William Penn

William Penn was an admiral’s son who became a Quaker at twenty-two, was jailed in the Tower for his writings, won the jury’s right to acquit against the judge’s direction in his own trial, and in 1681 received from Charles II, in settlement of a debt to his father, the land that became Pennsylvania, which he founded as a holy experiment in religious liberty and fair dealing with the Indians. Some Fruits of Solitude of 1693 is a collection of maxims on conduct, religion and government, written during his years out of favour after James II fell. Stevenson carried it in his pocket, and the Harvard Classics open with it and Woolman.