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></f> 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.