William Penn s Legacy Jason Penn Browne Visionary Press Phoenix, Arizona USA An imprint of Cima Vista Productions, LLC
2010 Jason Penn Browne. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any manner, including storage in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address Visionary Press, c/o Cima Vista Productions, LLC, P.O. Box 10421, Phoenix, AZ 85064 USA, or via e-mail at info@cimavista.com. FIRST EDITION February 2010 ISBN 978-0-9642667-7-3 Library of Congress Card No. 2010920011 Publisher s Cataloguing in Publication Data Browne, Jason Penn (1955-- ) William Penn s legacy / Jason Penn Browne. Phoenix, AZ : Visionary Press, c2010 Xx, [ 112 ] p. : 14 cm. : incl. bibliographic reference. An overview of William Penn s visionary Holy Experiment in the founding of Pennsylvania and its influence as the spiritual foundation for America; his impact on transforming humankind s condition; and ways to regenerate a new Holy Experiment for today s society. ISBN 978-0-9642667-7-3 $9.95 (trade paperback) 1. History Political/Social/Religious. 2. William Penn. 3. Holy Experiment. 4. Spiritual formation. 5. Spiritual direction. I. Title BV4501.2.B76x 2010 2010920011 900 dc22 4 Cover photo of William Penn statue Bob Krist. Used with permission.
The nations want a precedent, and because I have been somewhat exercised about the nature and end of government among men, it is reasonable to expect that I should endeavor to establish a just and righteous one in this province (Pennsylvania) There may be room there for such a holy experiment. -- William Penn, 1682 5
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For the only time in history, a whole Commonwealth accepted the Sermon on the Mount as a way of life and a way of work. These men and women found it neither impossible, nor impractical. -- Pennsylvania Governor Major General Edward Martin, 1944 at the William Penn Tercentenary celebration 7
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Table of Contents 1. William Penn: Visionary Founding Father 11 2. Penn s Spiritual Awakening 19 3. The Holy Experiment Begins 31 4. Penn s Impact and Achievements 45 5. Why the Holy Experiment Ended 59 6. The Liberty Bell Connection 67 7. Hannah Callowhill Penn 75 8. Honorary U.S. Citizenship 81 9. Notable Penn Quotes 87 10. A New Precedent 93 Author s Notes 105 Bibliography 109 9
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1. William Penn: Visionary Founding Father...(Penn s) greatest achievement is...the underlying conviction that men are bound together by more than selfish interests, that mutual tolerance of men of good conscience is the basis of all human dealing. This message will have meaning as long as life endures. -- Fortune magazine, June 1944 11
He was characterized as, The greatest historical figure of his age, by Britain s Lord Acton. Thomas Jefferson called him, The greatest Law-giver the world has produced; the first, either in ancient or modern times, who has laid the foundations of Government in pure and unadulterated Principles of Peace, of Reason and of Right. William Penn is the United States of America s most keystone and significant Founding Father. He was directly involved in the founding of three of the original thirteen colonies Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Interestingly, these three colonies would later become the first three states to ratify the United States Constitution. (Apparently there was some Divine orchestration going on, as there is no indication that this occurred by human design.) William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn are also two of only seven people ever granted full honorary citizenship by the United States Congress. And they are the only honorary citizens who predate the country s founding in 1776. The other honorary citizens include: Winston Churchill (in 1963); Raoul Wallenberg (1981); Mother Teresa (1996); Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motie 12
Motier, otherwise known as the Marquis de Lafayette (2002); and Kazimierz Pulaski (2009). Yet, not much is really known about William Penn by most Americans today, aside from the fact that he was the founder of Pennsylvania, he was a Quaker and his statue stands atop City Hall in Philadelphia. Not even present day Quakers (more formally called the Religious Society of Friends, or just Friends) really know much more about Penn s accomplishments. There may be an additional awareness of his being a model for the Quaker caricature on the Quaker Oats products by that company s founders, but that appears to be the extent of peoples knowledge. And Penn s Holy Experiment in the founding of Pennsylvania is not recorded as part of United States history mainly because it occurred long before 1776 nearly 100 years before. U.S. historians naturally document the nation s history from the time it was officially formed, including some events of a few years prior that led up to the Revolutionary War and the country s independence. Consequently, there has not been a notable United States historical reference on the impact of this holy experiment. Part of this oversight can also be attributed to Penn s Quaker background and their low-key approach to doing things. Quakers are known for being quietly effective in the handling of their affairs, and no one is a 13
aggrandized over anyone else. Another reason may be because of their strong non-violence stance during the Revolutionary War. Quakers were ridiculed and looked down upon as traitors by their fellow colonists. However, one thing is clear: Without William Penn s accomplishments in Pennsylvania, there would not be a United States of America in all likelihood. William Penn was an extraordinary visionary not only for his time, as Lord Acton pointed out, but also in the annals of human history. The foundation he set up created perhaps the greatest application of Natural Law principles in humankind s history. the closest thing to the metropolis envisioned by the Stoics centuries before. Penn s commitment to Divine Guidance and adhering to practically applying Its spiritual principles is unparalleled. Pennsylvania was a new, radical society that included for the first time religious liberty, the right to a trial by a jury of one s peers, and selfgovernment and taxation only through representation. This was a social experiment that proved to be effective for over 73 years without use of force, and which saw little or no violence or war. Penn and his fellow settlers proved that spirituality and materialism could be balanced in a more perfect union. They created a Commonwealth in the 14
American wilderness where civil and religious liberty, domestic and external peace reigned to a degree and for a length of time never before achieved in the history of the Western world. And it hasn t been achieved at such a high level since then. Philadelphia became the center of commerce, the cultural capital and the most populated city in the New World. The City of Brotherly Love also became a haven for religious free-thinkers, as well as being known at various times as the Athens of America because of its art, and the Paris of America because of its cosmopolitan air. This was a New World Order at its finest. Stories of the religious liberties, the representative government being set up and the wealth of the area spread a current of hope and ideology throughout Europe and the civilized world. People were drawn from all parts of Europe for the opportunity to start a new life in this new land called Pennsylvania. The promise of liberty and prosperity generated an outpouring of immigrants from various countries to join the initial Swedish and Dutch settlers, creating the uniquely American concept of a melting pot a new mixed nationality of a people made up of many peoples. Philadelphia, of course, later became the cradle of America America s birthplace; the place where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution wil 15
were written and adopted. Philadelphia was also the capital of the colonies during the Revolution, and then the capital of the United States for ten years from 1790-1800 while the new Federal City of Washington, D.C. was being built. It also served as the country s financial capital through the 1850s. And it is full of national cultural and educational firsts -- the first library, the first art school, hospital, medical school, medical school for women, natural history museum, and secondary school system prominent among them. William Penn is considered to be one of the most human, and least known, of this country s Founding Fathers. He was described as, a man of great abilities, of an excellent sweetness of disposition, quick of thought and ready utterance, full of the qualifications of true discipleship, even love without dissimulation; as extensive in charity as comprehensive in knowledge, and to whom malice or ingratitude were utter strangers; so ready to forgive enemies that the ungrateful were not excepted. In fine, he was learned without vanity, facetious in conversation, yet weighty and serious; apt without forwardness; of an extraordinary greatness of mind, yet void of the strain of ambition; as free from rigid gravity as he was clear of unseeming levity; a man, a scholar, a friend, a minister surpassing in superlative endowments; whose memorial will be valued by the wise, and blessed with the just. (from A Testimony Concerning William Penn from the Monthly Meeting for Berkshire, England, held at Reading on 31 st of 1 st month, 1719) every min 16
In 1883, eminent historian George Bancroft wrote in his work History of the United States that, William Penn was tolerant looked inward to the divine revelations in mind. To Penn, the soul was an organ which of itself instinctively breathes divine harmonies, like those musical instruments which are so curiously and perfectly framed, that when once set in motion, they of themselves give forth all the melodies designed by the artist that made them. Conscience...to Penn, is the image of God, and His oracle in the soul....(he) saw truth by its own light, and summoned the soul to bear witness to its own glory...believed that God is in every conscience, His Light in every soul; and therefore, stretching out his arms, he built such are his own words a free colony for all mankind. Penn felt the pull of a deeper calling. He stated, Let us then try what Love will do....for if men do 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. The idea of having a social/political/religious structure based on Love? Unheard of, even for today. Former United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld s description of a visionary in his book Markings is an apt description of William Penn: He broke fresh ground because, and only because, he had the courage to go ahead without asking whether others were following, or even understood....he had been granted a faith which required no confirmation a contact with reality...where his heart was lucid and his mind loving. In sun and wind, how near and how remote. 17