"'What is that?' Mr. Jefferson asked,
"'The British House of Lords,' said Franklin.
"A smile broke through the cloud of solemnity on those many faces, and was followed by a little ripple of laughter.
"'The committee wishes you all to know that it is indebted to Doctor Franklin for wise revision of the instrument,' said Mr. Jefferson.
"When the last man had signed, Mr. Jefferson rose and said:
"'Gentlemen, we have taken a long and important step. On this new ground we must hang together to the end.'
"'We must all hang together or assuredly we shall all hang separately,' said Franklin with that gentle, fatherly smile of his.
"Again the signers laughed.
"Last night I heard Patrick Henry speak. He thrilled us with his eloquence. He is a spare but rugged man, whose hands have been used to toil like my own. They tell me that he was a small merchant, farmer and bar-keeper down in Virginia before he became a lawyer and that he educated himself largely by the reading of history. He has a rapid, magnificent diction, slightly flavored with the accent of the Scot."