Excerpt from Notes on the History of the Old State House: Formerly Known as the Town House in Boston the Court House in Boston the Province Court House the State House and the City Hall The kind, I may say cordial, reception given to my former paper of Notes on the History of the Old State House has encouraged me again to take up the thread and follow out the subject. I broke off at that point in the history, when in November, 1776, the Legislature of the State of Massachusetts Bay met for the first time within these walls. No longer Colony or Province, but State! No longer awaiting any "accommodation" with royal authority, but then and thereafter one of the great Union of free and independent States of America - that body of States in union to whom thenceforward belonged the sovereignty which the King of Great Britain was obliged to relinquish. The change of name was significant and it was not reached or established without " great searchings of heart," even in Massachusetts, where rebellion is said to have been at a premium at a very early date. As we review the history of this venerated structure, we cannot fail to recall those men of old whose names are identified with its ancient glories. "There were giants in those days." I am not aware that its doors were ever darkened by Kings or Princes of the earth - excepting when the chiefs of native tribes of Indians may have stood here as delegates of their people or as prisoners and hostages. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.