Evening star., 1898-02-22
on neck label.


we have as subjects of Great Britain and
10 power on earth can. agreeably to our
constitution. take them from US, or any
part of them, without our consent.
In public and private assembly, in town
meeting and county constitution, in the
provincial congress- held in their old meet
ing house, and presided over by John Han
COCK. these farmer Statesmen expressed
themselves fearlcssly, deliberately and
forcefully, declaring that our fathers left
a fair Inheritance to US, purchased by "a
waste OF blood and treasure. This we are
resolved to transmit equally fair to our
chlIdren after us. No danger shall alright.
no difficulties intimidate us And if in sup
port OF our rights We are called to encoun-
ter even death, we are yet undaunted, sem
sible that he can never die too soon who
leys down mis- life in support of the laws
and liberties oe his country
And here within the old town, as a nat
ural sequence to these leading utteranCes
and events, were placed the stores for the
provincial army, and the eyes of the strug-
CLING colonists were directed to Concord as
a stronghold Of power and confidence and
support. Meanwhile. the eyes of the Brit
ish troops, under Gen. Gage, We're slowly
and steadily fastening themselves upon
sturdy Concord town as an objective point
for their first attack, in which they would
capture these stores, and by one blow Grip
pie and ultimately defeat the struggling
men who had only God and their good
right arms on which to depend This Con-
cord realized and she resolved to defend
those stores with her life.
April 10, 1715, dawned Oh the world.
Some future historian" says the Boston
Newspaper of May, 1115, will relate with
pleasure, and the latest posterity will read
with wonder and admiration, how three
hundred intrepid rural sons of freedom
drove before them more than five times
their number Of regular, well-appointed
troops. and forced them to take shelter be-
hind their own bulwarks.
Fight mt Concord.
In the early morning of that ever-mem-
orable day the attack was made Passing
through Lexington on their way to their
objective point, the old town of Concord,
the British troops turned their backs on
their massacre of defenseless men, and
marched out on the Old Bay road, brilliant
in their scarlet uniforms, and with gay
spirits and jublant confidence in the easy
victory they should find beyond.
"Oh, Old North bridge Of Concord town.
where are silently and swiftly gathering
the minute men and the militia of the near
by towns, the pages of all history do not
give more sublime example of what it is
to wait on God than does the record of
thine arena, this day of days!
'.Oh, heroes; Capt. James Barrett and
Major John Buttrick, Capt. Isaac Davis
and James Hayward, and the long roll of
men, who, facing death, could wait delib-
eratey, patiently. resolutely. until, being
fired upon, they could speak for the rights
of man and the sons of God. Thy names
are writ in letters of living light as apostles
of freedom who yet waited on God till is
word came to strike.
Back in affrighted dismay at the awful
determination of these farmers rushe'
with broken ranks the brilliant-coated
flower of the British army over the Old
Bay road. pursued by their victors, who
felt at every step the thrill of being free
men. and who knew in their souls that
liberty for the American citizen was born
Ralph Waldo Emerson has struck in i'm
mortal verse this note:
by the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to Aprl's breeze unfurled,
Here once tn embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world
"The handle of this gavel is the wood of
this old North bridge. with an upper border
of thirteen bullets, carved to represent the
thirteen original colonies. 1t is encircled
by four-inch silver plate, bearing this
inscription: Wood of the Old North
Bridge of Concord, Massachusetts. Here
was fired the shot heard round the world
April 10, 1I75
Presented February %. 1898. to the Ma
tional Society of the Children of the Ameri-
can Revolution by Margaret Mulford 10th
rop. the first Member of the National So
ciety, and the Secretary of the Old North
Bridge Society, the first Local Society
ganized'" "
Massachusetts and Virginia.
Mulford Lothrop of Concord, Mass, and
Sarah Smith Howard of Alexandria, Va.
The gavel is made of wood from the homes
Of Washington, Monroe, Madison and JET
ferson, sons of Virginia and Presidents OF
the United States of America.
May this gift said the donors. brought
in the CBion of our hearts and our hands.
ever be the symbol of the united love and
loyalty that all the members of our ma
tional society bear toward each other.
Prof George Lansing Raymond, Lid,
delivered an interesting patriotic address,
W hich was received with rounds of ap-
pleauSe.
The minuet. as grandma danced it. an
exercise by Miss Emily Reed ard Master
Roger Stuart of the Yorktown Society,
brought rounds of applause from the audi
ence. This youthful couple looked as If
they had just stepped from the frame OF
some old family portrait, and carried them
selves in a manner BETTING the part they
we're taking. Their movements were espe-
c:ally graceful and pretty
Four couples from the Piram Ripley So
ciety daEced the minuet in a manner most
pleasing.
The program had to be cut some, and the
exercises closed with a patriotic medley,
Our Own Red, White and Blue. Mr.. q. T.
Slaybaugh, baritone. and chorus: dedicated
to the National Society of the Children OF
the American Revolution, by Mrs. Emile
v. Little of Rochester. N. Y. and ''Colum-
bia the Gem of the Ocean, sung by the