From state to state the ireful fiend was sent,
On bloody schemes and on dire mischief bent-
Till, met in battle near great Nassau's hall,*
Our youthful heroes like brave Wolfe did fall;
When victory was pronounced on Freedom's side,
They view'd their wounds, they smiled, they died.
From their example let us ever try
To dare our foes, and learn, like them, to die.
186 ON THE DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE.
From the Pennsylvania Gazette, November 8, 1759.-Published by B. Franklin.
THY merits, Wolfe, transcend all human praise,
The breathing marble or the muses' lays.
Art is but vain the force of language weak,
To paint thy virtues, or thy actions speak.
Had I Duché's or Godfrey's magic skill,
Each line to raise, and animate at will-
To rouse each passion dormant in the soul,
Point out its object, or its rage control-
Then, Wolfe, some faint resemblance should we find
Of those great virtues that adorn'd thy mind.
Like Britain's genius shouldst thou then appear,
Hurling destruction on the Gallic rear-
While France, astonish'd, trembled at thy sight,
And placed her safety in ignoble flight.
Thy last great scene should melt each Briton's heart,
And rage and grief alternately impart.
*The college at Princeton, named after King William III.
With foes surrounded, midst the shades of death,
These were the words that closed the warrior's breath-
"My eyesight fails!-but does the foe retreat?
If they retire, I'm happy in my fate!"
A generous chief, to whom the hero spoke,
Cried, "Sir, they fly!-their ranks entirely broke:
Whilst thy bold troops o'er slaughter'd heaps advance,
And deal due vengeance on the sons of France."
The pleasing truth recalls his parting soul,
And from his lips these dying accents stole:"I'm satisfied!" he said, then wing'd his Guarded by angels to celestial day.
An awful band!-Britannia's mighty dead,
Receives to glory his immortal shade.
Marlborough and Talbot hail the warlike chief-
Halket and Howe, late objects of our grief,
With joyful song conduct their welcome guest
To the bright mansions of eternal rest-
For those prepared who merit just applause
By bravely dying in their country's cause.
187 TO THE MEMORY OF LIEUTENANT PETER MERCIER, ESQ.,
Who fell in the battle near Ohio river, in Virginia, July 3, 1754.-From the Pennsylvania
Gazette, October 31, 1754, published by B. Franklin.
Too fond of what the martial harvests yield-
Alas! too forward in the dangerous field-
Firm and undaunted, resolute and brave,
Careless a life invaluable to save-
As one secure of fame, in battle tried,
The glory of Ohio's sons he died.
O, once endow'd with every pleasing power
To chase the sad and charm the social hour,
To sweeten life with mild ingenuous arts,
And gain possession of all open hearts,
How have thy friends and comrades cause to mourn!
How wish'd they for thy peaceable return,
Thy province and thy household to defend,
And happily thy future years to spend !
I hoped the fates far longer would allow
The laurel wreath to flourish on thy brow;
I hoped to greet thee from thy northern toils
Elate with victory, enrich'd with spoils :
But now, alas! these pleasing dreams are fled!
Sweetly thou sleep'st in glory's dusty bed,
By all esteem'd, admir'd, extoll'd, approved,
In death lamented as in life beloved.
Georgia, loud-sounding, thy achievements tell,
And sad Virginia marks where Mercier fell.
Ah! lost too soon-too early snatch'd away
To joys unfading, and immortal day!
Happy! had thy duration been prolong'd
To vindicate the British interest wrong'd;
Since none more ready to defend its cause,
Or to support religion and the laws:
In thee our royal sovereign has lost
As brave a soldier as his troops could boast.
If at some future hour of dread alarms,
When virtue and my country call to arms
For freedom, struggling nations to unbind,
Or break those sceptres that would bruise mankind,
In such a cause may such a death as thine,
With equal honour merited, be mine.
From a supplement to the New York Gazette, or Weekly Post-Boy, June 12, 1766.
Friday night, to the inexpressible joy of all, was received, by Capt. Coffin, the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act, which was signed by his Majesty, the 18th of March last, which caused general rejoicing throughout the town. According to a previous vote of the town, the selectmen met in the afternoon, at Faneuil hall, and appointed Monday last as a day of rejoicing on that happy occasion. The morning was ushered in with music, the ringing of bells, and discharge of cannon. By the generosity of some gentlemen, our jail was freed of debtors. At one o'clock a royal salute was fired, and the afternoon was spent in mirth and jollity. In the evening the whole town was handsomely illuminated. On the common, the Sons of Liberty erected a magnificent pyramid, illuminated with two hundred and eighty lamps, the four upper stories of which were ornamented with the figures of their majesties, and fourteen of the worthy patriots who have distinguished themselves by their love of liberty. The following lines were on the four sides of the next apartment, which referred to the emblematical figures of the lower story, the whole supported by a large base of the Doric order.
O THOU! Whom, next to heav'n, we most revere !
Fair Liberty! thou lovely goddess! hear!
Have we not woo'd thee, won thee, held thee long?
Lain in thy lap and melted on thy tongue:
Through death's and danger's rugged path pursued,
And led thee, smiling, to this solitude:
Hid thee within our hearts' most golden cell,
And braved the powers of earth and powers of hell.
Goddess! we cannot part: thou must not fly-
Be slaves! we dare to scorn it-dare to die.
While clanking chains and curses shall salute, Thine ears, remorseless G-le, thine, O B-te,
To you, bless'd patriots, we our cause submit-
Illustrious Camden-Britain's guardian Pitt-
Recede not-frown not-rather let us be,
Deprived of being than of liberty.
Let fraud or malice blacken all our crimes,
No disaffection stains these peaceful climes:
O save us, shield us, from impending woes:
The foes of Britain, only, are our foes.
Boast, foul Oppression, boast thy transient reign,
While honest Freedom struggles with her chain;
But know, the sons of virtue, hardy, brave,
Disdain to lose through mean despair to save:
Aroused, in thunder, awful, they appear,
With proud deliverance stalking in their rear.
While tyrant foes their pallid fears betray,
Shrink from their arms, and give their vengeance way:
See! in the unequal war, oppressors fall,
The hate, contempt, and endless curse of all.
Our faith approved, our liberty restored,
Our hearts bend grateful to our sovereign lord.
Hail, darling monarch! by this act endear'd,
Our firm affections are thy best reward.
Should Britain's self against herself divide,
And hostile armies frown on either side-
Should hosts, rebellious, shake our Brunswick's throne,
And as they dared thy parent, dare the son,
To this asylum stretch thine happy wing,
And we'll contend who best shall serve our king.
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