Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 145, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1916 — IN LIBERTY’S NAME [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IN LIBERTY’S NAME

Memorable Scene When Patriots Signed the Declaration of Independence. 1. By GEORGE LEWIS BAILEY. ONE hundred and forty years ago occurred the memorable event we celebrate at this season. There were gathered in the old statehouse in Philadelphia half a hundred men, determined upon a course that was destined to affect the history of the world. The Declaration had been written. A committee had been out all night in its preparation. Finally the door of the committee room swung open. Three men appeared. Thomas Jefferson held the parchment in an unsteady hand. He advanced and spread it upon the table, There was one question —the one question in the minds and upon the lips of those who waited A "Shall it' be signed or not?” Jefferson spoke a few bold words and sat down. Adams was on his feet in an instant. Ablaze with the inspiration of the hour, he poured out his whole soul. Somebody whispered something about “gibbets.” A ripple of uneasiness moved through the crowd. The speaker sensed it, and instinctively knew that the psychological moment was upon them. Towering to his tiptoe height, he lifted his voice in a ringing crescendo: “Sign that parchment! Sign, if the next moment the gibbetls- -rope-is-""Aboutyour necks! Sign, if the next moment this hall rings with tjie clash of falling axes! With the last sound of my voice, with the last gasp of my breath, I would implore you, men, to sign—‘-Sign in the name of fathers, brothers, wives, children, in the name Of our children’s children . ..." Already men were hastening to grasp the pen. And now Hie parchment Is signed. From yonder tower tbe old bell peals forth the news. And now, 140 years after,, those tones are echoed and re-echoed around the world, and are known and understood wherever man has learned the name of liberty.