Tonight will mark the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s midnight ride, during which he warned his fellow colonists of the approach of British troops. Revere began the evening by rowing across the river from Boston to Charlestown, where he slipped past a British warship to await news about the movement of the army. That information was provided by two lanterns hung in Old North Church, a signal that the British regulars were proceeding west via the water route (the latter possibility in the famous phrase “one if by land, two if by sea”). Revere took off ahead of them, rousing the minutemen to take up arms.

The next morning, the shot heard round the world was fired, and the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought. With that, the American Revolutionary War began. Eight years later, America would win its independence. Today, it endures as the longest-standing democracy in the world.

“Listen, my children, and you shall hear / Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere”. You may know the opening of Longfellow’s famous poem “Paul Revere’s Ride”, but today, give the entire piece a read. It includes this poignant passage:

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 that flies 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.

Two and a half centuries after Revere’s ride, the fire lit by that spark has spread around the globe in the form of democracy, one of the greatest forces for good in history. America’s founding principles of inalienable rights, separation of powers, checks and balances, and the concept that government exists to serve its citizens are among the most powerful ideas humanity has ever devised.

Unfortunately, America has not been living up to its legacy lately. There are some bad people on the rise. Last night, Old North Church once again sent out a warning:

It remains my fervent hope that in our current hour of darkness and peril and need, the people will waken.