with the new mown hay, lying on the ground. There was something in the rustic materials of these defences, hastily made, in a short summer's night, within gun-shot of a powerful enemy, that was particularly apposite to a body of armed husbandmen, who had rushed to the field at the first sound of alarm.

As soon as these frail works were discovered the next morning, the British commander made preparations to get possession of them. General Howe with various detachments amounting to near 5000 men, was ordered to dislodge the "rebels." The force which Colonel Prescott could command for the defence of the redoubt and breast-work, was about 1200 men. Very few of these had ever seen an action. They had been labouring all night in creating these defences; and the redoubt, if it could be so called, was open on two sides. Instead of being relieved by fresh troops, as they had expected, they were left without supplies of ammunition or refreshment, and thus fatigued and destitute, they had to bear the repeated assaults of a numerous, well appointed, veteran army. They destroyed nearly as many of their assailants, as the whole of their own number engaged; and they did not retreat till their ammunition was exhausted, and the enemy supplied with fresh troops and cannon completely overpowered them,

Colonel Prescott lost nearly one quarter of his own regiment in the action. When General Warren came upon the hill, Colonel Prescott asked him if he had any orders to give; he answered, "no,

colonel, I am only a volunteer, the command is yours." When he was at length forced to tell his men to retreat, as well as they could, he was one of the last who left the intrenchment. He was so satisfied with the bravery of his companions, and convinced that the enemy were disheartened by the severe and unexpected loss which they had sustained, that he requested the commander in chief to give him two regiments, and he would retake the position the same night.

He continued in the service till the beginning of 1777, when he resigned and returned to his home. But in the autumn of that year he went as a volunteer to the northern army under General Gates, and assisted in the capture of General Burgoyne. This was his last military service. He was subsequently for several years a member of the legislature, and died in 1795, in the 70th of his age.

year

Colonel Prescott* was a genuine specimen of an energetic, brave, and patriotic citizen, who was ready in the hour of danger to place himself in the van, and partake in all the perils of his country, feeling anxious for its prosperity, without caring to share in its emoluments; and maintaining beneath a plain exterior and simple habits, a dignified pride in his native land, and a high minded love of freedom.

The immediate results of this engagement were

* In Colonel Trumbull's painting of the battle of Bunker hill, Colonel Prescott is represented in a dress which is characteristic of the force he commanded; though he does not occupy so prominent a station in the picture, as he did in the action.

great and various. Though the Americans were obliged to yield the ground for want of ammunition, yet their defeat was substantially a triumph.* The actual loss of the British army was severe, and was deeply felt by themselves and their friends. The charm of their invincibility was broken. The hopes of the whole continent were raised. It was demonstrated, that although they might burn towns, or overwhelm raw troops by superior discipline and numbers, yet the conquest at least would not be an easy one. Those patriots, who under the most arduous responsibility, at the peril of every thing which men of sense and virtue can value, hazarded in the support of public principles present ruin and future disgrace, though they felt this onset to be only the beginning of a civil war, yet were invigorat

The anxiety and various emotions of the people of Boston, on this occasion, had a highly dramatic kind of interest. Those who sided with the British troops began to see even in the duration of this battle, the possibility that they had taken the wrong side, and that they might become exiles from their country. While those whose whole soul was with their countrymen, were in dreadful apprehension for their friends, in a contest, the severity of which was shewn by the destruction of so many of their enemies. After the battle had continued for some time, a young person living in Boston, possessed of very keen and generous feelings, bordering a little perhaps on the romantic, as was natural to her age, sex, and lively imagination, finding that many of the wounded troops brought over from the field of action were carried by her residence, mixed a quantity of refreshing beverage, and with a female domestic by her side, stood at the door and offered it to the sufferers as they were borne along, burning with fever and parched with thirst. Several of them grateful for the kindness, gave her, as they thought, consolation, by assuring her of the destruction of her countrymen. One young officer said, " never mind it my brave young lady, we have peppered 'em well, depend upon it." Her dearest feelings, deeply interested in the opposite camp, were thus unintentionally lacerated, while she was pouring oil and wine into their wounds.

ed by its result, which cleared away some painful uncertainties, while the bravery and firmness that had been displayed by their countrymen, inspired a more positive expectation of being ultimately triumphant.*

When Americans wish to estimate the merits of the leading patriots, who obtained the independence of their country, it is not sufficient to consider the good that has resulted from their efforts, vast as it may be, but to do them full justice, the circumstances in which they acted and the chances which they were liable to, must be examined. The concluding paragraphs of the essays of Massachusettensis, the most able papers that were produced on the government side during the dispute, will throw some light on this subject. The author was evidently sincere in his opinions, and they were urged with great earnestness and eloquence; yet mild and humane as he was, it may be inferred from his hints, that the fate of the patriots, if they had been unsuccessful, would have been an ignominious death. This last letter, addressed "to the inhabitants of the Province of Massachusetts Bay," was published April 3d, a fortnight only before the battle of Lexington.

"Do you expect to conquer in war? War is no longer a simple, but an intricate science, not to be learned from books, or two or three campaigns, but from long experience. You need not be told that his majesty's generals, Gage and Haldimand, are possesed of every talent requisite to great commanders, matured by long experience in many parts of the world, and stand high in military fame: that many of the officers have been bred to aims from their infancy, and a large proportion of the army now here, have already reaped immortal honours in the iron harvest of the field. Alas, my friends, you have nothing to oppose to this force, but a militia unused to service, impatient of command, and destitute of resources. Can your officers depend on the privates, or the privates upon the officers? Your war can be but little more than mere tumultuary rage; and besides there is an awful disparity between troops that fight the battles of their sovereign, and those that follow the standard of rebellion. These reflections may arrest you in an hour that you think not of, and come too late to serve you. Nothing short of a miracle could gain you one battle, but could you destroy all the British troops that are now here, and burn the men of war that command our coast, it would be but the beginning of sorrow; and yet without a decisive battle one campaign would ruin you. This province does not produce its necessary provision, when the husbandman can pursue his calling without molestation; what then must be your condition when the demand shall be increased and the resource in a manner cut off? Figure to yourselves what must be your distress, should your wives and children be driven from such places, as the king's troops shall occupy, into the interior parts of the province, and they as well as you, be destitute of sup

Chapter XXX.

Anecdotes of Otis after the close of his public career—His residence in A dover-Last visit to Boston-Return to Andover-Remarkable death-His character.

THE public career of Otis, may be said to have ended in 1769, for though in 1771 he was again in the legislature, his exertions were less arduous; and after that period, notwithstanding his occasional appearance in the courts of justice and in town meetings, yet he was little more than a majestic ruin. In his lucid intervals he was still powerful, but as these were liable to be interrupted, it was impossible to confide important business to him. During the remaining years of his life, he was sometimes in a frenzied state, at others, exhibited rather the eccentricity of a humourist than absolute derangement. The wound which he had received rendered him ex

port. I take no pleasure in painting these scenes of distress. The whigs affect to divert you from them by ridicule; but should war commence, you can expect nothing but its severities. Might I hazard an opinion, but few of your leaders ever intended to engage in hostilities, but they may have rendered inevitable what they only intended for intimidation. Those that unsheath the sword of rebellion may throw away the scabbard, they cannot be treated with while in arms, and if they lay them down they are in no other predicament than conquered rebels. The conquered in other wars do not forfeit the rights of men, nor all the rights of citizens, even their bravery is rewarded by a generous victor; far different is the case of a routed rebel host. My dear countrymen, you have before you at your election, peace or war, happiness or misery. May the God of our forefathers direct you in the way that leads to peace and happiness, before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, before the evil days come, wherein you shall say, we have no pleasure in them."