The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-05-15

lEAN, In ADV ANCE.
The British van, hesring the drum and
the alarm guns, halted to load the reusain-
ing companies came up; and ct half an hour
before sunrise, the advance party hurr;ed
forward at double quick time, almost upca
run, closely followed by the grenadiers.
Pitcairn rode in front, and, when within Eve
or six rods of the minute-men, cried out !:
'Disperse ye Williams; ye rebels, disperse !;
lay down your arms; why don't you lay
down your arms and disperse p, The main
part OF the eounsryDen stood motionless in
the ranks, Witnesses against aggression, too
few to resist, too brave to fy. AT this Pit
cairn discharged pistol, and with q loud
voice, cried, "Fire." The order was in
stantly followed, first by q few guns, which
did no execution, and then BY heavy, close
and deadly discharge of musketay. -, ~ y,
In the disparity of numbers, the Common
was field of murder, not of battle; Parker
therefore, ordered his men to disperse. Then
and not till thea, did few Of them, on their
own impulse, return the British Ere. These
random shots Of fugitive or diving men did
no harm except that Piscairn's horse waa
perhaps grazed, and private of the 10th
Light Infantry was touched slightly in the
leg. s'''4
Jonas Parker, the stropses. and hes.
wrestler in Lexington, had promised never
to run from British troops: and he kent bis
VOW: A wound brought him ON his ,kneas.
Having discharged his gun, he was prepar-
ing to load again, when as sound q heart rs
ever throbbed for freedom was stilled by
bayonet, and he lay on the post which be
tocA at the mornings drum beat. So fell
Isaac Muszy, and SO died the nged Robert
Munroe, the same who, in l758, had been
an ensign at Louisburg. Jonathan Harring-
ton, Jr., was struck in front of his own
house on the north Of the Common. His
wife was at the window as he fell. With
the blood gushing from his breast, he rose
IN her sight, tottered, fell again, then crawl
ed on hands and knees towards his dwelling;
she ran to meet him, but only reached him
as he expired on their threshold. Caleb
Harrington, who had gone into the meeting
house for powder, was shot as he came OUT,
Samuel Hadlcy and John Brown were pur-
sued and killed, after they had left the
green. Asabel Porter, Of Woburn, who
had been taken prisoner by the British on
the march, endeavored to escape, was shot
within few rods of the Common.
Day came in all the beauty Of an early
spring. The trees were budding; the grass
growing rankly o full month before the time;
the blue bird and robin gladdening the
genial season, and calling forth the beams Of
the sun which on that morning shone with
the warmth Of summer; but distress and
horror gathered over the inhabitants Of the
peaceful town. There on the green, lay in
death the gray-haired and dying young; the
grassy field was red s.with the innocent
blood of their brethren slain,'' CRYING unto
God for vengeance from the ground. ~ '-
Seven of the men Of Lexington were kill
ed; nine wounded; quarter part of those
who stood in arms on the green. These arc
the village heroes, who were more than Of
noble blood, proving by their spirit that they
were of . race divine. They gave their
lives in testimony to the rights of mankind,
bequeathing to their country an assurance
Of success in the mighty struggle which
they began. Their names are held in crate
full remembrance, and the expanding mill
ions Of their countrymen renew and multi
ply their praise from generation to genera
ton. They fulfilled their duty, not from
the accidental impulse of moment; their
action was the eslowly-ripened fruit of Provi-
dence and of time. The light that led them
on was combined Of rays from the whole
history of the race; from the traditions of
the Hebrews in the gay of the worlds
morning; from the heroes and sages eff re-
publican Greece and Rome; from the exam
pie of Him who laid down his life on the
cross for the life humanity; from the reli-
,gious creed which proclaimed the divine
presence in man, and on this truth as in q
life-boat, hoated the liberties of nations
over the dark food of the middle ages;
from the customs of the Germans transmit
ted out of their forests to the councils of
Saxon England; from the burning faith and
courage of Martin Luthe-; from trust in the
inevitable universally of Gods sovereignty
by Paul of Tarsus, and Augustine, through
Calvin and the divines of New England;
from the avenging ferceness of the Puritans,
who dashed down the mi:re on the ruins of
the throne; from the bold dissent and crea-
tive seif-assertion Of the earliest emigrants
to Massachusetts,; from the statesmen who
made, and the philosophers who expounded,
the revolution of England; from the liberal
spirit and analyzing inquisitiveness Of the
eighteenth century; from the cloud Of Wit
nesses Of all the ages to the reality and tho
rightfulness of human freedom. All tho
centuries bowed themselves from the recess
es of past enternity to cheer in their sac
rafice the lowly men who proved themselves
worthy of their forerunners, and whose
children rise up and call them blessed. "a
Needless of hls own danger, Samuel Ad-
ans. with the voice Of a prophet, exclaimed,
"Oh! what a glorious morning is this!' for
he saw that his country's independence was
rapidly Fastening on, and, like Columbus in
the tempest, knew that the storm did but
bear him the more swiftly towards the undis-
covered world. '@1-''|' ~
LOOK OUT FOR TINE CArERPlLLAR.
3. Mpch Ioyn 90 hos fonu dov,> h., xh..-x ~ .