Holy Experiment; P. L. Brindle

WILLIAM PENN THE HOLY EXPERIMENT was the name given by William Penn fo his colonization on the west bank of the Delaware River . William Penn was sure that he was di rected by God through his Inner Light. When he was 12 years old, and alone in his room, he had a spiritual experience which he de scribed as God appearing unto him and making it clear to him that there was important work for him to perform. William Penn was born October 14, 1644, almost within. the shad ow of the Tower of London. His father was an English Navy Cap tain whose name was also William. H-is mother was Dutch, the former Mr. Brindle is a Washington, D.C., attorney whose paternal ancestors arrived in Philadel phia in 1715, from Liverpool. Holy Experiment PAUL LUTHER BRINDLE Margaret Jasper, and is credited with giving him his unshakable poise. The father had been taught the way of the sea by his father, Giles Penn, on his own ship in the sailing-vessel days and in the rough-and-tumble merchant ser vice. Sir William Penn became Vice Admiral and was knighted.

As recipient of many honors, he was invited to State' functions, where he felt humbled by his lim ited formal education. He deter mined that his son should be edu cated as a courtier. A tutor was engaged and young William was sent to Chig well School in Essex, then to Ox ford University tor two years, and then to Soumur in France where he came urtder the infl u enceof, and lived with, the noted 67 68 THE FREEMAN February theologian, Moses Amyrault, of Calvinist persuasion and a man of learning and eloquence. Penn wore fine clothes, armor and side arms becoming the cava lier gentry, and young men of dis tinction. While at Oxford, Penn had developed skills in fencing, and when an attacker in Paris drew his sword over some imaginary of fense' Penn ~ested him. This gave Penn the right to pierce through, but he turned his attacker free un harmed. Penn, by now the theolo gian, said concerning the incident, "I know no religion which destroys courtesy, civility and kindness."

This led to his giving up of the ar mor and side arms. Penn went to the London Inn to study English law until his father took him to his estate in Ireland to avoid the plague of 1665 and 1666. In Ireland, Penn heard the Qua ker preacher, Thomas Loe, preach ing on the subject, "There is a faith that overcomes the world and a faith that the world over comes," and from that time Penn was a Quaker. The Quakers were delighted to secure a convert from the cavalier class, a man of fam ily, education, wealth and prom inence. He became a recognized Quaker leader, preacher and au thor of numerous theological works. Seventeenth Century life in England was at a low ebb, with 250 crimes punishable by death usually on the block. The Conven ticle Act of 1664 made it unlawful to hold any religious meeting other than that of the authorized Church of England. Magistrates were al lowed to impose fines upon viola tion, often amounting to confisca tion of assets and imprisonment without trial by jury. The inform er's fee was one-third of the fine.

The Quakers refused to obey the Conventicle Act, and worshiped openly as Quakers with the result that men, women and children were arrested and carted off to prison, and the following week there would be replacements to suffer the same fate. A Quaker in Prison Newgate Prison was overly crowded. While in prison there, Penn spent most of his time writ ing, The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience, and on another occa sion he wrote, No Cross, No Crown, which has been reprinted from time to time. On another occasion, Penn spent eight months and 16 days in the Tower of London without trial. Word reached him that the Bishop of London had vowed to keep him there until he died. To this Penn replied, "They are mistaken in me, I value not their threats;' I will weary out their malice."

1975 HOLY EXPERIMENT' 69 During Penn's incarceration in the Tower, he was without re search material, but his writings included accurate quotations and analyses of the opinions of over 150 personages of the past and present. When the book, Innocency with Her Open Face, was pub lished and reached the streets, it was so helpful in authenticating his claim of his Inner Light, as a man of God, and stirred such a clamor, that in a few days he was released from prison by the act of pardon. Property Seized, Later Restored Large numbers of Quakers were refusing to pay tithes, or taxes to maintain the government, which included support of the established church. The sheriff was obliged to seize their property and sell it to obtain treble the amount of the tax, or to imprison them. The Quakers refused to take an oath, or to remove their hats in court, church, or in the presence of important persons. They denied the validity of all sacraments, in cluding baptism and the Lord's Supper. They declared that a man should not be bound to believe more than his reason could com prehend. The Quakers were at tempting to hark back to First Century Christianity, and thereby to circumvent 16 centuries of growth and struggle of Christen dom. Their position on primitive Christianity was to become an im portant point of understanding with the Indians in America.

The Test Act of 1673 barred from public office, both civil and mili tary, all who refused the sac rament according to the rites of the Church of England. This forced the resignation of James Stuart, the Duke of York, from his position of Lord High Admiral of the Navy. James was openly a Romanist, while Charles II was secretly of the same faith. Ten years after the death of Ad miral Sir William Penn, Charles II was still unable to pay the estate the Admiral's uncollected salary and loans which amounted to about £16,000. William Penn was at the peak of his influence. He proposed that the Crown convey to him the uncolonized land west of the Delware River in North Amer ica in exchange for the indebted ness and, at the same time, to pro vide a haven for the religiously oppressed in England. It had been 60 years since the Pilgrims had settled in Massachusetts for the free worship of the Puritan reli gion, and Penn saw a need for in dividual religious liberty.

When the Charter for the grant was being considered in Council, on March 4, 1681, Penn stood with his hat on, as was the Quaker cus70 THE FREEMAN February tom, although he was in the pre sence of the King. When the King removed his hat, Penn asked, "Friend Charles, why dost thou not keep on thy hat?" His Majesty replied laughingly, "It is the cus tom in this place for only one per son to remain covered at one time." Penn, in deference to the Qua ker restriction against vanity, ob jected to the colony being named Pennsylvania, the Latin for Penn's woods, whereupon the King said, "I will name it after your father." On March 4, 1681, the Holy Ex periment was launched, and March 4 was later selected as the date for the Inauguration of the Presi dents of the United States - a cus tom which prevailed through 1933. Pennsylvania became the only proprietorship colony in America. It consisted of 45,000 square miles, only 5,000 square miles less than the area of England. Of it Penn wrote "'Tis a clear and just thing; and my God, which has given it to me, through many difficulties, will I believe, bless and make it the seed of a nation. I shall ten der care to the government that it may be well laid at first."

Address to Settlers Penn lost no time in putting the Holy Experiment into.· effect, as inspired by his Inner Light. On April 8, 1681, he wroteto the set tlers in. Pennsylvania-the Swedes, Dutch and English - in a style which has sometimes, been re ferred to as Governor Penn's Inau gural Address. He wrote, in part: My Friends: I wish you all happiness, here and hereafter, I have to let you know that it has pleased God in his Provi dence to cast you within my lot and care. It isa business that, though I never undertook before, yet God has given me an understanding of my duty, and an honest mind to do it up rightly, I hope' you will not be troubled with your change and the king-'s choice, for you are now fixt, at the mercy of no Governour that comes to make his fortune great ; you shall be governed by laws of your own mak ing, 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 the grace to keep it. In short, whatever sober and free men can reasonably desire for the security and improvement of their own hap piness, I shall heartily comply with .... I beseech God to direct you in the way of righteousness, and therein prosper you and your children after you. I am, Your true friend, Wm. Penn.

When Penn first arrived in his colony on October 27, 1682, at Up lands, (renamed Chester), he im mediately began to apply his frame of government. He issued 1975 HOLY EXPERIMENT 71 writs for the election of Represen tatives to the assembly to meet at Chester on December 4, 1682. Penn was delighted to find the great storehouse of riches which exceeded his fondest expectations. Prior to going to Pennsylvania, he had written several letters to the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) Indians, which had been read and trans lated to them. The letters were friendly and deeply religious, and he assured them that his people would never harm them nor take their land without payment. He learned their language and would walk among them. The In dians had strong likes and dis likes, but were deeply fond of Penn, whose brotherly love was contagious. The Indians shared Penn's convictions on immortality. Penn contended, "That the truest end in life is to know the life that never ends-that death is no more than turning us over from time to eterni ty."

After making land purchases in 1683, Penn wrote: The poor people are under a dark night in things relating to religion; to be sure, the tradition of it, yet they believe in God and Immortality, without the help of meta physicks; for they say, there is a great king that made them, who dwells in a glorious country to the southward of them, and that the souls of the good shall go thither where they shall live again. Penn's Fundamental Constitu tions of Government read: "That all persons living in the province who confess and acknowledge the Almighty and Eternal God· to be Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the world - subject to the general rules of piety, all were welcome. Only those who denied the exist ence of God should be excluded." The frame of Government Penn looked upon the state as evil and wanted no more govern ment than the ill-behaved of worldly citizens made necessary. His· philosophy of an ideal society was one in which men governed themselves and their affairs so well and justly that formal gov ernment would have little or noth ing to do. Penn said, "Liberty without obedience is confusion and obedience without liberty is slavery." Imprisonments were con tinuing in England, requiring courtier attention. Penn sailed on August 16, 1684, to England.

King Charles II died in 1685, and his younger brother James Stuart ascended to the throne as J ames II, and declared that he would establish the· Roman reli gion in England or die in the at tempt. Charles had a natural son Monmouth, for whom a Dukedom had been created. He mustered his forces to take the throne from his uncle, James II, which' resulted in 72 THE FREEMAN February a bloody failure, and Monmouth lost his head on the block. It took William of Orange with 14,000 well-disciplined Dutch troops to rout his father-in-law from the throne. J ames tossed the great seal into the Thames and fled to France where he lived on the bounty of Louis XIV. This was the end of Penn's influence as a courtier. At the behest of William in 1689, eight years after Penn's Holy Experiment began, Parlia ment passed the Toleration Act, which William had promised when he announced his intention to drive James from the throne. The Act established religious liberty by law. The refor~s established were the very ones for which Penn, in his earlier days, had so ardently contended, and modern England was to grow up under these reforms.

William and Mary Under the reign of William and Mary, violence, cruelty and brutal executions largely passed away. Mary was the daughter of James II and his first wife, Anne Hyde, and was reared as a Protestant. She and William were virtuous and honorable monarchs, and set an example for all rulers to fol low. The statesman who failed lost his office, not his head. Under the liberties established by WilHam III, the modern world was beginning to appear. The Tolera tion Act brought tranquility to the English people, and cleared the way for dealing with those of different religions and cultures. Penn visited Holland and Ger many, preaching to the oppressed Mennonites and Schwenkfelders, and urged them to colonize in Pennsylvania. He visited Princess Elizabeth, granddaughter of J ames I, who was then the Abbess of Herford, and who entertained an interest in the mysteries of the Deity. Penn, accompanied by Quaker missionaries, was hopeful of her acceptance of Quakerism.

Penn wrote in his notes, "The gospel was preached, the dead was raised and the living were com forted." In 1699 Penn made his second trip to Pennsylvania, when the population was about 20,000, con sisting of about one-third mem bers of the Church of England, one-third Quakers, and one-third Presbyterians, Mennonities arid others. When Penn, a man of great poise, visited throughout the province and the neighboring colonies of New York, New Jersey and Maryland, he was graciously received. Penn returned to England in 1701, but before his-departure, a new and simpler constitution was adopted by the people. Penn 1975 HOLY EXPERIMENT' 73 stoutly maintained that there should be: • 1. No establishment of the Church of England as the state church. • 2. No use of public funds for sectarian benefit. • 3. No abridgment of suffrage. • 4. No Test Act eligibility for office. • 5. No direct parliamentary tax ation upon property or in come.

In compliance with Leviticus 25: 10, a huge bell was cast by Pass and Stow of Philadelphia, and was rung on the 50th Anni versary, proclaiming liberty throughout the land. It was again rung in jubilation on July 4, 1776, and each year thereafter until a crack developed. After that, it be came an attraction for visitors. Those whom Penn left in charge of his province were soon to be operating it at a loss, and Penn was imprisoned for debt. To ter minate the loss in his advancing years, he offered a sacrifice sale of Pennsylvania to the Crown, for £12,000, and accepted £1,200 as advance payment. When the new constitution was adopted in 1701, the first of the prohibitions (against a state church) was inadvertently omit ted, and Penn by recoupment, tried to incorporate it as a re strictive covenant in the sales agreement, but destiny had an other plan for the survival of the Holy Experiment.

Penn suffered a stroke which rendered him unable to contract during his remaining years. It fell to the lot of his widow, the former Hannah Callowhill, to save the Holy Experiment. She termi nated the foolish sales talks, re paid the advance from an inheri tance, schooled herself in the affairs of the province, and taught the same to her sons. The Order of Succession in Pennsylvania Thomas Penn was the business man of the family. Later he· be came Governor and he instructed his nephew, John Penn, to suc ceed him. John Penn served until the Revolution. Written .high in the Capitol at Harrisburg are William Penn's famous words, "The nations want an example and my God will give them one." By liberating the spirits of men, more power was released through the Holy Experi ment than was theretofore thought possible by those of lesser stature. The Quakers opposed war per se, and even as a means of de fense. They surrendered political power as early as 1757. During and after the Revolution, many Quakers emigrated to Canada.

74 THE FREEMAN February Penn had placed happiness fore most in his letter to the settlers in 1681, and 95 years later (1776) when Philadelphia. was the most populous city in America, it was paraphrased as the "Pursuit of Happiness" in the Declaration of Independence. Seven of the 39 signers to the Declaration of In dependence were Pennsylvanians, and Pennsylvania was the first of the larger states to ratify the Federal Constitution, on Decem ber 12, 1787, following only 5 days after ratification by Delaware, a land formerly owned by Penn and settled as a part of the Holy Experiment. The Holy Experiment in repre ... sentative government, by strange circumstances, remained not the work of anyone person, or group of persons. Succeeding genera tions and freedom-loving immi grants could find inspiration from Penn's dedicatory prayer in scribed on Philadelphia's City Hall, the closing words of which are, "To preserve thee from such as would abuse and defile thee that thou mayest be preserved to the end." ~ IDEAS ON LIBERTY Discourses -Concerning Government IT WERE A FOLLY hereupon to say that the liberty for which we contend is of no use to us, since we cannot endure the solitude, barbarity, weakness, want, misery and dangers that accompany it whilst we live alone, nor can enter into a society without resigning it, for the choice of that society, and the liberty of framing it according to our own wills, for our own good, is all we seek. This remains to us whilst we form governments, that we ourselves are judges how far 'tis good for us to recede from our natural liberty ; 'tis of so great importance that from thence only can we know whether we are freemen or slaves; and the difference between the best government and the worst doth wholly depend upon a right or wrong exercise of that power. If men are naturally free, such as have wisdom and understanding will always frame good govern ments: but if they are born under the necessity of perpetual slavery, no wisdom can be of use to them; but all must forever depend on the will of their lords, how cruel, mad, proud or wicked soever they be.

SIR ALGERNON SIDNEY (1622-1683) LEONARD E. READ WOODROW WILSON, in his book, The State, also identifies govern ment with force: "Government, in its last analysis, is organized force." Stated very simply,.a gov ernment issues edicts -laws which are backed by a constabu lary or policemen. Obey, or suffer the consequences! Other agencies or persons must rely on attraction, service rendered, peaceful per suasion. It is beginning to dawn on me that we who believe in and are spokesmen for what we have called "limited. government" have been using that term in vain. Why the suspicion? Again, hear Woodrow Wilson: No man ever saw the people of whom Governmentis not reason1 it is not eloquence;....it is force. Like fire it is a dangerousservant and a fear ful master ; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. - George Washington The Police: Friendor Foe? he forms a part. No man ever saw a government. I live in the midst of the Govern1nent of the United States. I never saw the Government of the United States.