USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > History of Independence Hall : from the earliest period to the present time : embracing biographies of the immortal signers of the Declaration of Independence, with historical sketches of the sacred relics preserved in that sanctuary of American freedom > Part 8
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injuriously experienced. A feeling of outraged dignity prompted to chivalric action-a spirit of patriotic daring to deeds of fame. Acting under that sense of resistance excited by the stern and steady impositions of the home government, every exalted motive of a jealous people became an incentive of noble action. Town meetings assembled in every part of the land ; enthusiastic and eloquent addresses, fresh and gushing from hearts sensitively alive to patriotic duty, werc made; uncompromising resolutions were passed, and measures of self-protection adopted. In those primary assemblages were exhibited deep and abiding devo- tion to honorable administration of government-a willingness to abide all reasonable forms of law and requirements from the mother country ; but a perti- nacious opposition to all attempts of arbitrary coer- cion. They were willing to yield obedience so long as that obedience would not compromit their rights as freemen-but when the sanctuary of their freedom was invaded-when the lion sought to ravage their homes - then was a sterner spirit evoked, and more energetic measures commenced. Delegates from each State were chosen to meet in convention in this " Holy of Holies," this Temple of Freedom-Independence Hall-armed with authority to decide the matter for freedom or for bondage. The responsibility imposed upon those rep- resentatives of the people was indeed of no ordinary moment and importance. They felt that upon their shoulders rested the future prosperous and glorious condition of their country, or its ultimate enslavement and ruin. But they were cqual for the occasion, and willing to abide the consequences of their action.
The appointed day for the assembling of that great
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body of heroes in Philadelphia arrived : prayers for God's providence and wisdom to watch over and guide their deliberations went up like sweet-smelling incense from the altar of every patriot's heart. Feelings of tremulous joy and boding apprehension alternately took possession of the people, similar to those which excite a child on contemplating the first act of resist- ance to parental authority. The day dawned calm and beautiful; the trees appeared hung with pearls for the occasion, as the early dew-drops glistened like diamonds among the foliage. Not a cloud flecked the sky to dim the full unintercepted rays of the King of Day-not a single streak of sombre haze curtained the horizon; all was bright, cheerful, and augured significantly for the cause of freedom and human rights. One by one those brave-hearted men as- sembled in Independence Hall-silently, one by one took his seat, for the objects for which that Convention had met, and the subjects upon which it was to de- liberate were the most stupendous in their issues and results, of which this earth has ever been the theatre or the witness! A nation's liberty or a nation's bondage, a nation's birth or a nation's death, were some of the mighty interests that were suspended in the scales of destiny. The life, the liberty, the pros- perity, the reputation-aye, more, the safety of the household gods that clustered around the hearthstone at home, of each individual member of that heroic convocation, were all, all staked " upon the hazard of a die !" Some one has compared this more than Am- phictyonic council to that "immortal assembly, which convened in the counsels of eternity; whose presiding officer was Him, 'who sitteth upon the circles of the 10*
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heavens,' and whose delegates were angels and arch- angels, cherubim and seraphim, in which the great question of apostate man's redemption and salvation was discussed, and resolved upon." The representatives of thirteen weak and sparsedly-peopled colonies just struggling into existence, were, one by one, sub- scribing their names to a massive parchment, upon which they had set forth their declaration of prin- ciples-the Magna Charta of human rights. The eyes of the old world were intently fixed upon the star of hope, which was slowly rising above the horizon of the new. And as that star which rose in Bethlehem eighteen centuries ago, and took its solitary flight through the heavens, until it shone over against the place where lay the infant Saviour, in his lowly manger, proclaimed the glad tidings of man's salva- tion; which were caught up by the angelic choir of the sky, and called forth symphonies of the most ex- quisite harmony from the golden harps of cherubim and seraphim-so this star beamed forth the signal- light to warn mankind of his civil and political re- demption, and to announce the great truth that the sacred title-deed, which had been sealed by the hand of God upon creation's morn, and which was written in the royal and kingly birthright, that " all men are born free and equal," which had been buried in the urn of ages, and upon which the dust of cycles of years had gathered, was again found, and had become the political creed and text-book of the world. Far far away across the dark waters of the Atlantic, the longing gaze of the down-trodden serf was rivetted . upon the bright rays of this great luminary of free- dom, and his chains felt softer, his pulse beat higher,
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and his heart grew lighter, for with prophetic spirit he beheld the day not far distant, when its fervent heat would melt the manacles from his limbs, crowns from the heads of despots, and thrones from under the imperious footsteps of royalty.
But it is sad to reflect that, one by one those gal- lant hearts have ceased to beat-one by one those strong arms have fed the worm-one by one those eagle-eyes have lost their light-one by one those matchless forms have been gathered into their narrow houses and the long sleep of death. Yet the spirits of those mighty heroes are abroad in the land promp- ting the sons of freedom to emulation and virtue. They are still with us, having claimed respite from that relentless monster, to enact over again their for- mer labors in Independence Hall. Yes, we almost see their majestic forms rising from their long repose, clothed not in the habiliments of the tomb, but in the robes of immortality. The whole land is sensible of their presence- .
"Their spirits wrap our dusky mountains, Their memory sparkles o'er our fountains, The meanest rill, the mightiest river, Roll mingling with their fame forever."
Eighty years have glided into the eternity of the past since those great men lived and walked upon the earth! It is true, the same sun still rides in majesty and glory through the cloudless sky that shone upon their life and death councils in Independence Hall- but what a change! It is true, the same mighty ocean that bore so proudly and so safely the fleets of an angry country, still rolls on, thundering its an-
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thems of praise to the great "I AM," without change and without a wrinkle upon its azure brow. But that sun no longer shines upon a few straggling dwel- lings of three millions of people hugging the seacoast, and fenced in with dark heavy forests and glittering tomahawks of the savage Indians. No-the forests have melted away, and flourishing cities have sprung up in their stead. The Red man has disappeared, leaving his hunting grounds behind, and the grave of his father unprotected; and the energetic husband- man now drives his plow through this consecrated soil, unconscious of the sacred ashes he is disturbing. That sun no longer gilds our national flag containing thirteen stars and stripes-our banner is now em- blazoned all over with a brilliant constellation of thirty-one ever glorious, ever radiant gems, and its ample folds floating proudly from its staff, cast their protecting shadows over an entire hemisphere, from the rosy chambers of the East, where the day is born, to the enamelled and gorgeously tinted bowers of the West, where his dying couch is spread. Such are the reflections which come over the sensitive mind on visiting the theatre of their sublime transactions. Their voices seem still to ring on our ears and their manly forms to stand before our eyes. Their por- traits grace the walls where their deliberations were held, and give additional intensity to the holy in- spirations of the place. Upon the scenes where such heroes labored, suffered, or fell, the mind loves to ponder with thoughtful reflections. For here it learns to appreciate the value of those blessings which we enjoy, but which were purchased at a costly price by our heroic ancestors. Few can read or meditate on
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the story of our colonial struggles, and muse on the sublime transactions of the Convention of 1776, with- out feeling a deep reverence for their memory and exalted characters. Their names and their deeds will exist coequal in the eternity of gratitude which their descendants will ever retain as a boon and legacy.
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CHAPTER IX.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
"With calmest courage they were ever ready To teach that action was the truth of thought.
And with strong arm and purpose strong and steady, The anchor of the drifting world they wrought."
THERE dawned on the 4th of July, 1776, an era signalised as the most remarkable of any that had oc- curred in the world's history. It was a period when the faint voice of Freedom first gave decided tone to the advancement of civilization, and the fetters of bondage were stricken from the oppressed-when the genius of man's redemption was made manifest in a declaration of principles comprehensive as the world -when the authority of Despotism received a stern and decisive check. The aged and inflexible spirits who had assembled in convention in "Independence Hall," whose deliberations and actions formed the theme of our preceding chapter, had instructed their committee to draft a "Declaration," absolving the United Colonies from allegiance to the Mother Govern- ment, and asserting their own rights and independence. That committee had reported the document on the 28th day of June, and its provisions had elicited the attention and discussion of the Convention from that day until the 4th of July. The aggressive measures which the British Ministry had imposed upon her
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subjects in America were calmly and earnestly acted upon-the commercial and business interests of the country were duly weighed-the fearful concomitants of a long and expensive military struggle were con- sidered and properly estimated-and all the contin- gencies incident to a separate and distinctive nation- ality were calculated. The weighty importance of these vital questions had all been settled, and an ex- pression of cool determination rested on the brows of those noble patriots. They were listening with earnest attention to the reading of the Declaration, by Secre- tary Charles Thompson, as amended, while scarcely a breath was audible except the voice of the Secretary. A holy calm pervaded the room, and the white-winged angel of peace came as a messenger from heaven to set God's approving signet upon their actions. There sat John Hancock in the President's chair, stern and inflexible ; Robert Morris, calm and calculating ; Thomas Jefferson, inveterately opposed to despotic governments ; Dr. John Witherspoon, who was Presi- dent of Princeton College; Philip Livingston, a man who filled many distinguished positions before the Revolution; Richard Henry Lee, an able politician ; Samuel Huntington, Governor of Connecticut ; Charles Carroll, a distinguished man; Francis Hopkinson, a lawyer of distinction; Samuel Chase, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ; Thomas Mckean, an eminent jurist; Dr. Benjamin Rush, the celebrated physician, writer and teacher of medicine; John Adams, a member of Congress from Massachusetts; Dr. Benjamin Franklin, the Printer Philosopher; Josiah Bartlett, a very eminent man ; William Whipple, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire;
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Matthew Thornton, who was afterward appointed sur- geon of the New Hampshire troops; Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hop- kinson, William Ellery, Roger Sherman, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott, William Floyd, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Richard Stockton, John Hart, Abraham Clark, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross, Cæsar Rodney, George Read, Thomas Stone, William Paca, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton; George Wythe, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Carter Brax- ton, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Hayward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton, Button Gwinnett, Ly- man Hall, George Walton and Robert R. Livingston.“ These men were constituted and chosen by Providence for the great work He had set before them-and no one can say but that they performed their duties well. They were the instruments selected to open a way for the oppressed to establish their rights and to vindicate popular justice. As we stand in Independence Hall, and calmly survey the only representatives left of those distinguished mnen, our minds go back in deep re- flections, and memory recalls their exalted deeds. We see them in imagination, as they gather in their representative capacity, with high and holy resolves upon their brows, advance to the Secretary's table, for the purpose of recording their votes in favor of adopting the Declaration. When that eventful mo- ment arrived; when the deed was consummated, old Independence Bell rang out the glad tidings to the
* This gentleman did not sign the Declaration of Indepen- dence, but he was one of the committee who drafted it.
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inhabitants of a disenthralled land. Then went up shouts of joy from the friends of the measure-then pulsated more freely and warmly patriotic hearts- then grew stronger the arms of Liberty's defenders- and quaked more convulsively traitors to the cause of freedom. Liberty of conscience and human rights had been avowed-and life or death, freedom or bond- age, were to be the result. The honor and fortunes of those patriots were plighted-and their prowess pledged to support the document and declarations they had just endorsed. The Committee then rose, grave and decided, and with an unshaken confidence, reported the following draft of the Declaration :
" When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to as- sume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of na- ture's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Crea- tor with inherent and inalienable [certain inalienable] rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments, long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes. And, accordingly, all
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experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right them- selves by abolishing the forms to which they are ac- customed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, begun at a distant period, and pursuing in- variably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to pro- vide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to expunge [alter] their former system of government. The his- tory of the present king of Great Britain, is a history of unremitting [repeated] injuries and usurpations ; among which appears no solitary fact to contradict the uniform tenor of the rest; but all have [having] in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of-which we pledge a faith yet unsullied Ly falsehood.
He has refused his assent to laws the most whole- some and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of im- mediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has neglected utterly [utterly ne- glected] to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accom- modation of large districts of people, unless these people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislation ; a right inestimable to them, and for- midable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly and continuatty, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
Ile has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions,
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to cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise, the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the laws for natu- ralization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to en- courage their migration hither ; and raising the con- ditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has suffered the administration of justice totally to cease in some of these States ; [he has obstructed the ad- ministration of justice, by] refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made - judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices and the amount and pay- ment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices by t- self- assumed power, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in time of peace, standing armies and ships of war, without the consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions, and unac- knowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation.
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the in- . habitants of these States ;
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; For imposing taxes on us without our consent ;
For depriving us [in many cases] of the benefits of trial by jury ;
For transporting us beyond the seas to be tried for pretended offenses ;
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For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for the introducing the same absolute rule into these States [colonies] ;
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our government ;
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatever.
He has abdicated government here, withdrawing his governors, and [by] declaring us out of his allegiance and protection, and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy [scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally] unworthy the head of a civ- ilized nation.
He has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruc- tion of all ages, sexes, and conditions of existence; he- has excited treasonable insurrections of our fellow-citizens with the- allurements of forfeiture and confiscation of our -property.
He has constrained others [our fellow-citizens], taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He tits waged civil war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people, who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their trans- portation thither. This piratical warfare, the oppro-
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brium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a mar- ket where men should be bought and sold, he has pros- tituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable com- merce. And that this assemblage might want no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom he obtruded them : thus paying off' former crimes committed against the liberties of one people with crimes which he urges them to com- mit against the lives of another.
In every stage of these oppressions we have peti- tioned for redress in the most humble terms: our re- peated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a people who mean to be free. [Free people.] Future ages will scarce believe that the hardiness of one man adventured within the short compass of twelve years only, to build a foundation, so broad and undisguised, for tyranny over a people fostered and fixed in principles of freedom.
Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our · British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their Legislature to extend a [an unwarrantable] jurisdiction over these our States. [Us.] We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here; no one of which could warrant so strange a pretension; that these were effected at the expense of our own blood and treasure, unassisted by the wealth or the strength , of Great Britain: that in constituting indeed our several forms of government, we had adopted one common king, thereby laying a foundation for per- petual league and amity with them; but that to their parliament was no part of our Constitution; nor even an idea, if history may be credited ; and we [have] appealed to their native justice and magnanimity as- 11*
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well as to [and we have conjured them by] the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations which were likely to [would inevitably] interrupt our connexions and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity ; and when occasions have been given them, by the regular course of their laws, of removing from their councils the disturbers of our harmony, they have by their free election, re-established them in power. At this very time, too, they were permitting their Chief Magistrate to send over, not only soldiers of our com- mon blood, but [Scotch and] foreign mercenaries to invade and destroy us. These facts have given the last stab to agonizing affections; and manly spirit bids us to renounce forever these unfeeling brethren. We must endeavor to forget our former love for them; we must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war; in peace, friends.
We might have been a free and great people together; but a communication of grandeur and of freedom, it seems, is below their dignity. Be it so, since they will have it. The road to happiness and to glory is open to us too; we will climb it apart from them, and acquiesce in the necessity which de- nounces our eternal separation.
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