, and Penn and
his wife had great joy in welcoming him at Bristol. No sooner, however,
had Fox arrived than the Declaration of Indulgence was withdrawn. It had
met with much opposition: partly ecclesiastical, from those who saw in
it a scheme to reestablish relations between Rome and England; and
partly political, from those who found but an ill precedent in a royal
decree which set aside parliamentary legislation. The religious liberty
which it gave was good, but the way in which that liberty was given was
bad. What was needed was not "indulgence," but common justice. So the
king recalled the Declaration, and Parliament being not yet ready to
enact its provisions into law, the prisons were again filled with
peaceable citizens whose offense was their religion. One of the first to
suffer was Fox, and in his behalf Penn went to court. He appealed to the
Duke of York.

The incident is significant as the beginning of another phase of
William's life. Thus far, he had been a Quaker preacher. Though he was
unordained, being in a sect which made nothing of ordination, he was for
all practical purposes a minister of the gospel. He was the Rev. William
Penn. But now, when he opened the door of the duke's palace, he entered
into a new way of living, in which he continued during most of the
remainder of his life. He began to be a courtier; he went into politics.
He was still a Quaker, preaching sermons and writing books of
theological controversy; he gave up no religious conviction, and abated
nothing of the earnestness of his personal piety; but he had found, as
he believed, another and more effective way to serve God. He now began
to enter into that valuable but perilous heritage which had been left
him by his father, the friendship of royalty.

Penn found the duke's antechamber filled with suitors. It seemed
impossible to get into the august presence. But Colonel Ashton, one of
the household, looked hard at Penn, and found in him an old companion, a
friend of the days when William was still partaking of the joys of
pleasant society. Ashton immediately got him an interview, and Penn
delivered his request for the release of Fox. The duke received him and
his petition cordially, professing himself opposed to persecution for
religion's sake, and promising to use his influence with the king.
"Then," says Penn, "when he had done upon this affair, he was pleased to
take a very particular notice of me, both for the relation my father h