THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON April the 19th, 1775, was the fatal1 day marked out by mysterious Heaven for tearing away the stout infant colonies from the old mother country. Early that morning General Gage sent a detachment of about or e thousand men from Boston to destroy some military stores which the Americans had accumulated in the town of Concord near Lexington. On coming to the place they found the town militia assembled on the green, near the road. "Throw down your arms and disperse, you rebels!" was the cry of the British officer (Pitcairn), which was immediately followed by a general discharge from the soldiers, whereby eight of the Americans were killed, and several wounded. The provincials 2 retired; but, finding that the British still continued their fire, they returned it with good interest, and soon strewed the green with the dead and wounded. Such fierce discharges of musketry produced the effect that might have been expected in a land of freemen, who saw their gallant brothers suddenly engaged in the strife of death. Never before had the bosoms of the swains experienced such a tumult of heroic passions. Then, throwing aside the implements of husbandry,1 and leaving their teams in the half finished furrows, they flew to their houses, snatched up their arms, and bursting forth from their wild, shrieking wives and children, hastened to the glorious field where Liberty, heaven-born goddess, was to be bought with blood. Pouring in now from every quarter were seen crowds of sturdy peasants, with flushed cheeks and flaming eyes, eager for battle. Even Even age forgot its wonted infirmities, and hands long palsied with years threw aside the cushioned crutch and grasped the deadly firelock. Fast as they came up, their ready muskets began to pour forth the long red streams of fiery vengeance. The enemy fell back appalled. The shouting farmers, swift-closing on their rear, followed their steps with death, while the 1 Implements of husbandry, farming tools. 1 British, as fast as they could load, wheeling on their pursuers, returned the deadly fire. But their flight was not in safety! Every step of their retreat was stained with blood; every hedge or fence by which they passed concealed a deadly foe. They would, in all probability, have been cut off to a man, had not General Gage luckily recollected that, born of Britons, these Yankees might possess some of the family valor, and therefore sent one thousand men to support the detachment. This reënforcement met the poor fellows, faint with fear and fatigue, and brought them safely into Boston. MASON L. WEEMS. Gather the facts and write the story of the Battle of Lexington. Explain: "heaven-born goddess," page 146; "age forgot its wonted infirmities," page 146. Mason L. Weems, the author of this sketch, was an itinerant minister who lived in the days of Washington, and who wrote a Life of our first President containing many tales which have become widely known. The most famous of these is the Story of the Cherry Tree and the Hatchet. CONCORD HYMN This hymn was sung by the assembled company at the dedication of "Battle Monument," a monument erected at Concord, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1836, on the field of the famous Revolutionary battle. By the rude bridge that arched the flood, 5 The foe long since in silence slept; 10 Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; On this green bank, by this soft stream, That memory may their deed redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone. Spirit, that made those heroes dare To die, and leave their children free, 15 Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raise to them and Thee. Explain: QUESTIONS FOR STUDY "the shot heard round the world," line 4. "seaward creeps," line 8. "That memory may their deed redeem," line 11. Memorize this poem. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, who wrote this poem, wrote essays and poems. He was a friend of Longfellow, Whittier, Hawthorne, and other famous writers who lived in Boston or near it. ETHAN ALLEN AND TICONDEROGA CHAPTER I The boats were now instantly headed round, the oars muffled, careful oarsmen selected and placed in their seats; when, after each boat had been filled with as many troops as their respective burthens would safely permit, they pushed off from the shore, preceded a short hailing distance by a skiff, occupied by Allen and Arnold, with Phelps to pilot them to their contemplated landing on the opposite shore. The wind had some time since died wholly away, and |