The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-11-28


the crest Man 1R5sf|. zsasini ri2ss b
lsnel Risslssai lises x
In ire alld.lle IL what am Sometimes
called the Buck hasssslslEs 0plA6s ii
| che burial ground u fde Society oi
Friends at J6rdans. as II n oalledSrA
place about three miles 70 tile eAsE Of
Beaconsiield. AS The last resting placc
Of William Penn and Isaac Pennington.
Iit forms "a kind of Mecca for the
Quakcrs Of the present time and
place full Of interest to any one who
cares at all for the history or religious
movement OF this country.
Penn ii his last days lived at Rus.
comb, on the eastern side of Berkshire,
beyond T'wyfcrd and Waltham St
Lawrence. and was no doubt sbured
here from wish expressed by him to
be placed near his first vito. and in
| spot which, from the time when he
came. to the Chalfonts and saw Guliel.
ma Springett and Ellwood and Isaac
| Pennington, must have been full Of
| pleasant memoir es Of his earlier years.
The place itself seems significant of
| the hostility which the first Quakers
experienced. II is two miles from
/ either of the Chalfonts, and when it
was frequented by Penn and the
! Quakers from these villages it must
have been agild aud out Of the way
spot. Even now it seems most still
and secluded. In the hollow of one OF
/ the little valleys-or s.bottoms, as
/ they are locally called which are so
numerous in the country from the
/ Thames to the Colne, four roads con-
verge; from the two Chalfonts est.
! Peters and st. Gilcs), from Beacons.
/ field, and from Penn. the original
starting-place of the Penn family, a
village not far from the Wycombe
Valley.
In the corner between the lanes from
the Chalfonts passer by to-day will
see an oblong piece of ground looking,
as he casually chances at it, like little
orchard in which the fruit trees have
died from age or from the effects
of the lines of over-shadowing elms
which border the enclosure. He
will hardly take note of tho
bare and white little building by the
side, and the small cottage attached tc
it, and the eye will not readily catch
the few low, plain grayestones which
appear among the grass Still. II Il
here that William Penn WAS buried .
very fitting spot for one Of the first and
most remarkable OF the society who
made peace their watchword. For
nothing could be more peaceful than
the place. A farmers car passes by
or gentleman's carriage is now and
again seen in the course of the day; but
the cooling of the wood-pigeons in the
thick woods which stretch toward VIII
ton Park. or the shouts of farm-lad
from the yard at Stone Dean are the
only sounds which are often heard.
There is over the grave of William
Penn small, upright stone with the
name and date of his death. His first
and second wives, Gulielma and Han
nah, lie by his side; and not far off is
the grave OF Isaac Pennington, whose
fame has been overshadowed by the
international celebrity of his son-in-
law, but who stands out as remarkably
as any of the adherents of George Fox.
1t seems somewhat doubtful II these
are the original gravestones; the figures
appear to be of too modern character
and the incisions too clear to have
withstood the effects of more than a
century and half of rain and decay.
That, however, is small matter; no
one will go to Jordan's to look for ar
tistic monuments, as they may do to
Chenies. If they go, it will be to see
the burial place of man as remark
able as any in the history Of
England and of America, and for the
purpose of recalling more wildly than
is otherwise possible the first days OF
the Quaker movement in a time when
it attracted the notice of the whole
English people. While on most days
nothing can exceed the rural peace 81
the place whatever be the time of year
--in spring. when the hedgerows about
are full of primroses and the woods
and coppices which abound In all these
Bucks bottoms are blue with wild hya.
cinths; or in the autumn (the season OF
all others to wander about this coun.
try). when the beech woods. glow with
color and the cherry orchards seem tc
be masses of crimson trees-on the
first Thursday in june a gathering Of
Friends from all parts is held. and duo
honor is done to the great Quaker
At times some American travellers,
with the energy of their Nation. viii
find their way from Uxbridge up th,
pretty Misfortune Valley to this place
and spend few moments by the grave
of Penn. Once, with an amusing alb
sence Of any feeling for the genus toci
it.was proposed to carry of the bone
of Penn to AniSfica; just as If they wer,
something which would be pleasing o
, beautiful to see, and as though the in
terest OF Jordans lay in the dry bone
themselves which repose under th
grass But in this little valley the,
are, and are likely to remain; an,
, those who can find pleasure in thing
I which may be seen without rushing
! from capital to capital will not d.
amiss to wander, before winter comes
! among the elematis-covered hedge
rows and the shady beechwoods Q
Bucks to the Friends burying-groun'
: by Stone Dean. ST. James Gazette.
---s . -
I "A tutor Of Greek writes to til
Nation that he has trained q boy [