and lived on the Continent. He died in France, about two years after his father's decease, expressing on his deathbed, it is said, his regret for the "wrongs he had done."

An added source of trial to William Penn was the inconsiderate pressure of his son-in-law, Aubrey, for his wife's portion. James Logan calls him "one of the keenest men living." William Penn, in one of his letters to James Logan, says, "My son-in-law Aubrey grows very troublesome because he gets nothing thence—almost an open break, did I not bear with him extremely;" and again, "I desire thee to hasten all the relief thou canst, both to me and my son Aubrey, of whom I would be clear of all men; he has a bitter tongue, and I wish I had nothing to do with him in money matters."

About this time we learn that he visited the meetings of Friends in the west of England, and had good and effectual service in the ministry. He also wrote a short epistle addressed to his own Society.

"MY DEAR FRIENDS:-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 to an evil generation. So prays your friend and brother through the many tribulations that lead to the kingdom of God."

XXVII.

ROM 1705 to 1708, while oppressed by many heavy

FROM

cares and anxieties of both public and private character, William Penn had the unhappiness to be involved in law-suits with the heirs of Philip Ford, who had been entrusted with the management of his estates in Ireland. Ford was a member of his own religious society, whom he had treated with great kindness, and, supposing him bound by a sense of gratitude, had imprudently trusted to his integrity and had accepted accounts and signed papers presented to him without sufficient examination.

William Penn writes to James Logan:

"28th Tenth month, 1705.

"I offered upon the adjusting the accounts, (against which I have great and equitable exceptions,) that the half should be then presently paid, and the other reasonably secured; and that, as I desired not to be a judge in my own case, I did propose to refer it to Friends of their and my own choosing. Both which (after three years' agitation) they refused. The reason why they will not refer their case, is supposed to be the blackness and injustice. of the account, which by chancery they hope to stifle, and have the oppressive sum allowed, being upon security."

A minute of Devonshire House Meeting, London, declares its disunity with the widow and son and daughter of Philip Ford for having refused to arbitrate the case

according to the "Christian principle and good order" of the Society of Friends, and leaves William Penn "at liberty now to make his defence in law."

James Logan writes to Thomas Callowhill, William Penn's father-in-law:

"13th of 6th mo., 1706.

"I fear we shall be engaged in great perplexities, by reason of that most unfortunate business of Philip Ford. Never was any person more barbarously treated or baited with undeserved enemies. He [William Penn] has been able to foil all attacks from public adversaries; but 't is his fortune to meet with greatest severities from those that owe most to him. One would think there was almost a commission granted, as against Job, for his trial; for such an accumulation of adversaries has seldom been known to attack a person that so little deserved them. It must be confessed that something of it all is owing to his easiness and want of caution.

"I wish some of those that are acquainted with the more effectual way of transacting such concerns would search into the bottom of it; consider, by the most unbiassed advice, the strength of his antagonists, and endeavor to fix on the most effectual means for his security; for, as far as I can gather from the accounts which I have at such a distance, Philip Ford's designs were base and barbarous from the beginning.

"And what an old, cunning, self-interested man, with such intentions, might be capable of doing, when he had so much goodness, open-heartedness, and confidence in his honesty to deal with, is not difficult to imagine."

About the time of the war in Ireland, when William and James were contending for the mastery of the island, Ford made, or professed to have made, considerable advances on William Penn's account. The heavy expenses which the latter had incurred in the management of his province had embarrassed his circumstances, so that instead of paying these advances, he mortgaged his property in Pennsylvania, as security for the debt. But Ford managed to procure an absolute conveyance of the province, and gave an informal defeasance in return. During the life of Ford this transaction remained a secret, but after his death, his executors claimed not only the proprietorship but the government of the province. The latter claim was, however, abandoned, as it was not included in the conveyance. William Penn insisted that the transaction was a mortgage, not a conveyance, and instituted a suit in chancery for opening and liquidating Ford's accounts, whose demand amounted to about twelve thousand pounds sterling. He considered two-thirds of this charge to be unjust, being made up by computing compound interest, and by exorbitant commissions. The chancellor seems to have been convinced that the account was not fairly stated, but the settlements which had been sanctioned at several times by William Penn rendered it improper in his view to open the accounts. While this suit was pending in chancery, the representatives of Ford instituted a suit in the King's Bench for arrears of rent, upon a lease of the province, made by Philip Ford to the proprietary, and obtained a verdict for three thousand pounds. Execution was issued, and an officer sent to arrest William Penn while he was attending a public

meeting for worship. But the bailiff permitted him to stay the meeting, upon the assurance of Henry Gouldney and others that he would surrender himself when it was over. This was accordingly done, and he in consequence was obliged to live for nine months within the rules of the Fleet. A compromise was at length effected, and the sum of seven thousand pounds accepted in lieu of the sums demanded. The money was chiefly advanced by his friends, and a mortgage on the province for six thousand six hundred pounds was given as security. The imposi tion practised by this unworthy confidant may be in part computed from the fact, that he received seventeen thousand pounds of William Penn's money, and disbursed on his own account only sixteen thousand pounds, and yet brought his employer twelve thousand pounds in debt for interest and services.

After this painful affair was adjusted, he again travelled through some of the western parts of England, in the work of the ministry, as his health and strength would admit. He likewise visited the counties of Berks, Buckingham, Surrey, and other places.

About this time we find the first notice of the failure of his physical powers. The numerous perplexities through which he had recently passed, together with necessary decays of nature, were producing their visible effects on his once athletic constitution. The air in the vicinity of London was found unfavorable to his declining powers, and he removed to Rushcomb, in Buckinghamshire, where he resided for the rest of his life.

The following letter from William Penn to Friends in Pennsylvania was written while imprisoned at the Fleet.