IN TESTIMONY TO THE PRESENT DISPENSATION OF GOD
THROUGH THEM TO THE WORLD;

THAT

PREJUDICES MAY BE REMOVED, THE SIMPLE INFORMED, THE WELL-
INCLINED ENCOURAGED, AND THE TRUTH AND ITS

INNOCENT FRIENDS RIGHTLY REPRESENTED.

BY WILLIAM PENN.

To which is prefixed a Memoir of Penn,

BY JAMES M. BROWN,

OF VIRGINIA.

d

This reprint gives much of the Scripture which is referred to in the original.

PHILADELPHIA:

PUBLISHED BY MILLER & BURLOCK,

GEORGE STREET, ABOVE ELEVENTH.

Also, for sale at T. E. CHAPMAN'S; JOHN W. MOORE; HAYS & ZELL; URIAH HUNT &
SON; SMITH, ENGLISH & Co.; HENRY LONGSTRETH; FRIENDS' BOOK

STORE, Phila.

ARMSTRONG & BERRY, Balt.

1857.

4345
४३

1883, Dec.22
Cooke Bequest

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
JAMES M. BROWN,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Western District of Virginia.

STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO.

PHILADELPHIA.

TO THE PUBLIC:

But more especially to the followers of William Penn, George Fox, and Robert Barclay.

IF it be made a question why a member of the M. E. Church should interest himself so much as to reprint a work of William Penn's more than one hundred and fifty years after its first publication, and a short memoir of the man, let the answer be-William Penn, like the great Washington, was a benefactor to his race. No country or sect can claim him exclusively; his acts were too general in their character and noble in their object to be confined or appropriated to any clime or to any persuasion; hence my privilege. Read the work attentively, and consider well the character of the man, in connection with the condition of the world at that time,-its moral darkness, the prevalency of dishonesty, priestcraft, superstition, intolerance, bigotry, church pride, and arrogance; in short, every thing hateful to a man like William Penn, who was too wise to be cheated by the vanities, empty professions, or promises, of this fleeting world; and then judge whether it be not high time to recur to first lessons and first principles, and whether there be a man, woman, or child, who would not only be gratified, but much profited, by a careful and proper reading of this little volume; thence my object and pleasure.

THE AUTHOR.

THE author gratefully acknowledges the many favours he has received in aiding him to get up this book, particularly that of JNO. FROST, LL.D., for the plate of the likeness of William Penn, and that of Messrs. H. CowPERTHWAIT & Co., for the loan of their plate of William Penn's Treaty with the Indians at Philadelphia.

Of the various representations of that ever-memorable event, none that he has seen so fully sets it forth according to his fancy as it is in the third revised edition of Mitchell's Primary Geography, published by Messrs. H. Cowperthwait & Co., of Philadelphia, 1854, page 73.

And for the free use which the author has made of the works of others who have written of William Penn, he now tenders his profound acknowledgments.

And last, but not least, to EDWARD W. MILLER, Esq., of the firm of Miller & Burlock, bookbinders, &c., George Street, Philadelphia, for the great attention he bestowed in procuring materials, &c.

To appreciate fully such favours, they must be received by one remote and unacquainted in cities, like

THE AUTHOR.

4

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

So rapid has been the sale of this little book, that many of the original subscribers have not been supplied out of the first edition; hence the haste with which the second has been issued.

"Let all those who revere the character, sentiments, and memory of William Penn be encouraged by this circumstance: for, "although dead, he yet speaketh;" yea, his name carries with it its own peculiar influence.

By a little effort he can be introduced to tens of thousands who have as yet but heard his name; and to many more in other lands, who have never heard it.

Who can contemplate the wonderful result of science in discovering methods to dispel diurnal darkness by the aid of gas, without feeling and expressing admiration of the superior intelligence, industry, and perseverance of those whose inventive genius effected an achievement so wonderful? But William Penn calls our especial attention to a light of far transcendent magnitude and importance, even that light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, and which alone emanates from GOD, and to which all will do well to take heed.

I have been particularly requested to explain certain dates found on pages 30, 31, 32, 33, &c., which I do with pleasure.

Formerly there were various kind of years in use; but, for the object now in view, it is unnecessary to allude to more than three of them.

The civil year is the legal account of time which every government establishes to be used within its own dominions; and, until 1752, in all Protestant countries the different kinds of years began at different periods. One commenced