A COLLECTION OF POEMS, AMERICAN AFFAIRS, AND A VARIETY OF OTHER SUBJECTS, CHIEFLY MORAL AND POLITICAL } WRITTEN BETWEEN THE YEAR 1797 AND THE PRE SENT TIME. BY PHILIP FRENEAU, Author of Poems written during the Rewtytipnary War, Then England come ! a sense of wrong requires To meet with thirteen stars your thousand fires : Through these stern times the conflict to maintain, Or drown them, with your commerce, in the main. VOL I. NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY DAVID LONGWORTH, At the Dramatic Repository, Shakspeare-Gallery* 1815, ' I tt Jk DISTRICT OP NEW-YORK, SS. Be it remembered, that on the seventh day of March, in the thirty ninth year of the Independence of the United States of A- merica, David Longworth of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as pro prietor, in the words following, to wit : A collection of Poems, on amtrican. offidrs, and a variety of other subjects, ,cf>.iejly moral onti political written between the year 1797 and the present time. ## Phffip Freneau, author of Po ems written during the revolutionary war, miscellanies, SfS. In ftvovpfamqs, , . . Tlien England come ?-*-& -sense* of wrong requires To meet with thirteen stars your thousand fires Through these stern times the conflict to maintain, Or drown them, with your commerce, in the main. In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled " an Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books to the authors and propri-* etors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned." And nlso to an Act entitled " an Act, supplementary to an Act, enti tled an Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etch ing historical and other prints. THERON RUDD, Clerk of the New-York District. N. Van Riper, Printer, corner Greenwich and Vesey-streets. ABVERTfSlMENT. *Fhe poetical pieces contained in these volumes were eeaipesfcg at different periods, and on a variety of -occasions, between the years 1797 and 1815, and are now presented to the public, printed from the author's original, and corrected manuscripts, and, it is hoped, in such a style of typography, as will not be un acceptable to the reader Several of the performances, com prised in this collection, and chiefly those on political subjects, and other events of the times, have heretofore appeared in several periodical publications of this and other STATES of the union. It is presumed, however, that the poem? of this description will not be the less acceptable to the friends of the muses, now they are collected in these volumes ; with the advantage of having at one view what were before scattered in those bulky vehicles of information, whose principal object can be little more than to record the common events and business of the day, and goon de scend into comparative oblivion. Whatever may be the fate of the work, they are respectfully offered to the world, in hopes it may obtain a share of their attention, and particularly, from .the friends of poetical composition ; and in a country where it may be expected, the fine arts in general will, with the re turn of peace, find that share of encouragement, which they seem entitled to demand, in every nation that makes any pretensions to refinement and civilization. It is only necessary to add. that care has been taken te wc*te the typographical p^rt as correctfa as possible-. M17GG7G THE FOLLOWING LINES Addressed to Vie author, were sent to the publisher of these Volumes , by a lady, mho had read them in manuscript, together mitit Poems, #c. formerly written during the Revolutionary n?r, and published in Philadelphia, in 1809. Deign to accept the humble fays Your charming book inspired : I send you nought but heart-self praise, I read and I admired. In colors bright you have pourtray'd Each dear domestic scene Where oft in happiest days I've stray'd, A stranger then to pain. And though to wander I've been doomM Par from that much loved place, With joy, its image I've resumed, And all its beauties, newly bloomed, Pleased, in thy page, I trace. And oft beneath its shades I've woo'd like thee, The sweet enchantress poetry. In lonely groves have sought her soothing power When sorrows deep have wrung my aching breast, And sought her in the fragrant bower When joy, with dimpled smiles my face has drest. Yet, though for me she many an hour beguiled, ntheeshe, more propitious, Enriled, LINES, &C. v Around thy favor'd brow her hand has twined A sweetly variegated wreathe Of every blooming flower combined, Perfumed with every sweet the odorous spring doth breathe. Whether with merry step and sprightly strain You ramble o'er the rural plain, And bring with cherry cheeks and russet gown The blooming country girl to town ; Or, pensive, seek the solemn shade Where some lost friend in silence sleeps, And as the soothing tribute's paid Thy heart oppress'd with sad remembrance weeps. Still, as thy sportive fancy roves O'er smiling plains, through shady groves, Now pleased the glowing landscape to design And now the elegiac garland to entwine, Still do we mark the true poetic fire, And listen with delight, when Thyrsis strikes the lyre. And, may you thus the generous task pursue, Your theme is still anhackney'd still is new : For you, shall fame a lasting wreathe prepare, Who from oblivion would your country save, And tell the world Columbia's sons are brave, HER DAUGHTERS GOOD AS FAIR ! CAROLINE, 'New- Rochelle CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. Page. Reflections on the gradual progress of nations from democrat - ical states to despotic empires . . >3 To the rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith on the conflagration of Nassau Hall, in New-Jersey The m>w -Age, or truth triumphant On the death of Catharine the second On arriving in Souih Carolina, 1798 To the memory of Edward Rutledge v esq. On superstition .... The royal apprentice ; a London story The Millennium to a ranting field orator On the Federal city (Washington) 1797 The nautical rendezvous : written at Guadaloupe in 1800 The royal cockneys in America, 1797 Ode to the Americans, 1798 The modern Jehu, or nobility on four wheels Jhe political rival suitors Prefatory lines to a periodical publication On a deceased lady, that had been both deaf and blind On the projected war with the republic of France The mistake ; a modern short story On the morality of commerce Lines written in a french nove} Human frailty .... The heroine of the revolution On happiness resulting from virtue . On the abuse of human ,->ower * To a night fly, approaching a candle GPKXfiKTS OS VOL. . yft Co the departure of Peter Porcupine . , 76 Ode to good fortune . 79 On a celebrated performer on the violin . . 81 inflections on dr. Perkins' metallic points . . 84 Publius to Pollia .... 37 The serious menace; or Botany Bay and Nootka Sound 91 On the uniformity and perfection of nature . . 04 Translation of Gray's ode on the grand chartreuse . 95 October's address . . 97 On the universality, and other attributes of the god of nature 99 Stanzas to an alien, &c. . . . 100 On a proposed negociation with the french republic . 103 On the religion of nature . . . 105 On the invasion of Rome in 1796 . . 106 On the royal coalition against republican liberty . 108 Ode for July the fourth, 1799 . . .110 The reward of innocence . . . 113 On the evils of humap life . . 1 15 The scurrilous scribe . . , 117 To the scribe of scribes . . 118 Belief and unbelief . . . .119 The republican festival . . . 121 Susanna's tomb . . . .123 On the war patrons in 1793 . 124 On hearing a political oration . . 123 On a proposed system of state consolidation . 120 Stanzas on a political projector . . 131 Nature's debt .... 133 New year's eve . . . .134 On passing by an old church yard , . 137 The order of the day . . . .138 On launching the frigate Constitution . . 141 The bethlehemite ; or, fair solitary . . .143 On the attempted launch of a frigate . . 144 On the free use of the lancet in yellow fever . 146 On the city encroachments OB the river Hudson . 147 SttUKas n tie pirate flUcfc beard's castle in et. TliOBHft 14'9 Till CONTENTS OF VOL. I. The hermit and the traveller . . . lit I Stanzas to the memory of general Washington . 154 Stanzas upon the same subject with the preceding . 156 Stanzas on the extravagant encomiums on gen. Washington 158 Reflections on the mutability of things . . 161 Military recruiting, or address to a segar smoker . 163 On the establishment of a theatre, in New-York 165 On the Peak of Pico, one of the azore islands . 167 A bacchanalian dialogue . . .169 Stanzas on the aquatic devastations in the Island of Madeira 171 On the Peak of Teneriffe . . . . 177 Answer to a card of invitation at Teneriffe . 179 To Seniora Julia on leaving a dance . 182 Lines on Seniora Julia, of Port Oratava . 183 Lines on a rural nymph descending from the Madeira moun tains - 180 FRENEAU'S POEMS. REFLECTIONS ON THE GRADUAL PROGRESS OF NATIONS FROM DEMO- CRATICAL STATES, To DESPOTIC EMPIRES. Mantua vse misera nhnium yicina Cfcmonae ! VIRGIT., Oh ftital day ! when to the Atlantic shore, European despots sent the doctrine o'er, That man's vast race was born to lick the dust ; Feed on the winds, or toil through life accurst ; Poor and despised, that rulers might he great And swell to monarchs, to devour the state. Whence came these ills, or from what causes grew, This vortex vast, that only spares the lew, Despotic sway, where every plague combined, J)istracts, degrades, and swallows up mankind ; Takes from the intellectual sun its light, And shrouds the world in universal night ? Accuse not nature for the dreary scene, Tint glooms her stage or hides her heaveu serene, Shmo Laura fair who haunts the mead, Some Helen, whom the graces lead, Whose charms the charms of her exceed That set the world in arm*. SOUTH CAROLINA, And distant from the sullen roar Of ocean, bursting on the shore, A region rises, valued more Than all the shores possess :~ There lofty hills their range display, Placed in a climate ever gay, From wars and commerce far away, Sweet nature's wilderness. There all that art has taught to bloom, The streams that from thf- mountain foaro ? And thine, Eutaw, that distant roam, Impart supreme delight : The prospect to the western glade, The ancient forest, undecay'd All these the wildest scenes have made That ever awed the sight. There Congaree his torrent pours, Valw/a, through the forest roars, And black Catawba laves his shores With waters from afar, Till mingled with the proud Santec, Their strength, united, finds the sea, Through many a plain, by many a tree, Then rush across the bar. But, where all nature's fancies join, Were but a single acre mine, Blest with the cypress and the pine, I would request no more ; C 26 FREtfEAU'S POEMS. And leaving all that once could please, The northern groves and stormy seas I would not change such scenes as these For all that men adore. MEMORY OF EDWARD RUTLEDGE, esq. late governor of South Carolina. Removed from life's uncertain stage, In virtue firm, in honor clear One of the worthies of our age, RUTLEDGE ! resigns his station here. Alike in arts of war and peace, And form'd by nature to excel, From early Rome and ancient Greece, He modelled all his actions well. When britons came, with chains to bind, Or ravage these devoted lands, He our firm league of freedom sign'd And counsell'd how to break their bands,. To the great cause of honor true, He took his part with manly pride. E. RUTLEDGE, ESQ. 27 His spirit o'er these regions flevr, The patriots' and the soldiers' guide. In arts of peace, in war's bold schemes Amongst our brightest stars he moved, The Lees, the Moultries, Sutnters, Greenes By all admired, by aH beloved. A patriot of superior mould, He dared all foreign force oppose, Till, from a tyrant's ashes cold, The mighty pile of freedom rose. In process of succeeding days When peace resumed her joyous reign, With laurel wreaths and twining bays He sought less active life again. There, warm to plead the orphan's cause From misery's eye to dry the tear, He stood where justice guards the laws At once humane, at once severe. Twas not his firm enlighten'd mind, So ardent in affairs of state ; Twas not that he in armies shined That made him so completely great : Persuasion dwelt upon his tongue,- He spoke all hush'd, and all were awed; IFrom all he said conviction sprung, And crowds were eager to applaud , 28 FREtfEAU'S POEMS. Thus long esteem'd, thus early loved, The tender husband, friend sincere ; The parent, patriot, sage, approved, Had now BUI vived his fiftieth year Had now the highest honors met Th:it Carolina could bestow ; Presiding o'er that potent state Where streams of wealth and plenty flow ; Whrre labor spreads her rural reign To western regions bold and free ; And commerce on the Atlantic main. Wafts her rich stores of industry : Then left this stage of human things To shine in a sublimer sphere Wh< if time to one assemblage brings All virtuous minds, all hearts sincere ON SUPERSTITION. Implanted in the human breast, R< Hjion means to make us blest; On ivason built, she lends her aid To help us through li;e's sickening shadt-. But man, to endless error prone And fearing most what's most unknown, SUPERSTITION. To phantoms bows that round him rise, To angry gods, and vengeful skies. Mistaken race, in error lost, And toes to them who love you most, No more fictitious gods revere, Nor worship what engenders fear. O Superstition ! to thy sway If man has bow'd and will obey, Misfortune still must be his doom And sorrow through the days to come. Hence, ills on ills successive grow To cloud our day of bliss below ; Hence wars and feuds, and deadly hate, And all the woes that on them wait. Here moral virtue finds its bane, Hence, ignorance with her slavish train, Hence, half the vigor of the mind Relaxed, or lost in human kind. The social tie by this is broke When we some tyrant god invoke : The bitter curse from man to man From this infernal fiend began. The reasoning power, celestial guest, The stamp upon the soul impress' d ; When Superstition's awe degrades, Us beauty fails, its splendor fades. C 2 30 FRFNEAU'S POEMS. O ! t:ini from her detested ways, l>- ;-fpy man ! her fatal maze ; Th- r ison which he gave, improve, And venerate the power above. THE ROYAL APPRENTICE, A LONDON STORY. A widow who some miles from London lived, Far in a vale obscure, of little note, With much ado a poor subsistence gain'd From a spinning-wheel, that just her living brought, A son she had, a rude mischievous wight, Who, now to fifteen years or more arrived, Would neither dig nor thresh, nor hold the plough, But simply by the poor old woman lived. Joan thought it time this lazy, lounging lad Should learn some trade, since country work he hated : Jerry, said she, to London you must go, And learn to work ; tor this you was created ; While tarrying here, you eat up all my kail, Sc-).rre leave a turnip-top my hens you ki!J, A:!* 1 nothing ra?n : -my wheel alone goes round, But time must come, my boy, when stop it will ; THE ROYAL APPRENTICE. 31 Your legs and arms grow every day more strong ; For height you shortly will be call'd a man ; Not so with me I am hastening down the hill And soon must mix with dust, where I began ! Jerry with tears, received il\e good advice ; $o, up to London town, next week they went : Now choose, said Joan, the trade you fancy best, for to some trade you must and shall be sent. (So round he stroU'd through many a street and alley, $aw blacksmiths, here like Vulcan, wielding sledges, There tailors, sitting cross-! egg' d, on a board, Next barbers, whetting up their razors edges ; Now saw a cobbler, cobbling in his stall, Then, weaver, busy with his warp and woof, Now, mason, raising high some lordling's wall, Or carpenter, engaged upon a roof. These pleased him not all this was hard eanf'd cash, Tight work he thought, in one disguise or other ; He look'd at labor saw it was not good Or only good, as managed by his mother. He' sliook his head, as if he meant to say, All this is worse than threshing learn a trade ! Something Pll learn tiiat's line, genteel, and airy, For common work these hands were never made. At last, he chanced to stray where dwells the king, Great George the third, in all his pomp and glare ; ,32 FRENEAU'S POKM9. Well now, thought Jerry, here must live a man That has a trade would suit me to a hair. There's little doing all is brisk and gay, And dainty dishes go a begging here : Some seem to work, yet ail their work is plaj, I will be bound at least for seven long year. So back he came where honest Joan was waiting- Well, Jerry tell me, what's the trade you pitch on ? Mother, said he, there is but one I like, Or which a man is likely to get rich on *' Come tell me then the business you prefer : Onr only thriving trade ! a curious thing ! Out with it then !" said Jerry, mother dear. Dear mother, bind me 'prentice to the king. THE MILLENNIUM TO A RANTING FIELD ORATOR. With aspect wild, in ranting strain You bring the brilliant period near, When monarchy will close her reign And wars and warriors disappear ; The lion and the lamb will stray, And, social, walk the woodland way, I tear, with superficial view You contemplate dame nature's plan : THE MILLENNIUM. 33 She various forms of being drew, And made the common tyrant man : She form'dthem all with wise design, Distinguish'd each, and drew tke line. Observe the lion's visage bold His iron tooth, his murderous claw, His aspect cast in anger's mould ; The strength of steel is in his paw : Could he be meant with lambs to stray Or feed along the woodland way ? Since first his race on earth began War was his trade and war will be : And when he quits that ancient plau With milder natures to agree, He will be changed to something new And have some other part to do. One system see through all this frame, Apparent discord still prevails ; The forest yields to active flame, The ocean swells with stormy gales ; No season did the God decree When leagued ia friendship these should be. And do you think that human kind Can shun the all-pervading law That passion's slave we ever find Who discord from their nature draw IT- Ere discord can from man depart He must assume a different heart. 34 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Yet in the slow advance of things A time may come our race may rise, By reaton's aid to stretch their wings, And see the light with other eyes ; And when the ancient mist is pass'd <, To find their nature changed at last. The sun himself, the powers ordain, Should in no perfect circle stray ; He shuns the equatorial plane, Prefers an odd serpentine way, And lessens yearly, sophists prove, His angle in the voids above. When moving in his ancient line, And no obtique ecliptic near, With some new influence he may shine But you and I will not be here To see the lion shed his teeth Or kings forget the trade of death N THE FEDERAL CITY 1797, All human things must have their rise, And Rome advanced from little size Til! future ages saw her rown The mistress of the world, then known. THE FEDERAL CITY 1797. So, bounding; on P .towmac's flood, Where ancient oaks so lately stood -An infant city grows apace Intended Cor a ruling race. Here capitols of awful height Already burst upon the sight. And buildings, meant for embryo kings Display their fronts and spread their wings. This city bodes no common late All other towns, as books relate, With huts at first were th;nly spread. With hovels mean, or humble shed. But matters here are quite reversed ; Here, palaces are built the first, And late will common rustics come In such abodes to find a home. Meantime, it will be fair and just (Nor will our congress fret, we trust) If while the poor at distance lurk Themselves do their own dirty work. Rome's earliest citizens were thieves, So history tells, and man believes , May matters be again reversed, May they who here inhabit first Instruct the late historians pen To write that they were honest ra en. a 36 FRENEAU'S POEMS. THE NAUTICAL RENDEZVOUS. Written at a house in Guadalovpe, in 1800, where they mr collecting recruits for a privateer* The ship preparing ibr the main Enlists a wild, but gallant train, Who in a moving jail would roain Disgusted with the world at horn*. They quit the fields and quit the trees To seek their bread on stormy seas ; Perhaps to see the land no more, Or see, but not enjoy the shore- There must be some as this world goes Who every joy and pleasure lose. And round the world at random stray To gain their bread the shortest way. They hate the ax, they hate the hoc And execrate the rural plough, The mossy bank, the sylvan shade Where once they wrought, where once they play'il - Prefer a boisterous, mad career, A broken leg, and wounds serece, To all the joys that can be found Oa mountain top or furrow'd ground - THE NAUTICAL RENDEZVOUS. 37 A hammock holds them when they sleep ; A tomb, when dying, in the deep, A crowded deck, a cann of beer These sons of Amphitrite prefer To all the verdure of the fields Or all a quiet pillow yields. There must be such a nervous race, Who venture all, and no disgrace ; Who will support through every blast, The shatter'd ship, the falling mast Who will support through every sea The sacred cause of liberty, And every lot- to ruin drag Who aims to strike the gallic flag. FHE ROYAL COCKNEY'S IN AMERICA 1797. Why travel so far from your insular home, Ye cockneys of London, and all in a foam, To talk, and to talk, with coxcombical phiz, And tell what a nuisance democracy is : Tvvas a lesson we learn'd When you were concern'd In wishing success to the vast preparations To conquer and pillage the royal-plantations. We amrricans far from your king-ridden isle Do humbly beseech you, all democrat haters, D 38 FRENEAU'S POEMS. For fear that your bodies or souls you defile, Would fairly go off, with your lies and your satires : The monarch you worship requests your assistance, And h>>w can you help him at such a longdistance ? Tis an englishman's creed, And they all have agreed That, out of old England, there's nothing, they swear, That can with old England dear England compare ; So, away to old England, or we'll send you there. A swarm is arrived from the hives of the east, Determined to sap the republic's foundation ; And who is their leader, their scribe, and their priest ? Why, Porcupine Peter, The democrat-eater, Transported by Pitt, at the charge of the nation, To preach to the demo's a new revelation. His patrons in England, and some who are here, Consented to join in his sink of scurrility, And gave him, tis certain, four thousand a year To print a damn'd libel, to please our nobility ? Where I is the hero of all that is said I corporal Cobbett* a man of the blade I If his countrymen thought That for nothing we fought And thy m^an to regain, by the aid of his press, A country they lost, to their shame and disgrace,. Let them fairly engage In some liberal page : * Alluding to the egotistical ?tyle of hi" writing* ODE TO THE AMERICANS. 39 We can give them an answer, not relish'd by some, Who will see their friend Peter go, whimpering, horn*. ODE TO THE AMERICANS : That the progress of liberty and reason in the world is slow and gradual ; but, considering the present state of thmgs< and the light of science universally spreading, that it cannot be long impeded^ or its complete establish ment prevented, 1798, They who survey the human stage, In reason's view ; through time's past age, Will find, whatever nature planned Came, first, imperfect from her hand, Or what ourselves imperfect call ; In nature's eye, though perfect all To man she gave to improve, adorn ; But let him halt and all things turn To assume their wild primeval cast, The growth of a neglected waste. Yond' stately trees, so fresh and fair, That now such golden burthens bear Were once mean shrubs that, far from view* In desert woods, unthrifty grew. Man saw the seeds of something pood In these rude children of the wood 3 i 40 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Apply 'd the knife, and pruned with care, Till art has made them what they are, Witli curious eye, search history's page, Am: MAN observe, through every age; At first a mere barbarian, he Bore nothing good, (like that wild tree.) At length by thought and reason's aid, Reflection piercing night's dark shade, Improvements gain'd, by slow advance Direction, not the work of chance. Forsaking, first, the savage den \.^nd fellow-beasts less fierce than men, New plans they tbrm'd for war or power, Ana sunk the ditch and raised the tower. In course of years the human mind Advancing slow proved more refined, Less brutal in external show, But native mischief lurk'd below, Despots and kings begun their part, And millions fell by rules of art ; Or timl ice. rankling all the while, Lay hid beneath the treacherous smile. Religion brought her potent aid To kings, their subjects to degrade Religion 1 to profane your name The hag of superstition came, ODE TO THE AMERICANS. 41 And seized your place, the world to ensnare, A bitter harvest doom'd to bear ! Ana priests, or history much deceives, Turn'd aid-de-camps to sceptred thieves. At last, that cherub from the skies, (Our nature meant to humanize,) Ana sway, without a king or crown, Philosophy, from heaven came down Adorn'd with all her native charms She clasp'd her offspring in her arms, In hope the mists of night to chase And hold them in her fond embrace. She, only she, for virtue warm Dissolved the spell and broke the charm, That bade mankind their hands imbue In blood, to please the scheming few, Arm'd with a dart of fire and love She left the seats and courts above. And her celestial power display 'd Not to compel, but to persuade. The moment she had whirl'd her sling Each trembling war-hawk droop'd his wing .: They saw that reason's game was won, They saw the trade of tyrants done : .And all was calm she saw, well pleased, The havoc done, the tumult ceased, 2 FRENEAU'S POEMS. She saw her throne was now adored, She saw the reign of peace restored, And said, 4 f leave you pray, be wise ! * I'm on a visit to the skies, * Let incense on my a! tars burn * And you'll be blest till f return.' But sad reverse ! when out of sight The fiends of darkness watch'd her flight' What she had built, they soon displaced, Her temples burn'd, her tracks effaced. Their force they join'd, to quench her fiaine, A thousand ghastly legions came To blast tht: blossom in the bud And retrograde to chains and blood. The people ! to be bought and sold, Were still the prize they wish'd to hold;- All peasants, soldiers, sailors, slaves, The common sink of rogues and kna\f v Yet, nature must her circle run Can they arrest the rising sun ? Prevent his warm reviving ray, Or shade the influence of the day ? If Europe to the yoke returns, Columbia at the idea spurns Let Britain wield barbarian rage We meet her here* through every stn|i ODE TO THE AMERICANS. 41 In vain her navy spreads its sails, The strength of mind at last prevails ; And reason ! thy prodigious power Has brought it to its closing hour. Appeal to arms henceforth should cease, And man might learn to live in peace ; No kings with iron hearts should reign, To seize old ocean's free domain. Americans ! would you conspire To extinguish this increasing fire ? Would you, so late from fetters freed, Join party in so base a deed ? Would you dear freedom sacrifice, Bid navies on the ocean rise, Be bound by military laws, And all, to aid a tyrant's cause ? Oh, no ! but should all shame forsake, And gratitude her exit make, Could you, as thousands say you can, Desert the common cause of man ? A curse would on your efforts wait Old british sway to reinstate ; No hireling hosts could force a crown Nor keep the bold republic down : The rising race, combined once more, ^(ttild honor to our cause restore, 44 FRENEAU'S POEMS. And in your doom and downfall sea! Such woes as wicked kings shall feel. O liberty ! seraphic name, With whom from heaven fair virtue came, For whom, through years of misery toss*^ One hundred thousand lives were lost ; Still shall all grateful hearts to thee Incline the head and bend the knee ; For thee this dream of life forego And quit the world when thou dost go ! THE MODERN JEHU; OR, NOBILITY ON FOUR WHEELS. Namque ante Helenam cnrnis fuit. HOB. Old Jehu never drove so fast A^ Jehu in our t;ay, Whose chariot runs at such a rate It soon must run away. And what an angel do we see I Fair Anna by his side ! And is I ask or is she not This modern Jehu's bride? She surely is of royal race Nobility at least ; THE MODERN JEHU, 45 And to what palace do tbey drive To share some royal feast ? Sir Jehu, in the gay machine Wedged in with smiling Nan, Looks mighty wise, an i eunuinger Than Jehu's cunning man* O'er public and republican Full royally he rode, And on UK strength of bottled ale Came blundering all abroad. The very horses seem to tell That we must doff our hats, When galloping along the) go So much like little rats. O Jehu, such a mad career Will never, never do ; We, little people, in the streets Must pass as well as you. In little whispers some have said Th-; matter was The footman should have sat before And Jehu stood behind. What is the motto to the coach ? Stand off, and let us ^ .a : But have a care a ad i;o not touch The ensigns on the rear. 46 FRENEAU'S POEMS. The motto is, in latin words, 4 Dame Fortune helps the bold :'* And this, we know, it also means, She help'd a devilish scold. Then take good care, sir Jehu dear, Who frive at such a rate, Or Nanny, she may get a/a/J, And you a broken pate. Such things have happen'd thrice before As she remembers well. And happen but it may again, Not Nanny's self can tell. These coaches are uncertain things When horses take a start, The likeliest way to ride secure Is in the market cart. TFE POLITICAL RIVAL SUITORS. Occasioned by the detection ofcerta'n foreign scheme^ for exclusive privileges in American commerce. This western world, allowing maid In fortune's shining robes array'd, This heiress of a vast estate Though not of very ancient date. Beheld a crowd of lovers come To gain her love and take her home* * Fortuna fortibus fa vet THE POLITICAL RIVAL SUITORS. 47 This nymph was of a tawny cast, And now her twentieth year * had pass'd ; Her hands and arms were well enough, Her features show'd her rugged stuff; She rather seem'd inclined to fat An Indian's feather deckt her hat ; An iiome-made necklace not of pearl-** Adorn'd the neck of nature's girl, And on her breast a knot she bore Of flowers a little stain'd by war ; Upon her shoulders hung a bow With which she would a hunting go Whenever humor, whim, or chance Inclined her to her savage haunts To scour the waste, or climb the hill, And have diversion, at her will. For such a nymph, in such attire ; I saw the suitors, all aspire ; I heard them speak in courtly style, I saw them happy in her smile Each glance encouraged all they meant, They hoped her words express'd consent ; Each thought he all her love possess'd, But she no fond return confessed. They wish'd to clasp her in their arms* They saw in her a thousand charms ; No single female trait they miss'd Tkat did or never did exist : * Of independence* 48 FRENEAU'S POEMS, The flowers that near her bosom glow'd, Allured their loves to that abode Where' all was fresh, and all was rare, And all was heaven that centred there. Freed from a foreign parent's charge ; She, independent, nm-d at large ; Shr, now had broke his locks and keys, Or rlosed the gates, and paid her fees : HE from the first had used her hard ; A mother too ! with small regard Had turn'd her oft' to do her best, When grown too weak to hold her fast* Now, which of all this suitor train, COLUMBIA, shall thy favor gain ? Of each that for possession sues, Do, tell me which o; all you chobse ? Proud of his vast extended reign. His floating empire on the main, With hatred !> affection turn'd The briton for her favors burn'd. With bearish grasp he squeezed her hand, And growFd out ** slave at your command- ** Although I've hugg'd you, black and blue " I would our ancient love' renew !" She thought his stylo by much too coarse ; She would not yield her heart to force : THE POLITICAL RIVAL SUITORS. 4D * Give me,' said she, * ray ships again, " My hosts imprison' d on the main, * And you may dangle in my train. * I have been wrong'd, and baseiy so ; * Where rancor is, can friendship glow ? * Much less that heaven- descended flame * That you know not nor will I name * With arms of love would you embrace * The heroine of a gallant race, 4 When, in your heart the furies join * To spoil and plunder all that's mine * Before affection can return ' My tears will flow, and you must mourn.' She spoke no more, nor yea, nor nay But, frowning, look'd a different way. The dane, the dutehman, and the swede At distance eyed the angry maid ; The russian, bred in frost and snow, Felt in his breast strange ardor glow ! So dull, in these, did passions move She cry'd, * They are not marie for love ! * These, heavy formal and demure 4 1 can't esteem, but may endure. * If from your stores you have to spare * Some stacks of hemp, or iron ware ; * Or, if upon your soil it grows * What we have not you may dispose. fe 50 FRENEAU'S POEMS. ' Of what your merchants have to sell , 4 So, bring it here and ail is well : 4 We'll give you something in exchange ' And mutual intercourse arrange * Your commerce may our own improve - * But this is not the trade of love !' The Spaniard grave, with cloak and sword. Some favors from the nymph implored, And hoped that for the sake of gold And silver, from Potosi rolPd, She would admit his fond embrace And give his love the foremost place. Vain were his tears and coaxing art, She could not bear a jealous heart. She said, * my friend, you sleep too sound ' You are both formal and renowri'd, 4 Where'er the sun displays his beam * From Madrid to La Plata's stream j ' From th With rotten shins and broken head, 4 Before a dozen lovers fall, * 4-nd be the common hag of all.* ( 55 ) PREFATORY LINES TO A PERIODICAL PUB LICATION. Wherever this volume may chance to be read For the feast of good humor a table I spread ; Here are dishes by dozens ; whoever will eat Will have no just cause to complain of the treat. If the best of the market is not to be had I'll help you to nothing that's seriously bad ; To sense and to candor no place I refuse, Pick here and pick there, and wherever you choose, If I give you a frolic I hope for no fray ; My style I adapt to the taste of the day, The feast of amusement we draw from all climes The best we can give in a run of hard times. The guest, whom the pepper of satire may bite Is wrong, very wrong, if he shows us his spite ; Should a fit of resentment be-ruffle his mind, Sit still, I would tell him, be calm and resigned. In the service of freedom forever prepared, We have done our endeavor thr goddess to guard ; This idol, whom reason should only adore, And banish'd from Europe, to dwell on our shore, 6 FRENEAU'S POEMS, i Ito a country like this, exalted by fame, The trade of an author importance may claim Which monarchs would never permit them to find, Whose views are to chain and be-darken the mind. Ye sons of Columbia ! our efforts befriend ; To you all the tyrants of Europe shall bend Till reason at length shall illumine the ball And man from his state of debasement recall. Republics of old, that are sunk in the dust, Could once, like our own, of their liberty boast ; Both virtue and wisdom in Athens appear'd, Each eye saw their charms, and all bosoms revered. But as virtue and morals fell into disgrace Pride, splendor, and folly stept into their place ; Where virtues domestic no longer were known, Simplicity lost, and frugality flown. Where the virtues, that always a republic adorn, Were held in contempt, or were laugli'd into scorn, There, tyrants and slaves were the speedy effect Of virtue dishonor' d orfall'nto neglect : Then tyrants and slaves, the worst plagues of this earth, From the lapse of good manners were hatrh'd into birth ; And soon the base maxim all popular grew, And allowed, that the many were made for the few, From the fate of republics, or Athens, or Rome, Tis time we should learn a sad lesson at home PREFATORY LINES, &c. . r >7 From their faults and their errors a warning receive, And steer from the shoals where they both found a grave. Columbians ! forever may freedom remain, And virtue for ever that freedom maintain ; To these, all attracting, all views should submit. AH labors of learning, all essays of wit. Tis time a new system of things was embraced To prevail on a planet so often debased ; As here, with our freedom, that system began, Here, at least keep it pure for the honor of mats. OX A LADY, JfOW DECEASED, THAT HAD BEEN BOTH DEAF AND BLIND MANV YEARS. Why such anxious care for curing ? Are your sufferings past enduring ? Doctors for the eye and ear ; Dearest madam, You have had 'em, Had them cail'd from year to year. 58 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Is there pleasure in the seeing Many a wretched, helpless being Begging bread from door to door ? Wants so many Of a penny Of those who rarely handle more. Are the heavens a sight engaging ? There I see the lightnings raging, Angry clouds in all directions ; Sulphur blazing, Tempests raising ; These would give you sad reflections. These are freaks of rugged nature ; Such a dame, with such a feature, You are blest in not beholding : Comets glaring, Wars declaring ; These are plagues of nature's moulding. But the little world around us ; Has its mischiefs, to astound us ; Half your town is in a pother ; Churches burning, Females mourning Some a husband, some a brothei 7 . Some lament a lost estate, Some, the follies of the great : Of these ills you are unknowing : A LADY, All the clamor Sledge and hammer, Bells a-ringing, storms a-blowing, All the bustle you defy. All is darkness to your eye ! To your ear we cannot tell What is doing, ill or well. All, no doubt, is for the better You behold no starving debtor, Orphan, widow, in distress : You regard no cryers bawling Sweeps, from tops of chimnies squalling, Ships unmooring, Cannon roaring, Husbands snoring Ah ! tis best you hear it not. Troops parading, Lawyers pleading, These, and more, are all forgot : Bear your losses, And your crosses, Be resigned it is your lot. Thus, deprived of senses two, All the world will pity you All the world is in the wrong : For the intellectual light, Shines, increasing through your night, All the nobler powers of mind Grow angelic and refined, FRENEAU'S POEMS. And the bright celestial ray Turas your darkness into day. What reflections on the past ! Virtue brightening to the last J Not a murmur, not a sigh ! Your heaven begins before you die ! Thus decreed Olympian Jove, Chancellor of the courts above. ON THE WAR, PROJECTS* WITH THE REPUBLIC OF- FRANCE. The cause that rests on reason's ground, Shall potent through the world be found, Mankind must yield to that decree Which humbles pride and tyranny. O'er this wide globe what darkness broods. What misery, murder, wars and feuds !~- Does man deserve the solar light While he performs the deeds of night ? ON THE WAR, When to the gates of modern Rome We see the gallic legions come, Their triumphs should, in honor, be To make them men, and make them free. In these new wars new views we trace, ^ T ot tetters for the human race, And, France, where'er you dart your rays Old superstition's reign decays. But look again ! what myriads join The v-.ist reform to undermine ! What labor, bribes, and deep-laid schemes To quench the sun, and reason's beams ! 5jhall these succeed ? and wiL 1 that sun Continue, still, his race to run O'er scenes that he must blush to see Disorder, chains, and tyranny ? Must systems, still, of monstrous birth, Enslave mankind, deform this earth ? No ! to the question answers fate, These efforts come an age too late. In such a system to combine, Columbia, can the wish be thine ! Could such a thought assail your heart, To take that base, ungrateful part. From Britain's yoke so lately freed she her hosts, her legions lead F 62 FRENEAU'S POEMS. To crush that power, which jointly'gain'd And once her sinking cause sustain'd ? From all true hearts be banish'd far The thought of so profane a war A curse would on her arms attend And all her well-earn'd honors end. Fortune no more your toils would crown, Your flag would fall before her frown ; No gallant men the foe would dare, No Greenes no Washingtons appear; No chiefs, that check'd the pride of kings On Monmouth's plains at Eutaw springs ; But blundering hordes, not brave or warm, With broken heart, and nerveless arm, Would sail, to attack your gallic foe, Would strive in vain a cause t'o'erthrow Which, sink or not, will live in fame, While Europe can one patriot claim. ( 63 ) THE MISTAKE ; A MODERN SHORT STORY. We tell a tale that means no harm, And hope it will not give alarm Or make our readers feel too warm. It is a modern tale, we own, Which folks may read, or let alone, Just as they leisure have or none. There was a man, of dismal face, Whom many thought a man of grace Who walk'd through life a sober pace. He wore a suit; of homespun black, And, on occasion, had a clack That put our ears upon the rack. But, whether short or whether tall, Or whether Peter named, or Paul, We think it matters not at all. Full twcnl}* years this man in black (Perhaps a dozen times a week) Had pray'd the pope might goto wreck. 64 FRENEAU'S POEMS. He pray'd, that for his doings past Old anti-Christ might have a Mast And to the dogs be thrown at last. This was the substance of his prayer, (And more we many a time did hear, As dealt about fro in year to year.) * That man of sin ! chastise him well, 4 Who docs against the truth rebel, * And heaven itself presumes to sell : ' This monster of the triple crown, * Ye crows, devour him very soon ; 4 Good lord, we pray thee, ding hiia doon : ' That man of sin, who lives at Rome, ' Where good St. Peter once did come, * Without a house, without a home ! * That man of sin, who keeps a show 6 At Peter's church for high and low, ' And makes the nations kiss his toe ; * Whose bell for idol worship rings ; ' Whose stirrup must be held by kings 4 While he upon his prancer springs : 6 Good lord ! destroy him, we desire, * And with him, too, the monk and friar 1 With their own faggot ana their fire/ \ troifkh repression, beat hurs dcwn. THE MISTAKE. Hie good man's prayer, at length was heard ; Victorious France to Rome repair'd And Bonaparte his standard rear'd. The pontiff saw, with wild dismay, The hero come, the artillery play, And armies marching in array. The romans made a feeble stand Dear liberty ! against your band ; The pope came suppliant, cap in hand, And said, " I yield with all submission r Indeed I'm in a lost condition, Jtnd now would mako my last petition ; Take all I have but let me go, My keys I render up to you, Which are, in fact, the devil's due.'* So off lie went, to starve and see Old Rome by heretics made free From holy fraud and villany. Meantime the man that pray'd so long Against the pope, and all his throng, j,w things were rather going wrong, And to his passion gave a vent ** Why this is not the thing I meant, All this is not with my consent, F 2 6C FRENEAU'S POEMS. I did not wish the pope should fall By hand of unbelieving ganl, Who hates us deacons, pope, and all ! 1 wish'd him scorch'd by fires from high, By sudden vengeance from the sky So I explained the prophecy. Xow from tliis day, I tel! ye plain, I '11 pray and preach my might and main The pope may get his place again ! COMMERCE : That internal commerce only, promotes the morals of a country situated like America, and prevents its growth: cf luxury j and its consequent vices. To every clime, through every sea The bold adventurer steers ; In bounding barque, through each degree His country's produce bears How far more blest to stay at home Than thus on Neptune's wastes to roam. COMMERCE. 67 Where fervors melt, or frosts congeal Ah ye ! with toils and hardships worn, Condemned to face the briny toara; Ah ! from such fatal projects turn The wave- dividing keel, The product of the furrow 'd plain TransferrM to foreign shores, To pamper pride and please the vain The reign of kings restores : Hence, every vice the sail imports, The glare of crowns, the pomp of court?, And WAR, with all his crimson train ! Thus man designed ta till the ground, A 'stranger to himself is found Is sent to t.oil on yonder wave, Is made the dreary ocean's sport, Since commerce first to avarice gave To sail the ocean round. How far more wise the grave Chinese, Who ne'er remotely stray, But bid the world surmount the seas And hard-earn'd tribute pay. Hence, treasure to their country flows Freed from the danger, and the woes Of distant seas and dreary shores. There commerce breeds no foreign war ; At home they find their wants supplied, And ask, why nations come so far Te set^k superfluous stores ? <58 FRENEAU'S POEM. Americans ! why half neglect The culture of your soil ? From distant traffic why expect The harvest of your toil ? At home a surer harvest springs From mutual interchange )f things, Domestic duties to fulfil Vast lakes within your realm abound Where commerce now expands her sail, Wlii-re hostile navies are not found To bend vou to their will. LINES written in a french novel, Adelaide and DurvuL Charm'd with her loves, attend ye blooming belle* While Adelaide her tender story tells ; She early bent to love's despotic sway, Confess'd her flame, and gave to nature, way : She saw she loved ; by custom uncontrol'd She to the. swain her melting passion told : He awed by rules that love illegal made Fled from her fondness, and no love repaid. Where'er h^ fl^d, the amorous nymph pursued To jails, to dungeons, and to deserts rude: WRITTEN IN A FRENCH NOVEL. 69 Not awed by fame, nor heartless from despair, She had her all, if she but met him there. Such is the strength of love's almidity sway- That binds, controls, and bids the world obey. HUMAN FRAILTY. Disasters on disasters grow, And those which are not sent, we make; Thr good, we rarely find below Or in the search, the road mistake. The object of our fancied joys With eager eye we keep in view : Possession, when acquired, destroys The object, and the passion too. The hat that hid Belinda's hair Was once the darling of her eye ; Tis now dismissed, she knows not where ; Is laid aside, she knows not why. Life is to most a nauseous pill, A treat for which they dearly pay : Let's lake the good, avoid the ill, Discharge the debt, and walk away. { 70 ) THE HEROINE OF THE REVOLUTION/ To the men in power. Ye congress men and men of weight, Who fill the public chairs, And many a favor have conferred On some, unknown to Mars; And ye, who hold the post of fame, The helmsmen of our great affairs, Afford a calm, attentive ear To hf>r who handled sword and spear, A heroine in a bold career, Assist a war-worn dame. With the same vigorous soul inspired \ As Joan ff Arc. of old, With zeal against the briton fired, Her spirit warm and bold, She march'd to face her country's foes Disguised in male attire : * On December 28, 1797, Deborah Gannet presented a peU tion to congress for a pension, in consideration of services rendered during the whole of the American Revolutionary war, in the rank of a common soldier in the regular armies of the United States. The above lines were written on this occasion, at the request of i)he heroine. It is needless to say, she had a competency bestow^ <*fl on her during her natural Hfo. THE AMERICAN HEROINE. 7J Where'er they prowl'd through field or towa With steady step she follow'd on ; Resolved the conflict to sustain, She met them on the hill, the plain, And hostile to the english reign, She htiri'd the blasting fire. A'ow for such generous toils endured, Her day of warfare done, In life's decline at length reward This faithful amazon : She asks no thousands at your hand?, Though raark'd with many a scar ; She asks no share of indiau lands, Though lands you have to spare : But something in the wane of days To make her snug, and keep her warm, A cottage, and the cheery blaze, To shield her from the storm ; And something to the pocket too, Your bounty might afford, Of her, who did our foes pursue With bayonet, gun, and sword. Reflect how many tender ties A female must forego Ere to the martial camp she flies To meet the invading foe : How many bars has nature placed, And custom many more, 75J FRENEAU'S POEMS, Lest slighted woman should be graced With trophies sain'd in war. All these she nobly overcame, And scorn'd a censuring age, Join'd in the ranks, her road to fame, Despised the briton's rage ; An men, who, with contracted mind, All arrogant* condemn An*, make disgrace in woman kind What honor is in them. ON HAPPINESS, a$ proceeding from the practice of virtue , This t r uth f upon the soul impressed, Ha* been by every age confess' d, That in the course of human things Felicity from virtue springs. Wht re vice prevails, or baseness sway? Remorse and pain the fault n pays, The man oi vi;-.f -vis no resource, But even in pleasure ftnds a cv- HAPPINESS. If happiness can be sincere A virtuous conduct makes it here, That moral track to man assign' d A transcript from the all-perfect mind. Should virtue sometimes fail of bliss, Plunged in misfortune's dark abyss, Still, in the event she would not fall, But rise, triumphant o'er it all. Should life's whole course replete with ill, To virtue prove a bitter pill ; Another life has heaven designed Where she her due rewards will find, Nay, though through life perplex'd and And though no other life remain'd ; A life well spent itself would prove- A due reward from HIM above. And to be conscious we have done The worthy part, though frown'd upon, Can every seeming ill destroy And grief and sadness change to joy, G FRENEAU'S POEMS. ON THE ABUSE OP HUMAN POWER, as exercised over opinion. What human power shall dare to bind The mere opinions of the mind ? Must man at that tribunal bow Which will no range to thought allow, But his best powers would sway or sink, And idly tells him what to THINK. Yes ! there are such, and such are taught To fetter every power of thought ; To chain the mind, or bend it down To some mean system of their own, And make religion's sacred cause Amenable to human laws. Has human power the simplest claim Our hearts to sway, our thoughts to tame ; Shall she the rights of heaven assert, Can she to falsehood truth convert, Or truth again to falsehood turn, And at the test of reason spurn ? All human sense, all craft must fail And all its strength will nought avail* THE ABUSE OF HUMAN POWER. 75 When it attempts with efforts blind To sway the independent mind, Its spring to break, its pride to awe, Or give to private judgment, law. Oh impotent ! and vile as vain, They, who would native thought restrain ! As soon might they arrest the storm Or take from fire the power to warm, As man compel, by dint of might, Old darkness to prefer to light. No ! leave the mind unchain'd and free, And what they ought, mankind will be, No hypocrite, no lurking fiend, No artist to some evil end, But good and great, benign and just, As God and nature made them first. TO A NIGHT-FLY, APPROACHING A CANDLE. Attracted by the taper's rays, How carelessly you come to gaze On what absorbs you in its blaze \ > FRENEAU'S POEMS. O Fly ! I bid you have a care : You do not heed the danger near ; This light, to you a blazing star. Already you have scorch'd your wings What courage, or what lolly brings You, hovering near such blazing things Ah me ! you touch this little sun- One circuit more and all is done ! Now to the furnace you are gone I Thus folly with ambition join'd, Attracts the insects of mankind, And sways the superficial mind : Thus, power has charms which all admire, But dangerous is that central fire If you are wise in time retire. ON THE DEPARTURE OF PETER PORCU PINE, FOR ENGLAND, A bird of night attends the sail That now towards us turns her tail With Porcupine, escaped from jail. PORCUPINE'S DEPARTURE. 77 may the sharks enjoy their bait : He came such mischief to create We wish him not a better fate. This hero of the pension'd pen Has left our shores, and left his den To write at home for english men. Five thousand dollars, we may guess, Have made his pension something less So, Peter left us, in distress. He writ, and writ, and writ so long* That sheriff came, withwril more strong, And he went off; and all went wrong. May southern gales that vex the main, Or boreas, with his whistling train Make Peter howl and howl again. 1 hear him screech, I hear him shout ! The storm has put his Rush lightf out I see him famish' d with sour crout. For several years he published newspapers, and other peri odical works in Philadelphia which h:ui a vast circulation; the whole scope and tendency of which was, as is wel] remembered, to render the republican institutions' of this country contemptible, as well as odious to the people ; and by discontenting them with their government, to open the way for tiie introduction of a mo- Barchical system. He was thought to be a pensioner of the en glish government ; but whether such or not, is uncertain. 4 A weekly pamphlet publication, in which the political as G2 78 FREIS T EAU'S POEMS. May on the groaning vessel's side All Neptune's ruffian strength betry'd Till every seam is gaping wide. And while the waves about him swell May not one triton blow the shell (A sign at sea of doing well) : i But should he reach the british shore, (The land that englishmen adore) One trouble will he find and more : His pen will run at sueh a rate, His malice so provoke ike great, They soon will drive him out of date. With broken heart and blunted pen lie*!! sink among the little men, Or scribble in some Newgate den. Alack, alack ! he might have stay'd And followed here the scribbling trad<% And lived without the royal aid. But democratic laws he hated, Our government he so he-rated That his own projects he defeated. well as private character of Dr. Rush, and other persons of celebri ty, was vilified to the lowest degree of scurrility, malignancy an falsehood. PORCUPINE'S DEPARTURE. He took his leave from Sandy-Hook, And parted with a surly look. That all observed and few mistook. ODE TO GOOD FORTUNE. ut tu Fortunam Sienos te, Celse feremus- Objert of all, in every age By prudrnt men adored, By farmer, lawyer, sailor, sage, Mechanic, beggar, lord : Thou great first wish ! well understood, But not for all design'd ; Bestow'd alike on bad and good, Since, fortune you are blind ; Who hold us in a doubtful state To bear the human lot And hiding hoak -ritiniithe bait, Left free to bite or not. FREKEAU'S Wliat wise man tell us should be We scarce know how to do ; One tells me, not the world to shim, One tells me, not pursue. What money you, dear fortune, g&e Let knaves not steal away, For we, as well as they, must live, And debts as surety pay. * Let not to one voracious maw Thy dainty things be fed ; And we, while others beef-steaks gnaw,, Go supperless to bed. Let not a proud, insulting band, With gormandizing grin Disperse starvation through the land, And make us steal and sin. Since we must eat, the means bestotv The boarding-house to pay ; If we must starve, then may we go Where work finds better pay, Save us alike from pigcon-pye, Or stomach empty quite ; Our cook will that, no doubt, deny\ This- would destroy outright. Help us for hungry folk to feel ngry folk we see ; ODE TO GOOD FORTUNE. 81 May I with sharpers learn to deal As sharpers deal with me. Lean though I am, yet firm and sound, (Since bones have ijeea my fare) Direct me where i'at pork is seen And apple-dumplings rare. This day be bread and cheese my lot, With glass of apple wine ; To i Borrow, if roast pigs, or not, Is no concern of mine. O thou, whose frowns are no disgrace, But yet whose smiles I prize, Do, let me have some humble place, But not to grandeur rise ~ ON A CELEBRATED PERFORMER ON THE VIOLIN, who, as it was said, went out, in the year 1 797, to excite discontents and insurrections in the western country, particularly, in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Musician of the west ! whose vast design Schemes our new states with England to combine ; 82 FUENEAU'S POEMS. How vain the hope, with violin and boir, Such feeble arms, to work internal wo ! How weak the attempt our union to divide With not a sword or pistol at your side ! Not ven a drum your engineer employs : He's right a drum would blast the plot, by noise : All must be done in midnight silence, all Your plans must ripen or your projects fall. Unknown, unseen, till in the destined hour Descends the stroke of trans-atlantic power ! By music's note to sway the western wild Indeed is new ; we heard Hand we smiled. In cold December's iron-hearted reign Woultl you with blushing blossoms deck the plain ; Would you with sound immure the THIRTEEN STARS, Or plant a garland on the front of Mars ? To sound, not sense, once brutes, they say, advanced. When Orpheus whistled, fauns and satyrs danced You are no Orpheus and it may be true He play'd some tunes that are unknown to you. Hopes, such as yours, on cat-gut who would place ; On tenor, treble, counter, or the bass : Who arm'd with horse-hair, hopes a world to wia Who gains dominion from a violin ? Such if there was, in times, the lord knows when, He must have been at least the first of men But now the world would have not much to prize In such a warfare where no soldier dies : Thus would it say by sad experience taught, * Oh ! may we never fight as these have fought ! ON A CELEBRATED MUSICIAN. 83 * These to the charge with Thespian arms advanced, * And when they should have fought, the soldiers danced ; * They had no drums, they felt no martial flame, * But, cold as Christmas, to the conflict came !' My dreams present you thrumming on your string Playing at proper stands, God save the king ! I see you march, a pedlar with his pack, And that poor fiddle swung athwart your back, (Like Reynard from some hen-roost hurrying home With plundered poultry for the feast to come) Trudging the wilds, on bold adventures bent, The woods at once your coverlet and tent, To fierce rebellions our back-woods to call The attempt how mighty ! and the means how small. Amphion once, the classic stories say, When on his organ he began to play, So soft, so sweet, so melting where his tunes That even the savage rocks danced rigadoons, The trees, themselves, with frantic passions fired Leap'd from their roots and every note admired : Quitting the spot, where many a year they grew Quick to the music sprung the enchanted crew, Form'd o'er his head a sun-repelling power And bow'd their shadowy heads to music's power. If what, this moment, some relate be true Still greater wonders are reserved for you. Your music, far, all Amphion's art exceeds, Nat trees and rocks, but provinces it leads. 84 FRENEAU'S POEMS. All Alleghany capers to the sound, And southward moves to meet the iberian bound 5 Kentucky hears the soul-enlivening notes And on the artist and his music doats ; Remote Sanduskie spreads her eager wings, And wild Miami with the concert rings ; Tiptoe, for flight, stands every hill and tree From Huron's shores to savage Tennessee ; Arthur St. Clair might soon its influence feel ; But Arthur knows no music but of steel : Arthur St. Clair attends, with listening ears, And when the purpose of your march appears, Such music only will excite his rage, He'll come, and drive you from your dancing stage ; Cut every string, the bridge, and sound-board seize, By your own cat-gut hang you to the trees, And bid you know, too late, It is no jest To play rebellion's musio to the west. REFLECTIONS on doctor Perkins 1 metallic points, or tractors.* Some think our planet hastens to decay, And dread to see it, with a head of grey, * Doctor Perkins, author of a fanciful speculation, much talk-? ed of as well as practised about this time (1798) by which thcg doctor undertook to cure all sorts of diseases by metallic tractioiwj PERKINS' METALLIC POINTS. 8 (If head it has, as Faustus try'dto prove With power to think, and in its orbit move : And some assert, we think, with too much heal, It is a mighty animal, complete) If old or young, then here one comfort lies, The older it becomes, it grows more wise : *To this dull clod of earth no more confined, Fearless we mount, and sail upon the wind ; Even females, now, to gay balloons suspended Soar to the skies, and think their follies ended : Your Blanchanls to superior regions move, And grow familiar with affairs above ; O'er seas and mountains steer the f thereal course, Heedless of sky-men, storois, or empty purse. Magicians, chy mists, all that night-cap train Whose moon, too long, has sicken'd in her wane : The age is come that gives them back to day, And sufferings past shall past neglect repay. On science bent, a modern, scheming race All nature's movements to their centre trace; In all her sports they see some wise design, Her meanest ore they soften and refine, By instant aid all human ills they cure, Old age protract, or endless life secure ; All pains, all plagues, are by a touch relieved, Death changed to life, and even the devil deceived, PERKINS ! what verse is equal to your praise Whose hocus-pocus from the dead can raise; Pains in the head, or iick< Us in the joints Henceforth shall yield to your metallic points :. H S6 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Palsies and gouts shall at your mandate fly As Satan does when holy water's nigh : All colics, asthmas, all the dismal train That Milton saw a lazar-house contain,* All shall be heal'd when you, with tractors keen, Scratch, for the cure of ailments, through the skin ' Thou Esculapiusofa wondering age, Machaon, Galen, Hippocratian sage, Cj.n we too much extol that daring art That bids the doctor, with his drugs, depart : No more with pills our stomachs shall be loaded, Dortors, behold your practice quite exploded ; By one keen point of st el, and one of brass, Boorhaave himself is proved t' have been an ass, Fall sick who may, all potion, drug, or pill, Shill yield to Perkins, with superior skill ; Not one, of all the esculapian race, Not one shall near us come, or take your place By magic tractor, and its powerful aid We rise superior to the havoc made : Though fevers rage, if Perkins once you name, H^'Il curb their fury and allay their flame. Even mental ills shall cease at your approach, Pride, vanity, and longings for a coach : If rightly stroked, some nymphs that we might name,. Who, shopping, pilfer without fear or shame, Shall, when your influence they are made to fee!, Forget the sad propensity, to steal : * See Paradise Lost PERKINS' METALLIC POINTS. 37 Touch'd by these magnets dead men will revive, Old bachelors ibr frisky widows strive; Maidens, averse to men, be taught to love, And wives, condemn'd as barren, fertile prove. Dulness itself shall quit the human brain And deafening scolds from Billingsgate abstain ; And Shakspeare's play, tho' planu'd to nature true, Has no such cure for Taming of the Shrew. PUBLIUS TO POLLIA. Supposed to have been written during a cruizing expedition** If I escape the dangers of the main And heaven restores me to your arms again, & This little poem is founded on, and the idea taken from a collection of genuine letters that appeared several years ago, in ome of the. London Magazines, and that passed between the two .<&aracters, Fabling and Pollia. Publius was, at the time, a firs** 88 FREIVEAU'S POEMS. No thought, ambitions, to increase m3 r store Shall tempt me to the seas again for more. Bit peaceful, happy in some rural shade No storms to vex me, and no foes to dread. To whispering zephyrs I would care resign And feel thrice happy, in a love like thine . A decent house, on rustic model plann'd, In onier kept by Margarita's hand ; A thrifty garden, next, should be my care, A barn well garuish'd, and an orchard fair; Books for instruction, or delight, design'd, (Books may be call'd provision for the mind] My private room should usefully adorn, And study be the employment of the morn; Justly, indeed, may they be counted sage, Who by the dead in form *d, digest their page. A stock of nine, the heart of man to cheer, Should grace my vaults with cyder sound and eleai Jamaica's best, and home-brew'd bottled beer : Nor should these blessings indiscreetly flow, Which meanly used, become a dangerous foe ; But when the neighboring parson, or the squire On visits ceme, to smoke beside my fire, Or. when the sun's more cheering rays delight ; And western winds and shady trees invite, lieutenant of a brilish ship of war, and afterward? Avell known be the celebrated capt. Edward Thomson. Tlie njmpli hadh residence at, or near Portsmouth, iu England. PUBLIUS TO POLLIA. 3 In sweet retreat and social converse warm, An extra bottle could not do us harm ; And, such are the resistless charms of wit, Where reason guides and friendly tempers hit, Tis not mere Bacchus tempts to a delay, But wit, enchanting wit. prolongs our stay. When from the unsocial sea return'd once more, I meet the pilot near the long-lost shore Soon shall your swain to woodland haunts retire And the wiJd music of the groves admire, Ear^y, in summer, tread the morning dew, Anu be supremely blest, if blest with you. Why did I leave your fond, your kind embrace To wander with this absent thoughtless race, This nan tic tribe, who far from country roam, And scarce a day enjoy the charms of home \ No cares had I, but you those cares repaid, Calm was my sleep, and quiet every shade : To all my griefs my Pollia lent a sigh, To all I said 1 met a kind reply ; Heaven smiled benignant, nature breathed her sweet-', Nor war, nor tumult knew these blest retreats! To rural haunts return'd, ah ! how could I The unwonted labors of a rustic try ? Some acts, even there, stern reason deems amiss, That cloud the picture of romantic bliss : How could I, tender to the fleecy kind In their last gasp a selfish interest find ? 112 00 FRENEAU'S The stately ox, intended Cor the plough, Shall his bold front to me, his murderer bow ?- Is this the base reward for all his pain -Who turn'd the glebe and multiplied the strain. Qli mnn ungrateful, who the weapon rears Confess thy shame, and give a vent to tears ! O man ungenerous ! w here's thy reason fled, Is pity vanished or compassion dead ! Fa'r be from me, and mine, these scenes of blood, To seize from nature such unlicensed food. The lieecy kind, whose grateful vestments warm, All innocent, who mean or know no harm ; The wakeful bird, that hails the approach of day All, all to insatiate passion fall a prey, That rural life, which I yrt distant view, With Uow much ardor <>oes my sonl pursue I Lured by the pleasures I may hope to find, What wild ideas rush upon my mind ! Far from the arms of all that's dear and fair, On barren seas I sail, a slave to care ; No blossoms here their grateful odors shed, Hr-re trees are masts, and sails for leaves are sprea No shrubs, no (lowers in blushing bloom dispense Their charming fragrance on my ravish* d sense, Nature, indeed, is grand and awful here, |>ut nature still and stiil she prompts my fear. O, Pollia, write me watch the parting sail And trust my heaven, yeur lettersto the galq : To nature trust her breeze will waft it sure, Your other image I must long adore I PUBLIU9 TO POLLIA. 91 With artful hand her painted scenes she drew, But with most art when she created you : Wise are her works, and prudent every plan ; But, sure, she meant not these abodes tor man, Who, courting danger, born to he unblest, Disdains the cottage, and sweet haunts of rest, Tempts polar seas, and dares the Iceland gale, Prepared to strike the hyperborean whale, Or, slave to monarchs, quits th' attractive land For the sad honors of a sea command. SERIOUS MENACE ; BOTANY BAY AND NOOTKA SOUND. ANSWER TO THE CO31MINATIOMS Of A PERSECUTING ROYALIST. Last week we heard a king's man say, Do tell me where is Botany Bay ? There are, quoth he, a meddling few. That sliatlgo there and we know who, 92 FRENEAU'S POEMS. This Botany Bay is in an isle Removed from us twelve thousand mile, There rogues are banisird, to atone For roguish things in England done. Ye vultures, here on sufferance fed, Who curse the hand that gives you bread, Rot-all your threats, or, by the way, You'll find us act a serious play. The haughty prince that England owns, To make more room for royal sons, Has given the hint, I would suspect And are you one of his ELECT ? Ye busy tribe, of harpy face, In search of power, in search of place, Ye rancorous hearts, who build your all On royal wrongs and freedom's fall, This have we seen, and well we know, Each sou of freedom is your foe, And these you would, unheard, convey To places worse than Botany Bay. Be cautious how you talk so loud Above your heads there hangs a cloud, That, bursting with explosion vast, May scatter vengeance in its blast ; And send you all, on th' devil's dray, A longer road than Botany Bay, BOTANY BAY AIVD NOOTKA SOUND. 93 Another threat alarm'd us ranch (Indeed, we hourly meet with such) A c ckney said, but spoke it low, For fear tlie street his mind should know ; '* And is there no sedition act ? (" Tis almost time to doubt the fact,) " By which this gabbling crew are bound " The nearest way to IVootka Sound ?" Can you but smile ! who would have thought Tii t they who writ, who march'd, who fought For many a year, and little got But liberty, and dearly bought Must now away With half their pay, And seek on ocean's utmost bound Their chance to starve at Nootka Sound ! This Nootka Sound, so far remote, Would make us sing a serious note, If it be true what travellers teil That there a race of natives dwell Who, when they would their brethren treat And give them a regale of meat Unchain their prisoners from the den, And scrape the bones of bearded men. God save us from so hard a fate ! As to be spitted, soon or late ; It is a lot that few admire So let us for a while retire ; And live to see some traitors drown'd I' the deepest swash of Nootka Sound, 34 FRENEAU'S POEMS. UNIFORMITY AND PERFECTION OP NATURE. On one fix'd point all nature moves, Nor deviates from the track she loves ; Her system, drawn from reason's source, She scorns to change her wonted course. Could she descend from that great plan To work unusual things for man, To suit the insect of an hour This would betray a want of power, Unsettled in its first design And erring, when it did combine The parts that form the vast machine, The figures sketch'd on nature's scene. Perfections of the great first cause Submit to no contracted laws, But iill-snlficbnt all-supreme, Include no trivial views in them. PERFECTION OF NATURE, 95 Who looks through nature with an eye That would the scheme of heaven descry, Observes her constant, still the same, In all her laws, through all her frame. No imperfection can be found In all that is, above, around, All, nature made, in reason's s^ght Is order all, and all is right. TRANSLATION OF GRAY'S ODE, Written at ike grand Chartreuse?* O tu seven Relligio loci ! #c. Thou genius of this sacred place Who'er thou art, a hand I trace In all around, a power supreme That rears the woods, propels the stream : A god is seen where'er I rove Among the rocks, as through the grove : ^ The residence of a religious society of monks on the summit, one of the Alpine mountains, in Savoy, 96 FRENEAU'S POFMS. The mountain cliffs declare him nigh, The torrents tumbling from the sky ; All these proclaim almighty power : Thi.-se pointed rocks, that o'er me tower ; More of a deity impart Than all the sculptured temple's art. O come ! and Jet my weaned mind, My toilsome steps that solace find Retirement gives : in life's decay Let scenes, like these, my toils repay. Should fortune still my wish deny, If man in every clime embrace, And >ve on this remoter shore, Exult in bloody wars no more. On this returning annual day M iv we to heaven our homage pay, Hippy that he re the time's began That made mankind the friend of man!- 113 } THE REWARD OF INNOCENCE. Could beauty, virtue, innocence, and love Some spirits soften, or some bosoms move. If native worth, with every charm combined, Had power to melt the savage in the mind, Thou, injured ELMA, had not fallen a prey To fierce revenge, that seized thy life away ; Nor through the glooms of conscious night been led To 6nd a funeral for a nuptial bed, When by the power of midnight fiends you fell, Plunged in the abyss of Manhattan-well. Detested pit, may other times agree With swelling mounds of earth to cover thee, And hide the place, in whose obscure retreat Some miscreant made his ba:;e design complete. * Gulielma Sands the unfortunate event alluded to in these linos took place within a mile of the suburbs of New-York in 1802. She was a:i amiable young woman of the quaker, or friends society, and fella victim, it was supposed, to the jealousy of two lovers ; having been carried from her home in a winter's evening in a sleigh, under some pretence, or persuasion, and thrown into a well of water, where she was soon afterwards found dead, in a mangled condition, and appeared to have been beaten and bruised in an inhuman manner, previously to her death. A se vere legal investigation took place, but no discovery, as to the real author of the murder could be made, nor has the perpetrate* been hitherto discovered. 114 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Thus, with oblivion's wings to cover o'er The spot which memory should preserve no more. Murderer, though safe from legal vengeance placed There is a power that has thy footsteps traced, There is a power the vestige to pursue, Detect your crime, and the dark deed review, Make life a burthen, every hour unblest, And shed remorse through your tormented breast. The mangled form in horrid dreams will come Reproach the deed and antedate your doom, Haunt all your walks, where'er you go, attend, And scourge the murderer to his journey's end. Go where you may, your steps, wherever found, Your steps imprint dishonor on the ground Give all the stain that innate baseness can And prostrate all the dignity of man : Haste to the shadows of the antarctic pole And with you take the shadows of the soul, Where'er you halt, no doubt a curse will wait, And plagues impend, and feuds, and rancorous hate The heavens in black, the skies with clouds will lour And angry nature round your hovel roar. Retire forever from the abodes of men, And howl with wolves, base brethren of the den : Turn'd out an exile from the human race, Yourself the accuser, and their worst disgrace. Wiiile soul, or conscience, to reflect remains ]Sot one calm hour shall mitigate your pains. ON THE EVILS OF HUMAN" LIFE. To him who rules the starry spheres, No evil in his works appears : Man with a different eye, surveys, The incidents in nature's maze : And all that brings him care or pain He ranks among misfortune's train. The ills that God, or nature, deal, The ills we hourly see, or feel, The sense of wretchedness and wo To man may be sincerely so ; And yet these springs of tears and sighs Be heaven's best blessings in disguise. Some favorite late, in anguish lay And agonized his life away : You grieved to be consoled, refused, And heaven itself almost accused OF cruelty, that could dispense Such tortures to such innocence. Could you but lift the dreary veil, And see with eyes or mind less frail FRFNEAIPS POEMb The secrets of the world to come, You would not thus bewail his doom,, To find on some more happy coast More blessings, far, than all he lost. The seeming ills on life that wait And mingle with our best estate, Misfortune on misfortune grown, And heaviest most, when most alone ; Calamities, and heart oppressed These ail attend us, for the best. Learn hence, ye mournful, tearful race. On a sure ground your hopes to place ; Immutable are nature's laws ; And hence the soul her comfort draws That all the God allots to man Proceeds on one unerring plan. Hojd to the moral system, true, And heaven will always be in view : O man ! by heaven this law was taught To reconcile you to your lot, To be your friend, when friendship fails, And nature a new being bails. THE SCURRILOUS SCRIBE. All this proceeds from nature's frdt By reason not corrected^et ; As soon might bears forbear to fight, Or wolves resign the power to bite. His soul extracted from the public sink, For discord born he splasht around his ink ; In scandal foremost, as by scandal led, He hourly rakes the ashes of the dead. Secure from him no traveller walks the streets, His malice sees a foe in all he meets ; With dark design he treads his daily rounds, Kills where he can, and where he cannot, wounds, Nature to him her stings of rancor gave To shed, unseen, the venom of a knave ; She gave him cunning, every treacherous art, She gave him all things but an upright heart : And one thing more she gave him but the pen, No power to hurt, not even th*" brass of men, Whose breast though furies with their passion's rule Yet laugh at satire, pointed by a tool. 113 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Was there no world but ours to give you room ? JN^- Patagonia, for your savage home, No region, where antarctic oceans roll, No icy island, neighboring to the pole. By dark suspicion led, you aim at all Who will not to your sceptred idol tall ; To work their ruin, every baseness, try, .First envy, next abuse us, then belie. Such is your sketch ! and thus awhile go OR, Your shafts rebound, and, yet. have injured none c Hurt who they will, let who will injured be, The sons of smut and scandal hurt not me. SCRIBE OF SCRIBES. By the gods of the poets, Apollo anr? Jove, By the muse wh directs me thr spirits taat ipo\c. I council you, P ter o:ice more, to retire Or satire shall pierce, with her arrows oi 'fire. TO THE SCRIBE OF SCRIBES. 119 Be careful to stop in your noisy career, Or homeward retreat, for your danger is near : The clouds are collecting to burst on your head, Their sulphur to dart, or their torrents to shed. Along with the tears, I foresee you will weep, In the cave of oblivion I put you to sleep ; This dealer in scandal, this bladder of gall, This sprig of Parnassus must go to the wall. From a star of renown in the reign of* the night H( is dwindled away to a little rush-light : Then snuff it, and snuff it, while yet it remains And PETER will leave you the sauff for your pains BELIEF AND UNBELIEF : fcVMBLY RECOMMENDED TO THE SERIOUS CONSIDERATIONS' OF CREED MAKERS. What some believe, and would enforce Without reluctance or remorse, Perhaps another may decry, Or catt a fraud, or desn a lie. FRENEAU'S POEMS. Must he for that be doom'd to bleed, And fall a martyr to some creed, By hypocrites or tyrants framed, By reason damn'd, by truth disclaimed ? On mere belief no merit rests, A* unbelief no guilt attests : Belief, if not absurd and blind, Is but conviction of the mind, Nor can conviction bind the heart Ti)l evidence has done its part : And, when that evidence is clear, Belief is just, and truth is near. In evidence, belief is found ; Without it, none are fairly bound To yield assent, or homage pay To what confederate worlds might Say, They who extort belief from man Should, in the out-set of their pJan, Exhibit, like the mid-day sun An evidence denied by none. From this great point, o'erlook'd or miss'd, Still, unbelievers will exist ; And just their plea ; for how absurd For evidence, to take^/owr word ! Not to believe, I therefore hold The right of man, all imcoutrol'd BELIEF AND UNBELIEF. 121 By all the powers of human wit, What kings have done, or sages writ ; Xot criminal in any view, Nor man ! to be avenged by you, Till evidence of strongest kind Constrains assent, and clears the mind THE REPUBLICAN FESTIVAL: [)MPLIMENT TO COLONEL HUNROJ2, ON HIS RETURN* TO AMERICA, 1797. As late at a feast that she gave to MUNROE, Her mark of ; tention to show, Young liberty gave her libations to flow, To honor where honor is due. Returned from the country that trampled on crowns Where high in opinion he stood, Bark malice attack'd him, with sneers, and with fro was, But he met the applause of Ihp %*** ? FRENEAU'S POEMS. To the knight of the sceptre unwelcome he came But freedom his merit confessed He look'd at their malice, and saw it was fame, And pity forgave them the rest. Good humor, and pleasure, and friendship did join, And reason the pleasure increased ; And the hero, who captured the british Burgoyne, Presided and honor' d the feast. On a broomstick from hell, with a quill in his hand, Baal-Zephou came riding the air ; He look'd, and he saw that among the whole band Not a single apostate was there. Disappointed, he sigh'd, but still hover'd about Till the toasts, with a vengeance, began He met the first four ; when the next they gave out* To his cavern he fled back again. In liberty's temple, the petulant cur Could see not a man but he hates ; With a curse on her cause, and a sneer, and a spur He fled from the frown of a GATES. * Public censure, arm'd with the spear of Ithurial : may it dis-j cover the demons of tyranny, wherever they lurk, and pursue them to their native obscurity. 123 ) SUSANNA'S TOMB, Susan deceased ! regretted name ! Beneath the turf you still may cJaira The fond regard that long was paid When you along the valley play'd : Susan whose life was but a span, Whose circles just ten summers ran ; Who now shall meet that smile of thine, The image once supposed divine. Ten summers pass'd ! and fhen to fade ! And find the damps qjj nature's shade, Where all is silent all is gloom, And changed the parlor for the tomb ! Returned from far Madeira's isle, 1 thought to meet the expected smile That smile I find forever fled, For all is serious with the dead. This las abode to adorn, review, To walk the soil that covers you, Be this my care : with heart of gloom To plant the trees that shade the tomb. And here the village maids shall bring The earliest daughters of the spring : 124 VRENEAU'3 POEMS. Near you to plant the fairest flowers They rob Rosina's sweetest bowers Remembering all you said, with tears, And what was promised to your years. Here, as they quit you, or return, They trace the angel in the urn, And every year their visit pay To deck the sod that hides your clay. ON THE WAR PATRONS, 1798,, Weary of peace, and warm for war, Who first will mount the iron car ? Who first appear, to shield the STARS, Who foremost, take the field of Mars ? For death and blood, with bold design, Who bids a hundred legions join ? To see invasions in the air From France, the moon, or heaven knows where ; In freedom's mo\ith to fix the gag, And aid afford t' a withered hag ; This is the purpose of a few ; But this we see will scarcely do e THE WAR PATRONS 1798 125 Who bears the brunt, or pays the bill ? The friends of war alone can tell : Observe, six thousand heroes stand With not three privates to command ; No matter for the nation's debt If some can wear the epaulette. If reason no attention finds, What magic shall unite all minds ? If war a patronage ensures That fifty thousand men procures, Is such a force to humble France ? Will these against her arms advance ? To fight her legions, near the Rhine, Or England's force in Holland join ? In dreams, that on the brain intrude. When nature takes her sleepy mood, And when she frolics through the mind, By sovereign reason unconfined, When her main spring is all uncoil'd And fancy acts in whimsy wild I saw a chieftain, cap-a-pee, Arm'd for the battle who but he ? J saw him draw his rusty sword, A present from a London lord : The point was blunt, the edge too dull i deera'dto cleave a dutchman's scull ; And with this sword he made advance, And with this sword he struck at France This sword return'd without its sheath, Too weak to cause a single death ; L 2 FRENFAU'S POEMS. And there he found his work complete., And then he made a sate retreat, Where folly finds the camp of rest And patience learns to do her best. What next, will policy contrive To bid the days of war arrive : Is there no way to pick a quarrel, And deck the martial brow with laurel M 2 13$ FRENEAU'S POEMS. What though sepultured with the funeral whine ; Why, sorrowing on such tombs should we recline, Where truth, perhaps, has hardly penned a line. Yet, what if here some honest man is laid Whom nature ofher best materials made, Who all respect to sacred honor paid. Gentle, humane, benevolent, and just (Though now forgot and mingled with the dust, There may be such, and such there are we trust.) Yes for the sake of that one honest man We would on knaves themselves bestow a tear, Think nature form'd them on some crooked plan, And say, peace rest on all that slumber here. THE ORDER OF THE DAY : TO READERS OF THE HISTORY OF WARS, ANCIENT AND MODERN. If on this sad, distressing book, With eager eye you often look, And there on dreary record find The murder'd millions of mankind, ORDER OF THE DAY. Grieve not too much, reflect an4 say, Twas but the order ofiht day. The crimes of an imperial race, Incessant, stare you in the face : Have they this various havoc spread, And art's best works in ruin laid ? We sigh for this, as well as you, And tears, at times sincerely flow, To see mankind by war decay By wars, the order of the day. The men of thought, in senates knowB 9 Who drive a nation's business on, Have long agreed in things of state Each day should have its own debate. Tis sometimes war and sometimes peace f But who can tell when strife will cease, Or come the time, when, wars away, We get new orders of the day. When trans-atlantic squadrons came And wasted wide with fire and flame. All saw the order drawing near (Some thought the orders too severe) Some said the royal claimant throng Had issued orders much too long, Republic, come ! your spirit show, And take your turn to order too. So, to the field bold legions led, With various fortune fought, or blei 140 FRENEAtT'S POEMS. For seven long years the war sustained On which the cause of freedom lean'd ; And often vanquish'd knight and peer Who came to give hard orders here ; Arid though their armies hoped to stay At length, we order'd them away. When France began her proud career Then every tyrant quaked with fear, And arm'd their subjects far and wide While Luna swell'd the royal tide. King Frederick led his conquering host, Duke Brunswick made his haughty boast That Paris should in flames ascend Ere Louis should to rebels bend ; Yes he would show them royal play And give new orders of the day. An order of his own that brings The sword, the last resort of kings. May despots be degraded low, Who, where they find not, make a foe t In debt for navies, armies, wars The subject says, the debt is ours ! Discouraged, famish'd, broken down, They curse the king, abuse the crown, And should to George, or Frederick say, It breaks our hearts your bills to pay. But little some regard the cost, Whosfc hearts are flints, whose souls are frost, ORDER OF THE DAT, 141 Whom nature never yet could bind On reason's plan to rule mankind ; Whose views and ends are to enslave And make a man both fool and knave* A murderer or a mere machine, And born to serve a king or queen : M.i> such, opposed to reason's light For time to come receive this doom That plants them deep, and sends them home ; To tht'ir last home to sink outright And serve the orders of the night. ON THE LAUNCHING OF THE FRIGATE CONSTITUTION. The builders had the ship prepared, And near her stood a triple guard, For fear of secret foes. Some, tiptoe stood to see her start, And would hav? said, with all their hearj. In raptures, there she goes ! 142 FRENEAU'S POEMS. The stubborn ship, do what they could, Convinced them, she was made of wood Though plann'd with art supreme ; All art, all force the ship defy'd 3for brilliant day, nor top of tide Could urge her to the stream. Some, with their airs aristocratic, And some with honors diplomatic, Advanced to see the show : In vain the builder to her call'd In vain the shipwrights pull'd and haul'd She could not would not go. Each anti-federal, with a smile Observed the yet unfloating pile As if he meant to say, Builder, no doubt, you know your trade, A constitution you have made But should her ways have better laid. Well now to heave the ship afloat, To move from this unlucky spot, Take our advice, and give them soon, What should have long ago been done, AMENDMENTS YOU KNOW WHAT. ( 143 ) THE BETHLEHEMITE : or, fair solitary. A'pensive female, in her prime. Reflecting on the end oj lime, Sought an obscure recess : She slighted every shepherd's flame, The city beau she sighing came To pray, and feed on grace. From noise and nonsense, far away . She with the trees prefer'd to stay, She left the gay, and left the vain For contemplation's serenade She most admired the willow shade Suns clouded and the moon in wane. Ye thoughtless swains, who haunt the towr/, Who at each gay resort are known, Or chase some glittering fly, Set not your hearts on Caroline ; In her the charms and graces join. But love comes never nigh But homage to the almighty due Should not seclude her from all view ; 144 FRENEAU'S POEMS, Though hermit she is grown, Yet friendship asks some little share And love, if love may have his prayer, Hopes she may yet be won. ATTEMPTED LAUNCH OF A FRIGATE. designed for war against a sister republic. 1798- Unless it be for mere defence May shipwrights fail to launch you hence, At best, the comrade of old Nick Some folks will smile to see you stick, But now, suppose the matter done, And her the element upon ; What cause have we mad wars to wage Or join the quarrels of the age ? Remote from Europe's wrangling race* Who show us no pacific face Lot's tread negociation's track Before we venture to attack. LAUNCH OF A FRIGATE. 145 But to the seas if we must go, Tis clearly seen who is the foe, Who hastens, it no distant date, To repossess his lost estate. I see them r ;i?e the storm of war, To cloud the guy Columbian t ir, I see them, bloody, brave and b&s& Make us the object of their chase, Their ships of such superior might All we possess will put to flight, Or bear them off, with all on board, To make a meal for George the third. One frigate, only, will not do She must retreat while they pursue. To make her drink affliction's cup, And, heaven preserve us, eat her up, A navy of stupendous strength Tis plain, must be our lot at length, To sweep the seas, to guard the shore, And crush their haughtiest seventy four. Those puny ships that now we frame, (The way that England plays her game} Will to their bull-dogs fall a prey The hour we get them under weigh ( 146 ) ON THE FREE USE OF THE LANCET, IN YELLOW FEVERS.* In former days your starch'd divines From notes of twenty thousand lines Held many a long dispute ; One argued this, one argued that. And reverend wigs, as umpires sat, AD sophists to confute. They dwelt on things beyond their ken And teazed and puzzled simple men To hold them in the dark ; But their long season now is past, The churchman's horn has blown its blast, Things take a different mark. Physicians now to quiet pain Stick lancet in the patient's vein That burns with feverish heat : The next contend, they're wholly wrong, That life will leak away ere long If thus the case they treat. * A practice very prevalent at the time the above was written LANCET IN YELLOW FEVER. 147 Meantime a practice gets about, Perhaps, to make some doctors pout : OM Shelafi, with her herbs and teas, And scarce a shilling for her tees, In many instances, at least, Wiien deaths and funerals increased, Did more to dispossess the fever, Did more from dying beds deliver Than all the hippocratian host Con Id by the lancet's virtue boast ; To which, I trow, full many a ghost Will have a grudge for ever. ON THE C1TF ENCROACHMENTS ON THJB RIVER HUDSON. Where Hudson, once, in all his pride In surges burst upon the shore They plant amidst his flowing tide Moles, to defy his loudest roar ; And lofty mansions grow where late Half Europe might discharge her freight. From northern lakes and wastes of snow The river takes a distant rise, 148 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Now marches swift, now marches slow, And now adown some rapid flies Till join'd the Mohawk, in their course They travel with united force. But cease, nor with too daring aim Encroach upon this giant flood ; BFo rights reserved by nature, claim, Nor on his ancient bed intrude : The river may in rage awake And time restore him all you take The eastern stream, his sister, raves To see such moles her peace molest, A L-'-ndvn built upon her waves, The weight of mountains on her breast : With quicken 'd flow she seeks the main As on her bed new fabrics gain. Bold streams ! and may our verse demand Is there not coast for many a mile, And soils, as forra'd by natures hand That border all ytauhattan's isle : Then why these mounds does avarice raise And builti the haunts of pale disease. Yet in your aim to clip their wing (ft asks no wizard to descry,) That time the \votul day will bring When Hudson's passion, swelling high, May in a foam his wrongs repay And sweep both house and wharf away. ( 149 J STANZAS WRITTEN IN BLACKBEARD, THE PIRATE'S CASTLE, NEAR THE TOWN OF ST. THOMAS, IN THE WEST INDIES. 1799. The ancient knave, who raised these walls, Now to oblivion half resigned His fortress to the mind recalls The nerve that stimulates mankind ; When savage force exerts its part And ruffian blood commands the heart, This pirate, known to former days, The scourge of these unhappy climes, In this strong fabric thought to raise A monument to future times : To guard himself and guard his gold, Or shelter robbers, uncontrol'd. A standard on these walls he rcar'd, And here he swore the oath profane, That by his god, and by his beard, Sole, independent, he would reign ; And do his best to crush the sway Of }ega| right and honesty, N 2 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Within these walls, and in these vaults, Of princely power and wealth possessed, Dominion hung on all his thoughts, And here he hoped an age of rest ; The wealth of princes flowing in That from the Spaniards he did win He many a chief and captain awed, Or chain'd with fetters, foot and hand Unchecked, his fleets he sent abroad, Commission gave, conferr'd command ; And if his sailors skulk'd or fled, He made them shorter by a head. Half Europe's flags he bade retire From ponderous guns he hurl'd the ball- He fill'd his glass with liquid fire And drank damnation to them all : For many a year he held the swajf And thousands at his mercy lay. Confiding in his castle's strength Mann'd by a fierce heroic crew, He blunder'd on till they at length, The model of a city drew, Where he might reign and be obey'd, And be the tyrant of all trade. Vain hope ! his fort neglected stands And, crumbling, hastens to decay ; Where, once, he train 1 d his daring bands The stranger scarcely finds bis way ; BLACKBEARD, 151 The bushes in the castle grow Where once he menaced friend and foe, In this mysterious scene of things There must be laws or who could live ? There must be laws to aid the wings Of those who on the ocean strive To earn by commerce, bold and free, The honest gains of industry. I THE HERMIT AND THE TRAVELLER, The ground was white with hail and snow, The storm was high, the sun was low, And every stream had ceased to flow. A traveller sought a lonely shed In hopes to find a fire and bed, To warm his feet and rest his hcadL U2 FRENEAU'S POEM&. And blest are they in wintry vales When every hope before them fails Who find such shelter from such gales'. A hut itself, secure and dry, A refuge from the inclement sky, Who would not enter thankfully ? A hermit, of a mild address, Who long had lodged in this recess, The Solon of the wilderness, Accosting, bade the stranger come And welcome, to his little home, Where all was but one little room. Thus welcomed to the poor abode v Awhile he ruminating stood In sober and reflective mood. 44 What solace here can misery meet (Said he) no fire to warm my feet, No bedding in this cold retreat. This hut may guard from snow and ram But all i<* cold, and poor, and mean, So, fare you well ; I'll walk again." lie went and as the night came on, The snow came fiercer driving down 4Vas dark, and hope itself was gone. HERMIT AND TRAVELLER. He wander'd here, and wander'd there While all around him gloom' d despair, The howling storm, the chilling air. Now, to regain the humble shed And make a sheaf of straw his bed Was all the gleam of hope he had. That night, but whether soon or late It matters not, he met his fate, And enter'd on a future state. Next week, by chance, the hermit grey Across the forest chanced to stray And found the carcass in his way. "Alack! (he cry'd) you should have staid And not have spuru'd my little shed j You should have shared in half I had My oaken bench, my leafy bed : My homely fare of nuts and fruits, The apple dry'd, and turnip roots, And all that for a hermit suits. stranger to the hermit race ! In search of a less humble place 1 see you in a woful case." Learn hence, ye proud, to drop your wings, Slight not the day of litt-e things, Since all that's great from little springs. 154 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Perhaps the proverb may be stale, But heed the meaning of the tale, " Leave not the harbor in a gale" STANZAS To the memory of Gen. WASHINGTON, who died Dec. 14, 1799. Terra tcgit, populus mceret, ceelum habet ! Departing with the closing age To virtue, worth and freedom true, The chief, the patriot, and the sage To Vernon bids his last adieu : To reap in some exalted sphere The just rewards of virtue here. Thou, Washington, by heaven design'd To act a part in human things That few have known among mankind, And far beyond the task of kings ; We hail you now to heaven received, Your mighty task on earth achieved. While sculpture and her sister arts, For thee their choicest wreaths prepare. GENERAL WASHINGTON. 155 Fond gratitude her share imparts And begs thy bones for burial there ; Where, near Virginia's northern bound Swells the vast pile on federal ground. To call from their obscure abodes The grecian chief, the roman sage, The kings, the heroes, and the gods Who flourished in time's earlier age, Would be to class them not with you, Superior far, in every view. Those ancients of ferocious mould, Blood their delight, and war their trade, Their oaths profaned, their countries sold, And fetter'd nations prostrate laid ; Could these, like you, assert their claim To honor and immortal fame ? Those monarchs, proud of pillaged spoils, With nations shackled in their train, Returning from their desperate toils With trophies, and their thousands slaia ; In all they did no traits are known Like those thathonor'd Washington. Who now will save our shores from harms, The task to him so long assigned ? Wno now will rouse our youth to arms Should war approach to curse mankind ? Alas ! no more the word you give, But in your precepts you survive FRENEAU'S POEMS. Ah, gone ! and none your place supply, Nor will your equal soon appear; But that great name can only die When memory dwells no longer here, When man and all his systems must Dissolve, like you, and turn to dust* STANZAS SAME SUBJECT WITH THE PRECEDING The chief who freed these suffering lands From Britain's bold besieging bands. The hero, through all countries known The guardian genius of his own, Is gone to that celestial bourne From whence no traveller can return, Where Scipio and where Trajan went : And heaven reclaims the soul it lent. Each heart with secret wo congeals ; Dpwn the the pale cheek moist sorrow steals. WASHINGTON. And all the nobler passions join To mourn, remember, and resign. O ye, who crave the marble bust To celebrate poor human dust, And from the silent shades of death Retrieve the form but not the breath* Vain is the attempt by force of art To impress his image on the heart : It lives, it glows, in every breast, And tears of millions paint it best. Indebted to his guardian care, And great alike in peace or war, The loss they feel these STATES deplore, Their friend.... their father,. ..is no more. What will they do to avow their grief? No sighs, no tears, afford relief ; Dark mourning weeds but ill express The poignant wo that all confess ; Nor will the monumental stone Assuage one tear relieve one groaa. O Washington ! thy honor'd dust To parent nature we entrust ; Convinced that your exalted mind Still lives, but soars beyond mankind, Stiil acts in virtue's sacred cause, "\or asks from man his vain applause. O 158 FRENEAU'S POEMS. In raptures with a theme so great, While thy famed action^ they relate, Each future age from thee shall knotv All that is good and great below ; Shall glow with pride to hand thee down To 'atest time, to long renown. The brightest name on freedom's page, And the first honor of our age. STANZAS Occasioned by certain absurd, extravagant, and even blasphemous , anegyrics and encomiums on the cha racter of :h<> late gr>d< This puts you in your s -mour's seat, That makes you dreadful in retreat. One says, you are became a star, One makes you more resplendent* far ; One sings, that, when to death you bow'd, Old mother nature shrieked aloud. We grieve to see such pens profane The irst of chiefs, the first of men. x FRKNEAU'S POEMS. To Washington a man who died, Is abbafather well applied ? Absurdly, in a frantic strain, Why ak him not for sun and rain ? We sicken at the vile applause That bids him give the ocean tans. Ye patrons of the ranting strain, What temples have been rent in twain ? Wiiat fiery chariots have been sent To dignify the sad event ? O, ye profane, irreverent few, Who reason's medium never knew : On you she never glanced her beams , You carry all things to extremes. Shall they, who spring from parent eartH? Pretend to more than mortal birth ? Or, to the omnipotent allied, Control his heaven, or join his side ? O, is there not some chosen curse, Some vengeance due, with lightning's force That far and wide destruction spreads, To burst on such irreverent heads ! Had they, in life, be-praised him so, What would have been the event, I know H would have spurn'd them, with Or riish'd upon their, with his cane. WASHINGTON. 1.6.1 He was no god, ye flattering knaves, He owrid no world, he ruled no waves ; But and exalt it, if you can, He was the upright, HONEST This was his glory, this outshone Those attributes you doat upon : On this strong ground he took his stand. Such yirtue saved a sinking land. REFLECTIONS ON THE MUTABILITY OF THINGSI 798. The time is approaching deny it who may, The days are not very remote, When the pageant that glitter'd for many a day, On the stream of oblivion will float. The times are advancing when matters will turn, And some, who are now in the shade, Anti pelted by malice, or treated with scorn.. Will pay, io the coin that was paid : O 2 162 FRENEAU'S POEMS. The time it will be, when the people aroused,, For better arrangements prepare, And firm to the cause, that of old they espoused, Their steady attachment declare : When tyrants will shrink from the face of ine day, Or, if they presume to remain, To the tune of peccavi, a solo will play, And lower the royalty strain : When government favors to flattery's press Will halt on their way from afar, And people will laugh at the comical dress Of the knights of the garter and star : When a^ monarch, new fangled, with lawyer and scribe, In junto will cease to convene, Or take from old Eng T and a pitiful bribe, To pamper his ** highness serene;" When virtue and merit will have a fair chance The loaves and the fishes to share, And JEFFERSON, you to your station advance, The man for the president's chair : When honesty, honor, experience, approved, No more in disgrace will retire ; When fops from the places of trust are removed And the leaders of faction retire. ( 163 ) MILITARY RECRUITING : TO A RECRUIT FQSD OF SEGAR SMOKING. - -Ex fumo dare lucem Gogitat, ut speciosa dehinc rniraciila promat. IIOR When first I arrived to the age of a man And met the distraction of care, As the day to a close rather sorrowful ran Yet I smiled and I smoked my segar : O, how sweet did it seem What a feast, wha.t a dream What a pleasure to smoke the segar ! In vain did the din of the females assail Or the noise of the carts in the street, With a Spanish segar and a pint of good ale J found my enjoyment complete : Old care I dismissed While 1 held in my fist The pitcher, and smoked the segar. What a world are we in, if we do not retire, And, at times, to the tavern repair 164 FRENEAU'S POEMS. To read the gazette, by a hickory fire, With a sixpence or shilling to spare, To handle the glass And an evening pass With the help of a lively segar. The man of tho closet, who studies and reads, And prepares Tor the wars of the bar ; The priest who harangues, or the lawyer who pleads. What are they without the segar ? What they say may be right, But they give no delight Unless they have smoked the segar. The farmer still plodding, who follows his plough. A calling, the first and the b.^st, Would care not a fig for the sweat on his bro>? If he smoked a segar with the rest : To the hay loft alone I would have tt unknown, For there a segar 1 detest. The sailor who climbs and ascends to the yard Bespatter'd and blacken'd with tar, Would think his condition uncommonly hard If he did not indulge the segar, To keep them in trim While they merrily swim On the ocean, to countries afar. he soldkr wrtfr/'e?, in the mi. st of the The havoc and carnage of war % MILITARY RECRUITING. 16$ Would stand to his cannon, as firm as a rook. Would they let him but smoke his segar : Every gun in the fort Should make its report From the fire which illumes the segar. Come then, to the tavern, ye sons of the sword, No fear of a wound or a scar ; If your money is gone, your account will be scored By the lady who tends at the bar : And this I can say, Not a cent need you pay .For the use of the social segar. LINES ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEW THEATRK, AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE HOUSE BE TNG PLACER IN THE HANDS OF MR. COOPER. Quid Sophocles, el Thespis, et ^Sschylus utile ferrent Tentavit quoque, rein si digue vertere posset. HOR. This noble pilp, superbly great, In Athens, might have graced her rtnte. 166 FRENE ATI'S POEMS. And rivals all that London claims From brilliant scenes, and boasted names. Whatever the tragic muse affords Will here be told in glowing words : From magic scenes to charm the eyes AH nature's pictures will arise. And she, who charms the sprightly throng. The goddess of the comic song The muse of laughter, and ot'jest Will bring amusement, with tlu rest. And COOPER, here, who leads the train Of sorrow, pleasure, pity, pain, A Roscius, of superior powers, The modern Garrick now is ours. He will display on nature's stage (Or nature copied from her page) The force of all that Shakspeare writ, All Otway's grief and Congreve's wit, With him a chosen band agree To make the stage what it should be, The serious moral to impart, To cheer the mind and mend the heart. The manners of the age t'improve, To enforce the power of virtuous love, Chaste morals in the soul t' implant Which most admire, and many waist THE NEW THEATRE. 167 On such a plan, theatric shows Do honor to the thespian muse, Impart a polish to the mind ; Instruct and civilize mankind. Ye sages who in morals deal, But all the pleasing side conceal, From hence, confess that morals As surely take the brilliant way. With such an object in our view Let Thespis all her art pursue, When autumn brings thr lengthening night^ And reason to her least invites. 6* THE PEAK OF PICO ; F THE AZORES, OR WESTERN ISLANDS.- Attracted to this airy steep Above the subject hills, Ocean, from his surrounding deep The urn oi' Pico fills* 168 FRENEAU'S POFMS. Thence gushing streams, unstinted, stray To glad the mountain's side ; Or, winding through the Tallies, gay, Through fields, and groves, and vineyards glide, To him the plains their verdure owe Confessing what your smiles bestow, Thou Peak of the Azores. From day to day the unwearied sail Surveys your towering cone, And when tb'adjacent prospects fail, And neighboring isles no more they hail, You meet the eye alone. Twice forty miles the exploring eye Discerns you o'er the waste, 2f ow, a blue turret in the sky When not by mists embraced. Long may you stand, the friendly mark, To those who sail afar, The spot that guides the wandering barque, A second polar star. C 169 ) A BACCHANALIAN DIALOGUE. WRITTEN 1803. Arrived at Madeira, the island of vines, Where mountains and vallies abound, Where the sun the mild juice of the cluster refines; To gladden the magical ground : As pensive I stray'd in her elegant shade, Now halting and now on the move, Old Bacchus I met, with a crown on his head* In the darkest recess of a grove. I met him with awe, but no symptom of fear As I roved by his mountains and springs, When he said with a sneer, " how dare you come here, You hater of despots and kings ? Do you know that a prince, and a regent renown'd Presides in this island of wine ? Whose fame on the earth has encircled it rouud And spreads from the pole to the line ? Haste away with your barque : on the foam of tfc*; main '"? Charlestofl I bid roc repair ' P 170 FREXEAU'S POEMS. There drink your Jamaica, that maddens the brain ; You shall have no Madeira I swear." 14 Dear Bacchus," (I answered) for Bacchus it was That spoke in this menacing tone : I knew by the smirk and the flush on his face It was Bacchus, and Bacchus alone ** Dear Bacchus, (I answered) ah, why so severe ? Since your nectar abundantly flows, Allow me one cargo without it I fear Some people will soon come to blows : I left them in wrangles, disorder, and strife, Political feuds were so high, I was sick of their quarrels, and sick of my life, And almost requested to die." The deity smiling, replied, " I relent : For the sake of your coming so far, Here, taste of my choicest go, tell them repent, And cease their political war. With the cargo I send, you may say, I intend To hush them to peace and repose ; With this present of mine, on the wings of the wind You snail travel, and tell them, here goes A health to old Bacchus ! who sends them the best Of the nectar his island affords, The soul of the feast aul the joy of the guest, Too good for your xnonnrchs and lords. A BACCHANALIAN DIALOGUE. 17.1 ISf o rivals have I in this insular waste, Alone will I govern the isle With a king at my feet, and a court to my taste. And all in the popular style. But a spirit there is in the order of things, To me it is perfectly plain, That will strike at the sceptres of despots and kings., And only king Bacchus remain." STANZAS, Written at the island of Madeira, on the fatal and wn~ precedented torrents of water nhich collected from the mo- ntains on n neglect ? FRENEAU'S POEMfc All I can say is what I mean, $[ay you embrace each IphigeTM, And hug and kiss them all the while, These fair Calypsoes of the isle : Then if what Sappho said, be true, Blest as the immortal gods are you. For me, not favor'd so by fate, I venture not behind the grate : There dragons guard the golden fleece. And nymphs immured find no release: Forbidden fruit you weekly see, Forbidden fruit on every tree, Where he who tastes, may look for strife, Where he who touches ventures life. The jealous priests, with threatening Look hard at all approaching nigh ; The monks have charge of brittle ware. The friar bids you have a care ; That they alone the fruit may eat That fills religion's last retreat : The mother abbess looks as sour'd As if you had the fruit devoured, And bids the stranger haste aroay>*~~ Not rich enough for fruit to pay. How much unlikes our western fair, Who breathe the sweets of freedom's air; Go where they please, do what they will, Themselves are their own guardians still : - Then come, and on our distant shore Some blooming rural nymph adorr; ANSWER TO AN INVITATION. 181 And do not make the day remote, For time advances, quick as thought, When thus some grave rebuke will say When you approach the maiden gay : * You should have courted in your prime, * Our Anastasia's, at that time ' When blood ran quick, and Hymen said, * Colin ! my laws must be obey'd.' Your card to slight, I'm much diftrest, Your card has robb'd me of my rest : Should I attempt the nuns to accost The priests might growl, and all be lost : My cash might fail me when to pay ; No chance, perhaps, to run away ;- So, I decline the needless task Return to Charleston, with the cask Of wine, you send from Teneriffe, To gkd some hearts, and dry up grief: I add, some dangerous neighbors here May disappoint my hopes I fear ; The breakers near the vessel roll ; The fee-ward shore, the rocky shoal ! The whitening sons that constant lave The craggy strand of Oratave ; The expected gale, the adjacent rock Each moment threatens all our stock, And Neptune, in his giant cup Stands lurking near, to gulp it up. But here's a health to Neptune's sons Who man the yard nor dream of nun*. ( 182 SENIORA JULIA, LEAVING A DANCE, UNDER PRETENCE OF DROWSINESS She, at the soul enlivening, ball, And in the lamp illumined hall But small amusement found ; She shunn'd the cards' bewitching play, 15he shnnn'd the noisy and the gay, Nor cared for music's sound. No nymph discovered so much spleen, Was so reserved as Julia, seen On that enchanting night : And yet she had her part to say When young Almagro shared the play.. Then cards were her delight. But he retired, amid the dance ; He heard, he said, of news from France, And of a serious cast : He wish'd to know beyond all doubt. What Bonaparte was now about, Igng his sway would last. 8ENIORA JULIA. 1 Then, Julia made a good retreat, But left the assembly incomplete ; She was with sleep oppress'd. Who shall the midnight dance prolong Who lead the minuet, raise the song Where Julia is no guest ? Yet, love declared her judgment right, And wbisper'd, whrn she bade good night And feign'd an aching head, 14 While some retreat and some advance, Let them enjoy the festive dance, You, Julia, go to bed." LINES ON 8ENIORA JULIA, OF PORT ORATAVE* Adorn'd with every charm that beauty gives, That nature lends, or female kind receives, Good sense and virtue on each feature shine ; She is she is not yes, she is divine. She speaks, she moves with all attracting grace, And smiles display the angrl on the face ; Her aspect all, what female would not share ? What youth but worship, with a mind so fair ? 184 FRKNEAU'S POEMS. In this famed isle, the cloud-eapp'd Teneriffe, Where health abounds and languor finds relief; In this bright isle, when Julia treads the plain, What rapture fires the bosom of the swain. At her approach, the breast untaught to glow, Like the vast peak, retains eternal snow. Feels not the first, best ardors of the mind ; Respect and awe, to lore and friendship join'd. When to Laguna's* heights she deigns to stray, To myrtle bowers, and gardens ever gay, Where spring eternal on the fragrant grove Breathes the bright scenes of harmony and love ; All eyes, attracted, by her graceful mem View her, the unrivall'd favorite of the green, And when, too soon, she would the garden leave, See Paradise forsaken by its Eve. Return, bright nymph, attractive as admired, And be what Plato from your sex required ; Mild as your clime, that rarely knows a storm, The angelic nature in a female form. Canary's f towns their splendid halls prepare, But all is dark, when Julia is not there. Not Oralava, on the sea-beat shore, In her gay circles finds one Julia more, Not high | L&velia boasts so sweet a face ; Not Garrachica could yourself replace ; * An ancient town once the capital. Four miles from the sea f Canary, a large island, south eastward of TeuerifFe. city in th* moaataias. SENIOR A JULIA. 18$ Not old Laguna can supply your loss, Nor yet the city of the holy-cross.} Where love and pasjsion, from the world con- ceal'd : Devotion's winter has to frost congeal 1 tl : Yet beauty, there, adorns the brilliant dome, Invites her loves, and bids her votaries come ; Fair Santa-Cruz her beauty, too, commands, And, was but Julia there, unrivali'd stands. Flush'd with the blessings of the generous vine, The island bards, to honor you, combine ; The stranger guest, all tongues, when you appear, Confess you, lovely, charming, all things dear ; Among the rest, accept my homely lay, The last respect I can to Julia pay : A different subject soon my verse awaits, Contending powers, or disunited states ^ Yet shall remembrance renovate the past, And, when you die, your name unfading last : Though mists obscure, or oceans round m.e swell, To the deep seas I go, the world to tell That Julia, foremost, does this isle engage, And moves the first, bright VENUS of my page. Santa- Cruz, th; capital - t on the south east quarter of the island. ( 186 ) RURAL NYMPH, Descending from one of the Madeira mountains, with a bundle of fuel wood, en her head. Six miles, and more, with nimble foot She en me from somesequestred spot, A handsome, swarthy, rustic maid With furze and fern, upon her head : The burthen hid a bonnet blue, The only hat, perhaps she knew, No slippers on her feet were seen ; Yet every step displayed a mein As if she might in courts appear, Though placed by wayward fortune here. An english man, who saw her, said, Your burthen is too heavy laid, Dear irl your lot is rather hard, And, after all, a poor reward : This is not labor suiting you, Come with me home to England go, And yo-j 5:r.v : ! bavc -> tssaA h ^-> *:jur, JL silken gown and something more,, A RURAL NYMPH. IS? * Disturb me not (the girl replied) 4 1 choose to walk let others ride : 1 1 would not leave yond' rugged hill 4 To have your London at my will * You are too great for such as I :- ' When thus the briton made reply : ' Had I font thirty years to spare * And you precisely what yon are, * H \ t>ea yon thirty vear a^o le of living, high or low, * You should have been a lady gay, ' And dizzen'd out as fine as May : * Why stay you here, to face the sun, * And drudging till the day is ."oae, * While little to the purse it brings 'But little store of little things ?' Sh said, * before the sun was up * I finisit'ti with my chocolate cup : * A hank of yarn I {'airly spun, * And, when the hank of yarn was done, ' To have a fire, and cook our mess * 1 t avell'd yonder wilderness ; 4 I climb'd a mountain very tall, * Unwearied, and without a fall, ' And gathiT'd up this little pack * Which now you see me carrying back ; * Your northern girls at this might laugh, * But such a jaunt would kill them half 4 J itarb :? > > ; t. J nust goon ; ' Ten minutes, while I talk, are gone/ 18g FREtfEAU'S POEMS. If she grew rich by harJis of yarn, Is more than we shall ever learn ; 11' thrive she did by climbing hills, No history or tradition tells ; But this we know, and this we say, That where a despot hoKls the swaj , To pay the tax of king and queen The common herd are poor and mean. The slavrs of lonis the slaves of priests, And nearly saddled, like the beasts. Where liberty erects her reign DM cwa would have had her swain, With horse and cow which she had not, Nor ever to possess them thought : She would have had, to save her feet, ' A pair of shoes and suit complete. A decent dress, and not of rags, A state above the rank of hags ; A language if not over fine, At least above the beggar's whine. Yet such attend on fortune's frowns, And such support the pride of crowns. OF voi-. BOOKS PUBLISHED, AND FOR SALE BV David Longworth, NO. 11, PARK, NEW-YORK. [From an english paper.] COOKE THE ACTOR. Just published in 2 vois. Bvo. price 1 guinea, memoirs of the life of GEORGE FREDERICK COOKE, esq formerly of the theatre royal, Covent Garden, and late of the american the atres, by William Dunlap, esq. composed principally from the MS journals, and other authentic documents left by Mr. COOK Ei, and the personal knowledge of the author : and com prising original anecdotes of his theatrical contemporaries, his opinions on various dramatic works, &c. &c. 44 This work cannot fail of being acceptable, as it abounds in entertaining anecdotes of his theatrical cotemporaries. It is written with great vivacity and candor. Our thanks are due to mr. DuiSJj.\P for a considerable degree of information on theatrical subjects, and much amusement in the perusal of the narrative." British Critic. Nov. *' Mr. DUNLAP deserves considerable praise for the correct ness and variety of his anecdotes, and the vivacity with v* hich they are detailed. The work abounds in animadversions on COOKERS english cotemporaries. 11 Reviewer, No. 25. u We have seldom been more amused and instructed than by the perusal of these volumes The characteristic singularity of the adventures they record, tiie lively sketches of the individuals connected with the dramatic art, and the impressive lessons to he derived from the journal of Cooke himself, all conspire to awaken the curiosity of the stranger, and to command the in terest of the philosophical observer of life and manners." Theatrical Inquisitor. The above work was originally published by D LONG WORTH, price 250 cts. It contains a capital likeness of COOKE, in a style not irxcelled by any portrait engraving iu America : also Cooke in his excelling character. Richard. THE ADVENTURES OF TELE,VUCHUS, son of Ulysses, from the french of FENELON By the celehr.Uod John Hawkeswortk, L. L. D. corrected and revised by G- Gregory. D. D. with a life of the author, and a complete index, historical and geographical embellished with sixteen engraving?, in 2 vols. (>vo. elegant price 3 dol'ars. There is no other tans of TELEMACHUS which may be compared with thft Books published, &rc. by D. Longwortb. FABLES OF FLORA, elegant By Langhorae I dil. 5Q cU AMERICAN REVOLUTION, particularly relative to the state? of N. and S. CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. By WM. MOULTRIE, esq. late governor of S. CAROLINA, and MAJOR GENERAL in the revolutionary army of the U. S. 2 vob. 8vo. 5 dollars. BEAUTIES OF THE BOTANIC GARDEN, consisting of all the episodes, #c. which are amusing to the mere poetic reader, divested of the philosophical and botanic disquisi tions, #c. ISino. elegant 1 dollar '37 1-2 cents. CASTLE OF OTRANTO, by Horace Walpole. This is the father of modern rom.ince. This volume contains, likewise, LOTHAIRE, by Harriet Lee j and the PAINTER OF FLORENCE, by R. 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Beside the elegance and taste ful language of this work, the pleasing information conveyed in the notes, of tlie manners, customs, and fashions of the arahs, highly recommend it. The description also of a RO MAN TRIUMPH is extremely picturesque. 1 vol. elegant 1 dollar 37 1-2 cents. DON RAPHAEL, a romance. BV G. Walker, author of Three Spaniards, &o.2 vote. 2 dollars 25 cents. ENCHANTED PLANTS, Fables in verse, elegant 1 dollar 37 1-2 cents. HSPRIELLA'S LETTERS FROM ENGLAND, (supposed to b& written by a Spaniard.} By R. Southey. Tins is the second AMERICAN EDITION, and contains notes by the AMSKI- -n f&tiimqfTHE PLI'.ASURES AND P VINSOF MEM- (>'' > 18mo. vriti) seven engravings and cuts, 1 dollar bo rdg. A ft' : and improved edition of SALMAGUNDI, or the whim- whams and opinions of Launcelot LarigstafF, esq. and others : In hoc est hoax, cum quiz et jokesez, Et smokem, toastem, roastcm folksez j Fee, faw, fum. With baked, and broiled, and stewed, and toasted ; And fried, and boiled, and smoked, and roasted j We treat the town. In addition to the original portrait ^f L. LANGSTAFF, esq. in the former ed. this contains that of the LITTLE MAN IN BLACKS-AUNT CHARITY WM. WIZARD esq. M AL- VOLIO DUBSTER and of the WALTZ dance 2 dlls. 50 cts. THE YEAR, (1812) a poem in three cantoes by William Leigh Pierce, e>q. (lately deceased) 44 Now happy he whose cloak and cincture can Keep out this tempest. "I dollar BELLES LETTRES REPOSITORY four annual publications of this work was made in the manner of a pocket almanac For the set 3 dollars. EMBOSSED and FANCY, MF;SS\GE, AND VISITING * CARDS, amounting to upwards of 20 different patterns also, % black and plam and gilt edged. COLLECTION OF POEMS, AMERICAN AFFAIRS, AXD A VARIETY OF OTHER SUBJECT^?, CHIEFLY MORAL AND POLITICAL J WRITTEN BETWEEN THE YEAR 1797 AND THE PRE SENT TIME. BY PHILIP FRENEAU, Author of Poems written during ihe Revolutionary War, Miscellanies, Sic. &c. IN TWO VOLUMES. Then England come ! a sense of wrong requires To meet with thirteen stars your thousand fires : Through these stern times the conflict to maintain, r drown them, with your commerce, in the main. vor. ii. NEW-YORK: PCBLISHFD BY DAVID LONGWORTH, At the Dramatic Repository, Shaksp care-Galle ry. CONTENTS OF VOL. II. Royal consultations on the disposal of lord Wellington's army 7o The brook of the valley . . . . 81 Stanzas to aCaty-Did, the precursor of winter . 84 On the lake expeditions towards Canada . . 87 Retaliation: a marine ode 1814 . .89 On the naval attack near Baltimore, September, 1314 90 The sutler and the soldier . . . .92 On political sermons and political pastors . . 97 Stanzas on Napoleon Bonaparte . .100 On the dismission of Bonaparte from the french throne 102 On the battle of lake Erie, 1813 . . .105 On the battle of lake Champlain . . 108 On the death of general Ross, near Baltimore . 112 On the engagement of the privateer brigantine Prince de Neufchatel with the Endymion's barges . 113 The terrific torpedoes ; or, sir Thomas Hardy's soliloquy on board the Ramillies . . . . 116 On the english devastations at the city of Washington 124 A translation from the third book of Lucretius on the nature of things . . . . .126 The two Genii an address to a young lady on her departure from New- York for Charleston . . . 129 The Hypochondriac : or picture of an indolent, repining man 133 Sir Peter petrified at Kent Island, 1814 . 133 On finding a terrapin in the woods,- marked 1756 Lines in memory of captain James Lawrence 14 1 On the britis'h blockade, and the expected attack on New- York . . . US Theodosia in the morning star, or planet Venus . 146 On the capture of the United States 1 frigate Essex . 143 Stanzas by a young lady, on robbing a bee -hive in a warm day in March .... 152 On the loss of the privateer brigantine General Armstrong 154 Pythona : or, the prophetess of Endor, and force of magic 158 On general Miranda's expedition towards the Caraccas 169 Tolsmenia in a severe January . . . 17[ The northern inarch for Chippewa and Bridgewater 173 CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. On the prospect of war and America's wrongs . The musical savage, or power of music on the mind of a bar barian . Epitaph on a worthy person who died in hi? fiftieth year To the memory of the honorable Judge Burke, of S. Car olina ...... Stanzas written at Poplar Hill, in Pennsylvania . On the symptoms of hostilities 1809 . . Lines addressed to mr Jefferson, on his retirement from the presidency of the United States 1 80^ ' Stanzas on the decease of Thomas Paine 1809 . The blast of November : occasioned by an accident on the Hudson . ... The tomb of the patriots The duellists : a story known to be authentic . . lie shipwrecked sailor . On commercial depredations . On the capture of tht- Guerrjere, August 19, 1812. . The volunteer's march 1814 . . . . The battle, of Stonington, August, 1814 . . Heaving the lead : a marine story, founded on fact , To the lake squadrons . . The prince regent's resolve . . The parade and sham-fight : a pine forest picture . On the british invasion 1814 . . . To America : on english depredations on the coast On the conflagrations at Washington, August 1814 . On Hunching the seventy four gun ship Independence . A. dialogue at Washington's tomb FRENEAU'S POEMS. ON THE PROSPECT OF WAR. AMERICAN WRONGS. Americans ! rouse at the rumors of war, Which now are distracting the hearts of the nation, A flame blowing up, to extinguish your power And leave you, a prey, to another invasion ; A second invasion, as bad as the old, When, northward or southward, wherever they stroll'd, With heart and with hand, a murdering band Of vagrants, came over to ravage your land : For liberty's guard, you are ever array'd And know how to fight, in the sun or the shade. Remember the cause that induced you to rise When oppression advanced, with her king-making host, Twas the cause of our nation that bade you despise And drive to destruction all England's proud host, Who, with musket and sword, under men they adored. Rush'd into each village and rifled each shade To murder the planter, and ravish the maid. VOT.. TT. B 10 FRE^EAU'S POKMS. What though yon arose, and resolved to be free, With spirit to nurable all Europe combining, You had soon bit the dust or b;en drown'd in the fiea By the slaves of a king, and a court all designing, Had not liberty s\vore she would cover your shore, Her colors display'd, and with vengeance repaid The myriads that came from a blood-thirsty isle Our groves, and our streams, and our beds to defile, Our churches defaced, by a merciless foe, Or made the poor captive's drstress'd habitation : The prison-ship, fraught with its cargo of wo, Where thousands were starved, without shame or compassion ; All these, and yet more, were the evils we bore From a m iherly dame, Great Britain her name, From a nation, that once we accounted our friends, Who would shackle the country, that freedom defends. All true-born americans ! join, as of old ; For freedom's defence, be your firm resolution ; Whoever invades you by force, or with gold, Alike is a foe lo a free constitution : Unite to pull down that imposture, a crown ; Oppose it ? 4 t least, tis a mark of the beast : AH tyranny *s engines again are at work To make you as poor and us base as the turk. AbandonM to all the intrigprs of a kna^'e, with sharpers of every description, _ ON THE PROSPECT OF WAR. 11 They would plunder our towns, and prohibit the wave ; Their treaties of commerce are all a deception : Not a ship do we send but they rob without end ; With their law of blockade they have ruin'd our trade ; The shops of mechanics at midnight they burn That home manufactures may cease to be worn. Look round the wide world ; and observe with a sigh. Wherever a monarch presides o'er a nation, Sweet nature appears with a tear in her eye, And the mantle of sorrow enshrouds the creation- Th* oc'Mii is o.'iainM, all freedom restrained, The soil is resign'd to the pests of mankind, To royals and nobles, the guard of the throne, And the slaves they have bribed, to make freedom their own. All bail to the nation, immortal and great, Who, rising on bold philosophical pinion, Reforms, and enlightens, and strengthens the state, Not places her weal in excess of dominion. What reason can do she intends to pursue ; And true to the plan, on which she began, Will the volume unfold she to freedom assijrn'd, Till tyrants are chased from the sight of mankind. Since the day we declared, they were masters no more, The day we arese from the colony station, 2 FRENEAU'3 POEMS, Has England attacked us, by sea and by shore, In war by the sword, as in peace by vexation ; impressment they claim'd, till ou- seamen, ashamed, Grew sick of our flag, that against the old hag Of Britain, no longer their freedom protected But left them, like slaves, to be lash'd and corrected, Old Rome, that in darkness so long had been lost, Since on her republic bright freedom was shining : The warmth of her spirit congeal'd in a frost, Under tyrants and popes, many centuries, pining : At the close ot the page, who can bridle his rage To see her return to the fetters she broke, When tyranny sicken'd, and liberty spoke : What an image ot clay have they thrown in her way ! The king auo the priest on her carcass will feast ; When tiieje are allied, the world they divide ; The nations th^y plunder, the nations they kill, And bend all the force of the mind to their will : Not the spirit to rise, or the strength to command, But i rial's and monks and the scum of the land. No more of your Aero'*, or Ccesars complain, Leave Brutus and Cato, and take them again* But reason, that sun, whose unquenchable ray Progressive, hasdawn'd on the night of the mind. From the source of all good, may hereafter display, And man a more dignified character find : As far as example aud vigor can go, As long as forbearance and patience will do, The western republic mil carry it through; ON THE PROSPECT OP WAR. 13 May order and peace through the nations increase, AnJ murder, and plunder, and tyranny cease : Mj,y justice and honor through empires prevail And all the bad passions vreigu light in the scale, Till man is the being tiwt nature at first Placed here, to be happy, and not to be cursed. Approaching, at hand, in the progress of time, An era will come, to begin its career, When freedom reviving, and man in his prime, His rights will assert, and maintain without fear Of that cunning, bold race, who our species dis grace ; On the blood of a nation who make calculation To rise into splendor and fill a high station ; Na,y, climb to the throne on a villanous plan To plunder his substance, and trample on man. 14 MUSICAL SAVAGE. express^ to the musician, the extalic emo tions of a missouri indian, on his Jirst hearing the violin played, or band of music, that accompanied cap tain LEWIS on his expedition to the Columbia- River* 1 " A god resides within that shell Who taught it how to sing so well ? And such a pleasing story tell ? " The heavens unclose a voice I hear v The voice of joy, the voice of fear ; Momcto,* with his music, uear. " It brings a battle to my eye It makes me laugh it makes me cry It bids me rave, I know not why. " You are my friend, you are my foe r If longer you enrage me so, You fall a victim to my bow. " Whose tracks arc thrse ? a warrior chief' And does he come to give me grief! Why do I fear the falling leaf ? " The common name for the Supreme Being, smongthe w orthern Indiana. MUSICAL SAVAGE. 14 The nerves of twenty brace rny limbs The ice of death around me swims The tear of wo my eye be-dimms. M Who burnt our towns ? the road osage,f Go, bring his scalp the battle wage A thousand moons calm not my rage. '* The prisoner seized ! all vengeance take ! no ! release him from the stake Put out the fire ! his fetters break ! <; Rucana, come ! I doat once more Your bosom, with yourself, restore 1 never miss'd you so before ! " I scorch in flames till you arrive : Give me your hand your kisses give ! For you 1 burn for you I live. " Now strike up valor from the string I aim the dart I whirl the sling, And now upon a tiger spring. " The shivering blood my hrart forsakes^ Through every vein an ague shakes When to the god the spirit speaks ! " My soul revives ! the Feast prepare ! The stranger shall our ven'son share My doom is fixt my heaven is near ! sages are a very powerful nation of Indians, inhabiting a vast region, far to the westward, on the north and south ' e worth, no tongue, no time arraigns, That last memorial, and the best remains ! TVRITTEW AT POPLAR-HILL, PENNSYLVANIA. Arrived at Poplar-hill A mansion strikes the eye, Where health and pleasure dwell, Love, peace; and harmony : Though distant from the view, Fond fancy brings it near, Since, pensive Susan, you Are gone to inhabit there, Now at her spinning wheel ; And now 1 see her stray Where willows half conceal My wonted, well known, way How happy shall he be, More blest than on a throne, To whom the heavens decree That mansion for his own. Her gardens forni'd with care. From this enchanting height, IT. i trfvs, so frt'si: ana fair, Are objects of deiight : 20 FRENEAU'S POEMS, Manhattan's happy vales Not so alii ire my heart : And all description fails, A likeness to impart. Ybnd* hills, unknown to fame, Their streams that never cease, The meadows all proclaim The golden age of peace. Let others rove at will More splendid scenes to see, The view from Poplar-hill Shall be the view for me, ON THE SYMPTOMS OF HOSTILITIES. 1809 But will they once more be engaged in a war, Be fated to discord again ? A peace to the nations will nothing restore But the challenge of death and a deluge of gore A modern crusade Is undoubtedly made : With treaties rejected, and treaties renewed, A permanent treaty they never conclude. SYMPTOMS OF HOSTILITIES. 21 And who is to blame ? we submissively ask Did nature predestine this curse to mankind ; Or is it the cruel detestable task That tyrants impose, with their minions combined ? We are anxious to know The source of our wo In a world where the blessings of nature abound Why discord, the bane of her blessings, is found. Must our freedom, our labors, our commerce, our all Be tamely surrendered, to tyrants convey'd ; Must the flag of the country disgracefully fall, To be torn by the dogs of the slaughtering trade ? Does no one reply, With a tear in his eye, It must be the case, if we do not resent What monarchs have menaced and tyranny meant. Not a ship, or a barque, that departs from the shore But her cargo is plundered, her sailors are slain, Or arriving in England, we see them no more, Condemned in the court of deceit and chicane. Where their wicked decrees And their costs and their fees Have ruin'd the merchant mechanics half fed, And sailors uncaptured are begging their bread. To reason with tyrants is surely absurd ; To argue with them is to preach to the deaf: They argue alone by the length of the sword ; Their honor the same as the word of a thief. OT;. Tl. r 22 FRENEAU'S POEMS. In such to confide When a cause they decide, Is the wolf and the lamb (if the tale we recall) Where the weakest and meekest must go to the wall. But an englishman's throat is expanded so wide Not the ocean itself is a mess for his maw : .And missions there are, and a scoundrel employ 'd To divide, and to rule by the jlorentine law* : New-England must join In the knavish design, As some have predicted to those who believe *eut ~ 9 The event is at hand may the devil deceive 'em, With an empire at sea and an empire on land. And the system projected, monopolization, The western republic no longer will stand Than answers the views of a desperate nation, Who have shackled the east, Made the native a beast, And are scheming to give us the matter is clear > A man of their own for the president's chair. Then arouse from your slumbers, ye men of the west, Already the Indian his hatchet displays -Ohio's frontier, and Kentucky distrest ; The village, and cottage, are both in a blase * Then Indian and english No longer distinguish, "* Nicholas Machiavel's maxim, divide et itnpera ; divide 2'i govern. He.^ras a oatire of Florerc% "a Italy. SYMPTOMS OF HOSTILITIES. 23 They bribe, and are bribed, for a warfare accurst ; Of the two, we can hardly describe which is worst, la the court of king Hog was a council convened, In which they agreed we are growing too strong ; They snuffled and grunted, and loudly complained The sceptre would fall, if they sufler'd it long ; To cut up our trade Was an object, they said, The nearest and dearest of all in their view ; Not a fish should be caught if old England said, No ? Then arouse from your slumbers, ye men of the west, A war is approaching, there's room to suppose ; The rust on your guns we abhor and detest, So brighten them up we are coming to blows With the queen of the ocean The prop of devotion, The bulwark of all that is truly divine ; A motto she often has put on her sign. ( 24 ) LINES ADDRESSED TO MR. JEFFERSON, &n his retirement from the presidency of the United *18fM. Praesenti tibi matures largimur honores HOR. To you, great sir, our heartfelt prnise WK give, And, your ripe honors yield you while you live. , At length the year, which marks his course, ex pires, And JEFFERSON from public life retires ; That year, the close of years, which own his claim, And give him all his honors, all his tame. Far in the heaven of fame I see him fly, Safe in the realms of immortality : On EQUAL WORTH his honorM mantle falls, HIM, whom Columbia her true patriot calls ; Him, whom we saw her codes of freedom plan, To none inferior in the ranks of man. When to the helm of state your country calPd No danger awed you and no tear appall 'd ; Each bosom, faithful to its country's claim, FJail'd JEFFERSON, that long applauded name ; MR. JEFFERSON. 3$ AU, then, was dark, and wrongs on wrongs accrued Oartreasitres wasted, and our strength subdued ; What seven long years of war and blood had gain'd, Was lost, abandoned, squandered, or restraint : Britannia's tools had schemed their easier way, To conquer, ruin, pillage, or betray ; Domestic traitors, with exotic, join'd, To shackle this last refuge of mankind ; Wars were provoked, and FRANCE was made our foe, Tfeat George's race might govern all below, O'er this wide world, uncheck'd, unbounded, reign,, Seize every clime, and subjugate the main. All this was seen anrl rising in your might, Bf genius aided, you reclaimed our right, TJsst RIGHT, which conquest, arms, and valor gave T& this young nation not to live a slave. And what but toil has your long service seen ? Diark tempests gathering o'er a sky serene For wearied years no mines of wealth can pay, Bfo.fame, nor all the plaudits of that day, Which now returns you to your rural shade, Tbe sage's heaven, for contemplation made, Wbo, like the ROMAN, in their country's can? JZxeft their valor, or enforce its laws, And late retiring, every wrong redress'*], their last days to solitude and rest. This great reward a generous natio attends you to your native fields ; 02 BRENEAli'S POEMS. Their grateful thanks for every service clone, And hope, your thorny race of care is run. From your sage counsels what effects arise t The vengeful britoii from our waters flies ; His thundering ships no more our coasts assail, But seize the advantage of the western gale. Though bold and bloody, warlike, proud, and fierce, They shun your vengeance for a MURDERED PEARCK, And starved, dejected, on some meagre shore, Sigh for the country they shall rule no more. Long in the councils of your native land, We saw you cool, unchanged, intrepid, stand ; When the firm CONGRESS, still too firm to yield, Stay'd masters of the long contested field, Your wisdom aided, what their counsels framed By you the murdering savages were tamed That INDEPENDENCE we had sworn to gain, By you asserted (nor DECLARED in vain) We seized, triumphant, from a tyrant's throne, And Britain tctter'd when the work was done. You, when an angry faction vex'd the age, Rose to your place at once, and check'd their rage ; The envenom'd shafts of malice you defied, And turn'd all projects of revolt aside : We saw you libel I'd by the worst of men, While hell's red lamp hung quivering o'er his pen, And fiends congenial every effort try To blast that merit which shall never die ilR. JEFFERSON. 27 These had their hour, and traitors wing'd their flight, To aid the sereechings of distracted night. Vain were their hopes the poison'd darts of hell, Glanced from your flinty shielo\ and harmless fell. All this you bore beyond it all you rose, ]$or as k'd despotic lam to crush your foes. Mild was your language, temperate though severe ', And not less potent than ITHURIEL'S spear To touch the internals in their loathsome guise, Confound their slanders and detect theii lies. All this you graved and, now, what task re., mains, But silent walks on solitary plains : To bid the vast luxuriant harvest grow, The slave be happy and secured from no To illume the statesmen of the times to come With the bold spirit of primeval Rome ; To taste the joys your long tried service brings, And look, with pity, on the cares of kings ; Whether, with NEWTON, you the heavens explore, And trace through nature the creating power, Or, if with morals you reform the age, (Alike, in all, the patriot and the sage) May peace and soil repose, attend you, still, In the lone vale, or on the cloud-capp'd hill, While smiling plenty decks the abundant plant* AIK! hails ASTREA to tiie world again, 28 STANZAS THE DECEASE OF THOMAS PAINE, WHO DIED AT YORK, ON THE 8TH OF JUNE, 1809. Princes and kings decay and die And, instant, rise again : But this is not the case, trust me, With men like THOMAS PAINE, In vain the democratic host His equal would attain : For years to come they will not boast A second Thomas Paine. Though many may bis name assume ;. Assumption is in vain ; For every man has not his plume Whose name is Thomas Paine. Though heaven bestow'd on all its sons Their proper share of brain, It gives to few, ye sim pie oes, The mind of Thomas Paine. To tyrants and the tyrant crew, Indeed, he was the bane ; THOMAS PAINE. He writ, and gave them all their due, And signed it, THOM AS PAINE. Oh ! how we loved to see him write And curb the race of Cain ! They hope and wish that Thomas P - May never rise again. What idle hopes ! yes such a mart May yet appear again. When they are dead, they die for aye : Not so with Thomas Paine. THE BLASTS OF NOVEMBER. Occasioned by a fatal accident on the Hudson. I saw a barque, on Hudson's wave that flies, Yield to the blast, that rends the autumnal skies. As from the shore she took her dangerous way Rude gloom'd the sky, and blustering was the day; With pain f wv the shivering sail depart, The blast, too powerful, raock'd the steersman's att ' In vain th^ h^'m by wary hands was held, No care protected when the storm assaii'd. 30 FfcENEAU'S POEMS. -> The darkening cloud, with maddening fury, pass' Struck at the sail, and bent the quivering mast, No more the barque her trembling charge could save, But dipp'd her pinions in the briny wave : Then all was horror, shrieks, abounding wo, The grave presented in the depth below : One worthy man there met a fato severe, Suatch'd from the embrace of all he valued here ; Left all behind, that could engage his love, With not one farewell, at this last remove. Ye who on Hudson's changeful waters sail, (And oft too heedless of the autumnal gale) Far mere secure the enterprize, we deem, To cut the yielding wave by force of steam. Let FULTON'S art, unrivall'd art, prevail, Nor trust existence to the treacherous sail. Since he applies the powers that nature gave, Disarms, and smooths the dark malignant wave* Prefer \\isplanto all the sail supplies : As he arranged, the waves may round you rise," Waste all their foam, and not one fear impart : The height, the beauty, and the pride of art. On his firm decks you may all safety find. And scorn the impulse of the unbridled wind : Se" Neptune s-car, a floating palace, move To heed no danger from the blasts above : No tides delay her, and no storms alarm, The- power of steam can every blast disarm :- Be such your choice on such a barque rely s Afnd death and danger on the wave defy. TOMB OP THE PATRIOTS. Quae Tiberine, videbis Funera, cum, tumulum prater labors receritum I When Philip's sou possessed his native lands And trailed ongrecian fields hisgrecian bands. In Thebes subdued, or Athens near her fall, He saw no honor, or despised it all. To be reduced to universal sway The world's vast prospect in perspective lay ;~ While yet restricted to Larissa's plain He cursed his fortune for a lot so mean, On all his steps the gloom of sadness hung, And fierce resentment all his bosom stung That fortune's whim restrain'd to such a floor, Had done so little, and might do no more. M rcantile Tyre his laboring mind oppress'd, The persian throne deprived his soul of rest * Occasioned by the general procession of many thousands 0Y the citizeus of New- York on the 26th of May 1808, to inter the? bones and skeletons of aracrican prisoners who perished in the old Jersey, and other prison ships, during the revolutionary war : and which were now first discovered by the wasting of the ?.-n'l b'-^lrs on Le!)~T<:1and. where they had beeen ltf'~ 32 FRENEAU'S POEMS. The world his stage, he meant to play his part. And unsubjected India gall'd his heart ! Look to the east where Tamerlane displayed His crescent* moons and nations prostrate laid, March where he would, the world before him bow'd In conquest mighty, as of conquest proud What was the event ? let tragic story tell While sad sensations in the bosom swell What were the effects ? in every step we trace The wasteful havoc of a royal race, Once fertile fields a howling desert made The town in ashes, or the town decay'd, Degraded man to native wildness tnrn'd, His prospects clouded and his commerce spurn'd* If such the outset of this mad career What will the last disgusting scene appear, Of all he conquer'd, when no more remains Than vagrant subjects, or unpeopled plains ! Thus, when ambition prompts the ardent miad, The soul, eccentric, frantic, unconfined, To peace a stranger, soars to heights unknown, And, slighting reason, yields the will to none ; Mere passion rules, degrading powers prevail. And cool reflection quits the unbalanced scale- It leaves the haunts of happiness and rest To float on winds, disordered and unblest, * The three crescent moons in the turkish milt.iry standard, which had their origin, It is said, from the asiatic Tartars. Ti znurbeck (or Tamerlane) was of tartar! an extraction. TOMB OF THE PATRIOTS. ,33 Quits all the calm that nature meant for man To find some prize, or form the aspiring plan ; That plan ungain'd, the object cheats thfi view, Or, it attained, they other marks pnr>uR ; Till ail is closed in disappointment's shade And folly wonders at the flight she made : >\ Motion's self finds every prospect vain, The visions vanish, and the glooms remain. And such the vice, with nations as with man, Such the great ikiiing since the world began : To power exalted, as to power they rose By honest toils, and humbling al! their foes; That zenith gain'd they eov<;t vast domains And ?.ll, that pride from vast possession gains, Till glittering visions bring the uneasy sigh And uncontrol'd dominion blasts the eye. Britain ! we cite you to our bar, once more ; What but ambition urged you to our shore ? To abridge our native rights, seven years you strove ; Seven years were ours your aim of death to prove, To find, that conquest was your sovereign view ; Your aims, to fetter, humble, and subdue, To seize a soil which not your labor till'd When the rude native scarcely we rcoHPd, When, with unbounded rage, their nations swore To hurl the out-Iaw'd stranger from their shore, Or swell the torrent with their thousands slain No more to approach them, or molest their reign.- What did we ask ? what right but reason owns ? Tet even the mild petition met your frowns. TOL. II. D 34 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Submission, only, to a monarch's will Couid calm your rage, or bid your storm be still, Before our eyes the angry shades appear Of those, whose relics we this day inter : They live, they speak, reproach you, and complain Their lives were shorten' d by your galling chain : They aim their shafts, directed to your breast, Let rage, and fierce resentment tell the rest. These coffins, tokens of our last regard, These mouldering bones your vengeance might spared. If once, in life, they met you on the main, If to your arms they yielded on the plain, Man. once a captive, all respect should claim That Britain gave, before her days of shame. How changed their lot ! in floating dungeons thrown. They sigh'd unpitied. anr! relieved by none : In want of all that nature's wants demand, They met destruction from some traitor's ham}. Who treated all with cieath or poison here, Or the last groan, with ridicule severe. A sickening languor to the soul returns And kindling passion at the motive spurns : The murders here, did we at length display Would more than paint an indian tyrant's sway : Then hush the theme, and to the dust restore These, oner so wretched near Manhattan's shore, When tyrants ruled, whose hearts no mercy felt ; In blood they wallow'd as in death they de'al'tV TOMB OF THE PATRIOTS. 35 Thou who shall come, by sad reflection taught, To seek on Nassau's isle this lonely vault ; Think, when surveying this too gloomy scene, Think what, had heaven decreed, you might hav* been. When, with the rest, you pass'd the weary hour Chun'd or subjected to some ruffian's power, Think, as you see the sad procession pass'd, Think what these are, and you must be at last, Learn, as you hope to find your heart's applause, To love your country and respect her laws ; Revere the sages, who your rights explain'd Revere the patriots, who your cause sustained. Your country's HERO, rising to your view, Attend his precepts, and with care pursue, He first to shield you, raised his powerful arm, To honor steady as for freedom warm ; When she relumed her half extinguished fire, Then, nor till then, did WASHINGTON retire, And left alight, a radiance to display, And mark his efforts, when he led the way. When war's long waste your independence crowo'd And Hudson heard th' invigorating sound ! His was the task ; to him the part assign'd To paralize the vultures of mankind. Admit no tyrants, to debase your minds ; Some selfish motive to all tyrants binds ; If robed in ermine or in scarlet dad, f f he worst of idiots is a kin run mad ; , dumb to all that reason might decide, Mankind, their reason, and their prayers defy'd : Who, linn to all that phrenzy could pursue, Exploded the ancient world, to chain the new; A;d tired the despot, searched each dark recess. Ami ransack'd hell, to find the hireling hesse : Could he be here, a witness to this day, With calm delight he would this scene survey, Would see unmoved, with apathy of mind, The gaping vault, this havoc of mankind ! Without a tear, these mouldering bon'S review. That fell by ruffian hands employ'd by you, His phrenzy, rampant with the right divine, Inspired a nation with a black design, To blast with poison, like the wizard's spell, And plant on man the characters of hell ! Thou, who shaltcome, of feeling; mind possest. And, heaven's first s;ift, the patriotic breast, On this bleak coast, to tread the island plain. Think, what revenge disgraced a monarch's reign ! Who, not content with wealth and power we gave, Forgot the subject, to enthral the slave : Such was his hop^ ; that hope ton Mize |f e sent his myriads to demand the prize ; TOMB OF THE PATRIOTS. a? What were the splendid trophies he acquired ? Were these bleach'd bones the trophies he admired ^ While passion fires, or kindred sorrows fall, Ask not, it' this sequestered cell is all, Is all that honors these collected bones ? Enough is done to stigmatize all thrones : Ask not, while passion with resentment fires, Why to the skies no monument aspires ? Enough is done to rouse the patriot glow Jknd bid tfye rising race your feelings know THE DUELLISTS. TWO hearty lada, and both accounted brave, Some cause of quarrel had, one gambling night Not either would the other's pardon crave, Then sent a challenge, and agreed to fight, Both were, we heard, from fighting people sprung, That loved a soldier, and proiess'd the trade ; Both wish'd to show us, while their blood was young, Beyond ail doubt, that neither was afraid. The seconds came, and took the usual stand, To see them end their days, or end their spite ;. Each pull'd the trigger, with a steady hand Beth butiets teok effect aaa both were right 38 ) ON SEEING A BEAUTIFUL PRINT OF A SHIPWRECKED SAILOR SITTING ON A ROCK. O nimium ccelo et pelago conffse sereno, Nudus in igaota, Palituire, sedebis arena ! VJRG * Was ever fortune, in this world, like mine ! Here, seated, shivering on the naked rock ; Hut why bewail my fortune, or repine ! Though wreck 1 d and wretched, all is for the best ; I dare the worst ; and, like its flinty breast Can meet my fate, and dare the rudest shock. Storms round me rave, no friendly shelter near ; My patience gone, the little stock I had : O Neptune ! bid some friendly sail appear To hear me hence ; I care not to what shore, To Greenland, Zembla, or to Labrador ; $? shore too rugged for the sailor lad," QN THE BRITISH COMMERCIAL DEPREDATION S As gallant ships as ever ocean steinm'd A thousand ships are captured, and couderau'd I Ships from our shores, with native cargoes fraught* And sailing to the very shores they ought : And yet at peace ! the wrong is past all bearing ; The very comets* are the war declaring : Six thousand seamen groan beneath your power, For years immured, and prisoners to this hour : Then England come ! a sense of wrong requires To meet with thirteen stars your thousand fires ; On your owu seas the conflict to sustain, Or drown them, with your commerce in the main ! True do we speak, and who can well deny, That England claims all water, land, and sky Her power expands extends through every zone, N or bears a rivalbut must rule alone. To enforce her claims, a thousand sails unfurl'd Pronounc* their home the cock-pit Oi the world ; ; A large comet appeared for several months, about this time. 40 FRENEAU'S POEMS. The modern Tyre, whose fiends and lions prowl, A tyrant navy, which in time must howl.* Heaven send the time the world obeys her nod : Her nods, we hope, the sleep of death forebode ; Some mighty change, when plundered thrones agree* And plundered countries, to make commerce free,. ON THE CAPTURE OF THE GUERRIERE, Captain D acres, August 19, 1812 by the Constitution, American frigate, capt. Hull. AN IRREGULAR ODE, " Long the tyrant of our coast Reign'd the famous Guerriere i Our little uavy she deiy'd, Public ship and privateer : On her sails in letters red, To our captains were display 5 d Words of warning! words of dread, s&piB of Targhish, #e.~ *e CAPTURE OF THE GUERRJERE. 41 All, rvho meet me, ham a care I I am England's Guerriere.* On the wide, Atlantic de-p (Not her equal for the fight) The CONSTITUTION, on her way, Chanced to meet these men of might : On her sails was nothing said, But her waist the teeth displayed That a deal of blood coiiM hed. Which, if she would venture near, Would stain the decks of the Guerriere. Now our gallant ship they met And, to struggle with John Bull -7- Who bad come, they little thought, Strangers, yet, to Isaac Hull : Better, soon, to be acquainted : Isaac- hail'd the lord's anointed While the crew the cannon pointed, And the balls were so directed With a blaze so unexpected ; Isaac did so maul and rake her That the decks of captain Dacres Were in such a woful pickle As if death, with scythe and sickle, With his sling, or with his shaft Had cut his harvest fore and aft. * Female wajrior, or 42 FRENEAU'S POEMS, Thus, in thirty minutes ended, Mischiefs that could not be mended r Masts, and yards, and ship descended All to David Jones' locker Such a ship in such a pucker ! Bilnk about to the Constitution ! She perform'd some execution Did some share of retribution For the insults of the year When she took the Guerriere. May success again await her, &et who will again command her Bainbridge, Rodgers, or Decatur Nothing like her can withstand her, With a crew, like that on board her Who so boldly calPd " to order" One bold crew of english sailors, Long, too long our seamen's jailors^ Dacre' and tha Guerriere ! ( 43 ) VOLUNTEER'S MARCH,* July, 1814. Dulceest propatria mori. Te, whom Washington has led, Ye, who in his footsteps tread, Ye, who death nor danger dread. Haste to glorious victory. Now's the day and now's the hour; See the british navy lour, See approach proud George's power, England ! chains and slavery. Who would be a traitor knave ? Who would fill a coward's grave? Who so base to be a slave ? Traitor, coward, turn and flee. * This little ode, with the addition of two new stanzas is some what altered from one of Robert Burns' compositions, and ap plied to an american occasion : the original boiog Brace's suppo sed address to his army, a little before the battle of Banso2k> bournp, 44 PRENEAF'S POEMS. Mr r t the tyrants, one and all ; Freemen stand, or freemen fall At Columbia's patriot call, At her mandate, march away I Former times have seen them yield, Sf rt n them drove from every field, Rout' d, ruin'd, and repell'd Seize the spirit of those times ! By oppression's woes and pains BY our sons in servile chains We will bleed from all our vpins But they shall be shall be free. O'er the standard of their power Bid Columbia's eagle tower, Give them hail in such a shower As shall blast them horse and man Lay the proud invaders low, Tyrants fall in every foe ; Liberty's in every blow. Forward ! let us do or die. THE BATTLE OF STONINGTON, ON THE SEABOARD OF CONNECTICUT J In an attack upon the tonn and a small fort of trco guns, by the Ramillies, seventy -four gun ship, commanded by sir Thomas Hardy ; the Pactolus, 38 gun ship, Des patch brig of 22 guns, and a razee, or bomb ship.- August, 1814. Four gallant ships from England came Freighted deep with fire and flame, And other things we need not name, To have a dash at Stonington Now safely moor'd, their work begun ; They thought to make the yankees run, And have a mighty deal of fun In stealing sheep at Stonington, A deacon, then popp'd up his head And parson Jones's sermon read, In which the reverend doctor said That they must fight for Stonington, VOL. IT, JC 46 FRENEAU'S POEMS. A townsman bade them, next, attend To sundry resolutions penn'd, By which tbf-y promised to defend With sword and gun, old Stonington, The ships advancing different ways, The britons soon b<-^;in t,> blaze, And put th' old worn* n in amaze, Who fear'd the loss of Stouington, The yankees to theiv fort repair' d, And made as thoagh they little cared For ail that came though very hard The cannon play'd on Stonington* The Ramillies began the attack, Despatch came forward buio and black And none can tell what kept them back From setting fire to fetoniugton. The bombardiers with bomb and ball, Soon made a farmer's barrack fall, And did a cow-house sadly maul That stood a mile from StoningtoB. They kill'd a goose, they kill'd a hen, Thr^e hogs they wounded in a pen They dash'd away, and pray what then ? This was not taking Stonington, BATTLE OF STONfNGTOJT. 47 The shells were thrown, the rockets flew, But not a shell, of all the} threw, Though every house was full in VJPW, Could burn a house at Stonington. To have their turn they thought but fair ; The yankers brought two guns to bear, And, sir, it would have made you stare, This smoke of smokes at Stonington. They bored Pactolus through and through, An' killed and wounded of her crew So many, that she bade adieu T'the gallant boys of Stonington. The brig Despatch was hull'd and torn So crippled; riddled, so forlorn, No more she east an eye of scorn On th' little fort at Stonington. Th^ Ramillies gave up th' affray And. with her comrades, sneak'd away Such was the valor, on that day, Of british tars near Stonington. But some assert, on certain grounds, (Besides the damage and the wounds) Jt cost the king ten thousand pounds To have a dash at Stonington c HEAVING THE LEAD : A MARINE STORY, FOUNDED ON FACT As toward the land the galley flew, Though many a league she had to go Before the shores would come in view, The pilot told them, heave the lead I The master saw no danger near ; The wind was fair, the sky was clear : He said, what can the lubber fear ? Avast, my boys, dont heave the lead. Thus folly rule when prudence fails : The master said, go, trim the sails In ocean water, what avails To wet the line, or heave the lead ? So onward with a steady breeze, And all reclining at their ease They scudded through the darkened seas, Not caring much about the lead. At last, the sun, declining low, A curtain on the waters threw, And all was closing on the view ; A hint, no doubt, to heave the lead. HEAVING THE LEAD. 49 A sail hile, Tis best, in time, to heave the lead. * Its latitude is 442' N. L. long. 6020 1 west of the meridian 0f Greenwich. A settlement has lately been established on H from H4ifax, from which it lies eastwardly 120 miles,. THE LAKE SQUADRONS, The brilliant task to you assigned Asks every effort of the mind, And every energy, combined, To crush the foe. Sail where they will, you must be there ; Lurk where they can, you will not spare The blast of death but all things dare To bring them low. To wield his thunders on Champlain, MACDONOUGH leads his gallant train, And, his great object to sustain^ Vermont unites Her hardy youths and veterans bold From sheltered vale and mountain cold, Who fought, to guard, in days of old Their country's rights. That country's wrongs are all your own. And to the world the word is gone Her independence must to none, Be sign'd away. 52 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Be to the nation's standard true, To Britain, and to K<;rop shew- That you can fight and conquer too, And prostrate lay. That bitter toe, whose thousands rise No more to fi2;ht us in disguise, But i:ount our freedom lor their prize, It' valor fails; Beneath your feet let fear be cast, ReiiKmber deeds of valor past. And nail your colors to the mast And spread your sails. In all the pride and pomp of war Let thunders from tiie cannon roar, And lightnings flash from shore to shore, To wing the ball. Let Huron from his slumbers wake, Bi .' &rie to his centre shake, Till, foundering in Ontario's lake, You swamp them all ! 53 THE PRINCE REGENT'S RESOLVE, The regent prince, enraged to find The standard from his frigates torn, To a full court thus spoke his mind, With hand display'd and soul of scorn, 44 Since fate decreed Napoleon's fall, Now, now's the time to conquer all t 44 We at the head of all that's great, Tis ours to hold the world in awe : Let Louis reign in regal state, And let his subjects own his law ; Their tide of power tis ours to stem-*- We'll govern those who govern ihetn. " But here's the rub, and here's my grief; My frigates from the seas are hurl'd ! What shall we do ? how find relief? How strike and stupefy the world ? Our flag, that long control'd the main, Our standard must be raised again. " A land there lies towards the, west, There must my royal will be done ; FRENEAU'S POEMS. That land is an infernal nest Or reptiles, rul'd by MADISON : That nest I swear to humble down, There plant a king, and there a crown.' " Depart, my fleet, depart, my slaves, Invade that nest, attack and burn ; Where'er the ocean rolls his waves, Subu'ue, or dare not to return ; Subdue and plunder all you can ; Who plunders most shall be my man, " To scatter death, by fire and sword, To prostrate all, where'er you go : That is the mandate, that the word, Though seas of blood around you flow : No more ! go. aid the Indian yell : Be conquerors, and I'll feed you well So spoke the prince, but little knew His minions werr for slaughter fed ; Nor did he guess, that vengeance, too, Would fall on his devoted head ; When all his plans and projects fail, And he ascends Belshazzar's scale.* * Mene mene, Tekel, Peres ! tliou art weished in the bal ance, and art found wanting ! Daniel. PARDAE AND SHAM-FIGHT : A PINE FOREST PICTURE ON A TRAINING DAT, invictaque bello Dextera ! non illi se quisquam impune tulisset Obvius armato VIR, The drum was beat, the flap displayed, The soldiers met upon parade, And all for action ready made With loud huzza ! When forth a stately figure strode,. Of stature such, of such a mode, As those who lived before the flood, If stuff'd with straw. His vigor seem'd by years unbroke ; But then his phiz had such a look, As if preserved in Etna's smoke For half au age, 50 FRENEAU'S POEMS. God help us all to look our best ! This man was captain of the rest, And valor seem'd to fire his breast With martial rage, His horse was of an iron grey ; (A prancing steed he rode that day,) Not of the bold Virginian breed, Nor yet remote from Quixote's steed. This chief was of the bullet mould ; To meet the conflict, firm and bold, His coat was patch'd, his boots new soal'd. Ham stuff 'd his maw : Two pounds of powder fill'd his horn, His pantaloons were old and worn, A cap and hat his head adorn The chapeau bras. With vengeance heated, long in store, He sallied forth, a man of war ; And all that meet him, pray take care Of rusty pikes. He had no helmet for the head, But drath and ruin near him tread. And slaughter, in a suit of red, That deadly strikes. PARADE AND SHAM-FIGHT. 57 A blanket from his shoulders hung, Three dollars in his pockets rung, And to his thigh a fanlchion clung, That made us quake . A veteran in the fighting trade I The owner of so keen a blade ! Do not provoke him, man or maid, For mercy's sake. O could you but one furlong ride With such a faiilchion at your side, Your bosom would for glory beat And show Napoleon all complete ! Two pistols, to his girdle tied, Foreboded vengeance, far and wide, To all that were not on our side, With heart and hand, Accoutred thus, with martial air, He gave the warning word, " Take care !" And, in a moment, all was war, Sublime and grand. They mareh'd, and march'd, as thick as bees, Then march'd towards a clump of trees ; And " blaze away !" the leader says " Each take his aim ! -<*T*. ii. F FRENEAU'S POEMS. " Who wounds a tree can kill a man " If you but practise on that plan, " The britons shall go home again With grief aad shame !' Not Philip's famed, unrivall'd son, For Greece subdued, or India won, Not Cockburn, burning Washington, Look'd so elate : Not Bonaparte, on Egypt's sands With such importance gave commands, With such discretion train'd his bands, Assumed such state ! Not Ccesar, when he pass'd the Rhine, Not Warlborough leading up his line, Not PERRY, when he said, * k they're mine !' Put on such airi ; As now were shown to front and rear When victory seem'd to hover near. Indeed not purchased very dear No wounds nor scars. Departing from the norman shore, j Not William such a feature wore When England hail'd him con ,ueror, With- loud acclaim : PARADE AND SHAM-FIGHT. 59 Not Fulton, when his steam he try'd, And Neptune's car stemm'd Hudson's tide Felt such a generous glow of pride For well earn'd fame. That day Cornwallis met his fate, Not Washington felt half so great When tow'rd him flew the gallic fleet To share his smile : Not conquest had for Gates such charms When, yielding to the victor's arms, He bade Burgoync resign his arms, In soldier's style. Not Ajax' self, with such a grace Gave orders to attack a place ; Not Hannibal with holder face Approached old Rome, When marching for the Tiber shore, He yet his alpine jacket wore, And hoped to sweep the senate floor, And fix their doom : Not Parker,* when he crossed the bar Of Charleston with his men of war, Was, nearjbrt Moultrie, half so sure Of victory gain'd : * Sir Peter Parker, it is well remembered, attacked fort MouL trie, on Sullivan's Island, in 1776, and after a sanguinary action, was repulsed with great loss. CO FRENEAU'S POEMS. Not Parker, when departing thence So fihatter'd at the king's expense Was so provoked at the defence, Felt so chagrined, As did our chief (no captain Brag) When he perceiv'd some worthless wa Had stolen away the brandy keg Ah ! loss indeed ! For this, he swore he would resign, All future trust in man decline ; Of whom, at least, there was one srvint,. They all agreed And cry'd " like hell his heart is black- Pursue him, boys, and scent his track, If drunk or dead, we'll have him back, This man of scum !" Each took his mark, and hit a tree ; The battle's done ! all sober, we ; Jluzza ! we have the victory ! Then scamper'd home f 6N THE BRITISH INVASION. 1SH. From France, desponding and betray'd, From liberty in ruins laid, Exulting Britain has display'd Her flag, again to invade us, Her myrmidons, with murdering eye, Across" the broad Atlantic fly Prepared again their strength to try, And strike our country's standard. Lord Wellington's ten thousand slaves,* And thrice ten thousand, on the waves, And thousands more of brags and braves Are under sail, and coming * Lord Wellington's army embarked on the river Garonne > Prance in several division, for the invasion of the Unit* I Statw, aooantiDg, it was said, to sixty or icvcnty thousar F 2 FRENEAU'S POEMS. To burn our towns, to seize our soil, To change our laws, our country spoil, And MADISON to Elba's isle To send without redemption. In Boston state they hope to find Ayankee host of kindred mind To aid their arms, to rise and bind Their countrymen in shackles But no such thing it will not do At least, not while a JJERIEV BLUE Is to the cause of freedom true, Or the bold Pennsylvania!!. A curse on England's frantic schemes ' Both mad and blind-hep monarch dreams 01 crowns arid kingdoms in these climes, Where kings hare had their sentence Though Washington has left our coast, Fet other Washington we boast ^ho rise, instructed by his ghost, To punish all invaders. . peering, plundering, pirate band, ney liberty will find at hand To hurlthera to perdition: BRITISH If !!, in Vfr * inia the 7 appear, ieaih inthe* X lt^ ird m " "^^ So says the gallant buckskin. AH Carolina ,- g prepared, ^^-vbairlestoB doubly ( are So blasted by fortMouMrfe. ^farther south they turn their vie,v s , With veteran troops, or veteran cre^ s ies o send them all a-packing: J-e tallest mast that sails (he , rare T n , ; .ong fst tee) its waters lave, W,Jibr,n S them to an early grave On the shores of Pensacola. TO AMERICA: ON THE ENGLISH DEPREDATIONS ON THE AMERICAN COAST. When Alfred held the english throne, And England's self was little known. Yet, when invaded by the Dane, He early faced them on the main. That scythian race who ruled the sea- He soon pronounced their destiny ; To leave his isle, to sheath the sword ; Disgraced, defeated, and abhorr'd. So now, these worse than danes appear To do their deeds of havoc here For all they did in seasons past, The day of grief must come at last. For plains, yet white with human bones, For murders past, no prayer atones ; For ruin spread in former yea;*, Not even the mitred clergy's tears. Let us but act the part we ought, And tyrants will be dearly taught That they, who aid a country's claim, Fight aot for ribands, or a name. TO AMERICA. 65 Still hostile to the rights of man, A deadly war, the english plan ; The gothic system will prevail, To ruin where they can assail ; A war, where seas of blood may flow To ornament their scenes of wo. O Washington ! thy honored dust The foe will not profane, we trust ; Or if they do, will vengeance sleep, Or fail to drive them to the deep ? For shores well known, they shape their course, An english fleet, with all its force ; A british fleet may soon appear To ravage all we counted dear. Advancing swift, by beat of drum, Half England's dregs, or Scotland's scum j With these unite the indian tribes, Now hostile made by force of bribes And they will dare the eagle's frown, Though half his force can put them down. The envenom'd foe, inured to war, May scatter vengeance wide and far, Unless, to assert our country's right, All hearts resolve, all hands unite. Let party feuds be hush'd, forgot, Past discord from the memory blot. FRENEAU'S POEMS. And Britain, fiorn our coasts repell'd, Shall rue the day she took the field. The dart, to assail the english power, In time must reach that hostile shore, And red with vengeance, on its way, Their naval power in ruins lay. The western world a blow must deal To let them know, and make them feel That much too long a plundering hag Has mortified all Europe's flag. By wars and death while despots thrive What pity one remains alive ! By them the seeds of wars are sown, By them, our lives are not our owu. Their deadly hate to freedom's growth, To reason's light that spurns them both, That deadly hate predicts our doom, And digs the pit for freedom's tomb. Be not deceived the league of kings, Confederate crowns, this warfare brings , These send their hosts to forge our chains, Harass our shores, renew their reigns. At Pilniis they who join'd to swear And wa^e with France wide wasting war Til! freedom should her claims recall, And Louis reign, or myriads fall ; TO AMERICA. 7 At Pilnitz, with decided aim, They tbrm'd their schemes to blast our fame : And, faithful now to what they swore, Would, kings dismissed and thrones, restore. Ye hearts of steel, observe these hosts ! The odious train my soul disgusts ; They rise upon the vultures wings To prop the tottering cause of kings. Observe them well through every grade They exercise the robber's trade ; They sail upon a plundering scheme, They march, to give you sword and flame. And burn you must, if, slow to act, You wait to see your cities sack'd, Yourselves enslaved, and all things lose That labor earns or wealth bestows ; If slow to send your heated balls, Indignant, through their wooden walls. O may you see their squadrons yield Their legions sink on every field ; And new Burgoynes, to slaughter bred, Burgoynes, once more, in fetters led. And may you see all foreign power Forever banish'd from your shore, And see disheartened tyrants mourn, 4nd Britain to her hell return. ON THE CONFLAGRATIONS AT WASHINGTON; August 24, 1814. Jam deiphobi dedit ampla ruinam, Volcano superante, domus j jam proximus ardet Wcakgon. YIRL. Now, George the third rules not alone, For George the vandal shares the throne. True flesh of flesh and bone of bone. God save us from the fangs of both ; Or, one a vandal, one a goth, May roast or boil us into froth. Like danes, of old, their fleet they man And rove from Beersheba to Dan, To burn, and beard us where they cao. They say, at George the fourth's comraanil This vagrant host were sent, to land And leave in every house a brand; CONFLAGRATIONS AT WASHINGTON. An idiot only would require Such war the worst they could desire The felon's war the war of fire. The warfare, now, th' invaders make Must surely keep us all awake, Or life is lost tor freedom's sake. They said to Cockburn, " honest Cock ! To make a noise and give a shock Push, off and burn their navy dock : " Their capitol shall be emblazed ! How will the buckskins stand amazed, And curse the day its walls were raised !" Six thousand heroes disembark Each left at night his floating ark And Washington was made their mark. That few would fight them tew or none Was by their leaders clearly shown And " down," they said, ** with Madison ."'" How close they crept along the shore ? As Closely as if Rodger s saw her A frigate to a seventy-four. A veteran host, by veterans led, With Ross and Cockburn at their head They came they saw they burnt and fled, VOL, ii. G *0 FRENEAU'S POEMS. But not uiipunfch'd tl-ey retired ; Th< y something paid, lor all they fired, In M>!diers kill'd, and chiefs expired. Five hundred veterans bit the dust, Who came, inflamed with lucre's lust An.! so they waste and so they must. They left our congress naked walls Farewell to towers and capitols ! To lofty roofs and splendid halls ! To courtly domes and glittering things, To folly, that too near ns clings, To courtiers who tis well had wings. Farewell to all bnt glorious war, W-.icti yet shall guard Potomac's shore, And honor lost, and fame restore. To conquer armies in the field WV. once, the surest method held To make a hostile country yield. The mode is this, now acted on ; In c:o triagrating Washington, They held our independence gone ! Supposing George's house at Kew Wfci'O burnt, (as we intend to do,) Would tnat be burning England too ? CONFLAGRATIONS AT WASHINGTON. 71 Supposing, near the silver Thames We luid in ashes their saint James, Or Ble.iheim palace wrapt in n*ames; Made Hampton Court to fire a prey, And meanly, then, to sneak away, And never ask them, what's to pay ? Would that be conqur-ring; Lou-ion town ? Would that subvert the e n % Sir Thomas Hardy, of the Ramillies 74. A DIALOGUE WASHINGTON'S TOMB. GENIUS OF VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA Genius. Who are these that lawless come Washington ! too near thy tomb ? Arr they those who, long before, Came to subjugate this shore ? Arc 1 they those whom he repell'd, Captured, or imprisoned held ? Or the sons of those of old Cast in nature's rudest mould, Dear Virginia, can it be ? What a stain is laid on thee ! 'Virginia. Such a stain as I do swear FilK my swelling heart with care How to wash away the stain, How to be myself again. From my breast the h^ro rose, In my soil his booes repose : But this insnit to thy shade, Washington, shall be repaid. DIALOGUE. Genius. Dear Virginia ! tell me how ? * Tell me not, or tell me now. Can you wield the bolts of Jove, Seize the lightnings from above ? Tear the mountain from its base To confound this hated race. Who, with hostile step, presume To violate the honor'd tomb Of my bravest, noblest son, Of th' immortal Washington I Virginia. Not the artillery of the sky, Not the vengeance from on high Did I want, to guard my son, I have lightnings of my own ! But I wanted Genius. Wauted what ? Tell me now, or tell me not. Virginia. Men, whom Washington had taught, Men of fire, and men of thought, All their spirits in aglow, Ever ready for the foe ; Born to meet the hostile shock, Sturdy as the mountain oak Active, steady, on their guard, For the scene of death prepared ; Such I wanted say no more ; Time, perhaps, may such restore. 78 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Genius. By the powers that guard this spot, Want them longer you shall not, I, the patron of your land, From this moment take command, Kindle llames in every breast, Thirst of vengeance for the past ; Vengeance, that from shore to shore Shall dye your bay with english gore, And see them leave their thousands slain, If they dare to land again : Thi* is all I choose to say Seize your armour let's away ! ROYAL CONSULTATIONS , RELATIVE TO THE DISPOSAL OF LORD WELLINGTON'S ARMY. Said the goth to the vandal, the prince to the king, Lf t ' s do a mad action, to make the world ring : With Wellington's army we now have the means To make a bold stroke and exhibit new scenes. ROYAL CONSULTATIONS. 79 A stroke at the states is iny ardent desire, To waste, and harass them with famine and fire ; Mv vengeance to carry through village and town, And even to batter their capitol down. j The vandal then answer'd, and said to the goth, Dear George, with yourself I am equally wroth : Of Wellington's army dispose as you please, It is best, I presume, they should go beyond seas ; For, should they come fume, I can easily show The hangman will have too much duty to do. So, away came the bruisers, and when they came here Some mischief they did, where no army was near : They came to correct, and they came to chastise And to do all the evil their heads could devise. At Washington city, they burnt and destroy'd Till among the big houses they made a huge void ; Then back to their shipping they flew like the wind, But left many more than five hundred behind Of wounded and dead, and others say, double ; And thus was the hangman excused from some trouble, Alexandria beheld them in battle array ; Alexandria they plunder' d anight and a day. Then quickly retreated, with moderate loss, Their forces conducted by Cockburn and Ross, At Baltimore, next, was their place of attack ; Bat Baltinaore dreve thsai repeatedly back , 80 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Therp Rodgers they saw, and their terror was siicb, They saw they were danm'd when they saw him ap proach. The forts were assail'd by the strength of their fleet, And tl.e fort*, in disorder behold them retreat So shbtfor'd and crippled, so mangled and sore, That the tide of Pata^sco was red with their gore. Their legions by land no better succeeded In vain they manoeuverd, in vain they paraded, Their hundreds on hundreds were strew 9 d on the ground, Each shot from the rifles brought death or a wound. One shot from a buckskin completed their loss, And their legions no longer were headed by ROSS ! Where they mean to go next, we can hardly de~ vise, But home they would go if 'their master was wise. Yet folly so long has directed their course ; Such madness is seen in the waste of thfir force, Such weakness and folly, with malice combined, Srch rancor, revenge, and derangement of mind, T; at, all things considered, with truth we may say. Both Cochrane and Cockburn are running away.* * About this time, September, 1814, the admirals Cochrane and Cockburn quitted the coast of the United States in their re spective flag Ships. - ROYAL CONSULTATION. 81 To their regent, the prince, to their master the king They are now on the way, they arc now on the wing, To tell them the story of loss and disaster, Onr; begging a pension, the other a plaister. Let them speed as they may. to us it is plain Thc^y will patch up their hulks tor another campaign, Their valor to prove, and their havoc to spread When Wellington's army is missing or dead. THE BROOK OF THE YALLEY. The world has wrangled half an age, And we again in war engage, While this sweet, sequestered rill Murmurs through the valley still. All pacific as you seem : Such a gay elysian stream ; Wire you always thus at rest How the valley would be blest. But, if always thus at rest ; This would not be for tUe best : ii. & 32 FRENEAU'S POEMS, In one summer you would die, And leave the valley parch' d and dry. Tell me, where your waters go, Purling as they downward flow ? Stagnant, now, and now a fall ? To the gulph that swallows all. Flowing, peaceful, from your urn Are your waters to return ? Though the same you may appear, You're not the same we saw last year. Not a drop of that remains Gone to visit other plains, Gone, to stray through other woods. Gone, to join the ocean floods ! Yes they may return once more To visit scenes they knew before ; Yonder sun, to cheer the vale, From the ocean can exhale Vapors, that your waste supply, Turn'd to rain from yonder sky ; Moisture, vapors, to revive And keep your margin all alive. But, with all your quiet flow, Do you not some quarrels know ! Lately, angry, how you ran ! All at war and much like man. THE BROOK OF THE VALLEY. 83 When the shower of waters fell, How you raged, and what a swell ! All your banks you overflowed, Scarcely knew your own abode ! How you battled with the rock ! Gave ray willow such a shock As to menace, by its fall, Underwood and bushes, all : Now you are again at peace : Time will come when that will cease ; Such the human passions are ; You again will war declare. Emblem, tbou, of restless roan ; What a sketch of nature's plan ! Now at peace, and now at war, Now you murmur, now you roar ; Muddy now, and limped next, Now with icy shackles vext What a likeness here we fi&d ! What a picture of mankind ! A CATY-DID.* ID a branch of willow hid Sings the evening Caty-did : From the lofty locust bough Feeding on a (Jrop oi % dew, In her suit of green array'd Hear her singing in the shade Caty-did, Caty-did, Caty-did ! While upon a leaf you tread, Or rv pose your little head, On y.'JLr sheet of shadows laid, All tht day you nothing said : Hair' the night your cheery tongue Revell'd out its little song, Nothing else but Caty-did. * A well kaowa insect, when full grown, about two inches in length, iui of the *x;ct color of a green leaf It is of the genus cit ada, o ^Trsshc^j.^: iii. -. IB irJ;; in^ the green foliage of trees and singing such a note as Cuty-did in the evening, towards au tumn.. TO A CATY-DID. 85 From your lodgings on the leaf Did you utter joy or grief? Did you only mean to say, / have had my summer's day, And am passing, soon, (may To the grave of Caty-did : Poor, unhappy Caty-did ! But you would have utter'd more Had you known of nature's power- From the world when you retreat, And a leaf's your winding sheet, Long before your spirit fled, Who can tell but nature said, Live again, my Caty-did ! Live, and chatter Caty-did. Tell me, what did Caty do ? Did she mean to trouble you ? Why was Caty not for bid To trouble little Caty-did ? Wrong, indeed at you to (ling, Hurting no one while you sing Caty-did ! Caty-did ! Caty-did ! Why continue to complain ? Caty tells me, she again Will not give you plague or pain : Caty says you may be hid Caty will not go to bed While you sing us Caty-did. Caty-did': Caty-did! Caty-did! H 2 86 FRENEAU'S POEMS. But, while singing, you forgot To tell us what did Caty not : Caty-did not think of cold, Flocks retiring to the fold, Winter, with his wrinkles old, Winter, that yourself foretold When you gave us Caty-did, Stay securely in your nest ; Caty now, will do her best, All she can, to make you blest ; But, you want no human aid Nature, when she form'd you, said, " Independent you are made, My dear little Caty-did : Soon yourself must disappear With the verdure of the year, 1 ' And to go, we know not where, With your song oi'Caty-dicL OS THE LAKE EXPEDITIONS. Where Niagara's awful roar Convulsive shakes the neighboring shore, Alarm'd I heard the trump of war, Saw legions join ! And such a blast, of old, th^y blew, When southward rom st. Lawrence flew The indian, to the english true, Led by Burgoyne. United, then, they sail'd Champlain, United now, they march again, A land of freedom to profane With savage yell. For this they scour the mountain wood ; Their errand, death, their object, blood : For this they stem thy subject floo !, O stream Sorel ! gg FRENEAU'S POEMS. Who shall repulse the hireling host, Who force them back through snow and frost, Who swell the lake with thousands lost, Dear freedom ? say ! Who but the sons of freedom's land, Prepared to meet the Woody band ; Resolved to make a gallant stanu Where lightnings play. Their squadrons, arm'd with gun and sword, Their legions, led by knight and lord Have sworn to see the reign restored Of George, thegoth; Whose mandate, from a vandal shore, Impels the sail, directs the oar, And, to extend the flames of war, Employs them both. RETALIATION, A MARINE ODE. 1814. * Ye powers who rule the western gale Not for the golden fleece we sail, Nor vet on wild ambition's plan, But vengeance gathers man with man. For wrongs which wearied patience bore ? For slighted rules of legal war, We rear our flag, our sails display, And east north east explore our way. Let some assert, ten thousand pounds Would place our feet on british grounds, And urge us onward to saint James To wrap his palaces in flames : A motive of so mean a cast Allures no mind, excites no breast ; From such reward we loathing turn And would at such a proffer spurn. No to retaliate on the foe, Free-wiird, we independent go, Our ship well mann'd, in war's attire, To light the skies with english fire. FRENEAU'S POEMS. November comes ! tis time to sail, The nights are long and brisk the gale A:l England, soon, the odds may Between our hatred and our love." NAVAL ATTACK NEAR BALTIMORE, EPTE MBER 14, 1814. The sons of old ocean advancer 1 from the bay To achieve an exploit of renown . And C^chrane and Cockburn commanded, that day, And meant to exhibit a tragical play, Call'd, The plunder and burning of Baltimore town. Tb ' scenes to be acted were not very new, An ivhenth^yapproach'd. with their rat- tat-too, As merry as times would allow. We ran up the colors to liberty true, And gave them a shot, with a tow-row-dow. i By land and by water how many have faii'd In attacking an enemy's town, ATTACK ON BALTIMORE. SI But britons they tell us, have always prevaiPd Wherever they march'd, or wherever they saiPd, To honor his majesty's sceptre and crows : Wherever they went, with the trumpet and drum, And the dregs of the world, and the dirt, and the scum, As soon as the music begun, The colors were struck, and surrendered the towi When the summons was given of down, down, down ! But fortune, so fickle, is turning her tide, And safe is old Baltimore town, Though Cockburn and Cochrane, with Ross at their side, The sons of Columbia despised and defy'd, And determined to batter it down ; Rebuff 5 d and repulsed in disgrace they withdrew. With their down, down, down, and their rat-tat-tot, As well as the times would allow : And the ^ight, we expect, will be not very new When they meet us again, with our tow-row-doTf . THE SUTTLER AND THE SOLDIER. " Who would refuse this cheering draught ?" The suttler said, and saying, laugh 'd The soldier, then, the liquor quaff'd, And felt right bold. The suttter soon foresaw the rest, And thus the son of Mars address' d, " This brandy is the very best Of all I've sold. " The journey you are bound to go, In former times, I travell'd too, When Arnold inarch'd, with lord knows wha. To seize Quebec. " And if he faiPd in that assault, It was not, sure, the brandy's fault ; The best, at times, may make a halt, Ay, break his neck. THE SUTTLER AND THE SOLDIER, 93 ' Now hear a dotard of your trade : OF old I lived by flint and blade, But, disregarded and deeay'd, I'm nothing now. " This leaky shed is not my own, And here I stay, unheard, unknown, Poor Darby, and without a Joan, Nor horse, nor coir. *' But mend your draught I have more to say : You now are young, and under pay ; Be warn'd by me, whose hairs are grey ; The time will come * When you may find this trade of arms, The march, that now your bosom warms, Has little but illusive charms, Mere beat of drum : " But yet, in such a cause as this I deem your ardor not ami>s i know you are no hireling swiss ; Your country calls : " And when she calls, you must obey ; ^ or wages not fig for the pay Tis honor calls you out this day To face the balls. VOT,. IT. I 94 FRENEAU'S OEMS. * You have to go where George Provost Has many a soldier made a ghost, Where Indians many a prisoner roast Or seize their scalps. 44 And what of that? mere fate of war God grant you may have better fare Go, fight beneath a kinder star, And scourge the whelps. '* They scarce are men mere flesh and blood- Mere ouran-outangs of the wood, F6rever on the scent of blood, And deers at heart. "When men, like you, approach them nigh. They make a yell, retreat, and fly : On equal ground, they never try The warrior's art. " Then dare their strength at honor's call Explore the road to Montreal, To dine, perchance, in Drummond's hall, Perhaps in jail. " Of all uncertain things below The chance of war is doubly so ; For this I saw, and this I know ; Yet, do not faiL THE SUTTLER AND THE SOLDIER. * " To live, for months on scanty fare, To sleep, by night in open air, To fight, and every danger share ; All these await. " Rut bear them all ! wherever led, And live contented, though half fed : A couch of straw, and canvas shed Shall be your fate ! " And mind the mark remember me When full of fight, and full of glee, Be of your brandy not too free : Ay, mind the mark ! ** Who drinks too much, the day he fights, Calls danger near, and death invites To dim, or darken all his lights ; His noon is dark ! 41 It is a friend in a stormy day ; l^ien brandy drives all care away, But, over done, it will betray The wisest sage. '* Then strictly guard the full canteen Its power enlivens every scene, And helps to keep the soul serene When battles rage 36 FRENEAU'S POEMS. " This potent stuff, if managed well, (And strong it is, the sort I sell) Can every doubt and fear expel, When prudence guides '* Though mountains rise, or rocks intrude, This nectar smooths the roughest road, And cheers the heart, and warms the blood Through all its tides. " Then drink you this, and more," (he said. And held the pitcher to his heari) ^ This drink of gods, when Ganymede Hands round the bowl, *' Will nerve the arm. and bid you go Where prowls the vagrant Eskimau,* Where torpid winter tops with snow The darken'd pole, " " Enough, enough !" (the sergeant said) Now, suttler, he must go to bed See ! topsy-turvy goes his li: a^ ; I hear him snort." "Since I know where to get my pay (The suttler answered rather gay) No matter what I said, or say PYC sold my quart.' ' * The savage inhabitants of Labrador, or New-Britain, POLITICAL SERMONS. When parsons preach on politics, pray why Should declamation cease, if you go by p We heard a lecture, or a scold, And, doubtful which it might be calPd, But senseless as the bell that toIPd, And pleasing neither young nor old. We kept our seats amid the din, Then quit thejicld, with all our sin, Just as good as we went in. Tell me what the preacher said, Ye, who somewhat longer stay'd Till the last address was made : Why, he talk'dof ruhVd states, Demagogues and democrates, Falling stars, and satan's baits. Bid he mention nothing more ? Simply, what he said before Repetitions, twenty score, I 2 FRENE AIT'S POEMS. . His arguments could nothing prove, His text alarm 'd the sacred grove, His prayer displeased the powers above. He would not pray for those who rule, But hoped that in Bethesda's pool They all might dip, to make them cool. He deprecated blood and war, Its many mischiefs did deplore Except when England mounts the car. At congress he had such a fling, As plainly show'd, he wish'd a king, Might here arrive, on Vulture's wing , And that himself an horn might blow To shake our modern Jericho, And bring its ramparts very low. To english notes his psalm was sung, With politics the pulpit rung, And thrice was bellow'd from his tongue. " The president is always wrong ! " He brought these evils on our land, And he must go the time's at hand With Bonaparte to take his stand." Mnst not the wheels of fate go on ? Must not the lion's teeth be drawn, Because it suits not Prester John ! POLITICAL SERMONS. 99 A Bishop's Lawn is such a prize, Such virtue in a mitre lies, Democracy before it flies. And these he hopes, if George prevails, In time may hoist his shorten'd sails And waft him on, with fortune's gales, To gain by preaching, nett and clear, Some twenty hundred pounds a year ; Which democrats would never bear. To England why so much a friend, Or why her cause with heat defend ? There is, no doubt, some selfish end. Dear Momus come, and help ine laugh This England is the stay and staff Of true religion more than half ! She is the prop of all that's good, A bulwark, which for ages stood To guard the path and mark the road ! One proof of which can soon be brought, The temple rais'd to Jaggernaut, * And India to his temple brought, The temple of Jaggernaut, an idolatrous establishment in In- , to the support of which the englisb government contributed f -y The unwieldy idol, to which the temple is dedicated, 500 FRESTEAU'S POEMS. To see her raurder'd, mangled sons, To worship idols, stocks, and stones, Orreliques of some scoundrel's bones. And " long may heaven on England smile (So says our preacher, all the while) The world's last hope, last anchor'd isle !*' Religipn there is made no sport, State tailors there have deckt her out In a birth-day suit to go to court ! NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. Napoleon, born for regal sway, With fortune in a smiling mood, To a foreign land explored his way, Where Cairo stands, or Memphis stood. is, on certain days, carried about the streets on a huge carriage, under the wheels of which the superstitious multitude, it is said, suffer themselves to be trampled and crushed to pieces, by hun dred?, from a superstitious motive. If this be not fiction, may the british government exert its influence to eradicate so barbarous and bloody a superstition from the minds of millions of idolatrous wretches ! NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. And still he fought, and still she smiled, And urged him far, and spurr'd him on. And on his march, at length beguiled, One thinking man to wear a crown. The crown attracted many a care, And war employed him, day and night j He by a princess bad an heir Born to succeed him, or who might. Through russian tribes he forced his way, To blast their hopes and hurl them down Whose valor might dispute his sway, Or dispossess him of a crown. At last arrived the fatal time, When powerful tyrants, jealous grown, Agreed to count it for a crime A commoner should fill a throne. European states, with England join'd To keep unmixt the royal race, And let the famed Napoleon find A dotard might supply his place. THE DISMISSION OF BONAPARTE FROM THE FRENCH THRONE. Famed Bonaparte, in regal pride, Put slighted Josephine aside, And wedded an imperial bride, Of fortune sure. But when he droop'd, aud when he fell, (I took my pen and mark'd it well) This jilt of jilts, this aiistrian belle, No longer styled him, Mon Amour Which means, I think, my dearest heart, My love ! but lovers often part When friendship does not point the dart, Nor fix the flame. And warning, hence, let others take, Nor love's decree for interest break ; In marriage, too much lies at stake To slight its claim. DISMISSAL OF BONAPARTE 103 Retreating to the tuscan coast, An empire, wife, and fortune lost, He found the throne a dangerous post, And wars a cheat ; Where all, who play their game too deep, Must hazard life, and discord reap, Or thrown from grandeur's giddy steep, Lament their fate. Napoleon, with an empty chest ! An austrian princess must detest ; And yet, she wears upon her breast The painted toy ;* And often weeps, the story goes, That royal blood not wholly flows In every rein, from head to toes, Of her dear boy. To Elba's isle she could not go The royal orders said " No, no ! On Elba's island we bestow No royal throne :" And thus Napoleon, shoved from power, Has many a lonely gloomy hour To walk on Elba's sea- beat shore, Alone ! atone ! * A miniature pkttfre nf t'^ late emperor Napoleon. (4 FRENEAU'S POEMS. O save us from ambition's sway, Ye powers, who tread the milky way; It will deceive, it will betray Nine out of ten. Napoleon's history let us read : In science he was great indeed Ambition's lantern did mislead This prince of men : And yet, ambition had its use, It clieck'd the royal game of goose, And many a flagrant vile abuse Fell at his frown. But, doom'd to share immortal fame, Despotic powers will dread his name, Though he, perhaps, was much the same, Raised to a throne ! ( 105 ) THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. SEPTEMBER 10, 1813. " To clear the lake of Perry's fleet And make his flag his winding sheet This is my object I repeat " -Said Barclay, flnsh'd with native pride, To some who serve the british crown : Br.l they* who dwell beyomi th moon, Heart i this huiu menace with ,i ii-own, Nor the rash sentence ratified. Ambition so be w itch 'd his mind, And royal smiles had so combined With skill, Lo act the part assign'd He tor no contest cared, a straw ; The ocean was too narrow tar To b" the seat of naval war ; He waute-! lakes, ani* room to spare, And all to yield to Britain's law. And thus he ma.de a sad mistake ; F.'.-'^-or ':;-m! ; st possess th<; lake, As ii3 - y in ,uii tui Enghuvi's s.ike T- (> aj her prank^ and rule the roast ; VOL. II. K 106 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Where she might govern, uncontrol'd, An unmolested empire hold, And keep a fleet to fish up gold, To pay the troops of George Provost, The ships approached, of either side, And Erie, on his bosom wide Beheld two hostile navies ride, Each for the combat well prepared : The lake was smooth, the sky was clear, The martial drum had banish'd fear, And death and danger hover' d near, Though both were held in disregard. From lofty heights their colors flew, And Britain's standard all in view, With frantic valor fired the crew That mann'd the guns of queen Charlotte. " And we must Perry's squadron take, And England shall command the lake ; And you must fight for Britain's sake, (Said Barclay) sailors, will you not?" Assent they gave with heart and hand ; For never yet a braver band To fight a ship, forsook the land, Than Barclay had on board that day ; The guns were loosed the game to win, Their muzzles gaped a dismal grin, And out they pnll'd their tompion pin. The bloody gamf of war to play. BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE, 107 But Perry soon, with flowing sail, Advanced, determined to prevail, When from his bull-dogs flew the hail Directed full at queen Charlotte. His wadded guns were aim'd so true, And such a weight of ball they threw, As, Barclay said, he never knew To come, before, so scalding hot ! But still, to animate his men From gun to gun the warrior ran And blazed away and blazed again Till Perry's ship was half a wreck : They tore away both tack and sheet, Their victory might have been complete^ Had Perry not, to shun defeat In lucky moment left his deck. Repairing to another post, From another ship he fought their host And soon regained the fortune lost, And down, his flag the briton tore : With loss of arm and loss of blood Indignant, on his decks he stood To witness Erie's crimson flood For miles around him, stain'd with gore I Thus, for dominion of the lake These captains did each other rake, And many a widow did they make ; Whose is the fault, or who to blame ? - ! FRENEAU'S POEMS. The briton challenged with his sword, The yankee took him at his word, With spirit laid him close on ooard They're ours he said and closed the game. BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. SEPTEMBER 11, 1814. Between the british squadron, of 93 guns and 1850 men, a/ul the american fleet of 80 guns and 82U men. The Confiance, of 39 and the Sarat >ga, of 26 guns, were the Jiag ships of the two commanders, Dannie and Macdonough. Parading near saint Peter's flood Full fourteen thousand soldiers stood ; Allied with natives of the wood, WiiSi frigates, sloops, and galleys near ; Which southward, now, began to steer ; Their object was, Ticonderogue. BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 10$ Assembled at Missisqui bay A least they held, to hail the day, When all should bend to british sway From Plattsburgh to Ticonderogue. And who could tell, if reaching there They might not other laurels share And England's flag in triumph bear Tothccapitol.at Albany!! ! Sir George advanced, with fire and sword, The frigates were with vengeance stored, The strength of Mars was felt on board, When Downie gave the dreadful word, Huzza ! for death or victory ! ' Sir George beheld the prize at stake, And, with his veterans, made the attack, Macomb's brave legions drove him back ; And England's fleet approach'd, to meet A desperate combat, on the lake. From isle La Motte to Saranac* With sulphurous clouds the heavens were black ; We saw advance the Confiance, Shall blood and carnage mark her track, To gain dominion on the lake. 110 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Then on our ships she pour'd her flame, And many a tar did kill or maim, Who suflfer'd for their country's fame, Her soil to save, her rights to guard. Macdonough, now, began his play, And soon his seaman heard him say, No Saratoga yields, this day, To all the force that Britain sends. " Disperse, my lads, and man the waisjt, Be firm, and to your stations haste, And England from Champlain is chased, If you behave as you'll see me." The fire began with awful roar ; At our first flash the artillery tore From his proud stand, their commodore, A presage of the victory. The skies were hid in fla : - eand smoke, Such thunders from the cannon spoke, The contest such an aspect took As if all nature went to wreck ! Amidst his decks, with slaughter strew'd, Unmoved, the brave Macdoiiough stood, Or waded through a scene of blood, At every step that round him stream'd BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. Ill He stood amidst Columbia's sons, He stood amidst dismounted guns, He fought amidst heart-rending groans, The tatter'd sail, the tottering mast. Then, round about, his ship he wore, And charged his guns with vengeance sore, And more than ^Etna shook the shore The foe confessed the contest vain. In vain they fought, in vain they sail'd, That day ; for Britain's fortune fail'd, And their best efforts nought avaiPd To hold dominion on Champlain. So, down their colors to the deck The vanquished struck their ships a wreck^- What dismal tidings for Quebec, What news for England and her prince ! For, in this fleet, from England won, A favorite project is undone : Her sorrows only are begun And she may want, and very soon, Her armies for her own defence. DEATH OF GENERAL ROSS : IVho had the principal command of the english army at the attack upon Baltimore, in which he fell, while out with a reconnoitering party. Give them the shadow of the cypress bough ! The chief who came our prowess to defy, Who came, to bind fresh laurels on his brow, Who came, too sure to conquer not to die : Low lies the chief npon th* unconscious plain, The laurels wither, and no wreathes remain. To kindle up your torch, ambition's flame Heroic chief, had all its flames supplied ; A monarch's smiles, a never-dying name, The historian's subject, and the soldier's pride ; Your native land with splendid trophies hung ; Joy sparkling in the eye, and praise from every tongue. Deceived how raueh ! a name alone remains, Not yet complete in fame, nor ripe in years ; What is the applause such thirst of glory gains, Which not the grave regards or valor hears : DEATH OF GENERAL ROSS. 113 In war's wild tumult, for a name be died, He fell, the victim of a monarch's pride. A country's rights, or freedom to defend May sooth the anguish of a dying hour, A ravaged land to succor or befriend, To brave the efforts of a tyrant's power : These may console, when mad ambition's train Fade from the view, or sooth the soul in vain. BRIGANTINE PRIVATEER PRINCE DE NEUFCHATEL, Ordonneaux, commander, which arrived at Boston some time since, from a cruise of three months, chiefly in the cnglish and irisk channels, in tihich she captured thir teen or fourteen valuable prises, to the amount, it was said t of more than a million of dollars. Quid petis hicest. MARTIAL. What is wealth, that men will roam, Risque their all, and leave their home, Face the cannon, brat the drum, And their lives so cheaply sell ! 114 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Let them reason on the fact Who 'would rather think than act / Their brains were not with morals rack'd Who naann'd the prince of NeufchateL Having play'd a lucky game, Homeward, with her treasure, came This privateer of gallant fame, Call'd the prince of Neufchatel. Are the english cruisers near ? De they on the coast appear To molest this privateer ? She shall be defended well. Soon a frigate hove in sight : As the wind was rather light, She, five barges, out of spite, Sent, to attack, with gun and blade On our decks stood rugged men, Little more than three times ten ; And I tremble, while my pen Tells the havoc that was made Up they came, with colors red, One a stern, and one a head Shall I tell you what they said ? - Yankees ! strike the buntin rag ! PRIVATEER. 115 Three were ranged on either side Then the ports were open'd wide, And the sea with blood was dyed ; Ruin to the english flag ! Now the angry cannons roar, Now they hurl the storm of war, Now in floods of human gore Swam the prince of Neufehatel ! Then the captain, Ordonneaux, Seconded the seaman's blow, And the remnant of the foe Own'd the brig defended well. For the million she contain'd He contended, sword in hand, FollowM by as brave a band Of tars, as ever, trod a deck. In these bloody barges, five, Scarce a man was left alive, And about the seas they drive ; Some were sunk, and some a wreck. Every effort that they made With boarding pike, or carronade, Every effort was repaid, Scarcely with a parallel ! Fortune, thus, upon the wave, Crown'd the valor of the brave : Little lost, and much to save, Had the prince of Neufchatel, THE TERRIFIC TORPEDOES :* SIR THOMAS HARDY'S SOLILOQUY. " Then traitor come ! as black revenge excitei, Extinguish all our claims with all my lights! But keen remorse, which vengeful furies lead, Will act her part for this inhuman deed. EU; U will her vultures on your vitals prey ! How will her stings our every death repay ! O nature ! is all sympathy a jest ; Art thou a stranger to the human breast ? Has manly prowess quit the abanrlon'd stage, Are midnight plots the order of th< .;ge ? " Where proud Nerv-Londcn holds her flaming guide To steer Decatur through the darksome tide, * It is a fact well ascertained that during a great part of the summer of 1814. the knight was under such serious apprehe .is of fving blown up by the Torpedo men, that he enjoyed no sleep or.' -t r-'-raan' 1 nights toge^ier. With such feelings, and under such Unprcssiops, V is supposed to b^qin his soliloqur abruptly, under all the emotions f horror, incident to such an occasion. HARDY'S SOLILOQUY. 117 I stay too long ! what station can I find To shake distraction from a tortured mind ! " Then, traitor, come ! your dark attack begin* Renown'd inventor of the black machine : But mark ! for when some future poet tells, Or some historian on the subject dwells, No word of praise shall meet the listening ear, Disgustful story, to repeat or hear Was you, an infant, to a mother press'd, Or did ferocious tigers give the breasts- Did nature in some angry moment plan Some fierce hyena to degrade the man ? Resolve me quick, for doubtful while I stav These dark torpedoes may be on their way. Does nature thus her heaviest curse impart And will she give such countenance to art ? She gave you all that rancor could bestow, She lent her magic from the world*below ; She gave you all that madness could propose, And all her malice in your bosom glows ; She gave you sulphur, charcoal, nitre join'd ; She gave you not a great and generous mind."' So spoke the knight, and slamm'd the door, And thus went on, with feelings sore :. " I relish not torpedo war : Die when I will, or where I may, I would not choose so short a way : These twenty nights I did my best To shut my eyes, and take my rrs1\ YOT,, IT. T. lift FRENEAU'S POEMS. But drowsy Morpheus might as well Upon tue main mast try his spell. No potion from the poppy's leaf Can close my lids ; and, to be brief, This Fulton, with his dashing plans, Distracts my head, my heart unmans : And every night, I have my fears Of such infernal engineers ; Who, when I sup, or could I sleep IWight row their wherry through the deep, And screw their engine to the keel, And blow us where there's no appeal ; No question how, or where wt d ed, Bnt how we lived, and how applied The little sense our heads contain To save our souls, and live again. " They, who support torpedo plans Should have no plaudit for their pains ; Should be employ'd on dark designs, Explorers of peruvian mines ; Such have not felt the patriot glow, A feeling thqy could never know : For treasons they were surely made, Have princes slain and kings betray'd. Ye powers above ! and must I Wait Till these prevail in every state, Till pale disease, or shivering age - Drives such false patriots from the stage I " The chaplain said he heard me snore, Bnt many a fib he told before ; HARDY'S SOLILOQUY. And if I snored, I'm satisfied Tvvas when my eyes were open wide. " Torpedoes ! who contrived the word ? Torpedoes ! worse than gun or sword I They are a mode of naval war We- cannot have a relish for : In all the chronicles I read Of former times, they nothing said O - ;ch a horrible machine That would disgrace an algerine, Ami only yankees would employ, Not to distress, but to destroy. " What human eye, without dismay Can see torpedo-lightning's play ? What mortal heart, but dreads a foe That fights unseen from fields below ! What passion must that heart inspire That dives the sea, to deal in fire , What can he (ear. I trembling ask W T ho undertakes the daring task ? "With engines of perdition spread, Amazed, I seethe ocean's be .uder, From fathoms down, a deadly blast Unbolts the keel, unsteps the mast, While Fulton, with a placid grin Exulting, views the infernal scene ! The sails are vanish'd, tack and clue, The rigging burnt, by lord knows who, The star that glitter 'd on my breast Is gone to Davy Jones's chest ; The glorions ensign of st George, Of Spain the dread, of France the scourge, Is from the staff, unpitied, torn And for a cloak by satan worn : The Lion, mounted on the prow, To awe the subject sea below With flames that Lion is oppressed They will not spare the royal beast. O vengeance ! why does vengeance sleep ? The yards are scatter' d o'er the deep, L 2 122 tfRENEAU'S POEMS Our guns are buried in the seas, And thus concludes the Ramillies ! " The world, I think, can witness beat My name was never stain'd by tear : At least the british fleet can say I never shunn'd the face of- clay : But Fulton's black, infernal art Has stamp'd me coward to the hoasl : " When Nelson met the Spanish fleet. And every pulse for conquest beat, At Nelson's side I had my stand ; When Nelson fell I took command : Not Etnas self, with all her flames Vesuvius such description claims ; Not Hecla, in her wildest rage, Does with such fires the heavens engage, As on that day, in mourning clad, Was tlmuder'd from the Trinidad.* " And yet, amidst that awful scene, J stood unhurt, composed, serene ; Though balls, by thousands, whistled lound* Not one had leave to kill or wound But here ! in this torpedo war I perish, with my glittering star, The laurels that adorn my brow My laurels are surrendered now. * The Santa Trinidada, the Spanish admiral's ship, of 112 guns from the mizen top of which admiral Nelson was mortal! y wound- tled by a musket shot. Another accouut says, he received bis death around from the Redoubtable, freach 74. . HARDY'S SOLILOQUY. O Fanny ! these envenom'd states Have doom'd our deaths among the rats, In one explosion, to the sky Our chaplain, rats, and sailors fly. " To deal in such inhuman war Is more than english blood can bear ; It brings again the gothic age, Renews that period on the stage, When men against the gods rebell'd. And Ossa was on Pelwn piled : The trqjan war, when Diomede Tn battle, made fair Venus bleed ; Or, when the giants of renown Attempted Jove's imperial crown :- From such a foe, before we meet. The safest way, is to retreat, To leave this curst unlucky shore And come to trouble them no more. " Bat; should it be my fate to-night Not to behold to-morrow's light But mingle with the vulgar dead, With ail my terrors on my head- Should such a fate be mine, I say, Dear Fanny you must lead the way ; You are the saint that will atone For what amiss I might have done : If such as you will intercede The chaplain may a,fnrlorv plead, While you and I in raptures ?o Where stormy winds no longer blow. 124 FRENEAU'S POEMS. Where guns are not, to shed our blood, Or if there be, are made of wood ; Where all is love, and no one hates ; No falling kings or rising states ,* No colors that we must defend, If sick, or dead, or near our end ; Where yankees are admitted not To hatch their damn'd torpedo plot : Where you will have no b^ds to make. Nor I be doom'd to lie awake." ox THE ENGLISH DEVASTATIONS 4 CITY OF WASHINGTON, Their power abused ! that power may soon descend ; Years, not remote, may see their glory end : The british power, the avaricious crown, Pull'd every flag, hurl'd every standard down ; Columbian ships they seized on every sea, Condemn'd those ships, nor left our sailors free. So long a tyrant on the watery stage. They thought to tyrannize through every age ; They hoped all commerce to monopolize ; Utarope, at sea, they affected to despise; BEYASTATIONS AT WASHINGTON. 125 They laugh'd at France contending for a share Of commerce, one would think, as free as air. They captured most, without remorse or plea, And grew as proud as arrogance could be. Stung by a thousand wrongs, at length arose The Western States, these tyrants to oppose. With just resentment, met them on the main, And burnt, or sunk their ships, with hosts ot slain. The blood ran black from every english heart To see their empire from the seas depart, To see their flag to thirteen stripes surrender, And many an english ship made IB re and tinder ; They swore, they raged ; they saw, with patience spent, Each last engagement had the same event What could they do ? revenge inspired their breasts And hell's sensations seized their swelling chests. All to revenge, to Maryland they came, And costly works of art assail'd with flame ; In Washington they left a dismal void, Poor compensation for their ships destroyed ' We burn, nhere guns their frigates poorly guard ; They burn, nhere scarce a gun is seen or heard ! ( 12$ ) TRANSLATED i? ROM THE THIRD BOOK OF LUCRETIUS* de natura remm , OR, ONT THE NATURE OF THINGS. Nil igitur mors est ; ad DOS neque pertinet liilura, iight a man insane That would so madly dare. GAPTURE OF THE ESSEX. 151 Then, hands on deck ! the anchors weigh ! And for the sea he left the bay, A running fight to have that day, And thus escape his foes. But oh ! distressing to relate As round a point of land he beat A squall from hell the ship beset, And her rnaintopmast goes ! Unable to attain that end, He turns toward the neutral friend, And hoped protection they might lend, But no protection found. In this distress, the foe advanced With such an eye at Essex glanced ! And such a fire of death commenced As dealt destruction round ! With every shot they raked the deck, Till mingled ruin seized the wreck : No valor could the ardor check Of England's martial tars ! One hundred men the E^x lost : But Phoebe found, and to her cost, That PORTER made them^r.any a ghost To serve in Satan's wars. Oh, clouded scene ! yet must I tell Columbia's flag, indignant, fell- To Essex, now, we bid farewell ; $he wears the eugrish flag ! 152 FRENEAU'S POEMS. But YANKEES she has none on board To point the gun or wield the sword ; Aad though commanded by a lord They'll have no cause to brag. STANZAS On robbing a bee hive in a warm day in the month of Marck 1814. [The subsequent stanzas were written by a young lady of eigh teen, and are inserted in this work at her particular request.} Tell nae, bees, why. did you roam And no one leave, to guard your home, To. tell, you were alive ? Some wicked demon led me hence, Through the snow and o'er the fence To rob your lonely hive ! I rattled at your door so loud; But none appear'd of your vast crowd, To stay my hasty hand : ROBBING A BEE HIVE. 153 Your little waxen cups so sweet ! The more delicious was the treat, The more did I demand. I pillaged all your little store, And then besieged your cell for more ; And what have I to tell ! I met your busy fluttering band An empty hive, and frozen land You now must leave your cell ! Ah no ! your honey I restore ; And favors I will grant you more ,- Then, stay with me, and live. Of your numerous insect host The honey-bees I prize the most, Such nectar sweets they give I I'll plant gay roses round your seat To screen you from the summer's heat, Or sip them, at your will. Sweet Flora will resume her reign, Her f .vors you may court again, And be most happy still ! HELENA. VOL, II. O 154 ) . ON THE LOSS OF THE PRIVATEER BRIGANTINE GENERAL ARMSTRONG, Captain Samuel C. Reid, of New- For A:, which sailec from Sandy Hook, on a cru : se, the ninth your loved presence I'll fly." 176 nk E FLYING GALLANT. From Ontafiio Expectin $he dreamt not that h And from a io's margin the lady set sail, the knight on that sea : ic in his promise would fail, fair lady, unmanlike turn-tail ; Yet he taifried ! what could the cause be ? Impatient to see him, no longer she'd stay ; Resolved o'er the whole lake to roam ; " Oh ! have you not heard of my stout knight, I pray ?' *' She plaintively ask'd all who came in her way : " Do you think he's to Kingston gone home ?" At length she; espy'd him :-what should sir James do ? He fidgets i, ran, and he tack'd in and out : He fear'd to embrace her : he promised to woo : ShehaiPdhiin, "sir James, charming-fellow, heava too ! " Why do you my tenderness flout ?" ! V He fled like ja truant ; the lady, in vain, Her oglina;s and glances employ'd : She aim'd at) his heart, and she aim'd at his bi'ain ; And she vowl'd from pursuing she ne'er would refrain: The knight was most sadly annoy 'd. At length, tij-om love's fervor the recreant got clear, And may have, for a season, some rest : But if this fair lady he ever comes near, For breaking; his promise he'll pay very deai* ; The price valiant Ctewttr?/ knows best. 1 M176676 HE UNIVERSITY Of CALIFORNIA LIBRARY r fl ; W.ii *^t*V\^ C* '