Ballads and Other Poems

BY GEORGE LANSING RAYMOND

FOURTH EDITION, REVISED

G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS

NEW YORK AND LONDON The Knickerbocker Press

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“BALLADS OF THE REVOLUTION” Copyright, 1886 by GEORGE LANSING RAYMOND

“SKETCHES IN SONG” Copyright, 1887 by GEORGE LANSING RAYMOND

Third Edition, Copyright, 1908 by GEORGE LANSING RAYMOND

Fourth Edition, Copyright, 1916 by GEORGE LANSING RAYMOND

Made in the United States of America

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CONTENTS.

[1]

BALLADS OF THE REVOLUTION.

REPRESENTING THE SPIRIT AND REASONS LEADING TO THE AMERICAN WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE.

Third Edition, Revised.

[2]

[3]

Ballads of the Revolution.[1]

OUR FIRST BREAK WITH THE BRITISH.

1765.

FOOTNOTES

[1] “In writing a ballad the secrets of success are definiteness of aim, directness of execution, and singleness of idea. The language must be simple, but so vigorous that every word tells; the metre must also be simple, but the versification demands a musical swing, a rush of rhyme, the talent for which is rare. To smell of the lamp is fatal to the ballad; it should have all the spontaneity of an impromptu. The author must forget himself, for ballad poetry is essentially objective, and a touch of subjectivity spoils it. Each incident must be related as though the writer had taken part in it, and seeing with his mind’s eye, he must paint as vividly as though that described were before him in very truth. It is not an easy thing to write a ballad in these days, when the drift of poetic thought is quite in the opposite direction.”—Philadelphia Inquirer, 1876.

[2] In 1761, “America knew that the Board of Trade had proposed to annul colonial charters, to reduce all the colonies to royal governments.”—Bancroft’s Hist. U. S., vol. iv., ch. 18, p. 414. “The king, the ministry, the crown officers all conspiring against her liberties ... there was no help unless from Parliament.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 11, p. 236.

[3] “Franklin looked for greater liberties than ... Parliament might inaugurate. Having for his motto ‘Join or die,’ ... sketching the outline of a confederacy.”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 5, p. 116. “William Penn in 1697 had proposed an annual Congress ... to regulate commerce. Franklin” in 1752 “revived the great idea, and breathed into it enduring life.”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 5, p. 125.

[4] “The Board of Trade had proposed ... collecting the duties ... the justice of the restrictions on trade was denied and their authority questioned; and when the officers of the customs asked for ‘writs of assistance’ to enforce them, the colony regarded its liberties in peril. This is the opening scene of American resistance. It began” in 1761 ... “in a court-room ... James Otis ... stood up ... the champion of the colonies.”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 18, p. 414.

[5] “‘I am determined,’ such were his words, ‘to sacrifice estate ... life in opposition to a kind of power, the exercise of which cost one king of England his head and another his throne.’ ... Tracing the lineage of freedom to its origin, he opposed the claims of the British officers by the authority of ‘reason,’ and that they were at war with the ‘Constitution’ he proved by appeals to the Charter of Massachusetts, and its English liberties.... ‘An Act of Parliament against the Constitution is void,’ he said.... ‘The crowded audience seemed ready to take up arms.’”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 18, pp. 415-6.

[6] “The true interests of Great Britain and her plantations are mutual. Otis in 1763.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 5, p. 90.

[7] See the Representations of the General Assembly at New York to the King, concerning the administration of justice in that province, 1762, mentioned in Idem., vol. v., ch. 5, p. 84. “By the laws of nature and of nations, the voice of universal reason and of God, by the statute law and the common law, this memorial claimed for the colonists the absolute rights of Englishmen, ... such were the views of Otis sent by Massachusetts” in 1764 “to its agent in London.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 10, pp. 198-9.

[8] “Less than forty were willing to receive the petition of Virginia. A third from South Carolina, a fourth from Connecticut, ... a fifth from Massachusetts, ... shared the same refusal. That from New York, no one could be prevailed upon to offer.... The House of Commons would neither receive petitions nor hear council.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 11, p. 246. This was in Feb., 1765.

[9] In 1763 Brown, the Governor of South Carolina, “assumed the power of rejecting members whom the House declared duly elected and returned.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 8, p. 150. In May, 1765, “The Lieutenant-Governor” of Virginia “dissolved the Assembly.”—Idem., ch. 13, p. 277. “Fearing a general expression of the sentiments of the people, through their representatives ... Tyron issued a proclamation in October proroguing the Assembly which was to meet on the thirtieth of November, until the following March. This act incurred the indignation of the people.”—Lossing’s Field Book of the Revolution, vol. ii., p. 568. Later, “Townshend’s revenue, so far as it provided an independent support for the crown officers, did away with the necessity of colonial legislatures.... Governors would have little inducement to call assemblies, and an angry minister might dissolve them without inconvenience to his administration.”—Bancroft’s U. S., vol. vi., ch. 29, p. 85. “An act of Parliament”

in 1767 “suspended the functions of its (N. Y.) legislature till they should render obedience to the Imperial Legislature.”—Idem., p. 84. “Bernard ... prorogued them, and then dissolved the Assembly. Massachusetts was left without a legislature.”—Idem., vol. vi., ch. 34, p. 165.

[10] “This commission ... established a military power throughout the continent independent of the colonial governors and superior to them ... in 1756 the rule was established ... that troops might be kept up in the colonies and quartered on them at pleasure without the consent of the American Parliaments.”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 9, pp. 229-30. In Feb., 1765, “Welbore Ellis, Secretary of War ... made known his intention ‘that the orders of his commander-in-chief and ... the brigadier generals ... should be supreme, and be obeyed by the troops as such in all the civil governments of America.’ ... These instructions rested, as was pretended, on ... the commission” (mentioned above) “... prepared for ... troops in time of war.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 11, p. 235.

[11] In 1762 “was consummated the system of subjecting the halls of justice to the prerogative. The king ... instituted courts, named the judges, removed them at pleasure, fixed the amount of their salaries, and paid them out of funds that were independent of legislative grants.”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 19, p. 440.

[12] About 1762 “a fund of two thousand pounds was subscribed to a society which the legislature of Massachusetts had authorized for promoting knowledge among the Indians; but the king interposed his negative, and reserved the red man for the Anglican form of worship.”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 18, p. 430. In 1765 “In North Carolina ... the legislature were even persuaded ... to make provision for the support of the Church of England.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 13, p. 271. “For New York, the Lords of Trade refused to the Presbyterians any immunities but such as might be derived from the British Law of Toleration.”—Idem., vol. vi., ch. 29, p. 84. “O poor New England, there is a deep plot against both your civil and religious liberties, and they will be lost.”—Whitfield in 1764, Idem., vol. v., ch. 10, p. 193.

[13] In Jan., 1750 ... “Mayhew summoned ... defensive war against ‘tyranny and priestcraft.’ ... He preached resistance.”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 3, p. 60. In Aug., 1765, “Choosing as his text ... Ye have been called to liberty ... he preached fervently in behalf of civil and religious freedom.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 16, p. 312.

[14] “The act seemed sure to enforce itself. Unless stamps were used, marriages would be null, notes of hand valueless, ships at sea prizes to the first captors, suits at law impossible, transfers of real estate invalid, inheritances unclaimable.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 11, pp. 251-2.

[15] “The publishers of newspapers ... were ... called upon to stand the brunt in braving the penalties of the act.... Timothy Green ... publisher of the New London Gazette ... fearlessly defended his country’s rights.... On Friday the first day of November, his journal came forth without stamps.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 19, pp. 352-3.

[16] Speaking of Samuel Adams in 1764, “On his motion and in his words, Boston ... asserted ... ‘If taxes are laid upon us ... without our having a legal representation ... are we not reduced ... to the miserable state of tributary slaves?’”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 10, p. 197.

[17] “The strength of the people in America” in 1748 “consisted also in the exclusive right of its assemblies to levy and to appropriate colonial taxes ... in America, the rapacity of the governors made it expedient to preserve their dependence for their salaries on annual grants.”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 1, p. 19.

[18] See note 27.

[19] March, 1763, “it became lawful ... for each ... armed vessel to stop and examine and, in case of suspicion, to seize each merchant ship approaching the colonies, while avarice was stimulated by hope of large emoluments to make as many seizures ... as possible.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 5, p. 92.

[20] “The penalties and forfeitures for breach of the revenue laws were to be decided in courts of Vice-Admiralty, without the interposition of a jury, by a single judge, who had no support whatever but in his share of the profits of his own condemnations.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 12, p. 268.

[21] “The first American ship that ventured to sea with a rich cargo and without stamped papers was owned by the Boston merchant, John Hancock.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 20, p. 374.

[22] “The merchants of New York, ... unanimously bound themselves to send no new orders for goods or merchandise; to countermand all former orders; and not even to receive goods on commission unless the Stamp Act be repealed.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 19, pp. 351-2.

[23] “Isaac Sears, the self-constituted, and for ten years the recognized, head of the people of New York.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 19, p. 355.

[24] “The colonists could not export the chief products of their industry ... to any place but Great Britain ... nor might any foreign ship enter any colonial harbor.... In all other respects Great Britain was not only the sole market for the products of America, but the only storehouse for its supplies.... That the country which was the home of the beaver might not manufacture its own hats, no man ... could be a hatter or a journeyman at the trade unless he had served an apprenticeship of seven years. No hatter might employ ... more than two apprentices. America abounded in iron ores ... slitting mills, steel furnaces, and plating forges ... were prohibited.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 12, pp. 265-7.

[25] “‘We will none of us import British goods,’ said the traders in the towns.... North Carolina set up looms ... and South Carolina was ready to follow.... ‘We will have homespun markets of linen and woollens,’ passed from mouth to mouth.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 14, p. 288.

[26] “New England and Pennsylvania had imported nearly one half as much as usual. New York alone had been perfectly true to its engagements,”—the state of things in 1770.—Idem., vol. vi., ch. 44, p. 365.

[27] “The fourteenth of August,” 1765, “saw the effigy of Oliver,” Boston’s stamp agent, “tricked out with emblems of Bute and Grenville, ... prepared by Boston mechanics, true-born Sons of Liberty, Benjamin Edes, the printer, ... Thomas Chase, a fiery hater of kings.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 16, p. 310. “Just after dark an ‘amazing’ multitude ... made a funeral pyre for his effigy.... So the considerate self-seeker ... gave it under his own hand that he would not serve as stamp officer.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 16, pp. 310-12.

[28] “Everywhere, ... of themselves, or at the instance of the people, amidst shouts and the ringing of bells and the firing of cannon, or ... with rage changing into courtesy on the ... submission of the stamp-master, ... the officers resigned. There remained not one person duly commissioned to distribute stamps.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 19, p. 351.

[29] “‘I am resolved to have the stamps distributed,’ wrote Colden.... On the thirty-first of October, Colden and all the royal governors took the oath to carry the stamp-act punctually into effect.... The governor of Rhode Island stood alone in his patriotic refusal.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 19, p. 350.

[30] “The Sons of Liberty ... organized at this time throughout the colonies.”—Lossing’s Pic. Field Bk. of the Rev., vol. ii., p. 787. “The association in New York had a correspondent ... in London, ... from whom they ... regularly received intelligence of the movements of the ministry.”—Idem., note.

[31] “Friday, the first morning of November,” 1765, “broke upon a people unanimously resolved to nullify the Stamp Act. From New Hampshire to the far south the day was introduced by the tolling of muffled bells, ... a eulogy was pronounced on liberty and its knell sounded, and then again the note changed as if she were restored to life.”—Bancroft’s U. S., vol. v., ch. 19, p. 352.

[32] “In New York the whole city rose up as one man.... The sailors came from their shipping; the people flocked in ... by thousands.”—Idem., p. 355.

[33] “The leader of the popular tumult was Isaac Sears.”—Idem.

[34] “‘I will cram the stamps down their throats with the end of my sword,’ cried the braggart James, Major of Artillery, ... ‘will drive them all out of town.’”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 17, p. 332.

[35] “The arbitrary invasion of private rights ... by the illegal and usurped authority of a military chief was the great result of the campaign. The frontier had been left open to the French; but the ... example had been given ... of quartering troops in the principal towns at the expense of the inhabitants.”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 10, p. 241.

[36] “Washington had left the service on account of a regulation by which the colonial officers were made to rank under those of the regular army.... Urged by General Braddock to accompany him, he consented to do so ... as a volunteer.... Through the stubbornness of that general, his contempt of the Indians, and the cowardice of many of his regular troops, an army of thirteen hundred men was half destroyed. Braddock fell, and the whole duty of distributing orders devolved upon the youthful colonel.”—Lossing’s Pic. Field Book of the Rev., vol. ii., pp. 477-9.

[37] “The King in council ... having thus invited a conflict with France by instructions necessarily involving war, ... neither troops, nor money, nor ships of war were sent over.”—Bancroft’s U. S., vol. iv., ch. 4, p. 102. “They protected by your arms? They have nobly taken up arms in your defence ... for the defence of a country whose frontier was drenched in blood, while its interior parts yielded all its little savings to your emolument.”—Barré debating on the Stamp Act in the House of Commons.—Idem., vol. v., ch. 11, p. 240.

[38] “Colden himself retired within the fort.... He would have fired on the people, but was menaced with being hanged.”—Bancroft’s U. S., vol. v., ch. 19, p. 355.

[39] “Colden pleaded his oath ... that ... the Act should be observed, ... the contempt into which the government would fall by concession.”—Idem., p. 357. “In Connecticut, Dyer ... entreated Fitch (the governor) not to take an oath ... contrary to that of the governor to maintain the rights of the colonies.”—Idem., p. 351.

[40] “Isaac Sears and others, leaders of the Sons of Liberty, who had issued strict orders forbidding injury to private property, endeavored to restrain the mob.”—Lossing’s Pic. Field Book of the Rev., vol. ii., p. 788.

[41] “A party of volunteers sacked the house occupied by James, and bore off the colors of the royal regiments.”—Bancroft’s U. S., vol. v., ch. 19, p. 356.

[42] “In the evening a vast torchlight procession carrying, ... two images, one of the governor; the other of the devil, ... broke open the governor’s coach-house, took out his chariot, carried the images upon it, ... to burn them with his own carriages and sleighs before his own eyes on the Bowling Green.”—Idem.

[43] “He has bound himself,” they cried, “to be the chief murderer of our rights.” “He was a rebel in Scotland, a Jacobite.” “He is an enemy to his king, to his country, and mankind.”—Idem. “In the opinion of ... Colden ... the democratic or popular part of the American Constitution was too strong.... His remedies were a perpetual revenue, fixed salaries, and an hereditary council of priviledged landholders.”—Idem., vol. iv., ch. 16, p. 371.

[44] “The council questioned” (i.e., the colony’s council) “his authority to distribute the stamps, and unanimously advised him to declare that he would do nothing in relation to them, but await the arrival of the new governor, and his declaration to that effect ... was immediately published. But the confidence of the people was shaken.”—Idem., vol. v., ch. 19, p. 356.

[45] “‘We will have the stamp papers,’ cried Sears to the multitude, ‘within four and twenty hours,’”—Idem.

[46] “Colden invited Kenedy to receive them on board of the Coventry.... Gage being appealed to, avowed his belief that a fire from the fort would be the ... commencement of civil war.”—Idem., 356-7.

[47] “Colden, perceiving further resistance ... unavailing, ordered the stamps to be delivered to the Mayor (Cruger) and Common Council, the former giving a receipt for the same, and the corporation agreeing to pay for all the stamps that should be destroyed or lost. This was satisfactory to the people.”—Lossing’s Pic. Field Book, vol. ii., p. 789.

[48] “In all the streets were heard the shouts of Liberty, Property, and no Stamps.”—Bancroft’s U. S., vol. v., ch. 19, p. 357.

[49] “The press continued its activity.”—Idem.

[50] “I rejoice that America has resisted.”—William Pitt in the House of Commons.—Idem., vol. v., ch. 21, p. 391.

[51] “On ... the joyful intelligence of the repeal of the Stamp Act ... the city was filled with delight. Bells rang ... cannon roared ... the Sons of Liberty drank twenty-eight ‘loyal and constitutional toasts.’”—Lossing’s Pic. Field Book of the Rev., vol. ii., p. 789.

THE LAST CRUISE OF THE GASPEE.

1772.

FOOTNOTES

[1] She first appeared in ... Narraganset Bay in March, 1772, ... to prevent infraction of the revenue laws, and to put a stop to ... illicit trade.—Lossing’s Pic. Field Book of the Rev., vol. ii., ch. 3, p. 60.

[2] See “Our First Break with the British,” notes 5, 19, 20, 24.

[3] “Often fired ... to compel their masters to take down their colors in its presence—a haughty marine Gesler.”—Idem., p. 61.

[4] “Plundered the islands of sheep and hogs, cut down trees, fired at market boats, detained vessels without any colorable pretext, and made illegal seizures of goods of which the recovery cost more than they were worth.”—Bancroft’s Hist. U. S., vol. vi., ch. 47, p. 417.

[5] “The Governor, ... sent a sheriff on board the Gaspee.”—Idem.

[6] See Idem., vol. iv., ch. 8. Also “Our First Break with the British,” Note 19.