Ballads of the Revolution.[1]

1765.

Great Britain’s lords[2]were planning—So ran the world’s report—To tax the colonies more and more,[4]And treat our sires as if they woreThe liveries at the court.“The colonies’ hope is union,”Said Franklin,[3]by and by;“Not one of them that stands aloneCan hold its own against the throne.We[3]join,” he wrote, “or die.”And “Freedom[4]is a birthrightOur fathers handed down;Blood-bought,” James Otis[4]boldly said:“One king of theirs it cost his head;And one his throne and crown.[5]“Were we to lose it, EnglandWould share in our mishap[6];For not a net can harm us here,But threatens every English peer,Whom yet it may entrap.“Our laws are in our chartersFor scores of years enjoy’d;Nor has the King, or Parliament,Or both without our own consentThe power to make them void.[5]“By them, the Magna Charta,And all our Saxon rights;By claims of nature, mind, descent,We ought to send to Parliament[7]And show it what it slights.”A protest then we sent it.[7]But back came sail on sail;[8]And less had leaves of law-books graveTorn out and flung to wind and waveShown law could not prevail.They broke up our assembly;[9]Supreme their army[10]made;Removed the judge[11]who check’d their greed;And on the church our fathers freedThe hands of bishops laid.[12]“Shall we, whose fathers won usOur rights, abide their loss?Nay,” Mayhew said;[13]“though these to takeOur Pharoah’s hosts of red-coats makeBlood-red the sea they cross.“The Lord o’errules the waters,And He will guard our cause:And Parliament—let Plymouth RockTo whelm them all throw back the shock—Will bid the tyrant pause.”“God guide the House of Commons,”We cried with lifted eyes.God guided it and us, alas,But how He scorch’d our heaven to passHis finger through the skies!The Commons framed the Stamp-Act.[14]It legal writs refused,And made our bargains go for naught,Unless, in all we sold or bought,Their stamps were bought and used.“The stamps are only vouchers,”Wrote Green,[15]“to license knaves!”“To tax, against their own consent,Where none,” said Adams,[16]“representOur people, brands them slaves.”“Our charter’d free assemblies,To which our laws entrust[17]The right to tax us, and to payEach crown-official,—only theyCan ever keep him just.”Quoth Thomas Chase:[18]“They only!But British agents curseTo find that our assemblies trueHave something nobler here to doThan fill a noble’s purse.”“The admiralty,” said Hancock,[21]“To swell the navy’s pelf,Have pass’d a law that it empowers[19]To seek in every ship of oursA bounty for itself.“Would we dispute the seizure,Our loss can be discuss’dAnd righted but in England’s courts,[20]And by a judge whom it supports;—And that, they say, is just.“No fleet of mine[21]shall carryA stamp, though all I lose.I choose, ere it, to save my soul!”The whole land heard, and soon the wholeHad sworn no stamps to use.New York had lived by commerce.Her merchants vow’d, they all,[22]Ere stamps they bought, would sail no boats,And sell no goods, and pass no notes—They would not live in thrall.Said Isaac Sears:[23]“No wonderThese human lords combineThe masses’ rivalling wealth to steal!Let them be stript, my lord may feelHis decency divine.“For years, to gild the peerageHave England’s ports been made[24]The marts by law for all we bought.—Alas! in what that we have wroughtHave they not check’d our trade?“The nobles, while their winningsLike nuggets clog the sieveThat ours drop through, would not eschewTheir royal rule: ‘To others doWhat makes them humbly live.’“And shall we not live humblyWho but our pride restrain?And buy at home more homely goods?”—“Buy homespun!”[25]rang from bay to woods.Then rang the looms[25]amain.But keen and crafty tories,They prowl’d around at night,And plotted long, and bought and sold,And hoax’d and coax’d the young and oldTheir homespun league to slight.[26]“We must not wait till EnglandShall send the stamps,” wrote Edes.[27]“Once let our tories own a few,They soon were sown the whole land throughTo grow like seeds of weeds.”The Boston Stamp-man’s imageMen burn’d before his face.Their roars, like thunder, threaten’d storm;And torches flash’d; the air was warm;The man resign’d his place.“Resign!” erelong the echoHad roll’d to every town.[28]None dared resist the people’s plea,And none dared hold a stamp, or beThe stamp-man of the crown.“Our governors,” growl’d the tories,“Will sell the stamps to us.”The governors vow’d this course to take;[29]But we, we vow’d, our lives the stake,They should not thwart us thus.The night before the Stamp-ActShould rule the colony,We slept not much; we melted lead;We whetted steel; we plann’d ahead,We “Sons of Liberty.”[30]Then, when the morn was breaking,[31]On every hill and plain,In all the towns, we toll’d the bells,[31]That all began with doleful knells,As though for Freedom slain.Anon, they rang out madly[31]What might have peal’d to beThe land’s alarm-bell—only nowThey peal’d to hail the new-born vowOf men that would be free.New York went wild to hear them.[32]Men flooded every way:They left their shops; they stopt their mills;And farmers flock’d from all the hills,And sailors from the bay.Now who would buy a stamp here?Was ask’d in all the ways.But not a shop was not shut to;For all had wiser work to doOn this, our day of days.“We would not, and we will notSubmit,” said Isaac Sears.[33]The governor said: “You fill the street,But here a fort and there a fleetMay yet awake your fears.”“Our stamps,” cried James,[34]his major,“Our stamps, if loaded downOur cannon here, and scatter’d thenceAmong the crowd, would soon commenceTo circulate in town.”“Aha,” said Sears in answer,“For this you soldiers came?For this our wily governor herePretended border wars to fear—[35]Aha, were we his game?“To tax us indirectly,—Was it for this, the crownBade your imported troopers makeOur town[35]support you?—for the sakeOf being thus kept down?“To kill our leaders, was it,The crown made them be rank’dBy Braddock’s braggarts, who could runAnd leave a man like Washington[36]By their commands outflank’d?“Yes, yes, in genuine dangerWe know who[37]win the day;And whose the coin and blood we miss,That, from our fathers’ time to this,Have held our foes at bay.“And need we now your army?You know—your sovereign too,Our wars are his—He[37]France attacksAnd here her colony—when he lacksExcuse for sending you.“How strong, think you, our patience?How long ere it shall tire?—Ah, Britain’s lion’s whelp may getSo tough by cuffs like this, as yetTo turn and rend her sire!”“Sheer treason!” cried the major;And “Treason!” cried his chief.Our spokesman’s eye their fury brook’d,Then calmly toward his friends he look’d,And gave his thoughts relief.“Nay, theirs are loyal spirits,But when the wrong is great,And forms of law do not deserveTheir soul’s allegiance, then they serveThe spirit of the state.”With this, he told those courtiersTheir words would he report.They heard the people’s groans that roseTo greet the words he bore, and choseTo seek, near by, the fort.[38]Then from the fort the cannonWere turn’d upon the town.But “If you fire,” the people cried,“We hang the governor here outside,Or burn your quarters down.”The governor urged his honor;“Had pledged,” he said, “his oath,”[39]And ought to further Britain’s aims.“—We thought New York had equal claimsOn oath and honor both.[39]“And let him pledge his honorTo let the stamps alone,”Said Isaac Sears; and all the crowdWho heard him say it, shouted loudTo make his words their own.The people waited long then,And hoped the strife would end;But, when this course had nothing won,No man[40]could check a course begunThe governor’s will to bend.At night, the boys with torchesCame trooping out for sport.They sought the house of James,[41]and tookThe army flags his fear forsook,And march’d them round the fort.The governor own’d his coaches,And one a coach of state.They burst his barn-door in with cries[42]And dragg’d them off before his eyes,As trophies of their hate.An image of the devil,And of the governor too[42]They made, and made them both careen,While, side by side, through Bowling Green,They wheel’d them into view.At last, of all the coachesThey form’d a funeral pyre;And, full in face of all the town,Who only roar’d its roar to drown,They set the whole on fire.Then came a wake and wailing,As ashes cover’d all;And not a clause in laws unjustThe man had thought on us to thrustBut some one would recall.“A foe[43]is he of England!”“A foe to all of us!”“In Scotland went with Jacobites!”“Has vow’d to murder here our rights!—Ere that we toast him thus!”The colony’s council[44]pass’d thenA vote opposed by none,—That England had the stamps assign’dTo agents who had all resign’d,Nor was the governor one.At this the governor waver’d,And wrote a message thus:“I wait the dawn of further light.”Cried Sears then: “Keep the fox in sight!He waits till free from us.“Now send we back this answer:‘Awhile the town will wait,But four and twenty hours from now[45]Will hold the stamps or else will vowTo hold no more debate.’”The governor begg’d the army,[46]The army begg’d the fleet,To take the stamps and save the fort;But neither cared to brave the sportOf those who fill’d the street.The courage of the courtiersHad bow’d to wisdom higher:The power of right that ruled the streetHad overawed the fort and fleet—They did not dare to fire.They did not dare to kindle[46]A spark that, should it flame,Would shed no glory round a throneWhere prince and peer would flush aloneTo blush for their own shame.So nothing now was left themExcept to yield us all.[47]Our mayor took the stamps, at last,And bore them off, and lock’d them fastWithin the City Hall.And loud the people shouted;[48]They felt that right was done;Cried “Liberty and Property!No stamps to curse the Colony!”And parted, one by one.The next day all the papers[49]Without the stamps appear’d.Men took no notes, but trusted men.Our ships were off to sea again;And none the navy fear’d.And none had bought a stamp there,Or seal’d himself a slave;And half of England, trust my word,Were thrill’d with joy, when they had heardHow we ourselves could save.[50]At last there came a daybreakWhen all the thankful kneel’d;And bells were rung, and banners hung;And England’s weal was drunk and sung—[51]The Stamp Act was repeal’d.Great Britain’s lords in councilHad talked of fire and ball;But, when they touch’d our liberties,Met manhood in the coloniesThey could not thus inthrall.

Great Britain’s lords[2]were planning—So ran the world’s report—To tax the colonies more and more,[4]And treat our sires as if they woreThe liveries at the court.

Great Britain’s lords[2]were planning—

So ran the world’s report—

To tax the colonies more and more,[4]

And treat our sires as if they wore

The liveries at the court.

“The colonies’ hope is union,”Said Franklin,[3]by and by;“Not one of them that stands aloneCan hold its own against the throne.We[3]join,” he wrote, “or die.”

“The colonies’ hope is union,”

Said Franklin,[3]by and by;

“Not one of them that stands alone

Can hold its own against the throne.

We[3]join,” he wrote, “or die.”

And “Freedom[4]is a birthrightOur fathers handed down;Blood-bought,” James Otis[4]boldly said:“One king of theirs it cost his head;And one his throne and crown.[5]

And “Freedom[4]is a birthright

Our fathers handed down;

Blood-bought,” James Otis[4]boldly said:

“One king of theirs it cost his head;

And one his throne and crown.[5]

“Were we to lose it, EnglandWould share in our mishap[6];For not a net can harm us here,But threatens every English peer,Whom yet it may entrap.

“Were we to lose it, England

Would share in our mishap[6];

For not a net can harm us here,

But threatens every English peer,

Whom yet it may entrap.

“Our laws are in our chartersFor scores of years enjoy’d;Nor has the King, or Parliament,Or both without our own consentThe power to make them void.[5]

“Our laws are in our charters

For scores of years enjoy’d;

Nor has the King, or Parliament,

Or both without our own consent

The power to make them void.[5]

“By them, the Magna Charta,And all our Saxon rights;By claims of nature, mind, descent,We ought to send to Parliament[7]And show it what it slights.”

“By them, the Magna Charta,

And all our Saxon rights;

By claims of nature, mind, descent,

We ought to send to Parliament[7]

And show it what it slights.”

A protest then we sent it.[7]But back came sail on sail;[8]And less had leaves of law-books graveTorn out and flung to wind and waveShown law could not prevail.

A protest then we sent it.[7]

But back came sail on sail;[8]

And less had leaves of law-books grave

Torn out and flung to wind and wave

Shown law could not prevail.

They broke up our assembly;[9]Supreme their army[10]made;Removed the judge[11]who check’d their greed;And on the church our fathers freedThe hands of bishops laid.[12]

They broke up our assembly;[9]

Supreme their army[10]made;

Removed the judge[11]who check’d their greed;

And on the church our fathers freed

The hands of bishops laid.[12]

“Shall we, whose fathers won usOur rights, abide their loss?Nay,” Mayhew said;[13]“though these to takeOur Pharoah’s hosts of red-coats makeBlood-red the sea they cross.

“Shall we, whose fathers won us

Our rights, abide their loss?

Nay,” Mayhew said;[13]“though these to take

Our Pharoah’s hosts of red-coats make

Blood-red the sea they cross.

“The Lord o’errules the waters,And He will guard our cause:And Parliament—let Plymouth RockTo whelm them all throw back the shock—Will bid the tyrant pause.”

“The Lord o’errules the waters,

And He will guard our cause:

And Parliament—let Plymouth Rock

To whelm them all throw back the shock—

Will bid the tyrant pause.”

“God guide the House of Commons,”We cried with lifted eyes.God guided it and us, alas,But how He scorch’d our heaven to passHis finger through the skies!

“God guide the House of Commons,”

We cried with lifted eyes.

God guided it and us, alas,

But how He scorch’d our heaven to pass

His finger through the skies!

The Commons framed the Stamp-Act.[14]It legal writs refused,And made our bargains go for naught,Unless, in all we sold or bought,Their stamps were bought and used.

The Commons framed the Stamp-Act.[14]

It legal writs refused,

And made our bargains go for naught,

Unless, in all we sold or bought,

Their stamps were bought and used.

“The stamps are only vouchers,”Wrote Green,[15]“to license knaves!”“To tax, against their own consent,Where none,” said Adams,[16]“representOur people, brands them slaves.”

“The stamps are only vouchers,”

Wrote Green,[15]“to license knaves!”

“To tax, against their own consent,

Where none,” said Adams,[16]“represent

Our people, brands them slaves.”

“Our charter’d free assemblies,To which our laws entrust[17]The right to tax us, and to payEach crown-official,—only theyCan ever keep him just.”

“Our charter’d free assemblies,

To which our laws entrust[17]

The right to tax us, and to pay

Each crown-official,—only they

Can ever keep him just.”

Quoth Thomas Chase:[18]“They only!But British agents curseTo find that our assemblies trueHave something nobler here to doThan fill a noble’s purse.”

Quoth Thomas Chase:[18]“They only!

But British agents curse

To find that our assemblies true

Have something nobler here to do

Than fill a noble’s purse.”

“The admiralty,” said Hancock,[21]“To swell the navy’s pelf,Have pass’d a law that it empowers[19]To seek in every ship of oursA bounty for itself.

“The admiralty,” said Hancock,[21]

“To swell the navy’s pelf,

Have pass’d a law that it empowers[19]

To seek in every ship of ours

A bounty for itself.

“Would we dispute the seizure,Our loss can be discuss’dAnd righted but in England’s courts,[20]And by a judge whom it supports;—And that, they say, is just.

“Would we dispute the seizure,

Our loss can be discuss’d

And righted but in England’s courts,[20]

And by a judge whom it supports;—

And that, they say, is just.

“No fleet of mine[21]shall carryA stamp, though all I lose.I choose, ere it, to save my soul!”The whole land heard, and soon the wholeHad sworn no stamps to use.

“No fleet of mine[21]shall carry

A stamp, though all I lose.

I choose, ere it, to save my soul!”

The whole land heard, and soon the whole

Had sworn no stamps to use.

New York had lived by commerce.Her merchants vow’d, they all,[22]Ere stamps they bought, would sail no boats,And sell no goods, and pass no notes—They would not live in thrall.

New York had lived by commerce.

Her merchants vow’d, they all,[22]

Ere stamps they bought, would sail no boats,

And sell no goods, and pass no notes—

They would not live in thrall.

Said Isaac Sears:[23]“No wonderThese human lords combineThe masses’ rivalling wealth to steal!Let them be stript, my lord may feelHis decency divine.

Said Isaac Sears:[23]“No wonder

These human lords combine

The masses’ rivalling wealth to steal!

Let them be stript, my lord may feel

His decency divine.

“For years, to gild the peerageHave England’s ports been made[24]The marts by law for all we bought.—Alas! in what that we have wroughtHave they not check’d our trade?

“For years, to gild the peerage

Have England’s ports been made[24]

The marts by law for all we bought.—

Alas! in what that we have wrought

Have they not check’d our trade?

“The nobles, while their winningsLike nuggets clog the sieveThat ours drop through, would not eschewTheir royal rule: ‘To others doWhat makes them humbly live.’

“The nobles, while their winnings

Like nuggets clog the sieve

That ours drop through, would not eschew

Their royal rule: ‘To others do

What makes them humbly live.’

“And shall we not live humblyWho but our pride restrain?And buy at home more homely goods?”—“Buy homespun!”[25]rang from bay to woods.Then rang the looms[25]amain.

“And shall we not live humbly

Who but our pride restrain?

And buy at home more homely goods?”—

“Buy homespun!”[25]rang from bay to woods.

Then rang the looms[25]amain.

But keen and crafty tories,They prowl’d around at night,And plotted long, and bought and sold,And hoax’d and coax’d the young and oldTheir homespun league to slight.[26]

But keen and crafty tories,

They prowl’d around at night,

And plotted long, and bought and sold,

And hoax’d and coax’d the young and old

Their homespun league to slight.[26]

“We must not wait till EnglandShall send the stamps,” wrote Edes.[27]“Once let our tories own a few,They soon were sown the whole land throughTo grow like seeds of weeds.”

“We must not wait till England

Shall send the stamps,” wrote Edes.[27]

“Once let our tories own a few,

They soon were sown the whole land through

To grow like seeds of weeds.”

The Boston Stamp-man’s imageMen burn’d before his face.Their roars, like thunder, threaten’d storm;And torches flash’d; the air was warm;The man resign’d his place.

The Boston Stamp-man’s image

Men burn’d before his face.

Their roars, like thunder, threaten’d storm;

And torches flash’d; the air was warm;

The man resign’d his place.

“Resign!” erelong the echoHad roll’d to every town.[28]None dared resist the people’s plea,And none dared hold a stamp, or beThe stamp-man of the crown.

“Resign!” erelong the echo

Had roll’d to every town.[28]

None dared resist the people’s plea,

And none dared hold a stamp, or be

The stamp-man of the crown.

“Our governors,” growl’d the tories,“Will sell the stamps to us.”The governors vow’d this course to take;[29]But we, we vow’d, our lives the stake,They should not thwart us thus.

“Our governors,” growl’d the tories,

“Will sell the stamps to us.”

The governors vow’d this course to take;[29]

But we, we vow’d, our lives the stake,

They should not thwart us thus.

The night before the Stamp-ActShould rule the colony,We slept not much; we melted lead;We whetted steel; we plann’d ahead,We “Sons of Liberty.”[30]

The night before the Stamp-Act

Should rule the colony,

We slept not much; we melted lead;

We whetted steel; we plann’d ahead,

We “Sons of Liberty.”[30]

Then, when the morn was breaking,[31]On every hill and plain,In all the towns, we toll’d the bells,[31]That all began with doleful knells,As though for Freedom slain.

Then, when the morn was breaking,[31]

On every hill and plain,

In all the towns, we toll’d the bells,[31]

That all began with doleful knells,

As though for Freedom slain.

Anon, they rang out madly[31]What might have peal’d to beThe land’s alarm-bell—only nowThey peal’d to hail the new-born vowOf men that would be free.

Anon, they rang out madly[31]

What might have peal’d to be

The land’s alarm-bell—only now

They peal’d to hail the new-born vow

Of men that would be free.

New York went wild to hear them.[32]Men flooded every way:They left their shops; they stopt their mills;And farmers flock’d from all the hills,And sailors from the bay.

New York went wild to hear them.[32]

Men flooded every way:

They left their shops; they stopt their mills;

And farmers flock’d from all the hills,

And sailors from the bay.

Now who would buy a stamp here?Was ask’d in all the ways.But not a shop was not shut to;For all had wiser work to doOn this, our day of days.

Now who would buy a stamp here?

Was ask’d in all the ways.

But not a shop was not shut to;

For all had wiser work to do

On this, our day of days.

“We would not, and we will notSubmit,” said Isaac Sears.[33]The governor said: “You fill the street,But here a fort and there a fleetMay yet awake your fears.”

“We would not, and we will not

Submit,” said Isaac Sears.[33]

The governor said: “You fill the street,

But here a fort and there a fleet

May yet awake your fears.”

“Our stamps,” cried James,[34]his major,“Our stamps, if loaded downOur cannon here, and scatter’d thenceAmong the crowd, would soon commenceTo circulate in town.”

“Our stamps,” cried James,[34]his major,

“Our stamps, if loaded down

Our cannon here, and scatter’d thence

Among the crowd, would soon commence

To circulate in town.”

“Aha,” said Sears in answer,“For this you soldiers came?For this our wily governor herePretended border wars to fear—[35]Aha, were we his game?

“Aha,” said Sears in answer,

“For this you soldiers came?

For this our wily governor here

Pretended border wars to fear—[35]

Aha, were we his game?

“To tax us indirectly,—Was it for this, the crownBade your imported troopers makeOur town[35]support you?—for the sakeOf being thus kept down?

“To tax us indirectly,—

Was it for this, the crown

Bade your imported troopers make

Our town[35]support you?—for the sake

Of being thus kept down?

“To kill our leaders, was it,The crown made them be rank’dBy Braddock’s braggarts, who could runAnd leave a man like Washington[36]By their commands outflank’d?

“To kill our leaders, was it,

The crown made them be rank’d

By Braddock’s braggarts, who could run

And leave a man like Washington[36]

By their commands outflank’d?

“Yes, yes, in genuine dangerWe know who[37]win the day;And whose the coin and blood we miss,That, from our fathers’ time to this,Have held our foes at bay.

“Yes, yes, in genuine danger

We know who[37]win the day;

And whose the coin and blood we miss,

That, from our fathers’ time to this,

Have held our foes at bay.

“And need we now your army?You know—your sovereign too,Our wars are his—He[37]France attacksAnd here her colony—when he lacksExcuse for sending you.

“And need we now your army?

You know—your sovereign too,

Our wars are his—He[37]France attacks

And here her colony—when he lacks

Excuse for sending you.

“How strong, think you, our patience?How long ere it shall tire?—Ah, Britain’s lion’s whelp may getSo tough by cuffs like this, as yetTo turn and rend her sire!”

“How strong, think you, our patience?

How long ere it shall tire?—

Ah, Britain’s lion’s whelp may get

So tough by cuffs like this, as yet

To turn and rend her sire!”

“Sheer treason!” cried the major;And “Treason!” cried his chief.Our spokesman’s eye their fury brook’d,Then calmly toward his friends he look’d,And gave his thoughts relief.

“Sheer treason!” cried the major;

And “Treason!” cried his chief.

Our spokesman’s eye their fury brook’d,

Then calmly toward his friends he look’d,

And gave his thoughts relief.

“Nay, theirs are loyal spirits,But when the wrong is great,And forms of law do not deserveTheir soul’s allegiance, then they serveThe spirit of the state.”

“Nay, theirs are loyal spirits,

But when the wrong is great,

And forms of law do not deserve

Their soul’s allegiance, then they serve

The spirit of the state.”

With this, he told those courtiersTheir words would he report.They heard the people’s groans that roseTo greet the words he bore, and choseTo seek, near by, the fort.[38]

With this, he told those courtiers

Their words would he report.

They heard the people’s groans that rose

To greet the words he bore, and chose

To seek, near by, the fort.[38]

Then from the fort the cannonWere turn’d upon the town.But “If you fire,” the people cried,“We hang the governor here outside,Or burn your quarters down.”

Then from the fort the cannon

Were turn’d upon the town.

But “If you fire,” the people cried,

“We hang the governor here outside,

Or burn your quarters down.”

The governor urged his honor;“Had pledged,” he said, “his oath,”[39]And ought to further Britain’s aims.“—We thought New York had equal claimsOn oath and honor both.[39]

The governor urged his honor;

“Had pledged,” he said, “his oath,”[39]

And ought to further Britain’s aims.“—

We thought New York had equal claims

On oath and honor both.[39]

“And let him pledge his honorTo let the stamps alone,”Said Isaac Sears; and all the crowdWho heard him say it, shouted loudTo make his words their own.

“And let him pledge his honor

To let the stamps alone,”

Said Isaac Sears; and all the crowd

Who heard him say it, shouted loud

To make his words their own.

The people waited long then,And hoped the strife would end;But, when this course had nothing won,No man[40]could check a course begunThe governor’s will to bend.

The people waited long then,

And hoped the strife would end;

But, when this course had nothing won,

No man[40]could check a course begun

The governor’s will to bend.

At night, the boys with torchesCame trooping out for sport.They sought the house of James,[41]and tookThe army flags his fear forsook,And march’d them round the fort.

At night, the boys with torches

Came trooping out for sport.

They sought the house of James,[41]and took

The army flags his fear forsook,

And march’d them round the fort.

The governor own’d his coaches,And one a coach of state.They burst his barn-door in with cries[42]And dragg’d them off before his eyes,As trophies of their hate.

The governor own’d his coaches,

And one a coach of state.

They burst his barn-door in with cries[42]

And dragg’d them off before his eyes,

As trophies of their hate.

An image of the devil,And of the governor too[42]They made, and made them both careen,While, side by side, through Bowling Green,They wheel’d them into view.

An image of the devil,

And of the governor too[42]

They made, and made them both careen,

While, side by side, through Bowling Green,

They wheel’d them into view.

At last, of all the coachesThey form’d a funeral pyre;And, full in face of all the town,Who only roar’d its roar to drown,They set the whole on fire.

At last, of all the coaches

They form’d a funeral pyre;

And, full in face of all the town,

Who only roar’d its roar to drown,

They set the whole on fire.

Then came a wake and wailing,As ashes cover’d all;And not a clause in laws unjustThe man had thought on us to thrustBut some one would recall.

Then came a wake and wailing,

As ashes cover’d all;

And not a clause in laws unjust

The man had thought on us to thrust

But some one would recall.

“A foe[43]is he of England!”“A foe to all of us!”“In Scotland went with Jacobites!”“Has vow’d to murder here our rights!—Ere that we toast him thus!”

“A foe[43]is he of England!”

“A foe to all of us!”

“In Scotland went with Jacobites!”

“Has vow’d to murder here our rights!—

Ere that we toast him thus!”

The colony’s council[44]pass’d thenA vote opposed by none,—That England had the stamps assign’dTo agents who had all resign’d,Nor was the governor one.

The colony’s council[44]pass’d then

A vote opposed by none,—

That England had the stamps assign’d

To agents who had all resign’d,

Nor was the governor one.

At this the governor waver’d,And wrote a message thus:“I wait the dawn of further light.”Cried Sears then: “Keep the fox in sight!He waits till free from us.

At this the governor waver’d,

And wrote a message thus:

“I wait the dawn of further light.”

Cried Sears then: “Keep the fox in sight!

He waits till free from us.

“Now send we back this answer:‘Awhile the town will wait,But four and twenty hours from now[45]Will hold the stamps or else will vowTo hold no more debate.’”

“Now send we back this answer:

‘Awhile the town will wait,

But four and twenty hours from now[45]

Will hold the stamps or else will vow

To hold no more debate.’”

The governor begg’d the army,[46]The army begg’d the fleet,To take the stamps and save the fort;But neither cared to brave the sportOf those who fill’d the street.

The governor begg’d the army,[46]

The army begg’d the fleet,

To take the stamps and save the fort;

But neither cared to brave the sport

Of those who fill’d the street.

The courage of the courtiersHad bow’d to wisdom higher:The power of right that ruled the streetHad overawed the fort and fleet—They did not dare to fire.

The courage of the courtiers

Had bow’d to wisdom higher:

The power of right that ruled the street

Had overawed the fort and fleet—

They did not dare to fire.

They did not dare to kindle[46]A spark that, should it flame,Would shed no glory round a throneWhere prince and peer would flush aloneTo blush for their own shame.

They did not dare to kindle[46]

A spark that, should it flame,

Would shed no glory round a throne

Where prince and peer would flush alone

To blush for their own shame.

So nothing now was left themExcept to yield us all.[47]Our mayor took the stamps, at last,And bore them off, and lock’d them fastWithin the City Hall.

So nothing now was left them

Except to yield us all.[47]

Our mayor took the stamps, at last,

And bore them off, and lock’d them fast

Within the City Hall.

And loud the people shouted;[48]They felt that right was done;Cried “Liberty and Property!No stamps to curse the Colony!”And parted, one by one.

And loud the people shouted;[48]

They felt that right was done;

Cried “Liberty and Property!

No stamps to curse the Colony!”

And parted, one by one.

The next day all the papers[49]Without the stamps appear’d.Men took no notes, but trusted men.Our ships were off to sea again;And none the navy fear’d.

The next day all the papers[49]

Without the stamps appear’d.

Men took no notes, but trusted men.

Our ships were off to sea again;

And none the navy fear’d.

And none had bought a stamp there,Or seal’d himself a slave;And half of England, trust my word,Were thrill’d with joy, when they had heardHow we ourselves could save.[50]

And none had bought a stamp there,

Or seal’d himself a slave;

And half of England, trust my word,

Were thrill’d with joy, when they had heard

How we ourselves could save.[50]

At last there came a daybreakWhen all the thankful kneel’d;And bells were rung, and banners hung;And England’s weal was drunk and sung—[51]The Stamp Act was repeal’d.

At last there came a daybreak

When all the thankful kneel’d;

And bells were rung, and banners hung;

And England’s weal was drunk and sung—[51]

The Stamp Act was repeal’d.

Great Britain’s lords in councilHad talked of fire and ball;But, when they touch’d our liberties,Met manhood in the coloniesThey could not thus inthrall.

Great Britain’s lords in council

Had talked of fire and ball;

But, when they touch’d our liberties,

Met manhood in the colonies

They could not thus inthrall.

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 inIdem., 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 theNew 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]“TheSons 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 byyourarms?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.

[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 inIdem., 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 theNew 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]“TheSons 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 byyourarms?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.

1772.

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