84 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 



begun.' His white horse, bloody with spurring, and 

 dripping with sweat, fell exhausted by the church. 

 Another was instantly procured, and the tidings went 

 on. The bell rang out the alarm, cannon were fired, 

 and messengers were sent to every part of the town to 

 collect the soldiery. As the news spread, the imple- 

 ments of husbandry were thrown by in the field; and 

 the citizens left their homes, with no longer delay than 

 to seize their arms. In a short time, the * minute-n>en ' 

 were paraded on the green, under Captain Timothy 

 Bigelow. After fervent prayer by Rev. Mr. Maccarty, 

 they took up their line of march to the scene of con- 

 flict.'' Such was Bigelow's zeal and ardor in the 

 great cause of the times, that he appeared on the fol- 

 lowing morning, at the head of his *' minute-men,'' in 

 the sc^uare at Watertown, having marched them there, 

 a distance of over thirty miles, during that one short 

 night. 



On the nineteenth of April, 1861, the Bigelow Monu-~ 

 ment was dedicated. At the very hour of the conse- 

 cration exercises, the Massachusetts Sixth Regiment 

 was engaged in its memorable struggle and triumphant 

 passage through the blockaded streets of Baltimore at 

 the beojinnino^ of the Civil War. 



Along the west side of the Old Common runs Main 

 street, just out of which, in Pearl street, is the Post 

 Office. I have seen a curious computation with regard 

 to that Post Office develo[)ment, which aptly illustrates 

 the rapid growth of Worcester. The number of 

 letters sent out in 1809 was about 4,400. The number 

 of letters taken out fifty years later was 523,808. 

 Main street reaches Lincoln Square, where stand the 

 two <;ourt houses. The old one has been removed a 



