The record-union., 1892-10-19

vile, Hannah CallowhilI. The grave of
William Penn is but nine miles distant,
beside the quaint old Quaker meeting
| house at Jordan's, and all of Penn's de-
scendents through the family line of this
son, Thomas, who have since deceased,
are lying IN the Penn family vault in the
old stoke Poges Church. Thomas Penn's
oldest son, the last John Penn and grand
I son OF the founder, was "a virtuoso,
I builder and ornamenter Of fine resi-
, dences" and also an author. He built the
great house IN kensington Gardens. and
IN ifo9, the present noble mansion OF
stoke Hall, which stands few hundred
yards TO the south of the church, and the
old Stoke manor house. AT the time of
| Gray's residence at Stoke Poges old Stoke
Han was the home of Lady Gotham,
whose antics to secure acquaintance and
subsequent friendly intercourse with the
shy poet, who then lived with his mother
and aunt in West End cottage, about q
mile distant, are preserved in the roman
Tic incidents so teIicitously related In
Gray's tacetious poem OF the Long
Story"
The new Stoke Hall was built by John
Penn from designs by Wyatt. 1t is
chiefly of brick, succeed, and comprises
a large square center and two wings. The
entrance front is ornamented by colon
made Of ten Doric columns, approached
by imposing flights OF steps, leading to
Lhe famous oval central Marble Hall.
The south front, also adorned with col
onnade, has twelve fiuted Doric columns,
and is 1856 feet ia length. Many visitors
here mistake the old manor house at the
north OF the church for Gray's former
home. 1t is beautiful and picturesque
half ruin, occupied by the keeper of
Stoke Park. It's chimneys are the larg-
est have seen in any old English manor
house, and there are undoubtedly to-day
more bricks in these ivy-covered memen-
toes OF Old time cheer than were orig
lnalIy required in the entire construction
of the walls.
John Tenn built the modest, yet noted
mansion of Solitude, still standing on the
bank OF the Schuylkil, opposite Fair
mount, IN Philadelphia. Much of the
revenue from remaining Pennsylvania
proprietary" interests was expended
here. Vast sums were used upon new
Stoke Hall, and its library, statuary and
paintings. LIE also rescued from obllY
ION the actual burial place OF Gray, by
placing the memorial slab against the
church wall, beneath the Vestry window,
and erected at his own expense the huge
monument to the poet which dominates
ali the slumberous scene.
On the death OF John Penn, Stoke Ma
nor was inherited by his younger broth
er, Granville Penn, VINO died at Stoke
III 1874. He was an author and was ad-
mltted to be one Of the most learned
English laymen of his time. His oldest
son, Granville John Penn, not only re
stored" but practically rebuilt Gray's
house, West End Cottage, on the West
End Road. 1t was converted into a
sumptuous EliZabetnan mansion with
every accessory OF ornament and beauty.
IN 1850 it was sold 10 a gentleman named
Darby, but was afterward purchased by
4. AllhauSen, whose family and
heirs still possess il, and with it the right
OF use Of the Gray family pew in the
southwest corner of the south aisle Of the
old Stoke Poges church.
a curious illustration of the decadence
Of great families, as well as of vast for
tunes even in England, is found in the
nnal extinction of this the most eminent
branch of the Penn family, and the diver
sion Of their once great estates. Every
one Is familiar with the escheating Of
" lillian Penn's American possessions,
in which the ''estate of the late prODrieta-
ries was vested in the Commonwealth"
the payment by Pennsylvania of eI30, 600
to the devisees and legatees, sin remem-
brance of the enterprising spirit Of the
FOUNDER" and the granting by the Eng
lish Parliament, in 1880, OF an annuity of
"a, 900 TO his heirs and descendants. All
this was in addition TO the rich English
possessions of the Penns, which included
%, 1867, Granville John Penn, lord of the
manor of Stoke, died in his chair with an
unsigned will in his hands. All his
properties were inherited by his brother,
Thomas. That gentleman, who was In
clerical orders and man Of extraordinary
learning, was subsequently declared in
sane and incapable Of managing his
estates.
These passed into the tentacles of that
GREAT ENGLISH natnnnG tho (fhonca,-Y-
Court. and finally, after the death OF the
unfortunate Thomas, got into the possess
sion of William Stuart, gentleman. of
Alderman Abbey, in the shire Of Herts
To-day the Penns of Stoke Poges are no
more. The rOmping children of a coun-
try squire have banished the tender
Wraiths that peopled the home and
haunts OF Gray at West End Cottage.
While the lord of the manor-whose park
Keeper now uses as a farm house the an
cient home of the Cobhams, the Cokes.
and the lordly house of Hastings, where
Queen Elizabeth was royalty entertained.
and whose own present princely habita-
ton was once the palatial seat OF the
PennS-lS maker OF matches in LOndonl
Still, no one can come to the sweet old
place without being touched by the ten
der spirit of repose which broods not
alone upon Stoke Poges church and
churchyard, upon the entire Stoke manor
where, half-hidden beneath sylvan
shades, appear the very place where the
poet lived and sang, the picturesque old
ruin where once dlsported lords and
ladies and even royalty itself, and the
grander seat of the Penns, but upon the
entire historic parish.
All its environment strangely stirs the
heart and memory. Over to the south is
royal Windsor, through whose successive
epochs the whole vast book of English
history n
torian era to the time of Arthur. his
knights and the Table Round. Milton
wrote his IL Allegro at Horton, lust be-
low. CoOper's Hill, consecrated to the
muse of Denham, is nearer still. Herschel
made his first great discoceries in astron-
omy in that old red brick mansion inst
beyond Slough on the highway to Wind
sor. Edmund Burke and Edmund Wal
Ter lived at near Beaconsfield. Not two
hours walk distant is the grave of Will
lam Penn, and quite 2s near are the
famous Burnham beeches, discovered by
Gray himself, when upon his first visit to
the region which his genius was destined
to make one Of the best loved Spots of
earth. | visited these, as will all who
come to this spot where the ''EIegy'' was
written. But no pen can again SO deli
clously tell OF Burnham Beeches, and the
languld, lazy, easy-going Gray himself.
as did Gray's in this bit from one OF his
charming letters to his friend Horace
WaIpole:
My uncle is great hunter in imagi-
nation; his dogs take up every chair in
the house, so l am forced to stand at the
present writing; and though the gout for
bids his galloping after them in The field
yet he continues still to regale his ears
and nose with their comfortable noise
and stink. He holds me mighty chean I
perceive, for walking when | should ride
and reading when l should hunt. NV
comfort amidst all this is, that l have at a
distance of half mile, through a green
la,n1, fnrast Ltila WI Inra1 1.nlI :, -