he Reign of Terror_, page 311.

[16] See _The Rise of Napoleon: The French Conquest of Italy_, page 339.

[17] See _The Downfall of Poland_, page 330.

[18] See _Negro Revolution in Haiti_, page 236.

[19] See _First Balloon Ascension_, page 63.

[20] See _Jenner Introduces Vaccination_, page 363.

[21] See _Framing of the Constitution of the United States_, page 173.

[22] See _Inauguration of Washington: His Farewell Address_, page 197.

[23] See _Hamilton Establishes the United States Bank_, page 230.

[24] See _Invention of the Cotton-gin_, page 271.

[25] See _Overthrow of the Mamelukes: The Battle of the Nile_, page 353.

BATTLE OF LEXINGTON

A.D. 1775

RICHARD FROTHINGHAM

April 19, 1775, is memorable in American history as the day
on which occurred the first bloodshed of the Revolution. The
two combats of the day--that at Lexington and that at
Concord--really constituted one action, which ended in a
long running fight. As a single action, it is usually called
the Battle of Lexington. The engagement at Concord,
separately considered, is called the Battle of Concord, or
the Concord Fight.

At both places, on that fateful day, "the embattled farmers"
faced the troops of their own sovereign, to resist what was
felt to be an unwarranted and menacing invasion of American
liberties. While the soldiers of King George were doing
their own loyal duty, the New England yeomen who "fired the
shot heard round the world" obeyed a conviction still more
compelling. Hence came the first physical struggle in what
was already an "irrepressible conflict" of principle between
Englishmen and their kinsmen on the American continent.

The Revolutionary War was begun on the part of the Americans
for the redress of grievances for which they had exhausted
all peaceable endeavors to secure a remedy. It was afterward
successfully waged for independence. Repressive measures of
Great Britain in the colonies began with the issuance by
colonial courts of "writs of assistance." These writs
authorized officers to summon assistance in searching
certain premises under certain laws. In the first attempt to
enforce such a writ--in Massachusetts, 1761--the policy was
defeated through popular opposition, brilliantly led by
James Otis, who by a single speech produced such an effect
tha