WHO WAS HE?
The Cokeville LDS Seminary is interested in an excerpt from a talk given by Gov. Ronald Reagan. It had something to do with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He said some of the signers were questioning whether they should sign it. A man they had not seen persuaded them. They were in a closed room. When they signed it and turned around to speak to him, he was gone. Can you find this excerpt for us? - M.N., Cokeville, Wyo.
He gave the speech in Seattle, Wash., Oct. 12, 1968. The excerpt follows: Thomas Jefferson tells that on the day of our nation's birth in the little hall in Philadelphia, debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign a Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words "treason, the gallows, the headman's axe," and the issue remained in doubt. Then a man rose and spoke. Jefferson described him as not a young man, but one who had to summon all his energy for an inpassioned plea. He cited the grievances that had brought them to this moment and finally, his voice failing, he said, "They may turn every tree into a gallows, every home into a grave, and yet the words of that parchment can never die. To the mechanic in the workshop, they will speak hope; to the slave in the mines, freedom. Sign that parchment. Sign if the next moment the noose is around your neck, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom, the Bible of the rights of man forever." He fell back, exhausted. The 56 delegates, swept up by his eloquence, rushed forward and signed a document destined to be as immortal as a work of man can be. When they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found who knew who he was or how he had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors. Fifty-six men, a little band so unique, we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor." (Editor's Note: Gov. Reagan has, at Do-It Man's request, sent a copy of the entire speech to M.N.)
He gave the speech in Seattle, Wash., Oct. 12, 1968. The excerpt follows: Thomas Jefferson tells that on the day of our nation's birth in the little hall in Philadelphia, debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign a Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words "treason, the gallows, the headman's axe," and the issue remained in doubt. Then a man rose and spoke. Jefferson described him as not a young man, but one who had to summon all his energy for an inpassioned plea. He cited the grievances that had brought them to this moment and finally, his voice failing, he said, "They may turn every tree into a gallows, every home into a grave, and yet the words of that parchment can never die. To the mechanic in the workshop, they will speak hope; to the slave in the mines, freedom. Sign that parchment. Sign if the next moment the noose is around your neck, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom, the Bible of the rights of man forever." He fell back, exhausted. The 56 delegates, swept up by his eloquence, rushed forward and signed a document destined to be as immortal as a work of man can be. When they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found who knew who he was or how he had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors. Fifty-six men, a little band so unique, we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor." (Editor's Note: Gov. Reagan has, at Do-It Man's request, sent a copy of the entire speech to M.N.)
No comments:
Post a Comment