John Adams designated the second of July, on which day the Resolution of Independence was confirmed by the Representatives, as the anniversary that should, in future years, be celebrated by bells, fireworks and cannon. On July fourth the Declaration was adopted, and the document was authenticated by the signatures of the President and Secretary and all the members present, except Mr. Dickinson of Pennsylvania. Several days later the Declaration was engrossed on parchment and, on the second of August, the first signatures were affixed; the other signatures followed later. This is the Declaration that has been preserved as the original, the first signed paper having probably been destroyed. “If,” as one writer puts it, “the natal day of American Independence is to be derived from the ceremony of the signing, and the _real_ date of what has been preserved as the original of the Declaration, then it would be the second of August. If derived from the substantial, legal _act_ of separation from the British Crown, it would be the second of July. But common consent has determined the date of the great anniversary from the apparently subordinate event of the passage of the Declaration, and thus we celebrate the Fourth of July as the birthday of the nation.” THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ESTABLISHED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR INTEREST IN ART, LITERATURE, SCIENCE, HISTORY, NATURE AND TRAVEL THE MENTOR IS PUBLISHED TWICE A MONTH BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC., AT 114-116 EAST 16TH STREET, NEW YORK, N. Y. SUBSCRIPTION, FOUR DOLLARS A YEAR. FOREIGN POSTAGE 75 CENTS EXTRA. CANADIAN POSTAGE 50 CENTS EXTRA. SINGLE COPIES TWENTY CENTS. PRESIDENT, THOMAS H. BECK; VICE-PRESIDENT, WALTER P. TEN EYCK; SECRETARY, W. D. MOFFAT; TREASURER, J. S. CAMPBELL; ASSISTANT TREASURER AND ASSISTANT SECRETARY, H. A. CROWE. THE MENTOR WHAT HISTORY TELLS US A century ago War had left the heart of Europe torn and bleeding. Napoleon was ambitious to conquer the earth--a fitting parallel today is another who wishes a place in the sun! Are you familiar with the points of similarity in the ambitions of these two imperial disturbers of the peace of the world? Do you know about the meteoric career of the great Napoleon--with its equally meteoric ending? There is another story that has a fascination that will endure forever--the story of Jeanne d’Arc, one of the most remarkable women of all time, who at thirteen years of age was inspired to lead the armies of France to victory.