It is only 132 years ago to-day that the British troops, who had
occupied Boston, made a riding school of the Old South church, and
otherwise sacrilegiously disported themselves, were persuaded to get
out under the compulsion of the batteries set up on Dorchester
Heights. But when the last company embarked for Halifax, it carried
the last British flag ever unfurled by a military organization on
Massachusetts soil. That was the end of foreign domination in
Massachusetts. And by a happy coincidence this is the legendary
anniversary of the birth of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland,
whose memory has been an inspiration in the struggle of another race
for Liberty.