MEMOIR  R
OF
WILLIAM PENN.
PHILADELPHIA:
PU3LISHED BY THE
&SSOCIATION OF FRIENDS FOR THE DIFFUSION OF RELIGIOUS
AND USEFUL KNOWLEDGE,
No. 109 NORTH TENTH STREET.
1874,




N 0 T~ E.
This small volume has been carefuilly compiled, in order that
a just view of the life and character of Win. Penn may be
readily accessible to the youthful reader, as well as to those of
maturer age who cannot conveniently procure the larger volumes
which contain in full his writings and his history. In it has
been reprinted almost entire the publication of "The London
Tract Association of Friends," entitled, "A BRIEF MEMOIR OF
"WILLIAM3PENN," enlarged by copious selections from his letters,
and particulars respecting his treaties with the Indian tribes.
These have been taken mainly from Enoch Lewis' Life of William Penn, published in Vol. V. of " FRIENDs' LIBRARY," and
from a publication entitled, "NORTH AIMElR1CAN INDIANS AND
FRIENDS," issued by the Aborigines' Committee of the London
Meeting for Sufferings. The chapter respecting the calumnies
of T. B. Macaulay has been prepared for this work from reliable
and uncontroverted authorities.
(2)




MEMOIR
OF
WILLIAM PENNN,
THE FOUNDER OF PENNSYLVANIA.
CHAPTER I. 1644-1668.
HIS FATHER SIR WILLIAM PENN — WILLIAM PENN S EDUCATION, DIVINE VISITATIONS, EXPULSION FROM OXFORDDISPLEASURE OF HIS FATHER-INCIDENT AT PARIS  IMPRISONMENT IN IRELAND-BECOMES A FRIEND, AND REMAINS
FIRM, THROUGH HIS FATHER'S OPPOSITION.
WILLIAM PENN was born- in London in the year
1644.  His father, Sir William  Penn, was of an
ancient family of Buckinghamshire, and became distinguished as a naval commander under the Commonwealth. Being attached however to the royal cause,
he opened a correspondence with Charles, for which
he was arrested and sent to prison; and, though soon
pardoned and set at liberty, he at length united with
Monk and others in bringing Charles to the throne.
For this and other services he was in favour with the
king and handsomely rewarded; and being a vain
(3)




4           BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
ambitious man, he was anxious to prepare his son for
a brilliant worldly career.  William however had a
natural seriousness and independence of mind, which
indisposed him to second his father's designs, and
formed the basis of his manly christian character in
after life.
When about twelve years old, and at school at
Chigwell in Essex, he had a remarkable vision, or
" visitation of heavenly light," which convinced him
of the existence of a God, and of the capacity of the
human soul to hold communion with Him.  His
mind was contrited under a sense of Divine love;
and he believed himself called to a holy religious life.
On entering the university of Oxford, his associations
and pursuits tended to weaken these impressions: he
studied hard, joined his fellow students in various
sports, and became a general favorite. But the Lord
preserved him in the midst of prevailing darkness
and sin. He had a taste and ready capacity for
learning, especially in the languages, history, and
theology; entered with zest into puritanical discussions, and united with others in opposing the popish
innovations encouraged by the Court. It was at this
juncture that he first became acquainted with the
religious views of the Friends, through the preaching
of Thomas Loe, a minister of the Society, who held
a meeting at Oxford. Young Penn and other students
attended it, and being impressed with the doctrines
declared, and with the simplicity and purity of true
Christianity in opposition to a pompous, ceremonious
ritual, they withdrew from the public services, and




WILLIAM PENN.                    5
held meetings among themselves for divine worship
in a more simple way.  This attracted the notice of
the superiors; the young nonconformists became the.
subject of obloquy and persecution, and were brought
up, reprimanded, and fined; yet nothing daunted,
they persevered in their course, and were soon afterwards on this account expelled from the college.
Sir William Penn was surprised and mortified at
the conduct of his son, who, he had hoped, would be
prepared to take a lead in fashionable and courtly
circles; and, acting on the impulse of his feelings,
he had recourse to threats and even the whip, and,
after fruitless attempts to effect a change, turned
him out of doors. This was in 1662. But the
admiral, though violent in his temper, soon began to
relent, and, being prevailed on by the intercessions
of his wife, he resolved to try a gentle course, in the
hope to be more successful. The gay scenes and
manners of Paris might, he thought, banish the increasing gravity of his son, and as some persons of
rank, whom he knew, were going to France on their
travels, it was arranged that young Penn should
accompany them.  He remained some time at Paris,
where, being presented to Louis XIV., he is said to
have been a frequent guest at court.  Such scenes,
and an acquaintance with distinguished young men
in the higher circles, effaced some of his former
sedateness.
Here he met with an incident which he has recorded, for the purpose of showing the folly of those
outward demonstrations of honour, which the pride
1*




6            BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
of man has led him to invent and afterwards covet
" What envy, quarrels and mischief," says he, in a
work written after he became a Friend, " have
happened aUlong private persons, upon their conceit
that they have not been respected according to their
degree of quality among men, with hat, knee or title
-even duels and murders not a few."  In France I
was myself once set upon, about eleven o'clock at
night, as I was walking to my lodgings, by a person
who waylaid me with his naked sword in his hand,
and demanded satisfaction of me for taking no notice
of him, at a time when he civilly saluted me with
his hat, though, the truth was, I saw him not when
he did it.  Suppose he had killed me, for he made
several passes at me, or that I in my defence had
killed him, when I disarmed him; I ask any man
of understanding or conscience, if the whole round
of ceremony were worth the life of a man, considering the dignity of his nature and the importance of
his life, with respect to God his Creator, himself, and
the benefit of civil society.  In the issue of this
attack he displayed his humanity and regard for the
life of a fellow-being, in permitting his assailant to
pass away unharmed, though he had disarmed him,
and had him completely in his power. At Saumur
he pursued his studies under Moses Amyrault, a
learned protestant minister of Calvinistic principles.
MWith him he read the works of'early christian
writers, paid attention to various branches of theology,
and acquired a good knowledge of French literature.
Ile then proceeded to the South of Europe, and




WILLIAM PENN.                    7
having reached Turin, was suddenly recalled home
by the admiral, in 1664, to take charge of the family
affairs, during his own absence at sea.
The polished manners of young Penn, on his return
to England, attracted much notice and gave his father
great satisfaction, since they procured him access to
the highest circles of society, and afforded hope of
his obtaining that honour, which his fond parent so
highly valued. With this view, he was entered as
a student at Lincoln's Inn, that he night become acquainted with the laws of his country, and qualify
himself for a public character. The great plague in
London put an end to these studies; the awfulness
of the visitation, and the sudden summons of death
to thousands, aroused him, excited afresh his serious
thoughtfulness, and parental hopes were again threatened with disappointment.  In order to counteract
this returning gravity, and at the same time to turnhis stability to good account, Sir WY. Penn now
sent his son to Ireland to superintend his property,
giving him letters of introduction to his friend the
Duke of Ormond, who was then the Lord Lieutenant.
At the Vice-regal Court he became very popular; and
an insurrection having broken out at Carrickfergus,
he volunteered to accompany Lord Arran, the Duke's
son, who was sent to quell it. Distinguishing himself by great courage and coolness, he was invited to
join the army as a profession - a proposal to which,
with all the ardour and fickleness of youth, he was
disposed to accede; but his father, happily for him
and for the world, positively refusing his assent,




8            BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
William  reluctantly yielded, and retired to take
charge of his father's estate at Shangarry, having
also a government appointment at Kinsale.
But Divine Providence again interposed to change
the current of his life, and to call him to that sphere
in which he became so eminent...'Being   at Cork on
business, he heard that Thomas Loe, whose preaching
had interested him at Oxford, was to hold a religious
meeting in the city that evening.  Curiosity, and
perhaps a higher motive, prompted him to stay and
attend it, and deep was the impression which he received.," After a time of silence, Thomas Loe rose
with the words, "There is a faith that overcomes
the world, and there is a faith that is overcome by
the world." On this theme, which was peculiarly
adapted to W. Penn's case, the preacher enlarged,
carrying conviction to his mind, which had long
oscillated between love to God on the one hand,
and love to his father and to the world on the other.
The conflicts of such a soul were feelingly described,
and the path of duty was clearly pointed out//iHe
could not resist the appeal, his sensations were deep
and earnest, and from that time he regularly attended
the meetings of Friends.'tIis own description of his
case, from early life down to this period, was thus
afterwards given to some pious persons in Germany.,i'Here I let them know how and when the Lord first
appeared to me, which was about the twelfth year of
my age; how, at times, betwixt that and the fifteenth,
he visited me, and the divine impressions he gave me
of himself; of my persecution at Oxford, and how




WILLIAM PENN.                    9
he sustained me in the midst of darkness and debauchery; of my being banished the college, the bitter
usage I underwent when I returned to my father; of
the Lord's dealings with me in France, and at the
time of the great plague in London; the deep sense
he gave me of the vanity of this world, and of the
irreligiousness of the religions of it.  Then, of my
mournful and bitter cries to him, that he would show
me his own way of life and salvation, and miy resolutions to follow hillm, whatever reproaches or sufferings
should attend me, and that with great reverence and
brokenness of spirit.  How, after all this, the glory
of the world overtook me, and I was even ready to
give myself up to it; seeing as yet no such thing as
the primitive spirit and church on the earth. It was
at this time that the Lord visited me with a certain
sound and testimony of his eternal word, through one
of those the world calls Quakers, namely Thomas
Loe/ I related the bitter mlockings and scornings
that fell upon me, the displeasure of miy parents, the
invectives and cruelty of the priests, the strangeness
of all my companions, what a sign and wonder they
made of me; but, above all, that great cross of
watching against and resisting my own vain affections
and thoughts."
The members of the Society of Friends were at
that time severely persecuted, especially in Ireland.
Their meetings for divine worship were often interrupted by the mob, and sometinmes broken up by
magistrates  or soldiers; so  that WN. Penn had
no reason to expect that he should escape.  At a




10           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
meeting held at Cork, he was apprehended with
many besides, on the plea of a proclamation against
tumultuous assemblies, and taken before the mayor;
but that officer, observing his dress and general appearance to be different from  those of the others,
offered him  liberty on his giving bond for his good
behaviour — which refusing to do, he was with
eighteen more committed to prison. While there, he
addressed a manly appropriate letter to the Earl of
Orrery, then President of Munster; declaring that
he had committed no crime, and appealing to the
Earl's clemency and sense of justice to grant him a
discharge. In this letter may be seen the germ of
that noble principle of liberty of conscience, which,
through his remaining years, often and under much
suffering, he boldly maintained; and which he was
at length permitted to see generally recognized. The
Earl at once ordered his release.
This imprisonment, far from cooling his zeal, deepened his sympathy with his new and suffering friends.
He felt that a great principle was at stake, and he
was freely willing to bear the reproaches and trials
which in that age so largely befell them. The report
that he had become a "Quaker" soon reached the
Vice-regal Court, and also his father, who promptly
ordered him home. At first the admiral perceived
nothing peculiar in his dress or manners; but his
seriousness increasing, and the usual ceremony of
taking off the hat being omitted, he became dissatisfied and demanded an explanation. The interview was deeply touching and painful to both parties.




WILLIA M  PENN.                 11
The son avowed his religious principles, and declared
that as a duty to God he could not renounce them,
at the same time assuring his father of his strong
affection, of his respect, and of his sincere. desire to
obey him in every thing that did not conflict with
his own christian duty.  The father, on the other
hand, expecting a peerage for himself, and having
set his mind on advancing his son to wealth and
honour, could not bear to see him forego the dazzling
prize, and unite with the despised Quakers; which
seemed to him little less than madness, and likely to
bring contempt on the whole family.  IIe not only
reasoned with him, but condescended to entreat and
implore him.  The  son, who tenderly loved his
father, was deeply afflicted, but stood firmly to his
principles.  Finding that he could not prevail, the
admiral desired him once more to uncover his head,
at least, in the presence of the King, the Duke of
York, and himself-  a request which he promised to
consider. Trivial and even proper, as this concession
may appear to sonime, to William  Penn it was no
trifle. He retired to his chamber, and with fasting
and prayer sought for divine guidance.
It was at that time customary to wear the hat in
the house, even at meals, and to uncover the head
was a mark of especial reverence. The same homage
was paid to the Divine Being himself. The early
Friends felt that all their actions, as well as their
words, must be sincere and truthful, and that this
principle of conduct was entirely opposed to the
shallow politeness and false flattery of the world.




12          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
Knowing that all men have immortal souls, to be
saved or lost, that Jesus Christ died equally for all,
and that his Holy Spirit visits each one, without distinction of high or low, rich or poor, they felt that
all men are essentially equal, from the king on his
throne to the peasant in his cabin; and that the adventitious circumstances of prosperity or adversity
are as nothing, in the scale of true merit and honour,
which depend on obedience or disobedience to the
law of God.  They asserted the native dignity and
equality of every man; and, while anxious to pay
honour and respect where really due, they felt that
these did not consist in the complimentary uncovering of the head, or the insincere use of deferential
terms, but in plain, true, becoming language, and in
civil, respectful behaviour. This view of the Christian's duty in conducting the intercourse of life
formed part of their testimony to that simplicity,
plainness, and truth, which they believed Christianity
requires.  "How can ye believe," said our Lord,
" who receive honour one of another, and seek not
the honour that cometh from God? Be not ye called
Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and all
ye are brethren."
William Penn felt strongly the crisis to which he
was brought; he was now in his twenty-fourth year;
it seemed like the turning point of his life: this was
only one matter out of many; and its concession
would probably lead to further demands; hence his
earnest supplication to be favoured with divine direction; that, without regard to worldly considerations,




WILLIAM  PENN.                   13
ho might neither yield to unfounded objections on
the one hand, nor compromise Christian principle on
the other.  The result was that he could feel no
satisfaction, but in resolving to pursue the course he
had entered on. At the next interview, therefore, he
respectfully informed his father that he could not
yield to the request. The admiral was no longer
able to restrain his anger; he had tried every expedient; all his bright hopes for his son were dashed
to the ground by his firmness, and he again indignantly expelled him from the house.
This was a time of extremity to the young convert.
Brought up in affluence and dignity, caressed by the
highest circles in the land, with the path to worldly
greatness open before him, he had turned his back
on them all, and incurred both penury and scorn for
the sake of his religious principles. But, like Moses
of old, he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt. He endured the
cross with patience and magnanimity, and had peace
within, which sustained him in firm hope and confidence. Some of his friends assisted him, his tenderhearted mother sent him money occasionally, and at
length his father relented, though he did not openly
2ountenance him.
2




14          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
CHAPTER II. 1668-1670.
BECOMES A MINISTER AND AUTHOR —DISCUSSION WITH VINCENT - WRITES " SANDY FOUNDATION SHAKEN" - COMMITTED TO THE TOWER - WRITES " NO CROSS, NO CROWN,"
AND " INNOCENCY WITH HER OPEN FACE" -DISCHARGED
AFTER EIGIIT MONTHS AND A HALF.
THE Society of Friends, or Quakers, had now existed for nearly twenty years, through a period of
much conflict and severe persecution, which still continued. Its Christian doctrines were clearly ascertained, and laid before the public; a wholesome system of church discipline was established.  The accession of a conscientious, well educated, and talented
young man, like William  Penn, was of great value
to it.  He became a member from deep conviction,
and by degrees laid aside his sword, his ornaments,
and his gay attire.
Whilst thus approaching that purer standard of
Christian principle, which soon afterward he openly
upheld and suffered for, it is related that he met with
George Fox, and asked his advice respecting the
wearing of his sword, as he might appear singular
among Friends in consequence; and that George
Fox replied, "I advise thee to wear it as long as
thou canst."  Not long after they met again, when
William Penn had no sword, and George Fox said
to him, " William, where is thy sword?"  "Oh,"




WILLIAM  PENN.                  15
said he, "I have taken thy advice, I wore it as long
as I could."
The earnest conviction which thus led to the
entire abandonment of the vain fashions of the
world, drew him soon after, to write to a young acquaintance, who was captivated by then. In this
letter, he says, " And canst thou imagine that those
holy men recorded in Scripture, spent their days, as
do the gallants of these times?  Where is the selfdenying life of Jesus, the cross, the reproach, the
persecution, and loss of all, which He and His
suffered, and most willingly supported, having their
eyes fixed upon a more enduring substance.  Well,
miy friend, this know, and by these shalt thou be
judged, and in it I am clear, That as without holiness
none can see God, so without subjection to that
Spirit, Light, or Grace in the heart, which God in
love hath made to appear to all, that teacheth to deny
all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world; I say
without subjection hereunto, there is no attaining to
that holiness which will give thee an entrance into
His presence, in which is joy and pleasure for ever.
Examine thyself, how  remote thou art from  the
guidings and instructions of this Spirit of Grace, who
canst countenance this age in frequenting their
wicked and vain sports, plays and entertainments,
conforming thyself to ridiculous customs, and making
one at idle talking and vain jesting, wheresoever
thou conmest, not considering thou shalt account to
God for every idle word. And let all thy frolicking




16           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
associates know, the day is hastening, in which they
shall not abide the presence of Him that sits upon
the throne.  It shall be a time of horror, amazement
and distress. Then shall they know there is a righteous, holy Judge of all. As for thee, with pity is
thy condition often in my thoughts, and often is it
my desire that thou mayst do well; but whilst I see
thee in that spirit, which savours of this world's
delights, ease, plenty and esteem, neglecting that
one thing necessary, I have but little hopes.  HIowever, I could not let this plain admonition pass me;
and what place soever it may have in thy thoughts, I
am sure it is in true love to that which shall be
happy or miserable to all eternity. I have not sought
fine words or chiming expressions; the gravity, the
concernment and nature of my subject, admit no
such butterflies.  In short, be advised, my friend, to
be serious, and to ponder that which belongs to thy
eternal peace.  Retire from the noise and clatter of
temupting visibles, to the beholding Hidn who is invisible, that He may reign in thy soul, God over all,
exalted and blessed for ever.  Farewell.
I am thy well-wishing, real friend,
XWILLIAM  PENN."
In 1668, a few months after his expulsion from
the parental home, he came forward, from an apprehension of religious duty, in the important character
of a minister of the gospel.  His qualifications both
natural and spiritual for this service were of a high
order. Both in word and writing, he was terse in




WILLIAM PENN.                   17
expression, rich in instruction, original and uncompronmising in sentiment.  He became eminent as a
minister and an author, and was thus described by
one of his friends, "Sent of God to teach others
what himself had learned, he was rightly called and
qualified for the work: commissioned from on high
to preach to others that holy self-denial himself had
practised; to recommend to all that serenity and
peace. of mind himself had felt; walking in the
light, to call others out of darkness; having drunk
of the water of life, to direct others to the same
fountain; having tasted of the heavenly bread, to
invite all men to partake of the same banquet; being
redeemed by the power of Christ, he was sent to call
others from under the dominion of Satan into the
glorious liberty of the sons of Godl, that they might
receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among
them  that are sanctified, through faith in Jesus
Christ. One workman thus qualified," says the same
author, " is able to do his Master's business far more
effectually than ten bold intruders, who undertake to
teach a science themselves never learned."
Many of William Penn's publications were controversial, and, in consistence with the character of
the age, contained strong, severe, and sometimes unguarded expressions; they were therefore more
adapted to that period than to later times.  As an
independent and a comprehensive thinker, a firm
champion of religious liberty, breathing forth generous, manly, and noble sentiments, chastened by love
to God and man, most of his writings will stand the
2*




18           BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
test of inquiry, and several of them cannot fail to be
valued so long as that which is truly excellent shall
be appreciated. His early compositions were penned
with the lively zeal of a new convert. The first
bears the title of " Truth exalted," and in energetic
terms calls upon princes, priests, and people, to
examine the grounds of their faith, and to compare
them  with the true Christian standard.  His acts
corresponded with his writings.  Going down to
Whitehall with a few of his friends, he obtained an
audience of the Duke of Buckingham, and pressed
on him  the necessity of toleration for dissenters,
pleading their right to far better treatment than the
indignities they then suffered, appealing to the old
laws of England, to ancient customs and charters.
Nor were his reasonings in vain: the duke promised
to bring a Bill into Parliament to redress the evils
complained of, but, though he kept his word, the
Commons rejected the measure.
A  circumstance now occurred, which led to consequences both important and painful.  There lived
in Spitalfields a Presbyterian minister named Thomas
Vincent, two of whose hearers being convinced of
the doctrines held by Friends, forsook their former
pastor. This exciting his animosity, he traduced the
Quakers in violent terms, pronouncing their doctrines
erroneous and damnable, and William Penn a Jesuit.
HIearing of these charges, William Penn and George
Whitehead, an eminent minister of the Society,
went to Vincent, and demanded a public opportunity
to clear themselves.  After some demur, Vincent




WILLIAM PENN                   19
appointed a time, but at his own meeting-house;
and, to insure a majority, he called his congregation
together at an earlier hour, and pre-occupied the
place.'When Penn and Whitehead arrived, they
found Vincent declaiming against them, whereupon
they required to be heard in their own defence; but
Vincent proposed that he should question them,
which was agreed to by the people, who were mostly
his own followers.  He then began to examine them
as to their belief in the nature of the Divine Being,
the Trinity, the doctrines of imputed righteousness
and of satisfaction for sin, using gross and unscriptural terms. These being objected to by the Friends,
and the language of Holy Scripture appealed to, he
and his audience attempted to put them down with
accusations of blasphemy and reproach; and, refusing
them liberty to explain, he dismissed his people, extinguished the candles, and withdrew. Not deterred
by this unfair treatment, they persisted in the dark
to address those who remained, till Vincent came
back and promised them another hearing; a promise
which, however, he did not fulfil.
William  Penn now resorted to the press to set
forth his views on the points in question, and in the
fervour of youthful zeal, against what he believed to
be error on the one hand, he laid himself open to the
imputation of error in the opposite direction.  " The
Sandy Foundation shaken," was the title of his
essay: it gave great offence to the bishop of London
and other theologians of the day, who pronounced it
heretical. Penn was also anonymously accused of




20           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
treasonable designs, and the government was prevailed
on to issue an order for committing him to the
Tower. Here his treatment was severe; he was immured in a solitary cell; nor was he permitted to see
his family or friends, except now and then his father,
who commiserated and visited him. The bishop
evidently hoped to awe him into submission, but he
little knew the character of his captive.  One day
Penn's servant brought him word that it was resolved
he should either publicly recant, or die in prison.
He only smiled at the menace, saying, "They are
mistaken in me; I value not their threats; I will
weary out their malice; my prison shall be my grave
before I will budge a jot, for I owe my conscience to
no mortal man."
Prepared patiently and firmly to endure all the
sufferings that might await him, he now betook himself diligently to writing.  His chief work had a
title suited to his own feelings, and to the experience
of every true Christian - "No Cross, no Crown."
It consists of two parts. In the first, he reviews the
corrupt state of Christendom, shows the necessity of
daily bearing the cross of Christ, describes its practical nature, the duty of self-denial, the evils of
pride, avarice, and luxury; dividing each into several
branches, and pleading for simplicity, contentment,
and a life of faith.  In the second part, he quotes
the testimonies of the greatest men of antiquity
among the heathen; of Jesus Christ and his first
disciples, and of early Christian writers, with. the
dying testimonies of many eminent moderns, in con



WILLIAM  PENN.                  21
firmation of the same views.  In a preface to a later
edition, he says, of the way of the cross, "It is a
path, God in his everlasting kindness guided my feet
into, in the flower of my youth, when about two and
twenty years of age: then he took me by the hand,
and led me out of the pleasures, vanities, and hopes
of the world.  I have tasted of Christ's judgments,
and of his imercies, of the world's frowns and reproaches: I rejoice in my experience, and dedicate
it, [reader,] to thy service in Christ.  It is a debt
I have long owed; I have now paid it, and delivered
my soul. To my country, and to the world of (Christians I leave it.  May God, if he please, make it
effectual to them all."  The "No Cross, no Crown,"
was a remarkable work, especially considering the
circumstances under which it was written. It would
seem to have required a large library and great research, and produced an impression highly creditable
to  the writer.  It went rapidly through  several
editions, and has often been reprinted in modern
times.
From a chapter, entitled " The Serious Testimonies
of Dying, as well as Living Men," we select the
following examples:
The first from Bulstrode Whitlock, an associate of
those great men whom the lords and commons of
England appointed to treat with King Charles I. for
peace. "He was commissioner of the great seal, and
ambassador to Sweden, a scholar, a lawyer, a statesman; in short, he was one of the most accomplished
men of the age.  Being with him sometimes at his




22          B R I E F   MEMOIR OF
own house in Berkshire. where he gave me the
account of Chancelior Oxenstiern, among many
serious things he spoke, this was very observable."
"I have ever thought," said he, "there has been
one true religion in the world; and that is the work
of the Spirit of God in the hearts and souls of men.
There have been, indeed, divers forms and shapes of
things, through the many dispensations of God to
men, answerable to his own wise ends, in reference to
the low and uncertain state of man in the world;
but the old world had the Spirit of God, for it strove
with thenm; and the new world has had the Spirit
of God, both Jew and Gentile, and it strives with
all; and they that have been led by it, have been the
good people in every dispensation of God to the
world. And I, myself, must say, I have felt it from
a child, to convince me of my evil and vanity; and
it has often given me a true measure of this poor
world, and some taste of divine things; and it is my
grief, I did not more early apply my soul to it. For,
I can say, since my retirement from the greatness
and hurries of the world, I have felt something of
the work and comfort of it, and that it is both ready
and able to instruct, and lead, and preserve those
who will humbly and sincerely hearken to it. So
that my religion is the good Spirit of God in my
heart; I mean what that has wrought in me and for
mie."
After a meeting at his house, to which he gave an
entire liberty for all that pleased to come, he was so
deeply affected with the testimony of the light,




WILLIAM  PENN.                 23
spirit, and grace of Christ in man, as the gospel dispensation, that after the meeting closed in prayer, he
rose up, and pulled off his hat, and said, "This is
the everlasting Gospel I have heard this day; and I
humbly bless the name of God, that he has let me
live to see this day, in which the ancient Gospel is
again preached to them that dwell upon the earth."
" Count Oxenstiern, Chancellor of Sweden, was a
person of the first quality, station, and ability in his
own country, whose share and success, not only in
the chief ministry of affairs in that kingdom, but in
the greatest negotiations of Europe during his time,
made him no less considerable abroad.  After all his
knowledge and honour, bein7 visited in his retreat
from  public business, by Commissioner Whitlock,
anmbassador to Queen Christina, in the conclusion of
their discourse, he said to the ambassador,'I have
seen much and enjoyed much of this world, but I
never knew how to live till now.  I thank my God
that has given me time to know Him and to know
myself.  All the comfort I have, and all the comfort
I take, and which is more than the whole world can
give, is feeling the good Spirit of God in my heart,
and reading in this good book, holding up the Bible,
that came from it.  You are now in the prime of
your age and vigour, and in great favour and business; but this will all leave you, and you will one
day better understand and relish what I say to you;
and then you will find that there is more wisdom,
truth, comfort and pleasure, in retiring and turning
your heart from the world, to the good Spirit of




24           BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
God, and in reading the Bible, than in all the favour
of courts and princes.  This I had, as near as I am
able to remeinber, fioum the ambassador's own mouth
more than once.  A very edifying history when we
consider froi whlomn it canme; one of the greatest
and wisest men of his age; while his understanding
was as sound and vigorous, as his experience and
knowledge were great."
-' The specious inconveniences that wait
Upon a life of business and of state,
He sees, nor doth the sight disturb his rest."
"' My own father, after thirty years' employment,
with good success, in divers places of emiinent trust
and honour in his own country, upon a serious reflection not lonog before his death, spoke to me in this
manner:'Son William, I am  weary of the world;
I would not live my days over again if I could command them with a wish; for the snares of life are
greater than the fears of death.  This troubles me,
that I have offended a gracious God, who has followed
me to this day.  O have a care of sin! That is the
sting both of life and death.  Three things I commend to you-First: Let nothing in this world tempt
you to wrong your conscience; I charge you do
nothing against your conscience; so will you keep
peace at home, which will be a feast to you in the
day of trouble.  Secondly: Whatever you design to
do, lay it justly, and time it seasonably, for that gives
security and despatch.  Lastly: Be not troubled at
disappointments; for if they may be recovered do




WILLIAM  PEN.                 25
it; if they cannot, trouble is vain.  If you could
not have helped it be content; there is often peace and
profit in submitting to Providence; for afflictions
make wise. If you could have helped it, let not your
trouble exceed instruction for another time.  These
rules will carry you with firmness and comfort
through this inconstant world."'
This excellent treatise is thus concluded: " Wherefore, since we are compassed about with so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and
burden, and the sin and vanities, which so easily beset
us, and with a constant holy patience run our race,
having our eyes fixed upon Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith, not minding what is behind;
so shall we be delivered from every snare. No
temptations shall gain us, no frowns shall scare us
frorm Christ's cross and our blessed self-denial: and
honour, glory, immortality, and a crown of eternal
life, shall recompense all our sufferings in the end."' Oh Lord God! thou lovest holiness, and purity
is thy delight in the earth. Wherefore, I pray thee,
make an end of sin and finish transgression, and
bring in thy everlasting righteousness to the souls
of men, that thy poor creation may be delivered
from  the bondage it groans under, and the earth
enjoy her Sabbath again: That thy great name may
be lifted up in all nations, and thy salvation be renowned to the ends of the world.  For thine is the
kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever. Amen."
By the King's command, Stillingfieet, bishop of
Worcester, visited William Penn in prison, and
3




26           BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
reasoned candidly with him.  After lying there six
months, and seeing no prospect of a release, he
wrote to Lord Arlington, the secretary of state, a
manly forcible remonstrance against his detention,
and the treatment he suffered.  He declares his own
belief in: "the eternal deity of Christ," protests
against punishments by the civil power for differences
of religious opinion, asserts that the understanding
can be moved only by reason, not by force, appeals to
the Kin-g, and maintains his entire innocence of
crime. Finding that his views on some of the
points debated were much misunderstood, he stated
them more fully and clearly to the public in a short
but vigorous pamphlet, entitled " Innocency with
her open Face; presented by way of apology for the
Sandy Foundation shaken." In this piece, while he
does not retract, he explains and vindicates, the
soundness of his Christian faith.
He thus declares his belief, " I sincerely own and
unfeignedly believe, by virtue of the sound knowledge and experience, received from the gift of that
holy unction and Divine grace inspired from on high,
in One holy, just, merciful, Almighty and Eternal
God, who is the Father of all things; who appeared
to the holy patriarchs and prophets of old at sundry
times, and in divers manners; and in one Lord
Jesus Christ, the everlasting Wisdom, Divine power,
true Light, only Saviour and Preserver of all; the
same One holy, just, merciful, Almighty and Eternal
God, who, in the fulness of time, took and was
manifested in the flesh. At which time He preached,




WILLIAM  PENN.                  27
and his disciples after him, the everlasting Gospel
of repentance, and promise of remission of sins and
eternal life, to all that heard and obeyed." And
again, "Let all know this, that I pretend to know no
other name, by which remission, atonement, and
salvation, can be obtained, but Jesus Ch'rist the
Saviour, who is the wisdom and power of God."
Soon. after it was issued, and probably at the instance of the Duke of York, he was set at liberty,
after an imprisonment of eight months and sixteen
days.
William Penn had now the satisfaction of once
more visiting his friend Thomas Loe, whom the Lord
had made instrumental to convince him. He was
then on his dying bed, and thus addressed William
Penn, " Dear heart, bear thy cross.  Stand faithful
for God, and bear thy testimony in thy day and
generation, and God will give thee an eternal crown
of glory that shall not be taken from thee.  There
is no other way that shall prosper, than that which
the holy men of old have walked in. God hath
brought immortality to light, and life immortal is
felt. Glory, glory, for He is worthy. Glory be to
His name for evermore.  My heart is full, what
shall I say?  His love overcomes my heart, my cup
runs over, my cup runs over. He is come, He has
appeared, and will appear." To others, he said,
"Friends, keep your testimony for God, live with
Him, and He will live with you."
Admiral Penn had become involved in trial and
difficulty through the jealousy of rival commanders,




28           BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
especially Monk and Rupert, and he was saved from
ruin only by the personal regard of the King and his
brother.  These trials softened his feelings towards
his son, and his wish was indirectly conveyed to
William that he should again take charge of his
estates in Ireland. This he was not slow to fulfil;
and proceeding to Shangarry in the summer of 1669,
he remained there for some months, maintaining a
frequent correspondence with his father, and successfully exerting himself to relieve his friends from
suffering. A sensible decline in his father's health
at length caused his return to England; a full reconciliation took place, and he became a resident in the
parental mansion.




WILLIAM  PENN.                   29
CCHAPTER III. 1670.
THE CONVENTICLE ACT-MEMORABLE TRIAL OF W. PENN AND W.
MEAD AT THE OLD BAILEY, WITH THEIR INTREPID DEFENCE.
IN  the year 1670, William Penn was again a
sufferer on account of his religious principles, and
though the imprisonment to which he was subjected
did not exceed a month in duration, yet his resolute
conduct on the trial, in opposition to the tyrannical
proceedings of the civic authorities, tended greatly
to confirml his reputation, as a defender of civil and
religious freedom, and to establish on a more solid
foundation the liberties of his countrymen.
The severe Act against conventicles, which had
been passed six years before, was now on the point
of expiring, and the public mind was much agitated
on the question of its renewal.  The desire of the
bishops, together with general apprehensions of the
secret designs of the Duke of York and the Catholics,
operated strongly in its favour, and it was but feebly
opposed by the now crushed spirit of constitutional
freedom.  Though the government wished to except
Protestant dissenters from its operation, the ecclesiastics, who feared the Puritan as much as the Romish
influence, would not consent. The Act was consequently passed, declaring it seditious and unlawful,
for more than five persons in addition to one fanlily
to assemble together for divine worship, in any other




30           BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
way than according to the liturgy.  Every person so
assembling was to be fined five shillings for the first
offence, and ten shillings for the second; the preacher
to forfeit twenty pounds for the first, and forty
pounds for the second offence; and the owner of the
house twenty pounds. Any magistrate refusing to
act herein to be fined one hundred pounds, and every
constable five pounds.  One third of the fines to go
to the informer.  The Act to be construed most
largely for the suppression of conventicles, and for
the encouragement of those employed in its execution. Any justice to hear, convict, and levy privately,
in opposition to the great charter which directed trial
by jury.
William Penn soon became an offender under this
unrighteous law, and it was determined not to deal
with the case privately, but to make him a public
example.  He and others, going to the meetinghouse in Gracechurch Street one morning at the
usual hour, found it closed, and the doors guarded by
soldiers; which was the case that day with all dissenters' places of worship, throughout the city.
After a time, a considerable company being collected,
he took off his hat, and began to address them in
the street; on which the constables arrested both
him  and William Mead, a Friend, who was one of
the hearers, and brought them  before  the Lord
Mayor, Sir Samuel Starling, who committed them to
Newgate; making no secret of his malice against
William Penn and his father, and of his pleasure at
having this opportunity to vent it. A full account




WILLIAM  PENN.                  31
of the celebrated trial was afterwards drawn up by
Williaml  Penn, and has been often republished; a
few particulars only can be given here.  Not thinking it righlt passively to submit to illegal treatment,
as many of his friends had done, he boldly asserted
the rights of Englishmen, and succeeded in vindicating them.
On the first of the seventh month, (then September) 1670, the two prisoners were brought to the
bar of tile Old Bailey for trial; and the jury being
called over, the indictment was read, which charged
the prisoners, that with force and arms, they and
others had mlet together, unlawfully and tumultuously,
to the great disturbance of the peace, and to the
great terrlor of many of the people.  To this they
pleaded iNot guilty in the manner and form stated;
and after being kept waiting for five hours, the Court
adjourned.
Two days after they were again brought into the
Court, when, on one of the officers taking off their
hats, the Lord Mayor sternly ordered him  to put
them  on again, and the Recorder fined them forty
marks each for contempt of the court in wearing
them.  Three witnesses were called, but failed to
prove the more offensive part of the charge. William
Penn then said, that he and his friend freely acknowledged the fact of their meeting together for
the worship of God; that they believed it their duty
to do so, and that all the powers on earth should not
prevent them  from  it.  Sheriff Brown exclaimed,




32          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
that he was not there for worshipping God, but for
breaking the law.
W. PENN.-" I have broken no law, nor am I
guilty of the indictment.  I desire to know on what
law you prosecute me, and ground the indictment."
THE RECORDER. -" On the common law."
PENN. - " Where is that common law?"
RECORDER. - " YU must not think that I can
run up so many years, and over so many adjudged
cases, which we call common law, to satisfy your
curiosity."
PENN. -" If it be common, it should not be so
very hard to produce."
RECORDIER. - "Sir, will you plead to your indictment?"
PENN. —" Shall I plead to an indictment that has
no foundation in law? If you decline to produce
the law, the jury will not be able to bring in their
verdict." This so exasperated the Recorder, that he
said, "You are a saucy fellow: speak to the indictiment."
PENN. - "It is my place to speak to matter of
law.  I am arraigned a prisoner; my liberty, which
is next to life itself, is concerned; and unless you
show me and the people the law you ground your indictment upon, I shall take it for granted your proceedings are merely arbitrary."  Here several on
the bench, being much annoyed, bore hard on the
prisoner to put him down; but he, undismayed, retained his calm, yet firm behaviour, neither party referring to the late Conventicle Act.




WILLIAM PENN.                  83
RECORDER. —"The question is, whether you are
guilty of this indictment."
PENN. -" No; the question is, whether this indictment be legal.  It is an imperfect answer, to say
it is common law, unless we know both where and
what that is; for where there is no law there is no
transgression, and that which is not in being, is so
far from common, that it is no law at all."
RECORDER. -   You are an impertinent fellow.
Will you teach the Court what law is? It is lex non
scripta, - that which many have studied thirty or
forty years to know; and would you have me tell you
in a moment?"
PENN.-" If the common law be so hard to be
understood, it is far from being common: but if the
Lord Coke in his Institutes be of any consideration,
he tells us that common law is common right, and
that common right is the great charter privileges
confirmed."
RECORDER. — " Sir, you are a troublesome fellow,
and it is not for the honour of the Court to suffer
you to go on."
PENN.-" I design no affront to the Court, but to
be heard irn my just plea; and I may plainly tell you
that if you deny me the oyer of that law, which you
say I have broken, you do at once deny me an acknowledged right, and evince to the world your resolution to sacrifice the privileges of Englishmen to
your sinister and arbitrary designs."
The Court were extremely irritated at William
Penn's spirited behaviour. and the more so because




3 4         BRIEF MEMOIR OF
what he said was so just and reasonable that they
could not answer him. Ashamed probably to shield
themselves under the late Conventicle Act, they
made no reference to it, but, in order to silence him,
directed that he should be put into the bale-dock,
while he loudly remonstrated against their arbitrary
conduct.
William Mead, being now left alone, showed equal
firmness, and thus addressed the jury: "I stand
here to answer an indictment which is full of falsehoods, charging me with meeting with force and
arms, unlawfully and tumultuously: whereas I dare
not make use of arms, but am a peaceable man, and
therefore William Penn's question was a very proper
one.  You men of the jury, if the Recorder will not
tell you what makes a riot or an unlawful assembly,
Coke tells us that a riot is when three or more are
met together to beat a man, enter forcibly into his
land," &c.  The Recorder then scornfully pulled off
his hat, and said, "I thank you, sir, that you will
tell me what the law is."  To which W. Mead replied, "Thou mayest put on thy hat, I have never a
fee for thee now."
MAYOR.-" You deserve to have your tongue cut
out."
MEAD.-" Thou didst promise me that I should
have fair liberty to be heard.  Why may I not have
the privileges of an Englishman?"
He too was now ordered into the bale-dock, and in
their absence the Court charged the jury, contrary to
law and precedent; against which William Penn




WILLIAM  PENN.                  35
protested from a distance.  The prisoners were then
removed to a loathsome cell in Newgate.
After an absence of two hours, the jury returned,
the prisoners were sent for, and.a verdict was delivered against William  Penn, "Guilty of speaking
in Gracechurch Street." The Court, dissatisfied with
this verdict, told the jury they might as well have
said nothing; and after threats, and attempting in
vain to extort something more, sent them out again.
In half an hour they returned, bringing a written
verdict signed by them all, that they found William
Penn guilty of speaking or preaching to an assembly
in Gracechurch Street, and William Mead not guilty.
This so provoked the Recorder, that he said to the
jury, " Gentlemen, you shall not be dismissed till we
have a verdict the Court can accept, and you shall be
locked up without meat, drink, fire, or tobacco.  We
will have a verdict, or you shall starve for it."
PENN.-" My jury, who are my judges, ought not
to be thus menaced: their verdict should be free
and not compelled.  I desire that justice may be
done me."  The Court being about to send back the
jury, William Penn said, "The agreement of twelve
men is a verdict in law, and such a one having been
given, I require the clerk of the peace to record it at
his peril." To the jury he said, " You are Englishmen; mind your privileges, give not away your
rights."  To which some of them replied that they
never would.
The trial having excited general interest, the
Court had been thronged throughout, and was now




36           BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
adjourned till nine the next morning: when the
jury, being called, brought in the same verdict as
before.  The magistrates were more exasperated than
ever, and behavec  towards them  in a most unbecoming and unconstitutional manner, refusing to
accept their verdict of Not guilty for William Mead.
William Penn again remonstrated in plain and pointed
language, but to no good effect, the Court obstinately
pursuing its arbitrary course, and the Mayor crying
out, " Stop his mouth, jailor;  bring fetters and stake
him  to the ground."  To this William  Penn answered, "'Do your pleasure: I matter not your fetters." The Recorder then acknowledged, "Till now
I never knew the policy of the Spaniards, in suffering
the Inquisition. It will never be well with us till
something like it be brought into England." The
jury, though very unwilling, were sent back, and
kept through another night, without food or other
accommodation.  At seven the next morning, the
prisoners were again placed at the bar in a crowded
court, and the jury, who were much worn by long
detention and fasting, returned each prisoner "Not
guilty."  This verdict gave general satisfaction to
the people assembled, but was a great mortification
to the Bench, who were compelled to accept it.
William  Penn and William Mead now demanded
their liberty, but were fined for alleged contempt of
court, in not taking off their hats; and the jury,
instead of being discharged, were fined forty marks
each for their pretended obstinacy.  Both parties
were committed to Newgate for non-payment  The




WILLIAM PENN.                   37
imposition of fines on a jury was a daring attack on
the rights of the subject, and was brought before the
Court of Common Pleas by Edward Bushel, the most
resolute of the jurors, when it was argued at length,
and being pronounced altogether illegal, they were
liberated.  Admiral Penn, then on his death-bed,
being anxious to see his son once more, is supposed
to have paid the fines, and the two prisoners also
were set at liberty.  A  late writer remarks, " The
importance of this extraordinary trial can hardly be
over-estimated, as a stand taken once for all upon
the ancient liberties of England, against the encroachments of those in authority.  It established a great
truth —that unjust laws are powerless, when used
against an upright people."
4




38           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
CHAPTER IV.  1670-1677.
DYING ADVICE OF SIR WILLIAM PENN-W. P. TRAVELS AS A
MINISTERR-ACCOUNT OF GULIELMA MARIA SPRINGETTAGAIN IMIPRISONED IN THE TOWER —-VISITS HOLLANDMARRIIES G. I. SPRINGETT —VISITS THE CONTINENT TWICE
-RELIGIOUIS CONVERSE WITH PRINCESS ELIZABETH-REPEATEDLY ADVOCATES TOLERATION.
ADMIRAL PENN lived but ten days after his son's
release. Though he had not reached his fiftieth
year, he had survived many changes, and experienced
great trials. }Many of his last remarks display a true
knowledge of the world.  "Son William," said he,'" if you and your friends keep to your plain way of
preaching, and to your plain way of living, you will
make an end of the priests to the end of tLe world.
Live in love, shun all manner of evil I pray God to
bless you, and he will bless you all."  He left his
son a good estate, producing an annual income of
about fifteen hundred pounds; and sent messages to
the King and the Duke of York, commllending  him
to their kind offices; which they readily promised
and endeavoured to fulfil.
William  Penn now travelled as a minister of the
gospel, holding considerable meetings, and preaching
boldly the doctrines he professed.  These doctrines,
and especially that of the universality of Divine light
or grace, being attacked by a Baptist minister named




WILLI A    P E  N.             39
[ves, in Buckinghamshire, he demanded an opportunity to vindicate them; and the parties met at
Wycomnbe for discussion; but the assailant, as soon
as he had stated his own arguments, unfairly withdrew. The people, however, more candid than their
pastor, waited to hear the defence, which was satisfactory to most of them.
On visiting Oxford, William Penn found his friends
there exposed to severe persecution for their religious
principles, which struck at the root of the hierarchy;
and as the Vice-Chancellor encouraged these proceedintgs, he addressed him in a letter of plain expostulation and reproof.  Taking up his residence at the
old family seat of Penn, in Buckinghamshire, he
made the acquaintance of Gulielma Maria Springett,
a very intelligent and interesting young person, then
residing with her step-father, Isaac Pennington.
She was the daughter of Sir William and Mary
Springett.  Her father was a man of noble spirit, and
conspicuous in the struggle for civil and religious
liberty in England which resulted in the fall of
Charles I., and the establishment of the Commonwealth.  Whilst ardently engaged in this fearful
contest, he was carried off by a fatal disease, resulting
from the exposure incident to the inhuman practice
of war.  In 1642, a few weeks after his death, his
daughter was born.  Her mother, being deeply imbued with the love of Truth, became an earnest
seeker after it, and withdrew from all participation in
those worldly pleasures so inconsistent with it.
Several years afterwards, she met with Isaac Pen



40          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
nington, one, like herself, weary of the delights of
this world, but seeking the haven of true rest.  She
says, "Mly love was drawn to him because I found
he saw the deceit of all notions, and lay as one that
refused to be comforted." After their marriage took
place, they became members of the Society of Friends.
Residing at their estate of Chalfont, her daughter
now approaching womanhood, the family were visited
by Thomas Ellwood, who had in childhood been her
playmate in familiar sports.  His father and he were
of the Cavalier sort, free and courtly in their manners, and, having known the Penningtons before
their connection with Friends, were greatly surprised
at the change in their demeanor, the seriousness of
which kept down all light and airy conversation.
Thomas Ellwood, seeking the company of the
daughter, says, "I found her gathering some flowers
in the garden, attended by her maid, who was also a
Quaker. But when I addressed myself to her, after
my accustomed manner, with intent to engage her in
some discourse which might introduce conversation
on the foot of our former acquaintance, though she
treated me with a courteous mein, yet, young as she
was, the gravity of her look and behaviour struck
such an awe upon me that I found myself not so
much master of myself as to pursue any further conversation with her; whereupon, asking pardon for my
boldness in having intruded myself into her private
walks, I withdrew, not without some disorder of mind,
at least as I thought"
Soon after this, Ellwood himself became a Friend,




WILLIAM  PENN.                  41
and residing in this vicinity, was received in near
intimacy with the Penningtons.  It is stated that
Gulielma was sought after by peers and commoners,
courtiers and Puritans, being, as described by Ellwood, "a very desirable woman, whether regard was
had to her outward person, which wanted nothing to
render her comely, or to the endowments of her
mlind, which were every way extraordinary and
highly obliging, or to her outward fortune, which
was fair."  "To all, in their respective turns, till
he at length came for whom she was reserved, she
carried herself with so much evenness of temper,
such courteous freedom, guarded with the strictest
modesty, that, as it gave encouragement or ground
of hopes to none, so neither did it administer any
matter of offence or just cause of complaint to any."
A pamphlet of the Roman Catholics falling in the
way of William  Penn, drew his close attention to
their leading doctrines, and in a tract entitled "A
Seasonable Caveat against Popery," he undertook to
refute them, appealing to the authority of Scripture
and of the early Christian Church, and clearly showing
that his own views were entirely at variance with
theirs.  Notwithstanding this, he declared himself
decidedly opposed to all persecution of Roman
Catholics or others for their principles, and friendly
to universal toleration.
His firm, intrepid conduct, both in asserting
boldly, by word and writing, what he believed to be
the truth, and in patiently suffering for it, with his
earnest denunciations of all persecution and oppres4*




42           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
sion, had rendered him obnoxious to those in
authority, and they eagerly sought an opportunity
to lay hold of him.  Spies and informers, then so
often employed, were set to watch and report his
movements, and word being one day brought to Sir
J. Robinson, that he was to be at a meeting at
Wheeler Street the next morning, a sergeant and
soldiers were sent to the place, and as soon as he
stood up to preach, they pulled him down and delivered him to a constable, who conveyed him to the
Tower. Here he was examined in the evening by
several of those who had sat in judgment upon him
only a few months before; Sir J. Robinson, pretending at first not to know him, then to feel great
regard and pity for him, and afterwards accusing
him with stirring up sedition, but when questioned,
totally unable to prove it.  In the course of the
examination, Robinson again charged William Penn
with being as bad as other folks, abroad and at home
too; when he replied, "I make this bold challenge
to all men, women, and children upon earth, justly
to accuse me of ever having seen me drunk, heard
me swear, utter a curse, or speak one obscene word,much less that I ever made it my practice.  Thy
words shall be thy burden, and I trample thy slander
under my feet."  To an ther taunting remark of
Robinson's, he replied,/I would have thee, and all
other men to know, that I scorn that religion which
is not worth suffering for, and able to sustain those
that are afflicted for it; mine is, and whatever may
be my lot for my constant profession of it, 1 am no




WILLIAM  PENN.                  43
ways careful, but resigned to answer the will of God
by the loss of goods, liberty and life itself.  When
you have all, you can have no more; and then, perhaps, you will be contented, and by that you will be
better informed of our innocency.  Thy religion persecutes, mine forgives; and I desire my God to
forgive you all that are concerned in my commitment, and I leave you all in perfect charity, wishing
your everlasting salvation."  The scene ended with
their tendering him as before the oath of allegiance,
which refusing to take, he was sent to Newgate again
for six months.  This was his second committal
thither within four months; and Robinson even
threatened to pull down the meeting-house; but the
law placed it out of his power.
During this imprisonment, William Penn, as usual
with him, was not idle. In a noisome, pestilential
gail, crowded with many of his friends, among felons
and other criminals — a situation especially painful
to a man of his refined feelings and habits, he produced several important treatises, chiefly in defence
of liberty of conscience.
He and other prisoners also addressed, in a dignified and temperate style, the High Court of Parliament, which was then contemplating a more rigorous
enforcement of the Act against conventicles, in
opposition to a declaration of indulgence to tender
consciences lately issued by the King, on his own
authority.
The term of this imprisonment expiring, he resumed his religious labours in different parts;




44          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
extending them into Holland and G emlanr, where
he met with many spiritually-minded persons.
Early in 1672, when in his twenty-eighth year,
he married Gulielma Maria Springett, and settled at
Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, under circumstances
of great comfort.  Occasionally, he travelled as a
minister, accompanied by his wife; and seldom was
his pen without occupation, in vindicating the religious principles of the Society against assailants
He also went to Whitehall to plead with the Court
on behalf of George Fox, then a prisoner.  Most
of the principal religious men of that time were
intolerant of others: William Penn, therefore, appeared in a novel character, by advocating both
religion and toleration, which he did with much ability
and force, in a treatise entitled " England's present
interest considered."
Believing it his duty again to visit the continent,
he proceeded in 1677 to Holland, in company with
G. Fox, R. Barclay, and others; their object being
to communicate " with maoly seeking persons," and
to encourage them to more full dedication of heart
to the Lord. They held religious meetings at Rotterdam, Haarlem, Amsterdam, &c., and organized a
system of Church discipline for the small body of
Friends in that country. In consequence of complaints which reached them of the sufferings of
Friends of Dantzic, William Penn addressed a spirited
letter on their behalf to John Sobieski, King of Poland, concluding with a saying of his predecessor
Stephen, "I am king of men, not of consciences;




WILLIAM  PENN.                  45
king of bodies, not of souls." In this letter, where
he relates the most fundamental principles surely
believed by Friends, we find this confession: " We
do believe in the birth, life, doctrines, miracles,
death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ
our Lord; and that he laid down his life for the
ungodly, not to continue so, but that they should
deny their wickedness and ungodliness, and live
soberly, righteously and godly in this present world,
as the saints of old did, who were redeemed from the
earth, and sat in heavenly places."   Prosecuting
their journey, they held interesting conferences and
distributed tracts on religious subjects from place to
place.
At Herwerden they visited the Princess Elizabeth,
daughter of the King of Bohemia, and  granddaughter of James I., an illustrious and pious lady,
with whom AW. Penn had before corresponded.  The
visit, which was of a religious nature, proved to be a
memorable one; the princess and her friend, the
Countess De Hornes, receiving them with expressions
of great kindness and openness.
Their first meeting having been held to satisfaction, a second interview with the family took place
at the palace in the afternoon, and continued for five
hours.  "It was at this meeting" says W. Penn,
" that the Lord in a more eminent manner began to
appear.  The eternal word showed itself a hammer
that day -yea, sharper than a two-edged sword,
dividing asunder between the soul and the spirit, the
joints and the marrow. With hearts filled with holy




46           BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
thanksgivin,s to the Lord for his abundant mercy
and goodness to us, we departed to our lodging."
The next morning, at the suggestion of the Countess,
a meeting was held for the inferior servants, at
which " the same blessed power that had appeared,
to visit them  of high, visited them  also of low
degree." In the afternoon, the Princess and Countess
reminded W. Penn of a promise he had made, to
give them an account of his first convincement, and
of the trials and consolations he had experienced in
his religious course.  After some pause he began his
narrative, an extract from which has already been
given, and which, being delivered with deep feeling,
much affected the company, and was listened to
throughout with earnest attention.  The next afternoon another meeting for worship was held at the
palace, several inhabitants of the town being invited;
and the power of Divine Grace was again eminently
manifested.  At the close the Princess took Williatn
Penn by the hand, and endeavoured to express the
sense she had of the presence and power of God, but
could not proceed; and turning aside, she sobbed,
saying, " I cannot speak to you, my heart is full."
At Cassel also "many received them tenderly and
lovingly," among. whom  was one, "Dureus, aged
seventy-seven, who had forsaken his learning and
school-divinity for the teachings of the Holy Spirit."
Various other spiritual persons they met with in
different classes of society, with whom  they had
serious intercourse; their concern being to call them
to the substance and life of religion in the soul.




WILLIAM PENN.                   47
Meetings were held in other cities of Germany and
were well attended. The Somerdykes, A. M. Schurman -a learned and pious lady, the Graef of Donau,
a young Countess, and other seeking persons, were
objects of their lively interest; and it seems to have
been a time of great awakening in those parts.  In
this journey William Penn spent upwards of three
months, and travelled nearly three thousand miles:
it is the only portion of his religious labours of which
he left a written narrative.
England was now disquieted with fears and pretended plots of the Roman Catholics: laws and oaths
were made against them, and fell with severity on
Friends, who declined to obey an unjust law, or to
take an oath of any kind.  Williamn  Penn twice
attended Committees of the House of Commons, and
represented the difficulties and cruelties itnder which
~his friends suffered; urging the duty of repealing all
persecuting  enactments on  account of religion,
where the public peace was not disturbed.
In written addresses to the government and the
public, he repeatedly advocated the same great principles: which also induced him to use active exertions
on two occasions to promote the return of his friend
Algernon Sidney to Parliament.  But the adverse
influence of the Crown prevented his success.




48           BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
CIHAPTER V. 1675-1685.
HIS CONNECTION WITH AMERICA — IS TRUSTEE FOR NEW
JERSEY-OBTAINS A GRANT OF PENNSYLVANIA-ESTABLISHES FULL RELIGIOUS LIBERTY THERE —LETTER TO HIS
WIFE AND CHILDREN-VISITS THE COLONY —TREATY WITH
THE INDIANS —RETURNS AFTER TWO YEARS.
WILLIAM  PENN must now be viewed in a new
and very interesting character. From his early
youth, he had been accustomed to hear from his
father striking accounts of the other hemisphere.
In his travels into Holland he had met with persecuted families, some of whose members had found
peaceful shelter on American shores. Many English
Puritans had sought refuge in the same wilderness
land from harassing oppressors; and not a few of
the Society of Friends, havinc followed their example,
had already established general or yearly meetings on
Bhode Island and in Maryland.
In 1675, he was called in as an arbitrator, to
settle a difference between two of his friends, respecting a tract of land then called New Jersey,
and he soon became a chief trustee and manager for
the western part of that colony. Removing his own
residence for the sake of greater retirement to Worminghurst in Surrey, he drew up a constitution for
the infant colony, framed in the most liberal spirit.
Commissioners and emigrants, most of whom were




WILLIAM PENN.                  49
Friends, went out, purchased the land of the
Indians, and founded their little state on Christian
principles. The part which he took in its affairs increased his strong interest in the new world, and
made him long to found a refuge there, on a more
extended scale, for the conscientious and persecuted.
When Admiral Penn died, he had large claims on
the Government, chiefly for money lent, and these
claims had increased in 1680, by the accumulation
of interest, to upwards of ~16,000.  In consideration of this debt, the son petitioned the Privy Council, that the King, by letters patent, would confer on
himself and his heirs, a tract of unoccupied crown
land, adjoining Maryland and New Jersey, which he
offered to accept in discharge of the obligation.  He
had more than one object in soliciting this grant.
It would not only acquit his demand on the Government, but enable him to carry out designs which he
had long fondly cherished; to provide a peaceful
asylum for his persecuted brethren, as well as for the
good and oppressed of every nation; to found a new
empire on the pure and peaceable principles of
Christianity; and so to conciliate the untutored
savage by just and lenient measures, as to prepare
him to receive the truths of the gospel. This "' holy
experiment" was warmly entered into by his manly
generous mind, wearied with the pride, the selfishness, and cruelty of the old world.
His petition was referred to a Committee of the
Privy Council, but strongly opposed by private
interest and political bigotry.  It was deemed an




50           BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
Utopian scheme, likely, if countenanced, to prove an
encouragement to the discontented, and dangerous to
existing governments.  After much difficulty and
delay, however, the King acceded to his request,
and in 1681 executed the patent, naming the new
colony Pennsyl'vania, in honour of Admiral Penn.
/The tract granted him was nearly 300 miles long
and 160 broad, containing a surface little less than
that of Enlland.  The entire region consisted either
of dense forests or extensive pastures, where the
native Indian reposed in safety, or roamed and
hunted at pleasure: the river Delaware forming an
excellent outlet to the sea.
/The obtaining of this grant may be said to have
been the great event of William Penn's life.;. From
a despised and persecuted individual he became the
sovereign of a little empire; and happily it was his
chief desire to rule it in the fear of the Lord, for his
glory, and for the good of the people.  Many European settlers had acted with great injustice and
cruelty towards the aboriginal inhabitants; taking
possession of their lands without making them compensation, and treating them like wild beasts rather
than as men. William Penn, on the contrary,
though the King had made him a grant of the land,
still considered the Indians as its proprietors, and
purchased it of them on liberal terms: undertaking
that all differences between his people and them
should be referred to six white men and six Indians
for settlement.  This just course of procedure gave
them entire satisfaction.




WILLIAM  PENN,                 51
Some have been under the impression that the
land of the Indians was obtained by William Penn,
under the mere semblance of a purchase. That he
gave no equivalent for the land.  But it was stated,
in evidence, before a Committee of the House of
Commons, by Thomas Hodgekin,*  that William
Penn appears to have given about ~20,000 to the
Indians, and that they rapidly increased their price
for land, until as early as 1682, two miles could not
be obtained for what would at first purchase twenty.
And this was at a time when land was valued so low
that large tracts were given away by William Penn,
who it was well known, so far from being enriched,
was impoverished by his province. This he feelingly
alludes to in an address to his friends in Pennsylvania, dated 4th mo., 29th, 1710, where he says,
"And I cannot but think it hard measure, that
while that has proved a land of freedom and flourishing, it should become to me by whose means it was
principally made a country, the cause of grief,
trouble and poverty."
That the advancement of the cause of universal
righteousness, of peace on earth, and good will to
men, was from the first his object in the " holy experiment," is forcibly set forth in the following
letter:" MY OLD FRIEND, ************
"I could speak largely of God's dealings with me
in getting this thing.  What an inward exercise of
* North American Indians and Friends, p. 75.




52           BRIEF  MEMOIR  O'
faith and patience it cost me in passing. The travail
was mine, as well as the debt and cost, through the
envy of many, both professors, false friends and profane.  My God hath given it me in the face of the
world, and it is to hold it in true judgment, as a reward of my sufferings, and that is seen here, whatever some despisers may say or think.  The place
God hath given me, and I never felt judgment for
the power I kept, but trouble for what I parted
with.  It is more than a worldly title or patent, that
hath clothed me in this place. - Keep thy place: I
am in mine, and have served the God of the whole
earth, since I have been in it; nor am I sitting
down in a greatness, that I have denied.  I am day
and night spending my life, my time, my money, and
am not six-pence enriched by this greatness.  Costs
in getting, settling, transportation, and maintenance,
now in a public manner at my own charge duly considered; to say nothing of my hazard, and the distance I am at from a considerable estate, and which
is more, my dear wife and poor children.
"'Well, -the Lord is a God of righteous judgment.  Had I sought greatness, I had stayed at
homie, where the difference between what I am here,
and was offered and could have been there, in power
and wealth, is as wide as the places are. No, I came
for the Lord's sake, and therefore have I stood to
this day, well and diligent, and successful, blessed be
his power.  Nor shall I trouble myself to tell thee
what I am to the people of this place, in travails,
watchings, spendings, and my services every way,




WILLIAM  PENN.                  53
freely, (not like a selfish man) I have many witnesses.
To conclude, it is now in Friends' hands. Through
my travail, faith and patience it came.  If Friends
here keep to God, and in the justice, mercy, equity
and fear of the Lord, their enemies will be their
footstool.  If not, their heirs and my heirs too will
lose all, and desolation will follow; but blessed be
the Lord, we are well and live in the dear love of
God, and the fellowship of his tender heavenly
Spirit, and our faith is for ourselves and one another,
that the Lord will be with us a King, and a Counsellor for ever.
Thy ancient, though grieved friend,
WVILLIAM  PENN."
Chester, 5th of the Twelfth
Month, 16i82.
Abundant opportunity was soon offered for enriching himself from the grant of the king, as is
plainly shown by the following testimony:
James Claypole, who became largely interested in
the colony says, in a letter, " William Penn does not
intend starting for Pennsylvania till next spring, and
then it is like there will be many people ready to go
from England, Scotland, and Ireland.  He is offered
great things; ~6000 for a monopoly in trade which
he refused, and for islands and particular places great
sums of money; but he designs to do things equally
between all parties, and I believe truly does aim more
5*




54           BRI'EF MEMOIR  OF
at justice and righteousness, and spreading of truth,
than at his own particular gain." *
William  Penn, in a letter to Robert Turner,
alludes to the offer of ~6000 as a great temptation,
but says, " as the Lord had given him the province
over all and great opposition, and that, as his mind
was not so exercised to the Lord about any outward
substance, he would not abuse his love, nor act unworthy of his providence, and so defile what came to
him  clean."  "No," he goes on to say, "let the
Lord guide me by his wisdom, and preserve me to
honour tHis name, and serve His truth and people,
that an example and standard may be set up to the
nations."
The outline of his form of government, among
many other excellent declarations, contains the
following: "In reverence to God, the Father of
light and spirits, I do for me and mine declare and
establish, for the first fundamental of the government
of my province, that every person residing therein
shall enjoy the free profession of his or her faith and
worship towards God, in such manner as every such
person shall in conscience believe is most acceptable
to Him. And so long as every such person useth
not this Christian liberty to licentiousness or the destruction of others, viz., to speak loosely or contemptuously of God, Christ, the Holy Scriptures, or
religion, or commit any moral evil or injury against
others in their conversation, he or she shall be pro* Hazard, Annals of Pennsylvania, p. 522.




WILLIAM  PENN.                 655
tected in the enjoyment of the aforesaid Christian
liberty, by the civil magistrate."
The constitution which he himself prepared for the
province, was admirable, and exceeded all the others
which had been adopted in the American colonies.
The celebrated John Locke, at the request of Lord
Shaftesbury, drew up a form of government for
Carolina; but it proved defective, and he had the
candour to acknowledge the superiority of that of
Pennsylvania.
While William  Penn was busily engaged in preparing for the voyage to his new colony, his excellent
mother died, — an event which deeply affected his
feelings.
A deputy governor and three commissioners had
already gone out to make the proper arrangements;
several cargoes of emigrants and stores had been despatched; the colony had become popular; and early
in 1682 the proprietor himself embarked, with about
one hundred settlers, mostly his neighbours and
friends, in the ship "Welcome," of three hundred
tons burthen.
Before pursuing the account of the voyage, it may
be proper to notice some of his late engagements at
home.  A few members of the Society of Friends,
under pretence of a higher spirituality, and greater
freedom from the limitations of their fellow men,
had separated from the body, and endeavoured to
draw others after them.  They objected to the restraint of Church government, as an imposition upon
conscience and an interference with Divine guidance.




56           BRIEF ME MO IR  OF
William Penn treated the subject clearly and forcibly,
in a tract, entitled "A Brief Examination of Liberty
Spiritual;" as his friend R. Barclay had done before,
in an excellent piece, called "Anarchy and Hierarchy
equally refused and refuted." In ] 681 William
Penn was elected a member of the Royal Society
then lately established; from the scientific labours
of which he anticipated good moral as well as scientific results. The Friends of Bristol being subjected
to severe persecution and great outrages, in attending
their religious nieetings, he appealed to the King
and Parliament in their favour, and wrote them a
kind, encouraging epistle.  One of his last effusions
at that time was the following memorable letter, full
of tender affection and Christian advice, which he
addressed to his wife and children before quitting
England:" MY DEAR WIFE AND CHILDREN,
"' My love, which neither sea nor land, nor death
itself, can extinguish or lessen toward you, most endearly visits you with eternal embraces, and will
abide with you for ever: and may the God of my life
watch over you and bless you, and do you good in
this world and for ever!-Some things are upon my
spirit to leave with you in your respective capacities,
as I am to the one a husband, and to the rest a
father, if I should never see you more in this world.
"My dear wife, remember thou wast the love of
my youth, and much the joy of my life; the most
beloved, as well as most worthy of all my earthly




WILLIAM  PENN.                  57
comforts: and the reason of that love was more thy
inward than thy outward excellencies, which yet
were many. God knows, and thou knowest it, I can
say it was a match of Providence's making; and
God's image in us both was the first thing, and the
most amiable and engaging ornament in our eyes.
Now I am to leave thee, and that without knowing
whether I shall ever see thee more in this world, take
my counsel into thy bosom, and let it dwell with thee
in my stead while thou livest.
"First: Let the fear of the Lord and a zeal and
love to his glory dwell richly in thy heart; and thou
wilt watch for good over thyself and thy dear children and family, that no rude, light or bad thing be
committed: else God will be offended, and he will
repent himself of the good he intends thee and
thine.
"Secondly: Be diligent in meetings for worship
and business; stir up thyself and others herein; it is
thy duty and place: and let meetings be kept once a
day in the family to wait upon the Lord, who has
given us much time for ourselves.  And my dearest,
to make thy family matters easy to thee, divide thy
time and be regular; it is easy and sweet: thy retirement will afford thee to do it; as in the morning to
view the business of the house, and fix it as thou
desirest, seeing all be in order; that by thy counsel
all may move, and to thee render an account every
evening. The time for work, for walking, for meals,
may be certain, at least as near as may be: and
grieve not thyself with careless servants; they will




58          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
disorder thee: rather pay them, and let them go, if
they will not be better by admonitions: this is best
to avoid many words, which I know  wound the
soul and offend the Lord.
"Thirdly: Cast up thy income, and see what it
daily amounts to; by which thou mayest be sure to
have it in thy sight and power to keep within compass: and I beseech thee to live low and sparingly,
till my debts are paid; and then enlarge as thou
seest it convenient. Remember thy mother's example, when thy father's public-spiritedness had worsted
his estate, which is my case.  I know thou lovest
plain things, and art averse to the pomps of the
world; a nobility natural to thee.  I write not as
doubtful, but to quicken thee, for my sake, to be
vigilant herein; knowing that God will bless thy
care, and thy poor children and thee for it. My
mind is wrapt up in a saying of thy father's,' I desire
not riches, but to owe nothing;' and truly that is
wealth, and more than enough to live, is a snare attended with many sorrows. I need not bid thee be
humble, for thou art so; nor meek and patient, for
it is much of thy natural disposition: but I pray
thee be oft in retirement with the Lord, and guard
against encroaching  friendships.  Keep  them  at
arm's end; for it is giving away our power, aye, and
self too, into the possession of another; and that
which might seem engaging in the beginning, may
prove a yoke and burden too hard and heavy in the
end.  Wherefore keep dominion over thyself, and




WILLIAM  PENN.                  59
let thy children, good meetings and Friends, be the
pleasure of thy life.
"Fourthly: And now, my dearest, let me recommend to thy care my dear children; abundantly
beloved of me, as the Lord's blessings, and the sweet
pledges of our mutual and endeared affection. Above
all things endeavour to breed them up in the love of
virtue, and that holy plain way of it which we have
lived in, that the world in no part of.it get into my
family. I had rather they were homely than finely
bred as to outward behaviour; yet I love sweetness
mixed with gravity, and cheerfulness tempered with
sobriety. Religion in the heart leads into this true
civility, teaching men and women to be mild and
courteous in their behaviour, an accomplishment
worthy indeed of praise.
"Fifthly: Next breed them  up in a love one of
another: tell them it is the charge I left behind me;
and that it is the way to have the love and blessings
of God upon them; also what his portion is, who
hates, or calls his brother fool.  Sometinmes separate
theni, but not long; and allow tlleli to send and
give each other small things to endear one another
with. Once more I say, tell them it was Imy counsel
they should be tender and affectionate one to another.
For their learning be liberal.  Spare no cost; for by
such parsimony all is lost that is saved: but let it be
useful knowledge, such as is consistent with Truth
and godliness, not cherishing a vain conversation oi
idle mind; but ingenuity mixed with industry is
good for the body and mind too.  I recommend the




60          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
useful parts of mathematics, as building houses or
ships, measuring, surveying, dialling, navigation;
but agriculture is especially in my eye: let my
children be husbandmen and house-wives; it is industrious, healthy, honest and of good example: like
Abraham and the holy ancients, who pleased God
and obtained a good report.  This leads to consider
the works of God and nature, of things that are
good, and diverts the mind from being taken up
with the vain arts and inventions of a luxurious
world.  It is commendable in the princes of Germany and the nobles of that empire, that they have
all their children instructed in some useful occupation. Rather keep an ingenious person in the house
to teach them, than send them to schools, too many
evil impressions being commonly received there.
Be sure to observe their genius, and do not cross it
as to learning: let them not dwell too long on one
thing; but let their change be agreeable, and all their
diversions have some little bodily labour in them.
When grown big, have most care for them; for then
there are more snares both within and without.
When marriageable, see that they have worthy persons in their eye, of good life, and good fame for
piety and understanding. I need no wealth, but
sufficiency; and be sure their love be dear, fervent
and mutual, that it may be happy for them. I
choose not they should be married to earthly, covetous
kindred.  And of cities and towns of concourse
beware; the world is apt to stick close to those who
have lived and got wealth there: a country life and




WILLIAM  PENN.                  61
estate I like best for my children. I prefer a decent
mansion, of an hundred pounds per annum, before
ten thousand pounds in London, or such like place,
in a way of trade.  In fine, my dear, endeavour to
breed them dutiful to the Lord, and his blessed
light, truth and grace in their hearts, who is their
Creator, and  his fear will grow  up with them.
Teach a child, says the wise man, the way thou wilt
have him to walk, and when he is old he will not
forget it. Next, obedience to thee, their dear
mother; and that not for wrath, but for consciencesake; liberal to the poor, pitiful to the miserable,
humble and kind to all; and may my God make
thee a blessing, and give thee comfort in our dear
children; and in age gather thee to the joy and
blessedness of the just, where no death shall separate
us, for ever I
"And now, my dear children, that are the gifts
and mercies of the God of your tender father, hear
my counsel, and lay it up in your hearts; love it
more than treasure, and follow it, and you shall be
blessed here, and happy hereafter.
" In the first place, remember your Creator in the
days of your youth.  It was the glory of Israel in
the second of Jeremiah: and how did God bless
Josiah because he feared him in his youth! and so
he did Jacob, Joseph and Moses. O my dear
children, remember, and fear and serve Him who
made you and gave you to me and your dear mother;
that you may live to him and glorify him in your
generations!
6




62          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
" To do this, in your youthful days seek after the
Lord, that you may find him; remembering his great
love in creating you; that you are not beasts, plants
or stones, but that he has kept you, and given you
his grace within, and substance without, and provided
plentifully for you.  This remember in your youth,
that you may be kept from the evil of the world: for
in age it will be harder to overcome the temptations
of it.
" Wherefore, my dear children, eschew the apt
pearance of evil, and love and cleave to that in your
hearts which shows you evil from good, and tells you
when you do amiss, and reproves you for it.  It is
the light of Christ that he has given you for your
salvation. If you do this and follow my counsel,
God will bless you in this world, and give you an inheritance in that which shall never have an end.
For the light of Jesus is of a purifying nature; it
seasons those who love it and take heed to it; and
never leaves such, till it has brought them to the
city of God, that has foundations. 0 that ye may be
seasoned with the gracious nature of it! hide it in
your hearts, and flee, my dear children, from all
youthful lusts; the vain sports, pastimes and pleasures
of the world; redeeming the time, because the days
are evil!  You are now beginning to live   what
would some give for your time?  Oh! I could have
lived better, were I, as you, in the flower of youth.
Therefore love and fear the Lord, keep close to
meetings, and delight to wait on the Lord God of
your father and mother, among his despised people,




WILLIAM  PENN.                 63
as we have done; and count it your honour to be
members of that Society, and heirs of that living
fellowship which is enjoyed among them, for the experience of which your father's soul blesseth the
Lord for ever.
" Next: be obedient to your dear mother, a
woman whose virtue and good name is an honour to
you; for she hath been exceeded by none in her time
for her plainness, integrity, industry, humanity,
virtue and good understanding; qualities not usual
among women of her worldly condition and quality.
Therefore, honour and obey her, my dear children,
as your mother, and your father's love and delight;
nay love her too, for she loved your father with a
deep and upright love, choosing him before all her
many suitors: and though she be of a delicate constitution and noble spirit, yet she descended to the
utmost tenderness and care for you, performing the
painfulest acts of service to you in your infancy, as
a mother and a nurse too.  I charge you, before the
Lord, honour and obey, love and cherish your dear
mother.
" Next: betake yourselves to some honest, industrious course of life, and that not of sordid covetousness, but for example and to avoid idleness. And
if you change your condition and marry, choose,
with the knowledge and consent of your mother if
living, or of guardians, or those that have the charge
of you.  Mind neither beauty nor riches, but the
fear of the Lord, and a sweet and amiable disposition, such as you can love above all this world, and




64          BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
that may make your habitations pleasant and desirable
to you.
"And being  married, be tender, affectionate,
patient and meek.  Live in the fear of the Lord,
and he will bless you and your offspring. Be sure to
live within compass; borrow not, neither be beholden to any.  Ruin not yourselves by kindness to
others; for that exceeds the due bounds of friendship, neither will a true friend expect it.  Small
matters I heed not.
" Let your industry and parsimony go no further
than for a sufficiency for life, and to make a provision
for your children, and that in moderation, if the
Lord gives you any. I charge you help the poor
and needy; let the Lord have a voluntary share of
your income for the good of the poor, both in our
Society and others; for we are all his creatures;
remembering that' he that giveth to the poor lendeth
to the Lord.'
"Know well your in-comings, and your out-goings
may be better regulated.  Love not money nor the
world: use them only, and they will serve you; but
if you love them you serve them, which will debase
your spirits as well as offend the Lord.
" Pity the distressed, and hold out a hand of help
to them; it may be your case; and as you mete to
others God will mete to you again.
"Be humble and gentle in your conversation; of
few words, I charge you; but always pertinent when
you speak, hearing out before you attempt to answer,




WILLIAM  PENN.                   65
and then speaking as if you would persuade, not
impose.
"Affront none, neither revenge the affronts that
are done to you; but forgive, and you shall be forgiven of your Heavenly Father.
"In making friends consider well first; and when
you are fixed be true, not wavering by reports nor
deserting in affliction, for that becomes not the good
and virtuous.
"Watch against anger, neither speak nor act in
it; for, like drunkenness, it makes a man a beast,
and throws people into desperate inconveniences.
"Avoid flatterers, for they are thieves in disguise;
their praise is costly, designing to get by those they
bespeak; they are the worst of creatures; they lie to
flatter, and flatter to cheat; and which is worse, if
you believe them you cheat yourselves most dangerously. But the virtuous, though poor, love, cherish
and  prefer.  Remember David,. who  asking  the
Lord,' Who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall
dwell upon thy holy hill?' answers,' He that walketh
uprightly, worketh righteousness, and speaketh the
truth in his heart; in whose eyes the vile person is
contermned, but honoureth them that fear the Lord.'
" Next, my children, be temperate in all things;
in your diet, for that is physic by prevention; it
keeps, nay, it makes people healthy, and their generation sound.  This is exclusive of the spiritual advantage it brings. Be also plain in your apparel;
keep out that lust which reigns too much over some;
let your virtues be your ornaments, remem]ering life
6*




66          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
is more than food, and the body than raiment. L-et
your furniture be simple and cheap. Avoid pride,
avarice and luxury. Read my' No Cross, no Crown.'
There is instruction. Make your conversation with
the most eminent for wisdom and piety; and shun
all wicked men as you hope for the blessing of God
and the comfort of your father's living and dying
prayers. Be sure you speak no evil of any, no, not
of the meanest; much less of your superiors, as
magistrates, guardians, tutors, teachers and elders in
Christ.
" Be no busy-bodies; meddle not with other folks'
matters, but when in conscience and duty prest; for
it procures trouble, and is ill manners, and very unseemly to wise men.
"In your families remember Abraham, Moses and
Joshua, their integrity to the Lord; and do as you
have them for your examples.
"Let the fear and service of the living God be
encouraged in your houses, and that plainness,
sobriety and moderation in all things as becometh
God's chosen people; and as I advise you, my
beloved children, do you counsel yours, if God should
give you any. Yea, I counsel and command them as my
posterity, that they love and serve the Lord God
with an upright heart, that he may bless you and
yours from generation to generation.
"'And as for you, who are likely to be concerned
in the government of Pennsylvania and my parts of
East-Jersey, especially the first, I do charge you,




WILLIAM  PENN.                  67
before the Lord God and his holy angels, that you
be lowly, diligent and tender, fearing God, loving
the people, and hating covetousness.  Let justice
have its impartial course, and the law free passage.
Though to your loss, protect no man against it; for
you are not above the law, but the law above you.
Live therefore the lives yourselves you would have
the people live, and then you have right and boldness to punish the transgressor.  Keep upon the
square, for God sees you: therefore do your duty,
and be sure you see with your own eyes, and hear
with your own ears. Entertain no lurchers, cherish
no informers for gain or revenge; use no tricks; fly
to no devices to support or cover injustice; but let
your hearts be upright before the Lord, trusting in
him  above the contrivances of men, and none shall
be able to hurt or supplant.
" Oh! the Lord is a strong God, and he can do
whatsoever he pleases; and though men consider it
not, it is the Lord that rules and over-rules in the
kingdoms of men, and he builds up and pulls down.
I, your father, am the man that can say, He that
trusts in the Lord, shall not be confounded. But
God, in due time, will make his enemies be at peace
with him.
" If you thus behave yourselves, and so become a
terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do
well, God, my God, will be with you in wisdom and
a sound mind, and make you blessed instruments in
his hand for the settlement of some of those desolate




68           BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
parts of the world, which my soul desires above all
worldly honours and riches, both for you that go and
you that stay; you that govern and you that are
governed; that in the end you may be gathered
with me to the rest of God.
"Finally, my children, love one another with a
true endeared love, and your dear relations on both
sides, and take care to preserve tender affection in
your children to each other, often marrying within
themselves, so as it be without the bounds forbidden
in God's law, that so they may not, like the forgetting
unnatural world, grow out of kindred and as cold as
strangers; but as becomes a truly natural and Christian stock, you and yours after you may live in the
pure and fervent love of God towards one another,
as becoming brethren in the spiritual and natural
relation.
"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, for ever. 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 for ever.
" So farewell to my thrice dearly beloved wife and
children!




WILLIAM  PENN.                 69
" Yours, as God pleaseth, in that which no waters
can quench, no time forget, nor distance wear away,
but remains for ever,
"WILLIAM  PENN.
"Worminghurst, 4th of Sixth
Month, 1682."
To proceed with the notice of the voyage:- The
"Wrelcome," with its cheerful passengers, had not
long quitted Deal, before the small pox, in a virulent
form, broke out among the ship's company. In the
crowded vessel it spread rapidly, in spite of all precautions, and nmore than thirty deaths occurred within
the nine weeks before the " Welcome" reached the
promised land. The Governor was joyfully received,
he treated all the people with kindness and goodwill,
held his first assembly for the province, and established the great principle of religious liberty.  He
next proceeded to fix on a site between the Delaware
and Skuylkill rivers for the capital city of the province, Philadelphia, and laid out the plan with great
care and judgment.
The native tribes had always been objects of his
special consideration: various purchases of land had
already been made from them; and the Governor
now proposed to meet them in a general conference,
and to establish a treaty of perpetual peace and
friendship between his people and them. A spot,
then named Shackamaxon, on the western bank of
the Delaware, had been formerly used by the Indians
as a place of meeting on great occasions; and here.




70           BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
under an ancient spreading elm, the children of the
forest on an appointed day, assembled to meet William Penn and his attendants.  The proceedings
were very simple but deeply interesting.  The Governor, a handsome vigorous man, about thirty-eight
years of age, distinguished by a blue silk sash round
his waist, and provided with numerous presents
spread on the ground, held in his hand a parchment
roll, his officers and friends standing on each side
and behind him.  The Indians came in their forest
costume, their bodies painted with bright colours,
and their heads ornamented with trinkets and feathers. The principal chief, or sachem, put on his own
head a chaplet, from which rose a small horn, the
well-known emblem  of supreme power; he was attended by other chiefs, by aged matrons, and many
of his people, who formed a semicircle, and were
mostly seated on the turf. IHe then informed the
Governor, through an interpreter, that " the nations"
were ready to hear him.
William  Penn began by saying —that the great
Spirit who made him  and them, who ruled the
heaven and the earth, and penetrated the innermost
thoughts of men, knew that he and his friends had a
hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with
them, and to serve them to the utmost of their power.
It was not their custom to use hostile weapons
against their fellow creatures, and therefore they had
come unarmed.  Their object was not to do injury,
and thus provoke the great Spirit, but to do good.
They were then met on the broad pathway of sin



WILLIAM  PENN.                  71
cerity and good-will, so that no advantage was to be
taken on either side, but all was to be openness,
brbtherhood, and love. Unfolding the parchment,
he explained to them, by an interpreter, the several
articles of the treaty intended to cement their lasting
union, and laid it on the ground, which he said
should be common to both; concluding by declaring
that he considered the Indians as the same flesh and
blood, and of one body with the Christians; and
presenting the parchment to the principal sachem, to
be kept for future generations. The Indians listened
to the address with silent gravity, but with great
satisfaction; and an orator, on behalf of the rest,
made a suitable reply, in which they pledged themselves to live in love with William Penn and his
children as long as the sun anid moon should endure.
This celebrated treaty and its faithful observance
by each party have been extolled by both Christian
and infidel writers: it is said to have been the only
treaty made without an oath, and never broken. The
whole conduct of William Penn toward the Indians
was marked by justice and good-will; he not only
paid them for their lands, but endeavoured in various
ways to promote their welfare and improve their condition; and the Indian nanme of Onas or Penn has
ever since been held in their grateful remembrance.
While other colonies were kept in terror by bloody
wars with the Indians, the unarmed inhabitants of
Pennsylvania dwelt in peace and security.
The Indian tribes that met William Penn at thi
famous treaty, are generally supposed to have beep




7 2         BRIEF MEMOIR OF
chiefly of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware stock, with
some Mingoes, and other Susquehanna tribes, who
came to solicit his friendship. The manner in which
this and other treaties were conducted, is described
by Penn in his letter to " The free society of Traders."
He says "'The order of the Indians is this; the King
sits in the middle of an half moon, and hath his
council, the old and wise, on each hand: behind
them, or at a little distance, sit the younger fry in
the same figure.  Having consulted and resolved
their business, the King ordered one of them to speak
to me; he stood up, came to me, and in the name of
his King saluted me, then took me by the hand and
told me he was ordered by his King to speak to me,
and that now it was not he, but the King that spoke,
because what he should say was the King's mind.
Having thus introduced the matter, he fell to the
bounds of the land they had agreed to dispose of, and
the price.  During the time that this person spoke,
not a man of them was observed to whisper or smile;
the old, grave; the young, reverent in their deportment; they speak little, but fervently, and with elegancy.  I have never seen more natural sagacity,
considering them without the help, I was going to
say, the spoil of tradition, and he will deserve the
name of wise, that outwits them in any treaty about
a thing they understand.  When the purchase was
agreed upon, great promises past between us of kindness and good neighbourhood, and that the English
and Indians must live in love as long as the sun gave
light- which done, another made a speech to the




WILLIAM  PENN.                 73
Indians in the name of all the Sacha:nakers or Kings;
first to tell them what was done; next to charge and
command them, to love the Christians, and particularly live in peace with me, and the people under my
government.- That many governors had been in the
river, but that no governor had come himself to live
and stay here before; and having now such an one,
that had treated them well, they should never do
him or his any wrong — at every sentence of which
they shouted and said amen in their way."It is to be regretted that the authentic particulars
preserved of the great treaty are very limited.
The place at which it was held, is now called Kensington, and is included within the thickly built
parts of the city of Philadelphia A small marble
monument marks the spot where stood the noble
treaty elm tree, which was blown down in the year
1810.  Much of the wood was preserved and made
into various useful little articles to be kept as memorials of "unbroken faith."  It is said that during
the revolutionary war, the British general who was
quartered at Kensington, so respected it, that when
the soldiers were cutting down every tree for firewood, he placed a sentinel under it, that not a branch
might be touched.
Governor Gordon, at a treaty held at Conestoga in
1728 with several nations of Indians who resided on
the Susquehanna, thus alludes to the chief articles
of Penn's treaty in a speech which he delivered to
them.
"My brethren! - you have been faithful to your
7




74           BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
leagues with us. Your leagues with William Penn
and his governors are in writing on record, that our
children and our children's children may have them
in everlasting remembrance.  And we know that
you preserve the memory of these things amongst
you by telling them to your children, and they again
to the next generation, so that they remain stamped
on your minds, never to be forgotten.  The chief
heads or strongest links of this chain I find are these
nine, to wit:
" 1st. That all William Penn's people, or Christians,
and all the Indians, should be brethren, as the children of one father, joined together as with one heart,
one head and one body.
"2d. That all paths should be open and free to
both Christians and Indians.
"3d. That the doors of the Christians' houses should
be open to the Indians, and the houses of the Indians opened to the Christians, and that they should
make each other welcome as their friends.
" 4th. That the Christians should not believe any
false rumors or reports of the Indians, nor the Indians believe any such rumors or reports of the Christians, but should first come as brethren to inquire of
each other; and that both Christians and Indians,
when they have any such false reports of their brethren, should bury them as in a bottomless pit.
" 5th. That if the Christians hear any ill news that
may be to the hurt of the Indians, or the Indians
hear any such ill news, that may be to the injury?f




WILLIAM PENN.                   75
the Christians, they should acquaint each other with
it speedily as true friends and brethren.
" 6th. That the Indians should do no manner of
harm to the Christians nor to their creatures, nor the
Christians do any hurt to the Indians, but each treat
each other as brethren.
" 7th. But as there are wicked people in all nations,
if either Indians or Christians should do any harm
to each other, complaint should be made of it by the
persons suffering, that right might be done, and when
satisfaction is made the injury or wrong should be
forgot, and be buried as in a bottomless pit.
"8th. That the Indians should in all things assist
the Christians, and the Christians assist the Indians
against all wicked people that would disturb them.
" 9th. And lastly, that both Christians and Indians
should acquaint their children with this league and
firm chain of friendship made between them, and
that it should always be made stronger and stronger,
and be kept bright and clean, without rust or spot,
between our children and our children's children,
while the' creeks and rivers run, and while the sun,
moon, and stars endure."
John Richardson, an eminent minister in the
Society of Friends, who in the year 1701 was engaged
in a religious visit to America, visited William Penn
at his country house at Pennsbury Manor, and there
met a tribe of Indians who came to renew their treaty
of alliance and friendship.  Hie says "it was done in
much calmness of temper and in an amicable way,"
and that " they never first broke covenant with any




76          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
people," for " as one of them said, and smote his hand
on his head three times, they did not make them
there in their heads, but smiting his hand three times
on his breast, said, they made them there in their
hearts."
He had some religious interviews with the Indians,
and remarks, "I have often thought and said when
I was among them, that generally my spirit was easy,
and I did not feel that power of darkness to oppress
me, as I have done in many places among the people
called Christians."
On one occasion he visited their wigwams with an
interpreter, and exhorting them as one " who came
from a far distant country, with a message from the
Great Man above" to cease from evil things for which
He would be angry with them. When the interpreter
explained the discourse to them, they wept, and tears
ran down their naked bodies, and they smote their
hands upon their breasts, and said something to the
interpreter. John Richardson asked what they said
- the interpreter replied, " they said all that I had
delivered to them was good, and except the Great
Man had sent me, I could not have told them these
things." I desired the interpreter to ask them, how
they knew what I said was good; they replied and
smote their hands on their breasts, the Good Man
here (meaning in their hearts) told them what I had
said was all good. They manifested much love to
me in their way, and I believe the love of God is to
them and all people in the day of their visitation."In the last interview William Penn had with the




WILLIAMI PENN.                 77
Indians in 1701, he told them " That he had always
loved, and been kind to them, and ever should continue so to be, not through any politic design or on
account of self interest, but from a most real affection; and he desired them in his absence, to cultivate
friendship with those whom he should leave behind
in authority; as they would always, in some degree,
continue to be so to them as himself had ever been;
lastly, that he had charged the members of the council, and he then also renewed the same charge, that
they should in all respects be kind to them, and entertain. them with all courtesy and demonstrations of
good will, as himself had ever done."
At a council held in Philadelphia, 6th mo., 14th,
1715, at which James Logan, Isaac Norris, Richard
Hill, and others of the council were present, Sassoonan, chief of the Delawares, rose and said "That
William Penn had, at his first coming, made a clear
and open road all the way to the Indians, that they
desired the same might be kept open, and that all
obstructions should be removed, all of which on their
side they would take care."  He then presented a
belt of wampum and added, "That they desired the
peace which had been made should be so firm, that
they and we should join hand in hand so firmly, that
nothing, even the greatest tree, should be able to
divide them asunder."  Laying down a second belt,
he added " That in the last counsel which they held
with us, they spoke concerning the sun, by whose influenct. they had lived in warmth and plenty, from
the beginning; that they now desired the same hap7*




78          BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
piness might be continued to them with us in the
firmest peace; and that it might last as long as the
sun should endure; that when any clouds interpose
between them and the sun, it brings coolness and is
unpleasant; the same will be, if any cloud should
arise between them and us, and therefore they desire,
if any thing of that kind appear, it may be dissipated
without delay."
At a treaty held with the Six Nations at Philadelphia, in 1742, Canassatego, chief of the Onondagoes,
said, "' We are all very sensible of the kind regard
which that good man, William Penn, had for all the
Indians."
In 1749, a council was held during the admlinistration of James Hamilton, with the Senecas and
other Indians in Philadelphia, on which occasion
Ogaustash, thus expresses himself: —
"We recommend it to the governor to tread in
the steps of those wise people who have held the
reins of government before him, in being good and
kind to the Indians.  Do, brother, make it your
study to consult the interest of our nations; as you
have so large an authority, you can do us much good
or harm; we would, therefore, engage your influence
and affections for us, that the same harmony and
mutual affections may subsist during your government, which so happily subsisted in former times,nay from the first settlement of this province by our
good friend the great William Penn."
So long as Friends continued to have a controlling
influence in conducting the government of Penn



WILLIAM  PENN.                  79
sylvania, a kind  and  conciliatory treatment was
maintained towards the Indians, and the friendship
which existed between them was but little, if at all
interrupted. The upright and judicious management
of James Logan, the confidential friend and secretary
of William Penn, who was long the commissioner for
land affairs, contributed powerfully to the preservation of the friendship and alliance of the Indians.
But after his death in 1751, a different line of policy
was soon commenced, and, by the elections, Friends
were excluded from their majority in the Assembly.
The peaceable mode in which the government of
the province had been conducted was now departed
from, and the abuses committed against the Indians
in trading, and in taking possession of their land,
not being properly redressed, an open rupture soon
took place, attended with the most calamitous results.
No longer able to control the movements of government, Friends nevertheless continued to exert
their influence for reconciliation, and it is stated that
in 1756, an association was formed "For gaining and
preserving peace with the Indians by pacific measures" - many thousand pounds were raised by subscription, and expended chiefly in presents to the
Indians in order to conciliate them, and sometimes
with a view to prevail on themn to seek out and release the settlers whom they had taken prisoners.
These exertions seem to have had a most salutary
effect, and indeed appear to have been mainly instrumental in restoring peace to the province.
That the Indians more than half a century after




80           BRIEF  MEMOIR  OP
the departure of William Penn, retained a clear sense
of that bond of faith, made, as they so forcibly describe, in the heart, and not alone in the head, is
shown by the speech of one of the Delaware ehiefs
at a treaty held in 1756, after they had suffered
many grievous injuries from their professing Christian neighlbours.  On this occasion he says, "We
are rejoiced to hear from you, that you are willing to
renew the old good understanding, and that you call
to mind the first treaty of friendship made by Onas,
our great friend, deceased, with our forefathers, when
himself and his people first came over here.  We
take-hold of these treaties with both our hands, and
desire you will do the same, that a good understanding and true friendship may be re-established.  Let
us both take hold of these treaties, with all our
strength, we beseech you. We on our side will
certainly do it."Another Indian said, "I wish the same good
spirit that possessed the good old man,Williaim Penn,
who was a friend to the Indians, may inspire the
people of this province at this time."
It was an observation of Williamn Penn's with respect to the Indians,?//kDo not abuse them, but let
them  have but justice, and you win them."'  That
this observation was correct, has been abundantly
shown.  The Indians were won —won by justice
and kind treatment, and ever evinced a desire to
show their grateful sense of it, by rendering kind
services to the colonists.  "We have done better"
said one of the settlers in 1684, "than if with the




WILLI A    P E N N.              81
proud Spaniards, we had gained the mines of Potosi.
We may make the ambitious heroes whom the world
admires, blush for their shameful victories.  To the
poor, dark souls round about us, we teach their rights
as men." The peaceful and even affectionate conduct of the Indians toward Friends, is another striking result of the benefit of the course adopted towards
them, so that, although unarmed, and in a defenceless
condition as regarded their personal safety, they lived
among them in entire security.  "As in other countries," says Richard Townsend, "the Indians were
exasperated by hard treatment, which has been the
foundation of much bloodshed, so the contrary treatment here, by our worthy proprietor, hath produced
their love and affection."  In a letter of one of the
early settlers, already noticed, it is stated that " the
Indians were even rendered our benefactors and protectors; - without any carnal weapons we entered
the land and inhabited therein, as safe as if there
had been thousands of garrisons."  "This little
state," says Oldmixon, " subsisted in the midst of six
Indian Nations, without so much as a militia for a
defense." *
Heckewelder, in his history of the Indian nations,
mentions their care to preserve, by means of strings
and belts of wampum, the memory of their treaties,
and especially those they made with William Penn.
He says, "They frequently assembled together in
the woods, in some shady spot, as nearly as possible
similar to those where they used to meet their
* See Appendix.




82           BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
brother MIiquon, and there lay all his words and
speeches, with those of his descendants, on a
blanket or clean piece of bark, and with great satisfaction go successively over the whole.  This practice, which I have repeatedly witnessed, continued
until the year 1780, when the disturbances which
took place put an end to it probably for ever."
As a further evidence that the Christian treatment
of William Penn had made a deep and durable impression on the hearts of the Indians, we quote a
letter of Corn Planter, Chief of the Senecas, addressed 1" To the children of Onas, who first settled
in Pennsylvania.'
BROTHERS. - The Seneca nation see that the
Great Spirit intends that they shall not continue to
live by huntingD, and they look around on every side,
and inquire who it is that shall teach them what is
best for them to do. Your fathers have dealt honestly
and fairly with our fathers, and they have charged
us to remember it; and we think it right to tell you
that we wish our children to be taught the same
principles by which your fathers were guided in
their councils,
"Brothers. - We have too little wisdom among
us, we cannot teach our children what we perceive
their situation requires them to know, and we therefore ask you to instruct some of them; we wish
them  to be instructed to read and write, and such
other things as you teach your own children; and
especially to teach them to love peace.




WILLIAM PENN.                   83' Brothers.-mWe desire of you to take under your
care two Seneca boys, and teach them as your own;
and in order that they may be satisfied to remain
with you, and be easy in their minds, that you will
take with them the son of our interpreter, and teach
him also according to his desire.
"Brothers.-You know that it is not in our power
to pay you for the education of these three boys;
and, therefore, you must, if you do this thing, look
up to God for your reward.
"Brothers. - You will consider of this request,
and let us know what you determine to do.  If your
hearts are inclined towards us, and you will afford
our nation this great advantage, I will send my son
as one of the boys to receive your instruction, and at
the time which you shall appoint.           his
CORN PLANTER."    X
mark.
Signed, February 10th, 17 91.
The treatment of the aborigines of our country
being to the present day a question of deep interest,
it has been considered proper to introduce some of
the foregoing particulars, though not closely connected with the times of our menmoir, to show that
the peaceable principles of Christianity, practically
carried out, are the surest means of promoting their
improvement, of disarming their warlike feelings, and
of enabling others, whom the cause of human progress
and civilization may lead into their wide domain,
to dwell in safety and peace.




84           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
That the great and good Spirit, the " God of the
spirit of all flesh," dwells as well in the heart of the
Indian, as in that of his white neighbour, cannot be
safely questioned; that the benefits of the dispensation of "peace on earth, and good will to men,"
under which it is our privilege to live, were intended
as well for them, as for professing Christians, will
probably be denied by few-may it, therefore, be our
fervent prayer, that the knowledge of this glorious
Gospel dispensation may spread and cover the earth,
as the waters do the sea, and the hearts of all, of
every nations may be so turned to one another, that
each, in the bond of peace, may call " every man his
brother."
Returning to the regular order of our memoir, it
appears that the time of the Governor was much
occupied with the concerns of his rising province. He
surveyed the territory, built bridges, enacted laws,
settled differences, founded schools, laid out towns
and cities, and saw an industrious, thriving population of nearly six thousand English, beside Germans
and Dutch, settled around him in comfort and prosperity. Before his death, the rapidly increasing inhabitants had amounted to sixty thousand.  In the
midst of his secular labours he did not forget his religious duties; but established many meetings for
worship, often ministered in them himself, travelling
in this service through various parts, and introducing a system of wholesome Church government.
After remaining among his people, as a ruler and a
father, for nearly two years, he thought it best to




WILLIAM  PENN.                 85
return to England. The boundary between Penn.
sylvania and 3aryland required settlement at home;
persecution had broken out with renewed violence;
and unfounded reports endangered his own reputation. He embarked in the summer of 1684, and
had a prosperous voyage.
On his arrival in England, the same objects
chiefly engaged his attention, and called him frequently to the Court. To stay if possible the cruel
arm of persecution, he earnestly pleaded with the
King, and published a forcible appeal to the public.
As respected the boundary between his own province
and Maryland, whose proprietor, Lord Baltimore, refused reasonable terms, he was ultimately successful.
8




86           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
CHAPTER VI. 1685-1695.
JAMIES II. LIBERATES FRIENDS FROM PRISON; W. PENN' S INFLUENCE WITH HIM USED IN FAVOR OF THE OPPRESSEDRENDERS HIMSELF SUSPECTED AND UNPOPULAR-POPPLE S
LETTER, AND REPLY OF W. PENN- EPISTLE TO FRIENDSTIHE REVOLUTION — W. PENN ARRESTED, BUT ACQUITTED
THREE TIMES-SECLUDES HIMSELF FOR TWO YEARSWRITES " REFLECTIONS AND MAXIMS"-AGAIN HONORABLY
ACQUITTED - HIS WIFE DIES - TRIBUTE TO HER WORTH -
PENNSYLVANIA TAKEN AWAY, BUT RESTORED TO HIM - HIS
DOCTRINAL VIEWS.
IN about six months after WillianI Penn's return
to England, Charles II. died, leaving at least one
thousand four hundred Friends in prison, many of
whomr had been long and cruelly detained on account
of their religious principles.  Not less than fifteen
thousand families of different denonlinations are said
to have been brought to ruin, and five thousand persons to have died, for the same cause, in his reign.
All the Friends were set at liberty by royal proclamation, as were also John Bunyan and some other
dissenters of eminence.  NV. Penn, however, wished
the new King to act more in concert with his Parliament than his own despotic disposition inclined him
to do.  He had always shown himself favourable to
toleration, and while he now openly professed the
Roman Catholic faith, he publicly disclaimed arbitrary principles of government, promising to respect




WILLIAM PENN.                   87
the rights of all, and to maintain the Church of
England as by law established; yet nlany Protestants, who had dreaded his advent to power, alarmed
by the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and the
massaoes in France, doubted the sincerity of his
motives.  William Penn, who had always been on
intimate terms with James, became, like him, an
object of public suspicion; which was increased by
his frequent presence at Court, and by the influence
which he had with his royal patron-though he used
it in favour of the oppressed.  One of the first persons whom he attempted to serve was the celebrated
John Locke, with whom he had long been on friendly
terms, and who was then an exile in Holland, on
account of his independent conduct: but Locke declined to accept the pardon offered him.
The insurrection under the Duke of Monmouth
was soon quelled, and was followed by the judicial
barbarities of Jefferies.  Macaulay has attempted to
connect William Penn with some of those vindictive
atrocities, but the charge is wholly destitute of
proof.  His conduct both in America and in England was, however, strangely assailed and unjustly
stigmatized.  He was represented as a Jesuit or
Papist in disguise; even some of his own friends
became uneasy at the reports which were circulated;
and Dr. Tillotson told him plainly of his own fears
respecting him.  An interesting correspondence followed.  William Penn expressed his grief at finding
that any of his friends credited such reports, asserting that he neither exchanged letters with Romish




88           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
priests, nor was even acquainted with any such.
But, though not a Romanist, he avowed himself a
Catholic in the true sense of the word,-a Christian,
whose creed was the New Testament; and that he
could not refuse that liberty to others whith he
claimed for himself; believing that faith, piety, and
providence were a better security than force, and
that if truth could not succeed with her own
weapons, all others would fail her. Tillotson candidly
acknowledged his conviction that the reports were
groundless.  The Duke of Buckingham, having
written a work in favour of liberty of conscience,
and being attached to William  Penn, publicly defended him.
The state of affairs in Pennsylvania at this time
being not very satisfactory, made him earnestly desirous to return thither; but a strong sense of duty
detained him in England, and he continued to plead
zealously for full religious liberty.  In a tract, entitled " Fiction found out," he says, in his usual
manly style, "I have this defence for my religion
and conduct: First, that the grace of God within
me, and the Scriptures without me, are the foundation and declaration of my faith and religion: let
any man get better if he can.  Secondly, that the
profession I make of this religion, is in the same
way and manner that I have used for almost eighteen
years past.  Thirdly, that my  civil conduct, I
humbly bless my God, has been with peace on earth,
and good will to all men, from the King on the
throne, to the beggar on the dunghill."




WILLIAM PENN.                   89
In 1686 he undertook another journey to the continent on religious service; and the King, having
learned his intention, requested him to see the
Prince of Orange, and endeavour to gain his approval of a general toleration and the removal of all religious tests in England.  Of the former of these the
Prince approved, but he was opposed to withdrawing
the tests; and in these views he was encouraged by
Dr. Burnet, then  at the Hague.  Proceeding  to
Amsterdam, W. Penn formed an intimacy with WV.
Sewell, a learned man, then employed in translating
the "No cross no Crown" into Dutch.  He next
travelled into Germany as a minister of the gospel;
of which service he briefly says, the Lord blessed
him with his glorious presence and power.  He became interested in the condition of several English
and Scotch refugees, to whom on his return home he
rendered important service, by pleading their cause
with the King.
He next visited, as a minister, some of the midland
and northern counties of England, and the King
making a tour in that direction, they occasionally
met.  The meetings at Bristol, Chester, and some
other places, were very large, and at one or more
the King appears to have been present.  They were
at Oxford together: and here James committed, on
the members of 3Iagdalen College, one of those unjust acts, which proved at once his arbitrary and his
Rotnanising disposition. William Penn remonstrated
with him against it, and acted as a sort of mediator
between the Klng and the Fellows of the College.
8*




90           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
He was however unsuccessful, and the latter, though
he pleaded their cause, did not relish his views of
opening the university to all religious bodies, and
joined in the outcry against him, as being inclined
to Popery. James resolved to pursue his own unwise course, and did not repent till it was too late.
William Penn's position at this time was extremely delicate and critical.  His close intimacy with an
unconstitutional monarch, a Papist and a despot,
who yet professed to favou-r liberty of conscience,
which he himself decidedly approved, rendered him
an object of great suspicion, unpopularity, and misrepresentation, on both political and religious grounds;
yet there is ample reason to believe that he endeavoured to maintain a clear conscience in all respects,
that he abhorred both tyranny and Popery, and that
the charges brought against his motives and character at that time, and repeated in our own day, are
wholly destitute of solid foundation.  Abundant is
the evidence that he exerted his influence to help
the oppressed and to prevent violent measures.
The King, however, seemed infatuated. Early in
1688, contrary to the advice of William Penn and
some others, he resolved to take the power again into
his own hands, as his brother Charles II had done:
and he not only issued a proclamation, a second time
suspending the execution of all penal laws in matters
ecclesiastical, but also, by an Order of Council, he, directed the proclamation "' to be read in all churches."
Archbishop Sancroft and six bishops presented a
petition against the reading of the document, but




WILLIAM  PENN.                 91
in vain; the King construed their proceedings into
an insult, and sent them to the Tower, from which
they were soon after liberated by process of law.
William Penn now became more unpopular than
ever; he was even suspected of having a hand in
these unconstitutional measures; and Jesuits being
openly received at Court, he was charged with encouraging them.
On this subject, William Popple, Secretary to the
Board of Trade and Plantations, addressed him a
letter, in which he says, " If I had not that particular respect for you which I sincerely profess, yet I
could not but be much affected that any man who
had deservedly acquired so fair a reputation as you
have had, whose integrity and veracity had always
been reputed spotless, and whose charity had been
continually exercised in serving others at the dear
expense of his time, his strength, and his estate,
without any other recompense than what results from
the consciousness of doing good: 1 say, I could not
but be much affected to see any such person fall
innocently and undeservedly, under such unjust reproaches, as you have done."
Alluding then to the charges brought against him,
"that under the guise of promoting liberty of conscience, he had connived with King James to settle
Popery in the nation, that "he was a Jesuit," that
"his professions for the establishment of religious
liberty were insincere," he most earnestly and affectionately exhorts him to come out with a public vindication of his innocence, that these scandalous




92          BRIEF MEMOIR  OP
imputations might no longer lie upon him, and says,
" I beg of you, by all the tender efficacy that friendship, either mine, or that of your friends and relations
together, can have upon you; by the due regard
which humanity and even Christianity obliges you to
have to your reputation; by the cause of universal
religion and eternal truth; to serve your King, your
country and your religion, by such a public vindication of your honour, as your own prudence, upon
these suggestions, will show you to be most necessary,
and most expedient."
To this friendly and impressive appeal, William
Penn made the following reply:" WORTHY FRIEND,
"It is now above twenty years, I thank God, that
I have not been very solicitous what the world
thought of me. For, since I have had the knowledge
of religion from a principle in myself, the first and
main point with me has been, to approve myself in
the sight of God, through patience and well-doing.
So that the world has not had weight enough with
me, to suffer its good opinion to raise me, or its ill
opinion to deject me. And if that had been the
only motive or consideration, and not the desire of a
good friend in the name of many others, I had been
as silent to thy letter, as I use to be to the idle and
malicious shams of the times.  But, as the laws of
friendship are sacred, with those that value that relation, so I confess this to be a principal one with me,
not to deny a friend the satisfaction he desires,




WILLIAM PENN.                    93
when it may be done without offence to a good
conscience.
" The business chiefly insisted upon, is my Popery,
and endeavours to promote it.  I do say then, and
that with all sincerity, That I am not only no Jesuit,
but no Papist. And which is more, I never had any
temptation upon me to be one, either from doubts in
my own mind about the way I profess, or from the
discourses or writings of any of that religion.  And
in the presence of Almighty God, I do declare, that
the King did never once, directly or indirectly,
attack mre, or tempt me upon that subject, the many
years that I have had the advantage of a free access
to him; so unjust, as well as sordidly false, are all
those stories of the town.
" The only reason that I can apprehend, they have
to repute me a Roman Catholic, is, my frequent
going to Whitehall, a place no more forbid to me
than to the rest of the world, who yet, it seems,
find much fairer quarter.  I have almost continually
had one business or other there for our Friends,
whoni I ever served with a steady solicitation,
through all tiames, since I was of their communion.
I had also a great many personal good offices to do,
upon a principle of charity for people of all persuasions, thinking it a duty to improve the little interest
I had for the good of those that needed it, especially
the poor.  I might add something of my own affairs
too, thoughl I must own, if I may without vanity,
that they have ever had the least share of my




94           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
thoughts or pains, or else they would not have still
depended as they yet do.
"But because some people are so unjust, as to
render instances of my Popery, or rather hypocrisy,
for so it would be in me, it is fit I contradict them
as particularly as they accuse me. I say then,
solemnly, that I am so far from having been bred at
St. Omer's, and having received orders at Rome,
that I never was at either place, nor do I know any
body there; nor had I ever a correspondence with
any body in those places, which is another story invented against me.  And, as for my officiating in
the King's chapel, or any other, it is so ridiculous,
as well as untrue, that besides, that nobody can do
it but a priest, and that I have been married to a
woman of some condition above sixteen years, which
no priest can be, by any dispensation whatever; I
have not so much as looked into any chapel of the
Roman religion, and consequently not the King's,
though a common curiosity warrants it daily to people
of all persuasions.
"And, once for all, I do say, That I am a Protestant dissenter, and to that degree such, that I challenge the most celebrated Protestant of the English
Church, or any other, on that head, be he layman or
clergyman, in public or in private.  For, I would
have such people know, it is not impossible, for a
true Protestant dissenter to be dutiful, thankful and
serviceable to the King, though  he be of the
Roman Catholic communion. We hold not our
property or protection from him by our persuasion,




WILLIAM PENN.                    95
and, therefore, his persuasion should not be the
measure of our allegiance.  I am sorry to see so
many who seem fond of the reformed religion, by
their disaffection to him, recommend it so illy.
Whatever practices of Roman Catholics we migct
reasonably object against, and no doubt but such
there are, yet he has disclaimed and reprehended
those ill things by his declared opinion against persecution; by the ease in which he actually indulges
all dissenters, and by the confirmation he offers in
Parliament, for the security of the Protestant religion and liberty of conscience. And, in his
honour, as well as in my own defence, I ant obliged
in conscience to say, that he has ever declared to me,
it was his opinion, and on all occasions, when Duke,
he never refuised me the repeated proofs of it, as
often as I had any poor sufferers for conscience-sake
to solicit his help for.
" But some may be apt to say, Why not any body
else as well as I?  Why must I have the preferable
access to other dissenters, if not a Papist? I answer,
I know not that it is so.  But, this I know, that I
have made it my province and business; I have followed and prest it, I took it for nay calling and
station, and have kept it above these sixteen years,
and, which is more, if I may say it without vanity
or reproach, wholly at my own charges too.  To this
let me add the relation my father had to this King's
service, his particular favour in getting me released
out of the tower of London in'69, my father's
humble request to him upon his death-bed, to pro



96           BRIEF MEMOIR OF
tect me from the inconveniences and troubles my
persuasion might expose me to, and his friendly promise to do it, and exact performance of it, from. the
moment I addressed myself to him.  I say, when all
this is considered, any body that has the least pretence to good nature, gratitude, or generosity, must
needs know how to interpret my. access to the King.
Perhaps some will be ready to say, This is not all,
nor is this yet a fault, but that I have been an adviser to other matters disgustful to the kingdom, and
which tend to the overthrow of the Protestant
religion, and the liberties of the people.  A likely
thing, indeed, that a Protestant dissenter, who,
fronm fifteen years old, has been, at times, a sufferer
in his father's fanmily, in the university, and by the
government, for being so, should design the destruction of the Protestant religion.  This is just as probable as it is true, that I died a Jesuit, six years ago,
in America.  Will men still suffer such stuff to pass
upon them? Is any thing more foolish as well as
false, than that, because I am. often at Whitehall,
therefore, I must be the author of all that is done
there, that does not please abroad.  But, supposing
some such things to have been done, pray tell me, if
I am bound to oppose any thing that I am not called
to do? I never was a member of council, cabinet, or
committee, where the affairs of the kingdom  are
transacted. I have had no office, or trust, and consequently, nothing can be said to be done by me, nor
for that reason, could I lie under any test or obligation, to discover my opinion of public acts of state,




WILLIAM  PENN.                 97
and, therefore, neither can any such acts, nor my
silence about them, in justice, be made my crime.
Volunteers are blanks and cyphers in all governments. And, unless calling at Whitehall once a day,
upon many occasions, or my not being turned out of
nothing, for that no office is, be the evidence of my
compliance in disagreeable things, I know not what
else can with any truth, be alleged against me.
However, one thing I know, that I have every where
most religiously observed, and endeavoured in conversation with persons of all ranks and opinions, to
allay heats and moderate extremities, even in the
polities.  It is below me to be more particular, but
I am sure it has been my endeavour, that if we
could not all meet upon a religious bottom, at least
we might upon a civil one, the good of England;
which is the common interest of King and people.
That he might be great by justice, and we free by
obedience; distinguishing rightly on the one hand,
between duty and slavery; and, on the other, between
liberty and licentiousness.
" But, alas! I am not without my apprehensions
of the cause of this behaviour towards me, and in
this, I perceive we agree; I mean my constant zeal
for an impartial liberty of conscience.  But, if that
be it, the cause is too good to be in pain about.  I
ever understood that to be the natural right of all
men; and that he that had a religion without it, his
religion was none of his own. For, what is not the
religion of a man's choice, is the religion of him
that imposes it.  So that liberty of conscience is the
9




98          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
first step to have a religion. This is no new opinion
with me.  I have written many apologies within the
last twenty years to defend it, and that impartially.
Yet I have as constantly declared, that bounds
ought to be set to this freedom, and that morality
was the best; and that as often as that was violated,
under a pretence of conscience, it was fit the civil
power should take place. Nor did I ever once think
of promoting any sort of civil liberty of conscience
for any body, which did not preserve the common
Protestancy of the kingdom, and the ancient rights
of the government.  For, to say truth, the one can.
not be maintained without the other.
"Upon the whole matter, I must say, I love
England; I ever did so; and that I am not in hex
debt. I never valued time, money, nor kindred, to
serve her and do her good.  No party could ever
bias me to her prejudice, nor any personal interest
oblige me in her wrong.  For, I always abhorred
discounting private favours at the public cost.
" Would I have made my market of the fears and
jealousies of people; when this King came to the
crown, I had put twenty thousand pounds into my
pocket, and an hundred thousand into my province.
For mighty numbers of people were then upon the
wing.  But I waived it all, hoped for better times;
expected the effects of the King's word for liberty
of conscience, and happiness by it.  And, till I saw
my friends, with the kingdom, delivered fromn the
legal bondage, which penal laws for religion had
subjected them to, I could, with no satisfaction,




WILLI A I P ENN.                 99
think of leaving England; though much to my prejudice beyond sea, and at my great expense here;
having in all this tinle, never had either office or
pension; and always refusing the rewards or gratuities of those I have been able to oblige.
" If, therefore, an universal charity, if the asserting an impartial liberty of conscience, if doing to
others as one would be done by, and an open avowing
and steady practising of these things, in all times,
to all parties, will justly lay a man under the reflection of being a Jesuit or Papist, of any rank, I must
not only submit to the character, but embrace it too;
and I care not who knows, that I can wear it with
more pleasure, than it is possible for them with any
justice to give it me.  For these are corner-stones
and principles with me; and I am scandalized at all
buildings that have them not for their foundation.
For religion itself is an empty name without them,
a whited wall, a painted sepulchre, no life or virtue
to the soul; no good or example to one's neighbour.
Let us not flatter ourselves; we can never be the
better for our religion, if our neighbour be the worse
for it. Our fault is, we are apt to be mighty hot
upon speculative errors, and break all bounds in our
resentments; but we let practical ones pass without
remark, if not without repentance.  As if a mistake
about an obscure proposition of faith, were a greater
evil than the breach of an undoubted precept. Such
a religion the devils themselves are not without; for
they have both faith and knowledge, but their faith
doth not work by love, nor their knowledge by obe



100          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
dience.  And, if this be their judgment, can it be
our blessing?  Let us not then think religion a litigious thing; or that Christ came only to make us
good disputants, but that he came also to make us
good livers.  Sincerity goes further than capacity.
It is charity that deservedly excels in the Christian
religion; and happy would it be, if where unity ends,
charity did begin, instead of envy and railing, that
almost ever follow. It appears to me to be the way
that God has found out, and appointed to moderate
our differences, and make them at least harmless to
society; and, therefore, I confess, I dare not aggravate them to wrath and blood.  Our disagreement
lies in our apprehension or belief of things; and if
the common enemy of mankind had not the governing of our affections and passions, that disagreement
would not prove such a canker as it is, to love and
peace, in civil societies.
"He that suffers his difference with his neighbour
about the other world, to carry him beyond the line
of moderation in this, is the worse for his opinion,
even though it be true.  It is too little considered
by Christians, that men may hold the truth in unrighteousness; that they may be orthodox, and not
know what spirit they are of; so were the Apostles
of our Lord; they believed in him, yet let a false
zeal do violence to their judgment, and their unwarrantable heat contradict the great end of their
Saviour's coining, love.
"Men  may be angry for God's sake, and kill
people too. Christ said it, and too many have prace




WILLIAM PENN.                 101
tised it. But what sort of Christians must they be,
I pray, that can hate in his name, who bids us love;
and kill for his sake, that forbids killing; and commands love, even to enemies?
" Let not men or parties think to shift it off from
themselves. It is not this principle, or that form, to
which so great a defection is owing, but a degeneracy of mind from  God.  Christianity is not at
heart, no fear of God in the inward parts. No awe
of his Divine Omnipresence.  Self prevails, and
breaks out more or less, through all forms, but too
plainly (pride, wrath, lust, avarice), so that though
people say to God, Thy will be done, they do their
own; which shows them to be true heathens, under
a mask of Christianity, that believe without works,
and repent without forsaking, busy for forms and the
temporal benefits of them, while true religion, which
is to visit the fatherless and the widow, and to keep
ourselves unspotted from the world, goes barefoot,
and, like Lazarus, is despised.  Yet this was the
definition the Holy Ghost gave of religion, before
synods and councils had the meddling with it, and
modelling of it.  In those days bowels were a good
part of religion, and that to the fatherless and
widow at large. We can hardly now extend them to
those of our own way. It was said by him that
could not say amiss; Because iniquity abounds, the
love of many waxeth cold. Whatsoever divides
man's heart from God, separates it from his neighbour; and he that loves self more than God, can
never love his neighbour as himself.  For, as the
9*




102         BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
Apostle said, if we do not love him whom we have
seen, how can we love God, whom we have not seen?
" 0 that we could see some men as eager to turn
people to God, as they are to blow them up, and set
them against one another.  But, indeed, those only
can have that pure and pious zeal, who are themselves turned to God, and have tasted the sweetness
of that conversion, which is to power, not form;
to godliness, not gain.  Such as those bend their
thoughts and pains to appease, not increase heats
and animosities, to exhort people to look at home,
sweep their own houses, and weed their own gardens.
And, in no age or time, was there more need to set
men at work in their own hearts, than'this we live
in, when so busy, wandering, licentious a spirit prevails. For, whatever some men may think, the
disease of this kingdom is sin, impiety against God,
and want of charity to men. And while this guilt
is at our door, judgment cannot be far off.
"Now this being the disease, I will briefly offer two
things for the cure of it. The first is, David's clean
heart and right spirit, which he asked, and had of
God. Without this we must be a chaos still; for the
distemper is within; and our Lord said, All evil
comes from thence. Set the inward man right, and
the outward man cannot be wrong. That is the helm
that governs the human vessel. And this nothing
can do but an inward principle, the light and grace
that came by Christ, who the Scriptures tell us, enlightens every one, and hath appeared to all men.




WILLIAM PENN.                  103
It is preposterous to think, that he who made the
world, should show least care of the best part of it,
our souls; no, he that gave us an outward luminary
for our bodies, hath given us an inward one for our
minds to act by.  We have it; and it is our condemnation that we do not love it, and bring our
deeds to it.  It is by this we see our sins, are made
sensible of them, sorry for them, and finally forsake
them. And he that thinks to go to IIeaven a nearer
way, will, I fear, belate his soul, and be irreparably
mistaken.  There are but goats and sheep at last,
whatever shapes we wear here. Let us not, therefore, dear friend, deceive ourselves. Our souls are at
stake, God will not be mocked, what we sow we must
expect to reap.  There is no repentance ifi the
grave; which shows, that if none there, then no
where else. To sum up this divinity of mine; it is
the light of Jesus in our souls, that gives us a true
sight of ourselves, and that sight that leads us to repentance, which repentance begets humility, and
humility that true charity, that covers a multitude
of faults, which I call God's expedient against man's
infirmity.  The second remedy to our present distemper is this; since all of all parties profess to believe in God, Christ, the Spirit, and Scripture, that
the soul is immortal, that there are eternal rewards
and punishments, and that the virtuous shall receive
the one, and the wicked suffer the other; I say, since
this is the common faith of Christendom, let us all
resolve in the strength of God to live up to what we




104         BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
agree in, before we fall out so miserably about the
rest in which we differ. I am persuaded, the change
and comfort which that pious course would bring us to,
would go very far to dispose our natures to compound
easily for all the rest, and we might hope yet to see
happy days in poor England; for there I would have
so good a work begun. And, how it is possible for
the emninent men of every religious persuasion, especially the present ministers of the parishes of England,
to think of giving an account to God at the last day,
without using the utmost of their endeavours to moderate the members of their respective communions,
towards those that differ from them, is a mystery to
mle. But this I know and must lay it at their doors, I
charge also my own soul with it, God requires moderation and humility from us; for he is at hand, who will
not spare to judge our impatience, if we have no
patience for one another. The eternal God rebuke,
I beseech him, the wrath of man, and humble
all under the sense of the evil of this day: and yet,
unworthy as we are, give us peace, for his holy name's
sake.
" It is now time to end this letter, and I will do it
without saying any more than this. Thou seest my
defence against popular calumny; thou seest what my
thoughts are of, our condition, and the way to better
it, and thou seest my hearty and humble prayer tc Almighty God, to incline us to be wise, if it were but
for our own sakes. I shall only add, that I am extremely sensible of the kindness and justice intended




WILLIA WI PENN.                105
me by my friends on this occasion, and that I am for
that, and many more reasons,
"Thy obliged and affectionate friend,
" WILLIAM PENN.
"Teddington, October
the 24th, 1688."
Subsequently, he addressed the following epistle
to his own religious society, being a clear exposition
of the purity of that foundation on which his profession was built, and of his sincerity in upholding it
against all the opposition of evilly disposed men:" AN EPISTLE GENERAL TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD,
CALLED QUAKERS, BY THEIR FRIEND AND BROTEIER, WILLIAM PENN.
" Containing, 1st. A testimony to the holy truth
and way of God.
" 2d. An exhortation to the people of God to walk
in it.
"3d. A vindication of himself from the slanders
of wicked men.
"Dearly beloved friends and brethren, to whom
my soul wisheth the increase of grace, mercy, and
peace from  God our father and our Lord Jesus
Christ:
" It is now about twenty-two years since I embraced the testimony of the blessed truth *and the
fellowship of it amongst you, which is Christ the
light of the world in us, the hope of the glory which




106         BRIEF MEMOIR OF
is to come.  I cannot repine, notwithstanding the
many sorts of troubles and afflictions I have met
withal on that account, whether they came from my
near relations, or the governments of the world, or
my neighbours, or my enemies, or my false friends:
above all considerations I bow my knee to the God
and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of
Glory, with holy thanks and humble praises, that he
has given me the knowledge of himself by the light
and grace of his Son in my heart, unto which I
turned in my youthful days by that.spiritual and
gospel ministry that God has raised up amongst you,
that reached the conscience in word and doctrine.
And though I have been compassed about with manifold difficulties in my time and service, yet I can
say my desire has been to serve him in the gospel of
his Son, for the exaltation of his own glorious name
and truth, according to the gift I received from him,
from whom every good and perfect gift comes, who
is the great Father of' lights and spirits.  By him
alone it has been, that I have been enabled to speak
well of his name from the experience I have had of the
goodness he has shown to my soul, both in his judgnjents and mercies; and I can say that his mercies endure forever; and they that will try, shall find, that there
is mercy with him, that he may be feared. His word
of light, grace, and truth in the heart will cleanse the
young man's ways, and guide the old man in the
path he should walk, to peace. I found that from
the revelation of this word in the soul, springs the
true conviction and knowledge of God and a man's




WILLIAM  PENN.                107
self, and by nothing else can man be convicted and
born again. Further, I perceived that in this living,
revealing word, standeth the true ministry and all
acceptable private devotion - religion without this
being an empty sound, an insipid thing, an image or
picture of a living thing, but it is without real life
and motion.  To know the convincing, converting,
and redeeming power of this word, and to be acquainted with the needful and excellent graces of it
_ for'tis a word of faith, reconciliation and patience,
meekness and regeneration — I found there must be
a sincere retirement of the soul from all self-love, and
the lusts and vanities of the world, and an humble
and steady waiting for its inward holy monitions and
illuminations in the soul, and a resignation to the
holy doctrine it teacheth, be it never so cross to our
vain desires and carnal inclinations and customs,
which unfolded to nme the discipline of the true cross
of Christ, and what it was to take it up daily and
follow him that bore it, for the love of him, and that
there was no other way to follow Jesus fully, and
attain to the glory that shall hereafter be revealed,
and that crown which  never fades away.  Now,
friends, here you are, for God has brought you hither
to this sense, knowledge, and experience of his new
covenant work, which is the glory of the latter days,
and though sown in clouds, yet you need not that
any one should now teach you, saying, Know the
Lord, for I know you know  him, and where he
dwells, and how to approach him -and therefore
here keep, and in the feeling and guidance of this




108          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
divine word and oracle abide.  If any should call
upon you, Lo here! and lo there! go not forth, for if
it were possible for an angel from heaven to come
with another gospel than this word of light and
grace in the heart, let him be accursed.  Whither
should you, or can you go for true satisfaction, when
this Word hath the words of eternal life? and it cannot be otherwise, since in this Word is life, and that
life is the light of men, and this is the condemnation
of the world that it has this light, and yet men  will
not bring their deeds to it; but the reason is plain,
because they love darkness rather than light, and the
cause of that is, because their deeds are evil, and
will not bear the discovery of that blessed day dawning upon the soul.' Wherefore, dear friends, that you may be new
covenant children, true Jews, circumcision in Spirit,
Christians of Christ's christening, and making, by
fire and by the Holy Ghost, by the holy water of the
word of regeneration, that washes the inside and
takes out the spots of the soul, and is called the laver
of the word; I beseech you in the bowels of Christ
Jesus to love this word, and hide it in your hearts,
wait upon it and comlmnune with it, that you may
know it to be your holy oracle, to inspire, guide, and
order you through the whole course of your pilgrimage, till you shall have fought out the good fight
of faith, and finished your course, and shall arrive at
the rest of God, reserved by him for his people that
endure to the end.
" Ahd now, my friends. as concerning the present




WILLIAM  PENN.                 109
ossings and revolutions of things that are in the
world, let your eye be to God; belicve not every spirit,
nor lay hands suddenly on persons or things, but be
humble and sober, and do to others as you would that
they should do to you, and stand still that you may see
the salvation of God come in His own way, for so
you are to receive it and share in it. And for those
clamours that have almost darkened the air. against
me, your suffering friend and brother, be neither
troubled nor captivated by them, but keep your
minds chaste in the dwellings of truth, and possess
your souls in patience, and in this true frame of spirit
remember me, as I have never forgotten you.  But
of one thing be assured, I am  innocent both of the
imputation of Jesuitism, Popery, and plots, and my
God will in his good time confound their devices that
trouble you and me with their false things, though I
beseech him to forgive the authors of them as I desire mercy for my own soul. I have little (deserved
this measure and usage from any of the people of
this nation. The Lord God Almighty knows I have
universally sought the liberty and peace of it, and
that nothing may take place to spoil or hinder that
good work, nor can any upon earth justly task me
with advancing any one thing that unbecomes a
Christian and an Englishman; neither blood, Popery,
money, nor slavery, can be laid at my door.  I
wrought as well as I could with the strength and
instruments I had, for a general good.  If some
things were done that were not well done and pleased
10




110          BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
not, it was no fault of mine, and that is well known
to many persons of unquestionable truth.
" Ineer accepted of anvy commission but that of a
free an(d common solicitorfor sufferers of all sorts
an(l in all parties, which made my conversation very
general. I thought that charity, which gave me
that office, should know no man after the flesh, nor
suffer bounds to any that needed it, nor do I find in
my conscience that doing what good one can under
any government is a sin or a fault, for which a man
ought to be stigmatized or evilly entreated.  I acknowledge I was an instrument to break the jaws of
persecution; to that end I once took the freedom to
remember King, James of his frequent assurances in
favour of liberty of conscience, and with much zeal
used my small interest with him to gain that point
upon his ministers that he told me were against it.
That so the doors of our prisons and meeting-houses,
until that time cruelly shut against us, might be
opened, and the poor and the widow and the orphan
might come forth and praise God in the use of a just
freedom.  This and personal good offices were my
daily business at Whitehall, of which I can take the
righteous God of heaven and earth to witness. Nor
can I yet see that providence of liberty and peace
which we enjoyed under him, was such a track or
snare as some have represented it.  Harm is to them
that harm think; we sought but our just and Christian privilege, and I heartily wish that they that
thought so, may do better and answer that great expectation that has been raised in the people's minds




WILLIAM  PENN.                 111
about it.  One thing I know -could I have apprehended that the good days we had during his reign
were a trick to introduce evil ones, all obligations
would have ceased with me, and no man more earnestly and cheerfully engaged after my manner against
his government than myself.  For, alas! what did I
seek, or what have I got! What I have spent and
lost is much harder to tell. But I leave that with a
just and good God to reprize me and mine in his
own way and time, as I do to vindicate my opprest
innocency against my implacable  adversaries, of
whom with David I can say,'they have hated me
without a cause,' and as he expresses himself, Psalms
109, v. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,' Hold not thy peace, 0 God of
my praise, for the mouth of the wicked and the
mouth of the deceitful are opened against me - with
a lying tongue have they compassed me about also
with words of hatred; and fought against me without
a cause; for my love they are my adversaries, but I
give myself to prayer; and they have rewarded me
evil for good, and hatred for my love.'
"' The Lord God Almighty rebuke the wrath and
wickedness of man, and look down from heaven upon
this broken and sinful nation in his great mercy, and
heal it of all its distempers, that we, notwithstanding
the judgments of God that seem to gather over our
heads as a dark cloud, may yet see righteousness and
peace break forth in this land, as the sun in the fulness and strength of his glory. And for you, my
dear brethren, in whose cause, and for whose sakes
I have been as one killed all the day long, have your




112         BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
conversation, let me entreat you, according to the
gospel, in sobriety and humility, in patience and
brotherly kindness.  Be steadfast and immovable in
every good word and work, that in all things you
may walk as becometh the true disciples of Christ,
whose kingdom is not of this world, and who teacheth his followers how to live in it as they ought tdo, rather than how to get it, that so your heavenly
Father may be glorified by you, who is worthy, with
the Son, to receive all glory and praise, with obedience and reverence, now and for ever.
" I am, in the sufferings and patience of the kingdom of Christ which yet remain, your faithful friend
and brother.                WILLIAM PENN."
The nation was at this time in a state of general
ferment.  William, Prince of Orange, was invited
to come over, and after landing in Torbay, he and
his consort were soon seated on the throne.  W.
Penn's situation was thus suddenly reversed. He
might have retired to the continent, or to Pennsylvania; but, conscious of his own innocence, he resolved not to withdraw, as most of King James's adherents had done, but to remain in England openly
as before. In a few weeks, while walking in the
garden at Whitehall, he was called before the Lords
of the Council, and underwent a close examination;
when he declared that he had done, and should do
nothing, but what he was willing to answer for
before his God and his country. Though no accusation was brought against him, the Council required




WILLIAM PENN.                  113
security for his re-appearance, and then discharged
him. At his re-examination, nothing being produced
to justify detention, he was liberated in open Court.
In addition to his trials at home, he had others
abroad.  Matters did not go on well in America:
the settlers disagreed and complained without reason;
the deputy governor resigned; and, instead of remitting money to the proprietor, they continued to
draw on him for more, though he was himself greatly
straitened. His letters to the refractory colonists are
full of just and generous sentiments.
William Penn soon had the great satisfaction of
seeing the Act of Toleration passed in a constitutional
manner by the King and Parliament; and though it
did not come up to the full extent of his enlarged
views, it put a great check on persecution, and was
hailed with general approbstion.
In 1690 he was twice arrested.  In the first instance he was taken up by some military, in consequence of a letter addressed to him by James, which
had been intercepted. On appealing to King Williamu
in person, he was brought before him and the Council, and closely examined for two hours, when he
made no secret of his attachment to James, but declared that he knew nothing of the letter; that he
was sensible of his present duty as a subject; and
that he never had the wickedness, even to think
of endeavouring to restore to the late King, the
crown which had fallen from his head. After giving
security for his appearance in Court, he was allowed
to withdraw, and on again presenting himself, was
10*




114         BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
honourably discharged a second time.  Soon after,
King William having gone over to Ireland, and the
nation being threatened with an invasion from
France, the Queen adopted strong measures, and
issued a proclamation for apprehending eighteen persons of importance, considered doubtful, among
whom  was William  Penn.  He was committed to
prison, but on being brought up before the Court of
King's Bench, he was a third time fully acquitted.
For some time he had been making preparations
for another voyage to Pennsylvania, where his presence was very necessary, and where he longed for a
quiet retreat from secret slander and open outrage.
The secretary of state too furthered his intention,
and vessels were prepared for him and others. At
this time, he attended the funeral of his beloved
friend George Fox, and preached to about two thousand persons assembled at the grave.  Immediately
afterwards, he heard that a fresh charge had been
made against him by one Fuller, whom Parliament
subsequently pronounced "a notorious impostor and
false accuser."  He was now convinced that, though
innocent, there was no security for him in public;
and believing that enmity would supersede justice,
he felt justified in seeking retirement, and withdrew
to a private lodging in London, where he spent his
time in study and religious exercises, with the occasional conversation of a few select friends. His long
absence produced serious evils in the province; his
own private affairs fell into disorder; the popular
clamour against him increased; and, he even fell




WILLIAM  PENN.                 115
under the censure of some of his fellow members.
To reassure these, he addressed the following short,
but touching epistle, to the yearly meeting of 1691,
in London.
"The 30th of the Third Month, 1691.
"MY  BELOVED,  DEAR,  AND  HONOURED
BRETHREN,
" My unchangeable love salutes you; and though
I am absent firom you, yet I feel the sweet and lowly
life of your heavenly fellowship, by which I am with
you, and a partaker amongst you, whom I have loved
above mly chiefest joy.  Receive no evil surmisings,
neither suffer hard thoughts, through the insinuations of any, to enter your minds against me your
afflicted. but not forsaken friend and brother.  My
enemies are yours, and in the,round, mine for your
sakes; and that God seeth in secret, and will one
day reward openly.  My privacy is not because men
have sworn truly, but falsely against mne; 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 som.e good, and would
have done more, and hurt to no nan, but always desired that truth and righteousness, mercy, and peace
might take place amongst us.  Feel me near you,
and lay moe near you, my dear, and beloved brethren,
and leave ile not, neither forsake, but wrestle with
Hini that is able to prevail against the cruel desires
of some, that we may yet nleet in the congregations




116          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
of his people, as in days past to our mutual comfort.
The everlasting God of his chosen in all generations,
be in the midst of you, and crown your most solemn
assemblies with his blessed presence, that his tender,
meek, lowly, and heavenly love and life may flow
among you; and that he would please to make it a
seasoning and fruitful opportunity to you, that,
edified and comforted, you may return home to his
glorious high praise, who is worthy for ever. To
whom I commit you, desiring to be remembered of
you before him, in the nearest and freshest accesses,
who cannot forget you in the nearest relation.
t" Your faithful friend and brother,
WILLIAM PENN."
John Locke, having come to England with King
William, generously desired to return William Penn's
former kindness, and offered to procure for him a
pardon; but he, sensible of his innocence, and imitating the conduct of his friend, thankfully declined
the offer. To add to his other trials, his attached
wife was so affected by them that her health gave
way; and his many enemies, representing Pennsylvania in a disordered and ruinous state, prevailed on
the Kinc in 1692, to deprive him of the government, and confer it on Colonel Fletcher, the Governor of New York.  His trials were now at their
height; hating tasted largely of prosperity, he had
to drink as deeply of an adverse cup.  But under
and through all, divine help sustained his mind, and
strengthened him to bear these accumulated afflic



WILLIAM  PENN.                 117
tions, with humble, but unshaken fortitude, in the
consciousness of his own integrity.
To make his retirement profitable to himself and
to others, he again employed his pen, and guided
by his own extensive and varied experience, wrote
an excellent treatise, entitled, "Fruits of Solitude,
in Reflections and Maxims, relatin-g to the Conduct
of Hurman Life."  Some extracts from the preface,
will furnish a good specimen of the value and style
of this little work.  "The author blesseth God for
his retirement, and kisses that gentle hand which led
him into it; for, though it should prove barren to
the world, it can never do so to him; he has now had
some tinie he could call his own-a property he was
never so much master of before; in which he has
taken a view of himself and the world, and observed
wherein he has hit or missed the mark; what might
have been done, what mended, and what avoided in
human conduct, together with the omission and excesses of others, as well societies and governments,
as private families and persons.  And he verily
thinks, were he to live over his life again, he could
not only, with God's grace, serve him, but his neighbour and himself better than he hath done, and have
seven years of his time to spare. And yet, perhaps,
he hath not been the worst, or the idlest man in the
world, nor is he the oldest.  And this is the rather
said that it migiht quicken thee, reader, to lose none
of the time that is yet thine."
Another subject which he took up was that of
war, then producing great misery; and in "An




118          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
Essay toward the present and future peace of
Europe," he suggested the idea of a general representative assembly on the continent, for securing
peace between the several governments,-an idea
which has of later time been repeatedly revived.
The seclusion which he observed, does not appear to
have been very strict, or to have prevented him from
coing out occasionally; yet, he was never disturbed;
and in 1693, at the end of three years' retirement,
Fuller having fallen into deep disgrace, and his accusation not being credited, several noblemen, and
others, who  were well acquainted with William
Penn's character and services, lamenting his hard
situation, represented his case to the King. William
having a reoard for him, readily acceded to their request, that he might enjoy unmolested liberty;.and,
shortly afterwards, on his appearing before the King
and Council, he was honourably acquitted.
His beloved and excellent wife, who had deeply
felt the position of his affairs, was now sinking under
the effects, and did not survive his enlargement
more than a month, when death brought her a peaceful release from anxiety and suffering.
In an affectionate tribute to her worth, William
Penn says:" During her illness, she uttered many living and
weighty expressions, upon divers occasions, both
before and near her end.  Some of which I took
down for mine, and her dear children's consolation.
"At one of the many meetings held in her cham



WILLIAM  PENN.                 119
ber, we and our children, and one of our servants
only being present, in a tendering and living power,
she broke out as she sat in her chair,'Let us all
prepare, not knowing what hour or watch the Lord
cometh.  0, I am full of matter! shall we receive
good, and shall we not receive evil things at the
hand of the Lord?  I have cast my care upon the
Lord; he is the physician of value; my expectation
is wholly from him.  He can raise up, and he can
cast down.' A while after she said,' Oh what shall
be done to the unprofitable servant?'  At another
meeting-, before which much heaviness seemed to lie
upon her natural spirits, she said,' This has been a
precious opportunity to me; I am finely relieved and
comforted, blessed be the Lord.'  At another time,
as I was speaking to her of the Lord's love, and the
witness of his Spirit that was with her, to give her
the peace of well doing, she returned to me, looking
up, she said,' I never did, to my knowledge, a wicked
thing in all my life.'
"To a friend, aged seventy-five years, that came
to see her, she said,' Thou and I to all appearance are
near our ends.' And to another about sixty-five years
old, who came also to see her, she said,' How much
older has the Lord made me by this weakness, than
thou art! but I am contented, I do not murmur; I
submit to his holy will.'
"In the strength of her disease she said,' It is the
great goodness of the Lord, that I should be able to
lie thus still. He is the physician of value to me,
can I say; lit my tongue set forth his praise, and




120          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
my spirit magnify him whilst I have breath.  0, I
am  ready to be transported beyond my strength.
God was not in the thunder, nor in the lightning,
but he was heard in the still voice.' She did at
several times pray very sweetly, and in all her weakness manifested the most equal, undaunted and resigned spirit, as well as in all other respects.  She
was an excellent example, both as a child, wife,
mother, mistress, friend and neighbour.
"She called the children one day when weak, and
said,'Be not affrighted children, I do not call you to
take my leave of you, but to see you, and I would
have you walk in the fear of the Lord, and with his
people in his holy Truth,' or to that effect.
"Speaking at another time solemnly to the children, she said,' I never desired any great things for
you, but that you may fear the Lord and walk in
his Truth, among, his people, to the end of your
days,' &c.
"She would not suffer me to neglect any public
meeting, after I had my liberty, upon her account,
saying often,'O go my dearest! do not hinder any
good for me.  I desire thee go: I have cast my care
upon the Lord: I shall see thee again.'
"About three hours before her end, a relation
taking leave of her, she said again,'I have cast my
care upon the Lord.  My dear love to all Friends,'
and (lifting up her dying hands and eyes) prayed
the Lord to preserve them  and bless them.  About
an hour aft.er, causing all to withdraw, we were half
an hour tocether, in which we took our last leave,




WILLIAM  PENN.                 121
saying all that was fit upon that solemn occasion.
She continued sensible, and did eat something about
an hour before her departure; at which time our
children, and most of the family were present.  She
quietly expired in my arms, her head upon my
bosom, with a sensible and devout resignation of her
soul to Almighty God.  I hope, I may say, she was
a public, as well as private loss.  For, she was not
only an excellent wife and mother, but an entire
and constant friend, of more than common capacity
and great modesty and humility; yet most equal
and undaunted in danger.  Religious, as well as ingenuous, without affectation.  An easy nlistress, and
good  neighbour, especially to the poor.  Neither
lavish, nor penurious, but an example of industry,
as well as of other virtues.  Therefore, our great
loss is her own eternal gain."
In the mean time, the course of affairs between
the Pennsylvanians and the new Governor, was by
no means smooth and harmonious. A military,
worldly-minded man, he did not either like or understand the views of Friends, who constituted the
majority of the colonists, and of the Legislative
Assembly.  Some of his acts were illegal, and many
of them were very unfriendlike. After staying a
short time in the province, and confirming the
former deputy governor, he retired to his station at
New  York.  The colonists strongly contrasted his
conduct with that of William Penn, whom they
longed to see amongst them  again.  His attraction
11




122          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
towards them and their country was no less ardent;
but he was not then able to gratify his wishes.
He again brought out several short treatises, the
chief of which was designed for a preface to the
Journal of George Fox, and was entitled "An
Account of the Rise and Progress of the People
called Quakers."  It has been much valued, and
often reprinted. The first chapter contains a notice
of each distinct body of Christians existing at that
time; and some of the views contained in it are very
striking.
Two events of a pleasing character soon followed.
Many members of his own religious Society, who
had disapproved of the active part taken by him in
political life, became thoroughly satisfied of his integrity and good motives, and he regained his former
place in their Christian regard and affection.  In
1694, too, he was restored by the King to the
government of Pennsylvania. The language of the
instrument reinstating him, was very creditable to
Williaml Penn; for, while it pronounced an opinion
on the necessity of a small military force on the
frontier, it declared, that the disorder and confusion,
into which the province and territories had fallen,
had been occasioned by his absence; thus, was
denied, that which had formed the chief pretence for
dispossessing him two years and a half before. A
general re-action of feeling in his favour also took
place in the public mind in England.
As regards his views on some very important




WILLIAM   PENN.                123
Christian truths, it may not be unsuitable here to
introduce the following quotations from his writings.
From his work, entitled, "A Key to distinguish
between the Quaker's religion and the perversions
of it." 1692.
"Perversion 9.  The Quakers deny the Trinity.
Nothing less; they believe in the Holy Three, or
Trinity of Father, Word, and Spirit, according to
Scripture. And, that these Three are truly and
properly one; of one nature as well as will. But
they are very tender of quitting Scripture terms
and phrases for schoolumen's; such as distinct
and separate persons and subsistences, &c., from
whence people are apt to entertain gross ideas and
notions. "
"Perversion 10. The Quakers deny Christ to
be God. A most untrue and unreasonable censure," &c.
"Perversion 11. They deny the human nature
of Christ. We never taught, said, or held so gross a
thing, if by human nature be understood the manhood of Christ Jesus.  For, as we believe him to be
God over all blessed for ever, so we do, as truly
believe him, to be of the seed of David and Abraham, according to the flesh, and, therefore, truly and
properly man," &c.
In his work, entitled, " Primitive Christianity Revived," he says, "' We do believe, that Jesus Christ
was our holy sacrifice, atonement, and propitiation;
that he bore our iniquities, and that, by his stripes,




124          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
we were healed of the wounds Adam gave us in his
fall; and that God is just in forgiving true penitents
upon the credit of that holy offering Christ made of
himself to God for us; and that, what he did and
suffered, satisfied and pleased God, and was for the
sake of fallen man, that had displeased God; and
that, tlhrough the offering up of himself once for all,
through the Eternal Spirit, he hath for ever perfected those, in all times, that were sanctified, who
walked not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."Room. viii. 1.
In a tract, entitled, "A Serious Apology for the
Principles and Practices of the people called Quakers,"
written by William  Penn, during a confinement in
Newgate, to which prison he had been committed for
six months, for no other cause than preaching the
gospel to his brethren, at one of their meetings, and
refusing to disobey the commandments of Christ, by
taking an oath, he says in the sixth chapter,' I am
constrained for the sake of the simple-hearted, to
publish to the world, of our faith in God, Christ,
and the Holy Spirit."  "We do believe in one.
only, holy God Almighty, who is an eternal Spirit,
the Creator of all things."
"And in one Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son,
and express image of his substance, who took upon
him flesh, and was in the world; and in life, doctrine, nmiracles, death, resurrection, ascension, and
mediation, perfectly did, and does continue to do,
the will of God; to whose holy life, power, media



WILLI AM  PENN.               125
tion, and blood, we only ascribe our sanctification,
justification, redemption, and perfect salvation."
" And we believe in one Holy Spirit, that proceeds
and breathes from the Father and the Son, a
measure of which is given to all to profit with;
and he tlhat has one, has all; for those Three are
One, who is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the
Last, God over all, blessed for ever, Amen."
11*




126          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
CHAPTER VII. 1695-1718.
MARRIES H. CALLOWHILL-ACCOUNT OF SPRINGETT PENN-INTERVIEWS WITH THE CZAR —REVISITS PENNSY LVANIAPENNSBURY MANOR - INTERESTING INCIDENTS - OPPOSES
SLAVE TRADE -THE COLONY PEACEABLE AND PROSPEROUS
— FOUNDING OF PUBLIC SCHOOL-HIS PECUNIARY DIFFICULTIES — INGRATITUDE OF OTHERS - WITHDRAWS FOR A
YEAR-MORTGAGES, AND OFFERS TO SELL, HIS PROVINCEHIS HEALTH DECLINES-LONG FEEBLE STATE-DEATH,
BURIAL, AND CHARACTER.
WE next find William. Penn travellinr as a minister into the west of England, and holding crowded
religious meetings at Bristol, Wells, and  other
places; then petitioning Parliament to make the
affirmatio,  of Friends equivalent to an oath; and
further prosecuting this object by attending the
House of Commons on their behalf.
In 1696, he married Hannah Callowhill, of Bristol, and soon after removed to that city.  IIis wife
was pious and judicious, and the connection contributed greatly to his comfort and advantage; but a
severe trial soon followed, in the death of his eldest
son, Springett Penn, a religious and very promising
young man, then in his twenty-first year, of whose
striking expressions and conduct in his last illness,
the father has left the following, touching accoubt:"My very dear child and eldest son, Springett
Penn, from his childhood, manifested a disposition to




WILLIAM  PENN.                 127
goodness, and gave me hope of a more than ordinary
capacity; and time satisfied me in both respects.
Besides a good share of learning, and especially of
mathermatical knowledge, he showed a judgment in
the use and application of it, much above his years.
Hle had the seeds of many good qualities rising in
him, which made him beloved, and consequently
lanmrented; but, especially his humility, plainness, and
truth; with a tenderness and softness of nature, that
if I nmay say it, were an improvement upon his other
good qualities.  And, though these were no security
against sickness and death, yet they went a good way
to facilitate a due preparation for them. Indeed, the
good ground that was in him, showed itself very
plainly somletime before his illness.  For more than
half a year before it pleased the Lord to visit him
with weakness, he grew more retired, and much disengaged from youthful delights; showing a remarkable tenderness in meetings, even when they were
silent. But, when he saw himself doubtful as to
his recovery, he turned his mind and meditations
more apparently towards the Lord; secretly, as also
when those were in the room who attended upon
him, praying often with great fervency to the Lord,
and uttering many thankful expressions and praises
to Him, in a very deep and sensible manner.  One
day he said to us,'I am resigned to what God
pleaseth; he knows what is best.  I would live if it
pleased him that I might serve him.  But, 0 Lord,
not my will, but thy will be done.'
"One speaking to him of the things of this world.




128         BRIEF MEMOIR OF
and what might please him  when recovered; he
answered,'My eye looks another way, where the
truest pleasure is.' When he told me he had rested
well, and I said it was a mercy to him, he quickly
replied upon me, with a serious, yet sweet look,'All is mercy, dear father, every thing is mercy.'
Another tile, when I went to meeting, at parting, he said,'Remember me, my dear father,
before the Lord.  Though I cannot go to meetings,
yet I have many good meetings; the Lord comes in
upon my spirit; I have heavenly meetings with him
by myself.'
"Not many days before he died, while alone, the
Lord appeared by his holy power upon his spirit, and
at my return, asking him how he did, he told me,'O, I have had a sweet time, a blessed time! Great
enjoyments.  The power of the Lord overcame my
soul: a sweet time, indeed!'
"On my telling him how some of the gentry who
had been to visit him, were gone to their games, and
sports and pleasures, and how little consideration the
children of men had of God and their latter end;
and how much happier he was in this weakness, to
have been otherwise educated, and to be preserved
from those temptations to vanity, &c., he answered,'It is all stuff, my dear father: it is sad stuff.  O
that I might live to tell them so!'' Well, my dear
child,' I replied,' let this be the time of thy entering
into secret covenant with God, that if he raise thee,
thou wilt dedicate thy youth, strength, and life to
him, and his people and service.' He returned,




WILLIAM  PENN.                 129' Father, that is not now to do; it is not now to do;'
with great tenderness upon his spirit.
"Being almost ever near him, and doing any thing
for himl he wanted or desired, he broke out with
much sense and love,'My dear father, if I live, I
will make thee amends.' And speaking to him of
Divine enjoyments, that the eye of man saw not, but
the soul, made alive by the spirit of Christ, plainly
felt; he, in a lively remembrance, cried out,'I
had a sweet time yesterday by myself! the Lord hath
preserved me to this day!  O blessed be his name;
my soul praises him for his mercy! Father, it is of
the goedness of the Lord, that I am as well as I am!'
Fixing his eyes upon his sister, he took her by the
hand, saying,' Poor Tishe, look to good things; poor
child, there is no comfort without it. One drop of
the love of God is worth more than all the world.
I know it; I have tasted it: I have felt as much, or
more of the love of God in this weakness, than in all
my life before.' At another time, as I stood by him,
he looked up upon me, and said,'Dear father, sit by
me, I love thy company, and I know thou lovest
mine; and if it be the Lord's will that we must part,
be not troubled, for that will trouble me.'
"Taking something one night in bed, just before
going to rest, he sat up, and fervently prayed thus:'O Lord God, thou whose Son said to his disciples,
Whatsoever ye ask in my name, ye shall receive; I
pray thee, in His name, bless this to mme this night,
and give me rest, if it be thy blessed will, 0 Lord!'
And, accordiigly he had a very comfortable night,




130          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
of which he took a thankful notice before us next
day.
"And when he, at one time, more than ordinarily,
expressed a desire to live, and entreated me to pray
for him; he added,' dear father, if the Lord should
raise me and enable me to serve him and his people,
then I might travel with thee sometimes, and we
might ease one another (meaning in the ministry):
he spoke it with great modesty.' Upon which I said
to him,'my dear child, if it please the Lord to raise
thee, I am satisfied it will be so; and if not, then
inasmuch as it is thy fervent desire in the Lord, he
will look upon thee just as if thou didst live to serve
him, and thy comfort will be the same: so either way
it will be well. For, if thou shouldst not live, I do
verily believe thou wilt have the recompense of thy
good desires, without the temptations and troubles
that would attend, if long life were granted to thee.'
"Saying, one day,' I am resolved I will have such
a thing done;' he immediately catched himself, and
fell into this reflection, with much contrition,'Did I
say, I will? O Lord, forgive me that irreverent and
hasty expression! I am a poor, weak creature, and
live by thee, and, therefore, I should have said,' If it
pleaseth thee that I live, I intend to do so, or so;'
Lord forgive my rash expression.'
"Seeing my present wife ready to be helpful, and
do any thing for him, he turned to her, and said,'Don't thou do so, let them; don't trouble thyself
so much for such a poor creature as I am.' On her
taking leave of him a few nights before his end, he




WILLIAM  PENN.                 131
said to her,'Pray for me, dear mother: thou art
good and innocent, it may be the Lord may hear thy
prayers for me, for I desire my strength again, that
I might live, and employ it more in the Lord's
service.'
" Two or three days before his departure, he called
his brother to him, and looking awfully upon him,
said,' Be a good boy, and know there is a God, a
great and mighty God, who is a rewarder of the
righteous, and so is he of the wicked, but their rewards are not the same.  Have a care of idle people
and idle company, and love good company and good
Friends, and the Lord will bless thee: I have seen
good things for thee since my sickness, if thou dost
but fear the Lord. And, if I should not live, though
the Lord is all sufficient, remember what I say to
thee, when I am  dead and gone: poor child, the
Lord bless thee, come and kiss me!' Which melted
us all into great tenderness, but his brother more
particularly.
"  Many good exhortations he gave to some of the
servants, and others who came to see him, that were
not of our communion, as well as those that were,
which drew tears from their eyes.
" The day but one before he died, he went to take
the air in a coach; but said, at his return,'Really,
father, I am exceedingly weak, thou canst not think
how weak I am.'' My dear child,' I replied,' thou art
weak, but God is strong, who is the strength of thy
life:''Ay, that is it,' said he,' which upholdeth me.'
The day before he departed, being alone with him,




132          BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
he desired me to fasten the door; and looking
earnestly upon me, said,' Dear father, thou art a dear
father, and I know thy Father, come let us two have
a little meeting, a private ejaculation together, now
no body else is here.  0 my soul is sensible of the
love of God!' And indeed a sweet time we had, like
to precious ointment for his burial.
" He desired to go home, if not to live, to die
there, and we made preparation for it, being twenty
miles fromn my house; and so much stronger was his
spirit than his body, that he spoke of going next day,
which was the morning he departed; and a symptom
it was of his great journey to his longer home. That
morning he left us, growing more and more sensible
of his extreme weakness, he asked me, as doubtful
of himself,'How shall I go home?' I told him in
a coach; he answered,' I am best in a coach.' But
observing his decay, I said,' Why child? thou art at
home everywhere;''Ay,' said he,'so I am in the
Lord.'  I took that opportunity to ask him  if I
should remember his love to his friends at Bristol,
London, &c.'Yes, yes,' said he,'my love in the
Lord; my love to all Friends in the Lord:''And
relations too?' he said,'Ay, to be sure.'  Being
asked if he would have his ass' milk, or eat any
thing; he answered,'No more outward food, but
heavenly food is provided for me.'
" His time drawing on apace, he said to me,' My
dear father, kiss me, thou art a dear father, I desire
to prize it: how can I make thee amends?'' HIe also called his sister, and said to her,'Poor




WILLIAM  PENN.                 133
child, come and kiss me:' there seemed a tender and
longr farewell between them.  i sent for his brother
that he might kiss him  too, which he did: all were
in tears about him, and turninDg his head to me, he
said, softly,' Dear father, hast thou no hope for me?'
I answered,' My dear child, I am afraid to hope,
and I dare not despair; but am, and have'been resigned, though one of the hardest lessons I ever
learned.' I-e paused awhile, and with a composed
franie of mind, said,'Come life, come death, I am
resigned: O the love of God overcomes my soul!'
Feeling himself decline apace, and seeing him  not
able to bring up the matter that was in his throat,
somebody fetched the doctor, but so soon as he came
in, he said,' Let my father speak to the doctor, and
I will go to sleep; which he did, and wakled no
more;' breathing his last on my breast, the 10th day
of the second month, between the hours of nine and
ten in the morning, 1696, in his one and twentieth
year.
"So ended the life of my dear child and eldest
sol, much of my comfort and hope, and one of the
most tendrs1 and dutiful, as well as ingenuous and
virtuous youths, I knew, if I may say so of my own
dear child.  In him  I lost all that any father can
lose in a child, since he was capable of any thing
that became a sober young man; my friend and companion, as well as most affectionate and dutiful child.
"May this loss and end have its due weight and
impression upon all his dear relations and friends,
and those to whose hands this account may come, for
12




134          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
their remembrance and preparation for their great
and last change; and I shall have my end in making
my dear child thus far public.
" WILLIAM PENN."
The Czar of Russia, afterwards called Peter the
Great, having come to. England to obtain useful
knowledge of various kinds, William Penn and
other Friends had interesting interviews with him;
with which the Czar evinced his satisfaction not
only by his remarks, but by frequently attending the
meetings for worship at )Deptford and other places,
and by marked attention, as occasions offered, to
members of the Society.  With two other Friends
William Penn next paid a visit to Ireland, where he
had a considerable estate requiring his superintendence; he also felt it his duty to labour in the spiritual
vineyard of that island.  Large meetings were held,
in which he preached the truths of the gospel, many
persons of distinction attending them. An interview
with the bishop of Cork was satisfactory; but, subsequent alarm at the crowded meetings, induced the
bishop to resort to magisterial authority, and to employ his own pen, to counteract the influence of the
doctrines preached.
At length, after an absence of fifteen years, and
many yearnings towards his friends in Pennsylvania,
William Penn revisited the province in 1699, taking
his wife and family with him. On this occasion, he
again wrote an excellent address to his children on
their civil and religious conduct, as well as an in



WILLIAM  PENN.                  135
structive farewell epistle to his friends, who gave him
certificates of their esteem  and full unity.  The
voyagers embarked at Cowes, and after a tedious
passage of nearly three months, arrived safely at
Philadelphia, at a time when a malignant fever was
prevailing in the country. The people welcomed him
with marks of universal joy, hoping that he was
come to spend the remainder of his days among
them.  The assembly soon met, and William  Penn
occupied his time, not only in his duties as governor,
but in those of a gospel minister.
His was a rare instance of Christian legislation.
Liberty of conscience was a chief corner-stone of the
political edifice in his infant republic; the reformiation of the offender became the first object of his
criminal code.  He united in himself two characters
as a principal person in a visible Church, and as
head of a state.  IIad an attempt, however, been
made to transmit the union, after the manner of
Europe, to succeeding generations, its utter failure
would have soon become apparent; for his eldest surviving son, so far from inheriting his religious
character, caused him, in after years, much grief, by
his gross misconduct and vicious excesses.
A writer* of our own day, says, in allusion to the
character of William Penn, "We should remember
that the present times are profiting by the exertions
of those generous spirits, for, in the progress of
human affairs, mankind build in every subsequent
age, on foundations formerly laid.  What veneration
* Deborah Logan.




136          BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
and respect must we acknowledge to be due to the
man who, living at a period wbet the principles of
civil and religious liberty had to contend for their
existence, with a base and sordid despotism, voluntarily stepped forth as their champion, and triumphantly rescued, and handed down to us some of the
proudest distinctions of his country.  A  man who
spent his whole life, and all the means which he possessed, in endeavouring to benefit mankind, and,
finally, by exhibiting to the world a scheme of
government, founded on the benevolent principles of
Christianity, and which were administered by himself in the same spirit, has shown by the unexampled prosperity and success which has attended
it, how consonant such principles are with the true
interests of society. Is not a character, that effected
such noble purposes, entitled to the gratitude and
esteem of the latest posterity?"
The Governor and his family took up their residence at his mansion of Pennsbury.
This manor was situated  in Bucks Co., about
twenty-four miles above Philadelphia, on the river
Delaware.  It comprised upwards of 6000 acres of
fertile soil, mostly covered with majestic forests.
While in the possession of an Indian king, it had
borne the name of Sepassin.
The mansion was built in 1682-3, and was about
sixty feet front, facing the river.  It was two stories
high, and of brick.  On the first floor was a large
hall, used on public occasions for the imeetings of the
council, and the entertainment of strangers and the




WILLIAM  PENN.                 137
Indians   A  broad  walk through an avenue of
poplars led to the river. The house was surrounded
by gardens and lawns, and the more distant woods
were opened in vistas, looking down the Delaware,
and upwards towards the Falls of Trenton.
These woods had been laid out in walks at the
proprietary's first visit, and the preservation of the
trees are enjoined in several of his letters. He sent
out from England, walnuts, hawthorns, hazels, fruit
trees, and a great variety of the rarest seeds and
roots.  While in this country he procured from
Maryland several panniers of trees and shrubs, indigenous in that province, and directed that the
most beautiful wild flowers should be transplanted
into his gardens.
On the whole, his instructions indicate a love of
nature, and an elegance of taste, which are very remarkable.  Tradition relates, that on one occasion,
when he made a feast for his red brethren, a long
table was spread for them in the avenue leading
from the house, which was shaded by poplars; and
among the viands provided were one hundred turkeys, besides venison and other meats.
The proprietor frequently visited on horseback the
meetings of Friends, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  On one of these visits, when going to Haverford, it is related, "that he overtook a little girl
named Rebecca Wood, who was going afoot from
Darby to attend the same meeting. On coming
up with her, he enquired where she was going, and
being informed, he with his usual good nature deo
12 *




138         BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
sired her to get up behind him, and bringing his
horse to a convenient place she mounted, and so rode
away on the bare back."
This incident affords a pleasing evidence of that
kindness and condescension, which the governor
manifested towards all classes of society.
Tradition also informs us "that when he was
visiting meetings in Pennsylvania, he lodged one
night at Mierion, where a boy about twelve years old,
son of the person at whose house he lodged, being a
lad of curiosity, and not often seeing such great men,
privately crept to the chamber, up a flight of steps
on the outside of the building. On peeping through
the latchet hole, he was struck with awe in beholding
this great iman on his knees by the bed-side, and in
hearing what he said; for, he could distinctly hear
him in prayer and thanksgiving, that he was then
provided for in the wilderness."
Amllong the various objects to which his attention
was zealously directed, were the instruction and civilization of the Indian tribes, and the improvement of
the condition of the African slaves; for it was not in
his power to prevent their being brought into the
colony.  The Friends there had already, at their
Yearly Meetings in 1688 and 1696, declared the
buying, selling, and holding of men in slavery, to be
inconsistent with the Christian religion.  This entirely agreed with the sentiments of the Governor
and Council, but not with those of the Assembly;
which, being composed of men of various characters,
negatived his measures for elevating the slaves' con



WILLIAM  PENN.                 139
dition. They concluded, after much demur, to raise
the sum of two thousand pounds a year, for the expenses of the government.
He spent about two years among his people,
applying himself diligently to his various duties,
" preferring the good of the country and its inhabitants to his own private interests; rather remitting
than rigorously exacting his lawful revenues; so that,
under the influence of his paternal administration,
he left the province in an easy and a flourishing
condition."
The important subject of education had early
claimed the care of William  Penn, and of the
Friends who had emigrated to Pennsylvania. A
school was set up, in the privileges of which the poor,
as well as the rich, were to participate.  Perceiving
the necessity of establishing this on an enlarged and
permanent basis, a charter was granted by the proprietary in 1701, which was confirmed with some
alterations and enlargement of powers, by two subsequent charters in 1708 and 1711.
An extract from the preamble of the last charter
will show the liberal views of the founders of the
school: " Whereas, the prosperity and welfare of any
people depend in a great measure upon the good
education of youth, and their early instruction in the
principles of religion and virtue, and qualifying
them to serve their country and themselves by breeding them in reading, writing, and learning of languages, and useful arts and sciences, suitable to their
age, sex, and degree, which cannot be effected in any




140          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
manner so well as by erecting public schools for the
purposes aforesaid; and, whereas, &c."
William Penn directed that the seal of this corporation * should have for its inscription, "Good Instruction is better than Riches."'
Under the charter several schools were subsequently established, in which the course of instruction was liberal and comprehensive. A classical
school was carefully maintained under some of the
best teachers of their time, and a vigilant supervision
was exercised by those Friends who were chosen
overseers.
By a reference to the minutes of the corporation
some years later, we find that instructions were
given to the teachers, "that the foremost of the
pupils should be required to give in writing the
most elegant translations of the Latin authors they
have read, whether prose or verse, that their capacity
will allow; as by this practice they will more
strongly impress upon their memories the language
and subjects they are reading, improve their handwriting, style, and spelling, learn readily to write
their native language correctly mnd with elegance,
invite them to read history in English, give them a
relish for the best English authors, and induce them
to an imitation of their style and sentiments, when
they come to be exercised in composing English
* This corporate body still continues in Philadelphia,
and has under its care nine good schools, in which, without
any sectarian preferences, the poor of the city are taught
gratis, and those who are able to pay, at reasonable rates.




WILLIAM PENN.                  141
themes, or upon any occasion in public or private
life."
W*hile the founders of the religious society of
Friends fully recognized the importance of all useful
and liberal learning, to prepare their youth for the
performance of their duties, as good citizens of the
community in which they might live, they were at
the same time fully aware of the primary necessity
of training their youth in true religion, and in the fear
of God. On this subject, George Fox says, in a
letter addressed to the Society in 1683, " It is desired
that all Friends that have children, families, and
servants, may train thenl up in the pure and unspotted religion, and in the nurture and fear of God,
and that frequently they read the Holy Scriptures.
And exhort and admonish them that every family
apart, may serve and worship the Lord, as well as in
public." In unison with this, we have also a treatise
of William Penn, entitled:Christian Discipline, or certain good and wholesome Orders, for the well governing of my famil/y
in a right Christian conversation, as becometh the
Children of the Light and Truth of the most
Hlfh  God.   Divided into  Two  Parts.   By
William Penn."
From which the following extract is taken:"'Now, therefore, fear the Lord, and serve him in
sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which
your fathers served beyond the flood and in Egypt,




142         BRIEF MEMOIR OF
and serve the Lord: and if it seem evil unto you to
serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will
serve; whether the gods which your fathers served
(that were beyond the flood) or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but, as for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord.' "-JoSH. xxiv. 14, 15.
" 1. —As it becometh us, to whoml is made known
the only wise, invisible, and omnipotent God, and
that heavenly, spiritual worship, which only pleaseth
Him, —always to retain Him in our knowledge with
all due fear, godly reverence and sincere obedience;
so more especially it is my appointment in the
heavenly authority, as a Christian master of my
family, that all in it, and of it, who profess the
Truth with me, do meet and assemble every morniDng, with all humility and godly fear, to wait upon
the Almighty God or Creator, and to receive and
enjoy his living mercies and refreshing presence;
that, being sanctified by Him, we may hallow His
name, and return the praise which is due to him
from men and angels for ever.
"2. — That every day about the eleventh hour,
(unless diverted by extraordinary occasions, which is
also intended and excepted of every time herein
appointed), all come together again; and every one
in his turn, read either the Scriptures of Truth, or
some. martyrology.
"3. - That the same practice be observed about
the sixth hour in the evening; to the end, that we
may be stirred up to abhor the actions of evil doers,




WILLIAM  PENN.                 143
and to embrace and follow the example of patience,
teal, holiness, and constancy in the righteous, who
only were and are of the flock and family of God.'4. — That those days which are appointed to
meet publicly to worship God upon, none on any
pretence (being in health, and not unavoidably engaged to the contrary) neglect going to such meetings;
-but that they constantly and timely attend and
frequent the same, as becometh a family fearing the
Lord, and that is zealous for his living Truth.
" 5.- That there be a watch kept over every
mind, so as that it may not err from the counsel of
God, and the weighty government of his holy truth,
in whatsoever it is exercised about; lest darkness and
deadness come over it, and the evil one enter, to sow
all manner of evil seeds, as strife, envy, evil watchingos, levity, pride, and such like: the latter end of
such is worse than their beginning."
Taking leave of the colonists and the Indians,
William Penn embarked for England in the autumn
of 1701, and after a voyage of six weeks landed
at Portsmouth.
On Queen Anne's accession to the throne, he occasionally attended her Court, the Queen being
favourable to him, and interested by his conversation
on American affairs.  His return home had been
hastened by a report that the colonies were to be
transferred to the royal government; but this was
soon dispelled.  His accounts from  Pennsylvania
were, however, painful. The Assembly showed their




144          BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
contumacy even more than before, and disagreed
with the local government; refusing the supplies
which were really due and necessary to the Governor
in return for his generosity,  and for large outlays
which he could ill afford.
As long as William Penn lived, and for the greater
part of a century from the first foundation of the
colony, the government was conducted in its various
depa;rtillents without admlinistering  an oath; the
constable's staff was the only instrument of authority,
and soldiers were not emnployed in the province;
while all the religious bodies dwelt together on equal
terms.  What an example is here afforded to European states!
NWilliam Penn again visited as a minister some of
the western  counties of England, where his religious services were effectual to the spiritual advancemient of some, and to the restoration of others.
His pen also was often employed in the cause of
truth  and righteousness.  His trials in pecuniary
matters however increased, and greatly embittered
his declining years. To various persons he had
behaved with great generosity, but it was in many
instances ill-requited; his remittances from the
colony, on which he had expended twenty thousand
pounds, and where private wealth was rapidly accumulating, were very scanty and much in arrear,
though he earnestly intreated punctual payment to
meet his own requirements.  In fact, he seems to
have supported the government, instead of being
supported by it.  His extensive undertakings and




W ILLIAM  PENN.                145
wide spread liberality had exceeded his means.  An
unsuspecting disposition had also laid him open to
fraud.  The executors of Ford, his steward, in
whom he had placed implicit, but mistaken confidence, made heavy and very unjust demands upon
him; an expensive lawsuit, and an appeal to the
Court of Chancery followed; and, at length, obtaining no redress, in order to avoid the enforcement of
those demands, he was under the painful necessity
of again secluding himself, and living for about a
year within the rules of the Fleet.  From this he
was relieved only by mortgaging his province to some
of his friends for six thousand six hundred pounds.
"'Throughout the whole of this vexatious and
humiliating business, he exercised the patience and
fortitude of the true Christian, whose affections are
fixed not on earthly but on heavenly things, and the
beautiful remark of Isaac Norris, seamed applicable
to him, "God darkens this world to us, that our
eyes may behold  the greater brightness of his
kingdom." *
His health now began to fail; yet he still went occasionally to Whitehall, and continued some of his
active pursuits.  He had latterly resided at or near
Kensington; he now retired to Ruscombe, in Berkshire.  In 1711 he published his last production;
which, though only a preface to the writings of his
friend John Banks, and dictated as he walked up
and down the room with a cane in his hand, carries
its own evidence as the production of a master mund,
*Janney's Life of Penn.
13




146          BRIEF  MEMOIR  OP
rich in intelligence and Christian experince. In the
next year, the Assembly of Pennsylvania passed an
Act to prevent the importation of negroes, but the
home government annulled the measure.  He now
concluded to sell his province to the Queen, and
twelve thousand pounds was the price agreed on;
but, before the transfer could be made, he had
several paralytic seizures, which prevented it from
being completed.
For some years he remained in a very feeble state
of body and mind, yet full of childlike innocence and
love, often attending his own meeting, and sometimes ministering in it "with the spirit, and with
the understanding also."
About this time Thomas Story visited him, and
says, "When I went to his house I thought myself
strong enough to see him in that condition; but
whed I entered the room and perceived the great
defect of his expression for want of memory, it
greatly bowed my spirit under a consideration of the
uncertainty of all human qualifications; and what
the finest of men are soon reduced to by a disorder
of the organs of that body, with which the soul is
connected and acts during this present state of being.
When these are a little obstructed in their various
functions, a man of the clearest parts, and finest
expression, becomes scarcely intelligible. Nevertheless, no insanity or lunacy at all appeared in his
actions, and his mind was in an innocent state, as
appeared by his very loving deportment to all that
came near him. And that he had a good sense of




WILLIAM  PENN.                  147
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 was 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
judgment, but in mercy, that he might not be oppressed thereby to the end."
To some friends, who had paid him a visit and
were about to leave, he said, " My love is with you,
the Lord preserve you and remember me, in the
everlasting covenant." His faithful wife was his
judicious helper and affectionate attendant. In the
year 1718, he peacefully closed his interesting,
honourable, and laborious life, in the seventy-fourth
year of his age.
In the testimony concerning William Penn, issued
by the Monthly Meeting of Friends, for Berkshire,
England, a few months after his decease, is the following tribute to his character.
" Being a member of our monthly meeting at the
time of his decease, and for some years before, we
can do no less than say something of the character
of so worthy a man; and not only refer to other
meetings, where his residence was in former times,
who are witnesses of the great self-denial he underwent in the prime of his youth, and the patience
with which he bore many a heavy cross; but, think
it our duty to cast in our mite, to set forth in part
his deserved commendation."
"He was a man of great abilities, of an excellent




148          BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
sweetness of disposition; quick of thought and of
ready utterance; full of the qualifications of true discipleship, even love without dissimulation; as extensive in charity as comprehensive in knowledge, and
to whom malice and ingratitude were utter strangers
-ready to forgive enemies, and the ungrateful were
not excepted."
Had not the management of his temporal affairs
been attended with some deficiencies, envy itself
would be, to seek for matter of accusation; and, judging in charity, even that part of his conduct may be
attributed to a peculiar sublimity of mind, notwithstanding which he may without straining his character be ranked among the learned, good and great;
whose abilities are sufficiently manifested throughout
his elaborate writings, which are so many lasting
monuments of his admired qualifications, and are
the esteem of learned and judicious men among all
persuasions.
"And, although in old age, by reason of some
shocks of a violent disease, his intellect was much
impaired, yet his sweetness and loving disposition
surmounted its utmost efforts, and remained when
reason almost failed.
"In fine, he was learned without vanity; apt
without forwardness; facetious in conversation, yet
weighty and serious; of an extraordinary greatness
of mind, yet void of the stain of ambition; as free
from rigid gravity as he was clear of unseemly levity;
a man-a scholar-a friend; whose memorial will be
valued by the wise, and blessed with the just."




WILLIAM  PENN.                149
IA TESTIMONY OF FRIENDS IN PEIN SYLVANIA,
CONCERNING THEIR DECEASED FRIEND AND GOVERNOR, WILLIAM PENN.
" We find ourselves under obligation and concern,
both in duty and affection, to give this mark of our
love, and the honourable regard we bear to the
memory of our late worthy Governor, and wellbeloved friend William Penn; though it may not be
our part to attempt so ample and general a testimony
as seems justly called for, by his early convincement
of the blessed Truth, his noble resignation thereunto, his steadfastness therein, and great services to
the Church of Christ; as well by incessant labours
in word and doctrine, (made more extensive by the
many excellent writings he hath published), as his
valiant sufferings for purity of worship, and the testimonies he had received, which to him might be the
greater trial and conflict, his birth and station in the
world placing him more in the notice of those of
high rank amongst men, than was commonly the lot
of many others of our worthy elders. Neither can
it, we presume, be forgotten, how, when it pleased
the Lord to give some ease to his people, this our
dear friend employed the interest he then had with
success, and devoted his time and purse to serve,
not only his friends in their religious liberties, but
them and others distressed, or any wanting favour,
even to the neglect of his own just interest  But
these memorials we leave to be made by those Af our
13*




150          BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
worthy elders in Great Britain, who hare more instances and greater knowledge of those his trials,
services, and labours, than many of us can be presumed to be so fully acquainted with.
"Yet it becomes us particularly to say, that as he
was our Governor, he merited from us love, and true
honour, and we cannot but have the same regard to
his memory, when we consider the blessings and ease
we have enjoyed under'his government; and are
rightly sensible of his care, affection, and regard,
always shown with anxious concern for the safety
and prosperity of the people, who, many of them,
removed from comfortable livings to be adventurers
with him-not so much with views of better acquisitions, or greater riches, but the laudable prospect of
retired, quiet habitations for themselves and posterity,
and the promotion of truth and virtue in the earth.
And, as his love was great and endeavours constant
for the happiness of his friends, countrymen, and
fellow-subjects, so was his great tenderness, justice,
and love towards the Indians, fiom first to last,
always conspicuous and remarkable.  Here we cannot but gratefully and humbly acknowledge to the
gracious God of all our mercies, the wonderful preservation of this colony from such injuries and barbarous depredations as have befallen most others;
and add that we believe the same love wherewith the
Lord had so fully and effectually prevailed on the
heart of this our worthy fiiend, was the chief and
durable motive of his affection and kind behaviour towards those people; and was the cause, as he was made




WILLIAM  PENN.                 151
a means, of this our peace and preservation; so that
his name remains precious, even amongst the heathens.
" lore might be truly said of him as he was the
proprietary and governor of this province; and we
now find it our duty, (incited thereto by the love of
our Heavenly Father in our souls) to add a few lines
concerning him, as he was our worthy elder, friend,
and brother in the blessed Truth; many of us having
been often comforted, edified, and solaced with him
in the enjoyment thereof.  As was his testimony, so
was his conversation,-edifying and lovely, administering grace and knowledge.  His behaviour was
sweet and engaging, and his condescension great,
even to the weakest and meanest; affable and of easy
access; tender of every person and thing that had
simplicity of truth, or honesty for a foundation.
" It was our comfort to understand, that after all
his various troubles, trials, and afflictions, when, in
an advanced age, infirmity of body, and a distemper
which affected his memory in most other things
which befell him, yet the love of God remained with
him, and his sense thereof was frequently strong
and evident, and, we doubt not, the blessing of the
Almighty was his Omega.
"So that we have assured hope, those afflictions
being put off with his mortal body, immortality is
given him by our Lord Jesus, and, as he faithfully
bore the cross, the crown, which was his hope, and
long since in his eye, is his possession; and his soul
received into that bliss prepared and appointed for
the righteous.




152         BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
"Signed at the time of our General Meeting, held
in Philadelphia, the 16th of first month, 1718-19."
The last decline, and death and burial of this
venerable man are thus pathetically described* by
H. Colquhoun, a modern writer, who has shown a
greater desire than some others to do justice to his
memory.  "Gently did the Master whom he had
served guide his sinking servant through five years
of decay-so gently that the children who loved, and
the friends who tended him, watched with chastened
sorrow, not unmixed with pleasure, the moral radiance, which, in life's sunset, lingered round the
mental ruin.  In 1718 came release.  [At Jordans]
in a quiet hamlet of Buckinghamshire, by the side
of his first and much loved wife, and of the son
whom he had lost, the great philanthropist was laid
to rest; among a concourse, not of Quakers only and
neighbours, but of men from all parts of England,
drawn together by the fame of so many virtues, and
the wish to do them  homage.  A few words were
spoken by those who knew him, to the throng who
had heard of his merits; and they laid him in the
grave, which closed over great services, and an illustrious name. No stone was set to mark the spot;
but the name and services of Penn are written, in
the durable monument of religious toleration which
he secured, in the unwearying integrity which he
practised, and in the institutions of one of those
great states in the western world, which now exercise
so wide an influence over the destiny of mankind."
* " Short Sketches of some notable Lives."




WILLIAM PENN.                  153
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CALUMNIOUS CHARGES OF MACAULAY AGAINST PENN.
IN a former chapter, allusion was made to false
Jharges, which, in our own time, have been made
against William Penn.  So often has it been the lot
of good men to be misrepresented, and yet, so generally does history vindicate sooner or later the great
benefactors of the race, that these accusations might,
perhaps, be safely left to be refuted by the admitted
facts of Penn's eventful life, or by his undeniable
characteristics.  They form, however, a feature, in
what claims to be a model of historical composition,
and is unquestionably a work of genius. The vast
circulation of Macaulay's volumes, must bring his
statements under the notice of many who may have
little opportunity to test their truth; his unscrupulous
persistence in calumny will have weight with some;
while, in all ages, there are unhappily those who,
weary of hearing the praise of good men, would
gladly excuse their own faults by dwelling on the
imputed errors of the great teachers of mankind. It
seems, therefore, desirable, as briefly as possible, to
review the efforts made by Macaulay to destroy the
well earned reputation of William Penn.
Passing by vague and general assertions, which are
not attempted to be proven, it is proposed to notice
the specific charges in the order in which they occur.




154'      BRIEF MEMOIR  OF
The first is the statement in reference to the fines
imposed on the school girls at Taunton, who, under
the direction of their teacher, and unconscious of
crime, presented a standard to the Duke of Monmouth during his rebellion. The maids of honour
to the Queen, having, in accordance with a barbarous usage of that court, obtained an interest in the
fines to be wrung from these poor children, employed
an agent to make the most profitable composition
with their parents. Macaulay affirms positively, that
William Penn accepted this agency, and proceeds to
assign imaginary excuses, which he may have made
to himself for so shameful a course. The only
evidence which he adduces to prove his assertion, is
a letter from the Secretary of State, addressed to
"Mr. Penne," stating the wish of the maids of
honour to employ him for this purpose. There is
not one word of testimony to show that William
Penn accepted this agency; it is not known that any
one except Macaulay ever charged him with having
had any part in the business-and, there is no good
reason to suppose, that he was ever asked to take
such part.  There was then living a certain George
Penne, whose character fitted him for such employment, who was notoriously engaged as a "pardon
broker," and who was no doubt the person addressed
by Sunderland-his name was spelt as in the letter,
with the final "'e."  William's Penn's name, wellknown to the Secretary, and familiar through his
father, the Admiral, to all persons in official station,
was not so spelt.  A  cotemporary historian, Old



WILLIAM   IENN.                155
mixon, who lived within a few miles of Taunton,
speaks of some of the circumstances as having been
within his own knowledge, and mentions expressly
the names of the agent, and the sub-agent employed
in this business, the former a popish lawyer, and the
latter a resident of the town, in which the narrator
li.ved.  Macaulay quotes Oldmixon as authority for
a part of the story, but conceals the fact that he
mentions the real actors in a nefarious business,
which he was determined should be charged on
William Penn.
The next allegation is, that William  Penn was
actuated by a strong attraction for exhibitions, which
hiumane men generally avoid.  The criminal code
which the Legislator of Pennsylvania established in
his colony, from which capital punishment was excluded, except for the crime of murder, might have
caused a less prejudiced writer, to hesitate before
charging Penn with a want of humanity. The
occasion for this allegation, was the presence of
William  Penn, at the execution of two persons
cruelly put to death, for having humanely afforded
shelter to some of those engaged in the rebellion.
The real motive which influenced him, has been
given by Clarkson, on the  authority of Bishop
Burnett, who was no friend of Penn; it was to
enable him to make a true report to the King, and
the more efficiently to remonstrate with him against
these vindictive punishments.  Again, we are told,
that the King desiring to win over the dissenters,
nominated William Kiffin, an influential baptist, to




156          BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
be an alderman of London. This man, whose two
grandsons had been executed for alleged complicity
in the rebellion, regarded the existino government
with abhorrence, and earnestly sought to avoid the
proposed honor.  Macaulay alleges, in  his text,
that William Penn, "was employed in the work of
seduction, but to no purpose," and refers in a note
to two authorities, one of which does not allude to
Penn, and the other is the statement of Kiffin, that
he had himself sought William Penn's influence to
be excused from serving.
The manly course which Penn pursued ion the case
of the arbitrary proceeding of James, towards the
fellows of MIagdalen College, has been made the
occasion by lIacaulay of the grossest misrepresentation, and the most bitter reproach.
He affirms that the aency of Penn was employed
"to terrify, caress, or bribe the fellows into submission;" he is said to have become "a broker in
simony," and he is assumed without any adequate
reason, and indeed, against all probability, to be the
author of an anonymous letter, commencing with
" Sir," and ending with " Your affectionate servant,"
while a contemporaneous entry on an official copy of
the letter, expressly states, "' Mr. Penn disowned
this."
The facts are, that William Penn being at Oxford,
when the King visited the place, found him greatly
irritated, because the fellows had chosen Dr. Hough,
President of the College, instead of the Bishop of
Oxford, who was recommended by James, and was




WILLIAM  PENN,                 157
strongly suspected of Popery.  He had threatened
extreme violence, and justified the alarm which his
language created by his subsequent acts.  William
Penn called on the fellows, hoping that some concession might be practicable; but when he heard
their statements, he magnanimously wrote to the
King on their behalf, stating, "that their case was
hard," that "they could not yield without a breach
of their oaths, and that such mandates [as the King's]
were a force upon conscience."  Some time after
one of the fellows received an anonymous letter,
which he thought fit to attribute to William Penn,
and to him he addressed a reply. He achrowledged
Penn's former kind interference in behalf of the
College, and plead his well-known employment of
time in doing good to mankind, and using his credit
with the King for the benefit of those who might
have been misrepresented to him, as reasons for asking
his mediation with James.  Whether William Penn
replied to this letter, is not known; we only know
that he disavowed the authorship of that which had
occasioned it.  Some time after, a deputation from
the fellows visited William  Penn at Windsor —an
account of what passed, is extant in a letter from
Dr. Hough, the newly-elected President. It is upon
this paper that Macaulay founds his severest charges
against Penn; and how shamefully he has tortured
it to effect his purpose, the following statement, the
result of an able examination of the document by
the late Editor of the Tablet, will show:"Mr. Macaulay represents Penn as employed to
14




158          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
solicit the fellows; Dr. Hough represents the fellows
as coming to solicit him.
"Mr. Macaulay says that, after many professions
of friendship, Penn' began to hint at a compromise;'
1)r. Hough says,'he did not so much as offer at any
proposal by way of accommodation, which was the
thing I most dreaded.'
" Mr. Macaulay makes his readers believe that the
topics urged by Penn, were urged to persuade them
to compromise; Dr. Hough describes them as used
to convince the fellows that there was little hope of
success from his intercession.
" Mr. Macaulay represents Penn as trying to
overcome the scruples of the fellows to the commission of perjury; Dr. Hough represents him as admitting that the fellows gave satisfactory answers to
his' objections.'
"3Mr. Macaulay represents Penn as talking the
merest drivel, relying solely on James's moderation,
and willing to give the' Papists' two or three
colleges in mere wanton injustice; Dr. Hough (most
unwillingly) shows that Penn thought the'Papists'
had a right to two or three colleges, and believed
they would abstain from further demands, because it
would be dangerous to ask for more.
" Mr. Macaulay describes the result of the interview as the'breaking off of a negotiation' by the
fellows; Dr. Hough describes it as the concession of
a favour by Penn.
"In short, in every part of it, in general and in
detail, no version of the interview could be imagined




WILLIAM  PENN.                 159
or invented, more remote from the truth than that
given by Mr. Macaulay.  It is true, that when
somebody mentioned the Bishop of Oxford's indisposition, Penn'smiling,' asked the fellows how they
would like Hough to be made a Bishop.  This
remark, made as a joke, answered by Mr. Cradock as
a joke, and even by Dr. Hough, who answered it
more seriously —not taken as an'offer at any proposal
by way of accommodation' -this casual piece of
jocosity-picked out of a three hours' conversationreported by one interlocutor without the privity of
the other - and, if taken seriously, at variance with
every other part of the conversation, and unconnected
with its general tenor, is gravely brought forward as
a proof that a man, otherwise honest, deliberately intended to use'simnony' as a bait to tempt a divine to
what both parties klewlv to be'perjury.'
"If Mr. Macaulay were Crown counsel, arguing
for Penn's conviction before a common jury, such a'point' would be too gross even for the license of the
Old Bailey.  But, if this be admitted as a canon,
not of the venal advocate, but of the grave historian,
who, by virtue of his function, is bound to judicial
soberness and impartiality, what help is there for the
characters of honest men..
" Surely, then, an examination into the true facts
of this Oxford business, makes it not unjust to Mr.
Macaulay to assert, that his charges against Penn of'intimidation,' of being a'broker in simony of a
peculiarly discreditable kind,' of endeavours'to
tempt a divine to perjury,' to'terrify or bribe' men




160          BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
to forsake'the path of right,' are all groundless;
that his statement, that even in the first instance he
was employed by the Court, is unproved; and that
the impression given, that he was its agent in the
last and most important interview, is the very reverse
of the truth; the requests for his intercession, which
(says Forster) his reputation for' doing good to mankind,' and honest struggles to'undeceive' the King,
induced such men as Bailey to make to him, being
construed, as in the case of Kiffin, into attempts on
his part to seduce and efforts to frighten.
"It would be hard to find any other history, in
which the very virtues of a man are thus twisted
into grounds for the most injurious attacks upon his
character."
It has frequently been charged upon William
Penn, and Macaulay renewed the allegation, that,
in his "intemperate" zeal for religious liberty, he
had supported the King in attempting to rule without the aid of Parliament.  But there is positive
evidence, well known to Macaulay, which proves that
the reverse was the truth. "Penn," says Sir James
Mackintosh, quoting contemporary authority, "' desired a Parliament as the only mode of establishing
toleration without subverting the laws;" and in the
Yearly Meeting's Address to the King, on the occasion of his "Christian Declaration for liberty of conscience," which was presented by William Penn,
it was expressly stated, that they looked "to such a
concurrence from Parliament, as may secure it to
their posterity in after times."




WILLIAM  PENN.                 161
On a review of William Penn's whole conduct, in
connection with King James, it is perfectly clear,
that he abetted the Court in no act of cruelty or
injustice, conspired with it in no effort to despoil
the established Church of England, but used all his
influence, and even plainly remonstrated with the
King against such acts, and such efforts; that while
he wrote and laboured assiduously for the promotion
of civil and religious liberty, he earnestly advocated its
establishment by authority of law, and not by an unconstitutional edict of the  monarch.  It is also
clearly proven, that his modern traducer, while carefully selecting, and greatly misconstruing, such passages as might in this way be made to injure Penn's
character, has as carefully declined to notice others
which clearly establish his innocence, even when
quoting such authorities for other purposes.
It remains to notice those statements which have
reference to the alleged efforts of William Penn to
replace James on the throne of England. Our review
of the absurd charges which Macaulay has reproduced
under this head, will be brief. If true, they involve
a total abnegation by Penn, of principles, to the promotion of which he had given himself from his
youth, for which he had suffered the severance of
the closest family ties, had undergone severe imprisonment, had sacrificed his fortune, and had
perilled his life.  Had clear historical evidence substantiated these charges, we would have been, however reluctantly, obliged to confess that one of the
noblest contributions to the cause of- morals, of
14*




162         BRIEF MEMOIR OF
liberty and religion, which the world has yet wit.
nessed, was made by a man, who, ere he had passed
middle life, had basely abandoned the cause which
he had espoused, and turned back again with singular
avidity into the paths of folly and of vice. The
world has yet to witness a more astounding fall from
purity, and true nobility of character, to the grossest
depravity combined with consummate hypocrisy,
than that which is presented in the life of the
Founder of Pennsylvania, if Macaulay be a truthful
historian. Happily for the cause of truth, virtue,
and human progress, their enemy is not Penn, but
his assailant.
In his third and fourth volumes, Macaulay has
charged William Penn with being one of a band of
conspirators to restore King James, by the aid of the
French army. On this charge Penn had been tried
before the Privy Council, at a time when popular
prejudice was against him, on account of his former
intimacy with Jamles, and acquitted. But this does
not satisfy our scrupulous historian.  He rests his
allegation upon the confession of one of the conspirators. This man, Preston, we are told, named Penn
as one of his associates in the plot; and, upon his
evidence, warrants were issued against him. Happily,
the historian most effectuallyr discredits his only witness, when he tells us what sort of a person he was.
It appears, from this statement, that he was convicted of treason, and under sentence of death; had
witnessed the execution of a fellow conspirator, who
refused to make a confession; was promised that his




WILLIAM  PENN.                 163
life should be spared, if he would make disclosures;
that he was wholly unmanned by his situation; that
the struggle between "pride, conscience, and party
spirit," on the one side, and " intense love of life,"
on the other, was severe; that under the stimulus of
wine, he was bold in refusing to confess, but weak
and wavering, when the excitement was passed; that
he "wrote a confession every forenoon when sober,
and burned it every night when merry." " The fatal
hour drew nigh, and the fortitude of Preston gave
way." He made his pretended disclosures, was released, and retired to pass the rest of his life with
"blighted fame, and a broken heart."  If it were
needful to disprove the evidence given under such
circumstances, by a witness so utterly discredited by
the historian himself, it would be quite sufficient to
revert to the subsequent acquittal of Penn after trial,
and to the remarkable fact, that not one of the parties named by Preston suffered further inconvenience
from his allegations against them, than restraint so
brief, as clearly to show, that the government placed
no reliance upon the testimony of the witness.
When examined at his own request before the
Privy Council on this charge, William Penn declared
himself a faithful subject to William and Mary, protesting, as in the Divine presence, that he knew ne
plot, unless the projects of the French government
might be such. With a levity not unworthy of the
folly of his assertion, Macaulay calls this telling
something very like a lie, "and confirming it by
something very like an oath."  Having completely




164         BRIEF  MEMOIR  OF
discredited his only authority for a statement at
variance with Penn's honest declaration, the historian's charge of falsehood needs no further refutation, while a reverent affirmation of the truth, as in
the Divine presence, was, as is well known, not esteemed by W. Penn, or his contemporaries, to partake of the character of an oath.
There are few things more remarkable than the
fact, that when Macaulay brings a serious charge
against William  Penn, he almost invariably relies
upon authority, the value of which he himself elsewhere utterly destroys.  In his fourth volume, he
gravely tells, that no sooner had William Penn been
acquitted of the charges brought against him, than
he sent a message to King James, earnestly exhorting him to invade England with 30,000 men.  For
this assertion, he gives two authorities: one is a
paper drawn up at St. Germains, under the direction
of Melfort; the other is Avaux, the representative
of the French King in the camp of James, when he
invaded Ireland.  Statements so difficult of belief,
would seem to require at least one responsible witness., and a severe examination.  Taking his own
estimate of his authorities for these grave charges,
we are forced to the conclusion, that they have been
made without the testimony of a single credible
witness, and with inconceivable recklessness.
Melfort, he tells us, "was an apostate, he was
believed to be an insincere apostate;" again, Melfort, it is said, "was a renegade, he was a mortal
enemy of his country; he was of a bad and tyranni



WILLIAXM  PENN.                165
cal nature;"' " the abhorrence of England and Scotland."  Speaking of some intercepted letters, he
says, "they proved to be from  Melfort, and were
worthy of him - every line indicated those qualities
which made him the abhorrence of his country;"
and, in another place, he charges him with " a certain audacious baseness which no English statesman
could emulate." If we test the value of the evidence
borne by Avaux, it is equally worthless.
There is some question whether the statement of
the man warrants the conclusions drawn from it.
But, if it does, inasmuch as William Penn had a
few months before declared, that "he never had the
wickedness to think of endeavouring to restore"
James to the throne of England, it is simply a
question of veracity between Penn and Avaux, endorsed by Macaulay. But, the latter has but a few
pages before, given us his opinion of his own witness.' It is not too much to say that, of the difference
between right and wrong, Avaux had no more notion
than a brute; one sentiment was to him in the place
of religion and morality, a superstitious and intolerant
devotion to the crown which he served. This sentiment pervades all his despatches, and gives a colour
to all his thoughts and words."  In a'question,
then, of truthfulness, between William Penn and
the Count of Avaux, few will probably hesitate.
But, it is more difficult to determine the precise
position on the scale of morals of that writer, who
dares to pollute the stream of history with the fecu



166          BRIEF  MEMOIR OF
lence of one, whom  he had himself ranked in moral
sensibility with the brutes.
We cannot better conclude this little volume, than
by inserting the following eloquent and instructive
passages from  the pamplhlet, which has supplied the
larger portion of the material for this chapter.*
Speaking of William Penn, the writer remarks,
" he was not a man who could make one duty an
excuse for shirking another: within his conscience
there was no conflict between the claims of religion
and patriotism: he did not fly from the world, but
faced it with true words and true deeds, as one who,
as he said himself when, during the storm of persecution, he rebuked a powerful persecutor,'was above
the fear of man, whose breath is in his nostrils, and
must one day come to judgment, because he only
feared the living God, that made the heavens and the
earth.' This reverential fear of God -this it was
that made him fearless of man, that gave him'integrity' to'stand firm against obloquy and persecution,' and not against them  alone, but gave him
power over himself; strength to resist temptations
from within as well as to sustain violence from without; for it must be borne in mind, that he was not
one of those who take to piety only when wearied of
pleasure, ceasing to pluck the rose because they have
been pricked by its thorns.  This'strong sense of
* William Penn and Thomas B. Macaulay. - By W. E.
Forster.




WILLIAM PENN.                   167
religious duty' was not his because his other senses
were weak, or because he had satiated them; nor did
he refrain from enlisting himself in the service of
God till he had proved Mammnion to be a hard master,
but, in the strength of his passions, he controlled
them: in the spring-time of life, when the prizes of
pleasure and ambition were before him, he chose the
path of self-denial, and walked in it to the end.
"And, this son of a courtier, who thus preferred
a prison to a court; who chose as the companions of
his youth, men, whose very name was a bye-word of
scorn, who, until his forty-first year, had led a life
of consistent self-control, and proved his sincerity
by his sufferings and sacrifices, can it be believed
that he could have thus suddenly found his' resolution give way,' even though'courtly smiles and
female blandishments, had been' offered' as'bribes
to his vanity?'
Mr. Macaulay's faith in.human virtue must indeed
have been sorely tried-his estimate of the strength
of religious duty must be but slight-or, instead of
suspecting " the eminent virtues of such a man," he
would have questioned the probability of so strange
a. fall. But, like most men who are over-doubting
in one direction, he is too believing in another, for,
if he has little faith in the truth of Penn's professions, he has at least a firm confidence in the certainty of his own suspicions - if he be sceptical of
virtue, he compensates for it by being credulous of
vice; and so, if he refuses to listen to the concurrent




168          BRIEF MEMOIR OF
testimony of " rival nations and hostile sects," he yet
gives full credence to the insinuations of party prejudice, and makes up for his disbelief in the general
estimiate of Penn's character by an admission of
charges, respecting which it is hard to discover the
facts of which they are the distortion.
But the voice of history cannot be thus silenced:
she has already recorded her judgment, from which
there is no appeal; nor should Mr. Macaulay cavil at
its justice, for, strange as it may seem to him, there
is in it no mystery.
This Quaker was a strong and a brave, and therefore a free man: he ruled hinlself, and fearing God,
feared no other; and so he made posterity his debtor,
for, that spirit which won freedom for himself, he
left to it as a legacy, and there is no fear that the
debt due to him will be unpaid, so long as the inheritance remains.
The memory of good men is sacred: we treasure
it, as we value our safety in the present - our hope
for the future; for, on what, after all, depends our
national freedom, of which Mr. Macaulay so often
and so loudly vaunts? - most assuredly not, as he
would seem to think,* on the limitations of the prerogative of our rulers, handed down to us from our
ancestors, but on that spirit of individual justice,
which, inasmuch as it breathed in their hearts, made
that freedom both possible and necessary, of the
* Macaulay, vol. i. chap. 1.




WILLIAM PENN.                   169
strength whereof these limitations were and are the
exact measure.  It is not to the fact that for ages
past Englishmen have had the habit of preventing
their kings from  taking their money, or making or
breaking laws at their pleasure, that they owe what
liberties they possess.  These " three great constitutional principles," * as Mr. Macaulay calls them, are
indeed the signs of our freedom, their prevalence has
been the measure of its growth, but to suppose them
to be its origin is to commit the absurdity of taking
the effect for the cause. Individual self-government,
that alone is the cause of national freedom -the
source and guarantee of the liberty of the subjectfor that alone makes personal liberty compatible with
social order; and of this power of self-control, the
force whereof gauges the freedom of all governments,
and without which all constitutions —yes, even the
" glorious constitution of 1688" - are mere wastepaper-of this power the highest possible ideal is " a
strong sense of religious duty."
Alas, then, for our liberties, if ever, as a nation,
we follow the example of MIr. Macaulay, and reverence, in place of this spirit, those forms which are
but its expression, for then indeed will they become
to us a mockery and a stumbling-block, but until we
do so, there is no fear that we shall forget that " for
the authority of law, for the security of property, for
the peace of our streets, for the happiness of our
Macaulay, vol. i. p. 29.
15




170  MEMOIR OF WILLIAM PENN.
homes, our gratitude is due," not alone' to the
Long Parliament, to tile Convention, and to William
of Orange," *-to them indeed, but if to them, then
also to that "l mythical person," whose life, grotesque
as may have been its garb, was, more than that of
any politician of his day, the incarnation of this
spirit of self-control, and whose words and deeds
yet dwell within our memories as witnesses of its
power.
* Macaulay, concluding paragraph of vol. ii.




APPENDIX.
(See page 81.)
A REMARKABLE confirmation of the truth of this testimony in favour of the Indians, is found in the speech of
Senator Houston of Texas, during the debate on the
Army bill in the United States Senate, in the session of
1857-8. IHe said:
" I was associated with the Indians, for they were in
the army of Jackson in the Creek Nation. After that,
in 1817, when still a subaltern in the army, I was appointed an agent by the government-the first subagent that ever was appointed: and for twelve months
I was again associated with them in the transaction of
business, and renewed the old associations of boyhood.
After the duties of my agency were over, occasionally
those associations were preserved, and when, in after
life, reverses came upon me, and dark clouds fell upon
my pathway, I spent in exile four years with the
Indians, with various tribes. Tell me I do not understand the Indian? Too well I understand his wrongs.
Tell me that, with all the advantages of education, and
all the bright associations of the world, and in all the
galas of fashion, you are to learn the Indian's character
and disposition, and the history of his wrongs! No, sir,
they are in tradition: they are not in history, and I have
learned them. I know them. I know his disposition;
(171)




172               APPENDIX.
I know it well, and better than any officer who is on the
frontier of the United States.
If I had not the experience which I have cited, this
might be considered boasting; but I feel that I only
state the tlruth. I know that their character is as I have
stated, for I have not failed to conciliate them wherever
I have tried; and how? By even-handed justice. Hold
the scales of justice suspended with a steady hand
between yourself and the Indian, and you will have no
danger firom him: it will not be necessary to suspend
the sword above his head, like the sword of Damocles.
Why, sir, with one twentieth part of the money expended to support the army, or even less, you could feed
the Indians on our borders, and clothe them in comfortable garments-; and then you would need no army except
to take care of your fortresses, and keep your arms in
order; for I am sure you never can rely on a regular
army, unless you make it like the European armies, of
hundreds of thousands of men."
THE ]I~.