Our years of independence have been years of almost uninterrupted
prosperity, but they have borne to the grave those who took part in
the later as well as earlier contests of the Revolution. Of Lexington
and Concord, one only remains; and from all the battlefields of the
war this occasion has brought together but two.
But, fellow citizens, the few survivors are not only venerable, they
are sacred men. They are the last of a noble generation. They
periled their lives in behalf of liberty, when
"'Twas treason to love her and death to defend."
Fortunate all are you whose eyes rest to-day on these few surviving
soldiers of the Revolution. Fortunate are the youth and children
who on this occasion and in this presence can pledge themselves to
the cause of constitutional liberty. Of these men the next generation
shall know only from history. Fortune then that your lives began
before theirs ended.
The patriot should do homage to these men, the statesman may sit at
their feet and learn lessons of fidelity to principle, and citizens
all may see how noble ends the life begun in the performance of duty.
To-day the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the town of Acton dedicate
this monument to the memory of the early martyrs of the Revolution, and
consecrate it to the principles of liberty and of patriotism.
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