and persecution. If he seemed to be performing out of his class because of
his family's eminence, it should be recalled that this was acquired, not
inherited. His father, Admiral Sir William Penn, was the son of Giles Penn,
a merchant navigator trading into the Mediterranean, and his wife Margaret
Jasper, daughter of Hans Jasper, a sea trader of Rotterdam: From these
forbears the youth received independence of thought and firmness of mind.
He was therefore less of an anomaly than he appeared to be.

The rigid religious rule of Cromwell, under which he had spent his youthful
years, had passed and in its stead befell a period of loose living and
easy ways. Puritanism, though speaking and acting in the name of Liberty,
possessed but little of that quality either for mind or body. In setting up
for the great cause he fared as well, or better, with all his persecutions,
than did his Quaker brethren in that New England which had been founded for
opinion's sake.

Entering Oxford at fifteen the boy soon fell under the influence of Thomas
Loe, a preacher of Quaker doctrine and became imbued with his teachings.
This clashed at once with his surroundings and the College requirements. He
refused to attend chapel or to wear the customary gown, deeming it a sort
of surplice. A little group of students who had accepted Loe's principles
joined him in this obduracy, going so far as to strip the gowns from the
persons of willing wearers. This led to his expulsion.

Samuel Pepys mentions him in his diary on October 31st, 1661, as having
"but come from Oxford" and meeting his father at Pepys' house. On the 25th
of January, 1662, the Admiral discussed with Pepys a plan for sending his
son to Cambridge or some private college. Pepys undertook to write Dr.
Fairbrother and inquire into the merits of Hezekiah Burton at Magdalen, as
an instructor for the difficult youth. It was impossible to fit him into