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Show THE DAY THEY LAUNCHED THE PAPER SKIFF 3 plaintive yet manly voice strongly imposed upon my judgment. He was clearly wrong yet I believed him right. Such were the effects of oratory." John Adams saw through this eloquence and practiced emotion. To John, this speech of Dickinson's was tantamount to treason. He had long feared the power of this man, having appraised him correctly from the first: "Though Dickinson looks a shadow, slender as a reed, pale as ashes, " Adams saw his strength: "Upon a more attentive inspection, he looks as if the springs of life were strong enough to last many years. " When Dickinson sat down there was a solemn hush, and the impact of his speech was visible on every face. Judge Stockton, from New Jersey, pressed for rebuttal. In law, said he, both sides present their case before a judge or jury hands down a decision and Judge Stockton felt that form should be followed. No speeches had been prepared, with the exception, probably, of John Dickinson's, and at the point, remembered John Adams afterward, Edward Rutledge rose from his seat and stepped over to John Adams: "Nobody will speak but you on this subject you must satisfy the gentlemen from New Jersey." Since Rutlege had been over-active against independence, moreso than Dickinson, imagination does not have to be stretched too far to suggest an air of satisfaction, a "Top that, if you can, " demeanor. Adams had summed up Edward Rutledge as "a perfect Bob-o-Lincoln excessively weak, variable and unsteady " therefore a wavering no-yes vote, |
