!63 \ R46 »y l LIBRARY OF CONGRESS III I 011 782 280 1 A PATRIOTIC CELEBRATION One Hundred and Thirty-Third Anniversary Declaration of Independence ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS MAY 4th, 1776 PUBLIC CELEBRATION INAUGURATED BY The Rhode Island Citizens Historical Association EXERCISES Rhode Island Independence Day Monday, May 4th, 1909, at 3 P. M. Independence Hall, Old State House, No. Main Street PROVIDENCE, R. I. Music VIOLIN SOLO— Serenade Schubert- Eemenyi Miss Ella Beatrice Ball SOPRANO SOLO— Roger Williams . . . Emory P. Russell Miss Olive Emory Russell VIOLIN SOLO— Opus XI .... //. Vieuxtemps Miss Ball William Axrmos, Pianist HON. THOMAS W. BICKNELL, President of the Rhode Island Citizens Historical Association, will preside. I. SINGING— THE OLD HUNDREDTH PSALM, By the Congregation. II. PRAYER— REV. FRANK J. GOODWIN. Pawtucket, R. I. III. ADDRESS BY THOMAS W. BICKNELL, "The Declaration ot Independence Embodied in the Charter." IV. SINGING— "America," By the Congregation. V. READING OF THE ACT DECLARING OUR INDEPENDENCE- MR. HORATIO B. KNOX, State Normal School. VI. HISTORICAL ADDRESS BY HON. WILLIAM P. SHEFFIELD, United States House of Representatives. VII. ORIGINAL POEM— MRS. SARAH A. CHANDLER, Providence, R. I. VIII. ADDRESS BY HON. ARAM J. POTHIER, Governor of Rhode Island. IX. SINGING— "BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC." X. BENEDICTION. & declaration of Snbepenbence ftfje Colon? of &fjobe Manb anb $robtbence plantations €nactet> bp tfjc General assembly at QTfje <^lb £>tate House in $robtbence, ifflap 4, 1776 AN ACT, Repealing an act, entitled "An act, for the more effectually securing to His Majesty the allegiance of his subjects in this, his Colony and dominion of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." And altering the forms of Commissions, of all writs and processes in the Courts, and of the oaths prescribed bv law. Whereas, in all states, existing by compact, protection and allegiance are reciprocal, the latter being only due in consequence of the former ; and, Whereas, George jhe Third, King of Great Britain, forgetting his dignity, regardless of the compact most solemnly entered into, ratified and confirmed to the inhabitants of this Colony by his illustrious ancestors, and, ti" " f 'ate, fully recognized by him, and entirely departing from the duties and character of a ge •:••'. -":;:.,, instead Zl pTotecting, is endeavoring to destroy the good people of this Colony, and of all the United Colonies, by sending fleets and armies to America to confiscate our property, and spread fire, sword and desolation throughout our country, in order to compel us to submit to the most debasing and detestable tyranny ; whereby we are obliged by necessity, and it becomes our highest duty, to use every means with which God and nature have fur- nished us, in support of our inviolable rights and privileges, to oppose that power which is exerted only for our destruction. Be it therefore enacted by this General Assembly, and by the authority thereof it is enacted, that an act, entitled "An act for the more effectually securing to His Majesty the allegiance of his subjects, in this his Colony and dominion of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations," be, and the same is hereby repealed. And be it further enacted by this General Assembly, and by the authority thereof, it is enacted, that in all commissions for offices. Civil and Military, and in all writs and processes in law. whether original, judicial or executory, civil or criminal, whereon the name and authority of the said King is made use of, the same shall be omitted, and in the room thereof, the name and authority of the Governor and Company of this Colony shall be substituted in the following words, to wit : The Governor and Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island axu Providence Plantations. That all such commisions. writs and processes shall be otherwise of the same form and terms as they heretofore were; that the Courts of Law be no longer entitled nor considered as the King's Courts; and that no instrument in writing, of any nature or kind, whether public or private, shall, in the date thereof, mention the year of the said King's reign. Provided, nevertheless, that nothing in this act contained shall render void or vitiate any commission, writ, process or instrument heretofore made or executed, on account of the name and authority of the said King beinf therein inserted. AHTHOR OF DECLARATION, COL. JONATHAN ARNOLD. PROVIDENCf AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF THE FOURTH DAY OF MAY IN EACH YEAR It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: Section i. The fourth day of May in each and every year hereafter is hereby established, in this state, as "Rhode Island Independence Day;" — being a just tribute to the memory of the members of our general assem- bly, who, on the fourth day of May, 1776 — in the state house at Providence, passed an act renouncing alle- giance of the colony to the British Crown, and by the provisions of that act declaring it sovereign and indepen- dent ; — the first official act of its kind by any of the thirteen American colonies. Sec. 2. On each and every fourth day of May hereafter, except when the said day falls on the first day of the week (commonly called Sunday), then on the day following, the governor shall cause salutes of thirteen guns to be fired, at 12 o'clock, noon, by detachments of the state artillery, at all places in the state where sta- tioned, and shall cause a display of state and national flags on all armories and other state buildings from sun- rise tn sunset, in honor of "Rhode Island Independence Day." Sec. 3. The fourth day of May in each and every year hereafter is hereby established in the annual school calendar to be known as "Rhode Island Independence Day," and shall be observed with patriotic exer- cises in all the public schools of the state, as hereinafter named. It is also provided that when such clay shall fall on Saturday, or on Sunday, such patriotic school exercises shall be on the preceding or following days. respectively, 'as the case mav be. Sec. 4. The state Commissioner of Public Schools shall annually prepare a program of patriotic exer- cises for the proper observance of "Rhode Island Independence Day" in the schools, and shall furnish printed copies of the same to the school committees of the several cities and towns of the state, at least four weeks pre- vious to the fourth day of May in each year. Sec. 5. The fourth day of May as herein named shall in nowise be construed as a holiday. Sec. 6. This act shall take effect on its passage. Passed May ?6, 1908. ©nt imnbrebtfj Itealm All people that on earth do dwell Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice: Him serve with tear, His praise forth tell, Come ye before Him and rejoice. The Lord, ye know, is God indeed, Without our aid He did us make; We are His flock, He doth us feed, \nd for His sheep He doth us take. Oh, enter then His gates with praise, Approach with joy His courts unto; Praise, laud, and bless His name, always, For it is seemly so to do. For why? the Lord our God is good, His mercy is forever sure: His truth at all times firmly stood, And shall from age to age endure. Rattle $pmn of ttje Republic Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on. I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps, They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps. I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps; His day is marching on. I have road a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel: As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;" Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel. Since God is marching on. 1!.' has scum, led forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat: Oh, I"- swift, mj soul, to answer Him! be jubilant my r. el : Our God is marching on. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea. With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me; As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free: While God is marching on. America My country, tis of thee. Sweet land of Liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the Pilgrim's pride; From every mountain side Let freedom ring. My native country, thee, Land of the uoDle, iree, Thy name I love; I love thy rocks and rills. Thy woods and templed hills; My heart with rapture thrills Like that above. Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom's song; Let mortal tongues awake; Let all that breathe partake; Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong. Our fathers' God, to thee, Aaihoi of Liberty, To thee we sing; Long may our land be bright, With freedom's holy light; Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King. QLfyt &tar ^pangleb banner O say. can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous night, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming, And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air. Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say, does that star spangled banner yet wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. On that shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty hosts in .dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze o'er the towering steep As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines on the stream; It's the star spangled banner! O, long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a country should leave us no more? Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps pollution. Xo refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of Bight or the gloom of the grave. CHORUS. O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-resoued land Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto. "In God is our trust." CHORUS. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 782 280 1 Hollinger pH 83 Mfll Ran P03-2193