V.

William Penn:

THE FOUNDER OF PENNSYLVANIA.

A.D. 1644-1718.

"Who is the honest man?

He that doth still and strongly good pursue,
To God, his neighbour, and himself most true:
Whom neither force nor fawning can

Unpin, or wrench, from giving all their due."

GEORGE HERBERT.

William Penn.

The rugged heights loom 'gainst the distant skies,
And near, the river rolls its ample tide,
Whose banks now echoing with the bittern's cries,
Soon shall be crowned with a great city's pride.
Beneath an elm, whose noble branches spread
Far o'er the sward a vast and solemn shade,
I see a motley throng; a scene I tread

Whose loving memories may never fade.
There stands the lawgiver, and round him bend
The Sachems of the forest, silent all,

While the just words in simple sweetness fall
From that great Onas whom they boast their friend!
Ah, day of fame !-the birthtime of a state-
Was it not truth and justice made thee great?

Publishes his first work-Imprisoned in the Tower of London,

1668

Committed to Newgate for preaching-Tried and acquitted-Death of

Founds the colony of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia,
Arrested on suspicion of being a Papist-Is immediately released,
Second visit to Pennsylvania,

Is seized with paralysis,

His death, which takes place at Ruscombe in Berkshire,

1682-1684

1688

1699-1701

1712

1718

William Penn:

FOUNDER OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CHAPTER I.-HIS EARLY YEARS.

Birth and Parentage-His Education-Is sent to Oxford-A Continental' TourMilitary Experience-A New Life-Becomes a Quaker-Family Strife---A Reconciliation-Clouds and Shadows-Penn visits Ireland-Home.

AVE

ILLIAM PENN, the illustrious founder of Penn

sylvania, was the son of William Penn, the great Commonwealth seaman, and Margaret his wife, and was born on Monday morning, the 14th of October 1644, in the parish of St. Catherine, near the Tower of London.

The Penns were originally an old Buckinghamshire family, but the branch from which descended Penn's seafaring progenitor, had settled in Wiltshire early in the sixteenth century. From thence, Giles Penn, marrying a Somersetshire lady, removed to Bristol, where the future knight and admiral was born in 1621. At an early age he showed a strong liking for a naval life, and on board his father's vessel-a Mediterranean trader-he soon acquired a thorough knowledge of the profession he had

chosen. He then entered the royal navy, and was almost immediately promoted to a captaincy, which, as he was not yet twenty-one, must be accepted as a signal testimony to his skill and seamanship. During his previous adventures he had made the acquaintance of a fair lady of Rotterdam, Margaret, the daughter of John Jasper, a rich Dutch merchant. His advancement supplied him with the means of marrying, and the gallant English captain and the young Dutch beauty were accordingly united on the 6th January 1643.

His

Shortly after, Captain Penn being forced to choose between King and Parliament, adopted the party of the latter, and was rewarded with the command of the Fellowship, of 28 guns, ordered on a cruise in the Irish Seas. He set sail on his voyage a few days after the birth of his son, and commenced under the most favourable auspices what was destined to be an eminently successful career. services were of such importance, his skill and activity so conspicuous, that he was made a rear-admiral at twenty-tree; vice-admiral of Ireland at twenty-five; and vice-admiral of the Straits at twenty-nine (A.D. 1650).* His further fortunes, however, I shall have occasion to notice in the course of my narrative of his son's quieter but not less historically famous life.

During the sailor's absence in the Irish Seas his wife resided at Wanstead, in Essex. Their boy, at an early age, displayed a remarkable precocity of mind and heart, and grew a comely and intelligent child. In due course a brother, Richard, and a sister, Margaret, became his companions and beloved playmates, and a happy home was that over which presided the mild and affectionate * Epitaph in Redcliffe Church, Bristol.