The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-03

essentially A man Of action. restless and enter
prising. a, times courer and politician.
who loved handsome dress, lived well and
lavishly, and who. although lie kept faith
with the red men. found pcnnSylv ania the torment
OF his life He came Of lighting ancestry, and
was himself soldier for short time His life
was full Of contests. imprisonmcn,s. disasters
and suffering, II not Of actual lighting, and he
lived during the most critical periods Of English
history. Few. II any, Qunkcrs have shown so
much energy as he.
There are so many paintings and cngravinGs
which purport to reproduce the lincamc nts Of Will
lam Penn that many people will be surprised TO
learn that there is portrait Of him in existence
that IN positively known IN have been painted
from life. The picture Of him most familiar To
Americans is AN engraving made from a painting
in the rooms Of the Pennsylvania Historical So.
ciety. which represents him as a young cavalier
I'm atmor at the supposed age ~ %. There is also
a smaller engraving taken from the same picture
with the assistance Of a photograph Of a similar
painting in England. The nrmur portrait in
the possession Of the Pennsylvania Historical
Society was presented by Granville Penn in 1893,
and is described in the socioty's catalogue as
entirely authentic" Recently. however, III clean.
ing the painting IL was found TO bc OF very mod.
ern date. and seems Ia have been executed within
tho first half Of the Nineteenth century" II might
tull h. argued that the aImor portrait remain.
ing in England. and now in the possession OF
Major william DuEald Stuart. may have been
taken from life: but 1t now appears that there is
. third Of these armor portraits belonging to
Mr.. j. Mcrrick Head. Of Pennsylvania Castle
Dorset. Both Of these English paintings are
alleged by their owners 20 b. originals but connois
seurs have grave doubts Of their authenticity,
because little nothing is known OF their history.
and IL is not known by whom they
were painted. They are not in the least like
the Bevan carving OF Penn, the only likeness
which is a; all well authenticated.
A portrait purporing 10 be likeness Of Penn
at the age Of 81, painted by Francis Place
found about 1874 in the possession OF Mr..
Allan Of Blackwell Hail. County Durham. Eng
land Place was a contemporary Of PENIS. and
might have had an opportunity Of Painting Il
portrait Of him from life though it should be re-
membered that Quakers were very avcrsc 10 sitting.
because IL savured NJ vanity. and injured their
standing among their co rcgGnistS ThoSe who
accept the Place picture as authentic the more
easily believe in the armor portraits, for tho face
and the expression are very much the same in
them. Those, however. who have studied the
subject dspo cd To think that the Place portrait
Is a likeness of the Admiral. and not Of his ION
William The decisive point in favor Of this the
DRY is that the Place portal, is totally unlike the
Bevan carving, the history Of which is told.
It seems that. when Lord Gotham was
adjoining his gardens with S'atuary some years
after PENIS death he sought portrait Of Penn
90 b. copied, but could not find one A certain
Sylvanus B,van, Quaker apOthccary in London,
skillful in amateur carving, hearing Of his Lord
ships quest, made little ivory bust II Penn a.
he recollcc'ed him. and cent II to Lord Gotham
without explanation. II is said that his Lord
ship receiving it, exclaimed, Whence came
this? II is " illiam Penn hin, eli :" and h. had a
statue made from II for hi, garden The story. II
true, obviously makes HgAInS, the validity Il m.
socalled armor portraits End the iIsc,, ri.,ur-s
The fact is also noted that Clark on, who ruh.
lished memoir Of Penn IN iSli and was dtli-ent
in collecting traditions Of him, aver. that ,bc,.
was no portrait Of him painted from IL. CLARK
son relies entirely on the Bcyan carving OF hi,
memorial Robert Proud. the Quaker historian of
Pennsylvania, who was In England in 100 and
stayed Win Bevan, reports The likeness il a
real and true one. as have been informed not only
by himself IL Bl but also by other old men in
England. OF the first character In the Society Of
Friends who knew him In their youth Bcvnn
ia said to have made three NJ these ivory carvings
OF Penn. lie sent one Of them 10 PENNSYLVANIA
to James Logan. and II found its why. with the
Logan collection of books, 10 the Philadelphia
Library, where il was burned in fire which oc-
CURED in 1881 An engraving Of the Philadelphia
Bevan carving was made by John Hall in l773
One Of the two other carvings that Rcvan made is
still In existence in England. and Mr. Fisher has
secured photograph Of il Between the photo
graph and the engraving there Is no essential
difference. and our author says that II In impos-
sble TO resist the conclusion that they Represent
man totally different from the one depicted in tho
armor portraits or in the Place picture Tho
Bevan carving has a very pointed nose. which ia
not found in the other portraits and the Who'll, cx-
precision Of the face is different The armor portraits
and the Place picture exhibit a very anxious