1661]
THE DUEL

17 circle temporarily abated Penn's scruples and induced him to join in the gay and frivolous life, but his conduct was always more discreet than that of the other young men."

He had always excelled in manly exercises, and he took up fencing in Paris. One evening he was assaulted in the street by a person with a drawn sword, who alleged that the Englishman had offered him an affront, and who demanded a reparation. Here William's accomplishment in the fencer's art stood him in good stead, a duel ensued, and he speedily disarmed his antagonist.” This adventure doubtless brought forcibly before him how foolishly he was wasting his time, and from what we learn of his conduct, it is not likely that such a life appealed to him for long; he left Paris for Saumur on the Loire, and studied at the famous Huguenot College in this town under Moses Anyraint, a Calvinistic minister, whose views must have been quite in accordance with his new pupil's, though the school of thought under Anyraint was very much modified from the original doctrines of predestination.

With this man William pursued his studies, not only in theology but in the French language, which he completely mastered.

He was natural linguist. Dutch he had learned in his

i Gerrard Croese, History of Quakers, p. 41.

? In one of W. Penn's writings he condemns the barbarous practice of duelling, and remembered with shame his hot youth.

a

с

20

LADY CASTLEMAINE

[CHAP. III

are once more indebted to Pepys for the account of his arrival at the paternal mansion :

August 26.-Mr Pen, Sir William's son, is come back from France, and came to see my wife—a most modish person grown, she says, and a fine gentleman.”

Life in London had been full of interest and excitement during young William's prolonged absence. The king's extravagances were the talk of the town, and the great gallery at Whitehall was crowded with revellers and gamblers. Lady Castlemaine's star was in the ascendant. The courtiers flocked around her, anxious to win her smiles. Her dresses and jewels were a constant topic of conversation in the drawing-rooms of even high-born ladies. Pepys took a lively interest in them:

“ August 21. — My wife and I walked in Whitehall gardens, and saw the finest smocks and linen petticoats of my Lady Castlemaine, laced with rich lace at the bottom.'

"2 He inferred, also, that young Penn had returned a frivolous, fine gentleman.

"August 30.-Comes Mr Pen to visit me. I perceive something of learning he hath got, but a great deal, if not too much, of the vanity of the French garb, and affected manner of speech and

"3

gait.”

1661]

THE DUEL

17

circle temporarily abated Penn's scruples and induced him to join in the gay and frivolous life, but his conduct was always more discreet than that of the other young men."

He had always excelled in manly exercises, and he took up fencing in Paris. One evening he was assaulted in the street by a person with a drawn sword, who alleged that the Englishman had offered him an affront, and who demanded a reparation. Here William's accomplishment in the fencer's art stood him in good stead, a duel ensued, and he speedily disarmed his antagonist. This adventure doubtless brought forcibly before him how foolishly he was wasting his time, and from what we learn of his conduct, it is not likely that such a life appealed to him for long; he left Paris for Saumur on the Loire, and studied at the famous Huguenot College in this town under Moses Anyraint, a Calvinistic minister, whose views must have been quite in accordance with his new pupil's, though the school of thought under Anyraint was very much modified from the original doctrines of predestination.

With this man William pursued his studies, not only in theology but in the French language, which he completely mastered.

He was natural linguist. Dutch he had learned in his

1 Gerrard Croese, History of Quakers, p. 41.

? In one of W. Penn's writings he condemns the barbarous practice of duelling, and remembered with shame his hot youth.

a

с

20

LADY CASTLEMAINE [CHAP. III are once more indebted to Pepys for the account of his arrival at the paternal mansion :

August 26.—Mr Pen, Sir William's son, is come back from France, and came to see my wife—a most modish person grown, she says, and a fine gentleman."

Life in London had been full of interest and excitement during young William's prolonged absence. The king's extravagances were the talk of the town, and the great gallery at Whitehall was crowded with revellers and gamblers. Lady Castlemaine's star was in the ascendant. The courtiers flocked around her, anxious to win her smiles. Her dresses and jewels were a constant topic of conversation in the drawing-rooms of even high-born ladies. Pepys took a lively interest in them :

August 21. — My wife and I walked in Whitehall gardens, and saw the finest smocks and linen petticoats of my Lady Castlemaine, laced with rich lace at the bottom.” 2

He inferred, also, that young Penn had returned a frivolous, fine gentleman.

“August 30.-Comes Mr Pen to visit me. I perceive something of learning he hath

got, great deal, if not too much, of the vanity of the French garb, and affected manner of speech and

but a

gait.”

1661]
THE DUEL

17 circle temporarily abated Penn's scruples and induced him to join in the gay and frivolous life, but his conduct was always more discreet than that of the other young men.'

He had always excelled in manly exercises, and he took up fencing in Paris. One evening he was assaulted in the street by a person with a drawn sword, who alleged that the Englishman had offered him an affront, and who demanded a reparation. Here William's accomplishment in the fencer's art stood him in good stead, a duel ensued, and he speedily disarmed his antagonist.

This adventure doubtless brought forcibly before him how foolishly he was wasting his time, and from what we learn of his conduct, it is not likely that such a life appealed to him for long; he left Paris for Saumur on the Loire, and studied at the famous Huguenot College in this town under Moses Anyraint, a Calvinistic minister, whose views must have been quite in accordance with his new pupil's, though the school of thought under Anyraint was very much modified from the original doctrines of predestination.

With this man William pursued his studies, not only in theology but in the French language, which he completely mastered.

He was

a natural linguist. Dutch he had learned in his

i Gerrard Croese, History of Quakers, p. 41.

? In one of W. Penn's writings he condemns the barbarous practice of duelling, and remembered with shame his hot youth.

с