William Penn, 1644-1718: A Tercentenary Estimate [Reprint 2016 ed.] 9781512815290

Table of contents :
PREFACE
CONTENTS
I THE LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN
II THE DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM
III THE APOSTLE OF TOLERATION
IV THE FOUNDER AND HIS GOVERNMENT
V THE MAN OF LETTERS
VI CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

Citation preview

WILLIAM PENN

WILLIAM PENN 1 6 4 4 - 1 7 1 8

A Tercentenary Estimate By WILLIAM WISTAR COMFORT President President

Emeritus of Friends

of Haverford Historical

College Association

Philadelphia UNIVERSITY OF P E N N S Y L V A N I A PRESS London: Oxford

Humphrey University

*944

Milford Press

Copyright

1944

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS Manufactured,

in the United States of

America

To M. F. C.

PREFACE ETWEEN 1650 and 1850 scores of Quakers wrote journals in which they left an account of the dealings of the Lord with them as they sought to carry out his directions. T h e best known of these autobiographical records which posterity has cherished are the journals of George Fox ( 1 6 2 2 - 1 6 9 1 ) , the founder of the Society of Friends; John Woolman ( 1 7 2 0 - 1 7 7 2 ) of Mt. Holly, N.J., apostle of the simple life and lover of all men; and Stephen Grellet ( 1 7 7 3 - 1 8 5 5 ) of Burlington, N.J., the greatest preacher in the Society's history. Concerning these three great Quakers we are well informed, despite the fact that they neither acquired nor sought any prominence as private individuals. Another great Quaker, William Penn ( 1 6 4 4 - 1 7 1 8 ) , left no journal, except some account of his brief visits to Ireland and the Continent. Yet regarding the main facts of his life we are fairly well informed. For Penn was an outstanding personage in seventeenthcentury England. He was an untiring champion of Quakerism and of religious toleration, and he founded Pennsylvania. In addition to the immense quantity of his own writings, there is a large amount of critical material devoted to his career as a British citizen, as the first lawgiver of the Keystone State, and as an apologist of Quakerism and of religious toleration. It is now three hundred years since Penn's birth in London. After reading most of his own work and many estimates of his services by others, one may attempt a tercentenary appreciation of his importance. T h e mere course of his life has been traced many times. What the modern reader may wish to know is how Penn became the kind of man he was, and what inspired the " H o l y Experiment" which has had such significant results in his own beloved "Province" and in the larger sphere of American democracy. For, to say that Pennsylvania was founded by Penn and that Penn was a Quaker is true, but the statement is an inadequate explanation of why Pennsylvania was unique among the American colonies. Few men have done so much to fix in America the demand for the Four Freedoms.

B

HaverforcL, Pennsylvania January 1, iyj f

w. w. c.

CONTENTS PAGE

PREFACE

vii

CHAPTER

I

T H E LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN

ι

II

T H E DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

68

III

T H E APOSTLE OF T O L E R A T I O N

101

IV

T H E FOUNDER AND HIS G O V E R N M E N T

132

T H E MAN OF L E T T E R S

155

CONCLUSION

166

V VI

BIBLIOGRAPHY

177

INDEX

181

I THE LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN F anyone had ventured to predict the future career of William Penn when he was born in London near the Tower on October 14, 1644, (O.S.),1 he would have missed his guess by a wide margin. This child, the eldest of three children born to Captain William Penn and his wife, was baptized in the Anglican Church of All Hallows. 2 He was destined to live under Charles I, the Commonwealth and Protectorate of Cromwell, Charles II, James II, William and Mary, Queen Anne, and George I. T h e prospect of a life of seventy-four years on such a shifting stage in English history as that presented by the years 1644-1718 would in itself have been significant. A strong body, great energy, unusual intelligence, considerable wealth, and the royal favor and generosity of the Stuart kings would have insured for Penn a role of prominence in the world of his day. Then across all this promise of worldly importance there was cast the unexpected but determining factor of his leadership in the Society of Friends or Quakers to which he devoted his allegiance from the age of twenty-three. T h e combination of these factors in his long life made him the man of whom history has had so much to tell. He was a new kind of man of the world and a new kind of Quaker. T h e like personality with a like opportunity has never been seen before or since.

I

T h e Penns formed a numerous clan, probably of remote Welsh origin. We know nothing of significance about William's mother. I t is now thought that she was probably of Dutch origin and had been married in Ireland to a man with a Dutch name. She was married again in January 1644, this time to Captain William Penn in London. Certain it is that nothing very promising for our 1 A . C. Myers, William Penn's Early Life in Brief, p. 19, gives the alternate date October 24, N.S., according to the Gregorian Calendar later adopted. 2 In 1 9 1 1 the Pennsylvania Society of New York erected a memorial tablet i n this church. In 1940 the church was destroyed by bombing, but recent press reports state that some of the stones from it are to be incorporated in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

1

χ

WILLIAM PENN

William could have been based upon the past record of his parents' families. Nor can any great distinction be claimed for the immediate descendants of the Founder. He stands before us as something unique on the family tree. T o account for his own development, however, and to observe the evolution of his character offers a fascinating field of study. British navy men are not expected to play politics. They are expected to scour the seas for the enemy and protect the shores of £ngland. This is what his father was doing much of the time during William's boyhood and youth. He was serving, of course, under Charles I when the boy was born; but later as Admiral under the Parliament and Cromwell, he won Jamaica from the Spaniards as the first British colony in the West Indies. He was suspected, however, by the Protector of secret devotion to the Stuart cause and was imprisoned in the Tower for five weeks upon his return from the Jamaican expedition. By a curious coincidence, nearly forty years later, his son William was harried by the same suspicion. But by 1690 the Stuart cause was lost forever. After Richard Cromwell's dismissal by the nation, Admiral Penn was among the first to acclaim Charles II and welcome him from exile. The Admiral was then knighted, becoming Admiral Sir William Penn, and later entered the House of Commons as member for Weymouth. Our knowledge of the first fifteen years of William Penn's life is rather slight. Beginning with 1660, however, and continuing for ten years, the diarist Pepys, a neighbor and associate of the Admiral in the Navy Office, gives occasional and sometimes disparaging pictures of the Admiral's household. But before 1660 we know that despite his rapid promotions the Admiral had personal enemies who at times made his life bitter. The family lived successively at Wanstead near London, and for a while at Macroom in County Cork, Ireland, on an estate granted by Cromwell. While at Wanstead, William attended the excellent Chigwell grammar school for his earlier education, where the local influence was rather puritanical. When he was about twelve years old, he had two experiences which later seemed to him to have been significant. His biographers have thought so too. These experiences reveal a sensitiveness to spiritual influence which was often claimed by Friends of the olden time, but was not often followed in later life by such striking consequences. Referring to a sense of the presence of God with him in his room, and of a divine commission

LIFE OF PENN

3 given him at that time to lead a godly life, he later wrote: " T h e knowledge of God from the living witness, from thirteen years of age, hath been dear to me." 3 Possibly he saw subsequently in this subjective impression something more than was warranted, but we cannot be judges of that. What is more objective as a fact is that to Macroom one day there came an English Quaker preacher named Thomas Loe, and the Admiral would have him to his house to hear him. " T h o u g h William Penn was very young, he yet observed what effect Thomas Loe's doctrine had on the hearers; so that a Black of his Father's could not contain himself from weeping aloud; and he looking on his Father saw the tears running down his cheeks also. He [little William] thought in himself. 'What if they would all be Quakers?' " 4 This occasion he never forgot. Such stories are not uncommon, and take on a deeper meaning only in the light of subsequent events. But Thomas Loe of Oxford was a preacher of note in the new religious Society, and was able to sway the hearts of his hearers. We shall meet him again. During about four years which the family spent at Macroom, William's education was entrusted to private tutors, while he had a chance in the Irish countryside to develop his body. He was ready for Oxford in 1660—just the time of the Restoration, when his father's fortunes turned for the better. T h e Admiral had no idea of staying longer than necessary at such a distance from London. So he brought the whole family back to England, and Christ Church admitted the hopeful oldest son for a university career as a gentleman commoner. During the next ten years the spiteful navy clerk Pepys will have something to 'say about the family affairs of his colleague at the Navy Office, and of the Admiral's part in the coming Dutch War. We are not writing the history of England under the Stuarts and must confine ourselves to those facts which affected the development of William Penn. While the boy was studying at Oxford, his family was leading the gay and irresponsible life of city folk at the time. Pepys tells of informal parties and of visits to the theatre which indicate that there was no restraint in the worldly existence which the Penns shared. Upon one occasion he reports: "Going to my Lady Batten's, there found a great many women with her, in her chamber merry, my Lady Pen and her β Works, I, 159. * The Harvey MS, printed in the J. Friends' Hist. Soc., XXXII, 22.

WILLIAM PENN

4

daughter, among others; where my Lady Pen flung me down upon the bed, and herself and others, one after another upon me, and very merry we were." 5 The standard of entertainment seems to have been about that of an undergraduate pillow-fight or "roughhouse." The mother and her daughter, both named Margaret, partook freely of this frivolous existence, and it was to it that William returned during his vacations. He had a chance to see what Society was like. Meanwhile the University authorities had trouble on their hands. The Restoration brought great changes in the personnel of the University; Puritans were driven from important posts, and were replaced by Anglicans determined to restore the Anglican ritual in the college chapels. There were still remaining, howver, many students of Puritan families who were loath to submit to the new regulations, and they found support among the older men in the University. There was talk at home of transferring William Penn to Cambridge. But before that was done, he was involved in a student demonstration against chapel attendance during his second year and was "sent down" from the University. That was the end of Oxford for William. It was not until 1909 that an American Quaker college presented the Governing Board of Christ Church with a portrait of Penn, in order that the great Quaker might at last have his place among the worthies whose portraits look down upon the undergraduates of today. From about a year and a half at Oxford Penn carried away certainly the fruit of some diligent study, but a very humble idea of University morals; less certainly he carried away some acquaintance with John Locke, then a Don at Christ Church, in later years to be associated with Penn as an apostle of toleration; and also the impression of a second contact with Thomas Loe, whom he may have heard preach again. Whatever else he brought from Oxford, Penn brought sorrow and disappointment, mingled with anger, to his father. It was hard for one used to exercise discipline and authority to be thwarted in his plans for this oldest son. He was so incensed that he drove the boy from his house, but presently, as irate fathers do, winked at his return under his mother's protection. But the pressing question remained of what to do with a lively boy of eighteen. As many a father has done, he decided to send him to the Continent with some congenial friends for a grand tour. For centuries Englishmen trusted to such a prolonged stay in European β Diary, April 12, 1665.

LIFE OF

PENN

5

countries for the acquisition of graces which could not always be acquired at home. Some youths came back the better for the experience; others learned enough evil to last them the rest of their days. A hundred years later William Cowper describes one of the latter: R e t u r n i n g , he proclaims by many a grace, By shrugs and strange contortions of his face H o w m u c h a dunce that has been sent to roam Excels a dunce that has been kept at home. e

Penn, however, like Milton and Robert Barclay, the Quaker apologist, and many others, learned much of value in this way. For one thing, he learned the French language, which he added to the Latin, Greek, and Dutch which he already possessed. Unfortunately he kept no journal of his life abroad, and the biographer has only the flimsiest information to use. Miss Brailsford in The Making of William Penn has gone farther than anyone else in seeking to fill this gap in our knowledge of what must have been two very formative years. W e know hardly anything of his companions or how much he was with them. Penn himself has recorded only one episode of his life in Paris, whither he first proceeded, and that only as an instance of human pride and folly: I n France I was myself once set u p o n about eleven at night, as I was w a l k i n g to my lodging, by a person w h o waylaid me, with his n a k e d sword in his hand, and demanded satisfaction of me, for taking n o notice of h i m at a time when he civilly saluted me with his hat; though the truth was, I saw him not when he did it. Suppose he w o u l d have killed me, for he made several passes at me, or I in my defence h a d killed him, when I disarmed him, (as the Earl of Crawford's servant, w h o was by, saw), I ask any man of understanding or conscience, if the whole r o u n d of ceremony were worth the life of a man. 7

From this it appears that the future Quaker was able to take care of himself in what was then the approved fashion, but did not press home the advantage upon the instigator of the quarrel. In reality we know nothing else of Penn's life in Paris. T h a t his conscience was clear as to his conduct there would appear from his indignant words at one of his later trials in 1671, when the Lieutenant of the T o w e r carelessly alleged in the presence of other magistrates: " Y o u have been as bad as other folks." β Progress of Error, lines 413-16. No Cross, No Crown, Chap. IX.

T

6

WILLIAM PENN

Penn: "When and where? I charge thee tell the company to my face." Sir John Robinson: "Abroad and at home too." Penn: "I make this bold challenge to all men . . . justly to accuse me with ever having seen me drunk, heard me swear, utter a curse, or speak one obscene word—much less that I make it my practice . . . I trample thy slander under my feet." 8 Being, so far as we can see, an absolutely clean and upright youth, it seems likely that Penn made only a brief stay in Paris, despite the seductive charm of the gay capital of Europe. Instead, he took a step which must be noted as one that proved important in equipping him with the learning he should soon require. He went to Saumur in the gentle Loire valley, where was located even in this Catholic land the most important center of Protestant theology in France. For years the glory of this seminary had been Moïse Amyraut, whose fame attracted numerous foreigners to his instruction. This theologian was a Protestant, but not of the narrowest Calvinist stripe. His religion was of a broad, tolerant type, which ruled out the rigors of predestination and limited grace. It must have been here that the future Quaker steeped himself in the Church Fathers and in those masters of theological dogma whose writings served him so frequently in his later polemics. Like Robert Barclay and other Quakers, Penn rebelled against the strict Calvinism which was abhorrent to the Quakers, and with which their more cheerful theology presented such a strong contrast. Penn followed Amyraut in his habit of abundant quotation of authorities, and also in his interest in peace and religious toleration. We should welcome some knowledge of Penn's life at Saumur. But M. Pannier, the learned librarian of the Protestant library in Paris, told the writer in 1937 that he had searched the Saumur records without finding a trace of Penn's activities there. Certain it is that upon the death of Amyraut in 1664, after a stay of perhaps eighteen months Penn joined some of his English friends for a short trip to Italy, from which he was recalled by his father on account of the threatening war with the Dutch. Through his young friend, the Lord Robert Spencer, later the Earl of Sunderland, it appears that Penn met somewhere on this trip Spencer's uncle, the famous Algernon Sidney. This hardy Puritan was living in exile under Charles II, as being one of the judges who had tried Charles I, though he had voted against the King's death. W e shall β Works, I, 3&-3Q.

LIFE OF PENN

7

meet him again later upon his return to England, when he will appear beside Penn upon two important occasions. T h e Admiral was delighted with the bearing of William upon the latter's return. T h e youth looked now as if a courtier could be made of him after all. Pepys on August 26, 1664, records: " T h i s day my wife tells me Mr. Pen, Sir William's son, is come back from France, and come to visit her. A most modish person, grown, she says, a fine gentleman." Four days later he had the satisfaction of forming his own judgment: "After dinner comes Mr. Pen to visit me. I perceive something of learning he hath got, but a great deal, if not too much, of the v anity of the French garb and affected manner of speech and gait. I fear all real profit he hath made of his travel will signify little." As a neighbor, young Penn evidently dropped in occasionally to visit the Pepys household. T h e lady being half French was doubtless agreeable company to one who had just returned from France. Pepys mentions his visits more than once, and a year after the last entry quoted, says on September 5, 1665: "Home pretty betimes and there found W. Pen, and he staid supper with us and mighty merry talking of his travels and the French humours etc., and so parted and to bed." On the 13th of the same month: "Landing at Greenwich I saw Mr. Pen walking my way, so we walked together, and for discourse I put him into talk of France, when he took delight to tell me of his observations, some good, some impertinent, and all ill told, but it served for want of better." When confronting Pepys, one has to be satisfied with what little praise he was wont to bestow! He evidently thought that young Penn at this time did not carry much weight, and he was unwilling to foresee any brilliant future for him. T h e Admiral, for his part, was too much flattered by his son's exterior; the French pantaloons, the rapier at his side, the confidence and the manner he had gained, all looked promising to the father's plans. But we know now how much of seriousness, how much of dissatisfaction with social frivolities there was hidden beneath the young man's gay outward favor. Young Penn arrived home at a critical time in London. T h e Great Plague ravaged the city in 1665, and the Great Fire in 1666. Another Dutch naval war was being waged 1665-67. Meanwhile, Charles I I was the center of a Court from which decency and morality had fled, and through which the national resources were being drained. As usually happens under such circumstances, London with its gaiety was seeking compensation for the ten years lost

8

WILLIAM

PENN

under the somber Commonwealth. In a later book, No Cross, No Crown, Penn gives his own impressions of the vapid existence which he as a young man shared with his family at this time. He was learning at least what he did not like. More congenial was his study of law at Lincoln's Inn for a few months during the devastating plague. Death was stalking the city in the appalling fashion described by Defoe and Pepys, and might well suggest serious thoughts to a serious youth. Penn's knowledge of British history and of the common law must date from this period of his life. Once acquired, constant use subsequently kept it available for the polemics and treatises that were to flow from his pen during the next quarter of a century. It was in the spring of this same year 1665 that the British fleet, ill fed and ill paid, put to sea. The officers favored by the King's clique were incompetent as compared with the old commanders who had seen service in Cromwell's days. Among the latter was Admiral Penn who, in spite of the opposing cabal, was taken by the Duke of York to be Great Captain Commander. Young William accompanied his father, and before the great victory took place was sent back with dispatches from the fleet to Charles II. On May 6, 1665, he wrote back to his father a letter in which the following expressions are found: I hasted to Whitehall, where not finding the King up, I presented myself to my Lord of Arlington and Colonel Ashburnham. A t his Majesty's knocking, he was informed there was an express from the Duke: at which, earnestly skipping out of his bed, he came only in his gown and slippers; who, when he saw me, said: " O h ! is't you? How is Sir William?" H e asked how you did at three several times. . . . After interrogating me above half an hour, he bid me go now about your business, and mine too. . . . I delivered all the letters given me. . . . I pray G o d be with you, and be your armour in the day of controversy! May that power be your salvation, for his name's sake! A n d so will he wish and pray, that is, with all true veneration, Honoured Father Your obedient son and servant WILLIAM

PENN

9

On June 3, 1665, a great victory was reported over the Dutch fleet, and the credit for it was generally ascribed to Admiral Penn. William later wrote (Truth Rescued from Imposture) that 2,500 prisoners (said to be) were brought home, besides what were slain • Granville Penn, Memorials of Sir William Penn, II, 318.

LIFE OF PENN

9

and wounded, twenty-four ships taken, burnt and sunk; as against one ship lost and about three hundred Englishmen slain. London, Pepys, and the Admiral's family were overjoyed at the victory. When Admiral Penn came ashore the following Christmas, after the defeat of the Dutch Admiral Opdam, he terminated forever his sea service. As a form of life insurance for the benefit of his wife and children, he had secured from Charles II the promise of another property in Ireland. The Macroom estate, which had originally belonged to a royalist, being now returned by Charles II to its former owner, there was substituted for it the Shangarry estate and Castle as the new property of the Admiral. This fine property, "four miles long by two broad," stretches along the south coast of Ireland just east of the entrance to Cork Harbor. Unable to go thither himself, the Admiral now dispatched his son to look after his new landed interests and incidentally to join the group of the Admiral's old friends and associates at the viceregal court at Dublin. Circumstances, he thought, would be favorable there for the development of those qualities which he desired to see in his maturing son. William's reception by the Viceroy, the Duke of Ormonde, was kindly, and in the Duke's two sons, the Earl of Ossory and the Earl of Arran, he found friends of his own making. Forced to put down a mutiny of a garrison at Carrickfergus, young Lord Arran with his new friend William Penn proceeded to do so, the future Quaker distinguishing himself so well by his martial bearing that the Viceroy suggested to the Admiral that he allow his son to become a captain in a company of foot soldiers. T h e Admiral declined the proposal, apparently intending his son for a more lucrative civil station. During this flare-up of the military spirit, William had his portrait painted in armor at the age of twenty-two. There has been much discussion of the authenticity of this portrait by an unknown artist, but the general opinion is that it represents the young man with great fidelity. Three copies of it exist, one of which is in the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. It is the more precious to us because it is the only likeness of the Founder of Pennsylvania as a young man. Lely's portrait of the Admiral now in Greenwich Hospital, painted at about the same time, is beyond question authentic, and bears an air de famille with that of his son. T h e settlement of business connected with the Shangarry estate required the temporary return of William to London, where his sister Margaret, aged fifteen, was married to

IO

WILLIAM PENN

Anthony Lowther, she receiving a generous dowry from the Admiral. William now returned to Shangarry to continue his civil employment. We may pause a moment to review his life up to the time when a new and deciding factor was to enter it. His father's professional distinction and personal ambition had enabled William to enjoy a first-class education and association with distinguished personalities who were socially of a higher rank. He was throughout his later life able to secure and to hold the friendship of the highest men in the kingdom. His personality was certainly acceptable and sympathetic. The portrait in armor portrays a handsome and intelligent face. He had dipped into law, business transactions, and the life of a soldier. But he had not yet really done anything remarkable. As at birth, so at the age of twenty-three, no one could have predicted the career which was subsequently to be his. Many young men reach this age without any clear sense of future direction, without having given any indication of exceptional ability. The years of youth are for many a period of germination from which no fruit ever matures. It looked at this moment as though Penn might remain at most an agreeable member of the viceregal coterie based on Dublin, with his own duties as his father's steward to keep him pleasantly occupied in the Irish countryside. Ireland was in many respects in a desperate condition because of its perennial miseries caused by famine, wars, church rivalry, and absentee landlords, but Penn's existence was soft enough to avoid these unhappy features of life in Ireland. But now reenter Thomas Loe, and Penn's number comes up. Non-Quaker biographers have represented Loe as a kind of backstage man in a domino who will step up to claim William's soul at the appointed time. It is possible to think of Loe in the character of the "Commander" claiming the soul of Don Juan, or even of Mephistopheles pouncing upon Faust at the chosen moment. In reality, however, Penn was prepared for something serious to enter his life. He was too good material to be wasted upon a court or to become an Irish country squire. As for Loe, he was engaged in his regular occupation as an itinerant Quaker—convicting of sin, calling to repentance, pointing to the Inward Light, the Christ Immanuel present in every man and calling him into the paths of truth. Ever since the former Cromwellian soldier, William Edmundson (1627-1712), had been turned to Quakerism by the preaching of George Fox and James Nayler, he had become in

LIFE OF PENN

11

some sense the Apostle to the Irish. Loe also had the Irish upon his heart. Friends had had as bad a time in Ireland as in England. "Priests and professors," Catholics and Protestants, vied in persecuting them. They were fined, put in stocks, and imprisoned; their possessions were taken from them; their meetings were broken up. Here and there, however, as in England, local magistrates condoned their harmless activities and treated them with as much consideration as the irate church authorities would allow. Loe "was a lively minister of Christ Jesus, and could divide the word aright." 10 He came over from Oxford to Ireland for the first time in 1657, and ten years later, seasoned by imprisonment and hardship, he was with George Fox, Josiah Coale, and John Burnyeat, one of four Quakers who figure in the conversion and future career of William Penn. The original story of the memorable meeting at which Penn heard Loe, and of its immediate consequences, is told in the Harvey MS bearing the date of 1729. This MS is the work of an unknown author who claims to report the words of one Thomas Harvey about 1700, who in turn was given the details by William Penn himself. It is considered reliable, and is here reproduced with changes to conform with present-day spelling and punctuation, of which the original is entirely innocent. We are with William in 1667 at Cork on a shopping errand: He [Penn] wanting some cloth went to a woman Friend's shop he had knowledge of about the time of that meeting. She not knowing him, [he] told her who he was and also of the meeting at his Father's [about ten years before]. She admired at his remembering that. He told her he should never forget it. Also if he knew where the person was, if it were an hundred miles, he would go to hear him again. She told him he need not go so far, for the Friend was lately come thither and would be at meeting the next day, to which he went. Another appearing first [in the ministry], he was not affected with his testimony, but when T.L. stood up, [he] was exceedingly reached, so that he wept much, and it seemed to him as if a Voice said "stand on thy feet. How dost [thou] know but somebody may be reached by thy tears?" So he stood up that he might be seen. After the meeting, some Friends took notice of him, and he went to a Friend's house with T.L. In discourse T.L. was saying he should want a horse, either being without one or his own being not fit to travel. W.P. offered him his sumpter horse he had brought from France, but T.L. said he was not willing to take his, which made 10 Thomas Wight, A History of the Rise and Progress of the People Called Quakers in Ireland, p. 116.

IS

WILLIAM PENN

W.P. think he was not Friend enough to have his horse accepted. However, he went to meetings there till they were disturbed. Once a soldier came up into the meeting, making a great disturbance. W.P. goes to him, takes him by the collar, and would have thrown him down stairs, but a Friend or two come to him desiring to let him alone, for they were a peaceable people and would not have him make a disturbance there. Then he was very much concerned he had caused Friends to be uneasy by his roughness. The soldier went to the magistrates and brought the officers, which broke up the meeting and made several of them prisoners, and him among the rest. 11 This quaint account leaves one or two points to be clarified. We know from other testimony that Loe in his sermon on this occasion developed the theme "there is a faith that overcomes the world, and there is a faith that is overcome by the world." It appears that these were the words that searched Penn's heart, hesitating as he had been between a life of pleasure and the call to serious duty. He himself frequently alludes to these words in his letters. Though they are only a paraphrase of I John, V, 4, they became a sort of key text to Penn. It is to be observed that it was not the first meeting for worship which was disturbed, but a later one which he attended. Evidently, through a chance acquaintance in a shop, he heard of the tidings which were to be a new gospel for him. Thomas Loe was in town! He would hear him again, near where he had heard him as a boy. He would not have far to go from Shangarry Castle, and apparently he began to attend Quaker meetings frequently as a seeker for truth. A t one of these meetings, as so often happened, the authorities interfered and some of those present were carried off to jail. This proceeding, which seems now high-handed, was a consequence of the so-called Conventicle Act, first passed under Charles II in 1664, to prevent all nonconformist and Catholic a,ssemblages for worship consisting of more than five adults in addition to the family present in the house. It was an act proposed to prevent all secret and seditious assemblies in which treason might be plotted against the King and the interest of the Anglican Church. It was particularly hard upon the Quakers, who never attached any secrecy to their meetings for worship, who bore no weapons, and were always among the King's most loyal subjects. At any time when the magistrates, upon notice furnished them by an informer, chose to take the trouble to break up a meeting, they could find their game awaiting them. Before accepting any evidence or declaration 11 /. Friends' Hùt. Soc., XXXII, 23.

LIFE OF PENN

ig

of innocence, the magistrates were accustomed to tender the Quakers the oath of allegiance and supremacy. Such an oath, or any other kind of oath, they would not take; so they were remanded to prison without trial as dangerous persons under the existing Penal Laws. T h u s they were caught both coming and going. Strange as it seems now, thousands of Quakers were imprisoned, and many died in prison for refusing to take an oath or to pay tithes under the cruel but ineffective laws of the time. It is not strange that when Penn identified himself with Friends, it did not take him long to attack the validity of such laws in his long campaign for religious toleration. It is pleasant to think that Loe had a tender regard for the young gentleman whom his words had so profoundly affected. W e know that they met at least once again, in 1668, in London. Loe was then on his deathbed, his life worn out by hardships and privations. Penn was in London, now a confirmed Quaker, and went to bid farewell to him. T h o m a s said to the young man: "Dear heart, bear thy cross, stand faithful for God, and bear thy testimony in thy day and generation; and God will give thee an eternal crown of glory, that none shall ever take from thee." 12 But we left in jail our Friend William, whom we must henceforth consider to be a member of the Society of Friends. Before 1737 there was no registered list of members, nor any formal method of identifying oneself as a Quaker. Something a good deal more exacting, however, was required: a turning away from the careless frivolities of worldly society, adoption of the plain Quaker speech, dress, and manner of life, and regular attendance at meetings for worship—all this, of course, in addition to acceptance of the Quaker way of life and approach to truth. Spiritual truth was the object of Quaker search first, last, and all the time. It could be reached only by unfailing heed to the leading of the Inner Light. If one were signally negligent of the accepted responsibility to Quaker faith and practice, one could be disowned and no longer recognized as a Friend. So when Penn was arrested and taken to jail, he was in a fair way to qualify as one whose "sufferings" entitled him to such informal membership as then existed in the Society. In reality, what changed in Penn was not his theology, but his way of life. So it has always been with those who have become "convinced" members of the Society. Many seventeenth-century Friends had been worthy members of the Independents and other 12 Harvey MS quoted by Maria Webb, Penns and Peningtons, p. 198.

WILLIAM PENN '4 radical wings of the Puritan sects; but their adherence to Quaker principles was immediately translated into a search for a bettter way of life, in fact, the perfect way of life, which Friends believed was possible and to which they believed they were called. There was for them an end of all trust in the claims of men's wisdom, and a simple desire to learn at first hand what was the will of God for them here and now in this present world. Penn was still a man of the world with a knowledge of his rights when he determined to communicate from prison with his father's friend, the Earl of Orrery, who was Lord President of Munster and could overrule the acts of a mere magistrate in Cork. This is the first of a long list of Penn's pleas for religious toleration which we shall meet in the third chapter. It was his first experience with a legal system which his labors did so much to reform. After narrating the circumstances of his arrest, he relied upon the intelligence of Orrery to direct the speedy release of those who were so unjustly confined. So far, the letter is direct in its purpose to obtain a release and might have stopped there. But, as we shall see, Penn was a ready writer, and thus early betrayed his interest in the principle involved in the present iniquitous laws against Dissenters. So he freely communicated to the President his opinion about the larger issue in these words: But I presume, my Lord, the acquaintance you have had with other countries, must needs have furnished you with this infallible observation: that diversities of faith and worship contribute not to the disturbance of any place, where moral conformity is barely requisite to preserve the peace. It is not long since you were a good sollicitor for the liberty I now crave, and concluded no way so effectual to improve or advantage this country, as to dispense with freedom in things belonging to conscience; and I suppose, were it riotous or tumultuary, as by some vainly imagined, your Lordship's inclination, as well as duty, would entertain a very remote opinion. My humble supplication therefore to you is, that so malicious and injurious a practice to innocent Englishmen, may not receive any countenance or encouragement from your Lordship; for as it is contrary to the practice elsewhere, and a bad argument to invite English, hither, so, with submission, will it not resemble that clemency and English spirit, that hath hitherto made you honourable. If in this case I may have used too great a liberty, it is my subject, nor shall I doubt your pardon, since by your authority, I expect a favour, which never will be used unworthy an honest man, and Your Lordship's faithful, etc W.P.« is Works, I, 3.

LIFE OF PENN

15

T h e main point of this none too lucid epistle was understood by Orrery, and he at once obtained the release of the young convert. Admiral Penn was soon informed of the proceedings, whereupon he immediately wrote to his son twice, calling him back to London. With such feelings of apprehension as may be imagined, Penn started home. Stopping at Bristol, he met Josiah Coale. This traveling minister, well-to-do and intelligent, had already traveled widely in America from New England to Maryland, and also in Holland. As he accompanied Penn on the road to London, he could tell him of his interesting experiences with the Indians, whom he had found in some places more kindly and hospitable to Quaker travelers than were the Puritan white settlers themselves. Coale had participated in an early plan of George Fox for the purchase from Pennsylvania Indians of a tract for the settlement of English Quakers on the Susquehanna. This plan came to nothing at the time, but could hardly have failed to impress the mind of the future Founder. It is probable that Coale introduced Penn in passing to the h o u s e h o l d of Isaac P c n i n g t o n , w h e r e h e was destined later to

find his wife. He even accompanied the younger man to his home, in order to temper what promised to be a stormy welcome. T h e first greeting passed off well, but after Coale's departure the real test came. T h e dramatic interviews which succeeded have been treated con amore by biographers who have drawn upon their imagination for unsubstantiated details. Perhaps it is safe to let the reader's imagination recreate the painful scenes which followed. T h e Admiral, as is the fate of royal favorites, was having troubles of his own. After being prevented by the hostile cabal from going to sea again following his recent victory, he had worked to provision and equip the fleet, only to see it burned in home waters by a daring foray of the Dutch. On the other hand, the King, who with the Duke of York was the Admiral's grateful friend, had offered him the title of Viscount Weymouth—an hereditary title. For the moment he had plenty to think about, without the chagrin of being thwarted by his oldest son. T h e son had plenty to think about also, for it was plain that a long future was at stake, involving a total change in his habits and prospects. William's first use of the plain "thee and thou" language to his father struck fire. Like all the early Quakers, Penn felt that its use was a test of his faithfulness to the principle of equality among men. At the time "you," though ungrammatical as a subject pronoun from an historical point of view, was conventionally required in

ι6

WILLIAM PENN

address to superiors; while the singular pronoun was used to inferiors, and also, of course, in addressing the Deity. T o the Quakers all men were equal, and they judged that what was good enough to use in prayer ought to be good enough for addressing mere man. T h e Admiral, offended when addressed as an inferior, "told him he might thee and thou whom he pleased except the King, the Duke of York and himself." T h e next morning the father, to insure privacy, took William for a drive in his coach, ending u p at a tavern for the final scene. Here the Admiral "told him he would kneel down and pray to G o d that he might not be a Quaker nor go to any more of their meetings." A t the prospect of such a supplication on his behalf, William opened a window and said he would leap out rather than listen to such a prayer. A t this moment of tragic tension, according to the Harvey MS already mentioned, a deus ex machina appeared in the person of a noble friend of the Admiral, w h o had recognized his coach at the door in passing and unwittingly broke in upon the scene. Upon hearing the facts, it is said, he told Sir William that he ought to be proud of having such a son w h o was ready to despise the grandeur of the world and forsake its vices for a more exemplary life. T h a t was fortunate for the young man. T h e tension was broken, and the emotion of such a scene could not well be repeated. Another nobleman at whose house they stopped told the Admiral the same thing. Perhaps the chagrined father was somewhat mollified by such unexpected testimony from men who would have been glad to have such a son. Anyhow, nothing more was said on the subject of William's Quakerism for the moment. 1 4 W i t h the zeal of a neophyte, William now frequented Friends, going to their meetings and becoming further initiated in the faith he had embraced. Living with the family at the house in the Navy Gardens, and being a Quaker "or some very melancholy thing," as Pepys reports, William's surroundings could not have been pleasant to him. He was a kill-joy in the pleasure-loving family. W h e n his sister's first child was baptized, he would have nothing to d o with the ceremony, the sacrament of water baptism having been eliminated with all the other outward observances from the practices of Friends. W i t h them it was the inner baptism of the Spirit leading to a new way of life which counted, and young Penn felt that he certainly had that. Describing his own satisfaction in 1668 with what he had found among the Quakers, he says: "Since my first frequenting of them and their assemblies, I have observed that n Cf. /. Friends' Hùt. Soc., XXXII, 24-25.

LIFE OF PENN

»7

holy, innocent and righteous conversation which harmonizes with the severity, circumspection and self-denying life of the gospel." 19 It is characteristic of religious converts to fight hard against the world which they feel must be totally renounced. In 1668, a year after his "convincement," Penn wrote to a young woman correspondent: M y f r i e n d , h o w m u c h it m a y i m p o r t the w e l f a r e of thy i m m o r t a l soul, t o reflect u p o n that course of l i f e , a n d w a y t h o u n o w art w a l k i n g i n , b e f o r e a n e v i d e n t stroke f r o m h e a v e n call thee h e n c e , a n d s e n d thy so m u c h i n d u l g e d flesh a n d b l o o d i n t o the g r a v e ; a n e n t e r t a i n m e n t f o r n o b e t t e r t h a n n o i s o m e w o r m s . I b e g thee, as e v e r t h o u w o u l d s t be s a v e d f r o m t h a t u n s p e a k a b l e a n g u i s h , w h i c h is reserved f o r w o r l d l i n g s , a n d f r o m w h e n c e there is n o r e d e m p t i o n , to k e e p thy self f r o m those v a n i t i e s , follies, a n d p o l l u t i o n s , w h i c h u n a v o i d a b l y b r i n g that m i s e r a b l e state. A l a s ! h o w i n c o n g r u o u s , o r u n s u i t a b l e is thy l i f e a n d practice, w i t h those h o l y w o m e n of o l d , w h o s e time was mostly s p e n t in h e a v e n l y r e t i r e m e n t s , o u t of that rattle, noise, a n d c o n v e r s a t i o n t h o u art in. . . . A n d e x a m i n e w i t h t h y self, h o w r e m o t e t h o u art f r o m the g u i d i n g s a n d i n s t r u c t i o n s of this S p i r i t of g r a c e , w h o canst c o u n t e n a n c e this age in f r e q u e n t i n g t h e i r w i c k e d a n d v a i n sports, plays a n d e n t e r t a i n m e n t s , c o n f o r m i n g t h y self t o r i d i c u l o u s customs, a n d m a k i n g o n e at idle t a l k i n g a n d v a i n jesti n g , w h e r e s o e v e r t h o u comest, n o t c o n s i d e r i n g t h o u shalt a c c o u n t w i t h the d r e a d f u l G o d f o r every i d l e w o r d . . . . In short, be a d v i s e d , m y f r i e n d , to b e serious, a n d to p o n d e r that w h i c h b e l o n g s t o thy e t e r n a l p e a c e . R e t i r e f r o m the noise a n d clatter of t e m p t i n g visibles, to t h e b e h o l d i n g H i m w h o is i n v i s i b l e , that H e m a y r e i g n in thy s o u l , G o d o v e r a l l , e x a l t e d a n d blessed f o r e v e r . 1 β

O u r modern generation, which has done so much to reconcile this world and the next—the temporal and the eternal—will think this a strange communication to come from a young man of twentyfour. But in Penn's time those who were seriously religious at all felt strongly, and the lesson contained in the parable of Lazarus and Dives was not yet without its appeal. If one thought that he might save the soul of a friend from Hell by writing such a letter, it was quite worth doing. T h e Quakers were saying just this sort of thing all over England at the time, and if the appeal had been resented by some, it was not because the connection between present sin and future punishment was denied by anyone; it was only because the Quakers trod upon the toes of those who felt they alone could guarantee happiness in the future life. T h e only time that ι» The Guide Mistaken ie Works, I, 5.

(1668).

ι8

WILLIAM PENN

seemed to W i l l i a m to be well spent just now was the time he spent with his newly found Friends, attending meetings and perhaps sharing in the charitable acts which the Quakers performed in L o n d o n for their suffering brethren. H e himself began his long career as a minister of the spoken word in the Society this same year, 1668. T h e coincidences in Penn's life have been frequently remarked. T h e y serve to create that dramatic effect which makes it so interesting: to be at O x f o r d during a time of religious turmoil was one coincidence; to be present at Saumur during the very last year of the great Amyraut's life was another; to encounter T h o m a s Loe at a favorable moment was one; and now we must note another. It was precisely at the time of Penn's "convincement" that George Fox, released from long imprisonment at Lancaster and Scarborough, visited L o n d o n and then toured the counties for a year establishing Monthly Meetings. T h i s means that a new and vital step was taken towards the permanent organization of the Society of Friends. Henceforth the Monthly Meeting is the group or unit in which one's membership is held and to which one's responsibility is particularly intimate. So, just when Penn became a Quaker, the Society developed a certain esprit de corps which greatly strengthened it. He could feel that he was joining himself to a definite social as well as spiritual brotherhood. A t this very time also there was one of those precious intervals in the Quaker persecution. Buckingham and Shaftesbury had just replaced Clarendon, and a few months of respite intervening before the Conventicle Act of 1664 was renewed enabled the Quakers to recover from hardship and realign their forces. B u t the respite was brief. O n his first preaching tour with a companion in near-by counties, Penn was arrested on the old charge, so familiar to the Quakers, of causing a riot. T h o u g h promptly released, he was summoned home to his father, as he had been upon an earlier occasion. K n o w i n g full well what k i n d of reception awaited him, he attended a meeting for worship in the city before confronting his father. A f t e r meeting, he met at a Friend's house the woman w h o was soon to be his wife, Gulielma Maria Springett. 17 She was the stepdaughter of one of the saints of early Quakerism, Isaac Penington, and like the rest of his household was already a Friend. If it was a case of love at first sight on Penn's part, he must have gone more bravely to meet his fate at home. He needed all the courage he could muster, for the paternal axe was it CI. /. Friends' Hist. Soc., XXXII, S5.

LIFE OF

PENN

»9

not long in falling. T h e Admiral told his son "he had heard what work he had been making in the country and after some discourse, bid him take his clothes, and begone from his house, for he should not be there. Also, that he should dispose of his estates to them that pleased him better." 1 8 At the moment, this edict sounded final. T h e Admiral's situation arouses our sympathy. Harried in his professional career by his political enemies, tormented by gout, he now resolved to decline the proffered title of nobility, because his oldest son was so obdurate in his folly. Though only in middle age, there did not seem to be much for this worldly minded man to live for. Nor was there much, unless a sympathetic contact could be reëstablished with this son whose present actions thwarted every ambition the father cherished. T o the reëstablishment of cordial relations, the Admiral must have given some serious thought. For, though William was cast for a while upon the care and hospitality of Friends, yet he later was allowed to return to his father's roof. There does not appear to have been a reconciliation at the moment, but rather a weakened resistance on the father's part to an unavoidable situation. William, full of that zeal and energy which from now on marks his activity, was hither and yon in the Society's interests, perhaps not neglecting the charms of the new attraction at Isaac Penington's near-by country place. T o this same year 1668 belongs Penn's first publication on behalf of Friends. It opens a series of writings which will continue for twenty years, and will be examined in some detail in the two following chapters. T h e title-page, like many of the contemporary pamphlets, contains a brief table of contents, and may be given here in full as a specimen of a style current when men had more time both to write and to read: Truth Exalted in a short but sure testimony against all those religions, faiths and worships, that have been formed and followed in the darkness of apostasy;—and for that glorious L i g h t which is now risen and shines forth in the life and doctrine of the despised Quakers as the alone good way of life and salvation. Presented to Princes, Priests and People, that they may repent, believe and obey. B y William Penn, whom divine L o v e constrains in an holy contempt, to trample on Egypt's glory, not fearing the King's wrath, having beheld the majesty of H i m who is invisible. is J. Friends' Hist. Soc., X X X I I , 25.

so

WILLIAM PENN

Pepys called this "a ridiculous, nonsensical book," and adds " I was ashamed to read in it." Perhaps the modern reader would echo the sentiment. But with this opening blast at the Churches, Penn sprang at once into prominence. Another edition oí Truth Exalted was called for in 1671, but in the meantime he had published several more pamphlets. It is astonishing to observe with what sudden effectiveness the youthful author had mastered the fundamental principles of Quakerism so well as to become an authorized spokesman and apologist of the Society. T h i s effort to create a systematic theology which should be intelligible to the world was something new in Quaker history. T h e earliest writings of Penn and George Keith 19 were nearly contemporary, but Robert Barclay did not publish his Apology until ten years later. George Fox had found no cause to write an inclusive and exhaustive theological statement. H e had been the firebrand, the seer, the prophet of Quakerism, and its effective organizer. But he had not the training, or perhaps any desire, to come to intellectual grips with the world's people. It was his business to issue the call to repentance and to live himself the life called for by the God within him. His appeal to his great audiences was an ad hominem appeal, to follow the Light within, leading to salvation. He did not descend much to intellectual questionings of more sophisticated folk. W h e n the Quakers were put on the defensive, the work of systematization was done by university-trained men, who thought along the lines of their contemporaries. T h e credit for this work is chiefly due to Keith, Penn, and Barclay between 1665 and 1680. T h e y had the training for it. H a v i n g now opened the career of Penn as author in 1668, we shall feel absolved from interrupting his biography with references to his books except in so far as they resulted in an effect upon his life. In general, the next twelve years are marked by pamphlets of a religious nature; whereas from the time of his preoccupation with government about 1680, toleration claims his attention. T h e following chapters contain the account of his services to Quakerism and to his fellow citizens. O n e of those doctrinal debates in which Protestants of the day delighted to participate brought a Presbyterian preacher, Vincent, into conflict with Penn. After a long session, Penn's fighting spirit not yet being exhausted, he put on paper what remained to be said. T h i s produced his first religious thriller, The Sandy Foundation Shaken, which was termed by Evelyn "a blasphemous book against 1» E. W . Kirby, George Keith,

pp. 12-13.

LIFE OF PENN

«ι

the deity of o u r blessed L o r d . " 20 Matters were not helped by the fact that P e n n published it w i t h o u t the Bishop of L o n d o n ' s license. T h o u g h P e n n confessed this oversight to A r l i n g t o n , the Secretary of State, the latter sent h i m to the T o w e r w i t h o u t any trial. Realizing that the a u t h o r s h i p of an unlicensed book was no warrant for confinement in the T o w e r , the Secretary laid an absurd charge of treason against Penn. W h e n this was disproved, A r l i n g t o n a n d the K i n g fell back u p o n the charge of blasphemy based on Penn's treatment of the T r i n i t y . As a result, Penn spent eight months in the T o w e r , from w h i c h he sent to his father by a messenger the brave words: " M y prison shall be my grave before I will budge a jot; for I owe my conscience to no mortal man; I have no need to fear, G o d will m a k e amends for all. . . N e i t h e r great nor good things were ever attained w i t h o u t loss and hardships." 21 P e n n %vas finally released after interviews w i t h the orthodox Dr. Stillingfleet, and the publication of Innocency with her Open Face—an e x p l a n a t i o n of his earlier treatment of the doctrine of the T r i n i t y . But, as J. W . G r a h a m says, "his enemies w o u l d have hesitated before g i v i n g eight months leisure to the ardent spirit of Penn, if they had foreseen the use that w o u l d be made of it." 22 T h i s time they had caught a Tartar. T h e r e has been a good deal of prison literature, and it is above the average. O n e thinks of St. Paul's Epistles and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, a m o n g others in this category. A n d n o w comes Penn's No Cross, No Crown, the best k n o w n of all his serious books, t h o u g h not so congenial to the modern reader as his later Fruits of Solitude. A d m i t t i n g the energy and power of concentration possessed by Penn, this is an amazing book to have been composed u n d e r the conditions o b t a i n i n g in the T o w e r . D u r i n g his close confinement he was allowed no contact with the outside w o r l d except by a special permit. Here he enjoyed that great privilege of silence a n d retirement, from w h i c h some classic revelations of truth h a v e come. It is true that the book was greatly enlarged in 1682 i n t o the f o r m w e now k n o w . B u t none the less, it is a remarkable p r o d u c t in any case. A l l his old associates must have k n o w n w h a t h a d become of h i m and where he was. T h e first part of the book is like a joyous valedictory to his old life and his o l d friends. It is as if he gaily salutes them from his prison, and calls them to embrace 20 Evelyn, Diary, ed. Dobson, II, 294. 21 Besse's Life of Penn, in Penn's Works, I, 6. 22 William Penti, p. 45.

ss

WILLIAM PENN

the life where there is to be found the only true joy and contentment: there can be no crown where no cross is taken up. One feels that the cause of Penn's arrest and imprisonment at this time is not what meets the eye. His punishment certainly did not fit the crime. There were other hostile forces at work which escape our knowledge, but which account for the harshness with which he was treated. Finally, in 1669, he was released, equally without any adequate reason, through the intervention of the Duke of York, and he returned to his father's house. The changes in British politics had affected the personnel of government also in Ireland, and the Admiral renounced the idea of choosing that island as a retreat upon his retirement. Instead he sent William in November to clear up business matters in connection with his estate at Shangarry, and to arrange for sales of land and the rents of tenants on the large property. Of the nine months spent in Ireland, William has left a diary published in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, X L , 46 ff. This diary is hardly more than a series of daily jottings of his activity, of the people he saw on business or pleasure, and of the financial contracts which were the ostensible reason for his sojourn. Though not always easy to decipher, it is a particularly interesting document as a revelation of two sides of Penn's nature: his friendship for the socially and politically distinguished aristocracy to which his own quality entitled him, and the energy with which he espoused the cause of his persecuted coreligionists. During the two years elapsed since Penn's last visit, George Fox and other Quaker preachers had overrun the island, but bitter persecution had fallen upon their converts. The prisons were full of Quakers, and Penn's efforts were unremitting to secure their release through pressure of his powerful friends. His days were often spent between dining and drinking tea with the ladies and gentlemen of his own social caste on the one hand, and on the other visiting and eating prison fare with the unfortunate victims of Church and State intolerance. There was no other member of the Society of Friends who could have so well combined the claims of society and of mercy. Friends were fortunate to have such an advocate with those in high places. When he got through with his labors, he had the satisfaction of having secured from Lord Shannon the release of Quakers in Irish jails. Since it furnishes important evidence of Penn's activity as a Quaker and as a man of the world, we may select a few of the

LIFE OF PENN

»3

intelligible notes in this diary. He was called a "coxcomb, jackass, fellow, fool, etc." by the ill-bred mayor of Cork, where many of the Friends were imprisoned; he speaks of some meetings for worship as "great," "Heavenly," or "powerful," while others were interrupted and arrests were made. On June 5, 1670, "we had a large but hard meeting being the First Day. Several great ones, the Countess of Mt. Alexander and of Cloncarthy, the Lady Horny, etc., and God's power was over them all." In a meeting at Bandon "we were at the end disturbed, for the Provost and Priest with three constables came to us. I satisfied the Provost, non plussed the Priest, writ him a challenge [to debate], and got the victory." This is a Quaker equivalent of veni, vidi, vici. T o a Dublin meeting "many people came, amongst the rest several of the ruder, boisterous gallants to gaze on me, which they did for almost an hour. Meeting being done, we went out where I spoke to them very sharply, and so we parted." Among the gentry and officers whom he visited, or who came to see him were the Earl of Drogheda, the Earl of Arran, Lord Shannon, Lord Barriinore, Lord Kingston "who was very civil and kind," Captain Gall, Captain Bent, Colonel Phair, Colonel Wallis, Captain Morris, Captain Hull, and in a very different class William Edmundson and the sometimes eccentric Friend Solomon Eccles. Riding about on horseback, Penn stopped at inns or at the houses of friendly gentry, as he pursued this strange career of business, duty, and pleasure. He says, " I caused my hair to be cut off and put into a wig, because of baldness since my imprisonment," thus departing from the custom of Friends for the rest of his life. In March 1670, two years before his marriage, he notes receiving a letter from Guli Springett. This so-called "Irish Journal" makes us wish that we had one for other periods of his long life. It was a busy nine months, in which preaching and encouragement of local Meetings had filled a large place. Not for nearly thirty years was he to visit Ireland again. Early in 1670 began a fresh religious persecution following a renewal of the Conventicle Act under pressure of the Anglican Church. George Fox, who ever sought to be in the thickest of the fight, was in London encouraging his followers to hold their meetings at all cost, despite the harsh terms of the Act. The Penn family was at the family estate at Wanstead, where the Admiral was approaching his end. William must have been much in London, for on August 14 he and William Mead, a Quaker linen draper later to be a son-in-law of George Fox, were apprehended at an assemblage

*4

WILLIAM PENN

outside of Gracechurch Street Meetinghouse. T h e house itself was padlocked under orders and guarded by armed men. So the Friends stood in the street, as at a modern Salvation Army service, and were presently addressed by William Penn. A contemporary letter says that the meeting "was more like a tumult than a solid assembly," but this was no unusual experience to the quiet, orderly Friends, who came to worship and were not responsible for the conduct "of the multitude of rude people who came mostly to gaze." The ensuing trial of Penn was one of the historic trials in English history, and is fully treated in the third chapter. Upon Penn's release from duress some two weeks later, it was just in time for him to see the Admiral before his death. For lack of data referring to Lady Penn, recent biographers have had much to say of Sir William Penn. From this distance of time, he seems to have been one of the numerous worldly public servants, in whom ambition partially choked what might have been a more exemplary and edifying life. Honesty and professional integrity were at least qualities for which his son, as we shall see, defended him, and it was his honesty which shows in his last reported words to his natural heir. Like other purely formal Christians, he saw more clearly as the end approached, and spoke to his son as probably he had never spoken before. T h e son reports his father's words at the end of No Cross, No Crown, in the second edition of 1682: "Son William, I am weary of the world. I would not live over my days again, if I could command them with a wish; for the snares of life are greater than the fears of death. This troubles me, that I have offended a gracious God, who has followed me to this day." T h e final scene was accompanied by words which indicate some understanding o{ his son's religion: "Son William, if you and your Friends keep to your plain way of preaching, and keep to your plain way of living, you will make an end of the priests to the end of the world. Bury me by my mother; live all in love; shun all manner of evil: and I pray God to bless you all; and he will bless you." He was buried with an official funeral in Bristol, at the church of St. Mary Redclyffe. Everyone has felt the appropriate words which terminate the elaborate epitaph: "He withdrew, prepared, and made for his end: and with an even and gentle gale, in much peace, arrived and anchored in his last and best port, at Wanstead, in the County of Essex, the 16th September, 1670, being then but forty-nine and four months old." Surely fitting words as applied to an Admiral. Their aptness reminds us of Benjamin Franklin's pro-

LIFE OF PENN

»5

posed epitaph, where he refers to himself as a work which will "appear once more in a new and more elegant edition revised and corrected by the Author." A less formal eulogy of Sir William Penn by his son is found in one of the latter's theological pamphlets. 23 One John Faldo having shown such poor taste as to repeat a scurrilous charge against the Admiral that he had profited by his position in the Navy to acquire ill-gotten gains, William loyally asserts: "After twenty-five years of public and very eminent sea and land employs, and the many great opportunities he had to swell his estate to a very considerable bulk, and that as laudably as any public officers raise themselves, he departed this world with a most clear conscience in all these respects, leaving not half that which many London shop-keepers arrive at by their private acquisitions." Granville Penn, in his Memorials of Sir William Penn, has quoted at length from the diaries and reports of his great-grandfather, the Admiral. One can read there how he engaged in a futile chase of the elusive Prince Rupert around the harbors of the Mediterranean, how he took prizes, how solicitous he was for supplies and "beverage wine" for his fleet and himself, and how all the while he fervently praised the Lord for his mercies. A hard life in the service, with wine leading to gout, brought him to an edifying end at the age of forty-nine. William Penn's career was not a repetition of his father's. Sir William Penn left behind him an estate said to yield 1,500 pounds per annum. In that respect his ambition had been realized. William as his heir was left a comparatively rich man, and henceforth always lived on a scale of generous affluence. He was henceforth on his own. He had finished his "making," that is, his education, religious experience, three imprisonments. He was now wealthy, independent, with no obligations but those of his association with an exacting religious Society. As time goes on, he will have temptations from the world and the things of the world from which his fellow Quakers were immune. Within fifteen years of his father's death, he will be drawn into situations where other Quakers felt they had no business; he will be forced to associate with people with whom other Quakers had no commerce; he will have responsibilities for the government and security of a province larger than any that had ever in English history been placed in one man's hands. Wealth, power, influence! How will these things jibe with Quakerism? There is no one else in Quaker history who has 23 The Invalidity of John Faldo's Vindication

(1673).

WILLIAM

PENN

been tempted to straddle in such a large way and on such a public scene. If in 1667 Penn had foreseen what fate held in store for him, one can but wonder if he would have thrown in his lot with a sect which was' then made up socially of such a feeble folk. But he did become a Quaker, and even if the fact hampered his freedom he probably never regretted it. Indeed, he wrote in 1689 in a general epistle to Friends: It is now about twenty-two years since I embraced the testimony of the blessed truth, and the fellowship of it among you, which is Christ, the light of the world, in us, the hope of the glory that is to come. I cannot repine, notwithstanding the many sort of troubles and afflictions I have met withal on that account, whether they came from my near relations, or the governments of the world, or my neighbours, or my enemies, or my false friends. 24

It will be recalled that the Admiral with good reason stood high with Charles II and the Duke of York. Just before his death, he requested by letter that they would continue to his son the good will they had borne the father. T h e promise was made and, what is more remarkable, was kept. It was to prove later the most valuable worldly asset which young William possessed. He did not draw on this royal treasure for some years. Quaker business was awaiting him. Preaching at Wheeler Street Meeting early in 1671, he was arrested, and without benefit of jury was sent to Newgate for six months for refusal to take the oath of allegiance and supremacy. When other resources failed, this judicial travesty always worked, and English jails were filled for decades with loyal Quakers who would not attest their loyalty with an oath. T h e hearing before our old friend of the former trial, Sir Samuel Starling, produced one piece of eloquence which deserves a place for its bold defiance. Penn's parting shot to Robinson, Governor of the Tower, where the "trial" took place, was: I would have thee and all men to know, that I scorn that religion which is not worth suffering for, and able to sustain those that are afflicted for it: mine is, and whatever may be my lot for my constant profession of it, I am no ways careful, but resigned to answer the will of God, by the loss of goods, liberty, and life itself. When you have all, you can have no more, and then perhaps you will be contented, and by that you will be better informed of our innocency. T h y religion persecutes, and 2« Quoted in W. I. Hull, William

Penn: a Topical

Biography,

p. 274.

LIFE OF PENN

*7 mine forgives: and I desire my God to forgive you all, that are concerned in my commitment, and I leave you all in perfect charity, wishing your everlasting salvation.28 Newgate at the time was an awful place of enforced sojourn. Not only did unbelievable filth and stench infest the place, but the company also was beyond words. Yet here in "the common stinking gaol, among the felons," he wrote several small books, of which the most important is The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience, his first treatise on religious toleration, apparently first published in Ireland and later amplified and finished here. It was a good time to treat of such a subject, but one would not have selected the place as favorable. T h a t anyone could compose serious and profound treatises in the presence of the foul-mouthed and maniacal inmates of this doleful place is amazing. As late as 1814 Newgate was still not considered safe for Elizabeth Fry and Stephen Grellet to carry the gospel to the prisoners there, lest they should be torn in pieces. But they went in and came out. So did Penn in his day, and later in the same year spent a few months in Holland and western Germany, traveling, preaching, and visiting pious folk for whom he felt concerned. T h e r e is no journal of this trip. Upon his return William Penn was married to Guli Springett on A p r i l 4, 1672. Happily, a royal Declaration of Indulgence afforded a short but welcome respite from religious persecution during the early months of their married life. T h e next few years were devoted to domesticity at Rickmansworth near Guli's former home, traveling in the ministry and writing many defenses of Quakerism against the attacks of which it was the object. T h e principal points discussed in these pamphlets will be taken up in the next chapter. For two years, 1672-74, Penn was free to attend to the doctrinal arguments of his opponents. But during the latter year the existing Declaration of Indulgence was abrogated, and persecution broke o u t afresh. George Fox himself, after an imprisonment at Worcester for fourteen months, was released at the instance of Penn a n d Mead in their appeal to the Duke of York. T h i s personal interview of Penn with the King's younger brother was one of the momentous episodes of his life. T h e Duke asked him why he had seen nothing of him for eight years, and opened the way for a usef u l renewal of their acquaintance. From this time until the flight 2« Works, I, 39-40.

s8

WILLIAM PENN

of James II in 1688 Penn had ready access to the royal presence. An idea of Penn's activity as a Quaker controversialist during the next five years, until the beginning of his interest in the American settlements, may be gained from the titles of his publications from 1674 to 1679. They do not represent his greatest claim to fame, but they show where his contemporary interests lay: Counterfeit Christian Detected; Urim and Thummim; Just Rebuke to Oneand-Twenty Divines; Christian Liberty; The Christian Quaker; Treatise of Oaths; England's Present Interest Discovered; Continued Cry of the Oppressed; Saul Smitten; Skirmisher Defeated; To the Churches of the Jews; Brief Answer to a False and Foolish Libel; To the Children of Light; An Address to Protestants; England's Great Interest; One Project for the Good of England. Mingled with the religious treatises one may detect Penn's interest in contemporary government and the national welfare, the latter becoming increasingly evident as his life progressed. He is the only Quaker of his day who associated religion with the national welfare in so specific a manner. He never renounced the belief that private standards of morality were applicable to government, and this belief has on the whole been characteristic of the Society to which he belonged. His conception of government in Pennsylvania was founded upon this principle. The fact that many men in public life have not shared this acceptance of a single standard for private and public morality explains why the Quakers have had so little association with public affairs. One of the most interesting episodes of his life in Penn's own judgment must have been his second visit to Holland and Germany in 1677. His journal of this visit was not published until 1694. The journey brought together such a group of Quaker worthies as is unique in the Society's history: George Fox, Robert Barclay, William Penn, George Keith (not to become a renegade for fifteen years), and two women Friends.28 Their purpose was to divide their forces and visit certain Dutch and German groups who held and practised a simple faith like that of the English Quakers. Such groups under one denomination or another had long existed in the Low Countries and adjacent territories. They belong historically in the class of spiritual reformers, who sought to carry the Protestant Reformation to its last and logical consequences in a return to primitive Christianity. It was not difficult to convert some of these groups in Emden, Danzig, Rotterdam, 2« Cf. Kirby, op. cit., p. 36.

LIFE O F P E N N

29

a n d A m s t e r d a m i n t o F r i e n d s ' M e e t i n g s , a n d this was a c t u a l l y done. 2 7 B e n j a m i n F u r l y , an E n g l i s h Q u a k e r l o n g resident in H o l l a n d , served w h e n necessary as g u i d e , interpreter, a n d later as translator for his E n g l i s h friends. A Y e a r l y M e e t i n g of F r i e n d s was actually set u p in A m s t e r d a m as the result of this visitation. 2 8 F o r us the p e r s o n a l contacts established by these F r i e n d s are m o r e interesting. O f these must be m e n t i o n e d the visits a n d subs e q u e n t c o r r e s p o n d e n c e of the F r i e n d s w i t h E l i z a b e t h Princess P a l a t i n e , w h o s e little c o u r t was at H e r f o r d in W e s t p h a l i a . She was u n m a r r i e d , a n d h a d as c o m p a n i o n s her sister, the C o u n t e s s of H o m e s , a n d a F r e n c h lady. T h e y w e r e pious w o m e n , a n d offered an a c c e p t a b l e o p p o r t u n i t y to the E n g l i s h F r i e n d s to speak i n t i m a t e l y of their f a i t h . Several m e e t i n g s w e r e h e l d f o r these ladies a n d the m e m b e r s of t h e i r h o u s e h o l d , some of w h o m h a d a l r e a d y been d r a w n i n t o a m o r e s p i r i t u a l r e l i g i o n by a c q u a i n t a n c e w i t h the mystic D e L a b a d i e . T h e Princess herself was nearly sixty years old, a n d d i e d at the age of sixty-two. She was a Stuart, a dist a n t cousin of R o b e r t B a r c l a y , a n d a sister of that P r i n c e R u p e r t w h o m A d m i r a l P e n n h a d v a i n l y chased in his ships a b o u t the A t l a n t i c a n d M e d i t e r r a n e a n in the days of C r o m w e l l . P e n n ' s a c c o u n t of this j o u r n e y i n c l u d e s descriptions of m a n y p r i v a t e a n d p u b l i c m e e t i n g s for wOrship and p i o u s e d i f i c a t i o n w i t h c o n g e n i a l souls, letters of a d v i c e a n d e x h o r t a t i o n sent to individuals, a n d a little s u g g e s t i o n of t h e i r i n t i m a t e conversations. T h e s e g o d l y p e o p l e w e r e of course interested in each other's e x p e r i e n c e s i n the h e a v e n w a r d j o u r n e y . A n d it is in this c o n n e c t i o n t h a t w e find a p r e c i o u s a c c o u n t of his e a r l i e r l i f e by P e n n h i m s e l f : Here I began to let them know how and when the Lord first appeared unto me, which was about the twelfth year of my age Anno 1656. How at times betwixt that and the fifteenth the Lord visited me, and the divine impressions he gave me of himself. Of my persecution at Oxford and how the Lord sustained me in the midst of that hellish darkness and debauchery. Of my being banished the College, the bitter usage I underwent when I returned to my father's: whipping, beating and turning out of doors in 1662. Of the Lord's dealings with me in France, and in the time of the great plague in London. In fine, the deep sense he gave me of the vanity of this world, of the irreligiousness of the religions of it. T h e n of my mournful and bitter cries to him that he would show me Cf. Swarthmore College Monographs on Quaker History by the Professor W i l l i a m I. H u l l . Cf. Λν. C. B r a i l h w a i t e , The Second Period of Quakerism, p. 430.

late

3°

WILLIAM PENN

his own way of life and salvation, and my resolutions to follow him, whatever reproaches or sufferings should attend me, and that with great reverence and brokenness of spirit. How after all this the glory of the world overtook me, and I was even ready to give up myself unto it, seeing as yet no such thing as the primitive spirit and church on the earth. And being ready to faint concerning my hope of the restitution of all things, it was at this time that the Lord visited me with a certain sound and testimony of his eternal word through one of those the world calls a Quaker, namely Thomas Loe. One can imagine how the hours sped in questions and answers, as these intelligent seekers for spiritual guidance exchanged their confidences. Like other Quaker travelers on the Continent, Penn thus summed up his impressions of Germany: "There is a breathing, hungering, seeking people solitarily scattered up and down this great land of Germany, where the Lord hath sent me, and I believe it is the like in other nations, and as the Lord hath laid it upon us, with my companions, to seek some of them out, so have we found several in divers places." A really national organization of Quakerism in Germany had to wait, however, until after the first World War. O n two occasions soon after his return from Holland, and each time in behalf of the same candidate, Penn did what we cannot imagine being done by any other Quaker of his time: he campaigned in 1679 for his old acquaintance Algernon Sidney, the staunch Puritan republican, who had been allowed to return from his Continental exile. Sidney was first a candidate for a seat in Parliament from Guildford. Here Penn took an active part in the hustings by the side of his candidate in scenes which remind us of Dickens' description of the election at Eatonswill in the Pickwick Papers. Sidney was here cheated out of the victory which he won on the ballot, and also later the same year, when he stood for a borough in Penn's home county, where it was hoped that local influence would overcome royal pressure. A victory for Sidney and his republican policies would have been a triumph for Penn's dearest hopes for his nation. Beside his personal share in the campaign by speaking and visiting influential men in the counties concerned, Penn published one of his most eloquent papers, England's Great Interest in the Choice of this New Parliament. " A l l is at stake," said he. As Hull points out, 29 Penn saw clearly that it was not only a Popish plot and the French dominate William Penn, p. 213.

LIFE OF PENN

31

tion by L o u i s X I V that threatened England; it was the fundamental rights of Englishmen to protect their life, liberty, a n d property through p o p u l a r control of the three branches of government, that was at stake. A f t e r his candidate's repeated failure, P e n n lost hope of accomplishing his dream of p o p u l a r government a n d religious toleration in England. H e was ready for a trial elsewhere " i n some vast wilderness." In the course of our rapid narrative, we have now reached the point where W i l l i a m P e n n became concerned in the A m e r i c a n settlements. It is certain that he had thought of A m e r i c a for years as a possible asylum for the persecuted religionists of his o w n a n d other E u r o p e a n countries. R e f e r r i n g to Pennsylvania, he said in a letter to R o b e r t T u r n e r in 1681: " T h i s I can say, that I had a n o p e n i n g of joy as to these parts in the year 1661 at O x f o r d , twenty years since." 30 T h e boy's dream may have been fed u p o n such books as More's Utopia and James Harrington's Oceana, to say n o t h i n g of the accounts current in England of the settlements already m a d e in N e w E n g l a n d and Virginia. His acquaintance w i t h Josiah Coale, George Fox, and J o h n Burnyeat, all of w h o m h a d traveled widely in America, could have afforded more definite information. T h e entertainment of F o x a n d B u r n y e a t at W o r m inghurst in 1677 by P e n n gave further opportunity for discussion of a project w h i c h P e n n had secretly cherished for years. 3 1 T h e realization of his concern came a b o u t as the result of historical developments. T h e large province of N e w Netherlands, lying between the Delaware a n d C o n n e c t i c u t Rivers, had been lost by the D u t c h to the English in 1675. K i n g Charles II h a d given it w i t h a lavish h a n d to his brother, the D u k e of York, a n d the latter had granted that part of the territory lying between the H u d s o n and the D e l a w a r e to t w o n o b l e m e n , L o r d Berkeley a n d Sir J o h n Carteret. T h e latter's family b e l o n g i n g to the C h a n n e l Island of Jersey, the n a m e N e w Jersey was given to this territory. L o r d Berkeley, h a v i n g only a financial interest in the royal grant, soon offered his share f o r sale. It was b o u g h t by a Q u a k e r , E d w a r d Byllinge, t h r o u g h a n agent, J o h n F e n w i c k , w h o was also a Quaker. T h e s e t w o h a v i n g quarreled, the property was placed in trust for Byllinge's creditors in the hands of three trustees, one of w h o m was the wealthy y o u n g F r i e n d , W i l l i a m Penn, in his thirty-first year. It is evident that 30 Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., Vol. I, Pt. I, p. 203. ei See George Fox, The Short Journal and Itinerary Journals, p. 235.

3»

WILLIAM PENN

Penn was the active trustee. Arrangements were made for the separation of the trustees' property from that of Sir George Carteret. T h e latter took the more settled portion in the northern part of the territory, then called East New Jersey, while Penn chose the southern part, then called West New Jersey, lying along the Delaware and extending as far south as Cape May. We are not writing the history of New Jersey, but we may point out that Penn's proposed constitution for West Jersey embodied principles quite as democratic and tolerant as those later incorporated in that of Pennsylvania. Much publicity was given to this opportunity for people in distress to find a new home where they could live under happier auspices. T h e colonization of West New Jersey by the Quakers began in 1677 and 1678, and was at first confined to the east bank of the Delaware between Salem and Burlington. Land was bought from the Indians for these settlements—the earliest communities of Quaker ownership in the New World. T h e characteristic approach of the Quakers to their new opportunities and responsibilities will be described later in connection with the laws of Pennsylvania. It should be noted that after the death of Sir George Carteret in 1679, East Jersey fell by purchase into the hands of twelve Quakers, who added twelve other men to form a council of twenty-four Proprietors, of whom Penn again was one. It looked for a short time as if the "Holy Experiment" would be performed in New Jersey and not in Penn's woods. But in 1702, at the ascension of Queen Anne, these Proprietors handed over to the Crown the government of the present State of New Jersey. After that date, the State was no longer under the formal control of Friends. But several of its early governors and other State officials were Friends, and the Quaker influence in the southern part of the State is still felt. T h e first Yearly Meeting in the Middle Atlantic States was established at Burlington in 1681; there and in Philadelphia it met alternately until 1760. Historically, New Jersey Friends have been associated rather with Philadelphia than with New York Yearly Meeting. A comparison of dates will show that William Penn was already involved in colonization plans when he was in Holland and Germany in 1677. At that time and in the following years his name became widely associated with American colonization. He was anxious to attract to New Jersey and later to Pennsylvania some of the persecuted inhabitants of western Europe. How successful

LIFE OF PENN

33

he and his successors were is proved by the large element of Germans from the Rhineland who found their way to America during the next hundred years. In Pennsylvania they form that substantial element in the population often called Pennsylvania Dutch. T h e y came from Frankfort, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Krisheim, and brought their skill in agriculture to Lancaster and neighboring counties. Some of the earliest settlers, under Francis Daniel Pastorius, called their new home Germantown, now a part of Philadelphia. Under the terms of the Conventicle Act in force in 1680, a single magistrate without a jury could imprison anyone accused by a professional informer of having violated the Act. T h i s simple result was made sure by tendering the oath of allegiance, which a Quaker would not take. Prisons again held many Quakers, despite all Penn's writings of the last twelve years. T o give point to Penn's future determination, it may be appropriate to refer here to a paper which was printed and presented to the king, lords and commons in parliament assembled, entitled ' T h e case of the people called Quakers, stated in relation to the late and present suffering, especially upon old statutes made against Popish recusants.' 32 T h i s was in 1680, and the paper includes a general abridgement of sufferings (as to imprisonment, etc.) from 1660 to 1680, as follows: 1. T h e r e have died of our Friends in prison, and prisoners for the exercise of their faith and conscience in matters spiritual, some of whom have been beaten and bruised, being knocked down at their peaceable meetings, and died of their wounds—243. 2. A n d there remains now in prison in the several gaols in England and Wales, who suffer also for the testimony of a good conscience, many of which are persecuted by writs of excommunicato capiendo, and have been divers of them closely confined upon that account for several years past—276. 3. A n d there have suffered imprisonment for meeting and refusing for conscience sake to swear; some of whom have had the sentence of a praemunire past upon them; and divers of them have had their goods and chattels distrained, and taken from them—9,437.

4. T h e number of our Friends excommunicated and imprisoned for not conforming to the public worship—624. See Memoirs of John Whiting

(1655-1722), 2nd. ed., pp. 68-69.

34

WILLIAM PENN

5. And there have been sentenced for banishment, for meeting together to worship God—198. Total—10,778. There seemed no hope at the time for a more tolerant attitude on the part of the Church and State. Penn himself was sailing in calmer waters. He had not been in prison for nearly ten years; he was rich; he was known as a power in American colonization; he had the entrée to Court; and the Crown owed his father's estate a sum of sixteen thousand pounds, counting loans made to the King, unpaid salary, and accumulated interest. With no further hope of bettering the situation of Friends in England, Penn resolved to ask for a province in America, as others before him had done, to discharge the debt, and provide an asylum for his coreligionists. What he asked for was a grant of land "lying north of Maryland, bounded on the east by the Delaware River, on the west limited as Maryland, and to extend north as far as plantable." It seems strange that no one before him had definitely staked out this territory, later to be discovered so rich in coal and iron, in addition to its agricultural fertility. It was the last plum to be picked on the eastern seaboard, destined to become the second richest state in the Union. Knowledge of American geography was slight at the Court of Charles II, and the King himself was not loath to discharge a large debt at no cost to himself. T h e Duke of York encouraged Charles to grant Penn's request. For nine months negotiations were pending before the Committee of the Privy Council on Trade and Plantations. T h e most significant detail discussed was the width of the province north and south. Penn asked for, and was granted, three degrees of latitude, from the fortieth to the forty-third. As was later discovered, there was not so much as three degrees of latitude between Maryland and New York. T h e latter state seems to have held its own, but the dispute over the southern line of Pennsylvania was not finally settled until the Mason and Dixon line was run in 1763-67. So great was the divergence between surveys, it is said, that if Lord Baltimore's later contention had been allowed, the future city of Philadelphia would have been within the limits of Maryland; and if Penn's claim had been made good, Baltimore would have been in Pennsylvania. T h e complications presented by the waters of Chesapeake and Delaware bays, as well as by the forts and settlements lying on these waters, made the contest between Penn and Baiti-

LIFE OF PENN

35

more an important one. Solicitude for their respective claims became a major preoccupation of both proprietors and their successors. T h e charter for Pennsylvania was granted by Charles II on March 14, 1681, and is now in Harrisburg. Penn's first choice of a name for the province was New Wales; his second choice was Sylvania, to which the K i n g insisted upon prefixing Penn as an honor to the Admiral. Penn, fearing the name would be regarded as a sign of pride on his own part, says in a letter "nor could twenty guineas move the under secretarys to vary the name." 33 It looks like a contest between pride and bribe. B u t the name stuck, and Pennsylvania is the only State in the Union which bears or incorporates the name of its Founder. In this same letter to Robert Turner, Penn refers to the "many waitings, watchings, solicitings, and disputes" which had to be experienced before he could say: "My G o d that has given it me through many difficulties, will, I believe, bless and make it the seed of a nation. I shall have a tender care to the government, that it will be well laid at first." T h u s from the start, trials and blessings, sorrows and joys, came to Penn as he planned his " H o l y Experiment." From 1681 to 1685 Penn had little time to devote to religious or political writing. These years mark the formulation of his own government and his visit to Pennsylvania. T h o s e w h o have had experience in drawing u p and securing the approval of a constitution for even a small society know what disputes and bickerings often precede its adoption. Here was a single man of thirty-seven trying to draft laws for an indefinite number of settlers in a country he had never seen three thousand miles away. As he wrote later in 1705, "I went thither to lay the foundation of a free colony for all mankind, that should go thither, more especially those of my own profession; not that I would lessen the civil liberties of others because of their persuasion, but screen and defend our own from any infringement on that account." 34 T h e country was to be a refuge for those escaping from religious persecution in England and Europe, and provision must be made for their contentment as well as for their physical prosperity. T h e Crown, represented by the Attorney-General, must be assured that the interests of the mother country should be safeguarded in this British colony. T h e principles of the Society of Friends must be »3 Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., Vol. I, Pt. I, pp. 201-2. m Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., I X , 373.

36

WILLIAM PENN

observed in its government. T h e Founder's personal hopes and aspirations for his enterprise must be incorporated. T h e Frame of Government, as he called his preliminary statement of principles underlying the laws or constitution to be adopted, was doubtless the simplest part of the program before him. Here he could incorporate his own idealism and optimism before becoming involved in the necessary details. Like the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States, the Frame could state the basic principles of justice which Penn had absorbed from his studies of history, and could lay the foundation upon which he should proceed to build. We shall see in the fourth chapter what was the nature of this Frame, and how it breathes Penn's theories before his consultation with friends and his study of other constitutions in America dictated the provisions of his first constitution itself. But it may be said now that no amount of consultation and foresight avails to keep any constitution as a rigid formulation in view of changing circumstances. Penn's first constitution of 1681 was soon altered twice, in 1696 and in 1701, to meet unforeseen demands and conditions. In this developing process, rendered compulsory by changing circumstances, Penn's Frame is the most important statement of the theories which he held as a Quaker statesman. There he was working with a clean slate, before the exigencies of reality compelled him to alter and hedge. But there was the inherent difficulty of reconciling his idealism with the conflicting interests of the Crown, with his own proprietary privileges, and with the growing demands of the settlers. Penn was the actual owner of the land and could make his own laws to govern it; but he held the land, as it were, in fief to the Crown, and his own laws must not conflict with the fundamental laws of England. Between March 1681 and August 1682, when Penn himself was to set out for America, there was a formidable amount of business to be transacted. Beside the deliberations involved in what we have just mentioned, there were prospectuses to be written and circulated to obtain settlers, there was an enormous correspondence to be carried on, questions to be answered, decisions to be made, a representative to be sent to take necessary steps and prepare the way for Penn himself, the Indians to be favorably impressed, ships to be chartered, and his own affairs to be left in shape, in case he never returned from a long and hazardous voyage. And all this took money—money drained from his own pocket, for

LIFE OF PENN

37

most of which he was never to be reimbursed. T h e beginnings of Penn's own financial embarrassment date from his titular possession of a province whose material wealth in our day can hardly be reckoned. H e was to die a comparatively poor man, but his descendants reaped the financial reward. T h e question soon came up of what Friends should go to this distant refuge. It appeared, in Wales especially, that certain Meetings would be deprived of their most vigorous members. Penn could not assume the responsibility of tempting them to leave home against the best judgment of their families and fellow members, nor could he encourage them to run away from persecution. His prospectus of what Pennsylvania had to offer differs from the publicity for land schemes in our own day by the guarded spirit in which colonization is presented. T h e closing words of the document might provoke hesitation rather than an ill-considered enthusiasm: T o conclude, I desire all my dear country-folks, w h o may be inclined to g o i n t o those parts, to consider seriously the premises, as well the present inconveniences, as f u t u r e ease and plenty, that so n o n e may m o v e rashly or from a fickle but solid m i n d , h a v i n g above all things, an eye to the p r o v i d e n c e of G o d , in the disposal of themselves. A n d I w o u l d f u r t h e r advise all such at least, to have the permission, if not the g o o d l i k i n g of their n e a r relations, for that is both natural, a n d a duty inc u m b e n t u p o n all; a n d by this means will natural affection be preserved, a n d a friendly a n d profitable correspondence be m a i n t a i n e d b e t w e e n them. I n all w h i c h I beseech A l m i g h t y G o d to direct us, that his blessing may a t t e n d our honest e n d e a v o u r , and then the consequence of all o u r u n d e r t a k i n g will turn to the glory of his great name, a n d the true happiness of us, a n d o u r posterity. A m e n . 3 5

A French philosopher, recently quoted by Professor Gilson, once pointed out that "the only conceivable form of democracy was theocracy—that very kind of theocracy which William Penn had once established in the forests of Pennsylvania." 36 What is meant by a theocratic democracy is already foreshadowed in this publicity document: those who freely joined in a free government were also to be partners in prosperity under God's blessing. T h e Quakers of that day believed that the will of God could be learned by W i l l i a m Penn respecting a province in America quite as certainly 85 William Penn, Some Account of the Province of Pennsylvania. se See Harvard Tercentenary Publications. Independence, Convergence, Borrowing in institutions, Thought, and Art, p. 208.

and

3»

WILLIAM PENN

as it was learned by Moses respecting the Children of Israel. B u t in order to deserve this privilege of direct communication with Authority, one had to keep his o w n record very straight; there was to be no running after false gods, no tasting of forbidden fruits. Every enterprise undertaken must bear the stamp of divine approval, or it was doomed to failure. T h u s we find Penn, at every stage of his early negotiations regarding his province, insisting that he was going forward only with God's glory in view, and that he was dependent upon his blessing and favor. Unless one sees in Penn and his plans the effect of his Quaker frame of t h o u g h t — the infusing of practical affairs with divine sanction—one runs the risk of seeing in him at times only an impractical dreamer. In August 1682 the time had come for Penn to leave his wife and three surviving children at Worminghurst in Sussex, a property which G u l i had inherited. T h e family custom was to assemble thrice daily for Bible reading and religious meditation. So it is not astonishing to find a religious note running through the practical recommendations which he leaves at this time for " M y dear W i f e and Children." W e have not said much about Mrs. Penn, for she took little part in her husband's public life. But she has been well portrayed in Maria Webb's Penns and Peningtons and in T h o m a s Ellwood's Life. Ellwood, a young Quaker gentleman of the neighborhood, would fain have sought her hand, and indeed had rare opportunities to win her affections. But he generously says: "She was openly and secretly sought and solicited by many, and some of them almost of every rank and condition." H e describes her as "being in all respects a very desirable woman (whether regard was had to her outward person, which wanted nothing to render her completely comely, or to the endowments of her mind, which were every way extraordinary and highly obliging, or to her outward fortune which was fair)." She treated all her suitors with "so m u c h evenness of temper, such courteous freedom guarded with the strictest modesty," that none could boast of being preferred. If Ellwood had had his way, G u l i would never have been Mrs. Penn, but, as he generously says, it was the future Founder for w h o m she was "reserved." 87 O n e must remember that in 1682 there was an excellent chance of the parting between father and family being final, when one reads Penn's intimate leave-taking: »7 Thomas Ellwood, History of the Life of Thomas Ellwood.

LIFE OF PENN

39 My dear wife! remember thou wast the love of my youth, and much the joy of my life; the most beloved, as well as the most worthy of all my earthly comforts: and the reason of that love was more thy inward than thy outward excellencies, which yet were many. God knows, and thou knowest it, I can say it was a match of Providence's making; and God's image in us both was the first thing, and the most amiable and engaging ornament in our eyes. Now I am to leave thee, and that without knowing whether I shall ever see thee more in this world, take my counsel into thy bosom, and let it dwell with thee in my stead while thou livest.38 After practical injunctions as to Meeting attendance, financial affairs, and ordering of the day, he continues: " L e t me recommend to thy care our dear children. . . . Endeavour to breed them up in the love of virtue, and that holy, plain way of it which we have lived in, that the world in no part of it get into my family." T h e i r education should be aimed to divert them from "the vain arts and inventions of a luxurious world." Let them seek virtue rather than wealth in marriage, the country rather than the city as a residence. This document was of course intended for a possibly long future, when his children would be grown, would marry and have children of their own, and be "likely to be concerned in the government of Pennsylvania and my parts of East Jersey, especially the first." In these advices we find the same infusion of the practical with religious considerations that we have noted before: I do charge you before the Lord God and his holy angels, that you be lowly, diligent and tender, fearing God, loving the people and hating covetousness. Let justice have its impartial course, and the law free passage. . . . Keep upon the square, for God sees you: therefore do your duty, and be sure you see with your own eyes, and hear with your own ears. . . . Let your hearts be upright before the Lord, trusting in him above the contrivances of men, and none shall be able to hurt or supplant. . . . Oh! the Lord is a strange God, and he can do whatsoever he pleases; and though men consider it not, it is the Lord that rules and overrules in the kingdoms of men, and he builds up and pulls down. I, your father, am the man that can say, "He that trusts in the Lord shall not be confounded. But God in due time will make his enemies be at peace with him." T h i s is the ancient Quaker faith, but time has shown that it is not generally held by governments either in Europe or America. T h e little ship Welcome is to Pennsylvanians what the May»8 S. M. Janney, The Life of William Penn, pp. 187-93.

4o

WILLIAM PENN

flower is to the Pilgrim stock of Massachusetts. T o have an ancestor among the passengers of either one has given satisfaction to many descendants. T h e Welcome carried about one hundred passengers, one of whom, Richard Townsend, has left an account of the voyage and early experiences of the settlers: I went on board the ship Welcome in company with my worthy friend, William Penn, whose good conversation was very advantageous to all the company. His singular care was manifested in contributing to the necessities of many, who were sick of the small-pox, then on board; out of which company about thirty died. After a prosperous passage of about two months, having had, in that time, many good meetings, on board, we arrived here.*·

Friends at sea made few demands, and did not expect much comfort. If they arrived safely, they praised the Lord for his care of them. T h e holding of meetings for worship on board ship was their constant practice for upwards of two hundred years. On this voyage they yielded in no respect of doughty courage to the Pilgrim Fathers: that thirty per cent of their number should die and be buried at sea neither interfered with their meetings for worship nor required any extended comment from a survivor. Penn himself here appears, as he must always have been, the life of the company. A man of great energy and activity, kind and helpful to all, he was one of those natural actors who unconsciously occupy the center of any stage. After landing on October 27, 1682, at New Castle, he proceeded by easy stages to the modern Chester and Philadelphia. Penn now becomes more and more a person of worldly importance and authority. It was inevitable that it should be so. In addition to being a Quaker preacher of distinction, he is now a proprietor and governor, with all the rights and privileges of that dignified office. A t New Castle he received "turf and twig and water and soil" as the symbol of ownership from Swedes and Dutch. Historians, like Watson and Proud, have left charming descriptions, in part legendary, of the early days of this Arcadia on the broad Delaware. Both land and water offered a gentler haven and an easier life than had awaited the New England immigrants on their stern and rockbound coast. Fish and game were abundant, the soil was fertile, the forests were rich in timber. Swedish and Dutch settlers had been there for several decades in small numbers, but they quickly »» Proud, Hist, of Penna., I, ss8.

LIFE OF

PENN

4»

became naturalized and accepted Penn as their governor under a new dispensation. Richard Townsend reports: A t our arrival, we found it a wilderness; the chief inhabitants were Indians and some Swedes. T h e y received us in a friendly manner; and though there was a great number of us, the good hand of Providence was seen in a particular manner; in that provisions were found for us, by the Swedes and Indians, at very reasonable rates, as well as brought from divers other parts, that were inhabited before. O u r first concern was to keep up and maintain our religious worship; and, in order thereunto, we had several meetings in the houses of the inhabitants; and one boarded meeting-house was set up, where the city was to be, near Delaware; and as we had nothing but love and good-will, in our hearts, one to another, we had very comfortable meetings, from time to time, and after our meeting was over, we assisted each other, in building little houses for our shelter. 40

T h e reader may think of this as a Quaker equivalent of the Vergilian account of the building of Carthage and of Dido's temple to J u n o . In both cases, there was plenty of work to do and combine with worship: fervei opus. William Penn's two years in Pennsylvania have been described again and again. T h e land had to be bought from the Indians with trinkets which they valued, treaties to be made with them to insure future good relations, Philadelphia to be laid out as a green city between the rivers with four great squares still existing, outlying lands to be sold or leased, manors to be surveyed, Pennsbury, the Governor's residence, to be built, Quaker Meetings to be set u p and attended, a courtesy visit to be paid to New York and more serious interviews about boundaries with Lord Baltimore, roads to be laid out, courts to be set up, and sessions of the Assembly to be attended: these duties must have kept even one of Penn's energy well occupied, as he journeyed about on horseback. Much of the work must have been most congenial to the Governor, free at last to carve out of the wilderness a place of asylum for the victims of persecution. T w o ships had come in before Penn in 1681, but in 1682 twenty-three vessels arrived, carrying probably two thousand passengers. T h e first inhabitants of the three home counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks came from Wales, Yorkshire, London, the north of Ireland; but soon Mennonites and members of kindred German sects began to arrive. T h e prosperity of the province is due in part to the large number of industrious farmers •0 Proud, op. cit., I, SI9.

4*

WILLIAM PENN

and skilled artisans attracted by Penn. T h e newly arrived Pennsylvani ans settled along the Delaware from Wilmington to Trenton, and in the adjacent country as fast as it was cleared. One could have five thousand acres for one hundred pounds, with an additional annual quitrent of one shilling for each one hundred acres. There were large tracts and city lots sold or given by Penn to members of his family, to George Fox, Thomas Ellwood, and other prominent Friends. It was the quitrents which were expected to amount to a sum adequate to reimburse Penn for the heavy expenses to which he had been put in securing and setting up his government. He appears to have been at first so confident of these returns from the land that he generously declined the income from Philadelphia customs which the Assembly offered him during his first visit. Later, in 1700, he wrote in a regretful strain: "Had the law of imposts, given me in '83, been received by me, it had been twenty thousand pounds, and more, money in my way; and which was only by me waived for a few years in our infancy, upon promises never performed to me." 41 For decades the new settlers were dilatory and delinquent in the payment of the quitrents. Thirty years were spent in beseeching his personal representatives to get in the quitrents, as his own fortune in England steadily dwindled. It was not William, but his descendants, who made huge fortunes through the appreciation in land values of the tracts they sold in Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century. For the time being, however, Penn's enthusiasm over his new country could not be suppressed. In July 1683 he wrote to Lord North about his town, the fertility of the soil, the farms that had already been settled, the Indians and the fruits of the earth.42 Furs, tobacco, and flour were the earliest products of Pennsylvania to be exported. In February 1684 (N.S.) he writes to the Earl of Rochester and also to the Marquess of Halifax, soliciting their interest against the pretensions of Lord Baltimore to the west shore of Delaware Bay, pointing out that the latter has never possessed it, nor claimed it from either the Dutch or the Swedes, nor has he any need of it now, since he has all the Chesapeake Bay waters for an approach to Maryland. 48 T o Halifax he confides his oft-quoted satisfaction: "I have lead the greatest colony into America, that ever any man 41 Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., IX, 48. «/fci'd., Vol. IX, pp. 411-13. *» Ibid., Vol. I, Pt. II, p. 420. Also extant are letters on the subject to thç Duke of York and the Earl of Sunderland. Ibid., Vol. IV, Pt. I, pp. 178-86.

LIFE OF PENN

43

did upon a private credit, and the most prosperous beginnings that ever were in it, are to be found among us." If, however, any claim of Baltimore should deprive Penn of his sea approach to Philadelphia, "my voyage will be a ruinous one to me and my partners, which God defend." 44 In 1683 he even addresses King Charles I I himself as "Great and Gracious Prince," thanking him for all his royal favors, 45 and also his old friend, Robert Spencer, now the Earl of Sunderland and one of the chief personages at Court. T o the latter, while praising the fruits of the earth, the fish and oysters of the sea, and the venison and wild turkey from the woods, he predicts "that by the help of God and such noble friends, I will show a province in seven years equal to her neighbours of forty years planting." 46 In the early history of all the European settlements in America, the practical search for prosperity was combined with the desire to bring the truths of Christianity to the native populations. In some of the Protestant colonies there was also, of course, the intention to found ideal commonwealths. Unfortunately, in many of them bigotry soon resulted in intolerance to their fellow whites and in cruelty to their red neighbors. In Pennsylvania, the concern for righteousness seems at first to have held its own against more selfish interests. We shall see with increasing clearness that righteousness was Penn's cornerstone, and this ideal was shared by many of his associates. "Our business in this new land," wrote one of them, "is not so much to build houses and establish factories, and promote trade and manufactories that may enrich ourselves, (though all these things, in their due place, are not to be neglected), as to erect temples of holiness and righteousness, which God may delight in." 47 Among the most important obligations, as has been said, of the European nations was to win the natives to Christianity—a task in which little success was ever attained. T h e first step, in Penn's mind, was to establish cordial relations with the Indians of his woods. T h i s intention was not peculiar to Penn, but to the religious Society to which he belonged. T h e Quakers hold that all men are brothers, sons of the same Father, and illumined in varying **Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., Vol. I, Pt. II, p. 4 2 1 . Ibid., Vol. II, Pt. I, p. 2 4 1 . *« Ibid., Vol. II. Pt. I, p. 245. Quoted by Proud, op. cit., I, 226-27, from The Planter's Neighbours, Shoreditch, 1684.

Speech

to his

44

WILLIAM PENN

degrees by the same Inward Light of which we shall hear much in the next chapter. Before he left £ngland, Penn therefore thus addressed his Indians by the hand of his Deputy, his cousin Markham: T h e r e is a great G o d , and Power, which hath made the world and all things therein, to whom you, and I, and all people owe their being and well-being, and to whom you and 1 must one day give an account, for all that we have done in the world. T h i s great G o d hath written his law in our hearts, by which we are taught and commanded to love, and to help, and to do good to one another. N o w this great G o d hath been pleased to make me concerned in your part of the world; and the King of the country where I live hath given me a great province therein: but I desire to enjoy it with your love and consent, that we may always live together as neighbours and friends; else what would the great G o d d o to us, who hath made us (not to devour and destroy one another, but) to live soberly and kindly together in the world? 48

T h e n he says he is going to treat them justly and not as other colonists have previously treated them and debauched them. This may seem to be a rather hypocritical approach, in view of his plans of occupation. But he entertained a more flattering opinion of the "noble savage" than did the Dutch Domine in New York, who wrote in 1628 that the natives were "entirely savage and wild, strangers to all decency . . . uncivil and stupid as garden-poles, proficient in all wickedness and godlessness." 49 Penn was later greatly impressed by the good nature and hospitality of the Pennsylvania Indians. He visited them, received them at his own home, attended their games and "canticoes," and learned a little of their language. He was inclined to think they were part of the lost tribes of Israel, because of some of their customs, and because he saw among them faces that reminded him of London Jews. T h e whole story of Penn's personal relations with the Indians, who called him Onas or Miquon, is creditable. It was not until his sons forsook Quakerism and with it his regard for the Indian treaties, that we hear of the iniquitous Walking Purchase and of the consequent resentment felt by the Indians which expressed itself during the French and Indian War. None of the Indian tribes which inhabited the territory of Pennsylvania became christianized in Penn's lifetime, but they lived more peaceably with his colonists than did some white Christians. They appreciated his desire to protect them 48 Quoted by Clarkson, Memoirs of the Life of William Penn, I, 290-91. Quoted by W. W. Sweet, Religion in Colonial America, p. 196.

LIFE OF

PENN

45

from the ravages of liquor and from the designs of unscrupulous men who would exploit them. They also realized that expatriation formed no part of Penn's policy, and that the Indians were intended to enjoy equal liberty with the Europeans in the choice of settlements. 50 We must suppose that when Penn left Philadelphia the little town was well started on its career and that Penn looked upon his work and saw that it was good. For nearly two years he had been happy and successful as a pioneer. His colonists, both Quakers and others, were still devoted to their benevolent and generous Founder. Only the vexed question of the southern boundary was a fly in the ointment. Learning that Lord Baltimore had already sailed for England to support his claims, Penn felt obliged to return also, in order to look after the interests of his province. After empowering a Provincial Council under the presidency of Thomas Lloyd to govern in his stead, he sent from the ship on which he took passage a touching farewell to the members of his own Society. After recommending to them a "godly conversation" and an exemplary Christian life, he addressed the citizens of Philadelphia in terms which are among his most familiar words. His frankly emotional nature seems especially favored in such tender farewells: A n d thou, Philadelphia, the virgin settlement of this province, named before thou wert born, what love, what care, what service, and what travail has there been, to bring thee forth, and preserve thee from such as would abuse and defile thee! Oh, that thou mayst be kept from the evil, that would overwhelm thee; that, faithful to the G o d of thy mercies, in the life of righteousness, thou mayst be preserved to the end. M y soul prays to G o d for thee, that thou mayst stand in the day of trial, that thy children may be blessed of the Lord, and thy people saved by his power. M y love to thee has been great, and the remembrance of thee affects mine heart and mine eye! T h e G o d of eternal strength keep and preserve thee, to his glory and thy peace. 5 1

After greeting his family in Sussex upon his arrival in England, Penn proceeded at once to interview Charles I I and the Duke of York. As Governor of Pennsylvania, he was now an important figure in national life and had an entrée to the Court. Biographers have almost without exception referred to him for the ensuing five years as a "courtier." If the word means to the reader that he was so Cf. James Bowden, The History of the Society of Friends in America, II, 72. oi Quoted by Janney, The Life of William Penn, p. 260.

46

WILLIAM PENN

a man familiar at Court, the term is correctly used. But if it connotes the popular idea of a parasite, a hanger-on, who seeks his own fortune by fawning upon those in power, it were well to use in its place the word "solicitor." It was upon other people's business that he saw the royal personages, as he now threw himself into the conflict in behalf of religious toleration. Both by personal influence at Court and by a series of pamphlets, he proceeded to show the advantages which religious toleration would bring to the nation. Charles II died in 1685, and was succeeded by the Duke of York as James II. This was the prince, of all others, who was inclined to listen to William Penn, and who for the four years of his disturbed reign is thought to have listened more willingly to Penn than to any others of his would-be advisers. As the arguments for toleration advanced by Penn will later appear in detail, we need only outline here the situation of political parties during these years. T h e Anglican Church was in the saddle in Parliament. It was pressing home its advantage by persecuting Protestant Dissenters in general, and also the Catholics. T h e latter were few numerically, but they were favored by James, himself a declared Catholic. Persecution was rife, and was seriously affecting the unity and security of the realm. As Penn will repeatedly assert, political unity is more important to a nation than religious conformity. T h e essential step to take is to cease persecution, in order that all the Protestant forces combined in political unity may offset the dangers of Catholic influence and infiltration in government. That was Penn's thesis. James also was against persecution, but for a different reason: he wished to protect his fellow Catholics, and in doing so, he necessarily favored religious toleration in general, as did Penn. T h u s these two men were brought together in a common desire to secure toleration for their coreligionists. Penn's constant presence at Court was due to his desire to free certain imprisoned individuals of his own and of other religious groups by solicitation, and also to influence public opinion through the education of individuals in thé advantages of toleration. As his first biographer, Besse, states, "that he might be the nearer on all occasions for the service of them [i. e., those in prison] and his country, he took lodgings in 1685 near Kensington." 52 There was good reason for his activity. He estimated in 1687: "There has been ruined since the late King's restoration [1660], B2 Penn, Works, I, U5.

LIFE OF PENN

47

above fifteen thousand families, and more than five thousand persons dead under bonds for matters of mere conscience to G o d . " M T h e numbers for twenty-five years, doubtless including all sufferers from religious persecution, may not seem so great until we remember that the loss was not in war, or from plague, but from deliberate legislation of Parliament in a field of human interest where we now recognize the right to individual liberty. T h e Penal Laws must eventually be abrogated. A Declaration of Indulgence by James II in 1687 was felt by Penn and the Quakers to be a great deliverance. T h e y thanked him formally for the Declaration. It was actually a jail delivery by royal pardon for many w h o had been confined for twelve to fifteen years. Penn knew, and the nation knew, however, that James was exceeding his powers in granting this wholesale pardon. T h e r e would be no permanent relief until Parliament repealed the hated laws against conventicles, or unlicensed assemblies for worship, and which outlawed those who refused to take the oath of allegiance and supremacy. T h e Conventicle Act hit everyone except the Anglicans; the requirement of the oath of allegiance, when tendered, hit chiefly the Quakers and Catholics. During James's short reign, Penn was tireless. H e secured a pardon for John Locke in exile, but the philosopher would not accept it because to do so would imply that he had been guilty. Other exiles in Holland were allowed to return to England, as one result of Penn's visit to William of Orange at the behest of James II. Penn was unsuccessful in engaging William's approval of abolishing the Test Acts, which James favored doing, but he did learn of William's disapproval of religious persecution. James underestimated the strength of the Anglican party in Parliament, and, as already stated, attempted to pass over its head by his Declaration of Indulgence of 1687. T h e popularity of James, never very great, was progressively threatened soon after his succession by the cruelties attendant upon the suppression of the Monmouth Rebellion, by his continued opposition to Parliament, by his interference in the appointment of a President of Magdalen College, Oxford, by the birth of a son, and by his imprisonment of the seven Anglican bishops, who refused to direct their clergy to read a renewed Declaration of Indulgence in their churches in 1688. T h e King's policy of thwarting the Parliament was fatal to his power, and he fled the country in 1688, together with some of his followers. m Good

Advice

to the Church

of England

(1687).

WILLIAM PENN

48

During the growing unpopularity of James, Penn was close beside him, obtaining many favors for his clients, and advising him in accordance with his sense of right. T h e result was that he was considered, by many, a Catholic himself, a Jesuit in disguise. Wornout stories appeared again, in spite of over twenty years of public excoriation of the principles of Catholicism. There seemed to be no other explanation of the Quaker's presence by James's side. Father Petre, the King's Jesuit confessor, was whispering contrary advice in the other royal ear, but to the public they looked to be all on the same team of three. Hostile modern critics have pounced upon this part of Penn's life as the weak spot in his armor. How could an honest man, they ask, professing Quaker principles, associate and cooperate with such an infamous hypocrite as they would make James out to be? But in the public eye, to be seen intimate with James was enough to condemn many a man. Even Penn's reputation has not been able to emerge from this company unscathed. T h e only valid explanations of Penn's intimacy are two in number, and they are both intelligible. First, he saw in James a fellow laborer in the cause of religious liberty and in the abolition of hated laws, while he minimized the danger of control by the small Catholic party. Second, the strange, but genuine friendship to which James had remained loyal for a score of years. T h e charge of being a Catholic himself was not hard to dispose of, and he did it nobly in 1688 in a letter to his friend Sir William Popple: 64 that story was scotched. But his long-standing friendship with James he never denied, nor the obligation he felt to him in connection with Pennsylvania and with the release of Friends from prison. There is no doubt that the intimate connection of Penn with James II resulted in criticism of the Quaker, not only in the political world, but even within his own religious Society. Some felt that no Quaker should associate himself with affairs of state involving necessarily temptations of an unethical character. George Whitehead, William Mead, Thomas Lowther, and Stephen Crisp were of this number. Penn never felt that he had done anything which could not meet the most rigorous ethical demands, and a few years later wrote in a general epistle to his coreligionists: I acknowledge I was an instrument to break the jaws of persecution, and to that end, I did take the freedom to remember King James of his frequent assurances in favour of liberty of conscience, and with much zeal used my small interest with him, to gain that point upon his ministers, m Penn, Works, I, 154-39.

LIFE OF PENN

49

that he told me were against it; that so the doors of our prisons and meeting-houses, until that time cruelly shut against us, might be opened, and the poor, and the widow, and the orphan might come forth, and praise God in the use of a just freedom. T h i s and personal good offices were my daily business at Whitehall, of which I can take the righteous G o d of heaven and earth to witness. N o r can I yet see that providence of liberty and peace, which we enjoyed under him, was such a trick or snare, as some have represented it—harm is to them that harm think. W e sought but our just and Christian privilege, and I heartily wish that they that thought so, may do better, and answer that great expectation that has been raised in the people's minds about it.® 5

Here he plainly states what his unique purpose was, and calls upon anyone else who can, to do better. For a while there was an antiPenn party in the Society of Friends. But during his last years the Founder was recognized by all as a consistent Quaker and the most outstanding member of the Society. In an eloquent letter to his friend Sir William Popple in the trying year 1688, Pcnn expressed some of his noblest and most Quakerly sentiments. A few sentences will cleanse our minds of the disturbing accusations to which we have just referred. He says, doubtless thinking of his own trials: M e n may be angry for God's sake, and kill people too. Christ said it, and too many have practised it. But what sort of Christians must they be, I pray, that can hate in his name, who bids us love; and kill for his sake, that forbids killing, and commands love, even to enemies? . . . O, that w e could see some men as eager to turn people to God, as they are to blow them up, and set them one against another. . . . T h e disease of this kingdom is sin, impiety against G o d , and want of charity to men. 5 8

During James's reign, Penn had been skating on what was, for a Quaker, thin ice. It is not strange that his reputation suffered. T o his Friends he was mingling too much with the world, even if his doing so resulted in great advantages to their religious freedom; to the dominant but jittery Anglican element, he was a confirmed hypocrite and a traitor to the Protestant cause. If ever a man had his hands full, it was Penn during the ten years after his return from America: he had his routine duties as a leading Quaker preacher; he had his constant solicitation for justice and mercy at Court; he had his powerful political enemies, who stopped at nothing to discredit him; he had to defend his integrity even against old es Quoted in Hull, William Penn: a Topical Biography, p. 275. «« Penn, Works, I, 138.

WILLIAM PENN 50 friends who had come to suspect him; and all the time he had troubles and complaints in Pennsylvania relayed to him by every post. His province needed him badly: his personal expenses for government were most inadequately met by any financial returns from his property there; the Church party was growing, and complaining of piracy in Delaware Bay and of inadequate military protection; the Assembly was demanding ever larger privileges at the expense of the Governor's authority; George Keith, his former friend and companion, had turned against the Friends, and was setting up a society which he called Christian Quakers; a series of incompetent and unpopular deputy governors aroused much hostility in the province; the boundary dispute with Lord Baltimore dragged on in London; and finally, and most serious of all his troubles. King William's war with the French threatened the whole peaceful continuance of Penn's Holy Experiment. In some of these suggested difficulties, there was quite enough ground for Penn's enemies both in Pennsylvania and in England to urge King William to take over the government of Penn's province. This was done. But the action did not affect Penn's ownership of the land, which was his by charter. In October 1692 the King appointed Governor Fletcher of New York to act as governor also of Pennsylvania, including the three lower counties now forming the State of Delaware. With Captain Markham, Penn's cousin, acting as Fletcher's deputy governor, this arrangement lasted about two years. The actual effect in Pennsylvania was not so great, but it must have been a severe trial to Penn, as one excuse for depriving him of his government was the incompetence of his representatives and the resulting dissatisfaction of the colonists. The outbreak of the war with France in i6g2 was the deciding factor in this unhappy situation. The home Government felt that the only safety for Pennsylvania lay in its defense being taken over by agents who did not scruple at military measures. The demand of a tax for this purpose was answered by the Quaker Assembly in 1693 with a grant of a penny in the pound tax, not for war purposes, but in accordance with Friends' scruples, for relief of those Indians who were allies of the British. In 1694, when the government of his province was restored to him, Penn is reported to have assured Queen Mary's government (King William then campaigning in Ireland) that he would transmit her orders "for supplying a quota of men or defraying the share of the expense their Majesties should think necessary for the safety of the dominions in

LIFE OF PENN 57

51

America." This engagement, a patent compromise with strict Quaker principles, is recorded nowhere except in the papers of the Committee for Trade and Plantations. It may be a favorable interpretation of Penn's engagement, but he must have said something significant, in order to allay the official concern, and thus recover the government of his province. He must have known how unlikely it was that any financial subsidy for war purposes would be granted by a Quaker Assembly. If he engaged himself as reported, he chose the lesser of two evils. Between 1688 and 1690 Penn was three times summoned before the Lords of the Council to explain his favor with James, and his alleged correspondence with him since the King's flight to France. He admitted, on the first summons, that "King James had always been his friend, and his father's friend; and that in gratitude he himself was the King's, and did ever, as much as in him lay, influence him to his true interest." 88 Nothing being proved against him on any of these occasions, he was free to come and go about his affairs. In 1691, however, he narrowly missed actual arrest at the funeral of George Fox in London, upon which occasion he had an important part. This arrest, it was subsequently shown, was ordered upon evidence furnished by Fuller, a notorious informer, who later met his deserved reward. But for the time being, Penn disappeared from public view for about two years. He saw no profit in exposing himself to arrest on the word of a rascal. This period is variously referred to by his biographers as one of "flight," "hiding," or "retirement." He was in or near London most of the time, and his whereabouts must have been known to many people. It is inconceivable that the Government was unable to find such a well-known man for two years. In reality there was nothing against him, and King William, not wishing him any ill, was satisfied to have him keep out of the way. We shall see later how such an active mind as Penn's was kept busy during this period of voluntary obscurity. At last, knowing himself to be innocent, and being anxious to return to Pennsylvania, he employed his noble friends in an effort to effect a complete reconciliation with King William. T h e Lords Rochester, Ranelagh, and Sidney are reported by Penn to have interceded for him,5® and the King finally said, as recorded by Penn in a letter to his friends in β' See H. M. Jenkins, Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal, I, 387. »8 Quoted in Clarkson, op. cit., II, 38-39. β» Proud, op. cit., I, 401-2.

W I L L I A M PENN

5»

A m e r i c a : " T h a t I was his old acquaintance, as well as theirs; and that I might follow my business as freely as ever; and that he had n o t h i n g to say to me." In the same letter he says that after his release from further apprehension, I went to our meeting at the Bull and Mouth; thence to visit the sanctuary of my solitude; and after that, to see my poor wife and children, my eldest being with me all this while. My wife is yet weakly; but I am not without hopes of her recovery, who is of the best of wives and women. From all this you may apprehend that I may yet see America, and shall certainly judge things, as I find them; for I have had hard measure among you; the province disgraced and all our interest wounded: though I am tender and merciful, I am just; and neither my relations in blood, nor in judgment, I hope, shall be able to bias me into a wrong sense or apprehension: and I hope once more to unite you upon a common bottom. Despite his desires to be in America, six years were to elapse before he was able to leave his obligations in England. H e actually d i d not have the ready money necessary to move his family to America. H e was reduced to the humiliation of asking in a circular letter that one hundred of his friends in Pennsylvania put u p one h u n d r e d pounds each, u p o n his bond to repay the sum to each in four years. 80 T h e purse was never made up, and Penn stayed in England. Meanwhile, much happened in his private life. His wife Gulielma died in February 1694. She and W i l l i a m Penn, both of the same age, had enjoyed over twenty years of married life. T h e r e is reason to believe that they were singularly congenial and mutually h e l p f u l . T h o m a s Ellwood's testimony to Guli's youthful charms, we have already seen. W h e n she had died in Penn's arms after ten months of lingering disease, he wrote in the restrained Q u a k e r m a n n e r of the time: I hope I may say, she was a public as well as private loss; for she was not only an excellent wife and mother, but an entire and constant friend, of a more than common capacity, and greater modesty and humility; yet most equal and undaunted in danger. Religious as well as ingenuous, without affectation. An easy mistress, and good neighbour, especially to the poor. Neither lavish, nor penurious, but an example of industry, as well as of other virtues: Therefore our great loss, though her own eternal gain. 61 eo Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., Vol. IV, Pt. I, p. 202.

βι Penn, Works, I, 232.

LIFE OF PENN

53 He married Hannah Callowhill, daughter of an affluent Quaker merchant of Bristol, in March 1696; his eldest and favorite son Springett died of consumption two weeks later. William Penn was fifty-one and his second wife thirty-two when he married her. She was the mother of all the Penns who inherited in Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century, and who reaped the profits of the Founder's investment. In 1694 Penn published one of the best early histories of the Quakers, intended to be prefixed to the Journal of George Fox, but published separately with the title The Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers. Beside his Quaker polemics and constant preaching, he also now published the account of his travels in Holland in 1677, to which reference has already been made; he talked with Tsar Peter the Great, then an apprentice in England, about Quakerism; he visited Ireland after an absence of nearly thirty years, combining business with visitation of Meetings and religious discussions; he continued his efforts to secure the legal substitution of an affìrmaiion for an oath in the ease of the Quakers. Though the persecution of the Commonwealth and of the Stuart reigns had been ended by the Toleration Act of King William in 1689, hostility of other churches to the Quakers had by no means died out. Fines and distraint of property for tithes continued for decades in both England and Ireland. Before leaving for America in 1699 with his wife and daughter Letitia, Penn had composed Fruits of a Father's Love, not made public until 1726. Graham in comment remarks: "Some of the advice, I cannot but think, he gave because he had done the opposite himself." 02 T h a t may well be. It seems certain that neither his children nor his grandchildren, for whom it was intended, paid any attention to it. Others, however, have profited by reading these interesting advices, in which spiritual truth is woven through worldly wisdom. After reaching the age of fifty, Penn had had time to reduce his enthusiasm and idealism to something of an ethical system based on the realities of his own experience. When Penn sailed on September 9, 1699, he was accompanied by James Logan, a brilliant young Quaker scholar of a Scottish family, who was to be for the rest of Penn's life his trusted friend and adviser, and whose descendants played an important part in eighteenth-century Philadelphia. T h e following two years of the Proprietor's stay in Pennsylvania were doubtless among the h a p 02

op. cit., p. 250.

54

WILLIAM PENN

piest of his life. When he was present there in person, and not represented by deputy, troubles seemed to straighten themselves out. He was humble as a man, but he believed in requiring proper recognition of his office. He did things in a grand way. The manor at Pennsbury on the Delaware below Trenton had been prepared as his mansion, according to his detailed specifications. It was a fine residence, suitably equipped for entertaining. He himself estimated his family expenses in America at one thousand pounds per annum.®· His household then included his "wife, child, nurse, three maids, and three or four men." Though long since destroyed, Pennsbury has recently been reconstructed by the state upon its original lines, so that the visitor is now able to visualize the scale on which the Governor lived. T h e letters which passed between the Penns at Pennsbury and young Logan in Philadelphia give the best idea of the family life at the country place. William or Hannah is constantly sending Logan commissions to buy and send candles, silver, meat, wine, beer, rum, chocolate, coffee, lime, and lumber. Roads being poor, passengers or freight were forwarded to Pennsbury by the Governor's barge direct, or by public boat to Burlington and brought on from there to Pennsbury. Now that the manor house has been rebuilt, it is possible to imagine Penn, his wife, his daughter "Tishe" and the new baby, little John born in Philadelphia, established there. With the Governor's "grace and air," to which Isaac Norris refers,·* we can see him superintending the development of the estate along the river's bank, and the new gardens; riding on horseback to near-by Meetings; being carried in his barge by rowers to Philadelphia; or receiving delegations of his Indian friends with generous hospitality. These are the scenes upon which Pennsylvania historians have loved to dwell, because they are intelligible to us and serve to make our Founder more sensibly ours. For a sight of Penn with the Indians, we may follow John Richardson, an English traveling minister, who has left one of the rare accounts of an eyewitness of life at Pennsbury. After attending a meeting for worship at North Wales, "where there was a fine tender people, but few understanding English, Rowland Ellis was my interpreter," his next stop was as a house-guest of the Penns, . . . where I staid two or three days, on one of which I was at a meeting and a marriage, and much of the other part of the time I spent in seeing es Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., X, 105. «« Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., IX, 40.

LIFE OF

PENN

55

(to my satisfaction) W i l l i a m P e n n a n d many of the I n d i a n s (not the least of them) in c o u n c i l a n d consultation c o n c e r n i n g their f o r m e r covenants, n o w again revived u p o n W i l l i a m Penn's g o i n g away f o r E n g l a n d ; all w h i c h was d o n e in m u c h calmness of temper, a n d in an amicable way. T o pass by several particulars, I may m e n t i o n the f o l l o w i n g : o n e was, they never first broke c o v e n a n t with any p e o p l e ; for, as o n e of t h e m said, a n d smote his h a n d u p o n his head three times, that they did n o t m a k e them there in their heads, b u t smiting his hands three times o n his heart, said, they m a d e them (i.e. their covenants) there in their hearts. A n d again, w h e n W i l l i a m P e n n a n d they h a d a t t e n d e d the most w e i g h t y parts f o r w h i c h they held their council, W i l l i a m P e n n gave them matchcoats a n d some o t h e r things, with some b r a n d y or rum, or both; w h i c h was advised by the speaker for the Indians, to be p u t i n t o the hands of o n e of their cossacks or kings, for he k n e w the best h o w to order them; w h i c h b e i n g d o n e , the said k i n g used no compliments, neither d i d the people, n o r the rest of their kings; but as the aforesaid k i n g p o u r e d o u t his drams, h e o n l y made a m o t i o n with his finger, or sometimes with his eye, to the person he i n t e n d e d to give the dram to; so they came q u i e t l y and in a solid m a n n e r , and took their drams, and passed away w i t h o u t either nod or bow, any f u r t h e r than necessity required them to stoop, w h o were o n their feet, to h i m w h o sat o n the g r o u n d , or floor, as their choice a n d m a n n e r is; a n d withal I observed (and also heard the like by others) that they did not, nor I suppose never d o speak, two at a time, n o r i n t e r f e r e in the least one with a n o t h e r that way in all their councils, as has been observed. T h e i r e a t i n g and d r i n k i n g was in m u c h stillness a n d quietness.

After finishing their council, . . . they w e n t o u t of the house into an o p e n place not far from it, to p e r f o r m their " c a n t i c o " or worship, w h i c h was d o n e thus: first, they m a d e a small fire, and the m e n w i t h o u t the w o m e n sat d o w n a b o u t it in a r i n g , a n d w h a t s o e v e r object they severally fixed their eyes on, I d i d n o t see them m o v e them in all that part of their worship, w h i l e they sang a very m e l o d i o u s h y m n , w h i c h affected a n d tendered the hearts of m a n y w h o were spectators: w h e n they had thus d o n e , they began (as I suppose is their usual m a n n e r ) to beat u p o n the g r o u n d with little sticks, or m a k e some m o t i o n w i t h something in their hands, a n d pause a little, till o n e of the elder sort sets forth his h y m n ; and that b e i n g f o l l o w e d by the comp a n y for a f e w minutes, and then a pause; and then the like was d o n e b y a n o t h e r , a n d so b y a third, and followed by the c o m p a n y , as at the first; w h i c h seemed e x c e e d i n g l y to affect them a n d others. H a v i n g done, they rose u p a n d d a n c e d a little a b o u t the fire, a n d parted w i t h some s h o u t i n g l i k e a t r i u m p h o r rejoicing. 6 5 es An Account of the Life of John Richardson, pp. 133-38.

56

WILLIAM PENN

As in England, so in Pennsylvania, Penn showed several facets of a single personality. He was incessant in his attendance at meetings of his Society for worship and business, and in this connection he assumed no authority. He also presided over the sessions of the Assembly, and directed the course of legislation as best he could. Finally, he was the principal personage in the province, living on a generous scale, and denying himself nothing legitimate of the comforts of life. Isaac Norris seems to voice the affection in .which the Penns were held by the members of their own religious Society, when he wrote in 1701, just before the Penns returned to England: O u r communion in the church sweetens all, and o u r inward waitings and worships together have often been a general comfort and consolation; and in this I take a degree of satisfaction, after all, that we part in love; and some of his last words, in our meeting yesterday, were "that he looked over all infinnities and outwards, and had an eye to the regions of spirits, wherein was our surest tie;" and, in true love, there he took his leave of us. H i s excellent w i f e — a n d she is beloved by all, I believe I may say in its full extent; so is her leaving us heavy, and of real sorrow to her friends—she has carried under and through all with a wonderful evenness, humility, and freedom; her sweetness and goodness have become her character, and are, I believe, extraordinary. In short, we love her, and she deserves it. ee

The trend in legislation, and the granting of the third charter of 1701, will claim our attention in a later chapter. It is true that financial matters were not satisfactory, and that the desire of the lower countries, or "territories" as they were called, to be separated from the counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks was a source of irritation. But the cause of Penn's return to England in 1701 was none of these things. It was the war with France concerning the Spanish Succession which broke out in 1701 and continued until the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Because of the disruption of foreign trade by French privateers, much of the following period was marked by financial depression in Pennsylvania. Moreover, the position of an outlying possession like Pennsylvania might easily become hazardous, given the reluctance of the Assembly of the province to vote taxation for military defense. Hearing of a proposal that the Crown should again take over the government for this reason, the Governor hastened home to England with his wife and daughter in 1701. His last act before leaving Philadelphia was •β Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., IX, 58.

L I F E OF PENN

57

to approve a new charter, revised in accordance with popular demands, under which the province lived until the American Revolution. Under this charter Philadelphia was incorporated as a city and given two members of the Assembly. Edward Shippen was the first mayor. While Penn is at sea, let us look at the letter containing last minute instructions to Logan. It mentions what he remembered that he had forgotten to say. While the ship Dolmahoy was sailing down Delaware Bay, this is what Logan read: I have left thee in an uncommon trust, with a singular dependence on thy justice and care, which I expect thou wilt faithfully employ in advancing my honest interest. Use thy utmost endeavors, in the first place, to receive all that is due me. Get in quit-rents; sell lands according to my instructions to my commissioners; look carefully after all fines, forfeitures, escheats, deodands, and strays, that shall belong to me as proprietor or chief governor. Get in the taxes and Friends' subscriptions, and use thy utmost diligence in making remittances to me, with all my effects, by bills of exchange, tobacco or other merchandise, or by any means that in the best of judgment, or the advice of my friends skilled in those affairs, may be my advantage, not only directly to London, but by the West Indies, or by any other prudent method whatsoever; but take advice especially of Edward Shippen and Samuel Carpenter, and others best experienced in trade. Thou may continue in the house I lived in till the year is up. Pay off all my notes and orders on thee, settle my accounts, discharge all my debts honorably but carefully, make rent-rolls, draw up an estimate of my estate, and of what may be raised from it, which send over to me as speedily as possible, for it may be of great use to me; and in all other things show thyself a careful and diligent agent, to justify my trust of thee for so great a trust. Get my two mills finished, and make the most of these for my profit, but let not John Marsh put me to any great expense. Cause all the province and territories to be resurveyed in the most frugal manner, with the assistance of my brother-in-law, Edward Penington, within the two years limited by the law, if possible, though that law ought not to be a bar upon me against doing it at any other time. Carry very fair with my said brother-in-law, and prevail with him to be as easy as possible in that great work. I have spoken to him about it. Thou must make good to Col. Hamilton, my deputy governor, two hundreds pounds per annum of your money, till such time as I procure an approbation for him, and afterwards three hundred pounds. Also to John Moore, as attorney-general, thirty pounds a year, so long as he

58

WILLIAM PENN

shall serve me faithfully; but he is much in Quary's interest. When my cousin Parmyter comes, he must have forty pounds, but I hope the assembly will take these charges off my hands. Pray use all your endeavors to obtain it. Judge Guest expects one hundred a year from me. I would give him fifty. Make him as useful and easy as you can: I hope Col. Hamilton, to whom I have recommended him, will prevail on him. Let not my cousin Durant want, but be sparing to her. Write to me diligently, advising me of everything relating to my interest, and send me affidavits about Quary, Jno. Corsoe, etc. Send all the household goods up to Pennsbury, unless thou inclines to keep sufficient furniture for a chamber to thyself, for which thou hast my leave: take care that nothing be damnified or lost. Give my dear love to all my friends, who I desire may labor to soften angry spirits, and to reduce them to a sense of their duty; and at thy return give a small treat in my name to the gentlemen at Philadelphia, for a beginning to a better understanding, for which I pray the Lord to incline their hearts for their own ease, as well as mine and my friends. For thy own services I shall allow thee what is just and reasonable, either by commission or a salary. But my dependence is on thy care and honesty. Serve me faithfully as thou expects a blessing from God or my favor, and I shall support thee to my utmost, as Thy true friend, Will. Penn. At the foot of these instructions are these memoranda: Remember S. Weaver's affidavit, R. Stockton's money, S. Jenning's account, Geo. Decon's, Jos. Carpenter, C. Read, etc., affidavit, R. Halliwell and his land, Newcastle Welsh settlement, J . Sotcher and Pennsbury, Blackwell's papers.· 7 For ten years Logan received letters of this tenor. N o wonder he often felt that his hands were full. T h e whole correspondence between the Governor and his Secretary during the years 1 7 0 1 - 1 2 is a revelation of Penn—not as a great Quaker nor as an honored Founder, but as a very harassed and disappointed man. During these years the waters of debt were rising over his head, and troubles were threatening him whichever way he looked. One gets the impression that his mind was overcrowded with details which presented themselves to him in tumultuous fashion. His knowledge and memory of individuals, their character, the surveys and acreage of their landholdings, their debts and rents, the sailings and cargoes of ships in which he had a share, bills of exchange and prices current in different markets—all this fills the reader with wonder. His human irritation and disgust with delinquent and «7 Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., IX, 59-61.

LIFE OF PENN

59

disloyal men is only too evident. His language, as well as that of Logan, when they wrote confidentially to each other, is by no means that of a Quaker saint. Tenacious of his rights and very keen on getting what he felt was his due, he could nevertheless pass quickly, like other emotional men who act on impulse, to deeds of generosity and forgiveness. He reveals himself in this correspondence as a man of moods and tensions. H e leaned heavily upon his trusted counselors in Philadelphia and frequently sent them his loving greetings: Shippen, Carpenter, Pusey, Owen, Norris, Story, and Logan himself were in this category; but the mere mention of Quarry, Moore, and David Lloyd, after he finally made up his judgment of their character, seldom failed to draw his ire. It seems evident that it was only his Quaker habit of daily retirement from the world that kept him from indulging more openly his human passions, and enabled him to regain possession of his better self. Back in England Penn found that it was an expensive business to plead his cause before the Board of T r a d e and Plantations, and prevent another transfer of his government to the Crown. A few months after his return, he wrote to Logan: Never had poor man my task—neither men nor money to assist me. I therefore strictly charge thee that thou represent it to Friends there that I am distressed for want of supply; that I am forccd to borrow money, a n d add debt to debt instead of paying them off; besides my uncomfortable distance f r o m my family and the unspeakable fatigue and vexation that follow my attendances, draughts of answers, conferences, counsels' opinions, hearings, etc., with the charge that follows them. Guineas melting four, five, six a week, and sometimes as many in a day.® 8

Penn succeeded in preventing another forced transfer, but in doing so he had to oppose the desires and plots of the Church party both in England and America. T h e two provinces of New Jersey surrendered their government to the Crown in 1702, but Penn held on. Meanwhile, until 1 7 1 0 the political parties in Pennsylvania were more and more at loggerheads. David Lloyd, an able but factious Welsh Quaker, led the anti-Proprietary party in the Assembly. T h e demands of the Assembly for more control produced a situation very distressing to the absent Proprietor. He was ready to sell his government to the Crown, though not to have it taken away from him, in order to rid himself of further strife, and to ββ Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., IX, 1 1 1 - 1 2 .

6o

WILLIAM PENN

reimburse himself in part for his heavy expenses of government. The opposition to the Quaker Governor in absentia was due to several causes: the non-Quaker element in the population, led by Colonel Quarry, the Anglican Surveyor-General of Customs and Judge of the Admiralty, insisted that testimony in court should be given under oath, whereas the Quakers would not swear, and the Quaker judges would not even administer oaths to others; the provisions for military defense, which the Church party demanded, were refused on religious grounds by the Quaker Assembly; for their part, the Quakers reported that Philadelphia was becoming an immoral city under the influence of the Deputy Governor and the non-Quakers; moreover, the Assembly was consistently slow to assume the costs of government; and finally, the quitrents on which Penn depended were not paid. "Get in quitrents" runs like a theme throughout his correspondence with Logan. It was enough to discourage any man who had started out with such hopes of founding a Utopia. Deputy Governor Evans was a notorious failure, and was the subject of painful representations made in London by David Lloyd and the Assembly party. Of course all this reflected upon William Penn and his reputation among Friends. We have, thus, the incongruous situation of Penn being represented in Pennsylvania by non-Quaker deputies who did not share his religious principles; whereas his own coreligionists were seeking more power in the Assembly, and were accusing the deputies of gross incompetence. The Proprietor was falling between two stools. The whole trouble was, as Isaac Norris wrote to Penn in 1710, "we are a mixed people, who all claim a right to use their own way." 89 Thinking that his only surviving son by his first marriage, William Junior, might be redeemed from the unedifying life he was leading in England, Penn sent him during Evans' administration to Pennsylvania, to be under Logan's watchful eye. Young William had a winning personality, and made friends easily. But his father knew he had a weak character, and instructed Logan to "go with him to Pennsbury, advise him, contract, and recommend his acquaintance. No rambling to New York, nor mongrel correspondence." T0 It will amuse Philadelphias to observe that New York was already in 1702 recognized as a dangerous place for youth to "ramble." Young William, however, found in Philadelphia congenial company, adequate for his purposes, and soon disgraced •β Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., X, 430. το ibid., IX, 75.

LIFE OF PENN

6ι

himself and his father. He aroused the ire of the Quakers, whom he promptly renounced, and returned to England in 1705 after an inglorious experience of less than two years. T h e father's head during these bitter years was bowed by his son's behavior in the province of which at the time he was heir presumptive. From 1702 to 1710 the confused state of affairs harassed William Penn. In 1706 he wrote that his was "a loaded mind and a sore spirit." 71 James Logan knew his master's weakness, and affectionately but unhesitatingly reproached him for it: "It seems nothing strange to me that thou art so plunged into difficulties, for such a management must produce unhappy effects, and we cannot so reasonably complain of being abused, when there is no care taken to prevent it." 12 Poor Logan, himself hard pressed on every side, confesses: "Public calumnies, mal-administration among us, no success in thy affairs but disappointments from all quarters, and none to assist, often give thoughts too heavy to bear up against— deprives me of that vigour that thy business requires." 73 Queen Anne succeeded her sister and brother-in-law in 1702, and happily continued her father's kindly sentiments towards Penn. Meanwhile he was negotiating a possible sale of the government to the Crown, and borrowing on all sides to maintain his solvency. His man of affairs for many years had been Philip Ford, a Bristol Quaker. As one Quaker to another, Penn trusted him implicitly, not examining his reports and papers, borrowing funds at exorbitant rates of interest, and signing documents with naive readiness. It is incredible, but true, that while believing he was signing a temporary mortgage of Pennsylvania to Ford in return for loans, he had actually deeded the province to him, and thus held it on a lease from him. Already before Ford's death in 1702, Penn was hopelessly in his debt. But it was Ford's widow and son who closed in on Penn for the kill. T h e i r accounts, as represented by them, showed that Penn was fourteen thousand pounds in debt to the Fords, and that he had actually deeded his province to them in return for loans. Logan's reaction to this news in a letter of 1706 to Penn's father-in-law, Thomas Callowhill, was as follows: Never was there any person more barbarously treated or baited with undeserved enemies. He has been able to foil all attacks from public adversaries but 'tis his fortune to meet with greatest severities from those 71 Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., X , 107. 72 Ibid., X , 117. τ» IbidX, 1S9.

62

WILLIAM

PENN

that owe most to him. O n e w o u l d think there was almost a commission granted, as one against Job, f o r his trial. For such a combination of adversaries has seldom been k n o w n to attack a person that so little deserved them. It must be confessed something of it all is o w i n g to his easiness a n d want of caution. 7 4

T h e confidence of the Fords growing in the confusion caused by this sudden revelation, they tried to arrest Penn for debt as he sat in a meeting for worship. T h o u g h this effort was foiled, Penn went voluntarily to the Fleet prison, and remained there for eleven months in 1708, while his friends settled eventually with the Fords for 6,800 pounds. T h i s tragedy in the life of an honest man and prominent Quaker was of course crushing. His financial carelessness, and his failure to judge character in the men he selected, are the two outstanding defects in his own character. In 1705 he complained to Logan: "I am a crucified man between Injustice and Ingratitude there, and Extortion and Oppression here," but he recognized his own failing by admitting in the same letter: "I pretty well know my own interest, though my too kind nature to serve others has neglected it." 75 A n d again, in the same letter: " M y exigencies, indeed, are very pressing, but I had rather be poor with a loving people, than rich with an ungrateful one." T h e r e we see him incorrigible in his softness, and hungry for kindness and gratitude. From the interminable jangle of annoyance at home and abroad, Penn was able to "centre down" and find comfort in the quiet of his meetings for worship. Isaac Norris, his good friend, w h o was in London at the time, wrote in 1707: " T h e more he is pressed, the more he rises. He seems of a spirit fit to bear, and rub thro' difficulties; and after all, as thou observes, 'his foundation remains.' I have been at some meetings with him, and have been much comforted in them, and particularly last ist day." 76 During all this time, Penn was considering the sale of the government of Pennsylvania. Such a sale would not have affected his private property rights in the province, but would necessarily have brought a complete alteration in the spirit and form of its government as conceived by Penn. A governor would have been appointed by the Crown as in other Crown colonies, the Anglican Church would have been favored, the Quaker testimony touching oaths and war would have been nullified, and the character of the r* Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., X, 163. 75 Ibid., X , 64-74. ™ Ibid., X, 200.

LIFE OF

PENN

63

province profoundly altered during the eighteenth century. T h e sale never went through, but as we shall see presently, it was narrowly averted. T h e Quakers, supported by the votes of the large German element in the province, retained control of the Assembly until 1756 and, even later until the Revolution, Quaker sentiment was felt in the administration of the government. But in 1710, something of a crisis was reached. Penn felt so, and in 1710 addressed a final summons to "My O l d Friends" in Pennsylvania, the dignity and the pathos of which demand attention. 7 7 A few extracts from this lengthy document will suffice to give an idea of its touching appeal: I had reason to e x p e c t a solid c o m f o r t f r o m the services d o n e to m a n y h u n d r e d s o f p e o p l e . . . . A n d I c a n n o t b u t think it h a r d measure, that while that has p r o v e d a l a n d of f r e e d o m a n d flourishing, it should become to me, by whose m e a n s it was p r i n c i p a l l y m a d e a c o u n t r y , the cause of grief, t r o u b l e a n d p o v e r t y .

T h e n he passes over the different charters which he had cheerfully granted at their request, the safeguards established for appointment of judges, and maintenance of good order, in return for which his interests had been most scurvily treated by his people. I n short, [he continues] w h e n I reflect o n all these heads, of w h i c h I h a v e so m u c h cause to c o m p l a i n , a n d , at the same time, t h i n k of the hardships I a n d m y suffering f a m i l y h a v e b e e n r e d u c e d to, in n o small measure o w i n g to m y e n d e a v o u r s f o r a n d d i s a p p o i n t m e n t s f r o m that p r o v i n c e ; I c a n n o t b u t m o u r n the u n h a p p i n e s s of m y p o r t i o n dealt to m e f r o m those of w h o m I had reason to e x p e c t m u c h b e t t e r a n d d i f f e r e n t things.

His people have been ungrateful for their blessings, when others have envied them: Friends! the eyes of m a n y are u p o n y o u ; the p e o p l e of m a n y nations of E u r o p e l o o k on that c o u n t r y as a l a n d of ease a n d q u i e t , w i s h i n g to themselves in v a i n the same blessings they c o n c e i v e y o u m a y e n j o y ; b u t , to see the use y o u m a k e of them is n o less the cause of surprise to others, w h i l e such bitter c o m p l a i n t s a n d reflections are seen to c o m e f r o m y o u , o f w h i c h it is difficult to c o n c e i v e e i t h e r the sense o r m e a n i n g . W h a t are the distresses, grievances, a n d oppressions, that the papers, sent f r o m thence, so o f t e n say y o u l a n g u i s h u n d e r , w h i l e others h a v e cause to b e l i e v e y o u have h i t h e r t o lived, or m i g h t live, the h a p p i e s t of any in the q u e e n ' s dominions? " Quoted by Graham, op. cit., pp. 276-81.

64

WILLIAM PENN

A t the dose, expressing a veiled threat of his intentions to sell, he appeals to their sense of justice: I desire you all seriously to weigh what I have wrote, together with your duty to yourselves, to me, and to the world, who have their eyes upon you, and are witnesses of my early and earnest care for you. I must think there is a regard due to me that has not of late been paid; pray consider of it fully, and think soberly what you have to desire of me, on the one hand, and ought to perform to me on the other; for from the next assembly I shall expect to know what you resolve, and what I may depend on. If I must continue my regards to you, let me be engaged to it by a like disposition in you towards me. But if a plurality, after this, shall think they owe me none, or no more than for some years I have met with, let it on a fair election be so declared, and I shall then, without further suspense, know what I have to rely upon. God give you his wisdom and fear to direct you, that yet our poor country may be blessed with peace, love and industry, and we may once more meet good friends, and live so to the end, our relation in the truth having but the same true interest. T h i s was the people's last chance to do the decent thing by their Proprietor, and they did it. T h e next Assembly was controlled by members friendly to their Proprietor. T h e y voted to pay the costs of government and also granted two thousand pounds to Queen A n n e for general purposes, in lieu of war costs. But there was no permanent improvement in the relations between the Proprietor and the people until the war ended with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1 7 1 3 . T h e period of great prosperity in the province was between 1 7 1 3 and the outbreak of the French and Indian War. It was during this time that Voltaire and other Europeans spoke of Pennsylvania as a Utopia. But it had been almost too late. Debt, and despair regarding his worldly hopes, alone might not have induced Penn to sell his government. But the more serious factors in the situation were only too evident. H o w at the same time to preserve the privileges of his Quaker colonists in Pennsylvania, and fulfill his obligations to the homeland in time of war, seemed to be an insoluble problem. Feudal obligations, if required of him, were incompatible with the democratic state which he had founded. Most of the other colonies had surrendered, or been relieved of their separate governments. Penn felt that he might as well follow the lead. In 1 7 1 2 he agreed with the L o r d Treasurer for a price of twelve thousand

LIFE OF PENN

65 pounds, and one thousand pounds earnest money had been actually paid over, when a sudden partial stroke of what contemporaries called apoplexy rendered him both physically and mentally unfit to carry to completion the negotiations under way. Surviving further mild strokes, Penn lived on in retirement at Ruscombe in Berkshire for six years. He could enjoy simple pleasures in his garden with his grandchildren, and found an innocent satisfaction in visits from his friends, even uttering occasionally a few sentences with difficulty in meetings for worship near by. But he was blasted with a living death, so far as his powerful intellect was concerned. His wife kept business away from him, and attended to it capably herself. And so after six years under anesthetic, as it were, when neither cares nor debts could trouble him more, he passed away, and was buried at Jordans near his last residence. Penn died on July 30, 1718, at the age of seventy-four. 78 On account of the number of properties and the number of heirs involved, Penn's will, though brief, was somewhat complicated. He left to two Earls as trustees the government of Pennsylvania and territories, to be disposed of to the Queen or any other person to advantage. T h a t provision, when the will was drawn, involved presumably the twelve thousand pounds which was a little later agreed upon with the Lord Treasurer. But, as we have seen, the government never passed from the family. His son William, the will states, had already been provided for by Penn's father and by his first wife Gulielma Penn. Upon his father's death, this son made a bluff of succeeding himself to the governorship of the province, and wrote placatingly to the Lieutenant Governor, William Keith, instructing him how he should act. But the will was against him, and he soon disappeared from the scene, dying a wastrel in France. T o seven trustees in England and five in Pennsylvania Penn gave and devised his Pennsylvania property, with instructions to sell enough to pay all of his just debts; next to convey ten thousand acres to each of the three children of William, J r . and to Penn's daughter, Letitia Penn Aubrey; next to divide all his other lands in Pennsylvania among his children by his second wife, as she might think fit. All his personal estate and arrears of rent due he left to Hannah Callowhill Penn, whom he also named executrix. Thus, in general, Penn's interests in England and Ireland passed to his descendants by his first wife; and τ» For Penn's last years, see H. M . Jenkins, The pp. 82-87.

Family

of William

Penn,

66

WILLIAM PENN

the rights and property in Pennsylvania passed to his second wife and her children. Doubtless every reader has created his own idea of William Penn's outward appearance. He may feel justified in doing so, for there is very little contemporary evidence which describes him and his dress. For lack of definite information, his biographers have indulged their fancy with divers results. Professor Hull has summarized them.™ The general picture is of a good-looking youth, of more than average height, who became stout and dignified with age. Though other Quakers eschewed wigs, he had a good reason for wearing one after one of his early imprisonments. His clothes were not made of the drab cloth with shapeless cut which later distinguished the traditional plain country Quaker of the eighteenth century. Penn wore clothes of the same cut and material as other well-dressed men in the world of his day, but shorn of those trimmings and useless frills against which the early Friends bore a constant testimony. He held that clothes were worn for decency and warmth, and not to make a display or follow a foolish custom. From what we can see of the thirty-seven-foot statue on the tower of the City Hall in Philadelphia, we can gain some idea of the Founder's figure and dress as he appeared in Philadelphia. More important is Penn's character—the real man. Here, too, the reader will doubtless have formed his own judgment. But some may prefer to know what his neighbors and fellow Quakers thought of one who had lived and just died among them. Fortunately such a testimony is available. It has been for nearly three centuries a practice of Friends to draw up a memorial for deceased members who have had special influence and authority in the Society. This is done not as a eulogy, but as an historical record for the information and encouragement of future generations. Such memorials are usually incorporated in the Minutes of the Yearly Meeting of which the deceased was a member. The Memorial of William Penn was prepared by members of Reading Monthly Meeting in England—that is, by those who were most closely associated with his latter years, and were best qualified to speak of his personality and character. Omitting an introductory paragraph, the Memorial continues thus: He was a man of great abilities, of an excellent sweetness of disposition; quick of thought and of ready utterance; full of the qualifications τ» William

Penn: a Topical Biography,

pp. 294-309.

LIFE O F PENN

67

of true discipleship, even love without dissimulation; as extensive in charity as comprehensive in knowledge, and to whom malice and ingratitude were utter strangers—ready to forgive enemies, and the ungrateful were not excepted. Had not the management of his temporal affairs been attended with some deficiencies, envy itself would be to seek for matter of accusation, and judging in charity, even that part of his conduct may be attributed to a peculiar sublimity of mind. Notwithstanding which, he may, without straining his character, be ranked among the learned, good, and great; whose abilities are sufficiently manifested throughout his writings, which are so many lasting monuments of his admired qualifications, and are the esteem of learned and judicious men among all persuasions. A n d although in old age, by reason of some shock of violent disease, his intellect was much impaired, yet his sweetness and loving disposition surmounted its utmost effects, and remained when reason almost failed. In fine, he was learned without vanity; apt without forwardness; facetious in conversation, yet weighty and serious—of an extraordinary greatness of mind, yet void of the stain of ambition; as free from rigid gravity as he was clear of unseemly levity; a man, a scholar, a friend; a minister surpassing in speculative endowments, whose memorial will be valued by the wise and blessed with the just.®0 s o j a n n e y , op. cit., pp. 570-71.

II THE DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM t has been seen that William Penn was a convert to Quakerism at the age of twenty-three. As the son of a seagoing admiral, he had been born in, and was intended to share in, a worldly society which offered a perfect antithesis to everything that the Society of Friends stood for. It was the society which is so well reflected in Pepys' famous Diary, the society of the Stuart Restoration, whose loose morals, corrupt politics, and religious hypocrisy the Quaker writers felt called to flay. It was to this very worldly society that the Admiral belonged, and it was to it that he destined his son. T h e career at Oxford, the grand tour on the Continent, the study of law, and the practice of administering the family estates in Ireland were all part of the preparation for a brilliant career which the father had planned for his oldest son. When Penn threw in his lot with the despised and ridiculed Quakers, he knew perfectly well what he was giving up: probable wealth, social prestige, preferment at Court. These things he deliberately renounced. He had made trial of the prospect before him, and it in no way satisfied him. He could not square it with his principles of an upright life. He required a faith which should overcome the world, and not be overcome by the world. It was the hard way which he chose, the strait and narrow way, which is said to lead to life. Like many religious neophytes, Penn took his Quakerism seriously. He was ready to be a martyr. He had great talents, rich resources, and above all inexhaustible energy. He must be up and at the grim battle which the Quakers were waging with the world and the things of the world about them. His new religious associates might be fined and imprisoned by the civil and ecclesiastical powers, but they did not relax in their attacks upon the immorality and hypocrisy of the nation. They called all and sundry to repentance and to works meet for repentance "before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." For in those days there was no doubt in the minds of men that God visited wicked nations

I

68

DEFENDER OF Q U A K E R I S M

69

with his wrath and destruction: E n g l a n d was headed for a terrible judgment day. In fact, the plague and the great fire in L o n d o n in 1665-1666 lent some contemporary color to this O l d T e s t a m e n t interpretation of national calamities. For nearly twenty years—ever since George F o x began his roving ministry in the northern shires in 1649—the "Friends of the L i g h t " had been preaching national repentance. T h e r e h a d not yet been any very notable response, except from two or three score thousand persons, w h o had affiliated themselves w i t h F o x and the Publishers of T r u t h by the year 1667. N a t i o n a l corruption was as bad as ever, and the Friends were taking persecution on the chin for their pains. T h e Five M i l e Act of 1665 h a d no real application to them, for they had no ordained ministers in the sense contemplated by this A c t against Nonconformists; but the Conventicle Acts of 1664 and 1670, forbidding the h o l d i n g of religious meetings of more than five adults beside the family in whose house the assembly took place, did apply to the Quakers, w h o mocked at this A c t against freedom of worship. T h e y were also hard hit, of course, by the T e s t Act, which required u p o n demand an oath of allegiance, w h i c h the Quakers w o u l d not take for conscience' sake. T h u s , varying somewhat according to the severity with which these Acts were applied by local justices, the Quakers were being persecuted more heavily than any other religious segment of the nation just before W i l l i a m Penn threw in his lot with them. W h a t qualities did Penn bring to the hard-pressed Society? W h a t is his place in the Society w h i c h has rejoiced to do him justice? T h a t he belongs in a small g r o u p of distinguished Quakers, including names generally k n o w n to the intelligent reader, there can be no doubt: George Fox, R o b e r t Barclay, John W o o l m a n , Stephen Grellet, Joseph John Gurney, Elizabeth Fry, John Bright, J o h n G . Whittier, Lucretia Mott. T h e r e w e have perhaps all for w h o m an international reputation can fairly be claimed. B e h i n d these names, and lost in obscurity except to Q u a k e r historians, there stood in the seventeenth century a great n u m b e r of men and some women, w h o in their peculiar way were g i v i n g all their strength and resources to shed among their countrymen the knowledge of the divine L i g h t W i t h i n . T h i s L i g h t had dispelled the darkness in some m e n and women in the larger c i t i e s — L o n d o n , Bristol and N o r w i c h — a n d especially in the country, where the bulk of England's population was then to be found. B u t Q u a k e r records tell of very few members of the aristocracy or u p p e r m i d d l e class—what

7o

WILLIAM PENN

the contemporary French so conveniently called la cour et la ville — w h o were touched by the new religious movement in its first twenty years. Quakerism has never sought to confer social distinction. T h e Society of Friends and the society of the world were traveling different roads in Penn's time; and when in later times they have met and shaken hands, it has resulted in Quakerism losing its consecration. T h a t is what usually happens: when mere human beings who are carrying a cross fraternize with others who are not carrying a cross, the former are apt to lay their cross down. No, there was nothing of advantage for Penn in Quakerism— nothing but the satisfaction of his spiritual requirements. During his youth there were few with whom he could expect to find congenial companionship. Josiah Coale, Robert Barclay, Isaac Penington, Thomas Ellwood, Margaret Fell, and a little later that interesting aristocratic invalid Lady Anne Conway 1 were of his class, but one cannot think of many others. He was never ashamed of his Friends, but he was conscious of the social and apparently financial sacrifice he had made a few years before, when he wrote in 1673: How I came to be of this way is best known to God. But thus much I must say, that nothing short of the divine word of Life and Power has worked that alteration upon me from what I once was to what I now am. T h e trials, travels (sic), tribulations and exercises that from fourteen years of age have attended me, but more especially since I was brought to own and abet this holy way I now profess, are too many to be related . . . I have had no other aim nor end than God's honour, the good of others, and my own salvation in the day of the Lord.

He continues to insist that no one can imagine that "I embarked myself among this people to obtain repute or grandeur, who lost all with men when first I came amongst them. . . . I might have had my share where more was to be got than amongst this despised people." 2 And in the preceding year, he had more specifically written of himself in the third person: "William Penn first lost his estate before he got it; and sacrificed it, the comforts of his father's house, and whatever was dear of this world, to the quiet of a conscience void of offence, before it pleased almighty God to make all his." » But if Penn had in one sense lost much in joining the Quakers, 1 Cf. Conway Letters, ed. by Marjorie H. Nicolson, p. 401 and passim. 2 Judas and the Jews combined against Christ and his Followers (1673). » Quakerism a New Nickname for Old Christianity (167s).

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

7» the Quakers had gained much in winning such a recruit on their own terms. They had not courted him. Their principles had won him. From among a score of nonconformist sects which he might have joined, he had found what he required only among the Friends. There is no evidence that the members of the Society in London celebrated the acquisition of such a recruit, or in any way made much of him. But they set him to work. He had energy which had never been fully exercised. He knew how to speak, he knew how to write, better than many of them did. He threw himself at once into their meetings for worship, and into the defense of their religious and civil claims. Here was a man who knew Latin and Greek and French and Dutch, who had been at Oxford, who had studied the Church Fathers and Church history at Saumur, and who by the accident of birth had access to persons of rank and influence whom other Quakers could by no means approach. As we look back upon the year 1667, it seems to us that the appearance of this personable young gentleman upon the Quaker stage marked a memorable moment. He had an air which was common enough at the Stuart Court, but was indeed rare in a Quaker meeting. When William Penn began to take part in the pamphlet wars of the Quakers with other Protestants, the Society of Friends, or "Children of the Light," as they often called themselves, had already turned out a formidable quantity of controversial matter— we cannot by any means call it literature. Attacked first under the Commonwealth, at the instigation of nonconformist "priests and professors," and later under Charles II by Anglican and civil authorities, the Quakers had had to learn early how to defend themselves with the pen, if not with the sword. Theological dogma was of such importance in the seventeenth century that religious men were accustomed. 10 defend themselves.and their position in any way that presented itself. Those who felt free to do so, used carnal weapons on battlefields, or resorted to lawcourts, whipping posts, stocks, foul dungeons, fines and exile, the better to persuade intractable opponents. When these forcible methods of persuasion were employed, the Quakers were on the receiving end. But when it came to the use of the only weapon whose employment they allowed themselves—the spoken and written word—they yielded to no one. As little attention has been paid to the subject by modern biographers, we shall concern ourselves in this chapter with Penn the

WILLIAM PENN 7* Quaker and the apologist o£ the Society with which he affiliated himself at the age of twenty-three. His first entry into the lists of theological disputation was with the publication of Truth Exalted in 1668, of which there was a second edition in 1671. It is nominally addressed to "Princes, Priests and People," but specifically the author attacks in turn and with zeal the Catholics, Anglicans, and Separatists or Dissenters. At this time the Scriptures were regarded by most Protestant Christians as the final authority for religious faith and for ecclesiastical institutions. Of the Catholics, who leaned upon the traditional authority of the Church, he does not hesitate to ask where is their scriptural authority for the massbook, Peter's chair, papal infallibility, the consecrated wafer taken as the body of Christ, images, infant baptism, churching of women, marrying by priests, holy water to frighten away the devil, "hollowing of bells to scare evil spirits," making of crosses, erecting of altars, bowings, holy days, canonizing saints, indulgences, praying for the dead, preaching a Purgatory, monks, nuns, church officers, cruelties of the Inquisition, etc. T o these questions the Roman Catholics of course paid no heed. The Anglicans he reproached for having deserted the Protestant martyrs from whom they have sprung, and having become as the Pharisees were to Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets. They now persecute those who reprove them, and "deny the necessity as well as the present enjoyment of revelation today"; they "place the ground of divine knowledge in human arts and sciences," and monopolize the possession of such knowledge to themselves. Here is expressed the Quaker belief in a continued revelation of divine truth to the seeking individual in any age, regardless of what human "notions" he may have absorbed at Oxford or Cambridge in preparation for the priesthood. Of the Anglicans, too, he asks for the origin of their church ceremonies, apparatus and officers, "the offspring of that idolatrous Popish generation." No wonder, he says, that they continue to cry, "Have mercy upon us miserable sinners, there is no health in us, from seven to seventy." With better reason, under the Restoration of Charles II, he reproached the Anglican priesthood for intemperance, debauchery, idleness, swearing, wantonness, uncleanness, for which "God almighty will bring you to judgment." In addressing the Separatists, who represented in large measure the Calvin tradition, he referred chiefly to the inadequacy of justification and sanctification by a mere intellectual acceptance of the

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

73

doctrine of the Atonement. The Quakers could never share any over-confidence in the comfortable assurance that "Christ Jesus has suffered and satisfied for sins past, present, and to come," nor could the Quakers be satisfied with anything less in this life than a continued search for perfection. T o them it seems axiomatic that one should be saved not in sin, but from sin, through free grace. It is not likely that much good was accomplished for either side in such attacks and recriminations. But already in this first publication, Penn touches upon what he will continue to reiterate in all his theological writings: the sufficiency of the Light Within, the eternal Christ, for individual guidance to a life leading to salvation; the obligation of the Christian to seek perfection by making his life square with his profession; the interference of ecclesiastical tradition and book-learning with the return to the

simplicity of primitive Christianity. As seen by the early Quakers,

the Christian Church was in the apostasy since apostolic times, and especially since the so-called Donation of Constantine in the early fourth century had given rise to the temporal claims of the Papacy. The Church had lost its purity and its immediate touch with its Founder. In England specifically, it was tarred with human notions and devices which had stripped it of its divine power in the life of the nation. National standards of morality were, indeed, low, and remained so until Methodism in the second half of the eighteenth century prevented such a collapse of national institutions as was witnessed in France. This should be borne in mind before condemning the young convert Penn for his confident assertion that the bitter persecution by the authorities would not be able to silence the dire prophecies of the Quakers. The Guide Mistaken and Temporizing Rebuked is a brief reply to A Guide to the True Religion by Jonathan Clapham, in which the latter attacked the Papists, Socinians, and Quakers. Penn is concerned only with a defense of his own Society. He has an easy victim for his wit in Clapham, whom he accuses of having been a Presbyterian and an Independent in former days, and of having changed his spots and his religion to suit the Anglicans now in power. Penn contends that such a chameleon can hardly qualify as a guide to the true religion, of which Penn is a true friend. Nevertheless he takes up and answers ten distinct charges leveled by Clapham at the Quakers. This treatise is not only personal and occasionally vituperative, but also illustrates Penn's familiarity with ecclesiastical and secular authorities, such as Origen, Tertul-

74

WILLIAM PENN

lian, Du Plessis, Grotius and Moïse Amyraut, his old master at Saumur. We may safely suppose that these early pamphlets of the twentyfour-year-old convert to Quakerism aroused either wrath or merriment among his former natural associates. He had not yet, however, exposed himself to punishment by the authorities. What he had said was merely one round in the religious skirmishes of the day, to which people were accustomed. Nothing had happened to him as the result of publication. He was to publish a work this same year, however, which would bring some action. In The Sandy Foundation Shaken Penn attempted to refute "those so generally believed and applauded doctrines of: i. One God, subsisting in three distinct and separate persons; 2. The impossibility of God's pardoning sinners without a plenary satisfaction; 3. The justification of impure persons by an imputative righteousness." On the second point, from John III, χ 6, Penn says "it appears that God's love is not the effect of Christ's satisfaction, but Christ is the proper gift and effect of God's love." As for justification, so the Quakers always maintained, "the way to be justified is to keep the commandments," and not to rely exclusively upon imputative righteousness. It was the first point, however, which aroused the attention of the Church authorities represented by the Bishop of London. It is not strange that Penn, like other Friends, should in those days have been accused of disbelief in the Trinity, though he maintained as the Quaker position: " W e never have disowned a Father, Word and Spirit which are one, but [we do disown] men's inventions." And he proceeds to contend: That there is no foundation for the Trinity in the Scriptures (which is matter for debate), the word never even being used in them (which is true); that the doctrine of the Trinity was first advanced in the Athanasian creed three centuries after Christ (which is not true); 4 that the doctrine occasions idolatry in the Roman Church, and is a source of scandal to the Jews and Turks. Evidently this is what Pepys called "a serious sort of book, and not fit for everybody to read." Yet, as the Quakers were repeatedly charged with being Socinians, we must say a few plain words on this elusive point. T o the Quakers of the seventeenth century, Christ was not only the historical Jesus of Nazareth, but also-the eternal Word of John I, God Immanuel dwelling for the time among men in person, but always from the beginning identical 4 See The Caiiwlic

Encydopcdia,

article " T r i n i t y . "

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

75

with God and with the Holy Spirit. They thus extended both backward and forward the historical Christ, the merits of whose life and death they believed as the only way, the truth, and the life. And they further maintained that his spirit worked upon the holy men of old from Abraham to the Baptist, and still worked in the children of men to the present time. Thus the Father, the Son, and the Spirit were all one, different manifestations of the same spiritual entity. T o believe this is, of course, not to limit the role of Jesus to that of a human being, as some have done; it does not, indeed, abate one jot the divinity of Jesus. On the contrary, what the Quakers saw in Jesus was his divinity, was God, was the Holy Spirit, shown forth in a preeminent manner and promising to be always with his followers (John, X I V - X V I I ) . What the Quakers could not accept, believing it to be a human fallacy, was the difficult conception of "three distinct and separate persons" in the Trinity, each with different functions, yet all one. Penn had failed to obtain the Bishop of London's license for the publication of this daring book. So, either for this reason or because of the alleged attack upon the Trinity contained in it, the author was sent to the Tower of London. Here he wrote an amplification of his meaning in The Sandy Foundation Shaken, which was satisfactory to the authorities, and he was released after about eight months of close confinement. In this prison work entitled Innocency with her Open Face (1669), he maintained: " I have not dethroned a divinity, subverted faith, made void obedience, nor frustrated the hope of an eternal recompense." While holding that it is not suffering, but a good cause, that makes a martyr, he asserted that no amount of persecution could deprive the Quakers "of His glorious presence which is able to make the dismalest prison so many receptacles of pleasure, and whose heavenly fellowship doth unspeakably replenish our solitary souls with divine conversation." Thus the Quakers quietly defied the authorities to do their worst. During the same imprisonment Penn was inspired to write his most famous religious work, first published in 1669. This book, greatly expanded thirteen years later, is one of the classics of Quakerism, to be counted with Fox's Journal, Ellwood's Life, Barclay's Apology and Woolman's Journal. Its title is a succinct masterpiece: No Cross, No Crown. Though nominally "in defence of the poor despised Quakers, against the practice and objections of their adversaries," it is far more than a mere apology. It is an ap-

76

WILLIAM PENN

peal lo Penn's former associates to lay aside their worldliness and empty conventions, and embrace the simple and sacrificial religion of Christ. It contains little of the Renaissance joy of life, but rather dwells upon the shortness of time, the length of eternity, the vanity of this world, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the necessity of repentance. Written in a correct and vigorous style, it is addressed to the people of the world, and carries on to a larger and more sophisticated public the plea which is implicit in all of George Fox's message: to receive the crown of life, one must turn from the sins of society which were so blatant and unashamed during the Restoration, and take u p the cross. T h i s conception of a strait and narrow way of life as opposed to the vain show of contemporary society remained the Quaker attitude for two centuries. A l l the early Friends preached it and lived according to it. It explains their withdrawal from the social frivolities as well as from the political activities of their fellow citizens. T h e young people in the Society itself had frequently to be reminded of their duty in this matter, as when William Penn appealed to them in 1669 in A Letter of Love to the Young Convinced to beware of "lightness, jesting or a careless mind," and to keep to simplicity, plainness of speech and garb, even though they be a cross " t o this vain adulterated and apostatized generation." T h e r e would be no profit in enlarging upon Penn's next book of thirty-eight pages, A Seasonable Caveat against Popery (1670), in which he reminds Protestant readers that it is necessary to "militate for T r u t h against the dark suggestions of Papal Superstition." From 1660 until near the end of the century, fear of Catholic plots against the government was an obsession of the English. T h a t there was ground for this fear under the Stuarts is of course true. T h e unexpected feature of the case is that the Quakers themselves were constantly being confused in the popular mind with the R o m a n Catholics. George F o x and especially William Penn were suspected of being Jesuits. T h e itinerant embassies of the Quaker Publishers of T r u t h , their meetings, though open to the public, held in retirement, the emphasis of the Quakers upon good works, and their strong esprit de corps, were associated in the public mind with the hidden enemy. In the case of Penn, this confusion was still further explained by his later favor with James II, and his frequent presence at Court to solicit for his persecuted clients. T h o u g h Penn had no desire to see the Catholics ill treated, he was naturally insistent to clear his Quakers of any possible association

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

77

with them. What he wrote now had not the desired effect. For more than twenty years he was pursued by the charge of being a Jesuit, who, it was alleged, had studied at St. Omer, received a dispensation to marry, and attended the mass in the private chapel in St. James's Palace. T h e warmth of his attack upon Catholic faith and practice is not in the best taste; but it must be remembered that the Catholics presented a real threat for thirty years, and that the confusion of the Quakers with them was in fact so preposterous as to warrant some strong words. We shall revert to this subject in connection with Penn's political writings. T h e attacks made upon the Quakers by the clergy of other denominations were due in part to the defection of members of their congregations who associated with Friends. There are still extant many such printed attacks, which were countered by the more experienced writers of the Society. Of these, William Penn and George Whitehead were, after 1670, especially prominent. We must now mention A Serious Apology for the Principles and Practices of the People called Quakers (1671) against the malicious aspersions, erroneous doctrines, and horrid blasphemies of Thomas Jenner and Timothy Taylor, entitled Quakerism anotamized (sic) and confuted. Penn and Whitehead collaborated in this Apology. We are concerned here only with the first part, which was written by Penn in Newgate after his arrest for speaking at Wheeler Street Meeting in 1671. He first defends the Quakers from the common charge of disparagement of the Scriptures, because they believe in a continued revelation, the "daily revelation of the mind and will of God." T o regard the Scriptures as a permanent blueprint for a Church, or as the unique revelation of the divine will, is against every Quaker interpretation of the Scriptures themselves: "Christ is an immediate perpetual speaker to his Church." And as concerns the individual man, "as there is this natural and intelligent spirit by which man is daily informed of the concerns of mortal life, so is a divine principle communicated to him, which we call the Light that does illuminate and discover to his understanding the condition of his soul, and give him a true knowledge of what is good, what he himself is, and what is required at his hands, either in obeying or suffering." Friends hold that the authority of the Scriptures, however, is subordinate only to the authority of the Holy Spirit which inspired their authors. It seems to them axiomatic that "whatever writings were by inspiration are of less value than the Spirit that gave them forth." T o seek the revelation of the

WILLIAM PENN 78 Holy Spirit in their understanding of the Scriptures and of their daily duty was and is the purpose of the Quakers both in their community worship and in their private devotions: "By revelation we understand the discovery and illumination of the light and spirit of God relating to those things that properly and immediately concern the daily information and satisfaction of our souls in the way of our duty to Him and our neighbours." Though the Quakers cannot attach any peculiar sanctity to the Sabbath, yet, Penn says, "with godly reverence we constantly assemble upon it." Insistent that Christianity is intended to be a religion for seven days in the week, he says, "we know it is our duty and is also our practice to retire from our external affairs and wait upon the Lord every day, that we may receive strength from him and feel his heavenly peace and blessing to descend upon us at our rising up and lying down." It is pertinent to remember that when Penn had a household of his own, he assembled his family three times during the day for quiet meditation and instruction. Refusal to attend worship in the churches or to pay tithes for the support of the incumbents of pulpits in the "steeple houses" caused the imprisonment of thousands of Quakers during Penn's lifetime. Their position was irrevocably taken, and determined Penn's own long fight to secure toleration and freedom of worship. Still employing in this Apology the abusive style of the young protagonist, he says: "No employment is more pleasant to me than uncovering the wicked avarice and horrid deceit of the decimating simonious priesthood"—an idea which he thus develops: "I am well assured that the inconsistency between us and the present priests lies more on the side of wages than any other thing, and whilst they pretend to the vindication of a Christian ministry, it is in very truth but a defence for their unreasonable incomes, or that ministry which proves them dumb dogs that seek gain from their quarters, making war against them that put not into their mouths, as most experimentally we have known it, as well under the Presbyterian and Independents, as present Episcopal government." After giving a résumé of the history of tithes, first as belonging to the closed Jewish dispensation, and second as a pay-off for certain royal crimes committed in early English history,6 Penn asks with confidence: "Shall I contribute to a religion and the ministers of it which in judgment I renounce?" Refusal to support the national form of worship was a matter of principle with the Quakers; β A Serious Apology, p. ΐϊ8.

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

79

but Penn had a special reason for scorning the Anglican clergymen, many of whom he had seen desert their pulpits and people in London in 1665, the year of the Great Plague, and whose personal character in many country parishes was at the time far from edifying. Those who are interested in formal statements of faith will find in this same work the following: W e do believe in one only holy God Almighty, who is an eternal spirit, the Creator of all things. A n d in one Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son, and express Image of his substance, who took upon him flesh and was in the world; and in life, doctrine, miracles, death, resurrection, ascension and mediation, perfectly did, and does continue to do the will of God; to whose holy life, power, mediation, and blood we ascribe our sanctification, justification, redemption and perfect salvation. A n d in one holy Spirit that proceeds and breathes from the Father and the Son, as the life and virtue of both the Father and the Son, a measure of which is given to all to profit with; and he that has one, has all; for those three are one. who is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, G o d over all, blessed forever. Amen.

A return to the virulent style characteristic of such polemical pamphlets is found in Penn's warning to his enemies: " W e have a red catalogue that shall stand recorded against our Presbyterian and Independent persecutors, that their names and natures too may stink to posterity." Penn is at this time of his life in full career. He has become, before the age of thirty, one of the official protagonists of the Friends. W h a t he says of their faith and practice may be regarded as authoritative. In 1672 there was set up in London a group of Friends who were charged, among other duties, with the supervision of books printed in defense of their Society. As every peculiarity of the Quaker faith and practice was attacked again and again by authors w h o were either sincerely concerned to do battle with dissent, or w h o were jealous of Quaker inroads upon their flocks and financial perquisites, it is natural to find Penn also returning again and again to the defense of his coreligionists in the same or nearly identical terms. For further elaboration of the doctrine of the Inner Light, held by him and all other Quakers, of which he says " I confess it to be the most eminent article of our faith," β we may turn to The Spirit of Truth vindicated against that of Error and Envy unseasonably manifested in a late malicious libel intituled β The Spirit

of Truth

Vindicated

(1672), p. 85.

8o

WILLIAM PENN

(sic) The Spirit of the Quakers tryed etc. T h e teaching of Quakerism from the first has been to draw God nigh unto man, to establish H i m in man, through the presence of the Inner Light available in all places and at all times to all men. A few quotations from this book of 138 pages will make clearer the nature and function of this Light. Penn takes eighteen pages to prove from the O l d Testament and from the words of Christ and St. Paul "that God has afforded his people in all ages such a measure of his eternal spirit as hath been sufficient to inform, rule and guide them infallibly in and about those things which are absolutely necessary to be known or done unto eternal life." For the Inner Light as a guide more ultimate than the Scriptures, he remarks: " T h e Scripture is much like the shadow of the true rule which may give us some ground to guess what the rule itself is; as a card or map of a country, how it lies, yet not to be the very place itself: and in this respect it may be a kind of secondary rule, carrying with it a testimonial confirmation, that what we are led by is the true spirit, because the people of God in old time enjoyed the same, as the eternal Spirit first of all confirms the divine authority of the Scriptures unquestionably to us." As he says in another place, " T h e wells are opened now, as well as formerly." 7 In this Spirit of Truth Vindicated the author's scholarship takes a fling at the first few verses of St. John's gospel, which is a key passage in the eyes of Quakers. He quotes the passage in thirteen languages and the opinion of many commentators to establish the accepted reading: " T h i s is the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," rather than the mistaken reading: " T h i s is the true Light which coming into the world enlightens every man" (John 1:9). After Christ, who was that Light himself, was manifested in the flesh, it was easier for man in his ascent toward G o d to recognize the Light in this new "administration" or dispensation: " H e who enlightened the patriarchs and prophets of old hath in a more excellent manner and suitable to the spirituality of his own divine nature revealed himself in this gospel administration." T h u s , all revelation is continuing and progressive, as man is able to comprehend it. T h i s Light is not the mere light of nature or reason, as some have maintained: " T h e Light is both universal, supernatural and infallible," and "to receive and obey this Light is the way to be a child of God." 8 1 A Comprehensive Discourse of the Faith and Practice of the true Christian. β This subject is also elaborated in A Key opening the Way to Every Capacity, in Works, II, 780.

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

8ι

T o protect themselves against the charges of ranterism under the guise of following the Inner Light became for the Quakers an immediate necessity. For was not England full of Ranters, who justified their occasionally scandalous conduct by the leadings of the spirit which they claimed? T h e infallibility of the Light is thus safeguarded by the Friends: "Infallibility of persons any further than as they are joined and conformed to the light of God, we never affirmed; and fallibility of the light because of the fallibility of persons, we never owned, and now deny as a most ridiculous and false consequence." It was, indeed, important to distinguish between the infallibility of the Light itself and the fallibility of the human agent who might misinterpret it. T h e Quakers had already suffered near disgrace in the aberrations of James Nayler, and had witnessed a potential division in their ranks because J o h n Perrot had claimed a higher revelation of truth than that of George Fox. For the Friends the validity of the Light, to be determined by the group search for truth, was one thing; the individual human lantern was another. Penn took occasion to deny the earlier claims of this Perrot in The Spirit of Alexander the Copper-smith Revived and Rebuked (1673), in which he claimed that the Society, after admonishing him, was justified in disowning Perrot for his illconsidered vagaries: "Deny this, and farewell to all Christian church-order and discipline; yea, and Truth itself. For it is an absolute inlet to Ranterism, and so to Atheism, near whose border this author lies." T o this controversy Penn and other Friends returned in Judas and the Jews (1673). Of all the strange sects harboring in England at the time, none is more eccentric than that of the Muggletonians, so called from their high-priest Lodowick Muggleton. T o the "whimsies, blasphemies and heresies" of this infatuated individual and of John Reeve, his earlier partner, Penn pays his respects in no uncertain terms. Of Muggleton's blasphemous tenets, nothing need be revived at this late hour; but touching the doctrine of predestination, of which Penn accused him, the Quaker says: "This principle is accursed by Scripture," quoting several texts "of those hundreds that might be mentioned," and is also unreasonable because it reflects on God as unwise, unjust, unmerciful, unfaithful, and unholy. This pamphlet, entitled The New Witnesses proved Old Heretics (1672) contains the diverting account of a visit paid to Muggleton by Penn and Whitehead, in which the "priest of the order of Aaron," after damning the Quakers, made the alarming claim that "many of you Quakers have died after my curse."

8s

WILLIAM PENN

T h u s these exchanges of courtesies between sectaries was carried on in those days. Penn contrived to preserve an air of coolness and good will in the midst of invective, as is illustrated in A Winding-Sheet for Controversie Ended (1672). Here he says that his antagonist "H. Hedworth . . . is a busy-body, cavilling, conceited, proud, wrathful, equivocating, slandering, cowardly man." Yet he can without inconsistency sign himself: "A lover of the person of H. Hedworth and a friend to peace and all righteousness." T h e most protracted of Penn's written controversies was with a London Presbyterian minister named John Faldo, who for one of his six attacks on Penn and Quakerism enlisted the assistance of no less than twenty-one "learned and Reverend Divines." Penn replied to these six attacks with five of his own, and then wisely concluded that no useful purpose would be served by pursuing the subject. T h e present reader, who is not so concerned with theological matters as were the readers of the seventeenth century, may decide at this point that he has been already surfeited with such bickerings. But "we must appreciate the strength of the belief that there is an essential association between theology and religion, if we would have any understanding of the times in which that belief prevailed." 9 For him who would share in the religious feelings of the Restoration, a few extracts from these four years of controversy with Faldo convey further information. There were many irreligious people in England under the Stuarts; but those who were concerned for religion laid it on with a heavy hand. T h e whole intent of Quaker thought was to make religion real, personal, present now, and not relegate it to some vague experience of humanity in the past or in the future. Written records and testimonies had their value, but only as further evidence of the truth as revealed to the individual seeking soul. This is not only an intrinsic feature of Quaker faith now, but it always has been. T o determine the place and unique importance of the historical Christ in this broad conception was, of course, a matter of immense import. When Penn wrote in Quakerism a New Nickname for Old Christianity (1672) that "salvation was salvation and a child of God a child of God in all ages," because Christ the eternal Word and Light was possessed by men before the historical Christ came, he was expressing a conception which was new and unacceptable to many Christians. So he must continue to define Chris» Andrew Macphail, Essays in Puritanism, p. 1.

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

83

tianity: "Christianity is that which brings to G o d . . . a firm belief in him that so appeared, lived, died, rose, and ascended, both as testified of in the Scriptures of T r u t h , and more especially as he breaks in upon the soul by his divine discoveries, as the true light inlighting every man,—this I call Christianity." " T h e whole end of it [i.e., the holy life of Christ] was to draw the minds of men more inward, to a manifestation of that same life, virtue, power, wisdom and righteousness in each particular which appeared in that body in general, and qualified it to that great work and sustained it under all its sufferings, and put that great value upon them which really was in them. Wherefore, to the divine power first, and to the holy manhood next, do we ascribe that great and wonderful benefit that hereby came into the world." It is evident from this that the Quakers found in the eternal Christ a spiritual dynamic for present life; whereas the world has awaited a second coming in the flesh, but has not with sufficient diligence sought in the meantime to bring Him in the hearts of men. T h e renewal in the present of past revelation is thus expressed: " W e assert not a revelation of new things, but renewed revelation of those things God made former ages witnesses of; otherwise, men are no more benefited by them; and to be benefited, they must be made ours by the spirit which made them the holy Ancients'." T h i s brings Penn again to the Scriptures, whose all-sufficient validity as the Christian's guide the Friends deny again and again. T h e point may seem rather fine now, but once it was a matter of supreme importance: "As the Scriptures are not the Word of God, but a declaration of the Word of God, so the Scriptures are not the general rule, but a declaration of the true general rule." " W e earnestly contend, not against the Scriptures, but for that living experimental knowledge of them." " W e do not deny the Scriptures to be any means by which we may come to know God, Christ and ourselves, so often as it shall please the eternal God to reach into the hearts of men by any of those truths therein contained." T h u s it is not the truth of the Scriptures which is in question, but the necessity of making them ours by a process of assimilation under personal divine guidance. T h e Friends maintained that we must live them, not just give intellectual assent to them. Furthermore, Penn pointed out that the great characters of the O l d Testament who received such unqualified commendation from G o d had no Scriptures for their guide; but the Lord spoke to them personally, and they heeded such intimations of the divine

84

WILLIAM PENN

will as were vouchsafed to them. Moreover, men have fought and died in defense of their interpretation of difficult passages in the Bible, and yet all the while the Catholics have one Bible and the Protestants another. Penn sums up the Quaker position in the following words from The Counterfeit Christian Detected (1674): W e do receive and believe the Scriptures given forth by holy men of God as they were moved of the Holy Ghost, and that they are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and for instruction in righteousness; yet since they are writings relating to the things of God, no man can understand them, or have an assured testimony of them, but by the Spirit of God, [for] the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. (I Cor., II, it.) On the question of a future life of rewards or punishments, the Friends were distinctly modern. T h e y refused to describe in detail a future state, and indulged in few eschatological forecasts. In this same work (Quakerism a New Nickname), Penn has this to say: W e feel in ourselves rewards and punishments for good and evil in this life, and receive them as earnests of what will attend mankind in the next. And we have an inward sense of a never-dying life, which as we gather into it and grow u p in it, we shall inherit eternal felicity. A n d as there is an erring from that Holy Spirit of life, the wages of such rebellion will be the direful portion of death and misery to every soul forever. . . . Faith is a believing in, or relying upon God, with respect to a further knowledge and enjoyment of Him. . . . We say that in this life men have an earnest of heaven and hell and some sense of both states, as they are good or bad; but never did we affirm men to enjoy that full measure of joy or torment they shall have as their eternal reward or recompense hereafter. . . . Whatever we have scrupled of the common gross notion of the resurrection of this corruptible body, we have ever held an eternal state of recompense. In a subsequent installment of the long controversy with Faldo, entitled The Invalidity of John Faldo's Vindication etc. (1673), Penn devotes 437 pages, with about 125 ancient and modern authorities quoted, to the further defense of the Quaker position. Of primary importance is the belief in a continuing revelation of God's truth "from Adam's day to this," but never was Christ so revealed "before the law, under the law, with the Prophets . . . as in that Holy Manhood." T h e Quakers do not oppose the teachings of the Spirit to the doctrines of the Scriptures, as Faldo

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

85

asserted they did, but. they claim that God's voice was not confined to the Scriptures. T h e y deny the Scriptures "to be the rule of faith and judge of controversies," because all Christians have the Scriptures, and yet quarrel among themselves about the interpretation of them. T h e Scriptures cannot determine cases of difficulty within themselves, but the Spirit can help man to do so; just as the law needs a judge and superior rule to apply and execute law rightly. T h e belief in an extension of the historical Christ to include the Christ Immanuel is vigorously restated in this worlc. After his resurrection, " H e was received up into glory, but returned again, fulfilling those scriptures 'He that is with you shall be in you; I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you again and receive you unto myself.' " T h i s is what Penn calls "the immediateness of his presence and dwelling in man": "If you confine Christ's dwelling to a local heaven, you are ignorant of the greatest joy that can be. Christ dwells in the heart." It is characteristic of these theological controversies that the Quaker author twits Faldo regarding the fawning and hypocritical nonconformist ministers, who had changed their colors under the Restoration to retain their pulpits and their stipends. Faldo on his part had called Penn "a presumptuous and blind accuser, a sophister, an Haman, an accursed Ham, a treacherous and wilful deluder, a mad-man, an Hang-man, an infallible stager, a fool, an ape, a dunce, an infernal forger." Penn's own masterpiece was addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University in 1670: "Poor Mushroom, wilt thou war against the Lord, and lift up thyself in battel against the Almighty?" 10 We may be thankful that such weapons in controversy have now been relegated to the armory of the past, where they may be inspected but no longer handled. Another feature of Quaker faith was the belief in the Arminian doctrine of the universality of grace. In simplest language this means that all men have» if they will use it. the Dower freely granted by t h t Holy Spirit within them to resist wrong and do the right. T h i s is the work of the W o r d or eternal Cnrist, Immanuel, dwelling in man from the beginning. It is in the book, also dating from 1673, with the unpromising title Reason against Railing and Truth against Fiction, that Penn develops this doctrine of the universality of grace in reply to one Thomas Hicks, 10 Works, I, 154·

86

WILLIAM PENN

an Anabaptist teacher. It is this doctrine more than any other which has caused the Quakers to this day to trust all men regardless of color, race, or previous condition of servitude. A few quotations will suffice to explain the broad and significant scope of this tenet: "That which gave the life, power, virtue, strength and efficacy to all this, and to whom therefore eminently the work, salvation, power and glory are most deservedly ascribable, is the Word that was in the beginning with God, and was God, whose life was, and is the light of men, who took flesh and was manifested therein." Different dispensations have different standards and requirements, but Penn believed that God winks at and has mercy even upon Turks and Indians, "where there hath been and is a walking with sincerity towards God," just as was the case with the Gentiles of old. For God in every age hath had regard to the sincerity of people's hearts and their upright living, though subjected under gross forms, and in the darkest seasons of the world. . . . Who walked in the light in any age so far walked in the counsel of God. And that all mankind had an ability from God so to do, is our belief. . . . Such as would know more of Christ's doctrines must first do his will according to what they do know. . . . Grace is free because it was the good pleasure of God both to give remission of sins and eternal life to as many as should repent, believe and obey to the end, and thereby come to be conformed to the image of his dear Son.

This brings us once more to the commonly held doctrine of justification by Christ's sacrifice, which did not satisfy the Quakers: "Justification by the righteousness which Christ fulfills for us in his own person wholly without us, we boldly affirm it to be a doctrine of devils." " 'Tis not the oil in another's lamp, but in our own only, which will serve our turns." T h e important condition which the Quakers felt was imposed upon the comfortable doctrine of imputative righteousness is conveniently summed up as follows: "The work Christ had to do was two-fold: I. T o remit, forgive, or justify from the imputation of sin past, all such as truly repented, believed and obeyed Him. And secondly, by His power and spirit operating in the hearts of such to destroy and remove the very ground and nature of sin, whereby to make an end of sin, and finish transgression present and to come; that is, the first removes the guilt, the second the very cause of it." In accord with this statement, all early Quaker writers insist that Christ the Son did not die to "satisfy" an exacting Father, but in order that we too, by

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

87

dying to sin through his grace, might live to salvation. Men must be saved not in, but from sin. Therefore, believing in the call to strive for perfection in this life, the Quakers may be called perfectionists. They hold, as Penn says, to " a perfect principle of righteousness and sanctification . . . and the possibility of being perfectly sanctified by it." Already in The Guide Mistaken in 1668 he had written: " T o insinuate the necessity of imperfection in the particular from the allowance of it in the general, or to deny it attainable by some because of the confessed inability of being attained by all, is false and sophistical." Throughout, Penn effectively contrasts those who suffer with Christ to reach perfection and those who are lulled with the "pernicious hope that Christ hath taken up the Cross, been baptized, and drank that bitter cup for them, and so they need not do it over again." 1 1 It is generally known that the Quakers do not practise the outward administration of the two sacraments of Baptism and the Supper or Eucharist, though they lay great stress upon the inward and spiritual observance of them. T h e fear of substituting the outward for the inward, and the conviction that formal observances are useless without personal inward application, have been a constant mark of Quakerism. " T h e letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life," has always been with Friends a test of reality. All the important Protestant denominations had preserved these two, with that of matrimony, from the list of seven Roman Catholic sacraments. Among the unorthodox features of the Quaker faith, this purely spiritual interpretation of the two sacraments constantly aroused hostility. References to the prolonged argument abound, but the Quaker attitude can be summed up with some brevity, as it still remains the same today. First, for baptism, the Friends urged that water baptism was a purely Jewish rite, which was terminated by the close of the Jewish dispensation; that though Jesus as a Jew allowed himself to be baptized by John, He stated plainly that He himself would baptize with the Spirit and with fire; that neither Jesus nor St. Paul made incumbent, or customarily practised, water baptism; finally, that the many different forms of water baptism— such as total immersion or of the head only, such as baptism of infants or only of adults (as in the case of the many Anabaptists) —were in themselves a scandal and proved the lack of any divine authority. As regards the Supper, that too was a Jewish practice, and was continued innocently among the early Christians as a « Urim and Thummim (1674).

88

WILLIAM PENN

love-feast; but when Christ told his disciples, "This do in remembrance of me," He did not mean to establish a priestly sacrament to be administered in church indefinitely, in one kind or two kinds, nor was there any implication of transubstantiation in his words; that as a rite it has no more authority than the injunction to wash one another's feet. It should be observed that to the conscientious Quaker every meal is a sacrament begun in silence, when the presence of the Lord is sought and his blessing invoked. After John Faldo secured the assistance of other collaborators, Penn was at his best in A Just Rebuke to One-and-Twenty Reverend Divines (so called) in 1674. A few of his trenchant replies to the group follow: "Doing is degenerated into talking, and the life of religion into contention about the notion of it. Such Christians will not stand in God's day." He pertinently remarks that "you are angry the people can live without you." He chides the twentyone Presbyterian and Independent ministers for their inconsistencies in the Past, and for the trimming of their sails to the political winds. They had given as an excuse for their own former separations "greater purity of worship and discipline"; yet they now deny the same warrant to the Quakers, who have separated for the same reason. They had formerly all been bitter against each other in their own separations, but now they join hands in a common attack on the Quakers, one of them having openly declared that "he had rather his hearers should go to a bawdy-house than to a Quakers' meeting." William Edmundson says in his Journal that the "Priest" at Mountmelick in Ireland in 1665 told his hearers "that if they met any of us in the high-way, they should shun us as they would shun the plague; and if they owed us any thing, they need not pay it; or if they knocked us on the head, the law would bear them out." T o the Twenty-One Divines Penn points out that not "good notions," but good deeds will be rewarded at the bar of God's justice; not "well held," but "well done." T h e Calvinists have divided grace from virtue: "He is a good man," they say, "but he hath no saving grace." This thirty-two-page pamphlet contains some specimens of Penn's facility in turning a phrase when he is so minded: " I wish you were as truly taught of Him as you are great teachers of others." "As woe be unto them who are sent and don't preach, so woe be unto them who preach and are not sent." And after these neat parting shots, Penn signs himself "Your friend in much sincerity." We have now laid down and illustrated, largely from the writ-

DEFENDER OF Q U A K E R I S M

»9

ings of P e n n himself, the f o u r cardinal principles of Q u a k e r faith. T h e s e principles are n o private property of the Friends, for they have been shared by countless communicants of other churches. B u t for three centuries they have been stressed by the Friends, a n d in some degree have marked them as "a peculiar p e o p l e . " T h e y formed the basis of the theological attacks u p o n early Q u a k erism, and they are the doctrines we have seen P e n n concerned to defend. T h e y are: the possession by all men of the L i g h t W i t h i n , the universality of grace, the obligation to seek perfection, and belief in a c o n t i n u i n g revelation. In the eyes of other Protestant critics, the L i g h t W i t h i n came into conflict with the accepted significance of the historical Christ; the doctrine of universal grace collided with the contemporary Calvinistic teaching of predestination and election; the search for perfection was attacked as g i v i n g works rather than faith the first place, a n d as presumptuous and impractical; and the idea of a continuing revelation was opposed to the finality of the scriptural revelation, a n d to the purely intellectual interpretation of truth in the schools. T h e s e principles held by the Quakers are capable of wide extension in life. T h e y have p r o f o u n d l y affected the entire attitude of Friends toward society and social activities. Early Friends were convinced that it was not w h a t they said and wrote that mattered, b u t what they did. Deeds, not creeds, were the main thing. It was not the talk, but the walk, that counted; not "well held," b u t " w e l l d o n e . " It will be proper, then, to see what was the effect u p o n their life of this belief in a universal holy L i g h t available to all men, today as ever, in the search for perfection. M a n y people today speak of Q u a k e r i s m as "a way of life." T h i s is not only a convenient phrase, but it points out where to look for a Q u a k e r at his best. M o r e than a n y t h i n g else in the seventeenth century, it was the sham and hypocrisy of religion, its worldliness and hollowness, w h i c h distressed the Friends. T h e r e was too m u c h insistence o n profession of faith, and not e n o u g h on works. Penn once said in a reported sermon at Gracechurch Street M e e t i n g on A u g u s t 12, 1694: " B u t , say some people, we have received Christ, and believe in H i m , and believe the divine authority of the H o l y Scriptures. B u t let me ask you, ' W h o keeps house all this while? W h a t have y o u done for Christ?' " 1 2 I t was w h a t J o h n M i l t o n h a d already vividly described in 1644 in a passage of the Areopagitica—a See The Harmony of Divine and Heavenly Penn and others, p. 51·

Doctrines, etc., by William

9o

W I L L I A M PENN

passage which recalls the situation of Orgon in Molière's

tuffe:

Tar-

A wealthy man, addicted to his pleasure and to his profits, finds religion to be a traffic so entangled, and of so many piddling accounts, that of all mysteries he cannot skill to keep a stock going upon that trade. W h a t should he do? Fain he would have the name to be religious, fain he would bear up with his neighbours in that. W h a t does he therefore, but resolves to give over toiling, and to find himself out some factor [i.e., agent], to whose care and credit he may commit the whole managing of his religious affairs; some divine of note and estimation that must be. T o him he adheres, resigns the whole warehouse of his religion, with all the locks and keys into his custody; and indeed makes the very person òf that man his religion; esteems his associating with him a sufficient evidence and commendatory of his own piety. So that a man may say his religion is now no more within himself, but is become a dividual movable, and goes and comes near him according as that good man frequents his house. He entertains him, gives him gifts, feasts him, lodges him; his religion comes home at night, prays, is liberally supped, and sumptuously laid to sleep; rises, is saluted, and after the malmsey, or some well-spiced bruage, and better breakfasted than He whose morning appetite would have gladly fed on green figs between Bethany and Jerusalem, his religion walks abroad at eight, and leaves his kind entertainer in the shop trading all day without his religion. Such vicarious religion is one thing the Quakers could not condone. For them, the merchant in his shop with his one-price goods, the apprentice or the serving-girl, the farmer with his produce at the fair, were all called to follow the Inward Light and honor their Master, as well as were the Publishers of Truth. There was only one standard of conduct, and that was the highest. Regardless of sacrifice, perfection was their aim. On this point, Penn says: "They that deny perfection from sin deny the end of Christ's coming, if this beloved disciple [John] may be judge" (I John, III: 4» 5» 8. 9)·19 T h e search for perfection entailed some negative testimonies, as we shall see, which no longer have any significance and have been dropped; other testimonies are affirmative, having to do with democracy and the value of human life, which have been generally adopted by Christians in later times. Bound together by a common way of life, the Friends in England, like some of their mystic predecessors on the Continent of Europç, 14 became a sort of beloved community, with an esprit de corps which still constil i A Brief

Answer

to a False and Foolish

κ Cf. R . M . Jones, Spiritual

Reformers

Libel

(1678).

in the 16th. and ljth.

Centuries.

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

91

tutes a strong social tie: " W e became an holy household and family unto God, that live in his presence day and night to do his will, as becomes his redeemed and ransomed children by the most precious blood of his Son, and no more to return to folly." 15 W h e n the early Quakers were brought before justices or magistrates, charged with such misdemeanors as interruption of church services, causing riots, being vagrants, uttering blasphemous language, they prejudiced their examiners at once against them by adhering to two of their testimonies. These are now practically meaningless, because to us democrats they no longer have the great significance they possessed in seventeenth-century England. T h e first of these was to remain covered in the court, and the second was to use the singular pronoun in address, "thou" and "thee" and "thy," for the conventional "you" and "your." It was common to keep the hat on in the house and in the family at that time in England, and to remove it only in the presence of some more important company, when the gesture was accompanied by the new French custom of bowing and "making a leg," if the occasion warranted. T o the Quakers, who held that all men were equal in the sight of God, it was a hypocritical gesture thus to acknowledge social inequality. So they kept their hats on before everybody, except when engaged in vocal prayer, and addressed them in what was formerly the language of social equality. Moreover, they argued that if " T h o u " was good enough to employ to God in prayer, it was good enough for a magistrate or even the king himself. Both these Quaker practices enraged the members of the judiciary, as insulting to them personally and to the majesty of the law. So magistrates ordered the hats to be removed by the attendants, and berated the Quakers for their lack of civility. N o one would make a great issue of these matters now, but at the time it was a "testimony" which induced much hardship on the offenders. T h e y were next administered the oath before evidence or defense could be admitted. T h i s brings us to the Friends' testimony against judicial oaths which has persisted to the present day. W i l l i a m Penn wrote his classic Treatise of Oaths in 1675, in which he has adduced one hundred and twenty-two authorities 1 6 from Pythagoras to William of Orange against the use of judicial oaths. O f course, the use of oaths in blasphemous speech to "strengthen" one's language was condemned, though then as now "there is a ι» To the Churches of Jesus throughout ie Graham, op. cit., p. 96.

the World (1677).

WILLIAM PENN 9* generation that cannot speak without Him, though they live without Him." " What distinguished the Quakers almost alone of Christian people in England was their refusal to take judicial oaths, such as to verify one's testimony or to assert allegiance to the king. As soon as the court offered these oaths, the Quakers refused them on the basis of Matthew V, 34 and James V, 12, and because the taking of an oath implied a double standard of truth. T h e use of an acceptable affirmation, instead of swearing on the book, was not established by Parliament until 1722, but Penn wrote it into the constitution of Pennsylvania from the start. An affirmation is now legally acceptable when offered throughout the British Empire and the United States. Beside following literally the biblical injunction, the Quaker argument was based on a single standard of truth, and the willingness to accept the same penalty for proof of perjury in the case of an affirmation as of a judicial oath. For those whose conscience is tender in this matter, the Quakers through thousands of fines and imprisonments have rendered a real service. Probably of all the testimonies associated in the popular mind with Quakerism, that of peace and nonresistance is the best known. The refusal to engage in organized murder is implicit in the Quaker conception of the sacredness of human life and personality, and in the belief that every man has within him a divine element which it is sacrilege to crush, still more so, utterly to destroy. This may be called the negative testimony. But there is a definite affirmative attitude, which is more important, and from the first has called for a definite expression of love and good will toward enemies. The first statement on the subject is that of George Fox, who, when urged by the commissioners of the Commonwealth in 1650 to take up arms, replied as related in his Journal (1:6869): " I told them, I knew from whence all wars arose, even from the lust, according to James' doctrine; and that I lived in the virtue of that life and power that took away the occasion of all wars." That is the Quaker answer, and the only conscientious one that holds water. It has two significant parts: One is so to live in the grip of Christian love for one's fellows as to wish them well, whatever the provocation may be; the second is to seek what is just, true, and right by resort to spiritual rather than physical forces. Ten years later, in 1660, George Fox and five other Friends assured Charles II, just come to the throne: it An Address to Protestants (1679).

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

93

We utterly deny all outward wars and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or pretence whatever; this is our testimony to the whole world. The Spirit of Christ by which we are guided, is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing of evil, and again to move us into it; and we certainly know and testify to the world, that the Spirit of Christ, which leads us unto all truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the kingdom of Christ, nor for the kingdom of this world . . . Therefore we cannot learn war any more. 18 T h o u g h this peace testimony has been corporately held for nearly three centuries, many individuals have of late renounced it. In the seventeenth century, however, it was felt by the early Quakers that war was utterly inconsistent with the profession of Christianity. When Cromwellian soldiers were convinced by the preaching of Fox and his companions, they laid down their arms and resigned from the army. When Thomas Lurting, a gunner on a British man-of-war in 1657, was suddenly convinced of his iniquity, he refused to fire his piece and, though naturally suspected of mutiny, never again had aught to do with war. 1 9 R i c h a r d Seller in 1665, on the Royal Prince in the campaign against the Dutch, refused to eat or serve the king's victuals, alleging that " m y warfare was spiritual, therefore I durst not fight with carnal weapons.'' Besse, the early historian of Quaker Sufferings, tells how Seller, like many other Quakers, was willing to help with the men wounded on his ship, and thus earned a free discharge f r o m the service. 20 T h e arguments in favor of defending a righteous cause by resort to physical force are very seductive, and they usually prevail over the natural reluctance which many Christians feel to entrust their cause to might alone. Let us see what a man like William Penn has to say on this point, which has of late years so deeply engaged the conscience of many people. Except in An Essay towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe (1693), to be considered later, Penn did not treat at length of the moral question of war. Actual participation in hostilities was not then shared by such vast numbers of the population as at present. Indeed, the Quakers were so aloof from any thought of taking part in war that they hardly needed to be strengthened in their position. T h e r e is little trace 18

Summarized from George Fox, Journal. ie The Fighting Sailor turned Peaceable Christian (1710). 20 Besse, Sufferings, U, 159.

94

WILLIAM PENN

of any persecution visited upon them for conscientious objection to war as compared with that to which they were subjected for the comparatively minor reasons which have already been mentioned. Beside the religious stop in their minds already referred to, they felt always the total inadequacy of physical force to bring about good spiritual or moral ends. W e shall meet this attitude in the next chapter, where we shall see how much Penn had to say about toleration versus persecution. In A Comprehensive Discourse, which he wrote as a preface to his friend Robert Barclay's memorable writings in 1692, he says: But if Lust be the ground of war, what is become of the doctrine of Christianity among those supposed Christians? And what are they that show a pleasure in the accounts of the bloodiest battles? Can a Christian of Christ's making look upon the blood of men, or hear of it without horror and distress of spirit? Less surely can they shed it, or encourage those that have a delight or part in that man-slaying work. But how low and grossly are some professed Christians fallen from the nature of true religion, and the purity and power of the faith . . . that hang their religion and gospel upon their swords and guns, and pin it upon an arm of flesh; as if the gospel could be overcome of that which cannot touch it. It is a tragedy for Penn that Christians even of the same faith strive against each other, "praying to the same God to destroy one another, and singing psalms to God when they have wickedly destroyed one another." In fact, one of the minor causes of persecution was the Quaker refusal to illuminate windows in the city when a national celebration for a victory was decreed. In the Quaker attitude toward war, we do well to notice the consistency with which the Friends originally would have nothing to do with it. It is, in fact, hardly fair to cheer and set off fireworks for a victory which one has used no carnal weapons to gain. For the Friends, the whole method of securing the right was wrong. T h e y loved to think of how the peaceful Christian martyrs eventually triumphed over the power of Rome. T h e y shared the conviction of St. Paul that nothing could separate him from the love of God, and they believed that no cause or circumstance warranted the doing of evil that good might ensue. T h i s is logical, but it requires faith, consistency, willingness to suffer the censure of one's friends, and an inextinguishable love for all men as fellow sons of God. T h e price of such an attitude is more than many Friends

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

95

today are willing to pay; but it is possible that the world may come to it as the only solution of an intolerable situation. It may be supposed by someone at this point that the Quaker principle of nonresistance proceeds from indifference to national and international welfare. Such an inference, however, is not warranted. T h e Friends have always recognized the importance of justice and truth, clean and moral lives, gentleness and care for those who are in distress or are underprivileged. T h e only difference between them and some other Christian people is that in their philosophy injustice, misrepresentation, extravagance, cruelty, and immorality can be most effectively combated and defeated by active demonstrations of love for those who are delinquent in these respects. They trust in spiritual forces. T o them war seems to place a moratorium upon the virtues they admire, and to bring in its train all the social vices which they abhor. It was generally believed by Christian people until quite recently that national calamities were sent by an avenging God for national sin. This belief seemed to be fully warranted by a reference to the Old Testament history of the ancient Jews. But probably few people hold the belief today. T h a t national calamities do follow upon national sin is frequently observable, but we attribute this fact nowadays to the natural sequence of cause and effect, without invoking God in the role of an avenger. We incline to hold man alone responsible for the results of his own wickedness and folly. It is not strange, therefore, to find Penn attacking various kinds of wickedness as a threat to the welfare of the nation as well as of the individual. Men still believed then that the Lord spoke truth when He said "vengeance is mine," and that men were wisely guided who said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." We may consult An Address to Protestants (1679) for Penn's conception of Christian duty toward the prevailing sins of the day. He realized, as we do now, that man is responsible for his own mental climate, that a man cannot sin lightly, that the nation is composed of individuals, and that all are involved in national retribution. He speaks here as a Quaker, but his Address was intended for the serious consideration of all Protestant Christians. He takes up in turn: drunkenness, whoredoms and fornication, excess in apparel, furniture and living, gambling, oaths, profanity and blasphemy. First reminding England that "we rather seek our ease than our security," and imploring her to "put not off thyself

WILLIAM PENN 96 with hay, straw and stubble, for they will burn, and the fire is at the door that will consume them," he proceeds to his subject. Drunkenness drowns man's reason and degrades him to the beast. T h e early Quaker testimony was in favor of temperance and against the drinking of healths; not until the nineteenth century did the total abstinence movement start. In Penn's judgment, beside the degrading harm to the individual, the economic loss was always present in the case of those who abused liquor: "the poor of England could be maintained by their excess." By "whoredoms" Penn means licentiousness, fornication, and adultery. The growth of these sins under Charles II he attributes to the unhappy influence of the French upon British standards of decency. Especially in and around London, he deplores the effect of "plays and romances" which portray immorality and encourage loose living. Turning bold and defiant, woman has dethroned modesty and made it unpopular. Not confining himself to the religious argument, Penn considers the effect of immorality upon health and upon the unhappy children, and points out how the state is weakened by the increase in illicit sexual relations and resulting bastardy. T o French influence also he attributes the excessive cost of women's clothes: "We have been more careful to receive the law from France for our clothes than from Christ for our conversation." Here again the economic argument is employed, as indeed it was in France a few years later by La Bruyère, that the excess amount spent upon unnecessary luxuries would support many poor. So much attention is given to eating and drinking, Penn says, that "the book of cookery is grown as big as the Bible." As for gaming, beside the poverty and misery that may arise from risking one's fortune, "men are accountable to the government for their time: there ought to be no idleness in the land." Whereas the preceding vices all relate to man, Penn points out that oaths and blasphemies refer to God himself. Penn is here speaking of blasphemous speech, and not of the judicial oaths which were treated above. On behalf of virtue in general in its national significance, he says: "Without the preservation of virtue it is impossible to maintain the best constitution that can be made." National righteousness is worth seeking, preferably through education, for he defies anyone to deny that "there is not an instance to be found where the hand of God was against a righteous nation, or where the hand of God was not against an

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

97

unrighteous nation; a n d where a just government perished, or a n unjust government long prospered." Unfortunately, "men are apt to prefer the base pleasure of their personal extravagancies to all endeavours after a f u t u r e benefit." R a t h e r "let G o d have a share in your concern; remember H i m as well as yourselves." Only when we have used education to produce moral character by an intelligent choice of studies and by using gentleness rather than flogging, can we cooperate with the magistrates and make England an "island of peace a n d lasting tranquility." It is in this final phrase that we recognize that P e n n was always p r o u d of being an Englishman, a n d was ready to take the responsibility attached to that honor. George Fox a n d others of the early Friends were thoroughgoing internationalists, when they thought of political affairs at all. But Penn was conscious a n d p r o u d of his n a t i o n : he wanted it to be the best and finest h u m a n product in the world. Fox was a child of God and could not have been described otherwise; P e n n was a subject of Charles II, a n d significantly calls himself here a "real Christian and a true Englishman." It is observable through all Penn's writing and practice that he believes virtue a n d righteousness to be firmly attached to national prosperity, contentment, and progress. T h i s is sound old Jewish morality, as has been suggested. Penn everywhere maintains that it is in the interest of government to suppress vice a n d cherish virtue as a safeguard to the f u t u r e of the nation. T h i s same Address to Protestants contains some typical specimens of Penn's talent for the p u n g e n t expression of his moral observations: "Spiritual flattery of ourselves is most pernicious." So complete is the monopoly of the clergy that " m e n must pay them for coming in a n d going out of the world." "Conscience is not to be reputed conscience, when compelled." "So mean spirited are the people as to take all u p o n trust for their souls, that would not trust an Archbishop about a slit groat." "Either p u t o u t o u r eyes, or let us use them." "Protestancy is a restoring to every m a n his just right of inquiry and choice." T h e King should r e m e m b e r "never to t h i n k him true to Caesar that is false to his own conscience." "Charity is more powerful than severity; persuasion t h a n penal laws." "Whoever is in the wrong, few think the persecutor in the right." '* 'Tis base coin that needs imposition to make it current, b u t t r u e metal passeth for its own intrinsic value." "Persecution entered w i t h creed making." For seventeen years, P e n n says, protests have been m a d e to Parliament without any lasting redress

9»

WILLIAM PENN

of the abuse of power exercised over conscience by the Anglican Church. He appeals now to the civil magistrates: "Thousands have been excommunicated and imprisoned, whole families undone, not a bed left in the house, not a cow in the field, nor any com in the bam; widows and orphans uncommiserated, no regard had to age or sex. And what for? Only because of their meeting to worship God after another (yet not a less peaceable) manner than according to the way of the Church of England." T h i s may have been the last attempt of Penn to secure justice for Dissenters in England before becoming involved in his plans for government in America. T h e way of reform at home seemed blocked. We should be unjust, however, to William Penn the Quaker moralist, if we did not show him at his best in his No Cross, No Crown, where he pleads with his former associates in behalf of simplicity, temperance, modesty, and a virtuous life. We may select a few passages which still have their application today. George Fox had already addressed himself to the same task, but not with such profuse and intimate detail as Penn: "Sumptuous apparel, rich unguents, delicate washes, stately furniture, costly cookery, and such diversions as balls, masques, music-meetings, plays, romances, etc., which are the delight and entertainment of the times, belong not to the holy path which Jesus and his true disciples trod to glory." After deploring luxury in eating and drinking, he continues: "There is another part of luxury, which has great place with vain man and woman, and that is the gorgeousness of apparel, one of the foolishest, because most costly, empty and unprofitable excesses people can well be guilty of." Dress should be primarily for warmth, decency, and to distinguish the sexes. T h e wantonness, idleness, and effeminacy encouraged by stage plays naturally aroused Penn's concern. He cites "those famous men Anaxagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristides, Cato, Seneca, Epictetus, etc.," as supporting his regret that men should be occupied with such "inventions of mere pride and luxury; toys, so apish and fantastic; entertainments so dull and earthly, that a rattle, a baby, a hobby-horse, a top, are by no means so foolish in a simple child, nor unworthy of his thoughts, as are such inventions, of the care and pleasure of men." " T h e play-houses, like so many hellish seminaries, do most perniciously conduce to these sad and miserable ends; where little besides frothy, wanton, if not directly obscene and profane humours, are represented; which are of notorious ill consequence upon the minds of most, especially the

DEFENDER OF QUAKERISM

99

youth that frequent them." Yet society condones these entertainments: "Such is the latitudinarian impudence of this age, that they canonize themselves for saints, if not guilty of every Newgate-filth, and kennel-impiety. T h e pretended innocency of these things steals away their minds from that which is better, into the love of them: nay, it gives them confidence to plead for them, and by no means will they think the contrary. But why? Because it is a liberty that feeds the flesh, and gratifies the lustful eye and palate of poor mortality." Of the trivial pastimes and conversation of the world's people, he says: "So vain are they in their imaginations, and dark in their understandings, that they not only believe them innocent, but persuade themselves they are good Christians all this while, and to rebuke them is worse than heresy. T h u s are they strangers to the hidden life; and by these things are they diverted from all serious examination of themselves; and a little by-rote babble, with a forced zeal of half an hour's talk in other men's words, which they have nothing to do with, is made sufficient." But why are men and women satisfied with such vapid entertainment? " O h , there are other guests! what are they? Pharamond, Cleopatra, Cassandra, Clelia; a play, a ball, a spring-garden; the park, the gallant, the exchange; in a word, the world." T h e French novels referred to \vere much read at this time both in France and England, but the Friends felt that they could have no truck with such trivial things: " T h e r e f o r e it is that we cannot, we dare not, square our conversation by the world's: no, but by our plainness and moderation to testify against such extravagant vanities; and by our grave and steady life to manifest our dislike, on God's behalf, to such intemperate and wanton curiosity; yea, to deny ourselves what otherwise perhaps we lawfully could use with a just indifference, if not satisfaction, because of its use amongst the generality." T h e practical man reveals himself here, as so often elsewhere, in his moral appeals: " I t is the interest of good government to curb and rebuke excesses: for it prevents many mischiefs. Luxury brings effeminacy, laziness, poverty, and misery; but temperance preserves the land. It keeps out foreign vanities, and improves our own commodities. Now we are their debtors, then they would be debtors to us for our native manufactures." T h u s to the Puritan protest against frivolity, so frequent in the seventeenth century, Penn adds practical considerations based on his interest in the balance of trade. George F o x would have betrayed no such concern.

ΙΟΟ

WILLIAM PENN

Chapters X I V - X V I I I of No Cross, No Crown, from which these extracts have been taken, contain perhaps the best Quaker utterance against luxury and extravagance in the conduct of private life. Penn thought of his friends, in the frivolity of whose life he could no longer share, and addressed them thus: My friends, my soul mourns for you. I have been with and among you. Your life and pastime are not strangers to my notice; and with compassion, yea, inexpressible pity, I bewail your folly. O that you would be wise! O that the just One in yourselves were heard! O that eternity had time to plead a little with you! Why should your beds, your glasses, your clothes, your tables, your loves, your plays, your parks, your treats, your recreations; poor perishing joys, have all your souls, your time, your care, your purse, and consideration? Be admonished, I beseech you, in the name of the living God, by one who, as some of you know, hath had his share in these things, and consequently time to know how little the like vanities conduce to true and solid happiness.

We have seen Penn in this chapter as the Quaker apologist. It is the least known and perhaps the least attractive of his activities. But to understand Penn, one must understand his religion. We have seen him defending all the principal tenets and "testimonies" of his new-found Friends. His religious writings date almost entirely from the twelve years following his "convincement," before the excessive cares of the world and of his government fell upon his shoulders and led him upon a larger stage. During these twelve years he was also busy traveling, preaching, setting up his own home, and doing time in prison. In spite of other occupations, he found time to write perhaps thirty formal pamphlets and books, in some of which an astonishing amount of the world's best literature is drawn upon. We are willing to leave Penn the Quaker apologist with this note of appeal to his former associates, for he was a tender-hearted man, and wished that his friends might share in the same blessings which he himself had received in his new religious commitment.

III THE APOSTLE OF TOLERATION OR about a dozen years William Penn was prominent as a defender of his coreligionists. During this time he had faced the probability of losing his father's fortune and blessing, he had been four times in prison, he had given of his own fortune, energy, and time freely to the public debates, the preaching service, and the pamphlet wars which were the natural expression of religious enthusiasm in his day. Throughout this period he had been in all his activities above all a Quaker. He had learned the faith and practice of Quakerism inside and out. He had become one of its recognized spokesmen, and had paid the penalty of being such. He had not quit the world; he still had many worldly friends and associations. But over all his worldly nature he had laid a layer—a very thick layer—of Quakerism. It was by his Quakerism that he was distinguished from the worldly society which he would naturally have frequented, and it was by his worldly associations that he stood out in the religious Society which he had espoused. In his own lifetime he ran the risk of being a speckled bird: there was an element among Friends which looked upon him with a degree of suspicion; and there were old friends in the world he had left who found it hard to overlook his strange words and manners. But his personal prestige, his defense of the Quakers, his service to his nation, and his place as the greatest of American founders, have combined now to put him among the first men of his time. In this chapter we shall be exclusively occupied with Penn the Englishman, the defender of the ancient rights of his countrymen as citizens and subjects. He was proud of his race and country. When he wrote in 1682 to Lord Culpepper of Virginia that " I am like to be an adopted American," 1 because he was so greatly enamored of his new city and province, he only emphasized the fact that in spite of all temptation, he was and always "remained an Englishman." In a life of seventy-four years, four years in his

F

1 Mem. Hist. Soc. Fa., Vol. IV, Pt. I, p. 172. 101

102

WILLIAM PENN

A m e r i c a n w o o d s are n o t e n o u g h to q u a l i f y h i m f o r any o t h e r citizenship t h a n that of an E n g l i s h m a n . P e n n was by n a t u r e interested in g o v e r n m e n t a n d its problems, b u t w i t h the e x c e p t i o n of the a f t e r m a t h of his o n e most historic trial in 1670, h e d i d n o t take u p seriously the rights of citizens u n t i l 1679. G o v e r n m e n t presented p l e n t y of p r o b l e m s i n his day, a n d m a n y m e n of P e n n ' s class were c o n c e r n e d w i t h them. H i s o w n taste a n d his q u a l i f i c a t i o n s w o u l d certainly h a v e d r a w n h i m into some p a r t i n g o v e r n m e n t , h a d it n o t b e e n that he h a d disqualified himself for active p a r t i c i p a t i o n by a d o p t i n g Q u a k e r i s m . H e c o u l d o n l y l o o k o n a n d write. A f t e r his conversion, he l o o k e d at everyt h i n g t h r o u g h a n e w p a i r of glasses. T o i n t e r p r e t Q u a k e r i s m to the p u b l i c he h a d already g i v e n a dozen years. N o w , f o r the n e x t q u a r t e r of a century, he was to try to demonstrate that g o v e r n m e n t c o u l d be c o n d u c t e d i n c o n f o r m i t y w i t h Q u a k e r p r i n c i p l e s — t h a t Q u a k e r i s m was p r a c t i c a l w h e n a p p l i e d to the state. It n e e d n o t be p o i n t e d o u t that Q u a k e r i s m h a d n o e x p e r i e n c e i n this larger field. W e k n o w of n o o t h e r Q u a k e r of P e n n ' s time w h o theorized o n government.. F o r Q u a k e r i s m is p r i m a r i l y a personal r e l i g i o n , a n d it h a d k e p t o u t of all p a r t or interference in p u b l i c affairs. A l l it h a d asked was the reasonable r i g h t to live a n d w o r s h i p free f r o m interference w i t h its delicate conscience, to live free of offense to G o d a n d m a n . G o v e r n m e n t in Q u a k e r eyes was not, a n d is n o t n o w , a n e n g i n e f o r c o m p u l s i o n or a source of privilege a n d p a t r o n a g e . P e n n ' s later c o n v i c t i o n that the less governm e n t the better, was i n accord w i t h Q u a k e r sentiment. M o s t of all was it i m p o r t a n t to P e n n and his coreligionists that the civil l a w s h o u l d confine itself to the i m m o r a l a n d the c r i m i n a l ; a n d that the ecclesiastical l a w s h o u l d a t t e n d to its o w n affairs. T h e r e was, in his j u d g m e n t , n o h a r m i n a lack of religious conformity. W h a t was essential f o r E n g l a n d was national unity, if she was to flourish. A n d u n i t y a n d g o o d w i l l c o u l d p r e v a i l only if men's consciences w e r e free to w o r s h i p as they pleased. It is e v i d e n t that m o r e t h a n a decade of trials, h a r d s h i p , a n d persecution n o w raised in his m i n d the q u e s t i o n : " W h a t can I as a Q u a k e r , w o r k i n g w i t h i n the f r a m e of Q u a k e r i s m , d o to a d v a n c e that liberty of conscience to w h i c h all m y f e l l o w citizens are e n t i t l e d as o n e of tire rights of man?" P e n n was n o w i n his m i d d l e thirties, a n d E n g l a n d was i n 1679. M o s t of the p u b l i c w r i t i n g he was yet to d o falls i n the succeeding t w e n t y years. T h e character of it w i l l b e q u i t e different f r o m that

APOSTLE OF TOLERATION of his "first manner." It will have a larger appeal because it is to treat of national questions; it will be in better style, because he has had more practice in writing and because he is no longer trying to crush his adversaries in a single-handed polemic; his wide reading in the field of government and law will be used to support his contention in favor of the inalienable rights of free Englishmen. In short, he was older and better balanced. When considering the vast output of this Quaker statesman, it is well to remember why so little of it is part of our current reading today. T h e purely theological disputes of the seventeenth century are no longer of consequence to a generation that has given over quarreling about points which it cannot understand. We are now out in search of a basis of religious cooperation, as Penn himself recommended. T h e civil rights which he claimed from government have been won and are incorporated not only in the constitution of Pennsylvania, as we shall see, but also of the United States. Both the religious and civil issues to which he devoted himself for thirty years are now closed. We take our religious and civil liberties for granted, without inquiring how we became possessed of what are now unquestioned rights. It is in this sense that Penn staked out an advance in h u m a n progress, and this is his greatest claim to fame. He protested against certain abuses and asserted certain rights so manfully that the job will never have to be done again. There are a few titles, however, which still have significance. If governmental and institutional integrity have advanced, one cannot speak so confidently of personal and social morality. Here No Cross, No Crown is not out of date. Anyone who still feels the contrast between his own Christian profession and his social ethics can read with profit the book which contains Penn's most persuasive writing, and into which he put all his solicitude for the welfare of his worldly associates. Unique is his Treatise of Oaths, in which the essential immorality of a double standard of truth is effectively shown. " T r u t h " was the Quakers' great word, and Penn had a vested interest in maintaining the sacredness of a man's solemn affirmation. T h e world at large has not yet reached the Quaker position in respect to oaths, though it is tolerant of it. As for war, it starts in the individual heart, but it spreads to government, and is expressed now, as never before, in national terms. T h i s greatest present disgrace and curse of humanity of course occupied Penn in his time also. H e devoted in 1693 his proposal for a European Diet

104

WILLIAM PENN

to a theoretical plan for insuring international peace. By arbitration and mutual surrender of certain privileges, he thought lasting peace might be secured. The problem of war still awaits solution. But Penn's concern for peace sprang from his Quakerism. So did his testimony regarding oaths. So did his interest in the moral life of his nation. Refusing to believe that Christianity was not practical, and that man was not really called to perfection, the Quakers have in several instances been a jump ahead of their fellow Christians. They may have something to contribute toward securing permanent peace, if not by Penn's method, perhaps by some other. Finally, it should be remembered that a feature of Quakerism has been its carry-over value from faith to works, from profession to action. It will now be apparent why we had to devote considerable space in the preceding chapter to a summary of Quaker faith. We shall need it as a background in order to understand Penn's approach to questions involving the citizen and his government in this and the succeeding chapter. The first serious encounter of Penn with the law was the most dramatic and, from a historical point of view, the most important. Every time the Friends assembled for worship in their meetinghouses, they exposed themselves to interruption and arrest under the Conventicle Act of 1664, which was reënacted in 1670. Other nonconformist congregations might meet in secret, or otherwise circumvent this law, which forbade the assembly for worship of more than five adult persons beside the family in whose house the meeting took place. But with a fine disregard for consequences, the Friends continued to hold their meetings open to the public in their regular houses of worship. The only reason they were not crushed out of existence is that the attitude of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities varied from time to time and from place to place. Because of this vacillation in official severity, the Quakers found time between imprisonments to reform their ranks and to maintain an unswerving loyalty to their testimony in favor of the right to worship in accordance with the dictates of their conscience. Penn was just back from a visit of eight months in Ireland, of which he has left an account in his Irish Journall, in the interests of his father's property at Shangarry. He had taken the opportunity there to preach widely, and to solicit successfully with his old friends in authority at Cork and Dublin for the release and relief of Quakers in distress. Now he himself was about to be caught in the toils of the law, and through the parody of justice to which he

APOSTLE OF T O L E R A T I O N was subjected, and through the unshakable fortitude of his jury, he was able to advance the rights of the defendant to a point from which we may hope there will be no future retreat in the Englishspeaking world. It was a Sunday morning, August 14, 1670. Friends had assembled for worship at the meetinghouse in Gracechurch, or "Gracious," Street, London, only to find the house closed by the authorities. They forthwith proceeded to hold their meeting in the adjoining street, where a considerable crowd assembled, and was presently addressed by Penn. He was thereupon arrested together with a companion, William Mead, the constables being provided in advance with a warrant for these two men. This time the authorities were determined to secure Penn. So they did not trust to the provisions of the Five Mile Act, forbidding nonconformist ministers and school teachers to preach or teach within five miles of a city, for Penn, like other Quaker preachers, was not an ordained minister in the sense contemplated by the Act. Nor was the Conventicle Act applicable, because any possibility of a secret meeting had already been prevented by padlocking the meetinghouse. So the indictment, as we shall see, was for causing a riot in Gracechurch Street. It is not the arrest which in this case is important, for that was an everyday matter; it is the manner in which the subsequent trial on September 1, 3, 4, and 5 was conducted, the defense of Penn and Mead, and the courage of the prisoners and their jury in withstanding the abuse and hostility of the court. Penn's knowledge of English law from Magna Charta down is extraordinary on all occasions. In addition to his brief experience at Lincoln's Inn in 1665, he must have continued by private reading to make himself thoroughly familiar with the Common L a w of the realm. Penn published shortly after his release, apparently from stenographic notes, an account of the trial entitled The People's Ancient and Just Liberties Asserted. Instead of our summarizing the proceedings, the reader will be better satisfied to read for himself the significant part of the document, and share in the emotions aroused by the participants. It is to be noted that the date in the indictment is wrong, that Penn and Mead were accused of a conspiracy that Penn should speak, and they were alleged to have caused a riot. What follows gives an idea of the way in which both prisoners and jury were browbeaten. T h e significance of the trial was quickly realized. Though the jurymen at the trial were committed to Newgate, they

ιο6

WILLIAM PENN

were released on a writ of habeas corpus and appealed for redress to the Court of Common Pleas, before which a galaxy of legal talent argued for and against the right of a jury to bring in a verdict opposed to the instructions of the court. The twelve judges of this court (with one exception for cause) were in unanimous agreement with Sir John Vaughan's famous opinion in favor of the jurors and of the independent rights of juries. As one of their counsel put it, judges must confine themselves to an attempt "to open the eyes of the jurors, but not to lead them by the nose." Perhaps the Penn trial will be better appreciated if we present here a few extracts from the eloquent summary of its significance by Hepworth Dixon in 1851: It established a truth which William Penn never ceased to i n c u l c a t e — that unjust laws are powerless weapons when used against an upright people. It proved that in England at least the ruling power of the moment, even when agreed in all its branches, was not omnipotent; that there still remained, and ever must remain, a grand check to unjust government in the public conscience. . . . It may be said without exaggeration that these trials gave a new meaning—infused a new l i f e — i n t o the institution of the jury. . . . Driven from the court, the legislative assembly, and the bench of justice, the spirit of Puritan Democracy found an impregnable citadel in the jury-room. . . . From that day the jury ceased to be a mere institution—it became a living power in the state: a power not inferior to either King or Commons. O n e of the most sacred relics of the Saxon Democracy, it suddenly reacquired its ancient importance: an importance which it has ever since maintained. 2

With this much preliminary comment in our minds, let us press into the Old Bailey with the rest of the large crowd, to witness the trial of a well-known young Quaker and his companion, once a captain in the army, but now a linen draper, on the charge of having caused a riotous assembly in Gracechurch Street. The following were present on the Bench as Justices: Starling, Mayor; Howel, Recorder; Bludworth, Peak, Ford, Robinson, Shelden, Aldermen; Brown, Smith, Edwards, Sheriffs. Twelve citizens of London served as a jury, of whom Veer was foreman and Bushel an important member. After the jury was sworn, the following indictment was read: That William Penn, Gent, and William Mead, late of London, 2 W. Hepworth Dixon, Memoirs Penn, pp. 113-14.

of the Private

and Public

Life

of

William,

APOSTLE OF T O L E R A T I O N

107

Linen-Draper, with divers other persons, to the jurors unknown, to the number of three hundred, the 15th. day of August, in the 22nd. year of the King, about eleven of the clock, in the forenoon of the same day, with force and arms, etc. in the Parish of St. Bennet Grace-Church, in Bridge-Ward, London, in the street called Grace-Church-Street, unlawfully and tumultuously did assemble and congregate themselves together, to the disturbance of the peace of the said Lord the King: And the aforesaid William Penn and William Mead, together with other persons, to the jurors aforesaid unknown, then and there so assembled and congregated together; the aforesaid William Penn, by agreement between him and William Mead, before made, and by abetment of the aforesaid William Mead, then and there in the open street, did take upon himself to preach and speak, and then and there, did preach and speak, unto the aforesaid William Mead, and other persons there, in the street aforesaid, being assembled and congregated together, by reason whereof a great concourse and tumult of people in the street aforesaid, then and there, a long time did remain and continue, in contempt of the said Lord the King, and of his law; to the great disturbance of his peace, to the great terror and disturbance of many of his liege people and subjects, to the ill example of all others in the like case offenders, and against the peace of the said Lord the King, his crown and dignity. W h a t say you William Penn, and William Mead, are you guilty, as you stand indicted, in manner and form as aforesaid, or not guilty? Penn: It is impossible that we should be able to remember the indictment verbatim, and therefore we desire a copy of it, as is customary on the like occasions. Recorder: You must first plead to the indictment, before you can have a copy of it. Penn: I am unacquainted with the formality of the law, and therefore before I shall answer directly, I request two things of the court. First, that no advantage may be taken against me, nor I deprived of any benefit, which I might otherwise have received. Secondly, that you will promise me a fair hearing, and liberty of making my defence. Court: N o advantage shall be taken against you. You shall have liberty. You shall be heard. Penn: T h e n I plead not guilty in manner and form. [Upon the same assurance, Mead also pleaded not guilty, and court

ιο8

WILLIAM PENN

adjourned until afternoon. At that time, the prisoners were ordered in, but were made to wait upon the trials of felons and murderers for five hours, when court adjourned until the 3rd. of September. A court attendant removed the prisoners' hats when they entered the court, and the trial proceeded thus:] Mayor: Sirrah, who bid you put off their hats? Put on their hats again. Observation: Whereupon one of the officers putting the prisoners' hats upon their heads (pursuant to the order of the court) brought them to the bar. Ree.: Do you know where you are? Penn: Yes. Ree.: Do you know it is the King's court? Penn: I know it to be a court, and I suppose it to be the King's court. Ree.: Do you know there is respect due to the court? Penn: Yes. Ree.: Why do you not pay it then? Penn: I do so. Ree.: Why do you not put off your hat then? Penn: Because I do not believe that to be any respect. Ree.: Well, the court sets forty marks apiece upon your heads, as a fine, for your contempt of the court. Penn: I desire it may be observed, that we came into the court with our hats off (that is, taken off), and if they have been put on since, it was by order from the bench; and therefore not we, but the bench should be fined. Mead: I have a question to ask the Recorder: Am I fined also? Ree.: Yes. Mead: I desire the jury, and all people to take notice of this injustice of the Recorder, who spake not to me to pull off my hat, and yet hath he put a fine upon my head. O fear the Lord, and dread his power, and yield to the guidance of his holy spirit; for He is not far from every one of you. [The hearing being resumed, three witnesses testified that they had seen from three to five hundred persons present at the meeting in Gracious Street, and had seen Penn speaking, but on account of the noise and confusion, had not heard anything he said. One of the witnesses having said that he had not seen Captain Mead there, the court asked Mead directly whether he had been present.]

APOSTLE OF TOLERATION

log

Mead: It is a maxim in your own law, Nemo tenetur accusare seipsum, which if it be not true Latin, I am sure that it is true English, That no man is bound to accuse himself. And why dost thou offer to ensnare me with such a question? Doth not this show thy malice? Is this like unto a judge, that ought to be council (sic) for the prisoner at the bar? Ree.: Sir, hold your tongue, I did not go about to ensnare you. Penn: I desire we may come more close to the point, and that silence be commanded in the court. [The cryer calls for silence in the court.] Penn: We confess ourselves to be so far from recanting, or declining to vindicate the assembling of ourselves, to preach, pray, or worship the eternal, holy, just God, that we declare to all the world, that we do believe it to be our indispensable duty, to meet incessantly upon so good an account; nor shall all the powers upon earth be able to divert us from reverencing and adoring our God who made us. Brown: You are not here for worshipping God, but for breaking the law. You do yourselves a great deal of wrong in going on in that discourse. Penn: I affirm I have broken no law, nor am I guilty of the indictment that is laid to my charge. And to the end, the bench, the jury, and myself, with those that hear us, may have a more direct understanding of this procedure, I desire you would let me know by what law it is you prosecute me, and upon what law you ground my indictment. Ree.: Upon the common law. Penn: Where is that common law? Ree.: You must not think that I am able to run up so many years, and over so many adjudged cases, which we call common law, to answer your curiosity. Penn: This answer I am sure is very short of my question; for if it be common, it should not be so hard to produce. Ree.: Sir, will you plead to your indictment? Penn: Shall I plead to an indictment that hath no foundation in law? If it contain that law you say I have broken, why should you decline to produce that law, since it will be impossible for the jury to determine to bring in their verdict, who have not the law produced, by which they should measure the truth of this indictment, and the guilt, or contrary of my fact.

1 IO

WILLIAM PENN

Ree.: You are a saucy fellow; speak to the indictment. Penn: I say, it is my place to speak to matter of law. I am arraigned a prisoner; my liberty, which is next to life itself, is now concerned; you are many mouths and ears against me, and if I must not be allowed to make the best of my case, it is hard: I say again, unless you show me, and the people, the law you ground my indictment upon, I shall take it for granted, your proceedings are merely arbitrary. Ree.: T h e question is whether you are guilty of this indictment? Penn: T h e question is not whether I am guilty of this indictment, but whether this indictment be legal. It is too general and imperfect an answer to say it is the common law, unless we knew both where, and what it is. For where there is no law, there is no transgression; and that law which is not in being, is so far from being common, that it is no law at all. Ree.: You are an impertinent fellow. Will you teach the court what law is? It's Lex non scripta, that which many have studied thirty or forty years to know, and would you have me tell you in a moment? Penn: Certainly, if the common law be so hard to be understood, it's far from being very common; but if the Lord Cook in his Institutes be of any consideration, he tells us, that common law is common right; and that common right is the Great Charter privileges, confirmed 9 Hen. I l l , 29; 25 Edw. I, 1; 2 Edw. Ill, 8; Cook [i.e., Sir Edward Coke] Inst. 2, p. 56. Ree.: Sir, you are a troublesome fellow, and it is not for the honour of the court to suffer you to go on. Penn: I have asked but one question, and you have not answered me; though the rights and privileges of every Englishman be concerned in it. Ree.: If I should suffer you to ask questions till tomorrow morning, you would be never the wiser. Penn: That's according as the answers are. Ree.: Sir, we must not stand to hear you talk all night. Penn: I design no affront to the court, but to be heard in my just plea; and I must plainly tell you, that if you will deny me the Oyer of that law, which you suggest I have broken, you do at once deny me an acknowledged right, and evidence to the whole world your resolution to sacrifice the privileges of Englishmen to your sinister and arbitrary designs. Ree.: Take him away. My lord, if you take not some course with

APOSTLE OF TOLERATION

111

this pestilent fellow, to stop his mouth, we shall not be able to do anything tonight. Mayor: Take him away, take him away. T u r n him into the baledock. Penn: These are but so many vain exclamations. Is this justice, or true judgment? Must I therefore be taken away because I plead for the fundamental laws of England? However, this I leave upon your consciences, who are of the jury, (and my sole judges) that if these ancient fundamental laws which relate to liberty and property, (and are not limited to particular persuasions in matters of religion) must not be indispensably maintained and observed, who can say he hath right to the coat upon his back? Certainly our liberties are openly to be invaded; our wives to be ravished; our children slaved; our families ruined; and our estates led away in triumph, by every sturdy beggar and malicious informer, as their trophies, but our (pretended) forfeits for conscience' sake. The Lord of heaven and earth will be judge between us in this matter. Ree.: Be silent there. Penn: I am not to be silent in a case wherein I am so much concerned; and not only myself, but many ten thousand families besides. [Penn being haled to the bale-dock, the trial of Mead is taken up.] Mead: You men of the jury, here I do now stand to answer to an indictment against me, which is a bundle of stuff full of lies and falsehoods; for therein I am accused that I met vi et armis, illicite et tumultuose. Time was when I had freedom to use a carnal weapon, and then I thought I feared no man; but now I fear the living God, and dare not make use thereof, nor hurt any man; nor do I know I demeaned myself as a tumultuous person. I say, I am a peaceable man, therefore it is a very proper question what William Penn demanded in this case, an Oyer of the law on which our indictment is grounded. Ree.: 1 have made answer to that already. Mead: Turning his face to the jury, said, You men of the jury, who are my judges, if the Recorder will not tell you what makes a riot, a rout, or an unlawful assembly, Cook, he that once they called the Lord Cook, tells us what makes a riot, a rout, and an unlawful assembly,—A riot is when three, or more, are met together to beat a man, or to enter forcibly into another man's land, to cut down his grass, his wood, or break down his pales. [Here the Recorder interrupted him, and said, I thank you, Sir,

IIS

WILLIAM PENN

that you will tell me what the law is, scornfully pulling off his hat.] Mead: Thou mayst put on thy hat, I have never a fee for thee now. Brown: He talks at random, one while an Independent, another while some other religion, and now a Quaker, and next a Papist. Mead: Turpe est doctori cum culpa redarguii ipsum. Mayor: You deserve to have your tongue cut out. Ree.: If you discourse on this manner, I shall take occasion against you. Mead: Thou didst promise me, I should have fair liberty to be heard. Why may I not have the privilege of an Englishman? I am an Englishman, and you might be ashamed of this dealing. Ree.: I look upon you to be an enemy to the laws of England, which ought to be observed and kept, nor are you worthy of such privileges as others have. Mead: The Lord is judge between me and thee in this matter. [Mead was then removed to the bale-dock, where Penn already was. The Recorder then charged the jury. Whereupon Penn, although at a considerable distance from the bench, raised his voice and spoke thus:] Penn: I appeal to the jury, who are my judges, and this great assembly, whether the proceedings of the court are not most arbitrary, and void of all law, in offering to give the jury their charge in the absence of the prisoners. I say, it is directly opposite to, and destructive of the undoubted right of every English prisoner, as Cook in the s Inst, sg on the chapter of Magna Charta speaks. [The Recorder was visibly angry at this detection of his unwarranted procedure.] Ree.: Why ye are present, you do hear, do you not? Penn: No thanks to the court, that commanded me into the baledock. And you of the jury take notice, that I have not been heard, neither can you legally depart the court, before I have been fully heard, having at least ten or twelve material points to offer, in order to invalidate their indictment. Ree.: Pull that fellow down; pull him down. Mead: Are these according to the rights and privileges of Englishmen, that we should not be heard, but turned into the baledock, for making our defence, and the jury to have their charge given them in our absence? I say, these are barbarous and unjust proceedings.

APOSTLE OF TOLERATION Ree.: Take them away into the hole; to hear them talk all night, as they would, that I think doth not become the honour of the court; and I think you (the jury) yourselves would be tired out, and not have patience to hear them. [While the two prisoners were "in the stinking hole," the jury deliberated for an hour and a half, when they announced they were divided. Bushel was treated by the court as though he was responsible for a division, and the Mayor told him "I will put a mark upon you." After further deliberation, the jury returned and through the foreman announced that William Penn was "guilty of speaking in Gracious Street."] Court: Is that all? Foreman: That is all I have in commission. [The court tried to get the jurors to admit that Penn was speaking to an unlawful assembly and that there was a tumult of people; but they refused to be drawn into any more ample statement, despite much abuse from the court.] Ree.: The law of England will not allow you to depart, till you have given in your verdict. Jury: We have given in our verdict, and we can give in no other. Ree.: Gentlemen, you have not given in your verdict, and you had as good say nothing. Therefore go and consider it once more, that we may make an end of this troublesome business. [After a recess of half an hour, the jury brought in a signed verdict to the following effect:] We the jurors, hereafter named, do find William Penn to be guilty of speaking or preaching to an assembly, met together in Gracious Street, the 14th of August last, 1670, and that William Mead is not guilty of the said indictment. Mayor: What, will you be led by such a silly fellow as Bushel, an impudent, canting fellow? I warrant you, you shall come no more upon juries in haste. You are a foreman indeed, (addressing himself to the foreman). I thought you had understood your place better. Ree.: Gentlemen, you shall not be dismissed, till we have a verdict that the court will accept; and you shall be locked up, without meat, drink, fire, and tobacco. You shall not think thus to abuse the court; we will have a verdict by the help of God, or you shall starve for it. Penn: My jury, who are my judges, ought not to be thus menaced; their verdict should be free, and not compelled; the bench ought to wait upon them, but not forestall them. I do desire that

WILLIAM PENN "4 justice may be done me, and that the arbitrary resolves of the bench may not be made the measure of my jury's verdict. Ree.: Stop that prating fellow's mouth, or put him out of the court. Mayor: You have heard that he preached, that he gathered a company of tumultuous people, and that they do not only disobey the martial power, but the civil also. Penn: It is a great mistake: we did not make the tumult, but they that interrupted us. T h e jury cannot be so ignorant, as to think that we met there with a design to disturb the civil peace, since we were by force of arms kept out of our lawful house, and met as near it in the street, as their soldiers would give us leave; and because it was no new thing, (nor with the circumstances expressed in the indictment, but what was usual and customary with us) 'tis very well known that we are a peaceable people, and cannot offer violence to any man. The agreement of twelve men is a verdict in law, and such a one being given by the jury, I require the clerk of the peace to record it, as he will answer it at his peril. And if the jury bring in another verdict contradictory to this, I affirm they are perjured men in law. (And looking upon the jury, said) You are Englishmen, mind your privilege, give not away your right. [The jury assured Penn that they would not give away their right. Whereupon, court adjourned until seven oclock the next morning, being Sunday. Meanwhile, the jury was kept without any accommodation; "they had not so much as a chamberpot, though desired." When reconvened, the jury said that their foreman had their verdict.] Foreman: William Penn is guilty of speaking in Gracious Street. Mayor: T o an unlawful assembly? Bushel: No, my lord, we give no other verdict, than what we gave last night; we have no other verdict to give. Mayor: You are a factious fellow; I'll take a course with you. Bludworth: I knew Mr. Bushel would not yield. Bushel: Sir Thomas, I have done according to my conscience. Mayor: That conscience of yours would cut my throat. Bushel: No, my lord, it never shall. Mayor: But I will cut yours so soon as I can. Ree.: He has inspired the jury; he has the spirit of divination; methinks I feel him; I will have a positive verdict, or you shall starve for it.

APOSTLE OF TOLERATION

"5 Penn: I desire to ask the Recorder one question: Do you allow of the verdict given of William Mead? Ree.: It cannot be a verdict, because you are indicted for a conspiracy; and one being found not guilty, and not the other, it could not be a verdict. Penn: If not guilty be not a verdict, then you make of the jury, and Magna Charta, but a mere nose of wax. Mead: How! Is not guilty no verdict? Ree.: No, 'tis no verdict. Penn: I affirm, that the consent of a jury is a verdict in law; and if William Mead be not guilty, it consequently follows, that I am clear, since you have indicted us of a conspiracy, and I could not possibly conspire alone. [After a fresh charge from the bench, the jury retires again, but presently returns with the same verdict.] Ree.: What is this to the purpose? I say I will have a verdict. [And speaking to Bushel, the Recorder continued:] You are a factious fellow; I will set a mark upon you, and whilst I have anything to do in the city, I will have an eye upon you. Mayor: Have you no more wit than to be led by such a pitiful fellow? I will cut his nose. Penn: It is intolerable that my jury should be thus menaced. Is this according to the fundamental laws? Are not they my proper judges by the Great Charter of England? What hope is there of ever having justice done, when juries are threatened, and their verdicts rejected? I am concerned to speak, and grieved to see such arbitrary proceedings. Did not the Lieutenant of the Tower render one of them worse than a felon? And do you not plainly seem to condemn such for factious fellows, who answer not your ends? Unhappy are those juries, who are threatened to be fined, and starved, and ruined, if they give not in verdicts contrary to their consciences. Ree.: My lord, you must take a course with that same fellow. Mayor: Stop his mouth. Jailer, bring fetters, and stake him to the ground. Penn: Do your pleasure, I matter not your fetters. Ree.: Till now I never understood the reason of the policy and prudence of the Spaniards, in suffering the Inquisition among them. And certainly it will never be well with us, till something like the Spanish Inquisition be in England,

116

WILLIAM PENN

[The Recorder was about to leave the bench in a rage, but the Mayor called him back, whereupon he said:] Ree.: Gentlemen, we shall not be at this pass always with you. You will find the next sessions of Parliament, there will be a law made, that those that will not conform, shall not have the protection of the law. Mr. Lee, draw up another verdict, that they may bring it in special. Lee: I cannot tell how to do it. Jury: We ought not to be returned, having all agreed, and set our hands to the verdict. Ree.: Your verdict is nothing, you play upon the court. I say, you shall go together, and bring in another verdict, or you shall starve; and I will have you carted about the city, as in Edward the Third's time. Foreman: We have given in our verdict, and all agreed to it, and if we give in another, it will be a force upon us to save our lives. [The court then adjourned until seven o'clock the next morning, when the jury returned the same verdict, answering collectively and individually to their names, that neither Penn nor Mead was guilty as indicted.] Ree.: I am sorry, gentlemen, you have followed your own judgments and opinions, rather than the good and wholesome advice, which was given you. God keep my life out of your handsl But for this the court fines you forty marks a man, and imprisonment till paid. Penn: I demand my liberty, being freed by the jury. Mayor: No, you are in for your fines. Penn: Fines for what? Mayor: For contempt of the court. Penn: I ask if it be according to the fundamental laws of England, that any Englishman should be fined, or amerced, but by the judgment of his peers or jury; since it expressly contradicts the fourteenth and twenty-ninth chapters of the Great Charter of England, which say, no freeman ought to be amerced, but by the oath of good and lawful men of the vicinage. Ree.: Take him away, take him away, take him out of the court. Penn: I can never urge the fundamental laws of England, but you cry, take him away, take him away; but 'tis no wonder, since the Spanish Inquisition hath so great a place in the Recorder's heart. God Almighty, who is just, will judge you all for these things.

APOSTLE OF TOLERATION

117

[Prisoners and jury were then sent to Newgate for non-payment of their fines.] If there had been any doubt in Penn's mind as to the national importance of maintaining freedom of conscience and its attendant consequence of toleration of worship, it was dispelled by the interest of the public aroused by these two trials, one of the alleged culprits, and the later one of their jury. For the next fifteen or twenty years, toleration continued to claim his attention. In the intervals of marrying, debating, preaching, and preparing frames for his governments in the Jerseys and in Pennsylvania, he missed no chance to address his fellow citizens on the moral obligation and the political and economic advantages of freedom of conscience as applied to religious worship. Remembering that no one man has done more to secure for us the privilege of this freedom than has Penn, it will be only fair to cite his own words so far as necessary in order to follow the arguments which at last proved effective. The hardships to which the Quakers were exposed were, of course, constantly in the mind of Penn, and spurred him to renewed efforts to secure toleration for them. But we must not forget that what he sought for them he sought for others, and that all his fellow citizens were at long last destined to profit by the rights he secured for his own people. The first of his papers written after his account of his trial is Truth Rescued from Imposture (1670). This is a typical answer to one "S.S" who had seen fit not only to criticize Penn and his conduct at the trial, but also to animadvert in scandalous terms to the ethical conduct of his father, the still living Admiral. This latter libel on his father stung William to the quick, and he defended him in terms like those already quoted in our first chapter. This "S.S" was the discredited Sir Samuel Starling, the Lord Mayor in person. With filial anger Penn refers to him as a "parisite (sic) libeller," "ridiculous scribbler," and to his likes as "such swinish spirits." This pamphlet in five parts tells us nothing that is not better argued elsewhere: it is rather a cry from the heart and from prison, in defense of his father's professional record and of his own part in the late trial. When he wrote it, he was already in Newgate again for preaching, and the atmosphere of that prison must have been sometimes favorable to offensive language. Penn tells us in his Irish Journall that he began in Ireland his next important writing on toleration. It was finished in its final

ιι8

WILLIAM PENN

form in Newgate, whither, as just stated, he was committed for preaching at Wheeler Street Meeting. Entitled The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience, it is addressed to the supreme authority of England by "a prisoner for conscience sake." It is a plea for a return to the "good old admirable laws of England" in the matter of worship. He reproaches the present persecutors, who boast of the Reformation and are yet "adversaries to liberty of conscience," by which Penn means "the free and uninterrupted exercise of our consciences in that way of worship we are clearly persuaded God requires us to serve him in." He never ceases, in discussing toleration, to gird at Protestants for using themselves the very tactics and cruelty with which they charged the Catholics, not only formerly, but in these very days of the approaching "dragonnades" in France under Louis XIV. For himself, Penn confesses that he is "a very hearty dissenter from the established worship of these nations, as believing Protestants to have much degenerated from their first principles, and as owning the poor despised Quakers in life and doctrine to have espoused the cause of God, and to be the undoubted followers of Jesus Christ, in his most holy, strait and narrow way that leads to the eternal rest." He insists that there must be no hindrance to the Quakers meeting to worship according to their faith and persuasion, which no fear or favor of mortal man can cause them to neglect. All persecution for religion implies infallibility on the part of rulers, which is a frankly anti-Protestant attitude. Moreover, all restraint or persecution is futile, because it is temporal and is opposed to true religion which is spiritual: "What serves the divine principle in the universality of mankind, if man be restricted by the prescriptions of some individuals?" For "that man cannot be said to have any religion, that takes it by another man's choice, not his own." "Force may make an hypocrite; 'tis faith grounded upon knowledge that makes a Christian." T h e point for which Penn argued so cogently is the removal of religious faith and practice from the jurisdiction of government, that is, the complete separation of Church and State. "By government we understand an external order of justice, or the right and prudent disciplining of society, by just laws either in the relaxation or execution of them." So much for the legitimate business of government; but it is plainly unreasonable to inflict external punishment for a mental error (if indeed it be an error). Moreover, it is unjust for a government to demand support and yet accord no protection to its subjects. This cry of "no support without protec-

APOSTLE OF TOLERATION

"9 tion," like "no taxation without representation," has been more than once a cry of warning in monarchs' ears. Throughout his writings, Penn distinguishes nicely between "fundamental laws," which he considers indispensable and immutable—what the French Revolutionists called les droits de l'homme and the American Revolutionists called "self-evident truths"—and temporary and alterable laws reflecting changing opinions and judgments. It was under such temporary and alterable laws that Friends were being persecuted at the hands of Protestants, because the Anglicans in power were determined to maintain their position against Nonconformists and Catholics alike. Momentarily entrenched, these Anglicans now make "religion State policy; and faith and worship subservient to the humours and interests of superiors." Under the prevailing laws, "the Priests get, but the King and people lose" through the ruin and disaffection of large elements in the nation. For these new laws destroy the peace, the prosperity and the unity of the nation. After all, the use of force in such eases can have no good effects, for "force never yet made a good Christian or a good subject." A point to which Penn will turn again is that these temporary laws have deprived the people of ancient privileges gained for them in earlier reigns: "What can be harder than to take that from us by a law which the great indulgence and solicitude of our ancestors took such pains to entail upon us by law?" T h e relation of changeable to unalterable law is thus expressed: "It seems most rational that the superstructure cannot quarrel or invalid its own foundation without manifestly endangering its own security; effect is ever less noble than the cause, the gift than the giver, and the superstructure than the foundation." It is as unreasonable for government to interfere with our life and commerce with other men because of our religious opinions, as it would be to do so because our eyes are gray, black, brown, or blue. After adducing a formidable list of references to pagan and Christian writers in favor of toleration and liberty of conscience, including "honest Chaucer whose matter (and not his poetry) heartily affects me," he thus states his conclusion: "What can be more equal, what more reasonable, than liberty of conscience; so correspondent with the reverence due to God, and respect to the nature, practice, promotion and rewards of the Christian religion; the sense of divine writ; the great privilege of nature, and noble principle of reason; the justice, prudence and felicity of govern-

ISO

WILLIAM PENN

ment; and lastly, to the judgment and authority of a whole cloud of famous witnesses, whose harmony in opinion as much detects the unreasonableness and incharity of persecutors as their savage cruelties imply an high contempt of so solid determinations?" If, however, suffering must be endured, in spite of vain appeals for justice, then be it known "that meet we must, and meet we cannot but encourage all to do." 8 It will be recalled that in 1677 Penn made his second trip to Holland and western Germany. T h e trip was made with as distinguished a company of Quakers as ever traveled together on a religious mission. Penn has incorporated in his later account of this expedition a letter he wrote to the Prince Elector Palatine of Heidelberg, touching upon the subject which he wished to bring to the attention of Continental as well as British rulers. H e points out to the Elector the advantage to concord, industry, strength, wealth, immigration, and safety of his principality, if he will keep the church in its proper subordinate place. It is important, he tells the Prince, not to be "governed or clogged with the power of his clergy, which in most countries is not only a coordinate power, a kind of Duumvirateship in government, Imperium in Imperio, at least an eclipse to monarchy, but a superior power, and rideth the prince to their designs, holding the helm of the government, and steering not by the laws of civil freedom, but certain ecclesiastical maxims of their own, to the maintenance and enlargement of their worldly empire in their church." 4 T h i s little excursion into foreign affairs was, however, only a subsequent contribution to the unrelenting attack Penn was making at home upon the vested rights of the church to exercise force upon the conscience of British citizens. In Wisdom Justified of her Children (1673) are several doughty statements 011 this subject: "Whatever the power and art of the spirit of man can produce, will never be able to give or rule that true faith which overcomes the world; for that which may be known of God is manifested within man." "Because it is most reasonable for a man to believe according to his own conscience and not according to another man's conscience, [therefore] it is unrighteous to persecute a man for not maintaining that religion which in his conscience he believes to be false." H e states again the repeated assurance that "it is not our » Quotations in this and the two preceding paragraphs are from The Case of Liberty of Conscience (1670). * Travels in Holland and Germany (1694).

Great

APOSTLE OF T O L E R A T I O N business to meddle with government, but to obey or suffer for conscience' sake." In view of this unalterable determination of his Quakers, Penn adds: " A charitable connivance and Christian toleration often dissipates what rougher opposition fortifies. . . . It is a sure rule in divinity that God never loves to plant his church by violence and bloodshed." T h i s last quotation is in line with the advice of Charles I to Charles II, which Penn highly approved, though Charles II never took it seriously: " A charitable connivance and Christian toleration often dissipates their strength whom a rougher opposition fortifies." T h i s application of the Latin motto suaviter in modo, fortiter in re illustrates the Quaker care not to interfere with the rights of others based on "that of God in every man"; it also represents the modern British policy to let disaffected citizens voice their grievances freely at Hyde Park Corner. In the next year, 1674, Penn published a short eight-page letter entitled Christian Liberty, originally addressed to the Protestant States of Germany, but now "made public on behalf of the present suffering dissenters within this kingdom." After reminding these German princes that they are Protestants, but are now guilty of the very Romanist practice of persecution, he continues: "Nothing can be more unreasonable than to compel men to believe against their belief, or to trouble them for practicing what they believe, when it thwarts not the moral law of God." Other significant passages in this letter are as follows: " W h a t more unchristian than to use external force to sway the consciences of men about the exercise of religious worship?" "Conscience is God's throne in man, and the power of it his prerogative." " T h e different persuasion of their consciences about things relating to another life can no ways render them unfit for this." "Will you persecute men for being what they must be, if they will be true to themselves?" T o punish Dissenters is "to afflict men for not. being what they can't be, unless they turn hypocrites. T h a t is the highest pitch your coercive power can arrive at, for never did it convert or preserve one soul to God." In the next treatise to claim our attention Penn reverts to a consideration of the place of law and of the rights of citizens. It is entitled England's Present Interest Discovered (1675), and is submitted to his "Superiours" as "my mite for the increase of your true Honour and my dear country's Felicity." T h i s is a scholarly and documented appeal for the ancient rights of the people, stated to be as follows: 1. "Englishmen have individually the alone right of possession and disposition of what they have. 2. T h a t they are

122

WILLIAM PENN

parties to the laws of their country, for the maintenance of that great and just law. 3. T h a t they have an influence upon and a real share in the judicatory power." T h e author's purpose in discussing these points is to show how the rights of Quakers as freemen have been unjustly violated, especially in outrageous fines, distraints, and imprisonments, trials without jury, and excessive punishments. There is no danger to the Church of England, if civil rights are preserved: " T h e civil affairs of all governments in the world may be peaceably transacted under the different trims of religion, where civil rights are inviolably observed." A n d he reminds his readers of Seneca's judgment, that "they are best obeyed, who govern most mildly." He recalls to his fellow citizens that "Church government is no real part of the English government," and it behooves them to "make English man's rights as inviolable as English Church rights." "Base coin only stands in need of imposition to make it current, but true metal passeth for its own intrinsic value." " T h e r e is no such excitement to revenge as a raped conscience." "Whoever is in the wrong, the persecutor is never in the right." " M e n are . . . either to have no conscience at all, or to be hanged for having a conscience not fashionable." "Penal laws for religion is a Church with a sting in her tail." "Men are not to be reputed good by their opinion . . . but practice is what must save or damn temporarily or eternally." T h e point of all this is to adjure the Established Church to mind its own affairs. It had Parliament in its favor at the time, and was abusing its power to torment all nonconformist Dissenters. It was not so much the Anglican Church as a recognized state church that Penn was girding at; it was rather its assumption of infallibility and the right to persecute. Instead, let it stop talking and show some fruit: " 'Tis want of practice, and too much prate, that hath made the way for all the incharity and ill living that is in the world. N o matter what men say, if the Devil keep the house." A n d finally, he warns that "the interest of our English governors is like to stand longer upon the legs of the English people than of the English Church; since the one takes in the strength of all interests, the other leaves out all but her own." Holland, that land of comparative toleration, might well be taken as a model by England. By receiving religious refugees from other countries, Holland had increased in wealth and in well-being. T h e r e is no need of religious uniformity to guarantee national safety and prosperity. W h a t is required for those ends is national unity based on confidence in

A P O S T L E OF T O L E R A T I O N

123

civil government. T h i s latter need is what Penn the f o u n d e r w i l l seek to satisfy a few years later in the f r a m e and constitution of his l a n d beyond the seas. I n the Continued Cry of the Oppressed for Justice (1675) he continues his a p p e a l to " C a e s a r , " that is, Charles I I , to beware of the A n g l i c a n clamor f o r uniformity in religion. H e points out that confusion between the things that belong to Caesar and the things that belong to G o d "makes property, which is the first a n d most fixed part of E n g l i s h government floating and uncertain: no conformity to the C h u r c h , no property in the State." T h e effect of the d e m a n d for u n i f o r m i t y does not make better livers or artisans in civil society, b u t rather has a bad effect upon trade, f o r a large n u m b e r of taxpayers and producers of wealth are persecuted Dissenters. T h e latter are not dissenting against the Christian religion, but only against one particular expression of it. Such cruel laws as those now in force make hypocrites and destroy integrity. Caesar should r e m e m b e r " n e v e r to think him true to Caesar that is false to his o w n conscience"; and again, as already noted, " r a p e d consciences treasure u p revenge." " N o t h i n g is so scandalous [i. e., opposite] to true religion as force," as it is not to Caesar's interest to have so many malevolent citizens aroused by ill treatment. T o u c h i n g u p o n the implicit claim of infallibility on the part of the Anglicans, he advances this cogent argument: T h e Scripture, you see, cannot determine the sense of itself; it must have an interpreter; he must either be fallible or infallible; if the first, we are worse than before, for men are apt to be more confident, and yet are still upon as uncertain grounds; if the last, this must either be an external or an internal judge; if an external, you know where you are without pointing, for there stands nothing between you and Popery in that principle; if an internal judge, either it is ourselves, or the spirit of Christ dwelling in us; not ourselves, for then the rule is the thing ruled, which cannot be; and if it be the spirit of Christ Jesus, then is the neck of imposition broken, and what shalt thou do to judge me? Let me stand or fall to my own master. And upon this foot went Luther, Calvin, Melancthon, Beza abroad, and Cranmer, Ridley, Hooper, Jewel, Bradford, Philpot, etc. at home, and as good men and constant martyrs in ages before them. T h i s a r g u m e n t proves two truths to Penn, namely, that the Quakers are right in acting according to the spirit of Christ in them, " t h a t of G o d in every m a n , " a n d secondly, that in so doing they belong to the l i n e of recognized Protestant theologians.

184

WILLIAM PENN

England's Great Interest in the Choice of this new Parliament (167g) is signed "Philanglus," and is a campaign document addressed to all freeholders and electors, warning them that "all is at stake" after the alleged discovery of Titus Oates' Papist Plot. It is a serious hour for the nation. T h e guilty must be discovered and punished, but there is a still greater task to be accomplished: Evil and corrupt ministers and pensioners must be removed from power; the execution of good old laws must be secured by the passage of new ones protecting the nation against Popery and slavery. This can be done only by choosing wise, independent men for the Commons, who must share with the King and Lords responsibility for legislation and the execution of laws. Insistence must be laid upon maintaining the judgment of peers in trials, upon the repeal of the Act against seditious conventicles and other anti-Dissenter laws which provide for judgment without a jury of peers. This is no time for bribe-takers or office-buyers, for "such as give money to be chosen would get money by being chosen"; no pensioners, court officers, or indigent nonresident prodigals should be elected; but well-recommended men, even if they be strangers, men of industry, courageous, sincere Protestants, men of large principles who will maintain civil rights. In the presence of the threat of foreign domination through the alliance of Louis XIV with Charles II, it was imperative that all branches of the government should be controlled by trustworthy men. This document is a part of the campaign in which Penn was lending aid to his friend Algernon Sidney, who was unsuccessful in his contest for a seat in the Commons. It may be permitted to turn from Penn for a moment to speak in this connection of his friend and contemporary, George Saville, the first Marquess of Halifax (1633-95). Like Penn, Halifax was deeply concerned with the choice of virtuous and competent men for Parliament. He published about 1694 his eloquent Cautions for Choice of Members in Parliament. He and Penn must have seen eye to eye on this important subject. In his earlier Letter to a Dissenter (1687), Halifax writes as an Anglican who has no illusions about the danger to England presented by the Catholic party with James II at its head. In this Letter addressed to the Nonconformists, he warns of the subtle danger of trusting to the King's Declaration of Indulgence, though it was apparently issued in the interests of the Dissenters. Recalling that this Declaration was a violation of the royal privileges limited by Magna Charta, he points

APOSTLE OF TOLERATION

"5

out that no confidence should be placed in such methods of an unscrupulous party: by another turn of the same wheel, it may be that the Dissenters will be persecuted instead of being favored. Halifax, like Penn, desires the union of all Protestants—Anglicans and Dissenters alike—against the Catholic party. But while the Quaker Penn minimizes the danger from the Papists and fears the Anglicans, Halifax as an Anglican seeks the aid of the Dissenters in opposing the Court party. T h e two pamphlets of Penn and Halifax offer an interesting parallel and contrast. Halifax circulated twenty thousand copies of his Cautions, and "actually and immediately altered the course of history." He also published a few Maxims of State (1692), but they are not comparable with Penn's Fruits of Solitude. Closely following the defeat of his candidate, Sidney, Penn issued another pamphlet under the same pseudonym, One Project for the Good of England (1679). This is a plea for civil union as the surest guarantee of civil safety, and he reminds his readers that "civil interest is the foundation and end of civil government." With this civil interest, religious bigotry and persecution interfere. Instead of continuing the oppression of Protestants by Protestants, "let us go together as far as our way lies and preserve our unity in those principles which maintain our civil society." As a Quaker opposed to the taking of any oaths, Penn contends that the presently required oaths of allegiance and supremacy are ineffective as a means of detecting Papists. He proposes instead a form of affirmation of allegiance, with the opportunity to register publicly these affirmations as a matter of record, and with the appropriate penalty for failure to do so. T h e principle of substantial unity rather than absolute uniformity is a principle that the Quakers have always sought to observe in secular as well as in spiritual affairs. Penn had a chance to apply it in connection with the so-called Wilkinson and Story controversy in his own Society at this time. A Brief Examination and State of Liberty Spiritual (1681) is addressed primarily to Friends, but follows the same argument which we have just seen the author use in defense of civil rights. He maintains that in spiritual as in secular matters, diversity does not necessarily lead to discord, or variety to contrariety. There need be no agreement on insignificant details. It is rather a plea for such unity in essentials as Friends believe can be attained by following the one Guide into all truth in the spiritual domain. Moreover, the paper contains a

126

WILLIAM PENN

warning against that license and ranterism of which Friends were formerly so often accused, because of their doctrine of the supreme authority of the Inner Light. After 1681 Penn was engrossed with his plans for Pennsylvania and his own visit there lasting two years. There is a break of four years in his polemic for civil and spiritual liberty. But upon his forced return to England in 1684, he found that the stubborn Catholicism of his friend, James II, would rapidly lead that monarch toward disaster. The next few years (1685-88) of James's actual reign until his flight are the period of Penn's greatest influence at Court. The close association of these two men, so different in every respect, is explained mainly by two factors: The obligation felt by James to heed the request of his old friend the Admiral that he would befriend his son William and the personal liking the King had for this Quaker, who never sought any personal advantage for himself; finally, the fact that both men desired greater civil rights for their coreligionists—James for the Catholics and Penn for the Quakers. This last-named factor was, of course, what the public saw and feared in the partnership. It was felt that there was some kind of mischief brewing between them, and as James was certainly not a Quaker, Penn must be a Jesuit in disguise. T o us a still more astonishing bond existed at one time between William Penn and George Villiers, the second Duke of Buckingham (1628-87). T o find any bond between Penn and this celebrated profligate is indeed a surprise; a man whom Dryden called: A man so various that he seemed to be Not one, but all mankind's epitome.5 Penn caught at any straw, however, in favor of his favorite principle of toleration, and it happened that in the Duke he found a recruit. The Peer published in 1685 a pamphlet entitled Discourse on the Reasonableness of Man's having a Religion, the product of one of those intellectual hobbies which some other men of unsavory personal reputation cultivated in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Not only did Penn issue A Defence of the Duke of Buckingham's Book by "The Pensilvanian" in 1685, in thirty-one pages, against "a nameless author," but also published in the same year his Considerations Moving to a Toleration and Liberty of Conscience, dedicated to the Duke in a very complimentary and courtly vein, laying "himself at your Grace's feet." The Anglicans, » Absalom and Achitophel, 545-46.

APOSTLE OF TOLERATION

127

at this time strong in Parliament and suspicious of everyone else, were persecuting fiercely Presbyterians, Independents, Papists, Anabaptists, Quakers, and Socinians or Unitarians, though they all agreed on most essential truths and doctrines. T h e substance of Christianity, the same articles of faith, Apostles' creed, ten commandments, one body, one spirit, one faith, one baptism: with all these held in common, says Penn, "there is much more reason to love one another for the many things wherein we agree, than to fall out for those wherein we differ." "We cannot come together in the same Church, but may live together in the same land; and as we are under the same gracious King, he may protect both, and suffer no party to persecute one another." He further points out the inconsistency of the Government forbidding freedom of worship to native Englishmen, while allowing the worship of foreign Jews and French Protestants resident in England to proceed unmolested. Here again Holland presents the example of toleration and consequent prosperity which England should follow. In A Persuasive to Moderation to Church Dissenters (1686), Penn makes clear that the current objections to toleration are based on the alleged danger to the interests of Church and State. T o controvert these objections, he contends that both governments and reigning families have survived safely under changing religions, instancing England, Germany, and Denmark. Indeed, a government can better maintain itself against separate small bodies than against one great hostile religion, which might, as it has done, upset the whole existing system. In answer to the question "Is government, and especially a monarchy, safe under religious toleration?" he maintains that a sovereign's safety depends upon civil rather than ecclesiastical obedience; that property and civil rights must be disentangled from mere opinion; that "mankind by nature fears power and melts at goodness"; that unified loyalty is of value to the prince; that the enemy is afraid of unified people, because for a prince "to be loved at home is to be feared abroad." What the Quaker was trying to do here was to prove to Parliament that if the Protestants stopped persecution of each other and all held together, they need not fear the Papists or such a kindly king as he took James to be; and he was working to keep the King from ruining his own popularity by his open favor of his Catholic subjects. His favorite economic argument, which he thinks should appeal to all concerned, is that men's hearts will be at rest; the stock of the kingdom will be employed, "which like the blood . . . will

128

WILLIAM PENN

give life and vigour to every member in the public body," for "it is the union of interests, and not of opinions, that gives peace to kingdoms." As a practical measure to restore confidence, Penn makes five suggestions: 1. Let every religious party present a voluntary assurance of fidelity to the government [this the Quakers were constantly doing]. 2. Let a list showing the times and places of religious meetings, together with the responsible personnel involved, be submitted to the authorities. 3. Let a list of proselytes and new members be certified to the clerks of the peace in every county as a matter of record. 4. Let three magistrates of each dissenting sect be appointed, of whom government may inquire for redress. 5. Let all nicknames and terms of reproach, as applied to religious bodies, be abolished. T h i s fifty-two-page Persuasive reveals Penn as an optimist, undismayed by the character of the people whom he wished to persuade. In spite of the "sales resistance" they offered, he did not despair of bringing his countrymen in England up to the standard he had already established in Pennsylvania. In Good Advice to the Church of England, Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters (1687), there are a few passages worth quoting. T h e first has a purely linguistic interest, as an unexpected forerunner of a presently current expression. Referring to an episode at the Council of Trent, Penn mentions a certain cardinal who admitted that "they [the Papists] were wrong, yet the admitting of it approved the judgment of their enemies, and so good-night to infallibility." For himself, he says, "I am for a national Church, so it be by consent and not by constraint." By this he does not mean a coercive state church, for "a true Church is of Christ's making, and is by Gospel established." " T h e r e never was such a thing as a Church of England since the days of Popery." As for the famous K i n g whose part in the English Reformation was of such questionable merit, Penn says, "Henry VIII was a kind of hermaphrodite in religion." He points out that "Christ did not leave Caesar executor to his last will and testament." O n the contrary, "Christ promised to be present with his Church to the end of the world. He bid them fear not, and told them that sufficient was the day for the evil thereof. How? W i t h penal laws? N o such matter; but his divine presence. Therefore it was, He called not for legions to fight for him, because his work needed it not. T h e y that want them have another sort of work to do. A n d 'tis too plain that Empire, and not Religion, has been too much the business.

APOSTLE OF T O L E R A T I O N

189

B u t O let it not be so any more. T o be a true Church is better than to be a national one; especially as so upheld. Press virtue, punish vice, dispense with opinion. Persuade, but don't impose. Are there tares in opinion? Let them alone; you heard they are to grow with the wheat till harvest, that is, the end of the world. Should they not be plucked up before? No, and 'tis angels' work at last too. Christ that knew all men, saw no hand on earth fit for that business. Let us not then usurp their office. Besides, we are to love enemies; this is the great law of our religion. By what law then are we to persecute them? A n d if not enemies, not friends and neighbours certainly." " 'Tis in right doing," he continues, "that Christians can hope for success." " T h e true Church weapons are light and grace." T h i s mingling of religion with other affairs of life is very characteristic of Penn, and indeed of the traditional Quaker. Religion infuses, rather than replaces, secular interests with the Quaker. Hence Penn can include in this appeal to the churches the reminder "that there are those charms in liberty and property that no endeavours can resist or disappoint." In 1687, when the King's situation was becoming more critical, and an Anglican Parliament, with the able assistance of despicable informers, was busy in its career of persecution, Penn circulated three letters alleged to be written by a gentleman to his friends about the threatening situation. From them we learn that in Penn's opinion, "three things, strictly speaking, make an Englishman: ownership, consent in Parliament, and right of juries." 8 W i t h these rights religious opinion has no ground for interference. So it is interesting to find Penn upholding the same principle in the third of these letters which he had incorporated in the frame of his own province: " T h a t no man shall propose or consent to anything in Government within this kingdom that may infringe the conscience or property of any man in it; for upon that ancient policy our Government began." 7 In The Reasonableness of Toleration and the Unreasonableness of Penal Laws and Tests (1687) our Quaker continues his historical exposition of the iniquity and fatal results of a persecution in England such as even the heathen with their many gods, the Mahometans, Persians, and many enlightened Christian States have never practised. Recalling that "a man will sooner part with β A Second Letter from a Gentleman in the Country to his Friends upon the Subject of the Penal Laws and Tests (1687). ι A Third

Letter,

etc. (1687).

in

London

130

WILLIAM PENN

anything than his opinion," he points out the futility of changing this opinion otherwise than by persuasion. Taking the highest ground against persecution, he says: " T h e Creator himself reserved and retained in his own power alone the privilege of supremacy over the inward man in all matters touching immortality, that he might be the only Lord in that case, to give spiritual laws, and to command the souls and hearts of men in reference to his own worship and that obedience which is due to himself." James II had just proclaimed his Declaration of Indulgence as a royal prerogative without the approval of Parliament. It was, of course, to the advantage of both Catholics and Quakers. They had both long been fellow sufferers at the hand of the Church party, and in this forty-page pamphlet just mentioned, Penn came to the defense of the King, hoping, however, that Parliament would yet approve the Act. It is a new note that we find at the close of this paper. After pointing out that in order to gain a post or preferment a man must swear away his religion, and that a penal prosecution cannot properly be grounded upon the enforced oath of any party without a witness or accuser, he says these are the reasons "that our supreme legislator and sovereign Prince set forth his most gracious Act of Indulgence, thereby to free from spiritual bondage the enslaved consciences of his suffering subjects, groaning under the tyranny of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Therein truly resembling the divine Majesty, whose vice-regent upon earth he is, while he sheds down upon all in general the rays of his Christian compassion, and spreads the cherubim wings of his mercy over multitudes so lately tormented with the unsanctified vexation." W e hardly recognize in this eulogy of James the center of a profligate Court, who had lately directed the energies of Judge Jeffreys in hounding the partisans in Monmouth's rebellion. But Penn thought he knew the real James, and remained to the last hopeful of him as the protagonist of toleration. Even a Buckingham or the last Stuart might be saved, if he wore such a life-preserver as toleration. A few months later, when the agitation over James's Act of Indulgence was still rife, Penn wrote his last contribution to the subject which need claim our attention.8 Plainly seeing that the Anglican hostility to the repeal of the Penal Laws was based on fear of the Catholics, he points out that all the Dissenters or Non8 The Great and Popular Objection (1688).

against the Repeal of the Penal Laws

APOSTLE OF TOLERATION conformists are, under existing laws, in the same boat; that if the laws are repealed, the Anglicans will gain the support of all the Dissenters, who are in the majority in the nation, to help to suppress any hopes the Catholics may entertain. " A national religion by law, where it is not so by number and inclination, is a national nuisance; for it will ever be matter of strife." What is wanted is "a Magna Charta for Liberty of Conscience established in these kingdoms by the wisdom of a parliament." W i t h this plank in his platform, we may leave Penn in his long campaign for religious tolerance. T h e fight was technically won at the advent of William and Mary in 1689, though not won in all its implications of a political nature in England until the nineteenth century. We have now seen the interest of Penn in religious toleration and freedom of conscience develop from the sufferings of the Quakers in which he shared. In England he was only one of the men w h o contributed to the eventual suppression of intolerance and of high-handed interference in legislation by reactionary kings. But in the New World, where he had a fair field to plant his ideals, we shall see how he based his commonwealth upon his religion and produced a new type of "theocratic democracy."

IV THE FOUNDER AND HIS GOVERNMENT HEN William Penn sat down to write a frame of government and a constitution for his new province, he had plenty of available inspiration. Anyone with his interests would be familiar with the outstanding efforts to create an ideal government: the Old Testament, Plato with his ideal Republic, Lycurgus and his laws, Rome, Venice, the French absolute monarchy, the government of the Netherlands—all these were doubtless present in Penn's mind before he had any occasion to make use of them. In England there was More's Utopia (1516), Hobbes's Leviathan (1651), and James Harrington's Oceana (1656). A detailed examination of Penn's resulting efforts would reveal the possible origin of this or that idea which he incorporated in his own work. Especially is this true of More's and Harrington's ideal governments. But they were only two of many plans of government which had been conceived in western Europe since the Renaissance and the Reformation had liberated thought from the domination of the medieval church and Roman Empire. Democratic government had been the dream of political philosophers even under tyranny. None of these philosophers, however, had had a chance to do more than theorize; none of them had had to face the realities in a government for which he was personally responsible. In this unique situation Penn found himself. He must choose carefully and determine wisely what would be practicable. He must devise a government whose laws should be consonant with those of England, and still rest lightly upon a colony of lovers of religious liberty, in a wilderness three thousand miles away. Moreover, his laws must satisfy one fundamental condition, and that condition was a new one in human history: these laws must conform to the Quaker philosophy of life. We have seen in the two preceding chapters the religious and moral background of the man who was to impress his principles of human conduct upon government in Pennsylvania. Already in 1671, in A Serious Apology for the Principles and 132

W

F O U N D E R AND G O V E R N M E N T

!S3

Practices of the People called Quakers, Penn had found occasion to distinguish between "fundamental" and "superficial" laws: By the first we understand the determinations of right reason regarding moral and just living, with certain privileges that in the first constitution are agreed upon as essentials in government: as meers, bounds and landmarks of truth, equity and righteousness, that as well confine rulers as people. By the second we understand certain temporary laws, proclamations or customs, that relate to more trivial matters, and that receive alteration, with the reason of them, according to that maxim cessante ratione cessât lex, of which the people and rulers are judges.

This distinction between general moral and religious principles of permanent validity and laws affected by circumstances and temporary expediency Penn will maintain in his later distinction between his "frames" and "laws." We have been careful to set forth from Penn's own writings what the Quaker philosophy of life was in his time. Application of the four essentials of Quakerism already enumerated may be expected as follows: T h e equality and sanctity of all rn^n in the divine sight will show in a democratic frame favorable to personal liberty; the universality of grace will appear in his trust of the natives and of his colonists; the search for absolute perfection will be the ideal pursued by Penn; the belief in continued revelation will be reflected in the revisions of his constitutions, as new light is granted. In addition to these fundamental principles, he will study the constitutions of other British colonies and seek to avoid their limitations. He will confer with men of light and leading, like his friend Algernon Sidney. He will accept some ideas and reject others. It was a stupendous undertaking and, as it turned out, of far-reaching consequence to future Americans. For Penn's "Holy Experiment" is not to be a feudal aristocratic state, like that of the Carolinas planned by Locke; or a narrow-minded Puritan commonwealth like Massachusetts; or a mercantile adventure like New York; or a private preserve of the Anglican Church like Virginia. West New Jersey and Pennsylvania were to offer the best chance a Quaker has had to apply his religion to the government of a state. Pennsylvania was for seventy years a Quaker exhibit, not perfect, but interesting and unique. T h e problem before Penn was a hard one, and not every Quaker would have solved it in the same way. But no other Quaker ever had to solve it. T h e ideal political liberty of the people was complicated by Penn's interests

WILLIAM PENN as proprietor, and by the claims of the Crown as eventual feudal overlord. T h e period of Penn's life when he must have been quite constantly occupied with constitutions and laws for his provinces beyond seas lasted from 1676 to 1701. T h e first date is that of the Concessions and Agreements of West New Jersey, in which he was then concerned; the latter date is that of the Anal revision of the Pennsylvania Charter during Penn's lifetime and, indeed, before the American Revolution. T h e intervening period saw a succession of frames, charters, laws, privileges, liberties, and concessions, of which Thorpe has published the significant documents.1 Unlike the fixed feudal law for control by a privileged landowning class in the Carolinas, intended by Locke to endure for all time, Penn's ideas evolved progressively in response to new conditions and popular demands. It is the natural result of belief in a "continuing revelation," which was a feature of Quaker philosophy. Hull has pointed out that "this series of documents gradually developed from the grant of a charter by a superior power, into a genuine constitution originating with and formulated by the people themselves, with the cooperation of the proprietor. That it met the needs of the Pennsylvanians is evidenced by the fact that it endured until 1776, when the colony was converted into a state." 2 Provisions for religious and civil liberty in West New Jersey were recognized by Penn to be something new, and he hoped they would serve as a precedent. They have done so in America: "There [in West New Jersey] we lay a foundation for after ages to understand their liberty as men and Christians, that they may not be brought in bondage, but by their own consent; for we put the power in the people." 8 This is what George Bancroft had in mind when he said in his eulogy of Penn: "Penn did not despair of humanity, and though all history and experience denied the sovereignty of the people, dared to cherish the noble idea of man's capacity for self-government." 4 T h e difference in the situation of the two parts 1 Francis N. Thorpe, The Federal and State Constitutions, Vol. V. « William I. Hull, William Penn, pp. 225-26. » T h i s letter of 6th month, 26, 1676, to Richard Hartshorne was written from London and signed by six Proprietors. There can be no doubt that the sentiment here expressed is that of Penn. See Samuel Smith, History of New Jersey, pp. 80-81. • George Bancroft, History of the United States, Chap. X V I .

FOUNDER AND GOVERNMENT

»35

o f N e w Jersey as c o m p a r e d w i t h P e n n s y l v a n i a is o b v i o u s . T h e o w n e r s h i p of N e w Jersey i n v o l v e d a c h a n g i n g personnel, o r i g i n a l l y consisting of L o r d B e r k e l e y a n d Sir G e o r g e C a r t e r e t ; b u t as t i m e w e n t o n , it increased t o t w e n t y - f o u r p r o p r i e t o r s b e f o r e it was t u r n e d over to the C r o w n in 1702. P e n n s y l v a n i a , o n the o t h e r h a n d , was the p r o p e r t y of a n i n d i v i d u a l , W i l l i a m P e n n , w h o h a d the d e c l a r e d r i g h t to dispose of his h o l d i n g s as he pleased, t h r o u g h g i f t o r sale, a n d to d i v i d e it i n t o counties, towns, a n d m a n o r s , as t i m e m i g h t d e t e r m i n e . H o w e v e r , the spirit of the e a r l i e r f r a m e s of g o v e r n m e n t are in b o t h cases closely i d e n t i c a l , as they b r e a t h e the religious f a i t h a n d p o l i t i c a l p h i l o s o p h y of the same m a n . W h a t w e m a y fairly call the p e c u l i a r Q u a k e r provisions are the same i n b o t h . W e shall n o t e t h e m all in the f o l l o w i n g s u m m a r y of the m o r e characteristic laws. B e g i n n i n g w i t h the f u n d a m e n t a l laws of W e s t N e w Jersey a g r e e d u p o n i n 1676, w e find it d e c l a r e d (chap. X V I ) 5 " t h a t n o person . . . shall be a n y ways u p o n any pretence whatsoever, c a l l e d i n q u e s t i o n . . . f o r the sake of his o p i n i o n , j u d g m e n t , f a i t h o r w o r s h i p t o w a r d s G o d in matters of r e l i g i o n . " C h a p . X V I I p r o v i d e s f o r j u r y trial of any i n h a b i t a n t b y " t w e l v e g o o d a n d l a w f u l m e n of his n e i g h b o r h o o d . " W e h a r k back to the P e n n - M e a d trial a f e w years before, w h e n we read, a f t e r p r o v i s i o n f o r three justices w h o shall sit w i t h the j u r y , " t h a t the said Justices shall p r o n o u n c e such j u d g m e n t as they shall receive f r o m , a n d be d i r e c t e d by the said t w e l v e m e n i n w h o m o n l y the j u d g m e n t resides, a n d n o t otherw i s e " (chap. X I X ) . T h u s was the f u n c t i o n of the j u r y p r o t e c t e d h e n c e f o r t h in A m e r i c a n law, as was also the e q u i v a l e n t of a legal affirmation f o r an o a t h (chap. X X ) . F u r t h e r m o r e , it is p r o v i d e d t h a t " n o person shall be c o m p e l l e d to fee any attorney or councill o r (sic) to p l e a d his cause, b u t that all persons h a v e free l i b e r t y t o p l e a d his o w n cause." M o r e o v e r , n o prisoner shall be o b l i g e d to p a y prison fees u n d e r any c o n d i t i o n (chap. X X I I ) . A l l c o u r t h e a r i n g s are to b e o p e n to the p u b l i c " t h a t justice m a y not b e d o n e i n a corner n o r in any covert m a n n e r , " b u t " t h a t all a n d every person a n d persons i n h a b i t i n g the said Province, shall, so f a r as i n us lies, be free f r o m o p p r e s s i o n a n d s l a v e r y " (chap. XXIII). C o n f i n i n g ourselves still to the P r o v i n c e of W e s t N e w Jersey, w e find i n 1681 that it was p r o v i d e d t h a t f o r n o G o v e r n o r o r C o u n cil at a n y time h e r e a f t e r shall it b e l a w f u l " t o m a k e o r raise w a r « All the following quotations are from Thorpe, op. cit.

136

WILLIAM PENN

upon any accounts or pretence whatsoever, or to raise any military forces within the Province aforesaid, without the consent of the General Free Assembly for the time being" (Art. III). Thus, originally as in Pennsylvania, so long as the Quakers predominated in the popular Assembly, any war-party executive was stymied. Indeed, without the consent and concurrence of the General Assembly, no law could be made or enacted (Art. IV), nor could the Assembly be prorogued or dissolved without its own consent (Art. V), nor could any tax be levied or raised without its consent (Art. VI). All officers of state, or trust, shall be nominated and elected by the Assembly and shall be accountable to it (Art. VII). Most important is the provision that "Liberty of conscience in matters of faith and worship towards God, shall be granted to all . . . and that none of the free people of the said Province shall be rendered uncapable (sic) of office in respect of their faith and worship" (Art. X). This is a more liberal statement than that in The Fundamental Constitutions for the Province of East New Jersey of 1683, to which we may now turn. Art. X V I reads: "All persons living in the Province who confess and acknowledge the one Almighty and Eternal God, and hold themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and quietly in a civil society, shall in no way be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasions and exercise in matters of faith and worship; nor shall they be compelled to frequent and maintain any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever." So far we see the Quaker testimony against a state church and against tithes. But the same Article further provides "that no man shall be admitted a member of the great or common Council, or any other place of public trust, who shall not profess faith in Christ Jesus," and solemnly declare that he will not seek the ruin or prejudice of any who may differ in judgment from him. Art. X X of the East New Jersey Constitutions provides that marriages shall be esteemed lawful "where the parents or guardians being first acquainted, the marriage is publicly intimated in such places and manners as is agreeable to men's different persuasions in religion, being afterwards still solemnized before creditable witnesses, by taking one another as man and wife, and a certificate of the whole, under the parties' and witnesses' hands, being brought to the proper register for that end, under a penalty if neglected." Thus the legal validity of the Quaker marriage ceremony without priest or justice of the peace was recognized. Witnesses in court "shall there give and deliver in their

FOUNDER AND GOVERNMENT

»37

evidence by solemnly promising to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth to the matter in question" (Art. X X I ) . Here we have, with the usual penalty for perjury, that legal substitution of the affirmation for the oath, for which Friends, and Penn in particular, so long contended. And this same substitution was allowed for a sufficient engagement of all the officers of the state from the governor down to the justices of the peace in their affirmation of loyalty to the King of England and to the Proprietors (Art. X X I V ) . T h u s the hated Test Act of contemporary England, involving the oath of allegiance and supremacy, when demanded, was never transferred as a requirement to Penn's provinces in America. T h a t is all that is of significance for us in the early laws of the Jerseys. Penn had incorporated certain inalienable privileges to be enjoyed without further sufferings: freedom of conscience and worship; popular government through the concurrent approval of all laws, including taxation, by the General Assembly; guarantee of trial by jury and freedom of the accused from unjust fees and court abuse; no state religion or exaction of tithes; validity of Quaker marriages; and the acceptance of an affirmation for an oath in law and in declarations of loyalty. There was already some advantage to the Quakers in having their leader associated with a fresh start in America. T h e circumstances under which Penn became the sole proprietor and first governor of Pennsylvania gave a somewhat different color to the frames of government he progressively developed for that province between 1681 and 1701. Whereas his experience with East and West New Jersey had been as only one of several proprietors, he was now the only one. Pennsylvania was, moreover, a personal grant from the King—a fact of which we are reminded in the first charter granted by Charles I I in 1681, "favouring the petition and good purpose of the said William Penn, and having regard to the memory and merits of his late Father in divers services, and particularly to his conduct, courage, and discretion under our dearest Brother James Duke of York, in that signal battle and victory fought and obtained against the Dutch fleet etc." After stating the geographical limits of the territory, this charter grants Penn full liberty for the making and execution of laws, permission to trade with the natives, license to lade and freight ships between Pennsylvania and England, subject to any present or future customs and other duties imposed by English law. Further, it au-

WILLIAM PENN ihorizes the erection of ports to which officers of the commissioners of customs shall at all times have free admittance, all customs and subsidies in such ports to be enjoyed by William Penn, saving such as by Act of Parliament may be appointed to the Crown. In this very generous charter there are three features that may be specially noted. T h e first is the power "to remit, release, pardon, and abolish, whether before judgment or after, all crimes and offences whatsoever committed . . . against the said laws, treason and wilful and malicious murder only excepted, and in those cases to grant reprieves until our pleasure may be known therein etc." In view of the scores of crimes punished with death under the contemporary code in England, this limitation of capital punishment to treason and murder is a marked concession to Quaker concern for the sacredness of human life. The second provision to remark is that "the said laws be consonant to reason." This is one of Penn's contentions, as we have seen in Chapter III. Beside these two important provisions attributable to Penn, the Crown on its part made one significant reservation that the said laws "be not repugnant or contrary, but as near as conveniently may be agreeable to the laws and statutes and rights of this our kingdom of England"; to insure this, all laws made and published in Pennsylvania "shall within five years after the making thereof, be transmitted and delivered to the Privy Council . . . and if any of the said laws, within the space of six months . . . be declared by us . . . inconsistent with the sovereignty or lawful prerogative of us . . . that thereupon any of the said laws shall be adjudged and declared to be void by us." It should be said that the Crown did not abuse the right of veto which it thus reserved. Penn must have made his own reservations in accepting for himself and his heirs and assigns the power "to levy, muster and train all sorts of men, of what condition soever, or wheresoever borne, in the said Province of Pennsylvania, for the time being, and to make war, and to pursue the enemies and robbers aforesaid, as well by sea as by land, even without the limits of the said Province, and by God's assistance to vanquish and take them, and being taken to put them to death by the law of war, or to save them, at their pleasure, and to do all and every other thing which to the charge and office of a Captain-General of an army belongeth or hath accustomed to belong, as fully and freely as any CaptainGeneral of an army hath ever had the same." Reflecting upon these powers in his country house or in a London office, Penn

FOUNDER AND GOVERNMENT

»39

must have thought they were less likely to be called for than in fact they were. It was not long before he was bedeviled by complaints from non-Quakers that the Quaker Assembly refused to chase away vi et armis the pirates and smugglers who entered Delaware Bay, or under other circumstances to furnish military quotas in the wars in which England was engaged with France. T h e King also covenanted that there should be no taxes or impositions laid upon the dwellers in Pennsylvania for their lands, tenements, goods, or chattels, or upon goods imported or exported "unless the same be with the consent of the Proprietary, or chief governor, or Assembly, or by Act of Parliament in England. T h e last clause was pregnant with possibilities before 1776. A t the instance of the Church authorities in England, it was provided for this Quaker province "that if any of the inhabitants of the said Province, to the number of twenty, shall at any time hereafter be desirous, and shall by any writing, or by any person deputed for them, signify such their desire to the Bishop of London for the time being that any preacher or preachers, to be approved of by the said Bishop, may be sent unto them for their instruction, that then such preacher or preachers shall and may be and reside within the said Province, without any denial or molestation whatsoever." It was not long before the Anglicans in Philadelphia were entirely able, under this toleration, to take care of themselves, and to thwart the original Quaker peace principles upon which Pennsylvania was founded. If the Quakers had received the same toleration in Massachusetts as the Anglicans did in Pennsylvania, there would not have been four hangings of Quakers to the credit of the Bay State. Another contrast between Pennsylvania and New England is offered by the treatment of witchcraft. T h e Puritans seem to have been obsessed by witches. But the only trial for witchcraft of which we hear in Pennsylvania concerned a Swede in 1683, at which the Governor himself presided. T h e evidence was not convincing to the jury, which brought in a verdict of "guilty of the common fame of being a witch, but not guilty in the manner and form as she stands indicted." T h a t was the simple disposition of witchcraft by a Quaker jury. As Graham remarks, "witchcraft and Quakerism do not belong to the same kind of universe." · T h u s progress in toleration was gradually registered in America. A final personal tribute of royal confidence in Penn is to be β Graham, op. cit., p. 163.

140

WILLIAM PENN

found in the statement that, if any contest about the sense or meaning of anything in this charter should arise in court, "such interpretation be made thereof and allowed in any of our courts whatsoever, as shall be adjudged most advantageous and favorable unto the said William Penn, his heirs and assigns," provided only that allegiance to the Crown be in no way prejudiced. There are some interesting features in the Concessions to the Province agreed upon in July 1681 by Penn and his first purchasers of land. Beside the provisions concerning land surveys, apportionments, etc., we may note the agreements for the protection of the Indians from all unfair practices in trade, for mixed juries of "six planters and six natives" in trials of natives, and for equal liberty for the Indians "to do all things relating to improvement of their ground." It was not contemplated that the Indians should be driven out of the inhabited territory, or be excluded from it, but that they should come and go at their pleasure and own their own land. This freedom prevailed for some years, while the sight of Indians trading in the settlements was common. This desire to treat the Indians justly as brothers was found only in the colonies where the Quaker element could exert its influence. A year before Penn himself went to Pennsylvania, he dispatched two missives from which a few extracts will testify to his kindly nature. The first is addressed to the Indians of the province: My friends, there is a great God, and Power, which hath made the world and all things therein, to whom you and I, and all people owe their being and well-being, and to whom you and I must one day give an account for all that we have done in the world. This great God has written his law in our hearts, by which we are taught and commanded to love, and to help, and to do good to one another. Now this great God hath been pleased to make me concerned in your part of the world; and the King of the country where I live hath given me a great province therein; but I desire to enjoy it with your love and consent, that we may always live together as neighbours and friends; else what would the great God do to us, who hath made ω (not to devour and destroy one another, but) to live soberly and kindly together in the world? . . . I have great love and regard toward you, and desire to win and gain your love and friendship by a kind, just, and peaceable life; and the people I send are of the same mind, and shall in all things behave themselves accordingly; and if in any thing any shall offend you or your people, you shall have a full and speedy satisfaction for the same, by an equal number of just

FOUNDER A N D G O V E R N M E N T

141

men on both sides, that by no means you may have just occasion of being offended against them.7 T o the few E u r o p e a n s — D u t c h , Swedes, and English—already settled in those lands, he wrote: I have to let you know that it hath pleased God in his Providence to cast you within my lot and care. It is a business that, though I never undertook before, yet God has given me an understanding of my duty, and an honest mind to do it uprightly. I hope you will not be troubled with your change and the King's choice, for you are now fixed, at the mercy of no Governor that comes to make his fortune great; you shall be governed by laws of your own making, and live a free, and, if you will, a sober and industrious people. I shall not usurp the right of any, or oppress his person; God has furnished me with a better resolution, and has given me his grace to keep it.8 In short, whatever sober and free men can reasonably desire for the security and improvement of their own happiness, I shall heartily comply with, and in five months resolve, if it pleases God, to see you.9 Some private letters of Penn at the time he was granted the charter show more informally w h a t was engaging his attention. T o some of his intimate friends he wrote in 1681: I have been these thirteen yean the servant of truth and Friends, and for my testimony sake lost much, not only the greatness and preferments of this world, but 16000 pounds of my estate, that had I not been what I am I had long ago obtained . . . For the matters of liberty and privilege, I purpose that which is extraordinary, and to leave myself and successors no power of doing mischief; that the will of one man may not hinder the good of an whole country. 10 A g r o u p of Penn's friends formed the Free Society of Traders, purchasing twenty thousand acres of land, and receiving from the Proprietary certain rights and privileges within this tract. P e n n himself was an individual member of this Society, which published a prospectus inviting others to take shares in the enterprise and outlining the conditions of settlement which had been agreed upon. In addition, another proposal came before P e n n from a * Quoted in Thomas Clarkson, Memoirs of the Private and Public Life of William Penn, I, 290-92. s T h i s was the sentence chosen for the memorial tablet placed in All Hallows Church in 1911. » Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., Vol. I l l , Pt. 2, p. 205. 10 Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., I, 202-3.

14*

WILLIAM

PENN

group of men who desired to secure a concession for trade with the Indians. Regarding their proposal, he wrote to Robert Turner in 1681: I d i d refuse a great t e m p t a t i o n last S e c o n d D a y , w h i c h was 6000 p o u n d s , a n d p a y the I n d i a n s , for six shares, a n d m a k e the purchasers a c o m p a n y , to h a v e w h o l l y to itself the I n d i a n trade f r o m s o u t h to north, b e t w e e n the S u s q u e h a n n a a n d D e l a w a r e rivers, p a y i n g m e 2I/2 p e r cent a c k n o w l e d g m e n t or rent: b u t as the L o r d g a v e it m e o v e r all a n d great opposition, a n d t h a t I n e v e r h a d m y m i n d so exercised to the L o r d a b o u t a n y o u t w a r d substance, I w o u l d n o t abuse his love, n o r act u n w o r t h y of his providence, a n d so defile w h a t came to m e c l e a n . 1 1

Next in order of time comes Penn's Charter of Liberties of April 20, 1682, in which he grants and confirms to the freemen, planters, and adventurers those liberties, franchises, and properties to be held, enjoyed, and kept by them. If, as some believed, Algernon Sidney collaborated as a friend with Penn in drafting his constitution, it is interesting to point out here what Sidney may have disapproved. Sidney was a republican and counseled, it is supposed, against any proprietary reservations and privileges; he would like to see Penn go to the extreme of democracy. T h e only document surviving in the case is a letter from Penn to Sidney, dated October 13, 1681, regretting the report that he and Sidney had fallen out, and that Sidney had said, "I had a good country, but the basest laws in the world . . . and that the T u r k was not more absolute than I." 12 No one in his senses could say such a thing as that. We do not know what satisfaction, if any, Penn received from one for whom he says he had felt "more true friendship than I have been guilty of to any man I know living." Any rift between two such noble men is regrettable, but if Sidney differed from the Proprietor on any important points, it would be on the following: "Art. 6. In this Provisional Council the governor or his deputies shall or may always preside and have a treble voice." And still less democratic was the provision that all bills shall be prepared and proposed by the governor and Provincial Council, to be passed or rejected as the General Assembly shall see meet (Art. VII). Though the Provincial Assembly was elected by popular suffrage of the qualified freemen, yet this provision for the initiation of legislation only through the Governor and an upper house was essen« ibid., I, 205. 12 T h e entire letter is quoted by Janney, op. cit., 188-83.

FOUNDER AND GOVERNMENT

»43

tially opposed to popular government. It is hard to see what else Sidney could have objected to. But it was precisely these provisions favoring the proprietary interests which were soon challenged in Pennsylvania. This charter also provided for another concern of the Quakers: " T h e Governor and Council shall erect and order all public schools" (Art. XII). This was soon done, and the Overseers of the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia still preserve the name and the disposition of certain funds for educational and charitable purposes. T h e rest of the document is taken up with the necessary ordering of government. We come now to the most significant of all the early documents connected with the history of Pennsylvania, T h e Frame of Government of Pennsylvania—1682—"together with certain laws agreed upon in England by the Governor and divers freemen of the aforesaid province; to be further explained and confirmed there, by the first provincial Council, that shall be held, if they see meet." 13 This document, and especially the Preface, expresses Penn's own conception of government more clearly than does any other single declaration. In the Preface, after recognition of the supreme authority of God, Penn continues in a series of eloquent announcements: This settles the divine right of government without exception, and that for two ends: first, to terrify evil doers; secondly, to cherish those that do well; which gives government a life beyond corruption, and makes it as durable in the world, as good men shall be. So that government seems to me a part of religion itself, a thing sacred in its institution and end.

His conception of a free government is thus stated: Any government is free to the people under it (whatever be the frame), where the laws rule, and the people are a party to these laws, and more than this is tyranny, oligarchy, or confusion.

Again, . . . governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them; and as governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore, governments rather depend upon men, than men upon governments. Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad; if it be ill, they will cure it. But, if men be bad, let the government be never is Randolph G. Adams has noted a ràre variant of the title-page of this document, which reads: " T o be further explained . . . by the first Provincial Council and General Assembly etc." See Supplement to Vol. X L I X , No. 194, April 1925, issue of the Pa. Mag. of Hist, and Biog.

144

WILLIAM PENN

so good, they will endeavour to warp and spoil it to their turn. I know some will say, let us have good laws, and no matter for the men that execute them: but let them consider, that though good laws do well, good men do better; for good laws may want [i.e., lack] good men, and be abolished or evaded by ill men; but good men will never want good laws, nor suffer ill ones. . . . That, therefore, which makes a good constitution, must keep it, viz.: men of wisdom and virtue, qualities, that because they descend not with worldly inheritances, must be carefully propagated by a virtuous education of youth; for which after ages will owe more to the care and prudence of founders, and the successive magistracy, than to their parents, for their private patrimonies. Penn's Utopia was to depend upon a good foundation and a succession of righteous magistrates, rather than upon the hazards of individual privileges. In conclusion: We have to the best of our ability, contrived and composed the frame and the laws of this government, to the great end of all government, viz: to support power in reverence with the people, and to secure the people from the abuse of power; that they may be free by their just obedience, and the magistrates honourable, for their just administration: for liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedience without liberty is slavery. Pennsylvania lawmakers and judges might well be guided by these principles in the discharge of their responsibilities. T h e twenty-four laws which accompany the frame may be regarded as something tentative, to be approved in Pennsylvania, or revised as may seem best. With slight verbal changes, these twentyfour laws are identical with those issued a few days before, but now appearing with the benefit of Penn's personal preface. "Agreed upon in England" on May 5, 1682, by the Governor and the same freemen, were forty laws later ratified by the Pennsylvania Assembly in December 1682, immediately after Penn's arrival. Some of these laws are worth attention. For example, any bribery or promise of reward in money or in kind in connection with an election shall be punished upon both parties concerned (III); there shall be no levy of public tax, custom, or contribution, but by a law, for that purpose made (IV); all courts shall be open, and justice shall neither be sold, denied, nor delayed (V); persons may plead their own cause in court (VI); all court pleadings and processes shall be short, and in English (VII); legal fees shall be moderate in accordance with a fixed scale (IX); all prisons shall be workhouses, one in each county (X). Here we see the first steps in the development of

FOUNDER AND GOVERNMENT

»45

the famous Pennsylvania prison system, in which the Quakers had a great part. Remembering his own experiences, Penn specified that "all prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offenses" (XI); that all persons wrongfully imprisoned or prosecuted shall receive double damages against the informer or prosecutor (XII); that all prisons shall be free as to fees, food, and lodging (XIII). T h e nine laws referring to courts and prisons all reflect directly the sufferings of Friends in contemporary England. Further, Quaker marriages are provided for (XIX); affirmation instead of oath-taking in court is provided for ( X X V I ) ; "all children, within this province, of the age of twelve years, shall be taught some useful trade or skill, to the end none may be idle, but the poor may work to live, and the rich, if they become poor, may not want" ( X X V I I I ) . T h i s provision reflects all the early Quaker pronouncements in favor of a practical education. T h e ancient Quaker testimony against "tale-bearing and detraction" is discovered in Penn's law "that all scandalous and malicious reporters, backbiters, defamers and spreaders of false news, whether against Magistrates or private persons, shall be accordingly severely punished, as enemies to the peace and concord of this province" (XXX). T h e religious qualifications for the suffrage and for officeholding are more strict in this Constitution than in that of the Jerseys already considered. It is provided in Pennsylvania that all office-holders and those who have the right to vote for the same "shall be such as profess faith in Jesus Christ" ( X X X I V ) ; the next law, however, specifies "that all persons living in this province, w h o confess and acknowledge the one Almighty and eternal God, to be the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the world . . . shall, in no ways, be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion, or practice, in matters of faith and worship, nor shall they be compelled, at any time, to frequent or maintain any religious worship, place or ministry whatever" ( X X X V ) . T h u s was all possibility of the transfer of the odious tithes to Pennsylvania forever denied. T h e X X X V I I law decreed that all the grosser forms of immorality should be severely punished, and also "all prizes, stage-plays, cards, dice, May-games, gamesters, masques, revels, bull-baitings, cockfightings, bear-baitings, and the like." T h i s is the Quaker counterpart of the New England Blue Laws against idle and dissipating practices, and the reaction against those worldly amusements which Penn had already flayed thirteen years earlier in No Cross,

146

WILLIAM PENN

No Crown. T h e document ends with the statement that these laws may not be altered without the consent of the Governor and "six parts in seven of the freemen, met in provincial Council and General Assembly" (XXXIX), and that all other matters not provided for shall be referred to the determination of the same authority (XL). Another Frame of Government dates from April 2, 1683, made necessary by changed circumstances and opinions. T h e Duke of York deeded to Penn his territory, consisting of the three southern counties now forming the State of Delaware. As soon as Penn arrived in America, the inhabitants of these southern counties, or "territories," as they were called, had requested to be included in the government of Pennsylvania. It was found, moreover, that the number of representatives in the Governor's Council and the General Assembly provided for in the earlier documents was much too large for the present population. T h e new Frame, therefore, had to incorporate the appropriate changes made necessary by these two factors. T h e Frame of 1683 refers to "this province and territories thereunto annexed," making six counties in all. Here, too, each county is to be represented in the Council by three persons, totaling eighteen, instead of twenty-four from each of three counties, totaling seventy-two, as previously provided. Similarly, the large number of two hundred Assemblymen to be elected by the three original counties is now reduced to six from each of six counties, totaling thirty-six. We thus have a Governor's Council of eighteen, and a General Assembly of thirty-six members. It was intended that the three lower counties or territories should be fully incorporated in the government of Pennsylvania, and their inhabitants of foreign birth were straightway naturalized as well as those of Pennsylvania. Very significant also is the abolishment of the treble vote reserved to the Governor, as we have seen in the earlier Frames—a provision likely disapproved by Sidney in the first place. An Act was also passed at this time, incorporating the Quaker faith in arbitration of civil disputes, by providing at every county court for three peacemakers, who should serve as arbitrators and determine, if possible, differences between individuals without bringing them into court. Quakers have always been shy of courts, if any other way of settling differences could be found. Their historic association with courts in England had not left with them a happy memory. T o the present day, the two Philadelphia Yearly Meetings inquire annually of their members whether "we

FOUNDER AND GOVERNMENT

147

endeavor to settle disagreements between individuals" and "where differences arise, are prompt endeavors made to end them?" It is interesting to observe that Penn translated and published for the benefit of his colonists in distant America the Latin text of Magna Charta with later comments upon it, followed by an abstract of the charter granted to him by Charles II. This little handbook for the use of legislators and electors is entitled The Excellent Privilege of Liberty and Property Being the Birth-right of the Free-born Subjects of England. Though the perfect copy, thought to be unique, of the original edition in the Haverford College Library bears no date or place of publication, it is considered to be a publication of Bradford in Philadelphia in 1687. In 1696, the government of Pennsylvania having been restored to Penn in 1694 and his cousin William Markham acting for him as deputy governor, a new Frame of Government was made necessary as a matter of form. It contains new provisions regarding qualifications for the suffrage, and a lengthy restatement of the acceptability of a solemn affirmation instead of an oath "upon any lawful occasion." Provision is here also made for the daily compensation and travel allowance of members of Council and Assembly. T h e number of members is further reduced to two from each of the six counties for the Council, and four for the Assembly. This provision for a Council of twelve and an Assembly of twentyfour members continued in force until 1701. Meanwhile, the Proprietor was continually harassed by standing grievances: the desire of the "territories" first to be associated in the government of Pennsylvania, and later to be separated from it; the insistence of the popular Assembly upon the right to initiate legislation, regardless of the charter reservation of this power to the Governor and Council; the difficulties about providing subsidies for military defense of Pennsylvania and the adjoining colonies; disputes about the requirement of oaths in legal matters; the reluctance of the people to pay their quitrents, upon which Penn counted to reimburse himself for the heavy expenses of government; the inadequacy of his deputy governors appointed by himself; the danger that the Crown, egged on by the Anglican Church party, would take over the government of the province again, as it had already done for two years; and later, the temptation in days of discouragement to sell the government to the Crown. These were the main causes for anxiety in Penn's mind during

148

WILLIAM PENN

the unexpectedly long absence from his province which he was compelled to spend in England from 1684 until 1699. There was a well-nigh irreconcilable opposition between his own financial interests as Proprietary, his feudal obligations to the Crown, and the democratic aspirations of the people represented by their Assembly—aspirations with which in spirit he was not unsympathetic. It is significant that Penn during his lifetime was never able to secure his financial rights in Pennsylvania, and died many thousand pounds poorer than he was before 1682: the next two generations of the family secured the advantages of his large investment, through better management and the increased value of lands during the eighteenth century. It is also significant that over the period 1682-1701 the popular party made steady gains in its pretensions and its acquired privileges. It was largely due to the tact and fidelity of Penn's secretary and personal representative, James Logan, that after 1701 the proprietary interests fared as well as they did. Logan's personal opponent for years was David Lloyd, a somewhat factious but determined political leader in the Quaker Assembly. Lloyd championed popular rights against those of the proprietary party very effectively. It may be fair to say that Penn did not so much object to granting the wishes of the popular party as he objected to the ungrateful spirit in which the popular demands were made, coupled with the continued refusal of the Assembly to provide for his financial requirements. Ingratitude was one trait that he could not overlook. The harshest language used by Penn in his correspondence with Logan refers to those men by whose ingratitude he was stung. Many of the problems just mentioned were in Penn's mind when he was finally able to return to America with his wife and daughter in 1699. Fifteen years had elapsed since his last visit. Physical and political conditions in the province were much altered since 1684: Philadelphia was now a young city, Meetings had been settled, roads opened, estates laid out in the adjoining counties, prosperity had come, and most important of all, democratic demands had come to a focus. The Charter of Privileges of 1701 was the fruit of this visit, and remained the law of the province until 1776. Penn's address to the Provincial Council on April 1, 1700, contains some notable expressions of generosity and confidence: "If in the constitution by charter there be any thing that jars, alter it. If you want a law for this or that, prepare it. I advise you not to trifle with government; I wish there were no need of any, but since

FOUNDER AND

GOVERNMENT

'49

crimes prevail, government is made necessary by man's degeneracy. Government is not an end, but a means; he who thinks it to be an end, aims at profit—to make a trade of it—but he who thinks it to be a means, understands the true end of government." Again, "At the late election in Philadelphia, I was grieved to hear some make it a matter of religion. It [government] is merely a human and moral thing relating to society, trade, traffic, and public good, consisting in virtue and justice; where these are maintained, there is government indeed." Finally, " I have been now nineteen years your Proprietor and Governor, and have at my charge maintained my Deputy, whereby I have much worsted myself and estate. I hope it will be no wonder to any here, to hear me make this mention of it." 14 It was in this spirit on Penn's part that the final charter granted by him was discussed for over a year. In this last Charter of Privileges of 1701, the first article again declares the dependence of good government upon freedom of conscience in terms which are here rehearsed: Because no people can be truly happy, though under the greatest enjoyment of civil liberties, if abridged of the freedom of their consciences, as to their religious profession and worship: And Almighty God being the only Lord of conscience, Father of lights and spirits; and the Author as well as Object of all divine knowledge, faith and worship, who only doth enlighten the minds, and persuade and convince the understandings of people, I do hereby grant and declare that no person or persons, inhabiting in this province or territories, who shall confess and acknowledge one Almighty God, the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the world; and profess him or themselves obliged to live quietly under the civil government, shall be in any case molested or prejudiced, in his or their person or estate, because of his or their conscientious persuasion or practice, nor be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious worship, place or ministry, contrary to his or their mind, or to do or suffer any other act or thing contrary to their religious persuasion.

All public officers must "profess to believe in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world," must promise allegiance to the King as sovereign, and fidelity to the Proprietary and Governor. T h e Assembly is given full power to choose a Speaker and its own officers, to judge of qualifications of its own members, to sit upon its own adjournments, appoint committees, prepare bills in order to pass into laws, etc. This marks the final triumph of popular governi*Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., Vol. II. Pt. II, p. 187. The original spelling is here modernized.

WILLIAM PENN ment. In this document there is no provision for a Governor's Council, with its former power of initiation of legislation. By letters patent, however, Penn established a Council of ten members, mostly Quakers, "to consult and assist, with the best of their advice, the Proprietary or his deputies, in all public affairs and matters relating to government." T h u s the function of the Council was henceforth purely advisory, and to it Penn appointed ten of his most substantial and intimate friends: Edward Shippen, John Guest, Samuel Carpenter, William Black, T h o m a s Story, Griffith Owen, Phineas Pemberton, Samuel Finney, Caleb Pusey, and John Blunston. T h e "territories" were granted liberty to dissolve their union with the "province" at any time within three years; in case they did so, the numbers of the Assembly (24) were to be maintained by the election of four additional members from each of the three counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks. T h i s charter of October 1701 also incorporated the city of Philadelphia, and gave the city two members in the Assembly. T h i s charter, having been considered for fifteen months previously, gave great satisfaction to the inhabitants. It was granted by Penn on the eve of his departure for England, necessitated by the outbreak of war with France, and the fear that fresh efforts would be made to deprive him of his government. T h e "territories" separated within two years, but shared a governor with Pennsylvania while supporting a government of their own until the Revolution; finally, they became the State of Delaware. 1 5 W e have seen in the Penn-Logan correspondence what the analysis of the situation was in Pennsylvania, as seen by others, between 1701 and 1710. Penn's own explanation of his troubles, and a fanciful cure for them, are found in a letter of February 17, 1705, to Judge Mompesson: There is an excess of vanity that is apt to creep in upon the people in power in America, who, having got out of the crowd in which they were lost here [i.e., in England], upon every little eminency there, think nothing taller than themselves but the trees, and as if there were no after superior judgment to which they should be accountable; so that I have sometimes thought that if there was a law to oblige the people in power, in their respective colonies, to take turns in coming over for England, that they might lose themselves again amongst the crowds of so much more considerable people at the custom-house, exchange, and Westminster Hall, they would exceedingly amend in their conduct at their re18

For the charter of 1701 see Thorpe, op. cit., V, 3076-81.

FOUNDER AND GOVERNMENT

»5»

turn, and be much more discreet and tractable, and fit for government. In the mean time, pray help to prevent them not to destroy themselves. . . . Let them know and feel the just order and decency of government, and that they are not to command but to be commanded according to law and constitution of English government.16 T h u s spoke the Founder in one of his firmer moments. In the preceding pages we have seen the solicitude of Penn for the moral and religious welfare of his province, and the gradual evolution of the people's part in the government. T h e official documents contain, of course, the usual provisions which are common to all democratic governments, and have not been repeated here. It is not too much to say that the Charter of Privileges of 1701 represents the final form given by Penn to the preceding theories of closet-philosophers which he had had the rare opportunity to sift and test. Religious toleration, civil liberty, and popular government had reached a new high as the result of his Holy Experiment. It is true that under the Proprietary government of colonial Pennsylvania after Penn's death and under the earlier constitutions of the State of Pennsylvania, there was a falling away on some minor points from Penn's ideals. But the present constitution of the State has incorporated all the rights of the Quaker citizen for which Penn sought to make provision in the documents we have examined. T h e r e is a statesmanlike proposal of Penn which has not been mentioned. It concerned not only Pennsylvania, but all the British colonies in America, and was submitted by request to the Lords of T r a d e in February 1697. It is called a Plan for the Union of the Colonies,17 and is the earliest of those colonial projects which foreshadow the later confederation of the colonies in 1776. Penn's plan contained measures that the colonies "may be made more useful to the Crown, and one another's peace and safety with an universal concurrence." T h e plan contained provisions for the periodic meeting of delegates from all the colonies from Massachusetts to the Carolinas, with a King's Commissioner as chairman, w h o in time of war should be commander-in-chief, to adjust matters of complaint or differences between provinces: such as the return of debtors and fugitives from justice, and the righting of ie Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., IX, 374. IT Quoted by Hull, William Penn, 236-37 from New York Colonial Documents, IV, 846.

>5«

WILLIAM PENN

injuries arising from disputes over commerce, etc. Further, the delegates were to devise plans for protection against public enemies by placing military quotas for the good and benefit of the whole. As has been said, "all these matters, placed at the disposition of the central body, found their place in the Articles of Confederation." 18 Under the pressure of the existing war with France, Penn violates in this plan his personal conscience by proposing military defense of the colonies upon a cooperative basis. In this case he could not speak for Pennsylvania and his Quaker convictions alone, but had to submit a plan which might secure the adherence of all concerned. He doubtless knew that he was proposing to the Lords of Trade "all that the traffic would bear." As Professor Hull, with his enthusiasm for arbitration, remarks of this plan, Penn's early proposal for mixed juries of whites and Indians to try the latter, his three arbitrators provided in each county court to settle individual differences, his proposal for a congress of European nations made in 1693, and now this plan for an orderly settlement of differences between provinces, "are interesting stepping-stones towards the peaceful international settlement of international disputes." 19 One other subject should claim our attention in this chapter, and that is Penn's treatment of Negro slavery. Penn's life covered the period of the earliest agitation in America against the evils of Negro slavery. T h e trade in African Negroes had been encouraged by England in order to provide labor in her new colonies where it was scarce. Slavery was not an evil with which the first generation of Quakers in England had any experience. When George Fox first encountered slavery and its effects in Barbados in 1671, his expressed concern went no further than that masters should care for the religious training of their slaves, should treat them humanely, and eventually set them free. Penn's Free Society of Traders, an association of Quaker colonists for Pennsylvania, provided that Negro slaves should be set free after fourteen years, when they should be allotted land, stock, and tools, and pay twothirds of their produce to the Free Society of Traders: "if they agree not to this, to be servants till they do." 20 This was in 1682. is Cf. Merrill Jensen, The Articles of Confederation, p. 107. i» W. I. Hull, William Penn, p. 239. 20 Samuel Hazard, Annals of Pennsylvania ¡609-1682, p. 553. Cf. Deuteronomy, XV, is-14.

FOUNDER AND GOVERNMENT

>53

T h e earliest protest against the institution of slavery was in 1688 from the German Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania. T h e superior Meetings in Philadelphia were not then ready to consider the subject, but a few years later the sentiment spread to the extent of discouraging the importation of Negro slaves, while a concern for their spiritual welfare and the regularization of their marriages took hold of some Philadelphia Friends. A will of Penn, written in 1701, provided for the freedom of his own blacks, thus showing his intentions at that time. In 1705 a tax was laid by the Assembly upon imported Negroes. First the slave trade from Africa, and then slavery itself, was discountenanced by Friends with increasing vigor, until the labors of Ralph Sandiford, John Woolman, Anthony Benezet, and Benjamin Lay cleared Quakers in Pennsylvania of the curse about 1780. T h u s Penn personally did not take much part in the suppression of slavery, but it is to the Quakers d u r i n g the eighteenth century that the earliest effective efforts to abolish the institution must be credited in those colonies where their influence was strong. It will be recalled that Penn was considering for years the expediency of selling his government to the Crown. T h e Charter of 1701 offered a stumbling-block to the consummation of this sale. T h e fact that he had handed over his political prerogatives to the people reduced the value of such a purchase in the eyes of the Crown. T h e Crown was not eager to buy the government of a Quaker province which had had its popular rights permanently guaranteed by this charter of 1701. T h e Church party, however, was anxious to gain control there, and continued to urge the purchase, while accusing Penn's government of incompetence. Colonel Robert Quarry, the British revenue officer, was a thorn in Penn's side because of the charges he preferred against the Proprietor to the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, and because of his prejudice against the interests of the Proprietary party. 21 O n the other hand, David Lloyd headed the Quaker party that claimed the province was losing its privileges and immunities through Penn's administration of government. 22 For years after 1704 he continued to bait Penn by his representations to the small party of English Quakers who were suspicious of Penn's contacts with the world. Lloyd's conduct seemed to Penn and Logan little short of treason. 21 Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., Vol. II, Pt. II, p. 195 ff. " Ibid., X , 407.

WILLIAM PENN »54 Harried by the conflicting representations of the Anglican and the Quaker party, Penn dragged on his negotiations with the Crown until 1712. Then he was stricken, and the question of a sale was permanently dropped. The last few years of Penn's invalid life witnessed a better spirit in Pennsylvania, and a better attitude toward the financial obligations to the Proprietor. The controversies between the Assembly and the deputy governors were less bitter, and the country was flourishing. Sales of land and better collections cleared the family debt. It is unfortunate that Penn did not live to appreciate fully the period of bloom in the province between 1710 and 1740.

ν THE MAN OF LETTERS ILLIAM PENN was such an active man of affairs that it requires some effort to think of him as a widely read man. After his conversion to Quakerism it is not likely that he spent much time on such literary forms as poetry and the drama. But with the fields of history, biography, theology, law, government, political philosophy, natural science, and gardening, he was widely conversant. He is said to have been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. 1 He mentions Chaucer and Cowley in passing, but a Quaker of the time would find little excuse for referring in his writings to the more frivolous literature of a world from which he had withdrawn. On the other hand, there is abundant evidence of Penn's reading in the more solid departments of human learning and speculation. T h e last two chapters of No Cross, No Crown show familiarity with a wide range of biography through the ages; the early controversial pamphlets quote from an amazing list of authorities on religion, toleration, and oaths through the whole gamut of church history. But we are fortunate in having preserved a letter he wrote to a young Quaker convert of twenty-three years in 1693. This letter to Sir John Rodes is printed by Mrs. Godfrey Locker Lampson in A Quaker Post-Bag, and in it Penn recommends two pages of titles to form the young man's library. Among the authors recommended are Augustine, Thomas-à-Kempis, Eusebius, Bishop Usher, Sir Walter Raleigh, Boyle, Thucydides, Tacitus, Machiavelli, Grotius, Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Thomas More, Seiden, Plutarch, Seneca, Epictetus, M. A. Antoninus, Winstanley, Justinian, Cook. There are many more recognized authorities in the various departments of human thought. Though omitting everything in lighter vein, Penn was certainly in a position to suggest, probably extempore, a solid foundation for a country gentleman's library. Beside being a reader of unusual breadth and intelligence, William Penn was himself an enormous producer of the written

W

1 Bull. Friends' Hist. Assoc. X X X , 8-10.

'55

i56

WILLIAM PENN

word. He wrote, however, only to express his ideas and to persuade his readers. He never wrote with any conscious effort to produce an artistic effect, except perhaps in his Fruits of Solitude. He wrote easily as he spoke easily, and suffered from this copia dicendi. In his early religious and political pamphlets his style is often turgid and obscure: he puts too much into one sentence, and by the abuse of colons and semicolons he prolongs his periods beyond all reasonable limits. In his extensive correspondence, of which much remains, he is often satisfied merely to suggest his meaning, without the appropriate amplification to make it clear, leaving it to his correspondent to decode the message. Much of the criticism, however, which can be aimed at Penn is equally cogent as applied to many other prose writers of the seventeenth century. Matthew Arnold, in comparing English prose writers with those of France, who are models of clarity and urbanity, accuses his own nation of "provinciality." 2 While admitting that "the power of English literature is in its poets," he accounts for the weakness of English prose by his belief that "our chief characteristics are, no doubt, these:—energy and honesty, not an open and clear mind, not a quick and flexible intelligence." The good taste and sense of proportion which the French Academy imposed upon French writers of the period in question were lacking in England even as late as Burke, from whose prose Arnold quotes some damaging evidence. As a prose writer, then, Penn had plenty of company in his stylistic obscurity. But especially among the writers of his own religious Society, he was no exception. Robert Barclay, who was perhaps the best equipped of all the early Quakers to write good prose, says at the outset of his Apology: God hath laid aside the wise and learned, and the disputers of this world; and hath chosen a few despicable and unlearned instruments, as to letterlearning, as he didfishermenof old, to publish his pure and naked truth, and to free it of those mists and fogs wherewith the clergy hath clouded it, that the people might admire and maintain them. It is true that the theological works of contemporary divines are clouded with mists and fogs, but we cannot claim that the Quakers did anything to clear them up. What Barclay said of his own intentions goes also for Penn, who might also have written: 2 "The Literary Influence of Academies," in Essays in Criticism, First Series.

MAN OF L E T T E R S

»57 Neither have I sought to accommodate this my work to itching ears, who desire rather to comprehend in their heads the sublime notions of truth, than to embrace it in their hearts: for what I have written comes more from my heart than from my head; what I have heard with the ears of my soul, and seen with my inward eyes, and my hands have handled of the Word of Life, and what hath been inwardly manifested to me of the things of God, that do I declare, not so much regarding the eloquence and excellency of speech, as desiring to demonstrate the efficacy and operations of truth; and if I err sometimes in the former, it is no great matter; for I act not here the grammarian, or the orator, but the Christian; and therefore in this I have followed the certain rule of the Divine Light, and of the Holy Scriptures. There we have the frank statement o£ the Quaker purpose in writing, expressed with the usual scriptural phrase—colons, seraicolons and all. It leaves no doubt that the purpose of Barclay, as of Penn, was to discover truth in the inward parts to his readers. If Penn could accomplish this end by rapid and careless composition in his early religious controversies, the crude rusticity and "provinciality" of his style worried him not at all. It is cause for regret that Penn usually bestowed so little care upon his style, for he gave an occasional happy hint of what he could do. For example, these two quotations from his Rise and Progress of the Quakers (1694) leave nothing to be desired for either clarity or imagery. He says that the religious Seekers in seventeenth-century England had forsaken "all visible Churches and Societies, and wandered up and down, as sheep without a shepherd, and as doves without their mates; seeking their Beloved but could not find Him (as their souls desired to know him) whom their souls loved above their chiefest j o y " (chap. I). And again, of George Fox's vision, he says: " H e saw people as thick as motes in the sun, that should in time be brought home to the Lord, that there might be one shepherd and one sheepfold in all the earth" (chap. V). William Penn's Some Fruits of Solitude in Reflections and Maxims relating to the Conduct of Human Life are something entirely different from the Maximes of L a Rochefoucauld, with which they are inevitably compared. T h e authors were so different and had such a different outlook upon life that it is natural that their observations should differ greatly. Penn's are distinctly moral and even religious. Where the Frenchman states what he thinks

i58

WILLIAM PENN

are facts, whether agreeable or disagreeable, Penn is pointing always toward virtue and salvation through good works. T h e Quaker groups his Fruits under topics, which fact facilitates our acquaintance with his thought upon certain subjects. In his Preface he blesses G o d for his retirement from the world, because it has given him the rare occasion to take stock of himself and observe "wherein he hath hit and missed the mark; what might have been done, what mended, and what avoided in his human conduct." H e pretends to no art in the presentation of his thoughts, but says they contain "hints that may serve thee for texts to preach to thyself upon, and which comprehend much of the course of human life." T h i s is precisely the function which has been admired by such modern critics as R. L. Stevenson and Edmund Gosse. Stevenson discovered a second-hand copy of the Fruits in San Francisco on his way to the Far East, and made of the little book "a peaceful and sweet companion." W e could wish that he had written a fulllength essay in appreciation of these Fruits. Gosse in his Introduction to a modern edition speaks of them with high admiration. T h e y were published anonymously in 1693, but their success later warranted an addition of 299 to the 556 of the original collection. T h i s compares with something over five hundred in the different editions of La Rochefoucauld's Maximes. W h e n L a Rochefoucauld published his Réflexions morales or Maximes in 1665, he could look back upon a life spent in the midst of a very artificial and corrupt society. T h o u g h perfectly conscious of the existence of the Christian virtues as understood in his day, he was chiefly impressed by the hypocrisy and insincerity of those w h o affected these virtues. As an observer of social virtues and vices, he regards self-interest as the ultimate motive of human conduct. H e is not an idealist, but a realist. Therefore he appears to many as a pessimist when speaking of human nature, for he is slow to admit the existence of disinterested motives. His observations do not raise the reader to a higher standard of morality, but they may exercise a salutary influence upon an optimistic complacency. T h e y are stimulating and intriguing. He speaks as an expert upon ambition, deception, love, honor, pride, fortune, favor, jealousy, affectation, friendship, coquetry, folly, gallantry, the passions, vanity, old age, and death. These were the subjects in which a gallant soldier or courtier of the day would be interested. Of any sense of social obligation, he is entirely innocent. In all the socalled "moral literature" in which France is so rich, these witty

MAN OF LETTERS

J

59

Maximes of La Rochefoucauld are among the least flattering to human nature, the least touched by Christian standards of ethics. They are, in fact, essentially pagan. It would be interesting to know Penn's manner of composing his Fruits. Maxims are not the kind of literary effort which one can sit down and compose by the hour. It would seem that the germ of a moral truth must first occur somewhat fortuitously to the author, and that he would then turn it over in different lights, and finally reduce it to the lowest and most striking terms. Some of Penn's Fruits are epigrammatic, like many of La Rochefoucauld's; others are developed at greater length, and resemble rather the "portraits" and "characters" of La Bruyère, another of his French contemporaries. Penn's Fruits differ from the Maxims of State of his contemporary Lord Halifax, which latter concern only conduct in government. From the standpoint of style, we are surprised to find Penn able to compress his thought into such clear and periodic phrases, when we recall the loose and confused manner of much of his early prose. Even in the most diffuse of his earlier pamphlets, however, he occasionally hit upon a telling figure or locution which gave promise of a talent for epigram, which in the Fruits received full expression. Indeed, a few Fruits are lifted directly from his earlier pamphlets. T h e best one can do for Penn as a moralist is to exhibit some of his typical observations in the hope that the reader may be tempted to turn to the complete collection, which is readily accessible in modern editions. Very modern, and consonant with the judgment of some educators, are some of his advices about the education of children: We are in pain to make them scholars, but not men! To talk, rather than to know; which is true canting. We press their memory too soon, and puzzle, strain, and load them with words and rules; to know grammar and rhetoric, and a strange tongue or two, that it is ten to one may never be useful to them; leaving their natural genius to mechanical and physical or natural knowledge uncultivated and neglected; which would be of exceeding use and pleastire to them through the whole course of their life. T o be sure languages are not to be despised or neglected. But things are still to be preferred. Children had rather be making of tools and instruments of play; shaping, drawing, framing, and building, etc., than getting some rules of propriety of speech by heart.

ι6ο

WILLIAM PENN

Of course Penn assumes a knowledge of Latin, as witnessed by his desire that popular books in science and mechanics might be composed for youth in that tongue. His recommendations concerning the avoidance of luxury in dress and meat, and of insincerity in social relations, are such as we should expect from the author of No Cross, No Crown. Typical of the Quaker concern for economy and modesty in personal expenses are these utterances: It is a reproach to religion and government to suffer so much poverty and excess. Were the superfluities of a nation valued and made a perpetual tax or benevolence, there would be more almshouses than poor; schools than scholars; and enough to spare for government besides. T h e receipts of cookery are swelled to a volume, but a good stomach excels them all; to which nothing contributes more than industry and temperance. All excess is ill; but drunkenness is of the worst sort. It spoils health, dismounts the mind, unmans men. It reveals secrete, is quarrelsome, lascivious, impudent, dangerous, and mad. In fine, he that's drunk is not a man; because he is so long void of reason, that distinguishes man from a beast. T h e epigrammatic statement is exemplified by the following: It is wise not to seek a secret, and honest not to reveal one. Knowledge is the treasure, but judgment the treasurer of a wise man. There are some men like dictionaries; to be looked into upon occasion, but have no connection and are little entertaining. Less judgment than wit is more sail than ballast. A man in business must put up with many affronts if he loves his own quiet. We must not pretend to see all that we see if we would be easy. Mix kindness with authority; and rule more by discretion than rigour. We are too careless of posterity, not considering that as they are so the next generation will be. Patience and diligence like faith remove mountains. Seek not to be rich but happy. The one lies in bags, the other in content; which wealth can never give. A man like a watch is to be valued for his goings. Virtue is not secure against envy. Men will lessen what they will not imitate. We are more prone to complain than redress, and to censure than excuse. Passion is a sort of fever in the mind, which ever leaves us weaker than it found us.

M A N OF L E T T E R S

161

Upbraid only ingratitude. Opportunities should never be lost, because they can hardly be regained. Let the people think they govern and they will be governed. Certainly service upon inclination is like to go farther than obedience upon compulsion. Oppression makes a poor country and a desperate people, who always wait an opportunity to change. When our right or religion is in question then is the fittest time to assert it. T h e truest end of life is to know the life that never ends. And he that lives to live ever, never fears dying. For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity. Death cannot kill what never dies. A devout man is one thing, a stickler is quite another. A good end cannot sanctify evil means; nor must we ever do evil that good may come of it. Some folk think they may scold, rail, hate, rob, and kill too, so it be but for God's sake. Let us then try what love will do. For if men once see we love them, we should soon find they would not harm us. Force may subdue, but love gains: and he that forgives first wins the laurel.

Somewhat more extended are the following: T h e country life is to be preferred, for there we see the works of God; but in cities little else but the works of men. And the one makes a better subject for our contemplation than the other. Government can never be well administered but where those entrusted make conscience of well discharging their places. If thou hast not conquered thyself in that which is thy own particular weakness, thou hast no title to virtue though thou art free of other men's. Public worship is very commendable if well performed. We owe it to God and good example. But we must know that God is not tied to time or place who is everywhere at the same time. And this we shall know as far as we are capable, if wherever we are our desires are to be with Him. T h e humble, meek, merciful, just, pious, and devout souls are everywhere of one religion; and when death has taken off the mask, they will know one another, though the diverse liveries they wear here make them strangers. T o have religion upon authority and not upon conviction is like a finger watch, to be set forwards or backwards as he pleases that has it in keeping. Sense never fails to give them that have it words enough to make them understood.

WILLIAM PENN But it too often happens in some conversations, as in apothecaries' shops, that those pots that are empty or have things of small value in them are as gaudily dressed and flourished as those that are full of precious drugs. When the poor Indians hear us call any of our family by the name of servants, they cry out, What, call brethren servants! We call our dogs servants, but never men. The moral certainly can do us no harm, but may instruct us to abate our height and narrow our state and attendance. Such are a few of over eight hundred of Penn's comments upon man and his life in his many relationships. T h e y are practical and benevolent, rather than theoretical or clever. T h e author is not a great philosopher, but he is the first of Quaker moralists. He is the only Friend w h o has sought to express the Quaker outlook upon life in epigrammatic form. It is well that he did so. For nowhere else in early Quaker literature can the man of today discover in readable form the expression of the early Quaker attitude toward man in the world. William Penn, as we have seen, was more deeply immersed in the world of government, politics, and business than any other Quaker of the seventeenth century. H e looked at this world through Quaker glasses. He believed that what was right in one place was right in all places. He further believed that in the long run it paid to do right. If his foot slipped where the going was very hard, it merely shows that he was very human: where he could not walk, he crept. But if he did not attain the perfection to which he believed that Christians are called, he made a high score in the effort. N o t unlike the Fruits of Solitude, and included in some modern editions of Penn's selected works, is his Advice to his Children relating to their Civil and Religious Conduct. T h i s document was written just before his second departure for America, but not published until 1726. T h o u g h there is no evidence that his children were greatly affected by this advice, others might well profit by it. It is more intimate and religious than the Fruits, and was perhaps not intended by the author for any readers outside his own family. A f t e r commending to them the fear of God, together with his light, grace, spirit and truth within them, as well as the Holy Scriptures without them, he continues with specific injunctions as to the orderly conduct of their daily lives: conversation, employment, reading, worship, marriage, business. It is interesting to note that he says: "Meddle not with government; never speak of it; let others say or do as they please." T h e n follows the recommendation

MAN OF L E T T E R S of humility, patience, mercy, charity, liberality, justice, diligence, frugality, temperance. T h i s advice reflects the Quaker interpretation of Christianity, that is, faith translated into a consistent life. Intending it for the guidance of his children and his children's children, Penn appears here as the head of a great clan, handing down a code by which this clan should live. But the tables were broken in the process of being handed down. None of Penn's writings has a more direct application to our present international situation than An Essay towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe. T h i s short treatise was also one of the fruits of his voluntary retirement, and was published in 1693. So intelligent an observer of world affairs as Penn was compelled to reflect upon the horror and futility of war, as he surveyed the seventeenth century. T h e T h i r t y Years W a r had been followed by others, brought on by the ambition of Louis X I V , which had involved most of western Europe. Besides her internal political and religious struggles, England had been at war either on the side of, or opposed to, the Low Countries, but always opposed to France and her claims. T h e effects had been devastating. " H e must not be a man," says Penn, "but a statue of brass or stone whose bowels do not melt when he beholds the bloody tragedies of this war [with France] in Hungary, Germany, Flanders, Ireland, and at sea, the mortality of sick and languishing camps and navies, and the mighty prey the devouring winds and waves have made upon ships and men since '88." C o u l d nothing be done to stop the woe and slaughter? Penn thought so. His plan for an European Parliament is the first important project of the kind since that of Sully under Henri IV nearly a century earlier. T h e French plan had been based upon political and economic considerations; Penn's proposal was based on a love of humanity and the mutual benefit of the participating nations. First, he says that a nation makes war for one of three causes: to protect what it has, to recover what it has lost, or to get something it wants. A l l these causes have at their root Ambition, what St. James and George Fox called Lust—the selfish desire to secure some advantage. So he lays down as a preliminary that "Something everybody must be willing to give or quit, that he may keep the rest, and by this establishment be forever freed of the necessity of losing more." T h e truth of this broad statement is, after two centuries and a half, beginning to win a reluctant admission from statesmen today. T h e r e is no hope for us, unless this truth is gen-

164

WILLIAM PENN

erally admitted and acted upon. T h e details of his plan are still interesting, though not so practical in the world today. T h e Powers of Europe were to be represented by a number of delegates proportionate to "the value of the territory." These delegates were to enter the place of assembly by special doors, like locomotives entering a roundhouse, or like Arthur's knights sitting at their Round Table, where questions of precedence were obviated. T h e ballot was to be secret. It required three-quarters to constitute a majority. Each delegation voted as a unit, in accordance with a majority opinion inside the delegation. Latin or French was to be the language of deliberations. Sovereignty of each Power inside its own territory was to be preserved. But if any Power proved recalcitrant and defied the assembly by military preparations, it must be compelled by all the other Powers united against it. T h e situation which Penn here contemplates is not very different from that of the League of Nations in the presence of Germany when known to be rearming. Penn does not say so, but it is evident that he foresees armed compulsion by an international police force. He would doubtless defend this military action as being in effect that of an international force used primarily to restrain, and not to conquer or punish. What his plan does not contemplate is the possibility of a group or bloc of nations combining to defy the police power of the assembly. T h e League of Nations found that the welfare of all, as an ideal, could not yet hold its own against the selfishness of a few. T h e place of this document in the history of international relations is, of course, evident. In recent years it has been reprinted several times, and is readily accessible. Penn's personal trust in peaceful methods was much like that of his young friend Logan. T h e latter found himself one day in 1703 at dinner in company with a number of non-Quakers, including Lord Cornbury the Crown Governor of New Jersey, when the talk turned upon the necessity of organizing a defense of the colonies "lying so naked and defenceless." Logan himself was not opposed to armed defense, when the interests of others were concerned. Indeed, he once wrote "I neither am, nor ever was, a strict professor" of Quakerism. 8 But under the circumstances he felt obliged to stand up for the Quaker principle of nonresistance. T h e conversation was much like what might still take place today after two hundred and forty years in the same conditions: *Mem.

Hist. Soc. Pa., X, 190.

MAN OF LETTERS I always used [said Logan] the best argument I could, and when I pleaded that we were a peaceable people, had wholly renounced war, and the spirit of it; that we were willing to commit ourselves to the protection of God alone, in an assurance that the sword can neither be drawn, nor sheathed but by his direction; that the desolations made by it are the declaration of his wrath alone, and that those who will not [use] the sword, but, by an entire resignation commit themselves to his all-powerful providence, shall never need it, but be safe under a more sure defence than any worldly arm—when I pleaded this, I really spoke my sentiments; but this will not answer in English government, nor the methods of this reign. Their answer is, that should we lose our lives only, it would be little to the crown, seeing 'tis our doing, but others are involved with us, and should the enemy make themselves master of the country, it would too sensibly touch England in the rest of her colonies. 4

So the matter rests about where Penn and Logan left it, but with perhaps a few more idealists in our day sharing the Quaker position. * Ibid., IX, *s8.

VI CONCLUSION NE feels humble in trying to estimate the historical importance of such a many-sided man as William Penn. He had so many assets that we can well afford to admit his liabilities. Let us admit what he was not. He was not a great philosopher, or a saint, or the most perfect exemplar of pure Quakerism. He was not careful enough in money matters to have served as the treasurer even of a sewing circle. He was not always ethically consistent. He did not succeed, in spite of fourteen children born, 1 in impressing either his religion or his ideals upon those who survived him. He was not a first-class judge of other men's characters and fitness for the tasks with which he charged them. He was not at bottom a thoroughgoing democrat. He was not a great master of English prose. Some writers have seized upon these points and made much of them. W e may candidly admit them all. It is not hard to accuse of inconsistency a public man who lived seventy-four years on the English stage from Charles I to George I, who owned a vast province to be developed, and who professed the strict way of life practised among Friends of his day. Some critics have pitched with glee upon any sign of inconsistency between the tenets of his sect and his own acts. T h e r e are two kinds of good people, both of whom take their responsibilities seriously: one consists of extremists who will in no case make any compromise with their principles, or have any truck with those who are less requiring than themselves; of this type were many of Penn's Quaker contemporaries, and they had their reward. T h e other kind of good people get what they can in the way of progress by compromising in what they feel to be nonessentials, and are willing to work with those less advanced than themselves. Penn was of this latter type. Very characteristic of him and of this attitude are his words to his Friends in America written after his emergence from seclusion in 1694:

O

1 Hull, William Penti, pp. 346-47. 166

CONCLUSION

.67

T h a t things are not just now put into that posture as you may reasonably desire, you must not take amiss, for neither will the straitness of the times nor the circumstances we are under to the Lords of the Plantations permit another method at this time. . . . Accept this part of the goodness of God, and wait for the rest. W e must creep where we cannot go, and it is necessary for us in the things of this life, to be wise as to be innocent. 2

Those w h o know Penn only in the benign portly figure on the tower of Philadelphia's City Hall will have to revise their estimate of him to fit a more complex and very human Founder. T w i c e he came within a hair's breadth of losing Pennsylvania: once by his unwitting execution of a deed of sale of his property to the Fords, and once by a deliberate sale of the government to the Crown. A f t e r stating briefly what Penn was not, we may take a little more time to point out what he was. If not a saint, he was a good man, under circumstances when it was not easy for men in his position to be good. He was a cheerful, lively, affable, courteous, and kindly man—what his Quaker memorial called in the style of the time even "facetious." T h e r e are many great men in history of whom we should either be afraid or for whom we should entertain a personal loathing. Penn was so human and so kindly that we should like to talk with him, as Landor did in his imaginary conversations with some great ones of the past. He was doughty and fearless in situations of personal danger and distress. T h a t was proved in his imprisonments and the events which led u p to them. T h o u g h his mind was capable of embracing amazing details, he shied away from the annoyance of personal tensions which so often occur in the discussion of money matters and political appointments. Here he was too easy-going. T h e Penn-Logan correspondence gives ample proof of this. Above all he meant to be just, for justice was the foundation of his entire plan for his province. In the balance of rights he would allow to others their rights, but he expected to have his own proprietary rights respected by them. T h e Golden Rule, he thought, was intended to be reciprocal. His colonists too often thought of this rule as a one-way street, in their favor only. N o Quaker can read this correspondence with Logan without feeling that thoughts of money were seriously affecting his spiritual serenity. It is difficult to think of a busier man than Penn during the greater part of his life. From 1670 until 1712 he had upon him the a

Quoted by Graham, op. cit., p. Î24.

ι68

WILLIAM PENN

care of a large personal property in landed estates and the responsibility of a growing family; he shared in the spiritual and secular leadership of a religious Society which, though greatly despised and feared, was constantly making front-page news in the chronicles of his lifetime; he maintained the enormous correspondence made incumbent upon an absentee promoter of distant colonization; he was an incessant writer upon controversial subjects which required exact references to obscure sources in order to support his position; he gave much time to solicitation at the Stuart Court on behalf of those who were in distress; finally, after 1680 his mind could hardly ever have been free from the problems of finance, policy, and personnel which were connected with Pennsylvania. A living historian has said that "it is doubtful whether any other individual among all the divergent personalities of this remarkable century shared in so eminent a degree the manifold life of his time as did the Founder of Pennsylvania." 3 A man in Penn's position has many occasions to make a mistake in his estimate of individuals and in his analysis of critical situations. Under such circumstances one cannot expect a perfect score. There was another type of Quaker in his own family for whom Penn entertained the highest respect 4 —Isaac Penington, the stepfather of Guli Penn. Penington is the gentle Quaker mystic, living in retirement a life which seems to us singularly beautiful. There were many early Friends who held this mystical religion, and introduced it as a motive force into other men's lives by their traveling, preaching, and suffering in protest against the evils of contemporary society. They were a moral leaven in the social lump. But none of them, either before or after Penn, until the entrance of a few Quakers into the House of Commons in Victorian England, had anything to do with the political system of the mother-country. Their only dealings with government were as bearers of protests or petitions. Penn's case was different. He had to live and exemplify Quakerism in places and among men where its tenets had as yet no abiding place. His theological writings are as dead wood to us, but not so his way of life. He was in the great political arena and will always be the typical man of action, the man engaged in large affairs. »W. E. Lingelbach in the Welcome Society of Pennsylvania Twenty-fifth Anniversary, Phila., 1931. * See Penn's Testimony concerning Isaac Penington, prefixed to the lattrr'· Works.

CONCLUSION

169 5

Pharaoh once asked Joseph if he knew any "men of activity." If anyone had asked George Fox if he knew any men of activity among his Quakers, he must have pointed out William Penn. That is just what he was—a man of activity. His career presents the attempt to lead a plain and strait public life in a world not yet accustomed to it. He did not get all he wanted. He took what he could get. He made some concessions to keep what he thought essential. As he suggested, a man has to creep where he cannot walk upright. But what he did get by faithfulness to his religious convictions were precisely those things which set human society and government forward in some important respects. In placing Penn among the Englishmen of his time, we must remember that he was not a politician and took no part in the shifting politics of the Restoration. His only business with politicians was in the interest of religious toleration, to which business he tenaciously clung. A contemporary and acquaintance of Locke, he shared the great philosopher's ideas on toleration, as well as his opinion that national virtue and national prosperity went hand in hand.® Locke affected the future course of religious toleration in England, while Penn advanced the cause by his immediate and practical demonstration of it in Pennsylvania. Though neither a philosopher nor a theologian, Penn belongs in the great line of Jeremy Taylor, Henry More, Chiliingworth, and the seventeenth-century Latitudinarians. T h e fact that his name is known the world over where theirs are not known is entirely due to the circumstance that religious toleration in the New World is primarily associated with Penn. While it is true to say that Penn made Pennsylvania, it is equally true, historically speaking, that Pennsylvania made Penn. In our colonial history the only figure with whom Penn is comparable is Roger Williams (i6o4?-84), who was forty years old when Penn was born, and died about the time Pennsylvania was founded. Though Williams had no sympathy with the peculiar Quaker tenets of George Fox, 7 he shared with Penn devotion to religious tolerance, insistence upon separation of Church and State, » Genesis, X L V I I , 6. β For Locke's intimacy with the family of the Quaker Benjamin Furly, and for his appreciation of women's ministry at a Friends' meeting in London, see "Benjamin Furly, Quaker Merchant, and his Statesmen Friends," in J. Friends' Hist. Soc., X I , 62-70. T Williams, George Fox digg'd out of his Burroives (1676), Pub. of the Narragansett Club, Providence, R.I., 1872.

170

WILLIAM PENN

and good will toward the Indians. Williams passed through divers religious affiliations and has been described as a seeker for truth to the end of his life. During his long life in America he was a political and religious controversialist. Penn, on the other hand, changed his religous allegiance once for all. He was a finder of what he wanted, and for him a high degree of religious consistency may be claimed. Though both men were highly endowed intellectually, Penn had a greater social prestige and was a larger public figure as Proprietary of Pennsylvania. Both men contributed to the evolution of American institutions, but Penn had the opportunity of writing on a clean slate those principles which have become the foundations of our American democracy. Probably no one would contend that Williams' writings can be compared, for either quantity or importance, with Penn's. It has been maintained throughout these pages that Penn was above all a Quaker. If he had not been a Quaker, he might have been a self-seeking courtier, or a prominent statesman, or even the founder of a British outpost beyond seas. But he would not have been the Founder of Pennsylvania, nor would he have qualified as the greatest of British colonizers. He is the greatest of British colonizers because of his just and tolerant insistence upon man's most cherished possessions—his religious and political rights. Many other English and Continental philosophers sketched and published their plan for an ideal government. Penn alone had the unprecedented opportunity, at a time when foreign empires were being carved out by the old-world Powers, to put his ideas into execution. T h e ideas he had were all colored by the fundamental faith of the Quakers in the available guidance of God and in the response of men to just and tolerant treatment. A marked personal trait of Penn, which no one can deny him, is his generosity, his consideration for others of whatever society— in short, his innate courtesy. There are many evidences in his letters of little kindnesses in the form of money or favors rendered to those less fortunate than himself. His courtesy may well have been the product of his early days in fashionable society, for the early Quakers themselves made no boast of possessing the external graces of polite society. It is difficult to imagine any of the prominent Friends of that day using the ornate expressions of courtesy which we find in many of Penn's letters addressed to the great ones of the earth. He would have explained this usage as the observance of simple courtesy, which had nothing to do with the simplicity of

CONCLUSION

171

his religious principles. This tendency to use the terms of polite discourse increased with Penn after the close of his period of polemical writing, during which he had often excoriated his opponents with a really rich vocabulary. He came to the point where he could write to Justice Fleming in 1673: " I know no religion that destroys courtesy, civility and kindness." 8 We are warranted in thinking of Penn as essentially a gentleman. Penn's scale of living was always that of a well-to-do gentleman, open-handed, free, hospitable, denying himself nothing legitimate that made for his efficiency. He thought in terms of a large country house, with plenty to eat and drink, with servants to match and, when on the Delaware, a private barge to travel in. His own household was conducted on a generous scale, and was of course maintained on income derived from inherited property, with later intermittent profit from sales of land in America. Meanwhile, his expenses were very heavy for family and political requirements. We have seen how his fortune dwindled. It could not do otherwise under his easy-going management. An open-handed man whose income is not equal to his outgo will eventually face this experience: there were too many holes in his sack to hold sovereigns. However, it was he, and not his reputation, that suffered from his being a free spender. We are so inclined to think of Penn as a public figure that we may lose sight of him as the head of a family. He was not only head of his own household, but was also the "American Uncle" to a much larger company of relatives whose shadowy acquaintance we make in his correspondence. We have suggested what a busy man he was. His memory and capacity for detail makes his carelessness in his own money matters all the more unaccountable. For he was a man of method and order in his daily affairs, and has left in a letter to Sir John Rodes already quoted, his plan for a division of the day: "Suppose, for example, thus: one quarter to Religion, in Waiting, Reading, Meditating, etc.; one quarter to some general study; one quarter to meals and some bodily labour or gardening, or some mathematical exercise; one quarter to serve friends or neighbours and look after my Estate. It prevents confusion in business." We recall that he gathered his family three times a day for religious instruction and meditation. There is no evidence that his religion was other than a continued strength and support to him. Indeed, his friends point this out. If pressed for his own valu« Works, I, 157.

17*

WILLIAM PENN

ation of his religion, he would certainly have confessed that it alone enabled him to support what he had to bear: the Lord was indeed his strength, his shield, and his exceeding great reward. His sense of the practical value of divine leading is expressed in a letter to Logan in 1702: " I desire thy application and health, and above all thy growth in the feeling of the power of truth: for that fits and helps us above all other things, even in business of this world, clearing our heads, quickening our spirits, and giving us faith and courage to perform." · Though of a sanguine temperament, as revealed by his optimism and generous attitude in his riper years, there were bitter disappointments in his private life. Of seven children by his first wife, only three survived to maturity. Of these the eldest survivor and his favorite child, Springett, died of consumption at the age of twenty-one; his daughter Letitia's marriage brought him embarrassment from the grasping character of his son-in-law; and William, who would have been his heir as governor, was claimed by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Of seven more children by his second wife, Hannah Callowhill, five survived their father, but none had reached maturity before his death. Personal bereavements, together with his financial difficulties and the rigors of his five imprisonments, must have cast dark shadows at times over his naturally lively disposition. In his personal life Penn was sorely tried. The secret of his resilience, of course, is contained in his own statement: " I bless the Lord, I am yet upon my rock and lasting foundation." 1 0 A man's personal joys and sorrows are, however, soon forgotten by posterity. What Posterity asks concerning a man is, "What did he stand for that concerns us?" Let us see in conclusion what Penn added to the assets of humanity. We have seen that he provided for government by the people through the popular election of their representatives; he proposed plans looking toward the substitution of arbitration for war in the settlement of international disputes; he set up open courts with juries of one's peers and with justice for the accused; he reformed the prison system by substituting workhouses for dungeons; he restricted capital punishment for the crimes of willful murder and treason; he provided for an affirmation as the equivalent of a legal oath; he successfully • Mem. Hist. Soc. Pa., IX, 167. 10 ibidX, szg.

CONCLUSION

173

advocated friendly treatment of the natives instead of seeking to corrupt and exploit them; he respected the rights of conscience and freedom of worship, avoiding the abuse of a state church; he offered a plan for cooperation between the American colonies; and he made provision for popular and practical education of his citizens. If we review the position reached by humanity on these points before Penn's time, we can measure the extent of his contribution. If we remember the testimonies of the Quakers leading to a way of life, we can see how many of his advanced ideas find their germ in Quakerism. It is certain that some of these rights of man had long before found expression in "the good old laws of England," but we have seen how they were being violated under the Stuarts in Penn's time. Other reforms had been formulated in the blue prints of social and political philosophers, but had not yet been realized. Penn put them into effect. W h i l e the leading European countries were still in the thralls of absolutism, and England was fighting to release her people from the domination of a reactionary royal family, Penn went the whole distance toward popular sovereignty and freedom of conscience. 11 Such a life can never be lived again. W i t h the same opportunities, but without being a Quaker, Penn would certainly have incorporated some of his advanced ideas in his government. B u t we trust it has been made clear that his advocacy of them grew almost entirely from his sense of responsibility to Quakerism, and that they are all based upon the essential principles of human brotherhood and good will which are inherent in the faith he embraced at the age of twenty-three. T h u s the tiny rivulet of Quaker idealism has flowed into the broader stream of human progress. First Pennsylvania, and later the United States, has become the exhibit of his life work. Those years of preaching, writing, pleading, and protesting in unreadable pamphlets at last bore fruit. T h e force of line upon line and precept upon precept has never been better illustrated. A recent writer has said: " T h e significant things about a religious movement are its social effects and the reasons why it continues in existence." T h e social effects of Penn's Quakerism are by this time evident. 1 2 Only the curse of war remains to challenge 11 It was not until 1936 that Penn was represented by a bust in the Hall of Fame at New York University. Sidney Hook, The Hero in History, N.Y., 1943, p. 36.

»74

WILLIAM PENN

Penn's idealùm, as it did in the eighteenth century. Toward the extermination of the spirit of war his spiritual successors must press. The life of the great Founder is particularly instructive to a Quaker. From a worldly point of view, he had a greater chance than any Quaker ever had to make a success or a failure. In his zeal and faith, he started out by believing that the ethical code of the Quakers of his day, in all its severity, was applicable to public as well as to private affairs. This code, particularly appropriate for the religious life of the individual, had never been applied to public affairs and to government. It broke down then, as it would break down now, because it demands more emphasis upon spiritual values than the world is yet ready to accord. Strict fidelity, uncompromisingly loyalty, to Quaker values has, indeed, made its contribution to the advancement of humanity through prolonged sufferings in the seventeenth century for conscience* sake. But Penn was not a "plain Friend" in the strictest sense of that phrase. He was very much in the world, and preferred to conform to some of the world's standards in order to gain what he considered greater ends. He certainly lost much of his optimism before he was done with Pennsylvania; but he never lost sight of his noble aims and never consciously betrayed his personal integrity. A man of Penn's type will never gain all he seeks; but he will lead men as far as possible toward his advanced position. And perhaps that is all that anyone in his place could have done. It is hoped that this presentation of William Penn has made clear the connection of Quakerism with the fundamental institutions of Pennsylvania. Some of these institutions are now the common property of free Englishmen and of citizens of the United States. Such, however, was not the case in the seventeenth century. In his own day Penn was a pioneer in more ways than one. He was one of those men who would perhaps in any case have devoted himself to the interests of human society and government. That he did so in the particular way we have seen, is due to his trust in the Quaker faith in divine guidance and in "that of God" in every man. T o carry over this faith into our larger human relationships, to trust man as well as God, has always proved difficult. Penn unquestionably found it to be so at many points in his life. Possessing a lively faith, born of a personal religious experience, he offers an outstanding example of one who tried to apply this faith on the large stage of human affairs. Penn is not a hero in

CONCLUSION

»75

the dramatic sense of the word: there was no single moment, so far as we can see, when he risked his life in a courageous act of personal self-sacrifice. But for fifty years he was a noble example to modern statesmen, in that his larger acts for human betterment were all prompted by a profound belief in the permanent validity of whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. If there be any virtue and if there be any praise among men for these qualities, posterity has been warranted in honoring William Penn. A n d this is the Comfort of the Good, that the Grave cannot hold them and that they live as soon as they die. For Death is no more than a Turning of us over from T i m e to Eternity. 18 1» Fruits of Solitude,

50s, 503.

BIBLIOGRAPHY WORKS

ON

WILLIAM

A Selected Edward C. O. Beatty: William

PENN

List

Penti as Social Philosopher,

N e w York,

1939· Mabel R. Brailsford: The Making of William Penn, London, 1930. William C. Braithwaite: The Beginnings of Quakerism, London, 1912. : The Second Period of Quakerism, London, 1919. Augustus C. Buell: William Penn as the Founder of two Commonwealths, New York, 1904. Thomas Clarkson: Memoirs of the Private and Public Life of William Penn, 2 vols., London, 1813. W . Hepworth Dixon: William Penn, London, 1851. Bonamy Dobrée: William Penn, Quaker and Pioneer, London, 1932. John W . Graham: William Penn, Founder of Pennsylvania, London, 1 1 9 7· Elizabeth Janet Gray: Penn, New York, 1941. William I. Hull: William Penn. A Topical Biography, London, 1937. Samuel M. Janney: The Life of William Penn, Philadelphia, 1852. Howard M. Jenkins: The Family of William Penn, Founder of Pennsylvania, Ancestry and Descendants, Philadelphia, 1897. : Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal, 4 vols., Philadelphia, 1906. Mrs. Godfrey Locker Lampson: A Quaker Post-Bag, London, 1910. Albert Cook Myers: William Penn's Early Life in Brief, 1644-1674 (with many illustrations), Moylan, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania, 1937. Granville Penn: Memorials of Sir William Penn, 2 vols., London, 1833. Robert Proud: The History of Pennsylvania, 2 vols., Philadelphia, 1797. Isaac Sharpless: Political Leaders of Provincial Pennsylvania, New York, 1919· • : A Quaker Experiment in Government, Philadelphia, 1898. John Stoughton: William Penn the Founder of Pennsylvania, London, 1882. Francis N. T h o r p e : The Federal and State Constitutions, Vol. 5, Washington, 1909. C. E. Vulliamy: William Penn, New York, 1934. John F. Watson: Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, 3 vols., Philadelphia, 1857. Maria Webb: The Penns and Peningtons of the Seventeenth Century, 2 vols., London, 1867. 177

i78

WORKS BY WILLIAM PENN WORKS B Y W I L L I A M

PENN

Beside the Works of Penn in the two-volume edition of London, 1726, the following titles are cited in this book, chiefly from original editions. An Address to Protestants. Advice to his Children. Brief Answer to a False and Foolish Libel. A Brief Examination and State of Liberty Spiritual. Christian Liberty. To the Churches of Jesus. A Comprehensive Discourse of the Faith and Practice of the True Christian. Considerations Moving to a Toleration and Liberty of Conscience. The Continued Cry of the Oppressed for Justice. The Counterfeit Christian Detected. A Defence of the Duke of Buckingham's Book. England's Great Interest. England's Present Interest Discovered. An Essay towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe. The Excellent Privilege of Liberty and Property. Fruits of a Father's Love. Fruits of Solitude. Good Advice to the Church of England, Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters. The Great and Popular Objection against the Repeal of the Penal Laws. The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience. The Guide Mistaken. Innocency with her Open Face. The Invalidity of John Faldo's Vindication. My Irish Journa.il. Judas and the Jews. Just Rebuke to One-and-Twenty Divines. A Letter of Love to the Young Convinced. Letters from a Gentleman in the Country. The New Witnesses proved Old Heretics. No Cross, No Crown. The People's Ancient and Just Liberties Asserted. A Persuasive to Moderation to Church Dissenters. One Project for the Good of England. Quakerism a New Nickname for Old Christianity. Reason against Railing. The Reasonableness of Toleration and the Unreasonableness of Penal Laws and Tests. Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers.

WILLIAM PENN

»79

The Sandy Foundation Shaken. A Seasonable Caveat against Popery. A Serious Apology for the Principles and Practices of the People called Quakers. Some Account of the Province of Pennsylvania. The Spirit of Alexander the Copper-smith Revived and Rebuked. The Spirit of Truth Vindicated. Travails in Holland and Germany. Treatise of Oaths. Truth Exalted. Truth Rescued from Imposture. Truth Vindicated. Urim and Thummim. A Winding-sheet for Controversie Ended. Wisdom Justified of her Children.

INDEX Address to Protestants, 94-98 Advice to his Children, 16a All Hallows Church, 1, 141 Amsterdam, 29 Amyraut, Moïse, 6, 74 Anglicans, 4, is, 46, 47, 71, 72, 79, 119, ΙΪ5·3>- »33- l39> >47 Anne, Queen, 1, 32, 61, 65 Arlington, Lord, 8, 21 Arnold, Matthew, 156 Arran, Earl of, 9 Ashburnhara, Colonel, 8 Baltimore, Lord, 34, 41, 42, 43, 45 Bancroft, George, 134 Baptism, 87 Barbados, 152 Barclay, Robert, 5, 20, 28, 29, 69, 70, 75- 94· 156 Batten, Lady, 3 Benezet, Anthony, 153 Berkeley, Lord, 31, 135 Besse, 46 Bishop of London, 75, 139 Black, William, 150 Blunston, John, 150 Brailsford, Mabel R., 5 Brief Answer to a False and Foolish Libel, 90 Brief Examination and State of Liberty Spiritual, 125 Bright, John, 69 Bristol, 15, 53 Buckingham, Duke of, 18, 126, 130 Bunyan, John, 21 Burke, Edmund, 156 Β urn yea t, John, 1 1 , 31 Bushel, 106, 114 Byllinge, Edward, 31 Caesar (Charles II), 123 Callowhill, Hannah (Penn), 53, 65, 172

, Thomas, 61 Cambridge, 4, 72 Cardinal Principles of Quakerism, 899 ' . '33 Carolinas, 133, 134, 151 Carpenter, Samuel, 57, 59, 150 Carrickfergus, 9 Carteret, Sir John, 3 1 , 32, 135 Catholics, 1 1 , 72, 76, 118, 119, 124-27, 130- «3· Cautions for Choice of Members in Parliament, 124 Charles I, 1, 2, 6, 121 Charles II, 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 26, 3 1 , 34, 35, 43· 45- 7 ' . 9». 96. 97' »*·. '*3> >*4. '37- '47 Chaucer, 119, 155 Chigwell School, 2 Christ Church, 4 Christian Liberty, 121-23 Churches of Jesus, 91 Clapham, Jonathan, 73 Clarendon, Earl of, 18 Coale, Josiah, 1 1 , 15, 31, 70 Comprehensive Discourse, 94 Considerations Moving to a Toleration and Liberty of Conscience, 126 Constantine, 73 Continued Cry of the Oppressed, 123 Conventicle Act, 12, 18, 23, 33, 47, 69, 104, 124 Conway, Lady Anne, 70 Cork, 9, 1 1 , 23 Cornbury, Lord, 164 Counterfeit Christian Detected, 84 Cowley, 155 Cowper, William, 5 Crawford, Earl of, 5 Crisp, Stephen, 48 Cromwell, Oliver, i, 2 , Richard, 2

i8j

WILLIAM PENN

Declaration of Indulgence, 27, 124, »So Defence of the Duke of Buckingham's Book, is6 De Labadie, 29 Defoe, Daniel, 8 Discourse on the Reasonableness of Man's having a Religion, 126 Dissenters, 14, 72, 98, 122,124,125, 130 Dixon, W. Hepworth, 106 Dolmahoy (ship), 57 Dry den, 126 Dublin, g, 10 Eccles, Solomon, 23 Edmundson, William, 10, 23, 88 Elizabeth, Princess, 29 Ellis, Rowland, 54 Ell wood, Thomas, 38, 42, 52, 70, 75 England's Great Interest, etc., 124 England's Present Interest Discovered, 121-23 Essay towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe, 93, 163-64 Eucharist, 87 Evans, Deputy Governor, 60 Evelyn, 20 Excellent Privilege of Liberty and Property, 147 Faldo, John, 25, 82, 84 Fell, Margaret (Fox), 70 Fenwick, John, 31 Finney, Samuel, 150 Five Mile Act, 6g, 105 Fleet prison, 62 Fleming, Justice, 171 Fletcher, Governor, 50 Ford, Philip, 61, 167 Fox, George, 11, 15, 20, 27, 28, 31, 51, 53· 69. 75. 7 6 ' 8»· 9«. 97' »52. >57· 163, 169 Frames of Government of Pennsylvania, 137-47 France, 5-7, 163 Franklin, Benjamin, 24 Free Society of Traders, 141, 152 Fruits of a Father's Love, 53 Fruits of Solitude, 125, 157, 159-62 Fry, Elizabeth, 27, 69

Fuller (informer), 51 Furly, Benjamin, 2g, 169 George I, 1 Germantown, 33 Germany, 28, 30, 33, 120, 121, 127 Gilson, Professor, 37 Good Advice to the Church of England, etc., 128-29 Gosse, Edmund, 158 Great and Popular Objection, etc., 130 Great Case of Liberty of Conscience, 118-20 Greenwich, 7, 9 Grellet, Stephen, 1, 27, 69 Guest, John, 150 Guide Mistaken, 17, 73, 87 Guildford, 30 Gurney, Joseph John, 69 Halifax, Marquess of, 42, 124-25, 159 Harrington, James, 31, 132 Hartshorne, Richard, 134 Harvey, Thomas, 11 Hedworth, H., 82 Henri IV, 163 Henry VIII, 128 Hobbes, 132 Holland, 27, 28, 30, 32, 120, 122, 127 Homes, Countess of, 29 Hull, William I., 66, 152 Indians, 43-45, 54-55, 140-41 Innocency with her Open Face, 75 Invalidity of John Faldo's Vindication, 84-85 Ireland, 2, 9, 11, 22, 41, 53, 65, 104 Irish JournalI, 22, 23, 104, 117 Jamaica, 2 James II, 1, 15, 22, 26, 27, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 76, 126, 127, 130, 146 Jeffreys, Judge, 130 Jenner, Thomas, 77 Jerseys, Laws of the, 134-37 Jesuits, 48, 76, 77 Jordans, 65 Judas and the Jews, 81 Just Rebuke, etc., 88

INDEX Keith, Deputy Governor, 65 , George, 20, 28, 50 Kensington, 46 La Bruyère, 96, 159 Lampson, Mrs. Godfrey Locker, 155 Landor, W . S., 167 La Rochefoucauld, 157-59 Lay, Benjamin, 153 Leiy, portrait of Admiral Penn by, 9 Letter of Love to the Young Convinced, 76 Letter to a Dissenter, 124 Lloyd, David, 59, 148, 153 , Thomas, 45 Locke, John, 4, 134, 169 Loe, Thomas, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18 Logan, James, 53, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 148, 153, 164. 172 Louis X I V , 31, 124, 163 Lowther, Thomas, 48 Lurting, Thomas, 93 Macroom, 2, 3, 9 Magdalen College, 47 Markham, Captain, 44, 50, 147 Massachusetts, 40, 139 Maxims of State, 125 Mayflower (ship), 39 Mead, William, 23, 27, 105fr. Mennonites, 41 Methodism, 73 Milton, John, 5, 89 Molière, 90 Mompesson, Judge, 150 Monmouth, Duke of, 130 More, Henry, 169 . Sir Thomas, 31, 132 Moses, 38 Mott, Lucretia, 69 Muggleton, Lodowick, 81 Nayler, James, 10, 81 New Witnesses proved Old Heretics, 81 Newgate, 26, 27, 77, 118 No Cross, No Crown, 8, 21, 24, 75, 98100, 103, 155 Norris, Isaac, 54, 56, 59, 60, 6a North, Lord, 42

183

Oates, Titus, 124 Oaths, 47, 91, 96, 103, 125 Old Bailey, 106 One Project for the Good of England, ,2 5 Opdam, Admiral, 9 Ormonde, Duke of, 9 Orrery, Earl of, 14 Ossory, Earl of, 9 Owen, Griffith, 59, 150 Oxford, 3, 4, 18, 29, 31, 68, 71, 72 Pannier, M., 6 Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 33 Peace Testimony of Friends, 92-95, 103-4, 163-64 Pemberton, Phineas, 150 Penington, Isaac, 15, 18, 70, 168 Penn, Admiral Sir William: marriage, 1: Jamaica, 2; knighted, 2; Ireland, 2; Great Captain Commander, 8; letter from son William, 8; interview with son, 15, 19, 24; death and burial, 24; reputation defended, 25; estate, 25 , Granville, 25 , Letitia (Aubrey), 53, 65 , Margaret: 4; marriage to Anthony Lowther, 9 , Lady Margaret Jasper, 1, 4 , Springett, 53, 172 , William: birth, 1; family, 1; childhood visions, 2; boyhood in Ireland, 3; student at Oxford, 4; tour on Continent, 5-7; return to England, 7; reads law, 8; letter to father, 8; business in Ireland, 9; portrait, 9; converted to Quakerism, 11, 70; arrest and release, 13-15; Admiral's treatment of son, 15-16; early activity as Quaker, 16-19; first publication, 19; Sandy Foundation Shaken, 20, 74-75; imprisonment in Tower, 21, 75; nine months in Ireland, 22; Penn-Mead trial in 1670, 23, 105-17, 135; imprisoned in Newgate for street preaching, 26; in Holland and Germany, 27; marriage in 1672, «7; interview with

184

WILLIAM PENN

Penn, William (continued) Duke of York, >7; activity as controversialist, 28; second visit to Holland and to Germany, >8-30; association with Sidney, 30; concerned in America, 51-39; government in the Jerseys, 154-57; charter granted for Pennsylvania, 54-55, 157-40; plans for colonization, 5658; first visit to America, 39-45; concern for Indians, 43-45, 140; letter to Dutch, Swedes, and English, 141; farewell to Philadelphia, 45; solicitor at Court, 45-47; unpopularity and flight of James, 47; consequences for Penn, 48-50; retirement from public life, 51; loss of government of Pennsylvania, 50; return to favor, 51; return of government, 50; death of first wife, 5s; second marriage, 53; second visit to America, 53-59; return to England, 59; letter to Logan, 57-58; relation to Pennsylvania and to Crown, 59-61; financial situation, 61-64; proposed sale of government to Crown, 64, 153; death, 65; will, 65; personal appearance, 66; Memorial of Reading Friends, 66; Fellow of Royal Society, 155 , William, Jr., 60, 65 Penn (William) Charter School, 143 Pennsbury, 41, 54, 58 Pennsylvania Dutch, 55 Pennsylvania Frames and Laws, 137-47 People's Ancient and Just Liberties Asserted, 105-17 Pepys, Samuel, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 16, so, 68, 74 Perrot, John, 81 Persuasive to Moderation to Church Dissenters, 1x7-28 Peter the Great, 53 Petre, Father, 48 Plain language of Quakers, 91 Plan for a Union of the Colonies, 151 Popple, Sir William, 48, 49 Prince Elector of Heidelberg, 120 Proud, Robert, 40 Pusey, Caleb, 59, 150

Quaker Post-Bag, 155 Quakerism a New Nickname, 82-84 Quarry, Colonel, 59, 60, 153

etc.,

Reading, England, 66 Reason against Railing, 85-88 Reasonableness of Toleration, etc., 129 Reeve, John, 81 Richardson, John, 54 Rickmansworth, 27 Rise and Progress of the Quakers, 53, »57 Robinson, Sir John, 6, 26 Rochester, Earl of, 42 Rodes, Sir John, 155, 171 Rupert, Prince, 25, 29 Ruscombe, 65 Sandiford, Ralph, 153 Sandy Foundation Shaken, 20, 74 Saumur, 6, 18, 71, 74 Seasonable Caveat against Popery, 76 Seller, Richard, 93 Seneca, 122 Separatists, 72 Serious Apology, etc., 77-79, 132 Shaftesbury, Earl of, 18 Shangarry, 9, 10, 12, 104 Shannon, Lord, 23 Shippen, Edward, 57, 59, 150 Sidney, Algernon, 6, 30, 125, 133, 142, 146 Slavery, 152 Spencer, Lord Robert, 6, 43 Spirit of Alexander the Copper-smith, 81 Spirit of Truth Vindicated, 79 Springe«, Gulielma Maria, 18, 23, 27, 38, 5a Starling, Sir Samuel, 26, 106, 117 Stevenson, R. L., 158 Stillingfleet, Dr., 21 St. Omer, 77 Story, Thomas, 59, 150 Sully, 163 Sunderland, Earl of (Robert Spencer),

INDEX Taylor, Timothy, 77 Test Act, 47, 69 Three Letters, etc., 1x9 Townsend, Richard, 40 Truth Exalted, 19-20, 72-73 Truth Rescued from Imposture, 8, 117 Turner, Robert, 31, 14s Utrecht, Treaty of, 56, 64 Vaughan, Sir John, 106 Voltaire, 64 Wales, 37, 41 Wanstead, 2, 23, 24 Watson, John F., 40

Welcome (ship), 39 Weymouth, 2, 15 Whitehead, George, 48, 77, 81 Whit tier, John G., 69 Williamson and Story controversy, 125 William of Orange (William III), 47« 50. 5«. »3» Williams, Roger, 169 Winding-Sheet for Controversie Ended, 82 Wisdom Justified of Her Children, 120 Witchcraft, 139 Woo Iman, John, 1, 69, 75 Worminghurst, 38 York, Duke of, see James II