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PENN
A biography for young people of the man who renounced wealth and position to become a Quaker, and who became governor and proprietor of the new colony of Pennsylvania.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1938
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About the author
Elizabeth Janet Gray
26 books5 followersElizabeth Janet Gray Vining was an American professional librarian and author who tutored Emperor Akihito of Japan in English while he was crown prince. She was also a noted author, whose children's book "Adam of the Road" won the Newbery Medal in 1943.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 23, 2014
I knew very little about William Penn before reading this book. From the descriptions in this book, he was an impressive and upstanding individual. The amount of times he was in and out of the Tower of London is impressive in itself! This is a very well written, well researched biography.
On Penn’s Frame of Government for Pennsylvania: “When it was finished, Algernon Sidney complained that Penn had kept too much power to himself, and John Locke objected that he had given entirely too much power to the people. It is interesting to remember that although john Locke’s rigid, aristocratic constitution for Carolina broke down under the first strain, Penn’s flexible, democratic Frame of Government for Pennsylvania survived to be the model for most of the state constitutions and for the constitution of the United States.”
Penn’s own words: “As governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore governments rather depend upon men than men upon governments. Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad. If it be ill, they will cure it. But if men be bad, let the government be ever so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn.”
“From its very beginning, Pennsylvania had religious liberty, a council and assembly elected by the people to make the laws, trial by jury, and a penal system designed to reform, not merely to punish, the evil doer. Whereas in England at that time there were more than two hundred capital offenses, in Pennsylvania a man could be condemned to death for only two crimes: murder and treason.”
Penn’s advice to his children and wife upon leaving for America, not knowing whether he would live through the journey to see them again: “Love not money nor the world; use them only and they will serve you; but if you love them, you serve them…Be gentle and humble in your conversation….In making friends consider well first; and when you are fixed be true….Watch against anger, neither speak nor act in it; for like drunkenness it makes a man a beast and throws people into desperate inconveniences….Finally my children, love one another….So farewell to my thrice dearly beloved wife and children! Yours, as God pleaseth, in that which no waters can quench, no time forget, no distance wear away, but remains forever, William Penn.”
Words from his treaty talks with the Native Americans: “I will not do as the Marylanders did, that is, call you children or brothers only; for parents are apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers sometimes will differ; neither will I compare the friendship between us to a chain, for the rain may rust it or a tree may fall and break it, but I will consider you as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man’s body were to be divided into two parts.”
A friend’s description of Penn: “he was learned without vanity; apt without forwardness; facetious in conversation yet weighty and serious—of an extraordinary greatness of mind, yet void of the stain of ambition; as free from rigid gravity as he was clear of unseemly levity; a man, a scholar, a friend; a minister surpassing in speculative endowments, whose memorial will be value by the wise and blessed with the just.”
On Penn’s Frame of Government for Pennsylvania: “When it was finished, Algernon Sidney complained that Penn had kept too much power to himself, and John Locke objected that he had given entirely too much power to the people. It is interesting to remember that although john Locke’s rigid, aristocratic constitution for Carolina broke down under the first strain, Penn’s flexible, democratic Frame of Government for Pennsylvania survived to be the model for most of the state constitutions and for the constitution of the United States.”
Penn’s own words: “As governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore governments rather depend upon men than men upon governments. Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad. If it be ill, they will cure it. But if men be bad, let the government be ever so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn.”
“From its very beginning, Pennsylvania had religious liberty, a council and assembly elected by the people to make the laws, trial by jury, and a penal system designed to reform, not merely to punish, the evil doer. Whereas in England at that time there were more than two hundred capital offenses, in Pennsylvania a man could be condemned to death for only two crimes: murder and treason.”
Penn’s advice to his children and wife upon leaving for America, not knowing whether he would live through the journey to see them again: “Love not money nor the world; use them only and they will serve you; but if you love them, you serve them…Be gentle and humble in your conversation….In making friends consider well first; and when you are fixed be true….Watch against anger, neither speak nor act in it; for like drunkenness it makes a man a beast and throws people into desperate inconveniences….Finally my children, love one another….So farewell to my thrice dearly beloved wife and children! Yours, as God pleaseth, in that which no waters can quench, no time forget, no distance wear away, but remains forever, William Penn.”
Words from his treaty talks with the Native Americans: “I will not do as the Marylanders did, that is, call you children or brothers only; for parents are apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers sometimes will differ; neither will I compare the friendship between us to a chain, for the rain may rust it or a tree may fall and break it, but I will consider you as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man’s body were to be divided into two parts.”
A friend’s description of Penn: “he was learned without vanity; apt without forwardness; facetious in conversation yet weighty and serious—of an extraordinary greatness of mind, yet void of the stain of ambition; as free from rigid gravity as he was clear of unseemly levity; a man, a scholar, a friend; a minister surpassing in speculative endowments, whose memorial will be value by the wise and blessed with the just.”
December 4, 2018
3+ stars. Interesting biography of William Penn, including family history (before his birth), early life, conversion to Society of Friends, persecution in England, family life, purchase of colony in America that will become Pennsylvania, and end of life. Much of the book deals with his life pre-colony and the portion devoted to his later years felt rushed. It's a very readable book and includes lots of info that goes beyond what is taught in school (Penn was founder of Pennsylvania, believed in religious freedom, and established Philadelphia as it's capital). I found notable that he was well regarded by the First Peoples and that he freed the slaves that worked on his Philadelphia estate - a practice not common among the Friends until 80 years later. I also wasn't aware that the Penn family (specifically his father, but he was in charge of them) had acquired estates in Ireland (Shangarry in Cork on the SE coast) as a result of supporting Cromwell and his war there; this was Irish Catholic land that awarded to English supporters who brought in English colonists to settle after driving the Irish out. Much of these land transactions - whether in Ireland or America - seems peculiar (wrong?) by modern standards. Also interesting was the description of the English legal system that Penn was frequently up against. The US Constitution's legal provisions make much more sense in light of what Penn faced. I read this for my 2018 Reading Challenge and for my Newbery Challenge (Honor Book, 1939).
February 28, 2023
This was among the better of the old Newbery biographies I have read. Readable and engaging, it covered Penn's life in a way that taught me about him but also about the world he lived in. I read it a few chapters a day, and though there were parts that could have been shorter, it did not drag too badly.
April 26, 2021
I didn't know much of this history but there was little to make it anything more than a dry read.
Want to read
June 13, 20251939 Newbery honor book
October 17, 2015
I thought that this was a really good book. It is a well-written biography of the complete life of William Penn. I gained a greater respect and much greater knowledge of this wonderful man who helped shape the culture of freedom in Colonial America.
Even though this book is quite old, it is pretty easy to read and understand. I could definitely see children getting bored with this book, but much research went into its creation, and children could learn a lot too.
One thing I did like, that added much credibility to the author's arguments, were the excerpts and quotes from William Penn himself. It sure made the guy look like quite the man. :-)
Even though this book is quite old, it is pretty easy to read and understand. I could definitely see children getting bored with this book, but much research went into its creation, and children could learn a lot too.
One thing I did like, that added much credibility to the author's arguments, were the excerpts and quotes from William Penn himself. It sure made the guy look like quite the man. :-)
January 28, 2014
Very good book as an overview of William Penn, explaining his life using some good details without drowning in them. This book was written in 1938 so the style is a little antiquated, and some topics are glossed over, but the pace is good and Penn's life is interesting enough that bridging the gap is not difficult. Easy to read in chunks and still be able to follow but informative enough that one feels like something was learned. As a native Philadelphia, very enjoyable.
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October 22, 201479218c4a-938b-4441-8e63-888fee70efab
December 10, 2014
Bio of William Penn, his background, conversion to Quaker, establishment and rule as governor of the Pennsylvania colony.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews