Evening star., 1954-10-21
Life Story Of O PuIsoting Document. -
By jones Waldo Foweett

BIZ james Waldo Fowcetf
THE Declaration Of Independence
= still is an active. energetic docu-
ment. and book that proves it. aThe
Story of the Declaration or Independ-
ence,s Is published by Oxford Univer-
sity Press. New York. today.
Written by Dumas Malone. illustrated
with pictures selected by Hirst Mil
hollen and Milton Kaplan and as
senbled on pattern provided by John
Begg. the volume has good feel. II
fits naturally into human hands. The
atmosphere Of the work is native. It
looks American.
The sponsors Of the volume obviously
loved the job Of making 1t. They have
been reverent in their attitude to their
task. careful in their treatment Of their
materials; and they have sought beauty
as well as truth for the achievement Of
their objective.
II the result Is not the best book Of
its kind ever published. it Is at least
one Of the best.
To illustrate the narrative style which
Or. Malone employs throughout the
text. the first paragraph of his ''pic-
torial biography" may be quoted: 1.-THE
birthday Of the United States of Amer
lea was bright and pleasant. At 8, am.
on the fourth of July, 1776, Thomas
Jefferson, one Of the delegates from
Virginia to the Continental Congress
in Philadelphia and man who was
always enormously interested in wind
and weather, noted that the tempera-
ture was 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The
wind was southeast and the mercury
rose to 76 in the heat of the day, which
was not at all bad for the season. Forty
or fifty representatives from what had
been called provinces or colonies. from
New Hampshire to Georgia. had been
meeting for some time in Pennsyl-
vania'S brick State House-later to be
known as independence Hall-and On
this day their debates did not end till
evening""
Easy reading. surely. DR.. Malone
has been lively himself in the telling
OF 'the life story +. Of the finest
expression Of hope in the free world"
The Declaration was an optimistic af-
firmation in 1776. and it still is opti-
mistic. It's creators trusted their Gre
ator. They likewise had confidence
in each other and in "a candid world"
What they proclaimed was good news.
and it's character in that regard has
not changed in 178 years. The Decla-
ration met challenging need. 1t set
up a principle Of liberty which had
precedent in the writings of many fa-
nous libertarians of the ancient past
Socrates and Plato among the num-
ber-but it reflected Judaic- Christian
ideals also, the teachings of righteous
ness and fellowship which come down
the ages from Moses and Jesus. A
religious spirit infuses it's complaints
against tyranny and its pledges of fair
dealing, equality and cooperation un-
der their new status as "free and in
dependent states" seeking 'the protec-
ton of Divine Providence"
All this was unique in the annals
of human government. In aggregate
it inevitably foreshadowed the Federal
Constitution drafted and adopted in
1887 and the Bill of Rights placed in
force in 1891. DR.. Malone says: "The
enshrined Declaration is perpetual
reminder :. . of the only valid purpose
of all laws-to provide society within
which all men can enjoy the largest
feasible degree of liberty and attain
the fullest measure Of happiness" He
insists: Men perceive within it the
quality of universally" It has ap-
plication everywhere. The inscription
on the Liberty Bell is translation of
Leviticus, XIV, 10. which accurately
should read: Proclaim liberty
throughout all the earth and unto all
the inhabitants thereof"
Such was the significance of the
Declaration in 1776; such is its sig
nificance today. In DR.. Malone'S
language: 1.-THE weight of tyranny
political, economic, and Social-iS still
heavy on the shoulders of men. But
never more than in our own age OF
relationships and totalitarian govern
ments, which magnify the state to the
annihilation of human dignity and
leave nowhere veStige OF human
freedom, do we need to turn to our
oldest and noblest charter for light
and hope. The great Declaration still
issues it's ringing challenge to the ty-
rants who would ride mankind, and 1t
still proclaimS the undying faith in
human beings which has permeated
and glorified the history of America"
What manner of human beings were
the Signers? DR.. Malone answers with
a biographical sketch of each of the
56 of them-"the votaries of independ-
ence" linked in brotherhood Of sacred
honor. I'm age these men ranged from
the 26 years of Edward Rutledge Of
South Carolina to Benjamin Franklins
70. They cannot be classified with pre-
cision on grounds Of occupation, for
this was not an age of specialization
and occupations constantly overlapped.
Lawyers were more numerous than the
members of any other profession, but
many of these were Southern planters
who got most Of their living from the
land rather than the law. There were
four physicians though their attention
to medicine was far from exclusive: and
there was one clergyman, John Wither-
spoon, president of the College at
Princeton. The country was predom-
inantly agricultural, but there were al
most as many merchants as planters
and farmers, and couple of the Penn
sylvanians might be described as manu-
facturers. Some delegates notably
Franklin and Jefferson among the ma
jor figures and Francis Hopkins among