most precious faith; so shall we sensibly experience that heavenly blood of cleansing which only can give remission, cleanse from all sin, and finally purge the conscience from dead works to serve the living God."

Having accomplished his visit in regard to his father's business, and rendered a number of signal services to his friends in Ireland, he returned to his native land. His father was now fully reconciled to him. Though the Admiral was only about forty-nine, yet his constitution had been so much impaired by the hardships of a seafaring life, and exposure to a variety of climates, that he was then sinking under the infirmities of premature old age.

In the year 1670 the famous Conventicle Act was passed by Parliament, which prohibited dissenters from worshipping God in their own way. It had been first suggested by some of the bishops. The chaplain of the Archbishop of Canterbury had previously printed a discourse against toleration, in which he asserted as a main principle that it would be less injurious to the Government to dispense with profane and loose persons than to allow a toleration to religious dissenters. "This act," says Thomas Ellwood, "brake down and overran the bounds and banks anciently set for the defence and security of Englishmen's lives, liberties, and properties, namely, trials by jury, instead thereof directing and authorizing justices of the peace (and that, too, privately out of sessions) to convict, fine, and by their warrants distrain upon offenders against it, directly contrary to the Great Charter."

It was impossible that an act like this could pass without becoming a source of new suffering to William Penn situated as he then was, first, as a minister of the Gospel,

and, secondly, as a man who always dared to do what he thought to be his duty. Accordingly he was one of the earliest victims to its decrees; for, going as usual with others of his own religious society to their meeting-house in Gracechurch Street to perform divine worship, they found it guarded by a band of soldiers. Being thus hindered from entering it, they stopped for a while about the doors. Others who came up joined the former and stopped also, so that in a little time there was a considerable assembly on the spot. By this time William Penn felt himself called upon to preach; but he had not advanced far in his discourse when he and William Mead were seized by constables, who produced warrants signed by Sir Samuel Starling, then lord mayor, for that purpose. The constables after they had seized them conveyed them to Newgate, where they were lodged, that they might be ready to take their trial at the next session of the Old Bailey. :

This arrest was made known next morning to Admiral Penn by the following letter:

"MY DEAR FATHER:-This comes by the hand of one who can best allay the trouble it brings. As true as ever Paul said it, such as live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution; so for no other reason am I at present a sufferer. Yesterday I was taken by a band of soldiers with one Captain Mead and in the evening carried before the mayor; he proceeded against me according to the ancient law; he told me I should have my hat pulled off, for all I was Admiral Penn's son. I told him I desired to be in common with others, and sought no refuge from

the common usage. I discoursed with him about the hat, but he avoided it. Because I did not readily answer him as to my name, William, when he asked me in order to a mittimus, he bid his clerk write one for Bridewell, and there he would see me whipped himself, for all I was Penn's son that starved the seamen. I told him I could very well bear his severe expressions concerning myself, but was sorry to hear him speak those abuses of my father that was not present; at which the assembly seemed to murmur. In short, he committed that person and me as rioters; and at present we are at the sign of the Black Dog, in Newgate market.

"And now, dear father, be not displeased nor grieved, what if this be designed of the Lord for an exercise of our patience. I am very well, and have no trouble upon my spirits besides my absence from thee at this juncture.

"Well, eternity which is at the door (for He that shall come will come, and will not tarry)-that will make amends for all: The Lord God everlasting consolate and support thee by his holy power, and preserve thee to eternal rest and glory. Amen.

"Thy faithful and obedient son,

"My duty to my mother.

WILLIAM PENN."

The

On the first of the Ninth month the trial came on. indictment stated among other falsehoods that the prisoners had preached to an unlawful, seditious, and riotous assembly; that they had assembled by agreement made beforehand; and that they had met together with force and arms, and this to the great terror and disturbance of many of His Majesty's liege subjects. The prisoners

were brought to the bar, and pleaded not guilty to the indictment. The Court was then adjourned.

On the third of the month, William Penn and William Mead were brought again into Court. One of the officers as they entered pulled off their hats. Upon this the Lord Mayor became furious, and in a stern voice ordered him to put them on again. This being done, the Recorder fined each of the prisoners forty marks, observing that the circumstance of being covered there amounted to a contempt of Court.

It

The witnesses were then called in and examined. appeared from their testimony that on the fifteenth of August between three and four hundred persons were assembled in Gracechurch Street, and that they saw William . Penn speaking to the people, but could not distinguish what he said. One, and one only, swore that he heard him preach; but on further examination he said that he could not on account of the noise understand any one of the words spoken. With respect to William Mead, it was proved that he was there also, and that he was heard to say something; but nobody could tell what. This was in substance the whole of the evidence against them.

It appears probable that the arrest was made in consequence of the Conventicle Act, then recently passed, but a prosecution upon that act was not sufficient to gratify the malice of the mayor and his associates. The mayor chose to commit them as rioters, and the indictment was apparently framed with a view to involve them and their case in the intricacies of the unwritten law, and to subject them to such penalty as the malice of the Court might prescribe. The definition of an unlawful assembly would

appear to have been borrowed from the Conventicle Act; for in the fourth section of that act, meetings for religious purposes, not according to the liturgy of the Church of England, are reckoned unlawful assemblies, yet we have no account that this act was quoted or referred to during the trial. The jury were urged to convict William Penn of preaching to an unlawful assembly, without being informed what constituted such an assembly, or what penalty would be awarded. The fact of his speaking to a number of people in the street being established, if the jury could have been induced to decide that he was speaking to a tumultuous assembly, the Court would unquestionably have put their own construction upon it, and decided that the penalty as well as the offence was to be found in the lex non scripta.

The witnesses having finished their testimony, William Penn acknowledged that both he and his friend were present at the place and time mentioned. "We are so far," says he, "from recanting, or declining to vindicate the assembling of ourselves to preach, pray, or worship the eternal, holy, just God, that we declare to all the world. that we do believe it to be our indispensable duty to meet incessantly upon so good an account; nor shall all the powers upon earth be able to divert us from reverencing and adoring our God, who made us.”

These words were scarcely pronounced when Brown, one of the sheriffs, exclaimed that he was not there for worshipping God, but for breaking the law. William Penn replied that he had broken no law, and desired to know by what law it was that they prosecuted him, and upon what law it was that they founded the indictment.