Penn Tried for Treason and Acquitted—Withdrawal of Penn’s Charter—Death
of his Wife and Son—Second Marriage—Journey to America—Penn’s
Home—Attempts to Correct Abuses—Returns to England and Encounters Fresh
Dangers—Penn in the Debtors’ Prison—Ingratitude of the Colonists
The flight of King James was the signal for the departure of his friends
and favorites also, but Penn refused to leave the country in spite of
urgent entreaties from all sides to do so. Calm in the consciousness
that he had done nothing which was not for the honor and welfare of
England, he persisted in this determination even when the houses of many
who were supposed to favor the fugitive King were burned by the
populace. When called upon by the council, which had assumed the reins
of government, to explain his relations with James, he declared simply
that his life had been devoted to the service of his country and the
Protestant religion, that the King had been his father’s friend and his
own guardian, and that while he had always shown him the respect and
obedience due from a subject, he had done nothing and should do nothing
inconsistent with his duty to God and his country.
On this frank declaration he was allowed to go free, after giving a bond
of six thousand pounds, until his public trial should take place, at
which he was later acquitted. In spite of this, however, he was twice
again tried for treason, in one case even being accused of complicity in
a plot to restore James the Second to the throne, but his innocence was
so clearly proved and his frank simplicity made so favorable an
impression on his judges and on the King as well, that in both cases he
was fully exonerated and discharged from custody. Owing to his being
still under suspicion, however, and secretly watched, he was doubtless
warned to remain out of sight for a time, for except for some works of
his which were published at this period, even his friends saw nothing of
him for a space of two years. The passage of a law framed by the new
King acknowledging the existence of dissenters and forbidding their
persecution in future rejoiced Penn greatly, even though the Test Act
still remained in force and only members of the established church could
enjoy the full rights of citizenship. But other matters had arisen in
the meantime that caused him great uneasiness.
War between France and England again seemed inevitable, in which case
the North American States would be placed in a position of great danger,
the French having established such friendly relations with the Indians
that an alliance between them must be expected. Under these
circumstances it seemed absolutely necessary for Penn to carry out the
plan he had long had in mind of returning to Pennsylvania to protect the
rights he had earned by such labor and sacrifice. An unforeseen event,
however, interfered for a time with this intention, for on the tenth of
March, 1692, a royal decree was issued placing both Pennsylvania and New
Jersey under the military command of a Colonel Fletcher, who was to
defend them against the hostile tribes of Indians already on the
war-path. It came about in this way. The North American provinces,
already grown or growing into States, having been made practically
independent either by gift or purchase during the preceding reigns, King
William determined to unite them again with the English crown and
thereby provide himself with part of the force he needed for the war
with France. As the Quakers of Pennsylvania had shown no great haste to
offer allegiance to the new sovereign, Penn’s enemies had taken
advantage of this fact to urge the withdrawal of his charter, and while
Penn himself had no doubt that this arbitrary measure would be revoked
in the course of time, and felt convinced that the money he had spent in
purchasing the land from the Indians, almost his entire fortune, must
constitute an indubitable claim to the province, still the blow was a
hard one and he found himself in a by no means encouraging situation.
Added to this were family cares and anxieties, both his wife and eldest
son being seriously ill at the time.
Amid these troubles he was only sustained by his faith in God and in the
ultimate triumph of right, a faith which was justified after some delay
by the restoration to him of his American province, the King, however,
reserving the right to defend it until the end of the war, a condition
to which Penn, being a Quaker, could conscientiously make no objection.
Penn’s greatest anxiety now was to return to America, but he was still
detained in England by the condition of his oldest son, who had
developed consumption. Shortly before this he had experienced the bitter
sorrow of losing Guli, his beloved wife, who for twenty-one years had
been the joy of his life. Being unable consequently to leave England he
arranged by permission of the government to send a few trustworthy
representatives to Pennsylvania to protect his rights while he remained
to care for his sick son. After an illness of two years Springett died,
February 10, 1696, and the heartbroken father exclaimed: “I have lost in
him all that a father can lose in a son.”
Penn was now left in sole care of his two remaining children, Letty and
William, the latter of whom, resembling his grandfather more than his
father in character, needed judicious control. It was this fact chiefly
that induced Penn, then nearly fifty years old, to marry again. At the
beginning of the year 1696 he was united to Hannah Callowhill of
Bristol, a sensible, pious woman, who presented him with six children
and outlived him several years. Still Penn found himself unable to go
back to Pennsylvania, which he had not seen for thirteen years. For
neither his wife nor his daughter Letty, now grown to womanhood, could
make up their minds to follow him to America and leave their native
land, perhaps forever. As little would his son William listen even to
the idea of exchanging the pleasures he enjoyed at home for the monotony
of life in Pennsylvania.
By the year 1699, however, the English government had received so many
complaints of mismanagement on the part of Markham and Penn’s other
representatives there that Penn, fearing he might again be in danger of
losing his province, decided to make the move to America at any cost,
especially as the French war had been brought to a close by the Peace of
Ryswick and the usual peaceful conditions might be expected again to
exist in Pennsylvania. Under these circumstances his wife and daughter
abandoned their opposition to the plan, but young William still refusing
to leave England, the family were forced to sail without him. Owing to
contrary winds, the passage this time was a very long one, lasting fully
three months, a fortunate occurrence as it proved, notwithstanding
general complaints, for they thereby escaped an epidemic of some
malignant fever which had caused great loss of life in Philadelphia.
Penn’s return to his province after an absence of fifteen years was
hailed with universal rejoicing, and now that he had brought his family
with him it was hoped he would remain to watch over the people who had
so long been deprived of his fatherly care. It must indeed have been a
temptation to Penn to settle down here in peace for the rest of his
days, for his Pennsburg had now grown into a most beautiful estate. The
land chosen for it by himself and Markham was superbly situated and
protected against any kind of attack by the Delaware River, which almost
entirely surrounded it, affording at the same time a delicious coolness
that made it comfortable even in the intense heat of summer. The house,
which was built overlooking the river, was sixty feet in length by forty
in depth and was surrounded with magnificent gardens, which were Penn’s
special delight. Beyond these stretched a fine park, left for the most
part in its natural wildness and filled with huge trees whose
interlacing branches formed a canopy overhead, while here and there were
artfully planned nooks and bits of fine landscape gardening. The lower
story of the stately mansion was almost entirely taken up by a great
hall capable of accommodating the largest assemblies, while the upper
contained the living rooms, the windows of which commanded a charming
view across the river to the wooded shores of New Jersey. The extensive
outbuildings included a fine stable, for Penn was a great lover of
horses, and on the water before the house was moored a charming pleasure
yacht for excursions on the river. Penn’s wife and daughter were equally
pleased with this delightful home, and as the master of the house was
fond of having guests and willingly permitted all innocent forms of
amusement, they found little reason to regret the change to which they
had found it so hard to reconcile themselves.
Penn himself, however, had little time to devote to pleasure, for much
and difficult work awaited him. First of all it was necessary to rectify
the evils which had given rise to so much complaint, chief of which was
the introduction of contraband trade. He soon found that by no means all
the inhabitants of his colony shared his disinterestedness or his
loftiness of purpose. He met with especial opposition in his efforts to
better the condition of the negro slaves. This traffic in human beings
had continued to flourish ever since his first visit to America, for at
that time its infamy was not recognized. The blacks were looked upon as
creatures little above the brutes, to buy and sell whom was perfectly
legitimate. In the first constitution drawn up by him, Penn had inserted
an article stipulating that negro servants should be freed after
fourteen years of service, provided they gave their former masters
two-thirds of all they produced from the land assigned to them, failing
which they were to return to servitude. This did not prevent the
continuation of slavery, however, the legality or illegality of which
being regarded as a question which no reasonable man need trouble
himself about. The German settlers from the Rhine Palatinate were the
only ones to protest against it, and they indeed left no stone unturned
to secure support and recognition for their cause. Penn’s attempts to
introduce a law for the benefit of the negroes therefore met with such
strong opposition from the assembly that he was forced to abandon his
benevolent plans until a more favorable opportunity should occur. He
kept no slaves himself, preferring to hire those of his neighbors when
he needed their services.
The Indians were overjoyed at the return of the great Onas, who
immediately renewed the old friendly relations with them. They had
faithfully observed the treaty concluded in 1682 and had fared so well
in consequence that other tribes which had then held aloof were now
eager to join the alliance, to which Penn gladly agreed, as it would add
in no small degree to the safety of his province. After this ceremony
had been performed in the manner already described, Penn entertained his
new allies in the great hall of his mansion, while they returned the
hospitality by performing some of their wild dances upon the lawn for
their host and his family.
Penn continued to labor unceasingly for the welfare not only of his own,
but also of the neighboring provinces for two years, when once more he
was interrupted by the arrival of bad news from England. This was the
introduction of a bill into Parliament bringing all proprietary
governments under the control of the crown, and it was with difficulty
that Penn’s friends succeeded in having the hearing deferred until he
could return from America. His presence in England therefore seemed
indispensable at this juncture and the assembly of Pennsylvania urged
him to lose no time. All necessary measures of government were hastily
arranged and some alterations made in the constitution, but already it
had become painfully evident that the representatives of the people were
seeking their own advantage only and paying little heed to the interests
of the man to whom they owed so much. They even refused to furnish the
means for his journey to England, though it was undertaken entirely at
their behest and in their interest, and Penn was forced to depend on
raising the necessary money during his stay in London by the sale of
some of his lands.
His wife and daughter were glad enough to return to England. The novelty
and excitement of the new life had worn away by this time and they
hastened as much as possible the preparations for departure. The
Indians, on the contrary, were bitterly disappointed when they heard
that the great Onas was to leave them again so soon. They came from near
and far to bid him farewell and were only consoled by the assurance that
during his absence the same justice and friendship should be shown them,
to insure which Penn made both the council and his deputy, Colonel
Hamilton, personally responsible. As a parting gift he presented the
city of Philadelphia with a deed of grant for the land on which it
stood, and after promising to send his son out at once, that he might
become familiar with the nature and needs of the country over which he
might one day claim ownership, Penn left the shores of America, never to
return.
On his arrival in England, toward the end of 1701, he found the
situation by no means so bad as he had feared. It had been merely a plot
on the part of his enemies to deprive him of his ownership of
Pennsylvania without any indemnification. Upon Penn’s proving that he
had relinquished a claim on ten thousand pounds against the crown in
exchange for his patent, which document had been drawn up in the proper
legal form; that besides this he had acquired undisputed possession of
the land by subsequent purchase from the Indians; and finally, that the
interest on that ten thousand pounds had by this time increased it to
more than double that sum, which must lawfully be paid to him if he were
deprived of his province, even King William was forced to recognize the
justice of his cause and the proposed bill was abandoned, never to be
revived again.
Penn had not neglected to fulfil his promise to the Pennsylvanians and
immediately after his arrival had ordered his son to leave as soon as
possible for Philadelphia; but it was with great reluctance that he did
so, for during his father’s absence the pleasure-loving youth had
abandoned himself to every form of dissipation, to the great detriment
not only of his health, but of his pocket. To send him out to America
alone without restraint or guardianship of any kind meant merely a
continuation of his dissolute career, with perhaps ruin and disgrace to
the honorable name he bore. Nor was the young man any better pleased
with the idea, and it was not till his father had opened his eyes to the
seriousness of the situation and agreed to pay his debts that he yielded
and promised to go without further protest. Before he sailed Penn wrote
to some of the Friends in Philadelphia begging them to watch over his
son with fatherly care and solicitude. All seemed to go well at first
with young William. He troubled himself little, to be sure, as to the
province or its affairs, preferring rather to spend his time in hunting
and fishing; but the evil spirit in him soon broke out afresh, and he
plunged once more into a life of wild excess, defying all the laws of
the country, and after he had succeeded in squandering huge sums of
money and making himself thoroughly detested, he went back to England,
unbidden and unregretted.
The payment of these new debts contracted by his son caused Penn great
financial embarrassment, which was still further increased by the
unexpected and extortionate demands of a creditor. This was the
successor of his former advocate and man of business, who at the time of
Penn’s first journey to America had advanced him the sum of twenty-eight
hundred pounds in exchange for which and ostensibly as a mere matter of
form he had induced his unsuspecting client to sign a bond pledging the
whole province of Pennsylvania as security. Now without any warning an
account of fourteen thousand pounds was sent in to Penn with the threat
that an attachment would be served if this sum were not immediately
paid. After investigating this fraudulent account, he declared himself
willing to settle for some four thousand pounds, all to which the
creditor was justly entitled. This the latter refused to accept,
however, and the owner of Pennsylvania was forced to go to a debtors’
prison as the assembly of that colony refused to make him any advances
or even pay the revenues owing to him. In this emergency Penn offered
for the sum of twenty thousand pounds to sell his whole province to
Queen Anne, who, as the second daughter of the dethroned King James the
Second, had succeeded to the throne on the death of William the Third,
in 1702. She refused to take it, however, and at length he managed by
great effort to raise between seven and eight thousand pounds, with
which his false creditor finally agreed to content himself, Penn thereby
procuring release.
The long confinement had so seriously affected Penn’s health that he now
decided to leave London and moved with his family to Brentford, some
eight miles distant, where he devoted himself entirely to his former
vocation of preaching the gospel throughout the country and conducting
meetings for his Quaker brethren. The increasing infirmities of age,
however, soon put an end to these journeyings, Penn having now reached
the age of sixty-five, and in 1710, therefore, he retired to Rushcombe
in Buckinghamshire, where he remained until his death.
From there he addressed a communication to the settlers in Pennsylvania,
reproaching them for the ingratitude with which they had rewarded his
labors and sacrifices in their behalf. His last journey to England had
been taken solely in their interests to prevent the absorption of that
province by the crown, in which case their existing constitution would
have been abolished. He had made every effort to accomplish this
purpose, in spite of their indifference, with the result that he had
become impoverished while they had grown rich; while they, thanks to his
foresight and perseverance, were in possession of an empire, liberty,
and power, and he, for their sake and because of their avarice, had been
forced to languish in a debtors’ prison. He was forced to conclude,
therefore, that it was their wish to sever the old relations hitherto
existing between them and himself, in which case, if they would signify
their desire by the choice of a successor, he would then know how to
act.
This letter did not fail to impress the conscience-stricken
Pennsylvanians. At the popular election which shortly followed a new
assembly was chosen in place of the one that had proved so ungrateful to
their benefactor, and it was no small consolation to Penn, broken as he
was by trouble and ill health, that this new assembly unanimously agreed
on the passage of resolutions that filled him with hope for the future
of the province.