Maryland free press., 1866-05-10
DRAFTING OF THE
Dgeiafationi Of IndEpcndehce

hafia ,li tp <nl--- SGhHI Hi' "d
i4Jda his autobiography. JShn Adams
gives tho following account Oi the cirenn-
stances which led to the selection'ef Jefter-
DIN to draw the Declaration of ndndepen-
sesiee:l-lisl> odi ad Iiaud- Gdlis17 "llh
The committee appointed to draft the
Declaration Of, Independence, were 'Tkenas
Jefferson, Johu Adams Benjamm Frank
lin Roger Sherman and Robert r Llrines7
toni Mr.. geifprsea had been nowiabouta
year a amember of Congress, but had atten+
ded his duty in the House very small
mart of the ti,ne, and had never spoken Ia
pablic.i> During the whole time ! satwlth
him in Congress. Lnever, 4esrd him utter
three sentences tegetaeroaro o-Hr"G lat'
Tt will, naturally be iuquired how itihap-
cned that be was appoi@ted Gu Committee
ofsuch importance f, There were more rea-
sons than one. Mr.. Jefferson had the
reputation Of a masterly pca; and had bscA
chosen az delegate = in Virginia, dnconse-
quenee Of very handsome public paper
Aslic, had been written Iforwthe House OF
Busgesses, which had given him the char
acter Of very fine writer;f another reason
was. that Mr.. Richard Henry Lee-was not
beloved by y mast ,ofhis colleagues from
Niraiaia, and Mr. jefferson Eas set mp to
risaI and supplaat 4kims This could plh9
done, suls sy the pen, for Mr. jefferson
could stead psasemaetitien, with ,him,'sr
any, one. else u in dloessiea aads' pablisiae-
bate. adi ni in9,Hoo ii oyrg daiiS ognIEs
ri Here will interrupt the9Darrationefor
moment to observe, that FROM all lhavs
read of the. history Of Rome aud Greece.
ENGLAND aud Ernnee. and all have observ-
ed at hemel and abroad, kloquenee in pub
lie assemblies is not the ssrest road to
faine or preferAent at least, unless At be
with caution, very rarely, and with great
resolution. The examples dfWashingtchl
Franklin, and jefferson. are enough to
show that silence ahdrcscrve in public are
ih6rre efkeaci66s' ihah Augmentation or
orator.. :, 4 pisaataie speaker Who insinuaptes n
himself, {, or IS urged by:others. in the con con-
duct dmt Of a affairs, r, makes Gimself by daily
esx,ertions e to justify measnr, IS and answer
the objections of opponents, too danAa,rpr lp
with tie public, and nnayoidably y mskes 5S'a
himseli eieihies iiei '1; bniI y,7l, ,.,n!.I
Few persons can bear to BE eet'lone In,'.lt' in
reasoning. or defamation, or wit, or SAT a'
casm, or repartee, or satire, and ,a"ss all these
things are apt to grow out of public do 10,
bate. In this way, in course re,t' Of years.
| a nation becomes full Of mans enemies l fe g sr
of such as have been CALLED in some some con con
troyersy, and take ke,ipi secret Ct pleasure y
assisting to humble and mortify him, Sc Ses
much for this digrssssaissanr, NE will now
return TO our memoirs: mem a,ipsqdi qnlp,ioe
The Committee, had several meetings,
ip which yers proposed .shs articles ef
which the Declaration was to consist, aat
nipates, made of them. The committee
thep,appointed :, Mr., Jefferson and me ts
draft them in form and slothe them IN IN
proper -dress:-TAe, sub-eommattee. mG
and considered the painntes, making suck
observations on them asrthen occurred,
when Mr. jefferson. IA desired nae Il ~ take
them to my lodging and, make the dransh-
This declined. and gave several reasons
fopr, Or, 80 deooing- b,l,4at. gilGuiaa u onO.,L
Its, That be was a Virginia, and an A
n MISUNDERSTANDING 2pd,--That he wyaasIa was a
Southern man, apd sm "a northern Eth p,.a, oaEe,
3rj., That had been 50 obnoxious for for
my early and constant @ 4Altz zeal A. in promoting
| the measure that every draft would meet meet
with more criticism in; Congress than one one
of his composition. '4th--and lastly, and
tRat would Be reason enough If there was
no other, had great opinion Of thestle-
ganee Of his pen, and none at all Of my
own. I.therefore insisted that. no hesita-
ton should be made on his part. Meae-
cordihgly took the minutes, and lin day
or two produced me his draft. Whether G
made mad" or suggested any correction. remem-
Der not. Tie report was made to the
j Committee Of I've, by them examined. but
/ whether altered or corrected in anything Z
cannot" recollect..i But, in substance at
least 1t was reported ID Congress, where,
:: after a severe criticism, and ssrikiag out
}, several Of the most praetiese paragraphs,
! it was adopted on the Fourth Of July,
177G, and published to thr world; g.,
, GETTING Ran orA GurSEA IA gentleman on
his, travels called his servant to the side ofthe
4 chaise. '"Tom, says he, here's guinea which