Strickland’s steeple was not an exact replica of the original, but it may be considered a restoration since it followed the general design of its predecessor. The principal deviations were the installation of a clock in the steeple and the use of more ornamentation. Within 2 years after rebuilding the steeple, interest was aroused in the restoration of the Assembly Room, or “Hall of Independence.” On December 9, 1830, the subject of the restoration of this room “to its ancient Form” was considered by the Councils. Shortly afterward, John Haviland, architect, was employed to carry out the restoration. Apparently, Haviland confined his work to replacing the paneling that is said to have been removed but fortunately was preserved in the attic of the building. The proper use of the room was always a knotty problem. Following the Haviland restoration, the room was rented on occasions for exhibiting paintings and sculpture. Its principal use, however, was as a levee room for distinguished visitors, including Henry Clay, Louis Kossuth, and other famous personages, in addition to many Presidents of the United States from Jackson to Lincoln. In the 1850’s, and during the critical years of the Civil War, veneration for the State House became even more evident. In 1852, the Councils resolved to celebrate July 4 annually “in the said State House, known as Independence Hall....” This is the first clear-cut use of the term “Independence Hall” to designate the entire building. [Illustration: _Independence Hall group in the winter of 1840. (Note restored steeple and clock, also doorway on Sixth Street side of Congress Hall.)_ Lithograph by J. T. Bowen after drawing by J. C. Wild, 1840. Courtesy Philadelphia Free Library.] [Illustration: _Earliest known photograph of Independence Hall, taken in 1850 by W. and F. Langenheim._ From their “Views in North America” series. Courtesy Philadelphia Free Library.] Perhaps the best expression of this veneration is in the grandiloquent words of the famed orator Edward Everett, who, on July 4, 1858, said of the State House, or as it has now come to be known, Independence Hall: “Let the rain of heaven distill gently on its roof and the storms of winter beat softly on its door. As each successive generation of those who have benefitted by the great Declaration made within it shall make their pilgrimage to that shrine, may they not think it unseemly to call its walls Salvation and its gates Praise.” On July 4, 1852, the delegates from 10 of the Thirteen Original States met in Independence Hall to consider a plan to erect in the square one or more monuments to commemorate the Declaration of Independence. For various reasons, their deliberations proved fruitless.