WILLIAM PENN TRAVELS
When his son William came home from Oxford, Admiral Penn was a prominent
figure in London. He held numerous offices, for he was a Naval
Commissioner, a Member of Parliament, Governor of Kinsale, Admiral of
Ireland, a Member of the Council of Munster, and a favorite of King
Charles and the Duke of York. He was in high hopes that he would soon be
made a peer. His wife, Lady Penn, and his daughter Margaret, or Peg, as
she was usually called, were fond of society and fashion. It was
somewhat natural, therefore, that Admiral Penn should not altogether
understand or appreciate the new religious views of his son William. He
thought the youth exceedingly willful, but could not believe that his
interest in the new movement was anything more than a passing whim.
Therefore, in order to interest William in other things, he introduced
him to his own friends and showed him something of the pleasant side of
life at King Charles's court. He took William to suppers at the Bear
Inn, and to plays at Drury Lane Theater. There was a satire on the
Puritans, called "The Jovial Crew," then being given at a theater known
as "The Cockpit," and the Admiral took William there in order to show
him how absurd Puritans, and all the newer religious sects, actually
were. But no matter how heartily the Admiral laughed and encouraged his
son to laugh, he could not get William to throw himself into the
pleasures of London life as readily as he thought a normal young fellow
ought to.
The father was really very fond of his son, and spent considerable time
in casting about as to what was best for his boy. At length it occurred
to him that a visit to the gay city of Paris would entertain William,
and drive out of his head some of his strange Oxford notions. Some of
his college friends were going to France to study, and the Admiral
arranged that William should go abroad with them. Some of them were of
high rank, and they would easily have entrance to the best French
society.
The young men were made welcome in Paris. Penn was presented to the
king, Louis XIV, and was charmed by the brilliance of the French court.
He made the acquaintance of entertaining people, and he had at least one
adventure. The story is told that as he was returning late one night
from a ball, he was stopped by a rogue who angrily called out to him to
draw his sword and defend himself. The rascal flashed his own rapier
before Penn's eyes, and declared that Penn had insulted him,--that he
had bowed and taken off his hat politely to the young Englishman, but
that the latter had paid no attention to him. Penn answered courteously
that he had not seen the stranger, and so could not have insulted him by
failing to bow to him. The stranger, however, only grew more excited,
and insisted that Penn must fight him or he would run him through.
Penn saw that argument was useless, and being by that time angry
himself, drew his own sword and stood on defense. The street was dark,
but a small crowd had gathered, attracted by the loud words, and several
men announced that they would see fair play. The swords flashed in a few
passes, and then Penn showed himself the more skillful swordsman. With a
twist of his rapier he sent his opponent's sword flying into the air.
The crowd expected him to attack his opponent again, but instead Penn
stooped, and, picking up the other man's sword, handed it back to him
with a bow, saying that he hoped the Frenchman was satisfied. News of
the little encounter quickly spread among the young Englishman's
friends, and on the strength of it he became quite a hero.
Meantime the Admiral in London was much pleased with the reports he had
of William's success in the social world of Paris. He wanted him to have
a more thorough education, however, than Oxford afforded, and so made
arrangements that he should go to Professor Moses Amyrault, at Saumur,
to live in his home and study under him. Penn followed his father's
wishes and spent some time at Saumur, becoming well acquainted with the
language and literature of France, and having a pleasant time generally.
Afterwards with a friend he traveled through Switzerland into Italy,
making a part of the "grand tour" that in those days was considered an
important part of the education of every young Englishman of fashion.
When he returned to London, he was very French and very gallant; indeed,
he was so much a gentleman of fashion that Admiral Penn was really
delighted. He had hopes, now, that William would, after all, follow in
his own footsteps, and become a figure at the king's court. With that
end in view Sir William entered his son at Lincoln's Inn to study law.
If he was to hold important offices in the government of his country, he
must have some knowledge of law; and, besides, the legal training would
bring him into contact with rising men of good families. So William
began his studies, and the Admiral, well pleased, embarked with the Duke
of York to fight the Dutch.
Penn's studies at Lincoln's Inn were interrupted by the great plague
that swept over London and devastated the city. Like most other people
of means he left the place and went into the country, carrying with him
memories of the sick and suffering in the wretched, ill-kept streets and
alleys. He was lonely in the country, and he could not help remembering
the scenes in the plague-stricken town; so that when his father came
back and joined him, the Admiral found William again in his former
speculative frame of mind. To once more divert his mind, Sir William
sent him to enter the service of the Duke of Ormond, who, as Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, held quite a court in the city of Dublin.
The Admiral was Governor of Kinsale, in County Cork, and William was
given charge of his father's affairs there, as well as being employed in
various ways by the Duke of Ormond. He enjoyed this work, and when there
was a mutiny of the soldiers at Carrickfergus, he took a large part in
quelling it, so pleasing the duke by his ability that the latter
suggested that young Penn should be made captain of the Admiral's troop
of soldiers. Sir William was glad to hear such good reports of his son,
but did not think him fitted as yet to command his soldiers.
Young Penn was enjoying life on his father's estate and at the duke's
court in Dublin, and was decidedly the courtier and man of affairs; when
one day, being in Cork on business, he happened to hear the preaching of
Thomas Loe, a man he had already heard at Oxford. The message of that
sermon lay in the words, "There is a faith which overcomes the world,
and there is a faith which is overcome by the world." It made a deep
impression on the young man. Was his faith of the type that overcomes
the world? Or was it of the kind that is overcome by pride of place and
fortune? He feared that thus far his faith had shown itself of the
latter sort. He gave a great deal of thought to that message of Thomas
Loe.
Being so ardent by nature, he determined that his faith should overcome
the temptations that surrounded him. He would fight by the side of those
who believed in the simple teachings of early Christianity and who were
unhampered by the forms and ceremonies the other churches had imposed
upon their members. Thomas Loe's sermon was the spark that set Penn's
zeal ablaze. He made up his mind to become a Quaker, in spite of all
that his family or friends might say. The new faith had made its appeal
to the deepest springs of his earnest and religious nature.
So William Penn, already considerable of a courtier, became a Quaker;
and contrived, strange though it seems, to be both things at one and the
same time. His father had been both a Roundhead and a Royalist, though
in his case it had always been from motives of self-interest. The son
was now to combine two widely different types of man, but with him this
resulted entirely from the two sides of his nature. Yet it was a very
odd combination, that of a Quaker and a courtier, and one sure to bring
him into many curious situations.