Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-04-18
From LipDincOlt's Magazine for May.
WILMINGTON AND ITS INDUSTRIES,
coSDEuDiNo PAPER.

| t Mt A
Thas haa the pretty city ever played o. paris 81
stornR<h0us0 whhra things and people and iAeai
might be set by to riPen. II is not Wondered thSi
It now and then found itself, quite unintenhonal-
/ ", amuseun, where the faT-brought raritiss were
hving souls. In a heavenly climate, just where
the winged songstsrs Of the South held tTyse with
those OF the North, and where the planp q BOTH
latitudes embowered the gardens together, Mature
arranged new garden wherein were bF0ueht 70
gether almost all the that had diverged iIom
Babel. G8E sif1NtA
The antiquities we have been examining, how
aver, yield IN age to the venerable walls which
were built 10 shelter a worship no longer pIompi-
gated among us. The Swedes' churches OF Phlia-
delphia aud Wilmington are among the oldest ciV-
lliEed fabrics TO be found in this new country OF
ours. That OF Wilmington was buht ~ loyo,
and that at Wicaco in Philadelphia IN l1OO hud-
man, missionary from Sweden, preached the
first sermon ~ the Wilmingtonians in May, 1923 ;
and after him q succession OF Swedish apostles ar
rived, trembling at their own csnrage, and feeling
as our preachers would do II assigned to posts IN
Nova Zembla or Patagonia. The salary onered
was a hundred rixdollars. with house and giebe,
and the creed was the Lutheran doctrines aecOr-
ding to ''the Augsburg Confession Of Faith, free
from all human superstition and tradition. -
Dutch ministers alternated peaceably with the
Swedish ones, who bore such Latlnized names as
Torkillus LOkenius, Fabricirs, Hesselins, Aereli.
US. The last wrote ia his own language an excel
lent history Of the Swedish settlements en- the
Delaware, only part of which has been rendered
into English BY the New York Historical SociS-
ty. William Penn proved his tolerance BY giving
the little church a folio Bible and shell u pious
books together with bill of fiEty pounds Sterling
The building was planted half a mile away from
the then city, IN the village of Chrstinahain. Its
site was ON the banks OF the Christine, and ITS
congregation, in the comparative absence OF roads
came In boats or sleghs, according 10 the eenson.
The church was well built Of hard gray stone, with
DIR pews and cedar roof: iron letters fixed ia
the walls spelled out such holy mottoes as "Lux
l.. l. Tenebr, orens ex Alto" and ''Si de. pro No
bis Quis contra Nos" aud commemorated side by
side the names Of William Ill, king Of England,
William Pean, proprietary, and Charles AI. OF
Sweden. Swedish services were continued up 70
about the epoch of the Revolution, when, the IAN
gOag0 being no longer ineligible in the colony,
they were merged into English ones; the last
Swedish commissary, Cirelius, returned by order
OF the archbishop in l7S6, and the intercourse be-
tween the American Swedish churches and the &C.
clesastical see in the fatherland ceased for ever
The Oldest headstOne in the churchyard is that OF
William NandeveTes who died an .l1ly. Service
was long celebrated by means OF the chalice ana
plate sent over by the Swedish copper-mine1 to
Blorch, the first missionary at CranehOok, and
the bible given by Queen Anne in l7l2. The sexes
sat separately. In our RrandfatherS day the
OLD sanctuary used to be dressed for Christmas by
the sexton, Peter Davis: he was Hesslan deser-
ter, with q powdeF-marked face and murderous
from their sledges and Jumpers, the congregation
would crowd toward the bed OF Goals raled out in
the middle of the brick floor from the old cannon
stove: to do this they must brush BY the cedars
which "Old PoWderproOF had covered with Hour,
in imitation of snow and then Dutch Peter, as
they complimented him on his efforts, would whis-
per the astonishing invocation, "God be tauktul
tor all dish plessIns and tings y
Modern improvement has a particular spite
against the landmarks Of antiquity The railIoad
20 Baltimore slices OF part OF the edIsh grave
yard-an institution much moro ancient than the
church which stands on it. Aud the rock by old
Fort Christina, upon which Governor StuyVesant
-IrVine's StnyVesant-stood ON has silver leg and
took the surrender Of the Swedish goveTnoT-gen-
eral, is now quArried out and reconstructed int0
Delaware Breakwater
DonbtleAs we dwell too fondIy on the old mem
ories, but appears that the souvenirs of this re-
gion are somewhat remarkable for their contrast
of nhtionalities. Perhaps the colonization Of 9TH
er spots would yield better romanees than any
we have to offer; yet We cannot help feeling that
q better pen than ours would find brilliant matter
for literary effects in the paradise revealed 10 good
Elizabeth Shipley by her dream-guide.
DelaWarean Wilmington is perhaps hardly
known to the general public except through two
of its products. Everybody buys Wilmington
matches. and everybody knows that Du Points
powder Is made in the vicinity. Ignoring the
fOundrles and shipyards, the popular Imagination
recognizes but these two cOmmodities--the powder
which could bloW up the obstruetions to all the
American haEbors, and the match which could
touch off the train. A ilhon dollars worth of
gunpOwdeF and three hundred thousands dollars
worth or matches are thofannual pEOduck
Eleuthere Irense Du Pont, French gentleman
of honorable family, appeared in Wilmington ia
1902. The toWn had at that time hardly. three
thousand inhabitants. He emazed all the quii-
nuncs by buying, for fifty thousand dollars, Rum
ford Dawes old tract of rocks on the Brandywine,
which everybody k1eW was perfectly useless. The
stranger was pitied as he began to blast away the
stone. Out of single rock. separated into frag-
ments he built cottage; it was q lonely spot,
and the snakes in the assures were in the habit Of
sharing tho contents of his WeIl-bucket Guch
was the beginning of the Elenthers Powder
works. ~. Du POnt, who died some forty years
age. was much beloved for his benevolehce and
probity. In 1925, La Payette during his celebra-1
ted visit Of reminiscence, was She guest ef the
brave old Frenehman for several days, daring
which be examined the battle-ground OF Brandy
wine He here received the ball with which he
got bis wound in that battle, from lha hands OF
Bell 0cCloaky, kind Of camp-folloWer and
nurse, who had extTacted the bullet with berI
scissors and preserved it. The general wrote in
the album Of MndemeiGelle Du POnt the following
graceful sentiment:
'fAfter having seen, nearly half century age,
the banks of the BrandyWine a scene of bloody
fighting. ] am happy now to find II the seat of in
1RStry, beauty and mutual friendship.
Jelly IS, 1898. Wff| La FAYEFTE.v
While on Revolutionary topic we may men
hon that among great many relics Of '76. pre-
lsrvsd In The town, i the sword Of Gen, Wayne
Mad Anthony "a straight. light blade inl