Penn

(William),:an English admiral, born at Bristol, in 1621., He commanded with Venables at the taking of Jamaica from the Spaniards, in 1655, and the same year was elected member of parliament for Weymouth. "He was committed to the tower by Cromwell, for quitting his command without leave, but was soon released. He was cliief commander under the duke of York, in the signal and succe ful battle with the Dutch fleet, in 1664, and was honoured with knighthood. He died in retirement at Wanstead, in E ex, in 1670. ‘Penn (William), an eminent quaker and writer, son of the above, was born in the parish of St. Catherine’s, near the tower, in 1644. He was put to school, first at Chigwell, in E ex, then toa master on Tower-hill, and lastly under the care of a private tutor. One Thomas Loe, a quaker, is said to have.confirmed him in his design of uniting with that sect. He was, with many other persons, taken out of a meeting-house at Cork, and imprisoned; and this unjust persecution on a people for opinion’s sake strenghtened his affection and ties of union with them. His father, though of i ended with his son, obtained his release. He was, however, afterwards sent to the tower for a book he had written, and during the seven months he was confined he wrote his famous No Cro , no Crown. He was so courageous and able a champion in the cause of his oppre ed brethren, as to obtain an order for.the release of all in prison. In the next year the conventicle act occasioned his being imprisoned a third time. He was also tried at the Old Bailey for preaching to a sed i-. tious seine. He pleaded his own cause and was acquitted, but the jury were fined, and he was detained in prison. He obtained his own and their release, probably by the interest of - his father, for the quakers deem the payment of a fine an acknowledgment of guint. His father became perfectly reconciled to him before his death, which’ Manpencl in 1670, for he said to him, ‘* Son William, let nothing in this world tempt you to wrong your conscience: I charge you do nothing against your conscience. So will you keep peace at home, which will be a feast to you in a day of trouble.” He had a controversy with Mugg let on, the founder of a sect; and held, near Rick mans worth, a public dispute with the no le famous Richard Baxter. Helived many years at Werminghurst, in Su ex, an estate which he had by his wife ~Gulielma Maria Springett, whose father had been killed at the siege of Bamber, in the civil wars. From this residence, he went, in company with George Fox and Robert Barclay, on a mi ion to Holland and Germany. In 1681 king Charles granted him, in lieu of arrears due to his father, the province in North, America, till then called the New Netherlands, but since Pennsylvania. Mr. Penn’s friendly and pacific manner of treating the Indians produced in them an extraordinary love for him and his people; so that they have maintained a perfect amity with the English in Pennsylvania ever since, He died in 1718, at Jordans, near Beacons field, of the effects of three apoaa. fits. He left considerable property be- ind him, having inherited 15001. a year from his father. At one period of his life, Penn lodged in a house in Norfolk-street in the Strand. In the entrance to it he had a peeping-hole, through which he could see any person that came to him. A creditor one day sent in his name; and having been made to wait more than a reasonable time, he knocked for the servant, whom he asked, «* Will not thy master see me?” Friend, (answered the servant) he has seen thee, but he does not like thee.” - He was the greatest bulwark of the Quakers; in whose defence he wrote numberle pieces. Besides the above works, he wrote a great number of others; the most esteemed of which are, 1. His Primitive Christianity revived. His defence of a paper entitled Gospel Truths, against the Exceptions of the bishop of Cork. 3. His Persuasive to Moderation, 4. His Good Advice to the Church of England, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Di enter. 5. The sandy Foundation shaken. 6. No Cro , no Crown. 7. The great Case of Liberty of Conscience debated. 8. The Christian Quaker and_his Testimony stated and vindicated. A Discourse of the general Rule of Faith and Practice, and Judge of Controversy. 10. England’s present Interest considered. 11. An Addre to Protestants. 12. His Reflections and Maxims. 13. His Advice to his Children. 14, His Rise and Progre of the People called Quakers. 15. A Treatise on Oaths. Most of these have pa ed several editions, some of them mapy. The letters between William Penn and Dr. Til lots on, and William Penn and Wil+ liam Popple, esq. together with Penn’s letters to the prince Elizabeth of the Rhine, and the counte of Hornes, as also one to his wife onhis going to Pennsylvania, are inserted in his works, which were first collected and published in 2 vols. folio; and the parts since selected and abridged into 1 vol. folio, are very much and deservedly admired for the good sense they contain. bathe 188