Dear and truly respected Friend,
My soul most earnestly desireth thy temporal and eternal felicity; which standeth in thy doing the will of God now on earth, as it is done in heaven. O dear Princess, do it! Say the word once in truth and righteousness, "Not my will, but thine be done, O God!" Thy days are few; and then thou must go to judgment: then an account of thy talent, God will require from thee. What improvement hast thou made? Let it prove and show its own excellency, that it is of God, and that it leadeth all that love it to God. O that thou mayst be able to give an account with joy!
I could not leave this country, and not testify the resentments I bear in my mind, of that humble and tender entertainment thou gavest us at thy court: the Lord Jesus reward thee! And surely he hath a blessing in store for thee. Go on: be steadfast, overcome, and thou shalt inherit. Do not despond; One that is mighty is near thee; a present help in the needful time of trouble. O let the desire of thy soul be to his name, and to the remembrance of him! O wait upon the Lord, and thou shalt renew thy strength! the youths shall faint, and the young men shall fail, but they that trust in the Lord shall never be confounded.
I wish thee all true and solid felicity with my whole soul. The Lord God of heaven and earth have thee in his keeping; that thou mayst not lose, but keep in that divine sense, which, by his eternal Word, he hath begotten in thee. Receive, dear Princess, my sincere and Christian salutation. Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied among you all that love the Lord Jesus.
Thy business I shall follow, with all the diligence and discretion I can, and by the first opportunity
give thee an account, after it shall please the Lord to bring me safe to London. All my brethren are
well, and present their dear love to thee and the rest in thy family that love Jesus, the Light of the
world. Thou hast taught me to forget thou art a Princess, and therefore I use this freedom; and to
that of God, in thee, am I manifest; and I know my integrity. Give, if thou please, the salutation of
my dear love to Anna Maria de Hornes, with the enclosed. Dear Princess. do not hinder, but help
her. That may be required of her, which, considering thy circumstances, may not yet be required
of thee. Let her stand free, and her freedom will make the passage easier unto thee. Accept what I
say, I entreat thee, in that pure and heavenly love and respect, in which I write so plainly to thee.
Farewell, my dear Friend, and the Lord be with thee!
I am, more than I can say, thy great lover and respectful Friend,
William Penn
P.S. I refer thee to the enclosed for passages. We visited Giftall and Hooftman, and they us: they were at one or two of the meetings at Amsterdam. Vale in aeternum!
1. 1.. Penn, Travels, pages 153-154.