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1

sufferings of the Friends in that city, and imploring him to write to the King of Poland.

Here the little band separated. George Fox remained in Amsterdam with some members of the Society, while Penn and Barclay went on to Herwerden with the rest, where the Princess Palatine held her court. She had notified that she wished to receive them at 7 in the morning —a strange hour for a royal audience—but from Penn's Journal it appears that she breakfasted between 6 and 7, dined at 1, and supped at 8, hours of meals which afford a striking contrast to

a those of modern times. She received William Penn and his party with every expression of kindness, and the visit, which was in fact a religious meeting, lasted till 11 o'clock. The Princess begged them to stay to dinner, but they excused themselves on the plea of fatigue. In the afternoon they returned to the palace, and another meeting was held for worship, which lasted for several hours, the Princess and the Countess of Hornes, her lady-in-waiting, being present. The next day, being that on which the Princess was engaged receiving addresses and petitions, they did not obtain an audience with her, but at her request, they held a meeting for the inferior servants of the palace. From this we may infer that most of the household held the same tenets as their mistress.

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JOURNEY DOWN THE RHINE [CHAP. XIII

with all the enthusiasm of her sex, declared herself ready to go to prison, if need be, for harbouring these preachers, for in many places the Quakers were forbidden to hold forth.

We are not told in what language William Penn preached. We know he spoke Dutch fluently, and as both he and Robert Barclay were great linguists, we may conclude that they would not have undertaken such a mission, unless they had been able to speak to the people themselves.

At one of these meetings an extraordinary impression was made on the overwrought assembly, which Penn records in his own quaint words.-"A Lutheran minister was broken to pieces, and a doctor of physic, deeply affected, confessed the truth.” 1

Down the beautiful Rhine they then proceeded by boat, and after many halts by the way they reached the town of Cologne, and paused to take rest before going on to Drysberg, which was their destination. This town, on the Issel branch of the Rhine, was an old walled city, and William Penn had a letter of introduction to a Doctor Maestricht who resided there. On Penn's arrival, he proceeded to call on the doctor, who was exceedingly friendly.

Not far from Drysberg was the castle of the Graf von Falkenstein. Penn was exceedingly

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sufferings of the Friends in that city, and imploring him to write to the King of Poland.

Here the little band separated. George Fox remained in Amsterdam with some members of the Society, while Penn and Barclay went on to Herwerden with the rest, where the Princess Palatine held her court. She had notified that she wished to receive them at 7 in the morning -a strange hour for a royal audience—but from Penn's Journal it appears that she breakfasted between 6 and 7, dined at 1, and supped at 8, hours of meals which afford a striking contrast to those of modern times. She received William Penn and his party with every expression of kindness, and the visit, which was in fact a religious meeting, lasted till 11 o'clock. The Princess begged them to stay to dinner, but they excused themselves on the plea of fatigue. In the afternoon they returned to the palace, and another meeting was held for worship, which lasted for several hours, the Princess and the Countess of Hornes, her lady-in-waiting, being present. The next day, being that on which the Princess was engaged receiving addresses and petitions, they did not obtain an audience with her, but at her request, they held a meeting for the inferior servants of the palace. From this we may infer that most of the household held the same tenets as their mistress.

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PENN'S ELOQUENCE [CHAP. XIII In the afternoon, the Princess being at liberty, William Penn fulfilled a promise he had made her, and gave an account of his conversion, and the tribulations and consolations he had since experienced.

Elisabeth was attended by the Countess of Hornes, and a French lady whose name is not mentioned, while the others listened with rapt attention, this latter looked with scorn at these Quaker gentlemen, and spoke in a slighting manner, but Penn's earnest voice, and the wonderful personality which so often came to his aid when among hostile people, so won her over, that her manner became “affectionately kind and respectful,” and they all supped together in great harmony. “Blessed be God," writes Penn in his diary that night, “the Lord was not wanting to us, but we were all sweetly tended, and broken together; and virtue went forth of Jesus that day, which did not a little pleasure that noble young woman.” 1

The following day the meeting was attended by the people of the town. The effect on his hearers, especially the Princess, was so great, that she was completely overcome, and could hardly find utterance for her words. She came up to Penn, and holding out her hand to him, tried to tell him in a voice broken by emotion, what a sense she had received of the power and presence

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of God among them, then suddenly turning away, she burst into tears.

“I cannot speak to you,” she sobbed, “my heart is too full.”

William Penn, much touched by her tears, spoke a few words of loving tenderness, giving her time to recover herself. “Come again,” she cried, “before you depart from Germany.” “We are in the Lord's hands, friend Elisabeth,” he replied, "we cannot dispose of ourselves, but we will not forget thee or those belonging to thee," and with that they parted.

From Herwerden, Robert Barclay left to rejoin Fox in Amsterdam, but Penn and the rest proceeded to Paderborn, “a dark and popish town,” he calls it, “under the government of a bishop of that religion,” they found but few members of his persuasion there, though he was always anxious to sow the seed, even in the most stony ground. Their progress through Germany was slow, the season was wet, very often they had only the rough country carts to travel in, but the devoted band pushed on undaunted through Cassel to Frankfort, where they were joyfully received by the Calvinists and Lutherans.

A maiden lady of noble birth named Joanna Eleanora de Merlan, residing in the town, offered her house for the meetings to be held there, and,