schools was a hindrance to religion. He sought to +divest the great statements of the creed from the subtleties of mediaeval +philosophy. He purposed to return to the Scripture itself, back of all +councils and formulas. Asserting, accordingly, the being and unity of +Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, he so refused all the conventional phrases +of the theologians as to seem to them to reject the doctrine of the +Trinity itself. He did deny "the trinity of distinct and separate +persons in the unity of essence." If the word "person" has one meaning, +Penn was right; if it has another meaning, he was wrong. If a "person" +is an individual, then the assertion is that there are three Gods; but +if the word signifies a distinction in the divine nature, then the unity +of God remains. As so often happens in doctrinal contention, he and his +critics used the same words with different definitions. The consequence +was that the bishop of London had him put in prison. He was restrained +for seven months in the Tower. + +The English prison of the seventeenth century was a place of disease of +body and misery of mind. Penn was kept in close confinement, and the +bishop sent him word that he must either recant or die a prisoner. "I +told him," says Penn, "that the Tower was the worst argument in the +world to convince me; for whoever was in the wrong, those who used force +for religion could never be in the right." He declared that his prison +should be his grave before he would budge a jot. Thus six months passed. + +But the situation was intolerable. It is sometimes necessary to die for +a difference of opinion, but it is not advisable to do so for a simple +misunderstanding. Penn and the bishop were actually in accord. The young +author therefore wrote an explanation of his book, entitled "Innocency +with her Open Face." At the same time he addressed a letter to Lord +Arlington, principal secretary of state. In the letter he maintained +that he had "subverted no faith, obedience or good life," and he +insisted on the natural right of liberty of conscience: "To conceit," he +said, "that men must form their faith of things proper to another world +by the prescriptions of mortal men, or else they can have no right to +eat, drink, sleep, walk, trade, or be at liberty and live in this, to me +seems both ridiculous and dangerous." These writings gained him his +liberty. The Duke of York made intercession for him with the king. + +Penn had occupied himself while in prison with the composition of a +considerable work, called "No Cross, No Crown." It is partly +controversial, setting forth the reasons for the Quaker faith and +practice, and partly devotional, exalting self-sacrifice, and urging men +to simpler and more spiritual living. Thus the months of his +imprisonment had been of value both to him and to the religious movement +with which he had identified himself. The Quakers, when Penn joined +them, had no adequate literary expression of their thought. They were +most of them intensely earnest but uneducated persons, who spoke great +truths somewhat incoherently. Penn gave Quaker theology a systematic and +dignified statement. + +When he came out of the Tower, he went home to his father. The admiral +had now recovered from his first indignation. William was still, he +said, a cross to him, but he had made up his mind to endure it. Indeed, +the world into which he had desired his son to enter was not at that +moment treating the admiral well. He was suffering impeachment and the +gout at the same time. He saw that William's religion was giving him a +serenity in the midst of evil fortune which he himself did not possess. +He could appreciate his heroic spirit. He admired him in spite of +himself. + +William then spent nearly a year in Ireland, administering his father's +estates. When he returned, in 1670, he found his Quaker brethren in +greater trouble than before. In that perilous season of plots and +rumors of plots, when Protestants lived in dread of Roman Catholics, and +Churchmen knew not at what moment the Puritans might again repeat the +tragedies of the Commonwealth, neither church nor state dared to take +risks. The reigns of Mary and of Cromwell were so recent an experience, +the Papists and the Presbyterians were so many and so hostile, that it +seemed unsafe to permit the assembling of persons concerning whose +intentions there could be any doubt. Any company might undertake a +conspiracy. The result of this feeling on the part of both the civil and +the ecclesiastical authorities was a series of ordinances, reasonable +enough under the circumstances, and perhaps necessary, but which made +life hard for such stout and frank dissenters as the Quakers. At the +time of Penn's return from Ireland, it had been determined to enforce +the Conventicle Act, which prohibited all religious meetings except +those of the Church of England. There was, therefore, a general +arresting of these suspicious friends of Penn's. In the middle of the +summer Penn himself was arrested. + +The young preacher had gone to a meeting-house of the Quakers in +Gracechurch or Gracious Street, in London, and had found the door shut, +and a file of soldiers barring the way. The congregation thereupon held +a meeting in the street, keeping their customary silence until some one +should be moved to speak. It was not long before the spirit moved Penn. +He was immediately arrested, and William Mead, a linen draper, with him, +and the two were brought before the mayor. The charge was that they +"unlawfully and tumultuously did assemble and congregate themselves +together to the disturbance of the king's peace and to the great terror +and disturbance of many of his liege people and subjects." They were +committed as rioters and sent to await trial at the sign of the Black +Dog, in Newgate Market. + +At the trial Penn entered the court-room wearing his hat. A constable +promptly pulled it off, and was ordered by the judge to replace it in +order that he might fine the Quaker forty marks for keeping it on. Thus +the proceedings appropriately began. William tried in vain to learn the +terms of the law under which he was arrested, maintaining that he was +innocent of any illegal act. Finally, after an absurd and unjust +hearing, the jury, who appreciated the situation, brought in a verdict +of "guilty of speaking in Gracious Street." The judges refused to accept +the verdict, and kept the jury without food or drink for two days, +trying to make them say, "guilty of speaking in Gracious Street to an +unlawful assembly." At last the jury brought in a formal verdict of "not +guilty," which the court was compelled to accept. Thereupon the judges +fined every juryman forty marks for contempt of court; and Penn and the +jurors, refusing to pay their fines, were all imprisoned in Newgate. The +Court of Common Pleas presently reversed the judges' decision and +released the jury. Penn was also released, against his own protest, by +the payment of his fine by his father. + +The admiral was in his last sickness. He was weary, he said, of the +world. It had not proved, after all, to be a satisfactory world. He did +not grieve now that his son had renounced it. At the same time, he could +not help but feel that the friendship of the world was a valuable +possession; and he had therefore requested his patron, the Duke of York, +to be his son's friend. Both the duke and the king had promised their +good counsel and protection. Thus "with a gentle and even gale," as it +says on his tombstone, "in much peace, [he] arrived and anchored in his +last and best port, at Wanstead in the county of Essex, the 16th of +September, 1670, being then but forty-nine years and four months old." + +The admiral's death left his son with an annual income of about fifteen +hundred pounds. This wealth, however, made no stay in his Quaker zeal. +Before the year was ended, he was again in prison. + +Sir John Robinson, the lieutenant of the Tower, had been one of the +judges in the affair of Gracious Street. He had either taken a dislike +to Penn, or else was deeply impressed with the conviction that the young +Quaker was a peril to the state. Finding that there was to be a meeting +in Wheeler Street, at which William was expected, he sent soldiers and +had him arrested. They conveyed him to the Tower, where he was examined. +"I vow, Mr. Penn," said Sir John, "I am sorry for you; you are an +ingenious gentleman, all the world must allow you, and do allow you, +that; and you have a plentiful estate; why should you render yourself +unhappy by associating with such a simple people?" That was the +suspicious fact. Men in Robinson's position could not understand why +Penn should join his fortunes with those of people so different from +himself, poor, ignorant, and obscure, unless there were some hidden +motive. He must be either a political conspirator, or, as many said, a +Jesuit in disguise, which amounted to the same thing. "You do nothing," +said Sir John, "but stir up the people to sedition." He required him to +take an oath "that it is not lawful, upon any pretense whatsoever, to +take arms against the king, and that [he] would not endeavour any +alteration of government either in church or state." Penn would not +swear. He was therefore sentenced for six months to Newgate. "I wish you +wiser," said Robinson. "And I wish thee better," retorted Penn. "Send a +corporal," said the lieutenant, "with a file of musqueteers along with +him." "No, no," broke in Penn, "send thy lacquey; I know the way to +Newgate." + +William continued in prison during the entire period of his sentence, at +first in a room for which he paid the jailers, then, by his own choice, +with his fellow Quakers in the "common stinking jail." Even here, +however, he managed, as before, to write; and he must have had access to +books, for what he wrote could not have been composed without sight of +the authors from whom he quoted. The most important of his writings at +this time was "The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience once more briefly +Debated and Defended by the Authority of Reason, Scripture and +Antiquity." + +Being released from prison, Penn set out for the Continent, where he +traveled in Germany and Holland, holding meetings as opportunity +offered, and regaining such strength of body as he may have lost amidst +the rigors of confinement. + +In 1672, being now back in England, and having reached the age of +twenty-seven years, he married Gulielma Maria Springett, a young and +charming Quakeress. Guli Springett's father had died when she was but +twenty-three years old, after such valiant service on the Parliamentary +side in the civil war that he had been knighted by the Speaker of the +House of Commons. Her mother, thus bereft, had married Isaac Pennington, +a quiet country gentleman, in whose company, after some search for +satisfaction in religion, she had become a Quaker. Pennington's +Quakerism, together with the sufferings which it brought upon him, had +made him known to Penn. It was to him that Penn had written, three years +before, to describe the death of Thomas Loe. "Taking me by the hand," +said William, "he spoke thus: 'Dear heart, bear thy cross, stand +faithful for God, and bear thy testimony in thy day and generation; and +God will give thee an eternal crown of glory, that none shall ever take +from thee. There is not another way. Bear thy cross. Stand faithful for +God.'" + +It was in Pennington's house that Thomas Ellwood lived, as tutor to Guli +and the other children, to whom one day in 1655 had come his friend John +Milton, bringing a manuscript for him to read. "He asked me how I liked +it, and what I thought of it, which I modestly but freely told him; and +after some further discourse about it, I pleasantly said to him, Thou +hast said much here of _Paradise Lost_, but what hast thou to say about +Paradise found?" Whereupon the poet wrote his second epic. + +Ellwood has left a happy description of Guli Springett. "She was in all +respects," he says, "a very desirable woman,--whether regard was had to +her outward person, which wanted nothing to render her completely +comely; or as to the endowments of her mind, which were every way +extraordinary." And he speaks of her "innocent, open, free +conversation," and of the "abundant affability, courtesy, and sweetness +of her natural temper." Her portrait fits with this description, showing +a bright face in a small, dark hood, with a white kerchief over her +shoulders. Both her ancestry and her breeding would dispose her to +appreciate heroism, especially such as was shown in the cause of +religion. She found the hero of her dreams in William Penn. Thus at +Amersham, in the spring of 1672, the two stood up in some quiet company +of Friends, and with prayer and joining of hands were united in +marriage. + +"My dear wife," he wrote to her ten years later, as he set out for +America, "remember thou hast the love of my youth, and much the joy of +my life; the most beloved, as well as the most worthy of all earthly +comforts. God knows, and thou knowest it. I can say it was a match of +Providence's making." + +The Declaration of Indulgence, the king's suspension of the penalties +legally incurred by dissent, came conveniently at this time to give them +a honeymoon of peace and tranquillity. They took up their residence at +Rickmansworth, in Hertfordshire. In the autumn, William set out again +upon his missionary journeys, preaching in twenty-one towns in +twenty-one days. "The Lord sealed up our labors and travels," he wrote +in his journal, "according to the desire of my soul and spirit, with his +heavenly refreshments and sweet living power and word of life, unto the +reaching of all, and consolating our own hearts abundantly." + +So he returned with the blessings of peace, "which," as he said, "is a +reward beyond all earthly treasure." + + + + +V + +THE BEGINNING OF PENN'S POLITICAL LIFE: THE HOLY EXPERIMENT + + +In 1673, George Fox came back from his travels in America, and Penn and +his wife had great joy in welcoming him at Bristol. No sooner, however, +had Fox arrived than the Declaration of Indulgence was withdrawn. It had +met with much opposition: partly ecclesiastical, from those who saw in +it a scheme to reestablish relations between Rome and England; and +partly political, from those who found but an ill precedent in a royal +decree which set aside parliamentary legislation. The religious liberty +which it gave was good, but the way in which that liberty was given was +bad. What was needed was not "indulgence," but common justice. So the +king recalled the Declaration, and Parliament being not yet ready to +enact its provisions into law, the prisons were again filled with +peaceable citizens whose offense was their religion. One of the first to +suffer was Fox, and in his behalf Penn went to court. He appealed to the +Duke of York. + +The incident is significant as the beginning of another phase of +William's life. Thus far, he had been a Quaker preacher. Though he was +unordained, being in a sect which made nothing of ordination, he was for +all practical purposes a minister of the gospel. He was the Rev. William +Penn. But now, when he opened the door of the duke's palace, he entered +into a new way of living, in which he continued during most of the +remainder of his life. He began to be a courtier; he went into politics. +He was still a Quaker, preaching sermons and writing books of +theological controversy; he gave up no religious conviction, and abated +nothing of the earnestness of his personal piety; but he had found, as +he believed, another and more effective way to serve God. He now began +to enter into that valuable but perilous heritage which had been left +him by his father, the friendship of royalty. + +Penn found the duke's antechamber filled with suitors. It seemed +impossible to get into the august presence. But Colonel Ashton, one of +the household, looked hard at Penn, and found in him an old companion, a +friend of the days when William was still partaking of the joys of +pleasant society. Ashton immediately got him an interview, and Penn +delivered his request for the release of Fox. The duke received him and +his petition cordially, professing himself opposed to persecution for +religion's sake, and promising to use his influence with the king. +"Then," says Penn, "when he had done upon this affair, he was pleased to +take a very particular notice of me, both for the relation my father had +had to his service in the navy, and the care he had promised to show in +my regard upon all occasions." He expressed surprise that William had +not been to see him before, and said that whenever he had any business +with him, he should have immediate entrance and attention. + +Fox was not set at liberty by reason of this interview. The king was +willing to pardon Fox, but Fox was not willing to be pardoned; having, +as he insisted, done no wrong. Penn, however, had learned that the royal +duke remembered the admiral's son. It was an important fact, and William +thereafter kept it well in mind. That it was a turning-point in his +affairs, appears in his reference to it in a letter which he wrote in +1688 to a friend who had reproached him for his attendance at court. "I +have made it," he says, "my province and business; I have followed and +pressed it; I took it for my calling and station, and have kept it above +these sixteen years." + +Penn went back to Rickmansworth, and for a time life went on as before. +We get a glimpse of it in the good and wholesome orders which he +established for the well-governing of his family. In winter, they were +to rise at seven; in summer at five. Breakfast was at nine, dinner at +twelve, supper at seven. Each meal was preceded by family prayers. At +the devotions before dinner, the Bible was read aloud, together with +chapters from the "Book of Martyrs," or the writings of Friends. After +supper, the servants appeared before the master and mistress, and gave +an account of their doings during the day, and got their orders for the +morrow. "They were to avoid loud discourse and troublesome noises; they +were not to absent themselves without leave; they were not to go to any +public house but upon business; and they were not to loiter, or enter +into unprofitable talk, while on an errand." + +With the canceling of the Indulgence, the persecution of the Quakers was +renewed. Their houses were entered, their furniture was seized, their +cattle were driven away, and themselves thrust into jail. When no +offense was clearly proved against them, the oath was tendered, and the +refusal to take it meant a serious imprisonment. + +Under these circumstances, Penn wrote a "Treatise on Oaths." He also +addressed the general public with "England's Present Interest +Considered," an argument against the attempt to compel uniformity of +belief. He petitioned the king and Parliament in "The Continued Cry of +the Oppressed." "William Brazier," he said, "shoemaker at Cambridge, was +fined by John Hunt, mayor, and John Spenser, vice-chancellor, twenty +pounds for holding a peaceable religious meeting in his own house. The +officer who distrained for this sum took his leather last, the seat he +worked upon, wearing clothes, bed, and bedding." "In Cheshire, Justice +Daniel of Danesbury took from Briggs and others the value of one hundred +and sixteen pounds, fifteen shillings and tenpence in coin, kine, and +horses. The latter he had the audacity to retain and work for his own +use," and so on, instance after instance. Penn's acquaintance at court +and his friendships with persons of position never made him an +aristocrat. He was fraternally interested in farmers and cobblers, and +cared for the plain people. Quakerism, as he held it, was indeed a +system of theology which he studiously taught, but it was also, and +quite as much, a social and intellectual democracy. What he mightily +liked about it was that abandonment of artificial distinctions, whereby +all Quakers addressed their neighbors by their Christian names, and that +refusal to be held by formulas of faith, whereby they were left free to +accept such beliefs, and such only, as appealed to their own reason. + +About this time he engaged in controversy with Mr. Richard Baxter. +Baxter is chiefly remembered as the author of "The Saints' Everlasting +Rest," but he was a most militant person, who rejoiced greatly in a +theological fight. Passing by Rickmansworth, and finding many Quakers +there,--to him a sad spectacle,--he sought to reclaim them, and thus +fell speedily into debate with Penn. The two argued from ten in the +morning until five in the afternoon, a great crowd listening all the +time with breathless interest. Neither could get the other to surrender; +but so much did William enjoy the exercise that he offered Baxter a room +in his house, that they might argue every day. + +In 1677, having now removed to an estate of his wife's at Worminghurst, +in Sussex, Penn, in company with Fox, Barclay, and other Quakers, made a +"religious voyage" into Holland and Germany, preaching the gospel. His +journal of these travels is printed in his works. "At Osnaburg," he +writes, "we had a little time with the man of the inn where we lay; and +left him several good books of Friends, in the High and Low Dutch +tongues, to read and dispose of." Then, in the next sentence, he +continues, "the next morning, being the fifth day of the week, we set +forward to Herwerden, and came thither at night. This is the city where +the Princess Elizabeth Palatine hath her court, whom, and the countess +in company with her, it was especially upon us to visit." Thus they +went, ministering to high and low alike, in their democratic Christian +way making no distinction between tavern-keepers and princesses. As they +talked with Elizabeth and her friend the countess, discoursing upon +heavenly themes, they were interrupted by the rattling of a coach, and +callers were announced. The countess "fetched a deep sigh, crying out, +'O the cumber and entanglements of this vain world! They hinder all +good.' Upon which," says William, "I replied, looking her steadfastly in +the face, 'O come thou out of them, then.'" This journey was of great +importance as affecting afterwards the population of Pennsylvania. Here +it was that Penn met various communities "of a separating and seeking +turn of mind," who found in him a kindred spirit. When he established +his colony, many of them came out and joined it, becoming the +"Pennsylvania Dutch." + +During these travels Penn wrote letters to the Prince Elector of +Heidelberg, to the Graf of Bruch and Falschenstein, to the King of +Poland, together with an epistle "To the Churches of Jesus throughout +the world." This was a kind of correspondence in which he delighted. +Like Wesley, after him, he had taken the world for his parish. He +considered himself a citizen of the planet, and took an episcopal and +pontifical interest in the affairs of men and nations. He combined in +an unusual way the qualities of the saint and the statesman. His mind +was at the same time religious and political. Accordingly, as he came to +have a better acquaintance with himself, he entered deliberately upon a +course of life in which these two elements of his character could have +free play. He applied himself to the task of making politics contribute +to the advancement of religion. Many men before him had been eminently +successful in making politics contribute to the advancement of the +church. Penn's purpose was deeper and better. + +He came near, at this time, to getting Parliament to assent to a +provision permitting Quakers to affirm, without oath; but the sudden +proroguing of that body prevented it. In the general election which +followed, he made speeches for Algernon Sidney, who was standing for a +place in Parliament. He wrote "England's Great Interest in the Choice of +a New Parliament," and "One Project for the Good of England." The +project was that Protestants should stop contending one with another +and unite against a common enemy. + +This was in 1679. The next year he took the decisive step. He entered +upon the fulfillment of that great plan, which had been in his mind +since his student days at Oxford, and with which he was occupied all the +rest of his life. He began to undertake the planting of a colony across +the sea. + +Penn had already had some experience in colonial affairs. With the +downfall of the Dutch dominion in the New World, England had come into +possession of two important rivers, the Hudson and the Delaware, and of +the countries which they drained. Of these estates, the Duke of York had +become owner of New Jersey. He, in turn, dividing it into two portions, +west and east, had sold West Jersey to Lord Berkeley, and East Jersey to +Sir George Carteret. Berkeley had sold West Jersey to a Quaker, John +Fenwick, in trust for another Quaker, Edward Byllinge. These Quakers, +disagreeing, had asked Penn to arbitrate between them. Byllinge had +fallen into bankruptcy, and his lands had been transferred to Penn as +receiver for the benefit of the creditors. Thus William had come into a +position of importance in the affairs of West Jersey. Presently, in +1679, East Jersey came also into the market, and Penn and eleven others +bought it at auction. These twelve took in other twelve, and the +twenty-four appointed a Quaker governor, Robert Barclay. + +Now, in 1680, having had his early interest in America thus renewed and +strengthened, Penn found that the king was in his debt to the amount of +sixteen thousand pounds. Part of this money had been loaned to the king +by William's father, the admiral; part of it was the admiral's unpaid +salary. Mr. Pepys has recorded in his diary how scandalously Charles +left his officers unpaid. The king, he says, could not walk in his own +house without meeting at every hand men whom he was ruining, while at +the same time he was spending money prodigally upon his pleasures. Pepys +himself fell into poverty in his old age, accounting the king to be in +debt to him in the sum of twenty-eight thousand pounds. + +Penn considered his account collectible. "I have been," he wrote, "these +thirteen years the servant of Truth and Friends, and for my testimony's +sake lost much,--not only the greatness and preferment of the world, but +sixteen thousand pounds of my estate which, had I not been what I am, I +had long ago obtained." It is doubtful, however, if the king would have +ever paid a penny. It is certain that when William offered to exchange +the money for a district in America, Charles agreed to the bargain with +great joy. + +The territory thus bestowed was "all that tract or part of land in +America, bounded on the east by the Delaware River, from twelve miles +northward of New Castle town unto the three and fortieth degree of +northern latitude. The said land to extend westward five degrees in +longitude, to be computed from the said eastern bounds, and the said +lands to be bounded on the north by the beginning of the three and +fortieth degree of northern latitude and on the south by a circle drawn +at twelve miles distance from New Castle, northward and westward, unto +the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude, and then by +a straight line westward to the limits of longitude above mentioned." + +This was a country almost as large as England. No such extensive domain +had ever been given to a subject by an English sovereign: but none had +ever been paid for by a sum of money so substantial. + +On the 4th of March, 1681, the charter received the signature of Charles +the Second. On the 21st of August, 1682, the Duke of York signed a deed +whereby he released the tract of land called Pennsylvania to William +Penn and his heirs forever. About the same time, by a like deed, the +duke conveyed to Penn the district which is now called Delaware. Penn +agreed, on his part, as a feudal subject, to render yearly to the king +two skins of beaver, and a fifth part of all the gold and silver found +in the ground; and to the duke "one rose at the feast of St. Michael the +Archangel." + +This association of sentiment and religion with a transaction in real +estate is a fitting symbol of the spirit in which the Pennsylvania +colony was undertaken. Penn received the land as a sacred trust. It was +regarded by him not as a personal estate, but as a religious possession +to be held for the good of humanity, for the advancement of the cause of +freedom, for the furtherance of the kingdom of heaven. He wrote at the +time to a friend that he had obtained it in the name of God, that thus +he may "serve his truth and people, and that an example may be set up to +the nations." He believed that there was room there "for such an holy +experiment." + + + + +VI + +THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA: PENN'S FIRST VISIT TO THE PROVINCE + + +That Penn undertook the "holy experiment" without expectation or desire +of profit appears not only in his conviction that he was thereby losing +sixteen thousand pounds, but in his refusal to make his new estates a +means of gain. "He is offered great things," says James Claypole in a +letter dated September, 1681, "L6000 for a monopoly in trade, which he +refused.... He designs to do things equally between all parties, and I +believe truly does aim more at justice and righteousness and spreading +of truth than at his own particular gain." "I would not abuse His love," +said Penn, "nor act unworthy of His providence, and so defile what came +to me clean. No, let the Lord guide me by His wisdom, and preserve me to +honour His name, and serve His truth and people, that an example and +standard may be set up to the nations." + +So far removed was he from all self-seeking, that he was even unwilling +to have the colony bear his name. "I chose New Wales," he says, +recounting the action of the king's council, "being, as this, a pretty +hilly country,--but Penn being Welsh for head, as Pennanmoire in Wales, +and Penrith in Cumberland, and Penn in Buckinghamshire, the highest land +in England--[the king] called this Pennsylvania, which is the high or +head woodlands; for I proposed, when the secretary, a Welshman, refused +to have it called New Wales, Sylvania, and they added Penn to it; and +though I much opposed it, and went to the king to have it struck out and +altered, he said it was past, and he would take it upon him; nor could +twenty guineas move the under-secretary to vary the name, for I feared +lest it should be looked on as a vanity in me, and not as a respect in +the king, as it truly was, to my father, whom he often mentions with +praise." + +The charter gave the land to Penn as the king's tenant. He had power to +make laws; though this power was to be exercised, except in emergencies, +"with the advice, assent, and approbation of the freemen of the +territory," and subject to the confirmation of the Privy Council. He was +to appoint judges and other officers. He had the right to assess custom +on goods laden and unladen, for his own benefit; though he was to take +care to do it "reasonably," and with the advice of the assembly of +freemen. He was, at the same time, to be free from any tax or custom of +the king, except by his own consent, or by the consent of his governor +or assembly, or by act of Parliament. He was not to maintain +correspondence with any king or power at war with England, nor to make +war against any king or power in amity with the same. If as many as +twenty of his colonists should ask a minister from the Bishop of London, +such minister was to be received without denial or molestation. + +The next important document to be prepared was the Constitution, or +Frame of Government, and to the task of composing it Penn gave a great +amount of time and care. It was preceded by two statements of +principles,--the Preface and the Great Fundamental. + +The Preface declared the political policy of the proprietor. +"Government," he said, "seems to me a part of religion itself, a thing +sacred in its institution and end." As for the debate between monarchy, +aristocracy, and democracy, "I choose," he said, "to solve the +controversy with this small distinction, and it belongs to all three: +any government is free to the people under it, whatever be the frame, +where the laws rule, and the people are a party to those laws." His +purpose, he says, is to establish "the great end of all government, +viz., to support power in reverence with the people, and to secure the +people from the abuse of power, that they may be free by their just +obedience, and the magistrates honourable for their just administration; +for liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedience without +liberty is slavery." + +In a private letter, written about the same time, Penn stated his +political position in several concrete sentences which interpret these +fine but rather vague pronouncements. "For the matters of liberty and +privilege," he wrote, "I propose that which is extraordinary, and to +leave myself and successors no power of doing mischief, that the will of +one man may not hinder the good of an whole country; but to publish +these things now and here, as matters stand, would not be wise." + +The Great Fundamental set forth the ecclesiastical policy of the +founder: "In reverence to God, the father of light and spirits, the +author as well as the object of all divine knowledge, faith and +workings, I do, for me and mine, declare and establish for the first +fundamental of the government of my province, that every person that +doth and shall reside there shall have and enjoy the free profession of +his or her faith and exercise of worship towards God, in such way and +manner as every such person shall in conscience believe is most +acceptable to God." + +These principles of civil and religious liberty constituted the "holy +experiment." They made the difference between Penn's colony and almost +every other government then existing. In their influence and +continuance, until at last they were incorporated in the Constitution of +the United States, they are the chief contribution of William Penn to +the progress of our institutions. + + "All Europe with amazement saw + The soul's high freedom trammeled by no law." + +The Constitution was drawn up in Articles to the number of twenty-four, +and these were followed by forty Laws. + +The Articles provided for a governor, to be appointed by the proprietor, +and for two legislative bodies, a provincial council and a general +assembly. The provincial council was to consist of seventy-two members. +Of these a third were elected for three years, a third for two, and a +third for one; so that by the end of the service of the first third, all +would have a three-year term, twenty-four going out and having their +places filled each year. The business of the council was to prepare +laws, to see that they were executed, and in general to provide for the +good conduct of affairs. The general assembly was to consist of two +hundred members, to be chosen annually. They had no right to originate +legislation, but were to pass upon all bills which had been enacted by +the council, accepting or rejecting them by a vote of yea or nay. + +The Laws enjoined that "all persons who confessed the one almighty and +eternal God to be the Creator, Upholder, and Ruler of the world, and who +held themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in +society, were in no ways to be molested for their religious persuasion +and practice, nor to be compelled at any time to frequent any religious +place or ministry whatever." All children of the age of twelve were to +be taught some useful trade. All pleadings, processes, and records in +the courts of law were to be as short as possible. The reformation of +the offender was to be considered as a great part of the purpose of +punishment. At a time when there were in England two hundred offenses +punishable by death, Penn reduced these capital crimes to two, murder +and treason. All prisons were to be made into workhouses. No oath was to +be required. Drinking healths, selling rum to Indians, cursing and +lying, fighting duels, playing cards, the pleasures of the theatre, were +all put under the ban together. + +Penn's provincial council suggested the Senate of the United States. As +originally established, however, the disproportion of power between the +upper and the lower house was so great as to cause much just +dissatisfaction. The council was in effect a body of seventy-two +governors; the assembly, which more directly represented the people, +could consider no laws save those sent down to them by the council. The +Constitution had to be changed. + +One of the good qualities of the Constitution was that it was possible +to change it. It provided for the process of amendment. That customary +article with which all constitutions now end appeared for the first time +in Penn's Frame of Government. Another good quality of the Constitution +was that it secured an abiding harmony between its fundamental +statements and all further legislation. "Penn was the first one to hit +upon the foundation or first step in the true principle, now the +universal law in the United States, that the unconstitutional law is +void." + +Whatever help Penn may have had in the framing of this legislation, from +Algernon Sidney and other political friends, it is plain that the best +part of it was his own, and that he wrote it not as a politician but as +a Quaker. It is an application of the Quaker principles of democracy and +of religious liberty to the conditions of a commonwealth. From beginning +to end it is the work of a man whose supreme interest was religion. It +is at the same time singularly free from the narrowness into which men +of this earnest mind have often fallen. Religion, as Penn considered it, +was not a matter of ordinances or rubrics. It was righteousness, and +fraternity, and liberty of conscience. + +In this spirit he wrote a letter to the Indian inhabitants of his +province. "The great God, who is the power and wisdom that made you and +me, incline your hearts to righteousness, love, and peace. This I send +to assure you of my love, and to desire you to love my friends; and when +the great God brings me among you, I intend to order all things in such +a manner that we may all live in love and peace, one with another, which +I hope the great God will incline both me and you to do. I seek nothing +but the honour of his name, and that we, who are his workmanship, may do +that which is well pleasing to him.... So I rest in the love of God that +made us." + +Now colonists began to seek this land of peace across the sea. A hundred +acres were promised for forty shillings, with a quit-rent of one +shilling annually to the proprietor forever. In clearing the ground, +care was to be taken to leave one acre of trees, for every five acres +cleared. All transactions with the Indians were to be held in the public +market, and all differences between the white man and the red were to be +settled by a jury of six planters and six Indians. Penn also counseled +prospective colonists to consider the great inconveniences which they +must of necessity endure, and hoped that those who went would have "the +permission if not the good liking of their near relations." + +There were already in the province some two thousand people, besides +Indians,--a peaceable and industrious folk, mostly Swedes and English. +They had six meeting-houses; the English settlers being Quakers. They +lived along the banks of the Delaware. In the autumn of 1681, the ship +Sarah and John brought the first of Penn's emigrants, and in December +the ship Bristol Factor added others. In 1682, Penn came himself. + +The journey at that time was both long and perilous. If it was +accomplished in two months, the voyage was considered prosperous. To the +ordinary dangers of the deep was added the terror of the smallpox. +Scarcely a ship crossed without this dread passenger. William, +accordingly, as one undertaking a desperate adventure, took a tender +leave of his family. He wrote a letter whose counsels might guide them +in case he never returned. "My dear wife and children," he said, "my +love, which neither sea, nor land, nor death itself can extinguish or +lessen towards you, most endearedly visits you with eternal embraces, +and will abide with you forever; and may the God of my life watch over +you, and bless you, and do you good in this world and forever." "Be +diligent," he advised his wife, "in meetings for worship and business, +... and let meetings be kept once a day in the family to wait upon the +Lord, ... and, my dearest, to make thy family matters easy to thee, +divide thy time and be regular; it is easy and sweet.... Cast up thy +income, and see what it daily amounts to, ... and I beseech thee to live +low and sparingly, till my debts are paid." As for the children, they +are to be bred up "in the love of virtue, and that holy plain way of it, +which we have lived in, that the world in no part of it get into my +family." They are to be carefully taught. "For their learning be +liberal, spare no cost." "Agriculture is especially in my eye; let my +children be husbandmen and housewives; it is industrious, healthy, +honest, and of good example." They are to honor and obey their mother, +to love not money nor the world, to be temperate in all things. If they +come presently to be concerned in the government of Pennsylvania, "I do +charge you," their father wrote, "before the Lord God and the holy +angels, that you be lovely, diligent and tender, fearing God, loving the +people, and hating covetousness. Let justice have its impartial course, +and the law free passage. Though to your loss, protect no man against +it; for you are not above the law, but the law above you. Live the lives +yourselves, you would have the people live." + +Unhappily, of Guli's children, seven in number, four died before their +mother, and one, the eldest son, Springett, shortly after. Springett +inherited the devout spirit of his parents; his father wrote an +affecting account of his pious death. Of the two remaining, William fell +into ways of dissipation, and Letitia married a man whom her father +disliked. Neither of them had any inheritance in Pennsylvania. + +Penn's ship, the Welcome, carried a hundred passengers, most of them +Quakers from his own neighborhood. A third part died of smallpox on the +way. On the 24th of October, he sighted land; on the 27th, he arrived +before Newcastle, in Delaware; on the 28th, he landed. Here he formally +received turf and twig, water and soil, in token of his ownership. On +the 29th, he entered Pennsylvania. Adding ten days to this date, to +bring it into accord with our present calendar, we have November 8 as +the day of his arrival in the province. The place was Upland, where +there was a settlement already; the name was that day changed to +Chester. + +Penn was greatly pleased with his new possessions. He wrote a +description of the country for the Free Society of Traders. The air, he +said, was sweet and clear, and the heavens serene. Trees, fruits, and +flowers grew in abundance: especially a "great, red grape," and a "white +kind of muskadel," out of which he hopes it may be possible to make +good wine. The ground was fertile. The Indians he found to be tall, +straight, and well built, walking "with a lofty chin." Their language +was "like the Hebrew," and he guessed that they were descended from the +ten lost tribes of Israel. Light of heart, they seemed to him, with +"strong affections, but soon spent; ... the most merry creatures that +live." Though they were "under a dark night in things relating to +religion," yet were they believers in God and immortality. + +"I bless the Lord," he wrote in a letter, "I am very well, and much +satisfied with my place and portion. O how sweet is the quiet of these +parts, freed from the anxious and troublesome solicitations, hurries, +and solicitations of woeful Europe!" + +In the midst of these fair regions, beside the "wedded rivers," the +Delaware and the Schuylkill, in the convenient neighborhood of quarries +of building stone, at a place which the Indians called Coaquannoc, he +established his capital city, calling it Philadelphia,--perhaps in +token of the spirit of brotherly love in which it was founded, perhaps +in remembrance of those seven cities of the Revelation wherein was that +primitive Christianity which he wished to reproduce. + +Here he had his rowers run his boat ashore at the mouth of Dock Creek, +which now runs under Dock Street, where several men were engaged in +building a house, which was afterwards called the Blue Anchor Tavern. +Penn brought a considerable company with him. In the minutes of a +Friends' meeting held on the 8th (18th) of November, 1682, at +Shackamaxon, now Kensington, it was recorded that, "at this time, +Governor Penn and a multitude of Friends arrived here, and erected a +city called Philadelphia, about half a mile from Shackamaxon." +Presently, the Indians appeared. They offered Penn of their hominy and +roasted acorns, and, after dinner, showed him how they could hop and +jump. He is said to have entered heartily into these exercises, and to +have jumped farther than any of them. + +The governor had already determined the plan of the city. There were to +be two large streets,--one fronting the Delaware on the east, the other +fronting the Schuylkill on the west; a third avenue, to be called High +Street (now Market), was to run from river to river, east and west; and +a fourth, called Broad Street, was to cross it at right angles, north +and south. Twenty streets were to lie parallel with Broad, and to be +named First Street, Second Street, and so on in order, in the plain +Quaker fashion which had thus entitled the days of the week and the +months of the year. Eight were to lie parallel with High, and to be +called after the trees of the forest,--Spruce, Chestnut, Pine. In the +midst of the city, at the crossing of High and Broad Streets, was to be +a square of ten acres, to contain the public offices; and in each +quarter of the city was to be a similar open space for walks. The +founder intended to allow no house to be built on the river banks, +keeping them open and beautiful. Could he have foreseen the future, he +would have made the streets wider. He had in mind, however, only a +country town. "Let every house be placed," he directed, "if the person +pleases, in the middle of its plot, as to the breadth way of it, that so +there may be ground on each side for gardens or orchards or fields, that +it may be a green country town, which will never be burnt and always +wholesome." + +Among those houses was his own, a modest structure made of brick, +standing "on Front Street south of the present Market Street," and still +preserved in Fairmont Park. He afterwards gave it to his daughter +Letitia, and it was called Letitia House, from her ownership. + +In the mean time, he was making his famous treaty with the Indians. Penn +recognized the Indians as the actual owners of the land. He bought it of +them as he needed it. The transfer of property thus made was a natural +occasion of mutual promises. As there were several such meetings between +the Quakers and the Indians, it is difficult to fix a date to mark the +fact. One meeting took place, it is said, under a spreading elm at +Shackamaxon. The commonly accepted date is the 23d of June, 1683. The +elm was blown down in 1810. There is a persistent tradition to the +effect that William was distinguished from his fellow Quakers in this +transaction by wearing a sky-blue sash of silk network. But of this, as +of most other details of ceremony in connection with the matter, we know +nothing. + +Penn gives a general description of his various conferences upon this +business. "Their order," he says, "is thus: the king sits in the middle +of a half-moon, and has his council, the old and wise, on each hand. +Behind them, or at a little distance, sit the younger fry in the same +figure." Then one speaks in their king's name, and Penn answers. "When +the purchase was agreed great promises passed between us of kindness and +good neighbourhood, and that the English and the Indians must live in +love as long as the sun gave light, ... at every sentence of which they +shouted, and said Amen, in their way." Some earnestness may have been +added to these assuring responses by the Indians' consciousness of the +fact that the advantages of the bargain were not all on one side. The +Pennsylvania tribes had been thoroughly conquered by the Five Nations. +There was little heart left in them. But their condition detracts +nothing from Penn's Christian brotherliness. + +In some such manner the great business was enacted. "This," said +Voltaire, "was the only treaty between these people and the Christians +that was not ratified by an oath, and that was never broken." That it +was never broken was the capital fact. Herein it differed from a +thousand other treaties made before or since. In the midst of the long +story of the misdealings of the white men with the red, which begins +with Cortez and Pizarro, and is still continued in the daily newspapers, +this justice and honesty of William Penn is a point of light. That Penn +treated the Indians as neighbors and brothers; that he paid them fairly +for every acre of their land; that the promises which he made were ever +after unfailingly kept is perhaps his best warrant of abiding fame. Like +his constitutional establishment of civil and religious liberty, it was +a direct result of his Quaker principles. It was a manifestation of that +righteousness which he was continually preaching and practicing. + +The kindness and courtly generosity which Penn showed in his bargains +with the Indians is happily illustrated in one of his purchases of land. +The land was to extend "as far back as a man could walk in three days." +William walked out a day and a half of it, taking several chiefs with +him, "leisurely, after the Indian manner, sitting down sometimes to +smoke their pipes, to eat biscuit and cheese, and drink a bottle of +wine." Thus they covered less than thirty miles. In 1733, the then +governor employed the fastest walker he could find, who in the second +day and a half marked eighty-six miles. + +The treaty gave the new colony a substantial advantage. The Lenni +Lenape, the Mingoes, the Shawnees accounted Penn's settlers as their +friends. The word went out among the tribes that what Penn said he +meant, and that what he promised he would fulfill faithfully. Thus the +planters were freed from the terror of the forest which haunted their +neighbors, north and south. They could found cities in the wilderness +and till their scattered farms without fear of tomahawk or firebrand. +Penn himself went twenty miles from Philadelphia, near the present +Bristol, to lay out his country place of Pennsbury. + +Ships were now arriving with sober and industrious emigrants; trees were +coming down, houses were going up. In July, 1683, Penn wrote to Henry +Sidney, in England, reminding him that he had promised to send some +fruit-trees, and describing the condition of the colony. "We have laid +out a town a mile long and two miles deep.... I think we have near about +eighty houses built, and about three hundred farms settled round the +town.... We have had fifty sail of ships and small vessels, since the +last summer, in our river, which shows a good beginning." "I am +mightily taken with this part of the world," he wrote to Lord Culpeper, +who had come to be governor of Virginia, "I like it so well, that a +plentiful estate, and a great acquaintance on the other side, have no +charms to remove; my family being once fixed with me, and if no other +thing occur, I am likely to be an adopted American." "Our heads are +dull," he added, "but our hearts are good and our hands strong." + +In the midst of this peace and prosperity, however, there was a serious +trouble. This was a dispute with Lord Baltimore over the dividing line +between Pennsylvania and Maryland. By the inaccuracy of surveyors, the +confusion of maps, and the indefiniteness of charters, Baltimore +believed himself entitled to a considerable part of the territory which +was claimed by Penn, including even Philadelphia. The two proprietors +had already discussed the question without settlement; indeed, it +remained a cause of contention for some seventy years. As finally +settled, in 1732, between the heirs of Penn and of Baltimore, a line +was established from Cape Henlopen west to a point half way between +Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay; thence north to twelve miles west of +Newcastle, and so on to fifteen miles south of Philadelphia; thence due +west. The surveyors were Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, and the line +was thus called Mason and Dixon's Line. This boundary afterwards parted +the free States from the slave States. South of it was "Dixie." + +Penn now learned that Lord Baltimore was on his way to England to lay +the question before the Privy Council. The situation demanded William's +presence. "I am following him as fast as I can," he wrote to the Duke of +York, praying "that a perfect stop be put to all his proceedings till I +come." He therefore took leave of his friends in the province, +commissioned the provincial council to act in his stead, and in August, +1684, having been two years in America, he embarked for home. + +On board the Endeavour, on the eve of sailing, he wrote a farewell +letter. "And thou, Philadelphia," he said, "the virgin settlement of +this province, named before thou wert born, what love, what care, what +service and what travail has there 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 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 thy power. My love to thee has been great, and the remembrance +of thee affects mine heart and mine eye. The God of eternal strength +keep and preserve thee to his glory and peace." + + + + +VII + +AT THE COURT OF JAMES THE SECOND, AND "IN RETIREMENT" + + +When Penn left the province in 1684, he expected to return speedily, but +he did not see that pleasant land again until 1699. The fifteen +intervening years were filled with contention, anxiety, misfortune, and +various distresses. + +In the winter of 1684-85, Charles II. died, and the Duke of York, his +brother, succeeded him as James II. And James was the patron and good +friend of William Penn. But the king was a Roman Catholic. One of his +first acts upon coming to the throne was to go publicly to mass. He was +privately resolved upon making the Roman Church supreme in England. Penn +was stoutly opposed to the king's religion. In his "Seasonable Caveat +against Popery," as well as in his other writings, he had expressed his +dislike with characteristic frankness. That he had himself been accused +of being a Jesuit had naturally impelled him to use the strongest +language to belie the accusation. Nevertheless, William Penn stood by +the king. He sought and kept the position of favorite and agent of the +court. He upheld, and so far as he could, assisted, the projects of a +reign which, had it continued, would probably have contradicted his most +cherished principles, abolished liberty of conscience, and made an end +of Quakers. + +This perplexing inconsistency, which is the only serious blot on Penn's +fair fame, appears to have been the result of two convictions. + +He was sure, in the first place, of the honesty of the king; he believed +in him with all his heart. James had been true to the trust reposed in +him by William's father. He had befriended William, taking him out of +prison, increasing his estates, granting his petitions. "Anybody," said +Penn, "that has the least pretense to good-nature, gratitude, or +generosity, must needs know how to interpret my access to the king." +With his advance to the crown James's graciousness had increased. He +kept great lords waiting without while he conversed at leisure with the +Quaker. He liked Penn, and Penn liked him. In spite of the disparities +in their age, rank, and creed, William Penn and James Stuart were fast +friends, united by the bond of genuine affection. + +It was characteristic of Penn to be blind to the faults of his friends. +He brought great troubles both upon himself and upon his colony by his +refusal to believe the reports which were made to him against the +character of men whom he had appointed to office: he was unwilling to +believe evil of any man. He fell into bankruptcy, and even into a +debtor's prison, by his blind, unquestioning confidence in the agent who +managed his business. His faith in James was of a piece with his whole +character. He appears to have been temperamentally incapable of +perceiving the unworthiness of anybody whom he liked. + +Together with this conviction as to the king's honesty, and bound up +with it, was a like belief in the wisdom of the king's plan. The king's +plan was to remove all disabilities arising from religion. He purposed +not only to put an end to the laws under which honest men were kept in +prison, but to abolish the "tests" which prevented a Roman Catholic from +holding office. And, without tarrying for the action of a cautious +Parliament, his intention was to do these things at once by a +declaration of the royal will. All this was approved by William Penn. + +That the laws which disturbed Protestant dissenters should be changed, +he argued at length in a pamphlet entitled "A Persuasion to Moderation." +Moderation, as he defined it, meant "liberty of conscience to church +dissenters;" a cause which, with all humility, he said, he had +undertaken to plead against the prejudices of the times. He maintained +that toleration was not only a right inherent in religion, but that it +was for the political and commercial good of the nation. Repression and +persecution, he said, drive men into conspiracies. The importing of +religious distinctions into the affairs of state deprives the country of +the services of some of its best men. His father, upon the occasion of +the first Dutch war, had submitted to the king a list of the ablest sea +officers in the kingdom. The striking of the names of nonconformists +from this list had "robbed the king at that time of ten men, whose +greater knowledge and valour, than any other ten of that fleet, had, in +their room, been able to have saved a battle, or perfected a victory." +As for a declaration of indulgence, Penn deemed it "the sovereign remedy +of the English constitution." + +That the "tests" should be removed, he urged on James's behalf upon +William of Orange, to whom he went in Holland on an informal commission +from the king. William, by his marriage with James's daughter, was heir +apparent to the throne of England, and his consent was necessary to any +serious change of national policy. He insisted on the tests. +Theoretically, Penn was right. The ideal state imposes no religious +tests; every good citizen, no matter what his private creed may be, is +eligible to any office. Practically, Penn was wrong, as William of +Orange plainly saw. That prince, as appeared afterwards, was as zealous +for religious freedom as was Penn himself; but it was plain to him that +as matters stood at that time in England, it was necessary to enforce +the tests in order to prevent the rise of an ecclesiastical party whose +supremacy would endanger all that Penn desired. Penn, with his stout +faith in the king, could not see it. There were times, indeed, when he +was perplexed and troubled. "The Lord keep us in this dark day!" he +wrote to his steward at Pennsbury. "Be wise, close, respectful to +superiors. The king has discharged all Friends by a general pardon, and +is courteous, though as to the Church of England, things seem pinching. +Several Roman Catholics got much into places in the army, navy, court." +Nevertheless, the king's plan, as he understood it, gave assurance of +liberty of conscience, and the end of persecution for opinion's sake; +and he supported the king. + +Under these conditions, misled by friendship, seeing, but not +perceiving, Penn persuaded himself that he could excellently serve God +and his neighbors by becoming a courtier. He took a house in London, +within easy distance of Whitehall, and visited the king daily. A great +many people therefore visited Penn daily; sometimes as many as two +hundred were waiting to confer with him. They desired that he would do +this or that for their good with the king. Most of them were Quakers; +many were in need of pardon, or were burdened by some oppression. + +For example, Sir Robert Stuart of Coltness had been in exile as a +Presbyterian, and on his return found his lands in the possession of the +Earl of Arran. He brought his case to Penn. Penn went to Arran. "What is +this, friend James, that I hear of thee?" he said. "Thou hast taken +possession of Coltness's castle. Thou knowest that it is not thine." +"That estate," Arran explained, "I paid a great price for. I received no +other reward for my expensive and troublesome embassy to France, except +this estate." "All very well, friend James," said Penn, "but of this +assure thyself, that if thou dost not give me this moment an order on +thy chamberlain for two hundred pounds to Coltness to carry him down to +his native country, and a hundred a year to subsist on till matters are +adjusted, I will make it as many thousands out of thy way with the +king." Arran complied immediately. + +Again, one day after dinner, as they were drinking a glass of wine +together, one of Penn's clients said, "I can tell you how you can +prolong my life." "I am no physician," answered William, "but prithee +tell me what thou meanest." The client replied that a good friend of +his, Jack Trenchard, was in exile, and "if you," he said, "could get him +leave to come home with safety and honour, the drinking now and then a +bottle with Jack Trenchard would make me so cheerful that it would +prolong my life." Penn smilingly promised to do what he could, and in a +month the two friends were drinking his good health. + +This was the kind of business which he transacted. He had found a way +to be of eminent service to his neighbors, and especially to his Quaker +brethren, and he made the most of the opportunity. There is no evidence +that he departed from the disinterested life which he had previously +lived. He attended the court of King James, as he had undertaken the +settlement of Pennsylvania, not for what he could get out of it, but for +the good he could do by means of it. What he did, he tells us, was upon +a "principle of charity." "I never accepted any commission," he says, +"but that of a free and common solicitor for sufferers of all sorts and +in all parties." Neither is there any instance of his asking anything to +increase his own estate or position. + +Indeed, he was losing money; for the expenses of life at court were +great. Worse still, he was losing his good name. His Quaker friends +found him hard to understand. It was true that he had cast in his lot +with them, and had suffered for their cause,--he was their great +theologian and preacher; but he seemed, nevertheless, to be still a +cavalier and a worldly person. They heard--though there was no truth in +the report--that he had set up a military company in Pennsylvania. They +saw with their own eyes that he lived in a style which must have seemed +to them altogether inconsistent with simplicity, and that he consorted +with courtiers. And they did not like it,--they said so frankly. + +As for enemies, the king's favorite had many, inevitably. The lords who +waited in the antechamber while Penn was closeted with James did not +look pleasantly at him when he came out. The stout Protestants, who +hated the king's ways, and suspected the king's designs, could not +easily think well of one who was so closely in his counsels. One of +Penn's friends told him what these people said of him: "Your post is too +considerable for a Papist of an ordinary form, and therefore you must be +a Jesuit; nay, to confirm that suggestion, it must be accompanied with +all the circumstances that may best give it an air of probability,--as +that you have been bred at St. Omer's in the Jesuit College; that you +have taken orders at Rome, and there obtained a dispensation to marry; +and that you have since then frequently officiated as a priest in the +celebration of the mass, at Whitehall, St. James's, and other places." +It seems absurd enough to us, but many intelligent persons, even +Archbishop Tillotson of Canterbury, believed it. The detail of St. Omer +came, probably, from a confusion of the name with Saumur. The other +suspicions grew out of Penn's place in the favor of the king. + +It seemed as if nothing could prejudice the king's matters in the eyes +of Penn. Monmouth's rebellion came, and the king's revenge followed. +Judge Jeffreys went on his bloody circuit. "About three hundred hanged," +Penn wrote, "in divers towns of the west; about one thousand to be +transported. I begged twenty of the king." It was all bad, and one +regrets to find Penn concerned in it. Still, his twenty probably fared +better than their neighbors. It is likely that he sent them to be +colonists in Pennsylvania. + +In the matter of the maids of Taunton, William seems clearly to have had +no part. A company of little schoolgirls, led by their teacher, had +marched in procession to celebrate the landing of Monmouth. For this +offense their parents were heavily fined, and the fines were given to +the queen's maids of honor. These ladies wrote to a "Mr. Penne" to get +him to collect them. Macaulay thought that this pardon-broker was +William Penn. It is flagrantly inconsistent with his character, and he +has been adequately vindicated by various writers. The agent in this +case was probably George Penne, a person in that business. + +Penn's course is not so clear in the matter of the presidency of +Magdalen College. One of the steps in James's plan to change the +religion of England was to get a foothold for teachers of his faith at +the universities. He intended to capture Oxford and Cambridge. He had so +far succeeded at Oxford as to get possession of Christ Church and +University College, and, the presidency of Magdalen falling vacant, he +ordered the fellows to elect a man of his own choice. The fellows +refused to obey the order,--thereupon Penn, who had at first taken their +part with the king, advised them to surrender. "Mr. Penn," said Dr. +Hough, representing the fellows, "in this I will be plain with you. We +have our statutes and oaths to justify us in all that we have done +hitherto; but, setting this aside, we have a religion to defend, and I +suppose yourself would think us knaves if we would tamely give it up. +The Papists have already gotten Christ Church and University; the +present struggle is for Magdalen; and in a short time they threaten they +will have the rest." + +To this Penn replied with vehemence: "That they shall never have, assure +yourselves; if once they proceed so far they will quickly find +themselves destitute of their present assistance. For my part, I have +always declared my opinion that the preferments of the Church should not +be put into any other hands but such as they are at present in; but I +hope you would not have the two universities such invincible bulwarks +for the Church of England, that none but they must be capable of giving +their children a learned education. I suppose two or three colleges will +content the Papists." Finally, the king's men broke down the doors, +turned out the professors and students, and gave the king his way. Penn +was thus the agent of tyranny; but he was an innocent agent. He made a +bad blunder; but he made it honestly and ignorantly. It was in accord +with his democratic ideas that the universities should be places of +instruction for all the people; he would have liked to see not only the +Roman Catholics, but all the great divisions of religion in England +represented there. And that fine idea misled him. To hold him guilty, +here or elsewhere, of malice or hypocrisy, is to misread his character. +He was simply mistaken,--mistaken in the king, mistaken in the +application of his own principles. + +Meanwhile, the nation at large was making no mistake. The people saw +James as he was, and detected his designs upon the liberties of +England. At last, in April, 1688, he issued a Declaration of Indulgence. +He added insult to injury by ordering that it should be read in every +church in the realm. The seven bishops who protested were sent to the +Tower. Then the end came with speed. William of Orange was invited into +England. The nation welcomed him with acclamations. James fled before +him into France, where he lived the remainder of an inglorious life. + +This was a hard change for William Penn, and he seems to have done +nothing to make it easier. There were courtiers who passed with +incredible swiftness from one allegiance to the other; he was not among +them. Others fled to France, but he stayed. He was arrested. In his +examination before the Privy Council he declared that he "had done +nothing but what he could answer for before God and all the princes in +the world; that he loved his country and the Protestant religion above +his life, and had never acted against either; that all he had ever aimed +at in his public endeavors was none other than what the king had +declared for [religious liberty]; that King James had always been his +friend, and his father's friend, and that in gratitude he himself was +the king's, and did ever, as much as in him lay, influence him to his +true interest." Penn was released. + +The new king began his reign with the Toleration Act, which Parliament +passed in 1688, and from which dates the establishment of actual and +abiding religious liberty in England. Thus Penn's great purpose was +accomplished by one with whom he was not in accord. Sometimes a +political party adopts the projects for which its opponents have long +labored, and carries them out even more vigorously than they had been +planned originally. The initial reformers are glad that their ideals +have been realized, but their zeal must be uncommonly impersonal if the +success brings them quite so much joy as it logically ought. It is not +likely that the Toleration Act filled the soul of William Penn with +great jubilation. Indeed, we know that he insisted to the end of his +life that James, if he had been let alone, would have done all that +William did, and more too, and better. + +The years which followed were full of trouble. Macaulay says that in +1689 Penn was plotting against the government; but the evidence does not +suffice to establish the fact. The Privy Council, in 1690, confronted +Penn with an intercepted letter to him from James, asking for help. But, +as Penn said, he could not hinder the king from writing to him. He +added, however, with characteristic boldness, that since he had loved +King James in his prosperity he should not hate him in his adversity. He +was again discharged. + +In that same year, however, James invaded Ireland, and the situation of +his friends in England was thereby made increasingly difficult. Penn was +arrested with others, and in prison awaited trial for several months. +The result was as before,--he was found in no offense. But before a +month had passed, he learned that another warrant was out against his +liberty. Officers went to take him at the funeral of George Fox, but +arrived too late. By this time he had concluded that the path of +prudence was that which led into a wise retirement. He hid himself for +the space of three years. He was publicly proclaimed a traitor, and was +deprived of the government of his colony. He was "hunted up and down," +he says, "and could never be allowed to live quietly in city or +country." + +Finally, the government were persuaded either that Penn was innocent, or +that no further danger was to be apprehended from him, and several +noblemen, interceding with the king, procured his pardon. They +represented his case, he says, as not only hard, but oppressive, there +being no evidence but what "impostors, or those that fled, or that have +since their pardon refused to verify (and asked me pardon for saying +what they did) alleged against me." The king announced that Penn was his +old acquaintance, and that he might follow his business as freely as +ever, and that for his part he had nothing to say to him. + +Thus again, and at last, the political accusations against William Penn +came to nothing. He had been in a hard position as the faithful friend +of a dethroned monarch in a day when conspiracies were being made on +every hand. That he should have been suspected of treason was +inevitable. That in his unconcealed affection for James and disapproval +of William he said imprudent things is likely enough. Prudence was not +one of his virtues. He was never calculatingly careful of his own +welfare. But that he was ever untrue to William, or did any act, or +consented to any, which could reasonably be called treacherous, is not +only quite unproved, but is out of accord with the true William Penn as +he is revealed in his writings and in all his life. The only fault which +has been clearly established against him is that of liking James better +than he liked William. He was a stanch friend to his friend; that is the +sum of his offending, wherein the only serious regret is that his friend +was not more worthy of his steadfast and unselfish friendship. "At no +time in his life," says Mr. Fiske, "does he seem more honest, brave, and +lovable, than during the years, so full of trouble for him, that +intervened between the accession of James and the accession of Anne." + + + + +VIII + +PENN'S SECOND VISIT TO THE PROVINCE: CLOSING YEARS + + +The thoughts with which Penn's mind was occupied during the years of +hiding appear in his book, "Some Fruits of Solitude." Robert Louis +Stevenson found a copy of it in a book-shop in San Francisco, and +carried it in his pocket many days, reading it in street-cars and +ferry-boats. He found it, he says, "in all places a peaceful and sweet +companion;" and he adds, "there is not a man living, no, nor recently +dead, that could put, with so lovely a spirit, so much honest, kind +wisdom into words." + +"The author blesseth God for his retirement," so the book begins, "and +kisses the gentle hand which led him into it; for though it should prove +barren to the world, it can never do so to him. He has now had some time +he can call his own; a property he was never so much master of before; +in which he has taken a view of himself and the world, and observed +wherein he hath hit and missed the mark. And he verily thinks, were he +to live his life over again, he could not only, with God's grace, serve +him, but his neighbor and himself, better than he hath done, and have +seven years of his life to spare." + +Government and Religion have the longest chapters in this volume of +reflections, as being the matters in which William was most interested. +"Happy that king," he says, "who is great by justice, and that people +who are free by obedience." "Where example keeps pace with authority, +power hardly fails to be obeyed, and magistrates to be honoured." "Let +the people think they govern, and they will be governed." "Religion is +the fear of God, and its demonstration good works; and faith is the root +of both." "To be like Christ, then, is to be a Christian." "Some folk +think they may scold, rail, hate, rob, and kill too: so it be but for +God's sake. But nothing in us, unlike him, can please him." So the book +goes, page after page, always serious and sensible, full of simplicity +and kindliness, cheerful and brotherly and unfailingly religious. It is +the work of one who is trying his best to live for his brethren and in +Christ's spirit. + +Another significant writing of this period is Penn's "Plan for the Peace +of Europe." The calamities of the war then in progress on the Continent +gave him arguments enough for the desirableness of peace. The means of +peace is justice, and the means of justice is government. It is plain to +all that a state wherein any private citizen might avenge himself upon +his neighbor would be a place of confusion and distress. "For this cause +they have sessions, terms, assizes, and parliaments, to overrule men's +passions and resentments, that they may not be judges in their own +cause, nor punishers of their own wrongs." Penn proposes that the same +relation between peace and justice which is enforced between citizen and +citizen be also enforced between nation and nation. "Now," he says, "if +the sovereign princes of Europe ... for love of peace and order [would] +agree to meet by their stated deputies in a general Diet, Estates or +Parliament and there establish rules of justice for sovereign princes to +observe one to another; and thus to meet yearly, or once in two or three +years at the farthest, or as they shall see cause, and to be stiled, The +Sovereign or Imperial Diet, Parliament or State of Europe: before which +Sovereign Assembly should be brought all differences depending between +one sovereign and another that cannot be made up by private embassies +before the sessions begin; and that if any of the sovereignties that +constitute these imperial states shall refuse to submit their claim or +pretensions to them, or to abide and perform the judgment thereof and +seek their remedy by arms, or delay their compliance beyond the time +prefixt in their resolutions, all the other sovereignties, united as one +strength, shall compel the submission and performance of the sentence, +with damages to the suffering party, and charges to the sovereignties +that obliged their submission; ... peace would be procured and +continued in Europe." The principle of international arbitration, the +Conference at the Hague, and all like meetings which shall be held +hereafter, are thus foreshadowed. + +These two productions of Penn's season of retirement--the "Fruits of +Solitude," and the "Plan for the Peace of Europe"--illustrate again the +two qualities which make him singularly eminent among the founders of +commonwealths. He was at once a philosopher and a statesman; he was +interested alike in religion and in politics. There have been many +politicians to whom religion has been of no concern. There have been +many religious persons in high positions who have been so shut in by +church walls that they have been incapable of a wider outlook; they have +accordingly been narrow, prejudiced, and often unpractical people; they +have been blind to the elemental social fact of difference; they have +hated the thought of toleration. Penn was almost alone among the good +men of our era of colonization in being at the same time a man of the +world and a man of the other world. + +Penn came out of his exile in 1693 burdened with misfortune. He had been +deprived of his government; he was sadly in debt; he had lost many of +his friends. His colonists in Pennsylvania declined to lend him money. +His brethren in England drew up a confession of wrong-doing for him to +sign: "If in any things during those late revolutions I have concerned +myself either by words or writings, in love, pity or good will to any in +distress [meaning the king] further than consisted with Truth's honor or +the Church's peace, I am sorry for it." But he would not sign. To these +troubles was added a greater grief in the death of his wife. "An +excellent wife and mother," he said of her, "an entire and constant +friend, of a more than common capacity, and greater modesty and +humility; yet most equal and undaunted in danger." A brave soul, no +doubt, as befitted her parentage, and of a devout and consecrated +spirit. + +But William was ever of a serene and cheerful disposition. Neither loss, +nor disappointment, nor bereavement could shut out the sun. His +religious faith strengthened him. "We must needs disorder ourselves," he +had written in his "Fruits of Solitude," "if we only look at our losses. +But if we consider how little we deserve what is left, our passions will +cool, and our murmurs will turn into thankfulness." "Though our +Saviour's passion is over, his compassion is not. That never fails his +humble, sincere disciples; in him they find more than all that they lose +in the world." + +During the six years which followed, this strong confidence was +justified. He regained his government and his good name. He also married +a second wife, Hannah Callowhill, a strong, sensible, and estimable +Quaker lady of some means, living in Bristol. + +The only satisfactory information as to the personal appearance of Penn +in mature life is that which is given by Sylvanus Bevan. Bevan was a +Quaker apothecary in London, who had a remarkable gift for carving +portraits in ivory. After Penn's death, he made such a portrait of him +from memory. The men who had known William liked it greatly. Lord +Cobham, to whom Bevan sent it, said, "It is William Penn himself." It +represents him in a curled wig, with full cheeks and a double chin--a +pleasant, masterful, and serious person. Clarkson says that in his +attire he was "very neat, though plain." Penn advised his children to +choose clothes "neither unshapely nor fantastical;" and he illustrated +to King James the difference between the Roman Catholic and the Quaker +religions by the difference between his hat and the king's. "The only +difference," he said, "lies in the ornaments that have been added to +thine." His dress was probably that which was common to gentlemen in his +day, but without extremes of color or adornment. For some time after +becoming a Quaker he wore his sword, having consulted Fox, who said, "I +advise thee to wear it as long as thou canst." Presently Fox, seeing him +without it, said, "William, where is thy sword?" To which Penn replied, +"I have taken thy advice: I wore it as long as I could." + +The sober cheerfulness of Penn's attire comported well with his +conversation. It is true that Bishop Burnet, who did not like him, says +that "he had a tedious, luscious way of talking, not apt to overcome a +man's reason, though it might tire his patience." But Dean Swift enjoyed +him, and testified that "he talked very agreeably and with great +spirit." The Friends of Reading Meeting even noted that he was +"facetious in conversation," and there is a tradition of a venerable +Friend who spoke of him "as having naturally an excess of levity of +spirit for a grave minister." A handsome, graceful, and even a merry +gentleman it was who married Hannah Callowhill. + +For a time he devoted himself again to the work of the ministry. He went +about, as in former days, preaching, sometimes in the market-hall, +sometimes in the fields. Once, in Ireland, the bishop sent an officer to +disperse the meeting, complaining that Penn had left him "nobody to +preach to but the mayor, church-wardens, a few of the constables, and +the bare walls." + +His heart, however, was in his province. The affairs of Pennsylvania +had been going badly. There had been a hot contention between the +council and the assembly, and another between the province and the +territory. The officials, too, whom Penn had appointed, had quarreled +among themselves. William complained that they were excessively +"governmentish;" meaning that they liked authority and that they took +details very seriously. The situation, however, was inevitably +difficult. In his relation to the king, the governor was a feudal +sovereign; in his relation to the people he was, by Penn's arrangement, +the executive of a democracy. Penn himself reconciled the two positions +by his own tact and unselfishness, as well as by a certain masterfulness +to which those about him instinctively and willingly yielded. He proved +the motto of his book-plate, _Dum Clavum Teneam_; all went well while he +with his own hands held the helm. But his deputies were not so +competent. The colony fell into two parties, the proprietary and the +popular, representing these two ideas. Then the governor whom the king +had appointed during Penn's retirement was a soldier, and his +un-Quakerlike notions as to the right conduct of a colony brought a new +element of confusion into affairs which were already sufficiently +confounded. + +At last, in 1699, it became possible for the founder to make another +visit to his province. He brought his family with him, evidently +intending to stay. Philadelphia was now a city of some seven hundred +houses, and had nearly seven thousand inhabitants. The people were at +that moment in deep depression, having just been visited with a plague +of yellow fever. The pestilence, however, had abated, and Penn was +received with sober rejoicings. He took up his residence in the +"slate-roof house," a modest mansion which stood on the corner of Second +Street and Norris Alley; it was pulled down in 1867. + +Now began a season of good government. The business of piracy had for +some time been merrily carried on by various enterprising persons, some +of whom lived very respectably in Philadelphia. William put a stop to +it. The importing of slaves from Africa was at that time considered by +most persons to be a good thing both for the planters and for the +slaves. Already, however, at the Pennsylvania yearly meeting of Friends +in 1688, some who came from Kriesheim, in Germany, had protested against +it, + + "Who first of all their testimonial gave + Against the oppressor, for the outcast slave." + +And, in consequence, though slaves were still imported, they were +humanely treated. Penn interested himself in the improvement of their +condition. He was also concerned in the progress of the prison reforms +which he had proposed in the original establishment of the colony. He +employed a watchman to cry the news, the weather, and the time of day in +the Philadelphia streets. Regarding the Constitution, about which there +had been so much contention, he addressed the council and the assembly +in terms of characteristic friendliness. "Friends," he said, "if in the +Constitution by charter there be anything that jars, alter it. If you +want a law for this or that, prepare it." He advised them, however, not +to trifle with government, and wished there were no need to have any +government at all. In general, he said, the fewer laws, the better. The +result was a new Constitution. It provided that the council should be +appointed by the governor, and that the assembly should have the right +to originate laws. It was more simple and workable than the previous +legislation, and lasted until the Revolution. + +Meanwhile, Penn was journeying about the country in his old way, +preaching. At Merion, a small boy of the family where he was +entertained, being much impressed with the great man's looks and speech, +peeped through the latchet-hole of his chamber door, and both saw and +heard him at his prayers. Near Haverford, a small girl, walking along +the country road, was overtaken by the governor, who took her up behind +him on his horse, and so carried her on her way, her bare feet dangling +by the horse's side. + +Clarkson, the chief of the biographers of Penn, who collected these and +other incidents, gives us a glimpse of him as he appeared at this time +at Quaker meetings. "He was of such humility that he used generally to +sit at the lowest end of the space allotted to ministers, always taking +care to place above himself poor ministers, and those who appeared to +him to be peculiarly gifted." He liked to encourage young men to speak. +When he himself spoke, it was in the simplest words, easy to be +understood, and with many homely illustrations. At the same time, on +state occasions, as the proprietor of Pennsylvania and representative of +the sovereign, he used some ceremony, marching through the Philadelphia +streets to the opening of the assembly with a mace-bearer before him, +and having an officer standing at his gate on audience days, with a long +staff tipped with silver. Acquainted with affairs, and with a knowledge +of the relations between government and human nature drawn from a wide +experience, he knew the distinction, at which some of his Quaker +brethren stumbled, between personal humility and the proper dignity of +official station. + +In the intervals left him by the demands of church and state, he busied +himself with the improvement of his place at Pennsbury. Here he had a +considerable house in the midst of pleasant gardens. He took great +pleasure in personal superintendence of the grounds and buildings, +planting vines and cutting vistas through the trees. "The country is to +be preferred," he wrote in "Fruits of Solitude." "The country is both +the philosopher's garden and library, in which he reads and contemplates +the power, wisdom, and goodness of God." "The knowledge and improvement +of it," he declared, is "man's oldest business and trade, and the best +he can be of." + +Within were silver plate and satin curtains, and embroidered chairs and +couches. The proprietor's bed was covered with a "quilt of white Holland +quilted in green silk by Letitia," his daughter. "Send up," he writes to +James Logan, at Philadelphia, "our great stewpan and cover, and little +soup dish, and two or three pounds of coffee if sold in town, and three +pounds of wicks ready for candles." Mrs. Penn asks Logan to provide +"candlesticks, and great candles, some green ones, and pewter and +earthen basins, mops, salts, looking-glass, a piece of dried beef, and a +firkin or two of good butter." + +Penn rode a large white horse, and had a coach, with a black man to +drive it, and a "rattling leathern conveniency," probably smaller, and a +sedan chair for Mrs. Penn. In the river lay the barge, of which William +was so fond that he wrote from England to charge that it be carefully +looked after. Somebody expressed surprise one day when Penn went out in +it against wind and tide. "I have been sailing all my life against wind +and tide," he said. + +Much of the work of the estate was done by slaves. The fact troubled the +proprietor's conscience. He laid it upon his own soul, as he did upon +the souls of his brethren in the colony, "to be very careful in +discharging a good conscience towards them in all respects, but more +especially for the good of their souls, that they might, as frequent as +may be, come to meeting on first-days." A special meeting was appointed +for slaves once a month, and their masters were expected to come with +them. Finally, Penn liberated all his slaves. In his will of 1701, "I +give," he says, "to my blacks their freedom, as is under my hand +already, and to old Sam 100 acres, to be his children's after he and his +wife are dead, forever." + +The Pennsbury house had a great hall in the midst, where the governor in +an oak armchair received his neighbors, the Indians. Here they came, in +paint and feathers,--"Connoondaghtoh, king of the Susquehannah Indians; +Wopaththa, king of the Shawanese; Weewinjough, chief of the Ganawese; +and Ahookassong, brother of the emperor of the five nations;" and many +other humbler braves. John Richardson, a Yorkshire Quaker, visited Penn +at Pennsbury and saw them. William gave them match-coats, he says, and +"some other things," including a reasonable supply of rum, which the +chiefs dispensed to the warriors severally in small portions: "So they +came quietly, and in a solid manner, and took their draws." He did not +smoke, a fact which the Indians must have noted as a curious +eccentricity. Then they made a small fire out of doors, and the men sat +about it in a ring, singing "a very melodious hymn," beating the ground +between the verses with short sticks, and, after a circling dance, +departed. Penn got on most happily with the Indians. The peaceful +Quakers went about unarmed and were never in danger. The only disorderly +folk thereabout were white men. + +In the midst of these rural joys, news came that a movement was on foot +to put an end to proprietary governments, thereby bringing all colonies +under the immediate control of the crown. Penn felt that it was +necessary for him to return to England to block this inconvenient +legislation. On the 28th of October, he assembled the citizens of +Philadelphia, and presented them with a charter for their city. In the +Friends' meeting, he said that he "looked over all infirmities and +outwards, and had an eye to the regions of the spirit, wherein was our +sweetest tie." Then, says Norris, "in true love he took his leave of +us." Thus, after two years wherein peace and quietness prevailed over +all misunderstanding and opposition, he set sail in 1701, and never saw +Pennsylvania again. + +His house at Pennsbury fell into ruins,--due in large part to the +leakage of a leaden reservoir on the roof,--and was taken down before +the Revolution. The furniture was gradually dispersed. For some years it +was "deemed a kind of pious stealth," among those who were most loyal to +the proprietor, to carry away something out of the house when they +chanced to visit its empty halls. One gentleman rejoiced in the +possession of the mantelpiece; another had a pair of Penn's plush +breeches. + +William Penn's four years of actual residence gave him all the +satisfaction which he ever got from his colonial possessions. All else +was worry, labor, and expense. The province was a sore financial burden. +As proprietor he was charged with the payment, in large part, of the +expenses of government. The returns from rents and sales were slow and +uncertain. The taxes on imports and exports, to which he had a charter +right, he had generously declined. When he asked the assembly, in +remembrance of that liberality, to send him money in his financial +straits, they were not minded to respond. Penn belonged to that high +fraternity of noble souls who do not know how to make bargains. His +impulses were generous to a fault, and he had an invincible confidence +that his neighbors would deal with him in the same spirit. The +consequence was that year by year the expenses grew, and there was but a +slender income. "O Pennsylvania," he cries, "what hast thou cost me? +Above thirty thousand pounds more than I ever got by it; two hazardous +and most fatiguing voyages, my straits and slavery here, and my child's +soul, almost." + +The last allusion is to Guli's son, William, whose dissipation Penn +always attributed to a lack of fatherly care during his first visit to +the province. Penn finally sent the boy to Pennsbury, hoping that the +quiet, the absence of temptation, and the wholesome joys of a country +life, might amend him. But William went from bad to worse, was arrested +in Philadelphia in a tavern brawl, was formally excommunicated by the +Quakers, and came home to England to give his father further pain. + +To the financial burdens of the province were added the difficulties of +government. Penn succeeded very well in keeping his colony,--he defended +his boundaries against Lord Baltimore, and he defeated those who would +have taken away his rule and given it to the king; but the governing of +the colony across three thousand miles of sea was another matter. The +moment he withdrew the restraining influence of his personal presence, +all manner of contentions came into the light of day. + +The question of the prudence of bearing arms was vigorously debated. +James Logan, secretary of the province, and Penn's ablest counselor, +urged the need of military defenses. Conservative Friends opposed it. + +Churchmen had been settling in the province. One of William's oldest +friends, George Keith, who had accompanied him on his religious mission +to Holland, had gone into the Episcopal ministry. Logan says, in a +letter to Penn, that "not suffering them to be superior" was accounted +by the churchmen as the equivalent of persecution. + +Colonel Quarry, a judge of the admiralty, appointed by the British +government to enforce the navigation laws in the colony, was responsible +to the Board of Trade in London, and independent of the governor and of +the assembly. He exercised his office of critic and censor to the +annoyance of Penn. + +To these various sources of trouble was added an unending strife between +the governor's deputy and the people. Penn's habit of looking always on +the best side made him a bad judge of men, and the deputies whom he sent +were few of them competent; some were not even respectable. Penn, with +his characteristic invincible blindness, took their part. + +Finally, the disputations, protests, and complaints, with direct attacks +upon Penn's interests, and even upon his character, got to such a pass +that he addressed a letter of expostulation to the people. "When it +pleased God to open a way for me to settle that colony," he wrote, "I +had reason to expect a solid comfort from the services done to many +hundreds of people.... But, alas! as to my part, instead of reaping the +like advantages, some of the greatest of my troubles have sprung from +thence. The many combats I have engaged in, the great pains and +incredible expense for your welfare and ease, to the decay of my former +estate ... with the undeserved opposition I have met with from thence, +sink into me with sorrow, that, if not supported by a superior hand, +might have overwhelmed me long ago. And I cannot but think it hard +measure, that, while it has proved a land of freedom and flourishing, it +should become to me, by whose means it was principally made a country, +the cause of grief, trouble, and poverty." + +So heavy was the financial burden, and so vexatious and disheartening +the bickering and ingratitude, that Penn thought seriously of selling +his governorship; and it was in the market for several years awaiting a +purchaser. Indeed, in 1712, he had so far perfected a bargain to +transfer his proprietary rights to the crown for L12,000, that nothing +remained to be done save the affixing of his signature. Before his name +was signed, he fell suddenly ill, and the transaction went no farther. + +In the midst of these many troubles, in themselves serious enough, there +came another. Penn's business manager for his estates in England and +Ireland was Philip Ford. For a long time, Ford's payments had been less +and less; Penn was continually complaining that he got so little from +his property. Still, Ford's accounts went without examination, and some +of his financial reports were not so much as opened. William had his +customary confidence in his agent's honesty. At last, when things got so +bad that something had to be done, it appeared by Ford's books that, +instead of Ford's being in debt to Penn, Penn was in debt to him for +more than ten thousand pounds. This was the result of long, ingenious, +and unmolested bookkeeping. And Penn had made himself liable by his +careless silence. Then Ford died, and his widow and children claimed +everything which stood in Penn's name. Penn, it appeared, had borrowed +money of Ford, and had given him a mortgage on his Pennsylvania estates +as security. When the loan was paid, the mortgage had not been returned. +Not only did Mrs. Ford retain it, but she sued Penn for three thousand +pounds rent, which was due, she said, from the property of which William +was once owner, but which he now held as tenant of the Fords. So far was +this iniquitous business pursued, that Penn was arrested as he was at a +religious meeting in Gracechurch Street, and was imprisoned for debt in +the Fleet, or its precincts. + +This was the turn in the tide. Everybody disapproved of treatment so +unjust and extortionate. William's friends raised money, and made a +compromise with the Fords, and got him free. In Pennsylvania, too, the +contentions were quieted by a good governor. And as the wars came to an +end, trade so increased that the province presently yielded a +substantial income. + +Penn retired to Ruscombe, in Berkshire, in the pleasant country. Here he +had his family about him. He was now a grandfather, his son William +having a son and a daughter. "So that now we are major, minor, and +minimus. I bless the Lord mine are pretty well,--Johnny lively; Tommy a +lovely, large child; and my grandson, Springett, a mere Saracen; his +sister, a beauty." Of his second marriage there were six children, four +of whom--John, Thomas, Margaret, and Richard--became proprietors of +Pennsylvania. Thomas had two sons, John and Granville; Richard had two, +John and Richard. When the proprietary government ended, in 1776, it was +in the hands of the heirs of William Penn. + +In 1711, Penn wrote a preface to John Banks's Journal, dictating it, as +his custom was, walking to and fro with his cane in his hand, thumping +the floor to mark the emphasis. "Now reader," he concludes, "before I +take leave of thee, let me advise thee to hold thy religion in the +spirit, whether thou prayest, praisest or ministerest to others, ... +which, that all God's people may do, is, and hath long been the earnest +desire and fervent supplication of theirs and thy faithful friend in the +Lord Jesus Christ, W. PENN." This is the last word of his writing which +remains. + +The next year he had a paralytic stroke, and another, and another. This +impaired his memory and his mind. Thus he continued for six years, as +happily as was possible under the circumstances. He went often to +meeting, where he frequently spoke, briefly, but with "sound and savory +expressions." He walked about his gardens, saw his friends, and +delighted in the company of his wife and children. Each year left him +weaker than the year before; but his days were filled with serenity. He +was surrounded with all the comforts which a generous income, an +affectionate family, the respect of his neighbors, and the approval of +God, could give him. + +"He that lives to live forever," he had written in his "Fruits of +Solitude," "never fears dying. Nor can the means be terrible to him, +that heartily believes the end. For though death be a dark passage, it +leads to immortality; and that is recompense enough for suffering of +it.... And this is the comfort of the good, that the grave cannot hold +them, and that they live as soon as they die." + +Into the fullness of this life he entered on the 30th of July, 1718, +being seventy-four years old. + + + + +The chief authorities for facts concerning William Penn are-- + + + 1. The Select Works of William Penn (London, 1726; 3d edition, + 1782; 5 vols). Whereof, The Trial of William Penn and William Mead + (vol i.), Travels in Holland and Germany (vol. iii.), and A General + Description of Pennsylvania (vol. iv.) contain autobiographical + matter. Some Fruits of Solitude and Penn's Advice to his Children + (vol. v.) are similarly valuable. + + 2. The Life of Penn prefixed to his Works, by Joseph Besse, a + Quaker contemporary (1726). + + 3. Memoirs of the Private and Public Life of William Penn, by + Thomas Clarkson (London, 1813). + + 4. The Pennsylvania Historical Society Memoirs (vols. i., ii., + iii.). Also the Correspondence between William Penn and James + Logan, edited for this Society, by Edward Armstrong. + + 5. The Penns and the Penningtons, by Maria Webb (London, 1867), + containing family letters. + + 6. Recent biographies of Penn: by William Hepworth Dixon (1851), by + Samuel M. Janney (1852), by John Stoughton (1882), by Sydney George + Fisher (1900). + + + + + The Riverside Press + _Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co._ + _Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's note + + +The following changes have been made to the text: + +In the TOC "58" changed to "53". + +Page 23: "seventeeenth" changed to "seventeenth". + +Page 42: "Quaker brethen" changed to "Quaker brethren". + +Page 49: "died when he" changed to "died when she". + +Page 57: "serious inprisonment" changed to "serious imprisonment". + +Page 62: "body prevented" changed to "body prevented it". + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of William Penn, by George Hodges + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM PENN *** + +***** This file should be named 28394.txt or 28394.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/9/28394/ + +Produced by Carla Foust and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/28394.zip b/28394.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8d061d7 --- /dev/null +++ b/28394.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1cac413 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #28394 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28394) |
