Pirates and Sea Robbers; for granting an Impost on Wine, Rum, and Beer; for raising One Penny Per Pound and Six Shillings per Head for the Support of Government; for raising and granting to the Proprietary and Governor the sum of Two Thousand Pounds upon the clear Value of all Real and Personal Estates, and upon the Polls of all Freemen within the Province and Territories; for effectually establishing and confirming the Freeholders of the same, their Heirs and Assigns, in their Lands and Tenements; for erecting a Bridge at Chester; for Country Produce to be Current Payment; against Selling Rum to the Indians.After these some other laws were passed by the Assembly, making up, with those whose titles have been recited, the number of one hundred.

With respect to the new Charter or Frame of Government, upon which so much attention had been bestowed by a committee of the Assembly, it was produced, read, and approved. It agreed with that of 1696 in the following particulars-Each county was to send four members to the Assembly, but this number might be enlarged afterwards as circumstances might require; the Assembly also were allowed to propose bills, to appoint committees, and to sit upon their own adjournments. Among the new articles it contained I may notice, first, that if persons through temptation or melancholy should destroy themselves, their estates were not to be forfeited, but to descend to their wives and children and relations, as if they had died a natural death; and, secondly, that in case the representatives of the Province and those of the Territories should not hereafter agree to join together in legislation, they were allowed, by proper signification of the same, to separate within three years from the date of the charter; but they were to enjoy the same privileges when separated as when connected.

The Assembly having finished the business before them, William Penn, on the twenty-eighth of October, signed the above charter in the Council Chamber, in the midst of the Council and Assembly, both of whom united in returning him thanks, as appears by the following document:—

"This Charter of Privileges having been distinctly read in Assembly, and the whole and every part thereof having been approved and agreed to by us, we do thankfully receive the same from our Proprietary and Governor, this twenty-eighth day of October, 1701."

Signed by EDWARD SHIPPEN, THOMAS STORY, and others of the Governor's Council; and by JOSEPH GROWDON, on behalf and by order of the Assembly.

On the same day he appointed, by letters patent under the great seal, a council of state, consisting of Edward Shippen, Thomas Story, and eight other persons, for the government of the Province and Territories, to assist him or his Lieutenant with their advice in public affairs; and to exercise, in his own absence or in case of the death or incapacity of his Lieutenant, the powers of government for the same.

On the twenty-ninth, the ship which was to carry him to England being

ready to sail, he convened the inhabitants of Philadelphia, in order to leave with them a particular memorial of his good-will towards them. He presented them with a charter of privileges, by which Philadelphia was constituted a city, and incorporated. The corporation was to consist of a mayor, aldermen, and common council-men, a recorder, sheriff, town-clerk, and other officers, and to have the title of The Mayor and Commonalty of Philadelphia. This charter he had prepared and signed on the twenty-fifth, and he had taken care to appoint all those whom he most approved of to the different stations belonging to it. Thus he appointed Edward Shippen the first mayor, and Thomas Story the first recorder; all of whom he saw in their respective offices before he departed.

On the thirtieth he appointed Andrew Hamilton, who had been some time Governor both of East and West Jersey, as his Deputy Governor; and having put him into his place, and introduced him to the Council, he embarked the next day with his wife and family, after having staid in Pennsylvania about two years; during which, according to the account of his life, written by Besse, prefixed to the collection of his works, "he had applied himself to the offices of government, always preferring the good of the country and its inhabitants to his own private interest, rather remitting than rigorously exacting his lawful revenues, so that, under the influence of his paternal administration, he left the Province in an easy and flourishing condition." It appears that he was only about six weeks on his passage, and that he arrived at Portsmouth about the middle of December.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

A. 1702-3.-CARRIES UP THE ADDRESS OF THE QUAKERS TO QUEEN ANNE-WRITES "CONSIDERATIONS UPON THE BILL AGAINST OCCASIONAL CONFORMITY"-ALSO "MORE FRUITS OF SOLITUDE”—ALSO A PREFACE TO "VINDICIÆ VERITATIS”—AND ANOTHER TO "ZION'S TRAVELLERS COMFORTED"-AFFAIRS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

TIE facts related of William Penn become now so very scanty, that I shall be obliged, from this time, to throw two or three years of his life into one chapter.

He had not been long in England before he found that the bill which was to turn the North American into regal governments had been entirely dropped, so that he had crossed the Atlantic for nothing. It was, however, a consolation to him to know, that the evil on account of which he had come to England, and the removal of which was likely to have cost him much anxiety, pain, and trouble, had been removed.

Not long after this, King William died, and Queen Anne succeeded him. William Penn was in great favour with this princess, and occasionally

attended her court. She received him always in a friendly manner, and was pleased with his conversation on American concerns. He was employed also in carrying up to her an address from the Quakers, to thank her for her declaration that she would maintain the Act of Toleration in favour of Dissenters. The Queen spoke to him very kindly on this occasion, and having read the address, added, "Mr. Penn, I am so well pleased that what I have said is to your satisfaction, that you and your Friends may be assured of my protection."

At this time he and his family were in lodgings at Kensington. Here he wrote a little tract, contained in a sheet of paper, called "Considerations upon the Bill against Occasional Conformity," which bill had then been introduced into the House of Commons.

This was a second part to

He wrote also "More Fruits of Solitude." "Some Fruits of Solitude, in Reflections and Maxims relating to the Conduct of Human Life," published in 1683. in both parts amounted to eight hundred and fifty.

The reflections and maxims

He removed from Kensington to Knightsbridge the next year. While at the latter place, he wrote two interesting prefaces to two books. The first of these was "Vindicia Veritatis; or, an Occasional Defence of the Principles and Practices of the People called Quakers; in answer to a Treatise by John Stillingfleet, a Clergyman in Lincolnshire, miscalled Seasonable Advice against Quakerism." The other was a collection of Charles Marshall's writings, called “Zion's Travellers Comforted."

With respect to America, he received no intelligence from thence but what was distressing. It appears that Governor Hamilton had summoned the Assembly, and that the members for the Territories had come down to Philadelphia in consequence, and had met him in the Council Chamber; but they had refused to meet him in Assembly, or to act in legislation with those for the Province. They objected to the last charter. William Penn, they said, had signed this at a Board of Council, and not in Assembly, for the Assembly had been dissolved the day defore. The charter therefore was not binding upon them, for they were then no house. Besides, the members for the Province had been elected by writs, which were conformable in point of time with the said charter; but they themselves had been elected not till some time after. They could not therefore sit in Assembly with the former; for, by so doing, they would acknowledge the said charter, the writs upon which the said members were elected being grounded upon it.

The Governor made a reply to them; but his arguments, forcible as they were, did not avail. In the course, however, of five or six weeks, he succeeded in bringing them and the members for the Province together, but it was in the Council Chamber only; and here the communication which he had to make to them was not likely to conciliate either of them; for he revived the old subject of fear of invasion, and proposed, at the instigation of Lord Cornbury, then Governor of New York, a junction with his province to fortify the

frontier of Albany, and recommended also the raising of a militia among them. The result was, that both parties, with one accord, declined acting together in their legislative capacity. "They humbly craved leave to inform the Governor, that they could find no method to form themselves into an Assembly, the same stops and objections lying in the way as before."

Twice after this the Governor brought them together, but with no better success, when he dismissed them, hoping that, by sending an account of their proceedings to England, some expedient might be devised by William Penn, which might lead to their union. This, however, was but a vain hope; for when they parted on their dismissal, they parted for ever in legislation, the Territory members determining to hold a separate Assembly within their own borders.

The members for the Province, being now left to themselves, addressed the Governor, requesting that, according to the charter, by which a provision had been made, in case of the separation which had taken place, they might hold an Assembly by the addition of four members for each county and two for Philadelphia, which was now incorporated. This the Governor signified his intention to comply with; but in the interim he died.

On the death of Governor Hamilton, the government of the Province and Territories devolved upon Edward Shippen, who was President of the Council. He summoned the Assembly for the Province in October. They met accordingly, and performed the business of the session; immediately after which a dispute arose between them and the Governor and Council; for, when the latter proposed to confer with the Assembly about a proper time to meet again, the Assembly assumed the power of adjourning wholly to themselves; and when an objection was made to this extent of their claim of sitting wholly upon their own adjournments, they immediately adjourned themselves to the first of May next, without giving Governor or Council. any further time to confer with them on the subject.

A. 1704-5-6-7-8.-- WRITES A PREFACE TO "THE WRITTEN GOSPEL LABOURS OF JOHN WHITEHEAD"-TRAVELS AS A MINISTER INTO THE WEST OF ENGLAND -WRITES A GENERAL LETTER TO THE SOCIETY -IS INVOLVED IN A LAW-SUIT WITH THE EXECUTORS OF HIS STEWARD-OBTAINS NO REDRESS IN CHANCERY-OBLIGED, IN CONSEQUENCE, TO LIVE WITHIN THE RULES OF THE FLEET-AFFAIRS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

IN the year 1704 we know very little of William Penn, only that he continued to reside at Knightsbridge, and that, while there, he wrote a preface to "The Written Gospel Labours of John Whitehead."

In 1705 he travelled as a minister to the western parts of the kingdom. It is said that during his journey "he had good service, and that his testimony was effectual to the reformation of many." Soon after this he wrote the following short letter, which he addressed to the Quakers generally: "Hold all your meetings in that which set them up, the heavenly power of God, both ministers and hearers, and live under it and not above it, and the Lord will give you dominion over that which seeks to draw you again into captivity to the spirit of this world under divers appearances, that the truth may shine through you in righteousness and holiness, in self-denial, long suffering, patience, and brotherly kindness; so shall you approve yourselves the redeemed of the Lord, and his living witnesses in and to an evil generation. So prays your Friend and brother through the many tribulations that lead to the kingdom of God."

In 1706 he removed with his family to a house near Brentford, where he continued for some time.

In 1707 he was unhappily involved in a law-suit with the executors of one Ford, who had been formerly his steward. He considered the demands of these to be so unreasonable, as to feel himself bound by justice to resist them.

In the course of 1708 his cause was determined; but, "though many thought him aggrieved, it was attended, it is said, by such circumstances, that the Court of Chancery did not think it proper to relieve him.” This issue must have been very distressing to him, not only because it was entirely unexpected, but because a man of his delicate feelings must have supposed that his character would suffer in consequence of it. But, besides, he was under the painful necessity of dwelling within the Rules of the Fleet till such time as the pecuniary part of the matter could be settled. As to his American affairs, it appears that he had appointed John Evans Deputy Governor, with the Queen's approbation, on the death of Andrew Hamilton. It was the first effort of Evans to try to make up the differences between the members for the Territories and those for the Province. He succeeded in bringing them once more together, and the speech he made to them was such as to dispose the members for the Territories towards a re-union; but those for the Province, who had so long witnessed the refractory behaviour of the latter, refused all further connection with them. The consequence was, that they parted finally.

Having thus failed in his attempt at a negociation, he convened the Assembly of the Province, with which he transacted the public business as a distinct body, and after this the Assembly of the Territories, which he met at Newcastle, distinct in like manner, for the management of the Territory

concerns.

* It is probable that, from this circumstance, Edmund Burke, in his "Account of the European Settlements in America," derived the mistaken notion that William Penn died in the Fleet Prison.