the northwesterly corner of the Common. The flagstaff is now placed not far from the site of the old meeting-house, but since the day when it stood here the southerly point of the Common has been somewhat elongated. An oak-tree or two stood about the meeting-house, and the Common itself was covered here and there with low brush. The little belfry stood on the site of the monument. It was removed to the old Parker farm, on the Waltham road, better known as the birthplace of Theodore Parker, was bought by the local historical society, and placed on Belfry Hill, back of the Hancock School.

On the right of the Bedford road and nearly opposite the old church was John Buckman's tavern, in which many of Parker's men assembled before the arrival of the troops, and which served as a refuge for some of the Americans afterwards. The fugitives fired upon the Britons from this house, and the shotholes still seen in the clapboards attest that they drew the regulars' fire. Some of the British wounded were left here on the retreat. The old inn, long owned by the Meriam family, remains nearly as it was in 1775, and is the most conspicuous landmark of the battle-ground. The first post-office in the town. was here located. Some Lombardy poplars that formerly stood about the building have now disappeared. The tavern, with its barn and outbuildings, and the meeting-house and belfry, are shown in old views of the Common.

On the southwest side of the Concord road, and looking upon the Common, were two houses, at least one of which is still standing. On the north side of the Green were two dwellings, with a blacksmith's shop between. The one nearest the Bedford road was that of Jonathan Harrington, one of the victims of the regulars' fire, whose wife witnessed his fall and the convulsive efforts made by him to reach her side. The other house, then that of Daniel Harrington, was torn down shortly after the Centennial celebration of 1875, and not rebuilt. In front of it are some of the most magnificent specimens of our grand American elm to be seen far or near. Doolittle's picture

of the battle-ground was drawn from this house.

On the east

of it was the well at which the king's men quenched their

thirst, and behind the house now occupied by the families of Harrington and Swan was to be seen the quaint little blacksmith's shop with one of those ugly orifices in the door made by a leaden ball. This completes our view of Lexington Green in 1775. Except that the avenue on the north side was a mere lane, and that the space has been enlarged at the southern extremity, the place is topographically the same as on the day of the fight.

The British main body marched up the Concord road and remained there while the attack took place. A body of grenadiers moved into the Common by the Bedford road, deploying in front of the Americans, who were paraded some four or five rods east of the monument and near the Bedford road. At the first alarm the minute-men assembled between the tavern and the meeting-house.

Lexington Common, as we see it to-day, bears little resemblance to the green where the first death-volley rattled in 1775. There is a triangular enclosure, bordered by a double row of elms, some of large growth, others of more recent planting. The fence, composed of stone posts with wooden rails, seen in the accompanying picture has been removed.

LEXINGTON MONUMENT.

The battle-monument stands near the west corner of the enclosure, not far from the ground where the first victims were stretched in their blood, and at a dozen paces from the south side.

It is placed on a little knoll, is surrounded by an iron fence, and has the front with the inscription facing south. It is enough to say of this monument, that its insignificant appearance, when compared with the object it is intended to perpetuate, can arouse no other than a feeling of disappointment in the mind of the

pilgrim. The shaft is of granite, with a marble tablet bearing the following inscription, written by Rev. Jonas Clark of Lexington. Lafayette and Kossuth have both read it.

"Sacred to the Liberty and the Rights of Mankind!!! The Freedom and Independence of America- - Sealed and defended with the blood of her sons - This Monument is erected by the Inhabitants of Lexington, under the patronage and at the expense of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to the memory of their Fellow-citizens, Ensign Robert Monroe, Messrs. Jonas Parker, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Junr., Isaac Muzzy, Caleb Harrington and John Brown, of Lexington, and Asahel Porter, of Woburn, who fell on this Field, the first victims of the Sword of British Tyranny and Oppression, on the morning of the ever-memorable Nineteenth of April, An. Dom. 1775. The Die was Cast!!! The blood of these Martyrs in the cause of God and their Country was the Cement of the Union of these States, then Colonies, and gave the Spring to the Spirit, Firmness and Resolution of their Fellow-citizens. They rose as one man to revenge their Brethren's blood, and at the point of the Sword to assert and defend their native Rights. They nobly dared to be Free!!! The contest was long, bloody, and affecting. Righteous Heaven approved the Solemn Appeal; Victory crowned their Arms, and the Peace, Liberty, and Independence of the United States of America was their glorious Reward. Built in the year 1799."

The bodies of the seven individuals belonging to Lexington were originally enclosed in long wooden boxes made of rough boards, and buried in one grave in a corner of the town burying-ground, separate and distinct from all other graves. A few days prior to the celebration in 1835, the remains were disinterred and placed in a wooden coffin enclosed in lead and made air-tight, the whole being then placed in a mahogany sarcophagus. At the conclusion of the exercises on that occasion the sarcophagus was deposited in the tomb constructed near the base of the monument. When the bodies were exhumed the coffins were completely decayed. The bones were also more or less decayed.

The people of Lexington, sensible of the impression which the monument gives the beholder, have some time contemplated the