The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1897-07-14
The Story of the Declaration.

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If any of you should visit the build
ing in Washington known as the War
and Navy Department, you might see
in one Of the rooms, framed and hung,
the original manuscript copy of the
Declaration of Independence, contain
ing corrections, inkspots and all, and
below it the engrossed copy that was
subsequently signed by all the MEM
bers of the Continental Congress.
The Declaration of Independence is
the greatest of all our state papers. Ii
is worth a great many times its weight
| in thousand dollar notes. IL is the
monument Of one of the grandest
events in the history of the world, and
ushers in the real beginning of Ameri-
can history. Ii announced Il startling
truth to the tyrant-cTushed millions of
the old world, and marks an epoch in
the history of human liberty.
The framer Of this immortal docu-
ment was Thomas Jefferson, of Nir-
ginia, a member of the Continental
Congress which met at Philadelphia
in 1876. 1t is proper perhaps TO state
here that il was simple accident that
imposed this labor or privilege upon
the young Virginian.
The man that would have been Sc
lected for this purpose, according to
parliamentary usage, was Richard
Henry Lee, of Virginia, the early
friend and compatriot of Washington.
From his seat in Congress on the 18th
of June Lee had submitted this ques-
ton in the form of a resolution, ''that
the colonies were by right and ought
to be free and independent States"
which was seconded 10y John Adams,
of Massachusetts. When, subsequent
ly, committee was appointed to draw
up proper declaration of independ- |
ence, ~ the mover of the original res
olution, the craftsmanship Of this com
mittee would have devolved upon Mr.. |
Lee. He bad, however, been called |
away by sickness in his family, and |
his colleague, Mr.. jefferson, was cho-
sen in his stead.
Jefferson was only thirty-three at
this time and was the youngest man
on the committee. His associates were |
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, |
Roger Sherman and Robert II. Living |
l. N
himself was seventy, patriarchal
looking figure in his long buff coat.
Sherman was fifty-five, and Adams
was forty-one, a short, thickset, red
faced man, quick and chOleric, but a
cogent reasoner. Livingstone was the
afterwards famous chancellor, one of
the best educated and one Of the rich
est men in America.
As chairman, and also because he
had already won the reputation Of
having "a mastery PEN" the work of
drafting The declaration was pat upon
Mr.. jefferson. His task was done
with singular force of argument and
elegance of dietion.
The document, nearly as written by
Jefferson, only few changes having
been made 10y Adams and Franklin,
was presented to Congress June =,
1916. 1t was discussed and debated in
committee of the whole, but was not
adopted until July 4. Many suppose
il was also signed on that day, but it
was not. II was simply authenticated,
BIKE other papers of Congress, by the
signature of the president and the
secretary. The president WAS the
eourtly Hancock, and every schoolboy
is familiar with his signature, which
was written with force rs though he
was determined that his name should
never he erased. The pen with which
he wrote that elegant and decided sig
nature has been preserved and Is now
in the cabinet of the Massachusetts
Historical Society.
On the 10Th of July, as appears by
the secret journal, Congress adopted
the following act: Resolved, that tn
Declaration passed on the fourth be
fairly engrossed on parchment, and
that it be signed by the members"
Consequently, on the second day of
August it was signed 10y fifty-fOur of
the delegates, and subsequently by two
others, fifty six in all, representing all
the IS colonies.
The names are growing somewhat
indistinct, but they have been litho-
graphed for preservation. Hancock's
is the handsomest and the boldest; the
other signatures look weak and cramp-
ed beside il. BIt not one was written
with a trembling hand except that of
Stephen Hopkins, of Rhode Island,
and it was not fear that made him
tremble, but the palsy, from which he
was sufferer. Charles Carroll was
the only member who added his place
of residence, and the reason for his
doing it was somewhat peculiar. When
he was signing some one near him re-
marked: "There are several of your
name, and if we are unsuccessful they |
will not know whom to arrest"
"Not So" replied the Maryland mil
lionaire, and Immediately added, 'of
Carrollton."
Mr.. Carroll was the last survivor of
the signers, living to see all the mem-
orable men with whom he had acted
on that eventful occasion pass away,
and enjoying the prosperity of his
country until 1882, when he died at the
age of ninety-fi We years.
Made a Difference