The
declaration was thus made, that is, it passed and was adopted as an act
of congress, on the fourth of July; it was then signed, and certified
by the President and secretary, like other acts. The FOURTH OF JULY,
therefore, is the anniversary of the declaration. But the signatures of
the members present were made to it, being then engrossed on parchment,
on the second day of August. Absent members afterward signed, as they
came in; and indeed it bears the signatures of some who were not
chosen members of congress until after the fourth of July. The interest
belonging to the subject will be sufficient, I hope, to justify these
details.
The congress of the revolution, fellow-citizens, sat with closed doors,
and no report of its debates was ever taken. The discussion, therefore,
which accompanied this great measure, has never been preserved, except
in memory and by tradition. But it is, I believe, doing no injustice to
others to say that the general opinion was, and uniformly has been, that
in debate, on the side of independence, John Adams had no equal. The
great author of the declaration himself has expressed that opinion
uniformly and strongly. "John Adams," said he, in the hearing of him who
has now the honor to address you, "John Adams was our colossus on the
floor.
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