Some Aspects of Style in William Penn's Maxims

SOME ASPECTS OF STYLE IN WILLIAM PENN'S MAXIMS Edward F. Higgins* In 1693 a small anonymous book of maxims was published in London titled: Some Fruits of Solitude in Reflections and Maxims Relating to the Conduct ofHuman Life. The collection was apparently popular for it saw several editions. Then in 1702 a second volume appeared under the title: More Fruits ofSolitude, still anonymously ascribed, but clearly by the same author. By 1718, the year of Penn's death, a revised and enlarged edition of Some Fruits together with More Fruits was issued and this edition remains the standard text.1 Penn's authorship was not specifically stated until an editorial committee under Joseph Besse, Quaker scholar and writer ofthe period, was appointed by the Second Day Morning Meeting to collect Penn's works for publication. Such official supervision and publication was common among Friends of the period and served both an imprimature function for the Society and in this case also resulted in the establishment of the Friends Reference Library in London.2 The Collected Works of William Penn (2 vols., London, 1726) essentially reprinted the combined and enlarged edition of Some Fruits printed in 1718. In Besse's Life prefixed to Penn's Works, Penn's authorship of the maxims is explicitly stated, and there seems to be no bibliographical evidence to suggest anything other than this attribution.3 Penn's political fortunes between 1690 and 1693 when the first volume ofSome Fruits ofSolitude was probably written were at a low ebb. He was living in seclusion in London under a cloud of suspicion *Edward F. Higgins is Professor ofWriting and Literature at George Fox College. 1 . William Penn, Some Fruits ofSolitude, edited with an introduction by Edmund Gosse (London: 1904). Gosse's edition is a reprint of the 1718 standard text. AU references to Penn, unless otherwise stated, are from this edition. 2.William C. Braithwaite, The Beginnings ofQuakerism, 2nd ed. rev. by Henry J. Cadbury (Cambridge: 1955), p. 168. Joseph Besse (1683-1757) was the compiler and author ofA Collection ofthe Sufferings ofthe Quakers 1650-1689 (1753) and he was recording clerk of London Yearly Meeting 1746-1748. 3.See esp. A. W Ward and A. R. Waller, The Cambridge History of English Literature (New York: 1912), pp. 128-129; also Braithwaite, pp. 168-169. 28 Some Aspects of Style in William Penn's Maxims29 because ofhis former friendship with James ?, having already been twice arrested and brought to trial for disloyalty. Although cleared of formal charges government persecution continued; Pennsylvania was withdrawn from Penn's control; and he still had accusers in political high places. Even some influential members of the Yearly Meeting disapproved ofthe unwelcome shadow Penn's troubles cast on the Society. As a letter to Margaret Fox immediately after Penn's discharge reveals: Yesterday, at Bull and Mouth meeting, appeared William Penn . . . Friends thought he would first have appeared amongst them and have given them some satisfaction privately touching the scandal brought upon Truth and Friends by his long absconding and the matters laid to his charge; and not to have appeared in the offering of his gift, before he had been reconciled to them he had given offence unto. But his appearing first to preach in a public meeting before reconciliation looks too triumphant and high; and is not well resented amongst some Friends here.4 Under such conditions, both political as well as with his coreligionists , there seems little wonder Penn's maxims were published anonymously. The greater wonder is that Some Fruits ofSolitude never reflects a spirit of bitterness or despair, although mere is often a keen sense of man's failure to attain his selfless ideals, particularly in the realms of his political and religious life. Penn's own fortunes do shortly turn around, as they had several times before in his often stormy and active life. In this context it seems especially poignant that Penn's "Preface" to his maxims makes these observations : Reader,—This Enchiridion, I present thee with, is the Fruit of Solitude: A school few care to learn in, tho' None instructs us better. Some Parts of it are the Result of serious Reflection...