The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1874-10-08

1AAu Iuo SuduOHS III Lno grove,
How sweet to wander side by side,
With those we dearly lovei
THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.
At the celebration of the hundredth
anniversary Of the assembling of the
Continental Congress, at Carpenters'
Hall, Philadelphia, the beginning Of
last month, an eloquent Grafton was
delivered by Henry A. Brown, ESQ.,,
from which we take the following in
teresting extract-which follows q
description of the stirring events that
preceded the meeting of the Cont
mental Congress
''The fifth day of September d.wns
at last. AT 10 in the morning the
delegates assemble at the Merchants
Coffee House. From that point they
march on foot along the street until
they reach the threshold of this hall.
And what q memorable procession
The young men cluster around them.
as they pass, for these are their chosen
leaders in the struggle that has come.
The women peep at them wondering
ly from the bowed windows of their
low-roofed houses, little dreaming,
perhaps, that these are the fathers of
a republic, for the sake of which their
hearts are soon to be wrung and their
homes made desolate. Here a royal
list -"Tory' he is soon to be called
turns out for them to pass, scarcely
attempting to hide the sneer that
trembles on his lips, or some stern
browed Friend, man of peace, his
broad-brimmed hat set firmly on his
head, goes by, with measured foot
steps, on the other side. Yonder
urchin, playing by the roadside, turns
his head suddenly to stare at this
stately company. Does he dream of
the wonders he shall live to see? Men
whose names his children shall revere
through all descending generations
have brushed by him while he play
ed, and yet he knows them not. And
50 along the street, and down the
narrow court and up the broad steps,
the Congress takes its way. The place
Of meeting has been we'll chosen.
Some of the Pennsylvanians would
have preferred the State House; but
that is the seat of Government, and
the Assembly which has adjournedhas
made no provision for the meeting of
Congress there. Here, too, have been
held the town meetings at which the
people have protested against the &C.
ton of Parliament, and the Carpen-
ters' Company, which owns the hall,
is made up of the friends of liberty.
They have offered their hall to the
delegates, and the place seems fit. It
is "a spacious hail. says one of them,
and above there is a chamber, with
an excellent library "a convenient
chamber opposite to this, and q long
entry where gentlemen may walk
The question is put whether the gen.
tlemen are satisfied, and passed in the
affirmative; the members are soon
seated, and the doors are shut.
"The silence is first broken by Mr..
Lynch of South Caroline. There is a
gentleman present. he says, who has
presided with great dignity over avery
respectable society, and greatly to the
advantage of America, and he 'moves
that the Hon. Peyton Randolph
Esq, one of the delegates from Viz
ginia, be appointed chairman HI
doubts not it will be unanimous. /
is so, and yonder large, well-lookin}
man. carefully dressed and with veil
powdered wig, rises and takes tn
chair. The commissions of the dele
gates are then produced and read, af
ter which Mr.. Lynch nominates a
secretary Mr.. Charles Thompson, 8.
gentleman he says, of family, for
tune, and character And thereup
on, with that singular wisdom whicl
our early statesmen showed in thei
selection of men for all posts Of re
sponsibility, the Congress calls int
his country's service that admirabl
man, the Sam Adams of Philadelph
ia and the life of the cause of libe1
ty.'
"While the preliminaries are bt
ing dispatched, let us take q look a
this company, forit is themost extrao1
dinary assemblage America has eve
seen. There are fifty delegates pre-
ent, the representatives of eleven co
onies. Georgia has had no election
the North Caf6linians have not u
arrived, and John Dickinson, tn,
shadow, slender as reed, and pa
as ashes,' that Pennsylvania farme
who has sown the seeds of empire,
not member yet. Directly in from
in seat of prominence, sits Richa,
Henry Lee. His brilliant eye an
Roman profile would make him
marked man in any company. o.
hand has been injured, and is wra
ped, as you see, in q covering of bla'
silk, but, when he speaks, his NOV
ments are SO graceful and his vol
so sweet that you forget the defect
gesture, for be is an orator-the gre.
est in America, perhaps, save on
J., one. That tall man, with the swartl
face, and black, unpowdered, hair,