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Show WIWAM PNN, Quaker ? rapd Pioneer. ,v, : :;;,:- M A vf?- Lc m v.-. ' vf v.-?: '; 1 A V;j .: h vy, M . ! , 4'V - '4A ti-----"-iilij.i:, if iTi,, v lif . for rT2:.; -,? i- -rr - --? J J S ?V.-,: : i! 1 iilif ..!-,:! i 'J BU.J J T v K-lfr?- .... - V::, . LVV - . : . .3 By ELMO SCOTT WATSON Vjy4V ! " " KCENTLY there cathoroj at Jordan's Wsr.- - . .. Z'' , , . . . I T 1 near BeacnsfieU Id Buck EnulauJ. --Iz prevent the ,,,t,-.t 'int Kran a. H..t renn I J I . , . .. - utiimirh I'.cMrr fr Ills tv.a nnj he finally t By ELMO SCOTT WATSON KCENTLY there gathered at Jordan's Rnear BeaconstielJ In Uucks. England, a preat crowd to witness a pa.-eant which was given In the pi"tureque 5 j Si courtyard of old Jordan's Hostel. Al-tfSg Al-tfSg thov:i.-h the locale of the pageant was English and the actors In It were yf tj f. English. It was staged In ce'.ehra- tion of an event In American history Vk -"'v.h anniversary of the found- ing of Pennsylvania. assmm9 Eor. a!j.inir.g the broad grounds which S'jrround the oil hostel. Is an ancient graveyard and the inscription on one of the simple sim-ple headstones in this graveyard tells the visitor that underneath it lies the dust of what had once been a n:an named William Penn. Ju-t beyond be-yond this grave stands a small brick building which had once been a farm house but which is cow nsed as a meeting house f"r those who call themselves the Society of Friends but w horn we know as the Quakers. Nearby, also. Is another building which tells a tale from American history. his-tory. It is only a barn but the beams in it were once the timbers of the good ship "Mayflower In which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed to New England Eng-land and this barn Is now used as a recreation room by the Society of Friends. So this pageant recalled once more to both England and America the name of an Englishman English-man whose influence In the history of their nation na-tion Is greater than most Americans realir.e. What that Influence was is pointed out In a new biography of the founder of Pennsylvania which appeared recently. It is "William Penn, Quaker and Pioneer"' by Eonamy Dohree. published by the Houghton Mifflin company. In an epilogue, which sums up the contribution of Penn to history, his-tory, the author points to the gigantic statue of Penn which stands on the top of the cupola on the city hall in Philadelphia and says: "He has, however, every reason to be proud of what he sees from his inhuman eminence the miles of habitats containing some two million mil-lion people, spreading away from between the "rivers to the foothills; the factories; the wharves; the great bridge which swings irresistibly irresist-ibly across the whole width of the Delaware; the structures growing ever higher. If less gracious, gra-cious, spaced out on the grid he had conceived. "Its history has been noble, for though it hesitated hesi-tated at the beginning of the struggle against England the still important Quakers being largely large-ly indifferent and then loyalist, It was within its precincts that the Declaration of Independence was signed, and that the first flag of Stars and Stripes was woven. Later, In the Civil war, the Quaker Influence came into its heritage, for Philadelphia Phil-adelphia was stoutly anti-slavery and. as Penn -would have wished, convincedly anti-secessionist. "The United States of America 1 that name would have pleased Penn, for In 1G9C, with his startling capacity for seeing ahead, he had written writ-ten a booklet advocating the federation of all the colonies, though not, he would have protested pro-tested vehemently, in opposition to the crown. Moreover, of those states his own has been one of the most flourishing. ... It had been a flourishing flour-ishing colony from the beginning, for with whatever what-ever troubles Penn may have had In government govern-ment (and his Province was not by any means the only one to have such troubles) of all the proprietary colonies, his was easily the most successful. "And even In government he had not failed so disappointingly as he supposed; for with all the alterations and tamperings, his old and seemingly seem-ingly battered Frame ("The Frame of Government," Govern-ment," written by Penn in 1CS1) Is yet the basis of fundamental liberties. "Nor does his Influence cease with the state government, for the present Constitution of the United States In many ways reflects Penn's mind, notably In the executive being separate from the legislature, and In the President's appointment of certain officers. It is not Pennsylvania alone that owes Its shape to the constructive brain of William Penn." Such was the man who began his pioneering-pioneering pioneering-pioneering In departing from the beaten path of most men's thinking early in his life. Penn was born In 1044, the son of Admiral Sir William Wil-liam Penn of the British royal navy. He entered 1. William Penn at the ago of twenty two. From the Historical Society of Penneylvania'i copy of the portrait painted In Ireland In 1666. 2. Map showing the 40th parallel of latitude and the part it played in the boundary dispute between William Penn and Lord Baltimore. 3. The "Mayflower barn" at Jordan's In Bucks, England. The beams were formerly 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 Jordan's In Bucks, England, Eng-land, used by the Society of Friends as a meeting meet-ing house. In the foreground is the private cem. etery of the Penn family. The grave before which the man is standing is that of William Penn who died in 1718. He was survived by 11 sons who were also buried here with the exception of two who were buried In the Stoke Poges graveyard. 5. The letters patent, dated August 20, 1694, reinstating William Penn as governor of Pennsylvania Penn-sylvania In place of Benjamin Fletcher who had been appointed In Penn's place when he was deprived de-prived of the government of his colony. c a. Christ college, Oxford, at about the age of fifteen fif-teen where he came under the Influence of George Fox and Thomas Loe, the great Quakers of the period,' who Induced him to Join that body. The college authorities fined him for nonconformity non-conformity but as he adhered to his faith he was expelled from the college. Tenn's father was furious with him at first but finally relented and sent him to France where he was presented to Louis XIV and became a great favorite at the court. Then followed a brief career as a law student and as a member of the staff of his father, the admiral. In IGS he returned to Navy Gardens and dropped the sword for the pen, writing a number num-ber of tracts for one of which, entitled "Truth Exalted," he, In 1003, was committed to the Tower of London. In 10TG William Penn was one of the early settlers In West New Jersey in America, but prior to this he had often In his mind the Idea of forming a settlement abroad in some country where the Quakers could establish estab-lish themselves for their own good, and live at peace with all men. As the king, Charles II, was indebted to his late father. Admiral Sir William Penn, not only for services rendered, but for 10.000 pounds actual cash, he was willing enough to pay off the debt by granting Penn a charter, dated March 4, 1CS1, for the governorship governor-ship of the colony of Pennsylvania, then held by the Duke of York and Albany, who had leased It to Sir George Carteret. In addition to this charter Penn obtained (to prevent all future claim or trouble) a deed from the Duke of York, certifying that he was the sole proprietor of the county, resides, as additional addi-tional territory to the Province, he obtained from the duke his rights, title, etc., to the three lower countries on the Delaware. In fixing the boundaries boun-daries between this territory and Maryland, a dispute arose with Lord Baltimore, due to the Ignorance of the geography of the Atlantic coast by the commissioners of trade and plantations who in the charters of the two colonies granted certain tracts of the same land to both Penn and Baltimore. The charters stated that the boundary between the two colonies was to be the 40th parallel of latitude but no one knew exactly where this parallel ran. It was Intended that Penn's southern south-ern boundary should cut through Delaware bay and Include some of the waters of the Chesapeake Chesa-peake bay, thus giving him a sea outlet necessary neces-sary to his trading schemes. But It was soon discovered that the vagueness of the commissioners' commis-sioners' geographical knowledge 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 at the court of Charles II, among them Henrietta Maria, the queen mother, and others who did their best to prevent the patent being gran!l. But Tenn was a Maum-h fighter for his rights and he finally obtained the charter early In 10M. He nt once prepared to take up the governorship governor-ship and on August Ml, lli. lie sailed on the ship. Welcome, commanded by CnpL Hubert Greenway, arriving at Newcastle October 24. 12. Then followed the promulgation of his "Great Law," containing the C sections which embodied his "Frame of Government" and the English laws adapted to It, as the code of government gov-ernment for the new colony to which colonists by the shipload began flocking. Perm remained In Pennsylvania, until 101, but his dispute with Lord Baltimore over the boundary bound-ary (which Incidentally was not finally settled until lTi!-') and Important home affairs required his presence In England. So, appointing a President. Pres-ident. Thomas Lloyd, and a board of commissioners commis-sioners to act as governors, he left for England on June 10, 101. While In England he was abused and misrepresented misrep-resented because he still defended his position In regard to his rights under the charter and because of his membership in the Society of Friends. However, he was always received at court and he found In King James II a strong friend. Then In 10s came the revolution against James and that monarch was deposed. The Prince of Orange anil Princess Mary, King James' daughter, were proclaimed king and queen of England on February 1, 10S. Penn's friendship for James II made him suspect sus-pect to the new monarch and on December 10, lOsS, he was called to Whitehall and made to give securities for good conduct until the following fol-lowing Easter. In liK'O he was again summoned before the Lords of Council and accused of corresponding cor-responding with the former king. Penn appealed to King William who was Inclined to acquit li I m hut his councillors Induced him to require Penn to post bail again. On July IS, 1090, he was charged with treason hut no proof to support sup-port It could be obtained so he was discharged. Penn now proposed to return to Pennsylvania but he was prevented by another accusation leveled lev-eled against him by a certain "cheat and Impostor" Im-postor" named William Fuller, and the machinations machina-tions of this man kept him In England three years longer. In the meantime the colony had fallen Into a state of disorder and religious disturbance dis-turbance created by a certain George Keith and It finally ended in Penn's being deprived of the government of Pennsylvania by King William 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 ac-tion which Penn resented bitterly. He wrote a letter to Fletcher declaring that he had not yet given up his rights to the province and he set about making good his word. In 1003 he pleaded that his innocence of the suspicion of treason against the rulers of England he made clear and at last King William gave lilm the reassurance as to that and on August 20, ld'.id, granted him letters patent reinstating him In the government of Pennsylvania. In lGOD Penn revisited Pennsylvania with his wife and family and In 1701 he granted a charter char-ter to Philadelphia, making It a city. .In December Decem-ber 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 his career ca-reer Dohree writes: "His wife took him to Rus-combe Rus-combe for a rest, but no eooner had he got there than the powerful body, the Insurgently active brain, broke down irremediably. He never nev-er fully recovered his reason. . . . For six years he lingered on happily at Rusconibe, very happily, hap-pily, 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 30, 1718, he left the life in which he had played so continuous, so generous and so optimistic opti-mistic a part, a life to which his inborn simplicity had been unable to adapt itself and from which his mind, bewildered by disillusion, had escaped some years before him." ( by Western Newspaper Union.) |