XXVI. CHAP. phlet, composed for the ministers, printed at the public cost, and sent out by public authority to be widely 1775. distributed, formed a strange contrast to that written April. by Samuel Johnson for England, and clashed discordantly with the vengeful orders transmitted to Boston. Yet Lord North was false only as he was weak and uncertain. He really wished to concede and conciliate, but he had not force enough to come to a clear understanding even with himself. When he encountered the opposition in the house of commons, he sustained his administration by speaking confidently for vigorous measures; when alone his heart sank within him from dread of civil war. 15. The remonstrance and memorial of the assembly of New York, which Burke, their agent, presented to May. parliament on the fifteenth of May, was rejected, because they questioned the right of parliament to tax America. Three days later, Lord North avowed the orders for raising Canadian regiments of French Papists; "however," he continued, "the dispute with America is not so alarming as some people apprehend. I have not the least doubt it will end speedily, happily, and without bloodshed." May 23. On the twenty-third of May, secret advices from Philadelphia confirmed Dartmouth and the king in their confidence, that North's conciliatory resolution "would remove all obstacles to the restoration of public tranquillity," through "the moderation and loyal disposition of the assembly of New York." The king, in proroguing parliament on the twenty-sixth, no longer introduced the rebel people of Massachusetts, but spoke only of "his subjects in America, whose wishes were to be gratified and apprehensions XXVI. 1775. removed as far as the constitution would allow." The CHAP. court gazette of the day was equally moderate. The members of parliament dispersed, and as yet no May. tidings came from the colonies of a later date than 27. the middle of April. All America, from Lake Champlain to the Altamaha; all Europe, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, hardly less than London, were gazing with expectation towards the little villages that lay around Boston. CHAPTER XXVII. LEXINGTON. April APRIL 19, 1775. CHAP. ON the afternoon of the day on which the provincial XXVII. congress of Massachusetts adjourned, Gage took the 1775. light infantry and grenadiers off duty, and secretly 19. prepared an expedition to destroy the colony's stores at Concord. But the attempt had for several weeks been expected; a strict watch had been kept; and signals were concerted to announce the first movement of troops for the country. Samuel Adams and Hancock, who had not yet left Lexington for Philadelphia, received a timely message from Warren, and in consequence, the committee of safety removed a part of the public stores and secreted the cannon. On Tuesday the eighteenth, ten or more sergeants in disguise dispersed themselves through Cambridge and further west, to intercept all communication. In the following night, the grenadiers and light infantry, not less than eight hundred in number, the flower of the army at Boston, commanded by the incompetent Lieutenant Colonel Smith, crossed in the boats of XXVII. the transport ships from the foot of the common to Chap. East Cambridge. There they received a day's provisions, and near midnight, after wading through wet 1775. marshes, that are now covered by a stately town, they 19. took the road through West Cambridge to Concord. "They will miss their aim," said one of a party who observed their departure. "What aim?" asked Lord Percy, who overheard the remark. "Why, the cannon at Concord," was the answer. Percy hastened to Gage, who instantly directed that no one should be suffered to leave the town. But Warren had already, at ten o'clock, despatched William Dawes through Roxbury to Lexington, and at the same time desired Paul Revere to set off by way of Charlestown. Revere stopped only to engage a friend to raise the concerted signals, and five minutes before the sentinels received the order to prevent it, two friends rowed him past the Somerset man of war across Charles river. All was still, as suited the hour. The ship was winding with the young flood; the waning moon just peered above a clear horizon; while from a couple of lanterns in the tower of the North Church, the beacon streamed to the neighboring towns, as fast as light could travel. A little beyond Charlestown Neck, Revere was intercepted by two British officers on horseback; but being himself well mounted, he turned suddenly, and leading one of them into a clay pond, escaped from the other by the road to Medford. As he passed on, he waked the captain of the minute men of that town, and continued to rouse almost every house on the way to Lexington. April CHAP. The troops had not advanced far, when the firing of guns and ringing of bells announced that their exApril pedition had been heralded before them; and Smith sent back to demand a reinforcement. 1775. 19. On the morning of the nineteenth of April, between the hours of twelve and one, the message from Warren reached Adams and Hancock, who divined at once the object of the expedition. Revere, therefore, and Dawes, joined by Samuel Prescott, "a high son of liberty" from Concord, rode forward, calling up the inhabitants as they passed along, till in Lincoln they fell upon a party of British officers. Revere and Dawes were seized and taken back to Lexington, where they were released; but Prescott leaped over a low stone wall, and galloped on for Concord. There at about two in the morning, a peal from the belfry of the meeting-house called the inhabitants of the place to their town hall. They came forth, young and old, with their firelocks, ready to make good the resolute words of their town debates. Among the most alert was William Emerson the minister, with gun in hand, his powder-horn and pouch for balls slung over his shoulder. By his sermons and his prayers, he had so hallowed the enthusiasm of his flock, that they held the defence of their liberties a part of their covenant with God; his presence with arms, proved his sincerity and strengthened their sense of duty. From daybreak to sunrise, the summons ran from house to house through Acton. Express messengers and volleys from minute men spread the alarm. How children trembled as they were scared out of sleep by |