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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Concise Biographical Sketch of William
+Penn, by Charles Evans
+
+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: A Concise Biographical Sketch of William Penn
+
+Author: Charles Evans
+
+Release Date: October 2, 2010 [EBook #33831]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM PENN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net. (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive/American
+Libraries.)
+
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+
+
+
+A CONCISE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WILLIAM PENN.
+
+
+PHILADELPHIA:
+FOR SALE AT FRIENDS' BOOK-STORE,
+No 304 ARCH STREET.
+
+
+
+
+BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WILLIAM PENN.
+
+
+The following is a brief sketch of the life of one who, though perhaps
+more widely known as the Proprietor and Founder of Pennsylvania, was
+also eminent as a minister of the gospel in the Society of Friends, and
+distinguished for his superior intellectual abilities, his varied
+culture, and, above all, for his devoted Christian character,
+exemplified both in adversity and prosperity. It is taken principally
+from a work entitled "Friends in the Seventeenth Century."
+
+He was the son of William Penn, who, trained to nautical life, had by
+his genius and courage risen rapidly in the navy, until at the age of
+twenty-nine he became "Vice-Admiral of the Straits." From the account of
+his life and public career, given by Granville Penn, a descendant, he
+appears to have been a man who made self-interest a leading principle of
+conduct, but who, while eagerly coveting wealth and honor, was never
+accused of being corrupt as a public servant. His son William was born
+in London, in 1644, and resided with his mother at Wanstead, in Essex,
+while his father was absent with the fleet over which he had command.
+
+Owing to information received by Cromwell, through some of the spies
+kept by him in attendance upon the exiled Charles and his court, that,
+notwithstanding he had sanctioned the promotion of Admiral Penn, and
+largely rewarded him by an estate in Ireland, for some losses he had
+sustained there, he was secretly making overtures to bring the squadron
+he commanded into the service of the Royalists, he lost favor with the
+Protector. On his return from an unsuccessful expedition against the
+Spanish West India Islands, he was deprived of his command and thrown
+into prison, whence Cromwell generously liberated him at his own humble
+petition. He then took his family over to Ireland, where he continued to
+reside for some years, on the estate which Cromwell had had bestowed
+upon him, and which was near Cork.
+
+In a manuscript written by Thomas Harvey, reciting an account given to
+him by William Penn, of some of the circumstances of his early life, and
+which was first published in "The Penns and Peningtons," by M. Webb, it
+is stated, "That while he was but a child living at Cork with his
+father, Thomas Loe came thither. When it was rumored a Quaker was come
+from England, his father proposed to some others to be like the noble
+Bereans, and hear him before they judged him. He accordingly sent to
+Thomas Loe to come to his house; where he had a meeting in the family.
+Though William was very young, he observed what effect T. Loe's
+preaching had on the hearers. A black servant of his father could not
+restrain himself from weeping aloud; and little William looking on his
+father, saw the tears running down his cheeks also. He then thought
+within himself, 'What if they would all be Quakers!'" This opportunity
+he never quite forgot; the remembrance of it still recurring at times.
+William Penn was then about eleven years of age, and was being educated
+by a private tutor.
+
+On the retirement of Richard Cromwell from the position for which he
+had been appointed by his father, Admiral Penn declared for Charles
+Stuart, and lost no time in going over to the Continent to pay court to
+him whom he had no doubt would soon be recalled to the throne. Charles
+employed him in secret service, and rewarded him by the honors of
+knighthood, and by becoming his debtor for one hundred pounds.
+
+When a little over fifteen years of age, William Penn entered as a
+"gentleman commoner," at Oxford, where he remained three years,
+distinguishing himself as a hard and successful student. After the
+Restoration, the Court set to work to remodel the University, by
+displacing those who held Puritanical opinions, or who had found favor
+during the Commonwealth, and installing others, friendly to the
+re-established church and the lax moral principles then prevailing. Dr.
+Owen, conspicuous as a scholar and a strict religionist, was ejected to
+make room for a royalist partisan, and the students became divided into
+parties, applauding or denouncing the changes made.
+
+There is reason to believe, from observations made by William Penn
+himself, that throughout his youth he was repeatedly visited by the
+Day-Spring from on high, convicting him of that which was evil in his
+ways, and bringing him into serious thoughtfulness. While at college,
+his associates appear to have been those of a religious cast of
+character like himself, and who, with him, were greatly influenced by
+the teaching and advice of Dr. Owen. It so happened that, while much
+controversy was going on among the scholars relative to religious
+opinions and practices, Thomas Loe came to Oxford, and held several
+meetings. To these meetings William Penn and his associates went, and a
+deep impression was made upon their minds by the powerful preaching of
+this devoted servant of Christ. They declined being present at what were
+now the regular "services" of the college, and did not refrain from
+speaking depreciatingly of what they designated as the "Popish doctrines
+and usages" re-introduced among them. For this they were lectured and
+fined. With the ardor and indiscretion of youth, this supposed indignity
+was highly resented by them. They not only held private meetings for
+worship and religious exhortation and prayer, but some of them refused
+to wear the student's gown and cap, and in some instances tore them off
+of those they met. How far William Penn was implicated in the latter
+wrong-doing is not known; but his positive refusal to wear the usual
+garb, his bold denunciation of the doctrine and practices he believed to
+be wrong, and his courageous defence of the gospel truths he had heard
+from Thomas Loe, brought upon him the enmity of the Masters in power,
+and he was expelled the University.
+
+Admiral Penn, who had set his heart upon preparing his son for realizing
+to the full the ambitious hopes and aims entertained by himself for his
+family, appears to have been little qualified to understand his son's
+character, or to rightly estimate the principles that actuated him. His
+pride was mortified, and, as he thought, his promising schemes were
+blasted. He received William with anger, and for a time would hardly
+deign to speak to him. Accustomed to command, and to be obeyed without
+question, he ordered him to give up his newly-formed views of religious
+duty, and to hold no further intercourse with those who had shared in
+his rebellious opinions and course. Enraged on finding that his
+authority, though seconded by the filial affection of his child, was
+powerless for removing his religious convictions, he resorted to the use
+of his cane, followed by solitary confinement in his room, and then
+banishment from the family.
+
+It was not long, however, before his good sense convinced him that the
+object he had in view was not to be obtained by severity. He resolved to
+change his mode of attack, and try if what could not be gained by force
+might not be brought about by the seductions of a life of gayety and
+pleasure. Learning that a number of young men, sons of persons
+considered to be of high families, were about to go on to the Continent
+and spend some time in study and travelling, he decided to send William
+with them. Accordingly, furnished with letters that would introduce him
+into what the world considered the best society, he went to Paris; and,
+fascinated by the courtly and gay scenes of the company into which he
+found himself welcomed as an admired guest, he soon caught the worldly
+spirit that presided over their festivities, and his serious,
+Quaker-like impressions appeared to pass away, like the morning dew
+before the burning rays of the sun. He did not, however, allow pleasure
+to wean him from study. He went to Saumur, and placing himself under the
+tuition of the learned Moses Amyrault, applied himself to the study of
+the language and literature of the country, embracing the philosophic
+basis of divinity. Travelling into Italy, he made himself acquainted
+with its language, and gratified his taste for the works of the masters
+in art.
+
+On the breaking out of the war with the Dutch, the Admiral called his
+son William home, where he arrived after an absence of two years. All
+trace of the religious seriousness and conscientious restraint that had
+marked his conduct and manner when he left was gone, and his father was
+delighted to find his son wearing the carriage and displaying the
+accomplishments of a self-possessed man of the world. He was at once
+introduced at Court, and had the opportunity to become acquainted with
+many who stood high in the brilliant but profligate society that filled
+the saloons of Whitehall.
+
+William Penn now entered Lincoln's Inn as a student of law, and in 1665,
+when twenty-one years of age, there seemed every probability of his
+making an accomplished courtier, and a successful competitor for the
+honors of this world. Few could enter life with more flattering and
+apparently better-grounded prospects of attaining to all that would
+gratify a mind with strong intellectual powers, and naturally ambitious
+of preferment. His manly form, blooming with health, betokened physical
+strength and endurance. His disposition, though lively and active, was
+marked by docility and sweetness. He possessed ready wit, and his good
+mental abilities had been well developed and trained by careful culture,
+and strengthened by extensive and profound literary attainments. Men
+high in power and place smiled upon him. His father enjoyed close
+intimacy with the Duke of York, heir presumptive to the crown, and
+eagerly sought to secure for his son the glory and riches of the world,
+which courted his acceptance.
+
+The Admiral having been appointed by the Duke of York to accompany him
+in command of the fleet, took William as one of his staff; but after a
+short absence the latter was sent home with a dispatch to the King. The
+plague was now spreading in London, and soon the whole aspect of the
+city was sadly changed. The awful scenes of death that were daily
+occurring and struck the stoutest hearts with dismay, brought to the
+sensitive mind of the gay young man conviction of the uncertainty of
+life, and warning of the necessity to prepare for its sudden
+termination. The Holy Spirit again broke up his false rest, showed him
+the emptiness of all worldly grandeur, and wooed him to follow Christ
+Jesus in the regeneration.
+
+After a cruise of about two months, his father returned, flushed with
+success in the sanguinary contest in which he had been engaged. He found
+William again serious, and indisposed to continue the course upon which,
+but a short time before, he had exultantly entered. The increased honors
+and emoluments heaped on the victorious sailor by the royal brothers,
+made him still more fearful lest the foolish whimsies, as he thought
+them, of his son, would yet disappoint his hopes of the hereditary
+honors that might be settled upon him. Large accession to his Irish
+estate, derived from royal bounty as a reward for the service rendered,
+made it necessary that some one should look after his interest there;
+and having experienced the good effect, as he considered it, of placing
+his son within the dazzling circle of gay and fashionable life, he
+hurried him across the Channel, with letters of introduction to the Duke
+of Ormond, then Lord Deputy of Ireland.
+
+William found the vice-regal Court comparatively free from the
+dissipation and loose morals of that which surrounded Charles II., and
+he soon seemed to enter heartily into the enjoyment it afforded. He
+joined an expedition sent, under the command of Lord Airan, to quell an
+insurrection that broke out among the garrison at Carrickfergus, and for
+a while was so excited by the spirit and enterprise attending active
+military life, that he became anxious to adopt it as a profession. But
+his father, when consulted on the subject, decidedly objected, and it
+was given up.
+
+But He who watches over the workmanship of his hand, and seeks to save
+that which is lost, was not leaving William Penn to wander in the paths
+of folly, without the reproofs of instruction, and in mercy, by his
+witness in the heart, inclining him to accept those reproofs as the way
+to life; and it was not long before he was brought to a stand, and made
+to feel that he must then make his election between the life of a votary
+of this world and that of a self-denying disciple of a crucified
+Saviour.
+
+Shangarry Castle, the newly-acquired estate of the Admiral, was near to
+Cork, and when not employed in bringing the place and the affairs
+connected with it into order, William was often in the town, where he
+had been well acquainted when a boy. Having one day, while there, gone
+into the shop of a woman Friend whom he had formerly known, to make a
+purchase, and finding she did not recognize him, he introduced himself,
+and entered into conversation with her; recalling to her recollection
+the meeting held by Thomas Loe at his father's house. Upon her
+expressing surprise at his memory of the events, he replied, he thought
+he would never forget them, and that, if he knew where that Friend was,
+he would go to hear him again, though it was a hundred miles off. She
+told him he need not go so far, for that Friend was now in Cork, and
+was to have a meeting the next day. Curious again to hear one who had
+arrested his attention when a boy, and seriously impressed him by his
+ministry, when at Oxford, he went to the meeting; and after a time
+Thomas Loe stood up with the expression, "There is a faith that
+overcomes the world, and there is a faith that is overcome by the
+world." It struck deep into the heart of William Penn, who was then made
+to feel keenly that he had been long striving against or slighting his
+known duty to his Maker, and allowing the world to overcome the drawing
+of his heavenly Father's love, to bring him out from the thraldom of
+sin; and as the preacher with fervid eloquence dwelt on the fruits of
+such faith, he was thoroughly broken down, and wept much. After the
+meeting he went with Thomas Loe to a Friend's house, where they had a
+free conversation, and from that time he became a regular attender of
+the meetings of Friends. As the Light of Christ shone with more and more
+clearness upon his soul, he saw how grievously he had departed from the
+right way of the Lord, and was brought under deep repentance therefor.
+Convinced of the truth of the doctrines held by Friends, he heartily
+embraced them, and firmly resolved to live and die by them, whatever
+sacrifices it might cost him.
+
+Being at a meeting in Cork in 1667, he, with others, was arrested by
+officers who came to break the meeting up, and was sent to prison:
+though the Magistrate, who recognized him as the son of the lord of
+Shangarry Castle, offered to set him at liberty if he would give his
+word "to keep the peace," which he refused. From the prison he addressed
+a letter to the Earl of Ossory, giving an account of the arrest and
+imprisonment of himself and friends, showing their innocence, and
+pleading the liberty of conscience demanded by the precepts of the
+gospel. An order was immediately dispatched by the Earl for his release;
+and as it was soon noised abroad that Admiral Penn's son had turned
+Quaker, the Earl wrote to his father, communicating the information.
+Startled and annoyed by the intelligence, the Admiral ordered William to
+come home immediately, which he did. Josiah Cole, a minister in the
+Society of Friends, met him at Bristol; accompanied him to London, and
+being deeply interested for his stability and preservation, went with
+him to his father's house. Fully as William had adopted the principles
+of Friends, and many as were the baptisms he had already passed through,
+he had not yet adopted the plain dress that distinguished them from
+others; and his father observing this, and that his rapier still hung by
+his side, hoped that his friend the Earl had been wrongly informed; and
+he treated him and his friend during the evening with ordinary courtesy,
+without alluding to the report that had reached him.
+
+Observing, on the next day, that William did not uncover his head when
+he came into his presence,--in those days men generally wore their hats
+in the house,--and that he used thee and thou when addressing him, he
+demanded an explanation. William frankly told him that, having been
+convinced of the truth of the religion of the Quakers, he was
+conscientiously scrupulous against taking off his hat as a token of
+respect, using the plural language, or compliments. An angry altercation
+on the part of the father, and deeply distressing on the part of the
+son, succeeded, and was more than once repeated. Finally, the former,
+finding that neither argument nor threats could shake the latter's firm
+conviction that to comply with his father's wishes would be to violate
+his duty to his Lord and Master, told him he might thee and thou whom he
+pleased, and keep on his hat, except in the presence of the King, the
+Duke of York, and himself; but to or before these he should not thee or
+thou, or stand covered; and the son, moved by his father's distress and
+his own filial affection, asked time for consideration before giving a
+decisive reply. This was reluctantly granted, though he was forbidden to
+see any Friend, and William retired, to pour out his soul in prayer for
+right direction and strength to follow it. At their next interview
+William told his father that he could not comply with his wishes without
+violating his duty to his God, and must therefore decline. Irritated at
+what he considered his son's obstinacy, and foolish determination to
+sacrifice the worldly honors soliciting his acceptance, for a mere whim,
+the Admiral upbraided him in no measured terms, and when convinced that
+he would not be changed, turned him out of doors, with the threat that
+he would disinherit him. Before leaving his home and family, William
+assured his father how deeply he was grieved; not so much because of his
+being driven from his paternal roof and brought to poverty, as because
+he incurred his displeasure, and was thought by him to be an undutiful
+child. He then left the house, resigned to make the sacrifice required,
+and "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than
+to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of
+Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect
+unto the recompense of reward." Friends who knew the circumstances under
+which William Penn was placed, received him gladly; and his mother, who
+yearned over the son of her love, and greatly mourned the course pursued
+towards him, took means to have him supplied with money sufficient to
+obtain food and raiment, and so managed as to have an occasional
+interview with him. It was not long after, that, laying aside his rapier
+and all ornamentation of dress, he appeared in the plain garb of a
+Quaker.
+
+Some years after, when writing respecting the trials that befell him
+about this time, he speaks of "the bitter mockings and scornings that
+fell upon me, the displeasure of my parents, the cruelty and invective
+of the priests, the strangeness of all my companions, and what a sign
+and wonder they made of me; but above all, that great cross of resisting
+and watching against my own vain affections and thoughts."
+
+As he was given up to endure the baptisms necessary for his purification
+and refinement, his Divine Master brought him up out of the horrible
+pit, set his feet upon Himself, the Rock of Ages, and made him a
+partaker of the powers of the world to come; and having thus prepared
+him for the work, bestowed on him a gift in the ministry of the gospel
+of life and salvation. He first came forth in this service in 1668,
+about two years after his convincement under the ministry of Thomas Loe,
+and in the twenty-fourth year of his age. His uniformly consistent
+conduct, and careful maintenance of affectionate filial respect toward
+his exasperated parent, finally won upon him so far that he permitted
+him to take up his abode in his house; though it was long after he had
+been so living, before he would have much intercourse with him. But
+when, sharing in the persecution which Friends were then suffering, his
+son was cast into prison, it was said he secretly used his influence to
+obtain his liberty.
+
+In 1668 Thomas Loe was called away from the church militant to enter
+upon his reward in the church triumphant. When on his death-bed, he said
+to William Penn, who, with other Friends, was waiting on him, "Bear thy
+cross and stand faithful to God; then He will give thee an everlasting
+crown of glory, that shall not be taken from thee. There is no other way
+which shall prosper than that which the holy men of old walked in. God
+hath brought immortality to light, and life immortal is felt. Glory!
+glory! to Him, for He is worthy of it. His love overcomes my heart; nay,
+my cup runs over; glory be to His Name forever." To George Whitehead he
+remarked, "The Lord is good to me; this day He hath covered me with
+glory," and as life was leaving his body, he sang, "Glory, glory to Thee
+forever!" and so sank to sleep in Jesus.
+
+In 1668 William Penn was imprisoned on account of one of his
+publications, "The Sandy Foundation Shaken." It resulted from himself
+and George Whitehead having been unfairly prevented from orally replying
+to a Calvinistic preacher who had assailed the doctrines of Friends. In
+this tract he was not so guarded in the language he used, but that he
+was misunderstood by many, and supposed to be unsound on the fundamental
+doctrines of the proper divinity and meritorious death and atonement of
+Christ. The publication attracted general attention, and gave deep
+offence to some of the Prelates, who either thought it beneath their
+dignity to enter into argument with a polemic so young, and as they
+might think, so unskilled in divinity, or, being more in accordance with
+their practice and the spirit of the times, and more likely to silence
+their opponent, they applied to the Secretary of State, and induced him
+to issue a warrant for his arrest; which William Penn hearing of, went
+and voluntarily gave himself up, and was committed to the Tower. It was
+evident that William Penn had some bitter enemies, for a letter was
+picked up near where he had been standing when he surrendered himself,
+which contained matter of so treasonable a character, that Lord
+Arlington, the Secretary of State, on receiving and reading it, went
+immediately to the Tower and had an interview with him, in which he soon
+satisfied himself that William Penn knew nothing of the note, and was
+innocent of any conspiracy.
+
+There had been no indictment, no trial, conviction, nor sentence passed
+upon the prisoner, and yet he was kept in solitary confinement for about
+eight months; during which time most of his family and friends were
+forbidden access to him, and the "Bishop of London" sent him word he
+should either make a public recantation or die in prison. But though
+thus closely immured as to his body, his spirit was free, and the word
+of the Lord was not bound. He prepared himself to weary out the malice
+of his enemies by patience and meekness, and to be resigned to lay down
+his life within the walls of the Tower, if the sacrifice was called for,
+rather than violate his conscience.
+
+To occupy his time profitably, and, as far as he had ability, promote
+the cause of truth and righteousness, he employed his pen; and his
+thoughts, probably taking their direction and coloring from the
+afflictive circumstances under which he and many other members of the
+Society to which he was joined were then placed, he wrote the work,
+since become so celebrated, "No Cross, No Crown." This treatise is
+admitted to be of extraordinary merit; not only in a literary point of
+view, considering the short time and the circumstances under which it
+was produced, but in the clear and cogent manner in which it presents
+the sinful indulgences of the great body of the professors of
+Christianity, and enforces the self-denying requisitions of the religion
+of Christ.
+
+Finding that some parts of his "Sandy Foundation Shaken" had been
+misunderstood or misrepresented, so as to give currency to the charge of
+his being unsound in relation to the divinity and atonement of Christ,
+William Penn at once wrote an explanation of what had been
+misrepresented, and in exposition of his views on these cardinal points
+of Christian faith. This was entitled, "Innocency with her Open Face."
+In this work he says, "Let all know, that I pretend to know no other
+name by which remission, atonement, and salvation can be obtained, but
+Jesus Christ the Saviour, who is the power and wisdom of God." Asserting
+his full belief in the divinity of Christ, he observes, "He that is the
+everlasting Wisdom, the divine Power, the true Light, the only Saviour,
+the creating Word of all things, whether visible or invisible, and their
+Upholder by his own power, is without contradiction, God; but all these
+qualifications and divine properties are, by the concurrent testimony of
+Scripture, ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore without
+scruple, I call and believe him really to be the mighty God."
+
+In replying to Dr. John Collenges, some years after the publication of
+"The Sandy Foundation Shaken," who had at that time brought forward
+exceptions to its doctrines, William Perm again explicitly asserts his
+full belief in the proper divinity of, and atonement made by, Christ:
+and in the doctrine of justification as held by Friends at that time and
+ever since. "I do _heartily believe_ that Jesus Christ is the only true
+and everlasting God, by whom all things were made that are made, in the
+heavens above or the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth: that
+He is as omnipotent, so omniscient and omnipresent, therefore God." And
+in regard to the atonement and justification, he thus writes, "He that
+would not have me mistaken, on purpose to render his charge against me
+just, whether it be so or no, may see in _my apology_ for 'The Sandy
+Foundation Shaken,' that I otherwise meant than I am charactered. In
+short, I say, both as to this and the other point of justification, that
+Jesus Christ was a _sacrifice for sin_; that He was set forth to be _a
+propitiation for the sins of the whole world_; to declare God's
+righteousness, _for the remission of sins that are passed_, etc.; to all
+that repented and had faith in His Son. Therein the love of God
+appeared, that He declared His good-will _thereby_ to be reconciled;
+Christ bearing away the sins that are passed, as the scape-goat did of
+old; not excluding inward work; for till that is begun, none can be
+benefitted; though it is not the work, but God's free love, that remits
+and blots out; of which the death of Christ and His sacrificing himself
+was a most certain declaration and confirmation. In short, _that_
+declared remission to all who believe and obey, for the sins that are
+past; which is the _first part_ of Christ's work (as it is a king's to
+pardon a traitor before he advanceth him), and hitherto the acquittance
+imputes a righteousness--inasmuch as men, _on true repentance_, are
+imputed as clean of guilt as if they had never sinned--and thus far are
+justified; but the _completion_ of this by the working out of sin
+inherent, must be by the Power and Spirit of Christ in the heart,
+destroying the old man and his deeds, and bringing in the new and
+everlasting righteousness. So that which I wrote against, is such
+doctrine as extended Christ's death and obedience, _not to the first_,
+but to the second part of justification; not the pacifying of conscience
+as to past sin; but to complete salvation without cleansing and purging
+from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, by the internal operation of
+his holy power and Spirit."
+
+Notwithstanding William Penn is thus clear and explicit in correcting
+the misunderstanding of his Christian faith, to which some of his
+expressions in "The Sandy Foundation Shaken" had given rise, and in his
+full avowal of his belief in the Deity of Christ, and the atonement made
+by Him for the sins of mankind; as also in the doctrine of justification
+by faith in Him; yet those who are anxious to represent Friends as
+Socinians, or as denying the atonement of Christ, are still so unjust to
+his unequivocal and widely-published opinions on these points, and so
+ungenerous to his character and memory, as well as untruthful in their
+representation of Friends, as to claim him as authority for their
+disbelief in these fundamental doctrines.
+
+Though he had addressed a communication to Lord Arlington, Secretary of
+State, on whose warrant he was committed to the Tower, in which he
+denied the charges brought against him, so far as he had been able to
+ascertain them; declaring they were the result of ignorance and malice,
+and requesting that he might have an audience with the King, in order to
+hear the accusation of his enemies, and have an opportunity to defend
+himself; or if he could not have access to the King, then to be brought,
+with his accusers, face to face before him, the Secretary of State, it
+was disregarded, nor was the rigor of his confinement abated. "Innocency
+with her Open Face" had, however, produced a change of public feeling
+towards him; and his father, who could not but respect the consistent
+firmness and Christian endurance of his son, and who had himself been
+passing through a severe ordeal from the machinations of his enemies in
+the House of Commons, visited him in his dungeon, and began to use the
+influence he continued to hold with the Duke of York and the King, on
+his behalf. Whether at his instance or not is not known, but Arlington,
+though declining to give audience to William Penn himself, sent the
+King's Chaplain, Stillingfleet, to have an interview with him, and
+ascertain what concessions he would be willing to make to the offended
+hierarchy. Their conversation appears to have been conducted in a
+friendly spirit and manner: the Chaplain holding up the brilliant future
+that would be realized by Penn if he would recant some of his opinions,
+and dwelling on the favorable disposition of the Duke of York and King
+towards him. William told him, "The Tower is the worst argument in the
+world," and that nothing could induce him to violate his conscientious
+convictions, so there seemed nothing gained. But suddenly and
+unexpectedly an order came from the King for his release, and he left
+the gloomy confines of his prison-house without making any concession or
+accepting a pardon. The discharge was believed to have been the work of
+the Duke of York, and William ever cherished a grateful feeling towards
+him for this generous act.
+
+In the year 1670, Friends in England underwent great persecution and
+suffering on account of their religious principles. The law against
+Dissenters, that had just expired, had failed in its object, and it was
+therefore determined to try another method, which enlisted the cupidity
+of the depraved class as informers, and used the almost unrestrained
+functions of officials clothed with absolute power to impoverish and
+harass those who met together for Divine worship in a way differing from
+the "Church of England," in the hope of rendering such unable to live in
+their native country. Accordingly a third "Act to prevent and suppress
+seditious conventicles" was passed by Parliament, and received the royal
+assent in the Fourth month, 1670.
+
+Persecution now ran riot; and the power being by design placed in the
+hands of the most profligate and debased, rapine, havoc, and
+impoverishment were spread over the nation by the graceless informers,
+abetted by a venal magistracy, eager to share in the plunder.
+
+But the storm, biting and incessant as it was, was no more effective in
+deterring Friends from assembling for the purpose of worshipping their
+Almighty Father in Heaven, than that which had been raised under the
+former "Conventicle Act." Grievously spoiled and cruelly abused as they
+were, they knew their enemies could truthfully allege nothing against
+them but that which concerned the law of their God; and in the sincerity
+of their hearts they made their appeal unto Him, with full confidence
+that He would extend his fatherly, protecting care over them; would
+cause the wrath of man to bring Him praise, and when He saw it was
+enough, would restrain the remainder of wrath, and limit the rage and
+cruelty of their merciless tormentors. Deprived of the use of their
+meeting-houses, they assembled as near to them as they could get; and
+beaten, bruised, imprisoned, and fined, as many of each company were
+almost sure to be, the next meeting-day found others at the same place,
+engaged in the performance of the same indispensable duty; ready to
+encounter, with meekness and patience, the wrath of their persecutors,
+and to suffer for the maintenance of their rights as men and their
+obligation as Christians.
+
+Their treatment in London, bad as it was, was thought to be less severe
+than in many other parts of the Kingdom. Yet in that city, it was a
+common occurrence for those who attended their meetings for worship, to
+be beaten with the muskets of the foot-soldiers, and the sabres of the
+dragoons, until the blood ran down upon the ground; women, sometimes
+young maidens, were maltreated in the most shameful manner.
+
+On the fourteenth of the Eighth month, 1670, William Penn and William
+Mead were taken from the meeting held in the street, as near to
+Grace-church meeting-house as they could get; the former being engaged
+in ministry at the time. They were brought to trial on the first of the
+Ninth month, before the Mayor, Samuel Starling; the Recorder, John
+Howell; several Aldermen, and the Sheriffs. William Mead had formerly
+been a captain in the Commonwealth's army, but having embraced the
+truths of the Gospel as held by Friends, he of course gave up all
+connection with military life, and is mentioned in the indictment as a
+linen-draper, in London; though it is probable he resided most of his
+time in Essex, where he had a considerable landed estate. He afterwards
+married a daughter of Margaret Fell.
+
+The indictment charged that they, with other persons, to the number of
+three hundred, with force and arms, unlawfully and tumultuously
+assembled together, on the fifteenth day of August, 1670, and the said
+William Penn, by agreement made beforehand with William Mead, preached
+and spoke to the assembly; by reason whereof, a great concourse and
+tumult of people continued a long time in the street, in contempt of the
+King and his law, to the great disturbance of his peace, and to the
+terror of many of his liege people and subjects.
+
+The character of the trial might be judged by the first incident that
+occurred. Being brought before the Court on the third of the Ninth
+month, an officer took off their hats on their entrance; whereupon the
+Mayor angrily ordered him to put them on again; which being done, the
+Recorder fined them forty marks apiece, for alleged contempt of Court,
+by appearing before it with their hats on. This trial has become
+celebrated, not only on account of the ability with which William
+Penn--then in his twenty-sixth year--defended his cause, and sustained
+the inalienable rights of Englishmen, but for the inflexible firmness
+of the jury in maintaining their own rights, and adhering to their
+conscientious convictions; notwithstanding the iniquitous determination
+of the Court, to enforce its own will, to convict and punish the
+prisoners at the bar, and to oblige the jury to become their tools for
+that purpose.
+
+The indictment was incorrect, even in the statement of the time when the
+offence was said to have taken place; as it was on the fourteenth of the
+month, and not on the fifteenth, and therefore it ought to have been
+quashed by the Court, and the prisoners discharged. The evidence of the
+three witnesses examined was altogether inconclusive, but William Penn
+boldly said to the Court, "We confess ourselves to be so far from
+recanting or declining to vindicate the assembling of ourselves, to
+preach, pray, or worship the eternal, holy, just God, that we declare to
+all the world, that we do believe it to be our indispensable duty to
+meet incessantly on so good an account; nor shall all the powers upon
+earth be able to divert us from reverencing and adoring the God who made
+us." He then asked the Court to tell him upon what law the indictment
+and proceedings were founded. The Recorder answering, the common law,
+Penn requested him to tell him what law that was; for if it was common,
+it must be easy to define it. But the Recorder refused to tell him,
+saying it was _lex non scripta_, and it was not to be expected that he
+could say at once what it was, for some had been thirty or forty years
+studying it. Penn observed that Lord Coke had declared that common law
+was common right, and common right the great chartered privileges
+confirmed by former Kings. The Recorder, greatly excited, told him he
+was a troublesome fellow, and it was not to the honor of the Court to
+suffer him to go on; but Penn calmly insisted that the Court was bound
+to explain to the prisoners at their bar the law they had violated, and
+upon which they were being tried; and he told them plainly that, unless
+they did so, they were violating the chartered rights of Englishmen, and
+acting upon an arbitrary determination to sacrifice those rights to
+their own illegal designs. Whereupon the Mayor and Recorder ordered him
+to be turned into the bail-dock. William Penn,--"These are but so many
+vain exclamations; is this justice or true judgment? Must I, therefore,
+be taken away because I plead for the fundamental laws of England?"
+Then, addressing himself to the jury, he said: "However, this I leave
+upon your consciences who are of the jury, and my sole judges, that if
+these ancient fundamental laws which relate to liberty and property, and
+are not limited to particular persuasions in matters of religion, must
+not be indispensably maintained and observed, who can say he hath a
+right to the coat upon his back. Certainly our liberties are openly to
+be invaded, our children enslaved, our families ruined, and our estates
+led away in triumph, by every sturdy beggar and malicious informer, as
+their trophies, but our pretended forfeits for conscience' sake. The
+Lord of heaven and earth will be judge between us in this matter." The
+hearing of this emphatic speech was so troublesome to the Recorder, that
+he cried, "Be silent there!" At which William Penn returned, "I am not
+to be silent in a cause wherein I am so much concerned, and not only
+myself, but many ten thousand families besides."
+
+Penn being thrust into the bail-dock, William Mead was called up, and
+was asked if he was present at the meeting. Which question he refused to
+answer, on the ground that he could not be required to accuse himself.
+He then told the jury that the indictment was false in many particulars,
+and that William Penn was right in demanding the law upon which it was
+based. It charged him with assembling by force and arms, tumultuously
+and illegally, which was untrue; and he informed them of Lord Coke's
+definition of a rout or riot, or unlawful assembly. Here the Recorder
+interrupted him, and endeavored to cast ridicule on what he had said, by
+taking off his hat and saying, "I thank you for telling us what the law
+is." On Mead replying sharply to a taunting speech of Richard Brown, the
+old and inveterate enemy of Friends, the Mayor told him "he deserved to
+have his tongue cut out." He, too, was put into the bail-dock, and the
+Court proceeded to charge the jury. Whereupon William Penn cried out
+with a loud voice to the jury, to take notice, that it was illegal to
+charge the jury in the prisoners' absence, and without giving them
+opportunity to plead their cause. The Recorder ordered him to be put
+down. William Mead then remonstrating against such "barbarous and unjust
+proceedings," the Court ordered them both to be put into a filthy,
+stinking place, called "the hole." After an absence of an hour and a
+half, eight of the jury came down agreed, but four staid up and would
+not assent. The Court sent for the four, and menaced them for
+dissenting. When the jury was all together, the prisoners were brought
+to the bar, and the verdict demanded. The Foreman said William Penn was
+guilty of speaking in Grace-church Street. The Court endeavored to
+extort something more, but the Foreman declared he was not authorized to
+say anything but what he had given in. The Recorder, highly displeased,
+told them they might as well say nothing, and they were sent back. They
+soon returned with a written verdict, signed by all of them, that they
+found William Penn guilty of speaking or preaching in Grace-church
+Street, and William Mead not guilty. This so incensed the Court, that
+they told them they _would_ have a verdict they would accept, and that
+"they should be locked up without meat, drink, fire, or tobacco: you
+shall not think thus to abuse the Court. We will have a verdict, by the
+help of God, or you shall starve for it." Against this outrageous
+infraction of justice and right, William Penn remonstrated, saying: "My
+jury, who are my judges, ought not to be thus menaced; their verdict
+should be free, and not compelled; the Bench ought to wait upon them,
+but not forestall them. I do desire that justice may be done me, and
+that the arbitrary resolves of the Bench may not be made the measure of
+my jury's verdict." The Recorder cried out, "Stop that prating fellow's
+mouth, or put him out of Court." Penn insisted that the agreement of the
+twelve men was a verdict, and that the Clerk of the Court should record
+it; and, addressing the jury, he said: "You are Englishmen; mind your
+privileges; give not away your right!" To which some of them replied,
+"Nor will we ever do it."
+
+The jury were sent to their room, and the prisoners to jail, the former
+being deprived of food, drink, and every accommodation. The same verdict
+was returned the next morning; calling from the Bench upbraiding and
+threats, similar to those so lavishly bestowed on the jury before: the
+Recorder, in his passion, going so far as to say, "Till now, I never
+understood the reason of the policy and prudence of the Spaniards in
+suffering the Inquisition among them; and certainly, it will never be
+well with us till something like the Spanish Inquisition be in England."
+Again the jury was sent back to their room, and the prisoners returned
+to Newgate; both being so kept for another twenty-four hours; the jury
+without victuals, drink, or other accommodations. The next morning they
+were again brought into Court, and the usual question respecting their
+verdict being put, the Foreman first replied, "You have our written
+verdict already." The Recorder refusing to allow it to be read, the
+Clerk repeated the query, "How say you, is William Penn guilty or not
+guilty?" The Foreman answered: "Not guilty." The same verdict was given
+in the case of William Mead. The jury being separately questioned, they
+all made the same reply. The Recorder, exasperated at their decision and
+firmness, after pouring out his invectives upon them, said: "The Court
+fines you forty marks a man, and imprisonment till paid."
+
+William Penn now demanded his liberty; but the Mayor said, "No, you are
+in for your fines." "Fines! for what?" replied Penn. "For contempt of
+Court," was the answer. Penn then declared that, according to the laws,
+no man could be fined without a trial by jury; but the Mayor ordered him
+and Mead first to the bail-dock, and then to the jail; where the jury
+was likewise consigned.
+
+But this noble stand of the jury for law and right was not allowed to
+terminate in the punishment of these upright men, and the continued
+gratification of the revenge of the unjust Judges. After ineffectually
+demanding of the Court their release two or three times, a writ of
+_habeas corpus_ was granted by Judge Vaughan; who, upon hearing the
+case, decided their fine and imprisonment illegal, and set them free.
+
+The usage of the Courts had not before been reduced to a legal and
+positive form. It had been the occasional practice of the Bench to
+impose fines on "inconvenient juries," and had long remained practically
+an unsettled question, whether a jury had a right so far to exercise its
+own discretion as to bring in a verdict contrary to the sense of the
+Court. This important point was now decided; the Judges--there were
+others associated with Vaughan--adopting the views that it was the
+special function of the jury to judge of the evidence, and that the
+Bench, though at liberty to offer suggestions for the consideration of
+the jurymen, might not lawfully coerce them.
+
+William Penn, anxious to have the cases of himself and his friend
+reviewed by a Superior Court, wrote to his father, affectionately
+desiring him not to interfere to have him released. But the old man, who
+was fast declining, and anxious to have the company and attentions of
+his son, to whom he was not only reconciled, but on whose filial
+affection and care he had learned to lean for comfort and support, was
+not willing to wait the tardy process of law; and therefore paid the
+fines of both the Friends, and had them set free. The Admiral survived
+but a few days the liberation of his son; in which time he sent one of
+his friends to the King and Duke of York, to make his dying request,
+that, so far as they could, they would hereafter befriend his loved
+son; which both promised to do. Addressing his son shortly before his
+death, he said: "Son William, if you and your friends keep to your plain
+way of preaching, and your plain way of living, you will make an end of
+the priests to the end of the world." Again--sensible, it is probable,
+of the wrong he had before committed in his course towards his son--he
+said, emphatically: "Let nothing in the world tempt you to wrong your
+conscience. I charge you, do nothing against your conscience; so you
+will keep peace at home, which will be a feast to you in the day of
+trouble."
+
+Near the close of this year, William Penn was again arrested at Wheeler
+Street meeting, by some of the officers of Robinson, Lieutenant of the
+Tower, who had sent them there for the purpose, and he was taken before
+him. His examination, as published, shows his Christian courage and
+firmness, as he exposed the duplicity of Robinson in his profession of
+friendship for him; and asserted his innocence of the charges made
+against him. He was sent to Newgate for six months; during which time he
+drew up an account of the memorable trial at the Old Bailey; also
+several dissertations which were afterwards published as tracts: one of
+these was, "The great Case of Liberty of Conscience, once more briefly
+Debated, and Defended by authority of Scripture, Reason, and Antiquity."
+
+Soon after his release he married Gulielma Maria Springett, daughter of
+Sir William Springett. She was a pious young woman, of well-educated and
+amiable manners. After his marriage he settled in Hertfordshire.
+
+In 1677 George Fox, William Penn, Robert Barclay, and some other
+Friends, went over to Holland on a religious visit, and travelled into
+Germany. In the course of this journey, William Penn and two other
+Friends visited Elizabeth, Princess Palatine of the Rhine, at her Court
+at Herwerden. She was the oldest daughter of Frederick V., Elector
+Palatine, and at one time King of Bohemia; her mother being the sister
+of Charles I. of England. She is represented to have been a woman of
+good natural capacity, well educated, and of amiable disposition and
+manners; and to have governed her small territory with good judgment and
+much consideration for the welfare of her subjects. Having been brought
+under the power of religion, she manifested strong interest in others
+who were sincere in their religious convictions, and was opposed to
+interference with liberty of conscience. Having become acquainted with
+the religious tenets of Friends, by conversation with Robert Barclay and
+Benjamin Furly, who visited her in 1676, and with women Friends from
+Amsterdam, she found them to answer to the convictions of Truth on her
+own mind; and she not only gladly received Friends when they came to see
+her, but in her letters to several of the more prominent members among
+them, and to others at the English Court, she unhesitatingly expressed
+her high estimation of them, and her disapproval of the persecution to
+which those that held them were subjected.
+
+The Friends named, having requested permission to have a religious
+opportunity with her, it was readily granted; she having in her family
+at that time the Countess of Hornes, her intimate friend, and a French
+lady. Of this interview William Penn thus writes in his journal: "I can
+truly say it, and that in God's fear, I was very deeply and reverently
+affected with the sense that was upon my spirit of the great and notable
+day of the Lord, and the breaking in of his eternal power upon all
+nations; and of the raising of the slain Witness to judge the world; who
+is the Treasury of life and peace, of wisdom and glory, to all that
+receive Him in the hour of his judgments, and abide with Him. The sense
+of this deep and sure foundation, which God is laying as the hope of
+eternal life and glory for all to build upon, filled my soul with an
+holy testimony to them, which in a living sense was followed by my
+brethren; and so the meeting ended about the eleventh hour."
+
+In the afternoon they held another meeting with them, which was also so
+remarkably favored, that William Penn says: "Well, let my right hand
+forget its cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, when I
+shall forget the loving-kindness of the Lord, and the sure mercies of
+our God to us, his travailing servants, that day."
+
+Subsequently, on their return towards Holland, these Friends again
+stopped at Herwerden, and upon informing the Princess of their arrival,
+they were again gladly received by her and her friends. A meeting being
+held with them and some others whom they had invited, the next morning,
+William Penn states in his journal: "About eight the meeting began, and
+held till eleven, several persons of the city, as well as those of her
+own family, being present. The Lord's power very much affected them, and
+the Countess was twice much broken while we spoke. After the people were
+gone out of the chamber, it lay upon me from the Lord to speak to them
+two--the Princess and the Countess--with respect to their particular
+conditions; occasioned by these words from the Princess, 'I am fully
+convinced; but oh! my sins are great.' While I was speaking, the
+glorious power of the Lord wonderfully rose, yea, after an awful manner,
+and had a deep entrance upon their spirits; especially the Countess, so
+that she was broken to pieces: God hath raised, and I hope fixed, his
+own testimony in them."
+
+The next day they had a parting interview in the chamber of the
+Princess, which was equally favored. "Magnified be the name of the Lord;
+He overshadowed us with His glory. His heavenly, breaking, dissolving
+power richly flowed among us, and his ministering angel of life was in
+the midst of us."
+
+During the time of severe suffering through which Friends were passing
+in Great Britain after the Restoration, as was natural, on finding that
+redress or abatement of their grievances was almost beyond hope, they
+seriously entertained a project for finding homes somewhere beyond the
+reach of their fellow-men, who seemed bent on extirpating them, by the
+slow process of the cruel punishments inflicted for their religious
+faith. George Fox, in common with several other prominent members,
+seriously contemplated the purchase of a tract of land from the Indians
+in North America; where, not the whole body of Friends in Great Britain,
+but such as felt themselves free to leave their native land, might
+emigrate and enjoy the right of worshipping the Almighty according to
+the dictates of their consciences.
+
+Josiah Cole, while engaged in religious service in America, was
+commissioned to look out, and enter into treaty for such a
+resting-place; and at one time he had several interviews with the chiefs
+of the Susquehanna Indians, in order to treat with them for a part of
+their territory. Owing to a war coming on between that tribe and
+another, the proposed purchase fell through.
+
+In 1676 William Penn, as trustee for the creditors of Edward Billinge,
+one of the proprietors of West Jersey, and afterwards by the purchase of
+a proprietary right in East Jersey, became concerned in the colonization
+of that Province. Others were associated with him in the undertaking,
+among whom were several of his own Society, under whose management a
+peaceful settlement was effected. A form of government was agreed on for
+West Jersey, and a declaration of fundamental principles, to be
+incorporated in it, consented to; among which was the stipulation, "No
+person to be called in question or molested for his conscience, or for
+worshipping according to his conscience."
+
+Many Friends of good estates, and highly esteemed for their religious
+standing and experience, crossed the Atlantic to this land of liberty,
+and between 1676 and 1681 about fourteen hundred had arrived and
+settled; principally in the country bordering the eastern shore of the
+Delaware. These immigrants suffered the privations and hardships
+incident to beginning civilized life in an unbroken wilderness,
+surrounded by savages, who were dependent in great measure upon the
+uncertain supplies of the chase for their own sustenance, and who rarely
+laid up much in store for future wants. But, by uniform uprightness in
+all their dealings with these children of the forest, and their
+Christian kindness towards them, they soon gained their good-will, and,
+in times of scarcity, excited their sympathy; so that often they were
+relieved by voluntary offerings of corn and meat from these untutored
+red men, when it seemed as though otherwise they must have suffered for
+food.
+
+Proud, in the preface to his "History of Pennsylvania," gives in a note
+an account of these trials, drawn up by one of the Friends who settled
+in New Jersey, containing the following passages:
+
+"A providential hand was very visible and remarkable in many instances
+that might be mentioned, and the Indians were even rendered our
+benefactors and protectors. Without any carnal weapon, we entered the
+land and inhabited therein, as safe as if there had been thousands of
+garrisons; for the Most High preserved us from harm, both of man and
+beast." "The aforesaid people (Friends) were zealous in performing their
+religious services; for having at first no meeting-house to keep a
+public meeting in, they made a tent or covert of sail-cloth to meet
+under; and after they got some little houses to dwell in, then they kept
+their meetings in one of them till they could build a meeting-house."
+
+In the course of the business which necessarily claimed his attention in
+the colonization of the province of New Jersey, William Penn naturally
+had his thoughts frequently directed towards the settlements of his
+countrymen on the far-distant shores of America; and having been
+disappointed in the part he took in English politics, in an unsuccessful
+effort to procure the election of his friend, Algernon Sidney, to
+Parliament, his interest in that part of the world increased, as his
+mind became occupied with the idea of settling a free colony in the
+pathless wilderness on the other side of the Atlantic; where men should
+live under an elective government, enact the laws by which they were to
+be controlled, admit of no master, but all share in equal rights, and
+rest in the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. Witnessing the
+success that attended the removal of Friends to New Jersey, where they
+were freed from the cruel persecution they had endured while in Great
+Britain, under which their brethren at home were still suffering
+grievously, he became desirous to obtain the control of such portion of
+the yet unappropriated territory over which the King of England claimed
+the sovereignty, as would enable him to found a colony, and "make a holy
+experiment"--as he called it--of opening an asylum for the oppressed of
+every land; where there should be secured equality of political and
+civil rights, universal liberty of conscience, personal freedom, and a
+just regard for the rights of property.
+
+Admiral Penn at different times had loaned money to the British
+government, and to the Duke of York; which the costly profligacy of the
+Court had prevented being repaid, and, with the interest accruing, it
+amounted at that time to between sixteen and seventeen thousand pounds
+sterling. In 1680, William Penn petitioned the King, that in order to
+cancel the debt, he should grant him the tract of country bounded on the
+east by the Delaware River, and on the south by Lord Baltimore's
+Province of Maryland; while the western and northern limits were
+undefined; though the latter was not to interfere with the Province of
+New York. But William Penn was by no means popular at the Court. The
+courtiers despised him for his strict conscientiousness; the clerical
+party hated him for his Quakerism, and open opposition to their assumed
+place and power; while the active interest he had taken in promoting the
+return of Sidney--a known Republican--to Parliament, had given offence
+to the King and Duke. Private interests and jealousies were enlisted
+against him, and the agents of Lord Baltimore and Sir John Werden,
+deputy for the Duke of York, were assiduous in their efforts to thwart
+him, and defeat his application.
+
+But he was not a man easily turned aside from pursuing that which he
+thought right to attain. The Earl of Sutherland was his firm friend in
+the Privy Council, and there were several other persons of note who took
+warm interest in the success of his colonial project. Penn sought and
+obtained an interview with the Duke of York, and succeeded in changing
+his feelings towards himself, and his views relative to the policy of
+the grant. But perhaps the most cogent argument with the King and
+Council was, the persistent presentation by one of the latter that, if
+the grant was withheld, the money due must be forthcoming. There were
+many vexatious delays and disappointments; but finally the boundaries of
+the Province being adjusted as was then thought clearly and definitely,
+and such clauses introduced into the terms of the patent or charter as
+were deemed necessary to secure the paramount authority of the King,
+Charles affixed his signature to it on the fourth of the Third month,
+1681. William Penn proposed to call his Province New Wales, but the
+Secretary, who was a Welshman, would not consent to it. He then
+suggested Sylvania, to which the King prefixed Penn, out of respect to
+the late Admiral; and though William objected to it, as savoring of
+vanity in him, it was determined to adhere to that name.
+
+By the Charter, William Penn was made sole and absolute proprietary of
+the Province; with power, with the assent of the freemen residing
+therein, to make all necessary laws, provided they were not inconsistent
+with the laws of England; to grant pardons or reprieves, except in cases
+of wilful murder or treason, and to enjoy all such duties on imports or
+exports as the representatives of the people might assess. There was a
+clause in the Charter, inserted at the solicitation of the Bishop of
+London, that whenever twenty of the inhabitants should petition the said
+Bishop for a preacher, he should be permitted to reside in the Province.
+
+His design from the first was to establish a government upon Christian
+principles. In referring to this subject, he says: "And because I have
+been somewhat exercised at times, about the nature and end of government
+among men, it is reasonable to expect that I should endeavor to
+establish a just and righteous one in this Province, that others may
+take example by it; truly this my heart desires. For nations want a
+precedent, and till vice and corrupt manners be impartially rebuked and
+punished, and till virtue and sobriety be cherished, the wrath of God
+will hang over nations. I do therefore desire the Lord's wisdom to guide
+me, and those that may be concerned with me, that we may do the thing
+that is truly wise and just."
+
+His constant desire, that all his movements might tend to the glory of
+God, is shown in the spirit which breathes through the following letter,
+written to Stephen Crisp, on the eve of his departure from England:
+
+     "Dear S. C.:--My dear and lasting love in the Lord's
+     everlasting truth reaches to thee, with whom is my
+     fellowship in the gospel of peace, that is more dear and
+     precious to my soul than all the treasures and pleasures of
+     this world; for when a few years are past, we shall all go
+     the way whence we shall never return: and that we may
+     unweariedly serve the Lord in our day and place, and in the
+     end enjoy a portion with the blessed that are at rest, is
+     the breathing of my soul!
+
+     "Stephen! we know one another, and I need not say much to
+     thee; but this I will say, thy parting dwells with me, or
+     rather thy love at my parting. How innocent, how tender, how
+     like the little child that has no guile! The Lord will bless
+     that ground. I have also a letter from thee which comforted
+     me; for many are my trials, yet not more than my supplies
+     from my Heavenly Father, whose glory I seek, and the renown
+     of his blessed name. And truly, Stephen, there is work
+     enough, and here is room to work in. Surely God will come in
+     for a share in this planting work, and that leaven shall
+     leaven the whole lump in time. I do not believe the Lord's
+     providence had run this way towards me, but that he has an
+     heavenly end and service in it. So with Him I leave all, and
+     myself and thee, and his dear people, and blessed name on
+     earth.
+
+     "God Almighty, immortal and eternal, be with us, that in the
+     body and out of the body we may be his forever!"
+
+Amid his preparations for the voyage, he addressed to his wife and
+children, who were to be left behind, a letter fraught with the most
+earnest solicitude for their well-being every way, and full of the most
+tender and judicious counsel. It thus concludes: "So, my God, that hath
+blessed me with His abundant mercies, both of this and the other and
+blessed life, be with you all, guide you by His counsel, bless you, and
+bring you to his eternal glory, that you may shine, my dear children,
+in the firmament of God's power, with the blessed spirits of the just,
+that celestial family, praising and admiring Him, the God and Father of
+it, forever. For there is no God like unto Him; the God of Isaac and of
+Jacob, the God of the prophets, the apostles, and martyrs of Jesus, in
+whom I live forever.
+
+"So farewell to my thrice dearly beloved wife and children!
+
+"Yours, as God pleaseth, in that which no waters can quench, no time
+forget, nor distance wear away, but remains forever."
+
+Being now feudal sovereign of so extensive a territory, so far as the
+act of the King and Council could make him, William Penn published a
+description of the natural features and resources of the country, and
+invited those who were disposed to change their place of abode and
+prepared to emigrate, to resort to Pennsylvania, and under its Christian
+government and special privileges, secure the blessings of freedom and
+political equality. He did not disappoint his friends in their
+expectation of the benign form of government he instituted. It was
+democratic in its spirit, and its provisions were liberal, and fitted to
+meet the demands of the broad principles of popular rights, as they were
+from time to time developed. The article in relation to liberty of
+conscience deserves to be noticed, as the public declaration of the
+principles of Friends on that point, where they had the power of
+government in their own hands.
+
+"Almighty God being the only Lord of Conscience, Father of lights and
+spirits, and the author as well as object of all Divine knowledge, faith
+and worship; who only can enlighten the mind, and persuade and convince
+the understanding of people, in due reverence to his authority over the
+souls of mankind: It is enacted by the authority aforesaid, (General
+Assembly met at Chester, Twelve month, fourth, 1682,) that no person
+now, or at any time hereafter, living in this Province, who shall
+confess and acknowledge one Almighty God, to be the Creator, upholder
+and ruler of the world, and professeth him or herself obliged in
+conscience to live peaceably and justly under the civil government,
+shall in any wise be molested or prejudiced for his or her conscientious
+persuasion or practice; nor shall he or she at any time be compelled to
+frequent or maintain any religious worship, place or ministry whatever,
+contrary to his or her mind; but shall freely and fully enjoy his or her
+Christian liberty in that respect, without any interruption or
+reflection. And if any person shall abuse or deride any other, for his
+or her different persuasion and practice in matter of religion, such
+shall be looked upon as a disturber of the peace, and be punished
+accordingly."
+
+There were no oaths exacted, and no provision made for military defence.
+He exempted from the penalty of death two hundred crimes for which that
+punishment was inflicted in England, though life was to be forfeited for
+wilful murder. With a view of connecting reformation with punishment by
+imprisonment, prisoners were to be kept at work, and subjected to moral
+discipline. And it was enacted: "That, as a careless and corrupt
+administration of justice draws the wrath of God upon Magistrates, so
+the wildness and looseness of the people provoke the indignation of God
+against a country; therefore, that all such offences against God as
+swearing, cursing, lying, profane talking, drunkenness, drinking of
+healths, obscene words, (and several other scandalous acts particularly
+named,) treasons, misprisions, duels, murders, felony, sedition, maims,
+forcible entries, and other violences to the persons and estates of the
+inhabitants of the Province; all prizes, stage-plays, cards, dice,
+May-games, gamesters, masques, revels, bull-baitings, cock-fightings,
+bear-baitings, and the like, which excite the people to rudeness,
+cruelty, and irreligion, shall be respectively discouraged and severely
+punished, according to the appointment of the Governor and freemen in
+provincial council and general assembly."
+
+George Fox had repeatedly expressed his Christian solicitude for the
+colored people held as slaves, at that time, by Friends. He had strongly
+urged upon all who held them to see to their instruction, especially in
+the truths of the gospel as recorded in the Scriptures; that after
+serving for a certain time they should be freed, and that provision
+should be made for their comfortable enjoyment of old age. William Penn,
+in the charter he granted to "The Free Society of Traders," inserted the
+following article, showing how fully he sympathized in this feeling of
+George Fox, and his desire to promote manumission after a term of
+service: "Black servants to be free at fourteen years, and, on giving to
+the Society two-thirds of what they can produce on land allotted to them
+by the Society, with stock and tools. If they agree not to this, to be
+servants until they do."
+
+There were about two thousand inhabitants,--exclusive of
+Indians,--mostly English, Swedes, and Dutch, when William Penn took
+possession of his Province. The well-known character of the Proprietor,
+the strong inducements offered by the system of government proposed, and
+the natural advantages from soil and climate of the newly-opened domain,
+all acted as powerful incentives to emigrate; not only to men who were
+struggling hardly and uncertainly at their native home for the means of
+subsistence, but to others, who, though with sufficient to live
+comfortably where they were, were anxious to escape from the intolerant
+oppression of a Court and hierarchy bent on enforcing the alternatives
+of conformity to certain prescribed dogmas of their own construction, or
+suffering, if not ruin, by imprisonment or deprivation of estate.
+
+William Penn arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682, and in that year and the
+two following fifty vessels came into the Delaware River, bringing
+several thousand emigrants; the most of them from Great Britain, and
+some from Germany. Nearly all of them were professors with Friends, and
+many substantial, consistent members, who came under a sense of
+religious duty, and made the practice of the religion they had embraced
+the primary object of life. Some had the benefit of a liberal education,
+while the great body, farmers, mechanics, or tradesmen, had acquired but
+the rudiments of English school-learning. Many possessed considerable
+property, paying cash for the land they took up; and generally the
+others soon found means to make themselves independent.
+
+Those who came first, as was to be expected, had to encounter the
+difficulties and privations usually attending pioneers in an
+uncultivated forest. Some, who brought the frames of small houses with
+them, were not long in obtaining a comfortable shelter; but very many
+were obliged to content themselves with hastily constructed shanties,
+under the overarching branches of trees; while some dug caves in the
+bank of the river, and made out to obtain in them some of the comforts
+of a home. This was before William Penn came out; but Richard Townsend,
+who came in the same ship with him, thus speaks of his experience: "At
+our arrival we found it a wilderness; the chief inhabitants were
+Indians; there were some Swedes, who received us in a friendly manner;
+and although there was a great number of us, the good hand of Providence
+was seen in a particular manner, in that provisions were found for us by
+the Swedes and Indians, at very reasonable rates; as well as brought
+from divers other parts, that were inhabited before. Our first concern
+was to keep up and maintain our religious worship, and in order thereto,
+we had several meetings in the houses of the inhabitants; and one
+boarded meeting-house was set up, where the city was to be (near the
+Delaware); and as we had nothing but love and good-will in our hearts
+one to another, we had very comfortable meetings from time to time, and,
+after our meeting was over, we assisted each other in building little
+houses for our shelter."
+
+The high motives that prompted them to exile themselves from their
+native land, and the fervent religious concern to be engaged in
+promoting the spread of the Redeemer's kingdom, which warmed their
+hearts, enabled them to bear all they had to endure with cheerfulness.
+One of them thus expresses himself: "Our business in this new land is
+not so much to build houses, and establish factories, and promote trade
+and manufactures, that may enrich ourselves (though all these things,
+in their due place, are not to be neglected), as to erect temples of
+holiness and righteousness, which God may delight in; to lay such
+lasting frames and foundations of temperance and virtue as may support
+the future superstructures of our happiness, both in this and the other
+world."
+
+In taking possession, and in the settlement of Pennsylvania, it had been
+a subject of much solicitude and care with William Penn, that the whole
+conduct of the settlers, in their intercourse with the aborigines,
+should be so marked with kindness, and with consideration for their
+rights and national customs, as to secure their good-will, and influence
+them to live in peace and harmony with the new-comers upon their soil.
+Before coming over himself he had appointed three Commissioners to see
+to the necessary arrangements for the reception and settlement of the
+colonists, to lay out the site for a town, and to treat with the
+Indians. By these he sent an address to the latter, in which he tells
+them it is his desire to enjoy the country over which he had been made
+Governor, "with their love and consent, that we may always live together
+as neighbors and friends;" and as he had heard that in some places
+impositions had been practised upon them which had produced animosity
+and revenge, it was his sincere desire, and should be his practice, and
+the practice of those he should send, to treat with them justly for
+their lands, and to make and preserve a firm treaty of peace.
+
+When, after his arrival on the shores of the Delaware, he had met the
+Colonial Assembly elected by the inhabitants, and the necessary laws
+were enacted, and had transacted some other business immediately
+pressing upon him, he gave the necessary attention to select the
+location of the future city, to which he gave the name of Philadelphia.
+Afterwards he went on to New York, and visited Friends there and on Long
+Island and in New Jersey. On his return from this journey, he took the
+necessary measures to have the chiefs of the tribes of Indians occupying
+that portion of the Province which was likely to be soon required by the
+settlers, to meet him in council. The place of meeting was in
+Shackamaxon, a little north of the city, and on the Delaware River.
+There, under the wide-spread branches of a noble elm-tree, was held the
+treaty of friendship and perpetual peace, between the natives, the
+Governor, and the immigrant Friends, which has become world-renowned as
+the _Great Indian Treaty_. Made in good faith and honesty by both
+parties, this treaty was defaced by no oath, and remained unbroken so
+long as Friends held the reins of power in the government. Under its
+provisions, there sprung up a confiding intimacy between the red men and
+the white; and so long as the Christian policy inaugurated by William
+Penn and his brethren in religious profession was adhered to, there was
+no case of wrong or misunderstanding occurred, which was not speedily
+settled and removed by resort to the peaceable and just means provided
+for in its stipulations.
+
+Thus the benign and peaceable principles of the gospel, as laid down by
+Christ and His Apostles, and adopted by Friends, were closely adhered to
+and fully tested in the settlement of Pennsylvania; and the experience
+of seventy years of uninterrupted peace and prosperity, while the
+Province was under the control of Friends, conclusively proves how far
+they exceed all other rules and motives of conduct, however devised by
+the wisdom of man or enforced by military power. The enlightened and
+liberal policy of the settlers, together with the simplicity of manners
+and refinement evinced in their domestic and social economy and general
+intercourse, contributed to the powerful attraction exerted by the
+Colony on all who were disposed to escape from the tyrannous exactions
+and almost continuous commotions agitating and embittering civil society
+in Europe.
+
+The just and loving manner in which William Penn treated the Indians
+from the beginning of his intercourse with them, and the peaceable
+principles not only professed, but continually acted on by the settlers,
+besides gaining the confidence of the tribe immediately surrounding
+them, spread their fame to others more distant; so that during the stay
+of the Proprietor, when on his first visit to his Province, he made
+treaties of friendship and amity with nearly twenty different tribes.
+Nor were the expenditures for the land purchased a mere nominal sum,
+palmed upon the ignorant natives, easily caught with showy goods, and
+unaccustomed to estimate things at their real value. From the accounts
+preserved of these bargains and sales, it appears that, during his
+lifetime, the Proprietor expended over twenty thousand pounds in the
+purchase of that portion of the soil which was ceded to him by the
+aborigines; and yet they were not required to abstain from hunting or
+fishing within its boundaries, and the laws were so framed as to give
+them the protection of citizens.
+
+The influx of settlers was unprecedented; the forest began to be
+cleared, and dwellings were put up rapidly. The soil yielded
+abundantly, and no calamity occurred for years to check the rapid
+increase of inhabitants, or create doubts and dissatisfaction as to the
+course they had taken in removing from their native country. New
+meetings for worship were established, as the new-comers took up lands
+in the counties contiguous to the city; so that, in 1684, William Penn
+wrote, there were eighteen in all, and all were brought within the order
+of church government, as laid down in the discipline then adopted.
+
+Shortly after witnessing the prosperous beginning of his new colony,
+William Penn returned to England, and for a number of years continued to
+reside in or near London. He had provided for the affairs of the
+Province during his absence; but such was his unceasing solicitude for
+the spiritual welfare of the Friends he was about leaving, that, after
+he had embarked, he addressed them a letter from the ship, in which he
+says: "Now you are come to a quiet land, provoke not the Lord to trouble
+it, and as liberty and authority are with you, and in your hands, let
+the government be upon His shoulders in all your spirits; that you may
+rule for Him, under whom the princes of this world will one day esteem
+it their honor to govern and serve in their places. I cannot but say,
+when these things come mightily upon my mind, as the apostle did of old,
+'What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and
+godliness?'
+
+"And thou, Philadelphia, 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.
+
+"Oh that thou mayst be kept from the evil that would overwhelm thee;
+that, faithful to the God of thy mercies, in the life of righteousness,
+thou mayst be preserved to the end. My soul prays to God for thee, that
+thou mayst stand in the day of trial, that thy children may be blessed
+of the Lord, and thy people saved by His power."
+
+He had been commended by his father, on his death-bed, to the good
+offices of the then Duke of York. The respect and kind feeling of the
+Duke for William Penn appeared to have continued after he became King;
+and a sense of gratitude and Christian interest, in measure, bound the
+man he had befriended to his royal benefactor. He was almost daily at
+Court, and as often his interest there was employed on behalf of those
+with whom he was united in religious fellowship, or of others who
+solicited his aid; which his kindness of heart prompted him not to
+refuse. His house in Kensington was daily thronged with persons who
+sought his mediation to promote their interests, or desired to engage
+him to present their petitions or addresses to the King. He received all
+with courtesy, and aided those he could with cheerfulness; and no one
+ever charged him with making gain of his position or influence.
+Nevertheless, in this way, it is probable he appeared in cases where
+greater prudence would have restrained him from interfering. Certainly
+he made many bitter enemies, who hesitated not to proclaim him to be a
+Jesuit, a hypocrite, and an enemy to the Protestant interest. Accustomed
+to calumny as a Friend, and conscious of his innocence, William Penn
+allowed these slanders to possess the public ear, until they came to be
+credited by many, who, without any particular prejudice against him,
+supposed that, like other emissaries of Rome, he was in league with the
+King in trying to subvert the religion and constitutional liberties of
+the nation. At length the Secretary for the Plantations, who knew Penn
+well, and was greatly grieved with the manner in which he was traduced,
+and fearful of the ultimate result of his persistently declining
+publicly to defend himself, addressed him by letter; reciting the
+charges industriously circulated against him, and earnestly requesting
+he would notice and refute them. To this letter William Penn replied,
+taking up each accusation separately, and showing their untruth and
+their absurdity. He did not hesitate to acknowledge the gratitude and
+kind feeling he entertained toward King James, and that on some
+occasions, when his opinion had been sought on matters affecting the
+nation, he had given it; but he declared that, on all such occasions, he
+had advocated liberty of conscience, and the best interest of Protestant
+England; and he challenged any one to come forward and show to the
+contrary. Notwithstanding this explanation of his intimacy at Court, and
+his positive denial and refutation of the many false stories raised
+about him, the feeling produced by them was not entirely removed; and in
+the last month of 1688, as he was walking in Whitehall, he was suddenly
+summoned to appear before the Lords of the Council. Some of the Council,
+who were inimical to him, required him to give sureties for his
+appearance on the first day of the next term of Court. On his appearance
+there, his case was postponed until the next session; when there
+appeared to be no accuser or accusation against him, and he was
+declared clear in open Court.[A]
+
+[Footnote A: The aspersion of the character of William Penn, and the
+charges brought against his conduct while frequenting the Court of James
+II., by Macaulay in his History of England, have been fully investigated
+and refuted by several authors, who have shown the serious mistakes of
+the historian, and the innocence of Penn of the offences imputed to
+him.]
+
+In 1688 James II., finding himself deserted by the nobility, the gentry,
+and the army, fled to France, and William, Prince of Orange, who had
+come over with an army on the invitation of some of the leading
+statesmen of England, was proclaimed king. Notwithstanding the
+alienation of the kindly feelings of the people, by the impolitic course
+pursued by James, and their apparent determination to maintain William
+and Mary on the throne, the self-exiled monarch resolved to continue
+whatever effort he could make, with the assistance of his friend Louis
+XIV., to regain the crown of Great Britain. There were many, who had
+stood high in State and Church, who refused to take the oath of
+allegiance to the reigning royal pair. These were termed Non-jurors and
+Jacobites, and intrigues and covert conspiracies were, for a long time,
+rife among them. Naturally this gave rise to suspicion and distrust on
+the part of the party in power. From this cause William Penn was
+subjected to no little trouble; his intimacy with the former king
+affording ground to prejudice the minds of many against him. He had
+already been arrested and discharged, there being no specific charge
+brought against him. But some letters from James having been
+intercepted, among them was found one addressed to him. He was again
+brought before the Privy Council, and some of those present saying the
+circumstances required sureties from him, he urgently requested to be
+allowed to appear before King William himself. This was granted, and,
+after a conference of two hours, the king was prepared to acquit him of
+being implicated in any treasonable correspondence with James. Some of
+the Council, however, were not satisfied without bail being given to
+appear at Court. On coming before the Court, he was again discharged.
+While King William was conducting the campaign in Ireland, where James
+was at the head of an army, fighting for possession of that island, a
+conspiracy in favor of the latter was discovered, originating in
+Scotland. Queen Mary ordered the seizure of many supposed to be hostile
+to the government, and among them William Penn was again included. How
+long he was detained does not appear, but, at the Michaelmas term of the
+Court (1690), he was once more cleared of any complicity with the
+opponents of the government. For many months he had been making
+preparations to revisit Pennsylvania, and on his discharge he hastened
+to have everything ready to embark; but, before he could complete his
+arrangements, he was again brought into difficulty, more serious than at
+any time before, on account of his connection with the Court of King
+James. King William had crossed over to Holland, to be present at a
+Congress held at the Hague, and his absence emboldened the disaffected
+to enter into another plot for restoring James, who was then at the
+Court of Louis XIV. Two of their number started to cross the Channel,
+and have an interview with their absent sovereign; but the plot was
+discovered, and these emissaries, with their papers, seized. One of
+them was hung; the other, in order to save his life, gave testimony
+against several of the nobility, and implicated William Penn in the
+conspiracy. A warrant for his arrest was issued, and, on his return from
+the funeral of George Fox, he narrowly escaped once more being made a
+prisoner.
+
+In what manner he was said to be connected with the conspiracy, or what
+was the specific charge brought against him, is nowhere clearly stated;
+but as Lord Preston--one of the captured messengers--declared he was one
+of the plotters, and a man of the name of William Fuller swore to the
+correctness of Preston's statement, the matter assumed a serious aspect.
+As the origin of the plot was believed to have been among the Catholics,
+the same misrepresentations of Penn being a Jesuit in disguise were
+again brought forward, and the passions of the people being much
+inflamed against the intriguing papists, it was thought a fair trial
+could not be obtained for him. Under these circumstances, some accounts
+represent that William Penn voluntarily secluded himself where he could
+not be easily seen; waiting until a time should arrive when he might
+have a fair opportunity to clear himself; while others state that,
+having been examined before the Privy Council, he was ordered to remain
+a prisoner in his own house, under surveillance. The latter is the more
+probable, as he could hardly have supposed he could escape the search
+the government would make for him; especially as he kept up intercourse
+with his friends. Thus, in the Third month of 1691, he addressed an
+epistle to the Yearly Meeting in London, in order to remove any
+unfavorable impression that might have been made in the minds of his
+brethren by his forced seclusion. In this he says: "My privacy is not
+because men have sworn truly, but falsely, against me; for wicked men
+have laid in wait for me, and false witnesses have laid to my charge
+things that I knew not; who have never sought myself, but the good of
+all, through great exercises; and have done some good, and would have
+done more, and hurt to no man; but always desired that truth and
+righteousness, mercy and peace, might take place among us."
+
+During his retirement he employed his pen diligently, producing several
+works of much value. The refusal of Friends in Pennsylvania to
+contribute money for the erection of forts or other military purposes,
+had given great offence to the home government, and the enemies of Penn
+took advantage of this, and of the position he was now in, with charges
+of treason hanging over him, to obtain an order from the King and
+Council, in the early part of 1692, to annex the government of
+Pennsylvania to that of New York, then presided over by Colonel
+Fletcher. Penn remained shut out from the world, and deprived of
+opportunity to serve the cause of truth and righteousness, and his
+brethren of the same faith, except by his pen, for more than two years;
+his character stained in the estimation of some, and his valuable
+services forgotten by many others, who, perhaps, thought he had indeed
+fallen to rise no more. But there were men of eminence who had never
+believed William Penn guilty of the crime laid to his charge, and were
+awaiting the right opportunity to have justice done to his position and
+character. Among these was the celebrated John Locke, who esteemed him,
+not only as a man of exalted virtue and great literary attainment, but
+as a personal friend. He applied to King William for a pardon; but
+William Penn was too conscious of innocence, and too fully persuaded
+that in due time his innocence would be made manifest to the world, to
+be willing to accept of any release that would imply he had been guilty.
+In the meantime, Lord Preston, who had made the charge against him, had
+fled the country, and Fuller, his witness, having been detected in
+perjury, was, by order of Parliament, tried as an imposter, in the Court
+of the King's Bench, found guilty, and sentenced to stand in the
+pillory. Lords Ranelagh, Rochester, and Sidney now waited on the King,
+and, stating that the name of William Penn had never been found in any
+of the letters or papers connected with the conspiracy, and that the
+charge against him rested solely on the accusation of two men who were
+known to be unworthy of belief, urged upon him the injustice and
+hardship of his case. The King appears to have heard them patiently, and
+replied that William Penn was an old acquaintance of his; that he had
+nothing to allege against him, and that he might follow his business as
+freely as ever. Afterwards the King gave an order to the principal
+Secretary of State for his freedom; which was communicated to him in the
+presence of the Marquis of Winchester. He, however, sought and obtained
+a hearing before the Privy Council; and, after a full examination of the
+charges, he was honorably acquitted. The cloud that had long obscured
+his standing and services was now dispelled, and he returned to his
+family and friends, to resume the position he had before attained in the
+church, and in civil society. His wife survived his release but little
+more than two months.
+
+In 1696 William Penn was married to Hannah, the daughter of Thomas
+Callowhill, of Bristol,--a sober, religious woman, who survived him
+several years. Soon after this event he sustained an afflictive
+bereavement in the death of his eldest son, Springett Penn, in the
+twenty-first year of his age. He was a pious and amiable young man, of
+whom, in a touching testimony to his worth, William Penn says, "I lost
+all that any father can lose in a child."
+
+He had been absent from his colony for many years, though longing to
+return there, and oversee the working of the government he had
+instituted, and the growth of the prosperous colony he had been a
+principal means of planting on the shores of the Delaware. But the
+various troubles in which he had been involved, and the great loss of
+pecuniary means that had resulted from his outlay for the Province, and
+the dishonesty of his agent in Ireland, had so crippled and embarrassed
+him, that he had been unable to carry out his strong desire to cross the
+Atlantic, and spend the remainder of life amid the Friends and scenes he
+pictured eminently propitious to secure comfort and peace. But in 1699,
+having settled his affairs in England and Ireland, so as not to require
+his personal oversight, in the Seventh month he embarked with his wife
+and family for Philadelphia, expecting to end his days in the Province.
+The voyage, providentially, was a long one; occupying three months; by
+which delay on the ocean they did not arrive in the city until after the
+malignant fever, of which so many had died, had passed away.
+
+William Penn brought with him certificates from three meetings of
+Friends in England: one from "The Second-day's Meeting of Ministering
+Friends" in London; one from the "Men's Meeting of Friends" in Bristol,
+where he had resided for some years, and another from "A Monthly Meeting
+held at Horsham;" all expressing their full unity with and love for him
+as a member and minister. The reception of these certificates is
+recorded on the minutes of the Monthly Meeting of Friends, of
+Philadelphia.
+
+The arrival of the Proprietor, after an absence of fifteen years, was
+hailed with joy by the people generally, and doubtless he supposed that
+he could now pass his days in usefulness and tranquillity. But William
+Penn soon found that troubles beset him on every hand, and that his wise
+counsels and cherished plans of improvement were thwarted and opposed by
+a faction bent upon promoting their own selfish schemes and interests.
+
+A circumstance now occurred which separated him from his American
+possessions forever. A bill had been introduced into Parliament for
+changing the colonial into regal government. This measure, if adopted,
+would take the control of the colony out of his hands, and substitute
+military rule for the mild and pacific government he had established.
+From a sense of duty, although very reluctantly, he yielded to the
+request of his friends in England, that he would immediately return
+thither.
+
+The news of his intended departure was received by the inhabitants with
+feelings of sincere regret. Perhaps none felt it more deeply than the
+aborigines. On this occasion, a number of them waited upon him at his
+residence at Pennsbury. The interview was conducted with great gravity.
+One of the chiefs, in the course of his remarks, said "that they never
+first broke their covenants with any people;" striking his hand upon his
+head, he said "they did not make them there, but"--placing it upon his
+breast--"they made them _there_."
+
+William Penn sailed for England in the Eighth month, 1701, having been
+in the Province about two years. On the eve of his departure he
+presented Philadelphia with a charter, constituting it a city.
+
+The bill to change the form of the colonial government was never passed
+into a law, but other engagements prevented his return to Pennsylvania.
+In 1705, in a brief but forcible epistle to Friends, he exhorts them to
+hold all their meetings in that which set them up, the heavenly power of
+God. In 1706 he removed with his family to Brentford, about eight miles
+from London. In 1709 he went forth on a gospel mission through the
+western parts of England, which was his last journey of this kind. In
+1710 he removed to Rushcomb, in Buckinghamshire, where he continued to
+reside until his death. In 1712 he had three attacks of apoplexy. By
+these his mental powers were so weakened that he was rendered incapable
+of transacting business. In this situation he remained for several
+years, without much bodily suffering, and appeared to enjoy great
+quietness and sweetness of mind. In the latter part of 1714 he was
+visited by Thomas Story, who says of him, "that he had a clear sense of
+truth, was plain, by some very clear sentences he spoke in the life and
+power of Truth, in an evening meeting we had there; wherein we were
+greatly comforted, so that I am ready to think this was a sort of
+sequestration of him from all the concerns of this life, which so much
+oppressed him, not in judgement but in mercy, that he might not be
+oppressed thereby to the end."
+
+When visited by two of his friends, in 1716, he still expressed himself
+sensibly, and at parting thus addressed them: "My love is with you, the
+Lord preserve you, and remember me in the everlasting covenant."
+
+He continued gradually to grow weaker until the thirtieth of the Fifth
+month, 1718, when his Divine Master was pleased to summon him from the
+tribulations of time to the eternal rewards of the righteous.
+
+Thus peacefully passed away one of the most useful men of the age in
+which he lived: indeed, history makes us acquainted with few so
+faithfully and fearlessly devoted to the cause of justice, and to the
+increase of righteousness in the earth. In early life he felt the
+tendering visitations of the Holy Spirit, and as he submitted thereto,
+was led in paths of great circumspection and non-conformity to the
+world, and soon became an object of scorn, reproach, and even bitter
+persecution. But none of these things moved him; neither did he count
+his life dear, being mainly desirous that he might bear a faithful
+testimony to the truth whilst on earth, and finish his course with joy.
+
+Early called to the "ministry of reconciliation," and wisely instructed
+in the school of Christ, he was enabled, for the good of others, to
+bring forth out of the heavenly treasury things new and old.
+
+As an author, his many publications are characterized by the forcible
+manner in which they set forth the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom,
+and the necessity of obedience to the teachings of the Holy Spirit. His
+views of morality and civil government were the fruit of Christian
+principle, and adapted to all times and all conditions of men. He shows
+that oaths, whether judicial or profane, are contrary to the doctrine of
+Christ and His Apostles, and the practice of the primitive Christians,
+and, in their direct tendency and effects, injurious to morality. He
+establishes conclusively, that liberty, civil and religious, is the
+right of all, so far as its exercise does not infringe the rights of
+others; and he was consequently opposed to all persecution to enforce
+conformity in religious opinion. In founding his colony of Pennsylvania,
+he was influenced by the spirit of the gospel, and a desire that its
+government might be supported without the violation of any Christian
+precept. His policy grew out of that religion which breathes "Glory to
+God in the highest, peace on earth, good-will to men;" and the
+aboriginal inhabitants, by others deemed treacherous and cruel, became
+the kind friends and faithful allies of his colonists. The pacific
+principles of the gospel were found in their operation more effectual
+than munitions of war, to preserve the State in peace and prosperity.
+
+Our narrow limits are insufficient to do justice to the character of
+William Penn, in setting forth his uprightness, his firmness, his zeal,
+his diligence, his love of the truth. Whether we consider him as a
+religious writer, a wise and Christian legislator, or as a faithful and
+devoted minister of the gospel, we must regard him as a benefactor to
+mankind. Of such the everlasting memorial is sure: "They that be wise
+shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many
+to righteousness as the stars forever and ever."
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Concise Biographical Sketch of
+William Penn, by Charles Evans
+
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