.

1712]

OFFER TO QUEEN ANNE

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lifetime, but I would be very cautious of contributing to a change, if it were possible to hold out with any hope of durable ease.” 1

In February 1712 Penn proposed to surrender to Her Majesty the powers with which he had been invested, and besought her at the same time to take the people under her protection. It must have cost Penn a good deal to make this offer, but under the circumstances he felt that it was the only thing to be done. He naturally wished to make an arrangement which would prove of benefit to his family, for his money troubles pressed upon him as heavily as ever, his son-in-law, William Aubrey, had lent him money, and turned out a grasping creditor. This may be inferred from Hannah's letter to her husband. Penn often implored Logan to send some money for his poor daughter, "for great is the cry of William Aubrey against the Pennsylvania paymaster.' These worries, coupled with the fact that it was physically impossible for him to return to America, left him little option.

A proposal was made by the Commissioners of Plantation, to recommend the Queen to “allow Mr Penn the sum of £12,000, to be paid in four years from the date of his surrender.

William Penn was still able to attend at the Treasury Office and transact business, though he 1 1 Logan Correspondence.

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PENN STRUCK DOWN [CHAP. XXIV must have felt very ill, for he writes in February of that year to the Lord High Treasurer :“My NOBLE FRIEND,

“The reason of the trouble of my message, was the hopes thy goodness had long raised in me of an easier access, in my present weakness, at thy house. Wearing a nightgown still makes but an odd figure at the treasury compassionate the circumstances of that faithful respectful old friend,

“ WILLIAM PENN." In the summer of 1712, Mr and Mrs Callowhill, father and mother of Hannah Penn, died within a few days of each other. William Penn was in the act of writing to announce this family bereavement to his friend James Logan, when the pen dropped from his fingers, and he fell down struck by a paralytic seizure, or, as some say, an apoplectic fit. For a time he was dangerously ill, his mind and speech being both affected, his wife nursed him with devoted care, sorrow for the loss of her parents being merged in the fear of losing her beloved husband. Hannah Penn was an eminently

capable woman. When she saw that he would not soon, if ever, recover his powers, she wisely took the command of affairs into her own hands. She entered into correspondence with James Logan, who from that time continued to write to her every detail of business connected with the

1712] i PENN LOSES HIS FACULTIES 227 province, as he had already done for years to his revered master.

The negotiations with Government for the transfer were suspended or terminated, by William Penn's illness, it was therefore necessary to carry on the work of the province in the name of the proprietor.

Colonel Gookin, who had succeeded Evans as governor, was

a much older and more experienced man, and during the first years of his administration, he was the most satisfactory of all Penn's deputies. But as time went on, he came into such violent contact with the Assembly, and began to display personal eccentricity and extravagance to such an extent, that Hannah Penn, always acting with the advice of James Logan, took upon herself to discharge him, and put Sir William Keith into his place. This brave woman did not shirk any of these unpleasant duties which had now fallen to her lot ; yet all the time, with an aching heart, she was watching beside the dearly loved husband who, though gradually recovering health and cheerfulness, had lost all mental capacity.

The great William Penn, the master-mind who had carried out such a wonderful and marvellous work, was no more. In his place was a gentle invalid, welcoming those about him with a smile, but forgetful of their very names, and often unable to put his thoughts into speech.

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SIX YEARS AN INVALID [CHAP. XXIV Six years he waited at Ruscombe for his release, and for the door of his prison-house to be opened.

He had ever been gentle and serene of temper, now he was peaceful as a little child, but his strong religious sense, survived all those other feelings that had faded away. What to him now was the governorship of Pennsylvania, or the favour of his sovereign; neither were the difficulties, annoyances attendant on his position, any more a burden to him. After a long life devoted entirely to labouring for the good of others, the God he had loved and served so faithfully had in mercy given him peace at the end.

He still enjoyed religious privileges, and would drive in his carriage to Reading to attend the meeting, and sometimes would himself utter a few words, in a clear voice, on the life and power of Truth and the mercy and favour of God. Then his voice would fail, and the words refused to come, and in sadness he would be taken away, but leaving always in the minds of his people this touching recollection of his piety and the remembrances of his great example. At other times he amused himself with his grandchildren, the offspring of his wretched son William, who had gone, no one knew where, and who had long been lost to all sense of decency or virtue.