Shall I remind you, Sir, of that famous letter by John Adams to his wife, written the day after the Resolution of Independence, and pending the Declaration? Of this epoch he predicts, in words quoted with annual pride, that it “will be the most memorable in the history of America,--celebrated by descending generations as the great anniversary festival,--commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty,--solemnized with pomp and power, with cheers, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.”[242] And yet this Declaration, annually celebrated, having the first pages of our statute-book, placed in the fore-front of the volume of rules for our guidance in this Chamber, this triumphant Magna Charta, is to be treated as “the generalities of a revolutionary pronunciamento,” or at best as of no more value than the letter of a contemporary statesman. Sir, the Senator misconceives the case; and there, allow me to say, is his error. MR. CARPENTER. The Senator understood me to say, at least I said, in construing the Constitution you must undoubtedly look to the Declaration of Independence, as you must look to all the contemporary history of that day. Did I say there was no difference in the different documents? Did I say that no more importance was to be attached to the Declaration of Independence than to a letter of Madison or Washington? No, Sir,--I said no such thing. MR. SUMNER. The Senator shall speak for himself. He has spoken now, and you shall hear what he said before:-- “Certainly the Constitution of the United States must be construed upon the same principle.” That is, as “a contract entered into between two individuals.” “And when we are considering”-- What?-- “a doubtful question, the whole former history of the country, the Declaration of Independence, the writings of Washington and of Jefferson and of Madison, the writings in ‘The Federalist,’ everything that pertained to that day and gives color and tone to the Constitution, must be considered.” I am happy in any word of respect for the Declaration,--because the claim of Equal Rights stands on the Constitution interpreted by the Declaration. This brings me again to the main question. We have the National Constitution from the Preamble to the signature of George Washington, and then we have the recent Amendments, all to be interpreted by the National Declaration, which proclaims, as with trumpet:-- “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”