In the days of the Continental Congress it required a good deal more nerve to fulfill one’s duty.  The delegate had to journey to Congress on horseback.  Sometimes he could find a little country inn at which he could sleep at night, but at others he had to camp in the open as best he could.  Frequently a friendly warning would cause him to make a detour of several miles in order to escape some threatened danger, and, altogether, his march to the capital was far from being triumphant.

At this particular period the difficulties were more than usually great.  The delegates arrived at Philadelphia jaded and tired.  They found stable room for their horses, made the best toilet possible, and found their way at once to Independence Hall, where opinions were exchanged.  On the 7th of June, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia submitted a series of resolutions, under the instructions of the Virginia Assembly—­resolutions which, it may be stated, pledged the colonies to carry on the war until the English were entirely driven out of the country.  Congress declared deliberately that the United States was absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and it then proceeded to burn its bridges, by declaring the expediency of taking effectual measures for forming foreign alliances.  John Adams seconded the resolutions, which were not passed without debate.

Delegates from New York, Pennsylvania and South Carolina opposed the proposition very vigorously, one member stating that it required the impudence of a New Englander for them, in their disjointed state, to propose a treaty to a nation now at peace; that no reason could be assigned for pressing this measure but the reason of every madman—­a show of spirit.  John Adams defended the resolutions, claiming that they proclaimed objects of the most stupendous magnitude, in which the lives and liberties of millions yet unborn were infinitely interested.  Finally, the consideration was postponed, to be passed almost unanimously on July 2d.  John Adams was most enthusiastic over this result, and, writing to his wife on the subject, he said: 

“The 2d day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as a day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore.”

But although the day referred to by John Adams saw the thirteen colonies become independent States, it is July the 4th that the country celebrates.  On that day the Declaration of Independence was promulgated.  This marvelous document was prepared by Jefferson in a small brick house, which then stood out in the fields, but which is now known as the southwest corner of Market and Seventh Streets, Philadelphia.  It is situated within about four hundred yards of Independence