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that it is one of the most extensive and important in the United States. It has its grand depot at No. 39 Beekman street, New York. Of their unexcelled presses we shall doubtless speak in due time; but for the present we must be content to tell of their Centennial Hall. The engraving on page 477 conveys a better idea than we can give in words of the extent and plan of the edifice itself; within it the Company will exhibit all their specialties in printing-presses, from the immense and wonder-working" Rotary" to the smallest card presses. But it is not merely an exhibition of presses that the Company design-within this edifice they are carrying on a great Printing Establishment: setting up the type, stereotyping, electrotyping, printing, and binding are carried on in all the details; a daily newspaper is edited, set-up and printed-the most noticeable feature of the entire Exposition, and one that will be highly appreciated by the visitors, who will doubtless prize the more a paper published as a part of the Grand Centennial. The Company have been granted the special privilege of printing anything, from business cards and handbills up to Catalogues for exhibitors and others, and guarantee perfect satisfaction on the part of their patrons.

There are many more buildings in the Centennial Grounds calling for honorable mention, and we expect to accord them all ample space, but we must now pass outside the enclosure, to speak briefly of two vast structures which have been projected and built by one of Philadelphia's most successful and enterprising builders, John Crump, Esq. Some of the noblest edifices in Philadelphia are the product of his skill and labor-for instances, we will mention two which are elsewhere noticed in these Memoranda, namely, the Commercial Exchange and the Union League. In approaching the Grounds along the noble Belmont avenue, on our left we see the immense, extensive, imposing, and attractive Palace, The Globe, which is one of the largest and most complete Hotels in the world. The exterior, handsome and imposing as it is, we find much excelled by the interior, which fully justifies our calling it a palace; but beauty and elegance are of little moment to the visitor as compared with comfort and convenience, and in these respects the Globe is positively perfect. It stands just outside the main entrance to the Centennial Grounds, and at its western front is the new Centennial Depot of the Pennsylvania Railroad, while the Passenger Railways pass by the eastern front, and have their terminus within a few steps of the hotel. The arrangement of the interior is admirable, and the management is entrusted to Mr. John A. Rice, one of the most successful and popular hotel-keepers of the country, who has secured the best assistants in every department, including a caterer who has no superior and cooks who cannot be excelled, Altogether, the Globe is a grand hotel of the first class, and we predict for it a full house beyond the 10th of November

next.

But Mr. Crump's peculiar genius as a hotel-projector can. not be fully appreciated until we inspect his wonderful caravansary which he calls The Atlas Hotel. We have purposely included in the view on page 480, besides the Hotel, only the Pennsylvania Railroad Depot and the principal Centennial Buildings, as our object is to convey an idea of the extent of this most extensive hotel and of its convenient location. The wide street upon which it fronts is Fifty

second street, the broad avenue along the side facing us is Columbia avenue, on the other side is Viola street, and Fiftyfirst street intersects the hotel as shown in the view, giving a fine frontage to the dining-hall, which is upon the first floor of the large building on the eastern side of Fifty-first street. This dining-hall is 208 by 160 feet. The dormitories are each 16 feet by 14, and are all upon two floors, the hotel being divided off into 34 cottages, connected by a broad corridor running down the centre from the main building, in which are the offices, parlors, etc., with additional guestchambers above. The plan of this hotel strikes us most favorably; the arrangement of the rooms in cottages with intervening alleyways, insures privacy and an ample supply of light and air, while the connecting corridor affords easy intercommunication and makes one hotel out of 34 private homes; the guests thus secure home-comforts combined with hotel-conveniences. There are in all 1500 separate rooms, and the establishment can accommodate 5000 guests. But the strongest claim of this hotel upon popular favor is to be found in the fact that visitors can live here as well and as cheaply as at their homes-the hotel is upon the " European Plan," and the charges are marvelously low, the more especially when we bear in mind that the rooms are handsomely and comfortably furnished and the table completely supplied with the best that the market affords, cooked and served in the most tempting style; our readers will be surprised, as we were, to learn that this admirably located, fitted and managed hotel charges but one dollar per day for lodging and twenty-five cents for a capital meal; the guest makes his selection from a very full bill of fare, and may exceed this price, but he can enjoy a hearty breakfast, dinner or supper for twenty-five cents. As to the management, we need but to say that Mr. Crump, whose reputation is national, as the proprietor and director of The Colonnade Hotel, superintends The Atlas Hotel personally, and has secured the assistance of the famous M. J. Riley as steward, while his headcook acquired experience by long service as the head-cook of the Palmer House, Chicago.

One of the curiosities of the city which has grown up around the Centennial Grounds is a Temperance Hotel. The moral courage evinced by Messrs. George Brothers & Co. in establishing The Maryland Temperance Hotel at Nos. 1214 and 1216 Belmont avenue, a little more than a square from the Main Entrance to the Centennial Grounds, merits and will doubtless receive the substantial endorsement and encouragement of Temperance men and women coming to the Centennial Exhibition. The hotel is not large, but it is neat and clean and well-kept, the table is well-provided, and every attention is paid to the comfort of guests.

Two brothers named Jordan have also opened a capital Restaurant and Dining-Room, on the Temperance plan, on Elm avenue, directly opposite the southeastern corner of the Main Exhibition Building, where they furnish excellent meals at city prices.

We have mentioned these two Temperance establishments because we think their projectors deserve the patronage of Temperance people, and because such people coming to the city will doubtless be gratified to know where to find congenial accommodations.

We propose to continue these sketches in our next number.

PUBLISHERS' DEPARTMENT.

Advertising One Page, each insertion, $25.00 | Advertising Eighth Page, each insertion, 8 5.00

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Potter's Complete Bible Encyclopedia; a Universal Treasury of Religious Knowledge, embracing, in one consecutive alphabetical order, a Bible Dictionary, an Ecclesiastical Dictionary, a Biographical Dictionary, and a Geographical Dictionary, together with an Appendix containing much Valuable Matter, an Index to Subjects incidentally Noticed, and an Index to the Engravings. Edited by the Rev. William Blackwood, D.D., LL.D., Author of "Blackwood's Comprehensive Aids to the Study of the Holy Bible," etc., Editor of "Brown's Self-Interpreting Bible," etc., with Valuable Contributions by Eminent Divines of the several Evangelical Denominations. With nearly 3000 Illustrative Engravings.

In this Department of the MONTHLY we cannot do better than give extracts from some of the hundreds of admirable reviews of this noble work which have appeared in the leading newspapers of this country.

The Baptist Union, New York.

The work aims to be both practical and popular. It is not burdened with terms, or references that would be of no value except to scholars. The pronunciation of words of doubtful or questionable orthoepy is given. As far as we have been able to see, it is also free from partisan or sectarian bias, facts being calmly and candidly stated. In the matter of illustrations it is exceedingly profuse. The cuts, as a general thing, are well executed and pleasing. The paper, which is toned and highly calendered, and the print, are all that could be desired. They reflect credit on American workmanship. As a work of reference on all subjects pertaining to Biblical literature it stands alone and foremost.

The New York Observer.

We welcome every well-conceived and well-directed effort to elucidate the Holy Volume, and to make its teachings more familiar to the people. This new Enclyclopedia has a wide range, taking up the doctrines, history, biography, and general Biblical literature, bringing to the illustration of the several subjects the results of the study and learning of the ages. We have examined many of the articles, and find them judiciously and carefully prepared, and we have no doubt that the work will be an important addition to the literature of the Bible. Dr. Blackwood, the editor, is a distinguished clergyman of the Presbyterian Church. The work is beautifully printed and profusely illustrated with good engravings on every variety of topics presented.

"

Outside of Back Cover, Inside

The Episcopal Register, Philadelphia.

50.00 40.00

This Encyclopedia is a very comprehensive one, practical and adapted to popular use. The editor, with his assistant, has evidently availed himself of the rich resources which the present time is bringing to light. Yet he employs them in a manner, which will make results of study and investigative available for all who can read the English tongue.

The Sunday-School Times, Philadelphia. This is not only a complete Bible Dictionary but presents all available information on the related subject of Eccles ology and General Religious Literature. It fills an unʊL, cupied place among books of Reference.

American Christian Review, Cincinnati.

This great work is more than a mere Encyclopedia, besides embracing everything of use in understanding the Bible, it is intended by the publishers to contain "all the available formation in the entire range of biblical, ecclesiastical and general religious literature from the earliest times to tr present day." It is not designed solely for ant:quarum scholars and highly educated ministers, but for practical se among the people. The information that has been locked up from the common people in numerous and costly books is here furnished in a form and at a price adapted to all. The pictorial illustrations are all of the highest order. They are necessarily numerous, and are not only appropriate, but beautiful embellishments. Everything needed to illustrate and clearly set forth the countries and peculiarites of the nations of the Old and New Testament times are resorted to and introduced by the artist, beautiful landscapes, dilag dated temples, persons, animals, monuments and remains of cities that in the olden time were centres of wealth, of great traffic and commercial influence.

The Central Baptist, St. Louis, Missouri. We risk nothing in saying that this will prove an invaloable aid to Bible students. It is not a mere dictionary, but a thesaurus of references in various departments of history, bie ography, geography, and archæology, adapting it to family and popular use, making it especially serviceable as an aid to the study of the International Sunday-school Series. Every intelligent teacher and advanced scholar should possess this treasury of religious knowledge. It is complete, ornate, and comprehensive, a splendid specimen of typography, engrafing, and paper.

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XIX. INDEPENDENCE HALL.

ON the south side of Chestnut street, bet veen | tolled on the occasion of the funeral of Caef Fifth and Sixth streets, in the City of Philadelphia, Justice Marshall, who died in Philadelphia: may be seen, in a state of excellent preservation, the venerable Pennsylvania State House, the erection of which was begun in 1732, and was fully completed in 1741. It was made after architectural plans furnished by Andrew Hamilton, who was Speaker of the Assembly, and chairman of the committee entrusted with the construction of the building. The State-House was so far advanced toward completion that it was occupied by the Legislature of Pennsylvania in 1735.

In 1750 the Legislature authorized the erection. of a tower on the south side of the State-House, in which to place a great bell, and the Speaker of the Assembly, Isaac Norris, in a letter to Robert Charles, of London, authorized the latter to purchase for the use of the Province a good bell of about a ton weight. In that order Mr. Norris directed the following words to be cast upon the bell:

"BY ORDER OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA, FOR THE STATE HOUSE IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, 1752."

And underneath, "PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND TO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF. LEV. XXV. 10."

The bell was cast according to directions, and weighed 2,080 pounds. It reached Philadelphia late in August, 1752, was set up, and in trying its tone it was cracked. Pass and Stow of Philadelphia recast it twice, when its tone was pronounced satisfactory, and it was placed in the tower early in the summer of 1753. On the 8th of July, 1776, when John Nixon, a member of the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania, read the Declaration of Independence from an observatory in State House Square, this bell, in the spirit of the injunction given in Leviticus, pealed out in sonorous language the great fact that Liberty had been proclaimed.

When, in 1777, the British army approached Philadelphia from the head of Elk, this bell was taken down and transported to Bethlehem for safety. In the summer of 1778, when the British evacuated Philadelphia, the bell was taken back and replaced in the tower, where it remained until within the last thirty years. Whilst being

July, 1835, the bell was cracked, and it became
useless after being tried on Washington's birth-day
in 1843. It was afterwards taken from the tower
and placed upon a temporary pedestal in the roun
in the State-House known as Independence H
It was afterwards placed upon a handsome.
decorated pedestal, where it remained until 1873.
when it was placed in the passage between it
dependence Hall and the room opposite occupied
as a National Museum.

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In 1735 or 1736, when the Assembly of Pennsylvania first occupied the State-House, they chose for their hall the east room on the first floor, and the west room, now occupied by the National Museum, was afterwards used as a hall of justice by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

The First Continental Congress, as is well known, occupied the Carpenters' Hall; the Second Congress met in the Assembly room of the StateHouse on the toth of May 1775, and it was used for that purpose by that body during its existence until 1789, whenever its sessions were held in Phil adelphia. In that room the resolution that declared the Independence of the colonies, and the form of the declaration of that independence were debated in the summer of 1776; and then the resolution and the declaration were therein adopted by the unanimous vote of the colonies. There also it was signed. Because of these circumstances it has ever since borne the name of Independence Hall.

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In that Hall two of the most Important events in the life of our Republic occurred. There the adoption of the resolution for and Declaration of Independence took place in 1776; and there the formation and adoption of the National Constitution-the organic law of our land-was performed in 1787. It is difficult to determine which of these events was the most vitally important in the establishment of the Republic. The former was a bold and well-considered expression of an intention of the colonists to found an independent nation; the latter, after a trial of a weak form of national life in a League of States, bearing in its constitution the seeds of dissolution, established the solid foundations of a real and vigorous nation, investing it with power and the element of sturdy growth. The former act

decreed the establishment of a new empire in the world, the latter ratified that decree, and in the autumn of 1787 finished the great work began in the summer of 1776.

A desire for independence was not a common feeling in the hearts of the English-American colonists twelve months before it was declared by their representatives in Congress assembled. In all their debates, petitions, remonstrances, and addresses, their representatives had steadily and most sincerely disclaimed a desire for political independence of Great Britain. That a few in that body, and elsewhere among the people, did desire such independence is true. No doubt Samuel Adams, and Christopher Gadsden, and a few others, had looked to such a result with exultant faith for more than ten years, but the great body of their fellow-countrymen were most sincerely loyal to the British crown; and not until late in 1775, when the respectful petition of the Congress had been treated by the sovereign and legislature of Great Britain with scorn, and it was known that there were negotiations on foot for the hire of foreign troops to enslave the Americans,

INDEPENDENCE CHAMBER.

did any considerable number of thinking men in the colonies openly express opinions favorable to independence.

When the imperial government sent great armies hither to enforce submission to injustice, and, in the language of the Declaration of Independence, "to plunder our seas, ravage our coasts, burn our towns, harass our people, and eat out their substance;" when that government became totally

66

deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity," the people here were obliged to "acquiesce in the necessity which compelled them to dissolve the political bands which connected them with the parent State, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitled them."

When, in the beginning of 1776, the King of England had proclaimed his American subjects to be "rebels;" rejected their respectful petition with disdain, and was preparing to send a military force hither, men of every station began to think and speak out boldly in favor of a dissolution of the political ties which bound the colonists to

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