ormation as to the personal appearance of Penn
in mature life is that which is given by Sylvanus Bevan. Bevan was a
Quaker apothecary in London, who had a remarkable gift for carving
portraits in ivory. After Penn's death, he made such a portrait of him
from memory. The men who had known William liked it greatly. Lord
Cobham, to whom Bevan sent it, said, "It is William Penn himself." It
represents him in a curled wig, with full cheeks and a double chin--a
pleasant, masterful, and serious person. Clarkson says that in his
attire he was "very neat, though plain." Penn advised his children to
choose clothes "neither unshapely nor fantastical;" and he illustrated
to King James the difference between the Roman Catholic and the Quaker
religions by the difference between his hat and the king's. "The only
difference," he said, "lies in the ornaments that have been added to
thine." His dress was probably that which was common to gentlemen in his
day, but without extremes of color or adornment. For some time after
becoming a Quaker he wore his sword, having consulted Fox, who said, "I
advise thee to wear it as long as thou canst." Presently Fox, seeing him
without it, said, "William, where is thy sword?" To which Penn replied,
"I have taken thy advice: I wore it as long as I could."
The sober cheerfulness of Penn's attire comported well with his
conversation. It is true that Bishop Burnet, who did not like him, says
that "he had a tedious, luscious way of talking, not apt to overcome a
man's reason, though it might tire his patience." But Dean Swift enjoyed
him, and testified that "he talked very agreeably and with great
spirit." The Friends of Reading Meeting even noted that he was
"facetious in conversation," and there is a tradition of a venerable
Friend who spoke of him "as having naturally an excess of levity of
spirit for a grave minister." A handsome, graceful, and even a merry
gentleman it was who married Hannah Callowhill.
For a time he devoted himself again to the work of the ministry. He went
about, as in former days, preaching, sometimes in the market-hall,
sometimes in the fields. Once, in Ireland, the bishop sent an officer to
disperse the meeting, complaining that Penn had left him "nobody to
preach to but the mayor, church-wardens, a few of the constables, and
the bare walls."
His heart, however, was in his province. The affairs of Pennsylvania
had been going badly. There had been a hot contention between the
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