At a special meeting of the HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLV

held at Philadelphia, on Saturday, the 9th of April, 1835:

It was resolved that the thanks of the Society be presented to J. F CIS FISHER, Esq., for his interesting discourse on "The Private Life Domestic Habits of William Penn," this day pronounced, and that h requested to furnish a copy for publication.

J. R. TYSON, Secretar

DISCOURSE.

WITH the same spirit in which we visit the residences of authors, whose works have been our delight or consolation, or of Statesmen and Philanthropists, whose memories we bless; with the same interest we feel while we look at the mouldering furniture of their chambers, seat ourselves in the chairs they have reposed in, or look out upon the gardens which were once their recreation, do we collect from letters or diaries, and the recollections of the aged, the few scattered notices of their habits and their manners. We try to complete their picture by combining every circumstance of dress or personal peculiarity—and even those particulars which can have no bearing upon the character of their temper or their genius, all deserve a careful preservation; for like the buttons and collar of a painted portrait, they are important to perfect the picture, though they form no part of the like

ness.

When we strive to recollect a great man, seen in former years, perhaps the most frivolous particular may first present itself; and the fashion or colour of a coat may be remembered, while we are unable to recall any trace of his features or a single tone of his voice. Yet imperfect as is our reminiscence, we value it. Let us not then despise as frivolous the antiquarian research which has been able to present us with a description of Charles V. in his furred cap and gown of black taffety, drinking a quart of Rhenish wine at a draught; or of

68

Hobbes smoking ten pipes at a sitting, while composing his Leviathan: let us not disregard the account of the great Frederick's little greyhound, which he carried with him even to battle; or refuse to listen to Brantome, while he describes the table of the Chancellor l'Hospital, served daily, as he tells us, with a single dish of boiled meat. All these things may be of no importance in themselves; yet while matters of more moment might escape us, these may perhaps attach themselves to our memory and in some way serve to bind together and sustain our recollections of greater things, just as the twisting tendrils of the vine serve to support the long branches and luscious clusters of the grape.

Yet even particulars like these have sometimes an intrinsic interest and importance when they relate to those whom we regard as great teachers of philosophy and morals. When we find that Aristotle was magnificent in his dress, and that his fingers were covered with costly gems-or when we learn that Epicurus was contented with the simplest fare, “lætus plantaribus exigui horti,” we have an opportunity of judging how far the principles which they have given to others as the rules of life, have governed the minds from which they emanated. But without selecting as an instance, one whose vanity resisted the empire of his reason-or him who with a cold temperament lived purely in spite of the principles of a libertine, even in those cases where the practice of morality has been guided by their declared precepts of virtue-the particulars of private life are worthy of investigation, that we may learn the author's application of his own maxims, and how far in his practice he could relax the rigour of his own laws of life.

These considerations will perhaps give interest to the picture I shall now attempt to sketch of the Private Life of William Penn. Not only as a distinguished writer on Theology and an eloquent teacher of morals, and as one of the Patriarchs of a peculiar sect, (separating itself from others on

grounds of stricter morality, condemning the vices and vanities of the world, avoiding most of its pleasures, and claiming for themselves the character of followers of Christ in primitive simplicity, humility, and purity,) is it interesting and important to know how far he tolerated and practised the customs of the world, and what interpretation he put by his own conduct on the rules of discipline of his Society. But, as the great lawgiver and advocate of our liberties-as the friend of our ancestors, and their conductor to these shores-his manner of life and personal habits-his public carriage as proprietary, and private demeanour as a gentleman, are surely worthy of our curiosity. And although I can amuse you with but few traits of personal peculiarity or of intellectual excentricity, I congratulate myself, that, laying aside all consideration of him as a patriot, a lawgiver, or an author, and directing your attention to the retreats of his domestic life, I shall be able to offer such a picture of gentleness, benevolence, and urbanity; such perfect consistency of generosity and goodness, that you may all experience, as I have done, a pleasure similar to that of the naturalist, who, tearing off the petals of a beautiful flower, finds the inmost structure of its core more curiously fashioned, more exquisitely delicate than the external tints and graceful form which had at first delighted him.

The pages which I shall read to you on this occasion contain the results of an examination, made some time since, of the original cash book of William Penn, and his letters of business to his agents in Pennsylvania. The extracts then made, together with a few anecdotes and traditions preserved elsewhere, I have endeavoured to weave into a connected account of the Private Life and Domestic Habits of the Founder of our State and City.

My narrative may be tedious; my incidents common-place; my particulars trivial; but anecdotes are not be extracted from a cash book—and letters to a steward afford few traits of character. So barren were the fields I had undertaken to