commanded them to let the tares grow with his "Persuasive to moderation,” then just pubthe wheat until harvest; and to exclude lished, he had expressed the sentiment, that worldly strife for religion, we are informed the business of the state might be better manthat his kingdom is not of this world. The aged, by allowing the prince to choose his apostle Paul advocates the same doctrine. He agents out of six denominations, than by limadvised that every man should be fully per-iting him to one. In his own practice in suaded in his own mind, and if any were mis- Pennsylvania, he manifested the liberality of taken, God, in his own time, would inform his principles. He not only secured freedom them better. He spoke of schismatics and of conscience to all the inhabitants, but freheretics; they were to be admonished, and if quently entrusted important offices to the admonition should fail, they were to be denied hands of persons who did not belong to his the fellowship of the church. But there the own religious Society. authority of the church ended.

The essay was closed with a number of quotations from the Christian fathers, and the opinions of others eminent for their wisdom or stations in life, in support of religious toleration. Among these were the father and grand-father of the reigning monarch.

Upon arriving on the continent, he went immediately to the Hague, where he had several conferences with the prince, on the subject.* Here he met with Burnet the historian, who was then at the same court, endeavouring to procure the consent of the prince to a toleration in England, but not to a removal of These tracts are without date, except as the tests. They spent several hours in disthe year of their publication appears in the cussing the subject. William Penn supported margin, in the printed works of our author. the opinion that tests were not necessary as a From what J. Besse, the biographer of Wil-security to toleration, because dissenters were liam Penn, has said on the subject, we may amenable to the laws for any deviation from infer that this tract was written, if not pub-constitutional rectitude.

lished, previous to the proclamation for a While he was executing his commission, general pardon issued in 1686, and we find he became acquainted with several persons, that a particular charge was given by the both English and Scotch, who had fled from king to the judges of assize in their several their country on account of persecution for circuits, to extend the benefits of the pardon their religion. These were not of his _relito such of the people called Quakers, as were gious persuasion, yet upon his return to Eng. convicted or under process in order for con- land he interested himself in their favour, and viction, of premunire, for refusing to swear, procured their indemnity. One of them, upon or presented for absence from church, or his return, finding his estate in possession of other similar causes; by which means about another, acquainted William Penn with the thirteen hundred Friends, many of whom had circumstances; who immediately called on lain in prison a number of years, were re-the possessor, and by his remonstrances obstored to liberty. Whatever motives may

In the course of the year 1686, William Penn paid a visit to the continent. The king being informed of his prospect, requested him to undertake a mission to the Prince of Orange, afterwards William III. The object of the mission was to procure his consent to a general religious toleration in England, together with the removal of all tests.*

have influenced the king and his council in *It may appear strange that William Penn this proceeding, it was not to be doubted that should countenance an application to a foreign Friends would receive the boon, with grati-prince for permission to repeal the penal laws and tude to the king as the immediate dispenser, abolish the tests in Great Britian. The Prince of and primarily to the Author of all good as the Orange certainly had no authority to interfere with supreme and original disposer of events. the legislation of the kingdom; yet as his wife, heiress to the crown, it was obvious that in case the eldest daughter of James, was presumptive of her succession, the prince must have great influence over the affairs of the nation. He was indeed considered as the hope of the Protestants, and in the existing state of public opinion, there was little prospect of carrying so important a measure through find no account of the effect, if any was produced, the British parliament without his approbation. I of the interviews with William Penn; but it appears that the prince subsequently authorized FaIngel, counsellor and chief-pensionary at the Hague, to inform the king, that he and the Princess Mary highly approved of granting an entire toleration to all Protestant dissenters; and were willing the Roman Catholics should also enjoy the liberty of their consciences. But that they could not agree to the repeal of the test and the other penal laws which excluded the professors of that religion from parliament and public employment.

The object in view was very congenial with William Penn's opinions and principles.

*The Test act was passed in 1673, and it required that all persons holding any public office, besides taking the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and receiving the sacrament according to the rites of the church of England, should abjure the doctrine of transubstantiation.

for not receiving the sacraments, or for any other non-conformity with the established religion, or for performing religious worship in other ways, should be suspended.*

tained the restitution of a part of it. After the execution of all penal laws concerning the revolution the remainder was recovered. ecclesiastical affairs, for not coming to church, The object of his visit to the continent, was a religious one, but of the particulars, very little is known. It appears he visited his friends at Amsterdam, and was at the house of William Sewel the historian, who was then engaged in translating his account of Pennsylvania, and No Cross, No Crown, into the Low Dutch language. With him he carried on for some time a correspondence in Latin, some portions of which were used by Thomas Clarkson in his biography of William Penn. From Amsterdam he pursued his travels in the work of the ministry to Utrecht; but of the other places he visited nothing is now known. It is understood, however, that he extended his visit to some parts of Germany, and in a letter written afterwards, to one of his friends, he expressed that he had had blessed service for the Lord.

This was certainly a stretch of the royal prerogative totally irreconcileable with the nature of a limited monarchy. Yet as the boon, so far as liberty of conscience was regarded, was nothing more than reason and justice required, the dissenters in general accepted it with gratitude. Addresses of thanks to the king were therefore presented from numerous quarters. Among others, Friends of the city of London presented one, expressive of their gratitude to the king for this act of justice and mercy. But this address being presented only by Friends in the vicinity of London, the ensuing Yearly Meeting held in that city prepared one in behalf of the Society at large, and deputed William Penn, in conjunction with some others, to present it.

Being admitted to the king, William Penn introduced the address by a speech to the fol

After his return from the continent, he visited a considerable part of his native land. He travelled in the work of the Gospel through Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Staf fordshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the counties of Westmore-lowing import. land and Durham. This religious service. appears to have been accomplished to the sat"IT was the saying of our blessed Lord to isfaction of his own mind, for he thankfully the captious Jews in the case of tribute, testified that the Lord had been with him at Render to Cæsar the things that are Cathat season in a sweet and melting life, to the sar's, and to God the things that are God's.' great joy of himself and refreshment of his As this distinction ought to be observed by friends. all men in the conduct of their lives, so the Soon after the proclamation of pardon al-king has given us an illustrious example, in ready noticed, King James checked the rapacity of the informers about London and Middlesex, by signifying his pleasure to the justices that they should withhold their encouragement, from that unprincipled crew. Still Friends were persecuted as popish recusants, particularly by the act of 23 Elizabeth, for twenty pounds a month, on account of absence from the national worship. Application being made to the king, he was pleased to grant a nolle prosequi, and gave orders to the attorney-general, that no writs should be issued out of the exchequer against Friends on these accounts. Thus the ruin of great numbers of Friends was prevented, and their estates saved to the amount of many thousand pounds; a result which the labours and influence of William Penn were no doubt instrumental in producing.

his own person, that excites us to it: for while he was a subject he gave Cæsar his tribute, and now he is Cæsar he gives God his due, namely, the sovereignty over consciences. It were a great shame then, for any Englishman that professess Christianity, not to give God his due. By this grace he has relieved his distressed subjects from their cruel sufferings, and raised to himself a new and lasting empire by adding their affections to their duty. And we pray God to continue the king in this noble resolution; for he is now upon a principle that has good nature, Christianity and the good of civil society, on its side, a security to him beyond the little arts of government.

"I would not that any should think we come hither with design to fill the gazette with our thanks; but as our sufferings would have

The for

The relief thus afforded, may perhaps be considered as fairly included in the royal pre- *There were two proclamations published, one rogative; but in the early part of 1687, the for Scotland and the other for England. king issued a declaration of general indul-mer expressly granted a toleration by his sovergence, or liberty of conscience, by his sover-power; but in the latter the language was softeign authority, prerogative royal and absolute eign authority and absolute power, to his sub- ened, and a confident expectation of the concurjects of all religions; ordering that thenceforth | rence of parliament introduced.

moved stones to compassion, so we should be your address. Some of you know, I am sure harder if we were not moved to gratitude. you do, Mr. Penn, that it was always my "Now, since the king's mercy and good-principle that conscience ought not to be ness have reached to us throughout the king-forced; and that all men ought to have the dom of England and principality of Wales, liberty of their consciences. What I have our General Assembly from all those parts, promised in my declaration I will continue to met at London about our church affairs, has perform as long as I live. And I hope, beappointed us to wait upon the king with our fore I die, to settle it so that after ages shall humble thanks, and me to deliver them; which have no reason to alter it." I do, by this address, with all the affection and respect of a dutiful subject."

It has been made a subject of censure that Friends and other dissenters, should offer

The address of the Yearly Meeting was their acknowledgments to the king for a fathen read, being as follows:

vour which was dispensed by the violation of a constitutional principle. A few observa"We cannot but bless and praise the name tions will be sufficient to vindicate the Society of Almighty God, who hath the hearts of of Friends. Their principles have always princes in his hand, that he hath inclined the led them to live peaceably under the estabking to hear the cries of his suffering sub-lished governments; but to take no part in jects for conscience-sake; and we rejoice, setting them up or pulling them down. They that, instead of troubling him with complaints were not accustomed to scrutinize very closely of our sufferings, he has given us so eminent the extent of the powers exercised by men in an occasion to present him with our thanks. And since it hath pleased the king, out of his great compassion, thus to commiserate our afflicted condition, which hath so particularly appeared by his gracious proclamation and warrants, whereby twelve hundred prisoners were released from their several imprisonments, and many others from spoil and ruin in their estates and properties, and by his princely speech in council and Christian declaration for liberty of conscience, in which he doth not only express his aversion to all force upon conscience, and grant all his dissenting subjects an ample liberty to worship God in the way they are persuaded is most agreeable to his will, but gives them his kingly word the same shall continue during his reign. We do, as our friends of this city have already done, render the king our humble, Christian and thankful acknowledgments, not only in behalf of ourselves, but with respect to our friends throughout England and Wales; and pray God with all our hearts to bless and preserve thee, O king, and those under thee, in so good a work. And as we can assure the king it is well accepted in the several counties from which we came, so we hope the good effects thereof for the peace, In the summer of 1687, William Penn trade and prosperity of the kingdom will pro- again travelled in the work of the Gospel, duce such a concurrence from the parliament through various parts of England, and in the as may secure it to our posterity in after-course of the journey, held several meetings times; and while we live, it shall be our endeavour, through God's grace, to demean ourselves, as in conscience to God and duty to the king, we are obliged, his peaceable, loving and faithful subjects."

authority. The limits of the royal preroga. tive were at that time very imperfectly defined. Indeed Sir Edward Herbert, chief-justice of the king's bench, had declared a few months before, that there was nothing whatever with which the king as supreme lawgiver, might not dispense; and this decision was confirmed by eleven judges out of the twelve. It was not then to be expected that the exercise of this dispensing power would be disputed by those who were relieved by it from an oppressive burden. The penal laws, inasmuch as they abridged the freedom of worship, were justly considered as an usurpation of the Divine prerogative; the suspension of those laws by royal authority alone, might therefore be viewed as counteracting usurpation. As the king had always professed himself a friend to liberty of conscience, and the measures of his government, so far as they were then developed, were not incompatible with such profession, Friends were at liberty to attribute his proclamation to justifiable motives. And we may observe, they modestly intimate, in their address, the necessity of a concurrent action by the parliament, to render the measure permanent.

for worship at Bristol, where Friends had been so violently persecuted. These meetings were remarkably crowded, the people flocking to them in great numbers; showing that their zeal was rather increased than diminished by the recent persecutions. At To this the king then replied, Chew, about five or six miles from Bristol, "GENTLEMEN, I thank you heartily for he had a meeting in the open air, there being

no building to be had sufficiently capacious the unjust odium, under which he labourto accommodate the multitude that attended. ed, might prejudice the public against any "A large and heavenly meeting it was," production which was known to be his. It says J. Whiting, "many Friends and others of the country round about, being there; and the more, that it was the first time, as I remember, that William Penn was ever in our county."

is classed in his printed works among his political tracts; but is decidedly of a religious rather than a political character, for the subject is argued on Christian principles.

In the first place he urges that it is the duty Among the places he visited in Cheshire, of the three classes to whom the work is adwas Chester itself. The king being then on dressed, to promote the abolition of the penal a journey, and arriving there at the time, at- laws and tests; because they all profess the tended the meeting; as he did at two or three Christian religion, and Christianity requires other places, where he happened to be when us to believe that faith is the gift of God; that the meetings were held. Visiting Oxford in he only is Lord of conscience, and is able to the course of his journey, he there met with enlighten, persuade and establish it. Conse the king again. James was then attempting quently, to injure men in their persons or proto introduce into the presidentship of Magda-perty, or to exclude them from stations of len College, Parker, a man of dissolute mo- trust on account of their religion, is contrary rals, and strongly suspected of popish princi- to the tenderness and equity of Christianity. ples. The members of the college considering This is confirmed by the consideration, that the interference of the king, as an encroach- the Christian religion is founded in love. Its ment upon their rights, had elected a president, whose character was more congenial to their principles. This brought on a contest between the king and the members of the college; in which the latter applied to William Penn for his interposition with the king. He had the courage and magnanimity to express, as modestly as the nature of the case would admit, yet in terms sufficiently explicit, his disapprobation of the measures the king was pursuing; and though he had endeavoured to procure a repeal of the test act as well as the penal laws, he proved himself no friend to popish ascendency. His remonstrance however, did not arrest the proceedings of James, by whose orders the fellows of the college were displaced, and Parker forcibly installed in the presidency.

In the same year, probably after his return from the journey just mentioned, he again took up his pen in the cause of liberty of conscience.

origin, progress and consummation, were all in love. Our Lord's rebuke to his disciples, who wished to call down fire from heaven, to consume those who rejected him, is applicable to all times and places. Christ commanded that the tares should be permitted to grow with the wheat, until the harvest; so that he was in favour of a toleration; and his mandates are not to be modified by reasons of state. When the disciples related the circumstance of having found one casting out devils in their master's name, whom they forbade, because he followed not with them, their decision was reversed by the Saviour himself, the great Wisdom of God to his people, from whom there is no appeal.

The church of England was extremely scan. dalized by the severity with which protestants were treated in France,* yet the penal laws of England were directed to the same end, conformity or ruin. The arguments in support of the penal laws in England, were of no more force, than those in defence of the persecutions in France. In Germany, the two religions were peaceably maintained together.

The church of England was deemed by many, a bulwark against popery; but this she could hardly be, when she was bringing in the worst part of popery, as she declared

The freedom from persecution which Friends and other dissenters enjoyed, being founded upon the dispensing power of the king, was evidently held by a precarious tenure, as the proclamation might be revoked, as that of Charles II. had been. William Penn, therefore, with a view of promoting the good work of placing the religious liberties of the people upon a solid and permanent basis, produced *The Edict of Nantz, issued by Henry IV., in a tract, entitled, "Good advice to the church 1598, granted to the French protestants, the free of England, Roman Catholics and Protestant exercise of religion, and a share in the adminisDissenters. In which it is endeavoured to betration of justice, and the privilege of being ap made appear, that it is their duty, principle and interest to abolish the penal laws and tests. Beati Pacifici."

This tract was published without the author's name, as the Persuasive to moderation had been, probably from an apprehension that

pointed to all employments of trust, profit and honour. It was revoked by Louis XIV., in 1685, and a severe persecution commenced against the protestants, in consequence of which the kingdom lost nearly 600,000 of its most valuable inhabitants, who transported their industry and skill to other countries.

persecution to be. The part of popery to has been sufficiently expressed in opposition which the church of England most success- to all persecuting laws, by their numerous adfully objects, is her violence; and this is in-dresses of thanks to the king, for his recent deed the only part she has cause to fear. declaration in favour of liberty of conscience. The doctrines of the papists are easily refuted, but forcing others to their faith, or ruining them for refusing it, was the terrible thing they were taught to apprehend. But this very evil was practiced by the church of England; nearly twenty laws being then in force to compel uniformity; and those laws executed as far as she thought it her interest to enforce

them.

Hence it is inferred, that it is not only the duty of all parties as they value the character of Christians, to promote the repeal of the penal laws on account of religion; but that they have all, at one time or another, avowed the doctrine that conscience ought not to be compelled, nor religion imposed by worldly penalties.

In the third part, he advances the opinion that the repeal of those laws, was the interest of all parties, and especially of the church of England.

It is asserted that the plots of the papists, during the reign of Elizabeth, caused the enactment of those laws. But this is no substantial reason; for there were laws enough The reasons for that opinion are, that they in existence, or laws might have been enacted, have been an argument against the first reto punish all civil enormities, without forming formers, and overthrow the principles upon any against them as papists. The passage which they separated from the church of Rome. of those laws was a great error, and very dis- Those laws have also been the great cause of honourable to the principles of the first re-contention from the time of their enactment. formers. Hence their continuance was the more obviously improper. Let laws be enacted to detect and punish conspiracies and treasons, and to preserve the peace. But let the actions and not the opinions of men, turn the magistrates' sword against them.

The operation of those laws is traced from Henry VIII. to his own time, and their bitter fruits briefly exposed.

Throughout this essay, we perceive a constant effort to lead the people of that day in the path which their religious duty as well as A church by law established, is not neces-civil interest pointed out-to allay the jealsarily a true one. A true church is of the ousies which the conflict of parties had exSaviour's making, and established by the gos-cited, and to compose the fears, which, as a pel; and it was a token of a false church, that none must buy or sell in her dominion, who would not receive her mark in the forehead or right hand. No church can give faith, and therefore cannot force it. Another's faith cannot save me, though it should save him. Penal laws serve only to manifest the sincerity of those who suffer by them, and the cruelty of those who inflict them.

selfish politician, regarding the progress of his own province, he might have found it his interest to increase. If King James and his advisers, had been governed by his prudent and Christian counsel, that monarch would probably have escaped the disasters which clouded the rest of his life.

A second tract on the repeal of the penal laws, entitled, "The great and popular objec tion against the repeal of the penal laws, briefly stated and considered," soon followed. This being of a temporary nature, is not contained

Our author in the second part of this treatise, proceeds to show, that laws restraining the free exercise of religion, are contrary to the avowed principles of the church of Eng-in the printed works of our author. land. This is proved in the first place, by William Penn had now been about three the declarations of the martyrs in the reign years absent from his American possessions. of queen Mary; who uniformly denounced During this time he appears to have been persecution as anti-christian; and in the se- chiefly employed in assiduous endeavours to cond by copious extracts from the writings procure the repeal of the persecuting laws. and sermons of a number of the most emi-A royal proclamation, as we have seen, had nent members of her communion; viz., Dr. been issued, suspending the execution of those Usher, bishop Saunderson, bishop Taylor, the laws. Yet as this suspension, and consequentbishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Stillingfleet, Dr. Til-ly the ease resulting from it, was founded upon lotson, Dr. Burnet, Sir Robert Pointz, Charles the exercise of the royal prerogative, and had I., of England, and lastly Dr. Hudson, the chaplain of Charles, who told his royal master that he looked upon the calamities he then laboured under, to be the hand of God upon him, for not having given God his due over conscience.

With regard to dissenters, their judgment

not been confirmed by the parliament, he was not satisfied to return to America, until he could see the religious liberties of his friends more fully secured; the Society possessed at that time, a large number of members eminently qualified for the religious service of their day, but the talents of William Penn, natural