pears by his letters of that date to the Provincial Congress, recommending the appointment of Andrew Colburn of Marlborough Major of the next regiment which should be raised. He soon after marched his command to Cambridge. By his communication to the Committee of Safety at Exeter we learn that he arrived there on the 12th of the month. He waited on Gen. Ward, who ordered his command to Medford on account of the throng of soldiers at Cambridge. On reaching Medford he was informed by Col. Stark that no quarters could be there obtained. In this dilemma he again applied to Gen. Ward, who issued the order "that Col. Reed quarter his regiment in the houses near Charlestown Neck, and keep all necessary guards between the barracks and ferry, and on Bunker Hill." On the 13th he marched his regiment to the Neck, where they obtained good quarters. On the 14th he issued regimental orders-ten in number. They were stringent in their terms, and from their tenor they indicate that the position of the regiment was an important one, and that vigilance was necessary for the safety of the command.

Col. James Reed's Regimental Orders. [Copied from MS. State Pap. Rev'n, Vol. I., p. 254.]

Charlestown, June the 14, 1775.
REGIMENTAL ORDERS.

1st. That each Capt. or Commanding officer of each company Immediately make a True Return of all the men they and their Recruiting officers have inlisted according to a form given them by the Adjutants.

2ly. That each officer see that there Companys are a quipt with ten Rounds at lest of Powder and Ball and that there Fierlocks are kept in good order at all Times and give there men spechal orders not to fire a gun on any account whatever unless Besett by the enemy.

3ly. That each Comander of a Company imbody all his Company that are of from Duty Twice a day to Exercise them in the best manar for Larning the arts of War.

4ly That each officer give spechal orders to these soldiers that they do no Damag to any of the Houses where they are Quartered or to any Garden or Grass in any parts of this Town on pain of being punished according to the ofence.

5ly. That no soldier be allowed to strool from his Company or pass from his incampment to Charlestown Ferrey or to any other incampment without leve from there officers.

6ly. That each Commanding officer of each Company cause the Rules and Regulations for the army to be Read at the Hed of the Respective Companys fourth with and it is expected that all officers and soldiers govern themselves accord

ingly.

7ly. That the Officers see that the men and Barracks are kept clean.

8ly. That there be a Garde praded this after

The same day he wrote a communication to the Committee of Safety at Exeter, giving a detailed account of his movements since he had left Exeter, and closed by stating the want of a Chaplain, Surgeon and Armorer for his regiment. On the 15th he issued a supplementary order, which added to the stringency and efficiency of the former. A better idea of this order may be gathered by giving it entire:

"Charlestown, June the 15, 1775. REGIMENTAL ORDERS-The main Gard this day corporals and 50 privets. The Capt of the main is to consist of one Capt. 2 Luts. 4 sergeants, 4 Gard is to keep a trusty Sergeant with the Senterys in the Street below the Gard house to examin all pasangers Let none pars without shoing proper pases in the Day time and none to pass after Nine o'clock at Knight without giving the counter sine and no Sentrey is to set down on his post and when any field officer pases them to stand with their firelocks Rested no soldier to swim in the water on the Sabath day nor on any other Day to stay in the water Longer than is nesasarey to wash themselves.

Signed

JAMES REED, Coll.

This order is characteristic of the man and shows that no lack of discipline and vigilance was allowed in his command, that they might be prepared for a movement which, it is reasonably inferred, he was aware would soon be made. The crisis was close at hand. On the morning of the memorable 17th of June he was the first officer of his rank on the field, and his the only regiment from New Hampshire ready for action on the morning of the battle of Bunker Hill. He was stationed on the left wing, by the rail fence, where he was joined at two o'clock in the afternoon by Col. Stark.

This was, by all accounts, the hottest as well as the best fought portion of the field. The ready genius of Col. Reed designed the parapet, which, constructed by the brave soldiers of New Hampshire under fire of the enemy's batteries, so wonderfully preserved them from the disasters of the day. This parapet consisted of a breast work of stones hastily thrown across the beach to Mystic River,

and a rail fence extending up the hillside to the redoubt. It was in front of the breastwork that the British lines were three times hurled back under the deadly fire of Reed and Stark. Here the most efficient fighting was done; and here the greatest number of dead were lying when the battle had ceased. After the third and last repulse the New Hampshire troops raised the shout of victory, rushed over the fence and pursued the retreating foe until restrained by Col. Stark. This post, so nobly defended through the action and so resolutely maintained against the last assault of the British, after the redoubt had fallen, defeated General Howe's design of cutting off the main body. After the redoubt had given way, this heroic band slowly retreated, and Col. Reed was the last officer who left the field.

He remained with the army after its command was assumed by General Washington, being posted upon Winter Hill, and upon the reorganization of the forces on the first of January, 1776, his regiment was ranked second in the Continental Army.

The evacuation of the British troops on the 17th of March concluded the siege of Boston, and Colonel Reed accompanied the army on its movement to New York in the following April. On the 24th of April he was put into the 3d Brigade under General Sullivan, and was soon after ordered up the Hudson to relieve the force under Arnold. The following receipt, extracted from the American Archives, given on his departure from New York, serves to illustrate the confidence reposed in Colonel Reed:

NEW YORK, April 29, 1776. Then received from Gen. Washington three boxes, said to contain three hundred thousand dollars, to be delivered to Gen. Schuyler at Albany, JAMES REED.

Signed

The money above alluded to was doubtless for the payment of Schuyler's army. Sullivan's command passed over the ground which was familiar to Colonel Reed by his campaigns in the previous wars, as far as the mouth of the river Sorrel. Here they met the retreating army, and Gen. Sullivan assumed the command. Col. Reed's skill and fortitude in the conduct of the retreat is

highly spokon of. On one occasion, in the absence of Arnold, he received and held a talk with the chiefs of some Indian tribes. It was managed with address and successfully concluded by Colonel Reed, and the pledges of their friendly disposition were transmitted by him to the President of Congress. The retreat reached Ticonderoga on the 1st of July, 1776. A worse foe than the enemy at this time attacked the American army. Disease, the unfailing attendant of hardship and exposure, now broke out and prevailed to an alarming extent. Smallpox, dysentery and malignant fevers rapidly thinned the ranks of the patriot army. Colonel Reed was attacked with fever at Crown Point, and, perhaps for want of proper medical treatment, suffered the loss of his sight. This calamity terminated his prospects for any further usefulness in the service of his country. It was while thus suffering from dangerous illness he was created a Brigadier General of the Continental Army. He was appointed by Congress on the 9th of August, 1776, on the recommendation of General Washington. On the 2d of September Gen. Gates speaks of him as so ill at Fort George that he would probably not be fit for service in that campaign. He received orders from Gen. Washington to join him at headquarters, but on account of sickness was unable to comply. He eventually retired from the army on half pay until the close of the

war.

He returned to Fitzwilliam, where he resided until the year 1783, when he moved to Keene. Here his Abigail died. The following inscription was taken from the large headstone of slate erected to her memory in the cemetery at Keene;

"In memory of Mrs. Abigail, wife of Genl. James Reed, who departed this life August 27th, 1791, in the 68th year of her age. There's nothing here but who as nothing weighs. The more our joy the more we know it's vain; Lose then from earth the grasp of fond desire, Weigh anchor and some happier clime explore."

Hale, in his "Annals of Keene," says that Gen. Reed, whose ordinary residence was Fitzwilliam, is remembered here as an old blind man, and as almost daily seen, after the close, of the war, walking up and down Main Street, aiding and guided by Mr. Washburn, who

his name is enrolled among the records of each, and his military orders bespeak the Christian as well as the soldier. Upon the records of the Congregational Church in Fitzwilliam we find the following:

"James Reed, admitted March 27, 1771. Dismissed to church in Keene, June 29, 1783. Abigail Reed, admitted September 22, 1771. Dismissed to church in Keene, June 29, 1783.”

Gen. Reed's family consisted of six sons and five daughters. His descendants are quite numerous, and among

them are found brilliant names in different parts of our country. Two of his sons, Sylvanus and James, served in the war of the Revolution. Sylvanus was an His ensign in his father's regiment. commission, which is still preserved, bearing date January 1, 1776, is signed by John Hancock, President of Congress. He was adjutant in the campaign of 1778, under Gen. Sullivan, and was afterwards promoted colonel of a regiment. He served through the war, and died at Cambridge, Mass., in 1798. James Reed, Jr., also served through the war. He was disabled in service, and died a pensioner at Fitzwilliam, February 19, 1836, at the age of eighty-nine years.

The idea has been advanced that a possibility in natural economy implies that within the area of the vast watery domain in the farther part of the Eastern hemisphere was once a continent. Its place is now marked only by the interspersed islands in the otherwise present wide waste of waters. The suggestion is reached through an indirect process of reasoning. An element of implied thought recognizes the fact that the isolated inhabitants of the scattered islands mentioned have not kept pace with the continental nations in the vicinity, in the direction of mental and moral improvement. Assuming, as some do, that all human races are essentially consanguineous, it rationally follows that isolation

is the harbinger of barbarism and association the friend of civilization.

Dropping the geological phase of the above theory as of no particular value to our proposed train of thought, there is consistent room for the assertion of the practical emphasis of the social part. Social community is essential to culture in its highest and truest aspect. The groping instincts of dawning intelligence unmistakably recognize the incontrovertable fact.

In this vicinity, it is becoming the chronic complaint that the young and vigorous masses are rushing into the cities. The common statement is indisputably true. The popular interpretations of the phenomena are, however,

largely an aspersion of the rational facts of the case.

The ascription of cupidity to the described phenomenon is untenable and base. It is untenable because much of the most substantial wealth is created and enjoyed in the country; it is base because it defames the fair purposes of thousands who never make money their special pursuit on entering the domain of city life. The imputation of a love of license is rationally impossible. In the confines of a great city, the law of constraint is many times more forcibly impressed than in the country; even in the city's haunts of vice is a sterner discipline and a more rigorous etiquette than is known in the halls of honorable intercourse, and the penalties of disorder are more painful in their reactions. Sequel to the fact that it is not shown that the general moral status of the mass of migrating people is degraded by the change, the cords of legal bondage are more and more sensibly felt as step by step one winds his way from the vicinity of the green fields and hedgerows to the dun, paved and crowded marts.

In the present dominant state of our country life, the springing generation inclines longingly towards the associations of city life because they are civil. Civilization is the precious boon that inspires the efforts of every true generation. Discipline and classification being the first practical effect of civilization appealing to the mind of the incipient civilian, his nature seizes them as the means of better actualizing the potential qualities locked up in the capabilities of his being. Association affording increased knowledge and broader facilities, civilized culture rapidly becomes to him more and more a grateful realization. The improved opportunities which civil culture provides for healthful and ennobling recreation secure to him a greater quickness of that vivacity that makes life a scene of enjoyment as well as a field of labor. It is the law, progress and enjoyment of the city that invites people from the country. It is not that they love the natural attractions of the country less, but that they love the civilized advantages of the city more. When people go to the city, they leave all but their recollections behind; when people go to

the country, they, in their manners and customs, take something of the city along with them, fostering it as the embodiment of a cultivated privilege. It is a law of civilization that it should be so. We do not wish to even appear to advocate an exclusive social economy. We have no prejudice against the country and no fulsome adulation to extend towards the city. If it were wholly possible, we would fain dissociate, in the mind of the reader, the terms country and city from their purely restrictive meanings. So doing, we could safely say,that,as all men begin in the country, so they should all end in the city. It is the same as to say natural crudeness should give place to civilized refinement. The Bible, you know, begins with man in a garden and ends with him in a city. Still, using the terms of common speech, all people cannot live in cities. It were better that some that are now living in cities were back again in the country. Still again, it is hardly to be expected that many of them will come back. Some cannot, if they would. Some do not wish to come back. Some-and these are they that make the city what it truly ought to be— do not wish to come back unless they can come back civilized. What to them are sunlight, air, and fresh, green earth, unless they can order their lives civilly, cultivate wisdom and beauty, and entertain themselves choicely? If they are rich, they can come into the country and bear themselves independently. If they are poor, what can they do?

Our country life should become more civilized. There should be in it more respect for intelligent order. Civil law in its etymological significance should be more regarded. The rising country population should be acquainted with order, intelligence, industry, recreation, taste, beauty and reverence. Every township should faithfully set apart its provisional accommodations for all these things. The dominant public sentiment should insist upon the improvement of them all. If the executive facilities are not sufficient for these things, a draft should be made upon the city, society adopting its suggestions, manners and models. Thus may the natural and legitimate desires of the socially ambitious be gratified, and a greater number be content to find a home by the graves of their fathers.

On the night of the 16th of June, 1775, my company was ordered out with the detachment to take possession of the heights of Charlestown. This detachment consisted of three regiments commanded by Col's Prescott, Bridge and Frye, and amounted in all to between 1000 and 1200 men. These regiments were principally from Middlesex county, Col. Prescott from Pepperell, Col. Bridge from Chelmsford, Col. Frye from Andover. I was that evening on a court-martial and could not get liberty to go with my company, but in the morning of the 17th General Ward granted me permission to join my company, though the court-martial was not through. Soon after I reached the hill our men left work and piled their intrenching tools in our rear, and waited in expectation of reinforcements and refreshments, but neither reached us, if any were sent. The reinforcements halted at Charlestown Neck. Whilst I was standing by the redoubt be fore the action began, a ball from the Somerset passed within a few inches of my head, which seriously affected my left eye so that it finally became totally blind.

When the works were planned no calculation was made for the use of cannon, and of course no embrasures were left for them. But on the morning of the 17th two ship cannon were sent up and a platform with them. About ten o'clock the British troops began to make their appearance at the wharves in Boston. General Putnam, who had been incessant in his exertions through the morning to bring reinforcements, now rode up to us at the fort and says: "My lads, these tools must be carried back," and turned and rode away. An order was never obeyed with more readiness. From every part of the line volunteers ran and

some picked up one, some two shovels, mattocks, etc., and hurried over the hill. When the pile of tools was thus removed I went through the lines to form an estimate of the number of men in the redoubt, at the same time stating that those who had gone with the tools would come back, though I was by no means confident that they would. I estimated the number then left in the redoubt at 150, but was afterward informed by one of the captains of Col. Frye's regiment that he counted them, and the whole number, including officers, was 163. I was not certain that any reinforcements after this time came into the redoubt; thus the number of our effective force was very materially reduced. General Putnam had given his orders and gone, and nobody seemed to think it belonged to him to stop the men and execute the order in a proper way.

The artillery-men had all gone with the tools, and Col. Prescott came to me and said, "If you can do anything with the cannon I wish you would. I give you the charge of them." I directed the men to dig down the bank in order to form an embrasure, which they were forced to do with their hands, for the party that had carried off the intrenching tools had not left us a single shovel or mattock. Men never worked with more zeal. Many of them dug till their fingers bled. To loosen the earth I loaded the cannon and fired into the gap, and they dug again, and I fired a second time. Both these balls fell in Boston, one near the meeting-house in Brattle square, the other on Cornhill, as I was afterward informed by Boston gentlemen.

By this time the British had landed. They learned that we had cannon on the right or most westwardly part of the fort, which was probably the reason they