William Penn. The Political Writings of William Penn. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2002. xxviii + 439 pp. $24.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-86597-318-3.
Reviewed by John Coffey (School of Historical Studies, University of Leicester)
Published on H-Albion (January, 2003)
This fine edition of William Penn's key political writings will be warmly welcomed by historians of Restoration England, religious toleration, and early Quakerism. It is edited and introduced by Andrew Murphy, author of an outstanding recent monograph, Conscience and Community: Revisiting Toleration and Religious Dissent in Early Modern England and America.[1] In that book, Murphy displayed remarkable assurance across the disparate fields of seventeenth-century English and American history, early modern thought and modern political theory. He is well qualified to edit a selection of Penn's political writings.
Altogether the volume contains twelve of Penn's publications. It is divided into four sections. Part I consists of two tracts on the ancient constitution and English liberties: The People's Ancient and Just Liberties Asserted (1670), and England's Present Interest Considered (1675). Part II contains six tracts on religious liberty: The Great Case for Liberty of Conscience (1670), One Project for the Good of England (1679), An Address to Protestants of All Perswasions (1679), A Brief Examination and State of Liberty Spiritual (1681), A Perswasive to Moderation to Church-Dissenters (1686), and Good Advice (1687). Part III has three tracts relating Penn's general principles to specific events: The Proposed Comprehension (1672), England's Great Interest (1679), and A Letter from a Gentleman in the Country (1687). Part IV contains the only tract in the volume not written in the 1670s or 1680s: An Essay towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe (1693).
This selection provides an ideal introduction to Penn's political thought, and it rightly foregrounds religious toleration as his central concern. The tracts range in length from 133 pages (An Address to all Protestants) to just five pages (The Proposed Comprehension). They reveal the consistency and development of Penn's thought from his famous trial for illegal assembly in 1670 to his prescient vision of European unity in 1693. There is some overlap with Edwin Bronner's edition of Penn's selected writings published by Everyman in 1993. Both Murphy and Bronner include An Essay towards the Peace of Europe, The People's Ancient and Just Liberties, The Great Case, and A Perswasive to Moderation. Bronner's edition also contains half-a-dozen writings not found in Murphy, including Some Fruits of Solitude (1693), A Brief Account of the Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers (1694), and Primitive Christianity Revived (1696). Ultimately, then, the two collections complement each other, and students of Penn will want to possess both. Bronner's edition is perhaps of greater interest to the student of early Quakerism, whereas Murphy's will establish itself as a valuable resource for historians of political thought and toleration.
Murphy's introduction provides a concise overview of the political history of later Stuart England, and an incisive account of Penn's tolerationist arguments. As an editor, Murphy has occasionally toned down the rampant italicization of these seventeenth-century pamphlets, and capitalization sometimes varies from the original. But in general, he has stuck closely to the original texts, retaining antiquated spelling, punctuation, and syntax. Footnotes are mainly used to provide references to Penn's sources, which turn out to be largely scriptural with some use of classical and modern texts. There is a brief further reading list, a chronology of Penn's life and times, and a full index that forms a useful guide to some of the author's key concepts.
I was disappointed that there was no bibliography of Penn's own works. Of course, this would have been extensive (since Penn published many short pamphlets), and it would have raised old problems of attribution (since many tracts attributed to him were anonymous). But the absence of such a bibliography obscures the fact that Penn wrote more on politics than is contained in this substantial volume. A brief introduction to each tract would also have been advisable, since understanding their immediate context helps the reader to make sense of their content. One also wonders why there is nothing here on Pennsylvania, where Penn got the opportunity to put his political ideas into practice; the inclusion of one of Penn's promotional tracts on the new colony would have enhanced the collection. Of course, any selection from Penn's writings is bound to leave some readers complaining about pieces omitted, and such minor gripes should be outweighed by gratitude.
This edition will appeal to the general reader as well as to the professional historian. Like other Liberty Fund publications, it is affordable, superbly produced, and a pleasure to read. It may be true that access to seventeenth-century texts has been revolutionized by the emergence of Early English Books Online, but excellent modern editions like this one will still be eagerly received.[2]
Notes:
[1]. Andrew Murphy, Conscience and Community: Revisiting Toleration and Religious Dissent in Early Modern England and America_ (University Park: Penn State University Press, 2001). [ed. note: reviewed H-Albion, May 2002, <http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=296281020963201>].
[2]. Early English Books Online [<http://wwwlib.umi.com/eebo>, ed. note]
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Citation:
John Coffey. Review of Penn, William, The Political Writings of William Penn.
H-Albion, H-Net Reviews.
January, 2003.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=7111
Copyright © 2003 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the Reviews editorial staff at hbooks@mail.h-net.org.