O Lord,
help me not to despise
or oppose
what I do not understand.
-William Penn (1644-1718)
A Quaker and outspoken defender of religious freedom; William Penn was repeatedly imprisoned in England for his beliefs. When he received a grant of land in America as payment for a dept King Charles II owed his father, Penn sailed to the New World, where he sought to start a refuge for the religiously persecuted. His plan was for the settlers to be guided by the Sermon on the Mount. The colony, founded in 1681, was called Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") in honor of his father.


