USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Warwick's Keystone commonwealth; a review of the history of the great state of Pennsylvania, and a brief record of the growth of its chief city, Philadelphia > Part 14
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It did not leave the city again until 1893, when it was carried to the Chi- cago Exposition. One of the greatest demonstrations on its way West was given at Indianapolis, the last stopping place before entering Chicago, and here ex-President Harrison was orator of the occasion. Twelve thousand children of the common schools gathered to give the old bell welcome, and in the course of Mr. Harrison's remarks, turning to the Committee, he said, "I thank you for the privilege you have given us to see this sacred bell." "This old bell," he said, "was cast originally in England, but it was recast in America. It was when this was done that it clearly and to all the world proclaimed the right of self-government and the equal rights of man, and therein it is a type of what our institutions are doing for the immigrations from all lands who heard its tones over the water a century ago. *
* * The bell itself is here repeating to us through all its silence the great story of the Nation." Upon its arrival at Chicago, a day was set apart for its reception and the demonstra- tion was most patriotic.
The next great international fair held in this country was that at Atlanta in 1895, and on Friday, October 4th of that year, the bell again left Philadel- phia. It passed through Baltimore, Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Petersburg, Roanoke, Bristol, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Dalton and arrived
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at Atlanta, Georgia, at 2 P. M. on October 8th. At every crossroad men, women and children flocked in crowds. At some places all business was suspended. Music, eloquence and cheers filled the air. Nothing could have been more sincere than the reception given to the bell in these Southern States. Confederate veterans came out with their battle-rent banners, and fired salutes in honor of its coming. When it reached Atlanta, the streets were thronged with people. The bell itself was literally covered with flowers thrown upon it on its "march through Georgia." As it entered the Fair Grounds at Piedmont Park, it was accompanied by a military procession. The Pennsylvania Build- ing and all the surrounding grounds held exultant crowds of men, women and children who gave the old relic a glorious welcome. It was my privilege to accompany the bell on this trip, and I witnessed scenes never to be forgotten. People came up and reverently took off their hats. It seemed to be the center of attention. The other attractions were all but deserted, while the people flocked and gathered around it. Two thousand school children broke out into song, and the authorities accepted its custody as a sacred trust. Governor At- kinson, in his eloquent remarks said, "That none were more sensible than the people of that State that in their keeping was the most precious relic of the Nation." While on exhibition, it was surrounded by crowds. Boys asked per- mission to rub coins over its surface for good luck. A blind child was held up and read its inscription with his fingers. One old colored man, with head bowed and uncovered, stopped and uttered a prayer. Such scenes were wit- nessed day after day. They were by no means uncommon. There was no cere- mony during the whole period of the Fair so great in its patriotic demonstra- tion as the reception of the Liberty Bell. So eloquent in its silence, it became as it were, a tie to unite in a common sentiment those sections of the country that had been only a few years back engaged in fratricidal strife.
CHAPTER XI.
ENGLAND'S RESTRICTIVE POLICIES. FAMOUS STAMP ACT OF 1765. THE SHIP ROYAL CHARLOTTE BEARS STAMPS FOR PENNSYLVANIA. ROYAL CHARLOTTE ARRIVES AND HER CAPTAIN IS PLACED UNDER ARREST. ON MAY 20, 1776, NEWS IS RECEIVED OF THE REPEAL OF THE OFFENSIVE LAW. PUBLICATION OF FAMOUS LETTERS OF JOHN DICKINSON. BRITISHI MINISTRY STILL PERSISTS IN IMPOSING TANES ON THE COLONIES. PARLIAMENT ABOLISHED ALL TAXES IN 1770 ON ALL ARTICLES EXCEPT THAT OF TEA. IN 1770 THE SHIP "POLLY" ARRIVED IN PORT. MEETINGS WERE HELD PROTESTING AGAINST THE ARRIVAL OF THE VESSEL. CAPTAIN OF THE "POLLY" IS ARRESTED AND THREATENED WITH DUE PUNISHMENT IF HE ATTEMPTS IN ANY WAY TO UNLOAD ITIS CARGO OR TO DISTRIBUTE THE STAMPS. "POLLY" RETURNS TO LONDON. BOS- TONIANS THIROW A CARGO OF TEA INTO THE HARBOR. BRITISHL MINISTRY STILL PERSISTS IN ITS POLICY. GROWTH OF THE CITY AND BUILDING OF IIANDSOME RESIDENCES. DELEGATES MEET IN PENNSYLVANIA TO CONSIDER TIIE CONDUCT OF THE MOTHIER COUNTRY. BATTLE OF LEXINGTON. GEORGE WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMIES. LEE OFFERS FAMOUS RESOLUTION IN CONGRESS. RESOLUTION PASSED AND REFERRED TO COMMITTEE. TO FRAME THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
A FTER the French and Indian wars, the loyalty of the colonies for Eng- land was most sincere. They had fought her battles for supremacy in America, and had followed her standards through the disastrous campaign of Braddock, and even to the taking of the fortress of Louisberg and the scaling of the Heights of Abraham. A little tact, fair play and just concessions would have kept them for years wedded to the interests of England. General Warren, in one of his eloquent outbursts, declared that Great Britain and the colonies "were like the oak and the clinging ivy," but as . time ran on, the Mother Country acted arbitrarily in many instances, and did not treat the colonies with that consideration which they had a right to expect and to demand as her children.
The Boston Massacre, the passage of the Transportation and Quebec Acts, the Navigation Act, Writs of Assistance, Restrictions upon trade, the ruthless, cruel, and zealous enforcement of the revenue laws, the Impressment of Sea- men, the Mutiny Act, which, inter alia, decreed that the Colonial Assemblies should provide quarters, "with fire, candles, vinegar, salt, bedding, utensils for cooking, beer or cider, and rum" for the support of the troops, the Tea Tax, and the Closing of the Port of Boston were a few of the causes that produced the Revolution.
Besides all this she had dumped upon the shores of the Province of Penn- sylvania convicts from her jails, against which conduct the Americans had entered a spirited and an angry protest. The Pennsylvania Gazette, in 1751. sharply stated, in commenting on this matter, "Thou art called our Mother
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Country, but what good mother ever sent thieves and villains to accompany her children, to corrupt some with their infectious vices and murder the rest? What good father ever endeavored to spread the plague in his own family ? We did not ask fish but thou givest ns serpents, and worse than serpents. In what can the British show a more sovereign contempt for ns than by emptying their jails in our settlements," Franklin, in a sarcastic mood, to show what he termed our gratitude for the kind acts of the Mother Courty, sent a collec- tion of rattlesnakes, which he advised the Minister to introduce into his Majes- ty's gardens at Kew, "with the hope that they might propagate and increase and they might in time become as beneficial to his Majesty's dominions as the rattlesnake convicts that had been sent to America." England, too, had inau- gurated a restrictive policy, and to encourage the importation of pig and bar iron from his Majesty's colonies in America prohibited the erection of any mill or other engine for slitting or rolling iron or any furnace for making steel. Time and again the Ministry in every way had shown a disposition of oppres- sion, forgetting that the inhabitants of America were men of spirit and inde- pendence who had come to the new world to find a refuge and who had blazed their way to civilization through a wilderness in order to escape from the tyr- anny of Europe, and the colonists boldly declared that they would not submit complacently to that tyranny which they had left the old world to avoid. England did not act towards America as if she were an integral part of the British Empire, but as if she were a conquered province.
In 1765, the famous Stamp Act was passed, which required the use of stamps on all kinds of law and commercial papers, such as contracts, deeds and wills and on pamphlets, magazines, almanacs and newspapers. The stamps cost from a half-penny to fio. The tax virtually followed a man from the cradle to the grave, for the stamps were affixed on certificates of birth, on mar- riage licenses and on burial permits. The measure called forth the strongest opposition. It was strenuously resisted by the colonies on the ground that as they had no representation in the British Parliament they should not be com- pelled to pay a tax which they had no voice in imposing. At the time of the passing of the obnoxious measure, Franklin was in London, and wrote to a friend in America: "I took every step in my power to prevent the passing of the Act, but the tide was too strong against us. You might as well have hin- dered the sun setting. That we could not do, but since it is down and it may be long before it rises again, let us make as good a night of it as we can. We can still light candles. Frugality and industry will go a great way towards indem- nifying us. Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than Kings and Parlia- ments. If we get rid of the former we can easily bear the latter."
On October 10, 1765, a public meeting was called to consider what action should be taken when the ship "Royal Charlotte," bearing stamps for Pennsyl- vania, New Jersey and Delaware, should reach Philadelphia. A man by the name of John Hughes, a member of the Assembly, had been chosen by the Eng- lish government to distribute the stamps throughout the Province and the three lower counties. His name had been suggested by Franklin to the British Min- ister as a proper person to whom to entrust such business, but when Hughes showed a willingness to accept the office there was a public demonstration
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against him and he was burned in effigy. In view of so violent an outburst of popular indignation, he thought it advisable to keep within doors, but he gave no intimation of resigning the position. Franklin, too, at this time fell under public disapprobation, and even his loyalty in some quarters was doubted be- cause of the fact that he had suggested the name of Hughes and virtually stood sponsor for him and for a time it required all the ingenuity and skill of the wise old man to recover popular esteem. The British Minister must have caught him napping, for it was one of his few political mistakes.
When the "Royal Charlotte" arrived she was escorted by the British sloop- of-war "Sardine." It was a day of great excitement. Bells throughout the city were muffled and tolled, flags were flung at half-mast and a procession of men and boys wearing crepe, slowly and solemnly followed a drum corps of ne- groes playing the Dead March, as if attending the funeral of Liberty. So threatening did the people become in their attitude that it was deemed advisable to transfer the stamps from the "Royal Charlotte" to her companion the "Sar- dine," thus placing them under the protection of the guns of a man-of-war. The people, to meet the conditions, resolved to practice economy in every di- rection, not to use imported goods in domestic industries, and if possible to be self-sustaining in their manufactures. Men and women wore homespun clothes and even went so far as to abstain from drinking any foreign beers or wines. Everything was done to avoid the use of the stamps. Even the almanacs for 1766 were published six months in advance that the editors might escape the payment of the tax.
America, however, during this period, was not without friends in the English Parliament, among whom were Chatham, Barre, Conway, Burke and Fox. They strenuously opposed the imposition of the tax, claiming it was not only unwise but unjust. "The gentleman tells us," said Chatham, in an elo- quent outbursts, "America is obstinate; America is almost in open rebellion. I rejoice that America has resisted. Three millions of people so dead to all the feelings of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest."
Other vessels arrived bearing stamps, but there was no effort made to dis- tribute them for as each ship came to anchor the stamps were immediately transferred to the "Sardine."
At last there was received, on May 20, 1766, news of the repeal of the offensive law. It was brought into port by the brig "Minerva." Citizens soon gathered in great crowds, summoned by the ringing of bells, the Act was pub- licly read and the town went wild with delight. The officer who had brought the glad tidings was escorted with honor to the Coffee House, toasted and cheered, and presented with the freedom of the city. A public dinner was given at the State House and even the Captain of the "Sardine" was invited as a guest. Toasts were drunk to the health of the King, the Queen, to the House of Parliament and above all to the "glorious and immortal" Mr. Pitt. At hight, bonfires blazed throughout the city, and the citizens drank copiously of beer and continued the festivities until the morning dawned. Even Franklin, under the general jubilation, once more came back into public estimation and there were many toasts proposed to our "worthy and faithful agent."
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Under such demonstrations and avowals of loyalty for the relief given, it might be supposed that the English government would change its conduct, but this was not the case, for it did not in the slightest degree relinquish its right to impose a tax, and on June 29, 1767, Parliament passed a law levying duties on paper, glass, painters' colors, lead and tea imported into America. Again a wave of excitement swept over the people and all their loyalty in a moment was wafted away. About this time, John Dickinson published his famous "Letters of a Farmer in the State of Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies." They created the most profound impression upon the minds of the people and laid the facts of the case so clearly before them that there was no escape from his logic. "Those," he said, "who are taxed without their own consent, expressed by themselves or by their representatives, are slaves. We are taxed without our own consent, expressed by ourselves or our represen- tatives ; we are, therefore, slaves."
The British Ministry still persisted that it had a right to impose a tax upon the colonies, on the ground that the colonies were a part of the British Empire, and it was their duty to share with the Mother Country the expenses incident to government, but in order to appease the colonies, the Ministry, in 1769, reduced all the taxes five sixths. This reduction did not satisfy the minds of the colonists, for it was not the amount of the tax they were protest- ing against, but the right of Parliament to impose it.
At this time Colonel Barre, in a most eloquent speech in the House of Commons, said: "I prophesied, ou passing the Stamp Act in 1765, what would happen thereon, and now, in March, 1769, I fear I can prophecy further troubles. That, if the people are made desperate, finding no remedy from Parliament, the whole Continent will be in arms immediately, and perhaps those provinces lost to England forever."
In the spring of 1770, in order to quiet the discontent in America Parlia- ment abolished all the taxes, with the exception of the tax upon tea, which remained at 3d. a pound. This reduction made no change in the attitude of the colonies. It was not the amount of the tax they were contending against, but the right of the British Government, without giving representation to the col- onies, to impose it. In fact, the reduction of the tax to a minimum was only in the nature of a bribe. A principle was at stake, and it seemed impossible to have the British Government understand that it was not the amount of the tax that was the question in controversy, but the right to impose it.
Every effort was made to introduce tea into the Province, but without success. The people were alert and watched every vessel that came up the river. Of course, during this time smuggling was carried on extensively, and the English authorities were put to their wits' ends to prevent the landing of the smuggled articles. One night, the Custom House officers, when a brig and a pilot boat came stealing up the Delaware, boarded the incoming vessels, opened the hatches of the brig and found concealed in the hold between thirty- five and forty boxes of tea, some claret and a little gin. The Revenue schooner seized the prize and proceeded up the river, but being obliged to anchor near Red Bank because of low water, the officers were surprised by the approach of another vessel which came straight on and refused to heed the warning
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"keep off." Suddenly thirty men with blackened faces sprang on board the Revenue vessel, threw the officers and sailors into the hold, ran her upon a bar, cut the rigging and sails and released the boat containing the tea. This "outrage" so offended the British Government, that it insisted upon the cap- ture and prosecution of all those who had taken a hand in the affair, but the personality of the participants was so carefully concealed that no trace could be found leading to the identification of the conspirators. It is believed that many of them were well-known merchants of the city.
The East India Company, in 1773, had accumulated in its storehouses in London and Holland some millions of pounds of tea, which they held ready for shipment when the circumstances should appear more favorable. The British Government determined to aid the company in the matter of the introduction of the tea into the colonies, and a number of cargoes were sent across the water.
The tea consigned to Philadelphia was shipped in a vessel called "Polly" under the command of Captain Ayres. When news was brought to the city that the vessel was coming up the river, a meeting was called in the State House yard, on December 27, 1773. Speeches were made by prominent citi- zens and it was resolved that the ship "Polly" should not be permitted to land her cargo. This was the largest public meeting that had ever been held at any one place in Philadelphia. It was carefully computed that about eight thousand people were assembled in the Square. A committee for tarring and feathering the Captain was organized, and public warning was given to the Delaware pilots that they would be summarily dealt with if in any way they directed the course of the incoming British ships bearing their hated cargoes. When the "Polly" arrived, Captain Ayres was invited to come ashore and was told in positive terms that his ship would not be allowed to unload the tea and de- liver to the consignees. "What think you, Captain," said the chairman of the committee, "of a halter round your neck, ten gallons of tar decanted on your pate, with the feathers of a dozen wild geese laid over that to enliven your appearance? Only think seriously of this and fly to the place whence you came. Fly without hesitation, and above all, dear Captain, let us advise you to fly without the wild goose feathers." He was informed that the people would not have "the detestable tea funneled down their throats with Parliament's duty mixed with it." At this meeting it was declared that no power on earth had a right to tax the colonies without their consent. A vast concourse of people escorted the Captain to the wharf, when he was directed to board his vessel and leave the port without further delay. Seeing that it was useless to ask for time he then and there set sail from the foot of Arch street, where his boat lay at anchor, and proceeded down the river on his way to "Old Rotterdam Place in Leadenhall Street, London."
It was on December 16, that Boston had thrown her tea into the harbor, and this news was brought by the famous Paul Revere, who had ridden on horseback all the way from the Yankee town. He arrived in Philadelphia on December 26, the day before the meeting was held in the State House yard, and, of course the information he brought greatly increased the excitement and aroused the courage of the people. Boston, having destroyed $100,000
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worth of tea by throwing the chests into the sea, Parliament retaliated by clos- ing her port against the commerce of the world. This news was brought to the city again by the celebrated messenger, Paul Revere, and during his stay here he requested an expression of the popular feeling on the subject, so that Mas- sachusetts would know better what to do under the circumstances. A meeting was called in the City Tavern, where resolutions were adopted which, while "recommending prudence and moderation" gave every assurance to Boston that Philadelphia would stand by her in the cause of American Liberty, and large contributions were raised to relieve the distress in the New England town.
In a letter written by Horace Walpole to Horace Mann, in February, 1774, that keen observer wrote: "We have no news public or private, but there is an ostrich egg laid in America where the Bostonians have canted three hundred chests of tea in the ocean, for they would not drink tea with our Parliament. I think England will be conquered some day in New England or Bengal."
The conduct of the colonies produced the greatest sensation in England, and Lord Chatham, in the House of Commons, alluding to the Boston Port Bill, said: "You must repeal these Acts, and you will repeal them. I pledge myself to it that you will repeal them. I stake my reputation on it. I will consent to be taken for an idiot if they are not finally repealed." "I am against re- pealing this last Act of Parliament," cried Lord North, "securing to us a reve- nue out of America. I will never think of repealing it until I see America prostrate at my feet." "To effect this," replied Barre, "is not so easy as you may imagine. The Americans are strenuous, respectable, a hardy and free people, but, were it ever so easy, does any friend to his country really wish to see America thus humbled, in such a situation, which would serve only as a monument of your arrogance and folly." Charles James Fox earnestly ex- claimed. "If you persist in your right to tax the Americans, you will force them into open rebellion." "We are now in great difficulties," said Dowde- swell, "let us do justice before it is too late." In answer to these appeals for justice and for fair play, the British Ministry boasted that "with ten thou- sand regulars we can march through the Continent and bring Boston on its knees, and terrify the rest of America by the example."
Matters had reached such a pitch that the colonies were convinced they should prepare for a common defence. The whole country was aflame, and the eloquent words of Samuel Adams, James Otis and Patrick Henry rang in the ears of the people, arousing them to action. "There is no longer any room for hope," cried Patrick Henry, "we must fight." Committees of correspond- ents had prepared the way for a general conference, and in 1774 a Continental Congress, the first ever held in America, met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia. The spirit of that Congress, though calm, was most determined, and in an appeal addressed to the people of Great Britain, it said: "Permit us to be as free as yourselves and we will ever esteem a union with you to be our greatest glory and our greatest happiness. We will ever be ready to contribute all in our power to the welfare of the Empire. We will consider your enemies our enemies, your interests as our own. If you are determined that your Min- isters shall sport wantonly with the rights of mankind-if neither the voice
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of justice, dictates of the law, principles of the Constitution nor the sugges- tions of humanity shall restrain your hands from shedding blood in such an impious cause-we must then tell you that we will never submit to be hewers of wood or drawers of water for any Ministry or nation in the world." There is no intimation in this appeal, even between the lines, that evinces a desire to separate from the Mother Country. She had but to treat the colonies with fair and due consideration to hold and retain their loyalty and affection. "Your glory is our glory. Your happiness is our happiness. Your welfare is our welfare. Your enemies are our enemies. Your interests are our inter-
CARPENTER'S HALL. MEETING PLACE OF THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.
ests," is language that cannot be misunderstood. There is no room for mis- interpretation and it should have aroused a tender response in the hearts of the British people.
The following speech by Edmund Burke is in like strain: "My hold in the colonies is in the close affection which grows from common names, from kin- dred blood, from similar privileges and equal protection. These are ties which though light as air, are strong as links of iron. Let the colonies always keep the idea of their several rights associated with your government and they will cling and grapple to you, and no force under heaven will be of power to tear them from their allegiance. But let it be once understood that your govern- ment may be one thing and their privileges another-that these two things must exist without any mutual relation-the cement is gone, the cohesion is loosened, and everything hastens to decay and dissolution."
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