fallen to rise no more. But there were men of eminence who had never
believed William Penn guilty of the crime laid to his charge, and were
awaiting the right opportunity to have justice done to his position and
character. Among these was the celebrated John Locke, who esteemed him,
not only as a man of exalted virtue and great literary attainment, but
as a personal friend. He applied to King William for a pardon; but
William Penn was too conscious of innocence, and too fully persuaded
that in due time his innocence would be made manifest to the world, to
be willing to accept of any release that would imply he had been guilty.
In the meantime, Lord Preston, who had made the charge against him, had
fled the country, and Fuller, his witness, having been detected in
perjury, was, by order of Parliament, tried as an imposter, in the Court
of the King's Bench, found guilty, and sentenced to stand in the
pillory. Lords Ranelagh, Rochester, and Sidney now waited on the King,
and, stating that the name of William Penn had never been found in any
of the letters or papers connected with the conspiracy, and that the
charge against him rested solely on the accusation of two men who were
known to be unworthy of belief, urged upon him the injustice and
hardship of his case. The King appears to have heard them patiently, and
replied that William Penn was an old acquaintance of his; that he had
nothing to allege against him, and that he might follow his business as
freely as ever. Afterwards the King gave an order to the principal
Secretary of State for his freedom; which was communicated to him in the
presence of the Marquis of Winchester. He, however, sought and obtained
a hearing before the Privy Council; and, after a full examination of the
charges, he was honorably acquitted. The cloud that had long obscured
his standing and services was now dispelled, and he returned to his
family and friends, to resume the position he had before attained in the
church, and in civil society. His wife survived his release but little
more than two months.

In 1696 William Penn was married to Hannah, the daughter of Thomas
Callowhill, of Bristol,--a sober, religious woman, who survived him
several years. Soon after this event he sustained an afflictive
bereavement in the death of his eldest son, Springett Penn, in the
twenty-first year of his age. He was a pious and amiable young man, of
whom, in a touching testimony to his worth, William Penn says,