MY NATIVE LAND.
The United States: its Wonders, its Beauties, and its People; with
Descriptive Notes, Character Sketches, Folk Lore, Traditions, Legends
and History, for the Amusement of the Old and the Instruction of the
Young.
BY
JAMES COX,
Author of "Our Own Country," "Missouri at the World's Fair," "Old and
New St. Louis," "An Arkansas Eden," "Oklahoma Revisited," Etc.
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself has said,
This is my own, my native land."
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED.
1903
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
OUR NATION'S BIRTH.
The Story of Liberty Bell--Impartial Opinions on the Revolutionary
War--The Shot that was Heard Around the World--The First Committee of
Safety--A Defeat which Equaled a Victory--Washington's Earnestness--To
Congress on Horseback--The First 4th of July Celebration.
CHAPTER II.
THE WITCH OF SALEM.
A Relic of Religious Bigotry--Parson Lawson's Tirade against
Witchcraft--Extraordinary Court Records of Old Puritan Days--Alleged
Supernatural Conjuring--A Man and his Wife both put to Death--Crushed
for Refusing to Plead--A Romance of the Old Days of Witch Persecution.
CHAPTER III.
IN PICTURESQUE NEW YORK.
Some Local Errors Corrected--A Trip Down the Hudson River--The Last of
the Mohicans--The Home of Rip Van Winkle--The Ladies of Vassar and their
Home--West Point and its History--Sing Sing Prison--The Falls of
Niagara--Indians in New York State.
CHAPTER IV.
IN THE CENTER OF THE COUNTRY.
The Geographical Center of the United States, and its Location West of
the Mississippi River--The Center of Population--History of Fort
Riley--The Gallant "Seventh"--Early Troubles of Kansas--Extermination of
the Buffalo--But a Few Survivors out of Many Millions.
CHAPTER V.
THE MORMONS AND THEIR WIVES.
The Pilgrimage Across the Bad Lands to Utah--Incidents of the
March--Success of the New Colony--Religious Persecutions--Murder of an
Entire Family--The Curse of Polygamy--An Ideal City--Humors of Bathing
in Great Salt Lake.
CHAPTER VI.
THE INVASION OF OKLAHOMA.
A History of the Indian Nation--Early Struggles of Oklahoma
Boomers--Fight between Home-Seekers and Soldiers--Scenes at the Opening
of Oklahoma Proper--A Miserable Night on the Prairie--A Race for
Homes--Lawlessness in the Old Indian Territory.
CHAPTER VII.
COWBOYS--REAL AND IDEAL.
A Much Maligned Class--The Cowboy as he Is, and as he is Supposed to
be--Prairie Fever and how it is Cured--Life on the Ranch Thirty Years
Ago and Now--Singular Fashions and Changes of Costume--Troubles
Encountered by would-be Bad Men.
CHAPTER VIII.
WARDS OF OUR NATIVE LAND.
The Indians' Admirers and Critics--At School and After--Indian Courtship
and Marriage--Extraordinary Dances--Gambling by Instinct--How
"Cross-Eye" Lost his Pony--Pawning a Baby--Amusing and Degrading Scenes
on Annuity Day.
CHAPTER IX.
CIVILIZATION--ACTUAL AND ALLEGED.
Tried in the Balances and Found Wanting--Indian Archers--Bow and Arrow
Lore--Barbarous Customs that Die Slowly--"Great Wolf," the Indian
Vanderbilt--How the Seri were Taught a Valuable Lesson--Playing with
Rattlesnakes with Impunity.
CHAPTER X.
OLD TIME COMMUNISTS.
Houses on Rocks and Sand Hills--How Many Families Dwelt Together in
Unity--Peculiarities of Costumes--Pueblo Architecture and Folk Lore--A
Historic Struggle and how it Ended--Legends Concerning Montezuma--Curious
Religious Ceremonies.
CHAPTER XI.
HOW CUSTER LIVED AND DIED.
"Remember Custer"--An Eye-Witness of the Massacre--Custer, Cody and
Alexis--A Ride over the Scenes of the Unequal Conflict--Major Reno's
Marked Failure--How "Sitting Bull" Ran Away and Lived to Fight Another
Day--Why a Medicine Man did not Summon Rain.
CHAPTER XII.
AMONG THE CREOLES.
Meaning of the word "Creole"--An Old Aristocratic Relic--The Venice of
America--Origin of the Creole Carnivals--Rex and his Annual
Disguises--Creole Balls--The St. Louis Veiled Prophets--The French
Market and other Landmarks in New Orleans--A Beautiful Ceremony and an
Unfinished Monument.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE HEATHEN CHINEE IN HIS ELEMENT.
A Trip to Chinatown, San Francisco--A House with a History--Narrow
Alleys and Secret Doors--Opium Smoking and its Effects--The
Highbinders--Celestial Theatricals--Chinese Festivals--The Brighter Side
of a Great City--A Mammoth Hotel and a Beautiful Park.
CHAPTER XIV.
BEFORE EMANCIPATION AND AFTER.
First Importation of Negro Slaves into America--The Original
Abolitionists--A Colored Enthusiast and a Coward--Origin of the word
"Secession"--John Brown's Fanaticism--Uncle Tom's Cabin--Faithful unto
Death--George Augustus Sala on the Negro who Lingered too long in the
Mill Pond.
CHAPTER XV.
OUR NATIONAL PARK.
A Delightful Rhapsody--Early History of Yellowstone Park--A Fish Story
which Convulsed Congress--The First White Man to Visit the Park--A Race
for Life--Philosophy of the Hot Springs--Mount Everts--From the Geysers
to Elk Park--Some Old Friends and New Ones--Yellowstone Lake--The
Angler's Paradise.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE HEROES OF THE IRON HORSE.
Honor to whom Honor is Due--A Class of Men Not Always Thoroughly
Appreciated at their Worth--An Amateur's Ride on a Flying
Locomotive--From Twelve Miles an Hour to Six Times that Speed--The
Signal Tower and the Men who Work in it--Stealing a Train--A Race with
Steam--Stories about Bewitched Locomotives and Providential Escapes.
CHAPTER XVII.
A RAILROAD TO THE CLOUDS.
Early History of Manitou--Zebulon Pike's Important Discovery--A Young
Medicine Man's Peril and Final Triumph--A Health Resort in Years Gone
By--The Garden of the Gods--The Railroad up Pike's Peak--Early Failures
and Final Success--The Most Remarkable Road in the World--Riding Above
the Clouds.
CHAPTER XVIII.
INTO THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH.
The Grand Cañon of the Colorado--Niagara Outdone--The Course of the
Colorado River--A Survey Party Through the Cañon--Experiences of a
Terrible Night--Wonderful Contrasts of Color in the Massive Rocks--A
Natural Wall a Thousand Feet High--Hieroglyphics which have Never been
Deciphered--Relics of a Superior Race--Conjecture as to the Origin of
the Ancient Bearded White Men.
CHAPTER XIX.
OUR GREAT WATERWAYS.
Importance of Rivers to Commerce a Generation Ago--The Ideal River
Man--The Great Mississippi River and its Importance to our Native
Land--The Treacherous Missouri--A First Mate who Found a Cook's Disguise
very Convenient--How a Second Mate got over the Inconvenience of
Temporary Financial Embarrassment.
CHAPTER XX.
THROUGH THE GREAT NORTHWEST.
The Importance of Some of our Newest States--Romantic History of
Montana--The Bad Lands and their Exact Opposite--Civilization Away Up in
the Mountains--Indians who have Never Quarreled with White
Men--Traditions Concerning Mount Tacoma--Wonderful Towns of the Extreme
Northwest--A State Shaped like a Large Chair--The Falls of Shoshone.
CHAPTER XXI.
IN THE WARM SOUTHEAST.
Florida and its Appropriate Name--The First Portions of North America
Discovered by White Men--Early Vicissitudes of its Explorers--An
Enormous Coast Line--How Key West came to be a great Cigar Town--The
Suwanee River--St. Augustine and its World-Renowned Hotel--Old Fort
Marion.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Statue to Minute Man
Interior of Independence Hall, Philadelphia
Tomb of General Grant, Riverside Park
A Memory of Rip Van Winkle
The Exact Center of United States
Brigham Young's Grave, Salt Lake City
Chief Rain-in-the-Face and his Favorite Pony
The Cowboy as He Is
Civilized Indians
An Uncivilized Savage
The Belle of the Pueblo
Custer Battlefield and Monument
The Old French Market at New Orleans
The Prettiest Chinese Woman in America
Yellowstone Falls
In and Around Yellowstone Park
A Marvel of Magnificence
Climbing Pike's Peak by Rail
Hieroglyphic Memoirs of Past Ages
A Fin de Siecle Pleasure Steamer
Whaleback Steamer on the Lakes
Two Views of Mount Tacoma
A Restful Southern Home
MY NATIVE LAND.
CHAPTER I.
OUR NATION'S BIRTH.
The Story of Liberty Bell--Impartial Opinions on the Revolutionary
War--The Shot that was Heard Around the World--The First Committee of
Safety--A Defeat which Equaled a Victory--Washington's Earnestness--To
Congress on Horseback--The First 4th of July Celebration.
It was not until April 19th, 1775, that the shot was fired which was
"heard around the world." But the struggle for American Independence was
really started nearly a quarter of a century earlier, when on the
afternoon of August 27th, 1753, Liberty Bell was rung to call together
the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania.
In the old days of town meetings, training days, town schools and
Puritans, bells took a more prominent part in public affairs than they
do to-day. It was usual to call the people together for purposes of
deliberation by means of a village or town bell, and of these bells the
one to which we refer was the most important and interesting. Liberty
Bell is well named. It was ordered in the year 1751, and it was
delivered a year later. Shortly afterwards, it cracked, and had to be
recast, but in June, 1753, it was finally hung in the Pennsylvania State
House at Philadelphia. It has never been removed from the building
except on two occasions. The first of these was in 1777, when it was
taken to Allentown for safety, and the second in 1885, when it was
exhibited at New Orleans.
This bell, which sounded the death-blow to tyranny and oppression, was
first rung to call together the Assembly, which immediately resolved to
insist upon certain rights which had been denied the colonists by the
British Crown. Eighteen months later, it was again rung to announce the
meeting at which the rights of the colonists were sternly defined and
insisted upon. In 1765, it convened the meeting of the Assembly at which
it was resolved to be represented at the Congress of the Colonies in New
York, and a month later it was muffled and tolled when the "Royal
Charlotte" arrived, bearing the much hated stamps, whose landing was not
permitted. Again it rang muffled, when the Stamp Act went into
operation, and when the people publicly burned stamp papers. In 1768,
the Liberty Bell called a meeting of the men of Philadelphia, who
protested once again against the oppression of government without
representation. In 1771, it called the Assembly together to petition the
King of England for the repeal of the duty on tea, and two years later
it summoned together the largest crowd ever seen in Philadelphia up to
that date. At that meeting it was resolved that the ship "Polly," loaded
with tea, should not be allowed to land.
In 1774, the bell was muffled and tolled on the closing of the Port of
Boston, and in the following year it convened the memorable meeting
following the battle of Lexington. On this occasion 8,000 people
assembled in the State House yard and unanimously agreed to associate
for the purpose of defending, with arms, their lives, liberty and
property against all attempts to deprive them of them. In June, 1776,
Liberty Bell announced the submission to Congress of the draft of the
Declaration of Independence, and on July 4th of the same year, the same
bell announced the signing of the Declaration. On July 8th of the same
year, the bell was tolled vigorously for the great proclamation of
America's Independence. The tolling was suspended while the Declaration
was read, and was once more rung when that immortal document had been
thus formally promulgated.
In April, 1783, Liberty Bell rang the proclamation of Peace, and on July
4th, 1826, it ushered in the year of Jubilee.
The last tolling of the bell was in July, 1835, when, while slowly
tolling, and without any apparent reason, the bell, which had played
such an important part in the War of Independence, and in the securing
of liberty for the people of this great country, parted through its
side, making a large rent, which can still be clearly seen. It was as
though the bell realized that its great task was accomplished, and that
it could leave to other and younger bells, the minor duties which
remained to be performed.
This is not a history of the United States, but is rather a description
of some of the most interesting and remarkable features to be found in
various parts of it. It is difficult, however, to describe scenes and
buildings without at least brief historical reference, and as we present
an excellent illustration of the apartment in which the Declaration of
Independence was signed, we are compelled to make a brief reference to
the circumstances and events which preceded that most important event in
the world's history.
As we have seen, the conflict between the home country and the colonies
commenced long before there was any actual outbreak. As Mr. Thomas
Wentworth Higginson so graphically expresses it, the surrender of Canada
to England by France in 1763 suddenly opened men's eyes to the fact that
British America had become a country so large as to make England seem
ridiculously small. Even the cool-headed Dr. Franklin, writing that same
year to Mary Stevenson in London, spoke of England as "that stone in a
brook, scarce enough of it above water to keep one's shoes dry." A
far-seeing French statesman of the period looked at the matter in the
same way. Choiseul, the Prime Minister who ceded Canada, claimed
afterwards that he had done it in order to destroy the British nation by
creating for it a rival. This assertion was not made till ten years
later, and may very likely have been an afterthought, but it was
destined to be confirmed by the facts.
We have now to deal with the outbreak of a contest which was, according
to the greatest of the English statesmen of the period, "a most
accursed, wicked, barbarous, cruel, unnatural, unjust, and diabolical
war." No American writer ever employed to describe it a combination of
adjectives so vigorous as those brought together by the elder Pitt,
afterwards Lord Chatham. The rights for which Americans fought seemed to
him to be the common rights of Englishmen, and many Englishmen thought
the same.
On the other hand, we are now able to do justice to those American
Loyalists who honestly believed that the attempt at independence was a
mad one, and who sacrificed all they had rather than rebel against their
King. Massachusettensis, the well-known Tory pamphleteer, wrote that the
annals of the world had not been deformed with a single instance of so
unnatural, so causeless, so wanton, so wicked a rebellion.
These strong epithets used on both sides show how strangely opinions
were divided as to the rebellion and its causes. Some of the first
statesmen of England defended the colonists, and some of the best known
men in the colonies defended England.
The City of Boston at this time had a population of about seventeen
thousand, as compared with some half a million to-day. In its garrison
there were three thousand British troops, and the laws of Parliament
were enforced rigidly. The city suffered temporary commercial death in
consequence, and there were the most vigorous efforts made to prevent an
open outbreak of hostilities. In January, 1775, a conflict was barely
averted at Marshfield, and in the following month the situation was so
strained at Salem that nothing but great forbearance and presence of
mind on the part of the colonists prevented bloodshed. The Boston
massacre of less than five years before was still uppermost in men's
thoughts, and it was determined that the responsibility of the first
shot in the war, if war there must be, should rest with the Royal
troops.
Accordingly, the colonists accepted insult and abuse until they were
suspected by the British troops of cowardice. One officer wrote home
telling his friends that there was no danger of war, because the
colonists were bullies, but not fighters, adding that any two regiments
ought to be decimated which could not beat the entire force arrayed
against them. But the conflict could not be long delayed. It was on
April 18th, 1775, that Paul Revere rode his famous ride. He had seen the
two lights in a church steeple in Boston, which had been agreed upon as
a signal that the British troops were about to seize the supplies of the
patriots at Concord. Sergeant Monroe's caution against making
unnecessary noise, was met by his rejoinder, "You will have noise enough
here before long--the regulars are coming out."
Then he commenced his ride for life, or, rather, for the lives of
others. We all know the result of his ride, and how church bells were
tolled and signal shots fired to warn the people that the soldiers were
coming. It was a night of tumult and horror, no one knowing what
brutality they had to expect from the now enraged British soldiers. The
women of the towns, warned by the pre-arranged signals, hurried their
children from their homes, and fled to farm houses, and even barns in
the vicinity. Before daybreak the British troops had reached Lexington
Green. Here they found Captain Parker and 38 men standing up before
twenty times that number of armed troops, indifferent as to their fate,
but determined to protect their cause and their friends. The Captain's
words have passed into history. They took the form of an order to the
men:
"Don't fire unless you are fired on; but, if they want a war, let it
begin here."
History tells us of few such unequal contests as this. The troops fired
on the gallant little band, and seven of their number were killed. The
fight at Concord followed, when 450 Americans met the British troops at
the North Bridge, where
"Once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard around the world."
The British detachment was beaten back in disorder, but the main body
was too strong to be attacked. The minute men, however, made a most
magnificent fight, and at the close of the day they had killed 273
British soldiers, only 93 of their own number being among the killed or
missing.
Thus commenced the War of Independence, the event being described by Dr.
Joseph Warren in a document of sufficient interest to warrant its
reproduction in full.
"The barbarous murders committed on our innocent brethren," wrote the
doctor, "have made it absolutely necessary that we immediately raise an
army to defend our wives and our children from the butchering hands of
an inhuman soldiery, who, incensed at the obstacles they met with in
their bloody progress, and enraged at being repulsed from the field of
slaughter, will, without the least doubt, take the first opportunity in
their power to ravage this devoted country with fire and sword. We
conjure you, therefore, by all that is dear, by all that is sacred, that
you give all assistance possible in forming an army. Our all is at
stake. Death and devastation are the instant consequences of delay.
Every moment is infinitely precious. An hour lost may deluge our country
in blood, and entail perpetual slavery upon the few of your posterity
who may survive the carnage. We beg and entreat, as you will answer to
your country, to your own consciences, and, above all, as you will
answer to God himself, that you will hasten and encourage, by all
possible means, the enlistment of men to form an army, and send them
forward to headquarters at Cambridge, with that expedition which the
vast importance and instant urgency of the affair demand."
Two days after the fight, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety resolved
to enlist 8,000 men, an event which our old friend Liberty Bell
celebrated by a vigorous tolling. All over the colonies a spirit of
determination to resist spread like lightning, and the shot that was
heard around the world was certainly heard very distinctly in every nook
and corner of New England, and of the old Atlantic States. Naturally,
there was at first a lack of concentration and even of discipline; but
what was lacking in these features was more than made up for by bravery
and determination. As John Adams wrote in 1818, the army at Cambridge at
this time was not a National army, for there was no nation. It was not
even an army of the United Colonies, because the Congress at
Philadelphia had not adopted or acknowledged the army at Cambridge. It
was not even the New England army, for each State had its separate
armies, which had united to imprison the British army in Boston. There
was not even the Commander-in-Chief of the allied armies.
These anomalies, of course, righted themselves rapidly. Gage's
proclamation of martial law expedited the battle at Bunker Hill, which
was brought about by the impatience of the British troops, and by the
increased confidence among the colonists, resulting from the fights at
Lexington and Concord. It is true, of course, that the untrained
American troops failed to vanquish the British army at Bunker Hill, but
the monument at that spot celebrates the fact that for two hours the
attacks of the regulars were withstood. A prominent English newspaper
described the battle as one of innumerable errors on the part of the
British. As William Tudor wrote so graphically, "The Ministerial troops
gained the hill, but were victorious losers. A few more such victories
and they are undone." Many writers have been credited with the
authorship of a similar sentiment, written from the American standpoint.
"It is true that we were beaten, but it will not take many such defeats
to accomplish a magnificent victory."
What began to be known as the great American army increased in strength.
It was adopted by Congress, and George Washington placed in command.
Under the historic elm tree at Cambridge, Mass., which was the scene of
so many important councils in the first hours of the life of the United
States, he assumed the authority bestowed upon him with this office, and
a week later he held a council with his officers. He found some 17,000
men at his command, whom he described as a mixed multitude of people
under very little discipline.
William Emerson, grandfather of the great poet, in a soliloquy on the
strange turn events had taken, said "Who would have thought, twelve
months past, that all Cambridge and Charleston would be covered over
with American camps and cut up into forts and entrenchments, and all the
lands, fields and orchards laid common, with horses and cattle feeding
on the choicest mowing land, and large parks of well-regulated locusts
cut down for firewood. This, I must say, looks a little melancholy. It
is very diverting to walk among the camps. They are as different in
their look as the owners are in their dress, and every tent is a
portraiture of the temper and tastes of the persons who encamp in it.
Some are made of boards and some of sailcloth; some partly of one and
some partly of the other; again, others are made of stone and turf,
brick or brush. Some are thrown up in a hurry, others curiously wrought
with doors and windows, done with wreaths and withes, in the manner of a
basket. Some are proper tents, looking like the regular camp of the
enemy. In these are the Rhode Islanders, who are furnished with tent
equipages and everything in the most exact English style. However, I
think this great variety is rather a beauty than a blemish in the army."
As was to be expected, there was more or less of a lack of harmony and
unity among the companies of men collected together to form an army to
fight for liberty. History tells us that there was even a little
jealousy between the four New England colonies. There was also a good
deal of distrust of Washington. It was argued that at least one-third of
the class from which he came had Tory and Royalist inclinations, and
what guarantee had they that Washington was not one of their number?
Washington himself found that those who styled themselves in old country
parlance "The Gentry," were loyal to King George rather than to the
colonies, and while his own men were inclined, at times, to doubt the
sincerity of the Father of his Country, the very men with whom he was
suspected of being in sympathy were denouncing him with vigor.
Washington, to his lasting credit be it said, was indifferent both to
praise and censure. Seeing that discipline was the one thing needful, he
commenced to enforce it with an iron hand. He declined any remuneration,
and gave his services freely to the cause. He found himself short of
ammunition, and several times he lost a number of his men. In the spring
of 1776, Washington went to New York with his Continental army. Here he
found new difficulties, and met with a series of mishaps. The failure of
the advance into Canada during the winter had hurt materially, but the
bravery of the troops in the Carolinas came as a grand encouragement.
We need not trace further the progress of the war, or note how, through
many discouragements and difficulties, the cause of right was made to
triumph over the cause of might. We will pass on to note a few of the
interesting facts in connection with the signing of the Declaration of
Independence. To-day, our Senators and Congressmen travel to the
National Capital in Pullman cars, surrounded by every luxury that wealth
and influence can bring them.
In the days of the Continental Congress it required a good deal more
nerve to fulfill one's duty. The delegate had to journey to Congress on
horseback. Sometimes he could find a little country inn at which he
could sleep at night, but at others he had to camp in the open as best
he could. Frequently a friendly warning would cause him to make a detour
of several miles in order to escape some threatened danger, and,
altogether, his march to the capital was far from being triumphant.
At this particular period the difficulties were more than usually great.
The delegates arrived at Philadelphia jaded and tired. They found stable
room for their horses, made the best toilet possible, and found their
way at once to Independence Hall, where opinions were exchanged. On the
7th of June, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia submitted a series of
resolutions, under the instructions of the Virginia Assembly--resolutions
which, it may be stated, pledged the colonies to carry on the war until
the English were entirely driven out of the country. Congress declared
deliberately that the United States was absolved from all allegiance to
the British Crown, and it then proceeded to burn its bridges, by
declaring the expediency of taking effectual measures for forming foreign
alliances. John Adams seconded the resolutions, which were not passed
without debate.
Delegates from New York, Pennsylvania and South Carolina opposed the
proposition very vigorously, one member stating that it required the
impudence of a New Englander for them, in their disjointed state, to
propose a treaty to a nation now at peace; that no reason could be
assigned for pressing this measure but the reason of every madman--a
show of spirit. John Adams defended the resolutions, claiming that they
proclaimed objects of the most stupendous magnitude, in which the lives
and liberties of millions yet unborn were infinitely interested.
Finally, the consideration was postponed, to be passed almost
unanimously on July 2d. John Adams was most enthusiastic over this
result, and, writing to his wife on the subject, he said:
"The 2d day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the
history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by
succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be
commemorated as a day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God
Almighty, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time
forward, forevermore."
But although the day referred to by John Adams saw the thirteen colonies
become independent States, it is July the 4th that the country
celebrates. On that day the Declaration of Independence was promulgated.
This marvelous document was prepared by Jefferson in a small brick
house, which then stood out in the fields, but which is now known as the
southwest corner of Market and Seventh Streets, Philadelphia. It is
situated within about four hundred yards of Independence Square. In his
little room in this house, on a very small writing desk, which is still
in existence, Jefferson drafted the title deed of our liberties. He
wrote without reference of any kind, merely placing upon paper the
succession of thoughts which had been paramount in his mind for years.
In the original document, as submitted by Jefferson, there appeared a
stern condemnation of the "piratical warfare against human nature
itself," as slavery was described. This was stricken out by Congress,
and finally the document, as amended, was adopted by the vote of twelve
colonies, New York declining to vote.
We give an illustration of the Interior of Independence Hall. Here it
was that the Declaration was signed. According to some authorities the
signing did not take place on July 4th, while according to others it
did. Some records seem to show that fifty-four of the fifty-six names
were attached to the parchment on August 2d. Jefferson frequently stated
that the signing of the Declaration was hastened by a very trivial
circumstance. Near the Hall there was a large stable, where flies
abounded. All the delegates wore silk stockings, and were thus in a
condition to be easily annoyed by flies. The heat was intolerable, and a
tremendous invasion by the little pests, who were not retarded by fly
screens or mosquito bars, drove the legislators almost frantic, and
caused them to append their signatures to the document with almost
indecent haste.
However this may be, the Declaration was finally signed, and Liberty
Bell proclaimed the fact to all within hearing. John Hancock, we are
told, referred to his almost schoolboy signature with a smile, saying
that John Bull could read his name without spectacles. Franklin is said
to have remarked that they must all hang together, or else most
assuredly they would all hang separately--a play upon words showing that
the patriot's sense of humor was too admirably developed to be dimmed
even by an event of this magnitude.
There were rejoicings on every hand that the great act had been
accomplished. A very pleasing story tells of how an aged bell-ringer
waited breathlessly to announce to waking thousands the vote of
Congress. This story has since been denied, and it seems evident that
the vote was not announced until the following day, when circulars were
issued to the people. On July 6th, the Declaration was printed in a
Philadelphia newspaper, and on the 8th, John Nixon read the Declaration
in the yard of Independence Hall. On the same day, the Royal Arms over
the door of the Supreme Court Room were torn down, and the trophies thus
secured burned.
The first 4th of July celebration of which we have any record, took
place two years after the signing. General Howe had left the city
shortly before, and every one was feeling bright and happy. In the diary
of one of the old patriots who took part in this unique celebration,
appears the following quaint, and even picturesque, description of the
events of the day:
"On the glorious 4th of July (1778), I celebrated in the City Tavern,
with my brother delegates of Congress and a number of other gentlemen,
amounting, in whole, to about eighty, the anniversary of Independency.
The entertainment was elegant and well conducted. There were four tables
spread; two of them extended the whole length of the room; the other two
crossed them at right angles. At the end of the room, opposite the upper
table, was erected an Orchestra. At the head of the upper table, and at
the President's right hand, stood a large baked pudding, in the center
of which was planted a staff, on which was displayed a crimson flag, in
the midst of which was this emblematic device: An eye, denoting
Providence; a label, on which was inscribed, 'An appeal to Heaven;' a
man with a drawn sword in his hand, and in the other the Declaration of
Independence, and at his feet a scroll inscribed, 'The declaratory
acts.' As soon as the dinner began, the music, consisting of clarionets,
hautboys, French horns, violins and bass-viols, opened and continued,
making proper pauses, until it was finished. Then the toasts, followed
by a discharge of field-pieces, were drank, and so the afternoon ended.
On the evening there was a cold collation and a brilliant exhibition of
fireworks. The street was crowded with people during the exhibition.
"What a strange vicissitude in human affairs! These, but a few years
since colonies of Great Britain, are now free, sovereign, and
independent States, and now celebrate the anniversary of their
independence in the very city where, but a day or two before, General
Howe exhibited his ridiculous Champhaitre."
Independence Hall remains to-day in a marvelous state of preservation.
At the great Centennial Exposition, held to celebrate the hundredth
anniversary of the events to which we have alluded in this chapter, tens
of thousands of people passed through the room in which the Declaration
of Independence was signed, and gazed with mingled feelings upon the
historical bell, which, although it had long outlived its usefulness,
had in days gone by done such grand proclaiming of noble truth,
sentiment and action. Up to quite a recent date, justice was
administered in the old building, but most of the courts have now been
moved to the stately structure modern Philadelphia is now erecting at
the cost of some $16,000,000.
Independence Hall and Independence Square are lovingly cared for, and
visitors from all nations are careful to include them both in their tour
of sight-seeing while in this country. Within the Hall they find old
parchments and Eighteenth Century curiosities almost without number, and
antiquarians find sufficient to interest and amuse them for several days
in succession. Every lover of his native land, no matter what that land
may be, raises his hat in reverence when in this ancient and
memory-inspiring building, and he must be thoughtless, indeed, who can
pass through it without paying at least a mental tribute of respect to
the memories of the men who were present at the birth of the greatest
nation the world has ever seen, and who secured for the people of the
United States absolute liberty.
The illustration of the interior of Independence Hall on page 17, was
furnished for use in this work by the National Company of St. Louis,
publishers of "Our Own Country," a large work descriptive of a tour
throughout the most picturesque sections of the United States. The
letter-press in "Our Own Country" was written by the author of this
work, and it is one of the finest tributes to the picturesqueness of
America that has ever been published. Other illustrations in this work
were also kindly supplied by the same publishing house.