of John Adams; the round bald head, the firm mouth, the set eyes of the
Braintree patriot, gave the idea that he was grimly and terribly in
earnest. Square-headed old Roger Sherman was another figure well worth
studying; a man, like the others, with the air of being rather resolved
on, than resigned to, the step which was being made, and seriously
prepared to take all consequences. And, to complete the group, there was
the polished and scholarly Livingston of New York, almost a fop in dress
and toilet, a model of elegance and fine courtesy, who, though serving
as one of the committee, was absent when the Declaration was signed. The
signing did not take place for several weeks after its adoption.

[Sidenote: The Declaration proclaimed.]

[Sidenote: British exasperation.]

Jefferson read the Declaration to the Congress, and it was accepted,
with a few alterations, by the votes of the deputies of twelve of the
colonies. New York alone abstained from voting. The bell of the State
House rang out the tidings; the Declaration was read to a surging,
excited crowd in the square; it was sent off in all directions by fleet
messengers, and read at the head of each brigade of the Continental
army; and the colonies now knew that the fight was to go on to the
bitter end. Thenceforth there was no thought of patching a compromise
with the mother country, or of returning to the old allegiance to
the British crown. On the side of England, national pride and royal
obstinacy urged forward every preparation to continue the struggle; and
the voices of Chatham, Burke, and Fox were drowned amid the storm of
exasperation which the Declaration had caused. A price was set upon the
heads of Hancock and Samuel Adams, and Hessians were purchased to
fill the insufficient corps of the red-coats.