Among these was JOHN PENN, a native of Caroline county, Virginia; born on the 17th day of May, 1741. He was the only child of Moses Penn, who married Catharine, the daughter of John Taylor. The education of the son was neglected by the parents, who sent him to none but the commonest of common schools, which unfortunately for the youth of the neighbourhood, were the only kind then in that vicinity. A _little_ learning has been called a dangerous thing, but the quantum taught in some common schools even at this enlightened age, is too small to be dangerous, too limited to do much good. As a redeeming trait in their neglect of duty towards their son, they taught him by example and precept, social virtue and moral honesty. Upon the retirement of a farm and in its cultivation young Penn plodded along with his father, who had no books of value or a desire for them, until he arrived at the age of eighteen, when his paternal guardian died, and left him a competence, but not a large fortune. About that time he became inclined to read, this inclination ripened, his mind began to expand and his thirst for knowledge increased. Destitute of a library, he communicated his ardent desire to improve his education to Edmund Pendleton, a neighbour and relation of his, who was an accomplished scholar, a profound lawyer and an able statesman. Convinced that Mr. Penn possessed strong native talent he made him welcome to his valuable library and became deeply interested in his improvement. After exploring the fields of science for a short time, this young philomath commenced the study of law, and soon exhibited mental ores, taken from his long neglected intellectual quarry, that were of a rich and rare variety. He surmounted the barriers that lay before him with an astonishing rapidity, and before some of his friends supposed he had mastered the elementary principles of Blackstone, he presented himself at the court for examination, was admitted to practice, and at once exhibited the bright plumage of a successful lawyer and an able advocate. But three years before, his now soaring talents were buried deep in their native quarry, unknown and unsuspected; a strong admonition to the reader, if under similar circumstances, to examine closely the powers of his own mind. The professional eminence of Mr. Penn rose as rapidly as his appearance at the bar was unexpected. He gained the confidence of the community, the respect of the courts, and the esteem of his senior brethren. In 1763, he added to his original stock in the firm of the social compact by leading to the hymeneal altar the amiable and accomplished Miss Susannah Lyme, thus avoiding the hyemal frost that creeps chillingly over the lonely bachelor.