Reproduction of the original: The Mentor, the Cradle of Liberty by Albert Bushnell Hart

Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (born 1789, died 1851), was a great French scene-painter who experimented for many years trying to find some way of rendering permanent the image projected by a lens. J. Nicéphore Niépce was engaged in the same research, and from 1829 until the death of Niépce in 1833 the two worked together, but it was not until some years after the latter date that Daguerre discovered the process that bears his name. This process may be briefly described as follows: a highly polished and perfectly clean silver plate is rendered sensitive to light by the formation of a deposit of silver iodide on the surface, this being accomplished by exposing the plate—of course in the dark—for some minutes to the vapor of iodine. When the plate has assumed a uniform golden-brown color it is placed in the camera and the exposure is made, the light projected by the lens causing a chemical change to take place in the silver iodide. The image thus obtained is very weak, and in order to strengthen it the plate is exposed for some minutes to the vapor of mercury. It is subsequently fixed, or rendered permanent, by bathing with a solution of sodium thiosulphate (ordinarily known to photographers as "hypo"). This dissolves the silver compounds that were not affected by light. In some cases the picture is still further strengthened by treating it with chloride of gold. This not only increases the vigor of the image but at the same time improves its stability, so that it is less likely to fade as the result of atmospheric action or exposure to light. The effect of the chloride of gold is literally to gold-plate the image. As the surface of the completed daguerreotype is very sensitive to any mechanical action, it must be protected by glass. A mere touch of the finger leaves an irremediable scratch. The daguerreotype was at one time very popular for portraiture, but the process has certain drawbacks that have caused it to be superseded by improved methods.

Reproduction of the original: The Mentor, Benjamin Franklin by Albert Bushnell Hart

The urgent need to honor the 56 Signers of The Declaration of Independence came to Douglas MacKinnon, fittingly enough, on the 4th of July. While doing research for a column meant to remind the American people of that date’s critical importance, he came across example after example of those from the Left and the Far-Left––be they in the mainstream media, activists, or anarchists––calling for not only the “canceling” of the 4th of July, but the continued smearing, censorship, and canceling of our Founding Fathers. One overriding thought then filled his mind: “What if they are successful?” Those who believe such totalitarian censorship could never come to be in the United States of America, need only review how quickly and brutally many on the Left were able to create the “Woke Cancel Culture” to silence those they oppose today. Now they come for Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Franklin and others who courageously signed The Declaration of Independence. That document and those men created our history. History which should never be bent, twisted, censored, or banned to fit any ideological narrative. If it is good, let us praise it. If it is bad, let us condemn it and learn from it. But let us never twist, censor, or cancel it. And yet, more and more followers of the Left want to do just that. As they control the media, academia, entertainment, science, and medicine…who is to stop them? Time is of the essence. We must find our voices. The 56 left the blueprint: Liberty.