A Double Acquisition

84 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. dealt with in the previous volumes will be supplied by the Editor. It is hoped to have the book ready near the end of 1924. (The greater part of the above account was prepared for the Bulletin by Norman Penney upon request. The appreciative references to himself were added by the editor without request or permission.) A DOUBLE ACQUISITION. The Philadelphia neighborhood of Friends is rejoicing in the recent acquisition of two valuable memorials of Quakerism. Legal title to them is vested in George Vaux, Jr., of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. There is a social claim, however, established by community interest, shared by a host of Friends who dwell in the hither parts of Penn's woodland. The valuables in question are a painting of Elizabeth Fry, and a small silver seal bearing the letters " G. F." The painting entitled " Newgate, 1818," is by an English artist, Henrietta Mary Ada (Mrs. Edward M.) Ward. It represents Elizabeth Fry, with her young friend, Mary Sanderson (afterwards Mrs. Fox), in the entrance of Newgate prison. "Of the Inferno behind the iron palisade just one glimpse, and no more, is discreetly given; but it is enough to bear out Mary Sanderson's subsequent horrified remark, that ' the railing was crowded by half-naked women struggling together for front situations with the utmost vociferations.' " The dress which Mrs. Fry wears in the picture was painted in her favorite color, a silver fawn. The shawl was copied from one belonging to Elizabeth Fry, and even the Bible she carries, with its bright red cover, is an exact copy of the one she used on these occasions. It will be noticed that E. Fry wears a rose in her dress ; this has seemed to some to be an improbable touch, but Mrs. Ward has been assured by a member of the family that such was E. Fry's invariable custom when visiting Newgate."—Whitten, Quaker Pictures, 57-58. The picture was dedicated, by permission, to Queen Victoria, It was exhibited in the Royal Academy, London, in 1876, and received at that time " a written testimonial to its merits, of a A DOUBLE ACQUISITION.85 very unusual character, signed by fourteen Royal Academicians and other leading artists." The painting was brought to the World's Columbian Exposition, in Chicago, 1893. Later it was purchased by a wealthy art-lover in Philadelphia. After his death it was offered for sale in the course of the settlement of his estate. Thus it was purchased by George Vaux, Jr., in Third Month, 1923The painting is illustrated in the World's Columbian Exposition Catalogue, page 62; also in Wilfred Whitten, Quaker Pictures (1892), page 52. In the latter book, pages 57-58, is a valuable note concerning the picture and the artist. See also The Essayist and Friends' Review, 1 (1893), page 27. Mrs. Ward, the artist, was still living at last report, and celebrated her ninety-second birthday recently (1924) at her home in Chelsea, London. (Later : She died 7 mo. 12, 1924.) The seal, recently purchased by George Vaux, Jr., and sent to him from England, is said to be the original seal of George Fox. An ample pedigree, in substantiation of its lineage, came with the seal and is as follows : " In 1669, when he was in Ireland, as he was leaving Limerick, George Fox took off this silver Seal, and gave it with his own hand to Richard Pierce, a Friend who held his horse-bridle as he mounted. Richard Pierce died in 1690, the Seal passing to his son Samuel Pierce (b. 1685-d. 1753), who left it to his daughter Elizabeth (b. 1723-d. 1791). In 1748 she married William Richardson and when she died she left the Seal to her daughter Sarah Richardson (b. 1750-d. 1836), wife of James Hill Phillips (b.-d. 1792). " Sarah Richardson Phillips gave the Seal to her son Edward Phillips (b. 1787-d.), a much valued Friend of Limerick Meeting. He was engaged to be married to Deborah Fisher (b. ^d. 12th Mo. 1850), but died before his marriage was accomplished . A very few hours before his death he gave the Seal to...