Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-09-10
THE GRAVE OF A GREAT MAN.
William Penn's Peaceful Burial Place in
Buckinghamshire.

In the middle of what are some-
times called the Buckinghamshire Up
lands is the burial ground Of the So
ciety Of Friends at Jordans, as it is
called, place about three miles to
the east of Beacons6eld. As the last
resting place of William Peen and
Isaac Pennington, it forms kind of
Mecca for the Quakers of the present
time and place full OF interest to any
Que who cares at all for the history or
religious movement of this country.
Penn In his last days lived at Rus
comb, on the eastern side of Berk-
shire. beyond Twyford and Waltham
st. Lawrence, and was no doubt bur-
led here from wish expressed by
him to be placed near his first wife,
and IN a spot which, from the time
when be came to the Chalfonts and
saw Gulielma Springett and Elwood
and Isaac Pennington, must have
been full OF pleasant memories of his
earlier years.
The place itself seems significant of
the hostility which the first Quakers
experienced 1t is two miles from
either OF the Chalfonts, and when it
was frequented by Penn and the Qua
kers from these villages, il must have
been q wild and out-of-the-way spot.
Even now it seems most still and Sc
cluded. In the hollow of one of the
little yalleys-or bottoms" as they
are locally called-which are so nu-
merous in the country from the
Thames to the Colne, four roads con
verge; from the two Chalfonts (St.
Peters and st, GilesO from Beacons-
held 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 glances at it,
like little orchard 10 which the fruit
trees have died from age, or from the
effects OF the lines of overshadowing
elms which border the enclosure. He
hardly takes note of the bare and
white little building by the side, and
the small cottage attached to it, and
the eye will not readily catch the few
low, plain gravestones which appear
among the grass. Still, it is here that
William Penn was buried "a very fit
ting 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 cart passes by, or q gen
tleman's carriage is now and again
seen in the course of day, but the
cooing of the wood-pigeons in the
thick woods which stretch toward
Wilton Park or the shonts 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
Hannah, lie by his side and not far
off is the grave of Isaac Pennington,
whose fame has been o'ershadowed
by the international celebrity of his
son-in-law, but who stands out as re-
markably as any of the first adher-
ents of George Fox. 1t seems some
what doubtful if these are the origi-
nal gravestones; the figures appear to
be of too modern character and the
incisions too clear to have withstood
the effects of more than century and
half of rain and decay That, how
ever, is q small matter no one will
go to Jordans to look for artistic
monuments, as they may do to
Chenies If they 60 it will be to see
the burial place of a man as remarka-
BILE as any in the history of England
and of America, and for the purpose
of recalling more vividly than is 9TH
erwise possible the first days of the
Quaker movement in time when il
attracted the notice of the whole
English people. While on most days
nothing can exceed the rural peace ol
the place, whatever be the time oi
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 hyacinths, or in the autumn (the
season Of all others to wander about
this country. when the beech woods
glow with color and the cherry orch.
ards seem to be masses Of crimson
trees-on the first Thursday in june
gathering of friends from all parts
is held and due honor is done to the
great Quaker.
AT times some American travellers,
with the energy Of their nation, will
End their way from Uxbridge up the
pretty Misbourne valley to this place
and spend few moments by the grave
a. Il