William Dawes was an hour late again, but that didn't really matter. To the 75 or so people gathered in the Cambridge Common yesterday in celebration of Patriots' Day, the delay was par for the course.

"I hope he was a little more on time a couple of hundred years ago," grumbled Stanley Burrell, president of the Cambridge Veterans Organization, who was on hand to deliver his reflections on the event, as the crowd settled in to wait for Dawes to arrive with his message from Boston.

Cambridge has on occasion taken its lumps in the national media for what critics describe as a lack of patriotism. The most recent attacks have come from noted conservatives--chief among them them former Secretary of Education William Bennett--eager to savage the city's reputation as a liberal bastion.

But yesterday, on the spot where George Washington first took command of the Continental army, the outward signs of patriotism were all there. The veterans put on their uniforms once again and held their flags aloft. A taped band played martial airs, and the military cannon was fired once again.

If Cambridge is somehow lacking in the traditional trappings of patriotism, it failed to show yesterday on the 215th anniversary of Dawes' historic ride through Cambridge to Lexington and Concord.

"It's a very historic place, and I feel Cambridge should advertise it a little more," said State Rep. Peter Vellucci (D-Cambridge). Defending his hometown against its detractors, Vellucci noted that Patriots Day ceremonies have always drawn large numbers of people. "Even 35 years ago, there was always a good crowd," Vellucci said.

"I think Cambridge has done a good job of being patriotic," said Vellucci's State House colleague, Rep. Alvin E. Thompson (D-Cambridge). "I think we're in the forefront. Everything that has got to be done is being done here."

While American history was clearly the impetus for yesterday's festivities, recent events in Eastern Europe were the dominant theme of the day. From the singing of the Polish national anthem to the frequent references to last year' dramatic upheavals, current changes in the shape of the world were never far absent.

"I can imagine that if Paul Revere were here today, he would ride through the streets of Eastern Europe crying `Freedom is coming! Freedom is coming!'" Vellucci told the crowd. "That would be something to celebrate."

"But it would also be a warning," Vellucci continued. "Because we know the price of freedom: responsibility and sacrifice."

Arguing that one of the primary responsibilities of a democracy is to provide for its veterans, Vellucci said that the country has failed to maintain the necessary level of benefits.

"I regret to say we have failed," Vellucci said. "These are hard times we are in, and we have no featherbeds."

But despite Vellucci's foreboding message, the veterans assmebled yesterday were in good spirits as they assembled once again to commemorate the night on which the American Revolution began.

"I think its nice that we all take time to do this," said Elliott Koeber, a World War II veteran who was in Normandy with Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army. "It shows we're proud of what we've done."

"In a ceremony like this, it's important to get together for the ones who are not here," said Lloyd Haynes of the Isaac W. Taylor 2443rd post think it would be a travesty if you didn't remember."