ton's plot and his interview with Sidney, rest upon a perversion of facts, and an unfair quotation; and lastly, that his ninth charge, relating to Penn's alleged message to James, exhorting him to invade England with 30,000 men, is absolutely false.*

Those who examine this question impartially, can hardly fail to arrive at the conclusion expressed by a British critic in the Westminster Review:-"Induced," he says, "by the voice of the calumniator to give the character of Penn a searching and uncompromising scrutiny, we rise from the task under the firm conviction that he was one of the best and wisest of men."

On the abdication of James II., and the accession of William and Mary, all the friends or intimates of the exiled monarch fell under public odium, most of them deservedly, but, in the case of Penn, the abuse heaped upon him arose from a misapprehension of his motives and conduct, and from the aspersions of his enemies. On the 10th of December, 1688, he was sent for by the Lords of the Council then sitting. In reply to their questions, he assured them that "he had done nothing but what he could answer for before God and all the princes in the world; that he loved his country and the Protestant religion above his life, and never acted against either; that all he ever aimed at in his public endeavors was no other than what the Prince [William] declared for; that King James was always his friend and his father's friend, and in gratitude he was the King's, and did ever, as far as in him lay, influence him to his true interest." Although nothing appeared against him, he was required to give sureties for his appearance the first day of the next term.

At the next term his case was continued to the Easter term following, when nothing being laid to his charge, he was cleared in open court.

In the year 1690 he was again arrested and brought before the Lords of the Council. His answer, as before, was manly, candid, and wise. He was ordered to give bail to appear at

* J. Paget's Inquiry, pp. 15, 27, 37, 57-9, 79, 87, 94, 101, 102, 109.

the next Trinity term, which he did; and at the time appointed he appeared in court, and was honorably discharged. Soon afterward, his name was included in a proclamation issued for the arrest of eighteen persons supposed to be disaffected to the Government. He was again apprehended, and lodged in prison to await his trial; and when brought before the Court of the King's Bench, there being no evidence against him, he was discharged.

Being now at liberty, he made preparations for a voyage to America; and while thus engaged, he learned that an infamous wretch, named William Fuller, whom the Parliament afterwards declared was "a cheat and a notorious impostor," had, under oath, accused him to the Government, and that a warrant was issued for his apprehension. This vexatious proceeding deranged all his plans; for, to leave England while he was under suspicion and subject to arrest, would be construed by his enemies as evidence of his guilt; and if he surrendered himself for trial, he would probably be exposed to danger from the oaths of a profligate villain, and even an acquittal, as he had frequently experienced, was no security against fresh accusations. In this sad dilemma, feeling like one hunted for his life, he concluded to defer his cherished purpose of returning to Pennsylvania. He allowed the ships to depart without him, and having taken private lodgings in London, he lived in seclusion. If the Government had been desirous for his apprehension, doubtless the officers could readily have found him at his lodgings; but it appears probable that the King and Queen were satisfied of his innocence, and only permitted his name to be inserted for effect, to satisfy popular clamor.

When the Yearly Meeting of Friends assembled in London, Penn wrote them from his retreat a touching and affectionate letter, in which he says: "My privacy is not because men have sworn truly, but falsely against me." During his seclusion of nearly three years, he was frequently visited by his friends, among whom were John Locke and others eminent for their worth. His time was usefully occupied in

study and writing religious works. The dates of these works and of his letters yet extant, prove that the story of his flight to France was a sheer fabrication.

In the autumn of 1692, a commission was granted by the sovereigns, William and Mary, to Benjamin Fletcher, Governor of New York, directing him to take under his jurisdiction the Province of Pennsylvania and the Territories annexed. This step was urged by the enemies of Penn as necessary for the safety of the colony. It was said that the French and Indians threatened the frontier settlements, that no defence had been provided by the Colonial Government, and that the Province and the Territories being at variance, no efficient administration of the laws could be expected.

In the latter part of the year 1693, through the intercession of some noblemen who had long been his friends, the case of William Penn was again brought before King William, who being satisfied of his innocence, signified his wish that he should consider himself entirely at liberty. This pleasing change in his affairs, and the circumstances attending his interview with the Secretary of State, are related in a letter of Penn's to Thomas Lloyd and others in Pennsylvania. His wife, who had tenderly sympathized with him in all his trials, was permitted to see him again restored to liberty; but in the following month she was removed by death. He has left an affectionate tribute to her worth in a touching and beautiful memorial.

By a patent from the King and Queen, dated August, 1694, the government of Pennsylvania was restored to William Penn. He was now earnestly desirous of removing to the Province; but the situation of his domestic affairs, and probably the state of his finances, obliged him to defer it. He appointed Capt. William Markham his Lieutenant-Governor,— Thomas Lloyd, his former deputy, having died a few months previously. From the time Penn was reinstated in his government until his arrival in the Province in 1699, a period of five years, there are few incidents of importance on record concerning the colony, which appears to have enjoyed peace and prosperity.

After Penn's acquittal and restoration to his proprietary rights, there was in the public mind a reaction in his favor, and he rose higher than ever in the estimation of his friends. There is now extant a small volume of his sermons, delivered at different meeting-houses in London about this time, which having been taken in short-hand and published, afford evidence that he had again become an object of public interest.

In the spring of 1696, he again entered the married state. He chose for his second wife, Hannah, the daughter of Thomas Callowhill, and grand-daughter of Dennis Hollister, both respectable merchants of Bristol, and members of the Society of Friends. She proved to be a true help -meet for him, being a woman of superior understanding and great prudence.

On the 9th of September, 1699, he embarked for Pennsylvania, and brought with him certificates from Friends in England, addressed to the meetings of Friends in Pennsylvania, showing that he was in full unity with the meetings of his own Society, and greatly beloved among them.

It was a joyful day to the inhabitants of Pennsylvania when the ship Canterbury was announced, bearing to their shores the illustrious founder of the colony; who, after an absence of fifteen years, had come with his family, intending to make it his permanent home. After a tedious voyage of more than three months, the ship arrived at Chester on the 1st of December, 1699, and soon after proceeded on her way to Philadelphia, where the Governor was greeted by the inhabitants with joy and respect.

In the spring or summer of the year 1700, William Penn and his family settled on Pennsbury Manor, a beautiful estate situated in Bucks County, four miles above Bristol, on the river Delaware.

It appears from the Colonial Records that Penn, in the spring of 1700, brought before the Provincial Council a law for regulating the marriages of negroes, which was approved by that body, but lost in the popular branch. It is stated that he mourned over the state of the slaves, but his attempts to

improve their condition by legal enactments were defeated in the House of Assembly. His efforts were more successful in his own religious Society; for, upon his suggestion, the Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia made a minute expressive of the concern they felt for the negroes and Indians; that Friends should be very careful in discharging a good conscience towards them in all respects, but more especially for the good of their souls; and with this view religious meetings should be held among them. It is manifest that the first concern for their slaves, on the part of the Friends in that day, was to promote their spiritual welfare; and as they attended to this, their minds were gradually opened to see that slaveholding is inconsistent with Christianity. It was not, however, until after many years of persevering religious effort that the Society was enabled to free itself from a practice that had, in an unwatchful hour, been permitted to take root.

Penn, at one time, owned a few slaves, but when his eyes were opened to see the evils of the system, he liberated all that were in his possession. This fact is substantiated by a will he made in 1701, which is still extant, and contains this clause: "I give to my blacks their freedom, as is under my hand already, and to old Sam 100 acres, to be his children's after he and his wife are dead, forever."

At several meetings of the Governor and Council the subject of the Indian trade was discussed, and it was resolved that a company be formed, "who should take all measures to induce the Indians to a true value and esteem of the Christian religion, by setting before them good examples of probity and candor, both in commerce and behaviour, and that care should be taken to have them duly instructed in the fundamentals of Christianity."

While Penn was earnestly engaged in devising measures to promote the prosperity of his province, he received letters from his friends in England, stating that "strenuous endeavors were used by several united interests, to procure an act of Parliament for annexing to the Crown the several propri