Journal of William Penn : While Visiting Holland and Germany, in 1677

Abstract

This volume includes William Penn's firsthand account of his 1677 travels in Holland and Germany while visiting Quaker congregations and preaching his message of religious toleration. It includes daily entries, in which Penn recounts his visits and meetings with various parties. Penn details numerous interactions with Quakers and those of other faiths, and the persecution he faced on the journey. Daily recollections are interspersed with texts of numerous letters, addresses, and epistles on Penn’s religious philosophy, along with notes on his own religious awakening and the religious climate of Europe at the time. This document serves to help readers understand Penn's early years, before he obtained the charter for Pennsylvania in 1681, and his background as a member of the Religious Society of Friends alongside its founder, George Fox.