midnight
`` Forbid it , Almighty God ! `` I know not what course others may take , but as for me , give me Liberty or give me Death ! '' The patriotism of the cavaliers of Virginia was fermenting to overflowing , while that of the Puritans of Massachusetts was boiling with intense heat as the stamp-stampers and tea-tossers of Boston prepared for a deadly reception to the robbers and murders of King George on the plains of Lexington and Concord on the 19th of April , 1775 . Never can I forget the midnight ride I took with on beholding the two lanterns displayed on the belfry of the `` Old North Church '' ; I told the tale to Mr. Longfellow , and he forthwith immortalized the heroic Paul : _ `` A hurry of hoofs in a village street , A shape in the moonlight , a bulk in the dark , And beneath from the pebbles , in passing , a spark Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet ; That was all ! And yet , through the gloom and the light The fate of a nation was riding that night , And the spark struck out by that steed in his flight Kindled the land into flame with its heat . _ _ `` You know the rest , in the books you have read , How the British regulars fired and fled -- How the farmers gave them ball for ball , From behind each fence and farm yard wall , Chasing the ` Red Coats ' down the lane , Then crossing the fields to emerge again , Under the trees at the turn of the road , And only pausing to fire and load .