THE  civil  wars  in  England  preceding  the  dethronement  and
death  of  Charles  I.  opened  an  alluring  field  for  reaping
individual  renown  which  many  adventurous  New  Englanders
hastened  to  enter.  It  was  there  in  New  England,  if  anywhere,
thkt  the  revolt  against  the  crushing  tyranny  from  which  thou-
sands had  fled  should  find  its  legitimate  echo.  Moreover,  an
appeal  to  arms  had  become  the  dream  of  many  of  the  enthusias-
tic young  men  of  this  martial  age.  No  sooner,  therefore,  had  the
sword  been  drawn,  than  these  men  of  New  England,  taking
their  Geneva  Bibles  and  their  Spanish  rapiers  in  their  hands,
enrolled  themselves  under  the  banners  of  the  Parliament,  and
some  of  them  carved  with  their  good  blades  an  enduring  record
upon  the  history  of  the  time.
Foremost  among  these  volunteers  for  the  Puritan  cause  was
William  Rainsborough,  who  lived  here  in  1639,  and  was,  with


THE   DEATH   OF   EAINSBOROUGH.  23

Robert  Sedgwick  and  Israel  Stoughtou,  then  a  member  of  the
Honorable  Artillery  Company  of  Boston.  liainsborough  had
speedily  risen  to  be  colonel  of  a  regiment  in  the  Parliamentary
army,  in  which  this  Stoughton  was  lieutenant-colonel,  jS'ehemiah
Bourne,  a  Boston  shipwright,  major,  and  John  Leverett,  after-
wards governor,  a  captain  ;  William  Hudson,  supposed  to  be
also  of  Boston,  was  ensign.  A  son  of  Governor  Winthrop  also
served  witli  credit  in  these  same  wars,  and  in  New  Englajid
tlie  having  furnished  one  of  Oliver's  soldiers  was  long  one  of
the  most  valued  of  family  traditions.
