HISTORY OF B UCKS CO UNTY.                               89
 

CHAPTER  VI.
 

SOME ACCOUNT OF PENNSBUEY.
 

less    TO    1690.
 

Markham and Harrison select a site for manor house.—The situation.—Description
of house.—Gardens and lawns.—Written instructions.—Penn's horses.—Furni¬
ture of house.—Table ware and plate.—Penn did not live tliere at first visit.—
Letter post established.—Bucks county a Quaker settlement.—The meeting was
supreme, but discipline lax.—Discountenanced the use of strong drinks.—Penn
returns to England,—Population.—Schism of George Keith.—Wages.—Farm
produce.—Stock.—Great rupture.—Dress.—Quit-rents hard to collect.

Delightful memories linger around Pennsbury manor, the Bucks
county home of the founder of Pennsylvania; that was his rural
residence, whither he retired from the cares of state to spend his
time in the bosom of his family, and where he intended to fix his
permanent home and live and die in the pursuit of agriculture, his
favorite occupation. But Providence interfered with his designs,
and instead of closing his eyes amid the peaceful shades of Penns¬
bury, he died in England, away from the home of his affections.
As we have remarked in a previous chapter, both William Markham
and James Harrison were commissioned by William Penn, before
they left England, to select a site and build him a residence. Mark¬
ham probably selected the site, as he was the first to arrive, but it
is possible  that it   was   done by William Penn himself after his