William Penn was an influential 17th-century leader both politically and theologically in New England. He is best known for establishing the colony of Pennsylvania in 1681 upon a massive plot of land given to him by King Charles II of England, as a form of payment for an inherited debt the king had owed Penn’s father. This colony quickly became a safe place for Quakers, a Protestant group that Penn supported early on in its existence. It was in the following year that he penned a booklet entitled Fruits of Solitude, in which he wrote a collection of over 500 short observations and aphorisms about a variety of topics, effectively creating a collection of ethical values reflecting his worldview as well as commonly held Protestant beliefs of the era. The booklet reveals a number of key themes about these beliefs; we will now look at these in detail.

An overarching theme prevalent in the book was his consistently moderate viewpoints throughout most of the topics he covered. Rather than siding with either extreme, he would always tend toward the “middle of the road.” This is made apparent in various sections of the book, including one entitled “Frugality or Bounty,” in which Penn makes the case that it is best to have neither poverty nor excess; rather, finding “a mean” between these two extremes is preferable. In another case, while describing his opinions on acceptable apparel, Penn states that items worn should be “neither unshapely, nor fantastical,” once again indicating a middle ground standpoint.

Penn warned against the dangers of focusing excessively on the accumulation of wealth. He refers to gold as “the god, the wife, the friend of the money-monger of the world.” He notes that gold and wealth are to be a means to an end, rather than an end as many seem to view it. In a section called “Ballance,” Penn refers to this concept as “making an End of that
which is a Means, and a Means of that which is an End.” While he clearly believes in a certain amount of frugality, it is also worth nothing that the Quakers, to which Penn belonged, were and would continue to be very successful in business, ultimately leading to accumulating a fair amount of wealth themselves. This isn’t necessarily hypocrisy though; it may well be owed to their strong work ethic, as well as their concept of frugality.

In the book, Penn seems to favor a quiet, peaceable, and private life, preferably out in the country rather than in a city; for as he states, cities are the creation of man, but the country is the creation of God, and it is therefore more desirable to live within and enjoy God’s creation. He also emphasizes the advantage of “little men”; that is, he who remains out of the spotlight, as opposed to those who gain much fame and popularity, for “they can be Private, and have leisure for Family Comforts, which are the greatest worldly Contents Men can enjoy.” The unfortunate irony is that Penn, having founded an entire colony, was himself a famous man, thus unable to enjoy the advantage he cites.

In conclusion, Penn seems to indicate that moderation and simplicity are the primary keys to living a good life. As displayed throughout his book, it is clear that ethics were important in the lives of himself and others sharing his beliefs. The themes of the book were nothing revolutionary and fairly resembled standard 17th century Protestant thought.🔹