Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1907-07-29
WILLIAM PENN AND WESTMlN'
STER ABBEY.

To the Editor of the Alexandria Gazette.
10 your recent notice Of the objections
from certain quarters of Eugland to the
burial of William Penn's remains in
Westminster Abbey | think you are
rather inclined to view the matter from
partisan point, and as you have nc
words Of defense for the great law giver
against the attacks of his enemies, you
seem to leave your readers, not acquainted
with the facts, to make wrong and un-
Just inferences.
The opponents of Quakerism iuclud-
lug Mscanlay the English historian, have
seized upon every pretext however tri-
! vial to prejudice popular opinion against
the distinguished philanthropist by al
lusions to his intimacy with King
James the Second. Says Macaulay.
"Penn's father, the Admiral, had held
great naval command, had been COM
missioner of the Admiralty, bad sat in
Parliament, had received the honor OF
knighthood, and had been encouraged
to expect a peerage. The son had been
Literally educated, and had been de-
signed for the profession of arms, but
had while still young injured his pros
poets and disgusted his friends by
joining what was then considered a
gang of crazy heretiCs. He had been
sent sometimes to the Tower and some
times to Newgste prison. He had
been tried at the Old Bailey for preach
ing "his gospel" in defiance of law.
After time, however, he had been
reconciled to his family, and had sue
ceeded in obtaining such powerful pro-
lection, that while the jails of England
we're filled with his brethren he was per-
mitted during many years to profess bis
opinions "under protest. without moles-
tation.
Toward the close of the reign of Charles
the Second be had attained, 10 satisfsc-
ton of an old debt due him from the
crown, the grant of an immense region
in North America. In this tract then
peopled by Indian hunters, he invited
his persecuted brethren to settle. His
colony was yet in its infancy when
James ascended the throne. Between
James and Penn there had long been
familiar acquaintance. The Quaker now
became courtier and almost favorite.
de was every day summoned from the
gallery to the closet, and sometimes
had long audiences while peers were
kept waiting in the ante-chambers. 1t
was noised abroad that he had more
real power tn help or hurt than many
mobiles who filed high Offices. He was
surrounded by fatterers and supplisnts.
His house at Kensington was sometimes
thronged at his hour of rising by more
than two hundred sui ore.
Tnat Penn WAS frequent attendant at
the court of the king and was received
with favor is a fact incontrovertible,
but let it be known and understood that
he was not there as willing courtier to
fswn and fatter, nor to make silly
obeisance to royalty or nobility, nor
to participate 10 the frivolities and silly
buff 1onries Of the palace. His mission
WAS ore higher thar this, and well
Macaulay knew it. Ecclesiastical hate
was Strengthening against his people,
the tithe gatherer was daily distressing
them in every part of the reslm, des-
polling them Of their goods. tLeir i'm
plements and stocks Of trade; the
courts were expressing them with theil
severe and arbitrary practices, mobS were
breaking up their religious meetings.
| Many hundreds of them, men and women,
were wearing out their lives in Mo-
some Ills and vsinly pleading with
the heartless authorities for deliverance
from their sufierings, all for the sake o.
holy principles he knew well; for the
same cruel wrath had been his own loi
many times. In the warm sympathie'
of his great, brotherly heart, how coulc
he fail to feel and listen without exertine
bis influences in their behalf? If, like
the Christ of old, he mingled with pub
licsns and sinners, and ate and dranE
with them, it was for bene6cient pur
pose like that of the Master. He wai
doing the work of humanity, while osten
sibly to the condemning onlooker'
around him he wss following, like th'
rest of them, the promptings of selhst
propensities. He was steadfastly appeal
ing to lords, to commoners, to judges, Il
barristers, to the clergy, to all classes ii
whom he might hope to find auxilisrie
fer the accomplishment of his magnani
nous purpose. He strongly represented
The sufferings of the Quskers on all oc
casions, whether in the presence Of royal
| ty or among the low-down people. h
wrote earnest appeals not only for hi
own sect but also for the Catholics VIII
we're then under the lash Of everybody
| A list was made out by him of person
I will mail YOU free, TO prove merit, san