[Illustration: _WILLIAM PENN_] _Life Stories for Young People_ WILLIAM PENN _Translated from the German of Hugo Oertel_ BY GEORGE P. UPTON _Translator of “Memories,” “Immensee,” etc._ WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS [Illustration: A. C. McCLURG & CO.] CHICAGO A. C. MCCLURG & CO. 1911 Copyright A. C. McClurg & Co. 1911 Published September, 1911 THE · PLIMPTON · PRESS [W · D · O] NORWOOD · MASS · U · S · A Translator’s Preface The life of William Penn is one which cannot be too closely studied by American youth, and the German author of this little volume has told its story in most attractive style. Not one of the early settlers of the United States had loftier purpose in view, more exalted ambition, or nobler character. The brotherhood of man was his guiding principle, and in seeking to carry out his purpose he displayed resolute courage, inflexible honesty, and the highest, noblest, and most beautiful traits of character. He encountered numerous obstacles in his great mission—imprisonment and persecution at home, slanders and calumnies of his enemies, intrigues of those who were envious of his success, domestic sorrows, and at last, and most deplorable of all, the ingratitude of the colonists as the settlement grew, and in some cases their enmity. It is a shining example of his lofty character and fair dealing that the Indians, who were always jealous of white men and suspicious of their designs, remained his stanch friends to the end, for he never broke faith with them. His closing days were sad ones, and he died in comparative seclusion, but his name will always be preserved by that of the great commonwealth which bears it and his principles by the name of the metropolis which signifies them. This world would be a better one if there were more William Penns in it. G. P. U. Chicago, _July, 1911_ Contents