The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1881-08-18

and adjacent townships. The writer
will be recognized as one Of the
leading citizens of Leesburg, who,
though not himself a member Of the
society, has, from long association
with its members, learned to honor
and respect them for their true pie
ty and sterling worth:
FRIENDS QUARTERLY MEETING.
About the year 1850, and during
the reign of the "Merry Monarch,
Charles I'd, Quakerism, under the
patronage and industry of George
Fox, Robert Barclay, George Keith
and Samuel Fisher, began to assume
stability and prominence. But dur
ing those turbulent times they suf-
fered much persecution, in conse-
quence Of their manners and Gus
toms in civil life. They would not
give magistrates titles Of honor or
distinction, and Obstinately refused
to take the oath of allegiance to
their sovereign. They also refused
to pay tithes to the clergy, hence
they were frequently punished with
great severity. Subsequently, un-
der the reign of James I'd, they be-
gan to see more prosperous days and
to enjoy the sweets Of toleration and
liberty, which they owed not so
much to the clemenoy Of the govern
ment as to the influence of William
Penn over the Catholic king. The
Quakers were largely instrumental in
obtaining full and ample toleration
for dissenters of almost all denom-
nations, and for this act alone the
world at large should ever hold in
sacred remembrance the founders Of
the Friends church.
In 1880, William Penn, having re-
ceived from Charles I'd, the grant of
a large tract of land, as a reward for
the services Of his father, (wh0 was
a celebrated vice admiraD carried
over with him into his new domin-
ions, a considerable colony of his
friends and brethren. He, in our
new world, founded a republic"
whose forms, laws and institutions
resembled no other known system
Of government, and whose pacific
principles and commercial spirit,
have long blessed it with tranquility
and opulence. So, from this be-
ginning, the real disciples of
"Peace on earth and good will to
men, " have spread all over this bound
less continent of ours. And to. day,
the humble followers of Fox and
Penn may be found in the councils
Of our nation, contributing in a mark
ed degree to its peace, prosperity and
stability.
Near the beginning of the present
Ieentury, two acres of land, one mile
south Of the village of Leesburg,
was donated to the Society, and to
that sacred spot our ancestors made
their weekly pilgrimage, to "wor-
ship in spirit and in truth" at the
shrine of their own building, To-
day we make our annual visit (and
do penanee) to "Quaker Quarterly" T"
Does the giddy throng, sitting be-
meath the plain and unpretenLious
gallery of sold Fairfield think of
the long line of honored fathers and
mothers who once regularly occu-
pied the now vacant seats, and who
are now sleeping peacefully close
by? Do they think Of their heroic
struggles for subsistence, and their
arduous toll in the removal of a
wilderness ? When we view the
splendid farms, the palatial resi-
dences, the substantial highways,
and the thousand appliances of civil
lization, surrounding US on every
hand, should We not ever preserve
on memory's sacred altar the
names of those "Who gave their lives
a willing sacrifice" that their chill
dren and their children's children
might enjoy these fruits Of their Ia
Dor
Wandering to-day over the old
churoh-yard, our thoughts turn to
the pomp and splendor of Green
wood, Mt. Auburn and Spring
Grove, where human vanity builds
its proud monuments and erects
its costly mausoleums, and contrast
them with this primitive, old-fasbion.
ed burial place, with its deep-brood-
ing solemnity, its holy hush, and
the indwelling atmosphere of true
sanctity surrounding it, Here rest
the ashes of the ancestors Ofthe sur
rounding county. The Jobnsons, the
Hufs, the Barretts, the Ladds, the
Carrs, the Chalfonts, the Hodsons
the Terrys, the Kinzers, the Miners
the Hadleys, the Coxes, the Borums
the Thornburgs, the Terrells, the
| JOneses, the Burgesses, the Hiatts
the Smiths, the Wrights, and a hosI
of other honored familiar names
Could any other than this simple
plain and ancient chureh-yard suggest
that sweetest, purest, roblest 'Elegy
in our mother tongue? And should
not the memory of its honored deaC
rest like a benediction over the brit
tie thread of our earthly career, anC
compel Us to make one pilgrimage
each year to the Mecca of Fairfield
township? ]. HILLARD.
Leesburg, o., July 31st, 1881.
It was 8 terrible misprint when the
name Of our Minister to Austria ap'
peared as William Walter Whelps.
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