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THERebelFrancis Hopkinsonsigned the Declaration of Independence,designed the American flag, wrote somebiting satire, composed the nation’s firstsecular music, and got some props for hisscientific ingenuity. Not a bad career for theCollege’s first alumnus. BY SAMUEL HUGHESDecember 16, 1776. War has come tothe rebellious American colonies. TheHessian Jäger Corps has marched intoBordentown, New Jersey, a small townon the Delaware River just northeast ofPhiladelphia. Captain Johann Ewald, theregiment’s commander, enters a handsomebrick house known to belong to aprominent rebel. Its library is filled withnumerous pieces of “scientific apparatus”—and, of course, lots of books. One, titledDiscourses on Public Occasions in America,by the Rev. William Smith—the provost ofthe College of Philadelphia and a staunch,though nuanced, Loyalist—catches Ewald’seye, and he plucks it from the shelf. Afterriffling through the pages he takes a penand writes, in German and beneath thebookplate of the book’s owner:“This man was one of the greatestRebels, nevertheless, if we dare to concludefrom the library and mechanicaland mathematical instruments, he musthave been a very learned Man also.”The learned rebel was Francis HopkinsonC1757 G1760 Hon1790, a member of thefirst graduating class of the College ofPhiladelphia, which would soon becomethe University of Pennsylvania. Most ofthe mechanical instruments had been lentto him by the College’s founder, BenjaminFranklin, who would later bequeath themall to Hopkinson and make him an executorof his will.Being described as “one of the greatestRebels” must have been quite the complimentto the diminutive, delicate-featuredHopkinson. Consider the description ofhim by John Adams four months earlierin a letter to his wife, Abigail. Having justmet Hopkinson at Charles Willson Peale’sart studio, Adams described him as a“painter and a poet” who had been “liberallyeducated,” adding:I have a curiosity to penetrate a littledeeper into the bosom of this curiousgentleman, and may possibly give yousome more particulars about him. He isone of your pretty, little, curious, ingeniousmen. His head is not bigger than alarge apple … I have not met with anythingin natural history more amusingand entertaining than his personalappearance; yet he is genteel and wellbred,and is very social.ILLUSTRATION BY DAVID HOLLENBACHTHE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE MAY | JUNE 2012 49

Philadelphia. (The plan was conceived andthree leading satirists on the Whig side shall strive to persuade the people to put52 MAY | JUNE 2012 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTEof the American Revolution.” (Unlike theother two, John Trumbull and PhilipFreneau, Hopkinson “accomplished hiseffects without bitterness or violence.”)Some in Philadelphia knew that PeterGrievous was Francis Hopkinson. “Butto the members of the First ContinentalCongress, who did not know of this localwit and satirist, the story simply was anamazing allegorical account of Englandand the colonies,” noted George NicholsMarshall in Patriot with a Pen. “Manydelegates at the Congress bought copiesto mail home, and soon editor after editorbegan publishing it as a serial inlocal newspapers.”their trust in the rotten tree, and not todig it up, or remove it from its place. Andhe shall harangue with great vehemence,and shall tell them that a rotten tree isbetter than a found one; and that it isfor the benefit of the people that theNorth wind should blow upon it, andthat the branches thereof should be brokenand fall upon and crush them.And he shall receive from the king of theislands, fetters of gold and chains of silver;and he shall have hopes of great reward ifhe will fasten them on the necks of thepeople, and chain them to the trunk of therotten tree … And his words shall be sweetin the mouth, but very bitter in the belly.executed by David Bushnell, the inventorof the first American submarine and otheraquatic weapons, though Hopkinson—then chairman of the Continental NavyBoard’s Middle Department—and hisfather-in-law, Joseph Borden, probably hada hand in the operation.) The kegs didn’thit any of the British ships anchored inthe Delaware on account of all the ice, butthey did explode—apparently killing atleast one curious boy—and drew fire fromsome of the British troops.Shortly after the event, a suspiciouslytongue-in-cheek prose account of theepisode appeared in local newspapers:“Some reported that these kegs werefilled with armed rebels, who were toLong before the Revolution, Benjamin In case the point wasn’t clear, Hopkinson issue forth in the dead of night, as didFranklin and William Smith, the concluded:the Grecians of old from their woodenfounder of the College and hishorse at the siege of Troy, and take thehand-picked provost, had fallen out [“YourMost Obedient Servant: The ProvostSmith Papers,” April 1997]. For some yearsAnd Cato and his works shall be no moreremembered amongst them. For Cato shalldie, and his works shall follow him.city by surprise,” the author claimed,“whilst others asserted they … would,of themselves, ascend the wharves inafter his graduation, Hopkinson was ablethe night-time, and roll all flamingto stay friends with both. But when itBYthe winter of 1777-78, things through the streets of the city, destroyingevery thing in their way.”came time to take a stand, Hopkinsonwere looking pretty grim foremphatically sided with Franklin.the American cause. General From the British warships, “whole broadsidesIn “A Prophecy: Written in 1776”Hopkinson used a Biblical style to tell hisstory about a “new people” in a “far country,”who will soon be given a tree by the“king of islands.” But a certain “Northwind” will arise and “blast the tree, so thatit shall no longer yield its fruit, or affordshelter to the people, but it shall becomerotten at the heart …” Then, he wrote:William Howe’s British troops occupiedPhiladelphia, and George Washington’ssoldiers were freezing and dying atValley Forge. The rebellious spirits badlyneeded a lift.On January 5, a flotilla of kegs, filledwith gunpowder and designed to explodeon contact with anything they bumpedinto, was pushed into the Delaware Riverfrom a point several miles north ofwere poured into the Delaware,”and “not a wandering chip, stick, or driftlog, but felt the vigor of the British arms.”That day, the writer concluded, “mustever be distinguished in history for thememorable battle of the kegs.”The anonymous writer was almost certainlyHopkinson, who used the finalphrase as the title of the 88-line satiricalpoem that would be published in Thea prophet shall arise from amongst thispeople, and he shall exhort them, andinstruct them in all manner of wisdom,and many shall believe in him; and heshall wear spectacles upon his nose;and reverence and esteem shall restupon his brow.Just how much Franklin influencedHopkinson’s opinion of Smith is impossibleto say, but the bottom line is thatHopkinson had no qualms about penningsome harsh words about his oldprovost—whose series of letters signedCato had warned Pennsylvanians thatthey had “much to lose in this contest.”(Those letters were themselves aresponse to Thomas Paine’s “CommonSense.”) In Hopkinson’s “Prophecy,” theman who called himself CatoUNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

Pennsylvania Packet on March 4. (Tohear it read aloud, visit our website,www.upenn.edu/gazette.)“The Battle of the Kegs,” which even referencedHowe’s married Philadelphia mistress,“soon was read in papers all over thecolonies, memorized by regimental bardsand barroom buffoons,” noted GeorgeMarshall. “The account of the ridiculousBritish navy fighting an unseen enemy inthe Delaware burst the seams and tickledthe funny bones of the colonists.”Hopkinson’s merriment was only temporary,as in May of that year, anothertroop of British soldiers marched intoBordentown, and this time they pillagedhis house and burned that of his fatherin-law.“I have suffered much by the Invasion ofthe Goths & Vandals,” Hopkinson wrote toFranklin, then in France. “The Savagesplundered me to their Hearts’ content—but I do not repine, as I really esteem it anhonour to have suffered in my Country’sCause in Support of the Rights of humannature and of civil Society.”Hopkinson enclosed the “The Battle ofthe Kegs” and another satirical piece titled“Date Obolum Belesario,” to which Franklinreplied: “I thank you for the political Squibs;they are well made. I am glad to find suchplenty of good powder.”The poem became even more popularonce it was set to music. By July 10,1780, Continental Army Surgeon JamesThacher was writing in his journal aboutDesigns for Wine and CountryOn May 25, 1780, Francis Hopkinson submitted a request forpayment for certain “labours of fancy” to the Continental MarineCommittee and Board of Admiralty with the following comments:It is with great pleasure that I understand that my last Deviceof a Seal for the Board of Admiralty has met with your Honours’Approbation. I have with great Readiness, upon several Occasionsexerted my small Abilities in this Way for the public Service; &, as Iflatter myself, to the Satisfaction of those I wish’d to please, vizThe Flag of the United States of America7 Devices for the Continental CurrencyA Seal for the Board of TreasuryOrnaments, Devices & Checks for the new Bills of Exchangein Spain & HollandA Seal for the Ship Papers of the United StatesA Seal for the Board of AdmiraltyThe Borders, Ornaments & Checks for the new ContinentalCurrency now in the Press,—a Work of considerable LengthA great Seal for the United States of America, with a Reverse.—For these Services I have as yet made no Charge, nor receivedany Recompense. I now submit to your Honour’s Consideration,whether a Quarter Cask of the public Wine will be a proper & areasonable Reward for these Labours of Fancy and a suitableEncouragement to future Exertions of a like Nature.His claim to have designed the American flag—which he sometimesreferred to as the “Naval flag of the United States”—isn’tdoubted by those who have studied the matter. (Even the USPostal Service, which tries hard to avoid stepping into unsettledhistorical debates, honored Hopkinson as “Father of the Starsand Stripes” on Flag Day 20 years ago.) One of his designsplaced the stars in symmetrical rows, while another had them ina circle. True, they were six-pointed stars—probably taken froma festive evening near Passaic Falls inNew Jersey: “Our drums and fifes affordedus a favorite music till evening, whenwe were delighted with the song composedby Mr. Hopkinson, called, the‘Battle of the Kegs,’ sung in the beststyle by a number of gentlemen.”On December 11, 1781, less than twomonths after the decisive Battle of Yorktown,a musical work titled “The Templeof Minerva, An Oratorial Entertainment”was performed in Philadelphia. Amongthose in attendance were Anne-César Dela Luzerne, the French Ambassador to theUnited States; General and Martha Washingtonand General Nathanael Greene;and Hopkinson, the composer of the work.the family crest he brought back from a visit to England—not thefive-pointed stars that were eventually used in the flag sewn byBetsy Ross. But that’s a pretty minor adjustment.“Of all candidates, he is the most likely designer of the starsand stripes,” says Edward W. Richardson in Standards and Colorsof the American Revolution, while A History of the United StatesFlag, published by the Smithsonian Institution, states: “The journalsof the Continental Congress clearly show that [Hopkinson]designed the flag,” adding that the authors of that volume had“no question that he designed the flag of the United States.”And even though his enemies blocked all attempts to have himpaid for his services, “they never denied that he made the designs.”Hopkinson never did get his quarter-cask of wine, even thoughit seems, from this vantage point, a pretty reasonable recompensefor the time and graphic-design talent required—notto mention the enduring quality of some of the designs. TheCommissioners of the Chamber of Accounts concluded that thecharge was “reasonable and ought to be paid.” But he ran afoulof bureaucratic nitpicking and some personal animosity from hisenemies in the Board of Treasury, who said that he had neglectedto submit any vouchers supporting his requests. When he resubmittedthe bill, this time for money ($7,200, which sounds like alot but wasn’t, given the weak state of the dollar), the Board ofTreasury again postponed the matter, sniping that he “was notthe only person consulted on these exhibitions of fancy” and thus“wasn’t entitled to the full sum charged.” When he went to itsoffices in person, the door was literally slammed in his face.Congress appointed a committee to investigate the quarreland, when the Board of Treasury refused to appear before it,issued a report that lambasted the behavior of its secretary andtwo commissioners as “very reprehensible, extremely disgusting,and has destroyed all friendly communication of Counsels,and harmony in the execution of Public Affairs.” It recommendedthe dismissal of all three men, but that too got bogged downin bureaucratic torpor. All this while a war was going on. —S.H.THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE MAY | JUNE 2012 53

had to tailor his lines around their works.Originally titled “America Independent,” the victorious generals. But while a review54 MAY | JUNE 2012 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTEthe work was a “dramatic allegorical cantata,”in the words of musical historianOscar Sonneck, who called Hopkinson“America’s first poet-composer.”Set in front of the Temple of Minerva(the goddess of wisdom), the cantata’sthree male figures—the Genius ofFrance, the Genius of America, and theHigh Priest of Minerva—prayed for thegoddess to appear and make a predictionabout the new nation of Columbia.When she made her entrance in Act II,Minerva predicted that a happy statewould repay all of Columbia’s grief, andthat if her sons would stand united,“great and glorious shall she be.”The outcome of the war was still verymuch in doubt when Hopkinson composed“The Temple of Minerva,” whichgave its cautiously optimistic words aneven sweeter ring when performed beforein The Freeman’s Journal the followingweek said that the performance “affordedthe most sensible pleasure,” the Toryresponse can be gleaned from a parodypublished in the January 5, 1782 issue ofthe Royal Gazette: “The Temple ofCloacina: An Ora-whig-ial Entertainment.”In that version—which consisted of aseverely pencil-edited copy of the original—thetemple was an outhouse. In alengthy 1976 article for the Proceedings ofthe American Philosophical Society, musicologistGillian B. Anderson described theentire parody as shockingly obscene.Hopkinson himself told BenjaminFranklin that “The Temple of Minerva”was “not very elegant Poetry, but theEntertainment consisted in the Music &went off very well.” Since the music consistedof works by Handel and other composersas well as his own, he explained, he“In short, the Musician crampt the Poet.”Whatever the critical assessments ofHopkinson’s music, we know that itsometimes had a strong effect on listeners.When he sent a collection of hispopular songs to Thomas Jefferson, thenthe US Ambassador to France, Jeffersonresponded that “while my elder daughterwas playing [one song] on the harpsichord,I happened to look toward thefire, & saw the younger one all in tears. Iasked her if she were sick? She said, ‘No;but the tune was so mournful.’”Hopkinson later sent a copy of hissong book to Washington, with the followingcomment:However small the Reputation may be thatI shall derive from this Work, I cannot, Ibelieve, be refused the Credit of being thefirst Native of the United States who hasA year of war apparently changed his mind. When GeneralFrom Bluecoat toWilliam Howe’s troops marched into Philadelphia on September26, 1777, Duché prayed aloud for the king at Christ Church. HeRedcoat, a Turncoat was promptly arrested and thrown into jail, though quickly released.Three weeks later he would resign as chaplain to Congress, citingOn September 7, 1774, Jacob Duché C1757 G1760 was askedto give the opening prayer for the First Continental Congress atCarpenters Hall. Having served as professor of oratory for thepast 15 years at the College of Philadelphia, where he was atrustee and a former valedictorian of his class, he knew howto move people with words. And as rector of Christ Church, themost prestigious Anglican church in Philadelphia, his words carriedconsiderable weight.Duché gave Congress what it wanted that day, and then some.He began by imploring the Almighty to “look down in mercy” on“these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rodof the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection,desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee.” He alsoprayed for the Americans to “defeat the malicious designs of ourcruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of theirCause and … constrain them to drop the weapons of war fromtheir unnerved hands in the day of battle!”The effect of his words was electric.“I must confess I never heard a better prayer … with such fervor,such ardor, earnestness and pathos, and in a language soelegant and sublime for America [and] for the Congress,” wroteJohn Adams in a letter to his wife Abigail. More to the point, “Inever saw a greater effect upon an audience.”Duché was still aboard the Revolutionary bandwagon inJuly 1776 when the Second Continental Congress signed theDeclaration of Independence. He and the vestry of Christ Churchpassed a resolution removing all references to King George III, andfive days later Congress voted to make him its first official chaplain.the pressure of work and poor health.But by then he had already written a letter to General GeorgeWashington that would change his reputation in the eyes of historyforever. Given the incendiary contents, it’s worth quoting atsome length.After saying that “all the world” knew that Washington’smotives for serving his country were “perfectly disinterested,”Duché expressed shocked disbelief at the cause to which hehad committed himself and his country: “What then can be theconsequence of this rash and violent measure and degeneracy ofrepresentation, confusion of councils, blunders without number?”He pooh-poohed the Pennsylvania faction for “the weakness oftheir understandings, and the violence of their tempers,” and dismissedthe other states’ Congressmen as a bunch of “Bankrupts,attorneys,—and men of desperate fortunes,” adding: “Longbefore they left Philadelphia, their dignity and consequence wasgone; what must it be now since their precipitate retreat?” (Hisone unnamed exception was presumably his brother-in-law andformer classmate, Francis Hopkinson: “a man of virtue, draggedreluctantly into their measures, and restrained, by some falseideas of honour, from retreating, after having gone too far.”)After heaping contempt on the American military effort—“yourharbours are blocked up, your cities fall one after another;fortress after fortress, battle after battle is lost … How unequalthe contest! How fruitless the expence of blood?”—Duchéthen made his pitch: “represent to Congress the indispensiblenecessity of rescinding the hasty and ill-advised declarationof Independency,” and recommend “an immediate cessation

produced a Musical Composition. If thisattempt should not be too severely treated,others may be encouraged to venture on apath, yet untrodden in America, and theArts in succession will take root and flourishamongst us.Washington’s answer was both generousand diplomatic. While he himselfcould “neither sing one of the songs, norraise a single note on any instrument toconvince the unbelieving,” he wrote, hecould offer “one argument which willprevail with persons of true taste (atleast in America)—I can tell them that itis the production of Mr. Hopkinson.”Hopkinson’s contributions to theAmerican cause didn’t end withthe Revolution. By the crucialyear of 1787, he had become a firmFederalist. In that arena, true to form,he’s probably best known for “The NewRoof,” the allegorical essay and poemhe wrote about replacing the Articlesof Confederation with a new constitution.(The poem was originally titled“The Raising: A New Song for FederalMechanics.”)The gist of the prose version goeslike this: Despite being only 12 yearsold, the “roof of a certain mansionhouse” had decayed so badly that itcould no longer provide protectionfrom the weather. When a group of“skillful architects” examined it, theyfound that the “whole frame was tooweak”; that its 13 rafters were “not connectedby any braces or ties so as toform a union of strength”; that “someof these rafters were thick and heavy,and others very slight”; that the “lathingand shingling had not been securedwith iron nails but only wooden pegs,”which would shrink and swell in thesun and rain—causing the shingles tobecome “so loose that many of themhad been blown away by the winds.”Finally, the roof was “so flat as to admitthe most idle servants in the family,their playmates and acquaintances, totrample upon and abuse it.”In order to build a new and better roof,the architects “consulted the most celebratedauthors in ancient and modernarchitecture” and tried to “proportionthe whole to the size of the building andstrength of the walls.” (The validity ofhis imagery is still debated; in a recentessay titled “A Roof without Walls: TheDilemma of an American NationalIdentity,” historian John Murrin wrote:“Francis Hopkinson to the contrary,Americans had erected their constitutionalroof before they put up the nationalwalls.” But that’s another story.)of hostilities.” Then appoint some “men of clear and impartialcharacters, in or out of Congress … to confer with his Majesty’scommissioners” with some “some well-digested constitutionalplan.” And since “millions will bless the hero that left the field ofwar, to decide this most important contest with the weapons ofwisdom and humanity,” he added: “Oh! Sir, let no false ideas ofworldly honour deter you from engaging in so glorious a task …”Finally, if Washington couldn’t persuade Congress to negotiatea surrender, Duché suggested that he still had “an infalliblerecourse” at his disposal: “negociate for your country atthe head of your army.” In other words, sell out your country insecret and save your own hide.Washington promptly turned the letter over to Congress. Hethen wrote a letter to Hopkinson, who was serving the patriotcause in a number of capacities. (See main story.) Had “any accidenthave happened to the army entrusted to my command, andhad it ever afterwards have appeared that such a letter had been… received by me,” Washington explained, “might it not havebeen said that I had, in consequence of it, betrayed my country?”Washington was clearly appalled at having received “soextraordinary a letter” from Duché, “of whom I had entertainedthe most favorable opinion, and I am still willing to suppose,that it was rather dictated by his fears than by his real sentiments.”But, he told Hopkinson, “I very much doubt whether thegreat numbers of respectable characters, in the state and army,on whom he has bestowed the most unprovoked and unmeritedabuse, will ever … forgive the man, who has artfully endeavoredto engage me to sacrifice them to purchase my own safety.”If Washington was appalled, Hopkinson was apoplectic.“Words cannot express the Grief and Consternation thatwounded my Soul at the Sight of this fatal Performance,” hewrote to Duché. “What Infatuation could influence you to offerto his Excellency an Address fill’d with gross Misrepresentations,illiberal Abuse and sentiments unworthy of a Man of Character?… I could go thro’ this extraordinary letter, and point out to youthe Truth distorted in every leading part. But the World willdoubtless do this with a Severity that must be Daggers to theSensibilities of your Heart.”Apart from the moral failure, Hopkinson warned: “You will findthat you have drawn upon you the Resentment of Congress,the resentment of the Army, the resentment of many worthyand noble characters in England whom you know not, and theresentment of your insulted Country …“You presumptuously advise our worthy General, on whomMillions depend with implicit Confidence, to abandon their dearestHopes, and with or without the Consent of his Constituentsto negotiate for America at the head of his Army. Would not theBlood of the Slain in Battle rise against such Perfidy? …“I am perfectly disposed to attribute this unfortunate step tothe Timidity of your Temper, the weakness of your Nerves, andthe undue Influence of those about you,” Hopkinson told hisold friend and brother-in-law. “But will the World hold you soexcused? Will the Individuals whom you so freely censured andcharacterized with Contempt have this tenderness for you? Ifear not … I pray God to inspire you with some Means of extricatingyourself from this embarrassing Difficulty.”For his own part, Hopkinson said, “I have well considered thePrinciples on which I took part with my Country and am determinedto abide by them to the last Extremity.” Asking Duché tosend his love to his mother and sisters in Philadelphia, he concluded:“May God preserve them and you in this Time of Trial.”Duché fled to England the following year, and when theAmerican army re-entered Philadelphia, his property was confiscated.Hopkinson interceded on behalf of his sister and her childrento recoup enough money to pay their passage to London.The two classmates never saw each other again. —S.H.THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE MAY | JUNE 2012 55

“The New Roof” was widely read andwell received in its day—though againtrue to form, Hopkinson’s potshots atthe Anti-Federalist camp (too complicatedto go into here) sparked somereturn fire. One opponent called him a“base parasite and tool of the wealthyand great, at the expense of truth, honor,friendship,” and added: “Little Francisshould have been cautious in givingprovocation, for insignificance alonecould have preserved him the smallestremnant of character.”Hopkinson had the last laugh, though. On July 4,1788, Philadelphia—which had waited until 10states had ratified the Constitution—celebratedwith a “Grand Federal Procession” that was both wildly propagandisticand a spectacular success. Hopkinson himself,the Grand Marshal, planned and directed the whole event.Its 87 divisions consisted of floats, allegorical figures, andgroups; bands and military organizations; state, national,and foreign officials; delegations from various societies;and representatives of trades and professions ranging fromstone-cutters and farmers (motto: “Venerate the Plough”) togun-smiths and sugar refiners (“Double Refined”).“The rising sun was saluted with a full peal from ChristChurch steeple,” wrote Hopkinson, followed by a “dischargeof cannon from the ship, Rising Sun … anchoredoff Market Street, and superbly decorated with the flagsof nations in alliance with America.” About 5,000 people56 MAY | JUNE 2012 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE

marched or rode in horse-pulled floats inthe procession itself, which started atThird and South streets and arrived atUnion Green, part of the Bush Hill estatenorth and west of 12th and Market. Franklin,then president of the Supreme ExecutiveCouncil of Pennsylvania, was “toomuch indisposed” to attend, but Hopkinsonmarched in a division representingthe state’s Court of Admiralty, which heknew would be made obsolete by the Constitution.The chief justice of Pennsylvania’sSupreme Court rode in a 13-foot-tallbald eagle, its breast emblazoned with 13silver stars and its talons clutching anolive branch and 13 silver arrows. (Eatyour heart out, Stephen Colbert.) “Studentsof the university, headed by thevice-provost,” marched with representativesof the city’s other schools, holding asmall flag inscribed The Rising Generation,Hopkinson noted, while at the endof the procession marched lawyers, physicians,and “the clergy of the differentChristian denominations, with the rabbiof the Jews, walking arm in arm.”And the most imposing float in theprocession was the “New Roof, or GrandFederal Edifice,” designed by CharlesWillson Peale: a 30-foot-tall circulartemple with 10 Corinthian columns (andspaces for the columns representing thethree still-unratified states) and a roofwhose cupola was crowned by the figureof Plenty, holding her cornucopia. Thewords In Union the Fabric Stands Firmwere carved into the base.At Union Green, James Wilson [“FlawedFounder,” May|June 2011] climbed ontothe Grand Federal Edifice and delivereda speech to an audience of about17,000 people.“A people, free and enlightened, establishingand ratifying a system of governmentwhich they have previouslyconsidered, examined, and approved!” hetold them. “This is the spectacle whichwe are assembled to celebrate; and it isthe most dignified one that has yetappeared on our globe.”After the address, the assembled multitudeshad dinner, where they wereserved locally made porter, beer, andcider, and drank toasts to, well, prettymuch everybody.A year later, the newly electedPresident Washington sent Hopkinsona letter informing him that the Senatehad confirmed his appointment as afederal judge for the US District Courtfor Pennsylvania. In congratulatinghim, Washington wrote: “I have endeavouredto bring into the offices … suchCharacters as will give stability anddignity to our national Government.”In November 1790, Hopkinson wasawarded an honorary Doctorate of Lawdegree by the penultimate incarnation ofhis alma mater, the University of the Stateof Pennsylvania. A year later it would mergewith the briefly resuscitated College ofPhiladelphia (which had been closed duringmost of the Revolution for its overlyTory ways) into a single institution: theUniversity of Pennsylvania.On the morning of May 9, 1791,Hopkinson was “seized with an apoplecticfit,” in the words of Benjamin Rush,“which in two hours put a period to hisexistence, in the 53d year of his age.” Hewas buried in the Christ Church graveyard,not far from Franklin, who haddied the previous year. Among the provisionsin Hopkinson’s will was one thatwould free his two “Negro Slaves Danand Violet,” though only after the deathof his wife. An anonymous contemporaryof Hopkinson’s wrote:“And be this truth upon his marble writ—He shone in virtue, science, taste, and wit.”Over the decades, his gravestonedeteriorated to the point that no oneknew for certain where his remainswere buried. Finally, in the 1930s, aplot believed to be Hopkinson’s wasdug up. The skeletal remains were sentto Penn Anatomy Professor Oscar V.Batson, who concluded that they wereindeed Hopkinson’s.After his old bones were re-buried, anew headstone was placed over them,this time with a plaque listing his mostsignificant accomplishments. It’s apretty impressive list. But it doesn’tbegin to tell the whole story.◆THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE MAY | JUNE 2012 57