tion went no farther.

In the midst of these many troubles, in themselves serious enough, there
came another. Penn's business manager for his estates in England and
Ireland was Philip Ford. For a long time, Ford's payments had been less
and less; Penn was continually complaining that he got so little from
his property. Still, Ford's accounts went without examination, and some
of his financial reports were not so much as opened. William had his
customary confidence in his agent's honesty. At last, when things got so
bad that something had to be done, it appeared by Ford's books that,
instead of Ford's being in debt to Penn, Penn was in debt to him for
more than ten thousand pounds. This was the result of long, ingenious,
and unmolested bookkeeping. And Penn had made himself liable by his
careless silence. Then Ford died, and his widow and children claimed
everything which stood in Penn's name. Penn, it appeared, had borrowed
money of Ford, and had given him a mortgage on his Pennsylvania estates
as security. When the loan was paid, the mortgage had not been returned.
Not only did Mrs. Ford retain it, but she sued Penn for three thousand
pounds rent, which was due, she said, from the property of which William
was once owner, but which he now held as tenant of the Fords. So far was
this iniquitous business pursued, that Penn was arrested as he was at a
religious meeting in Gracechurch Street, and was imprisoned for debt in
the Fleet, or its precincts.

This was the turn in the tide. Everybody disapproved of treatment so
unjust and extortionate. William's friends raised money, and made a
compromise with the Fords, and got him free. In Pennsylvania, too, the
contentions were quieted by a good governor. And as the wars came to an
end, trade so increased that the province presently yielded a
substantial income.

Penn retired to Ruscombe, in Berkshire, in the pleasant country. Here he
had his family about him. He was now a grandfather, his son William
having a son and a daughter. "So that now we are major, minor, and
minimus. I bless the Lord mine are pretty well,--Johnny lively; Tommy a
lovely, large child; and my grandson, Springett, a mere Saracen; his
sister, a beauty." Of his second marriage there were six children, four
of whom--John, Thomas, Margaret, and Richard--became proprietors of
Pennsylvania. Thomas had two sons, John and Granville; Richard had two,
John and Richard. When the proprietary government ended, in 177