On this frank declaration he was allowed to go free, after giving a bond of six thousand pounds, until his public trial should take place, at which he was later acquitted. In spite of this, however, he was twice again tried for treason, in one case even being accused of complicity in a plot to restore James the Second to the throne, but his innocence was so clearly proved and his frank simplicity made so favorable an impression on his judges and on the King as well, that in both cases he was fully exonerated and discharged from custody. Owing to his being still under suspicion, however, and secretly watched, he was doubtless warned to remain out of sight for a time, for except for some works of his which were published at this period, even his friends saw nothing of him for a space of two years. The passage of a law framed by the new King acknowledging the existence of dissenters and forbidding their persecution in future rejoiced Penn greatly, even though the Test Act still remained in force and only members of the established church could enjoy the full rights of citizenship. But other matters had arisen in the meantime that caused him great uneasiness. War between France and England again seemed inevitable, in which case the North American States would be placed in a position of great danger, the French having established such friendly relations with the Indians that an alliance between them must be expected. Under these circumstances it seemed absolutely necessary for Penn to carry out the plan he had long had in mind of returning to Pennsylvania to protect the rights he had earned by such labor and sacrifice. An unforeseen event, however, interfered for a time with this intention, for on the tenth of March, 1692, a royal decree was issued placing both Pennsylvania and New Jersey under the military command of a Colonel Fletcher, who was to defend them against the hostile tribes of Indians already on the war-path. It came about in this way. The North American provinces, already grown or growing into States, having been made practically independent either by gift or purchase during the preceding reigns, King William determined to unite them again with the English crown and thereby provide himself with part of the force he needed for the war with France. As the Quakers of Pennsylvania had shown no great haste to offer allegiance to the new sovereign, Penn’s enemies had taken advantage of this fact to urge the withdrawal of his charter, and while Penn himself had no doubt that this arbitrary measure would be revoked in the course of time, and felt convinced that the money he had spent in purchasing the land from the Indians, almost his entire fortune, must constitute an indubitable claim to the province, still the blow was a hard one and he found himself in a by no means encouraging situation. Added to this were family cares and anxieties, both his wife and eldest son being seriously ill at the time.