HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

Gems from the Teachings of Church Leaders
President Ezra Taft Benson on the Declaration of Independence
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"Fifty-six men signed the document on August 2, 1776, or, in the
case of some, shortly thereafter. They pledged their lives!--and
at least nine of them died as a result of the war. If the Revolution had
failed, if their fight had come to naught, they would have been hanged as
traitors. They pledged their fortunes!--and at least fifteen
fulfilled that pledge to support the war effort. They pledged their sacred
honor!--best expressed by the noble statement of John Adams. He
said: 'All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope, in this
life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off as I begun,
that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my
living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying
sentiment, Independence, now, and INDEPENDENCE FOR EVER' (Works of
Daniel Webster, Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1877, 17th ed., 1:135)."