Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-07-03

not of agony and distress, but of ex-
ultation, of gratitude and of JOY Sir,
before God, 1 believe the hour is
comet
And at the end of the Adams speech
as Mr.. Webster reproduces it, after
the words, Independence now and in
| dependence forever" Mr.. Webster
says:
And so that day shall be honored
! illustrious prophet and patriot! So
that day shall be honored, and as often
as it returns thy renown shall come
along with it, and the glory of thy
| life, like the day of death, shall not
fail from the remembrance of men,"
The reader will remember that by
one Of those extraordinary coinci-
! dences which stagger men who try
| 10 resolve history into myths jefferson
and Adams both died on the Fiftieth
anniversary of the Declaration of In
dependence.
In truth there was a formal discus
! sion in the continental congress, be-
ginning on the LIST of July, on the
question of the Declaration. John
Dickinson wanted to place himself on
! record. The delegates just arrived
from New Jersey wanted to hear the
reasoning on both sides. There is
no record left of that great days de-
bate. Of the friends of the resolu-
ton for independence
! Lee, who had moved it had been
/ called home; Mr.. Jefferson was no
speaker; George Wythe was sensible,
clear, but trifle heavy. The de-
batting talent must be admitted to
have preponderated on the opposite
side. 1t claimed John Dickinson,
James Wilson, Robert R. Livingston
of New York and Edward Rutledge of
South Carolina"
These are Charles Francis Adams
words. Dickinson took part in the
discussion and spoke against i'm
mediate independence, and the duty of
defending the proposal fell naturally
upon John Adams. Of this speech,
as really made, not one word has
been transmitted to posterity. But
the accounts of it agree in represent
ing it as having been in the highest
class of oratory.
Adams himself wrote to his wife on
the Sd of July, after the final vote had
been taken on Lees resolution. 1t is
from this remarkable letter that Mr..
Webster has caught few passages
which he has interviewer into his
sketch of the speech of Adams In
this letter Adams says:
But the die is cast. The second
day of July will be the most mem
orable epoch in the history of
America. 1 am apt to believe that it
will be celebrated by succeeding gen.
erations as the great anniversary fes-
tival. It ought to be commemorated
as the day of deliverance by solemn
acts of devotion to God Almighty. 1t
ought to be solemnized with pomp and
parade, with games, sports, guns,
bells, bonfres and Examinations, from
one end of this continent to the other,
from this time forward forevermore."
AS is well known, the celebration of
the 4th of July instead of the I'd
comes from the fact that On that day
the Declaration was signed by all
the members present.
So soon as this was done broad.
side was issued which was sent to the
different states. The newspapers
copied it Immediately, and it was read
in public assemblies, sometimes from
the original broadside and sometimes
from the newspaper. The Declaration
arrived in Boston with such speed that
it could be proclaimed on the 18th of
July, a fortnight after it was signed.
An English officer, prisoner in the
town at that time, describes the cele-
bration:
LAS we passed through the town, we
found it tnronged. All were in their
holiday suits, every eye beamed with
delight and every tongue was in rapid
motion. The streets adjoining the
council chamber were lined with de-
tachments of infantry, tolerably equip
) ped, while in front Of the jail Court
) street, artillery was drawn UP, the
: gunners with lighted matches. The
crowd opened a lane for us, and the
: troops gave us, as we mounted the
: steps, the salute due to officers of our
: rank"
5 This unfortunate gentleman had
: been invited, with other English Of
ficers in Boston on parole, to be pres
: ent at the town-house to witness the
= ceremonies.
. Exactly as the clock struck 1,
: Colonel Thomas Crafts, who occupied
the chair, rose and read aloud the
, Declaration. This being finished,
, the gentlemen stood up and, each re-
peating the words as they were