USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > An historical account of the old State house of Pennsylvania now known as the Hall of Independence > Part 19
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FINALLY AGREED TO JULY 4th 1776
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
ANY GOVERNMENT IS FREE
TO THE PEOPLE UNDER IT WHATEVER BE THE FRAME WHERE THE LAWS RULE AND THE PEO- PLE ARE A PARTY TO THOSE LAWS AND MORE THAN THIS IS TYRANNY OLIGARCHY AND CON- FUSION. Penn's Frame of Government.
WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CER- TAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAP- PINESS THAT TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS GOV- ERNMENTS ARE INSTITUTED AMONG MEN DERIV- ING THEIR JUST POWERS FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED. Declaration of Independence.
YOUR UNION OUGHT TO BE CONSIDERED AS A MAIN PROP OF YOUR LIBERTY.
Farewell Words of George Washington.
These are the principles, these are the events, these are the patriots whose memory it is sought to perpetuate, in the full belief that their practical teachings will influence the American citizen of to-day.
The Hall of Independence and the National Museum, are of little avail unless they subserve the purposes of object-instruction, an in- struction not limited to producing familiarity with the naked events of history or of individuals, but extending into the higher field of education, where respect, aye, and reverence for the great and good never fail to inspire emulation; thus teaching by example and by the honor secured, - How good a thing it is to LIVE for one's country.
May not, by such means, the time be hastened when the people of the United States, now rapidly merging into slaves of party, a slavery worse than ever otherwise existed on this continent, will throw aside the trammels imposed by the present prostitution of the name of Free- dom ? Odd as it may seem, the words of William Penn, the monarchist, the friend of the last two of the Stuarts who ruled by royal right divine.
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
- his words to-day are more truly democratic, state more accurately the principles of a free Republic, than can be found in the modern platforms of " Democrats " or " Republicans," or can be discovered in the actions of their leading apostles.
Periodically are false gous erected for our homage by rings, cau- cuses, or other combinations, and by the very dregs of the people, under the pretense that this constitutes a free government, thus trailing in the dust the great names of Washington, of Adams, of Clay, and of Webster on one side, or of Samuel Adams, of Jefferson, and of Jackson on the other. And what do we-the sovereign people of America ? We periodically do fall down and worship these idols, or pass by on the other side, to attend to our own business.
It may be designed for ns to pass through trial and through tribula- tion, like the chosen people of old, but may we not learn in the mean time, -and in no place more practically than in what we are fond of calling our Temple of Liberty, -- that what the founders of this Repub- lic really toiled and fought for was, self-government, the Rule of the Best citizens of America, - not the Rule of the Worst. Neither De- mocracy nor Republicanism originally taught that victory was to be gained for spoils, nor an independent government created in order to establish offices in the city, state, or national gift for the main- tenance of the political huckster.
The precepts of our national creed should not be laid aside for mere Fourth of July speeches, or worse, relinquished to the use and exposi- tion of the bread-seeking politician. Their living spirit should form part of our daily lives ; every man, woman, and child who runs should read and ponder, each for himself, this enunciation of William Penn, expounded by the framers of our Magna Charta and now inscribed in letters of gold upon the tablets over against Independence Chamber. Let every American teach these words diligently unto his children ; think of them when he lieth down and when he riseth up and when he walketh by the wayside, and write them as a sign upon the door-posts of his house, and upon his gates, -thus may he learn
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ORIGINAL, PLAN OF THE STATE HOUSE.
CONTINUATION.
SINCE the first edition of this work was issued, a number of interesting facts connected with the history of Independence Hall have come to light, and the Centennial anniversaries of the most important events which happened within its walls, the passage of the Declaration of Independence, and the formation of the Constitution of the United States, have been appropriately celebrated. In issuing the second edition, it is but proper that some account of these should find a place, together with some incidents which either escaped the observation of the author, or which at the time he did not see proper to include in his work.
The most important document lately discovered, immediately connected with the building, is what appears to be the original plan, a facsimile of which will be found opposite this page. It is drawn on parchment, and measures 13 by 283 inches. It was found in the Dickinson Papers, and probably came into the possession of John Dickinson through Isaac Norris, the Speaker of the Assembly. It shows the building as originally planned, without the tower to the south, which now contains the stairway, and which we know was not added until 1749. What is very curious is, that it does not appear to have been the intention of the architect to separate the west room on the ground floor from the hall by a closed wall, as was the case with the east room ; but to have an open colonnade formed by a series of pillars supporting the ceiling. Strange as it may seem, this fact has escaped the observation of all who have written about the Hall, although it is possible that the building remained so until after the Revo- lution. Such a construction would agree with that description given by Manasseh Cutler, in 1787, which will be found on page 194.
Between the years 1768 and 1773, a number of meetings were held in Philadelphia to oppose the acts which Charles Townshend had suggested for raising a revenue in America, by imposing a duty on certain articles. Several of these meetings were held in the State House, and belong to its history.
On the 30th of July, 1768, a meeting gathered there, at which resolu- tions were adopted against importing any goods subject to the duty, and
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
subsequently more general non-importation resolutions were agreed upon, and a committee of merchants appointed to see that they were not violated. In July, 1769, a vessel laden with malt arrived, and the people were again called together, at the State House, to decide what should be done with it, as its importation was contrary to the resolutions of the 6th of February and the 10th of March of the same year .*
The brewers attended the meeting in a body, and informed the people that they would not purchase or brew the malt for any person whatsoever. The meeting adopted a resolution that no one should purchase it or assist in handling or storing it, so the vessel was compelled to return to England with her cargo.
The duty on all goods except tea was soon repealed, and some of the colonies declined longer to live up to the non-importation agreement. The measure, therefore, failed in effecting the object for which it was adopted ; and in 1770, New York, which had probably adhered more closely to the resolutions than any of the other colonies, abandoned them and de- termined to import such goods as were not dutiable. The receipt of this news raised a storm of indignation in Philadelphia; and on the 14th of July the people again crowded around the State House. A circular of bitter invectives, dated from the State House, gave the reasons which had brought the citizens together. "The New Yorkers," it read, " have be- trayed a meanness and a cowardice in deserting us in the present import- ant juncture which wants a name. May infamy be their portion! and may the name of a Bute, a Grenville, a Bernard, and a Yorker hereafter be synonymous words !" " We cannot help telling you," said the mer- chants, in reply to a letter from New York, "that, however you may color your proceedings, we think you have, in the day of trial, deserted the cause of liberty and your country." And a card published in a paper of the day read: "The inhabitants of the City of Philadelphia present their compliments to the inhabitants of New York, and beg they will send their OLD LIBERTY POLE, as they imagine they can, by their late conduct, have no further use for it."
The citizens determined to adhere to the resolutions, but some of the merchants thought it folly to attempt longer to carry out the agreement which had been given up by other colonies. On the 20th of September, a meeting held at Davenport's Tavern, on Third Street below Arch, declared in favor of importing all goods but tea and such other articles as might be subjected to a duty for the purpose of raising a revenue in
* We regret to say that we have been unable to find these resolutions in full. or the proceedings of the meeting at which the committee of merchants was appointed to see the non-importation carried out.
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MEETING OF MARCH 25, 1779.
America. To oppose this, a general meeting was called, which gathered at the State House, on the 27th of September, and although every effort was made to continue the non-importation agreement, and spirited resolutions were passed, they failed, and before long " trade between America and England was open in everything but TEA."
The excitement which grew out of the attempt to force the importation of tea, and the meetings at the State House in consequence thereof, as well as those held at the beginning of the Revolution, have been already mentioned. But all through the war the State House was the rallying- point for the Whigs when important questions were to be discussed. One of the most noted of these gatherings was that of May 25, 1779, called to bolster up the rapidly depreciating continental money by enforcing the " Tender Acts," and bringing about the gradual reduction of the price of goods. In the verses of the Tory poet, Joseph Stansbury, we have an interesting but bitterly sarcastic picture of the meeting, of which we give a few stanzas as a specimen :-
And now the State-House yard was full, And Orators so grave, so dull, Appear'd upon the stage : But all was riot, noise, disgrace ; And Freedom's sons thro' all the place In bloody frays engaged.
Sagacious Matlack strove in vain
To pour his sense in Dutchmen's brain With every art to please : Observ'd "that as their money fell,
Like Lucifer, to lowest Hell, Tho' swift, yet by degrees-
So should it rise, and goods should fall, Month after month, and one and all Would buy as cheap as ever ; That they lost all who grasp'd too much"- (This Colonel Bull explain'd in Dutch) -But fruitless each endeavour.
In 1782 the State House had a visitor in the person of the Prince de Broglie, who has left us the following description of the appearance of Independence Hall: "The State House, where Congress assembles, as does the Council of Pennsylvania, and where also the courts of justice are held, is a building literally crushed by a huge massive tower, square and not very solid.
"Congress meets in a large room on the ground floor. The chamber is
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
large, without any other ornament than a bad engraving of Montgomery, one of Washington, and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. It is furnished with thirteen tables, cach covered with a green cloth. One of the principal representatives of each of the thirteen States sits during the session at one of these tables. The president of the Congress has his place in the middle of the hall upon a sort of throne. The clerk is seated just below him.
" Each member of the assembly has the right of discussion or expressing his opinion verbally or by writing, and the majority of votes decides, for the president has no vote more than any other member .* In the wing just by the hall of Congress is an apartment for the reception of Indian depu- tations. The War Department is also in this part of the building and has a large room, where are kept with the greatest care and order the flags and other trophies taken from the enemy. Just back of the State House the prison is to be seen, which queerly enough is the only building which has any architectural beauty."
On July 13, 1787, Manasseh Cutter visited Philadelphia, and thus described Independence Hall and its surroundings :-
" This is a noble building; the architecture is in a richer and grander style than any public building I have before seen. The first story is not an open walk, as is usual in buildings of this kind. In the middle, how- ever, is a very broad cross-aisle, and the floor above supported by two rows of pillars. From this aisle is a broad opening to a large hall toward the west end, which opening is supported by arches and pillars. In this Hall the courts are held, and as you pass the aisle you have a full view of the Court. The Supreme Court was now sitting. This bench consists of only three judges. Their robes are scarlet ; the lawyers, black. The Chief Judge, Mr. McKean, was sitting with his hat on, which is the custom, but struck me as being very odd, and seemed to derogate from the dignity of a judge. The hall east of the aisle is employed for public business. The chamber over it is now occupied by the Continental Convention, which is now sitting, but sentries are planted without and within-to prevent any person from approaching near-who appear to be very alert in the performance of their duty.
" We passed through this broad aisle into the Mall. It is small, nearly square, and I believe does not contain more than one acre. As you enter the Mall through the State House, which is the only avenue to it, it appears to be nothing more than a large, inner court-yard to the State House, ornamented with trees and walks. But here is a fine display of rural fancy and elegance. It was so lately laid out in its present form that it has
* The vote was taken by States.
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VISIT OF MANASSEH CUTTER.
not assumed the air of grandeur which time will give it. The trees are yet small, but most judiciously arranged. The artificial mounds of earth, and depressions, and small groves in the squares have a most delightful effect. The numerous walks are well graveled and rolled hard; they are all in a serpentine direction, which heightens the beauty and affords constant variety. That painful sameness commonly to be met with in garden-alleys, and other works of this kind, is happily avoided here, for there are no two parts of the Mall that are alike. Hogarth's 'Line of Beauty' is here completely verified. The public are indebted to the fertile fancy of Mr. Saml. Vaughan, Esq., for the elegance of this plan. It was laid out and executed under his direction about three years ago. The Mall is at present nearly surrounded with buildings, which stand near to the board fence that encloses it, and the parts now vacant will in a short time be filled up. On one part the Philosophical Society are erecting a large building for holding their meetings and depositing their Library and Cabinet. This building is begun, and on another part a County Court- house is now going up [at Sixth and Chestnut Streets]. But after all the beauty and elegance of this public walk, there is one circumstance that must forever be disgusting, and must greatly diminish the pleasure and amusement which these walks would otherwise afford. At the foot of the Mall, and opposite the Court-house, is the Prison, fronting directly on the Mall. It is very long and high, I believe four stories, and built of stone. The building itself, which is elegant, would appear well, were it not for its unsavory contents. Your ears are constantly insulted with their billingsgate language, or your feelings wounded with their pitiful com- plaints. Their long reed poles, with a little cap of cloth at the end, are constantly extended over into the Mall, in order to receive your charity, which they are incessantly begging. And if you refuse them they load you with the most foul and horrid imprecations. In short, whatever part of the Mall you are in, this cage of unclean birds is constantly in your view, and their doleful cries attacking your ears."
Immediately after the adjournment of the Federal Convention a re- markable scene was enacted in Independence Chamber. The members of the Assembly who were in favor of the new Constitution were determined that a State Convention should be immediately called for its conside- ration, and those members who opposed it endeavored to prevent such action. They argued that such a step should not be taken until the Con- stitution had been formally submitted to the States by Congress, and finding themselves in the minority absented themselves from the House to prevent a quorum assembling. The scene which followed is thus described by Professor McMaster :-
" At four o'clock" on the afternoon of September 28 " the Assembly
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
met, with the Speaker and every federal member in his place, but all told they counted only forty-four, and the business could not go on. After waiting awhile and no more coming in, the Speaker sent out the sergeant- at-arms to summon the absentees. None would obey, and the House was forced to adjourn to nine o'clock on Saturday morning.
" Meanwhile, the rider sent on by Mr. Bingham [from New York ] came spurring into town with the resolution of Congress submitting the Con- stitution to the States. This, when the Speaker had taken the chair on Saturday, was read to the house. Hoping that the opposition of the minority would now be removed, the sergeant-at-arms and the assistant clerk were despatched to hunt up the malcontents, show them the resolu- tion, and summon them to attend. The two officers went first to Major Boyd's, where were James M'Calmont, who sat for Franklin, and Jacob Miley from Dauphin. They were shown the resolution, and stoutly said they would not go. The people, however, decided that they should; broke into their lodgings, seized them, dragged them through the streets to the State House and thrust them into the assembly room, with clothes torn and faces white with rage. The quorum was now complete. When the roll had been called and a petition praying for a Convention presented and read, Mr. M'Calmont rose, complained of his treatment, and asked to be excused. Some debate followed, in the course of which the rules touch- ing the matter were read. It then appeared that every member who did not answer at roll-call was to be fined 28. 6d. But when a quorum could not be found without him, a fine of 58. was to be imposed. Thereupon Mr. M'Calmont rose, and, taking some silver from his pocket, said, ' Well, sir, here is your 5s. to let me go.' The gallery broke into a laugh, the Speaker refused the money, and the debate went on till the vote was about to be taken, when Mir. M'Calmont left his seat and made for the door. Instantly the gallery cried out, 'Stop him!' The crowd about the door did so ; Mr. M'Calmont returned to his seat ; the house refused to excuse him, and appointed the first Tuesday in November for the election of delegates."
The Convention having been called, the next step necessary was to secure for the Constitution a fair consideration. At a public meeting held at the State House on the evening of October, able speeches were delivered by James Wilson and Dr. Benjamin Rush explaining and defend- ing the proposed Constitution.
As it has been claimed that the sessions of the Federal Convention were held in Carpenters' Hall, it is but proper here to give the evidence which undoubtedly proves the State House to have been the birth-place of the Constitution. In the first place, we believe the only ground on which a contrary claim rests is the fact that the records of the Carpenters' Com-
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THE BIRTH-PLACE OF THE CONSTITUTION.
pany show that the Convention was invited to occupy its Hall. The contrary evidence is : First, that the Journal of the Convention states the Convention met in the State House on May 14. Second, Franklin, in a letter to his sister dated September 20, 1787, wrote, "The Convention finished the 17th instant. I attended the Business of it five Hours in every day from the Beginning, which is something more than four months. You may judge from thence that my health continues; some tell me I look better, and they suppose the daily Exercise of going and returning from the State house has done me good." Third, when Manasseh Cutler was in Philadelphia he visited the State House on July 13, 1787, and the room was pointed out to him in which the Convention was then in ses- sion, with the sentries outside of the door to prevent any one approach- ing. He also visited Carpenters' Hall, and tells us for what purposes it was then used. Fourth, when the Assembly of Pennsylvania met in September, 1787, the Journal states that the members met in an upper room, as the one they usually sat in was occupied by the Convention that was expected to finish its labors in a few days.
This testimony proves conclusively in what building the Convention held its sessions, and it also calls attention to a fact not generally known that the sessions were not all held in the same room. When Dr. Cutler visited the building on July 13th the Convention occupied one of the rooms in the second story, and in September we know from the journals of the Pennsylvania Assembly that it sat in Independence Chamber.
And here it may be well to note, that notwithstanding Colonel Etting's opinion, expressed on page 163, there can be little doubt that there was a gallery, at one time, in Independence Chamber. The behavior of the people in it is mentioned in the account we have given of M'Calmont's attempt to withdraw from the house, which account is based on Lloyd's Debates, taken in shorthand at the time ; also by a writer in the Pennsyl- vania Packet, for December 8th, 1787, who says: "That while listening to the debates in the State Convention he had heard in the GALLERY the whispers of approbation circulated, as true federal sentiments were ex- pressed."
On July 25th, 1195, there was another gathering at the State House of a very different character than the last we have described. It was called to denounce Jay's Treaty, and one of the speakers was Blair McClena- chan, then pretty well advanced in years, an irritable, violent man, badly affected with the gout. The late Charles J. Ingersoll, in his " Recollec- tions," gives this account of his speech, which, as a boy, he had heard sixty years before. "In a hoarse, guttural voice, struggling for ejaculation, a few jerking phrases were uttered with vehement action without a particle of oratorical method .. . or idea whatever. But the essence of conviction
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HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE HALL.
poured forth upon the crowd from the speaker with flashing earnestness of tone, look, manner, rubicund face, reddened to fiery purple, and indig- nant motion, while with one hand he propped himself upon his stick and beat the air with the other. IIe soon brought his harangue to a conclu- sion, and ended with calling upon his fellow-citizens to join in kicking the treaty (or the author of it, as some reported) to a place where the temper- ature is said to be considerably greater than that he then occupied. De- scending from his position, he then hobbled across Chestnut Street with the crowd, and burned the treaty at the door of Phineas Bond, the British consul."
Probably the most important meeting held at the State House during the War of 1812 was that of August 26th, 1814, occasioned by the news of the capture of Washington. It was presided over by the venerable Thomas Mckean. At it the Committee of Defence, of which Charles Biddle was chairman, was appointed ; and the subsequent meetings of that body were held in the City Hall, at Fifth and Chestnut streets.
When the committee of Congress that accompanied the remains of John Quincy Adams from Washington to his Massachusetts home reached Philadelphia, on March 7th, 1848, the body of the ex-president was re- ceived with military and civic honors. Independence Hall had been draped for the occasion ; and there, in the very room where, nearly three-quarters of a century before, his father had battled for independence, his remains rested over night.
The ceremonies attending the reception of the remains of Henry Clay, in Philadelphia, on the night of July 2d, 1852, were particularly impres- sive. An immense procession, bearing torches, met the funeral party at the depot, Broad and Prime streets, and escorted it to Independence Hall. The head of the procession reached there about midnight. The square was brilliantly illuminated, and the bell solemnly tolling. Surrounded by torches, and saluted by the military, as it passed, the body of the great Commoner was born beneath the overlapping branches of the trees that shade the main walk, up to the Hall, where it remained over night.
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