Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1830-04-07
From the Harvard Register.
BATTLE OF LEXINGTON.

And wild and high the Cameron's gathering rose,
The war-note of Lochiel, that Albion's hills
Have heard /; and heard too have her Saxon foes,
How in the noon of night that pibroch thrills
Byron.
Whoever, for the first time, may chance to pass
through the village of Lexington, cannot but be
impressed with sort of local awe, as he ap-
proaches the field where the first blood was shed
in one of the greatest revolutions the world ever
saw OF a still summer afternoon, the New
Hampshire waggoner is often seen turning off
from the road, with the whip in his hand, to read
the inscription on the monument, of which he has
just caught glimpse among the trees. He en-
tiers the enclosure with awakened attention. The
tranquility Of the spot, the vicinity of the church,
with which the green is connected, and the bor-
derng trees which cast their lengthening shadows
on the granite pillar, conspire to solemnize the
scene and open the mind of the stranger to deep
impression, his eye catches the first lines Of the
inscription
"Sacred to liberty and the rights of mankind,
. The freedom and independence of America %
A thrilling interest arises in his mind, as he
proceeds to the names of the simple yeomen,
who gave up their lives on that monentous oc-
casion, and are sleeping in the dust beneath his
feet. His thoughts recur to the alarming scene of
war, which burst out upon that field sending hor-
and grief into the hearts of the inexperienced
cottagers. Imagination pictures the ghasly coun-
tenances of the slain, and he seems to hear the
wild shout Of the conquerors, whose bayonets are
reeking in their blood lie looks round br some
lettering villager to give him an account of the
place Of battle no circumstance of which, how
ever trivial, but he will listen to with ea,erness
The rural town Of Lexington contains les than
1000 inhabitants, yet it possesses peculiar charac-
teristirs. which render 1t In some measure worthy
to be the scene Of the great event, which dstin-
gushed it. All its citizens are agricuturalis.-
Even in the earliest period Of its history, before
became a township, when this old town of Cam.
bridge swallowed up all the heighboring terri.
tory, it was known by the name of Scam
bridge Farms" This characteristic, joined with
healthy competence and equal distributions d
property, led from its settlement to principles d
Independence and liberty. This place has alway
been highly republican and patriotic and CON
sidering its vicinity to the metropolis and 'otha
confused trading towns, singuary distinguished
for universal equality of rank in society and
freedom from that offscourng Of the human racd
which loiter about the heels Of the wealthy.
| II is well known what excitement prevailed and
spread unopposed among social and united peo-
pie, while thc.British troops were stationed in Bos
ton, antecedent to the revolutionary war. Oui
fathers had time to consider what they were abou
to attempt, and to fortify their minds with cod
determination. Children gathered closely around
their parents mothers grew pale for apprehen-
sion, but fathers beheld them with quiet though
firm and mistaken aspect They behed the
gathering Of mighty clouds, whose effects they
could not wholly foresee, yet the language Of Their
hearts was, "Let II come" "Ihe air of this
wide, romantic land breathes liberty. The wolf
and cataInount Of our forest, and the bison-robed
Indian have taught Il to u.s. Our ancestors mark