A Trip to Tucuman 275 



whitewashed. At one end of the room is a large rudely 

 carved arm-chair, in front of which is a low table. 

 The arm-chair is the one which was used by the Presi- 

 dent of the first Congress, and the table is said to be the 

 same which was. used at that time. There are a few 

 other chairs which range along the sides of the room; 

 otherwise there is no furniture. Upon the walls hang 

 a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence, and 

 portraits of a number of those who were the signers of 

 the same. Let into the walls are a number of commemo- 

 rative tablets. This lowly structure is preserved and 

 protected from decay by having built over it an outer 

 structure surmounted by a great dome of glass, under 

 the middle of which it stands. In the courtyard in 

 front of this handsome outer edifice on either side are 

 two great bronzes commemorating the passage of the 

 act by which the people of the South American Colonies 

 declared their freedom from the yoke of Spain. The 

 one on the left, as the courtyard is entered, represents 

 the members of the Congress gathering about the table 

 in the Casa Historica to affix their signatures to the 

 immortal document. The one on the right represents 

 the reading of the Declaration to the assembled people. 

 These tablets are about twenty-five feet long and ten 

 feet high, and the figures are life-size. In the center 

 of the outer court are planted a number of palms, which 

 are growing vigorously and afford a grateful shade. I 

 lingered for some time at this spot, stirred by 

 emotions kindred to those which might be felt by a 

 stranger who for the first time visits Independence 

 Hall in Philadelphia. Great are the changes not only 

 in South America, but throughout the whole world, 

 which have taken place since the first deliberative 

 assembly met under the lowly roof of the humble 



