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and he became once more a problem. He tried the study of law, but could
not interest himself in it. To keep him out of the way and repress his
dangerous thoughts he was given the management in 1665, of an estate owned
by the Admiral in Ireland, where he went and did as he pleased, falling in
again with Thomas Loe and resuming his Quaker views. December 29th, 1667,
Pepys records a call from Mrs. Turner "...and there, among other talk, she
tells me that Mr. William Pen, who is lately come over from Ireland, is a
Quaker again, or some very melancholy thing; that he cares for no company,
nor comes into any; which is a pleasant thing, after his being abroad
so long, and his father such a hypocritical rogue and at this time an
Atheist."
This return he signalized by intense activity in pressing Quakerism upon
the public, to the vexation of his father who was one of the notables of
England, as Admiral both under Cromwell and the King. He had commanded
the fleet of the Lord Protector which wrested the rich Island of Jamaica
from Spain and as one of the three commissioners of the Navy, laid the
foundation for that British fleet which has ever since played so large
a part in the history of the world. He was the practical man of the
commission, from whom James, Duke of York, afterwards, and very briefly
King, took most of his advice. He reformed the higgledy-piggledy naval
tactics of the time and taught the commanders to attack the enemy in line,
the most important change in the sea annals of his country. Knighted in
1665 for service against the Dutch he failed of the peerage because of the
public prejudice against his son, which deterred the King from giving him
an honor as high as he deserved. As Clerk of the Acts, Pepys was much in
contact with him socially and officially. The famous diary teems with
references, many of them convivial, others most unkind. He was faithful to
the commonwealth as long as it was faithful to itself. Perceiving that it
could not hold together after the death of Cromwell he joined with George
Monk in bringing about the restoration of the Stuarts,
Against this background of paternal distinction, the young reformer shone
invidiously and brought his father great chagrin by his association with
carpenters and weavers in their non-conformist agitations. He preached in
poor halls and in the streets. The newspaper, not having arrived, he took
to pamphleteering to spread his doctrines. This activity reached a crisis
in 1669. Writing in his diary under date of February 12, 1669, Pepys says:
"...Felling hath got me W. Pen's book against the Trinity. I got my wife
to read it to me; and I find it so well writ as, I think, it is too good
for him ever to have writ it, and it is a serious sort of book not fit for
everybody to read."
The extended title of this work was "The Sandy Foundation Shaken--or those
...Doctrines of one God subsisting in three distinct and separate persons;
the impossibility of God's pardoning persons by an imputative refuted from
the authority of scripture testimonies and right reason," etc.
It was a drastic review of the doctrine of the Trinity and as the title
implies, undertook to prove that the majestic edifice of the State Church
was not founded upon a rock. It created much excitement and speedily landed
its author in the Tower. Here he remained nine months, unrepentant and
writing more pious sedition, to wit: "No Cross No Crown," and "Innocency
With Her Open Face." These were further polemics against Episcopacy.
The King having no heart for persecution, and the Duke of York, who was a
firm friend, contrived to have the prisoner released on the 4th of August
and turned over to his father to be transported to some spot where he would
be less troublesome. This plan was not seriously carried out. Indeed the
Admiral's days were numbered. He died after a year's illness, on the 16th
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