ad
had to his service in the navy, and the care he had promised to show in
my regard upon all occasions." He expressed surprise that William had
not been to see him before, and said that whenever he had any business
with him, he should have immediate entrance and attention.

Fox was not set at liberty by reason of this interview. The king was
willing to pardon Fox, but Fox was not willing to be pardoned; having,
as he insisted, done no wrong. Penn, however, had learned that the royal
duke remembered the admiral's son. It was an important fact, and William
thereafter kept it well in mind. That it was a turning-point in his
affairs, appears in his reference to it in a letter which he wrote in
1688 to a friend who had reproached him for his attendance at court. "I
have made it," he says, "my province and business; I have followed and
pressed it; I took it for my calling and station, and have kept it above
these sixteen years."

Penn went back to Rickmansworth, and for a time life went on as before.
We get a glimpse of it in the good and wholesome orders which he
established for the well-governing of his family. In winter, they were
to rise at seven; in summer at five. Breakfast was at nine, dinner at
twelve, supper at seven. Each meal was preceded by family prayers. At
the devotions before dinner, the Bible was read aloud, together with
chapters from the "Book of Martyrs," or the writings of Friends. After
supper, the servants appeared before the master and mistress, and gave
an account of their doings during the day, and got their orders for the
morrow. "They were to avoid loud discourse and troublesome noises; they
were not to absent themselves without leave; they were not to go to any
public house but upon business; and they were not to loiter, or enter
into unprofitable talk, while on an errand."

With the canceling of the Indulgence, the persecution of the Quakers was
renewed. Their houses were entered, their furniture was seized, their
cattle were driven away, and themselves thrust into jail. When no
offense was clearly proved against them, the oath was tendered, and the
refusal to take it meant a serious imprisonment.

Under these circumstances, Penn wrote a "Treatise on Oaths." He also
addressed the general public with "England's Present Interest
Considered," an argument against the attempt to compel uniformity of
belief. He petitioned the king and Parliament in "The Continued Cry of
the Oppressed." "William Br