"All the world is familiar with the causes which led to the struggle for independence in America. We all know the spirit which animated the people of the Colonies, from the seizure of Sir Edmond Andross in 1688 to the destruction of the tea in Boston harbor in 1774. No American is ignorant of the efforts of John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Joseph Warren, Patrick Henry, Alexander Hamilton, Paul Revere, and others, at clubs, in newspapers, in pulpits, in the streets, and in coffee-houses, to guide and prepare the people for the approaching crisis. All the facts from the beginning to the close of that memorable conflict are given in school-books, as well as in more pretentious history. But the immediate cause of the march of the English troops from Boston to Concord seems to be necessary to a comprehensive view of the subject.
"On the nineteenth of April, 1775, a handful of the yeomanry of Massachusetts, obeying a common impulse, came hurriedly together, confronted a force of English regulars outnumbering them ten to one, received their fire, were repulsed, and left eighteen of their number dead and wounded on the green in front of Lexington. On the same day, at Concord, less than four hundred undisciplined militia met a regiment of the enemy, fired upon them, put them to flight, and compelled them to retire to their intrenchments at Boston. It was the first step in that war which gave us a Republic, and may be classed in history as one of the decisive conflicts of modern times.
"Lexington and Concord were not the great battles of the Revolution; they were, in fact, only skirmishes as compared with the more sanguinary actions; but I dwell upon them as the opening scenes, the starting-points, where the first shots were fired in an eight years' war against British rule and British oppression in America....
JOHN STARK.
"Despair was turned into joy by the telling victories of the Americans at Trenton and Princeton, and the country began to see that her precious blood had not been spilled in vain. Just at this juncture of affairs, when it was necessary to follow up the tide of victory with vigorous work, the term of enlistment of most of the men expired, and the personal popularity and influence of the leaders was thus put to the test. Would the men go, or could they be induced to stay through another term of enlistment before seeking the respite they desired at their homes? At this critical period, John Stark made an earnest appeal to his regiment, and every man without exception re-enlisted for six weeks under the banner of their beloved leader. Then Stark went to New Hampshire for recruits, and hundreds flocked around his standard.
"Soon after the surrender of Cornwallis, General Stark returned once more to his home and farm. He had served his country long and faithfully, and retired from his protracted period of active service beloved by the people and full of honors. He lived to be ninety-four years old, and consequently witnessed the war of 1812.
"He sleeps on the banks of the Merrimac, nor heeds the noisy rush of the river as it speeds on its mission to the sea. No clash of musketry, no roar of cannon will ever waken him more from his last deep repose. Men call it death, but if it be death, it is that of the body only, for his memory still lives and speaks to us across the years. It bids us be noble and unselfish, and high of purpose, and grand of aim. Will the oncoming generations who con the story of the life of John Stark listen to the preaching of such an example in vain?