Author Title Imprint 16—47372-3 OPO fmn. THE I N DI AN'S FRIEND, Founder of Pennsylvania. TO WHICH IS ADDED Bl-CENTENNIAL POEM, OF 80 LINES. Camden, N. J. ■^-. - ViST. 2. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, 1). ft, A. B. 1882. LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM PENN. Ever since this world has been inhabited by mankind, there have I)een men whose characters have stood out pre-eminently from the great majority. In speaking of the past, some have to be admired as poets and painters ; others as having displayed their intellectual powers as philosophers and statesmen, and a number, not less worthy of our admiration, as theologians and historians. Many eminent men have appeared on this world's stage, in these different departments of science and art, but as they were dust, unto dust have they returned, showing us that as the leaves of successive autumns follow each other to the earth, so do the various generations of men pass on to the tomb. IJut, although they have di.sappeared from amongst us themselves, they have left behind them words and works which will live and be admired till nature itself decays. William Penn has not left behind him any great works which show him to have been a great literary character, but he might have pro- duced greater works than he has done had he not employed so mucli of his time in defending and advancing the Quaker religion, the Ull, if wc had our choice of only a few of them, we are sure we could all find some that we could fancy above the rest. So is it in the moral world as in the natural. Although we ought to love all men, )-et there are some wlio deserve greater praise and higher admiration than others. We have chosen William Penn as a flower that bloomed in the past, and without any further intro- duction, we will now ])roceed to give you a brief sketch of his life and character. WiiJ.iAM Prnx. 3 William IVMin wa.s the son of Admiral Sir William Penn, a dis- Linguished naval officer. He was l)orn in London, in the year 1644. and received the first rudiments of his education at Chigwell school in Essex, England. This place was particularly convenient for him, lieing near Wanstead, which was then the country residence of his father. As something remarkable is usually said of all great men in the early part of their lives, so it is said of him, that when he was alone in his chamber, being then eleven years old, he was suddenly surprised with an inward comfort, and as he thought, an external glory in the room, which gave rise to religious emotions, during which he had the strongest convictions of the being of a God, and that the soul of man was capable of enjoying communion with him. He believed he had been awakened or called upon to a holy life. But whatever was the external occasion, or whether any or none, certain it was, that while he vras at Chigwell school, his mind was seriously impressed on the subject of religion. Having left Chigwell at twelve years of age, he went to a private school on Tower Hill, which was near to his father's London resi- dence. Here he had great advantages, for his father, to promote his s( holarship, kept for him a private tutor in his own house. At the age of fifteen he had made such progress in his studies, that it was lliought fit to send him to college. Accordingly he was sent to Christ's Church, Oxford. Here he paid great attention, and took great delight in his college exercises, yet allowing himself ample time for reasonable recreation. And though he pursued his studies, and at times indulged in manly sports, he never forgot the religious impressions which he had received at Chigwell school. These had been considerably strengthened by the preaching of Thomas Loe, a layman, who had belonged to the University of O.^ord, but had then become a Quaker. The doctrines which he promulgated seem to have given a new turn to the mind of Penn. Accordingly he, with a few other students, whom he found to have rcli'dous emotions in unison with his own. withdrew from the Life and Character of national forms of worship, and hold private meetings, where they carried on devotional exercises amongst themsehes. This gave great offence to the heads of the college, and Penn, at the age of sixteen, with the others, was fined for non-conformity. At this time an order came down from Charles the Second that surplices should be worn by the students according to the custom of ancient times. This was an unusual sight then at the universit)-. Penn thought that the simplicity and spirituality of the christian religion would be destroyed by the introduction of outward cere- monies and forms, was entirely opposed to them. He and several others fell upon their felloAv-students who appeared in them, and tore them over their 'heads. Being guilty of such conduct they were expelled from college. In our opinion, we do not think he was justified in going so rashly to work, and though we do not see any good which would have resulted from the wearing of the surplices, neither can we see any harm, so that Ave give him no credit for the manner in which he acted in this affair. After his expulsion from college he returned home. His father received him coldly, on account of the public disgrace he had incurred ; but "he w-as more displeased at him for abandoning what he called, the fashionable world, and mixing only with serious and religious people. His fiither thought that his manners, and the company he held, would be an obstruction in the way of his getting on in the world. He argued with him ; this had no effect. He proceeded to blows ; but made nothing by that. He, therefore, turned him out of doors. The father, however, either relenting, or hoping to gain his point by other means, brought him back to his own house. Afterward he sent him to France, hoping that the change of scene and the gaiety of French manwers might wean him from his old connections. l^emaining a short time in Paris, he then proceeded to Italy, and irom thence home. This journey had not the desired effect his Willi AM Pexx. rather wished : another j)lan must be tried, and liaving three estates in Ireland, he sent him there to take the management of them. All went on well for a short time, but Penn happening to be at Cork on business, was informed that Thomas Loe (before mentioned) was to preach in that city soon. He heard him preach, and the effect was the conviction of Penn, who afterwards constantly attended the meetings of the Quakers, notwithstanding all obstacles. Shortly after this he was at another meeting of the Quakers, and a iiroclaraation having been issued against all tumultuous assemblies, iie and many others were committed to prison. In prison he wrote to a party of some influence, stating his case, and he was discharged from his i)lace of confinement. His father was informed that he had become a Quaker, and sent for him to come home. The son obeyed, and the interview which passed between them is said to have been very affecting. It seems that his father ardently desired the promotion of his temporal interests, which he feared would be hindered by the way of life he had embraced. The son, sensible of the duty he owed his parents, and afflicted in believing that he could not obey him, but at the risk of his eternal welfare, humbly informed him that he could not act contrary to his conscience, for which he was expelled the second time from the pater;ial roof. We have to view him now as thrown upon the world without the means of subsistence, deriving support only from the belief that those who left houses, and parents, and land, for the kingdom of God's .sake, would not be left unprovided for. His mother kept up a correspondence with him privately, and sent him money ; he was also looked to by other kind friends, so that he was never left destitute. In his twenty-fourth year he became a preacher of the gosi)el and an author. But being a Quaker, and owing to the doctrine that he taught as such, coupled with the severity of the times, he was again put in prison. In this place he wrote a work entitled " No Cress, 6 Life and Character of No Crown," the [)urport of whicli was to show that those who did not suffer for Christ here would not wear a crown in heaven. This work is rich in doctrine and scriptural example, profuse in a display of history ; shows that its author must have been an extensive reader, and had a considerable knowledge of the world. After being in confinement for several months, a message was sent from the king for his discharge ; and no sooner was he liberated himself, than we find him employing his time in visiting those of his suffering brethren, comforting them under their trials and sufferings. He drew up an account of several of their cases and presented them to the Council— the result of whicli was that an order was obtained for their release. The Conventicle Act came out this year (1670) by which the meeting of dissenters was forbidden under severe penalties. Penn was one of the earliest victims to its decrees. As usual he preached and, as usual, he was put in prison for doing so. In a short time his ever memorable trial came on, which lasted five days. On the third day, the jury returned a verdict of "Not Guilty," to the great dissatisfaction of the persons present on the bench as justices ; they were kept in confinement two days longer, without receiving any refreshment. On the fifth day they returned the same verdict. They were fined in forty marks each for not finding the prisoner guilty, and Penn was fined the same for having his hat on while in court. .He could not pay the fine, and was kept in confinement. His father, however, soon after paid it, and he got out of his cell once more to have a sight of the green trees around him and the blue sky above him. This trial is inserted in his works, and any reader will be amply repaid by a perusal of it. It shows how nobly Penn stood up in his own defence; his legal knowledge; his firmness; and the oppression of the times. His father became reconciled to him, took ill, and sent for him : told him on his dying bed to do nothing against his conscience ; admired him for his plain way of preaching, plain way of living, and left him an estate worth fifteen thousand pounds per annum. William I'exn. 7 Again was he put in lu-ison. ^\'hile th'erc he wrote to the High Court of Parliamenl. Comes out of prison ; travels into Holland and Germany, reuirns to I^ngland and gets married, as all wise men do, and settled down at RickmansAvorth in Hertfordshire. During the next eight years of his life, from his twenty-eighth to his thirty- sixth year, his time is chiefly emjiloyed in writing works of various kinds, such as "England's Present Interest Considered;" ''Naked Truth Needs no Shift:" ^-.Xn Epistle to the Children of Light in this Generation;" " I'jigland's Great Interest in the Choice of a New Parliament," and about thirty others on topics similar to the above, all of which are i)roofs of an nctive mind : one well stocked with knowledge, and applied to the welfare of his country. Penn's father had advanced large sums of money for the good of the naval service, and his pa)' was also in arrears. For these two claims the government was indebte