Penn's father would not permit such conduct toward his royal friends. He therefore drove his son from his home a second time. [Illustration: THE MEETING BETWEEN WILLIAM PENN AND KING CHARLES] [Sidenote: =William Penn makes a noble choice=] But Penn's mother finally made peace between the father and the son before the admiral died. William Penn, then but twenty-six years old, came into possession of a fortune. Once more he stood "where the roads parted." He could now be a great man and play the part of a fine English gentleman who would always be welcome at court, or he could remain a Quaker. [Sidenote: =Turns to America=] We do not know that he even thought of forsaking his Quaker comrades. On the contrary, he resolved to devote his fortune and his life to giving them relief. Like Winthrop for the Puritans and Baltimore for the Catholics, Penn thought of America for his persecuted Friends. With other Quaker leaders, he became an owner of West Jersey, part of New Jersey. [Sidenote: =The king pays an old debt=] [Sidenote: =Penn's Woods=] =56. The Founding of Pennsylvania.= King Charles II owed Penn's father about eighty thousand dollars. William Penn asked him to pay it in American land. Charles was only too glad to grant this request of the son of his old sea captain. The land he gave to Penn is the present great state of Pennsylvania. Penn wanted the colony called Sylvania, meaning woodland, but the king declared it should be called Pennsylvania in memory of Admiral Penn. [Illustration: A WEATHER VANE _Set above their mill by Penn and two partners in 1699, to show which way the wind might blow_] By means of letters and pamphlets Penn sent word to the Quakers throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. He told them of Quaker homes across the sea, where jails would not trouble them. There was great rejoicing among them over Penn's "Holy Experiment," as his plan was called. [Sidenote: =Penn invited all persecuted people=] Penn even visited Europe, especially the country along the Rhine, and told the persecuted and oppressed about the new colony where every sort of Christian was to find a hearty welcome, and where no one was to be punished for religion's sake. [Illustration: A QUAKER] Hundreds of settlers hastened to the new colony. When Penn reached Newcastle on the Delaware in the fall of 1682 he met a hearty welcome from scores of happy people who were already enjoying their long-wished-for religious freedom. One of Penn's first acts was to call a meeting of the colonists to talk over their government. This pleased the people greatly, for although the land was Penn's he not only gave them land for their houses and farms, but he also gave them the right to choose their own rulers and to make their own laws. [Illustration: WILLIAM PENN'S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS _After the painting by Benjamin West, which hangs in Independence Hall, Philadelphia_] [Sidenote: =The founding of Philadelphia=]