My heart is much affected with the Lord's goodness to thee and thy dear relations, that he has remembered you, among the many in Israel, whom this day he is visiting with his loving power and spring of life, so that they had have sitten dry and barren, are now blossoming as a rose and bringing forth to the praises of Him that has called them. Wherefore, dear Robert, let thine eye be above the world and the comforts that fade, to the unfading glory, and keep close to the Lord, that thou mayest come through openings and visions to possessions, and like a good souldier encounter the enemy in his appearances as well to ensnare by the lawful as the unlawful things; and approve thy heart to the Lord in the way of the Cross and daily dying and living. O! great is the mystery of godliness, but the grace is sufficient! I rejoice at Peter Gardiner's good service; the Lord will work when, how, and by whom He will. I have had three or four months sore travel with blessed success; blessed be His Name.... Dear Robert, in the love of the precious truth, in which I desire thou maist grow up to fill thy dear and honorable father's place, I bid thee farewell. I am, Thy reall and affectionate friend, WILLIAM PENN. P. S.--My journey for Ireland will not be soon, as I hoped, but shall inform thee. Vale. It has ever been a custom of the Quakers to seek the presence of the great and the powerful, not for personal advantages, but in order to urge on them the claims of religion, and the opportunities and responsibilities of their position. In many instances, the results of these interviews speak for themselves, but as they justly hold, duty does not depend on results. In such a spirit, William Penn sought Peter the Great, in 1696, when he was working as a shipwright, at Greenwich. The young Czar asked many questions about the Friends and their views. It is amusing to find him asking Thomas Story of what use would they be to any kingdom if they would not fight. That he was more than amused by the peculiar views and manners of the Friends, is evident from his remark after a sermon preached by a Friend in Denmark, that whoever could live according to such doctrines, would be happy. Penn made a second, and as it proved, a final voyage to America, in 1699. He intended to settle there with his wife and family, and made his arrangements accordingly. But events were too strong for him, and he returned in about two years, and never again crossed the Atlantic. It is certain, however, that even after this, he intended to return and spend the rest of his days in the colony. In a letter written three years afterwards, he said, "Had you settled a reasonable revenue, I would have returned and laid my bones among you, and my wife's, too, after her mother's death."