beneath the arches of Faneuil Hall, every note of argument, of appeal, of adjuration, had sounded to the foot of the throne, and in vain. The wheels of destiny rolled on; the great design of Providence must be fulfilled; the issue must be nobly met, or basely shunned. Strange it seemed, inscrutable it was, that your remote and quiet village should be the chosen altar of the first great sacrifice. But the summons came and found you waiting; and here, in the centre of your dwelling-places, within sight of the homes you were to enter no more, between the village church where your fathers worshipped and the graveyard where they lay at rest, bravely and meekly, like Christian heroes, you sealed the cause with your blood. Parker, Munroe, Hadley, the Harringtons, Muzzy, Brown: -alas! ye cannot hear my words. No voice but that of the archangel shall penetrate your urns; but to the end of time, your remembrance shall be preserved! To the end of time, the soil whereon ye fell is holy, and shall be trodden with reverence, while America has a name among the nations! Fit And now ye are going to lie down beneath yon simple stone, which marks the place of your mortal agony. spot for your last repose! "Where should the soldier rest, but where he fell?” For ages to come, the characters graven in the enduring marble shall tell the unadorned tale of your sacrifice; and ages after that stone itself has crumbled into dust as inexpressive as yours, history shall transmit the record! Ay, while the language we speak retains its meaning in the ears of men, your names and your memory shall be cherished! NOTES. NOTE A, p. 527. THE following is the list of Captain Parker's company, as they stood enrolled on the 19th of April, 1775. Those marked with an asterisk were present at the celebration on the 20th of April, 1835. The proper limits of the occasion precluded a detail of the interesting occurrences of the retreat and pursuit from Lexington to Charlestown. One portion of these were commemorated at Danvers, on the 20th of April, 1835. Next to Lexington, Danvers suffered more severely than any other town. Seven of the Danvers company were killed. On the late return of the anniversary, the corner-stone of a monument to their memory was laid at Danvers, with affecting ceremonies, and a highly interesting address was delivered by Daniel P. King, Esq., of that place. The following return of all the killed and wounded is taken from the appendix to Mr Phinney's pamphlet : — LEXINGTON. Killed in the morning. — Jonas Parker, Robert Munroe, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Jun., Isaac Muzzy, Caleb Harrington, John Brown.-7. Killed in the afternoon. — Jedediah Munroe, John Raymond, Nathaniel Wyman. - 3. Wounded in the morning. John Robbins, Solomon Pierce, John Tidd, Joseph Comee, Ebenezer Munroe, Jun., Thomas Winship, Nathaniel Farmer, Prince Estabrook, Jedediah Munroe.-9. Wounded in the afternoon.- Francis Brown. 1. CAMBRIDGE. Killed. William Marcy, Moses Richardson, John Hicks, Jason Russell, Jabez Wyman, Jason Winship. - 6. 3. CONCORD. Wounded. - Charles Miles, Nathan Barnet, Abel Prescott. NEEDHAM.-Lieutenant John Bourn, Elisha Mills, Amos Mills, Nathaniel Chamberlain, Jonathan Parker. - 5. SUDBURY. Killed. — Josiah Haynes, Asahel Reed. — 2. - Joshua Haynes, Jun. — 1. Job Lane. 1. ACTON. Killed. - Captain Isaac Davis, Abner Hosmer, James Hayward.-3. WOBURN. Henry Putnam, William Polly. — 2. CHARLESTOWN. Killed. - James Miller, C. Barber's son.— 2. WATERTOWN. Killed. Joseph Coolidge. — 1. BROOKLINE. Killed. - Isaac Gardner, Esq.-1. BILLERICA. Wounded. John Nickols, Timothy Blanchard. DANVERS. Killed. - Henry Jacobs, Samuel Cook, Ebenezer Goldthwait, George Southwick, Benjamin Daland, Jotham Webb, Perley Putnam.-7. Wounded. Nathan Putnam, Dennis Wallace. — 2. Wounded.Nathaniel Cleves, Samuel Woodbury, William Dodge, 3d.-3. Abednego Ramsdell, Daniel Townsend, William Flint, THE YOUTH OF WASHINGTON.* WHEN our fathers united in resistance to the oppressive measures of the British ministry, a few only of the leading patriots, and those principally of Massachusetts, contemplated the establishment of an independent government. They were unanimously determined to assert their rights, and to stand or fall in their defence; but the mass of the people desired and expected a reconciliation. There is preserved a letter of Washington, written from Philadelphia, on the ninth of October, 1774, at which place he was in attendance, as a member of the first revolutionary Congress. It is addressed to Captain McKenzie, an officer of the British army in Boston, with whom Washington had served in the former war. It probably gives the precise state of the feelings of the patriots, both in and out of Congress, with the exception of a very few bold, far-reaching-and I might almost say inspired-individuals, who went far beyond their day, and knew that separation and independence were inevitable. It contains unquestionably the feelings and opinions of Washington himself. "I think," says he, "I can announce it as a fact, that it is not the wish nor the interest of the government of Massachusetts, or any other government upon this continent, separately or collectively, to set up for independence; but this you may rely upon, that none of them will ever submit to the loss of those valuable rights and privileges which are essential to the inhabitants of every free state, and without which, life, liberty, and property are rendered totally Oration delivered on the 4th day of July, 1835, before the citizens of Beverly, without distinction of party. |