my worthy friend, Sir WILLIAM COVENTRY, of the parish of St. Martin's in the Fields, in the county of Middlesex; whom I do hereby entreat to take upon himself the determination of all and every such difference and differences, as shall from time to time, or at any time after my decease, be referred unto him by my said dear wife and my said son, William Penn; for the total prevention of all suits in law or equity, which, upon any occasion or misunderstanding, might otherwise happen between them."1

2

His remains were conveyed, according to his directions, to his native city, Bristol, and were honourably interred in the church of St. Mary Redcliffe, where his flags and trophies are still carefully preserved, and where his monument records, briefly and chronologically, the dates of his several commissions and appointments, both under the parliament and under the king. The following account of his funeral, from a document preserved in the Heralds' College, shews the averseness of the high cavalier party of that day to honour, or recognise, even professional merit, displayed during the suspension of the crown.

“This day, Sir William Penn was interred in this city, at Ratcliffe Church. The manner of the solemnity was thus:

Sir William Coventry survived his friend sixteen years, and died at Somerhill, near Tunbridge-Wells, on the 24th of June, 1686, aged sixty. His remains were interred in the neighbouring parish-church of Penshurst.

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6

2" Redcliffe Church, Bristol," observes the author of the Antiquities of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, is, as Leland calls it, by far the most beautiful of all churches-ecclesiarum omnium longe pulcherrima;' and, as "Camden, the most elegant of all parish-churches that I have ever seen—

After three or four companies of foot were passed, there were carried three large streamers, with his arms quartered therein (as I suppose); next to that, the crest of his coat, and his helmet; next to that his shield and gauntlets; and then came the corpse, drawn with six horses: and at his head a red flag (as one of the generals in Oliver's days, as it is said),1 and a blue flag of the one side, and a white flag of the other, according to the ships and squadrons he had served in, for the parliament, or for his majesty since his restoration: but, whether these could be carried? I know not neither: all which, I believe, are to be hanged up in the church. A herald painter came down with the hearse; but he brought no license or deputation with him from Sir Edward Birch or Sir Edward Walker, as Sir E. Birch's deputy here told me. And now, having given you this account thereof; if he hath done more than can be justified, you may improve it as you see cause, concealing my name. Howbeit, my thoughts are, it is not right; nor could those flags be carried by one who had been against his majesty. I hope a line or two by the next, whether it was rightly managed or no. And, with my sincere service, I remain,

Sir, &c.

"RI. ELLSWORTH."

' ecclesarium omnium parochialium, quas unquam vidi, elegantissima."" The annexed representation of Redcliffe Church is copied, by the kind permission of Mr. Britton, from one of the plates in his full and interesting account of that grand sacred structure.

Sir W. Penn was entitled to the red flag, without any reference to the time of the Interregnum, from having served as sub-commander to the Duke of York, in the red squadron, in June 1665.

2 In a letter from Sir W. Penn's widow to her son, dated the 9th October, 1670, she says; "The man is returned from Bristol, and set up his monument 66 very well. My cousin Deighton writes; The man that set it up tells me, 'the sergeant-at-arms would pull it down again.' I suppose, because he had "not his fee. If there be any due to him, I know not; pray let me hear as 66 soon as you can." The threat was not attempted to be carried into execution.

Sir W. Penn's public character, is thus briefly summed up by his son. "I had so little reason to "doubt my father's constancy, that I know few of "greater. 'Tis true, he was actually engaged both "under the parliament and king, but not as an actor "in our late domestic troubles; his compass always "steering him to eye a national concern, and not "intestine wars, and therefore not so aptly their's

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(the parliament's), in a way of opposition, as the "nation's. His service, therefore, being wholly fo

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reign to these (domestic troubles), he may be truly "said, to serve his country. How far he was a "master of his art, both as a general and a seaman, "I leave to the observation of his friends, his own "constant success, and what hereafter may come to

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public view of his remarks." A general epitome of his professional career will be found in Appendix M of this work, drawn up by one who knew him throughout the most eventful passages of its course.*

"Sir William Coventry," says Clarendon, "never

1 I find nothing remaining that can answer the expectation which this sentence is calculated to raise.

2 A short and imaginative biography of William Penn, the son (by M. L. Weems), printed in Philadelphia in 1822, has the following passage respecting Sir William Penn:

"He was a man, in many respects, of a noble heart; and, for a sailor, un"commonly devout, as would appear, among many other still better proofs, "from the following epitaph, written by himself, on one of his unfortunate "sailors, who, drowned with many others on the coast of Deal, was picked up, "and buried in the churchyard near that place.

"The boisterous winds and raging seas

Have tost me to and fro;

But spite of these, by God's decrees,

I harbour here below: