Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-12-19
Paul I,eYere,s Ride.

fOTLuUdt6lJ lIl6 E6CfOlullOQ Is uOL 81
far behind US that immediate descend.
ants OF its heroes may not still be
found who cherish the traditions o
their families, and who have an un
appeasable interest to find and to tel
the truth that sheds lustre upon an an
cestOr. Such descendant Is Mr.. Hen
ry w. Holland, of Boston, who ha:
just privately published handsome
monograph of William DdlOes and hi,
Ride l0ith Paul ReUere. Mr.. HOl
land Is a descendant Of Mr.. Dawes, and
he was startled by an article In thi:
Magazine for May, 1875, upon the ex
pediti0n to Concord, which made Eo-
eneZer Dorr the companion OF Revere
"a statement which was repeated in
the centennial OrartiOn of that year al
Concord. II WAS undoubtedly mis-
representation, az the fact of Doris
agency proved to be unknown even in
his own family. Mr.. Holland has I'm
proved the occasion, however, to write
very interesting sketch, to which he
adds copious and illustrated geanalo
gy Of the Dawes family, and in the
course Of which he deprives the story
OF Revere's ride of one of its most stri-
king Incidents. Mr.. Holland exposes
the general error that Paul Revere was
himself warned by the lights hung in
the Boston steeple. The truth is that
Revere caused them to be hung there
to apprise those who were on the
Charlestown shore of the departure OF
the British. 1t was after Revere, whU
was still in Boston, knew of their de-
parture that be crossed the river.
The probability of the essential JUS
tice of the destructive criticisms upon
familiar traditions is shown by the
fact that sach point as this should
have been always misapprehended. and
that although the event was hut a
hundred years ago, and was described
by the chief actor, there should be a
question as 10 the church upon which
the lantern wss hung, md as to the
person who hung it. The only con
temporary accounts are those of Re
we're himself and Richard Davehs, and
they both speak of the North Church
But the building known ut that time
as the old North Meeting house was
80 called because it was not church, ,
or house Of worship of the English
Church, which from its situation and
other circumstances would naturally
have been selected, was sometimes
called the North Church. Moreover,
it was the sexton and a vestryman of
Christ Church who were arrested by
the British, and tradition has always
favored Christ Church. AS to the
person who hung the signal lanterns
out of the belfrey, which was q most
daring and hazardous deed, Mr.. Hol>
land follows Mr.. John Lee Watson, OF
Orange, who In an excellent paper,
originally communicated to the Boston
Advertiser in July, 1876, makes very
strong case for John Pulling, the ves-
trymar, as against Robert Newman,
the sexton, to whom the act has been
generally attributed.
Mr.. Hollands sketch of William
Dawes is the portrait of high son Of
liberty like Revere, and Prescott,
who, when Revere was stopped by the
British beyond Lexington, leaped his
horse over stone wall and spUrred on
to Concord. The monograph is time
ly and valuable, because 1t states sim
ply AMI accurately, In the light of all
the evidence, aud with clear percep-
ton of all the misconceptions. the facts
of the inspiring and heroic story.
Whatever befalls BelisariuI, and Abe
lard aud Heloise, and the Colossus OF
Rhodes, and William Tell, the two
lanterns Of Paul Revere will always
flash the signal to the CIsrkestown
shore, while he rides at full speed
through the April night, rousing the
country as he goes.-EDITOR's EASY
CHAIR, in Harper's Magazine for JAN.
uary.