Sir William died this year fully reconciled to his son, to whom he left a plentiful estate, taking leave of him in these memorable words : " Son William, let nothing in this world tempt you to wrong your conscience. So will you keep peace at home, which will be a feast to you in a day of trouble.'' Shortly after this event our author travelled in the ex ercise of his ministry into Holland and Germany. In the year 1672 he married Gulielma Maria Springett, whose father (Sir William) having been killed at the siege of Barn ber in the civil wars; her mother had married Isaac Pen ington of Chalfont in Buckinghamshire, an eminent minis ter and writer among the Quakers. After his marriage he resided some time at Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, whence he removed to Worminghurst in Sussex. In 1677, in company with George Fox and Robert Barclay (the celebrated apologist) he again set sail on a religious visit to Holland and Germany, where they were received by many persons as the messengers of Christ, particularly at Herwerden by the princess Elizabeth of the Rhine, daughter of the king of Bohemia, and grand daughter to James I. of England. • The persecution of dissenters continuing to rage with unabated violence notwithstanding their repeated applica tions to Parliament for sufferance and protection, William Penn now turned his views toward a settlement in the New World, as a place where himself and his friends might enjoy their religious opinions without molestation ; and where an example might be set to the nations, of a just and righteous government: " There may be room there," said he, " though not here, for such a holy expe riment." He accordingly in the year 1681, solicited a patent from Charles II. for a territory in North America, which the king readily granted, in consideration of his father's ser vices, and of a debt still due to him from the crown. Penn soon after published a description of the province, pro posing easy terms of settlement to such as might be dis posed to go thither. Ile also wrote to the Indian natives informing them of his desire to hold his possession with their consent and good will. He then drew up " The fundamental Constitution of Penns) ivania," and the follow he published " the frame of government;" one of the laws of his code held out a greater degree of re ligious liberty than had at that time been allowed in the world. The follow ing provision may be considered as the foundation stone upon the noble edifice of universal toleration has been since established in the United States " All pet sot.s living in this province who confess and ac knowledge the one Almighty and Eternal God to be the creator upholder and ruler of the world, and that hold them selves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in civil society, shall in no wise be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion or practice in matters of faith and worship." Upon the publication of these proposals many respect able families removed to the new province. The city of Philadelphia was laid out upon the banks of the Delaware, and in 16S2 the Proprietor visited his newly acquired territory, where he remained about two years, adjusting its concerns, and establishing a ft iendly intercourse with his colonial neighbours: during which period no less than fifty sail arrived with settlers from England, Ireland, Wales, Holland, and Germany. Envy however followed this great man into the wilderness, and he who had been traduced at home as a concealed papist, was accused abroad of rest less ambition, and the desire of wealth. His defence to his friends of his own political conduct concludes with this remarkable prediction, as to them and his own pos terity : " If friends here keep to God and in the justice, mercy, equity, and fear of the Lord, their enemies will be their footstool : if not, their heirs, and my heirs too, will lose all."
Soon after Penn returned to England king Charles died, and the respect which James II bore to the late Admiral, who had recommended his son to his favour, procured for him free access at court, though he made no other use of this advantage than to solicit the discharge of his perse cuted brethren, fifteen hundred of whom remained in prison at the decease of the late king. In 1686, having taken lodgings at Kensington to be near the court, he pub lished " A persuasive to moderation toward dissenting christians, humbly submitted to the king and his great council;" which is thought to have hastened, if it (lid not occasion, the king's proclamation for a general pardon, which was followed the next year by a suspension of the penal laws against dissenters.
At the Revolution in 1688, the Penn's intimacy with the abdicated monarch created suspicions of which he repeated ly cleared,himself before authority, until being accused by a profligate informer, whom the parliament afterward de clared to be a cheat and impostor; and not caring to ex pose himself to the wilful imputations of such a man, he withdrew from public notice till the year 1693, when through the mediation of his friends at court he was once admitted to plead his own cause before the king and council, and was again acquitted of all suspicion of guilt. The most generally known production of his temporary seclusion bears the title of " Fruits of solitude in Reflec tions and Maxims relating to the conduct of Human Life." Not long after his restoration to society he lost his wife Guliclma, to which he said all his other troubles were as nothing in comparison. He travelled however within the same year, in the west of England ; and, in the next, pro secuted an application to parliament for the relief of his friends the Quakers in the case of oaths.
In the year 1699, having lost his eldest son, and married a second wife, the Proprietor of Pennsylvania again sailed for his province, intending to make it the place of his future residence ; but advantage being taken of his absence to undermine proprietary governments, under colour of advancing the king's prerogative, he found it necessary to return again to England in 1701. After his arrival the measure was laid aside; and his presence be came once more welcome at court, on the accession of Queen Anne. On this occasion he again resided at Ken sington, and afterwards at Knights bridge, till in the year 1706 he removed to a house about a mile from Brentford. Here, after a life of almost constant vicissitude and exer 'don, the infirmities of age began to overpower the faculties of his mind, and at length, in 1710, finding the air near the city to disagree with his declining health, he took a seat at Rusheomb near Twyford in Buckinghamshire, where he continued to reside in retirement during the remainder of his life.
In the year 1712 he had three distinct fits of the apoplec tic kind. The last of these so impaired his memory and understanding as to render him thereafter unfit for public action. Ilere his friend Thomas Story made him annual visits from this time till his decease. In 1713 and 14 he found him cheerful and able to recollect past transactions; but defective in utterance. In 1715 his memory was de cayed; but Story relates that he continued to deliver in the meeting at Reading short but sound and sensible ex pressions. In 1716 he seemed glad to see his friend again, and at parting with him, and another, he said : " My love is with you. The Lord preserve you ; and remember me in the everlasting covenant." In 1717 he scarcely knew his old acquaintance, or could walk without leading. He died in 1718, and was buried at Jordans near Beacons field, in Buckinghamshire.