Speaking of Benjamin West, we have in the “Parlor” two pictures which were painted by that artist when a hoy. They are sorry daubs, but, of course, valuable for their asso ciations. An inspect ion of them would have added bitterness to the contempt of Byron, who styled our great Pennsylvania painter, after he had gone to London to ply his pencil: “ Tilt* tlntard West, Euroi> wmvit 'limit, ami poor England's best.” Chester Wills were built in 1082, and Wil liam Penn, Samuel Carpenter and Caleb Pusky were all interested in the ownership thereof. A weathercock was put upon the building; it was a skeleton sort of an iron affair, and this vane is to be found in the Penn Parlor. It has the following described letters and figures upon it, held together by iron ribs: W. P. S. C. & 0. P. urn Near by this relic is a large pewter platter which has engraved upon it the arms of the Penn family. It is now the property of the Schuylkill Fish Company. Judging from the dimensions of this monster trencher, the Penns must have been liberal feeders, for it has capacity for holding a quarter of beef at least. We cannot give in detail all the curiosities to be found in this most unique ami precious collection of Penn relics, and we must, there- fore, be content to notice them in brief. There is a wooden mantel-picce which occupied a place in Carpenter’s Hall, in 177-1, when the first Continental Congress met there; stone axes, made by the Indians; a fire-bucket, of the days before Fair Mount and hose com panies ; an assignment of the province of New Jersey by its then five owners; the signatures of one hundred and sixty-nine Philadelphia merciiants attached to a letter of compliment to John Penn, and bearing date 1703 ; William Penn’s shaving-dish and razor; George Fox’s burning-glass; portraits of the first two mayors of the City; a handsome model of the Slate Roof house; a curious old British coat of arms of the days of Queen Anne, w hich occupied a place in a court-room in Philadelphia in colonial times, and wdiich was taken down upon the breaking out of the Revolution; Indianliead-drcsses, bows, arrows, &.C., from the splendid collection of Mr. John 11. Mcllvain; William Penn’s clock, candle stick, looking-glass, &c., &o. ; a carved oaken panel from Kenilworth Castle ; a pair of high heeled and silver-buckled shoes made for a young Quaker bride ; a painting of the grave of William Penn in Buckinghampshirc, Eng land ; a portrait of Mrs. Rielurd Penn, painted in London in 17731 ; antique chairs almost without number, and an immense variety of other curious matters which, to use a highly original phrase, must bo seen to be appre- Otjb :ej. ciated. The visitor to the Fair who fails to caiefully inspect the curiosities in the Penn parlor, should be the subject of profound com miseration. The original charter of the city of Philadel phia, which is esteemed more precious than its weight in ten thousand dollar treasury notes, will be found in the Penn parlor. It is usually in the custody of the City Solicitor, and it is rarely suffered to see daylight. Peter Cooper’s large view of the city of Philadelphia, painted in 1720, will delectate the antiquarian souls of all appreciating visi tors to the Penn parlor. There is the city as it stood nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, and a queer looking old town it is, when com pared with the present metropolis, which Gothamites will persist in merrily calling “a one-horse town.” The Penn Parlor is particularly rich in the way of original portraits. There are two paintings of Indian Kings which were known to have belonged to the Founder; and the Pennsylvanians of 18(14 can form some idea of tlie fashions prevalent here two hundred years ago bj' an inspection of the counterfeit pre sentments of these two royal sons of the forest. Then we have an original portrait of Penn before he adopted the tenets of Fox, and when he patronized the blacksmith, in lieu of the tailor, when he wanted a new suit, “not to put too fine a point on it,” as Mr. Snaqsby would say. Our illustrious Friend is repre sented in a full suit of armor, and a plump, good-looking young fellow he is in his iron “ fixings.” A very appropriate companion picture to this is an original portrait of Admiral Penn, the father of the last mentioned gentleman. The Admiral looks like a sturdy old Cavalier as he was. At a rough guess, we should judge that the original of the picture, concerning wdiich we are writing, was abundantly able to do his full share with a knife and fork, drain to the bottom a reasonably large tankard of stout English ale, and use some pretty em phatic expletives in case his British marine “ hearts of oak,” of about A. D. IGGO, failed to reef topsails, or perform some other nauti cal feat, in good season. Benjamin West’s great original portrait of Penn’s treaty with the Indians, graces the walls of the Penn Parlor. Here, too, we find an original letter from the distinguished pain ter, giving a description of an engraved copy of the picture which he painted in England. Tlie letter is addressed to Wm. West, in Upper Darby, l’a., and (omitting some purely family matters) runs as follows: Dear Brother : — I could not neglect so fa vorable an opportunity as this by Capt. Fal comb, to send you the print of Wm. Penn’s Treaty with the Indians when he founded the Province of Pennsylvania. I have taken the liberty to introduce the likeness of our father and brother of Reading into the picture in the group of Friends that accompany Wm. Penn. That is the likeness of our brother that stands immediately behind Penn resting on his easel. I need not point out the figure of our Father. I believe you will find some likeness of him in the print tlio have all lost something of that when compared with the original pic ture. * * * * * * * I am, clear Brother, your affectionate, Benjamin West. London, July 12th, 1775. When you, for the future, write me, direct to Newman street, Oxford street. The Agricultural Department has already produced its watchword. A gentleman promi nent in its proceedings, being asked yesterday if it would be a good thing to buy a few shares in “ Reading,” replied, “ You had better buy some of our shares.” “And what are they ?” “Plough-shares,” was the reply. Two gen tlemen claim to have said this. They “go it” on shares To produce a perfect delusion, visit the Dutch kitchen, and fancy yourself am Rhein, or up in Berks county, which is quite as beautiful a country, though not as fashiona ble as yet. One of these days the world will find what a lovely land lies hidden in the inte rior of Pennsylvania, and the elite will come from Russia and Paris to inspect the only real fragment of Germany which will be left Talking of this comity reminds us that the list of articles contributed by Reading in “gallant old Berks,” which we have under hand, is extremely creditable, three of the Presbyterian churches in that city contributing in beautiful, useful and fancy work, w hich is by no means overpriced, $002.80 To revert to our agri cultural friends : one of the most eminent lite rary men of America, and of New York, calls our attention to the fact that many articles after being planted, undergo the most extra ordinary metamorphoses. Thus, for instance, If you plant The Polka, “ Number Four,” McClellan, Office-holders, City streets, Elbows, Plumbers, Tides, Currents, lied shawls, Bulrushes. A utilitarian, Art-i-choke. Peter and Paul, Twomai-tyrs (!) [I propose as an amendment, If you plant tight boots, there will come up corn and toe martyrs.] [And we propose, yet again, If you plant a copy of Uncle Tom, there also will come up a Tom-Martyr.] Pet dogs, Lalla liookh and Pick wick, Peri-winkles A kiss, Tu-lips. Herod’s daughter, A red-dish. Sea sand, Beeches. Flirtations, Pears. Lucky speculations, Plums. Peruvians, Lima beans (beins) “Of course you know the game,” adds our Th(re will come up Ladies’ slippers. Ivy (I-V.) Virginia creepers. Celery. Car-rats. rnlms. Crocus (croakers) Cat-nip.