s. Houghton, Mifflin
& Co., publishers.]

HANCOCK'S DOROTHY Q.

The Dorothy Q. of our present interest is not the little maiden of
Holmes's charming poem--

"Grandmother's mother; her age I guess,
Thirteen summers, or something less;
Girlish bust, but womanly air;
Smooth, square forehead with uprolled hair,
Lips that lover has never kissed;
Taper fingers and slender wrist;
Hanging sleeves of stiff brocade;
So they painted the little maid.
On her hand a parrot green
Sits unmoving and broods serene."

but her niece, the Dorothy Q. whom John Hancock loved, and was visiting
at Lexington, when Paul Revere warned him of the redcoats' approach.
This Dorothy happened to be staying just then with the Reverend Jonas
Clark, under the protection of Madam Lydia Hancock, the governor's aunt.
And it was to meet her, his fiancee, that Hancock went, on the eve of
the 19th of April, to the house made famous by his visit.

One imaginative writer has sketched for us the notable group gathered
that April night about the time-honoured hearthstone in the modest
Lexington parsonage: "The last rays of the setting sun have left the
dampness of the meadows to gather about the home; and each guest and
family occupant has gladly taken seats within the house, while Mrs.
Jonas Clark has closed the shutters, added a new forelog, and fanned the
embers to a cheerful flame. The young couple whom Madam Hancock has
studiously brought together exchange sympathetic glances as they take
part in the conversation. The hours wear away, and the candles are
snuffed again and again. Then the guests retire, not, to be sure,
without apprehensions of approaching trouble, but with little thought
that the king's strong arm of military authority is already extended
toward their very roof."[7]

[Illustration: CLARK HOUSE, LEXINGTON, MASS.]

Early the next morning, as we know, the lovers were forced to part in
great haste. And for a time John Hancock and his companion, Samuel
Adams, remained in seclusion, that they might not be seized by General
Gage, who was bent on their arrest, and intended to have them sent to
England for trial.

The first word we are able to find concerning Hancock's whereabouts
during the interim between his escape from Lexington, and his arrival at
the Continental Congress, appointed to convene at Philadelphia, May 10,
1775, is contained in a long letter to Miss Quincy. This letter, which