William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania

I

HISTORY OF RELIGION IN ENGLAND. From

THE OPENING OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT TO THE END OF THE

Eighteenth Century. Third and Carefully Revised Cheap Edition. In Six Volumes. Crown 8vo, price £,•! ss. Handsomely bound in cloth.

I.— THE CHURCH OF THE CIVIL WARS.

II.— THE CHURCH OF THE COMMONWEALTH. III.— THE CHURCH OF THE RESTORATION. IV.— THE CHURCH OF THE RESTORATION.

v.— THE CHURCH OF THE REVOLUTION.

VI.— THE CHURCH IN THE GEORGIAN ERA.

*' He was there also to express fore Dr. Siaiigkton's time, histories

the obligations of dear old frieitds of the Puritans, in nvhich they read

of 200 years ago — Ckillingworih, of nothing hut Puritafiistn ; kistor-

yereiny Taylor, Sir Matthew ies of the Church of England, in

Hale^ Cudworth, and others. All which vjas nothing but the glories of

these were noiv near friends, "who the Church of England. The -work

but for Dr. Sioughton would never of Dr. Stoughton's was the first

have been known to the^n. He had "work "which had brought together

also to express his obligations to Dr. men famous in their different

ted here with men wh4)m he should of the same book. — From Dean

know so well above — he meant Howe, Stanley's Speech at Kensington

Owen, and others. They had, be- Chapel, April, 1875.

II

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE. In "Men Worth Remembering" Series.

'* Dr. Stoughtonhas ioldthe story He gives many vivid touches also,

of Wilbetforce with the quiet ease which enables us to realise the

which coines of long literary habits times in which Wilbetforce lived"

and experience, and "which tlie — Literary World. general reader always appreciates,

III

THE DAILY PRAYER-BOOK. For the Use of

Families, with Additional Prayers for Special Occasions. Edited by Rev. John Stoughton, D.D. Seventh Edition. Crown 8vo, 3f. td,

" There is nothing sectarian in alike. The selection is one of the the prayers, so that th£y may be happiest we have S€en."^—'R&\viM!iry. used by Churchmen and Dissenters

London : HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27, Paternoster Row.

'L

THE FOUNDER OF PENNSYLVANIA.

BY

JOHN STOUGHTON, DID.

fonbon :

HODDER AND STOUGHTON,

27, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCLXXXII. [All rights r£servcd.'\

Butler &• Tanner,

The Selwood Printittg Works,

Frome, and London.

ADVERTISEMENT.

' I "HE Bicentenary of William Penn's arrival in -*■ America naturally recalls attention to the story of his life. I have been requested by my publishers to prepare a new work on the subject : and Quaker descent on my mother's side, the study for many years of opinions entertained by the Society of Friends, and sympathy with the founder of Pennsylvania in his love of peace, and his advocacy of civil and religious freedom, have rendered the task pleasant and interesting.

The writings of Penn, and his life by Thomas Clarkson, in two volumes, 1813, supply a basis for the whole work. But important supplementary knowledge has been added since. The controversy raised by Lord Macaulay touching Penn's relations with James II. illustrated those points in many ways ; and the Right Hon. W. E. Forster especially, in his exhaustive pamphlet on the subject, published in 1849, supplied much original information for subsequent writers. Hepworth Dixon's popular and eloquent " Historical Biography, founded on Family and State Papers," did not add much to what was known befor&; but Hazard's "Annals of Pennsylvania," 1850,

LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN.

and Watson's "Annals of Philadelphia," 1857, contributed new and curious information, documentary and traditional, respecting the American portion of the founder's history. " The Penns and the Penningtons," by Maria Webb, 1867, made the public acquainted with several original family letters, and other documents, giving beautiful glimpses of his domestic and social life ; and further copious and reliable materials for what relates to the other side of the Atlantic are supplied in the " Correspondence between William Penn and James Logan," edited by Edward Armstrong, for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1870. In addition to these printed authorities, I have been favoured by my friend, Mr. Joseph Bevan Braithwaite, with unpublished correspondence and other documents, which I have found very useful. I must also mention valuable assistance rendered to me when I visited the United States in 1873: Mr. Thomas Stewardson, jun., laid me under great obligation by his conversation and correspondence. I have also gleaned some fresh particulars from papers in the Record Office, and from Reports of the Historical Commission.

JOHN STOUGHTON.

Ealing,

October, 1882.

Chapter i. FATHER AND SON

ADMIRAL PENN, the distinguished father of an illustrious son, was born in the year 1621. That father was son of Giles Penn, the master of a merchant vessel ; who traded in the Levant, and was familiar with the seaports of Portugal and Spain. He had with him on his voyages the future admiral, instructing him in seafaring duties, down to those most menial. The youth took to nautical pursuits with a sort of second nature, and felt that passion for enterprise on the deep which is the secret of success in naval careers. Increasing knowledge, growing skill, with native courage and decision of character, gave pledges of eminence in seamanship ; and there could be no doubt that young William, for that was his christian name, would make a mark amongst his fellow-men. The merchant service could not satisfy his ambition, and therefore he entered the Royal Navy, and was so fortunate as to be made a Captain in 1642, having only just come of age. The fortunate young sailor next year married a Dutch lady, and the happy couple took lodgings near the Tower. " Your late honoured father," said Gibson to the famous quaker long afterwards, "dwelt upon Great Tower Hill, on the east side, within a court adjoining to

B

LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN.

London Wall ; " ^ — a precise description which brings the locality before us —and if it applies to this earlyresidence in the neighbourhood, we may see the new captain, full of life and spirits, in sailor uniform, coming out of the court and stepping into the Trinity House hard by, where his father might have business to transact ; or pushing in a boat up the silent highway of the Thames to the Admiralty, in Duke Street, Westminster, where he would have business of his own. So lucky was he, that in a year after his marriage, he rose to be a Rear-Admiral, and would feel that sense of personal importance which, it is proverbial, such gentlemen generally feel as they first put their feet on the ladder of promotion. In the autumn of that year, the 14th of October, 1644, a little boy was born in the court adjoining London Wall, filling the house with joy and gladness.

Just then England was in a very excited state. The battle of Marston Moor had been fought in the previous summer, the country was plunging deeper still into civil strife. King Charles I. had been virtually dethroned, and parliamentary power had leaped into the saddle, the armies of the royahst and country party were marching up and down the land to the terror of quiet citizens, and no one could tell how the

strife would end. For a soldier there was no help

he must take one side or the other. But a sailor could stand aloof The navy had only to do with England's enemies, to fight with Holland and Spain ; it had no business to interfere between patriots and partisans of the crown. England's lordship of the

1 Sir William Penn's "Life," vol. ii. p 615.

seas was in the hands of the High Admiral, Lord' Warwick, and other Admirals had only to obey his orders. " It is not for us to mind state affairs," said'! Blake, then the foremost slilor of his day, " but to keep foreigners from fooling us." In that sentiment- Captain Penn agreed with him, though perhaps he had rather a strong leaning towards royaKsm.

Penn had to leave England just after his son had come into the world, and for a good while was cruising about, and meeting with adventure, in distant climes, whilst the Dutch wife and the little boy were living at Wanstead, in Essex, whither they removed' soon after the father had gone to sea.

Wanstead was then a remarkable place, and so was Chigwell, close by it ; with these two villages the child would become acquainted as he grew up to boyhood, and I cannot help thinking that his life there for about eleven years had much more to do with his after-life than Penn's biographers have been wont to think. Old Wanstead House was in its glory. It had been rebuilt by Lord Chancellor Rich, had received Queen Mary just before her coronation, had been visited by Queen Elizabeth for four or five days, and had witnessed the marriage of the Earl of Leicester with the Countess of Essex, — the bridegroom being at the time lord and master of the domain. The splendour of the mansion might be on the wane when the Admiral's wife went to live in the vicinity, but still it would be the talk of the neighbours — an object of curiosity and pride. Old Wanstead Church, very different from the present building, would also be of some interest ; for there puritan feeling ran very high, and disputes between the old and the new

LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN.

establishment — the Church of episcopacy and the Church of presbyterianism — had begun to rage three years before. The principal inhabitants then signed a protest against all "popish innovations," and in favour of " the true reformed protestant religion " ; and they bound themselves to oppose, "and by all good ways and means endeavour to bring to condign punishment," all who should do anything contrary to the contents of that protestation. In 1647, — when Penn was only three years old, — John Saltmarsh, one of England's most remarkable Mystics, is said to have died mad ; at all events his writings prove him to have possessed real genius ; for his " Sparkles of Glory '' contain passages of singular beauty and power, and many a glimpse of truth, such as the wise of this world can never understand. The Wanstead protest and Saltmarsh's " Sparkles " may not appear to have any connection with the boy William ; but I fancy it will be found that they had, and that the reader will see it when we get a few pages farther on. Chigwell, too, was a notable place. St. Mary's Church, with a Norman door approached by an avenue of yews, so far appears much as it did in . the period of the civil wars and under the Commonwealth ; and there is still preserved in it a monumental brass, representing a niched figure dressed in cope, rochet, and chimere, with an inscription stating that under it lies Samuel Harsnett, Archbishop of York. This prelate had been vicar of Chigwell and master of the Grammar School, and had founded there two free schools, one for young children, the other for " teaching the Greek and Latin tongues," and it is curious to find the founder stipulating that

"the master should be a good poet ; of a sound religion, neither papal nor puritan ; of a grave behaviour ; of a sober and honest conversation ; no tipler nor haunter of alehouses, no puffer of tobacco ; and above all, apt to teach and severe in his government." Here it was that William Penn went to school ; here he learnt Latin and Greek ; here he would seem to have been taught gratuitously ; and it is pretty certain he never saw his master with a pipe in his mouth. At Chigwell free school he remained till he was twelve, and what he was taught we gather from Harsnett's directions. "Lilly's Latin, and Cleonard's Greek grammar " were the boy's class-books ; for " phrase and style " he read " no other than Tully and Terence " ; for poets he studied " the ancient Greek and Latin, no novelties, nor conceited modern writers." Besides a Latin schoolmaster, William had another, who, — if he corresponded with the terms of Harsnett's Trust, which no doubt he did so far, — wrote " fair secretary and Roman hands," was skilful in "cyphering and casting up accounts," and taught " his scholars the same faculty." ^

I have no doubt that the boy was instructed according to the founder's wishes in all matters of secular learning, though he does not seem to have profited much under the writing master, if we may judge from the facsimile of his signature ; but I question whether the trustees attended to one alternative of the two forbidden in the Chigwell schoolmaster, — " neither papist nor puritan." " Papist," we may rest assured, the head-master was not, but that he was " puritan "

' The terms of the trust are given by Lysons, " Environs of London," vol. iv. p. 128.

LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN.

is almost certain ; for Chigwell, like Wanstead, was steeped in puritanism. One Dr. Utey had been ejected from the vicarage in consequence of a petition signed by the inhabitants complaining that he had " erected an altar," had used " offensive bowing and cringing," had " kissed the altar twice in one day," and read the prayers with his back to the people.^ In 1650 it was reported by Commissioners, that there had been no settled minister at Chigwell since Dr. Utey's removal. The name of Peter Watkinson as minister at Chigwell appears in the list of the Presbyterian clergy for the Braintree district, in Essex ; but at what date he was there I cannot tell.

We have seen what books young Penn studied, but he must have received an education beyond what comes from printed pages. He was active as a young man, very fond of manly sports, and, no doubt, liked to wander and play games in the adjacent woods known as Hainault Forest. It is still " very picturesque in parts, abounds in nightingales, and can still show some fine trees, although none so large nor so celebrated as the Fairlop oak which stood not far from Chigwell." The country was disafforested in 1851, and therefore what it is now gives but a faint idea of what it was when Penn wandered in its green glades and amused himself with other boys under its far-spreading trees. We may depend upon it that inspirations then came on him from nature, and the God of nature, the influence of which he never lost : and the stories of the neighbourhood he would hear,

' The whole document is very curious ; and proceedings consequent upon it are printed in David's " Annals of Nonconformity in Essex," pp. 220-223.

FATHER AND SON.

and of what was going on in England ; how while sunshine glinted through the leaves of oaks, and nightingales sang their peaceful songs, and eventide softly dropped its curtain over the Hainault landscape, England was full of tossing to and fro. Naseby fight succeeded the battle of Marston Moor, and then afterwards came the king's execution at Whitehall, when, as his head fell from the block and the blood streamed over the sawdust. Archbishop Ussher fainted, and Philip Henry heard a groan from the multitude thronging Charing Cross, such as he never forgot to his dying day. Dunbar and Worcester were names which Penn must have begun to understand soon after the decisive battles which led to Cromwell's sovereignty were fought ; and surely in 1653, or soon afterwards, when the boy was eight years old and more, he would take an interest in what was told by people from London, who perhaps had seen grand doings at Westminster in mid-winter, when the Worcester hero was installed Lord Protector of England. Fasts were so frequent, and sermons in parish churches on topics of the day so common, that he could scarcely fail to gather something about what was going forward in the outside world. But family stories would be still more attractive : stories about his father especially, how successful he had been in his numerous cruises ; how he had fought Prince Rupert, and chased him along the Portuguese shores ; and had sailed up and down the Mediterranean, where he had seen "many countries and many people," like Ulysses, whose tale perhaps the boy was beginning to spell out in Homer. His father's successive promotions he could not but hear

8 LIFE OF WILLIAM PENh'.

of. His mother would tell how he had been made Vice-Admiral of the Irish Sea in '46 ; Vice- Admiral of the Straits in '50; Vice-Admiral of England '52 ; and then a "General" of the sea the next year. Good news followed of later days ; how he had received an accession of property, full three hundred a-year, by the interposition of the Protector, who wished to secure the rising officer as a faithful servant.

When William was about eleven he had a strange experience. Alone in his chamber, "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 conviction of the being of a God, and that the soul of man was capable of enjoying communication with Him. He believed also that the seal of Divinity had been put upon him at this moment, or that he had been awakened or called upon to a holy life." The excitement was purely of a spiritual nature, and appears to have been entirely unconnected with any passing events in his family and the world. If I may deal in conjecture, I should say, that as Saltmarsh's " Sparkles of Glory " had been published before that time, it is not unlikely from the author's connection with a place of such strong puritan sympathy, that the book would be circulated there and excite a deep interest. It is baptised with that spirit of devout mysticism which has had charms for some of the holiest minds, and which was likely to lay hold on the best people in Chigwell. It appears no extravagant supposition that the little volume might find its way into the Penns' dwelling, and that the curious child

FATHER AND SON.

turned over the exciting pages. Be that as it may, two things are clear : first, that the oft-repeated anecdote of his boyhood, taken in connection with his after Hfe, proves him to have had a mind of a sensitive and impressible nature ; and, secondly, that the Spirit of God early began to touch his, heart and to lead him into paths of thoughtfulness and devotion. Before leaving the Wanstead and Chigwell period, let it be carefully noticed that all the while he lived in that neighbourhood he breathed a puritan atmosphere, very different from what his father did before and afterwards.

Great trouble befel the Admiral in 1655. Just at Christmas time, 1654, a fleet sailed from Portsmouth, with sealed orders, under Penn and General Venables. The ships numbered fifty, the soldiers on board four thousand. When the orders were opened, they were seen to prescribe an attack upon Hispaniola and the Spanish power in the West Indies. The expedition came to grief. Hispaniola was reached in April, 1655, but the soldiers did not land where Drake had landed, but sixty miles off, whence they marched through thick tangled woods, under tropical heats, "till they were nearly dead with mere marching." Ambuscades lay in wait for them. Most of the soldiers fought badly, some would not fight at all, but rushed back to the ships dreadfully diseased, and " dying there at the rate of two hundred a day." ^

Penn came back, and Venables followed, to meet the wrath of the Protector. He immediately stripped them of their commissions and lodged them in the

' " Journal of the English Army by an Eye-witness." — Harl. MiscelL, vol. vi. pp. 372-390.

LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN.

Tower. This was a sad blow. The Admiral must at once have been reduced in circumstances, and, whether on that account or not, the family returned to town and again took up an abode near the Tower. After a while he was released from imprisonment, and his possessions were restored, and this must have lifted the parents once more into a condition of comfort.

It is said that the Admiral procured a private tutor to carry on the education of his heir ; but the former seems to have been absent from home a good deal, and the latter could not have experienced much parental instruction and guardianship. Domestic matters would sometimes be talked about ; and here I may notice, before going further, what probably the lad learnt about the family name, according to an American report, — and also respecting certain strange incidents which are said to have happened to an uncle of his when residing in Spain.

The Reverend Hugh David, who went to Philadelphia in 1700, used to tell this story: he and Penn were on board ship, and the latter observing a goat gnawing a broom, called out, " Hugh, dost thou observe that goat.? See what hardy fellows the Welsh are, how they can feed on a broom. However, Hugh, T am a Welshman myself, and will relate by how strange a circumstance our family lost their name. My grandfather (or great grandfather) was named John Tudor, and lived upon the top of a hill or mountain in Wales ; he was generally called John Pennmunnith, which in English is, ' John on the top of a hill.' He removed from Wales into Ireland, where he acquired considerable property. Upon his return

FATHER AND SON.

into his own country, he was addressed by his old friends and neighbours, not in the former way, but by the name of Mr. Penn. He afterwards removed to London, where he continued to reside under the name of John Penn, which has since been the family name." ' It it said on the Admiral's tombstone that he was of the Penns of Penlodge, in the county of Wilts, and " those Penns of Penn, in the county of Bucks." How the inscription and the story are to be reconciled I do not see ; but if the report of the Welsh pedigree be true, young Penn must have heard of it from his father or mother.

The story respecting Penn's uncle is repeated by a modern biographer,^ but on what authority I do not know. The Admiral, it is said, when at his station in the English channel, heard of a brother of his named George, who had gone to Spain and was a victim of the Inquisition in the city of Seville. He had been in the cathedral amongst those who, after suffering the agonies of the rack, had abjured Protestantism. In solemn procession, amidst judges, priests, and friars, he had, to save his life, been compelled to do penance before a multitude of people ; and thus exposed, he had attracted the notice of English residents who were present on the occasion. It became known that this George Penn, who had resided in several Spanish towns, was seized at San Lucar, some time before, by ministers of the Holy Office, and was separated from his wife, a Roman Catholic lady of Antwerp. His property was seized, and he was dragged off to a dungeon in Seville, where he lived

' Watson's "Annals of Pennsylvania," vol. i. p. 119. 2 Hepworth Dixon.

LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN.

on bread and water. After enduring great cruelties he was, at the end of three years, brought into the trial chamber, and there accused of heretical offences, such as endeavouring to convert his wife. He was, on his denying the charge, subjected to horrible tortures, until, in an hour of weakness, he was led to recant. Then followed the exhibition just mentioned.

When the tragedy was related to the Admiral, so the story goes, he set sail at once in search of a Spanish bark which he could keep as a hostage until his brother's wrongs should be redressed. He fell in with a vessel on its way to Flanders, conveying Juan de Urbino, a Spanish nobleman, who was secretary to the Government there. The British officer, with all the traditionary hatred of Spain still existing in the British navy, increased by indignation at his brother's fate, stripped the grandee, whom he made prisoner, and determined to retain him until the subject of the Inquisition should be released and his property restored. George, it is related, was sent back to England, and died soon after the Restoration, leaving his claims on the Spanish Government to be enforced by his representatives. This heirloom of trouble belonged to the Admiral's son William, and what was the result of his application for redress at a later period does not appear.

Leaving these stories, I must mention that the Admiral continued in Cromwell's service until the death of the latter on the 3rd of September, 1658, faithful only to his naval instincts ; but after " Old Noll " had laid down his sceptre, and things were falling to pieces, the Admiral, in whom T think loyalist tendencies had before existed, began to anticipate a coming change, and calculating on the return of the Stuarts, commenced worshipping the rising sun.

The Admiral visited Ireland, where, according to the story I have told, Giles Penn's father had possessed an estate, and there he took up his abode to look after his inheritance. Mother and son, as they often did, remained at a distance from the wandering husband and father. Whilst in Ireland, the Admiral began to avow himself a Royalist, schemes being afloat for bringing about a restoration of the exiled Stuarts.

After the deposition of the Protector Richard, English affairs fell into a troubled condition. Many readers can recall the time when France scarcely knew from day to day what government it would have to-morrow. England was in that state in the winter of 1659-60,- All sorts of political dreams were floating in the air, and strange revolutions of power were occurring from month to month. The Rump Parliament vanished, or rather was merged in a new one with vacancies filled up, which was summoned in February, 1659, to meet at once, and sit no longer than the 6th of May. London burst into an uproar of joy ; bonfires blazed from Temple Bar to St. Dunstan's, — there were thirty-one kindled in the Strand. Butchers made music with their knives, and roasted a rump of beef on Ludgate Hill ; bells rang till the steeples shook. All over the country there were similar demonstrations.

Admiral Penn was returned Member of Parliament for Weymouth, and after the king came home. His Majesty bestowed on the brave sailor marks of regard, and conferred on him the honour of knighthood ; this shows that he had won a reputation for loyalty, and that what he had done in Cromwell's time was fully forgiven. It also appears that he could now abuse the man to whom he owed so much.^ Charles entered London at the end of May, and crossed London Bridge in gorgeous procession, men wearing cloth of silver and velvet coats, buff and green, black and gold, white and crimson, — delighting the eyes of the shouting citizens. We cannot suppose that all this went on unnoticed by the boy who studied under a private tutor on Tower Hill.

He was now approaching the age of sixteen, and boys at that period were early sent to the University. Before this there had been talk about William's entering Oxford, and now it was determined that there he should be sent. Anthony Wood says, " He was entered a gentleman-commoner of Christ Church, and in the beginning of Michaelmas term (October) he was matriculated as a knight's son." Thus it comes out clearly that William was not sent to college until after the Restoration, and so the clouds and darkness in which some writers have enveloped this part of William Penn's history are dispersed, and the dreams of his being within the walls of Christ Church when Dr. Owen was Dean, flees away. It was not to

' " 1662, March 12.

" Sir W. Penn told me of a speech he had made to the Low States of Holland, telling them to their faces that he observed that he was not received with the respect and observance now, that he was when he came from the traitor and rebel Cromwell —by whom, I am sure, he hath got all he hath in the world— and they know it too." — Pepy^ Diary.

the University of the Commonwealth, but to the University of the Restoration, that the new knight sent his son ; and what the University was under puritan rule has nothing to do with this gentlemancommoner's residence within sound of the chimes of big Tom. Still, of course, traditions would linger in the halls, cloisters, and gardens touching what had gone on there under Owen ; but whatever tales might be trumped up discreditable to puritan regime, there is historical proof enough to show that the state of learning and the discipline of the colleges had been such that puritanism had no reason to be ashamed of it. Misrepresentations of that period are still abundant, and a good deal of our popular history respecting that era needs to be rewritten.

Immediately after the Restoration, clergymen dismissed by the Long Parliament began to recover their livings, and heads of colleges were enabled to recover their forfeited rights. Dr. Reynolds, who had been appointed in the spring to succeed Dr. Owen, was, before the autumn, followed by George Morley. In the place of Dr. Thomas Goodwin, the famous puritan president of Magdalen, appeared Dr. Oliver, who had been ejected under the Commonwealth. Like changes occurred throughout Oxford. All the heads of houses underwent a change; even where the same men as before were allowed to remain, they had to alter their ways ; so that throughout the Midland home of learning things wore quite a different colour from what they had done a year earlier. Some of the former students remained : John Locke, the famous philosopher, and Robert South, the famous preacher, were both elected students of Christ t6 life of WILLIAM PENN.