USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > An historical account of the old State house of Pennsylvania now known as the Hall of Independence > Part 12
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21
The closing scene of the Revolution, the surrender of Cornwallis, is brought into direct association from the fact, that the British and Hes- sian regimental flags, captured at Yorktown, twenty-four in number, were, according to the newspapers of the day " received by volunteer cavalry at the Schuylkill, paraded through the streets preceded by the American and French colors at a proper distance, and at the State House, the hostile standards were there laid at the feet of Congress and of his excellency the Ambassador of France." This took place on 3d November, 1781.
Thus almost every event was more or less chronicled within the walls of our State House, from the time of its first occupancy, inde- pendent of the important scenes in the great historical drama at- tempted to be recalled.
" All of a sudden Congress left Philadelphia, in the summer of 1783," - such is the last record given. The cause of their abrupt de- parture, this time, was not a foreign foe, but the apparent apprehension of revolt on the part of their own soldiers, whose payment had been some time delayed.
On Saturday, 21st June, 1783, when the Supreme Executive Coun- cil was sitting. a handful of soldiers from the barracks brought a threat- ening message to the State Executive, requiring permission to appoint commissioned officers over themselves, that they might obtain " redress of grievances." The Council at once refused to consider their appli- cation. The soldiers, in the mean time, had increased in numbers to upwards of three hundred, who paraded before the State House, while fifteen or twenty posted themselves in the yard ; they stationed osten- sible guards at the doors of the State House, which, however, denied ingress or egress in reality to none. The Council remained firm, and authorized General St. Clair, who promptly repaired to the spot, to allay the irritation by a conference with the insurgents.
112
HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
Congress had adjourned over, as usual, from Friday to Monday, but the President and some members collected in their chamber, and while they assented to the conference, seem informally to have made up their minds " that there is not a satisfactory ground for expecting adequate and prompt exertions of this State for supporting the dig- nity of the Federal Government," and in such case, under advice, etc., they authorized and directed the President to summon the members of Congress to meet, at Trenton, or Princeton.
It is stated that the President, Elias Boudinot, was personally stopped in the street, but that some of the leaders at once rebuked their followers for so doing, and apologized for the act.
Nevertheless, this emeute resulted in the adjournment of Congress to Princeton, where they met on 30th June, and there they remained until November 4th, meeting on 26th November, 1783, at Annapolis, in Maryland.1 They continued at that place till June 3, 1784, and during this time received the resignation of the commander-in-chief of their armies. Their next session was held at Trenton, November 1, 1784, to December 24, whence they adjourned and met in New York, January 11, 1785, and there they finally dissolved in 1789.
In the mean time, efforts were promptly made in the summer of 1783, by the State Government, to bring back Congress to Philadel- phia ; every possible guarantee of security was offered for their safe and honorable sojourn, in Philadelphia, if they would return, and the State even evinced a willingness to grant to national authority all jurisdiction that might be deemed necessary.
Some of their own members endeavored to induce the return of Con- gress, even temporarily, to Philadelphia, but in vain. Still the Assem- bly do not appear to have given up the hope of it. The Congressional Chamber seems still to have been reserved for their contingent use for several years, after its actual abandonment by Congress.
Among the visitors to Congress, ere they left the State House, was the Marquis de Chastellux, in 1780, who has left us an account of his impressions : -
" The Hall in which Congress assembles is spacious, without magnificence ;
1 It was at first resolved that Congress should meet at two places - alternating - one on the Potomac and the other on the Delaware. This gave rise to a sarcastic effusion from the pen of Francis Hopkinson, wherein he aimed to determine the curve and oscillation of what he called " this political bob," though concluding that in this instance the rule of gravitation would be reversed, since the bob would be more inclined to motion in proportion as the matter of which it was composed should be more dull and heavy.
come Wallington daparte mandrin
113
VISIT OF DE CHASTELLUX.
its handsomest ornament is the portrait of General Washington, larger than life. IIe is on foot, in that noble and easy attitude which is natural to him ; Cannon, Colours. and all the attributes of war form the accessories of the picture. [This was Charles Wilson Peale's portrait of Washington after the battle of Princeton.] I was then conducted into the Secretary's hall, which has nothing remarkable but the manner in which it is furnished ; the Colours taken from the enemy serve by way of tapestry. From thence you pass to the [Assembly] library, which is pretty large, but far from being filled; the few books it is composed of appear to be well chosen.
"The building is rather handsome ; the staircase in particular is wide and noble; as to external ornaments, they consist only in the decoration of the gate, and in several tablets of marble placed above the windows. I remarked a peculiarity in the roof which appeared new to me : the chimneys are bound to the two extremities of the building, which is a long square, and are so con- structed as to be fastened together in the form of an arch, thus forming a sort of portico."
The constituted authorities of Pennsylvania also returned to their old quarters in the State House, immediately upon the evacuation by the British.
The Assembly, which, it must be remembered, still consisted of a single body, met again in their chamber, up stairs, on the 26th Octo- ber, 1778.
They retained this room, for their sittings, for some ten years, but seem to have moved down stairs into the old Judicial (western) Chamber, opposite to that still occupied by Congress, about 1780, or 1781, and, as far as can be learned, continued their sessions herein till 1790.
M. de Chastellux, whose account of his visit to Congress has already been cited, " went again to the State House with M. de La Fayette, Cte. de Noailles, De Damas, M. de Gimat, etc., to be present at the Assembly of the State. We seated ourselves on a bench opposite the Speaker's chair ; on his right was the President of the State; the clerks were placed at a long table before the Speaker. The Executive Council was sent for and heard."
It was also during their occupancy of this Judicial Chamber that the " act for regulating party walls " was debated, in which was intro- duced a clause (though subsequently repealed), requiring the destruc- `tion of all the trees, on certain streets throughout the city.
It was on 12th April, 1782, " when," says Francis Hopkinson, " to the amazement of all present, the business was interrupted by a voice, perfectly articulate, proceeding from the capital of one of the columns
8
114
HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
which supported the ceiling of the room. This voice claimed a right to be heard on the subject of the bill, then before the House.
After the first surprise at such an unusual prodigy had a little sub- sided, the right of a column to interfere in the business of the House was considered and objected to; and it was urged, that no instance had ever occurred where a wooden member - a Blockhead - had pre- sumed to speak in that Assembly ; that this column could, by no con- struction of law, be admitted as the Representative of any part or district of Pennsylvania, having never been ballotted for, elected, or returned, as a member of Assembly. That the House, when fully met, necessarily consisted of a certain number of members, and no more, and that this number is full and complete, by the returns from the several counties, as appears by the records of the House ; there- fore, if this column should be allowed a voice, there must be a super- numerary member somewhere, which would be an absolute violation of the Constitution. And lastly, that it is contrary to the order of nature that an inanimate log should interfere in the affairs of rational beings, Providence having been pleased to distinguish so obviously between men and things.
To all this the column firmly replied, that he was, properly speak- ing, a standing member of that House, having been duly fixed in his station by those who had the right and power to place him there ; that he was the true Representative of a numerous race, descended in a direct line from the Aborigines of this country, those venerable an- cestors who gave the name of Penn-SYLVANIA to this State, and whose posterity now inhabit every county in it; that he was not only a member of the House, but one of its principal SUPPORTERS, inasmuch as they could never " make a house " without him ; that he had faithfully attended the public business, having never been fined as an absentee, and that those very members who now opposed him had confided in his wisdom and integrity, by constantly appealing to him 1 n every contest about the rules and internal economy of the House ; and, lastly, that, as the bill under consideration so nearly concerned his fellow creatures, and as he found himself miraculously endowed with the power of speech for this occasion, he was determined to make use of it in behalf of those who could not speak for themselves. After much debate, it was determined that the House would hear what this importunate Post had to say respecting the bill before them, but per- emptorily refused to allow him a vote on this or any other business in that Assembly.
1 The Rules of the House were framed and hung up against one of the columns.
115
SPEECH BY A " STANDING MEMBER."
The columnar orator, having obtained leave, addressed the House in the following words : -
"I am happy, O fellow-citizens, that speech hatlı been given me on this important occasion ; and that I have your permission to exer- cise a power, thus wonderfully obtained, in the cause of truth and jus- tice.
" I stand here this day an upright advocate for injured innocence. What fury, what madness, O deluded senators ! hath induced you to propose the extirpation of those to whom you are indebted for so many of the elegancies, comforts, and blessings of life ? If the voice of justice is not to be regarded within these walls, let your own inter- ests influence your conduct on this occasion. For I hope to show that your safety and happiness are much more deeply concerned, in the business you are upon, than you are at present aware of.
" By the 12th section of the bill now depending, it is proposed to cut down and remove all the trees standing in the streets, lanes, or alleys of this city. What ! do we then hold our lives on such an uncertain tenure ? Shall the respectable and inoffensive inhabitants of this city stand or fall according to the caprice of a few ignorant petitioners ? And will this House, without remorse, without even the form of trial, give its sanction to an edict, which hath not a parallel since the san- guinary days of Herod of Jewry ? But I hope to convince this hon- orable House that trees, as well as men, are capable of enjoying the rights of citizenship, and therefore ought to be protected in those rights ; that, having committed no offense, this arbitrary edict cannot constitutionally pass against them, and that your own, and the welfare of your constituents, is nearly concerned in their preservation and cul- ture.
" In reply to the charge that the trees are not well affected to the present government, because they remained with the enemy when they had possession of the city, I would ask, Will any one pretend to say that the leaving or not leaving the city, on the approach of the enemy, marks the true line of distinction between Whig and Tory? It is confessed that we remained when others fled ; we stood our ground and heroically suffered in our country's cause. Turn, worthy sena- tors ! turn your eyes to yonder fields ! Look towards the banks of the Schuylkill! Where are now those venerable oaks, that o'er the evening walk of sober citizen, of musing bard, of sportive youths, and sighing nymphs and swains, were wont to spread their hospitable shade ? Alas ! nought now remains but lifeless stumps, that moulder in the summer's heat and winter's frost, the habitations fit of poison-
116
HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
ous fungi, toads, and ever-gnawing worms. Hinc ille lachryme ! These were thy feats, O Howe !
"Excuse, great sirs, this weakness in a Post, or rather, join your sympathetic tears with mine ; the loss is yours - a loss, the impor- tance of which you have not, perhaps, duly considered. * *
" It is now many years since I lost my vegetable life by the fatal axe, my skin was stript off, and my limbs lopt away - and yet, you see my body is still of use, and I stand here firm, sound, and hearty. And barring an accident from all consuming fires, I shall attend future de- bates in this house, when those whom I have the honor now to address shall be no more."
These columns undoubtedly did survive all who could have under- derstood this speech, for. alas, a succeeding generation, deaf to, or igno- rant of, this accost, consigned them to the axe, and selected in their stead iron supporters, which, if endowed now with speech, could only tell us of the petty squabbles of a subordinate court-room. Or per- chance, they might recount, how they and their confederates, alien alike to the sentiments of the Founder of Pennsylvania. as to the blood and traditions of our Revolutionary sires, did staunchly oppose and attempt to thwart the dedication of this very room as a Museum of memorials of patriotic and noble deeds. But they perform the re- quired functions, locum tenentes, - et tenentes concilium - their very existence ignored, even while yet visible to the eye.
Under the Constitution of Pennsylvania of 1776, 47th section, a provision was made for a Council, to be elected every seven years, whose duty it was after organization to investigate, whether the Con- stitution in all its parts had been preserved inviolate. and with power to call a convention to revise the same. if in their estimation desirable.
This body was termed the " Council of Censors." It met for the first and only time, November 10, 1783, though without a quorum until the 13th. Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg was elected its Pres- ident, and among its members were Thomas Fitzsimons, Arthur St. Clair, Anthony Wayne, William Irvine, and William Findley.
It unquestionably convened at the State House, but whether in In- dependence Chamber, then recently vacated by the Congress, or in the Eastern room of the second story, cannot now be told. It sat until January 21, 1784, then adjourned to June 1, and remained in session until 25th September following. It specifically, and with much ability. pointed out various infringements of the Constitution, and of the Bill of Rights, and, by a vote of a majority, resolved that the Constitution
117
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
was defective in various particulars, and recommended changes to cor- respond : -
That the Executive, consisting of President and Council, should be superseded by a Governor alone ;
That the legislative authority should be vested in two bodies in- stead of one;
THAT THE JUDICIARY, SUPREME AS WELL AS SUBORDINATE, SHOULD BE APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR, DURING GOOD BE- HAVIOR ;
Recommendations which, apparently futile at the time (since a two thirds vote was needed), were afterwards and remain now engrafted upon the organic law, except the last, which, under the existing prac- tice, demands the remedy, then pointed out, even more than did the state of affairs under the Constitution of 1776, since under that, the judges were dependent every seven years, the period of their election, upon those who were themselves selected by their fellow citizens as the most virtuous and most competent for the trust. To-day they are dependent from first to last upon the dregs of the people, irre- sponsible except to the ward politician.
MAY GOD SAVE THE COMMONWEALTH !
But Independence Chamber was now, in 1787, again put to national use, and by a body of men as distinguished as any that had ever occu- pied it, and for purposes scarcely second in importance to the drafting the great Magna Charta.
The Federal Convention to frame a Constitution for the United States of America met here May 14, 1787, remaining in session till September 17, 1787.
Its roll of members is its eulogy ; its results are of course known verbatim by every school-boy, as well as by every individual over twenty-one, black or white, foreign or native to the soil, as a prelim- inary to the exercises of voting for President of the United States, or for a School Director.
The chair which Peyton Randolph had occupied, when Thomas Johnson of Maryland nominated George Washington to be com- mander-in-chief of the American armies, - the chair which John Han- cock had occupied. when he attached his official signature as President to the proclamation for liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabi- tants thereof, - still remained in its accustomed position, and now, on
118
HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
the 14th day of May, 1787, that man who had been the chief instru- ment in perfecting the plans initiated in this room, who had proved himself " first in war," was called to occupy, as President of this Convention, that identical chair, and to make it the stepping-stone to the " first in peace."
Many members of the old Continental Congress resumed their seats in this chamber. Several of them had debated the question of sepa- ration from Great Britain and signed the Declaration of Independence. They now returned to complete their work, and " to secure the bless- ings of Liberty to themselves and to their posterity."
The members who attended were -
For New Hampshire.
*JOHN LANGDON. * NICHOLAS GILMAN.
For Massachusetts.
ELBRIDGE GERRY. *NATHANIEL GORHAM. *RUFUS KING. CALEB STRONG.
For Connecticut.
*WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSON. OLIVER ELLSWORTH.
*ROGER SHERMAN.
For New York.
ROBERT YATES. JOHN LANSING. *ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
For New Jersey.
*WILLIAM LIVINGSTON. *WILLIAM PATERSON.
*DAVID BREARLEY. *JONATHAN DAYTON.
WILLIAM C. HOUSTON.
For Pennsylvania.
*BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. *THOMAS FITZSIMONS.
*THOMAS MIFFLIN. *JARED INGERSOLL.
*ROBERT MORRIS. *JAMES WILSON.
*GEORGE CLYMER. *GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.
For Delaware.
*GEORGE READ. *RICHARD BASSETT.
*GUNNING BEDFORD, JR. *JACOB BROOM.
*JOHN DICKINSON.
119
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
For Maryland.
*JAMES MCHENRY. *DANIEL CARROLL.
LUTHER MARTIN.
JOHN FRANCIS MERCER. *DANIEL OF ST. THOMAS JENIFER.
For Virginia.
*GEORGE WASHINGTON. EDMUND RANDOLPH.
*JOHN BLAIR.
GEORGE MASON.
GEORGE WYTHE. *JAMES MADISON, JR. JAMES MCCLURG.
For North Carolina.
ALEXANDER MARTIN. *HUGH WILLIAMSON.
WILLIAM R. DAVIE.
*RICHARD DOBBS SPAIGHT.
*WILLIAM BLOUNT.
For South Carolina.
*JOHN RUTLEDGE.
*CHARLES PINCKNEY.
*CHARLES C. PINCKNEY. *PIERCE BUTLER.
For Georgia.
*WILLIAM FEW.
WILLIAM PIERCE.
* ABRAHAM BALDWIN.
WILLIAM HOUSTOUN.1
After the final action, and engrossing of the Constitution, those members of the Convention who were present and approved, advanced by States, and affixed their signatures to the instrument.2
In Independence Chamber, also met the State Convention, to take action upon the proposed Constitution for the United States. This was on 20th November following. On 13th December a resolution to ratify the same was passed.
1 Mr. Madison relates an anecdote of Dr. Franklin, at the time the last members of the Convention were signing the engrossed copy of the Constitution, after its adoption by the body. The chair therein referred to is high in the back and is surmounted by a carved effigy, duly gilt, of a sun with attendant rays. Turning to a fellow member he observed, " Painters have always found it difficult to distinguish n their art a rising from a setting sun. I have often and often in the course of this session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears, as to its issue, looked at that, behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising, and not a setting Bun."
2 Their names in the above list are preceded by asterisks.
120
HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
The voices of Madison, of Mason, of Wilson, and of Hamilton had scareely died away, when these walls again echoed with debates over the same subject, in a different form. The Constitution of Penn- sylvania had accomplished its purpose, and the people demanded a new one for existing needs, and one more in consonance with the new Constitution of the United States.
Responsive to their call, the convention to frame a Constitution for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania met in the Eastern chamber November 24, 1789.1
Thomas Mifflin was made its President, and among the members were James Wilson, Thomas McKean, Edward Hand, William Irvine, and Timothy Pickering, who had already achieved a national reputa- tion, and also William Lewis, James Ross, William Findley, and Al- bert Gallatin, who were destined to fame. The subsequent Governors Hiester and Snyder were also members.
This Convention, after an intermission from February 26th to August 9th, during which the proposed Constitution was published for the in- formation of the people, adjourned finally September 2d, 1790.
Upon the adoption of the State Constitution of 1790, providing for two distinct branches of the Legislature, it would appear that the Sen- ate and the House of Representatives took possession respectively of the Eastern and Western chambers, on the first floor, and here they remained till the abandonment of Philadelphia as the Capital of the State.
Pennsylvania very promptly followed - as we shall see in the His- tory of Congress Hall at the corner of Sixth Street - the tactics of the Federal authorities, not only in abandoning Philadelphia, but in adopting a " temporary " as well as a "permanent Capital."
The Legislature, as early as March, 1787, had indeed discovered, and so resolved, that the major part of the good citizens of the Common- wealth were subject to great inconvenience and unequal burdens in
1 The early part of the month preceding witnessed an event that must also be noted among the occurrences of importance under this roof - the First General Con- vention of the (United) Protestant Episcopal Church met in the Assembly Room, by the consent of the President of the State, for eight days, and during their session here occurred the union of the churches of New England with those of the Middle and Southern States, the House of Bishops as a separate house was formed, the first President Bishop- Seabury -elected, the Constitution of the Church agreed upon, and signed. and the Prayer-book in its present form adopted. " No more impor- tant convention of the American Church ever assembled," says Rev. William Ste- vens Perry, the present Secretary ; and see also Perry's Reprint of Journals, and Perry's Handbook of the General Convention.
121
REMOVAL OF THE STATE CAPITAL.
consequence of the unfortunate location of the seat of government " at the eastern extremity of the State, at the distance of near four hundred miles from the western boundary thereof," wherefore they determined to erect a State House, for the accommodation of the Ex- ecutive and General Assembly, and on the lot of land in the town of Harrisburg, the property of the Commonwealth.
In April, 1799, an act was passed providing for the temporary removal of the seat of government to the borough of Lancaster, prohib- iting, after the first Tuesday in November then next ensuing, the exer- cise elsewhere of any office connected with the Government. Lancas- ter was also fixed as the place of meeting of the following session of the Legislature, and there to continue till the establishment of the per- manent seat of government.
Thus the chambers hitherto occupied by the National and by the State Legislatures were vacated, after the spring of 1799 (April 11th), and were permitted to lie fallow till 1802, when Charles Wilson Peale made a successful application to the Legislature for the building, for the reception of his Museum.
Independence Chamber, with the whole of the second floor, were given up for this purpose, but at the request of the Supreme Court of the State, which seems never to have been suitably accommodated since the breaking out of the war, the former, the Eastern room, was fitted up for their session, and now all the old chairs of members and other furniture, not taken away by the Legislature,1 were sold or given away as relics to the different families then residing in Philadelphia.2
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.