He trod a very difficult path in those days, often seeming to be "carrying water on both shoulders." In the summer of 1686 he made another journey to Holland and Germany, and in the former country Penn went to see William, the Prince of Orange, bearing messages, some historians say, from King James to William. This Prince of Orange had married Mary, the daughter of James II. of England, and Mary was next in line of succession to the English throne. Penn's mission seems to have been to persuade William and Mary that there should be religious freedom in England, as King James had proclaimed it, and to this William, who was an ardent Protestant, was only too glad to agree. But when he found that his father-in-law's religious freedom was likely to end in turning England over to the Pope, he was much less enthusiastic, and did not altogether relish the arguments made to him by the Quaker envoy Penn. William himself believed that Penn was an honest man, perhaps hoodwinked by the clever courtiers around King James, but some other people in Holland were not so sure of this, and suspected Penn of being at heart a Catholic, and even spread that report concerning him. Many of the followers of the Prince of Orange--men who were to go with him to England later when he became king of that country--despised and distrusted the Quaker, and Penn seemed unable to set himself right before them. He was getting deeper and deeper into the toils of his peculiar position, for he wished to show himself a sincere Quaker, yet he appeared to be acting in the interest of the Church of Rome. [Illustration: _Reproduced from Fisher's "The True William Penn," through the courtesy of the J. B. Lippincott Company._ WILLIAM PENN'S BIBLE AND BOOK-PLATE.] In Holland he met some Presbyterian refugees from Scotland, among them Sir Robert Stuart, of Coltness. When he returned to England, Penn recommended that King James should allow these men to return, since they were in exile solely on account of their religion, and were not guilty of any treason. The king consented, but when Sir Robert Stuart did return, he found that he was penniless, because all his property had been given over to the Earl of Arran. Sir Robert went to Penn and told him the state of affairs. Penn took the matter up at once, and went to the Earl of Arran. The Earl of Buchan has described how Penn managed the matter. "'Thou hast taken possession of Coltness's estate,' said Penn. 'Thou knowest that it is not thine.' "'That estate,' said Arran, 'I paid a great price for. I received no other reward for my expensive and troublesome embassy in France.' "'All very well, friend James, but of this assure thyself, that if thou dost not give me this moment an order on thy chamberlain for two hundred pounds to Coltness to carry him down to his native country, and a hundred a year to subsist on till matters are adjusted, I will make it as many thousands out of thy way with the King.'"