"There," said he, "John Bull can read that without 'specs'!" As they gathered round to sign their names to the document, "pledging their lives, their fortune, and their sacred honor" to maintain and defend their action, every one of them understood very well that, if this revolution failed and, he should be captured, he was liable to be hanged as a traitor. John Hancock said to a group of the signers, "We must stand by each other; no pulling different ways--we must all hang together in this matter." "Yes," said Franklin, "we must indeed, or we shall all hang separately!" The Fourth day of July, marked by the momentous event popularly known as the adoption of the "Declaration of Independence," has properly become our National Holiday. The day has been celebrated, just as our forefathers said it would be, with the firing of cannon, the ringing of bells, parades, and bonfires. From that day to the present, the immortal document has been listened to with reverence by our people. =180. What the Declaration of Independence should mean to us.=--Thus we have traced the growth of the passion for liberty which finally reached its loftiest expression in this noble Declaration. Read it and let it grow into your memory. Do not forget that lovers of liberty, the world over, regard it as the sublimest state paper ever produced by man, marking the grandest advance in political progress ever made by the human race. To us of the present day its chief charm lies in its noble beginning and its no less noble end. We care little now about the faults and the follies of King George, but the bold assertions of great truths in the opening sentences of the Declaration appeal as warmly to us to-day as they did to those for whom they were first written. It is interesting to know that it was signed by men of lofty purpose and exalted character, every one of whom held to his last day a reputation never dishonored. These were the chosen men, worthy to be leaders with Washington of the young nation. For good or evil this most momentous step was now taken. There was no choice left the colonies but to win by hard fighting or to be crushed by their enemy. CHAPTER XIV. THE BURGOYNE CAMPAIGN. =181. First Campaign for the Control of the Hudson fails.=--It did not require much intelligence on the part of the British government to perceive that it would be wise policy to separate if possible one group of its revolting colonies from the rest. This was practicable only along the line of the Hudson. The two long lakes, Champlain and George, with the navigable river, almost made a great water highway from Canada on the north to the sea on the south.