Thus was the way prepared for a contest which king and parliament might, at one time, have easily avoided. Had they listened to the warning voice of Chatham, descending to his grave, or had they regarded the dictates of common political wisdom, America might have been retained, and with all her loyalty and affection, as a dependency. But God designed a better portion for her; and hence he allowed the monarch and the statesmen of England to adopt measures the most impolitic and oppressive--the result of which was--as we shall see--the independence of America, and the loss to the British crown of its brightest jewel. [Illustration] FOOTNOTES: [28] Pitkin. [29] Wirt's Life of Henry. [30] Botta's History. II. EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. [Illustration: EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION] I:--BATTLE OF LEXINGTON CAUSE or Occasion of the Battle--British Detachment proceeds towards Concord--Reaches Lexington--First Blood shed--Hancock and Adams--Captain Wheeler and the British Officer--Stores destroyed--The British harassed by the Americans--Retreat from Concord--Effect of this affair upon the Country--Proceedings of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. The immediate cause of the battle, or, more properly, rencontre at Lexington, was an attempt of a detachment of British troops to execute an order of General Gage to destroy certain military stores, which the provincials had collected at Concord, a town situated some eighteen miles from Boston. In anticipation of an approaching contest, the provincial assembly of Massachusetts had passed a resolution for the purchase of all the gunpowder that could be found, and of every sort of arms and ammunition requisite for an army of fifteen thousand men. As these objects abounded principally in Boston, the inhabitants employed all their address to procure and transport them to places of safety in the country. Cannon-balls and other instruments of war were therefore collected and transported in carts, apparently loaded with manure; powder in the baskets and panniers of those who came from Boston market, and cartridges were concealed even in candle-boxes. By these means, and through other channels, a considerable quantity of arms and ammunition had been collected at Concord. Excited by the loyalists, General Gage resolved to send a few companies to Concord, for the purpose already stated. It was said, also, that he had it in view, by this sudden expedition, to get possession of _John Hancock_ and _Samuel Adams_, two of the most ardent patriot chiefs, and the principal directors of the provincial congress, then assembled in the town of Concord.