anently affected the destinies of William Penn. Soon after his
expulsion from Oxford, he was appointed Victualler of the Squadron lying
off Kinsale, and was authorized to reside at, and manage, his father's
Irish estate. It was whilst he was thus engaged that Thomas Loe
re-visited Cork. Penn, of course, attended the meetings. 'It was in
this way,' he tells us, 'that God, in His everlasting kindness, guided
my feet in the flower of my youth, when about two and twenty years of
age. He visited me with a certain testimony of His eternal Word through
a Quaker named Thomas Loe.' The text at that memorable and historic
service, like a nail in a sure place, fastened itself upon the mind of
the young officer. Thomas Loe preached from the words: '_This is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith._'

_The faith that overcomes!_

_The faith by which a man may conquer the world!_

_The faith that is itself a victory!_

'_This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith!_'

Penn was electrified. His whole being was stirred to its depths. 'The
undying fires of enthusiasm at once blazed up within him,' one record
declares. 'He was exceedingly reached and wept much,' the Quaker
chronicle assures us. He renounced every hope that he had ever cherished
in order that he might realize this one. This was in 1666--the year in
which London was devoured by the flames.

'Penn's conversion,' says Dr. Stoughton, 'was now completed. That
conversion must not be regarded simply as a change of opinion. It
penetrated his moral nature. It made him a new man. He rose into another
sphere of spiritual life and consciousness.'

In his lecture on _Evangelist_, Dr. Alexander Whyte says that the first
minister whose words were truly blessed of God for our awakening and
conversion has always a place of his own in our hearts. Thomas Loe
certainly had a place peculiarly his own in the heart of William Penn.
Penn was with him at the last.

'Stand true to God!' cried the dying Quaker, as he clasped the hand of
his most notable convert. 'Stand faithful for God! There is no other
way! This is the way in which the holy men of old all walked. Walk in it
and thou shalt prosper! Live for God and He will be with you! I can say
no more. The love of God overcomes my heart!'

_The love that overcomes!_

_The faith that overcomes!_

'_This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith!_'

III

William Penn realized his dre