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The Grave Of William Penn

The Grave Of William Penn image
Parent Issue
Day
2
Month
December
Year
1881
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Of all places of pilgrimnge in the "olil home" dear to Americana none sliould le held in mora reverent eateem than the Hule meeting-hoaae ftnd giwre-yard whitreln lie the mortal reinains of (hefounderof Penalylvania. At one time the grave óf the gieat colonizar and pbilanthropist bade fair p be f orgotten bal there is no fear of t ecomlng so bow, slnce the oear approach 't the iwo bnndredth anoivenary of the foundinr of Penngylvanla baa put ( in the mincts ofgome i.. hpoot the occasloaby the traniference i WiUUua Pena's aahee to the Luid tlial bearn hls name, mul to tlw ucifare of which lic gure go many years t hi lili'. One oaa understand toe sentimeul wliich prompted the dslrefortbe removal, attbesame time thatone feeb that aoy molestatlou of thu remalas tliatlmve rested so quietly in the little grave-yard of Ïm(luiis for over u ccutury and a half would bc i desocration. All ptobably will ge thé tDatti-r in tlmt liglit when thy e0HM to sec bow tboronehlyln keeplnjt with Uta Ufe and hit oontemplatlon of lite is hia tasl ('MTlllK luim, ¦¦ ' ¦¦ 1 'I III . A pleamnt walk of aboot two wilesfroir Chalfont St. Giles bringí na to Jorilant meeting-house. It is dllHoult to imagine the gequentered beauty of this spot. It stands la reakty upou rather Jiigh ground butits Jmmediaté site s in a wood.-a ddl surrounded by lueadows. ( nly one liou.se, a substantial fonnatead, is wit'hin sight or Jordüiis; and one rhay rambte forsome dlstanee ou either hand without passiug inore tlian n )r;isoiiiil habitatiou. On worjj ders wliat conld liavc broughtaj)! worship in so solitary a spot, nntir one iemeraben two íkets- tirst, that at tlic t iimJordans as crected tbe rural distriets ól England wcre moro populous tlian at present; and secondly, that tlie church ratea had not yet succeedt-d in driving the maji.rity oí Friends to the towns. Moreover, in those daré, to the earnest religious, a tramp of a few miles to a place oí worship waaas bothing compared with greater security íiom inteiruption bythe "offleers of peaee and justit-e," wtich ú as not ot infrequent occurrence. Jordans meetfaighouge itíelf ia a plain brick buüdlng, witli tiled roof and lat tice Windows. Tlit-re is a cottaiíe attached containing three rooms- a ground-lloor and iwo Chambefg. The jirincipal chamberwaü evideatly used in tormer ilav? as a gullery at limes of overorowded meetings, as it comnninicates with toe meeting-roora by means of shutters, and there the women Friends now hold their meetings for business. Behiiid, but the same roof, is caiiaciousstabliiifr, Cpabl oP :icciniinodaling from eighfeeu to twenty horse. Thls partof the premises is very essential. as when it bappena that a meeting takes place kere, whlcb rarelyocciirs more than once or twice a year, Friends come lpiia distances out of the níijtii boring counties tí) attend, and the nearest rail wiiy station is nine miles away. Iu front of the meeting-house, and divided from it by a low feiioeanü icket, isthe "dead garth," au piece of ground bounded 011 two sides by the lañes leadinc to Chulfont St. Giles and Chálfont .St. Peter respectively. Meeting-house and burialground are embosomed amid magnilicent limes and beeches, which, wlion the writor paid bis last visit to the soot. w ere in tlipir nchest suuimer foliagc, and vocal with the songs of birds. Ou entering by the little wicket into the grave-yard the eye at once llghts upou two sets of graves, oiie on the right hand, and the other on the left. The group on the right consistg óï eleven graves arranged in three rows, tbere bring flve in thoflrstrow, foür in tlie secón?, and two In the third. ïlie group on the left, with one head-stone, consists of live graves occuoied by live cliildren of William Pehn. The grave farthest from tlie wicket in the first row of graves on the right is that of Penn and liis gecond wife. It bears tile inscription, Williuin Teun, 1718, and llannali Penn, 172Ü." The grave next tliis is that of Gulielnm Maria Penn, lus lirst Wlfe, who died In 1689, while the next two are occupied by tlie remiüns of her moftier and ste-father respectively. In the second row are the graves of two other of Penn's chlldren, tliose of Letitia and Springett Penn. In the third row is that of Thomas Ellwood, tlie shnple-hearted man who read to Blilton when onndness had befallen liiui; also that of his wile. For perlods of from one to two centunes all these graves orara wuuuuii umuw late, as are mi inany otTiera in this out-of-the-way burial-ground. A few years 'ago it might have been said with entile trutli, in the words of Wordsworth: "In our church-yard Is neither epitaph nor monument, Tombsloue nor grave; ouly the turf we tread, And a tew natural graves." A few graves and flower-grown hillocks within a narrow inclosure frontiug a plaln cottage-like structure, over which the trees swayed and the birds Siing in their season: that was all there wal to mark tlie lat earthly resting plaoe of one of the world's noblest héroes, surrounded by iho.-c he loved. The simple head-stones they now bear were erected some seventeen or oigliteen years ago by those who have the cus(ody of the little meetlllL-hoU8e and its attached burial-giimnd. Tlie records f the district meeting contaln the mínate that in Julj-, 1862, a eonmiiltce was appointed "to place grave-stoiH's over such of the gravea at Joraana the Identlty f which had been ascertained." The comtnittee repotted In June, lhGli, that this liad liecii done, Tlie graves of the Peana. PenlngtoDS, and Kllwooils are fitly placed close together: all fornied one comiiiiinity When living, rejoicing and sutfering in conimon. Isaac renington livcd at the Grange, In the neighboring parish of Chalfoiit St. Peter. He became the second linsband of Lady Bprlngett, tlie umtlier of l'eun's tirst wlfe, iiu.l was one of the Ultímate frtendsof Milton. (nliclnia Maria Springett, the l'utnre wife of Penn, la dcscribed as béingamogt aeemnplished Wdinan, "as goud as she was bcautiiul, and a.s beAUtlfu] as good." The friends who knew lier bc'St were they who testified to lier worth. Ellwood, who had known her from a cliild, ainl wlioearly teil in love with her, tbough without daring to confess alleclion lesl he Bhottld tit '¦¦ jected, speaks of her wantin nothlng to render her cohlely both In ontward pergou and In the endowments ot ber mind, which were very way extraordinry.' Agttln he apeaVa of "being sensible of the real and innate woi tb and vlrtUS which adorned his excellent dame." - Harpurt Magazine tor Deoember.

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Subjects
Ann Arbor Courier
Old News