a victory for the Americans, and Cornwallis and his troops
were paraded, captive and ignominious. I quite agree with
Hosea Biglow when he says, "There is a fun to a Cornwallis,
though; I aint agoin' to deny it."

The boys cared little for politics, though they used to profess
the faith of their fathers; but every boy sometimes imagined
himself a soldier, and his highest conception of glory was
to "lick the British." I remember walking home from school
with a squad of little fellows at the time Andrew Jackson
issued his famous message, when he threatened war if the French
did not pay us our debt. We discussed the situation with
great gravity, and concluded that if the French beat us, we
should have a king to rule over us.

Besides the two military companies, there was another called
the "Old Shad." The law required every able-bodied man of
military age to turn out for military training and inspection
on the last Wednesday in May; they turned out just to save
the penalty of the law, and used to dress in old clothes,
and their awkward evolutions were the object of great scorn
to the small boy of the time.

The streets of Concord were made lively by the stage-coaches
and numerous teams. There were four taverns in the town,
all well patronized, with numerous sleeping-rooms. Two of
them had large halls for dancing. A great many balls were
given, to which persons came from the neighboring towns.

There was an excellent fiddler named John Wesson, who continued
to give the benefit of his talent to all parties, public and
private, down to the time of the war, when he said he would
not play a dancing tune till the boys came home. He died
soon after, and I do not know whether his music was ever heard
again. These taverns were crowded with guests. One principal
route for stages and teams to New Hampshire, Vermont and Canada
passed through Concord.

There were several lines of stages, one from Lowell to Framingham,
and two at least from Boston. The number of passengers, which
now are all carried by rail, was so large that extras were
frequently necessary. The teams were very often more than
the barns of the taverns in the town could accommodate, and
on summer nights the wagons would extend for long distances
along the village street with horses tied behind them.

The sound of the toddy stick was hardly interrupted in the
barroom inside from morning till night. The temperance reform
had not made great headway i