nsmitted to the several
colonies. The order for its engrossment, and for the signature by every
member, was not passed until the nineteenth of July, and it was not
really signed until the second of August following. It is not likely,
considering the circumstances, and the known character of the members of
Congress, among whom may be mentioned John Hancock, Samuel Adams,
Benjamin Rush, Robert Morris, Benjamin Harrison, Elbridge Gerry, John
Witherspoon, a descendant of John Knox, the Scottish Reformer, Charles
Carroll, and Samuel Huntington,--all distinguished for coolness,
probity, and patriotism,--that the immortal document can contain one
thought or word unworthy its sacred associations, and the character of
the American people!

And it is among the alarming symptoms of public sentiment that the
Declaration of Independence is by some publicly condemned, and by others
quietly accepted as entitled to just the consideration, and no more,
that is given to an excited advocate's speech to a jury, or a
demagogue's electioneering harangue, or the daily contribution of the
partisan editor to the stock of political capital that aids the election
of his favorite candidates. And upon this evidence is the nation and the
world to be taught that but little was meant by the assertions, "that
all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed"? Would it not be wiser to test the government we have, by a
statesmanlike application of the principles of the Declaration of
Independence in the management of public affairs?

The Union is connected with the Declaration of Independence. The Union
is an institution: the Declaration of Independence is an assertion of
rights, and an exposition of principles. When principles are
disregarded, institutions do not, for any considerable time, retain
their original value. And it would be the folly of other nations,
without excuse in us, were we to worship blindly any institution,
whatever its origin or its history. I do not, myself, doubt the value of
the American Union. It was the necessity of the time when it was formed;
it is the necessity of the present moment; it was, indeed, the claim of
our whole colonial life, and its recognition could be postponed no
longe