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 Centennial Sermons 
 
 
LEXII^GTO:^' 
 
 CEI^TE\t(!AL SERMONS 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 
 
 LEXINGTON, MASS., 
 
 April 11th, 18th, and 25th, 1875, 
 
 BY THE PASTOE, 
 
 Rev. HENRY Vs^-ESTCOTT. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 Printed by Frank Wood, 352 Washington St. 
 1875. 
 
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A SERMON 
 
 DELIVERED APRIL 11, 1875 
 
 As the day which marks the close of a century since 
 the beginning of the American Revolution approaches, 
 no small amount of interest centres in the village of 
 Lexington, which witnessed the opening scene of that 
 war. Years ago, when, as school children, in some 
 other town or State, many of us read the account of 
 • the "Battle of Lexington," it was with the resolution 
 that, at some future day, our feet should stand upon the 
 ground made sacred by the first blood shed in defence 
 of American liberty. And now, when the day that 
 many will choose on which to keep such resolutions is 
 so near, let us glance hastily at the Old Lexington of 
 pre-revolutionary times, and consider some of the 
 causes which have made the name of our village 
 familiar to every citizen of this country. 
 
 The feeling of interest which turns the thoughts of 
 so many persons hither at the present time is not on 
 account of any great battle, or of any superiority of 
 the men who stood upon Lexington Green, waiting the 
 approach of British soldiers. The "battle" was only 
 a skirmish; and, had Gen. Gage sent his troops in any 
 other direction, they would have found as brave men 
 in every town as they found here. But Lexington 
 Green happened to be the place where the British troops 
 
first met Americans in arms, drawn up for the express 
 purpose of forcibly resisting, if possible, their move- 
 ment of hostility. American blood had been shed as 
 early as 1770, in Boston; and British blood had been 
 shed in 1772, at the burning of the schooner Gaspee, 
 in Narragansett Bay ; and in other places blood had 
 been shed previous to April 19, 1775. But in all these 
 cases, the shedding of blood was occasioned by acts of 
 annoyance on the part of the British, rather than by 
 any act -of direct hostility. Here, however, the 
 British troops were on their wa}' to strike a blow at 
 the pr(3paration which this colony was making for the 
 conflict that was thought to be unavoidable. And the 
 company on Lexington Green was, as Frothingham, in 
 his " Siege of Boston," says, ""a part of 'the constitu- 
 tional army,' which was authorized to make a regular 
 and forcible resistance to any open hostility by the 
 British troops ; and it was for this purpose that this 
 gallant and devoted band on this memorable morning 
 appeared on the field. Whether it ought to maintain 
 its ground, or whether it ought to retreat, would depend 
 upon the bearing and numbers of the regulars." Here 
 the troops sent over to deprive these colonics of their 
 liberties first came in conflict with a part of that army 
 which had been raised to sustain those liberties. On 
 account of the disproportion in numbers, the further 
 march of the British was not prevented ; but enough 
 was done to awaken the spirit of resistance in the 
 neighboring towns, and, indeed, in all the colonies. 
 This is what gives, to-day, an interest in the name of 
 Lexington. 
 
 The territory now included in the town of Lexington, 
 
previous to the year lU-S, formed a part of Cambridge, 
 and was generally known as " Cambridge Farms.'' As 
 it lay at some distance from tlio settlement of Cam- 
 bridge, the land was taken up and built upon very 
 slowly. For a long time, there was no central place of 
 settlement. Here and there, as some adventurer found 
 a tract of land to his liking, a house was built, and a 
 home begun. In 1682, when the number of families 
 had reached about thirty, the inconvenience of going 
 from jfive to ten miles to the place of worship was felt 
 to be so great that the people of this district petitioned 
 the General Court to be set off' as a distinct parish. On 
 account of the opposition of the people of Cambridge, 
 this was not effected until the year 1691, when the 
 place was called North Cambridge. Immediately, the 
 inhabitants made arrangements for building a meeting- 
 house and securing a preacher. The meeting-house 
 was built in 1692, and, for a time. Rev, Benjamin Esta- 
 brook was engaged from year to year to preach. In 
 1696, after providing him with a house, and arranging 
 for a salary of forty-five pounds, they ventured to give 
 him a call, which he accepted, being ordained in October 
 of that year. Mr. Estabrook graduated at Harvard Col- 
 lege in the year 1690, and was a young man of much 
 promise, but he lived less than a year after his ordina- 
 tion. 
 
 The next minister was Rev. John Hancock, a graduate 
 of Harvard College, who was settled in 1698. He was 
 the grandfiither of John Hancock, of Revolutionary 
 fame ; and he remained pastor of the church for fifty- 
 five years. 
 
 Rev. Ebenezer Hancock, son of Rev. John Hancock, 
 
was settled as colleague with his father in 1*134, and 
 died in 1740. 
 
 The inhabitants of this part of Cambridge in the early- 
 part of tiie eighteenth century had increased to such an 
 extent, that they petitioned the General Court to be in- 
 corporated as a town, which petition was granted in 
 the year 1713, the town taking the name of Lexington. 
 As more than a score of cities, counties and towns in 
 the United States have since received this name, it is a 
 matter of interest to know where the name came from. 
 The name, undoubtedly, came from Lord Lexington, of 
 England, who was a noted man at the time of the incor- 
 poration of the town ; and was also a relation of Joseph 
 Dudley, who was then Governor of the Province. 
 
 During the first half century which succeeded the 
 incorporation of Lexington, the energies of the people 
 were mainly devoted to the improvement of the town. 
 Schoolhouses were built, schools were established, the 
 support of the ministry was provided for, roads were 
 opened, and many other things were attended to, which 
 were required by a well-regulated and prosperous com- 
 munity. Some of the duties to which they attended 
 seem strange to us, although they were regarded as im- 
 portant at that time. They appointed a committee to 
 seat the families in the meeting-house according to age, 
 dignity and wealth, — a duty which must have been very 
 difficult to perform satisfactorily to all concerned. Tliey 
 appointed tythingmon to look after the children during 
 and between the religious services on Sunday, — a task 
 which could not have been a verj' easy one. Persons 
 liable to become a public cliarge they warned out of 
 town. In 1739, the town voted that representatives to 
 
the Great and General Court should serve for six shil- 
 lings a day ; and in 1151 , it was voted that all money 
 received by the representatives over three shillings a 
 day, should be paid into the town treasury. 
 
 Kev. Mr. Hancock died in the 3'ear 1752, and his 
 funeral was something of public interest, so that the 
 town made an appropriation to meet the expenses, and 
 appointed a committee to take charge of the services. 
 In 1761, the bell which gave the alarm on the morning 
 of Api'il 19, 1775, was presented to the town by Isaac 
 Stone. 
 
 Although the citizens were devoted to the interests 
 of the town, they were not backward in the support of 
 the wars with the French and Indians. Whether the 
 war was in the West Indies, or before Quebec or 
 Louisburg, there were found representatives from this 
 town. It was in such service as this, that the men of 
 Lexington, and those of many other towns, learned the 
 art of war, which they practised at a later period. It 
 was by fighting by the side of British troops that they 
 gained the courage to fight when opposed to them. 
 
 In 1755, Rev. Jonas Clark was ordained as the min- 
 ister of the Lexington Church. Mr. Clark was a 
 graduate of Harvard College, and he married a grand- 
 daughter of his predecessor. Rev. John Hancock. In 
 the controversy between Great Britain and the Ameri- 
 can Colonies, which soon came to be the most important 
 subject of thought, Mr. Clark took the greatest interest. 
 As the controversy increased, Mr. Clark took a very 
 active part in the proceedings of the town relating to 
 that question. Most of the resolutions adopted by the 
 citizens of the town expressing their views on the sub- 
 
joct of the controversy were prepared by him. Edward 
 Everett said of those documents, "They have few equals, 
 and no superiors, among- the productions of that class." 
 Weiss, in his life of Theodore Parker, says of Mr. Clark: 
 " He was more dangerous than all the militar}^ stores 
 at Concord or in the Colony, and had so infected the 
 whole district with his calm and deep indig-nation. x'aat, 
 when the regulars came marching up the old turnpike 
 in the gray dawn of the 19th of April, after powder and 
 flour, they found all the farmers converted to a doctrine 
 of liberty which armed and provisioned a young nation 
 for seven years of war." 
 
 I do not propose to discuss the causes of the Ameri- 
 can Revolution, but only to state the more immediate 
 measures on the part of Great Britain and the Colonies 
 which led to the conflict. In 1*1*14, the British Parlia- 
 ment enacted laws by which certain officers, hitherto 
 chosen by the people, or representatives of the people, 
 in Massachusetts, were to be chosen by the king and 
 by the governor ; and also forbidding all town meet- 
 ings, except tlie annual ones, and all other public meet- 
 ings, to be held, unless with the consent of the gover- 
 nor. This was virtually reducing the inhabitants of 
 the Colony to the condition of slaves. And it was the 
 attempt to enforce such laws, that led, by a direct path, 
 to an open conflict between the troops of Great Britain 
 and the Colonists. A meeting of delegates from the 
 Committees of Correspondence was held in Boston, 
 August 26 and 21, 1714. These delegates declared 
 that the inhabitants of the Colony "were entitled to 
 life, liberty, and the means of sustenance, by the grace 
 of Heaven and without the king's leave ;" and resolved 
 
that the officers who had been chosen according to the 
 late act of Parliament ought to be resisted, that the 
 military art ought attentively to be practised b}'^ the 
 people, and that a " Provincial Congress is necessary 
 for concerting and executing an eflectual plan for coun- 
 teracting the systems of despotism, and that each 
 county will act wisely by choosing members as soon 
 as may be for said congress, and by resolutely execut- 
 ing its measures when recommended." This was the 
 first suggestion of a Provincial Congress ; and the coun- 
 ties immediately began to act upon it by holding conven- 
 tions, which advised the towns to choose delegates to 
 such a body, and also passed determined and spirited 
 resolutions. 
 
 September 1st, ITH, Gen. Gage summoned the 
 General Court to meet at Salem on October 5th. On 
 the 28th of September, he issued a proclamation ex- 
 cusing and discharging all who had been chosen repre- 
 sentatives, and declaring his intention not to meet them. 
 The reasons for this act were, "the many tumults and 
 disorders which had taken place, the extraordinary 
 resolves which had been passed in many of the coun- 
 ties, the instructions given by the town of Boston, and 
 some other towns, to their representatives, and the dis- 
 ordered and unhappy state of the province." As a 
 specimen of the spirit of those resolves which had in- 
 timidated the Governor, the Middlesex County Con- 
 vention said : "If, in support of our rights, we are 
 called upon to encounter death, we are yet undaunted, 
 sensible that he can never die too soon, who lays down 
 his life in support of the laws and liberties of his coun- 
 try." As a specimen of the instructions given by the 
 
10 
 
 towns to their repvesentatives, Lexington instructed 
 her representative, Jonas Stone, to " use liis utmost in- 
 fluence that nothing- be transacted as a court under the 
 new council, or in conformity to any of the late acts of 
 Parliament." 
 
 Notwithstanding the proclamation of Gen. Gage, 
 nearly a hundred of the representatives met at Salem, 
 October 5, and waited two days for the appearance of the 
 Governor, who did not come. They therefore resolved 
 themselves into a Provincial Congress, to be joined by 
 such others as had been or should be chosen. The 
 object of that Congress, as stated at the time, was : to 
 " take into consideration the dangerous and alarming 
 situation of public affairs in this province, and to con- 
 sult and determine on such measures as they shall judge 
 will tend to promote the true interest of his majesty, 
 and the peace, welfare, and prosperity of the province." 
 
 The organization of this Provincial Congress was 
 certainly the boldest step which had yet been taken. 
 By such an organization, the inhabitants of this colony 
 were resisting British authority, and were falling 
 back upon the natural rights of man, just as truly as 
 they were when they took up arms to resist British 
 troops. The men who dared to sit in that Congress 
 showed themselves as true heroes as did the men who 
 shcjuldered their muskets and hastened to Lexington 
 and Concord on tlie morning of the nineteenth of the 
 following April. It is not strange, therefore, that 
 Joseph Warren wrote to a friend about the members of 
 that body : " You would have thought j^ourself in an 
 assembly of Spartans, or ancient Romans, had you been 
 
11 
 
 a witness to the ardor which inspired those who spoke 
 xipon the important business they were transacting." 
 
 The proceedings of this Congress are of the utmost 
 importance to every one who would understand the 
 cause of the open acts of hostility which took place in 
 the following spring. It was the work of this Congress 
 and of the Committee of Safety which it appointed, that 
 provoked Gen. Gage to send his troops on the expedi- 
 tion to Lexington and Concord ; and it was the work 
 of this Congress and Committee that the inhabitants of 
 this part of the province were prepared to meet those 
 troops. 
 
 The Provincial Congress, aftc organizing at Salem, 
 Oct. *7, adjourned to meet at Concord, Oct. 11. The 
 Congress met at Concord, according to adjournment, 
 and held there a session of four days. It adjourned 
 Friday, Oct. 14, to meet at Cambridge on the following 
 Monday, at which place all the remaining sessions of 
 this first Provincial Congress were held. The second 
 Provincial Congress also held its first session in Cam- 
 bridge ; but on March 22, 1115, it met at Concord, 
 where it continued in session till April 15. At the 
 four days' session of the first Provincial Congress held 
 at Concord, two important measures were adopted: an 
 address to Governor Gage, which contained an account 
 of the distresses, oppressions, and grievances to which 
 the people were subjected, and a request that the Gov- 
 ernor would desist from any further warlike prepara- 
 tions. The other important measure was the advising 
 of the constables, collectors, and sheriffs not to pay 
 any moneys in their hands to the treasurer of the prov- 
 
12 
 
 ince, but to retain the same until farther advice from the 
 Provincial Cong-ress. 
 
 Among the important measures adopted by the first 
 and second Cong-ress while in session at Cambridge 
 were the following : to purchase 20 field pieces, 4 mor- 
 tars, 20 tons grape and round shot, 10 tons bomb shells, 
 5 tons lead balls, 1000 barrels of powder, 5000 arms 
 and bayonets, and 75,000 flints; the appointment of a 
 Committee of Safety, whose duties were to observe 
 every attempt to invade or annoy the province, and, if 
 necessary, to call out the militia; the people were urged 
 to complete the organization of the military companies, 
 to have them perfected in military discipline, and a part 
 of them ready to march at the shortest notice. 
 
 "We think," said the Provincial Congress, "that 
 particular care should be taken by the towns and dis- 
 tricts in this colony, that each of the minute-men, not 
 already provided therewith, should be immediately 
 equipped with an eflFective fire-arm, bayonet, pouch, 
 knapsack, thirty rounds of cartridges and balls, and that 
 they be disciplined three times a week, and oftener as 
 opportunity may offer." Besides this, the ministers of 
 the colony were asked by Congress to advise their con- 
 gregations to adhere strictly to the resolutions of the 
 Continental (Congress. The church at Cambridge in 
 which the Provincial Congress held its sessions when 
 these and many other important measures which led to 
 the beginning of open hostilities were adopted, no 
 longer stands. Were it standing, there would be no 
 other buikling in this country to which pilgrimages 
 would more readily be made by citizens of the United 
 States. 
 
13 
 
 When we remember that the measures and resolutions 
 which were adopted by the Provincial Congress, were sup. 
 plemented by the earnest action of the Committees of Safe- 
 ty and Supplies in procuring field-pieces, muskets, balls, 
 cartridges, powder, bayonets, tents, provisions, and med- 
 icines — every thing that an army in actual service could 
 possibly require — and concealing them at Concord and 
 Worcester, we can understand something of the -feelings 
 with which our forefathers passed tlirough those months 
 during which the Provincial Congress was in session. 
 Everywhere in the province was seen a preparation for 
 war. But probably nowhere was there more interest 
 taken in that preparation than in the towns which were 
 in the neighborhood of Cambridge, where the Provin- 
 cial Congress was in session, and Boston, where the Brit- 
 ish troops were quartered. In the records of every town 
 are found the evidences of this interest. If we look in the 
 records of this town, we find the citizens during those 
 months holding frequent town meetings, and voting to 
 provide flints, and bayonets, and drums, and all other 
 things necessary for a forcible resistance of British 
 troops. As a year previous to this time, they had re- 
 solved that " we trust in God, that should the state of 
 our affairs require it, we shall be ready to sacrifice 
 our estates and everything dear in life, yea, and life 
 itself, in support of the common cause," so at the time 
 we are considering, they were making active prepara- 
 tions to fulfil their promise to sustain the common cause, 
 which they then saw clearly must be done, with the 
 sacrifice of their lives. We are so accustomed to 
 dwell upon the events of the nineteenth of April, 1115, 
 that we fail to realize the anxiety in which the few 
 
14 
 
 months previous to that time were passed by the in- 
 habitants of this town. With what eagerness must 
 they have looked for each measure adopted by the 
 Provincial Congress, and with what anxiety must they 
 have heard of every movement of the troops at Boston. 
 As the winter wore away with the increasing certainty 
 of the approaching conflict, and as the spring opened 
 with the Provincial Congress meeting in March, at 
 Concord, to perfect the work of preparation which it 
 had previously laid out ; as the days passed by, 
 with the conflict apparently so near that men were 
 appointed to watch closely every movement of the 
 British, there must have been many anxious hearts 
 within this town. Nearly every family had one or 
 more of its members enrolled in the military company 
 of the town ; and for many nights husbands, and wives, 
 and children, and fathers, and mothers, must have fallen 
 asleep, expecting, before morning, to hear the alarm 
 rung out from the belfry on the Green. At last, the 
 alarm was heard. About one o'clock, on the morning 
 of tlie loth (jf April, IITS, the inhabitants of Lexing- 
 ton who dwelt along the road leading to Boston heard 
 the clattering of a horse's hoofs. It was the horse of 
 Paul Revere, who was hastening with a message from 
 Joscpli Warren, to Samuel Adams and John Hancock, 
 who were passing the night with Rev. Jonas Clark, 
 that a large body of the King's troops were embarked 
 in boats from Boston, and that it was suspected they 
 were ordered to destroy the stores at Concord. Soon 
 the bell sounded the alarm, and by two o'clock, nearly 
 all the members of Capt. Parker's company answered 
 to their names, as the roll was called upon the Green 
 
15 
 
 If it be asked, For what did these men meet upon the 
 Green? the answer is given by Rev. Mr. Clark, in 
 his narrative of the events of that day. It was " not 
 with any design of commencing hostilities upon the 
 King's troops, but to consult what might be done for 
 our own and the people's safety : And also to be ready 
 for whatever service Providence might call us out to 
 upon this alarming occasion, in case overt acts of 
 violence or open hostilities should be committed." 
 And he further says: "From a most intimate acquaint 
 ance with the sentiments of the inhabitants of this 
 town then collected in arms, I think I may boldly 
 assert that it was then knoion determination not to com- 
 mence hostilities upon the king's troops ; though they 
 were equally determined to stand by tlieir rights to the 
 last." Capt. Parker's company remained upon the 
 Green about an hour, when, hearing nothing of the 
 regulars, the company was dismissed, with orders to 
 appear immediately at the beat of the drum. Some of 
 the members, whose homes were near, retired thither, 
 while the greater part went into Buckman's tavern^ 
 which stood on the opposite side of the road, 
 
 I wish we had the tales of that wayside inn ; that we 
 knew of what those men talked while they awaited the 
 roll of the drum which should call them again into line. 
 They were subjects of George III., yet they were sup- 
 plied with powder and balls, and had their muskets 
 loaded, in expectation of the coming of the king's 
 troops. Although all the inhabitants of the colony had 
 been looking forward to this, their position — the king's 
 subjects in arms against the king's troops — was a 
 strange one, and it must have seemed so to them. 
 
16 
 
 Doubtless they discussed the last measures of the Pro- 
 vincial Cong-rcss, of the Committee of Safety, of the 
 Committee of Supplies, the latest news about the Brit- 
 ish in Boston, the prospect of a war and its probable 
 results, and the object of the militar}'- expedition which 
 they had been called out to watch, and^ if possible, 
 oppose. No doubt there were as patriotic sentiments 
 uttered in that wayside inn on that night as had been 
 heard in the churches at Cambridge and Concord from 
 members of the Provincial Congress. Doubtless they 
 strengthened each other's hearts with assertions of their 
 readiness to meet the troops of the king, and with 
 determined resolutions that George III., Lord North, 
 and the Parliament should be taught a lesson long to be 
 remembered. If the Avails of that building could only 
 speak and tell what occurred during that hour when 
 those " village Hampdens " sat and talked in the light 
 of the cheerful fire, the story would be one of the most 
 interesting relics to be shown on the coming anni- 
 versary. 
 
 But their conversation and discussions were suddenly 
 interrupted by the roll of the drum and the alarm gun. 
 Grasping their muskets, and taking one look at them 
 to see if they were ready for resistance, should it be 
 necessary, they hastened from the house, and to the 
 Green. There, while they were forming in line, — be- 
 fore the line was completely formed, — the British 
 troops made their appearance between the meeting- 
 house and the tavern. Captain Parker ordered every 
 man to stand his ground, but not to fire uidess fired 
 upon. Pitcairn, the commanding ofliccr of the British, 
 shouted to the Minute-men, " Lay down your arms and 
 
17 
 
 disperse, you rebels!" and then immediately ordered 
 his troops to " Fire ! " at the same time firing his own 
 pistol. The British fired, first over the heads of the 
 Minute-men ; but at the second command, they fired and 
 killed and wounded a number of the Americans. See- 
 ing his men outnumbered, Parker ordered them to dis- 
 perse. But before obeying that order, some of the 
 company returned the fire, and others, while dispers- 
 ing, did the same. The British continued pursuing 
 and firing, until all who were alive had escaped. Then 
 the troops gave three huzzas, and proceeded towards 
 Concord, leaving eight Americans killed, and nine 
 wounded, and having had two or three of their men 
 wounded. Such is an account of the fight or skirmish 
 at Lexington, on the morning of April 19, 17t5, as ac- 
 cepted by all historians. 
 
 The news of what had been done reached Concord 
 before the British did. The neighboring towns also 
 had been alarmed, and men from Acton and Lin- 
 coln stood with those of Concord to offer further resist- 
 ance. While a part of the British troops were engaged 
 in searching for and destroying stores, a detachment 
 left to guard the North bridge fired upon the Ameri- 
 cans, who outnumbered the British, three to one. They 
 returned the fire, killing one and wounding a number 
 of the regulars. The British that were at North 
 bridge retreated towards the centre of the town, and 
 joined the main body of their troops ; and soon the 
 whole body began that retreat which proved so disas- 
 ti'ous to them, all the way from Concord, through Lex- 
 ington and Arlington, to Charlestown. 
 
 In regard to what took place on Lexington Green in 
 
18 
 
 the morning', attempts have been made within the past 
 fifty years to raise a question, whether or no the min- 
 ute-men retui-ned the fire of the British troops. But 
 there never was any such question to be raised. There 
 is no more doubt that the minute-men on Lexington 
 Green returned the fire of the Britisli, than there is 
 that the minute men were on the Green. The testimony 
 which conflicts with this statement was not such, either 
 in amount or character, as caused the shadow of a doubt 
 in the minds of the members of the Provincial Con- 
 gress that the fire of the British was returned. The 
 narrative of the events of April 19, ordered by the 
 Provincial Congress to be published in the following 
 month, implies that the fire was returned by the 
 Americans, in the statement, that the British " first 
 began the hostile scene, by firing on this small party, 
 by which they killed eight men on the spot, and 
 wounded several others, before any guns were fired 
 upon the troops by our men." In the proclamation of the 
 Provincial Congress of June 16, 17T5, it is expressly 
 stated that the fire of the British was returned. " The 
 fire was returned by some of the survivors," are the 
 words employed. Gordon, who visited Lexington and 
 Concord a few days after the battle, ascertained, both 
 from the Americans and from British prisoners, that 
 the minute-men did return the fire. Rev. Jonas 
 Clark, of Lexington, in his naiTative of the events of 
 the day, says : " Very few of our people fired at all ; and 
 even they did not fire till, after being fired upon by the 
 troops, they were wounded themselves, or saw others 
 killed or wounded by them, and looked upon it next to 
 impossible for them to escape." This is what the 
 
19 
 
 earliest authorities say ; and it has been accepted by all 
 historians from that time to this ; the last historian, 
 Higginson, whose book was published only a few weeks 
 ago, saying distinctly: " The Americans fired in return." 
 And I am not aware that there was ever any pretence 
 of a doubt about this, till half a century had passed 
 away. There is no fact concerning the whole American 
 Revolution which has much better authentication than 
 the fact that on Lexington Green began that resistance 
 to British troops which was continued at Concord, 
 which was continued all the way from Concord to 
 Charlestown, which was continued at Bunker Hill, 
 which was continued till 1783, when the British troops 
 were driven from Amei'ican soil, and the liberties of 
 the American colonies were secured. 
 
 It is true that the firing by the minute-men on Lexing- 
 ton Green was not done in obedience to any command 
 of Capt. Parker. Individual soldiers fired upon their 
 own responsibility. But I am not aware that that circum- 
 stance detracts from the significance or importance of 
 the firing. There was very little firing by the Americans 
 on that day that was done in obedience to the com- 
 mands of officers. It was done by individuals behind trees, 
 fences and walls. If the firing of the Americans on 
 Lexington Green was not of much importance, then 
 there was very little firing of importance done on that 
 day, and the approaching celebration of the centennial 
 anniversary of that day can be scai'cely anything more 
 than a farce. 
 
 It may be asked, What was gained by the resistance 
 made on Lexington Green ? A few men died a glorious 
 death, but the expedition of the British was detained 
 
20 
 
 only about half an hour. What advantage was gained 
 by the Colonies from the death of the men whose dust 
 reposes under yonder monument ? Some defeats effect 
 more than some victories. The battle of Bunker Hill was 
 not a victory for the Americans ; yet no one will deny 
 that it exerted a great influence in favor of the Ameri- 
 cans. It must be remembered that the organization of 
 the Minute-men throughout this Colony was for the pur- 
 pose of resisting any open acts of hostility on the part of 
 the British. While the Colonists were determined not to 
 be the aggressors, they were equally determined to op- 
 pose every open act of British hostility. Word came 
 to Lexington that the British troops had left Boston 
 that evening, evidently with hostile intentions. Samuel 
 Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Jonas Clark- 
 were right when they decided that it was the duty of 
 the Minute-men of Lexingtou to be preoared for any 
 service that might be required. It was no uncertain 
 sound that came from that belfry on the Green. It said 
 plainly that, if the British meant war, it might begin 
 here. 
 
 On the monument at Thevmopylfe, which marked 
 the spot where a few Greeks allowed themselves to be 
 sacrificed by the overwhelming hosts of the Persian in- 
 vader, the poet wrote the words : — 
 
 " Strangor, the tidings to the Spartan tell, 
 That here, obeying their eommands, we fell." 
 
 It was the same message that went forth on that 
 morning of April 19, 1775, from this field of blood, to 
 the inhabitants of this Colony. Obeying the commands 
 of the people of this Colony, as expressed by their Con- 
 
21 
 
 gress, those meu fell on Lexington Green. And had 
 there been no further resistance on that day, their blood 
 would have been enough to summon the people of this 
 and all the other Colonies to arms, and to drive those 
 who were worse than invaders from the land Truly 
 said Jonas Clark, "The innocent blood of our brethren 
 was the cement of the Union, and seal of the freedom 
 of these American States ! All America heard the 
 alarm, deeply felt the wound, and bravely rose to re- 
 venge their brethren's blood, and join the common 
 cause." 
 
 -It should not be our endeavor, at this time, to exalt 
 our town on account of what was done here a century 
 ago. They of that time said, " Not unto us, Lord, 
 but unto thee bo the glory ; " and in this let us follow 
 their example. Let us be content with the position 
 which history accords to the heroes of that morning, 
 and to the soil on which they fell. Bancroft says of 
 the men who fell at that time, " These are the village 
 heroes, who were more than of noble blood, proving by 
 their spirit that they were of a race divine. They gave 
 their lives in testimony to the rights of mankind, be- 
 queathing to their country an assur&,nce of success in 
 the mighty struggle which they began. Their names 
 are held in grateful remembrance, and the expanding 
 millions of their countrymen renew and multiply their 
 praise from generation to generation." Of these men 
 Everett said : " To the end of time, the soil whereon 
 ye fell is holy ; and shall be trod with revei-ence, while 
 America has a name among the nations." And of the 
 citizens of Lexington he said, " On their soil, and on 
 that day, commenced the dread appeal to arms, long 
 
22 
 
 anticipated, though loyally deprecated by the friends 
 of American liberty. On that day, and on their soil, 
 commenced the struggle in which so much hardship 
 was endured, and so much precious blood was shed, 
 and which, by the blessing of Providence, was con- 
 ducted by the Heaven-appointed chieftain to its auspi- 
 cious result." But whatever may be said of those men, 
 or of the ground on which they fell, let us remember 
 that it was not for the glory of this town that they 
 died. As we consider the spirit by which they were 
 inspired, the names of men and towns sink out of sight 
 in the noble cause in which they were engaged. Let 
 us not look back to that day saying, " What a day for 
 the glory of Lexington ! " but " What a glorious day 
 for America! " 
 
23 
 
 A SERMON DELIVERED APRIL 18th, 18t5. 
 
 PSALM xxxm. 12. 
 "blessed is the nation whose god is the lord." 
 
 Before the Pilgrims and the Puritans set their feet 
 upon the shores of New England, they expressed their 
 purpose in coming hither, in a way which assures us 
 that they intended to found a nation whose God 
 should be the Lord. In the cabin of the " Mayflower," 
 the Pilgrims signed a compact, a part of which is : 
 " We, whose names are underwritten, having undei'- 
 taken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the 
 Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a 
 voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts 
 of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and 
 mutually, in the presence of God and one of another, 
 covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil 
 body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, 
 and furtherance of the ends aforesaid." During the 
 voyage of the ship " Arbella," which brought over the 
 Puritans, Gov. Winthrop wrote a treatise, in which he 
 stated that the work they had in hand was, " by a mutual 
 consent, through a special, over-ruling Providence, and 
 a more than an ordinary approbation of the churches 
 of Christ, to seek out a place of cohabitation and con- 
 sortship under a due form of government, both civil 
 
24 
 
 and ecclesiastical." Both colonies attempted to carry 
 tliis theory of government into practice, the Puritans 
 making- the right of franchise dependent upon church- 
 membership. It was by them " ordered and agreed, 
 that, for the time to come, no man shall be admitted to 
 the freedom of this body politic but such as are members 
 of some of the churches within the limits of the same." 
 And in order that this should not be evaded by the or- 
 ganization of churches which were churches only in 
 name, it was ordered by the General Court that it " doth 
 not, nor will hereafter, approve of any such companies 
 of men as shall henceforth join in any pretended way of 
 church-fellowship, without they shall first acquaint the 
 magistrates and the ciders of the greater part of the 
 churches in this jurisdiction with their intentions, and 
 have their approbation therein. And further, it is ordered, 
 that no person being a member of any church which shall 
 hereafter be gathered without the approbation of the 
 magistrates and the greater part of the said churches, 
 shall be admitted to the freedom of this Common- 
 wealth." As Palfrey says : " They established a kind 
 of aristocracy hitherto unknown. Not birth, nor 
 wealth, nor learning, nor skill in war, was to confer 
 political power ; but personal character, — goodness of 
 the highest type, — goodness of that purity and force 
 which only the faith of Jesus Christ is competent to 
 create." I do not propose to discuss the question 
 whether such theories of government as these, or such 
 legislation, were or were not wise. But I bring these 
 facts forward to show the spirit with which our fore- 
 fathers came to this country, and also the spirit with 
 which they worked in building up a nation. They 
 
25 
 
 believed that they were as truly called to go out from 
 England to a land that God would show them, as did 
 Abraham that he was called to go out from his country. 
 They as firmly believed that they were building up a 
 nation in this country, whose God was the Lord, as 
 did the descendants of Abraham in the land of Palestine. 
 If we sometimes think that this feeling was too strong 
 for the good of the aborigines, we must remember also, 
 that without some such feeling as this they would not 
 have braved all the danger and sufferings that they did 
 in order to build up a nation. And the same belief, 
 that in some way God was the Lord and the Protector 
 of this people, was not extinguished with the generation 
 which came to these shores. Their children and their 
 children's children received such a belief for their in- 
 heritance. Eeligion was the spirit and the life of these 
 colonies, flowing into the trunk and branches. Not 
 only did the nation have its root in religion, and its 
 trunk supported by it, but every branch which pushed 
 out into the wilderness bore on it the bud which was 
 to unfold into a church. Thus it was in the settlement 
 of Lexington, then called Cambridge Farms. Houses 
 were built, scattered here and there, the inhabitants 
 going to the settlement at Cambridge to worship. But 
 as soon as the number of families was large enough to 
 make a church of themselves, there was a petition to 
 be considered as a distinct parish. It was the church 
 idea, the need of worship, which first suggested the 
 thought of separation from the parent town of Cam- 
 bridge. And when, in the middle of the eighteenth 
 century, the controversy with Great Britain arose, and 
 the dark war-cloud loomed up above the eastern horizon, 
 
26 
 
 the people of these colonies, — of the New England 
 colonies especially, — believed that the controversy was 
 one in which the Supreme Ruler had an interest ; and if 
 it were to be decided by an appeal to arms, they might 
 place their reliance upon that God who was the Lord of 
 the nation. For this reason, the questions at issue 
 were discussed over and over again in the pulpits of the 
 land. If there was to be a war, it would be a religious 
 war, as truly as were the wars of Joshua. And thus 
 church and state were united. Election sermons were 
 printed, and circulated as political tracts. The fire of 
 patriotism which burned so brightly in the hearts of the 
 people was kindled by a coal from the altar of God. 
 Headley says : " The teachings of the pulpit of Lexing- 
 ton caused the first blow to be struck for American In- 
 dependence." But the blows which were struck for 
 American Independence would have been far fewer and 
 far feebler, had it not been for patriotic teachers in most 
 of the pulpits of these colonies. 
 
 In December, 1774, when the Boston Port Bill was in 
 operation, and when the prospect for the approaching 
 winter was very dark, the Provincial Congress appealed 
 to the ministers to aid in the common cause. " In a 
 day like this," they said, " when all the friends of civil 
 and religious liberty ax-e exerting themselves to deliver 
 this country from its present calamities, we cannot but 
 place great hope in an order of men who have ever 
 distinguished themselves in their country's cause ; and 
 do thereby recommend to the ministers of the gospel 
 in the several towns and other places in this colony, 
 that they assist us in avoiding that dreadful slavery 
 with which we are now threatened, by advising the 
 
21 
 
 people of their several congregations, as they wish 
 their prosperity'', to abide by, and strictly adhere to, 
 the resolutions of the Continental Congress." And to 
 the inhabitants of this colony, the Provincial Con- 
 gress could say : " Let nothing unbecoming our charac- 
 ter as Americans, as citizens and Christians, be justly 
 chargeable to us. Whoever considers the number of 
 brave men inhabiting North America, will know that a 
 general attention to military discipline must so establish 
 their rights and liberties, as under God to render it 
 impossible to destroy them." Thus did the Provincial 
 Congress, the very first political body created solely 
 by the inhabitants of this colony, acknowledge their 
 obligations as Christians, and their dependence upon 
 God. 
 
 If we look at the election sermons delivered a few years 
 before the commencement of hostilities, we shall find the 
 doctrine of resistance to tyranny very plainly stated. 
 In 1111, Rev. John Tucker, of Newbury, preached the 
 election sermon before Gov. Hutchinson, the Council 
 and House of Representatives, in which he said : 
 " Proper submission in a free state is a medium between 
 slavish subjection to arbitrary claims of Rulers, on one 
 hand, and a Itiwless license on the other. It is obedience 
 in subjects to all orders of government which are con- 
 sistent with their constitutional rights and privileges. 
 So much submission is due, and to be readily yielded 
 by every subject ; and beyond this, it cannot be justly 
 demanded, because Rulers and people are equally 
 bound by the fundamental laws of the constitution." 
 Here was the doctrine on which the colonists based their 
 right of resistance, promulgated from the pulpit four 
 
28 
 
 years before the Eevolution. In UTS, Rev. Charles 
 Turner, in the Election Sermon, said : " When the civil 
 rights of a country receive a shock, it may justly ren- 
 der the ministers of God deeply thoughtful for the safety 
 of sacred privileges — for religious liberty is so blended 
 with civil, tliat if one falls it is not to be expected that 
 the other will continue." In 1174, when matters 
 seemed to be drawing to a crisis, the preacher of the 
 Election sermon. Rev. Gad Hitchcock, of Pembroke, 
 spoke in still bolder words from the text, " When the 
 righteous are in authority the people rejoice, but when 
 the wicked bear rule the people mourn." " Our danger 
 is not visionary, but real ; our contention is not about 
 trifles, but about liberty and property, and not ours 
 only, but those of posterity to the latest generation. If 
 I am mistaken in supposing plans are formed and exe- 
 cuting, subversive of our natural and chartered rights 
 and privileges, and incompatible with every idea of 
 liberty, all America is mistaken with me. Our con- 
 tinued complaints, our repeated humble, but fruitless, 
 unregarded petitions and remonstrances, and if I may 
 be allowed the sacred allusion, our groanings that can- 
 not be uttered, are at once indications of our sufferings, 
 and the feeling sense we have of them. L'et the Gov- 
 ernor in his chair of state hear it : we not only mourn, 
 but with groanings that cannot be uttered, and all 
 because the wicked rule. The castle cannot shelter liim 
 from that scorching thunderbolt. Families are divided, 
 brother is arrayed against brother, friend against friend. 
 Society is cut from its moorings, and hate and conster- 
 nation reign on every side, and all because the ivicked 
 bear rule. King George may say the evils that produce 
 
29 
 
 this state of things are imaginary; but I tell you, and I 
 tell the tyrant to his face, it is because the wicked hear 
 rule.'' When such sermons as these were preached, it 
 is not surprising that the Governor, in 1774, refused to 
 appoint a fast : " For the request," he said, " was only 
 to give an opportunity for sedition to flow from the 
 pulpit." On account of the sulferings of the Boston 
 people in the year 1774, occasioned by the enforcement 
 of the Port Bill, the ministers of Connecticut wrote to 
 the ministers of Boston: "The taking away of civil 
 liberty will involve the ruin of religious liberty also. 
 Bear your heavy load with Christian fortitude and reso- 
 lution." From the Boston ministers Avent back the an- 
 swer : " While we complain to Heaven and earth of the 
 cruel oppression we are under, we ascribe righteous- 
 ness to God. The surprising union of the colonies affords 
 encouragement. It is an inexhaustible source of com- 
 fort that the Lord omnipotent reigneth." Thus there 
 was in the minds of the people, underneath the thought 
 of independence, the thought that the spirit of the 
 church and the state are one ; that religious liberty and 
 civil liberty must stand or fall together. If the inhabit- 
 ants of these colonies believed they had the right to 
 stand up for their liberties, it was because they regarded 
 those liberties as the gift of God, of which not even 
 kings or any earthly authorities had the right to de- 
 prive them. 
 
 It is impossible for the inhabitants of this town to 
 think of the union of religion and government, without 
 having their thoughts turn to the man who, one hundred 
 years ago, was pastor of this church and society, the 
 Rev. Jonas Clark. There is no other name connected 
 
30 
 
 with Lexington that better deserves honorable mention, 
 at this centennial anniversary, than his. And here 
 to-day, among the members of this religious society, of 
 which he was once the pastor, all our thoughts of him 
 must be tinged with a peculiar feeling of reverence. 
 There is only one thing that we can see which remains 
 to-day to recall his name and memory. The old 
 chui'ch in which he preached is gone. Of those who 
 formed his congregation, none remain. Only this Bible 
 remains. It was presented to this society by Gov. 
 John Hancock, in the year 1T93, and during the last 
 twelve years of the life of Mr. Clark, it was used by 
 him in the religious services of the society. His hands 
 have turned over its leaves. His voice has been heard 
 speaking words of sacred wisdom as his eyes rested 
 upon its pages. It is a precious relic. 
 
 But, if there were nothing outward remaining to 
 remind us of him, still his name could not possibly be 
 forgotten on such an occasion as this, nor the spirit of 
 the man be remembered without the utmost reverence. 
 Mr. Clark was pastor of this society during a period of 
 fifty years and ten days, having been ordained Novem- 
 ber 5, 1155, and having died November 15, 1805. 
 Had nothing unusual occurred in this colony during 
 those fifty years, Mr. Clark Avould have been remem- 
 bered as an earnest preacher, a devoted pastor, and a 
 man of " strong sense and sound judgment." "His 
 public discourses," it is said, " consisted not of learned 
 discussions on speculative or metaphysical subjects, 
 nor yet of dry lectures on heathen morality, but of the 
 most interesting truths of the gospel, well arranged for 
 the edification of his hearers. And they were delivered 
 
31 
 
 not in a formal, heartless manner, but with uncommon 
 energy and zeal." But, living as he did during a pecu- 
 liar period, requiring peculiar talents, he showed himself 
 equal to the emergency. Church and state were united 
 in him. He was not only a minister but a statesman. 
 Probably no one understood the questions at issue be- 
 tween the colonies and the mother country better than 
 he. And his people received the benefit of his states- 
 manship, not only in their town meetings, but from the 
 pulpit. " Enough of his discourses," says a descend- 
 ant of his, *'have been preserved to make it plain 
 what, on a thousand occasions long before even the 
 passage of the Stamp Act, would have been the strain 
 of his thought and of his speech ; so that, when the 
 struggle actually commenced, the people were ready 
 for it, thoroughly acquainted with the reasons on which 
 the duty of resistance was founded, and prepared to 
 discharge the duty at every hazard. No single individ- 
 ual probably did so much to educate the people up to 
 that point of intelligence, firmness and courage, as their 
 honored and beloved pastor." In one of his sei'mons, 
 Mr. Clark thus illustrated the necessity of religion to 
 government: "In civilized nations, and where civil 
 government hath been established, many cities and 
 places of importance may be found without walls, with- 
 out guards, and even without weapons or any prepara- 
 tions for common defence. But it is not easy to find 
 any without a temple, an altar, a grove, or some other 
 place appointed and appropriated to the purpose of 
 religion, the acknowledgment of Heaven, and the wor- 
 ship of the Deity, in some shape or other." It is well 
 known that Mr. Clark di-ew up most of the important 
 
32 
 
 political papers and resolutions, in regard to the great 
 question at issue, which were adopted by the town of 
 Lexington. There can be no doubt that the men 
 who assembled on Lexington Green, on the morning of 
 April 19th, 1715, were there to make a practical appli- 
 cation of the doctrine which they had heard enforced 
 in the church. Robert Munroe, Jonas Parker, Samuel 
 Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Isaac Muzzy, Caleb 
 Harrington, and John Brown, who were slain on that 
 morning, doubtless felt that, if their lives were sacrificed, 
 they would be offered up, not only on the altar of their 
 country, but on the altar of their God. Of their coun- 
 try and their God they could truly say, "To die for her 
 is serving Thee." And this feeling was not confined to 
 this town. Everywhere men looked upon the war as a 
 holy war. They believed that when they took their 
 muskets and hastened to the conflict, they were en- 
 gaged in a religious act, just as truly as when they met 
 to worship God. They went into the war, feeling, as 
 David had said : "The Lord is on my side; I will not 
 fear ; what can man do unto me?" " Call me an enthu- 
 siast," said Samuel Adams; "this union among the 
 colonies, and warmth of affection, can be attributed to 
 nothing less than the agency of the Supreme Being. If 
 we believe that he superintends and directs the affairs 
 of empires, we have reason to expect the restoration 
 and establishment of the public liberties." 
 
 Headley says: " In every quiet little valley and se- 
 questered nook in New England, the pastor had taught 
 the doctrines of freedom, and preached the duty of 
 resistance to oppression. The farmers and mechanics 
 listened with reverence and confidence to these teach- 
 
33 
 
 ings, and showed their faith by their works when the 
 hour of trial came. At the battle-cry that rolled over 
 the land from Lexington and Concord, they shouldered 
 their muskets, and went forth with the blessing of their 
 pastor on their heads, and his fervent prayers for their 
 success following their footsteps. They had been taught 
 from the pulpit that it was the cause of God, and they 
 took it up in the full belief that they had his blessing and 
 his promise. If the scenes that transpired in the count- 
 less villages and hamlets of New England, when the news 
 of the first blood shed by British troops swept over the 
 colonies, and the first uprising of the people took place, 
 could be described just as they occurred, in all the 
 beauty, pathos, patriotism and religion that character- 
 ized them, the Revolutionary struggle would possess an 
 interest that all its thrilling battles and perilous marches, 
 deeply as they enlist our sympathies, can never im- 
 part." The historian describes one such scene, in 
 Stockbridge, at which place the news of the Lexington 
 and Concord fight arrived on Sunday forenoon. Signal 
 shots were immediately fired, and men who were pre- 
 paring to go to the house of worship took down their 
 firelocks, bid their families farewell, and hastened to the 
 yard of the deacon, the appointed place of meeting. 
 The old pastor came and stood among them, reading 
 from his Bible, ofiering a prayer, imparting his blessing, 
 and then " twenty men, with knapsacks on their backs, 
 and muskets on their shoulders, started on foot for Bos- 
 ton, nearly two hundred miles distant." 
 
 So it was throughout a great part of the colonies. 
 Whether men waited or not for religious services, they 
 all went forth with the same spirit, — that their cause was 
 
34 
 
 just because it was the cause of God. Though in the 
 midst of oppression and distress, they believed that a 
 blessing was awaiting the nation because the God of 
 the nation was the Lord. 
 
 A part of the text of the sermon preached in Lex- 
 ington in 1779, on the anniversary of the battle, was 
 " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." At the centennial 
 anniversary of the incorporation of the town. Rev. Mr. 
 Williams, then pastor of this society, preached a dis- 
 course, with the same text : " Hitherto hath the Lord 
 helped us." And now that we have come to the cen- 
 tennial anniversary of the battle of Lexington, can we 
 say the same thing of our nation: "Hitherto hath the 
 Lord helped us?" Looking around us now, and looking 
 as far into the future as possible, can we say, Blessed 
 is this nation, whose God is the Lord ? Have we any 
 of that old faith of our forefathers left ? Have we any 
 faith that God cares for this nation, in the least ? 
 Whether we have any of that faith or not, I believe we 
 ought to have. It may be necessary to modify it some- 
 what; but there is a faith in national dependence upon 
 God which no nation should be without. I am aware 
 that men with little or no religious spirit may say that 
 such a faith was an illusion with our forefathers ; and 
 they may add that it was also an illusion with the Jews, 
 who, although firmly believing that the God of their 
 nation was the Lord, and that their nation was to be 
 blessed on that account, yet saw their nation, as a 
 nation, utterly destroyed. If those words are true, 
 " Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord," why 
 was it, they will ask, that there was such a sad end to 
 the Jewish nation, which, before all other nations, 
 
35 
 
 claimed to recognize the Lord as its God ? The answer 
 to that question will lead us to the true faith of 
 national dependence upon God. 
 
 The Jews were fond of calling themselves the chosen 
 people of God ; but they forgot in the later period of 
 their history that there could be a nation chosen by 
 God in any abiti'ary manner. They forgot that there 
 could be any chosen people of God, except as they 
 obeyed the commandments of God ; they forgot the 
 words which Moses had spoken to the nation : " The 
 Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people 
 unto himself. Thou shalt, therefore, keep the com- 
 mandments and the statutes, and the judgments which 
 I command thee this day. Wherefore it shall come to 
 pass if ye keep and do them, that the Lord thy god 
 will love thee and bless thee, and thou shalt be blessed 
 above all people. But it shall be, if thou do at all 
 forget the Lord thy God and walk after other Gods, 
 and serve them and worship them, I testify against 
 you this day, that ye shall surel}'- perish." That is the 
 faith of national dependence upon God that Moses 
 taught. 
 
 It was the same theory of national dependence upon 
 God that the prophet Jeremiah taught the stubborn Jews 
 in the parable of "The Potter." "I went down to the 
 potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the 
 wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred 
 in the hands of the potter ; so he made it again another 
 vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it. Then 
 the word of the Lord came to me, saying, house of 
 Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter ? saith the 
 Lord. Behold as the clay is in the potter's hand, so 
 
36 
 
 are ye in mine hands, house of Israel," That does 
 not mean that God governs the nations arbitrarily, but 
 rather in accordance with certain laws. As F. W. 
 Maurice said : " When Jeremiah was sent to study the 
 potter's work, he was sent to ascertain, not what the 
 potter might do if he liked, but what he liked. He 
 desired to make a vessel of a certain form. That was 
 the end for which he labored. If there is any force or 
 worth in the analogy at all, it must mean that there is a 
 form according to which God is seeking to mould men 
 and nations. It must imply that he is not doing any 
 single act arbitrarily, or without reference to a purpose ; 
 it must imply that he is patiently, continually working 
 for the accomplishment of this purpose ; and ifthey do not 
 submit to this process, if they persist in not taking the 
 mould which he would give them, then the clay is 
 broken that it may be re-formed, that the original intent 
 of the owner may still be carried out." 
 
 John the Baptist taught the same doctrine to the 
 Pharisees and Sadducees : "Think not to say within 
 yourselves, we have Abraham to our father ; for I say 
 unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up 
 children unto Abraliam." And to the hardened Jews 
 who resisted the truth, but said, " Abraham is our 
 fatlier," the Saviour taught the same doctrine : " If ye 
 were Abraham's children ye would do the works of 
 Abraham." But the teachings of patriarch, prophet, 
 and of the Saviour could avail nothing. The recogni- 
 nition of the Lord as their God was only in name with 
 the Jews. There was no reality in it.. And the sins 
 of that people led, by direct laws, established by God, 
 to destruction. 
 
37 
 
 In the hands of God are all the nations of the earth. 
 There may be a chosen nation now, just as truly as 
 there ever was. But the chosen nation is the nation 
 which keeps the divine laws, and obeys the divine com- 
 mands. " Blessed is the nation whose God is the 
 Lord ; '^ not in name, merely, but in truth. And God 
 blesses nations for obedience, not arbitrarily, as you 
 reward a boy for doing an errand. But the laws of God 
 are such that national strength is the result of obedi- 
 ence, and national weakness is the result of disobedience. 
 It is possible to trace the connection between the im- 
 morality, the disobedience of the commands of God of 
 some of the ancient nations, and the weakness which 
 resulted in their downfall. It is sometimes said of 
 nations that they have their period of rising, and their 
 period of degeneration and overthrow, as if it were an 
 invariable rule. But if it seem so, it is because there 
 never has been a nation capable of resisting the tempta- 
 tions of prosperity. "Righteousness," it is said, 
 "exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." 
 So long as a nation keeps in the path of righteousness, 
 so long it will be blessed by God, so long will it have 
 strength to remain a nation. I do not mean that 
 righteousness alone will maintain a place for any people 
 among the nations of the earth. There are other requi- 
 sites for national existence than righteousness, or 
 obedience of divine laws. But when all these requisites 
 exist in a nation, righteousness will tend to strengthen 
 and perpetuate it, and unrighteousness will tend to 
 weaken and overthrow it. 
 
 If we ask ourselves, what will be the future of our coun- 
 try, let us remember that we are not a chosen people 
 
or a favored nation now, because we had the Pilgrims 
 and the Puritans for our fathers. We can see how 
 their virtues made them strong, and how the virtues 
 of the colonists, a century ago, also made them strong. 
 But unless wo also have their virtues, we can not rely 
 upon our ancestors for our national strength to-day. If 
 there is anything which threatens the overthrow of this 
 nation to-day, if there is anything at which thoughtful 
 men may feel alarmed, it is the neglect of some of those 
 stern virtues of our fathers which we affect to despise. 
 I do not wish to see church and state united as it was 
 with the Puritans. Their religious test was a failure, 
 so far as keeping bad men out of office was concerned. 
 But never was there a time when we could see plainer 
 than now, that our continued prosperity depends on 
 placing men in office possessing the principles which 
 Christianity inculcates. When a foreigner can write 
 about us as Strauss, the German, has written, it is time 
 for us to try and see ourselves as others see us. "The 
 air of the United States," he says, "is infected by a 
 corruption of its leading classes, only to be paralleled in 
 the most abandoned parts of Europe. The practice in 
 their presidential elections, the inevitable corruption 
 following in their wake, the necessity of rewarding the 
 accomplices by giving them places, and then of winking 
 at the delinquencies of their administration, the venality 
 and corruption which are thus engendered in the ruling 
 circles, — all these deep-lying evils of the much-vaunted 
 republic have been brought into such glaring promi- 
 nence within the last few years, that the eagerness of 
 German orators, newspapers, writers, and poets, to go in 
 search of their political, and even moral ideals to the 
 
39 
 
 other side of the Atlantic Ocean, has suffered consider- 
 able abatement." We may pretend to despise all such 
 foreign criticism as that, but we cannot deny that there 
 is a vein of truth in it. And we may be sure that when 
 we cease to be an ideal example for every individual in 
 all nations who is looking toward freedom, we have 
 not only ceased to perform one of our most important 
 missions, but we are losing that element of grandeur 
 and of strength which has hitherto given us an exalted 
 place among the nations of the earth. 
 
 But although there is evidently danger in this direc- 
 tion, I cannot despair of the final result. Although there 
 are thousands of politicians who think that trickery and 
 bribery, and corruption, so long as they aid their party, 
 are pei-fectly innocent, still there are others, who know 
 that these things are sapping the foundations of the 
 government. And there is no small amount of the spirit 
 of the Pilgrims and Puritans and colonists still remaining 
 among us, which holds that disobedience of the laws of 
 God will work injury to the nation. That spirit is patient 
 and long-suffering under distress and oppression ; but if 
 national evils continue to increase, that spirit will ere 
 long prompt men to join hands and drive corrupt politi- 
 cians from the goveri;ment, as it inspired men a century 
 ago to band together, and drive the British from 
 America. It looks now as if, before long, party plat- 
 forms will be plaiicd down, till nothing remains but 
 questions of truth, honesty and purity ; and when it 
 comes to that, there is no doubt where the religious 
 spirit of our forefathers will force the majority to stand. 
 It is true, perhaps, that there is less outward observance 
 of religion than there was with our forefathers ; but the 
 
40 
 
 religious spirit still remains, and the blessings which it 
 prompted them to struggle for a century ago, it will 
 not now allow corrupt politicians to destroy. 
 
 The celebration of this series of centennial anniversa- 
 ries, which is about to begin, will but poorly honor the 
 men who shed their blood on yonder Green, and those 
 who followed them in their act of sacrifice, in all the 
 colonies, if it ends with the noise of cannons, the roll of 
 drums, and eloquent words. Unless it incites us to be 
 more watchful of the blessings for which they gave their 
 lives, more watchful against every foe, it seems as if 
 their sleeping dust must cry out shame ! We would 
 call ourselves unworthy descendants of tliem, if without 
 resistance we allowed a foreign enemy to deprive us of 
 the liberty which they obtained. Are we any less un- 
 worthy if we allow the dishonesty and corruption of 
 politicians to undermine the foundation of what the}' 
 established ? This celebration will be unworthy of this 
 people unless it leads us to honor the virtues of our 
 forefathers, and inspires us with more of that spirit of 
 dependence upon God, as a nation, which they pos- 
 sessed ; unless it leads us to make the Lord the God of 
 our nation, through obedience of his laws. It will not 
 be enough to place the name God in the constitution, 
 for that would be oidy like the Jews, careful fur the 
 name of God, but careless about his spirit in the heart. 
 The poet has said of the Ship of State, the Union : 
 
 " We know what anvils rang, what hammers beat, 
 In what a forge and what ri heat 
 "Were shaped the anchoi's of thy hope." 
 
 We have seen that those anchors of hope came from the 
 
41 
 
 forge of the church, and the heat of religious enthusiasm ; 
 and the more we make our anchor of hope now that reli- 
 gion which consists in obedience of the laws of God, the 
 more certain shall we be that the next century of our 
 national existence will be brighter than the past. 
 
42 
 
 A SERMON DELIVERED APRIL 25th, 1815. 
 
 EXODUS XII, 14. 
 
 " This Day shall be unto you rou a Memorial ; ye 
 
 SHALL keep it A FeAST I5Y AN ORDINANCE FOREVER." . 
 
 It has been a common custom among all nations to 
 perpetuate the remembrance of heroic men and heroic 
 deeds by some kind of memorial. The forms of heroic 
 men have been carved in marble, or cast in metal ; and the 
 accounts of heroic deeds have been inscribed on the 
 same enduring substances. The cities of Athens and 
 Rome were noted for the great number of such memori- 
 als which they contained. In the early history of the 
 Jews, we find accounts of this same custom, although 
 observed in a much ruder manner. Jacob, after he had 
 dreamed of the ladder with the angels ascending and 
 descending, " rose up early in the morning," it is said, 
 " and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and 
 set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it." 
 When the children of Israel passed through the river 
 Jordan, Joshua commanded twelve men, one man out 
 of each of the twelve tribes, to take each a stone from 
 the bed of the river, and carry them to the land, and 
 place them together, " that this," he said, " may be a 
 sign among you, that when your children ask their 
 fathers in time to come, saying, what mean j'^e by these 
 stones, then ye shall answer them, ' That the waters of 
 Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of 
 
43 
 
 the Lord, and those stones shall be for a memorial unto 
 the children of Israel for ever.' " In the same way the 
 service of the passover was to be annually a memorial 
 of the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt. 
 " This day/' said Moses, " shall be unto you for a me- 
 morial ; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for 
 ever. And when your children shall say unto you, 
 what mean you by this service ; ye shall say, ' It is the 
 sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the 
 houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he 
 smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.' " 
 
 No one can doubt that such memorials, whether ex- 
 pressed in metal or stone, or in the observance of a day, 
 serve a very important purpose in the life of a nation. 
 They keep alive the memory of those who labored and 
 suffered for the nation ; they keep fresh in the thoughts 
 the heroic deeds of the past, all of which tends to in- 
 crease the spirit of patriotism in the hearts of the 
 people. So long as the people of a nation cherish the 
 memory of its founders and sustainers, no danger can 
 threaten the existence of the nation, without arousing 
 multitudes for national defence. The Jews were care- 
 ful to observe the passover, the memorial of their 
 deliverance from Egypt ; and although they were finally 
 conquered, and destroyed as a nation, yet there is no 
 doubt that the custom which still remains wherever a 
 remnant of them can be found, of observing this annual 
 memorial feast, serves to keep them distinct from every 
 other nation, although they are scattered over every 
 part of the world. 
 
 Our annual celebration of the declaration of American 
 Independence has been of immense value to this nation. 
 
u 
 
 We are apt to smile at the noisy demonstrations and 
 exultant orations of the Fourth of July ; but although 
 we may be a little critical of the manner in which the 
 day is observed, this nation can not well afford to dis- 
 pense with the celebration of that important event in our 
 history. As the Jewish children asked concerning the 
 observance of the passover, "What mean ye by this 
 service ? " so have the children in this country asked 
 the same concerning this annual celebration, and they 
 have learned its meaning ; and its noise and tumult have 
 made an impression on every boy's heart. That readi- 
 ness with which men in every part of the land, in 1861, 
 answered the call to take up arms in defence of our 
 national existence had its foundation in Fourth-of-July 
 celebrations. May the time never come when the day 
 will cease to be observed in some appropriate manner. 
 When the Fourth of July ceases to be an exceptional 
 day in our national calendar, we may begin to tremble 
 at the fate of our nation. 
 
 The events which occurred in this town, and of which 
 we have just celebrated the centennial anniversary, 
 were not unlike, in spirit at least, the event which 
 Moses commanded the Jews to observe by a memorial 
 day. With the Jews, it was their departure from the 
 territory of a nation who held them as slaves ; on the 
 nineteenth of April, 1775, began that series of events 
 which resulted in driving from this land those who 
 were endeavoring to make slaves of the colonists. And 
 if there were any good reason why that day should be 
 unto the Jews for a memorial, why it should be kept a 
 feast by an ordinance for ever, there is equally good 
 reason why the uineteentli of April should be unto our 
 
45 
 
 nation for a memorial, and should be kept a feast by an 
 ordinance forever. If we. have had doubts of this here- 
 tofore, I think the celebration which has occm-red during 
 the past week has laid all such doubts at rest. 
 
 There may have been some persons who thought that 
 the significance of this celebration was greatly magni- 
 fied in the eyes of the citizens of Lexington. But 
 looking back upon it now, we know very well that our 
 ideas of its importance and significance did not exceed 
 similar ideas which were entertained in every part of 
 this country. Very few of us, I think, fully realized 
 what a great manifestation of interest in the day would 
 be exhibited. From every part of this country we 
 have had evidence that there was a deep interest in the 
 observance of the day, and that the day was observed 
 not only in this and our neighboring town, but in many 
 other towns of this Commonwealth, and in many States 
 of the Union. So large a concourse of people as 
 assembled here last Monday, hardl}' any one of the 
 most sanguine of our citizens expected to see. And 
 when we remember that half as many more tried in vain 
 to reach Lexington on that day, we must feel that such 
 a manifestation of interest in any patriotic occasion has 
 seldom been surpassed. The character and conduct of 
 the crowd was also equally remarkable. A very small 
 proportion of the number who participated in the cele- 
 bration, or who endeavored so to do, was composed of 
 the element termed rowdy. Very few indeed seemed 
 drawn hither merely to see or form a part of a crowd. 
 There were men of every profession, business, and 
 occupation, apparently drawn hither from real interest 
 in the event which was commemorated. Rev. Dr. Bel- 
 
46 
 
 lows, who was unable to get any farthei* on his way to 
 Lexington than Boston, and who returned to New York, 
 as he says, " baflled and sorely disappointed in the object 
 of his patriotic journey," also says that he was "partly 
 repaid by the immense exhibition of interest and zeal 
 in the occasion which the crowd displayed." And I 
 think this must be especially gratifying to every one 
 who either saw or heard of it. Last Monday was the 
 beginning of a scries of centennial anniversaries which 
 are to be observed during the coming period of eight 
 years. An'd the great interest displayed in this first 
 anniversary of the series shows with what deep interest 
 and reverence the American people regard the struggle 
 which our forefathers endured, in order to establish this 
 nation upon the solid foundation of political and reli- 
 gious liberty. In February, 1775, both houses of the 
 English Parliament joined in an address to the king, 
 declaring that a rebellion existed in Massachusetts, and 
 pledging their lives and properties to its suppression. 
 During the discussion which took place upon that 
 address, John Wilkes said : " Who can tell whether, in 
 consequence of this day's violent and mad address, the 
 scabbard may not be thrown away by the Americans as 
 well as by us ; and, should success attend thera, whether, 
 in a few years, the Americans may not celebrate tlie 
 glorious era of the revolution of 1775, as we do that of 
 1688 ? " Ilis words proved to be the words of a true 
 propli(;t; and now, after a century has passed awa}^, the 
 American people have entered upon the celebration of 
 that "glorious era" with renewed interest and zeal, 
 giving evidence not only of the lienor which is felt to 
 be due to the men of that era, but also of the value 
 
47 
 
 which is attached to what, by their labors, by their 
 struggles, and by their sacrifices, they obtained. 
 
 But besides this manifestation of patriotism which 
 the celebration of the anniversary of the battle of Lex- 
 ington and Concord has produced, and that which will 
 be shown on the anniversaries which are to follow, 
 there is another thing which it seems to me every per- 
 son must feel will result therefrom ; and that is, the 
 strengthening of that bond of political union among the 
 different States which has, of late years, suffered so 
 severe a strain. Very few, after our late domestic 
 struggle, could say of it what Longfellow said before : 
 
 " 'Tis but the flapping of the sail, 
 And not a rent made by the gale ! " 
 
 It was a rent, and a very serious one ; and since the 
 rent has been repaired, it has been the earnest wish of 
 every lover of his country to see all traces of it removed, 
 and the old feeling of union replaced, as strong and firm 
 as ever. Can any one doubt that the celebration of 
 these centennial anniversaries, which have been so 
 auspiciously begun, and in which men from every State 
 in the Union will join, will tend to strengthen that old 
 feeling of unity which has been so seriously disturbed ? 
 Will it be possible for men from every part of this 
 country to meet together in order to honor the men who 
 one hundred years ago laid the foundation of this 
 Union, without being more deeply impressed with the 
 value of what our "forefathers established ? As pilgrims 
 from the South and pilgrims from the North meet 
 together in places made sacred by the deliberations or 
 sacrifices of our forefathers, the clasping of their hands 
 
48 
 
 must bo a true symbol of the renewed feeling of union 
 with which they will return to their homes. 
 
 A poet has told the story of a husband and wife, after 
 long years of wilful separation, meeting at the grave of 
 their child, where memories of former days of love and 
 happiness came thronging upon them, and there they 
 pledged anew their mutual faith and trust in each other. 
 When North and South meet at such places as Lexing- 
 ton, Concord, Bunker Hill, Philadelphia, Trenton, 
 Princetown, Eutaw, and Yorktown, to honor the dead, 
 in whom both North and South have a mutual interest, 
 the thronging memories connected with these places 
 must revive, to a great degree, the old feeling of union, 
 and make them again regard themselves as "one and 
 inseparable." Therefore, when I think of the proceed- 
 ings of last Monday, and ask myself what was the 
 grandest part of those exercises, I pass by that grand 
 procession. 1 say, not those eloquent introductory 
 words of the president of the day ; not that thrilling 
 scene of the unveiling of the statues of the patriots, 
 Adams and Hancock ; not that eloquent, beautiful and 
 masterly oration, but the last part of the speech of the 
 Governor of South Carolina. If the celebration had 
 accomplished nothing more than the bringing of the 
 Governor of South Carolina to give utterance to those 
 words on the soil of Lexington, it would have been a 
 grand success. It was a part of the day's exercises 
 which I was unfortunate enough not to hear, and it has 
 been difficult for me to road it since without feeling 
 tears of joy starting in my eyes. The words of which I 
 speak are these : 
 
 " I know that I am commissioned here to-day to say 
 
49 
 
 for South Carolina that she joins with equal gratitude 
 and reverence with all her sisters of the early days in 
 honoring the nineteenth of April, 1775 ; that she claims 
 her share in the glory of the struggle begun at Lexing- 
 ton ; that as of old she bade Massachusetts cheer in the 
 struggle, so now she unites with her in these patriotic 
 services. 
 
 " It is not for me, it is not for any one, on this occa- 
 sion, to speak of later events in which these two ancient 
 allies stood face to face as enemies. Who that has an 
 American heart does not rejoice that, back of all the 
 recent bitter struggle, there lies the gracious heritage 
 of those common labors and dangers and sacrifices in 
 founding this common government ? Who that looks 
 with a just eye even on that recent struggle does not 
 now see, on either side, the same high elements of 
 character, the courage, the devotion to duty, the moral 
 lineaments of the Adamses and Hancocks, the Gadsdens 
 and Rutledges of a hundred years ago ? Who that has 
 faith in the destinies of America does not see in this 
 early friendship, — aye, and even in this later conflict, 
 the potency and promise of that coming Union under 
 whose protection liberty shall forever walk hand in hand 
 with justice, wherein the North and the South, reunited 
 in spirit and aims, shall again respond to every call of 
 patriotic duty in the old tones of Samuel Adams and 
 Christopher Gadsden, of James Otis and John Rutledge ? 
 
 "That spirit still lives, fellow-citizens, in South 
 Carolina. If in later days she has erred, forgive her ; 
 for even then she dared and sufi'ered with a courage and 
 patience not unworthy in its strength of the days when 
 Gadsden and Rutledge illustrated her civic wisdom, and 
 
50 
 
 Sumter and Marion her martial prowess. ' Magnanim- 
 ity/ says Mr. Burke, 'is not seldom the truest wisdom; 
 and a great empire and little minds go ill together.' 
 
 "Fellow-citizens, I offer you to-day the fraternal, 
 patriotic greetings of South Carolina — of aZHier people. 
 She marches again to-day to the music of that Union 
 which a hundred years ago her wisdom helped to de- 
 vise and her blood to cement. There, in that hallowed 
 Union, endeared and sanctified by so many blessed 
 memories, and radiant with so many proud hopes and 
 promises, there, there 'she must live or bear no life.' 
 Oh, welcome her anew to day to the old fellowsliip ! 
 The monuments of marble and brass which we raise 
 here to-day will crumble. Let us, therefore, build in 
 the hearts of all the people that imperishable monument, 
 'an indestructible Union of indestructible States.'" 
 
 Let such words find an echo at every centennial cele- 
 bration which is to follow during the next eight j'cars, 
 and tliese celebrations will cfiect almost as much of 
 good as did the war which they are intended to com- 
 memorate. Let the spirit of those words prevail at 
 these centennials, and it seems impossible that it should 
 not; and then, when in 1883 we celebrate the centen- 
 nial anniversary of the signing of a treaty of peace 
 between Great Britian and the Uftited States, we shall 
 also celebrate the re-union, both in word and spirit, of 
 the nation. Then will every State again join in the 
 words of the poet : 
 
 "Tliou, too, .sail on, Oh Ship of State! 
 Sail on, Oh Union, strono; and gi'eat! 
 Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! 
 Our hearts, our hopes, arc all witli thee. 
 Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 
 Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, 
 Arc all with thee, — are all with thee!" 
 
51 
 
 I have mentioned these two things first, — this manifes- 
 tation of the patriotic spirit, and the probable strength- 
 ening of the feeling of union, as results of this and the 
 following centennial celebrations, — because they are of 
 the greatest importance, being national in their charac- 
 ter. But there is something which the recent surprising 
 manifestation of interest in our centennial anniversary 
 should teach us as citizens of this town. It is this : that 
 the citizens of this historic town have a duty to perform 
 on account of the interest which centres here. The 
 whole country, as we have seen, feels an interest in the 
 associations and memories which cluster around this 
 place. Those who live in the town are the guardians 
 of that interest. The man who stays in this town, and 
 takes no interest in the associations and memories of the 
 place, is not worthy to be called a citizen of Lexington. 
 He is no citizen of the town. As guardians of the 
 national interest in Lexington, it is our duty to preserve 
 and increase that interest, not for the honor of the 
 town, but for the benefit of the nation. The deeper 
 and wider the interest in the associations and memories 
 of this place, the deeper and wider is the spirit of pa- 
 triotism. The way to perform the duty which we owe 
 to the country, as citizens of Lexington, is not to heed 
 the advice which some editor, during the past week, 
 has been obliging enough to give to both Lexington 
 and Concord; that is, " turn over and take another nap 
 of a hundred years." We ought to do just the opposite 
 to that; we ought to keep awake to the national inter- 
 est in, and historic character of, the town. One way to 
 do this, is never to let the nineteenth of April pass 
 without some observance of the day. We who have 
 
52 
 
 witnessed this celebration will never witness another 
 like it. But the exceptional character of this celebra- 
 tion should not prevent our taking- some notice of the 
 day every year. Let there be, at least, the national 
 banner displayed on every house, and such other simple 
 observance as will be inexpensive, and at the same time 
 aflfording pleasure. Such a yearly celebration will not 
 only strengthen the spirit of patriotism in this town, 
 but all over the land. The news of such an observance 
 would go from one end of the land to the other, and 
 children would ask what is meant by it, and thus learn 
 the story, and take in the spirit of the day. 
 
 Another way to perform our duty is to preserve the 
 historic character of the town in its outward appear- 
 ance. The names of the streets should be historic. 
 They should be such that a stranger losing his way and 
 coming into this village would know from the names 
 on the sign-boards that he must be in Lexington, and 
 could not possibly be any where else. And we may 
 keep the historic character of the town, outwardly, by 
 preserving the old historic houses. If it be necessary, 
 let there be an association formed for this purpose. 
 People are always interested in old houses. Some one 
 told me, last Monday, that the most eloquent motto was 
 on the house just below here : " A witness of the battle 
 one hundred years ago." One of the great objects of 
 interest to visitors will always be the old houses which 
 stood here witnesses of the battle. Let us see that they 
 are preserved, so that they may speak to every stranger 
 visitor, eloquently, although silently, of the spirit of 
 the men of 1715. 
 
 Another way to do our duty in this historic town is 
 
53 
 
 to preserve all the relics which illustrate in any way its 
 history. Such things are also eloquent and interesting 
 teachers of the past. One newspaper correspondent 
 who was in Lexington last Monday says, "I for one 
 enjoy seeing an old foot-stove, with which a venerable 
 dame, a hundred years ago, mitigated the severity of 
 a winter atmosphere in the meeting-house, or the blanket 
 in which Sam Adams was christened, more than the 
 military display, or the President and his Cabinet." 
 Such relics are of interest to most people, and they 
 are a real source of patriotic inspiration. Let that 
 part of the collection in our library which has been 
 given to the town, be increased till it shall come to be 
 such a collection as every lover of antiquities will never 
 visit Boston without coming to Lexington to see. In 
 such ways as these, and in others which may suggest 
 themselves, let us prove to the country that we are not 
 asleep, but awake to the historic and patriotic interest 
 in our town. 
 
 Of the seven men of Lexington who were killed on 
 the green, on the morning of the nineteenth of April, 
 1765, Bancroft says : " Their names are held in grate- 
 ful remembrance, and the expanding millions of their 
 countrymen renew and multiply their praise from gen- 
 eration, to generation,'' and his words during the past 
 week have been proved true. Let us remember that it 
 is the duty of the citizens of this town to do what they 
 can to keep alive the memories of those men, not for 
 the honor of Lexington, not solely for their honor, but 
 for the good of our nation, to establish which on the 
 firm foundation of liberty they sacrificed their lives. 
 
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