William Penn's "Holy Experiment": The Founding of Pennsylvania, 1681-1701 (review)

BOOK REVIEWS William Penn's "Holy Experiment": The Founding of Pennsylvania, 16811701 . By Edwin B. Bronner. New York: Columbia University Press. 1961. 306 pages. $6.00. Since the publication of books by W. R. Shepherd (1896), I. Sharpless (1898), and C. P. Keith (1917), little comprehensive work has been done on the first twenty years of Pennsylvania's history. A general synthesis is long overdue, if only to incorporate the findings of historical scholars who, in the interim, have delved deeply into special facets of the subject. Dr. Bronner has assessed and incorporated the findings of Mrs. E. W. Kirby, R. N. Lokken, Fulmer Mood, Sister Joan de Lourdes, and others. He has re-examined many of the original records, and his annotations to such sources are germane and accurate. How little the broad outlines of the history of early Pennsylvania have changed through a half-century is surprising . Yet there are corrections that must be made. Bronner points out, for example, the mistaken assessment of Isaac Sharpless that the Charter of 1701 "embodies the final triumph of democratic principles." Pennsylvania's first score of years forms an absorbing part of the annals of early American history. This colony, which was conceived by William Penn as a "holy experiment," succeeded handsomely, although for other reasons. By 1701 there were at least 15,000 inhabitants, close to 5,000 in Philadelphia alone, and a thriving domestic and foreign commerce. Politically, the colony had survived many vicissitudes. The author describes ably these crises and dangers both within and without. From the start there was within the colony factionalism and short-sightedness which the Proprietor himself, though deeply concerned, could not master. So virulent was the strife that the government at times was in a state of chaos. In desperation Penn appointed the non-Quaker John Blackwell as deputy governor. In 1692 Penn lost control of the province, and Benjamin Fletcher was appointed royal governor for three years. Finally the colony was returned to Penn, who was able, after an absence of fifteen years, to reassume the governorship in person and to restore order. For the weakness of the "holy experiment" Penn himself was partly to blame. Unlike John Winthrop of Massachusetts Bay, Penn was compelled to be, in large measure, an absentee from the province. The demands upon him in England, both public and personal, were enormous. He was concerned with the hostility of the Lords of Trade to proprietary colonies and with the involvement of Pennsylvania during the war with France. His personal affairs were in great disorder: the machinations of Philip Ford, his 40 Book Reviews41 agent, endangered his title to lands in Pennsylvania; and the colonists refused to pay their modest quitrents, thus cutting Penn's revenues to the bone. He incurred great expense in protecting the Friends' interests at Court. That he was able to cope with these perplexities for so many years is a tribute to his greatness. Dr. Bronner has written a balanced account of these eventful and fateful years. Huntington LibraryJohn E. Pomfret A People Among Peoples: Quaker Benevolence in Eighteenth-Century America. By Sydney V. James. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1963. xv 405 pages. $8.00. A new look at the history of the Religious Society of Friends is always welcome, especially if the author has made an effort to examine Quakers from a fresh viewpoint. Sydney James has focused his study of American Quakerism in the eighteenth century on the humanitarian spirit of Friends, and has produced some original conclusions. The author points out that in the early years Friends believed they had a unique message for all of mankind, and hoped to encompass everyone in the new movement. With the major emphasis upon evangelism, Friends had little interest in humanitarianism, except for their own members within the Religious Society. When the Quakers realized that they were not going to win all of mankind to their own faith, they withdrew into themselves. Sydney James asserts that the decline in evangelical outreach coincided with an increased sense of responsibility for the underprivileged in society as a whole, and Friends became active in humanitarian enterprises at that time. This volume is based upon a very...