THE OLD STATE HOUSE, situated on Benefit Street, is a building which can well vie with Faneuil Hall in Boston and Independence Hall in Philadelphia as a “Cradle of Liberty.” Built in 1763, it was originally occupied by the Rhode Island Colonial Assembly, who here on May 4, 1776, two months previous to the Declaration of Independence, in Philadelphia, adopted the famous act renouncing allegiance to Great Britain. This fact is commemorated by a bronze tablet and also by an annual commemoration in all the public schools of Providence. THE NEW STATE HOUSE, or “Marble Palace,” on the crest of Capitol Hill, completed in 1902 at a cost of $3,200,000, is built of white Georgia marble, and has for a distinguishing feature one of the few marble domes existing in the world. This inscription is on the south front of the Capitol: To hold forth a lively experiment, that a most flourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained, with full Liberty in Religious Concernments. On the north side, we read, Providence Plantations, Founded by Roger Williams, 1636, Providence, Portsmouth, Newport, incorporated by Parliament, 1643, Rhode Island, Providence Plantations, obtained Royal Charter 1663. In General Assembly declared a Sovereign State, May 4th, 1776. The inscription around the interior of the dome is a Latin quotation from Tacitus. Translated it is: Rare felicity of the times when it is permitted to think as you like, and say what you think. In the State Chamber is Gilbert Stuart’s rare full-length portrait of General Washington. In the Secretary of State’s office is the original charter, granted in 1663, under which the colony and State were governed until 1843. In a subbasement there is a collection of State historical exhibits, originally collected for the Jamestown Exposition. On the dome of the State House there is a colossal bronze statue of “Independent Man, or the Genius of Religious Liberty,” designed by Brewster. [Illustration: Capitol Building in Providence, Where the Charter is Kept] [Illustration: City Hall, Providence, Where the Compact, Indian Deed, and Letter of Transference are Kept] THE COURT HOUSE is on the corner of Benefit and College Streets. In its corridor there is a historical painting by C. F. Grant, picturing “The return of Roger Williams with the first charter for the Colony in 1644.” RHODE ISLAND IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR Rhode Island was the first to strike a blow for civil liberty as she was the first in the struggle for religious liberty. She was last, however, to adopt the Constitution of the United States. She hesitated to surrender to the federal government the liberties enjoyed under her charter, the most liberal ever granted to a colony. She has a right to be proud of her record, before, during, and after the Revolutionary war. E. Benjamin Andrews opened his case for Rhode Island’s recognition with these words: