| Show wa tal k JL JL ocl I 1 I 1 L 0 e C it 0 V UV 0 I 1 IMP IV tv NV I 1 9 i A n e r la all g U 7 y by ELMO SCOTT WATSON there gathered nt at jordans near in bucks england R a great crowd to witness a pageant which was given in tho the picturesque sit courtyard of old jordans hostel although 11 the locate of the pageant geant was L english and tile actors in it were english it was staged in celebration of tin an event in american history tile the anniversary of the founding of f pennsylvania r for or adjoining the broad grounds idah surround surround il tile the old hostel la Is nn an rin ancient clent graveyard ani and the inscription on one of tile simple headstones in this graveyard tells the visitor that underneath it iles tile dust of what had biad once been a man no nod william penn ienn just beyond this grave sta stands 11 ds a small brick building which had bad once been a farm house hut but which Is now used as a meeting house for those who call themselves the society ot of friends friend but whom wo we know as aa the quakers nearby also Is another building which tolls tells a tale from american history it Is only a barn but the beams in it were once the timbers of the good ship mayflower in ili which the Ill girlin fathers balled bailed to new england and this barn Is now used ns as a recreation room by the society of friends so this pageant recalled once more to both england and america the name of an engllish man whose influence in the history of their nation la Is greater than most americans americana realize what that influence was la Is pointed out in a new biography of tile tha founder toun dp of pennsylvania which appen appeared red recently it Is willlim penn quaker and Plo pioneer neer by bonamy dobrie published by the houghton hought on AlIf flin company in tin an epilogue which sums binna up tip the contribution of penn iann to history tho the author points to the gigantic statue of penn which stands on the top of the cupola on the city hall in philadelphia an and says ile he has however every reason to be proud of what he sees from his inhuman eminence the miles of habitats containing some two million people spreading away front from between tho the rivers to the foothills the factories the wharves tho the great bridge which swings irresistibly across the whole width of the delaware tile growing ever higher it if less leas gracious spaced out on the grid he had conceived its history has hai been noble for though it hest bated at tho the beginning of the struggle against england the still important quakers being largely indifferent and then loyalist loyall st it was within its precincts that the Decin declaration ration of independence was signed and that the first lag flog of stars and stripes was woven later in the civil war tile tho quaker influence tame crime into its herlt heritage for phil adelphia adelph la was stoutly antislavery anti slavery and ns as perin ienn w would e uld have wished anti secessionist the united states of americal america I 1 that m name am would have pleased penn for in 1000 with ills his startling capacity tor for seeing ahead he be lind written a booklet advocating tho federation of all the colonies though not lie ho would havo have protested vehemently li hil opposition to the crown moreover of those stales ills his own tins has been one of tho the most flourishing it lind been a flour lohing colony from the beginning for with whatever troubles penn may have had in government and tile hla province was not by any means the tha only one to have such troubles lea of nil all the proprietary colonies ills his wits was easily the most successful and even in government lie he had not fal failed led so BO disappointingly as he supposed for with nit all the tha alterations and rings his old and se seemingly c battered frame the frame of government written by perin in icel la Is yet the basis of fundamental liberties nor does ills hla influence cease with the state government for the present constitution of the united states in many ways reflects penns mind notably in tho executive being separate from the jegi legislature slature andin the presidents appointment or of certain officers it Is not pennsylvania alone that owes its shape to the constructive brain of william penn if such was the man who began his pioneering pioneering in departing frontu the beaten path of most mens biens thinking early lu in his life penn was born in 1014 10 14 the son of admiral sir william liam penn of the navy ue entered N 1 william perm penn at the age of twenty two from the historical society of pennsylvanian Pennsyl copy of 01 the portrait painted in ireland in 1666 2 map showing the parallel of latitude and the part it played in the boundary dispute between william penn and lord baltimore 3 the mayflower barn at jordans in bucks england the beams were formerly tile the timbers of the historic ship mayflower the barn Is now used as a recreation room for the society of friends 4 the farm house at jordans in bucks england used by the society of friends as a meeting house in the foreground Is the private ce cem eatery ete arx of the penn family the grave before which aich th the e man Is standing Is that of william penn who died in 1718 he was survived by 11 sons who were also burled buried here with the exception of two who were buried in the stoke poges boges graveyard athe 8 the letters patent dated august 20 1694 reinstating william penn as governor of pennsylvania in place of benjamin fletcher who had been appointed in penns place when he was deprived of the government of his colony christ college oxford nt at about the age of fifteen ellero lie came under the influence of george pox fox and thomas loe the great quakers of tho the period who induced him to join that body tho college authorities fined him for nonconformity conf r in ity but na lie he adhered to ills faith lie was expelled from the college penns penna fattier ans furious with him nt at first but relented and sent him to france where he be was arese prese presented anted to louis XIV and became a great favorite at the court then followed a brief career as fi a law student and as a member of the r staff of his father the admiral in 1008 lie he returned to navy gardens and droppel dropped the sword for the pen writing a number of tracts for one of which entitled truth exalted lie in 1668 was committed to tho the tower of london in william penn was one of the early settlers in west vest new jersey in america but prior to this he had often in ills his mind the idea of forming a settlement abroad in some gome country where the quakers could establish themselves for their own rood good rind live at pence with A etli all men As aa the king charles 11 II avis indea indebted ted to his late father admiral sir william penn not only for services rendered but for pounds actual cash he was willing enough to pay oft off tile the debt by granting penn ienn a charter dated march 4 1081 for the governorship of the tha colony of Perm pennsylvania sylvanin then held by tile the duko duke of york and albany who had leased it to sir george carteret Cart cret in addition to this charter penn obtained to prevent nil all future claim or trouble a deed from the lie duke of york certifying that lie he was na the sole proprietor of the county besides Iles ldes as additional territory to the province he obtained from the duko duke hla his rights title etc to tile the three lower countries on oil the delaware in fixing the houn darles between this territory and maryland a dispute arose with lord baltimore duo due to the ignorance of the geography of the atlantic coast by tile commissioners of trade and plantations who in the chart charters erd of the two col colonies oriles granted certain tracts of the sailie land to both perin and baltimore the charters stated that the boundary between the two colonies was to he be the parallel of latitude but no one knew exactly where this parallel ran it was vas intended that penns southern boundary should cut through delaware bay baj rind include some of the waters of the chasn peake bay thus giving him a sea outlet naces sary to his trading schemes but it was soon discovered that tile the vagueness of the comets sio ners geographical knowledge inov ledge was to deprive him of this outlet nor was this his only trouble during the whole of his proceedings in getting a charter he was bitterly opposed by many nt at the court of Cl diaries barles 11 II them henrietta maria the queen mother and others othera who tho dirt did their best to prevent the patent being granted but penn wn was a staunch fighter for hla his rights and he finally obtained the charter early in 1031 1081 lie ile at once prepared to take up the governorship and on august SO 30 1682 he sailed on the ship welcome commanded by capt robert greenway Greenw ny arriving at newcastle october 24 1682 then followed the promulgation of his great law I 1 containing the CO 69 sections which embodied his frame of government rind and the english laws adapted to it as the alie code ot of government e for the new colony to which colonists by the shipload began flocking penn remained la in pennsylvania until 1684 but his dispute with lord baltimore over the boundary ar y which incidentally was not finally settled until 1732 rind important home affairs required his presence in england so appointing a president thomas lloyd and a board of commissioners to act as governors he left for england 0 on n june 10 1684 while in england he was abused and misrepresented because he still defended hla his position in regard to his rights under the charter and because of his membership in the society of F friends however he was always received at court and he found in ili king james 11 a strong friend then in 1088 1688 came the revolution against james and that monarch was deposed th tim prince of orange and princess mary lung aln james daughter were proclaimed king ana queen of england on february 13 1688 penns friendship for james n H made him suspect to the new monarch and on december 10 am he was called to FO whitehall and made to give securities for good conduct until the following emster easter in agoo he was again summoned before the lords of council rind and accused of corresponding re with the former king penn appealed to king william who was inclined to acquit him but his councillors induced him to require penn to post ball again on july 18 agoo he ha was charged with treason but no proof to support it could be obtained so he be was discharged penn now proposed to return to pennsylvania but he wits was prevented by another accusation lev aled against him by a certain client cheat and impostor costor named william fuller rind and the machinations of this min man kepf kept him in england three years longer in the meantime the colony had fallen into a state of disorder and religious disturbance tur bance created by a certain george keith and it finally ended in penns being deprived of the government of pennsylvania by king william ill III who granted benjamin fletcher governor of new york authority over pennsylvania fletcher at once went to philadelphia and the government was surrendered to him a hasty action which penn resented bitterly he wrote a letter to fletcher declaring that lie he had not yet given up his rights to the province and he set about making good his word in 1693 he pleaded that his innocence of the suspicion of treason against the rulers of england be made clear and at last king william gave him the reassurance as to that and on august 20 1004 granted grunted him letters patent reinstating him in the government of pennsylvania in 1699 penn revisited pennsylvania with his w wife ile and family and in 1701 he granted a charter to philadelphia making it a city in december of that year he returned to england and there his declining years were spent in 1712 he suffered a stroke of paralysis from which he never fully recovered of the end of ills his career bobree writes nis ills wife took him to irus combe for a rest but no sooner had he got there than the powerful body the Ins urgently active brain broke down irremediably ne ile fully recovered his reason for six yea yeara he lingered on happily at luscombe Rus combe very happily as the pleased smile he nearly always wore proved to the wondering visitor at length almost without warning in the very early hours of july SO 30 1718 he be left th the life in which he had played so continuous so generous and so copti myritle a part a life to which his inborn simplicity had been unable to adapt itself and from which his bis mind bewildered by disillusion had escaped e 11 some years before him 0 by we warn term Ns union |
