Thesemen were not revolutionists, they^were the he rs and the guardians of the
griceleastreasures of mankind. The^ritish king and his ministers were the^revolutionists. They were reactionaries,^seeking arbitrarily to turn back the hands^upon the dial of time. A year of doubt and^debate, the baptism of blood, upon battle^fields, where soldiers from every colony^fought, under a common standard, and con^^solidated the continental army, gradually^lifted the soul and understanding of this^immortal congress to the sublime declara^^tion: ^We, therefore, the representatives^of the United States of America, in general^congress assembled, appealing to the su^^preme judge of the world for the rectitude^of our intentions, do, in the name and by^the authority of the good people of these^colonies, solemnly publish and declare that^these united colonies are, and ot rtghi^ought to be, free and independent states.
Tothis declaration John Hancock, pros^^cribed and threatened with death, affixed a^signature which has stood for a century^like the pointers to the North Star in the^firmament of freedom, and Charles Carroll,^taunted that among many Carrolls, he, the^richest man in America, might escape,^added description and identification with^^of Carroilton ^ Benjamin Harrison, a^delegate from Virginia, the ancestor of the^distinguished statesman and soldier who^to-day so worthily fills the chair of Wash^^ington, voiced the unalterable determina^^tion and defiance of the congress. He^seized John Hancock, upon whose head a^price was set, in his arms, and placing him^In the presidential chair, said: ^We will^show Mother Britain bow little we care for^her by making our president a Massachu^^setts man, whom she has excluded from^pardon by public proclamation.
