A third work, which he brought out at this time, was "An Account of his Travels through Holland and Germany in the Year 1677." Of this I shall say nothing, having made large extracts from it when I gave an account of his proceedings for that year.

While he had been employed in this manner, two events had taken place, which it will be now proper, and, indeed, very pleasing to relate. The first of these was a complete reconciliation with his own religious society. How this was effected is not known. Certain, however, it is, that it was brought to pass, and this early in the present year, and that, after this, he enjoyed a greater portion than ever of the friendship and esteem of its members. The second was his restoration to the government of Pennsylvania. It has been said by some, that the Quakers were now so warmly attached to him, that they had been the means, by uncommon exertions, of procuring for him this mark of the royal favour. But the assertion is not true. William Penn, soon after his last honourable discharge by the King and Council, had sent a petition to the former for this very purpose, which stood upon its own merits. King William, having received it, took it into consideration; and the result was, that it was thought but just and reasonable to comply with his request. Accordingly, an instrument was made out by the royal order, and dated and signed on the twentieth of August, by which he was restored to his government; and the way in which this instrument was worded was particularly creditable to William Penn, for it was declared therein, that the disorder and confusion into which the Province and Territories had fallen (which had been the pretence for dispossessing him) had been occasioned entirely by his absence from them. I may add to this, that he began to recover in the estimation of his countrymen at large: for it was generally known that Fuller was then living in disgrace-that is, in the disgrace which the resolution of Parliament and the punishment of the pillory had brought upon him; whereas he, William Penn, after having passed through four fiery ordeals, had come out of them only to re-ascend to honour.

Having arranged his domestic concerns, and obtained his former rank and character in society, he determined to visit the west of England in his capacity as a minister of the Gospel. He travelled, as we find in the folio volume of his life, "in the counties of Gloucester, Somerset, Devon, and Dorset, having meetings almost daily in the most considerable towns and other places in those counties, to which the people flocked abundantly; and his testimony to the truth, answering to that of God in their consciences, was assented to by many." This is all we can collect of his journey from this quarter. We have, however, a more particular account of his proceedings for a few days, though a very short one, from John Whiting. The latter, in his "Memoirs," writes thus: "This year, in the ninth month, William Penn came down to Bristol, and to Chew, and had a great meeting at Clareham, and came to my house at Wrington that night with several

other Friends. And, next day, we went with him on board the Bengal ship, in Kingroad, to dinner; and, afterward, by Westbury to Bristol, on seventh day night, where, on first day, were very large meetings. And, about two weeks after, he went westward, and had large meetings in most of the great towns in our county, as also in Devonshire and Dorsetshire. I met him at Wells, and went with him to Somerton, where it was some time before we could get a place large enough for the meeting-the Market-house, where the meeting began, though large, not being big enough to hold it; and, at last, we were glad to go out into the fields; and a great gathering there was. I met him again at Bridgewater, where he had a great meeting in the Town Hall, as he had in most places, which the Mayors generally consented to for the respect they had to him, few places else being sufficient to hold the meetings. On the twenty-seventh of tenth month he came again to Wrington, and had a large meeting in the Court Hall (where we then kept our meetings), where was a Justice of the Peace and his wife.”

On his return from his journey he came to London, after which we have no further trace of him for the present year, except in a letter which he wrote from thence to John Gratton, who was an eminent minister of the 30ciety, and who lived near Chesterfield, in Derbyshire. This worthy man bad suffered much by the spoliation of his goods on account of his religion. He was then a respectable tradesman, but stood high in the esteem of his neighbour, then Earl, but afterwards first Duke of Devonshire. I present the following extracts from it to the reader :

"DEAR JOHN GRATTON-Thy dear and tender love I feel by thy kind lines, and they were to my comfort and refreshment. Thy name has been down in my pocket-book ever since I came to this city, to write to thee as one of my dear and choice friends, that lies and lives near me, with whom is my dear, near, and inward fellowship; and, that thou art low and poor, and as self-independent as ever, is a brave condition, and thou canst not say better for thyself or the greatest worthy in the flock. O, dear John, I desire to dwell there, while I live in this tabernacle. It is my prayer, and much of my ministry to God's people. Some are convinced, but not converted; and many, that are converted, do not persevere: wherefore, their oil dries up; and Self, in Truth's form, gets up under specious pretences."

"Through the Lord's great mercy, and, beyond my hopes, I am yet tolerably well through hard service, which it has been my lot to be engaged in of late; in which the Lord has abundantly answered me, and tenderhearted Friends and sober people of all sorts:"

"As yet I have not seen my own home above these four months. I am a poor pilgrim on the earth, yet my hope is established for an abiding-place in an unchangeable world."

"Dear John, never trouble thyself with priests. Let them have our books. Take two or three gross things from theirs, confute them, and leave the rest.

Methinks J. R. (Sir John Rhodes, who was Gratton's neighbour, and had become a Quaker) should exercise himself that way, which would whet him up to services suitable to his condition. My love to him and the Doctor (Gilbert Heathcote, who had married Sir John Rhodes's sister): I remember them in my prayers to the Lord, that they may travel on to the end, and receive the crown of faithfulness. So, in the Lord's love, dearly farewell! Thy cordial Friend, and loving Brother,

"WILLIAM PENN."

We may now look at what passed in America during this period. Colonel Fletcher, who had gone to New York for the winter, returned to Philadelphia in the spring. Having called the Assembly legally, he sent them a message, stating, that he had received information "that the five nations of Indians, who had been so long faithful to the English, were now debauched to the French interest in Canada; that he was come to lay the whole affair before them, assuring them that their own Indians would be compelled to join the confederacy; that, in consequence thereof, he had seen fourscore fine farms all depopulated about Albany; that the Jerseys had done more for the common defence than all the other adjacent provinces; that, though he respected those scruples which led them to refuse to carry arms or to levy money for war, yet he hoped they would not refuse to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, which they might do by supplying the Indian nations with such necessaries as might influence a continuation of their friendship to these provinces; and, lastly, that he was ready, as far as in him lay, consistently with the rules of loyalty and a just regard to liberty and property, to redress their grievances, if they had any."

This message displeased the Assembly. It served only to recall their former fears. They considered it as a demand for more of the public money, but in a new shape. They determined, therefore, to resist it, and, accordingly, they refused the Governor the supply. Several laws, however, were passed between this and the subsequent session, which was the last under Colonel Fletcher; for, having received the official letters which superseded him, in consequence of the restoration of the government to William Penn, he took his final leave of them, and returned to his own province.

About this time died Thomas Lloyd, whom I have had occasion so often to mention in these Memoirs. He died at the early age of fifty-four, greatly lamented by all who knew him. He was the youngest son of a very ancient family, which possessed the estate of Dolobran in Montgomeryshire. He had received a learned education at Oxford, but afterwards, on conviction, joined the society of the Quakers. Dr. William Lloyd, the learned and liberal-minded Bishop of St. Asaph, in whose diocese he lived, and who was afterwards translated in succession to the sees of Litchfield and Coventry, and Worcester, inquired, according to his custom, both of him and his brother Charles, when they separated from the Church, their reasons for so doing. They consented to give them in public, but in no other way.

Accordingly, a religious conference took place at Welchpool, which lasted from two in the afternoon till two in the morning. It was then adjourned to Llanvilling, to the Town Hall, where it lasted two days. It was not a conference of disputation, for the Bishop confined himself principally to the proposing of questions and to the hearing of answers. On the last day he forced Thomas Lloyd into no less than than twenty-eight syllogisms extempore, which were put down in writing as they were delivered, on the subjects of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Thomas Lloyd acquitted himself so well on this occasion, that the Bishop greatly commended his learning. After this he went over to America, and filled, as we have seen, the office both of President of the Council and of Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania, and these with great ability and integrity. These posts, however, he disliked, greatly preferring a private life; but he filled them from a belief, which others at length persuaded him to entertain, that he would be doing good by accepting them. On his death-bed, after an illness of only six days, he took leave of those who were near him in the following calm manner :"I die in unity and love with all faithful Friends. I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith, which stands not in the wisdom of words, but in the power of God. I have sought, not for strife and contention, but for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the simplicity of the Gospel. I lay down my head in peace, and desire you may all do so. Farewell!"

Colonel Fletcher having returned to New York, and Thomas Lloyd being dead, the deputy government of the Province and Territories was conferred upon William Markham; for William Penn, on hearing of these events, sent him a commission for that purpose.

CHAPTER XXXI.

A. 1695.-WRITES "A REPLY TO A PRETENDED ANSWER TO WILLIAM PENN'S KEY ""-DELIVERS A PAPER TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON THE SUBJECT OF MAKING THE QUAKERS' AFFIRMATION EQUAL TO THEIR OATH-TRAVELS IN THE MINISTRY-IS PRESENT AT A RELIGIOUS DISPUTE AT MELKSHAM-PREACHES AT WELLS—SOME CURIOUS PARTICULARS DURING HIS STAY THERE-AFFAIRS OF

PENNSYLVANIA.

WILLIAM PENN employed himself in the beginning of the present year in answering a pamplet which had been written against one of his own works that had appeared in 1692. This production he called "A Reply to a Pretended Answer, by a Nameless Author, to William Penn's 'Key."" I shall attempt no analysis of it, because its general contents may be imagined by referring to those of the "Key," which I have already laid before the reader. There is one passage, however, in it, which I shall transcribe. His

opponent had charged him with prevarication in the late reign, and with baving shown an intemperate zeal for a boundless liberty of conscience. To the charge he replied thus :-"And if it be possible or worth while to reconcile him (my opponent) better to my conduct, let him peruse my Great Case of Liberty of Conscience,' printed in 1671, and my 'Letter to the States of Embden,' 1672, and my Present State of England,' 1675, and he will find I was the same man then, and acted by the same principles; not more intemperate in the reign that favoured it than in the reign I contended with (the preceding), that did not favour it. And no man but a persecutor, which I count a beast of prey, and a declared enemy to mankind, can, without great injustice or ingratitude, reproach that part I had in King James's Court; for I think I may say without vanity, upon this provocation, I endeavoured, at least, to do some good at my own cost, and would have done more. I am very sure I intended, and I think I did, harm to none, neither parties nor private persons, my own family excepted; for which I doubt not this author's pardon, since he shows himself so little concerned for the master of it."

About this time the Quakers petitioned Parliament for an act to make their affirmation equal to their oath. William Penn was appointed to act for them on this occasion. This he did by appearing at the House of Commons, and by delivering there the following paper :

"That the request of the people called Quakers may be indulged by the members of this honourable house, it is humbly proposed to them to consider the nature and fulness of the security they offer; and, if it be found to amount to the weight and value of an oath, it is to be hoped there will be no difficulty in accepting it in lieu of an oath.

"The pledge, that every man upon oath gives of his truth, is his soul. He means, that God shall deal with him according to the truth of his affirmative or negative given by him in the name of God. Now, to show that the said people do as much-that is, that they pledge their souls too in their way; that they mean the same caution with them that swear; and are under the same reverence in their simple and solemn Aye or No; and, therefore, give the same security; I shall beg this honourable house to consider three things:

First, this people make it an article of their faith and practice, and a great part of their characteristic, not to swear at all. They think, whether mistaken or not, that the righteousness of Christianity does not need or use an oath; so that you have their religion in the highest exercises of it in human affairs for your security.

Secondly, they have often, at very dear rates, proved to the world they mean what they say, since they have frequently chosen to lose their estates, and lie and die in gaol, rather than save the one or deliver themselves from the other by deviating from their principle: and since, in such cases, integrity is the security all aim at, it is hard to conceive which way any