USA > Rhode Island > The "Old Stone Bank" history of Rhode Island, Vol. IV > Part 14
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No early attempt was made to provide a house of worship in the early days, the simple services being held in the homes of the settlers, or in favorable weather, out- of-doors. In 1700 a small meeting house was erected near the corner of present North Main and Smith Streets, and the expenses for the construction of this building were met by Pardon Tillinghast, the pastor. A more adequate church building replaced this first home of the church in 1726, and served the members until just at the outbreak of the Revolu- tionary War, when the tall, graceful spire of the present meeting house rose above the trees in a troubled community, point- ing to the source of man's right to believe that he was put on this earth to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
From that day to this, the First Baptist Meeting House in Providence, the home of the parent church in the United States where there are today more than ten mil- lion Baptists, has continued to be a thing of beauty, unmatched in architectural
harmony, breath-taking in its simple, substantial proportions, a marvel of de- sign and construction, admired by all residents regardless of creed, beloved by those who have entered its doors for wor- ship, to receive academic rewards, to pay tribute, to rejoice or to grieve.
Historians have written the story of how John Angell's apple orchard came to be part of the plot of land upon which the meeting house stands. They have told of other land purchases and street changes that brought about the present boundaries of Waterman, Benefit, Thomas and North Main Streets. Historians have many times recounted the records of how Joseph Brown with others conceived the design from drawings published in a "Book of Architecture" by James Gibbs, a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren, immortal English designer of churches. Experts have pains- takingly described the planning and build- ing of the structure and virtually X-rayed every timber, joist and plank in their efforts to preserve an accurate record of a perfect composition in design and con- struction. Human interest writers have perpetuated the story of the huge bell that strikes the hours, tolls for sadness, peals for joy, and sounds the curfew for a great changing city that has grown around this place of worship. The bell, weighing 2,500 pounds, was cast in London and originally bore this inscription :
"For freedom of conscience the town was first planted,
Persuasion not force, was used by the people,
This church is the eldest and has not recanted,
Enjoying and granting bell, temple and steeple."
In the spring of 1787 the bell was broken and was recast at Hope Furnace. It served for 57 years and then was broken again requiring two recastings to make it serviceable. The exterior of the build- ing has changed but little during the passing of 163 years, but some compara- tively minor alterations have been made on the interior. The old style box pews have been replaced by the present type and the lofty gallery where slaves, Indians, and freedmen of color once looked down
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from on high at the rear of the auditorium has long since been removed, although a part of the old stairway once leading to this segregated section is still intact. The present pulpit is not original, nor was the, organ always there because, in the be- ginning, singing and instrumental music was forbidden by the elders. The beauti- ful crystal chandelier, admired by all visitors, was brought over from England in 1792, being a gift by Hope Brown in memory of her father, Nicholas Brown, I, and was lighted for the first time on the occasion of her marriage to Thomas Poyn- ton Ives, first President of the Providence Institution for Savings. Until 1884 this chandelier burned candles, but at that time it was fitted for gas, then in 1914, for electricity. Stairways, mammoth doors, panels, arches, wooden locks, huge beams, ship-knees, pegs, struts, wood, plaster and iron all composed into a harmonious whole suggest countless avenues for further de- scriptions of this substantial old church edifice that was well thought out and built well by men long since gone from this earthly sphere. But, more important, the spirits of the builders still must cling to the fabric of their creation, as must the spirits of those great teachers, educators, and spiritual leaders who have faced people within its walls and spoken words of faith, inspiration, joy and sorrow. Every
living graduate of Brown University has there received his certificate of gradua- tion, for since the erection of the First Baptist Meeting House, it has been the scene of the annual Brown Commence- ment exercises. Hundreds of national and foreign dignitaries have delivered historic addresses from its pulpit. There were held the funeral solemnities observed when the news of the death of George Washington reached Providence; there . preached Brown's first President, James Manning, and also her second leader, Rev. Jonathan Maxcy. There the treaty of peace with Great Britain was celebrated in 1783, and the adoption of the Federal Constitution in 1790. There the last mortal remains of the beloved teacher and preacher, William H. P. Faunce, lay in state, before the pulpit from which he had long inspired young men as they took leave of his aca- demic leadership. This must be but a small part of the story. Stand in the shadow of the old meeting house with its square main building and its towering steeple of ever-narrowing sections. Per- haps you too will find that this historic landmark, so beautiful, so noble in tradi- tion, so priceless in its heritage of the past will summon up for you bright visions of people who live only on the cold pages of printed history or in the yet undisturbed records of the past.
DAVID HOWELL
THE so-called Income Tax is required by an amendment to the United States Constitution under Article XVI which reads as follows: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever sources de- rived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration." This amend- ment was proposed to the legislatures of the several states by the Sixty-first Con- gress on the twelfth day of July, 1909 and was declared to have been ratified in a proclamation by the Secretary of State, dated February 25, 1913. The amend- ment was ratified by forty-two of the
forty-eight states, and was rejected by Connecticut, Utah and Rhode Island.
Does it appear strange that little Rhode Island is numbered among those few states that rejected this national levy upon incomes? Has Rhode Island ever before registered objections to what representatives of other sections of this country wanted to do in respect to taxes? Those not familiar with the story of what happened immediately after the close of the . Revolutionary War, will probably be amazed by the following account that will explain Rhode Island's first refusal to relinquish what was con- sidered to be a State's right. This will
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not be an attempt to dispute, question or condemn the Constitutional amend- ment which gives Congress the right to levy taxes upon incomes, but will be simply an observation upon Rhode Island's attitude when Congress made its first attempt to levy and collect cer- tain taxes from Rhode Islanders.
During the War for Independence, the thirteen original Colonies, including Rhode Island, had agreed upon what were called Articles of Confederation. This was a sort of scheme of joint politi- cal action deemed wise by the necessities of war. Under these articles or agree- ments, Congress could recommend, but not enforce; it could only advise action, leaving the Colonies or States to do as they pleased. Rhode Island agreed to accept these Articles of Confederation because they expressly reserved to each State its sovereignty, freedom and inde- pendence; and they made this reserva- tion effective by inhibiting Congress from regulating the commerce of a State with other States or with foreign countries, and from levying upon a State or its people either direct or indirect taxation. What a far cry that theory is from today's state of affairs in this nation! Yes, Rhode Island was willing to go along in concert with the rest of the American commonwealth's fighting in a common cause as long as she could remain inde- pendent in the literal sense of the word, but what happened when Washington (figuratively speaking) attempted to do something about taxes?
On February 3, 1781, while the French were still occupying Newport, Congress sent out word to all the States that it was absolutely necessary, in order to pay Continental debts, stabilize the currency, and to establish credit for loans from abroad, that it, (Congress) should be vested with the power to impose a duty of five per cent ad valorem on all goods (with certain exceptions) to be imported into the United States after the first of May.
Rhode Island bitterly opposed this suggestion, contending that, whereas Congress might call upon a state for money if it wanted to, it could not pre- scribe methods for raising it. Rhode
Island sincerely believed that the pro- posed tariff placed a limitation upon its autonomy. Under Great Britain's pro- longed attempts to tax without repre- sentation, the colony on the shores of Narragansett Bay had been most rebel- lious of all the American commonwealths. Why, therefore, after it had just freed itself from the plague of outside tariffs and outside collectors, should it, through an authorization to Congress of a five percent duty, re-subject itself to tyranny? To get rid of taxes was one of the chief reasons why Rhode Island has enthusias- tically taken up arms against the mother country. Taxation by any outsider, Congress or no Congress, was simply out of the question. Well, what hap- pened?
Out of the heated debate that arose following Rhode Island's flat refusal to become nationally-minded except in mat- ters that infringed in no way upon full and complete local independence, ap- peared a champion of this political theory of rugged individualism - David Howell. After graduation from Princeton in 1766, he had come to Providence at the urgent request of Brown's first President, James Manning, to teach natural philosophy on the Hill. Professor David Howell soon became prominent as a forceful, versatile and fluent debater, which abilities finally made him widely enough known to be elected to Congress.
The conditions which confronted Rhode Island's representative in Congress were far from encouraging in respect to this State's hold-out from submitting to any kind of taxation. Eleven States had signified their more or less cordial ap- proval of the proposed tariff or impost. Only Georgia and little Rhody were holding back, and Georgia was not too sure about her attitude. Well, in order to bring matters to a head, Congress appointed a committee to inquire of the two States why they had not come into line. Following was Howell's four-point answer to the committee offered in behalf of the State which he represented : (1) the revenue raised by taxing imports into Rhode Island would go to the United States, whereas in the case of this state (a shipping and importing community)
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any such revenue should go to Rhode Island alone (2) that the War had so wasted the shores of Narragansett Bay that it was needful for Rhode Island to conserve every source of income (3) that a sovereign State should itself collect all taxes levied within its borders, and (4) that the duration of the proposed impost was indefinite and might be made perpetual. Little did our self-sustaining minded and provincial ancestors realize what changes would take place in respect to State and Federal functions as the years passed by and a union of States grew out of a loosely disjointed group of thirteen independent principalities. Now one can see the wisdom of the crea- tion of the United States of America, but, in Revolutionary War times, Rhode Islanders held little sympathy for the plan, at first.
Returning back to Howell and the Congressional Committee, it is revealed that he tried to propose a compromise that would allow Rhode Island to appoint her own revenue officers and to retain a part of the proceeds received by col- lecting taxes on local imports. A careful reply to Howell's objections got nowhere, so Congress, under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, passed a resolution demanding from both Rhode Island and Georgia an explicit avowal as to whether they would or would not approve the proposed impost. Howell refused to be shaken in his con- victions and evidently his constituents concurred, since, on November 1, 1782, the Rhode Island General Assembly met at East Greenwich and voted unani- mousły against the impost plan.
Then followed a period when Congress attempted to gain its end by attempting to discredit Howell in his home state but that failed. When it is observed how a professor of natural philosophy so long and so brilliantly withstood the embit- tered opposition of such great statesmen as Hamilton and Madison, it seems quite apparent that David Howell has been given all too little prominence in the Rhode Island hall of fame.
At any rate, Howell was returned to Congress in 1783, and also in 1784, while Rhode Island continued to refuse Con-
gress the right to collect taxes here. In the meantime, Congress softened a little and agreed to allow locally-appointed officers to do the tax collecting and also to limit the tax plan to a period of twenty- five years. Did Rhode Island agree? Not at all. And, because this State remained so stubborn in its anti-Federal attitude some of the other States began to weaken and change their minds about the whole idea. Congress began to worry and some of the members became so irritated that they raised a question over the credentials presented by Howell and his colleagues to speak for Rhode Island in the Congress.
After much heated debating, the repre- sentatives from Virginia and North Carolina both challenged the gentleman from Rhode Island to a duel. Professor David Howell, said to be a man of com- manding physique, aquiline nose and defiant chin, replied that he meant to chastise any insults that he might receive and he laid the communications before Congress. Apparently, there were no meetings on the field of combat, but it is safe to say, without further research, that Howell would have been ready with his seconds at the appointed hour if the controversy had proceeded to the stage of settling the affair of honor with swords or pistols.
But, in the end, Rhode Island's uncom- promising hostility to an impost had to give way, and the cause was an economic one - commerce. And, this can be explained in simple fashion. When Great Britain, in 1783, put into operation a plan of discrimination against the exten- sive trade of New England with the British West Indies, and, at the same time flooded New England with English manu- factured goods, Rhode Island began to see the light. Unable to ship her goods into English ports without paying a duty, British ships were bringing tax-free cargoes into Narragansett Bay to compete with local merchants and manufacturers. A tariff of some kind was demanded for self-preservation, and it was logical to admit that Congress should be invested with the power to regulate commerce - in other words to establish a uniform impost. Not wanting to be left out in the
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cold, or absorbed into either Massa- chusetts or Connecticut, as some political leaders suggested, Rhode Island, with the shoes of trade beginning to pinch, granted, in 1786, the power to Congress to levy and collect duties on certain goods imported. That was the beginning but not end of Rhode Island's determina- tion to remain an independent, sovereign state. Soon the matter of a Federal Constitution came before all the States in America, and did Rhode Island rush to
sign its name to the instrument by which the several states were destined to become united? Not at all. but that is another story that proves again how indepen- dence, first conceived on Rhode Island soil in its ultimate realization by Ameri- cans, and fought for with immeasurable sacrifice by its people, was cherished and guarded with jealous tenacity in the days when untested schemes of Federal prerogative were first discussed and pro- posed.
WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON
[N August of 1790, after the adjournment of Congress, President Washington visited Newport and Providence. The autumn before, when he made a trip through the northern states, he shunned Rhode Island as he would an enemy coun- try, but now that she had come into line, he made a special trip to welcome the stubborn, independent little colony which had waited until the eleventh hour before joining with the rest of the United States under the Constitution.
Washington was accompanied by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, Judge Blair, one of the Justices of the United States Supreme Court, Governor Clinton of New York, Senator Foster of Rhode Island, Congressman Smith of South Carolina, Congressman Gilman of New Hampshire and other officials. Existing records of this visit to Rhode Island by the nation's leaders, naturally feature what Washington did here and what he said, but Secretary Jefferson shared exactly the same experiences as did the President and the rest of the party, and, so, it can be assumed that all the state provided for the hospitality and entertainment of its distinguished guests in August, 1790, belongs in the local story of either George Washington or Thomas Jefferson.
After spending a day at Newport where the President's party was properly sa- luted, addressed, banqueted, and punched, and in this case "punch" has reference to rum and molasses, Washington, Jeffer-
son and the other visitors took the packet "Hancock," commanded by a Captain Brown, and after tossing many hours on a rough bay, arrived at Providence at about four in the afternoon of August 18th. The Secretary of State had had some expe- rience with Atlantic crossings and ocean storms, but, from all accounts bucking head winds, tacking back and forth to clear Prudence Island and get around Gaspee Point, was for him, and for the other already travel-weary and reception- weary passengers, a voyage not wanted again. The "Hancock " was a Providence- New York packet, well known in local waters, and when she came into the outer harbor, a cannon was fired from the shore, and, later, as the party gratefully stepped upon dry land, a Federal salute of thirteen guns welcomed the President.
Led by Governor Fenner, the longest and most impressive street parade Provi- dence had ever seen immediately passed through the principal streets. The state and town dignitaries, the local militia organizations, the officers and members of the order of Cincinnati, the Masonic fraternity, the officers and members of the Society of Mechanics and Manufac- turers and other local organizations, each had their place in the line of march before the gentlemen, strangers, and boys tagged on behind. There were no Boy Scouts in those days, but the boys were in line, as usual, bringing up the rear, and they were listed on the printed parade pro- gram.
"THE OLD STONE BANK"
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To be obferved on the Arrival of the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES.
The Independent Company of Artillery, commanded by Colonel Til- lingbaf. The Band of Mufic. The Conftables of the Town, with their Wands. The Deputy-Sheriffs. The Town-Clerk. The Town-Council. Committee of Arrangements, Sheriff. Marthal of RIode-Ifland Diftrict. Council of the State. Secretary of the State. GOVERNOR ..
The PRESIDENT of the United States. His Suite. GOVERNOR of the State of New-York, and Theodore Foffer, Efq; Secretary Fefferfon, and Judge Blair.
Mr. Smith (of S.Carolina) and Mr. Gilman (of New-Hampfbire) Mem- bers of Congrefs. Reprefentatives of this State in Affembly .. Town-Treafurer. Juftices of the Peace. Corporation of the College. The Reverend Clergy. Physicians. Lawyers. Merchants and Shopkeepers. Society of Mechanics and Manufacturers. Revenue Officers. Officers of the late Army. Strangers. Mafters of Veffels. Tutors of the College. The Students. School-Mafters. Scholars under their Tuition. Apprentices. Sailors. Boys.
N. B. The Signal for the Arrival of the PRESIDENT in the River, will be the Difcharge of a Cannon from Federal-Hill, when the Citizens, &c, are requested to repair to the lower Wharf at the South End of the Town, and form themselves agreeably to the above At. rangement. General Thayer, Col. Jobs Whipple, Deacon Gramme, Deacon Nightingale, Major Spar, Ma- jar Tyler, Capt. Paul Allen, and Mr. Jacob Whitman, jun. are appointed, by the Committee of Arrangements, to form and fuperintend the Proceffion. On the PRESIDENT's landing, the Sextons are to ring the bells of the feverat Places of : Worthip. Providence, Exgut 17, 1790.
OFFICIAL PROGRAM OF THE PROCESSION HELD IN PROVIDENCE ON AUGUST 17, 1790, WIIEN PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON, THOMAS JEFFERSON AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED FIGURES WERE WELCOMED BY THE CITIZENS.
It is interesting to note that Governor Clinton of New York was given the place of honor in the procession at the side of Washington, just ahead of Thomas Jef- ferson. Church bells pealed out as the parade passed through the streets of down-town Providence, and in the quaint reporting of the local paper of that week's issue "all ages, classes, and sexes were full of sensibility on the joyful occasion,
and the brilliant appearance of the ladies from the windows . . . gave animation to the scene."
Arriving at the Golden Ball Inn, later called the Mansion House, on Benefit Street, nearly opposite the rear of the Old State House, and only lately torn down, Washington, Jefferson, the Governor, and others, stood upon the balcony or steps of the once famous establishment and
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reviewed the procession as it marched past. Doubtless, as the soldiers, drum- mers, fifers, and the decked-out citizenry moved by, the author of the immortal statement "we hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," looked over their heads to the substantial brick building across the street, within the walls of which on May 4, 1776, the spokesmen for these very people had dared to defy tyranny, to declare their independence and set their names thereto. There was plenty of drumming and fifing in those days, and we can well presume that the military bands of the town, which were probably largely composed of musicians with long practice in the Revolution, provided the music. Jefferson stayed at the tavern with Washington while some of the other visi- tors were put up in private homes nearby. Later in the evening, when the noise and excitement had quieted down, Jefferson accompanied the President on a short walk which took them up the hill to the college where the students had prepared a special illumination of University Hall. Visiting celebrities have little time to themselves, and the President and his Secretary of State were out bright and early the next morning to see the town under escort. They traversed the prin- cipal streets, and examined everything of interest; and, there was much to see in those days. They inspected a new Provi- dence-built ship, named the "President " and owned by the successful firm of Brown & Francis, and they stopped in here and there for the usual gestures of hospitality. For at least three distin- guished citizens, it was open house in Providence, and one of the open houses was the palatial residence of John Brown on Power Street, today the Rhode Island Historical Society's home. When
next you step into the grandeur of that priceless example of luxurious living in the early days, perhaps you can visualize the scene - Washington in one room surrounded by old comrades in arms, Jefferson across the hall expounding his theories of states' rights, while all about buzzed the important and not-so-impor- tant eager to see and hear, and to be in line for what gurgled from cobwebby bottles and which flowed from the crystal punch bowls.
That was an eventful day - every- where the national figures stopped, there were hands to shake, formal addresses of welcome to be read and appropriate responses to be made - more toasts to acknowledge, more wines and rum punches to accept. By three in the afternoon, Washington, Jefferson and those who had been able to make it that far, were com- pletely exhausted, but, they had only gone through the preliminaries. Waiting at the Old State House was a sumptuous dinner, set for two hundred guests. After the eating, the inevitable toasts followed - they drank to everyone present, to some who were not present, such as Gen- eral Lafayette. Finally, they got around to the King of France, to members of Congress, to the ladies, the fair daughters of America, etc. The President brought the toasting to a close when he arose and proposed "The Town of Providence," which was unanimously and soundly pledged in Providence distilled rum, and the festivities came to an end.
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