Give not a sound, and all around is mute—
In the deep Sabbath of a heart too full
For words or tears—here let us strew the sod
With the first flowers of spring, and make to them
An offering of the plenty nature gives,
And they have rendered ours—perpetually."
Percival.
After making a sketch of the monument, and dining upon crackers, cheese, and apples, using the plinth of the pedestal for a table—we resumed the reins, and retraced the Lancaster road as far as the Paoli tavern, where a branch road leads to West Chester.
Here I parted company with Mr. Agnew, who returned to Philadelphia in the cars, and I journeyed alone toward the Brandywine. Although the fields were shorn, and the orchards were bare of fruit and foliage, yet, on every side, were evidences of fertility and abundance attested by fine farm-houses, spacious stone barns, and numerous plethoric barracks. The country is beautifully diversified and well watered; clear streams, without bridges, intersect the highway in many plaees. I reached West Chester at dark, distant eight miles from the Paoli tavern, having passed, on the way, near the residence of General Wayne.
West Chester is the seat of justice of Chester county. It is in Goshen township, twenty-three miles from Philadelphia, and five south of the Great Valley. It is a pleasant village, containing a population of about three thousand, who are noted for their intelligence and general refinement. It was a mere hamlet when the armies passed by after the battle on the Brandywine, * a few miles distant; and there are now not many mementoes of the event in existence. Eye-witnesses have gone down into the grave, and the old dwellings have given place to more modern structures, except the Turk's Head tavern, and one or two other buildings. At Guss's Inn, where I tarried for the night, I met Mr. Joseph Townsend, a nephew of the late Joseph Townsend, of Baltimore, who wrote an account of the battle of Brandywine from his own personal recollections, and which was published in 1846, with an accurate survey of the scene of action, by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Mr. Townsend, who is familiar with every locality connected with the battle, kindly offered to go over the ground with me the next morning.