who being intrusted with many excellent talents by Him who is the giver of every good and perfect gift, cheerfully and unweariedly employed them as a faithful steward of the manifold grace of God, in his Master's service, approving himself as a minister of Christ in much patience, in afflictions and distresses, by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the armor of righteousness, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, and who, amidst trial from within and from without, was continued, by the kind providence of God and the powerful supports of his grace, to a good old age, honored and beloved by all parties, retaining his usefulness till he had just finished his course, and being, at last, favored according to his own wishes and prayers, with a release from the labors of life into that peaceful state of good men, which commences immediately after death. Oh, how delightful is that voice from heaven, which has thus pronounced: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, yea saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." Dr. Jennings preached the funeral sermon from Hebrews xi. 4, "He being dead yet speaketh.' He observes in his discourse, "I question whether any author before him did ever appear on such a variety of subjects as he has done, both as a prose writer and a poet. However, this I may venture to say, there is no man now living, of whose works so many have been dispersed both at home and abroad, that are in such constant use, and translated into such a variety of languages; many of which will, I doubt not, remain more durable monuments of his great talents than any representation I can make of them, though it were to be engraven on pillars of brass." The Grave of William Penn. BY MRS. S. C. HALL. A DISTINGUISHED American observed to us, not long ago, that "of all lawgivers there are none whose names shine so brightly on the page of history as do those of George Washington and William Penn," both of whom he claimed for his country. The former was, indeed, truly a great man; perhaps of all patriots who ever lived he is the one most "without spot or blemish"-pure, faithful, unselfish, devoted; yet, all things considered, it may be that William Penn is entitled to even higher admiration: the one, nurtured in liberty, became its high priest; the other, cradled in luxury, lived to endure a long and fierce struggle with oppression; and yet, amid sore temptations and seductive flatteries, he passed with the innate consciousness of genius, and a human desire of approbation, conquering not only others but himself, and finally doing justice among the "Red-men" of a new country, whom all his predecessors had sought to pillage and destroy. The sense of right must indeed have been of surpassing strength in the nature of William Penn. In an age fertile of slander against every act of virtue, and of calumny as regarded all good men, the marvel is, how his reputation has descended to us so unscathed; living, as he did, with those who make us blush for England, and often in contact with the low-minded and the false, who were ever on the watch to do him wrong, still the evil imputed to him is little, if it be any, more than tradition; while his goodness is to this day as a beacon, casting its clear light over the waves of the Atlantic, and his name a watchword of honor, and a synonyme for probity and philanthropy. It is a joy and a comfort to turn over the pages of this great man's life; to view him as a statesman, acting upon Christian principles in direct opposition to the ordinary policy of the world; and it was to us a source of high enjoyment, to reflect upon this eventful career while spending, during the past summer, some sunny days wandering amid scenes in Buckinghamshire,-in places which bear his honored name. In Penn Wood there are trees yet in the vigor of a green old age, beneath the shadow of which the peaceful lawgiver of Pennsylvania might have pondered on the true and rational liberty he would have gladly died to establish.* There is one spot-the most hallowed of them all-of which we shall write presently: a simple, quiet restingplace, for those who have gone to sleep in peace; but, ere we pause at this Shrine, we must recall the lawgiver, amid the billows of life, buffeting the waves which in the end floated him into a haven of rest. * Further traces of this family are to be found in Penlands, Pennstreet, Penhouse, all in the same county. The name given in after years to the American colony-Pennsylvania-is but a remembrance of the locality. |