USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Annals of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania in the olden time; being a collection of the memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 40
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The Gazette of Hall and Sellers was continued by James Robert- son, under the name of " the Royal Pennsylvania Gazette," at $3 per annum. On the 26th of May, 1778, (his last Number,) he says he must suspend its publication for some time ! The Gazette, in his hands, frequently announced events occurring in the "rebel army," and all they state respecting the American incidents, they called rebel trans actions. " Rebel hills and rebel dales, by rebel bands surrounded *
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Alliance Frigate.
ALLIANCE FRIGATE.
As Philadelphians, we are entitled to some pre-eminence for our connexion with this peculiar frigate. After the close of the war of Independence she was owned in our city, and employed as a mer- chant ship. When no longer seaworthy, she has been stretched upon the margin of Petty's island, to remain, for a century to come, a spec- tacle to many river passengers, and qualified to raise numerous associations of the past, connected with her eventful history in the revolution.
She was the only one of our first navy, of the class of frigates, which was so successful as to escape capture or destruction during the war! In the year 1781, she and the Deane frigate were the only two of our former frigates, then left to our service. She was in many engagements and always victorious-she was a fortunate ship -was a remarkably fast sailer-could always choose her combat- she could either fight or run away-beating her adversary either by fight or flight!
Twice she bore the fortunes of La Fayette across the ocean; De Noailles was also along at one time. When I presented the former with a relic of her timber, he was delighted with it for the mental asso- ciations it afforded him. Another relic, which I had given to one of our naval officers, was formed into a miniature ship, held a place at the president's palace, and now rests with General Jackson.
When coming out of the Havanna with the specie intended for founding the Bank of North America, and having for her companion the Lausanne, of twenty-eight guns, under Captain Green, they were encountered by three British frigates. Captain Barry, who com- manded her, chose the smallest first, and put her to flight, he having orders to avoid an engagement for the sake of the specie. He then pursued his way. He soon left his consort far behind. He then came up with a French sixty-four, which promised him aid, when he again made back, just in time to save the Lausanne, by engaging the frigate near her, under the command of Captain Vaschan. He killed thirty-eight, and wounded fifty men, as was afterwards ascer- tained. The Frenchman not joining them, he then went back to her, and got a renewed promise, when they both bore down together, and all the British frigates filled their sails and fled. The French- man, as his excuse, said he had a million of dollars on board, and was instructed to avoid an engagement. Captain Brown, who was in the Lausanne as a lieutenant at the time, told me of these facts, and said nothing could surpass the sailing of the Alliance.
Once, when she was in the West Indies, she was pursued all day by one of the fastest seventy-fours in the British navy, and from which she effected her escape by changing her trim
THE ALLIANCE FRIGATE .- Page 338.
FITCH'S STEAMBOAT .- Page 446.
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She was once pursued by the Chatham ship of war, out of the mouth of the Delaware, and made her way to Rhode Island at the rate of fourteen knots an hour. In so escaping, she was intercepted by the Speedwell sloop of war, which she succeeded to run down.
When arrived off Boston, she there encountered another foe in two sloops of war, both of which Commodore Barry succeeded to capture and to get into Boston. Barry himself was wounded.
She was the favourite ship of Commodore Barry, who began his career in her by taking Colonel Laurens and suite to France ; after which she made a successful cruise in the British channel, and took five or six valuable prizes.
The widow of Commodore Barry, remembering with what esteem her husband regarded this ship, had a tea-caddy made out of her wood, as a memento : and I have a picture of the ship, framed with wood from her timbers after she was laid ashore.
She was the second vessel from Philadelphia to Canton ; the Can- ton, Captain Truxtun, being the first. The Alliance sailed in June, 1787, to Canton, under the command of Captain Thomas Reed, making her voyage by an unusual route, outside of New Holland, and discovering several new islands, returned to Philadelphia on the 17th September, 1788, when she was much visited for inspection, by many of our citizens, still alive to speak of their recollections of that fortunate vessel.
Benjamin Eyre, ship carpenter, of Kensington, purchased the Alliance in 1785, then sold her to Robert Morris ; and after making her repairs, she went to Norfolk to load with tobacco for Bordeaux. She returned in the spring of 1787-sailed for Canton under Capt. Reed in June, and returned to Philadelphia in Sept., 1788. In the spring of 1789 she sailed for Cadiz with flour-returned same year -was laid up, and in the spring of 1790 was sold, broken up, g.c., and her remains laid upon Petty's island, after having run twelve years of service.
Such a vessel deserves some commemoration and some memorial to revive her fame. She is still a relic visibly uniting the present to the former navy, and in her single remains preserving single and alone the solitary link of union. She led those naval heroes of the infant navy, of which some remained to join their destinies with the present.
Sailors, who are fond of the marvellous, and like to be supported in their perils by the mysteries of luck and charms, should be indulged to have a relic of the fortunate Alliance chiseled into the future Phila- delphia war vessels in which they may place their destinies. The magic security will be surely as good as that now attached to " Old Ironsides." Men who can "whistle for wind," love to indulge themselves in such fancies.
A more sober part of the story is, to say a few words respecting her construction, &c., which may possibly lead to useful imitation. She was 125 feet keel payable, and about 37 feet beam-making her
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about 900 tons. She was thought to be long, narrow, shoal, and sharp, and to be over-sparred. Her main topmast was 18 inches diameter in the cap ; main yard 84 feet long, 18 inches in the slings ; her topsail yard was 18 inches in the slings. As she was built up the river Merrimack, at Salisbury, Massachusetts, which had a bar at the mouth, it perhaps accounts for a part of her construction as a shoal vessel. She was first sailed in the spring of 1778, soon after her being launched, and was then commanded by a Captain Lan dais, a Frenchman, who was preferred to the command as a compli ment to his nation, and the alliance made with us, a new people .- She was two years in building-built by John and William Hacket. Six of the persons who built her were alive at Salisbury, ten years ago, and all above seventy years of age.
All these facts may be deemed very minute ; but we have our motives. Every nation forms its imaginary legends, and puts itself under the auspices of tutelary beings. We also are of an age now to construct our heroic age, and such a case as the Alliance presents a part of the material.
As Philadelphians, we are entitled to the peculiar distinction of forming the fastest sailing vessel in the world, viz. : the frigate United States, built by Col. Humphreys. With such a model we might have gone on to perfection in the art of ship construction : but our navy rulers have strangely retrograded, until we now have scarcely a good sailer to boast of. The United States frigate has outrun the fastest Baltimore clippers two miles an hour, when running nine and ten knots ; but the frigate wanted ten feet more of beam to have been perfect. More beam is wanted by all our fast sailers, and they would have it, were it not to avoid the increase of tonnage duty ! It is bad policy which thus induces the hazard of losing ships and lives to save a little money. Give more beam and they will not upset, and will be better sea vessels.
Our Navy .- It occurs to us to say a few words concerning the public marine of the revolution, a branch of the service which has been but little considered and known by the mass of our citizens. Like " the poor Indians," the poor sailors have had no chroniclers to preserve any adequate account of their perils, darings, and devoted- ness, not even among those who professedly write our naval histories. Then, those who entered the marine service took, freely, all the risks, without any provision by law for themselves, in case of being wound- ed, or for their families in case of their deaths. In this they wholly differed from the land service, although there were double chances against the adventurers in the sea service ; for, generally, they had to make " their way in the deep," with fearful odds against them.
It is a part of our history, that it was not till fifty years after the revolution, that any provision was made by law, to reach cases of killed and wounded in the marine service of that day; and then it was only as an incidental measure connected with the land service, and came so late as to find few or none to benefit. Who ever heard
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of any mariners, officers or men, of the revolution, on our pensior list ? It don't exist ! Of the three hundred and fifty men blown up in the Randolph frigate, only one of the families ever received any public grant !
Even those who had thus perilled their lives in a peculiarly despe- rate service, when they had gained prizes and brought them, in num- bers, to New London and Newport, and others to the West Indies, never came to any valuable distribution. We could hear of the prize- agents getting enriched, but never the hardy combatants themselves. Such have never been told or heard of. My own father turned all of the little he got of prize-money into sets of silver spoons, still in the family. 'This he did, he said, to break the proverb, that prize-money could not last.
Before sales and settlements could be made of prize cases, the men were again off to sea, to seek more adventures. Some, more or less of them, were captured, and put to swell the masses in the prison ships of New York; and, from suffering and sickness, finally died by thousands, and were whelmed in the Wallabout. That was the great charnel house of our revolutionary mariners.
To those who would wish an insight into the perils and doings of our sea service, we commend the reading of the Memoirs of Lieut. Nathaniel Fanning, late of the United States' navy. He had been commander of several American private armed vessels in the British channel, sailing out of France. He presents a real picture of sea-peril, and cheerful enterprise and daring. Every two or three days they had a brush with something. We see, in his facts, how they had to work their way through heavy odds, always with a buoyant spirit, and always glorying in the soubriquet of " Yankee boys," and show- ing their " Yankee daring." He was brother to that Captain Ed- mund Fanning who projected our late voyages of discovery to the South pole, by Lieutenant Wilkes. Both of the brothers were resi- dents of New York, and Connecticut-born Yankees. Colonel Fan- ning, their uncle, who had been secretary to Governor Tryon, was on the British side. For more concerning our navy, see App. p. 560.
THE FEDERAL PROCESSION
""Twere worth ten years of peaceful life- One glance at their array."
THIS great procession took place at Philadelphia, for the purpose of celebrating the adoption of the Constitution, and it was appoint- ed on Friday, the fourth of July, 1788, for the double purpose of commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the fourth of July, 1776. Although we have had several processions since, rone
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have ever equalled it in the pomp and expense of the materials en- gaged in the pageantry. The soldiery then were not so numerous as in the late entry of La Fayette, but the citizens were more nu- merous, and their attire more decorative. It was computed that five thousand walked in the procession ; and that as many as seven thou- sand were assembled on the " Union Green," where the procession ended, in front of Bush-hill .* The whole expense was borne by the voluntary contributions of the tradesmen, &c., enrolled in the display ; and what was very remarkable, the whole of the pageantry was got ur in four days !
The parties to the procession all met at and about the intersection of Cedar and Third streets, and began their march by nine o'clock in the morning. They went up Third street to Callowhill ; up that street to Fourth street ; down Fourth to High street ; and thence out that street, across the commons, to the lawn before Bush-hill, where they arrived in three hours. The length of the whole line was about one mile and a half. On this lawn were constructed circular tables, leaving an area for its diameter of about five hundred feet. The ta- bles were covered with awnings, and the centre was occupied by the " Grand Federal Edifice," drawn there by ten white horses-and by the ship Union, drawn there also by ten horses. There an oration, on the occasion, was delivered by James Wilson, Esq., to upwards of twenty thousand people : after which the whole members of the procession sat down to the tables to dinner. The supplies were abun- dant : no wine or ardent spirits were present ; but porter, beer, and cider flowed for all who would receive them; and of these liquors, the casks lined all the inner circles of the tables. They drank ten toasts in honour of the then ten confederated states. As the cannon announced these, they were responded from the ship Rising Sun, lay- ing in the Delaware, off High street, decorated with numerous flags. t The same ship, at night, was highly illuminated. This great com- pany withdrew to their homes by six o'clock in the evening, all sober, but all joyful. The occasion was the strongest which could exercise the feelings of the heart in an affecting manner. It was to celebrate a nation's freedom, and a people's system of self-government-a peo- ple recently made free by their desperate efforts, the remembrance of which then powerfully possessed every mind. They then all felt the deep importance of the experiment of self-government, to which their hearts and voices were then so imposingly pledged. The scene ought not to be forgotten. We should impress the recollections of that day, and of the imposing pageantries, upon the minds of our children, and of our children's children. This has been already too much neglected; so that even now, while I endeavour to recapitu- late some of the most striking incidents of the day, I find it is like
* This was then Hamilton's elegant country-seat.
+ Besides this ship, ten other ships lay off the several streets, highly decorated, and each bearing a large flag with the name thereon of the State in the Uuion which each thus represented.
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reviving the circumstances of an almost obliterated dream. I did not see the spectacle, but it was the talk of my youthful days for years after the event.
The Procession was thus, to wit :
1. Twelve axe-men in white frocks, preceded as pioneers.
2. Captain Miles' company of dragoons.
3. John Nixon, Esq., on horseback, bearing a liberty cap, and un- der it a flag, with the words thereon, 4th of July, 1776.
4. A train of artillery-Claypole's corps of infantry-Bingham's dragoons.
5. Several single gentlemen, on horseback, bore silk flags, highly ornamented ; one had the words " New Era," another, " 17th of Sep- tember, 1787," -- that being the day the Convention adopted the Constitution.
6. A car, called the Constitution, in the form of a large eagle, drawn by six white horses, in which were Judges M'Kean, Atlee, and Rush, in their robes. M'Kean bore a splendid flag.
7. Ten gentlemen, preceded by Heysham's infantry, bore each a silk flag, bearing the name of each state.
8. All the consuls of foreign states, in a car drawn by four horses, and each bearing his nation's flag.
9. A carriage bearing P. Baynton, Esq. and Colonel I. Melchor, the latter magnificently habited as an Indian sachem, and both smoking the calumet of peace.
10 The Montgomery and Bucks county troops of dragoons.
11. The "New Roof, or Grand Federal Edifice," was a most splendid spectacle. It was a dome sustained by thirteen columns ; but three of these columns were purposely left unfinished. The name of each state appeared on the pedestals; a cupola rose above the dome, on which was a figure of plenty. The carriage and su- perstructure made thirty-six feet of height. The words, " In union the fabric stands firm," were very conspicuous around the pedestal of the edifice. Ten white horses drew this elegant pageant.
12. After this edifice followed the architects and house-carpenters.
13. The Cincinnati and militia officers, followed by Rose's com pany of infantry.
14. The Agricultural Society, bearing a flag, followed by farmers, these had two ploughs : one, drawn by four oxen, was directed by Richard Willing, Esq. A sower followed, sowing seed.
15. The Manufacturing Society, with their spinning and carding machines, looms, jennies, &c., bearing a flag. The carriage which bore these, was thirty feet long, and was drawn by ten bay horses :
· This was afterwards placed in front of the State-house, and it is really strange that none of the numerous, elegant silken flags should have been preserved to this time. If some of them still exist, they would be very interesting in processions now. As many of them as now exist should be collected and preserved by the Penn Association, which is in effect, our Antiquarian Society.
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on this weavers were at work, and Mr. Hewson was printing muslin. The weavers marched behind this, and bore a flag of silk.
16. Robinson's company of light infantry.
17. The Marine Society, carrying a flag, trumpets, spy-glasses, &c. They preceded the Federal Ship Union. This elegant, small ship was a spectacle of great interest : she was perfect in every re- spect, and finely decorated with carvings, gildings, &c. Such a ship completed in less than four days, was a very surprising circumstance. She was thirty-three feet in length, had been the barge of the Alliance frigate, and had been captured by Paul Jones, as the barge of the Se- rapis .* This ship was commanded by Captain John Green, and had a crew of twenty-five men and officers. They flung the lead, and cried the soundings, and trimmed the sails to the wind as they changed their courses. She was drawn by ten horses, and under her bottom painted canvass, representing the sea, hung over and concealed the wheels of the carriage; another vessel followed her as a pilot, and followed by all the pilots.
18. A frame drawn by four horses, eighteen feet long, contained the frame of the Union's barge, and men at work at the same. The boatbuilders followed, with a flag.
19. The sailmakers, bearing a silk flag, on which was painted the inside of a sail-loft.
20. The ship-carpenters-their silk flag representing a ship on the stocks.
To shorten this article, I briefly state, that the following profes- sions, decorated and bearing emblematic flags, succeeded, to wit : Shipjoiners, ropemakers, merchants and traders-one carrying a ledger ; cordwainers had a shop, drawn by four horses, and six men in it at work; coachpainters, cabinet and chairmakers, brickmakers, painters, draymen, clock and watchmakers, bricklayers, tailors, carvers and gilders-these had an elegant car, and men therein at work; coopers, planemakers, whip and canemakers-these had a carriage, and lads at work therein ; blacksmiths had a shop, drawn by nine horses, and men therein at work, making plough-irons out of old swords ; coachmakers had a shop, drawn by four horses, and men at work therein ; potters-a shop and men at work; hatters, wheel- wrights, had a stage and men at work ; tinplate workers, glovers, tal- lowchandlers, victuallers with two fat oxen ; printers and bookbinders had a stage, and executed printing, and cast out an ode among the people. Ten of these odes to the States, were despatched by carrier pigeons, which issued from the Mercury cap worn by the printer, habited as Mercury. Fourteen different trades then followed ; then lawyers, physicians, clergy, and a troop of dragoons, concluded the whole.
I have in my possession, from the papers of the late Tench Fran-
* I had the pleasure to see this ship lying at anchor, in the Schuylkill, at Gray's ferry, where she was long preserved as an attraction to that celebrated garden and inn, and was at last sunk, in deep water, off the mouth of Mayland's creek, a little above the ferry.
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cis, Esq., the bills and expenses of the procession and entertainment from which I select the following items, to wit: Federal car cost £37; triumphal car, £15; six awnings, or tents, cost £3 10s. to £4, severally ; seven thousand feet of scantling, for frames-putting up booths, £32; Indian plate ornaments, £9; six musicians, £6 15s .; one hundred rockets used on board the Rising Sun, in the Delaware, £ 12 10s .; sixteen flags, £25; materials for the Federal ship, £ 55 7s .- workmanship gratis. For the good cheer of the mul- titude at Bush-hill, to which the procession went, there were pro- vided -four thousand pounds of beef, at 4d. and 5d. ; two thousand six hundred pounds of gammon, at 6d. ; thirty barrels of flour, at 31s., and baking the same, at 7s. 6d. ; five hundred pounds of cheese, at 6d. ; 13 hogsheads of cider, at 60s., and one hundred barrels of strong beer, at 30s. No spirituous liquors were furnished, and the whole expense was defrayed by private subscription-all this to show the joy of the public at a settled constitution, produced amicably, after the toils and expenses of a long and ruinous war for liberty and self- government.
F. Hopkinson, Esq., has preserved, in his works, a minute detail of all these things, he having been much engaged in the direction of the same. Similar processions were had in New York, Boston, and other cities.
The following song has been attributed to Dr. Franklin. It is said he wrote it for the Procession of Trades in Philadelphia, at the adop- tion of the constitution, on which occasion a press was drawn along the streets, and copies of it distributed to the multitude.
YE merry Mechanics, come join in my song, And let the brisk chorus go bounding along; Though some may be poor, and some rich there may be, Yet all are contented, and happy, and free.
Ye Tailors! of ancient and noble renown, Who clothe all the people in country or town, Remember that Adam, your father and head, The lord of the world, was a tailor by trade.
Ye Masons! who work in stone, mortar, and brick, And lay the foundation deep, solid, and thick, Though hard be-your labour, yet lasting your fame ; Both Egypt and China your wonders proclaim.
Ye Smiths! who forge tools for all trades here below, You have nothing to fear while you smite and you blow ; All things may you conquer, so happy your lot, If you're careful to strike while your iron is hot.
Ye Shoemakers ! noble from ages long past, Have defended your rights with your all to the last . And Cobblers, all merry, not only stop holes,
But work night and day for the good of our soles, VOL. II .- 2 T
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Ye Cabinetmakers! brave workers in wood, As you work for the ladies, your work must be good And Joiners and Carpenters, far off and near, Stick close to your trades, and you've nothing to fear
Ye Hatters! who oft with hands not very fair, Fix hats on a block for a blockhead to wear ; Though charity covers a sin now and then, You cover the heads and the sins of all men.
Ye, Coachmakers, must not by tax be controll'd, But ship off your coaches, and fetch us home gold; The roll of your coach made Copernicus reel, And fancy the world to turn round like a wheel.
And Carders, and Spinners, and Weavers attend, And take the advice of Poor Richard, your friend ; Stick close to your looms, your wheels, and your card, And you never need fear of the times being hard.
Ye Printers! who give us our learning and news, And impartially print for Turks, Christians, and Jews, Let your favourite toasts ever bound in the streets, The freedom of speech and a volume in sheets.
Ye Coopers! who rattle with drivers and adze, A lecture each day upon hoops and on heads, The famous old ballad of Love in a Tub, You may sing to the tune of your rub a dub.
Ye Shipbuilders ! Riggers ! and Makers of sails ! Already the new constitution prevails !
And soon you shall see o'er the proud swelling tide, The ships of Columbia triumphantly ride.
Each Tradesman turn out with his tools in his hand, To cherish the arts and keep peace through the land : Each 'Prentice and Journeyman join in my song, And let the brisk chorus go bounding along.
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